Removing Spyware From Computers

Writen by Gary Gresham

Removing spyware from computers isn't as easy as installing it. The first problem is that you often are completely unaware that it's even there.

But removing spyware from computers is critical because there are some spyware programs that can get into your computer and allow a hacker access to your personal information such as credit card numbers and enable identity theft.

For this reason, if no other, the quicker you find and start the process of removing spyware from computers the better.

Spyware is software that is automatically installed on a computer usually unintentionally and unknowingly by a user who clicks to close a pop-up ad displayed when a webpage is opened.

The advertisements are designed so that you can't close them without activating them. Once installed, the spyware is capable of performing any of a number of tasks without you even realizing it.

One of the most popular uses of spyware is to provide information. The person sending out the spyware wants to know where people are surfing on the Internet. As much as that invades your privacy, it's by no means the worst of what spyware is capable of.

Unlike a computer virus which can usually be quickly removed once found, spyware usually requires a complicated removal process. It may not have the same ripple effect of having your computer infects other people's computer that a virus has.

But the way it affects the performance of your computer, together with the implications of what the spyware is capable of, make it's removal a priority.

One of the best ways to fight spyware is to download an anti-spyware program. These programs are designed not only to detect spyware on your computer, but also to stop them from being installed in the first place.

There are free programs which detect existing spyware, and block some incoming infections, but they don't upgrade automatically and hackers sending out spyware are constantly working to find ways around the free anti-spyware.

Make sure that any anti-spyware program you use is kept up-to-date or you may be relying on outdated technology to keep your computer clean. That means you still run a risk of being infected by a more advanced attack.

While there are spyware programs that you do agree to, the majority of spyware is not only put onto your computer without your consent, it's also there without your knowledge.

For example, if you install the Google toolbar you are given the option of allowing them to harvest data on your surfing habits. But they do allow you to refuse that if you don't want anyone having access to your computer.

Working away in the background, spyware takes what information it wants and relays this to the spyware sender. For safe web surfing it's safer to take advantage and install up-to-date adware spyware blockers.

This doesn't automatically ensure that removing spyware from your computer is 100% accurate. So you also need to get into a habit of running the anti-spyware program on your computer to check that nothing managed to squeeze past your defense system.

A good adware spyware blockers program is the best way for removing spyware from computers and keeping your sensitive information private.

Copyright © 2005 Spyware-Information.com All Rights Reserved.

This article is provided by http://www.spyware-information.com where you will find free spyware cleaners, downloads, removal software, computer firewalls and valuable tips. For regularly updated articles about adware, spyware and protection from identity theft go to http://spyware-information.com/articles_1.html

Keeping Your Digital Camera Dry

Writen by Gary Bunn

How to Keep your Digital Camera dry when it's raining!

Today's digital cameras are packed full of electronics and sensitive pieces of hardware, essential for their functioning, so the last thing you want is to have your very expensive digital camera exposed to water, possibly causing it to brake down! Of course, there is an aspect of risk involved in digital photography as invariably and ironically most dramatic and effective photo opportunities arise during or just after bad weather – such as sunlight breaking through storm clouds, or a rainbow appearing during a downfall. To this end there are a few precautions to take, and a few methods you can adopt to limit the risk to your camera from rainfall.

Lens hoods:

It's impossible to take photographs without leaving the front of your lens uncovered, but it's important to keep the rain off the lens to avoid poor image quality. Purchasing a UV filter will protect your lens while a lens hood will help to shield the front end from falling rain. UV filters are a great idea as they simply screw onto the end of your lens, allow regular wiping without fear of damaging the expensive lens and best of all they cost very little at all. Should they become scratched you can simply throw them away!

Carry a cloth:

Micro-Fiber lens cloth can be purchased from cameras shops but chamois leather is very absorbent and ideal for mopping up raindrops on cameras and lens barrels without scratching the lens or filter. Also carry a second cloth to keep your hands dry or wipe away any dirt.

Umbrellas:

Big golfing umbrellas are ideal for keeping you and your camera dry, though you'll need at least one free hand to hold it, so the camera must be mounted on a tripod. Umbrellas prove useful for shielding your cameras from strong wind also to prevent shake. However, it can often be unpractical to carry a large umbrella around depending on your shooting location.

Waterproof camera covers

Purpose made protectors such as the Elements all-weather cover are available, but to be honest, a decent polythene bag will do unless you intend shooting for long spells in torrential rain (which is unlikely) Just place the bag over the camera and lens, cut a hole for the lens to poke through and secure it with elastic bands!

Change lenses under cover

The one thing worse than rain on your camera is rain IN your camera! The last thing you want is rain on your sensor, so to prevent this always change lenses under cover, either by getting out of the rain completely or using some kind of improvised cover. Just be careful when opening your camera up outdoors.

However….

As mentioned earlier, today's digital cameras rely completely on electronics, and so water is a big worry. So while bad weather can produce great results, it's most certainly not worth the risk of ruining your camera in the hope of getting lucky in the rain! If your protective measures aren't enough, head for cover.

Are you interested in Digital Photography? Check out http://www.Your-Digital-Photography.com for a comprehensive site full of tips, tricks, tutorials, news and the latest reviews of digital photography cameras and equipment! Visit Your-Digital-Photography.com today!

Email Voice Recognition Reader For The Bathroom

Writen by Lance Winslow

Have you ever noticed that in the mornings before work you go to check your emails real fast to see if anything is urgent. For those who are self employed this is a must, as you never know who emailed and you might need this information prior to leaving the house. Of course if you are too rushed you do not have time. But actually you do. While brushing your teeth or hair you could be getting your emails read to you via you Bathroom robot which is working with your voice activated and voice recognition email reader device and why not? Why have all this great technology to serve us if it is not helping us be more efficient and saving us time? But how exactly would this work you ask?

As you walked into the bathroom the sensor would feel your presence and ask; "Good Morning John you look like crap this morning, do you want your emails now?" And you say thanks yes that would be nice. Then the bathroom would say please identify, put your hand over the palm reader to initiate. Then you say; "Screw you, its me you moron, dumb SOB computer, read me my emails you idiot! Then you would get back a reply; "Oh, yes I see it is you John, I can tell by your pleasant attitude! Would you like personal or business emails first?" Then you say; Whatever! Your emails will be read and you can save or reply via your voice, but do not try to reply with toothpaste in your mouth, as the message will be illegible. So that is how it will work? Isn't technology grand? Think on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Feature Overloadwhy Are Consumer Electronics So Complicated

Writen by Reid Neubert

It seems like everything is so complicated these days, especially anything electronic … which is more and more products everyday.

Why are they so complex? "Hey, our cell phone takes pictures, sharpens knives, mows the lawn, pays your bills, steers your car, and cooks dinner, all by voice command!" Give us a break!

Unfortunately, the reason so many electronic products are stuffed with features is that it is relatively cheap to add features to them! Do we consumers really want or need those functions? That is an entirely different question. Often, the answer is no. But the manufacturers add them, in many cases, simply so they can advertise that they have more features.

It costs a lot more to carefully determine what features are most wanted and to design products so that they are feature-rich, yet easy and intuitive for people to use. That is why this vital step is often shortcut.

Ever had trouble figuring out how to program your VCR? Did you ever think that perhaps it's not really your fault? It's the fault of the engineers who designed a lousy user interface to the product. And you think they are bad? Try using a combination VCR-DVD player!

There is second reason why manufacturers keep cramming more questionable features into products. In the case of products like cell phones, sales have slowed down because most people who wanted one have one. So, the phone manufacturers keep adding features in order to try to find ones that motivate people to buy new phones. They keep looking for that latest cool feature that people will be willing to buy a new phone to get.

Similarly, digital camera manufacturers keep coming out with cameras with more and more megapixels. Two megapixels, then 3.2, then 4.0, then 5, now 6, 7, even 8. Do consumers need 7 or 8 megapixel cameras? Not in the least. For shooting snapshots or sharing pictures online, a 3.2 megapixel camera is more than adequate. Really.

Why then, do manufacturers keep extending the capability? It is as we said above: 1) so they can advertise they have it, and 2) to try to get people to stick their old camera in a drawer and buy a new one.

Our advise: It pays to look carefully at the features being offered in the products you are interested in. Don't assume that a product with more features (or higher numbers) is the better choice. Often it is not, it is just more complicated to use! And, there is more to go wrong.

Bloatware

There is a similar phenomenon in software. It is called "bloatware." Programs that are overloaded with features, especially those not essential to the basic purpose for the software, carry this moniker.

When I was in the software industry and we were working on the next versions of software products, the programmers would sometimes come and say, "Hey I can add such-and-such feature with only 100 lines of code," or some such number. That's not much, since a software program can have hundreds of thousands of lines of code. But often it was a feature the users of that software had no need for. Playing consumer advocate, I'd ask why such a feature would be needed. If the answer was questionable, I'd tell them to leave it out. Too often, though, those features make it into software products, and they become bloated with unnecessary features. Bloatware.

Reid Neubert is the creator of ConsumerTechTips.com, the site that provides simple, useful information about consumer electronics for shoppers, plus money-saving links to online bargains from leading retailers. For more information or to contact Reid, visit http://www.consumertechtips.com

Why That Desktop Wallpaper After All

Writen by Amelie Gam

When my parents' generation used to talk about wallpaper, they meant that piece of colorful paper that would be glued to the walls, instead of painting them. The wallpaper was preferred to painting because it was sometimes cuter than any pattern that could be created by paint and it was also supposed to endure more than paint. My head is full of images of couples moving into a new house and going to choose the proper wallpaper for the dining room and the children's room. They would come back with huge packages in which the wallpaper was wrapped.

Nowadays when we say wallpaper we actually mean desktop wallpaper, which is the cover of our computer screen, what we see in front of our eyes when we stop working for a few minutes and close the applications. For people who spend a lot of time in front of their computers, the desktop wallpaper is much more important than any element of interior design at home. And, since more and more of us are spending their time in front of the computer, then the desktop wallpaper is a concern for more and more of us.

Most people doing a regular office job would have the typical commonplace desktop wallpaper. The usual desktop wallpaper is a flower, the image of a forest, the sea. Such pictures can be easily found on the Internet and downloaded as free wallpaper on any number of web pages. The desktop wallpaper becomes more exciting if it belongs to someone who has a specific hobby or to a computer specialist. Then, instead of desktop wallpaper, we actually have a celebration of this or that actor, or a very complicated 3-D image that we cannot easily identify.

In these special cases, it may be more difficult to get free wallpaper with the desired image. True fans will look through hundreds of Internet sites that have an offer for free wallpaper just to find the right desktop wallpaper. And it may not be so easy for them to find the free wallpaper they want. Even if they find the right desktop wallpaper, they may have to pay money for it. Then they will complain that the free wallpaper is not the right desktop wallpaper and that the Internet companies are ripping people off. In their quest for the best desktop wallpaper, these people will keep changing and changing their desktop wallpaper, so you may end up having a lot of fun just taking a look at their desktop wallpaper every day.

You may wonder how come you can find free wallpaper so easy, especially if you have no specific demands. Who puts that free wallpaper online for unlimited download and why? Maybe this is not necessarily a question that so many people ask, but it is certainly a question that may pop up in those dead minutes at work when you are trapped until the next report comes in, so you have nothing better to do than stare at your desktop wallpaper and wonder. The truth is that it isn't important where the free wallpaper comes from. What really counts is the effect it has on us.

It is your desktop wallpaper that makes you relax, smile and sometimes remember. And all of this just because one afternoon you really wanted to put something nice in front of your eyes, to help through some of the more tedious days at work. You went through many Internet pages with images and found a website with the possibility to download free wallpaper. You finally found one with beautiful images of coffee shops. You like that because it reminds you of how you really like to spend your time instead of being stuck in an office with no air conditioning. You would rather be in a coffee shop chatting with your friends. Then you also remember that on that. The free wallpaper you chose was an image of a coffee cup on a table. You have no more time to stare at your desktop wallpaper. The report is in and you must get down to work.

Free wallpaper brings a smile on our faces from time to time when we can afford a brake from routine. Whether it reminds us of the wallpaper in our childhood room or whether it makes us relax just thinking of our good moments, free wallpaper is like the coffee we drink in the morning: indispensable.

Downloading free wallpaper is without doubt as necessary as today's freedom of expression and. the desktop wallpaper one may choose to improve the image of the computer screen can reflect an emotion, a thought or an opinion from the thousands that cross our mind everyday.

Why Is My Computer Suddenly Slower Than Molasses In January

Writen by Dave Baughn

Hey! You sent me a virus! I came home and checked my email and in my inbox is an email from my best friend. It has an attachment and the subject line reads: Check this out! It's really cool! So being the trusting soul that I am, I do! But no sooner do I open the attachment, and WHAM! My Anti-Virus pops up and screams VIRUS!!!!!

Now I'm hopping mad. How dare my friend email me a virus! So I don't email him back (because he's my friend and I don't want to slam him). Instead, I call him up to yell at him. "What are you doing sending me a virus! What's wrong with you? Why don't you have an Anti-virus program running on your computer?"

His response, "I didn't feel like paying for the subscription. It's too much money."

"So what?!," I said, "Now you're infected with a virus and spreading it to all your other "friends" in your address book." I seriously began to evaluate whether or not he is a true friend, but then I think about his life. He needs help. He is vulnerable and He doesn't even know it.

You see, my friend runs a home based business and he uses his computer constantly. Day in and day out, he is working on his PC. Not only does he work for himself, but he dabbles with selling and buying on eBay and uses his PayPal account frequently. To save time, he pays his bills online, banks online, even does some day-trading. AND HE'S NOT WORRIED ABOUT VIRUSES?!?!

Like many computer users today, he is out there be-bopping around, not paying a bit of attention, "saving himself a few bucks." Not even close. The average computer identity theft takes a whopping 15 seconds, drains the victim to the tune of $6300, is not discovered for more than 60 days and then takes over 40 hours to fix. Don't be like my friend. A good anti-virus is a pittance compared to that. It can protect you from loosing important files, accounting records, financial information, personal data, FRIENDS and much more.

Viruses come in all shapes, sizes, flavors and destructiveness. They can do something simple, such as attaching itself to your email address book and sending itself out. Viruses can be creative and write itself to the Master Boot Record on your hard drive, rendering your computer USELESS, and making it virtually impossible to recover and files you have stored on it. One virus can take you out of the picture, destroy your small business, your kids term paper and all your photos.

There are many different software companies who make Anti-Virus software and their prices are all relatively comparable. You can decide which one you trust most. There are others that are free (for personal use) and do just as good a job as the ones you pay for. Either way, you need to make the decision to protect you and your computer, and act on it.

We are concerned about your computer safety and security at How To Use My PC and would love to help you make the right choice for your situation, in plain, simple language. The choice is yours.

If you have questions, feel free to send them to teachme@howtousemypc.com

©2006, Blue Mountain I.T. Solutions. Permission granted to reprint this article as long as it is reprinted in its entirety and that the content, by-line and hyperlinks remain unaltered and functional. Dave Baughn, owner of Blue Mountain I.T. Solutions, is a computer guru, network specialist, author, speaker and consultant. He revolutionizes networks in the Tri-Cities area of Northeast Tennessee with his cutting edge company Blue Mountain I.T. Solutions. Smart as he is, he is merely a human and can only be at one place, at one time, so he created How To Use My PC for the "non-techies" at home who want to learn how to use their computer within the comforts of their own home. Dave will send you the hottest computer tips, tools, ideas, and alerts into your inbox when you sign up at www.ComputerSupportTips.com for his FR*E newsletter. Learn at home!

Who Is Behind The Ipod

Writen by Eddie Miller

Apple Computers came out with their first computer on April 1, 1976. It was AppleI but this one did not go over very well, but when these two Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs, created Apple II, the computer became a success. Over the years they produced quality computers and computer accessories, but began to notice less sales and public demand decreasing.

Then in October 2001, announced a non-computer product that would have them back on the top of charts once again. It was the iPod. The very first one, came with a large price tag but was a designed smart and was a great way to carry around your favorite tunes.

Apple iPod now creates some of the most popular iPod's you can find all of which would be wonderful gifts for any occasion.

Apple has a variety of unique and original iPods to choose from and finding one that is perfect for you or a friend or even a family member will be as easy as browsing through their selection.

The iPod shuffle is one of the most unique iPods around. This is a flash MP3 player so it is great for anyone who is active and enjoys listening to music while jogging, rock climbing, or exercising. You will be listening to your own favorite tunes, but in a random order which is decided by the iPod. You never know which song will be coming up next. It can hold up to 240 songs and will play up to 3 hours of continuous music. Not only will you enjoy the great music and sound but you will also like the size. This cool iPod does not weigh any more than your car keys. Prices of the iPod Shuffle differ according to how many MB's you prefer. For the 1GB iPod Shuffle you will find it for £99.00 and the 512MB is only £69.00.

UK MP3 are the UK's foremost MP3 player shop and review site. We write accurate, unbiased reviews of all the MP3 players we stock, and have a large number of customer reviews, so you can be confident you know what you are getting when you buy your MP3 player.

Whats In An Ipod And Why Is It So Popular

Writen by Mike Singh

Not only is the iPod popular because of its reception from the public, but also because it was Apple's first and successful attempt at branching out from its iMac products and a reputation of being strictly "computer". Unlike the iPod nano and the iPod shuffle which use flash memory, the iPod is designed around a central scroll wheel, with the full-sized models storing media on their internal hard-drive. The iPod is also used as an external data storage device, with its internal hardware and software design originally based on a reference design by another company, PortalPlayer. Apple had decided to focus on technical capability, wanting the iPod to focus on the development on the iPod's simple user interface, along with its ease of use. The iPod's software for the iPod development was not developed in-house for this, but contracted PortalPlayer, who already had the reference design based on 2 ARM cores. Apple then contracted another company, Pixo, to create and refine the user interface, under CEO Steve Jobs.

Currently the best-selling digital audio player, with over 50 million sold and over 1 billion legal downloaded songs from its iTunes online music store, Apple's iPod player is the most popular consumer brand in the mainstream of a growing market of digital devices. Whenever the iPod is connected to the host computer, the itune will automatically synchronize musical playlists or entire musical libraries. The iPod can play several different formats: MP3, M4A/AAC, Protected AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless audio file formats. The newer iPods can also play MPEG-4 (H.264MPEG-4AVC), .mp4, .m4v, and Quick Time video file formats. It does not support Microsoft's WMA format - as other media players do - but there is a converter available for non-DRM WMA files with the Windows version of iTunes. MIDI files cannot be played, but can be converted to audio files using the iTunes Advanced menu.

The Apple iPod can be used as a boot disk for a Mac computer, if it is formatted as HFS Plus, allowing one to have a portable operating system installed. If the iPod is formatted on a Mac OS X computer, it uses the HFS Plus file system format; if it is formatted on Windows, the FAT32 is used because Windows cannot access HFS file systems. A compatible third-party software must be used, as simply copying files to the drive will not allow the iPod to properly access them. As of now there are four basic iPod models that you can find on major shopping websites: the iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod photo, and the brand new iPod video. The iPod photo plays all the songs you wish to download to it, but also displays color photos (album cover art, etc.) on the mini-screen to please the eyes in addition to the already pleased ears.

The photo feature is a favorite of most users who purchased this version of the iPod, but like all electronic gadgets, it has its downfalls. The pictures are hard for some to see on the mini screen and some were upset that you MUST purchase a separate plug-in to view pictures on your television screen. When you do buy the extra connection, you will be more than pleased with the clarity of the pictures on screen. All iPod models come with ear bud headphones, an AC Adaptor, and a 2.0 USB cable in addition to the actual hardware itself. Battery life is usually strong in the iPod with anywhere between 12-15 hour battery life (15 hours on the iPod Photo). Various hard drives are available for different versions of the iPod Photo, but a basic rule of thumb to remember with MP3 players is 2,500 songs per 10 GB.

Check out http://www.mp3playertop.com/ for more articles on mp3 player portable samsung and applei pod.

5 Steps To Securing Your Windows Xp Home Computer

Writen by Richard Rogers

Most people are aware that there are continuous security issues with Microsoft's Windows operating system and other programs. However, what most people do not realize is how easy it is to significantly improve your computer's security and reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim to ever increasingly sophisticated threats that lurk on the internet. These steps should take less than a couple of hours to complete and should not clean out your wallet.

1) Windows Update – the first crucial step you need to take to make sure that all your Microsoft applications have all the latest product updates installed. These updates or "patches" address security vulnerabilities and other issues. Microsoft usually issues these updates on a monthly cycle. Visit the Microsoft website or switch on automatic updates from the Windows Control panel. Even if your "new" computer is second hand this is still a critical first step. If you buy a used computer with Windows XP make sure Service Pack 2 or SP2 is installed.

2) Strong Passwords - people often overlook this but having well thought through passwords is an important element of your computer security. A strong password should include at least 8 characters with a mixture of text, symbols and numbers. As a minimum you need to make sure the services most at risk have a strong log-in password. These services include your bank, credit card, other financial services like PayPal, your email address and any other services like Ebay which hackers can use to generate profit.

3) Anti Virus Protection – while it is fair to say the threat of the computer virus has receded during the last couple of years they can still inflict serious damage on your computer. Part of the reason why the threat has reduced is because PC manufactures are now more frequently bundling anti virus packages with their new computers. For example last year my new Dell shipped with a 90-day trial of McAfee's Internet Security Suite. The best bet here is to purchase a security package which includes firewall and anti virus software as a minimum. Top brands include McAfee and Symantec Norton products. However, Microsoft has recently entered the market with their "OneCare" offering which is very aggressively priced.

4) Firewall - if you are using a broadband connection then a firewall is definite requirement to manage the traffic flowing between your computer and the internet. A firewall monitors the inbound internet traffic passing through the ports of your computer. Better products also monitor outbound traffic from your computer to the internet. As per above the best bet here is buy a firewall application as part of a security package which most vendors offer as standard. If a hardware firewall is included as part of your router package then you do not need anything else. A company called Zone Labs offer a great free firewall product called Zone Alarm which should be used as a minimum. Windows XP does now ship with a free firewall but the product does not monitor outbound communication and therefore I believe does not offer adequate protection.

5) Anti Spyware Tool - this software is the last piece in your basic internet security set up. This tool helps combat spyware and adware. There is a good mixture of free and paid versions on offer. Good free software include Microsoft's Windows Defender, Spybot S&D or Ewido Anti-Malware. Ewido Anti-Malware is frequently recommended in computer help forums. Be careful if you decide to purchase a solution. There are a number of rogue vendors out there which aggressively push products which offer you little value. Stick to trusted names like Webroot's Spy Sweeper or PC Tool's Spyware Doctor. These products always come out well on independent tests.

Richard Rogers runs a number of computer-related sites offering Spyware Remover and Anti Virus Software help.

Stun Guns How They Work And Who Uses Them

Writen by Rory H. Hawkins

Stun Guns are weapons that can incapacitate crowds of people by sweeping a lightning-like beam of electricity across them. Stun guns send electricity with a very high voltage and low amperage to the assailant's body. The effect of a stun gun temporarily disables an attacker for several minutes by disbalancing his nervous system.

The function of stun guns is to interrupt the electrical signals that communicate messages back and forth from the brain to the rest of the body. It basically disrupts the communication system of our body by delivering a very fast high voltage current combined with a low amperage charge to temporarily disable an attacker for several minutes. When somebody presses the stun gun against an attacker and hold the trigger, the electricity stored in the stun gun is dumped into the assailant's nervous system and the whole body signals get mixed up with noise. The muscles and brain are no longer able to communicate because the messages are no longer understood. This results in temporary imbalance affecting the nervous system and the muscles in our body. Its specialty is that if the attacker is touching you, the current will not pass to your body. Because of its certain features the stun guns have become one of the most effective and reliable non lethal weapons of our time.

What are Stun Guns made of?

The design of the conventional stun gun is very simple in construction. They are about the size of a flashlight, and they work on ordinary 9-volt batteries. The circuit also includes a number of transformers to boost up the voltage in the circuit. It also includes an oscillator and a capacitor. The capacitor builds up a charge, and releases it to the electrodes. The electrodes are two plates of conducting metal having a high voltage difference between them positioned in the circuit with a gap between them. If somebody fills this gap with a conductor i.e. the attacker's body, the electrical pulses will try to move from one electrode to the other, dumping electricity into the attacker's nervous system.

How do Stun Guns help us?

It helps us in stopping social crime and defends ourselves from sexual assault, kidnapping, murder, robbery, and many more terrors which happen more often than we would care to imagine. Having the right protection can dramatically decrease your chances of being harmed during these occurrences. Stun guns protect us with the best self defense equipment.

Rory H. Hawkins writes about stun guns and other interesting topics. For more information on buying a stun gun visit us today.

10 Easy Steps To Speed Up Your Computer Without Upgrading

Writen by Jim Shutes

1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. To do this, make sure NO programs are open, and…

a. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, go to C:\Windows\Temp and delete everything inside the Temp folder.

b. In Windows 2000 or XP, make sure that you can see hidden folders. Go to C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Local Settings\Temp folder. Delete everything here.

2. Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly. Go to your Control Panel and double-click the Internet Options icon. Choose to Delete Cookies, and to Delete Files

3. Check your hard disks for problems.

a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems.

b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. Click on Check Now.

4. Download a good 3rd Party Disk Check and Optimization Utility HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

5. Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if you have Windows XP. Right-click on My Computer and click on Properties. Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on Settings. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. You really don't need any of them for Windows to run.

6. Turn off Active Desktop.

a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Active Desktop

b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show Web Content.

c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize Desktop. Now, on the Web tab, make sure that there are no websites chosen here.

7. Use a good AntiVirus program, such as AVG AntiVirus. Get it HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

8. Get rid of Spyware. Install two different AntiSpyware programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. They compliment each other and catch Spyware that the other misses. Get SpyBot HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp. Get Adaware SE HERE... http://www.lapeertechgroup.com/downloads.asp

9. Streamline MSCONFIG. You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary Start Up items.

a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on Start\Run and type msconfig. Click on the Startup tab. This is a list of everything that is running in the background. Now, be careful, some of these you do need. Some items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me), Task Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me), LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me), Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs (such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you can uncheck. Remember, if something doesn't work because you turned it off, it can always be turned back on.

b. For Windows 2000, MSCONFIG must be downloaded HERE... http://www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/msconfig.html.

10. Defragment your hard drives.

a. To defragment your hard drives, double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to Defragment Now…

Good luck. I hope this article has helped you. If you live in the Lapeer County, MI area, and would like a Professional professionally TuneUp your computer(s) in your home or business, please contact Lapeer Tech Group at (810) 793-1093

I have worked in the IT field since 1989 and hold several Microsoft certifications. I am a network administrator and owner and operator of Lapeer Tech Group, located in Columbiaville, Michigan (just outside of Lapeer). During these years, I have supported both Macs and PCs, am an accomplished graphic and web designer, and have had the opportunity to support 2nd and 3rd level enterprise networks for GM, EDS, Delphi, and Delco.

If you would like to get in touch with me, you may do so at (810) 793-1093, or by email at jim.shutes@LapeerTechGroup.com. My website is http://www.LapeerTechGroup.com

Overview Of Transferring Vhs And 8mm Tapes To Dvd

Writen by Ritchie Evans

Many of us have boxes of tapes that were recorded onto either VHS or 8mm. If stored properly tapes will last a long time. However there are some considerations that make converting your home videos to DVD a worthwhile process.

--It is easier to share a DVD with friends and family. They make a great gift.
--You can create chapters to jump to your favorite scenes.
--You can easily add background music or edit out boring scenes.
--Many times the you can increase the quality from the original source movie

There are many different methods to convert you movies to DVD. One method is to use your PC and the other is to use a stand alone DVD recorder. The PC offers complete control over editing the footage and creating professional looking menus for the DVD. The DVD recorder is the best solution for simplicity, speed and in many cases better quality.

In order to transfer movies with your PC you will need a fairly powerful PC with lots of hard drive space. Raw video footage can chew up to 13 Gigs per hour of video footage. You can transfer the movies to your PC with a dedicated transfer card or an external device to convert the analog signal to DV so it can be transferred through a firewire port onto your PC.

Once the raw video footage is on your PC you can use video editing software to edit the footage and create DVDs. Video editing software can retail from $50-$200 dollars. Some popular companies include Pinnacle, Adobe, Ulead and Sony.

Another method to transfer you home videos to DVD is to use a stand alone DVD recorder. A DVD recorder looks very similar to the DVD player in your home entertainment system. DVD recorders sell for about $200 and up. Some manufacturers offer DVD/VHS combo units which make transferring movies a piece of cake. Look for a DVD recorder with a built in hard drive. These allow you to edit the movies once they are recorded to the hard drives.

Another nice feature of units with a hard drive is that they have similar features to a TIVO device. You can record and store your favorite shows and even allow you to pause live TV like a TIVO. Depending on the size of the hard drive and the quality settings you can easily store 40 hours or more on the hard drive.

By carefully choosing the model you should end up with final product that looks better than the original. That's because certain DVD Recorders by JVC and Toshiba, or any models that have an LSI chipset, have filters to reduce grain and chroma noise.

When recording you will want to record in the highest quality settings possible. This means you will be able to fit about 1 hours worth of video onto a DVD. Since most VHS and 8MM tapes are two hours you will need to split one tape into two DVD's. You can fit more than 1 hours worth of footage on a DVD if the footage is something you don't care too much about. However if you are converting treasured movies go for the best quality you can.

About The Author Ritchie Evans is the owner of homevideo101.com. For more information on creating home videos check out Home Video 101.

How To Make Sure Your Sales Rep Is Selling A Laptop Based On Your Needs And Not His Quota

Writen by Jesse Harwell

The Top Ways to Spot a Bad Computer Sales Rep

When going into the computer store, you begin to go through the aisles and suddenly he upon you. Is it Gilbert from Revenge of the Nerds or is it the cousin you avoided during your childhood because he was busy being on the Internet Al Gore invented? Whatever the case, you recognize "them." It is the sales rep who is busy telling you about bits and bytes and RAM and ROM and CPU clock speed and access rates for hard drives… Stuff those who are not neck deep in the industry doesn't ever think about. You need help finding the right computer… not understanding the whole process of the computer's inception since 1973.

The first thing you want to look for in a sales rep is one that is helpful. Helpful meaning one that is actually trying to help you get the right computer… not the one that is just trying to help the store sell a computer. You can generally tell if the rep is helpful by seeing if he/she asks questions (lots of them) on your intended uses. As he gains an understanding of your uses… he/she should be able to suggest one of several laptops that will meet your needs. If you ask questions about tech specs when you don't know much about it… he/she will tell you how the laptops differ in relation to one another and in relation to your intended use.

Don't allow yourself to be intimidated into buying a laptop because someone is using technologese. Make sure it will do what you need it to do. If you plan on going to coffeehouses and go online… tell the rep you want to do this. He/she will then make sure you have a Wi-Fi card. Maybe you don't know what Wi-Fi is… that's OK, he/she should and will direct you to a laptop with this feature so you aren't frustrated 3 days after buying it seeking a return.

Ultimately, if a rep is doing his/her job… you will both be happy. They will get a sale and you will get a laptop that fits your needs. If you feel as if you are just a path to a better sales figure… maybe it is time to look elsewhere. Some things that will help you find the right sales rep…

Friendly – Seems genuinely interested in helping you.

Knowledgeable – By this the idea is he/she has knowledge pertaining to your individual uses and can help match you with the right laptop.

Recommended – If friends tell you about a rep who was really helpful… find that rep and get the laptop from them.

Practical – A rep who seems to be trying to get you into a laptop despite your budget is someone to be leery of.

They should also use language that is understandable to you.

Hopefully this can help you in your next computer purchase. Yes this is common sense… but many people seemed to get intimidated into buying technology because someone talks over their head and they don't want to look dumb. Take a risk… ask what RAM is and see how they explain it! If you don't know, admit it and tell them what you want to do and get some real help!

This article was written by Jesse Harwell with the web-site http://www.usedcollegelaptops.com

Feel free to contact the author through this site.

Finding Your Mac Address On Wired And Wireless Network Cards

Writen by Darren Miller

The Answer To The Media Access Control Question

Over the past few weeks I have received quite a few e-mails about Ethernet cards, both wired and wireless, and more specifically, about Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. I think the main reason I've received so many questions about Ethernet cards and MAC addresses is people trying to secure their home wireless networks and their desire to use MAC address filtering. This type of filtering in wireless networks can be configured to allow or deny specific computers to use or attach to the wireless network, based on the MAC address.

My first thought was to write an article just about MAC addresses and wireless Ethernet. After thinking about it I decided to expand on this and go over some specific information about Ethernet cards and communication.

Different Ways Of Finding Your MAC Address And More

There are several ways of finding your Ethernet and communications protocol information. Many Ethernet card manufacturer's have proprietary software that can reveal this information but they work differently depending on the manufacturer. So we will use the Windows 2000 and XP "ipconfig" utility since this is available in the majority of Windows Operating Systems.

First, go to "start" -> "run" and type "cmd" without the quotes. Then hit the enter key. At the command line type "ipconfig /all", again without the quotes. Actually, just typing ipconfig without the /all will work but will only provide you with abbreviated information regarding your network cards. An example of what you might see by typing the "ipconfig /all" command is below with each item commented in green lettering:

Fault Tolerant And Highly Availability Computer Systems

There are several ways of finding your Ethernet and communications protocol information. Many Ethernet card manufacturer's have proprietary software that can reveal this information but they work differently depending on the manufacturer. So we will use the Windows 2000 and XP "ipconfig" utility since this is available in the majority of Windows Operating Systems.

First, go to "start" -> "run" and type "cmd" without the quotes. Then hit the enter key. At the command line type "ipconfig /all", again without the quotes. Actually, just typing ipconfig without the /all will work but will only provide you with abbreviated information regarding your network cards. An example of what you might see by typing the "ipconfig /all" command is below:

OutPut Of The "Ipconfig /All" Command

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Home Computer
This is the name of your computer, typically defined during the windows installation. However, it can be changed after installation.

Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : domain.com
If your computer participates in a network such as a Microsoft Windows domain this item may contain the name of the domain.

Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
The Node Type may say Unknown, or peer-to-peer, or in some cases "hybrid". It is a setting that has to do with the Windows Internet Naming Services used in certain types of Windows domain networks.

IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
This setting determines if Windows XP or 2000 will function as an IP router. If you have two or more network cards you can setup your system to act as a router, forwarding communications requests from one network to another. Windows 2000 can be configured to do this in a pretty straight forward fashion; Windows XP will need a registry modification.

WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy is another setting that is related to the "Node Type" we discussed earlier. It is normally not a required setting in a home or small office network, or newer types of Microsoft Windows domains.

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 2:
If you have multiple Ethernet (network) cards in your systems, as I do in this laptop, you will have multiple listings. This one happens to be the second Ethernet card, an internal wireless Ethernet card.

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN
This is the description of the Ethernet card, usually the Name / Manufacturer and type of Ethernet card. In this case, it is a Broadcom wireless Ethernet card built into my laptop.

Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-90-4B-F1-6E-4A
And here we have the MAC address. The MAC address is a 48 bit hexadecimal code and is suppose to be a totally unique address. It is 48 bits because each number or letter in hexadecimal represents 8 bits. Hexadecimal numbers range from 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E, F. There are 6 alpha-numeric codes hence 6*8=48(bits). The first 3 codes identify the manufacturer of the card and the remaining codes are used to create a unique number. Theoretically there should never be a card with same MAC address on a local network. However, there are a few exceptions. There are software tools that allow you to change this code. In fact, this is a step some hackers take to attack other systems on a local network. I say local network because MAC addresses are not routable between network segments. By spoofing this address, you can impersonate another machine on the local network. Traffic that was bound for the intended target can be redirected to the hacker's machine. This is the address you would also use to populate a MAC address, or physical address table when setting up your wireless access point to support MAC address filtering.

DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
DHCP, or the Dynamic Host Control Protocol, if enabled means your computers IP address is being provided by a DHCP server on you network. The DHCP server could be your wireless access point, cable/dsl router, cable modem, or a server on your network. Also, if a DHCP server is not enabled on your network, your computers Operating System will auto generate a random IP address within a certain predefined range. This means you could network a group of systems together without having to manually assign the IP settings.

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.117
This parameter provides you with your current IP address. The address listed above is what is called a "private" address. There are certain classes of IP addresses that have been set aside for private use. This means for your internal, local, or private network at home or office. These addresses are not, or should not, be routable on the Internet. The Internet routes what are called "valid" IP addresses. Your cable/dsl router or cable modem has a valid IP address assigned to its "external" network interface. The external interface may be your phone line or cable TV cable.

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
The Subnet Mask is a special number, or in some sense, filter, that breaks down your IP address, in this case private IP address, into certain groups. IP addresses and Subnet Masks can be a complicated matter and would take an entire article to go over.

Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.254
The default gateway, the IP addresses listed above, is the IP address of the device that will route your request, such as when you try to browse a website, to the Internet. It is a bit more complicated than that though as gateways or routers can route traffic to various different networks, even other private networks. At your home or small office, this gateway most likely is your cable/dsl modem or router.

DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.49
The DHCP server, remember we talked a little about this above, is the device that assigns your computer an IP address and other information. DHCP servers can assign all kinds of information such as; Default Gateway, Domain Name Servers (DNS), IP address, Subnet Mask, Time Server, and much more.

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.49, 64.105.197.58
DNS Servers are internal or external servers that resolve Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN), such as www.defendingthenet.com , to IP addresses. This is done because computers don't actually transmit your requests using the domain name, they use the IP address assigned to the FQDN. For most home or small office users, the primary DNS server is the IP address of your cable/dsl router. Your cable/dsl router than queries an external DNS server on the Internet to perform the actual resolution of the FQDN to IP address. The address 192.168.0.49 is an internal private device on my network whereas the 64.105.197.58 is an external public Internet DNS server and is present just in case my router has trouble performing the DNS resolution tasks.

Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, March 19, 2006 6:38:16 PM
This information tells you when your computer received its IP address and other information from a DHCP server. You will notice it says "Lease Obtained", that is because most DHCP servers only lease the IP address to you from a pool of available address. For instance, your pool may be 192.168.1.1 through 192.168.1.50. So your DHCP server has 50 IP addresses to choose from when assigning your computer its IP address.

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, March 29, 2006 9:38:16 PM
When the IP address, assigned by the DHCP server, lease expires it will attempt to lease you the same or another IP address. This function can typically be changed on the DHCP server. For instance, on some fully functional DHCP servers, you can configure the Lease to never expire, or to expire within 1 day and so on.

Why Are MAC Addresses So Important And How Do They Work

To jump back to MAC address for just a bit. You may think that IP addresses are the most important thing when it comes to network communication. The reality is, MAC addresses are very important because without them computers would not be able to communicate over Ethernet networks. When a computer wants to speak with another computer on a local network, it will make a broadcast request, or ask a question, of who owns a particular IP address. For instance, your computer may say "Who is 192.168.0.254". Using the information above, my default gateway is 192.168.0.254 and will answer "I am "00-90-4B-F1-6E-4A" 192.168.0.254". It sends back its MAC address. That MAC address then goes into what is called a Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table on your computer. You can see this information by going to the command prompt like you did above and typing "arp –a". You will get information like the following:

Internet Address Physical Address Type
192.168.0.49 00-12-17-5c-a2-27 dynamic
192.168.0.109 00-12-17-5c-a2-27 dynamic
192.168.0.112 00-0c-76-93-94-b2 dynamic
192.168.0.254 00-0e-2e-2e-15-61 dynamic

How A Hacker Can Use MAC Addresses In An Attack

You will notice the IP addresses and to the right of them the MAC addresses. Without this information, without the MAC address, you would not be reading this article right now. MAC addresses are not routable like IP addresses. They work on your local or private network. However, devices on the Internet perform the same tasks. Routers and switches maintain a list of their peer devices MAC address just like your computers and devices on your home or office network. I mentioned above that MAC addresses can be changed in order to redirect requests. For instance, if I were on your office network and you had an internal web server that took personal information as input, I could tell your computer to go to my laptop for the web site by broadcasting my MAC address tied to the real web servers IP address. I would do this when you computer asked "Who is the "Real Web Server"". I could setup a fake web server that looks just like the real thing, and start collecting information the real web server would normally collect. You can see how dangerous this can be.

Conclusion

There are several other easy ways you can find your MAC address but they can be a little confusing if you have more than one internal network card. Most external USB, or PCMCIA wired and wireless Ethernet cards have their MAC address printed on them. In cases where the wired or wireless network card are inside your computer, such as in laptops, the MAC address is sometimes printed on the bottom of the laptop. Even Desktop systems cards that are inserted in PCI slots have the MAC address printed on the Ethernet card.

You may reprint or publish this article free of charge as long as the bylines are included.

Original URL (The Web version of the article)
http://www.defendingthenet.com/NewsLetters/FindingYourMACAddressOnWiredAndWirelessNetworkCards.htm

About The Author

Darren Miller is an Information Security Consultant with over seventeen years experience. He has written many technology & security articles, some of which have been published in nationally circulated magazines & periodicals. If you would like to contact Darren you can e-mail him at Darren.Miller@defendingthenet.com. If you would like to know more about computer security please visit us at http://www.defendingthenet.com

How To Upgrade Your Video Graphics Card

Writen by Michael Cottier

The video card that is inside of your computer is responsible for what you are seeing on your monitor right now and how good your PC games play. Video cards, also known as graphic cards, can come pre-built into your motherboard or can be an actual card that fits securely into a slot on your motherboard. Either way, your video card is very important, and becomes more important as graphics become more demanding.

First let's talk about what type of video cards there are, and which one you should get. Upgrading your current video card has become a very simple task because it only slides right into a slot on your computer. Your video card can go into one of two slots, PCI or AGP. Chances are that your computer has both, but which one is the best you ask? By far AGP is the better technology since it processes data much faster then PCI. Unfortunately if you have a computer that was bought before the year 2000, most likely you don't have an AGP slot, or at least not the fastest. Yes, AGP slots can come in many different speeds too, like 1x, 2x and so on and so forth.

Now that you know about AGP and PCI, you need to find out which one your computer can use. Every computer has a PCI slot, so a PCI video card should be fine for anyone, but if you want to use the faster and better AGP technology then you need to find out if your computer has an AGP slot. You can do this one of three ways, call your computers manufacturer and ask, read your PC's instruction manual, or open up your computer and look for a brown slot on your motherboard. PCI slots are usually white and AGP are brown, but it could be different for others computers. So just remember this, a PCI slot is bigger then an AGP slot, so if you have a slot that is smaller then the rest, that is your AGP.

Next we talk about features on your video card, and what they are all about. If you are a computer beginner or novice, then you need to know two important things about video cards. First is their memory size, which basically means how much RAM the video card has. The more the better obviously, but to much can be a waste of money, so just be sure to get the right amount for what you plan on doing. Second are graphic capabilities, now there are all kinds of technical terms like floating points, pixels and lots of other technical gibberish. If you are a Windows user, all you need to focus on is the DirectX capabilities. DirectX is the software used to process the graphics information, so make sure you get a video card that supports the latest DirectX version. Find out what the latest version of DirectX is by going to Microsoft's website.

Last but not least we move onto installing your new video card upgrade. This is actually the simple part and can be done by everyone who owns a computer. First you need turn off your computer and unplug everything attached to it. Then unscrew your computer case and remove it, exposing the inside of your computer. If you are installing the video card in an unused expansion slot, then be sure to remove the slot cover on your computers case and save it for future use. If you are replacing your old video card, then you need to unhook any cables that are hooked up to it, and gently rock it back and forth out of the slot to remove it.

Once that is all done, you can pull your pretty new video card out of its box, and protective sleeve, and put it into the AGP or PCI slot on your motherboard. Push evenly on both sides of your video card, to get it securely into the slot. After that, screw the card into the slot holder with the screw provided, and make sure it is secure. Then if the card has any extra cables that may be required to be hooked up, like a power supply connector, audio cable or whatever the card demands, then connect them. How to hook up these cables, and where they go, should be in the manual that comes with your video card.

Once those steps are complete, just put your computers case cover back on, hook everything back up, and you are just about done. The last thing you need to do is start your computer, and once you are at your desktop you need to install the video card drivers. These drivers should be on a CD or floppy disc that comes with the video card, if not then the card might only require generic drivers that come with Windows, so no disc is required.

You have now learned how to successfully upgrade and install a new video card into just about any computer. Use this knowledge to help your friends and family have a better PC, and maybe make a few extra bucks for your self.

Copyright 2006 Michael Cottier

More in depth and technical information about upgrading and installing a video card at http://www.computer-customizing-guide.com/video-card-upgrade.html Also learn how to customize your computer at Michael's website http://www.computer-customizing-guide.com/

Cache In Your Chips And Get A Bus

Writen by Seamus Dolly

Computer related terminology could sometimes be daunting to newcomers. These are relatively new words or hybrids of words, already in existence. Someone with a degree in English, for example, could not necessarily guess, the function of a particular devise, by its name. This is because such a devise never existed in history or in the history of the English language.

Tolerance and patience is required.

If you work in the field of computers, these "new" words must be learned. However, P.C.'s are designed for use by ordinary people, and the gritty details regarding their construction, can be largely ignored. A journalist, typist, builder or bookkeeper doesn't need to know what an EIDE or SCSI is, or indeed isn't.

Hard drive description is not relevant to the majority, as long as the devise is functional.

A "BUS", though, could be guessed by some, as it carries something, not unlike a conventional bus. In this case, it carries current/electrons/data, and is simply a conductor. A bus conductor, if you like. For now, buses are made of copper with experiments underway to utilise other materials. I read recently that "prions", which are a type of protein, are been considered as conductors. Will some of our computers' components be organic? We shall have to see!

Fibre optics, which are, basically speaking, glass pipes around four thousands of an inch (0.1 mms.), in diameter, employ the speed of light, for signal/data transfer. A light (diode), is on or off, at one end, and a photo-resistor at the other end registers its state. Now, wasn't that simply put! These glass pipes are coated to reflect the light inwards, meaning that light can be "bent" around corners, while within its container/pipe. Heat generation is minimal and electrical resistance is redundant.

It is heat generation and resistance that brings your "fan" into play, keeping everything cool, and electron transfer at a controlled level.

Low resistance= high current. Your starter motor for your car has really thick cables allowing electrons from the twelve volt power source (battery) to do their job in turning over you engine, which is a considerably difficult task. A smaller cable would have a higher electrical resistance, causing it to overheat, and eventually, melt. Keep listening for that "fan".

It is your computers first line of defense.

In fact, it is the principle of electrical resistance that is employed by electrical heaters.

CACHE is not legal tender in most countries, but a type of memory that your CPU (central processing unit ) first looks for. It does this, not to be awkward, but more because it is the fastest route, from a users point of view.

About The Author

Seamus Dolly is the webmaster of http://www.CountControl.com. His background is in engineering and analogue electronics. His studies include A+,iNet and Server+

seamus@countcontrol.com

Dummy Cameras Fool The Robber Amp Protect Yourself

Writen by Dan Crane

Having real security cameras installed is a good way to observe people and spot a crime. However, in some cases, dummy (fake spy cameras) can also do quite a good job protecting the property.

Of course, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't use real cameras. In such places like banks or gas stations for instance, real cameras are simply must. But for home or small business owners, fake cameras might be a really cheap and effective solution to protect their merchandise and money.

What are Dummy Cameras?

If you haven't heard a lot about dummy or fake cameras, then all you should know is that they do not record anything and they cost much cheaper compared to real spy cameras.

Dummy cameras may have flashing lights, motion sensors, tilt or zoom options; they may even have wires. But it's all just to make them look more realistic. They do not use any VCR or DVR systems to capture the view. Their main purpose is to fool burglars into thinking that they're real and this way preventing them from taking any actions.

What are the Options?

You might think that you don't need to stir your head much before buying a dummy camera online, right? Buy any fake cam, set it up and you'll have a great crime prevention tool. Well, not exactly. If you choose a camera that doesn't look realistic even for a newbie, you might simply waste your money. If you set up a dummy security cam in the wrong place, you also might not achieve the results you're seeking. So let's check out some of the options of dummy cameras and see what's best for you.

Actually, there are fake cameras that turn around the axis whenever they spot someone moving. This is one of the most expensive dummy cameras. They contain motion detectors, which move the camera whenever they spot something or someone moving.

Additionally, you could find cameras that tilt or zoom. These are more realistic than those which do not move at all. Whenever someone sees a moving camera, they naturally assume that it's real.

Cameras with flashing lights are also powerful. They might use a combination of motion sensors and LEDs. When sensors detect a movement or a heat, they give a signal to the LED to start flashing and this way inform a suspect that he's being monitored.

Where to Put Fake Cameras?

If you have a small business, you could put fake cameras near the building. They'll definitely make someone think twice before intruding into your store.

Warehouses are another perfect place for dummy cameras. If there's a large warehouse, then it might be a good idea to put several dummy cameras. One camera might not prevent a burglar from committing a crime, but 5 or 6 cameras placed in different corners can easily stop the thieves.

You could use fake camera along with real ones. You could have the real cameras monitoring and recording the most important places where monitoring is required, like entrances and exits. Dummy cameras in the meantime could be placed in such locations as corners of the corridors, ceiling of the room or outside (near the windows, parking lots).

Dan Crane provides information to consumers about dummy cameras, real security cameras and tips when buying a DVR security camera for business or home security.

Dvd Rental Clubs

Writen by Josh Riverside

DVD rental clubs are online stores that provide high quality DVDs for rent. They have a large selection of videos, charge a nominal monthly fee and usually deliver the DVDs to the customer's home. Since the membership is monthly, the customer can keep the DVD for a number of days and watch the movie without a specific time limit. Many websites offer free shipping both to and from the customer.

Advantages of DVD club membership are rental prices are less expensive than online rental stores, and all rental clubs provide the flexibility of returning the DVD at the customer's convenience.

DVD rental clubs are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so that the customers can place orders whenever they want. An extensive list of movies that have been released in the past two to three decades can be found on the website and are easily accessible to all members.

Members have a free hand in rental clubs. Clubs take feedback and suggestions like adding movies customers would like to watch but are currently not available in the club store. Most clubs value the customer's input in selecting movies that might be hard.

Joining a DVD rental club is a good idea if you have children. Kids get easily bored, and rental clubs offer a variety of DVD games that are delivered on order and picked up when the customer is ready to return the DVD.

All in all, joining a DVD rental club is a good option for those who do not enjoy watching a movie with within a given period of time or do not wish to pay extravagant prices for a DVD they would only watch a couple of times.

DVD Rentals provides detailed information about DVD rentals, DVD rental clubs, DVD rental reviews, and more. DVD Rentals is affiliated with Free Movie Downloads.

A Java Developers Guide To Web Hosting

Writen by David Heffelfinger

You make a living writing enterprise java applications, and you would like to work on your own projects for fun or profit, you would like to create your own web site or you would like to have a place to host your open source project. You look around for hosting providers, and all you see is PHP and PERL support, with very few hosting companies supporting Java, what to do?

Although the number of hosting companies supporting Java is increasing, support varies from nearly non-existent to companies that are deeply committed to their Java support.

There are three types of hosting plans available:

• Shared hosting
• Virtual Private Server hosting
• Dedicated Server hosting

With a shared hosting plans, several web sites are hosted on the same server, sharing the server's resources and using the same IP address. Virtual Private Server (VPS) plans consist of a server that is split into multiple virtual servers, each virtual server has it's own IP address, some companies call these types of plans Virtual Dedicated Servers. Dedicated servers are the most expensive type of plan, each dedicated server customer gets their own physical server, nice to have, but prohibitively expensive for personal web sites and small operations.

At Ensode.net, we recommend that you find a hosting company that provides Virtual Private Server (VPS) support (some hosting companies call it Virtual Dedicated Server), since they provide a nice balance between price and control. A VPS server is like having your own server, usually with root access, which gives you the freedom to install any application you might need, including version control systems like Subversion or CVS, WebDAV, or anything else you might need. With a VPS plan you will most likely get your own IP address, and your server will be not only your web server, but also your mail and database server.

VPS hosting plans tend to be somewhat more expensive than shared hosting plans, but it is our belief that they are worth the extra cost since they provide much more control and flexibility. If you are a Java developer, chances are you are used to "getting your hands dirty", and working on a server using good old Unix commands. Shared hosting plans tend to have "user friendly" (dumbed down?) interfaces, which might simplify administration, but can also severely limit what you are able to do, for example, let's say a shared hosting company gives you 300 megabytes of disk space to host your web site, and an additional 300 megabytes for your email, if your web site takes 5 megabytes of space, but your email server is getting full, there is no way to allocate more space to store emails and reduce the allocation of web space. In addition to leaving you unable to reallocate resources as needed, you can also forget about installing any applications on your server. Another disadvantage of shared hosting plans is that an IP address is shared among several customers, which could have potential problems. For example, if one of the customers uses their mail server for bulk emailing, the IP address of that mail server may be banned from several systems, in a shared hosting plan environment, this would affect all the customers using the same server.

With few exceptions, shared hosting plans that support Java do so through a shared JVM, which means that you have no way of starting or stopping the JVM, and the same JVM is used to run the Java applications of all the hosting company's clients on the server. With a VPS plan, since you have access to your own (virtual) server, it is a given that you get full control over the JVM.

You can use your favorite search engine to find companies that offer VPS plans. Good luck and may your site become immensely popular.

David Heffelfinger is a software engineer with over 10 years of experience developing enterprise software applications. He is editor in chief of Ensode.net, a technology web site providing information about Java, Linux and other technology topics. He can be contacted via email at dheffelfinger@ensode.net.

Spyware Remover

Writen by Clint Pollard

Your first step in removing dangerous infections from your computer should be downloading a free program called Hijack This. Make sure you download the file and extract it to a directory on your hard drive, you can call it HijackThis. This is very important, because if you don't put hijack this in it's own folder you will not be able to back up files in case of an accident. Then navigate to that directory and double-click on the hijackthis.exe file. When the program is started click on the Scan button and then the Save Log button to create a log of your information.

You can copy and paste your log at Geeks To Go, Geeks To Go is a free service that will check your log and help you remove any infections.

I am not affiliated with Geeks To Go, but I have used their free service and I was very pleased with the results. The process of removing infections from your computer could take a day are even a week depending on how busy Geeks to Go is. It also depends on how well you can follow directions. Although Geeks To Go will give you step by step directions, you will need to have some basic knowledge of working with a computer. After your computer is clean you will be given some tips to help keep your computer clean, I recommend you use the tips, because with so many infections you need to do what you can to make sure your computer stays clean.

Clint Pollard has a new site to help fight the spred of spyware.You can visit his site here - SpywareRemover
http://ncave.com/anti_virus.html

How To Remove Adware And Spyware

Writen by Roy Soares

1. You're browsing the web. You don't use tabs. You're not the multitask, new generation, modern teen. And for some unexplained reason, your powerful, macho, new computer is lagging. You're not playing. No downloads. Is it sick? Maybe it had unsafe sex with a freeware, file sharing software and got infected with spyware...

2. What are the symptoms? High CPU activity, disk usage, and network traffic not justified by the user's activity. Frequent stability, application and internet connection issues. Does your computer suffer from any of these symptoms?

3. What is adware? What is spyware? Adware is software that displays advertisement on your pc. Spyware is software that sends information from your pc to a third party without your knowledge and explicit consent.

4. How does adware and spyware get installed into your computer?

(a) Have you ever browsed a website and a windows dialog box pops up asking you a question? Have you ever clicked the cancel button? Well that's how someone can trick you into installing adware and spyware into your computer. (b) Have you ever downloaded freeware? Marketing companies pay freeware software authors to include adware and spyware in their freeware software. So when you install freeware software, you're probably installing adware and spyware.

5. What can adware and spyware do to harm you? Adware just displays advertisement on your pc. Most adware software is also spyware software. Beside dispaying advertisement, it tracks your browsing habits and sends that data to a marketing company, so that the marketing company can display targeted ads on your computer, based on your tracked consumer activity. But it can also send your username, passwords, credit card information and other sensitive data to a third party…

6. How can I prevent installing or remove adware and spyware?

(a) Install Anti-Spyware software. Ad-ware from Lavasoft and Spybot are great tools. They remove spyware and prevent spyware from installing on your computer. Google these keywords, download the free versions of these programs and always update them.

(b) Make sure that the freeware and shareware software you install does not include adware and spyware. Read the license agreement carefully. Search Google Groups for the name of the program plus the keywords adware and spyware.

(c) Install a pop-up blocker

Roy is the webmaster of proxyspot.com and snoopmyip.com. Proxy Spot is a web proxy guide and list. Snoop My IP is a what is my ip website. It shows your IP and your hostname.

Article source: http://proxyspot.com/proxy/2006/04/23/how-to-remove-adware-and-spyware-2/

Incredible Xp Tips You Wish You Knew Before You Read This Part Ii

Writen by Joseph M. Pisano

In Part I, I wrote about using short cut keys while using XP. In this edition, I am going to be focusing on the "run line". This is sometimes referred to as the "start run line".

There are many "built-in" commands that may be run "out-of-the-box". When these tips and tricks are employed, you will find yourself able to move through XP much faster and efficiently.

In order to find the "run line" (RL), you will need to click on the Windows Start Button. From there, you will notice the "Run…" command a few lines up from the start button. Click it. You may also use the following key combination: WINDOWS KEY + r

When you click the "Run…" line, a new dialog box will appear. This is the box where you will be typing in these shortcuts.

Useful RL commands for the novice and end-user: (These commands are every-day, useful commands that everyone can use)

BOLD: Will only work if additional software has been installed

Web-browsers: iexplore Opens Internet Explorer firefox Opens Firefox

Applications:

• calc Opens the Window's Calculator
• excel Opens Microsoft Excel
• frontpg Opens Microsoft Frontpage
• msimn Opens Outlook Express
• nero Opens Nero
• notepad Opens Microsoft Notepad
• outlook Opens up Microsoft Outlook
• pbrush Opens Microsoft Paint
• powerpnt Opens Microsoft Power Point
• tourstart Opens the Microsoft Tour
• winword Opens Microsoft Word
• wordpad Opens Microsoft Wordpad

Audio/Video:

• quictimeplayer Opens Quicktime's Player
• moviemk Opens Window's Movie Maker
• realplay Opens Real Audio's Player
• wmplayer Opens Microsoft Media Player

Games:

• freecell Opens Freecell
• pinball Opens Pinball
• spider Opens Spider Solataire
• wimine Opens Minesweeper

Utilities:

• clipbrd Opens the contents of the clipboard
• control Opens the control panel
• explore Opens Windows explorer
• logoff Logoff the current user
• magnify Opens the magnify utility
• osk Opens the on-screen keyboard
• printers Opens the printers panel
• shutdown Shutdown the computer
• taskmgr Opens the task manager window

Exploring the computer:

You may also enter simple "paths" into the RL. For example:

• C: Will open the contents of your hard drive
• A: Will open the contents of your floppy drive
• D: Will open the contents of your CD/DVD drive (usually)
• ?: Insert a letter for "?", this will open the contents of that drive

In addition, you may enter a full file path like "C:windows". This will open the windows directory. Also, if you are currently in an explorer window, you may enter an internet address and your default web-browser will open, and… vice-versa; You may also enter a local address, such as C:windows , within your web-browser, and it will open the local path as well.

Opening Web Pages:

By typing in a web-address using the RL, the default browser will automatically open. There is no need to start the web-browser first.

Advanced RL commands:

.CPL commands: (These are commands that open up specific control panels)

• access.cpl Accessibility options
• appwiz.cpl Add or remove programs
• desk.cpl Display properties
• hdwwiz.cpl Add hardware wizard
• inetcpl.cpl Internet Explorer properties
• intl.cpl Regional and language options
• joy.cpl Game controllers
• main.cpl Mouse properties
• mmsys.cpl Sounds and audio device properties
• ncpa.cpl Network connections
• nusrmgr.cpl User accounts
• odbccp32.cpl ODBC data source administrator
• powercfg.cpl Power options properties
• sysdm.cpl System properties
• telephon.cpl Phone and modem options timedate.cpl Date and time properties

.MSC RL commands: (These are commands that open up Microsoft Management Console Snap-ins. Some of these only work with XP Professional)

• certmgr.msc Certificates
• ciadv.msc Indexing service
• compmgmt.msc Computer management
• devmgmt.msc Device manager
• dfrg.msc Defragmenter
• diskmgmt.msc Disk management
• eventvwr.msc Event viewer
• fsmgmt.msc Shared folders
• lusrmgr.msc Local users and groups
• ntmsmgr.msc Removable storage
• ntmsoprq.msc Removable storage operator requests
• perfmon.msc Performance monitor
• services.msc Services
• wmimgmt.msc Windows management infrastructure

There are many other "run line" commands as well…

Creating your own RL shortcuts:

There are many ways to make RL shortcuts to applications. Some involve changing the registry and some involve other complexities. The following are the two easiest methods:

Method 1 (easiest, little risk):

1. Create a windows shortcut of the application you would like to open by using the RL.

2. Save it to the "Windows" sub-directory. This is usually the file path: "C:Windows".

3. Now you should be able to open the application using the RL.

Using the method works 99.9% of the time.

Method 2 (a little harder, but still easy in comparison to others, some risk): 1. Open the control panel and choose Systems Properties.

2. Choose the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables.

3. From the "Systems variables" section, highlight "Path" and click edit.

4. Go to the end of the entry name "Variable value:" and insert this: ;c:shortcuts

***Do not change anything else, or you may cause severe problems with other applications and their function! You may want to cut and paste the current line into "notepad" so you can replace it, if necessary.

***REMEMBER, YOU ARE ADDING THIS TO THE EXISTING LINE, NOT DELETING WHAT IS ALREADY THERE!

5. In the dialog boxes, click ok, then ok, then ok.

6. Create a directory (folder) called "shortcuts" in your "C: ",

root directory. The address line should read, C:shortcuts when you open it.

7. Create a windows shortcut of the application you would like to open by using the RL.

8. Save it to the "shortcut" sub-directory you just made in the previous steps.

9. Now you should be able to open the application using the RL.

Obviously, when you understand the above process, you may label and locate the directory anywhere you wish. By using the 2nd method you will be able to organize your shortcuts in a much cleaner fashion.

You can find a version of this document with pictures included at my Newsblog site.

Prof. Joseph M. Pisano is the Assistant Chairman of Music and Fine Arts & Director of Music and Fine Arts Technology at Grove City College, Grove City, PA. He is an active musician, adjudicator, clinician and technology expert. You may visit his website at http://www.jpisano.com You may visit his newsblog at http://www.jpisano.com/blog You may visit his rss feed by visiting http://feeds/feedburner.com/musictechnology

Whats The Benefit To Building Your Own Computer

Writen by Robert Emler

There are a few benefits to building your own personal computer. I know you ask yourself why I want to build my own personal computer. After all the entire computer market is full of computers that carry a pretty reasonable price tag.

Bear in mind that the computers on the market today that are out there, are what I call assembly line computers. They are computers that are mass produced. The technologies in the computers that are cheap only offer the basics. Also these computers are loaded down with a lot of useless programming. That is only designed to make the computer look more attractive. In fact these programs only cause the computers performance to be hampered. When you add to these computers or upgrade from the basics, the price tag can get pretty hefty.

Building your own personal computer allows you to decide from the start what will be put into the computer. The type of technology you put in your computer will determine your price tag.

The computer you build will and should have a longer life. When you build your computer you put in it, the computer technology that can be upgraded as you desire.

This increases the life of your computer, and allows your computer to grow with the technology.

The most important reason why you should build your own personal computer is the learning part. Getting a better understanding of what is inside the box. Understanding the technology in your computer will really come in handy when something goes wrong. If you have ever taken you computer to a computer tech, you know how costly that can be. I've been in computer tech shops picking up parts, and personally witnessed people paying as much for service as it would of coast those to buy a new computer.

Robert Emler. In house computer assembler. For detailed information about building you own personal computer, and how to videos. As well as amazing computer problem diagnostic software go to. http://pcextream.com

The Home Computer Users Guide To Spyware

Writen by Richard Rogers

As with the computer virus, spyware can be broken down into a number of different categories. Most users are familiar with the term "adware" which refers to software which serves annoying ads. There are however a number of other spyware variants you should be aware of.

To begin with it is important to have a clear definition of spyware. This will also help us understand why the term is commonly used to encompass a number of different variants. Spyware is a program, usually installed without your knowledge, which records what you do on your computer and then shares it with its creator.

The information which the spyware program collects can vary from the websites you visit to log-in and passwords for your online banking site. The sharing of your personal information with a third party is why spyware in its purest form is labelled as a malicious threat and clearly is a major privacy issue.

Adware is the second mostly commonly used term. Adware is designed to display adverts relevant you, commonly based on your surfing habits, to generate Pay-Per-Click advertising revenue or sales through affiliate links. Adware is commonly bundled with free software by developers instead of charging a price.

The malicious nature of adware can vary enormously. At one of the scale, adverts are displayed in a non-intrusive manner in a window within the free program you have downloaded. When the program is not running, ads are not displayed. At the other end of the scale, a user could find their desktop overwhelmed as the adware program spews out multiple pop up ads in a very aggressive manner. Whilst it may be possible to believe the former is not transmitting personal data to a third party, it is difficult to expect the later not to.

The adware issue is further complicated by marketing companies who do not like their software being labelled "spyware." These marketing companies generate millions of dollars of income often via recognised brand name clients. So to avoid legal issue security companies refer to this software as PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).

Browser hijackers are another aggressive form of spyware. They attack important browser settings like your default homepage which your browser loads when you start the program. Hackers direct you to sites which generate revenue for them like the Russian website "Cool Web Search". Browser hijackers can also insert sites into your bookmarks. They also can cause your browser to crash and stop working completely and are typically difficult to remove.

Key Loggers capture all your key strokes into a DLL file which the creator retrieves. Software key loggers are often bundled with a Trojan Virus which gives the creator access to your computer.

Here are some tips and strategies to fight the different types of spyware.

- Keep Windows XP and ALL your web browsers (including Internet Explorer and FireFox) up to date with the latest patches.
- Install a reputable anti-spyware program like Webroot Spy Sweeper or PC Tools Spyware Doctor. Run frequent scans and keep the definitions up to date.
- Install a reputable anti-virus program like Norton Anti-Virus or McAfee VirusScan. Run frequent scans and keep the definitions up to date.
- Install a firewall which manages both inbound and outbound connections. Top personal firewall software picks include Zone Labs's Zone Alarm and Norton Personal Firewall. Alternatively purchase a router with a hardware firewall.
- Avoid downloading free software programs including screensavers and weather toolbars.
- Avoid known high spyware risk area on the internet including illegal music sharing sites, Peer-to-Peer programs, free game download sites and adult sites.

Richard Rogers runs a number of computer-related sites offering Spyware Remover and Anti Virus Software help.

Tips For Buying A Pc

Writen by Pawan Bangar

Buying Your PC

Buying a PC that's right for you and your family is not all that simple task. More so if you're going to buy an unbranded or an assembled one. But branded or not, you have to get you facts right before you shell out your money. First, why do you want to buy a PC? Is it because almost every one has one these days, or that you have the money to spare. If these are the reasons are that you want to end up spending a lot of money on something you're unlikely to use. But if your reasons are that you want it for home based business, or for your kids for their education, or to work at home, or that you want to surf the net, you are on the right track. Now let's get down to specifics.

What do you need it for?

Take a piece of paper and write down what all you need to do with the pc.

Spreadsheets, Word processing, Surfing the Web, sending e-mail, playing games. Running multimedia, Watching movies, playing music ,CAD drawings, graphics designing, Web designing. Programming and Online learning.

Make your list. Why? Because different needs need Different PCs. You really don't need the latest computer if all you're going to do is browsing, no matter what the vendor tells you.

When you make your list be sure to look a little ahead and see what all other things you might be using the computer for. For instance, do you think you are likely to take up graphics designing? Or will the kids start playing all those high-end games?

How much money do you want to spend?

Get hang of the money you can spend on the PC. Then you have to look for the PC that suits your needs and your budget. This may need some balancing even, if your requirements are huge and the budget isn't. This will also decide if you should go for branded PC or an assembled one.

Brand or assembled?

This is a question that has gone on for a while now. A year ago, branded ones. We recommend that you go for a PC for which you can get assured service and support. Fort a more detailed analysis, catch our July story called Branded or Not?

What is it?

This is the part that has the computer's basic circuitry and components. The processors, meomory, BIOS, expansion slots, etc all go on the motherboard.

What's available?

Right now you have two broad choices for a motherboard. The motherboards based on Intel 810 chipset have the graphics and audio capabilities on to the board itself-that's what they mean by integrated graphics and audio onboard. In case you're looking for better graphics (say, you will be moving to high-end games, or graphics, or CAD or need better sound environmental audio, sound-editing), you'll have to get some high-end video and audio cards. Which such a motherboard won't support. You could, in such cards.

What to ask the vendor :

What are the upgrades possible on this motherboard? Which processors are supported? How much are the upgrades going to cost?

What is it?

The brain of the PC. You don't always have to go for the fastest. And just having a processor that's fast won't do. The rest of the system has to keep up with it.

What's available?

Among the low-end ones available are Celeron, AMD K6.2 and K6-3, and now AMD"S Duron. They are available in different clock speeds-go for the one you can afford. A Celeron 600MHZ. Among the high-end processors are Pentium III and AMD's Anthon. A PIII 667 MHz.

Also remember that a processor alone can't make the PC zip. For instance, A PIII on an 810 motherboard that doesn't have much graphics capability isn't of much use.

How much do you need?

If you are going to work on office application like word processors and spreadsheets, and some browsing, a Celeron or an AMDK6 series, or Duron would do. For work that needs more processing power you have to go for a Pentium III or an Anthon. You'll find some Pentium IIs in the market but Intel Doesn't makes them anymore.

What is it?

This is the place where all your program and data will b stored on the PC. Your PC's performance will depend upon the rate at which your hard disk can read data and give it to the other parts. The speed of a hard disk is measured in rpm. These days most hard disks come with a speed of 7200 rpm. And some other available in hard disk 7.5 GB, 15 GB, 20 GB, and for more on how to take care of your hard disk, check out The Hard Disk Guide in this issue.

How much do you need?

Most PCs now come with 8-10 GB of hard disk space. With fat OSs and fatter office suites and games, you'll need some bit of space. 17 GB is quite common, now even 30 GB doesn't raise eyebrows. So do take those offers of 1GB with a huge bag of salt.

What is it?

The place where information is stored for a while so that the processor doesn't have to keep hunting for it on the hard disk.

What's available?

The more you have the better it is. A lot of PCs still come with 32 MB RAM-we advise you to go for 64MB at the very least. If you're a gamer or into heavy graphics, you'll need 128 MB.

How much do you need?

The more you have the better it is. A lot of PCs still come with 32 MB RAM-we advise you to go for 64 MB at the very least. If you're a gamer or into heavy graphics, you'll need 128 MB

What is it?

This is a card that carries out the processing for all that's related to the display. You could have a fast processor, lots of ROM and hard disk that keeps pace with it all. But if the display can't match all this-the speed at which the things have got processed will take ages to show up on screen. The card has its RAM- called video RAM (VRAM).

What's available?

As we said earlier, some motherboards have this function inbuilt, but others need you to have a graphics card for this. You get a range of cards now.

How much do you need?

If you're into heavy gaming and graphics and CAD and 3D modeling, you need to have a card with at least 8 MB VRAM, 16MB if you can afford it. For other purpose, 4 MB VRAM is good enough.

All software comes on CDs. A lot of computers magazines that teach you how to use computers come with CDs. So a CD-ROM drive is a must. Now you have the option of going for CD-RW drives or even DVD drives. And some vendors have the check to see PCs without them.

Higher X ratings-such as 48X, 52X for a CD drive doesn't mean that the drive will run at blazing speeds. In fact for routine things opening a CD tray, making a CD auto run-an 8X will do just fine. But if you were to rip songs from your audio CDs to convert them into MP3s you would need a faster drive.

A DVD drive is great if you are going to be watching a lot of movies on your PC- but make sure video card and sound card and speakers match up to it.

Go for a CD-RW drive if you are going to be burning a lot of CDs-keeping backups, making MP3 CDs, and so on.

The basic PC:

For running productivity applications: word processors, spreadsheet, presentations, Surfing. Using e-mail, using personal information mangers. Play music and videos, some light games and multimedia CDs

Specs:

• Celeron 550 MHz or above/AMD K6 series or Duron 550 MHz or above

• 64 MB RAM

• 15" color SVGA monitor

• 10-12 GB ATA/66 hard disk

• On board video abd sound

• 48 x or higher CD-drive

• 101-keys Keyboard

• 3-button mouse

• 56 kbps modem

The high-end PC –

For heavy gaming, graphics, multimedia creation, sound editing

Specs:

• Pentium III 700 MHz/ k-7 700 MHz or higher

• 128 MB RAM

• 17 GB ATA/^^ hard disk drive

• video card with 32 MB VRAM

• 101-keys keyboard

• on board sound (for those into sound editing and composing, a high-end sound card like Creative SoundBlaster Live is needed)

• 17" monitor

• Scroll mouse

• 56 Kbps modem

Sound card and Speakers:

The sound card processes the sound that you hear on your PC. These days sounds cards not only make multimedia application sound great, they also let you compose record and edit your own music.

Monitor:

14" monitors are out. You can get in your some other type of the monitor in 15", color monitor, 16 inches and 17 inches monitor are available in the market.

PORTS –

Ports are where you plug in peripherals. The mouse and keyboard go into their respective ports. Serial ports take in modems. Parallel ports take in printer, scanners, etc, There are now USB ports for USB printers, scanners, digital cameras, etc. Now there are Fire Wire ports t00-but these are useful for those into video-editing and such tasks that need a lot of data to be transferred in a shot.

Keyboard and Mouse-

There is a range of mice to choose from Look for one that you fell comfortable working with. There are different types of keyboards. Again look for one that doesn't require you to thump hard to type, feels ergonomic. You could also go for devices go for devices that have programmable buttons/keys.

Software-

You need an operating system-the common one is of course, Windows 98. Now the latest version of Windows for the home is Windows Me.

You need an office suits, or at least programs that do word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. You need a browser to the Web, and an e-mail program. You'll also need an antivirus, some system diagnostic tools, some graphics programs, and some useful things like media players (to run your movies and play music), file compression tools like WinZip. Then of course, there is a world of games and multimedia titles to explore.

About The Author

Pawan Bangar,
Technical Director,
Birbals,
(Hbirbals,Seobirbals,Ebirbals,Ibirbals)
Cell:91-175-3150734
Cell:+91-98153-52253

email: pawan@ebirbals.com
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