Free computer training can take many different shapes and forms.  The most common forms of free computer training usually include things like online forums, community classes, online resource bulletin boards, etc.  However, there is a little-discussed option for free computer training that can boost your computer knowledge and make you one of the few, the proud, the people in the know about computers!

The method of free computer training we will discuss in this article is self-teaching.  Now, obviously, in order to teach yourself something about computers (or any other subject for that matter) you must have access to some sort of reference material, right?  While most new reference material will cost you an arm and a leg (especially in the computer field), there is a way around this!  In order to get material for your free computer training, one area that is most overlooked is the used book store.

Now wait a minute, I can hear you saying, “That’s not free!”  Ah, but when you get the right kind of used book store, it literally can be free! You see, there are many used bookstores that offer book exchanges, or in-store credit for books that you may bring in for them to have.  They are, after all, in the business of selling used books.  Get the idea?  So, free computer training material can be found at either no cost, or very low cost to any one seeking to be self-taught in the computer world.

So the next question becomes, “How exactly do you go about teaching yourself?”.  Well, admittedly, there is a knack for this sort of thing.  However, anyone can attain free computer training through self-taught methods if you apply yourself and get organized.  One method that I would recommend is the overview method.  Get your materials together and go over all of the table of contents to find the exact topics that you are interested in.  Then you can develop an outline for yourself, basically creating your own free computer training course.  As you study the material, you can check it off of your outline, until you have completed your course.

It is important when you are teaching yourself through free computer training that you ensure that you are developing a firm grasp on the material.  One way that is recommended to make sure you ‘get it’ would be to put into practical use whatever it is you are learning.  Fore example, if you are learning HTML (website coding language), then a great way to test and practice what you are learning is to put together a web page from scratch!  Another example of testing your knowledge that you are learning from free computer training is to upgrade your computer!  If you are learning about how to install additional RAM or a better sound card, then take on the challenge!

If you fail to firmly grasp the things that you are learning through your methods of self-taught free computer training, then you will never know how much you really know.  Only through self-testing and practical application of this type of knowledge can you be confident in your ability to ‘talk it up’ around the water cooler, or even help a friend with their computer problems.

Welcome home!  You’re so excited to have your new computer system up and running.  It is pretty exciting, isn’t it?  So what’s next?  For some of you, you’re off to the races, ready to go to the ends of the Internet.  For others, you may be staring at your new system like a calf staring at a new gate.  This is why most home users of personal computers can benefit from home computer training.  So what are some of the things a home computer user should get trained on?  Let’s take a look at a short list of things you need to know to be efficient on your home computer and keep it running in tip-top shape.

Home computer training should always include how to do back-ups.  It goes without saying that if something is important, you should have two copies of it.  It’s nice to have a hard copy (print-out) of a document or file, but it’s also nice to have a back-up of the actual computer file.  Just imagine what happens when the spreadsheet you’ve been using to balance your accounts suddenly get corrupted.  If you don’t have a electronic copy of the file, then you will be stuck with re-entering all of the information by hand.  With home computer training you can get the skills to know how to best back up your files, which files to back up, and what utilities will best meet your needs.

Another area that should be covered through home computer training is that of file system maintenance.  At this point, we’ve already covered back-ups.  In this area, let’s look at two areas that often get overlooked until the system slows down so much it is basically at a stand still.  One is disk cleanup and the other is file fragmentation.  Home computer training will help the new computer user learn how to recognize when a hard drive is becoming cluttered, and what to do about it.

Often, third party software creates temporary files while you are using it, and then conveniently neglects to delete these files when you are done.  In addition, trash can collect in your recycle bin as well.  Combine these with temporary internet files and cookies and you can be bogged down pretty quickly.  Home computer training will also help you understand what causes a file to get fragmented into dozens of pieces on your hard drive.  While this doesn’t destroy the file, it sure does slow down the computer’s access time to it, which increases your wait time while using that software or opening that particular project.

A final area that is often overlooked by the new computer user is that of Internet security and setting up of the firewall.  A good home computer training class will cover how to set up your firewall, and how to optimize your Internet browser to ensure a good experience while online.

All of these areas are important when operating a computer in this modern Internet age.  So be sure and address these when you are signing up for home computer training.  A good home computer training class will not only address these main issues, but go above and beyond in bringing you up to speed on modern computing.