Case Studies
Below are some examples of the recent work we've done in Wollongong and the surrounding areas.
Custom Windows 10 PC Build in Port Kembla - Custom Built PCs Wollongong
May 2016
A client in Port Kembla just south of Wollongong contacted me about getting a new custom PC built, he planned on using
the computer for video and photo editing with Adobe Premier and Photoshop, as well as some online gaming and general
internet use such as browsing, email, youtube, facebook and other social networking websites.
His current PC was almost 10 years old and no longer able to keep up with the demands of the software he was running, it
was frustratingly slow for video rendering and very choppy with online games. Below are the specs of the machine that I built
him, it's quite a high end computer for smooth online gaming and fast video editing.
CPU: Intel Core i7 5930k Haswell-E 6-Core LGA 2011-3 3.5GHz CPU
Motherboard: MSI X99A Gaming 7 USB 3.1 Socket 2011-V3 ATX Motherboard
Memory: Kingston HyperX Predator 16GB 2400MHz Quad-Channel DDR4 RAM Kit
Hard Drives: Samsung 850 EVO 1TB Solid State Drive - MZ-75E1T0BW and Seagate Enterprise NAS 6TB Internal 3.5" Hard Drive, 128MB Cache, 7200RPM - ST6000VN0001
Case: Cooler Master Storm Trooper Windowed Mid-Tower Case - Black
Graphics Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 Nano 4GB HBM Memory Gaming Graphics Card
Operating System: Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit
Snoopex Computer Repairs provides IT services to all of Wollongong and surrounding areas including Port Kembla, which is a suburb of Wollongong
located a short drive south of the Wollongong CBD along Grand Pacific Drive / Springhill Road. Part of the Illawarra region, Port Kembla has a
seaport and small harbour nature reserve, an industrial area, small commercial district and the Port Kembla Golf Course. Further south of the area is
Windang while to the west are Warrawong, Lake Heights, Berkeley and Unanderra, while bordering the north of the suburb are Figtree, Coniston, Cordeaux
Heights and Wollongong itself.
Recovered Photos from Damaged Hard Drive in Woonona - Data Recovery Wollongong
May 2016
I picked up a damaged external USB hard drive from a customer's house in Woonona who had contacted me after one of their kids
had dropped the drive and it was no longer showing up on the computer and was making funny noises when they plugged it in. They
lived just off Grand Pacific Dr not far from Woonona Beach just up the road from Wollongong.
The hard drive contained mostly family photos and videos, many of which were the only copy so the customer was very worried that
the photos may have been lost. Data recovery from damaged hard drives isn't always successful and depends on how badly the drive
has been damaged, fortunately in this case I was able to recover over 90% of the data and copy it over to a new hard drive for the customer
so they were extremely relieved.
It's highly recommended to keep at least one backup copy of any important data you have, especially irreplaceable data such as family photos
and videos, but also important business documents, contracts, warranties etc. Hard drives can and do fail at times, not only from accidental
damage but also from hardware failure due to no fault of the user, having a backup copy gives you piece of mind and means you don't have to
worry if one of the kids drops the usb hard drive on the kitchen floor.
Snoopex Computer Repairs services all areas of Wollongong including Woonona and surrounding suburbs, Woonona is a small suburb of Wollongong and
located a few kms north of Wollongong CBD if you take Memorial Dr along the northern Illawarra coastal plain, it's connected to the rest of the
surrounding areas by train with Woonona Station on the South Coast Line and by car using the Princes Highway. Just to the North of Woonona are
Bulli, Thirroul and Austinmer where Snoopex Computer Repairs have been happily providing service for over 20 years, and to the south are Russell Vale,
Bellambi, Corrimal and East Corrimal where we've also fixed and upgraded many PCs over the years as well as rescued hard drives and built plenty of
custom computers.
Fixed Forgotten Password on Windows 7 PC in Mount Ousley - Wollongong Computer Repairs
April 2016
I had a call on a Sunday afternoon from a customer who had forgotten the password to their Windows 7 PC,
they were located in Mount Ousley just off the Princes Highway north of Wollongong. He asked if he could
bring his computer over to have the password reset because he needed access to his files the same day.
I told him that's no problem and that I could have his password reset within an hour and have him back online
quickly, so he brought around his computer and I reset his Windows 7 password while he waited. The customer was
extremely happy with the prompt service (especially on a Sunday) and how quickly I resolved his issue.
The method used to reset the password utilises features built into the Windows operating system and doesn't involve
installing any third party software so it's completely safe. Our "forgot password" service is available for all versions
of Windows including Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10 (and even XP and Vista).
Windows 8 Workstation Not Booting Up in Bellambi - Computer Repairs Wollongong
March 2016
The owner of a small business in Bellambi called me in a bit of a panic because the Windows 8 computer that they used to
run their day to day business suddenly wasn't starting anymore. The business was located just off Memorial Dr in Bellambi
a few minutes north of Wollongong.
He brought his computer around to my workshop and it turned out to be just a problem with his power supply, which is commonly
the cause when a PC isn't booting up at all and pressing the power button on the tower does nothing. I replaced the power supply
with a new one that I had in stock and had the computer fixed and up and running again within about half an hour while the customer waited.
Upgraded Windows XP Workstations to Windows 10 for Small Business in Unanderra - Wollongong Computer Upgrades
January 2016
A small construction business located in Unanderra, Vision Patios & Enclosures, is located on Prince Of Wales
Avenue Unanderra NSW and has been a corporate client of mine for many years. I setup their original office
LAN (Local Area Network) over a decade ago which consisted of a Microsoft Windows 2000 server for managing
tasks such as user account management, file and printer sharing, and a handful of Microsoft Windows XP workstations
used by staff to run the day to day business using accounting software, Microsoft Office software such as MS Word and
Excel, browse the internet and send/receive email.
Since then I've been maintaining every aspect of their corporate network, including repairing computer issues
with both hardware and software, configuring wifi networks and routers, resolving internet connectivity issues,
virus and spyware removal to fix "pop-up windows that just started appearing", and occasional data recovery when
data was corrupted due to software errors or hardware issues with a physical hard drive, USB stick or other attached media.
They recently decided to update all workstation PCs to Windows 10 and upgrade all physical boxes with extra
RAM and faster CPUs to handle the demands of running new software or having multiple applications open at the
same time without the computer running slowly or freezing due to maxing out the CPU or running out of memory.
Over the course of a week I upgraded the each computer's hardware with additional memory and a faster CPU, and
updated the operating system of each PC from Windows XP to Windows 10. I upgraded each computer one at a time
to minimise the impact on Vision's day to day operations.
Before updating each computer I backed up all of the data on the hard drives and made a ghost image of each
machine's state to ensure all data was safe and that the data and software could be completely recovered if necessary.
After successfully updating each PC's operating system to Windows 10 and installing the extra RAM and processor,
I reinstalled and tested all required software to check compatibility with the new operating system. Once all
software was working correctly on the local computer I reconnected it back to the corporate local network, connected
it to the internet and gave a brief training session to each user on how to navigate around and use Windows 10 to
perform the same tasks they used to on Windows XP, e.g. running accounting software, sending email and browsing the internet.