Services
For Drop Offs, I will work to have your system back within two calendar days, many times sooner. I also gladly provide 60-days of follow-on technical support for all services performed (phone, e-mail, IM).
Performance & Preventative Maintenance Tune-up
($125 Drop Off)
Lava Computing's Signature Service! The same tune up I perform on all my computers. Don't allow parasite programs to bog down your system. Make it so all of your computer resources are available when you need them! Get the works for your new or old computer.
- Offline virus/malware scanning (to root out even the nastiest of issues)
- Low-level HDD System Integrity Check
- Hard drives can and do go bad!
- RAM Integrity Check
- When your memory goes, often, your are the last to know!
- Upgrade all Device Drivers & Firmware
- There are updates all the time to things you didn't even know needed updating!
- Update all System Software & Applications
- Perform File System & Operating System Maintenance Checks
- Recommend low cost hardware upgrades to increase system performance
- A simple RAM or HDD upgrade often makes an old computer seem new again
- Clean the cooling cavity of dust bunnies
- Sounds silly but those bunnies can wreak havoc on a laptop!
Crisis Mode or General Assistance
($50/hr Drop Off, $100/hr In Home)
Virus hit your system? Major System Crash! Just need help with a specific issue? Don't let the big guys tell you your system needs to be re-installed when it may not have to be. There is nothing more painful than unnecessarily losing years of configuration and settings or worse yet buying a new system when your old system can be salvaged. There isn't much I haven't seen or been able to overcome.
HDD Performance Upgrade
($100 Labor)
Over time Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) can lose performance and/or have failing sectors, which can lead to slower system performance. I recommend upgrading to a 1TB or 2TB SSHD (Solid State Hybrid Drive) that gives you some of the benefits of an SSD (Solid State Drive) minus the cost and storage capacity limitations. "Hybrid drives start on the slow side. When you start using a hybrid drive, no caching will have occurred — so the drive will be just as slow as a traditional mechanical drive. As you use the drive and it learns which files should be cached, speed will gradually improve."
RAM Performance Upgrade
($25-$50 Labor)
Modern operating systems (OS) and applications require more memory to operate efficiently (~8-16GB). If your system is running slow or you consistently get the dread "pin wheel", many times more memory is the answer!!!
Operating System Performance Upgrade
($100 Labor)
I highly recommend 64-bit OS for users who plan to keep there computers for some time as RAM expansion (e.g., 8-16GB) is an easy cost effective way to increase system performance significantly. 32-bit OSes are limited to 4GB of RAM (effective ~3.5GB) and 64-bit Windows (~128GB). MacOS has been 64-bit for some time; however, 32-bit Windows is more common. Many consumer grade computers came with Windows Vista 32-bit pre-installed considering it was not common to get above 4GB of RAM at that time. More Windows 7 consumer grade computers came with Windows 7 64-bit. To upgrade from a 32-bit to a 64-bit version of Windows, you have to backup your data, catalog all of your license keys, do a fresh install of the 64-bit Windows, restore your data and reinstall all of your applications. If you have a 32-bit version of Windows , that license is also valid for the 64-bit version of Windows. The process is a bit more laborious; however, it can be done.