Regional Area Service
|
We can help with any computer repair needs you may have.
For No-obligation Computer Help call (775) 200-6171 or email your questions to us.
Hours Of Operation & Service Area
|
|
User Friendly PC, based in Reno, NV, provides fast and affordable, on-site computer repair at a fair competitive price in and around Northwestern Nevada to include Washoe, Carson, Storey, Lyon and Douglas Counties, and parts of Northeastern California to include Nevada, Placer and Sierra Counties. There is no pickup or delivery charge within our service area indicated by the red circle on the map. There is a 50 cent per mile charge outside of our normal service area. This charge is for one-way mileage only. Click on the map to enlarge the area.
Although we provide on-site computer repair to the regional area, we are always adding content to include; consumer alerts, guides, tips, tricks and troubleshooting advice to assist anyone on the web.On-Site Service and Support
|
The best policy is to go with a Certified IT Technician. Our trained technicians provide professional service at affordable rates in the comfort and convenience of your home or business. Our #1 priority is protecting your data. This not only means protection against data loss but includes protecting the security and integrity of your data. All User Friendly PC technicians undergo an extensive background check and are A+ certified or hold a comparable certification in their area of expertise. We support many types of computers and software to include but not limited to all versions of DOS, Windows and Linux. We strive to turn each service call into a professional relationship explaining things in easy to understand layman's terms. Contact User Friendly PC at (775) 200-6171 today to setup an appointment for us to see you and get your computer fixed without the headaches.
Hourly Rates
Our hours of operation are Monday - Saturday 8:00am - 6:00pm, however we can schedule appointments outside of that time frame. We don't charge for travel time or add a fuel surcharge. We are happy to schedule appointments around your schedule.
While we do charge by the hour, if we diagnose a problem and have to wait for a part, we don't double charge the labor. (Example: Some retail shops will diagnose a problem in 10 minutes, charge you for an hour of labor. Then if you have them repair the problem and they spend another 10 minutes on it, they charge for another hour of labor costing the consumer 2 hours of labor for 20 minutes of work.) All repair work is done with your approval.
Currently our labor rates are as follows:- $60.00 / hr for most services. (1 hour minimum, then billed in 15 minute increments.)
- $100.00 / hr for data recovery. (This is pro-rated by the percentage of data we recover.)
Ask about our discounts for Seniors, Veterans and Active Service Personnel.
*On-site repair work is billed by time on the job. We don't charge for travel time. If it appears that the job will be extensive, we may opt to take the computer to our shop saving you money as we can be working on other machines while waiting for processes to complete.Consultation
User Friendly PC is here to help you get more from your computer. We work with you to provide you with solutions custom tailored for your needs. This includes but is not limited to:
- The design and specification of systems to fit your needs.
- Assistance in finding a price right for you.
- Guidance through the purchasing process.
- Planning the installation.
- Installing the system and software.
- Establishing procedures for maintenance and backup.
- Troubleshooting, repairing and updating systems when needed.
PC Setup and Support
User Friendly PC can setup your PC including keyboard, mouse, monitor, speakers and printer.
In addition to that, we will:
- Organize your wires and cables.
- Install additional peripheral devices.
- Install the Operating System if necessary.
- Setup Internet Access and Email
- Download and Install the latest updates and patches.
- Transfer any files from other computers.
- Check functionality and configuration to ensure everything is working properly.
Upgrades
Are the constant software updates eating up more of your memory and hard drive space? Has the performance of your streaming videos slowed down?
User Friendly PC can evaluate your system and suggest upgrades, configuration changes or clean out the clutter to speed your system back up again. Over time, application of the updates necessary to keep your system safe and secure uses more memory and hard drive space as does the collection of files, programs and games.
We can effortlessly install your upgrades, as well as clone your existing hard drive to another larger drive giving you the space you need, preventing the reinstallation of your operating system leaving all of your system customizations in place.Computer Hardware Repair
User Friendly PC can install internal or external PC components, such as replacing power supplies, graphics cards, hard drives, optical drives, printers or scanners. This includes installing any applicable software and configuring the device for use. Some damaged parts can be repaired on-site or in our shop.
Has your printer stopped picking up paper? Is the paper jamming or print doesn't look right? User Friendly PC can help with these and similar problems as well.
Networking
Home or office, wired or wireless, we can be your networking solution.
User Friendly PC will:
- Set up, configure and secure your router; safeguarding your personal information and securing your broadband signal from use by others.
- Configure your internet connection.
- Install and configure all networking adapters.
- Secure the network.
- Enable devices to share the internet, files, printers and other media (i.e. photos, videos, music, etc.) as needed.
- Repair network and internet connectivity if necessary.
- Install network cables (in wired network).
Networking (Wireless Security)
Often, users of wireless networks set them up without knowing how to secure them. This allows anyone with a laptop with Wi-Fi capability, to drive by and hijack your internet connection, to download files, slowing the connection to the consumer, or to hack into other systems including the consumers, stealing vital information and leaving a trail back to the subscriber of that internet connection. Another problem is that installers of high-speed services set easy to remember passkeys, (thus easy to crack), or use the minimum security that is often outdated.
User Friendly PC Techs can come out, secure the network setting an encrypted passkey, which is known only to the customer thus locking out outsiders. We also change the SSID (Service Set Identifier or Network Name) from the default, to discourage hackers which may be in the area. While this alone won't keep the best of the hackers out, it will prevent most. Another step that the customer can take is to change the key and password on a regular basis. We can show you how.
Security, Performance, Maintenance and Tune-up
Over time, computers become cluttered with trialware, unwanted programs, temporary files, corrupt registry keys, malware, spyware, etc.
User Friendly PC will complete a comprehensive inspection and remove any unwanted programs, clean up the registry, clean out the temporary files restoring drive space and remove any spyware and malware. In addition, we will perform system updates and improve PC speed and performance, including startup and shutdown optimization, Windows updating, menu navigation improvement, quick launch and taskbar cleanup and program shortcut creation.
We will also inspect the system for anti-virus and firewall software either providing options or updating existing software. We will enable basic security functions, including antiphishing and pop-up blocking activation in Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers.
Dust and dirt are two of the biggest enemies of computers. They cause overheating and premature failure of fans and other components which can cause a system to slow down or freeze. Overheating can also cause permanent damage to components within the system causing a system-wide failure.
User Friendly PC will also open up the case, thoroughly clean out the dust and dirt, tie any wires and cables to improve air flow and inspect all fans to ensure they are running properly.
Virus and Spyware Removal
A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. A true virus can only spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host is taken to the target computer; for instance, because a user sent it over a network or the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive. Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.
The term "computer virus" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware, and other malicious and unwanted software, including true viruses. Viruses are sometimes confused with computer worms and trojan horses, which are technically different. A worm can exploit security vulnerabilities to spread itself to other computers without needing to be transferred as part of a host, and a trojan horse is a program that appears harmless but has a hidden agenda. Worms and trojans, like viruses, may cause harm to a computer system's hosted data, functional performance, and/or networking throughput, when they are executed. Some viruses and other malware have symptoms noticeable to the computer user, but many are surreptitious.
Spyware can be installed on your computer without your knowledge and can use keystroke logging techniques to collect passwords you enter, your bank account numbers and PINs, your credit card numbers, and other personal information. The effects of this identity theft can be costly and very time consuming to rectify. Everyone should take steps to detect and remove any spyware running on their computers, and to guard against its future installation.
A related category of malware and adware may cause pop-up advertisements to appear on your screen, change your home page, disrupt your network access, and reduce the stability and usability of your system.
If your computer is running noticeably slower or behaving oddly, you should get it checked for these bugs. There are many techniques and proprietary programs we use to remove even the worst of these bugs without losing your data or having to reload the operating system.
Data Recovery
You use your computer for storing pictures and family videos to doing your taxes or managing your business. Your machine holds a lot of precious and critical information. One day you find that your computer won't boot or you get the bright blue screen of death or a frozen system?
Our techs will do a basic checkup to ensure that your data actually CAN be retrieved (which is the case more than 99% of the time). We will take the time to dig through every nook and cranny of your hard drive and do whatever it takes to find your irreplaceable data.
Even deleted files on your computer can, in many cases, be recovered. When you delete a file, it's never actually deleted unless the facilities are available on the computer system to command the file system to actually overwrite the contents of the file. When a file is deleted, all that happens is that an entry to the file is removed so you can't see it when browsing for files and it won't turn up on searches. It'll likely still be there on the disk however. Stop using the computer that had the files on it so your lost data is not overwritten.
Once recovered, your data can be stored on media of your choice – DVD, CD-ROM, Hard Drive or any other removable media. (Additional charges may apply for DVD and CD media.)
We will never ship your drive across the country to other facilities. All recovery is done by our technicians, right here in Reno, NV.
We use PASSIVE recovery techniques so that no actual data on the drive is disturbed but rather copied to another location and the original drive is returned in the condition it was received.
We are however limited to the extent that if your drive has electrically failed (no longer powers up or has a blown circuit board), then it needs to be sent to a lab where they have clean room facilities. This can be costly, but rarely occurs.
Data recovery is charged on a percentage basis of the data recovered. If nothing is recovered, there is no charge.
Secure Data Destruction
You use your computer for storing pictures and family videos to doing your taxes or managing your business. Your machine holds a lot of precious and critical information including financial data and often passwords.
You want to recycle your computer, give it to a friend or family member, but you want to ensure that your information remains secure and away from prying eyes. When you delete a file, all that happens is that an entry to the file is removed so you can't see it when browsing for files and it won't turn up on searches. It'll likely still be there on the disk, however.
There's also the issue of swap space or paging files. Operating system kernels will temporarily put stuff there when they are scheduling other software to run and that software has to stop, along with all its data. It will also go in swap or a paging file when the system runs low on main memory (RAM). Deleting a file, partitioning a hard drive, or re-formatting a hard drive will not erase your data.
With the rise of credit card fraud and identity theft it is all the more important to make sure that when you upgrade or discard your old equipment that you have made sure you have not left your data behind for others to find.
We guarantee the destruction of all of your data using DOD (Department Of Defense) and NSA (National Security Agency) standards. We do this On-Site so that your drive never leaves your possession.
Computer Disposal
Need to get rid of an old computer? Recycle it! There are ways to recycle such as donating these to your local charities. Local charities often refurbish these for families and disabled people. If you have an old computer you want to recycle but you're not sure what you should do, follow these Ten Tips for Donating a Computer at TechSoup.org The technology place for nonprofits.
Feel free to contact User Friendly PC to answer any questions you may have at (775) 200-6171 or by email.
