We produce 0% of the parts we sell. We buy parts from the manufactures, and we sell it to you.

The manufacturers who build the products include a warranty on their products. There are a few different types of warranties explained in great detail here. When we sell a part, we pass on that manufacturers warranty to our customers.

Recently the manufactures have been lowering their standard warranty. For many years it was 1 year. We all knew any new part came with a 1 year warranty. The days of the 1 year standard warranty are gone. Not only have they reduced the warranty, they have also instituted policy that makes it so that the end user has to send the part back to the manufacturer for warranty repair or replacement. While this doesn’t seem like a big change, i assure you it is very significant.

If you buy something from your local retailer and it breaks, you will take it back to where you got it. You will walk in with your receipt and defective item and expect an off the shelf replacement. The recent manufacturer policy changes makes it so that you can’t take it back to the store where you purchased it. You have to send it back to the manufacturer. That is much more hassle than returning it to the place of purchase. Many will not bother, and just buy a replacement.

My theory is, the retailer (us) has a 99% chance of sending that defective part back to the manufacturer. The end user (you) has a 50% chance of sending the part back. Less returned parts equal more profits for the manufacturers. That slight policy change probably saves them millions.

We go to great lengths to sell parts that have the best “value”. We value our parts based on warranty, reliability, track record and price. We spend generous amounts of time researching parts before deciding what to sell to our customers.

Even with that, sometime parts break. We hope they make it to the 1 year mark. If it does have a problem within 6 months, we’ll send it back and get a replacement for you. If it goes out after 6 months, you will have to send it back for a replacement. Not that we don’t want to send it back for you, they will not accept it from us after 6 months. Each manufacturer is different, but most of their policies seem to be headed that way.

I wish stuff would last. I wish you could buy something and not have to worry about having to replace it any sooner than 5 years. I hate not being able to take it back to the place of purchase.I hate replacing things i just bought period!

I know why things are cheaply built and don’t last these days. Price moves sales. It is proven that a $4.85 item will sell faster than a $4.95 item. Eventually the company making the $4.95 item goes out of business because nobody will buy their part. Either they cut corners and find a way to sell it for $4.80 or they go out of business.

Then we are stuck with the cheaply built $4.85 part.

We stand behind our virus and spyware cleans to the point that, if you are not totally happy with it, we will do a windows re-install for free.  If within 7 days, your system is not satisfactory, then bring it back, and we will re-install windows for you, no questions asked. That additional service ($140 value) is available to anyone who gets our FULL virus  / spyware clean. The 7 days part is important. This offer is not available 2-3-4-5 weeks later.

Very rarely, after we have done our full virus / spyware / malware / scareware clean, a system is still pretty bad. Rarely, after we have thrown everything we have at a computer, it is still not quite right.  Sometimes a system is just so badly infected and damaged that there isn’t anything we can do to guarantee it’s continued successful operation but do a full operating system re-install.

We would much rather fix a computer that re-install it. A re-install presents the customer with a multitude of headaches after-wards. No matter how bad a computer was or is,  nobody is happy with a re-install.

A Windows re-install means you will have to re-install all your programs. Much of the software we use are not a part of the standard windows instillation. To be quite honest, a windows re-install may not have any of the software you use on a regular basis. Internet explorer is really, the only program you may use, that is included with a re-install.

What about the settings? Configurations? Email setup? Printer setup? Ipod, games, scanners, USB devices, external hard drives, security software, flash, adobe, turbo tax, and any of the other 1 billion available programs that you could have had?

The biggest and most frustrating part is the lack of software license, keys and such. The things that you use that are not free, tend to cost big sums of money.

When you purchase software, you are given a software key, and a CD / DVD. If you purchased it online, they emailed the key to you and you installed the software from the web.

Where is that KEY?

Didn’t you read the email that said “Do not lose this!”

Don’t you know that you can’t re-install your software without that key? Didn’t you know that the key is worth $350? Losing that key is like never having bought the software in the first place.You lost it, and we don’t have it. We can’t get it for you. Even if you bought it from us, we don’t have your key anymore. Maybe you can call or email the place of purchase, but they probably don’t have it either. There is only 1 copy of that key, and retailers usually don’t keep a list of every key sold to every customer. If you do have to re-purchase the software, put the key in a safe place this time.

Custom-PC stands behind our products, even the services we perform.

During my investigation, I discovered that her part was ordered from china. Not much we could have done. That is horrible, and I wish we could have gotten it sooner.

75% of the replacement desktop parts we stock. 15% we can get in less than 3 days. The remaining 10% are either vendor proprietary or are only available from overseas. Since 95% of computer parts are manufactured overseas, that should not be much of a surprise.

The real waits are for laptop parts. We only stock 20% of replacement parts for those. Each laptop uses about 80% unique parts. That means your laptop may only take 1 specific part and there is no way we can stock them all. When that happens, we have to special order your part. 75% of the time, we can order from a domestic vendor. The wait for those types of parts is only 3-6 days. In the rare instances we have to special order a international part, the wait can be up to 6 weeks. Yes, six weeks.

We don’t like it anymore than our customers do. Some vendors offer expedited shipping, but all do not. For an additional $65 in shipping you can expedite a part coming from Hong Kong. Expensive. Sometimes we have to just wait………….

I personally hate having a laptop missing a $15 part that has been sitting for 3 weeks.

There are so many anti-virus options out there, which one do you choose? How do you know which one will work best? What’s the differences between them?

The “whose who” of the top performers change every quarter or so. There are a few places to get good reviews on the top performing anti-virus software packages available.Sites like: PC mag, PC world, and CNET all offer their reviews.

As a business policy, we do not endorse any of the free anti-virus software. I have been told they can work well, depending on the user. The higher up the technological ladder the user, usually the less infections they have.

We have sold Nortons, McAfee, Panda, Trend Micro, and now we only sell AVG. We have no allegiance to any of the software vendors. We sell and use what we think works best. We only carry 1 brand at a time. If we ever feel that AVG is no longer the best solution, we will switch to whatever we think is.

From our customer base, the feedback on AVG has been great. Every once in a while, we will have a customer upset that we sold them something that is available free. AVG does offer a free version of its software. Don’t be mistaken, it is not the same as the paid version. You have countless arguments going online about free vs paid, and we often replace customers free versions with the paid version and we don’t see them anymore.

That being said, no anti-virus software is fool proof. Most infections are a direct reflection of web browsing habits, than from security.

A few years ago when we were having tons of issues with the anti-virus software we currently offered, we didn’t sell anything for almost 30 days. We figured nothing would stop people from getting viruses so why sell them some $60 piece of software that wouldn’t do them any good anyway?

That was probably the worse decision we’ve made around here, ever. The fallout was immense:

• “You let me get re-infected after charging me for a cleaning”
• “Why didn’t you tell me I could get re-infected”
• “You just wanted me back in here so you could charge me for another cleaning”
• “You are in cahoots with the people who make the viruses”
• “You probably are the ones putting the viruses on my computer”

We quickly found out that catering to the minority who didn’t want to pay for good anti-virus software was a bad choice.

We are often stuck between a rock, and a bigger rock. We know that buying anti-virus software will not keep you from getting re-infected. We also know that not buying anti-virus will have you back in here sooner than later. We are aware that there are free software options out there, but we cant “sell” it to you because it’s free. We also can’t recommend anything that may not work, crash your computer on install, or anything else that turns your computer from working to non-working.

When you purchase the paid version of AVG from us you get:

• Free instillation and setup
• Email support
• Discount on renewals

Custom-PC Computers recommends AVG Anti-virus and when that changes, you’ll be the first to know!

One of the best things Vista had, was the ability to control the access your children have to the computer and internet.

You can control what programs can be ran: You can set which installed programs can be ran under your child’s account.

You can set limits on games:  You can separately control what games your kids can play. By rating or just in general.

You can control when your kids can use the computer: Using Time Limits, Windows allows you to set what hours of the day your child(ren) can use the computer.

You could also use the built in web filtering to control what websites your child can see. Each of these features was also included in Windows 7 EXCEPT the built in content filter.

Now you must install a separate piece of software.

Booooooo-Hiss-Hiss

It is however, better this way. It is also much more robust and will actually SAVE you time.

Web filtering is now accomplished with a component from the Windows Live package. The service hooks into parental controls in Windows 7 enabling you to monitor what your kids do online. Management of the new web filter is done online with Windows Live. You can set various levels of content filtering or switch to a pre-determined list of child-friendly sites which can also include sites you’ve white listed. You can also prevent file downloads. Other features of this service include activity reporting, contact management (controlling who your kids can communicate with online), and the ability to manage requests by your kids to access restricted content.

All of which is great. If you have multiple kids and multiple computers, the one stop shop to configure access to the internet will save you tons of time. And tons of trips up and down the steps.

More info about Windows Family Safety

Now what?

• Fix it again? Probably
• Replace with a few new parts? Maybe
• Replace with all new parts? Definitely Not
• Sell it to someone and let them fix it? Shame on you
• Get a new one? Maybe

OK, whats the correct answer? Depends. Every situation is different.

To even start to answer this question, I have a few questions:

• What’s wrong with it?
• Is it the same problem as before?
• Does it still suit your needs?
• Is it still “Fast”?

If the problem is a new problem, then i would fix it. If its the same problem, i would find out whats causing it, and how likely it is to happen again.

If its a virus problem, then GET IT FIXED. It’s a waste of money to buy a new pc when yours is only a few years old and it has a virus problem. You will probably get viruses on the new one you just bought. Then you have the cost of the new pc + the same repair cost as fixing the virus problem anyway.

Replace with ALL new parts? Just buy a new one. That’s what you’ll end up with anyway. All new parts =  new computer.

It is still suiting your needs? are you running the same applications as the day you bought it? Then get it fixed. It should still be plenty fast for your usage.

Have you become an all pro scrapbook-er, family tree maker, dvd copier, home movie maker? Then it may be time for an upgrade or a new machine. If you are doing fun and exciting new things, and you don’t have time to wait on the computer, then upgrade or buy new.

Sell it to someone and let them fix it? How mean.

Unless its family ( just kidding). Unless you tell the person what they are getting into, and, AND ( first and more important than the second one) they understand. Telling a non techie person how easy it is to fix the problem, isnt enough. How come you just didn’t get it fixed then?

Contrarily, if your pc is 8 years old, moves at the speed of smell, has parts falling off, Windows Millennium Edition, and a cdrom drive? Time for a new one. It’s not really worth it to upgrade. You run the risk of the non upgraded parts failing, and then you end up spending the same amount just over time, plus the added headache to boot.

Replace some of the parts? This is usually the best option. The P in PC takes a lot of work to achieve. Settings, favorites, installed programs, you spent all that time, getting your computer just the way YOU like it. If you get a new one, you’ll have to start all over.

If your system isn’t more than 5 years old, replace a few key parts, and viola! Almost a new computer. You get the speed benefits of a new system at half the cost and without having to reinstall and re-setup everything.

I have upgraded my computer since the beginning. I have yet to buy a totally new system going on 11 years now. Each time i spend 1/2 as much, and spend no time on the re-setup.

I will admit I have re-installed XP 2 times in 10 years. Then I couldn’t upgrade from XP to Windows 7 so i had to do a new install

I always ask ” Why do you say that?” The three most common responses:

1. I cant find any of my stuff
2. I cant re-install my programs
3. What is all this junk?

Lets start with issue 1

The computer stores data differently than how we  see it while we use it. Some of the storage folders are dynamic, meaning they change names depending on the user. For instance, in Windows XP, the MY Documents folder, actually doesn’t exist. Each user has a folder called my documents, and it is located at c:\Documents and settings\%username%\My documents.

If you go looking for c:\ my documents, you wont find it. If there is only one user, there is no telling what the actual user name is. It was set up when you first put your name into your pc. If you have a used system, it could be anything. Even if you change your display name, the computer does not change the c:\Documents and settings\%username%\to match.

So when you get your data backup, look to see how many users there are, and look through all the user files. Your things are in there, somewhere.

Now on to issue 2)

You can’t re-install programs from a basic data backup. We actually go to great lengths to explain this as early as possible in the repair process. The basic data backup copies your files, folders, and whatever else is readable from your old hard drive to your new hard drive or disc.

The reason you can’t re-install from the backup, is because you need the actual program to install itself. When you install a program, the installer program copies the files you need for your particular system from the cd to the pc. Then you take the cd out and save it (hopefully). What gets copied to the pc is not the entire cd, and is not enough for the program to re-install itself without the original install cd.

Some of the older windows 95-98 programs were so small, they may have actually copied the entire “floppy” to the pc. Then you could re-install from the pc because you have a copy of the floppy.

It may be a bit confusing, but they try to save space on the hard drive by not copying everything. They assume you will keep the cd in case you have to re-install………

Lastly issue 3)

We don’t know!  Seriously, how did you get all this stuff?

The Personal in Personal Computer means that everyone’s computer is different. The things you install, download, save, will not be the same as the next person. There is no way for me to know what you have and where you put it.

Most programs put things in the same place by default. The end user (you) can still change that. Every time you save, it asks where do you want to put it. If you use the same folder that comes up each time, then everything will be there.The computer is even programmed to open up to the last place you saved before!

Sounds good right? Until you (or someone) accidentally switches the location, now all your old stuff is not in the same place with your new stuff.

Think of it as trying to cook in a strangers kitchen. Where are the big pans? Small pans? Whipping spoons? Tops, bottoms, lefts, rights? It’s THEIR kitchen. You have no idea where their stuff is. You have to go hunting. Hopefully its in places that make sense. Hopefully you don’t have to look behind the fridge for the spoons, and in the garage for the bowls.

That’s how we handle customers data hunts. We can look in the most sensible places, or the places where most programs put the data.  If it’s not there, who knows where it is.

If you don’t, then we definitely do not. We can help you find it, just takes a little time. We don’t mind spending the time, you are in fact, our best customer!

Computer hardware is no exception. I currently witness more out the box failures, than ever.

A few months back, I purchased a brand new microwave and it could came with a 30 day warranty. This wasn’t some off-brand model either. This was a nice, expensive ($200+) convection type microwave oven. I was very upset that the company only had 30 days worth of confidence in their product. Before I settled on that particular item, i went from store to store reading the different warranty’s with different models. 80% only had a 30 day warranty. I couldn’t find a single microwave with a (what i did consider standard) 1 year warranty. I wasn’t upset at the retailer, they don’t set the warranty policy, the manufacturer does.

Why was I surprised? In my own industry I have watched as the not so standard 1 year warranty has gone away. Very few items come with a 1 year warranty anymore. The ones that do, it takes so long to get a replacement, you may as well just buy another one anyway.

2 years ago we started tracking data on how difficult and lengthly the return process was for various manufacturers. Using that data, we begun carrying parts from manufacturers who had the best warranty and return policies. This has allowed us to maintain a 6 month warranty on all new parts.

The second part about any warranty is the “who administers the warranty” portion.

Consider this hypothetical scenario. You purchase a new refrigerator. The retailer tell you it has a 10 year manufactures warranty. Great! We’ll take that one, deliver it on Monday.  Your new appliance arrives on Monday, they set it up, and it works great. Works great for 2 years anyway, and now it leaks and doesn’t keep your food cold.

You call for repair service. You are informed you must take it across town to have it fixed. You call the “authorized repair center” to see how long it will be. They tell you a week or so, longer if they have to order the parts. Wh#!@$! What do we use until then? They have no idea, and neither do you.

That story has a somewhat happier ending than one in where you have to ship it off for service. (There are no authorized repair centers local to you.) Never paid to ship a 250+ pound object? It isn’t cheap. You are tempted to drive it there yourself.

What a headache. Unfortunately the same can apply to computers. You go into one of the big box retailers, and you buy a PC. When it needs service, you can’t take it back to where you purchased it. You have to call the manufacturer (Dell, HP, Sony, IBM, Gateway, Toshiba, etc) They will tell you how and where to get service. On some models, as an add-on you could have purchased in-home repair service. They send someone to you house and fix it there. Not all vendors offer that. For the ones that don’t, you have to ship your PC to them for service. It’s not as much as shipping a fridge, but what do you use in the mean time?

In the future, before you purchase anything, ask who does the warranty work. See if you have to ship it off, or can you bring it back to the place where you bought it.

Custom-PC services what we sell. If you bought it from us, you can bring it back to us (If it is still in warranty) 6 month warranty on all new parts. Feel confident that you will be taken care of when you buy from us.

Being in the service industry, we are sometimes a “necessity” for other people to do business. If computers, internet, email, websites are down, it makes it difficult for others to get their work done.

If it is too dangerous to drive, then we will not open our stores. Instead of going out and driving the dark streets early in the morning, we take our que from the people who hav already decided the roads are too dangerous.

Each store follows their local school district. If it is too dangerous for parents, teachers, and students, then it is too dangerous for our employees as well.

Hopefully this sheds some light on when and how we decide to be closed. Hopefully this reduces the number of irate phone messages we find the day after inclimate weather closes one of our stores.

We know you need your computers, laptops, printers and servers we are repairing back. We will do our best to fix them as soon as possible when we re-open. (as we always do).

Try to understand that the safety of our employees is important as well. Without them, there wouldn’t be anyone to fix your computers, laptops, printers and servers.

Unless your computer is 6+ years old, its probably a no brainer to have your computer repaired.

So you take it somewhere (hopefully us) and the prognosis is that you’ll need a new hard drive. What a pain.

If you purchased your computer new from Dell, HP, Gateway, Acer, etc, then you most likely have a little sticker somewhere on the case with your windows key on it. Great! We can use this to re-install your operating system with no problems. And the rest of your stuff?

Windows by itself is pretty basic. You get IE, Media player, Movie maker, Solitare, and Outlook express. Chances are, the main thing you use from that list is Internet Explorer. What about Word, Outlook, Nero, Nortons, Realplayer, Smiley face maker, family tree mapper, and all the other icons that were on the desktop when you purchased it?

All those programs have to be installed separately. None of those are a part of windows. When you buy a computer, they put all that on for you. Most consumers don’t realize that if you have to have your hard drive replaced, you have to re-install all that stuff as well.

Most of the big PC manufacturers give you recovery “solution”  built into your hard drive. Thing is, that helps you absolutely zero if your hard drive dies.

If you run the recovery program, it puts your computer back the way it was when you bought it. Thats great for a “recovery” from a software issue, like a virus, bad download, or a failed update. However, if your hard drive goes, so goes the “system recovery” as well.

One of the biggest issues we have is explaining all that to our customers. We have found that saying we’re going to re-install “Windows” does no good at conveying the message that Windows is all you will get. Even saying, all windows comes with is IE is still not enough. (they must think we’re joking)

When they ask “How do I get the rest of my programs” our first question is” Do you have your software cd’s?” If their answer is no, our next comment is to  contact your original retailer.

We can  install windows  because your product key is on the PC somewhere. The product key to the rest of your software should be in that big stack of paperwork you got when you purchased your pc.

Sometimes we cant get your product key from the PC. Someone may have removed it, or its too damaged to read.

Losing that key is like losing $100. You will be forced to buy your software again. Losing your recovery cd’s is like losing $500. Windows Pro+ office 2003 Pro + Nero = over $500 worth of software.

Most computers give you the option to create recovery cd’s from the recovery partition the first time you boot your computer. Make sure you do that. Sometimes the opportunity to do that expires after 90 days. Then you cant do it. You can try to call and complain to Microsoft, but it probably wont get you anywhere.