Home Visit Computer Repair in Portobello, Edinburgh
We come to you — computer repairs at your home or office in Portobello
Home Visits in Portobello: Repairs, New Computers and a Proper Set-Up
Portobello is on the opposite side of Edinburgh from our workshop, and getting a desktop tower, a screen and a printer from Bath Street or Joppa across the city is nobody’s idea of a good morning. So for Portobello we come to you. A home visit is also the best way to do the jobs that are not really repairs at all: getting a household properly set up.
The classic one is a new computer. The old machine holds years of photos, a mailbox, saved passwords, a printer that finally works and a few programs nobody remembers installing. Moving all of that across, and making the new machine feel like the old one on a good day, needs the two side by side. It is far easier at your own desk, with your own broadband and your own printer, than anywhere else.
Portobello houses add a wrinkle of their own. Many are Georgian and Victorian villas and terraces over two or three floors, or flats above the High Street, with the broadband coming in at the front door and the desk at the top of the house. We set the computer up where it will actually be used, check the connection reaches it, and make sure the printer, the backup drive and everyone’s phones and tablets can still find each other afterwards.
And we take our time over the handover. You are shown where your files went, how the backup runs and what the new sign-in means, in plain language, and a short written summary of what was set up stays with you.
🏠 What Portobello home visits are usually for: moving everything from an old computer to a new one, setting up email, printers and backups, getting a signal to the top floor, desktops and all-in-ones that are awkward to move, and unhurried help with a machine that has become confusing.
What's Included
What a home visit in Portobello covers, from a single fault to a whole household set-up.
Everything Moved Across
Documents, photos, music, email, bookmarks and saved passwords are transferred from the old computer to the new one, and we go through the list with you before the old machine is switched off.
Email and Accounts Working
Mailboxes, calendars and the accounts you sign in with are set up on the new machine, including the old messages that most often go missing in a move.
A Backup That Runs Itself
We set up a backup to an external drive or to the cloud and show you how to tell it has worked, so the photos never depend on one computer again.
Printer and Wi-Fi Set Up
The printer, the scanner and the Wi-Fi are connected and tested from the room where the computer lives, not just from beside the router.
Shown, Not Just Fixed
We go through what has changed at your pace and leave a short written summary. Questions over the following days are welcome.
The Old Computer Dealt With
Once you are happy, the old drive can be securely wiped and the machine taken away for recycling, or kept as a spare if it still has life in it.
Getting a New Computer? Three Things to Do First
A little preparation makes the move quicker and stops anything going missing.
Find the passwords before the day
The email password, and the Microsoft or Apple account the old computer signs in with, are what hold up most moves. If you cannot find them, tell us beforehand. An account can usually be recovered, but it can take longer than the visit.
Do not wipe or sell the old one yet
Keep the old computer exactly as it is until everything has been checked on the new one. If you would rather try the move yourself first, our guide to transferring files from an old PC to a new one sets out the safe ways to do it.
Not sure the old one needs replacing?
A slow computer is not always a finished one, and a new drive or more memory can give a sound machine years more use. Our repair or replace guide helps you decide, and we are happy to look at the old machine before you buy another.
Other Services in Portobello
We offer a full range of computer repair services across the Portobello area.
Home Visit Computer Repair in Nearby Areas
We also cover home visit computer repair across these neighbouring areas — same-day collection and return available across all of them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Portobello and Joppa customers ask before a home visit.
Call, send a WhatsApp message or use the booking page. Tell us what you need done, whether that is one fault or a new computer to set up, and we will agree a time and give you a clear quote first.
Portobello is in our core Edinburgh area, so visits can often be arranged within a day or two, and same-day times are sometimes available. A new computer set-up is best booked ahead, so that we can allow enough time to do it without rushing.
All of EH15: Portobello High Street and the streets down to the Promenade, Brighton Place, Bath Street, Abercorn Terrace, Joppa, Mountcastle, Duddingston Park and Brunstane. We also cover neighbouring Craigentinny, Willowbrae and Musselburgh.
It depends on how much there is. A modest collection of documents and photos copies across during the visit. A very full drive takes longer, and the copy may be finished at the workshop and the machine brought back. We tell you which it will be once we have seen the old computer.
Yes, in almost every case. Photos and documents copy directly. Email depends on how it was set up: mail kept with the provider reappears once the account is added, while mail stored only on the old computer has to be exported and brought across, which we do.
Often, yes. If the drive itself is healthy we can read it from another machine and copy the files to the new computer. If the drive has failed, it becomes a data recovery job at the workshop, and we will tell you honestly what the chances are before any work is done.
Yes, and gladly. We explain what we are doing without jargon, set things up so that the everyday jobs are simple, and leave a short written summary. There is no such thing as a silly question on a home visit.
That is up to you. We can wipe the drive securely and take the machine for recycling, wipe it and leave it with you to pass on, or leave it untouched as a spare. Nothing is erased until you have confirmed that the new one has everything.