January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
Spyware is software or hardware installed on a computer
without a user’s knowledge. It gathers information and
reports it back to its source. It ties up bandwidth, slows
down CPU speed and generally is a nuisance.
In its more malicious forms, it can disrupt the PC so much
that it is unusable; it can run up modem bills, it can spam
or send copies of itself to everyone in your address book
and it can download pornographic material to your PC.
The last is probably the one most likely to make everyone
stand up and take notice. Downloading porn at the office
can get you fired, downloading child porn anywhere can get
you arrested.
The only way to keep these Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
My first experience with a spyware BHO based infection was several months ago. I had gone through all of the usual steps with the client’s machine to clean it. Ad-Aware was run, Spybot: Search and Destroy was as well. Nothing looked suspicious in the system’s startup. All appeared well, but it wasn’t.
After extensive testing and no further symptoms I returned the computer to my client’s home. I hooked it back up, and dialed the internet. Everything so far was progressing smoothly. But, as SOON as I loaded Internet Explorer: BAM the same pop-up advertisements and other annoying things started happening Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
It’s most peoples worst computing nightmare. You wake up in the morning, flip on the computer, and it doesn’t boot. Sometimes the problem rears its ugly head as a horrific clacking noise. Other times it simply gives a read error.
At this point, most people panic. The first thing you wonder is whether or not the data is recoverable. There is no universal answer to this. In some cases, a simple scan with some data recovery software is all that it takes to retrieve the contents of the drive. In other cases, if you want it badly enough, it will take thousands of dollars and a shipment of the drive to a clean lab where they will pull the platters Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
There are many factors to consider when deciding on which computer equipment to buy. The massive amount of choices can seem overwhelming. This guide can help you compare computer equipment features, and help you to examine and sift through the basic items before you buy a new computer.
If it is a desktop PC, laptop, discount/surplus computer, a refurbished computer or a computer accessory, this quick guide will help you to get the most for your money.
With computer equipment today almost any of them will adequately handle what most people need to buy a new computer for; word processing, basic office, internet surfing and email. Which you can buy for about $1000. or less! But if you are into digital Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
Are you frustrated with your PC?
Is it feeling sluggish or crawling at a snail’s pace?
Are programs running slower than they used to?
Are you just plain fed up with frequent slowdowns, freezes or crashes?
Then it’s time to stop what you’re doing and optimize your system to improve PC performance!
Follow these 6 simple sure-fire tips to help improve PC performance and you’ll be surprised by the results! Each comes with an indication of how often you should do it.
Improve PC Performance Tip #1:
CLEAN UP YOUR WINDOWS REGISTRY (Frequency = Daily)
This is an essential, but often overlooked, task to improve PC performance. In fact most PC users are unaware of the necessity to regularly clean the Registry as Microsoft does not include a cleanup tool in any version of Windows.
Every time a program is installed it makes changes to the Windows Registry - a huge internal database of Windows’ settings. Virtually all Windows programs, and Windows itself, store a massive array of information inside the database. These thousands of entries control the behavior and appearance of virtually everything on your system.
Changes to your PC system are not always handled correctly in the Registry, leading to conflicts and the slowing down of your PC. Over time this leads to a bloated and possibly, corrupted Registry. Reasons for this include:
- frequently installing or uninstalling programs
- removing Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
Computer network designing takes into account different aspects and topics. An ideal computer network design will be based on the layout, capacity planning, and security plans.
Computer network design requires a good understanding of the topologies such as a bus, ring, star, so on. Designing a network has to follow certain rules. The set of rules governing the setup of a network is called its topology. Ethernet, today, is the most popular topology in use. It consists of computers and peripherals cabled together in specific ways. Ethernet is relatively cheaper, easy to set up and use, and faster. There are two types of Ethernet – Standard and Fast Ethernet.
To talk of the cables, you can Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
Has your computer slowed down? Does it take forever for a file to open. Do you think your computer is about to crash? Take heart it probably just needs a little soft maintenance. What is soft maintenance? Think about your vehicle for a moment. Hasn’t it gotten sluggish? Won’t accelerate like it used to? Is using more fuel than normal? I am not sure I have even met anyone who has not experienced this. What is the most common cure for the vehicle? A tune-up right? The same goes for the computer.
Hardware failures are usually pretty obvious. There is an odd noise, a total system break down, blank screen and or error messages. Getting slow is usually for reasons other than hardware. And most can be remedied by using the software that came with the machine. Some computer systems come with operating system that are more self adjusting than others. The Linux small computer OS is based on UNIX the operating system of the internet. This is a very self-sufficient, self-maintaining Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
Cleaning a laser printer, fax, or copier of laser toner can
be easy, provided you know what you’re doing and use the
right tools. This article will share with you some simple
tips to help you clean your laser printers of laser toner
like a pro.
A word to the wise: Before I begin, I’d like to stress that
this article is intended only to assist you with basic
cleaning of the laser toner from your laser printer. If
you’re unsure of your ability to perform any sort of printer
maintenance, or if performing such maintenance will void the
printer’s warranty, you should contact a qualified service
professional.
Some safety issues: Though laser printers come in various
shapes and sizes, they all use laser toner (that messy black
powder). While cleaning your laser printer, the last thing
you want is to have laser toner in your lungs or on your
skin. The tips provided in this article should help reduce
the chance of you being bathed in laser toner while cleaning
your printer.
Laser toner particles are so fine that they
can take more than fifteen minutes to settle if they become
airborne, make that hours if you have fans or air-
conditioners circulating them through an office. To avoid
inhaling laser toner particles, try to keep the air in the
cleaning area stable and leave the printer area for several
minutes after cleaning. Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
There are more and more individuals opting to work from home than ever before. The advantages to this are many including avoiding the morning and evening rush hours, being able to spend time with your kids and significant other, and doing everything on your own time. Though the pitfalls are many, the one that I will be focusing on in this article is that of setting up a secure wireless network for your home based business. Right now somewhere out there, there is someone with a receiver waiting to pick up on an unsuspecting person’s wireless local area network. Their hope is to garner some sensitive information Read the rest of this entry »
January 5th, 2007 by CCAuto
With the rapid pace of technological developments, nothing has become as ubiquitous as the computer. Everyone’s got one. And they are used for all manner of endeavour, by people of all walks of life. So, do you simply buy the computer that someone’s selling? Or do you do some homework and figure out what detailed specifications are going to make some difference to you?
At Myshopping.com.au you can compare the prices of a wide range of different computers from different vendors and of different specifications. This guide will help you find what you’re looking for.
Mac or Windows (PC)
At the outset, you need to decide what you are going to use the computer for. This will help you make the fundamental decision of whether you should go Mac or PC. Although, with the advent of the dual core processor (an Intel chip now used by Mac) the differences are narrowed a little, there are still some choices that can help you favour one system over another. Historically, Mac computers have a reputation for greater stability that comes from a more robust operating system than Windows based computers. Largely for this reason, Macs have been the computer of choice for the graphic design industry, the music production industry and the video production industry. This has prompted the software manufacturers to make professional software packages for these disciplines that favour the Mac operating system. Although they have packages supporting the Windows operating system, they are often less capable.
Consequently, if you are engaged in these industries and need your computer for this type of work, you should consider Mac. Mac computers appear to attract fewer viruses and software malfunctions than do Windows based PCs. On the down side, there has always appeared to have been limited software support for Mac systems.
Another decision that may guide your choice is the aesthetics of the computer. If you have limited available space, there is nothing quite like the iMacs or the mini Macs for space saving. iMac’s all-in-one desktop units are compact and complete with all the connectivity you need. However, the look of other brands may be more to your taste, with many models available in compact packages and modern colour schemes to suit practically all dĘcor. Now that you’ve made that basic decision, you can start comparing the apples with apples. Read the rest of this entry »
