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Summary: Everybody knows what happens to the soup when you have too many cooks, but what about the family circle when multiple members must share a PC? That, too, can be a recipe for conflict and confusion, but the soup (or in this case, the PC) need neither be spoiled nor too tasteless when Mom, Dad, and the offspring must share a computer.
In this section, we discuss hat should be shared on a PC and what shouldn't be.
How to share a family PC without going crazy - Part 4: What do you really want to share?
By Ed Tittel
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When it comes to using the PC to get things done, the family should agree on the applications they want to share. Generally, this will include some kind of productivity suite (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation builder, and perhaps a database) and various forms of entertainment software (games, media players, jukebox programs, and so forth). There will also be some interest in drawing or graphics software, and probably some digital photo or even digital video software needs that one or more family members may share.
Individual family members may also want to use certain specific programs, but will have to work with the designated administrator to install and set up such software. It’s best to explain to the family that stealing software is criminal behavior so that all programs installed on the PC should either be legitimate freeware, trial software, or properly bought and paid for. A certain amount of discussion may be needed to obtain agreement, and it may even be necessary to convene the family circle from time to time, to talk about software needs, wishes, and what users reasonably can and can’t expect to find on the family PC.
There’s one more thing that needs to be aired in the family circle as you prepare to set family members loose on a shared machine—namely, storage. Though 200-GB and 300-GB drives are now incredibly affordable (even the larger drives routinely retail for less than $100, and are often available at discounts in the $60 to $80 range), by the time you add up family-sized collections of music, videos, and other files, gigabytes get gobbled in a hurry. Thus, it’s important to set limits for how much storage individual family members can consume, and work with them to police their holdings and keep them inside their allocations. Fortunately, it’s easy to size up what’s in My Documents or other Windows folders. Simply right-click the folder name in Windows Explorer, then select the Properties entry to produce its Properties window. As the following screen shot shows, that window provides information about the total size of My Documents.
We are almost done. We next cover the regular maintenance tasks you’ll want to keep on top of. Just like regularly servicing of your car, there are some things you’ll want to do on a periodic basis.
