Forum Topic

Great computer guy!

A shout out for Rafal Gorka 07940 383 908. no connection just a pleased customer. I went to my sister on Saturday as she was saying her computer was slow. it is only 3 years old. When I looked at it, it was impossible to use and was clearly a dying hard drive. I rang Rafal. He came over (to North London!) at 4pm agreed, took away the computer, put in a new fast drive and copied over the contents of the old one, and came back at 7pm with the rejuvenated machine. My sister says it is like magic! He did not charge journey time (really should have). On another note I wanted him to do something on my machine. He pointed out why it was not necessary as I could adjust the settings. I did and he was right! He does not make work for himself.

Iris Hill ● 845d12 Comments

No problem"If you try to defrag an SSD you are going to damage it" I was referring to old PCs in my reply as hard drives rather than SSDs which i maybe should have said.

Julian Pavey ● 842d

Sorry Julian - I did not mean to sound dismissive or arrogant. I have a desktop and it is important to me that it works well and smoothly as I am an IT trainer. I keep it lean and don't over load it with unneeded apps. As a result it works well and will do for some years. For cleaning I now use bleach bit (and a hoover inside it to deal with the dust!) It is great to have a computer engineer that I can trust to do any work I can't (or won't) do myself. It's quite a long time since I built a computer and it's fun but time consuming!)

Iris Hill ● 842d

A new computer for £300 is either a Chromebook or a very cheap laptop. I don't want either! My computer is 8 years old and going very nicely thank you. If you try to defrag an SSD you are going to damage it. CCleaner is now one to avoid after a couple of data hacks. I have never found that cleaning the registry makes any difference. I will only upgrade my computer when I have to go to Win 11/12 which is in 2025. In fact all I will need will be a new motherboard and CPU and possibly some new memory if I want to treat myself. The rest is fine.

Iris Hill ● 842d

Zero as the kids are all grown up so no need for a carYour better of leasing one most of the time. Even more so given the changes in motoring

Julian Pavey ● 842d

PCs for 7-8 years, TVs for 10 years.....so how long do you keep your car for, Julian ?

Richard Greenhough ● 842d

Personally i would not throw to much money at a pc that is more than say 7-8+ yrs old against the price or a new one with later updated specifications. By that i mean throwing say £100 at it when a new one is say £300. That is obviously if you have the money. I know that philippa will go down route of not repairing old one. But who would throw £120 at a TV that is 10 yrs old. For some not the right thing to do but for most it has to be the sensible option. Simple things if you have never done it is to clean cache and cookies and cleaning the registry up of old files. Thats is better done with the likes of cccleaner which is available in a free to use option in the download from ccleaner.Dont forget On your PC if you have never done it is to defrag your pc.Its a bit like throwing a pack or cards on the floor and someone asking you to find the the jack of clubs. It will take you a while. Defrag puts all your files back in a system order that makes your pc operate better.Not saying your slow pc will sudenly start to work faster,but the above helps when done once in a while.For defrag you just need to type defrag into the search bar on the taskbar and run it. Its part of your pc

Julian Pavey ● 842d

I wish we were all as well up on understanding and dealing with our computers as you obviously are!  I had another look at the WLWA website and they also refurbish donated desktops, laptops and tablets in order to hand them on to those needing them.So to extend and maintain the life of your computer you have the choice of finding someone like Iris has that you trust, have a go at fixing things yourself perhaps with a Repair Shop or donating what you no longer want to be refurbished and given away to someone who needs it.  Don't forget about the data!  It seems you can donate them at three West London Recycling Centres.  Find out more:https://westlondonwaste.gov.uk/fixing-factory

Philippa Bond ● 842d

My computer is 8 years old and humming along well. I did not throw out the old drive, it serves for the swap file. so no waste there and a boost in performance as well!

Iris Hill ● 842d

Thanks Iris.  Too much of this stuff is chucked out too early due to a lack of maintenance.I believe there is some sort of computer fixing also going on at the Brent Park Royal recycling centre now rather than just putting any electricsls/electronics in a special bin where it will be dismantled and crushed for rare metal recycling without assessment.  There is more info at the West London Waste Authority website. WLWA is the waste authority for our group of West London councils.

Philippa Bond ● 842d

Thanks, Iris, good tech people are very few and far between.  Will make a note.

Claire Moran ● 845d

I also find him very responsive on text message. I let him upgrade my computer, and I am very picky indeed who I let near it!

Iris Hill ● 845d

Thanks, i'll try to remember him as some of the local 'experts' are useless.

David Powers ● 845d