If Something Goes Wrong

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Develop good computing habits

On a regular basis, back up the information stored on your hard disk.

Here are some ways you can do this:

❖Copy files to diskette, following the steps in “Saving your work” on page 74.

❖Connect a tape drive to the system and use specialized software to copy everything on the hard disk to a tape.

Some people use a combination of these methods, backing up all files to tape weekly and copying critical files to diskette on a daily basis.

If you have installed your own programs, you should back up these programs as well as your data files. If something goes wrong that requires you to reformat your hard disk and start again, reloading all your programs and data files from a backup source will save time.

Read the documentation.

It’s very difficult to provide a fail-safe set of steps you can follow every time you experience a problem with the computer. Your ability to solve problems will improve as you learn about how the computer and its software work together.

Get familiar with all the documentation provided with your computer, as well as the manuals that come with the programs and devices you purchase.

Your local computer store or book store sells a variety of self-help books you can use to supplement the information in the manuals.