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When you use your computer for more than just playing games, you have to think beyond the basics of using a computer. If all you can do is turn it off and on you might have a problem with getting a lot of things done.

The first step you need to take is to decide what you really want to do. If you want to get online, you need to make sure you have plenty of great security software so your system doesn’t get bogged down with the viruses and other malicious code you are inevitably going to run into. While you can go without it, you will sincerely regret doing so in a hurry otherwise. In the same vein you want to make sure you have the right kind of web browser and that your intended connection type is an effective one.

You also want to be certain your system has ample resources to do what you want it to do. If your system lacks memory or RAM, you won’t be able to make it move very quickly. While you might not mind such a thing at first, in time every spare second you could be getting something done will weigh on your sanity like Chinese water torture. No individual thing will be much of a bother, but in time you will want to go back to the abacus and abandon the slowness of an underpowered computer. Once everything works, you can make it do all kinds of things.