Our office at Colonel Duck has more computers than people. We mainly use them for creating articles, websites, illustrations and films. With each of us using our computers 37 hours a week it’s natural that accidents happen. But don’t fret, here are four points to keep in mind when you press the wrong button.
Almost nothing you click can physically damage your computer
So long as the physical parts of your computer still work, then it’s never game over. The majority of problems can be solved by searching Google. And as a last resort, you can always restart from a clean install or backup.
Computers were invented by people, built by people, for people
There is no “Spooky action at a distance” when it comes to computers. Everything inside a computer has an intended purpose, a creator and in-depth documentation to go along with it.
You’ll find words you don’t understand — but that’s ok
It isn’t biology and you won’t be learning Latin. The new words will make sense once you Google them. While it will at first seem daunting, everything you need to know is a single web search away. Just make sure you carefully read what the computer feels you need to know.
Windows isn’t fragile
Anything that could potentially toy with how your computer functions will question if you’re using an administrator account. Even if you are an administrator, it will usually give you a popup “Are you sure you want to do this?”.
What if I never pressed the wrong button?
I would have missed many learning opportunities and interesting discoveries. The old family computer allowed me to toy around and make mistakes, unlike the computers in school. If I’d had other people fix my problems, then I wouldn’t be able to explore the possibilities of today’s Information Age.
