Tech Troupe » pc help

Fishville is slow or won’t load

ryan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:30:07 +0000

HELP! Fishville won’t load or is slow!

Don’t worry we just may have your fix so you can get back to feeding your fish.

Zynga is a social network game developer on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. One of their popular games is called Fishville. This game, like all other Zynga browser-based games, makes use of the Flash multimedia platform. Although easy to use and fun to view, Flash does have its drawbacks. The most important drawback is the amount of resources needed to display and interact with the highly-intensive animations as in Fishville. Another issue is data corruption via the browser or the computer itself. Let’s take a look at fixing both of these problems so you can continue enjoy playing Fishville like you’re supposed to.

Problem 1: Slow animation or game-play.

Problem 2: Fishville won’t load or parts of the game won’t load.

Solution for both problems: Make your computer faster! Sounds easy, right? You can always buy a new computer which would solve this problem, but most of us can’t right now. So, let’s make what we got better.

Follow each step and you should see an increase in speed and hopefully will fix any loading issues as well.

Step 1: Clean unneeded files from your hard drive. Download this great little program called CCleaner. It gets rid of a lot of files that are just clogging up your hard drive including your browser cache and cookies. It’s safe and it works!

Step 2: Defrag your hard drive.This is a very easy and effective way to help speed up your computer. You should defrag your hard drive about once a month (or set up a schedule in Windows Vista and Windows 7).

Open Disk Defragmenter by clicking the “Start” button, clicking “All Programs“, clicking “Accessories“, clicking “System Tools“, and then clicking “Disk Defragmenter“. The defragment program should now open. Make sure to click “Defragment Now“. Note: it may take between a few minutes to a few hours to complete.

Step 3: Restart your computer. I have been working with and repairing computers for over 15 years now and it still amazes me how simply restarting a computer can do so much.

Step 4: Close unwanted programs. Most of you have programs that you don’t need or simply not using running in the background as you are reading this. Do you see the icons in the lower right hand corner of the screen? That’s where most of them are. Go ahead and hover over each icon in order to see what program it is. If it’s something you’re not using (i.e. MSN Messenger) then right-click the icon and exit or close the program. You don’t have to worry about closing the wrong program because they will all be there the next time you restart your computer.

Step 5:Login and start playing Fishville!

If you are still having problems getting Fishville to load correctly you may want to try a different browser like Mozilla Firefox. It’s highly recommended here in the computer repair industry because it is more difficult to get spyware and trojans on your computer than its counterpart; Microsoft Internet Explorer.

There are no guarantees in life as well as computer repair. If none of these suggestions work for you then you may need to bring your computer in for service.

Treasure Isle won’t load or is slow

ryan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:29:54 +0000

HELP! Treasure Isle won’t load or is slow!

Don’t worry we just may have your fix so you can get back to your island hopping.

Zynga is a social network game developer on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. One of their popular games is called Treasure Isle. This game, like all other Zynga browser-based games, makes use of the Flash multimedia platform. Although easy to use and fun to view, Flash does have its drawbacks. The most important drawback is the amount of resources needed to display and interact with the highly-intensive animations as in Treasure Isle. Another issue is data corruption via the browser or the computer itself. Let’s take a look at fixing both of these problems so you can get back to playing Treasure Isle like you’re supposed to.

Problem 1: Slow animation or game-play.

Problem 2: Treasure Isle won’t load or parts of the game won’t load.

Follow each step and you should see an increase in speed and hopefully will fix any loading issues as well.

Step 3: Restart your computer. I have been working with and repairing computers for over 15 years now and it still amazes me how simply restarting a computer can do so much.

Step 5:Login and start playing Treasure Isle!

If you are still having problems getting Treasure Isle to load correctly you may want to try a different browser like Mozilla Firefox. It’s highly recommended here in the computer repair industry because it is more difficult to get spyware and trojans on your computer than its counterpart; Microsoft Internet Explorer.

There are no guarantees in life as well as computer repair. If none of these suggestions work for you then you may need to bring your computer in for service.

Petville won’t load or is slow

ryan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:29:41 +0000

HELP! Petville won’t load or is slow!

Don’t worry we just may have your fix so you can get back to you pet before it runs away.

Zynga is a social network game developer on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. One of their most popular games is called Petville. This game, like all other Zynga browser-based games, makes use of the Flash multimedia platform. Although easy to use and fun to view, Flash does have its drawbacks. The most important drawback is the amount of resources needed to display and interact with the highly-intensive animations as in Petville. Another issue is data corruption via the browser or the computer itself. Let’s take a look at fixing both of these problems so you can continue enjoy playing Petville.

Problem 1: Slow animation or game-play.

Problem 2: Petville won’t load or parts of the game won’t load.

Follow each step and you should see an increase in speed and hopefully will fix any loading issues as well.

Step 3: Restart your computer. I have been working with and repairing computers for over 15 years now and it still amazes me how simply restarting a computer can do so much.

Step 5:Login and start playing Petville!

If you are still having problems getting Petville to load correctly you may want to try a different browser like Mozilla Firefox. It’s highly recommended here in the computer repair industry because it is more difficult to get spyware and trojans on your computer than its counterpart; Microsoft Internet Explorer.

There are no guarantees in life as well as computer repair. If none of these suggestions work for you then you may need to bring your computer in for service.

Farmville is slow or won’t load

ryan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:20:26 +0000

HELP! Farmville won’t load or is slow!

Don’t worry we just may have your fix so you can get back to tending those crops.

Zynga is a social network game developer on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. One of their most popular games is called Farmville. This game, like all other Zynga browser-based games, makes use of the Flash multimedia platform. Although easy to use and fun to view, Flash has its drawbacks. The most important drawback is the amount of resources needed to display and interact with highly-intensive animations as in Farmville. Another issue is data corruption via the browser or the computer itself. Let’s take a look at fixing both of these problems so you can continue enjoy playing Farmville.

Problem 1: Slow animation or game-play.

Problem 2: Farmville won’t load or parts of the game won’t load.

Follow each step and you should see an increase in speed and hopefully will fix any loading issues as well.

Step 3: Restart your computer. I have been working with and repairing computers for over 15 years now and it still amazes me how simply restarting a computer can do so much.

Step 5:Login and start playing Farmville!

If you are still having problems getting Farmville to load correctly you may want to try a different browser like Mozilla Firefox. It’s highly recommended here in the computer repair industry because it is more difficult to get spyware and trojans on your computer than its counterpart; Microsoft Internet Explorer.

There are no guarantees in life as well as computer repair. If none of these suggestions work for you then you may need to bring your computer in for service.

Frontierville won’t load or is slow

ryan — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 08:16:01 +0000

HELP! Frontierville won’t load or is slow!

Don’t worry we have your fix.

Zynga is a social network game developer on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. One of their newest and popular games is called Frontierville. This game, like all other Zynga browser-based games, makes use of the Flash multimedia platform. Although easy to use and fun to view, Flash has its drawbacks. The most important drawback is the amount of resources needed to display and interact with highly-intensive animations as in Frontiereville. Another issue is data corruption via the browser or the computer itself. Let’s take a look at fixing both of these problems so you can continue enjoy playing Frontierville.

Problem 1: Slow animation or game-play.

Problem 2: Frontierville won’t load or parts of the game won’t load.

Follow each step and you should see an increase in speed and hopefully will fix any loading issues as well.

Step 3: Restart your computer. I have been working with and repairing computers for over 15 years now and it still amazes me how simply restarting a computer can do so much.

Step 5:Login and start playing Frontierville!

If you are still having problems getting Frontierville to load correctly you may want to try a different Internet browser like Mozilla Firefox. It’s highly recommended in the computer repair industry because it is more difficult to get spyware and trojans on your computer than its counterpart; Microsoft Internet Explorer.

There are no guarantees in life as well as computer repair. If none of these suggestions work for you then you may need to bring your computer in for service.

Basic Computer Troubleshooting

ryan — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:51:48 +0000

1. Don’t panic. Relax. Take a deep breath.

Many computer problems appear more serious than they really are.

It may look like the computer has crashed and all your data is lost forever. But there are a host of problems that keep you from reaching your data or the network that can be fixed, sometimes in a matter of minutes.

Most of the time your data is safely stored on your hard drive, as the problem lies elsewhere.

That’s not to say catastrophic data loss doesn’t happen – it can, but not very often.

2. Make sure there really is a problem.

Can’t start your computer? Check the basics.

1. Examine the cables, connectors, and power cords to make sure they’re plugged in securely. Often times a loose cable or connector (power, network, keyboard, mouse, speaker, monitor cable, etc.) is the cause of the problem.

2. If you’re using a power strip or a surge protector, make sure it’s on and that it works. Remember that a surge protector may not be working because it is designed to self-destruct. When an electric jolt is too much, your surge protector takes the hit saving your more expensive hardware from the voltage.

3. Try plugging something else directly into the electrical outlet to make sure there isn’t a power problem.

4. Check to see if your monitor is on. Sounds silly, but it has solved my own problem more than once.

3. Can’t get on to the network or the Internet?

1. Check to see if anyone else around you is having a similar problem. If so, there may be a service outage affecting a wider area

2. Check to make sure the network cable is connected to both the computer and the wall or modem.

3. Check where the network cable connection is made to the back of the computer, you should see a little green light right where the cable connects. If the light isn’t on or flashing, then you are not getting a signal to the computer. If rebooting doesn’t fix it, contact the Help Desk or your ISP.

4. Error Messages – Write them down.
1. What tipped you off to the problem? Sometimes it’s an error code or message displayed on screen. Be sure to write it down — it may describe the problem and how serious it is. Be sure to document the exact wording of any error messages. This can make the job a professional much faster.
2. Other times you get no warning — everything just freezes. Message or no message, be sure note what was going on when the problem occurred. Were you starting your computer? Were you on the Windows Desktop? Were you in a particular application? Surfing the Web?

5. Think about what changed recently on your computer.

Try to pinpoint when the trouble first started. Did the problem coincide with any recent changes?

1. Did you change any settings? If you did you might want to change them back the way they were.

2. Any peripherals been added or removed recently (such as a printer or external Memory Card reader?)

3. Has anyone else been using your computer recently?

4. Have downloaded anything off the Web? File sharing and free MP3’s are an easy way to get a virus on your machine.

6. The computer is on but…

1. Everything on the screen is frozen and the keyboard and mouse are not responding.

Try tapping on the Num Lock key. It’s located on the right-hand side of the keyboard above the number 7. While tapping the Num Lock key, notice whether or not the Num Lock light goes on and off. If it doesn’t, the computer is completely locked up. You’ll have to REBOOT the computer. If the light does go off and on, wait a minute before giving up hope. It may come back to life on its own.

2. Pressing Alt + F4

If a software program stops working or freezes up, try pressing the ALT+F4 keys to close the window that you’re currently working in. This can shut down a frozen window and bring the computer back to life. If the keyboard is frozen as well, you’ll have to reboot.

3. The “Blue Screen” has appeared.

The dreaded “Blue Screen of Death”. There’s not a lot to be done except to reboot the machine. If it keeps occurring, this is an indication of a major problem with the computer.

4. The computer is on, but there is no sound.

Is there a speaker icon next to the clock on the taskbar? (It’s in the lower right side of the screen) If you can find it, double click the speaker icon to bring up the audio controls for the computer. See if any of the volume controls have been muted or turned all the way down. Uncheck any Mute boxes that are selected.

5. The computer is on, but the keyboard doesn’t work

Swap the keyboard or try plugging the keyboard into another computer. If it doesn’t work on the other computer, there is likely something wrong with the keyboard. If it does work on the other computer, there is likely something wrong on the computer or the connection to the computer.

6. CTRL-ALT-DEL

When you press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete buttons together, you will bring up a control panel where you can select “Task Manager” and see if any of the programs are shown as “not responding”. You may be able to shut down the offending program from there. If you can’t get to this screen, you’ll have to reboot.

7. Rebooting can do wonders.

Don’t just pull the plug!

A simple reboot may clear up the problem. Go to the Start Menu and select Shutdown. Didn’t work?

If that didn’t work, you have no choice: you have to turn the computer off manually with the power switch. Hold the power button down (for about 5 -10 seconds) and the computer will shut down. Wait at least 10 seconds for the hard drive to stop spinning and then restart the machine.

If the computer starts up, start the applications you were using when the crash occurred. Some programs, like Microsoft Word, make timed backups of your work and may bring up recovered files. If the program notifies you that there is a “recovered document” save the file under a different name and compare them to your previously saved files.

8. Still Stuck??

Call a professional, or a friend, or a friend of a professional. You need somebody to take a look at your computer and hopefully fix it.

Computer Related Terms and Definitions

ryan — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:11:06 +0000

Application program: A computer program that accomplishes a task or a group of tasks. Examples are work processors and spreadsheets.Bit: Stands for binary digit. The amount of information obtained by asking a simple yes-or-no question. The smallest unit of information on a computer system, stored as a 0 or a 1.

Byte: Data is stored on a computer in bytes. A byte is equivalent to one character, such as a letter or a number. A byte is made up of 8 consecutive bits.

1,000 bytes=1 kilobyte (K or KB)

1,000 KB=1 megabyte (MB)

1,000 MB=1 gigabyte (GB)

1,000 GB=1 Terabyte (TB)

Cache: Cache is another type of memory kindred to RAM. Cache is used by the computer to quickly move data between the RAM and the CPU.

CD-ROM: A removable disk that stores data. A CD-ROM can only be read. You cannot record (save) data onto it. (However, you can record onto a CD-Rewritable disk.) Often called a CD for short, a CD looks like a music CD, but hold data instead of music. However, you can generally play music CDs on your computer CD drive (if you like to listen to music while you work).

Computer: a collection of electronic parts put together so that the computer can run software programs that perform certain tasks. A computer takes input, manipulates data, stores data, and displays data.

CPU: The CPU, or central processing unit, is the brains of the computer. Most new Windows-based programs use a Pentium processor. New Macs use a different type of CPU called Power PC.

Cursor: A graphical object on the screen that indicates your current position. A mouse has a cursor. Many programs have their own cursors.

Diskette: Same as a floppy disk.

DVD (Digital Versatile Disc): A technology that stores more information than a CD-ROM and can be written upon. The disk resembles a CD-ROM but has 7 times the storage capacity.

File: a collection of data with a name.

Floppy disk drive: The mechanism that reads a floppy disk. (On a PC often called the a: drive.)

Floppy disk: A storage medium for data that you can remove from your computer. It isn’t floppy; rather it is hard and doesn’t bend. (In earlier days there were floppy disks that were bendable and the name stuck.)

Gigabyte: 1,000 megabytes. Abbreviated as GB.

Graphical User Interface (GUI): a program that helps you more easily work with your operating system and application programs by providing pictures and visual clues to help you work. Windows is a GUI. So is Mac OS.

Hard drive: The mechanism that reads the hard disk. (On a PC, sometimes called the c: drive.)

Hard disk space: The amount of permanent storage of data, measured in bytes. This storage is maintained whether the computer is on or off

Hard disk: A storage medium for data inside your computer.

Hardware: any part of the computer that you can physically touch. It includes parts that are attached to the computer, called peripherals (monitor, printer, mouse, keyboard, modem, scanner).

Keyboard: What you use to type in text or other data. Like the keyboard of a typewriter. (Do you know what a typewriter is?)

Kilobyte: 1,000 bytes. Abbreviated as K or KB.

Megabyte: 1,000,000 bytes or 1,000 kilobytes. Abbreviated as MB.

Megahertz (MHz): The clock speed of the microprocessor. The higher the number, the quicker the information is processed. MHz relates to how many millions of instructions can be processed per second.

Memory (RAM): The amount of temporary storage of data that you can use at one time. Memory storage closes down when you turn off the computer. For this reason, you need to save your work before you turn off the computer. Saving transfers data from RAM to a hard or floppy disk. Memory is typically measured in megabytes (MBs).When your computer has more memory, it can hold more programs open at one time and handle more complicated processes, such as 3D graphics and animation.

Modem: A means of transferring data via a phone line, usually via the Internet. It can be attached internally or externally. Some modems can also be used for faxing and as an answering machine.

Monitor: The box with a screen that displays the data on your computer, so you can see what you are doing. Larger monitors cost more. Currently the most common size is 17″ or 19.” Monitors vary not only in their size, but in the resolution they can support. (See Resolution.) There are two monitor types: CRT and LCD. The majority of desktop monitors are CRTs, but the new, thin, and more expensive LCD monitors are beginning to appear on some desktops. Monitors emit radiation, so you shouldn’t sit too close!

Motherboard: The circuit board that everything in the computer plugs into. The CPU, RAM and cache all plug into the motherboard.

Mouse: A peripheral that you use to point at or move over objects on your screen. Moving the mouse moves the mouse cursor on the screen so you can see what you’re pointing at. The mouse has one (Mac) or two (PC) buttons. You click the button to choose an item on the screen. You double-click (click twice rapidly in succession) to open programs or windows.

Multitasking: the ability to do more than one task at a time. Since you can actually only do one thing at a time, it really means that the computer can have more than one program in memory at one time, but only one can be fully active. However, inactive programs can be processing data or doing other tasks in the background.

Network: A group of two or more computers linked together.

NIC (Network Interface Card): A card that goes in your computer and lets you connect to a network.

Operating system: tells the computer how to operate. It is a middleman (or woman) between the hardware and the application programs that you use to do your work. It gives you access to the files on your computer, loads application programs into memory, and closes programs.

Peripheral: Anything that attaches to your computer, such as a keyboard, printer, mouse, or external modem.

Port: A connector on your computer that lets you connect a device, such as a monitor, disk drive, mouse, printer, or keyboard. Some common types of ports are: serial for connecting a modem or mouse; parallel port for connecting a printer, scanner, digital camera, ZIP drive, or other device; SCSI for connecting any device made for a SCSI port (all Macs come with a SCSI port); and USB for connecting a scanner, digital camera, printer or any device made for a USB port (most newer PCs and Macs have a USB port).

RAM: See Memory.

Resolution: The degree of sharpness, or clarity, of what you see on a computer screen. The resolution on computer monitors is measured by the number of dots, or pixels, of color that are displayed across and down the screen. For instance, 800×600-pixel resolution means that there are 800 dots of color across each of 600 rows down the screen. Most screens today let you work at 800×600 or 1024×768. As you increase resolution, the size of the characters and images gets smaller, allowing for more information to be displayed across a certain screen area. Be sure to confirm that your computer’s card can support the same maximum resolution as your monitor. If your monitor can go up to 1,280×1,024 but your video system can only handle 800×600, you won’t be able to take advantage of the monitor’s 1,280×1,024 resolution.

Software: any program/application that helps operates the computer or accomplishes certain tasks.

Sound Card: This device allows your computer to reproduce music, sounds and voices. Make sure you have a sound card if you’re planning to play multimedia games. Many Web sites also include music or sound, requiring a sound card.

System Unit (the computer itself): The box that contains the inner workings of the computer.

Video Card: The part of the computer that sends the images to the monitor.

How to Make a Website

ryan — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:20:41 +0000

Many people have asked me how to make a website. Usually they ask if I can do it for them because they’re too scared to even try. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s it’s actually pretty easy to make, design and build a website, with your own domain name, of course!

The first step to making a website is to decide on a domain name (i.e. yahoo.com, techtroupe.com, etc…). It can be anything you want, assuming the name is available. Go over to 1 and 1 and search for domain names that you might be interested in. We also offer an easy domain name checker below, as well. Check it out! Don’t be discouraged if the names you want are all gone, you may just need to be creative in finding the right name; instead of flowersforyou.com maybe try flowers4you.com or flowers4u.com or even flowers-for-you.com, because all three say the same thing just with different domain names. Good luck and happy searching.

The next step in making a website is to have it hosted somewhere. Personally I like 1and1.combecause they have never, ever given me any problems! They are also one of the cheapest hosting companies out there, plus you get free domain names if you register with them. So, basically they can register your domain, and host it for you, which makes it very easy for anyone just starting out. Also note that you will be able to have your own email address based on your domain name such as yourname@yourdomain.com. This, of course, will make any business card or company header seem much more professional than using a free email account at yahoo, gmail or hotmail. In fact, you don’t even need to put up a website; simply register your domain and sign up for an email service instead so that you get the great email without having to deal with running a website.

Once you decide on a company you will need to know which plan to select because most hosting companies offer many different plans. If you’re thinking of running a blog like this one then you won’t need much in terms of bandwidth or disk space. ANY plan at 1and1.com will be able to host a blog or small website like this one. Of course if you’re looking to sell items in a webstore then you would need to select and ecommerce-type plan that offers the programs and scripts built-in like item listing and credit card billing. Don’t worry if you select the wrong plan as you can always upgrade, or downgrade, by contacting customer service (and, yes, they have great customer service!).

Once you have a domain name and a hosting plan then the next step is figuring out what you want to do witht site. 1and1.com offers easy to use templates to get your website up and running quickly. You can use those templates or search the web for free ready-made templates to use as your design. You can also create your own design by using a WYSIWYG html editor such as Microsoft Front Page or use a free html editor like Nvu. If you want to run a blog then I would suggest using WordPress as it’s the easiest to install and use.

If you go with a blog, template from the web or you just want to create your own you will need to upload it to the site via FTP. When you signed up for a hosting account they will send you an email message that contains important information and passwords including your FTP account info. You will need to use that info in order to access your website and upload files. Internet Explorer has FTP built-in or you can always download an FTP client from download.com.

VISIT 1AND1.COM FOR MORE INFO

Help My Monitor Won’t Come On Part 2

ryan — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:29:45 +0000

Since writing the first article, about the computer monitor not coming on with the computer, I have come to the realization that the problem with RAM is not ALWAYS the solution (although in my experience it is about 90% of the time). The problems associated with the monitor not coming on could be numerous, so I’ll just go over a couple of them here.

First, it could be your video card. If you have a video card AND on-board graphics the try switching to your onboard graphics to see if your monitor will come on. The problem may be the video is NOT going through your card at all! Simply switch your video cable to the on-board socket (VGA or DVI). Another thing to try is to simply remove your video card and then boot up the computer. The on-board video should be the default video output when your third-party card is removed. If that solves the problem then you know something is most likely wrong with your video card.

(Note: Be sure to check your BIOS settings to make sure that the computer is trying to “see” the AGP, PCI or PCI-Express slot for video output and it’s NOT set to on-board video ONLY)

If you don’t have a video card, or you know that the video card is working properly then there are some more things you can try, like checking your hard drive. Yes, a bad hard drive can wreak havoc on a computer system, especially if it’s “shorting out”. The easiest way to check is to simply remove the hard drive and boot up the computer. The monitor should still come on to give your the “operating system not found” screen. Of course if you now see this screen then the monitor came on and there’s something wrong with your hard drive. I suggest getting a new one, IMMEDIATELY!

Now that you know that a bad hard drive can ruin a system, you should imply that other cards and adapters can as well. If you unplugged the hard drive and still have nothing, then you should begin to take out other non-essential items such as sound cards and USB cards and SATA cards, basically all PCI cards! You can even unplug your CD or DVD drives and floppy drives in order to strip it down the bare essentials; power supply, motherboard and video card. If you have your computer stripped down to those three things (or two, if your don’t have a video card) and the monitor still won’t come on then there’s only one thing left to try, a new power supply.

If you can get your hands on a friends power supply then you can check it yourself, otherwise you may need to bring it in to a computer repair shop and have it tested. Most shops have a small tool that they use to see if a PSU is good or not. If you find out that the power supply is, in fact, good then you know what the problem is, right? Yes, find yourself a new motherboard. If your computer is a few years old then this might be a good opportunity to upgrade with a new motherboard, processor and RAM, especially if you have a board with a socket that is no longer being made or hard to find.

Slow Computer Fix

ryan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:15:02 +0000

I have been asked by many, many people “Can you make my computer faster?”. My answer is always an astounding “Yes! But you might not be able to afford it”.

Before you go buying things to make it faster make sure to try these basics.

1. Delete all unnecessary files and folders. I reccommend using ccleaner for all your cleaning needs as it deletes temp files, cookies and history. You can always use the registry cleaner function too as it deletes unncessary registry entries.

2. Check for system errors.

Instructions on how to check for errors: Double-click My Computer, right-click a local hard drive “C:”, then left-click on properties, click the tools tab and under error-checking click “Check Now”. Make sure to check “Automatically fix file system errors” then click “Start”. Now next time you reboot your computer it will check and fix any errors you may have.

3. Defrag your hard drive. I’m still amazed that people still don’t know how to use Windows defrag program even though it has been a part of Windows since Windows 95!

Instructions on how to defrag your computer: Double-click My Computer, right-click a local hard drive (usually “C:” is fine), then left-click on properties, click the tools tab and finally click the defragment now button. The program should open and then all you need to do is highlight one of the hard drives and click “Defragment” to begin.

If you have NEVER done any of these steps before then your computer should be much faster now. If you have already done these things then you may want to consider some more drastic changes such as adding RAM or upgrading your motherboard and processor.

Best Computer Backup

ryan — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:51:14 +0000

The best computer backup program is still Norton Ghost. I still use Norton Ghost 2003 for all my backing up and disk imaging. Basically Norton Ghost can backup your entire hard drive to an image file, kind of like taking a snapshot of your system. You can put that image file on a DVD/R or another hard drive (internal or external) for safe keeping.

If you ever run into trouble, like your hard drive crashing or OS failure, you can simply run the handy Ghost diskette or CD and copy your backed up image file onto a new hard drive. It doesn’t take that long, and when you’re done you have a working operating system and all your files are back again (at least the ones that were there when you created the image file)!!

Norton Ghost can also be used for data recovery from a bad hard drive. Simply go into the options menu and check to ignore errors while imaging. The result might not be all the data you need to run the operating system, but it should give you at least some readable data.

Make a New Computer from Your Old PC

ryan — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:51:50 +0000

So, your computer doesn’t work anymore? Got a bad motherboard? Fried the processor? Looking to upgrade? You don’t need to go out and buy a whole new computer. If you can build your own, or you know of someone that can build one for you, you can save a bunch of money.

Everything depends on how old your current computer is and which parts are still usable. If your computer case can hold an ATX or microATX motherboard then you will be able to use the same case, just replace the parts inside. I am currently using an old eMachines case to hold my Pentium4 processor and motherboard. I’m also using the DVD burner from my old computer. The only things I needed to buy was the processor, motherboard, RAM and power supply. At the time I bought everything it only cost me about $230.

Pricing everything currently online you should be able to get a real nice computer (processor, RAM , motherboard, power supply and DVD burner) for under $400. That’s, of course, assuming you don’t go wild on an expensive motherboard or quad-core processor. For most people who aren’t gamers you should be able to keep it well under $400.

The only thing left is the operating system; XP or Vista? If you already have a copy of XP then go ahead and stay with that, it’s much better than Vista, in my opinion. If you have to buy an operating system then go ahead and get Vista because XP support is going to end sometime next year.

Although buying your own copy of Windows Vista will cost more now, it will save you in the future when you decide to upgrade again. Any brand name computer that you buy from the store including Dell, HP, eMachines, Sony, etc… will have Vista loaded on it but YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TRANSFER THE OPERATING SYSTEM TO A NEW COMPUTER. So, when THAT computer goes bad you’re stuck without an operating system again.

My suggestion is to do some research and price out everything that you need/want and compare that to brand name computers. Remember that when building your own you get to choose what brand of components go into your computer (i.e. Seagate hard drive, Kingston RAM, Gigabyte motherboard, and so on) If the pricing is comparable between the two then I would suggest building your own. You have more control over everything, including replacing parts easier.

How to Buy a Printer

ryan — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 00:17:09 +0000

Most people tend to buy printers based solely on price. Unfortunately buying a printer like that will cost you a LOT MORE in the long run due to inflated ink prices.

What I suggest to my clients is to work backwards and find cheap ink cartridges, then find the printer that they go in. For example, I recently purchased a Brother DCP-350c printer because their ink is only about $7 per cartridge and they have separate cartridges for each color (red, yellow, blue). If you’re like most people you’ll tend to run out of one color before the other two, then left without the ability to print in that color.

I got my Brother printer for about $90 online and I absolutely love it. It prints, scans, copies and prints photos beautifully. It was well worth the extra money up front. So, next time you’re in the market for a new printer try working “backwards” by finding the cheapest ink first. You can then thank me later.

How to Install Windows XP on a Laptop with No CD Drive

ryan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:18:22 +0000

I am writing this blog entry because I just got done installing Windows XP on my IBM Thinkpad a21m laptop which has no CD drive. Why does it have no CD drive? Because it did not come with one and I don’t feel like shelling out $20 – $50 for a used one off eBay.

Actually, I bought two Thinkpad a21m laptops off of eBay locked with the supervisor password, and the guy didn’t remember it. I did get them cheap but I had to read the 24rf08 eeprom in order to retrieve the password, which I did successfully. Luckily I only had to read one because the other was exactly the same.

On to the business at hand. No matter which version you try you will NEED a laptop hard drive adapter (2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE adapter). You can find these cheap on eBay, just look around for while in order to find the cheapest.

This is a picture of the one I have.

You will also need a working desktop computer with a working CD ROM and a working Windows XP installation disk.

The first way I suggest to try is also the easiest (lucky you!).

Hook up your laptop hard drive as a slave drive to your desktop using the adapter (pictured above).

Boot into Windows on your desktop and make sure it can see your laptop hard drive. It’s probably best to format your laptop hard drive before you do anything. It shouldn’t matter which file system to use; FAT32 or NTFS.

Next, insert your XP installation CD and close any windows that pop up. Go to your Start menu and select Run to open the Run prompt.

Now enter:

D:\I386\winnt32 /syspart:E: /tempdrive:E: /makelocalsource /noreboot

Make note that D: = my CD drive and E: = my laptop hard drive. You may need to change these if your system is setup differently.

Let’s break it down. D:\I386\winnt32 starts the XP installer from the CD drive. The /syspart:E: switch tells the installation to make E: drive the system drive. The /tempdrive:E: switch directs the temporary files to the drive specified by the switch. The /makelocalsource switch tells XP to copy all the source files to the drive so you don’t need the CD anymore. And finally the /noreboot switch tells the system to not reboot after the files have been copied.

Once that is completed then you can take the laptop hard drive and put it back into your laptop. When you boot it up Windows XP should begin installing automatically!! See? Quick and painless!! Unless it doesn’t work, then you need to move on to the next section.

Try #2, next easiest way to install XP with no CD drive.

This is assuming you have a floppy drive on the laptop, if you do not then proceed to Try #3.

Take your laptop hard drive and make it a slave drive on your desktop, again.

Format it, again. This time you need to format it in FAT32.

Now simply copy the i386 folder from your XP installation disk to your laptop hard drive.

Put the hard drive back into the laptop. Boot the laptop up using a floppy boot disk (Windows 98 preferably). Bootdisk.comhas them downloadable for free. If the boot disk doesn’t contain smartdrv.exe then you need to download it here and put it on your floppy (you’ll thank me later).

Once booted with the floppy enter “smartdrv.exe” (without the quotes) at the A: prompt to load smart drive (makes files copy way, way faster). Now enter “sys C:” to make the partition bootable. Now change into the i386 folder and type “winnt” to begin XP installation. That’s it!

For those DOS illiterate type “C:” at the A: prompt to get to the hard drive, then type “cd i386″ to get into the i386 folder. If done correctly the prompt should read “C:\i386>” then just type “winnt” to start XP.

If all goes well then Windows should completely install itself. If not, then there’s one more thing to try.

Try #3: The hardest way to install XP with no CD drive.

Maybe not the hardest but sure is the most time consuming. You will need a Windows 98 or Windows 98SE installation disk. Windows Me might work too, I’m not sure. If you simply can’t find one anywhere then check with your local computer shop as they almost certainly have a copy and may give you one for a dollar or two.

Put your laptop hard drive back into the desktop computer as a primary drive and disconnect all other hard drives!

Boot up to the Windows 98 disk and load it, completely. You don’t need to install drivers or anything just hit cancel when asked to do so. Just make sure you can get to the desktop.

Once 98 is loaded then put the hard drive back to a slave drive and boot up to XP on your desktop. Again copy the i386 folder to your laptop hard drive then put it back into the laptop.

Now boot into Windows 98 on your laptop and navigate to the i386 folder. Find winnt32.exe (not winnt.exe) and run it. XP should begin to install.

When asked to install to the Windows folder just say yes! Windows 98 is not needed anymore at this point so you can allow XP to copy over anything it wants.

Conclusion

I have tried all three steps myself at one point or another with complete success …… eventually. Some laptops are cooperative, some are not.

CD ROMs and DVD drives are overrated in my opinion. Once XP is set up you can install anything you need from a CD through your desktop via the network. Simply share the CD drive from your desktop and it should be accessible to the laptop via your local network. I have installed everything from MS Office to printer drivers through the networked CD. Everything else you can get off the Internet. I have absolutely no need for any kind of optical drive and I won’t be bullied into buying one. There, I said it.

P.S. For the record I do not like installing XP over the network because something always seems to go wrong. If you want to try to install over a network then there are plenty of other sites trying to explain to you how to do that. I just don’t like it.

How to Check My Hard Drive

ryan — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:48:44 +0000

If your computer experiences weird errors or simply shuts down periodically it may be due to a bad hard drive. Another good indication of a bad hard drive is strange sounds coming directly from the drive itself.

Most people usually take their computer in to be serviced which can cost money. There is a nice little program called Drive Fitness Test that you can run on your computer in order to see if your hard drive has a problem. Drive Fitness Test (aka DFT) is a program designed by IBM for test ing purposes for either professionals or consumers.

To use DFT click this link and scroll down to Drive Fitness Test. Download the CD image to your computer then burn it as an image file onto a CD. All CD burning software allows you to burn a CD from an image file (not data cd, not audio cd, just from an image file!) This particlular file is in ISO format which is the standard in CD images.

Once you have it burned onto a CD correctly simply leave the CD in your CD drive and reboot your computer. The computer should boot directly to the CD and from there you’ll be able to test your hard drive. If your computer doesn’t boot to the CD then you have to check your BIOS settings to make sure the boot order is correct and in this order; CD:Hard Drive. Some computers may have floppy or network boot options, those don’t matter as long as CD (or DVD) is BEFORE the hard drive. If it still doesn’t boot to the CD then make sure you have burned the CD correctly. Remember to burn the CD from an image.

If you’re still having trouble getting it to work then go back to the download page and download Diskette creator for Windows OS and make some floppy disks to boot from.

Good luck and Happy Burning!

Help! My Monitor Won’t Come On

ryan — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:02:32 +0000

There are several things that can affect your computer monitor. The easiest is to start witht the simplist and work your way forward.

1. Check to make sure the monitor is plugged in (electricity). There’s usually a light next to or around the power button that lets you know if it’s on or not. I swear to you I’ve had people who accidentally turned it off and didn’t know they had to turn it back on themselves

2. Is the computer on? The computer is usually in the form of a tower. If it’s on, then turn it off for 5 seconds and then start it up again. You can just push the power button or unplug it, whatever suits you best.

If the monitor does come back on then it could have been just a one-time glitch. If it keeps happening then I would suggest noting when it happens. There are two common problems associated with the monitor not responding; one is when it goes to “sleep” and the other is when the computer boots up.

If you are using the computer then leave for while and come back to the monitor not coming on, then you need to check your monitor power settings via the “power options” control panel. First see if hibernation is enabled, if it is then turn it off. Also, see if system standby is enabled; if it is, then set it to “never”. Make sure to click “OK” then restart your computer. If the monitor problem goes away then problem solved! You may try setting system standby again, but try to leave hibernation truned off. I have never liked hibernation in a desktop computer because it almost always causes problems.

If the monitor sometimes doesn’t come on when you you boot up your computer then I might suggest trying different RAM, if you have any. More often than not bad RAM is responsible for a monitor not turning on during a bootup. If you are not familiar with how to change RAM or just simply scared to do so then by all means take to a local computer repair person and have them check it out for you. There may be other things that cause the monitor to not come on but 95% of the time it’s due to faulty, or bad RAM.

Just a note: RAM is a heck of a lot cheaper than a monitor. So, before you shell out big money on a monitor (if you think it’s dead) ask a friend or family member to borrow their monitor just for testing purposes. If the borrowed monitor works on your computer then the odds are your monitor is dead. On the other hand if it doesn’t work then you just saved yourself some money because the monitor was not the problem. (Of course, you’ll now have to spend that money on finding out exactly what IS wrong!)