PC Repair advice

LordSplodge · 20 Apr 2011 at 10:13

DJMK4 said:
You don't have to be building bridges and buildings to be an engineer.

Let's hope Fox doesn't see that. Red rag to a bull...

DJMK4 · 20 Apr 2011 at 10:20

LordSplodge said:
Let's hope Fox doesn't see that. Red rag to a bull...

Gangster · 20 Apr 2011 at 10:29

vice city - get the leaflets in the plane and fire them out.

sorry couldn't resist.

.

liamcrane · 21 Apr 2011 at 09:53

^^^^^Sweet idea forgot how amazing that was haha

Admiral Huddy · 21 Apr 2011 at 11:24

One of the worst things about PC repairs, is explaining things to the user which they have no understanding.. A typical example is explaining why they have to buy a new license for Windows when all three of the following scenario's occur at the same time:

1. Their HDD has blown,
2. They don't have any original disks and
3. There is no record of the key.

I try and keep things very simple.. Some times you can open a can of worms for yourself.

#Chri5# · 21 Apr 2011 at 11:38

gambitt said:
Watch out for the old:

Them: "since you installed those update patches 2 weeks ago, my PC is making a lot more noise"

You: "sounds like your fan needs replacing"

Them: "well all I know is that it wasn't making that noise before you looked at it!" (implying they want a free fix)

You: *sigh*

Exactly why dealing with home users makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a tea spoon - you need lots and lots of patience.

edscdk · 21 Apr 2011 at 11:51

Admiral Huddy said:
1. Their HDD has blown,
2. They don't have any original disks and
3. There is no record of the key.

I try and keep things very simple.. Some times you can open a can of worms for yourself.

1. Their HDD has blown - use the COA off the side with your own OEM disk
2. They don't have any original disks - user your own
3. There is no record of the key - magic jelly bean

Admiral Huddy · 21 Apr 2011 at 11:58

edscdk said:
1. Their HDD has blown - use the COA off the side with your own OEM disk
2. They don't have any original disks - user your own
3. There is no record of the key - magic jelly bean

I meant all three scenario's at the same time

People do actually peel them off!

David_VI · 21 Apr 2011 at 12:05

Admiral Huddy said:
I meant all three scenario's at the same time People do actually peel them off!

How do you deal with this? Just tell them they need a new licence and you'l sort that out? Are people usually okay with that and the extra price? Not sure how much a licence costs, I got my w7 in a student upgrade deal

Admiral Huddy · 21 Apr 2011 at 12:11

David_VI said:
How do you deal with this? Just tell them they need a new licence and you'l sort that out? Are people usually okay with that and the extra price? Not sure how much a licence costs, I got my w7 in a student upgrade deal

Well it's a new OEM disk.. Although they don't really understand they're not too bad.

I alway tell them to keep the disk and not to remove the labels. They feel more embarrassed then anything. In fact, I tape the disk inside the bottom of case with a business card and a log so that if they come back, I know what's been going on.

David_VI · 21 Apr 2011 at 12:17

Admiral Huddy said:
Well it's a new OEM disk.. Although they don't really understand they're not too bad.

I alway tell them to keep the disk and not to remove the labels. They feel more embarrassed then anything. In fact, I tape the disk inside the bottom of case with a business card and a log so that if they come back, I know what's been going on.

Genius putting the disk in the case! Suppose that works for casual people who would have no clue about reinstalling windows.

SexyGreyFox · 21 Apr 2011 at 16:32

gambitt said:
Watch out for the old:

Them: "since you installed those update patches 2 weeks ago, my PC is making a lot more noise"

You: "sounds like your fan needs replacing"

Them: "well all I know is that it wasn't making that noise before you looked at it!" (implying they want a free fix)

You: *sigh*

I've still got a bloke who rings me up about his 12 year old PC because I looked at it about 10 years ago, so everything that has happened since is my fault.

Admiral Huddy · 21 Apr 2011 at 16:48

dmpoole said:
I've still got a bloke who rings me up about his 12 year old PC because I looked at it about 10 years ago, so everything that has happened since is my fault.

Ageing PCs are an awkward one for folk because people fail to understand why their 10 year old £1,000 PC doesn't work and/or is out of date and that technology moves on at the pace it does.. You just have to explain to them in Lehman's terms.. I use cars in this example.

SexyGreyFox · 21 Apr 2011 at 17:39

Admiral Huddy said:
Ageing PCs are an awkward one for folk because people fail to understand why their 10 year old £1,000 PC doesn't work and/or is out of date and that technology moves on at the pace it does.. You just have to explain to them in Lehman's terms.. I use cars in this example.

Last weekend my guitarists girlfriend (I actually started a thread about her) announced at the pub table that she had got one of the most advanced computers going so my bassist asked her how old it was.
'Six years old' she said.
I kept out of it as usual.

JonJ678 · 21 Apr 2011 at 18:19

Do you have a backup plan for computers you're not able to fix? I think I'd contact one of the vaguely local repair shops and make an agreement to the effect that when you have one you can't fix, you forward it into them.

The reasoning is that every laptop you hand back as unfixable hurts your reputation

.Kencs · 21 Apr 2011 at 18:23

liamcrane said:
Im an I.T engineer at my local airport and Im looking to do a bit of pc repair on the side of my current job

Email me mate, who do you work for as the company I work for does repairs for the shops in the airports

DJMK4 · 21 Apr 2011 at 18:41

2nd thought.

If you have a main career, dont do it.

ennogs · 21 Apr 2011 at 18:43

I would think twice about this TBH. Just a few of examples.

I went to a friends house to install some AV for him. He had bought the PC second hand. The PC was bought from somebody who gets broken PC's and cobbles parts together to make a working PC. During the download of the AV the PC crashed. After rebooting the PC would crash on me about 2 - 4 minutes after getting back into Windows. I then get from my mate well it wasn't doing that before you tried installing the AV. WTF I didn't try installing the AV. It was crashing as I tried to download it. System restore did not fix things. So I then said to my mate lets start of with a clean install. I will reinstall windows. The install kept on crashing. I was still getting the well it did not happen before you tried installing the AV. I had to take the PC home for further investigation. I then checked the hard drive and that was ok. I then looked on the web as to what it might be and somebody said it will be the memory. I then checked the memory and one stick was showing tons of errors. I removed the bad stick installed windows, updates, AV etc and gave him the PC back. I explained what was wrong and how it was not my fault.

A mate of mine was fixing a laptop for somebody. He is no idiot when it comes to computers but he does not have really good knowledge like some people on here. To be blunt he can install programs, install windows, drivers etc. As far as troubleshooting goes he just reinstall windows. So he gets the laptop and can't get the OS to reinstall. He then asks me to try and I am getting the same problems. I ran a check on the hard drive and could see it was failing. My mate comes over. I explain the hard drive is failing and that is why the OS will not install. We then find the HD was now totally dead. He then says "Well it wasn't like that when I gave it to you". I had to explain hard drives can break and explain it was on it's way out when he gave me the laptop. I had to explain it was not my fault.

A friend asks me to install her Broadband. She wanted a wireless set up. I set it up and proved the connection was working. A few days later she rings me up and says some program is not working (I forget which). Again I got the dreaded "and it was working before you installed my Broadband".

Maybe I have just been unlucky but I would stay right way from doing PC repairs. I got this from friends not paying customers. I can see people ringing you up and saying things like "Since you installed my new graphics card my DVD player is not working". When you check they themselves have somehow disabled it device manager.

liamcrane · 21 Apr 2011 at 18:58

I know what you mean, the one thing i intend to do is create an image of what ever machine i am dealing with before i touch it and once i have fixed the machine i will then create a new image of the working machine for the client to keep so if for some reason they come across a new error thru there own miss hap i know i have a working image to go to providing they dont lose it

Im going to keep in kinda simple tho as its will be in my spare time. I have gone for the name "PC Doctor" im just looking for a punchline to put on my business card i've created on vistaprint but cant come up with one anyone got any ideas?

ennogs · 21 Apr 2011 at 19:05

liamcrane said:
I know what you mean, the one thing i intend to do is create an image of what ever machine i am dealing with before i touch it and once i have fixed the machine i will then create a new image of the working machine for the client to keep so if for some reason they come across a new error thru there own miss hap i know i have a working image to go to providing they dont lose it

That can also cause problems with some people you will deal with. If you ever need the back up image a lot of them will tell you they don't know where it is. I don't know how many times I have told people to keep the back up disks only to find they didn't.