29th December 1999
Our world changes in the blink of an eye -- technology trends change even quicker. There were many gifts exchanged this Holiday season; did someone give you something for your PC? What should you have done before opening and installing it? Whenever I get an "off-the-shelf" product (hardware or software), I check its official Web site. Chances are, it will have driver updates, firmware patches, and/or bug fixes for that particular product. Doing your homework may just prevent a few headaches. Check back regularly to see if any new updates have been uploaded, but be careful: just because a newer version is released, doesn't mean it will install flawlessly (or work as well as the current one).