BASIC HELPFUL HINTS EVERY COMPUTER USER SHOULD KNOW: 


Do’s

- BACK UP YOUR FILES - FREQUENCY DEPENDS ON HOW QUICKLY DATA CHANGES AND HOW CRITICAL IT IS. 

- USE ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU USE THE INTERNET OR GET FILES FROM OTHERS. 

- USE AN UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY, ESPECIALLY IF POWER IN YOUR AREA IS UNSTABLE. SURGES CAN CORRUPT DATA OR CRASH SYSTEMS. 

- UPGRADE AS NECESSARY. 

-BE CONSCIOUS OF SOFTWARE LICENSING ISSUES / REQUIREMENTS. 

-CHECK ON THE INTERNET SITE OF YOUR SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS COMPANY TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY “PATCHES” OR FIXES FOR KNOWN PROBLEMS. 

-CLEAN OUT OR ARCHIVE FILES PERIODICALLY. DELETE OR CONVERT TO DISK - EXTEND THE LIFE OF YOUR HARD DRIVE. 

 -SERVICE YOUR HARDWARE, DIRT AND DUST CAN REDUCE THE LIFE SPAN AND EFFICIENCY OF YOUR COMPUTER. 
 


  Don’ts
 -RUSH TO BUY THE LATEST VERSION OF A SOFTWARE PACKAGE JUST BECAUSE IT’S THERE. IDENTIFY A VALUABLE FEATURE OR ENHANCEMENT. 

-USE BETA SOFTWARE, ESPECIALLY IN “LIVE” (PRODUCTION) SYSTEMS. IT IS GENERALLY GIVEN OUT BY COMPANIES SO YOU CAN FIND THE “BUGS” FOR THEM BEFORE FULL RELEASE. 

-SHORTCUT THE SHUTDOWN - LET THE SYSTEM COMPLETE THE SHUTDOWN OR YOUR FILES CAN BE CORRUPTED. 

-STORE ALL BACKUPS IN ONE PLACE - IF THERE IS DAMAGE, THEY’RE ALL RUINED AT ONCE. MAKE A BACKUP COPY ONCE A WEEK AND BRING IT TO ANOTHER LOCATION.