Rent-A-Geek - PC Repair in Sunrise

Do We Cover Sunrise?

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.

While we are based in Mullumbimby, we do cover the whole of Byron shire (plus a bit), so Sunrise is in our catchment area. (Costs are listed under "Pricing" at the start of this page). Otherwise, you are more than welcome to bring your PC to our office (during working hours) at 65b Argyle Street Mullumbimby, which is just on the way into town.

The idea of this page is to make it easy for people to find us for computer support, repair & supplies in & around the Sunrise area. Rather than it serving no other purpose, each of the pages also covers a subject we hope you will find useful. In this case, it's an introduction to using Windows. (if you'd like to see more, they are listed by subject under 'Useful Stuff' at the top of this page).

So why bother?

Every so often I meet someone who proudly states something along the lines of "I have NOTHING to do with computers & I don't want to" & it genuinely makes me sad. No, it's not because I won't be able to flog them an all singing, all dancing ,top of the line PC, but rather that they are missing out on so much.
If someone instead said "I have NOTHING to do with reading", what would you think? Yes, as far as I'm concerned, it's that person's right to do (or not do) anything they want, as long as it doesn't affect anybody else. BUT, it's saddening. That person will struggle in all their dealings with government, banking, law enforcement, health care, voting (I could go on - & apparently do, but you get the idea).
Getting back to our computer illiterate, most of the interactions in the list are now (or will be before too long) dealt with online ... They miss out on the essential stuff - the stuff that makes life's chores a breeze (well, OK, assuming they can remember their password anyway .... see my article on 'Accounts & Passwords' under the 'Useful Stuff' link at the top of this page). While that's not the end of the world & (for now at least, there are ways around it, but it is a hassle). They also miss out on all the fun stuff (more about that later).
Whatever your interest, there's an aspect that can be taken WAY further (OK, not Golf but Golf doesn't count), whether you're into knitting, classic vehicle restoration, gardening, baking or a thousand other special interests (yes, yes even golf), a PC will let you access:

• Supplies - paid for securely online & delivered to your door (every thing from the likes of ebay to specialist boutique suppliers from the other side of the world - or Queensland).
• Forums (web sites dedicated to that subject, where people post questions on notice boards & get advice from armchair experts from all over the world).
• Video tuition (watch an experienced person actually perform the task you want to learn to do - a picture paints a thousand words , a video has a lot of pictures).
• A truly endless supply of video & music (how often do you end up watching some kind of dross on the TV because there's nothing better on?.... no more).
• Recipes including (or avoiding) specific food types (eg 'recipe for left over roast beef' or 'gluten free scones').
• Detailed information on complex issues (for example health problems).
• Information on the Lizard People (who are taking over our world - see ebay for cheap tin foil).

Getting Started

I really do know what I'm talking about when I advise about getting started an a PC; I did a computer science degree, never having used a computer 2 months before I started the course. While it was a long time ago, I can remember the frustration of not understanding the technical words being used .... & having to constantly look for the various keys on the keyboard.... Don't worry, it gets easier.
The key is to approach things at your own pace & if you have a bad memory like me, make notes in a book, lots of notes. The act of writing things down re-enforces them in your memory (& then later you can refer back to them if you do need to). So where do you start? As with reading you need the basic skills. Bear in mind there's nearly always more than 1 way of doing most things ... while you're starting out, find a way & keep using that until you stumble across a better way. First up, what's the difference between hardware & software? If you can physically put a finger on something (even if you have to dismantle something to get at it), it is hardware. If you can't, it's software.

• Turning on & off - simple when you know how. All PCs & laptops have an 'On' button (Most have the power symbol ... an open circle with a short vertical line). On a PC, it's nearly always on the front panel, on top above the front panel or on the side towards the top.
  On a laptop, they are usually between the screen & the keyboard (but some are on the side of the laptop). To start just press the button.
  Turning off is a little bit more involved (3 clicks) with your mouse - left click on the "windows start button" (very bottom, very left corner of your screen), then click on the power icon in the little window that pops up. That opens another menu, click on "shutdown", done).
• Mouse & keyboard - the Mouse & Keyboard are what we use to tell the computer what we want it to do.
  • The mouse has 5 functions
    1. As a pointer - it is used to indicate which item(s) you want to select to do something to. As you move the mouse you'll see the pointer move around the screen.
    2. Left mouse - single click selects an item that the mouse is pointing at.
    3. Left mouse - double click tells the computer to open (or run) the item that the mouse is pointing at.
    4. Right mouse -(single click) displays a menu of what you can do to the item that the mouse is pointing at.
    5. A 'scroll button' when you hover over something that extends below the edge of the current page, this lets you scroll up & down the page by clicking on the area (selecting it) & rolling the wheel up or down.
    So, Left mouse 'Do', Right Mouse 'What can I do?' The menu popup you get varies greatly depending on the kind of thing you're pointing at.
  • The keyboard can do loads of advanced stuff. For now, we'll just treat it as a device for putting letters into documents & browsers (programs that let you look at web pages).
    If you come from a background where you used to type on a typewriter, it will be easy, if not you'll need to learn where the letters are, but seriously, don't worry, you'll get there.
• Programs & OS's
  • What is a Program?
    A Program (aka Application & App) is a set of instructions designed to get a computer to perform a series of tasks.
    • Google Chrome is a web browser (a program that allows you to look at web pages) - Google is the company Chrome is the program.
    • Microsoft Office is a suite of programs (collection). Word, Excel & Outlook are examples of programs in the MS Office suite which let you write documents, create/edit spread sheets & send/receive emails.
    • Windows Explorer is a program that lets you organise & find files you have saved on your PC.
    • VLC is a program that lets you play video files, you have stored on your PC.
  • What is an Operating System (or OS)?
    The OS is the main suite of programs that are used to manage a computer. If you think of all the other programs on the PC as instruments in an orchestra, then the OS is the conductor (telling each instrument when it can run).
    • Windows 10
    • Windows 7
    • macOS Mojave
    • Debian Buster
    Are all examples of Operating Systems.
  Browsers (or Web browser to be more specific) are programs which have a primary role of allowing a user to find & display web pages & download programs pictures etc from the Internet.
  • Chrome
  • Edge
  • Firefox
  • Opera
  It was not always the case but these days browsers have a built in search feature. Look at the area indicated by the red arrow in the picture below. You'll see I clicked in the text box (left mouse) & typed what I wanted to search for - in this case "how to add a printer Windows 10". When I pressed enter on the keyboard, my browser (I use Opera) sent a request to Google.com (my default search engine) to search for results matching those words. Google then does the search & sends the results back to my browser, which displays them (see the next picture). You'll see the arrows by '1' at the top of the picture are pointing at 'Videos', 'Images', 'Maps', & 'Shopping'. If you click on for example Videos, the search results will be rerun to only return results that are Video clips (or pictures .. maps ...) as in it will return a list of videos showing you how to (in this case) add a printer Windows 10.
  A little further down (the 2 arrow) you'll see Google's suggested top result. If it looks good, (as it does in this case) you can click on the link (the blue text) & the actual page will open.
  If you don't like the look of it, scroll down a bit (if you left mouse on the picture you can scroll down to arrow 3, which is the first (of many) regular search results).
  If you'd like to know more, have a look for "Choosing a Browser" in the "Useful Stuff" link at the top of this page.

What to start with?

Some of your first steps will be laborious, where there's a choice pick the fun aspect. 'Learning to search' is 'learning to search', so if you're interested in classic cars (or knitting ... or even golf), practise by doing searches for things in that area.
The next thing I'd say is set realistic goals. There's a lot to learn & if you overdo it, you'll get fed up. Most people have a concentration period of between 20 & 40 minutes, after which it's a struggle to keep going with something new. That's the time to take a short break, feed the dog, pull a few weeds in the garden, make a cuppa & when you get back to the PC, you'll make better headway.