Repair Cafe Albury-Wodonga will test a device help desk on September 1.

Repair Cafe coordinator Lizette Salmon said Perth Repair Cafe started this service several months ago.

“It has been very popular, particularly for saving or transferring data from dying phones or other devices, changing settings, speeding up slow laptops and problems with booting up,” she said.

The device help desk will be serviced by three volunteers: retired IT and maths teacher Bruce Nulty, university student Rachel Corvaia and computer engineer Jan Schmidt.

Mr Nulty, who majored in computing in 1971, said he had kept up with change by helping family and friends with IT problems.

“We are not professional device repair people and if we can’t fix a device we may refer it on to local professional repair businesses,” he said.

“If they fix it, it’s a good outcome; one less item for landfill.”

Ms Corvaia, who studied computer software and hardware, worked on a high school IT help desk.

“I’ve had experience recovering data from dead hard drives and trouble-shooting problems like changes in sound quality or apps that aren’t working,” she said. 

The help desk will not open phones, reinstall operating systems, fix 240 volt devices or do tasks likely to take more than 30 minutes. Visitors should bring a USB.

Repair Cafe Albury-Wodonga runs 10am to 1pm on the first Saturday of each month at the Sustainable Activity Centre, Wodonga. 

Ms Salmon said Australians were among the highest users of new technology in the world and bought more than 2.4 million computers a year.

“This makes electronic waste including computers and accessories, a growing problem,” she said.

“If your IT problems really can’t be fixed, be sure to manage your e-waste ethically.

“Old computers and computer accessories should be brought to the Wodonga Waste Transfer Centre or Albury Waste Management Centre for recycling.

“If thrown in the red-lidded bin they will end up in landfill where components such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic can leach into the soil and groundwater, causing harm to our environment and human populations.”