My Account
More than 20 years of experience in selling and servicing computers is behind a new information technology business that has opened at Stanmore Bay.
IT @ Home & Business is located at 689 Whangaparaoa Road, behind the Pizza Hut, and is owned and operated by Richard Larsen.
Richard grew up on a sheep and beef farm at Kaiwaka, and his first experience with computers was operating farm accountancy software in the late 1980s. He went on to sell the software before moving into repairing computers.
He operated a computer store in Warkworth for a number of years, before health issues forced him to take a break.
“I’ve been working from home for the past two-and-a-half years, but the business has grown and I needed dedicated premises,” he says.
Richard is selling new and secondhand PCs, and ex-lease Macs, as well as printers and other hardware. On the repair side, he says he can take on most jobs but is specialising in computer security and back-up solutions. He can also oversee large office installations.
“I work five days a week, but in truth, if a business has an urgent problem, I’m available seven days a week.”
In terms of computer security, Richard recommends Eset Nod 32 as he believes it is one of the best in the world.
“It can detect malware by its signature before it gets anywhere near your computer. It will warn you if you land on a dodgy website, which you can chose to over-ride if you like.”
Richard says he can’t stress enough the importance of backing up and security.
“Some people have thousands of photos or videos on their computers, which would be irreplaceable if they were lost. That’s the sort of thing I try to get people to think about.
“There is so much malicious software out there in terms of worms, trojans, ransomware, spyware and bots. They can self-replicate and spread quickly through a person’s contact list, and I can’t stress enough that people have to do their best to keep themselves safe.”
