Who fixes your computer?

[IT-GUY]

I would like to throw out a question just to see where it takes me. We are all computer users or we wouldn't be here, right?:)

So, when you folks have computer trouble (if you aren't into the DIY thing) what do you do? Assume that you have tried the normal things and just can't get it working properly.:mad:

1. Take it to a computer shop
2. Call a computer technician
3. Call a good friend who you believe can help
4. The kid next door is a whiz
5. Have kids in school/college who are geeks
Other ideas


When I get certified, I wan't to come up with a good business model. We have three computer shops in our town now. I am not sure there is enough work for a third one, and I don't want to open a store uptown, due to the high overhead. I think they end up selling cell phones & Internet service. Maybe that is what keeps them going.

Anyway, I just thought it would be interesting to see what other people are doing when they have a problem.

[vangogh]

I tend to figure it out myself. I enjoy it and would rather learn something new than give it to someone else to do the work. And the more I learn the easier it gets to keep things working properly.

Usually if I have a problem that's completely new I'll search online looking for clues. I'm also not afraid to try different things and see what happens. I'm confident I won't screw up the computer. Because of that I tend to be a person others call to help troubleshoot their computers.

I think you'll find that many people will know someone like me who they'll ask for help and those someones (like me) will quickly tire of being asked for all the help. My impression is that most people would sooner have someone come to their house and fix things than take their computer into the shop. Many people have something not working, but overall the computer still works so they don't want to be without it while it's being repaired.

I do know people who have their computer guy come in to fix or tune up their computers. What you might do is build a website with tutorials and how tos for the do-it-yourselfers. They won't be your customers, though you can probably find some way to sell to them. The site will build your reputation as a knowledgeable shop. My guess is your business will be heavily influenced by word of mouth. If you do a good job for someone they'll recommend you to friends and family.

Always leave a few business cards with every job. Definitely place a phone book ad. Be the company that will make a house call and be friendly doing it. For the people that want to learn teach them what you're doing. For those that don't want to learn fix things as quick as you can. You might even do well by offering a free pc tune up for every one who recommends a friend to you.

Also keep in mind that most of the people who's computers you work on won't be all that savvy. You may very well fix something, but they may not realize the new problem is a simple setting they changed.

[IT-GUY]

Thanks for the tips, vangogh. I am not surprised to find people like yourself who can figure out what to do. I tell people, "Google is your friend" and try to get them to do a little leg work. But some are hopeless. I have a cousin about 1000 mile from me. I've tried to help her. Once I even sent her a step by step procedure on how to do something. It was rather simple, but she managed to get the steps out of sequence and things wouldn't work. Fortunately we were able to correct it with a few keystrokes, via a telephone call.

Another time she couldn't follow my istructions. I gave up. She really does not want to do this. So she paid a techie $200 to come in for about 2 to 3 hours and clean up her mess. He left her with NO anitvirus on the PC. She didn't know. She thought "MalwareBytes" was antivirus. I informed her that it cleans up malware, but she had no firewall or antivirus, and is on Cable Internet.

I made one last suggestion. Since she had paid the big price for Mcafee Security Suite,
(that he had taken off, during cleanup of her PC) I asked her to just call tech support and get their help reinstalling the program. They did, and explained to her how she had let in a trojan. (I could have told her but she would not have believed me.. LOL) So all is well with her now.

This does not mean that I use Mcafee. It is to make a point about some of the people I have worked with, and their need for hand-holding big time. There must be a lot of folks just like her out there.

They will be my clients. (I think)

[vangogh]

I think you'll find more people are like your cousin than me. She sounds more typical. She might know someone like me, but truth is I can't solve everyone's computer problems nor do I want to so while some people may call me to help with minor things after awhile most realize I'm not going to come over to their house and spend a few hours fixing their computer unless they want to pay me a lot.

One thing you might do (with a customer's understanding and permission of course) is to set up their computer so you can do some remote troubleshooting. Probably best for repeat customers, but this way you could troubleshoot things from your office when possible. It'll save you on the travel and ultimately make your "visit" less expensive for your customers. Some may not be comfortable with the idea, but I bet many would.

[Steve B]

I agree with the above.

I have a buddy that I used to work with in the corporate world that comes over when I'm in need of help. It seems like I need him about once a year for something. I pay him $50 per hour if I recall.

I'm just a hair better than your cousin. I have no desire to fix my own computer or fix my own car. I do lots of other stuff for myself, but I figure I'm happy to pay the experts to do the stuff I don't like to do.

[kml9870]

I fix mine myself. I have been messing around with computers since the mid 80's so I'm pretty comfortable with both the software side and the hardware side. I used to tutor people one on one. That became tedious because I found a lot of people want to learn everything in under an hour. I have at least 5 people in my life like your cousin. It's actually gotten so time consuming that I have told everyone to email me their problems and I will answer them when I get a chance.

If it's something I don't know or haven't dealt with before I will usually seek out one of my friends for advice before tackling the problem, but like Vangogh, I'm confident I won't mess it up.

[huggytree]

i rarely have a problem...every few years it gets to the point where i have to reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything...ive never taken it in to anyone....we got a new computer over 2 years ago and have never done anything with it or needed to!

[billbenson]

I do a couple of things. I install a disk imaging program and make an image of C and put it on D. All data is on D. If its a software or virus issue, I can restore C to the last image in 10 minutes. A good way to clean out your computer as well.

If its hardware, I try to figure it out. One time I had an intermittent mother board issue. I took it to a shop where they have commercial software to stress the machine and find the problem. In retrospect, I would just replace the mother board, assuming that is the problem today. That or upgrade the mother board in the process.

I've fixed a few friends computers. I pretty much refuse to do that anymore. I have one friend who keeps getting spyware. I put Norton Ghost on that so it's a quick fix. It's to time consuming to be doing that for the world unless you are set up for it.

Oh, the other thing about fixing other peoples computers is you will get blamed for any data lost, even if it isn't your fault. Really not worth it for free.

[rezzy]

I rarely have computer problems. My aunts quite often have computer problems. They usually call me or my father. One time she had a printer problem and paid a business $100+ for a paper jam. It baffles me too. This is a ink jet printer!

I can fix pretty much any issue I come across, since I am also A+ Certified. Recently, I have moved off the Windows realm into Linux. This minimizes all problems. :)

[IT-GUY]

I do a couple of things. I install a disk imaging program and make an image of C and put it on D. All data is on D. If its a software or virus issue, I can restore C to the last image in 10 minutes. A good way to clean out your computer as well.

That is a really good idea. I do that too. Did it on the last customer's PC, and actually took him through the process of restoring his PC.


Oh, the other thing about fixing other peoples computers is you will get blamed for any data lost, even if it isn't your fault. Really not worth it for free.

I have been very concerned about this issue. I can't help but wonder what the computer shops do about it. I suspect that they have some kind of service policy (written up) that limits them from liability. I need to find out about this before I actually "hang out my shingle".

[CraigFLA]

The last time I let someone else touch my computer was 12 years ago. My business system crashed with NT4.0 -- blue screen-- so I had a customer of mine (PC Repair business) look at it. The young guy working on it called me over with a smile on his face to tell me it was working again. When I went over, I found it was booted up with NT but everthing was blank. He told me he scrubbed my hard drive and reinstalled the system and I was "good to go". I think I didn't calmly tell him that he erased all my programs with all the updates to them as well as all the data files -- none of which were backed up properly. After that day, I learned how to do everything myself including daily backups!

[cbscreative]

I'm one of those guys people call for help too, but like vangogh, it gets old fast when they are friends and relatives. In your marketing, you may want to use something to the effect of "Your friends and family would rather have you call us to solve your computer prblems."

Based on my experience, once you get a good following of customers, you will get plenty of repeat business. People who have computer problems usually have lots of them because they are mostly self inflicted. Your cousin is a perfect example. I also favor doing remote service whenever possible.

[IT-GUY]

i rarely have a problem...every few years it gets to the point where i have to reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything...ive never taken it in to anyone....we got a new computer over 2 years ago and have never done anything with it or needed to!

Huggy, do you realize how many people there are who have no idea how to reformat a hard drive?

A few years ago there was a TECHTV (network?) that aired here in the U.S. Leo Laporte was one of my favorite people on the "Screen Savers" and "Call for Help" segments. He would always say how you need to reformat the hard drive and clean up your PC about every 6 months. Windows 98 was the OS of choice back then.

I don't think the average Joe Computer User will want to do this. IMHO, this is good thing, but also a "geek" thing. Also, if you are not using an imaging program, you are stuck with reinstalling all of your software. Some of my friends only use email and maybe Word. So far none have had much software to reinstall.

[IT-GUY]

I can fix pretty much any issue I come across, since I am also A+ Certified. Recently, I have moved off the Windows realm into Linux. This minimizes all problems. :)

Congradulations on the A+ Certification. It does take a little study to get there. I have just recently tried Linux. I have a lot to learn on that OS. I've been a hard core Windows techie since 1998.

[KristineS]

I rely on friends. I have a good friend who is the IT director for our company. He set up my last new laptop for me. He is who I would go to first if I had problems.

[IT-GUY]

The last time I let someone else touch my computer was 12 years ago. My business system crashed with NT4.0 -- blue screen-- so I had a customer of mine (PC Repair business) look at it. The young guy working on it called me over with a smile on his face to tell me it was working again. When I went over, I found it was booted up with NT but everthing was blank. He told me he scrubbed my hard drive and reinstalled the system and I was "good to go". I think I didn't calmly tell him that he erased all my programs with all the updates to them as well as all the data files -- none of which were backed up properly. After that day, I learned how to do everything myself including daily backups!

You both learned a valueable lesson that day. You learned to do backups. He learned to ask, "Do you have your data backed up". IMHO, this is the first question he should have asked you. ;)

[billbenson]

You might consider working as a tech for your competition for a few weeks to see what they do?

[IT-GUY]

I just read a thread that was put on before mine by Dan F.

I was happy to find this group again, so just posted without reading. I see Dan F. has some of the same questions that I perhaps would have asked.

The fact that I am interested in PC repair and that my thread came just after his is complete coincidence. I like the ideas you guys threw out for Dan.

And the very best to you Dan, if you happen to read this one.

[IT-GUY]

I have a buddy that I used to work with in the corporate world that comes over when I'm in need of help. It seems like I need him about once a year for something. I pay him $50 per hour if I recall.

I'm just a hair better than your cousin. I have no desire to fix my own computer or fix my own car. I do lots of other stuff for myself, but I figure I'm happy to pay the experts to do the stuff I don't like to do.

Thanks Steve,
I don't like working on cars anymore. You are fortunate of have that buddy. I will say, that is darn fair of you for paying your friend to help you when you need it.

I've had friends who are fair about paying. It has never been a hourly rate.

[IT-GUY]

I used to tutor people one on one. That became tedious because I found a lot of people want to learn everything in under an hour. I have at least 5 people in my life like your cousin. It's actually gotten so time consuming that I have told everyone to email me their problems and I will answer them when I get a chance.

Thanks, kml
Yikes! I realize that dealing with people like my own cousin can eat up my time. But if she lived close by, I would fix her problems quickly. They are not that difficult. She admits to being computer illiterate. I come away from the phone shaking my head and tell my wife, "Some people should not have computers.":rolleyes:

I have wondered about having some kind of short training sessions to help newbies. I could probably use a room at our local library for free. The idea would be to charge a small fee, but I would require a minimum of sign-ups before I would do the class. People at least need to know the basics, such as the need to defrag their hard drives.

I would figure it so that I come out (due to head count) making my minimum hourly rate or not mess with it. In return, those who come in to learn a little would probably be my customers later on. Just an idea...:)

[IT-GUY]

Based on my experience, once you get a good following of customers, you will get plenty of repeat business. People who have computer problems usually have lots of them because they are mostly self inflicted. Your cousin is a perfect example. I also favor doing remote service whenever possible.

Thanks Steve,
In looking back, I can say that only one customer I've had so far did not create his own problem. The hard drive died. It was out of warrenty. What was strange was that he had hardly used the PC. I usually find them full of dirt. This one looked like it came right out of the factory. :confused:

[IT-GUY]

I rely on friends. I have a good friend who is the IT director for our company. He set up my last new laptop for me. He is who I would go to first if I had problems.

Sounds like you are all set. In your case you have a friend who is very proffessional, a good thing.:)

[KristineS]

Sounds like you are all set. In your case you have a friend who is very proffessional, a good thing.:)

It always pays to have friends who know how to do the stuff you don't know how to do. That's why I scream for Vangogh when I blow up one of my blogs. He can always make them settle down and play nice.

[kml9870]

A few years ago there was a TECHTV (network?) that aired here in the U.S. Leo Laporte was one of my favorite people on the "Screen Savers" and "Call for Help" segments. He would always say how you need to reformat the hard drive and clean up your PC about every 6 months. Windows 98 was the OS of choice back then.
I loved that channel...I was so mad when it went off!

Thanks, kml
Yikes! I realize that dealing with people like my own cousin can eat up my time. But if she lived close by, I would fix her problems quickly. They are not that difficult. She admits to being computer illiterate. I come away from the phone shaking my head and tell my wife, "Some people should not have computers.":rolleyes:

Most of my family are fairly knowledgeable with computers but they think I have every answer. My brother called me the other day and asked...."how do I separate the sound from the picture on an mpeg?" Do I have software that does this, yes. Do I want to spend a 1/2 hour on the phone telling him what the software is, where to buy it, and a brief tutorial on how to use it? Absolutely not. When he emailed me the question it was less than 10 minutes to answer. It only took 10 minutes because he couldn't ask additional questions while I answered the first one :rolleyes:


I have wondered about having some kind of short training sessions to help newbies. I could probably use a room at our local library for free. The idea would be to charge a small fee, but I would require a minimum of sign-ups before I would do the class. People at least need to know the basics, such as the need to defrag their hard drives.

I would figure it so that I come out (due to head count) making my minimum hourly rate or not mess with it. In return, those who come in to learn a little would probably be my customers later on. Just an idea...:)
I think that is a good idea. You would probably end up with enough people signing up to do a series of the same session.

[Blessed]

I usually can fix it myself. Or... if it's really, really, really bad I have a friend I can call. I've called him once in the 5 years we've known each other and all he had to do was verify that I really did have to completely reformat the drive. Fortunately I just lost one day's worth of work because everything else was backed up. I rarely have major computer problems, usually my Mac crashes simply because I had been doing too many things at one time and ran it completely out of RAM - a simple restart fixes it.

[IT-GUY]

KristineS & Blessed,

I checked out your blogs. They look nice to me. I've never got into that and probably won't. I am sure I would enjoy it a lot and if I did and would be spending all of my time doing that. I will be really busy getting my business launched. But that is still awhile down the road. Maybe some of you think & type faster than I do.

In high school the main reason I took "touch typing" was because I knew I would have a lot of lab reports to do in college. (Electronic Technology) That was in mid 1960s. Who knew that someday I would be using this skill on an everyday basis?

[Vivid Color Zack]

My mac never breaks :)

[seema]

I think first you have to sort out problem for your self.But the best option is to give computer to any AMC dealer. So matter how many times your computer system fail.All headache related computer is to AMC dealer .

[IT-GUY]

I think first you have to sort out problem for your self.But the best option is to give computer to any AMC dealer. So matter how many times your computer system fail.All headache related computer is to AMC dealer .

It's been awhile since I've had time to visit the forum. OK, what is an AMC dealer? Are they in the U.S.? What are you talking about?:confused:

[bm9139]

I personally fix my own computer. This way I will save tons of money.

[vangogh]

I generally do too, but not everyone feels comfortable making repairs on their own computer. The majority would sooner pay someone else to troubleshoot issues.

[UFOnaut]

I prefer to repair my PC alone. And I don't want to give other people full access to my PC. I think it is shame for people who don't even want to learn how to do simple tasks on PC. They tell me: "It is simple to you because you know how it works", but I don't have this skills when I was born. When I was 14, father buy me my first PC and there were no people who can help, so I did it myself. Nowadays we have very big number of people who know how to repair PC, so others better use their skills than learn how to do this by themselves. TERRIFYING LAZINESS!!!

[billbenson]

Many people prioritize their time and computer repair isn't always at the top. Beyond that, computer repair shops have commercial diagnostic tools. Say you have an intermittent problem, they can hook up the motherboard to a stress tester for 24 hours. You can't.

I've built my last two pc's and have always repaired them. A while back my wifes pc got a virus that wouldn't allow me to save her data even in safe mode. I took it to Geeks to get the data and reinstalled the OS. It cost $100 but it was better use of my time.

[Gipper]

We try to fix ourselves as much as possible but there definately is a line where we are costing ourselves more by trying to fix something we just dont know enough about. We have a great computer guru in our small town who we call and he either comes out and takes care of it for us or when possible he takes care of the issue remotely

[Reflo Ltd]

When it comes to fixing stuff my moto is "if it's already broken, how much worse can I make it?" I'll dig right in but I'm pretty handy. The other side to that motto/logic is that theres a slim chance I can make it so bad that it can't be fixed.

The phrase around here, no matter what goes wrong, is "dad can fix it". lol. Then of course I have to fix it to keep my reputation in good standing.

[ruth]

Although my business is a one-person cottage internet industry, I buy my computers from Dell using a business account. I buy a three year, next-day in-home (or at your business) service contract. When I need to talk to tech support on the phone, I can actually understand them! (They speak English - at least the ones that I have used). You cannot beat the service! And as for my other out-of-warranty Dell laptop, I take it to CompUSA when it needs help.

Dell contracts with local businesses to service their contracts. You could possibly handle some of their work.

[dumsy22]

i rarely have a problem...every few years it gets to the point where i have to reformat my hard drive and reinstall everything...ive never taken it in to anyone....we got a new computer over 2 years ago and have never done anything with it or needed to!