About

My name is Elizabeth Ramer.

My interest in computers began in 1990 when a relative gave me an Apple 2e computer, which at that point was 18 years old. I used that for word processing until 1993, when it finally died and I bought my first PC. That PC (which was a Digital) had a 1.2 gig harddrive and 100 megs of RAM, with a 9600 baud modem.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven. 1.2 gigs of space! At this point in time, computers and their components were pricey. That first Digital computer cost over $2500. I had it exactly 2 weeks when my boyfriend brought home a screensaver on a floppy. I installed the screensaver and, it turned out, the Monkey B virus.

Getting rid of viruses back then was not as easy as it is now. I spent alot of time on the phone, and going to the “experts” who told me that it would take several weeks and several hundred dollars to get fixed.

I had a difficult time believing this. I called the Digital support people several times for help, and they told me the same thing: send the computer to us in some faraway state and we’ll send it back to you in a few weeks.

There was no way I was going to send my computer away, nor was I willing to spend hundreds of dollars to get the stupid thing fixed. I was already addicted, you see. I had a legal pad going where I recorded everything I was learning about the computer. This legal pad grew into several. I saw no reason not to be able to get rid of the virus myself. I decided to call Digital support one more time, and this time I got hold of a fella that really knew his stuff. He gave me step by step instructions for getting rid of the virus. I managed to do it too, even though it took a couple of days. I will always be grateful to this guy - he taught me that there was no reason to be afraid of computers.

That was the last time I’ve ever had to call support, at least for a computer issue. After that I was able to resolve any issue I had - and as a beginning computer user I had a lot. I was forever restoring my computer for one reason or another. I learned early in the game to backup my files.

I started helping friends, family and coworkers with their computers. I built a really lame web page. Friends started bringing me their computers for me to fix. After a couple of years, they started giving me computers. Finally, someone I worked with suggested I should go to school for computers, which I wound up doing. I took PC Repair and Networking Services. I then found a job in the web hosting industry. That was in 1997, and I’ve been in web hosting ever since.

Some of my web technical skills include:

Extensive troubleshooting skills and technical knowledge of email and
DNS issues.
Ability to recognize the differences in server side errors and coding
issues.
Database knowledge of the use and connection to servers for MySQL,
Access, and SQL.
Basic setup, customization, and troubleshooting of ShopSite SC , TX, SoftCart, Miva, OScommerce and Agoracart
Setup, customization, and troubleshooting of Wordpress
Thorough knowledge of installation of SSL certificates on FreeBSD, Linux,
Cpanel systems and Windows.
Dedicated server support and maintenance
Cpanel
Fantastico (I prefer to download and install programs directly from the source)
Web hosting Manager (WHM)
HTML skills
Perl and PHP
Search Engine Optimization