Almost every slow computer we see has one of five things wrong with it, and none of them mean you need a new one. Here's how to tell which one you've got.
$39 books an in-person visit and comes straight off the price. Remote help is $39 for 30 minutes. Card only, and you approve the price before we start.
It's out of room. A drive with less than about 10% free space slows down badly, because the computer has nowhere to put its scratch files. It's the most common cause we find and the easiest to fix.
Too much starts up with it. Programs add themselves to the startup list over the years. Twenty of them fighting for the machine is why it feels slowest right after you turn it on.
The browser is carrying forty tabs and six toolbars. On a lot of computers the browser is the slow program, and everything else is fine.
It's still on a spinning hard drive. Likely if the machine is more than about seven years old and has never had an upgrade. It's the one cause where new hardware is the answer.
Something unwanted is running. Often a 'PC cleaner' or 'driver updater' that came bundled with something else and now runs constantly. Sometimes it's a virus.
We find out which of those it is first, because the fix is different for each. Then we clear the space, cut the startup list back to what you use, clean out the browser, remove anything that installed itself, and finish the updates that matter.
We show you what we changed so it doesn't creep back. Most of these visits take about an hour.
If the machine is too old to help, we'll say so and won't charge you to polish it.
Some of these fix it outright, in ten minutes, and save you the visit.
We don't do hardware repair, the kind that needs parts or a soldering iron. Better to know that before anybody drives out.
$39 books an in-person visit, and it comes straight off the price of the visit. Our hourly rate steps up with distance from downtown of the city that serves your area: $110 an hour within 25 miles, $130 in the 25 to 50 mile band, and $145 in the 50 to 75 mile band. That's how we cover the drive, so there's no separate travel fee.
Remote help is $39 for a 30-minute session and starts with a phone call at the time you picked. If you use us a few times a year, Nerd on Call is $14.99 a month and includes two remote sessions and an in-person visit each year.
Cards only. Local Nerds aren't permitted to accept cash or checks, so you'll never be asked for either at the door. Full detail is on the FAQ.
Rather talk it through first? Have a Local Nerd call you, free, no obligation.
In-person visits reach up to 75 miles out from downtown of each city we serve, whichever state that address is in. Remote help works anywhere. Check your address on the ZIP checker, or see the whole state on the map.
A sudden change usually means something new: a drive that just crossed into nearly full, an update still installing in the background, or a program that installed itself alongside something you meant to install. A slow decline over years is usually the startup list and the browser.
Sometimes, but it's the wrong first question. If the machine is short on disk space or loaded with startup programs, more memory changes nothing. When hardware is the answer, the upgrade that helps most on an older machine is a solid state drive, not more memory.
Usually not. Most of the slow computers we're called out to have years left in them. When a machine is past it, we'll tell you, and tell you why.
Most of it can be done remotely, and a $39 remote session is often enough. We come out when there's more than one device, when the machine is too slow to hold a screen share, or when you'd like someone sitting next to you.
A remote session is $39 for 30 minutes. In person, our rate depends on how far we drive: $110 an hour within 25 miles of downtown of the city that serves your area, $130 in the 25 to 50 mile band, $145 in the 50 to 75 mile band. Most speed cleanups take about an hour.
No. In our experience they cause more slowdowns than they fix: they run constantly and charge a subscription to report problems that aren't there. If you already pay for one, your Local Nerd will show you what it's doing.