The Arlington Virginia Computer Repair Blog

Our lifeline to the digital world refuses to show any signs of life.  What does one do?  Fear not, for all hope is not lost!

Computers may refuse to power on for several reasons, including past overheating, a failing power supply or another hardware problem.  Sometimes the problem can be resolved easily by attempting a hard reset.  In order to perform a hard reset, follow these steps carefully:

1: Disconnect the power supply (and battery if it is a laptop).

2: Press the power button ten times, then hold it down for 45 seconds.

3: Reconnect the power supply.

4: Attempt to power on the computer.

If this worked, it may not be a permanent fix, but it may at least allow you to back up your data, which we highly suggest doing ASAP if your computer has been refusing to power on.

Was your computer running hot / loud before it refused to power on?  Try using some dust off through the vents and fans (if accessible) to clear out any debris that may be keeping the heat in.

Arlington Virginia Computer Repair has helped over 10,000 clients diagnose and repair computer issues, recover data and more.  If you are still experiencing problems, contact us today for a free estimate.

Often times our customers ask us where they can recycle their computers in the Arlington, Virginia area. The answer may not be immediately obvious when searching the web.  Fortunately there are several local organizations that offer computer donation and recycling services, depending on the condition of your computer.

Important: Please be sure to securely wipe any sensitive information before donating your computer.  If you need help doing so, please contact us.

If your computer is still operable, but you want to consider donating* it to a less fortunate person or group the following options are available in and around Arlington County:

1: Goodwill
10 Glebe Road South
Arlington,VA 22204
Phone: (703) 769-3711

2: Homestretch
303 Maple Avenue South, Suite 400
Falls Church, VA 22046
Phone: (703) 237-2035

3: Legal Services of Northern VA
6066 Leesburg Pike, Suite 500
Falls Church, VA 22041
Phone: (703) 778-6800

If instead your computer is beyond seven years old, non-operational or severely damaged then we recommend recycling it instead of donating it.  It’s critical to ensure electronic waste is disposed of properly in order to ensure that toxic heavy metals and other problematic chemicals do not leach in to groundwater from nearby dump sites.

Important: Before disposing of your computer (or other equipment) it is important that you remove your data storage device or at least securely erase the information that may be on it.  If you require assistance destroying your data please contact us.

The following option is available for ewaste recycling to residents of Arlington County:

Arlington Virginia e-waste program
530 31st Street South (WPCP Gate #3)
Arlington, VA 22202
Phone: (703) 228-6832

Arlington Virginia Computer Repair, a local provider of computer repair and data recovery services, offers secure hard drive, memory card, USB stick, cell phone and other secure destruction services for sensitive data starting at $60.00 per device.  Discounts are available for volume services.  Arlington Virginia Computer Repair provides e-waste recycling services to our clients as well.  If the computer is a part of a case that we’re working on it can be recycled at no additional charge with us.

* Some donations may be eligible for a tax deduction.  Contact your CPA to verify whether your donations qualify.

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is free, powerful and stable anti-virus software that works on PCs running Windows XP through Windows 7.  It’s even going to be integral to Windows 8 as a built-in security solution.  I’ve been recommending MSE to clients for their home and small business PCs as a robust alternative to the expensive and often times inefficient commercial alternatives.

Without naming any names, many users deal with products that have significant resource utilization, so they end up slowing down the computer — and on top of that, many of the popular anti-virus programs don’t detect a lot of the malware that’s out there.  Why pay for a slower, less efficient solution?  Because about 45,000 new malware programs come out every day, it’s difficult for any single solution to keep up with all of it, but MSE does a pretty good job and its update system is integrated with Windows updates, so you don’t have to worry about getting the latest definitions.

It also has pretty advanced functionality for a free product.  Some of the more sophisticated features include network intrusion detection, removable device scanning for flash drives and external hard drives, as well as exclusion of trusted programs and scaling CPU utilization — so you can ensure that your scans don’t slow down performance.

If you aren’t running anti-virus software, or you are unhappy with your current solution*, check out MSE.  I think it will impress you.

Arlington Virginia Computer Repair has cleaned up thousands of virus infections for our clients and constantly reviews the best anti-virus software and other security-related products for home users and small businesses.  After many trials with other anti-virus software, MSE came out on top in every objective test performed.  If you’re having trouble with your Mac or PC, give us a call or an e-mail.  We can help!

* If you are running anti-virus software and decide to replace it, be sure to completely remove the old software before installing any new anti-virus programs.

For many years Apple advertisements and sales people would boast that Macs were invulnerable to malware.  Unfortunately for Mac users, we’re finding out that’s simply not the case.  For every operating system, there are vulnerabilities that can be exploited in order to install malware.  OS X is no exception to this rule.

Lately there’s been a good deal of media attention regarding the FlashBack Trojan hitting Mac users, which at one point had compromised about 700,000 machines.  I feel that this is most likely the beginning of a larger wave of malware that will be specifically targeting the Mac platform.  The reason I posit this theory is that as Apple’s sphere of influence and market share in the world of computing grows, so does the attraction to target the platform by malicious software creators.  In addition, in OS X Apple has not adequately addressed many security vulnerabilities, but instead glossed over them.

For example, even in OS X Lion the current release of Apple’s operating system, the firewall is disabled by default, security updates are not mandated, bluetooth is set to discoverable, many file permissions are more open than they should be and often security patches take some time to be deployed from Apple after a new vulnerability is publicly disclosed.

Of equal concern is the fact that Apple does not support operating systems when they are beyond two releases behind.  What that means is that Leopard, Snow Leopard and Lion are currently supported for security updates.  All previous versions of Mac OS X have essentially been abandoned.  Because Apple comes out with a new operating system about once a year, that means that they typically only support ‘legacy’ versions of OS X that are about two or three years old.  Because of this limited support for OS X the entire PowerPC platform will not be getting any patches, nor will older releases of OS X, such as Tiger.

Should one run anti-virus software on their Mac?  It’s not a bad idea.  There are several freeware anti-virus programs available, such as ClamXav.  A broader approach is more important, though, as reactive anti-virus is only one layer of defense one should employ.

If your Mac is acting up or may have a virus, you’re welcome to contact Arlington Virginia Computer Repair.  We have expertise dealing with Macs, OS X as well as information security and have been helping customers since 1999.

Sometimes simple missteps can result in devastating malware problems. Here are the top five ways that virus infections can spread online.

1) Downloading pirated content, such as music, movies and software.  Not only is it illegal, but it also poses great risk to your computer as a lot of this content comes bundled with hidden malware that can ravage your privacy and security.

2) Opening e-mail attachments from suspicious senders.  Did Amazon, UPS or the IRS claim they have a very important message that you have to open the attachment for?  Don’t do it.  Legitimate institutions will not send you important updates as an attached PDF, zip or exe file.  Opening these attachments can unleash a Pandora’s box of problems on to your computer.  If you feel compelled to open an attachment, scan it with your anti-virus software first.

3) Clicking on ads.  Many ads are innocent, but some contain or link to malicious content that can attack your web browser and infect your computer.  It’s best not to click on ads and even use ad blocking plugins such as AdBlock Plus for your browser.  Over a million malware ridden ads were delivered in 2011, and we expect even more this year.

4) Opening links on social networking web sites and e-mails.  Many times peoples’ accounts are compromised without their knowledge and they may end up putting links out to their contacts that have malicious content.  Warning signs include something that is too funny or too gross to miss out on or an offer for something that is too good to be true, such as a free iPad.

5) Compromised PDF files.  Believe it or not, PDF files have become one of the top ten vectors for spreading viruses in to personal and business computers.  The reason is that new functionality, such as Javascript, introduced new security problems to the PDF format.  In addition, most installations of Adobe Acrobat are not kept up to date, and malicious hackers prey on that outdated version of your PDF reader to inject malicious code in to your computer.  Always download the PDF to your computer before you open it, scan it with your anti-virus software and ensure you have the latest version of your PDF reader installed.

When a computer starts to slow down it can be a sign of several problems, ranging from a virus infection, to overheating or even a failing hard drive.  If the symptoms continue to worsen or progress to the point where the system is not booting up properly you could be facing a pretty serious hardware problem.  Catching the symptoms early and acting quickly is the key, but even if you haven’t all hope is not lost.

First and foremost, if the system is still working, back up your data right away.  If you have trouble transferring information after one or two attempts, stop working on it and call a professional.  Your data could be at risk if the hard drive is failing.

Secondly, evaluate the age of the system and your budget for repair or data recovery.  If the system is seven years old, then it’s probably not worth repairing.  If it contains valuable data you don’t have stored elsewhere, then seeing if a data recovery is possible could be worthwhile.  If it is a relatively new system, check your warranty and check your credit card policy as some cards (such as American Express) may double your hardware warranty at no additional cost.

Last, but certainly not least, be careful with tech support.  While these folks mean well and are trying to help you, if your data is not backed up some of the diagnostics or resolutions they want you to perform could be destructive — even if they aren’t intended to be.  If your hard drive is failing, the system is overheating or otherwise damaged additional stress could make matters worse.

It used to be that turning off a computer frequently would stress out the components and cause it to fail earlier.   With the advances in energy saving technology as well as the quality of certain components over the last decade, that is no longer the case.  In fact, the longer a computer is kept powered on, especially with mobile computers like laptops and netbooks, the faster the computer will age and eventually fail.

Mean time between failures is a general specification each component is given during the manufacturing process.  That means that there is only a certain number of hours that each component can run under optimal conditions before it will fail.  For most consumer grade components, the hours boil down to about 3-5 years of nominal usage.

Another important factor to consider that often shortens the lifespan of components is heat.  Heat accounts for about 2/3rds of all hardware failures, meaning it can seriously shorten the lifespan of your computer.  Temperatures over 60C are of utmost concern, as above that temperature components begin to age much faster.

Turning off your computer can help to minimize overheating, reduce the number of hours the system is used which in turn can lead to your computer lasting longer with less repairs, saving energy on your power bill and even improving the security of the system by minimizing the window of opportunity for malware and hackers.

Most computers should be shutdown, not put in to sleep mode, if they are going to be inactive for 60 minutes or more.  The only exception to this use applies to servers and some network appliances, which are generally built to be on 24/7.