Tips...
Learn
to Use Your PC & Applications
Get comfortable with
your computer. Invest in a good book on computer basics, Windows `98, etc., to learn more
about your PC and the applications you use. The 'Dummies' series of books is one such
source of information.
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Make
Sure You Have All the Right Disks
Why? Because When
your PC crashes and system files get corrupted and you can't repair it, you'll need
someone like PC Help Doctors to
recreate the whole system. So, keep all the disks and CDs for all the software
that came with your computer. Many inexpensive PCs do not provide the original disks
and documentation to keep costs down. Make sure you ask for the following CDs
for your programs:
Windows 95/98/?ME/2000 setup disks and CD.
Graphics cards, printer, sound card drivers
Other CD's for your software loaded on your machine.
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Fine Tune Your
System
Clearly think about
what you are going to use the PC for and buy all the components in one go. Make sure
that you have enough memory and fast processor (CPU). Use Add/Remove program or a
Deinstaller program every 3-6 months to remove unwanted applications that clutter up your
hard disk and waste space. You might want to defragment your hard disk to improve
performance. and also clear up any programs that are in the
'start up' menu that you don't need running all of the time.
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Upgrade
Your System if Necessary
If your machine is
old and performance with new games or applications seems slow, then consider upgrading the
CPU, adding more memory, adding another hard disk, upgrading your CD-ROM drive,
Graphics/Sound cards, etc. Other useful additions to a PC include a good speaker system
with subwoofer for extra bass (great for games), color printer, digital camera &/or
scanner, etc.
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Keep your Data Files Separate &
Organized
Create your own
personal folders and save your files in them. Do not mix them up with the folders which
contain applications. It's easy to forget where you stored an important data
file, and finding it again several months later will be much easier if you know where to
look, and can guess the rough contents of the files from the folder/file names.
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Backup
your Data Files Regularly
Heard of Sod's Law?? It states that the disk will crash just as you have
finished creating an important file for which you have no backup.
Your data is the most important thing on your PC, you can't afford to
loose it, and hard disks can and do crash (or your machine might be
destroyed or stolen). So, make sure you back it up regularly (use
WinZip for larger files if necessary). If you have a lot of large
data files, such as graphics, then consider investing in a Zip drive or a
tape drive (or removable media) to backup your entire system.
Make your data backups at least once a month (once per week if you have
sensitive materials). If you create a lot of data
files, then do incremental backups daily, and full backups weekly. Keep
changing the media you use for backups monthly, and keep some of the old
backups as an archive.
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Keep Your
Software Up-to-Date
Make sure you keep a
careful note of the serial numbers of any software you install on your machine, both on
the disks and in the manuals. You should also upgrade your main applications on a regular
basis; check the various PC magazines to find out when new versions are released, and to
read product reviews. If you are connected to the Internet, make regular checks at major
software vendor sites, such as http://www.microsoft.com,
for free updates, utilities, demos of forthcoming software, etc. The same applies to the
system software and drivers for your hardware devices.
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Check
Compatibility Before You Buy
Before you buy any
software or hardware, make sure you check the compatibility with your system
configuration. Driver problems for equipment like scanners, modems can cause a lot of
trouble. |
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Today's
Tip
With the increase in
viruses, have you updated your dat files?
Without updates, your virus
scanner has no way to know about the new viruses.
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