So you want to be a PC user who does not have to count on the support for each little thing? Do you want to manage most problems for yourself and feel in control of your computer?
Well, the good news is that you can absolutely manage most of your PC problems yourself and keep your computer on a daily basis, but that means acquiring a certain set of basic skills. Here is a manual list of things you should be able to do if you are a PC user and where to find knowledge.
5
Enter the BIOS / UEFI
BIOS (basic input output system) or UEFI (unified extensible firmware interface) on more modern computers is the basic programs set that allows the computer to supply, operate its equipment and interact with the operating system.
Knowing how to enter your BIOS / UEFI is something that a PC user should know how to do. If you can access the settings here, you can solve a long list of problems arising from low level problems on your computer. For example, this is where you must go to activate or deactivate secure start, which can affect whether a given operating system can be installed on your system.
4
Make and use bootable USBS
Most computers no longer have optical discs, although this skill also applies to discs. Start -up supports such as CDs, DVDs and USB players are the way you get a computer with an empty or corrupt hard drive. This is the first step before installing one or more operating systems, and boostable live media are also essential to deal with certain computer problems such as pernicious viruses.
So do not late, get one or two USB players you don’t need and learn to make a Windows 11 Startable USB stick or make a bootable USB Linux player.
3
Installation of an operating system from zero
Getting boostable media to start is just the start. If you need a new operating system on a computer, you must always go through the entire operating system installation process on the main computer player. These days, it is not so difficult compared to early back days, windows and especially early Linux distros. I never managed to make Red Hat work in high school!
You will particularly want to know how to make a clean installation of Windows, because many OEMs fill their computers with Bloatware, and it is faster to wipe a new computer and put a clean installation of Windows there instead of trying to track down each puppy.
2
Installation and update of drivers
So you have a new operating system, or even the one that has been working for a while, and therefore now everything is fine, right? Well, no. The operating system still needs to know how to fully use your system equipment. This is where the material pilots enter the scene.
In the case of Windows 10 and Windows 11, the operating system will largely find the right drivers or will already have a good integrated driver. However, when something is not going – ironically, generally because Windows has bothered an update of the driver – you will have to solve the problem manually using the peripheral manager. For some equipment, the graphics cards in particular, you will have to find, install and keep your drivers manually whatever happens, because you always want the latest version of the manufacturer if possible.
If you run macOS, don’t worry. If you use Linux, pray so that you never have to install a pilot manually, but for something like the Nvidia GPU on Linux, you will have to follow the steps very carefully, because you have no other choice.
1
Recognize and end the problem processes
Each program that runs on your computer generates one or more processes managed by the operating system. Sometimes these processes become thugs, suspended, slow down your computer or interfere otherwise with the normal operation of your system.
Each modern operating system that you could use today has a tool that allows you to monitor the processes in progress. How heavy they are with resources and if the process has a problem.
In Windows, it is the task manager; On MacOS, this is the activity instructor, and on Linux, it depends on the distribution and your preferences. Anyway, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with these tools to kill stray processes after learning to identify them. It is also a great way to determine which programs cause problems, so you can focus on replacing or repairing the culprit.
Of course, there is always more to learn, but I think that anyone can do the five basic things on this list is about to understand and operate their PCs well enough to solve most of the problems. Of course, we have a lot of useful guides here, so free help is still just a click or two.
