Computer Courage is proud to announce that we were ranked the number one “Computer Services” company in the East Bay and the number four company in the whole Bay Area in SFGate.com’s “Best of the Bay List“.

See the results page here.  The top 3 companies are all San Francisco based, as you can see.

This list is completely vote-based, which means you guys made this happen!

Computer Courage has always been dedicated to providing outstanding customer service.  That’s what got us our great yelp reviews.  I’d like to thank everyone who voted for us and express our humility and appreciation.  Word of mouth has always been critical to our success.  Thank you!

Computer Courage has been recommending AVG Free Anvitivirus for years, but alas the times have changed.  We are crowning a new king of the free consumer antivirus world, and it comes from Microsoft (of all companies).  Computer Courage now recommends Microsoft Security Essentials for most home users.  It’s free, fast, and very effective.  If you want to learn more, or make an appointment to have a Computer Courage technician look at your PC and consult with you directly, please contact us.

Here’s how to switch from AVG Free Edition to Microsoft Security Essentials (also free).  Further explanation of why we recommend switching is below.

1. Uninstall AVG Free Edition.  You can do this by going to your Control Panel, then “Add/Remove Programs”.  Select “AVG Free Edition” from the list and click Remove.
2. You may need to reboot the computer after this.
3. Next, download and run the AVG Remover.  You can get it here.  This cleans out all traces of AVG from your system.
4. Now download and install Microsoft Security Essentials from here.  The install couldn’t be simpler.  Be sure to let it do a full scan after it installs.

Here’s more details about why we recommend Microsoft Security Essentials.

Free antivirus may sound “too good to be true”, but it’s not.  For years, companies like Avira and AVG have been giving out free antivirus to consumers.  How do they do it?  Usually, free antivirus exists as a “gateway” to get you to buy more expensive products such as internet security suites (which we don’t recommend for most consumers).  Instead of spending money on advertising, or on getting trial software preloaded on new PCs, some antivirus makers found that offering free basic protection to millions allowed them to sell expensive “enhanced” protection to tens of thousands.

This model is fine, but AVG has gone too far with it.  Starting with version 9, the product which was once lightweight and simple has become overburdened with unnecessary and slowing features.  Where AVG used to gently recommend a paid version of their product, they now push the paid version too aggressively, with questionable tactics such as unnecessarily complicated upgrades which often confuse the user into paying.

The good news is, Microsoft has released a free antivirus, and it’s different.  Microsoft is not trying to sell you an upgraded version, they are simply protecting the reputation of their operating system.  Their new product is fast and lightweight, without the popups, system drain, and confusion that bogs down other free and paid antivirus programs. It works exceedingly well.  While the world of antivirus changes from month to month, we’re happy to recommend Microsoft Security Essentials as the optimum choice for most home users (for now).

The little computer repair company that could is growing up!  Thanks to the tireless efforts of our office manager Beth, we now have the ability to process credit cards – Visa and Mastercard.  We can take credit card payments for all of our services – computer repair, web design, and IT consulting.   If you have any questions, let us know or ask in the comments below.

Not wanting to be left out, Computer Courage has joined twitter.  You can follow our blog entries, site launches, random rants, and web design ideas over at http://twitter.com/computercourage.  If you have questions about Twitter or other social networking tools, search engine optimization, web development, computer repair in the San Francisco Bay Area, etc., just contact Computer Courage anytime.

(Update – The response to our yelp request has been fabulous – 2 days later we have 19 5 star reviews – thanks everyone – this is a wonderful response.)

This is a quick message to our base of loyal customers and supporters, reminding you that if you are satisfied with our service, there’s a quick and easy way to help us grow.  Our first two years have been an absolute pleasure.  We’ve been able to help people and businesses use their computers effectively, boost their business with websites, and get help in computer emergencies.  Our customers have always been our first priority; as you know we really value the human interactions and the personal side of computing – we love to help people and to resolve problems.

Over the last few years, we’ve received some really wonderful feedback.  People have been very kind to respond with feedback about our service, our technicians, our web sites, and our attention to detail.  If you’ve had a similar experience, we would love it if you would share with the world through Yelp.com (or other review sites.)  As you all know, Yelp.com is a business review site, and it’s a force that can make or break businesses in today’s economy.  In just 5 minutes, you can sign up for a Yelp account and write a review for Computer Courage.  We’ve had two wonderful reviews so far (both 5 stars, though one was inexplicably deleted by Yelp.)  In order to compete, we need more!

Our Yelp listing is at http://www.yelp.com/biz/computer-courage-berkeley.  Please give us a review when you can!

You can sign up for an account and write a Yelp review on the spot.  Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Adam Schwartz and the Computer Courage Team

Computer Courage, a computer services company in the San Francisco Bay Area, is offering this blog to customers and friends who want to stay informed about current computer issues.  Computer Courage provides IT services and computer support to home and business users, as well as web design and search engine optimization.  www.computercourage.com