The History of Computers

"Who invented the computer?" is not a question with a simple answer. The real answer is that many inventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention.

This series covers many of the major milestones in computer history (but not all of them) with a concentration on the history of personal home computers.

Computer History Year/ Enter	Computer Inventors/Inventions	Computer History Description Event
1936	Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer	First freely programmable computer.
1942	John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry ABC Computer	Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as ABC.
1944	Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper Harvard Mark I Computer	The Harvard Mark 1 computer.
1946	John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly ENIAC 1 Computer	20,000 vacuum tubes later...
1948	Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn Manchester Baby Computer & The Williams Tube	Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the memories.
1947/48	John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & Wiliam Shockley The Transistor	No, a transistor is not a computer, but this invention greatly affected the history of computers.
1951	John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly UNIVAC Computer	First commercial computer & able to pick presidential winners.
1953	International Business Machines IBM 701 EDPM Computer	IBM enters into 'The History of Computers'.
1954	John Backus & IBM FORTRAN Computer Programming Language	The first successful high level programming language.
1955 (In Use 1959)	Stanford Research Institute, Bank of America, and General Electric ERMA and MICR	The first bank industry computer - also MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) for reading checks.
1958	Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce The Integrated Circuit	Otherwise known as 'The Chip'
1962	Steve Russell & MIT Spacewar Computer Game	The first computer game invented.
1964	Douglas Engelbart Computer Mouse & Windows	Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end.
1969	ARPAnet	The original Internet.
1970	Intel 1103 Computer Memory	The world's first available dynamic RAM chip.
1971	Faggin, Hoff & Mazor Intel 4004 Computer Microprocessor	The first microprocessor.
1971	Alan Shugart &IBM The "Floppy" Disk	Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.
1973	Robert Metcalfe & Xerox The Ethernet Computer Networking	Networking.
1974/75	Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 Computers	The first consumer computers.
1976/77	Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers	More first consumer computers.
1978	Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston VisiCalc Spreadsheet Software	Any product that pays for itself in two weeks is a surefire winner.
1979	Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Barnaby WordStar Software	Word Processors.
1981	IBM The IBM PC - Home Computer	From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution
1981	Microsoft MS-DOS Computer Operating System	From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of the century.
1983	Apple Lisa Computer	The first home computer with a GUI, graphical user interface.
1984	Apple Macintosh Computer	The more affordable home computer with a GUI.
1985	Microsoft Windows	Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple.
SERIES	TO BE	CONTINU

Continue reading...

Restart in Safe Mode and Find a Recent Snapshot Backup

Restart your computer in Safe Mode by pressing F8 during the initial boot up and choosing Safe Mode. Once in Safe Mode, you need to make sure the files and folders are visible so you can access them. Follow these instructions to accomplish this.

1. Open My Computer
2. Click on the Tools menu, then click Folder Options.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Under Hidden files and folders, click to select Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check box.
5. Click Yes when the dialog box that confirms that you want to display these files appears.

In My Computer, Double-click the drive where you installed Windows XP (usually Drive C) to display a list of the folders. then double-click on the "System Volume Information" folder. This folder contains the system restore points stored on your computer. The folders will look similar to

_restore{EE42BEB8-700A-495F-8004-53D26C2E12C5}

You might receive an access denied error message similar to the following when trying to access the System Volume Information folder.

Continue reading...

Microsoft Develops New Operating System From Scratch

Microsoft showed off a new operating system on Tuesday, but don't get too excited.

Think of Singularity as "a concept-car OS," said Rick Rashid, general director of Microsoft Research. Microsoft is making the prototype OS available free to the academic and research communities in the hope that they'll use it to develop new kinds of computer architectures.

It's difficult for the academic community to experiment with computer architectures, he said. Singularity is designed to make it easier for researchers to test how operating systems and applications interact with each other, he said.

"It's a new system built from the ground up, with the specific goal of being more reliable," Rashid said. Microsoft hopes that Singularity will help improve software reliability and boost research in programming languages and tools.Singularity is available on Microsoft's CodePlex Web site. It was unveiled on Tuesday at TechFest, Microsoft's annual showcase of projects from its research division.

Rashid also showed off BEE3, a hardware project that Microsoft designed with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley to let researchers experiment with computer architectures. "The idea behind it is to build a computer system that is configurable," Rashid said. "You can program this computer to be another computer or do another kind of architecture or experiment with new kinds of algorithms," he said.

Rashid and his colleagues are demonstrating technologies that Microsoft's research group is working on. Some of the projects ultimately contribute to Microsoft products but others, like vaccine design and quantum computing, often seem irrelevant to the software giant's core business.
irrelevant to the software giant's core business.

Still, Rashid said that the best return on any investment that Microsoft makes consistently comes from its investment in Microsoft Research. The group generates about a quarter of the company's patents, he said.

Continue reading...

Windows - Diagnostic tools

Accessing diagnostic tools:

On the Desktop, when you right-click on a drive and go to Properties, the "Tools" tab gives you access to three tools:

* Defragmenter (c:\windows\defrag.exe)
* Scandisk (c:\windows\command\scandisk.exe)
* Backup (c:\program files\accessoires\backup.exe)

Continue reading...

Restart Windows without rebooting

Restart Windows 9x without rebooting:

When you go to restart Windows, you click on Start, Shut Down, and then Restart. To restart Windows wthout having to restart the computer, simply hold while clicking on OK.
A shortcut for shutting down the computer:

In order to shut down Windows quickly just by double-clicking, create a shortcut to
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE C:\Windows\system\User.exe,ExitWindows

Show a folder's contents in a new window:

When you have the option "Open each folder in the same window" selected but you want to open a particular folder in a new window, simply hold as you double click on the folder.

Return to the parent directory:

To return to the parent directory, simply press the key.

Continue reading...

Viruses, Malware, and Spyware

Malware, or malicious software, is a class of software specifically designed to wreak havoc on a computer. Malware includes such nasty entities as viruses, Trojan horses, worms, and spyware.

Viruses:

A virus is a program or piece of code that "infects" other software by embedding a copy of itself in one or more executable files. When the software runs, so does the embedded virus, thus propagating the "infection." Viruses can replicate themselves, and some (known as polymorphic viruses) can even change their virus signatures each time to avoid detection by antivirus software.

Worms:

A worm is a special type of virus that can infect a computer without any help from its user, typically through a network or Internet connection. A common example is the W32.Blaster.Worm, which exploited a bug in Windows (eventually fixed as part of update #824146), causing it to restart repeatedly or simply seize up.

Spyware and adware:

Spyware is a little different than the aforementioned viruses and worms, in that its intent is not necessarily to hobble a computer or destroy data, but rather something much more insidious. Spyware is designed to install itself transparently on your system, spy on you, and then send the data it collects back to an Internet server. This is sometimes done to collect information about you, but most often to serve as a conduit for pop-up advertisements (known as adware).

Continue reading...

How to Remove Internet Viruses or Worms

Internet viruses and worms can wreck havoc on a computer system. The effects of an Internet virus can range from small (e.g. some viruses simply monitor Web usage) to devastating (e.g. erasing or corrupting critical system software components). More often than not, an Internet virus or worm will cripple a computer and make it unusable to the owner. Learn how to remove an Internet virus or worm to safeguard your computer and protect your important data. Also, learn how to avoid viruses and worms in the first place. When it comes to such computer problems, prevention is crucial.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Avoid downloading or opening files from strangers or untrusted, third-party websites. When it comes to Internet viruses or worms, prevention is key. Most viruses and worms infect a computer when the user unknowingly opens a program or file downloaded from an untrusted website. If a friend emails you a file that looks suspicious, ask him about its contents before opening the file.

2. Step 2

   Backup your important data regularly. Use an external hard drive or blank CDs or DVDs to make copies of important files, documents, photos and emails. Having a backup of your computer data is important when a virus infects your computer system and corrupts or deletes your files.

3. Step 3

   Download and install an antivirus program to remove any viruses or worms currently infecting your computer. If you do not have an antivirus program on your computer, download a free program such as AVG Free antivirus scanning software (link in the Resources section).

4. Step 4

   Scan your entire computer system for viruses and worms using the antivirus program installed in Step 3. Depending on the size of your hard drive this process may take several hours. Select a complete, thorough scan of all system data. Some viruses or worms hide in system files.

5. Step 5

   Remove and delete any viruses or worms found by the antivirus program. This process is automated once you give the program permission to delete the file. The antivirus program will give you an option to attempt to clean the file before deleting it. Always try to clean the infected file before erasing it. Deleting an infected or corrupted file should always be the last resort.

6. Step 6

   Scan your computer regularly after the initial virus scan and removal process. Regular antivirus scans will help protect your computer from future infections.

Continue reading...