Why buy a Mac?
Mac computers are some of the most reliable machines on the market today, gaining popularity due to the fact that they’re essentially virus proof amidst being cool to look at. There are more reasons to buy a Mac computer other than the fact that it is aesthetically pleasing however. This article will outline a few reasons why buying a Mac is well worth your money.
Virus Resistant
Mac computers run on Apple’s OSX OS which is a UNIX system. This makes Apple machines practically immune to all viruses and trojans that the internet can throw at you. This means that Mac’s aren’t only nearly immune to the threat of viruses, but it also means that they don’t have to deal with the hassle of anti-virus software. Not having to deal with anti-virus software means you’re saving your money and your time by not having to worry about the potential threat of viruses.
Dual-Boot Windows
Mac computers are able to run Windows because of the fact that Microsoft has allowed Apple to install it on their systems. This means that if you still need Windows for your work or for any sort of program that will not run on OSX, you still have Windows right there available for you to use. If your computer is strong enough to run OSX, chances are it’s strong enough to at least run Vista also; meaning that you need no hardware upgrades to have both OS’s.
Visually Pleasing
Not only are Mac computers technically sound, they’re also a pleasure to look at. Macs often are very customizable in appearance in respect to color and screen size. You can also count on your MacBook laptop weighing significantly less than its Windows counterpart while also supporting a much better battery life. If you’ve ever seen a MacBook Air commercial you’ve probably seen that the laptops are so thin that they can even fit into a small envelope!
Easy to Use
One problem that Windows users often have that is never an issue with OSX is how many odd issues that they experience with software installations and driver compatibility. OSX doesn’t suffer from nearly as many issues and is much easier to use because of how intuitively the OS is laid out for you. Everything makes sense and just feels like it’s where it should be.
Macs are becoming increasingly more common among workplaces and schools. They’re easy to use, visually appealing, and virus resistant. It’s hard to find a fault other than price, but is that really a problem when they’re so effective and reliable?
Photo Credits: Djenan
Originally posted 2009-10-26 03:25:47.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 18, 2012 in
Computer and Gadget Shopping, Macintosh
Registry
Registry is a database warehouse of information related to our computer and its configuration. It keeps a copy of all files and folders that we use everyday. Thus the size of registry grows everyday by keeping record of all important and unimportant files. Thus the registry needs a cleanup session at regular intervals to keep up the performance of our computer system. It degrades our computer and may also cause problems in the use of various softwares. It removes clutter thereby letting the computer to run at the fastest possible speed. A Registry can come in handy to retrieve a data that would otherwise have been lost from the operating system.
There are two ways of cleaning the Registry: Manually and by Registry cleaning softwares.
The manual method of cleaning Registry is quiet risky as one may delete files that are actually wanted. It’s a taxing job to relate important files to respective applications and manually filter wanted files from the unwanted ones. The removal of any important file can cause the operating system to crash. So it is always recommended to use authorized software specially programmed for cleaning registry.
Use of software for cleaning registry is the most preferred and popular way.
Tips for safe registry cleanup
Since registry cleaning is a risky process, some safety measures can help avoid crashing and damaging your computer. It is also helpful in proper cleaning process to achieve the best results out of this activity.
Always create a backup of all files before the start of cleaning process. This can be done either manually or by use of tools. This tool is inbuilt with a registry cleaning software.
Even in the case of cleaning through software, it is recommended not to use auto cleaning option. For extra safety one can create a second back up.
It is important to close all open applications because new files keep on generating on registry every time a tool is running.
Once the software is done with the scanning process, it is better to allow the cleaner software to eliminate errors at the safest and lowest level. One can scan at an extensive all-inclusive way at a later stage. It is highly recommended to avoid using the option of auto cleaning as it might delete important files.
The fastest way to check the scan result is by looking for files that seem to be familiar. It will be easy to decide if they are wanted or unwanted ones.
After an initial round of clean up, one can go for higher level intrusive clean up after a gap of few days. The software will scan and group them on basis of their usefulness. One needs to be very careful with important usable files.
After the final instructions, it will start cleaning the registry. This brings us to an end of the cleaning process.
The cleaning process my sometimes delete few important applications, the best way is to recover them from the back ups that were created.
Cleaning registry once in a month is highly recommended.
Photo Credits: Takuya Oikawa
Originally posted 2010-04-24 03:59:20.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 18, 2012 in
Computer Performance and Tech Support, Computer Tips, Registry
Password Change
If you share a computer with the rest of the members who live in your home, you may want to secure and protect important data and files from accidental tampering or deletion. This is especially important when you have children around who love to tinker with gadgets. Similarly, when you share a desktop unit with an office mate, it would be wise to secure important documents with passwords. Even if you do not find yourself in any of these particular situations, you still may benefit from the extra security for your personal peace of mind.
Technology has allowed us to protect files and the like through the help of passwords. If you are using Windows as an operating software platform, whatever version it may be, you have the option of creating different passwords for different users on the computer. One password each for every individual user. In other words, logging in with a password opens all the files and programs related to that particular user only. Other people’s files and folders are hidden from you and yours from them.
When leaving your desk always log off. This means if somebody else uses the computer after you they can do so without “touching” your important files and data. Do this whenever you leave the computer unattended. When you return to your desk, simply enter your name and password to access your personal files and folders. All of this can be set up from the control panel of the Windows program. The control panel is readily accessible from the Start button of Windows.
What if you prefer to simply protect certain files from your profile? A secret MS Word file perhaps or a confidential document? No problem! To keep peering eyes away from that MS Word document, you can choose to hide the file from normal view. To do this, simply click Options from the Tools Menu and then choose the Security tab. Key in the password of preference. Press Enter or choose Ok. You will be prompted to retype your chosen password for verification. Simply retype it on the box. Complete by clicking OK. That document can only be opened and read if the user knows the password. Otherwise, he or she will not be able to open it.
If you prefer to protect a whole folder, the security options are also accessible in the same way as mentioned above. This way, nobody can access your folder, along with all the files inside it, without the password.
These are easy and simple ways of providing your much-needed peace of mind. Maximize your operating software’s nifty features. After all, you paid for it!
Photo Credits: akeg
Originally posted 2010-04-21 03:34:09.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 17, 2012 in
Computer Tips, Security and Malware
Active GIF Creator
With the advent of computers, animation businesses have grown many folds and this has created new career for many. Today computer animation is not only limited to studio’s where a group of artists work for days to create one animated movie. It has reached to homes of enthusiastic learners who can work individually to create movies. An animator needs a lot of special tools to create an animation which makes this professional a bit expensive one.
Here we would discuss about top 10 animation tools:
1. Active GIF Creator 2.23
One can use this tool to create wonderful animated images. Movies can also be created by using creative graphics and pictures or any edited image using a variety of editing programmes. This software also supports in importing various kinds of images from ICO, JPG, PSD and GIF to generate animated files. It also supports import and export of animated GIF folders.
2. 3D Flash Animator 4
This software has most of the tools that one can need to create fabulous animations and all interactive tools and has programming capacity to create complicated websites.
It also has painting sets and tools for drawing which are very advanced. This tool is quiet simple to apply.
3. Abrosoft FantaMorph 3.5
This is a powerful and user-friendly tool for creating amazing animations by giving sophisticated effects. This is the best software available for morphing out pictures and it faster as well. One can create unique and exhilarating visuals for screens, web-based graphics, videos and many more electronic features.
4. Animatricks 2004.4
This program can be use to create animations that are like movies from a photo or a picture. It is capable of exporting from MPEG, JPG and BMP for animation. It also supports increasing and decreasing the size of animations, their time durations, frame positions and timing.
5. Sprite Builder 2.0
Sprite Builder can be used successfully to mix two different images to form a single sprite. This tool is specifically developed to make animated games. It is very user-friendly and supports standard frames and simple editing process. It allows addition of pictures to frames that are already open.
6. MorphBuster 8.5
MorphBuster can be successfully used for morphing pictures of great performance. It is compatible with many picture formats such as TIFF, GIF, BMP, TGA and JPEG. It makes use of OpenGL for making frames for animation. It has every tool required for resizing, rotating, adjust images, cropping, flipping and editing images from any source.
7. Fun Morph 2.3
This tool has user-friendly image morphing and is funny and easy to use photo morphing and image distorting software. It can be useful in converting general pictures to funny images. This software is fast enough to design and format.
8. It'sMe 2.05
It'sMe tool allows creation of high-definition animations and can be used to create any kind of customized and totally animated characters of anyone from just one photograph. It also allows bonding of different images to create camouflages.
9. Artoonix 1.5
This software tool is designed to develop cartoons on computers. It allows creation of drawings, to modify pictures from various files. Exporting the animated movies for website, for wallpapers and emails can also be easily done.
10. Rotor 3D Viewer 2.0
As the name suggests, this tool helps viewing good quality animations. It is user-friendly when it comes to creating 3D staging.
Photo Credits: www.easyanimationtools.com
Originally posted 2010-04-25 09:23:48.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 17, 2012 in
Computer Programs and Software, Computer Tips, Music Photos and Documents
Ping the cat is happy to ping your computer.
Are you aware of the term ping? Ping is a command which is used to determine any problems with your network or your computer. It is a signal that is sent to a computer or a network in order to elicit a response that aids in determining whether it is connected or not.
You can easily determine whether a single computer in a network is down or the entire network itself is down, by observing the responses. If there is no response at all from any of the computers on the network, that means that the entire network is down, or if only few computers do not respond to the ping command, they are down whereas the network is up. It is very easy to ping your computer. Here are a few steps that you need to follow in order to ping a computer.
The first step in pinging your computer is to find the IP address of your system. Click on the Start icon and select the 'run' option and click on it. Type the word 'cmd' in the window that pops up and press enter. Once the DOS prompt window opens up, type the word 'ipconfig' to find the IP address of your system. Jot down the IP address of your system.
Now open other DOS prompt window by following the above mentioned steps. Then type the word 'ping', without the quotes and press the space bar once to ensure that there is a single space between the command 'ping' and the IP address you wish to ping. Then enter the IP address after the space. For instance, ping 127.11.22.3. After you have provided the necessary information, press the enter key. Verify the output from the system in response to the ping command. If the output has a 'request timed out' phrase, then there is a problem either with the computer or with the network. If the output has a phrase 'reply from' in the output, then there is no problem in the network or your system.
The ping command can also be used to verify whether the websites are actively responding or not. For instance you can use the command - ping <website name> to ping a website. If the website is actively running, then you get a response from there. The information you receive from the ping command contains the data related to the IP address, the exact number of bytes sent, the time took for sending the information packets. The lower is the number of the milliseconds that are taken for the round trip from your computer to the server, the better is the performance of the network. A higher value indicates a problem in the network between the server you have pinged and your computer.
Thus a ping command is a simple way of diagnosing problems with a network and computer connected to it. This is how you can ping a computer and use these steps the next time you have a problem with your network or your computer.
Photo Credits: Flyinace2000
Originally posted 2010-04-18 03:55:48.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 16, 2012 in
Computer Performance and Tech Support, Computer Tips, Networks
Formatting Computer
There are people who want to delete everything in their computer and want to start from scratch again. But the problem is that they do not know how to go about things. The following are some instructions on how you can delete everything on your computer:
1. Get rid of Spyware before starting. Ensure that you do not have spyware or other kind of viruses on the computer because the entire thing would not work if you have spyware impeding you at every turn.
2a. Get your entire computer system formatted. You can do this by using the manufacturer CDs that came with your computer. Between your owner’s manual and the CDs you will be walked through the process of reformatting the entire system.
2b. Do a System Restore. You do this by going to the Start Menu and select Programs from the given options. Then select Accessories and select System Tools. There should be a restore option in the System Tools. You can restore the computer by going back any distance you want to, but keep one thing in mind, you will not be able to format the system or wipe all the contents in the system.
Why Delete Contents of Computer?
The reason most computer users feel they must delete everything from the computer is that because they feel it is overstuffed and has a lot of mess. In order to get rid of the mess, one uses the option of formatting the system.
If you want to just get rid of certain files which have become a mess and have caused lot of trouble, then you can select those files and manually delete them. Though manually deleting the contents would take up some time, it would definitely make sure that you are deleting what you want to delete.
Warnings:
Formatting cannot be reversed and once your system is formatted, it stays formatted. You cannot get the deleted files back. Therefore it is advisable to create a backup for the important information, files, and documents.
Photo Credits: waldyrious
Originally posted 2010-05-14 03:02:49.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 15, 2012 in
Computer Performance and Tech Support, Computer Tips
Cars for Sale on Ebay
Prospective car buyers, who are looking for a bargain, choose to attend car auctions in hopes of bagging the car of their dreams at a cut-rate price. Prices from car dealers are just too high for many people today. This is the reason why hundreds of thousands of people in the United States have purchased their cars online through EBay Motors, an online car auction resource.
You need to be cautious as fraud and misrepresentation abound in the cyber highways of EBay. A good number of bidders end up as happy buyers of a car they snagged. They get it below its market value and have no problems with the seller. However, since internet fraud has increased in these online auction sites, it won’t hurt to be extra careful in dealing with sellers. You don’t want to end up being one of the 1% who fall prey to fraudulent cases from EBay transactions. Don’t shell out that hard-earned money too fast too soon. Make sure you do your part in ensuring a legit transaction with an EBay car seller.
The ratings on sellers’ feedback indicate a lot about them. If a seller is serious in his trade, he will do anything to make sure he gets very high feedback grades. Take time to also read the comments posted by other buyers. Also check the items being sold by the seller and examine the products the feedback refers to. Pay close attention to the high ticket item feedback ratings, these will help you the most in determining if the seller is legit and honorable.
It would also be wise to check the car’s history with a Carfax report. One can be easily obtained for a small fee. What you will need is the car’s VIN (vehicle identification number), afterwards you will have the car’s history, including its previous accidents and maintenance. This is good information to have in your hands and you will be wiser in your dealings by not getting suckered into what seems on the surface to be an excellent deal.
You can also pay a third party to inspect the car of interest for you if you live far from the seller. General inspections cost about $99.50. It may be a high price, but if you’re committed to bidding on a car, this inspection could save you a lot of grief later. For your peace of mind it’s a small price to pay.
Whatever the seller has promised you should be put in black and white. Keep every bit of written communication that passes between you and the seller, including your responses. Verbal agreements may be denied in the future. If you have it all in writing, then any issues that come up later will all be to your advantage.
It is highly recommended that you should not pay in cash and this includes sending money through Western Union, money orders, or personal checks. Opt for the safer options of paying with Paypal or credit card if your limit permits. You want Ebay’s buyer protection—always.
Buying a car on EBay is a great alternative to purchasing the same car through a dealer. By following the simple precautionary measures listed above, you can be assured of making a great deal.
Photo Credits: KevArchie
Originally posted 2010-04-20 09:29:56.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 15, 2012 in
Buying Online, Computer Tips, Guest Blog, Internet and Email
Overclocking Preparations
Every computer has an internal clock speed which is used to properly synchronize the calculations and operations happening within a computer. In general hertz is the measure of clock speed, however the measurement used to refer to the clock speed in a computer is represented in megahertz (MHz) or in gigahertz (GHz). A hertz is generally a tick per second, which implies that one megahertz is equivalent to a million ticks per second. You need to be cautious while overclocking your system; else your system may be damaged. Here are a few points that help you in overclocking your computer.
Have your tools such as the needle nose pliers, screwdrivers, cooling hardware, motherboard manual, etc. Find out whether you can adjust the motherboard in BIOS setup with the help of jumpers or not. Before even attempting to overclock your system, find out the limitations of the motherboard's clock speed. Run all the applications of Windows and any other third-party diagnostic applications and fix all the system problems. Make sure to take back up of all the data present on your system, right from the documents, applications to all the important data. If you have a motherboard that can be BIOS adjusted, then refer to your motherboard manual and follow the steps mentioned there.
Start the process of overclocking your system by shutting it down. Do not remove the plug from the power outlet. Ensure that all the peripheral devices are disconnected from the system. Then remove the cover of the chassis. Next, ground yourself with the computer using any professional equipment for grounding or you can even do it by touching any of the metal part of the chassis. Find out if your motherboard has adjustable jumpers, if yes then try to find those jumpers which control the speed of the CPU. Using the needle nose pliers, try to change the settings of the jumper.
Refer to the manual of the motherboard and move the jumpers to the positions as indicated in the manual to achieve the preferred clocking speed. If you do not have access to a manual, then you can always refer online manuals to find the relevant information. If possible and needed, try to install a specialty cooling fan, a heat sink compound and a CPU heat sink. Then assemble back your system and attach back all the peripheral attachments. Reboot the system.
In case the system does not reboot even when the CPU is working, then try repeating the above mentioned steps and lower the clock speed. Check the system again. Even if this does not help, then reset the clock speed to the original speed. If everything functions properly then verify all the functions and try running a program that is extremely CPU intensive. You can notice the change in the performance of the system. If your system is extremely slow and making your life miserable, try overclocking it.
Photo Credits: Axel Bührmann
Originally posted 2010-05-20 03:42:04.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 14, 2012 in
Computer Performance and Tech Support, Computer Tips, hard drive
Cable
There are various advantages of watching cable TV on your computer. One example is that you get the freedom of watching cable TV while your folks are watching regular TV. There are many ways you can watch cable TV on computer. Not every method is right for everyone so it is best to analyze the them all and then opt for one that suits you best.
Software to stream channels:
There are various software programs you can get that would enable your PC to stream cable channels live on your computer. In this case the most important thing is your internet connection and how fast it is. Your whole system would be dependent upon your internet speed and if it is slow then probably you won’t be able to watch cable TV on your computer. You can get some of these software programs for free online. In this method, you will not need a cable connection as you would be using the internet as your cable and would be watching live channels. However, this practice is not recommended because you would need to stream the channels every time you want to watch them.
PCTV cards:
Ever heard of a card known as PCTV? If you haven’t then you should know that these cards are used for connecting cable or dish TV to your computer. Basically there are two types of PCTV card; external ones and internal ones. In most of the cases, the internal ones are recommended but if you have a laptop or a computer that is already overloaded with graphics cards and sounds cards then you might want to opt for an external one. The external one connects through the USB drive. Once this card is installed the next thing is to simply plug-in your cable TV into this card and it would let you watch cable TV on your computer.
Other devices:
Your options are not limited to the above ones. There are some other devices as well that let your watch cable TV on your computer. One such device is known as a TV connector. It doesn’t actually show cable TV on your computer but uses your monitor or laptop screen as a TV. In such a case, you can either watch the TV or use the computer. However, you can always switch to the computer mode from the TV mode when you like. Such devices do not need your computer to remain on as they act as a connector for your cable TV and your computer. You can switch between the both of them quite easily.
Generally, most of the people opt for the PCTV card option because it is the most reliable one and it offers you the ease of watching TV while using your computer simultaneously. Also, there is no hassle with slow internet speed or switching between computer and TV.
Photo Credits: cogdogblog
Originally posted 2010-04-22 09:36:28.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 14, 2012 in
Computer Tips
Hello Vista! Welcome!
Windows Vista has been a plague for computer users who have installed it on their old Windows XP machines. From problems such as horrible boot and shutdown times to just completely not working, Vista has seen it all. So what can you do to increase your performance on a Vista machine? This article will outline a couple of solutions for your slow Windows Vista machine.
1. Clean Up- General clean up is one of the most effective ways to make your computer run more smoothly and efficiently. All you need to do is uninstall any programs and delete any files that you aren’t going to use anymore. This can be done by going to control panel and then uninstall program. If you’re unsure what a program does, be careful and do a little research to make sure that it’s not an important program that you still use.
2. Limit Start Up Programs- Many programs such as AIM and Steam start up as soon as your computer is turned on. This means that the boot time will be much slower while all of these programs are attempting to simultaneously trying to start. All you need to do to eliminate this problem is go into that programs settings and uncheck the “launch on startup” checkbox. You’d be surprised how big of a difference this can make to your boot time, try it if you don’t believe me.
3. Virus/Spyware Scan- This shouldn’t be the first thing you do to try to solve your problems, but it’s never a bad idea to run a spyware and virus check. Many of these malware programs can simply hide in your background and hinder your computer without making any outward appearance of their existence. There are many free options for dealing with this problem such as Spybot and Ad-aware.
4. Upgrade- One of the most effective ways to boost your performance with Vista is to upgrade your computer. One of the biggest differences between Vista and XP is how much RAM is used to run the OS. With that said, adding one gigabyte of RAM to your computer can make a worlds difference in your speed. Lucky for you, RAM is the cheapest it has ever been right now and shouldn’t be much of a hassle to acquire.
5. Defrag- Fragmented data makes your computer do extra work which can slow down your computer. Running a disk defragmentation can increase your computers speed, but it should really only be done as a last resort.
Windows Vista is not a perfect OS, but many of the problems that new users suffer are not the OS’s fault. If you try a few of these solutions surely you will increase the speed and productivity of your computer.
Photo Credits; lancefisher
Originally posted 2009-11-20 03:01:20.
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Posted by How To Computer on May 13, 2012 in
Windows Vista
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