New Mexico State University Finding Useful Information The Internet can be Good and Defrag can be Worthless The League of Extraordinary Off-Campus Computer Specialists aka Tanya, Polo, and Jay

New Mexico State University How Good is your Information? Jay Puts on his Home Economist hat and philosophizes before your very eyes! Are they really addressing the problem? –Is this really my problem or close enough that the solution may actually work? Does it come from a trusted source? –Anybody can put information on the Internet. –“Looking professional” doesn’t necessarily mean it is professional (and perhaps useful). –Check credentials and stay wary. Is it really helpful? –Can I really use this information? Is it timely? –Does this apply to my current operating system and software version? Is it recent information?

New Mexico State University A Good Question “I used the Defrag.exe program to try to speed up my computer. I didn’t notice much of a difference. It used to work really well on my old computer. Should I “defrag” my computer when it gets a little slow?”

New Mexico State University Jay’s Method of Answering Questions (and How a “Superuser” might Handle Them) Give a “qualified” answer –“Here is my thought… I will also see if there are other answers…” Do some research –Find a few corroborating “experts” on the Internet. Pass back what you learned –“Here’s what I found out…” Share it Generally with Others –“Our topic on Techie Talk is…”

New Mexico State University Do Some Research (or “The Internet Could Be Your Friend”) Type your question into Google or your favorite search engine. –You may have to rephrase your question to get better results. This can be the roughest part of finding your problem and a possible solution. Get several corroborating solutions. –You can’t trust everyone offering solutions on the Internet. Viruses have been spread by “fake” solutions – check for warnings. If in doubt, ask your Specialist!

New Mexico State University Do Some Research (or “The Internet Could Be Your Friend”) Results! –I found an interesting page among the many that spoke of defragmenting hard drives: –This guy wrote a computer maintenance book which was published by a reputable publisher. They checked his facts. –This gives good information about why “defragging” is less useful on modern computers, but also gives ideas about how to speed up your computer. –Warning!! This is a site for system builders and may be more than typical users want to do!

New Mexico State University Do Some Research (or “The Internet Could Be Your Friend”) More Results! –Here is a site that has several pages of things to do to speed up your computer: All the information is on several pages. Click on the “next page” link toward the bottom of each page to read the next one. –This even mentions “defragging” as a way to speed things up, but it is down on the list a bit. –Warning!! This site has some simple things to do and some things that can really mess up your computer if you get something small wrong. Only do things you feel confident doing! If in doubt, ask your specialist.

New Mexico State University Some Gleaned Information Here are some good (and easy) things to do that we learned from our research: –Update and Run your Anti-spyware software often. –Run “Disk Cleanup” once a month. Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup –Empty the Windows Prefetch folder quarterly. Go to c:/WINDOWS/Prefetch and delete all the.pf files) –Blow out your computer with canned air annually. Remember to turn off the power and open the case to do this! –Add more memory to your computer - $$$

New Mexico State University CAHE Technology Help Desk Do you need help right now, especially with software or “How do I do this?” concerns? MAKE THE CALL!! (505) If they don’t already know the answer, They will GET the answer!