computer newbie:

I need help, I am new to the computer world and want to learn more, so I figured, why not go to the best. Where would a body go to learn more about hardware, software and any and all computer related topics?

 

the help forums is a good place to start.

 

this site is somewhat helpful in giving you a general idea of what kinds of questions to ask http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/

but other than that, its just kind of poke around and start finding out where things are at in todays computers.

heres a nice component overview at howstuffworks. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/pc.htm

 

Read, go to the library and borrow some books on topics that interest you. Thats what I did, even before I had a computer to mess around with.

 

I'm in the same boat. I was given a Commodore 64 when I was 12 and a book and was told have at it. I've been self taught, and I shunned computers when windows first came out. I felt that anybody could use computers and it wasn't limited to smart people anymore. I have finally come back to using computers again, only to realize that there are so many levels now, and that I have alot of catching up to do.

I try and research questions I have before posting, but whenever I get stumped and/or lazy - I have found everyone here to be very patient (well mostly everyone ).

This is an excellent place to gain insight, and I enjoy digging up old posts to read.

Everyone has been very helpful, and the longer you are here the more it seems certain people look out for you. I enjoy this site very much, it is very diverse, and provides a great service to everyone.

I am going to pick-up "computers for dummies", as I already have some basic knowledge, as well as, some advanced knowledge. I just need to start bridging the gap.

There is way too much to learn in one day, so just take "baby steps", and maybe one day you'll be the one helping others. Atleast that is my goal.

Thanks to everyone for their support,

LAIGo

 

Me too.

 

I'm only 16 and have been going at it for about 2-3 years now and know much more than any of my friends at school! Just picked up stuff on here, read reviews on products on the net and spoke to a friend I know who works for a company that install networks etc. He told me everything I know practically and used to help me with things like reinstalling before I knew any of it.

 

I got an amiga when I was 7, started programming simple stuff by the time I was 8, by reading some books on AMOS. Then i got a C64, and I messed with cassettes a bit then I started to decompile amgia games and mess with em

My dad used to have macs in his offices, which I learnt how to use (pretty well actually), and we had a mac at home (performa 5700!). Then when I went to my primary school I found Windows, and after breaking a few school machines then fixing them, I started to get the hang of it

I didn't read many books, only Building a PC for dummies, which was kinda cool because I got to make my own PII machine (wow, cool! ). I just sorta used my intuition and went with the flow

Then at about 14 I started to study properly, after learning ASP, for MSCE cert in windows 2000, which I never got the Cert for because it cost too much, and I was too young to take it anyway (apparently I needed to have an employer? ). After that, I started reading books on web design and the like, linked it in with school work and now I'm web designing for profit

 

Thanks everyone for your recomendations, I will try and get some books on computers, and if that doesn't work I will just try to do my best. I am having trouble downloading and copying it to disk, well not with the downloading, just tring to copy a movie or song it sometimes comes up," i/o connection fault" or "error plugging, I haven't the faintest idea what these are.

 

Now see what I did. What the &*#@.

 

Thats exactly how I've started to learn more advanced stuff. Mainly now adays I think of what I want to learn, and find the nessecary software I need to do it, and I sort of teach myself. Everything from DOS commands, to ASP which I'm learning now I kind of check out sites and figure out what to do.

So I guess thats another way to do it. Find out something you want to do, and research it online if you don't want to go to the library about it. Sometimes this can be a better idea because you can see different ways of doing things, and if you don't like one particular way, you can always find another website to study from.

BTW goldfish, when i was just starting out, i thought I was gonna be able to get certified also lol. i was such a noob