|
Creative Logic's Donations that you may feel appropriate are appreciated! |
|
|
So, what's with this
"Tooter" thing?
You'll probably agree that some
"graceful agers" don't really know very much about how certain
computer things work…the Owl does! We'd like to tutor you a little
to try and bring more knowledge for PC-related things than you may already
have… While this website can be an invaluable teaching guide for PC users
who are not technically savvy, the Owl's level of details is intentionally
limited here -- eMail Don
if you need more information?
The Owl also admits to an unavoidable information challenge: "evolution"… Tomorrow, today's advice
may be completely out of whack! As Ray Kurzweil's The
Singularity is Near book points out, "The future ain't
what it used to be…" (Yogi Berra)
If you find
that the Owl's thoughts (below) don’t really help find/fix your problem,
or if you already know that something's "broken", consider a
visit to Jon Heil's PC repair site?
You should also consider asking us for a personal visit... you have to be
reasonably close to Lake Five, WI to
do this… Click the Lake Five link and then "Get
Directions"…enter your zip code or city & press "Go"
to see.
Also, please view the Tooter's
disclaimer
and our
Privacy Policy…feel
free to eMail us (click the eMail link at the bottom of the page) or visit the
Creative Logic
web site for more information?
As you start to work with the Owl's ideas, we would love to hear your comments,
concerns or constructive thoughts…click the eMail link at the bottom of
the page?
- As
a starting point for the Owl's learning ideas, make the window as large as
you can (in MIE, hit F11 or double-click the title bar)... also read the
"computer
complexities" article, which shares some very relevant
points of view with you, the Owl's student…
Note that any tech worth his/her salt would point out the things listed in the article, so the Owl's ameliorated Webster article title would be:
"13 Things to Check Before Dialing PC Support" !
- Now,
let's look inside your PC with the Owl's help...the following info
is where some "Wiki-based" advice can be seen…unplug the
power if you plan to go inside!
A Wiki "exploded view" of a PC & some peripheral devices:
(click on the image for a larger view)
Details of each element may be viewed by clicking the fields in the table:
|
Item |
Element from diagram |
Misbehaving? |
Help? |
|
1 |
Scanners are used to capture photographs, pictures, articles & text into the PC |
||
|
2 |
A CPU (or Microprocessor) does almost all of the work in a PC. |
||
|
3 |
Primary storage (or RAM) is conceptually a somewhat simple place
where both the system and application software tools scribble their stuff to
interact with each other. |
||
|
4 |
Expansion cards (including graphics cards, etc) are used to add devices to the system |
||
|
5 |
A power supply connects the system to a source of power
like the wall plug. |
||
|
6 |
An optical disc drive brings video, music or programs from a CD or DVD |
||
|
7 |
Secondary storage (the Hard disk) is where the PC data and programs are stored permanently. The Owl guarantees that users who do not backup important data on a regular basis will one day be spectacularly unhappy! View in "Misbehaving">> |
||
|
8 |
Motherboards are of interest but not explained in detail by the Owl… |
||
|
9 |
Speakers bring sounds out of the PC |
||
|
10 |
Monitors display stuff for the PC |
||
|
11 |
(11 is at the lower left-hand corner of
the display) |
||
|
12 |
(12 is at the lower right-hand
corner of the display) |
||
|
13 |
Keyboards are the main way that data gets into the PC from your fingers |
||
|
14 |
A Mouse allows you to interact with all those little windows thingies |
||
|
15 |
An External hard disk lets you to store
stuff outside of the PC, allowing it to be easily moved to another machine. |
||
|
16 |
Printers mostly print stuff…not too much for the Owl to say, but there's some pretty good info in "Misbehaving">> |
- Owl's advice: (use
BACK or press 'backspace' to return)
while some things are often easier to fix than you might imagine, please
be VERY careful if you decide to pull the covers off of
anything…this is classically where a little knowledge can hurt! If
you do, be sure to UNPLUG THE POWER and >>>PROTECT<<<
the chips and devices first?
OK…did you check the "computer complexities" article above? Good…now, how about the other items tagged in the article? OK, we both know that these may be missed and it rarely hurts to do them!
Simple checks aside, the Owl's Wiki advice (links in the table, above) may warrant a relook to see if you can see or spot what the problem might be?
Also, if you're planning to make ANY actual changes, the Owl wants you to keep that old adage in focus: "Measure twice, cut once" (Wiki for ERP) to avoid ending up worse off than when you started!
There's a really, really good online tool that automates a check-up of your PC internals -- it's a website called "PC Pitstop"...this site is where Mr. Joe Kraynak takes you if you've spent a few bucks for his excellent "Computer Basics" book.
The Owl has laid out a set of steps (with screen snaps, etc) to help you do this, as it can be a bit daunting when you're learning! View this here... change the page that opens to full screen more (use F11) & use the page index on the left to move around the list.
More free advice is likely to be online…Google can search for useful information using things like the model # or the manufacturer's name.
Finally, if it came in a box (from the store, the web or a catalog), please check the manual (if you can find it) for advice -- ditto on the CD…remember, Google can find manuals, too!
So, to repeat the info shared at the top of the page, if the Owl's "Tooter" advice has not helped, feel free to eMail Don or visit Don's Creative Logic web site for more information?
If this has helped, please click "donate" to help offset our costs -- thanks!
"Required" legal disclaimer: personal repairs of your PC are performed
professionally but do not
have a formal warranty period and are not insured, bonded or licensed.
Should our repair fail within one month, it will be resolved at no cost.
- Next,
Microsoft’s
Excel is the Owl's favorite tool to provide spreadsheets, as
well as the backbone for many product development tools…it also
often gets reports from the Finance guys to you!
Here is the Owl's list of related Excel links for you to follow & learn: - The Math Tools website covers many threads, including Excel; you must register to access details, but it’s worth the 2 minutes!
- Did you ever "trip up" when trying to use the built-in SumIf or CountIf formulas to do an "AverageIf"?? The Owl's concept to look at here is an "array formula" which will surprise you!
- Spend some time with Ask Mr. Excel for an alternate view
- Macro’s are
among the Owl's favorites, providing a set of instructions for an
application (such as Excel) to process one or more actions or functions.
These steps are encoded as Visual Basic scripts and
vary in complexity from simple selection tools to sophisticated, erudite
manipulation and conversion of data…also see the VBA overview site.
Be sure to check the many, many pages of useful help data in Excel’s VBA tool as well as the “Macro Record” feature, which provides instant coaching to get you started! - Pivot Tables are an often-misunderstood tool (built in to Excel) that allows you to quickly build simple summaries of large amounts of data. See Pivot Tables (Math Tools) as well as Pivot Tables by Ask Mr. Excel for some specifics.
- As a final note in this one, the Owl wants you to remember that pages and pages of context-sensitive help data are on the “F1” and the [?] buttons!
- The
Owl really does like the "Video Professor"
who you've likely seen on your TV…just be a bit careful what you ask
him for!
- As
the Owl's final eThought, Don developed a
"learning" web page as one of his many GE assignments which you
can view here…
Watch for Owl's new thoughts which appear
periodically…
…visit
the "Front Office" at Creative Logic Software, LLC…
…and eMail Don with your comments and thoughts?
If you enjoyed this visit, donations are appreciated!
Last
updated: Jan-2010
Content © Copyright 1985-2010
Exclusive Property of Creative Logic Software, LLC
Accuracy of advice provided here is not warranted
View our
Privacy Policy
Operates under Windows MIE v7, best viewed full-screen
Monitoring...