Below are some computer tips and tricks available here on our website. With these tips, users can increase their productivity on their desktop/laptop and make their overall computer experience a lot more enjoyable and stress free.
Liquid Damage
So what happens when you spilled coffee, tea, water, soda, or even beer onto your precious laptop, cell phone, or any other electronic by 'accident?' Are you like 'it's just a little bit, it still works.' Even if it is just a few ounces to 1/4 of liquid spill, it can still damage the electrical components on your devices. Once liquid hits the device try to turn off the device immediately and unplug what ever devices you still have plugged into the laptop (charger, USBs, display ports, etc.) Once it is powered off just let the device sit there for a while. DO NOT turn it back on because otherwise you will do more serious damage to the device. If you have a laptop let it sit like a tent and see if the liquid will at least drain out. If your laptop is a convertible such as moving the display more than 120 degree angle then let the laptop sit on a flat surface at a 180 degree angle (upright or upside down depending on where you spilled liquid on the laptop) and see if any liquid will drain out. After about 30 minutes to an hour try to wipe off any left over liquid residue with a paper towel and a small amount of rubbing alcohol. Still DO NOT turn on the laptop/device. Bring it to us and we will inspect the device and clean up any left over liquid residue with the proper tools at our shop. 70% of time the device can be saved depending on how much liquid got into the device and what people usually do after they spilled liquid.
Almighty Power Button
What happens when we press (one second) or hold down the power button (more than one second)? What most of you don't know is holding down the power button (at least 7 seconds) to shut down your computer can actually do some harm to your PC/MAC. But if you press the power button for one second you are telling the computer to go to sleep or go into hibernation mode depending on what you have set for your power settings. You are probably asking yourself what type of harm. Well let me explain what i mean by that.
Let's just say you are typing up some important documents, excel spreadsheets, or making a presentation on powerpoint. Or how about surfing the internet and you want to bookmark or want to keep a particular site opened up. Next, you want to shut down your computer because it is the end of the workday or its bed time. A few hours later or next morning you turn on your laptop/desktop and you suddenly get an error message such as "You shutdown your computer because of a problem" or "Diagnosing your PC/Preparing Automatic Repair - Your PC did not start correctly" on your laptop/desktop/PC/MAC. The reason for this is you didn't shut down your desktop/laptop properly or just a simple power failure. Your computer's hard drive/solid state drive (depending on what your device has) gets scrambled/messed up (software) and your hard drive/solid state drive tries to figure out what just happened. Just follow the on screen prompts and hopefully your laptop/desktop will boot up properly. Remember your operating system and files are all stored on the hard drive/solid state drive NOT the motherboard.
You should always shut it down properly by navigating to the windows startup or apple icon and click 'shut down.' Let it shut down fully before you close the lid or unplug the charger (if your battery level is low). If for some reason your computer is completely frozen (which means you can't use the touchpad/mouse and keyboard then you have no other choice but to hold down the power button to shut it down. DO NOT do this on a consistent basis or else you will severely damage the hard drive/solid state drive (software/firmware) and that means you have to reinstall/factory restore your operating system or sadly replace the drive (hopefully your files can still be recovered).
Let's just say you are typing up some important documents, excel spreadsheets, or making a presentation on powerpoint. Or how about surfing the internet and you want to bookmark or want to keep a particular site opened up. Next, you want to shut down your computer because it is the end of the workday or its bed time. A few hours later or next morning you turn on your laptop/desktop and you suddenly get an error message such as "You shutdown your computer because of a problem" or "Diagnosing your PC/Preparing Automatic Repair - Your PC did not start correctly" on your laptop/desktop/PC/MAC. The reason for this is you didn't shut down your desktop/laptop properly or just a simple power failure. Your computer's hard drive/solid state drive (depending on what your device has) gets scrambled/messed up (software) and your hard drive/solid state drive tries to figure out what just happened. Just follow the on screen prompts and hopefully your laptop/desktop will boot up properly. Remember your operating system and files are all stored on the hard drive/solid state drive NOT the motherboard.
You should always shut it down properly by navigating to the windows startup or apple icon and click 'shut down.' Let it shut down fully before you close the lid or unplug the charger (if your battery level is low). If for some reason your computer is completely frozen (which means you can't use the touchpad/mouse and keyboard then you have no other choice but to hold down the power button to shut it down. DO NOT do this on a consistent basis or else you will severely damage the hard drive/solid state drive (software/firmware) and that means you have to reinstall/factory restore your operating system or sadly replace the drive (hopefully your files can still be recovered).
Windows 8.1 Start Button
For Windows 8.1 users, how many of you hate the 'new' start button? Do you not find it user friendly? Not to worry. We will do a walk-through of how to download and set the windows start button, but if you'd prefer to have someone else do it we'd be glad to set it up for you at our Boston (Back Bay) repair shop.
After downloading and installing the program, hit the Windows key on your keyboard, and a Start menu pops up. Classic shell will even let you choose what skin style you prefer (Windows XP, Windows 7, or Vista).
After downloading and installing the program, hit the Windows key on your keyboard, and a Start menu pops up. Classic shell will even let you choose what skin style you prefer (Windows XP, Windows 7, or Vista).
After choosing what skin style you want you can also choose what type of start button you'd like to have. If you don't want to have the windows or shell as your windows start button you have the option to create your own image (how cool is that!).
As you can see from the first photo above you have other options to customize your Windows experience. As you can see here you have many options to choose from especially if you like to use 'shortcuts' such as 'shift+click' or 'Windows Key' button.
As you can see from the first photo above you have other options to customize your Windows experience. As you can see here you have many options to choose from especially if you like to use 'shortcuts' such as 'shift+click' or 'Windows Key' button.
As you can see at the bottom the very last option, which says 'Skip Metro screen' you can have the option to skip the metro screen after restarting your computer and logging in or not. For me personally I really didn't like the metro screen and now every time i restart my computer and log in for whatever reason it takes me straight to my desktop.
Like i said earlier if you prefer someone else to download and install it for you let us do it for you. Any other questions or concerns please email us and we will get back to you in a timely manner.
Like i said earlier if you prefer someone else to download and install it for you let us do it for you. Any other questions or concerns please email us and we will get back to you in a timely manner.
Disable Track Pad Gestures in Windows 8.1
How many of you out there are annoyed by Windows 8 touch gestures on your laptop? When typing or using the track pad and you accidentally swiped something from the left, right, top or bottom? You have the option to disable that in your track pad properties of your laptop. Look under control panel and look for mouse settings that look similar to the ones pictured below. I disabled the edge swiping and now I won't be annoyed by accidentally switching screens or programs.
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Keep your Computer Protected
Are you frustrated getting rid of those nasty viruses, spyware, and malware? Here are a few FREE software that you can download from their website.
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1. Windows Defender/Windows Security Essential*
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-essentials-download *Windows defender is already built into the new windows. This will help guard your computer against viruses, malware, and other malicious spyware. |
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2. CCleaner
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner "CCleaner is a free Registry and junk-clearing utility for keeping your system clean and optimized." |
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3. Malwarebytes
https://www.malwarebytes.org/ "Malwarebytes builds industry-leading anti-malware and internet security software to keep you safe from today's online threats." |
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