Tech Blogs

When a computer gets slow, frustrating, or unreliable, the natural instinct is to replace it. And sometimes that's the right call. But a lot of the computers I see in homes throughout Athol and Gardner are perfectly repairable — and their owners are on the verge of spending $500 to $1,000 on a new machine when a $60 upgrade would solve the problem. Before you buy a new computer, go through this list. You may save yourself several hundred dollars. 1. Find Out If You Have a Har

"My Wi-Fi is slow — do I need a new router?" This is one of the most common questions I get from customers in Athol and the surrounding area. And the honest answer is: sometimes yes, but often no. A new router is frequently not the actual fix — and buying one without diagnosing the real problem is an expensive way to not solve it. Here's how to tell whether your router is actually the issue, and what signs genuinely indicate it's time for a replacement. First: Slow Wi-Fi Is R

The phone rings. The caller says they're from Microsoft — or sometimes Windows, or your internet provider — and they've detected a serious virus on your computer. They need remote access to fix it right away, or you'll lose all your data. This is a scam. Microsoft does not call people about computer problems. Neither does Apple, Google, or your internet provider. These calls are made by criminal organizations that prey on people who want to protect their computers and trust a

Not every virus announces itself with a big red warning screen. In fact, many of the most harmful types of malware are designed to stay quiet while they do their damage — stealing passwords, collecting banking information, or using your computer to attack other systems. Knowing the warning signs can be the difference between catching an infection early and dealing with the fallout of a serious breach. Here are the six signs I most commonly see when I arrive at a customer's ho

Your printer is on. It's connected. Your computer says it's set as the default. And yet Windows stubbornly insists the printer is offline. This is one of the most frustrating and most common tech support calls I get from customers in Athol, Gardner, and the surrounding area. The good news is that an "offline" printer is almost always a software or network configuration problem — not a broken printer. In most cases, it can be fixed without replacing anything. Here's what's act