How to Protect Yourself Against Computer Problems

Things You’ll Need:
Paper manuals or online refences to your equipment
Good observation skills
Possibly a screwdriver
Possibly a Camera

*Instructions:

1-Pick a day when everything with your computer and its connecting equipment is running satisfactory. Hopefully this will be most days. Without touching anything, take a look at how everything is connected. Unless it is wireless, everything should have a wire running from it back to your computer. With some exceptions, like the mouse and keyboard, most equipment should also have a power cord running back to the wall or a power strip. Recognize where and how things are connected while they work. You will be glad you did if they suddenly stop working. If you want to take a couple of pictures you can too.

2-While everything is on, look at any lights on all of your equipment. Learn how they look when things are working. Are the lights green, orange, red, yellow? Are they on solid or blinking?

3-On a Windows computer open the Control panel from the start menu and see how things are set. You won't break anything just by looking at it. Probably some of the most common ones to look at are "printers and faxes", "display", "network connections", and "system". If you have a laptop then you'll definitely want to look at "power options" as well. If you change anything, just be sure of what setting you started with so you can change it back if needed.

4-On a Windows computer hit the CTRL, ALT, and Delete keys at the same time to bring up the task manager. If that doesn't work you can also go to the "run" command in the start menu and type "taskmgr". Look at the "performance" tab and see where the numbers are when everything is working normally. Those numbers will go up if you have more programs running. You can also go to the Processes tab if you want. But don't feel insulted if you don't know what anything other than "Excel.exe" means.

5-If you are feeling ambitious, and you aren't a total butterfingers, you can even open up your computer case to see how everything is set up inside. You would first need to disconnect all of the wires from your computer, especially the power cord. If it isn't totally obvious how to open your computer case then you should consult any manuals that came with your computer, look for online references from your computer brand's website, or wait until your whiz-kid nephew is with you for this step. Again, don't disconnect any wires or internal parts unless you are positive how they were to begin with. Feel free to take another picture or make a simple sketch diagram if you want to.

6-Following the steps in this article can help you in two main ways. First, it can help you solve some simple computer problems yourself. Second, it can help you get better service for the times you still do need to call any kind of tech support or go to the store. Instead of just saying "umm...what should I be looking for?" You can say something like "the Internet Router has an orange light instead of the usual green ones."
*Source:
www.ehow.com