Today was my last day at Bargain Bytes. I had a bit of a different day working with an old script called "DOS". I also learned some other hardware, I had to do some research on some PCI and some PCI-e cards.
I started the day with Vince teaching me how to use "DOS" using a virtual machine through Windows 98. I learned and fiddled around with many different commands. At first I didn't know much on what I was doing but soon I slowly got the hang of how to get in and out of a directory using cd: and cd:.. to close the directory. I figured out how to get into the directory using dir and I looked around in there for a bit, I dove into the Help dir to see what there was if I could go any farther or not. To get out I just typed the command of (cd..).
Early today my instructor also came in to finish up on my assessment for my second practicum. We talked about what I have learned while working here and what I did for my practicum project. I also had to answer some hardware questions to prepare for my CompTIA Exam coming up soon, which I may get it postponed to study for it more.
After my lunch break I came back and fiddled a bit more in "DOS". Then Gino showed me what a Marquee is, which is basically a screensaver for older operating systems which displays any type of text that you want it to say. Vince was going to show me how to write a script using Java to make a Marquee from scratch. However "DOS" is very hard to work with, and Vince couldn't quite remember how to.
Near the end of the day, Vince gave me an old motherboard that I could take home and look at. I can analyze it more to learn more on how a motherboard works and what each part is on it. I also got a copy of DOS 4.01. Who knows what I'll do with that since Vince told me I'm gonna need a hard drive big enough to run it. And finally I got a copy of Lin's Install which is the program script that we use at Bargain Bytes to add any Anti-Virus programs onto it and we also use it to activate some of the programs and to activate Windows 7 using Windows 7 Loader EX. I am sure that my instructor may want to copy, since he did ask me about it before.
But other than that I did have a great time working there since I did learn quite a bit about computers and have improved my knowledge of software. And I really wanted to build a tower and I was finally able to, when working there. And the best part about it is that I sold it just a few mins after finishing it itself. So I felt pretty proud about that!
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 14: Jan 22, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes, we had a pretty busy day. I got to delve into some hardware stuff on my second last day on my practicum. I started my practicum project today of building 1 out 2 computer towers. I also got to replace some hard drives in 2 laptops. Then as usual I had to to some software stuff which was pretty basic to do.
I started off the day finishing up on a laptop that I worked on from yesterday which I checked to make sure everything was up to date and that the last few Windows updates were completed. I then decided to run a few virus scans just to be sure that everything was good. After that I put the laptop aside and wrote "Done" on it.
Next I finally got to delve into some hardware stuff. Vince wanted to get me ready for my build, so he asked me to replace 2 hard drives on 2 separate laptops. I first unscrewed the top paneling and then removed the screws from the cradle that held the hard drive in place. I then put then new hard drive in its place. And then inserted it back into the laptop and then closed it up. I then did the same thing with another laptop but the only thing different was that the cradle was a little bit different.
I then started to prepare for my build, I gathered all the parts that I needed to construct the system. I first placed the CPU into the correct spot made sure that it fit in right. I screwed in the motherboard into the casing. I made sure that it lined up with the certain headers. Next I put the hard drive and the CD-ROM into the correct slots. I got all the wiring connected to the parts, the Hard drive, the motherboard, the CD-ROM. I then closed up the system and made sure that it booted up correctly. I then used a Windows 7 Slipstream to install Windows 7 Home Premium.
After my lunch break I came back and the install finished. I got all the drivers and installed the usual software with a run of Lin's Disk for all the appropriate Anti-Virus programs. Soon later a customer came in looking to buy a system and he picked the one that I built. He was looking to get a new system and was going to use Dial-Up with it. I helped him with it into his car and after I felt pretty proud of myself and that I can't wait to build my next one.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
I started off the day finishing up on a laptop that I worked on from yesterday which I checked to make sure everything was up to date and that the last few Windows updates were completed. I then decided to run a few virus scans just to be sure that everything was good. After that I put the laptop aside and wrote "Done" on it.Next I finally got to delve into some hardware stuff. Vince wanted to get me ready for my build, so he asked me to replace 2 hard drives on 2 separate laptops. I first unscrewed the top paneling and then removed the screws from the cradle that held the hard drive in place. I then put then new hard drive in its place. And then inserted it back into the laptop and then closed it up. I then did the same thing with another laptop but the only thing different was that the cradle was a little bit different.
I then started to prepare for my build, I gathered all the parts that I needed to construct the system. I first placed the CPU into the correct spot made sure that it fit in right. I screwed in the motherboard into the casing. I made sure that it lined up with the certain headers. Next I put the hard drive and the CD-ROM into the correct slots. I got all the wiring connected to the parts, the Hard drive, the motherboard, the CD-ROM. I then closed up the system and made sure that it booted up correctly. I then used a Windows 7 Slipstream to install Windows 7 Home Premium.
After my lunch break I came back and the install finished. I got all the drivers and installed the usual software with a run of Lin's Disk for all the appropriate Anti-Virus programs. Soon later a customer came in looking to buy a system and he picked the one that I built. He was looking to get a new system and was going to use Dial-Up with it. I helped him with it into his car and after I felt pretty proud of myself and that I can't wait to build my next one.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 13: Jan 21, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes I got into doing many different things throughout the day. I did things from doing reloads to backups to removing virus's. I also talked to my co-workers on what I will be doing for my practicum project.
I started the day with having to work back on a laptop that I have been experiencing some issues with the keyboard an the trackpad for the last few days. For some reason the trackpad and the keyboard do not work at all so for myself to work on it today, I had to use externals. I started with using Avast and I did a Full Boot Time Scan with it. It did not find anything. Gino told me that the only other way he can think of is to do a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium, but we haven't had any luck with reaching the customer.
Next I worked on doing a backup on a Windows XP Dell machine. I more of analyzed what a co-worker was doing and he asked me to watch him carefully on what he does to do backups when involving pictures. I then later did a reload of Windows XP onto it and to activate it I had to call Microsoft on activating the software. I was not successful in my 2 attempts with dealing with a computer on the other end of the line. Gino did say it is still good experience for me to have done that and that it is hard to do when dealing with the other person on the other end of the line being a computer.
After my lunch break Gino asked me to put back some files onto a customer's laptop. I guess she was having troubles with here desktop and wanted the files put onto her laptop. I also had the time to add a few anti-virus programs onto it before the customer came in to pick it up.
My last task of the day I had to do a checkup on another co-worker's work on weather he installed the correct programs onto it and did everything he had to do in the typical plan of doing a reload. So I noticed that he did not install Microsoft Word and that he did not check for updates so I finished the day with that.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
I started the day with having to work back on a laptop that I have been experiencing some issues with the keyboard an the trackpad for the last few days. For some reason the trackpad and the keyboard do not work at all so for myself to work on it today, I had to use externals. I started with using Avast and I did a Full Boot Time Scan with it. It did not find anything. Gino told me that the only other way he can think of is to do a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium, but we haven't had any luck with reaching the customer.
Next I worked on doing a backup on a Windows XP Dell machine. I more of analyzed what a co-worker was doing and he asked me to watch him carefully on what he does to do backups when involving pictures. I then later did a reload of Windows XP onto it and to activate it I had to call Microsoft on activating the software. I was not successful in my 2 attempts with dealing with a computer on the other end of the line. Gino did say it is still good experience for me to have done that and that it is hard to do when dealing with the other person on the other end of the line being a computer.
After my lunch break Gino asked me to put back some files onto a customer's laptop. I guess she was having troubles with here desktop and wanted the files put onto her laptop. I also had the time to add a few anti-virus programs onto it before the customer came in to pick it up.
My last task of the day I had to do a checkup on another co-worker's work on weather he installed the correct programs onto it and did everything he had to do in the typical plan of doing a reload. So I noticed that he did not install Microsoft Word and that he did not check for updates so I finished the day with that.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Monday, January 20, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 12: Jan 18, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes I had lots of stuff to do, I had to do lots of virus scans between 3 different laptops. 1 I was able to finish and the customer came to pick it up the other 2 had lots of virus's on them.
I started the day with having to continue with the 2 laptops that I did scans on from yesterday. One of them took all night to remove some malware that was on it and the other laptop was turned off so I had to reboot and do 2 quick scans, one of Anti-Malware and one of Anti-Spyware. They took quite a while for a quick scan.
After lunch I got another laptop that I had to remove a few virus's from and also had to add Avast onto it since the user was using Norton and asked if we could remove it and install avast for him. So I first started with a run of ComboFix which you only use when you are in Safe Mode. So I did 2 scans of that then booted back into normal mode. I next installed Anti-Malware and Anti-Spyware and did 2 full scans on it. After that I went into Norton's settings to disable it and then I installed Avast, ran a quick scan on it then uninstalled Norton from the computer using CCleaner. I then activated Avast and then did a Full Boot Scan just before the customer came to pick it up.
After that was finished the quick scans finished on the other 2 laptops. One of them had McAffe on it as there Anti-Virus program. I asked Gino if I should remove it and install Avast onto it since it is a much better program. He told me to leave it since it looked like it was a premium version as in the customer paid for that version. So I skipped that step and ran a defrag on it which basically cleans and resorts all of the copied files of files.
The other laptop had AVG on it and they also wanted Avast so I disabled AVG for 15mins to allow me to install and Activate Avast. After that I uninstalled AVG and did a Full Boot Time Scan with Avast. After that I finished the day with doing a quick Defrag on the machine same as the other laptop and I left the store with them running.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
I started the day with having to continue with the 2 laptops that I did scans on from yesterday. One of them took all night to remove some malware that was on it and the other laptop was turned off so I had to reboot and do 2 quick scans, one of Anti-Malware and one of Anti-Spyware. They took quite a while for a quick scan.
After lunch I got another laptop that I had to remove a few virus's from and also had to add Avast onto it since the user was using Norton and asked if we could remove it and install avast for him. So I first started with a run of ComboFix which you only use when you are in Safe Mode. So I did 2 scans of that then booted back into normal mode. I next installed Anti-Malware and Anti-Spyware and did 2 full scans on it. After that I went into Norton's settings to disable it and then I installed Avast, ran a quick scan on it then uninstalled Norton from the computer using CCleaner. I then activated Avast and then did a Full Boot Scan just before the customer came to pick it up.
After that was finished the quick scans finished on the other 2 laptops. One of them had McAffe on it as there Anti-Virus program. I asked Gino if I should remove it and install Avast onto it since it is a much better program. He told me to leave it since it looked like it was a premium version as in the customer paid for that version. So I skipped that step and ran a defrag on it which basically cleans and resorts all of the copied files of files.
The other laptop had AVG on it and they also wanted Avast so I disabled AVG for 15mins to allow me to install and Activate Avast. After that I uninstalled AVG and did a Full Boot Time Scan with Avast. After that I finished the day with doing a quick Defrag on the machine same as the other laptop and I left the store with them running.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Friday, January 17, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 11: Jan 17, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes I had plenty to do, I worked on 4 computers today 3 of which were laptops that I had to do some virus scans and a few other issues with them. The other was a desktop that I was just updating Avast and preparing it for the user that was going to buy it today. I also had a visit from my instructor in which he assessed me on my mid point of my practicum.
I started the day off with a laptop that had trouble signing in. I had to use safe mode to try to use the system restore so then I can get into Windows without having that issue. That didn't work so Gino gave me this disk that removed the password from the user's account so I could get in and reset it. Next I had to do a bunch of virus scans since I knew it had a virus because of the mouse was moving by itself. I did full scans of Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malwarebyte. I also did a scan of Eset, which is an online scan.
After lunch I worked on the desktop, preparing it for the customer before she came. I then moved onto working on the other 2 HP laptops that had some virus's on them so I had to install Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malwarebyte onto them and then I did some full scans of each one on them.
Theses scans took the rest of the day up since some of them took over 2 hours to scan. Tomorrow I will install Avast onto them and CCleaner onto them if needed.
I also got a few ideas from my instructor on what I might do for my practicum project at Bargain Bytes.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
I started the day off with a laptop that had trouble signing in. I had to use safe mode to try to use the system restore so then I can get into Windows without having that issue. That didn't work so Gino gave me this disk that removed the password from the user's account so I could get in and reset it. Next I had to do a bunch of virus scans since I knew it had a virus because of the mouse was moving by itself. I did full scans of Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malwarebyte. I also did a scan of Eset, which is an online scan.
After lunch I worked on the desktop, preparing it for the customer before she came. I then moved onto working on the other 2 HP laptops that had some virus's on them so I had to install Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malwarebyte onto them and then I did some full scans of each one on them.
Theses scans took the rest of the day up since some of them took over 2 hours to scan. Tomorrow I will install Avast onto them and CCleaner onto them if needed.
I also got a few ideas from my instructor on what I might do for my practicum project at Bargain Bytes.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 10: Jan 16, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes was a very slow day with not much for myself to do since yesterday I was at Riverside for the First Aid course I missed yesterday. Gino told me that they got a lot of work done yesterday which they were able to catch up on the work load. So that put me in a bad spot for today.
Today I started with finishing up a reload that Gino did on a brand new desktop. I updated Avast to the most recent version and I looked to see if Microsoft Word was installed or not. I then looked to see if there were any Windows updates which there were so I installed them. Next I did a restart to complete the updates and then it was good for sale.
After lunch I didn't have much to do other than a reload for another brand new custom built desktop that I had to monitor. Other than that the day was pretty slow.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Today I started with finishing up a reload that Gino did on a brand new desktop. I updated Avast to the most recent version and I looked to see if Microsoft Word was installed or not. I then looked to see if there were any Windows updates which there were so I installed them. Next I did a restart to complete the updates and then it was good for sale.
After lunch I didn't have much to do other than a reload for another brand new custom built desktop that I had to monitor. Other than that the day was pretty slow.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 9: Jan 14, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes I got to do some very boring virus scans on a desktop computer using some programs that I am familiar and not familiar with. I also got to do one Windows 7 Reload on a pink Sony Vaio laptop.
The day started off right away with me getting to work on a desktop computer that had quite a bit of viruses on it. I used this one program called Combo Fix which basically cleans up some of the viruses on the system. I found a few weird programs that were installed, not sure if the user wanted them on there or not or if they were installed from a virus or something. I next did a system clean up of the registry using CCleaner. I ran a scan 2 times to make sure that I got every issues fixed. Next I started to do some Anti-Virus scans using Super Anti-Spyware, Malwarebyte Anti-Malware, An online scanner called Eset and Spybot Search and Destroy. I also learned that you can run more than one scanner at a time to save time since it would take a long time if I was to do each scan one at a time. It took quite a while to finish up.
After lunch I had to do a system backup with the help of Vince, since the backup involved about 146GB of stuff to transfer over; we had to be sure that we went over everything. It took a good hour to transfer everything over to the external drive. Near the end of the day I had to "Start" a reload for Vince, since he had something else he was working on, I finished up the reload. But he did finish up everything else including Lin's Disk and installing the drivers. Wanting to finish it quickly so he wanted to do most of it himself.
I will be back in on Thursday, since tomorrow (January 15th) I will be taking part in the First Aid course.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
The day started off right away with me getting to work on a desktop computer that had quite a bit of viruses on it. I used this one program called Combo Fix which basically cleans up some of the viruses on the system. I found a few weird programs that were installed, not sure if the user wanted them on there or not or if they were installed from a virus or something. I next did a system clean up of the registry using CCleaner. I ran a scan 2 times to make sure that I got every issues fixed. Next I started to do some Anti-Virus scans using Super Anti-Spyware, Malwarebyte Anti-Malware, An online scanner called Eset and Spybot Search and Destroy. I also learned that you can run more than one scanner at a time to save time since it would take a long time if I was to do each scan one at a time. It took quite a while to finish up.
After lunch I had to do a system backup with the help of Vince, since the backup involved about 146GB of stuff to transfer over; we had to be sure that we went over everything. It took a good hour to transfer everything over to the external drive. Near the end of the day I had to "Start" a reload for Vince, since he had something else he was working on, I finished up the reload. But he did finish up everything else including Lin's Disk and installing the drivers. Wanting to finish it quickly so he wanted to do most of it himself.
I will be back in on Thursday, since tomorrow (January 15th) I will be taking part in the First Aid course.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Practcium 2 Day 8: Jan 11, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes there was plenty of work for me to do since I have recently started to deal with viruses and I have already been doing reloads I had more for myself to do than what I usually do.
I started the day with doing a reload on an Asus laptop. Once I finished, I ran Lin's Disk to install all the necessary Anti-Virus Programs onto it. Next I had to install a few drivers, there weren't that many since the computer already was connected to the internet through wireless. So all I had to install was the Graphics driver and the Ethernet driver. I then activated Windows 7 Home Premium. To finalize I went into Windows Update to check for any updates, there were a few and I was finished. I then phoned the guy to tell him that his laptop was ready for pick-up.
My next task was a reload on a computer that we worked on yesterday. It was an Acer that Gino recently had refurbished but he didn't change the hard drive at all so the customer came into the store today and told him so we switched the hard drive and then Gino asked me to do a reload and I also installed the Anti-Virus programs from Lin's Disk. The laptop already had an activation key for the License of Windows 7 Home Premium so there wasn't any trouble there. Most of the drivers were already there, all I had to do was update the drivers from the necessary driver disk. I checked for updates and then I was done.
After lunch break I had 2 laptops to run virus scans on. The first laptop had a ton of viruses on it and we have been doing scans on it for the last couple of days. So today I started a scan using CCleaner to remove any unused files. Next I did a boot-time scan and I was able to remove quite a bit of stuff from it. Next I had to run the Super Anti-Spyware a couple of times just to make sure I got everything cleared. Next I did a scan using an online virus scan and it took quite a while. To finish up I used Defraggler to Defrag the system, it took up most of the rest of the day till I left. The other laptop that I was working on at the same time had an issue for booting up, but myself and Gino pressed the power button and it booted up first try. The other issue the computer had was it had a few viruses, not as much as the previous laptop. All I did for this one was, I did a quick scan with CCleaner and then I went straight to the online Scan. After that was finished I set the system to Defrag and that took a bit longer than the previous laptop since I started the defrag for it after the other one.
I really think that I know what I am doing for dealing with viruses, the whole process for it and everything. I also learned a lot about the different programs that I had to use to run these scans and what they were for.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
I started the day with doing a reload on an Asus laptop. Once I finished, I ran Lin's Disk to install all the necessary Anti-Virus Programs onto it. Next I had to install a few drivers, there weren't that many since the computer already was connected to the internet through wireless. So all I had to install was the Graphics driver and the Ethernet driver. I then activated Windows 7 Home Premium. To finalize I went into Windows Update to check for any updates, there were a few and I was finished. I then phoned the guy to tell him that his laptop was ready for pick-up.
My next task was a reload on a computer that we worked on yesterday. It was an Acer that Gino recently had refurbished but he didn't change the hard drive at all so the customer came into the store today and told him so we switched the hard drive and then Gino asked me to do a reload and I also installed the Anti-Virus programs from Lin's Disk. The laptop already had an activation key for the License of Windows 7 Home Premium so there wasn't any trouble there. Most of the drivers were already there, all I had to do was update the drivers from the necessary driver disk. I checked for updates and then I was done.
After lunch break I had 2 laptops to run virus scans on. The first laptop had a ton of viruses on it and we have been doing scans on it for the last couple of days. So today I started a scan using CCleaner to remove any unused files. Next I did a boot-time scan and I was able to remove quite a bit of stuff from it. Next I had to run the Super Anti-Spyware a couple of times just to make sure I got everything cleared. Next I did a scan using an online virus scan and it took quite a while. To finish up I used Defraggler to Defrag the system, it took up most of the rest of the day till I left. The other laptop that I was working on at the same time had an issue for booting up, but myself and Gino pressed the power button and it booted up first try. The other issue the computer had was it had a few viruses, not as much as the previous laptop. All I did for this one was, I did a quick scan with CCleaner and then I went straight to the online Scan. After that was finished I set the system to Defrag and that took a bit longer than the previous laptop since I started the defrag for it after the other one.
I really think that I know what I am doing for dealing with viruses, the whole process for it and everything. I also learned a lot about the different programs that I had to use to run these scans and what they were for.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Friday, January 10, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 7: Jan 10, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes was another day with not much to do, I was able to finish up 2 computers with Windows 7 reloads. And I got to learn how at Bargain Bytes how they deal with removing viruses.
The day started off right away with me having to do a reload again on a desktop that I already did. I pulled off a small error that I did not know was a big deal. I was dealing with a brand new desktop and when you install Windows 7 it asks for a PC-Name. I just put in a random name not knowing that it would permanently stay that was once you go and access the System Properties and it shows the given name for the PC was "John" which I put as. So I had to do a reload of the whole system again so I found that a bit annoying. But I did learn to not do that anymore especially with brand new PC's.
Next I had time to go over and talk to another co-worker and he taught me how they deal with removing viruses. He uses a program called "Highjack Virus". It kind of works like CCleaner but gives you a list of different issues or programs that might be viruses on the computer. But before he uses this tool he does 2 steps before determining any viruses. First he told me that it is a good idea to do a scan using your anti-virus program such as Avast. Next he told me that you should do a run CCleaner to remove any excess corrupted data and such. Once that is done you should then do another scan and see if anything comes up if so then you should repeat the steps and if not then you are pretty much clear.
After lunch break I had to do a typical reload of Windows 7 Home Premium onto a laptop, after that I did a run of Lin's install to download any necessary anti-virus programs and such. I then had to install Microsoft Office Manually since it was not included in the script of this disk. I then did a search of any extra drivers that may be missing. I was missing the Ethernet one, I was able to find it. Next I activated Windows 7 with an License activation key which was located on the bottom of the computer. I was then asked to do a test of the keys on the laptop since for some reason earlier another co-worker found that some of the keys may not have been working properly when dealing with stuff in the BIOS. I did not find any issues. I then did a final check of any updates within the system then downloaded them.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
The day started off right away with me having to do a reload again on a desktop that I already did. I pulled off a small error that I did not know was a big deal. I was dealing with a brand new desktop and when you install Windows 7 it asks for a PC-Name. I just put in a random name not knowing that it would permanently stay that was once you go and access the System Properties and it shows the given name for the PC was "John" which I put as. So I had to do a reload of the whole system again so I found that a bit annoying. But I did learn to not do that anymore especially with brand new PC's.
Next I had time to go over and talk to another co-worker and he taught me how they deal with removing viruses. He uses a program called "Highjack Virus". It kind of works like CCleaner but gives you a list of different issues or programs that might be viruses on the computer. But before he uses this tool he does 2 steps before determining any viruses. First he told me that it is a good idea to do a scan using your anti-virus program such as Avast. Next he told me that you should do a run CCleaner to remove any excess corrupted data and such. Once that is done you should then do another scan and see if anything comes up if so then you should repeat the steps and if not then you are pretty much clear.
After lunch break I had to do a typical reload of Windows 7 Home Premium onto a laptop, after that I did a run of Lin's install to download any necessary anti-virus programs and such. I then had to install Microsoft Office Manually since it was not included in the script of this disk. I then did a search of any extra drivers that may be missing. I was missing the Ethernet one, I was able to find it. Next I activated Windows 7 with an License activation key which was located on the bottom of the computer. I was then asked to do a test of the keys on the laptop since for some reason earlier another co-worker found that some of the keys may not have been working properly when dealing with stuff in the BIOS. I did not find any issues. I then did a final check of any updates within the system then downloaded them.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 6: Jan 09, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes was a very slow day with not much to do. As I only had a few tasks to do today with only one laptop that I completely completed with loading Windows 7 Home Premium onto. I then did a run of Lin's Disk to install any anti-virus programs onto it.
After lunch break it got slower with myself only doing a few tasks like continue a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium and run Lin's Install on it. I then had to activate the Operating System using Windows 7 Loader. For the rest of the day till I left I was mainly asking around the store if there was anything that I could do or I was talking to customers or co-workers about any questions they had for me.
At the end of the day Gino and Vince told me that in the next few days starting on Friday that I will be learning how to do different things such as knowing how to remove any viruses from a computer. And also starting on Tuesday I will be learning how to deal with any hardware such as installing a hard drive or dealing with RAM, which I do already know how to do (But that was just an Example of what I may be doing).
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
After lunch break it got slower with myself only doing a few tasks like continue a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium and run Lin's Install on it. I then had to activate the Operating System using Windows 7 Loader. For the rest of the day till I left I was mainly asking around the store if there was anything that I could do or I was talking to customers or co-workers about any questions they had for me.
At the end of the day Gino and Vince told me that in the next few days starting on Friday that I will be learning how to do different things such as knowing how to remove any viruses from a computer. And also starting on Tuesday I will be learning how to deal with any hardware such as installing a hard drive or dealing with RAM, which I do already know how to do (But that was just an Example of what I may be doing).
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 5: Jan 08, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes was a bit of a different day with me working on different stuff and some of the same stuff. I do think that my skills have and will dramatically improve within in the next 2 days.
The day started off slow with not much to do other than finish an install of Lin's Disk and installing the last few drivers for the old IBM laptop that I worked on the previous day. I was able to get that finished and the customer came in today to pick it up. Next I had to do a reload of Windows 8 on an Acer Touchscreen computer. I had to then run Lin's Disk to get all the Anti-virus programs onto it. My job was then done as Geno took over.
After lunch break I got right to work fast as I had to do a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium onto another IBM laptop. Just before I started that I had to backup the customer's Windows Live Email stuff onto an external hard drive. I then continued to delete the partitions and run the install for Windows 7. Once that completed I then did a run of Lin's Disk to install any anti-virus programs and such. I then checked device manager to check if there were any necessary drivers to install, which there weren't so I moved onto the next task of activating Windows 7 with the Windows loader. After that finished I ended with installing Windows Essentials onto the laptop which is the program that the customer uses to access they're emails.
My next task was something that was definitely new to me which involved a bit of the usual stuff I do and the new of working with computer hardware. I got the privilege to watch and learn how to put together a computer tower (Custom), which was performed by another co-worker. I got to put together the motherboard as in connecting the CPU and Fan to it. I didn't do much else of putting it together other that "watch and learn". I was then asked to install Windows 7 Home Premium onto the first tower. I then had to go through the basic procedures of dealing with a brand new PC. As of actually physically putting on the 3 mandatory stickers. I then continued with the software as of installing the drivers from the Driver Disk that it came with. Geno then ran Lin's disk as I was to busy with my next task of installing Windows 7 Home premium onto the PC that I watched and kinda helped Vince put together. I basically ran through it the same way as the previous, except I did not get enough time to run the Lin's disk as of to close to closing time.
So as of tomorrow I will be hopefully finishing off the install of Lin's Disk onto the second PC. Vince also said that I will be able to put the next PC together in the incoming days. And as of replacing a screen of a laptop I was unable to get around to doing today since I was busy with other stuff. But Vince did say that I will be able to get around to that soon as well.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
The day started off slow with not much to do other than finish an install of Lin's Disk and installing the last few drivers for the old IBM laptop that I worked on the previous day. I was able to get that finished and the customer came in today to pick it up. Next I had to do a reload of Windows 8 on an Acer Touchscreen computer. I had to then run Lin's Disk to get all the Anti-virus programs onto it. My job was then done as Geno took over.
After lunch break I got right to work fast as I had to do a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium onto another IBM laptop. Just before I started that I had to backup the customer's Windows Live Email stuff onto an external hard drive. I then continued to delete the partitions and run the install for Windows 7. Once that completed I then did a run of Lin's Disk to install any anti-virus programs and such. I then checked device manager to check if there were any necessary drivers to install, which there weren't so I moved onto the next task of activating Windows 7 with the Windows loader. After that finished I ended with installing Windows Essentials onto the laptop which is the program that the customer uses to access they're emails.
My next task was something that was definitely new to me which involved a bit of the usual stuff I do and the new of working with computer hardware. I got the privilege to watch and learn how to put together a computer tower (Custom), which was performed by another co-worker. I got to put together the motherboard as in connecting the CPU and Fan to it. I didn't do much else of putting it together other that "watch and learn". I was then asked to install Windows 7 Home Premium onto the first tower. I then had to go through the basic procedures of dealing with a brand new PC. As of actually physically putting on the 3 mandatory stickers. I then continued with the software as of installing the drivers from the Driver Disk that it came with. Geno then ran Lin's disk as I was to busy with my next task of installing Windows 7 Home premium onto the PC that I watched and kinda helped Vince put together. I basically ran through it the same way as the previous, except I did not get enough time to run the Lin's disk as of to close to closing time.
So as of tomorrow I will be hopefully finishing off the install of Lin's Disk onto the second PC. Vince also said that I will be able to put the next PC together in the incoming days. And as of replacing a screen of a laptop I was unable to get around to doing today since I was busy with other stuff. But Vince did say that I will be able to get around to that soon as well.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 4: Jan 07, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes once again I had plenty of work to do involving working on 4 laptops today 2 of them involving the same runnings of what I had to do. The other 2 laptops one I had to find the drivers for and the other I had to run virus scans. I also got to take part in watching a co-worker replace a broken laptop screen.
I got to work right away with an old Sony Vaio laptop which Geno asked me to install Windows 7 Home Premium onto and run the basic Lin's Disk which got all the anti-virus programs on. I had to make changes in the BIOS first to make sure that the computer would boot up from the Win 7 Install USB. I was able to find all the drivers for it and I also then Activated the OS and I was finished my job and handed it over to Geno. The 2nd laptop was an Asus laptop that needed the usual install of Windows 7 Home Premium and the basic run of Lin's Disk. I was able to get the internet drivers off of the driver disk that Bargain Bytes uses and then I activated Win 7 and I was finished my job. Another co-worker installed the other drivers from the Asus site.
After lunch break I worked on this old IBM laptop that was running Win XP OS. I had to find the drivers for it using a Win XP drivers disk. I was able to get the first 3 drivers quite quickly but the other drivers took way to long to find so once I left the store it was still searching for the drivers. I will ask Geno tomorrow about it. I also had an HP laptop which was loaded with viruses, I had to do a scan using Avast. It was interesting since a bunch of the viruses could not be removed from the computer. I am interested to here what Geno has to say about it.
I was also able to take part in watching a co-worker replace a broken laptop screen. I found it very interesting since I have never seen this procedure done before in person. Geno told me that I will be able to take part in replacing a laptop screen tomorrow. So I am quite excited for that since it will be all new to me. I am hoping to learn something new from this.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
I got to work right away with an old Sony Vaio laptop which Geno asked me to install Windows 7 Home Premium onto and run the basic Lin's Disk which got all the anti-virus programs on. I had to make changes in the BIOS first to make sure that the computer would boot up from the Win 7 Install USB. I was able to find all the drivers for it and I also then Activated the OS and I was finished my job and handed it over to Geno. The 2nd laptop was an Asus laptop that needed the usual install of Windows 7 Home Premium and the basic run of Lin's Disk. I was able to get the internet drivers off of the driver disk that Bargain Bytes uses and then I activated Win 7 and I was finished my job. Another co-worker installed the other drivers from the Asus site.
After lunch break I worked on this old IBM laptop that was running Win XP OS. I had to find the drivers for it using a Win XP drivers disk. I was able to get the first 3 drivers quite quickly but the other drivers took way to long to find so once I left the store it was still searching for the drivers. I will ask Geno tomorrow about it. I also had an HP laptop which was loaded with viruses, I had to do a scan using Avast. It was interesting since a bunch of the viruses could not be removed from the computer. I am interested to here what Geno has to say about it.
I was also able to take part in watching a co-worker replace a broken laptop screen. I found it very interesting since I have never seen this procedure done before in person. Geno told me that I will be able to take part in replacing a laptop screen tomorrow. So I am quite excited for that since it will be all new to me. I am hoping to learn something new from this.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Monday, January 6, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 3: Jan 06, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes I had plenty to do and have now started to work on customer's laptops and such. I am starting to get the hang of the basic drill on how they reload Windows 7 onto the laptops/desktops there.
Right when I started today Geno gave me some work to do. I had to finish the reload process of Windows 7 Home Premium onto a laptop that Geno was previously working on. After I had to help another co-worker move his build to a different work space to make room for customer laptops. I then got to work on my first laptop that belonged to a customer all by myself today. I had to do a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium and then I had to update the drivers for the specific ones that needed drivers. I then had to run Lin's Disk to add any anti-virus protection programs and such.
After lunch break I came back with having to work on another 2 laptops. One that just needed the basic reload of Windows 7, a bunch of driver updates and a usual run of Lin's Disk. Which was pretty simple to do other than some of the drivers were hard to find. The other laptop was an old IBM laptop with a broken screen, which I projected onto a monitor to be able to work with. It needed Windows 7 Starter 32bit OS. And a few drivers that I was able to find very quickly.
Tomorrow I still need to finish working on the IBM laptop as in running Lin's Disk and checking for updates. I am also curious about the broken screen on the IBM which I asked Geno about and he told me how they replace it and might let me help out tomorrow if we get around to fixing it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Right when I started today Geno gave me some work to do. I had to finish the reload process of Windows 7 Home Premium onto a laptop that Geno was previously working on. After I had to help another co-worker move his build to a different work space to make room for customer laptops. I then got to work on my first laptop that belonged to a customer all by myself today. I had to do a reload of Windows 7 Home Premium and then I had to update the drivers for the specific ones that needed drivers. I then had to run Lin's Disk to add any anti-virus protection programs and such.
After lunch break I came back with having to work on another 2 laptops. One that just needed the basic reload of Windows 7, a bunch of driver updates and a usual run of Lin's Disk. Which was pretty simple to do other than some of the drivers were hard to find. The other laptop was an old IBM laptop with a broken screen, which I projected onto a monitor to be able to work with. It needed Windows 7 Starter 32bit OS. And a few drivers that I was able to find very quickly.
Tomorrow I still need to finish working on the IBM laptop as in running Lin's Disk and checking for updates. I am also curious about the broken screen on the IBM which I asked Geno about and he told me how they replace it and might let me help out tomorrow if we get around to fixing it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Friday, January 3, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 2: Jan 03, 2014
Today at Bargain Bytes I had a bit more to do even with another co-worker there. I started off the day helping Geno with one laptop installing Windows 7 Home Premium onto it. And for the rest of the day installing drivers and multiple programs onto 2 laptops.
Once the Windows 7 Home Premium was finished myself and Lindsey; another co-worker showed me which type of drivers I had to install onto it. I was able to get them done quite fast and then we moved onto the next bit of installing a bunch of programs onto it which is the standard procedure at Bargain Bytes when setting up a computer.
After lunch Lindsey showed me how to install drivers a certain way having the device first search the computer to see if it can get any offline. And if there were any others for us to install then we had to go onto the Asus site which was the brand of the computer to look for the drivers needed. Once all the Drivers were finished installing we then used Lindsey's disc that he made called Lin's Disc which as I said before installs everything needed onto the computer. As that was installing a customer walked in and asked about how to use an iPad, so I showed him how to use it basically what is the reason for having one and what you can do with it and such. I showed him how to connect to the network and he asked me a few other questions that were fairly easy to explain.
Near the end of the day I had to install a bunch of updates onto the Asus computer that I was working on earlier. There were about 133 updates to install and once I was about to leave at 4:30pm, the updates were still installing.
I think I am starting to get a feel on how things work around the store, in which I do hope to do more and improve my skills in the incoming days.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Once the Windows 7 Home Premium was finished myself and Lindsey; another co-worker showed me which type of drivers I had to install onto it. I was able to get them done quite fast and then we moved onto the next bit of installing a bunch of programs onto it which is the standard procedure at Bargain Bytes when setting up a computer.
After lunch Lindsey showed me how to install drivers a certain way having the device first search the computer to see if it can get any offline. And if there were any others for us to install then we had to go onto the Asus site which was the brand of the computer to look for the drivers needed. Once all the Drivers were finished installing we then used Lindsey's disc that he made called Lin's Disc which as I said before installs everything needed onto the computer. As that was installing a customer walked in and asked about how to use an iPad, so I showed him how to use it basically what is the reason for having one and what you can do with it and such. I showed him how to connect to the network and he asked me a few other questions that were fairly easy to explain.
Near the end of the day I had to install a bunch of updates onto the Asus computer that I was working on earlier. There were about 133 updates to install and once I was about to leave at 4:30pm, the updates were still installing.
I think I am starting to get a feel on how things work around the store, in which I do hope to do more and improve my skills in the incoming days.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Practicum 2 Day 1: Jan 02, 2014
Today was my first day at my second practicum at Bargain Bytes. I am hoping that I will be able to work more hours there which will be 6 hours/day 5 days a week. Myself and Bryce learn different computer techniques by one of the co-workers there.
Today he "Taught" us how to do a few things such as how to clean the exterior of a laptop and then screen and how to clean the software but of laptops. He also taught us how to install drivers and showed us some different Anti-Virus programs. Most of the things that he taught us I already knew how to do myself.
Geno gave us this one laptop that we had to install several programs onto but he has this one disc that one of the other co-workers made which automatically installs those specific programs to the laptop such as Firefox, Avast, CCleaner and such.
That was about all we did today other than helping with a few customers on some minor tasks. I do hope we can get some more hand-on stuff in the incoming days. And I really hope that we can learn how to open up laptops or tablets and play around with their insides.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
Today he "Taught" us how to do a few things such as how to clean the exterior of a laptop and then screen and how to clean the software but of laptops. He also taught us how to install drivers and showed us some different Anti-Virus programs. Most of the things that he taught us I already knew how to do myself.
Geno gave us this one laptop that we had to install several programs onto but he has this one disc that one of the other co-workers made which automatically installs those specific programs to the laptop such as Firefox, Avast, CCleaner and such.
That was about all we did today other than helping with a few customers on some minor tasks. I do hope we can get some more hand-on stuff in the incoming days. And I really hope that we can learn how to open up laptops or tablets and play around with their insides.
Thanks for taking the time to read this,
Sincerely,
Brandon.F
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