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whered you learn most of your computer knowledge?
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Posted by: TheeMon
was it school? learning from exp? or learning it from others exp(like on ots)?
the reason i ask is because ive been going to school for computers since the start of 11th grade(3 yrs total) and been coming to ots n shit for a while and have had my share of comp troubles... and i know a good bit about computers(good bit to me atleast) but it seems everytime something stupid happens to my computer(or other peoples) and i cant fix it it makes me wonder how long itll take b4 i know how to fix generally everything... then i get to thinking how imma learn it...
so howd you learn most of your computer knowledge and how long did it take?
Posted by: 9:35
writing another report?
Posted by: uh...ok
For me, it started at a pretty young age back in maybe first or second grade when I first began to use my dad's old 286 computer extensively. First it was trying to get Carmen Sandiego to work (which we had to hire a friend to ultimately help us out with), and then after that it was just random stuff that I'd pick up from watching that friend or my cousins. But for the most part, all that stuff was basic things like learning how to use MS-DOS, how to install and manipulate programs, how to use the modem to connect to a local BBS, etc.
I can't say that I knew much about computers until I started actually dabbling with the hardware when I reached high school. Before then, I was still using computers built for our dad by various people or a Compaq that I had convinced my dad to buy for me. I mostly learned what I eventually knew from the PCGamer magazines that I subscribed to. I built my first computer in front of a PCGamer magazine (and also made purchasing decisions based on their recommendations), and even to this day, I think the bulk of my general computer know-how comes from there. (Although eventually PCGamer switched Editors, and eventually format, and it all went downhill from there...) Of course there was always OTS in both the Battle.net and website renditions  but that taught me more specific knowledge about very narrow problems rather than general fix-it philosophy. From then on, it was just trial and error experience.
Of course, now I know a lot more about computers from the electrical level all the way up to the software level, and that's just from classes, being an RCC, and working in my research group. Those, however, don't really help when it comes to fixing computers (well, except maybe for the RCC part).
Posted by: taco_fox
my own experience and learning from other people's experience. I know more about hardware on a technical level than anybody probably cares so my knowledge doesn't really come in handy in most situations (like for a job  ).
Posted by: TheeMon
see i been playing with computers since my old apple green screen... lol omg that brings back memories...
and i know alot about hardware and networking and how os's work and like uhawk said i can fix general problems... hell just format :P but it bothers me when i cant fix specific problems... like when i coulda got that job but didnt kuz i couldnt fix there email problem...
and no 9 not another paper... thats not due for another week... youll be informed
Posted by: uh...ok
 Quote:
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Originally Posted by TheeMon
and i know alot about hardware and networking and how os's work and like uhawk said i can fix general problems... hell just format :P
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That doesn't "fix" anything. Most people who want their computers fixed would probably get pissed at you if you wiped their data.
Posted by: TheeMon
i was thinking more alongthe lines of my computer...
Posted by: Ocean
from a completely unrelated place.
the internet
Posted by: Bix VT
personal experience mostly. when I was 6 we got a 386. I still know more than I'd like to about dos and windows 3.1. I didn't get too far into the hardware area until I was about 11, when I started upgrading my 450 PIII Compaq. didn't really start overclocking until about 2 years ago...pretty much 90% of my knowledge has come in the last 7 years.
good times...
Posted by: Shalome
Experience, tutorials, books, classes, FAQs and How-To guides, sites like OTS, just playing around on the computer, fixing things as they break, learning tweaks, taking specific knowledge gained from one-time situations and extrapolating it into generalities... for the past 15 years.
I never stop learning. I learned something new about computers every day this week. Most of it came from situations I was thrown into at work and had to learn quickly.
Google has become my knowledgebase and tutor. Hell, referencing my Google skills helped get me my current job. The interviewer (who is now my boss) asked me "So if a client dropped off a server, a stack of hard drives, and a RAID card and asked you to set it up in a RAID 0 array, how would you go about it?" I said the first thing I would do would be to hit Google and learn about RAID arrays and the specific RAID card installation, since I'd never done it before.  The boss liked that response a lot because it showed I knew how to teach myself to solve new problems.
Basically, you never stop learning. Something new will always come up to challenge you, and that's how you learn and get good. You also learn things in the process of problem solving (for instance, due to one hardware problem this week, I now know a hell of a lot about Dell Poweredge 2650s).
You're not going to be able to take a class or read a book (or 10 classes or 10 books, or 10 years of classes and 10 years of books) and suddenly be a computer genius who is able to instantly solve every problem and know how to configure every program and OS under the sun. It takes time, effort, hard work, a great memory, critical thinking skills, and logic. Technology constantly changes, and you have to keep learning.
Posted by: TheeMon
well the great memory is severly lacking on my part  but dude it seems like its gonna take forever... i got 1 1/2 years of college left then im off to get a computer related job... but i dunno if ill be ready... it kinda bothers me...
Posted by: Shalome
Well, look at it this way, Thee. When you graduate, you should have a specific skillset. What are you going to graduate with a degree in? Are you going to get a certification of any kind? The job you get will be based on your skillset. For instance, if you get hired as a network technician or a hardware specialist, you're not going to be configuring Outlook or helping people use PowerPoint. If you get a job as a Windows administrator, you're not going to be troubleshooting routers or firewalls.
You're always going to come up against problems you don't know how to solve right away. That's just how IT is. That's why you have to know where your resources are to help you solve your problems -- Google is your friend.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Everything....
OTS got me started, other sites, lots of reading. Messing around in my computer and just seeing what happned (yea i waste money that way).
Posted by: HongKongKid
from here and personal exp.
Posted by: BooRadley
When I was a little kid my dad got a TI86 and I learnt some BASIC on it, but I only had it for one summer. Later, in college, I had to learn Lotus123 and the macro's were basic programming logic. THen I got a job working on a Solaris workstation, and hacked the hell out of it. They told us the system was so locked down you couldn't do anything you weren't supposed to, so we were encouraged to experiment with it. Later, a girlfriend got a PC and I eventually downloaded Visual Basic 3.
All of this was just stuff I did because it was fun. It wasn't even a hobby at that point, but once I learnt to program and write web pages and all sorts of fancy stuff like that (that was fancy back in 1993 and 1994), I decided to make it a hobby. Evenutally I took a job doing tech support, and learnt a lot there. Then I installed Linux to learn more. Eventually I got promoted to a NOC job, and learnt a whole lot more.
So a collection of just messing around, eventually making it a hobby, then a job.
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