Rapidshare Remove Timelimit for Downloading

Here we can Learn ,

How to remove Time limit for Rapidshare Downloading?

so Follow these instruction Carefully 

Rapidshare traces the users IP address to limit each user to a certain amount of downloading per day. To get around this, you need to show the rapidshare server, a different IP address. You can do this one of multiple ways.

Requesting a new IP address from your ISP server.

Here’s how to do it in windows:

1. Click Start

2. Click run

3. In the run box type cmd.exe and click OK

4. When the command prompt opens type the following. ENTER after each new line.

ipconfig /flushdns

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

exit

5. Erase your cookies in whatever browser you are using.

6. Try the rapidshare download again.

Frequently you will be assigned a new IP address when this happens. Sometime you will, sometimes you will not. If you are on a fixed IP address, this method will not work. To be honest, I do not know how to do this in linux/unix/etc. If this works for you, you may want to save the above commands into a batch file, and just run it when you need it.

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6 Tips To Secure Your Facebook Account

There are several points to consider when accessing your Facebook account. Let’s discuss them one by one. 1. Enable HTTPS Using HTTPS instead of simple HTTP means that you are securing your communication between the server and your computer. No one will be able to hack between your computer and the server so you can be sure that all the information delivered to and from your computer is completely safe. Modern browsers can highlight the secure URLs with the information about the certificate issuing authority. To enable HTTPS, you can login to your Facebook account and go to “Account -> Account Settings“. Select Account Security under Settings tab and check the box beside Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible 2. Use Facebook two- step authentication (Login Approvals) Like Google, Facebook has also introduced two-step authentication service called Login Approvals. This service lets you login to your Facebook account by using your password plus a security authentication code sent to your mobile device. By enabling this service, you will no longer be able to login to Facebook by only using your password. You will always be required to use the password and security code sent to your mobile device. 3. Check for Facebook email phishing attacks and scams While you are in Facebook, you should never click on suspicious links even if the messages were sent from your friends. Most Facebook scams spread by posting messages to walls of all friends of the infected user. The best place to get updated news about Facebook scams is Facecrooks.com. This site will give you details about all the recent scams and other threats spreading on Facebook. Visit Facecrooks.com frequently to find out more about Facebook threats. You should also take extra care when reading a message from Facebook. Always double-check the email address of the sender before taking any action or clicking on any link in the email. All the emails sent from Facebook will originate from facebookmail.com domain. Emails from any other domain claiming to be from Facebook will be scam and not legitimate. 4. Enable login notifications Enabling login notifications in Facebook will notify you when someone logs in from a suspicious location or computer. This is important if you always use your Facebook from the same computer and same Internet connection, Facebook will know your location and will trust the computer you’re working on. If you or someone else logs in from another location, you’ll get a notification from Facebook about the suspicious account activity. To enable login notification, go to “Account -> Account Settings“. Under settings tab expand “Account security -> Login notification“, check the following two boxes: § Send me an email § Send me a text message You should also check Facebook Login history regularly and see if any suspicious person has logged into your Facebook account. Facebook history will tell you the recent IP addresses and devices used to login to your Facebook account. 5. Use Facebook one-time password service on public computers Like Hotmail, Facebook also provides the facility of one-time password. One-time password is a temporary password which can only be used once and expires within 20 minutes of creation. To enable this service, you’ll need to activate a phone number so that Facebook can send messages to your mobile. To register and activate a phone number you can go to “Account -> Account settings”. Under Mobile tab, you can activate your phone to use Facebook one-time password service. The temporary password will be sent to your mobile and you’ll be able to login to Facebook once using that password. 6. Check Allowed Applications Frequently You should always keep an eye on which application you have allowed and what that application is doing. You should never install an app that looks suspicious. Always search the Internet for its reviews and install the app only if it has good rating. I hope following all these points will give you a better and secure experience with Facebook. Last of all I would like you to attempt a security quiz from Facebook. In this quiz you’ll be asked questions about security and you can see how informed you are regarding Facebook security. You may also take a look at managing Facebook privacy options.

How to prevent from Phishing Web page using Domain name?

Viewing SSL certificate:

•  Always check the url whether it is secure connection or not.  “https://” means secure connection.  “http://” means usual connection. 
•   Use Secure connection.
•  You should check the SSL certificate. How to check the certificate. visit the website. You can see the website favicon icon in browser in address bar. click the favicon icon.
• It will show small box
• Click the More information.
• Now the small modaless window will be opened.
• You can see “view certificates”. Click it and verify whether it is original or not.
• If you are not able to find the “view certificates” ,then you visit wrong website or you are in non-secure connection.
• Note some website doesn’t have the SSL certificate, so we can’t access the website using secure connection(i mean https://).
• use gmail using secure connection, i means using https://gmail.com

Another Way:
Know what is the IP address of your domain.
Open the notepad enter your domain name and ip address as like this:
Domain name         xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Then save the file.
Whenever you want to visit the site, open the file and copy the IP address of domain name.
Paste the IP address into browser and hit enter.
If you do like this, you can visit the site directly.
Actually domain name connects to associated ip address but we are directly using IP address. So we won’t redirected to any other phishing web page.
It might look bore to do.
But if you did this ,you can prevent your account lost.

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• How to prevent from Phishing Web page using Domain name?

How to Obtain Microsoft Windows Updates

Obtaining updates for your Windows OS at regular intervals from Microsoft is a must to keep your Windows computer up-to-date and running smoothly.

Microsoft updates for your Windows system in general includes updates for your operating system, software and hardware, third-party device drivers and also bug fixes to help protect your computer frommalicious software and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.

There are two ways to obtain Microsoft Windows updates:

1. Directly from the Microsoft Download Center, where you can choose your desired updated versions from the list of new and popular downloads.

1. By using Automatic Update feature in Windows. This is the recommended option of the two because by turning ON the automatic updates feature, Windows automatically searches and delivers all the critical and security updates to your computer and you never need to visit update web site to scan for updates. All you have to do is keep a check on an icon that appears in the notification area at the far right of your taskbar every time new updates are available for your system.

Here is how to turn ON Automatic Updates and help protect your Windows PC

1. Click Start ► Run… then type control and click OK to open Control Panel.
   

1. If your are viewing Control Panel in Classic View, click System and head on to Automatic Updates tab under system Properties windows and change settings for automatic updates.
   

   » Instead, if you are under control panel category view, click Performance and Maintenance ► click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab to choose the update option you want. Update option Automatic is recommended as it automatically downloads and installs updates at your chosen time.

| T h i n k A n y t i m e |

Tips on How to Speed Up Your Computer

Computers are the most used innovation that has come up so far. It connects the bridges on people and allows us to have communication with our loved ones that are far from us. However, using our computers often can cause problems and eventually slow them down when we don’t take action on fixing them.

Listed here are tips on how to speed up computer:

• Remember to free up your disk space using disk clean-up or disk defragmenters. Unnecessary files like temporary internet files can slow down your computer so get rid of them, empty your recycle bins frequently, and make sure that your important files are placed on the external hard drive.

• Scan for viruses and worms, spyware and adware. Always check for these nasty programs because they make your computer work slowly more than anything. You need to purchase PC fixer software that can remove these programs.

• Clean up your desktop. If your desktop is flooded with files your computer will eventually function slowly.

• Uninstall unused programs. Your computer might have lots of unused programs installed on it; uninstall them because once a program is installed, it makes a connection between the program and the operating system which also make your system run slower even if you do not use them.

• Do not start up programs automatically when turning on your computer. Make sure that you close programs you do not use that open when you start up your computer.

• Defragment your hard drive. Defragmenting your hard drive places all of your information for each file in one place which will result to a faster computer experience.

These tips on how to speed up my PC might be able to solve your problems on your slow running computers. Following these tips are a big help on your troublesome computer systems.

| T h i n k A n y t i m e |

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How-to Remove System Tool 2011 Virus Easily

Aias: System Tool 2011
Damage Level: Medium
Systems Affected: Windows 9x, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7

Image Credit – Life StreamsYou may have tried for hours trying to remove this virus just like I did in vain but finally here I found a very simple method to remove this malicious software made to look like a legitimate anti-virus program.Screen Shot Image:

1. All you have to do is enter the serial key to register “System Tool” and follow the rest of the steps.
   The key is WNDS-S0DF5-GS5E0-FG14S-2DF8G

1. After inputting this key wait for little and you PC will restart automatically and all is okay again.

1. Then you can go ahead and delete icon from desktop and remove the software from program.

Share with all your friends. Its useful…!
Thank you.

| T h i n k A n y t i m e |

Windows Vista tweaks to speed up your system.

Default settings that Windows Vista comes with are more meant for hardware of future than hardware of today. If you are looking for your vista to run faster and perform better, it is essential that you optimize your Vista settings. Read on to find out 4 powerful Windows Vista tweaks to speed up your system.

• Tweak 1 ► Get Rid of Unnecessary Programs from System Start Up

One of the most powerful vista tweaks is to remove all unnecessary programs from the start up menu. Start up should only contain those bare minimum programs which are really necessary to be started up when your program boots. If there are some programs which are not that essential, but still need to be there in start-up, you can reschedule them to a lower priority & attach them to one of the multi-processes.

• Tweak 2 ► Turn off TCP Auto Tuning and Remote Differential Compression

Vista uses these to augment the gigabyte network. However, these end up being too much of an overhead for normal networking. The networking speed is enhanced by up to 30 percent when you disable these options.

• Tweak 3 ► Defrag Your Hard Disk

Over time, application and files become scattered in different places on your system’s hard disk, affecting the system’s performance greatly. When you defrag your disk, it brings all these scattered pieces together, thus, improving the Windows system’s speed. You can run the disk defragmenter from
Start ► Menu Programs ► Accessories ► System Tools ► Disk Defragmenter.

• Tweak 4 ► Disable the “System Restore” Feature

It was with Windows XP that this feature was first introduced. Windows Vista enhanced it further with introducing additional document versioning. Though it does sound very good and useful, it does have a great impact on the resources. If you think your system is already not running as it should be, you surely won’t want additional duplicates on your system further downgrading your system’s performance. Thus, another of effective vista tweaks would be to disable this feature.

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How to Fix Boot Problem in Windows 7

We have often faced such booting problem in windows 7.To fix this problem we make partition with xp and then install windows 7.There is a simple way to fix this problem and it will save your time too.We can fix this problem by repairing the Boot loader files in windows 7. Following steps will help you to understand in detail.

Step 1

Power on the PC press F2 or Del key to enter into BIOS setting,change the first boot device to CD_ROM and press F10 to save settings.

Step 2

Now restart your system and insert the windows 7 DVD, it will ask to Press any key to boot from cd or dvd.

Step 3

Just press any key ,then the repairing process will starts.

Step 4

 System will load files and the below screen appears

Step 5
Click on “Repair Your Computer” as shown.

Step 6

Again some windows component will load and then the below screen appears

 Step 7 
Click on “Command Prompt” and enter the following command to fix boot issue.

                                          bootsect /nt60 c:

Step 8
Now restart the system, it will boot correctly and windows will work fine.

| T h i n k A n y t i m e |

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25 More Tech Tips and Tricks

As a result, everybody, even experts, winds up with knowledge holes—things everybody thinks everybody else knows about the basics of consumer electronics.

When I started writing down the ones I figured everybody should know, my column was twice as long as it’s supposed to be. But hey—on the Web, nobody can hear you exceed your word count. I lopped out half of them and saved them for this e-newsletter.

Think of it as “Today’s Pogue Column (Cont’d).”

Screenshots
*Especially if you’re a beginner (or an expert), it’s frequently useful to capture the image of what’s on the screen — an error message or diagram, for example.

*In Windows, PrintScreen key copies the whole screen image, as a graphic, onto your invisible Clipboard, so you can paste into an e-mail message or any other program (“This is what I’m seeing! What do I do now?!”). If you add the Alt key, you copy only the front window.

*On the Mac, press Command-Shift-3. (Command is the key with the propeller on it, next to the Space bar.) You hear a snapshot sound, and you get a graphics file on your desktop—a picture of the entire screen image.

*If you press Command-Shift-4 instead, you get a crosshair cursor; you can draw across just one portion of the screen. Or, if you now tap the Space bar, you turn the cursor into a little camera icon. You can now click on just one window or toolbar that you want to copy.

*In both cases, you can hold down the Control key to copy the image to the Clipboard instead of leaving a file on the hard drive.

E-mail
* If you get a message from your bank or eBay about a problem with your account, it’s probably a “phishing” scam. It’s a fake, designed to lure you into typing your name and password so the bad guys can have it. Delete it. If you’re concerned, visit the institution’s Web site in your browser by typing in its address (like Citibank.com) — not by clicking the link in e-mail.

* Before you pass on any amazing item you get by e-mail—Obama’s a Muslim, the bubble boy wants greeting cards, the Nieman-Marcus $400 cookie recipe — first check it out at Snopes.com, the world clearinghouse for Internet scams and rumors.

* If a blue underlined link shows up in an e-mail message, you can mouse over it without clicking to see what Web site it plans to open.

* If you get a message from someone you know that relates a horror story about being mugged in England (and needing you to wire money immediately), delete it. It’s a popular scam — even if it’s the correct e-mail address of someone you know.

* File too big to send by e-mail? Then use yousendit.com or transferbigfiles.com. You can transmit huge files, using the site as a free intermediary parking space.

Editing Text
* On your keyboard, there’s a difference between the Backspace and Del keys. Press Backspace to delete the typed character to the left of the blinking insertion-point cursor, as usual. Pressing Del, however, removes the character to its right.

* In Microsoft Word, when you paste in text from another document—say, a Web site — you may not want all the boldface, colors, fonts and other formatting from the original source. Instead of using the regular Paste command, in that case, open the Edit menu and click Paste Special. Click Unformatted Text. You’ll get just the text, without the fanciness.

iPhone
* You can magnify the iPhone’s screen, for ease in reading tiny type, by double-tapping with three fingers. Then pan around by dragging with three fingers.

Of course, you first have to turn this feature on. Do that by tapping Settings, then General, then Accessibility. (On the same screen, you’ll find an option to make the text bigger in the built-in iPhone programs, which is handy in its own way.)

* Has your iPhone screen image suddenly become mysteriously enlarged? There’s nothing quite as alarming as seeing jumbo text and graphics, and nothing restores the phone to the way it’s supposed to be.

I can’t tell you how many people trek off to the Apple Store to get their “broken” iPhones fixed. Of course, the real problem is that you’ve accidentally turned on screen zooming (described in the previous tip). Double-tap with three fingers to restore the screen magnification.

Other Cellphones
* When your phone starts ringing, you can silence it quickly by pressing any key on the sides. (It’s still ringing — you can either answer it or let it go to voicemail — but at least you’ve cut the sound.) That’s good to remember when you’re someplace where phone silence is golden: for example, at a concert, in surgery or in church.

Web
*Don’t reach for the mouse to go back to the previous Web page. Just tap the Backspace key. (Alt+left-arrow key also works for Back, and Alt+right-arrow for Forward. In this article, if you have a Mac, substitute the Option key for Alt.)

* After you type a word or phrase into a Search box, don’t click the Search button. Just press the Enter key.

(The Enter key also works to click “Go” after you’ve typed an address, or the highlighted button, like “O.K.” or “Print,” in most dialog boxes. Yes, there are people who don’t realize that.)

* On brand-name Web sites (eBay, Facebook, Amazon and so on), click the upper-left logo to return to the site’s home page.

* At translate.google.com, you can choose languages you want to translate from and to. Then you paste in some copied text (or the address of a Web site). In a flash, the text is translated — roughly, to be sure, but at no charge.

* Who needs a dictionary? In the Google search box, type “define schadenfreude” (or whatever the word is). Press Enter.

Computers
* The Esc key (top left of the keyboard) means, “close this” or “cancel this.” It can close a menu or a dialog box, for example.

* You can duplicate a file icon (instead of moving it) if you press the Alt key as you drag it out of its window.

* You can switch among open programs by pressing Alt+Tab (or Command-Tab on the Mac). On the Mac, the much less known Command-tilde (the ~ key, upper left corner) switches among windows in a single program.

Mac Specials
* Anything you can print, you can turn into a PDF document — an amazingly convenient feature. Choose the Print command — but instead of choosing Print, click the PDF pop-up menu and choose Save as PDF.

* It’s often very useful to have a document, Web page or e-mail message read aloud to you — to “proof-listen” to it, for example, or just to listen to an article while you’re getting dressed in the morning. In the Speech pane of System Preferences, turn on “Speak selected text.” Click Set Key to choose a key combination. Pressing it makes the Mac read anything on the screen, at the rate, and in the character voice, that you’ve specified.

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• Essentials to Carry in Your Laptop Bag.

Tired of bogus Windows and other scam calls?

How to Improve Your PC’s Speed for Free in Seven Easy Steps

Does your computer start up slowly? Do applications run slowly and hang all the time? Do you want to get rid of these problems for free? These steps here will probably help you resolve your problems.1. When you turn on your computer, ensure that there are no media (discs) in the ROM drive or any attached USB devices. Having any of these causes the computer to start slowly as it tries to read them for possible boot options.2. Disable startup programs such as Windows Sidebar and any programs which are installed that run at startup. These programs cause your computer to boot slowly as it has to load them before you can begin to use your computer. To do this, run Windows Defender. Click on Tools and select Software Explorer. Click on the category button to display Startup Programs. Click once on the displayed programs to see which are available for disabling and disable them. You can also disable programs that run at startup by running them, and ensuring that the “Run At Startup” option is not checked or allowed.

3. Click on the battery icon on the taskbar in the lower right-hand corner of your screen. This displays the power options menu. If “High Performance” is not selected as the power plan, select it. This power plan maximizes system performance.

4. End application processes which are not in use at a particular time. These processes compete with the programs you are running for available computer memory and speed. Such processes include Bluetooth, dictionaries, search bars etc (you can always restart them when you need them by running the applications again). To end processes, open the Task Manager. There are several ways to do this:

a. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc. This is the quickest way.

b. Right-click on the taskbar and choose Task Manager from the menu.

c. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete and choose Start Task Manager from the options that appear.
In the Task Manager, click on the Processes tab to display currently running processes and right-click on the process you want to end. Select End Process or End Process Tree to end that particular process. If you are not sure what process it is, read the descriptions that accompany each process.

5. Disable the Windows Aero color scheme (this is the functionality that gives your computer interface a transparent, glassy look). Windows Aero consumes computer memory and it is advisable to switch to another color scheme which uses less computer memory if your computer is running slow. To do this, right- click on an empty position on your desktop window and select Personalization from the menu that appears. You can also open Personalization by clicking on the Start button and selecting Control Panel and then clicking on Personalization. Under Personalization, select Windows Color and Appearance and choose another option such as Windows Vista Basic or Windows Classic.

6. Defragment your hard disk regularly. As data is added, changed and deleted from your hard disk, it creates non-contiguous portions of data (spaces usually occur where data has been deleted and changes made to data are saved in locations different from the original files). This is known as fragmentation and causes your computer to work harder to find a particular piece of data. This tends to slow a computer down. Defragmenting your hard disk rearranges the data so that it works more efficiently. Defragmentation usually runs on a schedule but you can run the disk defragmenter manually. To do this, click on the Start button and select Computer. Right-click on your primary hard disk (or any other hard disk partitions you would like to defragment) and choose Properties. Click on the Tools tab and select Defragment Now. When the application opens, click on Defragment now.

7. Run Disk Clean Up. This option deletes unnecessary files from your hard disk and frees up space which enables your computer to run faster. To do this, click on the Start button and select Computer. Right-click on your primary hard disk (or any other hard disk partitions you would like to clean) and choose Properties. Click on the General tab and select Disk Cleanup. Select the files you would like to delete, click OK and then click Delete Files to confirm.

Follow these steps and there will be a noticeable improvement in your computer’s speed and performance.

10 Reasons Why PCs Crash you must Know

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy,” it says. “Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications.”

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1. Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow ‘!’ appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as ‘IRQ holder for PCI steering’. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is http://www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2. Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3. BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer’s display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to ‘yes’ to allow Windows to do this.).

4. Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5. Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card’s manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6. Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( http://www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( http://www.symantec.com).

7. Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer’s performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer’s default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8. Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don’t do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from http://www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message “Starting Windows” press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn’t work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9. Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from http://www.computernerd.com or http://www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10. Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

Top Five Tips To Keep Your Computer Secure

If your house was like your computer, it wouldn’t come with locks and you could be burgled from thousands of miles away. Obviously, you’d secure your castle before moving in – so why don’t we do the same for computers? Here are our top five computer security tips that’ll help keep the invaders out.

Passwords

Most people know the password to Ali Baba’s cave was, “Open Sesame”, but such predictability is also true with computer users. “123456″ is the most used password, while “12345″, “123456789″, “Password”, “iloveyou”, “princess” and “rockyou” are all in the top-ten. Pick something unique!

It’s also good practice to use different passwords for different websites. This is because if your password is stolen from one website, the hacker might try to use it to access your accounts elsewhere.

Updates

Everyone hates updates – they’re intrusive, irritating and almost constant. Aside from annoying us, however, they’re vital to fix potential security holes.

Your web browser, Windows, OSX, Java and Flash are the most-targeted culprits, so make sure you always accept these updates as soon as they are available. I know, it’s annoying, so here’s a message to developers: stop making us restart our computer to apply an update – we’ll be more likely to do it!

Also, make sure your antivirus software is up-to-date. That includes if your free trial has run-out. No virus protection at all? Shame on you! Norman provides a comprehensive security package (Norman Security Suite PRO), but even if you’re with someone else, remember to update!

WEP Wifi

If you’ve bought a new router in the last three years, feel free to ignore this section. Otherwise, you should check the security settings on your wifi.  Hopefully, you’ll be on WPA or WPA2 – these are up-to-date security formats and you’ll be okay (although WPA2 is much better than WPA).

If it says WEP, however, it’s time to upgrade. WEP is an ancient technology that can be hacked in around 30 seconds. Oh dear. You might be able to change to WPA on the router, but most likely we’re talking about a trip to the shops.

Internet Cafes and Public Wifi

Some people need caffeine to help them through the day, others need the internet. Luckily, internet cafes provide both. Unluckily, each time you log-in to one with your own computer, you’re putting it on a strange network that’s accessible by people you don’t know.

Your non-HTTPS data is particularly at risk from snooping, which means people could read your Facebook communications. For Facebook, you can add HTTPS in your account settings, but other traffic may be less secure. Remember: don’t bank in public.

Backups

Should the worst happen, backups are the only way of getting your computer back to exactly how it was. You can do this useful by transferring files onto an external harddrive, or use an off-the-shelf solution like Norman’s (Norman Online Backup) to do all the fiddly-bits for you.

The (somewhat dramatic, I admit) question I ask is – if your house burnt down, and you could restore it with a couple of mouseclicks – would you do it?

 | DIGITAL LIFE • http://www.cubesquare.co.cc

Nero – How To Verify The Validity Of The Serial no.

NERO: how to verify the validity of the serial number you use through the nerocmd.exe command

Nero will accept a serial number even if it is invalid, and will (randomly) occasionally burn you some bad CDs (while telling you that the burn was sucessful…)

Therefore it makes sense to test the serial number right after installation (b4 burning anything). Under Dos prompt, go to Nero’s directory, type the following very carefully:

nerocmd –listdrives

That is: nerocmd, then a space, then 2 dashes, then listdrives.

If you see a message with “OK” in the end of it, then the serial you used is fine. Otherwise, locate another set of number and try again.

It really works… 😉

Here are some helpful hints in using DOS:

1. Go to your AHEAD/NERO folder (wherever it is in your PC…) and Open i

2. From: START>RUN Type: COMMAND -> click OK

3. Type: nerocmd –listdrives [Enter key]

4. Done!

Keyboard Shortcuts, Microsoft Word

Keyboard Shortcuts, Microsoft Word

• CTRL and A Selects all in the current document.
• CTRL and B Bold text.
• CTRL and C Copies the item or text to the Clipboard and can be pasted using CTRL and V.
• CTRL and D Displays the Font dialogue box.
• CTRL and E Centre Alignment.
• CTRL and F Displays the Find dialog box, to search the current document.
• CTRL and G Displays the Go to dialog box, to go to a specific location in the current document.
• CTRL and H Displays the Replace dialogue box.
• CTRL and I Italic text.
• CTRL and J Full Justification.
• CTRL and K Create Hyperlink
• CTRL and L Left Alignment
• CTRL and M Tab
• CTRL and N Creates a new document.
• CTRL and O Displays the Open File dialogue box.
• CTRL and P Displays the Print dialog box.
• CTRL and R Right Alignment.
• CTRL and S Displays the Save dialog box.
• CTRL and U Underline text
• CTRL and V Pastes the copied item or text from the Clipboard into the current position in the document.
• CTRL and X Cuts the item or text selected to the Clipboard.
• CTRL and Y Redo the last undone action.
• CTRL and Z Undoes the last action.
• CTRL and ENTER Insert Page Break.
• CTRL and F2 Show Print preview.
• CTRL and F4 Closes the active document window.
• CTRL and F6 Opens the next document window.

• Keyboard Shortcuts Result in MicrosoftWord
• F1 key Get help or use the Office assistant.
• SHIFT and F1 Key Context sensitive help.
• F2 Key Move text or image.
• SHIFT and F2 Key Copy Text.
• F3 Key Insert an autotext entry.
• SHIFT and F3 Key Change the case of the selected text.
• F4 Key Perform last action again.
• SHIFT and F4 Key Perform a Find or Go to action again.
• F5 Key Displays the Go to dialogue box, from here you can also Find and Replace.
• SHIFT and F5 Key Move to a previous revision.
• F6 Key Go to the next frame or pane.
• SHIFT and F6 Key Go to the previous frame or pane.
• F7 Key Launch the Spell checker.
• SHIFT and F7 Key Launch the Thesaurus.
• F8 Key Extend the current selection.
• SHIFT and F8 Key Shrink the current selection.
• F9 Key Update the selected fields.
• SHIFT and F9 Key Switch between a field code and it’s result.
• F10 Key Activate the menu bar.
• SHIFT and F10 Key Display a Shortcut Menu. Same as right clicking.
• F11 Key Go to the next field.
• SHIFT and F11 Key Go to the previous field.
• F12 Key Save file As, equivalent to tools menu.
• SHIFT and F12 Key Save document, equivalent to tools menu

A Baker’s Dozen Tips for Spring Cleaning Your Mac

Whether you’re a recent convert, ambivalent veteran or one of those hardened Apple fanboys, let us remind you: a Mac, like any other computer, needs to be maintained. No, you probably don’t need anti-virus software (yet), you may never have to fiddle with registry editing, and you’ll likely never need to reinstall the operating system. But you may face a kernel panic, a raft of mysterious app crashes or the dreaded spinning beach ball of death. We’ve put together thirteen tips for keeping our Macs lean, clean computing machines. Spring has sprung, so, while you dust off your shelves and empty your closets, do some Mac maintenance, too.

1. Get a backup drive and use it.

Just do it already. We like Apple’s Time Machine because you set it and forget it, but options abound. (See our story on easy ways to back up.) Before anything else, put it on your to-do list and make it happen, lest you end up like the legions of sad-sack schmucks we regularly counsel when they have their laptops stolen or suffer a hard drive failure. So while you fold up your winter sweaters, have a backup going in the background. ‘Nuff said.

2. Dump unused apps.

Go through your Applications folder and take the opportunity to chuck out all those programs you never use — old versions of AIM, various peer-to-peer apps that are defunct, weird shareware for mounting serial-to-USB adapters and so on. With Macs, you’re almost always safe by simply dragging the application to the trash and emptying it. Some software, however, distributes itself throughout your system library, so it’s worth using software that hunts down all those miscellaneous files and chucks them too. (We like the free AppCleaner.) You’ll free up precious hard drive space and find it easier to locate the applications you actually use.

3. Wack your widgets.

We’ll admit to relying on a few handy widgets — we love iStat, for instance — but have also discovered that some widgets may end up being incredible resource hogs that can subtly eat up precious processing power, or even cause hang-ups and crashes. (Our homemade Web-clip Pandora widget was a real system killer.) Go to your Dashboard, then click the plus sign. Hit ‘Manage Widgets’ and, in the pop-up Widget Manager, un-check any you don’t use. For a deeper purge, go to Macintosh>Library>Widgets and permanently delete any of those files. (It will require you enter your admin password.)

4. Purge your fonts.

Believe it or not, fonts can be real bugbears that chew up serious processing power or cause all kinds of inexplicable conflicts that lead application and system crashes. By default, Apple installs tons of fonts for use by the system — which you shouldn’t delete — as well as dozens of optional ones that you can clear out if you don’t think you’ll ever need them (unless you plan on designing Web pages using Kanji or Cherokee script). Open Font Book (in Applications), and select User to see the ones you’ve installed. Alternatively, select All Fonts, and select and delete any you don’t need. If it’s an important system font, a warning will pop up; definitely do not delete those, or you’ll risk harming your system.

5. Clear off your desktop.

If you’re like our parents, your desktop is littered with the detritus of literally hundreds of e-mail forwards, groan-worthy Powerpoint photo assemblages and unused MS Word files from 2002. Besides being the computer equivalent of living in abject squalor, desktop hoarding also saps processing power, as your Mac tracks and updates quick-look info constantly for every file and folder on your desktop. Clean those up, get in the habit of popping ’em in folders, and scoot the folders into sub-folders within your Users>Documents folder. For easy access, drag that folder to the Dock beside the trash, and you’ll have one-click access to everything.

6. Get permissions in order.

Experts disagree, but we’ll take Apple’s word: if you’ve found your Mac slowing down, spinning that beach ball, or suffering application crashes, it’s time to do some maintenance. Thankfully it’s very easy. Launch ‘Disk Utility’ (in Applications>Utilities) and select your hard drive in the left column. In the panel on the right, click ‘Repair Disk Permissions,’ which runs a Unix routine to correct any creeping errors in your startup disk. Depending on how long it’s been since you last did this, how fast your processor is, or how messed up your system is, it’ll take anywhere from two minutes to ten. Let it do its thing, and then be amazed at how much faster things run.

7. Go monolingual.

By default, your Mac comes preloaded with a bevy of foreign languages, which is convenient if you’re a polyglot, but is otherwise an extravagant waste of space if you just stick to one tongue. In order to work correctly, that means that every application Apple loads on your system contains the necessary files to work in multiple languages. You can safely delete these and potentially free up a few gigs on your hard drive. (We got back more than 3GB — a huge savings for an old laptop.) You could do it manually, but ‘Monolingual’ is free software that’ll do it for you, while making sure to not delete crucial files that prevent your Mac from functioning properly. Run it after every software update, since language packs are added back in. Once again, with emphasis added: do a system backup before running it in case things go sour. (Click here for a superb rundown on how to use ‘Monolingual’ correctly.)

8. Jam up your RAM.

For your Mac to run smoothly, especially when you have a bunch of applications open simultaneously or if you do video or audio editing, you need to have a lot of RAM installed. A base model MacBook comes with 2GB. (Just running the OS requires one gig.) RAM is extremely cheap these days, so hit up your favorite online store (and we like Crucial.com) to figure out what type you need. For a hundred bucks or so, you’ll turbocharge your Mac.

9. Give your hard drive a little space.

While RAM is important to a smoothly running Mac, a lesser-known albatross is also a hazardous one. Like New York real estate, space is crucial. Take a look at your hard drive; it turns out you should have a minimum of about 10-percent of your space free at all times, especially if you’re regularly using large files for processes like video, audio or photo editing. If your drive ever gets below that amount, your Mac will slow down. When you start hitting the few hundred megabytes danger zone, you’ll likely start crashing, too. Worst case: It may get so full it won’t reboot at all. If you’ve run out of things to delete (and you ought to grab WhatSize to see the biggest offenders), it may be time to upgrade to a larger hard drive.

10. Cut off over-eager apps.

If you’re experiencing constant, annoying spinning beach balls and are nowhere near a Dave Matthews concert, the first place to head is the ‘Activity Monitor.’ (Go to Applications>Utilities to find it.) Click on the CPU tab and look to the top of the list to see what is chewing up processing power; select anything unnecessary and hit the red stop sign icon to kill it. If it’s a system process or has an especially funky name — or a “kernel task” — proceed with caution. You may be forced to reboot, but no permanent damage will be done. Another quick fix for stalled applications is clicking on the Apple icon drop-down menu at the top left of the screen and selecting the application that has stopped responding. Or, as we like to call it, “Force Quitting” — not to be confused with “Force Choking.” (Pro tip: If you’re so stuck that even drop-downs won’t respond, try holding Command+Option+Esc for the same function.)

11. Bootstrap your boot up.

A number of intrusive applications simply love to be the first in line when you start up your Mac, which is often the reason it can take forever. (We’re talking about you, Skype and AIM.) Head to System Preferences>Accounts and select your user name, then click on ‘Login Items.’ Then un-check any applications or services you don’t want to automatically boot when you log in. If you spy any old software or ones you’ll never want, hit the minus button to delete them from the list.

12. Take it outside.

If you do any kind of regular video or audio editing, or even high-level Photoshop, using your internal hard drive to store data will not only fill it quickly, but will also slow it to a crawl. Get a big, high-speed external hard drive (preferably one that runs at 7,200 RPMs or more), and use it as your “scratch disk” for all of that stuff. You’ll be amazed at how much faster your Mac runs, and how much space you’ll save on your hard drive.

13. Thin out iPhoto.

Apple’s photo-organizing software is notorious for being a hard drive filler. Not only does it duplicate any photo or movie you drag to it, it also keeps an original of every photo you modify as well as the modified version. Multiply this by a few thousand photos (each a few megabytes) and you’re looking at tens of gigs of wasted space. Manually going through them all is a time suck — and will fatally corrupt iPhoto’s library database — so try using software such as ‘Duplicate Annihilator.’ Depending on the size of your library and speed of your Mac, it can literally take a day or two to process everything, but you’ll be amazed by how much space you get back. And be sure to make a backup of your library before any fiddling attempts.

Related articles

• All About Launchpad for Mac
• Switching from PC to Mac? Top 10 Things You Should Know
• Q&A: MacFixIt Answers
• Reggie Ashworth releases AppDelete Lite 3.2.4 – Uninstall Anything
• Reggie Ashworth releases AppDelete 3.2.4 – Uninstall Anything
• Mac Basics: How to add additional desktop spaces
• OS X Mountain Lion in-depth preview
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• Keep That Spinning Beach Ball Deflated With FreeMemory [Daily Freebie]
• Use A Standard Desktop (Not A Folder View Widget), In KDE

Performance Increase Through My Computer

Here we can lern, How can increase performance faster of your computer.

so letes we start steps one by one…….

1: Start > Right Click on My Computer and select properties.

2: Click on the “Advanced” tab

3: See the “Perfomance” section? Click “Settings”

4: Disable all or some of the following:

   Fade or slide menus into view

   Fade or slide ToolTips into view

   Fade out menu items after clicking

   Show Shadows under menus

   Slide open combo boxes

   Slide taskbar buttons

  Use a background image for each folder type

  Use common tasks in folders

  now Done Windows will still look nice and perform faster.

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Window xp Decrease your Applications startup time

By default, Microsoft includes the /prefetch:1 switch to speed up it’s Windows Media Player application start time. This switch can be used for other Windows applications and also many third party programs.

Example #1

You have AOL 8.0 installed on the computer. Complete the steps outlined bewlo to add the /prefetch:1 switch to AOL’s Target path.

1. Right click on the AOL shortcut and select properties from the menu.

2. In the Target: Field add the /prefetch:1 switch to the very end of the path, like this: “C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe” /prefetch:1 and then click ok.

Now start AOL. It would load at least 50 times faster than ever before.

Example #2

1, Go to the Start button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools

2. Right click on System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the /prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.

Now System Restore will start immediately when executed.

Note: This switch will only work with some programs. Others will return a message saying the program in the target box is invalid. Just remove the switch

 | DIGITAL LIFE – http://www.cubesquare.co.cc

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Protecting Your Computer

Protecting Your Computer

In a nutshell this is what you’ll need to keep your computer humming along:

1. Have some kind of anti-malware protection on your computer and keep it current. While many new notebook computers and PCs come with trial anti-malware software, it is up to you to keep it current (for a price). There are, however, free alternatives.The foremost among them is Microsoft’s own Security Essentials. It doesn’t come with Windows, but can be easily downloaded and installed. Other free programs include the popular AVG; AVast, Avira and BitDefender (they have paid versions as well) while the usual suspects round up the paid products: MCAfee, Norton, Panda, Kaspersky and Trend Micro. This is not an exhaustive list by any means as there are many other free and paid programs that can be used.

1. Keep your computer up to date.You can rely on automatic updates, but to be sure that nothing is being missed you may want to manually run updates from time to time – particularly on the Operating System and the Web Browser.For example, in Windows Vista and 7, click on Start button and in the search box type in Windows Update – the first program listed will be the Windows Update program. Click on this and check if you have any updates to run. In XP, go into the Control Panel and click on Windows Update there.With the browser, if you are running Windows Explorer, your Windows Update will update that. With other browsers, check their help files for how to update them. Besides that, also be sure that you have your firewall up and running.

1. Don’t fall for bogus phishing scams, fake anti-virus scans, software from “nowhere.” Because of increased protection, malware programmers are hitting the most vulnerable target in the chain – you. If they can get you to install the program from a fake anti-virus scan that pops up while you’re surfing,a bogus link in your e-mail, in your messenger or on a website then they get by all those protections that have been carefully laid in place. Just don’t do it.

OK – you got “something” – Now what?

No computer is perfect – even with all your protections in place, something may slip through. If something does, there are things that can be done to minimize damage and risk.

1. If you have access to a second computer, download onto a flash drive some tools to scan and hopefully fix your PC. Typically you can grab one or two antivirus programs available (I’d recommend AVG or AVast mentioned earlier) and a good, free anti-spyware program (I highly recommend Malwarebytes). Install these on the infected computer and run a full scan on the computer. Depending on how bad the infection is, you may need to pull the computer off the Internet while running these scans.If you can get to the Internet, then be sure to get the latest updates for these programs. You may also look into running either Panda’s or Trend Micro’s online scanner programs. Be sure to scan ALL drives.

1. If you have second computer or the infected computer has access to the Internet – then simply look up your computer’s symptoms online to see what other people are seeing and possible ways to fix it. There will be some dead ends, but often you can find out what is causing you the problems as well as how to fix it.

1. After all the scans, run the more advanced tool, HijackThis from Trend Micro (a free tool) to see exactly what is running. HijackThis also gives you the ability to manually remove items as well.While you are at it, you can also run Trend Micro’s other free tools, RUBotted and RootkitBuster. If you cannot make heads or tails of the log files from HijackThis, there are many sites out there that will help you with it.

1. If all else fails, you can always format and restore your PC back to the original configuration.

What about everyone else?

What about other Internet connected computers and devices that aren’t Windows based? Are they vulnerable to malware? You bet that they are!This includes Linux; FreeBSD; OSX and UNIX based computers; Android; BlackBerry; iOS; Microsoft and Symbian based SmartPhones/devices. Is there anything that you can do to protect yourself here?There is.

Besides making sure that you are up-to-date on all the latest software patches, just know what kind of software and apps you are loading. Many companies, such as Symantec and others, are now making security software for these other non-Windows based operating systems and devices.

While there hasn’t been widespread infections in the past – it doesn’t mean that they won’t be the target in the future – remember, there is no such thing as a perfect, invulnerable OS.Of course, it’s up to you if you to do this if you think you may need protection on these other items.

Wrapping it up

Keeping your PC safe isn’t rocket science. It involves keeping your security software, operating system and other software up-to-date; watching what gets installed on your computer and knowing what to do if something gets through. When it comes to security, no one tip can possibly cover everything. So, we open this up to you too – what do you use personally to keep your computer safe.

| DIGITAL LIFE – http://www.cubesquare.co.cc

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Essentials to Carry in Your Laptop Bag.

For the Geek on the go, there are essentials that you need! Last year Tech Tips covered some of these essentials with “Must-Have Tech Gear To Maximize Productivity Outside The Office”. In this week’s Tech Tip, we are going to cover some of the essentials to carry in your laptop bag as well as offering some guidance for picking the right laptop bag for your life on the go.

The most basic essential

Choosing just the right laptop carrying case could be called getting the most basic essential accessory for your laptop. While there is a wide array to choose from, you can narrow down your search by thinking about how you’ll use your bag. If you are a student, then perhaps a laptop backpack would be your style. Is it essential to protect your laptop from unforeseen accidents, then maybe an aluminum notebook case would be your style. Do you just need your laptop lightly protected but easy to carry? Then look at one of the sleeve options. There is also the basic laptop bag – inexpensive, easy to carry and stow away, but that gives your laptop good protection. These come in a variety of materials, from simple nylon to nicely appointed leather. For the traveling set, there are upgraded luggage type bags – complete with wheels and travel handle as well as TSA approved bags for the jet setting Geek.

Whatever bag you get, be sure that it fits your needs. Is it large enough for your laptop (or perhaps too big?). Will it fit all the extra goodies that you want to bring along? If you have an eBook reader or tablet, does it have a special compartment that can easily accommodate and protect this device as well? Does it include accessories such as a shoulder strap, or it is lockable? All these need to be considered for getting “just the right bag.”

Some more obvious essentials

Some of the more obvious essentials to have include three mentioned in the Must-Have Tech Tip as well as a few others:

1. Mouse with nano receiver.
2. USB flash drive.
3. Power strip.

In addition to those essentials, some others would be:

1. Presentation pointer (some mice, such as HP Bluetooth credit card mouse, have a built in presenter).
2. Mini Bluetooth module (if your laptop doesn’t already have Bluetooth).
3. 3G or 4G modem (if your laptop doesn’t have built in 3G) or in lieu of that:
4. A cell phone device that acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot (such as Verizon’s MiFi service). This is a great service to have on long road trips where there may be multiple devices that can connect to the Internet.
5. Noise canceling headphones – be sure that you get one that easily folds down for traveling.

Some less obvious essentials to have in your laptop bag are:

1. Identification (like a business card) in case your bag is lost.
2. Some kind of tracking software on your laptop (much like BlackBerry’s Protect or Apple’s Location services for iPhone/iPad). There are software options that can be used to help locate a misplaced or stolen laptop (such as Lojack for Laptops).
3. Spare battery (but not if you are planning to fly).
4. Automobile cigarette lighter DC power cable for laptops or automobile power inverter (also great for long trips).
5. Laptop travel mat – some kind of surface that allows the laptop to stay put but keep the fans clear and the heat away from you.
6. Essential cables. Think how you are going to use your laptop – are you going to need a cable to connect to a projector or HDTV. Will you need a cable to connect your camcorder or cell phone? Will you be staying at a hotel that only offers wired Internet, and need an Ethernet cable? All things to think about when looking for items to include in your case.
7. Cleaning cloth for the screen (even if it is not a touchscreen). Be sure that you get one that is safe for LCD screens.

In conclusion

There are a myriad of essentials and must-haves that you can get for your laptop bag. With this Tech Tip we have looked at the bag itself, some of the must-have essentials to the not so obvious essentials. We encourage you to plan ahead when traveling with it and we hope that this Tech Tip helps gives you some good ideas on what essentials you’d most like to have in your laptop bag.

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