Ryan Wagner Computer Repair

04/16/2025

This week in computers:

More computers are going out of stock and many items are also out of stock. Prices on computer components are very volatile with some having no change and some showing around 25% increases. The low end of the market seems to be suffering supply issues but I think it might be more along the lines of what we faced with the TP shortage during the pandemic. There is a rush of people trying to buy the lowest priced computer. I don’t see this as a major issue moving forward as I would usually never recommend someone go out and purchase the lowest priced computer on the market as they usually end up having a very short life cycle before they need replacement. But what does the short term and long-term future hold? Flip a coin at this point if it will et better or worse.

The Windows 10 ‘deadline’ is coming up in a few months but it doesn’t mean your old computer won’t still run, it just won’t have new features coming from Microsoft. You should upgrade but at the same time it is not worth it to significantly hurt your financial situation to do so. And if things REALLY get bad with computer prices, I can assist people with installing Windows 11 on computers even if they don’t meet all the requirements to do so. Don’t panic, don’t impulse buy a new computer, and hopefully we can ride out this storm of uncertainty. And I’m always a call, txt, or message away if you have any computer issues or even need to know if a computer you’re looking at is a good purchase or not.

04/09/2025

Tariffs & Windows 11:
Well I didn’t think I would be able to make this post already but we’re seeing companies pulling products from the US market and a lot of parts going out of stock. If you already are not in the process of replacing your computer to meet the October deadline I’d hold off or be wary of prices. I will be watching things as they go forward and I’ll post if things get better or worse. Currently I’m seeing companies pulling entire product lines from US distribution while still selling them in Europe and the UK. Seeing that this early is not a good sign of things to come.

Another scam:
On an awful note I’m seeing more and more businesses advertising ‘Christian’ internet, computer services, or even odd things like mattress selling side gigs. Now some of these businesses may be legit and I would 100% back a company that was offering up internet with p**n lockouts advertised this way. But sadly, most of these businesses are merely reselling services at a higher premium and trying to use churches as a word-of-mouth way of free advertising. Be careful out there, I don’t want to see another person lost to multi-level marketing scheme just because the company pretended it was holy when in fact their morals were anything but.

04/02/2025

Today's topic: Anti-Virus

I've had some dealings lately with customers running multiple anti-virus software. That's not really recommended as you're now having multiple programs scanning the same files and really slowing down your computer.

I know there are some 2nd opinion scanners out there such as Malware Bytes or Hitman Pro but you have to be careful when running these that you don't end up with them running in the background all the time.

Also currently I'm recommending customers just run the built in Windows Anti-Virus and due to the way it pretends to find fake issues I have to give two thumbs down to Norton products. Their software is now using scare tactics and outright lies to try to push extra features on their customers. Which basically means it has itself become malware. (I've had a few times it told customers their drivers were out of date and it could fix it for a fee, but there was actually no driver updates available.)

So if you're getting bugged by Norton or have any other virus or malware issues, feel free to call/txt/email/message.

Send a message to learn more

03/26/2025

Purchasing a new PC.

Since I’m working up quotes for two customers, I thought I would share my recent experiences with shopping for a new computer.

Laptops: From a hardware perspective I’ve learned to avoid touchscreens and HP laptops recently. Why? Because touchscreens tend to be glued in and HP laptops are using double sided tape to hold in their screens. And I have a personal desire to have items around that can be repaired instead of disposed of if they get damaged. I also tend to recommend low-end or even last year models of gaming laptops as they tend to have better hardware than your average consumer laptop.
PC: The current market for desktop and even business model computers is atrocious and it’s all because of one part, the power supply. Most companies have moved to a new design of power supply that isn’t easily available outside of random third-party sellers on Amazon/eBay/etc. And that is not a sustainable way to be manufacturing computers. HP is now even putting these power supplies in some of their gaming computers guaranteeing that those computers will not be capable of running a lot of the fancier graphics cards. Hence calling them a ‘gaming PC’ isn’t even accurate.

I’m putting a picture up of the back of two computers so you can see a normal full size power supply vs the tiny ones they are now trying to push on the industry. And as always, I’m around if you need to call, text, email, or message me.

I have also seen yet another increase in fake emails/messages about everything from PayPal purchases to setting up tattoo appointments if you think something on your computer is a scam but you want to be sure take a screenshot or picture and send it my way and I’ll help you out.

Ryan Wagner Computer Repair
511N Arch St
Berwick PA 18603
570-854-6645

03/19/2025

For today’s tech tip we’ll dig into memory, specifically why does task manager show I’m using all or a lot of my memory.

First off there are two kinds of memory on a computer, RAM (Random-Access Memory) and storage memory. RAM is what is showing in task manager under memory. The most basic description is when you start your computer Windows and other programs are drawn from storage memory and put into RAM. The more programs you run or the more sophisticated they are the more RAM you need.

Obviously you don’t need a lot of RAM to run solitaire compared to Fortnite. The same goes that you don’t need a lot to run Word but you do need a lot to run Photoshop. When you run low on memory your computer uses your storage memory as virtual memory, which is basically using your slower storage memory to pretend to be RAM.
This is why if you have faster storage memory, like an SSD/NVMe over a hard drive you can get better performance even out of systems with less memory. The base amount of memory you should have for Windows 10 is 2Gb (Gigabytes) while Windows 11 requires 4Gb. Memory upgrades are an easy upgrade for most systems and you can normally check on what is available by Googling your computer’s model or motherboard and memory manufacturer websites like Crucial of Kingston will let you know how much memory you can upgrade to.

As always if you need assistance with memory upgrades or any other computer related questions feel free to call, txt, email, or message me.

03/14/2025

Today it’s time to break down storage drives. From Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Solid-State Devices (SSD), and NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)
During my talks on the 100% drive usage a debate formed about bottlenecks in PCs. I fully believe that for an average consumer your hard drive can be that bottleneck. Why? Because the storage drive is used not only to read and write data but also as temporary memory on low-memory systems.

So, when you move form an HDD to an SSD or NVMe you can gain a lot of performance, not only a faster boot-up but just in general. You can see this most blatantly when you try to run Windows Update on a system. An SSD/NVMe can do in minutes what it can take an hour or more on a hard drive.

So, with the upcoming Windows 10 end of service deadline, I have been advising customers who have SSDs/NVMes that they should upgrade to Windows 11 but those with hard drives they may want to price out if upgrading to an SSD or buying a new PC is their better solution.

A hard drive has rotating magnetic disks that store data, while SSD/NVMe usually use Flash memory for storage. And it is common physics that things that spin eventually will stop spinning. But also, that Flash memory will eventually die out. But the controllers on SSD/NVMe will slowly shrink your drive size as the sectors run out of life. So far, I have seen SSD/NVMe drives that have gone on for years but I also still feel Hard Drives make great backup and storage devices but your main boot drive should be an SSD/NVM.

The difference between SSD/NVMe is their form factor or basically their shape. An SSD is made to take the space of a hard drive while an NVMe is smaller and are used more in space saving designs.

This information is given for a light look at a subject not something in depth as I’m trying to use English and not technical terms as much as possible. Since BU shut down the continuing education courses, I figured I would start bringing the lessons from the class I taught and putting them here.

01/09/2025

Open for business fully in Berwick. Still predominantly onsites and remote work.

12/03/2022

Gas prices went up, I tried to hold the line. Food prices went up, still held. But now my landlord is raising the rent, sadly I am going to have to give in. My labor rate will be going from $70/hour to $80 an hour starting January 1st, 2023.

03/19/2020

Update: I am allowed to visit both businesses and residences as household and business repairs are valid under the governor's list. I am still only doing emergency onsites and doing almost all work remotely just to be safe but I am 100% operational for any technology needs.

08/14/2018

To anyone affected by the latest flooding here in Columbia and surrounding counties. If any of your computers have been damaged by the flood I will be offering free data recovery services. I cannot guarantee recovery of the data but willing to give it try free of charge! Feel free to message me, email me or call me for any further details.

If you've lost power cords but not whole computers/laptops/devices and I have any in stock that match what you need I'll do what I can to hook you up, also free of charge.

Ryan
[email protected]
570-854-6645

A Computer Repair Shop servicing Bloomsburg and surrounding areas.