by Tina Gasperson
If you store photos, videos, and other multimedia files on your computer, or you’re a computer gamer, chances are you’ll need extra hard drive space at some point. You don’t have to buy a new computer to gain that space, or install a new interior hard drive. External hard drives are inexpensive, portable, and very easy to use.
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by Gabe Goldberg
If you like movies but don’t enjoy being glued to your PC while they stream from the Internet, or you prefer to watch them on your GIANT TV, get ready to spend a little money to have a lot of fun.
Roku, a small electronic gadget that’s been available for about a year, has learned new tricks. Its concept is as simple as can be: connect to a TV and a broadband Internet router, link to a Netflix (rental movie service) or Amazon Video on Demand (new movie rental/purchase service), and stream requested movies.
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by David Hakala
Q: I figured it would be cheaper to buy an external hard drive and free up some space on my C: drive and in turn give me more speed and memory back, versus buying a whole new computer. So, my question is: How do I transfer files, programs, etc. from my C: internal hard drive to my new G: external hard drive? – Richard
Richard wants to “free up some disk space” (available memory won’t be affected by moving files) so I would recommend moving only user data files at first. That should free up quite a bit of space. Leave Windows and existing program files where they are. Install new programs on the external drive.
In increasing order of difficulty, here are ways to move user data, program files, and Windows itself:
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by David Hakala
Sometimes you have to prepare a brand new hard drive for use. At other times, you may have to reformat a badly messed-up hard drive; that is, wipe it clean and start over with a fresh installation of Windows and all your applications and data. Either need calls for formatting the hard drive. It’s simple, but it takes a bit of time and you have to be careful to preserve irreplaceable data.
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by David Hakala
One day you may decide you need a bigger hard drive; a second hard drive so you can keep your data separate from your operating system; or a replacement for a drive that died. Then you will need to perform the following minor surgery on your computer.
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by Tina Gasperson
Laptops seem to be most useful when the battery is fully charged and you know it will last a good two hours or more. After all, what good is a portable computer if you have to find a working electrical outlet to use it? OK, it’s still some good. However, it’s much better to have a powerful battery or two that you can rely on during those times when other people have claimed every outlet in the coffee shop, but you still need to get that report typed. Replacing your laptop battery is easy to do, and if you look around a bit you might find a great deal too.
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by David Strom
After having my laptop stolen from the trunk of my locked car in a shopping mall parking lot, I am very paranoid about making copies of my data. Apple’s latest version of the Mac OS includes backup software called Time Machine that will make regular copies of the files on your hard drive. But what if you aren’t running this version (10.5) or want to use something else? My recommendation is a product called SuperDuper. You can try it for free with some limitations before you purchase a copy for less than $30.
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by Gabe Goldberg
No matter how much you spend for a (non-laptop) computer, it’s likely to come with a junky low-end keyboard which you’ll hate. For much of my computing career, I was spoiled by using high-quality keyboards attached to various IBM terminals; early IBM computers maintained this battleship-robust quality. I was fortunate that early in my PC use, a friend gave me not one but two IBM Model M keyboards. They’ve survived multiple moves and been connected to several PCs, and they just keep on clicking with that nice tactile feel that typing should have.
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by Tina Gasperson
SD cards are standard equipment for anyone who owns a digital camera. These tiny memory packages have become digital film, and for years, desktop computers and laptops alike have come with an SD card reader installed by default. So what’s the problem if you insert your new SD card and your computer doesn’t recognize it?
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by David Hakala
Q: What are the pro’s and con’s of switching to a Solid State Hard drive? Is it faster and is it reliable? – Bill.
A Solid State Drive (SSD) is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store data. “Solid-state” means that the device stores data as patterns in the on/off states of transistors. A transistor in its “on” or positively charged state is considered a binary “1” bit, while a transistor in its “off” state is considered a “zero” bit. “Solid” refers to the fact that there are no empty spaces in a transistor for mechanical parts to move around in; the transistor is turned on and off by the application of electricity, not by the electromechanical movement of a physical switch.
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