I am sitting here laughing and wishing I could hear the answers that each of you may have for the above question. Sometimes trying to get a computer to do what it is supposed to do, is like trying to nail jello to a tree. You might ask, why would someone want to nail jello to a tree? I don't know, I heard that somewhere and thought it would be fun to use here. At any rate, I am here to defend you against your computer and to also defend your computer against you.
We can compare our computer to our bodies. It basis it's function on what we feed it. If you feed your body something bad, then it will feel bad and not function the way it is supposed to. Well the computer reacts the same way, if you feed it something that is not compatible with what is already in it, then it might not function right. How do we know if something is bad for it? Well this is the part where I defend you, sometimes there is just no way to tell until after we have already installed it on the computer. Most places that you download from will list what operating systems (Windows 98,XP,etc.)that their software will run on, so look for that listing before you download. Of course they have no way of knowing what you already have installed on your computer and there may be a program already on your computer that has a conflict with their's. Even if they knew what was on your computer they might not know that there is going to be a conflict, until you tell them. Then they may be able to come up with a fix for the problem. If you find your computer acting funny just after a download, then uninstall it as quickly as possible.

Now having said all of that, we all know that sometimes you just walk into the same room the computer is in and a blue screen can appear telling us that we have done something illegal. After getting one of these messages, you might want to do what I always do. That is lock the doors so the computer police can not get in and arrest me for whatever it was that I was not supposed to have done. If you do the same thing, you might not want to mention it to anyone outside your family. I have found that there are people out there that do not believe in the computer police, (poor lost souls).

It is time now to get to the good part. Anytime you download something off the internet or download something a friend or relative has sent you, always run it through your antivirus program before you make the installation. If you do not have a antivirus program on your computer you should really get one. Without one you have no way of knowing if someone has sent you a virus and no way of knowing if you are sending it to someone else. Here are two good ones that are free for personal use. You can find them here "http://www.asw.cz/index.html" and "http://www.grisoft.com" Do not include the quotes when entering these addresses into your address bar. The bottom line is this, your computer can be a good friend and lots of fun if you know how to treat it. A good way to keep your computer running good is to perform maintenance on a regular basis. Maybe in my next article I will cover computer maintenance. See Ya, keep it on the road.



About the Author
Larry McLemore is the webmaster for www.rvinginfo.com and www.rverscomputerhelp.com He has written articles for www.rversonline.org and is also the online computer advisor for the same web site.