Hi everybody, today we are going to talk about the benefits of owning an external hard drive. There are many options you can use for backups but my favorite is by far the external drive. External hard drives come in all sizes and colors. You can get almost any color you want to match your desk or any other décor you might want to match up. In addition to colors, you can get drives that attach locally through a USB port or you can get a drive that connects directly through your router and can act as an entire network drive for all your computers. Either way, it is the ultimate way to save all your important files. The first type we are going to talk about is the USB local drive. This is by far the most commonly used and the most practical for most people. This is a great option if you have one computer and you want a place to store all your favorite movies and music. It is a must if you have I Tunes as you can backup all your favorite music to be sure it is not lost if you should encounter a computer crash. Before you make your purchase, you need to decide how much space you need. The drives come anywhere from 250 MB all the way to several Terabytes. Let me put this into prospective. 100 megabytes equals I Gigabyte. 1000 Gigabytes equals 1 Terabyte. A large picture from a good camera can be up to 5 Megs or more and a music file can be 25 Megs or even higher depending on the length and the quality it was recorded at. This might give you a guide as to how much space you will need to store your files. The second type of drive I would like to talk about is the external network drive. The mechanics of this drive are about the same with the exception that the drive connects through your router instead of a local computer. The drive will be able to be accessed by all computers on the network instead of just on one computer. This is great if you have several computers and they...
Read MoreHi everybody. When was the last time you checked your computer for hard drive errors and bad sectors? If it has been a while, now might be a good time to be sure your disk is in proper condition. The check could take a long time but it just like housework it needs to be done. In this column we are going to guide you through some of the steps that are needed to accomplish this task. The first place you need to go is to your start menu. From here you will want to go to My Computer. Find the drive you want to check and right click on the drive and select the properties button. Once the drive properties window is open you will want to go to the tab that says Tools. You will see at the top the verbiage “This option will check the drive for errors” Go ahead and click on the “Check Now” button you see. A new window will open with 2 check boxes. Be sure to check both the “Automatically fix file system errors” and “Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors”. Click the “Start” button. You will now get a dialog box that says that Windows cannot check the drive because it is in use message. Click the ”Schedule disk check” button. The next time you start the computer the check disk utility will run. Be advised that it could take hours depending on how much is on the drive. The reason the utility cannot perform the operation without restarting the computer is because many of the Windows files are in use and when these files are being accessed by Windows, they cannot be checked or modified. When you start the computer, the utility begins before the operating system loads and this allows the check disk utility to do its job. Windows has another neat safety net for keeping your computer in shape. It is called System File Checker. To do this operation you will need your original Windows Disk. Simply place the disk in your drawer. If the disk tries to open or play simply cancel the operation. You will now need to open a command prompt. In...
Read MoreHi everybody. So you just bought that brand new Windows 7 machine home from your favorite retailer and you ready to get to work. Before you dive into your first project, there are a few things you need to know and do. First and foremost, you want to be sure you have an active anti virus installed on your system. Most computers will come with a trial version of a major virus company such as Norton. These programs will work but we usually recommend the free Microsoft Security Essentials. This product works great in our tests and also uses very little of your computer resources. In our tests, the program did a good job of removing and preventing infections from disabling your computer. The next thing we need to do is to be sure you don’t have any programs on your new computer that you do not need. Lets go to the Start menu and then click on Control Panel. By default, Control Panel will usually show all the contents in category view. Navigate to the left right corner and under “View By” change the setting to “Large Icons”. Now look for the option called “Programs and Features” in the control panels list of functions. Once open, you will see a list of programs that are installed on your computer. Choose any programs you will never use and use the “uninstall” option. Be careful you do not take out any programs that might be necessary for every day operation. If you are not sure, it is best that you get a professional to do the new computer set up for you. Only uninstall what you know is safe to remove. Once the computer is cleaned up, it is time to get to work! Here is a quick tip that is a really cool feature in Windows 7. Lets say you have 3 Windows open and you want to close all but one, here is a quick and fun way to do it. Navigate your curser to the top bar of the Window you want to keep open. Right click the mouse and hold the button down. Now shake the Window back and forth a few times. All the Windows...
Read MoreHi everybody. If you have a desktop computer that you want to connect to your router but is just too far away to connect with an Ethernet cable, what is the best way to get the computer on the Internet? In this column we will talk about your options and the best way to go about it. If your desktop computer is located either on a second floor or is in a remote location in your home, you will most likely need to connect using a wireless adapter. Be default, most laptops do not have a wireless card built in. In most cases you will have to purchase either an internal wireless card or a USB wireless card to add to your system. Either one is readily available at most consumer electronic stores and mass retail outlets. If you are not comfortable with removing the side of the computer to add hardware I would recommend the USB option. Before purchasing a card, be sure your router supports wireless connections. The majority of today’s routers will support this function. There are several brands out there and they all will do the job but it is always a good idea to get the same brand as your router for the best compatibility. Once you purchase your equipment, you will have to use the enclosed disk to install the drivers. Once the drivers are installed you can plug the adapter into a free USB port and the new hardware wizard should install the adapter. In order to connect to the router you will have the use the password you set up for your wireless network in the router. If you do not know the password you will have to access the router (usually http://192.168.1.1) using a different computer that is hard wired to the router. Some routers are set up as http://192.168.2.1. Once you are at the routers homepage you will be asked your user name and password. Now you can view your wireless security settings to see what network password you have set up. Once you know your password, you will be able to enter it in the connection wizard so you can access your network. Once your connection is established,...
Read MoreHi everybody. Just as we started to get used to using Windows Vista and Windows 7, Windows 8 is getting ready for its premier. Unlike the other operating system releases, Windows 8 will be a whole different animal and the truth be said, it wont be for everybody. This version of Windows goes to a whole different level and even will use a different file system. Probably one of the biggest changes users will note is the absence of the Start menu. This version of the OS will have a desktop similar to your Smart Phone. You will use square icons on your desktop to start all your applications. This technology will be great for the new touch screen PC monitors that are being introduced. In fact, this version of Windows will be optimized for such use. One great feature of Windows 8 is the built in virus protection. If you choose not to install an antivirus program, this version of Windows will automatically activate it’s own Windows Defender and Security Essentials software. Be advised that most installs of Windows 8 will come with a trial from one of the big box companies just like it did with Windows Vista and 7. For the average person using a conventional computer, Windows 8 will be hard to figure out. The Metro Interface is not very user friendly and those of you upgrading from XP will really have a rough time getting used to this new format. From reading other blogs about user experiences with this new OS, the complaints are high and in one word the best description of the operating system is “confusing”. The Windows 8 desktop will start your program like your phone starts an APP. You can toggle to a more familiar Windows 7 format, but you are still left without a start menu. In order to get your work done, you often have to toggle between the two interfaces, which is very annoying. I do not think you can really compare this OS to a Windows 7 computer. I also do not see Windows 8 replacing Windows 7. They are two different animals that work completely different from each other. If you want to go with...
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