Windows 7
Care & Feeding of PC's
Here are some general tips, tricks & links to make your computing life just a bit less rocky:
1. BACK UP - BACK UP - BACK UP - BACK UP - BACK UP - BACK UP
Problem A. Your hard drive won't open and it's making weird noises. You bring in into the shop and the Tech verifies that the drive is most likely gone. Your stomach lurches, your head pounds and you think about all those precious family photos stored on the dead drive. For years you've been meaning to transfer them to disk but there just never seems to be enough time to do such a tedious task.
Solution A. You just have to save those photos? Sure - $1500 (minimum), and three weeks without the computer. There are lots and lots of back up methods and media out there. Call your favorite Techie and ask for recommendations!
Problem B. You saw this great ad on TV for some really HOT!! software guaranteed to make your computer run like a rocket sled. You ran right out, plunked down a couple hundred, brought the program home and installed it. You sit down in front of the computer and prepare yourself to be amazed! But all you see is a black screen. You call the repair shop and the Tech tells you that, "Yeah, they've heard a lot about that program. It wrecks havoc with your computer." You take the computer into the shop, the Tech has to reformat the hard drive (which wipes out EVERYTHING on the drive) and reinstall all your programs. You've just lost your business. All your accounts, all your customers, all your inventory is on that computer.
Solution B. If you have had the foresight to perform regular BACK UPs of your data, it means a devastating problem is only an inconvenience.
Some Great Links To Help You
IOBIT - www.iobit.com
Iobit offers some very effective tools for the computer novice. Among them are Advanced Windows Care - FREE version (assists in basic computer cleanup tasks) and SMART Defrag (an easy-to-use tool for keeping your hard drive optomized).
Open Office - www.openoffice.org
OpenOffice.org 3 is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.
DO'S and DON'TS
DO treat gently! We are NOT toys!
DON’T drop as we will break easily and repairs are expensive.
DON’T use as a place mat! Food and liquids do NOT mix well with computers!
HEAT is the #1 enemy of computers!
When using a laptop for a long period of time place a cooling pad under the laptop. This will increase the life of the unit considerably.
Remember… when shutting down the laptop turn off completely.
DON’T just shut the lid as this will not turn off the computer. This will only place the laptop in a standby or hibernate mode. If the computer is then put into a laptop bag or case, it will cook the components and kill the laptop.
DO remember that laptops are not desktops and do not update automatically.
You must run updates yourself on antivirus, Windows, and any utilities that require regular updates. This means that you need to run your antivirus and anti spy ware scans manually.
Laptop Batteries
BATTERY… If you use the laptop plugged into electricity all the time, remove the battery and it will last 10 times longer.
Remember to fully charge the battery before taking a trip.
Dragon's Tips
RESETTING THE MODEM AND ROUTER AFTER SYSTEM HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED…
- Make sure all devices (computer, router and/or modem) are turned off or unplugged.
- Plug in or turn on the modem first, then wait until all lights are on.
- Plug in the router and wait until all lights are on.
- Turn on computer and you should be able to go to the internet immediately.
- REMEMBER: The order is extremely important!!
Clean up User Temporary Files…
Go to start, run. Type %temp% in box.
Once you have all temp files found, type CTRL A to select all files, and then hit the delete key to remove them from the computer.
**** Don’t forget to empty the trash can on the desktop.