Windows Control Panel very important links to all the settings of your computer, you can customize anything from here, these are very important things to know if you don't already.
Add Hardware wizard is very important, because sometimes you can accidentally close the wizard that starts when you plug in a device. You can use this wizard to update your device drivers.
Add Remove Programs, because sometimes there is no uninstall option in start menu programs. A very useful part of Add Remove Programs is the option to do Add Remove Windows Components. You can use this when your windows Internet Explorer or some other application like Outlook starts to show errors, reinstalling the component might help you sometimes.
Administrative tools are very important to know but they are for more advanced tips, you can explore them yourself or wait until we post about the tools located there, and if you still haven't you can read about Computer Management: Device Manager here. We will eventually cover them all, but for now you are a long way from administrative tools.
Network Connections is where you can find your disabled and enabled network interfaces. Internet connections that are active, you can right click select properties to see the configurations of your connections. We don't recommend setting anything there if you don't know what you are doing because you might lose your internet connection.
The rest of these you can access through other options. System is the same as My Computer Properties, Display is your Desktop Properties and so on... Feel free to explore these settings and make your computer as personal and unique as you are.
We hope these two little posts helped you understand Windows Control Panel. If you are unclear about anything please comment or contact us. These are the tips that IT teachers should have thought you in your first IT class. We think these are very important tips to know for any PC user weather you just read the news, watch films or network with others on facebook, so keep them in mind and they will help you when you are in trouble.
Don't forget to bookmark our blog to get the latest tips for everyone who uses a personal computer. See you next time.
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Sunday, 21 September 2008
Windows Control Panel Part 1
What a scary place, the Control Panel is a forbidden place to some. Only techies understand and use it. It is meant for advanced PC users and really some people don't know what is it for and how to use it. You maybe know where to get great facebook apps or maybe create excellent myspace layouts, but you don't know how to setup your internet connection and you have to call your friends when it disappears.
All computer users should familiarize with the control panel the first time they use a PC. The Windows Control Panel is very simple to use and easy to understand, most of the icons and tasks are just shortcuts to your display settings and properties, your internet settings, sound settings and so on...
We would like to cover some parts of the Control Panel that we think everyone should know how to use. And there are many tips to mention on this subject so we will split this post in to two parts, don't even think of not reading both of them.
You can find Control Panel usually in Other Places on your left side of My Computer window. You can set it to show up in your start menu by right-clicking somewhere in on the start menu, selecting properties. This will bring up Taskbar and Star Menu Properties, we have to click Start menu Customize... this will bring up another properties window, select the advanced tab. You will see "Start menu items:" the very first one is the Control Panel, click the Display Link radio button and click OK to close all windows. You can of course explore all the items that you can add and remove from your start menu and read on this blog when you are finished.
Now go ahead and click Control Panel in start menu, this will bring you the category view of Windows Control Panel. Advanced users usually set it to classic view the first time they go there, because this way you can see more links to settings and properties. The category view is for beginner users, you can do most of the things that are in classic view, the icons are just categorized, arranged together. Some of them can't be categorized so they can only be viewed in the classic view. You can always add more great tools to control panel that might be very handy, just search the net for these little tools.
Now that you are a bit more familiar with Windows Control Panel, we want to cover some of the things that it has and what are they used for. Read part two of this post.
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All computer users should familiarize with the control panel the first time they use a PC. The Windows Control Panel is very simple to use and easy to understand, most of the icons and tasks are just shortcuts to your display settings and properties, your internet settings, sound settings and so on...
We would like to cover some parts of the Control Panel that we think everyone should know how to use. And there are many tips to mention on this subject so we will split this post in to two parts, don't even think of not reading both of them.
You can find Control Panel usually in Other Places on your left side of My Computer window. You can set it to show up in your start menu by right-clicking somewhere in on the start menu, selecting properties. This will bring up Taskbar and Star Menu Properties, we have to click Start menu Customize... this will bring up another properties window, select the advanced tab. You will see "Start menu items:" the very first one is the Control Panel, click the Display Link radio button and click OK to close all windows. You can of course explore all the items that you can add and remove from your start menu and read on this blog when you are finished.
Now go ahead and click Control Panel in start menu, this will bring you the category view of Windows Control Panel. Advanced users usually set it to classic view the first time they go there, because this way you can see more links to settings and properties. The category view is for beginner users, you can do most of the things that are in classic view, the icons are just categorized, arranged together. Some of them can't be categorized so they can only be viewed in the classic view. You can always add more great tools to control panel that might be very handy, just search the net for these little tools.
Now that you are a bit more familiar with Windows Control Panel, we want to cover some of the things that it has and what are they used for. Read part two of this post.
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Monday, 15 September 2008
Defragmenting Your Hard-drive
Everyone complains that their PC is slow or for some reason is running games and programs slower and slower. There might be many reasons for this of course, but to keep your computer in top form defragmenting your hdd is in top of this list. It is very important to perform defragmentation of your system disk often for many reasons too. We detail everything you need to know in this post about defragmenting your hard-drive.
It is important to run defragmenatation, but not a lot of people do it. Because it takes time to do it or because the target disk is full. In other words defragmenting is not so popular and some may not understand why it is needed. Let us explain how to do it and why you must not forget to do it.
The defragemntation is very simple, you can find Windows integrated tool for that if you go: All Programs>Accessories>System Tools also by right-clicking the target disk, selecting the bottom properties option and tools tab.
There are also a huge amount of great free and expensive applications that do the same thing, maybe even a better job on defragmenting. Go ahead and look for one that might be better, recommend one if you know an app worth buying. Here we use Windows defragemtning tool, it already comes with windows and you don't have to register or download anything.
There is nothing hard or tech about it, you load the program, select a target drive, press analyze and press defragment, done. No it is not, even after an hour or two. It really depends on the size of your drive and the file amount that is there. Do it when you know you can leave your PC on for more that a few hours without anyone touching it.
You might not be able to defragment your disk at all, because at least 15% of free space on the target disk is required to move about all the files. Be Sure To Have At least 15% of your system disk free to perform defragmentation.
These are the reasons that makes defragmenting so unpopular and not a lot of people do it. Everyone should do it regularly, maybe as often as your virus scans. One time in two or three weeks, depending on how much you use your computer.
When a file is written to a hard-drive's partition, it is written in pieces, not in one go. Sometimes when you are doing multiple things these pieces get written on different places of the disk, to access it the read/write head has to go back and forth. Over time as more of these things happen your PC looks like it became slower.
What defragmenting does to your PC? It simply organizes all your files together so they can be read and wrote to faster. Simple defragmentation can help solve things like: slow document opening or slow file browsing, slow programs, but that won't solve slow internet!
We hope this post helps you, if your PC is slow and we hope now you understand why it is important to defragment your system drives often. Visit us soon for more great tips!
Read More......
It is important to run defragmenatation, but not a lot of people do it. Because it takes time to do it or because the target disk is full. In other words defragmenting is not so popular and some may not understand why it is needed. Let us explain how to do it and why you must not forget to do it.
The defragemntation is very simple, you can find Windows integrated tool for that if you go: All Programs>Accessories>System Tools also by right-clicking the target disk, selecting the bottom properties option and tools tab.
There are also a huge amount of great free and expensive applications that do the same thing, maybe even a better job on defragmenting. Go ahead and look for one that might be better, recommend one if you know an app worth buying. Here we use Windows defragemtning tool, it already comes with windows and you don't have to register or download anything.
There is nothing hard or tech about it, you load the program, select a target drive, press analyze and press defragment, done. No it is not, even after an hour or two. It really depends on the size of your drive and the file amount that is there. Do it when you know you can leave your PC on for more that a few hours without anyone touching it.
You might not be able to defragment your disk at all, because at least 15% of free space on the target disk is required to move about all the files. Be Sure To Have At least 15% of your system disk free to perform defragmentation.
These are the reasons that makes defragmenting so unpopular and not a lot of people do it. Everyone should do it regularly, maybe as often as your virus scans. One time in two or three weeks, depending on how much you use your computer.
When a file is written to a hard-drive's partition, it is written in pieces, not in one go. Sometimes when you are doing multiple things these pieces get written on different places of the disk, to access it the read/write head has to go back and forth. Over time as more of these things happen your PC looks like it became slower.
What defragmenting does to your PC? It simply organizes all your files together so they can be read and wrote to faster. Simple defragmentation can help solve things like: slow document opening or slow file browsing, slow programs, but that won't solve slow internet!
We hope this post helps you, if your PC is slow and we hope now you understand why it is important to defragment your system drives often. Visit us soon for more great tips!
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Computer Management: Device Manager
Computer Management tools are very important and everyone should know how to use these. Everything your computer has connected, everything it has done or is doing, all that info is there in Computer Management. One of the more important tools from this section you should know is Device Manager, this program manages your system hardware drivers.
We explain in detail what for and how it is used and may help you get back online or run that game. It may seem complicated at first but Windows Wizards help a lot and if you just read what they say, it will make sense after.
You can access this tool by right-clicking My Computer icon (not a shortcut) and selecting Manage. Select Device Manager and you will be presented with all the hardware that is connected and recognized by Windows. You can get there through Control Panel>Performance and Maintenance>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Device Manager.
Navigate using your mouse double-click or right-click on your preferred device and select properties. This will bring you a window with all of your hardware configuration and info. If there is a yellow question mark beside the device that means there is no driver installed for it, if there is a red cross that means it is disabled.
If you ever need to replace drivers for any of your devices you can do it here. Just select one of the options in the driver tab in the properties of any device. This will bring you a MS Wizard that will guide you through the whole process of updating or uninstalling your preferred device driver. You can let it search the internet for the drivers which most of the time doesn't work. You can let the Wizard scan your system or you can point it to a driver you want to install.
It is always best to install only one driver, reboot and install second, reboot install the third. Not all drivers require that you reboot your system after installation a, but if they do install them separate. Always have more than one back-up of your system drivers and keep them in separate places.
If you are replacing your drivers Be Sure You Can Rollback if it doesn't work to the previous driver. Your computer might just start to reboot every time after the Welcome screen, and you only tried to install new graphic drivers.
We hope this post helped you understand Computer Management Tools better and now you don't have to bother someone who knows a bit more about computers than you, and ask them for help with simple things like installing drivers. Come back soon for more excellent tips on Computer Management and other topics from PC Helpers On Blogspot! Read More......
We explain in detail what for and how it is used and may help you get back online or run that game. It may seem complicated at first but Windows Wizards help a lot and if you just read what they say, it will make sense after.
You can access this tool by right-clicking My Computer icon (not a shortcut) and selecting Manage. Select Device Manager and you will be presented with all the hardware that is connected and recognized by Windows. You can get there through Control Panel>Performance and Maintenance>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Device Manager.
Navigate using your mouse double-click or right-click on your preferred device and select properties. This will bring you a window with all of your hardware configuration and info. If there is a yellow question mark beside the device that means there is no driver installed for it, if there is a red cross that means it is disabled.
If you ever need to replace drivers for any of your devices you can do it here. Just select one of the options in the driver tab in the properties of any device. This will bring you a MS Wizard that will guide you through the whole process of updating or uninstalling your preferred device driver. You can let it search the internet for the drivers which most of the time doesn't work. You can let the Wizard scan your system or you can point it to a driver you want to install.
It is always best to install only one driver, reboot and install second, reboot install the third. Not all drivers require that you reboot your system after installation a, but if they do install them separate. Always have more than one back-up of your system drivers and keep them in separate places.
If you are replacing your drivers Be Sure You Can Rollback if it doesn't work to the previous driver. Your computer might just start to reboot every time after the Welcome screen, and you only tried to install new graphic drivers.
We hope this post helped you understand Computer Management Tools better and now you don't have to bother someone who knows a bit more about computers than you, and ask them for help with simple things like installing drivers. Come back soon for more excellent tips on Computer Management and other topics from PC Helpers On Blogspot! Read More......
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System Files Backup and Restore
System Files Backup and Restore
Welcome, we want to cover a little bit of file backup and restoring. Why you need to backup your system? How and when to do it?
This might sound complicated to some but it really is very simple and performed with integrated tools that Windows provide. You should backup your system just after you have installed all drivers, the latest updates and necessary programs that you might use. Less files means you have smaller system back-up file.
Keep in mind the amount that you can backup. If you can burn DVDs then you should keep your main system files not more than 4.7GB. If you can transfer your system back-up file to some other storage device which might be 120GB, then that is how big your file can actually be. Windows has a simple Backup Utility, you can find it in the Performance and Maintenance panel. You can use the Wizard or select the files you want to backup manually. A great tool that has everything to customize your backups as you like. Keep in mind there are different types of backups, choose one that fits your needs best, but normal backup should do fine here.
We are talking about system back-up, the main drivers, necessary programs, custom settings that you might prefer. Generally it should not take up much space and won't have any viruses or any malware on it. You would use it after you installed clean Windows copy on to your machine, this will bring back programs and settings back to the state when you saved them.
It is very important to create restore points regularly, it is good to have an option to go back in time, so don't forget to do it. It doesn't always help but it does in some cases. Go to All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore to access this great tool.
Create emergency repair diskettes if you have can, this might help you recover some system files, you load the diskette with Windows CD. Install Repair Console, this way you might be able to replace corrupted files and boot in to your system. You can access it by pressing F8 on most computers, at the first flash screen. You can also find Safe Mode in the same menu which might help you if you can't start Windows normally.
We will cover some of these tools more as backingup and restoring your data is a big subject and we will return to it, so don't miss those posts.
We hope these tips will help you understand why you need to back up and how or when you need to do it. Remember to add our blog to your favorites and visit us regularly.
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Welcome, we want to cover a little bit of file backup and restoring. Why you need to backup your system? How and when to do it?
This might sound complicated to some but it really is very simple and performed with integrated tools that Windows provide. You should backup your system just after you have installed all drivers, the latest updates and necessary programs that you might use. Less files means you have smaller system back-up file.
Keep in mind the amount that you can backup. If you can burn DVDs then you should keep your main system files not more than 4.7GB. If you can transfer your system back-up file to some other storage device which might be 120GB, then that is how big your file can actually be. Windows has a simple Backup Utility, you can find it in the Performance and Maintenance panel. You can use the Wizard or select the files you want to backup manually. A great tool that has everything to customize your backups as you like. Keep in mind there are different types of backups, choose one that fits your needs best, but normal backup should do fine here.
We are talking about system back-up, the main drivers, necessary programs, custom settings that you might prefer. Generally it should not take up much space and won't have any viruses or any malware on it. You would use it after you installed clean Windows copy on to your machine, this will bring back programs and settings back to the state when you saved them.
It is very important to create restore points regularly, it is good to have an option to go back in time, so don't forget to do it. It doesn't always help but it does in some cases. Go to All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore to access this great tool.
Create emergency repair diskettes if you have can, this might help you recover some system files, you load the diskette with Windows CD. Install Repair Console, this way you might be able to replace corrupted files and boot in to your system. You can access it by pressing F8 on most computers, at the first flash screen. You can also find Safe Mode in the same menu which might help you if you can't start Windows normally.
We will cover some of these tools more as backingup and restoring your data is a big subject and we will return to it, so don't miss those posts.
We hope these tips will help you understand why you need to back up and how or when you need to do it. Remember to add our blog to your favorites and visit us regularly.
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Temporary Files Clean-up
Keeping your PC running in top form includes tidying your documents as often as possible. When you are working on files or moving, copying them, windows uses temporary folders located on your system drive. When you are browsing the internet, windows downloads and keep all these sites in your temporary folder. Ever noticed that sites that you have visited before load quicker than sites that you visit for the first time?
You should regularly empty your recycle bin, delete all the stuff in your temporary folders, delete unnecessary cookie files. For some people it is better to do it manually, because some of those files may be important and something useful might be lost if you delete all at once.
You can also dig in to these folders and you might find something you thought you lost, something that you might want to keep or delete.
Deleting these files is also important for security reasons, these folders might contain private or sensitive information. There are a lot of programs that clean everything for you, some even clean your registry files which is very good for your PC's health.
Windows operating systems provide you with simple tools that clean your temporary files efficiently. Go to All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup. Simply choose the drive you want to clean up, and after the Wizard calculates everything choose folders and files that you want to delete.
You can also find most of these files and folders yourself, you have to enable hidden file and folder view in folder options first. Then browse to your users root folder(the one with your name) you will see more folders than before, find temporary internet files folders in your local settings folder. We recommend changing this setting back to normal once you are done cleaning. Be very careful not to delete any important system files if you decide to keep this setting.
Remember to clean your temporary files regularly if you want your computer to run in its top condition. Keep files that may be useful to you and delete every other manually or with your integrated Windows tools. We hope this post was useful to you. Don't forget to check-in soon for more great tips!
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You should regularly empty your recycle bin, delete all the stuff in your temporary folders, delete unnecessary cookie files. For some people it is better to do it manually, because some of those files may be important and something useful might be lost if you delete all at once.
You can also dig in to these folders and you might find something you thought you lost, something that you might want to keep or delete.
Deleting these files is also important for security reasons, these folders might contain private or sensitive information. There are a lot of programs that clean everything for you, some even clean your registry files which is very good for your PC's health.
Windows operating systems provide you with simple tools that clean your temporary files efficiently. Go to All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup. Simply choose the drive you want to clean up, and after the Wizard calculates everything choose folders and files that you want to delete.
You can also find most of these files and folders yourself, you have to enable hidden file and folder view in folder options first. Then browse to your users root folder(the one with your name) you will see more folders than before, find temporary internet files folders in your local settings folder. We recommend changing this setting back to normal once you are done cleaning. Be very careful not to delete any important system files if you decide to keep this setting.
Remember to clean your temporary files regularly if you want your computer to run in its top condition. Keep files that may be useful to you and delete every other manually or with your integrated Windows tools. We hope this post was useful to you. Don't forget to check-in soon for more great tips!
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About Us
About Us
We are a small group of Computer Technicians, we fix computers everyday physically, verbally and typing explanations on how to get things working. Over the years working in the industry, we gathered a lot of tips, fixes, solutions for any problem that might occur with your computer. We want to share these simple tips with everyone, so people can get on with fixing bigger problems.
We all are experts in either hardware, software, networking and many more fields. We communicate with each other all the time and we come up with a solution for a problem every time. This comes with a lot of experience in specific fields and doing what we do best, drive our fascination and curiosity for computers as we always did.
We hope you will find your fixes on this blog and they will help you in the future. You are free to contact us if you have any comments, suggestions for this blog, and we will try to do the best we can to make it better. Contact us if you would like info on specific topic posted, or have a big problem and no one helps, we won't charge a cent.
pchelpersbs@live.com Read More......
We are a small group of Computer Technicians, we fix computers everyday physically, verbally and typing explanations on how to get things working. Over the years working in the industry, we gathered a lot of tips, fixes, solutions for any problem that might occur with your computer. We want to share these simple tips with everyone, so people can get on with fixing bigger problems.
We all are experts in either hardware, software, networking and many more fields. We communicate with each other all the time and we come up with a solution for a problem every time. This comes with a lot of experience in specific fields and doing what we do best, drive our fascination and curiosity for computers as we always did.
We hope you will find your fixes on this blog and they will help you in the future. You are free to contact us if you have any comments, suggestions for this blog, and we will try to do the best we can to make it better. Contact us if you would like info on specific topic posted, or have a big problem and no one helps, we won't charge a cent.
pchelpersbs@live.com Read More......
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Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy
Every decent website should have a policy statement - even if it does not collect anything.
We have a subscription via e-mail widget installed. Every e-mail address that we collect is only used to notify the owner that our blog has new, updated content.
We have traffic tracking script installed. We use it to find out where our users are coming from, what they maybe looking for.
Our site has Google ads installed. Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
"The DoubleClick DART cookie helps marketers learn how well their Internet advertising campaigns or paid search listings perform." for more info check their website. DoubleClick.com
Info that we collect, may include: your operating system, IP address, country, the website that you are coming from and what link you clicked to leave our blog. We use this info to customize and build our blog according to our visitors and users needs.
The info that we collect is private and only the owners of this blog can access it. We would never sell or share this info with anyone, e-mail you with offers or trying to sell something.
If you have any questions about our policy statement please contact us and we will try our best to resolve your issues.
pchelpersbs@live.com Read More......
Every decent website should have a policy statement - even if it does not collect anything.
We have a subscription via e-mail widget installed. Every e-mail address that we collect is only used to notify the owner that our blog has new, updated content.
We have traffic tracking script installed. We use it to find out where our users are coming from, what they maybe looking for.
Our site has Google ads installed. Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our site. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
"The DoubleClick DART cookie helps marketers learn how well their Internet advertising campaigns or paid search listings perform." for more info check their website. DoubleClick.com
Info that we collect, may include: your operating system, IP address, country, the website that you are coming from and what link you clicked to leave our blog. We use this info to customize and build our blog according to our visitors and users needs.
The info that we collect is private and only the owners of this blog can access it. We would never sell or share this info with anyone, e-mail you with offers or trying to sell something.
If you have any questions about our policy statement please contact us and we will try our best to resolve your issues.
pchelpersbs@live.com Read More......
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Terms of Use
Here are our simple Terms of Use rules, please understand, respect and follow these. By reading the posts contained on this blog you agree to these terms of use:
You will use the info that we provide at your own risk, if you damage your machine you won't hold us responsible.
You will not copy any of the content posted on this blog.
The trademark terms used on this blog belong to their respective owners and this blog is not associated with the owners in any way.
We may change these terms at any time, changes will be posted on this page and users notified. If you are unsure about any part of this blog please don't hesitate to contact us.
pchelpersbs@live.com Read More......
You will use the info that we provide at your own risk, if you damage your machine you won't hold us responsible.
You will not copy any of the content posted on this blog.
The trademark terms used on this blog belong to their respective owners and this blog is not associated with the owners in any way.
We may change these terms at any time, changes will be posted on this page and users notified. If you are unsure about any part of this blog please don't hesitate to contact us.
pchelpersbs@live.com Read More......
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