mister computer

I am an intelligent woman. But when it comes to computer maintenance, I am a fourth grader. I can turn it on, check my email, and yes I have created this blogspot… but as far as my computer health, I know I need to do a virus scan, spyware scan, and defrag my computer occasionally.

Today one of my neighbor’s husband came down to help me with our computer… about a month ago I lost the sound. (No it wasn’t muted – I checked that!) I couldn’t figure it out!!! Somehow my husband was able to get it turned back on 3 or 4 days ago, but I still had some questions for Mr Computer… “Why does it take forever to startup?? Why is it so slow in general?? What web browser do you use?? What personal email program do you use??” So I thought I’d share a little about what I learned!

“Why does it take forever to startup?”
When your computer is turned on, it has to turn on all the programs in your “startup directions”. (I have Windows XP) In the small task bar at the bottom left of my screen, when I click on the little arrow, I have about a dozen lil icons for random little programs that I never use! To change these “Startup Directions” you click on the Start button, then click on Run, then type “msconfig” and hit enter. This loads your Startup Directions – and I was AMAZED at how many things my computer had to start each time I turn it on! Mr Computer suggested I google each item on the list and find out what exact program it was responsible for before I decided to delete them… Many times the ones marked ‘program files’ will be something you can edit, but the ones marked “rundl32″ and “windows” are usually system essential.

“Why is it so slow in general?”
One thing you can do is check your Task Manager by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Delete. This window will show you what programs are running and how much memory they are using. (We discovered I have one program called “TeaTimer.exe” that is using 89Megabytes! I will be googling that one FIRST just to find out WHAT it IS!!)

“What web browser do you use?”
Mr Computer uses Firefox – and I’d be curious to know what my readers are using! I have been using Internet Explorer for years because admittedly, change is difficult for me when it comes to my computer! My sister whose hubby is also a ‘Mr Computer’ type person, has been after me for a long time to change over — so a change (however painful) may be in my computer’s future!

“What personal email program do you use?”
Mr Computer uses the email program provided by the web browser Firefox. He said it is almost as good as Microsoft Outlook, but with less bells and whistles. He also said there are “add-ons” you can download from different websites (if you are computer savvy) and you want to expand its capabilities… ie program your email to send you mom a note every sunday that says “I love you MOM!”… Personally I think I’ll just try to remember to send my mom an email… LOL… but if you are into that kind of thing – more power to yah!

So that’s the short of the long of my visit with Mr Computer… I was SO grateful for the advice and opportunity to learn more about my computer… I use it every day for my various jobs as the domestic engineer of our household! Banking, Bills, Cooking, Networking, Parenting… and of course… Blogging!!!

*****I strongly suggest you tread carefully when changing the settings on your computer! Please be sure to do your homework and check with a professional if you are having serious problems!*****