Computer Lab HTX
About Computer Lab HTX
I’m Adil Butt, and Computer Lab HTX is my business. When you send a repair request, I’m the person who reads it. When your laptop is opened up, I’m the person doing it. And when you ring to ask how it is going, you get me rather than a counter.
That is deliberate. Most computer repair runs through a shop front where the person who takes your machine is not the person who fixes it, and nobody can quite tell you what is actually happening to it. I wanted to run it the other way around.
How I got here
My experience is a mixture. I have worked for other people and I have worked for myself, and the practical side has come from both. Employed work teaches you process, volume and the discipline of other people’s standards. Working for yourself teaches you that every machine you hand back has your name on it.
What I have ended up with is a fairly unglamorous skill: working out what has actually failed, rather than guessing and charging for the guess. Most of this job is diagnosis. The repair itself is usually the easy part.
Why I work by appointment
I work by appointment from my own workspace rather than a walk-in shop. There is no sales floor, no queue and no front desk, which keeps the overheads down and means the time goes into the repair instead.
It does mean you cannot simply turn up, so everything starts with a repair request. You tell me the machine and what it is doing, I come back to you, and we arrange whichever option suits you: I collect it, I come to you, or you post it in.
What that means for you
- The same person throughout. One person diagnoses it, repairs it, tests it and explains it. Nothing gets lost being handed between people.
- You do not have to travel. I collect from your home or workplace and bring the machine back once it is repaired and tested.
- No pressure to buy anything. I have no shelves of stock to shift, so there is no reason for me to talk you into a part you do not need.
- Component-level repair, not part-swapping. I work out which part has actually failed and replace that one, rather than swapping a whole assembly because it is quicker to bill for.
What I work on
- Windows laptops, from everyday machines to business ones
- MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, Intel and Apple Silicon
- Desktop computers and gaming PCs
- Gaming laptops, which mostly means heat
- SSD and memory upgrades
- Data transfer, storage assessments and backup setup
- Small business computers and new employee setups
How I price work
I do not publish fixed prices, because a number quoted before seeing a machine is guesswork and we would both end up disappointed by it. What happens instead is simple: I diagnose the fault, I tell you what the repair involves, what it costs and roughly how long it will take, and nothing paid-for starts until you have said yes.
Sending an enquiry does not commit you to anything.
Your data
This is the part people worry about and rarely ask, so I will say it unprompted. Your computer probably holds your photographs, your financial records and your saved passwords. I treat that as none of my business, because it is not.
If the files matter, tell me before anything starts and I will work accordingly. If a drive is failing, stop using it and say so early, because continued use is the usual reason data becomes unrecoverable. And I will not promise to recover data that cannot be recovered, however much either of us would like that answer. See the data recovery page for the honest version of what is and is not possible.
Where I work
I cover Houston and the surrounding communities, including Webster, La Marque and Texas City. Because I collect, visit and take machines by post, being further out matters a great deal less than it would with a fixed shop. If you are not sure whether I reach you, ask and I will tell you straight.
Getting started
Send a repair request with the machine and what it is doing, in as much or as little detail as you have. I will come back to you with what I think is going on and what the sensible next step is.