With the proliferation of laptop computers, choosing to upgrade or implement notebook computer memory is not as straight forward as it may seem at first.
There is a variety of different types of memory, and it is important that you choose memory that is compatible with your notebook computer. Memory is also a little delicate, so you need to be very careful when handling it.
Adding Computer Memory - Some Tips
You should ensure that the Notebook is turned of and disconnected from any exterior power supply. No lights should be visible, and if they are, stop and double check for any live power sources.
Notebook computers are a little different to desktop PC’s in that there is no need to take them apart in order to add memory. Access to the memory slots is via a panel located (usually) in the bottom of the laptop. Once you have found this panel, it should be a small matter of using a screwdriver to open up the panel and view the existing memory. In fact, you can do this to check the exact type of memory that your Notebook currently uses, because it is usually shown on the front of the memory strips and should be visible when you open up the memory panel.
The memory strips are usually locked in with small clips on the ends of the strips. To remove existing memory, simply flip the clips and then pull the memory strips gently from their holding place. If you are simply adding memory of course, and there is space available, just add the new memory, gently pushing it in to ensure it is fully seated in the slots, and then close the clips to hold the new memory in place.
Once you have replaced or added your Notebook computer memory, it is simply a case of replacing the access panel, and then screwing the panel back in place.
Finally, power up the Notebook, and ensure that the memory has been read by the Notebook. When the PC starts up, it should count the memory and tell you how much it thinks it has access to.
If any problems occur, repeat the whole procedure, checking very carefully that the memory is properly seated in the notebook.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Introduction Of A Basic Printer
We would have been still constructing the Panama Canal but for the modern gigantic construction equipments. These Herculean machines made life easy for us by their enormous strengths and capacities for long drawn heavy duties under all torturous conditions.
To think that these engineering marvels work for reclaiming lands from bays, striking piles into the hard sea beds or drilling tunnels deep below the sea beds (Trans European Tunnel connecting England to France), is mind boggling. The list can go endless but for the scope of this article which is limited.
Equipments to Suit All Needs
Construction equipments may be classified as per needs and further by capacities.
1. Excavating and Earth moving: These gigantic machines are hydraulically operated to safeguard from shock failures. These are the first machines to be employed for preparing the construction sites. Land leveling by digging and cutting terrains are done by excavators of appropriate capacities which run into 1000s of HP. Basic earth movers include dozers, tippers and loaders.
2. Concrete processors: Batch or continuous concrete mixers are computer programmed for consistent precise mix. These are stationed permanently near the site or in the factory depending on convenience. Small batch mixers of less than one quintal capacities are portable. The concrete is transported from far off plants in transit mixers of minimum capacity 6 cubic meters by volume. Concrete is poured to the spot using concrete pumps.
3. Bar bending machines: Small high torque generating bar bending machines are handy in bending and forming construction steel bars. These are available in various specifications.
4. Rollers and compactors: Rollers are employed to compact the ground after dozers have leveled it. Some rollers are also equipped with vibrating compactors eliminating the need for separate compacting. For small areas like indoors vibrating plate compactors, which generate up to 1000kgf maybe used.
These are just about the equipments fundamentally required for construction of homes and offices.
Road Construction
For road construction, depending on whether the road is being asphalted or concretized, the equipments change. Asphalt mixers and asphalt pavers take-up the job of road laying to perfection.
Concrete road pavers, although work on similar principle, can’t finish the road-laying as concrete needs setting time. There is a need for faster laying technique. Road surface finishing is by a technique called VDF, which stands for vacuum dewatered flooring. Smoother finishes are given by power trowels and anti skid finishes by brooms, mechanized or manual.
To think that these engineering marvels work for reclaiming lands from bays, striking piles into the hard sea beds or drilling tunnels deep below the sea beds (Trans European Tunnel connecting England to France), is mind boggling. The list can go endless but for the scope of this article which is limited.
Equipments to Suit All Needs
Construction equipments may be classified as per needs and further by capacities.
1. Excavating and Earth moving: These gigantic machines are hydraulically operated to safeguard from shock failures. These are the first machines to be employed for preparing the construction sites. Land leveling by digging and cutting terrains are done by excavators of appropriate capacities which run into 1000s of HP. Basic earth movers include dozers, tippers and loaders.
2. Concrete processors: Batch or continuous concrete mixers are computer programmed for consistent precise mix. These are stationed permanently near the site or in the factory depending on convenience. Small batch mixers of less than one quintal capacities are portable. The concrete is transported from far off plants in transit mixers of minimum capacity 6 cubic meters by volume. Concrete is poured to the spot using concrete pumps.
3. Bar bending machines: Small high torque generating bar bending machines are handy in bending and forming construction steel bars. These are available in various specifications.
4. Rollers and compactors: Rollers are employed to compact the ground after dozers have leveled it. Some rollers are also equipped with vibrating compactors eliminating the need for separate compacting. For small areas like indoors vibrating plate compactors, which generate up to 1000kgf maybe used.
These are just about the equipments fundamentally required for construction of homes and offices.
Road Construction
For road construction, depending on whether the road is being asphalted or concretized, the equipments change. Asphalt mixers and asphalt pavers take-up the job of road laying to perfection.
Concrete road pavers, although work on similar principle, can’t finish the road-laying as concrete needs setting time. There is a need for faster laying technique. Road surface finishing is by a technique called VDF, which stands for vacuum dewatered flooring. Smoother finishes are given by power trowels and anti skid finishes by brooms, mechanized or manual.
Printer Ink Cartridges - The History
You are working at your computer and trying to print out important documents and all at once you find you are out of ink. Years ago that would have presented a big problem. Printers used ribbons or daisy wheels to print on paper. Let's take a look at the evolution of printer ink cartridges.
In 1984 ink jet printers and printer cartridges were introduced. Printing documents was now easier and so was changing printer cartridges. After years of changing ribbons, adding toner ink to reservoirs within the computer.
The dot matrix method used a ribbon. The industry found new ways to make printing easier and more convenient. There is the drop on demand method where the ink squirts onto the paper through tiny nozzles. The amount of ink dropped the page is controlled by the software driver that controls which nozzle fires and when.
By 1990 ink jet print cartridges was widely accepted. Printer cartridges can now print in color as well as in black and white for document. Inkjet printer cartridges can print on just about any sized paper, on fabric and on film. Ink jet printers are used in a variety of settings worldwide and is a popular choice for printing.
Each brand of printer uses a specific type of cartridge. Ink jet cartridges are given an identification number and the models that can use this particular cartridge, is listed. There are a wide variety of cartridges available and you should check your printer's manual to see exactly what cartridges are available to you.
If you are trying to save money, you can purchase refill kits that allow you to fill the cartridges yourself. Not everyone is a fan of these kits however, the quality of the printing isn't as good, and in some cases the cartridges when re-installed can fail to operate.
You can get reconditioned and refilled cartridges from some retailers and sometimes from the manufacturer. Compatible cartridges are cartridges that are made according to the exact specs of the original manufacturer. The drawback here is that not every cartridge has a compatible one.
In choosing a printer check the type of cartridge it will use. You will need to determine if the cartridge is appropriate for the type of printing and the volume of printing you will be doing. You will have to do some research and you can find much of this information on the internet, through the manufacturer or through stores that deal in the particular printer you are looking at.
Discount ink cartridges are available online. All you have to do is type ink cartridges or printer cartridges into your search engine. Some sites offer amazing discounts. Again you are going to have to search for the deal that is best for you. Pay attention to the cartridge top when purchasing them. Check the sides of the box for a list of models the cartridge will work in.
There is a time line below that has some really interesting facts.
This would make a great list of answers for a trivia game. I cannot imagine the hard work that created the ink jet printer cartridge, as we know it. It is easy to understand why cartridges are expensive.
1452 - Gutenberg used oil-based ink, moveable type, and an old winepress to make the first printing press.
Martin Luther began the Protestant reformation making extensive use of the printing press.
1714 - The typewriter was born. Schematics that were done by Mills were discovered however, there is no proof that any typewriters were actually made.
1874 - Christopher Sholes, Samuel Soule, and Carlos Glidden made a keyboard that became known as the “qwerty” because of the first five keys on the top row of the keyboard.
1894 - Franz Wagner developed a typewriter that is very similar to the ones made today. He created a design that let the typists watch as they were typing. Previously, paper would go through a roller as you typed and you could not see what you typed until you were done.
1897 - Underwood (by John Underwood) was the prototypical typewriter of its day.
1939 - Charles Carlson developed electrography, which is the first dry writing technique developed in the United States.
1949 - Haloid Company began to commercially developed electrography for the first time.
1959 - Xerox 914 hit the market and forced other businesses to update their communication systems.
1969 - Xerox first introduced dry printing (laser printing) by Gary Starkweather.
1078 - Xerox put out the world's first business laser printer the Xerox 9700. It copied documents at the speed of 120 ppm (pages per minute)
1979 - The IBM 3800 could print out 20,000 lines per minute.
1980's - The use of toner cartridges became obsolete.
1984 - Hewlett-Packard released the first home-based desktop laser printer.
In 1984 ink jet printers and printer cartridges were introduced. Printing documents was now easier and so was changing printer cartridges. After years of changing ribbons, adding toner ink to reservoirs within the computer.
The dot matrix method used a ribbon. The industry found new ways to make printing easier and more convenient. There is the drop on demand method where the ink squirts onto the paper through tiny nozzles. The amount of ink dropped the page is controlled by the software driver that controls which nozzle fires and when.
By 1990 ink jet print cartridges was widely accepted. Printer cartridges can now print in color as well as in black and white for document. Inkjet printer cartridges can print on just about any sized paper, on fabric and on film. Ink jet printers are used in a variety of settings worldwide and is a popular choice for printing.
Each brand of printer uses a specific type of cartridge. Ink jet cartridges are given an identification number and the models that can use this particular cartridge, is listed. There are a wide variety of cartridges available and you should check your printer's manual to see exactly what cartridges are available to you.
If you are trying to save money, you can purchase refill kits that allow you to fill the cartridges yourself. Not everyone is a fan of these kits however, the quality of the printing isn't as good, and in some cases the cartridges when re-installed can fail to operate.
You can get reconditioned and refilled cartridges from some retailers and sometimes from the manufacturer. Compatible cartridges are cartridges that are made according to the exact specs of the original manufacturer. The drawback here is that not every cartridge has a compatible one.
In choosing a printer check the type of cartridge it will use. You will need to determine if the cartridge is appropriate for the type of printing and the volume of printing you will be doing. You will have to do some research and you can find much of this information on the internet, through the manufacturer or through stores that deal in the particular printer you are looking at.
Discount ink cartridges are available online. All you have to do is type ink cartridges or printer cartridges into your search engine. Some sites offer amazing discounts. Again you are going to have to search for the deal that is best for you. Pay attention to the cartridge top when purchasing them. Check the sides of the box for a list of models the cartridge will work in.
There is a time line below that has some really interesting facts.
This would make a great list of answers for a trivia game. I cannot imagine the hard work that created the ink jet printer cartridge, as we know it. It is easy to understand why cartridges are expensive.
1452 - Gutenberg used oil-based ink, moveable type, and an old winepress to make the first printing press.
Martin Luther began the Protestant reformation making extensive use of the printing press.
1714 - The typewriter was born. Schematics that were done by Mills were discovered however, there is no proof that any typewriters were actually made.
1874 - Christopher Sholes, Samuel Soule, and Carlos Glidden made a keyboard that became known as the “qwerty” because of the first five keys on the top row of the keyboard.
1894 - Franz Wagner developed a typewriter that is very similar to the ones made today. He created a design that let the typists watch as they were typing. Previously, paper would go through a roller as you typed and you could not see what you typed until you were done.
1897 - Underwood (by John Underwood) was the prototypical typewriter of its day.
1939 - Charles Carlson developed electrography, which is the first dry writing technique developed in the United States.
1949 - Haloid Company began to commercially developed electrography for the first time.
1959 - Xerox 914 hit the market and forced other businesses to update their communication systems.
1969 - Xerox first introduced dry printing (laser printing) by Gary Starkweather.
1078 - Xerox put out the world's first business laser printer the Xerox 9700. It copied documents at the speed of 120 ppm (pages per minute)
1979 - The IBM 3800 could print out 20,000 lines per minute.
1980's - The use of toner cartridges became obsolete.
1984 - Hewlett-Packard released the first home-based desktop laser printer.
LCD Monitor – Better Than CRT Monitor
LCD monitors or Liquid Crystal Display monitors are replacing the old CRT or Cathode Ray Tube screens and are far superior in a vast majority of applications.
There are several advantages of LCD Monitors over the old CRT Displays. While LCD Monitors are compact and lightweight and consume less power approximately 20W whereas the CRT monitors are bulky and heavy consuming upto 150W. An LCD Monitor produces perfectly sharp images with perfect image geometry whereas in CRT the sharpness is limited and it tends to blur more at high brightness and with the aging of the tubes and suffers from geometric distortions.
LCD monitors have a consistent tonal scale and can display text with excellent contrast whereas the CRT monitors display strong bright areas which can cause other regions of the picture to dim and also has poor text contrast because of limited bandwidth.
LCD monitors do not normally flicker whereas a faint flicker can always be observed in a CRT monitor.
There are also some inherent disadvantages of LCD monitors over that of the CRT monitors. The contrast or the color changes with the viewing angle in a LCD monitor whereas in a CRT monitor it is always a consistent image irrespective of viewing angle. LCD monitors may cause motion blur and has a poor black on dark images. Whereas the CRT monitors usually portray motion well and also has good black contrast.
When viewing photos or videos on a LCD monitor it may appear flat and the peak brightness is limited by the back light. A CRT monitor displays movies/video/photos with a sparkle and life to images with very high peak brightness.
If LCD Monitor screens are damaged, it may develop stuck pixels whereas no such pixel based problems are present.
In LCD the natural interface would be digital e.g. DVI interface and the image can be sub-optimal with analog interface whereas CRT’s are naturally suited to analog interface.
On the basis of image-quality LCD monitor is best suited for technical/CAD applications and office uses such as large, detailed text-based but -non-critical color graphics while CRT still has the upper hand for high-end photography or art work and for television displays.
Unlike CRTs that are actively displaying the light through coated phosphors, an LCD actually takes white light and filters it to get the desired colors. To do this for each given pixel there are three sub pixels one for red, green and blue light. When the sub-pixel is off, the filter will block that particular color of light. When the sub-pixel is on, it will open the filter to let a desired amount of light through.
There are several advantages of LCD Monitors over the old CRT Displays. While LCD Monitors are compact and lightweight and consume less power approximately 20W whereas the CRT monitors are bulky and heavy consuming upto 150W. An LCD Monitor produces perfectly sharp images with perfect image geometry whereas in CRT the sharpness is limited and it tends to blur more at high brightness and with the aging of the tubes and suffers from geometric distortions.
LCD monitors have a consistent tonal scale and can display text with excellent contrast whereas the CRT monitors display strong bright areas which can cause other regions of the picture to dim and also has poor text contrast because of limited bandwidth.
LCD monitors do not normally flicker whereas a faint flicker can always be observed in a CRT monitor.
There are also some inherent disadvantages of LCD monitors over that of the CRT monitors. The contrast or the color changes with the viewing angle in a LCD monitor whereas in a CRT monitor it is always a consistent image irrespective of viewing angle. LCD monitors may cause motion blur and has a poor black on dark images. Whereas the CRT monitors usually portray motion well and also has good black contrast.
When viewing photos or videos on a LCD monitor it may appear flat and the peak brightness is limited by the back light. A CRT monitor displays movies/video/photos with a sparkle and life to images with very high peak brightness.
If LCD Monitor screens are damaged, it may develop stuck pixels whereas no such pixel based problems are present.
In LCD the natural interface would be digital e.g. DVI interface and the image can be sub-optimal with analog interface whereas CRT’s are naturally suited to analog interface.
On the basis of image-quality LCD monitor is best suited for technical/CAD applications and office uses such as large, detailed text-based but -non-critical color graphics while CRT still has the upper hand for high-end photography or art work and for television displays.
Unlike CRTs that are actively displaying the light through coated phosphors, an LCD actually takes white light and filters it to get the desired colors. To do this for each given pixel there are three sub pixels one for red, green and blue light. When the sub-pixel is off, the filter will block that particular color of light. When the sub-pixel is on, it will open the filter to let a desired amount of light through.
PC Recycling Programs
Years ago, your clients never would’ve had a problem finding "takers" for old PCs. After your clients got four or five productive years out of PC systems, they may have given the PCs to employees or sold them to employees for pennies on the dollar. Alternatively, many others donated PCs to local schools, charities or nonprofit organizations.
Changes in PC Recycling
In the past several years, this has all changed. In the U.S., about sixty percent of households own at least one PC. Schools and charities have become so deluged with PC donations that many get more selective on the equipment they’re willing to accept.
In many areas, it’s even illegal to dispose of a PC in a dumpster. Rather, the PC needs to be recycled. So how do you accomplish this?
Finding a PC Recycling Program
Several PC recycling programs and resources can help you and your clients comply with various environmental regulations as you dispose of long obsolete hardware.
• Dell Asset Recovery Services -- http://www.dellfinancialservices.com/solutions/asset_recovery.asp
• EIA Environment: Consumer Education Initiative (CEI) -- http://www.eiae.org/
• Gateway.com: Recycle/Donate Your Old PC -- http://www.gateway.com/home/programs/tradein_recycle.shtml
• HP Environment: Return and Recycling -- http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/community/environment/recycle.htm
• IBM PC Recycling Service -- http://www.ibm.com/ibm/environment/products/pcrservice.phtml
• International Association of Electronics Recyclers -- http://www.iaer.org/
• National Safety Council (U.S.) EPR2 Project Electronic Equipment Recyclers -- http://www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2/cntctlst.htm
If You Still Can't Find One
If any of the PC recycling resource addresses above are invalid by the time you’re using this list, start at the home page of the website and look for links related to asset management, disposal or recycling. You can also try the website’s search function or site map to look for PC recycling information.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
Changes in PC Recycling
In the past several years, this has all changed. In the U.S., about sixty percent of households own at least one PC. Schools and charities have become so deluged with PC donations that many get more selective on the equipment they’re willing to accept.
In many areas, it’s even illegal to dispose of a PC in a dumpster. Rather, the PC needs to be recycled. So how do you accomplish this?
Finding a PC Recycling Program
Several PC recycling programs and resources can help you and your clients comply with various environmental regulations as you dispose of long obsolete hardware.
• Dell Asset Recovery Services -- http://www.dellfinancialservices.com/solutions/asset_recovery.asp
• EIA Environment: Consumer Education Initiative (CEI) -- http://www.eiae.org/
• Gateway.com: Recycle/Donate Your Old PC -- http://www.gateway.com/home/programs/tradein_recycle.shtml
• HP Environment: Return and Recycling -- http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/community/environment/recycle.htm
• IBM PC Recycling Service -- http://www.ibm.com/ibm/environment/products/pcrservice.phtml
• International Association of Electronics Recyclers -- http://www.iaer.org/
• National Safety Council (U.S.) EPR2 Project Electronic Equipment Recyclers -- http://www.nsc.org/ehc/epr2/cntctlst.htm
If You Still Can't Find One
If any of the PC recycling resource addresses above are invalid by the time you’re using this list, start at the home page of the website and look for links related to asset management, disposal or recycling. You can also try the website’s search function or site map to look for PC recycling information.
Copyright MMI-MMVI, Small Biz Tech Talk. All Worldwide Rights Reserved. {Attention Publishers: Live hyperlink in author resource box required for copyright compliance}
Learn How To Repair Your Hard Drive Problems Fast
Since computer users are human, the user can be the primary cause of computer failure. And we operators of our computers are in most cases but that, we operate the computer but know very little concerning software and hardware components and peripherals.
Since this is the case, you should ASSUME NOTHING when diagnosing any computer problem. We diagnosed a new PC with a video display problem. After briefly looking at the video card it took a while to see that the video card was not pushed into the adapter slot completely.
Even though I looked at the card, I failed to check it thoroughly. This cause me to spend more time on troubleshooting that was not needed.The thought of a hard drive failure strikes terror in the heart of every computer user.
This is because a hard drive failure may lead to invaluable data loss. Here are the most common procedures you should perform when you experience hard drive failure.
General Hard Drive Troubleshooting
The hard drive can display problems such as "retry, abort, ignore" or "cannot read sectors" while operating. This is an indication that there may be bad or unreadable spots on the drive. Reformatting and reinstalling the operating system can normally correct this problem. This will cause you to loose all data on your drive so it is important to always have a good backup of yourfiles daily.
There are good good utilities you can purchase that can repair hard drive problems without destroying data. The utility Spinrite is a good utility and only cost $200.00 which is a good price if you want to avoid the hassle of reformatting the drive and restoring the operating system. Here are some general hard drive problems you should start from and we'll be more specific later.
Use Operating System Utilities
First you may be able to correct those bad spots and errors from your hard drive by performing those PC maintenance in the operating system. Windows has Disk Defragment and you should run disk defragment after running Scandisk since scandisk will need to fix any problems it finds. After scanning the drive and defraging the files, run Disk Cleanup to ensure all junk files have been delete.
Check Drive cables and connections
If there is on indication that the drive is receiving power (you don't hear that familiar clicking noise or the drive light is no working) check the 4 wire connector coming from the power supply.
If the connection is secure, you can remove the power supply connector and do two things. You can check to see if there is voltage with a multimeter. But its much faster to connect another 4 wire connector to the drive to see if the drive works. There are normally extra connectors from the power supply or you can use the connection to the cdrom drive to test for voltage from the power supply.
If the connection indicates no or very little voltage (4 volts or less) from the power supply, the power supply may be going bad. Now check and double check all connections, especially if you are someone else have recently worked inside the computer.
If the drive will not boot up...?
Boot the computer with your bootable DOS disk. If you don't have one made, STOP and make one NOW by clicking on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add and Remove Programs and Startup Disk.
Try to access drive C: by typing DIR C: and press Enter. If you see the directories on drive C: try to make the drive bootable by typing sys a: c: and press Enter. The system files should be restored and the drive may be restored to boot on its own.
If this fails, you may have to reformat and partition the drive with the setup utility that came with your drive or computer.
If the Drive boots but hangs up at boot...?
Turn the computer off, open the system unit and disconnect the ribbon cable at the motherboard end. Turn on the PC AND You will get an error message that the drive is bad and in most cases will go into your BIOS. Change the hard drive type to AUTO and shut off the computer.
Reconnect the ribbon cable and see if the hard works properly. The drive settings should be restored and should operate fine.
A hard drive that fails to boot up may also have a bad controller. If the controller is mounted on the hard drive, there is not much you can do except replace the drive.
Since this is the case, you should ASSUME NOTHING when diagnosing any computer problem. We diagnosed a new PC with a video display problem. After briefly looking at the video card it took a while to see that the video card was not pushed into the adapter slot completely.
Even though I looked at the card, I failed to check it thoroughly. This cause me to spend more time on troubleshooting that was not needed.The thought of a hard drive failure strikes terror in the heart of every computer user.
This is because a hard drive failure may lead to invaluable data loss. Here are the most common procedures you should perform when you experience hard drive failure.
General Hard Drive Troubleshooting
The hard drive can display problems such as "retry, abort, ignore" or "cannot read sectors" while operating. This is an indication that there may be bad or unreadable spots on the drive. Reformatting and reinstalling the operating system can normally correct this problem. This will cause you to loose all data on your drive so it is important to always have a good backup of yourfiles daily.
There are good good utilities you can purchase that can repair hard drive problems without destroying data. The utility Spinrite is a good utility and only cost $200.00 which is a good price if you want to avoid the hassle of reformatting the drive and restoring the operating system. Here are some general hard drive problems you should start from and we'll be more specific later.
Use Operating System Utilities
First you may be able to correct those bad spots and errors from your hard drive by performing those PC maintenance in the operating system. Windows has Disk Defragment and you should run disk defragment after running Scandisk since scandisk will need to fix any problems it finds. After scanning the drive and defraging the files, run Disk Cleanup to ensure all junk files have been delete.
Check Drive cables and connections
If there is on indication that the drive is receiving power (you don't hear that familiar clicking noise or the drive light is no working) check the 4 wire connector coming from the power supply.
If the connection is secure, you can remove the power supply connector and do two things. You can check to see if there is voltage with a multimeter. But its much faster to connect another 4 wire connector to the drive to see if the drive works. There are normally extra connectors from the power supply or you can use the connection to the cdrom drive to test for voltage from the power supply.
If the connection indicates no or very little voltage (4 volts or less) from the power supply, the power supply may be going bad. Now check and double check all connections, especially if you are someone else have recently worked inside the computer.
If the drive will not boot up...?
Boot the computer with your bootable DOS disk. If you don't have one made, STOP and make one NOW by clicking on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add and Remove Programs and Startup Disk.
Try to access drive C: by typing DIR C: and press Enter. If you see the directories on drive C: try to make the drive bootable by typing sys a: c: and press Enter. The system files should be restored and the drive may be restored to boot on its own.
If this fails, you may have to reformat and partition the drive with the setup utility that came with your drive or computer.
If the Drive boots but hangs up at boot...?
Turn the computer off, open the system unit and disconnect the ribbon cable at the motherboard end. Turn on the PC AND You will get an error message that the drive is bad and in most cases will go into your BIOS. Change the hard drive type to AUTO and shut off the computer.
Reconnect the ribbon cable and see if the hard works properly. The drive settings should be restored and should operate fine.
A hard drive that fails to boot up may also have a bad controller. If the controller is mounted on the hard drive, there is not much you can do except replace the drive.
Router - How It Works
If you've been brought up in the 21st century then you probably take a lot of things for granted that 30 years ago people just didn't have. One of those things is the Internet and its ability to be able to connect people from all over the world and allow them to interact with each other in a variety of ways including sending email, visiting web sites, joining forums, attending online chats and countless other things. But none of this would be possible if it weren't for a device that most people have never seen and probably don't even know exist, called a router.
Routers are pieces of equipment that send messages from everyone connected to the network along thousands of different pathways. We're going to take a behind the scenes look at exactly how these routers work.
Let's say you're sending an email to a friend of yours who is living across country or even in another part of the world. How does the email know to end up on your friend's computer instead of all the other millions of computers all over the world? A good part of the work to get these messages from one computer to another is handled by routers. Rather than pass messages within networks, routers pass messages from one network to another.
To get an idea of how this works, let's take a very simple example.
Let's say you have two departments. Department A with 5 employees and Department B with 5 employees. Let's say that Employee 1 from Department A wants to send an email to Employee 3 at Department B. Each department is part of its own network of computers. A router links the two networks together so that they can communicate with each other. It is the only piece of equipment that sees both networks. Many people ask, why not just make one network? The simple answer is that if the two departments do two completely different jobs for the company and send massive amounts of info within the department, you don't want to slow down the other department with the one department's info. To ease what they call the "traffic burden" the two departments are separated into two networks with a router put between them to connect them just in case they do want to communicate for some reason.
The way the router knows what to send where is with what is called a configuration table. These configuration table consists of info on which connections lead to which addresses, priorities for each connection, and rules for how to handle the passing of info between networks. The router then has two basic jobs. The main task is to make sure that information doesn't go where it's not needed so that the volume of data doesn't clog up the network and the next task is to make sure the information goes to where it's supposed to go.
To simplify how this happens, the router looks at the destination address of each packet sent from the source location. It checks its table to see where this address is and sends each packet to that address, bypassing all the other addresses in the network so as not to slow the network down.
In future articles we'll take a more in depth and technical look at how packets are actually routed. Get on your thinking gear for this one.
Routers are pieces of equipment that send messages from everyone connected to the network along thousands of different pathways. We're going to take a behind the scenes look at exactly how these routers work.
Let's say you're sending an email to a friend of yours who is living across country or even in another part of the world. How does the email know to end up on your friend's computer instead of all the other millions of computers all over the world? A good part of the work to get these messages from one computer to another is handled by routers. Rather than pass messages within networks, routers pass messages from one network to another.
To get an idea of how this works, let's take a very simple example.
Let's say you have two departments. Department A with 5 employees and Department B with 5 employees. Let's say that Employee 1 from Department A wants to send an email to Employee 3 at Department B. Each department is part of its own network of computers. A router links the two networks together so that they can communicate with each other. It is the only piece of equipment that sees both networks. Many people ask, why not just make one network? The simple answer is that if the two departments do two completely different jobs for the company and send massive amounts of info within the department, you don't want to slow down the other department with the one department's info. To ease what they call the "traffic burden" the two departments are separated into two networks with a router put between them to connect them just in case they do want to communicate for some reason.
The way the router knows what to send where is with what is called a configuration table. These configuration table consists of info on which connections lead to which addresses, priorities for each connection, and rules for how to handle the passing of info between networks. The router then has two basic jobs. The main task is to make sure that information doesn't go where it's not needed so that the volume of data doesn't clog up the network and the next task is to make sure the information goes to where it's supposed to go.
To simplify how this happens, the router looks at the destination address of each packet sent from the source location. It checks its table to see where this address is and sends each packet to that address, bypassing all the other addresses in the network so as not to slow the network down.
In future articles we'll take a more in depth and technical look at how packets are actually routed. Get on your thinking gear for this one.
USB Flash Drive
USB flash drive or any other flash memory drive is basically an EEPROM that means "Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory".
USB flash memory sticks are nothing but an assembly of EEPROM, a controller with a RISC microprocessor, RAM and ROM. All of this interacts with a computer using a USB controller and connector.
Because USB sticks are EEPROM these can hold data for as long as 10 years. As these memory modules are shock proof and as these don't have a volatile memory are good enough to sustain shock and humidity to some extend that is casual abuse that includes run through a washing machine, or even dropped in coffee.
UBS thumb drives normally don't require drivers but with few old operating systems like Windows 98 and Windows 95 you need drivers that are provided by the manufacturer. Latest OS consider USB drives as USB Mass storage devices and have built in support for these drives that means you don't need any drivers just plug in the drive and start using it.
Some Linux versions might recognize it but won't let you use it until you manually mount the drive. To mount to drive manually use the command
"mount -vfat (drive to mount) (directory to mount at)"
Eg. "mount -vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usbdrive"
Manufacturers are also coming up with systems that have bios support for USB that means you can boot from the small USB drive. There are different versions of operating systems coming up that can be installed on a ROM and are so small to fit a USB drive as well. Most of these OS versions are Linux based for example Damm Small Linux.
USB drives are mainly used to carry personnel data. But you need to be very careful with your personnel data now days. You can have anything in your personnel data collection that you have forgotten for example bank account details or anything. Try using some encryption engine to secure your data. You can use encrypted file system over the USB drive but then you will be able to access your drive only at few computers not all. Or you can have a encryption application that can run without installation from your USB. The best would be to use biometric USB drives.
USB flash memory sticks are nothing but an assembly of EEPROM, a controller with a RISC microprocessor, RAM and ROM. All of this interacts with a computer using a USB controller and connector.
Because USB sticks are EEPROM these can hold data for as long as 10 years. As these memory modules are shock proof and as these don't have a volatile memory are good enough to sustain shock and humidity to some extend that is casual abuse that includes run through a washing machine, or even dropped in coffee.
UBS thumb drives normally don't require drivers but with few old operating systems like Windows 98 and Windows 95 you need drivers that are provided by the manufacturer. Latest OS consider USB drives as USB Mass storage devices and have built in support for these drives that means you don't need any drivers just plug in the drive and start using it.
Some Linux versions might recognize it but won't let you use it until you manually mount the drive. To mount to drive manually use the command
"mount -vfat (drive to mount) (directory to mount at)"
Eg. "mount -vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usbdrive"
Manufacturers are also coming up with systems that have bios support for USB that means you can boot from the small USB drive. There are different versions of operating systems coming up that can be installed on a ROM and are so small to fit a USB drive as well. Most of these OS versions are Linux based for example Damm Small Linux.
USB drives are mainly used to carry personnel data. But you need to be very careful with your personnel data now days. You can have anything in your personnel data collection that you have forgotten for example bank account details or anything. Try using some encryption engine to secure your data. You can use encrypted file system over the USB drive but then you will be able to access your drive only at few computers not all. Or you can have a encryption application that can run without installation from your USB. The best would be to use biometric USB drives.
Notebook Battery Life
Notebook battery life is an important for the mobile computer user. There’s nothing worse than really needing to access you notebook only to have it switch off due to low battery. There are certain things that can help to prolong battery life.
The first thing to consider would be the conditioning of the battery. More namely your charging habits. The worst thing you can do for your notebook battery is always keep it on the charger or charge it while it’s only half full. This will diminish the life of the battery giving you less hours of operating time. The ideal way to charge your notebook battery would be to use it until it is completely dead and then charge it fully.
The second issue to consider would be your usage habits. Using multimedia such as movies and music will kill your battery a lot quicker. Especially doing operations that are CPU intensive. Playing games will diminish your power supply a lot quicker than say, browsing the internet.
There are also different settings that can help preserve your battery life. Windows has different functions for notebooks. For instance you can set your power usage depending on what you are doing. You can set your notebook to act like a desktop if you are near a power supply to get the full performance out of your system. On the other hand you can also set it to use power as efficiently as possible if you are on the move. These setting change things such as the amount of power the CPU uses, the brightness of the screen and so forth.
In the end it’s up-to the individual user. Some notebooks come with the option of a second battery which can double the power your notebook has at your disposal but this is often costly. Also there are more advanced batteries that can be used but again they will cost you extra.
The first thing to consider would be the conditioning of the battery. More namely your charging habits. The worst thing you can do for your notebook battery is always keep it on the charger or charge it while it’s only half full. This will diminish the life of the battery giving you less hours of operating time. The ideal way to charge your notebook battery would be to use it until it is completely dead and then charge it fully.
The second issue to consider would be your usage habits. Using multimedia such as movies and music will kill your battery a lot quicker. Especially doing operations that are CPU intensive. Playing games will diminish your power supply a lot quicker than say, browsing the internet.
There are also different settings that can help preserve your battery life. Windows has different functions for notebooks. For instance you can set your power usage depending on what you are doing. You can set your notebook to act like a desktop if you are near a power supply to get the full performance out of your system. On the other hand you can also set it to use power as efficiently as possible if you are on the move. These setting change things such as the amount of power the CPU uses, the brightness of the screen and so forth.
In the end it’s up-to the individual user. Some notebooks come with the option of a second battery which can double the power your notebook has at your disposal but this is often costly. Also there are more advanced batteries that can be used but again they will cost you extra.
The benefits of the Blu-ray disc.
This article will give you an overview of the benefits that the next-gen blu-ray format will offer over conventional formats such as DVD.
The blu-ray format is going to push forward the limits of current media substantially which allow you to enjoy a host of great benefits which include:
• Improved Capacity,
• High-Definition Video,
• Enhanced Interactivity,
• Enhanced Copy Protection, and
• Being Future Proof.
The most obvious benefit is the larger capacity. With 25gb/50gb to use, movie and game studio's will be able to offer much more in terms of extra features and longer gameplay. Also many new DVD titles require 2 discs for added features whereas only one will be needed for blu-ray which will lower the prices for you.
High-Definition (HD) video playback is perhaps the most useful aspect of the next-gen formats. As HD becomes more mainstream (Sky launched there HD offering recently and more households are buying HD ready TV's) the ability for disc formats to support it is imperative. Blu-ray offers space for 2hrs/4hrs respectively of HD video (different encodings will allow more and less) with space for interactive features still available.
The enhanced interactivity features are another step forward compared to DVD. By incorporating the java platform (called BD-J), blu-ray players can have dynamically changing interactive menu's that can be updated via an internet connection built into the player. These updates can include extra subtitles tracks and promotional features not available at purchase. This could effectively eliminate the 'special editions' studios tend to use as users could simply download all the extra features they wanted though its not clear if this will be free.
The enhanced copy protection is one aspect you won't notice as much but is very important. Blu-ray utilizes a variety of copy protection methods such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Advanced Access Content System (AACS). The DRM method used on Blu-ray is called BD+ which creates dynamically changing keys to protect the discs. This means that if a key is cracked only a select portion of the discs are compromised. The AACS can effectively disable players which are deemed 'bad'. i.e. if copied discs are used frequently, the AACS could disable the player for the user and stop it working even if bought by someone else. The final copy protection which may affect you is the Mandatory Managed Copy System (MMCS) which limits users to a set number of copies of discs by making the user register the 'right' to copy the disc.
Finally the blu-ray disc has been designed to be future proof. This means that by buying all the new equipment needed, you will not need an upgrade in the near future (5 yrs) as these next-gen formats evolve. Also TDK has announced work on a 200gb blu-ray disc (6 x 33gb layers) which will future proof the format even more.
This is just an overview of the benefits that blu-ray offers. There are many smaller improvements but the benefits listed above are the ones that you are most likely going to affect you.
The blu-ray format is going to push forward the limits of current media substantially which allow you to enjoy a host of great benefits which include:
• Improved Capacity,
• High-Definition Video,
• Enhanced Interactivity,
• Enhanced Copy Protection, and
• Being Future Proof.
The most obvious benefit is the larger capacity. With 25gb/50gb to use, movie and game studio's will be able to offer much more in terms of extra features and longer gameplay. Also many new DVD titles require 2 discs for added features whereas only one will be needed for blu-ray which will lower the prices for you.
High-Definition (HD) video playback is perhaps the most useful aspect of the next-gen formats. As HD becomes more mainstream (Sky launched there HD offering recently and more households are buying HD ready TV's) the ability for disc formats to support it is imperative. Blu-ray offers space for 2hrs/4hrs respectively of HD video (different encodings will allow more and less) with space for interactive features still available.
The enhanced interactivity features are another step forward compared to DVD. By incorporating the java platform (called BD-J), blu-ray players can have dynamically changing interactive menu's that can be updated via an internet connection built into the player. These updates can include extra subtitles tracks and promotional features not available at purchase. This could effectively eliminate the 'special editions' studios tend to use as users could simply download all the extra features they wanted though its not clear if this will be free.
The enhanced copy protection is one aspect you won't notice as much but is very important. Blu-ray utilizes a variety of copy protection methods such as Digital Rights Management (DRM) and Advanced Access Content System (AACS). The DRM method used on Blu-ray is called BD+ which creates dynamically changing keys to protect the discs. This means that if a key is cracked only a select portion of the discs are compromised. The AACS can effectively disable players which are deemed 'bad'. i.e. if copied discs are used frequently, the AACS could disable the player for the user and stop it working even if bought by someone else. The final copy protection which may affect you is the Mandatory Managed Copy System (MMCS) which limits users to a set number of copies of discs by making the user register the 'right' to copy the disc.
Finally the blu-ray disc has been designed to be future proof. This means that by buying all the new equipment needed, you will not need an upgrade in the near future (5 yrs) as these next-gen formats evolve. Also TDK has announced work on a 200gb blu-ray disc (6 x 33gb layers) which will future proof the format even more.
This is just an overview of the benefits that blu-ray offers. There are many smaller improvements but the benefits listed above are the ones that you are most likely going to affect you.
Repair Your Own Laser Printer
Having a printer repaired by a service company can be a pretty expensive proposition so we've compiled a checklist below that may assist you in fixing it yourself.
Paper Jams Paper jams are common. To clear the jam pull the paper out gently in the same direction it was headed and then check for any obvious obstructions. If the jams persist the usual cause is worn pickup rollers. Over a period of time the rollers wear down and become slick and don't pull the paper in fast enough. If the paper is stopping in the fuser section it might be a bad gear or some debris causing the jam.
Image Problems Most image problems are caused by a bad toner cartridge. If you have any streaking, light/dark areas or repetitive spots on your print, replace the cartridge and see if it clears up. This is common when using poorly remanufactured cartridges. Some recyclers don't replace the image drum and they should because the original drums are only designed to last for the expected toner life. If problems persist after replacing the cartridge the next area to look at would be the fuser. The heat rollers can become torn or warped after a period of time causing an image defect.
Maintenance Kits On most of the newer printers, HP has determined the average life span of the consumable parts and has a maintenance message programmed in to appear after a certain amount of pages have been produced. The message will be something like "PERFORM USER MAINTENANCE" depending on what model you have. This is just a rough estimate. Some of the parts may go before this message appears and some will last long after. You can get a maintenance kit which usually contains the fuser, feed rollers and certain other high mortality parts depending on the model. The newer ones are designed to be user replaceable and don't require a skilled service technician to install. It's a good idea to have one since these kits will usually take care of most of the problems you will ever have.
Paper, Envelopes and Labels The quality of what you feed into your printer can also be a factor. Certain types of paper can cause feed problems. Envelopes and labels put more strain on the machine than plain paper. Be especially careful with labels as these can sometimes slide off inside the fuser or toner cartridge. Humidity and heat can also be a factor. A humid environment can cause your paper to absorb moisture causing feed problems. If you turn off your heat or air conditioning over a weekend, allow the room temperature to return to normal before you begin working.
Paper Jams Paper jams are common. To clear the jam pull the paper out gently in the same direction it was headed and then check for any obvious obstructions. If the jams persist the usual cause is worn pickup rollers. Over a period of time the rollers wear down and become slick and don't pull the paper in fast enough. If the paper is stopping in the fuser section it might be a bad gear or some debris causing the jam.
Image Problems Most image problems are caused by a bad toner cartridge. If you have any streaking, light/dark areas or repetitive spots on your print, replace the cartridge and see if it clears up. This is common when using poorly remanufactured cartridges. Some recyclers don't replace the image drum and they should because the original drums are only designed to last for the expected toner life. If problems persist after replacing the cartridge the next area to look at would be the fuser. The heat rollers can become torn or warped after a period of time causing an image defect.
Maintenance Kits On most of the newer printers, HP has determined the average life span of the consumable parts and has a maintenance message programmed in to appear after a certain amount of pages have been produced. The message will be something like "PERFORM USER MAINTENANCE" depending on what model you have. This is just a rough estimate. Some of the parts may go before this message appears and some will last long after. You can get a maintenance kit which usually contains the fuser, feed rollers and certain other high mortality parts depending on the model. The newer ones are designed to be user replaceable and don't require a skilled service technician to install. It's a good idea to have one since these kits will usually take care of most of the problems you will ever have.
Paper, Envelopes and Labels The quality of what you feed into your printer can also be a factor. Certain types of paper can cause feed problems. Envelopes and labels put more strain on the machine than plain paper. Be especially careful with labels as these can sometimes slide off inside the fuser or toner cartridge. Humidity and heat can also be a factor. A humid environment can cause your paper to absorb moisture causing feed problems. If you turn off your heat or air conditioning over a weekend, allow the room temperature to return to normal before you begin working.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)