On Spot Techs

When you should get professional computer help

By Eric Geier (Our Founder & Owner)

Originally published by Cox Media Group on 5/6/19

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As a father with a young family, I totally understand procrastinating on calling in the professionals when dealing with maintenance issues in and around the home. I’ve worn all the hats — plumber, electrician, floor installer, landscaper, etc. — but many times I learned the hard way that I should have just called in the pro from the beginning, like my wife wanted all along :-) So here are some situations where I think you should call in the computer pros:

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Yearly checkups from a computer pro: Even if you aren’t having any noticeable issues, I highly suggest having a computer tech do a general checkup and cleanup every year. They can do some proactive checks and cleanup, like detecting the hard drive health or ensuring your data is backed up, which could prevent a pending disaster before it’s a real problem.

If you still have Windows XP, Vista or 7: If your computer isn’t running Windows 8 or 10, I highly suggest upgrading to Windows 10 soon, whether you upgrade your existing computer or buy a new or refurbished computer.

All support and updates for Windows XP and Vista ended years ago, and the same happens for Windows 7 in less than a year from now. I wouldn’t wait till the last minute as I’m sure computer shops will be very busy then.

Getting a lot of pop-up windows: If you’re getting a lot of pop-ups on your computer screen, whether ADs or alerts, you may have adware, malware, or viruses on your computer.

Or it could just be legit, yet annoying, alerts from Windows or your browser. You should have a computer tech take a look.

Computer is very slow: If your computer has gotten noticeably slower over a short period of time, like a few days or weeks, it may be caused by malware, viruses, and other junk. However, if the computer has gotten slower over a long period of time, it maybe something else starting to fail. The hard drive might slowly be failing or the computer might just have a slow processor and you consider replacing the computer altogether. Either way, it’s good to have a tech evaluate the situation.

You let a remote scammer onto your computer:If someone calls you out of the blue saying your computer has issues or you’re prompted by your computer to call someone because issues, those are almost always a scam. If you think you may have been a victim of a remote tech support scammer, I suggest having a local tech come out and check your computer.

This is especially the case if you had let the remote support scammer take control of your computer. A local tech can ensure the scammers don’t have access to your computer anymore and everything else is okay with the computer.

Shopping for a new computer: When shopping for a new or replacement computer, I always suggest talking with a computer tech. They can help compare computers and give suggestions. They can explain why not to buy the cheapest computers and that spending more typically means the computer will last longer.

And if money is an issue, they might even have refurbished computers, which can be a great economical option.

Setting up a new computer: When you do get a new computer, I really suggest having a computer tech help transfer the data over to the new computer from the old one. And then they can also help properly dispose of the old computer.

They might even be able to save you time and money.

For instance, reinstalling Microsoft Office on the new computer with the product key from the old one, even without having the original install discs.

And there’s likely many tips and tricks they can share to help you have a better computing experience.

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