I am actually way different than most that started a living and career in computers. I didn't get my first computer until I was around 13 years old as opposed to most who got theirs when they were very young. It was a very old Dell that was plagued with malware from using P2P programs like Kazaa and Bearshare (I didn't know any better and I was young!). Since I couldn't really use my computer (at the time I had no idea what 'reformatting' was, or anything at all really in regards to computers), I used my close friend's computer whenever I got the chance. In my mind, at the time, I thought my computer was actually dying as opposed to simply being overwhelmed with malware. I could have very easily gotten it fixed had I known then what I know now, but I digress.
My friend played Diablo 2 and Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction a lot, and I fell MORE than in love with that game. We would switch positions on the computer every 30 minutes so we could both play a lot throughout the day. When he was playing, I'd watch TV and be eager the entire time because I knew I was about to play more Diablo 2. Well, about a year or so later, my wonderful mother bought me a newer Dell, and I was FINALLY able to play Diablo 2 not only by myself, but with my friend. Because of this, I was always on the computer after school. I learned to type because of the game, I learned all of the internet jargon that we all know and love today, I learned how Windows XP as an OS worked, etc. I was learning all of the pure basics and then some. Well, my love for Diablo 2 continued for YEARS, right up until Windows Vista launched. When Vista launched, Diablo 2 wasn't initially compatible until Blizzard released a few patches. Well, I could not live without my Diablo 2, so I installed an XP VM and played Diablo 2 on it. From then on, my addiction to computers only continued throughout my life up until now.
I didn't take an interest in blue screens and the internals of Windows up until about the early summer of 2012. I had extensive knowledge in Windows, but not its internals, etc. I remember I built my 2nd desktop PC and it was a mess. I was getting VIDEO_TDR_ERROR bug checks ALL THE TIME. This drove me to learn how to analyze dump files, and here I am.
