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Out of all the hardware related problems I’ve encountered over the years, DC jacks are some of the first things to go on a laptop. Although hard drives are up on the list, there is not much you can do from a failed hard drive other than swap in a new one. I will lay out the options of what to do in the event your dc jack requires repairs and discuss the best solution for each case scenario.

What exactly is the dc jack and why should I care?

The dc jack is what you plug your laptops power adapter into and it carries the electricity to your laptop in order to power it on. The dc jack becomes loose over time from every day use. In addition the dc jack is very sensitive and can break easily if you put pressure on it, or bend the cord while its plugged into the laptop. To alleviate potential dc jack damage you may want to consider placing the laptop on a level surface when using it.

Aside from being one of the most common laptop issues, there is a rumor that broken DC jacks carry along with them that you will hear from many computer repair companies:

You must replace your entire mother board if your dc jack breaks.

This is a very common misconception as the dc jack is usually part of the motherboard (newer models have the dc jack on a separate board). I’m here to tell you this is not necessarily true. Depending on the nature of the dc jack issue, it may only require soldering on a new dc jack or replacing the power board that connects to your motherboard. Since the motherboard is the most expensive piece of hardware on the laptop, most people would purchase a new laptop since they came down so much in price over the years.

DC Jack Repair

Repairing your dc jack can be fairly straight forward if you have soldering experience and the ability to disassemble your laptop. You will need some flux, solder, a soldering iron and screw drivers depending on the model laptop you are trying to repair.

The first step is to take apart your laptop using the appropriate service manual.

The next step is to unsolder the old dc jack. To do so you would need to heat up the metal joints that are soldered onto the board until the solder melts. I recommend using a solder remover to remove the excess solder and make your life a little easier. Once the old dc jack is unsolder, place the new one in flux before soldering it onto the board.
If you feel uncomfortable doing this and you need dc jack repair, this is a service we offer for a relatively low cost, more than half of the cost it would take to replace the motherboard in terms of parts and labor.

Replacing your Dc jack Power board

If you are uncomfortable with the soldering aspect, newer laptop models have the dc jack on a separate board as previously mentioned. Refer to your laptop’s service manual to confirm this.

As a reminder the best thing you can do to proactively reduce the likelihood of ever needing to repair your dc jack is keep it on a level surface at all times like a desk or table. I would also highly recommend a laptop fan that fits the base of your laptop. If you do require our power jack repair services, feel free to contact us to set up an appointment.

By popular demand Relieve my PC, LLC is ready to extend its hours to 9am-10pm Monday-Friday. Weekend hours will also change. Now opening at 10am and closing at 8pm. Computer service appointments are still necessary for drop offs and can be booked via our ticketing system at www.support.relievemypc.com or simply by calling us at 860-216-2678.

I am the primary tech for this location and I’m usually pretty flexible with my schedule. Appointments are available the same day and most computer repairs can be done within a day or so depending on the part’s availability. Book your appointment today to get your PC relieved!!

-Victor Congionti

As an added convenience, Relieve my PC now offers texting for any computer related services you may need. Whether you need virus or spyware removed, Mac, PC repair, software or hardware installed, just send a text to 860-538-1899 and we will respond to you within 10-15 minutes of your text! You can basically request a call back, state the nature of the computer service you need or drop a friendly hello if you like

I hope this option is helpful to all you texters out there. If you have any feedback for us we are here to listen!

Why should I upgrade my PC to windows 7?

This is a valid question and one you should strongly consider asking yourself as you weigh the pros and cons or upgrading to windows 7.

Its no secret that windows vista has received a bad rep and for good reason. This has left a bad taste for many including myself. I won’t get into many details of the pitfalls of Vista but let all agree it was a disaster! Its made me even more skeptical of upgrading to Windows 7. Lets say I think Microsoft got the hint and learned from their mistakes.

So before considering the big move, I will give you legitimate reasons why you should upgrade your PC to windows 7.

Reason 1 to upgrade my PC to Windows 7:
Compatibility is better in Windows 7.

Do you remember all of those unrecognized devices after installing Windows Vista? This was a prominent issue when Vista was released. As time went by more and more drivers and updates were rolled out for compatibility issues and eventually Vista was stable.

Fear not Windows 7 is essentially Vista on Steroids and upgrading has never been easier. No driver updates will be necessary sine Windows 7 will take care of everything for you.

Operating systems become more stable as they age primarily because there will be more service packs and upgrades released that fix major bugs. Since windows 7 uses the same code as Vista that’s been tweaked and nearly perfected, it proves to be a very stable OS. When was the last time someone complained about XP ?

Reason 2 to upgrade my PC to Windows 7:
Performance is Much Better in Windows 7!

Unlike its predecessor, Windows 7 runs very smoothly and is built better to optimize your hardware on your PC meaning quicker load times, less hang time and lag as well as no freezes! In addition if you use a laptop, you will notice a big increase in battery life. I can’t tell you what a blessing its been to work on my PC without any annoying interruptions. If you are a gamer, I can’t think of a better reason to upgrade to Windows 7 on your PC.

Reason 3 to upgrade my PC to Windows 7:
Windows XP compatibility mode!

Windows 7 professional offers an XP compatibility mode that you can switch on and off for programs they run better in a windows XP environment. If you’ve been using XP since its release, this is a great opportunity to slowly transition into this new OS.

If you have any other reasons you should or shouldn’t upgrade to Windows 7 feel free to share!

Phew..quite some time has passed since the last posting, but with good reason! We are excited to let you know that after a three month move, Relieve my PC is finally settled in Connecticut’s fine Capital City, Hartford!

After much debate, we all agreed and believe that the new move will ultimately prove to be extremely beneficial. Now centrally located in Connecticut, we can offer our customers a better location to drop off their computers. The new office is located inside a secure gated area with excellent lighting at night, and a newly installed state of the art alarm system.

Seasons greetings from Relieve my PC!

We are now conveniently located off Wethersfield Avenue in the South End of Hartford (37 Alden Street, Suite T, Hartford, CT 06114).

I wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday season!

-Victor

We all know that modern computers look so cool and clean on the outside, but what’s inside the monitors and towers is not so pretty. We are constantly upgrading our electronic equipment and computers to get the next best advancement in technology. The old devices are now as good as garbage. This garbage is referred to as “e-waste”.  What do we do with the old computers that we no longer need? The first thing we shouldn’t do is throw them in the trash. The inside of computers contain, “lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, polyvinyl chloride;  all of which have known toxicological effects ranging from brain damage to kidney disease to mutations, cancers”, according to Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

Keeping this information in mind, we have provided our blog readers with a very useful recycling link which lets you sell your used working electronics to be recycled. Let’s all play a part in protecting the environment and the future of our beautiful planet by going green!

The link can be found below.

After much work, testing, and laborious hours, I’m proud to announce the launch of our new site and the return to having a life again! Just in time to enjoy the beginnings of some great weather in Connecticut. With your help and recommendations, the launch features a timeless layout, and style that is user friendly and welcoming. Now that it is implemented and if anyone has any final suggestions feel free to respond to this blog post or shoot me an email.

Besides the new design and layout, I’ve added a products page which includes some recommended software, hardware, and services we typically use. Now that that the site is out of the way you can expect more pc advice and information on the way!

After much debate iv decided to begin developing  a new look for Relieve my PC. Before I launch the site, I would like to take some time to ask anyone out there who has any suggestions to email me with features, content, and general ideas you may have to improve user experience on our current site. Im open to any suggestions no matter how bad you think they are =)

You can fill out the price quote form or even call me with your suggestions. Thank you!

With Microsoft offering a $250,000 bounty for catching the latest virus author, it goes to show you the havoc its caused to businesses and home PC users around the world. Conficker has been the thorn in Microsoft’s, Symantec, and other software giants side for the past 6 months. What makes this virus so difficult to deal with is that it keeps mutating into something more and more and more…complex. For this reason it is vital for you stay up to date with all your virus, spyware, and malware software updates. If you don’t have any you should download them…immediately.

It is hard to tell what is scheduled for the major release date of the latest conficker strain on April 1st but one thing is certain – it will not be no April fools joke. Attacks can range anywhere from taking over users pcs, sending mass spam, to stealing credit card and account information.

Precautions to take to protect your PC

As mentioned previously you MUST at the bare minimum have virus protection software and a firewall enabled on your PC.. Once you have downloaded this or purchased the software it is essential to get the latest updates. Symantec puts out an update every 5 minutes just to give you an idea of how important updates can be. It is recommended that you leave the automatic update feature enabled on the software you choose.

Secondly, make sure you refrain from clicking on any pop up messages that say “click here” or anything that says “click here” for that matter. This includes messages from friends at social networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace, and Linkedin. These messages could say something like “check out this funny video, check out this site, ect” It is imperative that you get confirmation from your friends and family that they did indeed send this message before you click on it. It is a good practice to send them a follow up message or a quick phone call. It may seem silly but worth it for such a big price to pay.

See the diagram below for a useful overview of the virus and other preventative measures.

As our culture becomes more complex and information becomes more readily available to us, we demand instant results! Over time that once speedy PC goes to a complete crawl. Now we get frustrated and occasionally break things. No more instant gratification.

As part of your PC maintenance I encourage all you PC users out there to defrag your PC! It can speed up start ups of applications by over 20 percent in addition  to the initial start up.

Ok ok I’m getting there relax! For all you instant gratification seekers who skipped through the entire blog post to get this far, here are the simple steps you take to perform a defrag on your PC.

1. Go to start
2. Programs
3. Accessories
4. System tools
5. Disk defragmenter -

   At this point you want to analyze your hard drives for fragmented files (if you have multiple partitions or hard drives you will see them listed).  Perform the analysis on all the drives and see which ones need a defragment. Once you found the culprit that’s slowing down your pc – click the defragment button. Sit back and wait (yes you actually have to wait). It could take a few hours in some cases, depending on how long your previous defrag was. I recommend defraging at least once every couple of weeks.

Ahhh relief…

More PC advice, information and PC how tos to come.