It’s funny how certain times of the year trigger certain demands of service. April: tax preparation. October: haunted houses. November: Christmas shopping. And of course… August: Back to School supplies.
People rush out to the sales and tax-free days to load up on pencils, notebooks and backpacks. But so many forget to think about their OTHER soon-to-be-pressured-child; their computer.
Face it: Computers are a vital part of your… and your children’s… lives. You cannot fathom modern daily life without one. Yet far too often I get calls and questions about a computer that is running slow or stopped working altogether. When I ask “When was the last time you had your computer cleaned and serviced?” I usually get puzzled stares and grunts.
Your car REQUIRES an annual state inspection for a reason: Machines need to be maintained or they will break down. If they break down on the road, it could be dangerous. But your in-house machine needs just as much… maybe even more… care and attention as your daily transportation. Ask yourself this: Would I be more devastated if I lost my car and everything in it, or my computer and everything in it? Chances are that your computer contains some pretty irreplaceable content where as your car has maybe some cds or a purse.
So, it’s not that your computer suddenly decided to break or slow down all of a sudden. It is more likely that there has been a build up of errors and issues that have gone unresolved that contributed to it’s ill state. Have you been visiting a lot of different web sites? Have you spent more than an hour a week on sites like MySpace, Facebook and Flickr? Have you ever downloaded files from websites that you normally don’t visit on a daily basis? Have you gone several months without cleaning out your old files? If you answered YES to any of these, your computer is most likely suffering from an overload of junk files that you cannot see.
Is your computer slow all the time or only when you are online? If it’s only when you are online, I’ll guess you have cable Internet. To make a long, boring story short; Cable Internet will slow your Internet speed down depending on A) the area you live in, B) your surrounding neighbors’ Internet usage, and C) the quality and state of your local cable Internet provider’s network hubs. (Seriously, none of my clients have ever complained about slow speeds on DSL or FiOs.)
So, there are some things you can do:
- Research other online services besides cable.
- Visit PCPitStop.com and have your computer checked out for free.
- Talk to a knowledgeable person your trust regarding computers and get their advice.
- Visit CNet.com for tech reviews, advice and answers.
- Visit Pricewatch.com for prices for online computer parts and upgrades.
However, to save yourself time, money and many headaches, PLEASE DO NOT:
- Take your computer to a mega-retail store for service. It doesn’t matter how geeky their squads are… you will regret it.
- Buy a computer off the shelf of your favorite super-store. You have no idea what they do with those boxes in the warehouse.
- Pay someone to do something you can do yourself for free. You’ll just waste money if you never learn how to do it yourself.
As always, I give free consultations and I service the computer needs in my local area. Plus, I’m MUCH cheaper than any store would charge. If you know how to do all this, you should offer your services as well. People need to know how to take care of their property. We can teach you. All you need to do is ask.
