DIY PC Repairs

How to Find Your Routers IP Address

2012-02-17T06:46:00.001Z

You may have come across an instance where you need to connect to your router on your home network and therefor need it’s IP address. This post takes a look at how we find that information.

Finding the IP address for your router is not as difficult as it may sound and after only a minute or two you could have that all important address.

This is a relatively straight forward task using the Run command and then the command prompt from within your Windows install.

We’ll now take a look at the steps involved.

Left click on the Windows Start button on the task bar
From the start menu left click on Run or press the “Windows Key + R” on your keyboard to open the Run command box.
Type “cmd” in the Run command box
At the flashing curser in the newly opened command window type ipconfig then press enter
Within the information that is offered after pressing enter, towards the top of the list you will see “Default Gateway”
To the right side of Default Gateway entry you will see an IP address which should look something like 192.168.0.1 (this may not be the IP address shown for your router).
Make a note of the IP address and close the command window
Open your web browser and enter the default gateway IP address in the address bar just as you would a web address
Pressing enter will offer you the login page for your router on your home network.

DIYPCRepairs

How to Easily Run Programs as an Administrator in Windows 7 and Windows Vista

2011-12-23T12:22:00.001Z

In this post I’ll be taking a look at how we can easily run programs as Administrator from within Windows 7

Anyone who is running User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista or Windows 7 may have come across this issue when running programs on their computer.

Because when running UAC the Windows Vista or Windows 7 user is not logged in as an Administrator and some programs may not behave as they should. This is due to the fact that the person who started the program only having normal user privileges.

The way we get around this for the programs that must be run with Admin privileges is an easy process, but one that can be forgotten.

Here is the easy way.

First Right click on the program you want to run.
In the list that appears at the bottom you will see Properties.
Left click Properties.
In the dialog box that appears left click on the Compatibility tab.
In the new dialog box at the bottom place a tick mark in the box next to “Run this program as an Administrator”.
Left click apply then OK.

You can now start that program as you normally would and it will run with full Administrator privileges with out you having to do anything.

DIYPCRepairs

How to Wi-Fi Sync your iPhone or iPad to iTunes

2011-12-18T14:02:00.001Z

With IOS 5 has come the ability to sync your iPhone, iPod and iPad with iTunes over your Wi-Fi network (iTunes 10.5 and above). Lets take a look at how we activate and use this new feature.

1. To start with you will need to connect you IOS 5 iPhone, iPod or iPad to you computer and iTunes with the Apple supplied USB cable.

2. Once you have connected to iTunes, click on your device in the left hand menu.

3. On the summary page of your device you will see the section named Options. Within the options list you will see “Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi”

4. Place a tick mark in the box for Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi.

5. There is one important thing to do before we finish setting up iTunes and that is to make sure you are not syncing anything on the info tab over Wi-Fi, if you are also using iCloud backup. This could lead to duplicate contacts, calendars and e-mail accounts on your IOS device.

6. Click Apply then eject your device from iTunes.

That’s the iTunes side of things setup and ready to go, there is nothing to setup on the device itself. Your iPhone, iPod or iPad will now sync with iTunes whenever it is connected to a power source and is on the Wi-Fi network with iTunes running on your computer.

You can also start a sync yourself from within the setting of IOS 5.

How to use Longer Secure Passwords on iPhone, iPad and IOS

2011-12-14T06:36:00.001Z

This post takes a look at how we can set long alphabetical and numerical passwords on all IOS devices.

We know that it is possible to set a four digit passcode on our iPads and iPhones to protect our important data, but you can do more if you wish.

There is also a more secure way to protect that data with a stronger password which can be a mix latters as well as the more usual numbers.

This is a pretty straight forward thing to do but rather than add a written walkthrough here I’ll leave the video to take you through the steps.

There is a number of times you will have to re-enter old and new passwords which can be easier understood in the following video.

DIYPCRepairs

How to Turn on Multitasking Gestures on the iPad

2011-12-12T17:56:00.001Z

In this post I’ll show you how to turn on multitasking gestures on the iPad 1 and 2 running IOS 5.0 and above.

Apple added the use of multitasking gestures to both the iPad 1 and the iPad 2 with the IOS 5.0 update.

With the use of multiple finger swipes, you will find that navigating around your iPad that little bit easier and is a very easy function to active.

So here is a quick run through of the steps to turn on multitasking gestures,

Open the Settings app
Select the General tab
Scroll down until you see Multitasking Gestures
Slide the switch to the On position

That’s all that is required to turn on multitasking gestures. You can now use a 5 finger (there’s four fingers and a thumb really) pinch action to return to your iPads home screen.

DIYPCRepairs

How to Turn On Photo Stream in IOS 5 and iCloud

2011-10-18T21:17:00.001+01:00

Apple added iCloud as part of it’s IOS 5 software update. We’ll take a look here at one of the many useful services iCloud offers, Photo Stream.

Photo stream allows IOS 5 users to share photos between any other IOS 5 device and their computers over a Wi-Fi network. If you take a photo using your iPhone’s camera and you enabled photo stream, the next time that iPhone connects to a Wi-Fi network, your photos will be shared through Photo Stream.

Photo stream is not enabled by default so here’s how we activate the service.

We’ll take a look at the iPhone settings, you will find the same settings on the iPad and iPod.

1. Open settings on your iPhone, iPod or iPad

2. Scroll down and tap on iCloud

3. Here you will see a list of iCloud services, including Photo Stream.
If you see OFF (Photo Stream is activated in the screenshot below) tap on Photo Stream.

5. Set the toggle switch to on

Photo Stream is now activated on your iPhone. Now all that is needed to share your photos is that you turn on Photo Stream on any other idevice you own.

To access your Photo Stream pictures on your Windows computer you can download and install iCloud Control Panel for Windows and you can find a blog walkthrough on how to do that HERE.

DIYPCRepairs

How to Download Your Photos from iCloud to your Windows Computer

2011-10-15T15:11:00.001+01:00

We’ll take a look at how we can download photos from photo stream which is a part of Apple’s new iCloud service to our computer’s desktop.

So, now that Apple have rolled out their ultra useful iCloud services, we’ll take a look here at how we can download content you have stored on iCloud namely photos that are stored in photo stream to our computer.

Apple offer a application that makes this process as seamless as iCloud, and is a free download from the Apple website called iCloud Control Panel and can be found here.

Once you have downloaded the iCloud Control Panel for Windows setting it up to sync with iCloud is very easy.

1. First sign in to your Apple/iCloud account.

2. Once signed in you should see something like this.

3. Place a tick in the box next to Photo Stream.

4. Apply your new settings then exit the iCloud Control Panel for Windows.
5. Click on the Windows start button
6. From the Windows start menu left click on Pictures
7. locate the photo stream folder and open it.

8. You should now see two folders My Photo Stream and Uploads

Any photos that iCloud has stored for you in it’s photo stream will be in the My Photo Stream folder. If you would like to add photos from your computer to iCloud and Photo Stream you can add them to the upload folder and they will be uploaded to iCloud and then be viewable on any device that can connect to iCloud.

DIYPCRepairs

How to Backup Your Apple iPhone, iPod or iPad in iTunes Without Using Sync

2011-10-12T21:29:00.001+01:00

In this blog post I want to take a look at how you can manually backup your iPhone/iPod or iPad without going through the whole iTunes sync process.

This walkthrough will deal with devices running any version of IOS including IOS 5.0.
Backup is performed through Apple’s iTunes. If you currently do not have iTunes installed on your computer you can download it from Apple’s website for free.

So, once you have iTunes installed lets take a look at the steps involved.

1. Find your device in the left hand side menu in iTunes under DEVICES.

2. Right click on your iDevice which will open a submenu.

3. Within the submenu right click on Back Up.

4. iTunes will begin backing up your device.

5. That’s it, your iPhone/iPod or iPad will now be backed up in iTunes.

This is a nice way to speed up the backup process if you do not have any items to transfer too or from your iDevice.

DIYPCRepairs.

How to Add the Home Button to Google Chrome Browser

2011-09-11T11:38:00.001+01:00

In this short video we’ll take a look at adding the home button to the Google Chrome browser.

New users to Google Chrome especially those users that are moving over from Internet Explorer may have noticed that after they install Google Chrome they are missing the home button in the browser.
The home button can be added to the browser once you have install the program and is quick and straight forward to do.

Also in this video I’ll show you how you can also add the bookmarks bar which again is very easy to do.
I’ll add a walkthrough here as well at the video.

Open the Google Chrome browser
In the top right of the browser window you will see a spanner/wrench
Left click on the spanner/wrench icon to open the options list
From the list left click Options
On the page that opens you will see Toolbar
Place a tick in the box at the side of Show Home Button
Place a tick in the box at the side of Always show the bookmarks bar
Close the options tab

You should now see your new home button at the top of the browser.
For a walkthrough on how to change your default homepage do a search on this blog for the video I have added.

DIYPCRepairs.

How to Delete Unwanted Programs from Windows 7, Vista and XP

2011-09-10T15:49:00.001+01:00

This video takes a look at how we can remove unwanted or unused programs we may have installed on Windows XP, Windows Vista and also Windows 7.

This is a very easy and straight forward task, it is important to under stand that once you have un-installed a program in this way the program will no longer be available for any files or data that rely on it!
With that said, please make sure before going on to back up all your important data.

Here are the steps and video on how to remove a program from Windows.

Left click on the start button in the bottom left of your desktop
Left click Control Panel
You should now see a list of options and here you will see Programs and under that Uninstall a Program
Left click on Uninstall a Program
Windows will now offer you a list of programs you have installed on your computer. Find the program you a wanting to remove from that list and left click on it.
At the top of the list you should now see Uninstall or Uninstall/change
You will be asked if you are sure you want to uninstall the selected program
If you clicked yes in step 7 you will now be walked through the rest of the uninstall process by the Windows wizard.

So that’s how we remove programs from Windows. If you backed up your data before you removed the program and find that you did need that program after all to open some data or file you can simply re-install the program and access your data once again.

DIYPCRepairs

How to Replace the Recycle Bin to the Windows Vista Desktop

2011-06-19T18:38:00.002+01:00

Here we have a quick look at how to restore the recycle bin to the Windows Vista desktop should we accidently delete it.

This is a very common question among Windows Vista users due to just how easy it is to delete the recycle bin by mistake.

So the steps to follow to replace the bin are as follows

1. Right click anywhere on the Windows Vista desktop
2. Left click personalize in the menu that appears
3. place a kick mark next to the recycle bin at the top of the list

That’s it, you should now have your recycle bin back on your desktop.

Check out the video for a full walkthrough.

DIYPCRepairs.

How to turn on Automatic Downloads on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch

2011-06-13T21:09:00.005+01:00

Let's take a look at how we turn on Apples new iCloud service automatic updates.

First of all you will need to check and make sure you are running the latest version of iTunes and also the latest IOS release.

So, now you have the software needed, we'll first take a look at how we turn on automatic updates within iTunes.

We will now move on to cover how to turn the service on your IOS device iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.

Whichever device you are using you will need to be running the latest version of IOS which is 4.3.3 at the time of writing.

The process of turning on automatic downloads is the same on all devices,

1. Open the settings app

2. Select Store from the settings menu

(iPad)

(iPhone/iPod)

3. Select which services you would like to automatically download and set the toggle to on.

(iPad)

(iPhone/iPod)

That's it, now any apps, books or music you download on one device will also be sent and downloaded to all your other devices with automatic downloads turned on including iTunes.

There is always the option of selecting which of your downloads you would like on your iTunes of device.
This is the default setting and is offered when automatic downloads is turned of. You can then open the App store for example on you iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and under the download tab in the app store or iTunes you will see purchased.

This will offer you a list of everything you have downloaded to any of your devices. You will see a small cloud icon with a download arrow and by clicking that you can select what you can select the download rather than everything being sent to the device.

DIYPCRepairs.

How to Backup Your Important Data.

2011-04-28T06:24:00.003+01:00

In this post I going to take a look at how to best backup your data so that should the worse happen and you lose your computers hard drive your data will be stored away in a safe place and will be one less problem to worry about.

The best approach to data backup is having 3 copies of all the files you see as being important to you. These files could include things like family photos, videos your mp3 music collection, all the things that if you were to lose them could not be easily replace, if at all.

So, let's have a look at how we can go about setting up the three backup copies of your data.
The first and easies copy is the one on your computer. This is where the first copy of your photos, music and other important files are kept, this is going to be your first back-up and one that you already have in place.
All I would say here is it's best to have all these files in some kind of order that makes sense to you and you know where everything is.

Your second back-up should be on some kind of removable media. You can use a few different types of storage here such as CD, DVD or even SD cards if you don't have a large amount of data to back-up.
The best form of storage media here by far if you have a lot to backup is an external hard drive.

These come in many shapes and sizes as well as the storage size they offer so there is a drive to match most, if not everybody's backup needs.
These drives often come with some kind of easy to use backup software pre installed and it is then just a case of telling that software where the data is on your computer you want to backup, hence the tip earlier about knowing where your files and folders are.

The third backup should be offsite away from your home, this is to safe guard against things like fire or flood and also theft.
This form of backup is becoming easier to do now that there are a number of companies offering safe on-line backup solutions with yearly subscriptions.

There are also free online backup options to for things like your photos and videos. YouTube is the obvious video solution, videos can be uploaded and if you don't want the world watching them you can simply mark them private. The one down side to using YouTube to store your videos is the limits they place on the file size and the videos length. YouTube are always making changes to these limits so it's worth checking them out to see if they match your needs.

For your photos there service such as Google's picasa web which give you 1G of free storage and offer more space on a subscription basis which is offered at a very reasonable price. The other great advantage to using picasa is the the downloadable desktop application which you can use to edit, manage and then sync with your picasa web account.

There are many other service for online storage and backup, far too many to fully list here. These services will help you keep your valuable data safe in the cloud as a quick search on Google will show.

DIYPCRepairs.

How to Download and Install Internet Explorer 9 (IE9)

2011-04-16T22:48:00.004+01:00

In this walkthrough I’m going to take a look at how to download and install Microsoft's new web browser Internet Explorer 9.

So, to start this install you first have to visit the Microsoft Internet Explorer at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/internet-explorer/products/ie/home

Once you have visited the link above you will be on the Internet Explorer download page. Here you will see the “Download Now” button in the centre of the page, click that button to begin the download process.

Once you have clicked the download button you will be offered a screen where you can select which language and operating system version of Internet Explorer 9 you would like to download.

When you have selected the version you would like to download Internet Explorer will begin to download to your computer.

Find the location you have downloaded the file to (the default should be to your download folder, Start – Downloads from the Windows desktop). Once found double click the .exe file.

You will be offered this warning dialog box, click Run

In the dialog box that follows click the Install button.

Internet Explorer 9 will now begin to fully download and install on your computer.

You may find that if you have any open windows on your computer as you are installing IE9 you will see a dialog box asking you to close them. Save any data you maybe working on and then click continue. The installer will then close the windows for you.

The install will then continue.

After a short time the install will complete and Internet Explorer 9 will be installed on your computer. You will have to restart your computer before you can use your new browser.

RMMFJAG94ZDS

How to fix Windows 7 start-up problems

2011-01-28T21:25:00.004Z

In this screencast I’m going to take a look at another tool you can use if you find yourself in a position where you’re Windows 7 computer will not start-up.

I’ve covered safe mode and last known good configuration in other screencast and this start-up recovery tool will also help to get your Microsoft Windows back on it’s feet and running as it should.

How To Clean Install Windows 7 (without format)

2011-01-26T21:39:00.007Z

Well if you can get away with not having to do a format at the point of installing Windows you give yourself more options when it comes to any files, folder or any data you may have had on your computer which you didn't have backed up.

Windows XP has a similar method of installing without totally destroying the data you had saved on your hard drive in which it just over installed the Windows system files and didn't touch the folders holding your data.
Windows 7 goes about this a little differently in that it puts all your data in a folder called windows.old then installs your new install in the default windows folder.

What this means is that once Windows 7 has installed you can access that windows.old folder and them move over you user files such as photos videos and the like to your new install of Windows.
This video will show you how to go about installing Windows 7 in this way and how to recover your data.

How to Install and Partition Windows 7

2011-01-21T20:39:00.005Z

This video takes a look at how to both install Windows 7 and also repartition your hard drive at the point of install.

We know that you can repartition your hard drive from within Windows 7 after you have installed and setup the operating system but you can also manage you hard drive at the point you install Windows.

It is important that you back up your important files and folders before you follow anything in this screencast video to protect your data.

How to Resize a Hard Drive from within Windows 7

2011-01-16T16:01:00.004Z

This screencast takes a look at how to extend the size of your computers C partition/drive using the tools within Microsoft’s Windows 7.

Extending the size of your C drive or any partition in your computer is a relatively straight forward process but it dose have its draw back.

A Windows partition can only be extended in to its neighbouring partition which must be an unallocated space. This means that if the drive you are thinking of making larger has a neighbour that is in use that drive will have to be deleted!
The only way round this if you are using Windows 7 to extend your drive is to back-up all the data on the neighbouring drive then delete it, extend C then replace your date, that’s the draw back.
Once all your data is safely taken care of the rest of the task is easy as this screencast will show.

I also have a video on this site covering how to create a new Windows partition if you find you have one large C: drive/partition on your computer. To find that video simple use the search box and enter “Repartitioning a Windows hard drive”

How To Repartition a Windows 7 Hard Drive

2011-01-15T17:23:00.006Z

It is possible to repartition your Windows 7 hard drive from within Windows 7 itself and it is a quite simple operation.

This screencast takes a look at what is involved in this quite simple procedure.
Repartitioning your hard drive is useful if you find that your computer has had its Windows installed on one large partition.

You may find that you would like to have a separate partition away from your Windows install to use as storage making thing easier if you have to reinstall Windows for any reason.

One of the big plus points of storing your data like this on a separate drive is that if you ever have problems with your Windows install or the C: drive you can simple just reinstall Windows again and you will not have to worry about all you other data due to it being on a different drive (always back your data up, check out www.diypcrepairs.net and do a search for a Windows 7 back-up walkthrough).

How to Use Last Known Good Configuration

2011-01-14T21:12:00.005Z

This screencast with run you through the steps of how to use last known good configuration to get your Windows start-up back on its feet.

Last known good configuration is a great tool for fixing Windows boot problems. Every time your computer starts up normally Windows remembers all the settings from that boot.

If then on the next start-up there’s a problem that stops Windows starting correctly tapping F8 as soon as you start your computer, then selecting Last known good configuration from the advanced boot options will tell Windows to revert back to the settings it saved on the last good boot.

Along with safe mode (do a search on this site for the safe mode video) this is one of the first things to try if your having start-up crashes.

How to Start Windows 7 in Safe Mode

2011-01-13T21:49:00.007Z

Here we have a quick run through on how to start Windows 7 in safe mode (Vista and XP use the same method).
This is a great way to troubleshoot Windows start-up errors.
Along with last known good configuration safe mode is the first thing to try when Windows 7, Vista or XP will not boot as it should, all versions of Microsoft Windows boot into safe mode the same way with F8.

Safe mode starts Microsoft Windows with only the minimum driver set to get itself to a very basic usable state.
If you find that your computer will not start-up when you try a normal boot but then will boot ok in safe mode then you have just ruled out errors with the main Windows system files. The more likely problem now is with a bad driver or the like.

If your computer has now started in safe mode you could try restarting again, tapping F8 and selecting Last Known Good Configuration and then see if your computer will start normally.
One other option is to try what I call advanced system restore by booting from the Microsoft Windows install CD/DVD and running system restore from there (do a search on this site to find more info and videos on system restore), then try rolling back to a time that you know the computer was running and starting up normally.

How to use Windows 7 Backup Pt1

2010-10-10T18:32:00.007+01:00

There are those of us computer users that have, and those of us that are going too!

I’m talking about data loss, losing photos, videos, a work file or folder. Question is, if it happens to you how do you get it back after the event?

If you have been unlucky in the past and have lost data through a hardware fail such as a faulty hard drive or a computer crash as you were working on a file which then became corrupt (see part two of this video for a real life demo of that!) you will probably know the value of a good backup plan!

Maybe you had your data backed up at the time of the fail, if you didn’t you will now also know the value of your data, hardware can be fixed or replaced the same can’t always be said about you priceless documents or photos.

So how are we going to safeguard that important data you have on you pc?

Windows 7 has a great backup software built into the operating system and in this video we’ll take a look at how we can use that to backup the data on our computers.
You will need some kind of storage device which you will use to store the backed up data on, an external hard drive will be fine.

The video will cover how we go about backing the data up but one word of warning, don’t rely on blind faith once you have your backup, it’s always a good idea to test the back up by restoring a file or two to a different location on the hard drive (Don’t overwrite the original copy!) just to make sure the files and folders are backed up OK on the external drive or whatever you used in your backup.

Even better, and this is how many people backup really important data to them is make a third copy of your files on a different backup medium such as the internet, there are many companies offering this kind of Internet backup nowadays just do a search on Google to find more details on that.

Thanks for watching.

How to add files and folders to Windows 7 libraries

2010-10-10T17:09:00.003+01:00

This is a very quick Windows 7 tip on how to add a file or folder to your Windows 7 libraries.

If you have watched the backup video, you will know that Windows 7 backup adds all the files and folders within it’s libraries to the backup as well as all the default windows folders, but what if you have moved one or more of your files or folders away from that default location?

Well, this walkthrough will show you how to add that moved data to your libraries so that you don’t have the worry of, was it was backed up or not.

So, below is a walkthrough and video of what is involved.

Navigate to the file or folder you wish to add
Right click the file or folder, then hover over the include in library
Select the category you would like to add the file or folder too

That’s it, you should now see your data in the libraries window.
Windows will not move your data only make a copy of it in the library, you can add data as you were before and the folder or file will not have moved.

Thanks for watching.

How to add a new user account to Windows 7

2010-10-09T16:42:00.002+01:00

Adding new user account to any version of Windows is a relatively straight forward task to perform.

In this video we look at how to add a administrator user account to Windows 7 but also how to downgrade an account to a standard user.
How to add the new user account,

Click start
Left click Control Panel in the start menu
Under accounts and family safety left click add or remove user accounts
Under the boxed area showing the existing user accounts left click Create a new account
Within the new account window enter the name you would like to give you new account
Select either administrator or standard account type
Click create account

You will now see your newly created account in the users boxed area.

To change a user account from either standard or administrator,

follow steps 1 to 3 above
Right click the account you are changing
You will be offered a number of options relating to that user account
Right click change account type
Select the account type you prefer administrator/standard
Right click change account type

Thanks for watching.

How To Use DIY PC Repairs.

2010-10-09T07:40:00.004+01:00

Most computer problems are not that difficult to solve if you have a basic idea of what the problem is.

There are many sites and forums like this one all over the Internet that will help and guide you to ways of putting right most if not every problem you may face.
Having said that, some site do a better job of walking a user through a fix than others.

Here at DIY PC Repairs I aim to make it as clear as possible how to perform those fixes yourself with the help of videos to guide you along.
I've always found it much easier to watch someone walk you through something than using a walkthrough that has been written in steps.

I will be using screenshot walkthroughs on this site where it is difficult to get video coverage of a fix, I aim to make them as clear as possible with plenty images and photos to help you along.

As I add more and more videos to the site the easiest way for you, the site visitor, to find a video linked to your problem is to use the blogs search function.
You will see on the top right of each page a site search box. By adding a keyword or phrase to the box related to your problem then clicking "search" the site will open a new window with all the articles and videos from the site that may help you to fix your problem.

The site has been categorised to also help you find relevant information and a list of those categories can be found down the right side of every page on the site.

Thank you for visiting diypcrepairs.net