What do you do if your desktop is past guarantee; discard it?
If your computer is out of warranty and it dies on you, is your basic instinct to ditch it and just purchase a new computer? Many people just ditch the computer right away, while some others use their own quick cure. Some don’t want to have to handle the stress and just end up throwing it out. A good technician will leave your old computer working like it is brand new.
It is simpler to find a high quality computer service technician than you may think. Actually, it would appear that there’s a suitable IT specialist in just about every family. This might sound foolish but it’s very true. However, these "pros" often don’t have the experience, support, and proof of the accredited expert. If you understand just what to ask, it’s simple to single out proper local pc support technician from the mass of "experts" who can barely tell an intranet from ethernet.
Criteria and Credentials
The world certainly isn’t lacking in types of certifications. Some are relevant to computer repair, and others not so much. Take heed that a lot of them are very vendor specific. Say, a Microsoft specific certificate would render the operator a pro in the Microsoft software, but not necessarily competent to handle other operating systems. Products are also frequently updated, so these will get swiftly out of date. Oracle has certifications. Cisco, IBM, and Dell additionally come with their own certifications.
Accreditation
CompTIA is one famous organization that is one of the limited vendor-neutral certification companies. Then again, other certificates are perfectly legitimate, they’re still a business looking to make a return. Their main goal is to gain new subscribers, and thus member fees, so you may feel that your certification standards are not the level found at a college or university.
This doesn’t suggest that CompTIA certifications are invalid, they just aren’t on par with a four-year IT degree. Then again, individuals with four year IT degrees are not usually running private PC repair businesses. The bottom line here is that you should ask if the individual has a college degree relevant to computers. If they reply that they have a certification it’s not fundamentally a concern, just one thing to take notice of for later reference. You can then progress to the subsequent question.
Skills and References
You’ll want to discover how much experience the tech has as well. The question could be framed along the lines of how much time they’ve been repairing computers for a living, and also if they can provide customer referrals. Most professionals have references already set aside; customers that they get along with perfectly and are more than delighted to give them glowing reviews. Essentially, you’ll find out how much time they been doing their job, and a few of their customers’ names.
Don’t satisfy yourself with just with the references. Inquire about what repairs were done to their computer, and what kind of computer or software was repaired. It’s also important to find out how much they billed, to make certain that you will not pay too much for a similar repair. Even a glowing review may reveal details about how the tech runs his business. Be careful for those details.
Don’t forget that this may appear a bit of a a hassle. Once you’ve completed this strategy, you’re done because you can go back to this person again and again for repairs.
Technician’s Specialization
As I said earlier, Microsoft offers their own library of certifications. Likewise, Apple grants its own certifications as well, available as Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) or Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP). These indicates the individual has fundamental support skills to help you out with a Mac. For Linux, CompTIA has a form of Linux certification, and the Linux Professional Institute offers its own LPI certification.
Some repair specialists will just be more acquainted with certain machines, while some have a wider base from which to draw understanding. For someone with that distinct expertise, problem solving can be a breeze. Case in point, a professional may have worked with Dell computer systems for such a long time that just from the explanation of the computer issue, the person can instantly tell you that the most likely cause is a burst capacitor on the motherboard.
Different PC manufacturers have quality issues through the years, and technicians with a lot of experience basically learn about those troubles from having to correct so many popular problems. You just fantastic your technician specializes in any certain computer brand. Ask if they have partnerships or good working relationships with certain vendors. Just state you’re searching for a computer support person you can return to routinely for computer help.
Ask for Rates and Demand High Cost Limitations
After you know the technician has appropriate qualifications or training and experience with your make and model of computer, the following step is to talk money. Buddies and relatives are continually coming to them for assistance with their computers, and wanting a free handout. Nearest and dearest beg for free computer assistance. Others will pay a fee for repair, and then expect the technician to work for free for years after. So yes, PC technicians won’t take kindly to low offers.
However, there still will be some shadier technicians to take advantage of the tech-illiterate. Individuals may charge an hourly rate, and then coldly claim that the problem took much longer than it did to fix. Not knowing alternatively, people will pay too much.
Some will claim that a certain range of hourly charges is fair. Many in the industry feel that only flat fees are appropriate. My feeling, having dabbled in being a PC support technician for a quite a few clients, is this:
There are commonly only a few causes for failure: hardware, software, or a little of both. It normally doesn’t take much longer than an hour to figure that out.
So, since most places require a one-hour minimal fee, you can simply ask the PC technician if they can spend a maximum of one hour troubleshooting before reporting back to you as to whether it’ll take more time and cost more bucks. Hourly rates can vary, ranging anywhere from 20 to 50 or even 70 dollars in some cases, but much of that depends on your area and demand for services. Regardless of cost, just ask the max diagnostic time, and if they don’t answer, go to somebody else.
How Data Protection is Handled
One of the most important things that the computer tech does is insure that your computer is returned as close to its original state as possible. This procedure is a way for the technician to get your pc back to the state it was in when you previously used it. This ought to be one of the first things that they attempt to do.
The process normally consists of:
1. Storing important documents, such as financial records or irreplaceable pics, onto a USB drive or external hard drive.
2. Making a restore point using the resources obtainable in the operating systems.
3. Duplicating profile folders, such as documents, internet history and favorites and other personal settings on the USB stick or portable hard drive.
So, a fantastic way to judge if the technician is worth anything is to simply ask them what their primary backup procedure is. If they look at you with a dummy stare, leave.
How are the modifications to the system being tracked?
One other thing that distinguishes professionals from newbie’s is documentation. Novice computer repair techs are generally very poor at tracking the adjustments they make on the computer in their effort to fix it.
While the work may commonly lead to a repaired pc, there often a few dozen changes made in the control panel that you’ll be completely unaware of when you have your computer back. It’s your computer, and you’ve set affairs up in a way that makes good sense to you, and works for you; so if a specialist chooses to change things around, like increased security settings, enabling or disabling Windows updates or the firewall, you truly need to know. Else you’ll start seeing unusual behavior and you will not know what’s going on.
Therefore, the question you should ask is uncomplicated: how are the changes monitored? Do they give a full report at the end of the repair that marks all changes made, hardware applied, or any extra modifications?
If they are ready to give you comprehensive responses about what changes were made, and why they were done, then that is a really good sign. This standard is one of the most important for a computer technician. If they’re good with keeping arranged, detailed documentation of the work they do, the odds are pretty beneficial that they actually know what they’re doing.
Follow-up Support and Warranties
The final issue is important in that you need to know how much self-assurance the professional has in his or her own work. You can sensibly expect that the technician will be available for phone calls, or even follow-up visits, is there any constant issues after the repair. Otherwise, the problem wasn’t really fixed, it was just temporarily patched. So, ask the tech if they guarantee repairs for a certain amount of time. Ask what sort of follow-up assistance you can anticipate if the issue comes back inside that time frame, is it okay to call, or do you have to deliver the computer back into the store again? Is a tech prepared to do in-home service preferably instead?
These are issues that need to be requested before any dilemmas arise, not after. Once you get an acceptable answer, ask that all agreements you mentioned should be put down in writing prior to the start of repairs.
Remember that you dedicated a good amount for your service, there is no reason for you to be getting low balled with support after the fact. Perhaps even more importantly, you need to be assured that the repairs will not cost more than actually buying a new computer.
If you’ve asked the best questions, you have a solid rate quote and all arrangements and guarantees in writing, you can leave your computer with the tech without any worries. Your computer will be restored, you’ll pay a reasonable rate, and you can rest knowing that if the issue comes back a few days after the repair, you won’t be left hanging with the same trouble but with a lighter wallet.