Computer Setup in Clive, IA 

A new computer works out of the box. Getting your files, photos, email, and printer onto it is the part that eats an afternoon. That's the part I do.

What a New Computer Setup Includes

The machine turns on and shows you a welcome screen. Everything after that is the actual job, and it's usually four hours you weren't planning on. Here's what gets done.

Your files, photos, and email moved across

This is the part people worry about, and rightly. Documents, the photo library, browser bookmarks, saved passwords, and email that has to keep working on the old machine right up until it works on the new one. If you're going Mac to Mac, Migration Assistant handles most of it and I'll run it with you rather than leave you guessing at the prompts. Windows to Windows is a more manual job, and nothing gets deleted from the old computer until you've seen it arrive on the new one.

Clearing out what came preinstalled

You paid for a fast computer. Then it boots slowly, and nobody warns you why. Manufacturers ship these machines loaded. Trial software you didn't ask for, a second antivirus quietly wrestling the one Windows already includes, and a handful of programs that decide to launch themselves every time you turn the thing on. Twenty minutes clears it out.

Accounts, passwords, and the Microsoft sign-in

Windows 11 pushes hard toward signing in with a Microsoft account, and this is where more setups stall than anywhere else. People either don't have one or can't get into the one they created years ago. Same story with the Apple ID on a new Mac. Sorting that out is fiddly rather than difficult, and it goes faster with someone who's done it a few hundred times.

Printers, Wi-Fi, and the rest of the house

The printer, the network, whatever else in the house talks to your computer. If the Wi-Fi has been a problem for a while, that's a separate conversation and worth having.

Haven't Bought It Yet? Call First

I don't sell computers and I don't source them, which means I've no reason to point you at one machine over another. That makes the pre-purchase call more useful than the one you'll get in a store.

Ten minutes on the phone covers whether the machine you're looking at suits what you actually do with a computer, whether your current one is genuinely finished or just needs something small, and what the store is likely to add on at the counter. It costs nothing and you're under no obligation to book anything afterwards.

Before You Replace a Windows 10 Machine

Most people shopping right now are shopping for one reason. Windows 10 stopped getting its regular security updates in October 2025 and the message on screen has been nudging ever since. Hold off a moment, though. That deadline has since moved.

In June, Microsoft added a second year to the consumer Extended Security Updates programme. An enrolled Windows 10 machine keeps receiving critical and important security patches until October 12, 2027. Enrolling needs version 22H2, and one of the three routes costs nothing at all.

So there may be no rush. On the free call I'll check whether your existing computer can take Windows 11, whether enrolling buys you the year you need, or whether it really is time. If the old machine is worth keeping but not behaving, that's a repair conversation rather than a purchase.

Remote Setup or Drop It Off in Clive

Two ways this happens, and which one depends on the job. There are no house calls either way, and I'd rather say that here than after you've booked.

Remote works when both computers are on your home network and switched on. You open the software, it shows a code, you read that code to me, and until you do I have no way in. Your screen stays on and you watch every click. For a straightforward move of files, accounts, and printers, that's usually the whole thing.

Drop-off suits a bigger migration, an old machine that won't boot properly, or anything needing hands on hardware. You bring both computers here to Clive, 50325. Urbandale, Windsor Heights, West Des Moines, Johnston, and Waukee are all a short drive.

What Computer Setup Costs and How Long It Takes

The consultation is free and commits you to nothing.

Basic support is $30 for the first hour and $25 for every hour after that, which covers most setups: transfer, cleanup, accounts, printers, and getting your devices talking to each other. A typical new computer setup runs two to four hours depending on how much data is moving and how fast the old machine is.

Advanced support starts at $99 for the first hour and $30 an hour after, plus parts. That's for recovery from a failed or failing old computer, or work that goes deeper than a standard setup.

Whichever applies, you'll hear it before I start rather than after.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Files, photos, bookmarks, saved passwords, and email, yes. Programs are different. Most software has to be reinstalled rather than copied, and I'll tell you what needs a licence key or a fresh download before we start so there are no surprises.

  • Yes, and it stays working on the old machine until the new one is confirmed. Webmail is straightforward. An older desktop mail program with years of archived messages takes longer, so mention it on the call.

  • Two to four hours for most setups. A large photo library or a slow old drive pushes it out, and you'll get a realistic estimate on the free call rather than a hopeful one.

  • Yes, and it's free. I don't sell hardware, so the advice is just advice.

  • Keep it until the new one has been running for a couple of weeks. When you're ready to let it go, the drive still holds everything you ever did on it, so wiping it properly is the standard step before it leaves your hands, and pulling the drive out is the alternative if you'd rather keep it. Most metro electronics recyclers take machines free of charge. Ask me on the call and I'll walk you through the safest route for your situation.

  • Yes. Mac to Mac, Windows to Windows, and Windows to Mac, which is the fiddliest of the three and the one most worth handing over.

    Tell Me What You've Bought

    Three things make the first call quick. What the new machine is, what the old one is, and roughly how much has to come across.