That’s right, our customer’s lives affect us too…

Today, I got a call from a very nice customer that I’ve helped a few times. Nothing major, but I’ve spent enough time around him that I know him decently well. He started off telling me that some things in his life had changed and he updated me on his situation then we discussed a new camera, new computer, etc. During that entire time, I couldn’t help but feel down due to his situation even though he kept a happy tone.

I won’t go into details, and I don’t know all of them, but his simple statement affected me more than it probably should have because we really do care about each customer… His life situation had changed, as had his technical requirements for a new computer.

When a customer asks what is best for them, we delve into their history, their attitude, their needs and FUTURE requirements. Knowing you, your family and a bit about how you use your computer allows us to tailor a solution for you, not the 200,000 people out there like Dell or HP.

In another situation, Protocol16 built a custom workstation for a very special customer. Knowing her needs and future requirements, we recommended a specific computer with multiple monitors. At first, she thought the extra monitor would be a waste, but if you’d try to take it away from her now, a week in, she’d probably end up chewing your arm off…

Give us a call and let us see what we can do for you. We’d love to get to know you before we start spouting off deals everywhere…
Justin

If you have a website that uses WordPress, make sure you’re running the most recent version. GoDaddy and other web hosting companies are scrambling at their installations due to a malware attack.

This typically happens when a web hosting company is using a customized version of the software and hasn’t upgraded it yet. Unfortunately, many companies just take too long to patch their systems. We see this with some companies that like to wait for months before running Windows Updates on their servers. The key is to test on systems before doing anything and a lot of places are failing to do that.

So – if you’re using GoDaddy or another hosting provider, check out your blog, as you may be infected. Link for help.
Justin

It’s been a nice and rainy week in Portland, but that doesn’t mean you need to let your guard down!

Today’s post, is brought to you by the letter “R”, for Ransom-ware. Ransom-ware is software that makes it onto your computer, usually mysteriously, then holds your files captive until you pay a fee. This can be a product that’s sold or a virus that holds your MP3′s hostage.

Recently, Sunbelt Software – Protocol16′s recommended anti-virus company, discovered a new “in the wild” ransom-ware package that encrypts the contents of your hard drive (this is actually arguable as to if it encrypts or just causes problems). This means that your hard drive cannot be read within minutes of having the software installed.

After installation, you’re left with the following message:

Ransom-ware from Data Doctor. Shutdown message.

If you get this, it’s too late… The hard drive (specific files, actually), has been encrypted and you’re left with a Windows mess that barely works.

After you see this message and your computer shuts down, you’re stuck with a message stating that “Windows has recovered from serious error. Some files can be corrupted. Disk checking is strongly recommended.” This is NOT a Windows error.

Upon attempting to access a file that’s been encrypted, you’re met with another error message stating: “Unable to open the file due to data corruption.” Upon clicking the “Repair” button, you see the next screen:

Data Doctor 2010, Requesting Payment.

Hey look everyone, my favorite topic! Software asking for credit card information…

Some files may or may not be encrypted, but the software will continue to nag you to purchase it. They’ll even charge you an activation fee so they don’t need to pay any fee’s for the credit card being run.

Don’t install this program. PLEASE don’t.

I’ll fire up a Virtual Machine here shortly and make an infection video for everyone to see how this works as well.

If you’re reading this and curious what we recommend for anti-virus software, we heavily recommend Vipre. We are a local reseller, so if you’re interested, give us a call and we should be able to get you a discount.
Justin

Protocol16 mainly caters to business and small office/home office customers throughout Portland. As such, we offer maintenance & monitoring contracts. Well, a recent customer pointed out that he didn’t require me on site every month, just every once in awhile. So, for these situation, I created two more DEEPLY discounted plans!

“Every Other Month” – 1 hour, every other month, for 1 year: Protocol16 will show up at a pre-determined date and time to check your computer for hardware and software problems, check the log files, ensure that your antivirus and windows updates are working properly, as well as spend time with you to answer any questions and solve any other issues that may arise. Up to our computers will also be physically cleaned, inside and out, 3 times a year. Price: $399.99  – Normal Price: $599.64 Prices do not include any needed hardware. Extra hours, beyond the plan limits, are billed at $66/hr.

“Every Quarter” – 1 hour, every 3 months, for 1 year: Protocol16 will show up at a pre-determined date and time to check your computer for hardware and software problems, check the log files, ensure that your antivirus and windows updates are working properly, as well as spend time with you to answer any questions and solve any other issues that may arise. We will remotely monitor up to 3 workstations and we’ll physically clean up to 3 computers on each visit, inside and out. Price: $259.99  – Normal Price: $459.64 Prices do not include any needed hardware. Extra hours, beyond the plan limits, are billed at $66/hr.

As always, if you have any questions, please let us know! We’re always here to help and it’s our goal to leave you with a smile on your face.
Justin

I get that a lot, and oh, I do mean A LOT. Most recently, it happened at a client’s office in Tigard.

The question refers to all kinds of things to include browsers, keyboards, mice, and even computer hardware. I generally answer as honestly as I can as well, but there are some things that people just don’t want to hear.

When I say that, I mean that I’m a little unique on what I use for various things. For instance, I use an Ergonomic keyboard. People think that’s pretty cool, until I show it to them (see it here). At one job, I had to keep a standard keyboard attached to my computer as well because of the amount of people that got really messed up trying to type on it.

At the same time, I use an ergonomic mouse (here). Most people think it’s pretty freakin’ cool and like the feel of it, until I show them the price tag (typically $99). That gets the “I’m in a glass shop, I’ve got to put this down REALLY carefully…” reaction going.

For my browser, I use Firefox. A lot of people have heard of it, some people haven’t, but to each his own. I personally like it since it auto-updates and allows me to install all kinds of neat tools that I use on a daily basis.

My point is, when you find something YOU like, use it. Don’t worry about the price tag. I spend 10+ hours a day in front of computers, unless I’m really busy that day. On a standard keyboard, my wrists start to hurt. On a standard mouse, I get cramps. While the examples I give are unique and expensive, they are well worth it, in my situation. To the few people that have actually been brave enough to sit down and force themselves to work with my keyboard and mouse for more than a few minutes, they’ve gone out and gotten the exact same setup for themselves – even after they’ve made fun of me. “A Mac user using a Microsoft keyboard! HA!”

Didn’t know I was a Mac user at home eh? It might surprise you how many computer professionals do use Macs…
Justin

Shopping local these days is a mantra many are repeating over and over. While Protocol16 competes with larger named companies, one of which mere blocks away from the home office (and it’s got a lot of horrid reviews…), there are several national companies that are franchised locally. You may not know it, but several of the other computer repair companies are franchised national companies (read: behind the scenes, there are Corporate bean counters, full marketing departments supporting a few people, etc).

Unfortunately, this mess is about to get just a little larger. It seems that Wal-Mart has decided to dive into the computer repair market to compete with the Geek Squad and other local businesses like Protocol16.

While there a few Wal-Mart’s in Oregon, there are several other competitors that I consistently hear complaints about. With Wal-Mart jumping into the fray, it shows a trend that I have been noticing as well – people are much more thrifty now. Many of my customers are opting to fix older computers rather than buy a new one – and I have no problem with that. Spending a little less money to limp a computer along another year is worth it for a lot of people in Portland, especially those still job hunting.

My main problem with the national competitors is that I’m seeing a huge trend of misinformation or a lot of installs lacking quality. While I don’t want to be specific on the things I’m seeing or who did it, there is a huge difference in quality depending on who works on your computer. It seems that the quality is directly related to two things:

1. Quality of employees. This is actually directly related to the amount of pay someone is getting. Myself, as well as other business owners, have noticed that the quality of applicants takes a nose dive at a specific dollar amount. Any company operating under that dollar amount is opening themselves up to a huge amount of applicants that are under-qualified to work on computers. Oddly, many of the companies operating under that dollar amount charge MORE than Protocol16 does.
2. The size of the company. The amount of employees causes a few problems. The environment is not cohesive to new and brilliant ideas – they get lost in the general chatter of the company. The other issue is that the more employees you have, the more likely you are to get someone that has no clue what happened last time you called or brought in your computer. So, that weird issue you get randomly when you open Office, you have to repeat the whole story to the next guy you talk to. If that next guy wants to get more money in commission off of selling you a computer, he just might ignore what you’re saying and tell you that the flux capacitor at checkpoint charlie is broken (note: neither of those exist in computers) and you need a new computer…

While we’d love for you to become a customer and use Protocol16 as your desktop or computer repair company, do your research and decide if one company in Portland or Beaverton or Hillsboro is the right company for you. I’ve been shopping local more and more, sometimes it’s more expensive, but in the end, it’s our community that I’m helping, not one a thousand miles away.
Justin

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Beaverton, OR —Nov. 6, 2009— Protocol16, a computer company focusing on on-site computer repair, has formed a partnership agreement with DriveSavers to provide the best data recovery solution for customers.

Protocol16 currently attempts “simple” drive recovery for customer computers. DriveSavers will be used in extreme situations, like fire, water and crush damage for laptops, desktops and servers. DriveSavers will also be utilized during RAID recovery for servers.

“I am extremely excited to be able to offer this service for our customers.” said Justin Royce, owner of Protocol16. “DriveSavers is at the absolute top of the list when it comes to drive recovery. DriveSavers has the clean room technology to take a scorched and almost unrecognizable hard drive, then get data out of it. In the end, it comes down to saving our customers money while offering the best solution for the customer. Due to the partnership, Protocol16 is able to offer our customers a 10% discount.”

About Protocol16
Protocol16 was started in 2007 in response to a growing demand for technical services in the military communities of Germany. Since starting, Protocol16 has relocated to Oregon and launched a website and mobile computer repair business in the Portland Metro region. Headquartered in Beaverton, Protocol16 is quickly becoming a leader in mobile repair for businesses and consumers. Protocol16 maintains that customer satisfaction is the absolute primary goal of the business.

# # #

It’s been a very busy day. Protocol16 had several computer repair calls in Beaverton today making it one of our busier days of the week – it’s always the end of the week.

It seems that people are so thrifty these days that, again, they are choosing to repair a computer instead of replace it. I’m all for repairing a computer as long as it’s worth it for the customer. If we get a call to repair a computer and the repair itself is going to cost more than an actual new computer, Protocol16 will always recommend replacing instead of repairing. In certain cases, specific parts can be hugely expensive on older machines.

Anyway – later on in the day, my wife and I were in Tigard to check on a few retail fronts to possibly expand our computer repair business here in the Portland area and my complaint about traffic just about caught up with me. While driving down Pacific Highway, a driver decided to all-out run a red light, cross 2 lanes of traffic, the center dividing lane and end up in my lane, right in front of my truck. Thank goodness my wife saw him since she was looking at some locations on my left and was able to get me to slam on the brakes (read: screaming “STOP!!!!”) in time otherwise that would have been a nasty accident. It’s amazing what your peripheral vision misses at times. Luckily no one was hurt.

In a double stroke of good luck, the Tigard police happen to be right behind the Protocol16 tuck. Within seconds of this driver pulling this stunt, they were pulled over and getting a ticket. While I know the police were just doing their job, it’s nice to see a blatant traffic violation that could have hurt many people get taken care of so quickly. In saying that, I’d like to remind everyone that Protocol16 offers an Emergency Responder discount for computer repair in Portland…
Justin

I was on a competitors website and noticed something very funny. He claimed to be the only computer repair company open on Sunday. While he did use the term “shop” (we’re mobile and don’t have a retail storefront, and we’re currently looking to expand into a Retail location), we’re open more than he is. For business customers, we’re open 24/7/365 – we never close. Wake us up in the middle of the night and we’ll still show up to fix your server or workstation. For residential customers, we have a lot more leeway in hours since most people don’t need an emergency repair at 3 AM.

Don’t be fooled. There are companies that are still open on weekends, as well as holidays.
Justin

One of the questions people usually ask me, especially when they find out I can put on 500 or more miles a week (on our REALLY busy week), is what types of things I see throughout the day.

Well, for non-computer stuff, I see a heck of a lot of traffic violations. There is a reason I hesitate when lights turn green – I check both ways before crossing. I also see traffic accidents. I’ve seen rolled over cars, cars scrunched like an accordion on both ends, cars in ditches and I missed the big motorcycle pileup on I5 by about 3 minutes (it happened behind me by about a mile or so). It’s gotten to the point where I now carry a camera and two first aid kits. I’ve also considered some safety/emergency lighting for the Protocol16 truck.

The absolute worst area I’ve seen is the on-ramp at the Westbound Highway 26 tunnel (aka: Vista Ridge Tunnels) in Portland. That specific spot is particularly nasty, especially when it rains. My advice – stay in the left hand lane around that spot and don’t rubberneck when their is an accident as I’ve seen several accidents further up the road from people not paying attention or trying to watch behind them as they drive away.

For computer and repair related things, there’s all kinds of things that I see, and contrary to what people think of my industry – Protocol16 don’t make fun of customers. That being said, we’ve seen all kinds of nasty things inside cases that cause heat problems for customers.

Note: If you have any pets, you can have problems. As much as I love my girls (I have 2 dogs at home), they can cause all kinds of issues with my computers if I don’t watch out. If you feel comfortable enough, a helpful hint is to open your computer case when it’s off and use some of the canned air you can buy from Protocol16 or other stores (We’re cheaper…) Just as long as you don’t turn the canned air upside down, you’ll be fine. If you’re not comfortable doing this, Protocol16 can do it during any normal visit.

We’ve seen all sorts of things jammed into CD and DVD drives as well. Good people of Portland, please inform your children that Legos are not supposed to go into the CD/DVD drives… As much as I loved to play with Legos as a child, computers just don’t like them as much.

Lastly, if you smoke, it effects your computer as well. The tar from the smoke gets sucked into the computer case by the fans. That tar ends up sticking to the internal components of your computer and can cause all sorts of issues. Through the year, all that adds up. I’ve even had a personal friend that quit smoking after seeing the goo inside his computer – it literally scared him to think that could be inside him as well. One good thing here is, I don’t see this as much anymore…

Yes, there are crazy and wacky things that happen while we’re on calls, but those stories are ours. We really do not make fun of customers and we try to turn every call into an educational experience for the customer. I haven’t laughed at a customer yet.
Justin