PC Help & Support

Software and Hardware Support Services

Whether your trying to set up a new device, having software/app issues, crashes or viruses, or just wish to upgrade your PC with more memory or a new Hard Drive, I can help.

My PC Help & Support Services

I offer comprehensive PC Help & Support services including software installation, seamless integration of new devices, diagnosing and fixing hardware issues and general advice to keep your system in top condition. No issue is too small; I’d love to help you fix those annoying problems. I also provide expert advice and hands-on upgrades to boost performance, whether it’s adding more memory or upgrading that old mechanical hard drive to a new, faster Solid State Drive.

Software Issues

Need help with installing, configuring or fixing software? Or maybe just some advice of what options are available? I can help with all these issues. No matter how big or small the problem, I’m here to help and advise you on solutions or great alternatives that you may not know exist.

The Open-Source Alternative

As a strong advocate for the open-source community, my clients are often surprised to discover that there are alternatives to expensive, proprietary software, sold by companies who don’t want you to know that other options are available.

Many of these alternative are completely free (though, like WikiPedia, I always encourage engagement and donations, but this is entirely optional). So whether it’s a full office suite, media player, image and video editor, anti-virus or even a complete alternative to Windows, I can advise on solutions that could save you a lot of money!

Hardware Issues

Devices can malfunction at any time and sometimes the failure can be catastrophic. Imagine all your precious photos stored on a hard drive which completely fails. Sometimes data can be retrieved, sometimes not. This is why it’s essential to ensure you have copies of all your data.

You should always keep a minimum of three copies of your data: one on your PC (your primary copy), one on a removable device such as an external hard drive or USB stick and one copy online (e.g. in cloud storage like Google Drive, Microsoft’s OneDrive (15Gb and 5Gb free respectively).

Upgrading Window 10?

Microsoft have announced that Windows 10 will reach end-of-life on October 14th 2025. This means that your Windows 10 operating system will no longer be supported (no updates from Microsoft), leaving your system vulnerable to malicious attacks and exploits.

You can upgrade (for free) to Windows 11, but not all hardware will support this. If you have a older device you may have seen this message in Windows Update: Your PC doesn’t meet the minimum requirements to download or install the upgrade to Windows 11. If this is you, what are the options?

There are essentially four options:

  1. Purchase a new device that has Windows 11 pre-installed. Obviously expensive and you’ll have to reinstall all your software and data on the new device, but at least you’ll have new hardware.
  2. Keep your device and pay Microsoft for support beyond 2025 (currently quoted at $61 per annum as of July 2024).
  3. Keep your device and bypass Windows 11 checks and upgrade anyway. Tempting, but Microsoft offer no guarantees that Windows 11 will function properly when this is done so your system may break at any time.
  4. Switch to Linux, a free open-source alternative to Windows, and my own personal recommendation. Linux is lightweight and runs extremely well on old hardware so you can extend the life of your existing device.

The Linux Alternative

Whilst claiming just 4% of the desktop market share (as of June 2024), Linux powers lots of devices including: smart phone, web servers, smart TVs, home appliances, car engine management systems and super computers to name a few. Both Android (the most popular operating system in smart phones) and iOS (Apple’s operating system) are both derived from Linux. If you’d like to explore this option, give me a call.

Note: whist Linux is a solid choice it may not be suitable for everyone, especially if you rely on software that only runs on Windows, or if you have to use Windows (e.g. because it’s a work requirement).

A Final Note

I always insist that you backup all your data prior to doing any work on your PC as it’s possible that your device may fail suddenly for reasons entirely unconnected to whatever work I’m doing for you; like with your car, all components have a limited life span and will fail at some point.

Call me today for help and advice!