Recently Alex Payne wrote an article titled al3x’s Rules for Computing Happiness, and while we agree on a few things, there are several points that I most certainly do not agree with. As I was reading this article it got me to thinking about a page I had typed up at a previous job with some guidelines about how to not be frustrated with your computer at home. So in a slightly modified form I present to you Joe’s suggestions for achieving Computer Zen:
On choosing the correct OS for your needs:
- If you are only going to use your computer for email, web surfing, working with digital pictures, and to fill your iPod; buy a Mac. Just be prepared to spend more for less than you will get with the other options.
- If you rail against the man, refuse to pay for software, and want to be able to do anything that is possible with a computer; buy a computer without an OS and load the Linux distribution of your choice on it. Just be prepared to invest an amount of time reading man pages that could be considered the equivalent of earning a Doctorate in Computer Science to get your ultra-cool-high-tech-laser mouse working.
- If you want to be able to do most everything that you would need to (special circumstances aside), and do not want to have to learn how to program your computer to use it; buy a Windows computer. Just be prepared to buy some (optional) expensive software, and invest some time cleaning off malware from that late night “accidental” pr0n excursion.
On choosing software:
- Carefully evaluate software before you decide to use it. Take the time to set up a VM (that’s virtual machine) and install it there first. If you don’t want to go to the trouble, be prepared to suffer through some odd issues.
- Never install cracked software unless you are willing to reinstall your computer (sometimes “free” is not worth the price).
- Open source software has come a long way. Investigate your options before choosing to buy software.
- Never install iTunes on a Windows machine. There are other options for managing your iPod, and iTunes is a resource hog.
On general computer skills:
- Invest some time and really learn how to use and maintain your chosen OS and software. In the grand scheme of things you will save far more time doing it this way, than just going until something breaks and then having to try to figure it out (or having to pay someone to do it for you).
- Always back up your data (pictures, important documents, etc.) to something not on your computer. External hard drives are cheap now, as are web based backup solutions. Investigate your options, and choose a solution that is right for you. A good backup will save you hours of headache, and tons of heartache in the event of a data loss.
- Rip the Caps Lock key off of your keyboard. In all likelihood the only use you find for it will be to annoy others.
On using the internet:
- DO NOT CLICK EVERYTHING YOU SEE! No matter how many times I say this, I guess it takes personal experience to really drive it home. Assume that every popup you see is a trap, and investigate it fully before clicking on it at all. Common traps to avoid: “click here to install missing codec”, “your computer is infected with a virus click here to remove it”, “click here to enter”, (clicking on) “I agree…”.
- Do not use Internet Explorer unless the website does not work in anything else. FireFox is cross platform (will work on Windows, Linux, Mac), far safer, and in my opinion a better all around experience.
- Google is your friend. need to know how to start Outlook in Safe mode? Search “Start Outlook in Safe Mode” on Google.com, and you will find the answer very quickly.
- Do not forward rumor email or chain email! If someone sends you an email about business cards being laced with a potent tranquilizer, head over to snopes.com and check it out for yourself before you decide to tell anyone about it or send it to anyone. Some people just have too much time on their hands, and will mass email anything.
- Do not buy perscription meds online unless it is from a pharmacy your doctor recommends. Ask them about it FIRST. Anything that is advertised as “Buy \/i@gr4 herre cheap!!!” is a trap!
As with any Zen dicipline, Computer Zen is a long journey, and you will only get out of it that which you invest into it.
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> If you want to be able to do most everything that you would need to (special circumstances aside)
What else is there besides email, web, images, and mp3?
(1) If you have a friend or family computer person, highlight the parts of this article you aren’t sure about (such as how to install Firefox)
(2) Ask your family support person to connect using LogMeIn free. It saves everyone time and frustration. Let them figure it out (ridiculously simple) and then end all the explaining and confusion and just let them connect and see and fix the actual issue. They can also give you tips at the same time.
(3) Backup yes. Must be external drive, no. Unless you are putting it in a fireproof safe (you should) or moving it off site.
Internal/external: either way, it’s just a drive connected to your computer. And online backup is a good option (they’ll overnight you DVDs of your data). Much better than NO backup.
Gaming is the big one that comes to mind. Also media center like activities, I currently have a PC controlling most of the things in my house, including all of the lights and most of the appliances (it was a side project that kind of took on a life of it’s own).
CAD drafting, hardcore video and audio editing, VoIP, the list goes on.
Hah! Yes, I was kind of being ironic as I seem to spend 99% of my life doing all of those things I list 1% of the time ;-)
Yes, I can see me getting a lightweight Mac at some point but still relying on PCs for that 1%
Your first two points are absolutely excellent, I’m sure “family technicians” the world over would rejoice if their family made things that easy!
On your third point though, I disagree about backups being external not mattering. When the HDD fails you lose both your OS and your backup.
When the power supply goes and takes everything connected to it with it, again you lose everything (I’ve had this happen to me).
When someone breaks into your apartment and steals your computer, you lose everything (this also happened to me, the terastation mounted in a kitchen cupboard was thankfully overlooked, and I had been backing up regularly to it – sometimes paranoia does pay off:).
And I do agree that a fireproof safe is a good idea, just ensure that it is a safe that is specifically designed for computer media, as electronic media has a much lower threshold for heat damage than paper does, which is what most consumer fire safes are designed to protect (learned that one the hard way with a customer that lost all data in a fire, including the DVD’s and LTO tapes in her Sentry fire proof safe).
I meant a separate, internal drive (which is what I use). I keep OS on a drive separate from app settings, most app installation files, all user files, etc.
True enough that internal drives are guaranteed to go with the box if stolen, and that PWS problems can affect drives, but:
· Things connected to your computer (external drives) are not really protected from being stolen in a break-in.
· I’ve lost power supplies without losing hard drives.
· Companies that restore drives (like Kroll OnTrack) can bring back your data regardless of failure, so I wouldn’t call it dat “lost,” just expensive to restore.
If you or your computer person has a spare internal drive (many of us do) have them connect that, or buy an external drive. All things being equal, the external drive is better (that’s how I have my mother’s computer set up), but if there is a spare drive and you aren’t backing up, get on it!
It’s going to be about 30 days or so, but I am going to post an article about my VERY recent (and also VERY BAD) experience with one of the more well known data recovery companies.
I don’t want to say too much (third party intervention pending), but there are certain companies that you should never do business with.
Kroll OnTrack is the company governments go to to recover black box information after airplane crashes. I’ve had a good experience with them directly as well.
Other companies have been problematic. The main problem I’ve encountered is overpromising. Meaning: They’re not really in the data recovery business, but they won’t tell you that. They just undelete files, etc.
The main issue I’ve had with other companies is flat out fraud (but that is for a far more detailed post).
Personally I’ve had good results from DriveSavers, but have never dealt with Kroll OnTrack (though I’ve now heard several people point them out as a good place to deal with so I will be using them for my next data recovery project).
I have one comment for this part of your article:
2 Do not use Internet Explorer unless the website does not work in anything else.
Firefox is cross platform (will work on Windows, Linux, Mac), far safer, and in my opinion a better all around experience.
There is IEtab.
It is an extension for Firefox that uses the built in IE engine to render pages that want IE.
The default is to use the Firefox engine, but if a page checks for IE, then IEtab kicks in and starts the IE engine for just that page, and nothing else.
I use it a lot for Windows update.
I hope this helps somebody.