Four Things You Must Know About Windows

By - Posted Jun 25, 2002

Are there any Windows users out there? Yeah, I thought so. There are four things everyone needs to know to survive the wild world of the Windows operating system.

Update your antivirus definitions

I'm sorry to say there are consequences to having the same operating system as 99.999 percent of consumers out there. (To you Mac fans out there who are getting ready to mail bomb me right now: Don't worry -- I know I'm exaggerating.) All these happy.scr and J-Lonaked.exe files floating around the Internet are viruses, and they're aimed at the hapless PC user. (Hey Mac user, who's laughing now? You can open your attachments with impunity.)

The first thing the Windows user absolutely needs to know is how to update virus definitions. These instructions will vary depending on the specific virus program you happen to have, and the original program you purchased (or that came with your computer) usually comes with a year of automatic updates for free. If your year is up, most companies charge a reasonable subscription fee. Look on your program's website to learn how to sign up. It's worth the couple of dollars a year it's going to cost you.

If you're a little short on cash, there are some free antivirus programs out there. Read our reviews of AVG Anti-Virus 6.0 and VCatch.

A final reminder: Don't automatically open attachments, even if they're from a friend.
Make Backups of Your Important Files

The second thing you need to know is how to back up your important files in case something dreadful happens. (And something dreadful will happen.)

Which files are important is really up to you. Some people insist they couldn't navigate the Web without their Favorites, but I never venture into that particular drop-down menu. Personally, I like to back up my email files and my saved games, and I would die if anything happened to my college research paper "Karl Marx and the Young Hegelians." Go here to learn where to find your important data. It's as easy as copying those files to a Zip disk or burning them to a CD-ROM.

Final reminder: It's a good idea to keep a copy of your files offsite. If a flood destroys your hard drive, it will destroy your Zip disks too. I like to keep an extra copy of my old college coursework, email, and other sundries at my parent's house.

Read on for more Windows essentials.

Learn How to Do Your Own Research

Microsoft would have to hire half the world to have enough people on hand to answer all your questions. Any program this large and comprehensive is going to have a lot of problems, and we have to give Microsoft a little credit for trying to create resources and community to support its confused customers.

The end-all be-all of Microsoft knowledge is the Knowledge Base. Written by Microsoft, it's the comprehensive source of information that you know you can trust. Microsoft developers and technicians have seen everything under the sun, and if you're having a problem, odds are they've seen it before. Next time you get error message 65POCE_4569POEJDOC_45D-OEPG, don't call "The Screen Savers"; search the Knowledge Base.

You can also get good help from fellow geeks at independent sites and message boards (like those at thescreensavers.com, but you knew that already). In the hunt for your specific problem, Google is your best friend, and often you'll learn the most about your computer if you try to solve the problem yourself. The resources are out there.

Here are links to some great Windows help sites that I've found useful. Let me know your favorites in the Talkback section.
Ctrl + Alt + Del

The final thing you need to know is how to restart your computer. I am really sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your computer will crash. People ask me every day how to keep their computers from crashing. If I had the ultimate answer to keeping Windows up and running, I'd be a very wealthy woman. I'd charge $299.99 a copy, and I would try a bunch of useless tricks to make it copyproof.

Save often. If all else fails, give it the old three-finger salute (Ctrl + Alt + Del). If your Windows begins to crash too often, a reinstall will do the trick. It's a good thing you've backed up all those files.