Computer repair & refresh · New Bern, NC
Slow computer? It probably isn’t dead. It’s just full.
I’m David. I fix computers people have given up on — the ones that take four minutes to open a browser. Sometimes that’s a tune-up and you keep Windows. Sometimes the machine is better off on a fresh system. Either way your photos, files and email come with you, and you get a flat price before I start.
One sentence is enough — “it takes forever to start up” tells me plenty. Weekdays you’ll hear back the same day. And if I look at your machine and don’t think I can make it meaningfully better, I’ll say so and charge you nothing for looking.
Straight answer, before you pay anything
Can your computer actually run AI?
How much memory (RAM) does it have?
Services
Computer repair in New Bern — what I actually fix
Drop it off or I’ll come to you. Either way you get a flat price before I start, and no charge if I look at it and tell you it isn’t worth doing.
Slow laptop or desktop
The most common job by far. Usually a mechanical hard drive, a full startup list, or an operating system the machine has outgrown — often all three.
Windows tune-ups — keep the system you have
Not everyone wants to change systems, and plenty of machines don’t need to. I clean out the clutter, get updates current, check the hardware, and leave Windows exactly where it is.
Won’t start up
Black screen, spinning forever, or stuck in a repair loop. First job is always getting your files off it safely — before anything else gets tried.
SSD and memory upgrades
The single biggest speed change available to an older machine. I’ll tell you honestly whether yours is worth upgrading or whether you’d be better off putting the money elsewhere.
Files recovered and moved
Photos, documents and email moved to a new machine, or pulled off one that stopped working. Copied first, checked that they open, then handed to you.
Junkware and pop-up cleanup
Toolbars, fake “your computer is infected” warnings, and the software that came bundled with something else. Removed, and I’ll show you what let it in.
Printers, Wi-Fi and email
The things that stop working after an update and take an afternoon to sort out. Set up and tested with you, not just installed.
Private AI setup
Where the hardware genuinely supports it, an assistant that runs on your own machine — no account, nothing leaving the house. Where it doesn’t, I’ll say so.
The honest version
What actually changes
No exaggerated numbers here. This is what a refresh realistically does, and I measure your machine before and after so you can see it yourself.
Before
- Two to four minutes from power button to usable desktop
- Years of trial software and update leftovers running at startup
- Windows 10 or older — no longer getting security updates from Microsoft
- A mechanical hard drive doing all the work
- Fans loud enough to hear from the next room
After
- Typically well under a minute to a working desktop
- A clean, current system with free security updates for years
- Your files, photos and bookmarks moved across and checked
- Browser, email, printer and Wi-Fi set up and tested
- AI tools matched to what the hardware can honestly run
Scope of work
What you’re paying for
Pricing
Flat rates, quoted before I start
You get the price in writing before any work begins. If I look at your machine and don’t think I can make it meaningfully better, I’ll tell you and there’s no charge for looking.
These are one-time jobs. If you’d rather I stayed on and kept things running, see the monthly plans.
Tune-Up
Keep the system you have. Good when the machine is only a couple of years slow.
- Full backup of your files
- Clean out startup clutter
- Updates and security check
- Hardware health report
Full Refresh
The one most people want. A clean, fast, current system with your files carried across.
- Everything in Tune-Up
- Fresh Linux install
- Files and settings moved over
- All everyday software set up
- Private AI assistant where the hardware allows
- Sit-down walkthrough and printed guide
Refresh + Parts
When the machine needs a solid-state drive or more memory to be worth doing.
- Everything in Full Refresh
- SSD and memory fitted
- Parts billed at what I pay — receipt shown
- Old drive returned to you
Not sure which one you need? Text me what the machine is doing and I’ll tell you — that part’s free.
Ongoing care
Or let me keep it running
A refresh fixes the machine once. Most people’s trouble is what happens over the next two years — updates that stop, backups nobody checks, and no one to ask when something goes strange. These plans cover that. No contract, and you can cancel any month.
Check-In
The quiet plan. I watch the machine so you don’t have to think about it.
- Monthly remote health check
- Security updates applied and confirmed
- Backup actually tested, not assumed
- Text support, same day on weekdays
- A short plain-English report each month
Covered
Ask me anything, any time something goes wrong. No per-visit bill to worry about.
- Everything in Check-In
- Call or text as often as you need
- Remote fixes, only with your say-so each time
- You go to the front of the queue
- One house call each quarter included
- Parts at my cost, with the receipt shown
Small Business
For a shop or office running up to five machines.
- Everything in Covered, on every machine
- Up to 5 computers
- An on-site visit each month
- Printers, Wi-Fi and shared files included
- New-hire setup at no extra charge
- Replacement parts. Those are billed at what I pay, with the receipt shown.
- Recovering data from a drive that has already failed. That is specialist work and I quote it separately.
- Round-the-clock cover. I am one person — which is mostly the point. You get the same person every time, who already knows your machine, with no ticket number and no hold music. Weekdays you will hear back the same day; evenings and weekends I answer when I can. If you genuinely need someone at 3 a.m., a managed IT firm is a better fit than me.
- Anything I have not agreed to first. If a job falls outside your plan, I tell you what it costs before I start, not after.
Setting expectations
What I won’t promise you
Plenty of shops will tell you anything to get the machine on the bench. Here’s where the limits honestly are:
- A refresh won’t make a 2012 laptop match a new one. It makes it pleasant to use again — that’s a real difference, but it’s a different claim.
- Most older machines have no graphics card worth using for AI, so local models answer at roughly reading speed. Useful for writing and summarizing; not for generating video.
- Under 8 GB of memory, running AI on the machine itself isn’t realistic. I’ll say so and set up the free web tools instead — the computer still gets much faster.
- Linux isn’t Windows. If you depend on one specific Windows-only program, tell me first and we’ll check it works before you commit to anything.
- Some machines aren’t worth the money. If yours is one of them, I’ll tell you and charge you nothing for the look.
Still sounds like your machine? Text me — (252) 253-9629.
Process
How it goes
-
You text me what’s wrong
A sentence is enough. “It takes forever to start up” tells me plenty. -
I look at the machine
Drop it off or I’ll come to you locally. I check the drive, memory and battery and tell you what’s realistic — including if the answer is “don’t bother.” -
You get a price before I start
Flat rate, in writing. Parts at cost with the receipt. No surprises later. -
Backup, then the work
Your files are copied and the copy is verified before anything is erased. Most machines are done the same day. -
We go through it together
I show you where everything is and leave you a printed page of the basics. Questions in the first 30 days are free — text me. After that, the monthly plans cover it, and I’ll still answer quick ones.
Get in touch
Tell me what it’s doing
I work with families, retirees, students and small businesses around New Bern. If you’re helping a parent or grandparent with a computer that’s become unusable, that’s most of what I do.
Texting is the fastest way to reach me — I’d rather answer you quickly than play phone tag.
- Text (fastest)
- (252) 253-9629
- Prefer to talk?
- Call (252) 253-9629 — leave a message if I’m under a machine and I’ll ring you back.
- [email protected]
- Serving
- New Bern, Trent Woods, River Bend, Bridgeton, James City, Fairfield Harbour, Havelock, Vanceboro and Cove City — all of Craven County. A bit further out? Ask me.