Technology Yard

This article will discuss a few important tips on how to keep your PC running smoothly. These tips are applicable only to Windows based operating systems.

PC PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT TIPS

For your filing protocol, Instead of using FAT32 in your system, try NTFS. Disable Windows Indexing to get higher speeds. Although file search may require longer time to yield search results, all applications on the other hand will run faster and smoother. Here are the steps on how to Windows Indexing feature can be disabled:

1. Go to My Computer.
2. Choose a hard drive that you want to rest by right-clicking on the hard drive icon. Often it’s Drive C that needs to be reset.
3. Go to Properties
4. Deselect : Allow Indexing Service
5. Wait until your system has fully processed your request. Duration may vary depending on your processors speed.
6. Perform the same process in other drives installed in your PC.
7. Empty recycle bin after all hard drives have been processed.
8. Defragment all hard drives.

FREE SOFTWARE

If your system does have an office suite just yet, try using Open Office. This software can be downloaded for free so it will save you a lot of money compared to other office suite software. It seems to be that the standard for browsing for internet users is Internet Explorer. For this reason, there are a lot of hackers who consistently develop spyware and other types of malware to invade this application. Using a different browser will lessen your chance of contraction virus and malware through internet browsing. Alternative browsers such as Mozilla Firefox can be easily downloaded for use. Mozilla Firefox also allows you to adopt your explorer settings to firefox so you don’t get to lose information such as homepage settings and favorite links.

USB PRINTERS FOR LAPTOPS

For laptop users with Windows ME, trouble shoot USB printing by visiting the website of your printer manufacturer. This will allow you to download and install the drivers required. Windows ME has the ability to recognize USB devices that are plugged in but still requires the necessary drivers to make the device run. The type of driver you will install will depend on the model of your printer. Once you’ve installed the driver, you will need to update your printer settings in the Control Panel.

ONLINE SHOPING MAKES YOU SAVE MONEY

The best way to save money when making online purchases is to first browse through several websites and online merchants that offer the product that you’re looking for or offer some information about the product. This would allow you to compare prices between several online merchants. You will be surprised at finding a big price difference between various offers. Looking for this kind of information is not limited to online merchants alone. There are other websites that offer directories or links to multiple merchants. You can choose from a number of retailers that offer the best price in the market.

FOR USERS OF WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL

Windows XP Professional has a feature that enables your PC to encrypt files. This feature is not available for Windows Home Edition. Encryption prevents other users from accessing the encrypted folder. Here are the steps on how to encrypt files using Windows XP Professional:

1. Go to “My Documents” and choose the folder that you want to encrypt.
2. Click on the folder then choose “Properties”.
3. Click on the tab that says “General”.
4. Choose “Advanced”. Put a mark on the tick box that says “Encrypt Contents to Secure Data”. Click “Okay” twice.
5. A confirmation window will appear which will allow you to choose the folders or files that you want to encrypt.

SAFETY MEASURES FOR INTERNET USERS

Be wary of suspicious email messages that require you to key-in your username and password. There is an internet scheme called phising that sends out emails requesting for you to confirm your account. They will provide you a link that will lead you to a valid looking website of a bank or credit card facility. Once you confirm by typing in your username and password, these schemers will be able to retrieve that information and access your bank accounts. In cases wherein you receive these kinds of notifications, it is best to call up your bank’s or credit card company’s customer service to validate the information.

Laptops are in demand nowadays. You see can a lot people carrying laptops. Often laptops are used for work, but it is now being widely used for amusement purposes as well. There are new models of laptops out in the market today, and plenty more are being released each week. Laptops with new features and enhanced technology offer upgraded standards bearing big price tags seem to be the trend. Laptops offer the convenience of accessibility anytime, anywhere, thus making work flows faster and easier. Its portability allows users to carry and use laptops at almost any place. It is user friendly and energy saving. Those and a lot of other reasons are why one should purchase a laptop. The only thing that might stop you to consider would be the price. It is true that most, if not all laptops, would cost a fortune. But that shouldn’t stop you from considering to purchase. In fact, there are many alternative sources and options that can help you get a laptop for only a portion of the current average price.

Not all laptops need to be tech-heavy. Consider your requirements and the kind of work or activities that you will do in your laptop. You can actually purchase a laptop that runs with an older technology. These laptops are being sold at a much lower price. Furthermore, technology seems to run at lightning speed. The most advanced technology today may be outdated in few weeks, so buying a laptop with highly advanced technology might not be at all practical. Consider the wireless technology for instance, released a couple years ago, laptops that run on wireless technology costs almost as high as three thousand dollars per unit. Nowadays, you can get a brand new unit with only less than a thousand dollars.

The price of laptops, or any kind of electronic device for that matter, seems to follow a formulated decreasing trend in terms of price. Within a year’s time, laptops out to market today will be sold at half its price. So when you’re working on a limited budget for laptop shopping, look for a model that is at least a year old.

You can also opt to buy refurbished laptops from reliable retailers or manufacturers. You will be surprised that most of these laptops are actually in perfect working condition. These refurbished laptops often come with a service warranty.

You can also buy used laptops directly form owners. The best used laptops that you can find are the ones previously owned by gamers or power users. These users often sell their equipment after several months opting for newer more powerful units that have the latest technology available in the market. If you can get your hands on a used laptop from a gamer you will most definitely be able get a highly sophisticated unit loaded with high-tech features and one that is also well maintained. Power users or heavy gamers usually sell their units to purchase newly released models, they sell their units not because it’s defective but because they are going to purchase better ones.

It is quite easy to buy a used laptop from gamers. Announcements are usually posted in gaming forums or on discussion boards in gaming communities. You can also browse through the internet to find out what deals are currently on. Search engines can yield a number of entries that post announcements of gaming communities. You may also look for trading websites that may have a few announcements that advertise used laptops for sale.

When checking out the specifications of a laptop, consider the memory size. Look for one that has at least 512MB memory. This is will assure good working speed of the laptops even if the for laptops with slow processors. The size of the memory will help the processor make the laptop run faster on most applications, even on applications that are heavy on graphics.

Work files, various documents, photos, videos, passwords, account details, and a lot more information, they are all stored in our personal computers. How do we keep our files intact? How do we keep our personal computers running safely? How do we stay away from computer virus can probably retrieve or in worst cases ruin our files? Here are a few tips:

• Use a username and password. Creating user accounts for your PC allows you to monitor who users your computer. This assures you that only users who are granted access to your user account can access the files on your PC. Choose a username and password that is known only to you. Never use the same password for all accounts as this becomes an easy prey for hackers.
• Install spyware remover software in your PC. Spyware is an application that secretly gathers information sent by a user through the internet. This is often done without the knowledge of the user. If spyware is installed in the PC, this software gathers the information and transmits it to another user. Important or confidential information keyed in the PC such as email addresses, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, and other information will not be safe. The more you use the internet the more information gets transmitted. Weekly scanning of spyware must be performed in to make sure that this application does not ride in your PC.
• It is a must to put anti-virus in your PC, more especially if your PC is connected to the internet. Anti-virus comes with firewall that protects your files from authorized access via your modem.
• Avoid using file sharing programs. When using file sharing the only facts that are given when downloading are the file names and the size of the file. Names of viruses can easily be replaced with other file names. Sometimes you may not be aware that you’ve already downloaded a keystroke recorder or other types of malware. In cases wherein you simply could not avoid using fire sharing then make sure that you have an antivirus software up and running.
• Include email protection. Get an antivirus application that has email scanning. This will allow you to scan all email transactions, both outgoing and incoming, it also makes sure that the recipient of your emails is safe from viruses. These email viruses are lethal to a PC, it scan your address book and automatically sends viruses to contact list. As added protection, avoid reading suspicious email messages from unknown sources.
• One way for viruses to spread is through networks. Make your PC network safe through a network security application. This application scans all file transactions within your network. Accept only files coming from your network to be placed on PC if it passed network scanning. Configure your network in such a way that the main server is the only user allowed to enable file sharing.
• Perform maintenance check weekly. This allows you to scan and rid of potential threats such as spyware and virus. Remember to defragment your PC regularly to improve performance.

The above listed items are but a few simple steps, but making sure you these items or perform these items regularly allows you to use your PC safely.

By following these ten guide lines, you will greatly improve the performance of your computer. You will also generate peace of mind as you gain a new sense of security.

Big enterprise and small and medium sized establishments are enjoying the benefits of barcode scanners. Bar-coding technology has vastly improved business operations by allowing processes and transactions become fast, convenient, and efficient. Some of the bar-coding functions include generating random barcodes for products and services and customized barcodes which can be both generated through barcode scanners or readers. It is a simple technology that has proven to be effective. Truly the barcode technology is one killer application in the retail industry.

Barcode systems offer accuracy and speed. In retail, compared to data entry of product codes in cash registers which takes an average of five seconds per twelve-digit product code item, barcode scanners can retrieve product codes at a fraction of the average time it takes to key in the numbers. By simply running the barcode through the barcode scanner, data is retrieved in less than a second, allowing large quantities of items be assessed in less time. Accuracy is also an important feature of barcodes. Barcode readers and scanners eliminate the possibilities of keying-in incorrect product codes, thus saving your company a lot of money.

Barcodes and barcode scanners are simple and easy to use. Bar-coding utilizes user-friendly technology that can be learned and properly implemented within minutes. Transition from traditional methods of product coding to bar-coding requires very little time and training. Fully integrating the bar-coding system in your operations will result to easier manageability of business. Price check and inventories become simple which results to a lot of your time being freed up to venture into other activities that will further improve your business.

The retail industry moves at a very fast pace, getting ahead is important, technologies that can make operations faster and simpler is vital to success. Bar-coding technology allows your business to gather and retrieve information in a fast and convenient method. This allows your business to run smoothly. It allows you to cut on costs by streamlining your processes. It also makes you save a lot of time. This makes work flows more efficient.

Barcode technology creates opportunities. The usability of barcodes and barcode scanners allows business to create more sales. Faster transactions lead to more customers. The ability of barcode technology to process data at very minimal time requirements allows your business to finish as many transactions possible within a day. This gives your business the opportunity to maximize resources at its fullest.

Capital expense made out of shifting from traditional product coding methods to bar-coding technology yields fast returns, you’ll definitely see the results in less than a year’s span. There are a variety of models and formats of barcodes and bar-coding systems available. From handheld scanners to flat bed types and even ones there are even ones that offer total solutions by integrating your entire network. Such barcode models work well for multiple-site businesses, inventories suddenly becomes an easy process. Each system can be custom configured to suit your business needs. Barcoding systems let you get ahead of business.

In gadgets and electronics, wireless device is what’s in right now. Among the more famous types of devices that make use of wireless technology is Smartphone Bluetooth. Here are some advantages to using Smartphone Bluetooth:

• Gadgets utilizing wireless technology allow you to access you device anytime, anywhere. It’s portability that requires no connection cables or wires, allows ease of use.
• Bluetooth is an inexpensive type of technology. It is cost efficient for companies to utilize Bluetooth to their communication devices. This will result to faster working speeds and efficiency at work. The savings that it will give to your company yields exponential results as compared to the investment that you would put out when upgrading you communication device to Bluetooth.
• Bluetooth allows quick access. There is no need to create or establish a connection between two Bluetooth devices. The technology allows your device to automatically communicate with another Bluetooth device within a range of thirty feet.
• Blue tooth technology is designed to be standardized. This technology makes use of a protocol that allows various devices of different makes and models to communicate with each other.
• Bluetooth makes use of low power wireless signals or what is called frequency hopping that prevents interference from other wireless devices. This assures stability of signal when using a Bluetooth device.
• Because Bluetooth utilizes low power signals, the devices using Bluetooth are required minimal energy to run the technology. This is a definite advantage to mobile users as they will not risk draining batteries when out in the field.
• Bluetooth technology incorporates handling of voice and data through a seamless stream. This allows you to transmit either data packets or voice packets through one device. It’s a convenient way of using mobile phones especially those who are always on the road.
• Personal Area Network of PAN allows you connect up to seven Bluetooth devices within a network. Several PANs may actually be created within a single area. This simplifies voice and data communications within office settings.
• Bluetooth technology offers consistent and constant upgrades to increase reliability. Upgrades are offered to improve older versions. All upgrades are compatible with previous versions of Bluetooth released.
• Bluetooth is considered to be the universal wireless standard. Bluetooth is a reliable technology that offers simplicity and high accessibility. It is a famous technology that is accepted by wireless and mobile users worldwide.

Buying a laptop can be a wise investment especially if you want to work on your computer while on the move. Laptops these days are equipped with so many features that selecting one for your personal use can be a very daunting task! Do remember to set a budget and adhere to it when you purchase that laptop and do not be swayed by peer pressure to bring home an expensive model. Nowadays laptops also come with a myriad of pleasing colors so choose one that reflects your lifestyle! You can also opt to skin your gadget and beautify your laptop easily!