First, you need to ask some basic questions to yourself and whoever is selling the machine:

• Is it a fair price? Feel free to call us up and tell us the PC specifications and we will tell you if it's a fair price!
• Does it have a fresh install of Windows? If not, it likely will be slower than it could be and will also likely have malware or viruses on it.
• Does it have a good antivirus and firewall with plenty of license time left? If not, you will have to get one! If you're unprotected, it only takes an average of 4 minutes to become infected while online.
• Is the PC motherboard in good condition? What's the most common major failure of PCs today? Bad motherboards. What's the most common reason for a bad motherboard? Bad capacitors. Do you know how to look for bad capacitors? Capacitors are the most common failure on PC motherboards, and if some are going bad (which are easy to see) then the system will be unstable and lockup; if not immediately then soon.
• If it has a CDRW drive, then has the burner been tested? Even if the drive will Read CDs, that does NOT mean it will Write CDs. If it hasn't been tested recently, you can't tell.
• How big is the hard drive? This is important to ask because it indicates the age of the drive. If it's less than 20GB, it's more likely to fail because those drives are quite old. Often drives do not fail completely. They begin to get bad spots, or sectors, which will cause data loss and system crashes. This is also often the cause of a PC being unable to fully boot up, failing with an error message.
• Is a good warranty offered? If they don't offer at least a 30day warranty, I would not recommend buying it.

Get more than one phone number to reach the seller at. If they don't have more than one number, think twice about buying it, especially if that one number is a cell phone because it's too likely that the number will change in the near future.

The most important thing is to know how much they charge for their services ahead of time. Do they charge a flat-rate, or is it hourly. If it's hourly, when does the clock start? These small details are important considerations in making sure you don't pay too much.

Most technicians like to charge hourly fees, while most people like to pay flat-rates. That's not a big deal, except that it lets the technician sneak in an extra hour if you're not careful. If the bill seems high, QUESTION IT!!! The Tech may have a legitimate reason for the high fees, but more than likely they do not.

Don't pay for overpriced parts. I've seen some of my competitors bills, and my jaw dropped open when I did. The Tech had charged a 300% markup on parts, and exorbitant rates for his time. And what was really bad was that those parts SHOULD HAVE BEEN UNDER WARRANTY! You have the right to question your bill. Use it if the bill seems too high. Below I've provided some information you should find useful to help you ascertain if a bill is exorbitant.

Check the prices of any parts quoted at newegg.com. If the tech obtains and installs the parts, expect to pay twice the prices you see there which should include the tech's labor fees.

• Viruses/Trojans/Spyware Removal: This can take 2 or 3 hours. Don't pay for more than that. Only an incompetent tech would take longer. Our rate: $100
• Hard Drive Installation/Upgrade: This only takes 1 hour to install and transfer all the data. Our rate: $50 plus the Hard Drive, often $60 to $150 depending upon size.
• Motherboard Repair/Replacement: Most techs will charge an arm and a leg to do this, but it's usually easy if you know what you're doing. Billable time is 1 hour in many cases. Sometimes you can expect 2 hours, but no more than that. As for the cost of the motherboard, expect to be charged $80 to $150 for a PC a few years old. Our rate: $50-$100 plus the motherboard, often $80.
• CD / DVD drive replacement: The drive will be no more than $40. It takes less than an hour. Our rate: $50 plus the $30 to $40 drive.
• Boot Failure Errors: This depends upon the reason of the boot failure. The most common is a hard drive having some sectors that have gone bad, and will only take 1 hr to fix. Our rate: $50.
• Data Recovery: If you lost data due to some accidental event, or a Hard Drive failure, the recovery can either be easy or very difficult. If it was due to an accidental deletion and was very recent, the recovery could take 1 to 2 hours. If it was due to a Hard Drive failure, it depends upon the extent of the failure. If the failure due to some sectors going bad, then expect 1 to 2 hours. If it was due to the drive's internal moving components physically failing, or a head collision with the platters, the data may not be recoverable by any tech. To give it a try could take an hour. Our rate: $50-$100.
• Data Backup System: Most people only need an external drive and some software properly setup to make this work reliably. Our rate: $50 plus the external drive.
• Reinstallation of Windows: Windows takes about 1 hour to install it and all the drivers. The tech should ask if you want security software or other tools or software installed as well. Our rate: $50 for Windows and $50 for our standard suite of software which takes over an hour of additional time to install.

We hope this helps you avoid getting ripped off in the future by unscrupulous people and PC technicians. There's no reason owning a PC has to be expensive. With the right tools and the right technician, your PC will run smoothly and quickly. I appreciate the time you took to read this. If you have any other questions or comments, please don't hesitate to call or use the contact us form.

Thank you,
Excessive Computing

 

I'll start with the basics. If you have been around PCs at all, you have heard of RAM, CPU or Processors, Hard Drives, Motherboards, Front Side Bus, etc. I'll attempt to explain these items simply with illustrations of an office environment.

• The Processor a.k.a. CPU - Think of this as your workmates in an office. The more people there are, the faster you can get work done, to an extent. I say to an extent because if there are too many people and not enough hallways, desk space, or storage, everything gets congested and will actually slow you down.
• RAM - RAM is your desk space. The more desk space you have, the more projects you can work on at a time. This helps you because if you had to go to the filing cabinet to store one project so you could get another one out to work on it, it slows you down. The filing cabinets are farther away than your desk, and you have to find things in the filing cabinets which also slows you down. If you have a big desk, you can keep multiple files open and work on multiple project simultaneously. RAM is your PC's "desk space". With more ram, your PC can have more programs and projects open at the same time without having to go the the "filing cabinets".
• Hard Drive - This is your "Filing Cabinet", your permanent storage. You keep all of your project data and all of your work in a filing cabinet. This is what a hard drive is. It takes time to go to the filing cabinet and search for a file to remove it or put it back, and you can't work on projects when they are in the cabinet, that's what your desk space, or RAM is for.
• Front Side Bus - You don't hear this one quite so often, but it's still mentioned. Think of the Front Side Bus as your office's hallways. If your hallways are too small and you have lots of employees, you can't effectively get projects to and from the filing cabinets to your desk space. So, if the front side bus is too slow, your workers (the CPU) cannot get data fast enough from the filing cabinets (Hard Drive) to the desk space (RAM).
• Motherboard - This is like the actual office building and includes your managers. It is the physical structure that connects everything together in your company, such as the workers, filing cabinets, desks, etc. and houses the managers who control and schedule the transfer of data around, in, and out of the office. Data in and out of the office refer to user input and output: your keyboard, mouse, and monitor, and can be compared to the incoming and outgoing mail.
• North Bridge / South Bridge - Seldom heard by non-geeks, but included anyway. These are your managers. The North Bridge is your General Manager, and the South bridge is your Assistant Manager. They help control the flow of data around the office to the desks, filing cabinets, and mail.

I could go on, but I'm going to stop here. If you notice any discrepancies, or something outright wrong, let me know. Thanks!

Again I'll start with the basics, and in case you didn't read the PC as an Office above, I'll repeat the intro as well: If you have been around PCs at all, you have heard of RAM, CPU or Processors, Hard Drives, Motherboards, Front Side Bus, etc. I'll attempt to explain these items simply with illustrations of an automobile.

• The Processor a.k.a. CPU - Think of this as your engine. The more horsepower an engine generates, the faster you can go, to an extent. Why to an extent? Because without the proper components being used in conjunction with that engine, it becomes nothing more than a big gas guzzler that can spin tires and not get anywhere. So the Processor of a PC is it's engine.
• RAM - RAM is your carburetor/fuel injection system and air intake. The more fuel and air you dump into the cylinders, the more horsepower an engine can generate. Adding RAM is like adding a 4-barrel carb and camming up the engine or adding an air ram or blower. You can get more out of an engine by doing those things, just like you can do more at the same time with a PC that has plenty of RAM.
• Hard Drive - This is your gas tank. It's the storage for your fuel. Think of a computer's fuel as the programs and data you work with.
• Front Side Bus - You don't hear this one quite so often, but it's still mentioned. Think of the Front Side Bus as your car's fuel pump, fuel lines and intake ports. If the fuel lines are too small, fuel pump is weak, or intake ports are too small, it bottlenecks the fuel delivery system which prevents you from getting the most out of the engine. If a PC's front side bus isn't fast enough, the engine (Processor) cannot generate as much HP (like a Processor doing nothing while waiting for instructions) because it can't get the fuel and air (data and programs) into it fast enough.
• Motherboard - This is like the car frame and running gear, and includes the ECM. The Motherboard connects all of the other systems together and contains the ECM which, in modern cars, controls the flow of fuel (data) in the car.
• North Bridge / South Bridge - Seldom heard by non-geeks, but included anyway. These are your ECM. they help control the flow of fuel (data) around the car (PC).

Well, that's pretty much where I'm going to stop with the car analogy. If you notice any discrepancies, or something outright wrong, let me know. Thanks!

That may sound confusing, but it isn't. Many people want a fast computer - who doesn't. However, some blame their PC for being slow when it's not their PC, but their internet connection. Technicians often have to explain to some people that their PC isn't slow, but their internet is, or vice versa, which is very difficult to explain to many people, so at here at Excessive Computing, we explain it using an illustration: The Highways and your vehicle.
Say what? Well, think of your PC as a car on the highway, and think of your internet connection as the highways, interstates, and city roads. Now, assume you want to drive fast, what two things do you need? 1) A vehicle that can go fast. 2) An un-crowded interstate.

Without a powerful car, you can go fast, but it takes you a while to get there, and on up-hills you will slow down. This is like a computer that is lacking in Processing power and/or RAM. When loading your browser, or plug-ins like flash for internet games or videos, the PC may be slow, but once loaded can work just fine. Then you may try to watch a high definition streaming video, which will tax your PC, and even if your internet connection is fast, the video will jump because the PC cannot deal with decoding the video, sort of like how an under-powered car slows down when going up hills.

Conversely, when you have a powerful car on a city street, you can't go fast because the streets are crowded and small and usually poor quality. The same facts exist with your PC connecting to the internet with Dial-up or ISDN: you're on city streets. If you have DSL or Cable Modem, you are on the Highways or Interstates, depending upon the level of service you subscribe to.

So what do you need to take from this? Basically that you need a "decent" PC and a "decent" internet connection. These days, a "decent" PC is one that runs Windows XP, has a Pentium 4 or AMD XP Processor and 512MB of RAM, or if you have Vista, you need at least a Intel Core2 or AMD Dual Core and 2GB RAM. A "decent" internet connection is DSL Lite or Roadrunner Lite (a DSL or cable modem connection) or a WiFi connection to one of those, or a connection to a Cellular 3G network. Of course, being better in any of those areas never hurts.

What if I have that and my PC or internet is still slow? Well, most likely you have some problems such as viruses, ad-ware, unnecessary programming running, or configuration errors of some sort, and I highly recommend you give us a call; our bill will certainly cost lots less than a new PC.

Who doesn't? And that, my friend, is the crux of the problem. How many websites are there? How many results are there on the 1st page? So you now understand why it's virtually impossible for a small company to get top results with a generic search phrase.

That said, you can get on the first page of a search result if the search phrase is unique, or you have a unique company name. Also, it is possible to increase your "Page Ranking" (which is where your website gets put on a search result) by having a knowledgeable web designer spend at least a couple of hours working on promotion of your site. But if you want front page results on generic search terms, be prepared to spend a lot of time and money on your site - and even then results aren't guaranteed and aren't permanent. It takes constant work, there is NO quick fix.

You can however bypass the entire issue by setting up online advertising campaigns, which is probably a lot cheaper than other methods. However, do NOT be fooled: those SEOs (Search Engine Optimization) sites are NOT worth the money you pay them. Also do not be fooled: "Opt-In eMail campaigns are still SPAM!" Why? Because there are almost NO legitimate opt-in email lists. Most are fake or have no way to opt-out or are where people were fooled into opting-in. The only email campaigns you can run without them being spam are to customers who have recently purchased from you.