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Solving Minor Computer Problems ? Try These Before Doing Anything Else

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The earliest computers were huge devices with huge transistor and cylinders. Efficient cooling systems occupied a lot of space. Technicians often faced problems when flies and insects landed on the cylinders and short circuited the system. Today, we can work on computers that occupy not more than half a table and can work without any worries of flies or mosquitoes damaging the system.

However, this does not mean that the system is perfect. You may, at some point of time or the other, find that certain simple commands that worked before do not work well.

Instead of fearing that something is seriously wrong, try the following solutions before taking any further action.

Restart the computer. This may sound unscientific but restarting the computer is very much like taking a nap so that you can recharge your batteries. Nobody knows why it works but simply rebooting the operating system can sort out many minor problems.

If this does not work, one should run an anti virus scan to check whether the computer is infected with the virus. If not, one should use the system restore option to restore the registry and essential files to the earlier date. An odd function or transaction carried out by a software application may have corrected the registry. Restoring information from the automated backup system should do the trick.

If nothing else works, one may have to go in for a complete reformat. Before doing so, it is important to check whether the problem is caused by a recently installed software application. If that is the cause, reinstalling the software application may solve the problem.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Common Solutions Tagged With: , ,

Running System Utilities

Running system utilities on your computer is quite simple. If you have never run system utilities it is important that you learn. Some utilities should be run on a weekly basis while others don’t need to be run so often. Some examples of system utilities are Disk Defragmenter and Scan Disk or Disk Cleanup. Here is a quick tutorial on running a system utility and setting up a scheduled task.

If you find that your hard drive is more than two-thirds full you may need to run disk defragmenter. To see how full your hard drive is click on the desktop icon “My computer” or find a link to it in the Start menu. Once this window has opened you will see a list of drives available. Most likely your hard drive is labeled as the C: drive and may have some kind of name attached to it. Right click on the icon or list item and choose properties from that menu. The window that pops up should give you both a visual and a number stating amount of the hard drive that is full. This helps you determine if you need to run disk defragmenter. Hard drives on new computers are large but so are the files that you download.

To run disk defragmenter you click on the start menu and then roll your cursor over “all programs”. A list will appear and then you will roll your cursor over “Accessories”. In the Accessories menu you choose system tools and there you will find the link to disk defragmenter. The program will pop up and you push the button that says “Analyze”. This will give you the information about whether or not to run the utility. Next you will push, “Defragment” and that is about all you will have to do. The program will run and give you a report at the end.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Common Solutions Tagged With: , ,

Help My Computer is Loaded With Photos

Digital photos are great. People can take hundreds of photos at an occasion, being sure to capture all the moments of the day. When you go to a great viewpoint, it is wonderful to take fifty shots of the same angle making sure that when you get it home you got the shot in focus with the best possible lighting. When you get home, what do you do? Now I have thousands of photos but they need to be organized. It is important, if you ever want to see those great shots again to find a system for organizing photos that works for you.

First, it is important to make sure you are not just copying photos to your desktop. The terminology when speaking about computers is a bit like the real world. You wouldn’t leave every photo you ever took laying on the surface of your desk and you shouldn’t leave them all on the desktop. You must have a directory in your documents folder that will hold the photos and photos specifically.

Next, the delete button is your friend and should be used regularly. If you want to keep a set of photos in raw original form then buy an external hard drive and keep them there, but it is important to reduce the quantity of photos if you are ever going to find anything. In addition to deleting you must also name your photos. A line of numbers means nothing to most of us.

Once you have deleted and named you should use a system for categorizing photos. Possibly by date and event. If you want greater access you may choose to have a special folder where you keep the best images of the year. You also have the option of using software that may help you organize your photos.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Hardware Tagged With: , ,

Malware and Spyware

A couple of common terms when you are looking at computer security is these two types of “ware” called Spyware and Malware. These two types of programs can cause some problems on your computer system, but more likely the problem will be in the frustration you receive from their activity. Here we will discuss the definition of these programs and possible solutions for the computer user if any.

Malware is a type of program, the long name is malicious software. This type of program that gets onto a persons computer usually without the users consent or at least with out the persons informed consent often does some activity that the user does not intend. It may pop up adds over and over again. It may make searching the internet or getting online unenjoyable. malware can include computer viruses and other types of programs that do more than annoy but actually cause damage to the personal computer.

One type of malware is spyware. This type of program often operates without the knowledge of the user. Spyware records and sends out personal information about what you are doing with your computer to another party. There are some uses of such programs, such as use within a business, that may be considered legitimate. In this example the employer may want to keep tabs on what the employees are doing with their time and therefore records the keystrokes of the employee. One can quickly see why such a program in the wrong hands can be used for criminal activity. That is what makes it malware.

There are several software applications that will deal with these types of programs that find some way into your computer system. Some of these programs cost money and some of them are free. Do your research, especially with free software. You may end up adding something else you don’t want, don’t use or doesn’t do enough to solve your problems.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus Tagged With: ,

The Reason Your PC Inevitably Dies Before You Want It To Go

Many PC owners are the reason that his or her personal computer inevitably goes slower and slower and ends up non-functioning after a couple years. Nobody wants to hear that they are the reason for the end to his or her PC. Some still don’t really care, technology changes quickly and they want a new computer anyway. There is still that question even if you plan to replace your computer every couple years, how can I keep up the performance of my computer while I own it. For others who will not be able to replace the PC due to lack of funds or other reasons, these individuals need their PC to last. There is no reason your computer should not last a number of years longer than 2. Even if some components such as the power supply fail the computer should still be repairable and useful for many years.

The reason  for your failing PC may be out of date software. The solution to to your longer lasting PC is update, update and more updates. With ever computer there is software. Not only the software that we use such as word processors and internet browsers, but drivers for all the hardware of your computer. The first and most important updates that most people overlook is maintaining updated drivers. Nothing else will put an end to your PC faster than having a hardware component without a functioning driver. So, check, and update the drivers when the opportunity arises.

In addition to these updates it is important to keep your software programs updated. If a new version is out, update it, especially if it is free to upgrade. But here we are talking about updates, not necessarily an upgrade that may cost you money. The most important update you can make on your PC is to update the anti virus software. New viruses pop up regularly and in order to be protected it is important to stay updated. Only twenty minutes a week is all you will usually need to make sure you are updated.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Hardware Tagged With: ,

Help, My computer is going slow

Are you having issues with slow computer speed? When you bought the new computer it seemed to run like a dream. You remember it’s the first day of the new computer and when you opened Microsoft Word, it seemed to take no more than a second before it popped open. Remember when you opened your web browser, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Google Chrome, and it seemed like you could click a link and you were instantly transported to whatever you wanted. Now today, you wait almost a minute for Microsoft Word to open, and your browser allows you time to make coffee between websites. What happened is the question in your head, but more importantly is there anything I can do to get back to when my computer worked how I wanted it to work?

Well, there are several possible reasons why your computer has slowed down and most of them can be dealt with. Here we will discuss how to minimize the number of programs that are running at any given time. First of all, you may be an active internet user and any program that comes along that is required to view some type of media, you download it. It is important to realize that as you download programs from the internet, many of them are set to open when your computer starts up. Anything from Quicktime to many other programs are set to be accessible immediately if you need them. These programs are using some of your processor and slowing down how fast other programs can open and function.

One easy way to see what is running is to check the Windows Task Manager. In order to open the task manager simultaneously push CTRL + Alt + Del. Next, click on the “Processes” tab. Now don’t go shutting down operations just because you don’t know what they are. Use this list to research what is running. If it is a program that you know is not necessary all the time, change the options of the program not to open on start up. This may help.

Filed Under: Anti-Virus, Software Tagged With: ,

Protecting yourself against a computer virus

We may understand the cold better than we can articulate a computer virus, but one thing’s for sure. We know it when we’ve got one. Either our nose or our computer freezes up and C’est las vie to what we were doing before that.

Good news. There are specific ways we can protect our computers from unwanted viruses. Like an unwanted cold, there are steps to take to prevent the sickness from happening in the first place.

-If an e-mail attachment comes from an unknown source, don’t open it. You may be asked at some time”if you haven’t been already”to paste your information into the body of the e-mail instead of attaching your document before you send it. This is why.
- Be careful about the free software available on the Internet.   If you are not using a reliable resource like sites that allow downloading of open source software like vlc player or Ares, then it’s better to save up for the real deal tomorrow than to be stuck with computer problems today. Be cautious about what you download. Make sure you are downloading from a reputable site.
- Get your hands on some anti-virus software. Prices vary; some software is free. Use the trial period if they offer it. Update this software monthly.
- Do some regular scanning of hard drives. Especially when you share a lot of files using p2p software like Ares Galaxy.  Include everything on your system, including e-mail.
- What are the minimum system requirements? This is a”must know” when desiring to install something new that your system may not cover.
-If your computer is running slowly, complete a virus scan immediately.
-A firewall protects you from hackers whether you have a Cable or a DSL connection.
- Already have a virus? Get the latest information on the subject by typing in to your computer the specific virus name followed by the word “virus.”By scanning the hard drives you will be alerted to the virus(s) you have. After discovering what you have, put your system through a FREEWARE program to remove the virus(s).

Most problems that come because of viral attacks, like the common cold, can be avoided with a little pre-planning and pre-cautionary safety.

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