Important Computer Advice

Turn it off, turn it back on. "Nine times out of ten, rebooting your computer – and any equipment that connects to it – will solve the problem," says support technician Aaron Schildkraut.

Just because we’re "mates" at work, don’t expect me to come running every time you’ve got a problem. I’ve got a slew of IT problems to fix.

We’re like Santa: we know if you’ve been bad or good. Fessing up to what really happened right before the system crashed is going to save time – and I’m going to find it out anyway.

Make sure you have current antivirus and anti-spyware protection. Set it to update at least once a day and run a full system scan at least once a week.

Use "strong" passwords. Geek Squad agent Derek Meister suggests combining letters and numbers – but not your birth date – to create a "base" password, and adding a unique suffix for each site you use. If your base password is your spouse’s initials and your anniversary date (say, SP061789), your Amazon password might be "SP061789AM".

There’s no free lunch. Downloading free music, movies and games from file-sharing sites can open holes in your system for others to exploit. Play it safe and use established services like iTunes.

Remember: public wi-fi is public. If you don’t have a compelling reason to check your bank account while sipping a latte at the mall, don’t do it. While you’re on a public network, nearby hackers can capture your passwords.

If you can’t get online, call your internet service provider first. There may be a network problem, and other issues can often be checked and fixed for free.

Give it a rest. Turning off your computer when it’s not in use saves energy and clears out the RAM, or temporary memory, which would otherwise slow your machine over time.

If you want to see less of me, get a Mac. That’s what we use. "Macs are actually a little bad for my business," says Schildkraut.

No, you can’t use your mobile phone to pop popcorn. Next time an internet rumour drops into your inbox, don’t just pass it on – check it out at www.snopes.com first.

Sometimes we talk about you in code. If you hear "HKI error" (for human-keyboard interface) or "PEBCAK" (problem exists between chair and keyboard), we’re insulting you.

If you don’t understand me, I’m not doing my job. Confusing tech jargon is a sign of insecurity, not intelligence.