Wise Owl Opportunities - Top Three Computer Mistakes

I just finished reading an article by Martin Sargent at TechTV.com on what he feels are the three biggest computer mistakes:

First, although you may believe that with today's large hard drives, it is impossible to load too much, cluttered hard drives run slower. There's also an added risk due to conflicts -- the more programs you have on your system, the greater the likelihood of conflicts. We tend to think that all programs are created equally and exist together in perfect harmony. But, this is not true.

Next, we've all heard it a million times. So why do we forget to back up? I never finish a consulting session or class without a standard backup lecture. Yet, just this last week I (correction, my computer) deleted a file. No problem, I thought, I'll just use my backup. Sure would have been nice if I had one.

Finally, Martin's third choice, Opening Attachments - it is the easiest way to get a virus. The rule of thumb is don't open attachments unless you know who they are from and that they are virus free.

I certainly agree that each of these are indeed easy ways to create headaches and frustrations. However, I'd like to add my own top choices:

Many of us have never thought of taking a computer class or joining a club. Yet, we are frustrated when we don't know the answer. I am a true believer in continuing education and in the field of computerization it is a must. There is an old belief that if we devote one hour each day to the subject of our choice we will become an expert in five years.

Our backups are protection from system errors and computer failure. Frequent saving is protection from ourselves. Many of us falsely believe that the automatic save feature on our machine is protecting our work, but it is not. The automatic save works only in the case of an emergency, such as a power failure…and quite often, a document can not be recovered even then. We need to save frequently. My advice, if you don't want to redo it … save.

Finally, opening attachments certainly can spread a virus, however, good virus protection is a must. Your protection is only as good as your last update. There are 54,000 viruses that exist today with more on the way. Any virus that has been created since your last live update puts you at risk. All anti-virus programs need to be updated on a regular basis. Open your program and you'll see a button that says live update. Click on it sometime; it will do the rest!