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If Something Goes Wrong…
Developing Good Computing Habits
Part I: Getting To Know Your Computer
356
On a regular basis, back up the information stored on your
hard disk.
Here are a few ways you can do this:
❖
Copy files to diskettes in Windows 95, following the steps in
“How to Copy Something to a Diskette” on page 108 or “How
to Back Up Your Work” on page 109.
❖
Connect a tape drive to the system and use specialized soft-
ware to copy everything on the hard disk to a tape.
Some people use a combination of these methods, backing up all
files to tape weekly and copying critical files to diskette on a daily
basis.
If you've added your own software to your system, you should
back up the software as well as the data. If something goes wrong
that requires you to format your hard disk and start again, reload-
ing all your software and data from a backup will save time.
Read the manuals.
It's very difficult to provide a fail-safe set of steps you can follow
every time you experience a problem with the computer. Your
ability to solve problems will improve as you learn about how the
computer and its software work together.
Get familiar with all the manuals provided with your computer, as
well as the manuals that come with the programs and devices you
purchase.
Your local computer store or book store contains a variety of self-
help books you can use to supplement the information in the
manuals.
If problem solving is taking a long time, take a break.
If you've been fighting to solve a problem for a long period of
time, you're probably frustrated by now. Stand up, take a deep
breath and do something else - make some coffee, look out the
window, phone a friend. Often, you can find a new solution to a
problem just by stepping away from it for a few moments.
000-book.bk : 15-trbl.fm5 Page 356 Thursday, May 16, 1996 2:07 PM