Taking courses and joining

There are two special options available to New PC User’s in this blog. With the first option, PC users can take courses that are designed to improve one’s knowledge and understanding on a particular area. These courses are not certified and are not geared to make a PC user an expert, however, they will get you going. Courses range from basics such as Email & Word Processing through an intermediate level course like a course on Batch Files. For more information on courses, click on the Courses tab at the top.

A second option is that PC users can join this blog and share information with other PC users. There are two options in joining this blog. Check it out by clicking on the Join tab at the top for more details. Joining is a great way to taking an active role in providing information for others to use. Anyone joining this blog has access to the PC Forum page and can take advantage of discounts on courses available in New PC Users.

There is also a neat, free & convenient option available called the “Ok, But” section. This section provides useful suggestions to concerns that PC users can encounter. It’s almost like a FAQ page.

MAC – For beginners

Well, after reading a good comment in a previous post, I realized that New PC User’s wasn’t really covering the whole playing field on computers. Unfortunately for me, I am not MAC literate. However, I did find a very good site that beginners can refer to. The website
is called http://www.macforbeginners.com/
I checked it out, and it appears to be a good source for beginners learning how to use their MAC. I am not qualified to comment or give any useful information on the Subject of MAC systems, since my experience with these systems is close to nonexistent. I only had a brief encounter with a MAC years ago on a local college campus. I have always heard good comments about MACs, but, never had a real opportunity to dive into one and see what they are really all about.

Question: How widely used are MAC’s today? Can anyone offer any insights and limitations on MAC’s?

See below for related articles on MAC

Related articles:
http://guides.macrumors.com/Mac_Beginner’s_Guide
http://macbeginners.net/

Website: Mostofmymac – Article: The switch from PC to MAC – A beginners perspective

Avoid being a SpamZoid!

If you use the Internet very often and download free stuff on a regular basis, you may be setting yourself up for a surprise. You may get more than you bargained for when downloading something for free from the Internet. Now, this is not to say that all downloads are bad. It’s that you need to be careful what you are downloading. What can happen is this:

During the download process, a Trojan is downloaded and installed that sets up an SMTP application that sends out spam without you even noticing what is going on. Your PC becomes a site that transmits spam.

There is also those cases than can happen though rare, your PC becomes a “trash can”. Instead of transmitting spam, your PC automatically downloads junk files from somewhere on the Internet. This can be really hard to fix.

You need to be aware of what your are downloading and where it is coming from. You should have an anti-virus package as well as other spyware and adware systems running on your PC.
Also, your firewall needs to be on all the time.

For more information, refer to my 3 part article on SPAM – It’s effects and what to do – On my Internet Help for PC User’s blog.

S.P.A.M. Not the canned food either!

This post is similar to the post that can be read in the Internet Help for PC User’s blog which is titled “SPAM – It’s effects and what to do“, and has additional information throughout the post that applies for the focus of this blog. However, if you want more information that the other post refers to, click on the link above.

Serious, Painful, Aggravating Messages that you get via email, blog sites, web sites and where ever else you can get electronic messages. How’s that for an acronym? Let’s begin by talking about the first word in this acronym -

Serious: I call it serious, because, spam can be serious especially if a system gets bogged down with it, such as an attack. Those on the other side of the fence care not about those that it effects except for their own gain.

Painful: I call it painful in addition to serious for about the same reason in addition to what needs to be done at times to purge it. Sometimes spam can contain trojans or other harmful items of serious nature. I used to work for a data center, and for a time, some of the systems were not sufficiently defended against various issues. One time after an innocent email was sent, which unknowingly to all parties of concern contained a virus that crashed one of the main PCs.

Aggravating: It gets old after a while when you constantly get spam.

Messages: S.P.A.M. can come in different electronic forms. Sometimes appearing very innocent to the unsuspecting user.

I will admit that there is probably innocent forms of spam not meant to be harmful to anyone. This type would most likely fall under the “aggravating” category.

—-

I’ve been faithfully reviewing, moderating and updating this blog each week as best as I can and there are times that I see spam come in that contains useful information that is intended to be of a good nature. The problem is that the information does not conform to the focus of this blog and ends up being deleted. This is not a medical site, but a blog for all PC users concerning New PC Users and a simpler approach to PC’s. There are times that I think some people waste a lot of time entering information in some sections of this blog. It’s a shame that it wasn’t in focus with this blog, otherwise, wow. Now, on the other hand, there has been a lot of spam that has absolutely no useful content at all. I won’t go into details, except to say that it was just not appropriate.

Of all the things a New PC User doesn’t need to deal with is SPAM. Unless of course, it’s what can be put between two slices of bread or fried up with eggs! Some user’s that are new, may not be fully equipped or prepared to deal with some of the effects of spam. If this sounds like it may be you, the first thing that I would suggest is to update your email settings to block certain types of email or download spam blocker software. Here is a link you can try for software to aid you in preventing SPAM: (clicking the link will take you out of this blog: Click here) I haven’t reviewed or tested this software.

The purpose of this post is to provide information concerning S.P.A.M.

Please see also the following links that I found on the Internet:

1. Email Spam
2. Spam in Blogs
3. Gates on the effect of spam
4. The emotional effects of spam

In addition to the above information, please also see my Spam Policy as it refers to my blogs.

Batch files, what are they and why bother?

To satisfy the title of the post, what are batch files? A batch file is a file that has an extension of .BAT and contains a series of commands to be executed when the user makes use of the batch file. With the evolution of windows, it seems that batch files are becoming less important with the creation of shortcuts. The need for batch files would depend upon a variety of things. Having an understanding of DOS would enable the user to create a batch file to do a variety of tasks that the user may need. Take for instance, creating a batch file to back up files is one thing someone could do rather than purchasing a program to do the same thing. With an understanding of DOS, you can add to your ability in finding files.

By learning DOS, you can get a feel of how your system works and better able yourself to navigate through your PC. See below for courses available through this blog on DOS:

Courses:

1. Introduction to DOS
2. Batch Files

See the Courses page for more information.

Courses offered by New PC User’s blog

There are seven courses available through this blog. The first two are free, Computers 101 and Windows 95/98. There are 5 other courses to choose from. These courses range from learning Email and Word processing through Basic Networking. The courses available are not for advanced users, and only up through the Intermediate user. These are not certified courses. See the Courses tab for more details. Currently all courses are ready to use except for the Basic Networking course, which is still in development.

In addition to the seven courses that are available, I am considering creating another course on creating batch files. I have it partially started, but, I am not sure if or when it will be available. To some, batch files may not have a purpose anymore, but, one should keep in mind that batch files are in some ways like macros, a command, utilizing a series of commands, so that the user doesn’t have to retype everything all the time. Batch files can be more than just a series of commands, depending upon how advanced you need to be.

To make use of the courses that are not free, click on the Courses tab and order a course, once a course is paid, you will get an email with the password so that you can access the course(s) ordered. Any questions, email New PC User’s anytime.

Ok, But page is not a guest book

This page is not a guest book and I think everyone using it is miss-understanding what it’s purpose is. I added a guest book to the pages window at the right. However, if you add links that are not in focus with the subject of this blog, they may be blocked.

This section is used to help people with certain aspects with their PC’s.

This blog now has a guest book

Instead of leaving messages with links in the OK, But, page, you may now use a guest book. See the Pages window. Please note that most of you have been leaving lots of links with your messages and I do appreciate the messages, but, in most cases the links have been treated as spam and therefore this blog is blocking them. Sorry.

Older systems

It’s amazing what you can find out there with regards to older systems. My wife and I had a 3 day weekend (Anniversary) vacation to Inner Harbor (Baltimore, Maryland) this past weekend. While we were walking around town, there were people selling stuff, some of which were older computer products. Stuff like that just stops me dead in my tracks and of course I had to take a look. I think most of what I saw were old monitors. I didn’t really look hard enough to see what the rest were. The problem with older systems, you really get what you pay for. You have to assume that the item you buy is in good shape and take the word of the seller. My best recommendation on purchasing older systems, is to go to a computer show. By doing this, you can shop around to different people and vendors to compare products and improve your chances of getting not just a better deal, but, hopefully a better product as well. It’s amazing how people take care of their PC’s. I’ve seen quite a lot of good and bad systems at computer shows. It does pay to shop around. The computer show that I personally recommend is the one at the Timonium Fair grounds in Maryland. This is a pretty good size show and it usually has a good selection of products inside and outside.

I want to point out to anyone considering purchasing an older system that if you are going to use it to access the Internet, you will still need to have your firewall on as well as anti virus and spyware running on your computer. Older systems are just as vulnerable as the newer ones. In addition to the Dell that I have and the HP that my wife has, we also have a Windows 95 pc with a 486 processor which can access the Internet. It too has the necessary software on it for protection. The viruses, spyware, & malware on the Internet don’t go away simply because newer systems come out, there are out there waiting for any unsuspecting PC user.

See also: Anti Virus and Spyware software a must

This blog’s for you

While this blog – New PC User’s was created for the “PC beginner”, there are aspects of this blog that can apply to just about anyone who is seeking something regarding PC’s. I created this blog for the “beginner” in mind. But, throughout it’s development, I expanded it’s potential use so that anyone who has a need can use this blog. This blog offers courses, posts, memberships, RSS feeds for anyone to take advantage of. It is my intent to update this blog at the minimum of once a week so as to keep the blog updated. I am but one source, so, if you the user would like to find something that isn’t offered here, feel free to email or leave comments to me anytime. If it is something that I can apply to this blog, I would be happy to do so.

Originally, this blog was created to be a companion blog to Internet Help for PC User’s, but, while both blogs compliment each other, that is no longer the case. Both blogs, are of their own and are focused in specific areas regarding computers.

Regarding the Your Assignment Page:

This page was created to help the new user of a PC learn more about the computer that was just purchased. It may change as time goes to try to make it better fit a PC user. If you have any thoughts on it, feel free to submit them anytime.

Courses:

This blog offers courses for any PC user to take online. After payment is made, the password for the course is emailed to the PC user who ordered the course. After which the user can click on the course and type in the password and start taking the desired course.

Memberships:

Memberships are available for anyone to take part in contributing to the blog. Thus taking an active role is sharing your experiences with everyone. See Join for more information. This is a valuable part of this blog in that the more members, the more resources for others to benefit from.