Laptop and Computer repair Aberdeen

AB1 Computers now has a new bi-monthly article in the Aberdeen based Midstocket Matters.  The new “IT Matters” page will have useful information for all in the local area of Aberdeen > Midstocket / Rosemount area.  I plan to make the articles as informative as possible to the reader.  Next issue will be based on the security issues that wireless broadband can open you up to.

How many pictures do you have on your computer that you’ve not printed and are no longer on your camera?  Are they important, baby, wedding, special holiday/events.  You should back these up, your computer is not going to last as long as you!

One of the main physical issue I see when someone brings me a computer or laptop in Aberdeen is the hard drive.  This is the only mechanical part inside a computer apart from the fans and will 95% of the time fail first.  The hard drive is the part of the computer which stores all the data so 95% of the time the data is lost!

There are varouis ways to backup your information these include.

• Backup External Hard Drive (a USB device you can copy your data to)
• Online Backup Service (your data is uploaded /copiedto a server somewhere in cyberspace)
• Optical/Tape Backup (copy your data to a blank DVD/CD/backup tape)

Most organizations backup to tape as they have large volumes of data and your average tape can hold 800GB of data.  Backup solutions can cost £1000’s.  However I know my blog audience and they are home/residential one or two computers users.  The best way for you to backup important pictures/files/emails or music you’ve paid for is to buy a few blank DVDs.  Burn the files to the blank DVD and put on your bookshelf.  Do this every month and you’ll be safe.  A blank DVD costs about 10p so it’s a very cheap insurance policy.

bolg oot….-Scott

I’ve written in the past on ways to speed up your computer or laptop.  However due to the beast that is Windows Vista I can’t stress how important it is to have enough system memory (RAM).  When Windows Vista came out the normal computer or laptop had 1GB of RAM.  This is not enough.  The more the better.

My system that runs Vista has 8GB of RAM!  I still have slow downs, due to this I’m rolling back to Windows XP on my main rig until Windows 7 is released which is later this year.  Of course not all computer users have the option to roll back to Windows XP.  It can be a real hassle and you have to know what you’re doing.  I regularly install Windows XP on computers and laptops in Aberdeen.  I could do it in my sleep however there are some steps you must take before even thinking about rolling back.

1. Back up all your data (files, documents, music, pictures)

2. Make sure you have the original CDs for software on your computer.

3. Take not of what software programs you use, can newer versions be downloaded?

4. Backup your email; take a note of your email account settings.

5. Make sure you have a valid copy of Windows XP and a valid license for it.

6. Install, restore and make sure you have all the correct drivers loaded on your system.

This isn’t an easy task and can take 3 hours or so to perform.  I can help with this is required.  If you are in the Aberdeen area and maybe just want your system memory upgraded I can do this for a fee of £20 plus the price of the RAM itself.  Pretty cheap for a quick fix.

I mainly provide PC repairs in Aberdeen however I create the occasional website as well.  For example this one.  A lot of people now have websites and when I speak to clients and customers I always try and give them good advice.

The best bit of advice I can give is that a website alone is not enough to stand out from the crowd in Aberdeen.  I personally have had an uphill struggle advertising my computer repair services in Aberdeen via the web.  This is mainly due to the competition which is somewhat fierce on the search engine front.

A good example of this is Google.  When a potential customer is looking for PC help in Aberdeen they might type something into Google to search for computer support in Aberdeen.  This brings up about 10 websites and companies offering such services.  Mine included.

That is the key.  Does your website come up in Google when you type in what you think a customer would type when searching for your services?  Do you even appear in Google?  Chances are you’ve paid someone a bit of money or got a friend to create your website.  Have the optimised it for the search engine though?  Probably not.

The number one bit of advice is to get your domain name correct.  A dot com (.com) domain name are regarded as United States domains.  If you have something.com it will rank higher when people in the USA search for you.  If you have a .co.uk domain you’ll rank higher in Google UK searches.  Also the actual name helps as well.  My domain name is www.aberdeencomputerrepair.co.uk  so when someone searches for Aberdeen Computer Repair or similar then I get a higher ranking in the search engine.  I also own the domain ab1computers.co.uk however I only use this domain name for my printed materials.  It’s shorter and easier to remember.  However ab1computers does not really convey to a search engine what the website is about, it’s just a name.

Here is a typical search for Aberdeen Computer Repairs.

The first red box (1) is paid advertising.  This means that the computer companies in Aberdeen are paying Google to be at this spot.  Every time someone clicks on this part of the screen a fee is charged from Google to the PC Repair company.  I don’t use the paid advertising as you can see there are already 3 IT providers in Aberdeen up top and are probably paying top dollar for it.  Let’s be honest when you search for something on Google you usually ignore the top links as they are adverts!  If these companies really know their IT skills they would not have to pay to be top :)

The 2nd box is the local search results for Computer Repair services in Aberdeen.  This list is ordered by location, the nearer you are to the city centre the higher you get on the list.  It is also ordered by other factors I know what they are and kind of break the rules a little.

The 3rd box is the organic search listings.  You’ll usually find this search result at the top of a page where there is no competition or very little.  Box 1 & 2 usually are not listed.  A good example of this is if you search for  Broadband Help in Aberdeen Only organic search results are returned.  See the diagram  Of course this depends on your competitors Google knowledge.  As you can see I am top for this result.

If you’d like to get your website ranking high on Google then please don’t hesitate to call me I can help.

I thought I’d just let everyone know how insecure wireless networks really are.  I install a lot of wireless broadband routers in Aberdeen and it amazes me how insecure some wireless routers are out of the box.

If you have a SKY broadband connection  try entering your Wireless Network Key in the first option on this page

Sky broadband cracker

If you have a thomson speed touch wireless router try this page

Thomson speedtouch broadband cracker

I’ll stop there.  Simply put if your with Sky broadband or have a Thomson speedtocuh router from your ISP then there is a good chance it can be hacked with not much technical knowledge needed!  Just access to the two web pages I’ve listed above.

Guess what?  BT Broadband users you also have the same insecurity.

In conclusion if you live in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and have a wireless network I can help secure it against these type of attacks.

Why should you secure your connection?  Well if your neighbour wants free broadband and you care to share then that’s not a problem.  However if you do online shopping/banking or anything else sensitive via a wireless network then “they” can see it.

Give me  call to protect your system.

Just in case you though those big oil companines were safe from computer viruses think again!  It does not matter how much money you throw at security…

Computer virus hits Shell UK’s servers
Aberdeen-based oil giant hit by bug

By Alan Majury

Published: 03/03/2009

BUG: Computer systems at Aberdeen-based oil giant Shell have been attacked by a virus.
More Pictures

COMPUTER systems at an Aberdeen-based oil giant have been attacked by a virus.

As much as 90% of Shell’s servers were affected by the bug, it was understood.

Shell said its IT staff were working hard to repair the problem.

A Shell UK spokeswoman said the system had been experiencing problems, but would not say how many staff had been affected.

She said: “We can confirm that there have been IT and information management issues with our system.

“As a result, some staff may experience problems in accessing the system.

“Our IT staff are working hard to rectify the problem.”

Some Shell workers were unable to work on their computers while others found the system slowed down.

Other oil firms were warned to protect their systems from a bug known as the Zero Day virus.

I get quite a few requests by parents about on line security of their children.  One of the requests that I get often is access to family computer accounts to check for Internet browsing history.  this does not really fall under computer or laptop repair but I do anything I.T. so read on…

Most home PCs have Windows XP Home edition installed.  Within XP there is the option to have separate account which are password protected.

Quite often the accounts are password protected and it would be great to have access just to check up on someones on line activity.

Step 1:

Enter windows in safe mode.  Restart the computer, whilst at the computer start up screen (just after the BIOS screen) continually press the F8 key.  This will bring up a menu.  One of the options is enter windows in safe mode.  Choose this.

Step 2:

When you enter safe mode, choose the option to log into the system as “Administrator”.  Usually there is no password and this is left blank.  The administrator account allows you to control all aspects of Windows.  It is the god account.

Step 3:

Whilst in safe mode, go to start>control panel>user accounts

Choose the user in question and select them.  Then click “reset password” button.  This will allow you to reset the users password.  Of course the user will now know that the password has been reset but it will give you access to their account.  If you require that the password remains the same and the password is cracked.  Stay tuned I’ll show you how in my next post.

I’ve had a number of laptop repairs in Aberdeen this week, more than the usual. My best advice to anyone that want to keep their laptop happy is hoover the keyboard. Unlike a desktop system the keyboard is part of the whole system and keeping it clean will increase the life expectancy of your laptop. Just a little tip, will get a bit more technical next week.

Ever seen a blackberry?  Not the fruit the phone?  Well a lot of business people use them for email.  It’s just a mobile phone with a special bit of software that lets you send/receive email.  What makes the blackberry special is that when someone sends you an email it will pop up on the phone like a text message alerting you to the new email.  This was a revolution and the technology is called Push technology.

The disadvantage to Blackberry is that it costs money for the service and your tied down to a certain type of phone.  Microsoft launched it’s equivalent of push technology to Windows mobile smart phones.  However again you were limited to a few phones.  The other limit on the Microsoft service was that you needed a server to push the emails to your phone.

This has all changed thanks to Google Email (Gmail).  Newer Sony Ericsson’s and Nokia’s support Push technology out the box with a google email address you can utilise this feature on your phone.  Best of all, it’s free and you don’t need to be running a server or a business to have such a technology.

Step 1 Check your phone supports Push Technology.

Google email (Gmail) uses two technologies for email phone support, IMAP and Push. Go to your phone manufactures website (Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung)  Enter your mobile phone model in their search and you should be able to find the product details on your phone.

Check to see if your phones does it.

Step 2 Create a Gmail account.

Go to Gmail.com and follow the steps to create a new google email account.  This will give you a new email address.  Gmail works with most email programs so if you use Windows Outlook you can configure gmail to work with it.  You’ll have to tell everyone that you’ve changed your email of course.  You can also use Gmail through your web browser.

Step 3 Configure Gmail

Once you’ve logged into gmail.com under your new account go to the settings Tab > Forwarding and POP/IMAP > Enable IMAP.

Step 4 Configure your phone

Consult your phone manual on how to create a new email account on your phone.  Here are the gmail settings you’ll need.

Incoming mail

username: yourname@gmail.com

password: your gmail password

IMAP server: imap.gmail.com

encryption: SSL

Port: 993

Outgoing mail

username: yourname@gmail.com

password: your gmail password

IMAP server: smtp.gmail.com

encryption: SSL

Port: 465

Step 5 Test it works.

Send yourself an email, then reply via the phone did you get it?

Other tips would be to buy a data bundle with your mobile phone contract as it does cost a little money to send and receive the emails via your phone.  To keep costs down most mobile phone companies offer data bundles.  My data bundle comes free so I don’t have to worry.  You should check this prior to sending and receiving emails as it can be costly if for example you do not have a contract and are on pay as you go.

I’m available to set up this type of email service in Aberdeen if required.  I don’t just do computer repairs in Aberdeen.  As I say, anything IT.

One of my bad habits when surfing the web is not surfing the web. Instead I’ve got 5 or 6 sites that I regularly go to and that’s it. I’m missing out on so much more but I can’t figure out what to use as keywords to search for interesting/useful/cool stuff. I don’t use the Internet to it’s full capacity. It’s a bit like reading the same 2 pages of a newspaper whilst not exploring the thing as a whole.

There is something that can help you break out of the rut though, StumbleUpon.

StumbleUpon is a tool bar that attaches itself to your Internet Explorer/Firefox browser.

It’s a bit like a bookmark utility. You find a site you like and then bookmark it so you can come back to it. However what makes it different is that you share the bookmark with everyone. When you sign-up to stubmleupon (free) it asks you what your interests are. I chose movies, film making, hacking, philosophy. When I click the stubmleupon button it takes me to a site that someone has bookmarked in that genre. There is also a rating system so if a site is useful/good the more people that review or give it the thumbs up the more likely you’ll stubmleupon it when you click the stumble button.

Try it out, you’ll be suprised how handy it is.

Top Ten free bits of software.

I repair computers and laptops in Aberdeen.  Due to this fact I deal with a lot of Aberdonians, who like a good price.  In fact they almost want my services for free.  Well that’s not going to happen but here is a list of freebies to keep Computer users in Aberdeen happy over Christmas.  No need to spend money….

10. VLC Media Player

Have you ever tried playing a DVD on your computer?  Well VLC works wonders.  It is a free DVD playback software for your computer.  Best of all it play lots of other video types as well and is remarkably small in size.  It’s been out for a good few years and has lots of different options like accessing video files on another computer and playing over a network.

9. CDBurnerXP

If your still using Microsoft Windows XP then this is the best free CD burning software.    Windows does have its own inbuilt CD burning software however this does not always work depending on the types of files you’re burning.  You can burn data discs very easily so backing up pictures/files to CD is a breeze.

8. Winamp

Tired of iTunes?  Well I did use iTunes for all of about two minutes until I relised how much it slowed down my computer.  Winamp is an Internet oldie that has been out a while.  It was snapped up by AOL a few years ago however it still has all the original features and is excellent for ripping/ipoding and the like.  It also has a great output visualisation tools which is far superior to Windows Media Player.

7.  Openoffice

Fancy paying Microsoft another £200 so you can get word/excel on your computer?  No, I did not think so.  Instead of going down the Microsoft Office route, consider Open Office if your on a budget.  Open Office has all the major features of Microsoft office and works with Microsoft Office files however it’s free!

6. Foxit PDF

Uninstall Adobe Acrobat Reader now, it’s bloatware and takes anything up to 30 seconds to open a PDF file so you can view.  Foxit PDF is a much smaller light weight program that is much quicker, smaller and free.

5. Ultradefrag

As you may or may not know over time your computer hard disc drive will become fragmented.  Basically what happens is that Windows saves files all over the place on your hard disc drive inside your computer.  Over time it becomes noticeable as your computer will get slower because the disc is fragmented.  Windows does have inbuilt defragment software which takes the files and clumps them all back up in one place for faster access.  However Ultradefrag is much quicker and better at this job.  Download and run now :)

4. Powertoys Resize

Another Windows XP only application.  Have you every tired to send pictures from your digital camera via email or upload them to bebo/facebook.  Does it always take ages?  That becuase you’ve probably got a digital camera that has a lot of megapixels.  The picture your trying to send is about 5 times as large as it needs to be.  Powertoys resize integrates itseld into windows.  Next time you right click on a photo there will be an option to resize the picture to a more web friendly file size.  What makes it so great is that you don’t need to open up the program to use, it’s done on the fly so makes life that little bit easier.  Of course Vista does not have this option yet!

3. Ultra VNC

VNC is a program that lets you control and view another computer as if you were on it.  Best of all it’s free.  It can be a little complicated to set up however once it’s working you can for instance set it up so you can access your home computer whilst at work.  Or if you have a family/friend that is always having difficulty with IT problems, set it up on their machine.   Next time they phone you with a question you can go onto VNC and show them how to do the task.

2.  Avast Anti Virus

You might know this already but I recommend Kaspersky Anti-Virus however for 90 days you can get Avast Anti-Virus for free.  If you do not plan to spend some money protection your computer/internet/bank details and personal data then this is the next best thing.  I used to recommend AVG however it has become a bit of a CPU hog and bloats up your system.  If you can’t afford Kaspersky (I sell it at £25 for a 3 computer license) then Avast is the next best thing.  Please note that you only get 90 days worth of protection.

1.  Google

Well this is not really software but a website.  Google is a great tool.  I’ve leave you with this excellent quote.

“If I can operate Google, I can find anything… Google, combined with Wi-Fi, is a little bit like God. God is wireless, God is everywhere and God sees and knows everything. Throughout history, people connected to God without wires. Now, for many questions in the world, you ask Google, and increasingly, you can do it without wires, too.”

Previously I’ve talked about anti-virus 2009 which has hit a lot of computers in the Aberdeen area.  I get at least one a week with this virus that pretends to be anti-virus.  It tells you there is a virus on your system the asks for credit card details to remove the virus!!!

Well there is now a newer version of the same virus called VirusResponse Lab 2009 as pictured below.

I thought I’d just post this to make you aware that this is not a genuine anti-virus package alerting you to the fact that you have a virus on your system.  In fact it is the virus!

What is worrying about this virus is the fact that the customers that have it on thier system have proper anti-virus software installed to start with.  However the security suite is not that good, both Macafee and Norton are a no no.  I’m selling Kaspersky Anti-virus 3 user license at £25 a great deal and can be used on 3 machines.  It will also protect you against VirusResponse Lab 2009.

I always get positive comments about my website from customers.  I’ve even had a few ask if I’d build them a website.  I used to turn down such offers however I’ve started to enjoy the process of website design and publication.

Back about 10 years ago I was really into websites and have quite a few up and running for family and friends.  I lost interest when I had to get a real job and go out and work.  It’s quite a creative process and my graphic design skills at the time were excellent.  10 years later and I’ve come full circle.  I built this website earlier this year and was amazed at how far the web has come along (they call it web 2.0)

Web 2.0 is the way to go, I’ve not fully embraced it however I can see the potential and application over the next few years.

I think this is the first post I’ve not rambled on about computer repair in Aberdeen or computer support in Aberdeen.  But I thought a break from the norm would add a bit of freshness my thoughts and this small business.

If your just starting out and need a website created with easy access then give me a call I’m sure I can lend some advice for free. :)

Just changed broadband supplier. I was with ADSL24 who offered very good service for over a year but latley the download speed started to decrease. Best place to search for good suppliers is thinkbroadband.com. There are always users on the forum moaning about thier current supplier and helpful posts on who are good suppliers.

I chose to go with a company called UK Online. They also manage sky broadband however they are an extra £10-£15 / month. Usually I look for the cheapest however I’m so relient on broadband it’s not always about price. Quality matters to.

UK Online have ADSL2 in Aberdeen so I now have a 11meg connection to the local BT exchange and my average download speed is 9.5meg!!!! That is fast. I can download a DVD in 1 hour (4gb) or a divx movie in 10 minutes!!!

UK Online also offer a referal scheme, if you state that you were refered by a friend and supply thier UK Online email address both you and the friend get a free month worth of broadband from them. Here is my UK Online email address…
smillar0@ukonline.co.uk

You will not be disapointed with thier service.

Just a quick note to say there are a few issues with my website this week. Changed broadband provider and have had to move my website. Email is now up and running however images are not being displayed on this blog at the moment. Will get this fixed as soon as I get a chance!

The most common virus at the moment on computer systems is the Anti Virus 2009. This is a virus that tries mimik a anti virus software. It will inform you that your system is infected. However the only infection is this software which harasses you to purchase thier removal tools.

This usually ends up on a system after you’ve downloaded a video or mp3 from somewhere like limewire. You click the file to open, it asks you to install a codec or somthing similar. Then bang! You now have a virus on your system.

I am currently selling lean mean anti virus software for £25. This is Kaspersky 3 user license software which can be used on 3 machines. PC World are selling Kaspersky however it is £25 for only one license.

Give me a call if your in Aberdeen and want anti virus software up-to-date.

I was donated a computer from a recent job. Have cleaned it up and fix the DVD Drive which was knackered. The unit is now fully functional and would make an ideal Internet browsing machine. I’ve installed office 2003 and a clean copy of Windows XP Genuine License also included. Nero CD writting software also included. Price is £60 please call to collect. 0780-9571893

System specification

40GB Hard Drive
Geforce MX 440 Graphics Card
512MB RAM
DVD Drive / CD Writter Combo.
17″ CRT Monitor

I keep going on about ADSL2 on this blog however I have good reason. If you are buying a new computer then the speed you get from it has nothing to do with the price you pay, very little at least. I provide computer repair in Aberdeen however things like broadband I can also help with.

Back in the old days there was no internet so people used computers offline, the speed of your computer mattered. The more money you were willing to spend the quicker/smoother your computing experience would be.

This is no longer true. Not only has the cost of computers dropped the amount of online activity you use your computer for has increased. Personally 85%-90% of time I spend on a computer is now online. Now what matters is your broadband connection.

At the moment if you are in a residential area of Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire you probably are getting a broadband connection anywhere between 2mb and 7mb of speed. You can use the Aberdeen Broadband Help page to check you speed.

ADSL2 offers speeds of up to 24mb’s. Now that is only a number but if you can get anywhere between 10mb-20mb and you’ll be in the minority of broadband users. Having a connection that fast means the web should load instantly on your computer. You could download a feature film in 2 minutes compared to 2 Hours.

Currently BT has not provided Aberdeen with ADSL2. However other service providers are offering ADSL2 and some are setting up ADSL2 in Aberdeen.

AOL, Tiscali & Sky have all got ADSL2 service in Aberdeen however a word of warning. Some of these ISPs are awful. You get a fast connection but it may be a congested connection. The more popular the ISP the more congested the connection. This leads to a slow down.

o2 broadband however may be the way to go. They are currently working on ADSL2 and have set an online date for 30 of October. After this date you should be able to sign up to their service and get fast speeds. Not only that if you are on an o2 contract you can save quite a bit of money on the broadband cost every month.

As mentioned I do computer repair Aberdeen but also can help with broadband issues. Any queries about broadband feel free to email me.

Just removed a virus from a laptop for a customer in Aberdeen. When I was reconnecting it to their wireless network I noticed that it was unsecure. At the moment there are two types of security on wireless routers. WEP and WPA, WEP is the older security standard and can easily be hacked. Most BT Homehubs run on WEP as do SKY broadband routers by default. However they are both capable of the more secure WPA features.

You should check that you are running WPA, or at least WEP. If there is no security your neighbours will probably be stealing your broadband, this saves them £20 a month, very generous of you :) However the real concern is if you have a neighbour that knows what they are doing! They could be intercepting all your online activity. Anytime you log onto hotmail or online banking they can be taking your passwords. If they are real geeks then they can see everything on your computer!

If you’d like to get your network checked then give me a call.

As reported back in July the Aberdeen Dedburn BT exchange was supposed to be getting a speed boost with an ADSL2 upgrade in November. As the time is getting closer I just checked the date which has now been pushed back to 21/03/2009 – 31/03/2009.

Looks like BT are delaying the ADSL2 upgrade of the Aberdeen exchange. This is a bit of a disappointment however it does not surprise me as BT are always letting me down. I manage quite a number of broadband lines for a charity in Aberdeen. They have around 50-60 BT broadband lines in Elgin, Inverurie, Huntly, Peterhead, Aberdeen, Stonehaven, Aboyne, Banchory to name a few. If there is an issue at one of the lines it can take BT 5-7 days before an engineer fixes the problem!

My advice to you is do not be too reliant on your broadband connection. If it goes down you may be without service for a week if the issue is not within your home.

Back to the ADSL2, I’ve did a bit of research this morning and it looks like SKY broadband Max package are now offering ADSL2 in Aberdeen. This is an unbundled service not managed by BT, that’s why it is up and ruining. If you’ve got sky this will only cost £10/month a true bargain. Download speeds of 16mb and there is no traffic shaping I’m aware of. Go via quidco.co.uk for some cash back ;)

Today I’ve been repairing a Dell laptop. The most common laptop repair in Aberdeen I undertake are broken screens. Unfortunately you can’t “repair” the screen. The screen must be swapped out for a new one. This is generally the rule of thumb for any computer hardware. You swap out the part that’s broken. As you can see from the picture not only is the screen cracked, there are keys missing from the keyboard.

Whilst it is possible to replace specific keys (eBay). This keyboard is also missing the connectors to the keys so again I’ve to swap it out.

I find the most difficult repairs are on more expensive laptops. Not only are they usually more fragile than the sub £400 laptops. They are also more expensive to repair.

If you find that you’ve dropped your laptop check your home insurance policy. There is a good chance they’ll just swap it out for a new laptop. If this is the case, give me a call I’ll be more than willing to take the broken laptop off your hands. Not only will I recycle the parts from the laptop I can also wipe the data off the system so it does not get into the wrong hands. What ever you do do not put a broken laptop in the bin. The battery in these systems is not land fill material and has to be disposed of correctly.

Stay tuned and I’ll show you the repair process on the broken laptop.

I mainly repair computers in Aberdeen. However I also do laptop repair in Aberdeen as well. The main physical repair issues are around broken laptop screens or laptops that won’t turn on.

75% of the time the laptop is worth fixing. However depending on the age of the laptop it may not be. I offer a trade-in service. I’ll give you a discount on your old laptop, transfer the data off it, even if it’s not working. The data can then be loaded onto a new laptop. I usually knock off around £30 and can offer cheap laptops in aberdeen for £270 on a trade-in basis. These are brand new Dell systems that come with a full warranty via Dell.

As for desktops 99% of the time the repair is worth fixing. I consider my quotes honest and offer value for money on my service. I also offer discount on repeat business.

To sum it up if you need your computer or laptop repaired in Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire and want a quality service at a good price you’ve found the correct phone number 0780-9571893

Usually when someone calls me with a Computer problem in Aberdeen they want it fixed as soon as possible. I tend to do a 24 hour turn around service however this is not always possible. The main reason is that the computer part that needs replaced is not in stock.

Laptop motherboards and screens in Aberdeen are hard to come by so usually I have to order up. Other items that are needed “now” and I don’t have stock of I can call upon my friends.

When I get a call for a repair I always quote the best price I can find on hardware. Laptop screens are always the most expensive items to replace in any system but I can usually still make it worth while for a repair. Some folk will charge £200 to repair laptop screens plus the price of the screen. I believe this is ripping the customer off when you can get a new laptop for £300.

If I think the laptop is not worth reparing I’ll let the customer know. I do offer a trade-in price for laptops as I can recycle or use other parts of the laptop. I can also transfer the data off the old laptop onto the new one, which is always helpful! I also sell refurbished laptops in Aberdeen.

The best computer shops in Aberdeen at the moment are Everest Tech on Holburn street. They have a good range of hardware and offer good prices. They also have customer parking which is handy. The other good computer shop in Aberdeen is North East periperals on George Street.

Over the past few months I’ve seen slow slow computers and laptops. Here are five easy ways to speed up your PC / laptop. If you are in Aberdeen give me a tinkle and I can lend a hand.

1. Add more RAM (memory) it’s cheap!

Back in the dark ages of IT computer memory was very expensive. This has now changed and if you have an aging computer the single best solution is to add in extra RAM. If you have an older machine the software that came with that machine was designed to run with the memory installed. However over the past few years software has been gaining the need for more RAM. So if you’ve recently installed a new bit of software in an old machine there is a very good chance that it’s slowing the machine down a lot.

You can tell how much RAM is in your machine by right clicking the my computer icon and choosing properties from the menu. If you have 256MB RAM, you should be ashamed of yourself, upgrade now! For £10 you can double that to 512MB RAM. If you have 512MB RAM, your doing okay however 1GB RAM is ideal, the cost around £20. To upgrade your computer in Aberdeen give me a call.

2. Defrag your hard disk.

Windows likes to spread data around your hard drive like butter on toast however hard drives work faster when the data is all together, like one big clump. Defragging a hard disc orders the data on your hard drive so windows can access it faster, this in turn will speed up the running of your hard drive. Download, install and run ultra defrag this is far better than the defrag utility in windows and is free!

3. Uninstall Norton, Macafee and AVG anti virus!

Am i nuts, uninstall your anti virus? Well Fixing computers in Aberdeen has led me to the conclusion that these 3 are bad for your computer. AVG never used to be so bad but since version 8 (released May ‘08) It is now up with Norton and Macafee as processor hogs of the computer. Don’t believe me? Google “Norton is a virus” or click here for some reasons that make my statement ring true.

Okay I have removed Norton/Macfee/AVG now what? Well congratulations firstly, I know how difficult it is to remove Norton from a system. There are plenty of alternatives to the big three. I recommend Avast Free edition and Super Anti Spyware. However there are others that I also recommend, give me a all if you need a virus removed or an anti virus removed in Aberdeen :)

4. Speed Up your Internet

Some people think the more expensive the computer or the newer the computer the faster it will be, wrong! Nowadays most people use their computer to surf the web. That means that your broadband connection has much more of a role in system performance compared to the actual performance of your computer.

Here is how to speed up your broadband in Aberdeen, or anywhere else for that matter!

Plug your router into the master socket in your house. Do not run your router or modem off an extension in your house. If the master socket is somewhere that the computer can’t go I can help with this, either via a wireless network or a home plug network (Internet gets sent around your electricity supply!) Having a hardwired connection is always better, wireless sucks most of the time, especially with the granite walls in Aberdeen.

Remove the ring wire from your master socket. This is usually an orange wire, if you don’t feel comfortable doing this then you know who to call at this point. The ring wire used to be used on old telephone systems and made the telephone “ring”. It is no longer used and actually causes interference with the broadband signal, slowing down your connection.

Get a new ISP, maybe, if you’re with a big ISP like BT, Virgin, AOL, Tiscali then this is probably one of the main factors why you have slow Internet. Because they are big they have more customers, more customers means more people using the same connection to their servers. This spells disaster for the power user. A general rule of thumb, the smaller the ISP the better the service. I use an outfit called ADSL24, there are others. You’ll also find with the bigger ISP they’ll throlle/restrict usage to the Internet at certain times of the day, mainly between 4pm-9pm.

5. Re-install windowzzzz

Windows is great but over time it will slow down and get cluttered up. I’m not going to go into the detail on how to do this as there are a few steps and it take a good 3 hours to get it all running again. However the is probably one of the best tips, if you need a windows reinstall in Aberdeen give me a call. Or look further down this blog where I outline the process.

Another day another job. This time it was quite interesting! A fellow who has a holiday home in Aberdeen (yes I know, a holiday home in Aberdeen!) called me up. He lives in Asia and misses all the great things UK TV has to offer. I don’t blame him, I’ve been to Spain on holiday a few times and the T.V. choice is poor, I won’t even mention what the US channels are like!

Well he purchased a slingbox. It’s a device that you hook up to your sky TV /DVD/Freeview. The other end of the slingbox goes to your broadband router. What the box does is pull the TV source (sky in his case) convert it into a digital form that can be sent around a home network or the Internet.

I’ve heard about these devices before but this was the first time I have seen one. At first I thought, what’s the point? Then it clicked, you can access TV from anywhere, as long as you have an Internet connection.

Anyway the customer is happy, I managed to configure the slingbox so that it can broadcast outside the home network. This allows him to fire up the sling player on his laptop in Asia and watch AND control his sky box in Aberdeen.

He almost had it set up by himself the only thing he got stuck on was port forwarding on the router, this ain’t simple and took me a good couple of months to fully understand. I use port forwarding all the time for remote access into computers but the slingbox also requires it.

So I’m fully qualified in setting up slingbox’s. If you’ve got one (they are currently only £60 from expansys.com) and are having “issues” let me know.

I’m thinking of buying one for myself now and giving my brother and father access to it as they live in the states. Best of all it has an inbuilt freeview tuner so I cvould just hook up to my router and leave them to use it. Nice Christmas present for them :)

I’ve been round at a few of houses doing a couple of computer repairs in Aberdeen. Most broadband users don’t notice that much difference in speed however the 2 houses I’ve visited have had really slow connections to the Internet.

I tested thier computers to make sure that there were no large downloads at the time. All clear. Next I tested thier connection speed which can be easily done here

Most users should get at least 2000kbps download with it downloads in Aberdeen topping out at 7000kbps, if you can reach above 5000kbps then you should be happy as that is a 5mb connection to the internet which can handle even the biggest type of downloads.

However if you have an upto 8mb service and are getting below 1000kbps then things are not right. Either on your system or with your ISP, and you should not be paying for an 8mb service (which most people are on) if you are getting under 1000kbps.

I have a list of things that can speed up any connection. If you require a speed upgrade service on your broadband then get in touch. I’m currently offering a MOT for your broadband for £40.

I’ve been getting a lot of calls from folk in Aberdeen and the shire. “Help” I have a virus. Anti virus 2009 pop ups and the like. It’s a nasty marketing software product that takes control of your computer and tries to sell you anti virus software. It also slows down your machine and at a guess installs a key logger so knows everything your typing. Not good if you do online banking.

How to remove anti virus 2009 ?

Well there is no easy way. Do a search on google and there are plenty of tutorials and other software makers that will try and make you part with cash if you buy their anti virus software! The tutorials may work but are a lengthy process 3-4 hours worth of scanning and the nasty still might be on there.

My best advice is to give me a call if your in Aberdeen. The removal takes around 2 hours. If you are not in Aberdeen get a quote from someone that can:

A) back up your data (pictures, music, documents, videos, itunes)
B) re install windows with the correct license applied
C) re install all drivers on your system
D) restore the data backup

essentially your PC will get taken back to the factory default settings with a clean copy of Windows. The only disadvantage to this process is that you must have the original software CDs for programs you use (games, programs, office, word, excel) If you don’t then you’ll have to download them again or source alternatives which I can also help with ;)

It is still thought to be a black art, build your own website. However it is really easy. I’ve got a friend in Aberdeen he is a video production editor and is always looking for extra work. When he films his own stuff for production he always goes under the name of Day of the Dog Productions. I suggested to him that he should have his own website to promote his interests and business. A great tool for networking. He just looked at me and asked how much it would cost. “Around a fiver”, I told him. Like the true Aberdonain that he is this sounded about the correct amount to invest on a website.

1) Buy a domain name

Goto 123reg and search for the domain name you’d like. Most .co.uk domains are about £5 for two years.

Once you’ve chosen the domain add it to your shopping cart, make sure to remove any unwanted domains that they have suggested. Then click buy and create an account.

2) Use Bebo/Myspace/Facebook/Blogger/Youtube to create your homepage.

My friend was promoting video production in Aberdeen so it made sense to use his profile homepage on Youtube as his Website front page. It is not finished yet but there are lots of options on all the Web 2.0 services (youtube/bebo etc) to customise your homepage to a certain look and feel. All that is left then is to add content to the page on the item/product/service your promoting.

3) Redirect your new domain name to your page.

Log into the control panel on the 123reg website with your new username/password. Scroll down to “manage domains”.

Choose your new domain and click modify domain. Then click web forwarding. You want to choose framed web forwarding (2nd option). Scroll down to the bottom of the page and edit the following fields.

Meta tag Author: put your name or company name here.

Meta tag Keywords (separate with commas): put keywords that people would type into google to find you. For example Aberdeen Computer Repair, Computer Man in Aberdeen this is what I use for this website amongst others.

Meta tag description: put in a relevant description for your site here.

Then click the update web forwarding button.

That’s it!!!

The possibilities are endless. I am planning on doing something similar with photography using facebook. What is great about this type of website is if you have satisfied customers they can add you as friends on their bebo/facebook pages which will give you a positive feedback loop.

Of course this is not going to look 100% professional but how many websites do look professional? Quite a lot but they’ve spent £100’s if not £1000’s and if they’ve spent £10,000’s you’ll probably not be hanging around thier too long as it is so corporate. Start small with something I’ve suggested above then get a professional website created by a professional.

Over and out for now folks.

Error code 41 usb not working. The drivers were loaded but the device was not found.

Read on if you want to know the fix :)

I just got a system in with this error. None of the USB ports were working. I had a look in the event viewer and saw bad blocks on the hard drive, so cloned the drive onto another drive that was fine. I thought the bad blocks might be corrupting the relevant USB drivers. However that did not fix!

Then I checked the BIOS to make sure that USB was enabled, it was. Still no idea! I then went and purchased a USB PCI card and put it in the system. That did not work either!

Last ditch attempt, I did a repair install of Windows, guess what, that did not work either!

Google saves the day. Turns out that antivirus Kaspersky was installed on this system and then removed. There is some sort of bug when it is removed and messes with the registery. Managed to find a link to a reg file that seems to do the trick here is the link to the relevant thread on the Kaspersky forums.

I’ve earned my beer for tonight I think :)

If you are like me then you want the fastest connection to the internet possible. I recently moved from a cottage south of Udny back into Aberdeen. With this brought a speed boost on my broadband. Out at the cottage if it rained my broadband would slow down. If it snowed the broadband would switch off! My maximum speed was 512k when I was on broadband max (upto 8megs) my speed was 256k, I had to get BT to put me on a fixed line. Quite a good tip if you live very far out from you local BT exchange.

Anyway back in Aberdeen now and about half a mile from the nearest BT exchange, which is the Denburn exchange. I’m getting 6mb connection now. This is set to increase to 12mb in November. You can check when your broadband is set to increase by using the ADSL2 checker.

Half of Aberdeen is set for this speed increase between 19/11/2008 and 18/02/2009. However as with anything computer related and that’s new. An upgrade may be required in the form of an ADSL2+ modem router.

If you’ve had broadband for a few years now more than likely your router will only work with the ADSL 1 standard. I won’t get into the technical details on the standard but you’ll need a ADSL2+ modem to make full use of the new features BT will be implementing at the exchange.

If you are in the Aberdeen area and require an upgrade check my website out. You can contact me for advise and upgrade options for ADSL2 in Aberdeen.

There is a great tool called backtrack. It is a LiveCD, which basically means it’s an operating system that can be booted from a CD.

Anyway the CD lets you boot into a distribution of Linux that has many tools for “hacking” or “cracking” computer systems.

I use the tool mainly at work to penetration test my systems. I currently support around 600 users here in Aberdeen and across the north-east of Scotland. The system we use runs at our head office and all computers connect to it to run applications and access files. With such a reliance on having all the systems in one place things have to be secure.

I mainly use backtrack to gain access to my companies wireless networks. There have been cases of some Polish guys sitting outside our offices in Elgin and tapping into our wireless network for free broadband. If they really wanted to mess with us though and knew what they were doing they’d highjack client connections. Meaning that all data our staff are accessing goes through their laptop first. This is also known as a man in the middle attack.

Apart from this type of wireless network thing I also warn customers of the security risk they have. I was in a customer’s house a few weeks back fixing her wireless connection. A big granite 3 story house in the Cornhill area. The wifi signal did not have a chance. I recommended the network homeplugs. However I also secured her wireless. You see the BT Home hubs which many people have are secured using a standard called WEP encryption. Which takes around 3 minutes to break into using a backtrack CD and the correct hardware.

I plan to help my neighbours out as well as there are a few BT Home hubs in the area. Lucky I’m an honest kind of guy and don’t go around stealing people’s broadband or worse man in the middle attacks. Booking a holiday online? They might take your credit card details.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be blogging about backtrack with some in-depth tutorials for cracking wireless networks. Then it’s off to starbucks to crack to bluetooth headsets.

A new state law has just been past in Texas. If you are a computer technician and own a shop you must have a PI (private investigator) license.

In order to obtain the license you must have a criminal Justice degree which usually takes 3 years to study for.

If you are caught without a licence will get a $4000 fine!

Reading this crazy news story I can only assume that it is a case of “big brother gone mad”.

I sell quite a few Dell laptops to people in and around Aberdeen. When you go to PC w0rld or any other local computer shop and buy a new system you’ll find it comes pre-loaded with the new Windows Vista OS (operating system).

However this really kills the performance on a brand new laptop or desktop machine. My advice to all my customers is to “Upgrade to XP“. I offer this service as part of my sale when a new system is purchased at AB1 Computers.

There are many reasons that Vista is good but there are also many reasons why XP is still king. Vista is an embarrassment for Microsoft and it’s not the first time the software giant has offered a poor OS. Back in 1999 I believe Microsoft released Windows ME which was also a poor excuse for a new operating system. Built around Windows 98 core it had few improvements, just a some what glossy image. Sound familiar?

My own choice was Windows 98 and Windows 2000 at the time. However Windows 2000 was brand new and few software vendors supported desktop user applications. I had to learn the hard way!

Now there is a similar situation with Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. I’ve opted to try Windows Server 2008 as my new “power user” workstation OS. However I’m already learning from my mistakes.

I installed it on my system last night with somewhat ease. The new 8gigs of RAM in my system are now being seen and the quad core CPU I picked up from the U.S. on the cheap is doing the trick. However I have no Internet access. It turns out that very few wireless (wifi) cards are supported in the new Server 2008. This is mainly due to it being built around the Vista x64 core and all drivers have to be signed from Microsoft. This means that any hardware makers have to approach MS for driver signing prior to the hardware being compatible with Server 2008.

Anyways it looks like I’ll be under my house at some point hard wiring a connection to my modem ! As I’ve said before, it’s not a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.

Aberdeen Computer Repair

Going on holiday this week. Will be back 28/6 3 weeks :D

I’m currently sat in SHMU (station house media unit) radio here in Aberdeen. It’s 11.35 and I’m tierd but I told my buddies that I’d come on thier show with my brother.

My friends Richard and John have a show called film frenzie. It’s on at Thursday at 3pm and Also Monday night at 12.

Have a listen if your bored :) The website is SHMU