Which Vista is Right for You?

According to Mr. Gates of Microsoft, 90% of us computer users use Windows. Also according to him we should all be using or getting ready to use the latest operating system, Windows Vista, from Microsoft. Now the questions - who should really upgrade and which version is the right version for your use - Standard, Basic, Home Premium, Business, Enterprise or Ultimate?

If you are using the latest version of Windows XP Professional, and are up to date on the patches, don't rush for an upgrade unless you are buying a new computer or are an IT professional developing technology based on the Vista platform.

You may not have noticed but Windows XP also has many versions - Standard, Home, Professional, Enterprise, Tablet PC and Windows Media Center. Very few people use the Standard Version and Enterprise is for the very large enterprises. So I will skip them in my review.

Windows Vista Basic is the upgrade over Windows XP Home with fewer crashes, a brand new interface and improved security. You will also get limited access to Windows Mobility Center and Meeting Place. What you do not get is Pluggable log-in authentication architecture, Aero, Rights Management Services (RMS) Client, Tablet PC, DVD Maker, Media Center, Movie Maker regular/HD, Domain join for Windows Small Business Server, Encrypting File System, Integrated Smart Card management, Group Policy support, Roaming user profiles, Virtual PC Express, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Fax and Scan or ShadowCopy.

Windows Vista Home Premium is the upgrade for previous Windows XP Media Center with fewer crashes, a brand new interface, improved security and graphics including DirectX for gaming. You will also get limited access to Windows Mobility Center. What you do not get is Domain join for Windows Small Business Server, Encrypting File System, Integrated Smart Card management, Group Policy support, Roaming user profiles, Virtual PC Express, BitLocker Drive Encryption, Fax and Scan or ShadowCopy.

Windows Vista Business is the upgrade for previous Windows XP Professional & Tablet PC with fewer crashes, brand new interface and improved security. This is the version I recommend to my customers. What you do not get is DVD Maker, Media Center or Movie Maker regular/HD, which are not really essential for a business professional.

Windows Ultimate has all the features of Basic, Home Premium, Business and some extras - but for a hefty price. Most systems sold by custom PC makers HP, Toshiba, Dell and Lenova do not come with Ultimate installed. Microsoft recommends a $199 upgrade Ultimate from Home Premium and Business.

Visit Microsoft Vista's website for an explanation of all features as well as comparisons between the different versions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shirona_Gunawardhana

Best Free Anti Virus Software

Determining the best free anti virus software to use on your home computer is a fairly daunting task especially for your average home user. Protecting your computer against virus threats is a critical part of your computer’s security. The 2 main issues selecting the best free anti virus software are determining whether you can trust the site you are downloading the software from and whether the software you download will actually be effective removing viruses.

The good news is that Google has provided an answer. In 2006 Google announced “Google Pack” which is a collection of over 10 free software programs including a number of Google’s own software products like Google Desktop and the excellent Picasa 2 Photo Editor. Also included within Google Pack was a free anti virus software program supplied by a world-class security software vendor.

Symantec originally provided a version of Norton AntiVirus 2005 for Google Pack. The Norton AntiVirus range of products has been recognised for a number of years as one of the leading anti virus solutions for the home. The scanning and removal capability continuously performs well in independent tests. There was however one major limitation. Symantec was only prepared to provide virus definition updates which are central to product for a limited 6 month period and then the user needed to upgrade to a paid version.

At the beginning of 2007 Google addressed this issue with Symantec. The result was that Norton AntiVirus 2005 replaced by a new product called “Norton Security Scan.” Whilst, the new product was missing some of the more advanced features, it still retained the powerful scanning and removal capabilities of the Norton AntiVirus products. More importantly, Symantec agreed to provide free virus updates which were not limited to 6 months.

Given the fact the Norton Security Scan is based on the Norton AntiVirus products and the download is from a trusted Google site, Norton Security Scan is the best free anti virus software available today.

Danny Jones runs a number of computer related sites. He recommends Free Download Norton Anti Virus from Google Pack to protect your computer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Danny_Jones

Windows XP Tweaks to Speed Up a Slow Computer

Now that Vista has arrived with more of a thud than thunder, people are asking the question, “What can I do to speed up my slow computer?” A good answer is to customize your existing operating system for speed an performance. So, why not keep XP. It is Microsoft most stable operating system. Vista will not be stable until the first major service pack update is released. Until then, Vista is about as stable as a house of cards in a tornado. Also XP to Vista migration causes slow computer performance. If you are one of these people who rather kick XP up a notch than pay for a system that meets Vista outrageous specs for optimum performance, read on for some expert tips to speed up a slow computer using XP tweaks.

Windows XP’s stability makes it the most “tweakable”. There are more than a few areas that are specifically ripe with opportunities to improve slow computer performance and remedy a slow computer. Let’s start with getting your hard drive running smoothly.

XP Tweaks for Slow Computer Tip #1—Turn Off Windows Indexing Service

If you have ever wondered why your hard drive makes so much noise when idle, this is due to your files being indexed in order to help your CPU find these files easier. However, even the most insignificant files are indexed. This service puts a huge strain on your hard drive which ironically makes things easier for Windows. Because of this conundrum, most techs have deemed this Indexing Service insignificant and the cause of slow computer hard drive access. You can turn off service with the following steps.

1. Double-click My Computer, point to Explorer Bar on the View menu, and click Search.
2. Click Change preferences, and then click Without Indexing Service.
3. Click No, do not enable Indexing Service, and then click OK.


XP Tweaks for Slow Computer Tip #2— Speed Up Your Hard with NTFS.

Windows XP offers NTFS hard drive configuration. This offers better compression, security and encryption. However, this conversion from FAT to NTFS standard requires a bit more space on your hard drive nevertheless you will be reward with a faster drive. You can easily switch to this system by following directions below:
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type cmd press Enter.
4. At the command prompt
Type convert X:/FS:NTFS(X is your hard drive letter)
5. Hit Enter


XP Tweaks for Slow Computer Tip #3—Disable Unnecessary Startups

Now let’s tweak Windows to run faster. A slow computer can be attributed to how well your monitor and manage your programs and processes. Windows XP gives you complete control over what programs and processes are loaded into your configuration. There are only six vital programs needed to run your computer. However, there are probably dozens running as soon as you startup your PC. No wonder you have a slow computer. You can manage your startup configuration by following these instructions.

1. Open your Start menu.
2. Click Run
3. In the command screen type: msconfig.exe
4. In the "system configuration utility", click either "service" or "startup" tab
5. Uncheck all programs that you don't want to use.
6. Click OK


XP Tweak for Slow Computer Tip #4—Increase Virtual Memory

Your computer uses physical memory, RAM, and virtual memory. Virtual memory is used to simulate more RAM when your computer is reaching its maximum CPU and RAM usage. It is very similar to a bucket filling up with water, in this analogy your RAM is the bucket and water being computer processes and programs. However, your bucket size is limited by your amount of RAM. The more programs and processes you use cause the bucket to become full. However, you can use a spare bucket to quickly help meet the demand; Virtual memory is that spare bucket.

You can change your virtual memory by altering amount of resources for reserved for it, in a sense making the spare bucket bigger. Virtual memory uses free space as a resource. So you can change the amount free space reserved for the Virtual memory Check out the "How to clean up a slow computer" for efficient ways to clean up your drive.

Increasing your Virtual Memory is easy. There are some important facts to remember. When you get to the Virtual Memory menu select the Custom Size check box, then choose the initial size and the max size. Depending on how much free space you have you can choose what amount of free space you want reserved for the paging file. Its better to keep the initial and maximum size the same to cut down on your CPU access. This will stop your CPU from constantly changing your Virtual memory paging file size. Also set the size at least 1.5 times higher than your physical memory. If you are still confused this link below for a visual step by step instructions.

1.Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2.Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
3.On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.
4.Under Virtual memory, click Change.
5.Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file that you want to change. In most computers its C:
6.Under Paging file size for selected drive, click to Custom size check box. You can enter the amount of memory you would like to reserve for Virtual memory by entering the initial and maximum size.
7.Click Set


In addition to these tweaks. You can take it one step further in you quest to make your slow computer a distant memory. This requires you to perform some registry editing. I suggest you clean your registry before attempt any editing. After your registry is clean, you can perform several tweaks to speed up your slow computer. The site below provides more tips and tutorials to increase PC performance. http://www.delete-computer-history.com/general-pc-performance-tips.html

There is no doubt that many of the program and services names are foreign to most. Check out http://www.delete-computer-history.com for a list of unnecessary programs that can cause a slow computer syndrome.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gaelim_Holland

Approaches To Data Recovery After Formatting

The first thing you need to do after a system crash has forced you to reformat your hard drive is to test your PC to make sure whatever caused the crash is still not around to destabilize your system. Once you know your PC is stable, you can begin the process of data recovery after formatting.

Do-It-Yourself Data Recovery After Formatting
The easiest way to get proof of your system’s stability is to upload some non-critical files, so that if they become corrupted you will not have lost anything. Try opening and closing the files, and as long as you do not get a message saying they have been corrupted, you can be fairly certain that your system is functioning normally and storing ant retrieving your data properly. You can move now move on to the data recovery after formatting process.

During the data recovery after formatting process you’ll upload all your recovered data, and for some systems this can take a considerable amount of time. You’ll need to monitor the data recovery after formatting process in case your system flashes messages with question or pinpointing errors on specific files. You’ll need to make a record of every file mentioned in a message, and when the data recovery after formatting upload is complete, do individual checks on each of them. Often an error in one file can compromise the performance of an entire program.

When your data has been completely uploaded, you can go through the key files in each of your programs one at a time, and open them to see if all their data is intact. In some cases, you may have to delete and reinstall some of your software.

Software For Data Recovery After Formatting
Another approach to data recovery after formatting is to purchase Windows data recovery software. The data recovery after formatting software can give you step-by step guidance in retrieving data lost sue to formatting, deletion, or partition damage as long as your hard drive has not been physically damaged.

Formatting your hard drive will change your data partitions, and data recovery after formatting software can retrieve data from the previous partitions or even from corrupted sectors. It is designed to support data recovery after formatting for both older file allocation table (FAT) and new technology file systems (NTFS). That covers all Windows operating systems as far back as Windows 98.

Data recovery

after formatting can be both challenging and time-consuming. But being able to restore all you key files, either through your own efforts of with the help of user-friendly software, can save you a tremendous amount when compared to the fees of a data recovery specialist.

You can also find more info on Data Recovery After Formatting and Data Recovery Freeware. Pcdatarecoveryhelp.com is a comprehensive resource to know about Data Recovery.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Faulkner

Around The Clock Working Free Anti Spyware Download

In simple terms, spyware and adware are nothing but software programs that are made with the objective of allowing all sorts of PC users and companies to spy on internet browsing activities.

Some people think that adware are same as spyware, but adware is not necessarily spyware. Adware in specific is usually a freeware displaying advertising banners. The programmer gets revenue by selling advertising space in the software product. Intermittently, some adware will also act as spyware which includes information gathering code to send non-sensitive information back to unauthorized third parties.

Spyware programs attack the PC with illegal download files, running other programs in the background, and changing your PC default settings. The web browsing activities are constantly monitored causing identity theft like stealing credit card numbers and various passwords etc which may also lead to serious financial loss.

All your favorite bookmarks and the default homepage settings can be hijacked which finally result in PC slow down and annoying pop-ads. In other words, spyware attack include deceptive software installation, taking control of computers to send spam and malware, modifying browser and other settings, and hiding or otherwise becoming difficult to remove.

Each and every day, hundreds of thousands of Internet users are infected with Spyware and adware programs.

There is a definite need to run an anti spyware software program to combat the issues of security threat. There are many free anti spyware download programs but one must make sure that the anti spyware works around the clock and protect the PC and secure your privacy.

The most effective anti spyware download programs are NoAdware, Spy Sweeper and Spyware Doctor that offer real time protection around the clock. It is recommended to run multiple (two or even three) anti spyware software’s to get the most efficiency because each uses different rulesets, definitions and algorithms to detect spyware and adware.

Cher K Markov is an Internet Marketer. In her quest to protect her own PC, she has researched into PC security resources including antispyware. To ensure high protection for your PC, you can get the details about the most suitable Free Anti Spyware Download at http://antispyware.onlinedownloads.org

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cher_K_Markov

Tips on Buying Cheap Laptops

We all love discussing about the latest gizmos with our fellow friends and colleagues. And, amidst our conversion, there always comes the irrevocable question as to how to buy the best technology at the price of peanuts. The laptops are the most talked about gadgets in the recent times, owing to its convenience, usability and popularity. In a developed country like UK, laptops are seeing an unprecedented growth in the recent times. So whenever you are being consulted by a fellow mate about buying a cheap laptop, you can give the following suggestions to him/her that would surely be helpful in meeting his/her requirements to buy a cheap laptop.

There are several brands of laptops that are available in the market that look equally alluring to an ordinary user. However, there are many distinctions in the different versions of laptops that are made available by different manufactures. There is no need to buy the latest model as that would most definitely come with a heavy price tag. And surely, its price would crash down within one or two years. So the suggestion is to buy a relatively stable and older model, depending upon your suitability. If you can't afford to shell money on a brand new and older version laptop, then you can as well go for second hand or refurbished laptop that would also come relatively cheaper price than the former.

There is also a tip for all of those who have just got interested in buying second hand laptops. You could buy this gadget from the gamers or power users as they install the latest and the most powerful technology in order to run their systems. Also, they are eager to dispose of their present laptop in lieu of the latest version in a laptop. So, you can search for all of your friends who are gamers and ask them if they are interested in selling their laptop.

Whenever you are searching for a cheap laptop, try to stick on to a reputed manufacturer as you would at least be assured about its credibility and life. Also, you might need to get it serviced and you can easily locate service centers of these manufactures, which can save a lot on your time. Remember, that the memory is an integral part of any computer and it is directly proportional to the speed of your laptop. So make sure that you get a laptop that has at least a memory worth 512MB in it.

Thus cheap laptops can easily be made available if you keep in mind some of these tips. And surely, you would be able to strike the best deal.

Fletcher Mak is an author, write various articles on different themes to expand information. You can get information about cheap laptops and other price comparison.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Fletcher_Mak

Laptops Vs Desktops - What Everyone Should Know

OK so the question has been set :

Laptops vs Desktops. I'm not here to sell you either so i have no vested interest. If your interested in this question then read on as i've listed the basic pro's and cons with a little opinion at the bottom.

The basic pro's and cons : Laptop Pros ( 3 ) 1 - Portable 2 - Relatively cheap when compared completely ( include the screen , keyboard etc ) 3 - Built in battery - ( ever had a power cut and lost some work ? )

Laptop Cons ( 5 ) 1 - Small screen 2 - Uncomfortable for long periods of work without desktop keyboard and screen ( suddenly not so portable ) 3 - Can be expensive / impossible to repair 4 - Laptop hard disks are a major bottleneck : Laptop hard disk are much slower and do not work well when filled up with data. 5 - Laptop processors at the same Ghz ( measure of speed on chips ) do not perform the same ( 30% more in favor of the desktop ).

Desktop Pros ( 5 ) 1 - Powerful 2 - Easy to upgrade 3 - Easy to repair 4 - Desktops last longer ( they don't break as easily as laptops ) 5 - If you need lots of Power the desktops are significantly cheaper.

Desktop Cons ( 2) 1- Not portable ( try carrying one of these to work and back everyday ). 2 - No built in battery ( external batteries called UPS can be purchased as an extra).

Final Point Score :

Desktop Pros / Cons: 5 / 2 Laptop Pros / Cons :: 3 / 5

Conclusion : Desktops win convincingly ! If your planning to buy a computer and your planning to leave it on a dedicated table then you should definitely buy a desktop. Its cheaper more powerful , easy to upgrade etc.

If you really need to move with your computer then you have no choice but to go with a laptop. ( Do ask if you really need to move with it - not the old fantasy of " I'm going to work in the garden with my laptop - its just not going to happen ; glare on screen when its sunny and sparks from your laptop when it rains, bad wifi connecting , battery running out , etc).

Example : 3Ghz desktop chip vs a 3Ghz laptop chip the laptop chip is approximately 30% slower ( this is due to a number of factors - heat , voltage and general punching power - ghz are about speed but just because a boxer punches 3000 times doesn't make him a powerful boxer as a boxer who weighs twice as much can punch 2000 times and produce more power than the boxer who punches faster -- Speed X Weight = Power

Rob Barrett
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rob_Barret

This Is An Exciting Time To Consider Mp3 Portable Players

Today you can purchase Mp3 portable players in many different styles that can play many hours of music all stored in a small compact package much smaller and more portable than the Walkman. These portable players use digital technology to shrink down the size of the music file so you can store more songs in less space. When you own an Mp3 portable player you can literally carry around your entire music collection wherever you go. A modern day portable Mp3 player continues its evolution from being a plain audio player into a fantastic modern day device.

It is still somewhat amazing that you can take all of your music everywhere you go in something so small. Some Mp3 players are about the size of a matchbook while the larger sizes may be about the size of a pack of cigarettes. With so many songs stored in something so small you may think you will have a hard time finding the music you want to play. Most of the players have a very simple clear way to find your song you want to play and as a bonus some of the popular brands include FM radio and a voice recorder.

The development of tiny hard-disk drives allows these Mp3 portable players to store a lot of music making it possible to save entire music collections onto a digital audio player at a reasonable cost. The other type of storage is flash memory, which is usually smaller and often does have as much storage capacity as the models with hard drives. For the more active type of person often a flash type storage device is a better fit because it is smaller and sometimes more robust.

Deciding which type of Mp3 player to purchase is often a hard choice because there are so many different makes and models. You need to do your homework before making a decision on the right model for you. It would be wise to read as many different reviews as you can. Compare prices and features and get in your head what features you want and need. Check out as many web sites as you can and possibly read something like Consumer Reports to get information you can rely on. . The simple Mp3 portable players continue to grow every month. It has gone from something to listen to music on into a full-blown media center. As time goes on you can expect this evolution to thrive. With modern technology growing every day the compression rates of audio and video is sure to improve. This is an exciting time to make the move into digital technology.

For more information on how to find the MP3 player that is right for you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Douglas_Taylor

How To Set Up A Wireless Connection Without ICS

Setting up a shared internet connection

Abstract If you have one computer connected to the internet (from now on called the "server"), and another connected to that computer (from now on called the "client") via a wireless connection you may wish to have the client access the internet through the server. The normal way of doing this is to use Windows built in ICS, however if you don't wish to use this (eg it doesnt work or doesnt provide you with enough control over the connection) you may wish to manually set up a proxy server. This tutorial tells you how.

You will need..

One computer connected to the internet, with a Wireless card
One (or more) computers with wireless cards
FreeProxy (see below) installed on the server pc
Windows XP

Note: You do not need a router for this configuration, meaning you can just get two ten pound wireless cards for this to work. The down side of not using a router is that the server pc has to be running whenever you want to access the internet through a client.

Also note that the following screenshots and instructions are for Windows XP SP2, though the instructions should be simliar for any version of Windows XP.

Implementation Firstly you need to make sure that the two computers have their wireless cards installed, and that they are connected to each other. When they are both connected there should have a small icon visible on the taskbar like so:
If they dont seem to be connected to each other then see the troubleshooting section below.

Setting up the server Instead of using Windows built in ICS, you can set up a proxy server manually on the server. To do this we're going to use a proxy server called "FreeProxy" - you can download it for free here or here.

Install FreeProxy then choose "Free Proxy Control Centre" from the start menu. Once FreeProxy is running click the ports option, then fill in the protocol as "HTTP Proxy", any name and the local binding as "Wireless" (you may wish to save setting the local binding until later to make sure the connection works). You should also select "Any Ip Address"
http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/freeproxy.png
Now click "Done" then Start/Stop. Now press start for Console Mode to test whats happening, and Start under service mode so the service shold run automatically.

Assigning IPs Manually Whilst technically you dont have to manually assign IP addresses to get this to work , unless you set them for both computers the Wireless connection may be unreliable. To do so:

Open up "Network Connections" either from the start menu (As below) or from the control panel.
http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/start_connections.png

Click internet TCP/IP then properties.
http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/wireles_connection_properties.png

You can choose the IP you want, though the IP range 169.x.x.x is reserved for local networks, and the IPs should be unique. For example, choose 169.254.1.1 for the server and 169.254.1.2 for the client. If you are also using ICS (internet connection sharing) then you should select something in the range 192.168.x.x

Setting the proxy Now you need to tell Internet Explorer/Firefox to use the proxy server. Set the ip as the of the server pc, and the port as 8080 (unless you set it differently). To do this:

Under internet explorer
Press Tools,Internet Options, Connections,Lan Settings.
http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/iexplore_settings.png

Under firerfox
Click Tools,Internet Options,Connection Settings, then select manual configuration and fill in the details (for HTTP proxy).

http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/firefox_settings.png

Troubleshooting

Checking the connection using ping

If you want, you can check that the connection between the two computers is now working using the ping command.

Open the command prompt by opening the start menu, clicking run, typing "command", then clicking ok.
Now type "ping IP" -where IP is the ip of the other computer
If you get some kind of reply, then the connection works. If you get "Destination Host Unreachable" then the connection isnt working and you should see the troubleshooting section below.

http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/ping.png

Checking and repairing the connection Open up the wireless connection, either by double clicking the wireless icon on the bottom right of the taskbar, or by going to "Network Connections" (on the start menu/ under My Computer) then double clicking.
You should be presented with something like the image below:
http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/wireless_status.png
If the amount of bytes received is zero then there is a problem. Try moving the two computers closer together, and make sure that you have manually set the ips (see above).
Click support, and the following should come up:
http://www.rustyspigot.com/img/windows/wireless_repair.png
The ip should be visisble, and there is a repair button. Clicking it can solve some problems.

Creating a wireless connection

If the above dont seem to work then the wireless connection may not be set up correctly. See step 4 on the tutorial here for more information. Essentially, you can either create a new connection through the built in windows software of the software that came with your wireless card. Create a wireless connection on one computer, and connect to it on the other. Try without using encryption to get the connection working, then go back and enable it once it is.

Firewalls
Firewalls can get in the way of proxy servers. If you are having trouble try turning them off whilst setting up the network, then re-enabling them once it is working.

By Chris Doman, RustySpigot.com, UnregisteredNews.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Doman

A DVD Burner - What is That?

A DVD burner is an optical storage device that comes as standard equipment on most PC computers and all Macintoshes made in the last four years. DVD burners write to 5.25" optical media called DVD-ROMs, which can store up to 4.7 gigabytes on one disk.

There are also stand-alone DVD burners that can connect to Digital Video Recorders, like the TiVo, but for the purposes of this article, we're going to assume that your DVD-Burner is hooked up to your computer.

Most modern DVD burners connect to their computer's motherboard through an E-IDE interface, or rarely, Serial ATA (or SATA) cable, allowing 160 Megabits per second (MBps) of data transfer rate; earlier connection protocols, such as SCSI and ATAPI, aren't fast enough to handle full read/write operations at DVD data rates.

While DVD-Burners used to be high end computer hardware peripherals, like all computer hardware, they've been relegated to commodity pricing. Internal DVD-Rs cost around $30 at online computer parts vendors like NewEgg.com, and the price is relative stable.

DVD burners come in a variety of formats - the big choice is whether or not you want one that can only burn to DVDs, or one that can perform read-write operations, allowing you to cumulatively add video (or other files) to the media over time. Read-write burners are called DVD-RW or DVD+RW, while those that are write only, are called DVD+R. You can blame the confusing alphabet soup of acronyms on the consortium that specified the read and write formats - as has become more and more common, the standards body split over whose proprietary hardware would get the sanction and license, and two mildly incompatible standards were proposed. Most DVD-RW burners can now handle both formats, but it does make a difference in buying the blank disks, as the +RW ones are higher quality, last longer, and cost more. This process is repeating itself with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

The most common use for DVD burners is backing up important (or not so important) data files. Like all backup media, it only works if you're religious about doing it. It does make it possible to duplicate your children's favorite DVDs, hand them copies and keep the originals safe, so that when the inevitable oops happens, they haven't lost their favorite movie.

All in all, DVD burners have metamorphosed into standard items of hardware for most computers, and justifiably so. The next computer you buy should have one; whether or not it's worth it to buy one for your existing machine is more a question of how quickly you'll be replacing your current computer. After factoring in your time and the cost of the hardware, it may be worth it to buy a new machine!

For information on a Free 1 Click DVD Copy 10 Day Trial, visit our website where you can watch a short video and see how easy it is to copy and backup your DVDs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Smith

How to Install and Run Microsoft Vista

All of a sudden, nearly everyone wants to install and run Microsoft Vista. Installing alone however, may not be such an easy task. There are several things that you may need to look into before actually buying a Windows Vista version and installing it. These concerns are, of course, related to the Vista version you decide to get and the kind of installation procedure you decide to take.

Your first step should be to check if our hardware fits the requirements for the Vista system. You can only look into your installation options once you are certain that you have met the hardware requirements for whatever Vista version you have.

Upgrade Installation

Upgrading from a previous Windows edition has both been a popular and a controversial issue. Some may advice an upgrade while others think it’s a bad idea. Those against it believe that an upgrade version provides less quality. The choice is ultimately yours. Before you upgrade, take a look at your operating system edition. The following non-clean installation upgrades will apply except for 64-bit versions:

· A Windows XP Home Edition can be upgraded to Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate versions.

· Thirty-two bit Windows XP Professional can be upgraded to Vista Business and Ultimate versions.

· Windows XP Tablet PC Edition can be upgraded to Vista Business and Ultimate.

· Windows XP Media Center 2005 Edition can be upgraded to Windows Home Premium and Ultimate versions.

To upgrade, run Windows XP and simply put in your installation disc. With an upgrade you can still generally have your programs, files and settings after installation.

Clean Installation

If you do not qualify for an upgrade then you have to go for clean installation. This means, of course, that you need to create a back up copy of all your files first since you will loose all files and personal settings after installation.

Install by first inserting your Vista disc and then booting your computer. Make sure that the interactive setup is in running mode and then format your hard drive.

Dual-boot Installation

You may want to test Vista first if it will work for you or you may simply just want to keep your XP system around. In this case, you may go for a dual-boot installation. For dual booting, you need at least two partitions, one for XP and the other for Vista. Both partitions can only accommodate one system. If you only have one partition, you need a partitioning tool to help you out.

A dual boot installation will let you choose between your two operating systems every time you open your computer.

Virtual Computer Installation

You can also have access to both XP and Vista if you have a virtual window running Vista. This will be very convenient for you but it can also get complicated. You do need a very high end computer with a RAM capacity of 2 GB. You also need to download and install both a utility for a virtual set up and Vista beta.

Get free tips and news on Microsoft Windows Vista at http://www.Vista-Windows.info.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marko_Hammond

Five Most Significant Features in Microsoft Vista

So many people are getting all worked up and excited over the new Windows Vista. As expected, most new users are interested to know what is new with Vista and what makes it better to use than previous editions. Will it be easier to use? Will there be better safety and security features? Will technical and management aspects be given fair attention? It may not be possible to completely detail all of Vista’s new or improved features. Among its many notable features are the following:

Windows Shell

The appearance of the operating system is the first marketing strategy to use on non-technical individuals. Many home users understandably get attracted with basic aesthetic features and easy to use functions. In operating systems, the appearance and ease of use can best be associated with the shell which presents the user interface. With Windows, their shell is Explorer. In Windows Vista, the shell is associated with Aero.

The translucent glass look of Aero alone is an image of elegance and lends an added illusion of depth. Users also have the choice to use the appearance of previous Windows versions. Aside from a change in look, Vista also addresses aspects in organization, filtering and storing. The “Stacks” function for example will allow users to filter files or group files according to user criteria.

Multimedia Applications

Movie, photo and music enthusiasts and experts will be happy to know that Vista has added features for them too. The Windows Movie Maker for example will allow editing of DVR-MS videos. The new Windows DVD Maker on the other hand will allow DVD creation and burning. For photo enthusiasts, the Windows Photo Gallery will still allow basic editing plus metadata additions to photos. Windows Paint also now has unlimited undo functions.

Windows Defender

On the aspect of security, Vista now includes Windows Defender which can be used against spyware. Aside from the usual function of scanning for spyware, Windows Defender can also perform real time monitoring for changes in Windows that have been caused by spyware. With Windows Defender, users can now easily keep in touch with Microsoft to inquire about suitable applications and spyware.

Wireless Networking

Wireless networking is not a very new concept. There are however, some improvements in Vista. With Vista, wireless connections do not mimic wired connections. The network stack now holds the support for wireless networks. New features can then be implemented. These include easily finding and identifying open and closed networks.

Speech Recognition

With this feature, users can use voice commands on their computer unit. The difference between Vista voice recognition and other versions is that voice recognition in Vista boasts full integration. Certain applications therefore can be manipulated by dictation. A mousegrid may be used for applications that require mouse functions. A user simply needs to dictate a series of numbers to zero in on the particular area that has to be clicked. This feature is easy to use even without the tutorial provided. Voice recognition is fairly high and exact.

Get free tips and news on Microsoft Windows Vista at http://www.Vista-Windows.info.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marko_Hammond

HP Laser Printers versus HP Inkjet Printers

These two different types of printers achieve the same thing. They both print, but they go about it in a very different manner. There are major differences in the engines that drive them and the work they are required to do.

Laser printers are designed to be used in a heavy work load environment. The cost per print is much less expensive compared to Inkjet models. Laser printers use a dry mono-component toner cartridge and a laser that shoots the image onto a drum inside the toner cartridge.

Inkjet printers are designed for a different work load. They are designed more for a work station such as an individual’s desk or for low volume type work. The toner or ink is quite expensive. Most are slow, so using them in a high volume application would drive a person crazy waiting for a hundred page report. Let me say something about the cost of Inkjet cartridges. I read an article that said that Inkjet cartridges are more expensive per weight than imported Russian Caviar. Inkjets use a liquid ink that is sprayed onto the paper. They all have a scanner rail that goes back and forth, carrying the Ink cartridges distributing the ink.

I read a post that several people commented on. They said that Hewlett Packard has really gone down hill lately with the quality of their printers. They were commenting on the HP LaserJet 4, a very popular laser printer of the past. It is about ten to years old, but it is a very dependable printer. I still use one in my office!

They were comparing it to several new HP Inkjet Printers. These are completely different machines for completely different applications. If you want to compare this machine to another HP product use the HP laser jet 4250. You really can’t compare these either. The memory, speed and options are made for the latest printing applications. Remember that the HP LJ- 4 was built around 386 computers. By the way, my HP LJ-4 works great with XP.

The price of Inkjet printers is driven by consumers that want something cheap. You get what you pay for. It is the market that creates cheap Inkjet printers. They do work well, but if they break they are not designed to repair. They are known as disposable printers. Not all Inkjet printers are disposable printers. The Inkjet is really progressing and will continue to fill more of the market place. Speed has been an issue but now they have designed some that keep up with the speed of laser printers. HP color Inkjets also make terrific color prints. Even a person with a limited budget can make great presentations, photos and flyers.

When you purchase a printer, you should always consider the type of application that it will be used for. Don’t buy an Inkjet when you’re going to be printing hundreds of reports. Don’t buy a laser printer if you print two or three jobs a day. If you look at cost per print and monthly volume you can’t go wrong. Hewlett Packard printers are some of the best you can buy, but you need to use them in the proper application.

Bill Tucker has been in the office equipment and supply industry for over 20 years and has several published industry related articles that help the end-user as well as the technician.

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bill_Tucker

Fighting off Viruses: Advancements in Antivirus Software Suites

Protecting your computer from a virus is getting harder and harder each day, making it very difficult to fight off viruses attacks. While it may border on the paranoid, it goes without saying that you can’t leave your guard down for one second. Even corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised on more than one occasion.

Remember the “good old days”, before the advent of the Internet and downloadable programs? Life was simple then in terms of computer viruses. With the primary way in which a virus could be transmitted being limited to floppy disks, the ability to catch and eradicate the virus was a lot easier. By today’s standards, it used to take quite a while before a virus was able to infect a computer and slow down the system. The antivirus software of that time was typically able to identify and eradicate viruses before they caused too much damage. Additionally, computer users were pretty savvy on how to protect themselves in terms of scanning all floppy disks before copying them to our desktop.

The Internet helped change all that. The Internet provided a conduit by which viruses could move from host to host with lightening speed. No longer could a computer user just worry about floppy disks as points of entry, but they now had to worry about email, email attachments, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads. Today’s viruses can attack through multiple entry points, spread without human intervention, and take full advantage of vulnerabilities within a system or program. With technology advancing everyday, and the convergence of computers with other mobile devices, the potential of new types of threats also increase.

Protecting Your Computer

Luckily, the advancement of antivirus software has kept pace with current virus threats. Antivirus software is essential to a computer’s ability to fend off viruses and other malicious programs. These products are designed to protect against the ability of a virus to enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and desktops. Additionally, these programs offer a centralized control feature that handle deployment, configuration and updating. A computer user should remain diligent and follow a few simple steps to protect against the threat of a virus:

1. Evaluate your current computer security system.

With the threat of a new generation of viruses able to attack in a multitude of ways, the approach of having just one antivirus software version has become outdated. You need to be confident that you have protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to the network, and from the gateway to the server. Consider a more comprehensive security system which includes several features including antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and intrusion detection. This type of system will make it more difficult for the virus to penetrate your system.

2. Only install antivirus software created by a well-known, reputable company. Because new viruses erupt daily, it is important that you regularly update your antivirus software. Become familiar with the software’s real-time scan feature and configure it to start automatically each time you boot your computer. This will protect your system by automatically checking your computer each time it is powered up.

3. Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no matter from where they originate.

4. Exercise caution when opening binary, Word, or Excel documents of unknown sources especially if they were received during an online chat or as an attachment to an email.

5. Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It may be the only way to recover your data if infected.

Recommended Antivirus Software

There are numerous applications available to consumers. With a little research, you can pick the program that is right for you. Many programs provide a trial version which allows you to download the program and test its abilities. However, be aware that some anti-virus programs can be difficult to uninstall. As a precaution make sure to set up a System Restore point before installing.

Here are a few programs which typically receive high marks in terms of cost, effectiveness, ease of use, and customer service.

Invisus Internet Security 2006 provides best of breed technologies, using Kerio Firewall, Sophos Anti-virus, CounterSpy as well as BigFix..Virsus scans done every day with live updates scheduled scan options available, software has been known to discover virus attacks three hours to two days before its competitiors.. Invisus offers unlimited free tech services a needed addition in todays online environment.

The Shield Pro 2005™ provides virus protection and hacker security through ongoing support and updates. When a virus breaks out, The Shield Pro 2005™ promises to provide a patch within 2-3 hours and a fix for the virus within 5 hours. You can set your computer to update viruses weekly and run a complete virus scan.

BitDefender 9 Standard provides antivirus protection, as well as Peer-2-Peer Applications protection, full email protection, and heuristics in a virtual environment. This provides a new security layer that keeps the operating system safe from unknown viruses by detecting malicious pieces of code for which signatures have not been released yet.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0 program is simple to install and use. The user only needs to choose from three levels of protection. It allows updates as frequently as every hour while promising not to disrupt your computer. The program also offers a two-tier email protection feature and round-the-clock technical support.

PC-cillin Internet Security combines antivirus security and a personal firewall—for comprehensive protection against viruses, worms, Trojans, and hackers. It also detects and removes spyware and blocks spam. It even guards against identity theft by blocking phishing and pharming attacks.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is a free downloadable antivirus program that has received high marks for its reliability. In the past, free downloadable antivirus programs have been viewed skeptically because of issues relating to its reliability. However, AVG from Grisoft, remains one of the best-known free anti-virus programs available. While AVG can not be installed on a server operating system and there is no technical support, it still makes a good choice for many home computer users. The best part is that since it is free, you can try it with no further obligation necessary.

However, I do NOT suggest to use free anti-virus software or off the shelf security products, as you will only be getting basic security levels met and most likely outdated by the time you get them on your computer. It is best to purchase the best you can afford as in the long run it will be less expensive if something slips through your system. Also it takes only 8 seconds for a hacker, spyware, adware or any other malicious attack to enter your computer. Computers slowing down, freezing, software not working properly, emails overloaded with spam, computer starting on its own, computer crashing, these are all signs that you have been hit with a virus.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carmel_Whittle

Why Pocket PC?

The Pocket PC is a very versatile mobile device because it can not only be used for work, but also for play. The platform it runs on supports a broad range of multimedia capabilities. The Pocket PC also boasts more overall multimedia capacity, so the games made for the Pocket PC tend to be more graphically advanced than those on the Palm.

Another reason why people like the Pocket PC is because of how small and mobile it is. All of these features it offers, some you won't find in a Palm Pilot, are compacted down into a sleek, light weight device. One of the nicest benefits the Pocket PC offers its users is the ability to seamlessly browse the web. It's simple and enjoyable on a Pocket PC.

There's a lot of new programs coming out for the Pocket PC that really make the device shine. The future of applications for the Pocket PC looks bright. Expect applications that cover mobile surveillance, enhanced voice recognition applications that will enable your Pocket PC to talk (perhaps in other languages as well), PocketTV - watch television on your Pocket PC, PocketBible, and more. The list goes on and on, this is one truly versatile mobile device.

The Pocket PC also caters to many different types of professionals nicely. For example, if you have a career in the health care industry, you'll find handy software tools useful like medical encyclopedias, contact and time management tools, and more

You won't have any trouble finding extra software for your Pocket PC, either. Many of the recently released Pocket PC applications are available for download from the Internet, or at your local mobile entertainment store.

I strongly believe that the Pocket PC is the most revolutionary mobile computing device developed to-date. It's a businessman's dream, because you can easily run your business from any locale you like. Find many compatible applications to make your job easier or browse the web for access to easy information at your convenience. For reasons like these, I highly recommend the Pocket PC for any situation.

Written by Kori Smith. Find the latest portable media articles, news, and more at PocketSynch the Portable Media Gadget Blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kori_Smith

3 Things You Need To Know Before Installing Windows Vista

The new generation of Microsoft Windows known as Vista was released earlier this year. Most new computers bought since the end of January will come preloaded with Windows Vista, but there are many people with older computers that will want to upgrade from Windows XP. Before attempting to upgrade, there are several things you need to know.

First, make sure your computer is able to run Vista. Microsoft has a program that will scan your computer and give you a report about anything that is not compatible or not fast enough to run the new version of Windows.

This upgrade checking tool comes with Windows Vista upgrade packages, but you can also download it from the internet so you can check your computer before spending any money on Vista.

You can get more information about the Vista upgrade tool at www.microsoft.com/vista.

Second, check the report you get from Microsoft's upgrade tool closely. There are some features of Vista that won't run on all computers, even if they are able to run it.

You should pay close attention to the video card report in particular. Older video cards may not support the new "Aero" interface in Vista, which is one of the major new features.

If your video card doesn't work with Aero, you can still run Vista (in fact, the Basic version doesn't include Aero) but you'll be missing out on a lot of the new capabilities.

If your video card isn't up to the task but the rest of your computer is Vista ready, you can upgrade to a newer card that will support it without having to buy a whole new computer.

Lastly, if you're planning to install the upgrade version of Vista, keep in mind that you can't do a clean install with it.

What is a clean install, you ask? This is when you format your hard drive, wiping everything clean that's on there now and installing Windows from scratch.

With past versions of Windows, the upgrade version would allow you to do a clean install as long as you had an original disk from the previous version. It would ask you to insert the disk during the installation for verification.

This ability is no longer an option and if you start with a clean hard drive, you'll either need a full version of Vista or you'll have to install an older version of Windows first so you can upgrade.

Aaron Smith offers helpful tips for computer upgrades on the Computer Help Squad website. Get your free copy of our special report "5 Steps To Protect Your Computer On The Internet" at http://www.computer-help-squad.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aaron_Smith

Windows XP Repair- Tweaks for WinXP 3

LuvComputers PC Repair Tweak No.3

Now moving on to the final part of this little series of Windows XP tweaks.

In this part were going to improve the computers all around start up time. The way that were going to do this is to remove the amount of programs starting up when we boot our computer. Truth be known, there are quite a few of these that just don't need to be starting up when we boot the machine.

Now the programs starting up will differ from machine to machine, depending on what programs are installed on a given computer. I'm not going to go into to much detail here. I'm just going to give you an overall idea of the sort of things that really aren't necessary to be loading up and starting.

Tweak-NO.3

1. The first thing that we need to do is to get into our run box again.

So remember, click Start, menu opens, find and click run.

2. Once we have the run box open, we're going to type into the run box the phrase "msconfig", without quotations. Then click ok. Now we are in what is known as the System Configuration Utility.

3. Now that were in the utility, the tab were going to be needing is the Startup tab. Now for the purpose of this, we are going to keep it basic, I don't want people unchecking things that shouldn't be unchecked.

4. As you can see there are many things that are starting up when you boot your computer, and frankly, up startup, many of them just aren't necessary.

There are programs such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, etc. that really don't need to be started when you boot up, unless of course your one of those people that likes to be automatically logged in upon startup. But, any of these sorts of chat programs will start when you need them to, just by double clicking their icon or else starting them from the programs menu.

So, taking these things out during the startup process, will speed up your startup times, by quite a lot in many cases.

Does Windows Office need to be started when you boot your computer. No. Probably not.

Does your webcam software need to be started at this time. Again, probably not.

Go through these programs starting up and choose which one's you really don't need to be starting when you boot up, and it will improve your performance.

Now, there are some things that should be starting as well, and you should be leaving these alone. These are things like your antivirus protection. For the purpose of this tweak, leave the checks next to items that look more like filenames alone. These are items like isschd, ccapp, and things along this line. In future tutorials I'll get into these a little bit more. For now, let's just stick to basics.

Once your finished unchecking the programs that don't need to be starting, and are sure that these are fine. Remember what I said about your antivirus software. Anything that has to do with your Internet Security, leave these checks in place.

After your finished, click ok, after you click ok, you will be asked to restart your computer. After your computer restarts your changes will take place.

So there you go, this concludes our little LuvComputers PC Repair Tweaks for WinXP series. I hope that you enjoyed these tutorials and learned a little bit from them.

Again I kept things fairly straight forward. I didn't want people checking and unchecking things that may have an undesirable effect.

Well see you all soon, and take care of yourself!

Thanx Davin

LuvComputer's PC Repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davin_Ogden

Windows XP Repair-Tweaks for Windows XP 2

LuvComputers PC Repair Tweak-NO.2

Ok, so in Tweak-No.1, we performed a couple of changes to Windows XP to improve your overall quality of your session experience a bit. In tweak No.2 we are going to expand on this a little bit, but we are also going to improve the shutdown time of your computer measurably.

This tweak is going to involve getting into the registry, so heed my warning from Tweak No.1.

Please do not perform this tweak if your at all uncomfortable about going into the registry, OK!

Tweak-No.2 Now, to get into the registry in Windows XP, we first need to access our Run box. To access the Run box: Press Start

Find Run in the first menu that opens up, and then click Run!

Now we are in the Run box, simple hey.

Ok, now that we are in the run box, we want to type in the phrase "regedit", without the apostrophes of course.

When you access the registry you will notice under the My Computer icon, the different subsections of the registry. These include:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

HKEY_USERS

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

In this tweak we want to click the plus sign next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder.

This opens up to all the different folders stored in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER parent folder.

Scroll down to the folder that is labeled, Control Panel, then click the plus sign to open the subfolders of the Control Panel folder.

Once this is finished, you'll notice many folders, Accessibility, Appearance, Colors etc. For the purpose of this tweak we are going to open the Desktop folder.

If you look to the right of your screen in the registry editor, there are many, many different things you could play around with in here. Please don't! Let's just concentrate on the few that we are going to change for the purpose of this tweak.

1. The first value we are going to change is MenuShowDisplay. Basically what this little feature does is, governs the amount of time it takes to open up your menu's on your desktop. The default value is set to 400. We can change this value, simply by double clicking the actual heading, MenuShowDisplay.

So once you have double clicked it, reset it too, 200, this will improve the speed at which your menu's open on your desktop. I usually set mine to 150, but this opens them up pretty fast. You can play around with different values here, but anything lower than 150 is usually opening up your menu's to fast.

So like I say, you can play around with the value a bit, to your liking.

2. If you scroll up from MenuShowDisplay, the value we are going to change next is AutoEndTasks. The default value for this is 0. We are going to switch this to 1. The same as we did the first one, just double click the heading, then change it, and then click OK. Basically this is like a switch, as in binary, 0 being off, and 1 means on. Changing this value to one will automatically shutdown a hungup program for you.

3. Now were going to go down the list a little bit, to HungUpAppTimeout. The default of this value is 5000. Switch this to 1000.

Note:Be a little bit careful with this one. If for some reason you might have a program that runs very slowly in WinXP, on your machine, the operating might falsely think that the program is hung up. In such a case, you can increase this value in increments of 1000, until the false hang ups stop.

4. Lastly, to finish off, we are going to change one more value. This being the value of WaitToKillAppTimeout, the default for this is 20000. Set this value to 4000. There really shouldn't be any reason to go back and switch this later on, as with HungAppTimeout. This will close your programs much faster, and great when shutting down if you haven't closed a program before trying to shutdown your computer.

A couple of things you should know about the Registry is that these changes take effect immediately, and there isn't anyway to undue the changes in the way you might be used to. The only way to change them back to default is if you remember what the defaults are. Well, actually that's not true. There is a way, but that is beyong the scope of this little tweak section were doing. If your unsure, and are worried about the effects, of some of these changes, I suggest you write them down somewhere, just in case for some reason you would like to go back to Windows XP's original settings.

One more thing, always back up the registry before making any changes such as these. I'm quite sure you will appreciate the responsiveness that these changes in the registry have on your computer.

Let's move onto the third part of LuvComputers PC Repair-Windows XP tweaks .

Davin Ogden

LuvComputer's PC Repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davin_Ogden

Windows XP Repair- Tweaks for WinXP 1

LuvComputers PC Repair Tweak No.1

There are a few little things that you can do with your Windows XP installation that will improve it's performance. These include speeding up the boot time, shutdown time, and just overall general session experience.

Now a couple of these are straight forward, these Windows XP tweaks can be performed by most users, with a bit of experience. Some of the other's involve getting into the registry to make a few changes. If you don't know what a registry is, and the general outline and purpose of it, then I don't recommend that you go in there at all. Making a mistake inside the registry, in the wrong area or changing the wrong value, can have catastrophic repercussions on your operating system. So please, remember I said, "If you don't know what a registry is, it's purpose etc., DON"T GO IN THERE!!" There is my warning, I'm no longer responsible!! If perhaps you would still like to have a faster machine, and you are feeling uncomfortable with your saviness, ooh that's a cool word, saviness! I mean your not feeling as computer savvy as maybe you would like, then find somebody that does have a lot more experience with computers, and might be comfortable with places such as the registry. Here we go!

Windows XP Repair-Tweak No.1 1. To start off with, were going to start right from the desktop, no programs open. First we want to get into the properties of My Computer.

Click Start, and find the My Computer Icon in the menu. To get into the properties of My Computer, simply right click the icon, then choose properties, from the drop down menu.

In the properties box you will see a series of tabs. These are General , Computer Name, Hardware etc. The tab that were interested in here is the Advanced tab.

Open up the advanced tab. Incidentally, you will have to have administrative privileges on the computer that you are working on to make most of these changes. With that said, and with the Advanced tab opened up you will see three main categories in which you can access.

These are Performance, User Profiles and Startup and Recovery.

In the Performance area, click settings. In here we are just going to make a couple of changes.

As you can see there are four bullet points:

Let Windows choose what's best for my computer??

Adjust for best appearance

Adjust for best performance

Custom

Normally, in here I will choose Custom, and deselect everything in the list of graphic features, except for the very last two.

Use dropdown shadows for icon labels on desktop

Use visual styles on windows and buttons

Leaving the last two of these options checked still gives you a visually nice desktop, and you can still see visual styles on your windows and buttons.

Once you have made these changes go to the bottom of the Visual Effects tab and click Apply.

As for all of the one's that were left unchecked, most of these will use up memory because of the graphic nature of them, but for most users, if you didn't know what they did, you wouldn't miss them anyway. But having them unchecked will speed up your overall system performance by a smidge.

Alright, so that's the first part of Windows XP Repair-Tweak No.1.

For the next part, while we are in the properties of My Computer, on the Advanced tab, let's look down towards the bottom, and you will see the button Error Reporting.

Click Error Reporting and get into the window that opens up and disable error reporting by putting a check mark in the Disable Error Reporting box.

Error reporting is much the same as, "Your computer has performed an illegal action", from back in the Windows 98 days. Basically, your computer did something that your operating system didn't understand. Only now, Microsoft wanted you to report it to them. Frankly I don't see the point and also, this is mostly annoying more than anything, so go ahead and disable it, trust me, your not missing anything.

Davin Ogden

LuvComputer's PC Repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davin_Ogden

Anti Virus Software Download - Keep Your PC Safe With Multiple Programs

It's fairly safe to say these days that most of us, (around 80%) have bought a well-known antivirus package. Personally, I favour Norton but McAfee, AVG and a few others dominate the antivirus and spyware market. There is of course a good reason for this.

Popularity is the main reason. When you buy a computer the chances are you would buy it from a high street computer shop, a well-known internet name such as Dell, or on the strength of a recommendation. You would be very cautious about handing over your hard-earned cash to a company you have never heard of, and rightly so. The same applies to an antivirus software download. Most of us would much rather spend our money on one of the big names mentioned above, (even if they are more expensive) because we know that we will be getting a high level of protection from a brand we can trust. The only time we are likely to deviate from this is if we are offered a free antivirus program / trial or if someone we trust recommends different antivirus software downloads. What most people don't realise, (also around 80%) is that we shouldn't rely solely on these programs. Why?

Once we buy and install this antivirus software we let it run and forget about it. We assume we are safe and fully protected because we bought the best there is. To a point this is true. I would always recommend buying your main antivirus package from a recognised brand. Personally I use Norton Internet Security. It not only protects against viruses but it comes with automatic updates, checks my emails for viruses and spyware, and even comes with Norton GO-Back which is a more advanced version of Microsoft's, "System Restore". This is all wonderful stuff but there is one problem. Something that affects every one of these big brands of software.

If you are familiar with computers you may have heard that using an alternative operating system or internet browser such as firefox is safer. The reason for this is that Creators of Viruses, Trojans, Spyware, Worms and all the other types of malicious bugs are very clever. They know that almost everyone uses Internet Explorer. They also know that 80% of people use one of 5-6 big software brands.

When the viruses is created it is usually intended to reach as many computers as possible. Therefore it is only logical that the first targets to overcome are the big named brands. If the virus get get past this antivirus software undetected then it stands a very good chance of infecting thousands of machines. Now this is where the problem lies. Norton, McAfee and other big names are always the first target. There is nothing they can do about this other than to be as prepared as possible.

This is where the consumer needs to get wise. As stated above I would always recommend owning one of the recognised antivirus software packages as your first line of defence. But if this was all there was to it, then nobody would ever get a Virus on their machine. We know for a fact that thousands, (maybe more) still get infected everyday. so how do we prevent this?

The answer is very simple and inexpensive. There are hundreds of lesser known antivirus downloads available on the market. These are not frequently targeted by the creators of viruses because there is less opportunity for their virus to spread. Many of these programs will run quite happily alongside your main software, or you can just use them to run a scan periodically.

So, to ensure you are as fully protected as possible here is what you should do. First, buy or keep your current recognised 'big brand' software. This is a vital step that should not be missed (the smaller cheaper antivirus downloads are unlikely to provide adequate cover on their own). Secondly, buy a lesser known spyware scanner and remover. Thirdly, Also buy a lesser known adware stopper. It is important to note that there is no need to spend vast sums of money here. You can very easily purchase both of these products for far less than half of the cost of Norton, or McAfee.

This may sound like a time-consuming effort, but once it is installed you can simply set it to run once a week and forget about it just like your current software. By buying separate programs like this you maximise your chances of spotting anything untoward on your PC. For the sake of a few $$ you could potentially save the security of your bank account or credit card details. Don't delay in taking action!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dawn_Smith

Malaysia Online : Related Link
important advice on adware removal

Windows Vista Top 10 Tips and Tricks

1. Power button default action

The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows Vista is Sleep, which isn’t necessarily useful for everybody. You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut. Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following: powercfg.cpl,1. You could also take the long route (Control Panel Power Options Change Plan Settings Change Advanced Power Settings) Once you get to this dialog, browse down as shown to “Power buttons and lid”

From here, you can change the options:

Power button action - Changes the hardware power button action
Start menu power button - Changes the power button on the Start Menu
You can change the power button to either Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down, or even nothing for the hardware power button.

2. Hide Desktop Icon Text on Windows Vista

Some icons are just obvious enough that nobody should need text below them to tell them what the icon is for. A good example of this is the icon for Internet Explorer. We’re all really used to it by now, and the text just makes it ugly. Just right-click on the shortcut, and choose Rename. Now hold down the Alt key and type in 255 on the keypad to the right of the keyboard. You can’t use the number keys right above the keyboard, they won’t work. If you have a laptop, you can turn on numlock and then use the little number keys next to the regular letters. (You know you always wondered what they were for)

For the first shortcut on the desktop, a simple Alt+255 will do. For the next shortcut, you’ll have to enter the combination twice (Alt+255, Alt+255). For the third, 3 times… you get the idea. The way this works is that the Alt+255 character is blank, so the shortcut filename is actually just named with a character that is completely blank. Since you can’t have two shortcuts or files named the exact same thing, the second shortcut will have to be named with two blank characters.

Now we have a sweet looking icon on the desktop, with no bothersome text beneath it. If you use this tip to rename a folder, you will not be able to rename the folder back using the right-click rename. I’m not sure why this is. What you’ll have to do is open a command prompt and change directory into the containing folder (For instance, the desktop folder), and run this command: ren “Alt+255” “NewFolderName” You will need to actually type the Alt+255 characters where illustrated in the command. It will appear as a space. Note that the Recycle Bin icon won’t work this way.

3. Enable Hidden BootScreen in Windows Vista

The Windows Vista BootScreen is pointless, but Microsoft decided to hide a more visually appealing boot screen that can easily be enabled with very little trouble. I’m not sure why they didn’t make the boot screen better.

1) Press Win+R, type msconfig and press Enter.
2) If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.
3) In the "System Configuration" window, click on the Boot tab.
4) Select your Windows Vista installation and under "Boot options", check "No GUI boot". Press OK.
5) In the dialog that appears, check "Don’t show this message again", and then click on Restart.
6) Your computer will now reboot, and you will see the Aurora boot screen with text that says "Starting Windows Vista".

Note: You may get a Windows Defender error on the next startup. You can enable the system config utility using the tray icon and this error will go away.

4. Fix for COM Surrogate Has Stopped Working Error in Vista

If you’ve been getting the error COM Surrogate has stopped working whenever you browse folders containing Divx avi files, it looks like the latest Divx update to codec version 6.5 fixes the issue, but it also seems to remove the thumbnails. If you want to upgrade, just use the divx update checker to grab the new version. Looks like it’s finally fixed, at least the error message is now gone, although I really wish they would have just gotten the thumbnails working instead.

If you are using Nero, you will need to update to version 7.7.5.1 to fix the problem. I think this is the source of the error for most people.
If you’ve upgraded Nero and Divx and still have the problem, you can try renaming the file C:Program FilesCommon FilesAheadDSFilterNeVideo.ax to NeVideo.ax.bak This will break Nero Showtime, however.

5. Stop an Application from Running at Startup in Windows Vista

Back in the old days, there were a lot of places an application could hook itself to run at startup. You had to check the registry in more than one place, as well as your start menu. With Windows Vista, there’s a built-in panel that handles all that for you. To quickly get to this panel, you can open Control Panel, and then type “startup” into the search box. The link for “Stop a program from running at startup” shows up immediately. You could have also opened Windows Defender and fooled around with the menus until you find the right spot, but this seems quicker to me. Now you can see the Windows Defender screen that lets you manage the startup programs. You can choose to Remove or just Disable any startup item using this panel, as well as lots of other useful information so that you can see what each item is.

6. Emptying Windows Vista Temp Files Directory

Windows Vista Disk Cleanup wizard is really not all that bad, but I did find a small problem with it… It doesn’t fully empty your temp folder. It only allows you to delete temporary files that haven’t been modified in a week. If you’ve recently done a lot of editing or something that generates large temporary files, you may want to manually clean up. Just type in %TEMP% into the start menu search box, and hit enter. You’ll immediate be taken to the temporary files folder, where you can delete whatever you feel like.

7. Disable User Account Control(UAC) For Administrators Only

If you can’t stand the User Account Control prompts, but you’d still like to retain a little bit of security, you can disable it for Administrator accounts only. What we’ll be doing is actually changing Windows Vista to automatically elevate the privilege level for administrators without prompting. The nice thing about doing it this way is that regular users as well as Internet Explorer still run as regular users, and would still use the normal security mechanisms. To configure this setting on Windows Vista Business and Ultimate, you can use the Local Security Policy configuration.

Just type in secpol.msc into the Start menu search box and hit enter.
Now browse down to Local Policies Security Options
Find the following in the list: “User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode” and double-click on it.
Change the setting to “Elevate without prompting”. You should be all done.
This is an easier method that you can use to do the same thing from the GUI interface.
Open up Control Panel, and type in user account into the search box.
You’ll see the link for “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off”. Click it.
Uncheck the box, and reboot your computer. You should be done with obnoxious prompts!

8. Using Windows Vista System Restore

Windows Vista has a feature called System Restore that automatically backs up registry and system files whenever you install new software or drivers. This feature is useful when you install evil software that makes your computer run really slow. But don’t worry, System Restore won’t remove Windows Vista.

Using System Restore in Windows Vista

There are two places that you can use the system restore feature from. From within Windows, you can just type restore into the Start menu search box, and you’ll immediately see System Restore at the top of the start menu, or you can type rstrui into the search box and hit enter. Your choice. You will immediate see a screen where you can choose to roll back the system to the last restore point. You can select “Recommended restore”, and just click next, or you can choose a different restore point. If you do choose a different restore point, you will see a list of restore points that you can choose from. Click one of them, and you will have to confirm and then restart your computer to roll the system back. If your system won’t boot If you can’t even get into windows, you can boot off the installation dvd, and choose the “Repair your computer” option on the lower left hand side. Click next on the next screen. Now choose System Restore from the System Recovery dialog. It will take a few seconds to come up, and you will see the same screen that you would see in Windows. Click next, and on the next screen select the drive that your copy of Windows Vista is installed on. Click Finish, and Vista will roll back to the previous restore point. Really pretty simple stuff. I absolutely recommend keeping the system restore feature on in Vista !

9. Verify the Integrity of Windows Vista System Files Windows Vista includes a utility that will scan your system for corrupt, changed or missing system files. Running this from the command prompt is much easier than booting off the dvd into repair mode. To run this utility, you will need to open a command prompt in administrator mode. You can do that by right clicking the Command Prompt in the list and choose "Run as Administrator" Once you have an administrator command prompt open, you can run the utility by using the following syntax: SFC [/SCANNOW] [/VERIFYONLY] [/SCANFILE=] [/VERIFYFILE=] [/OFFWINDIR= /OFFBOOTDIR=] The most useful command is just to scan immediately, which will scan and attempt to repair any files that are changed or corrupted. You can run that command with this command: sfc /scannow

10. Disable Hibernation & delete the Hibernation file

Windows places a file on your hard drive that it uses when your computer goes into hibernation mode. If you do not use hibernation mode, or your computer does not properly support it, you may want to disable hibernation and clear the file off your hard drive to free up some space (the file will use as much space as you have in physical memory, so if you have 1GB of RAM, it’s going to use 1GB of your hard drive space).

Disable Hibernation:
1. Click Start, All Programs, and then right click on "Command Prompt".
2. From the context menu click on "Run as administrator".
3. If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.
4. In the command prompt window, type "powercfg –h off" (without the quotes).
5. Close the Command Prompt window.

Delete the Hibernation File:
1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click "Disk Cleanup".
2. If prompted to choose a drive, select the drive in which Windows Vista is installed on to and press OK.
3. Disk Cleanup will scan the hard drive and present you with a list of options.
4. Check "Hibernation File Cleaner", and then click OK.
5. When asked "Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?" click on the Delete Files button .

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zoran_Petrovic

What is Computer Forensics?

It is the end of the day and it has been discovered that several critical files are missing from your file server. That alone is normally is enough to freak out most server administrators, but this specific incident also happened to be on the exact same day a particular employee was 'terminated'. As you recall that individual, had access to the missing data, but as far as you know, she didn't seem like the type of person to do something malicious. Then again, you noticed she seemed pretty upset as she was clearing out her desk that day too. You begin to wonder if there is a connection between the two, and if so, how you collect the necessary information to present to your manager.

No, you are not imagining a scene from CSI or Court TV. This situation happens daily in real life and may have happened, or could happen, at the company you work for. Remember Enron?

What is Computer Forensics?

Computer forensics, sometimes known as "Digital Forensics" or "Electronic Evidence Discovery", is often described as "the preservation, recovery and analysis of information stored on computers or other electronic media".

Computer forensics has quickly become a vital tool and source of information for criminal investigators, corporate counsel, and prosecutors. Computer forensics investigators use their skills to identify and restore formatted, corrupted, deleted or hidden files from computers or other electronic media while maintaining crucial data trails, time & date stamps and accurate chain of custody & controls. They also obtain access to protected or encrypted data by using specialized software.

In addition, with the increased usage and dependence on the Internet, for corporate and individual communication, computer forensic investigators are equip to analyze emails, Internet searches, file transfers, online account transactions and anything else a computer is used to do over the Internet.

How do they do it?

Computer forensic investigators typically focus on 4 areas when investigating a potential incident. There are other areas of attention as well, but the following are the most common. Including illicit and damaging activities that could damage your company's reputation.

Saved Files

These are files that can be viewed on the computer. This is usually a non-intrusive task to obtain these files.

Deleted Files

These files are just that...deleted. They are either in the 'trash' or require special software to 'capture and restore' the files. This is usually a non-intrusive task to obtain these files.

Temporary Files

These files are typically generated from browsing the Internet, working on a document, some types of back-up software as well as certain software installations for example. Identifying these requires specialized software and is an intrusive process.

Meta Data

This information typically is associated with the details of a file or document. Such as, the date the file was created, modified and last accessed. Additional information that could be captured could include the original creator of the file (of course that information depends on the original installation of the application) as well as anyone who has ever accessed the file. Identifying these requires specialized software and may or may not be an intrusive process.


What would Computer Forensics Service be used for?

There are several possible uses for this type of service. The most common applications of computer forensics are as follows:


Divorce Cases
Electronic Investigation
Expert Witness Service
Corporate E-mail Investigation
Litigation Support
Intellectual Property Disputes
Investigation and Discovery Litigation Programs
Insurance Fraud Cases
Corporate Investigations
Corporate Counsel Support
Electronic Records Management

There are many reasons why you, or your company, may require the service of a computer forensics investigator. If you suspect that you may have an incident requiring computer forensic service, or electronic evidence discovery & analysis, you should secure the computer from further use and contact an experienced computer forensics service company.

Jason Perry

ADR Data Recovery is available to evaluate the damage and potentially recover your lost data. For more information on ADR Data Recovery's Computer Forensics service, visit http://www.computerforensicsassociates.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Perry

Data Recovery World Wide

IT Managers all over the world are struggling to manage the tremendous growth of data and protect it. This data comes in all forms, such as: databases, e-mail, stored files etc. These data are stored permanently and archived to meet the regulatory requirements, and for changes in business functions.

The developments in information technology help us to store huge quantities of data in magnetic, optical and solid-state storing devices. Data is stored in the most commonly used storage devices, such as: hard disks, micro drives, multiple disks, tape/digital linear tapes, CD/DVDs, portable drives, Magneto Optical storage devices, removable disks, Zip drives, diskettes, compact flash/memory cards, and USB flash drives.

In order to store the data in various formats we use certain platforms or computer programmes. Every computer will have an operating system for starting the computer, running the applications and saving them in the storage device. The operating system helps the coordination of all the inputting devices like keyboard and mouse to enter and store the input information. The commonly used operating systems to store data are Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT/2000/XP, Apple Mac, Novel Netware and UNIX.

Some times the data stored in a computer device is lost either due to ‘Physical Damage’ or ‘Logical Damage’ to the computer. Data recovery is a method of retrieving the lost data due to physical damage to the system or due to the logical damage to the application software. Data recovery also helps to retrieve even deleted information for forensic investigation.

Data is stored in the most commonly used storage devices discussed above. Sometimes these storage devices may start malfunctioning or stop functioning completely due to physical damage. Some of the common physical damages are: scuffs in the data CD or DVD discs, head crash or failed motor in hard disks and data tapes. Physical damage may also happen due to external occurrences, such as accidentally dropping of the devices, flood, or fire. Data lost due to physical damages can be recovered either fully or partially only by experts under ideal conditions.

The exact damage to the storage device is discovered and the extent of the damage is evaluated. The techniques of recovering the data are not the same for all physical damages. It is normally decided after finding out the details about the storage device, storage space, nature of files lost, operating system used and the name of the manufacturing company.

Firstly, the extent of physical damage is assessed using customised special tools. Then the storage device is opened in a special dust free room to prevent further damage. Data stored in magnetic form is analysed in detail using special equipment. Retrievable data is collected from the device in analogue form and later this data is converted into a digital format as readable data and copied in a new device for use. The percentage of data recoverable depends upon the amount of physical damage to the device.

Most of these storage devices are not fire and water proof. In case of fire, water should not be used to extinguish the fire. If water is used the data must be recovered before the water dries up and corrodes the metal surfaces. In case of flood the storage device must be continued to be kept in a wet condition without drying for recovery of data.

A hard disk with a high storage capacity is logically partitioned as individual storage units (e.g. C:, D: and E: etc) called ‘drives’ for use by the operating system. This logical partitioning saves the trouble of having a number of hard disks in the same system. Similar partitioning is done on tape storage units or any other storage unit with a different format. Logical damage is a more common problem than a physical damage. In the case of logical damage the storage devices will remain intact and usable but the data stored inside the devices is corrupted or lost.

Most of the logical damages are caused by sudden power failures. System crash is another form of logical damage where the operating system may fail to start or malfunction. In either of these situations the data file will not get stored appropriately and left in a conflicting condition. If infected by a virus the self-generated copies of the virus will overwrite the existing programmes and cause system malfunctioning and logical damage. Sometimes data is lost or erased due to formatting the computer partitions.

Unlike physical damage, logical damage comes with an option of self repairing tools. In normal conditions these tools are sufficient to restore work and recover the lost data. When these tools fail to correct the problem professional help should be sought. Initially, a consistency check is done to check the file structure and system information. If there is more damage in the file system the running of a consistency check will fail and crash and may never find the right system file. In another method the consistency check is not done and instead the complete drive is checked for file system structure and limits. Using this technique without disturbing or repairing the file system allows the data to be recovered and stored in a different device.

Data recovery is mostly used by big business, covert army activities, police authorities and tax authorities.

Current trends in data recovery management advises more back up services with improved storage facilities including online storing of data.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rose_Davies

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