False Positive

This week I had to deal with a laptop that was shutting down with a thermal issue, or so it said.

I booted up some temperature software and let it run.  Well, after an hour, I saw that it was stable, so I ran it through some tests. I ran Video, CPU, hard drive, memory, the full works.

It passed them all with flying colors, which struck me as odd. I left it running for a couple of hours running tests at random times just to see what would happen. Well the screen corrupted and the computer shut down.  On reboot it told me that it shut down from a thermal issue again, and again the thermal software gave no hint of trouble.

After a bit of looking around the net, I found that this was not an isolated issue.  This model of laptop, in this configuration was a problem for lots of people.  After contacting the manufacturer and getting nowhere, I informed the customer of what I had found and told them to call the manufacturer and either get a replacement or return it.

At the end of the day, it was one of those issues that no one wanted to admit was a problem, and left the customer in a bind.

So here is my suggestion, please try not to impulse buy.  It may seem like a deal at the time, but do a little research on the model you are looking at to see if it has an issue that is causing others grief.

Have a great weekend

Kris Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

Simple Fix for a HP LaserJet 3300

This week I want to write a quick blog about a nice quick fix I came across when repairing a printer. The printer was a HP LaserJet 3300 that was having trouble printing.

When it was powered on, the scanner head under the glass was not seating correctly and was causing the printer to not print.  The head would keep trying to move all the way to the end of the tracks but never sit there.  It would move out the last inch and then back in, over and over.

As this is an older machine, it was looking like this would be a costly repair of having to replace the whole scanner assembly.  However, I found a simple fix that needed no new parts and a cotton bud to fix.

When you face the printer and look at the scanner bed, there is a small removable strip of glass on the left that is held in by one screw. Remove it and the strip of glass, laying them carefully to one side.  Next, take a pair of needle nose pliers and carefully advance the scanner head to the left by gently using the pliers on the carriage belt.

Once you have the scanner head under the area where the glass was, you can grab it and pull it the last inch.  Looking down from above you can see the mirrors inside the scanner head.  From there, you take a dry, clean cotton bud and clean the mirrors.

With that done, replace the glass and turn it back on.  Presto!  It works again!

Have a great weekend!!

Kris Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

SOPA and You

I have been following the outcry regarding the SOPA bill ( H.R. 3261) this week as it is big news over the net. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill was introduced last year as a way to counter online piracy and copy write infringement, but that’s not all it does.

I am not going to explain the whole bill as it is huge and encompasses a large amount of information; here is a link to the Wikipedia article explaining it - LINK.

I worked in the video games industry for about eight years and know how much piracy can affect a company and entire industry. I do not agree with piracy and believe that artists of all forms should get paid for their work, whether music, movies, or games.

It seems that before the full bill was released, there were a large number of companies in support of a bill that would protect their intellectual property and profits.  It appears that their support may be dwindling.  If the full bill is read and taken into account, it could have far reaching implications for anyone that uses the web. I am not a “the sky is falling” kind of guy, but looking at the way the bill is worded and they way it can be interpreted, there is a lot of leeway for abuse.

As someone who spends a lot of time using the web for work and for fun, I cannot support piracy and wanted to hear your opinions on it.

So, what do you think?

Kris Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

Never Too Young

I have three kids, twin five-year-old boys and a six-year-old girl.  They have always been around my computers and IOS devices.  They love Angry Birds and watching me play games on one of my gaming systems.

They have had learning computers like Leapsters for a couple of years now.  Although they use them, they never really played them that much. Well, that all seems to have changed  with the arrival of the Nintendo 3ds this holiday season.

We went back and forth over whether they are old enough to have them, not because of the content of the games, which we buy and therefore control, but over the responsibility of owning them.  Were they old enough to understand that these are not cheap throw-away toys and that they would need to look after them?

Well the proof, as they say, is in the pudding.  They have had them for about two weeks now, which is normally long enough for the shine to wear off of any toy, and I must say I am impressed.  They always know where they are, they always have them in the cases, and they treat them well!

I feel good raising the next generation of gamers.

Have a great weekend and a prosperous New Year!

Kris Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

The Age of Information

I just want to start off by saying: there is no such thing as too much information, especially relevant information.

We get customers who come in that are fully prepared for the task ahead.  If it is a laptop, they know what version of the operating system they have on their machine, what error may have flashed up (if any), and what they were doing when the machine stopped working.  Printers will normally tell us what the issue is in the form of blinking lights, grinding noises, or displaying error code on the screen.  Although, any other or additional information you may be able to provide to the techncian is always helpful.

If you plan to go to a service center to get a machine looked at, the more information you have, the quicker the technician is probably going to have an answer for you.  This often means they spend less time on your machine, and you will end up spending less to get it repaired.

Have a great weekend!

Kris Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

Transporting printers

This week I want to talk about lifting printers.  We get a lot of printers through the door, and I want to make sure that if you decide to move one, you do not hurt yourself.  Here are my tips:

1. Plan ahead.

Clear a path.  This will give you a clear run and less chance of injury.

2. Keep it close.

You will be a more stable lifter if the object is held close to your body, lifting things at arms length is a surefire way to get hurt.

3. Place feet at shoulder-width apart.

Keeping your feet at shoulder-width will give you a better lifting base and make you more stable.

4. Lift with your knees and keep your back straight.

Your legs are stronger than your back, so keep your back straight and bend and lift with your legs.  Practice it if you need to.

5. Crunch those abs!.

Tightening your abdominal muscles will hold your back in a good lifting position and will help prevent excessive force on the spine.

6. Too much? Get help!

If an object is too heavy, make sure you have someone around who can help you lift.

7. Wear a belt or back support.

If you lift a lot grab a back support belt; they help maintain good posture for lifting.

Have a great, safe weekend.

Kristen Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

Is it worth upgrading your computer's warranty?

This week, I just wanted to touch upon something that I get asked about all the time: warranties.

We service a lot of computers, but the majority are laptops.  All laptops come with a warranty, which usually lasts 1 year.  The question that gets posed to me is often "Is it worth upgrading the warranty for my machine?"

The answer tends to vary by machine (and manufacturer).  Your basic warranty usually covers hardware failures, such as a screen going bad or a hard drive failing.  First of all, you can extend that warrany (at a cost) to 2, 3, or 4 years.  The cost is not usually too high and if you intend  to keep the laptop for a while without adding upgrades, then in my opinion it is worth the price. 

You can also upgrade the type of warranty, such as adding onsite repair.  If something goes wrong with your hardware, a technician will come to your site after a quick call!  Some people like this, but I do not know if it makes much of a difference.

The last type I will talk about is accidental damage. Now, for me, this is one I always consider a good investment.  Most of the time it cover spills, which as someone who fixes computers, I can tell you is the number one accidental killer of laptops.  If you have this coverage and you spill coffee, soda, or beer into your laptop, it will be repaired at no charge.  When I have to tell someone that his or her 2 month old laptop is not covered and the system board is $900 to replace, they do not like it and nor do I.

Just something to think about.

Have a great weekend.

Kristen Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

Tipping over the edge.

This week, I'm following up with some more tips and shortcuts.  These are random and can speed things up nicely!

1. Adding Internet Prefixes and Suffixes

You can quickly add the www. and the .com to anything typed in the address bar by pressing Ctrl-Enter! I use this all the time and cuts down on the typing.

2.  The Windows key.

Here are a list of things that the windows key can do!

Win                       Press windows key to open start menu

Win+R                  Apply to open Run dialog box                            

Win+M                  Apply to minimize all opened windows                                

Win+Shift+M         Apply to maximize all opened windows                                 

Win+L                   Press keys to lock keyboard in windows XP                                 

Win+E                   Press keys to open My Computer                                

Win+F                   Apply to open search options                                 

Win+U                  Apply keys to open Utility Manager                                   

Win+D                  To view desktop/minimize all windows                                   

Win+F1                 To view the detail windows help page                                          

Win+Pause            To view the System Properties dialog box                               

Win+Tab               Move through taskbar programs                             

Win+F+Ctrl           Apply to open search for computers

And last but not least:

3.  Browsing Your Computer via the Address Toolbar?

You can open any web page without opening the browser.  Windows will open your browser and open your web page.  You can do this if you put an Address Bar on your Taskbar:

Right click on your system taskbar > go to Toolbars and then click the Address option.  Here you will see a mark on Address option.  After this Address Bar will appear on your system taskbar, you can open any web page by typing the URL name here and press Enter.

You can also browse files and folders on your computer by using the Address Bar. Simply type drive letter like C:\ , D:\ in Address Bar and press Enter.

Have a great weekend.

Kristen Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

There she blows!

We had a big storm this week causing power outages all over Massachusetts.  Some people still do not have power.  With power outages like this, we normally see blown power supplies and system boards.  Well for me, this week was a bit different.

I had a customer come in with his desktop hanging on boot. It made it all the way to the desktop, but once there, you could not do anything except move the mouse pointer.

None of the icons could be clicked; nothing worked at all!!!

Well after a lot of reboots and trial and error, we found that one of the programs he had starting on boot was corrupt and causing havoc.  Once we nailed it down, it started booting fine again.   

I also had a customer bring in two desktops that she told us were dead since the power went out.  I took them in and booted them up fine first time. With a quick call I discovered that they had blown the wall socket the machines were plugged into.  Luckily, they had good surge protectors and the machines were fine.

So, my suggestion for this week is to go grab some surge protectors for your electronics.  They could end up saving you a bundle!!

Have a great weekend.

Kristen Hewes - Hardware technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!

That's my boy!

This week's blog is about how much kids seem to understand technology instinctively. My kids are five and six.  They play some games on the Xbox 360 using Kinect.  They love it as they get to jump around and don't really need to learn any buttons.

I wanted to see how they would do with something a bit more complex, so when the DVD drive died in my tower, I decided to enlist some help to replace it.

I told one of the boys I wanted some help with something and that it involved a screwdriver.  He was all for it. I unplugged the power from the system, just to be safe, but then let him unhook all of the other cables.  He got the side off of the case (with a little help) and then I got him to take the rails off of the old drive, and put them on the new one by himself.

I showed him how to push the drive back in and how to hook it up, but he did the work. At that point the system was back together and it was time for the cables. I thought this might be a bit much for him, but he wanted to try, so I let him.

He plugged in the monitor cables, the 5.1 speaker cables, the usb cables, all of it!!

The proof came when I got him to turn it on, It booted up perfectly! Now this may seem easy to us techies, but for a 5 year old, I was totally blown away at how quickly he picked it all up.

Kids seem to know more every generation.  Now, I wonder if he could mod my Xbox =)

Have a great weekend.

Kristen Hewes - Hardware Technician

Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!