Blue Screen of Death Error

I visited a long time client yesterday that gave me an idea for my information post. Now this user like many of our clients is a beginner user and started having trouble with her desktop computer. Inevitably she got the blue screen of death and not knowing what it would take to fix it since it was called the blue screen of DEATH she decided to purchase a new laptop. Now a BSOD does not occur just before your computer is going to combust rather is can appear for all sorts of reasons. This error shows when Windows detects a hardware or driver error which will not allow it to continue operating properly. In other words, it happens all the time, for all sorts of reasons.
At the very bottom of the screen there is a stop error message that tells (in code of course) why your computer is refusing to start.
It your confident and comfortable working with your computer write down the stop error at the bottom of the screen and either call a repair shop or search for that error of the internet. Most of the time the stop error is reasonably specific and you are able to find out whether is a silly software update change or if it is something more serious like your hard drive has failed. A simple reboot or disk check can often quickly fix these errors and allow your computer to reboot normally. I guess the underlying theme would be to ask a question about the error and for goodness sake don’t buy a new computer unless you KNOW you need a new one!

LCD Replacement VS New Computer Replacement

Over the last few weeks the shop has gotten inundated with questions in regards to LCD laptop replacements. We have heard "My dog stepped on my laptop" to "the shipping company moving my household goods and re-delivered it this way" to "one plane ride and opps". No matter what reason each customer asked if it is cost effective to replace the LCD in their laptop.
Having done hundreds of LCD replacements on the last few years we weigh the age of the system and the cost of the screen. Most LCD cost between 80-150 to get to the islands. Labor for replacement is $75.00. So most of the time LCD replacement is under 200.00. An easy fix to get you back in touch with the online world!

Please call or email us for more information.
Aloha Computer Consulting and Repair, LLC
67-096 Kealohanui St #C (across from Waialua Library)
Waialua Hawaii 96791
808-372-2667 or 808-237-4558
info@alohacomputers.net

PC Pipeline- Remaining 2 of the 4 major (hardware) parts of a PC

Welcome back to PC Pipeline – bringing computer technology home to you!

Today, we’ll discuss the remaining 2 of the 4 major (hardware) parts of a PC which affect its performance: hard drives and video cards.

The hard drive is where all of your software is installed and typically where your data is stored. Capacities generally range from 120 GBs to 2 TBs (Tera-Bytes) and they spin at speeds of 5,400, 7,200 and 10,000 RPMs. Data transfer speed is important as well. In both cases, faster is better. Like the CPU, hard drives also have a cache. The larger the cache, the better. I can never say this enough – back up your data from the hard drive to another media or storage device! Hard drives can and DO fail! If your data is not backed up, it’s most likely lost forever. So much for that great digital picture collection or music library…

The video card’s impact on system performance is most noticeable when playing games, and watching or editing videos. State of the art video cards have their own Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), which takes care of 3D graphics rendering so the system CPU doesn’t have to tackle this chore. Video cards have their own RAM, too. Some desktop systems are designed for upgrading the video card, but not all; make sure you check this out on the system you’re considering buying.

Next time we’ll discuss the different types of new PCs that are currently available on the market. Stay tuned!