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Click on the above image to see many expanded images of some interesting technology (thanks to steampunk et al)

Welcome to my website

I am a computer engineer specialising in new builds, repairs, virus removal, data recovery, system recovery, OS installation and software installation. Whether you have a PC or laptop and you are experiencing problems with your machine please contact me by phone or Email. Operating from home, Kingston upon Thames, I offer a service second to none. I also setup/install new systems whether it be tower or laptop, get your internet up and running, and,  either ethernet/LAN or wireless, ensure you have a secure environment to work in. Email inquiries are welcome regarding this service. I am not  a nine to five person so timing for home visits are not restricted. In addition, if you are considering buying a new or first purchase I can advise you before you part with your hard earned money. I test and review many systems and I freely pass on the results to ensure you don't end up with the proverbial 'sold a pup' situation.

I will freely answer questions via email

FOR REPAIR/INSTALLATION WORK, please contact me. Either 'at home/office' or at my 2nd workshop

 If it's a desktop, bring the tower only!

For remote assistance please download TeamViewer

My fees are MUCH less than high street outlets, the service is personal and discreet. My average charge for setup is £35.00. I work from home or can visit you at home or office. I serve the Kingston upon Thames, Surrey area. All work comes with a free screen cleaner, from the inside out!

  Get it HERE free

A quickstart introduction to installation if you already have your new system

 This applies to Windows Vista and Windows 7

If you are prepared to setup your new system on your own you should bear in mind the following. Most systems don't run  'out of the box', you must configure it, enter the user information and password, enable the antivirus (which normally a 60 day 'free trial') and the uninstall all the crapware the manufacturer 'kindly' has loaded on the machine. Follow the on screen instructions until you are able to boot into windows. Either by ethernet or wireless (more on wireless later) and update windows. Your system may ask you to do this. After reboot decide what antivirus program to go for, if you are willing to pay for what is offered then enable it (it will be either McAfee or Norton both of which I dislike personally, they tend to be slow and use resources) See below to unistall these programs. On the other hand you might install M$ own antivirus program which runs very well in Vista and Win7. It is free. You can get it here.

After validation, update the antivirus database, select a daily scan around the time you would normally use the machine. You are now protected. In addition, you should use complimentary tools. Two very good applications are Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpy. They are also free....and we love free! Update the database on both. I run these on full scan at least once a week and daily on quick scan. They run in the background and are light on resources. The links are below.

Now you are really tooled up! Next step is to ensure you have backed up your operating system. If it came with a recovery disk then all is well, if not, in the START menu there will be a program to make/burn a factory copy of the Recovery Disks. You will need two DVD -R disks to do this. Follow the instructions. Label the disks and put them away safely. You will now be able to fully recovery your machine to the day you bought it should the need arise. You should also think about imaging your hard drive, a far easier and quicker way to restore your system. See my SOFTWARE page for more information. Busy Busy, now let's have a break and have some fun, before we get some more free software.

Not all laptops do this! If it does, call the police.

M$ Internet Explorer version 7 and 8 might not be to your liking. That's easy to resolve. There are other browser's out there and some are superior than IE. The choices are in order of preference are: FIREFOX, OPERA, SAFARI, CHROME, CHROME PLUS among the most popular. Firefox is the better in my opinion and is very customizable and has many add-ons.Here are the links to help you make the decision.

Ok, so you are up and running, you have your choice of browser and you want to use your new tool, the computer. You should see the desktop, pretty damn awful to look at because your OEM supplier will have given you a desktop 'view'. Sony, HP/Compaq are the worst followed by FS and Toshiba. Not really a problem but you don't want it in your face. Right click anywhere on the desktop, click personalise and change the background to whatever you want. For the moment, I would suggest just a solid colour.

It would be a good idea now to protect you internet connection. Two very good '1st warnings' are Web of Trust (WOT) (versions for FF and IE so check before downloading) and McAfee SiteAdvisor (both FF and IE supported). These two apps work with your browser and give you advanced warnings when click on a particular website, if it reported as unsafe an alert window will popup. For me, that's good, I just go back to the previous page, problem resolved.

Now we have to do a cleanup! Really? Yes! In Vista especially but in Win7 less so but you should do it as a matter of course, this should be done on a regular basis. Vista and Win7 does have a 'disk cleanup utility' but it's pretty useless. In the browser you have selected you need to download the following programs. So we gonna use some freeware that does the job better and more fully. Click on the links below and follow the install/setup applets.

   REVO UNINSTALLER; This program will uninstall the crapona on your PC to a higher level than the Windows app.

     CcLEANER: This program will clean your system better than the Windows app

    Defraggler: This program will defragment your hard drive quickly and more efficiently than than Windows.

My preferred drinking hole, a Victorian pile situated in Kingston.

paulwoodart.co.uk

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