Thinking about starting my own computer repair service - Hardware & Software

How about an hourly rate? Say, they pay you $30 for the first hour up front, and then when you take more than an hour bill them that portion of your hourly rate. For example, 1:30 would be $45, 2:00 is $60.

Try this: [code] 1) Virus/spyware removal - $40 2) hardware labor/troubleshooting (installation also) - $30/h 3) software labor/troubleshooting (installation also) - $25/h 4) Complete computer rebuild (from scratch/Frankenstein/os reinstall) - $50/h [/code] [editline]06:54AM[/editline] [QUOTE=DamagePoint;17270873]Keep in mind a lot of universities have people that will fix student's computers for free.[/QUOTE] Yea but how many people know about that? Seriously, I work for a tech department in my university and I don't know of any.

lol "hurr im going to pay u to make my computer look neat hurr hurr" I don't really care what the inside of my computer looks like as long as it works, and I don't have a clear case. Also; you can make some good money in this business, get a website and business cards.

Get the Hiren's Boot Cd. Works wonders for pc type of jobs. I pretty much am the computer service for my girlfriends family. They repay me in food.

[QUOTE=articpenguin;17287684]Get the Hiren's Boot Cd. Works wonders for pc type of jobs. [/QUOTE] I use the UBCD, Hiren's, and Techie'z toolkit. Each one has its programs.

[QUOTE=snuwoods;16623235]Remember, formats should include free software, lest it be unsupported warez. Ubuntu would be a good try.[/QUOTE] Don't be silly. The average "computer user" (see: idiot) only wants to use their PC for Windows live messenger, Microsoft Office and iTunes. Try explaining to someone who WANTS these features, that installing Ubuntu would be better. What a joke. It's a much better alternative to buy some XP OEM licenses and install that instead. Keeps the average Joe happy, and is easy to maintain. As for your computer maintenance business, I would recommend an external hard drive packed to the walls with useful antivirus/spyware scanning software and free antivirus, also a really efficient defragging software will work wonders on most people's PCs and it'll likely give them an instant performance boost. While you're at it you may as well carry around a few 512 DDR2 800 (usually what I'd encounter most) chips, a quick RAM upgrade, if possible is an easy way to cash in when people complain that "my pc is slow, baww". Cans of compressed air to clean out all the shit that builds up over the years of neglect. Get yourself a mini mag-lite too, those things are a god-send for poking around in dark cramped cases. Hope I helped a little.

good luck, the recession made me close mine, but business is picking back up best plan of action take ITN 106 ITN 107 or study really hard for an A+ cert and get a part time job at a computer repair service

[QUOTE=JohnEdwards;17294814]good luck, the recession made me close mine, but business is picking back up best plan of action take ITN 106 ITN 107 or study really hard for an A+ cert and get a part time job at a computer repair service[/QUOTE] Really nowadays you're better off getting a fairly average job and then do PC repair work on the side. Once word of mouth spreads you'll be seeing a lot of business, and it pays 100% tax free!

[QUOTE=JohnEdwards;17294814]best plan of action take ITN 106 ITN 107 or study really hard for an A+ cert and get a part time job at a computer repair service[/QUOTE] Pfft, study hard for A+ certification. If you have lingered around this subforum long enough you should have enough knowledge to pass it easy (like I did).

[QUOTE=LinÂµx;17296377]pays 100% tax free![/QUOTE] Yeah, illegally as undocumented income. Computer repair isn't as profitable as it used to be. With razor thin margins on both computer parts and labor, you'll be hard pressed to even break even most of the time and having an A+ cert (like myself) won't really allow you to increase your rates, you'll just lose that business. I do computer repair on the side, and usually just do it for pocket change while having a regular job. Most of the people that I've fixed computers for have taken their computers to brick and mortar shops before and got totally shafted on "deals" they were offered. The work I've seen from even supposedly reputable shops is shocking. I've seen CDROM drives plugged into the floppy bus, 2" wood screws to fasten hard drives to cases, tie straps to attach a heatsink to a SECC2 PIII (which fried because it was just flopping on it) and worse. Some of them even had been downgraded and had their parts stolen and replaced with worse (and often defective) other parts.

Good luck mate.

[QUOTE=Kubi;17293303]I use the UBCD, Hiren's, and Techie'z toolkit. Each one has its programs.[/QUOTE] Good stuff. I'd just put them all on 1 dvd and have like the ultimate recovery dvd.

[QUOTE=Kubi;17302215]Pfft, study hard for A+ certification. If you have lingered around this subforum long enough you should have enough knowledge to pass it easy (like I did).[/QUOTE] Maybe I can be smart like you some day A+ is more than you think, true most people can pass it but there are a few questions that are WAY out there. atleast the one I took it had some odd questions

"We make computers awesome" Or badass, depends on where you live.