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The PC Outreach Project
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Technical Support Wouldn't it be nice if your computer just started up and worked perfectly every time? If it never needed anything fixed or added and nothing ever went wrong? Sorry! If you have a computer, from time to time you have a computer problem. Most of the time they probably won't even be your fault. In our Support Section, PC Outreach lays out some simple steps that anyone should take to prevent problems and help fix them when they occur. This page is continuously changed, so check back from time to time to see if new information has been added. In most cases, if good support information exists on other sites, PC Outreach will simply provide a link to that site. We don't care who gets the credit for fixing a problem. To help you get to any information we have to address your concern, we've provided a list of topics below. Click on any of them to go directly to the place in our Support Section where that topic is addressed. If you can't find an answer or need more help, feel free to send us an email at support@pcoutreach.com. Please be sure to include the inventory number on the back of your computer. It will be a white sticker with blue writing. Since every PC Outreach computer is unique, knowing the unit we're dealing with can help a lot. Basic Computer Operations (simple steps to prevent problems) What To Do If The Computer Stops Operating How To Prevent Computer Viruses Good Advice For Computer Users (resources from other sites)
Turning off your computer the "right way" can save LOTS of headaches. Don't just hit the Power button! To shut down a computer running Windows, click Start, click Shut Down, choose Shut Down, click OK, and let the computer close Windows. At the end of that process the computer will either turn itself off or show you a screen that says "You may safely turn off your computer". THEN hit the Power button. Just hitting the Power button on a computer running Windows is kind of like just turning off your car's ignition while you're on the highway. Sooner or later, something really bad is going to happen. Don't install "nuisance-ware". This is our own term, as far as we know. There are thousands of little programs out there that make your mouse cursor into a dancing fairy or make it so your computer plays the Star Wars theme when you open a web browser or pops up a joke of the day or remembers your passwords to "help" you or offers you prizes if you install something or other. Some of this stuff is really bad for your computer, but ALL of it is just nuisance-ware. It's things you don't need, things that will clutter up your computer, make it run a little slower, be more things to slow you down, more things that might go wrong. Don't install programs you don't need. Don't run more programs at one time than you need. PC Outreach computers are not nearly as fast or as powerful as new PCs sold on-line and in computer stores. While it is certainly possible to have a word processor and a web browser and a calculator and a CD player and instant messaging all open and running at the same time, things will move pretty slowly if you do, and you are more likely to have problems. You can do more than one thing at a time. Just keep an eye out for how your computer behaves. If everything slows down or starts to "stutter" as you run more and more programs at once, then either don't run as many or figure out which ones are slowing things down. And frankly, that's true for newer computers, too.
What To Do If The Computer Stops Operating First make sure that the computer has stopped, rather than simply "stalled". Give it a minute. Computers get confused from time to time. If the computer works out the problem, maybe you'll be OK. If not, if the computer won't do anything else, or if your screen is "frozen" and you can't move your mouse or enter commands with your keyboard, you're going to have to take more drastic actions. By the way, make a note of what you were doing when the computer froze. This information may be helpful later on. We don't recommend that you "reset" the computer (which restarts it without shutting it down). Instead, we recommend that you press and hold the Power button for about 5 seconds or so, then release it. By then the computer will have turned off either while you were holding the button or when you released it. Either way, the computer will be off. Let it stay off for 2-3 minutes. This just helps the computer "forget" whatever may have been causing the problem. After that pause, restart the computer. If it restarts normally and operates normally, then your problem may not recur. If the same problem DOES happen again, though, it will have to be addressed. We can't tell you exactly what to do next right here, as there are literally thousands of things that could be going on, depending on what program(s) you are running and what computer you have, etc etc. One thing we CAN recommend to do when a computer freezes over and over is to run a Windows utility called "Scandisk" to try to find a problem. Scandisk may have already run when you started your computer up again after restarting by pressing and holding the Power button (remember, that's the WRONG way to shut it down, done only for emergencies). Scandisk can run before Windows starts, but you can run it yourself from inside Windows to check for problems. To run Scandisk, click Start, Programs, Assessories, System Tools, click Scandisk. When Scandisk opens, in the top box (select drive to check for errors) click your "C" Drive. Next select Standard for type of testing, check the box to Automatically Fix Errors, then click Start. Scandisk will check all the files on your hard drive and fix any errors that it finds. Won't solve every problem but fixes some and never hurts.
How To Prevent Computer Viruses First, obtain and install anti-virus software. A "freeware" (does not require payment for personal use) anti-virus program called AVG from grisoft.com comes on every PC Outreach computer. Also, there are some highly respected companies that sell anti-virus software. The links for some of these companies are below. Trend Micro's "Housecall" on-line virus scanner Second, update your anti-virus definitions REGULARLY. We recommend once a week. Your anti-virus software can only protect you against the viruses it knows about. When new ones are developed, your anti-virus program may not detect them unless you have gone on-line and gotten the newest definitions. Also, at least once each week do a "full system scan". That means to tell your anti-virus program to check every file on your computer for viruses. You can set this up on an automated schedule or you can do it manually and just walk away and come back in 10-20 minutes when it's done, but DO IT! This isn't just some geek obsession -- keeping your anti-virus program up-to-date and running it regularly is a sad essential in today's computer world. If you use email and instant messaging, practicing "safe computing" doesn't just protect you, either. It protects everyone you have on-line contact with. These days most viruses are spread by email, infecting unprotected computers and then spreading to all the people in the email address books of that computer. So, if you aren't using anti-virus software, keeping it current and using it, YOU are spreading computer viruses. One more important thing about computer viruses. We know most viruses are spread by email. Most email viruses are spread by sending a message with an "attachment" from one person (actually, from somebody's infected computer) to another person. When that second person "opens the attachment" to read the supposed document or look at the picture or whatever, THAT'S what triggers the virus. So ... DON'T OPEN THOSE ATTACHMENTS! Simple, right? Remember, it's going to look like they came from someone you know. That's how the virus works. Don't fall for it. Unless you are sure that the person actually DID send you that attachment, don't open it. If you have doubt, write them a note and ask them BEFORE you open it. Better safe than sorry.
Spyware is a relatively new type of computer software. "Spyware" refers to programs that are installed on your computer, with or without your knowledge, and then track where you go on the internet, what information you look for, what you shop for or buy, maybe even who you communicate with and what programs you run. The companies which make spyware programs hate that name, by the way. That's their problem. Spyware programs can mess up your computer, they can slow you down and change settings that make it hard (sometimes impossible) to do what you need to do with your PC. Earlier on this page, when we were talking about "nuisance-ware", some of that is spyware. Gator, GAIN, Bonzi Buddy and BDE are just a few of the hundreds of names of programs out there that fit this category. Some of these programs will install just like other programs, and can be uninstalled the usual way (click Start, Settings, click Control Panel, which opens a box of icons, in that box double-click Add/Remove Programs, find the program you want to remove and follow the instructions). Some spyware programs, however, CAN'T be fully uninstalled, or are designed to remain hidden from view. Time to get more aggressive. There are two widely-recognized programs that do a very thorough job of finding and eliminating spyware programs. They are called Ad-aware and SpyBot (the full name is "Spybot -- Search and Destroy"). Links for both programs are below. Both are "freeware" programs. Both have supporters who think they are the best. Either one is fine. Follow the link, download the file, install the software and run the program to find and eliminate any spyware on your computer. NOTE -- once the program is installed, do an "update", similar to how you'd update your anti-virus definitions, before you run it. If the program is current it will always do a better job of finding and eliminating spyware. Here's the links:
Good Advice For Computer Users There are plenty of web sites set up to help people solve computer problems. Each will be set up in a slightly different way, or may have a different "theme" ('Windows 98 only' or 'networking problems' or 'Microsoft Office', etc). Some are by companies but most seem to be just by people trying to help people (which is all PC Outreach is, by the way). Here are a few of the sites that WE use as resources. If you know of some that you find useful, please send us an email with a link to that site. If we like it we'll add it. "Upgrading and Repairing PC's -- 8th Edition": from QUE (comprehensive manual, pretty technical, amazing resource but NOT for beginners) Windows 98 Support Center: maintained by Microsoft (good resource, kind of sugar coats the problems but if you keep looking you can find some good stuff) Annoyances.org (long established resource to help troubleshoot every variety of Windows-based computer problems. Like other large resources, takes a little searching to find things, but it's worth it.) Windows Support Center (reasonably good basic resource for different Windows editions) "How-To Guide": PC Magazine (good tips, tools and a buying guide" In addition to these resources, it ALWAYS makes sense to search on-line for answers to your questions. My search engine of choice is Google (www.google.com), very popular but only one of many. However you search, enter some of the basic words in your question/problem into your search engine (for instance, type in "Windows 98 freeze restart" to search suggestions on an issue discussed above) and see what you get for results. Like everything else on the internet, you'll probably have to follow a few leads (and maybe some dead ends) to get where you want to go, but I bet you will never have a problem that nobody's had before. Also, remember you can email your question and/or problem to PC Outreach and we'll take a shot at it. Include your PC Outreach computer inventory number (on the back of your CPU) for our reference and contact us at support@pcoutreach.com. |
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