Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between on-site, off-site, and remote services?
On-Site - Services are performed in-person at your home or place of business.
Off-Site - Services are performed at our office. You can drop off your device to us or request to have it picked up. After the service is complete, you can pick it up from our office or request to have it dropped off to you.
Remote - Services are performed via secure remote access tools that allow us to view/control your computer with your permission.
Why is my computer running so slowly?
Computers can get bogged down for a number of reasons, but there are some relatively inexpensive ways to boost performance without buying a brand new machine, including…
Swap out HDD for SSD - ditching your old, spinning hard drive and replacing with a solid state drive is guaranteed to significantly speed up everything you do.
Increase/upgrade RAM - extra/faster memory allows your computer to process more tasks at once. 8GB of RAM is the typically minimum for a modern computer.
Clean up files & apps - computers can accumulate all kinds of temporary files, unwanted programs, and other junk that slow down all of the things you actually want to use.
If this sounds familiar and you’d like to speed up your computer, we can help!
What antivirus software should I use on a Windows PC?
At minimum, you should always keep up on updates through Windows Security, which is built into Windows 10 & 11. For an extra layer of protection, we recommend investing in a more comprehensive antivirus/antimalware solution. We offer powerful managed cybersecurity solutions as part of our maintenance plans!
What apps/programs do you recommend?
Web browsers: The default browsers built into Windows (Edge) and MacOS (Safari) are fine options, but it’s always good to have at least one alternative browser in case something doesn’t work properly. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are the most popular alternatives and are completely free to download and use.
PDF Reader: The easiest and most consistent way to view/sign PDFs is with Adobe Acrobat. You can get the reader version for free, but if you need additional functionality like editing PDFs, creating forms, etc. you may want to consider an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
Office apps: The obvious answer here is Microsoft Office, which comes in a few flavors but mainly the Microsoft 365 Personal (or Family) subscription. If you don’t have a Microsoft Account and/or don’t want to pay for a subscription, a great alternative is LibreOffice. It looks and feels a lot like Microsoft Office and can open, edit, and save Office file types (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) without issue.
Media Player: All computers come with some form of media player pre-installed, but if you’re looking for an alternative that can handle most media files, VLC Media Player is a great free option.
Cloud Storage: Depending on what devices/services you already have, you may want to consider Microsoft OneDrive, Google Drive, Apple iCloud, or DropBox. They all work similarly, but it may help to keep your files in the same ecosystem as your devices and accounts.