Tech Support & Network Administration

Tech Support

Tech support provides a stable foundation to all aspects of our industry. At the heart of all this fun computer stuff is some serious technical expertise. We don’t take this for granted, and neither should you.

If you have computer problems, we’re great for providing answers. With a long background in tech support, we’ll make quick work of hardware, software, or networking issues either in person (if you’re local) or remotely (if you aren’t). We can make using your computer/network as simple as it should be. Here’s what we can do for you:

Computer Rebuilds

When you have problems with your computer, there are a few paths you can take to get back to where you want to be. Buying additional software that claims to “fix” the problem is more likely to make it worse than better, and buying a new computer is serious overkill when your current hardware is in perfectly good working order. We often recommend a computer rebuild, which isn’t as involved as it sounds. It goes something like this:

• We back up all your important files, photos, music, etc. to a portable hard drive and often to a DVD, as well, which you then get to keep as a secondary backup.
• We replace or upgrade anything in your computer that needs updating. This is usually limited to a memory upgrade or a replacement hard drive when yours has stopped working, but could be anything that isn’t working as it should be. The only limitation we put on this process is cost. We don’t recommend spending more replacing hardware than you would need to spend to get a new computer.
• We format your hard drive, making it completely blank. By doing this, we remove EVERYTHING that could potentially cause your computer to function inefficiently. We then restore the drive, often dividing it into multiple partitions to separate your file storage from your operating system partition. This makes future problem solving easier as backing up your important files is a one-step process and restoring your operating system will no longer affect your saved files.
• And finally, we reinstall a fresh copy of your operating system and, in the process, update your computer’s BIOS and install the latest drivers available for all of your computer’s hardware. This new installation is real OEM software, but contains none of the bloatware that came installed on your computer. It gives us a solid foundation to reinstall the other software you use and allows your machine to run as efficiently as possible. It’s like a brand new computer!

Of course, we’d never recommend that you do things with your technology that we don’t do with our own. We do similar rebuilds to all of our own computers at least once a year to keep everything on our network in top working order.

Software & Hardware Installation

Sometimes, you just have something new that you want to work with your current system. Examples of this include a new TV or media system that you’d like to use with your current media PC. It sounds simple, but a lot of times you need a map just to be sure you’re plugging all the right things into all the right other things. Because of the complexity of media platforms available lately, we have clients who count on us to do little more than troubleshoot their televisions. As far as we’re concerned, tech support is tech support, and we’ll do it all.

Network Setup

Creating or optimizing the network in your home or office is the start of your ideal computing experience. This could be as simple as setting up and securing your home router for internet access or as complicated as shopping for, installing, and setting up a rack full of servers in your business. Ultimately, good analysis of your needs, your budget, and the hardware and software you have available are key to making the most of your network experience.

If you need tech support, we’ve got a good system in place. You should try it. We think you’ll like it.++