https://www.porterscomputerrepairs.com/

Porter's Computer Repairs, Spring Mountain (2026)

04/01/2023

All good things come to an end.
Nothing lasts forever, not even Windows. As of January 10th Microsoft will not be supporting Windows 8.1. This means that if you are using Windows 8.1 you will no longer be receiving content, quality of life, or more importantly, security updates from January 10th. It is advised that you move to Windows 10 or 11 if possible. If you choose to stay with Windows 8.1 you will be at greater risk of a malware attack.
So the choice is yours; will you move with the times or take the malware risk?

28/12/2022

Seems that last week's tech tip didn't get posted. Here it is this week:
"This weeks's tech tip is to have a happy holidays and enjoy time with your family.
We are taking a break with the tech tips and will be back in the new year. This has no bearing on our other services; feel free to contact us if you need tech help."

Even the tech experts have tech hiccups.

13/12/2022

Storing Memories

Today I want to talk about two parts of your computer that are pretty closely intertwined; storage and RAM. You can think of them like long- and short-term memory.

Storage is a catch all term that refers to anything we use to store data long-term. Normally this refers to HDDs or SSDs, but CD/DVDs, USBs drives, (and, if you’re old enough, Floppy Disks) can all be considered storage devices. Storage devices are usually much slower than RAM, but have a MUCH larger capacity (100s or even 1000s of times larger). This is where we keep programs, photos, videos, our Operating System, pretty much everything we use a computer for. Storage is like our long-term memory; it is semi-permanent and isn't lost at the end of the day.

If storage is our long-term memory, RAM is more like our short-term memory; the information stored there is constantly changing as needs change and is lost at the end of the day. RAM stands for Random Access Memory and is sometimes just called memory. It has very little capacity, but is incredibly fast. Here’s a simple explanation of how RAM works. When you open a program your computer knows it will need to access it a lot, so it will load the program to RAM. From RAM it can access the program 5-10 times faster. This makes everything much smoother.

So why don’t we store everything on RAM? Unfortunately, RAM has very little capacity. Storage is usually 100s or even 1000s of times larger than RAM, so loading lots of programs onto RAM will fill it very quickly. This is why computers slow down when you have a lot of programs open at once. Also, RAM is cleared of all data when you turn off your computer. Not ideal for long-term storage. This is why these storage and RAM work so well. Together they allow for lots of data that can be accessed very fast.

07/12/2022

Gone Phishing

Around the holiday season we see a lot of fishy emails claiming that your account has been suspended/cancelled/locked, or a package, that you never ordered, failed to be delivered, or the classic; you’ve won a lottery you never entered. These are all phishing scams or phishing email. They are designed to get your private data and there are plenty of people falling for them. There are ways to spot a phishing email and ways to protect yourself from one.

Check the address:

Many of these emails pose as some other, trusted, company (PayPal, FedEx, Amazon) to gain your trust. They do not have access to those companies’ email addresses though. Checking the address the email was sent from is one good way to spot a phishing email early. Some will gibberish, whist others will have odd spelling errors. Both are a good indicator that this is a fake email and you should not click any link contained in the email. Instead, if you are concerned, contact the company using a phone number or website you know is real.

Check the link:

Most phishing emails will urge you to click on a link contained in the email. Before you click it try hovering over it. It will show you the URL that link open. If that URL doesn’t start with https, doesn’t contain the company name, or looks suspicious in any other way, you may want to avoid that link.

To protect yourself you should always make sure Windows in up to date and ignore or delete any suspicious emails you receive. You can also install an anti-phishing addon for your web browser. This will warn you when you enter a website that shows signs of a phishing scam.

Remember to stay safe these holidays.

29/11/2022

Back it up now

Some pretty common advice we all hear about, but rarely take to heart, is the importance of backing up our data. If you have ever lost data, you know probably know the importance of having a backup. You never know when the worst-case scenario could happen and you have to say goodbye to years of memories and/or hard work.

Did you know the average lifespan of a hard disk drive (HDD) is 3-5 years? Around this time is when most HDDs encounter some kind of mechanical failure, and we would recommend making sure your data is backed up before your HDD gets this old. 10 years is considered the maximum lifespan of a HDD, and if you have a 10-year-old HDD we would recommend you replace it immediately.

Solid state drives (SSD) generally last longer. This varies wildly based on build quality and technologies the SSD uses, but general consensus is around 5-10 years. At about 5 years we would recommend making a backup.

On top of failing drives, you also need to be wary of malware or curious little children, both of which can either destroy or ransom your data. Having a backup really helps in these situations.

A backup can come in many forms; it might be a USB drive or a CD/DVD with all your photos, or a cloud storage system, or another drive that is an exact copy of your current drive. Basically, anywhere you have a copy of some or all of your data is a backup.

Hopefully now you can see why we always tell you to back up your data. A HDD is easy to replace, photos of your honeymoon in Switzerland cannot be replaced.

23/11/2022

Wakey Wakey

I’m sure some of you have used an old computer that you would turn on, then go make a cuppa to give it time to start up and settle down. Well today I have a few tips to help get your PC up and running faster.

First thing, and might have heard this one before, is make sure everything is up to date. Particularly windows. If windows is not up to date, will try to update when you turn your PC on. If you use your computer during this time it can slow down the process and slow down your progress. You are better off just letting it do its thing, it will be faster in the long run.

Secondly, you will want to check your startup programs. This is a list of programs that start with windows. The more you have, the slower your startup. Some programs have a larger impact than others on startup, so choosing the ones that you can do without can make the world of difference to your startup time. You can change this in task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Esc)). There, you will find a tab labeled ‘Startup’. Then simply disable the ones you don’t want starting with windows.

The last thing to do is to enable ‘Fast Startup’. This one can create some issues for some users. It creates a temporary file for windows to load from. This speeds things up but is not always compatible with devices that do not support sleep mode or hibernation. It can also interfere with some programs. So your millage with this one may vary, but If this happens you can just disable it and the problem will sort itself out. To enable Fast Startup, you will need to navigate to Control Panel then Power Options. From here you will find a Choose What the Power Button Does option. Finally click the checkbox next to Fast Startup.

Hopefully with these three tips you will be able to cut down in pre-PC coffees, and spend more time using your wonderful machine.

16/11/2022

Staying Safe

The internet allows us to connect to all kinds of people. Some of these people are nice; friends, family, the nice tech guy that provides you with tech tips every week. The vast majority are apathetic and honestly couldn’t care that they are connected to you. But a small minority are malicious and these people create malware.

Malware, short for malicious software, is described as any software created with malicious intent. This generally includes: viruses, worms, keyloggers, spyware, adware, and ransomware, to name a few. Needless to say, malware is bad news; it can cause anything from theft of personal data, to crippling your computer.

So how do we protect ourselves online? There are a few things we can do. The first is using common sense. Try hard to steer clear of dodgy websites, and, if you mist visit one, do not click on any of the many ads that popup on these sites. The second, and probably more important, is to make sure you have an up-to-date antivirus. There are plenty to choose from, but beware that some can be more annoying to deal with than the viruses. Do your research when choosing one.

If in the event that you do contract some kind of malware many antiviruses won’t be able to help. There are some programs you can find to remove malware, but it might be time to call in the professionals.

09/11/2022

With a Blue Little Window

Stop me if you’ve heard this one. You’re using your computer: playing games, watching a video, typing up that important document your boss wants on his desk in the morning, when, all of a sudden, the computer freezes; before you can do anything about the problem your screen turns a bright blue and the panic sets in. You’ve encountered the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

Blue screens happen when something goes wrong in Windows. And a lot can go wrong in Windows. There are over 400 error codes that result in a BSOD in Windows 10/11. Luckily the error code (also known as a stop code) is displayed on the BSOD. I HIGHLY recommend taking a photo of any BSOD you encounter; they don’t stick around and finding the logs can be a hassle.

Sometimes BSODs sort themselves out. Other times action is needed. This is where taking a photo really comes in handy. If you are feeling confident, you can search the internet for the stop code and try to fix it yourself. If not, you will need to call in professionals, like us, and having that stop code will make the process of fixing your computer much faster, so that you can get back to getting your boss off your back.

02/11/2022

Keeping Up to Date

We humans generally like to stay up to date with things, particularly tech. We want the latest graphics card, phone, laptop, smartwatch. It makes life easier, and some things just aren't possible with older tech (ever tried sending a photo on a Nokia brick?).

Computers also like to be kept up to date. Luckily this doesn’t mean spending money on new gadgets. It means making sure software and drivers are up to date, and better yet, these days computers do most updates automatically. We just have to let them do it. We are all guilty of putting off updates. Afterall, you turned your computer on to use it, not to sit and watch it update. Unfortunately, our impatience can have frustrating consequences. If the drivers and windows are not given the opportunity to update they can't do the things they need to do, and this can lead to blue screens or being locked out of using windows entirely. Sometimes this fixes itself, but sometimes you will need to in the professionals. Generally, it's just easier to show a little restraint and let the update happen or set active hours, so your computer will try to update when it isn't in use.

As always, if you have any questions or troubles send us a message or give us a call. We are here to help.

26/10/2022

Upgrade Time

Earlier this year Microsoft finished the rollout of Windows 11. Meaning that, if your PC meets the minimum requirements, you can upgrade to Windows 11 anytime. Unfortunately, many people have found themselves not meeting one requirement: TPM 2.0 enabled. Even more unfortunate is the misinformation surrounding this particular problem. So, let's clear some things up.

What is TPM? A Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a chip that provides a variety of security features, some of which Windows 11 needs to function. Without this chip enabled you cannot upgrade to Windows 11.

How do we enable TPM 2.0? This is where the misinformation starts. There are many articles online stating that you will need to buy a TPM 2.0 chip. In many cases this is simply untrue. Most computers made in the last 10 years will have a TPM 2.0 chip embedded into the motherboard. All you need to do is go into the BIOS and enable it.

Not sure how to do that? Contact us at Porter’s Computer Repairs. We will be more than happy to walk you through the process free of charge. If you aren’t comfortable messing with the BIOS (It can be scary in there) we will be more than happy to come to you and fix the problem onsite. We are always here to help.

19/10/2022

We are aware there was a problem with our website when veiwing on mobile. This has now been fixed. Thank you for your patience and thank you for the feedback.

Porter's Computer Repairs

04/01/2023

28/12/2022

13/12/2022

07/12/2022

29/11/2022

23/11/2022

16/11/2022

09/11/2022

02/11/2022

26/10/2022

19/10/2022

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