Originally posted here by RunningDuck

Read read read, and try not to let yourself get burnt out. And don't be afraid to experiment on your own computer. If you have an old computer lying around, take it apart and tinker. Mess around with the o/s. Every time you hear of something new, try it yourself. The best way to learn is to do.
Yup - that's one I forgot to include.

You can only do so much reading before you need to apply that information. By this I mean, as said by RunningDuck, you need to 'tinker' and physically look at your 'puter. Look at the different hardware associations, how SCSI, ATA, SATA and IDE devices work (hint: do a google search on each of these terms ), then actually look at the components inside your box. It's recommended that you probably shouldn't 'tinker' with your 'primary box' but if you have an older spec'ed 486/386 laying around - GO FOR IT!!! (P.S. If you don't - depending on how 'into' computers you want to get - it may be worth investing $100-$200 in a really old machine that you can play with it without fear of 'screwing things totally'.

OK - I'm done now.....


|C-YA,
-----|D.