by Stewart Vardaman
Why build your own? A server typically needs much more disk space and not as powerful a CPU as a desktop PC. You can choose exactly the components you need. Me, I use my server to: back up my two laptops; store my movies, TV shows, and music collection too big to fit on a laptop’s drive; act as a wired/WiFi internet router; share files/Internet with three other people in my apartment building … and much more.
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by Gabe Goldberg
Aside from not wanting to clutter landfills with electronic garbage — that’s where solid waste ends up, you know, it doesn’t vanish when loaded in the collection truck — it’s increasingly discouraged or illegal to dispose of our once-precious twinkly gadgets in the normal household waste stream. This is for multiple reasons: Landfills are a limited resource and are often overloaded; electronics will linger forever, never biodegrading; and (worst of all) bad stuff such as chemicals and metals in the mess will leach out and pollute the area.
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by Gabe Goldberg
Whoever advised against looking a gift horse in the mouth (to avoid discovering cavities or the need for braces, I suppose) surely didn’t mean you shouldn’t look inside a “new” used computer you receive.
In fact, setting up a used computer generally takes more effort and precautions than unboxing and plugging in shiny new equipment. But it’s not overwhelming, and the savings — whether the used PC came as a family hand-me-down, was purchased, or was received from a refurbisher such as a computer user group — can make it worthwhile.
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by Tina Gasperson
If you’re fortunate enough to have a laptop computer, you know it’s an expensive piece of equipment. Laptop computers are just as powerful as desktop systems, but come in a specially engineered portable package so you can take your data with you wherever you go. Because they’re easy to carry, laptops are also more susceptible to damage – and they’re more difficult and expensive to fix if something goes wrong. Here are some tips for keeping your portable laptop computer working well past its warranty expiration.
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by Gabe Goldberg
Nothing lasts forever, including — or especially — computers. And with prices as low as they are, it’s sometimes tempting to replace them for improvements in reliability, speed, and disk capacity (especially if you’re into activities such as serious gaming or photo/video editing). But if a computer works and isn’t too old, it can probably serve someone else quite well for several more years.
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by Gabe Goldberg
You’re probably tired of hearing about keeping your operating system, applications, and assorted safety software programs (anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, anti-phishing, anti-vampire, whatever) updated. Not to mention being really tired of actually doing all this work. After all, you bought your computer to use, not to tinker with. And if you support multiple computers, it seems that your work is never done.
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by Tina Gasperson
Microsoft reports that most computers sold after 2002 are USB 2.0 enabled. USB 2.0 is the latest version of USB, also called high-speed USB because it supports devices that use the high-speed specification. Most new USB devices are made using this specification. If you plug one of these into a computer that is not equipped with a high-speed USB port, or one that does have a USB 2.0 port but is missing the proper drivers, you will either get an error message, or the device will work, but at less than its full capability. That would be a waste of your money – so it’s better to make sure your device capability matches your computer capability.
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by David Hakala
Probably the worst sight a computer owner can see is this message on an otherwise black screen:
“No boot device, please insert a bootable media.”
Your hard drive is hosed. Windows won’t start, even as far as the Recovery Console. What is wrong, and what are you going to do?
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by Stewart Vardaman
Disks get faster and better constantly, yet they are usually the slowest component in your notebook or PC. The simple truth is, memory speed might be measured in nanoseconds (billions), but disk speed is measured in milliseconds (thousands). That difference is like Bill Gates’s net worth to a working stiff like me.
Speeding up the slowest thing in the chain makes everything else faster. Adding a new disk to an old (or even new) laptop makes for a peppier machine. And you can do it yourself!
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by Tina Gasperson
Q: How can we recognize DDR1 and DDR2 RAM? — Alim
The two types of RAM modules are similar in their appearance, but don’t get them mixed up because they are most definitely not interchangeable. If you accidentally purchase the wrong kind of RAM, it won’t even fit into your computer – and you’ll be heading back to the store.
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by David Hakala
If you plan to sell, give away, or just toss in the trash an old hard drive, you really should erase your personal data from it first. If you’re like most people, your hard drive contains things you don’t want strangers to see: private correspondence, bank account numbers, passwords, your children’s pictures, names, and where they go to school… think about it, then take a little time to wipe that hard drive really clean!
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