In the past it was quite easy for a person to pull a computer out of a box and go through a few steps to get it up and running.  It’s a bit different now. Typically in the past they made it easy to set up a normal local account on the computer. Now Microsoft makes it quite hard for you to do that. You have to manipulate it to do that. Microsoft wants you to set it up in a Microsoft account and if you aren’t careful, all of your data can wind up in the cloud and then you’re paying for cloud storage. Most people don’t want that.

Another issue is the introduction of adware (advertising software) into the computer through updates of existing legitimate programs on the computer.  This can often cause annoying side effects like your internet searches being directed to their preferred sites rather than the ones you want.  These types of software can be very hard to get off if you don’t know how to deal with it.  After I set your computer up I can sit down with you and go over the ways in which you can avoid this aggravation.

For a flat fee of $30 I will help you set up your new computer so that you do not have to worry about this.  Wouldn’t you rather have someone help you set it up properly for a small fee rather than wind up having to pay that and more to remove a virus or aggravating adware?  This $30 price covers only computers that do not need data migrated over from an older computer.

For a new computer that needs to have data moved over from an older machine, I charge my normal rate of $60 per hour.  Sometimes you also need a number of other software applications reinstalled with the data migration, so the whole process can take a couple of hours.  I have to make sure that all data is moved from the old hard drive to the new.  Keep in mind that you cannot copy software programs to a new computer, you have to reinstall the software.  The data can simply be copied to the new computer.  I will also hang on to your old computer for a couple of weeks to make sure we have everything moved over. After that, I will remove the old hard drive, wipe it clean, and then donate your computer. That is free.

Another important aspect of a new computer setup is to make sure that you have some form of backup.  I can sell you a backup drive and set it up for you or we can look at cloud storage options if you want.