Today we’re celebrating an impressive milestone—28 years in business! Founded in 1997, we quickly established ourselves as a key player in Scotland’s tech landscape; starting with sales expertise and technical support in and around the local community before expanding to help customers and businesses all over the country.
As the business marks its 28th year, we reflect on a journey that has witnessed the evolution of technology; from the early days of web development and the dreaded Y2K bug to the rise of cloud computing, AI, and beyond. The computing landscape may have changed over the years, but we’ve remained steadfast in our commitment to our core values of honesty, integrity, and customer-focused services throughout.
To celebrate this achievement, we’ve dug up some old photos from our archive that we hope some of our customers will remember and bring back fond memories.
As part of our recent switch to our new online storefront, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes on a feature we get asked about a lot; custom PC configuration via our website.
After popular demand, say hello to our all new Creative Configurator!
Available on select Arena and Studio machines, the configurator puts your choice at the heart of the system. Want a certain case to fit an aesthetic? Choose from a vast range of case options that suit your style. Need more storage or RAM? Simply add more or replace your existing option with the click of a button. We’re constantly adding new options and plan to role the configurator out to all of our builds.
For those who want a classic experience, worry not, as we’ll still be rolling out staff curated configurations across the year to cover new app and game releases. As an example you can check out our new Arena FC, a PC built to play the latest sports games including EA Sports FC 25, which was built using the Arena Royale Pro Configurator. You can check out both in the links below:
When we first started, we wanted to help people with computers. We think we’re pretty good at it, as do you…
Broken Windows
Vince had a problem with his computer, it was struggling to boot up and he wanted a few things checking: “Phoned Creative to book in my PC and they took the PC in the same day. Everything ready next Day. GREAT WORK. The staff at Creative Computing are Excellent. THANKS 5 STAR SERVICE EVERYTIME.”
Paper jam
Ms MM had a paper jam in their printer. “I had a paper jam in my printer which I couldn’t just fix myself. I took it to Creative Computing and for a small fee they got all the paper out and I was able to collect it the same day. I’ve used them for many years both for purchases and repairs and have never had a bad experience. The staff are all helpful and very knowledgeable and I always feel I’m getting good unbiased advice.”
Upgraded MacBook Pro
Marianne brought their MacBook Pro in for an upgrade and wanted as seamless a job as possible. One of our Mac technicians cloned the data from the old drive onto a new SSD.
“We had a problem with our old Macbook Pro’s hard drive. The team at Creative Computing solved the issue thus ensuring we do not need to replace the laptop just yet. It’s so much faster now and all important “stuff” was saved. We know nothing about technology so all our basic questions were handled with patience and good humour. We were never made to feel stupid. We were impressed with the prompt service and would recommend Creative Computing unreservedly.”
New gaming PC
Ms McGuire let us know her son is very happy with his new gaming PC build!
IT Support Company of the Year
During the creation of this post, we received another award, this time for IT Support Company of the Year from the CorprateLiveWire Global Awards 2023 / 2024!
A huge thank you to all our customers and partners who made this possible and to the team behind the scenes who put in an enourmous effort each and every day.
We asked our team what they’d advise a customer if they could only say one thing.
Windows 10
Just a heads up—Windows 10 support will end in October 2025, meaning no more updates from Microsoft. Computers over 6 years old won’t work with Windows 11 due to its new security features. You’ll need to upgrade, and we offer both new and refurbished devices that are compatible. Reach out for details!
Scott
Backup
Always remember the golden rule of data protection: keep three copies! We have many data recovery methods, but it’s best to prevent data loss. Use cloud services like Dropbox or Google Drive, or local solutions like Acronis for automatic backups. Consider adding an extra drive to desktop PCs or using cheap, large USB drives to back up your backups!
Chris
Solid State Drives
When it’s time to rejuvenate your aging computer, upgrading from a slow hard drive to a fast solid state drive is a brilliant idea. We’ll meticulously transfer everything from your old drive—including Windows and all your programs—to the new one. Your system will operate just like before, but with enhanced speed and responsiveness, invigorating your computing experience.
Craig
Network extension methods
Are you experiencing poor WIFI reception in your home? Fortunately, there are numerous solutions available to enhance your internet connectivity. Options such as WIFI extenders, internet-capable wall sockets, and technologies designed to eliminate dead zones can be highly effective. Installing modern network equipment like signal boosters, powerline adapter kits, or mesh WIFI systems can significantly improve your reception in a straightforward and swift manner.
William
Babysteps
Upgrading and building your own PC can be as exciting as binge-watching your favorite comedy show, except when it turns into a horror flick! You see, a lot of folks dive into this techy pool after being inspired by influencers who make it look easier than baking a cake. Here’s a tip: if you’ve never wielded a screwdriver on a PC, maybe don’t start by trying to assemble a digital Frankenstein. Begin with simple heart transplants like RAM or storage, or maybe get adventurous with a GPU upgrade. Hold off on buying the whole tech store until you’re sure you can get more than just a very expensive paperweight out of your efforts!
A little look at the team who make your IT dreams happen
The team behind the scenes
Most of you will be familiar with the man in the middle of the picture above, William has been greeting you all at the front counter for the past six years now, giving you the benefit of his very broad range of knowledge in IT, especially in networking, and his primary passion, computer gaming! As our technical team are busy beavering away, working to help get your computer systems working, you don’t get the opportunity to meet some of the rest of the team. Like our Piotr…
Piotr joined us in 2020 as our apprentice after having completed an HNC in Technical Support after having realised that he was spending more and more time on his computer at home, usually playing games! Piotr is in charge of overseeing the construction, configuration and testing of all of our new computers and really enjoys working on the latest equipment, learning something new every day.
Piotr also ensures all of our phone and tablet repairs are completed which gives him an enormous amount of satisfaction as Piotr loves problem solving and fixing broken devices.
When Piotr isn’t working, he spends a lot of time playing computer games, and plays in goals for his five aside team. Given the chance he’d love a pet chimpanzee; no surprise as he loves monkeying around!
Craig has been doing his job for a while, he started with us over twenty-five years ago having previously worked for IBM, and has kept studying throughout that time, gaining qualifications from CompTIA. Craig is also our main Apple technician and is known to answer to “Macman” on occasion!
Craig isn’t limited to Apple products, and can turn his attention to desktops and laptops, hardware and software faults and gets a lot of pleasure from successfully fixing problems. When he’s not working Craig is often found playing Football Manager, or fishing, but most of all loves walking his dog.
