I had a new client contact me last week. They weren’t happy with their existing IT provider as they had felt belittled during support calls and suspected their provider wasn’t being totally honest with them around some issues. One of the issues was a computer that was caught in a boot loop. The provider had examined the computer, advised that the issue was not fixable, and quoted a new high-end computer as a replacement. Now this client had no need for a high-end computer – their staff use emails and internet and that’s it! When the issue was described to me, I advised that I believed it was fixable. I asked to examine the ‘faulty’ computer, under the proviso I spent no longer than an hour on it, and it was provided.
The computer in question was an older model, approximately 5 years old, but still fully serviceable and capable of running Windows 11 (see our earlier blog for why this is important: https://www.raspberryit.co.nz/post/end-of-support-for-windows-10-office-2016-2019). The boot loop was caused by a failed firmware update; however, this model had a built-in automatic recovery feature that was also failing. A hardware check proved the hardware was all working, so why was the automatic recovery not working? A few minutes of research was all it took to work out how to bypass the automatic recovery and run the recovery manually. I loaded the new firmware from a USB key, ran the update, and a few reboots later the computer was working. I sent a screenshot of the working machine to the client, and Raspberry IT are now providing their ongoing IT support.
In my opinion, the previous provider looked at the age of the machine and decided it should be replaced, without looking at the issue itself. It took me only an hour to resolve the issue – that’s one hour of labour versus the cost of a new computer. Now the client has been advised that this machine should be on their replacement list within the next 24 months, but ultimately the decision was theirs to make and not the providers.
An IT provider should not be telling you a computer is unfixable if the issue can be fixed. If the machine is of an age where it should be considered for replacement, that option must be presented to the client, not presented as the only solution.
Does your IT provider operate with integrity? If you’re not sure, contact us today and deal with someone who does!
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