Cost of getting computer help in your area - Page 3

SaRina · ‎04-17-2015

@chickenbutt wrote:
@SaRina wrote:
I've been fortunate so far. My 7-year-old Toshiba laptop has had only one incident of a virus. The Geek Squad (my place of purchase) was going to charge me a small fortune to fix it. When I told them I might as well buy a new computer for that price, they shrugged their shoulders. Perhaps the difference is that I did not have an annual account with them -- I just walked in for this one-time help.

I wound up utilizing an on-line free malware support group (there are several). It took many hours of creating and sending files to them and even though it was completely over my head, I managed to do it and the problem was fixed. I know there are those who wouldn't recommend such on-line services, but this happened a few years ago and it was fine for me.

That's great! I bet you learned a lot. That's what I like about figuring stuff out, if I can, or getting help to do it yourself. You often learn ways to preclude things from happening again and know much more about operating your computer.

I always recommend people trying to figure things out if they can, or Google problems and getting information and ideas, and the bottom line is that you learn more.

So many people just go through not knowing ANYTHING about operating and maintaining a computer and then when things go wrong, it's 'what happened?'. Well, what happened is that you paid all that money for a computer and didn't commit to knowing how to take care of it.

@Honestly @chickenbutt, I didn't really learn all that much. I only have a vague idea of what transpired in my communication with this group, but I now have some familiarity with it so that should it happen again, I'll be better prepared to work with them. It's still not something I could resolve on my own.

I do enjoy learning new things and figuring things out myself... but have to admit, I just never had an affinity for the computer, which surprises me. I view the computer more as a nuisance and I really don't know why that is.

glb613 · ‎03-09-2010

@SaRina wrote:
@chickenbutt wrote:
@SaRina wrote:
I've been fortunate so far. My 7-year-old Toshiba laptop has had only one incident of a virus. The Geek Squad (my place of purchase) was going to charge me a small fortune to fix it. When I told them I might as well buy a new computer for that price, they shrugged their shoulders. Perhaps the difference is that I did not have an annual account with them -- I just walked in for this one-time help.

I wound up utilizing an on-line free malware support group (there are several). It took many hours of creating and sending files to them and even though it was completely over my head, I managed to do it and the problem was fixed. I know there are those who wouldn't recommend such on-line services, but this happened a few years ago and it was fine for me.

That's great! I bet you learned a lot. That's what I like about figuring stuff out, if I can, or getting help to do it yourself. You often learn ways to preclude things from happening again and know much more about operating your computer.

I always recommend people trying to figure things out if they can, or Google problems and getting information and ideas, and the bottom line is that you learn more.

So many people just go through not knowing ANYTHING about operating and maintaining a computer and then when things go wrong, it's 'what happened?'. Well, what happened is that you paid all that money for a computer and didn't commit to knowing how to take care of it.
@Honestly @chickenbutt, I didn't really learn all that much. I only have a vague idea of what transpired in my communication with this group, but I now have some familiarity with it so that should it happen again, I'll be better prepared to work with them. It's still not something I could resolve on my own.

I do enjoy learning new things and figuring things out myself... but have to admit, I just never had an affinity for the computer, which surprises me. I view the computer more as a nuisance and I really don't know why that is.

You may not have learned much but, you saved yourself some money.

mima · ‎03-14-2010

I recently had a local computer guy do some work for me. He was at my store onsight for 2 hours. He also took my home computer (laptop) home with him. I don't know what all he did to it and don't know how long he worked on it. It was terribly sluggish and needed updates which I couldn't get it to do. It works like new again.

For both computers he charged a total of $165.

Zob · ‎09-17-2017

Exaggerating doesn't help anyone and reflects badly on the person doing it.

It is ltierally impossible to scan a computer for malware and viruses and remove it in 5 minutes. It can take anywhere from one to several hours. Your friend is not beng truthful.

juperier · ‎10-21-2014

@bonnielu It sounds like your tech might be burnt out. It's definitely time to find someone new.

I have no idea what the cost is for in-hoime service. I was lucky and worked at a college. Our techs were amazing at taking the time to educate me. Of course, it probably helped that I pick up things quickly and they could walk me through a lot of things over the phone, which meant they didn't have to travel across campus. But it is going to be relatively expesive.

As @Zob says it can take a while to run scans. On a relatively "fast" computer, you might be able to run a "quick" scan in 5 minutes or so. But this only checks the areas where things are most likely to be hiding. You typically are going to want to run a 'full" scan , which examines all files, if issues are suspected. These can literally take hours to run. And they may need to be run multiple times.

Honestly, if an issue I had couldn't be fixed over the phone, I would lean towards finding a tech I trusted who worked on computers in his/her shop. That way the cost would most likely be less because they can be working on other repairs during the "hurry up and wait" parts of the process rather than essentially being paid for sitting and waiting while processes run.

There's a lot of great comments in this thread! I do want to add a comment on updating and Comcast equipment. Without knowing what updates he was pushing, it's hard to know whether or not he was taking advantage of you. Overall, keeping programs updated is a good thing and can prevent a lot of issues. Same with equipment, tho you do need to factor in how you are using the computer. As far as your Comcast equipment, if you choose to use their equipment, you don't need to buy an additional router under normal circumstances. Did he provide a reason why? Personally, I chose to buy my own modem and router when I purchased my first computer rather that pay Comcast a monthly fee. Made for an intersting hiccup when I first got my internet connected, but I've more than saved the purchase price (including purchasing newer models of each) by not having to pay a monthly rental fee.

Also, I'm not sure what security software he installed, but I would be questioning why I was receiving messages from it unless I understood what was triggering them.

juperier · ‎10-21-2014

@chickenbutt I loved your responses! I've been totally enjoying watching a Youtuber (Carey Holzman) who is a computer tech. One of his goals is to de-mystify computers and encourage people to build their own (which I already did a few years ago). So there are lots of videos of computer builds and repairs. There are also videos of lectures he's given to senior computer clubs @bonnielu, you might find these interesting) , interviews he's done with a data recovery expert and a wifi expert, plus other totally random topics like cooking, life experience and car repair.

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

@Zob wrote:
Exaggerating doesn't help anyone and reflects badly on the person doing it.

It is ltierally impossible to scan a computer for malware and viruses and remove it in 5 minutes. It can take anywhere from one to several hours. Your friend is not beng truthful.

I generally agree with this, but there are exceptions. Quite a few years ago a local website (Philly.com) became infected with a virus that spread to many visiting that site. (My anti-virus sniffed it out and stopped it on my computer, but that was the exception.) It infected thousands of computers in the area. Removing it was a simple procedure that could be easily done in five minutes or less if one had the right tools. Local techs were fixing the issue in very short order since the problem could be traced back to that one site and everyone knew what the issue was. If you had to run a full scan to find the issue and then fix it, yeah, that could take an hour or more, but for a known issue with a known solution, removing a virus can often be done within minutes.

It's also possible the problem was one techs call a PICNIC issue and not a virus. (PICNIC stands for Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.) Its not unheard of for users to assume every problem they encounter is caused by a virus and in many cases the issue isn't caused by a virus. PICNIC issues are typically solved in less than five minutes and the tech may very well just say it was a virus they removed and everything will be fine. It's often faster and easier than educating the consumer and as long as they keep coming back for every problem it keeps the business afloat. The consumer may very well believe they were saved from a virus when in fact there was no virus, just a user error or computer glitch.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

@lulu2 wrote:
I find it is easier and faster to take the computer to Staples.

@lulu2 NOT!!! DH heard someone at work say all they do is set your computer back to factory settings & you lose everything. If you go that route you could do it yourself.

DH has always been able to fix our computers when they need it. He also gets on Team Viewer to work on my dad & sisters computers that live in other states.

lulu2 · ‎03-09-2010

@Nightowlz wrote:
@lulu2 wrote:
I find it is easier and faster to take the computer to Staples.
@lulu2 NOT!!! DH heard someone at work say all they do is set your computer back to factory settings & you lose everything. If you go that route you could do it yourself.

DH has always been able to fix our computers when they need it. He also gets on Team Viewer to work on my dad & sisters computers that live in other states.

@Nightowlz

Both times I took a computer to Staples they made a disk containing all my information. I lost nothing.

My husband is a smart man but unlike your husband knows next to nothing about computers. His idea of a fix is a new computer.