Bits of plastic, the shell of an iPhone 4S and screws the size of freckles decorated Cory Thompson’s work desk.
Elsewhere on his desk, two computer monitors were plugged into a PC with its side panel removed. A careful jumble of wires and drive bays sat exposed.
But Thompson’s attention was on the iPhone shell and a clip that stubbornly refused to click into place.
Thompson tried again and again — hunched over with his face just inches from the gadget — until he had just the right grip on his tweezers and inaudibly pushed the clip into place.
In a few minutes, the phone would be reassembled. Each tiny part would return to its tiny home.
And Thompson would be on to another phone, tablet or personal computer.
He works as an IT support specialist for Action Computer Services in Lewiston. For years, he has worked to restore computers stricken by viruses — and smartphones stricken by the ground.
But he is getting ready for a change.
In January, the 28-year-old Greene native will begin classes at Central Maine Community College in Auburn. He plans to study networking and computer forensics.
“It’s kind of cops versus robbers — with computers,” he said.
Of course, he’s been sleuthing computer issues since he was a kid.
“I started off building my own computers and fixing family and friends’ computers,” he said. “I was 18 or 19.”
Before that, he’d take apart radios or other gadgets.
They all seemed more interesting with their parts everywhere and shells cracked open, Thompson said. He’s not a gamer, nor does he like most Apple products. They’re too expensive and have too much glue inside, he said. Rather, he likes tower PCs and Samsung Galaxy phones, which have easy-to-remove covers.
All the better to tinker with.
Virtual tinkering — problems in the data or software that can’t be fixed with a screwdriver — are tougher.
“We get viruses all the time,” said Thompson, who seems unfazed by the stories he’s heard of malicious programs that threaten owners. On his home computer, he doesn’t have antivirus software. Rather, he’s careful how he interacts with the Internet.
Common sense will protect most users, he said. Folks browse the wrong site, click the wrong link or open the wrong email and give a malicious stranger access to their computer.
“Read what you’re installing,” Thompson tells users. “And don’t go to the bad places on the Internet. You know where they are.”
Among the recent online culprits is one that shocks people with a false notice that the FBI has spotted them doing something wrong. Windows pop up on the screen with official-looking logos.
Then they state the law enforcement agency will go away for a few hundred dollars.
“It locks you out and you can’t get into it unless you give them a money pack,” he said. “Even after you pay, it doesn’t unlock. It stays right there.”
People are desperate for their data. It can include baby pictures, bank records, business documents and music.
It’s the one place he says he doesn’t tinker.
“We have a policy here — if you’re caught going through files, you’re probably not going to be working here anymore,” he said.
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