These are the computer lessons I’ve learned the last few weeks:
1. Keep a computer journal – every time you have a problem, write it and the solution down. When the same problem comes up again (which it often does), you know what to do. With a memory like mine, this has saved me a lot of time and money.
2. If something doesn’t work, check the obvious first. For example, my printer stopped working, so I checked the program, re-installed the software, re-booted the computer, but nothing worked. Then I realized that the printer cable had come just a little bit loose. Not enough to notice, but enough to stop the power.
3. My hard drive at work got slower and slower, then totally died. I didn’t realize that hard drives were capable of that and it reminded me again of the importance of saving my data to a disk or cd.
4. I received an official looking email at work, claiming to come from administration. It was a zipped file, so I downloaded it. Later I found out it was a virus. Lesson- just because the name on an email looks official doesn’t mean it is, so be careful about opening files or giving out personal information, especially charge card details.
5. I was painting the kitchen and wasn’t sure if the previous paint was latex or oil based. So I went onto the Internet, asked Jeeves (www.askjeeves.com) and found out how. Answer: apply a cloth dampened in denatured alcohol and latex will bubble or wipe off.