As we wander through this cyber world which we are collectively altering and adding too, it should become obvious that we can do whatever we want. Anything goes. Therefore I have limited my tips to real time issues for the most part.

These are not rules, simply suggestions about things I've had marked success with. A friend's Daddy told her, "Don't fix it if it isn't broken". I made the point that her Daddy tuned his car up even when it was working.

Tip One: Simplify all you do. Make all your experiences potentially positive by allowing yourself the space and opportunity to grow into them one step at a time. If you are still into a hyper-pace and "instant self gratitude", get out of the 1980s mode and live today.

Tip Two: Get second, third and forth opinions; but try not to confuse opinion with reality. You and I more than likely have different systems, settings, and hardware. My tips, however, are general enough they will work on most systems.

Tip Three: Read instead of guessing. If you got into PCs for the challenge this still applies. There will be many challenges in cyber space; since chaos is a reality.

Tip Four: Research instead of reading. Without researching, you will miss out on the logic end of system maintenance (quite opposite of the "Spock Syndrome"). Instructions can be found in original manuals, in supplemental (purchased separately) manuals which you may find are often tailored to your degree of understanding, or on internet pages. Go to a search engine, type in the specific name of your soundcard, and initiate the search. You may find out a lot about what your sound card is capable of; and also about new drivers you can easily download and install to make your soundcard perform better. Now search for your mother board, video card, CD-Rom, hard drive, monitor, modem drivers, etc.

Tip Five: Do not rely on the "economy" manual which comes with most software and hardware. I like QUE Publishing books; since they are written by writers and teachers who are attempting to share their thoughts. Most "economy" manuals appear to be written by Harvard level geeks who can spell in FORTRAN better than in English; and who are (and should be) responsible for developing software and hardware programs.

Tip Six: If a do-it-yourselfer is eventually successful it is good to stick with their help. There is a lot of hit and miss stuff with reworking something that has gone awry, be patient. If things are getting out of control, however, get into a service shop and see if they can help.

Tip Seven: Take all advice with a grain of salt, especially if you prefer sugar. Sales persons sell, they do not have to research. When a sales person tells me a system has "everything", I keep in mind that my car does too. It has a hard drive system, a computer chip, a CD-Rom player, a stereo system, windows (with wipers), disk operating systems, drivers, lights, a horn, etc. However, I could not have generated this page with my car; and I don't even have white wall tires on my PC (yet). So, having everything is relative (see some of my spiritual links). Research, research, research!

PC Tips...