|
Small Office, Home Office Information |
Copy Text Online |
|
Computer Common Sense Computers are amazing pieces of equipment. They can handle a multitude of tasks all at the same time and we don't even realise it's happening. At the same time as we're typing a letter in a word processor the computer might also be downloading email, updating your virus protection software, refreshing an a web page that you have opened in the background as well as maintaining it's own operating system via a lot of small programmes that you never see but that start as soon as you turn the computer on. You don't see those programmes running because you don't need to, they operate in the background and ensure that your computer functions properly. Yet those are often the programmes that ofte cause the most trouble. They don't cause trouble because there is some inherent fault with them, they cause trouble because people fiddle with them, disable them and delete parts of them. We're not talking about hackers here, we're talking about the computer owners themselves. Everyone has to have a little look around the files on their computer, it's quite natural. Everyone is inquisitive and they want to see what's sitting there behind those unusual file names. They open the files, have absolutely no clue as to what the contents are all about and so they delete them. If you think I'm joking you should talk to a guy I know who runs a computer repair business here in town. On average he receives a computer a day that has suddenly and mysteriously ceased to work. The owner has no idea why it's not working ... all they were doing was deleting a few files they never use. About a hundred dollars later they have their machine back in working order and they also get a stern warning not to delete anything that they don't understand. Some heed that warning but there are one or two who come back every month or so with the same problem all over again. So there's a warning for you. By all means have a look around all the various files that come with your computer. Marvel at how many individual scripts and programmes are needed to run your computer effectively and efficiently ... BUT DON'T DELETE ANYTHING! If in doubt take your computer down to your friendly computer technican and let him have a look to see if it needs to be deleted. Don't fiddle with things you don't understand and your computer will continue to perform all the miracles that you have come to expect from it.
|