Myths About ComputerRepair and IT People

1) My computer guy
knows everything about
every program out
there. There are so many
programs around and
they are constantly
changing. It would take
more than a lifetime to
learn them all. While a given computer repair
tech may know about
common applications
(i.e. Word, Quick
Books, etc), they may
not know anything about programs specific
to your industry or other
applications that aren't
commonly used. This is not abnormal. Also, your tech cannot
usually "fix" problems
with websites (such as
Facebook) because the
website itself is actually
on a server somewhere else which only the
people who administer
the website can access
(the same rule applies:
no one knows
everything about every website). He or she may be able to
tell you why you're
having problems with it
or maybe tweak the
settings on your
computer to correct some small issues, but
this is usually limited in
what it can accomplish
and any real problems
with a website have to
be handled by the people who own and
operate it. 2) My teenager or my
neighbor's/friend's/
coworker's teenager/
young-person can fix it. Kudos to the older
generations for giving
positive credit to the
younger generations for
at least something. Too
bad that this is nothing more than an error in
reasoning. There are some pretty
computer savvy
youngsters around that
can write programs,
troubleshoot hardware,
and understand computer architecture.
But most young
peoples' wisdom is in
the form of using the
internet, specific
programs, and using the computer in general
(this is most likely due
to the fact that they
grew up with PCs). People like this are
dubbed "power users".
This does not give one
the ability to trouble-
shoot, install, and
configure hardware and software properly,
especially on complex
networks and servers. There have been
computer repair calls
made to me because the
owner of the PC let his
teenager or twenty-
something have a crack at fixing it first, thus
making the problem
worse. 3) I need to be a computer
technician, engineer, or
computer scientist to fix my
own computer. So maybe your eighteen year-
old isn't quite the computer
whiz you thought he was.
This doesn't mean you need
to kick out $250 for that
repair quite yet. Fixing many computer
problems is kind of like
walking a tight rope: you
don't have to be a genius, you
just have to know how to do
it. Many repairs are easy and
require little or no technical
knowledge. That's what my
web site (see link in resource
box) is here to show you. 4) I'd know it if my
computer was infected with
viruses, spyware, or other
malware. Sometimes you will, but not
all malware is so overt. Often, malicious software is
designed to run quietly in the
background so it can log the
keys you press, the websites
you visit, and attempt to steal
data and passwords to send them back to whomever. Others can turn your
computer into a spamming
machine without your
knowledge. 5) I can buy a new computer
for $350, so I'm going to
pitch the old computer rather
than fix it. Computers that sell for less
than $500 are very low-end,
cheaply made machines.
They are equipped with low-
grade processors; modest
amounts of RAM; small, slow hard drives; and are
cheaply made. Buy one and you'll soon
wish you hadn't. An older (5
yrs or less) computer can
often be repaired and/or
upgraded for a relatively
cheap price. If you do it yourself then the
only cost is the software or
hardware you buy. Then you
get another 2-4 years out of
it. Remember the Golden rule
of shopping--YOU GET
WHAT YOU PAY FOR. And yes, it's true, even for
computers. 6) Computer repair always
costs a fortune. See items 3 and 5. For more great computer
repair and maintenance tips
& info, visit the link in
resource box. you'll find
plenty of videos, articles, a
forum, and more! Brian J Jenkins owns and
operates a PC help website. For more great computer
repair & maintenance tips: http://
www.ComputerRepairCompanyInaBox.com . The site is free to all and is
loaded with video, articles, a
forum, an other computer
related info. Register (less than 2
minutes) and get 2 free mini-
books! Article Source: http:// EzineArticles.com/?
expert=Brian_J_Jenkins