Computer repair Templestowe Lower for just $20

Yes, it may be hard to believe, but I was recently called out by a customer in Templestowe Lower to repair their computer and it only cost them $20. Their screen setting had changed to 4 bit colour. A problem like this often causes people problems because they don’t know what to do. If the problem is quick to fix it shouldn’t cost much to fix it.

You can call someone out and most will charge over a hundred dollars. This same client said they called out one of the well known support groups for a 15 minute support issue and was charged $250. The other option is to take the computer to a repair business and there can be quite a bit of time involved dropping off the computer and then collecting the computer again. Minimum charges often start at $60-$110, but you really don’t know what you may be charged.

In this case the problem was easy to fix and the client was charged only for the time involved. No travel time. No set fee. No call-out fee. If I couldn’t fix the problem there would have been no charge.

I later received the following message via email from the customer.

Dear Kelvin,

Thank you so much for all your help and patience. Our computer is working perfectly again.

Many people struggle with problems I can fix relatively quickly. It often takes longer to try to explain the problem over the telephone than it will take for me to drive to the customer. Because I’m local I can make a time and come over and check the problem very easily.

If you have a computer problem giving you grief and live in Templestowe, Templestowe Lower, Doncaster, Doncaster East, Eltham, Lower Plenty, or Montmorency, then give me a call on 0415 910 703.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 if you have a computer/technology issue.

MyAnswers: Should I add Google advertising (Google adsense) to my web site?

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Should I add Google advertising (Google adsense) to my web site to generate income?

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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)

Email message: reason: 552-5.7.0 Our system detected an illegal attachment on your message.

A lot of people use Gmail but don’t realise the limitations of the service.

 

In this case I emailed a client a zipped file which contains an executable program. Google could easily scan attachments to make sure the attachment doesn’t contain a known virus, but they’ve made the decision to simply stop all such emails.

There are a number of solutions to get around this issue to trick Google, but each requires work that isn’t necessary. Because of the time involved I now simply refund the client’s money and they miss out on the solution to their needs and I miss out on the sale. In time because of the work involved prices will most likely be increased to cover the additional workload created by services like Gmail. Unfortunately the extra time and effort caused by Google means it isn’t worth the time for the low value of the sale.

 

If you’re thinking about using Google’s Gmail service get to know its limitations. For business I would not normally recommend Gmail as an email service. Google isn’t the only service to make such decisions on the behalf of their users. I find those services that make too many decisions on behalf of users tend to damage the users experience, often without the users knowledge.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

MyAnswers: New Toshiba L750 the user set up Windows 7/32 bit instead of Windows 7/64 bit.

The following MyAnswers solution 2201 is now available:

Setting up a brand new Toshiba L750 notebook the user set up Windows 7/32 bit instead of Windows 7/64 bit. This the approach to fix the problem and have Windows 7/64bit installed.

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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)

MyAnswers: Can I use a locked Boost Samsung Mini mobile phone running Android 2.3 with TPG?

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Can I use a locked Boost Samsung Mini mobile phone running Android 2.3 with TPG?

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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
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MyAnswers: TPG mobile email message 550 5.7.1 ... Relaying denied.

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When I try to send an email using a tethered computer with my TPG mobile service I get the message

550 5.7.1 <email address.>... Relaying denied. IP name possibly forged [49.196.5.88]".

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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)

Templestowe Lower notebook wireless networking not working (notebook repair)

Recently a customer in Templestowe Lower (called Lower Templestowe by most locals) called me out as the wireless networking on their notebook computer wasn’t working, but it was working on their iPad.

Their ASUS notebook had an external wireless dongle which I thought was a bit weird since it also had wireless built in. I repaired the computer and got the internal wireless working which fixed the problem. Whilst there I also cleaned up the computer and installed a good quality free anti-virus solution, which I’ve found through testing, to be better than other free anti-virus solutions and most of the commercial anti-virus solutions. The client no longer has to pay for an anti-virus solution every year.

The customer was very happy with the service. They were happy I was local. The previous person came from the other side of Melbourne. They were particularly impressed with the value I provided. The previous person charged $250 for fifteen minutes. I only charge for the time involved which would have been $33 for the same task. I understand the business model of other companies where they charge a set fee, and if they’re in and out quickly, they still charge the fee, but had they know about my service, they could have saved themselves over $200.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Providing computer support in Templestowe, Templestowe Lower, Lower Plenty,
Montmorency, Eltham, Doncaster and Doncaster East
No call out fee. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Doncaster East Smugmug customisation for photographer

I was recently asked by a customer to customise their Smugmug (a photo hosting service) site so it looked more like a web site. The problem with Smugmug is the standard layout is a continuous list down the page and wasn’t considered very attractive. It was also felt the standard Smugmug layout didn’t help the client quickly find the relevant section of the site.

In a few hours I was able to research Smugmug and customise the site so the client had a site they were very happy with.

As a computer consultant and support person I have an extensive knowledge of computer technology including internet technologies. This allows me to assist clients when the technology isn’t their core business.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Supporting business and home computer users in Templestowe, Templestowe Lower,
Doncaster, Doncaster East, Lower Plenty, Montmorency and Eltham
No call-out fee. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Alert: 550-"JunkMail rejected (Spamcopy, Spamhaus)

The most absurd thing happened to me this week which I thought I’d share.

None of us like spam, but lately I’m seeing the techniques used by email services, such as Hotmail, are rejecting emails that aren’t spam. Here is what appears to be happening.

You sign up with an email service provider (could be your ISP) and you send an email. You may have been using the service for years with no problems. Then for some unknown reason the emails you’re sending are rejected as spam. I’ve seen this happen to my business clients as well as quite a few others, including myself.

What is happening is you’re using a email service to send your emails and those email services are shared with others. Someone else using the service sends spam, but they may not even be aware they’re doing it, because their computer may be infected. The address of the mail server is then blacklisted by one of the spam filter companies such as Spamcop, Spamhaus, or the service Hotmail uses. You then go to send an email and it gets rejected as spam. The recipient never sees the email so doesn’t know you’ve sent it.

In business the problem is you may end up with an irate client and lost business because their mail server is rejecting your valid message. A business trying to work with you may lose business because you think they’re not responsive. In this situation make a call to the client. If the information is important, ask for a different email service.

This is an example where the solution causes just as many problems as the original problem.

The irony of all this is, in a recent test I sent an email to myself and the email was rejected. This is just plain silly and is likely to lose the hosting company my business if it happens too often. It means emails sent to me may be getting rejected and that could be losing me business.

If you are using Hotmail as your business email service I’d seriously suggest you should move to another service. I’ve frequently seen Hotmail reject emails when there has been no issue with any other service.

For those receiving bounced emails with messages rejected as spam when you know they aren’t, hopefully this will let you know what is happening. In most instances I’ve found if you wait 24-48 hours and resend the message it does get through. So if you can’t contact the person, resending the email is better late than never.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.OnlineConnections.com.au

MyAnswers: The application has failed to start because iertutil.dll was not found.

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Windows XP computers failling to start with dialogue titled: Explorer.EXE "Unable To Locate Component", with the message "The application has failed to start because iertutil.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix the problem"

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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)

MyAnswers: How to unlock a Huawei X1-U8180 locked to Optus network

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How to unlock a Huawei X1-U8180 locked to Optus network. (This is not a hack but follows Optus' procedures.)

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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
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MyAnswers: Google Australia search reverts to old blue design with Internet Explorer 8.

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When I search using Google (www.google.com.au) with Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8 I no longer have the option to select pages from Australia. There are no options on the left. The page has the blue old design and not the new black menu across the top. How do I fix this?

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Kelvin Eldridge
www.MyAnswers.biz
(An Online Connections service.)

Alert: iertutil.dll was not found. Computer repairs in Templestowe, Templestowe Lower and Wonga Park

This week was an interesting week in terms of computer support and repairs. What stood out was the need to fix three computers from different clients, one day after the other. Each computer was running Windows XP and would start to the Desktop and only show the Desktop background. No icons, no toolbar and no way to do anything useful. Often the window titled “Explorer.EXE – Unable To Locate Component”, with the message “The application has failed to start because iertutil.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix the problem” would be displayed.  

I fixed each computer and whilst after the first I thought the second and third would be much quicker. As it turned out, whilst the solution was basically the same, each computer needed to have the solution applied differently. The computers were returned to clients fixed and cleaned up. Most computers I repair have a number of infections and many have toolbars installed in their browsers which hijack the search feature of the browser. After the initial fix it was also sometimes necessary to fix other programs.

What was concerning was I haven’t been able to isolate what caused the problem. I’m not sure if it was a malware infection damaging the computer, or perhaps an update to the operating system. I suspect malware, but can’t be sure. What is important is it was possible to fix the issue without having to resort to a reinstall of the operating system.

I’d like to remind people they should have a backup copy of all their important data, their photos and their music. This was a tricky repair and for many the easiest solution may be to reinstall the operating system. I prefer to fix the problem and retain users data where possible.

If you live in Templestowe, Templestowe Lower, Doncaster, Doncaster East, Eltham, Lower Plenty, Montmorency, or the surrounding area and experience this problem, give me a call on 0415 910 703.

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au  

MyAnswers: How do I delete a service in Windows XP? E.g. My Web Search Service

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How do I delete a service in Windows XP? E.g. I'd like to delete My Web Search Service.

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MyAnswers: I receive emails from eBay. How do I unsubscribe?

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I receive emails from eBay. How do I unsubscribe?

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(An Online Connections service.)