Because I am such a curious person, I though I would poll the members here to see how they came about their technical knowledge. The poll is multiple choice, so pick as many as you want.

For myself, I have an A+ certification in Hardware, have taken basic and intermediate programming courses at the local community college (Java and VB), learned through trial and error much to the dismay of my ex. I have also learned quite a bit from the esteemed membere here at TechSpot.

So, please share with us all how you attained your knowledge!

Nice idea :D ! I don't know if anyone remembers when I first joined, but I didn't know that much....I thought that a Celeron D was like a Pentium IV.....I'd never heard of L2 Cache (nor L1 :haha: )....and I thought that an FX5500 video card was really good :blush: .

I did learn most of what I know today through TechSpot....and I have many people to thank (you know who you are :grinthumb ).

Self taught + work.

Believe it or not, I do remember when you joined. Ah, the questions you had! lol

I`ve learned more through Techspot and it`s members, than any other source of information.

Regards Howard :)

Mostly Techspot, Howard, Trial and Error and other Internet sources.

I still have ALOT to learn from the members here though. Especially hardware as I'm an utter noob in that.
(I do not know what's L2 cache now either cfitzarl. lol)

Regards,
momok =)

like nickslick74, did A+ and VB at nighschool. Currently work as IT Manager but its experience learned by myself, with the help of an external IT support company. Am also studying for my MSCE, and going over old ground with the A+ and N+ courses.
Have only been on Techspot for a few days, but i've made plenty of posts, simply because its very friendly and i know what i have to offer will visit me back in return advise.
Yay Techspot \o/
Ps....why dont i have smilies? They are enabled in my profile!

Ps....why dont i have smilies? They are enabled in my profile!

The smilies aren`t available via the quick reply window, unless you know the code for the particular one you want to use. If you click the reply button, rather than using the quick reply feature, you will see the smilies option at the top of the reply window.

Regards Howard :)

Self taught + work.

I'll second that.

loving the "Howard" option :D

i'd say i got a whole load of the stuff i know from here but wikipedia and research when looking into buying something are to be mentioned as well.

Nodsu, Nodsu, Howard, SNGX1275, Tedster, jobeard & Rage_3K_Moiz

I'm amazed that nobody checked College Degree :blush: :D !

I did. I started my major in Computer Engineering, before I changed and finished in Engineering Management.

I started about 15 years ago in computers with Windows 3.1 on an Olivetti 286 PC it had a 20meg HD and 1 meg of memory.

I worked my way up to a 386 to a 486 then to a pentium 75mhz then to a pentium 100mhz, all these were scrap machines I scrounged from the local refuse tip and built up.

I finally saved up enough money to buy a proper machine about 7 years ago, its been because of this that I had a good knowledge of putting PC's together.

Over the years I read a lot and experimented a lot, lets face it if you break windows (any version) its not the hardest thing to reinstall (although I use nortons ghost now to save the time)

My Job for the last 4 years is a PC tech for an EPOS company, repairing PC's and peripherals on site and I spent 2 years on a Software support desk, it was on that that I picked up all my knowledge of NT based products.

I picked up XP about 18 months ago having always been loyal to windows 2K as our company were moving more towards it. I dont like it much but you have to move with the times.

I now have a 7PC house, 4 laptops 2 desktops and a machine running 2K server, as well as a wireless network (fully protected against hackers).

So like the poll shows "Trial and error" and "Techspot"

Regards

Ok, I am 17, so I have never been trained, all my "training" has come from hands on "experiments" with about 5 old windows 3.1, 95a&b and 98. I have mastered 98se, know lots about nt4 sp6, and XP sp2. I have installed 98 more times then you can count, NT4 about 10 times, and UBUNTU 2 times. And I have seriously screwed up 98 and NT about 1 time less then each install (I like to try out all the settings! :p). Oh, and I have taken apart and re-built about 3 computers about 20 times over.




So, I think I know more then the adventure teen, by just experimenting around with old computers, now withing the next year, I am going to take what I learned and custom build my first own TOP of the line computer....

Nice Daniel :D ! I'm kind of started out in the same boat as you, being a year younger, but I started pretty late, getting my first computer in 2001 :eek: ! I just started to become interested in computers around 14 months ago. As a matter of fact, I learned most of my technical expertise in the past year (since I joined TechSpot.....one year this 26th :unch:). I have to say, that I am very happy with my hobby......it can help out in most situations and/or jobs :) . I have everyone here to thank for the knowledge that I have gained (still somewhat small compared to a lot of the people here, but I'm learning more each day, and trying to help people out when I can). This is why sometimes I make stupid posts, but I realize it was stupid after someone who knew the problem has answered :suspiciou (;)). I need to refrain on trying to answer things I don't know and stick to my specialty sections of the forum (most active in Audio/Video and CPU/Mobo). Sorry to talk about myself so much in this post as I am very interested in what other people have to say.

I was studying at TAFE (below uni) Certificate IV - Network and Technical Support for 6 months when I was lucky enough to land a junior Network Technician job.
TAFE was moving too slow, so I decided to buy MCP Exam book 70-270 and study at my own pace. 3 months later I was MCP and bought the 4 core Microsoft Server 2003 exam books. I became MCSA in 1 year and passed 2 more exams (Design and Exchange 2003) to become MCSE.
I am studying CISCO at present, after purchasing the Sybex CCNA exam book, but I don't get enough hands-on experience.

After CCNA I'll study towards LCP (Linux) or possibly MS SQL, but I am not interested in SQL to be honest! :)

I had a really old PC and opened it. I looked around, then when to www.pcmech.com and read the computer building process. Since then I've become an enthusiat and have gained knowledge that I'd never think I'd know.

My first computer was in about 2001 I guess. I don't even know what it was. Found that the only decent thing in it was a 4X Cd burner. I messed it up bad.. :X I think I deleted most of the os files to the point only dos would open.

I am a computer God and know all!

I thought that a Celeron D was like a Pentium IV.........and I thought that an FX5500 video card was really good :blush:

ROFL :haha: :D

I voted "Trial and error", but forgot to mention Techspot and Howard! :o

When I created the poll I thought about checking the "I am a computer God and know all!" part. Now I'm really glad I didn't, my brothers computer has humbled me. All I can say is stupid video cards!:evil:

I started my computer self-educating about 1.5 years ago.

About two years ago, whenever I get a computer problem, I took the initiative to go online to Google and/or forums to find the solution. Eventually, I ended up learning a lot about computers through trial and error.

I remember my first build, where I was researching Google on how to build a computer. I found that there were basically two ways to build a computer. The first is to only know the basics, where the only worry was just to make sure that the parts are compatible. The other way is to understand everything about every piece of hardware, and make the best choice based on your knowledge. I was very curious, so I chose the latter and started Google-ing.

I remember myself going on newegg.com, selecting the computer parts, going to the "Specifications" tab, and Google-ing everything that was listed. For example, I remember myself looking at the specs of a motherboard, and then google-ing things like "FSB" and "northbridge", and then reading the results to find out what these things are. I did that for everything, until I eventually understood every spec of every component of a computer.


Therefore, I have to thank Google for my technical knowledge. I also learned a lot from forums, especially TechSpot, because nothing teaches better than the words from an experienced hands-on genius.

This thread is a very good idea. I first became interested after i pulled my mom's pc apart. Its funny that a lot of the votes are trial and error/techspot.

The best way of learning about computers is having a troublesome computer which runs into problems on a regular basis, and having really really crap aftersales support.

You'd be surprised how much you can learn about computers when you're in the mood to game, and your only computer needs fixing.

you're probably not wrong, i've pretty much always had to fix my pc myself so i've learnt a lot from that and from techspot.

What a great question. Although I'm probably older than many (if not most!) of you, I've just begun learning about computer hardware and how everything works this summer. 40 years was quite long enough to wait. Like Grafficks, I've done a ton of research with Google and through various forums. I never even visited a forum until recently, and am amazed at the amount of information so willingly provided. You guys are the best (faith in humanity boosted). Unlike Grafficks, my research was intended so that I could best configure a system to be built by a manufacturer since I need one before I'll be confident enough to build one myself. Now I'm obsessed with learning about this stuff...:)

I am a computer God and know all!

I am a Computer God of War!

Muahhahahaaha! :evil:

I'll change my name to Kratos

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/8154/kratospr8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I pray that isn't you-amen

No lol, go to google and search Kratos ;)

It's like the 2nd picture or what ever

Whoa, good.

You scared me there for a second tp.:D

Is that a kilt ?

I don't know it's not me :haha:

trial and error
techspot
internet

I broke a lot of stuff, that's how i first started.

I've just been doing it since i was a wee little kid :P I started at 9 and now I'm 15...

I started back in 2000-2002 while playing Ultima Online. I was looking to buy an in-game house, so I had left my ICQ number in posts all over the place hoping to find a motivated seller. I got an ICQ message from somebody I didn't know, but who apparently had seen my posts and wanted to know if I'd like to see pictures of their house. I clicked the link to view the pictures, and I see a window quickly open and close and then my computer crashed.

I had a good idea that I had been sent something nasty because at the time Ultima Online accounts could be worth thousands of dollars, so I was probably sent a key logger in an attempt to steal my account. My account was almost worthless as I had no virtual property except what I could pick up off the ground. It wasn't until just a few years ago that my account became worth stealing.

Well anyways, after my computer crash I ended up formatting and reinstalling Windows 98. Then I bought various PCI video cards in an effort to improve my game play. I was always buying more memory. I bought a new "Gaming Modem" to improve my 28.8k connection and my 220 ping. It didn't help. Years later I tired of PCI video cards, so I purchased a computer I could upgrade. I ended up buying a VPR Matrix 2.0 GHz Pentium IV with an ATX motherboard and a 4X AGP slot. That computer exploded into a more than decent gaming computer at the time with the edition of a Radeon 9700Pro and a Sound Blaster Audigy II both of which almost doubled the cost of the computer.

Things have escalated from there.

20 years of breaking my own computers - made me an expert...


at breaking computers

i think i got really interested in pc's when i bought some more ram once ;) i think it was for this pc actually :D although back then i was buying sd ram and had a 1ghz cpu, which was better than my sister's 433mhz cpu so i was happy ;)

I wouldnt say i got expertise by any means, but ill go with the majority and say i learned what i know today from destroying every computer i had! starting with a commodore amiga 500. I remember saving for months to buy a 1 meg memory upgrade :). After i broke the parts i usually learned how id done it and not to do it again!

I learned 90% of my knowledge from this website :D !

tech spot and the internet

I picked up the screwdriver and prayed I wouldn't break my computer (To my surprise, I didn't and haven't unless I intended to...:P)

I have worked in Electronics and computers for 37 years. I learned TV repair in a trade school in 1968, and I started working with computers (DEC PDP8) in 1975