Driving You to Distraction

Remember when your computer was new and shiny and had the performance of a hot car? Is that a dim memory from the past? Remember when you clicked on a program shortcut and it opened so fast if you blinked you missed it?

So what happened? You haven't dropped it off the desk or spilt your coffee in the keyboard (by the way that's not the end of the world, been there done that). You've just used it for the same old things, you know like emailing you're friends and sending them photos and files and getting photos and stuff back from them, and surfing the web and downloading stuff and writing letters and helping the kids with there home work, and playing games, and loading great new programmes to help design the garden and show you how to train your dog and.. Hold it! That's the problem right there, you've been using your PC.

What do you mean no one told you that using it would slow it down or break it! Do they ever tell you what could go wrong when you buy stuff? No of course not, "By the way, you're new car's going to drink gas like a camel heading for the desert and the tires won't last long"wouldn't sell many cars would it? All this stuff you've been doing clogs your computer with files and bits of files and it takes forever to sort through them so it can do what you asked it to when you clicked a short cut.

And tell me, do you clean you vehicle? Inside and out or do you leave all the trash and stuff in the car till you're afraid to open the doors. So do you ever clean your computer, or do you just wipe the monitor when the dust is too thick to see through.

You may be able to stop you're computer running slow by doing a bit of house cleaning. As well as shaking or vacuuming the crumbs out of your keyboard and cleaning the monitor, if you're computer has a tower which sits under the desk or on the floor make sure you remove any dust that collects around the cooling fans. If those fan intakes are blocked you're computer is going to run hot, and they don't like it. You could occasionally take off the side of the casing and remove the dust from inside, switch it off and unplug it first and be very careful.

5 Ways to Save Money

Summer is the time of year when many people take vacations. Unfortunately, many people cannot get away from the office to do so, or cost your company money by not being available while away.

With web based remote pc access maybe you can. I install GoToMyPC for my clients to give them more flexibility and tosave money.

Here are 5 ways to save money with remote PC access:

1. First, GoToMyPC is not limited to just yourself having access to your office computer. Allowing your accountant to access your computer from his or her office saves you money on their billing fee because no travel is required. They can login to your computer, while you watch if you wish, and access your bookkeeping records from the convenience of their office and not have to bill you for travel time and expenses.
2. Second, web based remote access requires only a PC and an internet connection. Using secure technology so you don't have to worry, you or an employee can work from home on a day (or night) when you cannot come to work because of illness, weather or the need to watch children. This feature saves you money in lost productivity or having to pay someone else overtime to get the work done.
3. Third, staying connected to the office with any PC and internet connection means you can go on longer vacations knowing you can perform work tasks if needed. Maybe you can avoid hauling a laptop with you by using a hotel computer. If you are staying with friends perhaps they will let you use their PC to safely access your office. This feature might give you the flexibility to leave when otherwise you cannot or to stay longer.
4. Fourth, if you find yourself somewhere without that presentation you needed you can login with a client computer and show them the presentation on their own PC. This might save not only embarrassment and the potential loss of a client but also save the money of a second trip. Or maybe use free WiFi somewhere to transfer the data to your own laptop and have no one even know you forgot it.
5. Fifth, think about planning a day or two per week to work from home and save the money and hassle of the commute. With GoToMyPC you can work from home just like you are at the office. Print either place just as easily. High gas and other commuting costs really add up. This might be the best benefit yet!

Computer Running Slow - Help?

So you're computers taking so long to do anything that you fall asleep waiting for it, or you've got a deadline to meet and it just sits there with its little hour glass on the screen while you're having a nervous breakdown. What's wrong with it? Could be you've worked it to death but that's unlikely, you've probably just worked it to a state of exhaustion.

All those fun things you do, like emailing your friends and loved ones and swapping photos and instant messaging and web surfing and downloading stuff and playing games and designing posters for the swap meet and typing up you're favourite recipes. Wow it makes me tired just thinking about it.

All these things give your computer tasks to do and it has to find the right files, so it shuffles them around and stores them in temporary folders and loses bits of them in dusty corners of the hard drive (can a round drive have dusty corners?) You know considering how smart computers are they don't store files on the hard drive as neatly as you would expect. They end up all over the place, so here's a quick tip which can help stop your computer running slow.

Defragg your hard drive, De-what? It's actually called "Defragmenting" it finds all those files and bits of files which are strewn all over your hard drive and it tidies them up. If you've never done it click on the start button, go to "all programs" select the "Accessories" folder then select the "System tools" folder then select the "Disc Defragmenter" and follow the instructions. You should do it regularly, along with other digital housekeeping chores like emptying the recycle bin, deleting temporary files from your web browser and deleting old emails.

Another common cause of slow running computers is the registry becoming overworked. The registry is a sort of database which stores settings and options for your computer operating system and programmes. Over time the more programmes and tasks you add to your computer causes the registry to become bloated and slow.

5 Tips to Speed it Up

Is your computer dragging its feet? Does it behave like a stroppy teenager when you ask it do a simple task like open a programme? Do you think you may die of boredom while you wait to get at your emails?

At least you're not alone, it's a common problem with pc's their systems become overloaded and sluggish and you end up with the frustration of you're computer running slow. Here are some ways to improve performance.

1. Clean the outside casing of your PC, especially if it sits on the floor the vents for the cooling fans can become clogged with dust. No fresh air means over heating and that really won't help. Make sure it's not surrounded by magazines cuddly toys sleeping dogs or any thing else which can cause it to get too hot.

2. Empty your recycle bin; you know you should do these chores regularly, delete all those old emails and attachments you've been meaning to get rid of for months. In your web browser delete the "temporary internet files"

3. Run Disc Cleanup. Click on the start button, go to "all programs" select "accessories" then select "System Tools" select "Disc Cleanup" (may be called Scandisk on some PCs) follow instructions. This will tell you how much space you can free up on your hard drive.

4. Run Disk Defragmenter. Again go to the start button, all programs select accessories then select Disc Defragmenter and follow instructions. This should tidy up your hard drive because believe it or not these highly technical logical machines don't store data on your hard drive very well. They drop it all over the place, defragging should help.

5. Remove any programs you don't use. Go to the start button select control panel and double click on the "add or remove" icon and uninstall anything you don't need. Have a good clear out, if you don't use it get rid of it, it's hogging valuable space.

Computer Running Slow?

Is your computer acting like it's on some sort of "work to rule"? Is it just plain lazy? When you click on a command to open a file do you have time to go get a coffee before the file opens? Doesn't it make you want to scream?

I know there have been times when I wanted to throw my pc out the window, the only thing that stopped me was I couldn't afford a new one! It must be one of the most annoying things about new technology, you remember when you're pc was new you clicked on your email shortcut and bang! There it was faster than the blink of an eye.

You could work on writing a letter, browsing the internet, checking emails all at the same time clicking between programs and it all happened fast and smooth. So what happened?

Old age! Seriously it's not because your computer's getting old and feeble though they do go out of date real fast theses days, it's more to do with the stuff you've downloaded and the programs you've installed or removed. When you surf the web and download stuff to you're pc when you save attachments to emails from you're friends all these things help to clog up you're pc and the poor thing gets bloated and slows down.

Here's a quick tip to create a little more space on your hard drive. Look on your desktop for the recycle bin icon, right click you're mouse on it and in the box that opens select "properties" This shows how much space on your hard drive is reserved for the stuff you delete. What's it set to? It's a percentage of your drive; make it smaller maybe 3%. How big a recycle bin do you need? With a smaller one maybe you'll empty it more often, good housekeeping helps your pc too.

One of the most common reasons for computer slow down is to do with the "registry". What's the registry and why should you care? Well it's a sort of directory of all the programs on your computer and even when you remove a program it can leave files behind so the registry get overloaded as you add more programs and it just takes forever to do anything. But it can be fixed.

Fast Success For Belkin

Continually Belkin has set growth records. They have had multiple listings in the Los Angeles Business Journal for "Fastest Privately Held Companies," along with "Inner City Top 100." Inc. Magazine has also awarded them with the Hall of Fame award in 2003 and listed them twice for the "500 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in the U.S."

This rapidly growing company started out in a garage in California in 1983. Chet Pipkin and Mark Reynoso were owners and the only 2 employees for the first year, earning over $100,000. Today the company has had amazing growth with over 1,000 employees located around the world, and sales revenues of over $1 billion.

Products that have the Belkin brand are: Media player accessories, laptop accessories, wired and wireless networking devices, cables, hubs, power accessories, home theater accessories, gaming peripherals, upgrade cards, and data center solutions. This fast growing electronic manufacturer indeed has a diverse product line up.

This company has made a mark in the connectivity and cabling aspects of electronics. Many of their products can be found in homes and businesses alike. Networking interface adapters, routers, cables, Ethernet switches, hubs, and consoles for businesses and home use can all be found under the connectivity and cable department.

Belkin also specializes in "KVM" (keyboard, video, and mouse) sharing solutions. This specialized product allows users to use one keyboard, video display, and mouse control several computers. The amount of computers in an enterprise would need to control is far different than a small business or home would need to control. Therefore, they designed a smaller KVM product that can control 2 to 4 computers from a single console, and the larger KVM that can control hundreds of computers. These include all cabled, wireless, and remote versions of computers.

From starting out in a garage this company has accomplished many things. The fast growing success of Belkin will continue to take this company to the top making its way in the technology world.

Computer and IT Support

Computers and IT (Information Technology) in general are a very big part of a lot of business in today's world, they are used all of the country and worldwide for a number of different purposes. As with all technology they carry the risk of going wrong and not only that but some people simply find them hard to use and do not understand their operation.

To some people a computer can be a daunting prospect and to others the operation of them can come second nature. However if you fall in to the category of maybe needing a little help then there are a lot of companies out there that can offer you help. Often they are support lines, you call the company up and an operator will pick up, from here you explain your problem to them or what you need help with. Some companies will try and help you from this point, but larger support companies will often work out which department you need (from what you told them) and transfer you through.

More than often they will be able to help you there on the spot, they will explain what you have to do and run through it with you on the phone whilst you do what they tell you. In the odd case the problem cannot be solved some companies will be able to send out a technician to help you.

Be warned, these businesses operate a premium rate phone line, make sure you check how much the call will cost you per minute before calling.

Intel Motherboard Features

Intel motherboard designs come in four primary sizes, each with their own unique characteristics. Regardless of the wide differences, there are some general features which they all share to some degree or another: memory, expansion, storage, and integrated peripherals.

Size and socks are closely related in that the largest intel motherboard series on the market is designed specifically to host multiple Xeon-server class chips, while the tiniest ITX Intel motherboard series is only used for mobile CPU sockets or even Netbook/Nettop CPU sockets for Intel's ATOM family of budget CPUs. The middle two groups, ATX and Micro ATX, are both home to desktop CPU sockets, though there are a few server ATX motherboards, and at least one Micro ATX Intel motherboard featuring a socket designed for use with laptop CPUs. Obviously the larger the motherboard physically is, the more features it can integrate.

One of those features is memory sockets, which are becoming more and more important as 64-bit CPUs and 64-bit software continue to gain traction in the market. One of the main benefits of going 64-bit is the ability to address large amounts of system memory, but all that memory needs a place to plug into any Intel motherboard. This is where memory sockets come in, and larger Intel motherboards tend to have more of these than smaller ones because they tend to eat up relatively large amounts of physical space. Because most Intel motherboard designs support dual- or even triple-channel memory configurations, many memory sockets are found in pairs or in trios. The memory sockets are usually designed for very specific types of memory that operate within fairly limited tolerances when it comes to speed (MHz) and electrical requirements.

Memory and CPU sockets are not the only things that can be plugged into most Intel motherboards. All but the very smallest Intel motherboard designs feature slots designed to accommodate various add-in cards ranging from graphics adapters to high-end RAID array devices. These are generally referred to as 'slots' and come in AGP, ISA, PCI, PCI-X, PCIE, PCIE-G, and many other styles and types. Some types such as AGP are only useful for specific types of add-in modules, while other slots such as PCIE all general purpose and allow any Intel motherboard to be expanded and customized to perform any number of customized tasks.

Of course, many of those very tasks that once were exclusively handled by add-in boards are now part of the standard array of integrated features. Onboard sound, networking, USB controllers, SATA, and even advanced RAID controllers are all very common any almost every single Intel motherboard on the market. While some of these features such as RAID controllers come in many flavors, the general rule is that one gets what they pay for; a more expensive Intel motherboard will be more likely to have a more powerful integrated RAID controller. Some of these integrated features may work well for today, but having expansion slots helps to ensure that future upgradability and expansion without complete system replacement is possible if any portion of the integrated feature set is ever deemed insufficient.

aretologic Power Pack

Are you interested in protecting your computer from errors, crashes, deleted mail and files, spyware, and privacy issues? Surely you realize that the problem with internet use is that you expose your computer and all that it contains to danger and risk?

If you want software that can completely cover all these potential risks, then you need the Paretologic Power Pack. This is a combo pack of 5 different applications that will cover all kinds of issues on your computer from top to bottom, left to right, making it possible for you top never freak out from unexpected problems.

This power pack has DriverCure, which will update your computer's hardware and software so you will never have a compatibility problem.

It also has the fabulous RegCure, and this will prevent the blue screen of death or a slow computer from bringing you down. You can backup your setup and set up a restore point in case of emergency situations.

The third application is the XoftSpySE which will protect your computer from infectious spyware. You don't have to worry about credit card numbers being stolen or your identity compromised.

The last 2 applications are the Data Recovery and the Privacy Controls. One will help you retrieve lost or deleted files and documents, while the Privacy Controls will block anyone from trying to spy on your internet activities.

You can get all these products for an extra ten dollars. Is it worth the money? You bet, it's worth even more than that - because you're buying more than just 5 applications. You're getting peace of mind, and that's something pretty hard to find on the internet.

Getting Driver Updates

Sometimes it can get very confusing when you hear about computer drivers, applications, patches, automatic updates and the like. That is, unless you're a computer geek who is completely at home with these terms.

Let's suppose you're a regular computer user but don't know much about the way a computer works in the background. It can get quite complicated but let's try to break it down to the basics.

Your computer is a machine that follows commands. Every application you install in your PC has a set of instructions found in its driver that is stored in your computer. This means that every time you upload an application, you are adding new instructions to your computer that it has to follow in order for you to be able to use this particular application or software.

Drivers are updated as quickly as possible by its manufacturers. They do this to enhance the performance of their software and plug any holes it may have. It also adjusts the software so that it can be continuously compatible with the new software being introduced daily.

If you were to search for the updates on the drivers of each software that you have on your computer using the internet, it would take you eternity, especially if you have to start from scratch, and use third party sources.

Here's how you can simplify your day and get you back to work on other important business. Just download an automatic computer driver software. Of course, it goes without saying, that you have to get one that has a good reputation, is reliable, and without malicious attachments. Once you have this, you can safely get updated all the time, and not have to worry about incompatibility issues ever again.