Emergency Tech Support
You may be on this page because you’ve got yourself in a real pickle with your computer. Perhaps you’re at your wit’s end. Perhaps you just need a push in the right direction. Or maybe you’d just like to have someone personally help you. It’s fine; take a deep breath. Think of bunnies playing in the sunshine. Okay, now keep reading.
Here are some ideas that can help you with your tech support needs:
Get us to help via email!
Spend $29.99 for a consultation with one of our tech advisers, who will personally reply via email and work with you to solve your problem. Most problems are solved for this price. Should the problem appear to require significant time to solve, we will advise you and ask you to pay for a premium consultation which is an additional $29.99.
Click below to pay for a $29.99 consultation:
After you have paid, send an email to [email protected] and include your question.
Once we have confirmed your payment via Paypal we will contact you to personally help.
Need help on buying a new computer? How to buy a computer.
Scan your PC for bugs and errors
Use PC Bug Doctor, a free Web-based problem checker to see if you can locate any problems with your computer that can be fixed instantly. The scan is free. Caution: The fix will cost you a fee. Use the Bug Doctor to do a free scan of your computer.
Test for spyware and adware
Slow computer? Weird browser behavior? Strange pop ups? These are all a direct result of spyware living on your computer. See if there’s any on your computer with this PAL Spyware Remover (scan is free – you pay for the fix). Download CA Anti-Spyware 2007, our first choice in anti-spyware removal.
Eradicate virus leftovers
Think your computer has a virus? Did your anti-virus program fail to detect and remove it?
PAL Emergency Response to get a program to clean your system of virus remnants.
Ask for FREE help on our help forums.
Ask for help from people who visit this Web site. Use our Tech Help Forums, sign up as a member, post a message and check back to see if anyone has an answer.
Clean your registry
Your Windows registry is an area in your computer that tracks all the various programs and settings that are critical to the operation of your computer. Clearing it of garbage can substantially improve your system’s performance, preventing crashes and lockups. Download the CleanMyPC Registry Cleaner 3.
Optimize Windows with WinTools
Clean your system with WinTools.net Professional. It has a variety of tools too speed up Windows, make the Internet load faster, cleanse memory and generally enhance the performance of your system. Download this suite of fix-it tools for a free 30-day fully functional trial.
If you have a virus…
Update your virus signatures first by going to your anti-virus program maker’s home page or there may be a function inside the program to do that automatically, look for an update button. This is free if your anti-virus program is less than a year old or if you have renewed you subscription within the last year. If it’s older, you need to pay an annual subscription fee (usually under $25/40 US / $30/49 Canadian) to enable the download of new signatures files as they are released. Once this is done your anti-virus program will fix any viruses on your system. Need a free Anti-virus program? Get Grisoft’s AVG Free Edition.
If you want a few choices of both freeware and commercial anti-virus programs, why not visit TechnologyTips Software Library Anti-Virus to find additional titles.
Get Norton to fix the problem
Get a copy of Norton Utilities. This is a program that will detect problems on your computer and automatically fix them. Buy it at your local computer store or Norton Anti-Virus.
Or buy Norton SystemWorks which includes Norton AntiVirus, Norton Utilities and more.
Add Memory
If you have upgraded from Windows 95 to Windows 98 or from Windows 98 to Windows Me or to XP then your computer will run slower and crash more frequently. If your machine is older and you are using a lot of newer programs, then your machine will also slow and crash more frequently.
The best way to remedy the problem is it upgrade your computer memory.
See our How to Add RAM to learn out how to add memory or check out which memory you should buy on the Crucial Web site.
Clear your hard drive
If your computer runs out of memory a lot and is really slow consider keeping some of your files on the Carbonite service. They provide space where you can keep large files like pictures, video and word processing files. This will free up space on your computer and give it more breathing room to work. It will ultimately perform better. Get secure online storage at Carbonite and store, access, share, and backup your files from anywhere. Get Carbonite.
Give up?
Give up on your old computer and buy a new one. See our Your family needs a computer? article.
Perhaps it’s not so urgent
Maybe you can figure it out with all the great help columns on this site. Check out our Optimize Windows XP, our Reinstall and Reformat page and our How to Add RAM page. Also see our System Repair Tools.