Computer Care and Learning Internship Program

Project List

This is a list of skills, projects and ideas for you to work on when you’re not shadowing me or doing work for customers.  Almost all of them come from our daily work helping customers, so learning them well will strengthen your ability to help people.  I’m putting them roughly in order of importance and how frequently we use these skills.  Please contact me if you have any questions.

Creating how-tos help us all remember how to do things. When taking pictures for these guides, use greenshot for taking a screenshot. Visit the how-tos page to see some examples.

Learning to backup and restore computers with:

• Macrium Reflect for Windows to external hard drive-- importance of encryption
• Time Machine Mac backup to external drive—importance of encryption
• Backblaze cloud backup
• Syncback file synchronization program
• using a batch file and xcopy to backup files to flash and external drives
• using a photo site to backup photos
• controlling the drive letter
• using a checklist to check backups
• disk rotation
• the dangers of OneDrive – make sure always keep on drive is ON
• the dangers of Icloud—make sure optimize mac storage is OFF
• backing up Google mail and other data using Takeout and Outlook
• Password management:
• using KeePass 
• creating strong passwords
• having good recovery options, especially with Google 
• communicating passwords safely
• backing up passwords in multiple places

Helping customers and accessing our system remotely:

• RemotePC  -- for PCs and Macs
• Quirks of RemotePC, and how to work with them
• Anydesk for PCs, Macs, Iphones and Ipads
• Radmin for PCs
• Zoom remote control during a Zoom meeting
• The magic of spare parts: spare switch, router, laptop adapter, and other showstoppers

Working with Windows:

• task manager, including startup tab
• event viewer
• system restore points
• windows reset options
• safe mode
• Working with Mac OS:
• force quit
• activity monitor
• keychain access
• disk monitor

Computer and Browser safety:

• AdBlockplus
• OpenDNS
• Malwarebytes
• Avoiding McAfee, Norton and especially Kaspersky
• When to use a different browser, including the Tor browser

Helping customers communicate:

• Webmail – including Gmail, Yahoo, Siteground, Office 365
• cleaning out Gmail
• Outlook for Desktop
• Thunderbird 
• Zoom meetings
• Microsoft Teams

File management:

• Learning to organize files and folders, PC and Mac.
• Using search to find files. Using Agent Ransack for PC. 
• Mapping network drives

Helping customers write, calculate, and present:

• Getting printers to work: 
• finding correct driver, full drivers vs. HP Smart wireless setup wizard, web access to printer

Setting up scanners:

• using HP Smart for scanning, Mac scanning, using NAPS2 on PC and Mac
• Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint
• Office subscriptions vs full license
• using Kinguin, and doing phone activation
• Word: new page, navigating around document, format painter, page numbering, inserting pictures, customized mass mailing, printing envelopes, using format marks
• Excel:  tracking income and expenses, formulas, moving around, worksheets, using Excel for checklists, importing, sorting and filtering, the Boston Organics example
• Powerpoint: create a Powerpoint presentation that teaches us how to order lunch in Kigali, Rwanda
• Libre Office Writer, Calc and Impress
• Teaching LibreOffice to save in MS Office format

ODB: Organizers Database

• using ODB to keep track of customers, and email to certain groups of customers and other community members
• Using an Alphasmart
• How to have multiple customers in the same file, using the lastname lastname method
• Using NeoManager to import Alphasmart
• updating the raw data Alpha
• clearing the alpha and replacing the batteries

Internet connectivity:

• Comcast and cable modems—rent vs. own
• FIOS and how it works
• Having a backup internet connection

Office networking:

• How IP addresses work, and how to set up a router
• how printing depends on being on the same network
• setting up a wireless network for visitors that doesn’t expose your network
• figuring out your wireless password from the router, and from Windows 

Routers and firewalls:

• netgear router
• setting up port forwarding, for example for Radmin
• Sonicwall firewall—what does it do that the router doesn’t?
• programming Sonicwall
• Volunteering for Adbar/Get Connected!, soon to be called VitalToolsConnect.org
• Installing Windows 10 using flash drive
• using the Saw Junkyard spreadsheet to set up the donated machine for a customer

Getting machines with sensitive info ready for donation:

• DBAN erasing
• using Eraser
• Using Veracrypt to make sure SSD drive is as clean as we can make it

Data Safety:

• Using  the 201 CMR 17 spreadsheet to help each customer comply with the Massachusetts Data Safety Law. You can read about the law at our site www.201CMR17.com
• whole disk encryption: Bitlocker, Veracrypt
• using Acrobat Reader instead of browser
• using Acrobat Reader signature feature
• Simple method of editing PDFs: using IlovePdf  to convert PDF to Word doc, making changes, and print as PDF
• Using a CutePDF typewriter. 

Billing customers:

• Combining invoice and documentation. 
• Rounding off time. Using Excel to do and check math.
• Billing policies: travel time, learning time.

Website management:

• using Namecheap to lease a domain name
• importance of keeping domain names up to date
• having your own host, or being a roommate
• How the DNS system works
• Managing DNS records: A records, CNAME records, txt records, including SPF records
• using MXToolbox and whatismydns.net
• Caching and its weirdnesses
• Creating an HTML site. Using W3Schools to learn the ropes. 
• Using Filezilla to modify HTML websites
• backing up HTML websites
• Working on Wordpress sites: backup (including by host), safety (Wordfence), dealing with themes, Elementor, and other tools. 

Helping customers upgrade shop for computers:

• adding memory: limitations of Crucial System Scanner
• Consumer vs. business machines
• Drop off vs. onsite warranties
• video and usb adapters

Accounting programs:

• Quickbooks, Quicken:  keeping data safe, protecting from predatory behavior 
• Calendars and contacts
• dealing with Outlook contact lists
• the Outlook nk2/auto stream file
• backing up contacts
• Icloud, Gmail calendar synchronization
• the Companionlink solution

Protecting customers from bad-acting computer people:

• “Nice system you’ve got here. You wouldn’t want anything to happen to it.”
• Wireless problems: on PCs, using usb adapter to replace internal wireless device