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Why Does My
Computer Do That ? |
updated August 19,2006
Booted Off The Internet
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Question:
The lights on my modem are frequently
not working. When they are off I can not access the internet.
What can I do? I called my provider and they said that they did
not know what it was and would send some one to have a look.
Answer:
To your internet provider, they know
exactly why because their the ones doing it. If you tend to eat
up a lot of band width or download a lot from the internet, this
may happen. Especially during peak times like noon, after dinner,
and major holidays when student are at home on line. Recently
after our main provider got into the telephone business, their
total service and internet speeds went down. But of coarse their
price still increased. I think that internet providers should
prorate their services, You do not pay on the hours of their
down time. When I make a statement it is because those business
around us have told me so.
Instructions
When your provider kicks you off the internet (all lights on
your modem are doing unusual things) here is what you can try.
If you have a router you will need to resent it as well..
1. If you have a single issued modem
unplug it from the power and wait between one and five minutes
to reset and than plug it in again. If your computer was bought
in 2005 or newer it should be in sleeping mode while the modem
is turned back on. If your computer is older you should turn
it completely off. Complete the modem task and than turn your
computer back on.
2. If a router (wired or not) is involved
disconnect its' power, remove the cables from the WAN and any
rear ports of the router. Complete instruction from number one.
You can test to see if the internet is working by connecting
the 5e cable from the back of the modem instead of the router
to the computer. If it works go to number three. If not repeat
number one until it does or your provider comes over.
3. Resetting and connecting the router
The modem is on and the router is off with nothing connecting
to it.
Connect the power cord to the router. The lights on the router
run threw a sequence basically this is when it resets itself.
Plug in the 5e cable to the WAN port and the WAN light on the
front of the router should blink. Here is the tricky part. Only
connect one computer. Normally this one is wired based or the
main computer you use. Reboot or wake up computer and start the
browser program. After you see that the internet is up and running
on your screen you can plug in or operate and other computers
not yet hooked up.
If your not connected repeat number
one to three again.
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Last updated July 17, 2006
Covered
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Apple started this extra warranty program and other
manufactures are following their lead. Did you know that when
you purchase an extended warranty it starts the day you purchased
the computer and voids the warranty that comes free. Did you
know that you are prepaying for parts that the manufacture knows
will fail some time during ownership of the computer.
I bought a five hundred dollar extra
(extended) warranty- on top of the
money already spent just to buy the computer and extra ram.
I never had problem with my computers until I bought a G4 1.5
GHz Power Book. I think most customers were aware except me,
about the latch which left a gap between screen and key board,
when closed. So if the lap top is under your arm there is a chatter
when the lid and base where the key board is. After I bought
this computer, I immediately had issues with the key pad having
sticky keys. While typing, some keys (the option and arrow key
for me) stuck for a split second, and as they became free clicked
during the return to the original position. I brought the computer
in for service four times and gave up after that. There was no
way to fix the problem. I called the manufacture and was told
they had never heard of such matters gave me a work number that
could be used to continue service on it. I was the first case
at this authorized dealer but soon there would be many more.
I bought a five hundred dollar air cleaner with an extended
warranty- It never worked according to the manual.
I bought the five hundred dollar extended warranty. Apple
sales a consumers extended three year warranty, to fix any mistakes
they have made-I think there is something wrong about this. If
you break the keyboard it is not covered. On this model
- Apple replaced four (4) key boards on warranty
- Apple replaced 1 Logic Board
- I replace through warranty twice 1GB RAM
More computer companies and non computer companies are starting
to offer extended warranties of some sort too. Most consumer
stores where the computer is bought have extended warranties
worth getting as well..
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How to save your hard drive from disaster.
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I meet a lot of different people everyday while working on
their office computers. Normally it is just the hard drive acting
up or not working properly. Some of the most common problems
today are virus, spyware, data recovery, pop-ups, and a slow
down of their computer Begins the list. Hard drives cost less
today than five years ago. A 250 GB more commonly used today
will cost under three hundred Canadian dollars or less on sale.
Five years ago the same hard drive cost close to seven hundred
dollars. Why are hard drives cheaper today.
History
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There was a time where the operating
system "Dos" ( not Nos) ruled. used simple scripts
to run, which help the user access programs like a spread sheet,
word processor, real simple games like pac man. As operating
systems (OS)developed more sophisticated ways to let the user
rely less on having to no the language.Windows 95 used icons
or images to help user move more easier around the computer.
These icons took up more space on the hard drive. By demand hard
drive needed to be much larger than those used before them.
In the last few years electronics have
come down in price. Monitors once costing over a thousand dollars
five years ago now sell for three hundred dollars. Automation
in the factories that make the produces. Effectively now have
less over head and can pass this reduction to the consumer. Robots
have taken the place of humans. So quality control goes down
also. Products on the market are at a high risk of failure than
five years ago. More assembly line made goods reduces cost and
increases failure of the product.
I noticed today that some manufactures
are reducing warranties from one year to three months. More stories
are offering their version of an extended warranty for additional
cost.
I went to one well known electronics
store, the computer teck told me and a friend that he tries to
fix all computer problem first before sending them out for warranty
service. I asked him where he had taken his training from. He
told me that he has a lot of home experience working on computers
but no formal training. I never liked warranties offered from
stores, that sold the product to you in the first place. Your
not suppose to repack them in the box it came in, because they
will pack it for you.. Likely after they drop it a few times
Okay back to the Hard Drive and how
to keep it from quiting on you. Hey where is the rest of it?
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I noticed that what one manufacture
does the other are soon to follow. I read that Apples G4 hard
drives can predict their own failure. What this is referring
to is what Apple calls a smart drive. Software that monitors
the condition of the macanics inside. When a drive is nearing
the end of its life cycle this smart drive will let you know.
Apple recommend that you do not optimize (same as defraging)
their hard drives. If you do need to for some reason, the computer
must stay on from beginning to completion or you will
lose the hardrive altogether.
So far I have only own three computers.
The oldest is ten years, than 5 years and 2 years for the newest.
All have some kind of software to monitor the internal workings.
ideas
How to keep your LapTop computer cool
Do not turn it on
Keep it in sleep mode
Raise it off the table
Use an external fan
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March 5, 2005
My Introduction-Apple computer
Toshiba and other computer name brands
This article was orginally writing for
Steven's Page - Hot
Cookie
Hot Cookie- Heated CPU
|
My Introduction
I bought an Apple PowerBook a few years ago. I wanted a computer
a little faster with a lot less problems. The the operating system
which was installed when I had purchased it was Apples latest
OS X 10.3.9. The cpu worked like a charm and it was fast. I would
say at least sixteen times faster than my last computer. It came
with an ATI 9700 with a 64 Megs Video card. Far more than the
8 Megs of video found in the last computer. A large 80 gig hard
drive would take me at least a year to fill with just applications.
A super CD and DVD burner and player. I had a mobile editing
multi media studio right in my hands.
A couple of weeks ago Apple had released
a software update to iTunes. So I upgraded to what ever Apple
was offering since it was free. Oops Apple forgot to tell computers
users who are using an older operating system not to upload this
software. Apple had released OSx 10.4 Tiger. I find if your computer
and software are working on your present OS why upgrade. In Apples
OSX operating system the user is recommended to go into the disk
utility and occasionally repair disk permissions. After upgrading
to iTune disk permissions in OSX 10.3.9 was next to impossible
with out fudging around with iTunes and I did not want to do
this.
I bought Apples latest operating software
developed in part for their latest step towards Intel. Their
mistake cost me money to upgrade, new anti virus software and
countless other programs that used this level of operating system.
Hot Cookie
I did find a benefit by upgrading to the
new operating system. Apple had created something called a widget
and ran in a program called Dash board. These are small applications
which serve usually one purpose and float on your desktop. For
example one that came with the operating system is a calender.
In the calender is the month (3 ) Date ( 5 ) and the Day ( Sunday
). You can find many more of these widgets on Apples Web site.
While looking around I found a widget
that reads the CPU Temperature sensors. It was free so I installed
it to my application folder. Was I surprised when I read a temperature
of 104 degrees F degrees or 40 C (which it reads both) and climbing.
I was in the basement of a house and the room was cold enough
to make my hands cold. I started researching the internet to
find out what my computers operating temperature normally is.
I read many message boards where other users were asking the
same questions. The general answer is that CPUs run hot. To this
day manufactures have been looking for newer materials to include
when designing CPU chip sets. The new Intel Core Duo maybe that
answer we the consumer have been waiting for. In the mean time
what do we do to keep our laptops and towers cooler. I saw a
Toshiba lap top computer with two fans mounted on the base. Compared
to the PowerBook G4 with no visual fans, the Toshiba looks big,
balky and heavy. There was a fan over the video card, and the
CPU- a good idea. The Apple G4 mounts a fan under each speaker
grill, both are designed to turn on when temperatures reach 50
degrees celcies.
Toshiba and
other computer name brands
Toshiba and other computer name brands, also suffer from mega
heated CPU. Many manufactures try to deal with this issue by
using fans. Towers and other desk tops suffer from this problem
as well. Towers have more space and can use more fans to reduce
heat. A friend once told me that he had a faulty fan on a CPU
486. The CPU completely melted itself in a very short time
Some Suggestions
1. If your computer is acting stranger
than normal, and the computer is hot. Place the computer in sleep
mode, in some laptop fans will continue to run until a set temperature
is reached. If there were no fans operating during the situation,
turn off the computer and bring it in for service.
2. In
most computer stores you can buy fan plates which sit under the
laptop computer. Some come with two fixed fans which receive
their power by connecting to a USB port.
3. Reduce
the amount of time the computer is on. Set sleep time to come
on sooner. For example turn sleep time on after ten minutes of
inactivity. When the computer is in sleep mode there is little
or no CPU activity. Temperature go down considerably.
4. Some
laptops allow for users to select a manual processing power.
You can set the CPU to full processing power all the time or
a reduced processing level of power. For example a CPU running
normally at 1.5 GHz can be set to a reduced processing level
of 1.3 GHz. Which reduces out putted heat. Normally by default
most computer are set to automatic, where the application being
used or how many applications are on at the same time determines
the maximum processing power.
5. Work
in a cooler location.
6. Go camping
and use your laptop as an expensive heater.
7. Do nothing
and you might be lucky enough to have your computer last between
three to five years. Maybe less?
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September 2005
Phone
or Cable/DSL
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How Fast is Fast Enough
To start off dial up modems work by using a single copper
line same one that you use when phoning someone else who has
a land or non wireless phone. the difficulty is that while using
a dial up connections your phone line is shut down. You can either
have access to making a phone call out or in or using the internet,
but not both together.
When CABLE and DSL or ADSL came down in price and more people
used it. It soon in no time became the standard form of connecting
to the internet. First of all it will not interfer with regular
phone in calls or out calls. Cable has nothing to do with the
phone and uses a cable which brings television signal.
ADSL or DSL do rely on the phone lines and use a filter(s).
to split the phone signal from the ADSL signal. Don't be fooled
cable uses a filter too. So now your up there with the big shots
who have gave up the 56k years ago. What is the big deal, besides
a bigger price to pay. If you like to surface for email you will
like the upgrade. However you will see the real difference with
streaming video or audio, downloading large files and you'll
find a bunch of other things to use extra speed for. On average
the rate of increase will be at least twenty times faster than
dial up.
When you used dial up you are on a dedicated phone line. You
do not share it with anyone but yourself. A dial up connection
does run fast or slow depending on the time of day that your
on. During any given business day, before your last meal or just
after. Is the most likely time to see a slow down in internet
service.
Cable and ADSL/DSL suffer from slow down even more because
when your online as is said for being interactive with the world
you are sharing your connection with several other users in your
own neighborhood. That is how your cost stays down, You can notice
these slow down around the meals and holidays. However your already
twenty times faster than dial-up. The Internet provider or ISP
normally has a certain number of customers sharing any one cable
or phone line. When the signal strength goes down a booster is
added to bring levels back to where the provider wants them to
be.
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FIREWALL
PROTECTION
While on the topic of connection there is a difference when
using a phone line over a Cable/DSL line. The phone line is shared
to know one except yourself. When you log out from the ISP server
or simple turn your computer off your connection is disconnected.
Cable/DSL does not switch off after you leave. If it did you
or the others sharing your line would be not able to surf the
internet. Computers are left on more often for different reasons.
When your computer is on and the hard drive active, anything
can invade your computer even when your not there. For this and
other cautions it is very important to use a firewall with Cable
or ADSL/DSL. It is not very expensive compared to a lose of all
data on your hard drive from being hacked into. Without a firewall
your open to the outside attacks from anything or anyone. There
is nothing like having to reformat your hard drive, losing all
valuable data, operating system and than reinstalling your operating
system and than the rest of those applications, you know the
rest. A firewall makes you virtually invisible to hackers, that
like to make their entrance through ports.
There are two kinds of FIREWALL
PROTECTION, The first is to install
software, and the second is to install a piece of hardware between
the internet and your computers access ports. On some wireless
routers the manufacture recommends that software should be used
to enforce a solid wall of protection. Some ISP tell you that
they are running this type of protection as well. If you what
to be safe have it running on your own computer. Software still
allows for manual control and gives the user a better visual
on what is going on, especially if you are interested in such
matters.
If you have any questions or need more
answers contact us at info@waymorewebs.com
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Streaming
Video
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To put video on the web you will need three things to
get started
Content - a video files which needs to be converted
to a smaller file by way of compression converted to a smaller
file size/filetype)
Place - the web host that will store these files (can
be your server or an Internet Service Provider, an ISP)
Method for Transfer - getting your videos to the web
host (usually done with FTP, but there are other tools)
Putting video on the web can be very simple if you know of
a company that will accept your film, digitize it, and then convert
it to a suitable format for putting it on the web. There
are plenty of companies out there right now doing this including
Atom Films and Single Reel. Or you can set up your own web site,
probably hosted by a company that will sell you a domain name
at the same time. There are free websites available through
communities like Tripod and Geocities, but you may need more
space than the free host can provide.
You probably fall into several categories that I am going
to use for this article:
Category 1. Person with Analog Video Camera and No Digital
Editing Setup (Computer and Software)
Category 2. Person with Digital Video Camera and No Digital
Editing Setup
Category 3. Person with Digital Video Camera and Digital Editing
Setup
Category 1
You are in the most difficult position of all. Unless you
can get a friend to put your video into the computer, you will
have to search to find a web host that will accept analog formatted
video tapes. One option is iFILM. iFILM is a site
that will host your videos for free; however your video has to
be "good enough" to get exhibited... Make sure
you check what formats can be submitted - IFILM will accept Beta
SP, DV tape, S-VHS, VHS and 3/4 inch. There may be other companies
out there that will convert your analog video for you, like iFILM.
Category 2
Sorry to say, but unless you have one of the newer cameras with
built-in networking capabilities (see Bluetooth) than your digital
video camera isn't buying you too much. Many beginners
will go out and spend most of their video "allowance"
on a gorgeous new XL-1s 3-CCD camera made by Canon, to realize
they don't have enough money leftover to get other pieces of
the digital video/desktop video puzzle. The good news is that
some web hosting companies (like iFILM) will accept your DV tape
and convert it for you.
Category 3
Now we are getting somewhere. You have a bunch of options
now - you can capture a video with your camera, and then transfer
the video to your camera via a firewire card. Now edit
the video and convert it down to a smaller size using compression
technologies available within editing software or download a
free compressor from the web. Make sure you get it small enough
to put onto your web host (More info at Saving Files for
the Web).
Congratulations! You have taken care of the Content
part of the web video process.
The next topic is Places to show your film, and now you
have a lot of options. I recommend getting your own URL
and web host with a company like ICDSoft ($5/month 300MB of space).
It is actually very cheap and you can upload a website built
within Microsoft's FrontPage with no problems! (I am not
related to anyone there nor am I being paid to say this, but
my site has been on ICDsoft for over a year with no problems
at all).
If you don't want to do this, there are hundreds of sites which
allow you to show your film for a fee, or for free.
The last piece of the puzzle is the Method for Transfer
- actually getting your videos to the web host. You
can do this electronically through the Internet, or by using
a slower "snail mail" approach. If you are going
to send videos electronically, it makes a lot of sense to get
a high-speed internet connection (DSL, Cable Modem) if you do
not have one. Upload times will be very, very slow over a telephone
wire used for modem connections. If you are in this
position, go to the websites I mentioned and make sure they will
accept submissions in a format you would like to send (CD, DVD,
VHS, DV tape) and get a Bubble Wrap package to send your prized
film to the site. Keep your fingers crossed and you just
might see it in a week or two.
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Back to the top of computerhelp page.
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updated
April 1, 2003
How Fast is Fast?
Did you know that the dual 1.42GHz Power Mac G4 is 32 percent
faster than the fastest PC on the market which is a 3GHz Pentium
4 processor. Fact is, even the dual processor 1.25GHz Power Mac
G4 system outperform the Pentium 4 by 23 percent. How, you might
ask, can even the Power Mac G4 outperform a PC with a Pentium
4 processor running at more than twice the megahertz? It's further
proof that megahertz alone is a poor indicator of real-world
system performance, particularly when comparing different overall
system architectures. You do the math. |
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Why
is my computers download time slow?
September 9, 2002
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Question
I have a high speed internet connection
yet when I download a large media file it is so slow.
Answer
Problems with a server can definitely result in poor download
speeds, usually because whoever runs the server has throttled
the bandwidth too tightly for the demand placed on it by people
visiting it's web sites (some people may not have much of an
option as bandwidth does cost money). However that is not the
case with all servers. In some cases with the throttle set high
enough you would only notice a slowness if it were hit with a
hacker attack.
Likely what you are experiencing is the more common cause
of slow web sites, a cause which has nothing to do with the actual
servers that host web sites. The slowness you are experiencing
is no doubt a 'router ' problem. Information on the web does
not go directly from the web site server to your computer. The
information travels through numerous other computers as it hops
through different microwave, fiber optic and copper telephone
line relays, usually somewhere between 12 to 20 different
hops. If there is a problem with any one of those numerous other
computers or the relays they service, you could experience
a slowdown where it ' looks ' like the web site you are accessing
is slow.
It's not the web site, it's the Web between you and that web
site that's slow. There is not much that can be done about that
- unfortunately. Fortunately such problems tend to be temporary.
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Prosperity
January 30 updated
|
I gave to a friend last year for his birthday a UPS also known
as a battery back up. Last weekend I visited that same friend
and guess what that UPS was not offering any protection to his
new and expensive computer. Instead in the place where his battery
back up unit should have been was a power bar. A power bar is
better than nothing but if you can afford a simple UPS or battery
back up device go for it. First of all let me tell you what a
power bar will not protect your computer from and than I will
explain why you should use a UPS.
First of all a power bar is designed to protect an electrical
device from a spike that my occur in the electrical circuit.
A spike is an increase in power flowing from the outlet to your
computer. Most of the better power bars have a built in surge
protector. The surge protector depending on its rating will allow
only a certain amount of electric to pass through it. The rating
is in joules and the higher the numbers the more expensive the
protector will be. Some surge protectors use a two light system
and will only protect one time. A green light will tell you that
the power bar is on. A red light will tell you that the surge
protector is working. When the red light is off that means that
the surge protector has done its job and now you have a power
bar only. You either need to replace your existing power bar
with a new surge protector (red light on) or better yet a battery
protector.
The advantages of using a UPS or battery back up instead of
an ordinary surge protector power bar is many. First of all there
inexpensive compared to the cost of a new computer and monitor.
They will protect your total computer against high surges, a
jolt of lightning, spikes, a brown out, and power loss. Many
battery systems will also test your electrical connection for
wiring faults using an audio and visual warning. It will warn
you of an overload when too much equipment is attached to the
battery back up outlets. Also it will protect modems and fax
that either are using a telephone line or cable connector. Many
today have replaceable batteries which can last between three
to six years and a reset able circuit breaker which will trip
due to very high surges when present.
A battery back up should also be used with your television,
stereo, and any other electrical device that has a value to you.
You do not need to invest in an expensive battery back up for
home use only. A battery back up which will operate your computer
and monitor for at least five to ten minutes is all you need.
Some battery back ups come with software that will in a power
outage turn off your computer when you are not there. The extra
five minutes is to let you save the data that you are presently
working on. Saving data when the power goes out is something
that you can not do with a surge protector power bar.
Points to remember if all else fails. If your going to plug
your computer into an electrical outlet use a surge protector
power bar instead of nothing. If you can afford a battery back
up that will keep your monitor and computer running for at least
five minutes in a power outage than use this instead of a surge
protector power bar. Following these simple guidelines should
now let you enjoy your computer for many more prosperity years
to come.
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How
A Hard Drive Works
August 30 updated
| A mechanical device which is capable of storing
large amounts of information in a small space. This information
can be erased and new information replacing it more than one
thousand times. This device we know it as a Hard Drive, and how
it works is relatively simple yet complex. |
| First there is a circuit board, this is the heart
and brains of the drive. The electronics control the motor which
spins a multi disk plate made of aluminum magnesium. The electronics
are given their instruction from firmware or software permanently
loaded into the circuitry |
 |
 |
The disk platter is made up of an aluminum magnesium
with a magnetic material on top and bottom. Each platter can
hold about 20GB per side of binary information. So each platter
holds 40GB. A hard drive which is larger than 40GB would have
more platters added. |
| Each platter is able to retrieve or save information
by having a read/write head ready near the platters surface.
A reading/writing head moves horizontally across the platter.
Most damage will occur when the power is shut of while the reading/writing
head is moving across the platter. This is why a battery back
up or UPS is a must with your computer. When you shut down your
computer, a software program tells the hard drive reading/writing
head to park. when the reading/writing head parks it is moving
off the platter to a safe place ready for next time to be used. |
 |
 |
Whether the hard drive is to be used inside the
computer or out side (external) it needs to be connected to the
computer. The computer needs to be able to have a way to access
the information on the drive. This can be done by using a cable.
Also a power cable is included to supply power to a motor which
rotates the platter at so many (5400,7200, 10,000 , and 15,000
)rpm. The Head needs power for it to read/write and perform its
functions |
|
Hard drive come in many physical sizes and storage sizes and
ways in which to connect them to your computer. For laptops hard
drives have been created to fit in a shirt pocket. Some have
a battery in them to supply power. Others will borrow their power
from the laptop battery. Smaller hard drives will fit in the
3-1/2 dive bay inside your computer. These hard drives are also
known as internal hard drives. These drive often have their circuit
board visible to the surrounding air. The purpose in exposing
the circuit board is to keep it from becoming hot while operating.
Those hard drives out side the computer are called external.
The external drive will come in a housing structure. Included
under the one structure is a cooling fan, a power supply and
a green or red light to indicate that the unit is working.
Often an external hard drive will cost on average about one
hundred dollars different. The advantage of having an external
hard drive is that it can moved easily to your next new computer.
most external hard drives can be stacked up on top of the other.
Drive have come down in price while increasing rpm. The larger
the drive the more reliable the drive will be.
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Trouble Shooting
for your Computer
|
Preventive medicine is the computer
doctor regiment. So how should someone go about fixing a problem
that has not even happened yet? The key here is not having it
happened yet by preventative practices. By doing regular maintains
schedule at least once a month . If you follow a few simple steps
and procedures your chances of running into future freezes and
errors are minimized.
Consider this, a hard drives purpose
is to store (save) information and to be able to delete information
as well. When a hard drive has erased information, gaps (spaces)
remain. Let me explain how a hard drive saves data to itself.
First of all information is stored as 0 and 1 or binary code
that the computer can understand. ( that is as technical as it
will get here) In a nut shell when information or data is saved
to a hard drive it looks for the first empty gap (space) on the
drive and fills it. When that gap (space) is filled it looks
for the next empty gap (space) and fills that space. This processes
continues until the information that you are saving is now on
your hard drive. Next time when you recall or request this information
you may find that your computer finds this information slowly.
To find the information a reader in your hard drive must move
from gap to gap in order to find all of the information. It is
the time that it takes for the reading head to move from gap
to gap that slows the computer down. A very good way to speed
up your computer is to optimize the hard drive.
To optimize a hard drive is to basically
reorganize the information already on the hard drive. The way
that this is done is with a software program designed to optimize
a hard drive or storage unit. Most utility programs will have
optimizing as part of their software. The software will check
all the media on the drive, and place tags. These tags identify
each piece of related information scattered in may gaps all over
the drive.
Information that has been saved to many
different gaps on a hard drive are also referred to as fragments.
The optimizing program will than rewrite these fragments to a
location on the hard drive where they can all be put together
in one gap (space) When the drive is completely optimize all
data on that drive has now been reorganized the reading head
now only has to look at one line for the information. No longer
does the reading head have to search the whole disc and the computer
runs faster. However as you delete and save again after optimizing
new gaps will appear.
To keep your computer running at an
optimal speed you should optimize your hard drive at lease once
per month. For some computers with large hard drive, optimization
can be done at night or over the weekend. Most often it is wise
to boot up from the utility cd which should have the same operating
system that you are using. Normally optimizing will not take
place on active files. By using the utility disc allows for the
whole hard drive now including the operating system to be optimize.
You may even see an increase in the time that your computer starts
up from the off position.
The software that comes with your operating
system often performs slower than a utility program designed
to optimize your hard drive. Plus a utility program will often
come with other diagnostic software to help keep your computer
running at its best.
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What is a Virus
June 2001 (Article 2)
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Q. What is a virus?
A. A computer virus may be loosely defined as a program code
that replicates
itself on execution and creates undesirable effects. Some anti-virus
software
vendors say that a computer virus is any program that replicates
itself. Others
contend that a virus can be any ill-intentioned program. In the
absence of a
precise definition, there is a consensus in one area: The likelihood
that your
PC will be hit by a virus increases immeasurably if you access
the Internet,
swap software with friends, exchange files via E-mail or are
hooked up to a
network.
Q. What does a virus do?
A. Virtually every virus tries to do one thing. First: Spread
to other programs
and data files on your hard disk. When you boot up from an infected
disk,
open an infected file or run an infected program, the virus's
code is copied
into your PC's memory. From there, the code usually attempts
to attach itself
to other files. The rogue code may also alter data-file contents,
cause program
crashes, display annoying screen messages, degrade system performance
or
even destroy all of your disk files. There are even viruses that
can detect your
E-mail program, and then compose and send messages with infected
attachments.
Q. Can a virus damage hardware?
A. The simple answer is no, not directly. Theoretically, your
hardware could
be affected by a virus that exerts unusual stress on your system
by doing
something like accessing the hard disk continuously or switching
your video
card to unsupported settings. Realistically, however, the risk
of hardware
damage from a virus is minimal.
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May 2001 (Article 1)
We have all heard this before to back up your hard drive onto
another drive or second soarce. It seems that even though we
know this how many actually do it. The growing increase of larger
hard drives on newer computers, makes you wonder what would you
save to. On a twenty GB hard drive where would you store the
contents of this drive. I suppose you could save it to a DVD
disc, however the cost of a DVD burner is still steep in price
and the disc are pricey as well. Or you could save your contents
to a whole lot of CD-Rs which are still cheaper. The next thing
to worry about where to store them all.
It is not as hopeless as it sounds above, there is always
an answer to be found. First of all most utility disc like Norton
have the latest operating system on them. Then if your computer
goes down and regular starting your computer does not work you
have another way of booting to get back up. Second to remember
is that all your applications are already on a CD or two, so
you can reboot from them as well. The third thing to remember
is to back up everyday, not once a week or once a month. My solution
to this is to save to an external back up. When working on a
project of any kind I like to save to a 1 or 2 GB Jazz cartridge.
But the safest source is still a CD-R or DVD because they can
not be erased from magnets or accidental erasing unless your
writing to a CD-RW or DVD-RW but you would know that. It is true
that these dics are not infallible a strong heat source will
melt the plastic of the disc. Scratching a disc is unlikely unless
you take a nail and dig deeply into the disc. A second hard drive
works very well but in time you will be looking to buy another
hard drive, which by the way are cheaper and larger than those
of yesterdays drives.
Just remember if you back up what is most important to you
right now when your computer is working well. When the computer
is not working well half the battle has already been won.
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