UPCOMING EVENTS AND COMPUTER NEWS!

ProTech Computers has moved to a new location!
After 2 short years at our recent locale, we have finally purchased and own our own building (paid rent for decades!). We are now open for business at 900 Horton Street (the old Davis Insurance building) with our sister store Divine Sanctuary. IMPORTANT! Our new store hours will be 10AM to 5PM M-F and 10AM to 1PM SAT, Closed SUN. Thank you for all your years of support!

NEWS FLASH! The Option to Subscribe for another year of Windows 10 Support is now Available in the Windows Update Section of "Settings". If your PC is up-to-date, you will see an option to ENROLL NOW in the Extended Support Segment (see image below). You don't have to go out and buy a new Windows 11 computer...just yet! Options are to pay $30 if you have a onedrive account on your PC it's free! Microsoft Rewards users can fork out 1000 points to get the one year, too.

RECYCLE or TRADE-IN YOUR WINDOWS 10 COMPUTERS HERE! If you are eager to move to a new, Windows 11 computer, be sure to dispose of your old Windows 10 (or older) computer responsibly. The owners of ProTech Computers have been recycling computers and electronics for over 25 years and will ensure that your drives are wiped clean and your computers are recycled, not wasted. See the end of column 2 for more information. We also take trade-ins! Get your top dollar trade-in value here. When other stores won't give you $10 for your 5-8 year old PC, we often pay $25-$50 or more!

DON'T WANT WINDOWS 11? WE'LL RELOAD YOUR COMPUTER WITH WINDOWS 10! Only $45 gets you the operating system you want - and we'll save your user data if you have any stored. (You will have to reinstall your printers and extra programs that you may have put on the PC). You don't have to struggle with the radically revised, confusing user interface of Windows 11. Drop off in the morning...pick up in the afternoon!

COMPUTER NEWS!  Scammers are still getting people to call them and let them take control of their computers!
They are still using the old "Fake Alert" website redirect. If you know about this problem and haven't shared the warning with all your Social Media friends and contacts, please take time to do so. Only through a significant campaign of information sharing will we be able to finally defeat the "Microsoft Support" scammers and put them out of business. If you don't know about it, it works like this: You're surfing the web and you go to click on a link and all of a sudden your screen is filled with flashing and active windows telling you your PC is infected and you need to call Microsoft Support at a given phone number to get help. Only it's not really Microsoft at all...it's scammers - mostly in India - willing to resort to outright lies, fraud and fake images to get you to sign up for a $400 a year service. How did this happen? They employ a robot army of computers scouring the internet looking for websites they can hack into and change those links to "re-directs" to send you to their website, which is what you see on the screen (but it's not in your computer - you are not infected!) You think you can't get out of it, but you really can! Here's 4 easy ways to escape the "Fake Alert Kidnappers":

1. Hit the start key on your keyboard (lower left with a window icon on it between ctrl and alt). This usually brings up your start menu and - brings back your taskbar that they covered up. If that doesn't work, hold the ESC key down for a few seconds. This should pop you out of the "full-screen mode" they put your browser into. Once out of full-screen mode you can easily click the real red X in the browser app's upper right corner to close it - then tell the subsequent pop-up that appears that "YES", you want to leave this page. Good-bye alarms!
2. Option 1 not working? You can always just shut down or restart the computer. If you can't get a taskbar and use the red X to close out or use the windows key to restart, press and hold the ctrl and alt keys then press the delete key and on the options screen that pops up, go over to the lower right and click on the power icon then tell it to either shut down or restart. When you boot up again, the fake alerts are gone.
3. Those not working for you? If you have a laptop and a good battery, and you're near our store and we're open, just bring it in and we'll help you get the fake alert off your screen.
4. Last resort: force the computer off. If you have no work you need to save and nothing else is working, just hold the power button in for as long as necessary (in some cases up to 15 seconds) to get the computer to shut off. If you're using a tower you can also just pull the plug if that's not working.

The important thing to know is your computer is not infected like they say it is and the stuff you see on the screen is not permanent. It's just a website, doing it's thing.  And it is NOT Microsoft! Now, let your friends and associates know about this. Spread the news!

END OF SUPPORT : OCTOBER 14, 2025. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO KEEP USING WINDOWS 10 SAFELY? A company called OPatch (that's zero-patch) offers complete and competent extended support for Windows 10 Users for up to 5 years for about $28 per year (www.0patch.com - that's a zero in front of patch). Also, Microsoft will be offering extended support to end users for one year for $30. Not sure about any more years after that. You can also TRADE IT IN and get your best value at ProTech Computers, of course! Or, if it's really old, please consider RECYCLING it at ProTech Computers. And, we can upgrade most computers made after 2012 to Windows 11 for you, as long as they have fast processors, 8GB of RAM and a Solid-State Storage Drive (SSD). Whatever you do, please do not throw the computer into the trash.

* * PLEASE NOTE: We are not the ProTech PC company that sells computers on Amazon. They can be reached by messaging through Amazon. We do not know their phone number. Thank you!

* NEW FOR 2026: Effective March 1, 2026, our service rates are increasing (for the first time in 18 years!) to $80 per hour minimum charge 1/2 hour ($40).  Our trip fee charge for onsite service is also increasing to $20 (so minimum onsite is $60.)

NOW OFFERING OUR UNIQUE "Lock, Stock & Barrel" DATA TRANSFER SERVICE! This is a method of getting 100% of your stuff (including settings, wallpaper, browser settings, printers, programs and - of course - your data) from your old computer to a new (or newer) computer. Our $90 fee ($60 with approved trade-in) requires that your computer has Windows 10 or 11 on it, that both computers are "home" or "pro",  and that the amount of stuff you have on the old computer can fit onto the new computer's storage drive. We charge $120 for this service for Windows 7 computers (we have to upgrade them to 10 first) and for moving a "Professional" installation to what was a "Home" computer (we have to re-activate the Pro with a new license). If your new computer storage drive needs to be larger, we can do that, too, by cloning your drive to a larger drive.

CAN'T UPGRADE YOUR WINDOWS 10 PC TO WINDOWS 11? We can - or there's no charge! Microsoft tells you your computer can't run Windows 11 but you really don't want to buy a new computer? We have the know-how to upgrade it for just $40. In rare cases where we discover your PC is incompatible with Windows 11 there is no charge.

YES! WE ARE A COMPUTER STORE!

From a Basic Refurbished Tower or Laptop to a brand-new state-of-the-art Windows 10 Gaming Computer, you'll find a full range of computer goodness in our well-stocked computer store!
We stock (and if it's not in stock we'll get it fast):

- New & Used Tower PCs & Notebooks - Available with Windows 7, 8.1, 10 and 11!
- Intel & AMD Microprocessors & a Variety of CPU Cooling Fans
- Graphics Cards from GT 710 to RTX 4070 & More!
- Desktop & Laptop Memory: SDR, DDR1, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4 & DDR5!
- Motherboards: Socket 775, 1150, 1151, 1200, 1700, FM1, FM2, AM2, AM3, AM4, AM5
- Empty Cases & Fans: Slim, Mini-ITX, MicroATX, ATX and "GAMER"!
- Power Supplies: Older Used + New 300, 400, 500, 650, 750, 850, 1000 & 1200
- Drives: SSD - 2.5" & M.2 to 4TB, HDD - 2.5 & 3.5 160GB - 2TB, DVD, BD
- Network: Cards, Cables, Supplies, Switches, WiF/BT Adapters, Routers
- Tower Accessories: LED Case Fans, Card Readers, I/O Cards, Controllers
- Notebook Accy's: AC Adapters, Some Batteries, Carry Cases, Wipes
- Accessories: Wireless & Wired Keyboards & Mice, Mousepads, Adapters
- Monitors: New & Used Flatscreens from 19" 4:3 to 27" Widescreen
- Speakers: Many good quality used, some new and a bit of Bluetooth.
- External Hard Drives from 500GB to 4TB & External DVD-RW Drives
- Software: Windows Operating Systems - XP, 7, 8.1, 10 & 11, Office 2010SE, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 Pro
- Media: Flash Drives, MicroSD & SD Cards, Blank CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R
- Tools: Tool Kits, Drive Duplicators, External USB HDD Adapters, More!
- Video Cables & Adapters: VGA, HDMI & Display Port in Many Forms.
- Supplies: Canned Air, Screen Cleaner, Office Paper, Thermal Compound
- And more! Stop in and check out our selection soon!

TOP-NOTCH SERVICE WITH 30+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE!

We Clean-up, Tune-up, Repair, Upgrade, Downgrade, Load & Re-Load!  With our experience, we like to think we have an edge up on the big-box stores, delivering the kind of top-notch, knowledgeable, expert service and advice that only seasoned veterans of the industry can.  All work is done in-house. For notebooks, we replace screens, broken plastics, bad hinges, touchpads, DVD drives, keyboards, broken ports and motherboards. We upgrade notebooks with more RAM, bigger hard drives and - where possible - faster CPUs (unfortunately, the industry has been switching to soldered-in CPUs so this applies to older machines). For towers, we replace and upgrade pretty much everything. We upgrade Windows 7 and 8.1 machines to Windows 10 (or 11, if compatible). At ProTech Computers - it is almost always cheaper to fix your computer than to buy a new one! (although sometimes it's just more fun to buy a new one...we get that!).

RECYCLING - WE'VE DONE IT FOR OVER 25 YEARS!
We recycle electronics to help spare our landfills! Simply bring your old and/or unwanted computers, computer parts, empty ink or toner cartridges, or monitors to our store during normal business hours! We will remove the hard drives and wipe them clean for FREE! We also accept VCRs, DVD players, stereos, microwave ovens, toaster ovens, tablets, phones, cords & cables for actual materials recycling. Flat-screen monitors and Flat-screen TVs (no size limit) are free, but we do charge a $5 fee for printers and a $10 fee to recycle CRT (think big, heavy, glass tube) monitors & TVs (maximum size 32" for CRTs & no consoles, please).  PLEASE NOTE: We will not accept major appliances, household batteries, or any item that we deem too dirty, greasy or foul smelling, or badly leaking ink, toner or toxins.
NOTICE: We do not accept large copiers, household batteries or lightbulbs, and large appliances. (hint: if it takes 2 people to pick it up, we probably won't take it).