Home Computer Training

Welcome home!  You're so excited to have your new computer system up and running.  It is pretty exciting, isn't it?  So what's next?  For some of you, you're off to the races, ready to go to the ends of the Internet.  For others, you may be staring at your new system like a calf staring at a new gate.  This is why most home users of personal computers can benefit from home computer training.  So what are some of the things a home computer user should get trained on?  Let's take a look at a short list of things you need to know to be efficient on your home computer and keep it running in tip-top shape.

Home computer training should always include how to do back-ups.  It goes without saying that if something is important, you should have two copies of it.  It's nice to have a hard copy (print-out) of a document or file, but it's also nice to have a back-up of the actual computer file.  Just imagine what happens when the spreadsheet you've been using to balance your accounts suddenly get corrupted.  If you don't have a electronic copy of the file, then you will be stuck with re-entering all of the information by hand.  With home computer training you can get the skills to know how to best back up your files, which files to back up, and what utilities will best meet your needs.

Another area that should be covered through home computer training is that of file system maintenance.  At this point, we've already covered back-ups.  In this area, let's look at two areas that often get overlooked until the system slows down so much it is basically at a stand still.  One is disk cleanup and the other is file fragmentation.  Home computer training will help the new computer user learn how to recognize when a hard drive is becoming cluttered, and what to do about it.  

Often, third party software creates temporary files while you are using it, and then conveniently neglects to delete these files when you are done.  In addition, trash can collect in your recycle bin as well.  Combine these with temporary internet files and cookies and you can be bogged down pretty quickly.  Home computer training will also help you understand what causes a file to get fragmented into dozens of pieces on your hard drive.  While this doesn't destroy the file, it sure does slow down the computer's access time to it, which increases your wait time while using that software or opening that particular project.

A final area that is often overlooked by the new computer user is that of Internet security and setting up of the firewall.  A good home computer training class will cover how to set up your firewall, and how to optimize your Internet browser to ensure a good experience while online.

All of these areas are important when operating a computer in this modern Internet age.  So be sure and address these when you are signing up for home computer training.  A good home computer training class will not only address these main issues, but go above and beyond in bringing you up to speed on modern computing.