Computers

When you have a computer and you work on a network one of the most important things you can provide for you business is good network security. This term describes the things that make up the underlying network infrastructure, plus policies that have been set up by the administrator of the network system. The security is in place to protect the network against people receiving unauthorized access to databases, communication and other valuable information on your network.

Unfortunately, trying to make your network more secure can be somewhat difficult because there are numerous points that a person can attack in their attempt to get access. This act of getting onto a network your not allowed is called hacking. In trying to setup network security the administrator is taking measures that will prevent any attempts or success in gaining network access, even from one of your own computers.

In that case, if access cannot be gained to one computer the network is safe. It is possible to stop a hacker during the beginning of the attack, but some may get in further than you would like. Some of these attacks are, of course, a virus that can be set lose in your computer and thus corrupting the network and possibly create a problem with all the computers on the network if it’s not caught in a timely manner.

Most security precautions for networks require that any users with access to the network need to be authenticated. This means that you will probably have not only a username but a distinct password to use to access the network as well. Once the computer verifies that this information is correct it will allow you access to the network. This is a great way to prevent someone who isn’t allowed access from getting onto the system, but it will not block worms that can be transmitted via the network. In order to fight this you should get what is called an intrusion prevention system, it will help to identify worms and anything that may be malicious in nature and stop it from accessing your network.

The network administrator may also use a decoy such as a Honey pot that will hopefully act as a warning tool and prevent further access to those unauthorized users. For a home network it is fairly easy to set up security, but with bigger companies it becomes a bit harder.

Ways to protect your home are firewalls, and software programs that watch for viruses like Norton. With a medium sized business you will need a firewall that is more advanced with a much stronger Antivirus, in addition to changing of passwords on a monthly basis.

Larger businesses will want a very strong firewall, a strong Antivirus, change of passwords bi-weekly, network analyzer. Even schools need to protect their networks with an adjustable firewall, strong Antivirus, and many other things. As you can tell as you go up in size of company the security measures to take to protect your network become more in depth.

For some of the best Dallas network security available, turn to Network Elites (http://www.networkelites.com/networksecurity.html). Their services can safeguard your company and keep your computers on track. The author, Art Gib, is a freelance writer.

In the last 5 years, computers have revolutionized the way the world works, lives and conducts business. It used to be that only large businesses and offices has computers as a way of improving their work flow. But now personal computers have become the norm in many homes in the US, Europe and the Far East. Computers are now used to send messages, watch and listen to the news, shop and even work. The early computers were not much in terms of multimedia devices but today many people use computers to watch movies, listen and create music and other types of media. This means that they come with advanced sound and video cards. The use of computers as multimedia gateways has spawned a whole new industry in computer accessories such as speakers and surrounds sound systems. Computer speakers, now come in many shapes and sizes.

Many major computer manufacturers such as Dell, Compaq, HP and Acer all bundle quality speakers with their computer units. Dell has speakers included in some CPUs and there is therefore no need to purchase additional speakers. Other manufacturers have monitors that have quality speakers in-built into them as is common with Compaq monitors some of which come with Harman Kardon speakers. Harman Kardon is a respected brand name in the home theater industry.

When discussing the issue of which computer speakers are the best, we have to look at what they are going to be used for. For most people, computers are for surfing the Internet, reading the news and doing light typing not to mention sending and receiving email. People who are in this category will not need sophisticated speakers installed in their computers. Today, many people under the age of 50 use computers to watch movies, stream music and video and also to create multimedia applications. Teens are also involved with this. In that case there is the need to invest more high-tech speakers.

There are many companies that make computer speakers. These are also the same c companies which are household names when it comes to consumer entertainment technology such as music systems and surround sound home theater systems. Companies such as Sony, JVC, Bose, Maxell, Akai, AIWA, Zenith, and Samsung are all heavily involved in the creation of computer speakers. Some are low grade coming with just a power cable to be attached to the wall and a sound jack to be plugged into the PC or laptop. Others are a bit more advanced and will come with an additional amplifier and tuner. Companies like Creative Labs have been making home entertainment units for computers for a while and are a respected name in this field.

Speakers used to come in the traditional set of two but now, computer speaker manufactures are including home theater capability in home computer speaker systems. It is no longer difficult to see computer speaker systems coming with a mid-range sub-woofer with a movie-quality bass and multiple other small speakers for surround sound functionality.

Theodore provides information about logitech speakers for computer and talk about Pure-Fi elite digital logitech speaker in details on his site.

Own a Mac? Here are eight essential free applications that you should know about.

Newsfire (http://www.newsfirerss.com/) - Newsfire is a free RSS reader for Mac users that like to be on top of every news item, podcast, or video that hits the web. There are numerous features that make Newsfire stand out from the rest of the competition including search, grouping, and del.icio.us integration. And if podcasts are your thing, Newsfire has a built in audio plugin that allows for easy export to iTunes.

Adium (http://www.adiumx.com/) - Access all of your instant messenger accounts from one sleek program with the help of Adium. For recent adopters of Apple PC’s that may have used Trillian on their Windows PC will make great use of this app. Gtalk, AIM, MSN, and more can all be accessed from one account. No more logging in and out of a program for each IM client.

Temperature Monitor (http://www.freemacware.com/temperature-monitor/) - At the very least, this application is straight up cool. This application makes use of the built in temperature sensors found in most Mac’s these days. Find out which parts are overheating from Temperature Monitors clean interface, making it easier to identify performance problems.

TinkerTool (http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html) - TinkerTool opens up preference settings that were once hidden in OS X. Nearly anything you’ve wanted to customize, but couldn’t find the preference settings, are now available to mess around with. If you ever decide you want to go back to factory settings, you’re only a few clicks away.

Smultron (http://smultron.sourceforge.net/) - Smultron is essential for code monkeys. Smultron is a text editor with great features such as text coloring that makes coding far easier to write and even easier to decipher once written. If you find yourself lost in line after line of code, Smultron is for you.

ClamXav (http://www.clamxav.com/) - Viruses are far and few between for Mac users, but they do happen! Keep your system protected from those viruses that you haven’t had to put up with since you were running Windows.

Perian (http://perian.org/) - I think we can all agree that Quicktime does have its downfalls. The most annoying being codec support. If you are tired of having to hunt down a new codec every time a video fails to play, than Perian is for you. Perian will keep your system updated with all the popular codecs available on the web.

NeoOffice (http://www.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php) - OpenOffice, an open source application that rivals the functionality of Windows Office is an amazing program. There’s only one problem. OpenOffice can’t run on Mac OS X without the help of X11. This is where NeoOffice comes in. NeoOffice is a direct port of OpenOffice, but Mac OSX compatible. Until OpenOffice 3.0 (currently in beta) is released with Mac compatibility, NeoOffice is your best bet.

The Apple Laptop Shop specializes in finding used apple laptops, used MacBook, and used macbook pro.

Windows Vista, Microsoft’s new OS, is a nice upgrade form Windows XP (though others may claim otherwise) but with all OS’s, you want to keep backups of your files or maybe you want to reinstall your OS because there is some problem on your machine. Windows Vista provides a very nice backup solution called the “Backup and Restore Center” which has a easy button to “Back up files” or “Back up computer” which makes it a real painless solution to backing up.

These files and folders from a back up can be easily restored with the “Restore …” buttons. To get to this “Backup and Restore Center”, simply open the Windows Start Menu (at the bottom left of the screen), then in the “Start Search” text dialog box near the bottom of the Windows Start Menu, type in “backup”. Give it a few seconds and pretty soon, a “Backup and Restore Center” listing should be up.

Another option to backing up your files on Windows Vista is to go for it manually. Many users usually go for it using this method because it is an easy way to see exactly what you are copying over. The possible problem with this is forgetting to backup a certain folder or file that is very important. This method also requires an external hard drive that has a lot of space - preferably around 300 GB, even though if its for the sole purpose of backing up once, a 100 GB external hard drive will do fine for the job.

So to start the manual backup on Windows Vista, first copy over all your files and folders from your User’s folder. To get there, open up the Windows Vista Start Menu (at the bottom left of the screen) and then go to the top right and click on your User’s name. This will open up a folder that you want to copy over.

I suggest just copying over the whole folder because you do not want to miss anything. Next, type in “Uninstall” on the Windows Vista Start Menu to make a backup list of all your programs. This is a vital step that can be a hassle, but it is better than forgetting to install a program - which is a pain when you are in an urgent situation that requires that program very soon.

Also, do not forget to export the settings of your browser (if such an option exists) and to export your bookmarks (if such an option exists). Many people forget this step which can cause much grief over the loss of thousands and thousands of bookmarks and settings lost.

Martin helps people learn about technology and Internet. You can read more of his work like his article about Windows Backup Software Deltacopy or Windows Backup software.

Notebook batteries are designed specifically for different notebooks brand as well as models. Today notebooks are powered by lithium ion batteries. Lithium ion batteries are lighter, have a better power-to-weight ratio, can hold a charge longer, have a longer usable life, and do not have the memory effect to fail prematurely.

Lithium ion batteries are also inexpensive to manufacture as compared to the earlier generation of nickel metal hydride batteries. The only shortcoming about lithium ion batteries is as they contain lithium salt dissolved in a highly flammable solvent, there are chances of overhead which can result in short-circuits or even blow up in flames.

It is a common fact that all notebook batteries have provision for limited time of power supply. A good bargain is to check the battery power while buying a notebook. Here is one instant tip to optimize the battery settings in accordance with the energy saving mode of your notebook. These settings will put the hard disk into sleep mode whenever the workload is less and it will reduce the notebook microprocessor performance in order to maximize its battery life.

From the system preferences mode of your notebook, select view menu, then choose energy saver option from view menu. Right click on show details option and choose battery power from the pop-up menu. Finally choose longest battery life from the energy settings pop-up menu.
Tips to optimise your notebook batteries are described in the following:

It is better to keep your notebook on standby mode when not in use for certain amount of time. Standby mode ensures all current info is saved in RAM with minimum consumption of battery power.

It is a good investment to add more memory to your notebook as it saves battery power by reducing Windows’ dependence on the virtual memory swap file on your hard disk.

Try to set the screen brightness of the LCD panel of your notebook to the lowest comfortable level as very bright screen tends to consume more power from your battery.

Charge your notebook battery frequently with a battery charger or AC adapter. It is very important to clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months to make it dust free. You can use a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol to clean your notebook battery.
Turn of the unused features and technologies of your notebook which are not frequently usable. For example, it is better to eject the CD or DVD when you are not using them as the optical drive has the tendency of reading CD or DVD it finds very often and this process consume extra battery power.

Similarly it is better to get rid of the outer peripherals such as printers or digital cameras as they can still draw power from your notebook battery even when they are not used.

Turning off or at least disabling the PC Cards, FireWire devices and USB when not in use also saves battery power. In fact, disabling modem, network cards and USB ports consumes less battery power even when they are on. These devices are easily disabled in device manager.

To save power, it is good idea to turn off the AirPort, Wi-Fi, IR radios and Bluetooth option when it is not required to use. Virus scan should be set only during the time you are usually plugged in as full-disk virus check by the hard drive and CPU consumes additional power from battery.

Opt for the power console applet to customize the power profiles on your notebook. Do not worry in case your notebook does not have power console applet option for most of the operating systems (starting from windows 98) have Power Options utility in Control Panel.

You can use power saver option of your operating system to adjust the CPU processing power. Optimum CPU processes consume additional battery power and hence should be avoided if not required. Stop the auto start applications on your notebook, so that your notebook`s CPU can be stopped from doing unnecessary work.

With the above mentioned handy tips, you can truly increase the battery performance of your notebook.

You can have access to portuguese articles about notebooks from page Notebook

Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil

Your computer is important to your business. It is important that it is working properly or it will loose its value to you, your family and your business. However, things happen and there will come a time where your computer will refuse to work as it should be.

In this case, you will need to answer this question, should you or should you not try to play with it. Please note the word “play with it”, I did not say fix it. However, if you are a computer technician, then fix it because you surely know how to.

If you are not a computer technician and you have not experienced opening up the computer case, you may think twice before you do try to open one.

There may be computer issues that you can try to fix, before you do however, check the warranty.

Is the warranty still valid?

If the warranty is still valid, you may need to send back the computer to the manufacturer. Do not try to repair it on your own because doing so will void the warranty. If your computer manufacturer offers after sales service through online chat, email support or phone support. Try to contact them; they may try to help you by asking details of what happened and giving you instructions on how to move forward.

Follow their advice. Some computer manufacturers even
send a service unit for you to use while they are fixing the problem with your computer. This will help you continue working even without your own computer.

If the problem is simple like power problems you can do the following:

If the computer is not powering up

Check if the power cable is attached properly to the wall socket. You may also try to plug it in another socket to test if the problem is the wall socket and not the computer.

You may also try to move the cable left to right. The problem might lie on the power cable connection or wiring inside the power cable. Try to unplug the computer and then plug it in before pressing the power on again.

The monitor is not powering up but the computer is turned on. The connection between the CPU and the monitor might be having problems. Try to connect and disconnect then try it again.

If the computer is having more problem than mere power issues, you may try to get a computer technician. You may try to work with it by checking the manual and using safety tools but if the problem will lead to another, this may not be good.

Trying to fix your computer may be comparable to self-medication, do not do it because it may be dangerous.

Check out PC registry cleaner to see the benefits you get by using this software on your computer. Visit: http://www.registryheal.com/

Building a games PC can be a stressful and confusing process. There are so many parts to choose from and sometimes the will to build it yourself can dim and you start to become tempted to buy one ready made from manufacturers or retailers such as Dell or PC World. While it is definitely the easiest option it is much more expensive to buy a ready made PC than it is to build one yourself.

By building a PC you’ll understand just what is inside and how your machine works. It’ll be easier to upgrade later and you’ll be able to build a better machine for the same cost.

I’ve built several PCs for gaming and there are always several things that I look out for and consider to be most important. The main component of any gaming computer is the graphics card, and this is the area that you really cannot afford to cut back on. With the rate that games are increasing their demands on PCs you’ll need to spend the money and buy the latest graphics card that you can afford. It is well worth stretching your budget as far as you can go for the GPU as it will make a world of difference when rendering the 3D environments that all modern games use. I would generally give 30-40 percent of my budget to the graphics card.

The next things to consider are what I feel are the real backbone of your PC, the motherboard and processor. If you search the Internet you can find some really great deals on motherboards and processors so make sure you shop around. A dual core processor is mandatory these days and make sure that your motherboard can support all the components that you intend to buy. For this reason the motherboard is often the last item that I choose when building a PC.

For most gaming I would say that 2GB of RAM is sufficient. There doesn’t seem to be much need for any more yet and if you’re running Windows XP you won’t be able to make use of any more anyway. When choosing your power supply bear in mind that this is another area that you can’t afford to cut back on. I’ve had three power supplies blow up in the same machines before finally deciding to spend the money on a decent one. Turned out it was money well spent and the expensive power supply lasted me for three years. Make sure you don’t do the same mistake as a blown PSU could even fry your other components, ending in a very expensive accident.

Some people view peripherals with greater weight than others. I think they’re definitely important as they’re the parts that you actually spend time touching and using. Make sure you get a large flat screen monitor to save on desk space and enable to you run in nice large resolutions.

When choosing a keyboard I find that a regular keyboard is quite sufficient for everything I need, but make sure that the buttons are smooth and not too chunky to press. You’ll want something that is really easy to use. A mouse is worth spending a little on, I’d recommend a five button infra red mouse.

As for sound a good set of headphones is superior to speakers and a lot cheaper so if your budget is stretched at this point I’d certainly endorse buying a good headset. Ensure you get a large hard drive as well, as you’ll definitely want to store music and film on your computer, so the bigger the better. You can pick up 1TB drives for around a hundred pounds these days.

The final part is the case, and I think a lot of people spend too much time and thought on it. I would really cut back and get the cheapest case you possibly can and save the money to spend elsewhere. I have had the same old case for six years and it’s served me just fine.

Building a PC is a difficult task and it can seem more effort that it’s worth, but when you save so much money you’ll be able to have a computer that lasts a much longer time that if you’d gone to a retailer. Good luck building your PC and hopefully you won’t blow anything up, like I’ve done on too many occasions.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Birmingham airport hotels, Sofitel Gatwick and Gatwick Maple Manor.

There’s nothing like having to replace something before it’s time. When a car, for example, starts breaking down four years after purchase, the owner unexpectedly has to pull together the financing for another vehicle and go through the painful lease or purchase process. Or a television goes out right in the middle of your favorite program when you fully expected it to last at least another two years. It seems nothing lasts as long as it used to-and it can be an expensive surprise.

This can be also true of computers, and in business it can be as expensive as or even more expensive than some car or a television. A company budgets its funds for a quarter or for a year, and having an unexpected hardware failure necessitating a replacement or upgrade turns that budget on its ear. It becomes imperative for an IT department to maintain that hardware and get as much life out of it as possible-and when it comes to hard drives, file fragmentation can rob a good portion of that life.

A hard drive is the only computer component that has mechanical, moving parts that can break down. Every time a file is requested, a read/write head must move across the disk platters and retrieve that file, and file fragmentation adds additional movements for every fragment. Because the free space on a drive is also fragmented, the same holds true for writing a file: the read/write head will have to keep moving until it has written all the fragments of a file in the free spaces available.

Many companies have implemented scheduled defrag to make sure drives are defragmented. But what system administrators in these companies may not know is that despite scheduled defragmentation, hard drives are still experiencing unnecessary wear and tear. Because file sizes have become enormous and disk capacities have so greatly increased, fragmentation builds up far quicker than it used to. In between scheduled runs, fragmentation continues to impact performance and continues to reduce hard drive life-and in some instances, as in the case of very large drives, the defragmenter isn’t even addressing the fragmentation problem.

An automatic defrag solution solves this problem, restoring that life and allows hardware to be used even longer than expected.

“I am still able to use five-year-old equipment even for software development and builds, simply because they are so highly optimized with automatic defrag software I use,” said Neil Beesely, network administrator with Integrated Medicine PS in Bremerton, Washington. “In addition to defragmenting data files we are particularly grateful for being able to defragment MFT and page files easily.”

Beesely has been able to address his fragmentation issues with automatic defragmentation. These include software build environments that suffer severe fragmentation problems, software test environments using VMware that also suffer severe fragmentation, and admin and secretarial workstations where he can prevent unnecessary slowdowns and avoid hardware upgrades.

File fragmentation takes a serious toll on hard drives. The right defrag technology, counteracts that toll and ensures hard drives last through their expected life spans and beyond.

Debby Jones is a freelance writer who is known for writing his reviews on diverse topics. His current article features his tips on how you can increase the life of your hardware by using an Automatic Defrag software. Visit Diskeeper.com to download Undelete 2009

Adware is a pain for all computer users out there. There is no arguing that fact, no one likes information about them collected without their knowledge no matter what it is used for. Some Adware is even bundles with software download. The reason for a software developer to bundle Adware to their program is because it helps them to recoup development cost. Or if they are offering the software for free, it’s even more important to them so they are not paying so much out-of-pocket costs. No, I’m not saying because of this you should like Adware, but it’s just a way for you to understand one way that Adware comes to be on your computer.

Adware will pop-up ads of different companies, sometimes based on other locations you have been to on your computer. Those pop-up ads slow you down when you are possible working, or even playing a game. I don’t know about you, but I have never seen a pop-up ad for something I even wanted. So to me and several others, this is just a waste of time.

Of course some software’s do offer a way to get around Adware. That is by purchasing a game instead of using a free version. Most of the time it seems like the cost is around $20. I think its well worth getting rid of all those pop-ups, but really it’s a choice for each person to make.

Some ways you may be able to tell if your computer has Adware are those pesky ads that pop-up all the time. Maybe you will notice that your computer is sluggish, or certain programs may be sluggish. You notice new software on your computer that you didn’t add. All these are signs of a possible Adware problem. There are software’s that you can purchase that will take care of this problem.

You may want to be careful too because some Adware may be spyware. Spyware will cause more serious damage to your computer than Adware.

But either way you look at it, Adware or spyware, neither is good to have on your computer. The software you can buy to combat this problem isn’t outrageous in price. So by al means go out and make that purchase. It will make your life much easier. Adware is a pain. If you want to a void it as much as possible, try not to download free software that it may be bundles with.

Mehmet Onatli explains clearly what registry cleaner utility do and don’t do. Why they are a required tool for your computer and much more. Visit: http://www.registryheal.com/

If you’re a student planning on going off to college, you’re almost certainly considering purchasing a laptop. This is a great idea. As a college student myself, I realize how incredibly useful having a laptop computer rather than a desktop can be. With a laptop, you’re not tethered to any one location for doing your work. You can be in the library, at a friends house, or in lab, and have all your work with you!

In fact, a laptop is probably one of the most important items any student can own. Your laptop will become a much valued accessory during your college years. However, you need to make sure that you get the right laptop for your needs, and thats where this article intends to help. Below are five tips to help you select the right laptop for college, quickly and easily.

1. Know Your Price Range

This is important. Since you’re about to spend a ton of money on tuition, you don’t exactly have a lot of extra cash to blow on a laptop. Fortunately, you can get very usable laptops for very low prices these days, making them more accessible than ever. You may even find that you can buy used to save even more money.

2. Get the Right Size

Size matters. Getting the wrong size of laptop will lead to frustration. To large, and you won’t be able to carry it around easily. Too small, and you won’t be able to get anything done with such a small screen and keyboard. Be sure to try out different sizes to see which ones work well for you.

3. Watch Out For Battery Life

Battery life is a very important factor for the student user. Since you’ll likely be spending a lot of time using the laptop unplugged, you’ll want enough battery life to keep things going. Be sure to check into extended life battery packs that will greatly enhance your battery life at the cost of a little extra weight.

4. Mac vs. PC

This is a huge debate. Don’t buy a Mac just because you think they are cool, be sure that they are in line with your needs. Certain popular software packages do not run on Macs, so if you need these for your course work, be sure to look elsewhere. However, if you like the convenience and ease of owning a Mac, than by all means do so. This article was written on a Mac.

5. Don’t Forget the Software!

Don’t forget to get the software you need! Things like Microsoft Office are pretty essential for every student, so don’t forget to include these in your budget.

So, I hope this helps you see how you can select the right laptop for college. It’s not rocket science (though that could be what you are studying!), but keeping these basic factors in mind can really help out. Thanks for reading.

Looking to learn more about buying laptops? Then be sure to check out my used laptops lens.