13 Things your computer person won't tell you

[NaRu]

I think this highly depends on the OS you're running. On Windows, sure, I'd agree with this, but I've kept OS X and Linux systems up for months on end without even a hint of a performance decrease

WOW!!! I am running my PC (Windows XP) for months too and I frequently use different resource heave apps like games and CAD programs.... without any performance decrease. Sorry for bursting you perfect bubble of Mac cockiness.

Im running vista and its been on for weeks and it runs just as fast if I reboot it

[LordMorgh]

6. There's no free lunch. Downloading free music, movies, and games from file-sharing sites can open holes in your system for others to exploit. Play it safe and use established services like Rhapsody, iTunes, and Netflix.

Bullshit. It's safer than surfing for porn or other dodgy sites. Don't poke your head in dodgy shit no matter where you are.

8. Give it a rest. Turning off your computer when it's not in use saves energy and clears out the RAM, or temporary memory, which would otherwise slow your machine over time.

What the fuck? Unless you're running Virtual RAM (using the HDD for RAM), this isn't an issue. As for energy, sure.

9. If you can't get online, call your Internet service provider first. Connection problems can often be checked and fixed-free.

Save your money, reboot everything. 90% of the time that fixes it.

11. No, you can't use your cell phone to pop popcorn. Next time an Internet rumor drops into your inbox, don't just pass it on-check it out at snopes.com first.

Just ask google. Chances are pretty high there's a factual article somewhere about it.

13. If you don't understand me, I'm not doing my job. Confusing tech jargon is a sign of insecurity, not intelligence.

No. We use complex greek in 5 words so we don't have to explain it in 100, because we know you won't get it anyways, and we hate explaining it over and over again.

Use Google.

That's your best tech-support bar none.

Most techies use Google. Why couldn't you use Google? Because you gave it one shot, and then gave up. If you even did that. Then you tell me you spent a long time on Google trying yourself. Then I give it a shot and hit bullseye because I Google for something like "router not working 'model' some numbers" and wham. Even your History tells me that the last things you did on google included the words "en&q=scheize+pr0n" and I bury my head in my hands and pray for a better tommorrow.

[AceHigh]

Im running vista and its been on for weeks and it runs just as fast if I reboot it

Actually on poor hardware it's the opposite because old rigs have that cold start slowness, like one we have at work (thank god I am not using them, use an Acer laptop instead)

[AnimeJanai]

Rules of thumb weren't meant to be accurate for 100% of the users out there.   But if they apply to 75% of the users out there, dont harm another 20%, and do not apply to 5% of the users, that is good enough.

One thing I wish I had been told earlier by tech support is that that when you open the cdrom drive, the cdrom tray turns into a handy cup holder. 

[sdedalus83]

Rules of thumb weren't meant to be accurate for 100% of the users out there.   But if they apply to 75% of the users out there, dont harm another 20%, and do not apply to 5% of the users, that is good enough.

One thing I wish I had been told earlier by tech support is that that when you open the cdrom drive, the cdrom tray turns into a handy cup holder. 

Exactly why I have that third optical drive in my system.

[bcr123]

But watch out for systems that close the tray on their own (usually during shutdown or startup).. your coffee will end up all over the table.

[GoGeTa006]

I mean... microsoft needs some maintenance here and there... it's not hard. You have no idea how many people thing I'm a genius for "speeding up their computer" when all i do is a cache cleaning, cookie cleaning, defrag and a quick msconfig to turn off shitty programs at boot up.

But then again we have "mac geniuses" who can transfer files from windows to macs.... WHICH IS SO FUCKING HARD TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE??

i get payed for running defrag - spybot - regmech -rebooting - msconfig. . . 30 dlls. . . and if i pass the hour n a half i get another 10 dlls. . . sweet. . .

and "norton isnt good. . .get AVG"

I would recommend a combination avast! and spybot before AVG

if i must say norton is a great antivirus(as in. . .it can heal). . .but not for "civilians" . . . again. . .I mean i dont have top secret stuff in my computer. . . AVG / Avast can handle any "civilian" needs.  . .

while norton is a freaking paranoid!. . . god when i had my 30 day trial. . .seriously i had to uninstall it around the tenth day. . . i couldnt do anything! everything wouldnt work. . . and *coincidence* after uninstalling it. . .voila!

and i mean if you do have the top secret files. . .might as well get some xpensive oracle stuff. . .

[fohfoh]

Like I said Gogeta. I'm looked as someone amazing for learning something as simple as that in 10 minutes of stumbling onto tweak guides.

[NaRu]

Im running vista and its been on for weeks and it runs just as fast if I reboot it

Actually on poor hardware it's the opposite because old rigs have that cold start slowness, like one we have at work (thank god I am not using them, use an Acer laptop instead)

thats why you dont use slow/poor hardware and have vista installed

[fohfoh]

I'm not a fan of vista. Though I will say using the Hibernate function is great for laptops. You lose maybe a max of 10 minutes of battery life and you get a 15 second "boot up".

[Proin Drakenzol]

#13  If you can't explain things in a way the user can understand, then your not a very good Technician.  Helping the user understand what is wrong is part of the Job.

No, it just means I'm working on something a little more complicated than, say, a toaster.

Jargon is created because it's too much of a pain in the ass to use non-jargon terminology.

That and if you're actually a technician and not "tech-support" you don't want the operator to start thinking they know something. Because a little bit of knowledge is worse than no knowledge at all. Or "he knew just enough to get himself killed."

[fohfoh]

"start button" vs "That little button in the bottom left hand side corner that has a logo and start on it"... = Jargon vs non Jargon.

HOWEVER, using acronyms to a total n00b = asshole. Could you imagine not knowing anything about computers and being told something like, "Are you sure the Cat9 cable is plugged into the CMRouter?"(Cable modem router? Wtf is a CMRouter? Is it also too hard to talk about router cables to a person who can't tell the power cable from the tv cable) or "Make sure the wire is connected to the HDD" (Wtf is an hdd to them? Say hard drive) "Make sure the EXHDD is plugged to a USB slot" (again, abbreviated stuff isn't easy for them)

I mean, yeah, some jargon is ok. But when you're using slang or abbreviated stuff that people don't understand, why flip out that they don't know? I bet you once didn't understand wtf, lol, roflmao, giyf etc. and had to ask or get someone to clarify. (You probably looked like a retard doing it too before you learned to google)

[Lupin]

8. Give it a rest. Turning off your computer when it's not in use saves energy and clears out the RAM, or temporary memory, which would otherwise slow your machine over time.

even if you reboot/shutdown your computer regularly if your using poorly written software, your computer will slowdown due to memory leaks. but this isn't really an issue if your operating system manages its memory efficiently. computers running linux can stay online because it manages its memory well. windows xp does too but not as well as linux. i don't know much about macs but macs are pcs too.

giving your pc a rest prolongs the life of computer's components. continuously running computers will have its power supply's lifespan reduced due to the capacitances developing inside it. hard drives running 24/7 will also shorten its lifespan--hard drives are mechanical devices!

[Temuthril]

"Make sure the EXHDD is plugged to a USB slot"

Have you heard anyone say "universal serial bus slot" ?

[iindigo]

8. Give it a rest. Turning off your computer when it's not in use saves energy and clears out the RAM, or temporary memory, which would otherwise slow your machine over time.

even if you reboot/shutdown your computer regularly if your using poorly written software, your computer will slowdown due to memory leaks. but this isn't really an issue if your operating system manages its memory efficiently. computers running linux can stay online because it manages its memory well. windows xp does too but not as well as linux. i don't know much about macs but macs are pcs too.

giving your pc a rest prolongs the life of computer's components. continuously running computers will have its power supply's lifespan reduced due to the capacitances developing inside it. hard drives running 24/7 will also shorten its lifespan--hard drives are mechanical devices!

I was under the impression that the constant change between power states (on and off) was as hard or harder on computers than just leaving them on. Am I wrong on this?

[bcr123]

8. Give it a rest. Turning off your computer when it's not in use saves energy and clears out the RAM, or temporary memory, which would otherwise slow your machine over time.

even if you reboot/shutdown your computer regularly if your using poorly written software, your computer will slowdown due to memory leaks. but this isn't really an issue if your operating system manages its memory efficiently. computers running linux can stay online because it manages its memory well. windows xp does too but not as well as linux. i don't know much about macs but macs are pcs too.

giving your pc a rest prolongs the life of computer's components. continuously running computers will have its power supply's lifespan reduced due to the capacitances developing inside it. hard drives running 24/7 will also shorten its lifespan--hard drives are mechanical devices!

I was under the impression that the constant change between power states (on and off) was as hard or harder on computers than just leaving them on. Am I wrong on this?

To a certain extent yes but modern hardware is solid enough that being powered on/off multiple times a day won't noticeably affect it. 
Lets say a theoretical hard drive has a MTBF of 1000 hours if on continuous but only 700 hours if powered on/off a dozen times daily (Exaggerated for effect) but if it's only on for a few hours a day instead of 24 hours the lifespan is greatly increased in terms the consumer understands ie it lasts 41 days if on continuous but 233 days if it's only actually used for 2 hours a day.

[AceHigh]

I was under the impression that the constant change between power states (on and off) was as hard or harder on computers than just leaving them on. Am I wrong on this?

Anything mechanical with movable parts has a limited life. Hard drives, keyboard, fans and stuff like that. Don't be fooled with life time on SSD kids, flash cell leaks charge over time corrupting your data. 

[iindigo]

I was under the impression that the constant change between power states (on and off) was as hard or harder on computers than just leaving them on. Am I wrong on this?

Anything mechanical with movable parts has a limited life. Hard drives, keyboard, fans and stuff like that. Don't be fooled with life time on SSD kids, flash cell leaks charge over time corrupting your data. 

Blarg... I wonder if a day will ever come when one really doesn't have to worry hardly at all about losing his files. Regularly backing up is damn annoying and replacing dead HDs with new ones and restoring them is more so.

[mgz]

they forgot #14 - sir, thats herpes not a problem with your computer

[Slykester]

they forgot #14 - sir, thats herpes not a problem with your computer

and no you can't fix it with AVG