Peter Fleischer thought he had mastered the art of wireless networking. But after spending hours one day swimming in instruction manuals while trying to wirelessly tie five PCs together, he realized his limits.

He even lost his connection to the Internet. So he called the geeks for help.

"It should be so easy," he said. "But it's not, even for someone who knows a lot. Anytime I think I'm a geek, I talk to [an expert] and I don't know anything."

Indeed, more people are realizing that they don't have to waste a day fighting with a computer when someone else can come to the house to solve the problem

The geeks are happy to oblige. They make house calls by appointment and perform computer-related tasks ranging from setting up a wireless network to removing malicious software that can track credit card numbers.

And customers love the geeks. In fact, the Geek Squad has made two trips to Fleischer's Oak Park home.

Last week, Joey Jasion, dressed in a black clip-on tie, white collared shirt and black polyester pants, came to the rescue with what some would call divine intervention. Jasion brought his bible--a zippered CD case with a collection of operating system disks, drivers and utilities.

Within an hour, he established and secured the Fleischers' wireless network, preventing others in the neighborhood from tapping into the connection. Jasion installed a wireless card on Fleischer's laptop so he could access the Internet from the backyard.

On top of that, Jasion ran utility programs to detect spyware and adware and showed Fleischer's two daughters, Claire, 11, and Emma, 8, how to keep their computers' software updates current.

"We went through my checklist in less than an hour," said Fleischer, who prefers to pay for the convenience of a geek rather than fix it himself. "I'm satisfied."

This year about $4.5 billion will be spent on personal computers and laptops, according to Gartner, a technology research company. But because the home repair business is relatively new, and comprises many small, independent firms, figures for the industry are not tracked.

Once the domain of a trusted family member or a kind neighbor, the geek business is also going corporate, as chains like Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA are starting to offer in-home services. Additionally, some business-minded techies are starting their own shops or opening a franchised business, like Geeks On Call.

Costs for the services vary. HomeTech Computer Solutions in Chicago charges an hourly fee of $95 while Best Buy's Geek Squad service offers a flat fee starting at $129.

"Geek service is going to reawaken the days when doctors made house calls," said Robert Stephens, who founded Geek Squad in Minneapolis before selling it to Best Buy two years ago. "It's gonna be easier than ordering pizza."

While the professional geeks find that some customers have a basic knowledge of computers, many are novices.

"People are really frustrated when they call the big [computer and software] companies and they don't get the service they need," said Bill Weingarten, president of HomeTech. "Most people don't know too much about computers. And home computer systems are getting more complicated."

Weingarten started his company from a larger corporate computer service, Garden Software Inc. three years ago after his business customers asked about home service. Now Weingarten focuses on the residential market and has about 2,000 customers across Chicago and the suburbs, he said.

"And it's gonna keep going in that direction," said Weingarten, noting that there has been an increase in demand and competition over the past few years.

For home computer users, having a geek on call can ease the pain of trying to fix problems on their own.

Brian Bussey recently spent six hours on the phone with tech support trying to fix his Dell desktop computer. And after being switched back and forth among several technicians, he still couldn't fix the problem.

Instead, he called HomeTech to troubleshoot his machine. The problem, he discovered, was caused by several computer viruses.

"Computers have gotten pretty complicated," said Bussey, 42, who has used computers for the past decade to manage his small business. "If I had the time, I could keep up with it. But I just rely on the professionals."

This week, Bussey again called HomeTech to help set up his wireless network in his Evanston home and scan his two computers for viruses and spyware.

"I could have spent a week" on it, he said. "But they saved me."

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Top service requests

- Install a wireless network

- Remove spyware, adware and viruses

- Network multiple computers for file and printer sharing

- Perform data recovery and migration of software to new computers

- Install security tools to protect against Internet vandalism

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