13 Things your computer person won't tell you

[AceHigh]

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.

Most secure storage I can think of is PROM... is it a coincidence that a device for permanent storage that can't be overwritten is the most secure storage device?

[fohfoh]

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

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

Well, everyone knows USB, and even if not, it's an explanation of what the thing looks like and not what the name actually is. EXHDD on the other hand is another story.

[moonspot]

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. . .

I only recommend avast about avg b/c avg hunts for cracks/illegal prog's and disables them.  although I've only ever seen avg do this prior to installation of the "downloaded" prog.  the moment it happened to me and I realized why I uninstalled AVG and wouldn't you know it avast uses even less system resources.  I'm pretty happy with it myself, but since I don't completely trust it I use spybot(best program EVER!) and besides if avast does fail me so long as I can still connect to the web I still have Trend Micro house call option. 

oh yeah get norton if you want to be the safest possible and don't mind having to buy the best and fastest computer available just to use it.  but please for the love of god don't ever use the software your IPS gives you on your computer including (inmost cases) Norton, they will Fubar your comp in no time.  take care/responsibility for you system security yourself or PAY an outside source (aka computer guy) to "wipe your @$$" for you.  ISP's and companies in general will NEVER give you anything worth having, it's always done to suit their own ends.  they don't give a rats ass about your protection.  what they do like is all the spyware/cookies/toolbar & logos/adds you'll install on your computer for them.

*edit for spelling grammar*

[metalguy639]

I know exactly what you speak of. I'm getting sick of explaining to people how the size of your internal HD has no bearing on the computer's speed, how RAM and HD space are totally different beasts, that deleting shortcuts off the desktop DOES NOT uninstall programs, and that you can in fact view the internet in its entirety with something other than Internet Exploder.

Is this commoner computer stupidity only rampant in the US or has it infected other nations as well?

LOL thanks I needed that.

[fohfoh]

I had to explain the difference of speeds of Internal HDDS to my dad. He was like, so a 500GB HDD is faster than 40GB one? How does that work? Does more space make it run faster?
lulz.

I also bought a random SD card to dump into my computer to make vista faster using ready boost, my dad freaked out at that one.

But seriously for computer stuff, it's like paying people extra money to do something you can easily figure out in an hour or two. (usually) Like... paying someone to restring your guitar.

[metalguy639]

I have to giggle at that. I've heard people say that before. I've had them ask me strange questions like that as well. What happens to alot of people is they over think it. They think it should really be something strange & weird as to how it works when its all common sense or very much based on mechanical sense.

[vuzedome]

the article is pure nonsense.

[Stsin]

That article is aimed at people who know no more than how to turn the computer on and use a mouse.

I don't blame people for being ignorant though.  Spend over $100 on Windows and look what you get as the instruction manual.  And it's understandable why Mac users have less problems.  Their OS is user friendly instead of just trying to look like it.  Not that I'd personally ever get a Mac.

[Lupin]

not everyone wants to know how a computer works. some simply wants to that it works and that they can use it.

[fohfoh]

Anyone remember the vid way back when proin showed us a vid of a gameshow where girls had to change a mobo in a computer or something? And the girl describes it like an iMac or something?

[costi]

Not bad, but...

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.

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.

According to Microsoft, Windows XP requires 2 weeks downtime per year...
However, we have computers at work that see no downtime whatsoever (the place I work at is manned 24/7, so it's just one person logging out and another logging in) and they work like a charm (Win XP). Other haven't seen a reboot for years, but those are a special case, because there's only one or two apps running on each constantly (things like antenna controller software).
The oldest ones, running DOS, have been running 24/7 for the past 15 years.

Is this commoner computer stupidity only rampant in the US or has it infected other nations as well?

No, they're everywhere.

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?

Nope, you're completely right. However, the changes in lifespan are negligible, so it's safe to assume that whether you leave it on all time, or shutdown frequently, the lifespan will be more-or-less the same.

I don't blame people for being ignorant though.  Spend over $100 on Windows and look what you get as the instruction manual.

There's Help, which covers a lot of stuff. Apart from installation instructions and basic troubleshhoting, an electronic Help is a better solution, because it has a nice function called "search"
I got a 450-page manual with my Nikon D300 - you have no idea what a PITA it is to read such a thing, even though Nikon did a decent work of keeping stuff organized. Thank God DSLRs are made to be intuitive, and that manufacturers don't make revolutionary changes between models, makes it much easier to sort out stuff yourself.

[sdedalus83]

According to Microsoft, Windows XP requires 2 weeks downtime per year...
However, we have computers at work that see no downtime whatsoever (the place I work at is manned 24/7, so it's just one person logging out and another logging in) and they work like a charm (Win XP). Other haven't seen a reboot for years, but those are a special case, because there's only one or two apps running on each constantly (things like antenna controller software).
The oldest ones, running DOS, have been running 24/7 for the past 15 years.

If you're running a limited set of apps, don't install/uninstall a lot of software, and have the page file on a separate partition, I can't see why you would ever need to reboot an XP system, short of a virus or hardware failure.  The way Windows handles virtual memory by default is the biggest reason for problems with file fragmentation, which in turn is probably the biggest reason for system instability, especially when your page file is scattered all over a severely fragmented drive.

[iindigo]

If you're running a limited set of apps, don't install/uninstall a lot of software, and have the page file on a separate partition, I can't see why you would ever need to reboot an XP system, short of a virus or hardware failure. The way Windows handles virtual memory by default is the biggest reason for problems with file fragmentation, which in turn is probably the biggest reason for system instability, especially when your page file is scattered all over a severely fragmented drive.

I agree, but that doesn't really describe the average PC user. I know my little brother (who is more computer literate than a lot of people) is constantly installing and uninstalling programs (mainly games) because he either gets bored with them or is trying to free up space to install some other game he's taken an intrest in. I think it's also safe to say that most don't even know what a swap file is, let alone know to have a separate partition or small drive reserved for the swapfile.

[sdedalus83]

I think it's also safe to say that most don't even know what a swap file is, let alone know to have a separate partition or small drive reserved for the swapfile.

Of course, which is why MS advocates extensive downtime.

I can understand why they used dynamic VM back when a big HDD was only a few GB, but now that storage so cheap, why isn't a dedicated swap partition created by default during installation?  Maybe they're worried that people will erase it or use it for storage by mistake.

[iindigo]

I think it's also safe to say that most don't even know what a swap file is, let alone know to have a separate partition or small drive reserved for the swapfile.

Of course, which is why MS advocates extensive downtime.

I can understand why they used dynamic VM back when a big HDD was only a few GB, but now that storage so cheap, why isn't a dedicated swap partition created by default during installation?  Maybe they're worried that people will erase it or use it for storage by mistake.

They could just make Windows hide the swap partition by default, or heck, manufacturers could include a small internal flash drive (2-6GB) expressly for swapfile use.

[Proin Drakenzol]

[sort of on topic]Remember kids:

Fix a man's computer, earn your paycheck for a day.

Teach a man to fix his own computer and lose a steady source of income[/sort of on topic]

[Cloud20200]

I think they forgot making a partition for your os then putting everything else on a seperate partition or is that too advanced? I don't really see why its not done like that on computers before, means your OS will (if you give it the required space) always run at a decent speed because it'll have enough space for temporary files and virtual memory. With most modern comps and laptops I've seen these days they come with a primary partition and a recovery partition but no winblows disc, I just say to the shop owners "DON'T BE SO BLOODY CHEAP AND GIVE THEM THE DISC NOT A RECOVERY PARTITION!" 

Also another top tip, firefox + noscript + flashblock + adblock = ultimate, I have to take my microSD card with me now with portable firefox on it cause I feel naked without it now. AND NEVER LOOK AT PORN FOR GOD SAKE! Use reliable sources for illegal stuff too. I only really watch anime and manga so just boxtorrents or the anidb trick, look who subbed it, go to their website, dl

[HrtOfSword]

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

Number 10 is only because the majority of users are stupid.

Number 13 means the guy's job could be done by a retarded monkey. If the user doesn't understand you it's because computers are special pieces of equipment. You shouldn't expect someone to understand how computers work... just that they do.

Computers aren't exactly highly complicated pieces of equipment unlike precision equipment. The basics that the common man or woman needs to know can be easy to understand. In fact, anyone who has at least gone through middle school could do so if they tried.
Computer programs on the other hand, are something else.

In fact, I remember the time when I was a kid and all this "repairman" did was reformat my computer to fix it. I could have done it myself (if I was older) instead of paying that dude.

[sort of on topic]Remember kids:

Fix a man's computer, earn your paycheck for a day.

Teach a man to fix his own computer and lose a steady source of income[/sort of on topic]

The truth.

Edit: I just realized this post was from 2008. I thought it was a recent thread since it was left saved in my Firefox browser when I opened it.

[molbjerg]

Old post is OLD.

[kurandoinu]

When I was about 12 I learnt the joys of changing the wallpaper of a school computer via MS Paint (any control panels were blocked on students accounts). I decided to show that little trick to my sister when we visited our local library. She drew a wonderful picture of some mice, and we put it on the wallpaper. Next time we went in the head librarian at the time called us over. She said she knew we'd been the last ones on the computer and that they'd spent over an hour on the phone to tech support to get the mice off the background. They imposed a permanent computer ban on me (it actually wasn't removed for years, not until I got a new library card). All I did was change the freaking background image. I wasn't very computer savvy myself then, but even I knew you didn't need tech support for something so retarded. :/

I didn't tell my parents for years, told my mum this year and she almost wet herself laughing- even she knew how to change her wallpaper!

So stupid people really do exist