PC Repair & Maintenance at 123PCSolutions
PC Repair & Maintenance is here for your computer repair needs. We work with the customer to correctly repair or upgrade their Desktop PC. We have parts available to replace existing hardware that has failed.
There are times when we may need to order a part for your device and we will work diligently to get things fixed in a quick and orderly process.
PC Repair & Maintenance – Parts and Common failures:
Power Supply: The power supply is a common item that can fail on your PC. Reasons for these failures include age, too much draw from parts in the PC, or there has been a sudden power spike or complete loss of power.
PC Repair & Maintenance work with the customer to get the correct Power Supply Unit for their PC when this happens. The power supplies that we carry in the store typically offer a 3-year warranty. The customer can either pay for a new Power Supply and install it themselves or we can install it for them.
Hard Drive: Your Data is stored on the Hard Drive. All of your pictures, music, videos, office files, and other important files are stored on this device. Unfortunately due to age, sudden power loss, power surge, and other technical equipment failures, your drive can fail and you risk losing all of your data.
You will need to bring your desktop and drive into the store for us to properly diagnose the condition of the drive. It is critical that you have a backup of your data on a device that is external to your machine.
We do offer data recovery services for customers who have drives that fail and under normal settings the data is not readable. Backup drives are available for purchase so that you keep your data properly backed up and easily accessible. The Western Digital Black Hard Drives that we sell have a 5-year warranty.
Optical Drive: The life span of your optical drive can vary in extreme amounts. Some may have a drive go out in a year, while someone else may have a drive that lasts them over 5 years. The optical drive has plastic gears, (sometimes Rubber-Bands), and multiple lasers that can fail over time.
High usage of the lasers in the drive can cause the failure of the drive over time. Using dirty discs can also affect the optical drive as the lasers are covered in the film and your drive may need to be cleaned. Please note that if you have an IDE optical drive you will have to upgrade it with a SATA drive. We will have to check your system to make sure it is compatible with the new drives.
Motherboard: Your motherboard is the heart of the computer. All of the devices on the PC are connected to this board and it controls them and interfaces with Windows so that you can use them. The Power Supply is connected by one large connector and when this unit experiences a power surge it is common that the motherboard may experience and fail from the same surge.
The Ethernet jack on the motherboard is another way that can cause the failure of the motherboard. If you have a close or direct lightning strike and it comes through other electronics and down through the RJ-45 cable then it can take out the computer too!
Other ways the motherboard commonly overheats is from a build-up of dust on it and surrounding parts. We work to build computers that do a better job of venting air, but dust buildups DO exist.
When electronics are taxed and put to the max of their potential use, it is common to see swollen or busted capacitors on the motherboard when it is near death or already dead.
Computer Processor Unit (CPU): The CPU is considered the BRAIN of the computer. The CPU handles all commands related to what and how the computer runs while you use it. This chip can fail due to natural age or other items like heat due to a lack of thermal paste, or dried thermal paste.
Another issue that can cause the failure of your CPU is a build-up of dust and dirt in the cooling fan/ grill that is supposed to take the heat away from the CPU. This build-up keeps the heat on the CPU and can quickly diminish the life of your CPU. Power spikes or brownouts are also a key factor in their failure because the proper voltage is not given or exceeded.
Video Card: The video card can fail for a number of reasons. The power surge is one of them, which happens through the slot that the card fits into, or through power from the Power Supply. When you add a video card to your computer you must make certain that the power supply can handle that card.
If it can’t then it will either not start the machine or the card will not get enough power and risk getting a surge from trying to overcompensate. Heat is a big factor in your video card. Don’t hinder it by cramping other cards around it and the fans (if the card has fans), you will only expedite the death of your video card from overheating.
The other item to monitor is dust. Just like the CPU, the Video card can have a buildup of dust that will cause capacitors to fail and fans to lockup.
Memory: Sorry, if forgotten. Memory is what keeps your programs in temporary memory while you use them. This keeps the motherboard from constantly having to pull data from your hard drive as you use them.
This memory though is like other hardware and can fail due to a multitude of issues. Sometimes it is due to the length of constant use while other times it can be due to power brownouts or power spikes. PC Repair & Maintenance has the tools necessary to test your computer memory to see if it is bad and needs to be replaced.
Call us to answer your computer repair questions or stop by the store with your computer for us to diagnose your computer repair issues!
