Something Not
Working?
Always make sure the connections to your computer and to the socket are all
plugged in securely. A wire being just a little lose can cause something not to
work.
Annoying Mouse?
If your mouse cursor is not moving correctly, along with the mouse itself, your
mouse is just dirty. Just unscrew the plate on the bottom, take out the
ball, and clean it off. Alcohol is recommended. Use a swab, preferable a
Q-tip, and clean out where the ball is. Make sure there are no debris inside.
Clean till the ball moves with out any restriction.
Defrag that Hard Drive!!!
As you add more programs and files to the computer, many parts get spread across
the hard drive. This leads to fragmentation of the hard drive, which is never
good. You should defrag your hard drive on a regular basis. Go to Start,
Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and go to Disk Defrag. This will put
together all your files, and make your computer run much better.
Too Many Taskbar Icons and Machine too Slow?!?
Tired of having many applications appearing on your task bar. The easiest way to
get rid of these pesky annoyances are to right click on the icon, and click on 'exit' or something similar. If the problem still persists, go to the
Start Button, go to Run, and in the window, type "msconfig" and press
enter. Go to the Startup tab, and uncheck programs like 'realplay', 'qtask'.

CAUTION! only uncheck a few at a time. After you click Apply and ok, you will be
prompted to restart your computer. Do so. When your computer restarts, if there
is an error, go back to msconfig, and recheck the applications that you
disabled. This tip is for advanced users.
Free Your Resources!!

In fact, it's a good idea to free your PC's resources in general. If you have
ten apps running at once, you're using a lot of system resources. To minimize
the threat of crashes, only open the apps you need. Don't open oodles of
document windows, and don't close and reopen the same application over and over
during a session. Finally, clear the decks; uninstall programs you don't use
very often.
Keep Your Machine Safe!
Install anti virus software and update its virus definitions frequently.
Many viruses are created every day and you should be with the latest version
of protection. E-Trust Antivirus is what I use. Other programs I would recommend
are Norton, McAfee to name a few. AVG Antivirus (www.free.grisoft.com)
is a free and very powerful anti-virus program.
Powering the PC!
I would recommend
getting a surge protector for your PC. If a lightening strike, power surge
happens to your residence, it can cause serious damage to your computer. You
can usually find some between $20 and $60. If your computer still gets fried,
you can receive a money back guarantee if you had a registration for the
protector, and mailed it in.
and more to come . . .