Frequently Asked Questions
I received a pop-up from Microsoft Support so I clicked on it and called the phone number to talk to their support team. They remotely connected into my computer; but I then realized that this was a scam and not actually Microsoft Support. What should I do?
The best thing to do is immediately shutdown your computer and bring it to us. Please DO NOT continue to use the computer because the hacker (someone who explores methods for breaching defenses and exploiting weaknesses in a computer system or network and are usually motivated by making a profit) could have installed software on your computer. This software could possibly lock your computer down so that you cannot login or may encrypt (this process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext...only authorized parties can decipher a ciphertext back to plaintext and access the original information) all of your data files so that you will not be able to use them. Hopefully, you did not give your credit card information to the hacker, but if you did you should immediately call your credit card company to cancel your current credit card, dispute the charges and have them issue you a new one. When you get here we will discuss the options for restoring your computer back to working order.
My computer was working fine; but now it is in a continuous reboot loop. What should I do?
The best thing to do is bring the computer to us. Please DO NOT keep trying to boot the computer by turning the power switch on/off; this will probably cause more issues. We will run a hard drive and memory diagnostic test to make sure the problem is not a hardware issue.
If both of these tests pass, then we will attempt to backup your data (you should always have a backup of your data prior to us doing any work on your computer; but if you don't, we will certainly try to do a courteous backup -- however we will not be responsible for any data loss).
If one of these tests fail, then we will have to replace either the hard drive or memory modules before continuing. We will contact you to give you options on changing these parts.
The next step would be for us to do a clean install of your operating system and restore any data that we were able to backup. Any application software that you installed from CDs/DVDs or the Internet will have to be re-installed by you (or we can do it for you as long as you have all of your CDs/DVDs and/or license information). After that, your computer should be back to working normally.
My computer is old and seems to be running slowly. What should I do?
The best thing to do is bring the computer to us. We will examine the computer and inform you if it would be worth trying to fix the issue or if it would be time for you to purchase a newer pre-owned computer or a brand new computer.
If you decide that you would like to keep your computer:
We will run a hard drive and memory diagnostic test to make sure it is not a hardware issue. Then, we will give you a few different options...possibly upgrading the hard drive to a faster one, adding more memory or both. Then, you will have the option of us doing a tune-up of the computer, doing a clean install of your operating system or simply cloning your existing hard drive to the new hard drive.
If you decide that you would like a newer pre-owned computer or a brand new computer:
We will copy all of your data from your old computer to your new computer. Any application software that you installed from CDs/DVDs or the Internet will have to be re-installed by you (or we can do it for you as long as you have all of your CDs/DVDs and/or license information).