Personal Computer Support

Laptop and Personal Computer Services, Repairs, Support and Maintenance

Operating System and Software Installation, Upgrades and Repairs

Spyware and Virus Protection and Removal

Setup of printers, scanners and other peripheral devices

Based in Haslemere, we have friendly, professional, locally based on-site computer support engineers who can reach most locations within the tri-counties area encompassing South Surrey, East Hampshire and West Sussex within hours. With our instant remote computer support technology we could potentially connect to your computer directly from our office and carry out any work remotely.

Following are details of the laptop, personal computer and peripheral device services we provide:

Computer Health Checks

As time goes by, your computer's performance can start to suffer as lots of different programs and web content fill up its working areas, and every so often, they need a good clear-out. It is just like servicing a car, and can greatly improve the efficiency and life span of the computer. Our comprehensive laptop and personal computer health checks include:

Physical check and service :
Computer components are designed to operate within certain temperature ranges. Some components, such as hard disk drives and processors (CPU) can generate a lot of heat and excessive heat build-up can cause components to perform sub-optimally or even fail completely. In order to prevent this, fans drawn cool air in through the front and/or sidesof the computer. This air flowing over the internal components absorbs heat from the components with the aid of heat sinks, which work much like a radiator in a car by offering a large surface area over which the transfer of energy can take place. Fans then expel the warm air out of the back of the system. Over time, dust carried in by the air will build up in the fans, heat sinks and components themselves and, when this build-up becomes excessive, the system will over-heat.
We will carry out a physical check and service of your computer: checking the operation of all fans; cleaning dust clogged fans, heat sinks and components; check that nothing is impeding the flow of air through the system; tidy up loose cables and wires that can interfere with the moving parts.
Hard Disk Maintenance :

Hard Disk Drive Cleanup: All operating systems work best when there is at least 20% free space on the system drive. Many files stored on the hard disk are temporary files that are cache but programs, such as your web browser, so that it is quicker to load the next time you use it. However, over time, the volume of the cached data can become very large.

Hard Disk Defragmentation: Over time your hard drive can become disorganised with some files split into several chunks and stored in different locations on the disc. This is call fragmentation and can cause delays in accessing files as the hard drive head that reads the data has to move to multiple locations on the disk platters in order to retrieve a complete file.

We will perform and analysis of the data stored on your hard drive and clean up this cached data to free up valuable disk space. If the clean-up still does not create sufficient free space will will advise you on alternate options, such as archiving data off to CD/DVD or installing addditional hard disks and assist you with the implementation.We will also perform a defragmentation if required. Defragging will shuffle the data around to store it more efficiently and improve access times.

Memory Management:
Every application running on your computer needs acces to short term memory or RAM. Because there is a finite amount of RAM installed on any computer, it is important to manage limit the number of applications running where possible. Some applications are set to run automatically when your computer starts other will only start running when you open them.
Since Windows 95, Windows-based operating systems have used a special file that acts as a sort of "scratch pad" to store modified pages that are still in use by some process. This file is called a paging files and is stored on the computers hard disk. In simplistic terms, the page file is used by Windows to hold temporary data which is swapped in and out of physical memory in order to provide a larger virtual memory set.
We will assess the applications running on your computer and the size and location of your paging file and make any configuration changes required to optimise performance. Where additional memory may be required we can assist you in procuring and installing the RAM.
Driver and firmware updates:
A device driver is code that an operating system uses to control disk devices, display adapters, input devices such as a mouse or trackball, modems, fax machines, printers, and other hardware.
Firmware is computer code that's built in to a computer component and the component how to operate.
As operating system providers and hardware manufacturers continue to develop their products they rewrite drivers and firmware in order to fix bugs and improve performance.
We will audit you computer's drivers and firmware and install updates where neccessary.
Virus and Spyware Removal
We will scan your PC for all known malware and remove any infections. See details of our Virus and Spyware Protection and Removal Service below
Power management:
Business computers are usually running for many hours each day, some may even be left running permanently. All components have a limited life span, usually measured in the number of hours that they are actaully running. If your power options are not correctly configured then your components may still be running, even the computer is not even in use.
We can configure your power management options to turn off various components when the computer has been idle for a pre-defined period of time, or even put the entire computer into hibernation. Not only will this extend the life of your components, it will also save energy.

Laptop and Computer Repairs and Hardware Upgrades

We offer all hardware diagnostics, repair and component replacement services for desktop PCs and laptops. Computer components can be relatively cheap to buy and are generally readily available and, therefore, the easy option is often to simply replace a faulty or poorly performing part. However, this is not always the best option, especially on older, devalued systems as the component can be worth more than the sytem itself. Additionally, older systems may not be able to support more recent hardware technologies and spending money on these systems may provide only short term solutions. Our experienced engineers will diagnose any hardware issues and provide an objective assessment of your options, in plain English, and the associated costs; empowering you to make the decision that suits you best.

Operating System and Software Installation, Upgrades and Repairs

Our Microsoft Certified Professional System Engineers are able to install, configure and repair all Microsoft Windows desktop operating systems including Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista. We are also able to help you with the installation and repair of all Microsoft and third party applications and software that are compatible with these operating systems.

It is oftem possible and relatively cheap to upgrade to a newer version of the Windows operating system. Operating system upgrade offer many advantages, including improved security, performance gains, improved and additional functionality, better usablilty etc. Operating systems do, however, need to run on compatible hardware and the software that you wish to use on the computer must be able to run on the new operating system. For these reasons, installing a new operating system or upgrading an existing one can be tricking. We will perform a comprehensive compatibilty check of your hardware and software and advise you on any upgrade costs before proceeding with your operating system upgrade.

Virus and Spyware Protection and Removal

Computer viruses are small software programs that are designed to spread from one computer to another and to interfere with computer operation. A virus might corrupt or delete data on your computer, use your e-mail program to spread itself to other computers, or even erase everything on your hard disk. Other viruses make your computer's system behave erratically or crash frequently. Many people who have problems or frequent crashes using their computers do not realize that they have a virus and live with the inconveniences.

Spyware is computer software that is installed surreptitiously on a personal computer to intercept or take partial control over the user's interaction with the computer, without the user's informed consent. While the term spyware suggests software that secretly monitors the user's behavior, the functions of spyware extend well beyond simple monitoring. Spyware programs can collect various types of personal information, such as Internet surfing habits, sites that have been visited, but can also interfere with user control of the computer in other ways, such as installing additional software, and redirecting Web browser activity. Spyware is known to change computer settings, resulting in slow connection speeds, different home pages, and/or loss of Internet or functionality of other programs.

Removal of most viruses and spyware is possible with a reputable anti-spyware/anti-virus application but some are quite difficult to detect and remove (such as rootkits that are designed to hide the fact that the system has been compromised) once installed and require manual cleaning. No single antivirus/antispyware program that will successfully remove all malware once installed. For this reason we take a multi-layered approach to cleaning a system successfully; using several different software packages and techniques to achieve our goal.Once the system is completely clean we will install and configure a reputable ant-virus and anti-spyware application to prevent any further infections.

Setup of printers, scanners and other peripheral devices

Printers, scanner, fax machines and other devices can be directly attached to your PC. For these devices to work correctly three things are require: a method of communicating with the computer (direct cable connection of wireless), the correct device drivers (software that is installed on the computer that is used to ccontrol the device) and the correct configuration of the device itself. While the setup of many modern devices is fairly simple in can become a lot more complexed when you have incompatible harware, the incorrect drivers, or communication problems between the computer and the device. We will assist you with the setup of all printers, scanners, fax machines and other peripheral devices attached to your computer. This services includes physical or wireless connection, device configuration and device driver installation.