Cheap Computer Repair Tutorial

If you’re like a lot of other people out there and using a computer filled with spy ware and viruses, some cheap computer repair could do you a lot of good for a little cost. There are an array of computer problems that can arise, but most people suffer from a slow computer that is full of harmful software (known as malware or spy ware) that makes your computer virtually unusable. I know this is true because the internet is full of it, and it is extremely easy for you computer to become infected. This tutorial is here to teach you how to do you own home computer repairs, specifically for Windows XP users.

When you take your computer to a repair shop with this kind of problem, they are always going to do the same thing. They do it so often it is like a routine for them, as I said earlier, this is the number one problem people have with their computer. If they are a good repair service, they will ask what files you want saved and attempt to salvage what they can. Sometimes they are just lazy and will make you think that nothing can be saved and all you can do is say ok. I would also stay away from any kind of online computer tech support, as these people will try to fix your computer without formatting. Keep in mind that a computer infected with malicious software cannot be salvaged nine times out of ten. Your important files can usually be saved and put on the next install, but the computer almost always has to be wiped out. This is what the repair shop is going to do. This is what I am going to teach you how to do. If in fact you decide to take your pc to someone, read this article from Home Computer Repair in NJ Advice.

First, you will need a copy of windows XP. Keep in mind this tutorial is for windows XP only, other operating systems have a different sequence of installation. If it is possible that your computer will operate enough to save any files you don’t want to lose, I recommend doing so. Just transfer them to a jump drive. If you computer won’t operate enough for this, then all I can say is I hope you backed up your files often. If you didn’t, let this be a lesson.

Ok, the first step is to put the XP cd in your cdrom and restart the computer. Hopefully you computer will boot from the cd, but if it doesn’t, we need to make a change in the bios settings. So, if you restarted and it takes you right back to your desktop like always, then restart again. Except this time when it says “hit delete to enter setup”, do it. This will take you to your bios settings where you can make changes on how your hardware operates. You need to look around and find where it gives the boot sequence or boot order and gives the option to choose an IDE drive, cdrom, or floppy. You will need to make it so that the cdrom is the first choice in the boot sequence, so set it to number one. Now save changes and exit. This time it should boot from the cd, which means you are now able to format your computer.

You will want to choose the option to install a new copy of windows and install it on your main partition or c: drive. When it asks if you want to format the partition, say yes. Always do a slow format with the NTFS file system. Once this process starts, it will take some time depending on how large your drive is. Once this has completed, your computer should reset itself and bring you to the windows installation screen. Basically all you want to do here is answer the questions and follow any instructions to complete the installation. If your not sure on which option to choose on any of the questions, just go with the default. Your computer will reset itself a few times throughout this process and eventually take you to the windows desktop.

Now comes the part where you need to update windows. If you just bought your copy of windows, it is probably mostly up to date, so this will be easier for you. If you have an older copy, this is going to take a while. Before you can update, you need to make sure you have an internet connection. I’m going to assume that you have broadband, so when you answered the questions about you internet connection in the installation part, you should have chosen that you have an internet connection that is always on. If you open internet explorer and it ask you how you connect to the internet, make sure you answer correctly. If it still wont connect, try turning off your modem for ten seconds and turning it back on.

Once you have a connection, go to Microsoft’s website and go to windows update. Follow the instructions on how to check for updates and install them. This process requires several computer restarts, so be patient. Once you finally have your computer updated, you need to install the drivers for some of your hardware you might have, like a printer. For this step I will use a printer as the example. Go to your printers manufacturers website and look for driver downloads. You need to find the driver that corresponds with your printer model and download it. Make sure you save it to a place that is easy to find. I like to save all my downloads to the desktop and delete them when I am done. Once you download the file, run it and just follow the instructions. Once you have completed this, your printer should be operating. You need to do this with every piece of hardware on your system. If you notice something is not working like it did before you reinstalled windows, its because you haven’t installed the drivers for it.

Once you have complete all of these things, you should have what looks like a brand new computer. Its basically a blank canvas ready to be personalized. It might take some time to reinstall all of your favorite programs, but the better performance should make it worth it. One last thing before you put the files you saved on the jump drive back to your pc. Make sure you do a virus scan of these files because you don’t want to bring any infected files from your infected pc to the new installation. Now, just sit back and enjoy your trouble free pc.