Comm-Tech offer an encryption service for portable devices. Most users are likely to be concerned with encrypting Windows laptops, as the procedure for doing so not straightforward for non-technical users. Some devices (eg. Android phones, iPhones, Macbooks) can be straightforwardly encrypted by end-users, please see our help section for details.
Windows laptop encryption service
We offer the following:
- A complete reinstall of the Windows operating system using Windows 10 Professional or Windows 10 Enterprise.
- A full reinstall has the added bonus of removing adware and spyware which is very often bundled with new PCs, as well as offering a clean, “like-new” health check for the laptop for increased speed and user experience.
- Full drive encryption using Bitlocker for data security.
Our standard reinstall package does not include:
- Backup of the existing data on the laptop. This must be done by the current laptop user before sending the laptop to us, as all data on the machine will be wiped. We can backup and restore the data for you for an additional £55 per laptop.
- Windows 10 licence – usually your organisation will have licences available, or access to them at a very low cost. Otherwise the laptop will need a Windows 10 Professional OEM or retail licence.
If you are considering using this service, we strongly recommend upgrading your laptops’ storage to SSDs at the same time. These massively improve the speed of any machine using older-style spinning hard disk. Depending on the make and model you may also want to consider RAM upgrades as well. A Windows reinstall coupled with some hardware upgrades can extend a laptop’s life for many years.
Our typical turnaround is roughly 1 week for 5 laptops, or 2 weeks for 10 laptops. However please let us know the turnaround urgency at the time of booking. We may be able to offer further discounts for more than 10 laptops, or for a non-priority turnaround time.
Please note in rare cases older laptops may not have the drivers available for Windows 10, which means some laptop functions may not work reliably. If this is the case we will use Windows 8 or Windows 7 as required.
Fees
- Laptop, Windows 10 (for 1 device), £165
- Laptop, Windows 10 (for each subsequent device), £110
- Apple Macbook / iMac, £110
- Laptop, (Linux) Cost varies, please contact us with distro details
- If the data contained on such device is the ONLY copy, we should back it up first, £55 per device
All prices are exclusive of VAT, return courier fees and Windows licences.
Our prices are based on the amount of time it takes us to reinstall and reconfigure a device. Generally this means it takes 3 hours for the 1st laptop and 2 hours for each subsequent laptop sent to us in the same batch.
In some cases we may be able to offer further discounts for:
- Bulk booking (more than 10 laptops)
- Multiple laptops with identical makes and models
- Non-priority turnaround times