computer tips and tricks

A Fantastic computer scan

2011-04-25T21:28:00.000-07:00

The tools you will need to have a fantastic scan are glass cleaner, lint free cloth, soft brush, 90 degree angles triangle. You should have all of this thing in your house right now. A lot people don’t take the time and the care that is necessary to scan an image. You should have this thing next to your scanner. You need to prepare an image to be scanned if you won’t a Fantastic.

The first thing is the glass cleaner all brand names will be ok to use. Cleaning the photo and slide scanner glass the scanner glass needs to be clean only in the begging of your scan. To use the glass cleaner you should spray the soft cloth and not the scanner glass.

Some manufacturer recommend glass cleaner that doesn’t have ammonia and Microtel in it they recommend using alcohol on the flatbed scanner glass. Just make shire that the scanner glass is clean and has no streak on it. To check if you have streak lift the lid when the scanner light is on and look to see if there is steak.

When cleaning the glass don’t scratch the glass. Paper towels have a coarse texture that will scratch the scanner glass. Please use a soft cloth or a lint free cloth to wipe it.

The next step is cleaning the photo this is very impotent to do. Using a soft brush you can buy a photo brush or you can use a makeup blush that work very good too only use new one not old one. Brush off any dust off your photo with your soft brush. This will help you when you make larger photo. They will look cleaner, and you will not have speck of dust on it.You should always handle your photo image and negatives by their edges so you keep them clean.

Cleaning the slide scanner and the photo may seem like wasting time to do, but the dust that is there will be on your scan image. The computer can remove the dust on your photo image, but it will take you longer to do it on the computer then to clean the scanner glass and photo.

When scanning your image you should put the photo image in the middle of the glass. I am not saying that you can’t put the photo at the edge but you will get a better scan if it is in the middle.

When you put the image on the photo scanner align the image if you take the time to do this you will not have to do it later on the computer it will save you time and you will have a better scan.

To place a photo in the middle sound hard it not, by using a right angle (90 degree angles) triangle it is not. Place your photo on the scanner then put the right angle triangle on it to center it.

Anytime you use software to rotate you image the computer must recreate every pixel in the image, you will loss detail in your scan when you do that. That is why you should take your time when you are scanning your images. This will work for all different types of scanner.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_6120.shtml

How to use email templates

2011-04-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

So you've just gotten back from holiday and your budget is looking a bit bleak. Perhaps you have new clients/projects that require communicating but you just don't know which avenue to choose. Perhaps Facebook? Then again, that's not professional. Maybe emails?

They're not successful if done on your own. Free email templates with a reputable email marketing company? Now that’s a clear winner. They are cost-effective and extremely successful for email marketing campaigns and newsletters.

Whether you're for or against allocating a lot of funds to your small business after the festive season, you will agree that any free investment that promises to take time off your hands when you’re playing catch up to the New Year is a good thing.

- There are a wide range of email templates that you can get for free for various industries such as: arts and entertainment, hospitality and travel, business, technology, media and PR, real estate, health and wellness, customer service, food and wine, retail and fashion, NPO's, architects, and automotive.

- There are also various types of email marketing templates to choose from for different occasions such as: email cards, eflyers, promotional flyers, and email.

- You can also go further to choose free email marketing templates with different themes and events such as: holidays, event invitations, and special occasions.

- Depending on the occasion, event, and industry, you will pick a layout that’s suitable with sufficient columns. Often, too many columns are not recommended as they take longer to load in email accounts and people generally prefer not having to scroll to the side; especially if they're accessing your email newsletters via their mobile phone.

Many email marketing companies offer free email templates that your business can perfect to send bulk email marketing messages, or direct email marketing messages.

These free email templates are not only saving valuable money, but are also professionally designed for email marketing success, thus saving you the time, effort, and skills training needed to design an email template. However, free email templates can still be modeled to reflect your business.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_6129.shtml

SMS Text Message From Your Computer

2011-04-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

If you are completely text chatter, who frequently keep sending the messages at requires the text services at most! Than it is aright place for you, as it is not required to check and copy paste text and send via your PC. Send SMS text message from your computer trouble free and at bulk in lesser time. Basically the feature that enables text SMS send convenient via PC is downloading the software for the same. Check online the most appropriate software that avails the most affordable, time savvy and user friendly software to send messages in bulk via using computer.

With the developing website services and online applications it have become much more easier to stay connected to your friends, family and loved ones at any corner in entire globe. Make the conversation easier and give your contact a better direction using the software for SMS text message via your computer. The usage of computer for messaging the text is techno adept is simpler and is as well as a time savior.

Certain advantages are awaited to be utilized at the most frequent manner that can enhance the messaging frequency, amount and save easily any kind of wastage as mentioned beneath:

Compatible, provides a very user friendly approach for sending SMS text message from your computer.

Trouble free excess makes it simpler to handle and there helps in reducing the wastage.

Bulk SMS in lesser time, it is more essential as many times much text remains unanswered as you lack with time. But it is necessary to be in frequent communication with your loved ones that is simply possible via this software anytime any place and at any corner of the world.

Affordable, it provides much better cost investment as the efficient usage via bulk SMS and text message it saves time and also helps saving the cost consumed via other general traditional styles, while SMA t5ext message via computer is handy and more efficient on the cost purpose as well.

Some better know-how for better execution of the incredible send SMS text message from your computer that can avail better direction are as underneath:

Selection of application: It is something that makes the entire story complete is selection of application that provides the functions and services as per you choose an application. So whenever certain software is med download take care of the factors that are essential for the usage and make a search of application as per usage or it will be hindrance for latter.

Appropriate registration, to get active for the services it is essential to sign up or register under the chosen application and make you of the application software service to stay connected anywhere and at any instance of time.

Some applications are also available that avails the sending SMS cost free but later charges the money for incoming messages reply. Better could be to go through the terms and conditions entirely and then download and sign up to get saved from misinterpretation.

Amazingly striking feature of text message application could save the entire trouble of every-time typing the contact number and eye on entire contact list. Check the driveling opportunity and make the best out of it. Acquire send SMS text message from your computer with time-cost savvy benefactor and that too being techno adept at the most pacing technological gadget.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_6143.shtml

conference software

2011-04-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Choosing conference software isn’t easy. With so many providers, features, tools and functions to choose from its a bit of a task to decide what is correct for you and your business.

So to make things easy I am going to tell you what you don’t want from your conference provider or package.

You shouldn’t choose a conference provider or package which requires you to download and install software. Primarily this is to avoid cross platform compatibility, but also will actually give you more grief than you bargained for.

If you chose a conference provider which requires downloading and installing, this would mean that you and your attendees would have to do this. I think straight away you know where I am going with this. Not everybody is using the same platform or operating system and this becomes very messy, not to mention embarrassing while you put your conference on hold while you wait for some all important attendees to try and login. Downloading software also uses up space on your hard drive and can slow your system down. In some cases your computer can come to an almost full stop. This is clearly no good when the few attendees which managed to login then find themselves struggling to watch your video, audio and take part. Not everybody is happy with downloading and installing stuff on their computer either. You will find that unless the already know, like and trust you, they wont download and install anyway.

So if I am saying not to choose conference software providers which encourage a download and install of software, what should you choose.

This is very simple. You only have the two options. The first one I have just talked of, this is downloading of software to your system for you and your attendees. The other option which is highly recommended is nice and simple. This is conferencing straight from a high speed server. Some conference providers offer you a conference room which is hosted on and can be accessed directly live from a server. This is fast, simply, and can be accessed by anybody with an internet connection. No downloads required make this the true global communication solution of choice. As the host you would own this room and access it yourself as a moderator with your own unique login details, you would then be in control of the conference using a moderators interface which holds all of the controls for the functions and features. Streaming your conference live from a server avoids the cross compatibility issues as there is no download required. All attendees can be invited and enter the conference room via a simple login link. You can access the room from anywhere in the world so long as you have internet access.

Downloading and installing conference software packages come with way to many negatives to justify spending your hard earned money on. Its easy to see here the huge difference in functions and value when comparing the two options.

When choosing your conference solution make sure it does not require you to download and install. Taking note of this guide now will save you time, money and problems.

Article Source:
http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_6133.shtml

A perfect web hosting plan

2011-04-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Planning is an important thing before you start a web hosting service. There are certain things one looks for before selecting a hosting service provider. As the range of services are diverse so one can pick for either free services or medium level service or an expensive service as well. This selection is entirely based upon your requirement, financial status, time and maintenance cost of the servers. Before selecting a webhost make sure to choose between good and bad service providers because the market is full of innumerable providers.

Check that you are availing the web hosting service provider who can meet your exact requirement before running after bandwagon. The amount of web space rendered must be checked with the service provider and future expansion of business will end up of need of more web space. For beginners free web hosting service may sound as an excellent idea but to expand later getting FTP access is very important. Infact FTP access is something which cannot be snubbed. File type and size should be checked as many web service providers have certain restriction for uploading HTML/GIF files. Speed, Disk Space, Technical support, Secure Server, Shopping Cart, PHP, Pearl, MySQL facilities needs to be checked equally. Bandwidth allotment should be checked as majority of free web service provider allows a limited amount of traffic a website can consume per month.

Server check is required as there is hundreds of reason to check the server type. In order to write or use ASP programs one has to restrict to windows server as various usage entails different server type. Pricing is another crucial factor which cannot be overlooked. After streamlining your desired service provider make sure to check the support feature before deciding to spend finally. Support system cannot be ignored and improper support system can lead to mess up the business with huge loss of money. The above mentioned requirements will certainly help you to plan and choose a perfect web hosting service providers.

Article Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/computers_and_internet/article_6155.shtml

Creating index of a book in Microsoft Word

2011-01-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

This is the computer tips how to create index of a book in Microsoft Word.

Creating index of a book in Microsoft Word takes is actually an easy and two-step process because the feature is included in Word and you do not need to perform manual work any more. First all the required entries of the index text should be entered or typed by you and after pressing a button, index will be created by Word itself. All the typed or written entries in your document will be read and processed by Word itself to create a list which will also carry the numbering of pages.

Following steps in your Word documents should be followed in order to make or create an index of a book in Microsoft Word:

Words should be highlighted if an index is required and an insertion point should be typed or placed to separate wordsThen Alt+Shit+X should be pressed in your document (a shortcut to open dialog box of
“Main Index Entry” will collect the highlighted text itself. All highlighted text (to mark as index) will be collected in first level but second or sub-level entry should be typed manually by you in “Subentry” box
Finally after going through the above-mentioned process “Mark” button should be pressed or clicked to process (dialog box of “Mark Index Entry” will remain open for further entries)

“Concordance file” probably be read by you in Word’s help which actually marks entries of an index in your document automatically. Though this file of Word sounds like an easiest way of index making but actually more trouble will be faced by you in this process of index making because whole document is searched by Microsoft Word in this process.

Thats is how the computer tips how to create index of a book in Microsoft Word.

Fix Windows Easy In Windows 7

2011-01-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

This happens if one of the user accounts (not necessarily the current user account) in the system is logged on with a temporary profile. Any customizations that you make in the temporarily profile are lost after you log off the system. When Windows loads a temporary profile for an account, the following notification is shown and a corresponding event is recorded in the Windows Event Log.
Your user profile was not loaded correctly! You have been logged on with a temporary profile.

Windows Easy Transfer takes that into consideration and acts prudently by informing the user about the temporary profile, and not proceeding further. To resolve the problem, you must first fix the user account affected by this problem. Create a System Restore point and then follow these steps:

1. Logon to an administrative user account other than the user account that is experiencing the problem.

2. Click Start, type Regedit.exe and press {ENTER}

3. Navigate to the following branch and expand it:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ ProfileList

4. From the File menu, click Export and backup the branch to a .REG file.

5. Then, locate the SID that contains ".bak" suffix. (e.g. S-1-5-21-508115838-3306226147-1483886728-501.bak)

6. Note down the "ProfileImagePath" value data for the SID with ".bak" suffix.

7. Right-click on the SID with ".bak" suffix, and click Delete

8. Exit the Registry Editor

9. Open the following folder location using Windows Explorer
C:\Users

10. Right-click on the affected user profile folder (as noted in Step 6), click Rename. Assign "-old" suffix to the profile folder. For example, if the user profile folder is "Guest", rename it to "Guest-old"

11. Login to the affected user account ("Guest" account in this case) and then log off. This regenerates a new "Guest" folder under the Users directory.

** You don’t need the following step if there isn’t any useful data left in the old user account **. I wouldn’t care much about my "Guest" profile since no critical data is stored in there.

12. Logon to an administrator account and then copy your user data from the old profile. (i.e. Copy data from "Guest-old" to "Guest") leaving out the user registry files. You have more detailed instructions at Copy User Data from a Corrupted User Profile. [Caveat: Since you're leaving out the user registry, per-user desktop customizations from the old profile is not carried on to the new profile]

What is Google Buzz?

2011-01-19T22:50:00.000-08:00

What is Google Buzz?

Well it is definitely a threat to the likes of facebook and twitter.
As far as searching is concerned, Google is the defacto standard for internet users. But when it comes to social networking to keep in touch with friends and family, usually sites like facebook, myspace, twitter etc are used.

Google Buzz is a new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting. It's built right into Gmail, so you don't have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch — it just works. If you think about it, there's always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this network to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most. We focused on building an easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don't have to use different tools to share with different audiences). Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your existing Gmail inbox, so you're sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time.
Google Buzz is a social networking and messaging tool from Google that is integrated into the company's web-based email program, Gmail.Users can share links, photos, videos, status messages and comments organized in "conversations" and visible in the user's inbox.

Buzz enables users to choose to share publicly with the world or privately to a group of friends each time they post.Picasa, Flickr, Google Reader, YouTube, Blogger, FriendFeed, identi.ca and Twitter are currently integrated. The creation of Buzz was seen by industry analysts as an attempt by Google to compete with social networking websites like Facebook and microblogging services like Twitter.Buzz also includes several interface and interaction elements from other Google products (e.g. Google Reader) such as the ability to "like" a post.

Google executive Sergey Brin said that by offering social communications, Buzz would help bridge the gap between work and leisure,but the service and its rollout have been strongly criticized for taking insufficient account of privacy concerns.
Google Buzz may change this. Google Buzz adds social networking functions such as the ability to share links, photos, videos and status updates with friends from GMAIL. So Google has finally extended the gmail users with the social networking tools to keep in touch with their contacts who are already in gmail.
Google Buzz is also accessible from smartphones. That makes it even more interesting. Though it is officially launched some gmail users still do not have buzz enabled for their account. As google is enabling buzz for gmail users in steps. So if you are a gmail user and you don’t have the BUZZ yet, not to worry. When it is avaiable you will automatically see it when you login.

5 Computer Tips on Windows Computer

2011-01-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

These are 5 Computer Tips and tricks on Windows Computer.Try to read it and apply it to your computer.

1.An Easy Performance Enhancement

If you’re using the NTFS filing protocol on your system, instead of FAT32, you can get a bit more speed by disabling Windows® Indexing. The downside to this is that searching your drive for a specific file might take a moment or two longer, but everything else should run faster.

To disable this feature open My Computer and then right click on the drive you wish to reset – usually C-drive. Now click on Properties and then uncheck “Allow Indexing Service.” It will take Windows® a few moments to accomplish this task, based on your processor speed. If you have other hard drives, perform the same process for them. After this is done, it’s a good idea to empty the Recycle Bin and then Defragment your hard drive(s).

2.FREE Software

If you have a system and it does not have an office suite, such as Microsoft Office, and you don’t want to pay several hundred dollars to have one, try Open Office. This is a great alternative to other suites, and it’s free! Simply direct your browser to www.openoffice.org and follow the instructions for downloading and installation. Make no mistake, this free office suite is an extremely powerful set of software tools – easily a match for any competitor.

Internet Explorer (Microsoft’s Internet browser) is unarguably the standard in computers. This is why hackers develop so many malware applications to invade it. If you use a different browser, you have much less chance of an invasion by malicious software. There is a great alternative available, and it’s free. You can download a copy of Firefox at www.mozilla.org/products/firefox. You can even move your Internet Explorer settings into Firefox automatically – so you don’t lose your Favorites, etc.

3.Laptop Printer Fix

If you’re using a laptop that is running Windows® ME, and you’re having trouble printing through the USB, try this simple fix. Go to the website for the company that manufactures your printer. If you use a Hewlett-Packard, for example, go to www.HP.com and download the appropriate drivers and install them. ME has drivers that recognize the USB printer is present and attached, but not the drivers needed to make it print. Which drivers you download and install will be dependant on your printer. After installing new drivers, update the printer as necessary in the Control Panel.

4.Save $$$ When Shopping On-line

If you’re making a purchase on-line, and you know the item you want to buy, you can easily compare pricing all across the Internet. This can amount to a very substantial savings.

At this writing, I went to www.mysimon.com and typed in that I wanted to buy a printer: a Canon PIXMA iP4000. The service instantly checked the Internet and returned prices ranging from $62.00 up to $286.00. This kind of price spread is not at all unusual, especially for computers and electronics.

The My Simon website service only checks pricing, it does not provide a platform for purchasing anything, though it does link to such places. It also gives a rating for the sellers and other users’ input regarding their experiences with the company. You can order the results of the search for your product by price, so that you can quickly find the lowest price from the highest rated dealer.

5.Windows® XP Professional Only

A feature of Windows® XP Professional, that is not available in the Home Edition, is the ability to encrypt files. This encryption prevents others from opening the files in the folder you encrypt. To encrypt one or more a folders, follow these easy steps.

Click Start, then My Documents. Now locate the folder you wish to encrypt and right click on it and choose Properties.

On the General tab, click on Advanced. Put a tick mark in the box for Encrypt Contents to Secure Data. Click okay two times and the confirmation dialog box will appear allowing you to select the folder, the folder and all files, and/or the subfolders within it.

Now you'll be able to place files in this folder (or folders) and since they're encrypted, others will not be able to access them.

5 powerful tips to get help online

2011-01-17T22:33:00.000-08:00

5 powerful computer tips and tricks regarding needing help that'll help you get the help you need, when you need it, and get it in a way that'll leave the door wide open for future help:

Don't lead with your chin.
Leading with your chin is a great way to get knocked on your...

The single most important thing you need to remember when you're asking for help online, whether you're asking by email or by filling out an online form, regardless of how angry or frustrated you might be, is that there's a real "live" person on the other end...

A person who has "feelings" just like you do!

Including phrases in your first request for help like...

"Are you going to help me right now, right this minute, or are you going to give me my money back?"...

Or...

"I'm starting to think this is a scam!"...

Or...

"If I don't hear back from you in one hour, I'm going to call my lawyer!"...

Might make you feel good, but they'll virtually guarantee whatever help you do get right now will be minimal, at best, and your chances of getting anything other than minimal help from that person again in the future will be somewhere between slim and none.

Be polite.

For some strange reason, one I've yet to figure out, many people seem to think the rules of simple, common courtesy don't apply online...

Don't you be one of them!

A request for help written in a polite tone, using "please" and "thank you", will, more often than not, get you a prompt and courteous reply.

DON'T SHOUT!!!

Whether you know it or not, typing your request for help in all capital letters is the online equivalent of shouting in the face of the person who receives it...

And...

The liberal use of multiple exclamation marks makes your shouting even louder and more emphatic!

Question for you...

Do you like it when someone shouts in your face?

Guess what?

Neither does anyone else! :-)

Keep your request short and to the point.

Most people doing business online don't have the time to read long, drawn out messages trying to figure out what you need, nor do they have the time to keep writing you back over and over again trying to clarify what you need.

When you ask for help online, *always* include your name, contact information, order information, specific dates, specific details, and a clear, concise description of the help or information you need.

Avoid including any information that doesn't directly contribute to helping the person you're asking for help to give you the exact help you need.

Say thank you.

After you've received the help you've asked for, a simple "thank you!" or "thanks, I appreciate your help!" will go a long way towards insuring the door will be wide open the next time you need that person's help again.

The single most important thing you need to remember when you're asking for help online is that there's a real "live" person on the other end.

Treat that person as you'd like to be treated and you'll find as I have that, more often than not, you'll get all the help you need, when you need it, and that person's door will always be open to you should you need their help again.

Do try this computer tips and tricks about getting help online.

How to use the email brilliantly

2011-01-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

This is the computer tips and tricks regarding how to use the email brilliantly.Enjoy.

When it works well, e-mail can be great. It's hard to beat e-mail for everything from staying in touch with family to requesting information from businesses or other organizations. Want to send the same message to several people? Communicate with someone across the continent? Transmit photos, manuscripts or other information? For speed and efficiency, this virtually instantaneous medium is one of the most convenient features of modern life.

But e-mail is not without problems. If you key in the name of an intended recipient but your message keeps bouncing back, you might not be singing e-mail's praises. Ditto for attachments that won't open or other such nuisances. With just a little patience, though, you can readily overcome most e-mail problems. What follows are 4 common e-mail problems along with solutions for overcoming them.

Problem – Returned Messages

This may be the most frustrating of all e-mail problems. After taking the time to create a message, you click on the “send” button and consider your task accomplished. But the next thing you know, the message pops up in your in-box with a heading that it did not reach its intended recipient.

Solutions

First, take the simple step of checking to see that the address of your recipient has been entered correctly. This may seem obvious, but sometimes the only thing wrong is a misplaced letter, the use of “com” instead of “net”, or some similar error. If you know the correct address, this is a straightforward matter of double checking each character. If not, you might need to experiment by sending multiple messages, or by entering alternative addresses with slight variations. Under this approach, you simply keep track of which messages are bounced back and compare them with the overall list of addresses you used. If you sent four variations but only three were returned, you have solved the problem by the process of elimination.

Sometimes the source of your problem lies with the recipient. If messages to other addresses go through but fail here, try to contact the intended recipient by other means and report the situation. The cause may range from a temporary problem with the recipient's server to a switch to another e-mail provider, to a full in box. In this case, simply waiting may be the best recourse. Or a phone call or other communication may be required on your part to obtain the correct e-mail address. If all your messages are being returned, you may have a connection problem. See below for more details.

Problem 2 – You Have Lost Your Connection

Sometimes a failure to send or receive e-mail can be traced to a lost connection with your Internet service provider.

Solutions

If you see a “failure to connect” or “no response” message or have otherwise determined that you have failed to connect, double check to make certain there are no physical problems.

First, check your cables and connections. If you use a dial-up modem, listen to make sure it produces the normal high-pitched dialing sound. If not, the problem could be a loose connection. Locate the phone cord that runs from the back of your computer to the phone jack, and then make sure that each end is plugged in snugly.

If you will don't hear the expected dialing sound, check to make sure your phone cord is undamaged. If it seems worn, replace it with a new one. Other steps include making certain the line is plugged into the right port, and checking the phone jack by plugging the cord into a different jack. If you hear the dialing sound after any of these steps, you have made a successful connection.

Connection problems may be more common with dial-up modems than with broadband connections, but the latter are also dependent on physical connections. A loose wire or poorly connected cable can easily be problematic. Sometimes a glitch occurs that can be best addressed by repeating portions of the initial set-up process. A simple fix touted by Verizon technical service reps for some DSL (digital subscriber line) customers is to disconnect the three lines from the back of the modem and then reconnect them in a specified order. When this action is taken, the online connection is immediately regained.

If you are online but keep getting bumped off, the lost connection can be the result of an unintended software command. In Outlook Express, for example, you will find the command “Hang up when finished.” If the box in front of this phrase is checked, the connection will automatically be severed each time you send or download e-mail. Sometimes a misdirected click of your mouse will cause you to place a check in the box even though you do not realize it. Simply click on the check mark to make it disappear, and the hang-ups will cease.

These 2 common e-mail problems are quite easy to determine and when rectified will make your emailing experience more enjoyable.Do try these computer tips and tricks for your emails.

Scareware virus

2011-01-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

Fake antivirus programs, which are often referred to as "scareware," is the third and arguably most irritating leg of the malware stool.

With scareware, a warning pops up on your computer screen telling you that your computer is infected and attempts to sell you a program to disinfect the program. This is the ultimate no-win situation.

If you click anywhere on the warning, you get infected. If you ignore the warning, it will never go away. And if you fall for the ruse and buy the fake antivirus program, your computer will then become another warrior in the scammer's botnet army.

"This is the one thing in the world of malware that is visible," Perry said. "If you're infected, you'll know it because it's visible and bugs you all the time."

If you think you can simply hit Alt-Control-Delete — the keyboard combination that brings up the Task Manager in Windows — to rid shut down the offending program, think again. Many malware programmers expect panicked users to do this, and create fake Task Manager windows that trigger the infection.

So how big is the problem? Over 100,000 new Trojan downloaders are created every day, Perry said. Most computer users aren't knowledgeable enough to deal with the problems themselves without help, he added. "It's too vast and too pervasive."

The best defense, he said, is to install a suite of Internet security software and religiously update it.

"For right now, count your change and watch your Ps and Qs," he said. "There's no way to easily tell that something wrong is going on on the Internet."

If you’d like to learn more about the dos sand don’t of practicing safe computing, a good place to start is 13 Ways to Protect Your System, a list of security tips from McAfee’s Threat Center.

Botnets Infection

2011-01-08T00:15:00.000-08:00

The web is also where you risk contracting a drive-by bot infection that will enlist your computer as an agent in a fraudster's arsenal.

"A botnet is a collection of infected PCs that the bad guys now own," Perry said. "Botnets are the source of all spam – they're used for ID theft, extortion, industrial espionage and finding other web pages to infect. I would call it the Swiss Army Knife of the malware world. It does a lot of things for a lot of people."

Like the majority of malware software, botnets are asymptomatic. Until you wake up and find your bank account has been drained, that is, or discover that your ID has been appropriated for use by someone else.

Trojans Virus

2011-01-07T00:13:00.000-08:00

Ground Zero for malware is the Internet itself. The Web is by far the most common vector for malware infection, Perry said. "The most universal thing of all that's involved in cyber bad guy activity is the Web."

Users don't even have to click anything on websites to infect their computers. Just looking is enough. "Look at the web page and Bang!, you're infected without so much as a how-do-you-do," he said.

Forsaking Internet Explorer and replacing it with another browser such as Firefox won't give you much protection either, Perry said. Malware is basically equal opportunity when it comes to browsers and browser plug-ins.

A Trojan downloader is the most common malicious software to get hit with, he said. A Trojan is any program that pretends to be something other than what it really is — a downloader is a program that downloads another program. "It's like Robin Hood," Perry said. "He shot an arrow with a string over a tree branch. He used the string to drag up a rope and the rope to drag up a basket of stuff."

In the past, sites devoted to porn and file sharing were the usual suspects for being sources of infection. "It used to be true," but no longer, Perry said. “We’ve seen government agencies and the Roman Catholic Church get infected; we’ve seen railroads and airlines and the British Museum get infected. There is no safe web page.”

To make matters worse, infected computers are often asymptomatic and appear to be functioning normally. Many Trojan viruses don't slow your computer down or make your cursor go crazy. Like high blood pressure, malware is a silent killer.

"Unfortunately, there's a big cognitive disconnect on the part of users who have seen movies where the virus comes on the screen and announces that it is infecting you," Perry said. "Any malware you see today will be by design as symptom free as they can possibly make it."

Smartbooks

2011-01-06T00:09:00.000-08:00

Smartbooks are the newest book on the block, taking several star turns at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this year, including the introduction of HP's Slate and Lenovo's Skylight. Smartbooks combine features of both a smartphone and a netbook computer in a device that's mobile like a phone, yet comes in a laptop-style body with a screen that's 5 to 10 inches in size. Other features include extended battery life, 3G connectivity and GPS capability.

Qualcomm, the world's largest cellphone chip supplier, has a lot invested in the smartbooks game. Its Snapdragon line of chipsets power the new Nexus One smartphone by Google as well as Lenovo's new smartbook.

"A smartbook melds together the best of a netbook and the best of a smartphone," said Mark Frankel, VP of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. "It's always on, always connected." And it has long battery life, 8 to 12 hours, according to Frankel.

Aside from the early adopters, who rush to retailers when any new tech product is released, Frankel thinks that smartbooks will initially win over the consumer side of the market.

But he thinks that business users will be converted soon, too. "If I'm a lawyer and have a 150-page contract to develop, I'll probably do that at my desk," he said. "But when I have to go across the country to negotiate it at my client, I'd much rather have a smartbook with me."

How To Write the Good Password

2011-01-05T00:05:00.000-08:00

1. Don't be so easy.

"123456" is the most commonly used password out there. "QWERTY" is number 20. "Password" is number four.

These disturbing statistics are from a recent analysis by Imperva, a computer security firm in Redwood Shores, CA, of a recently discovered file of 32 million stolen passwords. Similar research both 10 and 20 years ago revealed similarly sad situations.

2. Longer is better.

The same study also found that 26 percent of people used passwords that were only 6 characters long. In fact, nearly half were shorter than eight characters. With six characters, your password can have 308 million letter combinations. That sounds like a large number, but for modern hackers with automated password cracking programs, six characters spells "easy meat." NASA warns its employees that hackers can try that many combinations in a few minutes – and then start ransacking your account.

3. Use the shift key.

If your measly six-letter passwords combines uppercase and lowercase letters, things aren’t quite as hopeless, as you have upped your game to 19 billion combinations. If you move on to eight characters (which NASA advises as a minimum) you're up to 53 trillion.

4. Comic book cussing is good.

Including characters from outside the alphabet (including numbers) sends the possible combinations sky-high. Indeed, NASA calculates that an eight-symbol password with at least one lowercase letter, one uppercase letter, one numerical character, and one special character or punctuation mark gives slightly more than 6 quadrillion (that's 6 followed by fifteen zeros) combinations.

5. Keep it centered.

By now you've figured out that you should not use any words out of a dictionary. This includes slang and vernacular, plus names, especially your own. Variants of e-mail addresses are also unwise. Obviously, the way to go is potential gibberish, like "Szb21#^&." But keep in mind that some passwords are gleaned by hacking into computers where intruders can find stored passwords. Those are stored in encrypted form, but there's software that can attack the encryption. Nearly all encrypted passwords are stored with the last character in clear text, warns NASA, so the last character is a throwaway. So put the funny, unpredictable characters in the middle of the password. In other words, our example would be better as "Szb#^&21."

6. Keep it fast, keep it mental.

The password should be something you can type quickly, so no one can follow your fingers as they fly across the keyboard. It also has to be something you can remember with precision without writing it down – something you should never do. Experts suggest using a passphrase that stands for the password. For instance, our example could stand for "Sally's zealous boss's number's (#) up (^) and (&) it's blackjack (21.)" If that makes no sense, that's sort of the point.

7. Remain paranoid.

Just because the police have not shown up at your door does not mean your password has not been stolen, somewhere. To preempt anything that may be in the works, change your password every three months. But don't add a numeral 1 to the end of the password and call it changed – do a little more work than that.

8. Don't double up.

Don't use the same passwords for your office computer that you use on Web sites. Actually, it's best to use different ones each time, but its especially important to separate office from Web use, since Web passwords are more exposed to hacker theft.

9. Loose lips sink ships.

Now that you've come up with a sensible password, don't divulge it – especially to sudden callers whom you've never heard of, saying they're from the corporate help desk and who have a plausible story about how they need your password in order to rescue some important file that your boss must access immediately to prevent something dreadful from happening, etc.

10. Don’t turn your back on your computer.

Not that it's plotting against you, but when it comes to doing potentially illegal activities, people prefer to do it with someone else's computer. Turn off your computer when you're not using it. That saves power, too.

5 Easy Computer Maintenance Tips

2011-01-04T00:03:00.000-08:00

Step 1: Uninstall Programs You Don't Use

Over time, unused software collects in our computers like old keys in a drawer: They were useful for a time, but chances are you can't remember what they are for now. So if you haven't used a program in the last six months, uninstall it to free up space and allow your computer to run the important stuff more efficiently.

To do this, go to the Windows Start button, choose "Control Panel" select "Program and Features" or "Install/Uninstall Programs," depending on the Windows version. Scan the list. If you see a program you recognize and know you don't use it, right click on its name, and then click uninstall. If you are unsure about a program, leave it alone.

Step 2: Delete Temporary and Unnecessary Files

Each time you visit a site online, your computer stores information so the next time you visit, the page will load faster. This is good in principle, but temporary files add up over time, and may ultimately slow the load time of applications. If you haven't deleted temporary files in a year or longer, you may be able to free up 10 percent or more of the computer's memory.

To do this, go back to the Start button, select "Computer" or "My Computer," right click on the "C" drive, select "Properties" click on "Disk Cleanup" and select "All Users" if you get a popup window with that option. Once you give it the go-ahead, Disk Cleanup will calculate how much space you will be able to free up. Click to check the boxes in this window. If you disagree with Disk Cleanup's recommendations, simply make sure that box is unchecked. And then stop – don't click "Okay" yet. Rather, select the "More Options" tab and proceed to Step 3.

Step 3: Delete All but Most Recent System Restore

Free up more disk space by removing all but the most recent restore point. As a standard function, Windows takes a snapshot of the contents of your computer at regular intervals. This procedure will keep only the most recent one.

Click "Clean up." This takes a fraction of a second, but as you proceed with the Disk Cleanup, be patient. This process may take up to half an hour or longer if it's been some time since the last cleanup.

Step 4: Defrag

Data is written and stored in disk blocks. Over time, files are deleted and new files are added. If a file cannot be stored in adjacent blocks, they become fragmented. One 5 megabyte jpg. photo file, for example, could be scattered across 5,000 disk blocks. Instead of pulling the pieces of a file from adjacent blocks, the computer has to gather them up, which of course takes longer. Defragging is simply a way of eliminating empty blocks and putting files back together.

Your Properties window should still be open. Select Tools. Click on "Defragment Now." This process may be scheduled as an automatic task about once a week.

Step 5: Scan for Viruses, Spyware, etc.

Now that your computer is clean, use your security software to do a sweep for viruses, worms, and spyware that can damage your computer and compromise your privacy. This step should be faster now because you've already deleted unnecessary programs and files, which can save scan time.

Recovery Word files

2010-12-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

Recovery Toolbox for Word is a solution for recovery Word, it repairs documents in Microsoft Word format. This MS Word repair tool processes damaged files in Microsoft Word format, in the same time, the reason of email corruption does not matter. Recovery Toolbox for Word works with all Word files, it is safe to open even infected files of *.doc format.

Recovery Toolbox for Word is an effective way for Word text recovery, now MS Word repair and recovery doc can be done in several minutes.

Demo version helps to understand, how Recovery Toolbox for Word works and to estimate its data recovery engine.

Go and get your Recovery Toolbox for Word now.

Microsoft Outlook PST repair tool

2010-12-21T22:57:00.000-08:00

Microsoft Outlook is not a simple messaging, this program usually stores user contacts, meetings, tasks and journals. The loss of this data may affect your business.

Recovery Toolbox for Outlook can repair all items, stored in Microsoft Outlook, in several easy steps, just follow the instructions and all emails will be successfully repaired. It does not matter, what was the reason that led to mailbox corruption, there are a lot of them.

Recovery Toolbox for Outlook pst repair tool can save retrieved files as separate emails or as a single file of PST format.

It is very easy, you can save a lot of time for retrieving your email.

Data protection product - SecurStore

2010-12-20T22:51:00.000-08:00

SecurStore’s online solution automatically transfers data offsite in real-time, eliminating the risk of having backups located onsite in case of a disaster or loss of data during transportation to an offsite location. Data is transmitted and stored offsite in a state of the art data centre on a reliable disk subsystem, which is in turn duplicated and backed up onto a second disk sub-system located apart from the primary disk sub-system.

SecurStore backs up the critical data of s2s (120GB) online on a continual basis, so that from the moment a server goes down, all the data can be quickly retrieved online. The remaining less critical 80GB of data is either backed up to SecurStore’s Backup Lifecycle Management (BLM) offline service, or backed up by the outsourced provider.

S2s Ltd is a UK provider of network consulting and implementation services that needed data protection to ensure business continuity, even in the event of a server breakdown.s2s was previously using disk-to-tape to back up all the various systems the business was running on.

SecurStore is suitable for businesses that need to protect data from a few gigabytes to terabytes. The service ensures that any data held on PCs, Macintosh computers, file servers and application/database servers is securely backed up. SecurStore supports many platforms including Windows NT/2000/2003/XP along with AS-400 iSeries, Unix and Linux. SecurStore can also protect a wide range of databases including Oracle, SQL, Exchange, Lotus Notes and DB2.

Computer Backups and recovery

2010-12-19T22:44:00.000-08:00

Computer backup is so important to your computer that to ignore it is to risk its damnation.Data needs your protection. Failure to protect your data may cause your home or business records to eternally lost from computer resurrection.

If you backup your computer consistently and persistently your files will be resurrected and saved from accidental deletion, hard drive failure and those nasty things like fire, flood, theft, earthquake, hurricanes, tornado and others.

Hard drives still occasionally crash and frustrated users are left trying to figure out just how to do hard drive data recovery on their own.

Keep in mind that to do this, you may need to fix your master boot record, or retrieve data from a physically damaged disk. If you can’t do this, then you’ll need to employ the services of a hard drive data recovery expert.

If you’ve backed up your files, you can continue working or, better yet, you can save them to an external source and get a new hard drive.

Types of Trojan Horse Viruses

2010-11-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

Types of Trojan Horse Viruses

Trojan Horses have developed to a remarkable level of cleverness, which makes each one radically different from each other. For an inclusive understanding, we have classified them into the following:

Remote Access Trojans

Remote Access Trojans are the most frequently available trojans. These give an attacker absolute control over the victim’s computers. The attacker can go through the files and access any personal information about the user that may be stored in the files, such as credit card numbers, passwords, and vital financial documents.

Password Sending Trojans

The intention of a Password Sending Trojan is to copy all the cached passwords and look for other passwords as you key them into your computer, and send them to particular email addresses. These actions are performed without the awareness of the users. Passwords for restricted websites, messaging services, FTP services and email services come under direct threat with this kind of trojan.

Key Loggers

Key Loggers type of Trojans logs victims’ keystrokes and then send the log files to the attacker. It then searches for passwords or other sensitive data in the log files. Most of the Key Loggers come with two functions, such as online and offline recording. Of course, they can be configured to send the log file to a specific email address on a daily basis.

Destructive Trojans

The only purpose of Destructive Trojans is to destroy and delete files from the victims’ computers. They can automatically delete all the core system files of the computer. The destructive trojan could be controlled by the attacker or could be programmed to strike like a logic bomb, starting on a particular day or at specific time.

Denial of Service (DoS) Attack Trojans

The core design intention behind Denial of Service (DoS) Attack Trojan is to produce a lot of internet traffic on the victim’s computer or server, to the point that the Internet connection becomes too congested to let anyone visit a website or download something. An additional variation of DoS Trojan is the Mail-Bomb Trojan, whose key plan is to infect as many computers as possible, concurrently attacking numerous email addresses with haphazard subjects and contents that cannot be filtered.

Proxy/Wingate Trojans

Proxy/Wingate Trojans convert the victim’s computer into a Proxy/Wingate server. That way, the infected computer is accessible to the entire globe to be used for anonymous access to a variety of unsafe Internet services. The attacker can register domains or access pornographic websites with stolen credit cards or do related illegal activities without being traced.

FTP Trojans

FTP Trojans are possibly the most simple, and are outdated. The only action they perform is, open a port numbered 21 – the port for FTP transfers – and let anyone connect to your computer via FTP protocol. Advance versions are password-protected, so only the attacker can connect to your computer.

Software Detection Killers

Software Detection Killers kill popular antivirus/firewall programs that guard your computer to give the attacker access to the victim’s machine.

A Trojan malware

2010-11-17T07:58:00.000-08:00

A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is malware that appears to perform a desirable function for the user prior to run or install but instead facilitates unauthorized access of the user's computer system. "It is a harmful piece of software that looks legitimate.

A trojan horse is typically separated into two parts – a server and a client. It’s the client that is cleverly disguised as significant software and positioned in peer-to-peer file sharing networks, or unauthorized download websites. Once the client Trojan executes on your computer, the attacker, i.e. the person running the server, has a high level of control over your computer, which can lead to destructive effects depending on the attacker’s purpose.

A horse may modify the user's computer to display advertisements in undesirable places, such as the desktop or in uncontrollable pop-ups, or it may be less notorious, such as installing a toolbar on to the user's Web browser without prior notice. This can create the author of the Trojan revenue, despite it being against the Terms of Service of most major Internet advertising networks, such as Google AdSense.

Trojan horses may allow a hacker remote access to a target computer system. Once a Trojan horse has been installed on a target computer system, a hacker may have access to the computer remotely and perform various operations, limited by user privileges on the target computer system and the design of the Trojan horse.

Operations that could be performed by a hacker on a target computer system include:

* Use of the machine as part of a botnet (e.g. to perform automated spamming or to distribute Denial-of-service attacks)
* Data theft (e.g. retrieving passwords or credit card information)
* Installation of software, including third-party malware
* Downloading or uploading of files on the user's computer
* Modification or deletion of files
* Keystroke logging
* Watching the user's screen
* Crashing the computer

A trojan horse virus can spread in a number of ways. The most common means of infection is through email attachments. The developer of the virus usually uses various spamming techniques in order to distribute the virus to unsuspecting users. Another method used by malware developers to spread their trojan horse viruses is via chat software such as Yahoo Messenger and Skype. Another method used by this virus in order to infect other machines is through sending copies of itself to the people in the address book of a user whose computer has already been infected by the virus.

types of computer viruses

2010-11-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

Computer viruses can infect any computer and can cause severe damage to it. Installing an updated antivirus program is the best way to protect your computer against viruses. There are numerous types of computer viruses prevailing in the Web and computers around. Computer viruses spread over a network by infecting networking file system or file system that is accessed by another computer.

Simple Virus
Simple virus targets program file and it executes itself when you run that program. This virus attaches itself to other programs automatically.

Encrypted Virus
Antivirus software can easily track most of the computer viruses. Encrypted virus is the virus, which couldn't be trapped by antivirus software due to its encrypted code.

Polymorphic Virus
Developer of polymorphic virus encrypts the virus signature, which makes it more difficult for antivirus to detect the virus. Polymorphic virus could only be detected by special codes written specifically for polymorphic virus.

Macro Virus
Macro Virus as its name suggests is a mini-program that runs inside other program. Basically, Macro viruses are scripts that are specially written to infect the computer. They can spread quickly because they infect popular application used in daily computing activities.

Trojan horse
Trojan horse is a kind of virus, which is embedded in an application or software, and installs itself on your computer along with installation of that program.

Worms
Worms are self replicating and can spread in many computers connected in a network. To protect your PC from worm you need software with antivirus and firewall.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_K_T_Smith

computer virus tip

2010-11-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

How can I get rid of a computer virus is a question that unfortunately a lot of computer owners have to deal with! Although the virus causes a severe problem to your computer there are ways to effectively rid your computer of them.

How can I get rid of a computer virus tip number 1.

One way to get rid of a computer virus is to buy computer virus removal software. There are many kids of virus removal softwares on the market but not all get rid of the pesky viruses! What most of them do is begin by scanning your computer for harmful viruses. Some scans may take a while to perform but in the end most return with results from the test run on your computer first. Then the will give you the option to purchase the software!

Computer viruses can be a real pain to have and really hard to get rid of! They can and often will return even after they have been rid of. Everyday new computer viruses are made and it becomes harder to fight them off. Lots of times we have to buy new software programs a year or two later because the computer virus is not up to date and cant fight off the newer viruses. But most of the time a good computer virus software will help maintain and rid your computer of viruses for a good while.

How can I get rid of a computer virus tip number 2.

Another way that you can get rid of a computer virus is to give it to a computer repairman. These guys come in handy if they can be found cheap which is a big question because most of the time they cant. Then a lot of the time they barely fix the problem just to get you to come back for more a few months down the line which equals to you guessed it more money on your part. Even if you only have to let them fix your computer once which is highly unlikely it will most of the time cost nearly a third of what most of us paid for our computers and the sad thing is that we are allowing a total stranger to view our computer which usually contains a lot of personal and private information.

Everyone is not trustworthy and your information can leak out if in the wrong hands! Its great to go with the first choice and get yourself a great computer virus removal software program. If you are tired of your computer viruses and want to learn how to get rid of a computer virus then visit the link below for details and get rid of those pesky computer viruses.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dev_Louis

Computer viruses

2010-11-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

Computer viruses often take innocent-looking forms, and operate on sneaky planes of your computer, often behind the scenes. You may know how to avoid computer viruses and yet still be struck with one. Because there's always the risk that it might happen to you, you may want to learn how to get rid of a computer virus.

You want to know how to get rid of a computer virus even if you don't currently have one, because when a computer virus strikes you may not have the means to look up information on how to get rid of a computer virus. Learn how to treat them before you get them, so you won't have to worry about how to get rid of a computer virus at an inconvenient time.

If you want to know how to get rid of a computer virus, the answer lies in anti-virus software. You can find lots of free software (download it through a reputable source!) for anti-virus protection on the Internet. Anti-virus software is how to get rid of a computer virus, the safest and best way for your computer and your other software.

This anti-virus software not only takes care of existing viruses (in most cases), but also blocks incoming viruses from making their home of your hard drive. If you want to know how to get rid of a computer virus, get some free anti-virus software. This is the best way to deal with the problem, and will safeguard you against viruses.

Think about how to get rid of a computer virus, and download some software, before you have a problem with viruses. You want to protect the information on your computer, not to mention the software and components of the computer itself. When you know how to get rid of a computer virus, you won't have to worry about the information you may lose or the problems you may face that result from having a virus. When it comes to computer viruses, prevention is the key. When you know how to get rid of a computer virus, you can use your computer without fear.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_Drosy

laptop’s security

2010-11-03T21:18:00.000-07:00

One of the first considerations that should be made is in regard to the laptop’s security. Since thieves will target these as often as they will cash, jewelry or other valuables, it’s critical to put as many security measures into place as possible when traveling through airports, bus terminals, train stations and any other form of public travel. Of course, it’s never wise to leave your laptop unattended. It’s a sad testament to the way of the world, but you can be fairly certain that when you return, your equipment will be gone.

When packing for your trip, place the laptop in a case that’s different – and less obvious – from its standard carrying case, and make sure that it’s checked in as carry-on luggage. This will not only ensure that it doesn’t get stolen, but will be in the pressurized part of the plane, rather than the baggage compartment, which doesn’t have pressure or climate controls that are needed to ensure the integrity of the laptop.

Laptop Contents
You should ensure that you only have files and other information on your laptop that you absolutely need to do your job whilst you are not connected to the corporate computer network. Get into the habit of transferring your files to a network folder whenever you are connected.

Highly Sensitive Business Information
Please ensure that you do not load information that is highly sensitive or sensitive (classified) onto your laptop, unless you have authorization to do so.

Laptop Backups
If you are not in the habit of routinely backing up your files on your laptop, you run the risk of losing your files and other valuable information if your computer crashes or is stolen. The best way to backup your files is to transfer them to a network folder whenever you are connected to the corporate computer network.

Cafes and Hotels
Keeping your laptop in sight at all times is especially important when you are in a cafe, restaurant or hotel etc. These are popular places for opportunists to steal mobile phones, wallets, handbags and of course laptops. It only takes a moment to be distracted while someone moves into steal from you. The best way to counter this type of theft is to have your laptop on the floor against your leg so you can feel its weight, and if you have a long carry strap, put your foot on or through the carry strap. This way you will know if someone tries to take it.

Conferences and Seminars
It is particularly important for you to protect your laptop if you take it to a conference or seminar. You cannot rely upon the security of the conference site, nor expect the support staff, to protect the laptop for you. It is not usually a good idea to take your laptop to these types of events, unless of course you don't mind carrying it with you at all times, even during breaks.

Travel
Whenever you travel, whether by walking, by car or using some form of public transport, your laptop can be vulnerable to theft or loss. It can be quite simple when you have other things on your mind, to accidentally leave your laptop behind when you get off a bus or jump out of a taxi. It is important for you to stay focused, alert and to keep your laptop close to you at all times. Again, wrap the carry strap around your person to prevent theft.

Laptops in Parked Cars
Remember; do not leave your laptop in a car in plain sight, unattended at any time. If you absolutely must leave your laptop in the car for any reason, put it into the boot of your car discretely. Don't forget to remove it, especially if using a hire car. Don't leave your laptop in the boot of your car for long periods on very hot days. Numerous laptops have been stolen from parked cars because they are attractive items for a quick cash sale. So please think before you act.

Disguise
There have been instances where people have been mugged specifically for their laptops. If you are walking through high-risk areas, you should consider disguising the fact you are carrying a laptop by placing it in a backpack or sports bag.

Using Laptops In Public Places
When you use a laptop in a public place, it is usually not just you that can see the screen; this is particularly true when you use your laptop on public transport. Think about how many times you have sat next to someone who is using their laptop and what you have been able to read on the screen. Remember, if you use your laptop in public; be careful about who can see your screen while you are working. Be discreet.

In addition to the laptop itself, it’s always a good idea to bring an extension cord and extra batteries. Even though you may plan to use electricity, you should also include a back-up plan, and batteries may only give you a few hours’ worth of power at a time before needing to be recharged or changed. When possible, cut down on the use of those things which need large amounts of energy, such as CD-ROMs, and reduce the number of auto-saves on your machine.

Boost your computer's performance

2010-11-02T21:12:00.000-07:00

Interesting Computer Trick

For those whose PC is under trouble and wish to recover its speed and performance, there are fabulous computer tips and tricks with which you can speed up your computer's performance.

step1: Right click on desktop and select properties.

step2: In the appearance tab, click on effects, tick the 2nd option(if not already selected) and in the drop down menu
select 'clear type'. Uncheck all the options, then click ok and apply.

step3: now in the theme tab save your settings say 'my theme' for example, then apply and ok;

step4: Now right click on my computer, go to advance-->performance settings and select adjust for best performance, then click apply then ok;
(Note: if you already performed this step before step 1&2, then you have to select for best appearance first before applying step 1)

step5: Right click on desktop and select properties;

step6: In the theme tab, in the drop down menu of 'save as' option select 'my current theme' and click on apply button. Again in the drop down menu select 'my theme' as you saved earlier and click on apply and then ok and you are done.

Every time you try to install and uninstall any new program, you will find some files being stored behind as registry files. These are nothing but garbage files, which you need to, remove entirely to help improve the performance of your PC. Registry Cleaner is a software program, whose job is to empty the entire garbage registry files in no time. You may find some unwanted startup programs, which you do not use that often. To remove that, follow these steps:

Go to your startup menu -> Home -> run.

Type msconfig, uncheck all startup programs which you do not use that often under the startup tab.

Windows XP Tips

2010-10-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

To keep your computer secure, turn on automatic updates. Seems like every virus writer has nothing better to do then attack Windows operating systems. Keeping the system patches and security fixes is critical. During the setup of XP Service Pack 2 with a new computer or an up-grade you are asked whether or not to turn on automatic updates, if you made the mistake of checking no you can find this option in the Windows Security Center (Start / Control Panel) and change it back. Even with all its faults, XP is a powerful operating system that has many good security features.

Here are some more Windows tips to help you get the most out of your operating system. Remove Windows components not found in ADD / REMOVE. Many Windows components, things like Network Services or Solitaire are easy to remove through the Add or Remove programs configuration window (Start / ControlPanel / Add and Remove Programs / Windows Components). Simply un-check them, but … some things are deliberately hidden.

Many of the programs you install on your computer automatically configure themselves to launch at startup, usually invisibly. The truly essential ones, such as anti-virus and firewall products, generally run as services and run fine in the background. Other less important software like media players don't need to be running continually.

These extra programs slow the boot process and then severely suck up resources like memory and CPU cycles. It is pretty easy to control which applications launch on startup. The System Configuration Utility lists all these applications in one place.

Linux Backup Software

2010-10-26T03:38:00.000-07:00

LuckyBackup is an Open source software developed under GPL Lisence. It’s main purpose is to keep your important folders in sync with the backup folders so that you can always have a backup copy of your important files and folders ready.

You have to define the name, source and destination folders for each job. You can synchronize with remote computers and save your preferences as profile so that you can use the same settings for other jobs as well.

For all linux user do try it!

How to optimize USB drive with multiple OS

2010-10-25T03:27:00.000-07:00

You can carry all your favorite Operating systems with you wherever you go and boot from them using the same USB drive.MultiBoot USB is a freeware which can help you to use the multiple OS iso files on the same pen drive.

To use the MultiBoot on your pen drive it must meet some requirements first. You’ll require a FAT32 formatted pen drive and a computer which can boot from a USB device. Prefer using an 8-16 GB pen drive so that you can have more different operating systems on it.

To start off first download the MultiBootISO’s . Run the executable and follow the instructions. Browse to the ISO file you want to load on your USB drive and build the bootable USB using it. You might have to format your pen drive during the process so do take a backup of all your data which is there on the pen drive.

To add more ISO files repeat the same procedure. Restart your PC and set the highest priority for the USB drive to boot from it and done.

Windows 7 and Wi-Fi Tricks

2010-10-24T03:13:00.000-07:00

If you have got Wi-Fi in your laptop and have Windows 7 installed in it then you can easily turn it into a Wi-Fi hotspot and share your net connection with other people in the range and Virtual Router is the easiest way to do so.

Virtual Router is an open source software which leverages the Wireless Hosted Network API which is a part of the new Windows Operating Systems (Windows 7 and Windows server 2008).

The program is really simple to use. After downloading and installing the software all you have to do is specify the network name and password to access this network. It uses the wpa-2 encryption to protect the wireless network from unwanted users.

The program requires only 20mb of RAM and is pretty simple to understand and use. Requires Windows 7 or Windows server 2008 to run.

Do search here for the software : virtualrouter.codeplex.com

Your Facebook Personal info not safe

2010-10-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Is Your Data Safe When Using Facebook ?

Recently, privacy issues have been in great debate among computer security experts. To ensure your personal privacy did not become a victim, you can take some precautions with the info that you reveal in Facebook, while testing using Reclaim Privacy site.

To use ReclaimPrivacy.org application, you only need to add a link on your bookmark bar, and then go to privacy on Facebook, and make a brief check on your privacy settings on Facebook.

Review your privacy settings in Facebook

Now, the issue of privacy and Facebook have become a big problem, where some info and data users are allowed to be shown to the public if they are not easy to change some settings on Facebook, and through this ReclaimPrivacy, users can ensure their information and data are safe from third party.

Operating System Load

2009-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Operating System Load

Another things is that what is actually happen when the BIOS is okay and between the BIOS okay and you start see the windows running?This is call Operating System Load where after the POST is successfully completed the CPU searches Storage devices for special files that indicate the beginning of the OS and then loads it into memory.

The sequence in which the storage devices are searched is part of the configuration set-up stored in BIOS.Once the Operating System (OS) is located, the CPU copies what’s called the 'boot record' from the OS into DRAM.Control is then passed to the 'boot record' in DRAM, which then continues loading the rest of the OS.This process continues until the OS load is completed.When the OS load is completed the Desktop appears in the display monitor for you to enjoy!

What happens when your PC on? IV

2009-10-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Back to the BIOS thing again.It can also have problem itself.What is it?

One common problem you can check for is to make sure that all the devices that are supposed to be attached to the IDE controllers are listed. If not—for example, if you just upgraded your hard drive or added a DVD-ROM drive and you don’t see a reference to them right after your computer turns on—then more than likely there is a connection problem between the IDE controllers on your motherboard and the device itself.

The way to solve it by open up your PC, check the cable connections at both the drive and on the motherboard and, if necessary, replace your IDE cable(s).

One more thing is if you have a SCSI controller installed in your PC, you will also see a message about any BIOS (separate from the main system BIOS) that it has, as well as a listing of all the internal and external SCSI devices attached to it.

So,next what is happen is when the BIOS finishes it work, it hands control of the start up process to some specific files stored in the first sector of your hard drive.

This special area is called the master boot record and it contains critical information about how to start Windows (or any other operating system(s) you may have installed on your PC) as well as the specific files needed to continue the start up process.

Okay let see after all thing have been done and if you’re not having any problems up to this point, and your computer continues to boot, then that means your booting process is fine and what a relief !

What happens when your PC on? III

2009-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Is there any POST Problems arise?

First you have to hear that did your computer beep at you when you tried to start it?

As we all know "Power On Self Test" (or POST) check everything from the motherboard to the keyboard. Only after POST is passed does the computer try to start up the operating system. When the POST is successfully completed, the computer beeps once.

If the computer beeps more than once, or if it doesn't beep at all, it means it failed the POST and never even got to the operating system. That indicates a problem with the hardware, or occasionally the BIOS, a small program burned into a read only memory chip (ROM) that controls the most fundamental interaction with the hardware. The BIOS is the program that runs the POST, among other things. If the computer has started successfully before, it's a good bet that your problem is in the hardware.

If the computer beeps more than once it's trying to tell you what's wrong. Each BIOS vendor (such as AMI and VIA) has their own "Beep Codes", but here are some common examples of what the codes mean. For example a long, continuous beep usually means a stuck key on the keyboard or a problem with the system's motherboard.

How to solve it?

Try to check your computer's manual or look on the BIOS company's web site for a chart of what the beeps mean.

What happens when your PC on? II

2009-10-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Another way to see what is actually happen when your pc is powered on is in these 10 ways.Well this is actually more step by step to understand how is the pc is running on until we as user can use it basically.

The step by step to explain it is normally called as (POST):

Power-On Self Test (POST) is a series of tests to make certain that necessary is present and properly operating.

1. First the Central Processing Unit (CPU) is reset.

2. The CPU checks itself and the POST program stored in the BIOS memory.

3. Then the CPU begins using the code located in BIOS to check components in the PC.

4. The DRAM is tested by writing and reading back every byte to insure proper operation.

5. The Keyboard is checked for attachment and to see if any key has been pressed.

6. Pushing certain keys during boot up tells the CPU you want to modify the BIOS code.

7. The Floppy and Hard Drives are checked to make sure they are present.

8. The Mouse is also checked to make sure it is attached.

9. Finally, the test results are compared to the configuration data in the BIOS.

10. Any mismatches causes the POST to fail and an error message appears on the display.

What happens when your PC on?

2009-10-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

When your computer is first turned on, it automatically loads a program called the BIOS, or Basic Input/Output System, which is stored on a special chip on your computer’s motherboard.

What is BIOS actually?

BIOS is essentially a combination of software and hardware in that it consists of software, but the contents of that software is stored in a hardware chip. On most recent computers, the BIOS can be updated via a process called flash updating, which uses a piece of software that’s stored on a special start up floppy disk to overwrite the contents of the chip with a new version.

As the BIOS runs, it performs a number of tests on your hardware called POST (Power On Self Test), such as checking the memory. Then it lists any devices that it finds attached to your computer’s internal IDE controller(s). Typically, this is any internal hard drives, CD/DVD-ROM drives, tape drives, etc.

Continued....

Recover Deleted Files

2009-10-10T07:00:00.000-07:00

Recover Deleted Files and Lost Data

These are among the utilities to recover deleted files or lost data.Mind that is all free license.Try to search on the net and download.

PC Inspector File Recovery-Recover files that have been deleted, formatted over, or lost due to repartitioning.
Restoration-Recover deleted files--or delete them for good--with this small program.
VirtualLab Data Recovery Software-Recover data lost from almost anything short of a sledgehammer accident.
WhoLockMe Explorer Extension-Delete tenacious files that you can't otherwise eliminate.

Low level format utilities

2009-10-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Low level format utilities for the hard disk.

Important drive information (servo, sector layout, and defect management, etc.) is stored in the low-level format at the factory.

This information is designed to last the life of the drive and therefore it is not possible to low level the drive outside the factory. Although some drive manufactures and BIOS provided so-called "low level format utilities", they actually perform a write-read verify of the drive’s user data sectors, and do not actually perform a low-level format. In the event of a corrupted master boot record or boot block virus, use FDISK /MBR command to restore the master boot record. If you need to low level format your hard drive then check the drive manufacturer and download such an utility from its website. Every drive manufacturer provides just such a utility. Below is a list of hard drive manufacturers with a links to low level format utilities.

It is also a good idea when you hard disk becomes inaccessible to see if it is just the system files that are corrupted. Most of the time, it is the case. SYS will do the job of replacing system files. Therefore, low level format is always of LAST RESORT when you encounter HDD problems.

IBM(Hitachi)
http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Seagate
http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/utils.html

Maxtor
http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/index.htm

Fujitsu
http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/drivers.asp?L=en&CID=1

Samsung
http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/index.htm
FAQ: Low level format

Western Digital
http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp

Hard Disk Space Shrinking

2009-10-08T19:24:00.000-07:00

Vista Hard Disk Space Shrinking and Reducing Anomaly

Windows Vista is running normally and properly, no blue screen, no error, no problem and it seems that everything is fine. However, the free disk space that is available kept reducing and shrinking to less and less amount. The free space can decreases by up to a few GBs a day, even if you do not download any big files, receive any big attachments or engage in file sharing or file transfer activity with your peers.

Worse still, even if you delete a lot of large files away, or run Disk Cleanup to clean and free up a lot of downloaded program files, temporary Internet files, offline webpages, hibernation file, junks in Recycle Bin, setup log files, system error memory dump or minidump files, temporary files, thumbnails and archived or queued Windows Error Reporting files, the problem won’t go away. The space is still anomaly and abnormally low, and getting lower, and it seems like it’s going to running out of space. And, if you manually add up the size of each folders taken up on the disk drive, the total free space appears far lower than the supposedly value.

This symptom is probably caused by the usage of disk space by System Restore and Previous Versions (collectively called Volume Shadow Copy). Sometime, Windows Vista mistakenly marked the maximum space limit that can be used by Shadow Copies to be Unbounded (no limit), and that’s where all the disk space program comes in.

VSS Unbounded Limit

For immediate relief from space constraint, you can reclaim and release all System Restore and Shadow Copies used disk space. For permanent solution, it’s best to set the limit for Shadow Copies space usage, or you can turn off System Restore (and Shadow Copies and hence Previous Versions) all together.

RAM problem?

2009-10-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some tips if you have some problem with your RAM :

If you powered on your PC and it did not turn on, please turn your computer off.
Check the simple things first, make sure your computer is properly connected to a power source. You'd be surprised how many times people forget to plug their computer back in!
Make sure the RAM is set all the way down in its slot. The retaining clips on either side should be all the way up. Also, make sure your RAM is installed in the lowest numbered slot or in the slot closest to you current RAM.
If trying the above fails, contact the manufacturer of the RAM.

How to install RAM

2009-09-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

How to install RAM into your computer:

First, you need to unplug your computer from the wall and open your computer case to get access to the motherboard.
You need to make sure you put the RAM in the right slot. They are sequentially numbered. Refer to your motherboard manual to find out which is slot 0 or slot 1 to find the beginning slot. They are usually labeled on the motherboard itself next to the RAM slots.
To install the RAM first make sure it is facing the right direction. It will be keyed so it only goes in one way.
In order to install RAM you must first locate where your current RAM is on your motherboard and what it looks like. Chances are there are extra slots next to your current RAM. The great thing about most types of RAM is you can leave your current memory in your computer and place your new RAM in the next available slot.
Remove your RAM from its anti-static bag and hold it by the edges. Make sure you have your antistatic wrist band on so that you don't ruin your new RAM.
You can only install RAM in one direction. Look on the bottom of the RAM stick. You need to line up the notches in the RAM with the keys in the slot on your motherboard.
Make sure the retainer clips for the RAM are all the way open. Place the RAM in the slot and gently push it straight down with your thumbs. You may have to press hard to "set" the RAM correctly. When you press down hard enough the retaining clips on either side of the RAM will snap into place, making a "clicking" sound.
Gently place the RAM into the slot and snap in one side at a time. You will feel it click into place when you install it. The plastic clips will hold the RAM in place on each side of the RAM chip.
After installing the RAM, power on the system and watch the screen for the memory test to make sure it lists the correct amount of RAM. If it is not the correct RAM it will let you know by displaying an error message or giving you a beep code.

data backup in windows XP tips

2009-05-27T18:50:00.000-07:00

This utility program is used to make the backup of the selected files, folders and entire hard disk on zip disk, floppy disk or CD-R. This backup utility program also compresses the files so that the size of backup files can be reduced. It is a good practice to make the backup of your important data.

Your important data may be corrupted due to the attack of virus or problem may occur in the hard disk due to any reason. This backed up data may be restored on the same hard disk or other hard disk as and when required. The restore program is used to restore the backup data.

Perform the following steps to run the backup and restore process:

First click on Start button to open “Run” and type “ntbackup” then press Ok button to run the backup or restore wizard.
The Backup or Restore Wizard will appear, click Next button to continue.
Here select “Back up files and settings” check box and click Next button.
Now you can specify the option, select “Let me choose what to backup” option and click Next button.
Select the items (any file, folder and drive) to be backup and click Next button
Now give the destination for backup file and type a name for this backup and click Next.
In next windows, you can select the backup types (Normal, Copy, Incremental, Differential, and daily), click advance button otherwise click to Finish.
For Advanced settings, select the backup type and click Next button.
Now specify” How to Backup” (compression, verification and shadow copy option) and click Next button.
Now select backup options (Append to existing backups, Replace the existing backups), click Next.
Now you can scheduled the backup mean when to backup (start backup now or schedule for later).
Click Finish button to start backup process.

The Recycle Bin

2009-05-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

The Recycle Bin is very useful for recovering the files or folders that are intentionally or accidentally deleted. The Recycle Bin holds the files and folders that are deleted by the following methods or commands.

Deleted files or folders by pressing Delete key on the keyboard.
Dragged files or folder to the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop.
Deleted files or folders by choosing Delete command from the popup menu or edit menu.
You can recover the accidentally deleted files or folders from Recycle Bin folder. The default size of Recycle Bin is equivalent to 10 % of total hard disk size.

You can set the maximum size of Recycle Bin is 3.99 GB in all windows version expect windows Vista (Vista default 10% + 5% of total hard disk capacity). If you want to delete a large size file than Recycle Bin size, then file will be deleted permanently, that is why always set the maximum storage size of Recycle Bin in your system.

Window Disk Cleanup

2009-05-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Window Disk Cleanup is very useful tool to increase the performance of your system. You can increase also the free space on the hard disk, because Disk Cleanup utility searches many unnecessary programs and files on your hard drive that you can delete. This tool perform many useful tasks to cleanup your hard disk. Among of them are :

Delete the temporary internet files
Delete the old windows programs that you are not using.
Delete all temp Downloaded Program files
Delete Office Setup files
Delete Old Chkdsk file
Delete the Recycle Bin items
Delete all Setup log files
Delete the windows temporary files
Delete the Web Client or Publisher Temporary files.
Delete all Catalog file for the content indexer.
You can remove the optional windows components that you are not using

Windows memory

2009-05-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

Windows memory requirements :

Windows XP: Microsoft recommends 64 MB as a minimum and 128 MB for real-life computing; Crucial recommends 256 MB.

Windows 2000: Microsoft recommends 64 MB; Crucial goes with 128 MB.

Windows ME: Microsoft recommends 32MB as a minimum; Crucial recommends 128 MB.

Windows 98: Microsoft recommends 24 MB as a minimum; Crucial recommends 96 MB.

Windows NT 4x: Microsoft recommends 32 MB as a minimum; Crucial recommends 96 MB.

Windows 95: Crucial doesn't list this OS (too old?), but Microsoft recommends a minimum of 8
MB, and other sources recommend a minimum of 24 MB.

Be aware that Win 95 suffers from a problem with diminishing returns. Too much memory (i.e. anything over 64 MB) tends to make Win 95 choke.

Hot printer tips

2009-05-06T00:11:00.000-07:00

More inkjet caveats:
Store old but usable cartridges in Ziploc bags or something else relatively airtight. Stick to using the paper recommended by your printer manufacturer (if you don't know what to use, go with the standard 20-pound copier paper); also never mix paper types in the same batch, and be careful about setting your paper guides, as many inkjet printers are rather flimsy. Keep the inside of the printer clean, using tweezers and canned air to clear out the debris and gook from the inside. Lastly, if your printer maker posts new printer drivers for your particular model, download and use them.

Clean the nozzles of your inkjet printer periodically.
Each printer's software has you perform this task differently, but however you do it, do it at least once every few weeks, particularly if your printer sits unused for stretches of time. The printer "blows" ink through the nozzles to remove dried and gunked-up ink; it may seem wasteful, but you save in the long run by not having to replace half-used cartridges.

You should run your ink jet printer's cartridge-cleaning utility fairly regularly.
Don't wait until print quality starts to degrade. Most printer software comes with self-test features under the Properties\Utilities section of their main screens; run the tests and see for yourself if the test produces less-than-excellent results. Run the cleaning utility and run the test page program again. Really badly clogged cartridges may need multiple runs of the cleaning utility. The downside: the cleaning process uses a disproportionate amount of ink, so running the utility without need wastes ink.

If you frequently print documents
using different printer settings, such as black and white drafts versus color documents, you're probably getting tired of changing these settings each time you print. You can avoid this busywork by tricking Windows into thinking you have two different printers. "Install" the same printer twice, then set the Properties for each to match your most commonly used settings. From then on, the only setting change you'll have to make is selecting the printer you want to use. To "install" your printer again, select Start, Settings, Printers and click Add Printer. Follow along with the installation instructions, and when asked, opt to keep the existing driver. Also, be sure to give this "second" printer an appropriate name, such as Color Docs. When the installation is complete, you'll see two different printer icons in the Printers window. To adjust their properties, one at a time, right-click an icon, select Properties, and so on. The next time you want to print a document, select the application's Print command, select a printer in the resulting dialog box, and click OK.

For lots of extra info about printing, consult your Windows CD.
Drill down to the \OTHER\MISC\EPTS folder, double-click EPTS.EXE, and the Enhanced Printer Troubleshooter appears. Follow along, answering the questions it asks, and with luck, you'll find a solution.

Windows Safe Mode

2009-05-04T00:36:00.000-07:00

Windows Safe Mode

Before you learn how to scan for viruses, there is one important skill you need: starting in safe mode. A well-written virus will start when your Windows operating system (XP or Vista) starts.

Since Windows cannot delete a program that is currently running, the antivirus software is unable to eliminate the virus. Safe mode starts the Windows system without running any applications or services beyond those required for XP/Vista to function.

Safe mode therefore disables the virus, which can then be deleted from your computer.

To start Windows XP or Vista in safe mode, follow these steps:

Start your computer.

Hold down the F8 key on your keyboard after the computer manufacturer’s name appears on the screen, and before you see the Windows logo. The timing is tricky, and it may take you a number of tries to perfect.
If you are having problems timing the F8 key, there is another way to start your computer in safe mode.

Some STUPID info but interesting!

2009-05-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Below you will find lists of words you can type with:

the top row of a QWERTY keyboard
the middle row
the bottom row
the left hand on the top row
the right hand on the top row
the left hand on the middle row
the right hand on the middle row
the left hand on the bottom row
the right hand on the bottom row
the left hand
the right hand
alternating left-right-left

Top Row

e eerie Eire equip equity ere Erie err error erupt et etiquette Europe Euterpe ewe eye i ii iii Io ire it Ito o opt or ore Orr Ott otter Otto our out ow owe pee peep peepy peer pep peppery peppy per perpetuity Perry pert Peru pet Pete petit petite petri petty pew pewee pewter pi pie pier Pierre piety Piotr pip pipe Piper pipette pique pirouette pit Pitt pity Po Poe poet poetry poi poop poor pop pope poppy pore port Porte Porto pot potpourri pottery pour pout pow power prep pretty prey prior priori priory pro prop proper property proprietor propriety prototype prow pry Puerto pup puppet puppeteer puppy pure purport purr put putt putty pyre pyrite queer query queue quiet quip quirt quit quite Quito quo quote re rep repertoire repertory report repute require ret retire retiree retort Rio riot rip ripe rite Ritter roe root rope rot rote rotor rout route row Rowe Roy rue rupee rupture rut rutty rye tee teet teeter tepee Terre terrier territory terror terry tete ti tie tier tip tippy tiptoe tire tit to toe too toot top tor tore tori torpor torque torr tort torture tory tot tote tour tout tow tower toy tree treetop trio trip tripe trite troop trot troupe trout troy true try turret tutor tutu twit two type typewrite typo u up upper uproot Uri utter we wee weep Wei weir wept were wert wet Wier wipe wire wiry wit Witt witty woe woo wop wore worry wow writ write writeup wrote wry Wu y ye yet yip yore you your yow

total: 267 words

Middle Row

a ad Ada add ah ala Alaska alfalfa alga algal all Allah as ash ask ass dad Dada Dahl Dallas dash fad fag fall flag flak flash flask gad gaff gag gal gala gall gas gash glad glass ha Haag Haas had Haddad Hal half hall hash jag Kafka la lad lag lash lass sa sad sag saga Sal salad Salk sash shad shag shah shall slag slash

total: 68 words

Bottom Row
total: 0 words

Top Row Left
e ere err et ewe re ret tee teet teeter Terre tete tree we wee were wert wet
total: 18 words

Top Row Right
i ii iii Io o pi pip Po poi poop pop poppy pup puppy u up y yip you
total: 19 words

Middle Row Left
a ad Ada add as ass dad Dada fad fag gad gaff gag gas sa sad sag saga
total: 18 words

Middle Row Right
total: 0 words

Bottom Row Left
total: 0 words

Bottom Row Right
total: 0 words

Left Side
a Ababa abase abate abater abbas abbe abc Abe abed aberrate abet abetted abrade abreact abreast abscess abstract abstracter accede access Accra ace acetate acre acreage act actress Acts ad Ada adage add added address addressee adverb adverse advert aerate afar affect affectate aft aftereffect afterward agate agave age Agee aggravate aggregate agree agreed Arab arc arcade are area Ares arrear arrest art as ass assert assess asset Astarte aster at ate attest attract Atwater Ave aver average averred averse avert Avesta award aware awe ax axe axes Aztec babe baccarat bad bade badge bag baggage bar barb Barbara barber bard bare barefaced barge Barr barrage barre Barrett barrette Bart barter base bass Bassett bastard baste bat bate bater Bates batt bawd Baxter bazaar be bead bear beard beast beat beater beaver bed bedfast bedstraw bee Beebe beebread beef beer beet beg beget beggar berate Berea bereave bereft beret berg Berra Bert beset Bess best bet beta Bette beverage beware brace bract brad brae brag Bragg braggart brass brave bread breast bred breed breeze Brest Brett breve brevet brew Brewster cab cabaret cabbage cadaver cadet cadre Caesar cafe cage car Caracas carcass card care career carefree caress caret carfare Carr Carrara cart carte carve cascade cascara case cassette cast caste cat cataract catawba cater cave caveat caw cease cedar cede cerebrate Ceres Cesare cetera crab craft crag crass crate crater cravat crave craw craze crease create creed cress crest Crete crew czar dab Dacca dad Dada Dade dagger Dar dare dart dastard data database date dater Dave daze De dead deaf dear debar debase debate debater Debra debt Dec decade Decca decease decrease decree Dee deed deer Deere deface defeat defecate defect defer deferred deft degas degrade degrease degree derate Des Descartes desecrate desecrater desegregate desert deserve dessert detect deter deterred detest detract devastate dew dewar dexter drab draft draftee drag draw dread dredge dreg dress drew dwarf dwarves e eager ear ease east eastward eat eater eave ebb Ed Edgar edge Edward Edwards efface effect effete eft egg egress egret era erase ere erect erg err errata ersatz Essex estate ester Estes et eta etc Eva evade eve Everett ewe ex exacerbate exact exacter exaggerate excavate exceed excess excrete execrate exegete exert Exeter extra extract Ezra Faber facade face facet fact fad fade fag far farad Farber farce fare fast fat fate faze Fe fear feast feat Feb fed Fedders federate fee feed feet Ferber Ferrer ferret fest fete fetter fever few Fraser Fred free freed freer freest freeze fret gab gad gadget gaff gaffe gag gage gar garage garb garbage Garrett garter gas gases gate Gates gave gaze gazette gear gee geese Gerard Gerber get grab grace grad gradate grade Graff graft grass grata grate grater grave Graves graze grease great greater grebe Greece greed Greer greet Greg Gregg Greta grew Qatar Rabat rabat rabbet race radar Rae raft rag rage ragweed rare rasa raster rat rata rate rater ravage rave raw raze re read rear reave reb Rebecca recess red redact redstart reed reef Reese reeve Reeves refer referee referred refract regard regatta regress regret regretted reserve rest ret retard retract rev rever reverberate revere reverse revert revet revved reward Rex sa sabra sac saccade sacred sad safe sag saga sage Sara sassafras sat savage save saw sax scab scabbard scar scarce scare scarf scarface scarves scat screed screw sea seafare sear Sears seat seater seaward seaweed sec secede secret secrete sect sedate seder sedge see seed seedbed segregate seq sera serf serge serve set setscrew sever severe sew sewage Seward sewerage sex sextet stab staff stag stage star stare stargaze Starr start starve state stater stave stead steadfast stearate steed steer steeve Steve stew steward stewardess Stewart strafe strata straw street streetcar stress swab swag swage swart swat swear sweat sweater Swede sweet swerve tab tact tad taffeta Taft taft tag tar tara target tart tartar Tass taste tat tate tater tax tea teacart tear tease teat Ted ted tee teet teeter Teresa Terra terrace Terre terse Tess test testate testbed testes tete Texas text trace tract trade trag Trastevere traverse tread treat tree tress tsar tweed tweeze vacate vade vase Vassar vast vat Veda vee veer Vega vegetate Vera verb Verde verge versa versatec verse vertebra vertebrae vertebrate vertex verve vest vet vex wad wade wafer wag wage war ward ware warfare Warsaw wart was wast wastage waste wastewater water Watergate Waters watt wattage Watts wave wax we wear weave web Webb weber Webster wed wedge wee weed were wert west westward wet wrest Xerxes zag Zagreb zebra zest zeta

total: 765 words

Right Side

hi hill hilly hilum him hip hippo hippy ho hoi holly Holm holmium Hom homily homo homonym honk Honolulu hook hookup hoop hop hoy huh hulk hull hum hump Hun hunk hymn i ii iii ill imp in Injun ink inn Io ion Jill Jim jimmy Jo John Johnny join jolly Jon joy juju Julio July jump jumpy junk junky Juno Kikuyu kill killjoy kilo kilohm Kim kimono kin kink kinky knoll Ku Kuhn Lilly lily lim limp limpkin Lin link lion lip lo loin Loki loll lollipop lolly look lookup loom loon loop lop Lou loy lull lulu lump lumpy lymph Lynn Lyon mi milk milky mill million Mimi min mini minim minimum minion mink Moll Molly mommy monk monopoly moo moon mop mu mull mullion mum mummy muon my Nikko nil nip Nippon no Noll nolo non nook noon noun nu null nun nylon nymph o oh Ohio ohm oil oily Olin on onion onlook only opinion opium phi Phil Philip Phillip phon phonon phony pi pill pimp pin pinion pink pion pip Pliny plop plum plump plunk ply Po poi pol polio Polk poll polloi polo polonium polopony polyphony pomp pompon pony pooh pool poop pop poplin poppy pull pulp pump pumpkin pun punk punky puny pup pupil puppy u union up uphill upon y yin yip yolk yon you yuh Yuki Yukon

total: 226 words

Alternating Left-Right-Left Word

sah ahem aid air airman airmen airy aisle Aitken ala alai alan alb Alcmena Alcoa ale Aleutian also alto am ambient amble ambush amen amend an ana analeptic ancient and Andy anent Angie angle Angus ant anthem anti antic antique ape apricot apt auburn audible audit auditor auditory Aug augment augur auric aurochs authentic autism auto aye bianco bib Bible bicycle bid bien big bigot bit biz Blair Blake blame blanc blanch Blanche bland blandish blend boa bob bock Bodleian body Boeotia bog bogus bogy boric Boris born borne Borneo both bow bowie bowl bowman bowmen box boxy bub Buchanan buck buckeye bud Buena bug bugle burial Burke burl burlap burley Burma burn burnt burp bury bus bush bushel busy busywork but butyric by bye Byrne chair chairman chairmen chancy Chang chant Chao chaos chaotic chap chapel Chen Cheney Chris cit city civic clam clan clang clap Claudia Claus clay Clemens clement clench co coal cob cock cockeye cockfight coco cocoa cod codify Cody cog cork corn cornfield Corp corps corpsman corpsmen cos cosh cosy cot cotman cow cowhand cowl cowman cowmen cox cozy cub cubic cubicle cubit cud cue cur curia curie curl cusp cut cycle Cyrus dial Diana Diane dick dickens dickey did Dido die diem dig digit Dis dish disk dismal Disney dispel divisible divisor Dixie dixieland do dock dodo doe dog dogma Doria Doric Doris dormant dot Dow down Downey downright downtown downturn du dual Duane dub Dubhe duck dud Dudley due duel dug Durham dusk duty dye dyspeptic eh eight eighth eighty eke el elan elbow element Elena Elsie em emblem embody en enamel end endow Eng England Engle Enrico entity envy euglena eye fib fiche fiducial field fiend fiendish fig fight fir firm fish Fisk Fiske fit fix flair flak flake flam flame flan flap foal foam fob foci focus foe fog fogy for fork form formal formant fowl fox foxy Fuchs Fuchsia fuel fugue fur furl Furman fury fusible fusiform Ghana Ghent giant gig girl gland glans glen go Goa goal gob Gobi god gog Gogh gogo Gorham gory gosh gospel got Gotham gown Guam guru Gus gush gut Guthrie gyro ha hair hairy Haiti Haitian Hal hale Haley half halt ham Hamal Han Hancock hand handiwork handle handy Haney hang hangman hangmen Hans hap haughty hay Haydn hayfield he heigh height heir held Helen Helena Helene hem hen Henri henry Hepburn hey iambic Ian ibid ibis Ibn icicle icy id idle if Igor iris Irish irk Irma is Isis Islam island isle it Ito iv ivory ivy ix jake jam Jan Jane Janeiro jangle Japan jay kale Kane Kant Kaufman Kay Keith ken Kent kept key la laid lair laity lake lam lama lamb lame lament Lana land Landis lane Lang Langley langur Lao Laos Laotian lap lapel laud Laue laugh Laurie lay Leigh Leland Len Lena lend lens lent Leo leprosy ma Mahayana maid make Malay Malaysia male malt mambo man mana Manama mandible mane mangle mango mangy mantic mantis mantle Mao Maori map may Maya McKay McKenzie McLeod me Mel meld melt memento men mend Menelaus mentor meow Nair Nairobi Nakayama name Nan Nancy nap naughty nay Ndjamena ne Nehru neigh neo Nepal nepenthe neuritis neurosis neurotic oak oaken oboe of ogle or orient Orlando ornament Osiris Otis Ovid oviform ow owl own ox pa paid pair pal pale palsy Pam Pamela pan panama pane panel pang pansy pant pantheism panty pap papa papal paucity pay pelt pelvic pelvis pen penal penalty penchant pend pent Peoria pep Pepsi PepsiCo Priam prick prig prism privy pro problem prod prodigy producible Prof proficient profit prorogue prosodic prosody proto Protozoa protozoan proviso prow prowl proxy prudish prurient pry psi psych psyche qua quake Quantico quantify quantity quay quench queue rhapsodic rhapsody rib rich Richfield rick Rico rid rifle rifleman riflemen rig right rigid risible risk ritual roam rob robot rock rococo rod Rodney roe rogue rosy rot Roth rotor row Rowland Rowley rub ruby Rudy rue Rufus rug rush rusk rut Ruth Rutland Ryan rye shah shake shaken shale sham shaman shamble shame shamrock Shanghai shanty shape shay she Shelby shelf Shenandoah shriek shrub shrug sial Sian sib Sibley sic sick sicken sidle Sidney Siemens Siena sigh sight sigma sign signal sir sis sit situ situs six skeptic slake slam slang slant slap slay sleigh sleight slept sleuth smelt snake snap so soak soap soapsud sob Soc social sock sockeye sod Sofia sorority sow sown spa span spangle spay spend spent sprig sprue sub such suck sud sudorific sue suey surname Sus Susie suspend suspensor Sydney Syria syzygy Thai than the their theism them theme then Theodosian theory they throb throw thrown thrush ti tibia tic tick tid tidy tie tight tit tithe titian title Tito Titus to Toby toe tofu tog Togo tor tori torn torus tory tot toto tow town townsman townsmen toxic tub tuck Tudor tug turk turkey turn tusk tutor tutorial tutu Tyburn ugh Uri Uris urn Uruguay us usual usurp usury vi via vial vie Vientiane virus visible Visigoth visit visitor visor visual Vito Vivian vivid vivify vivo viz vodka vogue vow whale Whalen wham Whelan when whey wick widow wield wig Wightman wigmake wiry wish wisp wit with withal withe woe work world worm worn wow Wu wysiwyg xi yah yak Yale yam Yamaha yang yap ye Yemen yen zig Zoe Zorn Zurich

total: 896 words

Load your Gmail Faster

2009-04-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

How To Load Gmail Faster

Notice that the address bar contains the URL of the format http://mail.google.com/mail?auth=DQAA etc.

The steps are :

1.Try to change the “http://” in your browser’s address bar to “https://”, which means the URL will now look like https://mail.google.com/mail?auth=DQAA etc.

2.Then press Enter.

3.Then you can see your gmail loads faster.

Programs On the Taskbar

2009-04-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

How to put the Programs You Use the Most On the Taskbar.

So you can get to them without having to return to the Windows desktop

Adding an Icon to the Taskbar

Here are the steps to go :

1. From the Windows desktop, first turn on the Quick Launch taskbar. Right click on the Start button and left click on Properties. Click on the Taskbar tab, and check the box that says Show Quick Launch. Click Ok.

2. Now back to the Windows desktop. Find the program icon for the program you want to put on the taskbar.

3. Drag the icon to the taskbar and hold it there until you see a black cursor line appear.

4. Let go of the mouse button. The icon will “drop” into place where you held it.

5. Repeat for any other programs. Once you are done, lock the taskbar.

6. Right-click the Start button, then click Properties.

7. On the taskbar tab, check the box next to Lock the Taskbar. Click ok.

Cyber Clean

2009-01-26T20:07:00.000-08:00

The slime-like Cyber Clean is a product that “blots out the muck from every crevice of your keyboards with a grime-slapping antibacterial action.”

Cyber Clean is a true revolution in the cleaning of hard to reach cavities. It cleans, absorbs dirt and dust, disinfects and kills germs. It can be used on a variety of surfaces, glass, plastic, metal. It is safe for sensitive high-tech electronic equipment like cameras, keyboards, mobile phones, games controllers, etc.

While compressed-air sprays and tiny brushes will just move the dirt around in your keyboards, telephones and other electrical gadgets, this devilish ooze will splurge into every tiny corner, swallow up dead skin, hair and food and absorb it back into itself.

Because it’s made from an unique antibacterial formula, the dirt is actually neutralised and sanitised while it’s inside the putty - up to 80% of all germs can be destroyed in this way.

Wash me ! KeyBoard guys says

2009-01-25T06:07:00.000-08:00

Why have to clean it anyway?

A new UK study shows that keyboards swabbed from an ordinary London office had more harmful bacteria than—you know what's coming—a toilet seat. Yakkks!The accompanying survey showed that most users clean their keyboard infrequently (if at all), and clean their mouse even less often.

To clean a keyboard that is moderately dirty, start by disconnecting it from the computer and cutting power to the keyboard. Using a compressed air can, spray between the keys to remove loose hair and dirt, and then shake the keyboard gently upside down to loosen any caught material.

Then, dip a cotton swap in rubbing or isopropyl alcohol and use that to swab down the tops and sides of the keys. Finish up with a lint free cloth, wiping down the keyboard.

And they do have stuff like a CYber Clean is a Swiss made (first of it’s kind?) cleaning slime that can get at hidden dirt no matter where it hides. Roll the goop over your keyboard or any other device and it will slink in and pick up any bit of filth and debris. It cleans and kills germs while binding with dirt due to its special viscosity and elasticity. It can be used repeatedly until it gets filled with junk and will change color to let you know it’s through. When you’re done, just throw it away - it’s also biodegradable.

Wash Me! - Mouse

2009-01-17T08:14:00.000-08:00

Very often this behavior happens because the mouse has accumulated dust or dirt. If you are using the usual type of mouse with mechanical rollers and contacts, it is almost a given that sooner or later the mouse will need cleaning. (Optical mice generally don’t have this problem.) Fortunately, cleaning the mouse is a simple operation but should be done while the computer is off or the mouse unplugged (not because of any electrical danger, but because otherwise Windows can be very unhappy and even freeze during the cleaning.)

Turn the mouse over and pop off the bottom cover. Usually, this is done by twisting the cover. Remove the ball that is inside and clean off any debris that is on the ball. A paper towel dampened with alcohol is one way of cleaning but watch out for stray fibers from the towel. Also clean the roller contacts that are inside the mouse with a cotton swab such as a Q-tip dampened with alcohol. Make sure all dust and debris are removed from inside the mouse. Let the inside dry and replace the ball and the cover.

Not only the mouse but also the mouse pad should be clean. If you use the free, throw-away types, replace your pad periodically.

How to clean your mouse?

Cleaning your mouse:

1.Unplug the mouse from the back of your computer.
2.Turn your mouse upside down.
3.Locate the plastic ring that holds the mouse ball in place.
4.Using both thumbs, rotate the ring in the direction of the arrows until it won't turn any further. If you don't have arrows, just turn it whichever way it will go.
5.Pick up your mouse and pour the ball and ring into your hand.
6.Set the ring aside and wash the ball under lukewarm water.
7. Set the ball aside and let it air dry.
8.Carefully remove any lint and debris with the tweezers. (You can use a couple shots of compressed air to remove some stubborn lint from the inside of your mouse.) Use caution to keep the can upright so you do not spray moister into your mouse.
9.Put some rubbing alcohol on the end of your cotton swab (do not saturate the swab) and swab the rollers and the inside compartment.
10.Let your clean mouse air dry. For you impatient folks, using a hairdryer on a low setting will work fine to speed this process.
11.Re-assemble your mouse and plug it back in to your computer when you are sure that it is completely dry.

Another 5 tips for your computer

2009-01-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

Five computer maintenance Tips

2009-01-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

5 Tips if you love your computer!

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.

Recovering Lost data - part 11

2009-01-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

Instant recovery of lost files from any media storage device is possible. Whatever your gadget, device or equipment, you can safely recover all your lost files within the shortest possible time from any media storage device such as usb flash drive, pen drive, memory stick pro duo, zip drive, digital camera, digital audio player, computer hard drive, etc.

First check the recycle bin and see if it is there however, if it is you can drag it to the desktop or rich click and hit "restore" and it will place it back where it was deleted from. If it is not in the recycle bin and not lost somewhere in another folder then you have properly deleted it and your operating system will not be able to find it.

There are now two ways you can get your file back. The first is by restoring your windows operating system to an earlier version. Windows can rollback changes done to it as it periodically saves versions of itself which you can rewind to in essence. This earlier version may still have your file but it may also lose newer files so that may be just as bad. The second option is to get a commercial file restoring program which has the capability of finding that lost data by scanning the hard disks "free space" and being able to identify the file even without a reference from windows.

Recovering Lost data - part 1

2009-01-11T06:17:00.000-08:00

The best approach in recovering back all your lost files from a failed or crashed system, corrupted or virus-infected drive, error formatting or executed delete command prompt on any PC is to get a third party software that will completely, efficiently and protectively make the recovery process a success.

First of all one of the most common mistakes people make is thinking that they have deleted their file when they may have just moved it into another directory accidentally. You can make sure you have not just lost a file by bringing up the search option on a windows system and typing in the file name or part of a file name. If you only know a part of the name put a * at the points you do not know the rest. So if the file was called Administration Duties.doc but you can only remember it had duties in the name somewhere enter *duties* and it will find all files with that test somewhere in the file name; this is also useful in case the name was changed. Also make sure you search from the base drive to search the whole computer so you do not miss any folders to search in.

Information and data are stored essentially as files on a hard disk drive, micro sd card, usb flash drive, memory stick duo, compact disc, zip drive, etc.

The worst scenario that can befall an average computer system user or operator is to suddenly and unexpectedly lose data especially in a situation where there is no backup to copy from or reload, restore or reprocess again.

Manual dialing - Internet Connection

2009-01-11T06:06:00.000-08:00

To dial using a phone and to be able to let the computer take over at some point you’ll need to have both the telephone and the computer connected to the phone line at the same time. This is no problem when using acoustic couplers, as the coupler is attached to the phone itself. It can be more difficult when connecting with a phone line adapter.

If you are using Windows 95 :

Microsoft has included some convenient features that you can use to simplify manual dialing if you use the Dialup Networking feature of Windows 95 to connect to the Internet. Here’s how to set up an appropriate connection for use with manual dialing.

Open the Dial-up Networking folder usually found at the top level of My Computer that is found on your desktop. Select Make New Connection and name the new connection something appropriate, such as "Manual Dialing." At the bottom of the Make New Connection’s first screen you’ll see your modem listed. Click on the Configure… button below it.

A window will come up with four tabs across the top. Click on the Options tab and then look toward the middle of the window for a section called Dial Control. Place a check mark before the line that reads "Operator assisted or manual dial."

Next click on the tab labeled Connection. Look at the line that reads "Cancel the call if not connected within __ seconds." Place a check before the line if there isn’t one already there and ensure that the number of seconds indicated is set to 60 or more. This is to give you enough time to complete your connection before your modem gives up waiting.

Also while your at the Connection tab, you may want to remove the check before the line that reads "Wait for dial tone before dialing." It doesn’t actually affect this manual dialing procedure, but it’s best to get into the habit of ensuring this line is not checked whenever you will be connecting while abroad so that your modem won’t be confused by unfamiliar dial tones.

Then hit OK to complete your modem configuration. Then hit Next to proceed to the Make New Connection wizard’s next screen that asks you to specify what telephone number you would like to dial. You don’t need to type in a phone number here, as you are going to be dialing it by hand (or having an operator do so), but Windows won’t let you pass without putting something in as a telephone number. It’s safest simply to put a single comma in as the telephone number. Windows will accept the comma and your modem will simply register it as a pause command. You can leave the Area Code blank and there’s no need to alter the Country Code that is specified.

Click on Next and then on Finish from the next screen and you should be all set to use the connection.

To the establish a connection, double click on the new item that you just created. It will that appear in your Dial-up Networking folder, named Manual Dialing, or whatever name you specified. Enter in your username and password in the opening screen and click on Connect. A new window will then appear that instructs you to manually dial the phone number at that time, and then hit the Connect button on the bottom of that window once you hear the computer on the other end of the phone line. Do as the window instructs. Dial the call manually or have the operator place the call, then hit Connect once you hear the annoying computer carrier. You can then hang up the phone, generally the quicker the better.

Now you are on! Happy browsing!

5 tips when travel with your computer

2009-01-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

To prevent such theft, you should first and foremost use large amounts of common sense.

1.Don’t leave your computer sitting on the seat when you head to the WC,

2.Don’t allow yourself to doze off between flights without a hand (or a foot) on your computer.

3.Many travelers have found that the best protection is a bit of camouflage. In short, you don’t want to advertise the fact that you’re packing a portable computer.

4.Find a carrying case that doesn’t scream out "computer" to every would-be thief. Find a case that looks more like a traditional briefcase or a piece of carry-on luggage.

5.Beyond this, be sure to keep backups of files you create while on the road (storing the diskettes in a different bag or on your person) and check that your insurance covers the loss of computers outside the office and outside the country.

Notebook Security Cable - Kensington system

2009-01-10T05:35:00.000-08:00

Laptop computers are particularly worrisome because they are a high-value item packed into a very small box that can disappear ever so quickly. Hence it is no surprise that so many travelers are loath to leave their laptops behind in their rooms - even at the safest luxury hotels. But if you can't leave the computer behind, it can quickly become your personal ball and chain.

This is where portable computer lock systems can help out. These locks, available from several manufacturers, let you attach your computer to an immovable object in your hotel - or elsewhere - so that you can leave your laptop and some of your worries behind.

The Kensington system uses a six-foot plastic-coated metal cable. A lock is permanently attached to one end. On the other end, there is a loop. By threading the lock-end of the cable through the loop, the cable can be secured to a desk leg, bed frame or other heavy or immovable object in a hotel room - or wherever you may be. The lock end of the cable is then attached to your computer in one of two ways.

The first and easiest way is to use the security slot that is built into a majority of laptop computers today. Manufacturers that equip their laptops with these slots include Toshiba, TI, HP, NEC, Digital, Apple, IBM, Compaq, Dell, and others. The slot is just an eighth of an inch wide and a quarter inch long that is located on the back or side of the computer and is usually marked by a small image of a pad lock or several links in a chain. A prong on the Kensington lock is inserted in this slot. The prong turns when the lock is locked, holding the lock and cable fast to the computer.

Database Backups

2008-07-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

Database Backups - Hot Backup vs. Cold Backup

Data and information are as important for an organization as blood in human body. In case data and information become unavailable due to any reason, all the working of the organization stops and it becomes unmanageable loss. In order to avoid such big loss, Database Administrator (DBA) must take backup of his database frequently according to the nature of the database. Normally full backup are done after one week but incremental backup are done on daily basis. Backup can be defined as second copy of original database produced by backup facilities provided by DBMS or operating system. This second copy or saved copy of original database is produced on separate storage media such as magnetic tape, external hard disk and on CD-drives. These should be placed in a separate and secure location, where unauthorized persons do not have any access. The best way, you can store your database backup online using Internet and you can access this backup any time, from any location using Internet. There are two important types of backup.
Hot Backup

You can say hot backup is dynamic or active backup. Hot backup is taken when database is running and data is being updated, added, or read by its users but doesn't handle running transactions. Only database management system (DBMS) facility can be used to take hot backups. Make sure that hot backups should only be done during low working hours. Hot backup is taken in environments where database needs to remain online 24-hours a days and 7-days a week, because they do not require downtime as in cold backup.

Cold Backup

Cold backup is taken when database is offline, not accessible for updating and users cannot do anything on the database.. DBMS as well as operating system facilities can be used to take the cold backup. Normally, cold backup is taken at the end of a working day or at weekends when database comes offline. Cold backup is suitable in environments where database is not running 24-hours a day. Instead, there are sometime intervals when it remains off.
Backups can be taken manually through the DBA or these can be taken automatically by configuring the DBMS. In case of automatic backups, you must specify day, time, and location on storage media where DBMS will take the backups. These settings are required when configuring the DBMS.

Windows backup

2008-07-01T00:13:00.000-07:00

Regular windows backup:

My Documents
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\My Documents\
I think the most important folder on your computer is My Documents because it holding your personal documents. It is intended to be a user's common repository for documents and folders. This folder usually already includes the My Music folder for music files and digital audio, the My Pictures folder for image files, and the My Videos folder for video files. Those folders usually take up a lot of space, and they are therefore recommended to be taken care separately. Check the Backing up My Documents topic for possible backup strategies for My Documents folder, and other related information.

* Start Menu
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Start Menu\
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\
The file system folders containing Start menu items. These folders already include the user's program groups, user's Startup program group, common program groups that appear on the Start menu for all users, and the program shortcuts that appear in the Startup folder for all users. Recommended for backup if you don't want to lose your Start menu along with the program groups and icons.
* Desktop Items
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Desktop\
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\
The file system directories used to store file objects and shortcuts on your desktop and on the desktop for all users. Recommended for backup if you want to keep your desktop icons and shortcuts safe and secure.
* Favorites
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Favorites\
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Favorites\
The file system folders that serve as a common repository for the user's favorite items. These favorites are usually displayed in the Internet Explorer menu. For some users this might be quite a large collection of links they have been collecting for years, the collection they may be wanting to keep safe and saved.
* Recent Documents
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Recent\
The system shell directory that contains shortcuts to the user's most recently used documents. They are listed in the My Recent Documents submenu of the Start menu. In most cases backing up is not that necessary.
* SendTo Locations
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\SendTo\
The system shell folder that contains Send To menu items. These items may be backed up.
* Internet Cookies
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Cookies\
The file system directory that serves as a common repository for Internet cookies. Cookies are a means of saving web-site information, such as browser settings, user preferences, personal information, and passwords, on the client machine. If you surf on the Internet a lot, it is recommended to back up cookies.
* Internet History
C:\Documents and Settings\User Name\Local Settings\History\
The system folder that serves as a common repository for Internet history items, such as typed URL's etc. Internet Explorer's AutoComplete feature uses this collection, so you may want to back it up.

* C:\Windows\
C:\Windows\System32
The Windows system folders contain a lot of system application components, such as .exe, .dll, .ocx and more. The note from above applies to Windows system locations as well. Although you can choose to back up Windows folders, this backup won't help you much if you ever want to re-install Windows.

Install printer

2008-06-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

How to install a printer driver on a Windows XP?

It's very easy.Just follow the 6 instructions carefully.

To install a printer driver locally on a Windows XP based computer, follow these steps:

1.Click Start, click Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Printers and Faxes.

2.Double-click Add Printer to start the Add Printer Wizard, and then click Next. Click Local printer, clear the Automatically detect and install check box, and then click Next.

3.Click Create a new port, and then click Local Port in the Port type section.

4.In the Port Name box, type the path to the printer in the following format, where server is the name of the print server and printer is the name of the printer:

\\server\printer

5.Click Next, and then select a Windows 2000 or Windows XP driver for your printer.

6.Click Next, and then follow the instructions to finish the wizard.

Desktop computer hot tips

2008-06-25T18:43:00.000-07:00

A desktop personal computer is a most popular mode of personal computer. The system unit of the desktop personal computer can lie flat on the desk or table. In desktop personal computer, is usually placed on the system unit. A Purchasing a home or business computer can be a big and sometimes costly decision. Below is a listing of helpful suggestions for what to look for and ask when purchasing a home or business computer new or used.

Some general tips :

Case

Generally there are two types of Computer Case are available in market, for Example Tower case and desktop case. The system unit of the desktop personal computer can lie flat on the desk or table and the monitor is usually placed on the system unit. An other model of the computer case is known tower. The system unit of the tower PC is vertically placed on the desk or table. But purchasing a computer case is generally not an important consideration when you are going to buy a Computer. However it depends upon the user needs and choice to building a computer case may find it important to consider the following considerations.

CD Media

CD-R -always will be an important consideration to think about when purchasing a new computer or used computer. A CD-writer or recorder (or simply CD-R drive) is used to write data on CD-R disks. Usually, a CD-writer can read information from CD as well as write information on CD, The locally produced CD-R disks are created with CD writer. The speed of these drives is up to 52X or more.

CD-RW - You must have a CD-RW drive to write date on the CD-RW. These drives have read and write speed is up to 52X or more but the re-write speed is 10X or more. The CD-RW drive is advanced and more expensive than CD-R drive. It can write data on both CD-R and CD-RW discs and also read data from them

DVD - DVD stands for Digital Video Disk Versatile Disc. DVD-ROM is an extremely high capacity optical disc with storage capacity from 4.7 GB to 17 GB.

Hard Drive

Hard drives have and always will be an important consideration to think about when purchasing a new computer or used computer. Hard disk is most commonly used storage device in personal computers and laptop computers. Most application programs and operation systems require hard disk for installation and operation.

Processor

The computer processor is and will always be an important consideration when purchasing a computer. Processor is considered the brain of the computer. The CPU fetches instructions of program from main memory and executes them one by one. The speed of the CPU is measured in Mega Hertz or Giga Hertz and speed from 500 MHz to 3.4 GHz, it depends upon a user needs, that is why purchasing a processor is an important consideration when building or buying a computer. There are several considerations and additional information about what to ask and look for when purchasing a processor directly or already installed into a computer.