Tech Week,Before the fix

By Mickeydan Kioko

The Week Before the Fix

You know that feeling when your laptop starts acting up? That little sigh you let out when the fan gets louder than the lecture hall, or when the “Activate Windows” or problem notifications watermark just won’t go away. Right now, across Chuka University, that feeling is everywhere. It’s in the hostels, hostels, the library, the lecture halls. It’s a shared, unspoken problem.

But next week, from the 13th to the 17th October, that problem gets a solution. The sigh will turn into a breath of fresh air. This is the Chuka university chapter, and it’s the 6th edition of laptop service week.

This event will be hosted by Zayre gadgets. But this time they are not alone, they are in partnership with other club,(techno science club, clubs of Rotaract Chuka, if Chuka university, AIESEC, INOVA Branding, Pink Hub, Power Learn Project, Six Code Africa Chuka chapter, Campus Review[CR], Kool Laundry).

Services to be offered

There will be free laptop skins for the first 100 laptops.

Come Monday, they will be activating licenses left and right. They will be solving the Activate Windows 7,8,9,10,11 problems that have been plaguing so many. They will be installing the fresh, legitimate copies of Ms office so essays format perfectly. For those wanting a powerful, clean start, they will be setting up systems with Windows 10 pro + Office 2021 or the latest Windows 11 pro + Offices 2021.

And they won’t just be sticking to the usual. They will be guiding curious students through Linux, ubuntu installations with the techno science club on the other hand to answer all those beginner questions. They will be loading up machines with all essential IDEs for the programs and the latest Graphic Design software for the artists, with the Digital Arts Alliance providing recommendations. Their screens will be flashing with progress bars one after another.

Next week, they will be also performing I call” laptop survey”. Their main mission will be to reduce overheating, they will be popping open cases and gently blowing out dust that’s been building up for years. They will be carefully cleaning and lubricating fans until they are whisper quiet again. They will be fixing those groaning hinges and meticulously unchanging keyboards from past spills.

They are also hardware gurus. So, while they are at it, they will be looking at custom PCs checking out those various cases, troubleshooting graphics cords like AMD RX 580 or NVIDIA 3060, and getting those RGB fans to light up properly again, which is a special interest for Gaming and Esports Clubs, and for anyone wondering, they will be giving out a rough valuation too.

While I was interviewing Robin (an employee at Zayre Gadgets), he told me that this time they are offering something different. They will not only be offering services like the previous tech weeks, this time they will also educate people on tech and anything involving tech gudgets.So students are expected to come with a lot of questions, enquiring about tech and also attend the event so that they can learn more about tech.

Problem that is likely to be faced during the event

One main problem that is likely to be face is: Apparently the duration set by the university for temporary gate pass is up and some students may have a need to come over but since they haven’t acquired permanent gate pass,they will not afford to pave way therefore affecting the attendance.

Right now, it’s all potential. But in a few days, this place will be humming. Students will be walking in with their ailing machines, guided by volunteers from all the clubs working together. They will be leaving not just with a fixed laptop, but with a weight lifted. That law students will be submitting their briefs without a watermark. That engineer’s laptop will be running cool, silent during their big project. That designers will be typing on a clean, responsive keyboard again. That media students and any other individual can do their work without worries.

The poster is up with all partners tagged. The contact for enquires 0719820819 is going to be buzzing. They have done this five times before, but this collaboration energy is new. Also, for those who need to know about the clubs that have partnered with Zayre in order to make this event successful. People from these clubs will be available to attend to you incase of any enquiries about the club you would like to join. They will include: Jakes from Kool Laundry, Robin from Zaye Gadgets, Gift from AIESEC, Sherry from Pink Hub, Lameck from Techno Science Club ,Dennis Elvis from Campus Review among others.

So, if your laptop is one of the ones sighing right now, just know it doesn’t have to be. Next week its comeback story starts. And this whole team of campus experts cannot wait to help write it.