Free computer clinic offered now at senior center

The law of entropy demands that everything decays over time, and that is just as true in the computer world as it is in the natural world. Computers start off new and shiny, but eventually they start slowing down until it’s time to retire them to the landfill. 
But thanks to the computer expertise of Jim Hurley and Mike Zkiab, residents of Weston County can get a few more years out of their machines — at no charge. 
Hurley and Zkiab have been hosting a computer clinic every Monday from 1 to 3 p.m. since June 20 in the family room at the Weston County Senior Center, where they will work on anyone’s computer for free. 
“There will be someone there to answer questions about problems you are having with a PC or applications on your computer. You can bring a laptop or desktop to the clinic to have it checked out. If you have a desktop computer, all you need to bring is the main computer box,” a flyer with information about the clinic says. 
They have already helped out the senior center by updating the three computers in the family room and five staff computers, a project funded by Pinnacle Bank, to help them operate faster. 
Anyone who has issues with a computer that is running slowly, needs an upgrade or has a virus, Hurley and Zkiab can do the job. Even being locked out of your computer due to a forgotten password is not beyond their expertise.  They can simply remove the old password and help reset it.
Sometimes, if the computer needs more work than the two-hour time frame allows, they’ll take the computers home to work on them, especially if the device is full of junk that needs to be cleared. 
“That stuff isn’t hard, but it’s very time consuming. It works as fast as the computer,” Zkiab said. 
Their area of expertise is PCs and Androids, so they are hoping to find someone knowledgeable in Apple products to expand their service abilities. 
“We’d like to have somebody who knows something about Apples or iPhones,” Hurley said. 
With his knowledge of the Android system, Hurley can also help issues with tablets and phones, in addition to computers.
Hurley encourages people to switch their computer’s operating software over to Linux because it is a free, “very well-maintained” system that comes with free operations. He explained that Windows 10 is supposed to be supported until 2025, but most of the machines people bring in only support up to Windows 7. 
“(Linux) is the free version I recommend — I would encourage them to transition from Windows 7 to Linux,” Hurley said. “We can do that for you too. We can upgrade your machine.”
Hurley said it is just as easy for him to switch from Windows 7 to Linux as it is to Windows 10; however, he also said he can do both types of upgrades for people. He keeps a Windows 10 machine at home so that he can help people whose computers operate with that software.
Local computer specialist Jane Capps has always loved computers and said she wanted to try Linux but didn’t have the time or resources to install it. Hurley helped Capps dual boot Linux and Windows, so she can still access all her old files from Microsoft. 
“(Linux) is considered a lighter program and doesn’t use as much memory,” Capps said. “It looks like Microsoft Windows, but it is faster, which is important on an old computer.”
She’s looking forward to experimenting with Linux and appreciates the work of Hurley and Zkiab volunteering their time. 
“They’re very friendly–anyone can come in and talk to them,” Capps said. “I hope they continue to do this.”
Both Hurley and Zkiab say they enjoy working on computers because it helps them exercise their minds. Their interest in computers developed years ago when they served in the military. 
Zkiab served in the U.S. Air Force, where he worked on IBM 360s — a mainframe computer introduced in 1964. He also dealt with information and computer security on different types of circuits in the network operation centers for the command. He retired out of Cheyenne, where he was working in the missile defense system. 
Zkiab was living in Colorado when he decided to move to Newcastle in November because it is a “tremendously better place to live than Colorado Springs.” 
Hurley’s love for Wyoming is also what brought him to Newcastle. Hurley joined the U.S. Navy in 1958 and learned the computer system for missiles. After his naval career, he worked in the engineering department of Pacific Telephone in California. 
While there, he became a time-share coordinator, and every job he had involved computer programming, including helping the installation of a switching class system. 
When he retired, Hurley moved to Laramie for 12 years, until he relocated to Washington state because of his wife’s Alzheimer’s disease to be closer to their daughter. There, he got involved with the computer club, SEQUIM PC Users group. 

After his wife passed away, Hurley said he wanted to get out of Washington and return to Wyoming, so he moved to Newcastle in July 2021.
He began attending the cinnamon roll sessions at the senior center, which is how he eventually met Zkiab. They discovered their mutual interest in computers, and the idea for the computer clinic started. 
Helping out at the senior center isn’t something new for Hurley, however. His computer club in Washington had a similar program, and he wanted to continue that in his new home. 
“I really enjoyed doing that back there. It keeps my mind active,” Hurley said. “There weren’t any resources like that in (this) community.” 
“It’s a way to help people. The more you help people, the more you learn too,” Zkiab said.