Computer Repair, Upgrade & Custom-Built Systems

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Check with prior customers and find out the type of service for the price charged, some are quite a bit higher than my rate, for instance if someone buys RAM to increase system performance and I'm already there I'll install it no charge instead of the $40.00 minimum a lot of company's do for a service that takes under 2 mins.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. The most common issue I hear is knowledge on how to work with all the different software and hardware out there, and for an inside secret, don't be afraid to play around with the settings and learn to use your programs, they all can be reset back to defaults so there is nothing you can do to damage your system by learning to use it's features.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. When you call try to have the make and model number of your PC and exactly what type of problem you are having, including write down any error messages you are getting as that will help narrow down the issue you are having.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I always try to go a little further than the normal tech would, whether it's updating drivers or shutting down programs that are slowing your startup or performance, and also making sure your antivirus and windows is up to date with the newest definitions.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I like meeting new people and seeing new faces and always am looking for that new challenge or issue I have not come across in the past to make me dig a little deeper to solve the problem, I don't charge if I don't fix the problem and have not walked away yet without pay.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. How much experience do you have working on computers, and I tell them my first computer was in about 1982 and it didn't have a hard drive it had a reel to reel tape recorder for backup, so I usually put them at ease knowing I have been working with computers for almost 30 years.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I worked with a customer that had previously had some bad experience with computer techs. and was nervous about having me do anything, so I asked her to pull up a chair and watch so I could explain what I was doing as I worked on her system, by the time I was finished she insisted on paying me more than I was charging and wanted my cards to pass out to friends.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. I'm honest and not out to make a lot of money on a repair, I'll put in extra time to make sure everything is working 100% before I leave and most times I will intsall programs they might need to help protect them from future problems of the same type, this cuts down on my repeat work but increases word of mouth.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I have always enjoyed PC's from building them to online gaming with them and have been a regular end user for almost 30 years, I was amazed at what it cost to have my system upgraded about 15 years ago and decided to learn how to do it myself and save hundreds of dollars in repair fees.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. I had a recent job where the customer had been working with courtesy techs from the business he purchased his laptop at, they spent weeks trying to solve his problem of the system locking up about 30 seconds after it started, it worked fine in safe mode so that told me it was not hardware related and had to be software, it took me about 10 mins. to rule it down to incompatible antivirus program.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. I watch the tech shows on cable as I have time and am constantly researching on google for the newest programs and issues that people are having with virus and spyware programs. It's always changing so is very hard to stay current on everything and nothing beats hands on with problems to teach.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Technology is the fastest changing advancement in our history and I have no idea where it will go from here, I'm thinking the next big step will be in virtual reality and that sounds pretty exciting the possibilities are endless for entertainment and teaching.

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. I recently built a new system for someone that wanted to do high end gaming, the cost was only about $600.00 it didn't take long to build around 45 mins. but a couple of hours to finish all the software installs. Retail on a system like that would have been well over $1000.00 with my labor he was at $750.00

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. My pricing is very basic I charge $40.00 per hour with a $20.00 in home travel fee, also an additional $20.00 if I'm travelling more than 15 miles to do an in home repair.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. I would say the best way to learn PC repair is pick up some old systems at your local thrift store and get a copy of windows 98 to practice installing and locating drivers for sound, video, network and etc... and once you have learned all there is to know with windows 98 you will understand what it is that windows XP,Vista and Windows7 are doing as you work with them.