COMPUCARE --------------- CARING FOR YOUR AMIGA - PART ONE -------------------------------------- By Kevan Fitzakerley. This is the first part of a series of articles to help users to, in a non-technical way, care for their system, by performing a type of preventive maintenance to keep your system in top working order. Most people who buy computers of any kind, rush home with their purchase, rip open the box and throw aside the packaging, instruction manuals and so on. They attempt to put everything together and if the plugs fit the sockets, and when the power is turned on, if the light comes on they assume that everything is right. Right? WRONG! This initial stage of setting up is probably the most important! The packaging is designed to protect the hardware during transit, so it is important to keep this packaging just in case you need to move any or all of the equipment over any great distance. The manuals that come with the various types of hardware are their for your benifit! these manuals explain how to correctly set up each part of the computer system. And as the saying goes: "WHEN EVERYTHING ELSE FAILS, READ THE INSTRUCTIONS". Also included are the warranty or guarantee cards, you should read these cards and post away any forms that need to be sent, to register your purchase with the manufacturer, In most cases you will find that there is an authorised repair agent in or close by to the city where you live. And with the amount of Amiga computers being sold today it is likely that some of these machines may be faulty at the time of purchase. If it happens that you are one of these people unfortunate to receive a machine that doesn't perform as it should, what do you do? Rush back to the store where you purchased it and abuse the salesperson? NO! Phone Commodore and abuse the receptionist? NO! What you need to do is, completely read the instructions and follow the steps as set out in the manuals, because most of the problems arise by not fully understanding how to connect everything together. If you have followed the instructions completely and your Amiga still doesn't perform, you should contact the store were you made your purchase and explain exactly the problems you are having and remember, STAY CALM. The staff of these stores are in most cases trained to help and give advice, so give them a chance to rectify the situation. And in most cases if a machine is faulty at the time of purchase the store will normally exchange the item for you. If on the other hand you have owned your Amiga for a period of twelve months or more, it is time to think of giving it a service. Few things made today rarely last any longer than 1-2 years with out giving some sort of trouble. It is possible to avoid costly repairs and loss of time being without your Amiga following a few basic guide lines by performing regular preventive maintenance. You can take the machine to an authorised service dealer to repair or you can do it yourself, computers of any brand are a highly sophisticated piece of machinery, and when you start fooling around with the internals of the machine you automatically void all warranties. In your operating manual, you will find a section on caring for you Amiga and associated items, like software storage, dust, smoke etc. by performing the items listed in this section of your operating manual you will find that your machine and software will operate as it should and without any worry's. Apart from the operating manual instrutions on caring for your Amiga there are many other things that you can do to keep your computer in top operating order. The Amiga is a great home and small business computer, but it is only as good as the operator and the software provided for it. When you switch on the Amiga you are greeted with a hand holding a disk, this symbol simply means the computer is asking for a disk to be inserted in the drive, no special commands are required , because once the disk (providing it is bootable) is inserted in the drive everything is done automatically for you and the program or part of it is loaded into the computers memory. It is important for you to understand WHY and HOW these things happen and by understanding why and how things operate, you will obtain a general knowlege of various parts of the Amiga as to perform preventative maintenance and be aware of possible troublespots. For any type of internal electronic or mechanical repairs or modification, unless you have been trained in this area it should be left for qualified people to perform. Most mechanical failures occur from wear and tear on the moving parts, like on/off switches, drive-heads etc, failure of these kinds cannot be avoided, but they can be contained in various ways. Electronic failures rarely happen, this does not mean that they don't happen, but if they do they usually happen within the first 24 hours of use, and it is usually atributed to electrical current and heat build up for the first time. But there are external source's that can cause you problems like dampness, power surges, magnetic fields, overheating and static electricity, etc. Software failure can occur by various means, for instance leaving disks exposed to magnetic fields, or direct sunlight, dust and liquids, these are just a few examples, but they do happen and can cause the software to fail to operate as it should. Every piece of computer hardware that you buy come's with it's own set of instructions and operating guide, and within these pages there will normally be a section on how to care for each particular piece of equipment. A typical Amiga computer system could include the following pieces of equipment. 1. KEYBOARD. 2. MONITOR. 3. EXTERNAL DRIVE. 4. HARD DRIVE. 5. SOFTWARE (programs). Each of the above item's are dedicated piece's of electronic and mechanical devices and you should handle them with as much care as possible. The main area of preventative maintenence should be directed to the software or the electronic media on which most programs are stored (eg. Floppy-Disks or Hard-Drives) This is the easiest area to begin with and it may be surprising to know it is also the most neglected area of computer care. Once software is damaged, it is difficult to determain when problems arise to know if it is a software or a hardware failure, so it is extremly important to protect your software before serious defects happen. Your software programs can be damaged by any of the following example's. 1. HEAT & HUMIDITY. 2. GREASE. 3. OIL. 4. STATIC. 5. MAGNETIC FIELDS. 6. DUST. 7. DIRTY DRIVE HEADS. 8. SMOKE. 9. SCRATCHES ON THE DISK SURFACE. And of course VIRUSES. Let's now have a look at ways that you can keep your software in good order and if you can follow these steps you can be sure to minimize any problems. 1. Keep software disks away from extreme heat and try to store them in an area were the temperature dosen't change to much. 2. maintain a proper level of humidity. 3. Your fingers contain natural oils, so avoid touching the disk surface at all costs. 4. Keep disks away from stereo speakers and any type of magnetic fields. 5. Your disks should be stored in dust-proof containers. 6. Keep all liquids far away from your disks, many a disk has been ruined by coffee being split on the disk. 7. Avoid areas were your disks could be subjected to heavy smoke or other airbourne pollutants. 8. If your drive-heads are dirty they can scrach the surface of the disk, so you should invest in a good quality head cleaning disk or something of a simular nature. PLEASE NOTE> Disk heads should only be cleaned when needed. 9. Protect your software from Viruses, there are many Commercial and Public Domain virus checkers around to remove viruses. The easiest way to avoid catching a virus is to make sure that your disks are write-protected before you insert them in the disk-drive.