Start from your symptom
It's really slow
Usually the hard drive rather than age, and usually fixable for far less than a new machine.
It won't turn on
Normally the charger, battery or power supply. Your files are almost certainly fine.
Windows won't start
Stuck on a logo, looping, or an error instead of the desktop. Rarely means your files are gone.
It's making noises
Clicking or grinding means act now. Fan noise doesn't. Knowing which matters enormously.
My files are missing
Often recoverable, but only until something overwrites them. Stop using the drive first.
Blue screen crashes
The stop code on screen is the diagnosis. Here's what each one points at.
Internet or Wi-Fi trouble
Your computer, your router, or your provider? Two minutes to tell them apart.
Printer won't print
Usually the connection or a stuck queue, not the printer itself.
What this actually does
It asks you a short series of plain-language questions: what happens when you press the power button, what you see on screen, when the trouble started, and narrows sixty-odd possible faults down to the likely one. Then it gives you steps to try yourself.
No account, no email address, nothing to install. It runs entirely in your browser and we don't see your answers unless you choose to send them to us. If the fix turns out to be something you can run yourself, that is what Rightek Rescue is for.
You can hand the result to someone else
At the end you get a written summary: the questions you answered, the likely cause, and the recommended steps. You can copy it, email it, or copy the link: the web address updates as you go, so sending it to somebody drops them on exactly the result you were looking at.
That's deliberate. Plenty of people working through this are doing it on behalf of a parent three provinces away, or want to hand something concrete to their own technician rather than "it's being weird again". You don't have to be in Edmonton, and you don't have to use us.
When to stop and just ask
Two situations where you shouldn't work through a decision tree: if the drive is clicking or grinding, power the machine off now. That's mechanical failure and every minute costs you files. And if there's a burning smell or visible scorching, stop entirely.
Otherwise, take your time. Nothing here can make the problem worse.
Why it asks what it asks
Most computer problems look identical from the outside. A machine that won’t reach the desktop could be a failing drive, a corrupted Windows install, a bad update, or a loose power connector: four completely different jobs, at four completely different prices. Guessing wrong is what turns a $50 diagnostic into a $400 recovery.
So the questions start broad and narrow fast. What happens when you press the power button separates a power fault from a boot fault in one step. Whether you reach a logo, an error, or nothing at all splits the boot faults again. When it started, and what changed just before, usually settles the rest.
The result names the likely cause in plain language, tells you what to try first, and, importantly, tells you when trying anything at all is the wrong move. On a drive that’s clicking, every extra minute of power is more of your data gone. That answer sends you to data recovery and nowhere else.
It costs nothing and we don’t want your email
There’s no sign-up, no address to hand over, and nothing to install. It runs in your browser, and your answers never leave the page unless you press the button that sends them to us. If the answer you get is “this is a ten-minute fix you can do yourself”, that’s the answer: go and do it.
We built it because most of the calls we take are people describing a symptom and asking whether it’s worth fixing. That conversation should be free and it should be honest, whether or not it ends with us doing the work. If it does, you’ll arrive knowing roughly what the job is and roughly what it costs: see pricing for the flat rates.
MORE SYMPTOMS
Other things that go wrong.
Each one explains the likely cause, what to try free, and what it costs if it needs us.
Laptop won’t charge
Charger, port or battery, three different repairs, three different prices.
Running hot, fan always loud
Dust and dried thermal paste. It gets worse on its own and slows the machine first.
On, but the screen is black
Different fault from a dead machine. A torch test tells you which in seconds.
No sound at all
Usually the output device or a driver replaced by an update. Rarely hardware.
USB or external drive not seen
If the files matter, what you do in the next ten minutes decides the outcome.
Email stopped working
Endless password prompts, sending fails, messages missing. Nearly always fixable remotely.
Not sure what you need?
Call and describe it. Quotes are free.