Fixed onsite · No call-out fee
Fix Slow Start-Up
Pressing the power button and then making a coffee, several times a day, for years. That is not a normal state of affairs and it is fixable.
Startup problems are usually a combination of too many programs, a pending update backlog, and a slow drive. All three are fixable in one visit.
- Flat $150 rate
- No call-out fee
- Weekends & public holidays
- Fixed or you do not pay
Onsite rate
$150/ first hour
- Call-out fee
- $0 - never
- Weekend & public holidays
- No surcharge
- After the first hour
- Billed in 15-minute blocks
- Replacement parts
- At cost, no mark-up
- Typical turnaround
- One visit, two to three hours
- This service
- $129 flat
Includes GST for home users. Excluding GST for businesses. If it cannot be fixed, you do not pay.
What makes a slow boot
- Startup programs that do not need to start with Windows
- A backlog of failed or pending Windows updates that retry on every boot
- A mechanical hard drive - by far the most common single cause
- Too many services running as local system
- Antivirus software scanning everything at start-up
- A disk that is nearly full, so Windows cannot create its swap properly
- A registry that has grown large over years of use
- Firmware or driver problems that make the hardware probe slowly
What I do about it
I watch the boot, list what is loading, and cut out what does not need to be there. I clear the update backlog. I check the disk and tell you if it needs replacing. Then I time it again.
In most cases the machine goes from a minute-plus to a working desktop in well under that.
How a visit works
- 1
You call and describe it
No booking form and no call centre. I will tell you honestly whether it sounds like something I can fix, and roughly what it will cost.
- 2
I come to you
Early morning, evening, weekend or public holiday - all normal, none surcharged. Home or office. You can watch the work.
- 3
You are told before anything happens
The price is agreed before the job starts, and if a part is needed you get the cost price rather than a mark-up.
- 4
It works, or you do not pay
If I cannot fix it, there is no charge. If something I did stops working, I come back and look at it.
Slow Start - common questions
My computer takes three minutes to start. Is it the hard drive?
Possibly. If it is a mechanical drive, replacing it with an SSD is the single biggest improvement available. But the update backlog and startup program list often account for a lot too, and those cost nothing to fix.
Is it safe to disable startup programs?
It is safe for most of them, and I do not guess. Some things genuinely need to start. I check what each one is and show you the list before changing anything.
My laptop takes ages to wake from sleep. Is that the same problem?
It is related but different - sleep problems are usually drivers and power management rather than the startup list. It is fixable, just by a different set of changes.
You might also need
Most jobs are a combination of these. If you are not sure which one you need, describe the problem on the phone and I will tell you.
PC Speed-Up & Optimisation
Everything slowing a machine down, found and fixed - startup, services, disk, drivers and thermals - with before-and-after timings.
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Disk clean-up, temporary file removal and registry repair - reclaiming space and fixing the errors a slow machine accumulates.
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More memory, faster drives, better graphics - the upgrades that actually make a computer feel different.
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Planned servicing - clean, updated, backed up and checked - so problems are found before they become failures.
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Virus, malware, ransomware and spyware removal, with the browser put back the way it should be afterwards.
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Spyware, stalkerware and monitoring apps removed, with an explanation of how it got there and how to stop it returning.
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Pop-ups, ads on every page, fake virus warnings and browser redirects - removed, along with the extensions that keep reinstalling them.
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Learn moreNeed a slow start job done?
Robert is a Microsoft Certified ex-IBM help desk technician. One flat rate of $150 for the first hour, no call-out fee, and no surcharge on weekends or public holidays.
- Onsite rate
- $150
- first hour
- Call-out fee
- $0
- never
- Weekend surcharge
- $0
- incl. public holidays
- Typical visit
- < 1 hr
- most problems