where to start?

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi, I was hoping I might get some advice adout training, and where to start, through illness (diabetes) have had an op which meant I had to give up my job, cant be on my feet anymore, have always been fascinated by pc`s and would love to train in both hardware, software and maybe even web developmeant (have taught myself basic xhtml, css and javascript via the web w3schools) I am 45 so no spring chicken (we all had to learn once so please be patient and understanding) but have a lot of enthusiasm and time, would appreciate any advice on, books, tools websites etc, ie to learn, do this first, then this, then this etc, at first I learn idiot fashion dont question just do it but I keep questioning and learn not only what it`s doing but why it`s doing it (not like those braindumsters I read about in an earlier post I want to learn not copy) I would like to thank anyone for there time and trouble in reading this very long post and any help and advice that follows, best regards Neil

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

Hi Neil Welcome to CF

I can't help with Website development stuff I know nothing about it.

With regards to learning hardware and software a couple of good books to get would be compTIA A+ all in one exam guide by Mike Meyers and PC Technician street smarts by James Pyles, get an old PC to mess about with too. I got all of that for £80, the book will teach you about the inards of a PC and how to install/replace hardware and also go into software side of things like maintaining Windows etc.

The books can also act as a guide for you to become compTIA A+ certified. Although you have said you can't be on your feet a lot unfortunatley an IT tech is normally running around like an idiot, but with the A+ cert it could get you job fixing PCs for a local store or something where you wouldn't have to be on your feet alot at all.

Good luck in whatever you choose.

 

Software dev envariably leads to looooong periods sat in a dingy room in front of a terminal !

Very little need to stand up, in fact I think I may have become allergic to sunlight !

 

Greetings, Neil. Not sure if hardware/desktop support would be your cup of tea depending on your exact physical limitations. While you don't have to stand for huge lengths of time, the job usually involves standing at workbenches, some heavy lifting, and lots of just moving pieces of hardware around. You also are expected to unpack and setup new hardware which, depending on the environment, can include rather large pieces of equipment such as big, business printers (I remember working up quite a sweat trying to get one out of the box).

Web design/development/programming can all be done sitting down and involves no more physical effort than pounding away at a keyboard. If you've taught yourself xhtml, css, and javascript, you're off to a good start. You might want to narrow down your goals a tad so that you can determine the specific skill sets you need to develop. That should in turn, tell you what resources (books, websites, etc...) that you should be looking for.

"Hardware, software, and maybe even web development" covers a lot of territory, so you might want to be more specific regarding your interests. GBL already suggested some good resources for learning hardware/A+ certification material (and at the risk of being a tad self promoting, he mentions my book "PC Technician Street Smarts" which should give you an inside view as to the actual duties of a hardware/desktop support tech).

"Software" could be just about anything. Are you interested in supporting applications, programming, software development or something else? All of those could fall under the "software" category.

Welcome to the forum and I hope we can be helpful to you in your pursuits. Incidently, I'll be 54 this year and am no "spring chicken" myself (more like a fall vulture). We older guys have a future, too.

 

Thanks for all the help and advice (any more will be most welcome) I will buy the books mentioned and get my head down once again thank you for your time and trouble Neil