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THE COMPUTER CORNER Protect your system from electrical surges. The electrical system in your house may produce surges in power occasionally that may hurt your system, most notably your hard disk drive. To pro- tect your computer purchase a surge protector. These devices plug into the wall and allow you to then plug your computer into them. Although you can spend hundreds of dollars on a surge suppres- sor, you can purchase a single plug unit at Radio Shack for about $8. This is adequate for most home systems. Of course if you've installed a two billion dollar Cray system in your basement, you may want to up your investment. The point here us: don't purchase more than you need. Also insure that there are no large appliances like a dryer or refrigerator on the same circuit as your computer. Appliances that draw large amounts of power suddenly can upset your computer's opera- tion and cause you to lose information. Back up everything! This means to make cop- ies of information you store on your disk drives. If there is one rule to remember about computers, it's this: Regardless of what you do, something will go wrong to cause you to lose information. Although | tell this to people all the time, it seems everyone needs to learn the hard way! | once had to re-enter an entire customer data base, about eight hours of typing, because | had only one copy of this essen- tial data. | accidentally sat down on the disk, dam- aging some small part of it. | sure didn't plan on do- .ing that! | now keep three copies of anything | consider to be important. By Michael Evans And don't make the mistake of thinking that once something is stored on your hard disk, it is stored permanently. All disk storage is vulnerable. |f you are using an IBM compatible computer, you can make copies of individual files by using the DOS "COPY", "XCOPY", or "BACKUP" commands. Bet- ter still, invest in a good copy program that will au- tomatically copy any information on your disk drives you choose. These programs have become quite easy to use and sell for about $100. Although that seems steep, you must consider how much your time is worth and how angry and frustrated you want to feel. Just remember: You will lose data. No doubt about it. Check your connections. If your disk drive stops working or your printer starts spewing out garbage, or your screen goes dark...things that look like equipment failure, the first thing to do is to check all cable connections. A poorly connected device is often the sole culprit in what appears to be a major system failure. You can also try opening up the computer and making sure that all connec- tions leading from the disk drives are connected properly. Make suré you unplug the computer be- fore doing this. But don't be intimidated. You can learn a great deal by opening the computer and logically tracing different wires to see where they go and what they do. This also goes a long way to demystify what goes on inside a computer case. Once inside, make sure any circuit cards that have been added are firmly in place and that all wires and cables seem secure. Close the machine before plugging it back in. If things still aren't working, call someone! Buy a book. I've only covered a few obvious maintenance issues here. | recommend that you find a good resource book to keep next to your computer to cover general problem situations. There are hundreds of books available on basic computer maintenance. Go to a large bookstore with a large computer section and browse. Only buy the book that you understand! Don't purchase a mammoth technical journal if it doesn't make sense to you. Remember that you will only be able to perform maintenance and repairs at your own level of understanding. Beyond this, books may only serve to confuse. Know your limits and call for help when you've reached them. | never tried tinkering with car engines. As a re- sult, | feel handicapped and vulnerable when something goes wrong with my car. I'm one of those people who thinks an oil change is one of the great modern mysteries. You may feel the same about your computer. But once you realize that there is little damage you can do short of dropping or banging the computer, you may be more inclined to try things out when something goes wrong. Press some keys, re-start the ma- chine, look inside, gently wiggle some parts. Try to approach the problem logically. You may find that you can save yourself a lot of money, help your computer live longer, and, yes, impress other in- timidated computer users! WORK NOW, PROFIT LATER 3+ acres, huge pond, mature trees, custom built, needs finishing touches. 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