UOIT may have given you a laptop, but there’s students out there – or students at Durham College – who decided to roll with Apple instead. This blog is for you! While your machine may be working great, it’s likely there’s a few things that can be done to get it working before the first semester starts.

Back It Up

Okay it’s not really a tune up tip. However, before you start doing tune ups, make sure you have one, and hopefully two backups. When tuning up a computer keeping a backup is just the easiest way to make sure all your files stay safe. You should always keep back ups throughout the school year just to keep those midterm notes from disappearing when you need them most.

Full Clean Up (Inside)

After first year, your computer is likely junked up with tons of music, photos, and maybe some regrettable essays. But there’s also a chance that some malware and other malicious software could be lurking in your computer. At best, malware is slowing down your computer and at worst, it’s stealing important personal info.

Full Clean Up (Outside)

Now we don’t blame you. Residence rooms are small, and after a first year crammed in a residence room, some KD or Cheetos dust was bound to make its way on your keyboard. Fortunately, there’s professional people who know how to clean up keyboards, ports and monitors safely (and to gently remind you to not eat food over your laptop).

Spec Your Computer Right

If you happen to be buying a MacBook for the first time, you want to make extra sure you don’t go for the cheapest option right away. Make sure you know what you’ll be using your computer for to ensure you have enough hard drive storage, enough USB ports (or USB ports at all), and enough RAM. If you plan on gaming or watching high quality movies, you might want to consider adding a little extra umph in your hardware.

Upgrading Hard Drive to a SSD

Maybe you have an older MacBook and it’s running slow. It could be because your old disk hard drive is starting to lose to some of it’s juice. One upgrade that seriously helps speed up your computer is an upgrade to a SSD (soild-state) drive. These drives are more expensive but you get way more bang for your buck and it could save you from having to spend that precious OSAP on a brand new computer.

And that’s it! If you’d like any of the services on this list we’re happy to help you out and give you our student discount. Just come into our store anytime (337 King St. W in downtown Oshawa), no appointment needed!

We’re also happy to answer any additional questions about your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Drop us a line on Facebook or Twitter. You can also send an email to info@alarytech.ca. Best of luck with your studies this year! We hope to see you soon.

Did you know all this already? If you have experience repairing Macs, we could be looking to hire you. Email us a careers@alarytech.ca,

Here’s one PSA we can’t make enough to our clients: BACK UP YOUR COMPUTER. Apple computers are wonderful machines, but they are by no means perfect. Yet for some reason, people think everything on their Mac will last forever. If the problem is motivation, here’s 6 reasons why you should back up your computer today.

It’s Easy

Apple makes it really easy to back up your hard drive. The process is automated using the built-in software Time Machine.. The whole process of backing up takes 10 minutes or less and saves you a mountain of time if you ever lose data. Here is a simple video to show you how

You Have Very Important Stuff on There

I don’t know if you’ve looked at what’s stored on your computer these days, but there’s plenty of important things you don’t want to lose. Whether it’s important files or documents, or photos from your vacation, losing these things can prove devastating. You insure your home, and you insure your car in case anything bad happens. Just consider a back up as insurance on your data.

External Hard Drives are Very Affordable

Considering the importance of things you have saved on your computer, an investment in an external hard drive is well worth it. Chances are the most external storage you will need will not exceed 1TB. These hard drives are sold in all places electronics are sold and you can get peace of mind for only $60-$90 (or less if you go with less storage). Guaranteed, you won’t get insurance this cheap for your car or home.

Hard Drives Aren’t Going to be Around Forever

If you’re not convinced of how easy it is to backup your data, consider this: some hard drives have up to a 30% failure rate. That means, even if you treat your computer like it’s the Holy Grail itself, your hard drive could still stop functioning completely with no warning and take all your precious files, photos and data with it.

Hackers/Viruses/Theft

We all fear the hackers and bad people of the world who try to take things that aren’t there’s. However, if you have a spare copy of everything hackers or thieves can take, there’s no reason to fear or give into pricey Ransomware demands if you’re ever unlucky enough to be targeted. We can fix viruses, but we can’t always recover data. In this case it’s better to have AT LEAST TWO backups – with one disconnected from your computer at all times.

It Makes Our Lives Easier

Okay, this reason is a little selfish. But we’ve had so many instances where a repair or restoration of a computer is made easier when we have a complete backup of a person’s computer. In the end, having this will save us for feeling bad of not being able to save your data and could even save you some money from IT labour fees.

There’s People Who Will Help You

Yes, computers can be scary sometimes and you may not know where to begin. But you also don’t want to lose your data either. At our store, we can help you back up your Mac or iPhone for you or show you how to do it yourself. So honestly, what are you still waiting for?