From scratch...

1. Compatibility- Compatibility is one of the biggest things to keep in mind when ordering computer parts. You want to make sure that all of your parts can work in harmony so that your computer actually works. This can be a hassle if you happen to order from a site or store where the parts can’t be returned for full price. Most often you should look at your motherboard when determining compatibility, but it will take some research.

2. Be patient, don’t force- A common problem many people face when building their new computer is that parts aren’t fitting very well. This is extremely common if you buy a small case and get a top of line video card. It’s important never to try to jam the thing inside of your case with all of your might, but it’s also important to at least put a respectable amount of pressure on it to make it fit.

3. Connections- So you have put together your computer, but a USB drive isn’t working or the video card isn’t outputting to the monitor. What happened? It’s very likely you misguided your power supply cable to wherever it was suppose to go. Make sure to check and to double check where each connection is supposed to go.

4. OS- This could go under compatibility, but it’s a little different. It’s important to keep in mind when building your computer that certain parts are not compatible with a specific OS. This is a big problem if you’re buying new parts and are trying to run an older Windows OS. If you’re trying to install a brand new Windows 7 OS onto an old windows 98 computer this is also likely to thwart you

Building a computer is a fun and a rewarding experience. I most usually comparing to finishing a Lego set. Like Legos, however, computers can be very frustrating if all the pieces are not fitting together properly. It’s very important to have patience and to not make any mistakes out of frustration.

Photo Credits: moriza

Originally posted 2009-11-16 03:36:41.

Rocketdock.

So you have a Windows computer and wish it was as flashy and cool as a Mac? Don’t worry, there are many ways you can spruce up your desktop quickly and easily that will give you the look you desire. This article will outline five awesome pieces of software that can give you an extremely customized experience.

* RocketDock- RocketDock is described on its website as an “application launcher” and gives a great feel of a Mac and essentially can eliminate the need for a taskbar and desktop icons. It can be used to launch any program by ‘docking’ them into your dock and can also put them into organized groups making for quick and easy use. Even windows can be minimized to the dock in any custom fashion. With a great modding community and completely free of charge, RocketDock is one of the best ways to liven up your desktop.

* Windows Sidebar- Windows Sidebar is a new addition to the Windows OS that appears in Vista and Windows 7. By default Windows Sidebar comes with a clock, calendar, and a few other ‘widgets’ that can be docked onto the side of your desktop. The power behind Windows Sidebar is that it has a huge community of widget creators that have made anything from digital clocks to widgets that can increase your computers fan speed. Windows Sidebar is free to use as long as you have a Windows Vista or 7.

* Rainy’s- Rainmeter is a customizable meter that can list many of the performance and specifications of your computer. You can set Rainmeter to display the current amount of memory left on your hard drive, or the load that is currently being put onto your CPU. The data can be posted numerically or graphically in a histogram or bar graph. Rainy’s is completely free of charge and can be further customized by the user.

* ObjectDock- A competitor of RocketDock, what could ObjectDock possibly change to make it worth your while? ObjectDock follows a similar example of using docks to organize programs and weather like widgets onto a dock. It’s praised for its high customization and great support by its company Stardock. ObjectDock is completely free, but limited unless you pay the $20 to upgrade to ObjectDock Plus. It’s well worth it, however, because ObjectDock is a very attractive program.

Keep in mind that many of these programs aren’t mutually exclusive and can be used in conjunction with each other to create a very powerful desktop. Be careful when combining too many to make sure you’re not eating up too much of your computers ram. Surely one of these programs can help you get a feel you desire

Photo Credits: worthe

Originally posted 2009-11-11 03:28:46.

Debugging Computer

The Common Problem:

Take the following example:  You hop on your computer to check your email, start it up, and quickly realize your computer is running noticeably slower than it did yesterday.  So you decide to “Google” your problem, spending hours on various computer tech forums.  Unfortunately, this is an all too common scenario.

The Common Reason behind the Slowdown:

Although there could be many reasons behind the slowness of your computer, the majority of the time there is one main reason that is responsible for your sluggish computer--the registry.  Even though this may be a regular occurrence for many PC owners, many people are simply unaware of what a computer registry is, how it works, and most importantly how to fix it without causing further problems.

Computer Registry Basics:

A computer' registry is a highly sensitive area because this is the place where all the information that runs the computer's hardware and software is stored.  So every time you add, update, or remove a program, the chances increase that the registry will become cluttered with unneeded data and subsequently, the dreaded slow computer, freezes, blue screens, and error messages.

Fixing the Registry:

Thankfully, many times these computer headaches can be cleared up by simply cleaning the computer's registry system.  Is it complicated?  Absolutely.  However, there are quite a few outstanding registry cleaning programs you can install and use to clean your computer's registry.  Only a few moments of your time are required; the cleaner will take care of the rest.  However, no matter what, never attempt to fix a registry on your own because there is a good chance you will cause more problems.

An Alternative:

If running a registry scanner did not solve your problem, you need to try a different approach.  First, document the problem you are experiencing with your computer as well as other related problems and anything you are aware of that may have caused them.  Then, you need to make a list of the various solutions you will be trying.  After you try each solution, restart your computer so you can test it out again.  If a solution does not work, cross it off your list.

However, if you have tried every fix you can think of and have not experienced the desired results, you need to go back to the drawing board and consider trying solutions that do not seem as obvious.  Remember, your best bet is to run your computer's operating system with as little software and hardware as possible while troubleshooting.  The fewer programs you have running, the easier it will be for you to narrow down what is responsible for the issues you are experiencing.

Photo Credits: jitze

Originally posted 2010-05-23 03:32:36.

Open Office

OpenOffice.org Writer

Open office is a free alternative to Microsoft Word, often being touted as the ‘free word’ it has most of the features and capabilities that word has. In fact, Open Office has many advantages over Word such as more understandable header and footer tools, bulleted and numbered lists, and general ease of use. When you combine these positives with the fact that it’s open source you have one very powerful tool at your disposal. Open source refers to the fact that any with the knowledge to do so can code their own changes into the program and make it better for everyone.

AbiWord

AbiWord “wording processing for everyone” as their slogan suggests is a free word processor that has been gaining popularity over the years. AbiWord features just about every special feature word does including the ability to save to all different sorts of file types. AbiWord is also designed based on earlier versions of Word making is very easy for previous Word users to switch and instantly begin typing. Although it’s similar in style, AbiWord has an extremely clean interface that may be refreshing for older word users.

Qjot

Qjot isn’t a word processor like OpenOffice.org and AbiWord in a sense, but it can be used to edit Word .Doc files. This makes it an invaluable tool for people who are receiving Word documents but don’t have Word themselves to read and edit them. It’s important to note that this is all you can really do with Qjot, it’s not meant to be a program that can convert Word documents to .txt files and other extensions. Other features of Qjot include the ability to add images and other forms of multimedia into the document. While this isn’t meant to be a total replacement, it’s definitely worth mentioning.

Microsoft may have a monopoly on businesses and schools with its word processor, but that doesn’t mean that it’s required of you to use it for everyday tasks. Check out all of the above alternatives, especially considering that they’re free.

Photo Credits: tmolini

Originally posted 2009-11-06 03:35:33.

Hot pink Dell.

HP

Hewlett-Packard is one of the oldest technology companies dating all the way back to 1935 at Stanford University. This makes HP one of the oldest and most trusted computer making companies in the world today. HP computers are sold at fair prices which is why schools usually mass buy them for their computer labs. In 2008, Hewlett-Packard overtook Dell to become number one in computer sales in the industry. In addition, HP is widely known as a printer company, which furthers the business they receive from offices and firms. HP holds an A rating with the Better Business Bureau.

Dell

In 1984 Dell was founded making it a much younger company than HP. This has not stopped Dell’s rapid growth, however, as it became the number one seller of computers within the first 10 years of its creation. Dell’s standards for cheaper computers made it a clear choice for many businesses and schools looking to buy new computers. Dell is probably HP’s biggest rival currently as the two have eaten up many smaller companies trying to beat the other out. This was displayed when Dell bought a gaming PC company named Alienware and HP responded by buying VoodooPC.

Apple

While Mac computers aren’t the same as the computers manufactured by Dell and HP, it’s undeniable that Apple has had huge leaps in their technology over the past few years. Apple is known for its hardware’s reliability and its focus on being cool has kept them very successful over the past couple of years. Apple doesn’t have any real rival in the computer manufacturing industry other than Microsoft as an OS competitor, but it has seen a huge increase in units sold as Apple is right under Dell as the third place leader in hard ware sales.

Whether you decide to buy from HP, from Dell, or from Apple you can be sure that you will be being from a quality company. All of them have something unique to offer so it’s imperative that you at least browse all three of their catalogues before making a final decision.

Photo Credits: Pink Sherbet Photography

Originally posted 2009-11-25 03:05:01.

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.

TV screen as computer monitor

Step1: First, decide what type of computer you have to hook to your TV. Is it a desktop computer or a laptop computer? Generally, most people will have a desktop in their house and office, so let’s take the desktop into consideration.

Step2: Now, the second thing that we need is to check which TV you are planning to use. Is it your CRT TV or HD TV (LCD)? Let’s take the CRT TV into consideration as most often that is what people use in their houses.

Step3: Now, you have to check what type of video output your computer has, the video output maybe one of three types: S-video output, VGA output or DVI output. However, most of the computers will have VGA output, but the latest computers might have DVI output. So, let’s take VGA (Video Graphics Array) output.

Step4: Check the input for your CRT TV, generally it has S-Video input.

Once you have verified all the above information it is very easy to hook computer to your TV. For that you will need a converter box which will help you to convert the VGA output from your computer to TV signals that can be connected through S-Video input in your CRT TV. You need two cables; one will be VGA cable and the second will be S-Video cable.

Here you can connect your computer to the converter box using the VGA cable and from the converter box you will have to use the S-video cable to connect your CRT TV input. This will complete the connection.

The main thing is to get audio. For that you need to have the 3.5 mm RCA cable. Connect the RCA cable from speaker out-port of you computer to the audio right/left which is at the back of CRT TV so that it will produce sound from your CRT TV instead of computer.

Once you hook the computer to your TV you need to adjust resolutions from your desktop so that you can get a better picture output.

Photo Credits: hpeguk

Originally posted 2010-04-08 03:46:40.

Gmail

Out with the old

Do not delete the old account before getting the new completely set up. In one window bring up your old Gmail account.

Bring up a new window and go to Gmail, but instead of signing into your account here click on the “Create an Account” button at the bottom right corner of the screen.

This choice takes you to the Get Started with Gmail screen. You will need to fill out your first and last name. In the Desired Login Name it will have an option typed in based on your name, but you don’t have to use this suggestion. You can type in something uniquely of your own design. When you have typed in the hoped for new identity then click the “Check availability” button.

Once you get the go ahead type in your password then retype it for the check. You can create a Security Question either from the drop down menu or write in the answer yourself. Complete the rest of the information and read through the Terms of Service. Select the “I accept. Create my account” button and you are at least done with the creation part of the new identity.

Now you need to look at your old account. You will need to go through all the setting to have the same services and features you have with the new account. Go back and forth between screens to check for this information and make changes where needed. You can’t import the contact information unfortunately so you will need to add this information. If you have any special notes in the contacts you will have to move these too.

The good news is that you can share your calendar with your old identity while you take your time set it up and putting in all of your scheduling information.

One point of concern is that among the settings you shouldn’t forget to run through the mobilize process and verify your cell phone number if you keep track of calendar changes or email notifications from your cell phone.

It can take awhile to move everything over to the new identity so it is a good idea to keep the old identity going for a while during this process. You will want to tell others of the change and encourage them to use the new address. Keep checking the old Gmail account frequently at first then try forwarding the old account mail to the new one. Taking up to a year to shut down the old identity isn’t uncommon if you had the old Gmail account for a long time.

Photo Credits: mlabowicz

Originally posted 2010-05-29 03:35:49.

New Hard Drive

To start off, open up your CPU’s body. Make sure you have unlocked all the locks that you usually get with branded computers. If the locks aren’t unlocked you won’t be able to replace the hard drive. Once you have done this the next step is to know where your hard drive is. If you don’t yet know where the hard drive is placed check your computer’s manual and it will tell you. Now, again check if there are any clips or locks surrounding the hard drive as in most of the computers the hard drive has extra clip to keep it secure.

Now you know where the hard drive is so start detaching it from the computer. If you are installing a new hard drive and your computer doesn’t have one so you need to trace where it should be fixed from the manual. Next check in the manual again to see which plugs are to be plugged in and where they go. If you are replacing your old hard drive then the process is simpler. All you need to do is to keep a track of the plugs that you removed and remember which slots they should be plugged into again.

Depending on the type of hard drive you are installing you will need to figure out the jumpers. SATA hard drives are easier to install as they come with their own wires. With an IDE hard drive you need to figure out an IDE channel from your motherboard. Of course you won’t use the same on that is connected to your DVD drive. Usually motherboards come with two IDE channels so it is easier to track the idle one.

When the home work is done all you need to do is to connect the wires and let the hard drive run. Properly connect the jumper and other wires and make sure your hard drive is properly fit in. Close all the locks or clips that you had open earlier to detach the hard drive. Do not close the cover of your CPU yet.

Turn on the computer and see if it’s working. If the new hard drive is not properly installed the computer won’t run and in the case of an additional hard drive you will need to manually go into my computer properties and check whether the new hard drive is showing up or not. If you have replaced your old hard drive with the new one then also your computer won’t start if it’s not properly connected.

Photo Credits: Tim Patterson

Originally posted 2010-04-23 03:39:15.

Recycling Computers

The Benefits:

There are many benefits of computer recycling.  First of all, if you choose a reputable computer recycling service, you can rest assured that all of your personal data is removed from your PC.  This is important as there are many people who look for discarded computers they can use to hijack financial and personal information from.

And of course, recycling a computer instead of throwing it away is considered to be environmentally responsible.  By doing this, you will keep one less item out of landfills and reduce the risk of contaminating precious water supplies.  The metal used to make certain computer components must be mined, which takes a toll on the environment too.  So when you a computer is recycled, these metals can be reused, preserving the metals that are still inside of the earth.

Even if your computer is broken, many times it can still be used if you decide to recycle it.  Many recyclers will take components from other computers considered to be a lost cause and use them to fix other components to make the recycled computer functional again.  This is an invaluable service appreciated by those who are unable to afford the cost of a brand new computer.  Often, refurbished computers are donated to charities.  This means you will not only be helping the environment, but also the community.  Try to find a computer recycling center that works with charities.

How the Process Works:

When you hand over your old computer to a recycling center, the first task they will complete is clearing the computer of all sensitive, personal information.  Then, the center will check the computer in order to find any parts worth reusing to build refurbished computers.  All parts made of metal and plastic that are unable to be reused will be broken down into their basic form.

The broken down components will be organized according to their category of material and turned over to a facility that smelts them or in other words, compacts them into small pieces and melts them to create new items.  During this process, the metals found in a computer's circuit board will be removed and reused instead of thrown away.

It is estimated that only 20% of consumer electronics and personal computers that are not longer in working order are recycled.  This means there is over one million tons of electronic waste in the earth's landfills.  So if you make the smart choice to be environmentally responsible and recycle your old, unused computer, you will be taking an important step to reducing these numbers.

Photo Credits: georgehotelling

Originally posted 2010-05-21 03:22:04.