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• my computer wont work, can you fix it?
  

  You’d really have to be a lot more specific, or we’ll be forced to resort to magic. ;)
  - written 3 months, 2 weeks ago

• does anyone know of a free way of converting avi to psp on a mac?
  

  There appear to be a number of possible options on Versiontracker.com. It’s a good place to find Mac software, along with MacUpdate.com
  
  Hope that helps.
  - written 3 months, 2 weeks ago

• Computer is pissing me off.
  

  [quote bronzebrun2]clicking in a computer either means that you need to clean out the inside of it or you need to get a new one because i bad bad bad virus has got in it and started taking control of your computer. what i would to is delete the virus by downloading “anti virus protection 4.5″ it is good but it cost a good bit of money. all you have to do is trace down the virus and BAAAM its deleted in a matter of 24 hours to 48 hours. the biggest virus i have ever had was 5489 MB!!!! it only took 24 hours to delete it!! with regular virus software it would of taken about a week to do it!!!!
  
  you could also just take the front off and clean the inside of your computer??? that should do the trick if it isnt a virus. your computer will also run a whole lot faster too.
  [/quote]
  I’m sorry Bronzebrun22, and I mean no offense, but this is very incorrect information. I have been a professional computer tech for over 13 years (about as long as you’ve been alive, judging by your photo) and your advice is basically incorrect in all regards.
  
  A clicking noise has nothing to do with cleaning (except *possibly* if the sound is coming from a floppy drive, which fewer and fewer people even have these days, or *maybe* the a CD drive could produce a “clicking” noise). The “click of death”, where a hard drive is repetitively making a clicking or ticking noise, is a well known symptom of a hard drive that is failing. Not being able to see the computer myself, I can’t verify for *certain* that it is the sound of a bad hard drive, but given the original submitter’s description, it certainly sounds like it.
  
  You recommend downloading and using “anti virus protection 4.5″, I can’t comment on that since you haven’t mentioned any specific antivirus application. It really shouldn’t take a day or two to remove a virus, let alone a week. I’ve seen virus scans take hours, especially on slower computers, but a week? I suppose that could happen if the hard drive was bad or something, but it certainly wouldn’t be normal.
  
  And lastly, while it is a good idea to have dust cleaned out of your computer from time to time, I would never advise the average person to open up their computer case and clean it without more specific instructions — computers are *very* sensitive to electrostatic damage (ESD) and handling the inside of a computer incorrectly can damage the electronics with static electricity from our bodies. All it takes is a single touch, and you don’t have to feel a shock. It won’t (normally) kill the computer entirely, but it will make it less reliable and it will tend to have more problems.
  
  Using compressed air to clean out the inside of the computer, while carefully avoiding touching anything aside from the outside of the case, is good for the computer since it prevents dust from trapping heat and gradually damaging the parts, but it won’t have a profound affect on the speed like you’re saying.
  
  Please understand I’m not making this reply to embarrass you or anything like that — you just were giving out a lot of misinformation (I’m sure you meant well) and I didn’t want anyone to be confused by it or try to follow the advice and end up with a bad result.
  - written 3 months, 2 weeks ago

• My kids Know the computer better than i do?
  

  I train people how to use their computers for a living, and have for about 13 years now.
  
  Here’s the thing a lot of people don’t realize: kids tend to be very *comfortable* with the computer, and they use it very confidently, but it doesn’t mean they know what they’re doing.
  
  You’d be amazed at how poorly a lot of kids use their computers; they just look like they know what they’re doing, but often they make worse mistakes than people over 40 who didn’t grow up with computers because the over-40s tend to be more cautious, more and more so as you get into older age groups like 60s and 70s.
  
  While seniors tend to be way more cautious and apprehensive than they probably need to be, the kids are just as bad in the opposite way — careless and running headlong into trouble because they think they know it all.
  
  I can tell you as someone who has made his living training people on computers, repairing them, and fixing messes caused by users, just because your kids seem like they know what they’re doing, don’t assume they’re experts.
  
  The fact is, they may be better than you, but it’s because of their mental attitude more than anything else.
  
  There’s a good article on this very thing. You should be able to find it if you Google the phrase:
  
  a simple secret to improving your computer skills
  
  Gives some good tips about helping get the right attitude to make it easier to learn the computer, plus tips on avoiding problems when you do. And it’s a real easy, fun read.
  
  Good luck, and remember not to beat yourself up over it. :)
  - written 4 months, 2 weeks ago

• Computer is pissing me off.
  

  A clicking or ticking noise from the computer usually does mean a bad hard drive. I don’t know the details of the virus infection you had previously, but maybe (again, this is just an educated guess) it wasn’t a virus that caused the original problems, but the hard drive in the process of failing.
  
  Either way, it sure sounds like the problem now, so it’s time to replace it. Fortunately, a good sized hard drive can be bought for under $100 these days, and shouldn’t cost much more than that to install for you if you can’t do it yourself.
  
  Good luck with it.
  - written 4 months, 2 weeks ago

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