New computer setup

What we fix

• Files, photos and folders moved across
• Email set up and old messages carried over
• Browser bookmarks, saved logins and profiles
• Printers, scanners and devices reconnected
• Programs installed and licences reactivated
• The old computer wiped before it moves on

Before you buy

We are happy to be asked before the money is spent. The main things worth checking are how much storage you need, whether the memory can be added to later, and whether the machine is sold with a full version of Windows rather than a limited mode.

The same applies to a Mac. Memory and storage are fixed at purchase on current models, so the specification you buy is the one you keep for the life of the machine, which makes the choice worth a conversation.

If you are replacing a computer because the old one is slow, get it looked at first. Sometimes it is a drive or memory rather than age, and a repair costs less than a replacement. We will tell you which it is.

What gets moved, and what gets missed

The obvious things are documents, photos, videos and the desktop. The ones people forget are browser bookmarks and saved logins, email stored on the computer rather than the provider, downloads, scanned paperwork, accounting files, saved games and anything filed outside the standard folders.

Software licences are their own category. Anything you paid for needs the account or the key it is attached to, and it is much easier to find those while the old computer still works than after it has been wiped.

We ask you to walk us through where things live before we start, because you know your own filing better than any transfer tool does. That conversation is what stops the phone call a fortnight later about a missing folder.

Two-step verification, and why it catches people

The part of a new computer that trips people up most is not files, it is logins. Accounts protected by two-step verification will ask to be approved again on a new machine, and if the approval goes to an old phone number or an authenticator app that was never backed up, you can be locked out of your own email.

So we check that first, before the old computer is touched. Recovery details up to date, backup codes saved somewhere sensible, and the authenticator app moved across if there is one.

It is also the moment to get a password manager going if you do not have one, because the new machine is the point where every saved login has to be re-entered anyway.

Setting the machine up properly

A new computer comes with trial software and promotional apps that slow it down and nag. We remove those, get Windows or macOS fully updated before anything else goes on, and check the machine's own drivers are current rather than whatever shipped on it.

Then your accounts, your email on every device you use, your printer, your programs, and settings like display scaling and power behaviour that make the machine comfortable to use. We set up a backup at the same time, so the new machine is protected from the first week rather than the first scare.

New systems we supply carry a 12-month warranty. Renewed computers come with 90 days. Where we are setting up a machine you bought elsewhere, its warranty is the retailer's, and we will point you to it if something is wrong out of the box.

How it is done and what it costs

Most setups are done at your place, so the new machine ends up connected to your printer, your network and your devices, and we can show you where everything has gone before we leave. Onsite visits are quoted separately, and we cover about 12km around Mount Druitt.

Where both computers can be brought to us, or where the work is software only, it can run as a workshop job or over remote support at $179 per hour. Pickup and delivery is $50 if you would rather not move them yourself.

Keep the old computer for a few weeks after the changeover, untouched. It is the best backup you will ever have, and once you are sure nothing is missing we can wipe it securely so none of your data goes with it to its next owner.

Typical jobs

A typical job: a new laptop replacing one that had been in use for eight years. We check the account recovery details first, move documents, photos, email and saved logins, reconnect the printer, remove the trial software and set up a backup before showing the owner where everything sits.

A typical example: a new computer bought because the old one stopped starting. The drive still reads, so we take it out, copy the data across, set up the new machine, and then wipe the old drive once the owner has confirmed nothing is missing.

Another typical job: a small business replacing one desk's computer. We move the accounting data and mail profile, reconnect the shared printer and network folders, reactivate the software licences and check the backup covers the new machine before it goes into use.

Questions