Wise up

This entry was posted in Hardware Interesting and tagged Antistatic malware on by

From a Microsoft site this morning …

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/setup/addmemory.aspx?WT.rss_f=At Home RSS&WT.rss_a=More RAM please: Add memory to your computer&WT.rss_ev=a

RAM: Add more memory to your computer

Your computer is a little like your physical work area. The hard drive is the filing cabinet where you store your documents, and memory—or RAM (random access memory)—is the desk where you work. And when your RAM—like a full desktop—isn’t big enough to hold all your work easily, your work slows down and becomes more difficult. A good solution is to expand the space—or install more RAM.

Close up image of computer circuit board

If it suddenly seems that your computer can’t keep up and the drive light is flickering like crazy, it’s probably time to install RAM. But before you unplug the cables, lug the machine to the car, drive to the computer store, wait to have RAM installed, and pay for the service, read how to install RAM yourself.

Great – all we need are users diving inside the machine to replace memory. Sure they will take antistatic precautions and make sure the machine is not on ?

What about the usual rubbish on machines Malware – Limewire – hooky programs?

I noted that the article mentioned malware

Note: Problems with speed can also be caused by viruses, spyware, or other malicious software. Make sure that your virus checker is up to date. Or download Microsoft Security Essentials for free.

Many of the sick machines I see are badly protected with out of date or substandard antivirus packages. The latest malware seems to cut great holes through even the major AV providers products.

The best advise you can get is take the machine to someone who knows what they are doing and get an honest appraisal of the benefits of upgrading. Use tools like the Crucial memory scanner rather that guessing the wrong type of memory – Crucial will take it back if they make a mistake. If its a Packard Bell – speak to Crucial to get the right memory.

As you can see getting most users to self diagnose and upgrade their machines is like asking them to find a coolant leak in their car engine – pointless, futile and potentially dangerous.

Finally – perhaps Microsoft should spend some more time learning about antistatic precautions

First, turn off the computer, but leave it plugged in so that it’s automatically grounded. (Computers that should not remain plugged in will be clearly marked.)

Not a sign of an earth strap anywhere in the article….. poor