Whatever your PC needs, we can help you.

This website is here to help you understand the many facilities, services and products on offer.If you don't know what you're looking for - an easy problem with broken computers - just give us a call. We'll tell you straight away if we can help. Please see the contact page for our detailed information or call 01798 875028 now.

The PC Doctor provides a local service for West Sussex computer owners, based in Pulborough. Home visits can be arranged, often the same day. If you're calling from near the Pulborough area there will be no callout charge.

At PC Doctor our philosophy is summed up in our web name, 'TLC For Your PC'.

We know how important your PC is to you, whether you use it for keeping your company accounts, or playing games at home.

We understand the relationship between you and your PC and will always try to get your computer up and running as soon as possible.

We will always try and protect your important data before any changes are made and can recommend many types of backup to prevent the worst from happening.

As fewer and fewer retail establishments deal in cheques I thought it best to add a different payment method. I am hopeful it will prove to be more reliable than PayPal (which has always been a disaster for me).

I will update the site with more details once the account is formalised.

This question is not one that has an easy yes / no answer. If your PC is over 5 years old the answer may well be no, and more recent PCs can often be upgraded relatively cheaply. Whatever the age of the PC it will depend upon its original specification and the level of standardisation of the parts.

A proper answer is that the PC Doctor will be able to advise you of the potential cost of upgrades versus the cost of a new machine. You can then weigh up the pros and cons more easily.

The trouble with upgrades is that to upgrade everything to the same specification as a new machine will often cost more than the equivalent new PC. However, in an effort to prolong the life of a computer it is often possible to improve certain components.

Typical upgrades that are worth making are:

More memory - the cost of RAM (the memory of your PC) is now low enough for any PC to benefit from an increase.This can often prove the best and most economical upgrade. Prices change daily so give us a call and we can determine the cost of the new RAM.

Hard Disk - a new hard disk for your PC will add hugely to it's capacity to hold data, but is unlikely to speed it up much. Although modern hard disks are many times faster than they were only a few years ago, they will be limited by other factors inside your PC. The new hard drive is a worthwhile upgrade if your PC is fast enough but you've run out of storage space.

CD Rewriter - many new machines are delivered without floppy drives (the 3 1/2 inch disks we always used for storage until recently). With the growth in file sizes it is now sensible to back up all data to CD-ROM. The cost of recordable media is now so low, anyone can afford to back up all their data to CD. Any machine with Windows 98 onward should be able to install a CD Rewriter. It is sensible to maximise the memory at the same time to reduce copying time.

Peripherals - under this heading we include keyboards, mice, monitors, speakers and other external devices. The most popular upgrade currently is of the monitor. The price of flat screens has come down to little more than the equivalent monitor and for most people they provide a much better solution. Also available are cordless keyboards and mice, which help with the layout of your home desk.

Other upgrades are available, including graphics cards, processors, power supplies, fans and external storage devices. In each case the upgrade needs to be considered carefully in the context of the existing PC setup. Give us a call and we can advise on any options.

Installing an anti-virus program on a PC should be a 'no-brainer' these days but there are still plenty of computer users who either have no anti-virus software or have not updated the version that was installed when they bought the machine.

If you haven't installed an anti-virus package yet, either do so immediately, or call us and we will perform a full check before installing the new software. On one machine we looked at recently there were 27 virus's and the owner was not unusually negligent. She simply hadn't the time to keep up with the Anti-Virus updates. We saved her PC but were too late to save the data. Her supplier had already advised her to rebuild the PC (see above). Unfortunately the virus's on her PC all sprung back into life on the newly installed system so she lost all her data for no reason whatever.

It is more common for a PC to be plagued by software problems than by hardware failure. Windows XP has reduced the number of problems and is better than its predecessors at sorting out snags. Hopefully Vista will further improve the position. Window 98 was prone to many bugs and Windows ME was worse. Earlier systems with Windows 95 were fairly reliable but that system can't cope with modern peripherals (USB in particular) so is really past it's sell-by date.

Finding the cause of software conflicts can be very time consuming; borne out by the number of customers that ring us with the phrase 'I'm just about to throw my PC out of the window...Help!'

We have seen many of the causes of conflicts before so can reduce the amount of downtime to a minimum. If you're having a desperate moment, give us a call on 01798 875028 now.