Should I Let The Family Computer Whiz Fix My Computer?

Recently, several of our clients have entrusted the repair of their computer to the family computer whiz.  It seemed like a great idea at the time, and best of all, it was free.  Sounds great, right?  At, first it may seem like a good idea, but in the end were you better off? Did the whiz fix the issue, or did they create a bigger, more expensive one?  I am going to highlight a recent issue one of our clients had, Susie (name changed for privacy), asked her son to fix her computer.  Her son is very bright, and knows a little more than the basics when it comes to fixing computers, but he was a whiz in her eyes.  He “fixed” her computer how he saw fit.  It worked great for a while, and then the computer started to have the “Blue Screen of Death”, meaning that Windows could not function.  The reason for the blue screen was unique, but not uncommon.  Her son had removed the default version of Windows Vista that came with Susie’s laptop and installed a pirated (illegal) version of Windows XP.  When he installed Windows, he setup her hard drive in a very “unique” configuration.  This configuration left no space for Windows to operate properly.  Her main Windows partition (a segment of the hard drive) had no free disk space.  This is a big problem for Windows because Windows needs free space to start new programs, or increase the paging file of the computer.  The paging file is the memory that has been written to your hard disk when there is no longer any RAM available to a computer to run a program.  Since there was no free disk space, the paging file could not increase, and the computer blue screened.  The only way to fix this issue was to re-install the operating system of the computer.  Most computers now have a recovery partition, meaning you can re-install Windows without having to put in a disk.  When you perform a system recovery of the computer, you do not have to re-install any of the programs that came with your computer.  With that said, we could have had Susie’s computer up and running within an hour or two with little extra work needed to fix her computer.  But, here’s the kicker, her son deleted the recovery partition off the hard disk.  So we had to re-install Windows and all of her programs from scratch.  Which means a job that could have been fixed in an hour or two, now takes at least 3 to 4 hours.  That is where it can get expensive.  So while, her son, the computer whiz, had the greatest of intentions of fixing her computer, he actually made the problem worse and more expensive in the end.  Family members fixing your computer sound like a great idea, but the problem is they do not have to be accountable for how they fix your computer; there is no warranty work when it comes to the family computer whiz.  Had a computer company fixed the computer in the first place, there would be no “unique” ways of fixing your computer.  When entrusting someone to fix your computer, don’t always count on the family computer whiz, because, in the end it will always cost you more than if it was fixed properly the first time.

If you need help with your home computer, contact Kotori Technologies today, we now offer residential rates to solve all of your computer needs.  And coming soon, Kotori will be able to offer our Optix at Home solution which will monitor your computers, make sure they are updated, have the latest in Virus Scanning technology, and perform routine maintenance on your home computer.  With Optix at Home, we will know about an issue, before it becomes a problem.