Seagate Momentus 500 GB

The Momentus series of 2.5 inch drives from Seagate are great notebook storage solutions. The ST9500325ASG model that has a capacity of 500 GB with an 8-MB cache.

Seagate has used a two platter design for this 2.5 inch drive. This drive is 9.5 mm thick which is the standard for notebook hard drives now.

Synthetic benchmarks aside, this drive did well in real world tests too. It took 56.4 seconds to write a 4-GB sequential file and 72.7 seconds to write 4-GB assorted data resulting an average write speed of about 64.48 MBps (sequential and assorted) as per sources. Read times were also mighty impressive as 4-GB of sequential data took 60.6 sec while 4-GB of assorted data took 67.7 sec giving an average read speed of also 64 MBps.

This is a great drive if you want an upgrade for your notebook, especially if you like to store a lot of data on it. This mighty little thing will cost you at around Rs.5000/-

for more details click here

Fortune-It

Password Protection Errors in Flash Drive

Be sure not to misuse this Password protection errors with flash drive If you are unable to copy or format your pen drive, by whatever reasons may be if is it infected with viruses or may if you have given it to someone may be your friend. then you can try some of the tricks. Try using USB writeprotector(www.gaijin.at/dlusnwp.php) to unlock the drive. With any flash drive or memory card, one of the simplest ways to remove the write protection is to delete the partition. Click on Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management. Click on the flash drive, right click on the only partition and delete it. Remember that this will delete all data on the drive. If nothing works, it might be worth trying to format the drive also. If you are using Nokia phone, use an application called FExplorer and access the memory card. The password should be present in a text file in the root folder.

Classmate comes with UBUNTU

The commercial sponsor of Ubuntu, has released an agreement with Intel Corporation to deliver Ubuntu as an operating system for the Intel powered Classmate PC’s. The new Intel powered Classmate PC (a netbook specifically designed for the education market) features a larger screen, more memory and larger SSD and HDD than he original classmate PC. It will also features a modified version of  Ubuntu Netbook Remix for the first time, improving the experience on smaller screens. The Intel powered convertible Classmate PC features a touch screen on which users can rest their palm to write or draw, converts from clamshell to tablet PC, and auto-adjusts between landscape and portrait, depending on how the machine is held. Ubuntu will support all these use cases.

“Not only is this a significant step for an open operating system, it is a significant step for any device to be able to offer these capabilities, at this cost, on standardised hardware.” said Jon Melamut, general manager, OEM services, Canonical. ” Our goal has always been to take the best technology and make its available to everyone. Coupling our software with a fantastic, affordable education device like this is a concrete realisation of that ambition.”

Active Desktop Recovery error

Even though if you will click on to restore the desktop it ask you to debug and nothing happens if everything fails then try something like this.

click- start-run

type-regedit and press enter

then go to

HKEY_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Desktop\Components.

There you will find DeskHtmlVersion click on it and click on Modify from Hexadecimal to DEcimal the value will change to 272 change it to 0. and you will get your desktop

Explorer.exe error in XP

If you are getting explorer.exe errors

This problem occurs because of a race condition in the Explorer.exe process.

Some antivirus applications and some print applications use notification balloons to display messages. These applications may cause a race condition. Therefore, the Explorer.exe process crashes.

Resolution:

The following file is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Collapse this imageExpand this image

Download the Windows XP package now.

For more information about how to download Microsoft support files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

119591 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/119591/ ) How to obtain Microsoft support files from online services

Microsoft scanned this file for viruses. Microsoft used the most current virus-detection software that was available on the date that the file was posted. The file is stored on security-enhanced servers that help prevent any unauthorized changes to the file.

Prerequisites

// <![CDATA[// To apply the update, you must have Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed.

Restart requirement

// <![CDATA[// You have to restart your computer after you apply this update.

Update replacement information

// <![CDATA[// This update does not replace any other previously released updates.

Registry information

// <![CDATA[// To use one of the updates in this package, you do not have to make any changes to the registry.

File information

// <![CDATA[// The English version of this update has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

Red Hat collaborates with HP

Red Hat has announced an optimised solution developed with HP around Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) Governance. The JBoss Enterprise SOA platform has been optimised to  be governed by HP SOA Systinet software. With the addition of HP SOA Systinet, customers have an opportunity to drive revenue, remove costly errors and resond to market changes when they automate business processes through a deployment on JBoss Enterprise SPA platform.

“Our collaboration with HP and its Systinet team offers a direct benefit to our SOA customers because now they will be able to deploy the two solutions together, and know that they have a secure and trusted governance framework that enhances their ability to reap the full benefits of their SOA deployment,” said Craig Muzilla, vice president, Middleware, Red Hat.

BIOS Troubleshooting

If you are not sure then do not try the procedure cause BIOS is the Most critical part of the Motherboard and its failure can even destroy your Motherboard.

Troubleshooting BIOS Beep Codes

The BIOS performs a power-on self-test (POST) when the system is turned on. This test is used to ensure that the system is functioning properly and to gather information about what the system contains. When a problem is identified with the system during the POST, the BIOS will normally produce an error message. However, in some cases the problem is detected so early in the test that the BIOS cannot even access the video card to print the message! In this case the BIOS will produce a beeping pattern on the speaker to tell you what the problem is.

The exact meaning of the beep codes depends on the type and version of BIOS that you have. The three most popular types of BIOS are those made by Award, American Megatrends (AMI) and Phoenix. The beep codes for these BIOS products are described in this part of the troubleshooter. If you are using a PC made by a company that writes its own BIOS, you will have to consult your owner’s manual or the company’s web site or other technical information for assistance.

Warning: The normal procedure is for a motherboard or computer manufacturer to purchase the BIOS code from one of these companies and then modify it as they see fit to match what they are doing with their hardware. So it is possible that the codes may be slightly different for your PC than what I have here, which is for the generic products. In general, the beep codes are usually identical or very close to what I have here, but the tests performed by the BIOS can easily be different or be executed in a different order.

Note: A single beep during the boot process, usually right before the BIOS startup screen is displayed, is normal and does not indicate a failure as long as the boot continues on.

Beep codes can be in several different patterns, depending on the BIOS that you are using. Some BIOSes use very simple beep codes in a pattern of varying numbers of short beeps, while others may mix short and long beeps. The Phoenix BIOS is famous for its complicated beep patterns that are actually in up to four groups–one or more beeps and then a pause, followed by as many as three more patterns.

Warning: Despite what the BIOS companies say, these codes are not always that consistent. I have seen systems that when booted without a video card give just a single beep and not the code that they are supposed to give when the video card is missing.

Next: American Megatrends Inc. (AMI BIOS)

Troubleshooting BIOS Beep Codes – AMI BIOS

The AMI BIOS is one of the most popular in the PC world today, and fortunately is quite consistent in its use of beep codes, across its many different versions. Please select the beep pattern you are hearing from the list in the index frame.

BIOS Boot Block Recovery: Pin shorting Guide

Introduction

BIOS chips, particularly the new ones have a built-in Boot Block sector, which allows the BIOS to be recovered if it is corrupted by a power mishap, misflash, or a virus. You really don’t need to throw away a hard earned just to recover from a boot block mode. If you got guts and need to feel glory then read on.

AwardBIOS

The shorting trick should work if the boot block code is not corrupted, and it would not be corrupted if /sb switch was used when flashing the bios instead of /wb switch.

The two (2) pins used in shorting to force a checksum error vary from chip to chip. Usually these are the highest-numbered address pins (A10 and above). Most common are pins number 2 & 3. (Refer to image) These are the pins used by the system to read the System BIOS (original.bin for Award V.6), now, calculate the ROM checksum and see if it’s valid before decompressing it into the memory, and subsequently allowing Bootblock POST to pass control over to the System BIOS.

You just have to ‘fool’ the system into believing that the System BIOS is corrupt. You can do this by shorting the two (2) high address pins, thereby making it difficult for your system to read the System BIOS subsequently resulting to a ROM Checksum Error and activating a Bootblock recovery.

There will be cases that shorting any combination of the high address pins would not work to force a checksum error in some chips, like in the case of my Winbond W49F002U. Shorting the #WE (Write Enable) with the highest-numbered address pin (A17) worked for this chip. You just have to experiment a little if you’re not comfortable with “Hot Flashing” or “Replacement BIOS”. Refer to the chip’s datasheet for reference.

If you’re not sure which are the correct pins to short and avoid further damaging your chip, measure the potential between the 2 pins using a Voltmeter while the system is on. If the voltage reading is zero (or no potential at all), then it is safe to short these pins. But do not short the pins while the system is on. Instead, power down short the pins then power up. And as soon as you hear 3 beeps (1 long, 2 short), remove the short at once so that automatic reflashing from Drive A can proceed without errors (assuming you had autoexec.bat in it).

The tip of a screwdriver would do in shorting the pins but with such tiny pins on the PLCC chip, I’m pretty comfortable using a precision screwdriver. Short the pins at the point where they come protrude of the chip. Be careful not to short other pins as this might damage the CMOS chip or the mobo itself.

AMIBIOS

1. Copy a known working BIOS image for your board to a floppy and rename it to AMIBOOT.ROM.

2. Insert the floppy in your system’s floppy drive.

3. Power on the system while holding CTRL+Home keys. Release the keys when you hear a beep and/or see the floppy light coming on.

4 . Just wait until you hear 4 beeps. When 4 beeps are heard the reprogramming of the System Block BIOS went successful, so then you may restart your system.

Some Alternative Keys that can be used to force BIOS update (only the System Block will be updated so it’s quite safe):

CTRL+Home – To restore missing code into system block and clear CMOS when programming went ok.

CTRL+Page Up – To restore missing code into system block and clear CMOS or DMI when programming went ok.

CTRL+Page Down – To restore missing code into system block and do not clear CMOS and DMI area when programming went ok

Important : Take note that the above alternative keys will work only on AMIBIOS V.7 or higher. An AMIBIOS V.6.26 can only be recovered by using CTRL+Home keys.

Flashing Without Video Display

AMIBIOS has integrated a recovery routine into the BOOT BLOCK of the BIOS, which in the event the BIOS become corrupt can be used to restore the BIOS to a working state. The routine is called when the SYSTEM BLOCK of the BIOS is empty. The restore routine will access the floppy drive looking for a BIOS file names AMIBOOT.ROM, this is why the floppy drive light comes on and the drive spins. If the file is found it is loaded into the SYSTEM BLOCK of the BIOS to replace the missing information. To restore your BIOS simply copy a working BIOS file to a floppy diskette and rename it AMIBOOT.ROM, then insert it into the computer while the power is on. The diskette does not need to be bootable or contain a flash utility. After about four minutes the system will beep four times. Remove the floppy diskette from the drive and reboot the computer. The BIOS should now be restored.

Recovering a Corrupt AwardBIOS

To recover from a corrupted AwardBIOS you will need to create a floppy diskette with a working BIOS file in .BIN format, an AWARD flash utility and an AUTOEXEC.BAT file. AwardBIOS will not automatically restore the BIOS information to the SYSTEM BLOCK, for this reason you will need to add the commands necessary to flash the BIOS in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file.

The system will run the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, which in turn will flash the BIOS. This is fairly easy. Here are the steps you need to take.

1. Create a bootable floppy diskette

2. Copy the BIOS file and flash utility to the diskette

3. Create a text file with any standard text editor and add the following lines:

@ECHO OFF

AWARD822 BIOSFILE.BIN /py

In the above example I am assuming that you are using the AWARD822.EXE flash utility. You will need to replace the AWARD822 with the name of whatever flash utility you are using and replace the BIOSFILE.BIN with the name of the BIOS file you are using. You will also need to change the /py to whatever ‘command’ is required for your flash utility to automatically program the BIOS without user intervention. If you do not know the command to automatically flash your BIOS type the name of the flash utility with a space and then /? to display the utility help screen. The help screen should specify the command switch to automatically flash your BIOS. If you are using the AWARD822.EXE utility then the switch to automatically flash your BIOS is /py.

Ways to Speed XP, Not only Defrag

Since defragging the disk won’t do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers’ PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a “searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, apply changes to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cable select,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,” and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.
Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers’ computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

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10 reasons why PCs crash U 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 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 ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( 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 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.
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.

Computer Repairs Tips

We know how valuable the good health of your computer is to you. This is why we are giving you some free computer repair tips that can come in handy in troubleshooting your computer on your own. It is important and necessary to properly maintain your computer to keep its good health.
Over time, a computer may suffer from the wear and tear from frequent usage. Here’s what you can do to provide instant fix to your computer when you encounter issues like:

• Computer freezes can be resolved by cleaning your computer from unnecessary files. You can do this in several ways. You can start with the system tools that come with your windows operating system such as the disk clean-up. You can also optimize your browser by clearing temporary files, cookies, and browsing history.

• Computer errors can be caused by a corrupted registry in which case you need to download a registry cleaner that will fix the errors. Usually when you run the registry cleaner and have errors fox, other issues are resolved as well.

• Slow computer can be caused by viruses, spyware, and other malware programs attacking the registry and your computer. You can resolve this by downloading an online virus removal as well as anti-spyware programs that are readily available in the internet.