Friday, October 23, 2009

How to Fix Your Slow Computer and Optimise it to Run Faster

These are the steps that you need to take to have your PC runs fast again.

#1 Run windows Update. This will install the latest security updates and updates for windows files on your computer. Some people never run this or do not know how to and this can leave your computer open to attack and also leave older files on it that can slow it down.

To run windows update and make sure your PC remains updated you need to do two things.

• Go to windows start menu then all programs and click on windows update. This will take you to the windows update site. Select express update and let it update your PC.

• Go to control panel. Click on the security centre icon and then set automatic updates to on. This will ensure each time an update is available windows will automatically install it on your PC.

#2 Delete or remove spyware or adware. Lots of websites will install malicious software in your PC without your consent as soon as you visit them. Check your antivirus is up to date it protects your computer from these and these can slow your pc down.

• If pop ups frequently appear on your screen whenever you use the internet most probably you are already infected. Spyware steals your password and other information while adware displays annoying ads that continues to pop up.

# 3 Run a free windows registry scan. In ninety percent of cases, computer problems, error messages and other errors are due to windows registry errors.

The registry is the database that window system used to find where everything is it needs to run. Spyware and adware hide their entries to the programs you never used and eventually get corrupted and enable them to work.


Automate Your Updates of Windows Drivers

Windows device drivers often cause problems. You need to install a large number of drivers and also keep on upgrading them once new versions are released. Just getting audio to work with all applications can sometimes take very long time to sort out. Often this is due to problems with the audio drivers. A lot of applications will install their own drivers and configure your audio devices. Sometimes this stuffs up the audio for your existing applications. In worst case, driver problems can cause Windows to hang or to reboot.

This is not just a problem with audio drivers. Windows needs the right driver for every hardware device you are using. This includes basic devices, such as keyboard, mouse and screen, as well as every other device used by Windows, for example network interfaces, printers and faxes. Windows also uses device drivers for a number of software features. All in all, your PC has a huge number of different drivers installed.

Trying to solve Windows driver issues can easily take hours, without any progress being made. Generally, you need to disconnect hardware, reboot your PC numerous times and install or un-install drivers. This trial-and-error takes very long time, and you still may not find the right combination of drivers and versions that works with your PC devices.

Fortunately, most of the problems with Windows drivers can be eliminated by letting a software utility manage your drivers. The software scans your devices and then connects to a central database on the Internet which contains the latest versions of device drivers for Windows. The new drivers are automatically downloaded and installed by the software utility.


How to Handle the Windows Blue Screen Error

Damage or mismatch between the memory banks can cause damage to computing. You can see it at startup, but it is impossible to start the computer and you will be prompted that the memory has a problem. If this happens, it means your memory is damaged and can not be compatible with other hardware. Review Under these conditions, you have no choice but to change the memory.

The lack of virtual memory computing errors can result in some of the tasks of the system. Virtual memory is a shortcut to solve the shortage of system memory. It also requires more space on the hard disk. However, some users review their disk fills completely in order to make the most of the space, on the contrary, as a result of lack of memory, computational load virtual memory errors that can cause a blue screen. So, it is wise not to choke on the disk, you need not temporary files and swap generated by the system to free up space to remove. Alternatively, you can manually configure virtual memory.

Blue Screen sudden problems that often arise in the implementation of a relatively large program or storage and copying. It is associated with three types of residential sources. They are the resources of the system, user and GDI.

The solution is an open source monitoring guidelines to check for residual sources. If all of them are less than 50% or worse, it is vulnerable to "illegal operation" or "bluescreen" appears. Therefore, it is a must to cut wastage of resources, programs and avoid unnecessary load large programs simultaneously using Review,, such as images or video software.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

LANs, WANs, MANs, and VLANs

The next type of network is called a Wide Area Network or WAN. Follow closely: WANs can connect several LANs and they tend to span across geographical territories such as cities, states, regions, and sometimes countries. WANs can have thousands of nodes as well and is not limited in that way. WANs generally refer to the geographical area of the network.

A Metropolitan Area Network or a MAN is larger than a LAN but smaller than a WAN. This network encompasses an entire region or city. Think of a MAN as a city and all of its suburbs. Take Chicago for instance. The Chicago Metro area (apart from this term) normally includes the city of Chicago plus all first and second tier suburbs to the North, West, and South.

You will use LAN and WAN extensively throughout your networking career so it's good to recognize the and define the term straight away.

There is a new type of LAN that exists today thanks to a process called virtualization. It is called the Virtualized Local Area Network or VLAN. Virtualization is defined as creating a virtual (rather than an actual) storage device, operating system, server, or network resources. Essentially it's a method that networking professionals are using to divide up resources (such as partitioning a hard drive) to extend the availability of the resource (e.g., to make it go further than intended). It is a fairly new term and will be defined further in future articles.


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Build a Computer Cheap

Computer cheapBuilding a computer is not a hard task if you know the things to look for. You can also save a lot of
money by building your own computer! The great thing about this is that there are numerous ways to you can achieve this! Let me break down the 3 steps in building the computer for you!

1. Researching and purchasing the parts - You can build computer cheap because of the fact that you have instant access to all the individual components of the computer at a cheap price. This means that the only thing you have to do is know which parts are compatible with another. Afterward, you want to go ahead and purchase the parts for building your PC.

2. Assembling PC - Assembling is probably the most important part in a build computer guide as numerous things can go wrong. This is probably the most challenging part for most people, and you will probably need guidance for this part! You want to either look in forums for people who are excellent at this already or find a video of it. If you can, the best option is to simply go online and purchase a guide that will teach you all the steps easily!

3. Testing/Troubleshooting - You want to make sure that you computer is fine. Now that you know how to build computer cheap, it is time to use the knowledge and apply it to life! This knowledge is powerful and will definitely help you in life if you choose to use it!


Separating the Wheat From the Chaff

Price should never be your only consideration when looking online for ink cartridges. Unfortunately, there are people who are peddling inferior merchandise at what seem like ultra cheap prices. Remember, you get what you pay for.

Having said that, there are websites providing great a product at very affordable prices, and this article will tell you what to look for.

One of the first things to look for is if the printer ink cartridges sold on a website are manufactured or remanufactured in ISO-9001 certified factories. If so, you can be sure the cartridges are made with the same quality standards as the original branded ink cartridges. This notification should be on the home page of the site selling them.

Another tell-tale sign that the site carries quality printer ink cartridges is a money-back guarantee. Sites offering a guarantee are sure of the quality of their product.

Also, check and see if the online ink cartridge store offers a warranty against defects in workmanship and materials. The stores carrying the best quality product will provide a full one-year warranty.

One thing that many people overlook when checking out the quality of an online printer ink cartridge site is the shipping fees. If a website offers a low, flat shipping rate on all orders, you can be sure they offer quality cartridges. They know they don't have to squeeze more money out of you on your order because you will be so pleased with their product, you will come back often.

When you find all these things in a website, you know that you will be buying the best printer ink cartridges at the best prices.


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Tips to Building a Comprehensive Protection Strategy

Computer viruses can harm computer systems to varying degrees; from being a nuisance to crippling a system. Regardless of the extent, when a computer does get infected, it creates an unnecessary expense to either the business or the home. Unfortunately, installing a virus protection program isn't all you need to do anymore to be protected. The following tips will help you to build a strategy for protecting yourself from future infections.

Install antivirus software and keep it up to date. While it isn't all you need to do, it is the minimum amount of protection you should have. A search of the internet for the term 'antivirus software' will turn up numerous respectable antivirus programs that can be used, some of them even free for home users. Regardless of which program you use, make sure it is kept up-to-date on a daily basis. Almost all programs allow you to automate this process.

Keep your software updated. And I don't just mean Microsoft products. Some programs are more important than others but all programs are susceptible to having mistakes that need fixing. Even the Mac OS has patches that should be installed. The Microsoft products can be addressed by using the Automatic Updates software however, we'd recommend contacting your computer administrator on how to best configure your settings.

Use a Spam filtering service for your email. This can benefit you in two ways. First, it reduces the amount of junk mail that comes into your network reducing the chances of a user accidently opening an infected attachment. Second, should an affected file be sent to your email, the service will filter it before it ever gets to your network, reducing the risk of it infecting anyone else.

Create and enforce a policy limiting what software users can install. Arguably the least costly yet most difficult to implement tip, limiting what software your users are allowed to install on their systems can have a big impact on the success of your virus protection strategy. If users are not accustomed to installing software, they will be less likely to accidentally install an affected program if prompted to do so. Additionally, if the users do not need to be installing software, IT administrators can lock down the PCs to further reduce the chance of an infected program being installed.

Use OpenDNS. A free service that allows a business, or home user, the ability to watch and filter all internet traffic. Policies can be setup to block certain types of traffic or even specific sites. The service also maintains its own list of blocked sites to help protect users from going to a site that is known to be infected or contain malicious content. Whether you are trying to protect a small network at your house or the one in your office, these six tips can help you to build a comprehensive strategy to reduce your exposure to a computer virus attack.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Best Way to Delete Duplicate Files and Recover Valuable Disk Space

In this article we will discuss how to delete duplicate files, and about duplicate file remover, at length. In this era of rapid changes, our hard drive makes it possible to store millions of documents, videos, and songs on it. As a result of this, it becomes more and more difficult to find the information we need.

The hard drive has so much capacity and we end up downloading stuff that we don't really need without thinking much. As a result, a lot of copied content or useless information gets stored into the computer which slows down the system and makes it difficult to identify data. And the final mess is when we realize this data is adding to confusion and needs sorting out, that it is hardly possible to find and remove duplicate files manually.

But a special software or duplicate file remover is available in the market, which helps to delete duplicate files. This tool helps to find and remove unnecessary copies of your files, accurately. It also helps to find and remove mp3s and pictures. They can be sent to recycle bins or can also be moved to a separate folder.

Having loads of duplicated files, creates a big mess and clutter in the system which like mentioned earlier, makes it slow. Also these duplicate files take up a lot of unnecessary space. The only way to reclaim this space is with the help of duplicate file remover. This helpful software helps to clean up your computer, leaving you with the original files..

For people who have to keep a large collection of any type of digital media, be they photos or music, chances are that you'll end up with many copies of the same document or song. And unless you remove all the unnecessary copies, your hard drive will become full with things you don't really need.

Delete duplicate file
image by: recoverfiles.de
Duplicate file remover program helps to find and remove copies that are not required, and thus helps to create a neat and organized library of digital data.

Duplicate file remover program is useful tool that helps the hard drive clean up from duplicate files and create additional space on the drive. This software tool is the most reliable and efficient disc clean up utility to find and remove unwanted copies, on both - your local computer as well as computer network.

If you are able to successfully identify and delete duplicate documents with duplicate file remover, you can claim back lost hard disk space by locating and erasing multiple copies of that same song, or video.

Duplicate file remover is equipped to find copies of multiple types. It can find text, binary, music and also video or image files. It helps to remove the copies which may not be required.

Duplicate file remover has multiple advantages. It helps to identify & recover wasted disk space. It helps to reduce the time and media that is used for backups. Once you remove the unnecessary copies, you will also reduce the time used to perform virus scans.. To delete duplicate files from the system also means you are increasing free space on laptops and memory disks which comparatively have smaller hard disks and space created by deleting unneeded copies, comes in very handy.

This software also helps to remove duplicate files to eliminate synchronization problems. It runs and works much faster and swiftly as compared to other programs in that category besides being very safe and reliable.


Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Speed Up My Computer Without Upgrading

The resource boosts of an archive of computer tips such as 10 easy steps to speed up your computer- without upgrading, 3 summer computer tips and many more.

A Goldmine for those who love computer tips. It is the collection of computer tips including more than fifty tips about computer how to empty the temp directory regularly, empty temporary internet files regularly, checking your hard disk for problems, Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, turning off Active Desktop,

How to Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses, A lot of computer users have Spyware and don't even know they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If your computer has been taking you to websites that you don't want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you aren't even on the Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely slowly lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.

To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system), double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now and many more tips.

Thinking about getting a new computer, but with all the choices out there are you getting a little overwhelmed? Well why not look into building your own computer? By building your own computer you can get all the options you really want, whether you need a graphics design machine, game machine or just a simple word processor. You can tailor the computer to your specific needs. Now I know what you are thinking, "Isn't building a computer difficult? I don't want to screw anything up." Well with a little reading, assembling your computer will be cake.



Friday, January 2, 2009

Basic Computer Troubleshooting Tips

Computer troubleshooting
Basic Computer Troubleshooting Tips :
1. Check all connections
  • Are the power cords plugged in? If using a power cord, does it work with other electrical items?
  • Is the monitor cord to the PC connected?
  • Are keyboard and mouse cables fastened securely?
  • Is the network cable connected to computer and hub or wall connection? Is there a green link light on?
2. Turn computer off, wait 30 seconds and turn on again.

3. Narrow down problem
  • Have you added new software recently? Could impact other functions.
  • Is it a hardware problem? (monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer); try each component with another computer to see, if they work.
  • A keyboard error could be a loose connection or a stuck key. Check cable connections and run hand over the entire keyboard. Reboot computer. PC's have batteries that have a life, of about 3 years. If computer keeps asking what time it is, you need to replace battery. Can be found on the motherboard. Cost about $10 at Radio Shack, etc.
4. Have, you deleted, moved, or renamed files recently?

5. Has computer been moved (even a few inches)? - Check connections.

6. When you turn on computer, listen for beeps - one is very good, two to four beeps is usually a memory problem. More than four beeps can be a motherboard problem. (# of beeps also depends on which BIOS system is used).

7. Is the ‘num lock key’ on for using number keys at right of keyboard?


8. If your computer continually beeps .at you it could be, frozen and must be rebooted or shutdown. Try Ctrl, Alt, Delete at the same time. As a last resort, turn off power and wait 30 seconds to turn on. Win95 systems will prompt you to do a scandisk check - go ahead with this.

9. Mouse isn't working - try cleaning the ball. Sometimes the driver for the mouse will be missing. Copy mouse files from another computer and copy to problem machine. Most of the time there is no software to load for the mouse – just plug in and use. Mice do wear out, so check with other machines.

10. Monitor problems --- screen arrangement looks weird? - There are adjustments for vertical, horizontal, etc., on most monitors.

11. Printers used with Win95 systems have a troubleshooting guide built in by double clicking on My Computer and opening Printers. Choose the printer and use the Help files. Is the printer clean? Does it need a new cartridge? Try turning off and on again. Make sure you are choosing the correct printer in Print Setup. Are connections secured? 12. If you get a memory error, you either need to delete unused files and programs or buy more memory.

13. How much memory do I have? Type in mem at the DOS Prompt (C:/) on 3.1 systems. In Win95, open My Computer, right click on C: and choose properties. On both systems watch the scrolling numbers in the upper left corner when you turn on the computer.

14. Need a formatted disk to save on? With 3.1 system - at C:\ type, a:format or use, the, Main Menu, File, Manager, Diskettes. In Win95, use My Computer and right click on A: drive and choose Format. There are two capacities to choose from - 720 and 1.44. Use 1.44 for HD (High Density) and 720 for DD (Double Density). Disks must be formatted to save files. Transfer files after a year of heavy use to another diskette. Floppy disks do wear out and you can lose all your files.

15. You may want to make a copy of a diskette (for example – Integrade before you turn it in to the SIMS operator). In Win95, open up My Computer, put original floppy in the disk drive and click once to highlight. Choose the File Menu and select Copy Disk. Follow onscreen instructions. To use DOS to make a copy of a floppy disk, click Start, Run and type in: DISKCOPY A: A: and follow the instructions on the screen.

16. Computer will not boot or reboot with a diskette in A: drive unless it is a system disk. System disk can be used to boot a system that cannot boot on its own. Should keep a system disk for each system in use.

17. On Win95 systems, if a blue screen with writing appears, choose Exit without Saving. The computer should continue on to the desktop. 18. Is my hard drive full? Open My Computer, and choose File Menu, Properties. Sometimes, you will have two hard drives. Is one full and the other almost empty? May need to move files to the other hard drive. Contact your school technology trainer for assistance.

19. Once you have tried all the basis options of troubleshooting, maybe you have been able to either fix your own problem or narrowed it down. Contact the school technology trainer or TUG person for additional help. If they need assistance, they will complete a work order for your computer to be serviced by a system technician. So if you need extend your taskbar to across multiple monitors read Expand The Taskbar.