Winpim 10.1.0.2020

WinPIM is a better PIM software (Personal Information Manager) for time and contact management. It can manage your Contact, Diary, Calendar, Task, Note and E-mail, it also gives you an easy and low cost network solution for sharing all data simultaneously with everyone in your workgroup! Click to find Top 10 Reasons why WinPIM is your best choice either for personal or network use.
Contacts, Appointments, Tasks, Diaries, Notes, E-mail all-in-one.
Multi-users system, information can be shared via LAN or Internet.
Storage full contacts information, tree groups to track and organize contacts.
Drag and drop functionality makes it a snap to schedule appointments.
Prioritized to do list helps you get everything done, sub-tasks supported.
HTML and Rich text format diary with easy view.
3 types of notes helps your manage any additional information.
Multi-User, multi-accounts HTML E-Mail client with modules support.
Stand alone Reminder.
Can work with Pocket PC/Palm/iPhone/Windows Mobile devices and Outlook.
And much much more! Visit the WinPIM features page for more information!

Using Windows Server 2008 as a SUPER workstation OS

 

Windows Server 2008 is the best OS to be released till date from Microsoft's stable. And the moment I got hold of the RTM build I could not resist installing it on my workstation. Due to the nature of my work I always prefer running a Server OS on my main workstation... I have been running Windows 2003 disguised as XP (with all the themes and stuff) all these days.

So here is my tale of how I went about setting up Windows Server 2008 to look and fell like its desktop counterpart Windows Vista.

1. Enable Hardware Virtualization

My workstation is a x64 machine with hardware virtualization capabilities. This means I can run Hyper-V on my machine. Even if your machine's hardware supports virtualization it is most likely not going to be enabled by default. You have to enable it via your BIOS setup.

2. Install the latest Graphics and Audio drivers

Being a server OS Windows 2008 carries with it basic graphics and audio drivers. To utilize the full strength of your hardware ensure you install the latest drivers for both graphics and audio hardware. Only with the proper graphics drivers will you be able to enable the "Aero" experience on Windows 2008.

3. Desktop Experience Feature

The Desktop Experience Feature enables a bunch of stuff that is by default present on a desktop OS. Most importantly it includes Themes, Windows Media player and the Aero related features. You will have to enable it form the Server Manager. The "Turn Windows features on or off" / "Add remove windows components" has all been rolled into the Server Manager now.

Server Manager > Features > Desktop Experience

Installing the Desktop Experience feature does not enable them. You have to manually set them up.

4. Themes

To enable Themes you will basically have to enable the Themes Service. Again being a server OS it is not enabled by default.

Services.MSC > Themes

Set the start up type to Automatic

Enabling the Aero Theme.

For this go to Control Panel > Personalization >Theme and select Windows Aero

5. Search

Search is also disabled by default on Windows 2008. Searching is important for me as I use it a lot to find my emails. To enable search you will have to add the File Services Role via Server Manager.

Server Manager > Roles > File Services > Windows Search

Outlook relies on this search service.

6. Disable Shutdown Event Tracker

Since I am using it as a workstation I do not want to keep a track of all the Shutdowns. The Shutdown Event Tracker is the pop up that you get asking you for a shutdown reason. To disable it

Open mmc.msc

Add the Group Policy snap-in

Under Administrative Templates expand System

Set Display Shutdown Event Tracer to Disabled

7. Audio

For audio you need to enable the Windows Audio service. You do this by setting the startup type to Automatic.

Services.msc > Windows Audio

Ensure you have proper drivers for your audio hardware... for me the default driver was not enabling the headphones ... it started working fine after I got the proper driver.

8. SuperFetch

As a workstation, enabling SupertFetch will give you that additional bit of responsiveness. The SuperFetch services is disabled by default and when you try to enable it you will most likely get an error message "The operating system is not presently configured to run this application"

You will have to make two registry changes to enable this service. I basically copied them over from my Vista machine.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

EnablePrefetcher DWORD 3

EnableSuperfetch DWORD 3

9. Get a codec pack.

For media hungry buffs download a codec pack. This will ensure you can play all media files.

10. Enable Hyper-V

With Hyper-V you can run virtual machines on your workstation. This is useful if you want to run your tests on older OS versions. Enabling  Hyper-V is easy

Server Manager > Roles > Hyper-V

Remember you need a Hyper-V enabled Windows 2008 licence and also your hardware has to support virtualization.

Also If you are using an existing VHD it may ask you to re-Activate Windows as it detected hardware changes.

One good thing about Windows Server 2008 is that it no longer asks for the i386 folder like Windows 2003 while you enable features.

Brother PT-1880 Advanced Deluxe Labeler for Home & Office

With your PT-1880, you can create labels for any application. Select from the many frames, character sizes and styles to design beautiful custom labels. In addition, the variety of tape cartridges available allows you to print labels with different widths and exciting colors.

Product Details


Amazon Sales Rank: #12 in Office Product


Color: Silver


Brand: Brother


Model: PT-1880


Released on: 2006-11-22


Format: CD


Original language: English


Number of items: 1


Dimensions: 2.00" h x 7.00" w x 9.00" l, 4.00 pounds

Features

Choose from 9 framing options, 9 type styles and 6 type sizes, and prints labels up to 3/4" wide Large 15-character x 1-line LCD and preview key allow you to double check text before you print Built-in memory saves up to 5 of your most commonly used labels Uses up to 50 of Brother's various color "TZ" laminated indoor/outdoor tapes Operates on 6 "AA" Alkaline Batteries or AC Adapter (both not included)

The Brother P-Touch-1880 Advanced Deluxe Labeler for Home and Office is a sleek, contemporary mid-size handheld/desktop labeler. This advanced model features two distinct fonts and a clear 15 character x one-line LCD display for easy viewing. With it's built-in memory, you are able to save up to 5 labels that you commonly use for later. And the PT-1880 will print up to 3/4" wide laminated indoor/outdoor tape on 2 lines, 6 type sizes, and 9 type styles. There are Over 70 different symbols and 10 frame styles available for accurate, professional labeling.

This labeler uses up to 50 of the various color "TZ" laminated indoor/outdoor tapes available from Brother. It's easy to navigate all the available options with toggle buttons and raised, angled keys. The "Preview" key allows you to check your text - reducing mistakes and wasted tape. And with EZ top-load drop in "TZ" tape cassettes, switching tape is fast and easy. The PT-1880 operates on six "AA" Alkaline Batteries or using an AC Adapter (batteries and adapter are not included).

What's in the Box


Brother P-Touch-1880 Advanced Deluxe Labeler, 1/2-inch TZ black on white starter tape, user's manual

Find it here

Acer Aspire One AOA150

I'm always dreaming to have notebooks like this one. May be someday i can buy one. It's loog good and wonderfull thing working with this device. If you are want this notebooks you can buy in here.

Weighing in at just over 2 pounds, the Aspire One mobile Internet device is the ideal traveling companion that lets you take the Internet on the road without the heavy load. Good things come in small packages, just like the Acer Aspire One mobile Internet device providing ultra-portable performance to enjoy full Internet browsing, communicate with friends and family and enjoy a variety of entertainment in a small portable design that keeps you connected on-the-go. The Intel Atom Processor combines performance, power and efficiency to explore the Internet and stay connected while on the go. Enjoy reliable on-line access with 802.11b/g Wireless to explore the Internet and view photos or video clips and listen to music in a comfortable browsing environment on the Acer CrystalBrite display. Windows XP Home Edition lets you surf the Internet, edit documents and photos, read email, and enjoy the webcam to chat online with or take still photos smoothly and reliably right out-of-the-box at a great price. Store all of your digital albums, music libraries and documents on the high-speed 160GB hard drive. Sufficient storage that's easy to upgrade, just pop in an external SD card. Whether you are a first time user or just want a second computing device to easily check e-mail and surf the Internet, the Aspire One was designed for simplicity with a intuitive desktop design, widescreen display and easy-typing keyboard. 8.9 diagonal WSVGA (1024 x 600) Acer CrystalBrite Display Integrated Acer Crystal Eye Webcam with Microphone Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 Built-in Stereo Speakers Acer InviLink 802.11b/g Wireless 10/100 Ethernet LAN Multi-in-1 Card Reader SD, MMC, RS-MMC, MS, MS Pro, xD 3 x USB 2.0, Headphone/Speaker/Line-Out, Microphone-in, VGA, RJ-45 (LAN) Approximate Unit Dimensions - 9.8 (W) x 6.7 (D) x 1.14 (H) Approximate Unit Weight - 2.5 Pounds

Product Details


Amazon Sales Rank: #5 in Personal Computers


Brand: Acer


Model: LU.S450B.108


Dimensions: 1.10" h x 9.80" w x 6.70" l, 2.20 pounds


CPU: Intel Core Solo 1.6 GHz


Memory: 1000MB DDR2 SDRAM


Hard Disk: 160GB


Processors: 1


Display size: 8.9

Features

Box Contents - Acer AOA150-1672 Mobile Internet Device, 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (Up to 5.5 Hours), 30-Watt AC Power Adapter, AC Power Cord; Software Bundle - Windows XP Home, McAfee Internet Security Suite, 1-Year International Travelers Warranty


Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz Processor


512 KB L2 Cache, 533 MHz Front Bus speed


1024 MB DDR2 (PC2-4200) RAM


160 GB (5400 RPM) SATA Hard Drive

QuickBooks Pro 2009

You can find the product here

Small business accounting software that makes accounting easy with tools to organize your finances all in one place.

Key Features

Track financial information in one place

Track sales & expenses
Get rid of the piles of paperwork. Easily enter customer payments & bills from vendors. Since QuickBooks organizes everything in one place, you'll be able to access all past payments & bills for each customer and vendor with just a few clicks.

Pay bills & print checks
Easily create and print checks. Aggregate all your checks to be paid and print them in one batch. QuickBooks will keep track of each check so you can keep tabs on where your money is going.

Create & e-mail invoices
Use the data you already have in QuickBooks--such as customer contact info & products/services--to make creating invoiced a snap. Choose from pre-designed QuickBooks templates or customize the layout yourself.

Organize data on customers, vendors, and employees all in one place
No more hunting through piles of files or trying to remember where you stashed that important paper. QuickBooks organizes all your important small business information in one place, giving you easy access to a complete picture of your business.

Import data from Excel, Quicken/ Quicken for Mac, and Microsoft Office Accounting
Get up and running fast by importing data from the tool you use to track your finances now. However little or much data you currently have, you won't have to start over from scratch.

Save time & be more efficient

Reduce data entry by downloading your bank & credit card transactions into QuickBooks
Save time and avoid data entry errors. Instead of typing in your bank and credit card transactions, download them securely from over 3000 participating financial institutions and easily import them into QuickBooks.

Enter bills and set due-date reminders
QuickBooks helps you ensure you pay your bills on time. Record bills as they come and set a reminder to make sure you pay before the due date.

Export data into Excel
Export data from QuickBooks reports to Excel spreadsheets so that you can do more complex analysis or graphing in Excel.

Track international sales & expenses with multiple currency support
QuickBooks supports all global currencies and does all the currency calculations for you. You can even download exchange rates or do wire transfers from right in QuickBooks.

Manage products & inventory

Create purchase orders
You can create purchase orders in seconds by selecting from vendors and inventory already in your QuickBooks. When you get the inventory in-house and record it in QuickBooks, QuickBooks will remember you have an open purchase order and automatically match the PO to the inventory bill.

Track inventory
Easily track your inventory to avoid overbuying and backorders. Indicate re-order points for each inventory good and turn on reminders to automatically let you know when its time to reorder.

Advanced Tools to track raw & finished goods
QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise Solutions help you address your more complex inventory & product management needs including: tracking both raw materials & finished goods, adjusting inventory as you creating bills of material (BOMs), and receiving inventory in one unit of measure and selling in another.

Monitor performance & gain insights

Generate reports with one click to see how your business is doing
Get pre-designed, customizable business reports to gain insights into your business. See all available reports in one screen to easily choose the right one. Drill down with one click to see the detail behind the numbers. Export any report to Excel--your QuickBooks formatting and formulas go with it. Access industry-specific reports In QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise Solutions.

Create budgets to keep your business on track
Create a working budget automatically, based on your recent spending history. Adjust figures individually or across line items. The spreadsheet-style format makes it easy to see the results of your changes. Refer back to the budget to see how your actual spending compares to your original budget.

Get a real-time snapshot of your business, in one central location with the Company Snapshot
Stay on top of your business- see who owes you money, who you owe money to, important reminders, and income/expense performance, all in one centralized location

Easily create a business plan; Forecast sales and expenses
Build a professional business plan quickly by answering step-by-step questions. QuickBooks fills in the numbers based on your QuickBooks data. You can export the projections to Excel for further analysis or save it as a PDF file. Click a button to create a forecast of income and expenses for the coming year, based on your existing QuickBooks data. Increase or decrease line items by any percentage to adjust for future changes.

Manage Employees

Manage payroll & payroll taxes; offer Direct Deposit (paid subscription required)
Intuit QuickBooks Payroll Services, QuickBooks Payroll for Mac powered by PayCycle, and Payroll for QuickBooks Online save you time by eliminating steps and giving you the tools to get your payroll done right.

Automatically populate and print 1099s for independent contractors and federal filing
Create and print 1099 tax forms for you and your independent contractors.

 

Track time & billing

Track employee time and expenses
Track time by employee, service, and customer with timesheets in QuickBooks. When you select a client to bill, QuickBooks automatically reminds you of unbilled time and expenses for that client.

Assign different billing rates for different types of employees
QuickBooks provides the flexibility of setting different billing rates by employee and service type. You can set a fixed hourly rate for each employee or create custom hourly rates by service.

Allow employees to enter billable & non-billable time online, from anywhere with an internet connection
Time tracking is automatically included with QuickBooks Online Plus. Time Tracker for QuickBooks Pro and Premier, an optional subscription service, is the fastest, easiest way to collect and record billable and non-billable hours into QuickBooks Pro and Premier for accurate invoicing, payroll and reporting purposes. No more paperwork! Employees or contractors only need an internet connection to submit billable hours Download timesheets right into QuickBooks with one click.

Attract Customers & Manage Customer Relationships

Track customer information and related transactions
Keep customer contact and transaction information in QuicKBooks, so you can follow up on past-due accounts and answer customer requests faster. See contact information and complete transaction history for any customer.

Accept credit card payments right in QuickBooks
Process credit card approvals right in your QuickBooks software. If you use Intuit QuickBooks Merchant Services, the data is automatically recorded in QuickBooks when you make a sale. And, it has no teaser rates, no hidden fees, no cancellation fees, and no long-term contracts.

Easily create a professional website with customizable templates and drag-and-drop tools.
Save time with easy-to-use website creation tools including customizable templates, one-click publishing, and website hosting. Everything is included to get your site live within minutes. Point-and-click, drag-and-drop tools. Know how well your site is doing with website tracking and statistics.

Create & customize professional-looking invoices and other forms with advanced customization tools
Create professional-looking forms by choosing from more than 100 expertly designed forms, including invoices & sales receipts. You can also customize the templates by adding your company logo and tag line to present your business uniquely to your customers.

Create sales orders & track back orders
QuickBooks helps you and your customer keep track of backordered items. Invoices, sales orders, and other sales forms show which items have been invoiced, which items have been backordered, and the quantities backordered.

Set price levels
QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise Solutions help you address your more complex pricing needs such as customize prices for different groups of customers or jobs (i.e. corporate, loyal, high-volume, etc.) with more price levels (up to 100).

Multiple Users & Multiple Locations

Work simultaneously with other QuickBooks users on your company file
Multiple-user functionality enables more than one person to work on a company file at the same time, increasing collaboration and productivity. It ensures that all users are working on the most up-to-date data.

Set individual access levels for each user
Restrict access for other users to only certain parts of your QuickBooks data so that employees only see the data they need to get their work done. For QuickBooks Pro and Premier, you can restrict access to 9 broad categories. QuickBooks Online Plus and Enterprise Solutions restrict access on a more detailed level to specific tasks and information. Customize each user's access level to view-only, create, modify, delete, print or any combination thereof for Enterprise Solutions.

Real time remote multi-location access service included
Access your QuickBooks data remotely. Remote access is automatically built into your QuickBooks Online subscription, so there's no need to send files back and forth. For QuickBooks Pro and Premier, get up to 1 year free access to your QuickBooks data through WebEx. You can use Windows Terminal Services with Enterprise Solutions to allow password-protected access by authorized users.

Support for your product & data
Ask questions and get answers from experts and other small businesses like you, through Live Community, right in QuickBooks Ask a Question: Ask QuickBooks users like you for help on anything from how to use QuickBooks to how to grow your business. Chances are, someone else has had the same question you do. Discover Answers: See what others are talking about. You will be able to see Questions & Answers relevant to what you're looking for, so you can find your answer right away. Help Others: Give advice and share your own knowledge of QuickBooks.

 

Industry Specific Features

Create customizable reports designed for your industry
Access over 150 industry-specific reports In QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise Solutions such as:

• Profitability by Product for manufacturing and wholesale businesses
• Job/ Project Costs for professional services firms & contracting businesses
• Donor Contribution Summary for nonprofit organizations
• Sales Tax Liability for retail businesses

Easily Get Started

Import Data from Excel
Excel templates make it easy for you to import your existing customers, vendors, or product information into QuickBooks. You can also assign each column in your existing Excel spreadsheet to a corresponding QuickBooks column. Save these settings to use again the next time you want to pull in data. You can even preview your data before you transfer it.

Import Data from Quicken, Peachtree, and Microsoft Office Accounting
Access the Quicken conversion tool in QuickBooks to convert your data from Quicken 1998 through 2007. If you are currently running your business using Peachtree 2001-2008, Microsoft Small Business Accounting 2006, and Microsoft Office Accounting/Office Accounting Express, you can also easily convert your data into QuickBooks 2009.

Get Set Up and Running Quickly
Answer a few basic questions, and get a customized setup you can change at any time.

Step-by-step Coaching for New Users to Help you Learn QuickBooks Faster
Get up to speed on QuickBooks easily. The QuickBooks Coach guides you step by step, so you can learn how to use QuickBooks features faster and explore QuickBooks as you enter your data.

Learn QuickBooks Quickly with Built-in Tutorials
Learn QuickBooks skills as you need them--in your own time, at your own pace. The built-in Learning Center offers short tutorials on basic and advanced features to help you get the most out of QuickBooks.

Upgrade your QuickBooks Effortlessly
Easily transfer your existing data file into QuickBooks 2009. Your company file and preferences will transfer automatically. In just a few steps, you can start working in QuickBooks using your information, including customer lists, vendor lists, balances, and inventory lists.

Get Help When You Need It

Find Answers Fast
Help functionality allows you to find the information you need quickly and easily. You'll find answers to most questions in QuickBooks in-product, onscreen Help. Type a question, choose from a list of topics, or search by keyword.

Connect with Other QuickBooks Users and Experts to Get Help and Share Ideas
Connect with a vibrant community of QuickBooks users, QuickBooks experts, accountants, and Intuit employees. Instant access to a wealth of questions and answers to assist with QuickBooks and small business problems.

QuickBooks Pro Reports

With QuickBooks reports, you'll always know where your business stands. See who owes you money and how much. Find out who your best customers are and what they're buying. Learn where your business is profitable and where you're losing money. You can also customize report templates to best meet your needs.

• Profit & Loss Standard
  How much money did my company make or lose over a specific period of time?
• Inventory Stock Status by Vendor
  What is the detailed information about each inventory item, organized by vendor?
• Purchases by Item Summary
  For each item or service, how many has my company bought, and what is the total amount spent?
• A/P Aging Detail
  Which bills are due and overdue?
• Profit & Loss Budget Performance
  How do the actual income and expenses compare to what has been budgeted for the current month and year?
• Statement of Cash Flows
  What was the cash inflow (from profit and additional cash received) and cash outflow (cash spent) during a specific period of time?
• Income Tax Detail
  What transactions make up each amount on my company's income tax forms?

Rumor: Windows Mobile 7.0 to RTM April 2010

According to a new rumor that outlines a few Windows Mobile dates, Windows Mobile users have a lot coming down the pipeline in the next 18 months. The bad news is that Motorola's slip up saying Windows Mobile 7 is coming in 2010 was correct; the good news is that testers will be able to play with beta builds later this year. The first Windows Mobile 6.5 devices will start to appear in the second half of 2009 and right after they do, Microsoft will start letting testers play with Windows Mobile 7.

More specifically, ZDNet claims the timeline for Windows Mobile 6.5 is going to be the following:

• Windows Mobile 6.5 RTM (release to manufacturing): April 2009


• First Windows Mobile 6.5 devices from cell phone makers: September 2009


• Windows Mobile 7.0 release to testers: November 2009


• First Windows Mobile 7.0 devices from cell phone makers: April 2010

Microsoft hasn't nailed down a feature set for Windows Mobile 7 yet, but we do know that Zune will be playing a part and that many applications will be rewritten. Microsoft claims that Windows Mobile is poised for a big comeback and whether that is true or not will start being verified in two weeks, when 6.5 and accompanying cloud services are unveiled in Barcelona.

Speaking of Windows Mobile, developers might be interested in three new downloads that appeared on the Microsoft Download Center this week: SDK for Windows Mobile 2003-based Smartphones, Windows Mobile Developer Power Toys, and Windows Mobile 6 Localized Emulator Images.

Microsoft answers Windows 7 netbook question

Microsoft announced that there would be six editions of Windows 7, though the company would only be pushing Home Premium and Professional in retail stores and via marketing. The question of how Microsoft would be handling the netbook market trend has come up more than once ever since Vista's successor was announced.

Brad Brooks, corporate vice president for Windows Consumer Product Marketing, claims that Windows 7 has a smaller OS footprint, faster boot-up and shut-down times, improved power management for enhanced battery life, and other improvements that will make it possible for all Windows 7 editions to run on netbooks.

"These engineering investments allow small notebook PCs to run any version of Windows 7, and allow customers complete flexibility to purchase a system which meets their needs," said Brooks in a statement. "For OEMs that build lower-cost small notebook PCs, Windows 7 Starter will now be available in developed markets. For the most enhanced, full-functioning Windows experience on small notebook PCs, however, consumers will want to go with Windows 7 Home Premium, which lets you get the most out of your digital media and easily connect with other PCs."

In other words, Microsoft is saying that any edition of Windows 7 will work on netbooks. It all depends on what the OEM will be offering. For example, if you can get Windows 7 Starter Edition on your netbook, you could later on move up (using Windows Anytime Upgrade) to whatever version you like (remember, every Windows 7 edition is a superset of the previous one).

Alternatively, you could just start off with a higher-end edition like Ultimate, assuming the OEM offers it for the netbook you want to buy. It looks like many will be doing a lot of price calculating to figure out which route is cheaper.

XBrand Laptop Cradle

The Xbrand Laptop Cradle is a great addition to a mobile professionals home office equipmenet. It doesn't take up a lot of real estate and it increases how much work you can accomplish with your laptop. To increase comfort and functionality, the Xbrand Laptop Cradle should be on your list of laptop accessories.

Cost-Savings

The Xbrand Laptop Cradle can be used with any laptop, no matter the make or operating system. It works with any laptop operating Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP and Mac's using OS 9.0 or higher. This is a great benefit as it means that you don't have to change docking stations every time you change laptops. For companies that have a pool of laptops for their mobile workers, this means a big cost-savings since you don't have to worry about matching laptops to a particular cradle. Another advantage is that the laptop cradle can be used with any laptop provided it has at least one USB port. So older models work just as well as newer laptops. Companies don't have to upgrade their laptops to realize the benefits of increased USB capabilities.

Height Adjustments

Adjusting the height can be a make or break point with laptop cradles/docking stations. In order to provide a user with the best usability, it must be easy to change positions and not require removing the laptop to do so. With the Xbrand laptop cradle, you simply hold one corner of your laptop and with your other hand press on the actuator button, located in the middle of the front bottom of the cradle. Any mobile professional will find that one of the four positions will suit their needs. If you are using an external mouse and keyboard, you may wish your laptop in the most upright position. Your own height, desktop height and personal comfort levels will also play a part in the determining which level is best. I found using the second level was very comfortable if I want to use the laptop's own keyboard and input pad.

Expanding Functionality

I frequently have my desktop running and my laptop alongside it, taking advantage of the increased display space or to enable multi-tasking. I can be working on the desktop and have something else running on the laptop. Prior to using the laptop cradle, I could not print from my laptop unless I sent the project through the network, now I can quickly and easily attach my printer to one of the available USB ports and print directly from the laptop. In the same manner I can attach my scanner and work that way.

Another concern I had with the laptop cradle was using my USB wi-fi adapter, as my laptop only has 1 USB port. This USB port was needed to connect to the cradle. I had tried using a USB hub before with my wi-fi adapter and it did not work. Again, the laptop cradle surprised me and I can use the USB wi-fi adapter in any of the four USB ports and connect to my wi-fi network.

Another advantage is that you don't need to disconnect your peripherals when you aren't using the cradle with your laptop. They can stay connected and it only takes less than a minute to re-connect your laptop to the USB cable. When taking your laptop on trips, just disconnect the one USB cable and you are mobile again.

Ergonomics

With four different height levels to chose from, any user will find it easy to work comfortably and not have to worry about poor posture or difficulty viewing the display. Laptop power users will notice a difference right away once they have used the laptop cradle, even after a short period of time.

How To Keep A Cleaner, Longer Running Computer

One of the more neglected aspects of owning a PC is following some simple preventative maintenance procedures. Preventative maintenance procedures are commonly recommended for most all mechanical and technological gadgets.

A regular cleaning on the inside of your PC is of vital importance in increasing the life span of your computer and preventing premature component failure. It does not matter if you own a $500.00 machine or a $5000.00 machine. All will benefit. Keeping a cleaner PC can also go to keeping you PC a faster computer.

Can you honestly say that you remember the last time you did [or ever did] an internal cleaning inside your computer tower? A computer case can collect dirt, dust and other small particulates. If you're an owner of a dog or cat, it's very likely that your computer case may also have a sizable share of animal hair inside. If your PC tower sits on the floor it will increase the likelihood of the above occurring even more.

The cleaning of the inside a computer is a bit more complicated and delicate than you may first believe. Before any opening of the tower for cleaning, it is imperative that you unplug everything... power cord, cable modem or phone line and any ethernet cables. The first thing you should do after opening the computer case is to touch the power supply to discharge any static. Doing this will insure that you and the inside of your PC are at the same voltage and no static electricity will damage fragile components.

If your computer case was built using foam type filters on the fan vents, remove them and gently clean them with a mild dish soap detergent and cold water. Be sure to let the foam filters dry thoroughly before putting them back in place. You may also be able to replace them with a piece of new air-conditioning foam filter cut to size. You can also remove large clumps of dust by vacuuming the fan vents from outside of the case.

It is most important that you take extra care and precautions when vacuuming the inside of a computer case. I cannot emphasize that enough. Do not touch the motherboard or add-in cards. You probably should limit the vacuuming inside the computer case to the base of your tower case and any empty drive bays.

If you decide to use compressed air to help clean out your case, I would wait for a nice dry day and do it outdoors. Do not direct compressed air on any of the cooling fan blades as this may damage them with excessive revolutions per minute.

Last but not least, if not done already, raise the tower to about 5-6 inches off the floor. There are available at computer accessory outlets small bases on rollers that will fit the bill without too much expense. Doing this, will reduce considerably the amount of dust that can get sucked into the fan vents.

Examples of Disaster Recovery

One of my first tasks when I was hired ten years ago was to


investigate the creation of a disaster recovery site for our


mainframe computer systems. I had already had some experiences


with disasters and recovery. Here are some examples of a few


that we included in our plans.

Major Earthquake - Those of us who live in California understand


earthquakes. I've personally been through at least five


significant quakes (6.8 or greater) without suffering any


damage at all. In many people's mind, a major earthquake is


the disaster scenario.

One day the "big one" will come (in California) and who knows


what will happen at that time. In fact, my boss and I were able


to convince the CEO of our company to create a "hot site" (a


duplicate site which is already ready to take over in the event


of a disaster) because of a recent significant earthquake.

One of the first things that we did is contact Caltech (the


experts on earthquakes) to commission a study to determine


where we should place our disaster site. The primary criteria


was that the site be relatively close (within 50 miles) but on


a different geologic plate so the earthquake would not flatten


both locations.

As we studied the possibility of this disaster, we realized


that the building and computers might emerge from the earthquake


entirely intact, but the infrastructure (power, phone lines


and so forth) might be destroyed. In addition, a major


earthquake is a unique disaster because it's more likely that


your people will be in complete shock and more interested in


their families and homes than in restoring your computer


operations.

The thing to do here is be sure you've got the infrastructure


issues covered cold. This includes phones, power and the


network. Make sure you have a disaster site (or very good


backups kept off-site) ready to go. Rehearse your disaster


plan, and make sure your people know what to do.

Minor Earthquake - A minor earthquake might be easy to survive


(we've been through several of them with no issues) and it


might introduce some interesting quirks on it's own. The power


might be out, phone lines might be down and take weeks to


repair, and the general infrastructure (roads, food shipments


and so on) might be disabled. In addition, earthquakes tend to


put people into a state of shock, so it might be difficult to


get people to recover and get back to work.

Biological Event - When envelops fill of anthrax started


appearing on the news, we were suddenly confronted with a new


type of disaster. What if a biological attack or event occurred


in our building? What if the receptionist opened an envelop


contaminated with anthrax? We would then be confronted with a


unique situation. The building would be sealed and off-limited


for days, weeks or even months; and we would not be allowed


back in under any conditions for any reason for that time.

This situation is probably one of the worst disaster scenarios


of all. The old building and equipment is intact but completely


unreachable. Tantalizing and frustrating. Sigh. What to do?

Hope and pray that you've got an excellent disaster recovery


plan and a very competent team, that's what you do. In this


case, you'd better have a hot site or, at the very least some


excellent backups. Not only that, you're business continuity


plan had better be totally finished and rehearsed. You see, in


this case you will not even be able to look through the ruble


or burned building for papers, disks, CDs or anything else.


Nothing, absolutely nothing, will be available for your use


for a long, long time. In fact, if any of your people are in


the building you may find them unavailable (as in quarantined)


as well.

Lightening - One day a few years ago, when I was just beginning


in the computer field, I was working late, way past midnight.


I was just sitting in the computer room (freezing my butt off),


listening to one of the heaviest rain storms that I'd heard in


a long time. It was kind of eerie, listening to the rain drops


on the roof and the thunder in the distance.

Suddenly, the room lit up and I was blinded for a few seconds.


I instinctively pulled back from the keyboard, and I believe


that saved my life. I felt heat on my face and body, and when


I opened my eyes the computer room was dark.

I soon learned that lightening has struck the power pole just


outside the building. The computer simply melted down - no


circuit breaker in existence could have protected it. I was


lucky to be alive - wow, what a rush that was!

Unfortunately, this company did NOT have a disaster recovery


plan. We had to purchase a new computer system and build it


back up from scratch. Fortunately, we did keep backups off-site,


and within a week or so we were back up and running.

And that's the reason why, now, I have a complete belief and


focus on disaster recovery - if you have a plan and have


prepared well, you will recover just fine (even with the


unexpected bumps and such). If you don't, then you basically


leave it up to fate or whatever else you believe in. PersonallyComputer Technology Articles,


I would rather be in control of the situation. I find that


makes things much easier.

Disaster Recovery, Are You Prepared?

By backing up data, applications, and settings continuously, to a secure location, your business will be ready for any disaster situation.

Any proven IT company can provide these services, but at what cost, and how good is it?Since the introduction of Citrix and Microsoft's Terminal Services, it has been possible to provide these disaster recovery services at a much lower cost, with greatly enhanced security benefits.

Switch your IT system to a corporate-level, Terminal Services environment and what you get is a complete disaster recovery solution for a much lower cost than you would expect.

As well as having your data and applications held in secure data centres, your data could be continuously backed up, providing total disaster recovery. The ultimate solution is to have complete redundancy for your IT system and this involves not having any single point of failure within your IT infrastructure.

Imagine having your company's entire data, software and structure housed in two separate data centres, spread across two different ISPs, and having all your systems and data held on servers that have their own backup servers to automatically switch on, in the event of failure.

Most corporations do not have this level of redundancy, but for a fixed, monthly fee, this and more is possible for companies with anything from two uses to a thousand users.

Apart from all the mentioned benefits, you could also get the power of hosted Microsoft Exchange, Outlook Web Access, easy Blackberry mobile integration, hosted Microsoft CRM, and for the ultimate peace of mind, you can have portable security keys as used by major companies around the world to secure data, where password-only protection fails.

These systems and solutions put companies back in control of their IT, as systems are centrally managed, updated and supported from outside company offices, providing a completely outsourced solution that will save you money, instead of costing more.

Some companies get nervous by the prospect of their entire data being held offsite, but this can be the safest option as multi-million pound data centres have all the facilities to safeguard and protect your data 24 hours a day. With high-powered backup generators, security patrols and fire suppression equipment, your data and applications will be in complete safetyFind Article, giving you a powerful remote system with disaster recovery to take your business to the next level.

What is Clean Room Recovery?

Clean rooms came into vogue in the 1960s to fabricate precision technology required in the newly emerging aerospace industry. They are now commonly employed for manufacturing or research in industries like semi-conductors, space satellites, sterile medical devices, nano-fabrication, bio-technology, precision electronics like silicon chips and computer hard drives as well as optics. Clean rooms are needed because objects manufactured in these industries are sensitive to even microscopic contaminants. An invisible spec of dust inside a hard disk drive or a silicon chip can cause a "kill defect" that will render them useless, while contaminants inside a Petri dish can make gene therapy go wrong. Such high-precision manufacturing and research sensitive to contaminants is impossible without clean rooms.

Depending on the need, a clean room can be as small as an office cubicle or as large as a football field (called ballrooms). It can also be permanent, modular or portable with hard or soft walls. The sanitized, septic-clean environment is created by using layers of specialized air filters and cleaners like HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter), air showers, air locks, directed air flow (laminar flow) and regular cleaning and upkeep operations. The biggest source of contaminants in a clean room is the people working there. They have to wear bunny suits or moon suites - masks, over-shoes and overalls of special fabric - so that they do not introduce any particles in the air by shedding skin flakes, sneezing or even wearing perfume.

Clean Room Classification

Clean rooms are classified according to the level of air cleanliness they are able to achieve.

The first such standard was set in 1963 in the US. The Federal Standard 209 has proved to be the most popular and universal benchmark to classify clean rooms worldwide. Officially called "Clean Room and Work Station Requirements, Controlled Requirements," it classifies a clean room by measuring particles of 0.5 microns or larger contained in a cubic feet of air. The standard was revised and updated in 1966 (209A), 1973 (209B), 1987 (209C), 1988 (209D) and 1992 (209E). The last version, 209E, has switched to metric units to measure airborne particles.

The Federal Standard 209 divides clean rooms into six classes - Class 1, Class 10, Class 100, Class 1,000, Class 10,000, and Class 100,000. A Class 100 clean room is designed to not exceed the count of 100 particles of 0.5 microns or more in a cubit foot of air, a Class 1,000 room will limit such particles to not more than 1,000, and so on. As comparison, an ordinary room in any office building would contain anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 particles in a cubit feet of air.

In 1999, the UK published its own clean room standard, called British Standard 5295. Many other countries followed suit to establish their own standards. Soon, a need was felt for one universal standard that could be applied worldwide to achieve uniformity in clean-room classification. In June, 1999, the first ISO standard was published, called ISO 14644-I. It divides clean rooms into nine types, from ISO 1 to ISO 9. The Class 100 of Federal Standard 209 is equivalent to ISO 5 classification. The ISO standard now supersedes all earlier standards, though it is yet to get as popular as the Federal Standard 209.

Clean Room Recovery

The term "clean room recovery" is used in the computer industry to mean repair of hard-disk drives or other data storage media as well as recovery of recorded data that can no longer be accessed for some reason. Firms offering such services usually have clean rooms confirming to Class 10 or Class 100 of the Federal Standard 209, the same level as used by the hard drive manufacturers in their assembly plants. Clean room recovery covers the following areas:

Hard Disk Recovery - A computer hard disk may crash for a number or reasons like a hardware fault (defective motor, damaged head or controller card), software fault (virus attack, logical failure) or physical abuse like fire or water damage, over-voltage and impact trauma. Crashed disks leave users in the lurch as they are deprived of all data recorded on it. Such disks are brought to a clean room, disassembled, inspected and repaired so that they can be used again.

Data Recovery - If a crashed hard disk is beyond salvage or some data has been deleted by accident, specialised software is used to read the magnetic patterns on its individual platters. The analogue patterns are converted into digital form and copied onto another medium. The data is thus recovered and can be read on any computer. Data can also be recovered from damaged tape drives, RAID, email inboxes, corrupted databases and even cell phones.

Data Forensics - This is the age of electronic crime. It requires electronic evidence to get such criminals prosecuted. Data forensics is cyber-sleuthing and involves the collection of evidence from a wide variety of data storage media, for help in cases of online fraud, email abuse, cyber-stalking, pornography, industrial espionageFind Article, hacking and so on.

Microsoft: employee stole documents for patent lawsuit

Microsoft is accusing ex-employee Miki Mullor of using his inside access to download internal documents for a patent complaint that his startup company, Ancora Technologies, has since filed against Dell, HP, and Toshiba. The suit alleges that the companies are infringing on Ancora's patent by selling computers with Windows Vista preactivated, which is possible thanks to one of Microsoft's anti-piracy technologies, System Locked Preinstallation (SLP). When Seattle Tech Report covered this story, the publication noted that Ancora's website described the case as follows:

To secure each copy of (Windows), without burdening the honest user, (PC makers) use a technology known as System Locked Pre-Installation (SLP) to protect Windows against piracy. SLP is Ancora's technology and is covered by our pioneer patent, US Patent 6,411,941. This lawsuit is about protecting our patent rights from being infringed by HP, Dell and Toshiba. This is not David vs. Goliath. This is David vs. three Goliaths.

On January 22, Microsoft filed its own lawsuit in King County Superior Court in Seattle, which claims Mullor wrote in his October 2005 Microsoft employment application that he no longer worked for Ancora because it was out of business. Nor did he disclose when hired that he believed SLP infringed on an Ancora patent. Microsoft, which is intervening in Ancora's patent lawsuit to defend its technology (and the PC makers) against the patent-infringement claims, now becomes Goliath number four.

Mullor, on the other hand, said he informed Microsoft about his patent in his résumé and employment agreement, though he notes that Ancora had ceased business operation before he applied to Microsoft. The documents Mullor downloaded from Microsoft before Ancora filed the lawsuit included information on the SLP and the upcoming Windows 7 operating system, according to Microsoft's complaint. They were downloaded onto Mullor's company-issued laptop, after which Mullor allegedly deleted them, then tried to hide his tracks by using software that overwrites deleted files.

Mullor was still a Microsoft employee when Ancora filed the suit against the PC makers; he was hired as a program manager in the Windows Security Group in November 2005. But in June 2008, four days after allegedly trying to hide his downloading activities, Ancora filed its patent lawsuit. In September 2008, Microsoft intervened as a party-defendant in the case and fired Mullor.

The Ancora patent is dated June 25, 2002, and Mullor claims he approached Microsoft in 2003 to discuss the "benefits Microsoft could realize by using it," but Microsoft wasn't interested. He believes Microsoft developed technology that is the subject of the patent lawsuit after his offer. Mark Cantor, an attorney representing Ancora in the patent litigation, said Mullor denies any wrongdoing, and described the Microsoft complaint as "simply a retaliatory lawsuit by Microsoft to get the patent case transferred to Seattle."

The patent case is scheduled for trial in a Los Angeles federal court on January 26, 2010, but Microsoft is seeking a court order barring Mullor from any involvement in the patent claim, which would bar him from assisting Ancora with prosecuting the suit with or without the documents he downloaded from the software giant. Mullor has given a statement on the situation, which you can read most of at the Seattle Tech Report.

Messenger Plus! Live 4.80 out, supports latest Messenger

Messenger Plus! Live fans don't have to wait any longer: the newly released 4.80.356 fully supports the latest version of Messenger that was released as part of Windows Live Wave 3, 14.0.8050.1202. You can download the freeware application (sponsor program is optional) from the homepage. According to the software's author, Patchou, the software may visually look the same, but there are many improvements nonetheless:

Despite the lack of visual changes in the software, the change log shows that many things were done under the hood. As often, scripts and skins in particular got their good share of improvements. There are now more than 500 of them in the official databases of this site. This means that you could spend the next month customizing Messenger with Plus!, its scripts and its skins and you would still haven't seen everything.

You can find a more detailed list of changes on the changelog page. The latest version comes with the following languages: English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai, and Turkish. It can be installed on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP or Windows Vista. Although not officially supported, I tested this build with the Windows 7 beta and it works just fine.

More proof that Microsoft wants Windows 7 out in 2009

On the Engineering Windows 7 blog this week, Microsoft again noted that it was planning to give the public a Release Candidate of Windows 7 before the final version is ready. In other words, there is not going to be a "Beta 2," and the public would only see one public beta build: Windows 7 build 7000. However, a timeline for these versions is not disclosed: "This post is in no way an announcement of a ship date, change in plans, or change in our previously described process, but rather it provides additional detail and a forward looking view of the path to RTM and General Availability."

The fact that Microsoft is not planning a second beta, that the first beta is the most stable Microsoft has ever given out, and that getting Windows 7 ready in time for the holidays is advantageous has all led to speculation that Microsoft wants Vista's successor out this year. Officially, Microsoft has always said "three years after the general availability of Windows Vista," which was released on January 30, 2007, and that the release date was also dependent on quality. As with any product in beta, enthusiasts have been making predictions all over the place, most in the timeframe of late 2009 to early 2010. Microsoft employees have been making their own predictions, but the average of their guesses is much earlier in 2009: October 3.

I asked Michael Bohlin, product, here are some dates more or less nailed.


February 26, TechNet and TrueSec med with Microsoft Windows 7 Summit. Microsoft Windows 7 Summit.


17-18 March, Tech Days in Västerås, our largest Windows 7 event in the spring.


May 31 Microsoft itself installed.


Early in April, after CeBIT, the RC.


June, July, August, Summer Koll with many presentations.


RTM and launch company as it stands right now Q3 2009. The cut of all internal guesses here at the office right now is October 3 at 11.10.


February 2010 the board of trade.

The above quote is a translated version (à la Google) of a Microsoft Sweden partner blog post that Neowin found. It should also be noted that the timeline points to an RC being released in April. Dates like those above are always subject to change, but it's quite obvious that Microsoft is at least currently aiming to get Windows 7 ready for prime time by Q3 2009. We'll just have to wait and see if they can pull it off.

My Store

Understanding Browser Hijacking and How to Correct it

If you are an Internet junkie and surf nearly 24 hours a day, it may be to your benefit to understand how Web Browser hijacking works and what you can be to prevent it as well as get rid of this nagging problem should you experience it.




The web contain sites that will override your browser's homepage setting and then replace it with their own. You can correct this by opening Internet Options in Control Panel and under Home Page, click either use blank or you specify a site of your choice.




But correcting a hijacked home page is much easier than correcting a hijacked Web Browser itself.This happens when your Web Browser is taken over by software with you having little and sometimes no control over its actions.




This happens when you are hit by such browser hijacking programs as CWS or CoolWebSearch.This software appeared in 2003 and is now one of the most invasive browser hijackers.You know you have been struck when you experience the following actions in your browser.




There is a noticeable decrease in overall PC performance.


User's homepages are Smartsearch or other hijacked files and attempts to remove these are blocked.




Suddenly there appears a new toolbar in your browser


You are bombarded with porn ads and porn is now being bookmarked in your favorites.




Your Internet Explorer browser quickly slows to a crawl.


All web searches are redirected to other sites, in nearly all cases they will be porn.




You will have little and sometimes no control over your web browser.Watch the files you download.




These programs may sometime arrive via a download. If this happens, you need to pay attention to where you are on the Internet and avoid these locations. Try to avoid downloading free screensavers for example.




Free screensavers or screensaver samples are often loaded with spyware, adware, and who knows what other insidious files that lurks within. If you do perform such download do a good virus, spyware scan.




What would be the remedy to get rid of this nightmare. You would not want porn pop-ups appearing on your PC when little Mary or David is nearby.




First go to http://www.helptogo.com and click on the link for a program named Hijackthis. Having this or other hijack removal files on disk will be your first line of defense.




And try to download CoolWebShredder to see if it will remove the program. However, even this may not work.


http://www.softpedia.com is where you can learn more and download this program.




If CoolWebShredder don't work, you will have to do a complete reformat of your hard drive followed by a clean installation of Windows XP.




If you're computer is working fine now, take the time to backup your critical files. If you have to perform a clean installation of Windows XP, you will lose programs you installed.




Web Hijacking is growing and fast becoming a real pain in the "you know what" and removing them are becoming more and more a big headache.




You can also go to Google and do a search for the term "web browser hijackers" and find other files you can get to be ready you should run into this annoyance.




Download the file and copy it on a cdrom or floppy disk, depending on the file size. Make two copies of the file and store it a safe place should you need it.




When you visit a site, you may be watched by what is known as a Web bug. This is a tiny graphic which sends information to another computer.It will have your IP and web site address and other data about you.


As you spend time on the Internet, stop and take time to learn as much as possible about these Web Bugs.This bugs may transmit your web site and email address, for example to the web bug's main computer.




But being in the know ahead of time can save you lots of downtime using the Internet.Have that backup handy, and prepare an XP Recovery Kit and place in a safe and very secure place.

Revitalize You Computer With A System Clean

If you are using Windows, then you know how important it is to keep your system clean and running smooth. If your system is not running as well as you would like it to, you don't need to do a complete, clean install of your system. You can use a few techniques to keep your system running like new.




If your system is showing signs of being slow, you should be very pro-active in getting your system back in shape. The freeware program Ccleaner is a great tool in getting your system clean. You can download and install it very easily. Granted, there are many programs out there that do the same thing and may even do it better, but I stick with the programs I trust. When I am working on a system, it is usually the first program I put on the system.




When running it for the first time, you should start by doing a system clean. It will take a while the first time it runs as it cleans off all of your old cache files, temporary files and a myriad of other useless bloat. I usually follow this up with a registry cleaning. I let it delete all of the errors it finds in the registry. You may have more than 100 or 200 errors making your registry much harder to read and giving you a slow boot up.




Next I look into what programs are running at boot time. It seems like every program wants to run as soon as the computer starts up. Many of them are useful if you actually use them most of the time when you boot up, but some just slow you computer up. For example, I don't usually read Adobe Acrobat files every time I use the computer. I would rather spend a few extras seconds waiting for Reader to start up when I need to use than adding a few seconds every time I boot up my computer. If in doubt of any process in the CCleaner start up programs list, just Google the name before deleting the entry.




Now is also a good time to take a look at your installed programs. If you never use a program and it is easily downloadable from the web, then it might be a good idea to uninstall the program. This way you can clear some disk space, some registry space and reduce your level of bloat.




After I finish doing the spring cleaning work with CCleaner, I usually do a full virus scan and full spyware scan. The goal is to get rid of all of the junk that is slowing up your computer and these are two of the biggest culprits. Remember, if you are positive for virus or spyware, it's a good idea to run the scans again after you reboot your computer.




Finally, my cleaning of the computer ends with a simple defragmentation of the hard drive. This makes your computer be able to access information on your hard drive much more quickly since a file will be located in one place on your physical disk instead of many different places. You can run a defragmenter straight your Start Menu under System Tools.




If you can follow these steps, you can make your computer run better and quicker instead of slower and clunkier. You can take control of your computer and not have to think about an expensive upgrade just to keep getting acceptable performance from your computer.

Tweak PC Like A Geek

When the mighty PC slows down, the world slows down. For those who know nothing about computers apart from sending emails, browsing and chatting online, a slow PC is a threat to one's sanity. Even Da Vinci's Code will pale in comparison to the mysteries inside the computer. So what can a guy do?




Tweak PC--Smells Geek?




When the PC begins to limp along, there is trouble. The almighty PC must NEVER SLOW DOWN. But in the midst of the hair pulling, you plod on while your PC glares its red eye. You're probably wishing you knew all about computers or all the tweak PC stuff, but unfortunately, you don't.




It is a bet you won't even dare try to find out what's wrong, lest you do more harm than good. You can't even tweak PC, then how in the world could you solve a problem like a slow PC? You've heard about the PC's defragment feature, but don't even know and understand what it is all about. The best thing you can do at this point it call your tweak PC master, your friendly neighborhood geek.




Tweak Your PC Like a Geek




Here are the possible things the smartest guy in the block will do:

• Ask if you're on Windows 98, XP, 2000, or Vista.


• Check the PC registry. He might want to see the Windows registry to check the settings and options of the operating system for Microsoft Windows.


• Check the programs installed in your hard disk. Let's call it the computer's brain. He will call your attention on the available space on the hard disk. There is still enough space for an elephant to romp about, so why the slow performance?


• Tell you there's nothing wrong. He does not need dissect to the body parts of the PC. He will just give it his masterpiece tweak PC. He will just run the defragment feature. You nod, none the wiser, and say "Oh!"


• He shuts down all the programs and click open the start menu. He goes to programs, accessories, systems tools, and finally, Disk Defragmenter. Defragmenting, he patiently points out, puts back all the bits and pieces of the fragments. After this tweak PC trick, your PC will run at top speed.


• He guesses that you do a lot of installing and deleting. He explains that when you save large files onto your PC's brain, the brain stores some of these files in little nooks and crannies where some files once occupied.


• He takes the time to explain that his tweak PC trick will organize the cluttered brain of the computer.


• Your friend further clarifies that this happens when you download a lot of games and this slows down the PC. Now you see the light at the end of the tunnel and say "Ahhh!"
  
  

The Best PC Tweak: Get Your Defrag On




Defragmenting is not a quickie. It takes an hour or more depending on the PC's disposition, so while you are waiting for the process to finish, treat your friend to some ham on rye bread. He will be back in a flash for the next tweak PC session. But by then you'll probably be doing your own thing.




You can check out sites on lines that will help you become a whiz without disemboweling your PC. You can get rid of pesky balloon tips, erase shortcut arrows, and give your mouse a makeover. You can also change your Login preferences. But never dare tweak PC when you have not broken the PC code.