By: Nathan Kahre

               We all know that one kid in class who never has any computer problems. It seems like his or her tablet always works, and you never see him or her down at the Help Desk. Envious of these lucky few? Well, follow these five easy steps, and you might just become one of them.

Step One- Restart your computer!
Have you ever walked down the Help Desk with a problem only to be told to restart your computer? I would bet that, once your computer started back up, everything worked fine again.  This is because computers are not meant to stay on 24/7 365 days a year, and trying to keep them on all the time will cause problems. In fact, Help Desk Repair Specialist David Daugherty stated that restarting your computer will solve about 95% of all software problems. While it won’t save your computer after being dropped down a flight of stairs, it will solve a lot of your problems so save yourself a trip down to the Help Desk, and restart your computer.

Step Two- NEVER carry your computer while it is open.
While the tablets are called portable, they really are not. Carrying your computer while it is open is like gambling.  You may be okay for awhile, but eventually, it will corrupt your hard drive.  Let me repeat that; it will corrupt your hard drive. Why take that chance? Always put your computer into standby before moving it anywhere; doing so will save you the big head ache that comes from a corrupt hard drive.

Step Three- Don’t drop your computer into your bag.
Have you ever noticed the worn corners on all the older computers? This is caused by dropping computer into bags and will eventually end with the corners breaking off and may even cause damage to the motherboard. Your parents paid around $2,000 dollars for these machines so be nice to them, place them in you bag, and make sure you have a bag with padding to protect your computer, and don’t even think about dropping your bag with your computer in it!

Step Four- Don’t hold down your power button unless you absolutely must.
            We all have done it; you just want your computer to turn off so you hold down the power button until the screen goes blank. Well, stop it! A forced shutdown is only for when you have absolutely no choice and must shutdown. Doing this over and over again can cause problems to your computer and even short circuit some of the electrical components of the computer.

Step Five- Don’t Use Internet Explorer.
            Internet Explorer is the problem child of internet browsers, and while it might be one of the most popular internet browsers, it certainly is not the best. Internet Explorer is one of the most vulnerable of all internet browsers, and Mr. Daugherty states that 90% of all spyware problems he sees at the Help Desk are from Internet Explorer users. There are many other browsers that work so much better, and all of them are free to download such as Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera. With all these free and better browsers, why not switch from Internet Explorer?