smart computer use?

If it’s not a major inconvenience, it can be very worthwhile to keep an old computer or two around. I’m not necessarily talking about ancient computers. I’m talking about stuff like keeping the last computer that you replaced with your newest computer. And maybe the other computer before that.

Why?

I like to think that even if I buy a new computer, the old one can serve some dedicated or more specific purpose.

For example: An old laptop that I have serves as a drum machine. It runs a copy of Propellerheads Reason 2.5 (which is very lightweight on resources, by the way). I use it only as a drum machine and synthesizer. Nothing else.

The computer works great for that purpose, even though it is over 5 years old.

I’ve recently been carrying my laptop computer around without using a case of any sorts. This might not be the best idea.

Backpacks of times past

I used to have a canvas backpack that worked pretty good for toting around my laptop computer. I borrowed that one out to get it fixed. The backpack had a strap that was about to fall off, so I wanted to get that repaired. I haven’t got it back yet.

I then had a laptop case. It was a decent laptop case. It fell apart too. I had to stop using it.

So, now every morning that I go to the office I am carrying my laptop in one hand and the power supply in the other. That is it.

I hope I don’t drop the laptop. That could be a bad thing.

I need to get a new backpack. This is too much of a risk.

Or, how about something like this?

You should get to know a good computer technician, they will make your life of computer use less stressful. After having worked with and having dealt with good computer technicians and bad computer technicians, here’s what I consider to be the important qualities of a good computer tech.

Speaking in layman’s terms. Not everybody can “talk the talk” when it comes to computers. Even the more tech savvy computer users may be boggled by certain computer concepts and need their computer problems, and computer solutions, conveyed to them in a way they can understand.

If you get the sense that your computer tech is trying to confuse you, or looks down on you because you don’t seem to know what you’re talking about, find another tech to help you with your computer problems.

Not looking to nickel-and-dime you to death. It’s easy to give in to all kinds of suggestions or to pay for something that you are unsure of when you are desperate to get your computer working. Just ask questions about what you are actually paying for and if you are routinely left confused and feeling like you don’t understand why to payed for what, start looking for another tech.

Willing to give you quick, free advice about your issues. I always like a computer tech who likes to answer a few quick questions to help me determine if my issues are beyond what I am able to handle. For example, if I’m dealing with a computer that wants to randomly restart or crash a lot, I might ask them what they think is causing the problem.

If they give some good quick advice for some things to try on my own, I appreciate that. I have received the input of an experienced pro and I can maybe try some more troubleshooting at home before finally deciding that the issue is beyond my capabilities to fix. If I can’t fix the issue, I’ll then usually take the machine into the same tech and pay to have diagnose the problems, and maybe fix it too.

Also, on your side of the spectrum, don’t take advantage of a tech that likes to give free advice. Always respect the fact that they have to get back to their job. Always thank them. They’ll like to work with you.

What specifically has turned me on or off

I can typically fix my own computers. I do, however, run into situations where I need to refer to a professional tech to fix an issue. I usally decide to use a computer tech because I either don’t have time to deal with hours of troubleshooting and research, or because I just have no idea what the issue is.

Here’s some specific things that made me like a particular computer tech:

• I walked into a shop expecting to pay $10-$15 for IDE cables, and they just gave them to me because they “had tons of them laying around”.
• I convinced myself I needed to buy some heatsink gel, but they convinced me I didn’t, even though they could have just sold me some either way. Turns out I didn’t actually need the gel and they did legitimately save me from buying something I didn’t need.
• I had a quick conversation about what was crashing my PC. The tech gave me ideas of about 4 things I should take a look at and didn’t even suggest that I bring in the PC.

Here’s a specific moment that made me not like a particular tech:

• I was looking for a heatsink for a not-that-hard-to-find AMD chip/motherboard combo, and the tech tried to sell me a new motherboard/cpu/heatsink combo after telling me I wouldn’t be able to find one. I’m not that stupid.

And in addition to those there have been lots of middle-ground instances where the tech either just seemed inept, seemed unenthusiastic, seemed pretentious, was just not helpful or able to fix the problem, or was just a jackass. Those kinds of instances will drive a person to want to find better computer support.

Getting to know a good computer tech will make your life of computer use that much more enjoyable and that much less stressful. There’s lots of good ones out there. Make sure you maintain a good relationship with the tech when you find a good one. You’ll be glad to have a good tech that you can rely on when you run into the inevitable problems that a computer can have.

If you’ve used a laptop to any extent in your career as a computer user, you understand how much it pretty much sucks that laptops batteries need to be charged A LOT.

The day when you have a laptop that can run without charging for up to a month may be near.

Puiu Tiberius from Digitpedia.com writes:

Samsung SDI has presented, at one of their own shows, a new notebook prototype feeded by a “fuel cell” system, which apparently would have a autonomy of no less then one month(yeah, as in 30 days!).

Of course, being a fuel cell, there is re-fueling involved. This wouldn’t be a simple “plug into the wall to recharge” type of scenario.

Read the article here.

If you use Windows, you either already know or now should know that your computer likes to start up all sorts of applications and run them in the background.

AutoRuns for Windows will help you to get a better grasp on all these automatically starting applications. From an article published by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell:

This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder, Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me and XP.

The download link is on the bottom of that page as well. Try it out it you want to better manage all the auto-running stuff on your Windows computer.