It bears repeating – the most important rule to a computer problem is "the shut-down/restart". As simple as it seems, sometimes simple is best. Remember, we’re dealing with temper-mental PC’s here, they want what they want and they will continue to act up until they get it. Think of it like a "time-out" for your computer.

If your programs are slow, not responding, colours don’t look right, or you keep getting error messages then it is time to shut down and restart. You may not think your problem is connected, ie you’re working in Word and it keeps freezing, yet shutting down Word and restarting just that program doesn’t help; it’s because it’s your Operating System that is having the temper tantrum.

Save and Save Often is an oft forgotten mantra. You don’t need to leave the keyboard to save. In most programs "alt" "f" "s" in that order will save your work. Hit the alt key, that puts you into the top menu, f launches the file menu and s selects save. If it’s the first time you’re saving then the computer will prompt you for a file name.

Sometimes you may not be sure where you’re headed, you may be spending a great deal of time on formatting and word selection and you don’t know if you want to save over the original. That’s a good time to start thinking about editions. File Name version A, or File Name version TIME and Date. This will allow you to keep your work while preserving previous versions. Just remember which version you are working in or you will end up with fresh work in various versions. To use the keyboard for a new save "alt" "f" "a" works in most programs.

Mice

Is your mouse too big? Too small? Place your hand on your mouse and look where the fingers rest. You should be able to click the buttons without moving your hand back and forth or performing finger contortions. If your mouse is the wrong size you will have difficulty clicking. With the large selection of wireless mice it is possible to get the perfect size no matter the size of your hand. If you have a small hand look for a laptop mouse, if you have a large hand look for a full size mouse.

Mice come with a variety of features and you may find that some of them don’t work. If you use your Operating System’s preloaded driver then you may not have all the features. Insert the disk that came with your mouse and follow the on-screen prompts to install the mouse’s drivers to enjoy all the features of your mouse. ie, the scroll wheel not only scrolls up and down, it will also scroll side to side – this is especially useful with those emails that extend beyond the computer screen.