work for you (instead of against you!)

Some of the best lessons I ever learned, I learned from my computer. Computers teach patience and perseverance in an atmosphere you will never see duplicated in any classroom. Just keep banging away and you will accomplish what you want ... eventually.

Mistakes can be a positive experience. Anyone who has had to learn about Mr. Backup the hard way can tell you. Losing a document you have worked your heart out on because of a lockup can teach you very quickly that hitting the word File, then Save periodically is the best insurance. Of course, you need to make sure all your most important files are where you can easily get at them. The My Documents folder is perfect for organizing your personal files. Since Windows 98, a shortcut has been conveniently located on the desktop to allow easy access to that special area. Most software has a hook to the My Documents folder as the default place to send any files you save. Unless you choose to save a file somewhere else, finding it should be relatively easy. The next time you save a file, pay special attention to where it goes.

Backing up is really easy. The key is to know where your stuff is going in the first place. If you have ever “lost” a file, you probably learned to take things a little more slowly and carefully, especially when closing a document or program. You learned to pay attention to little things, like what name to give the file, what type it is, and where on that huge hard drive of yours to put it. That Save in box, with its little down arrow makes it easy to navigate to the folder you want, if you don’t see the correct folder immediately. The bottom line is to not hit that final Save button until everything else is correct in the Save dialog box. Caution is the key lesson here.

If you have an older computer ...

You have probably learned to wait patiently. Clicking a button, then clicking it again (and again) doesn’t make what you want happen any faster. In fact, it can be a one-way lockup ticket if you get too rambunctious, clicking everything that isn’t nailed down. When the lockup occurs (and it will), you had better hope you already learned about Mr. Backup and the Save button.

If you have ever used the keyboard command, CTRL+Z, you know that most boo boo’s can actually be undone. Dragging a file to the wrong folder can be instantly rectified with this keyboard command, as long as you do it immediately. This keyboard command works in most programs too... copy and paste the wrong text? Use CTRL+Z to start over. Don’t you wish life could be like this?

Last, but certainly not least ...

You will learn, if you haven’t already, to clean up after yourself. All it takes is one of those, “Oh My GOD! I didn’t mean to DELETE it!” files. Wading through thousands of recycle bin files, is no fun. When you delete something, you expect it to be deleted. If you empty that recycle bin frequently, finding your file is a lot easier. Emptying it is as easy as right clicking on it and choosing Empty Recycle Bin. While you are at it, right click on your Documents folder and choose Explore every now and then. Go through some of the stuff you thought was so important (at the time) and thin out the crap. Double click any file and the program it was created with should open so you can check it out. If it isn’t quite a keeper any more, close the program and delete the file by right clicking on the file name and choosing DELETE. Of course this one is a toughie. Some of us hate to delete anything, and going through old files can be like digging through Aunt Fannie’s attic for treasures. You have to be strong for this one. This is a life lesson you could be learning!

See? And you thought it was just a machine!

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