So You Bought A Computer

xp-iconSo you’ve been out to one of the local Computer stores, probably had a 5 minute chat with some spotty faced youth, who has more or less told you what is written on the box! You see one of the biggest problems is, the vast majority of these people are employed to sell you a box, they do not know or care anything about what is in the box just as long as they succeed in getting you to buy one (a box that is) !

Just ask these people any sort of technical question and you will see that what I have just told you is, in the majority of cases, very true! In fact the typical sales pitch would be;

“Ah good morning Sir / Madam, can I help? Oh I see, so you’re looking for a computer! ” All said with a very smug know it all smile & of course, you the customer, not wishing to appear a dim witt, nod intently as he waffles on about all the technical specifications of the computer !

Well may I show you this one?

It has a;

  • Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 Processor
  • (2.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2MB Cache)
  • Genuine Windows XP (R) Home Edition
  • 2GB Memory
  • 120GB Hard Drive
  • Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD Re-Writer
  • 128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400XT Graphics
  • 6 USB Connections
  • AOC 20″ Widescreen TFT Monitor

All sounds great eh? But did the salesman /woman ever ask you what you wanted to do with your computer? ie Did you just want a word processor & access to the internet, or maybe a photo edititing suit as your a budding photographer, maybe a video edititing package or a complete media center for your home…? All these things and more are possible, but you need the correct setup to start. Furthermore there is little point in forking out your hard earned cash for a top spec PC, capable of video editing, when all you want to do is write the odd letter, browse the internet & play the odd tune. That would be like using a forty tonne truck to collect your weekly groceries from the super market !!!

Did they ask where in your house you were planning on putting your new PC?

Did they ask if you had a surge protection device?

Did they give a big speech about Internet security & how you really need to have this very nice piece of software that will stop people hacking into your PC , when in actual fact more damage is done & more problems caused by the owner of the PC than is done by any hacker ! Rubbish!!! I hear you say, well I’m afraid not, it happens to be true. When you get a virus, trojan etc on your PC, is it some spotty faced computer geek that put it there? NO! In the vast majority of cases YOU the computer owner / user are the reason for the infection, why? because;

  1. You have failed to setup your PC correctly
  2. You click on everything that pops up on your screen
  3. You download music / films from ill managed and dodgy websites
  4. You use numerous Toolbars, again most of which are from dodgy websites
  5. You join the mindless hordes and forward email messages to everyone on your contact list (helping to spread any virus you may have)

But panic not, we are going to address all these problems one by one and hopefully by the end of these pages you will be better prepared to take proper care of your PC.