Friday, November 20, 2009

Troubleshooting Tips for New Monitors

Here are some basic trouble shooting tips for new monitors:
  1. The picture does not appear

    • Check to make sure the signal cable is firmly connected in the socket.
    • Check to see if the computer system's power is ON.
    • Check that the Brightness Control is at the appropriate position, not at the minimum.
  2. The Screen is not synchronized

    • Check to make sure the signal cable is firmly connected in the socket.
    • Check that the output level matches the input level of your computer.
    • Make sure the signal timing of the computer system is within the specification of the monitor.
  3. The position of the screen is not in the center

    • Adjust the H-Size, H-Phase or V-Size, V-Center controls.
    • Check if the signal timing of the computer system is within the specification of the monitor.
  4. The screen is too bright or too dark

    • Check if the Brightness or contrast control is at the appropriate position, not at the maximum or minimum.
    • Check if the specified voltage is applied
    • Check if the signal timing of the computer system is within the specification of the monitor.
    • Especially, check the horizontal frequency.
  5. The screen is shaking

    • Move all objects that emit a magnetic field, such as a motor or transformer, away from the monitor.
    • Check if the specified voltage is applied.
    • Check if the signal timing of the computer system is within the specification of the monitor.
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Free Anti-Virus Software Trials

Kaspersky Internet Security 2010
Kaspersky Lab is a computer security company offering anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-spam, and anti-intrusion products. We use Kaspersky Internet Security for our computers and it works well for us. It does its work in the background in a discrete and non-intrusive way and does not disturb you with a lot of unnecessary messages. Kaspersky offers a free 30 day trial period.

Norton Internet Security 2010
Norton Anti-Virus, developed and distributed by Symantec Corporation, provides malware prevention and removal during a subscription period. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features include e-mail spam filtering and phishing protection. Symantec offers a free 30 day trial period.

Panda Global Protection 2010
Panda Security SL is a computer security company founded in 1990. Initially centered on the production of anti-virus software, the company has expanded its line of applications to include firewall applications, spam and spyware detection applications, cybercrime prevention technology, and other system security tools for businesses and home users. Panda offers a free 30 day trial period.

Note: The expression Malware is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code.

Norman Security Suite
Norman ASA founded in 1984, is active within the field of data security, with products for anti-virus (virus control), personal firewall, anti-spam, encryption, anti-spyware, and parental control. Norman’s head office is based in Norway, but the company has several offices in other countries. Norman offers a free 30 day trial period.

McAfee Total Protection
McAfee Inc is an anti-virus software and computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It markets McAfee VirusScan and related security products and services, including the IntruShield, Entercept, and Foundstone brands. McAfee offers a free 30 day trial period.

F-Secure Internet Security 2010
F-Secure plc is an anti-virus and computer security software company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has large branch offices in the USA and Japan, where some anti-virus analysis and software development work are also being undertaken. F-Secure offers a free 30 day trial period.

There are more security softwares on Internet that you can try free, but be careful - some of them are well disguised malicious softwares (Malware). Download only software from companies you know well (or recommended by someone you trust) and with a good Internet reputation.

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Short Notes on Software, Hardware, Peripheral and Pasteurization

Software:

Are the set of instructions or more generally a collection of computer programs which tell the hardware how to work and perform different tasks on a computer system. At the lowest level software is in a form of an assembly language, a set of instructions in a machine-understandable form. At the highest level, software is in a form of high-level languages, which are compiled or interpreted into machine language code. They can be further enumerated by the type of work done by programs. The three basic types are:

Operating system (System Software): It controls the working of a computer system and performs essential tasks like Disk maintenance and managing screen etc.

Programming Software: These are basically tools use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications.

Application Software
: It performs productive tasks for user such as word processing and database management etc.
Apart from these three basic types of software, there are some other well-known forms of computer software are

Inventory Management Software
: This type of software helps an organization in tracking its goods and materials on the basis of quality as well as quantity.

Utility Software
: Also known as service routine, utility software helps in the management of computer hardware and application software. It performs a small range of tasks. Disk defragmenters, systems utilities and virus scanners are some of the typical examples of utility software.

Data Backup and Recovery Software
: Ideal data backup and recovery software provides functionalities beyond simple copying of data files. This software often supports user needs of specifying what is to be backed up and when. Backup and recovery software preserve the original organization of files and allow an easy retrieval of the backed up data.

Generally, most of the software on computer comes in the form of programs. A program consists of instructions that tell the computer what to do, how to behave.


Hardware:

Hardware is the equipments involved in the function of a computer. Computer hardware consists of the components that can physically handle. The function s in these categories of these components is typically divided into three main categories; input, output and storage. Components in these categories connect to central processing unit (CPU), the electronic circuitry that provides the computational ability and control of the computer, via wires or circuitry called a bus. The main difference between software and hardware can be assumed of their physical appearance as hardware are tangible whereas software are intangible.

Input and Output Devices:

Input devices are the hardware that are used for providing information to the computer like mouse and keyboard and output devices are the hardware that are used for receiving information from computer like monitor, printer or the sound system.

Storage Devices:

Storage capacity is the total amount of information a computer's memory or disk can hold at any one time. A personal computer system has three basic types of memory storage devices: RAM (random access memory), disks, and magnetic tape. Capacity can be upgraded, or increased, as the user's needs grow.

CPU:

is an electronic circuit that executes computer programs. It is responsible for carrying out arithmetic and logic functions as well as executing instructions to other components. The components of a CPU work together, and depending on how they are made, determine exactly how fast these operations can be carried out along with how complex the operations can be.


Computer Peripherals:

Any device that is attached to the computer is considered a peripheral. Examples include the printer, monitor, and mouse. Information and commands are transferred from the computer to the peripheral device through controllers, which are often single chips. Controllers for items like the keyboard and disk drives are standard, while additional devices such as a modem usually require the insertion of new controllers from the expansion board. Furthermore, the bus (series of connected wires that connects peripherals with the computer) must be compatible with the controller. There are three basic types of bus architectures.
The AT bus, PCI and SCSI.


Pasteurization:


is a process which slows microbial growth in foods. The process was named after the french scientist Louis Pasteur. The process was originally conceived as a way of preventing wine and beer from souring. Pasteurization aims to reduce the number of viable pathogens so they are unlikely to cause disease.

The original method of pasteurization was vat pasteurization, which heat milk or other liquid ingredients in a large tank for at least 30 minutes. It is now used primarily in the dairy industry for preparing milk for making starter cultures in the processing of cheese, yogurt, and buttermilk and for pasteurizing some ice cream mixes.
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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
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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.
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Thursday, November 19, 2009

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.
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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)
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