Mark managed to make something whole, complete and effective out of something still unsatisfactory, that two previous designers had worked on.
Turning off your PC or Laptop
Never turn off your PC using the power button. Always use the correct method, which is:
* Click Start -> Shutdown -> Turn Off
Using the power button will (trust me, it will eventually), cause at best, corrupt data and at worst a knackered (technical term for broken) hard disc.
Recovery DiscsRecovery Discs
This is something that really winds me up, and I'd ask everyone to pass on the word! The newest trend is that you don't receive an operating disc with your new PC. This, we are told, is to stop piracy, and prevent you from giving your buddy a copy of the latest version of Windows Vista. This, I understand, and in theory have no problems with. BUT, the user is expected to burn (copy) to disc their own recovery discs. This can involve the use of a couple of blank CD's or even DVD's. Here again I don't have a great problem with this (although I'm yet to understand while these couldn't have been supplied with the PC).
The problem I have, is the lack of information that is given to the buyer (who after all has just paid several hundred euro of their hard earned money). On a weekly basis, I deal with clients who “didn't knowâ€, “wasn't told†or “didn't see†that they had to burn these discs. Very few of the new PC's that I have seen have this information printed anywhere on the box, the instructions or on the PC screen itself. The makers seem to assume that you would know you had to do this! Some makers are very good, I use a Sony Vaio laptop, and when you first turn it on, you get the biggest most annoying message that blocks your screen every time you start your computer, until you burn the discs, and then it disappears. There's no way you could forget or not realise what you need to do. Unfortunately not all makers do this, and some try their best to keep it a secret. You can of course buy the discs if you need them, but will have to pay between €35 and €50 and wait two to three weeks! So, check and see if you need to burn recovery discs. By and large, if you didn't get a Windows installation disc with your PC, you'll need to do it.
Installing and Uninstalling programmes
Be very slow to install programmes unless you know you want to keep them. Every time you install a programme, data is written to your hard disc, and usually certain system folders and the Windows registry. If you decide to uninstall, the programme will try to delete all data, but usually information is left behind, and quite often the registry remains unchanged. Over a period of time, all this remaining data starts to congest and slow the systems.
