|  3. Use Print Screen: Record some information about how your desktop is set up in case you have to reinstall. For example, suppose I want to record all the names of all the directories on my hard disk. An easy way to do this is to open File Manager and then press the "Print Screen" button on your keyboard. Next, open the Paintbrush program. Under Edit, select "Paste" and then under File, select "Print." This will print a picture of your screen showing your File Manager with all of its directories. Do the same with Program Manager. Put these two papers into your soft box.
4. Buy original software: There are several reasons I mention this. Unless you have money to spare, you probably have several pirated programs residing on your hard disk. You got them from a friend, from the office, or from Hong Kong or Thailand. You probably don't have the manuals. The quality of original diskettes is usually superior to that of copied ones. When you use originals, you know that all the files exist on the disk, and if they don't, you can easily receive replacements. With pirated copies, you never know if you have all the files you need. When your hard disk fails, you want your software to install painlessly. Copied installation diskettes often fail for reasons I won't discuss here. One of the other nice advantages of original software is that you get the manuals. Space consuming as they are, a manual will tell you how to do things that might not be intuitive just from looking at the screen. Often a program will have short-cut keys that will be described in the manual. A manual is a reference book. It may not be terribly lucid sometimes, but it is all written down on paper. It doesn't crash, nor does it require electricity to read. By far the best reason for buying original software are the help-lines maintained by the software companies. In the past, you could call up a company, tell them you were using their software and ask for help. Now, companies are cutting costs and technical support. They expect you to have proof of ownership, as in a registration number on hand when you call them. I advise copying the registration number onto the front of your first installation diskette, and onto the front cover of your manuals. You don't want to be fumbling in the bottom of your closet or through the mess in your desk drawers for a number on a card that you are not even sure you still have. Without that number, they will refuse to speak to you. 5. Use a highlighter pen: I also advise you to make liberal use of a highlighter marking pen. Mark up your manuals. Use a marker to highlight the special options you will need to use should you have to reinstall your software. This came in handy for me last week when I had to reinstall my communications software. There were settings that I couldn't easily remember without laboriously looking them up. These included the exact type of modem I have, the technical name for it, and the COM Port it was set to. There were also help-line numbers, product registration numbers, and other small details that once high-lighted greatly increased their accessibility. 6. Install several virus checkers: Because you usually do not know what the real cause of your problem is, software or hardware failure, a virus, or simply your own mistake, the best solution is to address all four systematically, one at a time. I use the virus checker that came with MS-DOS, and McAfee VirusScan, and a Japanese program that someone gave me. I use several because no virus checker can cover everything. I hope that they complement each other. However, as prepared as I advise you to be, I think that much of the hysteria over viruses is overblown in the media because it makes such interesting news stories. With that said, I would like to note that in the last two years I have caught and eradicated two viruses, FORM and AntiCMOS, twice each. Only in a single instance was a virus on my computer, and that time it came on a diskette that my wife had used at Temple University. Computer code and viruses are involved in a symbiotic struggle: What one man can invent, another man can break... which another man can then fix. You and I are the users of the first and third party's products, and indirectly of the second man's products, in the form of improved software. 7. Join a computer club: You need a network of knowledgeable people to access in times of trouble. A club is a bank of knowledge. Sometimes you deposit information, sometimes you withdraw. You cannot learn everything there is to know about computers, but by becoming involved in a club, you gain access to a large number of people who together have experienced most of the problems you will ever face. A club has other obvious benefits including ongoing educational, social, and recreational activities. And as time goes on you too will be consulted by less-experienced members. The installation time of DOS and Windows on a 386 is slightly over thirty minutes. Multiply that by thirty machines and you start to have a major headache, even without the inevitable installation problems that always crop up. I am impatient about my time. I don't want to wait while the machine installs software, spell-checks a document, saves to the hard disk, adds some numbers, backs up my data, or performs a myriad of other functions. A fast machine with ample RAM reduces the amount of time I spend waiting for the hourglass to go away. | 8. Buy a fast machine: Buy as fast a machine as you can afford. At school I have a 386 computer on my desk with 6 megabytes of RAM. It runs all my Windows applications slowly, but just fine. I have no problems using Word, Excel, Paintbrush, or any educational software. For my everyday purposes, the processor speed is not very important... how fast can I really type? The problem comes when I want to install software on the 386 or on its sister machines that I have set up for students in a self-access lab. The installation time of DOS and Windows on a 386 is slightly over thirty minutes. Multiply that by thirty machines and you start to have a major headache, even without the inevitable installation problems that always crop up. I am impatient about my time. |
| I don't want to wait while the machine installs software, spell-checks a document, saves to the hard disk, adds some numbers, backs up my data, or performs a myriad of other functions. A fast machine with ample RAM reduces the amount of time I spend waiting for the hourglass to go away. I cannot control the speed of the machines at my school. I can only use them as a benchmark for comparison with my home Pentium (i.e., 586) computer which has 12 megabytes of RAM. Installation of the same software takes less than ten minutes. Printing is a breeze. There is never any hourglass telling me to wait for access to the CPU. A fast machine will reduce the waiting time you spend in front of the computer, and will give you more time to do the things you really want to do. 9. Reinstall everything once a year: I try to clean my real desk several times a year; my wife wishes that I would clean it every day, or even dispense with it entirely. A computer is a virtual desk. It gets cluttered and disorganized just as your real desk does. As a computer is a thinking tool, clutter reduces its efficiency to help you think. Do you really need that 1,000-font package you bought on the trip home? Isn't it time you finally deleted Doom? Maybe now is the time to start the final migration away from those old DOS programs. Are you ever going to use those three word processors? I recommend backing up all important files, reformatting the hard disk, then using a program like Norton Utilities Disk Doctor to mark any bad sectors of the disk, and finally reinstalling all your software once a year. It'll take a day to complete. The free time around New Year's or Golden Week might be a good time for this as everybody is cleaning everything anyway. Why not clean the computer once a year? |
