Beginning the
week of April 2nd I will be hitting the road again, but limiting my
visits to a couple of hours at a time. All is going reasonably well with my
recovery from surgery, but I still have trouble sitting for any length of time.
Standing and walking are pretty good though. I have also recruited an assistant
to help with any large hardware projects and limit lifting for the next couple
of weeks, but otherwise I am fairly well and ready for duty.
For some time now
I have provided data recovery services from Desktop Hard Drives. With the
purchase of some new Equipment and Software I can now offer data recovery for
Laptops as well. This service can cost between $200 and $2000 with many Data
Recovery companies. I hope to be able to keep this cost down to a more
reasonable level. In many cases, an Operating System Repair may rejuvenate an
ailing hard drive. Beyond that, data extraction limits the damage from a
failing drive, enabling a reformat to see if the drive is salvageable or not.
Recovered data is burned on a CD or DVD disk to transfer to a new or repaired
drive.
We do offer reduced rates for home
computer repairs. I often see people throwing out computers that are not
working when a simple operating system repair will render them operational.
Occasionally, backing up the personal files and reinstalling the operating
system is the best way to make the computer as good as new again. Home computer
repairs range from $20 to $50 plus parts, if required. To qualify for the
reduced rate you must drop off and pick up the computer and be willing to wait
for up to a week for the repair. This is about the same requirement as companies
like The Future Shop but the prices are a lot better. In cases where the
motherboard is damaged and the computer cannot be easily repaired, we also
provide free computer recycling. Some components are removed and the case is
recycled to recover scrap metal parts.
Since new computer prices have gotten so
low, many people do not want to spend a lot of money repairing older computers,
but you can often get a few more years out of an old computer and postpone
throwing it on the scrap heap with a minor investment. If you want to consider
minor upgrades to your computer give us a call and we can also give you an
estimate of the cost. Clients on the monthly support program can call for minor
support issues and advice on their home computers as well at no extra cost for
short calls.
Anyone who has ordered a new computer or laptop recently may have been surprised to find that it is short a couple of standard components. Diskette Drives and Parallel Printer Ports are the most commonly missed components in these new computers. Almost all new computers are going to standard USB ports. As such, connecting older devices has become a problem. We have stocked up on a variety of solutions to this growing problem. We can often provide printers and computer accessories at a lower cost than Staples or The Future Shop, but will advise you as to the most cost effective source.
Some useful accessory parts and pricing:
USB External Diskette Drive $50.00
PCI Parallel Interface Cards $40.00
USB to Parallel Converters $30.00
10 Foot Parallel Printer Cable $20.00
USED COMPUTER EQUIPMENT
We have a number
of new or almost new Dell computers for sale, the result of a couple of
upgrades and a cancelled order by someone with budgetary problems. I have also
taken on a project requiring an enhanced laser printer making our old one
available.
Dell Pentium IV 2.8, 256mb Ram, 80gb Drive
Windows XP
Professional, Assorted Software $500.
Dell Celeron 2.66, 512mb Ram, 80gb Drive
Windows XP
Professional, Assorted Software $450.
Dell Pentium IV 2.5, 256mb Ram, 40gb Drive
Windows XP
Professional, Assorted Software $350.
HP Laserjet 5P
Printer $100.
- includes new
HP Toner Cartridge
For clients
with older model Novell Servers the Dell Celeron model 1100 is one of the
better units that is still Novell 3.x Compatible and can provide extended
service and improved network performance.
We can provide
this unit, a compatible network card and a second printer port, all for about
$500. or so.
Installation
of a new file server, backup and restore of current files, assorted user and
printer configuration will usually cost in the $300. to $500. dependant on the
size and complexity of the network installation.