How-to Train a New Computer. Ugh!

Do you dread changing your phone and computer? Do you think you have better things to do than to crack the whip on yet another electronic device?

Me, too. That’s why step one is written in stone. Here it is, chiseled out on my new laptop…

Step One – Don’t fling it across the room!

Take a breath. Sit down calmly and play the game its way. Its maker wrote all the rules. It will play the way it was taught (programmed) until you discover its buttons and tweak it to play your way. You can do it!

When my old laptop took longer to start, open programs, and shutdown than it takes for me to write two chapters, I knew I had to replace it. It’s six+ years old. It had written and published a gazillion words with me.

It’s time for a new computer.

And it was a challenge. A mind-boggling challenge. I’m a writer. I know just enough about computers (and cars) to get myself in deep do-do.

Add technology that has raced in and flew out since I’d bought and trained my last laptop. …Size, prices, operating systems… too many and too much to slog through with confidence.

With books on the fire and deadlines to meet, I couldn’t ease into it.

Here’s what I did:

I made myself go to Walmart and snag the best Microsoft laptop deal from their shelf. I chose Walmart because I could return it fast and easy if it was defective. I wouldn’t waste days and weeks fussing with it.

Next is to spend at least one day learning the machine and its software.  

Here’s what I learned about my new computer:

• OneDrive is set to grab all my work and send it to ‘the cloud’. It was easy to stop it once I realized it was doing it. Google knew how. It was as simple as ‘right-click, unlink’… or something like that.
• Microsoft wants to control all my downloads. It was easy to tell it to stop. Once I realized it was doing it. Simply remove the S from windows 11. Never mind that the S might stand for ‘Safety’.
• Word will not autosave if OneDrive isn’t engaged. It’s easy to ‘control S’ myself to save my work. Once I realized it wasn’t saving every few minutes.
• Yippee! MS Office can still be downloaded and updated to work offline. Without a subscription. That was a long-haul challenge. But it’s done. I’m free of Microsoft sucking my internet gigabytes and wallet dry.
• Had I disabled OneDrive before I downloaded my files from the old computer, I may have had less hair-pulling issues finding the file I’m looking for. It’s a good thing I have a glut of hair to work with.
• Browser screen size matters! The first computer I chose had too small of a browser display to preview and approve my new book. Yikes! I have to have a minimum browser display of 1200 x 600. The Lenovo Series 1 maximum size is 1028 x 768. It would not allow me to preview and approve the book for publication.

I’m slowly training my new computer to play my way.

No games, please. Just write, get email, manipulate pictures, start-up and shutdown quickly. Don’t interrupt me with notifications, ads, or draining the battery and my wallet. And keep me out of the cloud!  

In summary, I and the new computer may become friends yet. Before it becomes obsolete and slower than molasses running uphill in January.

Like everything and everybody… it won’t win unless we let it. It’s up to you and me to figure out how. And we can!

Happy Trails and Tales,

Alexie Linn

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