Mac, PC, Desktop, Notebook help!

This is Laptop Repair Glasgow, we fix, service and upgrade all types of computers. Mac, PC, desktop, Windows, notebooks, netbooks, laptops you name it we fix it!  We do not sell computers, there is no money in this we leave that up to the big box retailers like PC World and Dell.  The only problem big names like that have is the level of customer service and technical support.  This is where we come in.  With a dedicated team of technical engineers in Glasgow we pride ourselves on getting your IT problems fixed first time and for a price you’ll like.  Get in touch for a quote.

Remote computer :wp: support is quite a unique idea within the personal computer and laptop service business. A lot of computer businesses are now making their whole business around serving end users remotely.
There are numerous advantages for a business owner to offer remote pc repair they become quite obvious when working underneath the remote computer repair model.
Along with positive aspects there are also shortcomings and some obstacles I would like to explore with a little more detail.
First of all if you are offering remote computer support you can pretty much guarantee there’s a cost saving linked to not having to travel to the business or people place of work/home to solve their desktop computer. This is actually a advantage to both organization and the user. No fuel to be charged indicates cheaper bills all round.
Second of all there is the quick response time of remote pc repair. Your client’s laptop computer is usually repaired just by calling the remote computer repair company and within minutes you will have a pc technician remotely connected to your PC/Desktop/Laptop/Tablet dealing with your current IT help query.
Now both of these points We’ve summarised previously mentioned are usually good things about remote computer support. There can also be a few drawbacks to repairing a computer remotely.
Hardware failures happen in laptops and these can’t be fixed remotely. This generally is a problem for both the client and the computer repair business. The client will likely need to pay for a call out charge linked to the laptop/computer repair technician coming on location to swap out the defective component. The repair business will have to book time and a technician to visit on-site and perform the exchange out of existing defective components. There is also the chance that the repair service may require more than a single visit. The first to ascertain exactly what computer system component has went defective. This may be anything from

This not surprisingly isn’t a comprehensive list. If you’re fortunate enough the remote computer support business will have knowledgeable technicians that will be in a position to recognize the hardware fault prior to visiting, yet not in every case.

Another disadvantage to remote computer repair services is virus and spy ware infections. Usually when a virus takes hold on a computer system the net is blocked or perhaps the data transfer is utilized by the malware. In this example the pc professional may not be able to connect to your pc to offer you remote computer repair. There are in fact several straightforward techniques round this difficulty such as starting up your pc up in safe mode with networking turned on. And then launching the remote pc repair program. This approach usually gets round the trojan until such time that the Laptop/Computer technician has preformed the required actions to clean your personal computer of the infection.

Remote Computer Support Programs

So you might be reading this article and operate an IT service business well over the years most of us here have been offering all types of remote computer repair and have made use of numerous remote viewing utilities for connecting to client machines to offer IT assistance. Below is a number of some of the software products we’ve used with some comments of our own experiences.

Teamview: Excellent program with easy to download software. Offers the added advantage you can do a remote reboot in to safe mode A+

Goto Assist: this software program was developed by the big corporate brand Citrix around their own technology. A tad cumbersome to install but it really comes with the added advantage of “install as service” which will performs magic if you’re trying to perform admin tasks on domain work station.

GFI Managment: This is a jack of all as well as the remote assistance section of the package is in fact simply team viewer. Hats off to GFI though – easy way retain clients and easily get connected to their machines using the GFI dash panel

Join ME: Only just stared using this webapp. Seems to be quite advanced and such a little client software application. Great looking web site.

VNC: This is old school, used this in the past before any of the above remote computer repair software companies. Cannot fault it but I think the others above provide far more than what this does currently.

Conclusion: The above remote computer repair systems have got excellent features. I would not write any of these out. They almost all their very own minimal hickups but you’re always going to get that whenever connecting online to your clients.

Be a part of our community forum to ask any questions you might have about Remote Computer Support and where to begin.

I was round at a friend’s house last night and he was having difficulty connecting his girlfriends iPod up to their wireless network.

Anyway he asked me if I could take a look and try and get it up and running for them so she could sync her music on her iPod touch with the dell desktop.  I was a bit confused as I did not even know you could sync your iPod wireless to your iTunes library on your computer.  Nevertheless I gave it a bash and tried to connect the iPod to their BT Homehub router.

Now this is a regular type of job and we are always setting up laptops and computers to wireless routers for residential and business customers around Glasgow however this particular job was a bit more complicated.

After checking the iPod had the correct WEP/WPA key programmed into it ( you can check the back of your home hub – this will give you the WEP or WPA key) we confirmed it was correct but the device still would not connect.

I logged into the router’s homepage via the Dell desktop’s browser, you can find the router’s homepage by opening up a command prompt and typing in ipconfig – the gateway address is the router homepage.

The router homepage on most residential broadband providers is usually 192.168.1.1 / 192.168.0.1 or something similar to this.  Once connected this gave me access to the security settings so I could check the wireless network key.  There was no key and no security to my dismay!

Turns out his Dad had tried to secure the router using MAC filtering and turned off the WPA key in the process.  Now MAC filtering is quite a secure way to stay secure but you have to program the MAC code of each device you want to connect to your router.

Indeed the iPod touch MAC key was programmed in but still no connection.  After some troubleshooting I managed to get everything back up and running for them.

Best tip I could give to readers of this blog is make sure your wireless router is secure.  If you live in a town or a city you’ll find that if your network is unsecure it may be open to attacks by people wanting to steal your internet connection.

In fact if the person really knows what they are doing they can latch onto your network and filter everything you do online.  Basically they can monitor what you are doing on facebook / online banking and the like.

These type of attacks are called man in the middle attacks as the attacker will usually have a computer or laptop set up in the vicinity of your wireless network.  They will then run a program on their wireless network that will spoof your router.  This means your computer thinks that their computer is the router and your computer will connect to their computer instead of your wireless router.

They can then run free software to record and filter every website you visit and what information you pass to that website in the form of emails / passwords/ login details.

This type of attack is easy so I do suggest you give us a cal if you are worried about someone gaining access to your PC.  The youtube video below demonstrates how easy it is if you have the correct software (free download)

One of the most common faults we see is broken or faulty laptop LCD screens.  Unfortunately you cannot repair a netbook/laptop screen you have to replace it with another screen.

Usually we replace our screens with high glossy brand new screens however we do sometimes have refurbished screens in stock and are happy to repair your laptop or netbook with a used screen instead.  This usually keeps the cost down – well aware of these difficult times we are always trying to give our customers the best laptop repair deals whilst still being able to operate a business.

You’ll find that most laptop screens come in one of three sizes.

15.4” inch screen – this is by far the most common laptop screen size.

15.6” inch screen – newer generations of laptops now are starting to come in these ultra wide formats.  15.6” inch screens usually are LED back light displays and are somewhat cheaper than the older type of screen.  However there are some models of laptop (particularly Dell) that incorporate a 15.6” screen but with the older generation of back light technology (CCFL)

17” inch screen – these are a lit bit rarer but the huge (desktop replacement) laptops usually have a bigger 17” screen in them.  You will pay more for a 17” screen however the actual repair/replacement cost remains the same for any size of screen for a laptop.

We do tend to charge somewhat less for netbook replacement screens – they usually come in 10-11” inches in size and well aware that netbooks are almost disposable we try and keep the cost or repairs down to make it worthwhile to get your netbook repaired.

You’d be surprised to know that laptop screen repairs / replacements are one of the easiest and most rewarding laptop repair jobs there are!  You see most screens are held in place by only a few screws all it takes is the required knowledge and experience to replace a laptop screen.  This of course comes at a price but the good news is that if you are thinking of getting our laptop screen repaired then the replacement process is usually pretty quick depending on the model of your laptop.

There are some laptops that are a real pain to fix though.  Particular models of Acer and Sony – almost the whole laptop has to come apart and hinges have to be dismantled before the old screen can be removed.  A real nightmare luckily our technicians have the relevant experience and we stock the service manuals for the majority of laptop manufacturers.

Most laptop makers (Sony. Dell, Toshiba, Acer, HP, Compaq, eMachines, Pacakrd Bell) have service manuals this allows our technicians to carry out laptop repairs with the correct process and replacement parts.  This is crucial to get the job done correctly as the last thing you want is some techie that thinks they know what they are doing but in actual fact have little or no experience in repairing laptop repairs.

If you have a cracked / smashed laptop screen or maybe it’s just stopped working give us a call today for a quote.

I am always getting clients computers and laptops in to my workshop with failed hard drives.  Now the hard drive is the part inside your computer that sores all your data.  This included files like pictures, music, word documents, spreadsheets, emails.  Just in case you did not read, PICTURES!  This is the number one type of data customers are worried about.

Now data recovery on these failed systems is possible.  We have a set of in house procedures to perform data recovery however it is not always possible with the equipment we have.  In these types of cases which average about 50% of all data recovery jobs the hard drive has to get sent to a specialist data recovery company that have hardware to perform advanced data recovery.  Now this hardware does not come cheap, many thousands of pounds.  These companies are in business for a reason so charge accordingly.

Before your hard drive even fails you should have a backup of your data, however everyone I know leads a busy life style (apart from the over 65’s, lucky sods!)

To the rescue comes a free service called Mozy.  You can sign up for this service on their website once signed up you can download and install a small software application that works in the background – a bit like your anti-virus.

The software starts backing up your computer or laptop and sends the data to your own personal account in the Mozy online cloud.  All your data is then backed up seamlessly to the Mozy servers.  Leaving you with no worries about your data.

Now a lot of IT techs have been talking about this service for a while and I have only just tried it myself – I must admit I like it.  There is a free option which is even better so you can try before you buy.  In fact you don’t even have to buy if you backup less than 2GB of data.  Once the 2GB limit has been broken you pay a small monthly fee.  I think it’s well worth the money and will be writing it off as a business expense in my next tax return.  Check it out.

Here at Laptop Repair Glasgow we often get calls with potential customer enquiring about computer repair.  Well you’ll be please to know that we do offer normal computer repair as well as laptop repair in Glasgow.  When we say computer we mean the standard desktop computer with a tower and a monitor.

You’ll usually find that repairing a computer is a little bit cheaper compared to repairing a laptop – the other good thing is that computers or desktop machines are also easier to fix that laptops so repair jobs are done pretty quick.  Computer parts are always dropping in price in fact at this time computer parts are at their cheapest ever.  You’ll find that you can buy a brand new computer for a pretty low price at around £600 you can get a superb system.  However as mentioned computer repair is a much cheaper option and may well be the best solution to your problem as you’ll not have to transfer over all our data/programs and software over to a brand new computer.  Oh and there’s the internet setup and printer setup so before you go buying a new computer remember it might be a lot less hassle to get your computer fixed and is by far the cheaper option.

A lot of people call computers PCs or Mac this terns are really short hand versions for “personal computer” and “apple Macintosh”  both of these types of systems do go faulty and can be fixed pretty cheaply here at Laptop Repair Glasgow.

We’re pretty much the PC Doctor’s of the Glasgow area dealing with all types of computer and laptop repairs as well as upgrades and support.  Most computer problems are software related however you’ll find that sometimes there is a hardware fault on your computer.

A pretty fun fact about faulty computers that we’ve come to learn at Laptop Repair Glasgow since we’ve been in business is that if you smoke your computer is more likely to become faulty quicker!

This is no joke we’ve seen so many desktop computer systems that stop working, usually a hard drive failure.  The customer brings the computer to us and we’ll open it up to find what looks like an ash tray combined with dust and a brown residue of tar.  Usually a bit of the ash gets inside the computer hard drive and as this builds up the hard drive becomes corrupt.  If you are going to smoke next to your computer please make sure you’ve got good ventilation in the room.  This is a top tip and we’re not trying to discriminate against smokers just trying to prolong the life of your computer.

Laptop Repair Glasgow is proud to offer data recovery services for business and residential customers in Glasgow.  Weather you’ve got a computer or laptop that is failing to start or a USB flash drive/memory card that is not cooperating we are here to help.

We specialise in a number of data recovery procedures recovering data from many different types of device including.

Server RAID arrays

Laptop systems

Desktops

Apple Mac computers

Flash drives

USB Hard Drives

Solid state memory cards (digital camera memory cards)

We have a two tier pricing structure for all our recovery services. Utilising specialist software tools we are able to carry out an analysis of your faulty data device and try to recovery the data from the operating system level.

If this procedure fails we move into a more specialist data recovery procedure using dedicated hardware tools to recovery those hard to get files.

The majority of data can be recovered include; emails, pictures, words documents, power point, excel, text documents, music, mp3s, itunes library, videos, password login credentials plus many more files.

Prior to proceeding with a data recovery procedure we will specify what files we can recover and with your cooperation identify the location and crucial files you require recovered.  This listed will be provided to you with a quote for recovery.  There is nothing to pay until you are happy to go ahead with the recovery.

In addition to recovering your data we will offer recommended backup solutions that will provide you peace of mind that a similar problem does not happen again in future.

We highly suggest you back up your important files at least once a week and use such free services as drop box which allows you to store your files online in the server cloud for free.  The other great thing about drop box is that you can access your files from anywhere and the drop box software just creates a folder on your desktop where you can save your files to.  These files are uploaded to the drop box servers and backed up leaving you with peace of mind.

One of many laptop computer repair issues is when the power port breaks down on a laptop. Sometimes these are referred to as Dc jack port, electricity connection or power socket. Most of these names refer to the primary power port on the notebook.
The laptop DC jack port may stop working for many reasons. Occasionally we get clients visiting us which declare that the laptop power port seems to have failed when in truth it really is the power charger and absolutely nothing to do with the computer itself.
The electric power jack breakdown is often due to the following causes:

Snapped off: the electricity cord has been aggressively ripped from the netbook.

Worn off: as time passes inserting and removing the power wire into the laptop wears down the notebook power jack port connection and the soldier joints may become loosened

Dropped the netbook: maybe you have dropped the laptop computer and the power jack has slipped in to itself.

These are only some of the explanations dc port might have failed. Thankfully nearly all Dc connections are extremely cheap to change, the cost of a new jack is only a couple of quid with regards to the model of netbook.

The main expense whenever fixing a Power port on the laptop is the time involved. The complete notebook computer is required to be stripped down and taken apart to access the main logic board which usually contains the notebook computer Dc jack port. This consists of typically between at least an hour to two hrs worth of work. As soon as the netbook has been dissembled it’s then the case of de-soldering the previous Power jack and changing with a new Dc port.

The brand new Dc port is then tested prior to re-constructing the netbook. When all of assessments are accomplished it’s then a case of putting the laptop back together. This kind of operation is time intensive and as part of the procedure we tend to give the interior laptop computer components a good thoroughly clean because dust can easily develop through the years and having a internally clean netbook can result in longer life expectancy which is an additional value service that we offer.

As pointed out the leading cost when it concerns exchanging a netbook Power jack port is the time required thankfully this particular repair is provided at a fixed price. At this time there are a handful of types of notebook where it may cost a little more to fix the Power jack port however this is due to the accessibility to components. You’ll find some models of Sony VAIO laptops and also acer’s fall under this classification nevertheless it a small percentage.

As mentioned at the start of this short article sometimes we get potential customers coming to us when they think there port is on the blink however after some initial testing the netbook battery charger is at fault. We use top notch multi meter’s to assess the voltage from the notebook computer wall charger, if we don’t obtain a regular siginal from the charger then we upgrade the wall charger – this generally cures the problem. The other advantage of examining both the Power connector along with battery charger is the fact that changing a notebook computer battery charger is really a far easier and less costly choice.

We’d a customer in this month that has a netbook which they had dropped upon a tiled surface. The particular notebook hinge had snapped off however from the looks of it clearly there was no more destruction. This could be an effortless servicing we assumed. All which was required was a completely new hinge along with Lcd cover for the screen.

But once we had the particular laptop computer apart for diagnostic tests reasons we found that this laptop hasn’t been starting or even turning on. On top of this our client noted that the laptop screen was very fuzzy. Out of these additional two issues we learned that the laptop computer logicboard was malfunctioning as was the laptop display screen.

Our client had asked us for an insurance report, well after identifying these other 2 defects the netbook became a write off. It would’ve be more expensive to obtain a completely new hinge, case as well as revive the logic board and then swap the Lcd display. In reality the model of laptop computer costs significantly less used on well known auction sites in comparison to the price of the estimated repair. It has not been worth the customers bother or our time to finish the repair on this laptop.

Fortunately here at Laptop Repair Glasgow we usually offer the client several solution to their problem and we often love to provide our customers the best experience from our support.

We carried out an engineer’s examination report for the insurance provider and emailed this off to them. Then phoned the client and reported the bad news, it wasn’t repairable and therefore they’d need to purchase another brand-new netbook. As we offer such terrific assistance we retrieved the information from the laptop computer at no cost for the customer and provided a copy of the customer’s data on blank discs ready to be used their brand new notebook.

In return for all our hard work we agreed to recycle the laptop free of charge! You see a malfunctioning laptops do keep some worth. The display if still performing was a wonderful glossy 17 inch Lcd.

These can be quite pricey to buy at a minimum of £50 so in the event that the laptop screen is still running we’ve just saved ourselves a few ££ off our following netbook lcd repair challenge. There is always a plus aspect to the bad luck of others. This just happens to be ours. On the subject of faulty computers we do offer cash and can buy your outdated notebook as we are able to use a number of the elements inside them.
This includes the hard disc drive, however we are likely to avoid utilizing used hard drives in our repairs as a result of bad sectors and other such things as the fact that the hard disk is crucial to the notebook computer operations and we prefer to work with completely new drives in all our repairs.

Laptop displays as stated are often re-used in alternative notebook computers. This has the added benefit as the customer has to shell out much less for a used display or what exactly is known in the business as “B grade stock”
Laptop storage can also be used inside other laptop computers, this is convenient if we are coming to speed up a laptop computer acquiring 2nd hand RAM if big enough size is fantastic.

We continually check our 2nd hand RAM prior to installing it in a different other machine with our memory burn in testing software program. This is the most important key to utilizing used Dimm’s in other machines.
Therefore if you employ a malfunctioning laptop that’s gonna cost you an arm or a lower leg to fix (it’s possible both) don’t trouble yourself! Sit down back and unwind. You can sell it as being defective and make use of the income to a brand-new mobile computer!