Computers and laptops
Computers and laptops, set up properly or fixed
A new laptop in a box is three evenings of swearing. Daniel does it on your kitchen table in one: everything moved across, the printer talking, the old one wiped. And when a machine is slow, broken or past it, he tells you honestly which.
Sound familiar?
What goes wrong
New laptop, still in the box.
Setting it up means moving email, files, photos, the accounts software, the printer and twenty saved passwords. Done wrong, you find out what's missing at the worst moment.
It takes ten minutes to start.
Usually a full disk, a dying drive or twelve things starting with Windows. Usually fixable in an hour, and cheaper than a new one.
Windows 10 says it's finished.
Security updates ended in October 2025, and even the paid extension for home users is over. A machine used for banking or the farm accounts needs Windows 11 or a replacement.
The printer only works on Tuesdays.
Farm office printers live hard lives. Daniel gets them on the network properly, or tells you when the kindest thing is a new one.
What Daniel does
What he does about it
Advises on what to buy, before you buy it.
The right machine for the farm office is rarely the one on offer in the supermarket. He'll give you two or three choices and the reasons, and you order it or he does.
Sets it up and moves everything across.
Email, documents, photos, bookmarks, the accounts package, the herd software, the printer and scanner. Two-step logins and backups switched on from day one.
Speeds up a slow machine.
A solid-state drive and a clean-out turns a five-year-old laptop into a usable one for a fraction of the price of new. If it's not worth it, he'll say.
Repairs what can be repaired.
Drives, memory, keyboards, screens, power sockets, and the software mess underneath. Same-week turnaround on most jobs.
Wipes the old one properly.
Before it's sold, passed on or recycled, the drive is erased so your bank details and the farm accounts don't go with it.
Phones and tablets too.
Set up, moved across, backed up, and the family sharing sorted so the kids' games don't land on your card.
Under the bonnetFor whoever in the family checks these things.
The kit
- Business-class laptops and desktops with proper warranties, rather than consumer models with a shiny lid
- Solid-state drives in every machine he touches; spinning disks are retired
- Printers with network and duplex that take a toner you can still buy in five years
- Spares and tools in the van for the common drive, memory and power repairs
How it’s done
- Migration by proper transfer, not by hand: profiles, mail stores and licences moved and checked, then the old machine kept for a fortnight before it's wiped
- Windows 11 or current macOS, updates on automatically, standard accounts for daily use
- A written note of what was done and every password changed, on the farm IT card
Said plainly
What he won't do
- Fix a cracked phone screen. The phone shops do it cheaper and faster.
- Build gaming PCs. He'll happily tell your teenager what to buy.
- Keep a Windows 10 machine on the internet for your banking and tell you it's fine. It isn't.
Questions people ask
Before you ring
Do you take machines away?
Rarely. Most jobs are done on your table, which also means you can ask questions. Bigger repairs go to the van and come back within the week.
Can you move everything from my old computer?
Yes, including the things people forget: the saved passwords, the browser bookmarks, the printer settings and the email archive. He checks it with you before the old one is wiped.
Should I upgrade to Windows 11 or buy new?
If the machine can run it and is less than five or six years old, upgrade. If it can't, or it's slow already, a new one with the old one's contents moved across is better value than fighting it.
Read first, if you like
Guides that go with this
- Windows 10 has ended: what now?Windows 10 no longer gets security updates. What it means for the farm office PC, whether it can run Windows 11, and the honest choice: upgrade or replace.
- Backing up your farm recordsMovement records, medicine books, invoices and photos: the simple backup that means a dead laptop or a fire in the office is an inconvenience, not a disaster.
Also
Jobs that often go together
The farm office
Email on your own domain, files you can reach from the field, backups you forget about, and the computer side of MTD.
Find out moreCyber security
Two-step logins, backups that restore, a proper firewall and help with scams. Hard to hack, easy to live with.
Find out moreHome IT
The family Wi-Fi, a new laptop, a safer setup for older relatives, sorted at your table and explained once.
Find out more
A new laptop, working, before the kettle's cold.