Rent-A-Geek - PC Repair in Lennox Head

Do We Cover Lennox Head?

Please note: We do not work on Apple (Mac) computers

I simply do not like Macs or the way they are marketed & am fortunately in a position to choose not to work on them.
While some companies claim to specialise in 'all computers', they are treating you to (or as) an oxymoron.

We are based in Mullumbimby & while Lennox falls slightly out of our catchment area (Byron), we'll gladly come to your home or office in Lennox heads. Prices are listed in the 'Pricing' link at the top of this page.

This page was written to make it easy for people to find us for PC repair in Lennox. Rather than it serving no other purpose, each of the pages also covers a subject we hope you will find useful (if you'd like more, they are listed by subject under 'Useful Stuff' at the top of this page).

SyncToy, Snipping tool & Paint

SyncToy, Snipping tool & Paint are 3 very useful (& under-rated) programs, free from Microsoft.

SyncToy

SyncToy does not come pre-installed with Windows. It is, however, free to download (& use). When you download it, make sure you download it from Microsoft themselves, rather than another site (so you know for sure it hasn't been tampered with). Once you have downloaded it, run the installer & I'd suggest sending a shortcut to the program to your taskbar.
The way it works is to syncronise the contents of any 2 folders. Those folders can be on the same hard drive, another hard drive or even on another PC (if file sharing is enabled & both PCs are on the same local network). To start with, we have to tell SyncToy which 2 folders we want to syncronise. To do this, click on 'Create a new folder pair' (see the picture below).

Next we need to tell the program which 2 folders we want to syncronise. To do this, click on the Browse button (1) & select the left folder (the source folder) using the pop-up. When it's done, the address of the folder you chose will be displayed in the address box (2). Next click the Browse button (3) to select the right folder (destination folder), in the same way as before (4). When that's done, click 'Next'.



OK, so we have told it what we want to syncronise. Next we need to tell it 'How' we want the folders to sync. This operation can be run in 1 of 3 modes:

• Syncronise
  • "New & updated files are copied both ways. Renames & deletes either side are repeated on the other."
• Echo
  • "New & updated files are copied left to right. Renames & deletes on the left are repeated on the right."
• Contribute
  • "New & updated files are copied left to right. Renames on the left are repeated on the right. No deletions."

The next & final step is to run the task. In our case, we only have the 1 task, but if we had many we would select the job we want to run (in this case 'pics sync') & then click 'Run' in the bottom right corner.
How long it takes depends on how much stuff it has to copy over. Note: IF anything listed in the sync fails to copy you will get a message offering to show you the error log. Have a look. It is simple to understand (it lists the address and file name of any files that cannot be copied). If most of it works & an unimportant file isn't copied (for whatever reason), no problem, but if important files were skipped you're going to want to know & to do something about it.

Paint

Microsoft Paint (which is free) has been around for ever (well, since 1985 anyway) & it seems that a week rarely goes by that I don't use it at least once, especially when I'm writing my web pages. It's about as far from an all-singing, all-dancing business software as you can get (sorry, 'Dirk Gently' reference). It only does a few things, but it does those things easily & well. Don't get me wrong, I also use a fancy picture editing program too .... when I need to, however, for most of what I do, Paint does it quicker. You can search for it using the Windows 'Search" function (or use the right mouse option discussed below).
You can use it for things like:

• Cropping
• Resizing
• Rotating
• Drawing
• Erasing
• Sample colours
• Insert arrows / speech bubbles / text

One thing I'd say first, is always 'play' with a copy of a picture, so if you do stuff it up you can go back to the original (right mouse on original > copy, right mouse on empty part of folder > paste). Then right mouse on the copy (it will be named "{name-of-picture} - copy") & choose 'edit' from the menu & paint will open the picture. Like I said, it doesn't do a lot so learning your way around is relatively easy. The first thing to do is to adjust the view if the picture (so you can see the whole thing). You'll see a slider bar in the bottom right corner (numbered 1 in the picture below), left click & hold on the slider in the middle & slide it to the left until you can see the whole picture (in my example, you'll see the picture is too big for the display, meaning I can only see the top).

I'll give a quick explanation of the numbered features by grouping below:

• 2: Image
  • Select: select a rectangular shape (or 'freeform' - in the drop down) to copy or cut (& eventually paste into another picture). Very useful for re-framing a photo.
  • Crop: removes any empty space around the current image.
  • Resize: allows you to reduce the physical (& storage) size of a picture. Modern cameras take massive pictures (way bigger than you want to send in an email). Choosing 50% will change the picture to about 1/4 of its original size. Play around to see what works best.
  • Rotate: allows you to rotate the picture to the right or left (or even flip it in the vertical or horizontal plane).
• 3: Tools - lets you draw on (freehand), fill with a colour, type letters into, erase, sample colours (get the colour code for an area in any picture), & zoom in.
• 4 (& 5): Shapes & Colours - insert shapes, choose the colour you want it to be from section marked 5 (or create you own colour), then click on your chosen shape (4). Left click & hold near where you want the shape to appear, drag the clicked mouse until the shape is as big as you want, then release the mouse. Now hover the cursor over the edge of the shape until it goes to a 4 way arrow, click on it & drag it to the exact position you want it placed.

Always remember to save before closing (or when prompted if you forget). When I'm making multiple changes, I'll save as a separate copy every so often ({name-of-picture}v1 {name-of-picture}v2 {name-of-picture}v3), so if I change my mind, I can go back without having to start from the beginning again.
You often see pictures on Facebook or ebay that are sideways. Those people obviously don't realise how easy it is to fix (5 clicks, including opening & saving).
So now might be the time to drag out your old box of Photographs from your youth, scan them with your printer & edit them with Paint (& make a smaller copy of each to email to friends & family). It'll cost you nothing but time & get you well & truly used to using Paint (& it's good to look through your old pictures every so often).
If you outgrow Paint's abilities, there are a plethora of picture editing programs out there from GIMP (Graphical Image Manipulation Program) which is free, to Adobe Photoshop which is expensive, but paint is the first place to get your toes wet.

Snip & Sketch

Snip & Sketch (which has replaced Snipping tool) simplifies the task of taking pictures of stuff (technical term), displayed on your desktop (think bank payment receipts, pictures you found online, complex error messages).
While you could (& I often do) use the Print screen key (top row & far right on most keyboards) with Microsoft Paint to take a picture of my whole PC screen, I sometimes just need a snippet, not the whole thing. That's when Microsoft Snipping tool comes in handy. To access it type 'Snip' in the windows search box & choose 'Snip & Sketch' (now might be a good time to right mouse it in the menu & 'Pin to Taskbar', then it's there whenever you need it). When the pop-up opens click on 'New' (top left) then use you mouse to click & drag a box around the area you want to 'Snip' & release. Done, now you just need to give it a decent name (so you can find it if you ever need to) & finally save it somewhere (I have a 'Snips' folder in with my Pictures) While it does have a few built in features, various ways of drawing/writing/highlighting, has a ruler & can do cropping, it lacks even the basic features of Paint (which you can use on any picture created by it once you have saved).

Snip & Sketch