All About Computers

Are you Computer Keeps Freezing?

2010-06-28T01:24:00.000+03:00

The way to stop your computer from freezing is to fix the problems that are causing it to crash & freeze in the first place. Windows does not freeze willingly, and the problem is mainly caused by your system having a fault or damaged setting that your PC is unable to process.

The first thing you should do to fix this problem is to reboot your computer into "safe mode". This is done by restarting your PC and pressing F8 continuously to load up an options screen. On this screen, select the "Safe Mode" option which will open Windows without any of the drivers or software that can damage it. Doing this will allow your computer to load up without any of the software that could be causing it to freeze... meaning that if it does not crash in safe mode, then the software of your PC is to blame. If your system does crash in safe mode, then it's likely going to be a hardware issue which should be looked at by a computer technician.

If you run your PC in safe mode and it does not crash, then you've likely got a problem with the software on your computer. This is actually quite easy to solve thanks to the nature of this problem. Most of the time, Windows systems freeze or crash because they cannot process the files & settings that they need inside the registry. The registry is the database which stores all the settings and information for your computer, and is where Windows keeps everything from your latest emails to your desktop icons.

The registry is a highly important part of Windows, but it's also one of the main causes of your system crashing. The problem is that since Windows needs to read 100's of settings from the registry each time you use your system, any damaged or corrupted settings that are inside your PC will actually make Windows run slower as it has to take longer to read these files. However, if the settings become so corrupted that Windows cannot read them at all, it has no choice but to freeze and crash. This is a very common problem and is very simple to fix.

To fix a computer that crashes because of software issues, you should first download a registry repair tool. This is a software tool which scans through your system and fixes the files that could be causing it to crash. These tools are very efficient and if you can get one which works well to fix the largest number of problems on your system, it will make your PC a lot more reliable and should stop all the freezes.

How to force uninstall System Security Antivirus From Your Computer

2010-06-28T01:20:00.001+03:00

What is System Security Antivirus?

System security Antivirus is a rogue anti-spyware application. At first glance, System Security Antivirus looks like a normal anti-spyware remover. Nevertheless, this application was designed to trick the user into purchasing a full version of System Security Antivirus. In order to succeed, the rogue uses well known scaring and money stealing tactis. Also, System Security Antivirus is probably a clone of other rogue applications.

Once PC is infected, System Security Antivirus performs fake system scan and reports various bogus results and fallacious alert messages stating that computer has serious security problems. In order to remove these imaginary threats and protect the system from future attacks, user is advertised to purchase a full version of System Security Antivirus. However, it's a scam. A full version of Renus2008 doesn't even exist. Instead of buying this worthless application, remove it from the system immediately after firts appearance.

How to remove System Security Antivirus?

1 The first thing you need to do to remove this program from your PC is to get a trustworthy anti-spyware / anti-malware and then let it scan your system. Many people make the mistake of just trying to delete the files or settings this software installs onto your system, but the fact is that it has a number of different elements which will just it to come back. You need to use the likes of MalwareBytes (free) or SpywareDoctor (paid) to get the roots of this problem.

2 You should also clean out the 'registry' to make sure that there are no settings or files that this virus has left in there. Not many people know about this part of your system, but the fact is that this infection will leave 100's of infected registry settings on your system, ready for any other viruses to come along. The registry is a large database inside Windows which keeps all the settings and files that your computer requires each day to run - it's like a big library of vital information for your system. To clean out all the damaged parts of this database, you need to be able to use a 'registry cleaner' to scan through it and fix the errors that are inside.

Intel: 2-year-old Nvidia GPU bests 3.2GHz Core i7

2010-06-27T11:13:00.000+03:00

Intel researchers have published the results of a performance comparison between their latest quad-core Core i7 processor and a two-year-old Nvidia graphics card, and found that the Intel processor can't match the graphics chip's parallel processing performance.

On average, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 -- released in June 2008 -- was 2.5 times faster than the Intel 3.2GHz Core i7 960 processor, and more than 14 times faster under certain circumstances, the Intel researchers reported in the paper, called "Debunking the 100x GPU vs. CPU myth: An evaluation of throughput computing on CPU and GPU."

In a bid to discredit claims that GPUs outperform Intel's processors by a factor of 100, researchers compared the performance of the quad-core Core i7 processor with the Nvidia GPU running a set of 14 throughput computing kernels. The comparison was designed to test the parallel processing capabilities of the chips.

As its name suggests, parallel processing involves tackling multiple tasks simultaneously as opposed to serial processing, which requires handling tasks in sequential order.

Graphics chips, with dozens of cores that are used to draw polygons and map textures used to create realistic images on a computer screen, are well-adapted to parallel processing tasks while processors with fewer, more powerful cores, like the Core i7, are better suited for serial processing applications. That's not to say that quad-core chips like the Core i7 can't handle parallel processing tasks; they can, just not as well as GPUs like the GTX280, as the Intel study confirmed.

"It's a rare day in the world of technology when a company you compete with stands up at an important conference and declares that your technology is only up to 14 times faster than theirs," wrote Andy Keane, Nvidia's general manager of GPU computing, on the company's blog, which provided a link to the Intel paper.

Even so, Keane wasn't impressed by the performance margin reported by Intel, listing 10 Nvidia customers that saw application performance improve by a factor of 100 or more by optimizing them to run on GPUs. The performance comparison done by Intel likely did not include the software optimization required to get the best performance from the GPU, he said, noting that Intel didn't provide details of the software code used in the comparison.

"It wouldn't be the first time the industry has seen Intel using these types of claims with benchmarks," he wrote, providing a link to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission antitrust suit filed against Intel in 2009.

In that suit, the FTC alleged previous benchmark results reported by Intel "were not accurate or realistic measures of typical computer usage or performance, because they did not simulate 'real world' conditions."

Regardless of the exact performance difference between CPUs and GPUs, graphics chips are an increasingly common feature in high-performance computing systems, including extremely powerful computers like China's Nebulae system. Nebulae, which is currently the world's second most powerful computer, is powered by a combination of Xeon server chips and Nvidia GPUs.

Adding GPUs to a system can substantially increases performance, while reducing cost and power consumption compared to systems built using only CPUs, said Yury Drozdov, CEO of Singapore-based server maker Novatte.

Last year, Novatte built a system for a financial customer that wanted to run pricing models. The system, which cost more than $1 million, used 60 Intel Xeon processors and 120 Nvidia GPUs. A system with similar performance built using Xeon processors alone would cost $1.6 million and consume nearly 28% more power, making it more costly to operate than the system built with GPUs, Drozdov said.

For its part, Intel recognizes the importance of having a powerful parallel processing chip in its product lineup to complement its CPU line. In May, Intel announced the development of a 50-core chip called Knights Corner, which the company hopes will fend off competition from graphics chip makers in the high-performance computing space. Intel has not said when Knights Corner will be available.

By comparison, Nvidia's GTX280 has the equivalent of 30 processor cores, while the company's recently announced Tesla M20 series GPUs have 56 cores.

Download YouTube Videos for Offline Viewing

2010-06-25T12:42:00.001+03:00

Ever wish you could watch that piano-playing cat at 35,000 feet? Alas, YouTube requires a live Internet connection, and Wi-Fi is still pretty hard to find in the friendly skies.

Fortunately, you can download YouTube videos to your PC for anytime, anywhere viewing, no Internet required.

There are countless ways to "rip" YouTube vids, but I'm partial to Keep Tube. It's available as both a Firefox extension and a browser bookmarklet, the latter compatible with Chrome, Internet Explorer, etc.

What's more, Keep Tube works with not only YouTube, but also CollegeHumor, Facebook, Google Video, Metacafe, and countless other sites.

When you see a video you like, just click the Keep Tube icon (in Firefox) or bookmarklet. From there you'll land at a Keep Tube page where you can download your video in one or more formats and sizes.

My advice: choose MP4 whenever possible, and always at the highest available resolution. YouTube's native FLV format requires a special player, whereas MP4 works in Divx, QuickTime, and other more-common players.

Also, MP4 files usually play nicely on smartphones, so you can take your saved videos to go.

IE9 Preview Delivers New Features and Impressive Performance

2010-06-24T19:08:00.000+03:00

Microsoft is progressing to the next phase of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) development today with the launch of Platform Preview 3 (PP3) of the next generation Web browser. Developers can download the latest preview to get a sneak peek at what's in store with IE9 and what new functionality Microsoft is incorporating.

IE8 is the reigning king among Web browsers--it leads in market share and in market share growth rate--but, IE9 is generating considerable interest. The IE9 Test Drive site has had more than 16 million visitors, and Microsoft reports that the IE9 Platform Preview has been downloaded over two million times.

With the latest release of the IE9 preview, the Microsoft developers have added support for HTML5 Canvas, and HTML5 audio and video tags. The new HTML5 functionality enables IE9 to deliver interactive content and online video on compatible browsers--similar to what you might expect from Adobe Flash, but without the need for any third-party application or browser plugins.

I spoke with Rob Mauceri, principal group program manager for Internet Explorer at Microsoft, and he walked me through the improvements and capabilities of IE9. Microsoft also put together a short video you can watch, demonstrating some of the capabilities of the IE9 PP3. The video shows some joint development effort with IMDB, and with Amazon illustrating how seamlessly IE9 can scroll through the available options and play video clips natively within the browser.

Aside from fun bells and whistles, this latest release in the IE9 development process shows off some speed and performance improvements as well. According to the SunSpider benchmark test, IE9 PP3 comes in at 347 milliseconds overall--outperforming both Chrome 4 and Firefox.

IE9 also includes support for CSS3 Font Face and Web Open Font Format (WOFF)--rendering a wider range of fonts with better clarity. The IE9 demo video shows a page in IE9, and a similar page rendered in the Google Chrome Web browser in which the fonts are all jacked and misaligned. The Acid3 score for IE9 has gone from a 68 with PP2 to an 83 with PP3.

IE9 combines the Chakra JavaScript engine, with support for multicore CPUs, dedicated GPUs, and hardware video acceleration to deliver exceptional performance. Microsoft is able to deliver flawlessly smooth animation at very high frame rates with IE9. Throughout the demo video, Microsoft does side by side comparisons demonstrating how IE9 looks and performs compared with competing browsers, and the results appear to be compellingly in Microsoft's favor.

I asked about an ETA for a public beta of IE9. Mauceri was predictably elusive--essentially saying that Microsoft is working as fast as it can, but is also focused on ensuring a quality product and is not prepared to announce availability dates which might force developers to march to the beat of artificial deadlines that could compromise quality or performance.

The IE9 Platform Preview 3 is available for download as of 2pm Pacific time today. Visit the IE9 Test Drive site for more information and to download PP3.

Internet Explorer 8 Gains at Expense of Chrome and Firefox

2010-06-24T18:56:00.001+03:00

The results are out from the latest Net Applications survey of Web browser market share, and Google continues to capture market share and headlines with its Chrome Web browser. Drilling down into the stats, though, and looking behind the curtain reveals that real winner in the market share department is Internet Explorer 8.

The main headline coming out of the most recent data is that Chrome captured the largest gain--growing .32 percent to a new market share of 7.05 percent. Chrome's gain is further enhanced by the fact that both Internet Explorer and Firefox declined.

Fair enough. Those statistics are true, and there is no denying that Chrome is a solid Web browser that is enjoying relative success at the expense of competing browsers. However, if you look at the stats through some other lenses, Internet Explorer 8--and the upcoming Internet Explorer 9--are both gaining momentum as well.

While Internet Explorer did decline in overall global market share yet again, it is worth noting that it was the smallest decline Internet Explorer has experienced in the past year. What is more impressive is the fact that, breaking out Internet Explorer 8 separate from the rest of the Internet Explorer versions, IE8 actually had the biggest gain--growing 2.5 times faster than Google Chrome.

Even in Europe, where the browser ballot presents users with a randomized list of available browsers in order to level the playing field and ensure some degree of fairness, IE8 was up .48 percent to 29.69 percent for May. Narrowing the field to just the Windows operating system--since that is the only OS that Internet Explorer is available for--IE8 has over 31 percent of the market.

In the United States, Internet Explorer as a whole is up .76 percent to 63.27 percent of the market. Coincidentally, Chrome fell .45 percent, and Firefox fell .24 percent--a combined total of .69 percent. Apparently, Internet Explorer ate up the losses of Chrome and Firefox put together...and then some.

The early success of Internet Explorer 9 is also promising for Microsoft. The Internet Explorer 9 Platform Preview build--which is not even a functional beta version yet--has already surpassed a million downloads.

At just under 60 percent market share overall, Internet Explorer still has an overwhelming advantage over competing browsers. The second place browser--Firefox--has less than 25 percent market share, and Chrome is in a distant third place with just over seven percent.

Just as the success of Windows 7 is driving increased PC sales, Windows 7 is also responsible--at least in part--for the success of Internet Explorer 8. As Windows 7 adoption continues to ramp up through 2010 and into early 2011, expect Internet Explorer 8 to continue following suit.

Since Chrome entered the scene, Internet Explorer has steadily declined, but only by fractions of a percent. The fact that Internet Explorer is only available on Windows, and eight percent of the systems in the world don't run Windows means that Firefox, Chrome, and other browsers get to fight amongst themselves for that chunk of market share.

As Chrome continues to gain market share, it seems like it will mostly cannibalize it from Firefox for the time being. Since IE8 is the fastest growing browser, but Internet Explorer overall is losing market share, what little market share is being whittled away from IE is apparently coming from the attrition of users (finally) abandoning IE6.

Perhaps at some point in the future when Chrome has 25 percent and Firefox has fallen to seven percent, then we can focus on a two-horse race between IE and Chrome. In the meantime, despite the Chrome hype, Internet Explorer 8 is actually the king of the hill.

World of Warcraft Most Powerful Weapon - WGT Online

2010-06-22T12:32:00.002+03:00

In the world the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is World of Warcraft,developed by Blizzard Entertainment.So far,world of warcraft has almost twelve million monthly subscriptions and is currently the world's most-subscribed MMORPG, holding the Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG by subscribers.In World of Warcraft, Players should choose a "realm" or server for their character to play in,then create a character which can travel across the land, battle monsters, complete quests, and interact with other players or other non-player characters in the game.

There are hundreds of weapons in World of Warcraft, most of the within the weapons database at Wowhead can be view by non-players. There are simple and fairly useless ones.And also others are expensive, very powerful and extremely sought after by high level players.Depending on the character role and playing style,you should choose different things out of your armor.For the most part however you will be looking for decent armor with bonuses to attack power, agility, stamina, intellect, critical hit, and hit rating. So for different level of your character,the meaning of most powerful weapon is different.To different players,the most weapon may be different too.

The first most powerful world of warcraft weapon to be introduced is the Shadowmourne which is available only to Paladins, Death Knights and Warriors.It is only awarded after a long and expensive quest chain, involving a lot of heroic acts in 25man Icecrown Citadel.

The second most powerful world of warcraft weapon is Gorshalach, (the Dark Render) one of the most powerful weapon in the universe. while Sargeras was a member of the Titan Pantheon he was originally wielded by this massive greatsword. When Sargeras fell to his madness, Gorshalach, being semi-sentient, sundered itself into two 'Shatterbound pieces' to prevent the fallen Titan from wielding it. One fragment was claimed by Sargeras and reforged into Gorribal, while the other was claimed by Aggramar and reforged into Taeshalach. If both fragments are ever possessed by a non-evil being, they can be combined to reform Gorshalach

The third most powerful world of warcraft weapon is Saurfang which is initially stationed in Orgrimmar's Valley of Strength, where he enforces the rule of Warchief Thrall. He is the one who announced the death of Nefarian when his head is turned in.During the Second War of the Shifting Sands, Saurfang travelles to the front lines in Silithus. He acts as the Supreme Commander of the Might of Kalimdor in the war against the silithid and their qiraji masters.Saurfang is stationed in Warsong Hold as advisor to Garrosh Hellscream. He commands the Kor'kron Guard in Northrend and remains wary of the resurfacing bloodlust of the orcs, due to its employment in Hellscream's savage but successful tactics.

An appropriate powerful world of warcraft weapon will have a great help. But just becuase it is a powerful weapon do not be fooled into thinking it must also be an expensive one. Far from it, As far as I know from WGT online ,it is less than you can image and you can buy wow gold in lowest price. At last,I recommend that you either build your talents, skills, and abilities around a specific very good weapon, or that you get a weapon to complement your existing talents, skills, and abilities. Always consider the possibility of changing your character to use a vastly superior style of weaponry; it can be seriously worth it.

9 Tips to Maintain Your Laptop or Notebook

2010-06-22T12:30:00.002+03:00

Many people often make mistakes in maintaining a laptop, so the laptop gets damaged. Here are tips on maintaining a laptop or notebook:

1. Do not put the notebook on a soft surface like a chair made of foam, bed and carpet. Because, it will inhibit the flow of air at the bottom of the notebook, and can cause overheating.

2. If you download software from the Internet, do not be careless. Use genuine software from the l notebook. However, if you want to use the software from the Internet, make sure you scan with antivirus software.

3. Do not put the notebook on the floor, because your kids can step on the notebook. In addition, it will be quick dirty with dust.

4. Use an electric stabilizer. You must use a stabilizer if you use the notebook without the battery, it can prevent the occurrence of voltage instability.

5. Do not place any objects between the keyboard and laptop screen. Put objects between the keyboard and laptop screen is very dangerous, because the risk of scratches on the screen. Obviously, you do not want to replace a laptop screen that just scratched.

6. You must be careful to bring a laptop with a bag. Laptop bag is not just any bag. Use, specifically bags for laptops, so the other objects do not scratch certain parts on laptops.

7. Do not put a drink around the laptop. This is dangerous, because the laptop is very sensitive to the liquid, if the liquid spilled into the keyboard, it can cause serious damage.

8. Never try to disassemble a laptop. This is a very unwise action. Laptops are not like a radio or tape recorder. Many parts of the laptop are very small, using precision machinery. If you are careless, then your laptop could be damaged.

9. Do not put your laptop in hot areas like the sun at noon.

Recondition Your Laptop Battery - It's As Easy As 1,2,3

2010-06-22T12:27:00.002+03:00

If you have a laptop computer, do not expect your battery to last forever. They have a life span that can be measured mostly by how may times you charge it up. Generally it is about 300 to 500 times if you have a lithium-ion battery.

With these batteries you can recharge them at any time, even if they are not dead yet. They do not suffer from memory effect like the NiCad batteries do. With NiCad's, you need to let them fully discharge before you recharge them or they will lose there ability to take a full charge.

If you want to recondition the battery in your laptop, here is what you can do for NiMH and NiCad batteries, do not recondition Lithium-ion. This will not make them like a brand new battery but it will extend its life. First thing is fully charge the battery in the computer. When completed restart the computer.

Now you want to discharge the battery. If you disable the hibernation setting or anything else that might make the computer go into power saving mode, it would be better. Let the computer run until it shuts down due to loss of battery power, then turn it back on.

Recharge the battery to full again and repeat the above steps a few more times. This will allow you to use the battery for a longer time and you can do this no more than once a month. Replacement batteries can be expensive and stretching out their use when you are on a budget can help.

Optimize Internet Explorer

2010-06-19T18:18:00.000+03:00

In this age of information technology it’s the internet that has truly brought about globalization. Much depends on the internet; after all it connects us all across the globe. And it is the web browser that takes us through various websites across the internet. Now for a better surfing experience, besides a good internet connection, you need to have a better web browser as well. Now the question is, how to make your web browser perform well? There are certain ways to do it. Get some tech support to explore those.

So with a fast internet connection, we need a good web browser for optimum performance. Here we would discuss ways to optimize Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE).

Nowadays IE7 are mostly used with IE8 being the latest in line.

Delete Temporary Internet Files Regularly

You need to delete the cached data in Internet Explorer regularly. IE stores the visited list of websites in “temporary internet files” for faster viewing later. You can specify the number of days that you want to store these files in the History for. This data is called the cached data in Internet Explorer and this should be deleted regularly for better performance. Get the help desk support to learn how you can do it:

IE7:

● Open internet explorer 7.
● Click “tools” and then click “delete browsing history”.
● In “delete browsing history”, click “delete all”.
● Click to select the “Also delete files and settings stored by add-ons” check box, and then click OK.

IE8:

● Open Internet Explorer 8.
● Click “Safety”, and then click “Delete Browsing History”.
● In “Delete Browsing History” area, click Delete.

Internet Explorer has security settings that blocks unwanted websites. But if the security is configured to be too restrictive then it can block a lot of desired sites also. Hence there should always be default security settings and this is how we do it:

● Open Internet Explorer.
● Click “Tools”, and then click “Internet Options”.
● Click the “Security” tab.
● Click “Reset all zones to default level” and then click OK.

Internet Explorer add-ons such as ActiveX controls and browser toolbars are used by some websites to provide an enhanced browsing experience. An error may occur if an add-on is damaged or if an add-on conflicts with Internet Explorer. To determine whether the error is caused by an add-on, run Internet Explorer in "No Add-Ons" mode. To do this, follow these steps:

● Click Start, and then type Internet Explorer in the Start Search box.
● Click Internet Explorer (No Add-Ons). Internet Explorer opens without add-ons, toolbars, or plug-ins.

Generally these are some of the steps needed for good IE performance. However, if these do not work, then the last option is to reset your Internet Explorer.

For IE7 and IE8:

● Go to “tools” then click “internet options”.
● Go to the “advanced” tab and click on “reset”.

Save Your Computer from Virus Attack

2010-06-19T18:17:00.000+03:00

Virus is a very common term we keep hearing regularly whenever the topic of computers comes up. What exactly are viruses? What harm do they do to a computer? Can you protect your computer from a virus attack? These are some common questions that one comes across in any discussion regarding virus. Let’s first try and understand what exactly is meant by a virus.

Virus can be defined as a computer program that can easily replicate itself and lead to serious damage in the computer. They are the modern day’s electronic terrorist that are spreading fast and affecting computers all over the world. A virus can be mistaken as spyware, adware and malware. However, it is not so. These programs affect the computer but cannot replicate themselves and are thus not to be taken as a virus. They cause less harm than a virus can. But when we talk of computer virus it includes virus, malware, adware and spyware. Don’t be too sure that you may immediately be able to detect the presence of a computer virus; there are many computer viruses that behave surreptitiously and go unnoticed by the user.

Here are some tips that can help prevent a computer virus from attacking your system.

1. Install updated and good quality Anti-Virus software that provides complete protection from spyware, adware and malware too. Schedule a complete system scan at least once a week to keep your system clean.

2. Install only original operating system on your computer. At the time of purchase you may get attracted to the lower priced computer with pirated software, but this one time saving may result into a long term headache for you. Pirated software cannot be updated from the manufacturer’s website as it is illegal and it would not have all the update for security purpose. Secondly, while making the pirated version of the operating software the security BIOS has to be altered to make it viable. This makes the pirated version more susceptible to computer virus than a genuine operating system. Get an original operating system installed and keep updating it regularly for regular protection.

3. Do not open emails, messages that come from an unidentified sender. You may be tempted to open the mail that claims you are the winner of $100,00,000 but hold yourself. These are tricks to get you to click their link just ONCE and the computer virus has made its way to your system. These are tricks to infect your system and pass sensitive information like bank information, passwords, credit card information, and personal details to the miscreants. They may use this information to hack into your bank accounts and wipe-out your bank account leaving you bankrupt in a single day. On a more serious note they may use your personal details as the personal details of their terrorists to pass of as regular citizens and you may face serious legal trouble if your name and details get exposed in any racket.

As a rule always keep a back-up of your data on the computer. You can use the traditional CD’s and DVD’s to keep a back-up of your data or use the online data back-up services too. There are many operating systems like Windows 7 that have a data backup and recovery option in the software itself. Computer viruses can cause smaller issues like slowing your system to major issues like having an identity theft. Take adequate precaution to keep yourself and your data safe. After all, no cost is too big if it keeps you safe and protected.

How you can recover Outlook after a crash?

2010-06-19T18:15:00.000+03:00

Before we read about recovering Outlook after a crash, we will be reading about signs and symptoms of DBX corruption followed by Outlook PST repair and Outlook OST repair so that all of us are on the same knowledge platform and things can be easily identified and sorted.

Signs and Symptoms of DBX Corruption
If Microsoft Outlook is experiencing slow performance on a regular basis and messages are getting longer to get delivered or received, this could be due to corruption of Outlook DBX files. However, these signs reflect that the damage is not extensive but if you are experiencing a message like, "Msimn caused an exception C0000006h in module Directdb.dll. The message could not be sent. There is not enough Disk space.” you are probably experiencing an extensive loss of Outlook files and system.

Possible cause of Outlook Corruption
Many people are of the view that corruption of Outlook or DBX is due to a virus infection. Though it may be right some times, the possible reason in most of the cases is use of anti-virus programs. Yes, anti-virus programs as they might be wrongly or inadequately configured to scan inbound or outbound emails and attachments.

Now that we have read about possibly signs of Outlook crash and possible cause of Outlook corruption, let us now read about Outlook PST repair and Outlook OST repair.

Outlook PST Repair and Outlook OST Repair
Before we read about Outlook PST repair and Outlook OST repair, let us first read about Outlook PST.
Outlook PST is a personal folder file (.pst) or an offline folder file (.ost) if you are using Outlook data on your computer.

If the PST has been damaged, you can make use of a tool (Inbox Repair Tool) for correcting the issue without even switching to a backup copy. This tool has to be installed on the hard disk at the time of Outlook installation. If the OST has been damaged, you can make use of a tool (OST Integrity Tool) for scanning and repairing .OST files. Just in case the issue is not sorted even after using the tool, you need to disable the .OST file and opt for creating a new .OST file.

What to do now?
You can call the Microsoft Outlook Support numbers and they may assist you. Alternatively, you might try correcting things on your own though we recommend the former option.
Ways to avoid Outlook crash and Outlook PST Repair
Before you start with anything related to Outlook recovery and go ahead with the task of Outlook PST repair, it is important to make sure that none of the Outlook files are marked read only. This can be done by initiating the Outlook's troubleshooting process.

On the file menu of Outlook, click Work Offline and click on Outlook Express in the folder list so that no messages reach their destination and no email or folder is left open. Now, you need to close the folder list by putting a click on the upper right-hand corner of the list panel. Now, visit the File menu to click Compact all folders. This process may take considerable time but you need to observe a high sense of patience before it gets completed. It is highly important to note here that you should not be using any other computer application in the meanwhile.
Once you are done with all the above steps, close the Outlook Express. If you are still experiencing an error, close Outlook and restart the PC or laptop. This will help you to recover Outlook in most of the cases. If you are still facing problems, it is best to call Microsoft Outlook support for expert guidance.

We sincerely hope that this article on how to recover Outlook after a crash was useful to you in more than just a way.

Computer Help and Tips for System Maintenance

2010-06-19T18:12:00.000+03:00

Online computer help services educate PC users with essential tips and techniques. Believe it or not, if followed carefully, their suggestions can save the life of your system and keep it running in optimum pace for long. Here we will talk about some basic PC maintenance courses.

We often shutdown our computers in a hurry by holding the power button until the system turns off. It is really a bad idea, we all know, but still hardly think twice before committing the heinous shutdown crime. According to tech support experts the only time it is acceptable is when the computer is locked up and otherwise unresponsive. If there is no power supply problem, a five-second press can force a complete power off. After this, it is important to wait for at least five seconds to power on the system.

This might restart your system normally but the regular practice is utterly destructive for your system’s health. Even if you do it frequently, your Windows operating system won’t be able to perform its essential shut-down tasks. So, by this you will ultimately muck up the OS. It is never a proper way to shutdown your system. Rather, get help desk support to eradicate the functional errors so that it can allow you to turn off normally. If it is barely needed, you can press and immediately release the power button. This will either shut down your PC or put it in hibernate mode. That function depends solely on your Windows configuration.

Now, let’s talk about the laptop computers. People often turn their laptop lids down while moving out for a few minutes. Upon returning when they open the lid it shows blank screen and no response from the input devices like mouse and keyboard. Computer help experts ask laptop users to look at the default lid closing action. In most cases, the action put the laptop device into sleep mode or Standby mode from which it takes considerable time to come back to the working state. Therefore, tech support experts suggest users to use Hibernate mode instead. Windows can wake up more instantaneously after a short period of hibernation.

Standby commands can cause harm to your PC if there is a power supply problem. As been explained by computer help experts, computers consume battery power continuously even when it is ‘Sleeping’ and that is the reason how it allows you to pick up where you left off. ‘Hibernate’, on the other hand, saves current consumption. Help desk support always suggest ‘Hibernate’ mode as it keeps your current state to temporary hard-drive file and then shuts down the system completely. When you restart, it loads the saved files and enables you to pick the tasks where you left off.

So, in both cases, you can get the thread of your work back but if the power consumption matters to you, make your system hibernate when you are moving out for a while. With this you can also avoid issues when your system suddenly losses power connection. This way, tech support experts guide computer users to best handle their systems.

Hacker busts IE8 on Windows 7 in 2 minutes

2010-06-18T11:55:00.002+03:00

Yesterday, two researchers at the Pwn2Own hacking contest walked away with a nice sum of $10,000 each after they managed to bypass important security features in Windows 7.

Both Peter Vreugdenhil of the Netherlands and a German researcher who only would give his first name of Nils, managed to find ways to disable DEP (data execution prevention) and ASLR (address space layout randomization) in Windows 7. Two features that have been well publicized in Windows 7’s anti-exploit features. Each of the took down the fully patched 64-bit version of Windows 7 and managed to by pass it’s defences.

Peter Vreugdenhil was first up to the table and used a double exploit combination to first bypass the ASLR feature and then disable DEP, then 2 minutes later he was successfully hacked Internet Explorer 8. Half an hour later, Nils gave it a go using Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and managed to bypass the same defensive mechanisms only minutes later.

For their efforts, they were both awarded with $10,000 each and the notebook they both exploited. What’s more they also receive a paid trip to the DefCon hackers conference in Las Vegas this July.

Aaron Portnoy,who is the team leader for security research with 3Com TippingPoint, as well as being the contest sponsor, and the organizer of Pwn2Own was very impressed, he said in an interview at the end of the day on Wednesday.

“Every exploit today has been top-notch,” “The one on IE8 was particularly impressive.”

Both hackers managed to use Microsoft’s own code against them to bypass the security features and Vreugdenhil has published in detail how he managed to do this in a PDF which you can download here

As I said earlier, the two features the managed to bypass were;

ASLR (Address space layout randomization) - What this does is it randomly shuffles the positions of key memory areas. As a result this makes it much more difficult for hackers to predict where their attacking code will actually run.

The second feature DEP ( Data Execution Prevention ) was introduced by Microsoft back in 2004 with Windows XP SP 2 and it was intended to prevents malicious code from executing in sections of memory not intended for code execution and is a defense against, among other things, buffer-overflow attacks.

Both Microsoft and Mozilla had representatives at the event to watch as their software was exploited by the hundreds of hackers and researchers at the event.

Jerry Bryant, a senior manager with the Microsoft Security Research Center acknowledged the vulnerabilities exploited by Vreugdenhil, but that was about it

He said that

“Microsoft is aware of a new vulnerability in Internet Explorer introduced at CanSecWest in the Pwn2own contest.”We are investigating the issue and we will take appropriate steps to protect customers when the investigation is complete.”

However he never said when or if Microsoft would be releasing a patch for it. The company’s next scheduled Patch Tuesday is April 13, but Microsoft typically takes much longer to produce fixes, as testing time alone can often run between 30 and 60 days.

So I think we can all learn a valuable lesson from the Pwn2Own hacking contest. When there is a prize and money involved, it seems everyone’s software can be hacked into. This contest was established to discover flaws and vulnerabilities in software and so far it seems to be doing a very good job.

As Charlie Miller, another of Wednesday’s winners said;

What you can see at Pwn2Own is that bugs are still in software, and exploit mitigations like DEP and ASLR don’t work. Even as [defensive measures] improve, researchers still end up winning.”

Upgrade Antivirus to Maintain PC Security

2010-06-17T22:41:00.004+03:00

For conducting day to day activities, we are dependent on the computer. Computer is like a workplace for everyone so you need to make sure that your workplace should be highly secure when it comes to the security concerns.

In order to secure your data from unauthorized access, you need to have antivirus software. Antivirus protects all the information or data stored in the computer from being infected by unwanted stuff. But it is necessary for you to upgrade antivirus software because day to day new viruses are being designed. You can’t keep on continuing with your old antivirus software for the detection of viruses, which evolve on daily basis. To protect your computer from newly evolved virus you will need to upgrade antivirus.

Features

You can upgrade antivirus software in two ways. First way is to uninstall the residing version of antivirus and install its latest version. Other way is to go for antivirus software with the features that suits to your computer according to the nature of your work. Different types of antivirus software available in the market are Norton, McAfee, AVG and Kaspersky etc. We can discuss the procedure to upgrade AVG Internet Security 8.0 to 8.5. Go through the instructions given below to upgrade antivirus.

STEP 1- Go to the official website of AVG. Then choose the latest version of software and click “Renew and Upgrade” to upgrade.

STEP 2- Click on “Renew Your AVG Protection” listed under the section “Renew and Upgrade”.

STEP 3- Write your license number in the text box appears on the window and click the “Renew or Upgrade my AVG” option.

STEP 4- Select the appropriate subscription such as one or two year subscription program and enter credit card information. Click “Next” to proceed further.

STEP 5- Finally click “OK” to begin the download process. Once you download the AVG, run the application. Your computer will take few seconds to install AVG.

Usability

Apart from AVG there could be many other antivirus software that you can upgrade. Above mentioned procedure is same for the upgrade of commonly used antivirus software. By following the instructions given, you could be able upgrade antivirus to meet our PC security requirements.

Recommendation

In case you feel uncomfortable to uninstall antivirus through the procedure given above then you can go for technical support vendors, which provide dedicated technical support to upgrade antivirus. Their technical experts will access your computer remotely via Internet and will upgrade and install antivirus as per the configuration of your PC.

RAM - The Key To Speed

2010-06-13T13:00:00.000+03:00

We are all familiar with RAM (Random Access Memory) as it is an important and integral part of the computer that we use in your home, office and anywhere else. The question is why is it important and why do the computers require RAM? The RAM is a particular type of volatile memory, which is a lot faster than the hard drive but a lot slower than the processor. The components used to make random access memory (RAM) are the main reasons behind it. In computers, we needed a memory which would not be very costly but at the same time, would also be relatively fast for the CPU to interact with. RAM is such a memory. Want to learn more about RAM? Get some technical support on this.

The primary memory or the RAM has undergone several changes as per as technology is concerned. We measure its speed in terms of frequency it uses or the mega hertz. The frequency should be compatible with what the processor can take care of. That means, the speed of the RAM cannot be more than that of the processor. The motherboard should be able to support the RAM frequency and the type of RAM (SD RAM or DDR) as well. The operating system should also be able to support the amount of RAM. The performance of your computer will depend upon all these factors. All these should be recommended by a trained technician.

Although higher RAM leads to better performance of your computer, but at the same time, one should not always ask for more and more RAM without knowing his/her requirement. So, how much RAM you should have in your computer? It entirely depends upon the configuration of your computer as well as the software that you would have in it. It is necessary to choose it correctly if you want to ward off any RAM problem.

Every software needs a minimum amount of RAM load, however it is always good to have more than the required amount of RAM for better performance. If you only do day to day work like checking emails and are not really into playing high-end games, then you may not require too much of RAM and you can easily save a few bucks by not going for more RAM. But if you have some software loaded into your computer that requires higher resources, then higher RAM is needed as well. A good RAM with some “wide roads” to fetch the traffic from the RAM to the CPU (through the motherboard) and vice versa adds to the speed. That “wide roads” is called the FSB or the Front Side Bus of the mother board. It often proves to be a bottle-neck (if not adequate) in the performance in spite of the presence of a faster RAM.

Adventures in C#: The C# Dashboard

2010-06-13T12:54:00.000+03:00

Creating applications using different programming languages has always been an interesting subject. The C# dashboard is a dashboard tool completely coded in the C# programming language.
There are a lot of different programming languages available for designing web applications today. These programming languages have their own strengths and weaknesses which are then modified accordingly by its developers. Programming languages have then been showcased in different applications, with different programmers sharing their works.

For a company with massive amounts of data, it is rather an overwhelming and tedious job to look through all files. This is critical when looking through various files that requires close monitoring. Fortunately there are tools that are designed in order to help network managers and data analysts alike keep a close look on things. Called dashboards, they are tools which serve as a "monitoring panel" on all data that comes and goes in the system. These dashboards work like normal dashboards - they present the data in useful gauges which showcase what's happening to it.

The data that the dashboard monitors is used in different business environments, as well as security or even customer relations. It acts as a handy tool whenever managers would need to check up on a department output for instance. It could also be used to monitor what goes on in training new hires for a job, or used to check up on how a project is going. Best of all, a dashboard is a handy tool that acts as an instant "bulletin board" which presents all news that come in without having to dig through all data.

These dashboards could be programmed using the same programming languages used by applications that run on the internet. C# dashboards are a variant, dashboards which were programmed using C#. The C# dashboard components are sometimes packaged in several premade dashboard creation suites. Aside from the easy layout of the suite that requires little programming knowhow, it also allows for easy network integration. Also, it allows for seamless "exporting" to other programs such as the Microsoft Visual Studio series.

C# dashboard components suites are readily available in the market, with specific features for any type of programming project or business network among others. These suites are also available for businesses with different budgets and with different needs. Depending on programming mastery, there are other types of dashboard suites which could handle what one would want in the finished dashboard. These suites are of course done to internationally set standards for C#. With this in mind, programmers now have access to the richness of C# in creating dashboards that showcases its versatility and usability.

As with all programming languages, C# dashboards are not without their own strengths and weaknesses as dictated by its mother programming language. This could be a problem when trying to get something done that the C# programming language has difficulty performing or cannot perform at all. Working with C# in creating dashboards have these limitations, something which network managers or people involved should note. C# is clearly not a panacea for all programming difficulties, as with other programming languages. Knowing and understanding how C# could work best for a business looking for digital dashboards is the key to its success.

Using C# Report Designer

2010-06-13T12:53:00.000+03:00

C# Report Designer is a very comprehensive program that can help you create reports without lifting a finger. Sure, you have to collect the data and make sure that these are accurate but after punching these in the software, you can see the report created right before you. It is developer-oriented software that lets you preview the work even before it is done. Thus you can check whether there are errors and correct these before you completely publish it and have no more control whatsoever.

Report builder software is quite in demand nowadays because these allow the users to organize the report development process. Data can be overwhelming for some people, especially when the report has to obtain information that was presented in previous reports. At least with the C# Report Designer, these can easily be exported.

There are programs that are compatible with the program which makes the work easy for you as well. These are the SQL queries, Multidimensional Expressions, Analysis Services, and Analyses Services Data Mining Expressions. If ever you do have questions regarding the C# Report Designer, you can just log online and participate in the ongoing discussion that is currently happening in forum boards. More and more users are turning to the program in the creation of their reports.

When the report is laid out, the developers have to see whether the context that is used in the presentation can be understood by those who are going to watch it. It is difficult to associate something with geographical presentation. This means that it is not enough that you have visual aids to guide them. You need to have words explaining what the report is. If they can’t get this, then your presentation is to no avail. Do not make the report too daunting for them. That’s why when you’re using the C# Report Designer, you should view the presentation as if you are part of the audience as well and not the one making the report. Put yourself in their shoes. What do you want to know and how will you understand this?

Make the most out of the Preview Tab. This option gives you a preview of the report. You can test the data that you put. This is also a way for you to note whether you punched in the right code or not. The program will not allow you to continue if there are errors. You have to correct the error before you can go on to the next slide of your presentation.

The C# Report Designer comes with a manual that provides you with the steps on how to work with the Report Wizard. These are written in layman’s terms so you don’t have to be a techie to know what to do. The wizard provides you limited number of layouts to choose from but there is the official site where you can download more access – with a fee. The C# Report Designer is an investment that you should consider making, especially if you are constantly creating reports. Save yourself from the time and the effort and just use this program.

Checking Out C# Report Tool

2010-06-13T12:52:00.000+03:00

C# Report Tool is a .net based report generator that helps you make flexible and feature rich reports. When you are scheduled to watch a presentation you want this to be entertaining. So if you are the one making the presentation, you know that you have to make the report entertaining so that you can have your audience hooked. At the same time, your goal is to inform them.

C# Report Tool combines both tasks. You can create those feature-filled reports and engage the audience at the same time because of the panning, zooming, and rotating applications that you can do while you are doing the report. The features depend on the various sources that you have with you. Maximize the report designer.

There are a lot of report designers available for your use. What sets the C# Report Tool apart is that it does not require runtime to function. There are also no royalties whenever you are using these. You can even download these online. If you want additional features, you can check the official site and download these for a fee. But everything you need is already included in the package.

The C# Report Tool comes with a manual that can guide you when you’re making reports. You do not have to be a techie to understand these. The instructions are written in layman’s terms. However, if you do have questions, you can just go online and participate in the discussion in forum boards. More and more people are turning to C# Report Tool to make engaging reports. In fact, it has become a community and people help one another.

You can use the C# Report Tool either in design time or in runtime. Use the ado net c# feature when required. You can create reports both on Asp.net rendered report or in Windows form. The software can also accommodate the information from previous reports and export these in Excel or HTML formats.

How do you determine which engine to use? When you are using the C# Report Tool, you can export these to Xps, Xml, Word, Html, Pdf, Excel, Rtf, Csv, Txt, Emf, Bmp, Jpeg, Png, Gif, and Tiff. That is how convenient this software is when it comes to transferring information from previous reports to one that you are currently doing. But the real power of the software is the ability to provide you with the visual effects that can be used in your presentations. Check customers review and see for yourself that the C# Report Tool has been constantly reviewed in a good light.

There are a lot of reasons why C# Report Tool is on top of its game. There are software that cannot be understand by some people but this is not the case with the C# Report Tool. It is very easy to use and you can make the report run in no time. Just make sure that there are no errors when you’re putting the code and that the information you put there is accurate.

Developing Interactive Web Applications

2010-06-13T12:51:00.000+03:00

In today’s world developing interactive web application has emerged immensely providing businesses registering enormous growth. Now a days development of a range of flash application has greatly mushroomed allowing businesses registering tremendous productivity. Developing web applications in flash is not a hard nut to crack theses days. Every second web development company offers flash animation services. Such simple and easy to use technological tool empowers various corporate customers to showcased an attractive and eye-catching piece that displays the absolute and rich information about the site. A good flash templates for flash web design will be concrete backbone for deploying everything efficiently. It is an combined development environment of Flash Player and the multimedia program. This user friendly internet tool enables users to display an innovative and appealing piece which showcases the exact and rich information about the web sites

The salient aspect of Flash application development is that it can be employed in web sites using .NET, Java technologies or PHP by delivering a competitive edge to web site. One of the key feature of Flash application development is that it can be made to used in severals web applications through .NET, Java technologies or PHP by developing a competitive edge to application development. It is an incorporated development environment of Flash Player and the multimedia program. A good flash templates for flash web application development will be tough backbone for managing the entire process efficiently. Several web sites depend upon flash videos for improved site traffic and enhanced corporate benefits. Flash enables a solid experience of entertainment, especially for video compression.
Flash allows a richer experience of media, especially for video compression.

For making inserted videos in websites much more attractive and interesting, Macromedia Flash, can develop several flash videos and other applications using standard quality and stability for enjoying an interactive site. For creating inserted videos in websites much better attractive and innovative, Macromedia Flash, can deliver a range of flash videos and other applications by employing high quality and stability for attaining interactive sites. Web application in flash can be deployed in vector format, that represents that the graphic quality and various other specifications are independent to each other. Broad range of sites depend upon flash videos for enhanced web site traffic and improved corporate revenues. Flash application development needs expertise and experienced flash developers for developing these interactive sites. Flash application development requires expertise and excelled flash programmers for creating various interactive sites.

Numerous flash web application developers are to vector designing for better flash results. Flash serves developers ultimate exposure and a chance to showcase their corresponding proficiency. After formation of a flash web application it generally undergoes several processes such as, manipulation, analyses, and checking, before it is finally made available to the customers. It also offers flash programmers better business scopes. Flash is an advanced technology that is used to add dynamism and interactivity to the website. Flash web designs do not demand the visitor to download or install anything it just require a single click with the mouse for starting the flash animation video or other flash applications. Flash website development includes the process of adding animated graphics, images, text, menus, buttons and other interesting features to a website. Flash development application has made possible the development of a range of applications through flexible, scalable, and trustworthy content and format for fitting with the smaller screens.

Web has taken the world by storm, basically no business can bear to avoid the significance of world wide web. This aids web application to attain a full visitors, enveloping those possessing slower internet connectivity. These features helps to sustain user's curiosity and interest. Almost every IT organization would like to register their presence on the web using their custom website development application. Also, it enables delivering a more focused message and content to the target audience. Technology is transforming at a fast speed, an application developed on old & obsolete technology can not work on such business firms to fulfill with others in the corporate world.

Analyzing Data Reporting

2010-06-13T12:50:00.000+03:00

Data reporting is an integral part of any business and industry. Learn how to do data reporting properly and accurately by reading this.

If you are part of the company, it helps to know where it is heading. This is the very purpose of the data reporting that is currently implemented by leading companies. They turn to the periodic reports and turn these to either custom reporting or visual studio reporting. The data reporting results to everyone in the company knowing where the business is.

A company is a team. Everyone must do his or her share. In data reporting, the information is gathered and then analyzed. Now when making these presentations, it is important to analyze the facts as well. The data reporting usually includes longitudinal data, whether obtained from the visual studio reporting or the custom reporting. These are incorporated in data reporting and presented in such a way for everyone to see.

For example, if the data reporting is for a hospital, all assessment reports are gathered. The information is stored in the data system and the report software will then analyze all these and present it in such a systematical manner that will make everyone understand. The clinical parameters won’t be that hard to comprehend. Every data is located.

- Height and weight
- ERT history
- Hematological changes
- Quality of Life
- Skeletal involvement

Now with all these data amidst the other data, data reporting can be too complicated. But with the right software, this wouldn’t be a problem. It is the same case with the visual studio reporting. The data reporting software analyzes the important information that must be presented to the public. Then it systematically arranges the information and presents it through feasible data that is very comprehensible for the public.

Another thing to remember in data reporting is that one shouldn’t overwhelm the audience. One must avoid jargon and always use layman’s terms. In a nutshell, the presenter of the presentation must exert effort to involve those who are listening to him. If he doesn’t do this, then it’s like he’s talking to himself and no one else can understand what he is trying to say.

Data reporting analysis is also available upon request. The same goes out to visual studio reporting and custom reporting. You just have to prepare the information that you illustrated in your presentation in order to back up what you mentioned in the report.

Another thing you have to remember when you are engaged in data reporting is the accuracy of your facts. People get in trouble when they present the wrong information to others. You don’t want that to happen to you – especially you are relaying information to people who are working in a company. These employees deserve to know the truth and nothing but the whole truth.

There are other data reporting methods that can benefit all parties. This is the peer-reviewed reporting. The data is shared by everyone and checked whether the information of one person is similar to that of another. If yes, then this means that the information was accurate.

Always double check your information before presenting these to the public. In doing so, you save yourself and others from trouble and confusion respectively.

How to create ISO images using StarBurn Burning Software

2010-06-12T11:17:00.003+03:00

Starburn software, used in grabbing, burning and mastering DVD, CD and HD DVD media and is compatible with all optical storage media and varieties of burning hardware. It serves in copying and burning actions and performs advanced authoring and mastering activities. It helps in creating DVD video from custom files. It also compilation from different DVD. It is easy and simple to operate as it provides series of wizards for beginners. With the DVD split, wizard DVD video can divide to small fragments and burn to writable discs. DVD video viewed directly in PC with the help of StarPort DVD ROM emulator.

With the increase in viruses, it is imperative to keep safeguarding data in compact disc, videodisc or blu ray disc. It prevents the organization from huge loss. PC, laptops at some point get virus Impacted that leads to data destruction and at times the hard disc cracks. For easy operation people have installed computing devices. For usual function, it burns data to compact disc, which remains protected for future use. The user may have systems from Widows or MAC the operation is simple and smooth.

However, to burn text, spreadsheets and PDF files one has to be familiar with the instructions.

- After inserting the CD select the required file from their specific drive for Windows operation. Mac users can choose the required icon and click New Burn systems.
- To burn files into CD drag and drop action is necessary. After the record is copied Windows flash a sign 'files ready to be written on the CD', where in MAC operating system view 'burn folder'.

- Thereafter, select 'write these files to CD'. You will find the CD burning wizard produced for CD identification and then choose click. Select the speed and the burning process begins.

- The record is secured in the CD and safely stored.

Starburn provides free support and updates to its users. The customer support forum is dynamic and quickly responds. ICQ/MSN and live support is available. They customize services and their effectiveness simplifies work for users. But, the user should have minimum 32 bit windows 2000SP4, operation system which is compatible with x86 architecture processor, RAM of 1 GB, disc space at 200 MB for installation and CD, DVD burner. Instead, for a better performance go for 64 bit Widows system, x64 architecture processor compatible to the operating system, RAM of 4 GB, Free disc space of 1 GB and HD DVD burner or blu ray.

Learn How to Use a Mac - Some Strategies

2010-06-12T11:11:00.000+03:00

There are people who have decided to switch over from using a PC to using a Mac. When this happens, you will have to learn the new operating system that you are going to be using. This is going to take a bit of time to learn since it is a new system.

The best advice is to first forget all your old computer habits. You will want to be able to do things the way you are used to and for many this may cause frustration. Just relax and realize that things are done differently. Be open minded about the process to not be as frustrated.

Go to Apple's site and look for the "Grand Tour". There are a series of pages here that will give you an overview of the new operating system that you are going to be using. This site will show you with detailed pictures and labels about what each part of the interface is so you can understand everything.

Read popular forums on switching over to a Mac. Many times there will be some very common newbie questions that will be answered over and over. This is a good resource to get the basics of what you need to know and avoid common issues.

Watch Youtube. There are many tutorials and how to videos that will give you information on the basics. Look for "mac tips" and you will have hundreds of videos that you can watch to get more information.

Get some manuals that are available for new users. There are many third party books that are designed to step you through the process so that you can learn what you need to know.

The best way that you can learn is to simply sit down with the system and start learning it on your own. Go to a store, friend's house, or get your own computer to start the process.

How does an external hard drive work

2010-06-12T11:10:00.000+03:00

While working with computers, everyone needs to back up his/her data from time to time. Now, whenever it comes to backing up the entire data of a computer, most people prefer to go for an external hard drive. It is so because transferring the files and folders from your computer to such a drive is an easy process. The only thing that you need to do is, just drag and drop the data onto the drive. However, there is a very thorough procedure behind this process which you must consider if you really wish to make the most out of your investment.

The components of an external hard drive: Before considering the functioning of an external hard drive, it is crucial to get familiar with components which are the same for all sorts of external drives. Basically, such a hard drive possesses an aluminum coating similar to that of an internal hard disk. If this layer or coating is damaged, then your hard drive turns into a useless metal square. Inside this coating a chip that consists of several small circuits is located which helps in storing the data. Apart from this, a motor is also fitted inside this layer which acts as a cooling fan for the hard drive. Finally a head is attached over the surface of the disk that works like a record.

Now, when you have come to know the components of a typical external hard drive, it's time to consider its working mechanism. Basically, all the information from a computer to an external disk is transferred through a USB port. However, in some advanced computers it may be Firewire. Both of these ports make an external hard drive an addition to the storage capacity of the computer. In order to make this drive communicate with your computer, you need to install a driver which is usually provided with it. But, in most cases you don't need this driver as the operating system itself recognizes your external hard drive as a mass storage device.

Once the drive is identified by the computer, you can easily drag and drop the files into it. Most external hard disks are integrated with both the ROM and RAM storage mechanics, which enables them not only to store the information but also retrieve it for further use. Remaining components of the drive perform the tasks such as establishing and maintaining the connection between computer and disk, operating the drive etc. Here the cooling fan reduces the temperature of the external hard drive so that it may not overheat.

After the connection is established, the transfer of information occurs in both directions, from external hard drive to computer and vice versa. The USB cord is used to carry the current while the drive is connected to the computer. That's why you must eject the drive from computer and then physically remove it. Because pulling out the drive directly from the USB hub may harm either the computer or external hard drive or both.

How to Recover Windows 7 Administrator Password

2010-06-08T22:49:00.000+03:00

We worked around Windows 7 and found some super secret features. These features are hidden that we doubt even the most educated, deeply experienced IT professionals will be able to find them.

1. The most puzzling and nefarious bit of code that we found in the bowels of Windows 7 was what appeared to be a spam bot that could be used to flood the mailbox of a targeted user, or even take down the person’s system.

Of course, this could just be next iteration of Windows Live Mail. However, we're concerned that if this code fell into the wrong hands, it could be used to unfairly target the perceived enemies of Windows,

2. Apple opened the door to more users especially IT professional in past years by building Boot Camp into its Macintosh computers to allow them to run Windows alongside Mac OS X in a multiboot configuration.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft as a secret dual-boot loader in Windows 7 that allows it to emulate Mac hardware and configure Mac OS X as an alternative boot option using the standard off the shelf Mac boot discs. In a fit of cleverness, Microsoft has decided to name it Training Camp, which we discovered when we uncovered the Help file. However, we're not sure what it is training for.

3. Much like the way Microsoft is offering a crimped version of Windows 7, known as Starter Edition, we’ve also found an alternate version of the Windows Registry.

Since this mysterious alternate Registry does not have any official name, let’s call it Registry. The Starter Edition because it is a greatly simplified and dumbed-down version. In fact, instead of five hives like the standard Registry, this one only has two: HKEY_CLUELESS_USER and HKEY_CRAPPY_MACHINE. We’re still not sure what purpose this alternate Registry will serve. The only thing we can think of is that it is made to simplify the process of building Windows software for developers who have been writing Windows code for decades but are still too lazy to follow best practices in terms of file organization and user security.

4. One of the most underused utility in the Microsoft Zune platform is squirting, which allows a Zune user to share a song with another Zune user over Wi-Fi network although the squirted song can only be used for three days or three plays. Microsoft belives this feature is very innovative and deserves much more attention and usage than it has received. Therefore, it has quietly added it into Windows 7.

This will allow cubical mates to share songs with each other from their huge libraries of Zune Marketplace selections, and laptop users will even be use to shoot songs to each from other across the aisle in the subway, for instance. In a surprising move, there is currently no PC to Zune or Zune to PC option. However, we’ve learned that Palm has also discovered this feature and apparently developed its own module to allow PC-to-Palm Pre squirting and vice-versa.

5. We don’t know how Microsoft did this. It looks like they would have needed cooperation from the hardware manufacturers. Nevertheless, it appears that the company has created its own highly-secret software that can turn any standard LCD monitor into a touch screen.

Now users will no longer have to a do a simple click and drag to resize photos. Instead they’ll be able to reach up to their screens with both hands and use a set of complicated multi touch gestures to do the same thing, and it will only take 5-10 seconds longer.

Have you found any secret features deep within the recesses of Windows 7? Any features you wish you could find if you were really looking?