Tips Of The Day For September 1998

Tip Of The Day For September 21, 1998: Avoid storing data files within program directories. For example, many people store their Microsoft Excel spreadsheets in the same directory where Excel itself resides; this makes upgrading, reinstalling and backup more difficult. It's better to store data in dedicated folders.

Tip Of The Day For September 18, 1998: When purchasing a new system, be sure you do your homework; in particular, ask for the details on all the system components. Pay particular attention to the hard drive; usually all people find out is how large it is, but there are other important issues. What is the form factor? 5.25" hard drives are large, but lower-performance than 3.5" ones. What is the average access time? Transfer rate? Of course, most computer salespeople won't know the answers to these questions, but often, technical support will. Don't be shy.

Tip Of The Day For September 9, 1998: It can take several minutes for Windows to recognize a new PC added to a Windows network. This used to drive me crazy: I'd set up a network and then browse Network Neighborhood, and not be able to find the machine(s) I added. Then they'd magically "appear" 5 or 10 minutes later. I have no idea why this happens. :^)

Tip Of The Day For September 7, 1998: It's a good idea to have backups of your driver files. If your PC has a lot of different hardware devices, you probably over time have downloaded and installed a large number of device drivers. If you ever experience a disk crash or need to reinstall your system for whatever reason, you'll need these drivers. Keep them in a safe place.

Tip Of The Day For September 1, 1998: When an older PC is disconnected from AC power for a long period of time, it may experience CMOS failures when next powered up. This is usually a sign that the CMOS battery on the motherboard is going; you should replace it (if it is replaceable). If you do get a CMOS checksum error or other error message, be sure to go into the BIOS setup program and carefully check all the settings--especially the hard disk parameters.

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