If you are not currently having any computer problems, do the following steps immediately while you still have the chance.
- Locate all your original diskettes, CD's and DVD software that goes with your computer hardware and keep in a safe place. Keep original software with your computer in appropriate containers.
- Contact your computer manufacturer where you purchased your computer immediately if you discover you were not provided with the original software disks for software that came pre-loaded on your machine. If you are a Windows 98/ME/XP/Vista user, your Windows operating system contains much of the software needed by your computer hardware such as your monitor, mouse, keyboard, printer, modem/fax machine, sound card, joy stick/game pad.
- Locate all the original paperwork and computer manuals that came with your computer. Having all this material centrally organized can help when you do encounter computer problems and need to seek computer service help and solve problems.
- Use what Windows provides automatically unless you are instructed differently to use additional software that was provided with your hardware. Most hardware comes with its own software.
- Use a surge protector (APC or Belkin brands) with modem/phone line protection.
- Install and use computer virus protection software.
- Make a current backup copy of all your important software regularly and do this without fail. Backup because hard drives and floppy disks can and do fail without any advance warning. Find a backup method that is convenient and trustworthy so that daily backups will more likely be done. If you have downloaded your software from the Internet, make a copy immediately after you download before beginning any installation.
Getting Computer Technical Support
Once you have purchased a computer or software, you are entitled to technical support to resolve any usability problems. Before you call for help you can save time by looking up your software version information. Using the software installed on your computer you can reference the version information by selecting the menu word "Help", "About". You can find computer company technical support phone numbers by using your software Help Menu searching for words such as: technical support, contact us, troubleshooting. If you have software with a product I.D. number containing the letters: OEM that usually means you got the software loaded on your computer by a Computer Manufacturer such as: Gateway 2000, Dell, Acer, Compaq. The computer seller is responsible for providing technical support for software they pre-installed on your computer system. If you buy software directly from a retail store or via mail, then the software company is responsible for providing technical support.
Below is a brief list of some major computer vendors:
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