Consumer Services
When you have computers and related equipment, you just want it to work. Most of the time it does, but sometimes it doesn't.
The system that's right for you
Have you gone through a store looking for a computer or watching TV and seeing many computers being advertised? You may read the lines on the sales flyer or hear the sales associate rattle off the system specifications. It might look nice and what you're hearing may seem great, but admittedly you might not know what the difference is between them, aside from the price and what you can physically see. How do you know that what you're getting is right for you?
There are a couple of ways that I may be able to assist you in this regard. We can talk about what you want the system to be able to do. I can then put together a system that will do what you want and also have some legroom for future things. The second way is I can give you an independent assessment of computer systems that you may be looking at and tell you what they're designed for. That might help you in making your decision.
When your computer equipment doesn't work
If you find that your computer is running slow, has unexpected pop-ups or error messages, or maybe a part just isn't working anymore, let me know. It could be that you have a virus, spyware or other forms of malicious software on your computer. I can remove them without loss of important data in most cases. If you have error messages coming up, I can diagnose what's going on and what it will take to repair it.
If you get messages within Windows saying that something is malfunctioning, it may turn out to be malicious software trying to scare you into thinking something else is wrong. Generally those programs will try to get you to pay money for a program that supposedly fixes your system. Most of the time it just gets the program to stop saying anything, thus giving you a false sense of security.
Sharing your Internet connection
When you have more than one computer and maybe an Internet-enabled gaming console such as a Sony Playstation 3, a Microsoft Xbox 360 or a Nintendo Wii, you can get more out of your Internet connection by sharing it among the devices. You can be productive wherever you want in your home if you have a laptop with wireless network capability and a good wireless router. You could also participate in the online gaming services offered by the console manufacturers. While networking companies have made great progress in making wireless network connections easier to set up, there may be some terminology that's confusing to some people. There may also be some configuration settings that may need to be set for everything to work properly. Contact me to help get you all set up. In most cases, I can have a wireless network going within an hour or two.
Security
When some people think about computer security, they may think of passwords, anti-virus software, or firewalls. While those are very important aspects of computer security, there may be some things that you might not have considered. For instance, let's assume that you have a few very important files on your computer that you don't want anyone else to see. Would that data be protected in the event that your computer is lost or stolen? Just having a password on your account wouldn't be sufficient. There are legitimate tools available for "password recovery" or to reset passwords. If the thief is aware of them, he would just need to reset the password on an account with administrator-level access and then he would have access to your valuable and confidential data.
If you don't store anything sensitive on your computer, then you may not have to worry about much other than keeping Windows and your anti-virus software updated on your computer. If you do have things stored on your computer that you'd like to have secured better, contact me. We can discuss storing your data in an encrypted form that's still accessible to you after you supply the password. We can also talk about other facets of computer security to ensure that you're protecting your data as much as possible.
Preserving your files
Many people have lots of important files on their computer; pictures, video, music and games, just to name a few things. Would you be able to replace the files if something was to happen to a vital component in the computer, such as the hard drive? There are several ways of backing up and restoring data in the event of an equipment malfunction or a disastrous event. It can be as simple as copying files to an external hard drive, or you could have your data backed up online using several services available. If you have data that you want preserved, contact me and we'll go over the different methods that can be used. We'll go over the advantages and disadvantages of each method.