What do we mean by "Full Re-Install"?
Often with a new computer comes fifty different manuals on what the hardware does, how to install it, and what to do if something goes wrong. Unfortunately these manuals are written for computer professionals in tech speak. Out of sheer confusion most people turn the computer on and start using it. When they come across a problem, they usually ask their friends, who ask their friends, who in turn ask the kids, who come in and fix the problem, not telling you what they have done, so you are left with as much knowledge as you started with.
When you first get a computer most of the time all that is installed on the computer is the operating system and hardware drivers. Sometimes vital programs are missing that will make your computing life easier like Itunes, Adobe PDF reader, Flash and Java. It is then up to you to try and resource these programs and the manufacturers expect you to know which type of operating system you have, how much RAM is in the PC and when it was installed. Over time all the necessary programs are installed and a lot of your favorite programs too. Eventually you are left with a plethora of wanted and unwanted programs that bloat your system and the library of installed programs sometimes become too much for the operating system and what your computer needs is a fresh start; That is exactly what we do.
A Full Re-Install means that we back up all your files, Re-Install your operating system (eg. Windows XP) re-load all the drivers, download and install all the operating system updates from the internet, install our free security suite which consists of Anti-Virus, a fully working firewall and spyware protection. We then install all the programs that are needed for today's surfing, web browsing and media editing. Then we put all your files back where they were and defrag your hard drive so it runs as good as the day you bought it. We can not however make it any better than that because we are limited by hardware.
Why Would You Need To Re-Install?
There are many reasons why you would want to have your computer re-installed. The majority of times that we have re-installed a personal computer or laptop is because the computer has contracted a virus and nothing else can be done except to bring the computer back to original state. This is a last resort and most of our customers after the initial shock of losing their data are very happy with the result.
Another common reason why our customers want to re-install is because over time the computer has become slow and sluggish and a persistent error message just will not go away. It is really healthy for a computer to be re-installed because it refreshes the registry. The registry is the list of every single file and program that is on the computer. The longer you have had the computer the bigger this file is and the more information the computer needs to sort through to access the information you want it to.
What do you need for a successful Re-Install?
The first thing that you need is your operating system product key, this is usually on the side of your computer case or on the bottom of your laptop. We can not sell or install a different operating on your computer because we are not licensed to do so. You generally do not need the original disks that came with the computer because most of these disks can be downloaded from the internet. If there is a special program that you need and you have paid for like Microsoft Office we can install that too. If you have lost these disks though we are not able to replace them without the product key that is usually accompanied by the original disk that the software came on.
Most of the time we will ask that you allow us to include our free security suite instead of your current security suite like Norton Internet Security because we have had complete success with it and we trust it 100 percent. The most common reason we are called to a clients house is virus related, our aim is to educate and train our customers to check for and eradicate their own nasty's without the need to call us again.
The Re-Install process takes a total of around eight to twelve hours of to complete so you will need to arrange a drop off and pick up from our workshop in Ocean Grove. The Re-Install process could take a couple of days to complete depending on our current work load.
What do I do before a Re-Install?
Back up all the files on your computer. This is usually done on a portable hard drive, If you do not have one you can purchase one from Harvey Norman, Jaycar, Dick Smith, or any computer shop. You need to back up your photos, videos, files. One thing that people often forget to backup is their email addresses. Unfortunately I have not found an easy way to do this. The most effective way is to open a notepad file and copy the persons name and paste it into the notepad file, then copy their email address and paste that, then continue.
The other thing that you might want to do is copy your favorites or bookmarks. In Windows XP go to c:\documents and settings\(your name)/favorites. Copy the folder and paste it to your external hard drive. (In vista/7 the path will be c:\users\(your name)\favorites). If you use Mozilla Firefox click on "Bookmarks" up on the top menu bar, then go down to "Organize bookmarks" . A separate windows will open up. Up the top of that windows click on "Import and Backup" then click on "Export HTML". Then save it to your external hard drive. The way to get them back is to follow the same process but this time click on "Import HTML" and retrieve the file from your backup drive. In Google Chrome the process is similar. Open Google Chrome, this time click on the spanner in the top right hand corner of the window. Click on "Bookmark Manager". Then click under "Organize" up the top of the window. Next click "Export Bookmarks" and save them to your hard drive. The way to get them back is exactly the same process but you open Chrome and this time instead of clicking "Export Bookmarks" click on "Import Bookmarks". |
