Free Computer Consultant ………. Daily Insights

I received this information from a subscriber who has actually used BluePhone technical support service.

He offered this advice:

Don’t use email to contact them but call in instead.
Initially it was hard to understand the technician but focus and keep asking to clarify and you adapt.

The consultant never judged my actions, we plodded through whether I had problem; found out I didn’t.

It’s worth $25/month if you have used up your favors with buddies and gives you a feeling like AAA card, if you get locked out you have some move.

So there you have it. BluePhone is a technical support lifeline that you can reach out to if you need the help and can’t get it anywhere else or just need the answer right away.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned a service providing computer assistance on anything and everything. It’s called Support.com (formerly BluePhone).

With all of the electronic gadgets these days, they are likely doing a booming business.

Regardless, they have chosen to throw their hat into the special discount/promotion ring with a deal offering $40 off and I think 2 weeks free support.

Check it out if you are inclined.

The ability to call a Windows or Mac guru and have him/her trouble shoot your problem for you can be invaluable. The question is, are you willing to pay for it?

In my profession, I get requests for free help for a home computer all the time from employees of my clients. In fact, that is one of the main reasons I started this website. The people who receive the help are typically very appreciative, and sometimes do offer a small remuneration (usually just food).

But what if you don’t have a PC or Mac expert you can abuse for free? Would you be interested in a service that charges a fee, but will work with you until the problem is solved to your satisfaction?

I have just recently been looking at solutions for this need and discovered Support.com (formerly BluePhone).

Here are some of the advantages of the Support.com (formerly BluePhone) program:

• 24/7 availability
• They work on PCs, Macs and even those confounded mobile devices
• Remove malware, trojans, viruses
• Perform performance tune ups to speed up your PC
• Install new hardware or trouble shoot existing hardware
• Assist with networking
• Help you transition to Vista

And, they have a 30 day money back guarantee.

Please leave a comment on this post to let me know your thoughts on a program like this; especially if you have tried it.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) is now available and will even show up with automatic updates. While there really isn’t anything earth shattering about SP3 for XP, it certainly streamlines the process of installing Windows XP from scratch, such as when needing to reinstall Windows.

For the most part, SP3 is just a convenient rollup of all prior patches since and including Windows XP Service Pack 2. If nothing else, it allows a person to keep their PC a bit cleaner since each individual update will many times leave behind and uninstall directory – compressed, but still unneeded.

I have seen some users warn that after installing XP SP3 their computer wouldn’t even boot, even couldn’t get into the BIOS screen. That may be true, but a coincidence. I know of no way for the installation of a Windows Service Pack to prevent the PC from presenting you the option of entering the BIOS screen. If that isn’t happening, you have a hardware issue.

Certainly, if it works don’t fix it. I see Windows XP Service Pack 3 as a faster way of setting up new PC’s, not a way of fixing old ones.

If XP is sluggish and you decide on a reinstall (after a complete backup, better yet – 2), SP3 will make your life easier and the process quicker.

But if it works, don’t fix it.

A search engine database usually has many web hosting companies listed and depending upon your requirements, you can choose from hostgator, or ipowerweb or even startlogic.

If you want to hear the most awful hold music available on the planet, dial up your favorite computer hardware or software vendor, use your apache tracking skills to negotiate the phone maze until you are finally on hold for a live person (you hope!).

Today it was Trend Micro’s turn to get called. Call right when they open, it doesn’t matter, all technicians are already busy helping someone else.

Is the horrible hold music designed to get you to hang up and go away? I finally recognized the raucous cacophony to be a Spanish guitar version of Don McLean’s American Pie.

The other day I forced myself to call Fortinet’s tech support again. They have had the same awful hold music for years. In fact, it isn’t even really music, just computer generated tones, I think.

Of course, all the while your are on hold you are being told:

1. You called at a bad time (your fault); but we won’t tell you when a good time is.
2. Your call is important to us; yep, and the check’s in the mail too.
3. You really should get your answers from our useless knowledge base on our impossible to navigate website, that way the few foreigners employed as “engineers” can do something more important than talking to you – like go pray at the temple.

Well, I would write more, but the tortured ding dong rendition of Billy Joel’s Just the Way You Are is interfering with my normal brainwaves…I think I’m unable to continue…ahhh