PC Repair Business???

[atomikbohm]

As many of the people on this board, I've been fixing friends and family members PCs for years.  Recently I've been approached by a friend who has offered to "help" me make a business out of it.  I used the quotes because I'm not expecting much if any assistance but, the idea got my interest enough to take a look at the possibilities.

I guess I wanted to get an idea of if I'm remotely qualified to even consider this type of undertaking.   So here are the questions...

1) What skill set does one need in this line of work?  (Microsoft certificates, Hardware vendor repair training ect)

2) What kind of equipment should I have? 

3) What do PC repair shops charge?  Hourly and/or by the task.

I know small businesses are risky at the best of financial times but as a side line business I thought it might be fun.

Any info or suggestions are welcome.

[hypernova]

You don't need any kind of piece of paper.  Although if you plan on advertising professionally in the phone book and such, it always helps.

I've always been interested in #2.  Just to be able to diagnose my own issues.  Stuff that works across more than just one architectural generation.  i.e. I can't accurately test my socket 478 cpu unless I have more socket 478 cpus to swap and see if it works or not.

[atomikbohm]

Hypernova - the easiest / cheapest way I know of testing a CPU is to plug it into a mobo that you know works.  If you get to windows you should be good,  If you want to be certain that it's good run some CPU benchmarking software for a couple of hours and see what happens. If it doesn't last that long you now know either the CPU was bad or you forgot to plug in the heatsink fan.  Either way you might want to buy a new CPU. 

[SNAAKE]

post ads on craigslist

if you know the basics you'll be fine. I do it from time to time. competition is fierce(but I live in NY). and sometimes I have to go places and fix things..

[DaveMMR]

I've been repairing computers on the side for a few years now.  I occasionally post on Craigslist and maybe a flyer here and there.  I feel like 95% of my business is removing whatever stupid crap customers downloaded onto their computers (including one family that called me over at least four times; I finally told them they either need to learn how to use a malware/virus scanner or stop using Limewire.)

As SNAAKE said, there's a lot of competition (at least in NY).  If you're area is fairly populous, maybe do it for supplemental income for now; if you can get a few steady clients under your belt (small businesses), you may be able to make it a full time thing. 

BTW: I had training in a tech school but that was a waste of time/money. As long as you can keep your own computer running, you are more than qualified to handle home or small business computer issues  (most of your customers won't know what an A+ Cert is, and if they did - they probably don't need your help.) What you don't know, you'll learn - and Google is always your friend.

As for pay, I usually charge a flat rate based on how long I expect to take doing a job, figuring about $35 an hour (though I usually fudge it a bit in the customers favor depending on the circumstance.)

[Howard_Casto]

As many of the people on this board, I've been fixing friends and family members PCs for years.  Recently I've been approached by a friend who has offered to "help" me make a business out of it.  I used the quotes because I'm not expecting much if any assistance but, the idea got my interest enough to take a look at the possibilities.

I guess I wanted to get an idea of if I'm remotely qualified to even consider this type of undertaking.   So here are the questions...

1) What skill set does one need in this line of work?  (Microsoft certificates, Hardware vendor repair training ect)

2) What kind of equipment should I have? 

3) What do PC repair shops charge?  Hourly and/or by the task.

I know small businesses are risky at the best of financial times but as a side line business I thought it might be fun.

Any info or suggestions are welcome.

1.) You need to know what you are doing... it's as simple as that.  Certifications are worthless to the average customer.  You would only need those if you want to become a "liscensed ____ repairman" or what have you.  That being said, having a uncertified person work on a particular piece of equipment might void the warranty.  But if it was still under warranty they wouldn't be coming to you.

2.)  Best Tools:

A can of air
A set of minature screwdrivers
A set of standard screwdrivers
A working laptop you can take with you
A usb harddrive adaptor, preferably one that will handle IDE and SATA
A thumbdrive that has all of your favorite spyware/malware removal tools on it.
A network cable
A spare power supply.

3.)Anywhere from 20 to 50 bucks an hour.  Generally on a sliding scale depending upon the type of work you need to do and if it is a house call or not.

I work on pcs constantly and I was actually trained to do this sort of thing.  I just can't quite get into the idea of doing it for a living based on my experiences working on people's pcs.  Here are a few reasons why:

1.  As the others have said, it is almost always a virus.  Removing viri is hard, time consuming and wears you down physically.  Also they sometimes make a pc unrecoverable software-wise.  In that cause you have a very pissed customer.  On top of that there is always the slight chance that you can get the virus on your own pcs by fixing theirs.  So yeah it's really good money, if you like crap work.  I think removing viri is right up their with being a proctologist.    

2.  Like working on cars, sometimes the problem can't be fixed.  I would feel really guilty working on a persons computer for a couple of hours only to find out that the hardware has failed and it isn't worth fixing.  That means they are out the cost of yoru services AND the cost of a new pc.  I'm too soft-hearted... I would end up not charging cases like these.

3.  People don't understand computers, so when you give them bad news or tell them they need to buy something, they always think you are trying to rip them off.  

4.  Your customers don't listen to you, because they assume that they know better.  You tell them to use anti-virus and which one to use and even go so far as to install it for them.  You are called back a week or two later because they either turned it off, or installed a "better" anti-virus that screwed up their pc.  A customer asks how to install a piece of software  on their pc, you tell them "that won't work on your pc" and they promptly say you don't know what you are talking about.  "It says it's for PC on the box!  It has to work on my 10 year old pc!"

Also in terms of a storefront, the overhead will kill ya.  House calls are the way to go.  

I'm not saying that you shouldn't do it, I'm just saying that it won't be fun like you think it will.  It will be a job and a crappy job at that.  The pay can be real good, but that is about the only benefit.  

[SavannahLion]

I'll echo PBJ and Castro's sentiment. The work sucks, period.

I dabbled in it about fifteen years ago.  Mostly sideline stuff. In CA, you can operate that type of business for one year before you're required to obtain a license. IOW, you must obtain the license before the year is up or you'll be fined if caught. For computer repair, that's unlikely. It was business thing, not specific to PC repair. of course the law might have changed since, better safe and know what's required if you're going to ignore them.  


But I digress, that kind of work is a PITA. There aren't enough oil changes to offset the full blown engine overhauls. I'd say most of the work entailed reinstalling a completely hose OS then trying to explain to the customer why you couldn't recover all of their porn family photos. Like Castro says, that ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- wears you out.

I had a friend that remained in the business for about six years, always offered "extra" in-home service. Didn't know a thing about PC repair other than installing Windows. I have no idea what happened to him, probably got caught with a lonely housewife.

[mrhowell]

$60.00 an hour for general work (printer installs, setting up a wireless router, etc)  .
$90.00 an hour for network support (Microsoft, Novell, IP printer installs).
$120.00 an hour for cabling and termination.  I charge what may seem alot, but I HATE CABLING.

$100.00 Format and reload with data recovery if possible.  The best fix for the average user. 

[wp34]

My old boss started a consulting business a few years ago.  From the stories he told me Howard hit the nail on the head.  He said his biggest problem is that his customers didn't understand the concept of billable hours and expected him to warranty for free.

[drventure]

+1 about the billable hours comment.

Heck, many +businesses+ don't understand that.

I've contracted with places that wanted a fixed bid. I said "I don't do fixed bids because there is no way you already know exactly and completely what you need done". For yard work, sure, no problem. But with computers and esp with programming, that's just about impossible.

They either realize that's the truth and come around, or they tell me to get lost.

Either way works for me.

[abispac]

Code: [Select]

3.  People don't understand computers, so when you give them bad news or tell them they need to buy something, they always think you are trying to rip them off.      i get that alot.

[Gatt]

I wouldn't do it.

In addition to the things people listed above...

1.  Customers do not hear the word "Wipe",  or even "This will completely delete everything".  They will always think you mean it'll delete everything except all of their files,  games,  programs.  No amount of explaining will get them to understand that "Wipe" means every last file.  

2.  It won't take a week before half of them reinstall whatever gave them the virii again,  and then they'll call you and demand you fix it again for free because "You didn't fix it last time".  If you make the mistake of doing it,  you will be dragged in to their house every week until the end of time.

3.  A sizeable number of the people will be trying to install Crysis on a P90.  As someone noted above,  you cannot tell them it's time to upgrade.

4.  2/3 of them will lie to you.  You won't figure out that the problem is that they poured pepsi into it until after 4 hours of extremely painful attempts to try and diagnose short-circuits.  

5.  A fair number of them will think that this is a negotiation.  You'll hear about how they should only pay you $20 because they could've just called their nephew and had him do what you did,  they were just being nice to you,  and you should just be happy with $20.

6.  Another fair portion will have gone to Best Buy,  had the Geek Squad's completely useless drones look at the computer and tell them they need a new Motherboard (This is solution #2 to every problem at BB,  solution #1 is reformating).  You'll go there,  replace the motherboard,  it won't work because it's something else,  and they'll refuse to pay you because "You screwed it up,  Best Buy said this is all it needs".

7.  Then there's the cheapskate contingent,  who'll refuse to use the right parts and insist on the cheapest parts,  which generally fail in a month.  Which is again your fault,  and they'll try to force you to foot the bill.

There's a reason why independent computer shops have been dying out,  this is not a lucrative buisness,  and the hassal just is not worth it.  If you absolutely feel you want to do this,  work only with buisnesses and upscale clients.  Don't do the average families.

[SNAAKE]

^ sounds about right....

[Drnick]

This is basically what I do.  Trust me it becomes boring very quickly.  I actually took 5 Years away from PC's and Learned to Drive a forklift & Truck, along with Cleaning streets and various other jobs.  I kind of fell back into the current job I am in. Luckily I am now dealing with Business users so don't have to worry about the Gameplayers of this world any more.  If you can get business contract's then go for it.  If dealing with the general public.  Oh and all the things Gatt said are true.

Also Howard's list of kit you need.  Spot on, that is all you really need. (Although a large selection of spare parts never goes amiss). 

[Corbo]

I ran an IT business for 5 years with a partner before selling my share and moving on.

Within the first year we ditched home users and supported businesses only.  You don't need any paper qualifications, but it helps to justify a higher price if you can say you are an MS Gold Partner as we were, and it's really not that expensive to build up your qualifications if you learn by the book or videos and just pay for the exam.

Either way you need to be confident of your own ability.

With home users will come irrational demands, out of hours calls, expectations of free repeat visits.  We saw a market to make more money in the SME sector, but if you're going to go with home users I recommend you make the ground rules and prices very clear.

It's a good idea to get some duplicate notepads printed on to which you can record what you did at each visit and get the customer to sign it.  Include your terms and conditions.  It may cost a bit but it covers your ass and makes the transaction feel more official.  They will be less likely to try it on then.  To take this even further, get some polo shirts made up with your logo on, it all adds to the image of "I'm an organised business, you won't get away with trying it on".

Other than that, go for it.  you learn the ropes in business pretty quickly when you're in at the deep end, and if you don't try it now you may never have another chance

[DaveMMR]

This article sums up a lot of what others have said about working on home users' computers:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-guy-whos-fixing-your-computer-hates-you/

I've been fairly lucky; no one really bust my chops about my pricing, though I have since raised my price for straight Malware removal (unless they just let me wipe and reinstall).  But I still get people wondering why I'm there for 3 hours for a "simple" job like taking off a "virus" or asking me to fix their stove since "I know so much about computers". 

[yotsuya]

I'm the campus technology director for a local high school, so fixing stuff is pretty much what I do, but one side thing I do is computer repair for senior citizens who are local to the school. It's all done via word of mouth, as I helped a retired teacher fix something once, and she told all her friends. With them, I don't have a set rate. I just tell them to pay me whatever they they are comfortable with. Quite honestly, they tend to pay me more than I would have asked for, so it works out, but they are still saving money as opposed to calling a service, and they trust me. If it's something that takes a few minutes, I tell them not to worry about it. It's worked out well for all parties involved.

[Howard_Casto]

There's one other thing that has crept up in recent years that I forgot to mention and it pretty much assures that you either won't get paid or won't be able to fix the computer fully.

It used to be that when you bought a pc, you got a physical copy of windows, office, and whatever else came with it.  This is no longer the case.  Now it's saved as an image on the computer and you have to run a special backup program to make your own dvd's of the install. 

Now if the customer had sense enough to do this, then all is well.  It'll actually make your job easier as specific tweaks you have to do for their hardware have already been done.  Unfortunately they never do this.

Since the computer you will be working on will have either a failing harddrive or a barely functional system riddled with viri, you aren't going to be able to make those system restore discs. 

So you have the following options:

1.  Buy and keep multiple versions of windows and hope and pray that the customers at least have their liscense keys and that said keys will work on stock versions of windows and not just the crippled version that came with their pc. Customers will still complain because the 2 dollar flash game that came with their hp computer won't be included with a vanilla install.

2.  Do #1, but install an illegal copy of windowze.  Yeah that's a smart idea.

3.  Try your very best not to format the pc.  This will be next to impossible if the damage from the virus/idiot user is too extensive.  Even if you can, you'll be doing things the hard way, which could take 5 hours or more if it is really bad off.  You'll get a lot of money, but it won't be worth the damage to your soul.

4.  Tell the customer to go buy a $200+ copy of windows... that won't have all the usless add-ons that they are used to and somehow need even though you can check their history and determine that they were never used.  And then tell them that even with the expensive purchase their computer is STILL not fixed and you'll be charging them for re-installing windows and formatting the hdd.

[Howard_Casto]

... or asking me to fix their stove since "I know so much about computers". 

Heh... I get that one a lot. 

My family has asked me to look at their remote controller air-planes and their vintage vaccuum tube amps because those things are apparently the same as a computer. 

About the only actual overlap is video game consoles, arcade machines and modern pcb-based tvs.  Even then the overlap is that you are smart enough to work on pcs you you can sort of muddle through simple problems with the other devices.

[Samstag]

1.  Buy and keep multiple versions of windows and hope and pray that the customers at least have their liscense keys and that said keys will work on stock versions of windows and not just the crippled version that came with their pc. Customers will still complain because the 2 dollar flash game that came with their hp computer won't be included with a vanilla install.

Invest in a Technet subscription and you'll have access to more versions of Windows than you can shake a stick at, all the way back to 3.0 if I recall.  The license key on a prebuilt PC will be on a sticker somewhere on the PC and will identify the version it's good for.

[ark_ader]

1. Don't do it.  I did that ---smurfy--- job for 5 years and nearly every time I asked to be paid I wasn't.  I had to chase them. It got old.

2. Indemnity Insurance isn't cheap.  Not for PCs but in case you damage someones property or injure by your fault.

3. You will need an A+ certification (a 12 year old can do it) to get more work.

4. Go To 1.

When I get an order for a PC, I get a mate who owns a shop to do it.  I get a kick back towards new gear, and I look good. 

Its always important to look good.

[DaveMMR]

1.  Buy and keep multiple versions of windows and hope and pray that the customers at least have their liscense keys and that said keys will work on stock versions of windows and not just the crippled version that came with their pc. Customers will still complain because the 2 dollar flash game that came with their hp computer won't be included with a vanilla install.

Invest in a Technet subscription and you'll have access to more versions of Windows than you can shake a stick at, all the way back to 3.0 if I recall.  The license key on a prebuilt PC will be on a sticker somewhere on the PC and will identify the version it's good for.

That's a good solution if you're definitely going to use it.  Personally, I have no problem making and keeping on hand various copies of Windows installations (including some Dell disks and a universal installation copy of Windows 7). Of course, the customer still needs to have a legitimate key for me to install it for them - that I will not provide.

[BobA]

It definitely has its ups and downs but you cannot get rich doing it.   Word of mouth works well but are there any other advertizing methods that do not cost an arm and a leg.   The local neighborhood paper here costs as much as the city wide papers since it is owned by the same group.   Signs don't work here as it is illegal to post signs in most places. Craigs list has a bad rep. What did you do or do you do if you are still fixing computers?

[SavannahLion]

1.  Buy and keep multiple versions of windows and hope and pray that the customers at least have their liscense keys and that said keys will work on stock versions of windows and not just the crippled version that came with their pc. Customers will still complain because the 2 dollar flash game that came with their hp computer won't be included with a vanilla install.

Invest in a Technet subscription and you'll have access to more versions of Windows than you can shake a stick at, all the way back to 3.0 if I recall.  The license key on a prebuilt PC will be on a sticker somewhere on the PC and will identify the version it's good for.

Ha! I used to work for a company that had some sorely screwed up management problems. I pushed for months for them to subscribe to Technet but they refused (yet, oddly enough were all too happy to invest in a pair of ATM lines for their precious video conferencing   And a incredibly expensive and craptastic phone system we never used). So, as each PC was tagged with a key and version, one simply needed to reinstall that version of Windows right? Nope, A: IT rarely ever seemed to keep the exact version of Windows that a particular PC needed thereby forcing us to swap the PC out instead of just a wipe & install and B: Even if, by some bizarre remote chance the IT binder had a disc with an appropriate version of Windows, some license keys flat out simply refused to function. Thanks for allowing crippled keys for crippled OSes. Nice of them to notify us. Oh well, I was never paid enough to care. Just before the company sold my branch, they shifted their entire system over to Citrix thin clients on a mish-mashed network barely equipped to handle the increased traffic.

I wasn't aware Technet subscriptions let you go that far back in the Windows versions though. Didn't MS announce they dropped support for older OSes even for business customers?

[shateredsoul]

On my first attempt to fix a computer (a VAIO)  I messed up and had a bad experience with the bestbuy geeks. I was only trying to upgrade the memory, which worked fine, but I couldn't slide the power supply back into it's own spot so I could close the tower. I tried going to bestbuy and asked them if they could help me out... they started running some stupid diagnostic tools. I was able to get the attention of some guy, I told him that the only issue was sliding the power supply.

They tried charging me like 80 bucks ... but I argued, but still had to pay 40 bucks for the diagnostics!

I'm sorry, but I hate computer shops, and especially best buy. The computer shops nearby still charge to much IMO. They offered to cut me a deal, $200 to build me a comp if I bring my own parts. I decided to build it on my own. Now I always clone my hdd's for laptops and keep install discs handy. External usb docks have saved me plenty of times.

But man do I hate computer shops 

Good luck!

[MonMotha]

The Geek Squad is terrible.  Most of the "technicians" know little more than how to run their stupid software that just messes up things even worse, in most cases.  Oh, and they love selling overpriced cables.

Really, though, compare "computer repair" rates to things like major appliance repair, plumber, electrician, etc. rates.  You'll find they're not out of line in the slightest.  In fact, in many cases they're perhaps somewhat cheaper.  It's just not worth looking at something for less than $50 or so, even if it only takes 15-30m.  The "context switch" time, billing, etc. will easily add another 30-60m onto that task, so you're looking at paying $50 for about an hour and a half of work.  That's only ~$33/hr to cover everything: facilities, insurance, supplies, all labor, accounting, etc.  Not much profit to be made there, which is why I don't bother with residential/individual stuff.

Now, businesses are willing to pay realistic rates.  To a business, if their computers are down for an hour, they lose well more than $60-100 that a "consultant" will charge to fix it, so it's a good decision to find somebody who knows wtf they're doing even if they charge a bit more.

[Samstag]

I wasn't aware Technet subscriptions let you go that far back in the Windows versions though. Didn't MS announce they dropped support for older OSes even for business customers?

When they drop support they stop releasing updates and probably stop offering phone support.  But the availability sticks around a lot longer, at least on Technet.  DOS was on there too but I think it might have just been version 6.22.

Technet can be pretty useful to a MAMEer because in addition to having all those old versions that run well on ancient hardware, you get 5 license keys per OS version.  I think I paid about $170 for a year subscription when it was on sale.

[Corbo]

Last time I looked on Technet (a year ago ish) you could still get Windows 3.11, which made for amusement in a virtual machine.

Even with technet, I'm not sure you can get hold of OEM disks that work with the keys printed on some systems.

If you build up a good collection of Dell, HP, other common manufacturers and boxed retail versions of Windows ISO's then you can usually manage.

If not, then honesty is the best policy.  Sorry, I can't repair your computer, or, I recommend you upgrade your PC/Windows license.  Under promise and over deliver

[MonMotha]

Windows 7 has drastically improved the whole OEM licensing thing.  The worst I've ever had to do was install with no key then install the appropriate OEM cert (which is a freely available/distributable file, as far as I know, since it contains no actual license) to be able to use either the SLP key (which you're not really supposed to do) or the key printed on the sticker that comes with the PC.  This in theory is true for Vista, too, but screw Vista   It seems to be that the days of having to keep around a different OEM installer disc for each OEM, and sometimes several versions for each at that, like was needed for WinXP are done.

Of course, my preference is to just use Linux.  No need for any pesky per-system licenses then, unless you want the RHEL support.

[Howard_Casto]

Of course, my preference is to just use Linux.  No need for any pesky per-system licenses then, unless you want the RHEL support.

Or pesky applications, or a pesky user interface that people can actually understand, or pesky customers. 

Yeah man install Linux on the average users computer and let me know how that works out for you.  I suppose it would be good job security... they'd be calling you constantly as they wouldn't be able to figure out how to do anything. 

I'm not picking on linux.... linux is great... most tablets run on a highly modified linux kernel, but desktop flavors of linux are NOT for the end user.  Heck I know what I'm doing and I still wouldn't install linux on anything.  Why would I intentionally limit the amount of software I can install and the functionality of my computer?

Before you start spouting the merits of linux, let me just give some examples as it pertains to this hobby:

Mame:  outputs won't work... so no mame hooker.  Hlsl probably won't work either due to lack of dx shaders and DirectX. 
PC Games:  will only run using an emulated layer of windows.... so what's the point?
Front Ends:  there aren't any..... there are plenty in windows, a good amount on the mac and even a couple in dos, but the linux fes haven't been updated in years.
Modern Emulators:  they are mostly windows only at this point due to extensive reliance on directx.

If you intend to use a computer for any application other than surfing the web and checking email (and you'll even run into issues with that ocassionally, but I digress) you'll run into similar limitations.

Sorry to get off topic, I just get a chuckle out of the fact that there are STILL linux nerds in the era of windows 7 and the modern, unix-based, Mac OS. 

[MonMotha]

I'm not going to go putting Linux on a customer's PC without asking them of course, and if they expect to run commercial applications, there's exactly have much of a choice.  However, I would definitely consider putting it on my Grandma's computer.  It's not like she knows how to use Windows, anyway, and I can very easily strip down the interface to make it basically do nothing but email, web, some cheesy games like solitaire, etc., and I pretty much don't have to worry about malware.  It's actually pretty compelling in that usage scenario.  Firefox + Thunderbird work quite well on Linux, as does Chrome, Opera, etc.  You don't get Internet Explorer, but I consider that a positive

I use Linux because it's a very developer friendly environment (if you're developing anything except an application specifically targeting another OS), it's free, and it tends to work pretty well.  I will say I'm quite pissed with Ubuntu at the moment, so I'll probably end up switching back to Debian.  All my dev tools for my embedded stuff work great.  Most are based on the GNU toolchain, anyway, so the Windows versions are actually somewhat second class citizens.

Basically, unless your goal is to run Windows applications, I'm not sure why Linux is such a laughable OS.  Heck, even WINE is surprisingly good these days although still something of a pain to actually use.  The MAME community has generally avoided Linux, though, so um, I guess that makes MAME a "Windows application" subject to, um, running better on Windows.  Would you complain that MacOS X is so bad because it can't run all your MAME stuff like Windows does?  The Linux desktop is a bit more primitive, I'll agree, but it's generally serviceable for casual use, and it makes an excellent server.

All my servers (aside from a Windows testbed) run Linux.  I frequently have my uptime limited by power outages exceeding 2 hours that my UPS can't get me through.  I've got Apache (HTTP server) including Phusion Passenger (Rails for Apache), postfix (SMTP server), dovecot (IMAP server), PostgreSQL (SQL database), BIND (DNS server), Samba (CIFS/Windows Networking), and some other random stuff like LLDP, DHCP, NAT routing, etc. on a little Atom box that's my "home" server.  I'm using <1GB of RAM for all that, and it's surprisingly speedy for being on a lowly little Atom, and it was all free.  It took a little effort to set all that up, but the OS install itself was a snap, and it just hums along requiring only occasional minor confirmation that I would indeed like to install a few security patches.

Also, saying that Android is Linux is, while technically true, a bit misleading.  The kernel is indeed Linux, and that's technically all Linux is (a kernel).  However, the kernel is quite modified, and the userspace is totally different from a typical UNIX-like Linux system.  The GUI is also something Google came up with, rather than X11, though X11 is starting to show its age architecturally, so that was probably a decent choice on Google's part.

[shmokes]

Speaking of Linux, that's something you should add to your arsenal. Howard mentioned a USB drive, but you should also have a USB flash drive with a live copy of Linux and other diagnostic utilities so you can do things like booting into a system with a corrupt OS or crippling virus.

I highly recommend this USB flash drive. It is actually a microSDHC card reader. You just put whatever size/speed microSDHC card you want in it, and it becomes a USB flash drive. I have one on my key chain with a 32 GB card in it. I use it all the time. So handy. And another great thing about it is that if I ever decide to upgrade to a 64 GB card in the future I'll be able to repurpose the current 32 GB card in a phone or camera or anything else that takes SD or microSD cards.

[CCM]

I always have a copy of Hiren's Boot CD in my laptop bag.  It has saved my butt on many occasions, it has tons of utilities and scanners, but the biggest thing for me is you can boot directly into Mini XP and copy everything off the hard drive of a non-bootable system.

[Ed_McCarron]

The "context switch" time, billing, etc. will easily add another 30-60m onto that task, so you're looking at paying $50 for about an hour and a half of work.

Yup.  I charge 4 hours minimum for a truck roll.  Even if it's a two hour job.  For my good customers, I'll waive it.  Does two things.  Guarantees I don't lose money on most small jobs, and enhances my image with the good customer's bean counters.

[leapinlew]

I'm not going to go putting Linux on a customer's PC without asking them of course, and if they expect to run commercial applications, there's exactly have much of a choice.  However, I would definitely consider putting it on my Grandma's computer.  It's not like she knows how to use Windows, anyway, and I can very easily strip down the interface to make it basically do nothing but email, web, some cheesy games like solitaire, etc., and I pretty much don't have to worry about malware.  It's actually pretty compelling in that usage scenario.  Firefox + Thunderbird work quite well on Linux, as does Chrome, Opera, etc.  You don't get Internet Explorer, but I consider that a positive

I use Linux because it's a very developer friendly environment (if you're developing anything except an application specifically targeting another OS), it's free, and it tends to work pretty well.  I will say I'm quite pissed with Ubuntu at the moment, so I'll probably end up switching back to Debian.  All my dev tools for my embedded stuff work great.  Most are based on the GNU toolchain, anyway, so the Windows versions are actually somewhat second class citizens.

Basically, unless your goal is to run Windows applications, I'm not sure why Linux is such a laughable OS.  Heck, even WINE is surprisingly good these days although still something of a pain to actually use.  The MAME community has generally avoided Linux, though, so um, I guess that makes MAME a "Windows application" subject to, um, running better on Windows.  Would you complain that MacOS X is so bad because it can't run all your MAME stuff like Windows does?  The Linux desktop is a bit more primitive, I'll agree, but it's generally serviceable for casual use, and it makes an excellent server.

All my servers (aside from a Windows testbed) run Linux.  I frequently have my uptime limited by power outages exceeding 2 hours that my UPS can't get me through.  I've got Apache (HTTP server) including Phusion Passenger (Rails for Apache), postfix (SMTP server), dovecot (IMAP server), PostgreSQL (SQL database), BIND (DNS server), Samba (CIFS/Windows Networking), and some other random stuff like LLDP, DHCP, NAT routing, etc. on a little Atom box that's my "home" server.  I'm using <1GB of RAM for all that, and it's surprisingly speedy for being on a lowly little Atom, and it was all free.  It took a little effort to set all that up, but the OS install itself was a snap, and it just hums along requiring only occasional minor confirmation that I would indeed like to install a few security patches.

Also, saying that Android is Linux is, while technically true, a bit misleading.  The kernel is indeed Linux, and that's technically all Linux is (a kernel).  However, the kernel is quite modified, and the userspace is totally different from a typical UNIX-like Linux system.  The GUI is also something Google came up with, rather than X11, though X11 is starting to show its age architecturally, so that was probably a decent choice on Google's part.

All I'm hearing is that linux sucks.

Why can't they get their act together? Even when linux looked promising, it never really took off. You can come up with a "grandma" scenario when Linux seems like it would work, but it probably wouldn't. Grandma would come home with a new camera, printer, or something and the distro of linux being used will choke on it. Linux is for the computer tweakers of the world...

All that being said, I do use linux in a few situations. I use a live disk, I dual boot into Ubuntu, and I have a few servers running some flavor of linux to provide a few services but these are being phased out. In fact, I just dumped a linux install running subversion in favor of the windows subversion which does a better job passing authentication.

As to the OP, go for it. Just don't plan on it being a huge money making venture. I would avoid going to peoples homes, and have them travel to you for issues. I don't repair computers for money anymore, but when my friends need something done on their computers, I have them bring them over. Also, look into logmein and teamviewer for remote diagnostics.

[CCM]

I would avoid going to peoples homes, and have them travel to you for issues. I don't repair computers for money anymore, but when my friends need something done on their computers, I have them bring them over. Also, look into logmein and teamviewer for remote diagnostics.

+1 


I finally have my friends and family trained to bring me their computers, I don't do house calls.  Most people don't get that it can take hours to diagnose and remove a virus.  I have no interest in sitting at someone's house watching a scan run!

[MonMotha]

All I'm hearing is that linux sucks.

Why can't they get their act together? Even when linux looked promising, it never really took off. You can come up with a "grandma" scenario when Linux seems like it would work, but it probably wouldn't. Grandma would come home with a new camera, printer, or something and the distro of linux being used will choke on it. Linux is for the computer tweakers of the world...

I don't think it's that it "sucks", it's that it's "not Windows".  If you want Windows, buy Windows.  It's that simple.

I would really rather not get into a heated evangelism argument over Linux versus Windows.  What it comes down to is that if running Windows software and plugging random $5 doodads you bought at the store into your computer and expecting it to work is important to you, then you need Windows.  If you just want to browse the web, check your email, write documents, make some spreadsheets, and play solitaire (which I'd say covers about 3/4 or more of what happens on desktop/laptop personal computers aside from PC gaming), then you could probably use Linux just fine, and server and embedded roles have especially compelling usage arguments.

Just please don't say it "sucks" and then give the reason of "it won't work with my Windows programs and random unpopular hardware".  That doesn't mean it "sucks", that means it's not Windows, and your usage scenario specifically requires Windows.  You'd probably be equally unhappy with a Mac.  You're a Windows user, and that's fine, but there are other usage scenarios than your own.

[leapinlew]

All I'm hearing is that linux sucks.

Why can't they get their act together? Even when linux looked promising, it never really took off. You can come up with a "grandma" scenario when Linux seems like it would work, but it probably wouldn't. Grandma would come home with a new camera, printer, or something and the distro of linux being used will choke on it. Linux is for the computer tweakers of the world...

I don't think it's that it "sucks", it's that it's "not Windows".  If you want Windows, buy Windows.  It's that simple.

I would really rather not get into a heated evangelism argument over Linux versus Windows.  What it comes down to is that if running Windows software and plugging random $5 doodads you bought at the store into your computer and expecting it to work is important to you, then you need Windows.  If you just want to browse the web, check your email, write documents, make some spreadsheets, and play solitaire (which I'd say covers about 3/4 or more of what happens on desktop/laptop personal computers aside from PC gaming), then you could probably use Linux just fine, and server and embedded roles have especially compelling usage arguments.

We agree on 1 thing here. Linux will do 3/4 of what you need it to. So, the moral is, if you want your computer to operate at 75% capacity, enjoy Linux.

The reason I cited the Grandma example is that it's often used as a reason why linux is fine. Honestly, I don't know anyone who only wants to just browse the web, check email, and create a few documents. It starts that way, but it isn't long before they want to print, use some software, edit some pictures, scan, or something that isn't easy or possible with linux.

Just please don't say it "sucks" and then give the reason of "it won't work with my Windows programs and random unpopular hardware".  That doesn't mean it "sucks", that means it's not Windows, and your usage scenario specifically requires Windows.  You'd probably be equally unhappy with a Mac.  You're a Windows user, and that's fine, but there are other usage scenarios than your own.

Unpopular hardware? Like a printer? Like dual screen monitors, video cards, scanners, and the list goes on and on! I've wasted countless hours trying to get things to work in Linux which weren't fixed until a new distro. On several occasions trying to upgrade to the newest distro, the upgrade crapped out and I was left rebuilding from scratch. Rebuilding computers got less fun after I'd done it a few hundred times. 

I'm ok with Macs. They have a good support community that isn't filled with a bunch of people that say "RTFM". It's easy to find out if a piece of hardware is compatible or not. The linux community is very very small. I mean, sure there might be a good amount of linux users overall, but the actual amount of users who are out there running the exact version of linux you are and who aren't total jerks? Very small.

I'm actually just giving you a hard time MonMotha. It's been a long time since I heard someone defending linux on the desktop. I'm not your average user in that I actually use linux both on the server and on the desktop and I've had a good amount of experience with it. I know when I should use it and my thoughts on linux are just my opinion and I'm simply giving my experiences. The best use case for linux I can come up with is when I need a solution, I don't have a budget and I have a lot of time. I'll keep playing with it, but until I see it's getting better it sucks.