If there is one skill I have that I take for granted, it is the level of computer literacy I have. I was exposed to computers at an early age, and quickly learnt as much as I could at that age. Having to type various commands in DOS at to get a game booted up was probably one of the encouraging factors back then.

Nowadays I find my computer skills indispensable. While most people's knowledge just extend to the extent of being able to use a word processor or send a email, mine goes further. I know how the system works, and this makes it infinitely easier when it comes to troubleshooting issues that arise. Not only that but it just makes the purchasing and setting up of personal computers that much simplier.

A most recent example would be with my new rig. It was custom built from the ground up, with every part having be specifically chosen for a good reason. The case was selected because of not only its style, but because it had excellent cooling fan positioning (including a front-mounted dust filter) and was large enough to hold everything. The motherboard selected had the right chipset I was after that would provide maximum compatibility and performance with the other components it had to work with. The video card selected had to have a dual-slot cooling solution so I didn't have to face overheating issues (as it gets hot in Australia at times) and so on.

Even with all the right parts chosen, the user will still find various anomalies that can arise with the near infinite rig configurations they can be used in. In my case, there was 2 major issues that had to be addressed. The first was a motherboard design flaw, that caused the PC to freeze up at the BIOS screen on a cold boot. After some googling I found that this was due to a faulty design on one of the fan ports on the motherboard, so simply not using the port and using another instead fixed that problem easily enough.

Problem number 2 was much more significant and it was only until recently I discovered a fix. My ATI Radeon HD3850 was the cause of a number of seemly random freezes that strangely only occured when I was at the Windows XP desktop (particularly web browsing). This problem only revealed itself to me after months of research, I finally found the problem mentioned on an obsure tech forum and someone was kind enough to post a fix. Apparently with certain configurations the card's PowerPlay feature (power conservation) could cause system lock-ups, because it was constantly changing the card's clock speeds and voltage on very insignificant desktop actions. The solution was to simply overclock the card so it would permanently remain at stock speeds regardless of the activity load. While this left the card a little hotter than normal, I knew it was well below its operational limits and the solution so far has worked perfectly (until ATI get off their butts and fix it anyway).

I've fixed many other PC problems in the past, and I don't know what I would do if I didn't have my level of knowledge of PCs that I have. I would estimate I've saved myself and the family numerous trips to a PC shop, because I've always ended up fixing the problems at home myself.

If there's one skill I'll be drumming into my kids when I have them, it'll be making them computer literate. That and learning how to swim.