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External Memory

February 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Are you finding a limit of space in your hard drive on your home or office computer. Maybe you want to share files between home and office but don’t want to carry a work computer home with you everyday. Some people need a simple way to back up their files from their computer. There are a million different reasons to need some type of external memory and knowing which type to purchase means knowing what you need to do with it.

If you are looking for a way to back up your own computer or share files throughout your home network then a network attached hard-drive may be for you. These large capacity devices will connect to your home or office network allowing any computer in the network to access the drive.

There are also hard drives that connect to your computer through USB connections. These devices can range in size form mega-bites to hundreds of gigabytes. These can be very portable and very low cost. This type of device in the 1 gigabyte to 2 gigabyte size can easily be shared and passed between people.

Another type of external memory is small, often used in cameras, SD and other small memory chips. These memory cards can be as large as 32 gigabytes and are very small. These chips are more expensive but as the memory space on them grows they become more possible to store large amounts of data. Many computers now have drives that these memory chips can be plugged and played, very easily.

Another possible option, although not a device you carry around is to back your information on an internet based service. All of these options are available and it is up to you based on your budget and need for mobility.

Filed Under: Hardware, Software Tagged With: , , ,

Reclaiming Hard Drive Space

January 4, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Here is a simple methods that will allow you to reclaim some hard drive space. It’s so simple but many people never figure out what to do or how to do it. The big secret is to delete the software or programs you don’t use. If you already know about this move on, but if you want more space and wonder about some ways to erase or uninstall programs read on.

There are two ways to look at the list of programs that are on your computer. The first will show you a limited list of programs and is the most obvious way to find your programs. Fist click on the Start button usually in the lower left corner of your monitor. Then put your cursor just above that on “All Programs”. Now a list of programs will appear. Either in a word processor or with a sheet of paper make a list of all the programs you never use. Sometimes the computer will come with more than one word processor program or possibly you used to play a game and now it is just taking up space. The second way to see the list of programs is to go to the “Control Panel” and click on “Add or Remove Programs”. Once you have your list you are ready to start deleting.

When you are ready to delete a program it is best to use the uninstall program that accompanied the specific software, if it is available. The uninstall program can often be found in along with the program in the “Start – All Programs” menu. If you don’t find the program there, you may find it through exploring the program files under “My Computer”. The reason to do this is to completely delete the program. Never just find the program on the hard drive, and delete what you can find. Many times this will leave data on the hard drive and may mess with the function of other programs. You can also delete the program from the control panel.

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Common Computer User Complaints

December 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

At one time or another all computer users complain about problems that are common to their computers.

One observer noted that the computer user is the biggest common computer problem- and there is some truth to that thought. When a problem occurs, the user needs to stop and calmly figure out what’s going on and that doesn’t always happen. In addition to the user, here are some commonly experienced problems.

The number one complaint among users and owners is slow performance. Eighty percent of the time the cause is in the computer’s registry and speed can be improved by up to 30% by cleaning it with a registry cleaner. Other culprits that impede computer speed are fragmented data files, spyware and too many unused or seldom used programs on the hard drive.

Computer lock ups, freezes and blue screens are another complaint. Spyware is often the cause of these problems and can be corrected by updating spyware every day. If spyware is not found to be the cause it may be a more serious software or problem that needs professional attention.

If the computer spontaneously reboots or shuts down the problem is most likely in the hardware. Specifically, this problem occurs because the power supply has overheated and shut down because of poor air circulation inside the computer due to a dirty or defective cooling fan. The immediate thing to do is open up the computer, clean off the fan, remove excess dust from the interior and check to see if the fan is turning properly. A fan that is hard to turn may need to be replaced. Also take a minute to check all power connections.

Some owners complain of home pages and browsers changing without warning. The chief suspect should be hijacking spyware that has gained entrance to the computer.

The best deterrent to these complaints is consistent maintenance that includes regularly cleaning and defragmenting the hard drive and backing up software.

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