- The first thing to try is to try a “cold” restart of your PC: If it is not already switched off, shut it down, if necessary by holding down the power button until the PC switches off. Now disconnect the power to the computer. On a notebook PC remove the battery (Usually this involves sliding a release button often on the bottom of the PC to release it). Now reconnect the PC to the mains power, for a notebook PC you can leave the battery out while you test the notebook. Make sure the monitor is connected and switched on.

- Switch the PC or notebook on. Observe the monitor screen.

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The screen remains black; the PC remains off or may switch on briefly then shuts down again:

- remove all USB devices (External hard disk, USB memory stick, (Web) Camera, USB Headset, USB Speakers, USB keyboard, USB mouse) and try switching in again:

- If the PC starts up now, re connect USB devices one at a time and see which one causes problems (What was the last USB device you connected?). Sometimes you can reconnect all USB devices without problems. Maybe only the re-start is affected. Try restarting with one USB device, then restart with two and so on to identify the item that causes the problem. TOO HARD? CALL US NOW

The PC looks like it is going through a start-up (The power indicator light comes on and another light (The hard disk activity indicator) is flashing for a while, then after many minutes it eventually goes off or just flashes sporadically.

- The monitor or monitor cable may have failed. On a notebook PC the display may have failed.

- On a notebook PC sometimes the back light of the screen fails. You can check this by shining a torch or another bright light under an angle at the screen. If only the back light has failed you may see the normal screen faintly. Try another monitor or external monitor for a notebook PC. To use an external monitor on a notenook PC you may have to enable the external monitor (Wait for the notebook to boot up, then press the function key marked with a monitor screen. You may have to press an”Fn” key simultaneously. TOO HARD? CALL US NOW

Screen reports “HARD DISK BOOT FAILURE” on a black screen.

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Take your PC in for service  with your most recent backup, install CD’s/DVD’s and other install media, license numbers and recovery CD/DVD/USB media. This is not the time to ask your nephew who is learning IT at high school! Remember at this point all you may have is a single backup copy. We will attempt to copy the failed hard disk by removing it and installing it as a second drive on another PC, then copying it to another drive. If this fails and you do not have a recent backup available, there are companies that specialize in recovering data from failed hard disks. These services are not cheap, but worth trying if you have lost precious data (Recovery services can be anywhere from $300 to $1000 or more). If you want to try these services let your service engineer know that you want to hold on to the failed hard disk. It is best to have them remove the hard disk while you wait so that you can be sure you have the correct hard disk.

- Typically the hard disk will have to be replaced and operating system, programs and data restored to the new hard disk. In any case, while sometimes it is possible to reuse a hard disk by reformatting it, it is always better to replace a failed hard disk. Any failure is an indication of future problems!

Common misconceptions of telephone over internet:

Must use a computer to use telephone over internet (Voice over IP or VOIP): In practice most if not all of your calls are converted to digital format during transmission. The telephone company converts the call to digital before it is transmitted, usually  over fibre optic lines between exchanges and over undersea fibre optic links to most other countries. That is your calls, whether made over a standard telephone or not are in fact digitized and transmitted digitally. VOIP companies just do the conversion to digital at your location rather than at the exchange. Optus for many years has been offering multi line phone service  and internet over a single copper pair telephone connection. They do so by installing a combined internet router with analog to digital convertors. Other VOIP companies provide similar solutions. With digital phones the conversion to digital occurs in the telephone itself.

Can only call other computers: VOIP can connect to standard landline and mobile phones. The digital signal is converted to analog for the last leg of the connection to a standard phone. Click here for advise and assistance

It is difficult to setup: What distinguishes telephone service providers offering VOIP is that they install a convertor from the (analog) voice signal to digital at your premises. This can a conversion box that you can plug a standard telephone in or a router that you can connect telepohone into. The convertor and router can be pre confgured.

Voice quality is poor:  To reduce the amount of data to be transmitted for voice, the signal is routinely compressed. Higher compression is lower data rate and cheaper  call. In practice voice quality is very good provided a quality internet connection is used.

Voice over Ip: There is nothing to stop you trying out a voice over IP service like Skype for example. Use a headset / microphone on your computer or a Skype enabled  telephone . Download an install Skype on your computer and try it out. Skype is offering unlimited landline calls to 40 odd countries around the world for about A$ 15 per month!

PABX in the cloud: PABX are now available as an online service. The online service has one or more standard incoming local (Major cities)  phone numbers (That can be local to a number of different cities around the world), the incoming calls can be directed to particular direct extensions and if not answered to voicemail or to an operator. The operator is simply another VOIP connection somewhere in the world. Calls can follow you around wherever you are in the world (with an internet connection) .  Setup VOIP on your smart phone, connect to wireless internet at the hotel or office you are visiting and you can be reached without incurring huge global roaming charges.