Computer Care, Can I Do It Myself?

August 5th, 2010 . No Comments »

With all of the resources available to you, you may well ask yourself, “Why do I need a computer expert to maintain my computer?” The short answer is, you don’t. Just like you don’t need a technician to fix your car, repair your furnace, or do any other maintenance or repairs. If you have the knowledge and the time, you can easily repair and maintain your own computer.

But be warned, there are several potential “gotchas” involved in maintaining your own computer. If you decide to repair your own automobile, a company won’t sell you a carburetor what will break your car. Unfortunately, that’s not true of computer maintenance. There are many programs out there that either don’t do what they purport to do, perform unnecessary functions, or are just plain dangerous to install. It’s up to you, the computer maintenance technician, to determine what programs you can safely use in what manner.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the programs out there and what the do-it-yourselfer needs to watch out for.

Registry Cleaners Websites such as Finally Fast.com and Double My Speed.com have been promoting themselves heavily of late. These (and other) sites offer products to download and install that purport to improve your computer’s performance. These programs are mostly registry cleaners. The Windows registry is simply a database that the operating system uses to store everything it needs to know to run as per your specifications. In addition, it’s available to any other program to write their information in there as well. Since Windows 95, the registry has been the recommended repository for user preferences, settings, and any other variables a program has to remember.

Over time the Windows registry will become cluttered with unneeded information, most frequently caused by uninstallation programs not removing all of the data they should. The concept of a registry cleaner is that it will detect and remove these orphan settings, frequently improving computer performance. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Computer, Technology
Tags: , , , ,

Learn About Computers With Free Computer Learning Courses

August 1st, 2010 . No Comments »

“There’s too much to learn!” “Everything changes so quickly!” “I just don’t understand!”

These are all common reactions to the overwhelming challenge of learning to use a personal computer. The volume of information, the pace of change and the intimidating technical language can make learning about computers seem like an unattainable and unrealistic goal.

However, with the right strategy, learning about computers doesn’t have to be impossible. In fact, thanks to numerous opportunities on the Internet, free computer learning courses are available to everyone and, with a structured approach; you can overcome the barriers to learning about computers and find yourself mastering computer skills quickly and painlessly.

The first step on your path to learning about computers is to tune out all of the ridicule from your friends, forget your precocious eight-year-old niece’s computer skills and focus on yourself. You can do this by defining what success means to you. Do this by setting a few compelling and attainable goals that are relevant to you and assigning them realistic timelines. Make sure these goals are observable and measurable so that you know when you’ve achieved them and can celebrate your success.

For example, if you’ve never touched a computer before, you might set a goal of being able to turn the machine on and to launch three of your favorite programs by the end of your first month of learning. Or you might focus on a specific area of learning about computers, such as navigating the Internet, and set a goal of being able to find two free computer learning courses on a program you would like to learn. Your first goal should be challenging, but not overwhelming. If you stay in your comfort zone, you won’t advance, but if you set goals you can’t achieve, you’ll quickly become discouraged. By achieving some success early on, you’ll be more motivated to challenge yourself to learn faster. This will also make learning about computers fun, which will keep your motivation at a high level.

After you’ve met your first goal – and you will! – take a little time out to celebrate your success. Brag to a friend or family member. Treat yourself to a reward for overcoming all the fear, doubt and uncertainty that comes with tackling such a daunting task. Once you’ve tasted a little success and gotten your feet wet, you’ll have a much clearer idea of what you want and need to learn. If you’ve learned how to launch your three favorite programs, you might realize that you really want or need to master one of those programs. If your goal was to navigate to some free computer learning courses, you might soon realize that you need to understand the features and functionality of a specific site. While it’s tempting at this point to dive in and learn all there is to know, resist that temptation, or you’ll risk becoming overwhelmed. Remember to read sections of the web site that will teach you how to use the site properly. You can often find these under sections like FAQs, How it Works and Getting Started. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Computer
Tags: , , , ,
« Older Entries