Windows Driver Help

Windows Phone Beats 88% of Competitors in Speed Test

2012-01-15T03:17:00.000-08:00

Its last appearance at CES might have been a snooze-fest, but Microsoft is coming away from the Consumer Electronics Show with at least one notable victory under its belt: the company's smartphone managed to beat the majority of its challengers on the CES show floor.

Earlier this week, Microsoft's Ben Rudolph hit Vegas with a wad of cash in his hand. Rudolph was challenging any and all attendees with a non-Windows Phone device to a speed test challenge. If they won, he'd give them a hundred bucks, but if his Windows Phone won, they'd have to admit they got 'smoked by Windows Phone.'

Well, the results are in. According to Rudolph, 88-percent of challengers were 'smoked by Windows Phone.'

"We gave away a ton of new phones, lost a little bit of cash ($300, to be exact), and had a great time meeting our fans, haters, and everyone in between," Ben wrote on the Windows Phone blog, adding that Windows Phone beat 30 handsets, lost against three and drew with one.

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AOC Revealing 22-inch HD USB-Based Monitor at CES

2012-01-07T03:24:00.000-08:00

AOC is launching a 22-inch USB-based monitor next month. In the meantime, consumers can get an early glance next week at CES 2012.

Earlier this week AOC introduced a 22-inch monitor (e2251Fwu) that draws its power and signal through a USB port. This $199 plug-and-play panel is scheduled to be shown next week during CES 2012, but won't see an actual retail release until February 2012.

According to the specs, the 22-inch AOC USB Monitor will support a 1920 x 1080 resolution @ 60 Hz, and will be compatible with Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7 & Apple MAC OSX Tiger / Leopard and Lion -- Linux support is also available through many of the standard distributions. The display will also be HDCP compatible and have an ultra-slim form factor, measuring just 10.6-mm thin.

As for other specs, the display will feature a brightness of 250cd, a 20,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio, a 5ms response time, and LED-based backlighting that allows it to consume 50-percent less energy than many CCFL backlit monitors. A removable stand even allows it to "instantly transform into a digital photo frame or presentation display."

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Microsoft Finally Says Goodbye to IE 6 in the U.S.

2012-01-05T04:22:00.000-08:00

The numbers are in, and less than 1-percent of North Americans are still using Microsoft's ancient Internet Explorer 6 browser. They probably still use big giant mobile phones and outhouses too.

There's a good chance Microsoft as a whole is popping open the champagne bottles and tooting leftover New Year's Day horns, as the company has finally succeeded in pushing the masses into ditching Internet Explorer 6.

The company has for years literally begged consumers to update older versions of Internet Explorer, warning that it would reduce the (high) risk of acquiring viruses and other malicious malware. The company even just recently introduced a feature in Windows Update that will automatically update Internet Explorer, seemingly pushing users into staying current rather than ignoring browser revisions and risking infection.

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Microsoft to share more details on its Windows 8 app store

2011-12-02T03:48:00.001-08:00

Summary: Microsoft is set to share more details about the Windows Store in Windows 8 on December 6. Will there be synergies with the new Xbox dashboard update, also arriving December 6?

Microsoft plans to share more about the Windows 8 app store at a two-hour preview event in San Francisco on December 6.

Microsoft has invited select developers and local press to hear more details on the Windows Store. The spokesperson declined to share more details prior to the event.

December 6 also happens to be the day when Microsoft will be rolling out its new Xbox 360 dashboard. Testers who’ve been working with a test version of the dashboard (under non-disclosure-agreement terms) have mentioned in passing new app store functionality in the dashboard. Facebook, Hulu, Netflix and Twitter are listed under apps in the preview, testers have said.

Microsoft officials shared some high-level details about the Windows Store at the Build conference in September, even though the Store isn’t operational in the Windows 8 Developer Preview build. They said all Metro-style apps would be available only via the Windows Store. Metro apps will be protected by an account-based (not a machine based) licensing model that is limited to a set number of machines (5). Users will be able to access app trials, buy/download Metro-style apps, license them, have them serviced through the Store.

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Microsoft Lowers Flags to Half-Staff in Tribute to Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T05:36:00.000-07:00

As a tribute to Steve Jobs, Microsoft will fly its flags at all its worldwide offices at half staff for two days, reports the blog site Microsoft news. Here is a photo taken of the Microsoft UK offices.

I congratulate Microsoft on this show of respect. Although the two companies were often bitter rivals, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were also friends. In Gates statement on Jobs' death released yesterday, Gates said, "Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues,

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Microsoft kills Google Chrome with bad malware signature

2011-10-01T04:55:00.000-07:00

Computerworld - Microsoft scrambled earlier today to revise an antivirus definition file that deleted Google's Chrome browser from users' PCs.

"Wow, that's certainly one way to win the browser war," said Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security.

Storms was referring to the battle between Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) and rivals, including Chrome, for usage share. According to data from one Web metrics firm, Chrome will pass Mozilla's Firefox as the second-most-popular browser by the end of this year, pitting Google and Microsoft for the top spot.

Chrome users began reporting the specious detection of the browser early Friday in a quickly-growing thread on a Google support forum.

"This morning, after I started up the PC, a Windows Security box popped up and said I had a Security Problem that needed to be removed," said someone identified as "chasd harris" in the first message of the thread. "I clicked the Details button and saw that it was 'PWS:Win32/Zbot.' I clicked the Remove button and restarted my PC. Now I do not have Chrome. It has been removed or uninstalled."

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Intel: We're Not Ditching The Atom Brand

2011-09-25T02:38:00.000-07:00

Intel has officially nuked rumors about plans to re-brand its Atom chips.

Recent reports indicate that Intel plans to re-brand its Cedar Trail processors slated for 2012 because demand for Atom-based netbooks, nettops, handheld devices, consumer electronics products and embedded devices have dropped significantly. The reason behind the decline, according to industry sources, is due to the "poor brand image" of Atom CPUs.

According to Intel's roadmap, Cedar Trail CPUs will be launched in November 2011, and will include the Atom N2800 and N2700 for netbooks, and the Atom D2700 and D2500 for nettops. Industry sources claim that the re-branding will cover Intel's N/D/Z/E lineups.

But Friday a spokesperson from Intel squashed the reports. "There are no plans to change the Atom brand. We are on track to launch new Atom processors during the fourth quarter, with more new Atom processors during the first half of 2012."

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Microsoft CEO hints at 'Metro-ization' of Office

2011-09-18T06:15:00.000-07:00

Desktop suite will continue, but Microsoft needs a touch-based edition for tablets, says expert

Computerworld - Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on Wednesday strongly hinted that the company will craft a Metro-style version of the next Office suite.

"You ought to expect that we are rethinking and working hard on what it would mean to do Office Metro style," said Ballmer, when asked by a Wall Street analyst whether Microsoft is working on a version of Office for Windows 8's Metro touch-based interface.

Metro is the name Microsoft has given the tile- and touch-based interface borrowed from Windows Phone 7, the smartphone operating system, and before that, Zune, the company's portable music player. The interface is the first thing users see when they launch Windows 8, and apps must be specially-coded to run in Metro.

A Metro style look-and-feel would be a massive change for Office, one that would dwarf the "ribbonization" that set off a firestorm of complaints about Office 2007's new look. The criticism died down, and Microsoft later extended the ribbon in Office 2010 and Windows 7. It will ribbonize other components of Windows 8, notably the OS's file manager.

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How To Use HP New Support Page

2011-09-07T05:04:00.000-07:00

I was surprised and impressed to see new HP Support page.

The new page is very user friendly and easy to navigate. Below are simple steps to download needed drivers or software for you HP product.

1. Go to http://www8.hp.com/us/en/support-drivers.html

2. Enter you product name or number in the space provided. You may also allow the site to automatically detect your HP product if you do not know the specific name or number of your item. Auto detection may be a good option however I think it is slower as it has to check the system first.

3. Select your Operating System. Click your Operating System from the list. Happy for Windows user. HP has good support to you but Linux will also be happy to see that HP is now supporting them.

4. Drivers and Software for your selected OS will open available for download. You may use the “Quick jump” option to jump to specific category.

5. Click Download button to start downloading the file.

HP Client Management Solutions - HP System Software Manager
The HP System Software Manager (SSM) is a utility that automatically detects and updates BIOS, device drivers, and management agent versions on your networked PCs.

This is also impressive, especially if you do not mind having another application for this purpose.

New and simple steps above is impressive but I not yet finished giving you easier and more convenient way to update your drivers. I use this third party HP Drivers tool to do all the monitoring, downloading and installing of driver to my computer. What I like about this is its compatibility, other hardware vendors are support by this tool.

Microsoft fixes Mac Office bug in Apple's Lion

2011-07-29T22:20:00.000-07:00

Computerworld - Microsoft has released an updated version of Communicator for the Mac that works with Apple's new Lion operating system.

Communicator for Mac 2011 version 13.1.2 was released Thursday to Microsoft's download site, and will be pushed to users via the company's update service shortly, a Microsoft product director promised.

The new version of Communicator resolves the crash bug that afflicted the program when users tried to run it on Mac OS X 10.7, the new operating system Apple launched July 20.

Communicator is the corporate version of Microsoft's consumer-grade Messenger chat client for the Mac, and is available only to business and academic volume licensing customers. It is also the software that connects Mac users to Microsoft's enterprise communications server software, Lync 2010.

Last week, Microsoft's Office for Mac development team reported several problems with the 2011 and 2008 editions of the suite when run on Lion.

At the time, the Communicator crash bug and a glitch that prevents users from importing messages from Apple's Mail email client into Outlook 2011 or Entourage 2008 were the top two issues spelled out then by Pat Fox, a senior director of product development.

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Microsoft Announces Earnings for End of FY 2011

2011-07-23T22:57:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has announced its quarterly earnings for the fiscal quarter just ended as well as financial results for its last fiscal year.

Microsoft this week released details for the fourth quarter of the company's 2011 fiscal year, which ended June 30. Redmond recorded revenue of $17.37 billion for the quarter, an eight percent increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $6.17 billion, $5.87 billion, and $0.69 per share, which represented increases of four percent, 30 percent, and 35 percent, respectively, year-over-year.

Because this was the end of Microsoft's FY2011, the company also released details for the entire year. For FY2011, Microsoft reported record revenue of $69.94 billion, a 12 percent increase from the prior year. Operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the year were $27.16 billion, $23.15 billion, and $2.69, which represented increases of 13 percent, 23 percent, and 28 percent year-over-year.

Microsoft reports that its Microsoft Business Division revenue for the fourth quarter grew 7 percent with revenue for the full year increasing 16 percent, while Server and Tools revenue grew 12 percent for the fourth quarter, making it the fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, and grew 11 percent for the full year. Windows and Windows Live Division revenue saw a 1 percent decline for the quarter just ended and revenue for the full year decreased 2 percent. Redmond's Online Services Division revenue grew 17 percent for the quarter and 15 percent for the full year, which the company attributes to increases in search revenue (Bing's U.S. search share increased 340 basis points year-over-year to 14.4 percent this quarter). The ongoing popularity of Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Kinect helped revenue for the Entertainment and Devices Division grow 30 percent for the fourth quarter and massive 45 percent for the year.

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Internet Explorer 9 outperforms competing browsers in malware download test

2011-07-19T07:01:00.000-07:00

According to a newly released research by NSS Labs, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 greatly outperforms competing browsers in a test against socially-engineered malware. Based on an active testing against 615 malicious URLs for 19 days, both Internet Explorer 9 and Internet Explorer 8 topped the comparative chart.

Here are the findings:

Windows Internet Explorer 9 - IE9 caught an exceptional 92% of the live threats
Windows Internet Explorer 8 - caught 90% of the live threats
Apple Safari 5 - caught 13% of the live threats
Google Chrome 10 - caught 13% of the live threats
Mozilla Firefox 4 - caught 13% of the live threats
Opera 11 - caught 5% of the live threats

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How Do 400 Million Windows 7 Licenses Compare Against Windows XP and Vista History?

2011-07-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

Steve Ballmer proudly announced that Microsoft has sold 400 million Windows 7 licenses. It's a big number by any measure, but how does it compare to Windows Vista and Windows XP?

It has become a tradition for me that I am looking a bit closer into Microsoft's operating system license shipments every time Microsoft announces a new number with the subtle remark that a certain Windows is the fastest selling operating system ever. I don't know about you, but I never heard Microsoft ever announcing that any of its OSes was not the fastest selling OS in Windows history. Even Vista was, apparently, but we know that Vista wasn't exactly a success which tells us that a big number does not mean necessarily that a particular OS is a big success.

So, do 400 million Windows 7 licenses mean that Windows 7 is a big hit? Let's see.

We need to break this number down and put it in perspective to actual PC sales. Windows 7 launched on October 22, 2009 and has sold, on average, about 20 million licenses per month since then (give or take a few hundred thousand per month to even out the pre-sales event preceding the OS launch in 2009). During those 20 months, the global PC industry sold about 591 million PCs, which means that Microsoft shipped about 68 Windows licenses for every 100 PCs sold (let's forget the upgrades for a moment and take this number as a way to compare sales).

What is particularly stunning about the 20 million-per-month number is the fact that it is very consistent and there seems to almost clockwork in play to achieve those 20 million units. 100 million Windows 7 licenses were sold after 6 months, 150 million after 8 months, 240 million after 12 months and 300 million after 15 months. It is almost spooky. Windows 7 sales may be declining just a tad from the 8 month mark, but it's not significant.

Windows Vista, in comparison, sold 128 million licenses in 9 months, or 12 months, if we include the 3-month Express Upgrade cycle that enabled Microsoft to make the 2006/2007 holiday season (Vista was officially released to retail in January 2007, but was available through a coupon beginning in October 2006). So, a fair comparison would be that Vista sold just over 10 million units per month in the first year. Microsoft then announced 180 million units in August 2008 or 19/22 months after launch, which dropped the average to about 8 million units per month: interestingly enough, that means that Windows 7 has outsold Vista already as Windows Vista sold 384 million licenses in a best case scenario (48 months * 8 million units) until it was discontinued in October of last year.

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Microsoft Scores Deal to 'Bing' China's Search

2011-07-08T00:46:00.000-07:00

Bing-a-ling!

Microsoft has scored the English results job for Chinese search engine giant Baidu. Rather than pursue its own search engine market, as Google is doing in China, Microsoft is working on partnerships.

Google's share in China is just under 20 percent, but Baidu commands the vast majority at more than 75 percent of the search market. Microsoft's Bing will return results in English searches.

As quoted by the Financial Times, Samuel Shen, senior vice-president of Microsoft China, said that the partnership "would give Baidu's many users better results and a better English search experience. At the same time, it will allow more Chinese users to experience Bing".

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Microsoft ignores IE slide, touts IE9 success on Windows 7

2011-07-03T01:02:00.000-07:00

Chrome on pace to crack 15% usage share by October, Safari continues gains

Computerworld - Chrome and Safari continued to chip away at Internet Explorer's usage share last month, while Firefox remained stalled for the fourth straight month, a Web statistics firm said today.

Meanwhile, Microsoft used the same data from California-based Net Applications to tout the success of Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) on Windows 7, where the new browser is now the second-most-popular behind the 15-month-old IE8.

Total IE share fell by six-tenths of a percentage point in June -- the fourth consecutive month that Microsoft's browser slid by that amount or more -- to end at 53.7%, a new low for the browser. The drop was less than the previous three months, when IE's decay accelerated, and more in line with the average decline over the last 12 months.

At its current pace, IE could slip under the 50% bar before the end of this year, ending the majority Microsoft has enjoyed for more than a decade.

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Windows forecast shows XP's one-of-a-kind dominance

2011-06-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 will top out at a 41% share, less than half XP's peak

Computerworld - Windows XP may be the last Microsoft operating system to hold a majority share, according to data from Web metrics company Net Applications.

At its peak, Windows XP powered more than eight out of every 10 computers worldwide. In November 2007, the earliest month for which Computerworld has Net Applications' data, XP accounted for 83.6% of all operating systems.

Although Windows XP's share has gradually declined since then, it still enjoys a slight majority: Last month, XP owned a 52.4% share.

The long lag time between Windows XP's release in 2001 and Vista's debut in late 2006 -- combined with Vista's stumble in the marketplace -- are the factors usually cited to explain XP's large-scale and long-term dominance.

Both conditions could be reproduced -- Microsoft might face future failures like Vista -- but the one least likely to happen again is the five-year gap between upgrades.

That's because Microsoft has taken to a three-year development cycle. Even though the company has been mum about a ship date for Windows 8, the operating system it showed off last week, most experts have pegged its release to the fall of 2012, or three years after Windows 7's launch.

With a regular cadence between upgrades, it's unlikely that any one edition of Windows will be able to duplicate XP's supremacy.

Forecasts based on Net Applications' numbers bear that out.

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Ballmer promises Windows 8 PCs, slates and tablets in 2012

2011-05-24T04:25:00.000-07:00

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has promised a Windows 8 release next year.

Ballmer, speaking at Microsoft’s Developer Forum in Japan on Monday, promised a Windows 8 release across PCs, tablets and slates next year. “As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8,” said Ballmer. “Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.” Ballmer’s mention of Windows 8 is a stark contrast to that of his colleagues. Steven Sinofsky and the Windows team typically refers to Windows 8 as the “next-generation” of Windows, avoiding the 8 branding. Mary Jo Foley reports that a Microsoft spokesperson referred to Ballmer’s words as a “misstatement.”

“We’re obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows. Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year. We’ve done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand new user interface. We’ve added touch, and ink, and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there’s a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors.”

Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky will appear at the All Things Digital D9 conference next week. WinRumors reported on Monday that Sinofsky plans to demo Windows 8 at the conference. The demo will likely only be a “technology preview” of what Microsoft is planning for its tablet and slate come back. Microsoft has been secretly preparing an “immersive” tablet experience inside Windows 8. The “immersive” experience will include a Metro based user interface according to sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans. Microsoft will include a new application model codenamed “Jupiter” that will allow developers to create Silverlight based applications, deployed as AppX packages (.appx). The packages will be part of a new Windows application store, pre-installed with Windows 8. WinRumors understands the company will be looking to provide an easy way for existing Windows Phone developers to scale their applications for use with Jupiter.

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Windows 7 Infection Rate Lower Than Windows XP

2011-05-22T02:17:00.000-07:00

Newer is better.

A newer Windows is a safer Windows, as Microsoft proved with its internal security findings comparing its three most recent versions of its OS family.

Windows XP SP2 suffered a quarterly infection rate of 19.3 computers per thousand. SP3 improved things to 15.9 per thousand.

Windows Vista improved upon those numbers significantly. Windows Vista SP1 had 9.8 infections per thousand, while SP2 hit 7.5. The 64-bit versions of the OS did even better at 6.6 and 5.3, respectively.

Windows 7 was the best of all with the 32-bit version having only a 3.8 infection rate, and the 64-bit improving to 2.5 per thousand.

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How Microsoft, Skype, Nokia can rule: Cut out obscene data roaming rates abroad

2011-05-19T06:01:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates stumped for the $8.5 billion Skype purchase and international domination may be a good reason for the enthusiasm. Microsoft, Nokia and Skype could be deadly to data roaming charges.

In a BBC interview, Gates said he advocated for the Skype acquisition. Surprise! Did you expect Gates to say that he hated the Skype purchase and that it was too pricey?

In the BBC chat, Gates said video conferencing will improve. He’s alluding to the fact that video phones will be common—you could argue that they are today via tablets and Skype.

Kevin Fox, a Mozilla Labs designer, argued that Microsoft-Skype and Nokia can upend mobile carriers. Google is aiming for something similar.

I agree with Fox, but there are a few other key items to consider about the Microsoft-Skype combination with a broad partnership with Nokia. Here’s the landscape:
* Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 on Nokia phones will still have a tough time getting traction in the U.S.
* In Europe, however, Microsoft and Nokia could do significant damage in terms of market share gains.
* Skype is well received abroad and serves as a killer app on a solid mobile OS with good hardware from Microsoft and Nokia, respectively.
* Europe also happens to be the place where data roaming charges are obscene. ZDNet highlighted the data roaming issue in polls around the world.
* Take those moving parts and Nokia and Microsoft could take Skype and integrate it to the point where it can minimize carrier connections on the fly. If Skype could instinctively leverage Wi-Fi where ever possible—or cut out wireless carriers entirely—Nokia and Microsoft could do a real service.
* And those data roaming charges are high enough where even folks that even the Microsoft phobic would play along.

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Microsoft software satisfaction rating hits record high

2011-05-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

But high ratings can't solve slumping sales

Computerworld - Americans are more enamored than ever with Microsoft's software, according to a national customer satisfaction survey released today.

Microsoft scored a record 79 points in the newest poll conducted by American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a consumer survey started by the University of Michigan.

The three-point increase over 2009's results -- representing a 7% gain -- put Microsoft's rating at its highest level since ACSI began quizzing Americans about the quality of computer software in 2006.

And it shows that Microsoft's put the Vista debacle behind it, said David VanAmburg, the ACSI's director.

"Microsoft's continued improvement over the last three years suggests that we're out of the Vista phenomenon," said VanAmburg, referring to the hammering Microsoft took after it launched Vista in early 2007 with nearly-instant bad reviews.

MIcrosoft's ACSI rating has improved each of the last three years after dipping as low as 69 in 2008, the second year of Vista's general availability.

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Microsoft Buys Skype in $8.5 Billion Deal

2011-05-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Microsoft will purchase VoIP service juggernaut Skype for $8.5 billion in a deal to be officially announce Tuesday morning. The all-cash deal will make Microsoft a powerful player in Internet-based voice and video communications overnight. Microsoft issued a press release Tuesday morning making the rumored acquisition official.

Previous reports suggested the purchase price would be somewhere between $7 billion and $8 billion. Skype has been on sale for a while now, and a number of companies reportedly showed interest in purchasing the Web-based phone and video chat service, including Facebook, Google, and Cisco.

The $8.5 billion purchase is Microsoft's largest acquisition in nearly three decades. Until now, Microsoft's most expensive acquisition was its 2007 purchase of digital marketing services agency aQuantive for $6 billion.

Despite Skype's having a debt of $686 million, the deal should be a plus for Microsoft. After all, Microsoft will finally have a brand-name Web service under its wing, though it's believed Microsoft plans to integrate Skype into Microsoft Live.

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Unpatched DLL bugs let hackers exploit Windows 7 and IE9, says researcher

2011-05-08T01:49:00.000-07:00

Although Microsoft has patched multiple DLL load hijacking vulnerabilities since last summer, Windows and Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) can still be exploited, a security company warned today.

Microsoft confirmed that it's investigating the claims by Slovenia-based Acros Security.

Researchers from Acros will demonstrate the new attacks at the Hack in the Box security conference in Amsterdam later this month.

"We'll reveal how IE8 and IE9 can be used on Windows 7, Vista and XP for attacking users without any security warnings, even in 'Protected mode,' and how to remotely make many seemingly-safe applications, for example, Word 2010 and PowerPoint 2010, vulnerable," said Acros CEO Mitja Kolsek in a Friday email.

The attack class called "DLL load hijacking" by some, but dubbed "binary planting" by Acros, jumped into public view last August when HD Moore, the creator of the Metasploit penetration hacking toolkit and chief security officer at Rapid7, found dozens of vulnerable Windows applications. Moore's report was followed by others, including several from Kolsek and Acros.

Many Windows applications don't call DLLs using a full path name, but instead use only the filename, giving hackers a way to trick an application into loading a malicious file with the same title as a required DLL. If attackers can dupe users into visiting malicious Web sites or remote shared folders, or get them to plug in a USB drive -- and in some cases con them into opening a file -- they can hijack a PC and plant malware on it.

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13 Windows Key Tips

2011-05-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

For most people, the Windows key (you know, the one with the flag on it?) just sits neglected on your keyboard. It was fairly well known when Vista was released that the then-new (and not yet reviled) OS included a new way to shuffle through open application windows. Using the Windows key while successively pressing the tab key displayed the Aero Flip 3-D view of your windows flying by in mid-screen. Well, that still works in Windows 7, though it's probably just as convenient to stick with the less glitzy Alt-tab to switch through windows, or just choose the one you want from the now-bigger Taskbar.

But the Windows key does a lot more than this fancy scrolling. Windows 7 added a new way to hide all windows at once to reveal the desktop that involves moving the mouse pointer all the way down to the lower-right-hand corner of your screen. While that new Aero Peek is cool, sometimes you want a quicker way to view the desktop. For example, pressing Windows key + D reveals your desktop far quicker than moving the pointer to the corner. If you just want a peek, it's even easier—hit Windows key + Spacebar.

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Asus eee Transformer Sold Out, But Who Bought Them?

2011-04-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

The Motorola Xoom isn't xoom-ing off the shelves, but the Asus eee Pad Transformer tablet apparently sold out at Bestbuy.com on its first day of launch.

At $399, the lowest-priced of the Android tablets combines a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, Android 3.0 ("Honeycomb") operating system, 10.1-inch display, dual-facing cameras, and 16GB of storage. It uses the Corning Gorilla Glass technology to protect it from scrapes and drops, and supports up to 10-finger multitouch support against its 1,280-by-800 resolution. As its name implies, it transforms from a laptop to tablet.

Launched in U.S. stores on Tuesday, the tablet appears to be sold out at BestBuy.com, though it is unclear whether or not Asus simply didn't stock a reasonable amount. A Best Buy salesman said Asus didn't have enough tablets to stock its brick and mortar stores, and that Best Buy's online retail stores had already sold out. "But UPS may be on the way right now," the salesman said.

Last week Asus released a statement apologizing to UK customers for selling out of Transformer tablets so quickly. "Initial demand for the Eee Pad Transformer has been far beyond our expectations," the company said. "Following the on-sale date (6th April 2011) the first batches delivered to the UK have entirely sold out. Please accept our sincere apologies for the difficulties regarding stock availability with our retail partners."

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Troubleshoot and Fix Your Windows PC Problems

2011-04-17T03:18:00.000-07:00

Networking nightmares? Haunted by your crashed hard drive? Read on for troubleshooting tips on all your Windows problems.

If you stop and think about it, a Windows PC is a pretty amazing machine. That little box (or big box, if you use a desktop) contains dozens of small components most likely made by different companies, in different factories all around the world. All you have to do is press the power button, and Windows makes everything work together.

Except sometimes it doesn't. Instead, one of those dozens of small components is causing you endless pain and suffering every time you turn the darn thing on.

We can help.

Windows Task ManagerCheck out this handful of how-tos aimed at helping you fix your PC, whether you're facing a series of small annoyances or a show-stopping crash crisis. Read on, and you'll be armed with tips for fixing a home network, troubleshooting with Windows Task Manager, and resolving several other Windows nightmares. Looking to recover lost files or damaged data? We've got you covered.

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Rumor: Windows 8 Set for September Reveal

2011-04-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Windows 8 talk has really been heating up over the last week or so and today brings speculation about a possible release date for the OS.

It’s been 18 months since Microsoft’s Windows 7 hit retailers’ shelves and if the latest reports are to be believed, the beta of the next version Windows will arrive in six month’s time. Microsoft has announced that the company’s annual Professional Developers Conference will kick off September 13 and run through to September 16.

Considering Microsoft debuted the first public beta of Windows 7 at PDC 2008, Business Insider is leading the way in speculating that PDC 2011 will include a demo of the first public beta of Windows 8.

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Control Your PC Using Only Your Eyes

2011-04-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Built for customers with spinal injuries or limited motor skills, this USB device allows the user to control a PC by mere eye movement.

ZoomTuesday Tobii revealed an eye control device for the PC, a gadget which literally allows the user to control a PC by mere eye movement.

Called the Tobii PCEye, the gadget is primarily designed for those needing an alternative method for controlling a mouse and a computer--those with spinal cord injuries or with limited motor skills due to ALS.

Like an old-school webcam, the Tobi PCEye mounts on the bottom of an LCD panel and connects to the PC via a USB port. After completing a one-time calibration, users can thus control their entire computer through gazing, blinking or dwelling on an item with their eyes.

"Ease of use, reliability and outstanding performance were our design goals for the PCEye," said Oscar Werner, Executive Vice President at Tobii Assistive Technology. "I believe that we have created a device that satisfies a very important need – those with high cognitive levels and motor skill impairments now have the computer access they need to lead a more independent life."

Although the company didn't get into the gritty details on how the device actually works, Tobii said that its eye tracking technology can effectively track nearly every user (over 95-percent) regardless of eye color, lighting conditions, environments or head movement. Tobii also said that its track box (explained as the box defining the area/volume in which a person's eyes can be tracked) is one of the largest on the market.

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Intel doubles capacity, drops price in refresh of popular SSD line

2011-03-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

Solid-State Drive 320 series offers up to 30% drop in price; capacities increased by up to triple that of X25-M drives

Computerworld - Intel announced today a new line of consumer-class solid-state drives based on its smallest 25 nanometer (nm) circuitry that replaces the chip maker's most popular SSD, the X25-M.

The new 2.5-in. Intel Solid-State Drive 320 Series offers models that more than triple capacity over the X25-M and reduces prices by up to 30%, or $100, on some models. While aimed at the laptop and desktop market, the consumer SSD has also been Intel's most popular model for servers in data centers.
SSD 320 doubles sequential write speeds
The SSD 320 more than doubled sequential write speeds from Intel's second-generation X25-M consumer SSD, to 220MB/sec.

With the 320 Series, Intel has added native 128-bit AES encryption on the drives, which protects data while at rest on the NAND flash memory.

For data resiliency, Intel also included surplus NAND flash chips on the drive's board over and above the usable capacity. If the SSD's controller detects a potential chip failure, it automatically migrates data to the spare capacity.

Intel has also included small capacitors in its latest SSD, so that in the event of a power loss, data writes in progress to the NAND flash memory will be completed.

"We're talking about microseconds [of power] here, not seconds," said Kishore Rao, product line manager for SSDs. "There's just enough reserve current to complete any writes that were in progress."

Michael Yang, an analyst with market research firm iSuppli, called the SSD 320 Intel's "Honda Accord." Yang noted that Intel is not the first manufacturer to offer native encryption or data redundancy features on an SSD, but he said they have added what amounts to enterprise-class features on a consumer-class SSD.

For example, SSDs made with SandForce and Indilinx controllers -- such as those from OCZ -- also come with native encryption.

"This is not a leadership product by any stretch," Yang said. "But it's a good product, especially for a 25nm SSD."

Intel's legacy consumer SSD series, the X25-M, comes in 80GB and 160GB models. The new SSD 320 Series offers capacities ranging from 40GB to 600GB.

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Intel ships first Celeron chip based on Sandy Bridge

2011-03-26T20:23:00.000-07:00

IDG News Service - Intel this month started shipping its first Celeron laptop processor based on Sandy Bridge architecture. It is a cheaper and stripped down version of the new Core i3, i5 and i7 counterparts.

The dual-core Celeron B810 processor runs at a speed of 1.6GHz, includes 2MB of cache and draws up to 35 watts of power. The chip is priced at $86 when purchased in quantities of 1,000.

Celeron chips have been used in low-cost laptops designed for basic applications such as word processing and Internet surfing. Over the last two years, single-core Celeron chips have been used in sub-$300 laptops with 15.6-inch screens. The Celeron chip usually competes with AMD's V-series and Sempron processors.

PC makers have not yet announced laptops based on the Celeron chips.

According to product details on Intel's website, the Celeron B810 includes integrated graphics capabilities just like the Core i3, i5 and i7 chips, which are being used in the recently announced business and ultraportable laptops from Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo. But the Celeron chip is missing some power saving and speed-enhancement features such as Turbo Boost 2.0, in which idle processing cores can be shut down or cranked up depending on the level of processing power needed.

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HP Slimline Transferred to Mini Tower Case

2011-03-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

My friend’s new HP Slimline power supply broke down due to wrong power supply rating used. It was setup for 110volts however mistakenly plugged to 220volts then boom!

I had problem getting replacement for its power supply because of its rare slim design and availability from HP. So it came into my mind to transfer its entire component to a bigger case – mini tower minus the broken power supply. This idea worked like a charm. Everything worked perfectly, motherboard is like ordinary board that fits into the new case. I also like this idea of having enough room for heat being bigger.

Asus Making a $200 Android or Chrome Netbook

2011-03-18T04:19:00.000-07:00

ASUS is a pioneer of the low-cost, small notebook made for internet consumption. That was the original concept behind the Linux-based Eee PC, but soon that grew into something bigger when Windows XP invaded and owned the segment.

Now Google has something that could be a very good alternative to Linux in the form of Chrome OS. We put Google's own Cr-48 through its paces and we came away impressed with computing from the cloud.

Reports from Taiwan now point to Asus as working on a low-cost netbook that could float around the $200 to $250 range that will run a Google OS. Interestingly, the report says that it could be either Android 3.0 or Chrome OS.

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Microsoft Patch Tuesday Targets Four Bugs, One Critical

2011-03-09T04:59:00.000-08:00

Microsoft on Tuesday issued three security bulletins that tackle four vulnerabilites. Just one of the vulnerabilities is rated critical. The other three are essentially the same bug, despite the fact that they affect three different products.

The first bug, MS11-015, describes two vulnerabilities in Windows Media. One, the only rated critical in this group, is a bug in Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player related to the handling of .dvr-ms files. It can lead to remote code execution in the context of user.

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Asus Motherboard Box Turns into PC Chassis

2011-03-04T06:23:00.000-08:00

Now here's one way to stay green: use the motherboard packaging as a chassis.

We've seen mods in the past that bypass the chassis and use what's available in the nearby vicinity to create a unique rig. A great example was the one crammed within a used Little Caesar's pizza box; another resided in an actual trash can. Needless to say, the modders were looking to stay "green" with their designs, and it seems that ASUS may be following in those footsteps starting this June.

According to a report by PCWorld, Asus plans to alter the shipping box for one of its upcoming Mini ATX motherboards so that additional components can be added without removing the mainboard, thus replacing the typical metal chassis with the cardboard box. Punch-out holes for ventilation will also be present as well as an actual panel for containing the rig's connectors and interfaces.

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Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is Ready for Download

2011-02-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

Microsoft has released its first Service Pack for the Windows 7 operating system addressing minor OS nips and tucks.

Bug fixes and security patches don't make for the most exciting Windows update, but they're the high points of Windows 7 Service Pack 1, now widely available for download.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is now available from Microsoft's Website for download, or via Windows Update, and by ordering an installation DVD. Windows 7 SP1 takes roughly 30 minutes to install, and you'll have to restart the computer halfway through. System requirements and detailed installation instructions can also be found on Microsoft's Website.

Here are the most notable changes in SP1:

*     A bug fix for HDMI audio devices that stopped working after restarting the computer

*     Corrected behavior when printing mixed-orientation XPS documents

*     Changed behavior of the "Restore previous folders at logon" functionality so that all folders are restored to their previous position, rather than in cascading order based on the most recently active folders.

The service pack also includes all previously released security, stability and performance updates for Windows 7. Like I said, not very exciting.

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Rumor: Dell May Purchase AMD

2011-02-16T05:09:00.000-08:00

MD's inner-turmoil may have positioned it as a prime target for an acquisition by Dell or companies.

Monday AMD saw a sudden 4.2-percent rise in share value by 4pm in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, jumping 35 cents to $8.63 per share. The increase was reportedly due to speculation that AMD may be a take-out target for Dell or other OEMs looking to purchase the nation's second-largest CPU manufacturer.

Currently AMD may be conceived as a prime target. Back in January, Chief Executive Officer Dirk Meyer stepped down from his position after fighting with the board over the company's lack of products in an expanding mobile computer market, and its overall lack of progress in regaining lost shares of the server market. For now Financial Officer Thomas Seifert is acting as interim CEO, but he made it clear he doesn't want the position to be permanent.

Then just last week Chief Operating Officer Robert Rivet and strategy head Marty Seyer announced that they were also leaving AMD. Although the reasons were not provided, it's speculated that the two decided to leave when AMD announced it would conduct an external search for the new CEO. Rivet and Seyer may have assumed that they would not be considered for the position, and quit.

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IBM and Samsung In Huge Patent Deal

2011-02-11T05:32:00.000-08:00

IBM and Samsung have agreed on a patent cross-licensing deal under which the companies are licensing their "respective" patent portfolios to each other.

ZoomAccording to IBM, the deal includes a "wide range" of semiconductors, telecommunications, visual and mobile communication, software and technology services. While there was no detailed information available our sources mentioned that the agreement is likely among the widest ranging ever signed in the IT industry.

Of course, such an agreement was merely a matter of time, as IBM and Samsung are the leading organizations in the U.S. patent race in which the companies are attempting to acquire copyrights in truckload volumes. Of the 219,614 patents granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last year, IBM gobbled up 5896 and Samsung 4551. This week alone, IBM was granted 152 patents and applied for 47, which is a rather low number for the company. Samsung received 113 patents and filed 121 applications.

Not all of the patents filed and granted relate directly to the company's business and the patent listings are occasionally entertaining reading material from the outside. For example, IBM received a patent for a specific (lawn) irrigation system and Samsung recently ventured into automatic shooting robots. The favorite remains Samsung's attempt to patent the patent. So it makes only sense that these two giants cross-patent a large portion of their "portfolios".

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ASUS Introduces P67 Series Motherboard

2011-02-02T04:36:00.000-08:00

The Intel P67 Chipset is a game changer. A revolutionary redesign of the CPU micro-architecture enables P67-based systems to post the most impressive gains in speed and performance seen in the latter half of the last decade. Users looking towards the future will have their eye on integrating P67 motherboards in their PCs.

Providing top-notch pairing solutions with Intel processors is nothing new for ASUS. Known for its reliability and performance, ASUS is the number one choice for computer components.

ASUS designed diverse solutions for the Intel P67 Chipset. For gamers and overclocking enthusiasts, ASUS offers the unmatched power of the ROG Maximus IV Extreme and tough, durable Sabertooth P67. For business owners, the P8P67 series is competitively priced and positioned to fulfill the ever-increasing needs of expanding modern businesses. At the high-end, the P8P67 Pro and Deluxe provide impressive performance and stability with advanced features, while the P8P67 LE presents a conservative option for the budget-minded user.

For space-conscious users, ASUS offers MicroATX solutions: the P8P67-M and P8P67-M Pro. MicroATX solutions offer compact design, energy-efficiency, and space-efficiency while still preserving basic functionality and compatibility with standard PC components.

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How To Fix BSOD UNMOUTABLE_BOOT _VOLUME

2011-01-29T18:19:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, a friend of mine asked me to fix his Dell OptiPlex GX 620 having BSOD Unmountable_Boot_Volume.

Ok, here is what I’ve done:

1. Booted the computer to see the problem and confirm it myself. My friend did not know exactly what the error is.

2. Tried booting in Safe Mode knowing that there is really a problem.

3. Then I hit the BSOD Unmountable_Boot_Volume error.

4. Forced reboot the computer by holding the power button.

5. Booted using Windows XP installation disk that comes with the computer (dell)

6. Went to Recovery Console

7. Issued command: chkdsk /r (check disk with repair option), that particular error is caused by dirty or faulty hard drive sectors.

8. Waited for more than an hour to finish the process.

9. While still in Recover Console, I issued: fixboot to fix the boot sectors.

10. Exit Recovery Console and rebooted the computer.

11. Updated the sound card (Realtek Audio Driver) and video card (ATI)

11. Rejoiced! Error is fixed.

Reference on the internet for Windows XP computers are everywhere and this is one thing I like about Windows XP. J

Microsoft Has Sold 300 Million Windows 7 Licences

2011-01-29T03:11:00.000-08:00

We already know that Windows 7 has seen a much more positive reception than its predecessor, Windows Vista. Last summer Microsoft announced that it had shipped an impressive 175 million Windows 7 licenses. So how are sales now that the OS has been available for more than a year?

As part of its quarterly earnings call yesterday, Microsoft revealed that the company has now sold 300 million Windows 7 licenses.

“To put that in perspective, 300 million is roughly the combined number of households in North American and in Europe!” writes Brandon LeBlanc on the Windows blo. “Or, to put it another way, if you lined up 300 million Windows 7 product boxes, they would stretch nearly 1.5 times around the Earth,” he said.

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Facebook phone to debut next month

2011-01-27T05:06:00.000-08:00

PC World - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's belittling of the idea of burning the social network's brand on a smartphone has done little to squash the rumors that such an animal will be unleashed this year. The latest prediction is that Taiwan-based phone maker HTC will pull the wraps off two smartphones bearing Facebook's brand and colors at an event in Barcelona next month.

The phones will run a "tweaked" version of Google's Android operating system and will prominently display their owner's Facebook messages and news feeds on the phone's home screen, City A.M., the online edition of a London-based free business newspaper, reported today in a story citing unnamed sources.

Another feature will be the ability to e-mail or call friends from information located on a user's Facebook page.

Joe Hewitt, who developed the Facebook app for the iPhone but left the platform in a huff, and Matthew Papakipos, director of engineering at Facebook, are thought to be behind the launch, according to the business newspaper.

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10 Most Memorable Tech CEOs of the Digital Era

2011-01-22T18:08:00.001-08:00

Which of these CEOs will we remember in 50 years?

Chief Executive Officer is a title with significant cachet. As a CEO, you may as well be a modern day king of a commercial fiefdom. Your influence within your firm is unmatched, and your leadership determines the success or failure of everyone serving beneath you.

Through a complex series of cascading algorithms stuffed into an Excel spreadsheet, a few coin tosses, the heart of a Wookie, and the brain of a historian, I have determined what I consider the 10 most memorable CEOs of the digital era. With the PCMag audience in mind, favor was given to American CEOs of prominent high tech companies. As for the "digital era," well, that's a fuzzy term that essentially means post-WWII, computer-related companies.

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WD Again Outships Seagate in Disk Drives

2011-01-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

Western Digital again shipped more disk drives than Seagate in the fourth quarter of 2010, although Seagate's stronger enterprise presence allowed it to top WD in overall revenue.

WD said Wednesday that it shipped 52.2 million disk drives, versus 48.9 million for Seagate, the third consecutive quarter Western Digital has reigned as the overall leader in disk-drive unit sales.

But Seagate pulled in $150 million in net income and $2.7 billion in revenue, versus WD's net income of $225 million and revenue of $2.475 billion. Profitability has been historically somewhat rare in the disk-drive market, although the industry has worked hard to keep costs under control.

WD topped analyst estimates for unit sales, although Seagate underperformed. Western Digital was expected to ship 51.5 million HDD units in the fourth quarter, up 1.7 percent from 50.7 million units in the third quarter, iSuppli said on Dec 15. Seagate was expected to ship 49.5 million drives, up 0.6 percent from 49.2 million units during the same period.

"Calendar 2010 was a year of tremendous opportunity for the hard drive industry with 651 million drives shipped, that's 330 million terabytes of storage capacity sold into a broadening set of applications and markets,"said John Coyne, president and chief executive officer of WD, in prepared remarks. "At 16 percent, this was the industry's strongest full year unit growth in five years. Rotating magnetic storage remains the dominant technology solution for high volume, mass storage of digital content in both the consumer and commercial markets. Full-year revenue for the industry expanded by some 13 percent to $34 billion.

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PC Growth Slows During the Fourth Quarter

2011-01-13T03:22:00.000-08:00

PC growth slowed during the fourth quarter, evidence that in this category, at least, the recovery was not as strong as expected.

Using preliminary figures, Gartner reported that 93.5 million units were sold during the fourth quarter, up 3.1 percent from a year ago, but below Gartner's earlier projection of 4.8 percent growth. Rival IDC said that 92.1 million PCs were sold, up 2.7 percent and under the previous projection of 5.5 percent.

Chipmakers like had begun warning of lower holiday sales as early as September.

The quarter saw no shifts in the rankings of the top five PC vendors, either in the United States or worldwide. Both firms noted that Lenovo grew sharply in the worldwide PC market however, nearly overtaking Acer to become the world's third-largest PC vendor.

IDC blamed the rise of tablets for the slowing PC market, and named the Apple iPad specifically.

"The US market was expected to shrink year over year given the exploding growth experienced in the fourth quarter of 2009," said David Daoud, the research director who oversaw IDC's quarterly PC tracker forecast, in a statement. "Growth steadily slowed throughout 2010 as weakening demand and competition from the Apple iPad constrained PC shipments. In addition to relatively high market penetration and a 'good-enough' computing experience with existing PCs, consumers are being more cautious with their purchases and competing devices have been vying for consumer dollars. This situation is likely to persist in 2011, if not worsen, as a wave of Media Tablets could put a dent in the traditional PC market."

Gartner also noted the tablet phenomenon. "Overall, holiday PC sales were weak in many key regions due to the intensifying competition in consumer spending, said said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner, in a statement. "Media tablets, such as the iPad, as well as other consumer electronic (CE) devices, such as game consoles, all competed against PCs."

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Obama Wants Internet ID for All Americans

2011-01-13T03:13:00.000-08:00

These will be IDs provided by online vendors for financial transactions.

CBS reports that the Obama administration is currently working on the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, a cybersecurity effort that essentially hands out Internet IDs to all Americans. Once completed, the new plan will be handled by the U.S. Commerce Department rather than the Department of Homeland Security or the National Security Agency.

"We are not talking about a national ID card," said U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke during an event at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. "We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities."

For now the details surrounding the upcoming security measure are scarce, unusually so according to CBS. However when it was first revealed late last year, there was indication that users would have a smart card or digital certificate that would prove their actual identities. There would be offered to consumers by online vendors for financial transactions.

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Microsoft to put next Windows OS on ARM chips

2011-01-06T04:19:00.000-08:00

IDG News Service - Microsoft said Wednesday that the next version of its Windows PC operating system will run on ARM processors, part of an effort to adapt Windows to the fast-growing market for tablet computers, where Apple and Google have gained traction.

It's a big move for Microsoft, whose desktop OS has traditionally run only on x86-type processors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Chips based on ARM designs use much less power and are dominant in smartphones like the BlackBerry and iPhone and in tablets like the Apple iPad.

Microsoft executives made the announcement during a press conference at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where tablet computers are the hot topic. CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to talk further about the effort in his keynote address that opens the show Wednesday evening.

The move will bring Microsoft's operating system into the era of "system on chip" processors, such as the ARM chips made by Qualcomm and Texas Instruments, said Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows and Windows Live Division.

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Cable Cutters: Can 4G Hotspots Replace Cable Broadband?

2010-12-27T05:37:00.000-08:00

I spent a couple of weeks connecting my home network with various 3G and 4G hotspots to find out whether they're up to the task.

I used to pay $60 per month for a bundle of TV service and broadband service from Comcast. I decided I didn’t want the TV part anymore, so I canceled it, leaving just the broadband. My new monthly bill: $60 per month.

Ever since then, I've yearned to cut that broadband cable, severing my association with Comcast altogether. I’ll admit that my cable broadband is fast and reliable, but it’s not a moveable feast--I get to enjoy those virtues only at home. Meanwhile I’m under contract with Sprint for another data plan, for service that I can take with me when I leave the house.

I’d love to ditch the home broadband and move to a mobile hotspot (preferably the one inside my phone) that connects all my devices no matter where I am. And I thought that maybe, just maybe, with the advent of 4G it might finally be time to cut the cable.

How I Tested

To see whether I could live without cable broadband, I spent the last two weeks using only a mobile hotspot to connect my home computer and other devices to the Internet. I used two 4G hotspots--Sprint’s Overdrive and the hotspot in my Sprint EVO 4G phone--and one 3G hotspot, the popular Novatel MiFi from Verizon.

I worked under the assumption that for a broadband device or service to truly replace the cable, it would have to connect multiple devices in the home. Mobile hotspots receive a cellular signal, and then create a Wi-Fi network to connect the devices nearby.

I ran a series of applications ranging from bandwidth-light to bandwidth-heavy to compare the performance of the cable service with that of the mobile-hotspot challengers. I read and sent e-mail messages, loaded graphics-heavy Web pages, downloaded MP3 files, watched high-definition video, video-chatted, and played online games.

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Microsoft to wind down Windows 7 Family Pack sales by year's end

2010-12-26T01:58:00.000-08:00

Computerworld - Sales of Microsoft's three-license Windows 7 Family Pack will end next week, according to online retailer Amazon.

The Family Pack gives consumers three upgrade licenses from Windows XP or Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium. When it started selling the $150 package in early October, Microsoft said it would offer the deal for a limited time, but did not set an end date.

On Friday, Amazon's page for the Family Pack told customers that the product would be "available to purchase until December 31, or while supplies last."

Amazon priced the Family Pack at $125.

If Amazon's stop date is accurate, Microsoft will have kept the Family Pack on the market for almost 13 weeks, more than twice as long as in 2009, when the company terminated sales after about six weeks.

Last year, customers got angry when Microsoft and retailers pulled the Family Pack from shelves without warning. Many were frustrated that they'd missed the offer, and some bloggers called the sudden disappearance a "dumb move" or pegged Microsoft as a Scrooge for dropping the deal before the holidays.

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Microsoft set to unveil Windows version for tablets, reports say

2010-12-23T05:28:00.000-08:00

It's not clear from the reports if the new ARM-based version of Windows would be based on Windows Embedded Compact

IDG News Service - Microsoft is set to announce a tablet version of Windows at the Consumer Electronics Show next month, according to reports by Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.

The reconfigured OS will run on processors from chipmaker ARM, according to the reports.

Microsoft already has one OS written for ARM chips, Windows CE, which is designed for use in embedded systems. The company in June said it has plans to release the next version of this OS, called Windows Embedded Compact 7, in early 2011.

This version of the OS will be targeted for devices such as set-top boxes and slates, company officials said..

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Microsoft kills Office anti-piracy program

2010-12-21T05:08:00.000-08:00

Computerworld - Microsoft last week killed an anti-piracy service that checked whether customers were running legal copies of Office, saying that the program had "served its purpose."

ZDNet blogger Ed Bott first reported on Microsoft's move after a tipster pointed him toward a support document on the company's site.

That Dec. 17 document simply noted that Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) "has been retired," but offered no explanation.

In an e-mail reply to questions today, a Microsoft spokeswoman added, "The program has served its purpose and thus we have decided to retire the program."

OGA, which debuted alongside Office XP in 2007, was Microsoft's way to separate counterfeit from legitimate copies of its popular suite. In 2006, Microsoft restricted Office template downloads to users running a legal edition of the application bundle, then upped the ante early in 2007 by requiring all users to validate their copy of Office with OGA to use the now-defunct Office Update site and service.

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Say Goodbye to VGA in 5 Years

2010-12-18T16:42:00.000-08:00

Intel and AMD announce that VGA will be phased out by 2015.

The VGA port, or Video Graphics Array, has been connecting monitors to computers since almost the birth ofZoom the computer. In recent years, displays and computers have begun to adapt the newer DisplayPort and HDMI technologies which allow for less space and power consumption and higher resolutions.

Intel and AMD have announced that they will stop support for VGA beginning in 2013 and expect the technology to die out by 2015, being replaced by DisplayPort and HDMI ports. We have already seen plenty of video cards stop supporting VGA and it is no surprise that the two giants of the computer world are beginning to do it as well. Getting rid of VGA means slimmer laptops that allow for a much more vibrant and clear high resolution display than the more than 20-year-old VGA.

Nick Knuppfer, Intel's spokesperson, told TechNewsWorld, "HDMI and DisplayPort are modern digital interfaces that support higher resolutions and screen sizes."

This move will result in a much quicker integration of DisplayPort and HDMI technologies which will lead to higher resolutions and modern interfaces on the displays of the future. Samsung, LG and Dell have already begun to integrate DisplayPort technology on their devices and are on-board with Intel and AMD's plans for the death of the VGA port.

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New Hitachi HDD Could Lead to 4TB and 5TB

2010-12-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

Hitachi's new 2.5-inch HDD crams 500 GB onto one platter.

ZoomThursday Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) announced its new 2.5-inch, 5,400 RPM Travelstar Z-series family of hard drives. According to the company, the 500 GB version offers the industry's highest capacity for a single-platter, 7-mm thick hard drive. This is accomplished by using the sixth-generation perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) platters which feature a higher areal density (636Gb/inch2) than current hard drives.

With that said, Hitachi's new drive could pave the way to 3.5-inch HDD capacities higher than the current 3 TB limit. This would require using 3.5-inch platters with 636Gb/inch2 areal density, providing around 1 TB each. It's quite possible that within the next twelve months, we could see a 4-platter HDD offering a massive 4 TB capacity whereas a 5-platter HDD could offer 5 TB. For 2.5-inch form factor drives, consumers could see future models with 1 TB or 1.5 TB capacities using two and three platters.

As for Hitachi's new line of Travelstar Z5K500 drives, the series offers 500 GB, 320 GB and 250 GB models. Other feature include the previously reported 5,400 RPM spindle speed, a Serial ATA-300 interface and an 8 MB cache buffer. The drives also feature 1.8 watts read/write power, 0.55 watts low power idle, 5.5-ms average latency and 13-ms average read seek time.

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Facebook's Zuckerberg vows to donate his wealth

2010-12-10T02:31:00.000-08:00

Computerworld - Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire behind Facebook, has pledged to part with a sizable chunk of his fortune for good causes.

Zuckerberg and 15 other billionaires signed on to the Giving Pledge, agreeing to donate the majority of their fortunes to charity. With the new names added to the list of charitable donors today, there now are 50 signatures, including AOL co-founder Steve Case, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Larry Ellison, co-founder and CEO of Oracle.

Zuckerberg isn't the only one at Facebook to make the pledge. Dustin Moskovitz, who co-founded Facebook along with Zuckerberg, also took the pledge.

"People wait until late in their career to give back," Zuckerberg said in a statement. "But why wait when there is so much to be done? With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts."

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Rumor: New Windows 8 64-bit UI Called ''Wind''

2010-12-10T02:28:00.000-08:00

Windows 8 will supposedly have separate 32-bit and 64-bit interfaces, the latter dubbed as "Wind."

ZoomItalian-based website window8italia reports that Windows 8 will arrive with two separate interfaces, one for 32-bit and one for 64-bit. The latter version will be fully 3D and codenamed "Wind," requiring around 170 MB of dedicated video memory. Although "Wind" will reportedly exist in all copies of Windows 8, it will not be activated within the 32-bit version.

The news follows a recent discovery in Nvidia's Quadro 265 driver which specifically references a new kernel with the number 6.2-- Windows 7 is 6.1. The driver actually points to the 64-bit version of Windows 8 specifically as listed in the following:

; Nvidia Windows Vista / 7 / 8 (64 bit) Display INF file DiskID1 = "Nvidia Windows Vista / 7 / 8 (64 bit) Driver Library Installation Disk 1" Nvidia_Win8 = "Nvidia"

In addition to the 3D aspect, the 64-bit interface will reportedly be "fully dynamic" in that it will adapt to the user's habits. This includes the ability to speed up daily tasks by adapting shortcuts and icons to fit within different usage scenarios.

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Is My Computer Dead?

2010-11-29T03:26:00.000-08:00

This is a follow-up post with PC Won't Turn On post.

Today I managed to thoroughly test/troubleshoot my problematic computer. Here are what I’ve done:

Remove motherboard from its casing. I wanted to make sure that there is no faulty grounding.
Replace power supply unit, for isolation purposes.
Remove HDD, RAM, Video card and tested the board with only CPU installed. I was expecting for RAM or video card error.
Re-installed RAM, hoping that will give me video card error as its not yet installed.
Re-installed video card, hoping that it will give me HDD error.
Re-installed HDD, hoping it will boot properly.
System speaker may also be faulty as it don’t make any sound.

I’ve tried each procedure twice in minimum but gave me no joy.

CPU fan and video card fan turns on when powered on but nothing happen. No leaking/bloated capacitors or simply no visual issues on motherboard and its peripherals.

I am now thinking of buying new computer as replacement.

Any suggestions or comments are highly appreciated.

Thanks!

Kingston Launches HyperX External USB 3.0 SSDs

2010-11-26T23:19:00.000-08:00

If you're packing a USB 3.0 PC, then you likely have the need for speed. SSDs are clearly on our list of things that make our computers go faster, but those are already sitting happily in our internal SATA interfaces.
Kingston has a solution for those wanting to make their USB 3.0 fly, and that is with the just-made-official HyperX MAX external SSD. We first laid eyes on this product in its early stages back in June of this year during our tour of the Kingston factory, but now the product is finished and ready to ship in December.

The HyperX MAX 3.0 has a read speed of up to 195MB/sec., and a write speed of up to 160MB/sec., when paired with a USB 3.0 compatible device. It is also fully compatible with USB 2.0 devices, but the speed defaults back to USB 2.0 capability.

During Kingston's internal testing, a 10GB movie file was transferred in 1 minute, 12 seconds to the HyperX MAX 3.0 from a USB 3.0 system. On a USB 2.0 port on the same system, however, the transfer time increased to 5 minutes, 52 seconds.

Read full story...

Nvidia New Website

2010-11-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

Good news for Nvidia lovers, Nvidia launched their new website. check out: geforce.com

What I like about this new site is its "Auto Detect Your CPU". As the name suggest that it will automatically detect your install Nvidia GPU and will suggest the best driver available.

Its "Beta & Legacy Drivers" are also cool.

This one big step from Nvidia supporting their video card drivers and users.

External TV Box - KWorld SA220

2010-11-16T04:49:00.000-08:00

I have an extra 19" LCD monitor that I wanted to turn it to a television.

So I went to the local computer/electronic store and I found out this External TV Box: Kworld SA220. There is actually very small options of this item and I do not get any good and bad review of this brand/model on the internet, so closed eyes I get this. Anyways here is what it offers:

Enjoy analog TV and video games on your wide screen LCD monitor

Support wide screen LCD to 1680x1050 resolution *Compatible with output resolution for 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1680x1050.
Supports 4:3/16:9/16:10 ratio.
Multi-channel preview function to easily facilitate channel selection.
Still-picture function enables you to capture wonderful moments from TV program.
Enhanced PIP function: size and position are adjustable. (PIP is not supported in YPbPr input)
Full-function remote control.
The supplied MMI cable enables you to connect to multiple entertainment devices. The product supports standard-definition and higher definition signal input (480i/480p/576p/720p/1080i).
Auxiliary functions such as automatic start up or shutdown with in 24 hours, calendar, calculator, game and etc.
Channel editing function allow you to arrange the order of programs up to your needs.
PC/VGA/TV switch.

Unfortunately HD functionality is not available in this model. I think it is on its SA230 model.

I have cable TV connection. All channels are good on my tv but a little bit distorted on my TV Box which disappoint me.

will post more upon completion and testing of all its features.

PC Won't Turn On

2010-11-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

My Windows 7 is acting weird today, it automatically shutdown while I am watching movie and it wont turn on when I tried to turn it on.

After re-seating the RAM it worked but during start up it turned off again. I turned it on again to no avail. So I re-seated the RAM again, it turned on until I finished on movie and I decided to turn it off, however this morning it won't turn on again and I'm now feeling that this take another re-seating to fix it.

I am now checking the hardware hoping to see any visible culprit.

Will be posting here for any development.

Any suggestion is highly appreciated.

Report: Dell ditches RIM for own WP7-based smartphone

2010-11-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

IDG News Service - Dell is getting ready to move its 25,000 employees from BlackBerrys to its own Windows Phone 7-based smartphone, in preparation to the launch of its own migration service, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Dell employees will be given the upcoming Venue Pro, and the move will start next week. The company will then begin marketing a service to its business clients within two weeks aimed at helping them make a similar switch, according to the Journal.

Dell officials were not immediately available to comment.

The Venue Pro comes with a 4.1-inch display and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

The move will save Dell about 25% in mobile communication costs, primarily by eliminating the need for BlackBerry servers, Dell told the Journal.

Dell's decision to move away from RIM's smartphones to its own products doesn't come as a surprise to Leif-Olof Wallin, research vice president at Gartner.

"It would be kind of embarrassing to have your own sales staff walking around with a product from a competitor," said Wallin.

Read full story...

Windows 7 - God Mode

2010-11-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

Yes there is a God Mode in Windows 7.

When you're in this mode you, you have all your settings and configurations in one window, just like this:

Click the image to maximize.

Below is the list of settings available in this mode.

Action Center (15 items)
Administrative Tools (10 items)
AutoPlay (3 items)
Backup and Restore (2 items)
BitLocker Drive Encryption (2 items)
Color Management (1 item)
Credential Manager (1 item)
Date and Time (4 items)
Default Programs (2 items)
Desktop Gadgets (6 items)
Device Driver Manager (1 item)
Devices and Printers (9 items)
Display (11 items)
Ease of Access Center (26 items)
Folder Options (5 items)
Fonts (3 items)
Getting Started (4 items)
Home Group (2 items)
Indexing Options (1 item)
Internet Options (14 items)
Keyboard (2 items)
Location and Other Sentors (3 items)
Mouse (8 items)
Network and Sharing Center (16 items)
Notification Area Icons (6 items)
Parental Control (1 item)
Performance Information and Tools (4 items)
Personalization (10 items)
Phone and Modem (1 item)
Power Options (7 items)
Programs and Features (8 items)
Recovery (1 item)
Regionaly and Language (10 items)
RemoteApp and Desktop Cennections (1 item)
Sound (4 items)
Speech Recognition (3 items)
Sync Center (6 items)
System (22 items)
Taskbar and Start Menu (10 items)
Troubleshooting (12 items)
User Account (13 items)
Windows CardSpace (1 item)
Windows Defender (1 item)
Windows Firewall (1 item)
Windows Update (2 item)

Enjoy the God mode!

Seagate Says Future is Hybrid HDD, Not Pure SSD

2010-10-30T01:40:00.000-07:00

Seagate's placing bets that people still want big, capacious HDDs, not just pure SSD speed.

When Steve Jobs debuted the new MacBook Air laptops last week, he said that the new products were what Apple felt were the future of the notebook. Likely he meant that laptops would be shipping with SSD rather than HDD storage.

We love SSDs and we think that they're quite at home inside mobile computing devices, but Seagate doesn't see the industry moving to full solid-state storage.

During a Seagate conference call, CEO Steve Luczo, said that he doesn't see SSDs as being the future. While that sounds funny coming from the leader of a storage company, remember that Seagate isn't heavily invested in SSD technology as some other companies who have feet deep in flash memory.

Luzco also said that he owns a previous-generation MacBook Air with an SSD, but he's frustrated at the lack of storage capacity inside the machine.

Read full story...

Gigabyte Crowns An Overclocking Champion For 2010

2010-10-27T05:13:00.000-07:00

Gigabyte's GO OC finals came to a conclusion over the weekend. Europe's dominance of the overclocking scene was retained, while a Hong Kong native came up short. Check out how using obscene amounts of LN2 can bring you a couple thousand dollars.

Gigabyte’s six-month effort to find and crown a champion came to a conclusion in Taiwan this weekend during the Gigabyte Open Overclocking Championship 2010 (GO OC). What came between the 15 hopefuls who made it to the finals and the first prize? Several hours of liquid-nitrogen overclocking action.

Read full story...

Gartner: The bell tolls for Windows XP

2010-10-19T06:45:00.000-07:00

Computerworld - ORLANDO -- There are a number of IT trends users will see in coming years, but one that's expected to rise to the top will be the need to migrate off Windows XP and Office 2003 as the end of support nears.

In its annual list of the top 10 trends in infrastructure and operations, IT research firm Gartner detailed at its Symposium/ITExpo conference here the shrinking of data centers as users shift more work to cloud services, for one (see the full list below), but the standout issue for many will be the pending end-of-support dates for the Microsoft products.

Support for Window XP and Office 2003 ends in April 2014.

Although desktop operating system migration ranked No. 7 on the list, Gartner analyst David Cappuccio indicated that it would prove to be a more critical issue to some people.

"You may find yourself in a situation where these migrations become the dominant projects in your organizations over the next few months," Cappuccio said. "It's just a fact of life that we can only milk a cow for so long," he said, of the still widely used operating system.

Matt Holmes, systems manager for Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kan., said the Windows migration is "definitely" an issue.

"Over the summer we just had a round of 'firefighting' where we had a bunch of Windows XP SP2 machines that had to get upgraded to Service Pack 3 because of end-of-life support," said Holmes, who was at the conference. "I think it kind of snuck up on the desktop support folks."

The college plans to migrate to Windows 7, he said.

Read full story...

Blogspot New Template Design

2010-10-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

We now have new blogspot template.

Your comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.

Avast Free Subscription Renewal

2010-10-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

I am a satisfied and proud user of Avast 5.0.594 free antivirus.

Just recently I received a notification that its expiring and need to be renewed. Its a yearly renewal, I've been renewing it for the past 3 years. This antivirus is simply cool!

Renewal process is simple, just type-in your name and email address. Presto! you've just renewed your subscription.

Here are some of its features:

State of the art scanning engine provides reliable protection against viruses, spyware and other forms of malicious software.
Real time anti-rootkit protection

Unique "on access" technology checks all kernel-mode drivers that the operating system is loading for signs of rootkit behavior. This enables even unknown rootkits to be detected and stopped before they can do any damage. Get more information here: Avast Download and Features

Personally, I like it for the following reasons:

1. Light on resources (tough on virus, gentle on computer)
2. Active scanner that will give notification when detected some malicious activities.
3. System files are correctly identified (windows files, device drivers, program files) vs malicious files.
4. Its FREE!

WD Announces New 3 TB External HDD

2010-10-06T05:42:00.000-07:00

Monday brought rumors that Western Digital (WD) was gearing up to introduce a 3 TB hard drive, however the company made it official on Tuesday. The announcement trails behind Seagate's own 3 TB GoFlex Desk external hard drive released back in July, the first of its size to hit the market.

According to WD, the new 3 TB drive will be part of the company's My Book Essential line of external drives consisting of both dual USB 3.0/2.0 and cheaper USB 2.0-only models. The dual-interface 3.0/2.0 models will offer a choice of 3 TB, 2 TB and 1 TB capacities, whereas the USB 2.0-only models will offer capacities of 2 TB, 1.5 TB, 1 TB, 750 GB, 640 GB, and 500 GB.

Tuesday Western Digital also said it added a 500 GB USB 3.0 model to its My Passport Essential line of portable drives. Consumers can choose between five “fun” colors-- Midnight Black, Cool Silver, Real Red, Pacific Blue and Arctic White.

The company also added two USB 3.0 drives to its My Passport Essential SE line offering 750 GB and 1 TB capacities. The drives will be offered in stylish black, silver, metallic blue and metallic red colors...

Read full story...

Scareware Mimics Microsoft Security Essentials

2010-09-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

In PCMag's testing Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 didn't rate as well as the best free antivirus products. Microsoft says that's OK, because their real aim is to get free antivirus into the hands of users around the world who have no protection at all. That's fine, but what if that copy of Microsoft Security Essentials is a total impostor?

Researchers at CyberDefender recently discovered a rogue antivirus threat that does a really impressive imitation of Microsoft Security Essentials. Click on the image above to see the impostor and the real McCoy. Can you tell which is which?

Here's a clue. If you were searching for "Dancing with the Stars" and later found Microsoft Security Essentials apparently running, you're looking at the fake. I know. In reality you'd be suspicious because you never installed the product, but not everyone is as discerning as you are. (OK, the lower image is the real one).

Read full story...

Dell's Convertible Inspiron Laptop is Also Genius

2010-09-16T06:54:00.000-07:00

We're used to seeing convertible notebooks that turn into tablets, but this latest creation from Dell is like nothing we've seen before.

This is the Inspiron Duo. It's a 10-inch netbook that turns into a 10-inch tablet. However, the way the display swivels around is pretty different to what we're used to because it actually rotates inside the frame of the display's bezel.

Dell showed off the unique netbook at IDF yesterday, the slim Duo is powered by a dual core Intel Atom processor and runs Windows 7 Premium. The company revealed the netbook by introducing it as a Windows 7 tablet and gave a fairly run-of-the-mill media tablet demo by showing off music, photos and movies. However, they then shocked the audience by splitting it open to reveal that it was actually a laptop.

Continue reading...

Hackers Create 57,000 Malicious Pages Each Week

2010-09-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

Hackers create 57,000 new web pages every week in a bid to infect web users with malicious software, says PandaLabs.

The research arm of security firm Panda Security revealed that on average 375 keywords or brands are hijacked every week and used in the URLs of these malicious web pages.

Furthermore, 65 percent of these fake websites are designed to look like they belong to banks while 27 percent hope to fool web users into thinking they're part of online auction sites including eBay.

PandaLabs also said 2.3 percent of the remaining hoax websites were posing at sites from other financial institutions (such as investment funds or stockbrokers), while 1.9 percent were created to look like government organizations.

Continue reading...

How To Fix Windows XP Freezes

2010-09-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

You are about to complete your work but before hitting the save button your computer freezes and nothing else you can do but to reboot and loose your unsaved documents

Listed below are common causes of computer freezes and its recommended solution.

RAM (Memory)

All memory is being used by an application, so it takes time to process succeeding instructions. This is common on low memory system.
Faulty RAM

Recommended solution:

Terminate some of running applications to free some memory.
Test the RAM, use MEMTEST tool.
Replacement

Video

This usually causes freeze when there is a demand of video acceleration such as games, video (movie or editing), or graphics designing.
Faulty GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) will surely cause freezes. Windows 7 and Broken Video Card is one sample of a broken video card.

Recommended solution:

Visual check is needed, check GPU’s capacitors, chips, etc this part get busted over time.
Update the driver when needed.
Replacement

Device Drivers (incompatible device driver)

This is common issue. Especially for GPU drivers and will definitely cause computer freezes when not corrected.
Outdated drivers. It is known that latest driver may not be the best for you, it depend on your requirements. If your driver is not giving you problem then why update? Updates are needed if you’re installing new application and need feature from latest driver.

Recommended solution:

When you start encountering problem to your computer and you’ve isolated that none of your peripherals is causing it then it the time to consider the motherboard. Visual inspection is needed. Check bloated capacitors and chips or see if the whole board is bent which usually happen on old computers.
Send it to repair shop for troubleshooting.
Replacement.

Hard drive (HDD)

When you start experiencing slow access to your files, slow boot and freezes.
Knocking sounds from inside the computer.

Recommended solution:

Perform scandisk (chkdsk /r /f) to recover files on bad sectors.
Perform disk clean up to delete temporary and unwanted files.
Perform disk defragmentation.
Replacement

Software

Software conflict such as antivirus, firewall, anti-malware, and other tools.

Recommended solution:

Uninstallation of latest software installation.
Updating the software.
Uninstallation of unnecessary application.

Windows Registry

As being the database of all setup and configuration of windows machine when messed up will give unwanted result.

My Computer Dont POST, Not after a Walk Break

2010-08-29T07:45:00.001-07:00

Just this afternoon after 2 hours my computer wont POST - Power On Self Test.

I has been up for about 8 hours from morning till afternoon, then I decided to go for a 2 hour break, then when I opened it just simply don't POST.

Being an IT, here is what I've done and checked:

Listen to any beep codes, its OK
Opened the casing and remove HDD power not to corrupt it from turning it on and off.
Removed RAM then powered it on hoping to hear any error beep code, no avail.
Re-connected my VGA cable to CPU box, no avail.

after these 4 procedures I decided to go for a walk thinking of what may just happened and the reports I need to pass today...

Guess my walk break works, I've re-connected the VGA cable at the back of my monitor and its power adaptor and everything is back to normal like nothing happened.

OK may be I just tired or something but I am happy that I can now write it up and send my reports :)

Was thinking that I may have something to do with my windows xp drivers but thanks it is updated and nothing to worry about it.

Intel's 50Gbps Laser Light Beams Are the Future

2010-08-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

Sharks with 50Gbps laser beams?

Someday in the future, we may look back on the technology we're using today and laugh that we were using electrons to carry data in and around computers.

Intel Corporation this week announced a research prototype representing the world's first silicon-based optical data connection with integrated lasers. The link can move data over longer distances and many times faster than today's copper technology; up to 50 gigabits of data per second. This is the equivalent of an entire HD movie being transmitted each second.

The transmitter chip is composed of four such lasers, whose light beams each travel into an optical modulator that encodes data onto them at 12.5Gbps. The four beams are then combined and output to a single optical fiber for a total data rate of 50Gbps. At the other end of the link, the receiver chip separates the four optical beams and directs them into photo detectors, which convert data back into electrical signals.

While telecommunications and other applications already use lasers to transmit information, current technologies are too expensive and bulky to be used for PC applications.

Today computer components are connected to each other using copper cables or traces on circuit boards. Due to the signal degradation that comes with using metals such as copper to transmit data, these cables have a limited maximum length. This limits the design of computers, forcing processors, memory and other components to be placed just inches from each other.

Read full story...

15 Things Every PC User Should Know

2010-08-17T05:44:00.000-07:00

Think you know tech? If you don't have a handle on every single one of these 15 tech facts, habits, and efficiency tricks, you're not living up to your potential.

1. Don't double-click everything. Windows 101: Double-clicking is how you open items in Windows. It's not how you open links in your Web browser, click buttons in dialog boxes, or do pretty much anything else--and if you reflexively double-click, you might accidentally zip right past something important or submit a form twice. If you don't need this reminder yourself, chances are you know someone who does.

2. Use slashes and backslashes in the appropriate situations. Let's get it straight: / is a slash (or forward slash, if you must), and \ is a backslash. Backslashes are conventionally used for Windows file paths (C:\Program Files\Whatever), while slashes are used for Internet addresses (http://www.pcworld.com/howto.html).

3. Record the exact error message. When your PC crashes, it'll usually try to tell you why it is doing so--albeit with a string of numbers and letters that you won't understand. Write the message down in its entirety (or take a screenshot, if possible) so you can later plug it into Google or give it to your tech support agent. If your PC didn't provide an error message, go to Action Center (in the Control Panel) and see if it shows up under 'View archived messages' or 'View problems to report'.

4. Bring deleted files back from the dead. When you delete a file from your PC or memory card, you're not wiping it off the actual hard drive. Instead, you're simply removing the index information that tells your PC where the file is, at which point the PC is free to treat the part of your disk that contain that file as empty space that it can write something else to. If you've accidentally deleted something, undelete utilities such as Recuva can help you find those files again as long as you haven't already written over that file with something new.

Samsung Launching 18-inch USB Monitor for 2011

2010-08-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

USB LCD Monitor!?

When I see the news I thought it is because of the new generation of USB 3.0, but I an surprise to know that it is designed USB 2.0

Another good news is it is from Samsung - leading monitor/display maker, in my honest opinion. Without further a do here are its specification:

Interface: USB 2.0
Size: 18.5"
Power Rating: 6.3 Watts
Resolution: 1366 x 768
Aspect Ratio: 1000:1
Brightness: 250 cd/m² maximum brightness and LED backlit illumination
Market Release: 2011

Read full story...

Computer is Down Due to Malware/Virus Infection

2010-08-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

While I am writing this post I have my other computer being reformatted because of so malware attack!

1. My Avast free antivirus keeps on popping up saying that i has deleted some virus.
2. Malwarebytes (antimalware) is not opening. I've downloaded new version but no joy.
3. My Display Monitor is flickering... and I guess it has something to do with my windows driver or faulty connection line/ports.
4. It is getting slower and slower.

Here is what my computer do.
1. Download torrent :)
2. Play downloaded movie or music.
3. Do my work if I my second computer is not available.

Guess the top 2 of my Computer activity started this issue, though I am not really sure about it.

If Malwarebytes is working I am pretty sure this will not happen to me.

Qualcomm to Ship Fastest Chips for Phone

2010-08-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

Are you an Smartphone and Tablet user? Be happy! Qualcomm to ship fastest chips for phone.

Qualcomm will start shipping its fastest Snapdragon dual-core chip for smartphones and tablets in the fourth quarter, with devices possibly launching by the end of this year, the company said on Monday.

The company will ship the dual-core QSD8672 chip with CPU cores running at up to 1.5GHz, said Mark Frankel, vice president of product management for Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. The chip could go into smartphones, tablets and low-cost laptops, he said.

Frankel pegged the launch date for devices with the new chip for early next year, adding that aggressive vendors could launch products "by Christmas" -- or the fourth quarter -- this year, Frankel said.

The chip is a follow-up to the dual-core MSM8660 Snapdragon chip, which started shipping in the second quarter. The 8672 has a faster processor than 8660, which includes CPU cores running at 1.2GHz. The processor in the 8672 chip is based on an Arm design and will be manufactured using the 45-nanometer process.

The chip is similar to the 8660 design with a raft of improvements compared to its previous single-core chips, Frankel said. That should bring better power management and performance to devices, Frankel said.

Continue reading here...

How To Setup TP-LINK Wireless Router WR340G

2010-08-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

I have a new router which surprised me how easy it is to configure, so here I am sharing how to it.

Part 1 - Dynamic internet connection type.

1. Open your browser and type in 192.168.1.1 to the address.

2. Login window will ope, Type-in your Admin user name and password. Default is admin/1234.

3. TP-LINK home page will open. First thing you need to do is setup the internet connection (DSL or a cable internet connection).

4. Go to the Network >> WAN, from the “WAN connection Type:” choose what your Internet Service Provider (ISP) gave you. Common types are Dynamic IP, Static IP, PPPoE. Easiest type is the “Dynamic IP”

5. Choosing “Dynamic IP” connection type would automatically try connecting the router to your ISP and starting Obtaining IP address.

6. Click Save after it obtaining IP address.

7. Check your computer and see if you have internet connection running.

Sometime you have to Release and Renew IP address once in a while.

Windows 7 Performance Booster

2010-08-06T04:58:00.000-07:00

One thing I like with Windows 7 is its fast processing time compared to its predecessors Windows Vista and Windows XP. Yeah! I'm pressure you'll agree with me that it also faster than XP. But the good news this operating system can get even faster with simple tricks.

Learn how Windows 7 get faster.

1) Uninstall bloatware that came with your laptop or PC. Or even apps you installed but no longer want. Head to Control Panel | Programs | Uninstall a program and take the hatchet to anything, such as unwanted games or software, that you'll never need. Many programs will load processes at boot time and take up valuable RAM and CPU cycles. While you're in here, you can also click Turn Windows Features On or Off and scan the list to see if there's anything you don't use. You might also want to try out software utilities such as PCDecrapifier and Revo Uninstaller.

2) Limit start-up processes. In the Start button's search box, type MSCONFIG, then head to the Startup tab. You'll likely see a slew of apps, mostly for system support, but you'll be able to identify some that clearly aren't necessary. There's absolutely no need to have Google Update or even QuickTime running all the time, for example. Don't delete those that support your hardware or security, but anything blatantly nonproductive can go. You may have to check the program names online with a site like processlibrary.com to see what they are—they may even be malware. If you want to get more granular, run Microsoft's Autoruns utility.

3) Add more RAM. Windows 7 isn't as much of a hog as Vista, but if you're moving from XP, the memory requirements are greater.

4) Turn off search indexing. If you do a lot of searching, this won't appeal to you, as some searches will be slower. To turn off indexing, open the Indexing Options Control Panel window (if you just type "index" in the Start button search box, you'll see that choice at the top of the start menu), click Modify and remove locations being indexed and file types, too. If you want to leave search indexing on, but find that it occasionally slows you down, you can stop its process when you need extra speed. Right-click on Computer either in the Start menu or on the desktop, and choose Manage. Then double-click Services and Applications, then Services. Find Windows Search, and double-click on that. From this properties dialog, you can choose a Startup type of Manual or Disabled to have the process silent by default.

5) Defragment your hard drive. Your disk stores data in chunks wherever there's disk space, regardless of whether the space is contiguous for one file. Defragging tidies everything up and blocks a program's bits together so that the reader heads don't have to shuttle back and forth to read a whole executable or data file. Windows 7 comes with a built-in defragger that runs automatically at scheduled intervals, but if yours is set by default to run at a time when your PC is usually turned off, it won't get defragged. You can either change the scheduled time, or defrag on demand. Just type "defrag" in the Windows Start Menu search bar, and click on Disk Defragmenter. The version of the utility is improved in Windows 7, and shows more information about what's happening on your disk than Vista did.

There are 45 more tips to speed up your Windows 7 computer.
Continue reading here...

This Guy Definitely Has More CPUs Than You Do

2010-07-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

How many cores do you have?
single, dual core, quad core?

This guy will definitely get more cores than us even we count single cpu would get one core only.

Read full story and see more pictures...

Cleaning Inside Computer

2010-07-30T23:13:00.001-07:00

Are you confident of cleaning and working inside your computer safely?

The inside of a computer attracts dust, which can cause its hardware to fail. So it's important to periodically clean the computer's hardware. Here's how to clean the inside a computer safely with just a few basic supplies.

See video here...

USB 3.0 has Arrived

2010-07-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Latest USB standard making its way to the market, they call it "Super Speed USB"
In a nutshell, here is what it promises:

Higher transfer rates (up to 4.8 Gbps)
Increased maximum bus power and increased device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices
New power management features
Full-duplex data transfers and support for new transfer types
New connectors and cables for higher speed data transfer...although they are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices and computers (more on this later)

Complete Technology specification.
Read full story here...

Today's products what uses these technology.
Read full story here...

What I really like about this new standard is its backward compatibility. USB standard is a well planned technology that its next generation has been included on its first design. Devices drivers may also be backward compatible. :)

Speed Up Windows 7 - More!

2010-07-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

Everybody may agree that windows 7 may be the fastest windows version available.
BUT it can be faster! yeah!

One of the main virtues of Windows 7 is its speed—especially when compared with its predecessor, Vista. But most people haven't experienced the 15-second boot for the operating system that Microsoft engineers were shooting for. And there are certainly times when Windows you'll still see that spinning blue donut. We can always hope that the upcoming Windows 7 SP1 will include some performance tweaks, but, in the meanwhile, there are plenty of things you can do to speed up your installation of Windows 7.

The problem with most "speed-up Windows 7" stories is that they tell you to turn off some of the operating system's more charming visual features. The first nine of my dozen tips show you ways you can speed up your Windows 7 system without compromising its appearance. For those who need even more speed or don't care about eye candy, I've listed three at the end that boost system performance at the expense of some visual effects.

Read more...

On personally note, I like using Ccleaner in disabling startup items and deleting unwanted registry entries made by device drivers and other installations.

Windows XP Downgrade Extended to 2020

2010-07-17T00:31:00.000-07:00

Due to insisting public demand Microsoft announced the extension of Windows XP downgrade until 2020.

The company that I an working will benefit from this. The entire corporation is still using Windows XP SP3 and no incompatibility at all. Guess this is a big slash from IT budget.

Don't you think its too long - 2010?
One thing I like about this is we have time off sorting out new compute issues, windows driver issue, and other hardware incompatibility.

Read below news from Tomshardware.com

Another decade of Windows XP -- who's excited?!

While the consumer and enthusiast are now happily moving to Windows 7, businesses are still chugging along on Windows XP. This would present a problem for businesses buying and installing new computers in the workplace if not for the Windows XP downgrade program available to OEM Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate SKUs.

Originally, these downgrade rights were to disappear once Microsoft ships the first Service Pack in 2011, but upon the release of the SP1 beta, Microsoft announced that it would extend the XP downgrade period through to January 2020 for the Professional and January 2015 for the Ultimate edition (dates according to Computerworld).

"This will help maintain consistency for downgrade rights throughout the Windows 7 lifecycle," wrote Microsoft spokesman Brandon LeBlanc, in an entry on the company blog. "As a result, the OEM versions of Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate will continue to include downgrade rights to the similar versions of Windows Vista or Windows XP Professional. Going forward, businesses can continue to purchase new PCs and utilize end user downgrade rights to Windows XP or Windows Vista until they are ready to use Windows 7. Enabling such rights throughout the Windows 7 lifecycle will make it easier for customers as they plan deployments to Windows 7."

Continue reading - TomsHardware

hal.dll Error

2010-07-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

One computer in the office today got an hal.dll error when she open her computer. Being the IT in the room I was ask for help. First look I know that it is repairable by going to Recovery Console and replacing the missing file. But I was reluctant to repair it because I'm not hired as IT but a database consultant and I don't Windows XP install CD.

I advised my office mate to report it to our IT helpdesk. OK, so after few hours I saw her working on another workstation as her laptop (Dell Latitude d630) is diagnosed to have faulty HDD, to my surprised I've chatted our IT personnel to ask what happened. Our IT department is good, they've run Dell diagnostic tool which reported the said issue.

So her laptop is now waiting for Dell technician to replace the HDD, good that its still under warranty but sorry that she lost most of her files.

After few research I've found out that my bet of repairing it via recovery console is the best solution but this is provided that the HDD is healthy which is not my case.

See my resources:

Just another computer troubleshooting reference. :)

BIOS to Die in 3 Years?

2010-07-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

"MSI will begin its shift over to UEFI by the end of the year, with the industry expected to follow over the next three years.

Is the end of BIOS almost upon us? That's the current speculation, with the date of termination expected in the near future. According to an unnamed spokesperson for MSI, the motherboard manufacturer is making the shift over to point and click universal extensible firmware interface (UEFI) systems by Q4 2010/Q1 2011. The change is expected to become "widely adopted" within three years thereafter"

they say that current ROM size till not be enough for this new technology. I am thinking what how and what drivers will they use to run/recognize the I/Os

Read more

FireFox Beta Version 4.1 Ready For Download

2010-07-08T05:22:00.000-07:00

Are you a firefox user?

Good news!
Firefox announce its version 4.1 beta ready for download. Here is the download link and its release notes: Download Firefox 4 Beta 1

Enjoy new interfaces and new tab position. Speed is also noticeable.

Download and enjoy!

Dell Refuses Blame for Optiplex Problem

2010-07-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Dell is my choice of computer brand. Most of the company I worked with are into Dell. After sales support (hardware, software, drivers, technical) are one thing that I like about it.

We use dell optiplex, I was surprised when a read a news that this line of product has motherboard defects...

Dell on Thursday flatly denied that it shipped faulty computers back in 2003 and 2004, and again said that any problems its customers experienced with Dell OptiPlex desktops were due to an industry-wide problem with capacitors produced by Nichicon. "Dell did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards, and we worked directly with customers in situations where the issue occurred," Dell spokesman Lionel Menchaca wrote in a blog post. The issue stems from a 2007 lawsuit filed by Advanced Internet Technologies (AIT), which accused Dell of knowingly shipping faulty desktops and then reneging on a promise to provide extended warranty coverage. Though the case is more than three years old, it made headlines this week after documents in the case were unsealed and The New York Times picked up the story. Dell on Wednesday dismissed the issue as "old news" and said that the problem originated with a capacitor manufacturer, not with Dell.

Continue reading...

Fixing Power Supply Problem

2010-06-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

System without power is totally dead.

Here are problems and troubleshooting for power supply unit.

Problem 1:
Power supply shuts down intermittently.

Cause:

Voltage selector switch on rear of computer chassis (some models) not switched to correct line voltage (115V or 230V)
Power supply will not turn on because of internal power supply fault.

Solution:

Select the proper AC voltage using the selector switch.
Contact an authorized service provider to replace the power supply.

Problem 2:
Computer powered off automatically and the Power LED flashes Red two times, once every second, followed by a two second pause, and the computer beeps two times. (Beeps stop after fifth iteration but LEDs continue flashing.)

Cause:
Processor thermal protection activated: A fan may be blocked or not turning OR The heatsink is not properly attached to the processor.

Solution:

Ensure that the computer air vents are not blocked and the processor cooling fan is running.
Open hood, press power button, and see if the processor fan spins, If the processor fan is not spinning, make sure the fan's cable is plugged onto the system board header. Ensure the fan is fully/properly seated or installed.
If fan plugged in and seated properly, but is not spinning the replace the processor fan.
Reseat processor heatsink and verifythat the fan assembly is properly attached.
Contact an authorized reseller or service provider

Problem 3:
Power LED flashes Red four times, once every second, followed by a two second pause, and the computer beeps four times. (Beeps stop after fifth iteration but LEDs continue flashing.)

Cause:
Power failure (power supply is overloaded)

Solution:

Check that the voltage selector, located on the rear of the power supply (some models), is the to the appropriate voltage. Proper voltage setting depends on your region.
Open the hood and ensure the 4 or 6-wire power supply cable is seated into the connector on the system board.
Check if a device is causing the problem by removing ALL attached devices (such as hard, diskette, or optical drives, and expansion cards). Power on the system. If the system enters the POST, then power off and replace one device at a time and repeat this procedure until failure occurs. Replace the device that is causing the failure. Continue adding devices one at a time to ensure all device are functioning properly.
Contact an authorized service provider to replace the power supply.
Replace the system board.

Resources:
Windows XP Driver

Solving Internet Access Problems

2010-06-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

Problem 1:
Unable to connect to the internet.

Cause:

Internet Service Provider (ISP) account is not set up properly.
Modem is not set up properly.
Web browser is not set up properly.
Cable/DSL model is not plugged in.
Cable/DSL service is not available or has been interrupted due to bad weather.
The CAT5 UTP cable is disconnected.
IP address is not configured properly.
Cookies are corrupted (A "cookie" is a small piece of information that a Web server can store temporarily with your Web browser. this is useful for having your browser remember some specific information that the Web server can later retrieve.)
You must log on to your ISP before some progams will start.

Solution:

Fix CD-ROM and DVD Problems

2010-06-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

We all love entertainment, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM are one of its source.

Below are common problem that every users should know.

Problem 1:
System will not boot from CD-ROM or DVD drive.

Cause:

Removable Media Boot is disabled in the Computer Setup utility.
Network Server Mode is enabled in Computer Setup.
Non-bootable CD in drive.
Bood Order not correct.

Solution:

Run the Computer Setup utility and enable booting to removable media in Storage > Storage Options, Ensure IDE CD-ROM is enabled in Storage > Boot Order.
Run the Computer Setup utility and disable Network Server Mode in Security > Password Options.
Try a bootable CD in the drive.
Run the computer Setup utility and change boot sequence in Storage > Boot Order.

Problem 2:
CD-ROM or DVD devices are not detected or windows driver is not loaded

Cause:
Drive is not connected or not properly configured

Solution:
See the documentation that come with the optional device.

Problem 3:
Movie will not play in the DVD drive.

Cause:

Movie may be regionalized for the different country.
Decoder software is not installed.
Damaged media.
Movie rating locked out by parental lock.
Media installed upside down.

Solution:

See the documentation that come with DVD drive.
Install decoder software.
Replace media.
Use DVD software to remove parental lock.
Reinstall media.

Problem 3:
Cannot eject compact disc (tray-load unit).

Cause:
Disc not properly seated in the drive.

Solution:
Turn off the computer and insert a thin metal rod into the emergency eject hole and push firmly. Slowly pull the tray out from the drive until the tray is fully extended, then remove the disc.

Problem 4:
CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, or DVD-R/RW drive cannot read a disc or take too long to start.

Cause:

Media has been inserted upside down.
The DVD-ROM drive takes longer to start because it has to determine the type of media played, such as audio or video.
CD or DVD disk is dirty.
Windows does not detect the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

Solution:

Re-insert the Media with the label facing up.
Wait at least 30 secs to let the DVD-ROM drive determine the type of media being played. If the disc still does not start, read the other solution listed for this topic.
Clean CD or DVD with a CD cleaning kit, available from most computer stores.
Use Device Manager to remove or uninstall windows driver in question, the restart your computer.

Problem 5:
Recording audio CDs is difficult or impossible.

Cause:
Wrong or poor quality media type.

Solution:

Try using a slower speed when recording.
Verify that you are using the correct media for the drive.
Try a different brand of media Quality varies widely between manufacturers.

Fix Processor Problems

2010-06-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

Processor is the heart of every computer, having problem in this area means total breakdown of the computer.

Below are the common problem that every may try to solve before asking for help.

Problem 1:
Poor performance is experienced.

Cause:
Processor is hot.

Solution:

Make sure the airflow to the computer is not blocked.
Make sure the fans are connected and working properly (some fans only operate when needed).
Make sure the processor heatsink is installed properly.

Problem 2:
Power LED flashes Red three times, once every second, followed by a two second pause.

Cause:
Processor is not seated properly or not installed.

Solution:

Check to see that the processor is present.
Re-seat the processor.

Fix Memory(RAM) Problems

2010-06-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

Memory (RAM) problem is one of the common computer problem that can easily be fixed by every users.

Below I've lined-up common Memory problem its cause and solution.

Problem 1:
System will not boot or does not function properly after installing additional memory modules.

Cause:
Memory module is not the correct type or speed grade for the system of the new memory or the new memory module is not seated properly.

Solution:

Replace module with the correct industry-standard device for the computer.
One some models, ECC and non-ECC momery modules cannot be mixed.

Problem 2:
Out of memory error.

Cause:
Memory configuration may not be set correctly. You have run out of memory to run the application.

Solution:

Use the Device Manager to check memory configuration.
Check the application documentation to determine the memory requirements

Problem 3:
Memory count during POST is wrong.

Cause:
The memory modules may not be installed correctly. Integrated graphics may use system memory.

Solution:
Check that the memory modules have been installed correctly and that proper modules are used. No action required.

Problem 4:
Insufficient memory error during operation.

Cause:
To many Terminate and Stay Resident programs (TSRs) are installed. You have run out of memory for the application.

Solution:
Delete any TSRs that you may not need. check the memory requirement for the application or add more memory to the computer.

Problem 5:
Power LED flashes Red five times, once every second, followed by a two second pause, and the computer beeps five times. (Beeps stop after fifth iteration but LEDs continue flashing.)

Cause:
Memory is installed incorrectly or is bad.

Solution:

Re-seat DIMMs. Power on the system.
Replace DIMMs one at a time to isolate the faulty module.
Replace the memory (RAM).
Replace the system board.

Troubleshooting No Sounds Output

2010-06-18T07:29:00.000-07:00

Press the Mute button on the keyboard to see if the Mute feature is turned on.
Or

Click the Windows Start Button, and then click Control Panel.
Click Hardware and Sound, and then Adjust system volume.
If applications are muted, click the mute button to unmute.

>> Click the task bar Volume icon, or use the keyboard controls to increasethe volume.
>> Ensure powered (active) speakers are turned on.
>> Turn off your computer, and reconnect the speakers.
>> Press the Sleep button (select models only), or press the Esc key on the keyboard to resume from sleep mode.
>> Replace the passive speaker system with an active speaker system (sold separately). Active speakers have a power cord and On button and connect to
the Audio Out (green) connector on the computer.
>> Unplug headphones if they are connected to your computer.
>> Codec error messages appear when certain audio files are played.
>> Open the file in Windows Media Player. Ensure Windows Media Player is configured to automatically download codecs.
>> If the correct codec is available, the file will play. Note that you must be
connected to the Internet to download the codec file.
>> If the correct codec is not available, check to see if there is an update available for Windows Media Player.
>> For more information, open Windows Media Player Help, and then search the online Help for codec.
>> Update Audio Windows Driver

Desktop Buying Guide

2010-06-18T05:19:00.000-07:00

So many choices and features to choose from, what is the best for you? Buying a desktop computer is highly dependent on the following 2 questions.
1. What is the purpose/usage of the PC?
2. What is your budget?

After answering those questions, type of computer/desktop is next. Below are the different types of Desktop computers with its advantages and disadvantages.

Compact PCs
This is the smallest form factor in desktop family.

Advantages:
1. Energy-efficiency
2. Quite operation
3. Space saving package
Disadvantages:
1. Limited computing power
2. Limited graphical feature. It’s highly dependent on its integrated GPU. Anything more complicated that flash game will be unplayable.
3. Limited connectivity option

All-in-One Desktops
This is new to entry in Desktop family. This type of PC is self-contained that all of its components are mounted behind its display.

Advantages:
1. Energy-efficiency
2. Quite operation
3. Space saving package
4. Touchscreen with multitouch gestures worked into Windows 7
5. Wireless mouse and keyboard
6. WiFi support
7. Out of the box plug and play setup
8. Big display
Disadvantages:
1. Expensive
2. May be harder to troubleshoot like laptop

Budget PCs
Use standard desktop components with minimum requirements.
Advantages:
1. Inexpensive
2. Good space for expandability
Disadvantages:
1. Being a budget PC it offers less computing power.
2. Low graphics support.

Mainstream PCs
Its like a budget PCs having more features and computing power.
Advantages:
1. More computing power than budget PC
2. Good for everyday ordinary game and office applications
Disadvantages:
1. More expensive than budget PC.

Performance PCs
Getting the highest end of the spectrum.
Advantages:
1. Best in performance
2. Equipped for demanding computing.
Disadvantages:
1. Expensive

Resources:
Windows Driver

Windows sigverif for System Integrity

2010-06-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

Unsigned Windows Driver may hurt your system, yeah! Because it did not come from your vendor so warranty is out.

Windows sigverif (File Signature Verification) is a tool to verify/maintain the integrity of the system, critical files have been digitally signed so that any changes to these files can be quickly detected.

In simple words it will check what files are unsigned and report it to you for your action.

How to use it:
1. Go to Start >> Run type in sigverif hit enter. Sigverif windows will open.

2. Click “Start” to start scanning.

3. Unsigned files will be reported back to you. Mine are windows drivers.

Go ahead and verify your files.

SFC – System File Checker

2010-06-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Scan all protected system files and replaces incorrect versions with correct Microsoft versions.

Scan Options

/SCANNOW – Scan all protected system files immediately.

/SCANONCE – Scan all protected system files once at the next boot.

/SCANBOOT – Scan all protected system files at every boot.

/REVERT – Return scan to default setting.

/PIRGECACHE – Purges the files cache.

/CACHESIZE=x – Sets the file cache size.

/? – Display help at the command prompt.

How and when to use it?

After update that went wrong.

Windows update sometimes causes corruption of system files, yes it is!

After virus infection

No doubt it can ruin every file including system files.

After installing/updating windows driver that causes system error.

Digitally signed files/application are allowed to replace/update system files but this also causes system file corruption

Or simply everytime a system file has been corrupted.

This tool can be executed everytime you want so if you feel you need it then use it.

PC Hangs What To Do?

2010-05-25T05:26:00.000-07:00

If you’re PC, System Hang is not new to you! Yeah! it’s very common on Windows. So what do you do?

Reboot your PC?
Break the monitor with your head because of the unsaved documents?
Wait forever?
“Esc” key on your keyboard as fast as you can?
OR open“Windows Task Manager”?

My answer is number 5.

Microsoft define "Windows Task Manager" as:

“Task Manager provides information about programs and processes running on your computer. It also displays the most commonly used performance measures for processes.

You can use Task Manager to monitor key indicators of your computer's performance. You can see the status of the programs that are running and end programs that have stopped responding. You can also assess the activity of running processes using as many as fifteen parameters, and see graphs and data on CPU and memory usage.

In addition, if you are connected to a network, you can view network status and see how your network is functioning.

If you have more than one user connected to your computer, you can see who is connected, what they are working on, and you can send them a message”

Every time I get hang (not responding) application I immediately

hit “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “Esc” key which is the shortcut key for “Task Manager”
go to “Process” tab and sort the “Mem Usage” column and see which has the highest memory usage.
click to select the suspected application (culprit).
finally click “End Process” button to kill the culprit and see who it goes away

Some causes of PC Hangs:

Bad HDD, developing bad sector.
Virus or Malware
Windows Driver issue, incompatible drivers is also know cause of PC hangs specially for gaming.

Lets kill unresponsive applications!

How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting

2010-05-21T05:24:00.000-07:00

I got a very nice resource from Microsoft.com really informative and effective. Read on...

"This article describes how to recover a Windows XP system that does not start because of corruption in the registry. This procedure does not guarantee full recovery of the system to a previous state; however, you should be able to recover data when you use this procedure.

Warning Do not use the procedure that is described in this article if your computer has an OEM-installed operating system. The system hive on OEM installations creates passwords and user accounts that did not exist previously. If you use the procedure that is described in this article, you may not be able to log back into the recovery console to restore the original registry hives.

You can repair a corrupted registry in Windows XP. Corrupted registry files can cause a variety of different error messages. See the Microsoft Knowledge Base for articles about error messages that are related to registry issues.

This article assumes that typical recovery methods have failed and access to the system is not available except by using Recovery Console. If an Automatic System Recovery (ASR) backup exists, it is the preferred method for recovery. Microsoft recommends that you use the ASR backup before you try the procedure described in this article.

Note Make sure to replace all five of the registry hives. If you only replace a single hive or two, this can cause potential issues because software and hardware may have settings in multiple" locations in the registry.

Continue learning here >> Microsoft

Boost Your Computer – Speed it UP!

2010-05-13T06:42:00.000-07:00

So I love tweaking my computer to speed it up.
Windows default facilities that helps speed computer are the following:

Services.msc – this the command to launch Windows Services where you can disable and enable services.
Cleanmgr – command to launch Windows Disk Cleaner where you can delete temporary files and other unnecessary files on your computer.
Msconfig – command for Windows System Configuration Utility where you can disable programs that loads during start up.
Disk Manger – where you can defrag your hard drive for faster accessibility of your files.
Check disk or chckdsk /f /r – for checking/repairing hard drive surface/bad sectors. It actually not repairs it but reallocate all files saved on possible broken sector of the drive.
Updating driver will also help.

These are all windows default facility for cleaning your computer and drive which will boost it. But do you know that there are 3rd party facilities to do all of these? Drum roll please….. Ccleaner is my favorite tool to do most of computer booster. For windows update here is my favorite tool: Download Windows Driver

Windows Drivers Published in PCPitstop.com

2010-05-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Have you upgraded to Windows 7 and you found out that some of your device drivers are not working in this version? If yes then we are on the same shoes.

OK my problem is my Realtek Audio driver. I spent couple of hours in search for its driver but no joy until recently I found that PCPitsstop.com compiled a list of newly released device drivers that works on Windows 7. I got mine there. check it >> PCPitstop

Realtek
Intel
Marvel
ATI

are device manufacturers that posted their new drivers.

OK this is good news but what if the drive you need is not listed there? Then that will be the time you need to go for a 3rd party windows driver searcher/downloader/Installer. Yes! a program that will search, download and install the driver you need. Is that simple? Here is my tested/trusted choice: Windows Device Driver