Computer Acronyms

-- W ---
WAN - Wide Area Network

WTB - Want to Buy

WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get



--- X ---
XGA - Extended Graphics Array

XFX - XFX Graphics, a Division of Pine

XMS - Extended Memory Specification

XT - Extended Technology

Computer Acronyms (R-V)

--- R ---
RAID - Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks

RAM - Random Access Memory

RAMDAC - Random Access Memory Digital Analog Convertor

RDRAM - Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory

ROM - Read Only Memory

RPM - Revolutions Per Minute



--- S ---
SASID - Self-scanned Amorphous Silicon Integrated Display

SCA - SCSI Configured Automatically

SCSI - Small Computer System Interface

SDRAM - Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

SECC - Single Edge Contact Connector

SODIMM - Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module

SPARC - Scalable Processor ArChitecture

SOHO - Small Office Home Office

SRAM - Static Random Access Memory

SSE - Streaming SIMD Extensions

SVGA - Super Video Graphics Array

S/PDIF - Sony/Philips Digital Interface



--- T ---
TB - Terabytes

TBps - Terabytes per second

Tbps - Terabits per second

TDK - TDK Electronics

TEC - Thermoelectric Cooler

TPC - TipidPC

TWAIN - Technology Without An Important Name



--- U ---
UART - Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter

USB - Universal Serial Bus

UTP - Unshieled Twisted Pair



--- V ---
VCD - Video CD

VPN - Virtual Private Network

Computer Acronyms (M-P)

--- M ---
MAC - Media Access Control

MB � MotherBoard or Megabyte

MBps - Megabytes Per Second

Mbps - Megabits Per Second or Megabits Per Second

MHz - MegaHertz

MIPS - Million Instructions Per Second

MMX - Multi-Media Extensions

MSI - Micro Star International



--- N ---
NAS - Network Attached Storage

NAT - Network Address Translation

NEC - NEC Corporation

NIC - Network Interface Card



--- O ---
OC - Overclock (Over Clock)

OCZ - OCZ Technology

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer



--- P ---
PC - Personal Computer

PCB - Printed Circuit Board

PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect

PDA - Personal Digital Assistant

PCMCIA - Peripheral Component Microchannel Interconnect Architecture

PGA - Professional Graphics Array

PLD - Programmable Logic Device

PM - Private Message / Private Messaging

PnP - Plug 'n Play

PNY - PNY Technology

POST - Power On Self Test

PPPoA - Point-to-Point Protocol over ATM

PPPoE - Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet

PQI - PQI Corporation

PSU - Power Supply Unit

Computer Acronyms (G-L)

--- G ---
GB - Gigabytes

GBps - Gigabytes per second or Gigabits per second

GDI - Graphical Device Interface

GHz - GigaHertz



--- H ---
HDD - Hard Disk Drive

HIS - Hightech Information System Limited

HP - Hewlett-Packard Development Company

HSF - Heatsink-Fan



--- I ---
IBM - International Business Machines Corporation

IC - Integrated Circuit

IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics

IFS- Item for Sale

IRQ - Interrupt Request

ISA - Industry Standard Architecture

ISO - International Standards Organization



--- J ---
JBL - JBL (Jame B. Lansing) Speakers

JVC - JVC Company of America



- K ---
Kbps - Kilobits Per Second

KBps - KiloBytes per second



--- L ---
LG - LG Electronics

LAN - Local Are Network

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display

LDT - Lightning Data Transport

LED - Light Emitting Diode

Computer Acronyms (G-L)

--- G ---
GB - Gigabytes

GBps - Gigabytes per second or Gigabits per second

GDI - Graphical Device Interface

GHz - GigaHertz



--- H ---
HDD - Hard Disk Drive

HIS - Hightech Information System Limited

HP - Hewlett-Packard Development Company

HSF - Heatsink-Fan



--- I ---
IBM - International Business Machines Corporation

IC - Integrated Circuit

IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics

IFS- Item for Sale

IRQ - Interrupt Request

ISA - Industry Standard Architecture

ISO - International Standards Organization



--- J ---
JBL - JBL (Jame B. Lansing) Speakers

JVC - JVC Company of America



- K ---
Kbps - Kilobits Per Second

KBps - KiloBytes per second



--- L ---
LG - LG Electronics

LAN - Local Are Network

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display

LDT - Lightning Data Transport

LED - Light Emitting Diode

Computer Acronyms (D-F)

--- D ---


DDR - Double Data Rate

DDR-SDRAM - Double Data Rate - Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

DFI - DFI Inc. (Design for Innovation)

DIMM - Dual Inline Memory Module

DRAM - Dynamic Random Access Memory

DPI - Dots Per Inch

DSL - See ASDL

DVD - Digital Versatile Disc

DVD-RAM - Digital Versatile Disk - Random Access Memory



--- E ---
ECC - Error Correction Code

ECS - Elitegroup Computer Systems

EDO - Extended Data Out

EEPROM - Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

EPROM - Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory

EVGA - EVGA Corporation



--- F ---
FC-PGA - Flip Chip Pin Grid Array

FDC - Floppy Disk Controller

FDD - Floppy Disk Drive

FPS - Frame Per Second

FPU - Floating Point Unit

FSAA - Full Screen Anti-Aliasing

FS - For Sale

FSB - Front Side Bus

Computer Acronyms (A-C)

--- A ---
ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

AGP - Accelerated Graphics Port

ALI - Acer Labs, Incorporated

ALU - Arithmetic Logic Unit

AMD - Advanced Micro Devices

APC - American Power Conversion

ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange

ASIC - Application Specific Integrated Circuit

ASPI - Advanced SCSI Programming Interface

AT - Advanced Technology

ATI - ATI Technologies Inc.

ATX - Advanced Technology Extended



--- B ---

BFG - BFG Technologies

BIOS - Basic Input Output System

BNC - Barrel Nut Connector



--- C ---

CAS - Column Address Signal

CD - Compact Disk

CDR - Compact Disk Recorder

CDRW - Compact Disk Re-Writer

CD-ROM - Compact Disk - Read Only Memory

CFM - Cubic Feet per Minute (ft�/min)

CMOS - Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor

CPU - Central Processing Unit

CTX - CTX Technology Corporation (Commited to Excellence)

10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1 Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2 Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3 BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4 Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6 Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7 Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8 Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9 Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10 Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

Windows XP Tricks

Ever had this problem when you're using your PC? You opened a file, read through it, found it not that important, and wanted to delete it. But wait, you can't! Windows wouldn't delete it because, guess what, it's still in use! This is most commonly seen in Windows XP especially in simple files like videos or MP3s. If you've encountered this problem, here are some tips that you might find helpful before you go and trash your PC.

If it says it's in use, check if it's open. If it is, close it and then delete or try closing the program that you used to open the file because maybe the program hasn't released it yet. Still there? Try renaming the file then deleting it after. This usually works with an AVI file.

If the above does not work, reboot your PC. Don't open any other programs instead go to the file first then delete it before you open any programs.

If still not successful, download a free copy of MoveOnBoot. This is software that permits you to Move, Copy or even Delete a file before Windows locks or alters the file. Look for the problem-causing file and then delete it. You must reboot your PC ASAP, but if you're doing something, it can wait. This will still run when you open your PC.

If it is still there, it might be a virus or spywares in your system. It is advisable that you have a good virus scanner or spyware removal and run those programs.

Bob Cheeseman is a hobbyist who has been working with computers for 10 years, and enjoys sharing what he has learned. His site is geared towards beginners, and is adding information for the experienced user as well.

Tricks on The Computer

A Little Bit of My History

The very first time I have my hands on computer was almost 18 years back or so. It was an Apple computer given by my uncle who thought that I might be interested in it. The computer had no hard drive but with two 5 and a half inches floppy drive. The colors supported were black and green. All I did with the computer is to play games.

Later on, my father bought a 80286 system which came with a DOS system menu. I am particularly interested in games and since we had a DOS system, I started borrowing games from my friends. The computer was not considered fast because there were 80486 in the market at that time. Thus, some of the games are either not compatible or too slow to play a 80286 system.

At that time, I discovered that memory is one of the important components to increase the computer speed. Knowing that it was impossible for me to buy additional RAM to add-on, I started looking at DOS utilities. There was a Memory Maker tools which aimed to increase the memory similar of having a virtual memory but there was no significant improvement or I should say there was no improvement at all.

Later on, my father bought a Pentium 133 system with Windows 95. I upgraded it to Windows 98 myself. I went on to study computing in college and had another Celeron 300A system. I tried overclocking but the system just hangs after 333MHz. An increase of 33MHz did not improve much to the overall speed.

THE TOOLS

MSCONFIG

This is one of the most common tools that you can find in all Windows system. Run the tool by typing 'msconfig' from Start Menu --> Run, and a system configuration windows will appear. Click on the startup tab and it contains a list of startup program on your computer. Thus, one of the ways to improve your computer startup speed is to have the least programs to startup automatically with Windows.

Of course, you will want your antivirus to startup together but other than that, I believe that MSN, Skype and other similar tools will slow down your startup tremendously. You might be saying that you will always need to run MSN and Skype but a good practice is to enable them in the startup but prevent them from signing in automatically.

I like my system to startup fast because sometimes I may just want to type some documents or playing games without using other tools. Thus, shortcuts at the desktop are good enough for me as I can choose to launch any programs after startup.

After a fresh installation, the startup tab is normally blank. Hence, you are safe to untick all the programs listed. If you find that your system is not working properly after that, you can always run the system configuration and tick all the startup programs.

Windows Defender

This is a free spyware tool from Microsoft itself. Other than that, it is also a startup manager. Browse through the tools option, and there is a Software Explorer link. It works like a combination of startup manager and task manager. You can view currently running programs, network connected programs, winsock service providers and startup programs. You can choose to remove, disable or enable the programs listed.

However, Windows Defender is available for Windows XP and Vista only.

CCleaner

As time goes by, your copy of Windows may work slower and slower. This is because of the amount of software and games that you have installed in your computer but are not removed properly during uninstallation. During an of software or game, not only the files are installed in the specified folders; several records are also added into Windows registry. Unfortunately, not all the records in the registry are always removed during uninstallation.

"The Windows registry is a directory which stores settings and options for the operating system for Microsoft Windows 32-bit versions, 64-bit versions and Windows Mobile. It contains information and settings for all the hardware, operating system software, most non-operating system software, users, preferences of the PC, etc. Whenever a user makes changes to Control Panel settings, file associations, system policies, or most installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the registry." - Wikipedia

CCleaner is a piece of freeware which can be used to check any broken links from the registry and thus, offers the option to remove the invalid registry entries. A lot of people are saying that it is dangerous to change registry settings. Indeed, it is dangerous. But I have been using this piece of freeware for quite sometime and I have not encountered any serious problems with it. However, I do notice some improvement in my system speed especially during startup.

As I am using Vista at the moment, I reckon that the software does not work quite well with Vista because some of the options a greyed out.

System Mechanic of IOLO Technologies is a piece of software that done a better job than CCleaner. Well, of course because it is not free. If you manage to get hold of a copy of System Mechanic, you will be surprised how it performed and all the functions it has.

Advance System Properties

If you like the fancy appearance of your Windows right now, you may choose not to change any of the settings here. But there are a few options which you might want to disable and it does not affect the overall appearance of your Windows. To go to the Advance System Properties, right click My Computer and click on properties. For Windows XP, click on the Advance tab while Windows Vista users need to click on the Advance System Properties link at the left column.

In the advance tab, there are three frames, Performance, User Profiles and Startup and Recovery. Click on the Settings button in the Performance frame and you will be shown the Visual Effects tab. To choose for the best performance will untick all the options below and mostly likely, you will get better speed when navigating through Windows. However, if you prefer to have the fancy appearance, you may want to just untick the options for fading and sliding or untick everything except the bottom two options to keep the option of having drop shadow for icon labels and visual styles for windows and buttons.

Files in Desktop and User Account

The size of you user account has some effect on the speed of your computer during startup. You can view your user account size from the User Profiles frame mentioned above. Click on the Settings button in the User Profiles frame and you will see a list of users and the size of each of the users.

My own practice is to avoid storing files such as documents and pictures in my user account folders. Even though the user account has come pre-created with different folders for different types of documents such as the musics, pictures, bookmark favorites, documents and saved games, but I have dealt with problems that resulted from corrupted user profiles and the only way to recover the files is to connect the hard drive to another working machine. Well, that is way too troublesome for some people. In addition, some viruses attack through user profiles.

Desktop files are stored in User Profiles. The more icons and files stored in the desktop, the slower startup you get.

Thus, it will be wise to store the files to another drive or partition which will secure your files and also speed up your system slightly.

Disk Cleanup

Using Disk Cleanup will help you to clean your Internet Temporary Files, Downloaded Program Files, setup Files and compress files. This is another step to clean up your system and it may not help to speed up your system. Well, at least that you know a place to find the files that can be deleted safely. By the way, having enough of free disk space is equally important for your computer to run smoothly.

How to Make Your PC Run Faster in Seconds

Computers that run slow are not only annoying, but also highly frustrating as well. Not only do they take a very long time to perform the tasks you want, but they can also prevent you from finishing work or playing your favorite games. Fortunately, there's a very simple trick that computer experts use to speed up most computers in seconds.

The way to speed up a computer is actually very easy - you just need to fix the problems that cause it to run slowly. Not many people realize this - but making a computer fun fast is just down to being able to identify and fix the problems that often cause it to take longer to perform the tasks you want. And the trick that computer experts use to do this is actually to clean out the central part of Windows called the "registry".

One of the most beneficial and little-known ways to speed up your computer is to clean out all the damaged and corrupted files inside the registry database. The registry is basically a central storage facility which keeps information and settings for your computer. The registry is actually the most important part of your computer as it keeps information such as your latest emails, desktop wallpaper and even your stored passwords inside. It's like a "library" for your computer, which Windows has to use 100's of times a day to recall a variety of information. Unfortunately, the registry is also the main reason why Windows runs slowly and it's all down to how your computer uses this database.

The big reason why Windows computers run slow is actually down to the way the 'registry' is being used to constantly load 100's of settings for your Windows system. Unfortunately, too many of these settings are opened at once, causing your computer to get confused and save many of them in the wrong way. This makes Windows take longer to read them the next time it wants them, causing your PC to run slower and with a lot of errors.

Computer experts are able to fix this problem in a few seconds by using a "registry cleaner" tool. This is a software program designed to scan through the registry database and fix any of the damaged or corrupt settings that are inside it; and is a very effective and simple way to boost the speed of your Windows PC. To use a registry cleaner, you first need to download a tool from the Internet, then let it scan your PC. It will show you all the errors on your system and will then fix the damaged or corrupted ones that are causing problems for your computer, speeding it up dramatically

How To Remove Viruses From My Computer

At this moment someone is hard at work inventing a virus to destroy your computer.

Eugene Kaspersky, whose company, Kaspersky Lab Virus Research, works to fight virus proliferation says, "The number of new viruses and Trojans is now increasing every day by a few hundred. Our virus lab receives between 200 and 300 new samples a day."

Like biological viruses that infect human beings, computer viruses can vary from mild to severe.

The approach to dealing with this malware, an abbreviation for "malicious software" is to prepare well in advance. You do not want to become aware of the problem after you have lost most of your files.

Prevention And Data Recovery Preparation

Here are some essential tips for you to follow to prevent an attack or quickly recover your data if you detect an attack:

1. Prepare in advance by doing daily back up of your files for easy recovery.

2. Use two hard drives. Use a 10 Gb hard-drive for your C: drive. Use a bigger hard-drive for all your other data.

3. Keep all receipts, registration, and activation codes and other information on a CD. You may need these to contact the seller in an emergency to prove that you already bought their product.

4. Scan your C:drive daily. This is where most virus infections are found. Since this is a small drive, this process will go relatively quickly.

5. Scan your larger drive once every two weeks.

6. You can use CD and DVD burners or removable hard drives for your back-ups.

7. Use a high-quality anti-virus program for prevention and detection.

Identification, Research, And Downloading The Antidote

While these 7 steps will help keep your computer safe and help you recover if your computer is attacked by a virus, what do you do if a virus has broken past your defenses? How do you remove virus from your computer after detection? If the virus is spyware or adware, you can use anti-spyware and anti-adware from NoAdware program to detect and quarantine them. Also Spywaremover has an excellent reputation.

The best way to get excellent programs for removing spyware, adware, and other malicious software, is to get the information from an authority website.

If you want to remove a virus, you have to find out what type of virus it is first, then you have to do some internet research on forums or other places where you can get unbiased information about the best authority sites.

For example, suppose you detected a Trojan virus. You would then go to an anti-virus authority site like Majorgeek.com and download "Trojan Remover."

Here is a description from their website of this particular example of how to remove virus from your computer:

"Trojan Remover was written to aid in the removal of Trojan Horses from a computer where standard anti-virus software has either failed to detect the Trojan Horse or is unable to effectively eliminate it. In no way should it be considered as an alternative to regularly using good anti-virus software to protect your computer."

Once the description matches your virus, download it and use it.

In summary, here are three steps to take to remove virus from your computer.

1. Prevent it from happening in the first place and make sure that you back up your data and important information in case it does happen.

2. Constantly monitor your computer for an invasion. Don't wait to detect it after you have lost your data.

3. Identify the name of the virus, then do an Internet search for the remedy from an authority site that deals with virus removal and download their latest program.

An Interesting Computer Trick

There are lots of articles and posts available in the internet that describes how you make your computer fast. On of these is applying best performance option in the control panel. But enabling this option you have to compromise with best appearance which you don't want. But don't worry, I have a trick in which you will get best performance without compromising your best appearance settings. I already applied this trick with my PC for the past 10 years and it's working fine. Follow the Steps below.

step1: Right click on desktop and select properties;

step2: In the appearance tab, click on effects, tick the 2nd option(if not already selected) and in the drop down menu

select 'clear type'. Uncheck all the options, then click ok and apply.

step3: now in the theme tab save your settings say 'my theme' for example, then apply and ok;

step4: Now right click on my computer, go to advance-->performance settings and select adjust for best performance, then click apply then ok;

(Note: if you already performed this step before step 1&2, then you have to select for best appearance first before applying step 1)

step5: Right click on desktop and select properties;

step6: In the theme tab, in the drop down menu of 'save as' option select 'my current theme' and click on apply button. Again in the drop down menu select 'my theme' as you saved earlier and click on apply and then ok and you are done.