About Me
My name is Viv Griffin and I aim to provide friendly, helpful and reasonably priced IT support to people and businesses of Dartmoor, as well as West and East Devon. I have been doing this for over 2 years and now have a good idea of the sort of help that both people and businesses need to get the most out of their computers. In these cash strapped times, it is more important than ever to get the most benefit possible out of our investment in the computer equipment we purchase and it is one of my top priorities to ensure that my clients achieve this.
What I Offer
See the "My Work" section of this site for more information about the sort of work that I do. However, it includes troubleshooting computer problems / finding solutions, improving computer performance (i.e. speed and reliability), assistance with purchase and setting up of new PC's, training, website development, photo scanning / archiving, transfer of video to DVD / digital files, assistance with setting up office functions (such as databases, spreadsheets and mail merge).
Windows, Mac And Linux
It doesn't matter to me what operating systems my clients use as I have expertise in using Windows, Mac and Linux systems. I can provide support to people who use any of these and ensure that I keep my knowledge in all of these up to date by using them all at home, as well.
The 'Operating System' is the basic software that is installed on your computer to make it function. If you are not sure what you are using, it doesn't matter. This is something that I can check out for you.
It is worth mentioning that Linux is 'open source' which means that you don't have to pay for it. If you have an old computer that you want to continue to use and you don't want to keep paying for the software that you need for it, moving to Linux may be worth considering. If you use your computer for accessing the internet, email, managing digital photos, word processing and spreadsheets - all of this is available through Linux, free of charge. Also, Linux computers are less vulnerable to viruses because they are more secure, and therefore safer to use on the internet. If you would like to try it, this is something I could help you with.
The "Money Saving" Approach To Computing
I encourage all of
my clients to take a "Money Saving" approach to their computing
needs. I have an old laptop myself on which many things now fail
to work because it is so old but, I refuse to throw it out because
there are still things that it can do and therefore it is still
useful.
Over time, computers do slow down and become less reliable but, this doesn't mean that they have reached the end of their useful life. I am always keen to find ways of extending the lives of my clients computers and only recommend purchasing a new machine if their computing needs really do exceed their machine's capabilities. Even then, I recommend that they keep the old machine as a backup or keep it for a specialised task such as online banking. Upgrading the memory of the computer ('Computer RAM') is often quite cheap to do and can give an old computer a whole new lease of life.