Basic Computing Tips

Re-booting solves an untold number of computer problems. If re-booting fails to resolve the problem, take a few extra moments to shut the computer down, walk away for a few minutes and start it up again.

It takes time and effort to learn how to use your computer and to run programs. While most people expect to instantly acquire the skill to do virtually everything with their computers, it does not happen. While reading is anathema to most folks, it is absolutely essential if you want to understand more about your computer.

Don't react to a computer problem by blindly punching keys, deleting files and changing settings.

If you are having a specific problem with your computer or a program, go to Google and perform a Groups search using the appropriate logic.

Get a basic understanding of programs and files. Simply stated, you need a program to open every file on your computer. Two file types commonly encountered are zip and pdf, as in mydownload.zip and mydownload.pdf. To open these files, you will need compression software, such as WinZip®, and a pdf reader, such as Adobe® Acrobat Reader®, respectively.

Check spelling carefully. Whether it is something simple like entering a location in the address bar of your Web browser or something complex like writing a computer program, spelling errors will bite you every time.

Use Help. Your operating system and most programs have a Help feature. While the usefulness of Help features varies from program to program, you can't go wrong using it and it may solve the problem.

Back up your data. You probably have files that you would miss if your hard disk decided to give up. While there are several back up options available, for most folks the easiest way is to write the files to a CD-R (compact disc-recordable; don't use a CD-RW, which may fail unexpectedly and melt your data) or to a Zip® disk, which appears as a drive so that you can drag and drop to it. New Zip® drives have a capacity of 750 MB.