Computers and How They Work Experience

This class was very frustrating for me. I was way out of my comfort zone for most of the time. Although I have to say that I learned a lot. For instance, when I was thinking about my perfect computer, I understood what was meant by the different components. I had never opened a computer before or looked at different processors, etc. Much of my research was also time consuming since I needed to read and re-read in order to make sure that I understood the jargon and the definitions that they were using.

I was really hoping that I would have learned other practical information as well. For instance, when my desktop crashed, how do I go about reimaging it, or what are some things I could try to get my icons back up and running? Some actual troubleshooting techniques. Maybe this is information that will be coming later, but it is an area that I feel that I'm lacking in. We have a tech. department to deal with these issues at school, but they are often occupied elsewhere when we need them and if I knew a few things to try I might be able to fix it without having to wait for them.

Alternate OS

This assignment was very frustrating for me. I was nervous about starting it because I was worried about accidentally installing the program and overriding my current OS. The only computer that I could use to try this project was our desktop - I don't have the rights to download onto my school laptop, and our desktop was out of commission for a while. I finally got it up and running again and then started my project. I chose Ubuntu because it seemed more user friendly, but I think there might have been something wrong with the file itself. Once I got everything downloaded and burned correctly the file wouldn't boot. It just stalled and kept cycling instead of booting up fully. Like I said, a frustrating assignment.