Do You Have a Slow Running Computer? Speed It Up !!

So you have a slow running computer and you are trying to figure out what may be causing this. There are 3 common ways for your computer to start slowing down and we will discuss them here. Let digest an important piece of information here first. Virtually every little thing stored on your computer is a "file". Some are more important than the others and they all perform certain tasks. Let's see why your computer may be on it's way to a screeching halt.

Tip #1: You have a general hardware problem such as your hard drive slowing down or a faulty RAM chip. This is the least common of the three because the average life expectancy of a hard drive is 40,000 hours. If you suspect something is wrong with your hard drive, get it replaced.

Tip #2: The next thing you will want to look at is how much hard drive capacity you have left. Click on "start" and then right-click "Computer" and select "Manage". Look for the tab that says "storage" and select "Disk Management". Most people store all of their files on the C: drive so we want to investigate it. Right click the C: drive and select "Properties". This will give you the space used and space free. You want at least 12% free on your hard drive.

Tip #3: Ok so you have some room left on that hard drive. If you have a lot of programs installed on your computer, most root problems on your computer point to the registry. When you install another program on your computer, the install program goes out to your registry and changes some files and values. If some of these values get corrupted, your computer as a whole in affected. A great tool to fix your underlying issues is a Windows Repair Tool.

How to Repair a Malfunctioning USB Flash Drive

Flash memory, flash drive, pen drive and memory drive are just some of the names that are used to refer to USB flash drive. It is a compact device that was developed to be a secure and safe data transfer as well as data storage gadget. While this travel data storage device may seem to be perfect, it is still possible that it might corrupt your data. Just like in any other technology, a USB flash drive is also prone to technical problems that often lead to the corruption or loss of data. Assuming that its hardware is undamaged, doing a re-format can solve USB problems.

USB formatting is as easy as A-B-C. First, you have to right click on the removable drive corresponding to where the USB was inserted, and then click on the "format" option. Or you can try using the file system drop down, where options "FAT and FAT32" are available. Choose the FAT option, it will reveal format utilities, then click on the "Quick format" option then press on "start" to initiate format operations. This way, all the data that the USB contains will be deleted, but the errors will hopefully be gone. Usually, errors or malfunction occurs during file transfers or data storage. For simple drive errors, scanning and re-formatting can work. In this manner, all the bad sectors of the USB will work like new.

When formatting does not solve your USB problems, you can make use of an alternate method. For more complicated USB problems, you will need to check the bios first to determine the actual problem. Before doing that, it is advised that you backup all the files from your hard drive to another hard drive, CD or DVD, and then turn off your computer. Insert your problematic USB on the drive port and turn on the computer. When the system bios are prompted, immediately press the F8 key. For some computers, it is the delete key or F2 key that initiate bios checking and take note of the operators that are listed on the screen. Using the cursor keys, navigate the bios and boot the CD drive first, save and then exit. Insert your operating system restore disk, save and restart. Simply follow the cue that initiates installation of your operating system. When the USB disk appears on the list of which drive format comes, then your USB is in the clear.

Depending on the options, you must opt out the re-installation of the operating system at this point. If it is still running, simply quit and leave the other drives alone. Try to reset the computer to boot from the disk instead of the CD drive as before. If your USB flash drive is already usable, it must now be detected in windows. If you fail to do this operating system re-installation, then just continue following the installation instructions. However, never try to install the operating system onto the USB disk drive.

Before going over your USB problems and trying out some troubleshooting tricks, have all your files backed up first, this task is something that must not be taken lightly. Although formatting seems easy, it is a lengthy process that needs to be done by somebody who fully understands the application. If everything else fails, get hold of your USB's warranty so you can get it fixed from customer support.

by Derek Rogers
Source : ezinearticles.com

CPU is Overheating

If you have recently upgraded your CPU and noticed the temperatures are quite high or higher than what others are experiencing with the same CPU, there are a few things to check first.

- Make sure you are using a reliable program to monitor temps like Speedfan or CPU-Z.
- Your heatsink has poor contact with the CPU and isn’t providing adequate cooling.
- Too much or not enough thermal paste.
- Haven’t pushed all the pins on the heatsink down.
- Some CPUs simply run hot. Either from a poor quality batch or some other reason.
- You are overclocking too much.

Simply upgrading the cooler and quality of thermal paste will make a major difference to the temperature in which your CPU operates at. Coolers which operate with heat pipes keep your CPU cooler as they disperse the heat better. You can also choose to run liquid cooled setups, but they are generally expensive and dont make that much of a difference from a good Heat pipe fan

Amongst different components in a computer, the CPU is one of the most important to keep cool. The central processing unit is the place where all your activites are processed. This might be as simple as running a word processor to running a high detail game. This is why it needs high priority to be cooled most efficiently. CPUs are one of the most expensive parts to a computer. Extra care should always be taken to make sure there is no overheating present, else you could find yourself having to replace it.

Speed Up Your Vista

As with XP, in Vista you can speed up performance by sacrificing the visual effects :

1. Go to the Control Panel, System and Maintenance, System Properties
2. Then, click Advanced (Tab) and settings. Set the radio button in 'Adjust for best performance'.

This may produce a marginal improvement on a low spec machine, but it I could not detect a faster response on a machine with a 1.2 Ghz processor and 2GB of RAM. In truth, I was under-whelmed by this Adjust for best performance. A better way to truly speed up your Vista machine is to buy a 1GB USB RAM stick and use Vista's ReadyBoost feature.

Trap: As you adjust for best performance, you may inadvertently turn off the Aero graphics, particularly if you experiment with the Custom settings.


Source : computerperformance.co.uk

How to Get IP (Internet Protocol) of Your Friend via Yahoo Messenger?

Internet Protocol or IP is an address used by a person to connect to the internet. An Internet Protocol address also mean the identity of the person in the World Wide Web. Internet Protocol also has the information of location where the person is stays and connects to internet. If the person who connects to internet doesn’t use proxy, we can track the location of her or his country by knowing his IP (Internet Protocol Address). Internet Protocol Address sometime can also track the city where the person location is.

Because this article is discussing about find or get IP from yahoo messenger, I want to share my knowledge about getting or finding person location by using yahoo messenger. Sometime when we are chatting with a friend via Private Message or Instant Message (PM or IM), we curious where the place of our friend is. If you using official yahoo messenger it is an easiest way to find your friend Internet Protocol address. Please read my tutorial below carefully and I guarantee you will be able to track and find the Internet Protocol Address of your friend.

First step we must to do is get a PM or IM with your friend user name or id. Then try to send a file (picture, mp3, etc), then wait until your friend accepted your file and your file begin transferred to him. If your and your friend connection has a huge bandwidth, I suggest you, to send a bigger byte of file. You also don’t have to do this step if you have their web cam yahoo messenger. After you done this thing, do the next step below (you can do this step before send a file).

Go to the command prompt application. If you don’t understand just follow this step (windows XP):

Start >> Run >> cmd >> Enter

Or

Start >> Programs >> Accessories >> Command Prompt

You will see a windows command prompt appear. Then write a command “netstat –n” or netstat –a” and press enter. Please note that the symbol “ not included when you type that command. You will see information under Active Connections list of Proto, Local Address, Foreign Address and State.

Active Connections indicate the connections being connected to your computer. Proto show the protocol you use to. Local Address refers to Internet Protocol in you LAN connection. Foreign Address indicates the Internet Protocol connection that connect to you and the port they used.

Now you just to seek a remote port that used by foreign address. Usually remote port 80 or 81 is used to transfer a file. Remote Port 5050 used for private message. And 5100 used for web cam. And Remote Port 5000 or 5001 used for voice chat.
The IP address of PM not the real IP of your friend. It belongs to yahoo server IP. But if you send a file or receive a web cam you will be get a real IP of your friend address because yahoo use Peer to Peer connection to service this utility.

Download Sharp IP Getter

If you want a better way to get Internet Protocol of your friend, there are many software that designed and developed to get IP address. One of this software worked is Sharp IP Getter. We do not need to send a file or get a web cam to know the Internet Protocol of your friend. We only need have Private Message.

Sharp IP Getter developed by a team of Sharp Team. You can also download this free software via this website www.Sharp-Soft.Net or www.Sharp-Zone.Com .

Office Tips and Tricks

Zoom with the mouse scroll button
You can use the scroll button on your mouse to zoom in and out of documents. All you need to do is hold down the Ctrl key and roll the scroll wheel forward to zoom in or, or roll it back to zoom out.

Having an un-bulleted or un-numbered line in Word within a bulleted/numbered list.

When you are creating a bulleted or numbered list in Word, you may not want a bullet on a certain line.

You can start a new line without a bullet by pressing Shift-Enter.

Then the next time you press the Enter key, the new line will continue the bulleted or numbered list.

Using the Paste Special command when pasting text from a website or other document

When you copy text from a website or another document into a Word document, Word will keep the typestyle, color, and size from the original page/document. If you want the pasted text to match the format of the document you are pasting into, use Edit, Paste Special, and choose Unformatted Text.

Easily rearrange paragraphs
If you need to change the order of certain paragraphs in your document all you need to do is click on the paragraph you would like to move, then hold down Shift-Alt and move the paragraph up or down using the arrow keys. The paragraph will move over the other paragraphs so you can position it where you want it.

Adding the favorites menu back to the Outlook menu bar :
1) On the Tools menu, click Customize.
2) Click the Commands tab.
3) In the Categories list, click Menu Bar.
4) In the Commands list, click Favorites, and then drag it to the main menu.

Hide your worksheet(s) in Excel :
Select the sheet(s) you want to hide. Hold down CTRL to select multiple sheets
On the Format menu, click on Sheet, and then click Hide.

Create a menu of your most used commands :
1) On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click on the Commands tab.
2) In the Categories box, click New Menu, and then drag New Menu from the Commands box to the location on the toolbar where you want it placed.
3) Right click the new menu, and then give it a name by typing in the Name box on the shortcut menu. Then Press enter.

Increase or decrease the font size (keyboard shortcut) :
To increase or decrease the size of text in Word, PowerPoint, FrontPage, or Publisher, first, select the text you want to resize. With the text highlighted, press CTRL+SHIFT+> to increase the font size, or press CTRL+SHIFT+< To decrease the font size.

To insert the current date in your document
Press ALT+SHIFT+D

Remove all formatting in your Word document
Select all the text in the document (CTRL+A)
Press CTRL+SHIFT+N

Replicate text or images in Word by dragging and dropping
1) Select the item or text you want to copy.
2) Hold down the CTRL key.
3) Use the mouse to drag the item to the desired position.
This will make a copy of the original item

Copy the result of a cell instead of the formula in Excel :
1) Select the cell(s) containing data you want to copy.
2) Press CTRL+C or right click and pick copy to copy the cell data.
3) Click on the new cell/location you want to paste into.
4) Click on Edit or right click and then select Paste Special.
5) Select Values and then click then click Ok.

Insert date/time into Excel or Access :
For current date: Press CTRL+SEMICOLON
For current time: Press CTRL+SHIFT+ SEMICOLON
For current date and time: Press CTRL+ SEMICOLON then SPACE then CTRL+SHIFT+ SEMICOLON

Save multiple Outlook attachments at the same time :
When you receive an Outlook message containing several attachments, you can save all the attachments to the same location in a single step.
1) Click Save Attachments on the File menu.
2) Click Select All to save them all or you can select individual attachments.
3) Browse to the location you wish to save them to.
4) Click Save.

Keep in mind these tips may vary depending on your version of Office !!

Convert FAT to NTFS file system

To convert a FAT partition to NTFS, perform the following steps :

• Click Start, click Programs, and then click Command Prompt.
• In Windows XP, click Start, click Run, type cmd and then click OK.
• At the command prompt, type CONVERT [driveletter]: /FS:NTFS.
• Convert.exe will attempt to convert the partition to NTFS.

NOTE: Although the chance of corruption or data loss during the conversion from FAT to NTFS is minimal, it is best to perform a full backup of the data on the drive that it is to be converted prior to executing the convert command. It is also recommended to verify the integrity of the backup before proceeding, as well as to run RDISK and update the emergency repair disk (ERD).