Handy Bulb - Computer tech. Solutions: Hardware

Showing posts with label Hardware. Show all posts

COMMON USB DAMANGING PROBLEM

Well USB devices are handy, but it’s easy to whip the USB plug out before Windows has actually finished with one, which can lead to all sorts of problems. In the case of devices such as a printer, the worst thing likely to happen is that you will need to restart your PC and printer before beginning a print job again, but it’s a much bigger problem for storage devices; pulling the plug can cause them to lose the data they are saving- or, worse still, mess up the files that they already hold.

To avoid the risk, look in the Windows notification area (at the bottom right of the screen) for the ‘Safely Remove Hardware’ icon and double-click it for a list of your computer’s removable devices. Select your device and click OK. Windows will then tell you when it’s safe to remove.

REMEMBERING YOUR USB STICK

By Admin On 12:32 In Windows

Well, most of us have that annoying and potentially disastrous habit of leaving USB memory sticks plugged into computers when we are on travel. But there is solution for this, USBalert. Its a handy application that warns us if memory stick is still plugged in when we try to shut down PC.

Don't forget, we need to run the application every-time we plug our USB stick in, but its worth the few second it takes, especially if we carry important or sentimental data on our USB memory stick. the application USB alert,we can get it from www.usbalert.nl .With this software we can't forget our USB stick anymore. It sounds and shows an alarm if we lock or shutdown our computer while the USB stick is still connected.

REPAIR YOUR DETECTABLE BUT CORRUPT USB DRIVE

By Admin On 11:26 In Tricks

Have you suddenly encountered with the problem that when you plug in your USB drive, the Removable media shows up but when you try to open it, it returns with the message:

Please insert a disk in to drive H:

If yes then this tutorial will help you. By applying this simple method you'll have 75% chance to get back your USB drive hardware. This works only in the above error condition. If the window doesn’t detect your USB drive, then there is probably flaw in the USB media.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that, you'll have to lose your data when following this tutorial.

> Plug in your USB drive.

> Go to Start - 'My Computer', right click on 'My Computer' icon and click on 'Manage' menu. Computer Management window will pop up.

> Click on 'Disk management' under 'Storage' tree menu

> Now at the right side of the window right click on your removable media, right click on your removable media and choose 'Change Drive Letter and Paths.'

> Now in new window choose any drive letter that is not taken by any media (M: , N: , :K: etc.)

> Click on 'OK' button and close the management window. Try opening your USBdrive. There may be the chance to have your USBdrive recovered if this method worked.

> If the problem still prevails then follow the above tutorial but instead of choosing Change drive letter and paths, choose 'Format' and give a quick format to it.

> Now you'll have finally lost your data but the USBdrive is safe in your hands.

Hope this tutorial was working. If it didn’t please do comment me. I will find other solutions as well.

GET FASTER BOOT UP

By Admin On 15:27 In Windows

Yes you can get faster boot up, just need to follow some simple ways and you can decrease the time it takes to start up your computer in Windows by minutes in some cases. With just a few tweaks, you can get your boot up time down to 30 seconds and not 20 minutes. These are some quick and easy tips for faster boot up times.

>: Eliminate Start-up Delay

To get faster boot up speeds, you can cut the boot delay to 0. The delay is in place to allow your startup processes some breathing room during loading. Your default delay is 30 seconds. So, you can eliminate it for faster boot up times.
1. Open your Start menu.
2. Click Run
3. In the command screen, type msconfig
4. In the system configuration utility, click either BOOT tab.
5. In the boot menu, change the default setting for the Time Out from 30 to 5 seconds.

> Organize your Hard Drive

If you are looking for something in a messy room, naturally, it’s going to take you longer to find something. This is a good metaphor for a hard drive. Over time, filing system gets disorganized. Periodically, you need to reorganize this filing system on your hard drive. Luckily, Windows has a good utility called Defrag that will put your system in order.
1.Open the Start Menu
2. Click on My Computer
3. Right Click your C: drive or your hard drive image.
4. Scroll down to the Click Properties
5. In the Properties Menus, Open the “Tools” menu.
6. Choose Defragment.
7. In the Disk Defragment menu. Click on Defragment Disk

> Remove Excess Startup Programs

Most programs you add to your computer will opt to load when you startup your computer. Eventually you will rack up a load of programs that kill faster boot times. You need to reduce the startup programs. You can easily disable unnecessary startup programs. Here is how:
1. Open your Start menu.
2. Click Run
3. Type msconfig, click Enter
4. In the system configuration utility,click either services or startup tab.
5. Uncheck all programs that your are no longer want to run in the background.
6. Click OK

> Hard Disk Check Up
Over time, your hard drives gets degraded both physically and digitally. It’s important to monitor your drives health. An error or damaged sector can throw software loading into an infinite loop causing long load times. To check your drive health:
1. Click Start
2. Choose Computer
3. Right Click your Hard Drive
4. Choose Properties, Go to 'Tools' tab
5. Click Check Drives Health. After, the check up gives you repair options or a clean bill of health.
6. Restart to get a faster boot up.

Really easy, try it and enjoy.

HOW TO DEAL WITH LAPTOP OVERHEATING

By Admin On 11:48 In Hardware

A laptop that requires a great care from your side so that it keeps on running for years as it is an extensive investment. Many laptop (almost 90%) face the problem of overheating. Overheating can cause the laptop to show abnormal behavior thereby causing the internal machinery to fail. Well techniques and methods are available today so that your laptop runs smoothly.

> Power Settings:

When we work on the laptop that is on the charging then we set the mode as “High Performance”. This setting will consume the most power and will cause your laptop to overheat. A simple remedy to this problem is to set the laptop in the balanced or power saver mode. This will ensure that your laptop consumes only that amount of power that is required by it. Thus a large amount of heat is saved from generating by avoiding the large speeds of the processor. When the laptop is used for playing games then you should set the mode of your laptop to “High Performance”.

> Compressed Air:

While working with laptop in dusty condition then there are chances that the dust gets deposited on the circulating and cooling vents thereby choking them altogether. This can cause the fan to get over worked as the head will not be dissipated as efficiently. Thus the fan will work at dangerously high temperatures. So in order to avoid this situation buy a can of compressed air from a nearby computer store and it will cost you only some amount. Take this can and spray it on the vents of your laptop. This will remove all the dust and keep your laptop cool.

> Powering Off Your Laptop:

When you see that you might not be working on your laptop then you must switch it off rather than keeping it on the standby. We would not suggest you “Hibernate” option as it will take a toll on your RAM. Powering off your laptop will keep it cool and doesn’t eat away the battery. It is as simple as that.

> Surface:

While we are working the laptop then it can be quite comfortable when we place it on the pillow or blanket. But the fact is these surfaces choke the vents of your laptop thereby causing it to overheat. The soft nature of the surface will not allow the heat to escape and thus will be reflected back into the internal machinery. The best surface on which you should keep your laptop is the flat one such as a table. If you want to keep it on some soft surface then you should keep it on some hard cover book or similar surface. This will allow proper flow of air and heat to escape out of the system properly.

> Cooling Pad:

You can invest some money on your laptop then you can consider using a cooling pad for your laptop. Few dollars and you can get a cooling pad for your laptop and believe me it is every worth of the penny you spend on it

VIDEO AND SOUND PROBLEM IN GAMES

By Admin On 12:35 In Hardware

Certain games throw up sound and video based errors while others work flawlessly. How can we we avoid these problems ?

SOLUTION

Video and sound problems arise because of a number of reasons. You can overcome video and sound problems by following these measures:

> Make sure that you have the latest, updated video and sound drivers. An updated list of video and sound drivers can be found online.
>Check to see if your video and sound card is connected properly in your PCI or AGP slots.
>If your game uses Microsoft DirectX, make sure that the installation of another program doesn't affect the current installation. The latest version of DirectX can be found online. Most games install the required version during installation.

POWER PLANS ON THE LAPTOP

By Admin On 15:40 In Hardware

Sometimes when you plug your laptop to the power supply its performance is much better as compared to when it isn't charging. But if you want optimum performance even when your laptop isn't charging.

You can go to the Power Management settings in the control panel (Control Panel> Power options), and adjust your laptop's power management plans. Most laptop's when on battery, have a power saving plan by default, which might result in poor performance. You can either choose "High Performance", a pre-designed plan, or create your own power plan to suits your needs. You can select the various parameters to have a few features set to maximum performance and switch off/reduce other parameters which would be of little use during yours needs.

BOOT QUICKER SPEED UP YOUR PC

By Admin On 13:27 In Windows

When you installed multiple versions of Windows on your computer, you’ll get a menu asking which versions you’d like to launch while booting. This waits up to 30 seconds by default, that’s too long selecting the default choice. Just launch ‘MSCONFIG.EXE’, click the “Boot’ tab and set the Time-out figure to, for example, 8 or 10 second instead.

BAD SECTORS

By Admin On 11:05 In Hardware

Bad sector is a small portion on the hard disk that has suffered some damage and is therefore unusable. We can try fixing the problem by right clicking on the hard drive (c:, d: etc..) in the windows explorer. Click on the properties and click the tools tab. You will see the ‘Check now’ options, click it, and then check the box that says “Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors”. Click on the Start. If there are physical bad sectors, the only way to fix it to give the drive for repairs or replacement.

The bad sectors will not cause you harm day to day operation.

ERROR MESSAGES

By Admin On 15:12 In Hardware

Error Messages Loading Windows

Sometimes before loading Windows an error message is one of the more frustrating situations a computer user can experience. But these messages indicate some problems

Easy fixes: If an error message offers Last Known Good Configuration or Safe Mode, the error has something to do with Windows’ start up. Better select the former option. The latter is a good choice if you’ve recently added new hardware.

Just make sure there aren’t any removable media, including, CDs, DVDs and USB sticks, in any drive.

USB STICK TO LOCK YOUR COMPUTER

By Admin On 14:32 In Hardware

People start and mess with your custom setting when you are not around, tired of it? If you got a USB stick you can lock you computer by just removing it.

Boot Lock

This trick will allow you to use your USB stick as a key to boot into Windows. Without the USB stick, if anybody tries to start the computer, it will display boot errors. Remember you will be playing with the BIOS and boot files of your computer, so do it in you own risk. Now we have absolved ourselves of all guilt, let’s begin.

Things you need: A USB stick (not less then 64 MB). Windows Recovery Disk