I was browsing the Internet today and saw the following comic from xkcd.com -
Although it is funny, the sad truth is that many computer repair places use a similar mentality when solving problems.
O.K, here's the disclaimer: The people who take the flowchart approach are very obvious, and thankfully, rare. We have to all learn from somewhere, and for those problems that are completely new and foreign - Google is a good place to start. However, the problem is with those technicians who aren't honest - and rather then learning about the underlying causes of a problem, they take the easy approach and "give up".
When a problem with a computer program is hard to solve - the last approach is to completely remove the software and install it again from scratch. The downside is that you'll most likely lose any changes you've made - like custom settings and data.
The Operating System (like Microsoft Windows) is like a special type of program - which can also be removed and installed from scratch. The process is called a reinstall, afterwards - the computer will be like the first day that you got it - speedy and fresh. The downside is that all personal settings, documents, pictures, music will also be gone (unless they were copied to a safe location before the reinstall)
The easy option when fixing a computer is ''preforming a reinstall'' and too many times, the customer doesn'thave a chance to save all the important data, before it was wiped clean. In fact, after hearing so many stories of customers better poor treatment, I.T Works Computer Repair was founded, to compete with unscrupulous businesses. Unfortunately the computer repair industry isn't regulated and anyone can start a repair business - in fact you can buy a kit from eBay to get started.
So whats the good news?
There are some honest businesses that put the customer first. At I.T Works Computer Repair, we strive to be honest and upfront with any service we are preforming. We also pride ourselves in repair problems instead of going with the easy fix*. As a customer you should always look out for those individuals that through inexperience or plain profit seeking - may irreversibly remove important data from your computer (eg via a reinstall) Always backup your data (this should be done regularly) and always ask for proper credentials and qualifications before someone works on your computer.
* Sometimes Windows is so damaged by a virus that the only resolution is a reinstall, but that is a last course of action.
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