The first thing you need when buying a computer is to know what do you need the computer for. If you want a computer to play games you need one kind of configuration, if you want a computer to surf the internet you are going to need another configuration and so on. The most common computer uses are games, email, internet, word, photo edition, video edition.

If you need a computer just for the internet all you need is the most powerful CPU you can buy and a decent amount of RAM. The graphic card won't make a difference and the hard disk is too big to be completely filled with web page information. Although you don't need too much RAM it's always good to have at least 2GB of it. My laptop has 2.5 GB and I tell you it is always out of it!

A computer for computer games is the most powerful and expensive one. Do you know that computer games are the #1 responsible for the improvement of digital products? They are so heavy, so resource demainding so crazy that companies spend billions of dollars trying to learn how to make faster processor, bigger RAMs and better graphic cards just for the sake of the games!

A computer to edit video and images need a lot of RAM and hard disk. The edition requires a lot of work and the end results needs a lot fo space to be saved. A dual core processor won't do for the most exigent video makers, get a quad core and a terabyte hard disk.

A computer just to write on word can be any computer. Get the cheapest one.

1. Switch on the electricity power socket;
2. Switch on your UPS;
3. Then switch on your Printer, Scanner, CPU, and then Monitor and any other peripherals;
4. And wait for the computer to boot. The Sign to know it has finished booting is that you will see a graphic in the form of a shaking drum for Windows XP or a ring in Windows Vista just underneath the mouse.

Shutting Down Your Computer

1. Close all your windows, if some don't respond, wait for it to close and if it takes too long press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and a dialogue box would come out, and then click 'end now' and wait for some time and it would respond. You will have to do same for the other windows that are not responding accordingly.
2. Then click start on the task bar and then click shut down. But if you want the computer to sleep maybe you are not yet closing work for the day, click hibernate or standby. But, when it is 5 p.m. you click shut down. Wait for the computer to go off by seeing the black screen.
3. Then press the on/off button of the monitor, and then turn off your UPS and the other peripherals and finally the electricity power socket

Things You Must not do on the Computer

1. You must not let the computer monitor be too direct to your face; it must be tilted up a bit
2. You must not use another flash drive that you brought from outside, but if you must use it, then you must scan it for viruses before you open it
3. Never put off the power of your CPU manually
4. Be patient when working with windows; allow your program to load when you have double clicked it
5. And make sure the AC is on in your office for the computer brain to cool down
6. Don't open plenty of windows at the same time; at least maximum of 6 is okay
7. Don't eat or drink tea while you are on the computer table because of the keyboard so that liquids or food would not splash on the keyboard or other peripherals

Glossary

1. CPU- An acronym for (Central Processing Unit)
2. Peripherals- Other physical Computer gadgets attached to the CPU like printers etc.
3.  Booting- the process of starting or restarting a computer and loading the operating system.
4. Graphic- A computer representation in the form of a picture.
5. Window- a rectangular frame on a computer screen in which images output by application programs can be displayed, moved around, or resized
6. Dialogue box- A rectangular box that interacts with the user.
7. Task bar- This is an interface that would make you know the open programs, and it is at the bottom of the computer screen where you have your start button.
8. Ctrl+ Alt+ Del terms- Means you must press a key and hold in order of succession.
9. Hibernating- Means the computer to go off without shutting down and it would be in a dormant state, and you can resume anytime by pressing the enter key or the power button once and you will still have your programs open.