Archive for March 2008

Tips for Laptop - read before buy

March 20, 2008 Add Comment

Tips for Laptop - read before buy


Why notebook became so popular? It has been estimated that notebook sales has increased an average of 20% per year in the United States alone. Among the many advantages it offers, portability is one of the main reason people end up making a purchase of it. However before any purchase is made, other features should be considered as well.

Notebook was first made available in the early eighties. Although much heavier and bulkier than today's notebooks, it had the unique portability feature that put this innovative product in a class by itself. Although not much of a commercial success then, it gave the computer industry a goal to pursue in manufacturing this item with better weight, size and performance ratio and making one of today's most wanted computer hardware.

Notebook size has got much smaller, however big enough to make one feel very comfortable in handling and operating computer related tasks. One can find it in sizes best categorized as: 1 - Tablet Pc has the size of paper tablet and weighs no more than 4 pounds; 2 - Ultra Portable is a little bigger than Tablet Pc and weighs around 4 pounds, no internal CD or DVD drive, display of 12 inches or smaller; 3 - Thin and Light is a mid-size notebook, 10-14" x 10", 1 to 1.5 thick, and weighs around 7 pounds, wireless network capability, 14-inch displays, combo CD-RW/DVD; 4 - Desktop replacement is the largest category of notebooks, more than 12 x 10" and weighs more than 7 pounds, 15-17 inches displays or larger, wireless network capability, combo CD-RW/DV.

Also an important feature one should look for is performance. Notebooks provide very close performance in comparison with traditional desktop computers, and should handle all computer related tasks with great ease. Whenever purchasing a notebook, make sure it has the latest cpu model, large ram memory and hard disk space. Notebook performance is directly related with cpu clock, ram memory and hard disk space. For these items, big is never enough.

Another feature one should look for is the dvd player. It can come in handy for entertainment purposes, enabling one to watch movies while traveling. Wireless connection is also a feature to look for in a notebook. Some notebooks feature an infrared port, which can be used to connect a mobile phone. Also there are other wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, which allows mobile phone, printers and PDA to be connected at certified public and private network. The ability to have a mobile connection is definitely a plus in today's connected world.

Expansion capability for notebooks can be done thru the use of plug-in pc cards. Although there is a new standard called ExpressCard, which is smaller and faster plug-in card that provides more features for multimedia tasks.

Notebooks have certainly become an item required for one's mobile computer related tasks, whether it is used for public, private, personal or professional purposes. Its portability and small size make an attractive all around computer hardware item. For those looking for mobile computer hardware, notebooks can certainly become a good solution at affordable prices.

This article is under GNU FDL license and can be distributed without any previous authorization from the author. However the author´s name and all the URL´s (links) mentioned in the article and biography must be kept.

Recover data from failed hard disk

March 20, 2008 Add Comment

Recover data from failed hard disk


Hard Disk: An Introduction

Hard Disks are used to store information. All information on computers are stored in files. Hard disks store the majority of information on today's modern computer. Hard disk drives (HDDs) can be critically damaged by static electricity, shock, and other factors, often resulting in failure or the loss of valuable data. In many cases it may become necessary to recover information from your hard drive. Such retrieval is quite possible.

Hard Disk Failure

*Physical Failures

Physical failure occurs from sudden switch off, power failure, sliding them off desks and cheap components. As for data loss, data is only magnetic impulses on the surface of a hard disk. And ridiculously small bits of magnetism at that! When the magnetic impulse fades, or changes position, trouble starts.

Drive Alignment Drift is another cause of problems. Mechanical devices are subject to wear and tear, heat and cold, loosening tolerances etc.

The small changes in the read/write heads wouldn't matter usually, as data still gets written in the same place as it will be read later. However, there is some data that hardly ever gets re-written, and that is the Sector ID Headers.

*Logical Failures

Master Boot Record Failure

Technically, when the Master Boot Record is working correctly, the master boot code scans the partition table for the active partition, finds the starting sector, loads a copy of the boot sector from the active partition into memory and then transfers control to the executable code in the boot sector. If the master boot code cannot complete these functions, the system displays a message similar to the MBR error.

*Boot Sector Failure

The boot sector is a region of a hard disk, floppy disk, and other similar data storage device. It is loaded to memory and executed as a part of the bootstrap sequence. The boot sector contains a small computer program that is loaded on the operating system into memory and transfers the control.

Most boot sector failure occurs by the defection of boot sector virus. Boot sector viruses are usually spread by infected floppy disks. In the past, these were usually bootable disks, but this is no longer the case. A floppy disk does not need to be bootable to transmit a boot virus. Any disk can cause infection if it is in the drive when the computer boots up or shuts down.

*Accidentally Deleted Data

Some time some how you may delete a file thinking we don?t need it any more, but in a week or or two you may realize that it is a needed one. It happens to the best of us, but fortunately there are ways to get these lost files back.

When it comes to data on your computer, it is almost impossible to accidentally remove it beyond recoverability. Even if you are intentionally trying to completely wipe a file from your hard drive it is exceedingly difficult.

*Cross Linked Files

A file system error that corrupts the contents of an existing file by writing data from another file into the same cluster. Running Scandisk or a similar program cleans up the problem, but one of the files is no longer usable.

*Bad Sectors

It is a portion of the Hard disk that cannot be used any more. If a part of the disk get bad sector which contains data then those data is to be recovered before use. When you format a disk, the OS will mark all the unusable sector as bad sector, however, this does not affect the overall performance of the disk as the damaged space is considered unusable.

Hard Disk Data Recovery

*Replace the (Circuit Board) PCB

Upon a Hard Drive circuit board failure, it is possible to get back the data by carefully replacing the PCB of the hard drive.

*Replace the Firmware

Hard disk firmware is the information that is used by the computer that allows it to correctly interact with the hard disk. It may be replaced or updated by the matching firmware.

*Replace the Head Stack

There are common situation that may be due to head failures. There is a small chip located in the head stack that is called PREAMPLIFIER. Working with preamplifiers always includes some difficulties, because, practically, they can not withstand static discharges. If re-soldering is needed, one should follow a number of rules to protect a preamplifier from static damage caused by careless finger touching. Although this task is very risky and it should be done in a high secured lab specially created for this task.

*Move the disk to another Drive

In some cases complete functionality of the Hard drive may be disabled while only the internal disk plate is without any damages or errors. In those situations, it is possible to move the disk to another drive.

*Spin-Stand Testers

Hard drive manufactures and their head media; preamplifier and read channel suppliers do have very accurate, very expensive "magic machines" called Spin-Stands. These are used for testing and experimenting with heads and disks. They are used mostly by researcher and development departments.

*Magnetic Force Microscopes (MFM)

Magnetic force microscopy is a powerful tool for high-resolution magnetic imaging of most data storage media. As the density of magnetic media is higher, the bit becomes smaller than the wavelength of light, so optical techniques can not resolve it. General MFM is capable of imaging the magnetic domain of several tens of nanometers. Also, MFM is almost simultaneous with measuring the surface characteristics of topography and roughness of the same area with sub-angstrom vertical resolution.

Recovery Softwares

*SpinRite 6.0

SpinRite is a stand-alone DOS program designed to refurbish hard drives, floppy disks and recover data from marginally or completely unreadable hard drives and floppy disks and from partitions and folders which have become unreadable.

*Ontrack data recovery software

Ontrack Data Recovery offers the industry's highest quality and cost-effective do-it-yourself data recovery software solutions for almost any data loss situation covering servers, desktops or laptops for all media, operating systems and file types. Ontrack's EasyRecoveryTM family of products is unmatched in its ability to recover/repair from all causes of lost data.

*Recover My Files

Recover My Files data recovery software will easily recover deleted files emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin, or lost due to the format or corruption of a hard drive, virus or Trojan infection, and unexpected system shutdown or software failure.

Computer's Heat Sink Change Procedure

March 16, 2008 Add Comment

Computer's Heat Sink Change Procedure

Heat Sink on Motherboard

Everyone really want a fast hot computer when we want to do some business computing and when we want to play those high speed games.But we don't want a fast and Hot computer in the literal sense.

Heat will destroy any computer component if not removed in time.And the CPU Chip is one of the main components of your system that produces heat.

The heat sink has the all important task of keeping the CPU Chip cool so it does not overheat.And there may be times when the heat sink will fail to perform its job and must be changed.

Changing the heat sink on your central processing unit or CPU chip is a simple job.And the best part is that you only need a small screwdriver,cotton swabs,and some rubbing alcohol.

To change the heat sink remember to think safety first.This means that you want to be sure you have clean hands,a clean work place,and removing all static charge from your body by touching a door knob or any other metal object.

Once you have a suitable work area and clean hands you should now have a clean suitable mind as well. Allow this task to be both educational and fun.To change the heat sink perform the following.

Foot 1.Unplug the computer and remove the cover from the System Unit case.

Foot 2. Find the CPU Chip and the heat sink will be on top.Find the wires that go to the motherboard and very carefully unplug them.

Foot 3. Remove the old heat sink and cooling fan assembly.Most Pentium based computers will have two levers that lock the heat sink in place.

On older Pentium computers,the AMD Athlon and the Duron processor,look for a ZIF or Zero Insertion Force socket where the processor is mounted.

Gently release the clips by sliding a very small screwdriver blade underneath it and lift the heat sink off the CPU.Take great care here do you don't damage the cpu chip in any way.

Foot 4. Once the old heat sink has been removed, clean away the old thermal paste using cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol.Allow time for the CPU to dry.

Foot 5. Grab some thermal paste and squeeze a little onto the top of the CPU.Only place enough to have a thin layer between the CPU and Heat Sink.

Foot 6. Before installing the new heat sink, clean the bottom off with some warm, soapy water. Check to be sure the Heat Sink is dry before installing it.

Foot 7. Carefully line it up over the ZIF socket and processor if so equipped.If the computer have the newer Pentium or Athlon based chip,lock the two clips holding the assembly.

Foot 8. With the CPU and heat sink firmly in place, now its time to re-connect the fan wires for the cooling fan.Plug the assembly into the motherboard.

Foot 9. Check,double check,and after that,check some more to be sure all connections are in place.See if the heat sink assembly is well secured in its socket.

Foot 10. Now replace the system unit cover,plug any peripherals you disconnected.Start the PC and the computer should now realize it has a new device in its system.

Once the computer has been booted up,check to be sure the Operating System is working.If possible, look at rear of the computer to see if the fan is operating as it should.

The Central Processing Unit is not the only heat producing component in your computer.But since its the brains of any computer,you want to be sure the heat sink performs at its best.

Take the time to learn this procedure in detail by removing the case and looking at the heat sink in your own computer.Knowing how to perform this task can save you money should you need to change your heat sink in the future.

How to do Wi-Fi Network Security

March 14, 2008 Add Comment

How to do Wi-Fi Network Security 


It seems that more and more home users are going with wireless networks rather than the tradition wired networks with wires hanging everywhere and running wild around the house and in the crawlspace. What seems like a good idea quickly turns into a nightmare if you don’t vamp up the security of your wireless network.

Speed is of the essence. Typically, one thing matters to new users of wireless, getting connected and browsing that first website. While wireless connectivity can accomplish this, it’s best to set up your wireless connection securely before venturing out into cyberspace. Below are some tips to help secure your wireless network.

Change the default admin password. Admin passwords are easily figured out by attackers when they are left as the default. Not changing your wireless admin password opens your network to attack and can lead to many problems depending on the attacker’s agenda.

Another wireless security measure you will need to take is turning on encryption. Enabling WEP encryption on your wireless network will help you protect your privacy and all your info won’t be floating around outside your home waiting to be picked up by a passerby. It’s important to remember that all your devices on the wireless network will need to have the same encryption. So find the strongest encryption possible that will work on all devices of the wireless network.

Stop the auto-connect feature. Do not allow your devices to auto-connect. Allowing auto-connect may connect to a network that you don’t particularly want. Example, you don’t want your laptop connecting to your neighbor’s network and sending info.

It’s also a good idea that you install firewalls on all devices that connect to the wireless network. Even if the wireless router is firewalled, it’s important to also install firewalls on all computers that are connected to the wifi network. It’s important that these firewalls be set up correctly and block any intrusions that may compromise your wifi network.

Position your wireless router close to the center of your home. Although the reach of wifi networks can vary greatly, it’s important to not allow the signal to float around great distances from the main access point. It virtually impossible to stop all leakage from exiting your home. But minimizing the risk to your wifi network will help to protect it.

Another good idea for wifi network security is to not allow broadcast of the SSID. Your router may have SSID broadcasting set up by default; however you should be able to change this setting in the configuration. This feature is only useful for mobile environments, and is not needed in home wifi networks.

These are just a few tips to securing your wifi network. It’s always a good idea to check for firmware updates to your router as new exploits and vulnerabilities arise. Some routers will have an auto update feature and it’s important to use it. Using auto update will help keep your wifi network secure without the need of remembering to check for updates.

Active X Controls - Help to graphics

March 10, 2008 Add Comment

Active X Controls - Help to graphics



ActiveX is a technology that was developed by Microsoft to enhance the display of images, video and animation in their browsers. ActiveX components are a set of rules that guide the browser to display hi-resolution images and streaming video properly.

It should suffice to say that ActiveX is a technology that was developed to bring the power of Object Linking and Embedding or OLE as it is popularly known, to empower web browsers and particularly Internet Explorer, to display such objects. When web pages with embedded ActiveX components are downloaded, the corresponding controls are also downloaded and automatically launched by the operating system of the computer. This can, over some time, clutter up the registry with unwanted data and controls, thus slowing down the system drastically. This will mean having to clean up the registry with a registry cleaner periodically. ActiveX controls are actually used by windows to display very rich interfacing activity such as animation, video images, virtual reality that used 3D technology, high resolution images and the like.

ActiveX Prompts For Registry Cleaners

When downloaded into your computer, an ActiveX control is actually packaged as an .OCX file. There are cases when more .OCX files are downloaded and needed for a web page. The .OCX files like ActiveX controls need to be registered on your system before they can be used. Registering means that a program capable of doing this, queries the ActiveX control and saves specific information about it into Windows Registry, so that the operating system can find it and therefore be able to use the ActiveX control. However, one must keep in mind the importance or cleaning up the registry periodically. The Internet has the best registry cleaners available free. So, make use of them to keep your system running smoothly.

Pro's and Con's Of ActiveX Controls

It is important to understand that with all the 'pros' of ActiveX technology also come a few 'cons' as well. ActiveX is a very powerful tool and is sometimes used by individuals, with a flair for the technology, to create ActiveX controls with malicious intentions. These 'corrupt' ActiveX controls can wreck havoc on your system and leave you helpless for no fault of yours. After all, you know that ActiveX is supposed to help your system run some programs, right. So why not download an ActiveX control when you are prompted to do so? It is for this reason that Microsoft has developed the ActiveX security system.

In Windows XP operating system, this security system is embedded in the Internet Explorer. The registry of the system automatically blocks the download and installation of any ActiveX component in the Registry of the computer. Apart from this is an ActiveX component has to be installed the computer will prompt the user to check for the signature of the component. If the ActiveX component is registered with Microsoft the ActiveX is verified as authorized and is allowed to be installed in the registry of the computer. If the ActiveX component is not verified the systems offers the user a choice of not installing the ActiveX control.

Some Advise For Internet Explorer Users


If you are using Internet Explorer you should ensure that you are using a security level set to Medium or above in Internet Explorer. You can do this by going to tools in IE and select 'internet options' then click on 'security' and slide the level to medium or higher. Now, after reading about the entire automatic downloads of controls and stuff, it makes sense to download a free window registry cleaner and use it periodically to clean the registry of your system. There are enhanced registry XP cleaners to clean the complex registry of Windows XP as well.

Your click can invite spyware

March 05, 2008 Add Comment

Your click can invite spyware



Spyware can install itself into your system when you clicked some link to a program, opened spam email, clicked on certain popup windows or if you were downloading some free utilities, tool bars or games. Protect yourself with anti spyware software. And check to see if your security settings are too low, change the settings to default level or higher, and keep a check on what you download.

Spyware is so invasive that Anti spyware programs rank high on everyone's list of favorites when it comes to keeping the computer healthy and running. While no one's safe from spyware, there are some things you can do to avoid spyware, in addition to having anti spyware solutions installed.

The most irritating thing about spyware is how it got into your system in the first place, not to mention how long it's been there or what it is doing. What could have triggered its existence in your system? What is even more annoying is the fact that you probably got tricked into clicking a link to some program for it to get installed in your system! Maybe you opened spam email - sometimes that's all it takes.

If you click on certain popup windows or if you were downloading some free utilities, tool bars or games, there's a pretty good chance it sneaked in that way, unless you had anti spyware solutions installed in your system. The most likely source are those file sharing programs that are rife with spyware. And if you happened to browse through a corrupt website, it is no mystery at all as to how the spyware came in. Some legitimate software applications come bundled with the spyware.

Be Careful About Those Freebies

The Internet is full of free software that tempts you and when you succumb to it, comes integrated with spyware. If you are not protected by antispyware software, this spyware will relay all your browsing habits to spurious advertisers. Even your sensitive personal data can be revealed. How do you prevent this from happening? The first step is obviously to install antispyware software.

Exercising Caution

Beware when you surf the Internet. Check to see if your security settings are too low. If your system is not protected with anti spyware software, this low security setting is a fine entry point for tracking cookies and spyware programs so that they can lodge themselves in your system. So, first change the settings to default level or higher, preferably, and keep a track of what you download. Update your operating system regularly. And keep your anti spyware application also up to date with new definitions. Your anti spyware solution will detect, then quarantine and delete spyware that happens to enter your system by chance.

Watch your email! If you don't recognize the sender, don't open the email or click anything in it. Only open email or download programs from sites you trust. Nothing comes free. Check around the online forums about which software comes bundled with spyware. It is easy to get feedback off the Internet about spyware and which anti spyware is best to combat it.

Children Lock necessary now days

March 04, 2008 Add Comment

Childen Lock necessary now days


The World Wide Web is a fascinating place. It has obliterated geography in terms of education and business. It facilitates learning by allowing kids to see things and experiences aspects of different places they may never get the chance to see in the non-virtual world. The Internet can bring people together who otherwise would never know each other and create a virtual universe that is totally cohesive, with every kind of information imaginable literally available at your fingertips. Sounds great, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, the Internet has a dark side. It is full of material that is inappropriate for children and all kinds of predators. Leaving your kids alone to fend for themselves on the Web is exactly as dangerous at leaving them in a crowed airport or shopping mall. You don’t know where they’re going or who with. The news is filled with horror stories about kids who have been taken advantage of on the Internet, but you don’t want yours to miss out on all the positive aspects of the technology. The first line of defense in keeping your kids save on the Web is to teach them how to use it safely.

A lot of online dangers can be dodged simply by reminding kids of one of their earliest learned lessons: don’t talk to strangers. The kinds of people who want to harm kids have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves. They may try to lull your child into a false sense of security by pretending to be someone she knows. Make sure your child understands that it isn’t a good idea to give out personal information such as their address, phone number or the name of their school. The less information a potential predator has, the harder it will be for him to actually locate a victim. It might be a good idea to establish a secret password and share it only with friends and family so your kid has a way to identify people who are safe to chat with.

Chat interfaces and instant messaging are great tools for keeping in touch with friends and conduct business, but they are also direct connections between your child and possible pedophiles and other predators. Most instant messengers have settings that will only allow people on a pre-approved list to approach your child. That way you can let the kids chat with family and friends while keeping the bad guys out. You can visit



http://www.internet-parental-control.org/


to find more information on online child safety measures.

You can’t watch your kids every minute they are online, and you can’t always count on them to do what you have taught them to do. Parental control software is a great back up. Most browsers will allow you to customize age-appropriate settings for each child in your house. You can choose what kinds of Web sites you want your kids to access and block them out of the ones you don’t. It’s a great way to provide a virtual safety net for your family. If the parental controls supplied by your Internet Service Provider, check into installing additional software that will evaluate each site your child attempts to access. You set criteria by which the software judges each Web page and assigns a rating, much like a movie rating. Your kids will only be able to look at sites with ratings you have deemed appropriate.
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