The Lady Geek's Topic of the Day: PC Repair and You

Tales of the Lady Geek:

Hello, your friendly neighborhood Lady Geek here happily bringing you yet another journey from my technological life. I come from a time where computers were actually designed for geniuses and engineers, the systems came with huge repair and maintenance manuals that would make the telephone book look at them in fear. I went to college during an era when computers were just really expensive word processors and awesome game machines. 

Computers were a tool to be used, a toy to occasionally play with and a total hassle to fix back then.  What made the Lady Geek become the technician she is today? It’s very simple, I was a tomboy and tomboys back then wanted to stomp with the big boys. The big boys in my circle modded out their computers and spent hours learning to write script and tear the whole thing apart just to put them back together in a certain number of minutes.  Such were the beginnings of the Lady Geek.

As any computer technician can attest to, we are not only responsible for the care and maintenance of our and our customer’s computers, but once we obtain a little know how we become expected to be the head of our friends/neighbors/family member’s personal IT departments. Instead of cash, we earn cool points, sometimes baked goods and ALWAYS good or bad publicity within the family/friend/neighbor circle.  It’s a tough job, sometimes more demanding than your full time one, but always worthwhile in the end. 

Today is just such a day, warm and sunny despite the notoriously cold month, an absolutely perfect Philadelphian day. One meant to be spent tossing a football around or taking a long stroll down Penn’s Landing. Instead, I found myself decked out in my Khaki’s and a dark sexless blouse hunched behind my neighbor’s computer, plugging it back in after replacing a blown power supply and motherboard.  A little chat led to her explaining to me that she wanted a reformat of her computer because she’d gotten a common piece of malware installed on her computer. 

Honestly, that conversation with my lovely neighbor is what spawned today’s article.

Things to Know Before Taking Your PC In For Repair:

The first thing to know is that there are two basic kinds of malfunctions with your computer. The first is software related, this includes new software conflicts and malware (malicious software) infections. The second type is hardware malfunctions such as hard drive errors and power supply blow outs.

Home Fixes for Funky Software Issues:

For software malfunctions, there are really two simple programs that are free and can possibly fix the entire thing without you ever having to leave the comfort of your home. If your computer starts running slow, spawning pop-ups, if your homepage has changed then you probably have malware. Malware are programs distributed by evil entities that get downloaded and installed to your computer mostly without your knowledge. 

To fix it yourself without coming out of pocket, all you have to do is download Malwarebytes and Spybot Search and Destroy, then run them. Once they’ve fully run, make sure you uninstall them to prevent software conflicts and your problem should be fixed shortly thereafter, allowing you to go back to your normal computing life. 

For software conflicts, all you need to do is remember when you install new software and what type. If after installing your software, your computer starts “acting funny” you can uninstall it and keep it running fairly smoothly. It also pays to keep your system restore points up to date, making a new one before each software installation, that way it’s a simple click of a mouse to restore your computer to the last good point. 

*Note: In the case of a malware infection, you can guarantee your restore point will be heavily infected and/or deleted*

The good thing about these tips is that the repair programs are free so if your problem still persists there’s no harm done. There’s no way to do it wrong, just follow the directions and click until they tell you to take lunch then come back and go on with your life.  Unfortunately there will be times that it isn’t a simple matter of downloading a program due to a mix of problems or hardware issues. 

Your Computer Repair Shop and You

Okay, so maybe your issue was a combination of software issues, a virus and your hard drive started clicking away like knitting needles in Aunt Erma’s hands while you were trying to fix your frustrating computer at home. Add in the fact that all computers are timed to self destruct hours before your big presentation that you didn’t back up yet and you’ve got yourself one upsetting set of circumstances.

Here’s something you should know about your repair shop visit. The first is, it’s going to be expensive. A lot of people know this logically and are prepared for the expense until the bill arrives. I’ve seen a lot of buyer’s remorse at the end of a repair, and I have to tell you, as an ethical Technician, there is little I can do about it. We get paid for our labor, our critical thinking skills and our ability to not blow up your computer or make a bad situation worse. Although I have been personally known to lower or cut my labor fee altogether for low income customers, the elderly and select other customers, I have that prerogative as the owner of my business. Most other shops don’t.

Another thing you should keep in mind? It’s nearly impossible to give a proper diagnosis over the telephone and therefore receive a proper estimate. Your computer’s symptoms could sound like a simple virus over the telephone and end up being a blown or dying hard drive at closer examination. That’s two entirely different price ranges to consider, which is important because hourly rates vary dramatically from shop to shop. Quite frankly, after the two hundred dollar mark for an estimate you must consider if it’s even worth the price of the repair rather than  just ponying up an additional hundred and fifty dollars for a brand new lower end unit plus whatever price it is to transfer your files over to that new system.  

Final Thoughts:

When dealing with your tech people, please understand that we are in the business of fixing your equipment and our main is to make sure you’re happy with our services. We’re not trained to be your nemesis. If something goes wrong after you leave our shops or we leave your homes, please don’t believe we ‘did something’ to your computer. If you go into the hospital with a bad heart and come home with a Charlie horse, did the doctor ‘do something’ to you?

Computer repairs take time and the less we know about your symptoms, the longer it’s going to take so please be honest, if you’ve been on embarrassing sites, tell us up front so we can make it go quicker. Keep in mind the importance of being one hundred percent honest with your repair person, we don’t judge and we have either seen or done it all in the ways of breaking our own computers.  Pirating from bad sites, Porn, Weather Bug, using the CD Drive for a cup holder (true story), we’ve literally seen it and done it all.  Want to know the worse part about lying to your tech? In having to double check and dig in to find the actual cause of your problem, we are going to find out what you did anyway and we won’t care.

We know our business and a lot of the time it takes a steady amount of tedium and research while on the job to pinpoint the exact method for your personal system. That’s why I recommend only calling a tech to your house for a simple hardware replacement. That way we don’t invade your home for hours – sometimes days, depending on your schedule – and you don’t have to look over our shoulders wondering if we actually know what we’re doing. When you call a repair person to your house for any other reason, expect them to be there for the long haul. 

Know your computer and its component life spans. That knowledge will make a simple difference in your life. If you bought your computer ten years ago and the hard drive’s finally blown, you need to ask yourself if it’s worth it to install a new hard drive given that the rest of your computer is due to walk the green mile soon after or to get a new system and just transfer the information from your computer over to it.

Written by: MaryAnn Paris