During my daily routine at my store locations I answer many interesting questions. Most questions are fairly innocent while a few are, well, odd. So here, in no particular order, is my list of commonly given answers.
Regular readers know I’m not a huge fan of cloud backups and that I prefer local backups onto portable media. Mechanical external hard drives that can be brought to a separate location are the very best means to ensure you are in total control of your data. After all, it is your data.
Wireless printers stink and always seem to fail at the most inopportune times. Connect your printer directly to the computer with a wire whenever possible. If more than one computer will be accessing the printer use a wired network printer. Even though wireless printers are the most prevalent doesn’t change the fact that wireless still stinks.
Repairing inexpensive tablets is a waste of money. If an off brand tablet breaks it often costs more to perform the repair than the tablet’s worth. We had one customer ask us to repair an $80.00 tablet with parts worth over $100.00. Make sure you backup your tablet’s data frequently by syncing it with a computer or keep the data stored on an SD card.
Microsoft will not call you. If you receive a call from Microsoft it is most definitely a hoax. Do not let them connect to your computer. If you do allow them to connect and you don’t pay the $300.00 they request, they will wreak irreversible havoc then disconnect. Do yourself and them a favor and simply hang up so they can do their shtick to the next sucker.
If your computer is off and unplugged nothing is happening. Yeah it sounds weird, but we have a lot of people tell us crazy stuff happens to their computer when it is off and unplugged. If you believe goblins are living in your computer then you probably shouldn’t own a computer. If there is no power gong to your computer then it is doing absolutely nothing.
Passwords should be stored in your brain and not on a computer or other portable device. So many times I’m asked how to retrieve passwords that have been deleted. Social networking passwords are one thing, but bank passwords shouldn’t be saved on your computer. What if your computer was compromised or stolen? The robber could end up with more than just a laptop.
Businesses should have more than one computer. It’s 2015 and computers are cheap and easy enough to connect via a network. If your business allows personal surfing during the business day then use a dedicated machine. Having a contingency computer as well as a casual surfing PC will provide cheap insurance while keeping viruses from crippling the business.
Tablets are not computers. Don’t buy a tablet and expect it to be able to handle complex functions. Tablets are used for casual surfing and entertainment while computers are used for creating documents and data. We’re nearing a point when the two will start to overlap, but in the meantime use each for their intended purposes and you’ll be all set.
I never tire of being asked the same questions every day. If I had one axiom to be engraved on my headstone it would read, ” computers don’t do anything if they’re off, data should be stored in multiple locations and don’t spend more to fix a device than it’s worth.”
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)