Lately I've had several customers ask me about how to learn to use a computer. I cannot blame them, it comes natural for some people but for others, it's hard! I thought about posting some kind of program that can help the people that speak no geek at all, but I just don't think its a good idea. I went on line and found some of the basic computer tips and how to start using Windows without having to go to night classes and all. Here are some of the great pages I found. I hope you find them useful.
I found this website that's great for seniors: http://www.seniorsguidetocomputers.com/basics.asp
This next website helps you understand and use Windows XP with easy to read and to the point information that will make learning this operating system simple.http://www.karbosguide.com/books/winxpbeginner/chapter01.htm
This next website, in my opinion, is if not the best, one of the best to learn different operating systems, the web and Microsoft office suite: http://www.free-computer-tutorials.net/windows-xp-tutorials.html they have some of the essential downloads, by the way, here is the disclaimer, if you choose to download anything, you are solely responsible for your own actions and Geeks And Clicks, cannot and will not be held responsible for anything that happens to your computer or computers after you download any files, programs, applications and/or any software, in short, we do not support any program or software package, the information given in through my blog entries is just for information only.
If you go to youtube.com, you can find a great variety of video tutorials that can help you understand specific tasks and processes done by individuals interested in helping others. Here is one tutorial, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTKpNk3uHos
Please, remember you can email us with any suggestions, questions or comments. You can also check my blog periodically for new entries and don't forget to subscribe to it. You can find us at our physical location in our Phoenix location 2335 E. Indian School Rd. 85016 and call us at 602-722-7201
Until next time. Adios amigos!!!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
LCD Screen Tips
LCD screens are very fragile and easy to crack or even shatter. Replacing your LCD Screen is one of the most expensive repairs and one of the easiest to avoid. Time and time again I have customers in my shop with their screen smashed. Most of the time this happened because someone sat on the laptop and broke the screen or simply by not handling it properly. Remember what I always say, common sense goes a long way. Here are some of the tips that will help you keep your computer and the screen intact:
When you place your laptop in a bag or case, make sure your power cable is not sitting directly on top of screen. Make sure the cable (even if it is in a separate compartment) is facing to the bottom of the laptop. If you or anyone happen to sit on it, or if you bump it into the wall or simply press hard enough onto it, the screen will shatter.
When you are handling your laptop, never pick it up from the top cover, which is where the LCD screen is located. If you press it in the right spot, or with enough force, it will break easily.
Never set your laptop on a chair or sofa, if someone sits on it, chances are, the screen will break.
Always carry your laptop with both hands, if you drop it, the screen might break and potentially even the hard drive might be damaged.
Don't pile stuff over the laptop or laptop case. The pressure might damage your screen.
Again, common sense will help a lot. There are a ton of different scenarios I can describe, bottom line, if you are aware of what can happen if you are not careful, then this tip will save you $$$.
We at Geeks & Clicks will replace your LCD screen in case it breaks, go to our shop if you need a computer repaired, call us or send us an email for any suggestions or comments on these tips, if they help you, let your friends know so they can follow it and save cash. Our address is 2335 E. Indian School Rd. Phoenix. SW corner of Indian School Rd. & 24th Street. Phone number is (602) 722-7201. Hablamos Español
When you place your laptop in a bag or case, make sure your power cable is not sitting directly on top of screen. Make sure the cable (even if it is in a separate compartment) is facing to the bottom of the laptop. If you or anyone happen to sit on it, or if you bump it into the wall or simply press hard enough onto it, the screen will shatter.
When you are handling your laptop, never pick it up from the top cover, which is where the LCD screen is located. If you press it in the right spot, or with enough force, it will break easily.
Never set your laptop on a chair or sofa, if someone sits on it, chances are, the screen will break.
Always carry your laptop with both hands, if you drop it, the screen might break and potentially even the hard drive might be damaged.
Don't pile stuff over the laptop or laptop case. The pressure might damage your screen.
Again, common sense will help a lot. There are a ton of different scenarios I can describe, bottom line, if you are aware of what can happen if you are not careful, then this tip will save you $$$.
We at Geeks & Clicks will replace your LCD screen in case it breaks, go to our shop if you need a computer repaired, call us or send us an email for any suggestions or comments on these tips, if they help you, let your friends know so they can follow it and save cash. Our address is 2335 E. Indian School Rd. Phoenix. SW corner of Indian School Rd. & 24th Street. Phone number is (602) 722-7201. Hablamos Español
Monday, January 23, 2012
Which Brand of Computer Should I Buy, DELL, HP, Compaq, Toshiba?
Lately I've been getting all kinds of questions on which computers/laptop brands are better and more reliable. Unless you are a business, you mostly need your computer for email, internet browsing, pictures and video storage and to edit or create documents. Based on my experience with repairing, using and supporting computers for the last several years, I've noticed that (in my opinion), HP and Compaq computers and laptops are the worst of the worst. I would never buy one, I would never rely on one or even use one if I have a choice, and I do. Toshiba and Dell seem to be 2 of the best. Toshiba laptops are well made and they are durable, they usually have everything you need and then some; DELL computers and laptops are also strong and all the capabilities most of us use are embedded in the system, hardware and software wise. HP and Compaq both have known issues with the cooling system, CPU (main microprocessor) and GPU (graphic processing unit or video chip). The poor design and inferior heat sinks make these 2 brands, which merged a while back, the worst in the market. I talk to a lot of my techie friends and they all agree they would never own one of those computers, they look cool and all but they're worthless.
Some say APPLE laptops or computers are better but, they are very expensive. Sure, they don't have a registry therefore, they have far less issues getting infected with viruses but in the long run, people that tend to purchase these cool systems usually get back to the basics and cannot get away from the Windows based computers. Software compatibility and price make it almost impossible to compete against a cheap, well built system that will do everything an apple does and more.
My opinion and my opinion only, based on experience, is what moves me, I'm not motivated by greed or monetary compensation from anyone. Weather or not you want to believe me, is up to you. All I want is to answer some of the questions my customers have for me on a daily basis and, if they help you save money in the long run, then great. If not, well, it's OK too.
I own Geeks & Clicks and you can find us in Phoenix, Arizona near the Biltmore area at 2335 E. Indian School Rd. and our phone number is 602-722-7201. Feel free to send me an email by clicking HERE.
Until next time friends.
Some say APPLE laptops or computers are better but, they are very expensive. Sure, they don't have a registry therefore, they have far less issues getting infected with viruses but in the long run, people that tend to purchase these cool systems usually get back to the basics and cannot get away from the Windows based computers. Software compatibility and price make it almost impossible to compete against a cheap, well built system that will do everything an apple does and more.
My opinion and my opinion only, based on experience, is what moves me, I'm not motivated by greed or monetary compensation from anyone. Weather or not you want to believe me, is up to you. All I want is to answer some of the questions my customers have for me on a daily basis and, if they help you save money in the long run, then great. If not, well, it's OK too.
I own Geeks & Clicks and you can find us in Phoenix, Arizona near the Biltmore area at 2335 E. Indian School Rd. and our phone number is 602-722-7201. Feel free to send me an email by clicking HERE.
Until next time friends.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Backup, backup, backup. Don't wait until its too late!
Several times a week I see customers freaking out and ready to scream because their computer crashed and they never backed up their pictures, word documents, PDF files, music, video, etc. Almost all of them say the same thing "I wanted to save my data from my computer for such a long time and never did, can you help me?" Sometimes we are able to recover most of the data but other times, the customer loses everything in the hard drive. Its very easy to avoid being in this very hard situation. External hard drives are very inexpensive and easy to buy. I remember buying a, listen to this, 30 GB hard drive (holly cow!) for about $200 just a few years ago. Those days are long gone and prices have come down so much that you can buy a 250GB HD for about $50. Fry's Electronics has a 500GB HD for $69 Here's the link: http://www.frys.com/product/6816566?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG. There are more hard drives out there and prices will vary depending on specials and local deals. Just do yourself a favor, don't buy them used.
Depending on how important your data is, the more careful you have to be. If you own a business and you cannot afford to lose all your financial, personal and customer's information, then backup your backup! What I mean by that is, if you backup your data weekly, save that on a second hard drive, so you'll end up saving it 2 to 3 times. One way to backup data is by copying specific folders to your external hard drive but, if you must full proof your data, there are better ways to do it, using the backup utility on Windows 7, for example, or doing the following: Install a second hard drive on your desktop computer and save your backups there, buy 2 external hard drives and copy all your important documents to both with an identical folder name and keep 1 of those hard drives away from your home or office (I would lock it in a safe off site) and copy new data to those hard drives weekly, biweekly, or monthly. This way, you won't lose your precious data that can potentially cost you thousands of dollars if you had to send it to a data forensic expert. Not at Geeks and Clicks, we never charge more than $75.00 for labor. One of the services we offer is data recovery, we can save your data in case your operating system crashes, we can reload your Windows OS and restore the data back for only, $75.00 WOW!!!
Alright friends, keep reading my blog and hopefully you can benefit from these tips. Share them with your friends and family members.
COME FRUTAS Y VERDURAS.
Depending on how important your data is, the more careful you have to be. If you own a business and you cannot afford to lose all your financial, personal and customer's information, then backup your backup! What I mean by that is, if you backup your data weekly, save that on a second hard drive, so you'll end up saving it 2 to 3 times. One way to backup data is by copying specific folders to your external hard drive but, if you must full proof your data, there are better ways to do it, using the backup utility on Windows 7, for example, or doing the following: Install a second hard drive on your desktop computer and save your backups there, buy 2 external hard drives and copy all your important documents to both with an identical folder name and keep 1 of those hard drives away from your home or office (I would lock it in a safe off site) and copy new data to those hard drives weekly, biweekly, or monthly. This way, you won't lose your precious data that can potentially cost you thousands of dollars if you had to send it to a data forensic expert. Not at Geeks and Clicks, we never charge more than $75.00 for labor. One of the services we offer is data recovery, we can save your data in case your operating system crashes, we can reload your Windows OS and restore the data back for only, $75.00 WOW!!!
Alright friends, keep reading my blog and hopefully you can benefit from these tips. Share them with your friends and family members.
COME FRUTAS Y VERDURAS.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Tune up your Laptop/computer or suffer the consequences.
I constantly mention to my customers that even though our computers and laptops have moving parts, heat sinks, and modules that need maintenance, we never think of tuning them up. A basic and simple tune-up will extend the life of your computer and save you money. It helps with your cooling system and ensures you are using your resources within Windows, properly. Windows is getting “too smart”, it is designed to help manage the computer resources for you and that can cause memory to be misused and saturated with programs running in the background without you noticing, even if you don’t need them running all the time, that’s why, one of the best tips I can give you is tune-up your computer. The tune-up brings me to an excellent point, “don’t keep your computer running 24/7”. By doing so, you are overworking your computer and hence creating heat that will potentially damage it. Heat is produced by the flow of electricity in the components of your PCs and laptops, if you keep it running, your fans are usually the first to go out and not having the air flow to cool down your CPU (microprocessor) and GPU (your video processor) will literally burn your system. I know there are technicians that specifically will tell you to never turn them off because you need to give your computer time to update Windows and your antivirus; well… they are the ones benefiting from your computer breaking down and charging you premium dollars to fix what could have been avoided easily in the first place. Listen, I am a tech too, and I have no problem telling you to avoid overheating and losing your devices for not following very simple steps. It might sound like I can lose money by telling by saving you cash but, in reality, if you follow my tips, you will save money but you will always refer your true friends to me and that’s the difference between making a few bucks today and making customers for life!
If you don’t tune up your computers, at the very least, buy a can of compressed air and clean up your computers “very carefully” making sure to never touch anything inside that might damage your system. You only want to blow air into the case to take all the dust and dust bunnies out of you case. Never, ever, ever, wipe your electronic components, never, bad idea. According to http://www.static-sol.com/articles/static_shocks.htm in their article, “Why do I get shocks when I touch the door knob or filing cabinet?” “The charge on the shoes soles induces static electrical charge on your body, and this charge appears as a high voltage. Under severe conditions, more than 15,000 Volts have been recorded. It is quite common to experience 5,000V. In fact, many people do not feel a shock from a static electricity discharge less than about 2,000-4,000V.” Your computer runs on very low electrical voltage, anywhere from less than 2 volts to 12 volts only, imagine what it would happen if you touch your computer components and you are charged with 2K to 4K volts, you’ll burn it! A little common sense will take you very far and prevent you from having to buy another computer.
Bottom line is, we, at Geeks & Clicks, will do a professional tune-up for only $50 to keep it running properly and avoid overheating. Check out our website, for available services and location.
Monday, December 26, 2011
This is my first blog... Here we go!
Who are we, what we do and what we are all about.
The reason I wanted to start this blog is to let all my existing and potential customers the way they can save on computer repairs. I own Geeks & Clicks, www.GeeksAndClicks.com. We specialize in repairing laptops and computers of any kind. We tell you what is cost effective and we save you money. I sometimes suggest my customers NOT to fix their computers if the price is too high but that almost never happens. Prices? We never charge you more than $75 for labor. Service? I brag about our customer service, we won't talk to you in terms you and my parents will never understand. We are located in the heart of the Biltmore area: 2335 East Indian School Rd. in Phoenix. In the SW corner of Indian School Rd. and 24th street. If you bring your computer early in the morning, there is a very good possibility it will be fixed the very same day. Our hours? 10:00am - 6:00pm Mon-Sat. Diagnostics are completely free. Our phone number? 602-722-7201.
OK, enough for the first day. I will try to blog as much as I can to give you the best computer repair tips to keep your computers up to par and running like new. You can send me an email by filling up a form in my website, the address is HERE. And you can go to the services page on our website to see what $75 gets you in this economy. Check my website out... I will save you money.
Today's tip:
You must use an antivirus program. Walmart offers, in my opinion, one of the best and most affordable antivirus apps in the market for home use based on my customer's experience with this application. I believe they sell a 3 PC license for 2 years for less than $50. Check some of the reviews by clicking on this link: http://reviews.walmart.com/1336/15120629/channel-sources-defender-pro-15-in-1-2010-reviews/reviews.htm
The reason I wanted to start this blog is to let all my existing and potential customers the way they can save on computer repairs. I own Geeks & Clicks, www.GeeksAndClicks.com. We specialize in repairing laptops and computers of any kind. We tell you what is cost effective and we save you money. I sometimes suggest my customers NOT to fix their computers if the price is too high but that almost never happens. Prices? We never charge you more than $75 for labor. Service? I brag about our customer service, we won't talk to you in terms you and my parents will never understand. We are located in the heart of the Biltmore area: 2335 East Indian School Rd. in Phoenix. In the SW corner of Indian School Rd. and 24th street. If you bring your computer early in the morning, there is a very good possibility it will be fixed the very same day. Our hours? 10:00am - 6:00pm Mon-Sat. Diagnostics are completely free. Our phone number? 602-722-7201.
OK, enough for the first day. I will try to blog as much as I can to give you the best computer repair tips to keep your computers up to par and running like new. You can send me an email by filling up a form in my website, the address is HERE. And you can go to the services page on our website to see what $75 gets you in this economy. Check my website out... I will save you money.
Today's tip:
You must use an antivirus program. Walmart offers, in my opinion, one of the best and most affordable antivirus apps in the market for home use based on my customer's experience with this application. I believe they sell a 3 PC license for 2 years for less than $50. Check some of the reviews by clicking on this link: http://reviews.walmart.com/1336/15120629/channel-sources-defender-pro-15-in-1-2010-reviews/reviews.htm
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