Do's and Don'ts you need to Know

I thought I would make a list of things to do and not to do when using your computer and getting the best that you can out of it. So here is my list:

1. Do run your anti-spyware and anti-virus software at least once every week. It just makes sense. Also, update your anti-virus and anti-spyware definitions on a daily basis.
2. Do not stack items on top of your monitor or allow your cat to sleep up there. The monitor needs to breathe and overheating lessons its life.
3. Do not use open containers of food or beverage on your desktop. Liquid will damage your keyboard.
4. Do not use household cleaners on your computer components other than glass cleaner made for monitors. Anti-static windex usually does the trick.
5. Do not use a vacuum cleaner on your keyboard get a copy of compressed air to use on it.
6. Do not put your PC in enclosed cabinets where it has little room to breathe. The fans keep your PC from overheating.
7. Do unplug your system during a storm and unplug your modem from the wall outlet. If your using cable internet you can unplug it as well. Lightning can destroy your PC even if its turned off so just unplug it from the wall and remove it from the internetas well just to be on the safe side. Manufacturer warranties do not cover lightning strikes.
8. Do not leave your laptop in a car with the windows rolled up in the summertime. The plastic can melt as well as the screen crack and be damaged. Keyboard on laptops will melt if left in a hot car.
9. Do get the extended warranty on a computer. If you have a laptop its a good idea to get the accidental damage protection just in case. Its a good idea cause accidents do happen. Screen replacements are very expensive.
10. Do check my blog on a daily basis. I will do my best to keep you updated on PC tips and fixes.

As always I hope you find this information useful. Until next time have a good day.

Tim

The best upgrade for older PC's

So your PC is older than 2 years. Whats the best thing you can do to extend its usefulness? Answer is to upgrade your RAM. The first thing you want to do is check your PC manufacturers spec's on your model and configuration. It will tell you what your motherboard can support as far as RAM and how much. Older PC's maximum RAM can usually range from 512MB to 1GB. If it falls below 512MB to 256MB don't even bother you need a new PC. 256MB is even too low to run XP effectively. It will run it but it will be slow. RAM is normally not very expensive for 256 or 512 chips depending what your PC needs to bring it to maximum. This won't be a good gaming machine but it will run most applications you are currently using now. You won't see much speed increase but you will see a performance increase. Thats the important part your looking for. It allows your PC to use more resources. With Windows this is always a good thing.

As always I hope this info helps you. Until next time have a good day.

Tim

How to troubleshoot a computer that has no video?

Did you ever have this happen to you? You turn on your PC and you have no video on your monitor. You have power but no video. There are steps to take to diagnose the problem. You could just take it to the shop unless you feel confident enough to to try some basic troubleshooting on your own. Okay so here are the steps:

1. If you have power and the power supply fan is working you can rule out the power supply as your problem. The power supply can be culprit but generally in this case its not.
2. Take off the side panel and lay the PC on its side if you can. Its best to unplug all mouse, keyboard, internet cable, sound, etc. Leave the monitor and power cord connected.
3. Turn it on if you have video now your mouse or keyboard could be the culprit. It does happen.
4. While its still powered on check to make sure the cpu fan is working and if the graphics card has a fan it is working. If either one is not working you could have a bad Motherboard or graphics card.
5. Next step is pull each board one at a time and turn on after each card is pulled. If you have video after pulling one of the boards than there is your culprit. Modems, sound cards, etc can cause no video if card is defective.
6. You should be down to Motherboard and graphics card if you have not found the problem yet. Now pull the cables CD-ROM, HD, etc and turn it one again. If you have video than you could have a bad IDE cable, HD, or CD-ROM. Normally its not the cable but the hardware itself.
7. As long as you have no video and no beeping we won't deal with the memory. Bad memory stick will cause the PC to beep 3 times when turning on.
8. Most people do not have a spare monitor to try but if you do you can try that first before doing any of these steps.
9. Some newer PC's have on board video and added graphics cards or if you have a spare one you can check whether its your card or not.
10. Usually if the motherboard is defective the cpu fan will not be working but not in every case. If you have pulled all the boards and finally the graphics card and cpu fan does not spin its the motherboard.

Don't feel that you have to run these steps if your not sure you can effectively troubleshoot your PC. Take it to the shop or call your manufacturer if your in warranty. If you are in warranty do not attempt to open the case without your tech support asking you do so some PC manufacturers will not honor the warranty. So its best if your in warranty to contact your tech support first.

I hope this simple guide is helpful. Until next time, happy computing.

Tim

Hard drive failure signs?

You turn on your PC one day and you hear noises from the hard drive. You could hear clicking, buzzing, clanking, grinding, and etc. Buzzing and whirling noises for example hard drives will pass diagnostic tests 95% of the time. These noises are signs of failure which could happen at any time. Grinding and clanking type noises are usually hard drives that have already failed or damaged. Best thing to do is backup your hard drive. You can either do this yourself with a CD-RW or have someone do it for you. If your hard drive is totally failed there are services who can save your files but be prepared to pay through the nose. When your drive starts to show signs of failure thats the time to take action don't wait till it totally fails. Any computer repair shop can backup your important files when the drive is still functioning if your not confident enough to do it yourself. If your PC is under warranty your hardware maunfacturer is only required to replace the drive they will back the old one up but only for a fee. Your data is not under warranty ever. Some make this mistake thinking their warranty covers their data files it doesn't. PC manufacturers will load the OS on replacemant hard drives as a customer convenience and many times they will load some of the programs which came with it but not always. Be prepared to spend a few hours loading programs on your replacement hard drive because your PC manufacturer is only obligated to load the OS. Hard drive failure can happen suddenly with no warning this is rare but it does happen. If your PC is out of warranty and you must purchase a new hard drive you may think about getting a larger capacity drive. Larger drives only cost a few dollars more and a lot of times sellers will have specials that you can get a larger capacity for like few dollars more or they will have a rebate offer. Just make sure you check your PC capabilities. Some newer hard drives use SATA and don't work in older machines. Older machines use IDE so make sure you check what your PC manufacturer recommends if your out of warranty.

As always I hope this information is helpful.

Tim

To Vista or Not to Vista?

As with any new technology it takes time for all the kinks and bugs to get worked out. If you go the vista route its best to have a new PC or one that is better than average performance. You would need minimum 1 GB of ram just to keep vista from being sluggish. If you have an older PC upgrading is really not an option to take advantage of Vista's capabilities. Other writers support my view in why mess up a good XP machine to run Vista. I made the mistake of loading Vista beta on one of my PC's to try it out. Well, there was no uninstall option after one of games did not work and MSN was not compatible I wanted to remove it. Needless to say the only option I had was to reload my PC. I am really satisfied with XP right now and it will take a lot of fixing on Vista for me to upgrade. Before I would upgrade anyway I would purchase or build a new PC. If you plan on purchasing a PC you can option to have XP pro instead of Vista. Most PC manufacturer's will allow you to choose your OS.

To sum up , unless you think Vista will give you more features your looking for I would recommend staying with XP for at least a year. Let Microsoft work out compatibility issues and security holes that are sure to crop up. Until next time everyone have a good day.

Tim

Windows Update

Make sure you keep your windows up to date by running windows update. Best way to do this is to turn on automatic updates. This is very important so that you get all the security upadates and latest updates as they are released. It one of the most important functions you can do with your PC. Even if your computer is new and fresh out of the box this needs to be done. It should be done first before you do anything else. If you want to see where and how its done click here for the free video.

Tim

Time to Defrag

Happy New Year!

If you have not defragged in awhile now would be a good time to do so. Its important that every few months you run defrag. It helps your access of data quicker. If you are unsure how to do this click on start/all programs/accessories/system tools/disk defragmenter. Than go and occupy yourself with something else while it is working.

Run anti-spyware and anti-virus on a weekly basis. This will help your PC stay clean of unwanted dangers lurking out there. There are places you can get free anti-syware and anti-virus tools. Today I would like to recommend two very good anti-spyware programs. They are not free but both offer a trial period . The first is AVG Anti-Spyware it has 30 day trial.

Next is Adaware Alert its highly rated and one of the best I have used. Next time I will talk about anti-virus tools. Until than have a pleasant holiday.

Tim