Information Technology And Tech. News

ziddu

2011-12-09T09:44:00.000-08:00

Ziddu is very much helpful to earn money by uploading file and input the link to your won website.
just registered your name and start your earning.
http://www.ziddu.com/download/17757593/HridoyKhan-ILoveYou.mp3.html

How to create custom menu and shortcut menus by using macro in Access2007

2011-12-01T22:00:00.000-08:00

In MS Access2007 you can create Custom menu and Shortcut menu, I think it will be helpful to make a database in MS Access.

You can use Access macros to create custom shortcut menus that appear when you right-click forms, reports, or individual controls. You can also create custom menus that appear on the Ribbon for specific forms or reports.

To create a menu by using macros, you perform three main steps:

Create a macro group that defines the menu commands.
Create another macro that creates the menu itself.
Attach the menu to a control, a form, a report, or to the database as a whole.

The following sections walk you through these steps in detail.

Step 1: Create a macro group that contains the menu commands

In this step, you create a macro group, each macro of which will be a separate command on your shortcut menu.

what is macro Group?

On the Create tab, in the Other group, click Macro. If this command is unavailable, click the arrow beneath either the Module or the Class Module button, and then click Macro.

On the Design tab, in the Show/Hide group, click Macro Names to display the Macro Name column.

For each command that you want on your custom Shortcut Menu:

In the Macro Name column, enter the text that you want to display on the shortcut menu (for example, "Print report" or "Save").

Note To create an access key so that you can use the keyboard to choose the command, type an ampersand (&) before the letter that you want to be the access key in the command name (for example, "&Save"). This letter will be underlined on the menu.

In the Action column, select the first action you would like to take place when you click the command on the shortcut menu.
If there are more actions that you want to take place when you select this command, add them on the subsequent lines. For each subsequent action, leave the Macro Name cell blank.

Note To create a line between two menu commands, type a hyphen (-) in the Macro Name column between the appropriate menu commands.

Save and name the macro, for example, mcrShortcutMenuCommands.

The following illustration shows an example macro group for a custom menu or shortcut menu.

Step 2: Create a macro that creates the menu

This step might seem redundant, but to create the shortcut menu from the macro group that you created in Step 1, you must create a second macro that contains the Add menu macro action. This macro is sometimes called the "menu macro".

On the Create tab, in the Other group, click Macro. If this command is unavailable, click the arrow beneath either the Module or the Class Module button, and then click Macro.

On the first line of the macro, select AddMenu in the Action list.
Under Action Arguments, in the Menu Name box, type the name of the menu (for example, "Report Commands"). This argument is not required, but is recommended if, in Step 3, you plan to add the menu to a Ribbon tab (such as the Add-Ins tab of a form or report). If the menu is added as a shortcut menu in Step 3, the Menu Name argument is ignored.
In the Menu Macro Name box, enter the name of the macro that you created in Step 1.
Save and name the macro, for example, mcrAddShortcutMenu.

The following illustration shows an example menu macro that creates the menu we designed in Step 1.

Step 3: Attach the menu to a control, form, report, or database

Depending on where you want the menu to appear, use one or more of the following procedures.

Add the menu to the Add-Ins tab of a form or report

Use this procedure if you want the menu to appear on the Add-Ins tab for a specific form or report, as shown in the following illustration:

In the Navigation Pane, right-click the form or report where you want the menu to appear, and then click Design View.
On the Design tab, in the Show/Hide group, click Property Sheet.

Select the entire object by selecting Form or Report from the list at the top of the Property Sheet task pane.
On the Other tab on the Property Sheet, in the Shortcut Menu property box, type the name of the macro that you created in Step 2 (in this example, “mcrAddShortcutMenu”).

The next time you open the form or report, the Add-Ins tab appears in the Ribbon. Click the tab to see the menu.

The Ribbon is a component of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface.

Add the menu as a shortcut menu for a form, report, or control

Use this procedure if you want the menu to appear when you right-click a specific form, report, or control, as shown in the following illustration:

In the Navigation Pane, right-click the form or report where you want the shortcut menu to appear, and then click Design View.
On the Design tab, in the Show/Hide group, click Property Sheet.

Select the control or object to which you want to attach the shortcut menu.

Note To select the entire object, select Form or Report from the list at the top of the Property Sheet task pane.

On the Other tab on the Property Sheet, in the Shortcut Menu Bar property box, type the name of the macro that you created in Step 2 (in this example, “mcrAddShortcutMenu”).

Add the menu as a global shortcut menu

This procedure replaces all of the default shortcut menus in the current database. Custom shortcut menus that you have attached to specific forms, reports, or controls are not affected.

Click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Access Options.
In the Access Options dialog box, click Current Database.
Under Ribbon and Toolbar Options, in the Shortcut Menu Bar box, type the name of the macro that you created in Step 2 (in this example, “mcrAddShortcutMenu”).

Notes

Custom shortcut menus replace the default shortcut menus for the objects they are attached to. If you want to retain certain Access commands to use on these menus, use the RunCommand action to put the commands into the macro groups for the menus you want them in.
A custom shortcut menu that is attached to a control supersedes any other custom shortcut menus that are defined in the database. A custom shortcut menu that is attached to a form or report supersedes a custom global shortcut menu.
When you specify a menu macro for a form or report or for the database, Access runs this menu macro whenever the form, report, or database is opened. If you make changes to the menu macro or the macro group that defines its commands while the form, report, or database is open, you must close the form, report, or database and reopen it to see the changes.
To create a submneu, follow Step 1 to create a separate macro group that contains only the submenu commands. Then, follow Step 1 again to define the commands for the higher-level menu. Add the submenu as an item in the higher-level macro group by using the AddMenu macro action. The following illustration shows the macro group for a menu that contains a submenu, and then shows the resulting shortcut menu. The third line in the macro group creates the Export To... submenu (mcrSubMenu).

You can create multiple levels of submenus by using AddMenu actions in the macro groups for each level of menu. Make sure to supply a value for the Menu Name argument for each AddMenu action, otherwise the submenu will appear as a blank line in the higher-level menu.

Macro conditions are supported in the top-level menu macro only. In other words, you can use a condition in a menu macro to determine if a particular menu or shortcut menu will be displayed, but only for the menus on the top level. You can't use conditions to display or hide commands or submenus on the menus. You can also use a condition to hide or show a custom shortcut menu or global shortcut menu.
Optionally, the menu macro that you create in Step 2 can be part of a macro group. For example, if you have several shortcut menus for different objects or controls, you can create a single macro object that contains all of the necessary menu macros. Make sure to display the Macro Name column and type a unique name for each macro. In Step 3, use the following notation to refer to the macro: macrogroupname.macroname. For example, mcrAddShortcutMenus.AddMenu2.

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How to change Windows XPStartup sound

2009-11-22T19:55:00.000-08:00

To change windows XP Startup sound and shutdown sound. you have to choose .wav file.
because that sound are .wav format. select your sound which is wav file, and copy to
C:\windows\media and give file name of Windows XP startup and Windows XP shutdown.
then you can able to listen your favorite sound every time when your PC start and shut down.
remember that file must be within 1 MB.

Run Windows Xp in Vista Using virtual PC 2007

2009-02-20T04:36:00.000-08:00

Microsoft virtual PC 2007 is a free program that lets you run almost any OS in virtual machine window,without affecting your primary operating system.
Download and install Virtual PC. Launch it, click next to start the wizard , and click next again to crate a virtual machine. The wizard then asks you to confirm the amount of memory and disk space to dedicate to the virtual machine. If you have 2 GB or more on your host PC, give 512 MB to the virtual XP machine. Unless you plan to install lots of apps, the default hard-disk size is usally fine.
Click next and then finish, and your virtual machine will appear in the virtual PC Console. Insert an XP installation CD and then doubble click the virtual machine icon in the virtual PC Console to start it up. Select the optical drive in the virtual PC's CD menu, choose action and then click Ctrl-Alt-Del to boot the virtual machine from the CD. After that ,the installation process should proceed just as it would on a nonvirtual PC. To run your virtual XP machine, select it in the Virtual PCConsole and click start. To close, choose Save state from the list of options. nad click OK.Clicking within the virtualzed OS window once allows it to capture the mouse pointer.
In the virtual PC menu , click action install or Update virtual machine additions to install several tools that will allow youto copyand paste text between the virtual machineand the host PC, as well as to send documents back and forth via a shared folder on the host system.
To get the mouse pointer to realese back to the host OS, press the right hand key and drag the mouse outof the Virtual PC window.

Security Optimization

2008-12-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

Use these programs to kill infections and prevent them from attacking your machine in the first place.

Comodo Firewall Pro (free) this excellent firewall has been rated as one of the top tools of its kind by the independent testing site Matousec , which found that Comodo has the highest level of “antileak” protection(in sense, a measure of a Firewall’s effectiveness). It offers two-way protection and a great view into your system and your internet connection as well.

Avast (Free) A lightweight antivirus utility, Avast won’t weigh down your system by consuming too many system resources –yet it does a great job scanning

AVG Antivirus Free Edition (Free) AVG’s excellent antivirus software is similarly prudent with PC resources, simple to use, and easily configurable.

Spyware Blaster (Free) keep your system in top running form by stopping the installation of active X-based malware and other types of spyware.

Spybot Search & Destroy (Free) A longtime favorite, spybot offers live protection against spyware installations, and scans your system for pre-existing spyware and squashes it.

Ad-ware 2008 (free) some people like to use more than one scanner.

Ad-ware does a great job of scanning, and it lets you put potentially damaging software in a quarantine area, where you can later restore the item if it isn’t dangerous.

Trend Micro HijackThis (Free) it you think your PC is infected with spyware, but your spyware killer can’t track it down, try this freebie, after Hijack This analyzes your Registry and file, which you can upload to one of several HijackThis Web forums for the community to analyze.

Creative’s Zen X-Fi : An All-Around Star

2008-12-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

Creative’s Zen X-Fi is a tremendous digital music player , offering more out of the box features than Apple’s recently revamped iPod’s . the X-Fi has great sound, superb headphones, expendable storage via SD Card, and the ability to stream and download music from your PC wirelessly. It looks great, too. Its features differentiate this player from the competition. Not only can you download music, video and images wirelesslt to the device, but you can also stream media from your PC from creative servers, or from a computer that’s running on an open network.

Creative’s heralded X-Fi Xtreme fidelity Audio playback deserves much of the credit fro this player’s amazing sound. It delivered dep, clean well-defined audio.

As much as I found to like about the X-Fi, it does have some limitations. It doesn’t work with Mac OS X (only with XP and Vista); its online chat application doesn’t work well; and you won’t get the same degree of integration with third –party speaker systems, car stereos, and accessories that you would with the ubiquitous iPod.

The masses may continue to think iPod first when they need a new MP3 player. But you check out the X-Fi , too : it might be the most innovative, features-packed player on the market, and it’s an absolute steal for the price.

Power Supplies

2008-11-16T09:53:00.000-08:00

The computer’s components would not be able to operate without power. The device in the
computer that provides this power is the power supply (Figure 1.36). A power supply converts
110 volt or 220 volt AC current into the DC voltages that a computer needs to operate. These
are +3.3 volts DC, +5 volts DC, –5 volts DC (ground), +12 volts DC, –12 volts DC (ground),
and +5 volts DC standby. The 3.3 volts DC and +5 volts DC standby voltages were first used
by ATX motherboards.
FIGURE 1 . 3 6 A power supply

Power supplies are rated in watts. A watt is a unit of power. The higher the number, the
more power the power supply (and thus your computer) can use. Most computers use power
supplies in the 250- to 500-watt range.
Classic power supplies used only three types of connectors to power the various devices
within the computer (Figure 1.37): floppy drive power connectors (Berg connectors), AT system
connectors (P8 and P9), and standard peripheral power connectors (Molex connectors).
Each has a different appearance and way of connecting to the device. In addition, each type
is used for a specific purpose. Newer systems have a variety of similar, replacement, and additional connectors.

Expansion Slots

2008-11-16T09:28:00.000-08:00

Fig:1.4

The most visible parts of any motherboard are the expansion slots. These look like small plastic
slots, usually from 3 to 11 inches long and approximately 1⁄2 inch wide. As their name suggests,
these slots are used to install various devices in the computer to expand its capabilities. Some
expansion devices that might be installed in these slots include video, network, sound, and disk
interface cards.
If you look at the motherboard in your computer, you will more than likely see one of the
main types of expansion slots used in computers today:
ISA
PCI
AGP
PCIe
AMR
CNR
Each type differs in appearance and function. In this section, we will cover how to visually
identify the different expansion slots on the motherboard.
ISA Expansion Slots
If you have a computer made before 1997, chances are the motherboard has a few Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) expansion slots. They’re easily recognizable because they are
usually black and have two parts: one shorter and one longer. Computers made after 1997
generally include a few ISA slots for backward compatibility with old expansion cards
(although most computers are phasing them out in favor of PCI). Figure 1.4 shows an example
of ISA expansion slots.
PCI Expansion Slots
Most computers made today contain primarily Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)
slots. They are easily recognizable because they are short (around 3 inches long) and usually
white. PCI slots can usually be found in any computer that has a Pentium-class processor or
higher. Figure 1.5 shows an example of several PCI expansion slots.
AGP Expansion Slots
Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) slots are very popular for video card use. In the past, if
you wanted to use a high-speed, accelerated 3D graphics video card, you had to install the
card into an existing PCI or ISA slot. AGP slots were designed to be a direct connection
between the video circuitry and the PC’s memory. They are also easily recognizable because
they are usually brown, are located right next to the PCI slots on the motherboard, and are
shorter than the PCI slots. Figure 1.6 shows an example of an AGP slot, along with a PCI
slot for comparison. Notice the difference in length between the two.
PCIe Expansion Slots
The newest expansion slot architecture that is being used by motherboards is PCI Express
(PCIe). It was designed to be a replacement for AGP and PCI. It has the capability of being
faster than AGP while maintaining the flexibility of PCI. And motherboards with PCIe will
have regular PCI slots for backward compatibility with PCI.
FIGURE 1 . 5 PCI expansion slots

FIGURE 1 . 6 An AGP slot compared to a PCI slot

There are seven different speed levels for PCIe, and they are designated 1X, 2X, 4X, 8X,
12X, 16X, and 32X. These designations roughly correspond to similarly designated AGP
speeds. The slots for PCIe are a bit harder to identify than other expansion slot types because
the slot size corresponds to its speed. For example, the 1X slot is extremely short (less than an
inch). The slots get longer in proportion to the speed; the longer the slot, the higher the speed.
The reason for this stems from the PCIe concept of lanes, which are the multiplied units of
communication between any two PCIe components and are directly related to physical wiring
on the bus. Because all PCIe communications are made up of unidirectional coupling between
devices, each PCIe card negotiates for the best mutually supported number of lanes with each
communications partner.
AMR Expansion Slots
As is always the case, Intel and other manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to
improve the production process. One lengthy process that would often slow down the production
of motherboards with integrated analog I/O functions was FCC certification. The
manufacturers developed a way of separating the analog circuitry, for example, modem and
analog audio, onto its own card. This allowed the analog circuitry to be separately certified
(it was its own expansion card), thus reducing time for FCC certification.
This slot and riser card technology was known as the Audio Modem Riser, or AMR.
AMR’s 46-pin slots were once fairly common on many Intel motherboards, but technologies
including CNR and Advanced Communications Riser (ACR) are edging out AMR. In addition
and despite FCC concerns, integrated components still appear to be enjoying the most success
comparatively. Figure 1.7 shows an example of an AMR slot.
CNR Expansion Slots
The Communications and Networking Riser (CNR) slots that can be found on some Intel
motherboards are a replacement for Intel’s AMR slots. Essentially, these 60-pin slots allow
a motherboard manufacturer to implement a motherboard chipset with certain integrated
features. Then, if the built-in features of that chipset need to be enhanced (by adding Dolby
Digital Surround to a standard sound chipset, for example), a CNR riser card could be added
to enhance the onboard capabilities. Additional advantages of CNR over AMR include networking
support, Plug and Play compatibility, support for hardware acceleration (as opposed
to CPU control only), and no need to lose a competing PCI slot unless the CNR slot is in use.
Figure 1.8 shows an example of a CNR slot.
FIGURE 1 . 7 An AMR slot

FIGURE 1 . 8 A CNR slot

Get rid of a Spyware carrying program that won’t uninstall

2008-11-09T04:11:00.000-08:00

The uninstaller that comes with a malicious program isn’t likely to do much good. Still, you might run it with Revo Uninstaller a freebie that launches an app’s own uninstall function and then scans the hard drive and registry for left over’s. if that doesn’t work, try to manually delete the program file or folder. If Windows won’t permit that, check out cedrick collomb’s free unlocker . once you installed, unlocker comes up automatically when Windows refuses to delete , move or rename a file or folder; or you can launch it from the file or folder’s context menu. It also shows you that you what processes are hanging on to the culprit and lets you kill them. You can also try Windows’s system Restore.

In windows XP, select start>all program>Accessories>System tools>>system restore> choose restore my computer to an earlier time, and then click next. Pick the earliest restore point available, and follow the prompts.

In Vista, Click start>type rstrui and then press, Select choose a different restore point, click next and check show restore points older than 5 days. Click next, finally, pick the earliest restore point you see available and follow the prompts.

If that fails to solve things, run system restore in safe mood reboot your PC and press just before Windows loads. At the resulting menu, select safe mood with Command prompt and pick your operating system. At the command prompt type C:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui (just rstrui in vista) press and then run system Restore from there.

Still can’t get rid of the various thugs? Try hijack this ( adwarefixit.com ) a free utility that creates a very technical report on your system’s suspicious windows behavior. You probably won’t be able to make heads or tails of it, but plenty of Internet forums exist where friendly people can help you decipher Hijack this reports and can recommended a course of action.

In nothing else works, reformatting your hard drive is the last, desperate measure to take, but back up all of your data first. In fact, if you already have a full backup of your data, make an extra backup anyway, the more the safer.

Livescribe Pulse Rewrites Note Taking

2008-11-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

The pulse “smartpen” from Livescribe is part pen, part recorder, and part nothing you’ve ever seen before.

The pulse records sounds through integrated stereo microphones and then creates audio notes that it “ties” to your written notes. The device works with special notebooks and ink cartridges; the paper bears scarcely noticeable dot patterns that provide a reference grid. This allows the pen to jump to specific moments in your note-taking history and playback audio or voice notes recorded at that time.

To record audio while you write, you tap the printed “record” button at the bottom of your sheet of paper .when you are done recording, you tap “Stop”. The pulse records audio with surprising clarity and directional precision: the pen’s on-board microphones performed well in my tests.

Livescribe gives you two ways to playback notes.

One is to tap a printed pattern at the bottom of each page, bringing up the menu on the pen’s OLED screen. You then select the day and time of audio to play back.

The second way to play back audio is by tapping written notes in your notebook’ when you do so , you can hear the audio that was recorded at the exact moment you wrote those notes. This feature is extremely useful for recording shorthand notes and interviews.

Once you plug your pen into its USB cradle and connect it to your PC, you can se a page-page achieves of your notes. From there you can us the desktop app to listen to and manage your voice recordings.

The software is well designed, but it lacks an optical character recognition mode for converting your handwriting into text. The Livescribe pulse may have limited appeal, but it’s certainly innovative and a whole lot of fun to use.

Speed up AVG Free Antivirus

2008-11-04T03:42:00.000-08:00

The latest version of AVG free (www.avg.com) does more than detect viruses; it has stronger protection against malware and malicious sites. But one of the new security tools, link scanner, can bog down some PCs. Link Scanner checks Google, MSN and Yahoo searches results for exploits or phishing expenditures. The tool disguises itself as an Internet explorer component so that malware programs can’t detect it and hide from it.

If link scanner is a drag on your PCs system resources, you can remove it by downloading and reinstalling AVG Free. When installation starts, chose ADD/remove components, click next for a list of components, uncheck Link Scanner, and finish the process.

You will probably need to reboot, and make sure to do a manual update to grab the most current virus definitions. To suppress any annoying warnings that link Scanner isn’t working , choose tools, Click Advanced settings*ignore faulty conditions ,check the Link Scanner check box and click OK. If you still aren’t happy with AVG try Avast Home Edition.

How do You get Windows to stop asking you for a password when you boot your PC?

2008-11-04T02:41:00.000-08:00

Windows requires a log-in pas word for a reason: to protect you. If some one else can log in as you. They may be able to send out e-mail under your name, access your encrypted files, log in to Websites as you, and even make purchases using your credit card number.

You can protect yourself from the worst of those offenses without log-in passwords at other times. For instance, you can set up your e-mail system to require a password, and you can keep sensitive files in a True Crypt vault, but giving up the log in password removes a layer of security.

Still, if only trustworthy people have access to your PC, and if you take the right precautions, turning off Windows native password protection probably won’t do you harm.

Turning the password off is simple: select start* Run (Just start in Vista) type control user passwords2 and press uncheck users must enter a user name and password to use this computer .when you click OK or apply. A dialog box will ask you which user should be logged on automatically. Entering your name and password this onetime will free you from having to type them in again.

Load up Free Apps for Your 3G iPhone

2008-11-02T05:48:00.000-08:00

If you want to save cash by loading, great free programs on your new toy. Here are some suggestions.

Air Me: (airme.com)This utility enables you to upload digital photos directly from your iPhone to your flicker account. Snap a pick with your iPhone camera, and Air Me geotags it (if yoy want it to) and posts it on your flicker page within a minute. The process is much easier than emailing iPhone pics to you and then uploading them manually.

AOL Radio: want to listen to tunes when your flight is delayed in Phoenix? AOL Radio scratches that itch, to the tune of more than 350 radio stations from across the United States. It’s an audio –streaming App that works staggeringly well even at the slower EDGE speeds.

Evernote: (evernote.com) Save notes, photos, and voice recording to a web storage platform that you can access anywhere, with every note. If you are planning on using your iPhone to take a lot of notes or to snap a bunch of pictures while you are out and about, this App is must –have.

Google Mobile App: think of it is Firefox 3’s “Awesome Bar” for the iPhone. This search –bar –on steroids not only suggests popular query matches for you once you type in a few letters , but also searches you phone for any contact names that start with the same letters. Tapping a search result launches it in a browser window, and tapping a contact name lets you message or call that person.

Pandora: (pandoara.com)Thanks to the iPhone version of the free music site, you may never need to use the iTunes Music store again –as long as you like your music to play randomly. Just enter an artist’s name, press the crate button and listen as your selected artist and similar acts play in no particular order.

Listen to the Internet on your Alarm Clock

2008-10-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

At first glance Aluratek’s Internet Radio alarm clock with built in Wi-Fi looks like an ordinary alarm clock, Unlike run of the mill clock, however , it connects to your home network to aces more than 11000 channels of internet radio, and it can also connect to a library of tunes on your PC.

Sound is decent but a bit tinny-as you’d expect from an alarm clock. True audiophiles may be disappointment.

Still, this radio is fun to use. If you’re bored with the offerings on your FM radio, the Alurateck Internet Radio alarm clock can expand your musical options.

Intel Will Release New Core Chips in Late 2008

2008-10-30T06:27:00.000-07:00

High-end Laptops and desktops could become faster and more power efficient when Intel releases CPUs that are built around its new Nehalem micro architecture late this year.

Initially the company will target the chips, to be called Core i7, at power desktops and workstations, But scaled –down versions will eventually appear for consumer desktops and laptops; thy will be upgrades from Intel’s current Core 2 chips.

Nehalem is supposed to eliminate bottlenecks found in Intel’s earlier Core Micro architecture, thereby improving system speed and per-watt performance.

“Nehalem is going to be about more performance, and people always wants more performance,”Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at insight 64, notes.

Down the line, Intel will integrate graphics capabilities with the CPU. That strategy should bring more power efficiency, particularly to laptops, since as a result an integrated graphics chipset will no longer be necessary. However, gamers will still need discrete graphics card to achieve the best graphics performance.” If you look at what Intel is doing towards desktops and laptops chips by integrating graphics that could very well reduce power consumption.”Brookwood says.

Nehalem chips will still carry the Core brand name, but Intel will omit the numeric reference to 2 for its mainstream desktops and laptops. “The Core i7 brand is the first of several new identifiers”, says Intel spokesperson George Alfs.

Packing between two and eight processor cores, the first Nehalem chips will include Quick path interconnect (QPI) technology, which integrates a memory controller and provides a faster pipeline for the CPU to communicate with system components such as the graphics card and other chips. Each Core will able to execute two software threats at a time- so a desktop with four processor cores, for example , could run eight threads simultaneously for quicker application performance.

Calibrate Your HDTV to High-Def Perfection

2008-10-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

You spent a lot of money on your fancy new HDTV, but the set’s picture probably isn’t as good as it could be. If you want to see exciting sports events and movies that look the way the broadcaster and filmmakers intended, you need to calibrate your HDTV.

Fine-tuning your picture with just your eyeballs and instincts is theoretically possible. But if you want to get it right, you should use a DVD based calibration tool. You likely already have THX optimizer, since it comes on every commercial DVD bearing a THX logo. But you don’t have all of it. Some of the optimizer’s tests require special blue glasses that you must buy through mail order from THX.com. The glasses cost only $2 Plus an additional $2.50 for shipping and handling.

THX offers a decent set of test patterns, although they’re not as complete and well explained as some stand alone products. Nor are the written instructions as helpful as the narrated ones on stand-alone discs.

Not surprisingly, considering THX’s background in cinematic audio, the optimizer can also assist in setting up your home theater’s surround-sound system.

Imaging Science Foundation’s $30 HDTV calibration Wizard (imagingscience.com) is a tool co-created by Imaging Science, Microsoft, and monster cable. The disc walks you through calibration without using a bunch of unnecessary tech jargon.

The Wizard uses live video instead of test patterns; the clips are easier to look at, and thy give you a better sense of what your TV’s picture will look like. For instance, to set the black level, you get a close-up of man’s black shirt and coat, and you simple adjust the setting until you can se the difference between two.

Once you get the TV right for the DVD input, jot down those video settings on a piece of paper; then reenter them for each of the other inputs, tweaking them a little as needed until the image looks as good as possible.

Unmountable Boot Volume Error Message

2008-10-29T03:33:00.000-07:00

Computer Crashes, they seem to happen at the most inconvenient times. Always when you need the computer the most. I've run across this boot error message many times since Windows XP was released and luckily most of the time this problem can be solved with a few simple steps.

Basically the error means that Windows XP is having trouble booting from Drive C. Following the steps below, you should be able to troubleshoot this problem and get your computer back and running.

Causes of Unmountable Boot Volume

Many times this error occurs when I have swapped a hard drive and used the wrong IDE cable to connect it. If your computer uses an Ultra Direct Memory Access (UDMA) hard disk controller, and you use a standard 40-wire connector cable to connect the UDMA drive, you may experience this error. Make sure you are using the correct IDE cable.

Also, if your BIOS settings are configured to force the faster UDMA modes, this error may occur. In this situation, restart your computer and enter the BIOS and load the "fail-safe" default settings and reboot.

If neither of these issues are the cause for the Unmountable Boot Volume, then the issue most likely is caused by a damaged BOOT.INI file in the root directory of the boot drive or file system corruption.

Follow the steps below to correct these file system issues:

1) Start your computer with your Windows XP CD-ROM, or with Wnodws XP Boot Disks.
2) When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press R to Repair the installation using the Recovery Console
3) If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the Windows installation you want to access
4) Type the administrator password when you are prompted, if no administrator password is set then just press Enter
5) At the command prompt, type CHKDSK /R and then press Enter
6) Once CHKDSK has finished checking and repairing the hard drive, type EXIT and press Enter to restart your computer

If this procedure does not work, repeat it and use the fixboot command in step 5 instead of the chkdsk /r command. FIXBOOT writes a new partition boot sector to the system partition. The fixboot command is only available when you are using the Recovery Console.

Dell’s Slick Studio Hybrid Pc

2008-10-28T03:13:00.000-07:00

Dell’s new studio hybrid makes a strong impression with its stylish design, and its price will make you take notice too. A basic configuration starts at $499 without monitor; configuration with a 19 inch LCD cost $1064.

Dell bills the studio hybrid as being 80 percent smaller than a typical desktop. To achieve this feat of miniaturization, the Hybrid uses notebook-computer components. The Test configuration had a2.1 GHz core 2 Duo T8100 CPU, 2GB of memory , a 250 GB Hard drive , and Intel mobile 965 Express Chipset integrated Graphics. The system isn’t expandable, so it has no graphics option beyond the integrated Intel Graphics.

What’s most noteworthy about this system is that you don’t pay premium for the miniaturized design.

What’s least noteworthy is the machine’s performance. It mustered a score of only 79 on our World Bench 6 tests, tying the mark garnered by the HP Touch Smart IQ506, which likewise uses notebook components; neither of these systems is in the same league as value PCs configured desktop guts. Graphics performance was weak as well: the studio Hybrid failed to muster playable frame rates on either of gaming tests.

The studio Hybrid Blah performance limits its versatility, but the idea of having stylish, unobtrusive system to connect to my television appeals to me. Suddenly, using a PC as a digital video recorder seems plausible.

Unlock Your Mobile Phone

2008-10-27T10:32:00.000-07:00

If you travel internationally , you can save money by buying a local, prepaid SIM card and swapping it into your phone,instead of paying high roaming rates to your U.S cellular provider. Most U.S phones, however , are locked to a single carrier and function only with SIM cards from that company. Here's how to unlock your mobile handset for use on any GSM network.
First try to find a free code online that might unlock the phone. You can visit unlockitfree.com
or bilemo.com/unlock or you can being by searching for your phone model online, using terms such as "Nokia 6820b free unlock code" You will be prompted on such sites to enter phone's unique |ME| number (usually found under the battery), the model , And your carrier. With that data, the site will generate several codes and instractions for typing them into the handset.
I recommend trying the first code returned at a few sites (since they can generate different results), instead of running though a full list of codes at one site.
If you unsuccessful, try following the same process at a paid site , such as mobilecodez.com

Toyota and Sony Develop a Personal Transporter

2008-10-27T05:03:00.000-07:00

Toyota is developing a Segway-like personal transportation device called the Winglet, partly based on robotics technology from sony.
The Winglet looks like a slimmed-down version of the Segway.It can carry an average size person a littile over 6 miles at a speed of arround 3.7 mph. Toyota hopes to see commecialization of it in the early 2010s.
The smallest model weights about 22 pounds and has a range of just over 3miles. The medium and large versions both weight about 26 pounds and have double the range. Sll hsve a cruising speed of 3.7 mph-a brisk walking pace. In comparison, the Segway i2 Weighs 106 pounds , can travel up to 24 miles, and has a top speed of12 mph.

Flip Mino captures clear, sharp Video clips.

2008-10-27T02:43:00.000-07:00

Pure digital has made video posting easier than ever with the $180 Flip Mino, the latest model in the Flip series of pocket camcorders. If you have used the Flip Video or the flip ultra, you will know how to operate the Mino; even its new features are easy for a first time user to master. The Mino adds touch sensitive controls, but they may be too touchy for some users. In our testing we found it easy to play back or delete clips accidentally by brushing a finger against the buttons.

Also new on the Mino is the location of the flip out USB jack on the top of the device .It makes the Mino slightly less unwieldy to plug into your computer’s USB port. When connected, the Mino can upload clips directly to AOL Video, my space, or you Tube; you also use the USB connector to charge the device battery (it has no power cord). Thanks to a new Video engine, the Mino produces great looking SVGA resolution (640 by 480) MPEG-4 AVI Clips at a frame rate of 30 frames per second. And even in indoor settings with mediocre lighting, The Mino still turns out clear, sharp clips.

The Flip Mino is more expensive than its rivals, such as the $100 creative Vado, but you get what you pay for.

The Mino offers superior Video quality (and it’s compatible with Macs, too) making it worth the extra scratch.

Why doesn’t Vista’s System Restore actually restore the system?

2008-10-27T02:36:00.000-07:00

Poor disaster recovery is one of windows Vista’s most vexing problems. some utilities-usually big security suites that must be on at all times to protect you—interfere with system restore.

One work around is to run system restore in Safe mood. Reboot your PC and press before windows start loading (you may need a few tries to get the timing right).Select Safe mood. Once Windows is up, try system restore.

Is a long time solution available? Not really. Uninstalling your security software might help. But there’s no guarantee, and you will need to replace that software with something else. Trying to uninstall it is probably not worth the trouble unless the program is giving you a lot of other problems.

Disabling and re-enabling System Restore as a possible fix. But do that only after you have successfully restored you system or completely given up, as that action erases all of your existing restore points. If you are ready to give it try, here’s how:

v Click start, type sysdm.cpl and press

v In the resulting system properties dialog box, click the system protection tab.

v You will see the available Disks list. Uncheck all discs that are checked.

v When you attempt to uncheck C: a warning will come up asking if you really want to turn off system restore. Click Turn System Restore Off.

v Back in system properties, click Apply. Wait while windows processes that command.

v Recheck the box next to C: and then click Apply again.

v Click creates to make a new restore point. You should be set for your next emergency.

Unlock Vista’s Hidden Boot Screen

2008-10-27T02:31:00.000-07:00

If you are sick of staring at the same old startup screen every time your Windows Vista PC churns into action, you are not alone. From now on you can unlock an alternative Vista boot screen with just a click of the mouse.

Windows Vista has a hidden boot screen that you can activate, and it’s totally different. Instead of the boring progress bar, you will see a soft aurora against a black background.

Click start, type msconfig in the search field, and press After you click through the UAC prompt, as system configuration window will open. Select the Boot Tab.

In the Boot Tab, check the box marked no GUI boot. Click Apply and then OK. Windows will prompt you to restart the PC, so click restart.

The next time your computer reboots, you will see the aurora screen with a black background and the text “Starting Windows Vista” at the bottom. If you decide to restore the original startup screen, just go back into the system configuration tool and uncheck the No GUI boot option.

Titan's Better Backup

2008-10-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

It can't create partition images, but neobyte solution's $40 Titan backup does just about everything else;backup files (including ones you have open), compress backups to .Zip files or to excutable .zip archives, and secure them with 256-bit AES encryption.Options include the ability to run other software before and after backups and the ability to remember log-in information for backing up to prtected network locations. I had no problems backing up to network folders, flash drives, CDs, or DVDs-or via FTP.
The excellent Titan interface intuitively combines tabbed dialog boxes and step-by-step wizards. Alas, it's now competing with the feature-rich Nova Backup,which costs only $10 more.

5 Downloads to make your Wi-Fi life easier

2008-10-25T05:07:00.000-07:00

At home, at work, and on the road, you can often connect to Wi-Fi networks and hotspots for internet access. Here are some free or cheap software tools to help you find safe Wi-Fi networks and protect yourself against snoops.

WeFi (Free) We-Fi presents you with a map showing all nearby hotspots that you can connect to it also tells you whether the networks are encrypted or open, and notes their signal strengths. Double click any hot spot shown on the map connect. if you want to meet up with people who are connect to hotspots near you, click the people tab , and you’ll see list of folks nearby. You can then obtain more information about any of them, and contact them as well.

Plug and Browse ($40, free demo) If you regularly connect to more than one wireless or wired network-one at home and one at work, for example you know that a new connection fails if your adapter is stuck on the old settings. This exceedingly simple tool permits you to create and use predefined network settings profiles for each network that you visit

Wi-Fi Guardian (trial for 30 days ;$5 per 1 GB transferred) This program sets up a virtual private network (VPN) for you when you connect at hotspot, or when you want to protect you wireless transmissions. Run the software, log in, and choose a server(Currently in the US and UK), and everything you do will be hidden through encryption.

Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor (Free) If you use both windows Vista and Wi-fi, Xirrus Wi-Fi monitor may be one of the most useful vista tools you can download. It automatically displays your connection’s signal strength the SSID of the network you’re connected to, and your current IP address. Visually, in radar monitor fashion, it also displays the wireless network you’re connected to, as well as any other networks nearby.

To Make Easily Logo Or Banners

2008-10-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

In different causes we need to make LOGO and BANNER,But if we don't have sufficent knowledge about photoshop or other graphics, it is difficult to make Logo or Banner.If you have Internet you can make logo or banner to take easily from website.Doing so go to www.text2logo.com
There is varities design of logo and banner To click here you will find new pages and here you can make easily logo of banner of your choise and then save it as image of jpg form.

Internet Privacy

2008-10-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

What's so important about Internet Privacy?
Every time you open a browser to view a web page, order something online, or read your email in a web based viewer that information is stored on your computer for later use. Whether you are viewing the weather online, reading sports, catching up on the latest world news or viewing something a little more private, all that information is stored in your computer. Windows operating systems store all this material in what are called Temporary Internet Files or cache. Web pages may store bits of information about who you are when you visit web sites in files called cookies on your computer. Your web browser will store a list of web sites you've visited and places you've gone in a history file in your computer. Even if you are not online, programs will store histories of the files you've opened, played, or viewed.

Generally there might not be any reason to worry about all these files in your computer, but what if you sell your computer and all that information is left for someone else to see. Maybe friends and relatives visit and use your computer and you dont want everyone to know what files you are running on your computer. Then you are going to want to know how to delete these files.

Even if you are not worried about privacy on your computer, you may be surprised to realize how much hard drive space all this information takes up. If you are running out of drive space, you may want to delete these files.

How can I delete these files?

For Internet Explorer 5 and above, you can follow these directions to clear out temporary files and delete cookies.

1) Open Internet Explorer and click on Tools
2) Click on Internet Options
3) On the General Tab, in the middle of the screen, click on Delete Files
4) You may also want to check the box "Delete all offline content"
5) Click on OK and wait for the hourglass icon to stop after it deletes the temporary internet files
6) You can now click on Delete Cookies and click OK to delete cookies that websites have placed on your hard drive.

To clear the Internet History in IE:

1) Open Internet Explorer and click on Tools
2) Click on Internet Options
3) On the General Tab, in the middle of the screen, click on Clear History
4) Click OK

To clean up other temporary files on your computer in Windows 98 or higher:

1) Click Start, Programs (or All Programs), Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup
2) Choose the correct drive usually C:\
3) Check the boxes in the list and delete the files

How to Delete Your Windows Vista Logon Password

2008-10-23T12:11:00.001-07:00

How to Remove Your Windows Vista Logon Password
When Windows Vista first installs, it asks you for a password for your account. Then each time you log onto the computer you have to type the password in before you can access Windows Vista.

This security feature is nice to keep your information separate and private from the other users on the computer. However if you are the only user on your PC and the password prompt is annoying, you may want to consider removing the password and bypassing the logon process altogether.

Listed below you'll find the simple and quick procedure for removing your Vista password.
) Click on Start, then Click on Control Panel

2) Click on the User Accounts and Family Safety link

NOTE: if you are in the Classic View of Control Panel, you won't see this link, continue on to step 3

3) Click on the User Accounts option

4) In the "Make changes to your user account" section, click the Remove your Password link for the user.

5) On the next screen, enter your current password

6) Click the Remove Password button to confirm that you would like to remove your account password.

7) Close the User Accounts window

8) Restart your computer and test the system.

Now that your Windows Vista user password has been removed, you will no longer need to log inot Windows Vista. Instead when your computer starts, it will now continue loading through to your desktop automatically.

Master/Slave Settings vs. Cable Select

2008-10-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

Although I covered most of the ways to speed up Windows boot time in another article, I encountered a unique roadblock recently that made me write this article.

During the last week I was asked by a customer to upgrade one of their office computers from Windows 98SE to Windows XP. Normally this is pretty standard, however because their current hard drive was only a 20GB with a gig or so remaining I wanted to upgrade their hard drive as well.

I proceeded to ghost the drive to a larger hard drive and then installed an upgrade version of Windows XP on top of Windows 98 to preserve all of their settings and programs.

Everything went flawlessly, until I was finished...
After I completed the Windows XP upgrade, I shut down the computer completely and restarted it. The computer took FOREVER to boot into Windows XP. It was literally 2 minutes before I saw the Windows XP logo screen and another 30 seconds more before the desktop appeared. This was definitely a problem.

After checking multiple settings in the BIOS, I compared the old and new hard drives. Everything seemed to be normal, except one. The old hard drive was setup to Cable Select and as my normal routine I had set the new hard drive as a Master drive. I changed the new hard drive to Cable Select, rebooted the computer, and the Windows logo screen came on seconds after the POST screen as before. Therefore, I have to add one more item to my list of ways to make Windows boot faster. Try changing the hard drive from Master to Cable Select, check the boot up speed and switch back to Master if you don't see a change.

Master/Slave Settings

Now for a refresher course on hard drive connections. When connecting more than one hard drive to a computer on the same IDE controller, you generally have to assign one as the primary (master) and one as the secondary (slave). You do this by changing the jumpers on the hard drive next to the power connector. Normally, the drive will have a diagram to let you know which jumper should be set for a master drive and which to set for a slave drive. You'll notice in the picture below the jumpers are circled on the end of the drive and the top of the drive shows the diagram to follow.

Master/Slave Settings

After changing the jumpers, connect the hard drive cable from the motherboard to the hard drives. Under normal circumstances, the end of the drive cable attaches to the Master hard drive, while the inside connector on the cable connects to the Slave drive.

What About Cable Select?

Cable Select (CS) settings were designed to make it easier to connect hard drives because you didn't need to bother with setting the Master/Slave jumpers. You just connect the drives and depending on where you connected them to the cable the computer would know which is Master and which is Slave...in theory. Now comes the confusing part.

With cable select, you first needed a special 40 conductor IDE cable that would determine master/slave connections. This was different from the normal IDE cables at the time. Also, the Master connector on CS cables was the inside connector not the end connector. This made for a very confusing switch from everyday master/slave configurations.

80 conductor Ultra DMA cables WILL determine the Master/Slave settings through Cable Select however. So as technology advances, Cable Select as a concept may still catch on. With the newer Ultra DMA cables, you can set both drives to Cable Select (CS), connect them and they will work. Another change with the 80 conductor cables, the Master connector is on the end of the cable where it should be. In situations where you are using a newer Ultra DMA drive and cable, you can use Cable Select or standard Master/Slave jumper settings and the drive will boot properly.

In my scenario to start this article, the change from Master/Slave to Cable Select for this particular computer reduced the Windows boot time by more than 2 minutes.

How to Delete Undeletable Files in Windows

2008-10-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Many times when trying to remove an unwanted program, especially a piece of adware or spyware, you may run across a file that is undeletable by any normal method. When you try to remove it you'll receive the error message shown below telling you "access denied" and explaining the file may be in use. You may also receive one of the following messages.

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

So if the file is in use, how do you delete it?

I'll show you several ways of removing these types of files and even some freeware programs that help you remove these pesky undeletable files.

Windows 95/98/ME

If you are using Windows 95, 98, or Windows ME, the easiest way to remove an undeleteable file is to boot to a DOS prompt and manually delete the file. Before you do this, you'll want to make a note of the location of the file including the entire path to it. Follow the steps below to delete these types of files.

If you already know the path to the file, please skip to Step 7

Click on Start, Find, Files and Folders
Type the name of the undeletable file in the Named or Search For box
Make sure the Look In box shows the correct drive letter
Click on Find Now or Search Now and let the computer find the file
Once the file is located, right-click on it and choose properties, make a note of the file location. Usually this is something similar to

c:\windows\system32\undeleteablefilesname.exe
Close the search box
Locate a boot disk for your version of Windows, if you do not have a boot disk, follow the steps on the link below to create an emergency boot disk.

How to Create an Emergency Boot Disk for Windows
Shut down and restart your computer with the boot disk in your floppy drive.
The computer will boot to a DOS prompt that will look similar to

c:\
Type the following command and press Enter to delete the filer, substituting the phrase with the actual path and file name you discovered in Step 5 above.

del

Example:

del c:\windows\undeleteablefile.exe
Remove the boot disk in the floppy drive and restart your computer
The file should now be deleted.

Windows XP

In Windows XP, there are a couple ways to remove an undeleteable file, a manual way, and a couple automated ways using some freeware programs. First, I'll show you the manual way.

Manual Method

If you already know the path to the file, please skip to Step 7

Click on Start, Search, All Files and Folders
Type the name of the undeletable file in the box shown
Make sure the Look In box shows the correct drive letter
Click Search and let the computer find the file
Once the file is located, right-click on it and choose properties, make a note of the file location. Usually this is something similar to

c:\windows\system32\undeleteablefilesname.exe
Close the search box
Click on Start, Run, and type CMD and Press Enter to open a Command Prompt window
Leave the Command Prompt window open, but proceed to close all other open programs
Click on Start, Run and type TASKMGR.EXE and press Enter to start Task Manager
Click on the Processes tab, click on the process named Explorer.exe and click on End Process.
Minimize Task Manager but leave it open
Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory where the file is located. To do this, use the CD command. You can follow the example below.

Example: to change to the Windows\System32 directory you would enter the following command and Press Enter

cd \windows\system32
Now use the DEL command to delete the offending file. Type DEL where is the file you wish to delete.

Example: del undeletable.exe
Use ALT-TAB to go back to Task Manager
In Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the Windows shell.
Close Task Manager

Programs to automatically delete a file

Remove on Reboot Shell Extension

This is a nice extension that loads into the right click menu. All you have to do is right-click on a file and choose "Remove on Next Reboot" and the file will be deleted the next time the computer restarts. Although it probably should only be used by more advanced computer users since it may be TOO easy to delete files using this program.

Pocket Killbox

A simple .exe file that you can use to delete undeleteable files, although the program will also delete temporary files, edit the HOSTS file, and more. A definite must have program when you are fighting an annoying spyware or adware program that won't remove.

Unlocker

Unlocker is another program that runs from the right click menu. Its simple and very effective. The website even has a side by side comparision of other programs that accomplish this task.

Using one of the three tools shown above, you should be able to remove those annoying undeleteable files once and for all.

How to Set Yahoo As Your Default Email Program

2008-10-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

If you use web-based email like Yahoo or Gmail, you know the biggest drawback occurs when you click on a link on a web page to email someone and you realize the default email program on your computer is not the web based email one. Instead of opening Yahoo Mail, Outlook Express or some other client-side email program opens. Of course, if you have Yahoo Mail Plus, you could setup Outlook Express or any other default email application to use it. But is there a simple way to set your default email application to Yahoo Mail or Gmail.

There are actually two ways to accomplish this, unfortunately only one way works in both Windows XP and Windows Vista. If you follow the steps below you should be able to use the mailto links on a web page to email someone easily.

Using Yahoo Messenger

The first way to set Yahoo as your default email program is to install Yahoo Messenger. Yahoo Messenger can be download at http://messenger.yahoo.com. If its installed correctly it will set Yahoo as your default email application. You will need to install the Browser Services option to make this work properly. Without the browser services installed, you still cannot set Yahoo Mail as your default.

Once Yahoo Messenger is installed, follow these steps to set the default email program.

1) Open Control Panel
2) Double-click on Internet Options
3) Click on the Program tab
4) Select Yahoo Mail from the drop down list (as shown below)

5) Click Ok
6) Close Control Panel

Unfortunately, this procedure DOES NOT work with Windows Vista computers.

Using YAttach!

YAttach! is a free simple to install program developed by a fellow named Chris Wood. It was created to allow someone to attach files to Yahoo Mail but works great at opening Yahoo Mail with a new message window all filled out when you click a mailto link on a web page. YAttach works in Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Yattach! sets itself as the default email program in Windows and will work in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and other browsers. When you click on a mailto link you'll see a window pop up similar to the one below, then it will open Yahoo Mail and create a new message with the To: field already filled in.

Sometimes, the program will appear to hang at the screen above instead of opening Yahoo Mail. This issue can be easily resolved by logging into Yahoo Mail and choosing the option to "keep me signed in".

YAttach! is the easiest to use program to allow web based email programs the ability to send documents directly from your computer or intercept mailto links clicked on web pages.

Download YAttach!

There is also a program called GAttach! that accomplishes the same thing for Gmail. My only complaint about that version is that it creates a message in the drafts folder instead of opening a new message window. Because of that issue, I prefer the Gmail Notifier. During the installation of the Gmail Notifier be sure to check the box for "use for outgoing email".

How Can I Remove the Grum Trojan from my system?

2008-10-20T05:34:00.000-07:00

What is the Win32.Grum.a Trojan?
An email disguised as a Internet Explorer download from admin@microsoft.com contains a Trojan downloader that infects the computer with a virus named Win32.Grum.

Hijackthis shows the trojan horse adds the following information or similar lines to the Windows registry

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Firewall auto setup] C:\DOCUME~1\User\LOCALS~1\Temp\winlogon.exe

The infected file is stored in the Temp directory under Local Settings for the logged in User, and is autostarted in the following registry locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

How Can I Remove the Grum Trojan from my system?

1) Disable System Restore

2) Restart in Safe Mode

3) Once in Safe mode, click on Start, Run

4) Type REGEDIT and press Enter

5) Navigate to the appropriate registry section by clicking on the plus signs (+) next to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Run

6) Right-click and delete the following entry in the right-hand side

Firewall auto setup = %User Temp%\winlogon.exe"

%UserTemp% is the Temp folder usually in the following location
c:\Documents and Settings\{user name}\Local Settings\Temp

7) Repeat Step 5-6 above for the following location as well

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

8) Close the Registry Editor

9) Restart the computer in Normal Mode

9) Scan your computer with online virus scanner like Housecall, BitDefender, or eTrust or download and install an antivirus program and run a complete scan. A list of online scanners is below, some however will only scan but not remove issues.

10) Open My Computer, Right-click on Drive C, click on Properties, and click Disk Cleanup to delete other temp files

11) Turn System Restore Backup on

How To Repair Damaged or Corrupted Thumbs.db Files

2008-10-12T11:45:00.000-07:00

Thumbs.db files can sometimes become damaged or corrupted which can cause some very specific problems in Windows.

Sometimes one or more damaged or corrupted thumbs.db files can cause problems when navigating around folders with multimedia content or they could be the cause of error messages like "Explorer caused an invalid page fault in module Kernel32.dll" and similar messages.

Repairing thumbs.db files is a pretty simple task considering Windows will regenerate the file when the particular folder it's contained in is viewed in the "Thumbnails" view.

Follow these easy steps to repair thumbs.db files.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: Repairing thumbs.db files usually takes less than 15 minutes

Here's How:

Open the folder that you suspect the damaged or corrupted thumbs.db file to be contained in.
Locate the thumbs.db file. If you can not see the file, your computer may be configured to not show hidden files. If that is the case, change the folder options to allow the display of hidden files.
Once the thumbs.db file is located, right click on it and choose Delete.

Note: If you can not delete the file, you may need to change the folder view to something other than the Thumbnail view. To do this, click on View and then choose either Tiles, Icons, List, or Details. Depending on your version of the Windows operating system, some of these options may vary slightly.

To recreate the file, click on View and then Thumbnails from the menu in the folder that you deleted the thumbs.db file from. This will initiate the Thumbnails view and will automatically create a new copy of the thumbs.db file.

Tips:

Windows Vista does not use the thumbs.db file. The thumbnail database thumbcache_xxxx.db in Windows Vista is centrally located in the \Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer folder.

What to Do When XP or 2000 Won't Boot

2008-10-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

If Windows XP (or 2000) refuses to start, press F8 right after you turn on your PC but before the Windows log-on appears (it may take a few attempts to get the timing right). At the resulting menu, select Last Known Good Configuration to restore your Registry to an earlier date.

If this doesn't get your PC working, reboot and press F8 again, but this time select Safe Mode, and then choose Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. Follow the wizard's instructions and pick an appropriate backup.

If that approach doesn't work either, or if you can't even get to this menu, use your emergency boot floppy. If your hard drive's boot sector or Windows' basic boot files have been corrupted, this disk will circumvent the problem and boot you into Windows. If you don't have an emergency boot floppy, you may be able to use one created on another PC running Windows XP or Windows 2000, but there's no guarantee that it will boot your machine.

To make one, insert a blank floppy disk into drive A:, select Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt, type format a:, and press Enter. When asked if you want to format another disk, type n and press Enter. Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one.

xcopy c:\boot.ini a: /h xcopy c:\ntdetect.com a: /h xcopy c:\ntldr a: /h

Now type exit and press Enter to close the window. Remove the floppy disk and label it "Windows XP boot floppy." Put this emergency disk in the floppy drive of your inoperable machine and boot up. Windows should run with no problems. You could simply keep the floppy in the drive all the time, but to truly fix the problem, launch the command prompt as described above, type xcopy a:*.* c:\ /h, and press Enter.

If the emergency boot floppy doesn't work, try the Recovery Console, a Windows utility that provides a DOS-like command line from which you can run some repair programs. It's tricky to use if you're not accustomed to command lines, and you can damage your data, so be careful.

If you have a Microsoft Windows CD-ROM, you can get to the Recovery Console by booting from that CD and pressing any key when you're told to 'Press any key to boot from CD'. At the 'Welcome to Setup' screen, press r for Repair.

If Windows XP or 2000 came with your computer and you don't have a Microsoft Windows CD-ROM, the Recovery Console might be on one of the CDs the vendor bundled with your PC. But it might not. Fortunately, the Recovery Console is hidden in a free, downloadable Microsoft program called Setup Disks for Floppy Boot Install. Visit Microsoft's site to download the setup-disk file that works with XP Professional; available too is the XP Home version, which will also work for Windows 2000, Me, and 98.

When you run the download, it puts the XP installation program, including the Recovery Console, onto a set of six floppy disks. To get to the Recovery Console, boot from the first floppy, and then swap disks as prompted until you reach the 'Welcome to Setup' screen. Press r to open the Recovery Console.

Figure 1 below shows a list of the Recovery Console's most useful commands. For detailed information on a particular command, type the command followed by a space and /?, as in chkdsk /?. (Not all the commands will be available if you don't have a Windows CD-ROM.)

Figure 1: Recovery Console Commands

Command	Function
Chkdsk1	Checks disks for errors.
Diskpart	Creates and deletes partitions.
Extract2	Extracts files from compressed.cab archives.
Fixboot	Writes a new boot sector.
Fixmbr	Writes a new master boot record.
Help	Lists the Recovery Console commands.
Footnotes: 1 If you load the Recovery Console from floppy disks, chkdsk may complain that it can't locate autochk.exe. When it asks for that file's location, point it to c:\windows\system32. 2 Extract is not available if you load the Recovery Console from floppy disks.

iPhone Review

2008-10-12T06:44:00.000-07:00

How to Reinstall Windows Without Losing Your Data

2008-10-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

Over time, Windows loses stability. If you keep a computer for more than two years, at some point you're going to have to bite the bullet and reinstall Windows from scratch. But contrary to popular belief, you won't have to reformat your hard drive (with one exception, discussed below). The bad stuff you need to get rid of is all in your Windows folder.

Before you begin, gather your Windows and application CD-ROMs. Back up your data files (just to be safe), and then clear two days off your calendar. If everything goes smoothly, you can reinstall Windows in a few hours. But you have to assume something will go wrong: You may not be able to find a necessary CD, or data won't be where you thought it was, or something will simply refuse to work.

There's a difference between a repair reinstall and a complete reinstall. Though a repair (also called a refresh) will let you keep your current settings, a complete reinstall will give you a truly fresh version of Windows. Repairs are fast and easy, but they don't fix anywhere near as many problems. The instructions below are for total reinstalls, except where noted.

Your Vendor's Restore CD

Most computers ship with a vendor-specific restore CD rather than with a Microsoft Windows CD-ROM. (If your PC came with a Microsoft Windows CD, or if you bought a retail copy of Windows, skip to the section for your version.)

Some restore CDs give you all the options of a full Microsoft Windows CD, but with better instructions and the convenience of having all the right hardware drivers. Others can do nothing except reformat your hard drive and restore it to the condition it was in when you bought the PC. (This case is the exception I mentioned above that requires a reformat.)

If your restore CD is reformat-only, back up your data files to a network or a removable medium before reinstalling Windows. If you use Windows 98 or Me, back up C:\My Documents, plus the folders inside C:\Windows discussed in the 98/Me section below. If you have Windows 2000 or XP, back up C:\Documents and Settings. Also back up any other folders in which you store your data files.

Windows 98 and ME CDs

These Windows versions keep some important data inside your soon-to-be-erased Windows folder, so you need to copy several of its subfolders to another location. Right-click My Computer and select Explore. Double-click the C: drive icon (in Me, you may then have to click View the entire contents of this drive). Right-click in the right pane and select New, Folder. Name the new folder oldstuff.

Go to the Windows folder (you might have to click View the entire contents of this folder), hold down Ctrl, and select the following subfolders: All Users, Application Data, Desktop, Favorites, Local Settings, Profiles, SendTo, and Start Menu. If you don't see them all, select View, Folder Options (Tools, Folder Options in Me), click the View tab, select Show all files, and click OK. (If you still don't see them all, don't worry about it.) Press Ctrl and drag the folders to C:\oldstuff (see FIGURE 1).

Restart Windows with a start-up disk in your floppy drive. (To make a start-up floppy, insert a disk, select Start, Settings, Control Panel, double-click Add/Remove Programs, click Startup Disk, Create Disk, and follow the prompts.) At the Startup Menu, select Start computer with CD-ROM support. While the drivers load, insert your Windows CD-ROM.

Unless you're doing a repair reinstall, type the command c:\windows\command\deltree /y c:\windows and press Enter. Deleting your old files could take time, but the /y switch suppresses confirmation prompts, so take a break.

When you're back at the A: prompt, type x:setup, where x is your CD drive letter (it's likely one letter past what it usually is in Windows, so if it's D: in Windows, it's probably E: here). Press Enter and follow the prompts.

Once you're back in Windows, reinstall your graphics card driver. If you have Windows set up for more than one user, you'll also have to re-create each account. Select Start, Settings, Control Panel, Users to do so. It's important that the user names match those in the old installation. If you're not sure, open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\oldstuff\profiles. There you'll find a folder for each registered user name (see FIGURE 2). Don't worry about passwords. Log off and log back on as each user. When you're done, log off and back on one more time, but instead of choosing a user name and a password, press Esc to enter Windows without being a specific user.

Select Start, Programs, MS-DOS Prompt (in Windows 98) or Start, Programs, Accessories, MS-DOS Prompt (in Windows Me). Type xcopy c:\oldstuff\*.* c:\windows /s /h /r /c and press Enter (if you want to know what the xcopy switches do, enter the command xcopy /?). When xcopy asks if it should overwrite a file, press a for All.

When xcopy is through, reboot and log on (as a particular user, if necessary). Open My Documents to make sure all your personal files are where they belong, including your Internet Explorer favorites and your custom Start menu shortcuts.

Now skip ahead to "Finishing the Job."

Windows 2000 and XP CDs

Boot your computer with your Windows CD-ROM inserted. When you get the 'Press any key to boot from CD' message, do so. (If you don't see that message before Windows starts, restart Windows, press the key you're prompted to enter for your PC Setup program, and change the boot order so your CD drive is first.)

At the 'Welcome to Setup' screen, press Enter. The R (repair) option takes you to the Recovery Module, which is useful if Windows won't boot, but it's no help with a reinstallation. Soon you'll be told that there's already a Windows installation on the computer. Press r for a repair reinstall or Esc to begin a complete, destructive one. For a complete restore, select your C: partition and press Enter. When you get the warning that says an operating system is on that partition, press c. When you are asked your partition preference, select Leave the current file system intact (no changes). When you're told that a Windows folder (or Winnt folder for Windows 2000) already exists, press l ('ell') to delete it and create a new one. Follow the series of prompts. When the installation program asks for your name, enter temp.

Once the installation is complete, your system will reboot into Windows, and you'll be logged on as user Temp. If the screen is difficult to read, reinstall your graphics card driver.

If you are reinstalling Windows XP, skip to "For Both Windows XP and 2000."

If you're reinstalling Windows 2000, log off as Temp and back on as Administrator. Now log off and on again, this time as Temp. Open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Documents and Settings. One of the subfolders will be named Administrator. Another will be named something like Administrator.computername.

Select Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt. Type cd "\documents and settings" and press Enter. Then type xcopy administrator\*.* administrator.computername /s /h /r /c, replacing computername with the last part of that folder's name (after "Administrator.") in Documents and Settings. Now press Enter, and when you're asked about overwriting files or folders, press a for All.

If you have any users on the old installation besides Administrator, continue with the "For Both Windows XP and 2000" section. Otherwise, open Windows Explorer and make sure your data files are where they belong. Then go to Control Panel's Users and Passwords applet and delete the user Temp before skipping to "Finishing the Job."

For Both Windows XP and 2000

Reopen Windows Explorer. Select your C: drive (you may have to click Show the contents of this folder). Right-click in the right pane and select New, Folder. Name the new folder oldstuff. In the left pane, choose the Documents and Settings folder. It should have subfolders for each user from the previous install, plus one for Temp and a few others. Move the folders for your previous user names to oldstuff.

Select Start, Control Panel, User Accounts (Start, Settings, Control Panel, Users and Passwords in Windows 2000). Create an account for each user who was registered before the reinstall. Be sure to use the exact names. They are the same names as the folders you just moved to oldstuff (as shown in FIGURE 2). In Windows XP, at least one user must have administrator privileges.

Log off and back on as each user, before logging back on as Temp. Make sure that you select Log Off and not Switch User at Windows XP's Log Off dialog box (this isn't an issue in Win 2000).

Log on as Temp, select Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt (in XP, Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt), type xcopy c:\oldstuff\*.* "c:\documents and settings" /s /h /r /c, and press Enter. Press a when asked if you want to overwrite a file. Log off Temp and log on to each restored account to make sure everyone's documents and data are where they belong. Log on as an administrator and run Control Panel's User Accounts applet again to remove the user Temp.

Finishing the Job

Now you've got Windows going, but not much else. You may have to reinstall your printer, sound card, and so on. Luckily, if a driver for the gadget came on your Windows or vendor restore CD, it was probably reinstalled automatically.

You'll have to reinstall your applications to reintroduce them to Windows. Some of their settings will not be changed by the reinstallation, but those that were stored in the Registry were wiped out.

Once your Internet connection is running again, browse to Windows Update and download all critical updates for your version (see FIGURE 3). Then visit the sites of your hardware vendors to update your drivers.

After the reinstall, some of your data may not show up where it should. Search for it in both your Application Data and oldstuff folders, and see if you can move it to the folder in which Windows or your apps are looking for it. If you find a folder called Identities with two subfolders whose names are long and indecipherable, try moving the contents of one to the other and see if your data reappears.

You've probably guessed that the final step is deleting the c:\oldstuff folder--and the Administrator folder in Windows 2000. Make this the very last step, however. Wait a couple of days, weeks, or even months until you're confident that all of your needed files are accessible.

Computer Boot Problems

2008-10-10T11:33:00.000-07:00

What to do?

It can be a heart-wrenching experience. You push that power button, and all hell breaks loose. Beeps, error messages, red X's, BSOD's (Blue Screen of Death) are everywhere. Or, even worse, nothing at all. Deadly silence. What's going on?

The first rule is to stay calm. Panicking, yelling, cursing and throwing things won't help - though it might make you feel better for a second. But to troubleshoot and resolve the problem, a clear head is imperative. Be systematic and approach the problem logically. The troubleshooting steps below will take a methodical approach to help you figure out why your PC is not booting correctly or not booting at all. Some of the steps might sound silly to you, but please don't ignore those steps! Every single problem and solution in this article has happened to somebody at some point. Most of them it takes only a few seconds to check, take the time to do so.

Nothing happens at all

Start with the power. Is the power cable plugged in correctly into a UPS, surge protector, power strip, or wall outlet? Is the wall outlet where the power comes from controlled by a wall switch that was turned off accidentally? Is the power strip turned on? Is the light on the UPS or power strip on, indicating that it has power? Is the power cable plugged into the back of the computer correctly? The socket on the back of the computer where the power cable goes in is part of the power supply in your PC. Some power supplies have a separate on/off switch, usually labeled 0/1. Is that switch turned on? Check the voltage - most power supplies have a switch to change between 115 and 230V - and make sure it is set correctly.

The power comes on but the monitor stays black

Is the power cable for the monitor plugged in correctly? Is the monitor turned on? Is the cable from the video card to the monitor plugged in correctly? Is the video card seated properly? Take the cover off of the case, remove the video card and insert it again properly, then try again.

If everything is connected and powered up correctly, push the power button again and pay close attention: do any lights on the front of the PC blink or light up? Does the fan in the power supply start whirring? This could indicate a hardware problem. Try to think what happened right before the problem started. Did you add a new piece of hardware? If so, it might be faulty or not installed right. Remove it, then try again. If everything is fine without the hardware, try to reinstall and configure the hardware again. If that does not help, try exchanging it and see if that corrects the problem. If the error persists, narrow it down systematically. Remove everything but the CPU, memory, keyboard, and video card, then boot again. Does the error still occur? If not, then add one piece of hardware and try again. Repeat until one new component causes the error and you now know who the culprit is. If yes, then reseat your CPU, memory and video card and try again. If the error still happens, try replacing the CPU, video card and memory one by one to see if one of them is the troublemaker. If that does not help, you could have a bad motherboard. Check the motherboard carefully for any signs of damage. Also check for shorts, a metallic object could have found its way onto the motherboard, or the motherboard is not installed correctly and touches the case somewhere.

Another possible cause could be incorrect CPU settings. If you replaced the CPU with a different one, be sure to choose the correct settings for multiplier and bus speed, either via jumpers on the motherboard or a menu in the BIOS. Consult the manual for the correct setup. If you can't even get into the BIOS to change the settings, use the jumper on the motherboard to clear the BIOS and load the default settings, it should allow you to boot.

Laptop SODIMM Swap - Testing Laptop Memory One Module At A Time

2008-10-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

This set of photos of swapping SODIMM's is a web based illustration for The Laptop Repair Workbook. In many troubleshooting scenarios, it laptop memory will be tagged as a possible culprit. The only way to eliminate memory as a potential problem is to swap it out and see if the problem is fixed. Most laptop users don't have access to a pile of spare parts to play the swapping game, but in the case of memory, the spare may already be available in the laptop for you. This particular Dell running Windows 2000 was equipped with 512 MB of RAM. One screw removes the access panel so we can see what we have.

Sure enough, the laptop memory is split between two SODIMM's, 256 MB each. As the modules are facing each other in this design, you see a different side of each module in the picture to the right. Many designs have the two SODIMM's stacked over each other in a deeper bay, though the connectors are usually staggered a little so they aren't exactly in line. Many older laptops had some or all of the system memory soldered to the motherboard, which is a real drag if you're troubleshooting, or if a memory chip has indeed failed. Unless you have advanced soldering skills and decent equipment, replacing a surface mounted RAM DIMM is just not a likely repair.

aptop memory modules are held in place a little spring clip on either end. You can pretty much always spring them back so the SODIMM pops up on its own with just your fingernails for tools.Note the angle of the module to the left. That's it's unsprung, or relaxed position. You have to angle it about the same when you go to install it. If I kept raising the SODIMM until it flipped over the connector and sat on the other side, it would look just like the second module, with the label down. the two connectors are mirrored.

Top the left I'm pulling out the second memory module, you can see the two sided connector that it sits in pretty clearly. When you have two memory modules in a laptop, it may work with either memory slot filled, or one the design may require that one slot is always filled first. In this Dell, even though the slots are labeled "A" and "B", it turns out the laptop will run with either one filled. So it's a trivial matter to put one module aside and install the other. If you don't have multiple SODIMMs installed and don't know where to buy one, try the memory advisor at Crucial.

I've put aside the first SODIMM removed and I'm installing the second one from Slot A into Slot B. It turns out the laptop worked fine. So I took it out and put the other SODIMM in Slot A. Laptop still worked fine. So the problem with the video in this case had nothing to do with the memory. If I'd been troubleshooting a blue screen of death (BSOD) failure on overheating, I'd have run the laptop for a while with just one module, and if it didn't have problems, I'd have tried it for a while with the other.

The last thing you want to see when you open up your laptop to try a memory swap is permanently installed RAM. That's the deal with this older Toshiba to the left, the 256 MB of factory installed RAM is in the form of DIP chips soldered to the motherboard. There is a SODIMM memory slot in the foreground which allows you to upgrade the memory capacity, but it's usually not possible to bypass failed RAM on the motherboard. In other words, if one of those chips fails, adding a SODIMM to the system won't help unless there's some way to inform the BIOS to ignore the soldered RAM. I didn't find a jumper!

How To Disable Error Reporting in Windows XP

2008-10-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

The error reporting feature in Windows XP is turned on by default but you may want to disable error reporting for privacy concerns, if you're not connected to the Internet all the time, or to simply stop being alerted by it.

Error reporting works by prompting you after a critical error in the operating system or in other programs and asking permission to notify Microsoft about it. This way, Microsoft can gather technical information about serious errors from millions of users, helping them develop fixes and service packs.

If you'd like to disable error reporting, follow the easy steps outlined below.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: Disabling error reporting in Windows XP usually takes less than 5 minutes
Here's How:
Click on Start and then Control Panel.

Click on the Performance and Maintenance link.

Note: If you're viewing the Classic View of Control Panel, double-click on the System icon and skip to Step 4.

Under the or pick a Control Panel icon section, click on the System link.

In the System Properties window, click on the Advanced tab.

Near the bottom of the window, click on the Error Reporting button.

In the Error Reporting window that appears, choose the Disable error reporting radio button and click the OK button.

Note: I would recommend leaving the But notify me when critical errors occur checkbox checked. You probably still want Windows XP to notify you about the error, just not Microsoft.

Click the OK button on the System Properties window

You can now close the Control Panel or Performance and Maintenance window

Install a Central Processing Unit in a PC

2008-10-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

with Don Schechter
The Central Processing Unit, or CPU, is the electronic brain of your computer. Learn how how to install a CPU in a desktop PC.

11 Ways to Keep Your PC Cool

2008-10-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Your PC contains a lot of parts, almost all of which create heat when your computer is on. Some parts, like the CPU and GRAPHICS CARD, can get so hot you could cook on them.

In a properly configured computer, much of this heat is moved out of the computer's case by several fans. If your computer isn't removing the hot air fast enough, the temperature can get so hot that you risk serious damage to your PC. Needless to say, keeping your PC cool should be a top priority.

Below are the top eleven PC cooling solutions. Many are free or very inexpensive so there's really no excuse to let your computer overheat.

Allow for Air Flow

The easiest thing you can do to help keep your PC cool is to give it a little breathing room by removing any obstacles to air flow.

Make sure there's nothing sitting right against any side of the computer, especially the back. Most of the hot air flows out of the back end of the computer case. There should be at least 2 to 3 inches open on either side and the back should be completely open and unobstructed.

If your computer is hidden away inside a desk, make sure the door isn't closed all the time. Cool air enters from the front and sometimes from the sides of the case. If the door is closed all day, hot air tends to recycle inside the desk, getting hotter and hotter the longer the computer is running.

Run Your PC With the Case Closed

An "urban legend" about PC cooling is that running your computer with the case open will keep it cooler. It does seem logical - if the case is open, there would be more air flow which would help keep the computer cooler.

The missing puzzle piece here is dirt. When the case is left open, dust and debris clog the cooling fans faster than when the case is closed. This causes the fans to slow down and fail much quicker than usual. A clogged up fan does a terrible job at cooling your expensive computer components.

It's true that running your computer with the case open might provide a small benefit at first, but the increase in fan exposure to debris has a much greater impact on temperature.

Clean Your Computer

The fans inside your computer are there to keep it cool. Do you know what slows a fan down and then eventually makes it stop? Dirt - in the form of dust, pet hair, etc. It all finds a way into your computer and much of it gets stuck in the several fans.

One of the most effective ways to cool your PC is to clean the internal fans. There's a fan on top the CPU, one inside the power supply, and usually one or more on the front and/or back of the case.

Just shut your computer off, open up the case, and use canned air to remove the dirt from each fan. If your PC is really dirty, take it outside to clean or all that dirt will just settle elsewhere in the room, eventually ending up back inside your PC!

Move Your Computer

Is the area you're running your computer in just too hot or too dirty? Sometimes your only option is to move the computer. A cooler and cleaner area of the same room might be fine, but you may have to consider moving the computer somewhere else entirely.

If moving your PC just isn't an option, keep reading for more tips.

Important: Moving your computer can cause damage to the sensitive parts inside if you're not careful. Be sure to unplug everything, don't carry too much at once, and sit things down very carefully. Your main concern will be your computer's case which holds all the important parts like your hard drive, motherboard, CPU, etc.

Upgrade the CPU Fan

Your CPU is probably the most sensitive and expensive part inside your computer. It also has the most potential to overheat.

Unless you've replaced your CPU fan already, the one that's in your computer now is probably a bottom-of-the-line fan that cools your processor just enough to keep it working properly, and that's assuming it's running at full speed.

Many companies sell large CPU fans that help keep CPU temperature lower than a factory installed fan ever could.

Install a Case Fan (or Two)

A case fan is just a small fan that attaches to either the front or the back of a computer case, from the inside. Case fans help move air through a computer.

Installing two case fans, one to move cool air into the PC and another to move warm air out of the PC, is a great way to keep a computer cool.

Case fans are even easier to install than CPU fans so don't be afraid to get inside your computer to tackle this project.

Stop Overclocking

If you're not sure what overclocking is, you're probably not doing it so you don't have to worry about it.

To the rest of you, you're well aware that overclocking pushes your computer's capabilities to its limits. What you may not realize is that these changes have a direct effect on the temperature that your CPU and any other overclocked components operate at.

If you're overclocking your PC's hardware but haven't taken other precautions to keep that hardware cool, I definitely recommend reconfiguring your hardware to factory default settings.

Replace the Power Supply

The power supply in your PC has a large fan built into it. The air you feel when you hold your hand behind your computer is from this fan.

If you don't have a case fan, the power supply fan is the only way that the hot air created inside your computer can be removed. Your computer can heat up quickly if this fan isn't working.

Unfortunately, you can't just replace the power supply fan. If this fan is no longer working, you'll need to replace the entire power supply.

Install Component Specific Fans

It's true that the CPU is probably the biggest heat producer in your computer but nearly every other component creates heat as well. Super fast memory and high end graphics cards can often give the CPU a run for its money.

If you find that your memory, graphics card, or some other component is creating a lot of heat, you can cool them down with a component specific fan. In other words, if your memory is running hot, buy and install a memory fan. If your graphics card is overheating during gameplay, upgrade to a larger graphics card fan.

With ever faster hardware comes ever hotter parts. Fan manufacturers know this and have created specialized fan solutions for nearly everything inside your computer.

Install a Water Cooling Kit

In very high end computers, heat buildup can become such a problem that even the fastest and most efficient fans can't cool the PC. In these cases, installing a water cooling kit can help. Water transfers heat well and can drastically reduce the temperature of a CPU.

"Water inside a computer? That doesn't sound safe!" Don't worry, the water is completely enclosed inside the transfer system. A pump cycles cool water down to the the CPU where it can absorb the heat and then it pumps the hot water out of your computer where the heat can dissipate.

Water cooling kits are easy to install, even if you've never upgraded a computer before.

Install a Phase Change Unit

Phase change units are the most drastic of cooling technologies. A phase change unit can be thought of as a refrigerator for your CPU. It utilizes many of the same technologies to cool or even freeze a CPU.

Some phase change units can cost $1000USD or more.

PC is rebooting automatically at start-up

2008-10-08T05:07:00.001-07:00

The main reason for this problem is a program, which is causing your PC to re-boot as soon as the program is loaded. That program may be corrupted or not installed properly, which is causing the issue.

To resolve this, you must run the Windows Regedit utility in the safe mode. Here is how to do it.

1.) First, boot into Safe Mode. After a reboot or two, you’ll probably be given that option, but if not, just tap the F8 key a few times once you see the Windows logo pop up on your screen. 2.) Once you're in Safe Mode, go to Start, Run and type in MSCONFIG.

What is MSCONFIG and how to use it

Microsoft System Configuration utility MSCONFIG is a tool available in some Windows versions (98, 98SE, ME, XP) which is very helpful to maintain and troubleshoot Windows startup programs. This utility provides various maintenance tasks, but the most important one is the ability to control programs loading to your Computer memory when starting up your PC.

Why Microsoft system configuration utility is useful?

PC users install different type of software for various purposes. Some of these software loads automatically to your computer memory each time you start your PC. This is not easily visible and hidden in the background. Some of the programs are necessary to load at the start but some are not necessary. Loading unnecessary programs at the startup can lead to various problems such as

Taking unnecessary space of the computer memory.

Slow down startup process

Slow down the computer speed.

Startup problems due to corrupted files.

System crash.

How to use MSCONFIG utility for computer maintenance and troubleshoot Windows startup problems?

Click Start button and select "Run"

Then type MSCONFIG

It should open a screen similar to below depending on your Windows version. I am using screens from Windows XP.

There are few panels (tabs) available for various tasks. But the most useful one for a normal PC user is "Startup" tab.

When you select Startup tab you will see various programs loading to your computer memory every time when you turn on your PC. The list of programs can vary from PC to PC. However, few programs are essential to load at the startup such as

Firewall and antivirus programs

Scan registry

Load power profile

System tray

Task monitor

So do not disable these programs.

You can disable others by un-ticking. Please ensure that you can recognize the program before un-ticking.

Click OK button to save the changes. The system will prompt you to restart the PC.

MSCONFIG is not available in Windows 95, NT and 2000.

IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox

2008-10-07T05:35:00.001-07:00

The next time somebody whips out his/her shiny new iPod to brag, bring them over to your pad and show off your IntelliTunes Digital Jukebox. This wall-mounted device comes with two displays and can be networked with your computer, allowing you to play all your tunes (eat your heart out, 160GB iPod Classic!) simply by pushing a few buttons on the remote control. The visualization screen is able to sport some animation to groove along to the music, while an integrated UltraHiFi 360 watt 2 channel amplifier ought to be more than enough to fill up the entire room with decent audio. Other features include full Windows XP functionality, wireless internet, online radio streaming, DVD drive and iPod/MP3 support.

Ford MyKey Technology For Parents

2008-10-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

Teenagers who have just gotten their driving license are often excited to say the least, gaining yet another inch of freedom in their battle with parents. Ford aims to keep such enthusiasm under a leash with the new MyKey technology which will come as a standard feature in the 2010 Focus Coupe as well as the remaining lineup in due time. MyKey is able to do the following :-

Allow parents to limit a vehicle's top speed to 80 mph
Limit the stereo's volume up to 44% of its max
Set a sustaining chime if the seatbelts aren't being used

Teens reading this will probably bug their parents to get anything other than a Ford, although I don't think they'll be too successful with such lobbying.

Willcom D4 Case Gets All Tough

2008-10-07T05:29:00.000-07:00

Folks who own a Willcom D4 UMPC might want to protect their shiny new toy with this three-piece case that features plastic front and back plates which are lightly coated with smooth anti-slip rubber (perfect for those with clammy hands). In addition, the removable screen guard is constructed from clear hard plastic that can be flipped up whenever you need to access the D4's touchscreen - hopefully it is able to handle thousands of flipping motions without cracking under the stress. You can pick up this case in Formal Black and Fine Blue colors, and each will retail for approximately $46.

Trippy iPod For The Living Room

2008-10-07T05:26:00.000-07:00

This has got to be the largest iPod I've ever set my eyes on, and it comes in a rather unconventional form factor of wavy lines - a somewhat similar effect when I've had too much to drink on a night out. The whole design is the brainchild of Russian artists Aristarkh Chernyshev and Alexei Shulgin who crafted this fully functional iPod. Perfect to get a conversation starting for folks who are stepping into your pad for the first time, but after that, it becomes nothing more but dead weight when that space could be better utilized in a cramped apartment.

Integra DBS-6.9 Blu-ray Player

2008-10-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

With HD DVD being out of the picture for nearly a year already, more and more hardware manufacturers are crawling from underneath their protective shelters to dip their toes into the world of Blu-ray. Integra is the latest to do so with their DBS-6.9 Blu-ray player that has begun to ship, featuring :-

1080p video at 24fps
HDMI v1.3 output
Supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio
Front-panel SD memory card slot

Would you fork out $600 for this? I'd rather settle for a PS3, thank you very much.

Mitsubishi RDT201WDL Widescreen LCD Monitor

2008-10-07T05:23:00.000-07:00

Mitsubishi has a new widescreen LCD monitor known as the RDT201WDL, and this 20.1" beauty will come with the following :-

Built-in USB hub
Integrated Ethernet
WSXGA+ (1,680 x 1,050) resolution
Low power consumption

It is already available in Japan, although there is no word on a North American release just yet.

Computer Sound Card Help

2008-10-06T06:16:00.000-07:00

Sound Card Blues Many readers have asked questions about sound cards, e.g. "Why doesn't my sound card work? Why can't I record with my sound card? Why can't I use my sound card for making telephone calls?" This article addresses these and other sound card problems and applies to all versions of Windows.

First things first - Installing hardware and software. There are two main causes for sound card problems: hardware problems and software problems.

Hardware problems address the capabilities of your computer (system RAM, available ISA or PCI card slots etc.) and the physical installation of the sound card and its cables.
If you purchased your computer as a complete system, the likelihood of a hardware problem should be small (unless you have been working inside your computer, then you should check to make sure you didn't knock any cables loose). Those that have installed their own sound cards should pull out their installation manual and ensure all connections are correct.

Software problems address the Windows drivers used to communicate with the sound card, and the software programs that will use the sound card.
Software drivers are available from the computer or sound card manufacturer and are freely downloadable from their web sites. (Hint: Many sound problems can be resolved by downloading and installing newly updated sound drivers.)

How do you know if your sound card is functioning correctly? After your sound card is installed, you should test it to make sure it functions properly. Most sound cards come with a test file. You should use the manufacturer's test file to make sure your card is functioning correctly.

Microsoft Windows Sound Card Test There are also several test that can be performed from Windows. Microsoft recommends the following procedure:

"Verify that Windows can play .wav files:

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Under Events, click an event that has a loudspeaker icon next to it.

Under Preview, click the Play button. You should hear a sound.

If you don't hear any sounds, or if Windows is not able to play a .wav file, check to see that a sound driver is enabled:

Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

Click the Device Manager tab.

If there is no Sound, Video And Game Controllers entry, or you have no sound card listed under this entry, contact the manufacturer of the computer or sound card and request help reinstalling the sound card drivers.

Sound, Video And Game Controllers and that have yellow or red question marks, Xs, or exclamations, then you may have a hardware problem known as an IRQ conflict. An IRQ conflict means that two conflicting devices are trying to use the same hardware interrupt address. The resolution is to move one of the conflicting devices to a new address. Please see our Tech Advice issue entitled, IRQ Surgery, for details on resolving IRQ conflicts.>

Resolving sound card recording and telephone issues. One of the most common problems associated with sound card recording and telephone issues is the lack of a properly functioning full-duplex sound card. A full-duplex sound card is capable of both playing and recording sounds at the same time.
So how do you know if you have a properly functioning full-duplex sound card? If your sound card is not full-duplex your recording program will produce a "Can't open sound" error message when you try to record.

If your sound card is supposed to be full-duplex capable, has no IRQ conflicts, and you have downloaded and installed the latest sound drivers -- then its time to send an e-mail to your manufacturer's tech support and ask them for help.

Resolving sound problems with games that use DirectX. Please see our article, Help Getting that New Game Running - Instead of Crashing, for specific procedures when dealing with DirectX problems.

Resolving other sound problems with software. You have followed all the advice in this article and your software still can not play sounds or record properly, however, your sound card has passed all the other tests. What do you do now?
Well believe it or not, it is a very common thing to have sound problems with new software. It is the software manufacturer's responsibility to resolve theses conflicts. Usually the manufacturer will supply downloadable software patches to address these problems. Visit your software manufacturer's web site to find patches or to request e-mail tech support.

Restoring the Windows Registry

2008-10-06T06:10:00.000-07:00

Problem: Reloading a previous version of the Windows Registry. I have a system registry error and need to restore my registry without reinstalling windows 95 all over again and if I do need to reinstall it I do not want everything that is on the CD disc and do not want to lose the files I have on there now. Please help.

Answer: It is possible for you to restore your registry only if you have not successfully booted into Windows 95 or 98 since your problem occurred. The following is an excerpt from the Windows 95 Resource Kit. "Each time Windows 95 successfully starts, the operating system backs up the Registry by copying the current SYSTEM.DAT and USER.DAT files to SYSTEM.DA0 and USER.DA0, respectively.

"If Windows 95 fails to start, the backed-up Registry from the last successful startup can be copied over the current Registry. This method recovers the last successful settings after a system failure."

If this doesn't work you can reinstall Windows into its current directory which will usually repair a corrupt version of Windows and does not require reloading your programs (read our articles below for instructions on how to do this). It may or may not repair your registry.

Note: Windows Me and Windows XP Professional users can use System Restore to reload their Windows Registry.

Tip: Restoring Windows Registry using System Restore in Windows Me and XP Professional

Problem: Hi, I am using an IBM ThinkPad T22 model, 900mhz Windows XP Pro, and when I play DVDs all is fine until suddenly it just freezes. The picture freezes and the sound is a continuous grinding one (sounds like a saw). I can't press any buttons or anything, the computer is completely unresponsive. I can take the DVD out of the drive but the computer is still frozen. The only thing I can do is take the battery out and the power out and restart.
I have never had this problem before with playing DVDs, everything has always worked, the playback is always smooth. So I don't know what could be suddenly causing this problem. I played the DVD using Mediamatics and Windows Media Player, and it happened under both. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer: Usually when a computer starts acting up after it has been working normally for awhile, the problem is a misbehaving Windows driver, or some other new software that was loaded.
Since you are running Windows XP Professional, one of the fastest ways to get your computer back on track would be to use System Restore. System Restore is a Windows XP Professional program that regularly backs up your Window's Registry.
To start System Restore, choose Start/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore. Choose to "Restore your computer to earlier time" then click Next. Then use the calendar to select a restore point when you think your system was functioning normally. Windows XP will then load the Registry form the date you selected.
A couple of things to keep in mind when using System Restore. Any programs/hardware drivers loaded after the Restore date probably will not function because they no longer exist in the older Registry. The other thing to remember is that you can undo any restore you make or choose another restore point.

Note to Readers: System Restore was only shipped with Windows Me and Windows XP Professional. You can buy a commercial program, GoBack, which is the same thing as System Restore. Some newer versions of Norton Utilities also have system restore software.

Why is my computer so slow??

2008-10-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

Problem: Do computers slow down when they get older?

Question: My computer seems to be slower. Like I'll click on the defrag function, and it thinks about it for 15 - 20 seconds before the dialog box comes on.
This is why I did the reformat from hell a month or so ago. It didn't help at all.

InfoHQ Answer: Some classic reasons a computer slows down.

1. It's possible that your computer may have so many background programs running that there is not enough main memory to run your main programs. All icons in your computer's system tray are background programs using memory.
To see and remove all running background programs:
a. Press the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys at the same time.
b. Click any program or task except Explorer or Systray.
c. Then click End Task.
Repeat steps b and c to quit all programs except Explorer and Systray which are necessary components of Microsoft Windows.

You should now have a clean system, however you have just removed the programs from your computer's memory, they will all return the next time you start Windows.
If you don't want certain background programs starting when you boot, use the Start/Search function to find the program and either configure it not to run at startup, remove it from Programs/Startup, or delete it from your system.

2. Your hard drive could be too full of data to function efficiently. There should be at least 300MB-500MBs of free space to allow for disk file chores. Note that this mostly applies to the C: drive or whatever drive your Window's cache is on.
If your C: drive is too full, delete unused programs on the C: drive to make space.

3. Your computer could have a fragmented hard drive. This results from programs being loaded and deleted. Run the Window's hard drive defragmenter (Defrag) once a month.

4. If you have 256 MB of memory or less, or you like to play games, you may not have enough system memory to run your software efficiently. You should probably upgrade to 512 MB or more of system memory.

5. You could have old or conflicting Windows device drivers. An example would be you might actually have two entirely different video drivers on your system and Windows could actually be alternately using both of them.
To prevent this problem, First boot the computer in Safe Mode by pressing and holding the F8 key during startup, after the DOS memory check has completed.
While in Safe Mode select Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Devices. Click on all the devices and see if the various drivers have any yellow or red exclamation marks (which indicates a driver conflict) and also determine if there are any duplicate drivers that can be eliminated.
You may have to delete and reload a driver to correct these problems. Duplicate drivers can and should be deleted.

6. As each new Windows program is installed and uninstalled, it leaves behind parts of itself that can slow down or crash your computer. These are mostly .dlls and other shared files.
It's also very possible when uninstalling a program that needed Windows system files can be deleted. When your computer asks if you want to uninstall shared files it's usually safest to say no -- even if your uninstall program claims the files are not being used.
Old Windows drivers can be found by booting into Safe Mode, then opening Control Panel/System/Devices and ridding your system of old drivers.
Another option is to use various system cleaning software, like Norton Utilities, Windoctor etc.

Otherwise, the only real answer to this problem is to reload Windows into a new directory which eliminates all old junk and leftover files. This is something to do last, as you will also have to reload all your Windows settings, drivers, and programs.

7. Your computer could be full of adware, spyware, viruses, or trojans. These are all nasty programs that literally take over the functioning of your computer so they can run their programs. You definitely don't want any of this junk on your computer. To get rid of these parasite programs, and to prevent them from installing in the first place, you need and up-to-date firewall, anti-virus, and spyware removal programs.
These are three separate software programs that must be running at all times except for when you are not plugged into the Internet. It is very important that these programs continuously update themselves or they will become out-dated and will no longer be useful. These programs can be purchased together or from separate manufacturers.

Computer Maintenance Tips

2008-10-06T06:04:00.000-07:00

Ten Tips to Keep your Computer Running Smoothly

1. Never, never, turn your computer off with the power switch until Windows has shut down.

The one exception to this rule is when your computer locks up and your hard drive is not running (hard drive light is not blinking). In this situation, you can turn the power off without harmful effects to the hard drive. As cutting the power can also result in lost data or Windows files, you should only do this when you have to.

Following this rule will prevent permanent hard drive defects caused by the hard drive heads contacting the surface of the drive disc, and it will prevent a host of Windows problems.
Whenever possible, recover from crashes by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys at the same time. Press them again to reboot your computer.

2. I highly recommend that you purchase an UPS (uninteruptable power supply) for your computer. This will keep your computer from crashing during power outages, and will protect your computer from low and high voltage occurrences.
An UPS is far superior to a surge protector and will save your computer from almost any type of power disaster. (See #1 above for what happens when your computer crashes.)

3. Backup, backup, backup, any data you cannot afford to lose to at least two separate physical drives. So backup data to external hard drives, Zip disks, CD-RWs etc.
The time to backup is when you create something you can't afford to lose. Don't wait until tomorrow.

4. Run Scandisk and Defragment at least once a month. This will keep your hard drive healthy and prevent crashes. Alternatively, purchase Norton Utilities and use it to keep your hard drive healthy.

5. Never unplug peripherals from the computer when it is powered up. Unplugging with the power on can short out the connector socket or the motherboard.

The only exception to this rule is if you know a peripheral is "hot pluggable". If you do not know what "hot pluggable" means then ignore this exception.

6. Do keep at least 300 MBs of your C: drive free for Windows to use. If you use Windows XP or Vista then you should have 400-600 MBs of free space on your C: drive.
If you do not have enough free space you will choke Windows and it will start dumping data to your hard drive, or it will just get really, really, slow.
Use the ADD/Delete tool in the Windows Control Panel to delete unneeded programs from your drive.
You can also use Cleansweep included in Norton Utilities to clean up your drive. If you do use Cleansweep or another hard drive cleaner, do not delete shared files unless you back them up. The cleaners do a rotten job of knowing if another program uses shared files.

7. Do not let a lot of programs load up when you start your computer. They use valuable memory and Windows Resources (Windows internal workspace).
All programs in your Windows System Tray (in the lower left of your screen) are running on your computer. Close them if you don't need them or run them and configure them not to load when you boot up.
Other programs running in the background can be found by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete at the same time.

8. Do use a virus checker regularly. Everyone should use a virus checker. The best type of protection is continuous monitoring from a dedicated anti-virus program like Norton Antivirus.
The second best thing is to use is the free online virus checkers such as Housecall provided by Trend Micro.

9. If you have a high speed Internet connection you need a firewall program. A firewall program keeps those who want to hijack your computer from gaining access to your system. You really do not want someone else running your computer.
I suggest you purchase and run Norton's Personal Firewall program. Your firewall should boot up with your computer to protect it from invasion.

Case in point: When I am online 10 hours or more with my DSL connection, my computer is usually attacked by a hacker at least once.
Do not think you are safe from hackers!! Hackers use search programs to seek out computers at random. Get a firewall program and use it.

10. Keep track of the software disks you receive with your computer and new peripherals. These disks contain valuable software drivers and programs for Windows and are needed when Windows must be reloaded. Keep these disks and your Windows software disks in a safe, dry, place -- you never know when you will need them.

Computer Problem Help

2008-10-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

Hard Drive Problems

Problem: Can't access my crashed hard drive. I have 2 hard drives on my computer, a 2 Gig, that has Windows installed on it (C:) and a 10 Gig, for files and stuff (D:). They are two totally separate drives, not partitions.
Anyway, one day I booted up the computer and Windows wouldn't recognize the D: drive. The BIOS read it fine. I concluded that my hard drive crashed. Is there any way I can recover the data? I have tried to access the D: drive in DOS, but It doesn't want to read it for some unknown reason. Any help is appreciated.
I am downloading Norton Utilities, but if that doesn't work, I'm clueless. I have a bunch of floppies, so if I could get to the data I'd be all set. I am not rich enough to spend thousands of dollars to a disk recovery company. I have documents on that drive, which is why I want to try to recover them. I have a few floppies that I could put them on, if I could only get to the data. Do you have any ideas? Any help is appreciated.

InfoHQ Answer: I suggest you visit your hard drive manufacturer's site and make sure the hard drive is set up correctly in your BIOS. Use the auto detect function in your BIOS, and if you are given several choices try different settings. Save the BIOS setting and exit by choosing (F10) and then Y. If the BIOS can set the drive up correctly you should be able to access the drive from DOS.
Does the read light come on when you try to access the drive or does the light stay lit all the time? The answer to these problems is to remove the computer case and make sure the drive cables are firmly attached.
Another possibility is that your drive has been formatted or damaged by a virus. Use a virus checker to make sure you don't have a destructive virus lurking on your system.
Try typing "dir" (don't type the quotes) at the DOS prompt to see if you can read the drive directory. If you can't read the drives' directory from DOS, either it is not correctly set up in the BIOS or your directory has been damaged. If Norton Utilities can't save your damaged drive, I know of no other way to save it.
I also suggest from now on you establish a back up routine to copy any file that is important to some kind of backup media: floppy disks, Zip drive, CD-ROM etc.

Problem: Recovering files from a crashed hard drive. My hard drive crashed. I have to send it to the factory to get it replaced. I can get into the files through a recovery disk using ms-dos. I have several files that were not backed up on disk.
I would like to transfer them to another computer with a cable pc/PC I tried copying them to a floppy. But whatever the problem with the hard drive it won't allow me to write to the floppy. What is the best way to do a DOS to Win98/computer to computer transfer? What software might I need to do it?

InfoHQ Answer. A small shareware file, Zipft, will allow you to transfer files between your two computers with the purchase of a $10 null modem cable.
The only catch is, Zipft has to be running on both computers (which of course is the problem with any DOS file transfer system). So I hope you can at least copy this program to a floppy and run it in your computer with the messed up drive or this method will not work.
A null modem cable is a serial cable with serial connectors on both ends. Computer stores sometimes carry them, if you can't find one locally they are available off the Internet.
You plug the null modem cable into a serial port on both computers and then you have to use Zipft to transfer the files (a Word instruction file is included in the Zipft program, I suggest you read it thoroughly). The commercial programs Laplink and FastLynx also use a similar cabling technique , and may or may not be easier to use (any time you use DOS it requires some work) and will be much more expensive.
The second possibility I can think of is to remove the drive (if it is a desktop computer) and make it a slave drive in your second computer (a friend's computer could also be used). Files could then be copied directly from the damaged drive to your healthy hard drive, onto floppies, or to Internet drives.
Procedures for removing the hard drive and reinstalling it can be found in our article, Installing a Second Hard Drive .
Both solutions discussed are not for novices. If you feel uncomfortable about the procedures, get a friend or a computer repair shop to help you.

Problem: Can't use CD-ROM after setting up as slave to a hard drive. When I boot my computer I get the message (primary slave atapi -incompatible) and I will not have a CD-ROM

InfoHQ Answer. You usually can't slave a CD-ROM drive to a hard drive. Set the CD-ROM up on your Secondary IDE channel (your other hard drive ribbon cable) either as a primary, or as a slave to another CD-ROM, Zip Disk, CD R/W, etc. Only slave hard drives to other hard drives.

Problem: How can I find out what hardware is installed inside my computer?

There is a free program called the Belarc Advisor, available for download at www.belarc.com. The Belarc Advisor will provide you all sorts of information on your motherboard, hard drives, RAM, video card, sound card, modem etc.

Computer Problem Help

2008-10-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

Computer Crash at POST

Problem: System crashes during power-on tests (POST).

Possible causes. First, for a computer to boot, the CPU must be properly installed, RAM must be installed, all power connectors have to be attached, and the keyboard must be attached. Needless to say, if any of these items are not connected properly they could cause your problem.
Another cause of the problem could be your motherboard's BIOS is not configured correctly. This is resolved by comparing your settings to those that are recommended by your computer/motherboard manufacturer.
A third cause of the problem could be a malfunctioning component, such as an unstable or overclocked CPU, a malfunctioning power supply, or a shorted motherboard.

How to figure out what the beeps mean. The beeping can be interpreted by what type of BIOS you have. If you have an AMI BIOS the power on self test (POST) beep codes can be interpreted at the AMI web site.
If you have an Award BIOS you can find information on their beep and POST codes at the Phoenix web site (Award and Phoenix merged in 1998).
Not only do the above documents provide an explanation of the beep codes, they also provide good information on how to troubleshoot and resolve problems, and I recommend you read both documents.

Additional Help. If you get nowhere by yourself, its time to turn to a professional. Computer repair shops can obtain additional information on POST failures with diagnostic equipment. It might help to ask them the question, "Do you have equipment which can read BIOS POST codes?" before you hand them your computer.

Problem: Trouble getting a home-built Athlon system to boot.
Hello, I am building a complete new system based on the Athlon processor. When I turn the system on I get no response -- fans come on, CPU warms after a bit of time and hard drive comes on. There is power going where it is supposed to.
The only components used that are not on the Athlon preferred list of AMD are the case, which is still slot1 compatible, 250watt ATX power, and the SDRAM, which is Micron P133 128meg (the serial number is not listed with the other Micron compatible SDRAM listed).
The video card is an ATI all in wonder 128. I tried removing and replacing a couple of times, still no luck. I have no display on my monitor. The keyboard I am building with is an older one using a p2 adapter till my new one gets here but I don't think that could cause no display, not even a cursor on the monitor.
I was extremely careful when assembling, have done this once before (4 years ago with Motherboard and CPU) with my older system, and have always upgraded cards and components myself, yet never had a problem like this. Motherboard (FIC SD11) is mounted correctly (on a rear slide out type case).
SDRAM is Micron SDRAM # MT48LC8M8A2TG. The recommended Micron SDRAM has a -8E at the end. Not sure if it is different than what I have. I disconnected all drives before starting up the computer, still no screen (stays on standby setting).
I tried other monitor, with same result. Tried older PCI video card, no change. My only other thought is....could the Motherboard or CPU be dead on arrival? or, am I doing something wrong? Any, and I do mean Any, suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

InfoHQ Answer. I have a couple of thoughts on this. First, I believe this is not a video card issue since you tried different cards with no result. Also, the likelihood of the motherboard or CPU being damaged is very low if you handled them correctly. So assuming the video card is OK, makes me believe that your computer is not getting to the DOS memory post test.
The keyboard issue is not a player as the computer will pass the memory post test before failing the keyboard check, and this would be reported on your screen. After reading several reviews on the SD11, and visiting the FIC and AMD sites, I have a couple more thoughts.
1. I think the RAM you bought could keep the computer from booting. There seems to be specific requirements on the FIC site and I can not identify the RAM you bought. The AMD web site specifically states that unbuffered SDRAM must be used. Can your RAM be exchanged for one of the recommended RAM part numbers? Before you return it, try reseating it a few times.
2. Another thing that could keep the computer from reaching post is the accessory case connectors not being attached correctly. Make sure they are connected to the correct pins on the motherboard and that they all face in the same direction or you could be crossing the pins.

Computer Problem Help

2008-10-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Computer Screen is Blank

Problem - The Computer Screen is Blank. You start your computer and the monitor remains blank, although the monitor's power light is on.
Possible Causes: You have a hardware problem or a BIOS setup problem. Your computer hardware has not been installed correctly, your motherboard's jumpers are set incorrectly, your BIOS settings are not correct, or your computer or peripherals have been shorted out and/or have some other mechanical problem.

Remedies. The remedies below should be performed in order. Turn off the computer after each step. Never work inside the computer case with the power turned on.

1. Check and make sure all cables are firmly attached to the back of the computer and to all external devices. Retry.

2. Remove the case cover from the computer. Make sure all cables (hard drive, power cables, other disk cables) inside the computer are firmly attached.
Press down on all ISA and PCI cards and make sure they are firmly seated. Make sure your DRAM memory cards are firmly seated. Feel the top of the CPU and make sure it is not hot (warm is OK). Retry.

3. This step is only for newly built computers that have not successfully booted. Get out your motherboard manual, or download one from the manufacturer's site, and go over all your motherboard jumper settings.
Set the jumpers in the most conservative position. Review all your accessory wire connections (keyboard lock, hard drive access light, etc.) and make sure the connectors to the motherboard are facing the same direction. Retry.

4. Turn the computer back on with the case off. Verify that your CPU and power supply fan are running. If either one is not running you have a problem. If the power supply fan is not running replace the power supply (make sure the power connectors are correctly attached to the motherboard). Make sure the CPU fan is connected to power on the motherboard. If it is correctly connected and still doesn't run, replace it. Retry.

5. Unplug your computer. Remove all PCI and ISA cards. Reinstall the video card and disconnect the hard drive cable. Plug in the keyboard, video cable, and power cable. Restart your computer. If this worked, go to Step 6. If your DOS screen doesn't come up at this point try the following ideas.

a. Closely examine your motherboard and make sure it is not making contact with the computer case, which will short it.
b. Your video card, video cable, or monitor may be malfunctioning. Borrow a video card, cable and monitor, retry.
c. Remove and reinstall your DRAM. If your computer can not find system memory it will not POST.
d. Remove the CPU and reinstall it.
e. Follow your motherboard manual's instructions for resetting your BIOS to its default configuration.

If your computer still will not boot into a DOS screen, seek professional help.

6. If you now have a DOS screen on your monitor, attach your hard drive cable and reboot. Make sure the hard drive is correctly set up in the BIOS. Press the Delete key during the POST memory check to enter the BIOS. If your hard drive doesn't work, you have incorrectly attached the drive ribbon cable or power cable. See our article Installing a Second Hard Drive for the correct procedures for installing the hard drive ribbon cable.

7. Add your other PCI and ISA cards back into the computer one at a time. Reboot after each card is installed to make sure the new card isn't causing a problem.

2008-10-06T05:56:00.001-07:00

SuperSonix - Request A Catalog and More Information

One-to-One hard disk drive duplicator

For more information and to request a product catalog click here

The SuperSonix hard disk drive duplicator, the second generation of Logicube's popular Sonix is a compact and portable cloning solution with blazing cloning speeds approaching 6GB/min! A full color touch screen provides an easy to use interface, and support for SATA/IDE/USB/Firewire 1394B makes the SuperSonix an extremely versatile duplicator.

The hand-held SuperSonix provides the convenience of on-site as well as "on the bench" cloning. Novice users will appreciate the "wizard" function that steps them through key cloning operations. Advanced software including CleverCopy, Selective Partitions and MasterManager is included with SuperSonix. This compact, feature-rich cloning device also features support for verification of the cloned drive using an MD5 signature of target drive. The SuperSonix is Windows Vista compatible and supports e-SATA and microSATA drives (with optional cables) as well as solid state drives.

Logicube delivers dependable, future-focused solutions that meet the demanding requirements of IT departments around the world.

Can I recover from recovering my PC?

2008-10-06T05:48:00.000-07:00

Every time something writes to your hard drive, the chance of recovering files decreases

Virtually all commercially sold PCs come with some sort of recovery tool -- an alternate way to boot your system (either a CD, a DVD or a special key combination to press shortly after turning on your PC) that can return your hard drive to its factory condition. Thus, with just a few keystrokes, you can once again have a working copy of Windows, along with all the bundled junk you studiously removed, and none of your own files.

This is almost certainly overkill for an unbootable PC. See Diagnose and Repair an Unbootable XP or Vista PC and Six Downloadable Boot Discs That Could Save Your PC for better advice when Windows won't come up.

And speaking of mistakes, never ever run your PC's recovery tool without first backing up your data. In fact, you should never go to sleep without first backing up your data. In this day of cheap external hard drives and automated online backup services, there's just no excuse.

OK, enough lectures. You've made your mistake. Can you get your data back?

It's hard to say. There's a slim chance you can get everything back, a good chance you'll get some of it and a real possibility you'll get none. The problem isn't that the recovery tool erased everything on C:, but that once it finished erasing, it started laying down files. It's the overwriting, not the erasing, that destroys your precious bits.

Your chance of recovering files decreases every time something writes to that hard drive. Letting the recovery tool complete its job lowers your chances. So does booting into Windows and using the computer.

Here's another issue: The more fragmented the files on your PC, the less likely they will be successfully restored. Another good reason to defrag regularly.

How do you restore the data if you can't boot the hard drive? There are two options: Physically remove the hard drive and attach it as a secondary drive to another computer, or use recovery software that comes on a bootable CD or flash drive.

If you're comfortable with removing a hard drive, this is the best solution. You can then install it as an internal slave drive in the other PC, or use something like the Bytecc USB 2.0 Drive Mate to effectively turn it into a USB external drive.

What software should you use? I recommend either Iolo's Search & Recover or LSoft Technologies' Active@ Undelete. You can download free demo versions of each of these $40 programs, and use them to find out what can be restored (you'll have to buy one to actually restore anything). Whichever program you use, select the option for scanning the drive for lost or damaged partitions.

RealNetworks Unveils DVD Copying Software

2008-10-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

Computer users have gotten used to ripping CDs from their collection to use on their computer or with mobile MP3 devices like the Apple iPod. But traditionally, it has been more difficult to rip a DVD, and antipiracy software often made transferring DVDs to the digital format next to impossible. But RealNetworks is about to make it much easier to rip your favorite DVDs for use on your computer or a mobile device.

This week, RealNetworks unveiled its new RealDVD software for Windows, which provides users with a simple way to create digital copies of DVDs, including extra bonus footage and even the art work from the DVD cover. RealDVD retails for $30, making it one of the most cost-effective ways to digitize a DVD collection.

In an article in the New York Times, RealNetworks CEO Robert Glaser stated that the DVD ripping software was something the company had wanted to do for a long time now. Glaser points out that the software is not intended to be misused for illegal purposes, but serves only as an easy way to make backup copies of DVDs for personal use.

There are many reasons why burning backup copies of DVDs is advantageous. For one, it allows the user to take their film collection with them in a laptop computer when traveling.

But the new RealDVD software is also bound to stir up some controversy, especially considering the lengths that the powerful film studios will go to protect their intellectual property. Back in the late 1990s, the big Hollywood studios began a campaign to protect DVDs from being copied. Having seen the effect of burning CDs on the music industry, the film industry was keen to be more proactive and avoid the type of mass piracy that ravaged the major recording labels over the past decade.

Some Hollywood studios have openly expressed their concern that having easy access to DVD burning software will hurt both DVD rentals and sales. In fact, in 2004 the Motion Picture Association of America won a lawsuit against the makers of a popular DVD-ripping software known as “DVD X Copy.” The manufacturer of the software has since closed up shop after a judge ruled that their software was in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Since that time, computer users who wished to burn backup DVDs had little choice but to use illegal programs found online. Many of these programs were of questionable quality, and some even contained sneaky spyware or viruses.

RealNetworks is offering consumers the opportunity to use a legitimate program to backup their DVD collection. The company has also made arrangements with popular online retailer Amazon.com to distribute RealDVD.

Media experts predict that the big film studios will eventually challenge the legality of the software, but in the meantime, RealDVD presents one of the easiest and least expensive ways to digitize your DVD collection.

Nero Introduces LiquidTV, the Virtual TiVo

2008-10-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

It was only a matter of time until the household television and the computer became completely linked: Nero, the DVD burning software manufacturers, have just introduced a software program called LiquidTV, which is basically a virtual TiVo for your computer.

LiquidTV will ship with both USB TV tuner and receiver hardware, along with a standard remote control. The software program comes with many of the features found in TiVo, including digital video recording, scheduling, an electronic program guide, high-definition and standard recording quality, and the ability to record two different programs simultaneously to your computer hard drive.

Unlike other digital video recorders, navigation is not dependent upon the included remote control — users can navigate through programming using a standard mouse or a plethora of convenient keyboard shortcuts, including dedicated keys for record play and pause.

Another benefit of LiquidTV is the software’s ability to export recorded programs in a wide variety of formats including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Windows Media Video, AVI, and the proprietary .tivo format which is readable by any standard TiVo hardware. Of course, the program also offers the ability to burn programs directly to DVD, building on Nero’s considerable experience in producing DVD authoring software.

Initially, LiquidTV software will only be available in North America. So-called big box retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City and Office Depot will carry the product. The expected retail price will be just under $200, and this includes a 12-month subscription to TiVo.

The software can also be purchased without a TiVo subscription for $99.99 and is compatible with both desktop and laptop PCs. The software will also support home theater and Dolby surround sound setups. So far, a Mac version of LiquidTV has not been announced.

But for many die-hard TiVo users, the big question is whether LiquidTV can replace their TiVo hardware? Currently, the software boasts most of the features of a regular TiVo set up, and a few extras that are not available on TiVo. However, there are shortcomings as well: the speed of the user’s computer processor and the amount of available memory will greatly affect the performance of LiquidTV, and its ability to store large quantities of video programming.

To record high def video, LiquidTV requires a minimum of a 3 GHz Pentium 4 processor (or the AMD equivalent), and at least 40 GB of available hard drive space. Luckily, most modern computers (both laptop and desktop) should meet the requirements to run LiquidTV with no problem. It is advisable, however, to purchase a large external hard drive to store all that video programming, as 40 GB will barely get you started.

Home Computer Repair

2008-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Home computer repair is facilitated through thousands of online services where you can gather enough knowledge to gain confidence to repair your own computer to computer repair help . Many problems dealing with operating systems, multimedia software, music software, image creating and visual effects software, various hardware elements and vireos protections can be taken care of under the direction of a qualified technician

Most of these companies concentrate their efforts exclusively on home and small office computer users who require greater attention to detail and personalized service. Most of the times they maintain retail stores that allows them to keep costs low in order to provide competitive service prices.

There are many companies who provide home computer repair online services. These services include repairs, upgrades, installs, new system sales, virus removal, computer maintenance, networking and more. Highly trained computer technicians perform all of these services. Many computer technicians will travel to your home or office to diagnosis, estimate and complete upgrades and repairs. In most cases, all work can be done in a single visit.
Sometimes, you can even achieve a computer diagnostic via remote by temporarily handing over your mouse and keyboard controls to someone in another part of the country or even the world. In this, you give them permission to search through your computer hardware support via their own computer, for the purpose of seeking out whatever is ailing your computer. This option is not possible unless you are able to get online, so if the issue is one of connectivity, a personal visit will definitely be required.

Android phone makes its debut

2008-10-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Open-source HTC smart phone sold by T-mobile has a touch screen similar to the iPhone's, sports 'Chrome-light' browser, (See video link below)

The first Android phone looks a lot like the fuzzy pictures that have surfaced online for months, with a touch screen similar to the iPhone's and a full slide-out keyboard.

T-Mobile Inc., Google Inc. and HTC Corp. unveiled the long-awaited G1 Android phone at an event in New York today, revealing pricing, availability and some of the initial applications available for it. They emphasized that the software is open source.

The phone will first become available in the U.S., and a U.K. launch will follow shortly afterward. Starting Oct. 22, U.S. consumers will be able to buy the G1 for $179. Users can subscribe to a limited data plan for $25 a month or $35 for unlimited data access.

The G1 will go on sale in the U.K. in early November and in other T-Mobile European markets in the first quarter of next year.

"We believe open will drive the future of the mobile Internet," said Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer at T-Mobile USA. "From garages to graduate schools, from small towns to big cities, we believe third parties will drive the innovation and future of the mobile Net, along with partnerships with carriers and key manufacturers."

A demonstration of the phone showed a user flicking the screen to scroll through items, in much the same way people can use gestures to navigate the iPhone. The G1, however, also supports the "long press," where a user holds a finger to the screen to open up a menu. For example, holding a finger on a photograph opens a menu offering options such as the ability to send the photo to someone else.

The phone includes a browser built on Webkit, the same technology that drives Apple's Safari browser, said Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms at Google, who is credited with leading the Android development. He called it "Chrome-light," comparing it to the Chrome browser that Google recently introduced.

n a browser window, a user can drag a small box around the Web site and the content behind the box is magnified for easier viewing on the small screen.

The phone, which the executives referred to as "G1 with Google", features many Google applications, including Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Flickr and GTalk. It is also integrated with the Amazon MP3 store, allowing users to easily buy digital music, and it features the Android store where users can browse and buy new applications.

The phone also includes a dedicated search button. When users press it, a Google search bar pops up on the screen.

G1 users will be able to read Word, PDF and Excel documents but, initially at least, they won't be able to sync Microsoft Exchange mail with the phone. "Currently there's no Exchange compatibility, but that's a perfect opportunity for a third-party developer," Rubin said.

http://video.computerworld.com/services/link/bcpid1351827287/bctid1812184396

Microsoft will soon release 'Windows Cloud' OS, Ballmer says

2008-10-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer revealed a few details on Wednesday of a forthcoming operating system that will help developers write Internet-based applications.

Within a month, Microsoft will unveil what Ballmer called "Windows Cloud." The operating system, which will likely have a different name, is intended for developers writing cloud-computing applications, said Ballmer, who spoke to an auditorium of IT managers at a Microsoft-sponsored conference in London.

Cloud computing is a term often applied to programs that are presented in a Web browser, but the actual computing is performed at a distant data center.

Ballmer was short on details, saying more information would spoil the announcement. Windows Cloud is a separate project from Windows 7, the operating system that Microsoft is developing to succeed Windows Vista.

Companies such as Google Inc. and Salesforce.com Inc. have embraced the concept of delivering software over the Internet, as it can mean lower costs and less maintenance for those who use the applications. Microsoft, which has built its fortunes on desktop-based software, has been anxious to show it also has plans for adapting its software for the Internet.

Ballmer was quick to point out that Microsoft doesn't envision products such as the Office productivity suite moving entirely off desktop PCs and onto the Internet. But Microsoft is working on a service that would let people do "light editing" of Office documents at places such as a public Internet kiosk, Ballmer said.

"That's all I can say on that," Ballmer said. "Otherwise, we have no drum-roll announcement in a month."

Microsoft is developing online components for many of its products such as its SharePoint collaboration software, the Exchange e-mail server and its Dynamics Customer Relationship Management software, Ballmer said. Microsoft calls its strategy "software plus services," where its core applications are augmented by Web-based functionality.

Microsoft is facing increasing pressure from Google, which offers a Web-based productivity suite called Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

Ballmer was dismissive of Google, saying Docs and Spreadsheets has "relatively low usage" and that users want richer features in an office software package. "We want software more powerful than software that runs in a browser," Ballmer said.

Turn Your IPod Into a PDA

2008-10-03T09:40:00.001-07:00

ZappTek has introduced iPDA 4.2, software that turns your iPod into a PDA.

The software will easily transfer all manner of Word, PDF, Pages, RTF and text documents to your iPod, including RSS feeds, weather forecasts, driving directions. The software will also transfer information from Entourage, Gmail, Mail, Address Book and iCal.

The new version introduces support for the new iPod nano, including support for the new nano's contact grouping function.

iPDA 4.2 costs US$19.95.

How Do I Back Up My Drivers?

2008-09-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

First, you should know that there are no guarantees. I've yet to find a technique that always gets every file needed by every driver. But I can recommend two approaches, either of which will get the vast majority and quite likely all of them. As an extra precaution, you might use both.

The first is driverback.bat, a batch file I wrote when I last answered this question in 2005 (if that link brings you to a web page of text rather than a file download dialog box, copy and paste that text into Notepad and save it as driverback.bat). This makes for an extremely easy backup and a reasonably easy restore, although it backs up far more files than you're likely to need. Another problem: It doesn't work in Vista--one more reason why I'm giving an alternative solution.

Running my batch file copies a great many files to a folder inside My Documents called driverback. Copy this folder to an external drive or burn it to CD for safe keeping.

To restore your drivers to a fresh XP installation, connect or insert the media containing your driverback backup. Select Start, Run, type sysdm.cpl, and press ENTER. Click the Hardware tab, then the Device Manager button.

Repeat the following steps for each item listed that displays a yellow question mark:

1. Right-click the item and select Update Driver.

2. In the resulting Hardware Update Wizard, select Install from a list or specific location (Advanced) and click Next.

3. Check Include this location in the search and point it to your driverback folder. Click Next.

4. If the installation pauses because it can't find a file, point it to your driverback folder.

If you're using Vista, don't trust my admittedly crude batch file, or just want two backups, consider Innovative Solution's free DriverMax (http://www.innovative-sol.com/drivermax/). (Free, yes, but you still must register it if you wish to keep using it.)

Once installed and registered, it backs up and restores drivers with almost no fuss.

Micro Express MicroFlex 450B Power Desktop PC

2008-09-29T07:13:00.001-07:00

Built around the same Gigabyte X48-DS4 motherboard as the top-performing Polywell Poly X4800-Extreme, the MicroFlex 450B steps down a notch or two on other primary components. A 2.83-GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor, a single 500GB Seagate ST3500320NS hard drive, and a 512MB ATI 4870 graphics card lurk inside. Though this combo is pared back compared with some other high-end PCs, it still managed a more-than-acceptable WorldBench 6 score of 119 and gaming rates around 200 frames per second.

As inexpensive as the MicroFlex 450B is for a power system ($1599 as of August 8, 2008), you don't get the feeling that Micro Express has been stingy. Open the black midtower case, and you'll find plenty of room for even large hands to work, with five external bays open--four 5.25-inchers and one 3.5-incher--as well as two 3.5-inch internal bays for additional hard drives. It also has two 1x PCIe slots and two PCI slots unblocked, plus another CrossFire-enabled 16x PCIe slot if you want to up your high-resolution gaming capabilities with a second graphics card.

Although Micro Express made trade-offs to achieve its low price, they are relatively wise ones. The bundled 19-inch LG W1942TQ wide-screen display is smaller than what we see with most power systems, but it does produce a very crisp picture. The basic Microsoft keyboard and optical mouse are both wired, and the LG GH22LP20 optical drive offers LightScribe but no Blu-Ray or HD DVD reading.

Put succinctly, the MicroFlex 450B provides 85 percent of the Poly X4800-Extreme's performance at 33 percent of the price. I could yap more about the relative lack of big-vendor style, but those numbers are the real story.

--Jon L. Jacobi

Asus Eee PC 1000H 80G XP Mini-Notebook

2008-09-28T06:02:00.000-07:00

Ever since the Eee PC 4G opened up the mini-notebook market last year, Asus has been pumping out different flavors of the Eee, including versions of the original with XP and models sporting slightly larger screens and a multitouch pad. With the $460 Eee 1000H 80G XP, though, Asus addresses many of the previous problems we've had with earlier mini-notebook models--and it creates a solid second-gen machine in the process.

The newest member of the Eee family offers the same Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and 80GB hard disk as MSI's Wind NB U100. It has a 10-inch display and measures 10.5 by 7.5 by 1.5 inches (about the size of a hardcover book, and only slightly larger than the MSI Wind). The Eee 1000H is also fairly heavy for a mini-notebook, weighing about 3.6 pounds including the six-cell battery packed underneath. (On the plus side, the battery lasted about 4 hours, 32 minutes in our tests.) With the Eee 1000H's design the way it is, you might as well call it an ultraportable--in heft, if not performance.

The Atom processor may be passable for last-gen apps and small devices, but it's downright mopey if you're hoping to run Vista. And it isn't exactly a speed demon in XP, either: On our WorldBench 6 tests, the Eee 1000H received a score of 37, a point higher than MSI's Wind got. For the most part, though, this model's performance is consistent for what we're finding with XP-based mini-notebooks running an Atom processor and 1GB of RAM.

One thing that sets the Eee 1000H apart from the other mini-notebooks we've seen is its spacious, comfortable keyboard. I'd probably put it on a par with what you'd expect to find on a full-featured ultraportable laptop. The keyboard, coupled with an array of useful shortcut keys, makes this mini-notebook very easy to use. One key turns off the monitor, another switches the resolutions, the third changes the performance settings, and the last is user configurable. And the keys aren't the only things that work well: The touchpad offers a sensual feel and is fluidly responsive, and the mouse buttons are firm, metallic, and well mounted.

The display's native 1024 by 600 resolution looks reasonably sharp on the 10-inch screen. With a quick toggle of the shortcut key, you can pop through a number of "optimized" resolutions. The only real use I've found for the resolution gear-shifter is that it's helpful for trying to fit some oddly formatted Web pages to the screen; otherwise, you can always output video through the VGA port. A firm, flush bezel surrounding the screen and the 1.3-megapixel camera securely locks everything in place. The case has a smooth yet slightly textured feel.

Suprisingly, the Eee 1000H's audio sounded crisp, and richer than I had expected. Maybe that's the result of Dolby Sound Room technology (which Dolby says extends the speakers' bass response up an octave, and widens the sound space that the speakers project). Elvis's "Suspicious Minds" rang clear; Run DMC's "Walk This Way" sounded a little tinny, but good enough that I was able to forgo plugging in headphones. I'd even say that the Eee 1000H can fill up a small room (or office cubicle) with tunes.

One other unexpected twist: Asus preinstalls some handy software, including Microsoft Works, StarOffice, and Skype.

In other respects, the Eee 1000H provides exactly what you might expect from a mini-notebook in expandability and layout. It includes three USB ports, an SD Card slot, VGA-out, headphone/microphone jacks, and an ethernet jack.

I liked the thorough manual, too. It's funny, really: Many makers of high-end notebooks don't even bother--simply tossing a PDF in the box--and yet this well-laid-out book covers all the bases.

Asus' Eee 1000H is among the leaders in the mini-notebook market. This model offers a sizable keyboard, a solid screen, and a clean and comfortable layout, just beating out the MSI Wind. Buyers beware, however: It's a device that's roughly the size of an ultraportable yet has half an ultraportable's power (albeit at more than half an ultraportable's price).

Lenovo’s bright ,slight IdeaPad U110

2008-09-26T05:19:00.001-07:00

LENOVO’S super svelte Ideapad U110 is about as fleshy as ultra portable laptops get. Between the fire-engine-red lid and the rugged rubbery base, the Idea Pad U110 is a bona fide Macbook Air rival.

It weights 2.9 pounds with its seven-cell battery in place, and measures 10.8 inches by 7.7 inches by 0.72inch. It’s powerful for an ultraportable, with a 1.6 GHz Intel L7500 Core 2 Duo CPU and 2 GB of RAM, but in worldBench 6 tests it earned a so-so 65.

The 120 GB hard drive spins at a poky 4200 rpm, but the U110’s battery life was decent :4 hours,38 minutes. It offers three USB 2.0ports and one FireWire port,PC express and SD Card slots, an Ethernet jack, and VGA out. On a laptop with an 11.1 inch screen at 1366 by 768 resolution, you might expect a small keyboard with tiny buttons. But for an ultraportable, the U110 has huge keys. Though the wide, flat keys took some getting used to, I had no trouble tapping out this review.

Alas, it’s a fingerprint magnet and glossy coating creates an annoying glare.

Despite its flaws, the IdeaPad U110 deserves praise as an intriguing, stylish laptop, But considering how hard the screen is to see in some conditions, the price $1900 is hard to justify.

Microsoft’s New Offer: Subscribe to Office

2008-09-22T05:38:00.001-07:00

Microsoft has chosen the name Equipt” for a package of products that includes it’s office suite ,Internet security software and other services which it will sell for a $70 annual subscription fee.

Equipt components include Office Home and student 2007 Windows live on care, Office live workspaces, Windows live mail, Live messenger and live Photo.

Bryson Gordon , a group product Manager for Microsoft Office ,Plays down suggestions that equipt is an effort to rival Google Docs and other free office suites ,such as IBM Symphony .Equipt, he says , targets people who are looking for a PC security suite-such as Windows live on care and who might forgo buying Office as well in favor of using and older copy that they might already have or might pirate. Microsoft is selling Equipt first through circuit City stores.

In determining the $70 subscription rate, Gordon says ,Microsoft took into account the pricing for bothWindows live on care($50 per year) and office home student 2007 ($150 for a one time license)

Customers can load Equipt on up to three PCs for the yearly subscription fee.

Instinct Won’t slay the iPhone

2008-09-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

From its slim design to its finger tip –friendly interface, the Samsung Instinct pays homeage to the iPhone. It’s worth a look if you dislike AT & T , but the Instinct is no iPhone killer.

Though the Instinct’s touch screen is fairly responsive, it lacks the effortless smoothness of the iPhone’s multi touch display. Battery life was about 5.5 hours in our tests, just shy of the iPhone’s.

The Instinct is loaded with GPS features, and Sprint’s zippy EvDO network makes Web browsing fast. But the browser –like the Instinct itself- -lacks the elegance of the Apple competition.

The Instinct Sports a simple design and a Big Touch screen.

Google lively takes on second life

2008-09-22T05:32:00.000-07:00

GOOGLE’S NEW TOOL, Lively, creates 3D social spaces on web sites. The platform lets users create and personalize avatars and their own virtual rooms.

That’s nothing new: second life does as much. But lively users can embed rooms in their website, Blogs or Facebook or My space pages.

Users can show You tube videos on Virtual TVs and display images in picture frames too. To run the lively Beta(www.lively.com), your computer must run Windows and either Internet Explorer or Firefox. You must be 13 years of age or older.

Immediately after the launch, some users complained because the platform supports only Windows.

Some says that the interface is clunky, or crashes Firefox.

But some give the cartoon style graphics thumbs –up.”If anyone can make money [on this], it’s Google,” says Gartner’s Steve Prentice.

Understanding Windows Reporting

2008-09-19T14:02:00.001-07:00

One of the new features of Windows XP Professional is Windows error reporting. If a program
error occurs (such as Internet Explorer crashing, but non-Microsoft programs will also do it),
a window will pop up asking if you want to report the problem to Microsoft. It only works
if you have an active Internet connection. If you choose to report the problem, then technical
information about the problem is gathered and sent to Microsoft. If others have reported the
same problem, then additional technical information will be available to you, to help you solve
the problem.
According to Microsoft, the information gathered is only used by programming groups to
help solve technical problems. Your individual information is not stored or tracked in any way.
To configure (or disable) Windows reporting, open your System properties by rightclicking
on My Computer and selecting Properties. On the Advanced tab, click on the Error
Reporting button at the bottom of the screen to open a window similar to the one shown in
Your two major choices are to disable or enable error reporting. If you choose to disable
it, you can still be notified when errors occur. After choosing to enable error reporting, you
can make the selection of reporting Windows operating system and/or program errors. By
clicking on the Programs button, you can configure which programs you want to report errors
on. By default, all program errors from all programs get reported, but you can configure the
reporting of errors on an app-by-app basis.

Creating Boot Disks or an Emergency Repair Disk

2008-09-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

Most of the time, you won’t bump into serious problems running any of the Windows versions
we have been discussing. However, someday you might find yourself in a situation where the
system won’t boot up anymore or where you are experiencing some other type of critical error.
It is extremely important to be prepared for these types of scenarios. One thing you can do
when the system is running smoothly is to create startup disks or emergency repair disks
(depending on your OS). (You might also find these disks referred to as boot disks.) These
disks typically enable you to at least boot the machine and access drives (and thus data) and
also to troubleshoot the problem. we’ll look at the different types of disks you
can create in Windows.

Boot Disks and ERD in Windows 2000
To prepare for a Windows 2000 emergency, you need four OS boot disks, as well as an Emergency
Repair Disk (ERD). To create the set of four boot disks, you need the Windows 2000
Operating System CD. To create an ERD, you need to use the Emergency Repair Disk utility
in the Windows Backup utility (see Figure 6.1). Let’s look at this process in more detail.
FIGURE 6 . 1 The Emergency Repair Disk utility in Windows 2000
To create the four Windows 2000 boot disks, insert the Windows 2000 Operating
System CD into the CD-ROM drive. On the CD, browse to the Bootdisk directory and run
MAKEBOOT.EXE. The program walks you through the process of creating the boot disks. Make
sure you have four blank floppy disks ready. Once you have created the boot disks, you need
to create an ERD.
Make sure you store these disks in a safe place. If you have an emergency, you can use the
boot disks to start the Windows 2000 Setup program. At some point, you’ll be asked if you
want to install or repair Windows 2000. Choose Repair. Windows 2000 Setup will continue
and at a later point ask you for the ERD.

Automated System Recovery in Windows XP
In Windows XP, things are different. Windows XP introduces Automated System Recovery
(ASR). As in Windows 2000, this feature is integrated into the Backup utility. It first creates
a backup of your system partition and then creates a recovery disk. Using these two components,
you can recover from a system crash and restore the system back to a functional state.
Exercise 6.2 demonstrates how to use ASR to restore the system in Windows XP.
Using ASR in Windows XP
To restore the system using ASR in Windows XP, follow these steps:
1. Click Start All Programs Accessories System Tools Backup. If Backup starts in
Wizard mode, deselect Always Start In Wizard Mode and click Cancel. Then start Backup
again. You’re taken directly to the Backup interface.
2. Click the Automated System Recovery Wizard button. In the Welcome dialog box, click Next.
3. You’re prompted for the Backup Destination. By default, this is A:\BACKUP.BKF. You need
to change this location, because a backup of your system partition won’t fit onto a floppy
disk. Use a drive other than the C: drive, because this drive will be formatted as part of
the recovery process. Click Next, and then click Finish.
4. The backup procedure starts. When it’s finished, you’re prompted to insert a floppy disk.
Do so and click OK.
5. When the disk-creation process has completed, click OK. Keep the ASR disk in a safe place.
To use ASR to recover from a system failure, run Setup from the Windows XP CD. During
the text portion of the Setup program, you’ll see a message to press F2; do so, and you’ll be
prompted to insert the ASR disk. The system then guides you through the rest of the process.
To obtain setup boot disks for Windows XP, you have to go to Microsoft’s download website
at www.microsoft.com/downloads and download them. These disks can be used to
install XP if you can’t boot from CD-ROM. You’ll need six floppy disks during the download;
they should be formatted and blank.

How can a new, improved iPhone be so cheap?

2008-09-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Wondering why the new iPhones are priced so much lower then the original versions were? The latest(“next generation”) Iphones, which come equiped with 3G and GPS capability as wel as better battery life, sell for $199(for models with 8GB of memory) and $299(for models of 16 GB memory)

That’s a $200 discount from the most recent prices of previous-generation iPhones:$499 for the 8GB version and $499 for the 16GB version. And of course Apple charged $599 for its top of the line 8GB iPhone at launch more than a yewar ago---three times what the new 8GB model cost.

Price drops on technology products aren’t unusual, but they are less frequent when new performance-improving features are added to the mix, however, experts say several factors are making the new low prices possible.

Price and Quality

Tina Teng, an analyst specializing in wireless communications for market research firm iSuppli, belives that the 3G and GPS radios included in the new models probably did add cost to the new iPhone, but she points out that prices for other components are declining.

According to Gartner Vice president Ken Dulaney, even the iPhone’s 3G radio technology likely costs considerably less now than it might have a year ago, since most companies that make chips for cell phones are converting to the faster technology anyway .Increased supply means lower prices.

Another factor that may be contributing to the lower costs of the new iPhones is Apple’s willingness to introduce some cost cutting design changes, including its decision to use plastic instead of metal on the phone’s case. Will that decision significantly degrade the product’s quality? At this writing, it’s too soon to tell.”For users’ what matters [are] the durability and functionality ”Teng says ”I am sure [Apple] did a lot of stress tests to make sure the materials they are using now are still going to be durable.

Dell PC Gets in the Game

2008-09-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

DELL’s XPS 630 is a stylish and competitively priced mainstream gaming PC. Our 43229 test system included Intel’s 3-GHz QX6850 CPU, 3GB of RAM, 320gb storage and 22-inch Monitor.

Running Windows Vista Premium, It earned a score of 123 in our World Bench 6 test suite- on a par with competing PCs using the same CPU.

One drawback: the Motherboard’s in Vidia 650i SLI Chip set limits the System’s two PCI express x16 Slots

(Used by the dual 512MB GeForce 8800 GT Graphics cards) to x8 speed in SLI mode, raising the possibility of a bandwidth bottleneck.

Samsung to Ship Fast SSD Drive

2008-09-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

SAMSUNG Electronics plans to launch a flash-memory based solid-state disk(SSD) drive this year that has a 257 GB capacity and high speed SATAll interface.

The drive’s dimensions match those of a standard 2.5 inch hard disk drive; it’s designed to be a drop in replacement for a laptop hard drive.

Samsung’s is the second recently announced 256 GB SSD drive. The other , from U.S based Super Talent, is thicker than Samsung’s at 12.5 millimeters. That drive has a SATAl

Interface with read speeds of 65 megabits per second and write speeds of 50mbps.Samsung’s SSD drive has a read speed of 200 mbps and a sequential write speed of 160 mbps,

according to the company Solid state disk drives use flash memory chips in place of the spinning magnetic disks that hard-disk drives use. The chips make the drives sturdier and

(typically) faster, but the per-gigabyte cost is much higher, too. The Samsung drive should appear by the end of the year.

----Martyn Williams

Managing Temporary Files

2008-09-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

A temporary file (temp file) is just that—temporary. It is designed to store information for a short
period of time and then be deleted. Almost every program of any size today uses temp files. There
is one problem, however: Often, the temp files become more permanent. Eventually, they begin
taking up considerable disk space.
One thing you can do to improve system performance is to delete any temporary files that
exist on your system. Temp files can be found in a variety of locations, including the following:
C:\Temp
C:\Tmp
C:\Windows\Temp
C:\Windows\Tmp
The way to know for sure where they’re located is to determine what values the TEMP and
TMP environment variables are set to. An environment variable is a setting that stays permanent
throughout a Windows or DOS session. It is set by an entry in an .INI file, the Registry,
or one of the MS-DOS configuration files (CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT).
To find out where the temporary files are stored in your machine, start a command-line session
(choose Start Run and type in either CMD or COMMAND). At the command prompt, type
SET. This command returns all the environment variables for your system. Look for TEMP= or
TMP= (or both). These variables point to directories on your hard disk; in these locations, you
will find the temporary files.
In Windows XP, you can find where your temp files are going by opening the System control
panel, clicking the Advanced tab, and then the Environment Variables button. The temp location
will be shown in the User Variables box at the top as well as the System Variables at the bottom.
After you have found the temporary files, use Windows Explorer to delete them. You may
need to reboot, and then try to delete the temp files. Otherwise, some of them may be in use,
and you won’t be able to delete them.