Nerd Swarm LLC - 364-6373 Making Grand Rapids Computers Useful Again

Client_Cannot_Work_When_System_Down

2008-08-20T15:16:00.003-04:00

Issue: Client in Lowell called Tuesday morning stating that her husband had tried to install some Anti=Virus software on her work at home computer. Soon after this she had no internet connectivity on her Windows Vista desktop. Since I was going to be headed out to the Lowell area for a 4PM appointment, I told her that I would either be there at 3:30 or 5:30 depending on how the rest of the day went. She was ecstatic that someone would come out to Lowell same day!

Got onsite at 4PM and had her issue resolved in 20 minutes. While onsite, I setup her new Linksys wireless router and another new Acer computer.

Got an e-mail from her today stating, "Thanks for coming in a days notice and fixing our computer! Not only were you fast but you were very, very reasonably priced! My boss is happy that I can now work, my husband us happy that it is over, and I am happy that everyone is happy!

Thanks again!"

As usual, if we do not get it fixed, the client is not charges and this work comes with out 21 day guarantee; if this issue returns within 21 day we come back and fix it for free!

Platform: PC

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Networking, New Install, troubleshooting.

Cost: 1 hour

Performed: Onsite

HP7955

2008-08-20T15:08:00.003-04:00

Issue: Client in Grand Rapids called today, Wednesday, in regards her computer running slow and warning her that she had 600 viruses. In order to expedite things (she needed the computer running today as she is a teacher and class prep is starting) I told her we could quickly re-install Windows on top of her existing machine. She lived along my route back to the shop. Our arrival time: 9:30, departure 11:00. There are a couple of loose ends to be fixed remotely but she is operating less than 2 hours after calling! Beat that Big Box Geeks!

As usual, if we do not get it fixed, the client is not charges and this work comes with out 21 day guarantee; if this issue returns within 21 day we come back and fix it for free!

Platform: PC

Timeframe: Emergency

Resolution: Identify, reload, troubleshooting.

Cost: 1.5 hours

Performed: Onsite

Gateway_3701_Virus_Infected

2008-08-17T09:51:00.003-04:00

Issue: Client in Grand Rapids called Friday stating that XP Antivirus had gotten onto her computer. As a secondary problem, her DVD/CD burner built into her notebook no longer would open. We explained to her that a wipe and reload would probably be in the cards. She agreed. The virus had other ideas.

We preload our Windows CD with the latest patches from Microsoft. During the re-install, as these patches were being applied, the system would shutdown. Due to this fact we had to use a standard Windows XP CD and then patch the system afterward. This resolved the issue. Although the system work took over three hours, our charge to the client was 2 hours (our limit for this type of work).

As usual, if we do not get it fixed, the client is not charges and this work comes with out 21 day guarantee; if this issue returns within 21 day we come back and fix it for free!

We were also able to substitute in a working CD-rom from an IBM machine that worked with our clients Gateway so she now has a unit that opens!

Platform: PC

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Replacement, reload, troubleshooting.

Cost: 2 hours

Performed: Shop

Search_Engine_Optimization_001

2008-08-17T09:46:00.002-04:00

Issue: Two weeks ago, our ranking on all search engines was worthless. Since we have started this blog and continued to publish items to it, our ranking on MSN has climbed to 35 for the search Grand Rapids Computers so we're doing something right! For the same search, Grand Rapids Computers, nothing good on Ask or Yahoo, yet.

The battle contines!

Wyndean_Kennels_Has_Puppies

2008-08-17T09:40:00.003-04:00

Issue: Our client, Wyndean Kennels, currently has German Shepherd puppies available for sale. Please contact Larry or Hazel at 616 868 6678 if you are interested or know of someone looking for a Great Shepherd!

Slow_WinXP_Performance_001

2008-08-13T22:49:00.003-04:00

Issue: Client in Grand Rapids called Wednesday and we got to him same day. Monday morning his Trend Micro AntiVirus software did not complete it's sweep. Later in the day, he attempted to view part of the Olympics at MSNBC.com. Prior to viewing a video, he was forced to download some type of a viewer. Performance went in the toilet. Nothing would open after this (either web or local files). I booted the machine onsite, was able to bring webpage up and then system locked up. Nothing funky in the system32 files that would suggest virus. 2 hours later and I am writing this post up on his well-performing Dell 630m.

Platform: PC

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Replacement, reload, troubleshooting.

Cost: 2 hours

Performed: Shop

Watch_that_USB_001

2008-08-13T22:31:00.004-04:00

Issue: Client in Grand Rapids called Tuesday late afternoon as a user had broken a wireless USB unit. Got onsite and replaced unit. Everything worked as expected. While onsite, another user commented that their USB printer was no longer functioning after a cleaning crew had remove their plugged in cable. After resolving this issue, another user approached and stated that he needed Microsoft Outlook set up to receive his e-mail.

Platform: PC

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Replacement, reload, troubleshooting.

Cost: 1.5 hours

Performed: Onsite

System_Cleanup_080813

2008-08-13T22:18:00.004-04:00

Issue: Client here in Grand Rapids called on Tuesday and we scheduled for Wednesday. She had just bought a notebook from a big box company, a router and needed some tuning on her desktop which was running slow. Turns out she had installed McAfee Internet Security and, surprise, performance went South. She has gone so far as to order a higher speed connection from Charter in order to increase speed. Removal of McAfee and tuning resolves the issue. Her new HP notebook is a nice unit, running a AMD Turion 64 @ 2.00 and 3GB of RAM with Vista Premium.

Platform: PC

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Performance tune, scanned for viruses, patched and performance tuned.

Cost: 1.75 hours

Performed: Onsite

Antivirus2009_post001

2008-08-11T23:18:00.003-04:00

Issue:Client here in Grand Rapids called on Monday and stated that her PC was getting all kinds of pop-ups as soon as the machine was turned on. Got onsite sameday, diagnosed as an issue that could not be resolved in less than 30 minutes and brought the unit back to the shop for reload.

Platform: PC

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Reloaded unit, scanned for viruses, patched and performance tuned.

Cost: 2 hours

Performed: Shop

Services

2008-08-10T22:36:00.003-04:00

Title: Virus and Spyware Removal
The problems, now grouped together as MALWARE, come in two levels.

The easier of the two take us an hour or less to remove.

The second becomes wrapped around the user's login script. This means that each time that the computer is booted, the virus is one of the first programs to launch; in the case of this infection, Nerdswarm re-installs Windows into a new folder, then we patch and system protect you so that going forward this infection does not occur.

Virus writers are generally dropping their programs into the SYSTEM32 folder, internet temporary folders and system restore files. All of these should be swept by your anti-virus if you are infected.

Your_Message_Has_Been_Sent

2008-08-10T18:45:00.001-04:00

You have successfully sent a message to the Nerd Swarm team.

You message has been sent to our e-mail account as well as via text message to our cell phones.

Someone should be back with you shortly!

Cannot_Make_Purchases

2008-08-10T18:02:00.003-04:00

Issue:Client here in Grand Rapids called on Sunday and stated that her Mac was not allowing her to make purchases off internet websites. Additionally he husband could not connect to his Yahoo e-mail allow his account worked on all other computers.

Platform: Mac

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Client demonstrated that some website would allow purchases while other cleared cart prior to checkout. By changing cookies to allow in Safari preferences, issue was resolved. Never was able to find Ugg Roo Slippers for client. I think they stopped making them.

Cost: .5 hours

Performed: Onsite

Windows_XP_Wont_Start

2008-08-10T13:08:00.010-04:00

Issue: Our client in Grand Rapids called Friday as her computer was not able to boot at all. Each time she turned the computer on, it would shutdown as system was booting.

Platform: Windows

Timeframe: Scheduled

Resolution: Nerdswarm tech went onsite Saturday. He attempted to reinstall Windows XP on top of existing installation. Virus was blocking re-install. At this time, we decided to move client files off her system, scan them for virus, wipe hard drive, re-install Windows XP, and then move files back onto system. We are delivering system back to her on Sunday afternoon.

Cost: 2 hours

Performed: Onsite