PC Upgrade ane Repair Course

dvdfan

Hello,

Im always helping friends, family and friends families fix computers, install broadband, remove viruses, set-up email, that kind of thing. I have a good ability to find the problem and more often than not i can fix the problem and when i cant usually tech support cant solve the problem either. So although im not fully certified or anything i have a good knowledge from windows 98 - windows xp, with eircom broadband, esat broadband, dial up internet access and wireless broadband. What im weak on is networking only knowing the basics.

Anyway thats just a quick background and i was thinking of setting up my own pc repair company to make a few pound extra, concentrating mostly on home computers because of my lack of knowledge on networks but i could serve small businesses with 1 - 2 computers.

But before i go and do that i would much rather do a pc repair and upgrade course to be able to show i have some qualifications. Because i already have a good knowledge i taught i might try an online course but maybe i should pick a classroom course instead because you get hands on experience. I have taken a computer apart and installed new memory and a new hard drive before which was pretty easy but im sure the hands on experience would be invaluable.

So can anyone reccommend a good course for this, i dont want to pay a fortune and from what i can find the courses are ranging in price from 400-700 euro which is ok with me. I like the look of ww.iact.ie pc repair course as the let you do hands on stuff and its only 3 days and 8 evenings.
kilroys.ie seem ok too offering you a home repair kit and the ability to do the course online.

Has anyone any reccommendations and what do you think of the idea of setting up this kind of business, i know more and more people are getting more tech savvy but there should always be a good market for this kind of thing and if it went well i could increase my knowledge of the networking and expand my business.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Cheers

dvdfan

Also,

Im looking at pcdoctorireland.com and the idea of remote assistance seems very appealing, using windows remote assistance seems easy but you can only use windows xp and you need messenger installed so if you have someone with windows 2000 or someone who dosent have messenger you would have to get them to install it first etc etc, not ideal.

Is there any systems which allow you to connect to someones computer easily and view there screen in real time and/or make changes remotely regardless of their os and fix a problem or are they too expensive??

Tom Dunne

Have a look at the CompTIA A+ course - it gives a good grounding in PC repair and I believe it is widely recognised.

I can't emphasise how important the hands-on element is. Would you trust a mechanic who has only read about cars to fix your car?

Regarding the live connection to a person's computer - look for VNC. It works on anything from a PDA/smartphone to Windows and Unix PC's.

Ruu_Old

A+ is a great entry level computer repair course, why not study it in your own time? When you are ready just go to the nearest center and take your test While you are studying, get as much experience as you can with computer repair. Buy an old box to study and mess around with, cant hurt and best of luck.

dvdfan

Thanks for the replies, i could easily study this in my spare time but looking at the prices it probably would be worth the extra few pound to get the hands on experience. Do u's agree???

Heres prices i sourced and thanks for the info the A+ course looks the perfect one for me.

I.A.C.T Dublin €1895 hands on course
HSI.IE €720 Hands on course
Kilroyscollege.ie €549 elearning - Not including exam fees

I think the hsi.ie offer is great but im a bit sceptical about the difference in prices, at the end of the day im going to get hands on training and an official cert for 1,000 less. I have done a previous course with iact and i liked all their staff and i learnt alot but found the taught me an outdated course without being upfront about it

(eg done a ecommerce course with i.a.c.t and i was taught in ASP & Serverside javascript, severside javascript just isnt used its all VB Script and so even though i can design a site no probs with serverside, someone will have a hard job getting someone to debug it at a later stage if neccessary, even the big companies dont have a clue about serverside)

But anyway the next course is starting with hsi.ie in Limerick on the 7th Feb so im eager to sign up so if anyone has any info that i should know before i go ahead please share it with me.

Also, do you think doing this course will return profitable, im from Athlone and theres only 1 computer tech i know of in this area or at least that advertises. (when i say this im not including the companies but i will mostly be dealing with private homes so i wont really be competing with the companies) Do you think with regular advertisement in the local newspaper and putting up posters etc in local businesses and some adword advertising i could make a nice side income or do you know of anyone that does it, please id love the info before i go and splash out on this course, im not going to charge a fortune like some of them do, i see charges of €75 for some companies just to install broadband when in reality its 30 mins work, maybe 60 mins with complications so €20-25 would be sufficent for the likes of this. I suppose at the end of the day it will add to my cv, because i have previous tech support experience and also have a web design and ecommerce certificate.

Cheers Everyone

dvdfan

Bump

Sorry to bump but i have to make the decision to book this course tommorrow because it starts tuesday and i would love some advice wheter its a good course to take or not, im referring to the limerick course at hsi.ie

Cheers

IamMetaldave

Computer hardware evening course here

Network evening course here

Both courses are €250. Hope this helps.

KdjaCL

www.fas.ie and check out A+ there its slightly cheaper


kdjac

Capt'n Midnight

dvdfan wrote:

Im looking at pcdoctorireland.com and the idea of remote assistance seems very appealing, using windows remote assistance seems easy but you can only use windows xp and you need messenger installed so if you have someone with windows 2000 or someone who dosent have messenger you would have to get them to install it first etc etc, not ideal.

RealVNC with decent firewall settings and "Run Listening VNC Viewer" - of course lots of security implications and a VPN would be desirable. But same is true of Remote Assistant - I'm just waiting for them to announce a security hole in RA. VNC is free and you can manage as far back as Windows 95 / NT 3.5

dvdfan

Ive been checking around and im amazed at the difference in prices.

I can do it through FAS in the Galway region under the competency devolopment program where fas pay 70% of the course working out at 350 euro

Then hsi.ie have a course available at around 800 euro because you can claim 20% back on tax.

Asfield computer training have a similar price to hsi.ie but that price dosent include coursewear or exam fees.

And iact.ie cost around 1900 euro

Now i found another company who look great www.newhorizonsireland.com
They do the course but you can pick and choose what days, times you want, they do an assesment before you start and base the training on the areas you are weak on, so you wont have to sit through learning about stuff you already know and will have more time to work at the things you dont know.

They say the course normally costs 2500 not including exam fees but because the have recently done a deal with FAS they can offer a 60% discount and ill get everything for 1000 euro and if they decide your ready for the exam and you sit it and fail they will pay for you to re-sit the exam.

Now my question is whats the difference between a 350 euro course and a 1000 euro course. Am i better to go for the dearer options or are all courses the same and just that some companies overcharge. Seems crazy the difference in prices but if i just wanted the cert i would do an online study course and sit the exam, but i want to learn properly, is newhorizons my best option??

Thanks

IamMetaldave

I did A+ and N+ through FAS and I couldn't recommend it anymore! They covered alot of MCP stuff as well for 2000 and XP which was a great help when I got into my present job.

zAbbo

Dave Eyesclosed wrote:

I did A+ and N+ through FAS and I couldn't recommend it anymore! They covered alot of MCP stuff as well for 2000 and XP which was a great help when I got into my present job.

Did you sit the exam with Fas?

IamMetaldave

FAS organised the exams for us and we sat them in the centre.

alantc

Why don't you just buy a few books and read them? I learned lots from MCP revision books and then never sat any exams. You don't need any qualifications if you're just going to be doing work in peoples homes. Learn on the job.

IamMetaldave

If he has qualifications people will be more likely to allow him to fix their machines. Its always better to sit the exam if nothing else but to get the knowledge solid in your own head!

SouperComputer

Dave Eyesclosed wrote:

If he has qualifications people will be more likely to allow him to fix their machines. Its always better to sit the exam if nothing else but to get the knowledge solid in your own head!

That depends on the people really. If your clients come through referral they wont give a castlemine XXXX what exams you've done. This is my experience from home users to a few fairly big companies.

Ive been out on my own for 1.5 years now and have yet to be asked what qualifications I have*. Ive been referred to them because I know my stuff, apparently.

* The answer is none BTW

This did work against me when applying for jobs, but Id planned running a company anyway so it was more of a bump in the road.

Get stuck in and teach yourself. The skill of troubleshooting is not something you can learn form a course or book IMO. Experience is what counts. Focus on communication\people skills. This is "almost" worth as much as experience and ability.

WexCan

IACT is scandalous tbh, grab a book and self study. So much cheaper. Only problem with A+ is you have to take two exams at about €160 each. MCPs are cheaper but can be quite a bit harder, but if going that route 70271 (supporting win xp) is probably the best.

dvdfan

Ok maybe self study is the best route considering the difference in prices. I have no worries about doing the software end of things as an online study course but im a bit worried about the hardware end of things, will i pick up enough information by reading about the hardware end of things and without practical experience. Maybe i could pick up 1 or 2 pc's cheap somewhere and practice what i read in the hardware section.

My questions are :
1) Whats the best online course to study Comptia A+ or should i just get the official Comptia A+ Course?
2) Are All the online courses the same or are some better than other?
3) Would it be best to buy 1 or 2 computers to test my skills on and would this be a good idea or a waste of time.
4) Is there any difference in the Comptia A+ Course in Ireland, Europe or Internationally. I ask this because i could get a cheaper online course online by searching worldwide but is there difference in pcs in ireland and around the world or are all the comptia a+ courses the same.

Im confident i can pick up the information doing the course by self study and i know that i really start learning when i get out on the field but i think i need to study the course because there are many things i still dont know about and i would feel much more confident knowing these things before i pretend i can fix someones computer. Right now i can fix any virus problem, install broadband, fix lots of software problem or any printer problems, reinstall windows, install ram or hard disks and reconfigure drivers etc but there is alot of things i cant do like disaster recovery, bios problems, most computers than wont restart if its a serious problem and im unsure of safety aspects about the system which is an important thing also im unsure what is the best upgrade for a computer ragarding the different types of rams and what the motherboard will accept.

Thanks

WexCan

1) I just got a book from Amazon with practice test CD - this is really better for people who already know the stuff and just need to cram pre-exam.
2) As with anything, quality varies. I;ve heard good things about the FAS one.
3) Most definitely yes. Even better, start building your own. Might be a good idea to have an older PC too because the A+ course still covers AT form factor etc etc.
4) Not in the slightest. All the same.

The A+ will give you a great grounding in computer hardware and operating system technologies - the OS exam is a lot harder than the Hardware IMO, and you need to do both to be A+ certified (http://www.comptia.org for info). A+ hardware goes into just the right amount of depth for someone starting off. Give it a go, definitely worth it.

spartacus93

Couldn't recommend this book more. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0072229918/qid=1139344429/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_2_1/202-6481977-7618245 . I passed the A+ by using this alone. I hadn't much experience at the time.

Experience really is the key. No matter how much you read nothing beats getting down and dirty! You will also have much more confidence which will stand to you when you're called out to do a job.

Best of luck with the studies.

WexCan

Ditto, only heard good things about the Mike Myers book.

Have a looksee at http://www.techexams.net - guys on there are really helpful.