How do you know so much about computers?

U

Undoubtedly

New Member
just after having some of my questions answered, I wondered how you guys know so much about them?
Do you work in the industry? Do you read forums?
How do you know so much?
I want to learn too, so the forums are not filled with " does my video card fit into my mo board lol"
So if you have any ideas on how I can learn please teach me!
 
Research, read the forums, take apart a computer and put it back together to get a visual image.
You just have to take some time to research things you don't know, such as analogies, compatibilities, clock speeds, timings etc... Google it and you'll probably get at least a brief explanation.
It takes time, and since every area has such a vast amount of things to know, understand the general things first, and the most modern technology before you indulge into the rest.

Just my opinion on it though.
 
This question could be asked about any expertise: books, antiques, guns, etc.

You just have to spend time with it. Get to know the industry. Get some hands-on experience. Read up on topics (like forums).
 
ZachSand said:
take apart a computer and put it back together to get a visual image.
Click to expand...
Very very true. I don't know a lot about computers but i know enough to keep my pc running and virus free and to switch out part with new ones. I have read a bunch online and learned a lot from people on the internet but i learned a lot more just taking my computer apart, Its very good to see how it works before you try to understand.
 
Took apart computers, researched, played with Windows like mad, joined forums, and so on.
My story in a nutshell :D
Almost 7 years of experience now :D
Thought I joined the forum last year...but the library and Google were my best buds before that major event in my life :D
 
For me, it was quite simply my first build several years ago, along with this forum. I knew I was getting a new system in 2 months, and decided to check out building my own, since a guy I knew had done so recently. That lead me to this forum. Planning and researching my build for ~2 months and reading countless reviews online, before finally ordering my parts and building my system was all it really took. I have since built a second system, after more research. I am far from an expert, but know a decent amount compared to the average person.

In a way, thoroughly researching and then doing your first build is very similar to doing your first season of fantasy football or basketball. You learn way more than you ever knew before, because the nature of the activity basically forces you to.
 
I started really getting into computer hardware when I was about 13. I had a couple of older friends that new quite a bit and they really helped me get started, but it wasn't too long before I started delving deeper into it that they did. About the age of 17 I started combing Craigslist and eBay for good deals on broken computers and other electronics and started fixing them up to resell for profit. Finally, almost a year ago I opened up a little computer shop in the middle of my home town and that's what I've been doing since.

A lot of computer repair is just recognizing computer problems that you've seen before. They may have baffled you at first, but once you figure out the solution you'll know exactly what to do next time you see it. Most people that come here for help have relatively simple problems which most computer techs have encountered before, which is why you'll get a quick and definitive answer.
 
Everyone learns differently. Some people just love to dig up all the info they can find in tech sites and forums, others work with it all the time, others just have nothing better to do, haha.

Personally my experience with computers has been the combined effort of working at a technology retail store/repair center and years of attempting pc repairs on my own instead of going to retail techs that charge you out the butt.

Its cheaper to do it myself and I like the challenge.
 
I build my own. I just put the parts together and read manuals and forums, like this one. They're never any good though. They often end up in bits, in the garden after about 2 years, with weeds growing up inside them - just where they land, after I hurl them... I don't really want to know anything about computers - I just have to learn stuff, in order to make them work. If I could afford to, I would employ an army of people with really big, egg-shaped heads to build and operate my computers and then get my brain wiped of all knowledge of them... then sit around all day drinking cocktails on a beach, somewhere in the Mediterranean.

Dr. V
 
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lucasbytegenius said:
Took apart computers, researched, played with Windows like mad, joined forums, and so on.
My story in a nutshell :D
Almost 7 years of experience now :D
Thought I joined the forum last year...but the library and Google were my best buds before that major event in my life :D
Click to expand...
+1. That's pretty much exactly what I did. :) IMO, you just kinda learn out of interest. I found an old, unused computer, and decided to take it apart. I knew so little then, it was friggin ridiculous. The hard drives were corrupted from the start (it was a RAID server) and I install Windows on them unknowingly. Then when my audio driver became corrupted, I thought my cardbus controller died (wtf????). Then I threw it back in the closet. :P

Essentially, if you like doing something, you just naturally learn about it. You'll end up not knowing how to fix something, and then you'll go on a month-long google adventure where you learn more about useless crap (or so you think) then what you actually want to know. When I started trying to do more stuff having to do with computers, I decided to find a nice computer forum to join. I just googled "computer forum," and of course CF was the #1 result. :D

So, no worries on the part of warning. Having fun is the best teaching source. ;)
 
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I guess I am a bit of an exception.

Learned electronics in high school. The IBM PC had just come out.

Joined the US Navy and went into avionics. Spent the next two decades working on computer systems ranging from ancient (even then) mainframes to state-of-the-art mini- and micro-computers.

Repaired disk drives, literally replacing platters and aligning heads. Programmed in arcane languages few civilians have ever heard of.

I had to maintain aging desktop computers with nothing more than a few carcasses for spare parts.

By the time I got around to building my own desktop machines, I had at least an understanding of what to do, then began hitting trade publications and such, mining friends' brains for tips. This is back when the Internet was still a new concept.

By the time I joined my first computer forum seven years ago, I'd already built a half-dozen computers and troubleshot and repaired countless others.

I certainly don't know everything there is to know about computer hardware, and it's been a couple years since I've built a desktop (I run exclusively on laptops now), so the latest and greatest is outside my bubble of knowledge, but I certainly know where to get the information I need when I need it.
 
I joined the forum 3 ~ years ago. Since I joined, I have read through the forums, learned from the solutions to problems. Aside from that, I have been building computers for 4 odd years. Through tinkering with the computer and eventually building my own from scratch, I learned a lot, too. Maintaining the systems in the house also taught me a fair bit. And right now I am in college learning on the subject of computers.
 
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