You can read all you want, but there is no substitute for doing it yourself. If you can do little addon's to your computer, like adding a hard drive or an additional fan, you will learn alot. If unsure about something, ask on here. People are very nice and quick to help.
This is why I love these forums. Thanks for the responses and great suggestions. I've made a list and will get to work on it. I sometimes think there are as many people looking at these forums, as I am, that need this type of help, as well as the more technical viewers. Please keep any additional suggestions coming. Many thanks to all who responded thus far.
Brayton
Thank you Richard. It is the thought that counts. I really appreciate.Awesome contribution. I went as far as pushing the rep button, but got that familiar "Spread it around"
I've got to say, I miss the good old days when computers came with User Manuals. I mean ... these days it looks like the computer companies think that consumers are not supposed to mess with anything, but rather treat their machines as black boxes that perform certain tasks. How did I learn anything? You'll be surprised, but all I did (in addition of trial and error) was I read the manual. My first computer was Commodore 128. It came with two very thick books, User Manual and Programmers Reference Manual. These contained all information about the machine, including memory maps and some chip blueprints and a complete reference for the assembly language.
Well, nowadays, the information is less easy to come by and I must say, the machines are way more complex. But still, you can find your way around. Of course the first thing to do now is to learn your way around the OS. So I would grab the Microsoft book - some of that available online for free - about Windows 7, it's similar to the good old manual. As to the adding hardware to your PC - at least my computers (mostly Sonys and Dells) still come with little manuals that describe in detail which screws to use for each purpose.
I'm learning by doing. That's what I get for being a network and software administrator. >_>
It's priceless though. Learning from experience is the best course you can get in this world. None can beat that.
I am partial to the Microsoft publications for all of their products. I find they give the most accurate and detailed information as to how everything works.
I find it particularly helpful to mark up my 'how-to' reference materials with my own notes and comments. Going through the motions of reading and commenting on what I've read seems to cement the information in my mind.
Another thing that I do is that whenever I read a good tip or instruction about how to do (or not do) something, I copy it into a Word doc list that I've created for this purpose. My how-to list for Vista is over 150 pages now (believe it or not) and my Windows 7 how-to list is about 50 pages already. Little by little, by little, you learn how to do things.
I also find a lot of good information on-line by using the Google browser (rather than any of the others) which is particularly useful for computer issues. Many of the posts refer you to other forums and help sources, many of which seem to be excellent. (A word of caution though, when trying to follow anyone's advice on a particular problem: ALWAYS make a system restore point and/or back up your system before trying any of the advice you read!)
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