Contact Us, Disclaimer

You bought a new computer, what now?

Physical Connections.

You will need to connect at a minimum, the video monitor, a keyboard and a mouse and finally the power. Older computers use a 3 prompt power cable, newer models might use a D/C connector on the computer end (that of course is connected to the A/C outlet)

Additional hardware like a printer or scanner should not be connected until much later. Many components like printers need to have the drivers and/or software installed before you plug them in the computer. 

Typically a DSL or cable box can be connected before you turn on a computer when you first set it up, it will be automatically detected by the computer when it boots.

Windows Setup.

When you buy a new computer you will need to perform an installation procedure. Typically this is a mostly automated process consisting of following prompts that basically ask you some simple questions and you use the mouse to click an on-screen button such as "next" or "continue" until the process has finished.

You will need to have the computer connected to the internet so that it can register the Windows operating system. This is a one-time only process and is in most cases transparent and done in the background without your knowledge. If you are not connected to the internet you will be presented with a window that allows you to delay this process to another time.

At this point you should be able to at a minimum turn on the computer and see the desktop.

Within the first day and in the future, the computer will automatically check the Microsoft web site and download updates to the operating system. These updates can take anywhere from a few minutes to a lot longer to download and then install. When updates are installed the computer will reboot and you should allow it to finish the installation and shut itself off when it is done. A prompt will be presented to you when this happens.

Sometimes these updates can be long such as a new Service Pack for Windows or a new version of Internet Explorer.

The same goes for other software which will routinely check their websites for updates, in the background and allow you to install them.

A Typical computer will come with a minimum and often not very useful set of programs. For home users, the Microsoft Works program is sometimes included and can give you the ability to use documents and spreadsheets.

But very often the computer manufacturer will add programs that are fully functional but limited to how long they will run before they expect you to buy them. This can consist of a trial period of several days or of a limited number of times you can operate that program.

Microsoft Office is often included along with anti-virus programs like Norton or McAfee, 

Some Add-On Software

There are several software that will be needed in most cases as you start to use the computer more. Most are free downloads as described below.

The Java and Adobe products are free downloads

1. The Java Application - This application comes with Windows but will most likely need to be updated very soon after you turn on the computer and will let you know of the need to update with a pop-up window.
2. The Adobe Flash Add-on - This application comes with Windows but will most likely need to be updated very soon after you turn on the computer and will let you know of the need to update with a pop-up window.
3. The Adobe Reader Add-on - This application comes with Windows but will most likely need to be updated very soon after you turn on the computer and will let you know of the need to update with a pop-up window.

Things you need to do for the long run

• Activate or install a Firewall

Only one firewall can operate at any one time.

Windows comes with a firewall, but so do other programs that you can buy and install which will turn off the default windows firewall and use the one you purchased. (More Info on Firewalls ...coming, see below for a free download of a firewall)

• Activate or install an Anti-virus program

These programs typically can be relatively inexpensive to buy, but are like giving away a razor to make money on razor blades , after a limited time such as 45 days, you will need to buy a "subscription" that might cost $5 to $10 per month so that you can download new virus definitions.

• Activate or install a Spyware program
• Add Software - Unfortunately in many cases few useful software are provided. A good free source is the OpenOffice applicatoin (see below) , others such as graphics programs that have limited functionality can come with printers or scanners.
• Create User Accounts (very important)

How to Operate the Computer 

• How to Turn it On
  
  This is easy, press the power button, it will come on, you might see some technical information flash for a few seconds and the computer will go into windows
  
  If all goes well one of two things will happen
  
  a) you will see the Windows desktop, at this point you are ready to go
  
  b) you will presented with one or more Log-on Buttons of the Users you have created
  
  If no Users are created you go directly into Windows and see the desktop. This is the easiest way to use the computer but without a log on (and its associated password) you will not be well protected. Its wise to use a log-on WITH a password
  
• How to Turn it Off
  
  To shut off a computer you click the Start button on the button left corner and select the Shut-Down option
  
  There are other forms of turning off a computer such as putting it into Sleep mode or Hibernate mode.
  
  
• Why have different Log-On Accounts?
  
  Each of the User Accounts has its own reserved area on the computer, where the documents and settings such as the desktop are kept isolated from other User Accounts, so a Wife a Husband and each of the Kids can have their own account and not see the other's documents as well as have individual look and feel.
  
  Note : Many computers do not come pre-configured with a User Account or if they do they are not password protected. This is not safe, you should have a password protected user account.

Things that can increase your chances of the computer having problems

Add-on programs to Internet Explorer are the most common causes of computers running slower and a higher chance of infections

A good rule of thumb is that if an add-on programs is "really cute" it can cause problems. When you are tempted to install an add-on program ask yourself, "why would anyone spend hundreds of hours and provide the usage of their server to the world for free?" , if you follow the money you will probably find the add-on is sending information of your computer usage habits to its home server to be sold to marketers.

Programs to avoid are "toolbars",  and things like "weather menus" and such. The category these programs falls under is called "Third Party Browser Attachments".

If you do find them useful and install/use them, just remember  there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Free Stuff for you computer.

• Firewall - ZoneAlarm (the basic version which is probably the best firewall around and its free can be downloaded from this page, you can also buy the advanced version that has more functions but if money is tight, the free version will do just fine)
  What makes this firewall so nice is that it is relatively small in size, has been around for a long time, and provides both inbound and outbound protection that is easy to use. The Outbound protection is critical for this reason, if a virus does manage to do get in, and it tries to send information back to its home site, you will be warned of the action, the program and the destination of the action and be given a chance to block it from making the connection.
• Anti-Virus programs (many available) - The most common is the AVG program which can be downloaded from free,avg.com. On this page are several versions presented, when you scroll down the page you should see the Free Version.
• Anti-Spyware - SuperAntiSpyware (Highly recommended one of the Best and the Basic Version is Free and includes Free updates)
• Java Applications (Free) - Previously a Sun.com product can now be downloaded from the Oracle.com web site or the Java.com website.
• Adobe Flash, and Adobe Acrobat Reader (Free) - These Adobe products can be downloaded from the Adobe.com website
  - Adobe Flash - is used to present internet menus and selections
  - Adobe Acrobat Reader is used to display pages in a book like format
  - Adobe Shockwave is used to present graphics

• Office Applications - OpenOffice.org (note do NOT go to openOffice.COM the dot COM site is fake); a product similar and compatible to the Microsoft office, it included A Word Processor, spread sheet and other applications, its a free download from the OpenOffice.org web site.
  (OpenOffice.org is a Free, Open Source Office Suite, and the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more)
• Free Email - Most large internet companies provide Free Email accounts. Google has "Gmail" (the google main page has a link on the top to access their mail server), Microsoft has "Hotmail" (now known as LiveMail) as well as Yahoo  etc.
  
  The biggest reason for having a free email account with these companies is that the mail will "Reside" on their servers in Seattle or wherever they are located. This means that you can log on and use your mail from any computer, and dont have to worry about backing up your mail. In the old days when you used programs like Outlook Express the mail was localized to that one computer and could not bee seen from another computer
  
  Note: One upshot to using these email accounts most of which allow several Gigabytes of storage, is that you can send yourself important emails with attachments, and not open them unless you need them, in essence having a backup of important documents stored outside of your computer. If you are working on an important spreadsheet and can't afford to loose data, email yourself and attach the spreadsheet to the mail, if something happens to your computer you can go to your email account with any other computer and open the email and retrieve the attachment. 
• Alternate Browser - A nice and Free addition to Windows is a replacement browser for the Microsoft Internet Explorer. The Firefox browser is nice and can be downloaded from the mozilla.org website. On "This Page" of their website are also versions for Mac and Linux in various Languages. Version 9.0.1 was the current As of Late 2011 
  
  Firefox is more forgiven when you have a website that can cause the browser to crash, in such a case since firefox is independent of the operating system it will just close and you can reopen it, but the Microsoft Internet explorer is part of the operating system and might cause problems forcing you to reboot the computer.

Very Important To-Do Items -

• Create a User Account that has Limited Functionality (Not an Administrator) and use that when you log-on and plan to go to the internet. This will prevent you from doing many things such as install hardware and software and make many changes to the system, but if you can not do it, neither can a spyware or virus. A Limited User Account is the first step in protecting a computer from infections
• Create rescue Disks -
  Most computers come with the Windows Operating system pre-installed, BUT do not give you any disks with the operating system or any of the needed drivers for your computer. This makes it impossible to re-install Windows if something bad happens. 
  
  What they do is they place the operating system and needed files into a special partition on the hard drive, and provide you with a program that can CREATE a special set of DVD disks. If you take the time very soon after you get the computer running to create these disks, you will be able in the future to re-install Windows and its associated drivers on to the hard drive or a new hard drive easily. Without these disk your life will be hell. You will need to buy a new operating system form the manufacturer (if they still sell it and then track down all the proper drivers for that one model and probably spend days recreating the hard drive.
  
  With the rescue disks you put them in the DVD drive, reboot the computer, it runs for a while and the end result is a computer that has the exact same configuration as the day you purchased it. This of course means that you loose anything you had on that computer and should be that last thing you do after a bad crash when you know there is no other way to get your computer working again.
  
  Create a rescue set of disks and file them away where you can find them first chance you get. Its that important , and don't loose them.