Apple Store Techs May Have No Experience Fixing Macs?

May 21, 2017 by doctordave

You’d think the Apple store would hire the best and brightest computer repair technicians. Due to how busy they are, they’re cutting back on training.

It used to be Apple technicians would get some hands-on experience fixing Macs before touching your system. If this story is true, your Mac might be the first one they’ve touched. If you rely on your Mac, that’s not the type of person you want working on it.

I don’t really blame Apple for this. Training costs time and money. Since they make Macs, if a technician breaks a computer, it’s easy for Apple to remedy the situation.

Here at DoctorDave Computer Repair, we don’t have that luxury. We have to fix it right the first time. That’s why our team of techs have both hands-on and virtual training before they ever touch your Mac (or PC). In fact, the first computer I ever worked on back in the 1990s blew up. I plugged in something wrong and the next thing I knew, smoke and flames. There’s something to real-world experience as a teacher!

Photo by ▓▒░ TORLEY ░▒▓

What is Ransomware?

May 14, 2017 by doctordave

You might have heard in the news about companies getting hit with “ransomware”. In particular medical offices like chiropractors and psychologists are major targets. We see the same thing with our Lawrence, Topeka and Kansas City computer repair clients.

The nutshell is your computer gets some kind of virus. Instead of just messing up your computer, this software locks it. It scrambles the information on your computer. To get your stuff back you pay a fee for a special password. That’s the ransom.

With business clients, the ransom is only part of the problem. This article explains the downtime and lost productivity caused by it.

Our recommendations to avoid ransomware are

Avoid clicking unexpected links or attachments. These scams often seem to come from package notifications
Keeping your antivirus up-to-date and working. We see to often clients that think they have protection but they don’t
Have a good, reliable data backup. Most clients we see the first time have no protection. Instead of paying the ransom, we like clients to restore from a backup. Online backups are less than $50 a year, so we can help you set that up.

By the time you’re hit with ransomware, it’s too late to solve the damage. Unless you have a backup, you’re often just stuck paying and hoping you can get the data back. Give us a call if you’d like a free evaluation for your risks of ransomware and protection ideas.

Photo by Yu. Samoilov

Repair or replace an old computer?

April 16, 2017 by doctordave

Although we do a ton of computer repair in Lawrence, you’d be surprised how often we turn away computers. Sometimes it’s just not worth repairing! I hate to talk myself out of work, but sometimes it’s the right thing to do.

After Three Years, Trouble Starts

After doing this for almost 30 years now, I’ve seen the lifespan of computers. In the early days, computers cost a small fortune but lasted for a decade. Now, we see them last about three years. A good analogy is three years on a computer is like a car with 100,000 miles. Not all cars fail at that point, but many start having troubles. Part of it depends on usage and brand, but everything has a lifespan. Some things last longer, some last shorter, but there’s always an average.

What Goes Wrong?

The Hard Drive

The most common part we replace after three years is the hard drive. That makes sense because it has moving parts. Parts wear out. Some drives fail after two years and some after four, but three is the average.

While we have tests to determine if the hard drive is failing, the user is the best early warning system. In these situations, the computer just randomly locks up and doesn’t respond. In a healthy hard drive, the activity indicator on the drive flashes. On a computer with a failing drive, the light stays lit. The indicator is sold because it keeps trying to use the hard drive but fails. You’ll sometimes hear a clicking or grinding noise but not always.

We can’t repair failing hard drives because they are sealed units. We can replace them though. Usually it’s about an hour of labor to remove the drive, put in a new one, and then install your operating system. Reinstalling programs, configuring printers, and transferring your data takes extra time.

The Power: Batteries, Power Jacks, and Power Supplies

If you have a laptop, eventually your battery fails. It’s just like any other battery. You can find cheap laptop batteries under $50, but we don’t recommend them. We’ve seen too many leaking or exploding batteries in our travels. Some airlines have proposed banning laptops because of exploding batteries. That’s like the ban of the Samsung Galaxy phone. A quality replacement battery (we don’t sell them directly), is about $75.

The other part to go out on a laptop is the charging port. It loosens up over time after being plugged and unplugged so often. The replacement inside the computer is easy. The hard part is taking the laptop apart and putting it back together. It usually takes about an hour and the parts are usually about $25.

When a power surge hits a desktop computer, the power supply goes out. That’s by design. It acts as a kind of circuit-breaker to prevent damage to other parts of the computer or to stop a fire. Computer manufacturers don’t make it easy to find power supplies. Each computer seems to take a slightly different one of these. We often have to look through dozens of different types. They range in price from $25 to $75. To install them we basically have to rebuild the computer. That takes about an hour.

Fans Stop Blowing

Computers run hot, so to cool them, manufacturers put in fans. They have fans on the processor, on the video card, in the power supply in the case and a few other places I’m probably forgetting. Each of those fans collects dust and debris from the environment. If you smoke or have pets, the damage to the fans multiplies. When the computer overheats it can shut down, or in rare cases, cause a fire.

We can replace those fans, but again, we need to find the right fan. You’d think it would be easy to find, but it isn’t. The other complex problem is figuring out which fan is failing. We often have to replace multiple fans in a system. Once one starts making noise, they typically all start doing it. That makes sense since they all have the same moving parts subject to wear and tear and environmental hazards.

Keyboard, Trackpads and Screens

This problem is unique to laptops. Eventually the more you type and click, the more things wear out. Keyboard are usually easier to replace than trackpads. Both wear out though and we need to disassemble and reassemble your laptop. Since clicking and typing go hand in hand, pardon the pun, we often see that both need to be replaced at the same time.

Screens also have a limited lifespan. They’re like TV screens so they’ll stop being able to light up after a while. That’s usually after about seven years, though. Newer laptops aren’t supposed to have these problems, but we’ll see. We’re seeing fewer screens burning out, but it happens.

Is It Worth Repairing?

Given all these problems after three years, any one replacement might be worth it. The problem is that actual value of a three-year old laptop is pretty small. We’ve had clients try to sell working ones at garage sales and they can’t even get $50 for them. After five years, they can’t even get $10. If you look on eBay, you’ll find the same story. If everything is working, you can expect to pay $50 for these systems.

The problem becomes, even if they are working, you can expect all this stuff to start failing. That’s why we never recommend paying for a used laptop without at least a year warranty. Too much stuff could go wrong.

With new laptops averaging about $500 and all the repairs associated with a three year old laptop, repairs just aren’t usually worth it. Most repair shops won’t tell you this, but it’s the right thing to let you know about. It’s also why we have great reviews. Some people get upset we decline to fix this stuff, but again it’s the right thing to do. We’re in this for the long haul and will always try to do what is tin the customer’s best interest. Sure we lose money with this approach, but we gain client loyalty. That’s the key to long-term success and why we’ve been in business since 2003.

We’ll keep doing computer repair here in Lawrence, but occasionally we’ll tell you it isn’t worth it!

Photo by ardenswayoflife

Use Gmail? Your Computer May Be Too Old to Use It

April 13, 2017 by doctordave

If you’re a Gmail user and you’re using an older computer, you might need to switch. Gmail won’t work properly in Windows XP and Vista.

Windows XP and Vista are no longer supported by Microsoft. That means that it’s ripe to be attacked by hackers. They can lock you out of your computer or steal information. I like the fact that Gmail is going to warn users to stop using XP and Vista, but that isn’t enough.

Ideally, Google should prevent users from using XP or Vista altogether. Right now, they’ll force you to use the less-secure “html” version of Gmail. That’s a bad idea in my book. XP and Vista need more security to access email not less.

Our advice: it’s time to switch to a computer that supports a newer operating system. The reason people avoid a new computer is they’re worried about their old stuff. We transfer stuff from older computers to new computers all the time. You’ll want to get that new computer before a hacker (or a company like Google) prevents you from accessing your old stuff.

Photo by rovlls

Don’t Trust Free Diagnostics Scans (Except Ours on Fridays)

April 9, 2017 by doctordave

We’ve been offering Free Friday diagnostics at our Lawrence computer repair office. Our motivation for was to prevent our clients from getting taken in by scams. Recently, a TV news station caught Office Depot using their repair service to scam customers. These free scams take different forms, but they’re all out to get your money.

The Bait: A Free Checkup

Even a new computer can have problems out of the box, so who can resist a free checkup? You want the peace of mind everything is going to work right. You want your computing experience to be problem free. If you’re having a problem, these programs will identify it and suggest some fixes. Simple enough. That’s true not just for shops like Office Depot, but free online scans. A simple program tells you what’s wrong with your computer and optimizes it.

The Switch: Something is Wrong/It’s Gonna Cost You

This scam isn’t new to the computer industry. The car industry has been doing the “we found something wrong” scam for decades. These scams pretend to show you all sorts of problems with your computer. Since you’re not technical, you have no way of disputing this. Oh no. Malware! Bad drivers! Foreign IPs! That’s all going to cost you. Suddenly that free diagnostics turns out to be expensive. The technician makes a commission on the sale and offers to sell you a variety of products.

Why Our Free Diagnostics Are Different

Since there are so many scam diagnostics out there, we’re offering this as a service to the community. Just stop in on Fridays, no appointment necessary. We’ve invested in some great software for the Mac and PC to help us diagnose problems. When you stop in, we’ll run the software. Then we’ll give you some suggestions to optimize performance. We’ll even fix some basic stuff we see at no charge. We’re not going to upsell you. For most clients, we’re just getting a baseline so we can help you in the future. With your permission, we’ll also install some software that allows you to get remote support from us in the future. That saves you money over our standard office visit or onsite computer repair.

These diagnostics check for basic hardware and software problems . They also give you an early warning system for other hazards. We’ll make sure your antivirus is working and your backup system is up to date. If you have a backup system, we’ll check that at no charge. These diagnostics take about 15 minutes. You’re welcome to leave your computer there for some advanced screening.

We’re Here to Help You

Our technicians are not commission based. Quite the opposite. We’re not a retail operation, so we don’t have much to sell. We don’t sell computers, we don’t stock upgrades, and we don’t have ongoing services to sell you. We do computer repair in Lawrence as well as Topeka, and Kansas City.

Our goal is to keep you up and running. If we find something wrong, you’re welcome to have us fix it at our standard rate. However, some clients are fixing it themselves after getting advice from us. Sometimes we tell you it just isn’t worth fixing based on the age of the system. If you read our Google reviews, you’ll see that as a common theme.

What to Do When Your ISP has an Outage

January 10, 2017 by doctordave

WOW aka Knology or Wow and soon to be MIDCO had a major outage recently. Outages are disappointing, but can be expected. Nothing works right all the time.

Is it You or Them? The Power Cycle Dance

Photo by Sean MacEntee – http://flic.kr/p/fQoVsh

When you can’t get online, you’ll always want to do a few standard things in this order:

Shutdown your computer. Not just put it to sleep, but pick the Shutdown command on your operating system.
If you have a router, unplug the power to the router.
Unplug the power to your cable modem.

Wait about a minute and reverse the process:

Plug in the power to the cable modem.
After about a minute, plug back in the power to the router, if you have one.
After about a minute, turn on the computer.

If you still can’t get online, now’s the time to see if there is an outage.

How to See if Your ISP is the Problem

If you have a smartphone, the best way is social media. See if other people are reporting a problem on Facebook or Twitter. To use your phone or tablet, you might have to turn off wi-fi. Another great spot to check is the website DownDetector. Downdetector has an iPhone app too. They aggregate reports of other people complaining about outages.

Ultimately, you’ll probably need to call your ISP if you’re still early in the outage. It could be just in your neighborhood. The longer the hold times, the more likely it isn’t your computer. I’d wait at least half an hour before calling your ISP. Try the power cycle dance (above) one more time. If it doesn’t work, then call them.

It’s Them: Now What?

Mooch off the Neighbors?

Can I borrow a cup of wi-fi? If you can see your neighbor’s router, you might ask to use it for a little while. Ask them for the password, but don’t be shocked if they don’t give it to you. While I like my neighbors, I don’t want them on my network. They could see some personal and private stuff. Anyone who has a key to my house though would be welcome to use my wi-fi. None of my neighbors have a key.

If your neighbor has wi-fi without a password (or if it’s a business), you might use that in a pinch. If you use unsecured wi-fi, other people on the network could see what you’re doing, so be careful.

Tether With Your Phone aka Hotspot Mode

Most Android and iOS devices let you share the cellular connection with computers. The exact instructions depend on the version of the phone you have. Usually you just turn on the Personal Hotspot and create a network name and password. Then connect your computer to that network.

That configuration could kill your data plan, so only use it for stuff you absolutely need. For example, you might need to email an important document from your desktop.

If you have a smartphone, most of the critical stuff can be done on that using your cellular connection. Avoid data intensive stuff like streaming music or videos.

Wait it Out

Photo by Lima Pix – http://flic.kr/p/oYfzwS

The human race survived for thousands of years without internet and we’ll survive this outage. It sounds dismissive, but it’s important to put this into perspective. If it’s an ISP outage, you aren’t alone. Eventually, they’ll solve it. They want you to get back online as soon as possible. Getting upset won’t resolve it. Front line customer service reps can’t fix it and are probably having a terrible day.

Refunds?

Photo by katerha – http://flic.kr/p/sE2qVL

Unlikely. At best, your ISP will give you a prorated refund. If you contact them and wait on hold, they can give you a credit equal to the time you lost. That calculates to 1/30th of your bill. If you’re bill is $100, you can coax them into a refund of about $3.00 or maybe they’ll round up to $5.00. That doesn’t translate into much return on investment for your time.

Special Consideration: Businesses

At DoctorDave Computer Repair we have lots of business clients that run credit cards. You don’t want to tell your customers you can’t take credit cards. Similarly, you don’t want to take the risk of keeping card numbers until you get online. That will get you in trouble with your merchant processing and puts your customers at risk.

Most Point of Sale (POS) systems let you capture transactions offline. That’s great for an outage of a few minutes. The problem with offline transactions is you can’t verify if the funds are there to pay for the item. If it’s an overdrawn debit card or a credit card over the limit (or stolen), you’re on the hook.

Tethering your smartphone to an entire point of sale system is tricky. I recommend using Square in these instances. We use Square for our credit card processing. What’s nice about Square is there isn’t a monthly fee for the service, you pay only for what you use. You’ll probably pay more for a transaction compared to your regular merchant services account, but at least you won’t be turning away customers or taking big risks.

Some of our clients have portable hotspots or a “mi-fi” to supplement their existing ISP. If they’re having an outage at their POS, they can switch to this service. There’ a monthly fee for these devices, but that extra $15 or so a month might be worth it.

Should You Switch ISPs?

Photo by JeepersMedia – http://flic.kr/p/osAZTR

Probably not. All ISPs have outages. It does seem like Lawrence’s WOW service has more outages than others. Here at DoctorDave Computer Repair, we get about the same number or reports of AT&T problems and WOW problems.

With AT&T, you usually have to get the equipment from them, so about 50% of the time it’s a failed modem. With WOW, you can buy one locally and replace the cable modem. With AT&T, you can’t always do that.

We love Wicked and have it at our office in Lawrence. They’re focused on business service and aren’t expanding further into residential markets.

What about Google Fiber in Lawrence?

Photo by mjmonty – http://flic.kr/p/6wumx7

Unlikely. I was invited by the city to discuss the quality of internet here in Lawrence and our options. I also spoke at city commission meetings regarding the issues. I’m a computer repair person, not a politician. However I understand the major stumbling block is how much the city will charge an ISP to use city equipment to run the lines. It’s too expensive for an ISP to tear up people’s yards (and who wants that?), so they want to use pipes the city has.

So What’s the Answer?

Photo by West Midlands Police – http://flic.kr/p/cGnABd

Again, I’m not a politician, but I think we need to get the government involved. I’d love the city to take on the role of an ISP or work on a public/private partnership. ISPs don’t have a financial incentive to provide better service. In cities with Google Fiber, the ISPs step up their game and provide faster service.

If our city doesn’t take on that role, then the FCC might have to set minimum quality standards. The FCC could set penalties for outages. Right now, the city has that power but has declined to exercise the franchise authority powers.

Should You Install Windows 10? No!

June 12, 2016 by doctordave

When Windows 10 came out, we advised clients to wait on the upgrade. The product was new and Windows 10 had lots of glitches. Microsoft fixed a bunch of these problems and Windows 10 is now reliable. That doesn’t mean you should upgrade your Windows 8 or Windows 7 computer to Windows 10.

T.Dallas / Shutterstock.com

Why Shouldn’t I?

We tend to hear mostly about the problems with Windows 10, so we’re basing our opinion on issues client tell us. We’re almost always able to resolve these problems, but that comes at a cost to the customer. That free upgrade turns out to cost money if you need us to fix your computer.

What Type of Problems Should I Expect?

The most common problems we see are related to email. Your sunflower.com email stops working. The Windows 10 setup needs a little tweaking. Microsoft might push its own email program or your old program forgets the password.

Photo by Aaron Escobar

Microsoft also promotes the new Edge browser instead of Internet Explorer. Edge looks different and doesn’t work in all situations. Windows 10 might push you to Edge instead of Firefox or Chrome. We fix this all the time, but it’s annoying to a customer.

Older printers and scanners don’t always work in Windows 10. Sometimes it needs reconfiguration but other times it just won’t do it. We spend the most time with clients in this area. That free upgrade now requires a paid purchase of a new printer.

Finally, we have a catch-all category of incompatibility or glitches. Most of the time Windows 7 or 8 had an underlying problem that Windows 10 made worse.

What If I Upgraded to Windows 10 Already? Should I Go Back?

Microsoft gives you 30 days to try out Windows 10. If you don’t like it, you can go back to Windows 7 or 8. We advise against that. We see just as many glitches moving forward to Windows 10 as we do going back. If Windows 10 is working, leave it alone. There isn’t a need to go back. We can fix those Windows 10 problems for you. If we can’t, then that is the time to go back.

If you don’t like something in Windows 10, we can usually offer some suggestions of tweaks and optimizations.

Learning a New Operating System

Windows 10 is a big jump from Windows 7. Windows 8 is a minor jump from Windows 7. Clients tell us that it is frustrating trying to learn something new. Fortunately, our local library offers free online learning through Lynda.com and offers some great books on the subject. If you’ve moved to Windows 10, I recommend trying some of the free learning options.

I Have to Decide by July 29th, Right?

Yes, if you want to get it free, you’ll need to do this by July 29th. After that, you’ll have to pay for the upgrade. This should be your deciding factor.

If your computer is working, I suggest leaving it alone. If your computer didn’t come with Windows 10, it is probably at least a year old. Computers last on average 3-5 years. Once the hard drive goes out, clients decide it’s more cost-effective to replace a system rather than repair it. Your new computer is going to come with Windows 10, so Microsoft made that decision easier.

If you’re concerned Microsoft will discontinue support for Windows 7, you’re right, they will. Currently, they set the date to January 14, 2020. Your computer will probably fail before then.

What If I Want to Upgrade?

Go for it. You’ll eventually get a computer with Windows 10, so you might want to learn it now. You should be backing up your data anyway, but just in case, do a full backup beforehand. We can help with the backups.

Then run a quick malware scan to make sure nothing will get in the way of the upgrade, then upgrade away. I suggest doing this on a Sunday night. That way you won’t be distracted and you can always call support the next morning if you have problems. Assume you’ll have problems so don’t do this before a deadline, especially a deadline that needs something printed.

How Can You Help Me, Dave?

Our App in the app store

We can help you through every step of the process, usually for free. Use our free DoctorDave app to send us an email, or just do it the old-fashioned way by calling us. If it requires a service call, we can schedule it right then. We can fix your printer issues, your email issues, and move you back to an earlier version of Windows if need be.

Clients like Windows 10 once they get through the problems. I encourage you to get it on a new computer. It isn’t like Windows 8 that everyone hated, but it is different than Windows 7.