Computer Repair and Related Devices Save Money For an Owner

By: Adriana Notton

Computer repair and related devices save money over tossing out the computer and buying a new one. The average computer is around six months old when a new model makes the current one obsolete. Although some computer owners simply suffer along with a less than optimum computer or purchase a new one; others opt for the repair and upgrade option.

New computers are expensive. Just as important they hold valuable information and may be an integral part of business or entertainment for the owner. If a computer breaks down after a year of use and is not covered by a warranty, repairing the old machine can save plenty of money.

Desirable features are released all the time with newer model laptops and desktops. That is no accident; new features mean more new buyers for the manufacturer. However, if the only difference between the old family computer and the brand new one in the store is the two thousand dollar price tag, the much larger hard drive and a web cam then upgrading the old one can be most cost effective.

What is top of the line in hardware today may be obsolete tomorrow because technology is improving daily. A hard drive manufactured three years ago and situated in a perfectly functioning older model laptop may simply not hold enough data. Rather than tossing the laptop and investing in a new device some owners are saving money by having the hardware upgraded.

Sometimes it is not obsolescence that causes a computing device to be unsatisfactory. Increasing demands on the machine can lead to dissatisfaction with the machine's performance. A computing device with 1 GB of memory may be fine for a while but eventually it may begin to seem slow. If that happens and the machine is otherwise fine, upgrading the memory is a solution.

Viruses and malware can lead some laptop and desktop owners to suspect their machines are inadequate or breaking down. A machine that takes ten minutes to boot up because it is loading five different desktop advertisements and a host of browser toolbars may seem as if it were wearing out but in fact be suffering from malware overload. Some repair shops specialize in removing an overgrowth of advertisement bearing spyware, malware and browser additions. Having the machine checked professionally can avoid a lot of unnecessary frustration as well as expense.

Additions to the older computing devices can enhance the user's experience and satisfaction with their machine. A brand new machine may be unnecessary if the problem can be resolved by installing a larger hard drive, more RAM or a few more USB ports. These related devices enhance the usability of many old and new machines.

Before deciding to get rid of the old machine it is sometimes a good idea to check with a computer repair specialist. These trained professionals can diagnose problems in performance and perform upgrades and additions to a wide variety of machines. A new laptop of desktop machine may be unnecessary if repair or upgrades can solve the issue.

6 Best Advantages of Tablet Computers

By: Shanmuga Sundaram Sivaraman

Before getting down to know what the advantages of using a tablet PC, I believe that is good to know what criterion will define a tablet PC is. They are portable computing devices with a touch screen, which will be the primary mode of data input, otherwise will hold all of the features of a net book and laptop. Coming back to the topic in discussion, listed below are the various advantages of using the tablet PC:

1. Take Away Computers:

Tablet PCs are small like the laptops, or to be more precise like the netbooks, in fact, much smaller than netbooks as is without keyboards, that they are easy to carry wherever required. They also weigh less and occupy less space like netbooks making them to travel with you with a pen.

2. No Keyboard and Uses a Pen:

Tablet PCs do not come with a keyboard, and rather comes with an in-built fully functional keypad. They also use handwriting recognition technology, wherein you can write using a pen. These two features makes this compatible for efficient use during meetings, seminars, presentations and conferences, to take notes depending on your choice of mode of entry, whichever is swifter for you to use. Taking notes using these tablet PCs are much easier. In addition, you can easily interact with confidence to the forum members with no hassles of your hiding face to other members in the discussion.

3. Another Version Of A Personal Computer:

These days tablet PCs, which are better considered as hybrids of smartphones and personal computers/laptops, has almost all of the features that a personal computer and laptop, and specifications of the mobile phones like the design and features like video calling over 3G and 4G connections in addition, to touchscreen. Therefore, you can cut on the investment on your mobile phone and is much light in weight than the netbooks.

4. A Sophisticated Handwriting Technology:

A sophisticated handwriting technology allows the use of recognizing your handwriting styles and fonts and responds the data input using a digital ink technology. This reduces the difficulty of typing on the keypad and makes note taking easier by directly writing to your tablet PC. Nevertheless, using this technology by annotating the mark-up into all of the Microsoft Applications, including MS Outlook, MS PowerPoint and MS Word, and your popular email service providers to personalize your emails and presentations. In addition, there is an entire Office XP pack for tablet PC offering enhanced pen-based computing and mobility functionality.

5. Advanced Voice Technology:

Sometimes commanding you computer to do a job while you are away at some work, makes life better and easier than writing or typing a number of instructions for a program to function on its own. This option of recording voice commands using Linked Audio technology has made it possible of the weird and wild imaginations of science fictions to come to life.

Using ink and keypad commands are something of a reality of science fiction that allows completing your work with a voice instruction, which is recorded and converted into a command that is easily understandable by the necessary programs.

Nevertheless, you get your voice command to dictate you texts like your own personal assistant.

6. Versatile Design And Software Applications:

Tablet PC are thin, small and less in weight providing a flat working surface. Many a times because of their hardware technology that you are reminded of your kindergarten schooling, where you use a slate and this appears like one of those that some of the brands come with a nametag, ‘Slate’.

There are a number of softwares and applications that are used packed with many advanced technological innovations of Windows XP and higher versions. The cutting-edge and innovative technological innovations makes Tablet PC much more are and intuitive.

The Two Best Places to Pick Up a Virus

By: Bob T. Wilson

Malware is a definite part of safe computing. These nasty little computer programs can damage your computer to the point of needing to completely reformat the operating system. They can also grow and hide within a computer system until it is too late causing even further damage. This is why many organizations, such as Symantec, a prominent anti-virus program manufacturer, as well as other well-known security software manufacturers, have put together some simple “rules of the road” for safe computing.

Some of these rules are common sense, however they go mostly unheeded which is why these anti-virus and anti-malware programs exist in the first place; if everyone knew and followed safe computing practices then there would be no need for so much protection. As it is now, users seem to click on every blinking light that dances across the Internet, so with that in mind the security industry rests easy in knowing its bottom line is safe at least for now.

Attachments: Email attachments have been a sore spot for computer users for many decades. Even the fabled “uninfectable” and “virus-free” Apple Mac computers have come across an attachment or email virus now and again, the most recent is the DNS Changer virus. These viruses can cause some hideous destruction just by opening them.

The best bet would be to allow your anti-virus program to scan any attachments that come into your email, even if you think you know where it came from. This is a best practice tip because email addresses are easily spoofed so the email you thought was from your grandmother could actually be a hacker trying to get to your personal and private information. If your anti-virus scanner does not scan your email, then it is time to look for a good one that does.

Free Download Websites: Another sore spot for computer users are downloads from media websites. Anything that looks too good to be true usually is, right? Than why would you think the full “free’ download of your favorite, “not yet out on DVD” series would be any different?

Many malicious bugs tend to hide within these purported “free” downloads, hoping someone will stumble on them, download them, and even open them without checking for viruses or other nasty hangers on, and this is how a great deal of computers becomes infected. Any time you download anything from an unknown site, you are taking a risk. Is your entire computer and its contents worth seeing the series a few days ahead of other people? Again, if your anti-virus program does not scan for download viruses, then it is time for one that does.

The Solution

Many free anti-virus and anti-malware programs are available that are just as good as the commercial versions. The best tips to take away is to find a good anti-malware and anti-virus program that scans for every malicious problem, install them and keep them updated. You would be amazed at how many people’s computers become infected because they neglected to update their virus scanner. Don’t be the next one.

How to Boost a Wireless Router Signal

By: Joe R. Maldonado

Before you relegate your wireless router to the corner to gather dust because of the continuing dual you have with the “limited connection” messages. Read on to see what you can do to improve the signal reception of your wireless router.

Although wireless routers are designed to be powerful and produce strong signals there are lots of things that can interfere with the amount of signal that at actually got through.

The walls, the trees and even the wiring can cause the interruption of the signal to the wireless router. It doesn’t matter what the reasons there are ways around it. some are little more than activating common sense. Then again you may need to buy an additional piece of equipmetn wither way you can salvage and use the wireless router you have to gain a better signal.

The following tips will help you to generate a better signal. The important thing is that you keep trying, one should certainly work for you.

One of the first things to try is to reposition the wireless router. Thick walls and being down too low could all be a part of the problem. The placement of the wireless router is one of the most common reasons for poor signal quality. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that underneath the table or in the middle of a bookshelf full of books is a bad idea. The wireless routers work best when they are located away from obstructions the middle of the room works best. or near a window that will allow the signal to come through very clearly.

If you have baby monitors, microwave ovens or cordless phones in he vicinity of the router these too will jam up your signal. Garage door openers are known to interfere with the signal delivery of a wireless router. The fewer objects in the signals path , the easier it is for the router to receive or send it.

It may be that you need to change the WiFi channel. Make certain that it is set for a frequency of 2.4Ghz. most of your household appliances also use this same frequency. The channel can become over saturated at some point if a lot of these items are being used at the same time. The default on all wireless routers in the United States id set to 6, by going higher or lower you may improve your signal quality. To change the channel you will need to buy an Internet tool that is designed for this purpose. a good one is Netstumbler. This offers you the option of changing settings on most Internet devices.

Finally try changing the adapter that you are using on your wireless router. The adapter that is attached to your computer could be the problem. Most people never even consider this. It is the USB box that plugs into your computer and the wireless router. It may be that all you need is one that has a built in antennae.

Are Wireless Routers Faster Than Wired Counterparts

By: Joe R. Maldonado

Actually, The answer to this question in all honesty is “ It depends”. Wireless routers provide users with mobility, but are they in actuality any faster than wired modems. No, not really, this is debated far and wide yet the side by side comparisons shows that they are just about neck and neck.

This is true because your Internet speed is determined by what you are currently receiving from your ISP. If you have a service plan in the higher echelons of course you will experience greater speeds than your peers. Even then outside forces will have an effect on what speed you actually receive.

While the numbers nay say one thing it has no bearing on the reality of each individual situation. Speed is determined by the slowest link in the data transfer chain. Your router may actually have a higher bandwidth than that of your ISP connection. Your hard drive could also be the cause of your slower speed. The n there is poor signal strength coming straight from the tower. All of this affects the bottom line.

If all you do is browse on the Internet or play a few games it is possible you will notice the discrepancy, but only fleetingly so. If you are using your connection for major work and downloading big file loads then of course it will make a bigger difference. If your connection promises blazing speeds and you are experiencing only a trickle you have to consider if maybe your wireless router is the hold up.

Data networking professionals all agree that a wired network is faster in connectivity than a wireless router system. There are reasons why, that are not common knowledge. A wireless router connects several devices to the same signal. The signal is then spit between each device which by logic alone calls for it to be a little slower.

Wired networks mostly use the Ethernet protocols for data communication. They generally have bandwidth speeds that start at 10Mb per second all the way up to 1000. These are what you are bound to find in most offices. It sends and receives data simultaneously.

The ISP offers a maximum of broadband speed up to 1.5MB per second. This defines the rate at which data is uploaded and downloaded. The router just takes different packets of data and distributes it from the Internet to whichever device is requesting the data. If you have several devices on at the same time the speed will be reduced exponentially.

The more device the more the signal must split and this will cause a speed bottleneck within your network. With DSL and cable to include other devices they would each need their own line, which means separate signals, this alone makes it faster.

Answers are never as cut and dry or as simplistic as the questions they precipitate them. Finding out what works best is more about the uses you have for it. Speed after all, is relative.

Computer Security is Essential If Business is to Proceed Profitably

By: Penny Lane

It is rare for any company to be functioning without a fully fledged computer department these days. This system is usually linked to the internet and it could well be the way that secrets about the company, or its products, are leaked out. Getting IT certification from accredited companies then may just be the way to stop these leaks before they can do too much damage. IT security is vital where companies are developing new lines or products since this could bring the company down in the long run.

Cyber spying is one of those crimes which can affect just about anyone. Even with home computers, personal details can be stolen and this is how identity theft will take place. People can be accused of fraud and other such crimes and all because someone decided to use their name and information to steal from others.

Some companies will actually use great hackers to show them where their system has weaknesses. Since they usually know all the back ways into a system, it is here where safeguards should be put in for sure. Although they usually use their skills for nefarious purposes, they can turn this around to allow them to work professionally and make a great deal of money in the meantime. Even if they have been caught hacking into a computer for the company or bank in the first place, this is often enough to get them the job offer of a lifetime.

Hacking into systems is not new of course. Indeed, many governments have had great trouble in the past where schoolboys, who are clever with computers, have accidentally hacked into defense systems for the country as a whole. Of course, this is highly dangerous since it leaves the system open to all kinds of abuse and foreign countries could well start wars over something like this.

For companies, this can also cost them millions too. If they have several top-secret products being developed, all it takes is for another company to get to know what they are up to and they can then beat them to the launch date by just a matter of days. Since research and development costs so much money, they obviously have to price their products accordingly. The company which is stealing the information has no such constraints so they can price the product much lower. Of course, this is totally unfair competition so secrets must be kept if a company is to make any money at all.

Other information is also important to the company. They may have details of how their payroll is delivered every week and by which route. Obviously this would lay them open to thieves who want to come in and take what is not theirs. Also, it may have details of where the payroll is disseminated to the workforce making this a sensitive area where thieves can also plan a robbery. Of course, none of this information should be known outside the premises so it is a good idea to keep all this under wraps as far as possible.

How to Move a Blogger Blog to Your Own Domain: Tips and Tricks

What a week this has been for this tech blog! I finally moved it from blogspot subdomain to a custom domain. I have been wanting to do this since a long time (ever since this blog started getting some attention) , I somehow couldn't manage to do so because of the fear of losing search traffic.

Google's recent move to redirect blogspot.com to country specific sub domains helped me solidify my

Recover Deleted files in Windows with Free Tools

Have you ever deleted a file that you did not wish to and wanted to recover it but did not find it in the recycle bin? You probably deleted it permanently with Shift+Delete or emptied the Recycle Bin. Now what? Don't worry, you may still have a chance to get it back. This article lists some free software that can recover deleted files from your hard drive or any other storage device instantly.

Computer Glitches Can Lose Important Files Very Easily

By: Stewart Wrighter

The era of the computer is very much with us and there are not many people in the world today who do not have access to one in one form or another. Unfortunately, along with computers come the difficulties of having electronic machines which can and do go wrong occasionally. Finding someone who can deal with getting information out of something which appears to be broken is not hard, but there are some things that the novice can do to attempt hard drive recovery. If an expert is needed, try looking under ‘data hard drive recovery’ on the internet and follow instructions from there.

One of the first steps that anyone has to make is to not write anything more to this damaged part. Sometimes we delete files by mistake but if these are to be recovered, again, do not save them to the damaged part. One very good reason for this, and which most of us technically challenged individuals do not know, is that nothing on the computer is ever erased completely. All that happens is that it is flagged as being deleted but it is still sitting there. This is how detectives can find out what business has been transacted on the computer when they suspect crimes have been committed.

However, if there is a lot of information or files being saved, these deleted files will be written over eventually when every other space is taken and this is why saving anything at all when the computer obviously has problems may just lose important files that will never be recovered. The HD can be put into another computer, which hopefully is running the same system, and this sometimes works to retrieve some files from the HD.

Although it is highly recommended, most people who work with computers on a daily basis to not back up the information being kept there. Indeed, people only realize that they have made this fatal error when they have lost some important information or photos which will never be replaced. If the HD stops functioning, it may just be that this information is lost forever and we all have to face this at least once to realize the importance of backing up files regularly.

Local repair guys can do this work for those who just do not have enough knowledge about what they are doing. They are merely using something that we ourselves could use, that is the same program for recovery, however, they do have the knowledge and the confidence to go in there and do what they can. With novices, they often compound the problem by pushing buttons all over the place without really knowing what they are doing.

Online help is available too and these sites walk the novice step by step through the whole process. Take a look to see what is on offer and do not touch anything until the way forward is clear. After this scare, and hopefully recovery of at least some of those important files, it is advisable to back up all and any information that is deemed irreplaceable.

Get to Know What Web Development Means to the World

By: Adriana J. Noton

The broad term for work involved in building an Internet based web site is called web development. This all includes the web design, content, scripting, server, configuration of network security as well as e-commerce development. Web professionals however refer to it as the two most important non-design aspects of web building such as coding and writing markup.

It can range from developing a very simple static one page with plain text to a very complex internet application, social networking service or electronic business. Large organizations and businesses usually make use of a whole team to build their web site and these teams can consist of a lot of people instead of one professional.

A smaller corporation or business will require only one webmaster, usually the person will be contracting for that company or do it on a permanent basis. Sometimes webmasters do it as a secondary assignment to an already related position in the workplace such as an information systems professional or graphic designer. It often is collaboration between different departments instead of one designated department.

With the web growing it has been since the 1990s one of the industries with the fastest growth in the world. The automation of business work flow is being helped enormously and all businesses wish to sell services and products online. With the growth the costs has dropped dramatically not only for development, but also the hosting. The amount of content, graphic design and complexity however will still determine the ultimate cost.

Web design currently is made accessible to individuals and small companies by individual web masters and companies, thus making growth in the industry even more prominent. To aid in the building of a site there are hundreds of systems and programs available for anyone for free. This manifested into millions of individuals as well as small companies setting up new sites daily, thus contributing to the popularity.

Easy to use software is available which enables virtually anyone with no knowledge of web sites and designs to develop a web site in minutes without any coding. There is no knowledge required concerning programming languages or Hypertext Markup Language, although it can provide a more professional result for the individuals web page.

Other tools used are Java Platform, LAMP and Microsoft to name a few to enable a site to run applications online. Applications which were only available on a desk based computer can now are found as an Internet service. A user can now interact with the use of online applications in the creation of new content, instead of running an executable code from a computer.

New methods of communication are created this way and allow for a lot of opportunities in decentralizing information as well as media distribution. Applications are used to interact from any location, instead of working from a specific location at their workplace.

Dramatic transformation includes e-commerce as millions of consumers purchase services and products online at auction sites and resellers. A Blog is another great example of the web development of communication. New ways of communication and interaction is at the tip of every ones fingers and socializing is just one of the many advantages which are included.

Lost Data Can Be Recovered If Care is Taken

By: Penny Lane

With the popularity of computers growing every larger by the day, it is obvious that we will need more help when things start to go wrong. When the computer ‘crashes’, taking with it all the information that we need, then most of us run screaming to technicians to see what they can do. Indeed, nothing is lost really and hard drive recovery is simple for those who know what they are doing. Data hard drive recovery means that any information stored there should be recoverable if the right methods are undertaken.

The first thing that people do when anything goes wrong with the computer is to start pressing this key or that to see if anything will happen. Wrong move in this instance since this can overwrite what is trying to be saved. Since the work that we want is still there, why risk writing over it in the quest to recover it? Even if the information is flagged as being deleted, it is still just sitting there waiting for some clever soul to go in and retrieve it. This is why police can normally find out what people are doing on their computers even if they have deleted files just before.

What most of us fail to do daily is to back up the work which we are doing. In fact, this can be done several times a day if the work is ongoing. This would be particularly necessary, for example, in a busy reservations office if the computer is the main way of taking bookings. Imagine this system crashing and no one knowing who has booked what and where. Therefore, any good reservations manager will certainly back-up files every hour or so depending on how busy their office is.

Local technicians will undertake this work at a good rate since it is quite common. Although we should learn to do this for ourselves, those of us who just cannot work out what the computer does would much rather leave it to the expert. With the amateur having a go, they often lose exactly what they were trying to save in the first place.

There are online sites too which will walk people through this process, keystroke by keystroke, so it may well be a good idea to try this out. However, some personnel in companies do not like the idea of interfering with company property in this way and they insist upon the experts being called in.

Some companies have help lines where a person can call in and be guided through the whole process step by step. This too is a bit like a learning process and they may well remember next time what to do in an emergency.

It is clear then that disaster does not strike every time the HD decides to go on strike. By some careful maneuvering, most, if not all, the work should be recovered and the person can get back down to work quite quickly. For those who lose files, this is a very important lesson indeed!

Editing Professional Videos With Adobe Premier Software

By: Adriana Notton

A few years ago it was virtually impossible to edit a movie on a home computer, but over the past two decades there have been incredible advances made in both the hardware and software for PCs and Macs. Now virtually anybody can make professional videos with Adobe Premier Software, Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer and other similar packages.

Many top editors, filmmakers, videographers and creative professionals use a package like Adobe Premier to capture and edit their footage. The price is very reasonable, it has excellent features and is quite simple to grasp. It also available for both the PC and Mac, but make sure your computer has enough power to handle the software.

A lot of editing can be time consuming, but Premier has a number of features that can help make things go faster. It comes with codecs to read almost any type of video format so there is no need for transcoding the footage before importing it in. And this of course means that you can export your final edit into many different formats too, and through the program you can also deliver it online, burn it to a disc or export it to a hard drive.

But of course what makes a good editing package is of course what you can do to the raw footage to turn it into your final product. There are many simple drag-and-drop type programs available, where you edit in a very linear format, and for some simple projects or home movies they are ideal. But if you want to have no limits when editing, then a non-linear package like this is your answer.

You can edit and add effects to clips before you put them into the time-line, or even create sub-clips from those clips. You can also apply an effect to multiple clips with one move. And there are hundreds of basic effects and transitions which you can customize to suit your project.

There are some brilliant plug-ins that come with the program, and hundreds of third-party plug-ins available on the net. Depending on what you want from your video, using some of these can take it to the next level. A good example of this is the 3 way color corrector, where you can match clips to look similar with just a few basic adjustments. This can really make a difference if for example two scenes were shot at different times of the day and the light is different.

Apart from Premier, Adobe also has a number of other software options that can enhance your project, from the widely-used and loved Photoshop for photo manipulation amongst other things, to the fantastic OnLocation, which automatically digitizes your footage on set and captures it to disk. There is also After Effects which is brilliant with regard to adding effects or digital motion graphics to your project.

So whether you are a Mac or PC user, you can be editing professional videos with Adobe Premier Software in no time. There are thousands of tutorials available on the net, many by top industry professionals, to get you going. There are trial versions of the software available online, so try it before you buy it, I am sure you will be won over in no time.

Convert FAT32 to NTFS Without Formatting or Losing Data

You have a flash drive or probably an external hard drive that currently has FAT32 file system and you want to change it to NTFS, because FAT32 does not support handling large files (over 4GB) or it is just simply old for your taste but there is just one problem, you don't want to lose your saved data. This article is for you then as it explains exactly how you can achieve seamless transition