By: Scott Brown
Speed Up Your PC
Is your computer running slowly? Windows XP telling you that you
have low memory? Adding memory to your current computer is one
of the cheapest, easiest upgrades that you can do yourself!
There's a few things you can do to make sure your getting the
most out of your current hardware.
For Windows XP go to control panel, system, advancded,
performance settings, advancded, and then change under virtual
memory. In this screen click the radio button that says Custom
Size and put in the biggest number under Maximum Size that
Windows will alow. It's based on the free space on your hard
drive, mine is set at 4,096MB with an 80GB hard drive. Another
thing you can do is shut off all those little programs sucking
up your resources.
Go to start menu and click run. Type in msconfig then click the
startup tab. This is a list of all the programs that start when
you turn on your PC. A few may have icons in your task bar by
the clock. If you reconize any you don't need just unselect them
click apply and ok. Then you'll be prompted to restart your PC.
If your are running XP you can turn off some of those visual
themes to save some memory. Simply right click any where on your
desktop and select properties. Then under appearance you can
change your theme to the classic sytle which will speed things
up a bit if you can still stand the look of your new 'old'
desktop.
Finally you can get more memory installed. Any new computer
these days should have at least 256MB of memory. If your running
an older system chances are your running on 128MB or possibly
much less.
Be sure that the memory you purchase is compaitable with your
current motherboard, check with the manufacturer to find out
what you need. For instance if your motherboard only supports
PC2100 (266MHz bus speed) then anything over wont work!
Installing your new memory is pretty straight forward. Remove
your PC's case. Locate an empty slot, or remove the older memory
if there are none. To install and remove memory there are two
small 'handles' on each end that secure it into the slot, these
must be lifted and then synched back down onto the new memory.
Also, the memory can only go in one way, look at the grooves on
it to see. Be sure to wear a anti-static strap during any
procedure. The small static charges can damage the delicate
electronics in your computer.
About the author:
Founder of AVmechanic Free
computer help a Free Video Editing and Computer help
community covering a wide range of topics.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Monday, January 30, 2006
10 Things To Do For A Healthy & Secure PC
By: Darren Miller
A Top 10 List That Can Save Your Computer
Many who read this article may find these recommendations to be
old news. However, think about the number family, friends, and
associates that ask you for help fixing their PC and I believe
you will understand why I chose to write this article..
This list of recommendations for a healthy & secure PC is by no
means a complete list of everything you can and should do. It is
however a great start if you want to keep your computer running
properly for an acceptable period of time. It will also help
prevent some of the most common issues related to PC security.
1. Hard Drive Fragmentation
Believe it or not, many people have never even heard of hard
drive fragmentation, or the process of Defragmentation. In a
nutshell, when you install software or create files and data,
the Operating System stores this data on your hard disk drive.
The most efficient way of storing this data would be in one
continuous disk file. However, files are not always stored this
way, or are initially stored this way and later become split up,
or fragmented. Because of this, when the data or file is
retrieved, the hard drive must be searched in multiple places
just to combine data that makes up one file. This slows things
down tremendously. If you are running Windows 2000 or Windows
XP, you should perform a disk defrag at least once every two
weeks, more if possible. All of my systems run this process
automatically once every week in the evening hours.
2. Installing Games & Disk Intensive Software
If you're a gamer, or regularly use disk intensive software, the
above Defragmentation process will help. However, you can also
take another step to make things move a little faster. If you
have two physically separate disk drives in your system, I
suggest that you use one primarily for the Operating System and
related software, and devote the other physical disk for
installing games and other disk intensive applications. This
cuts down on the competition for disk resources between your
Operating System and other applications. There are other things
you could do as well, such as configuring the appropriate type
of RAID where multiple disks appear to the operating system as
one big logical disk drive. This takes a little more planning to
get the most out of your drives so I'll cover that in a future
article.
3. Virus & Spyware Protection
The bottom line here is; make sure you have installed some sort
of anti-virus and spyware protection. Furthermore, don't just
assume that the default configuration of the program is best
suited for your environment. For instance, I can't tell you how
many people I know whose computer has contracted a serious virus
because of just one minor but very important task. When the
anti-virus software pops up a message and tells you that your
subscription is about to expire, don't just hit the ignore
button. Take a five minute break from what you are doing and
renew your virus signature subscription. Not only will this keep
you up to date on newer viruses, it will allow your software
package to update to newer versions. The same thing goes for
spyware protection. There are plenty of free spyware protection
solutions out there, none are perfect, but most do the job. I
suggest using Microsoft's AntiSpyware Beta package at the least.
4. Software & Hardware Firewall Protection
If you are not using a firewall, then you are just asking for
trouble. Actually, there is a significant chance that your
system is already compromised if you have no firewall protection
at all. Many cable/DSL router combo devices have built in
firewall protection, and this is at least a good start. However,
if you have Windows XP SP2, go ahead and enable the built in
firewall as it will provide you another level of protection. Oh,
yes, and when the system pops up a message about whether or not
to allow a certain application or communication to take place,
don't just hit the ok button, read it thoroughly then make a
decision.
5. Installing & Uninstalling Applications
Just about every time you install a new application or piece of
software you increase the time it takes to boot your PC and in
some cases decrease its performance. On thing that drives me
crazy is printing software. For the life of me I cannot
understand how or why printer support software could total 400MB
in size, but they sometimes do. Not only that, they tend to load
all kinds of unnecessary real-time running applets. HP printers
are notorious for this. Be very aware of what it is you are
loading and only load those components that you need. Even some
off-the-shelf software packages load adware and other not so
helpful applets. Also, when you uninstall software, not all the
software gets uninstalled in many cases. One thing I suggest is
to purchase a registry cleaner. This can dramatically decrease
boot times and in many cases increase the overall performance of
your PC.
6. Purchasing & Downloading Items On The Internet
When you download or purchase any software from the Internet,
make sure you pay close attention to everything you are agreeing
to or checking off on the various pages that lead up to the
final purchase or download. As with everything else, make sure
you read the fine print. You may be agreeing to download and
install something you don't need or may impact the security and
performance of you PC. Also, how many more mailing lists do you
really need to be on? How many Internet Explorer tool bars do
you need? Most of these tool bars should be renamed to "adware /
spyware bars"
7. Installing Operating System & Application Patches
In a nutshell, if you are using Windows XP, make sure that
automatic updates are turned on. This is very important.
Microsoft releases security and bug fixes routinely and some of
them are critical in nature. Something people tend to overlook
is updating and patching their applications. For instance,
Microsoft Office has critical security patches and performance
enhancements available in the form of patches and service packs.
It's not just Operating System bugs that can put you at risk,
applications can too.
8. Updating Drivers
Similar to the above, hardware manufacturers routinely update
their drivers. This includes video cards, sounds cards, capture
cards, system boards, you name it. Some manufacturers have
started to release automatic updates for their hardware, but
many have not. Make sure you check these sites regularly and
when a driver update is available, install it.
9. What Do Your Children Download
This is a really big one. I can' tell you how may times I have
been told by people that they have no idea how something got
installed on their computer. Usually their second sentence
contains "one of my children must have downloaded it". The first
thing that comes to mind is "why do parents let kids download
what ever they like in the first place". Not only can this
severely impact the security and performance of your computer,
who knows what your kids are getting their hands on. Do you know
what one of the most frequently installed application installs I
see on a teenagers machine is? Kazaa, BearShare, eDonkey, all
P2P file sharing programs. I don't care what anyone says
regarding how convenient and safe these applications are now,
they are wrong. Monitor what your children are doing /
downloading on the Internet. Install a parental control software
package if need be.
10. Rebuilding Your Operating System
If you are not familiar with system imaging software, I suggest
you read up on them. One of the most popular packages is "ghost"
and it's been around for quite some time. I rebuild my systems
pretty much on an annual basis. When I first configured them, I
used an imaging package to create a complete image of the basic
OS and application install. This allows you to not only
re-install the base operating system and applications by hitting
just one button, but can save you big time in the event of a
system disaster.
Conclusion
Many of my peers and other technical people will read this and
say it's all common sense and very basic. Well, if this is what
you do for a living then yes, it is. But many people don't know
these things or did know about them and have forgotten. So many
PC are in such bad shape and it's beyond me how the average
person even deals with it. It has to be frustrating not knowing
where to turn or what to do, especially if you don't have a tech
friend or family member to call on. I hate to sound pessimistic,
but things are not getting better for the average home or small
business person. Technology should not be this difficult to
maintain. The average person just wants something that will
work, and stay working.
You may reprint or publish this article free of charge as long
as the bylines are included.
Original URL (The Web version of the article)
http://www.defendingthenet.com/newsletters/TenThingsToDoForAHealt
hyAndSecurePc.htm
About the author:
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with over
seventeen years experience. He has written many technology &
security articles, some of which have been published in
nationally circulated magazines & periodicals. If you would like
to contact Darren you can e-mail him at
Darren.Miller@defendingthenet.com. Please visit us at
http://www.defendingthenet.com
A Top 10 List That Can Save Your Computer
Many who read this article may find these recommendations to be
old news. However, think about the number family, friends, and
associates that ask you for help fixing their PC and I believe
you will understand why I chose to write this article..
This list of recommendations for a healthy & secure PC is by no
means a complete list of everything you can and should do. It is
however a great start if you want to keep your computer running
properly for an acceptable period of time. It will also help
prevent some of the most common issues related to PC security.
1. Hard Drive Fragmentation
Believe it or not, many people have never even heard of hard
drive fragmentation, or the process of Defragmentation. In a
nutshell, when you install software or create files and data,
the Operating System stores this data on your hard disk drive.
The most efficient way of storing this data would be in one
continuous disk file. However, files are not always stored this
way, or are initially stored this way and later become split up,
or fragmented. Because of this, when the data or file is
retrieved, the hard drive must be searched in multiple places
just to combine data that makes up one file. This slows things
down tremendously. If you are running Windows 2000 or Windows
XP, you should perform a disk defrag at least once every two
weeks, more if possible. All of my systems run this process
automatically once every week in the evening hours.
2. Installing Games & Disk Intensive Software
If you're a gamer, or regularly use disk intensive software, the
above Defragmentation process will help. However, you can also
take another step to make things move a little faster. If you
have two physically separate disk drives in your system, I
suggest that you use one primarily for the Operating System and
related software, and devote the other physical disk for
installing games and other disk intensive applications. This
cuts down on the competition for disk resources between your
Operating System and other applications. There are other things
you could do as well, such as configuring the appropriate type
of RAID where multiple disks appear to the operating system as
one big logical disk drive. This takes a little more planning to
get the most out of your drives so I'll cover that in a future
article.
3. Virus & Spyware Protection
The bottom line here is; make sure you have installed some sort
of anti-virus and spyware protection. Furthermore, don't just
assume that the default configuration of the program is best
suited for your environment. For instance, I can't tell you how
many people I know whose computer has contracted a serious virus
because of just one minor but very important task. When the
anti-virus software pops up a message and tells you that your
subscription is about to expire, don't just hit the ignore
button. Take a five minute break from what you are doing and
renew your virus signature subscription. Not only will this keep
you up to date on newer viruses, it will allow your software
package to update to newer versions. The same thing goes for
spyware protection. There are plenty of free spyware protection
solutions out there, none are perfect, but most do the job. I
suggest using Microsoft's AntiSpyware Beta package at the least.
4. Software & Hardware Firewall Protection
If you are not using a firewall, then you are just asking for
trouble. Actually, there is a significant chance that your
system is already compromised if you have no firewall protection
at all. Many cable/DSL router combo devices have built in
firewall protection, and this is at least a good start. However,
if you have Windows XP SP2, go ahead and enable the built in
firewall as it will provide you another level of protection. Oh,
yes, and when the system pops up a message about whether or not
to allow a certain application or communication to take place,
don't just hit the ok button, read it thoroughly then make a
decision.
5. Installing & Uninstalling Applications
Just about every time you install a new application or piece of
software you increase the time it takes to boot your PC and in
some cases decrease its performance. On thing that drives me
crazy is printing software. For the life of me I cannot
understand how or why printer support software could total 400MB
in size, but they sometimes do. Not only that, they tend to load
all kinds of unnecessary real-time running applets. HP printers
are notorious for this. Be very aware of what it is you are
loading and only load those components that you need. Even some
off-the-shelf software packages load adware and other not so
helpful applets. Also, when you uninstall software, not all the
software gets uninstalled in many cases. One thing I suggest is
to purchase a registry cleaner. This can dramatically decrease
boot times and in many cases increase the overall performance of
your PC.
6. Purchasing & Downloading Items On The Internet
When you download or purchase any software from the Internet,
make sure you pay close attention to everything you are agreeing
to or checking off on the various pages that lead up to the
final purchase or download. As with everything else, make sure
you read the fine print. You may be agreeing to download and
install something you don't need or may impact the security and
performance of you PC. Also, how many more mailing lists do you
really need to be on? How many Internet Explorer tool bars do
you need? Most of these tool bars should be renamed to "adware /
spyware bars"
7. Installing Operating System & Application Patches
In a nutshell, if you are using Windows XP, make sure that
automatic updates are turned on. This is very important.
Microsoft releases security and bug fixes routinely and some of
them are critical in nature. Something people tend to overlook
is updating and patching their applications. For instance,
Microsoft Office has critical security patches and performance
enhancements available in the form of patches and service packs.
It's not just Operating System bugs that can put you at risk,
applications can too.
8. Updating Drivers
Similar to the above, hardware manufacturers routinely update
their drivers. This includes video cards, sounds cards, capture
cards, system boards, you name it. Some manufacturers have
started to release automatic updates for their hardware, but
many have not. Make sure you check these sites regularly and
when a driver update is available, install it.
9. What Do Your Children Download
This is a really big one. I can' tell you how may times I have
been told by people that they have no idea how something got
installed on their computer. Usually their second sentence
contains "one of my children must have downloaded it". The first
thing that comes to mind is "why do parents let kids download
what ever they like in the first place". Not only can this
severely impact the security and performance of your computer,
who knows what your kids are getting their hands on. Do you know
what one of the most frequently installed application installs I
see on a teenagers machine is? Kazaa, BearShare, eDonkey, all
P2P file sharing programs. I don't care what anyone says
regarding how convenient and safe these applications are now,
they are wrong. Monitor what your children are doing /
downloading on the Internet. Install a parental control software
package if need be.
10. Rebuilding Your Operating System
If you are not familiar with system imaging software, I suggest
you read up on them. One of the most popular packages is "ghost"
and it's been around for quite some time. I rebuild my systems
pretty much on an annual basis. When I first configured them, I
used an imaging package to create a complete image of the basic
OS and application install. This allows you to not only
re-install the base operating system and applications by hitting
just one button, but can save you big time in the event of a
system disaster.
Conclusion
Many of my peers and other technical people will read this and
say it's all common sense and very basic. Well, if this is what
you do for a living then yes, it is. But many people don't know
these things or did know about them and have forgotten. So many
PC are in such bad shape and it's beyond me how the average
person even deals with it. It has to be frustrating not knowing
where to turn or what to do, especially if you don't have a tech
friend or family member to call on. I hate to sound pessimistic,
but things are not getting better for the average home or small
business person. Technology should not be this difficult to
maintain. The average person just wants something that will
work, and stay working.
You may reprint or publish this article free of charge as long
as the bylines are included.
Original URL (The Web version of the article)
http://www.defendingthenet.com/newsletters/TenThingsToDoForAHealt
hyAndSecurePc.htm
About the author:
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with over
seventeen years experience. He has written many technology &
security articles, some of which have been published in
nationally circulated magazines & periodicals. If you would like
to contact Darren you can e-mail him at
Darren.Miller@defendingthenet.com. Please visit us at
http://www.defendingthenet.com
Sunday, January 29, 2006
What is WiFi
Wifi - So What Is It?
By Michael Russell
In this article we're going to begin to define what wifi is and just how it works.
Relatively speaking, wifi is a new technology, created within the last couple of years at the time of this writing. However, the basis on which is created is not really new. Wifi is short for wireless fidelity as applied to connecting multiple computers. Or in other words, wireless networking.
The reason this is not really new is because we've had wireless forms of communication for some time now. One needs to look no further than ones own hi fidelity stereo system. The signal from the ration station transceiver travels wireless through the air until it reaches the antenna connected to your radio. This technology has been around for ages. But as applied to computers, yes, this is something very new.
So, how does wireless networking work?
The 802.11 standard, on which networks are based, defines two modes which are infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode. With infrastructure mode, the wireless network is composed of at least one access point which is connected to the wired network infrastructure which includes a set of wireless end stations. This particular configuration is called a Basic Service Set or BSS. An extended service set, or ESS, is a set of multiple BSS sets which form a single subnetwork. Because most WLANs require access to a wired LAN for services such as file servers, printers and Internet links, they usually operate in infrastructure mode.
The difference between Ad Hoc mode and Infrastructure mode is that Ad Hoc mode is just a set of 802.11 wireless stations that communicate directly with each other without using an access point or any connection to a network that is wired. This mode is great for quickly and easily setting up a wireless network where a wireless infrastructure doesn't exist or is simply not needed for services. Some places where this would be true are hotel rooms, convention centers and airports or any place where wired networks are forbidden.
While connected to a wireless network, you can do most basic things that are not too intensive such as check email, browse the Internet, connect to conferences, access your home directory, use programs such a network word processor and use printing services. You should not use wireless networks for streaming audio or video, downloading anything that is large or viewing web sites that are intense in graphics.
Even though wireless networks are nice to look at you will still get the best performance and highest speeds from wired networks. Generally speaking, a wireless connection works the same way as an Ethernet connection. The speed of a wireless network is about 11 megabits per second. The problem is that with a wireless network you have to share the bandwidth with all the users connected to the wireless network in a given network. This is what slows the network down and makes intensive operations difficult to perform. It is because of this that wireless networks will never be as fast as a wired Ethernet network.
-------------------------------------------------------
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Wifi
-------------------------------------------------------
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Russell
Saturday, January 28, 2006
The computer of the future will be your mobile phone
By: Luigi Martin
These days, many devices are "converging". There is nothing new
about it. Everyone will tell you that in a few years time, you
will be able to buy a mobile phone that is also an FM radio,
digital camera, PDA, MP3 player, universal remote control, USB
drive, clock, have untold wireless connectivity protocols, and
computer (with web browser, email & other general computer
abilities).
Many experts would hesitate to include the "computer" in the
above list. They mention many technical difficulties, such as:
screen resolution, keyboard, pointing device (mouse), processor
speed, heat dissipation & battery life.
I argue that Similar arguments can be made about laptop/notebook
PCs. Take a look at many offices today, & you will see many
laptops being used as a normal desktop computer. People will
connect external mice, keyboards & monitors & then you hardly
notice you are using a laptop.
Now, you are also seeing many wireless keyboards & mice... All
that is missing are wireless monitors. The reason that there are
no wireless monitors is most likely because there are no
wireless protocols that can handle the sheer volume of
information that is sent to monitors.
Once wireless monitors become feasible, the paradigm shift to
using your mobile phone as you PC is very easy to make.
In fact, your mobile phone will truly embody the meaning of the
word "PERSONAL computer": you take it with you wherever you go.
While using the built-in screen will give you limited PC
functionality, as soon as you walk into your office or home,
place the phone near the wireless screen/keyboard/mouse, and
press the "synchronise" button on these devices, and they will
automatically become extensions of your phone.
You can surf the internet, read emails, & play games using your
phone as the computer, except a hi-resolution screen & a full
keyboard & mouse will make it much easier to do what you want.
As far as I can see, the major piece in the puzzle that is
missing, is the ability to connect a mobile to a monitor
(regardless of whether the monitor is "wireless")
All the building blocks for this scenario are almost in place,
so the next few years should be quite interesting.
If anyone in the Brisbane area needs assistance with their
computer, please take a look at: http://www.ComputerAid.net.au
These days, many devices are "converging". There is nothing new
about it. Everyone will tell you that in a few years time, you
will be able to buy a mobile phone that is also an FM radio,
digital camera, PDA, MP3 player, universal remote control, USB
drive, clock, have untold wireless connectivity protocols, and
computer (with web browser, email & other general computer
abilities).
Many experts would hesitate to include the "computer" in the
above list. They mention many technical difficulties, such as:
screen resolution, keyboard, pointing device (mouse), processor
speed, heat dissipation & battery life.
I argue that Similar arguments can be made about laptop/notebook
PCs. Take a look at many offices today, & you will see many
laptops being used as a normal desktop computer. People will
connect external mice, keyboards & monitors & then you hardly
notice you are using a laptop.
Now, you are also seeing many wireless keyboards & mice... All
that is missing are wireless monitors. The reason that there are
no wireless monitors is most likely because there are no
wireless protocols that can handle the sheer volume of
information that is sent to monitors.
Once wireless monitors become feasible, the paradigm shift to
using your mobile phone as you PC is very easy to make.
In fact, your mobile phone will truly embody the meaning of the
word "PERSONAL computer": you take it with you wherever you go.
While using the built-in screen will give you limited PC
functionality, as soon as you walk into your office or home,
place the phone near the wireless screen/keyboard/mouse, and
press the "synchronise" button on these devices, and they will
automatically become extensions of your phone.
You can surf the internet, read emails, & play games using your
phone as the computer, except a hi-resolution screen & a full
keyboard & mouse will make it much easier to do what you want.
As far as I can see, the major piece in the puzzle that is
missing, is the ability to connect a mobile to a monitor
(regardless of whether the monitor is "wireless")
All the building blocks for this scenario are almost in place,
so the next few years should be quite interesting.
If anyone in the Brisbane area needs assistance with their
computer, please take a look at: http://www.ComputerAid.net.au
Friday, January 27, 2006
The Latest Technology, Wifi And Digital Cameras
By: George Williams
We were all use to the idea of sending in our film for
developing and waiting for our pictures to come back. It takes
days before we can see those developed photos.
Then along came digital cameras and the world was taken by storm
with this cool new technology. Suddenly you could take a picture
and see the results immediately. At first these cameras were
slow and not such great quality but still kind of cool. Then
things heated up and now we have fantastic digital cameras of
all sizes and shapes that can take wonderful images which can be
shared instantly with your family, or the rest of the world for
that matter.
The latest now in technology integration is WiFi and digital
cameras. No need to even plug your camera memory card into a
computer, or a printer at all. Now you can buy a digital camera
that transmits the images via wireless technology. Yes, that is
right, a wireless connection for your image uploads.
Now, you may be among those in the population that have not even
gotten their hands around the whole digital image sharing thing
yet. But this promising new technology may lead us to a world of
fewer cables to plug in, quicker transfer of our images, and in
the case of events in the world, the ability to share images of
news almost instantly.
As we saw in the recent bombings in London, folks with cell
phone cameras recorded the devastation they saw in the
underground and shared it with the world in almost real time
fashion. These new cameras may be able to take that sort of
thing to an all new level. Imagine cities that implement
widespread WiFi access and photographers with WiFi cameras
capturing images of news and other special events. They could
transmit those images right away and let the world see them. You
may concern how it works? Here is am eaxmaple:
Nikon has released two models of digital cameras that are WiFi
enabled. The idea is to be able to transmit your pictures
straight from the camera to your computer or printer through a
wireless adaptor. You bring up the images to transfer, hit "go",
and they get sent through the air to your printer. The Coolpix
P1 and P2 will be in the $400-$550 range in pricing and the
adaptor is extra. They are competing with Kodak which released
its own version of the WiFi camera in their Easy Share line of
cameras this year. Kodak has already gone to making it easy to
share photos by transmitting them at so called "wireless hot
spots", usually cafes or stores where wireless access is sold or
given away to customers. These efforts by the leading camera
makers seem aimed at adding value to their already impressive
digital technology.
Digital cameras continue to be hot sellers despite what some in
the industry thought would be a slowing of sales this year. Many
had predicted that cell phone cameras would slow digital camera
sales, but this is not happening.
About the author:
George Williams maintains many websites about network security,
including Wireless
Technology, and Wireless
Transmitter. Please visit his websites and find more
interesting issues about network.
We were all use to the idea of sending in our film for
developing and waiting for our pictures to come back. It takes
days before we can see those developed photos.
Then along came digital cameras and the world was taken by storm
with this cool new technology. Suddenly you could take a picture
and see the results immediately. At first these cameras were
slow and not such great quality but still kind of cool. Then
things heated up and now we have fantastic digital cameras of
all sizes and shapes that can take wonderful images which can be
shared instantly with your family, or the rest of the world for
that matter.
The latest now in technology integration is WiFi and digital
cameras. No need to even plug your camera memory card into a
computer, or a printer at all. Now you can buy a digital camera
that transmits the images via wireless technology. Yes, that is
right, a wireless connection for your image uploads.
Now, you may be among those in the population that have not even
gotten their hands around the whole digital image sharing thing
yet. But this promising new technology may lead us to a world of
fewer cables to plug in, quicker transfer of our images, and in
the case of events in the world, the ability to share images of
news almost instantly.
As we saw in the recent bombings in London, folks with cell
phone cameras recorded the devastation they saw in the
underground and shared it with the world in almost real time
fashion. These new cameras may be able to take that sort of
thing to an all new level. Imagine cities that implement
widespread WiFi access and photographers with WiFi cameras
capturing images of news and other special events. They could
transmit those images right away and let the world see them. You
may concern how it works? Here is am eaxmaple:
Nikon has released two models of digital cameras that are WiFi
enabled. The idea is to be able to transmit your pictures
straight from the camera to your computer or printer through a
wireless adaptor. You bring up the images to transfer, hit "go",
and they get sent through the air to your printer. The Coolpix
P1 and P2 will be in the $400-$550 range in pricing and the
adaptor is extra. They are competing with Kodak which released
its own version of the WiFi camera in their Easy Share line of
cameras this year. Kodak has already gone to making it easy to
share photos by transmitting them at so called "wireless hot
spots", usually cafes or stores where wireless access is sold or
given away to customers. These efforts by the leading camera
makers seem aimed at adding value to their already impressive
digital technology.
Digital cameras continue to be hot sellers despite what some in
the industry thought would be a slowing of sales this year. Many
had predicted that cell phone cameras would slow digital camera
sales, but this is not happening.
About the author:
George Williams maintains many websites about network security,
including Wireless
Technology, and Wireless
Transmitter. Please visit his websites and find more
interesting issues about network.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Refurbished Laptops - Are They For You?
By: Dave Klein
Refurbished laptops are popular choices for those who need a new
laptop, but do not want to spend a lot of money. Refurbished and
used are not the same though. A used laptop usually means that a
private individual is selling their computer for some reason.
Often, there are no guarantees. A refurbished laptop is one that
is certified for resale and usually offers some sort of
guarantee or warranty.
When buying a refurbished laptop, you will be looking for one
will many of the same features and qualities of a new laptop.
Consider the size of laptop you are looking for before making a
purchase. If you will carry your laptop with you on travels or
on business trips, research the smaller, lightweight laptop
versions. This will usually be much easy to carry than the
larger sized laptops. Also, when looking at refurbished laptop
computers, think about the size of memory you will require. Many
of the lower priced laptops come with minimal amounts of memory.
That may be fine if all you need from your computer is very
basic web access and data processing. If you need to store large
amounts of documents, videos or pictures, look into getting a
laptop with a larger amount of memory.
The other thing to consider when looking for a refurbished
laptop is the speed of the computer. Laptops are generally a bit
slower than desktop computers, but with new technology, a good
laptop can be just as fast. If you are considering a refurbished
laptop, make sure that its features can be upgraded if necessary.
It is important to remember that refurbished laptops are
generally a better risk than buying a used computer. Used
computers usually have no guarantee and what you buy is what you
get. Refurbished laptops are carefully repaired and are
certified for resale. These laptops have been thoroughly
examined and inspected for worn and damaged parts. This means
that in theory, you get a "new" laptop and a fraction of the
cost. Also, refurbished laptops usually come with a warranty or
guarantee making them a wise buy for consumers concerned with
the quality.
Refurbished laptops can be purchased several ways. There are
many online dealers who sell certified refurbished laptops.
Often these dealers purchase and refurbish products by the lot
which makes them able to sell them to the consumer for a lower
price. Also, check with manufacturers. Many times, if you are
looking for a specific brand, they can recommend authorized
sellers of their refurbished equipment. This is often a good way
to get exactly what you are looking for and know for certain it
is being purchased from a reputable dealer.
Before you purchase any refurbished laptop, it is highly
recommended to make sure you know whom you are dealing with. Be
aware of computer dealers that you do not know or cannot verify
they are a genuine company. Refurbished laptops are often the
target of sales on the black market and are often found to be
stolen goods. If the dealer does not offer a warranty, consider
purchasing the computer from somewhere else.
About the author:
At http://www.bizlaptops.com we'll find you the best deals on cheap laptops as well discount laptops. Sign up
for our free "Amazing Laptop Deals" service.
Refurbished laptops are popular choices for those who need a new
laptop, but do not want to spend a lot of money. Refurbished and
used are not the same though. A used laptop usually means that a
private individual is selling their computer for some reason.
Often, there are no guarantees. A refurbished laptop is one that
is certified for resale and usually offers some sort of
guarantee or warranty.
When buying a refurbished laptop, you will be looking for one
will many of the same features and qualities of a new laptop.
Consider the size of laptop you are looking for before making a
purchase. If you will carry your laptop with you on travels or
on business trips, research the smaller, lightweight laptop
versions. This will usually be much easy to carry than the
larger sized laptops. Also, when looking at refurbished laptop
computers, think about the size of memory you will require. Many
of the lower priced laptops come with minimal amounts of memory.
That may be fine if all you need from your computer is very
basic web access and data processing. If you need to store large
amounts of documents, videos or pictures, look into getting a
laptop with a larger amount of memory.
The other thing to consider when looking for a refurbished
laptop is the speed of the computer. Laptops are generally a bit
slower than desktop computers, but with new technology, a good
laptop can be just as fast. If you are considering a refurbished
laptop, make sure that its features can be upgraded if necessary.
It is important to remember that refurbished laptops are
generally a better risk than buying a used computer. Used
computers usually have no guarantee and what you buy is what you
get. Refurbished laptops are carefully repaired and are
certified for resale. These laptops have been thoroughly
examined and inspected for worn and damaged parts. This means
that in theory, you get a "new" laptop and a fraction of the
cost. Also, refurbished laptops usually come with a warranty or
guarantee making them a wise buy for consumers concerned with
the quality.
Refurbished laptops can be purchased several ways. There are
many online dealers who sell certified refurbished laptops.
Often these dealers purchase and refurbish products by the lot
which makes them able to sell them to the consumer for a lower
price. Also, check with manufacturers. Many times, if you are
looking for a specific brand, they can recommend authorized
sellers of their refurbished equipment. This is often a good way
to get exactly what you are looking for and know for certain it
is being purchased from a reputable dealer.
Before you purchase any refurbished laptop, it is highly
recommended to make sure you know whom you are dealing with. Be
aware of computer dealers that you do not know or cannot verify
they are a genuine company. Refurbished laptops are often the
target of sales on the black market and are often found to be
stolen goods. If the dealer does not offer a warranty, consider
purchasing the computer from somewhere else.
About the author:
At http://www.bizlaptops.com we'll find you the best deals on cheap laptops as well discount laptops. Sign up
for our free "Amazing Laptop Deals" service.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
MacBook Pro
This is one sweet notebook. From the Apple website:
"MacBook Pro is the first Mac notebook built upon the revolutionary new Intel Core Duo. It’s actually two processors built into a single chip — which makes this by far the biggest leap in mobile Mac power you’ve ever seen.
More power, using less power.
Intel Core Duo is the first chip built using Intel’s groundbreaking 65-nanometer process — resulting in transistors so small, you could fit a hundred inside a single human cell. With smaller distances for electrons to travel, and two processors designed to share resources and conserve power, Intel Core Duo achieves higher levels of performance as it uses fewer watts. Which is what makes it possible to design a super-powerful MacBook Pro that’s only one inch thin."
Check it out.
"MacBook Pro is the first Mac notebook built upon the revolutionary new Intel Core Duo. It’s actually two processors built into a single chip — which makes this by far the biggest leap in mobile Mac power you’ve ever seen.
More power, using less power.
Intel Core Duo is the first chip built using Intel’s groundbreaking 65-nanometer process — resulting in transistors so small, you could fit a hundred inside a single human cell. With smaller distances for electrons to travel, and two processors designed to share resources and conserve power, Intel Core Duo achieves higher levels of performance as it uses fewer watts. Which is what makes it possible to design a super-powerful MacBook Pro that’s only one inch thin."
Check it out.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Get control of your PC with Norton Clean Sweep - Auto Recovery
By: Eric Koshinsky
Proper and regular maintenance of your computer system is simply
smart computing. With regular use system folders get cluttered
up, files get scattered around and lost, and the registry gets
full of unneeded information. Without proper upkeep, simply
using your computer normally and properly can end up reducing
its performance. Just like your car, your PC needs a regular
tuneup in order to work at peak performance.
Norton Clean Sweep is a set of tools help you do this regular
maintenance quickly and easily. It lets you free up disk space
and manage applications on your computer from one simple to use
control panel. It is designed to allow you better and safer
control over what gets deleted and cleaned from your computer
and when. Many people don't realize that Windows doesn't do the
best job of removing and deleting files and applications. Often
files are left on your machine and end up using valuable disk
space which impacts drive performance. Worse, often files are
often left in the system directories which leads to poor
computer performance.
Norton
CleanSweep helps manage both items you manually and those
that you remove through Windows' Add/Remove Programs. By doing
this you keep you machine working more smoothly and at a much
better level of performance.
Here is a partial list of some of the benefits Norton CleanSweep
provides:
Uninstall Cleaners:
* Uninstall Wizard -- Clean Sweep safely removes programs for
the safest and most complete removal. Fast & Safe
Cleanup--Searches your system finds and deletes specific file
types that are known to be safe to remove Internet Cache and
Cookie Cleanup--Quickly frees up valuable disk space by removing
files from your internet cache and Internet cookies. For
example files from websites you visited months ago but never
visited again
System Cleaners: Registry Sweep -- The Windows Registry is a
database of configuration information about your computer,
programs, and user settings. Many uninstallers do not remove
their registry entries. This dramatically reduces performance.
The registry sweeper cleans and optimizes your registry
Duplicate File Finder -- Often applications create duplicate
copies of files. Often people do it too, quite by mistake.
These waste disk space and can impact performance. Norton Clean
Sweep finds these and then lets you choose what to do with them
(keep, move, or delete).
Safe Cleanup -- This allows you to set certain file types that
will be placed into a special 'holding' area before being
deleted. So if you are a web developer you can tell it to
'hold' .html pages rather than directly deleting them. This
lets you review files one more time before actually deleting
them. You can tell clean sweep any number and kind of files to
protect (.doc, .jpg, .mp3, .xls) If you are in an office this
is a great way to protect valuable files from accidental
deleting.
Overall Norton Clean sweep is a nice addition to the Norton
Utilites suite of applications. It is now an integrated part of
Norton Utilities and/or Norton System Works. If you are a heavy
computer user or run a business, it is well worth the
investment.
About the author:
Eric Koshinsky created the layman's guide to antivirus and PC
protection after helping too many people deal with simple PC
problems. Find out exactly how to protect your computer from
harmful internet attacks at http://www.antivirus-report.com.
Proper and regular maintenance of your computer system is simply
smart computing. With regular use system folders get cluttered
up, files get scattered around and lost, and the registry gets
full of unneeded information. Without proper upkeep, simply
using your computer normally and properly can end up reducing
its performance. Just like your car, your PC needs a regular
tuneup in order to work at peak performance.
Norton Clean Sweep is a set of tools help you do this regular
maintenance quickly and easily. It lets you free up disk space
and manage applications on your computer from one simple to use
control panel. It is designed to allow you better and safer
control over what gets deleted and cleaned from your computer
and when. Many people don't realize that Windows doesn't do the
best job of removing and deleting files and applications. Often
files are left on your machine and end up using valuable disk
space which impacts drive performance. Worse, often files are
often left in the system directories which leads to poor
computer performance.
Norton
CleanSweep helps manage both items you manually and those
that you remove through Windows' Add/Remove Programs. By doing
this you keep you machine working more smoothly and at a much
better level of performance.
Here is a partial list of some of the benefits Norton CleanSweep
provides:
Uninstall Cleaners:
* Uninstall Wizard -- Clean Sweep safely removes programs for
the safest and most complete removal. Fast & Safe
Cleanup--Searches your system finds and deletes specific file
types that are known to be safe to remove Internet Cache and
Cookie Cleanup--Quickly frees up valuable disk space by removing
files from your internet cache and Internet cookies. For
example files from websites you visited months ago but never
visited again
System Cleaners: Registry Sweep -- The Windows Registry is a
database of configuration information about your computer,
programs, and user settings. Many uninstallers do not remove
their registry entries. This dramatically reduces performance.
The registry sweeper cleans and optimizes your registry
Duplicate File Finder -- Often applications create duplicate
copies of files. Often people do it too, quite by mistake.
These waste disk space and can impact performance. Norton Clean
Sweep finds these and then lets you choose what to do with them
(keep, move, or delete).
Safe Cleanup -- This allows you to set certain file types that
will be placed into a special 'holding' area before being
deleted. So if you are a web developer you can tell it to
'hold' .html pages rather than directly deleting them. This
lets you review files one more time before actually deleting
them. You can tell clean sweep any number and kind of files to
protect (.doc, .jpg, .mp3, .xls) If you are in an office this
is a great way to protect valuable files from accidental
deleting.
Overall Norton Clean sweep is a nice addition to the Norton
Utilites suite of applications. It is now an integrated part of
Norton Utilities and/or Norton System Works. If you are a heavy
computer user or run a business, it is well worth the
investment.
About the author:
Eric Koshinsky created the layman's guide to antivirus and PC
protection after helping too many people deal with simple PC
problems. Find out exactly how to protect your computer from
harmful internet attacks at http://www.antivirus-report.com.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Broadband DSL Compared To Cable Modems
By: Stephen Kreutzer
The speed of incoming and outgoing internet computer data can
vary between broadband DSL and cable modems. Understanding how
cable modems operate in comparison to DSL provides a better
understanding of why broadband DSL is the preferred choice in
broadband technology.
Cable modem internet service is used mainly in residential
settings rather than for business use because it is usually
offered as a package deal with cable television programming.
Cable programming uses separate channels within one main cable
for television broadcasting, outgoing internet computer data
from subscribers, and incoming internet computer data to
subscribers in specific locations. Unlike DSL, all cable
television and internet subscribers in a specific location share
the same cable to and from the provider. This means that every
cable subscriber sharing that single cable also share bandwidth.
The speed of internet service via a cable modem doesn't depend
on the distance to and from the provider. It depends on the
number of other subscribers on the same cable who are using the
internet simultaneously.
Broadband DSL allows subscribers to use the same telephone line
for telephone communication and internet access. Broadband DSL
uses frequencies that go way beyond the frequency range of
regular telephone service, so data transfer speed with DSL is
considerably greater than other options. Unlike cable modem
internet service, the speed of broadband DSL depends on the
distance the provider is to the DSL subscriber and connection
speed chosen by that DSL subscriber. DSL is generally faster
than broadband cable modem service because of greater amounts of
bandwidth availability. Broadband DSL is a dedicated internet
link that can be counted on for speed and reliability.
DSL is clearly the best choice of broadband technology for the
general public as well as businesses relying on fast connections
and internet downloads. Internet users can rely on broadband DSL
for faster internet browsing, game plays, and emailing, as well
as all other internet-based activities.
About the author:
Stephen Kreutzer is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino,
California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines
and provides broadband and DSL resources on GoTo-Broadband.com
http://pcgeek.info-blogs.com
The speed of incoming and outgoing internet computer data can
vary between broadband DSL and cable modems. Understanding how
cable modems operate in comparison to DSL provides a better
understanding of why broadband DSL is the preferred choice in
broadband technology.
Cable modem internet service is used mainly in residential
settings rather than for business use because it is usually
offered as a package deal with cable television programming.
Cable programming uses separate channels within one main cable
for television broadcasting, outgoing internet computer data
from subscribers, and incoming internet computer data to
subscribers in specific locations. Unlike DSL, all cable
television and internet subscribers in a specific location share
the same cable to and from the provider. This means that every
cable subscriber sharing that single cable also share bandwidth.
The speed of internet service via a cable modem doesn't depend
on the distance to and from the provider. It depends on the
number of other subscribers on the same cable who are using the
internet simultaneously.
Broadband DSL allows subscribers to use the same telephone line
for telephone communication and internet access. Broadband DSL
uses frequencies that go way beyond the frequency range of
regular telephone service, so data transfer speed with DSL is
considerably greater than other options. Unlike cable modem
internet service, the speed of broadband DSL depends on the
distance the provider is to the DSL subscriber and connection
speed chosen by that DSL subscriber. DSL is generally faster
than broadband cable modem service because of greater amounts of
bandwidth availability. Broadband DSL is a dedicated internet
link that can be counted on for speed and reliability.
DSL is clearly the best choice of broadband technology for the
general public as well as businesses relying on fast connections
and internet downloads. Internet users can rely on broadband DSL
for faster internet browsing, game plays, and emailing, as well
as all other internet-based activities.
About the author:
Stephen Kreutzer is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino,
California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines
and provides broadband and DSL resources on GoTo-Broadband.com
http://pcgeek.info-blogs.com
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
How to recover deleted or lost files
By: Julian Moss
It's a horrible feeling, the moment you realise that some
important document, or irreplaceable photos have vanished from
your computer. But that is no reason to despair. The chances are
that the data is still present, even if you know you deleted it.
Your computer operating system just does not know how to find it
any more.
The four most common reasons for data loss are:
* Deletion. You deleted the file by accident during a
disk cleanup, or because you thought it was no longer required.
It is not in the Recycle Bin. However, the data will still exist
until the space it occupied on the disk is are-used by another
file.
* Overwriting. You saved a new file over the top of the
old one. However, the old data may still exist, and be
recoverable.
* File system corruption. The disk suddenly appears
empty, or the file and folder names contain gibberish. The files
probably still exist, but the pointers to them have been lost or
corrupted and the operating system cannot find them.
* Physical damage or hardware failure. You receive error
messages when you try to read the disk, or it is not recognised
by the computer at all. The data is still likely to be present
on the disk itself, but the drive is incapable of accessing it.
In each case, there is a good chance that the data still exists.
The computer operating system isn't able to see it, but data
recovery software may be able to. If the problem is a hardware
failure then a data recovery service may be able to get back the
data using special equipment.
Prepare for data recovery
There is one cardinal rule of data recovery: for the best chance
of recovering the files you must not write any new data to the
disk they were stored on. The old data will only remain on the
disk until the space it occupied is used by another file. If the
disk is your computer's main drive, then the drive is being
written to all the time. You should turn off the computer
immediately, and use another computer to search for a solution
to recover your data. You should put your computer's hard disk
in another computer to do the data recovery, or use data
recovery that runs from a CD or floppy disk, because installing
the data recovery software on the drive could overwrite the very
data you want to recover.
Choosing the data recovery method
Data recovery tools use different methods to try to recover
data. Some tools are designed for recovering deleted files,
others are better at restoring overwritten files, or recovering
files from disks that are physically damaged. Some data recovery
software products have been developed specifically for
recovering photo images, or Microsoft Word or Excel document
files. Such products may succeed where others fail because they
understand what these files look like, and can recognise their
data when other clues to its existence have vanished.
It can be difficult to choose the most appropriate data recovery
method. Because of this, Tech-Pro has created a website called
Get Data Back (http://www.get-data-back.com). The site has a
Data Recovery Wizard that asks questions about the data you have
lost and how it was lost, and then recommends the product that
is most likely to be successful. It will also advise you if it
would be better to use a professional data recovery service.
Give the Get Data Back data
recovery site a try if you need to recover lost files.
This article is Copyright © 2006 Julian Moss. Reprint freely.
About the author:
Julian Moss is director of Tech-Pro Limited
(http://www.tech-pro.net), your trusted source for Windows
software, information and troubleshooting advice.
It's a horrible feeling, the moment you realise that some
important document, or irreplaceable photos have vanished from
your computer. But that is no reason to despair. The chances are
that the data is still present, even if you know you deleted it.
Your computer operating system just does not know how to find it
any more.
The four most common reasons for data loss are:
* Deletion. You deleted the file by accident during a
disk cleanup, or because you thought it was no longer required.
It is not in the Recycle Bin. However, the data will still exist
until the space it occupied on the disk is are-used by another
file.
* Overwriting. You saved a new file over the top of the
old one. However, the old data may still exist, and be
recoverable.
* File system corruption. The disk suddenly appears
empty, or the file and folder names contain gibberish. The files
probably still exist, but the pointers to them have been lost or
corrupted and the operating system cannot find them.
* Physical damage or hardware failure. You receive error
messages when you try to read the disk, or it is not recognised
by the computer at all. The data is still likely to be present
on the disk itself, but the drive is incapable of accessing it.
In each case, there is a good chance that the data still exists.
The computer operating system isn't able to see it, but data
recovery software may be able to. If the problem is a hardware
failure then a data recovery service may be able to get back the
data using special equipment.
Prepare for data recovery
There is one cardinal rule of data recovery: for the best chance
of recovering the files you must not write any new data to the
disk they were stored on. The old data will only remain on the
disk until the space it occupied is used by another file. If the
disk is your computer's main drive, then the drive is being
written to all the time. You should turn off the computer
immediately, and use another computer to search for a solution
to recover your data. You should put your computer's hard disk
in another computer to do the data recovery, or use data
recovery that runs from a CD or floppy disk, because installing
the data recovery software on the drive could overwrite the very
data you want to recover.
Choosing the data recovery method
Data recovery tools use different methods to try to recover
data. Some tools are designed for recovering deleted files,
others are better at restoring overwritten files, or recovering
files from disks that are physically damaged. Some data recovery
software products have been developed specifically for
recovering photo images, or Microsoft Word or Excel document
files. Such products may succeed where others fail because they
understand what these files look like, and can recognise their
data when other clues to its existence have vanished.
It can be difficult to choose the most appropriate data recovery
method. Because of this, Tech-Pro has created a website called
Get Data Back (http://www.get-data-back.com). The site has a
Data Recovery Wizard that asks questions about the data you have
lost and how it was lost, and then recommends the product that
is most likely to be successful. It will also advise you if it
would be better to use a professional data recovery service.
Give the Get Data Back data
recovery site a try if you need to recover lost files.
This article is Copyright © 2006 Julian Moss. Reprint freely.
About the author:
Julian Moss is director of Tech-Pro Limited
(http://www.tech-pro.net), your trusted source for Windows
software, information and troubleshooting advice.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Important Features To Look Out For When You Buy A Cheap Laptop
By: Charles Wee
If you are in the market for a cheap laptop, I am sure you will
be asking yourself that question. As prices for laptops continue
to fall every month, Laptops become cheaper yet more powerful
and this is really good news for cheap laptop buyers. However if
you have not been following computer technology, you can easily
be swarmed by too much information. This guide aims to give you
an idea what features you should look out for when you buy a
cheap laptop that cost less than US$1000.
Processor Most laptops have the capability to go wireless these
days. Wireless allows you to sit far away from a network point
and yet be able to surf the internet. With wireless capability,
you can be surfing your favorite sites in the living room
without all the ugly looking wires. At this price range, you can
expect a laptop with mobile Pentium processor with speed from
1.4 GHz to 1.8 GHz. So aim for at least a 1.4GHz when you shop
for a cheap laptop.
Graphics Display Graphics display is important because it
directly determines how fast a laptop displays information on
the screen. Most laptops at this price range come with
integrated graphics with memory size ranging from 64Mb to 128
Mb. You should always look for higher memory size so try to buy
a cheap laptop with integrated graphics with at least a 128mb ram
Hard Disk Most cheap laptops at this price range come with 60GB
hard disk. A bigger hard disk means you can store more files in
your laptop.
Memory This is an important feature to look out for. Modern
applications require a lot of memory resources to run. Look for
at least 512 MB ram. Fortunately most cheap laptop these days
come with at least 512MB.
Optical Drive Expect your cheap laptop to have at least a CD-RW
drive. CD-RW drive allows you to backup your files by writing
onto a CD. As prices fall further, expect cheap laptops to
include DVD / CD-RW drive in the near future. With DVD/ CD-RW
drive, not only can you backup your files easily, you can even
play DVD movies.
With this information to prepare you, I hope you are clearer now
when you shop for a cheap laptop.
About the author:
Charles Wee runs a free blog hosting service at Blogger Haven. He also
runs a website at CheapLaptopGuide
which provides free advice on shopping for cheap laptops, used
laptops and discount laptops
If you are in the market for a cheap laptop, I am sure you will
be asking yourself that question. As prices for laptops continue
to fall every month, Laptops become cheaper yet more powerful
and this is really good news for cheap laptop buyers. However if
you have not been following computer technology, you can easily
be swarmed by too much information. This guide aims to give you
an idea what features you should look out for when you buy a
cheap laptop that cost less than US$1000.
Processor Most laptops have the capability to go wireless these
days. Wireless allows you to sit far away from a network point
and yet be able to surf the internet. With wireless capability,
you can be surfing your favorite sites in the living room
without all the ugly looking wires. At this price range, you can
expect a laptop with mobile Pentium processor with speed from
1.4 GHz to 1.8 GHz. So aim for at least a 1.4GHz when you shop
for a cheap laptop.
Graphics Display Graphics display is important because it
directly determines how fast a laptop displays information on
the screen. Most laptops at this price range come with
integrated graphics with memory size ranging from 64Mb to 128
Mb. You should always look for higher memory size so try to buy
a cheap laptop with integrated graphics with at least a 128mb ram
Hard Disk Most cheap laptops at this price range come with 60GB
hard disk. A bigger hard disk means you can store more files in
your laptop.
Memory This is an important feature to look out for. Modern
applications require a lot of memory resources to run. Look for
at least 512 MB ram. Fortunately most cheap laptop these days
come with at least 512MB.
Optical Drive Expect your cheap laptop to have at least a CD-RW
drive. CD-RW drive allows you to backup your files by writing
onto a CD. As prices fall further, expect cheap laptops to
include DVD / CD-RW drive in the near future. With DVD/ CD-RW
drive, not only can you backup your files easily, you can even
play DVD movies.
With this information to prepare you, I hope you are clearer now
when you shop for a cheap laptop.
About the author:
Charles Wee runs a free blog hosting service at Blogger Haven. He also
runs a website at CheapLaptopGuide
which provides free advice on shopping for cheap laptops, used
laptops and discount laptops
Friday, January 13, 2006
Protect Your Privacy
By: Matt Garrett
The internet is evolving rapidly as its uses grow in number and
variety. More and more users are shopping online, chatting with
their friends, or just browsing the web for something
interesting. But the net isn't an entirely safe place; some
people out there are waiting to take advantage of you and invade
your privacy. There are some special kinds of computer program
that can help to protect yourself against such threats. Let's
see how a simple free spyware remover program can help.
· How does it work? Spyware programs are little pieces of
software that transmit information about you and your computer
to someone else on the internet. It can follow your net usage to
see what kind of web-sites you prefer, which programs you use or
where you do your online shopping. Some can read private
documents, including e-mail and credit card numbers. To prevent
this from happening, it is advisable that you protect your
computer using a free spyware remover.
· How does spyware get on your computer? You don't install
spyware, but spyware gets installed on you. They are often part
of other free programs that you download from undependable
sources on the web or borrow from your friends. It's like an
add-on that may or may not be mentioned in the small print,
which is something that nobody ever reads.
· How do you recognize spyware? If you've been experiencing
unexplained pop-ups lately, or been receiving a lot of unwanted
mail, then try to remember if you installed some unverified
software on your machine in recent times. If yes, then it is
quite probable that you have spyware on your computer. In some
cases, you may receive unwanted info about products that are
somehow related to something you told a friend in a past e-mail
conversation. If that keeps happening, it's almost an
unmistakable sign of spyware activity.
· How do you remove spyware? The simplest and easiest way to get
rid of spyware is to install a free remover that you can
download from the internet. Often internet service providers
know about the problems created by spyware, and can recommend
you a good free remover or they can give you one. Just ask them
which one is right and tell them what symptoms you have been
experiencing: too much spam, or your computer slowing down
because of too many pop-ups. It is very easy to install a free
spyware remover, just by following the steps and clicking on the
'next' button. If you think one program is not effective, you
can always uninstall it and download another.
· How to prevent spyware? You can prevent spyware by reading up
on web security and by being choosy about what software you
install on your computer. After all, prevention is always better
than cure. But just to be on the safe side, it is a good idea to
keep a free spyware remover on your machine and check things
once in a while. If you want a more professional solution than
the free versions provide, you can buy a pro spyware remover.
Remember, you have the right to your privacy, and nobody has the
right to invade it, unless they have a valid legal/moral reason
or your specific consent.
About the author:
Matt Garrett GhostSurf
Anonymous Surfing www.XoftSpy.co.uk
The internet is evolving rapidly as its uses grow in number and
variety. More and more users are shopping online, chatting with
their friends, or just browsing the web for something
interesting. But the net isn't an entirely safe place; some
people out there are waiting to take advantage of you and invade
your privacy. There are some special kinds of computer program
that can help to protect yourself against such threats. Let's
see how a simple free spyware remover program can help.
· How does it work? Spyware programs are little pieces of
software that transmit information about you and your computer
to someone else on the internet. It can follow your net usage to
see what kind of web-sites you prefer, which programs you use or
where you do your online shopping. Some can read private
documents, including e-mail and credit card numbers. To prevent
this from happening, it is advisable that you protect your
computer using a free spyware remover.
· How does spyware get on your computer? You don't install
spyware, but spyware gets installed on you. They are often part
of other free programs that you download from undependable
sources on the web or borrow from your friends. It's like an
add-on that may or may not be mentioned in the small print,
which is something that nobody ever reads.
· How do you recognize spyware? If you've been experiencing
unexplained pop-ups lately, or been receiving a lot of unwanted
mail, then try to remember if you installed some unverified
software on your machine in recent times. If yes, then it is
quite probable that you have spyware on your computer. In some
cases, you may receive unwanted info about products that are
somehow related to something you told a friend in a past e-mail
conversation. If that keeps happening, it's almost an
unmistakable sign of spyware activity.
· How do you remove spyware? The simplest and easiest way to get
rid of spyware is to install a free remover that you can
download from the internet. Often internet service providers
know about the problems created by spyware, and can recommend
you a good free remover or they can give you one. Just ask them
which one is right and tell them what symptoms you have been
experiencing: too much spam, or your computer slowing down
because of too many pop-ups. It is very easy to install a free
spyware remover, just by following the steps and clicking on the
'next' button. If you think one program is not effective, you
can always uninstall it and download another.
· How to prevent spyware? You can prevent spyware by reading up
on web security and by being choosy about what software you
install on your computer. After all, prevention is always better
than cure. But just to be on the safe side, it is a good idea to
keep a free spyware remover on your machine and check things
once in a while. If you want a more professional solution than
the free versions provide, you can buy a pro spyware remover.
Remember, you have the right to your privacy, and nobody has the
right to invade it, unless they have a valid legal/moral reason
or your specific consent.
About the author:
Matt Garrett GhostSurf
Anonymous Surfing www.XoftSpy.co.uk
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Think You Have A Dead Hard Drive?
By: Thomas Swaney
So you think that hard drive has finally died? Have you got the
dreaded "Inaccessible Boot Device" or "Unmountable Boot Volume"
message? There are several things that you may be able to do but
one thing not to do is PANIC!! Listed below you will find
several things to try and depending on the value of the data to
you there is always - Data Recovery Services - a costly but
normally effective method of getting the data back from that
expired hard drive. But try these things first:
Windows 2000 or Windows XP
Running CHKDSK
Boot to the Windows 2000 or XP CD and when you see the Welcome
to Setup press the letter R. You will get a DOS prompt. Type
"chkdsk /p" without the quotes and hit enter. Type "fixboot"
without the quotes and hit enter. Type "Y" without the quotes
and hit enter.
Type "exit" without the quotes and hit enter.
The system should now restart and boot into the Windows
operating system. If this doesn't work try the Recovery Console.
Running Recovery Console (*This process will take longer)
Boot to the Windows 2000 or XP CD and when you see the Welcome
to Setup press the letter R (for recovery).
You will get a DOS prompt.
Type "chkdsk /p" without the quotes and hit enter. Type "exit"
without the quotes and hit enter. The system should now restart
and boot into the Windows operating system.
Disconnect the drive power cable and data cable. Reconnect the
cables and try booting again. Try the drive in another computer
that you know works but install it as a slave drive. When you
boot up and go into Windows Explorer you should see an
additional drive. If the drive is there I would copy all of the
important files to the C drive of the computer immediately of
the computer that you are using to test the drive with.
If the drive is not there you can use Hard Disk Drive Recovery
Software or a Hard Disk Drive Recovery Service (NOTE: You should
do your research on the service or software that you use due to
the fact that the service or software could destroy the data on
the drive and you probably only have one chance for data
recovery using either of these methods).
Just a reminder to prevent this problem in the future BACKUP,
BACKUP, BACKUP!!
You can purchase external hard drives that will allow you to
backup your computer automatically at scheduled times every day.
These drives will allow you to restore data from several days
past in the event that you loose or have a hard drive crash. You
should also get a battery backup if you get one of these drives
to be sure that the power doesn't go out while using the drive.
This could cause you to loose the information on the backup
drive due to hard drive corruption.
About the author:
Thomas Swaney
Computer Consultant/Database Designer
Join our forum at:
http://www.pcknowledgevault.com
So you think that hard drive has finally died? Have you got the
dreaded "Inaccessible Boot Device" or "Unmountable Boot Volume"
message? There are several things that you may be able to do but
one thing not to do is PANIC!! Listed below you will find
several things to try and depending on the value of the data to
you there is always - Data Recovery Services - a costly but
normally effective method of getting the data back from that
expired hard drive. But try these things first:
Windows 2000 or Windows XP
Running CHKDSK
Boot to the Windows 2000 or XP CD and when you see the Welcome
to Setup press the letter R. You will get a DOS prompt. Type
"chkdsk /p" without the quotes and hit enter. Type "fixboot"
without the quotes and hit enter. Type "Y" without the quotes
and hit enter.
Type "exit" without the quotes and hit enter.
The system should now restart and boot into the Windows
operating system. If this doesn't work try the Recovery Console.
Running Recovery Console (*This process will take longer)
Boot to the Windows 2000 or XP CD and when you see the Welcome
to Setup press the letter R (for recovery).
You will get a DOS prompt.
Type "chkdsk /p" without the quotes and hit enter. Type "exit"
without the quotes and hit enter. The system should now restart
and boot into the Windows operating system.
Disconnect the drive power cable and data cable. Reconnect the
cables and try booting again. Try the drive in another computer
that you know works but install it as a slave drive. When you
boot up and go into Windows Explorer you should see an
additional drive. If the drive is there I would copy all of the
important files to the C drive of the computer immediately of
the computer that you are using to test the drive with.
If the drive is not there you can use Hard Disk Drive Recovery
Software or a Hard Disk Drive Recovery Service (NOTE: You should
do your research on the service or software that you use due to
the fact that the service or software could destroy the data on
the drive and you probably only have one chance for data
recovery using either of these methods).
Just a reminder to prevent this problem in the future BACKUP,
BACKUP, BACKUP!!
You can purchase external hard drives that will allow you to
backup your computer automatically at scheduled times every day.
These drives will allow you to restore data from several days
past in the event that you loose or have a hard drive crash. You
should also get a battery backup if you get one of these drives
to be sure that the power doesn't go out while using the drive.
This could cause you to loose the information on the backup
drive due to hard drive corruption.
About the author:
Thomas Swaney
Computer Consultant/Database Designer
Join our forum at:
http://www.pcknowledgevault.com
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Apple's Powerful Desktop PC
The world’s best designed and easiest-to-use desktop just got faster. Now with the Intel Core Duo processor with two execution cores on a single chip — iMac brings a new generation of power to the amazing things it can do.
Twice the HorsepowerThe Intel Core Duo processor and a whole new architecture give iMac literally twice the horsepower it had previously.
Twice the HorsepowerThe Intel Core Duo processor and a whole new architecture give iMac literally twice the horsepower it had previously.
Computer Security: The Essential Components for A Safe Computer
By: Sara Chambers
These days, computers are almost as common in households as
telephones. Computers themselves do not cause any threat to
individual security. When connected with networks and the chaos
that is the World Wide Web, computers have become the tools that
identity thieves and hackers use to extrapolate this chaos. In
order to establish computer security, software companies have
created devices to ward off the hazards and hassles of viruses,
spyware, pop-ups and spam.
The first of these creations is anti-virus software. There are
two main companies that offer this software: McAfee and Norton.
These programs work to scan the files on your computer and check
them for attributes that are in viruses or are often linked with
viruses. These traits or attributes are often called virus
definitions and need to be downloaded on a relatively regular
basis. In addition to the files on your computer, files on CDs,
floppy discs and e-mails can and should be filed. There is no
question on this one: anti-virus software is vital to computer
security.
Next on the list is spyware scanning software. Spyware occurs
when certain websites run programs in the back ground of your
computer while gleaning information from it. The information can
be as benign as tracking what type of websites you look at, to
actually acquiring passwords. Regardless of the type of spyware,
it can slow your computer to a crawl and needs to be removed
from your computer. Two popular software options are Spy Sweeper
and Ad-ware.
Last, but certainly not least are pop-up blockers and span
filters. Not only are pop-ups and spam annoying, but these often
contain the spyware scanning software explained above. In
addition, they can slow your computer down incredibly. And when
you are angry at your computer, your computer is not secure!
In addition to these software items, there are a few more tricks
you can use to keep your computer and your information secure. Password
secure everything you can, and when you create the passwords,
don't make them easy. Do not use your name, your birthday or
your social security number. And, if you are on an unsecured
wireless network, do not check your bank statements. These
networks allow several people on them at one time. Remember,
hackers are smart. You have to be smarter!
About the author:
Sara Chambers is a marketing consultant and an internet content
manager for http://www.computersecurity
blog.com
These days, computers are almost as common in households as
telephones. Computers themselves do not cause any threat to
individual security. When connected with networks and the chaos
that is the World Wide Web, computers have become the tools that
identity thieves and hackers use to extrapolate this chaos. In
order to establish computer security, software companies have
created devices to ward off the hazards and hassles of viruses,
spyware, pop-ups and spam.
The first of these creations is anti-virus software. There are
two main companies that offer this software: McAfee and Norton.
These programs work to scan the files on your computer and check
them for attributes that are in viruses or are often linked with
viruses. These traits or attributes are often called virus
definitions and need to be downloaded on a relatively regular
basis. In addition to the files on your computer, files on CDs,
floppy discs and e-mails can and should be filed. There is no
question on this one: anti-virus software is vital to computer
security.
Next on the list is spyware scanning software. Spyware occurs
when certain websites run programs in the back ground of your
computer while gleaning information from it. The information can
be as benign as tracking what type of websites you look at, to
actually acquiring passwords. Regardless of the type of spyware,
it can slow your computer to a crawl and needs to be removed
from your computer. Two popular software options are Spy Sweeper
and Ad-ware.
Last, but certainly not least are pop-up blockers and span
filters. Not only are pop-ups and spam annoying, but these often
contain the spyware scanning software explained above. In
addition, they can slow your computer down incredibly. And when
you are angry at your computer, your computer is not secure!
In addition to these software items, there are a few more tricks
you can use to keep your computer and your information secure. Password
secure everything you can, and when you create the passwords,
don't make them easy. Do not use your name, your birthday or
your social security number. And, if you are on an unsecured
wireless network, do not check your bank statements. These
networks allow several people on them at one time. Remember,
hackers are smart. You have to be smarter!
About the author:
Sara Chambers is a marketing consultant and an internet content
manager for http://www.computersecurity
blog.com
Monday, January 09, 2006
Building A Wireless Network In Your Home
By: Jason Bauder
If you have more than one computer which most of us do nowadays,
it is important to note that you can now easily and
inexpensively connect them to one network. Its called networking
and although its been around for years, only recently has the
technology become cheap enough to network home computers easily,
inexpensively and most importantly wirelessly.
A few years ago if you wanted to connect two computers in the
same home, they have better be in the same room or else you
would have to drill holes throughout the house to run wires from
one computer to the other. Now it is simple, many manufacturers
make products that easily connect your homes computers to one
network which can all access the internet.
Today's standard is 802.11g which is compatible with the older
802.11B. These standards are used by many companies. You don't
have to worry if a certain component will work on your network,
since all the manufacturers are on the same standard.
In order to have a wireless network, you will need a wireless
network interface card for each computer. This card allows each
computer to communicate with other computers on the network. You
will also need a wireless bridge which is an adapter that plugs
into the internet or server and allows all of the computers in
the network to receive an internet connection or files from the
server.
Setting up a connection is super simple and you usually will be
up and running in no time. Most of the major networking
manufacturers offer technical assistance in case you have any
snags. So if you want to connect all your home computers
together, look into a wireless home network.
About the author:
Jay is the web owner of http://www.dsl-in.com DSL, a website that provides
information and resources on DSL, DSL Service, and DSL Service
Providers. You can also visit his website at:
http://www.dsl-service.us DSL Service
If you have more than one computer which most of us do nowadays,
it is important to note that you can now easily and
inexpensively connect them to one network. Its called networking
and although its been around for years, only recently has the
technology become cheap enough to network home computers easily,
inexpensively and most importantly wirelessly.
A few years ago if you wanted to connect two computers in the
same home, they have better be in the same room or else you
would have to drill holes throughout the house to run wires from
one computer to the other. Now it is simple, many manufacturers
make products that easily connect your homes computers to one
network which can all access the internet.
Today's standard is 802.11g which is compatible with the older
802.11B. These standards are used by many companies. You don't
have to worry if a certain component will work on your network,
since all the manufacturers are on the same standard.
In order to have a wireless network, you will need a wireless
network interface card for each computer. This card allows each
computer to communicate with other computers on the network. You
will also need a wireless bridge which is an adapter that plugs
into the internet or server and allows all of the computers in
the network to receive an internet connection or files from the
server.
Setting up a connection is super simple and you usually will be
up and running in no time. Most of the major networking
manufacturers offer technical assistance in case you have any
snags. So if you want to connect all your home computers
together, look into a wireless home network.
About the author:
Jay is the web owner of http://www.dsl-in.com DSL, a website that provides
information and resources on DSL, DSL Service, and DSL Service
Providers. You can also visit his website at:
http://www.dsl-service.us DSL Service
Friday, January 06, 2006
The Purpose of Anti-Virus Software
By: James Hunt
Anti-virus software is software that you install on your
computer so that you can be alerted when you have a virus.
Anti-virus software will help to keep your computer safe against
worms, viruses, Trojan horses, and other uninvited programs.
The software can also help you clean your computer if you should
happen to have a virus. The important thing to remember about
anti-virus software is that you make sure to update it often so
that you get the latest computer virus definitions installed
into the software program. There is no point in having the
anti-virus software if you're not going to update it. You'll be
able to get updates from the vendor that sold you the anti-virus
software, such as Norton.
Many times you may already have anti-virus software on your
computer in which case you be sure to uninstall it before
installing your new software. To find out if you have virus
software check under your Start menu to see if you one listed,
such as McAfee or Norton. Keep in mind that just because you
have anti-virus software already installed on your computer that
it (1) might not be working, and (2) hasn't been updated for a
long time.
Once you've installed anti-virus software on your computer
you're going to want to make sure that you use it correctly.
Make sure that the settings in your computer automatically turn
the anti-virus software on when you boot up your computer. You
always want to be protected. If you're downloading something off
the Internet your anti-virus software will let you know if there
is a problem.
You can also use the anti-virus software to specifically scan
any downloads, or files, that that have been sent to you via
e-mail. If you are alerted that you have a virus your software
will guide you with the right steps to removing it. Make sure
that you don't continue to use your computer until the virus, or
worm that you have, is removed. You don't want to send e-mail to
friends and help in the spreading of the virus.
About the author:
James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and
researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of
interest. Read more at www.anti-virus-so
ftware-guide.com
Anti-virus software is software that you install on your
computer so that you can be alerted when you have a virus.
Anti-virus software will help to keep your computer safe against
worms, viruses, Trojan horses, and other uninvited programs.
The software can also help you clean your computer if you should
happen to have a virus. The important thing to remember about
anti-virus software is that you make sure to update it often so
that you get the latest computer virus definitions installed
into the software program. There is no point in having the
anti-virus software if you're not going to update it. You'll be
able to get updates from the vendor that sold you the anti-virus
software, such as Norton.
Many times you may already have anti-virus software on your
computer in which case you be sure to uninstall it before
installing your new software. To find out if you have virus
software check under your Start menu to see if you one listed,
such as McAfee or Norton. Keep in mind that just because you
have anti-virus software already installed on your computer that
it (1) might not be working, and (2) hasn't been updated for a
long time.
Once you've installed anti-virus software on your computer
you're going to want to make sure that you use it correctly.
Make sure that the settings in your computer automatically turn
the anti-virus software on when you boot up your computer. You
always want to be protected. If you're downloading something off
the Internet your anti-virus software will let you know if there
is a problem.
You can also use the anti-virus software to specifically scan
any downloads, or files, that that have been sent to you via
e-mail. If you are alerted that you have a virus your software
will guide you with the right steps to removing it. Make sure
that you don't continue to use your computer until the virus, or
worm that you have, is removed. You don't want to send e-mail to
friends and help in the spreading of the virus.
About the author:
James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and
researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of
interest. Read more at www.anti-virus-so
ftware-guide.com
Thursday, January 05, 2006
Dual-Core Processor Wars: AMD X2 vs Intel Pentium D
By: Peter Stewart
There's a war going on and the latest battle continues to offer
the promise of good prices to consumers looking for the best
stuff for their computer.
Since the inception of dual-core processors a little while back
the race has been on to see who can get the better chip with
this dual-core processor technology.
During the final days of the single-core battles, there was a
stalemate between AMD and Intel. Intel's clocked higher but were
unable to match the speeds that the AMD managed at lower clock
speeds.
The oldest difference between them has been their suitability
for specific tasks. AMD have had the gaming sector in the bag,
especially in terms of the value for money possible with their
lower clocked chips, which could be overclocked to the same
speeds as their top models. Intel has the crown for general
performance. When it comes to office related tasks, Intel
processors are able to outperform AMD chips in these areas.
As the ability to clock the chips any higher became more and
more difficult technically, the next step was to just add
another core, theoretically allowing twice as much number
crunching in a dual-core processor. This is not exactly how it
works however.
Modern operating systems and programs have not been designed
with multiple-core or dual-core processors in mind. They were
designed to make use of one core on one processor. The major
expense that went with multiple processor computers was the
circuitry needed to split tasks up amongst the processors and
sharing cache.
Dual-core processors simply act like two places for tasks to go.
Instead of single tasks getting split up and performed in two
different places, as is the case with traditional single core
processors, single threads get split up amongst the cores. This
essentially means that each program gets assigned to a core.
Because of this there is absolutely no increase in speed for
gaming from dual-core processor chips. Only once the games
themselves have been programmed to take advantage of dual-core
processors will there be a difference. This is due to the
intensive nature of games and the number crunching needed for
intense graphics, which for now cannot be split over multiple
cores in dual-core processors.
So back to the battlefield.
AMD were the first to introduce their dual-core processor
solution to a desktop computer. This gave them a slight lead
over Intel. Despite this, AMD gave people a bit of a surprise
with their new offering.
Always having been renowned for giving far more than expected
for the price, these new dual-core processors were very
expensive. Part of what managed to give AMD a hold in a market
previously dominated by Intel was their good pricing. This shock
did not go down well with consumers.
To add insult to injury, Intel's dual-core processor offerings
came in at remarkably good value. Both of their initial
dual-core processors cost less than AMD's lowest priced model.
That's right, AMD's cheapest dual-core processor cost more than
Intel's most expensive. This definitely put the ball in Intel's
court and was downright disappointing for AMD fans.
AMD did manage to introduce a cheaper model to compete better
with the Intel offerings. Despite this, Intel was still the
forerunner in this area.
Performance remains an area that is sketchy.
With the relatively new technology involved it is hard to draw a
clear conclusion on who is faster. With operating systems only
recently oriented towards fully utilizing dual-core processor
technology, it is still new territory. Both offer increased
performance, but as to who will rule the roost, we'll have to
see.
For the meantime it would probably be advisable to just watch.
Being a cautious buyer I prefer to buy into a sure thing, once
things have settled down, prices will balance out and all the
related technology will be in place. Then we will be able to get
a true opinion on where to put your hard earned cash.
About the author:
Get the most honest and useful reviews and Dual-core processor
reviews at our Desktop
Computer Hardware Reviews site or get practical computer
buying tips at our Computer Buying Guide
site
There's a war going on and the latest battle continues to offer
the promise of good prices to consumers looking for the best
stuff for their computer.
Since the inception of dual-core processors a little while back
the race has been on to see who can get the better chip with
this dual-core processor technology.
During the final days of the single-core battles, there was a
stalemate between AMD and Intel. Intel's clocked higher but were
unable to match the speeds that the AMD managed at lower clock
speeds.
The oldest difference between them has been their suitability
for specific tasks. AMD have had the gaming sector in the bag,
especially in terms of the value for money possible with their
lower clocked chips, which could be overclocked to the same
speeds as their top models. Intel has the crown for general
performance. When it comes to office related tasks, Intel
processors are able to outperform AMD chips in these areas.
As the ability to clock the chips any higher became more and
more difficult technically, the next step was to just add
another core, theoretically allowing twice as much number
crunching in a dual-core processor. This is not exactly how it
works however.
Modern operating systems and programs have not been designed
with multiple-core or dual-core processors in mind. They were
designed to make use of one core on one processor. The major
expense that went with multiple processor computers was the
circuitry needed to split tasks up amongst the processors and
sharing cache.
Dual-core processors simply act like two places for tasks to go.
Instead of single tasks getting split up and performed in two
different places, as is the case with traditional single core
processors, single threads get split up amongst the cores. This
essentially means that each program gets assigned to a core.
Because of this there is absolutely no increase in speed for
gaming from dual-core processor chips. Only once the games
themselves have been programmed to take advantage of dual-core
processors will there be a difference. This is due to the
intensive nature of games and the number crunching needed for
intense graphics, which for now cannot be split over multiple
cores in dual-core processors.
So back to the battlefield.
AMD were the first to introduce their dual-core processor
solution to a desktop computer. This gave them a slight lead
over Intel. Despite this, AMD gave people a bit of a surprise
with their new offering.
Always having been renowned for giving far more than expected
for the price, these new dual-core processors were very
expensive. Part of what managed to give AMD a hold in a market
previously dominated by Intel was their good pricing. This shock
did not go down well with consumers.
To add insult to injury, Intel's dual-core processor offerings
came in at remarkably good value. Both of their initial
dual-core processors cost less than AMD's lowest priced model.
That's right, AMD's cheapest dual-core processor cost more than
Intel's most expensive. This definitely put the ball in Intel's
court and was downright disappointing for AMD fans.
AMD did manage to introduce a cheaper model to compete better
with the Intel offerings. Despite this, Intel was still the
forerunner in this area.
Performance remains an area that is sketchy.
With the relatively new technology involved it is hard to draw a
clear conclusion on who is faster. With operating systems only
recently oriented towards fully utilizing dual-core processor
technology, it is still new territory. Both offer increased
performance, but as to who will rule the roost, we'll have to
see.
For the meantime it would probably be advisable to just watch.
Being a cautious buyer I prefer to buy into a sure thing, once
things have settled down, prices will balance out and all the
related technology will be in place. Then we will be able to get
a true opinion on where to put your hard earned cash.
About the author:
Get the most honest and useful reviews and Dual-core processor
reviews at our Desktop
Computer Hardware Reviews site or get practical computer
buying tips at our Computer Buying Guide
site
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Why Do I Still Get Viruses?
By: Darren Miller
Original URL (The Web version of the article)
http://www.defendingthenet.com/newsletters/WhyDoIStillGetViruses.
htm
Viruses & Anti-Virus Software
Many people have Anti-Virus software installed. Many of the
major Anti-Virus software company's now promote what they call
"Security Suites" or packages. These Security Suites contain
everything from Anti-Virus, Firewall Protection, SPAM and Pop-Up
blockers, and Ad-ware protection. Quite often, once the software
is installed people find out that things they use to be able to
do on the Internet are no longer possible. So what happens is
portions or all of the software they purchased to protect their
computer get disabled. The result, an ineffective software
program that you paid good money for! Worst than that, most
people have no idea exactly how the Anti-Virus portion of the
package should be configured. Leaving it up to the default
configuration to defend their computers. Most of the manuals
that come with these software packages seem to be written for
those who understand the intricate workings of computers along
with every computer acronym ever invented!
Most everyone who owns a computer knows about viruses. Years
ago, viruses were more of an annoyance than anything. But as
time passed those who develop viruses became more astute at
their trade and started developing viruses with malicious
intent.
It's amazing that we regularly find computers without any
anti-virus protection at all. Typically, those who do not, find
out rather quickly how important virus protection is. In
addition to the many computers we find without virus protection,
we find many computers do not have the anti-virus software
configured and running properly to protect them from even the
most basic type of infection.
What is a Virus?
------------
A virus is a type of program that can execute on your computer
and has the ability to replicate itself. Computer viruses, like
biological viruses, spread quickly and in many cases , are quite
difficult to stop and destroy. They can attach themselves to
many types of files. As these files are transferred between
multiple computers each computer along the away becomes infected
and has the ability to continue spreading the infection.
What is a Trojan?
------------
A Trojan is software that can perform unauthorized tasks on your
computer. More often than not, these tasks are malicious in
nature. The biggest difference between a trojan and a virus is
that Viruses have the ability to replicate whereas a Trojan
typically does not. If your computer becomes infected with a
Trojan it can cause;
Damage to your computers software, Operating System, and data;
Your system can become unstable and exhibit unexpected behavior;
The security of your system becomes compromised; It could lead
to the unauthorized access of your computer;
Beware programs and software in pretty packages (for free
usually). Remember what happen to the Trojan's of Greek
Mythology!
What is Malware?
------------
The word "Malware" is short for "Malicious Software". It refers
to any software or programs with malicious intent such as
viruses, Trojans, worms, droppers, and kits. Just as a note, not
all Malware should be considered a virus but the majority can be
considered as such.
What can a Virus do to me?
------------
There are many malicious actions a virus, worm, or general
Malware can take. Just a few examples are;
Change or delete important data on your computer such as
documents, music and video files, and possibly destroy all data
on your computer; Search for important information such as
contact lists and use this information to replicate itself by
sending everyone in your contact lists an e-mail with the
virus/worm attached;
Spread amongst all your computers in various methods such as
e-mail and file sharing; Disguise itself as a legitimate part of
the Operating System - making it very difficult to detect and
destroy; and just about anything else malicious you can think up!
Virus Life Cycle
------------
Creation - In the past it took significant skill to create a
virus. However, anyone with even basic skills can create a
virus. In fact, there are virus creation labs freely available
on the Internet. This can allow anyone to create interesting and
potentially malicious code;
Replication - If one of the main goals of the virus developer is
the replication or spread of the virus, many viruses will lay
dormant and wait for a certain event to take place like a date
something similar. This allows the virus to replicate to many
systems before it activates; Activation - Once certain
requirements or conditions are met, the virus will activate
itself and execute the code that causes damage to your computer.
Not all virus cause damage. Non-damaging virus usually do not
need activation; Identification - Once the virus has infected
computers and activated themselves in the wild (on your
computer), they are isolated and documented and sent to the
anti-virus companies; Recognition - The anti-virus companies
then develop the code necessary to detect the virus, update
their virus signature patterns, and make them available to their
customers. This process can be rather quick or can take days or
months; Destruction - If enough people are protected by
anti-virus software that can detect, isolate, and destroy the
virus, it can be stopped from spreading;
Based on current information and statistics no virus has yet to
be completely eradicated!
How do I Protect my Computer?
------------
The most obvious thing that you can do is install anti-virus
software. In fact, this is not so much an option as it is a
requirement. That is if you want to be protected and not A) lose
everything you have on your computer, B) spread viruses to your
friends, family and associates, C) be a productive part of the
public network (Internet) community.
In addition, you need to make sure that your anti-virus software
is functioning properly;
Make sure that your anti-virus subscription is not out of date.
In some cases, if your subscription is out of date, the product
ceases to function or can no longer download new virus patterns.
Preventing it from detecting the latest viruses; If you receive
an unsolicited piece of e-mail do not open it. Delete the e-mail
right away; Many e-mail clients have the ability to give you a
preview of the e-mail before actually opening it. If your e-mail
client is configured this way, turn it off. This can actually
allow the virus to activate the moment you highlight the e-mail;
If you receive e-mail from a friend or associate that you were
not expecting, or one that has an odd subject line like
"Subject: The pictures I promised you!" or "The program you
requested", contact your fiend and ask them if they actually
sent it; Configure you anti-virus software to check for virus
pattern updates on a frequent basis. Checking once a week is
probably not good enough. At the very least, configure it to
check at least once a day. Our systems check more frequently
than that; Make sure your anti-virus software is configured to
perform a scheduled scan of your computer. Many people rely on
the "real-time" scanning which is suppose to catch viruses in
real-time as you select and open files. This is not 100%
accurate and nothing substitutes for a thorough manual scan of
"all" your system files Don't rely on anti-virus software alone.
Make sure that you are using some sort of anti ad-ware and
spy-ware software. These programs can catch a plethora of
malicious software that your anti-virus software may miss.
Conclusion
------------
All it takes is one bad experience with a damaging virus to make
you realize how vulnerable you and your computers are. Be
diligent in your defense against Malware and your computer /
Internet experience will be more enjoyable. The same goes for
small and medium sized business. Those who have been down for a
day or days as the result of a virus will know exactly what I am
talking about.
About the author:
About The Author
------------
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with over
sixteen years experience. He has written many technology &
security articles, some of which have been published in
nationally circulated magazines & periodicals. If you would like
to contact Darren you can e-mail him at
Darren.Miller@ParaLogic.Net. If you would like to know more
about computer security please visit us at http://www.defe
Original URL (The Web version of the article)
http://www.defendingthenet.com/newsletters/WhyDoIStillGetViruses.
htm
Viruses & Anti-Virus Software
Many people have Anti-Virus software installed. Many of the
major Anti-Virus software company's now promote what they call
"Security Suites" or packages. These Security Suites contain
everything from Anti-Virus, Firewall Protection, SPAM and Pop-Up
blockers, and Ad-ware protection. Quite often, once the software
is installed people find out that things they use to be able to
do on the Internet are no longer possible. So what happens is
portions or all of the software they purchased to protect their
computer get disabled. The result, an ineffective software
program that you paid good money for! Worst than that, most
people have no idea exactly how the Anti-Virus portion of the
package should be configured. Leaving it up to the default
configuration to defend their computers. Most of the manuals
that come with these software packages seem to be written for
those who understand the intricate workings of computers along
with every computer acronym ever invented!
Most everyone who owns a computer knows about viruses. Years
ago, viruses were more of an annoyance than anything. But as
time passed those who develop viruses became more astute at
their trade and started developing viruses with malicious
intent.
It's amazing that we regularly find computers without any
anti-virus protection at all. Typically, those who do not, find
out rather quickly how important virus protection is. In
addition to the many computers we find without virus protection,
we find many computers do not have the anti-virus software
configured and running properly to protect them from even the
most basic type of infection.
What is a Virus?
------------
A virus is a type of program that can execute on your computer
and has the ability to replicate itself. Computer viruses, like
biological viruses, spread quickly and in many cases , are quite
difficult to stop and destroy. They can attach themselves to
many types of files. As these files are transferred between
multiple computers each computer along the away becomes infected
and has the ability to continue spreading the infection.
What is a Trojan?
------------
A Trojan is software that can perform unauthorized tasks on your
computer. More often than not, these tasks are malicious in
nature. The biggest difference between a trojan and a virus is
that Viruses have the ability to replicate whereas a Trojan
typically does not. If your computer becomes infected with a
Trojan it can cause;
Damage to your computers software, Operating System, and data;
Your system can become unstable and exhibit unexpected behavior;
The security of your system becomes compromised; It could lead
to the unauthorized access of your computer;
Beware programs and software in pretty packages (for free
usually). Remember what happen to the Trojan's of Greek
Mythology!
What is Malware?
------------
The word "Malware" is short for "Malicious Software". It refers
to any software or programs with malicious intent such as
viruses, Trojans, worms, droppers, and kits. Just as a note, not
all Malware should be considered a virus but the majority can be
considered as such.
What can a Virus do to me?
------------
There are many malicious actions a virus, worm, or general
Malware can take. Just a few examples are;
Change or delete important data on your computer such as
documents, music and video files, and possibly destroy all data
on your computer; Search for important information such as
contact lists and use this information to replicate itself by
sending everyone in your contact lists an e-mail with the
virus/worm attached;
Spread amongst all your computers in various methods such as
e-mail and file sharing; Disguise itself as a legitimate part of
the Operating System - making it very difficult to detect and
destroy; and just about anything else malicious you can think up!
Virus Life Cycle
------------
Creation - In the past it took significant skill to create a
virus. However, anyone with even basic skills can create a
virus. In fact, there are virus creation labs freely available
on the Internet. This can allow anyone to create interesting and
potentially malicious code;
Replication - If one of the main goals of the virus developer is
the replication or spread of the virus, many viruses will lay
dormant and wait for a certain event to take place like a date
something similar. This allows the virus to replicate to many
systems before it activates; Activation - Once certain
requirements or conditions are met, the virus will activate
itself and execute the code that causes damage to your computer.
Not all virus cause damage. Non-damaging virus usually do not
need activation; Identification - Once the virus has infected
computers and activated themselves in the wild (on your
computer), they are isolated and documented and sent to the
anti-virus companies; Recognition - The anti-virus companies
then develop the code necessary to detect the virus, update
their virus signature patterns, and make them available to their
customers. This process can be rather quick or can take days or
months; Destruction - If enough people are protected by
anti-virus software that can detect, isolate, and destroy the
virus, it can be stopped from spreading;
Based on current information and statistics no virus has yet to
be completely eradicated!
How do I Protect my Computer?
------------
The most obvious thing that you can do is install anti-virus
software. In fact, this is not so much an option as it is a
requirement. That is if you want to be protected and not A) lose
everything you have on your computer, B) spread viruses to your
friends, family and associates, C) be a productive part of the
public network (Internet) community.
In addition, you need to make sure that your anti-virus software
is functioning properly;
Make sure that your anti-virus subscription is not out of date.
In some cases, if your subscription is out of date, the product
ceases to function or can no longer download new virus patterns.
Preventing it from detecting the latest viruses; If you receive
an unsolicited piece of e-mail do not open it. Delete the e-mail
right away; Many e-mail clients have the ability to give you a
preview of the e-mail before actually opening it. If your e-mail
client is configured this way, turn it off. This can actually
allow the virus to activate the moment you highlight the e-mail;
If you receive e-mail from a friend or associate that you were
not expecting, or one that has an odd subject line like
"Subject: The pictures I promised you!" or "The program you
requested", contact your fiend and ask them if they actually
sent it; Configure you anti-virus software to check for virus
pattern updates on a frequent basis. Checking once a week is
probably not good enough. At the very least, configure it to
check at least once a day. Our systems check more frequently
than that; Make sure your anti-virus software is configured to
perform a scheduled scan of your computer. Many people rely on
the "real-time" scanning which is suppose to catch viruses in
real-time as you select and open files. This is not 100%
accurate and nothing substitutes for a thorough manual scan of
"all" your system files Don't rely on anti-virus software alone.
Make sure that you are using some sort of anti ad-ware and
spy-ware software. These programs can catch a plethora of
malicious software that your anti-virus software may miss.
Conclusion
------------
All it takes is one bad experience with a damaging virus to make
you realize how vulnerable you and your computers are. Be
diligent in your defense against Malware and your computer /
Internet experience will be more enjoyable. The same goes for
small and medium sized business. Those who have been down for a
day or days as the result of a virus will know exactly what I am
talking about.
About the author:
About The Author
------------
Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with over
sixteen years experience. He has written many technology &
security articles, some of which have been published in
nationally circulated magazines & periodicals. If you would like
to contact Darren you can e-mail him at
Darren.Miller@ParaLogic.Net. If you would like to know more
about computer security please visit us at http://www.defe
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
How to find cheap laptop computers
By: Garry Allen
Ah yes, I want a laptop but I am not going to spend a couple of
thousand dollars for one. Well guess what you don't have to.
Laptop prices have come down dramatically over the past year
alone and they will continue to do so as technology advances.
But the trick here is to find good quality laptops that fit your
needs at the cheapest prices available today.
Now, don't get me wrong, this does not mean that they are
cheaply made. Thanks to the wonders of the technological cycle,
laptop computers are decreasing in price as their capabilities
rise. Of course, there are the latest and greatest monsters out
there that are made for gaming or high powered multimedia
applications and these babies still cost a pretty penny.
But for the average user, you can find cheap laptop computers
that provide all the power you need and then some. Every major
manufacturer out there, like Dell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, and IBM
have their lower end and intermediate models that come with more
than enough speed and usability.
Now here is the key to finding the right cheap computer laptop
for you, and that is to figure out exactly what you need it
for.
Are you going to use it mainly for surfing the web or word
processing? Do you need it to work from home or mainly to save
your MP3s and digital pictures?
Ok, so now you have an idea of what you want to use your laptop
for. Now lets go out shopping and compare. You can visit any of
the top manufacturers websites or visit your local store and
find their low end or intermediate models that may suit your
needs. The three top components of a computer you want to look
for is the hard drive size, memory, and processor speeds and
take notes of each model you find on each component and
model.
The hard drive, you can consider this the brain of your
computer, this is where all your files, applications and folders
are stored. If you plan on using your computer for MP3s and
digital pictures your hard drive should be large since these
files are usually very large. I personally would look at 80gb as
minimum.
Next would be the memory, memory can be considered the thought
processes of your computer. As a minimum I would look at 512mb
but if you plan on using your laptop for gaming of course this
should be much larger, in the area of 1 to 2gb. Now memory is
used whenever a program or application is running. So the more
memory you have the faster your computer can process the
program.
And finally your processor, now your processor is just that it
processes all the inner workings of how each program runs. The
faster the processor is, the faster the program instructions are
processed. Again if your looking for a laptop for gaming uses
you want your processor with high speeds 2ghz or more. For other
uses you can go less.
Other parts of the computer to also consider are the ports
involved that can connect your computer to your digital camera
or your mp3 player for example. You also want to check that your
laptop has wireless and broadband connectivity. Many cheap
computer laptops today already come with this but you want to
make sure or you will have to pay additional, for example, a
wireless card to install in your laptop to have this
capability.
About the author:
For more free computer and laptop news, tips and reviews visit
http://www.best-rated-laptops-and-computers.info
Ah yes, I want a laptop but I am not going to spend a couple of
thousand dollars for one. Well guess what you don't have to.
Laptop prices have come down dramatically over the past year
alone and they will continue to do so as technology advances.
But the trick here is to find good quality laptops that fit your
needs at the cheapest prices available today.
Now, don't get me wrong, this does not mean that they are
cheaply made. Thanks to the wonders of the technological cycle,
laptop computers are decreasing in price as their capabilities
rise. Of course, there are the latest and greatest monsters out
there that are made for gaming or high powered multimedia
applications and these babies still cost a pretty penny.
But for the average user, you can find cheap laptop computers
that provide all the power you need and then some. Every major
manufacturer out there, like Dell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, and IBM
have their lower end and intermediate models that come with more
than enough speed and usability.
Now here is the key to finding the right cheap computer laptop
for you, and that is to figure out exactly what you need it
for.
Are you going to use it mainly for surfing the web or word
processing? Do you need it to work from home or mainly to save
your MP3s and digital pictures?
Ok, so now you have an idea of what you want to use your laptop
for. Now lets go out shopping and compare. You can visit any of
the top manufacturers websites or visit your local store and
find their low end or intermediate models that may suit your
needs. The three top components of a computer you want to look
for is the hard drive size, memory, and processor speeds and
take notes of each model you find on each component and
model.
The hard drive, you can consider this the brain of your
computer, this is where all your files, applications and folders
are stored. If you plan on using your computer for MP3s and
digital pictures your hard drive should be large since these
files are usually very large. I personally would look at 80gb as
minimum.
Next would be the memory, memory can be considered the thought
processes of your computer. As a minimum I would look at 512mb
but if you plan on using your laptop for gaming of course this
should be much larger, in the area of 1 to 2gb. Now memory is
used whenever a program or application is running. So the more
memory you have the faster your computer can process the
program.
And finally your processor, now your processor is just that it
processes all the inner workings of how each program runs. The
faster the processor is, the faster the program instructions are
processed. Again if your looking for a laptop for gaming uses
you want your processor with high speeds 2ghz or more. For other
uses you can go less.
Other parts of the computer to also consider are the ports
involved that can connect your computer to your digital camera
or your mp3 player for example. You also want to check that your
laptop has wireless and broadband connectivity. Many cheap
computer laptops today already come with this but you want to
make sure or you will have to pay additional, for example, a
wireless card to install in your laptop to have this
capability.
About the author:
For more free computer and laptop news, tips and reviews visit
http://www.best-rated-laptops-and-computers.info
Monday, January 02, 2006
Cable or DSL Broadband?
FullService Broadband Provider
I've been asked this question so many times I thought I'd put my
thoughts down here for you to read. Let's start by pointing out
a couple things first. First off, depending on where you live,
you may not have a choice of access. Satellite may be your only
choice, which makes this null and void. Don't fret, satellite is
better than any dial-up and the contract lengths are generally
12-14 months in length. It will cost a bit more, given the extra
equipment involved, but it certainly beats dial-up (if you can
afford it).
Ok, on to the two major broadband access methods, cable and DSL.
When I'm asked this question, I usually follow it with questions
of my own.
1st. What type of internet surfing do you do? Are you a gamer,
shopper, email user, web developer, music downloader, online
video watcher, video editor or casual surfer?
2nd. How many computers will you have connected to the internet
at one time?
3rd. Do you plan on 'leveraging' your broadband investment for
home security or VoIP? (Voice over Internet Protocol is a method
of making and receiving your phone calls using your broadband
connection.)
When making your decision keep in mind that cable access,
generally, cost more. The higher cost comes with the benefits of
more speed. Up to 6 meg download, or the amount of information
you can receive 'down' from the internet.
Loading web pages, listening to music online or watching video
online are all impacted by your download speed. DSL is about 1.5
meg down in comparison. Not only does this impact 'your' surfing
behavior, but if you plan to have more than 1 computer access
the internet at the same time, keep in mind you're 'sharing'
this connection. Sharing the connection means sharing that
download 'pipe'. (your internet connection) Uploading to the
internet (file attachments in email, uploading web pages, etc.
impact your upload speed. Cable upload speeds are around 384K
while DSL is around 128K.
If you wish to leverage your investment in broadband by using
VoIP, keep in mind that DSL is provided through the copper wires
of your phone line. Having VoIP as a primary phone line without
local phone service is very, very rare. This type of access is
called 'naked DSL' and is not very common. We hope this will
change in time, but for now, check with your local phone
company. If you plan on leveraging your investment, check first.
So the answer to the question Cable or DSL is really all about
your usage and what you're willing to pay. Yes, cable is more
expensive but it also comes with the additional benefits of
faster speed and the ability to leverage your investment using
VoIP as a primary phone service.
Lastly, when I'm asked what I personally use at home? I use
cable broadband access and VoIP phone service. I'm very pleased
with both and don't plan on changing any time soon.
If you're still unsure which is right for you, there are many
web sites out there to provide you with additional information.
Our site can help you as well so we hope to see you there!
Happy surfing.
About the author:
FullService
Broadband provider. We provide unbiased and informative
information on broadband and communication products and
services. Our free service is possible through Try Right Technology, Inc.
I've been asked this question so many times I thought I'd put my
thoughts down here for you to read. Let's start by pointing out
a couple things first. First off, depending on where you live,
you may not have a choice of access. Satellite may be your only
choice, which makes this null and void. Don't fret, satellite is
better than any dial-up and the contract lengths are generally
12-14 months in length. It will cost a bit more, given the extra
equipment involved, but it certainly beats dial-up (if you can
afford it).
Ok, on to the two major broadband access methods, cable and DSL.
When I'm asked this question, I usually follow it with questions
of my own.
1st. What type of internet surfing do you do? Are you a gamer,
shopper, email user, web developer, music downloader, online
video watcher, video editor or casual surfer?
2nd. How many computers will you have connected to the internet
at one time?
3rd. Do you plan on 'leveraging' your broadband investment for
home security or VoIP? (Voice over Internet Protocol is a method
of making and receiving your phone calls using your broadband
connection.)
When making your decision keep in mind that cable access,
generally, cost more. The higher cost comes with the benefits of
more speed. Up to 6 meg download, or the amount of information
you can receive 'down' from the internet.
Loading web pages, listening to music online or watching video
online are all impacted by your download speed. DSL is about 1.5
meg down in comparison. Not only does this impact 'your' surfing
behavior, but if you plan to have more than 1 computer access
the internet at the same time, keep in mind you're 'sharing'
this connection. Sharing the connection means sharing that
download 'pipe'. (your internet connection) Uploading to the
internet (file attachments in email, uploading web pages, etc.
impact your upload speed. Cable upload speeds are around 384K
while DSL is around 128K.
If you wish to leverage your investment in broadband by using
VoIP, keep in mind that DSL is provided through the copper wires
of your phone line. Having VoIP as a primary phone line without
local phone service is very, very rare. This type of access is
called 'naked DSL' and is not very common. We hope this will
change in time, but for now, check with your local phone
company. If you plan on leveraging your investment, check first.
So the answer to the question Cable or DSL is really all about
your usage and what you're willing to pay. Yes, cable is more
expensive but it also comes with the additional benefits of
faster speed and the ability to leverage your investment using
VoIP as a primary phone service.
Lastly, when I'm asked what I personally use at home? I use
cable broadband access and VoIP phone service. I'm very pleased
with both and don't plan on changing any time soon.
If you're still unsure which is right for you, there are many
web sites out there to provide you with additional information.
Our site can help you as well so we hope to see you there!
Happy surfing.
About the author:
FullService
Broadband provider. We provide unbiased and informative
information on broadband and communication products and
services. Our free service is possible through Try Right Technology, Inc.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Understanding Sleep And Hibernate Power Settings On Your
By: Eve Larson
New computers come with two new power settings that may be
unfamiliar to many people. The settings known as "sleep" and
"hibernate" may sound fun and playful but can actually be
powerful tools to extend the life of your computer, give your
laptop a longer battery life, and waste less energy. Let's take
a look at how to get the most use out of these new settings.
Let's say you're going to lunch, a meeting, or going to run some
errands, but will be coming back to use your computer in a few
hours. You might want to turn your computer off so it doesn't
waste electricity, but your "computer guy" (or girl) told you
it's dangerous to turn your computer on and off all the time, so
what do you do? This would be a perfect time to use the "sleep
mode" on your computer. When you tell your computer to go to
sleep, it turns off the monitor, stops the disk drives and saves
its current state into memory. When you return, just touch your
mouse or keyboard and your computer quickly wakes up, and you're
exactly where you left off.
What if you're going to be away from your computer for a longer
period of time but will be coming back relatively soon? This is
when you should use the hibernate mode. Think of hibernate is a
deeper state of sleep. In hibernate mode your monitor is shut
off, hard disks are stopped and your state is saved. A major
difference between sleep and hibernate is power consumption. In
sleep mode your computer is in a very low power state, and can
wake up quickly. In hibernate mode your computer isn't using any
power so it takes longer to warm up.
Some other tips you should keep in mind are always save your
existing work before going into sleep or hibernate modes.
Occasionally the computer will fail to wake up and you will lose
any unsaved data. Laptop owners should also remember sleep uses
power and will eventually drain the battery.
© Copyright TabletPC.6LN.com, All Rights Reserved.
About the author:
Eve Larson writes news and computer tips for tablet pc's,
laptops and desktop computers on her website http://www.tabletpc.6ln.com , where you can read more tips or subscribe to her blog.
New computers come with two new power settings that may be
unfamiliar to many people. The settings known as "sleep" and
"hibernate" may sound fun and playful but can actually be
powerful tools to extend the life of your computer, give your
laptop a longer battery life, and waste less energy. Let's take
a look at how to get the most use out of these new settings.
Let's say you're going to lunch, a meeting, or going to run some
errands, but will be coming back to use your computer in a few
hours. You might want to turn your computer off so it doesn't
waste electricity, but your "computer guy" (or girl) told you
it's dangerous to turn your computer on and off all the time, so
what do you do? This would be a perfect time to use the "sleep
mode" on your computer. When you tell your computer to go to
sleep, it turns off the monitor, stops the disk drives and saves
its current state into memory. When you return, just touch your
mouse or keyboard and your computer quickly wakes up, and you're
exactly where you left off.
What if you're going to be away from your computer for a longer
period of time but will be coming back relatively soon? This is
when you should use the hibernate mode. Think of hibernate is a
deeper state of sleep. In hibernate mode your monitor is shut
off, hard disks are stopped and your state is saved. A major
difference between sleep and hibernate is power consumption. In
sleep mode your computer is in a very low power state, and can
wake up quickly. In hibernate mode your computer isn't using any
power so it takes longer to warm up.
Some other tips you should keep in mind are always save your
existing work before going into sleep or hibernate modes.
Occasionally the computer will fail to wake up and you will lose
any unsaved data. Laptop owners should also remember sleep uses
power and will eventually drain the battery.
© Copyright TabletPC.6LN.com, All Rights Reserved.
About the author:
Eve Larson writes news and computer tips for tablet pc's,
laptops and desktop computers on her website http://www.tabletpc.6ln.com , where you can read more tips or subscribe to her blog.
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