Now why did I do that?

On the surface it is not that easy to kill a computer, most of the time it will sit there quite happily waiting to see just what you would like to do next. It can go for years like this until something unusual occurs.

One of the first ways people try to kill the poor wee beastie is panicking when they perceive that there is too much rubbish on the computer. A panicked audit reveals so much that is never used, and then the bloodbath begins as file after file is deleted. “Nope, I do not use that, that and I have never used that”. Things start to slow, rather than speed up, the computer has trouble shutting down, even more starting back up again.

Updates, “Oh no I never update”. Updates come in many forms, the operating system updates. I am constantly amazed by the attitude of people to the fact that the updates are there to resolve problems, not cause them. A common cause of pain for computers is being forcibly turned off after it takes an age to shut down, that it is in the middle of installing updates does not seem to be a cause for a bit of patience. Force a shutdown at the wrong moment and oh look, you have a paperweight.

A little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing too. We often find teenage computer scientists know exactly what they are doing, right up to the point that they do not. But it is not just teenagers; helpful children of all ages find it impossible to leave their parent computers alone, they just cannot seem to help themselves. “What do you mean it is not working properly? I have not got time now, I will finish it next time I come down”, exit swiftly stage left.

If you are not sure about a request to update a program, like the operating system, Adobe, Java, you can always Google the question, ask a friend or email us. A bit of research never hurts.
Remember, you love your computer; your computer is your friend. The glass in that window would be so expensive to replace now wouldn't it?