Please note that I retain
copyright in the articles described below, and that the
publishers of the periodicals that published them may also have
an interest in the versions which they published. As far as I
am concerned, you are free to make any reasonable use of the
articles published here that you wish, provided only
that:
you make
your own peace with the publishers of the periodicals in
which they appeared,
the article
is not used for any commercial purpose or to derive any
profit from it without my consent,
any
distribution of the article includes this copyright notice,
and
you let me
know what use has been made of the article if you use it
for anything other than your own
information.
If you would
like to update any of these articles for posting on your own
website, feel free to do so. If you will provide a link to the
updated article, I would be happy to add it to the relevant
article.
A description of the
functions of RAM and the hard drive, as well as the
relationship between them and the rest of the
computer system. Useful for those novices who are
confused by the fact that both are specified in terms
of the same units of capacity, i.e., megabytes. The
hardware references are dated, but the concepts
remain valid.
Published in the November, 1992 issue of The Computer
Paper.
A definition and
description of disk operating systems (DOS's) and
their relationship to applications and the hardware.
Useful for novices who are unsure of what an
operating system (OS) is, and where it fits in the
scheme of things. Somewhat dated now, but the
concepts remain valid.
Unpublished.
A basic description of the
hard drive, and why it should be regarded as a
sensitive, high-precision mechanical device which
eventually will fail, given enough time. In other
words, a good reason to keep your backups current.
Written for the computer novice.
Published in the December, 1992 issue of The Computer
Paper.
How I accidentally imported
a macro virus into my office, and very nearly
infected the office LAN with it — all because
my virus signature files were out of date.
A version of this article was published in the June, 1999
issue of Networth News.
Seven rules which, if
scrupulously followed, will make it highly unlikely
that you will suffer damage from a computer virus
attack. An addendum recognises the fact that macro
viruses became prevalent after the article was first
published. The article does not address worms
transmitted as e-mail attachments.
A version of this article was published in the June, 1996
issue of Networth News.The article here was revised
and updated for Web publication.
The
WizWorksCollection This page
last updated on September 17, 2007
