Category Archives: Everyone

I recently ran across an old postcard from a local area computer repair shop.  I don’t want to quote it because you might think I made it up.  So here’s a picture:

Now, how in the world can the company be comfortable making that claim?  And how would you, as a client, feel about taking advantage of it?

A competent computer technician will tell you at the outset whether he can fix your computer.  I mean, come on!  How many things can go wrong?

Here’s a list of the most common hardware problems:

• Your monitor no longer displays anything
• Your printer no longer prints anything you send to it
• Your computer beeps when you turn it on and nothing happens
• Your computer doesn’t turn on at all

Here’s a list of the most common software problems:

• Your computer is infected with malware
• Your computer displays a blue screen with white text when you turn it on
• Your computer freezes in the middle of a game
• Your computer displays an “End Program” message when you shut down

Obviously, these are very short lists.  You may encounter other errors from the software and hardware that you are running, but there are very few instances where something absolutely cannot be fixed.  To make the claim this company did is disingenuous; it implies that there will be situations where a customer will receive free computer support.

I certainly don’t operate Heliotropic Systems like that.  You know right from the start that all of my work has a 100% guarantee.  If you are not satisfied with what I have done, I will work to correct what ever is wrong – or refund your money.  It is as simple as that.  No muss, no fuss, and no idiotic statements about “free.”

For several weeks, Staples has been selling laptop and desktop computers with a unique offer.  They will give you a $50 discount if you give them a laptop or desktop to recycle.  That is between a 5 and 10 percent discount on the price of a new computer.  I am all for saving money when the opportunity arises.  Nevertheless, you have to be cautious when something appears to be “too good to be true,” and this offer bears some scrutiny.

The fine print of the Staples offer is quite specific.  They want you to give them a computer that works.  Yes, your trade-in has to be able to boot to Windows (XP, Vista, or even Windows 7), have a “working AC adapter and undamaged screen.  At the time of trade-in, laptops must power on and boot up to operating system, desktops must power on.”

I am not at all certain why they have this requirement, but I don’t like it.  If you give them a working computer, it has all of your files on it.  It has all of your e-mail correspondence.  It also has all of the web browser sessions where you have plugged in your user id and password, because you cannot remember what you used for you bank account versus Amazon.com.  In other words, it is a treasure trove of personal information that could – in the hands of a malicious individual – be used run up charges on your credit cards, ruin your credit rating, or steal your identity.

To their credit, Staples has text on their web site that assures customers that their technicians will, in no way, look at any of that information before they run a utility program to delete all of the data on the computer’s hard drive.  I believe their lawyers had to insist on that.  At the same time, do you really want to take that kind of risk just to save $50?  I certainly don’t!

Yet there is something you can do to protect your personally identifiable information before you give them your computer for trade-in.  It takes less than half an hour and requires just a few simple steps.

The “trick” is to create a new user ID on your computer.  You will then log on to your computer as that user, and remove your existing user ID.  This will eliminate the majority of the personal information that can easily be obtained and give you some peace of mind if you decide to take Staples up on their $50 offer.

Here’s what you need to do:

Click Start and select Control Panel.  Whether you are in Category View or Classic View, double-click User Accounts.

Under “Pick a task…” click Create a new account

Under “Name the new account” type in the name for the new account.  I would suggest the following, NoOne, and click Next.

Under “Pick an account type” use the default, Computer administrator, and click Create Account.

Close this window and the Control Panel.

Now restart your computer.  Click Start, Turn off computer, Restart.  The new user ID will appear on the Windows Welcome page.

Click that new account.  Windows will spend a few minutes creating the desktop – it will not have any of your customizations, but will look just like when you first got your computer.  (Some of you may not remember that far back…)

Once again, click Start and select Control Panel.  Double-click User Accounts.

If you are using Category View, under “Pick a task” click Change an account.

Then, under “Pick an account to change” click your old user ID.

Under “What do you want to change about your account” click the Change my account type link.

Under “Pick a new account type” select Limited and click Change Account Type.

You will be returned to the “What do you want to change about your account” window.  This time, click the Delete the account link.

Windows asks if you want to keep the files – and the whole purpose of this exercise is to eliminate them – so click Delete files.

Windows has a final prompt, to make sure you know that everything will be deleted.  You want to do that, so click Delete the Account.

Depending on the number of files you have, and the age of your computer, the delete process can take either a few minutes or a half hour.  Get a cup of coffee, read a magazine, or go run some errands.  You must have the patience to wait this one out.

After it is finished, you can close Windows and feel better about giving your computer to Staples knowing that you have eliminated the bulk of your personal information and can save $50 on a new computer.

One morning you had a problem connecting to the Internet.  So, what did you do?  You turned the Internet box off and on a couple of times, you rebooted your computer, but nothing much changed.

Next, you unplugged the Internet box and headed over to the local retail office supply store.  You asked one of the sales people (you know, the guys in the colorful shirts) what to do with the box that no longer worked.  He said you needed a new box and proceeded to sell you one.

You got home, and plugged everything in the way you remembered it.  Lo and behold, you still had a problem connecting to the Internet.

It was only at this point that you decided you really needed help, so you called your computer consultant.  You told him you had a problem, and asked if he could stop by to see what was wrong.

It only took a few minutes for your consultant to diagnose the situation, because several things were wrong.

The most obvious one was that the “geek” at the retail office supply store took your broken DSL modem and sold you a Linksys router, which would never, ever, work as a replacement.  Without a DSL modem, there was no way you were going to access the Internet.

As a side note to office supply store personnel:  If you do not know what you are talking about, please don’t waste someone’s time.  If the customer complains (or if enough customers complain), you are going to be out of a job.

Your computer consultant managed to obtain a replacement DSL modem from your Internet Service Provider by using a little subterfuge.  The net result was that you would be back up and on the Internet in a few days.  You were grateful for your computer consultant’s prompt responsiveness to your call for help and his advocacy for your situation.

I was going to turn this post into a rant, but I was reminded that harsh sounding words wouldn’t get the point across.

The truth is that you are not a computer consultant.  You are a real estate agent, or a dentist, or a lawyer, or just someone’s mom.  However, you are not trained to handle computer problems.  That’s my job, and that’s why you ask – and trust – me to take care of your computer systems.

Because, after all, that’s what I do – you just have to let me.

If you search the Internet on a regular basis, you might have Google (http://www.google.com) set as one of your Favorites or as your browser’s home page.  You have undoubtedly gotten very used to the simple interface, the way the page loads very quickly because of the lack of graphic images, and the utilitarian aspect of simply performing a search.  (See http://www.msn.com or http://www.yahoo.com for opposite experiences.)

However, don’t think there is something wrong with your computer when you go to Google’s home page and only see the logo, the search box, and two buttons.  That is what Google has decided should appear – until you move your mouse.  This “fade-in” effect was first introduced as an experiment back in October 2009.  It was slowly rolled out as a test and was modified during some rather violent (and often virulent) feedback.  The earliest versions did not include the search buttons, which elicited no end of scathing retorts.  Now the test has been concluded and the change has been made permanent.  It appears to be the same in all web browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, and Safari).

So, no, there is nothing wrong with your PC.  It doesn’t have a virus, you aren’t being affected by malware, and your broadband connection doesn’t have a problem.  It is none of those things.  It is simply the largest search engine on the planet giving you something you did not ask for, something most people do not want, something no one needs.

What do you think?  Let me know!