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The Newbies Guide to Personal Computer Maintenance
When you turn on your computer, does it act like it needs a coffee to wake up? When you surf around the Internet, are you bombarded with pop-up windows? Does your computer freeze up or turn off for no apparent reason? Before you decide to throw your monitor out of the nearest window, there may be a number of solutions to fix these problems that won't require you having a degree in computer technology. There are two primary ways to maintain your computer's performance, and the maintenance should be done once a week or more. First, acquire and use software that will help you clean and protect your computer, and second, know how to use the programs already in your computer to keep it's engines running smooth. SOFTWARE The software solutions below will not cost you any money, nor will they take you much of your time to download, understand, and implement: 1) Virus Protection - Avast AntiVirus is an excellent free program to guard yourself against Trojans, Worms, and Hacks. 2) Spyware - AdAware and Spybot are terrific free programs for eliminating pop-ups and other wares from your computer. It is recommended that you use them both, as one may find problems that the other may not ... a great one-two punch to protect yourself. 3) Registry Cleaners - WinASO Registry Optimizer is a great program for repairing your computer registry. The free version allows you to clean or repair ten items at a time, so you will have to re-run it numerous times if you have many problems. 4) Internet Speed - If you use dial-up, or have a computer the size of a calculator, you may wish to use RamBooster to help give you the best speed possible for the limitations you have. Go to http://www.download .com for these and other great resources. PROGRAMS Now that you've taken out the garbage, you should keep the place neat and tidy by using the programs already existing in your computer. Once again, you should do this once a week: 1) Clear your Internet History 2) Defrag your Computer 3) Use a Firewall You can find the programs that will do this for you by looking in the System Tools or Security Center sections of your computer. Another option for those of you who've got smoke billowing out of the back of your computer, with no seemingly useful solution in sight; you may wish to look at the System Restore feature that your computer may have. This allows you to revert back to a state when your computer actually worked well. It doesn't work all the time, by it is an option ... and not an end all be all ... use it only when absolutely necessary. Austin Culley is the Chief Operating Officer for Oil-Net .com Inc.
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Review of Rio MP3 Players Below you will find some useful information and comments about a few of the most popular MP3 players by Rio, including the Nitrus, Carbon, Cali, and Forge. None of these MP3 players are perfect, but each offers a unique set of strengths and weaknesses that should be taken into consideration before you purchase any one of them. Be sure to compare price, usability, and the overall performance of each. DVD The Ultimate Consumer Digital Media Digital Video Disc or as it is sometimes referred to Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) has for the last several years been Hollywood's primary video delivery method and with good cause. This inexpensive, compact media delivers excellent video and audio quality. This same media has also become the preferred medium for many multi-media professionals and audiophiles. Technological advancement and availability have pushed this media into the consumer market for a number of reasons and its use and popularity will only increase over time. I will attempt to highlight some of the advantages this medium offers. This article is only intended to be an introduction to this incredibly diverse digital media and not to be considered a technical thesis. Be Your Own IT Department If you use a computer, you need to know more than just how to use your email and surf the web. You need to know that you are protected. If there isn't someone responsible for the computers in your home or office, then pick someone, quick. Their job is to assure you that everything I've listed below is getting done on a regular basis so you can relax a little. Computer Viruses are Bad Luck OK, so you caught a computer virus and your system is all screwed up and you're frustrated and angry and upset. Bad luck. Tips For Finding Great Deals On Computer Accessories & Supplies Tip #1. Do a Google search. Don't be to general in your search, type in exactly what your looking for. Try putting the words you type in quotes to narrow the search. Five Simple Steps to Speed up Your Computer Most people download and save so much information on their computer that before long the computer starts slowing down and the user has no idea what the problem is. However, even if you are not a computer whiz there are several things you can easily do to speed up your computer quickly and easily. Computer Consulting 101 PC Troubleshooting Advice While most small businesses really do need to find a good local computer consulting business to take care of their computer problems, there are some computer problems that are simple enough for even a technophobe to handle. At Computer Consulting 101, we've found there's one very simple piece of advice that often doesn't get communicated to non-technical small business end users: When in doubt, reboot first. A Beginners Guide to Avoiding Viruses "Aaaaaahhhhhh! I've been invaded by a virus!" Getting a virus means getting sick and no one in their right mind wants to be ill. Well, now that computers have become our close friends, it's a shock to learn that foreign bodies too can invade them with malicious intent. No, your computer doesn't get a runny nose or diarrhea. This is a sickness that stops your friend from functioning properly, sick in bed, incapacitated. Your Computer Cant Keep Time A computer needs a certain amount of information to operate; for example, the date and time, the amount of memory installed, the number of drives and their configuration, and so on. In the early days of computers, either the user typed in this information each time the computer started, or it was set using DIP switches and jumpers. Today, computers store this information in a CMOS chip that uses a small battery to retain the information when the computer is shut off. Cisco CCNA Certification: Five Things To Do DURING The Exam There are plenty of articles out there about how to prepare for the CCNA exam. However, there are also things you can do to increase your chances of success on exam day during the most important part of the entire process -- the time that you're actually taking the test. Digital Cameras Ratings Abolish Camera Comparison Guesswork Digital cameras ratings are great tools for deciding which camera best fits your needs and budget. Digital camera reviews are often just the reviewer's opinion. But ratings consider all the specifications, features, how the camera was designed and test results. These facts are then analyzed and summarized to help the reader make an objective decision. Back Up, Back Up, Back Up! This is not your typical lost data story. I was a good girl and I kept my files on the network drive just like the company recommended. The only thing I put on my hard drive was junk files - things that wouldn't bother me if the hard drive crashed. But not on the network drive. The drives are backed up and even my PC has a local back up program. Can you see where this is going? 10 Time Saving Keyboard Shortcuts Time is money. And when you constantly have to divide your time between your mouse and your keyboard, your workflow rate really slows down. Selecting the Perfect Big Screen TV Selecting a TV isn't as easy as it used to be in years gone by. Rather than going to the local department store and choosing a console that would take up a large portion of the living room, we now have other options. Along with those options comes the chore of locating, comparing and narrowing down a multitude of models to just the right one for your viewing needs. Enhanced Web Browsing With Toolbars As the Web grows more crowded and just plain "noisy" with information bombarding us from every angle, most people welcome any tool, trick or shortcut to help them wade through the mountains of data to find what they want. Occupational Therapy and PDAs Occupational Therapy Made Easier Basic Computer Maintenance One of the most common questions computer users ask is, "How do I maintain my computer and keep it running great?" A computer is a lot like a car?it costs more than you think it should, it starts going down in value as soon as you bring it home and it requires regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly. Here are a few basic guidelines required to help keep your PC out of the shop: SmartCar Memory Stick for LapTop Transfer Data With the new technology used to transfer information to from your digital camera to your laptop or PC using memory sticks which hold significant amounts of data it appears such technology will be perfect for net-centric cars. Where all the data is stored in a black box situation as many cars now have these features already. If you were in an accident your memory stick would be connected to a USB output. The officer could immediately put the memory stick into his computer and determine fault or in case of a speeding driver, could simply say driver's license and memory stick please, which would denote the data of all the previous 2 hours worth of driving. And there would be instant verification of the radar detector too. 5 Ways to Speed Up Your PC No matter how fast your processor and regardless of how much ram you carry, there comes a time when you realize your computer just doesn't run as fast as it did when you bought it. Protect Your PC from Viruses, Worms & Trojans Each of the items in the checklist below is part of a broad and easy to implement security policy.
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