Saturday, June 30, 2007

Is Your PC freezing Up?

What is more frustrating to the user of a personal computer than when it “freezes.”

Computer freeze usually means the computer suddenly ceases to operate. In severe cases of computer freeze, nothing happens at all. The keyboard and mouse become inoperative, and whatever image is on the screen remains there. The computer is frozen.

New computer users have a tendency to want to give the monitor a few sharp smacks when this happens. They view the problem as a sort of log jam, and feel a good smack will break it up and get things rolling again. Actually, they are not completely wrong although there method of correction is flawed. In many cases, the cause of the freeze is a log jam. To put it another way, it is an overload of the processing system. This is caused by having too many operations running at the same time. The processing unit has a limited amount of memory capacity.

The type of memory known as ROM memory has a much smaller capacity than the massive amount of storage in the hard drive. Since the processing unit is performing programmed instructions at such a fast rate, the fact that multiple programs are running at the same time is often unnoticed. The processor is actually skipping from program to program. It performs some instructions from one, and then moves on to the next. The user may be actually working on only one program and is unaware that others are actually being executed at the same time.

When the load becomes too much, the processor will be waiting for an instruction, and that instruction will never come. In some cases, the processor may go into a loop following a set of instructions that take it in a circle with no exit. When either of these things happens, the result is a computer freeze. The unit is not actually frozen. It is waiting for an instruction to move on, and that instruction is not being received.

Hitting the monitor is not going to help. It is also not going to help to frantically push buttons. Each keyboard stroke is sending another set of instructions to the processing unit. Since the processing unit is already overloaded, or not processing, sending more instructions will not help.

Often it just makes the problem worse. The only keys that should be pressed are control, alt, and delete at the same time. This will bring up a screen that allows you to attempt to shut down some unneeded programs. This might result in the “unfreezing” of your computer. More than likely the unit will need to be shut done and rebooted to clear the processor.

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Driz Memok is with ComputerRepairServiceBusinesses.com - providing information on computer repairs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Driz_Memok

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Microsoft Vista

The Five Most Important Features
By Marko Hammond

So many people are getting all worked up and excited over the new Windows Vista. As you would expect, most users want to know what is new with Vista and what makes it better to use than the previous editions. Is it easier to use? Is there better safety and security features? Are technical and management aspects be given fair attention? It is not possible to completely detail all of Vista’s new and improved features but, here are the most notable features:

  • Windows Shell

    The appearance of the operating system is the first marketing strategy to use on non-technical individuals. Many home users understandably get attracted with basic aesthetic features and easy to use functions. In operating systems, the appearance and ease of use can best be associated with the shell which presents the user interface. With Windows, their shell is Explorer. In Windows Vista, the shell is associated with Aero.

    The translucent glass look of Aero alone is an image of elegance and lends an added illusion of depth. Users also have the choice to use the appearance of previous Windows versions. Aside from a change in look, Vista also addresses aspects in organization, filtering and storing. The “Stacks” function for example will allow users to filter files or group files according to user criteria.

  • Multimedia Applications

    Movie, photo and music enthusiasts and experts will be happy to know that Vista has added features for them too. The Windows Movie Maker for example will allow editing of DVR-MS videos. The new Windows DVD Maker on the other hand will allow DVD creation and burning. For photo enthusiasts, the Windows Photo Gallery will still allow basic editing plus metadata additions to photos. Windows Paint also now has unlimited undo functions.

  • Windows Defender

    On the aspect of security, Vista now includes Windows Defender which can be used against spyware. Aside from the usual function of scanning for spyware, Windows Defender can also perform real time monitoring for changes in Windows that have been caused by spyware. With Windows Defender, users can now easily keep in touch with Microsoft to inquire about suitable applications and spyware.

  • Wireless Networking

    Wireless networking is not a very new concept. There are however, some improvements in Vista. With Vista, wireless connections do not mimic wired connections. The network stack now holds the support for wireless networks. New features can then be implemented. These include easily finding and identifying open and closed networks.

  • Speech Recognition

    With this feature, users can use voice commands on their computer unit. The difference between Vista voice recognition and other versions is that voice recognition in Vista boasts full integration. Certain applications therefore can be manipulated by dictation. A mousegrid may be used for applications that require mouse functions. A user simply needs to dictate a series of numbers to zero in on the particular area that has to be clicked. This feature is easy to use even without the tutorial provided. Voice recognition is fairly high and exact.

    Get free tips and news on Microsoft Windows Vista at http://www.Vista-Windows.info

    Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Marko_Hammond

  • Monday, June 04, 2007

    Virus And Spyware

    The Main Reason Our Computers Get Slower and Slower - Virus and spyware

  • Want to make your computer run like new again?
    Adware/Spyware Remover - Free Scan!


    Most of us have anti-virus programs, but the spyware and ad ware do not get removed by the anti-virus software’s. To remove the spyware you need another kind of software.

    Spybot and adawares se personal are two such software’s. Ad aware se personal is one of the best spyware and adware removing software. Also it is free. You just need to go to it’s website and download it. Once it get’s installed and updated, scan your computer with it. After the scan you will get the options to delete the spy stuff from your computer. After this is done, you will see a good increase in your computers speed.

    Spyware is a real threat, do you want a browser cookie to do spying in your computer. This is what spyware dose, it tells the spy servers about your Internet usage and all your private data is made public. But you can remove spywares, there are a lot of methods to remove them. We have already discussed about the deletion of the browser cookies. Also a lot of spywares attacks registry and ad aware se personal is good for this. There are a lot of such things, spyware, adware, keylogers etc. and removing these is very important.

    For the virus stuff I recommend the Norton antivirus. At pack.google.com a 6 months free subscription of Norton is available. This version is pretty good. Spyware Doctor Starter Edition is also available there, and all this is absolutely free. The combination of Norton and Spyware Doctor is good, and I strongly recommend it for a safer and faster computer experience.




    You really should always have a good anti-virus and anti-spyware running on your computer and do deep/full scans often! A1-Computers--

    http://makeyourcomputerfaster.blogspot.com/
    Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Uttoran_Sen

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