Your PC Doctor

HP TouchPad Released

2011-07-25T21:52:00.000-07:00

HP now releases its new TouchPad which runs under webOS operating system. WebOS were loved by many of its users because of how it blends its beauty and functionality. HP now managed to put webOS on a tablet pc.

With size of 9.7-inch, 1024 x 768 pixel resolution, IPS display front and center, good color reproduction and viewing angle and an embedded-1.3 megapixel camera this TouchPad can rock any iPad users. On the side on the tablet you will find power/sleep/unlock key, a volume rocker, a microphone, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a micro-USB charging port and stereo speakers.

HP TouchPad costs around $699 a piece.

Friendster Returns

2011-07-05T22:02:00.001-07:00

Have you seen the new Friendster? It is now reformatted to a whole new aspect. Friendster now are more on games, flash games. You can choose from many easy to play games. Though friends connection are retained, you may not be able to check about your old testimonials, they removed it completely. Another thing that is removed is the photos. Yes, all your uploaded photos are vanished.

Friendster offers something like Twitter, where you post anything that's on your mind on your status box and all of your friends will be updated. Games on Friendster are also more like Facebook, where you can battle with your friends that plays the same game you play. Good luck to Friendster may it regains the same popularity it once has.

Easy Tips for Screen Manitenance

2011-07-04T08:35:00.000-07:00

Screen maintenance doesn't really need that much of your time but making this a habit matters. I have here some easy tips for you to follow on your doing your maintenance routine.

Buy a cleaning solution and a cleaning cloth for your screen. This is mostly available in any convenient store near you. Apply the solution on your screen by putting ample amount of the solution on the cloth and slowly run it on the screen. You can do this everyday.

Buy a transparent protective cover for your screen. This will prevent it from having scratch and may also lessen the radiation your eyes might catch.

Always turn off your screen if not in use, this may avoid overheating and can save you some energy cost.

Everything can work fine if proper maintenance were applied. I hope this easy tips for screen maintenance helps you.

Asus IceCool : No Overheating

2011-06-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Are your laptop always overheats? Try Asus K3 series with its "IceCool" technology. This IceCool technology by Asus aims to lessen the heating produced by notebooks. Asus implemented heat pipes and vents in their new line of notebooks so users will be spared from the
heat.

Along with the IceCool technology Asus K3 series are packed with the top-notch hardware specs like the latest NVIDIA GeForce GT 500 graphics and second-generation aka Sandy Bridge Intel Core chips but what separates this brood from the rest of the pack can be found on the outside rather than the inside. Here are the specs of this super cool K3 series:

Display: 14-inch, 16:9 LED HD @ 1366×768 resolution
Processor: Second-generation Intel Core i3-2310 (K43SJ), Core i5-2410 (K43SV)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M (K43SJ), 540M with 1GB DDR3 VRAM (K43SV)
RAM: 2GB DDR3
Capacity: 500GB HDD
ODD: Integrated SuperMulti DVD±RW
WLAN: 802.11b/g/n WiFi
USB: v2.0 x 3
Webcam: VGA
Card reader: 3 -in-1 ( SD/ MS/ MMC)
Battery: 6-cell Li-Ion battery
Weight: 2.44 kg

Not only these cool specs you can also choose from 5 colors such as red, green, gold, blue, and even pink.

When to upgrade RAM

2011-06-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

Do you know when to upgrade ram? Yes, it can be upgraded, your laptop or desktop computer can have their random access memory upgraded. If you had read my past post about How to Upgrade PC RAM you will have be able to know how upgrading is done. But a question still remains, when is the right time to upgrade my RAM?

You can buy RAM anytime you want just make sure that it doesn't surpass the maximum memory capacity allowed by your mother board. And of course count the number of ram slots. If your only using your laptop or your desktop computer just for browsing the net or for office purposes only I recommend 1 gb of RAM will do. But if your on the edge, like gaming, graphics development, movie making you should have at least 6gb of ram. Well everything depends on how you you want your laptop or computer should work so I hope I shared good thoughts on when to upgrade RAM.

Tips to Customize Desktop

2011-06-23T23:29:00.000-07:00

Do you have a desktop?A customize desktop? Well if you do, that’s cool, if not; well that’s a no no. I have here some tips to make your desktop computer exceptional. You don’t need to have that big amount of money to have a customize desktop, all you need is your creativity and of course my help.

There are so many stores now that offers different styles of desktop computer accessories. Here's some tips that you could follow so you wont have difficulty customizing.

1. Choose a theme. Its always easier to show your creativity if you are following a theme or a plan. For this instance lets choose a racing inspired desktop computer.

2. Search for a budget lcd screen. There are so many lcd screen stores that offer different styles of screens.

3. Find a car inspired mouse and a race track inspired mouse pad. I have found here a style that fits our racing theme. Cool isn’t it.

4. Update your old keyboard by buying a keyboard skins. Again choose a racing themed skin.

5. Lastly, buy a cpu casing that match our racing track theme and replace it on your old desktop computer.

That’s it, no big amount of cash need and you have the authority to choose your own style. You can also customize the icons in your desktop. Read my tutorial on how to customize your desktop icons. Just experiment by yourself to customize desktop.

New in the Internet : ". Anything You Want"

2011-06-22T03:02:00.000-07:00

Are you tired about the .com, .net, .org, .etc? Well here's the good news about it Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN ) now opens the .anything you want domain address. They now allow suffixes named after political cause, brands like .ipad of Apple, hobbies and anything you want.

This is one big change on the Internet world since it was created in 1984. These new suffixes will only be established by late next year or later than that. If we can avail the normal ".com" for only less than $10 a year, I tell you this, the cost that would make you on acquiring the new ".anything you want" is $185,000 for application and $25,000 yearly payment. A big WOW for an address. ICANN will accept applications starting January 12. They say Apple will go for ".ipad" and ".iphone" for their products and Canon Inc., as ".canon".

Another milestone on the internet world, but I think this will progress but in far future.

Fix Blue Screen of Death

2011-06-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

This blue screen of death is encountered when your computer suddenly doesn't boot and shows only blue screen. I encountered this error on my office this morning. When I tried to open my computer and it started by showing the message that ask you to choose from Safe mode, Start windows normally, etc. I just selected the start windows normally but when the windows shows up the blue screen suddenly appears and my computer restarted.

This is the first time I met this BSOD so I harried and call our IT specialist. He tried some tricks, opened my computer, removed the memory and boot it up again but same error occurs. Then he shows up this CD that has a Disk Checker on it. He put it up on the DVD drive and rebooted again then he can now see my files with the help of the Disk Checker. After that reboot again and that's it. Its fixed, the computer just need its files to be checked. You can download the Disk Checker to fix the blue screen of death in here.

Setup Multiple Screen Computer

2011-06-20T05:27:00.000-07:00

To setup multiple screen computer is as easy as abc, all you need is of course multiple screen. Most new model of screen now a days has wide resolution, but most of users like developers wide screen are not enough. We need more space so we can view more applications that we are using on our computer. Here are my step by step procedure on how to setup multiple screen computer.

1. Go to Control Panel by clicking Start then Control Panel.
2. Select Appearance and Themes and then choose Display.
3. On the Settings tab, click Identify so you can display a large number on each of your monitors. This shows which monitor corresponds with each icon.
4. Then lastly click the monitor icons and drag them to positions that represent how you want to move items from one monitor to another, and then click OK or Apply to view changes.

That's it, if want three screens it up to you. just follow these steps and your good. That's how easy to setup multiple screen computer.

Quick Tips to Clean Keyboard

2011-06-16T08:12:00.000-07:00

A clean keyboard is like any tool that when constantly cleaned works perfect. I prepared here some simple ways to clean your keyboard. All you need are dry cloth or duster, cotton buds, can of compressed air( can be bought at convenience stores ), lint free cloth and suitable cleaning fluid ( isopropyl alcohol). Here's how to do it.

Step 1. Shut down your computer and unplug your keyboard.
Step 2. Hold the keyboard upside down and tap with your hands couple of times so any debris would fall down.
Step 3. If compressed air is available use it around each keys of the keyboard.
Step 4. Use the cotton buds put alcohol on it and use it on the sides and top part of the keyboard.
Step 5. Use the lint free cloth to wipe the whole surface of the keyboard.

I advice that you should do this at least every week.

How to Defrag Hard Drives on Windows

2011-06-14T00:05:00.000-07:00

Defrag hard drives on Windows? Defragmentation are done so you can improve your drives performance speed and loan time slightly. You can do this as part of your maintenance so you wont waste memory on your hard drives. Defragmentation are so easy to do, although the process of defragmentation itself will take a little while depending on the memory capacity of your hard drives. I have here a short step by step procedure on how you can defrag your windows hard drive.

Step 1. Be sure to close all applications, anti-virus utilities, etc.

Step 2. Click Start menu, select All Programs, then Accessories, then Systems Tools.

Step 3. Select Disk Defragmenter. When the Select Drive window appears, click on Settings.

Step 4. Check both "Rearrange program files so my programs start faster" and "Check the drive for errors."

Step 5. Click OK to defragment drive C: (the physical drive).

Step 6. Make it a regular habit to defrag your drives, I recommend once a month.

How to Set Hibernate in Windows

2011-06-12T20:18:00.001-07:00

Set Hibernate in Windows will save you power consumption and recover your place the way it is. Hibernate will save your data on your hard disk thus makes it a safer although slower options for shut down and resume.
When hibernate are performed and you want to reopen you computer or notebook, pressing the power button Windows will start and open the files you were using. This makes faster than rebooting and reopening the applications you usually use. Hibernate, by default are not shown when you click Turn Off Computer. Here's how to set hibernate in windows.

1. Click Start menu and select Control Panel.

2. Choose Performance and Maintenance.

3. Choose Power Options.

4. Select the Hibernate tab. Check the box if you wish to enable this feature.

5. Select the Power Schemes tab.

6. Set the options depending on how you want it. If you’re on a notebook, make sure that your hibernate time is less than your battery time. Otherwise, your battery will drain before the option can kick in.

7. Click OK.

And your done. Enjoy using hibernate.

How to Configure Your Virtual Memory

2009-11-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

You can configure your PC's virtual memory by these steps.

Right click on My Computer > left click on Properties > Advanced > Settings > Advanced. Under Virtual memory left click on Change.

Select (left click) on the Drive on wich Windows XP is installed. In most cases this will be Drive C.

Select ''No Page file''.

Left click on OK, OK, OK, ignoring any warning messages regarding no page file/virtual memory.

Restart the computer.

Recreate the page file. If the computer seems to become unstable while setting the new page file, again, restart the computer and perform the process in Safe Mode.

Under Drive:
Space available: Select the radio button labeled: Custom size:

To play it safe, in both the Initial (MB)size: and Maximun size: dialogue boxes type the maximum desired virtual memory/page file size (in MB's) provided you have the free memory space to spare. If you don't have enough free memory available enter the amount of memory you can spare, and meanwhile seriously consider getting a larger Hard Drive.

Mine is set to 4096MB (4GB), max. allowed by XP. This may seem like quite a lot (and probably is), but the reason for this is that recent programs/games now require a lot more RAM and virtual memory to function efficiently. This can also hold true when many processes\programs are running simultaniousely.

Some say that Virtual memory should be 1.5 or 2.5 times the size of RAM. This is just a general rule of thumb. Perhaps just doubling or tripling your current VM size will be adaquate. Having a larger pagefile size does not hurt performance, it only takes up a bit of additional disk space.

After setting the new page file size left click on
OK > OK > OK. Then restart the computer.

Fix CMOS Checksum Error

2009-11-26T16:37:00.000-08:00

If you are a computer user, chances are that you may have encountered or currently encountering the dreaded CMOS Checksum Bad Error. The good news is that for the most part, while this error can cause frustration, it can usually be fixed in a short amount of time and with only minor tinkering. Here are some tips.

The Error Explained

The CMOS Checksum Bad Error is an error that occurs when the CMOS values are incorrect. Usually to guard your Bios software, your CMOS memory stores a specific value, each time you boot up your computer this value which is a number is checked against the stored value in the CMOS memory. If these two values are different, it causes an error message. If these values are the same, the computer proceeds as normal.

Each computer usually deals with the CMOS Checksum Bad Error differently. Some computers will warn the end user and continue to boot up using settings in the CMOS, other computers might warn the end user and then use the default settings in the BIOS as the correct settings and carry on with a normal boot or reboot. Usually, within the error message it will state which strategy your computer has employed.

What Causes CMOS Checksum Bad Errors?

There are usually three main reasons that a CMOS Checksum Bad Error has occurred. They include:

CMOS Battery not functioning properly
Your BIOS has been updated (either by you or possibly a virus)
The computer was shut down improperly (e.g. shutting off the computer's power without first shutting down the computer (MS Windows requires you to shut down your computer before shutting off the power).

Situation Remedies

If you have encountered this error and would like to fix your computer, here are some remedies for each situation:

CMOS Battery Not Functioning Properly: If you suspect your CMOS battery is not functioning properly you can easily change it. Before changing your battery, reboot your computer to make sure that the error still exists. If it does, go into your CMOS and write down all of the settings. If all settings are lost, you can usually get them from your computer manufacturer. Now locate the battery and remove it, you might need to consult your computers manual or tech support to remove your battery. Take down the CMOS batteries information such as volt, size, etc. Once you have your new battery, you can replace it and reenter your CMOS settings. If your battery was the cause of the CMOS Checksum Bad Error, you should have remedied the problem.

Your BIOS has Been Updated (either by you or possibly a virus): If your BIOS has been updated recently, your CMOS settings may have become reset. Make sure that the values entered in the BIOS are correct or simply reset them to the default settings. If you believe that a virus updated your BIOS settings, run a virus scan and make sure that the BIOS settings are back to the default.

The Computer Was Shut Down Improperly: Sometimes when running MS Windows, if you shut down your laptop or desktop without first properly shutting down your operating system it will corrupt the CMOS settings causing the CMOS Checksum Bad Error. You can easily avoid this error by making sure that you completely shut down your computer before turning off the power. Usually this entails going into the Start Menu/ Turn Off Computer/ Shut Down. If you received the error, shut down the computer properly, if this is the cause of the error, the error message will not return.

How to Remove AutoIT Worm

2009-10-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

How to remove AutoIT worm is one of the basic tools you need to know to have a virus free PC. I have here a simple step by step procedure which could help you remove that AutoIT worm in your PC.

Step – 1.Search the computer for "mschr.exe" by clicking Start > Search > All Files or Folders. Write down the location of the folder containing the files, as you will need this information later.

Step – 2.Remove the viral process using Windows Task Manager by pressing "Ctrl + Alt + Del" on the keyboard. Look for "mschr.exe" under Image Name. Highlight the viral process and click "End Process."

Step – 3.Delete any remaining virus files by clicking Start > Run > (type) cmd and click "OK." Type in the Dir:/folder name from Step 1. Example C:\%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\ Delete all the files by typing "del filename." Example: del mschr.exe

Step – 4.Edit the Registry by clicking Start > Run > (type) regedit and click "OK." Search the registry keys for the following and right click on each registry key and click "Delete."HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Advanced\Folder\Hidden\SHO WALLCheckedValue = dword:00000000

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SvcHost, netsvcs = %Previous data% and %Random%

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\[random]\ParametersServiceDll = %MalwarePath%

And that’s it. A four step to have you AutoIT virus free PC.

How to Remove Malware (Rogue Anti-virus)

2009-10-21T22:59:00.000-07:00

This article is about how to remove a Malware on your PC. The most common Malware you will encounter is a Rogue Anti-Virus. For beginners it will quite hard to remove manually but I have here a step by step procedure on how you yourself could remove that nasty Malware on your PC. There of course many applications that find and remove rogue anti-virus applications however there are times where you might need to manually remove the rogue. Here's my step by step procedure on how to do it.

Terminating the process:

Step – 1.Click CTRL-ALT-DELETE (if it's available)

Step – 2.Click Task Manager

Step – 3.Click Processes

Step – 4.Find a process that usually contain all numbers. For example 2342342.exe. If you do not see all numbers then your rogue has a name like...SystemSecurityPro.exe or GreenAV.exe...etc.

Step – 5.Select that process and click end process.

Step – 6.At this point the rogue process has been terminated.

Removing Rogue Anti-virus that is named with random numbers.

Step – 1.Click Start

Step – 2.Click Run (or for Vista type in the start search box)

Step – 3.For windows xp type: C:\documents and settings\all users\Application Data and click OK. A window will open containing a folder with about 8 numbers. Your Rogue is in there. Delete that folder.

Step – 4.For Windows Vista type C:\users\all users in the "start search" box and click enter. Your randomly named folder with about 8 digits should be in there. Delete it.

Removing Rogue Anti-Virus that has a name like System Guard Pro, AV2010, etc

Step - 1.Open Windows Explorer.

Step - 2.Open your C:\ drive.

Step - 3.Open Program Files

Step -5.Find the Rogue and Delete the folder.

Now you can enjoy using your PC without any Rogue visitors…

Upgrade Your PC’s RAM

2009-10-19T23:32:00.000-07:00

To upgrade your PC’s random-access memory (RAM), you must know the type of RAM it uses, how the RAM is presently configured and how many open RAM slots are available. Upgrade is done to increase the speed and performance of your PC. Here’s my step by step prescription on how you yourself can upgrade your PC’s RAM.

Step - 1. Check the owner's manual or motherboard manual to determine if RAM is parity or non-parity. The website of the company you purchased the computer from usually will tell you what kind of memory your computer needs as well.

Step - 2. Find out the speed of RAM (for example, 60 nanoseconds). You can see it by right clicking on your desktop and click on properties.

Step - 3. Determine whether the computer uses single in-line memory modules (SIMMs) or dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs).

SIMMs - or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s.
It differs from a dual in-line memory module (DIMM), the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant on both sides of the module. SIMMs were standardised under the JEDEC JESD-21C standard.

DIMMs - or dual in-line memory module, comprises a series of dynamic random access memory integrated circuits. These modules are mounted on a printed circuit board and designed for use in personal computers, workstations and servers. DIMMs began to replace SIMMs (single in-line memory modules) as the predominant type of memory module as Intel's Pentium processors began to gain market share.

Step - 4. Find out whether the computer uses regular, FPM, EDO, or Synch DRAM.

Step - 5. Determine the number of pins on the motherboard: 30, 72 or 168.

Step - 6. Remove the cover from the machine to find the number of open RAM slots. Look for between two and eight same-sized parallel sockets on the main circuit board. Usually at least two of those sockets will contain RAM - ruler-shaped circuit boards with chips on one or both sides.

Step - 7. Purchase additional RAM that matches existing memory specifications. You can choose from 512MB, 1GB or 2GB. The greater the bytes the better.

Step - 8. Discharge yourself by grabing on any metal. Carefully place your RAM on the slot. If your Motherboard has 3 slots thats good. yur can put 3 RAM at a time. That makes your PC a lot faster.

Step - 9. Place everything back to normal and restart. Observe the changes made by upgrading your RAM.

I hope you like this simple tutorial on how to upgrade RAM.

Customize Your Desktop Icon

2009-10-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

You want to customize your desktop icon?When you own something you want it to look just the way you want it. Like your Pc, before you buy it you choose among those hundreds of designs and configurations. In this part, customization takes place. I have here a simple way which you can perform to customize your pc without much effort at all. You'll learn how to customize desktop icons in 8 easy steps. Let’s get started.

Step – 1. Download any icons you want, there are tons of icons available for download on the Web. Your favorite search engine should provide a number of places to download icons. Some of my favorite sources include iconarchive, icondock, freeiconsweb.

Step – 2. Create folder for your icons. After downloading icons put it some place where you could leave them untouched and easy to find. I put mine on My Documents and named the folder icons. Decide what icons you want to change and what icon you would use to replace it.

Note that there are the standard icons (My Computer, My Documents, and the Recycle Bin, plus a folder called Miscellaneous, and two shortcuts.

Step – 3. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and under Pick a task, click Change the desktop background.

Step – 4. On the Desktop tab of the Display Properties dialog box, click Customize Desktop.

Step – 5. In the Desktop Items dialog box, shown in figure 3, select the icon you want to change and click Change Icon. The Change Icon dialog box opens, which shows all icons in the currently selected file. In it, you can specify which icons are shown on the desktop by default. I selected the My Computer, My Documents, and Recycle Bin icons.

Step – 6. To select from icons not currently displayed, click Browse, and in the Change Icon dialog box, navigate to the icons you downloaded, select the icon you want to use, click Open, and then click OK

Step – 7. In the Desktop Items dialog box, select the next icon you want to change and repeat steps 3–4.

Step – 8. When you're finished changing the icons listed here, click OK, and in the Desktop Properties dialog box, click OK to apply the changes.

Additional tips

Customize your desktop folder icon

Step – 1. Right-click the folder, and then click Properties.
Step – 2. On the Customize tab, click Change icon.
Step – 3. In the Change Icon dialog box, click Browse, navigate to the new icon you want to use, select it, and then click Open.
Step – 4. Click OK, and then click OK again to apply the change.

To customize a shortcut icon
Step – 1. Right-click the shortcut you want to customize, and then click Properties.
Step – 2. On the Shortcut tab, click Change Icon.
Step – 3. In the Change Icon dialog box, click Browse, navigate to the new icon you want to use, select it, and then click Open.
Step – 4. Click OK, and then OK again to apply the change.

Troubleshooting Memory Failures With Beep Codes

2009-10-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

One of the most case of failure among your pc is the memory failure. Power-on-self-test “POST” of the BIOS on your motherboard during power up is one way to determine if your pc memory is in trouble. Different manufacturers assign different beeping sounds that will identify the status of your memory. There are 3 basic BIOS developer today, the most popular BIOS is made by “American Mega-trend” - AMI, Award and Phoenix BIOS. I will provide you the beep code for the AMI & Award BIOS developer unfortunately I cant provide you the beep reference code for phoenix. I’m sorry.

Here are the Award BIOS Beep Codes:

1 Long Beep tone - Memory Problem
1 Long Beep and 2 Short Beeps - DRAM Parity failure
1 Long Beep and 3 Short Beeps - Video error
Continuous Beep tone - Memory or Video memory failures

AMI BIOS Beep Codes :

1 Beep tone - DRAM refresh failure
2 Beep tone - DRAM Parity failure
3 Beep tone - Base 64K RAM failure
4 Beep tone - System timer error
5 Beep tone - CPU failure
6 Beep tone - Keyboard controller error
7 Beep tone - Virtual mode error
8 Beep tone - Display memory read/write error
9 Beep tone - ROM BIOS checksum error
10 Beep tone - CMOS register read/write error
11 Beep tone - Cache memory error
Continuous Beep tone - Memory or Video memory failures

The normal procedure is to power up the PC system, watch for error message on the monitor screen and listen to the PC beep tone. A single beep during boot-up process is normal and does not indicate a failure if the system continues to boot-up.

Heres my prescription of the day.

Are you having this kind of problem? You have a regular memory sizing error during POST (bootup), how should you trouble shoot the failure ?
Ok, heres the step by step procedure to troubleshoot that problem. In most cases hardware failures are caused by the natural aging process of the memory components, defective memory module socket, dirty contacts, cold solder joints during assembly and memory module not seated properly in the socket due to vibration. It is important to pay attention to intermittent memory failure, before you make any expensive decision to replace the expensive memory - try cleaning the memory module contacts for both old and new ram to see if the problem can be fix:

Step – 1. Ensure environment is static safe by removing any unwanted plastic, bags from your workbench. Keep the computer system plugged into your AC unit but ensure that the power switch on the PC is turned off. Keeping the PC plugged in the AC will ensure that case is grounded thus reducing the possibility of damaging the module or system from ESD (Electro Static Discharge)

Step – 2. After removing the casing cover, ground yourself by touching any of the metal surfaces on your computer casing. Doing this step discharges any static built up on your body and clothing.

Step – 3. Visually locate the computer memory expansion slots. This is normal visible but if in doubt, refer to your operation manual instruction book.

Step – 4. The first thing to do is to remove the memory module and perform some visual inspection to check the memory socket which sits the memory module. Make sure all the pins are straight, no cracks or broken pins must be found.

A Wet the end of a cotton swab with the solvent, the swab should be wet but not dripping B Using a circular motion, clean the contacts on the memory module. C Allow the contact surface to dry thoroughly. D Replace the memory module into the socket. E Repeat steps B through D for each module you have. F Power on the computer to test the RAM. G If you see no memory errors, replace the PC's case and power-up away.

Additional Tips:

Step – 5. While contact cleaner is preferred, it is also a well-known trick that you can also clean contacts with a pencil eraser. 6. Continuing RAM errors are usually a sign of a bad memory module. If cleaning the contacts doesn't solve your problem, try to isolate the faulty module and replace it.

Remove Autorun Virus from Your Hard Disk Drive

2009-10-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

Have you encountered a problem on your pc that when you double click your hard disk drive and it doesnt open, instead, a window appear and said that you must choose what program to use to open your hard disk drive?

Well, you have a nasty visitor on your pc. Its a virus not able to clean by your antivirus no matter how hard you deep clean it.

Ok, Ill share you a simple step by step procedure to remove that nasty virus on you pc. Follow my instructions.

Step - 1. Open command prompt. Go to Windows, then Run, and type "cmd" . Press enter.

Step - 2. Type "cd\" and press enter to get to the root directory of c:\ .

Step - 3. Type "attrib -h -r -s autorun.inf" and press enter.

Step - 4. Type "del autorun.inf" and press enter.

Step - 5. Repeat the same process with other drives, type "d:" and do the same thing. then next "e:".and restart your computer.

Step - 6. Restart your computer and it's done. Enjoy the freedom to open hard drives on a double click.

How to Maintain a Virus Free and Worm Free Windows PC

2009-10-05T20:13:00.000-07:00

The No. ! enemy of our pc is the virus, with it on our pc, our files are in danger so it is better to keep our pc virus free and worm free, How to do that? Check it out here. There are many viruses and worms out there that could infect your computer. Some are harmless, but, they do have the capacity to do any number of nasty things, up to and including, erasing all data from your computer. Here's the step by step procedure on how to keep those nasty critters off your PC!

Step - 1. Email is the most common way of getting infected. While you can safely open any mail, NEVER NEVER NEVER click on a link in email that you are not positive is from a trusted source! Here are two common scenarios:

You get an email from someone you DON'T know. You open it. It tells you (or, persuades you) to click on a link in the email. You do so. Bingo, that is when you get infected. Frequently, the email appears to be from your bank, a company you know, etc. Don't fall for it! It was actually malicious code executed in your browser that allowed it to look like it is coming from an actual business. A good way to avoid this is to use Mozilla Firefox, for the have are known to be more secure. Businesses (almost) never send unsolicited email.
You get (what appears to be) an email from someone you DO know. But, unknown to you, a virus or worm generated that email (and not your friend). It could be, your friend's PC is infected, but, not always. Obviously, the actual email writer doesn't know you and cannot say anything personal to you, so, typically, it says something like "Click on this link for some important information..." etc. Bingo! Infected!

Step - 2. Don't click on pop-up windows that announce a sudden disaster in your city! A cracker (Crackers hack people with evil intent, hackers don't do things to damage your property, or steal data on it in any way. To confuse the terms will make many angry). has used your IP (Internet Protocol) address to determine your location. He then display a headline that you will be very tempted to click on, in order to learn more about "the tornado that just struck your city" (or similar). You click...bingo...infected!

Step - 3. Be careful about using MS Outlook. Outlook is more susceptible to worms than other e-mail programs, unless you have efficient Anti-Virus programs running. Use Pegasus or Thunderbird (by Mozilla), or a web-based program such as Hotmail or Yahoo (In Firefox).

Step - 4. Install an Anti-Virus program(ex. Norton, F-Secure, Sophos or McAfee.) Also available is the free AntiVir virus scanner. Make sure you keep your virus definitions updated and run a full system scan weekly.

Step - 5. Install an Anti-Spyware program(ex. Ad Aware SE, Windows Defender), that operates against internet malware and spyware. Just like Anti-Virus, keep it updated, and do a full system scan weekly.

Step - 6. If someone sends you an attachment in e-mail or instant messaging, do not open it. If it is a picture, text or sound file (these attachments end in the extensions .txt, .jpeg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, .mp3, .htm, .html, and .avi), you are probably safe, but still do a scan before opening. Many crackers know that people trust documents like those and the go out of there way to make you regret opening them. High risk file extensions include .exe, .bat, and .vbs, for their main purposes are to execute code, so the file openly admits that something will happen. You can negate the risk by preforming scans with your antimalware AND antivirus. If someone you know very well sends you a Word attachment or other type of file, e-mail them to ask them if they meant to send it to you. If they say yes, you can open it, but you might still be at risk if they are not good about running Anti-Virus scans or careful about what they download. Be wary of attachments with a double extension, such as .txt.vb or .jpg.exe, as the system will only recognize the extension to the extreme right, and run the file as such. Double extensions exploit an option in Windows to hide known file extensions thus hiding the second dangerous extension and showing only the first safe extension. Ensure that this options is disabled to more easily identify these files. Double extensions are often a good indicator that the file is malicious.

Step - 7. Do not use disks that other people gave you, even from work. The disk could be infected with a virus. Of course, you can run a virus scan on it first to check it out, but AV programs are not 100% effective. If the disk (especially if its a hard disk) can be wiped using a bootable CD like DBAN (Google DBAN and you will see the page) and then the drive will be completely safe. Disable any autorun options so that you can scan contents of the disk before executing them.

Step - 8. Do not download software from just any old website. If it is a reputable site that you trust, you are probably safe. The threat is not only from software; don't download Word documents or other non-HTML files that have something other than one of the extensions listed above, either.

Step - 9. Set up your Windows Update to automatically download patches and upgrades. This will allow your computer to automatically download any updates to both the operating system (I.E Windows) and Internet Explorer. These updates fix security holes in both pieces of software.

Step - 10. Consider switching to a different web browser. Other web browsers (such as Firefox or Opera) are considered to have better security than Internet Explorer; some people also see them as more flexible and extensible browsers.

Step - 11. Be careful when surfing. You can get a malicious script from a webpage and not know it. If you have your IE set up for the maximum security settings, you are probably safe. You can try disabling javascript, but it may also break benign functionality on reputable websites. If you ever get a window asking if you want to allow an automatic install, say "No" unless you know the site requesting the install. Also, don't go to any porn sites. Those are almost always viruses.

Step - 12. Read about the latest virus threats so you are aware of the potential danger. Go to Symantec's page to read about them daily.

Step - 13. Try to balance paranoia with common sense. Some people get really weird about viruses, spyware, etc. It's just a computer! Back up your data and follow these steps, and it shouldn't be a big problem. Some people would suggest that you make sure you have a firewall and run anti-spyware programs as well. I'm not sure either of those will protect you from viruses, but they will protect you from cracking and from spyware. Microsoft's Antispyware and Ad-Aware are the best anti-spyware/virus programs I have found. Good luck!

Step - 14. Use a software firewall! Even if you have a hardware firewall, always use a software firewall (ex. Norton, Mcafee, there's also free ones- ZoneLabs ZoneAlarm).

Step - 15. Scan things you download! Be a total nut with this. Scanning new files is cheap, fast, and easy. Even if the file came from a trusted source, their computer might have been compromised without their knowledge. Anything you get from P2P software you should scan, as you are getting it from a stranger.

Step - 16. Stay away from file-sharing sites. Sites that distribute illegal versions of software (sometimes referred to as cracks), music, or "free movies" are known to be riddled with virii and trojans. This include torrents or other forms of P2P activities. Staying away from these sites is in your computer's health's best interest, as well as a good way to avoid being sued for copyright violation.

If you do choose to partake in these illegal activities, check the filesize before downloading. Movies shouldn't be .EXEs or 24K.

Buy Your First Computer

2009-10-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

Computers vary on different qualifications and qualities but for beginners it is best based among their needs. A computer for an office worker differs from a computer for a web enthusiast. Here are the step by step procedure which you could use when you buy your own computer.

Step 1 - Make a budget. Think about how much money you are willing to pay for a computer. If you want a good looking and fast one, better prepare extra money.

Step 2 - What purpose will it serve. If it is for basic applications like word processing, then look for a cheap model. If you want to play games, you'll need something with a fast processor, lots of RAM, a large hard drive, and good sound and graphics cards.

Step 3 - Where will it be used. If you need to take it all over the place, you'll need a laptop. If you intend to leave it in the office or at home on the desk, then buy a desktop.

Step 4 - Who is going to use it? If it's for an office and you have to share it, you might need one with more memory and Vista Business or Ubuntu. If you will be the only one using it, and mostly for playing games, then Vista Home Basic or Premium will serve you well.

Step 5 – Choose an operating system. Operating systems vary from their styles, formats, appearances. You can buy computers that don’t have operating system intall on them, don’t buy those. Choose what you are comfortable to work with.

Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, OpenSuse and Mandriva) is stable, fast and free.

Microsoft Windows (98, XP, Vista, 7) is the most popular platform in general and for gaming.

Mac OS X (Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard) is popular for creative endeavours and multimedia.

Step 6 - Choose the hardware. Decide whether you want a desktop machine, a laptop that you can take with you, or a netbook. A netbook is a smaller version of the laptop but more portable and with fewer built-in devices such as CD and DVD drives.

Step 7 – Decide on the amount of memory. Decide how much RAM memory you want your computer to have. Technically, the amount of RAM memory dictates the speed of your computer. Many software have a minimum RAM requirement in order to run. So if your software say it requires 2 GB of memory, and your computer has only one GB of memory, it will not run. The more RAM the better, but it will be more expensive. You should at least have 2 GB or more RAM, unless the only thing you are using the computer for is connecting to the internet (in which case you can do with only 1 GB).

Step 8 – Research. Scan the Internet, and become more knowledgeable. Compare prices, and whether the computer can be upgraded as needed. Then you are ready to order, either online, or in a computer store.

How to install Windows Vista

2009-10-02T01:10:00.000-07:00

For those who had experience on installing windows xp it would be easier for them to install vista. But for beginners you might want to read this article. Windows Vista DVD is bootable. In order to boot from the DVD you need to set the boot sequence. Look for the boot sequence under your BIOS setup and make sure that the first boot device is set to CD-ROM/DVD-ROM. Lets start, follow the step by step procedure and with hustle free your problem will be easily solved.

Step 1 - Place Windows Vista DVD in your dvd-rom drive and start your PC. Windows Vista will start to boot up and you will get the following progress bar.
Step 2 - The next screen allows you to setup your language, time and currency format, keyboard or input method. Choose your required settings and click next to continue.
Step 3 - The next screen allows you to install or repair Windows Vista. Since we are doing a fresh install we will click on "install now".
Step 4 - You can now type the product key that came with your Windows vista.
Step 5 - If you do not enter the product key you can still proceed with the installation in which case Windows will ask you which version of Vista you have purchased. Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Ultimate, Business etc. Select the version you have purpixchased and click next.
Please note, although you can select any version of Windows and proceed to next stage. It is not good idea to select a different version to the one you have purchased becuase you will not be able to activate Windows at a later stage. Windows Vista can detect which version you have purchased once you enter your product key.
Step 6 - Tick "I accept the licence terms" and press next.
Step 7 - Choose the type of installation you want to perform. You will notice that upgrade option is disabled as we have booted from the DVD-R. Therefore we can only select Custom (advanced) option which basicly installs a clean copy of Windows from scratch.
Step 8 - Choose where you would like to install Windows Vista. If you have a new upartitioned hard drive you would get your hard drive listed as shown on the image below. If have have an old hard drive with data or other partitions it will show up as logical drives. You can select the drive options (advaced) to format, delete, or create new partions. Because I am using a single new hard drive i will select next to continue. Windows will create a partition and format it using NTFS files system.
Step 9 - Windows starts the installation process and starts copying all the necessary files to your hard drive as shown on the image below. It will go through various stages of the setup and will reboot your system few times. When your PC reboots it attempts to boot from CD as its the first boot device. Do not press any key during the boot prompt so Windows Vista will continue with the installation by booting from your hard drive.
Step 10 - After installation copy process is complete you are presented with the Setup Windows dialogue box as show below. At this stage you need to choose a user name, password and a picture for your user account. The account you create here is the Administrator account which is the main account for your Windows Vista that has all the privilages. Click next continue
Step 11 - Now you need to choose your computer name and desktop background. Click next to continue.
Step 12 - Choose wether your want to Help protect Windows automatically. Select "Use recommened settings" to continue.
Step 13 - Review your time and date settings. Select your time zone, correct the date and time and click next to continue.
Next screen presents you to select your computers current location. You can choose between home, work, public location. Choose home to continue. You will finally get a "Thank you" screen which confirms the end of the interactive installation process. This is not the end of the setup process. There are still many after installation configuration to be done. Click next to continue.

Step 14 - Windows now runs a benchmark type of application which checks the performance of your system. You will see a status bar at bottom which shows the progress. Once the process is complete you will be presented with the logon screen.
Step 15 - Finally you have the logon screen. Just type your password and press enter or click on the arrow to logon to Windows Vista for the first time.
Step 16 - Soon as you logon you will be presented with welcome centre. You can use the welcome centre to configure, customise, and update Windows vista.
Step 17 - Finally you need to check if all your hardware has been detected correctly. You can do so by checking your device manager. To access device manager click Start menu -> Control panel -> System -> Device manager. You will see all your hardware listed as shown below. You need to check if you have any yellow exclamtion marks next to the name of the device similar to "USB 10/100 LAN" on image below. This indicates the driver has not been installed for this device.
At this stage you need to install Windows Vista drivers by double clicking on "USB 10/100 LAN" or your device. The properties dialog box will appear. Click on Reinstall Driver. Then you can choose wether you want to install the driver from the internet (if available) or install manually from a CD or other media
Once you have removed all the yellow exclamtion marks from the device manager your Windows Vista configuration would be fully complete.

How to install Windows Xp

2009-09-30T17:16:00.000-07:00

Good day to everyone welcome to the blog that would help you use your pc well, fix it yourself and customize it by yourself. This blog would share you the step by step procedure fo pc trouble shooting ( harware, software), pc customization, and will share you the "whats new" on the pc world. So lets sitback and enjoy the ride.

Now, for my first post I would like to share you readers hot to install windows xp. This is a step by step procedure written for the newbies on pc world. Lets start.

Step 1 – All versions of Windows XP CD are bootable. In order to boot from CD/DVD-ROM you need to set the boot sequence. Look for the boot sequence under your BIOS setup and make sure that the first boot device is set to CD/DVD-ROM. Start your PC and place your Windows XP CD in your CD/DVD-ROM drive. Your PC should automatically detect the CD and you will get a message saying "Press any key to boot from CD". Soon as computer starts booting from the CD your will get the following screen:

Step 2 - At this stage it will ask you to press F6 if you

want to install a third party Raid or SCSI driver. If you are using a an IDE Hard Drive then you do not need to press F6. If you are using a SCSI or SATA Hard drive then you must press F6 otherwise Windows will not detect your Hard Drive during the installation. Please make sure you have the Raid drivers on a floppy disk. Normally the drivers are supplied on a CD which you can copy to a floppy disk ready to be installed. If you are not sure how to do this then please read your motherboard manuals for more information.

Step 3 - Press S to Specify that you want to install additional device.

Step 4 - You will be asked to insert the floppy disk with the Raid or SCSI drivers. Press enter after you have inserted the disk.

Step 5 – You will see a list of Raid drivers for your HDD. Select the correct driver for your device and press enter.

Step 6 – You will then get a Windows XP Professional Setup screen. You have the option to do a new Windows install, Repair previous install or quit. Since we are doing a new install we just press Enter to continue.

Step 7 – You will be presented with the End User Licensing Agreement. Press F8 to accept nd continue

Step 8 – This step is very important. Here we will create the partition where Windows will be installed. If you have a brand new unformatted drive you will get a screen similar to below. In our case the drive size is 8190MB. We can choose to install Windows in this drive without creating a partition, hence use the entire size of the drive. If you wish to do this you can just press enter and Windows will automatically partition and format the drive as one large drive.

However for this demonstration I will create two partition. The first partition will be 6000MB (C: drive) and second partition would be 2180MB (E: drive). By creating two partition we can have one which stores Windows and Applications and the other which stores our data. So in the future if anything goes wrong with our Windows install such as virus or spyware we can re-install Windows on C: drive and our data on E: drive will not be touched. Please note you can choose whatever size partition your like. For example if you have 500GB hard drive you can have two partition of 250GB each.
Press C to create a partition.
Step 9 – Windows will show the total size of the hard drive and ask you how much you want to allocate for the partition you are about to create. I will choose 6000MB. You will then get the screen below. Notice it shows C: Partition 1 followed by the size 6000 MB. This indicates the partition has been created. We still have an unpartitioned space of 2189MB. Next heighlight the unpartitioned space by pressing down the arrow key. Then press C to create another partition. You will see the total space available for the new partition. Just choose all the space left over, in our case 2180MB.

Step 10 – Now you will see both partition listed. Partition 1 (C: Drive) 6000MB and Partition 2 (E: Drive) 2180MB. You will also have 8MB of unpartitioned space. Don't worry about that. Just leave it how its is. Windows normally has some unpartitioned space. You might wonder what happened to D: drive. Windows has automatically allocated D: drive to CD/DVD-ROM.
Select Partition 1 (C: Drive) and press Enter.

Step 11 – Choose format the partition using NTFS file system.This is the recommended file system. If the hard drive has been formatted before then you can choose quick NTFS format. We chose NTFS because it offers many security features, supports larger drive size, and bigger size files.

Windows will now start formatting drive C: and start copying setup files as shown on the two images below :

Step 12 – After the setup has completed copying the files the computer will restart. Leave the XP CD in the drive but this time DO NOT press any key when the message "Press any key to boot from CD" is displayed. In few seconds setup will continue. Windows XP Setup wizard will guide you through the setup process of gathering information about your computer.

Step 13 – Choose your region and language

Step 14 – Type in your name and organization.

Step 15 – Enter your product key.

Step 16 – Name the computer, and enter an Administrator password. Don't forget to write down your Administrator password.

Step 17 – Enter the correct date, time and choose your time zone.

Step 18 – For the network setting choose typical and press next.

Step 19 – Choose workgroup or domain name. If you are not a member of a domain then leave the default settings and press next. Windows will restart again and adjust the display.

Step 20 – Finally Windows will start and present you with a Welcome screen. Click next to continue.

Step 21 – Choose 'help protect my PC by turning on automatic updates now' and press next.

Step 22 – Will this computer connect to the internet directly, or through a network? If you are connected to a router or LAN then choose: 'Yes, this computer will connect through a local area network or home network'. If you have dial up modem choose: 'No, this computer will connect directly to the internet'. Then click Next.

Step 23 – Ready to activate Windows? Choose yes if you wish to active Windows over the internet now. Choose no if you want to activate Windows at a later stage.

Step 24 – Add users that will sign on to this computer and click next.

Step 25 – You will get a Thank you screen to confirm setup is complete. Click finish.

Step 26 – Log in, to your PC for the first time.

Step 27 – You now need to check the device manager to confirm that all the drivers has been loaded or if there are any conflicts. From the start menu select Start -> Settings -> Control Panel. Click on the System icon and then from the System Properties window select the Hardware tab, then click on Device Manager.

If there are any yellow exclamation mark "!" next to any of the listed device, it means that no drivers or incorrect drivers has been loaded for that device. In our case we have a Video Controller (VGA card) which has no drivers installed.
Your hardware should come with manufacturer supplied drivers. You need to install these drivers using the automatic setup program provided by the manufacturer or you need to manually install these drivers. If you do not have the drivers, check the manufacturers website to download them.

To install a driver manually use the following procedure:
(a) From the device manager double click on the device containing the exclamation mark.
(b) This would open a device properties window.
(c) Click on the Driver tab.
(d) Click Update Driver button. The Wizard for updating device driver pops up as shown below:

You now get two options. The first option provides an automatic search for the required driver. The second option allows you to specify the location of the driver. If you don't know the location of the driver choose the automatic search which would find the required driver from the manufacturer supplied CD or Floppy disk. Windows would install the required driver and may ask you to restart the system for the changes to take affect. Use this procedure to install drivers for all the devices that contain an exclamation mark. Windows is completely setup when there are no more exclamation marks in the device manager.