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Vicinity hires president,
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Christmas is just over a week away. Are you ready for the big day? It used to be that we only had to remember to buy batteries for the shiny new presents, but these days there’s a little more to it. If you’re giving or receiving technology, or your friends and family are visiting with their shiny new gear, you need these tips!
Charge!
Are you giving your loved one an eReader, smartphone, music player or tablet? Those devices take some time to fully charge. Consider charging them before wrapping them so they’re ready to go on Christmas morning. (Understand the return policy for any gadget before opening the box, though.)
Things should come with cables. But they don’t.
Have the right kind of cables on hand. If you buy a printer, you’re going to need a printer cable. Sometimes you even need a printer cable to set up a wireless printer! Did you buy a laptop or a netbook with an HDMI port so you could connect it to that big flat screen TV? You’re going to need an HDMI cable.
If your friends and family bring their wireless notebooks or tablets to your house and plan to use the Internet, you need a wireless connection. That means you need a wireless router AND the wireless part of it has to be enabled AND you need to know the password for your wireless network. If you are missing even one of those components, there will be disappointment and sulking. Keep your WiFi password handy. If your internet provider is Telus or Shaw, the information is probably on a sticker right on the router.
Create another User Account.
Don’t have a wireless router and don’t plan on getting one? OK, fine, but if you don’t have a wireless router you’ll find that people (including children) will want to “just get on the computer for a minute to check email.” Or Facebook. Or something else.
Attention Grandparents! While it might be true that your 15-year-old grandchild “knows more about computers” than you do, that does not necessarily mean that s/he is capable of making good decisions about what to click on.
Unless your plan is to stand behind each and every person you let use your computer for the whole time they’re using it, I can pretty much guarantee that there is going to be some kind of change to your computer that will be at best disconcerting and at worst catastrophic.
If you really want to lend your computer to your guests, at least create a different user account for them so they don’t have access to all your stuff and can’t rearrange your desktop icons and delete your Favorites. It’s not hard to do this, and you can even limit their privileges on the computer. If you have Windows 8, here’s what to do: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-8 .
Here’s how to create a User account in Windows 7 (and Vista): http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/5261/beginner-geek-add-a-new-user-account-in-windows-7/ .
You can delete the accounts when everyone goes home, or leave them there if that’s more convenient.
Backing up your important files before your guests arrive and running a full malware scan after they leave couldn’t hurt, either.
Call for help if you get stuck!
If you’re trying to set something up, connect things together, install something, or print something and it’s just not working…stop. Get some help. Maybe you can get in touch with the support people for whatever you’re having trouble with. If not, call your own technical support. I know I’ll be working right through the holiday season. I hope these tips will help you enjoy yours.
Merry Christmas!
P.S. Don’t forget the batteries!
Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!
Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (http://computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected].
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This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
