Wipe and Reload

In the day to day course of using your computer, it slowly fills up with junk that slows it down. Often what begins as mildly annoying becomes unbearable when you pick up some sort of unwanted advertising plug-in that hijacks your browser and starts directing you to unsavory websites or bombarding you with warnings about imminent failures or disasters.

When this happens, you have got a few things to weigh up, and it is time to give me a call. If the computer is two or three years old, a wipe and reload is almost certainly the way to go. If it is five years old, you should replace it. Between three and four years, it becomes a budget issue. If money is tight, wipe and reload, if the budget allows, get a new one.

Replace or upgrade?

Each year fewer and fewer upgrades are being done. Sadly, it is a throw away world and the computer industry seems to specialize in planned obsolescence. Laptops are virtually non-upgradeable these days, but desktops can often be kept useful for another year or two.

Often the best way to get a machine back to peak condition is to back it up, wipe the hard drive and reload everything. We do a lot of this! 

Experience makes the difference

When I first got into the computer business, most of my clients were buying their first computer. You don't see much of that these days, but I still find people who have never owned the right computer for their needs.

Buy the right computer

If you spend a lot of time in front of a screen, spend more money on your next computer. You will either get more done in the day, or have more time for something else. Productivity improves as computer speed increases. More importantly, we all work better when our patience is not being constantly tested by unresponsive machines.

John Crawford builds, services and repairs computers

Dig​ital System Support Services

Desktop or Notebook?

A desktop computer gives you more bang for your buck, without a doubt, but you obviously can't take it anywhere with you.
Notebooks are less powerful and less responsive, but that is the trade off for portability. If you spend less than two hours a day at your computer, a laptop will probably be fine. If you do technical or graphic / visual work, or if there will be more than one user, get a desktop.