Betty,
Right, mac, not MAC, not big Mac (the sandwich or the former steroid-enabled
slugger).
Thanks, yes, the list is in the right direction for crashes. It'd be nice
to have a list of other problems, such as slow running computer, frequent
freezing, etc., with the corresponding likely or possible causes. Regarding
some of the problems you mention, such as bad ram, bad hard drive or file
conflicts, how much of this do or can most computers indicate themselves or
does the user have to know to take some action, such as checkdisk? Or, for
instance, should one run certain things like checkdisk on a regular basis to
catch such problems?
This might not be so good for people who provide tech support, but wonder
why, say, a computer couldn't be "hooked up" to some online diagnostic
program sort of like how they hook a car up to computer diagnostic machines.
The program would check out the computer's status, especially anything
affecting performance, stability and safety and either make corrections or
suggest them. Or at least indicate things that should be looked into, say,
too little memory or whatever. I know there are some diagnostic programs
you can run, but not sure how comprehensive they are. If they do exist and
are not very expensive, I'd sure be interested in knowing about them!
Speaking of diagnostics, my Windows Defender apparently became inoperative,
so downloaded latest version and ran full scan, which picked up 3 possible
problems not picked up in quick scan. Wasn't sure what the 3 things were it
suggested were medium risk problems (refers you to the relevant Microsoft
website, but once there, don't see any information on these items and didn't
feel like spending an unpredictable amount of time tracking this down) so
had program quarantine them. Subsequently, some programs (1 or 2 that I'm
so far aware of) suddenly seem gone or inaccessible. Have noticed similar
issue with running other antispyware or adware - insufficient information
provided about what the questionable items found are, how important (or even
whether) is it to delete or quarantine them, whether to delete or quarantine
and what the consequences will be of deleting or quarantining them. Maybe
this is because I'm using the cheap or free programs, but if all users
should be regularly running antispyware, etc., yet it is not clear what the
results mean or what to do with them, this seems like yet another dilemma.
Randall
----- Original Message -----
From: "b_s-wilk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 12:22 AM
Subject: Re: [CGUYS] Top ten lists:
Randy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> escribió:
Here's something think might be helpful for the novice or
inexperienced computer user: Develop two top ten lists - the first,
top ten things (in sequence) that a user should do for computer
safety and performance and second, a top ten list of the most common
computer problems and the most typical causes or sources. Of course
ten is an arbitrary number; maybe it's 5 for one list and 12 for the
other. But it occurs that it might be good for a lost user (as I
often am) to have some ideas of what to consider when yet another
problem crops up. Hopefully, the lists would be based on the pooled
experience of people, like many here, who have dealt with a lot of
various problems. Just an idea. Bet this list could do a good job
generating both lists. Okay, maybe would need separate lists for MAC
and PC (or no problem list for MAC?)
First, a Macintosh computer is a Mac, not a MAC. For MAC, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MAC_address.
I have a pretty good list from a long time ago--maybe 1994 or earlier,
when PC parts were much more expensive--and it's been helpful many times.
This was a reply to a befuddled user several years ago:
---------
Blue screens of death [crashes, etc.] can mean the program has stopped
behaving normally, and is running random data instead of code. This can be
caused by (in order of decreasing likelyhood and increasing horror):
1) Corrupt prefs or other files, often fonts
2) Missing dll, or file conflicts
3) Bad RAM
4) Bad external device or cable or termination
5) Bad hard drive
6) Bad power supply
7) Bad motherboard
Be an acrobat. Keep your fingers crossed while reinstalling everything
from your backup disks to a reinitialized or reformatted hard drive. Have
you tried a different power cord or battery?
---------
Randy - does that fit your requirements?
I will add to the list that there are plenty of important documents online
at a variety of help and mfg support sites. I bought a new Epson scanner
last week, installed the software and discovered that it 'broke' Photoshop
completely. I found parallel solutions at both Epson support and Adobe.
The scanner works fine now. Add online support sites to your solutions
list on YOUR web site.
Betty
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Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.467 / Virus Database:
269.6.8/797 - Release Date: 5/10/2007 5:10 PM
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