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How can I get rid of adware without having to get any more virus programs or anti-spy programs? Assuming you are using the term 'adware' in the truest sense of the word - you don't. Adware simply means software that is obtained for free for full usability at the cost of having to view advertising within the program instead of paying for the program. So you don't use other software to 'get rid of' adware. You just uninstall it.

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On Facebook, is it possible to PERMANENTLY delete messages being sent back and forth privately? I am able to delete them, but then Facebook asks if I want to view them again, so I know it is not permanently deleting the conversations..... At the moment I don't believe there is. Facebook doesn't even permanently delete your profile when you deactivate it. Mind you, there are changes coming because Facebook is trying to meet the requirements of various countries' privacy laws.

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Will Wikipedia ever be legitimate? It depends on what you consider legitimate. I don't have any more of an issue with the legitimacy of Wikipedia than any other source of information. Simply because a source of information is more trusted than another doesn't make it right. Even the most trusted sources of information make mistakes. I give Wikipedia credit because sooner or later, anything found to be inaccurate can be...

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Why modem are not in built on motherboard If you're talking about data/fax modems - they already are. If you're talking about DSL or cable modems, the reason is simple. There are too many varieties of DSL and cable internet modems to standardize them and put them on a motherboard. Also, the technology can change requiring a newer modem a lot sooner than you would typically go and buy a new motherboard. I am on my 4th DSL...

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Can I block emails going to a 2nd computer on a home wireless network with 2 computers? Thanks J Miller jimbosr_656@hotmail.com Not exactly sure what you mean, but here goes. Emails come to whichever email program is asking for them, so if both computers are set up to access a specific email account (address), they will both get the messages stored on the mail server when you open the email program (Outlook, etc.) or check for new email. So really, the only way not to get email (for a specific address) on a specific...

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For the PC, what the difference between the internal drive and external drive for CD/DVD burner? Just to add to what Jerv said, one advantage of having an external drive is that it can be shared between computers. Another advantage is that if you buy a new external drive today and replace your PC in a year, you can keep the external drive to use with your new PC (and not having to buy one for the new PC if you don't want to (applies to custom PC builds or netbooks only).

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If i delete things on my laptop will it make it faster and is there anything i can do to make it faster? You can make your computer a bit faster by doing a software tune-up. A tune up typically consists of things like: 1. Uninstalling unused software (anything you haven't used in more than 3 months is a candidate for uninstalling). 2. Analyzing and modifying what software starts up with Windows (almost every program you install on a PC these days puts an element of itself in the system tray...

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Would you pay for web news, why? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8186701.stm No I wouldn't. The folks who are trying to use this business model will fail as long as there are other free news sources. If (and this will never happen) everyone banded together and charged for online news, they would all fail. Dramatically.

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With Netbooks changing so quickly technology-wise, how do you know when the best time to pounce is? What features are sellers for you in a netbook? There really aren't many advances in netbooks (based on what I've seen) from one year to the next. But just like any technology, you have to decide when a newer model comes out (and the older model goes on sale) whether the newer features are more important or if the older ones will do (thankfully for less money). I have no need for a netbook, but if I were shopping for one, my...

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Why is it that laptop AC adapters become scorching hot, but don't have fans or any cooling device? Wouldn't this harm the? This is pure speculation, as I do not design laptops. Having said that, AC adaptors (for laptops) are likely designed to conserve space, since nobody would want to drag a giant properly cooled adaptor around. Also, I would expect that laptop manufacturers would have no qualms about your adaptor failing after a year or two because of overheating. After all - the accessories make them as much...

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How or Where can I type a letter on the computer and be able to print it? Word is only available if you have Microsoft Office installed. Windows comes with an arbitrary word processing program called Wordpad. It's in your Start Menu under Programs > Accessories > Wordpad.

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Is the AC adapter considered the PSU of a laptop? Essentially, yes. There are DC voltage regulator circuits in the laptop itself which would normally be part of a regular PSU, so if you wanted to get technical, the AC adapter is only the AC > DC conversion portion.

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Do you think Macs are better than PCs? I do. I own a Mac and love it. [This is not a new answer, but a response to Jerv's last comment to my original answer. I can't post anymore comments on that thread for some reason] OK. So what I was referring to was that on an Apple touchpad, there are no 'regions'. You can scroll with two fingers anywhere on the pad, which I find more intuitive than needing to be in a certain region. The border between...

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I have a brand new 13" MacBook Pro. How do I put windows on it? You have 2 choices. You can use boot camp to 'dual-boot' your Mac OS with Windows (every time you boot up, you choose what you want to run. Or you can use a VM management software like VMWare or Parallels as mentioned by Nivrama, which allows you to run Windows almost as if it were a program running on the Mac. So in summary - boot camp (free) for Mac or Windows each boot, or...

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Is there a device i can attach to my ADSL broadband to make it run any better? Not that I know of. Your ADSL performance is determined by your phone line and the programming of your modem and the DSLAM at the other end of the line. Assuming your filters are in place, everything is as good as it can be.

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How many toolbars do you have and use ? Why did you choose that one(s)? I am as anti-toolbar as they come, but I did capitulate for one toolbar and only one. Stumble Upon is a good site for discovering new web sites based on what you already like. So the Stumble Upon toolbar makes that stumbling around task super easy. But I don't have it active (visible) all the time, just when I'm looking for inspiration.

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Does anyone have gmail if so what is it like Not a lot of people have my gmail address and I have 2 other email accounts, so I didn't think using gmail would be of great benefit. But then I discovered that you can add your other email accounts into gmail and use it to access all your email in the same place. Considering some of gmail's excellent features, this made sense to me and I've only been using gmail since.

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If I am using my own computer and type in a friends user address and password to get on their email, can they find out. Depending on what you do when you log in and whether they are also logged in, they might find out. Keep in mind that accessing someone's email without authorization is against the laws of most countries. It's also unethical.

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Which would be a good mouse to purchase for my PC? I want a mouse that would be soft to click when using. I have a mouse that I have to press a little hard when I click it. I'm not sure how old your mouse is or what you define as 'hard', but most modern mice are quite ergonomic (meaning easy and comfortable to use). Whenever I'm shopping for a new mouse, I always just go to the nearest store that displays products on the shelf (like Staples or Office Depot) and test drive them there. You'll be able to tell if the mouse fits the bill.

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Do you think Macs are better than PCs? I do. I own a Mac and love it. Macs are especially good for 2 things: 1. Design. Macs are known for their clever design concepts. Their machines look great and have ingenious features that most PCs do not. One that immediately comes to mind is the ability to scroll or rotate using two fingers on the touch pad. 2. Restricted engineering. Only Apple design and make their own hardware and operating system. This...

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Why "html" is called as markup language? In HTML, we use tags to define the beginning and end of sections of the document and the beginning and end of text attributes and other document objects. For example, <b>me</b> would apply the 'bold' attribute to the word me. It's these tags that are referred to as 'markup'.

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Is there currently something wrong with internet? It keeps encountering problems and its really slow to load anything There are so many things that can potentially affect your internet connection. One thing you can try is to unplug then reconnect the power to your cable or dsl modem (whichever you have) for a few seconds. This cures my speed issues sometimes.

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How can i open windows vista file on windows xp I'm guessing the attachment ends with an extension like .docx or .xlsx or .pptx This has nothing to do with the version of Windows but has to do with the version of MS Office. They likely have Office 2007 and you likely have something older. As heintron says, Microsoft offers a plug-in to open the newer type of file. Another option is to ask them to send you a version of the file...

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What degree is the best if i wanted to become a computer technician? I just want to troubleshoot and repair, mostly hardware. Based on what you said you want to do, I would say you do not need a degree. A+ certification would be a good start, followed by Network+. You can attain those through self study or formal courses, although I would recommend the latter. It's hard to get a lot of practical experience from a book. FWIW, I have been in IT for 25 years and do not have a degree.

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Despite experience, what is the best OS in terms of reliability? That's a hard question to answer, because 'reliability' is such a vague word. What I would ask as a follow-up question is: Reliability regarding what? How often it crashes? Interoperability with all applications? Interoperability with all hardware? Each OS has its strengths and weaknesses. What exact aspect of the OS are you looking at? If your answer is...

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My DSL modem on/ off switch is very weak, and the modem turns itself off now and again when I push the button firmly in to start it up. Do I need to get a new modem, or are there other ways to help minimize this problem? There are two likely possibilities here. 1. The modem has a faulty on/off switch and taking it back to the store for a replacement, or returning it to the manufacturer for warranty repair will solve the problem. 2. The modem is a lemon and has an inherently bad on/off switch. Take it back for a refund and get a better quality modem. In this case, hopefully you're not stuck with only...

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Likely a dumb question but I gotta ask..... is the fan on a computer power supply supposed to be spinning all the time or just when the power supply gets to a certain temperature? It all depends on the make and model of power supply. Period.

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Why do people on the internets freak out over misspellings? They don't understand the culture.

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Is using someone else's wireless without their permission immoral? Someone has just been arrested in the UK for it (see ref.) This is a huge can of worms. My first point is that many users of technology don't understand the technology nor bother learning how to use it properly. There are folks who leave their wifi connections open because they don't know any better and those who leave it open because they don't care if anyone uses it. So the question now becomes - if I used your wifi connection and...

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Is my internet speed fast 539kbps download speed...330kbps upload speed That download speed does seem a little bit on the slow side. Is it DSL? Cable? Does your speed vary depending on the time of day?

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How should photo CDs be stored to avoid damage? In jewel cases or a CD binder. The binder uses much less space and is slightly more environmentally friendly. Just to rectify a few misconceptions: 1. The top side of a CD / DVD is more susceptible to damage than the bottom side. That is because the bottom side is a plastic lens and the top side is only a coat of lacquer away from the data layer. I have demonstrated complete destruction...

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What are the special features of a laptop which cannot be seen in desktop computer? Firstly, they're mobile and lighter. Having wireless built in makes it usable in so many more places. The touchpad is the natural replacement for a mouse, although many people don't like touchpads. For what it's worth - the new touchpad on the new MacBook is awesome. Another feature of a laptop is that all the hardware pieces were built to work together in one machine. This...

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Who do you think is the best free email provider? I think for features alone, my vote would have to go to GMail.

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How many people on this site have an Apple Macintosh or a Macbook? I have a Macbook. I bought one in 2007 as an experiment. I wanted to see if I could do the same things I used my HP (Windows-based) laptop for without any trouble. The experiment was so successful, I sold my HP laptop. I found the OS to be very intuitive and the system has design features that really appealed to me. With the new generation of Macbooks that just came out (in the aluminum...

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Would it be good to get more RAM? if my computer's only has 1gb RAM It all depends on how you use your computer and what your expectations are. I know people who only have 1GB of RAM with Windows XP and they are more than happy with their existing setup. Most of these folks don't typically play games nor do they often have more than a couple programs running at a time. Personally, I would never use a PC with less than 2GB of RAM on board, but I tend...

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How can I know the IP Address and the Physical Address of my system? To get the IP and physical (MAC) address of your system, use the command: ipconfig /all

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Are you happy with your ISP? Yes. I'm with a regional ISP in Canada that has been around since the days of BBS. They cost a little more than the big telecoms, but their level of customer service is much better due to their smaller size. I'm talking to a live person in minutes (when they're open). Talking to anyone isn't necessary very often. I have DSL, the service is essentially 3Mb/sec, which...

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What could be making my Internet Explorer so unstable that it shuts down for no apparent reason? I've been using Firefox to get around the problems for now, but my company relies on IE and won't support Firefox. I don't think IT will help here. There's a possibility that IE is corrupted / broken. It may also be hijacked (same thing). A repair of IE might fix the problem.

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How do i keep someone from de leting history You would have to find a way to lock every temporary file that the browser uses. This would be difficult to do.

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Why do u like to blog? 1. I like an audience. 2. I like to express my opinion. 3. I like to share the cool stuff I find online with others. 4. I like engaging people in discussion. 5. Did I mention that I like an audience? 6. It helps me find new friends. I've even met some of them face to face. 7. It's a creative writing outlet too.

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What makes a good blog? Content, post frequency, personality, etc. that appeals to a growing number of people.

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How much does RAM effect the graphic quality of laptop with a 64MB graphics card There's no 'accurate' amount that can be stated here, because even though adding 'system RAM' will help the computer's performance in general, being stuck with only 64MB of 'video RAM' is the real bottleneck here. So adding more system RAM might increase the quality somewhat, but not much - no matter how much you add. This is because the video rendering...

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How does a virus get access to other running programs like explorer.exe and gets it affected? It's all in the programming. It's quite simple to program a virus to infect a file by name when the filenames are standard from one Windows installation to another.

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Where's a website that I can create a public blog? Don't like using myspace for that.... Blogger.com is another suggestion. That's the one I use.

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What is the best free software firewall for home use that controls both incoming and out going data and also controls which programs can load/start, without using up all my ram/resources? Zone Alarm is one of the better rated software firewalls for free.

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Norton Vs AVG...Help me make a decision!I have used Norton twice,but I am a little broke right now!$$$$Also if I use the norton I will be buying it in the store,do I need to uninstall it before I reinstall the new one?AVG is free off the net. I hate to trash Norton (because it's so easy to do). Many users don't know Norton is giving them issues because they don't remember how fast their system used to be before they started using it. I've seen looks of shock on some of my clients' faces when they saw how fast their system ran once Norton was completely removed (and replaced with a leaner anti-virus product)....

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Whats the best computer or virus block to get that will simply block out all viruses? Mostly need for stupid limewire viruses... There's really no such thing as a 'block' against malware of any kind. We are vulnerable simply due to our ability to connect to so many other computer systems and the weaknesses in our operating systems to allow programs to act with the same power as the operating system (a situation much less likely in OS like Linux). There is a way to create a sandbox that can isolate the...

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Are you brainwashed by Apple? Not at all. There's no 'magic' in their products, they just have some fantastic design concepts.

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Is there are clipboard of where your last copys are? (as in when you highlight something then right click it and copy it) Yes there is. It is called the clipboard. Until you cut or copy something new (or reboot the system) that info stays in the clipboard so it can be used again and again. Unless you have MS Office (or some other 3rd party clipboard utility) installed, there is no way to 'see' the clipboard. So you could open Notepad and just perform a paste operation to see what is in the clipboard now.

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Ok, lets use time on this question. What is 10MB equal to in minutes, hours, etc.? Sorry, but I'm confused. 10MB (ten megabytes) is a measure of bytes of information. What does this have to do with time?

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If i needed it,will the geek squad come over my house to fix my computer ,even if i didnt purchace it at a best buy store? I don't know how Geek Squad works elsewhere, but in Canada, they are an independent business that just happens to provide service for Best Buy customers too as part of an arrangement with Best Buy. In Canada, I can get services through Geek Squad directly.

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Apparently the Geek Squad guys told my mom she should leave the computer on all the time. I was under the impression that system performance slowly gets worse as it's left on. Is it really OK to have it on all the time? I belong to the camp that believes turning your PC on and off several times a day is a bad idea. It has to do with thermal variances that stress the circuits and the added workout for the hard drive at bootup etc. But as some others have said, there's been no tests done that prove that leaving the PC on all the time is worth the extra electricity it consumes, so I offer a compromise. ...

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How do i send a programme from my computer to an external harddrive? But if by 'send' you mean 'move', as in move an installed program from your computer's internal hard drive to the external hard drive, the only correct way is to un-install it and re-install it on the other drive. You cannot just move the files because there are registry entries referencing the original location as well.

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How can I find out when my boyfriend is looking up porn on his computer when he deletes it off the internet history? The fundamental question I have regarding this situation is whether a person who owns a computer has an expectation to privacy. It's one thing if you break the law and the authorities get a warrant to search your computer for evidence, or if you use a corporate computer to do non-corporate things and they search your computer for evidence. But does anyone have the right to inspect...

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What is the difference between a digital camera and a web camera.in detail A web camera is basically a lower quality digital camera with a smaller lens and is missing all of the buttons, special features, screen, etc., so it can sit on your desk / monitor. A web camera also doesn't have any storage ability, it just streams what it 'sees' to the computer - live.

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This is my first question submitted from Google chrome! And I say it's really cool. How do you find the new browser? Like most people who've answered already, I recognize that Chrome isn't ready for prime time. I gave it a try and it had some features that have promise. I especially like that when you open a new tab, your most frequent web sites are offered in little windows to make going there extra speedy. The show stopper for me was that creating blog posts in Blogger did not work very well...

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FBI and my computer to add more to my question Can someone use my email and my computer to download illegal child porn and then hide it ion my computer. All this porn was placed somewhere on my PC and I did not know it. Someone please help HATE PORN!! This may sound like a stupid question, but what makes you think someone put porn on your computer? Assuming it was even true (and I'm not convinced), can't you do a simple search of the entire hard drive for JPG files? Should find it pretty fast. [update] Sorry, I didn't notice that there was more to the story. It helps if the whole story is in one question. Considering that...

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Where can I learn to download and use torrents? Here's a good place to start: http://www.utorrent.com/beginners-guide.php

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What would ROM be used for? ROM is also used to store the computer's BIOS, which contains the basic startup instructions a computer needs to perform a self-test, load basic hardware and find a source of an operating system. Of course, they don't use ROM anymore exactly, now it's EEPROM. Wikipedia has a great article on the BIOS and what it's stored on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS

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What is better, hp or dell? I'll add to asdf's answer - it gets top marks for objectivity. Although the hardware can be classified based on specs and capability, sometimes laptops are distinctive in how they execute their design. I've seen laptops that have smart, innovative, intuitive, ergonomic features and I've seen ones that are uncomfortable, missing key features, have crappy battery life,...

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How is WiMax different form 3G? Just to add to what michael48 said, 3G is a technology designed for cell phones, WiMax is designed for mobile computing and (for the moment) requires that a WiMax modem be connected to your computer to get access. For the moment, WiMax doesn't roam automatically (like 3G) either. What this means is that if you lost connection with a WiMax tower, you'd have to try to reconnect to...

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I use gmail and hotmail are those harder to hack than yahoo IMHO, the hackability of an email account has less to do with the provider, and more to do with the simplicity of the password. Easy-to-guess password = easy to hack account.

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Which email provider keeps account the most secure? i would not want my account hacked. IMHO, the hackability of an email account has less to do with the provider, and more to do with the simplicity of the password. Easy-to-guess password = easy to hack account.

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What do you prefer? Kapersky or AVG? The problem lies in subjectivity. You could search the internet for the 'best anti-virus products' and get 12 different parties telling you 12 different stories about who's best, worst, etc. I tend to pay less attention to sites with 'topantivirus' in the domain name and focus more on established security related web sites. But the bottom line is that my favourite...

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I've recently had a virus/spyware on my laptop. I ran spybot, Ad-aware and AVG and they seemed to find and fix certain things... I can now use certain sites, eg. facebook, but I can't open my emails on hotmail. I click on Inbox and nothing happens. Help! Sometimes, even though you may have removed the offending malware on your system, the damage is still there. I suspect that your browser is damaged. Quick check - assuming you use Internet Explorer, download and install Firefox. Try Hotmail with Firefox. If it works, IE is broken. From there, you have two choices: 1. Continue to use Firefox. 2. Fix IE by following the instructions found...

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Whats the difference between the DSL and T1 or T3? In addition to what others have offered here - cost. DSL can be had for $30/mo in some areas. a T1 line starts at $550/mo and T3 starts at $7500/mo.

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Windows Hotmail keeps saying i need to update my browser ,but i already have. Any ideas why? This is just Microsoft being bossy about what browser you're using. My guess is you're either using Chrome, or Opera, or something Microsoft can't guarantee their site will work on. Ignore it. Curious - what browser and version are you using?

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What kind of cloth can I use to clean the screen of my laptop? Anything soft and lint-free.

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How often do you delete the history on your computer? On a personal computer - never. I actually find my history useful. You know - to go back to web sites that I've forgotten what the URL was........ It's a feature. On a public computer, I used to delete my history, but then I thought - what the hell do I care if the next person knows the last person went to www.hotmail.com? So I don't bother anymore. Now - I do go out of my...

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Why is opera browser not more popular? It has been around for a long time and has many features that are great. Even Google’s chrome browser uses some of them. That's a good question. I don't have the definitive answer, but my guess would be 'mob mentality'. Opera just hasn't 'caught on' with the crowd. Those that use it stumbled upon it and like it and continue to use it. Others have followed bigger crowds (Firefox). It certainly has nothing to do with the product's quality. For the record, I tried Opera,...

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Where do YOU buy music online? Nowhere yet. Not because I don't want to, because the biggest online music stores (iTunes excepted - no thanks) don't operate in Canada. Starting with Amazon. Does not sell music to non-Americans. That's supposed to change soon, but in the meantime.....

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Ive just bought a laptop and it has a 60 day trail for office 2007. ive been using word without activating the trail but now it has locked. is there a way to use word without having to buy office 2007? isn't it installed already on new computers? Thanks The reason they included the Office 2007 trial on your laptop is to motivate you to buy it. Microsoft does not give Office away on new computers - that would impact their sales tremendously. But, you don't have to buy Microsoft Office if you don't want to. There is an alternate office suite of programs available for free (online) that can be used as a replacement for...

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I have not done a lot of burning. Trying to get 65 mp3 songs onto a CD that will autoplay in a PC or car. How do I do it? When I tried NERO, it said size was too big. Nero, by default thinks the user is confused. It is probably set to automatically convert the mp3 files into CDDA, the format that is playable on ALL CD audio players. That's because Nero is programmed to think that if you're dragging mp3 into a disc burn project, you must want a MUSIC CD (CDDA format). CDs made with songs in CDDA format are only going to fit about 70-80 minutes of...

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My computer is constantly swapping to disk when there is absolutely no reason for it. Could Microsoft have put something in one of their updates to cause this, hoping to move me to Vista out of exasperation? Nice conspiracy theory..... but no. What you're likely experiencing is the symptoms of a background task that starts out of the blue for no obvious reason. This is one of the things I don't like about fancy GUI OS - they don't come clean with what they're doing behind the scenes so that you have the right to pause, terminate or completely stop their actions. I'd...

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Do you ever wish they'd scrap all these "amazing" new operating systems, and just go back to Windows '95? It was perfect. What was wrong with it? When I read this question, I was reminded of an old guy who once asked me, "Don't you wish we could go back to the old cars, without all this newfangled technology?" My answer to both questions is 'no'. I agree that Windows 95 was a great OS for its time, but it's missing so much compatibility, features, security, and more that we now take for granted. Not...

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Is there any difference in weight (however small) between a new, unused computer, and the same computer when it is full of downloaded data? No, because the data is stored on a magnetic medium and storing data only rearranges the magnetic properties of spots on the disk. So there would be no difference in weight.

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What is the difference between ADSL and ADSL2+? ADSL2+ squeezes more bandwidth on the same wire by doubling the frequency band. This allows for (up to) 24Mb/s. This protocol also allows for multiple port bonding, which means you can run multiple lines from the DSLAM to the customer and bond them together to add their respective bit rates. This allows ADSL to provide pretty awesome speeds.

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What's the best way to keep sensitive information on your computer? Don't. By that I mean store sensitive files on an external media that can be locked up or hidden away. Good candidates for this strategy include external hard drives, CD-ROM and DVD-ROM discs or USB thumb drives. This methodology is much more foolproof than trying to protect a file on a computer system attached to the internet.

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Is Linux is primarily on old computers in the consumer/home market? I wouldn't say so. I believe if a survey were done, you would find that Linux is installed on systems of varying age, with no noticeable increase in older systems.

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To you what is the best antivirus/ spy ware? (quality wise) Ask 12 people and you'll get 12 answers, but there are a few reliable programs out there - some free - most not. I have no issues with AVG, Avira, Avast, Kaspersky, Sophos and Bitdefender. I avoid McAfee and Norton not because they are garbage, but because they tend to bog the system down considerably. Your mileage may vary.

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What is your preferred method to bring your computer back to a basic stable configuration? That depends on how far gone the system is. If I can't fix it manually, I have Ghost images I can rely on.

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I've bought acer T660 which mentions Pentium 4 and loaded with windows XP media centre edition my problem is since I bought it 2 years ago the CMOS battery gets spoilt and the operating system needs to be reloaded. It is a common problem in If your CMOS battery goes dead, it doesn't mean you have to re-install your OS. It only means you need a new battery and need to put your BIOS setings back to what they were. The biggest problem with that is most people don't know to write down their working BIOS settings for future reference. Your OS (on the hard drive) should still be functional.

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I have never used a laptop before,and I have found one that I like and would be great for school. Do they work right out of the box as long as they have a network card or do I need to buy something additional in order to get online? No, most laptops come with a wired and wireless network card standard and as long as you're connecting to the internet via normal means, you should be OK. By normal means I refer to a standard WiFi access point / router / hotspot and a standard Cable/DSL router or modem.

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How can I get rid of adware and spyware? I don't have money for expensive software to do this for me. The first thing I'd like to know is: what adware or spyware do you have that needs getting rid of? Rant begins now: There are a lot of people who have built a fortune brainwashing the masses into believing that adware and spyware is bad. I stand here boldly and tell you it's BULLSHIT! Adware and spyware exists so that you can have a product without paying for it. It is the...

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How do you find out what hardware is installed on your computer? Another tool to try is SIW. http://www.gtopala.com/

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Comparison between Windows vista and Linux Ubuntu Let me mention some Ubuntu advantages over Windows: Every application on Ubuntu is free and open source. You don’t need to worry about licenses and you can find a better, free Linux alternative to a Windows application. Ubuntu has a very active support and help community where you can get answer to your questions and problems in minutes. If you think Aero in Windows Vista is...

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Are MAC's good for gaming? There desktop selection seems pretty limited and overpriced. There are fewer games made for Macs than for PCs, but it is possible to set up a dual boot situation on a Mac where you boot into Windows XP to play your favourite game. I've even heard that Windows screams on Mac hardware.

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How can I make my blog better? If you're talking about content: Be yourself. That's it. The best blogs are people just being themselves - in writing.

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Where can i advertise about my blog? Very less people visit it? How to make it popular? Just to add to what samanthaearths said: Step 1: Although quality matters over quantity, don't leave your readers wanting. Readers will only come back on a regular basis if there's something new for them to read. It's a challenge to be sure. My 4576 posts in 49 months brings my readers back. They appreciate my effort. Step 5: One of the easiest ways to get 'out...

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Why isn't there a symbol for pounds on most keyboards? I think because it's a symbol used mostly in the UK. People from the UK can correct me on this, but I believe their keyboards do have the pound symbol - it's what you get when you press 'shift+3' (where the US keyboard has the # symbol). They have a Euro symbol on the '4' key as well, using a special Alt key to access it.

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Does anyone know of a website that lists the definitions of programs in msconfig, so that I can delete the unnecesary programs? Google them and read the descriptions on various sites. Don't take one site's word for anything - sometimes a startup program is labelled a hazard on one site, when it's clearly labelled an optional or necessary program on other sites. Liutilities.Com tends to come up in a lot of searches and they have a decent track record. But yeah, I rarely get all the info I need from one...

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How can i know if a website contains viruses Ahead of time? You can't. It's one of the perils of surfing the web. The best you can do is try to avoid untrusted sites, use a safe web browser configured for maximum security posture and use an up-to-date anti-virus program that scans all web traffic in real time.

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Does anyone know where I Can Download a IBM OEM XP PRO SP2 disk in english and french? I got a bunch a laptops with the XP Pro sticker on it but no CD. Exactly as tucker32 said. You can't 'download' them, but you might be able to order them from IBM. Of course, they will likely want money for that. Each vendor is different. Toshiba wanted $75 to get replacement system recovery CDs.

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Why do people even make blogs? I write a blog for a variety of reasons. I like an audience. I like sharing things that I've found on the web. I like to rant about certain things. So far it's filling my needs on all counts. Well, except for the audience could never be big enough.....

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Whats a good laptop to use for college? Dell / HP/ Apple / Gateway? & where is the best place to get it? I can't speak for where to get it, because I don't know where you live and stores in Canada are a bit different than elsewhere. But I can say it is unfair to compare Dell, HP and Gateway to Apple, because they are quite different. Apples and Oranges, pardon the pun.

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DELL service reps said i needed a 4 gig memory type of a internal card that costs 128.00 bcause my programs were shutting down do i really need extra RAM? is there another option? will a 4 gig memory card on Readyboost work? Does it improve the system? A lot of questions need answering here first. How old is your Dell? Laptop or desktop? How much RAM do you have now? What version of Windows are you using (assuming it's Windows)? During a typical session on your Dell, how much memory is being used - you can find this out by going Ctrl-Alt-Del > Windows Task Manager > Performance tab > Physical Memory > Total versus Available.

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Is AVG and Avast comparable? I was using AVG for a while, but a file it needed got removed some how, I reinstalled, but it didn't work so I downloaded Avast. As far as I know, they are comparable. I haven't used Avast, but I know a few who have and like it. My only experience has been with AVG. Just out of curiosity, did you try AVG version 8? And what others have said about using 2 anti-virus at the same time is true - don't do it.

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What do you think i should study?? 1. Maya 2. Adobe Creative Suite 3 for web, design, and video 3. Web design like ( Dreamweaver, XHTML, Firework, and Flash CS3. Tell me which one do you think is the best, and offer me good future? This is just my humble opinion, but I think you'd be better to take a formal web design course. I know it would take more time and cost more money, but learning one web design tool or suite on its own would be like someone who wants to be a mechanic just learning how to use an engine diagnostic machine. You'd be good enough to use the diagnostic machine, but you'd be clueless how...

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Is there a way to remove everything form my hard drive except for my operating system? (Windows XP if that helps) There is a way to do exactly what you ask. It's manual and time consuming. It would require you to locate and delete all files that you created yourself (documents, music, video, etc.); uninstall all programs that did not come with Windows; remove any leftover Start Menu entries and Program Files entries; delete any leftover desktop icons (from the uninstalled programs); clear out all...

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How does a PC liquid cooling system work? In a manner very similar to how a car engine's liquid cooling system. Instead of a CPU heat sink with just a fan, the heat sink contains a cavity filled with liquid, which is connected via tubes to a radiator with fan(s) mounted close to or on the computer case. A pump circulates the liquid, moving the hot liquid toward the radiator so the heat can be released and the cooler liquid back...

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What's your favorite freeware or shareware program for Mac OS X? Firefox 3.

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Can i get good job if i learn dreamweaver? On top of what everyone else has said, even if you became an expert in Dreamweaver doesn't mean you'll necessarily be perfect for the job of web design. Keep in mind that anyone can be trained to use a software tool, but it takes real artistic talent to craft quality web design.

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I read on here about using Free Zonealarm with free AVG and search and destroy. Zonealarm is a free firewall, but don't I get protection from Windows Firewall already on my PC? Is Zonealarm more enhanced then the Windows version already enabled? It's a question of personal preference I guess. Windows XP's firewall isn't quite as customizable as 3rd party ones like Zone Alarm. My overall position on the necessity pertains to risk. The more you dabble in what would be called 'unsafe internet and computing' practises, the more a thorough security suite is needed. The catch-22 is that most folks who need the...

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Internet Browser-wise, do you prefer Internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Or Google's new browser, Chrome? I've been a Firefox fan and lately gave Chrome a try. Up to a point, it had no issues until I tried blogging. There were some issues selecting objects in my blog post edit window. So that was a show-stopper, but I'm confident Google is on top of it, since I sent in a bug report. Of all the new (visible) features, I like that when you open a new tab, it offers you stuff you've...

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My DVD-R burner runs at 8X. Can I use a 16X DVD or do I need to use 8X DVDs? Absolutely you can. The speed rating on the DVD only indicates the maximum speed it is guaranteed to work at, it does not mean that it will only work at that speed.

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Why does everyone hate Vista? I have no problems with it at all. Not everyone hates Vista. It's just that the ones having the most issues are the most vocal. For the record, I am not a fan of Vista - but I don't 'hate it'. I dislike it because of the extreme hardware requirements it has versus XP. Glad to hear you don't have any problems with it.

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What is the use of firewalls in the network? A firewall is something that monitors a connection between networks (such as between your home network and the Internet) and allows or disallows data to pass based on a set of rules. Firewalls do not stop viruses. They stop connections. To and from computers on your network. While configuring your firewall, pay as much attention to what you allow out of your network as to what you allow into...

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I am using Windows Vista now, should I switch to XP SP3 or to Vista Ultimate? It depends on why you want to switch. If you're switching because Vista is too slow, switching to Ultimate won't solve anything. If you're looking for more features, XP is going backwards. But seriously, why do you need to switch? Based on the choices you're considering, you may not even have a need to switch.

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Does the world need another web browser? Absolutely. Considering what Google Chrome's reason for being is, it can only make the browsing experience safer, faster, and more efficient.

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I want to get myself a very light laptop, but I dont want a macbook. What is the next lightest laptop that's not a mac? I found some Sony VAIO laptops to be very thin and light.

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I have a desktop with programs that want to be able to use on a laptop for portability. What would be the best way to do this? With a router can the two comunicate without useing the internet? Do you mean files as opposed to programs? If so, the answer is yes. Programs can't be shared between 2 computers via any connection (without additional software). To run a program on the laptop, you have to install it.

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Why do you use Answerbag? I don't believe in hoarding knowledge and experience to yourself. So I think it's great that I get to help answer others' questions when I have an answer to offer. Even better, if it turns out that my information is incorrect or obsolete - there are plenty of kind people who waste little time letting me know. LOL

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Best website to read reviews for products or places? For products in general, I've used http://www.epinions.com For places, I use http://www.tripadvisor.com

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We need to reformat our operating system. We found an XP operating system for eMachines but we have a Dell. Does the make of the computer make any difference? Did your Dell not come with a copy of Windows?

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On Blogger, how do I delete a blog so I can start over with a new one? Super easy. Log in to Blogger, which should take you to the dashboard. Go into your blog 'settings'. On the settings page, way at the bottom, is the option to delete your blog. Be careful, once you delete your blog, the posts are gone for good.

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If I go on an upgrade to Firefox 3, will all my old bookmarks still remain? Someone told me on the phone that I would lose them. It did not sound right. So I thought I'd ask here & see what those of you who have upgraded to Firefox 3 can tell me about it. I have upgraded to Firefox 3 with no bookmarks issue at all. Whoever told you they would be lost is incorrect.

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Someone tells me that he hacked on me and opend my facebook account using a method called " deciving mother network by using windows" is this method true? and how can i protect my email and facebook accont from this method? Agreed (with lastwraith). Unless they can prove how they did it, or see true evidence of 'their' manipulation, consider it bull. You can also tease them by saying something provocative like, "The only thing worse than a hacker is a wannabe". But that might really tick them off, so I don't know. Wow, I'm in a mischievous mood today.......

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What exactly does defragmenting your computer do? New angle on explaining defragmentation. I hope this works. I'm going to use numbers to represent file pieces. 1-9 will be one file, 10-19 a different file, 20-29 another, etc. I'll also use 00 to label empty space. File pieces are written to the drive in consecutive order at first, filling all the empty spaces as they go. So a hard drive with 5 files (of varying sizes) stored neatly...

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Can my school track my websites I visit on my laptop if I'm connected on my home network and not the school network? Most certainly. When you visit web sites on a computer, you leave all kinds of traces in a variety of places on the hard drive. A knowledgeable person would know where to look, even if you deleted your web history.

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I have not been able to burn a DVD properly. Some error always takes place. What should I do to burn the DVD efficiently? First - some questions. What brand of blank DVD? What brand of DVD burner drive? Which software are you using to attempt the burns? Can you give any example of the kinds of errors? I have some suggestions, but need at least the first 3 questions answered to narrow it down from novel to short story.

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Despite eBay’s increasing corruption, fees, and frustration, why aren’t many people moving to other, friendlier online selling services? I'll bet it's because eBay has the higher quantity of buyers. At the end of the day, they who have the most customers - sell their items faster.

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Desktops have quad-core processors; why don’t laptops have them yet? Power consumption. Processors are first engineered for desktop use (no power limitations), then they get to work on modifications to make the processor usable in a laptop scenario. Eventually, all processor improvements make an appearance on laptops, just in a modified version.

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Do you like Firefox 3? So far I have to say yes. I especially like how when you type in the URL field, it automatically lists previous URLs that you've visited. I rarely need to type more than 3 letters and a mouse click to return to favourite web sites. I also like the new bookmark treatment with the star at the right of the URL field. I tend to scour the internet for multiple related sites on a topic and I...

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Is there a safe way to clean your keyboard? Mine really needs it. it's not a matter anymore of using a vacuum to suck up the dust and grit underneath the keys; It needs an in-depth job. I could tell you to (believe it or not) throw the thing in the dishwasher (I've seen it done - not on the temperature boost cycle though). I could side with Ec-nal...'s suggestion of complete disassembly to clean it properly. But to save you worry, aggravation and more trouble, I'd probably tell you that new keyboards cost $25. Retire that old dirty thing and get a new one.

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Is booting from a CD/USB/DVD traceable? Is there any way to detect usage of the alternate OS from those methods? Does the BIOS keep a log? As far as I know - no, it is not traceable on a typically configured PC. In fact is is one of the biggest security weaknesses of the computer, that someone can boot from an alternate drive and totally bypass your OS.

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How can I backup all my files and folders to DVD's? The same way you back up files to a CD-R. You put a blank DVD-R in the drive (assuming your drive can burn DVDs) and use your favourite burning software to create a job and drag and drop the file / folders you want to burn, then go. I Use CDBurnerXP. Don't let the name fool you - it does DVD too. Free and easy to use. http://cdburnerxp.se/ For the record, it's perfectly fine to...

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How do u exactly get wireless internet If you mean in your home, from an internet provider: a) There's a new wireless internet service called WiMax (it may be sold under a different name for marketing). It offers up to DSL-like speeds anywhere there is a cell tower with WiMax service nearby. It uses a modem that sits on your desk. WiMax has the advantage of being usable anywhere in the world where WiMax is set up (most...

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What is the difference between client OS and server OS ?Can we install exchange server in a OS which is designed for home use like windows 95,windows xp home...etc? There are many functional differences invisible to the user. The only way to know whether you can use a product like MS Exchange on an OS like Windows XP is to read the products installation requirements (usually listed on the package or the product web site). To not follow their recommendation may produce undesirable effects. A function may not work and you'll not know until you try it.

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How do I know when my computer needs a new hard drive, what are the symptoms? Aside from the other things on your computer that would alert you to an impending hard drive failure (like the S.M.A.R.T. feature of hard drives - which must be enabled in the BIOS to work), I would do an error check on the drive in the following manner: Open My Computer. Right click on the hard drive and choose Properties. On the Tools tab, click the Check Now button, then put a check mark...

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Computer "tech" reinstalled OS (Win XPhome) due to minor probs on desktop-unable to delete double icons on desktop) Since then it takes forever to start any application(more than 30 minutes). Is this a software or hardware problem? The PC worked ok before Whatever tech that re-installed Windows and then left the scene with applications taking 30 minutes to load..... ..... you should get your money back.

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What should you put in your first post on a blog or say in your first video for a vlog? Introduce yourself and tell the world what you intend to use your blog for. Then follow through.........

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What would you do if one of your friends on myspace deleted you for no reason? And you haven't done anything to them. I would chalk it up to they wanted to clean out their friends list and since we weren't communicating - fair game. I think folks take being removed from friend lists a bit too seriously. I haven't done it only because I don't look forward to having to explain it to people. But if someone removed me and we've not been in contact at all for a long time....... so be it.

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Does everyone know NOT to click on links in financial institution or many other emails, but to go directly to the site, and logon there? Or, to make SURE it goes to the site you think it will by checking the status bar at the bottom of the screen? I've always said - access to the internet should only be granted after proper training on computer / network security and identity theft. I know a lot of people have slammed me for that attitude, but Jerv is right, people just don't know (or care to know).

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If you win a bid on Ebay and then change your mind about buying it, can you go back on the deal? Not by their rules. When you place a bid on eBay, you are bound to honour that bid if you win. If you change your mind: a) You promised to pay a certain amount and now you relinquish. This is a loss to the seller and a huge risk that the seller may not even get the same amount of money the next time they place the item for bid; b) Because they have to relist the item, it will cost...

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Does your wireless keyboard ever miss a letter that you are certain you typed causing you to have a typo that you don't notice till AFTER you hit the submit button? I did experience this when I bought myself a new wireless keyboard and mouse set a couple of years ago. I chalked it up to interference from other RF generating devices, because the issue certainly wasn't battery strength or distance to the receiver. If your keyboard or receiver is anywhere near a cordless phone, wireless network device, try moving those devices away.

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What the difference between a laptop and a notebook? There is no 'official' difference that is accepted industry-wide. Some people have the same view as Jerv, where notebooks are typically the smallest, lightest forms of laptops, but others use the term completely interchangeably. Don't take my word for it. Search the internet for 'laptop notebook difference' and you will see what I mean.

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Is it best to leave the computaer on all the time or turn it off after each section? I have been told both ways. Anyone know the correct answer? There is no correct answer. There is only whichever strategy works for you. In my house, we leave the computers on all the time (except during electrical storms or away from home more than a day) but turn our monitors off. Is this the best strategy? For us - yes. For my clients who are concerned about electricity consumption, I tell them to turn their computer on and leave them on for the...

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What software lets you see and monitor your hard drive storage? I like Windirstat. Still free as far as I know. http://windirstat.info/

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Why do some say the "internet bullying" is a problem, when it's perfectly avoidable. If a kid is getting made fun of in a chatroom why doesn't he just leave? Does anyone else think that people are exaggerating this subject? Every kind of bullying is a problem. Although a kid bullied in a chat room can just leave, they shouldn't have to leave. But that seems to be the majority's solution to the problem. I think bullying is an extension of the kinds of behaviour our society has allowed to flourish over the years. Some people seem to take pleasure or satisfaction in another person's displeasure or...

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If wireless electronic devices use radiation like in microwaves, how long would it theoretically take to microwave popcorn with a wireless keyboard? Of course throwing aside the fact that heat would be lost in duration of the experiment. You couldn't microwave popcorn with a wireless keyboard because the power level (intensity) of the radio frequency is way too low and isn't focused. For example, a microwave oven typically produces (not consumes) 800W of focused microwave energy, whereas the wireless keyboard might only give off 20mW, or only 1/40000th the power.

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HELP! My computer has viruses and spyware and ALOT of it! And I need my computer rid of Windows XP and then have it reinstalled! Is there any credible website that has correct info on how to do this? I've found this web page to be the most thorough step by step explanation of a Windows XP install: http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

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On Craigslist, when you want to buy a car do they expect you to hand over thousands and thousands of dollars cash in some briefcase? Or can you get a safer transaction going? That's something that is negotiated between the seller and buyer. The seller might set conditions as part of the sale description - such as no personal cheques or money orders- cash or cashier's cheque only.

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I run my spyware as often as possible. Every time I quarentine the detected spyware. They are low-medium threats. Why is it that each time it is the same spyware that is detected? How can I get rid of them permently? This is because anti-spyware software labels many things 'spyware' on the computer that technically should be called something else. Anti-spyware offers to get rid of tracking cookies from your browser while calling it spyware, for example. But this is using broad brush strokes to the extreme. They don't bother telling you that deleting tracking cookies is a fruitless task,...

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What is your favorite "toy" in terms of computer software? What does it do for those unfamiliar? Here's my short list: Super - it converts any video or audio format to another using Open Source encoders (free). Sync Toy - free from Microsoft - it syncs folder contents from one drive to another (for quick and dirty backup). Picnik - an online photo editing web site for minor edits and effects to photos. CDBurnerXP - a free alternative to Nero or Media Creator.

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Is a reinstallation disk for Windows XP Pro. from Dell installable on another computer with the same OEM windows xp pro? It usually is, but with caveats. OOOooo! Big word. Often, manufacturers get Microsoft to create for them a custom build of Windows that has the usual Windows components, plus all of the drivers specific to that brand, model or line of computers. So installing that copy of Windows would work on another computer to the point of installing all the necessary drivers for all of the hardware...

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How is hub related to a repeater? On which layer of OSI model hub and repeated works. Exam question alert. But I'll be nice and say this: They both operate on the same layer (data link). A hub is just a collection of repeaters in one chassis, all tied together.

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What is the attraction with facebook in your opinion? I'm not a Facebook fanatic, but I do like that you can find people you know on it, even people you've lost touch with. I also like that you can keep track of your friends' lives, insomuch as they update their profile, etc. But I like it most as a means of sharing photo albums for free. Aside from the last point, I have found the novelty of Facebook wearing off. I don't care...

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I have a Dell Latitude 610 that has yellow question marks by several devices in the device manager how can I find out what hardware is installed? There's a great little utility called System Information for Windows (SIW) that does a decent job finding all the hardware installed in the computer. I'll link to it below. Then the trick is to figure out which of the devices it finds are the ones with the question marks in device manager. Once you make that determination, just install the drivers you need to solve the unknown...

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Can you protect your computer from viruses but still use limewire? Getting viruses is less to do with using Limewire and more to do with accessing files that are legally dubious and hosted in a community that relishes seeding the 'library' with infected files. But that doesn't mean that only legally dubious activities are the only way you get infected.

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Are you a blogger? Why......... yes I am.

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What is the difference between windows XP and linux? The way Windows is developed, marketed and delivered is driven by a business strategy, aimed at maximizing market penetration and profit. New versions attempt to offer new features that the company thinks the user community will accept. The way Linux is developed and delivered (notice the lack of marketing) is driven by a culture, aimed at maximizing usefulness and customization. New...

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What are "active components in your browser"? They're not in your browser per se, they're in Windows. Active components refer to Active X controls in Windows, which IE has the ability to use. In plain English, thanks to Active X controls, IE can download code from a web site that can execute programs and commands on your PC. Helpful...... but also potentially dangerous. Windows upgrade uses this technology.

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My first desktop PC with wi-fi and I keep getting alerts to other PC's linking to my wireless network...how can I stop this? Enable the wireless security features of the wi-fi router you use. I'm specifically talking about WEP / WPA / WPA2 security. You could even limit what computers are allowed to connect to your wi-fi router using what's called MAC filtering. The manual that comes with the router should explain all of this.

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How fast is Satellite Internet compared to DSL and dial up? The download speeds can vary between 1.0 and 3.0Mbps, depending on the service you can afford and the satellite service provider you choose. Upload speed varies between 128 and 500kbps. The price is considerably more than DSL though. In Canada, HughesNet starts at $60/mo and goes up to $250/mo. So, this is in line with last generation DSL, but for much more money. I understand that some...

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Is it hurting my computer to erase the prefetch files a couple of times a week? It seems to be helping...is this a secret of the computer repairers? After I do it, it runs MUCH more smoothly. But it's a new computer. Almost every article written by an author I trust says that deleting pre-fetch files is counterproductive. I understand that you seem to be seeing an improvement, but pre-fetch files are supposed to make your computer run faster, not slower.

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I want to use a template for Blogger.com, but everytime I go to save it, is says that it will delete my widgets. How do I use the template, and prevent it from deleting my widgets? This is just a stab in the dark, but it is my understanding that blogs hosted on Blogger can use the old 'template' method of organizing the page elements, or the new 'layout' method. If I understand correctly, only the new layout method supports widgets. So, basically, going to a template is a downgrade.

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Should I upgrade the RAM on my laptop myself, or should I have it done professionally? It's not really that difficult to replace the RAM modules themselves and there are a lot of online sites that assist with tutorials and even videos of the process, but as Brian I said, it is key that you know exactly what kind of RAM you need. For the record, most memory manufacturer web sites will have a RAM selection tool for most laptop brands and models. Or your laptop manufacturer...

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I've heard that after some time all USB storage devices permanently loose their stored data. Is this true and how long can they last before I have to transfer the data to a new USB memory stick? Because of the type of memory a USB thumb drive is using, while the memory itself is working as designed, there is no risk of losing the data. This is because the memory doesn't need power to keep the data intact. But the key is 'while the memory itself is working'. At any time, and for many reasons, factors can render the memory unusable. I've seen USB thumb drives fail...

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In blog speak, what is a meme? One definition: Memes have are essentially internet quizzes, surveys, and novelties that people link to and pass around on their blogs, such as “which superhero are you most like” quiz. Memes can give you an insight into a blogger's personality. The person who starts a meme gets linked to and everyone else gets some amount of link love too. An alternate definition: In the...

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I need to buy a good antivirus program,,all the free ones doesnt get rid of everything,,i heard KASPESKY is a good one,,and if so where is the best place to buy this program? Yes, Kaspersky is a great product. They always rate high on the lists I trust (translation - not biased). The free products are not as bad as some might claim. You are correct that the free products might not be able to clean as many infections as the paid products, but they can still detect them, and this lack of removal ability can be overcome by looking for removal tools that can be...

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Could someone teach me how to control or hack someone's computer..or could give me some program or something.. i am desperately need help..thanks a lot.. im at the peak of my life.. i want to be different .. i always dreamed about hacking someone's pc... Thanks for the laugh. That was funny. I always dreamt of a night with Scarlett Johansson. Can someone help me with that? Don't tell my wife though, OK?

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How are computer viruses made? The same way programs are made. Viruses are just very clever, very efficient program code that can hide in a file, a boot sector, the CMOS, and do a very good job of replicating themselves (with the help of a host program) and delivering a payload. Why do people bother. Before the days of script kiddies, virus creation was in some respects a rite of passage for programmers.

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How often should a person defrag their computer? Here's the key, as katers said, the more often you defragment, the less time it will take. I recommend at least once a month. If you do a lot of file downloading and deletion, more often. Make sure you check the file system for errors (using error checking in Windows) after a defragment, to make sure the files are still in one piece.

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Is Toshiba a good brand for laptop computers? I've always been happy with any Toshiba laptop I've ever come into contact with - and that happens a lot. Having said that, Toshiba make budget grade laptops too and these models are less likely to win a contest of quality and durability. What I like about Toshiba is that most vendors of their product also stock accessories such as AC adaptors and batteries, etc.

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If you download songs illegally off of limewire, how can the police find out about it? Well, for one thing, the police are never involved. The RIAA contracts private companies to watch for the IP addresses of copyright infringers. That's where it gets interesting. Here's a link to an article that explains the process very well. As you will see, the process is less about proof and more about harassment and coercion. Unfortunately, people pay the settlement even though...

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What is the best purchase you have ever made on eBay? Worst? I got a nice Fossil watch from the Philippe Starck line for a great price. Ray-Ban sunglasses too. So far, no bad deals on eBay, but I'm not a big buyer.

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What is the deciding factor for you in choosing a web browser? Screen real estate. Fully customizable tool bars. I have Firefox configured to have everything (except the tabs) all on one tool bar. It frees up more space for viewing web pages. Lack of crashing. I always had problems with IE crashing. Firefox - not so much. Firefox uses less memory on my PC as well. Better security. IE just has too many inherent flaws. Almost anything is better,...

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My AVG virus scanner says i have a '.bin file' missing, but when i try to update it The update fails every time, is this me or Avg? I got the same message on my computer this morning. Ran a fresh update and everything is green.

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What is the difference between wiping a recycle bin and emptying a recycle bin? How many times should I wipe it to make it clean? I'm not familiar with 'wiping' a recycle bin. Can you explain what you're talking about? I have only ever seen 'emptying' the recycle bin.

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M'kay. I want a wireless internet connection without a phone, cable or internet for my house. Is this possible for a reasonable fee? And if so, which provider do you prefer/has the best coverage? Sounds like you want Fixed Band Broadband or as another alternative - the new WiMax. I can't speak for what is available in your area. In Canada, FBB is only available in certain rural areas and parts of the downtown cores of some cities. WiMax has much wider coverage - if you have GSM cell service, you probably have WiMax service. WiMax is getting around half the speed of a normal...

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What is the difference between backing up your files on an external hard drive and copying your files to an external hard drive? In the technical sense, backing up refers to using software to manage the task of copying parts or all of a drive to another media. This may or may not include compressing the files and or scheduling when the backup will occur (so that it doesn't interfere with normal use. Unlike pure manual copying, backing up files using backup software tends to package the files in a manner that...

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Having more than one firewall on at the same time does it increase or lessens your security? Sometimes having more than one firewall doesn't cause any problems, but it is always preferable to pick a single firewall that does the job right and stick with that one. Keep in mind that every firewall adds a layer of work to every packet entering / leaving the computer, so having more than one also affects network performance.

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I heard that there's a trick of increasing your PC's Ram by using a USB drive, does anyone know what I'm talking about? You may be thinking of Ready Boost, a feature of Windows Vista that allows you to use a USB key as virtual memory in order to enhance performance. Wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost Review here: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2160

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What is the purpose of a CCD in a multifunction printing device This sounds exactly like an exam question.......

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How many GBs do you think the typical computer user needs for an external hard drive? The problem is, it's fairly useless to try and label a 'typical user', because the spectrum of hard drive storage requirements is too varied. For some people, 100GB would be fine. For others, 1TB would be barely enough. It really depends what you use your computer for. The default hard drive capacity that comes with the typical computer is usually OK for the average user. But...

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Where exactly in a computer does a bug or virus lie? I know it's not a real bug, and I'm not asking where you can find it in your files on the desktop. A virus is only one type of infection, so I'll deal with all types in my answer. Infections can reside in files, the boot sector of any kind of drive, CD or DVD, in CMOS (on your motherboard where your BIOS settings are stored).

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Have you ever written a blog? Yes. It just turned 4 years old and has over 4467 posts. If you search my name, you'll find it.

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Blog question I will be going to school in the fall to study to be a Natural Health Specialist. Also my husband and I are marketing executives for a company called Melaleuca. We have a website regarding our Melaleuca business. I've been thinking I'm looking forward to the rest of the question....

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I have a 4 year old Thinkpad with a 20 GB hard drive, using Windows XP - prof, Service Pack 3. From answerbag, I understand that Windows should use about 1.5 to 2 GB. My windows folder is just over 5 GB! Why? and what can I get rid of? I need space! There's no way anyone can tell you what to get rid of without seeing what you've got. Be very careful of what files and folders you attempt to delete if you don't know what you're doing. With the exception of temporary files, most files on the computer have a purpose. Maybe not now, or tomorrow, but when they're called upon, they have to exist. Some suggestions I...

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Which company's laptop gives the best performance? I plan to buy the laptop for personal use only.. That is such a hard question to answer because it is so subjective (as you will see once the answers start piling up). Also, I'm going to venture to say that performance isn't everything. I based my last laptop purchase more on reliability, a more intuitive OS and design rather than performance. But there are a lot of things to consider. After sales support - how helpful are the...

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What are some good things to have in a laptop most people wouldn't think about? Accessories. The worst thing I see happen to new laptop owners is when they don't think to buy needed accessories at point of sale. Things like an extra battery, which after a year or so of the laptop's life, may not be available from the manufacturer anymore. Then you have to depend on 3rd party sources which can get quite expensive. Same goes for a docking station.

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Can people find out my email or any personal info from my IP? Look at it this way. The information that other entities on the internet can access is wholly based on the information you make available. So if you've been leaving traces of yourself on public internet resources, such as blogs, forums, comments on web sites, these traces are seen by anyone. With a little bit of forensics, any trace you left online can potentially be traced back your IP....

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Am I better off buying a new laptop or upgrading everything in my exsisting laptop? There are very few parts in a typical laptop that can be upgraded. Going new is your only wholesale performance improvement option.

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Is there a way to determine the size of a folder, including its contents? I know how to determine the size of a file. I am using Windows XP prof on a laptop with svc pack 3 installed. I am beginning to run short of space and am housecleaning!! Thanks. I use WinDirStat (http://windirstat.info/) to get a more visual view of how my disk space is being used. Check the site to see all it can do. It's free and can run uninstalled.

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What is the best way of protecting children online? Education and supervision. You need to tell them why you are concerned for their safety and what you do not want them doing online. They need to understand the risks of what they do online. Often I hear parents telling their kids complete untruths, which is counterproductive, because our children quickly become more knowledgeable about the technology than we are. So parents need to be...

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How can you coax your ISP to extend DSL service to your home? It's usually not the ISP's fault if they can't install DSL at your home. It has to do with the distance from your house to the nearest neighbourhood telephone distribution closet (or whatever they're called in your neck of the woods). The only solution to the problem is a reduction in distance between your home and the closet or an upgrade in cabling through the...

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How does ram affect the speed of computer Think of RAM as the workspace of your computer - like a desk. If you have a small workspace and are trying to do several tasks at the same time, you'd constantly be swapping work files off the desk to make room for other work files. This slows your ability to work down somewhat. The same is true of the computer and RAM. The more RAM you have (to a point), the more work can be handled...

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My cousin tells me its bad to download music, because even if i delete it i wont get that memory back on my computer. Is this true? Not really. Although once you delete a song, it goes to the recycle bin, once you empty that the files are gone and the space (for the most part) is available again.

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What do you think 0f Avira Anti-Virus Personal protection ? (Free) I haven't heard anything bad about it. For the record, there are lots of reliable free antivirus products that can be trusted.

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Do you have 'parental controls' on your child's internet access? If so what is your policy and what age is the child? I no longer have kids living at home, but I consult, especially in the area of information security and I recommend my clients not to use parental controls. There are inherent weaknesses in relying on software to control other's web surfing habits. For one, every parental control software can be broken. This may come as a shock, but they all have vulnerabilities that are exploitable....

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How do I receive my emails on my new laptop? we have a dell computer as well and this is where the emails go can I get them on both computers or do I set up a complete new account for the laptop? You have 2 options. The first option is to configure the same email software you are already using on the other computer to access the same email account as before. This will allow you to download your email from either computer. The problem with this approach is that every time you open the email program on either computer, you are typically downloading the new messages to that computer...

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I am thinking of getting a Mac computer but have heard that some files from my current pc may not be compatible with the Mac system. I'm hoping that if there is any truth to this it is outdated and that bug has been fixed. Does anyone know? It depends on what files we're talking about. Could you be more specific? In the meantime, just so you know, I have a MacBook and a desktop PC and I share files between them all the time. Data files only. I'm talking about documents (which need a corresponding program on both computers), music files, pictures, text files, Firefox bookmarks. No problem. Programs is another...

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When was the last time you performed a backup on your primary HD? Do you backup to disc or an external one? I do mine once a week to an external. I do a backup of my primary hard drive every 6 months to an external hard drive. But I also do a synchronized copy of any folders with irreplaceable files in them to external hard drive using Microsoft's (free) SyncToy utility roughly every few weeks.

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Someone sold me a pirated game on ebay. I asked them for a refund or a real version. If they don't comply I want to make them pay can I take legal action? Because it is breaking copyright. Ebay probably won't do anything, they never do. I believe the only option open to you is to get your money back through the eBay / PayPal system. If they don't refund your money, you can take them to small claims court (not worth the trouble for the price of a game IMHO). If the money came from your credit card, you can always do a reverse charge on the purchase, but I think there is a time limit on that. I think you can report them...

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How do I find the product license for Office within the PC itself? Essentially I want to migrate Office 2007 from old laptop to new one and cannot find CD. A nice little utility called System Information for Windows (SIW) has a feature that displays product keys (among a whole lot of other things) for Microsoft products installed on that computer. It's free and it runs as a standalone program - no 'install' necessary. http://www.gtopala.com/

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Does anybody here share my deep (slightly prejudiced) hatred of Facebook? Not me personally. But I sense a story here if I pressed enough. Care to share why you hate Facebook so much?

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Does anyone remember PCs from the early or mid 1990s with a "Turbo" button on the front? What was that for? Software used to be written by programmers to run on a processor of a specific speed. When newer, faster processors came out, some of this software (especially games) would run too fast. Turning off the "turbo" switch would make the machine run slower so the software would work. It was like a "compatibility mode" feature, to slow down the machine for older software.

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How do you know if your company has banned you from youtube? Maybe I'm misunderstanding the question, but it seems pretty obvious to me. If you can't access youtube at work, then your company has banned you from youtube. If others at work can access it, then only 'you' are banned from it, otherwise, it's probably everyone. At my work, youtube is blocked, as is most other video sites, facebook, and most web mail.

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After how long would you consider a computer to be 'old'? As long as a computer still meets your needs, it doesn't matter how old it is.

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Is changing my OS to Linux good? What are your experiences? In my experience, with each passing year, Linux gets better and better. Some things that bother most folks thinking of switching: Risk of incompatibility of hardware (so much less today). Having to learn a new OS and GUI. Realization that Windows software won't work in Linux. But there are many benefits: Linux is typically free. Linux typically comes with tons of free...

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What is a good amount of hard drive space on a laptop?(the one im looking at has 250gb, is that good?) This might sound condescending, but if you don't know if the hard drive capacity is enough, it's probably enough. I say that because most folks don't really know how much capacity they need until they start using the computer. There's very little risk in getting a laptop with too little hard drive capacity these days, now that external hard drives are so common and so...

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McAfee used to work on my computer before, but recently it stopped working. First I thought it was a virus, but AVG 8.0 didn't find any. Since it didn't work I uninstalled it and now I can't install it again. How can I fix this? I can't tell you exactly what's wrong with McAfee, but I can tell you this - it is not a good idea to have more than one anti-virus running on the same computer. It is quite possible that one is interfering with the other. (FWIW, I vote to keep AVG)

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What anti-virus software do you recommend and what software do you have on your computer? I use AVG Free edition. I recommend you use any product that works for you. Some people have huge issues with the big, paid products like Norton and McAfee (as do I), but if they work for you, that's what matters. The only suggestion I would make is not to rely too heavily on the free products if you do not absolutely practise safe computing. The free stuff is mostly detection against...

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Can anybody temme from were i can get diaryone 6.65 crack or keygen plzzzzzzzzz it should be free,no registration Your not likely to have much luck with that on Answerbag. Most Answerbag users are reluctant to help with illegal tasks and many will not hesitate to lecture you on the topic. I'm just sayin'............

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Is RAID worth getting if you’re not all that interested in backing up your data (at least with so other options available)? I seem to read every so often of people having problems with certain software and hardware because they have RAID. You don't use RAID because you want to backup your data. You use RAID to decrease the risk of 'losing' what live programs and data you have on your hard drive. What I mean by that is that RAID protects against hard drive failure by distributing data across multiple drives in a way that makes getting the data back possible if one drive fails. Even with RAID, backups are still...

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WHAT IS A DRY LOOP DSL AND IF I DO GET THIS DRY LOOP DSL WOULD IT AFFECT MY LOCAL AND LONG DISTANCE SERVICE? I don't quite understand why anyone would be offering you dry loop DSL if you already have a phone line going to your home. Although having a dedicated dry loop for DSL service is nice, it's certainly not necessary, as a phone line is capable of sharing both DSL service and voice phone service. I'd like to know who's covering the cost of that installation too. Regardless...

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How can i protect my laptop from EMP? You would have to put an RF shield around it that is permanently attached to ground. There can be no openings in the shield - meaning the shield even has to be across the screen and keyboard. Not an easy (or practical task). Unfortunately, even that measure isn't a guarantee that EMP wouldn't get through, because laptop electronic circuits are quite sensitive. One of the reasons...

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Do any of you use Blogger.com? If yes, do you allow anonymous comments? My big question, can you see the IP addys of the anonymous comment posters? Yes I do. You cannot see the IP addresses.

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What is the best type of Mac to get if I want to get into the Graphic Desgin business? I am currently working on getting an associates in visual communications and then eventually a bachelor's in grahic arts. Any suggestions? I wouldn't try professional graphic design on anything less than a MacBook Pro.

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What is the best free video converter? I want it to be able to deal with as many video files as possible, and I want to be able to change settings (e.g. resolution, frame rate etc) I've had good experiences with Super. http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

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What is podcasting? A podcast is basically an audio program created and distributed in a manner suitable for listening on a computer or mp3 player. Podcasts are typically created as a series of programs, intended to be subscribed to. If you ever wanted your own radio program, a podcast is the way to go. Now, podcasting has evolved into a mass method of distributing audio content, including school lessons and more.

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What would be the best operating system to get the most speed/ functionality out of a PC with a 500MHz AMD cpu, 512MB of ram and 40GB hard drive? just for web browsing, youtube and myspace. i now have windows xp and it is very slow. Linux will definitely give you the most performance for an older system like yours, but you'll need a distribution ('distro') that is lean and trim. I recommend VectorLinux, Fluxbuntu Linux and BeatrIX Linux. There are more choices to choose from. If you go to this site: http://distrowatch.com/search.php In the search page, put a check in the 'Old Computers' box. You...

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Can I have dial up and cable internet? Let me follow up your question with one of my own.... why would you need both? (Other than to use dial-up only when the cable connection isn't available....)

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My computer says that NTLDR is missing after the boot. What does it mean? If there's any non-bootable disc in the computer (floppy / CD-ROM) that the computer is configured to boot from first, this error could appear. Remove the disc and reboot. Something may be set wrong in the BIOS. Too many possibilities to go into here, so let's assume you haven't been messing with BIOS settings and move on. The ntldr file may actually be missing, or become...

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I am considering buying a new desktop,but If I ever do buy one I'm guessing I'm going to have to get a new internet connection for the room I wish to place it in. But I'm unsure on how to do this and how much it's going to cost. Please help. I'm not sure exactly what your situation is - can we assume you already have one internet connection for an existing computer? If you already have an internet connection to your home, setting up a new one in a different room only requires that you share the connection (assuming there's another computer somewhere else) to the new location. This can be accomplished by buying a...

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Whats the best thing to clean a LCD moniter with? Never use a harsh cleaner such as anything containing ammonia. The plastic coating on an LCD monitor loses its transparency if you do. Spray a mild (green) glass cleaner on a soft, lint-free cloth. Or make a mild dish soap solution with hot water in the sink and dampen the cloth with that mixture. Pure water often isn't enough to cut the grime that builds up on the screen, especially...

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What's one key on your keyboard that you NEVER use? Scroll Lock

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Do those refill kits for printer cartridges really work? They do as long as you get the right kind of ink - not all ink is the same and the wrong ink will permanently damage your printer. Follow the instructions exactly. Don't wear white. If in doubt, go to one of those ink refill kiosks in the mall and let them do it. Try not to refill a cartridge more than twice before buying a new one - they really do need replacing eventually or printing...

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How do you search for other blogs on blogger if I don't know the address? It depends what you know about it. If you know the name of the blog author just search on the name. If the blog has a recurring theme, or a memorable post, you could search on that.

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Which is better overall, Mac or PC? One of each. MAC for the laptop, PC for the desktop. OK, OK.... not feasible for everyone. But that was my most recent solution.

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I bought a used computer (laptop). I will be travelling soon, so, how can I KNOW that whoever owned it before me hasn't done anything that'll get me in trouble? I don't mean just look through it for jpegs, etc. Is there some deeper search? You can't know for sure, but there are some things you can do to reduce the risk. If you got the laptop with Windows already installed and only the former owner's profile and personal files deleted, you can obtain a program that can write over top of the deleted files, making them harder (notice I didn't say impossible) to get at again. For rudimentary searches, that's...

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If WPM means 'Words Per Minute'. What does CPM mean? Characters Per Minute. Characters meaning letters, numbers, symbols, etc.

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What are the most known blogs? Or what is your favorite blog? Some of the most popular (read: visited) blogs include: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ http://www.dailykos.com/ http://www.instapundit.com/ http://boingboing.net/ http://www.dooce.com/ http://www.crooksandliars.com/ I like my blog best - but then again, I'm biased. http://whitenois.blogspot.com/

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If you downloading torrents can they shut your internet off? Can they get hold of your ip address so everytime you download anything at all they shut your internet off? The question isn't 'can they?'. It's 'will they?'. Depending on the ISP, they will either bow to pressure to monitor and control, or they won't. This is one main reason I refuse to get internet access through a 'big media' type company.

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Best ethical hacker schools? But I know what you mean. The University of Calgary was the first to offer an ethical hacking course. http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11480

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Is a Mac worth buying over a PC? What are the advantages and disadvantages of getting a Mac Laptop instead of a PC one? I'm with powermacman on this one. But let me try my own words. I find Mac is very well designed. For me it's not so much 'what' they have as much as 'how' they implemented it. Generally, things are more intuitive. The OS is designed specifically for the collection of hardware in the box, so the reliability factor improves. No - Apple doesn't have as much of...

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Which (sub)notebook would you prefer and why? I can't decide between de mac book air and the Lenovo ThinkPad X61s, L7500. I think we're comparing apples to oranges here (no pun intended). The Macbook Air is a beautiful machine, but IMHO is not worth the money for what you get inside. The Lenovo is a better value for the money they're asking. Here's me saying this - one who owns a Macbook (the cheapest model) and doesn't like Lenovo laptops (mostly ergonomic reasons).

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How can i make .iso file? Usually any program that can burn optical discs can make an .iso file. If you already have a program like Nero, etc., you have everything you need. Rather than waste your time with detailed instructions, check the help file of the program. If you don't have anything, the program I tried most recently is CDBurnerXP. It's free. It made quick work of creating an .iso file.

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I have a PC with wireless router (D-Link) at home. My ex-roommate set it up & never set up security. How can I enable security for my wireless connection so that anyone signing onto my wireless needs a password. I feel others using my wireless connection You want to enable the wireless security of the device. You can use a password to protect the connection, but this only has to be provided on setup. The first time someone tries to connect to the wireless network after security has been enabled, they'll need to provide a password to connect. There are many other ways of securing the connection too, but which ones are available to you...

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What is the difference between wireless router vs. wireless gateway? Wikipedia's entry on wireless gateway is bang on. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_gateway Technically, what most folks buy for their wireless home network is a wireless gateway, because it contains a wireless access point, a router (for NAT), and often provides firewall functionality. But many people call these boxes wireless routers. It's a terminology mistake thanks to the...

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Is it common to get coasters when burning CD's and DVD's? I have only burnt maybe 300 CD's and 125 DVD's. I use cheap media. (Dynex, Playo, No-name, etc.) I have had less than 5 coasters. I check them all afterwards. Are peoples drives bad or software? Sir Kevan is right. Just because a writer drive says it can burn at a certain speed doesn't mean it will do a perfect job every time. If during the burn you find the drive 'hunting' (speeding up and slowing down constantly as if it's trying to find a good speed) or the burning software (such as Nero) indicates the actual speed is less than the selected speed, then you chose...

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What are some good online communities? I don't like Myspace, but are there other places kind of like that, where you can have your own little section with blogs and all? I need a place to store articles, reviews and poems but I don't know of many places. Maybe I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish, but it sounds to me like all you need is a blog. You can post articles, reviews and poems on a blog quite easily. If the goal is to achieve maximum exposure, get a Facebook account, turn all the crap off and link to the blog every which way you can.

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What the worst thing that could happen by Not safe-removing usb memory? any hardware physical damage? The likelihood of physical damage is minimal. Like anna.m said, there is a better chance of file corruption. Having said that, the thing to do is wait. If the normal method of safe disconnection using the icon in the tray isn't working, if you wait a minute or so, the chances are significantly reduced that any file writes are still taking place and it is much safer to pull the usb device...

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Can I replace my laptops motherboard for a new graphics card? Or is it to much money and to much of a hassle? What knight kevan said. Most laptops are designed with one possible set of interior components inside. The only difference between models is the compliment of RAM, HDD size and existence of various optional parts. Desktop replacement laptops have the ability to upgrade video circuitry in some cases, but these are rare and the upgrade after the fact is not cheap.

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I'm trying to fix damage caused by a trojan horse. I've removed the virus, but it's blocked several programs from running, but they still work if I rename the applications,so I think there's a list somewhere I need to get rid of. Any thoughts? If the infection is truly removed and you cannot open certain programs, then there's either something wrong with the registry or the security settings of the computer. When the damage goes this deep, often the best solution is a format and complete re-install of Windows and your software. Unfortunately. Would you tell us what programs are being prevented from running?

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I want to burn video onto a blank dvd so that it can be played on a dvd player. i am using dvd+r 1-16x dvds.how do i do it It's a 3-step process. First you have to convert the video into the format appropriate for recording on a DVD. Then you 'author' the DVD, which just means you arrange the video clip(s) in the order you want them to appear on the DVD, plus add chapters, titles and so on. Finally you burn the DVD. All-in-one programs like Nero Ultra, Roxio Easy Media Creator or MyDVD, and...

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Is it possible for a virus-infected external hard drive to infect a good, clean computer's local hard drive if the external hard drive is plugged in to the good computer? Yes. Besides what 'thisisatributetothe...' mentioned, there are a variety of vectors (methods) that viruses can use to copy themselves from one drive to another, especially considering that this was the first method used by viruses before email became prevalent.

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I have a laptop without a operating system will windows xp home edition (old version) work? Assuming your laptop is 6 years old or less, I'd say yes. XP Home is a decent all-around generic OS for a laptop, but you'll have the most work finding all the drivers you need for the laptop specific hardware devices. Again, if your laptop is relatively new, you might consider Ubuntu Linux. It's free, comes with a lot of free software including a whole office suite...

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It would be great to have an agency to rate the multitude of websites created. The rating system of AB could be used as a guideline. What do you think? I don't see the point of rating websites. Just because a website is popular or highly rated doesn't mean it's good. It just means a lot of people like it. I prefer discovering websites on my own through searches, links from sites I already like and random accident. Ratings just turns it into a popularity contest. But that's just my opinion - it doesn't mean I...

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What are some easy and simple ways to speed up a VISTA PC? Anonymous' answer is a start. Aside from that, you'd want to disable whatever services you can live without. A faster and newer video card will help too. SP1 for Vista is supposed to help things along a little.

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I have been using gmail account for two years.But my friend says he can hack into my gmail account and see my mails using some CD.I dont know whether he is joking or he can really hack into my account. Is it possible to hack my account using a CD? The best way to find out if he's joking is to challenge him to prove it to you. In front of you. Curious, does he mean by using a CD in 'your' PC or his? If he says yours, the first two sentences of StrongFire's answer apply. I would add to what this person said by saying you shouldn't let your browser remember your login credentials for any important web sites...

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What are the odds that participants of a camp will be able to find me on facebook or myspace? Camp population stats about 150-230 participants aged 12-18. I think the odds are pretty good, considering most young people have a Myspace or Facebook presence and those that do are very likely to look up all the people they've met at camp sooner or later. I wouldn't put my percentage as high as Borderlinux only because not everyone has a Myspace or Facebook account - so if we're talking odds of the whole group I think it would be lower....

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What is the malware protection for free to download? If by malware you mean viruses, try the free AVG product.

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When I am on the net , I feel as if Im not alone. Almost as if someone is messing with what I'm typing and switching screens. Help Could you be more specific about what you're experiencing? You may have an issue of some kind, but we need to know more details.

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Why do we need a DNS system when we can directly use an IP address? Because it would be harder to memorize IP addresses. If I sent you to 72.21.210.11 to get the latest movie on DVD, you'd probably forget it once you got home, unless you wrote it down. But if I sent you to Amazon [dot] com, you'd be more likely to remember that. DNS just translates from the easy to remember name to the IP address. Another reason this is good is that if you have...

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I'm watching the movie Untraceable, can you really trust anyone on the internet? Is it even safe on here? The folks who use the internet are no different from the whole people of the world. The rest of the living world has criminals and ne'er-do-wells as some call them, but they are more than just hanging out in Myspace, or on the internet period. Just as you wouldn't send your child walking to school alone at a certain age (or in some cases, at all), you shouldn't allow your...

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What are the advantages of mac os? Intuitive design. [correction]Based on BSD, which is similar to Linux. Will happily co-exist with Windows on the same computer. Designed to work with Mac hardware - therefore very reliable. Cheaper than Windows.

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What files are safe to delete Only the ones you know for sure you don't need. Yeah I know, not a very helpful answer is it? But seriously, there are many 'experts' online that claim to know which files to delete and they more or less tell the same story with some variations. Here's one such site: http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2005/07/01/which-files-are-safe-to-delete-xp/ There are also...

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I m new user in internet i want to know the meaning of blog. Here's a snippet of text from a blogging course I teach: A blog (weblog) is a website where messages are posted and displayed with the newest one at the top. Like other media, blogs may focus on a particular subject, such as food, entertainment, politics, or local news. Many blogs function as simple online diaries. A typical blog can combine text, images, links to other blogs, web...

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I am currently using avg 7.5 free i downloaded avg free 8.0 but it will not fully install, do i have to uninstall my avg 7.5 before i can install avg 8.0 so that it will properley install? Under normal circumstances, you shouldn't have to. But if version 8.0 is not installing completely, I would try: -downloading again, in case the file was corrupt -uninstalling version 7.5 while disconnected from the internet and trying the version 8.0 install again. One of those two options should solve your issue.

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What is spam? Quite simply, 'spam' is any kind of electronic message that you receive which is unwanted and unsolicited. Put into plain English, it's any email, message, text, etc. that wastes your time with un-necessary details - usually from people you don't know. Sometimes it's a form of advertising, or an offer to change your life. The variations are endless.

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Can anyone explain me about computer's hard disk from basic things What kind of information are you looking for? About the hardware of a hard drive? How files are stored? I want to help but need to know what you're looking for.

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Even if you delete your history when in internet explorer, is evidence of all websites you have visited saved onto your hard drive? Yes. Your history is only a list of 'sites' you've visited. Deleting your history simply erases this list, but it doesn't erase the - as you so well put it - evidence of the sites you've visited. The evidence is still there because the items on the web pages you visit are actually downloaded to your computer. To remove this evidence, you would need to find all of the...

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When trying to Defragment my hard drive I get an error that says I need to run SKANDiSK or CHKDSK. What/Where are these and how do I "run" them? Scandisk is Windows' error checking tool, to scan the hard drive and its files for errors. It can be found by opening My Computer, right-clicking on your hard drive and choosing Properties. In the Tools tab, the first item is Error Checking. Run this tool if Defragmenting asks for it. There may be some errors (logical or physical) and the tool can detect and in some cases repair them.

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I can't seem to get this paricular adware pop-up from my computer, and adware and popup software doesn't seem to stop it. Is there a manual way that I can do this? Pop-ups aren't always generated by software that can be detected by spy/ad-ware scanners, nor stopped by pop-up blocking software. If the list of processes running on your computer (viewable in task manager) doesn't yield anything out of the ordinary, I wouldn't blame it on spy/ad-ware. Yes, I understand that many people wouldn't know legitimate software from bad software in...

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Is there a way i can convert a song being played in a music video to a song in a mp3 format, which i can then burn onto a cd? basically having the song without the video I use a product (free) called Super by eRightSoft. It has the ability to omit the video part of a video and convert the audio to mp3 in one pass. If you're going to be burning onto a CD, then don't bother converting to mp3 (compressed), convert it directly to wav format (uncompressed). Compressing and then decompressing the audio to get it on a CD will only degrade the quality.

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What is the difference between spyware, malware, adware, & trojan? I started writing this long answer until I saw well written descriptions at wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page I recommend you read their pages on each term for a comprehensive description of each. They appear to have been written by folks who know what they're talking about and I would simply be repeating most of what they describe.

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What's better, 3000:1 or 8000:1 contrast ratio on a computer? In theory, the higher the number, the better. If only it were that simple. For one thing, there's more than one way to measure contrast ratio. Second, there's no industry-wide standards for conducting the measurements that everyone follows. So while the figures are used by manufacturers for bragging rights, there are times when these figures mask other awful characteristics of the...

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During startup of Windows XP this message appears:- RUNDLL. Error loading. Windows\system32\femdlaah.dll Specified module not found. OK After clicking on OK startup completes. Why do I get this message & does it matter? Doing an online search of femdlaah.dll (assuming you spelled correctly) doesn't turn up anything on the internet. This means it is likely that the file is associated with something other than a known or reputable program. I would do a complete virus and spyware scan on your computer, using up-to-date software.

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Where is the internet, physicly? It has to be backed up somewhere. Someone has to have all the power. Who? Where? Physically - it's everywhere. Every computer that is connected and every server, plus all the infrastructure that connects them all is what makes up the internet. As far as backup copies... that's the responsibility of the individual players. Sometimes there are copies on various 'wayback' type sites, but that's more for posterity than criticality of data. Nobody...

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I think questions asking for ways to bypass security filters in schools should be marked as spam and removed, do you agree? AB admins don't, I think they're wrong! Quite a loaded question. It seems from the question's tone that only people who agree will get points. So colour me brave, because I do not agree. Students have every right to question security filters because they are inherently flawed. Although filters do prevent people from accessing sites that are considered inappropriate - and who has the right to decide that is a whole separate...

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What are the pros and cons of firefox? The only con I can think of is that web designers who don't test their sites with more than just the IE browser (in other words - using non-standard code) sometimes create web pages that don't quite work in other browsers. But this phenomenon doesn't occur very often.

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Can Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Office 2007 be installed on one PC and both work properly? You can, but it's not a great idea as it creates a few issues. The issues aren't show-stoppers, but they can get annoying. Here's a MS page that explains how to do it: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928091/en-us?FR=1

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Is there a website where I can find library's near me? There most certainly is! http://www.libraries411.com/ It's yet another site that makes use of the Google Maps API, with excellent results. Find any library in the US or Canada. It even shows which sites are central libraries and which ones are branches.

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After removing a virus, I've had lots of pc problems. I have Norton Ghost 10, but it will not run properly because of the damage caused by the virus. If I reinstall NG, will it still be able to recover my drive data that was saved to an external hd? Further to what anonymous said, if only files belonging to Ghost were damaged, then the answer is 'yes'. It will not hurt to try.

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How many times can we be asked "How do I bypass my school's blocking software?" before we just get sick of kids asking over and over? It's a common enough question that you don't even need to search; there's at least one on every page! It's no different than "my [insert brand here] computer won't boot - what's the problem?"

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How do I start a blog? The easiest way is to go to blogger.com It's fairly straight forward. They have decent help pages too.

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How can i open microsoft office 2007 files in Openoffice.org If you already have MS Office installed, double clicking an office file will automatically open them in the appropriate MS Office program because it's what the file type is associated with in Windows (I'm assuming we're talking about a Windows PC here). To open a Word doc in the appropriate OpenOffice program, you'd need to either open the Writer program first and do a...

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Why is there a mind boggling amount of different video file formats and music formats this is so stupid why not just have 2 that everyone knows and can understand lets see how many formats you can name There are a lot of formats because a lot of people have their own idea of what makes an efficient encoding / decoding method. Part of the reason for this is the platform involved. New formats were invented to fit video onto CD-ROMs, cell phones, portable video players and most importantly, online. Videos download much faster online when they're smaller in size.

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Have you ever nosied on someone's public online blog? Nosied? You mean read? Sure! That's what they're there for.... to read. There's nothing wrong with checking out someone's blog.

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My neighbor is planning on buying a Pc from a guy who claims it is stolen. My question is ; Can the Pc be tracked down thru the internet by the retailer or the manufacturing Co. as not being legitimately purchased & can the Pc be rendered useless? In some cases computers can be tracked down over the internet when special tracking software is installed on the hard drive or embedded in the network card, but this is rarely done due to the cost and effort involved. Even if tracking methods are being used, hard drives can be erased, hardware can be replaced. Tracking methods aren't used to render the PC inoperable, only to track where...

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Who are Digg's major competitors? I would say the main ones are del.icio.us; reddit; metafilter are fairly big ones.

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Which is better, Norton or Defender Registry for Internet security? Well, Registry Defender and Norton are 2 quite different products, so it's not really possible to compare them. Since you didn't specify which Norton product, I'll assume you meant Norton Internet Security. But regardless, all the Norton products have little in common with Registry Defender. What exactly do you want in a security product? I can help.

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How is it actually detrimental for companies such as Warner Brothers and others who try to block video snippets from airing on YouTube? That is a very good question. I think most reasonable people would argue that it isn't detrimental. But the entertainment industry has gotten very possessive about their material, to the point of being unreasonable. One would expect that free advertising would be appreciated, but this isn't the case. In recent years the entertainment industry has made it clear that if they had...

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What are you doing when you "heal" a virus? A virus depends on a host file. So when you heal a virus, it means you're disabling the virus part of the file.

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Why do people even bother with dial up internet? There are still jurisdictions where in rural areas, DSL, Cable and Microwave broadband aren't available. So the only options are satellite (expensive) and dial-up.

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How would you convert .wav to .mp3? Audacity is a great audio editor (free) that can convert wav to mp3 no problem.

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I have more than one firewall program, but how do I know which one to keep and which ones to delete? You keep the one that meets your needs. Firewalls are like cars - they come with a variety of features and capabilities and you choose the one that you feel most comfortable with. Most of the reviews I've read on 3rd party firewalls only bicker about little differences or annoyances. For the record, I only use the Windows XP SP2 firewall and the firewall that is built into my wired...

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Why don't people respond to legitimate emails? Yeah, I know what you mean. Unfortunately, email is a form of communication easily ignored. I'm constantly amused by the excuses I've gotten on why an email I've sent was never answered or even acknowledged. It's a the nature of the medium and I'd venture, the nature of our society. I'm not saying it's right - I'm just telling it like it is. Some...

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MY USER ID DOES'NT WORK.. NOR MY PASSWORD... WHAT GOD DO I HAVE TO INVOKE IN ORDER TO EMAIL A PHOTO LIKE I USED TO SO FAR I'M STILL ANTICIPATING AN ANSWER.... BUT I THINK I'LL JUST GO FISHING... AT LEAST I JUST MAY CATCH A SATISFACTORY a Still anticipating? I wonder if there's a way to frame this as an example of how 'not' to ask a question on a forum.

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Can I visit your blog? Absolutely. http://whitenois.blogspot.com

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What's the best freeware software that can determine my hard drive's health and life? HD Tune is fairly decent. Also, if your hard drive is a Seagate, Western Digital, Maxtor, or Hitachi you could get the manufacturer's diagnostic tool from their website. http://lifehacker.com/357542/keep-tabs-on-hard-drive-health-with-hd-tune

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Which is faster and better performance? A 500GB with 16MB cache or a 1TB with 16MB cache? It depends, speed (in RPMs) and number of platters can affect performance too. But in theory - all factors being equal (except number of platters) - the lower capacity drive would be faster.

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Quick question about the SMART reporting on my hard drive. It's reporting 70% health on one of my drives. How concerned should I be? Very concerned. When SMART tells you your drive health is waning, it's time to back up those files to another drive before it's too late and be ready for imminent failure. It could take hours, days or weeks. I've had numerous clients who ignored SMART warnings at their peril.

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How can a virus be prevented from entering your computer system? By practising safe computing. This includes but is not limited to: -Keeping an up-to-date anti-virus program running. -Scan your files, especially unfamiliar media (DVD, CD, USB drive...). -Getting all security updates for both your OS and all programs installed on your PC. -Changing browser settings to more secure configuration (or better yet - get a more secure browser, like Firefox). ...

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What type of computer monitor do you have? How big is it? I've got a 21" Viewsonic LCD monitor. I paid way too much money for it when they first came out. Don't ask, it's still painful to think about.

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What need does a myspace, facebook, fill? prior to their existence what did people do for that need? That's a good question, one that I'd need to think about for a long time before I could offer the best answer. But off the top of my head, I'm not sure it so much fills a 'need' as much as it creates a new opportunity and method of communicating and socializing. When I grew up (before internet), we socialized at school and in our homes, at the community hall, or...

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When did you decide that you were so amazing that you needed to advertise you? facebook, myspace.....why would i care about your music tastes, etc....? I didn't join Facebook because I thought I was amazing. I joined because it's an efficient way to keep in touch with friends. A lazy way.... sure. Do of all my Facebook friends care about my photos, or what music I like, or what TV I watch? Nope. But for those that do care, it's there. I'm often confronted by folks that don't 'get' the newest uses of the...

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What is the point of blogging? To start a dialogue with more people. Whether you're just posting your thoughts and experiences online; sharing ideas; sharing great sites you've discovered; writing critiques about stuff; breaking a great story; talking to your customers (the list is long).... doing it on a blog makes it possible to reach more people. To say that a blog is pure escapism suggests a narrow view...

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I'm using WinDVD creator to convert VHS tapes to DVD with my HP media centre desktop. I can get the video to transfer onto my hard drive but not the audio. Any ideas? We need much more detail here. Some stuff we'll need to know: How exactly do you have your VHS VCR hooked up to your computer? This should include the description of the ports / connectors on the VCR, the cable type and the ports / connectors on your PC. I'm guessing you're using a typical 3 connector cable like what I've uploaded below.

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I have about 220 music files downloaded, does this affect the speed of my Laptop? It shouldn't. The only time having a lot of music files on your computer would slow it down noticeably, is if: a) the software you use to play your music also does an inordinate amount of cataloguing of the files. b) the remaining space on the drive has gotten too low (less than 5-10GB), affecting Windows' ability to create a large enough swap file (for virtual memory). So if...

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What's the highest amount of GB internal hard drive you can get for use with laptop? Gee, what day is it? There's really no way to answer this unless you knew about the existence of every model of every brand. Even then, by next month, there would probably be a new model of laptop with a larger capacity hard drive standard available. I can tell you that I saw an HP laptop with 250GB hard drive on board just yesterday. Also, if we're just talking about buying a...

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When my computer has been on for about 5 hours it starts making this radling nose. what is it and can i get it to stop? It's probably one of your fans. The fans in a PC start to rattle when they get caked with dust. Some air in a can will cure that. Your PC likely just needs a good cleaning. Warning - do it outside unless you want a cloud of dust in your house.

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What is the trojan virus backdoor-bac.dll virus, and how do you remove it? Wikipedia has a good definition here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing) In essence, a Trojan relies on you to do the infection, by downloading something that looks interesting or useful to you, but contains a hidden function that you would probably not agree to. By this simple definition, one could argue that a program with spyware attached is a form of Trojan. This...

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What is the need of ethical hackers? Ethical hackers work toward discovering the existing vulnerabilities in computer products so that they may be fixed and are eliminated as vulnerabilities. An ethical hacker has the same skill set as any other hacker, but they use their knowledge for good, rather than taking advantage of it. When this type of work is done by request and under a contract by an organization, it is legal.

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How does a person "spoof" an email address so that the spam mail you get appears to be from YOUR own email address? The from field doesn't actually represent where the email physically came from - it's just a name and any program / virus / worm / spam can be programmed to change it. The real source can only be seen by looking in the header data of the message.

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Do I need a Firewall for my computer? A firewall is a good method of protecting your system. But people get carried away with what they use. If you have a cable/dsl or wireless router at home, you already have some firewall protection, but it mostly faces toward the internet. If you have Windows XP SP2 or newer, you also have a satisfactory software firewall running on your PC as well. If you require something a little...

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Why people hate Norton antivirus? It is a one of the top rating softwares in the reviews and a very popular product in the market. I don't hate Norton Anti-Virus. This product is pretty good, but still not as 'lean' as other offerings. The product I have the most trouble with is Norton Internet Security - which isn't just an anti-virus program. It also includes a firewall, pop-up blocker, spam filter and parental web filtering controls. In my experience, these all encompassing suites are overkill....

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Are you on a desktop or laptop, and if laptop, do you use the pad or a mouse, and if mouse, cordless or not? Laptop and desktop. Desktop - mouse - corded. Laptop (Mac) - pad and mouse - mouse bluetooth (cordless). I bring the mouse, but don't always use it (depends on workspace).

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Why is default time for most things online Pacific Time? Because a large contingent of the software and online industry are based on the west coast.

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In my pen drive, one folder namely New Folder was created automatically. When I try to delete it, it is deleted but it re-appears.I am fed up with this problem. Is this new folder a virus ? How can I remove ?Is it possible to install anti-virus in pendriv What is the folder called? Many pen drives now come with extra software that does some things that would seem bizarre to the uninitiated. If you already have anti-virus software loaded on your PC, you could (and should) scan the drive just like you would any other drive. If it says there are no viruses, you can rest easy. But I don't think it's a virus. If you provide us with a...

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Why is my computer not accepting adobe something something whatever you call it I'm learning disabled and i have been trying to install this piece of trash so i can go on wwe.com do I need to take the thing in to get some professional to install it? We can probably help you, but you just need to give us more details, that's all. 'Adobe something something whatever' doesn't really tell me much. I'm not being sarcastic. Are you trying to install Adobe Reader? If not, Adobe what? Which version? Where did you download it from (this is important)? Are you running Windows XP or Vista?

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PC Keyboards have little lights to let you know when the caps lock, scroll lock, and num lock functions are turned on or off. Why don't they do this for the "Insert" key so you don't accidentally overtype stuff? That drives me nuts. What an awesome question. We certainly have the technology to do it. I don't think there's anything that would stop a keyboard manufacturer from making a keyboard that can do that, the operating system wouldn't handle that type of function - it would just respond to the insert key as per normal, so it would fall onto the keyboard's driver you'd need to install on...

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Is there a difference between AIM,MSN? whats better? Yeah, I think MSN is better only because you can initiate Windows Remote Assistance sessions from right within a conversation. But people tend to choose their chat client based on what their friends are using. Assuming they only pick one.

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Whats the best web browser for an apple mac as im buying one soon my pc is an ancient tiny pc(anyone remember them) I read so many bad things about using firefox & safari on a mac now i just dont know Unfortunately, you can't believe everything you read. Knowing this, I tend to filter negative comments that aren't substantiated with facts and examples. But I can tell you that the first program I loaded onto my new MacBook was Firefox, and I haven't looked back.

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Would my PC games and softwares run on linux or does that OS have it's own softwares and games? Although I have no personal experience with this - I'm only going by what others have said, Windows emulators for Linux like 'Wine' sometimes have problems handling software (like games) that have demanding hardware needs. But most other Windows software should run just fine. Very few companies that write software for Windows also write Linux equivalents. That's...

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Do you agree that security is starting to become stupidity with your online banking being so secure that you can't use it yourself half the time? What exactly do you mean by excessive? All I do is use a client card number, user name and password with a variety of agreed upon secret questions thrown in for good measure. Maybe I'm de-sensitized to it, but that doesn't seem excessive to me.

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Who here has ever posted a good youtube video, and what was it? I decided to (try to) pay hommage to a pair of my comedy heroes - Bob & Doug McKenzie (from SCTV), the quintessential Canadians. A friend and I made 25 episodes of Great White North II before calling it quits. When they made the 24 anniversary special in Canada about Bob & Doug last year, we almost got on their show, but the fan submissions got cut to keep the show under an hour. ...

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Who should be held accountable at a corporation whose network security is breached by a hacker? Again, it depends on the situation. If a script kiddie can do tremendous damage to your network, those responsible for your security infrastructure should be fired. But then one could say that if your technical security measures are sound and they still get in, everyone in the company is off the hook. Right? Well, what if they got in because some employee was convinced that (a caller...

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Hackers often argue that hacking is for the good of all people because it points out flaws in computer systems. Do you agree with this? Why or why not? If you look at the big picture, hacking is good for security because of the flaws that are identified. That doesn't mean I think hackers who commit crimes with their discoveries are to be paraded as heroes, but let's look at it from a slightly different perspective. Motivation. People who go looking for security flaws for good aren't motivated by as strong a force as those who...

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What should the punishment be for convicted hackers and why? Yeah, that's a great question, but such a subjective one. It really should depend on what they did. How much money they lost the target of the hacking. How much effort was required to achieve the hack (if a script kiddie could do it - 20 years is a bit harsh). And then there's the moral element. Should a hacker get a sentence for breaking the content filters of an oppressive...

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How long will it be before we will be able to watch any live or recorded program from anywhere in the world, direct to own internet-connected TV (not just downloading to a computer or live streaming ), on demand? That depends on the broadcasters in each country. Many broadcasters have gotten so possessive with their programming that they'll even block other countries from viewing video clips of programming on their web sites, or even blocking web sites period. I have tried for years to get an answer about when I'll be able to get one of my favourite shows from the UK (Smack the Pony - think...

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How much of your buying behavior has moved from stores to the Internet? I don't know if I can place a value or percentage on it, but I have started buying more and more online, especially if I can trust the source and it's getting me a great deal. Retailers (in Canada anyway) are really ripping us off on some stuff. Case in point - Ray Ban Predator 2 sunglasses retail for $190 with tax. I can get them online for $90 shipped.

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OK issue with internet explorer when I search with google or yahoo. lets say i search for 1996 cherokee parts. I'll click search and it will have results. But when I click on a result it wont go to that site. it will go to a random site or ad. please help Sounds like your browser is hijacked. Search the internet for solutions to cure IE browser hijacking. But of course, use a different PC, because if it is hijacked, it won't make it easy to find solutions for hijacking. Or, switch to Firefox.

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How do you actually post a blog on www.blogger.com, I can't find it anywhere on the dashboard. If you have no blog setup, you would 'create a blog'. If you're trying to create a post, you would click on 'New Post' under your existing blog name in Dashboard. At least, that's how I do it.

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When I purchased my laptop the hard drive was partitioned into 2 x 20Gb partitions. Now the C drive partition, which contains the operating system is nearly full and I need to make more space available on it. What options can remedy this situation? There are partition managing utilities (like Partition Magic), that can move the boundary between partitions and shrink one in order to add the space to the other. Unfortunately, this operation can be risky and is more difficult to do when the drive is already full of files. If the second partition (I'm guessing the D:) is empty, it might be possible to make the C: partition bigger and...

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My computer is 3 years old and it has been running more and more slowly. What can I do to speed it up? Your computer likely needs a software tune-up. A tune up typically consists of things like: 1. Uninstalling unused software (anything you haven't used in more than 3 months is a candidate for uninstalling). 2. Analyzing and modifying what software starts with Windows (almost every program you install on a PC these days puts an element of itself in the tray - running in the background...

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I was working on a networked computer at my uni. I print the document and walk to the printer. After 5 minutes the document is not there. What could have caused the document not to print and what might i do to correct the problem? Network printing problems can be blamed on 3 things most of the time. 1. There's something wrong with the printer itself - no toner, no paper, paper jam, or the electronics are confused and the thing needs a reboot. Sometimes someone sends a print job that requires their intervention (putting the right paper in a tray or loader) and your job won't print until the jobs ahead of...

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If you post videos on Youtube.com and you make it so that no one can leave any comments... are you afraid of criticism or uncomfortable with compliments? It might be neither. You might just not want to deal with trolls and comment spam.

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I have a blog on www.blogger.com, and i also have a website on www.2222mb.com. I want to take the blog and put it on my site... How can i do this? This Blogger page has all the details, starting at 'Blogger settings' section of the page. http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=55373&topic=12451 If the link's not working, you can get there by logging into Blogger, choosing 'Help', then in the 'Customize your blog' section, look for the link 'Custom domains'. Then choose 'How do...

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Hey i need to find one password the msn is xxbaby_girl_88xx@hotmail.com Just wave your hand in the air from one side to the other and say, "There IS no password". LOL

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Do you use iTunes, Windows Media Player, or any other music player to listen to music, or do you use an iPod? I use Winamp.

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Is microsft and aol running a BETA TEST that was on Good Morning American, that if you send email on you will get $245? Snopes is a great place to see if something you've heard is a hoax or not: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/microsoft-aol.asp

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My computer just found a "Adware.joltid_p2p_networking" and said thats its an elevated threat - but after doing research, it seems all it does is allow pop ups - that doesn't sound THAT bad - can someone tell me why this is elevated? Well, for one thing, adware of any kind that produces pop-ups isn't something most people want running on your computer. It doesn't (in theory) do anything bad to your system, but it does remove a slight modicum of control from you, the user. (Look at me with the big words today) But did you notice that the site's solution was to get their software? Nice promotional gimmick,...

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I found 2 files that avg said were trojans - i managed to get rid of them, and it was a lot faster, but now its gone slow again. whats the best thing to search and destroy trojans? or anything like that. If System Restore is enabled, the trojan may be lurking in a saved system session. This is how they manage to come back. It's not a fault of AVG, it's a drawback of system restore. Do a search online on how to disable System Restore for the purposes of eradicating viruses, etc.

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It is written on my laptop 19V and 4.74A, is there a problem in supplying it with a 19V and 6.3A adapter? Maybe not, but there are some potential problems. If the two adaptors swap how they deliver positive and negative voltage on the tip and ring of the plug, that could be disastrous. It's unlikely, but you never know. Also, if it's the adaptor that's supposed to do the current limiting, that could allow 6.3A to be delivered to the laptop when the power input circuits were...

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What year did you start using the internet? 1994. Hard to believe it's only been 14 years....

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Can incense harm a computer? Actually yes it can. Any smoke can harm the computer over the long term - the hard drive in particular. I did not make this up. Many people think hard drives are a sealed unit - they are not - in fact, hard drives need air to work. Smoke particles are bigger than the gap between a hard drive's heads and the platters they float above, so smoke particles are kind of like a giant boulder...

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I know jack about computers so i need help i have just been told to download a download accelerator i use dial up cause its all that is available will this really help and are there any specific settings i need to do ps thanks to everybody that has helped Download accelerators don't really help with dial-up connections.

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Why does everyone complain about Vista? Personally, I have no problems. I think the folks having the most trouble with Vista are those who are trying to run Vista on 2+ year old hardware. The newest PCs with Vista already installed are likely to have fewer problems.

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A new folder by name "CON" cannot be created on the desktop. why is that so? CON is a reserved phrase that hearkens back to the days of DOS (and Unix?). It is the short form for Console.

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What is your favorite Linux distribution? Ubuntu. It might not be the 'best', but it's a great distribution for Linux newbies. I like it too.

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Can someone tell me how to compress stuff on my PC to try and make it run faster? Compressing files on your PC will not make it run faster. A tune up usually consists of things like uninstalling unused software, analyzing and modifying what software starts with Windows, analyzing what processes are running and a regimen of scanning for errors, defragmentation and registry cleaning.

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Is it better to go with multiple hard drives or one big hard drive? ex: 2x 250GB or 1x 500GB. If you're just storing files in the normal way, there's no functional difference. If I was concerned about backups, I'd consider 2 separate drives just so I could use one as a complete backup of the other. Sometimes, buying 2 smaller drives can save you money, but unless you're using the second drive in some manner of a disaster recovery scheme, there's no practical point.

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When buying a computer system should I be more concerned about amount of memory, hard disk space, or CPU speed? Or should I be concerned about some other aspect of the system? (Think of me as a beginner and not a big time gamer or anything like that.) The fact that you told us you're not into gaming helps a lot. It suggests that your needs are basic, but that could change over time. I agree with msFortunate in that you'll need at least 1GB of RAM, 2GB or more is even better if you'll have Vista as an Operating System. It's not just gamers that can make use of a decent amount of RAM anymore - Vista has put much more in...

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How much do you like or dislike Blogs, and why or why not? I like the concept of blogs a lot. Although they started out as online diaries or journals, they've evolved into much more than that. Some corporations use them to establish a more intimate dialogue with their customers. People with some writing; comedic; political; critical and many other skills now have an outlet for potential talent that may otherwise go unnoticed. That's not to...

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What are cookies, in computer terms? Is it good to clear them out of your computer's system? This site explains it best: http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq/#1.1

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What are the benefits of using a notebook cooler? Is it really worth it? Notebooks are designed to dissipate their own heat. Supplemental cooling usually isn't required. If your laptop isn't experiencing performance issues related to heat, then a supplemental cooler is basically just bling.

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What brand/model laptop is the most affordable yet efficient for a college student? Based on my experience with laptops, you generally get what you pay for. Each brand of laptop have their expensive models and their budget models. You would also be surprised to know that many of these brands do not make their own parts, and many brands share the same parts. What set these brands apart are their after sales support; availability of accessories; reliability; ergonomics; value......

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Firefox or Netscape/Internet Explorer/Safari? These 3 browsers all have their pros and cons, although many would argue that the IE's list of pros would be shorter and its cons would be longer than the others. But IE isn't totally useless. It does have some nice features due to its tight integration with Windows, the major drawback being the security implications of that tight integration. Firefox has attracted fans due to its...

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Can i replace the keyboard of my dell laptop if it's burnt out? If by 'can I replace' you mean 'is it possible to get a replacement keyboard installed by Dell?', the answer is yes. If you wanted to do it yourself, you could in theory order a replacement keyboard from Dell and do it yourself, but then the warranty (if it's still in effect) would be voided. I've never had a keyboard replaced on a laptop yet, but I'd...

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Is it possible for parents to tap a childs laptop? Yes, very possible.

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My PC was working fine. I decided to upgrade the video card. Purchased new video card and after installation the computer would not boot. Removed the new card. Replaced the original card. The computer still won't boot. What's up with that? It is possible that by opening the case and inserting and removing video cards you managed to dislodge a cable on the motherboard or the RAM isn't fully seated in its slot(s). I would look at that first.

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What is the best internet security and why. Honestly, Scottix is right. The best security is not to connect at all. Barring that, the next best thing is to use a PC containing absolutely no personal information at all - which has become harder and harder to do, since every time you sign up for something online, some elements of your identity are stored locally. You also want to use the most secure software package that is the easiest...

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Which side is it better to leave a CD/DVD on: the shiny reflective side, or the pritned one? The bottom side is a lens, so as long as you can clean it and prevent more than minor scratches, you're OK. The top side is simply a thin spray coating of lacquer on the aluminum layer holding the data, so it is very susceptible to scratches too. But - whereas minor scratches can often be polished out from the bottom lens side, if the aluminum data layer top side is damaged -...

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What makes you stay with an Operating System example (Windows, Mac, Linux)? I really don't have anything against Windows, but it never was the most avant-garde OS to choose from, just the most prevalent. I only stay with it because my clients use it and I need to know it. Plus, I've amassed a large collection of Windows software. But I love what the Ubuntu project has done to make Linux more palatable. If cost of ownership is the bottom line and you...

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I own the music, why can't I copy it? Because the industry is afraid that if you can copy, you can share. And file sharing is the boogeyman to the entertainment industry. Laws and DRM situations vary from country to country, but protected files and CDs are quite common. Luckily, some vendors are finally starting to understand that consumers don't want restrictions. Amazon will be selling DRM-free mp3s world-wide in 2008. ...

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What online blog do you follow the most? boingboing.net

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Why does my computer freeze when left on without use for more than 10 hours Curious.... what are your power saving settings set at? In other words, after how long is Windows set to turn your monitor and / or hard drives off?

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Does anybody know, how I can become completely autonomous from Microsoft? Mac. Linux.

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First one to answer what PEBCAK means gets two points! Problem exists between chair and keyboard

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Do you think the push toward faster and more powerful machines is a good thing? I agree with PokkiTokki, it's evolution. There are those who believe that sophisticated software is written to force people to get better hardware. I believe that better hardware makes better software possible.

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What do you think about Bush's amnesty plan for telecommunication companies that give out private records? It sets a bad precedent. It means if you think people's rights have been violated in the name of national security before.... you ain't seen nothing yet. Good bye due process.

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Why many many Europian websites keep blocking american visitors? Could you give us some examples? I know that some media web sites block anyone not from the country of the origin of the site for various reasons, but I'm not aware of a site that specifically blocks only Americans.

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How does a computer actually erase the files when you empty your recycling bin? The recycle bin is basically just a holding area on your hard drive to store files just in case you change your mind and decide to restore them (get them back). Once the files are emptied from the recycle bin for whatever reason (you emptied it, bin is full and oldest files being taken out, etc.), they are deleted the normal way. But a deleted file is simply a re-writing of the disk's...

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How many processes are supposed to be running on my HP Pavillion Laptop, duo 2.2Ghz processors? What are 'csrss.exe' and 'mmc.exe' when they have no description? I have 88 processes running at the most, 84 at the least. When I got it, 65 was the average. There's no way to answer 'how many processes are supposed to be running?'. The number of processes you'll find running at any time depends on what software is installed on your computer, what programs are open on your computer and what software is being loaded automatically when Windows starts. You have control over all three, but few people know about controlling the...

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Given the choice of a Top End Mac or PC, which would you choose? I would probably choose the top end Mac, because I like the OS and the design and I could easily put Windows on the Mac if I need it to run specific programs. The problem is that I can't 'afford' a top end Mac or PC at the moment. But if I could, I'd be very tempted to choose the Mac.

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Do you have a blog, or have you considered starting one? Yes, I do. I started it in July 2004 and have just posted my 4000th post not long ago. I average around 75 readers a day, sometimes more. I have made some great friends with some of my readers.

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How can I bypass the St. Bernard firewall at my school so that i can play games and get to myspace? You're not going to find many people on Answerbag who will willingly offer advice that potentially breaks the law or circumvents the security measures of public property. No matter how 'stupid' school firewalls may be. And I agree - they are more trouble than they're worth. But that's another topic for another time.

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Anyone use AVG free for their anti-virus? What are the pros and cons? AVG Free is a superb product, regardless of what anyone might tell you. The reason it's free is because they sell a pro version that has extra features which cost money. This version is targeted at corporations that can afford to buy the software. This is a sound business plan. Although I have had no issues at all with AVG personally, I will admit that AVG is a good choice only for...

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How do you insert a header/footer in Microsoft Wordpad? There is no option for headers and footers in Wordpad. Wordpad was created without the more advanced formatting features that come with programs like MS Word.

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What is the meaning of hacking? It depends on the context. A Hacker actually means someone who "delight in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular". In terms of computing, the word hacking has most recently come to be associated with people breaking into computers using programs written by others, with very little knowledge about the way...

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My computer has a virus (i think). I dont really know the difference between a virus and spyware . im getting all kinds of popups from sites trying to sell me anti-virus software. The software I have says everthing is clean- what should I do? It's likely not a virus. It's likely just a pop-up problem. Spyware software might take care of it for you. You should never accept any offer from a pop-up to help with your PC.

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How do I ensure that a harddrive is destroyed? Yeah, physically damaging it in a way that it can never be used again is the way to go. There are professional companies that have huge shredders that eat hard drives for supper, but smashing the drive to bits will do the trick. It's the metal platters inside that you want to get at the most. If they can be salvaged, the rest of your efforts are for nothing.

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Is a MacBook an ideal notebook for college? It's not a good choice for college specifically. It's a good choice for folks who like the Mac aesthetic. Period. Some argue that they're pricey, but some folks appreciate the design. You could also argue that Windows software won't run on it, but I'd counter that you could easily install Windows in a dual boot configuration (using boot camp) and that...

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Ive had my laptop for a little over a year and its starting to run really slow, the little hourglass takes along time to go away and sometimes pictures show up as a little box with a red dot inside until it finally loads. I do weekly scans...whats uP? Sounds like you need a tune-up. Here are some ideas that can speed things up a bit: How much free hard drive space is left? Your page file needs room to breathe. Use Autoruns to clean up applications that start with windows. Research the processes that are running in task manager. Go through add/remove programs and uninstall unused applications. Use Easy Clean for 'registry...

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What is mp3 player? What is the differece between ipod and mp3 player? An iPod is just one particular brand of mp3 player device. It's like acetylsalicylic acid - we just call it aspirin, but Aspirin is only one brand of the stuff. iPods are the most popular mp3 player device, but certainly not the only one worth considering. I ended up buying a Creative Labs model called the Zen. IMHO, it sounds better. Most importantly, it suffers no crippling effects of...

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Do you delete emails in your inbox? Yeah. I don't let emails pile up. Anything important is saved to a file and stored elsewhere.

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What is the difference between DVD+ and DVD-? The main functional differences between DVD-R and DVD+R are: 1) the DVD recorder's built-in defects management, 2) the way the recorders format and rewrite DVDs, 3) what dvd players (for your TV) will play them. For the average consumer the only thing to consider is if a certain format will play on all the dvd player devices you own (and do you care). So for example, if you want to...

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My cd drive doesn't write to dvd ? i'va got dvd+r cd(s) , how can i burn a movie to my dvd cd(s) ? do i have to have a dvd writer ? or a program would do it? which ? known i've tried magic dvd copier and divx converter >but neither works 4 me ! It's easy to get confused as to whether you have a DVD writer drive or not. The first thing I would get you to try is put a DVD movie disc in and see if any movie playing program will play the movie. If not, it's probably a CD drive only. If it plays, you still may not have a drive that can 'write' to DVD (in other words you may have a drive that plays DVDs but only writes...

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What's the diffrence between dvd video cd and a dvd+r cd? I'm not being cute OK? Just need to focus on some terminology for a moment. There is no such thing as a dvd video cd. A DVD is one type of optical media. A CD is another.

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Are you surprised at the venom people show when they write comments on youtube? I am horrified at some of the cruel things I read. Welcome to the internet. The freedom to post stuff for everyone to see. The freedom for everyone to respond in any manner they choose. It's a double-edged sword. I've had some nasty things said about one or two of the videos I've created and posted on YouTube and I had to learn not to take it personally. Because you just can't. With the internet, you have to put on a...

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I have a video in .avi format that is 38.5MB. I need to email it, and gmail will only go up to 20MB. Tried compressing it into a zip file, and it's only going down to 36MB. How can I make this file small enough to email? (Don't want to put it on youtube) It looks like you already figured it out. I was going to say you could always convert the video file to a format that is more compressed or offers less quality. I would have recommended DivX... just my 2 cents. The program I've been using to convert video files from one format to another is Super.

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Do you have a blog that has readers? Yes. I average 50-120 readers a day and growing slowly.

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What are 10 steps that should be done before creating a network? I'm really trying not to be cute when I ask this, but what is the point of the question? It's like asking, "What are the 10 steps that should be done before creating a loaf of bread?" My first questions would be... do we already have the resources necessary to make the bread? Why are we making the bread? Etc. My point is, the question is too vague and makes me wonder...

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How does a key generator work ? -- (for applications/programs)-- Basically, someone reverse engineers the valid keys used by a program and once it is discovered how a program validates a key, a key generator program simply uses the same algorithm to generate new keys at random. Using a very oversimplified math example, if it's discovered that all valid keys for a program are divisible by 3, then the key generator is programmed to randomly generate...

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PC people: would you ever buy a MAC? MAC people: would you ever buy a PC? I own both - Mac OS X laptop and Windows desktop. I've been able to do everything I used my old Windows laptop for on my MacBook. Although I agree that getting an iMac desktop would prevent me from playing my Windows games (and other programs) right out of the box, the Mac OS makes it possible to either dual boot Windows and Mac OS X (boot camp), or run Windows as a virtual machine within...

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Though this format will be discontinued in the United States, will HD-DVD still be used in other parts of the world or is it getting discontinued worldwide? I can't see it remaining once the major movie studios give up on it. The HD species of media was waiting on a winner of the format war and now that Blu-Ray seems to have won, everyone can get on with the job of getting all content made on that format. I predict HD-DVD will be a fond memory within 3 years, 5 tops.

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Who else is a bit frightened about Websites like FACEBOOK, where other ppl decide about your privacy (there is no "real" privacy, I know..)? Not frightened in the least. I realize that few people have really taken into consideration the ramifications of being on Facebook, but that will change over time. You can control what information you post about yourself on your own page, but you can't control what others will post about you on theirs. But this isn't only in Facebook - people can post stuff about you on all kinds of...

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When did you last update your blog? What was the headline? Yesterday. " Seen the movie High Fidelity? Then you know..."

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When I defrag my computer I always defrag (C:) do I also need to analyze and defrag Presario RP(D:) too?? It says it needs to be dragmented but what is (D:)? I'm not sure because I can't see the details, but the Presario RP D: may be a rescue partition. How big is the drive and how full is it? I'm willing to bet it's a smallish partition and is practically full. If this is the case, I wouldn't bother defragmenting it.

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Why dont telecom companys microsoft and legit websites stamp out all the spyware,virusis and lewd nasty websites on the internet to make it a safer place to surf, surely this must be high on their agendas!!! These are simplistic answers, but spyware exists as a result of people insisting on getting online software for free. Spam exists because email is free. Porn exists online because its the most efficient way to distribute it. If you wanted these things to go away, you'd have to make the internet fee based for everything. Placing fees on every kind of communication would put a halt to...

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What is a good and hassle free program to use to play music files on your pc? Mine has become annoying with unwanted upgrades that upgrade to complicated and senseless new formats. I use Winamp 5.08 lite and turn the updates off.

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My laptop was stolen. Someone told me it is possible to trace the IP address of its current location if connected to the Internet by using the serial number. Is this true and how would one go about doing this? The only way (that I know of) to do this is if there is something identifiable (software) running on your laptop that can be identified via the internet. Some products exist that are installed on a laptop (before they are stolen) just for that purpose. As soon as the thief connects to the internet, the company who made the trace software can trace the machine to an ISP and from there, the...

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What programs are must have? Here's my personal list: Irfanview - for image viewing and very basic editing. NVU - a free and powerful web page editor. Filezilla - an FTP client program by the makers of Firefox. uTorrent - for downloading torrents. SyncToy - a free Microsoft utility that allows you to set up folder pairs for quick backups to other drives. CDex - for ripping audio Cds. Audacity - a free and...

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What is one other place, not in Windows or any documentation, where I could determine the CPU, CPU speed, and the amount of RAM I have installed on my system? I'm a big fan of the utility System Information for Windows. It can even be run as a standalone program (no installation required). http://www.gtopala.com/

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I'm calling quits on Windows Vista. Do you recommend me any other operating system? Aside from going back to XP, your options are basically the various distributions of Linux if you want to keep your existing PC, or add Mac OS X if you'd be willing to buy a Mac. The problem with making OS recommendations is that every user has their own priorities and needs and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. Ubuntu is probably the most user friendly...

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What is a good website that shows the latest new technology, inventions and gadgets? Here's another: http://www.ohgizmo.com/

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“Are the E-Commerce strategies successful in building trust into customers for purchasing online products or services? If yes then how? If not then why? Support your answer with strong arguments and real life examples. What do we get for answering your exam questions?

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What is your screensaver? No screensaver. I just turn my monitor off the old fashioned way (with the on / off switch).

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Okay, I've read tons of opionions and answers relative to runing VISTA as a operating system. I'm glad I did..now I don't want it. Can you request to not have it "pre-loaded" when you buy a new latop/desktop? Or is it just the way it comes? It depends on the brand and where you buy it. Some places / brands don't give you a choice, others do but you have to request XP. Word on the street is that Microsoft will only make OEM copies of XP available to computer vendors until June 2008 - then it's gone for good. There is a movement afoot to convince MS to keep XP around longer.

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How do I convert a CDA or MP3 file in to a WAV file? I am trying to put music to a powerpoint presentation I can't speak for CDA, but if you already use Winamp to play your mp3s, they can be converted to wav files using Winamp's file writer output plugin. When you switch to this plugin (from waveout or directsound), and play an mp3 file, it doesn't come out your speaker, but gets written to a wav file - at fast speed.

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How do i remove norton ready to install avg free? In addition to what wickedcoder said, just be sure to disconnect yourself from the internet while you're not protected by an anti-virus program. So, if you uninstall Norton before you install AVG, be sure to disconnect until AVG is up and ready for updates.

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Am I the only one who thinks Media Center sucks? What about it sucks exactly? I have it and don't have any issues.

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What happens to a CD if you place it in a microwave? This little experiment produces toxic fumes that are a real danger. Doing this in a microwave that you intend to use to continue to cook food is a risk.

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I purchased a used laptop, but I lack admin rights on this machine. What options are open to me? Get the seller to give you the administrator's login credentials.

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I've just bought a 500GB external hard-drive. Do I need to partition it, or will XP be able to handle it? It should already be partitioned and XP will handle it. It may even be formatted out of the box.

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When your hard drive is beginning to go..does your computer act like it has a virus? I have done multiple scans/defrags etc. and my computer still freezes and acts odd at times..I know that I have no infections...could I need a new hard drive? If you really want to explore the hard drive possibility, do an error check (scandisk) with 'scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors' enabled. Without this checked, scandisk only checks the file system, not the disk itself.

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Is it bad to click the "remember me" box on some websites ? I've heard it's bad for your computer, why is this? The 'remember me' feature typically just makes it so you don't have to keep entering your user name every time you visit, but you still need to provide your password. If the feature offers to remember your entire login (user name and password), that's not a great idea, because then anyone with access to your PC can pretend to be you and access that site.

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Is it safe to download songs from Limewire? In theory, it is possible to infect a multimedia file with code meant to exploit a vulnerability in the media player you use to play the file. These vulnerabilities do exist by the way. There just haven't been any documented stories (yet) of them being implemented. Of course, all of this is moot if the vulnerabilities are patched on the affected software.

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I have Office Suite Basic 2003 without Powerpoint. I now need Powerpoint but can only find the 2007 version for sale. Will this work with given that all the other office suite items I have the 2003 version. I am using XP as the OS As others have said, it should work. But if you're going to buy Powerpoint 2007 at full price, you're better off getting the Student / Teacher Edition (if it still exists) and get the whole suite for the same price.

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What do you feel about the Apple's new compact laptop having 3 by 3 inch screen and with no drives? Its memory capacity is 80gb. Is having such a compact laptop a boon or bane? A computer with no drives sounds unusual and a bad idea.. The new Macbook Air does not have a 3 x 3 inch screen - it's 13.3 inch. It's 'hard drive' capacity is 80GB - and that's fine for many people. No optical drives is only an issue if you use a CD or DVD on a regular basis on your laptop. It can make use of an optical drive on another computer (remotely). So if your laptop needs are mostly portability and you're not...

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Would the new iMac 20-inch: 2.4GHz be a good computer for professional video and sound editing? The key word in your question was 'professional', so my answer has to be 'no'. Don't get me wrong - Macs are very good for multimedia use, but the iMac line is not (IMHO) suitable for professional editing, especially video. The hardware just doesn't have the specs you need. Now the Mac Pro line - different story.

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How do you clean your keyboard? Mine is getting dusty, any suggestion? If it's just dusty (not grimy) just disconnect it from the case and vacuum it.

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Have you ever flagged videos onYoutube? Could you describe the video that you've flagged? Nope. My philosophy is 'you are your own censor'. I don't feel that I am doing anyone any favours by trying to judge what is appropriate or not for others. Nor do I want others deciding what is appropriate for me. If I come across something I don't like..... I stop watching it. If others like the same material, I say more power to them. As far as protecting children are...

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What is your preferred Cookie removing software and what is the best free Cookie removing software and where can one find the best free one and where, can one buy the best pay for ones, which Software sites, and programs would you recommend and Why? Just because I can, I'll offer a counter-point. It is not necessary to delete cookies from your computer. In fact, 99.999% of cookies are nothing but helpful to your web experience. Although cookies can be used to track your web surfing, deleting them removes that ability for about as long as you stop surfing the web after deleting them. I can attest that I have never deleted a cookie...

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What should i look for, if i want to buy an ultra-portable laptop? I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you looking for suggestions of brands or models? Or are you interested in finding out if ultra-portable is a good idea / trade-off?

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Do you think it is save to post your personal address on a website? Well, if they have your real name, getting your real address wouldn't be that difficult under many circumstances. The way I look at it - if it's already public information, what's the big deal? Oh..... before someone asks, "But what about my privacy?" Just remember, when it comes to doing business online - there is no privacy.

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MY HARD DRIVE IS 250 GB-- IS THAT OKAY It all depends on what you plan to use your computer for. Some folks would be thrilled with 250GB. Others would find that a bit on the small side. Especially if they download a lot of movies and programs.

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McAfee Security Center... my subsrciption will run out in 9 days, and i am wondering (as it is quite alot of money), should i get a different anti-virus or buy McAfee? Do you recommend any other ones that you KNOW are better? Why are they better? I'm not familiar with a product called Security Center. Do you mean Security Suite? If so, here's my take on your situation. Security Suite is a big package of software, second only to their Total Protection package. It's not just anti-virus, it's anti-spyware, firewall, email filter, web filter, and backup. That's a lot of services and these suites tend to bog the...

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Is it the higher the rpm the faster and better a hard drive is? I did a little research. I compared 2 laptop hard drives by the same manufacturer. Same capacity, same interface. The 5400rpm drive was only capable of sustained internal transfer rate of 42MB/sec, the 7200rpm model got 59MB/sec. So in theory, the faster rpm leads to faster transfer rates, but a lot also depends on cache size, interface speed and we won't even talk about the controller on...

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My best friend told me that he installed keyloggers on all of the computers in our high school library and computer lab class that he's in, what should I do? He told me that only I know this secret and I've been the best friend with him since elementary. Assuming it's true (I'd get this friend to prove it first), you have to ask yourself - would you mind if this person used a keylogger to access school resources as yourself, or someone else? It is more than likely against school policy if it's true and just knowing and doing nothing can sometimes put you in as much trouble as the person who did it. If the school's...

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What does everyone prefer: Laptop's or Desktop computers and why? And what do you think of this Vista? I don't prefer either - each has its purpose (which is why I have both). I'm avoiding Vista until my next new computer, by which time I hope we are at least at service pack one. If XP is still available at that time, I may skip Vista entirely.

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What's the difference between dvd-r and cd-r disc? Will a dvd-r or +r record music just as good a a cd-r disc? To the best of my knowledge, only the CD-R format uses the CDDA standard (playable in a CD player), not DVD. So you can store mp3 files on both, but only CDs can store digital audio in CDDA format. The music DVDs are a different format entirely, as they are typically formatted to support high definition audio and multiple channels for surround sound.

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Does anyone have a blogger account? I'm starting one and am looking for ways to customize my page. Help. Aside from choosing templates, the customization has to do with adding and adjusting the code in the template. Depending on what you want to do, you have to search for instructions online - it's not hard. For example, my blog has re-vamped title block, a stats package, Google ads and a built-in playlist / music player.

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Why are different types of memory used in computers. as opposed to just one? What would be the drawbacks, for example, of using only cache memory, or only hard disk? You wouldn't want only one type of memory because of the specialized function each type provides in a computer. Imagine this analogy - you are the CPU. Your brain is the cache. Your desk is RAM. Your filing cabinet is the hard drive. If you are running a program, you get it from the filing cabinet (which holds the data even when there's no power), put it on the desk to prepare to work...

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How can I hack computer? By learning computers.

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Why is Youtube deleting alot of their "copyrighted" videos even though that is the whole reason they became popular? YouTube doesn't just delete copyrighted videos. They'll delete any video that an entertainment company have filed a 'take down notice' for - even if they don't have any rights to that video at all. This is thanks to a wonderful law called the DMCA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA YouTube don't bother investigating the legitimacy of take down notices, because...

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Does Facebook strike you as a huge data mining service for things other than your regular advertiser (ex. government)? What are your thoughts? There are some that say this is true and others that laugh and cry "conspiracy theorist!" Let them mine my data all they want. I don't put anything on Facebook that I wouldn't mind sharing with the world, so I have no issues with this. Besides, if you knew how much data has already been mined from your life courtesy of your credit cards, bank accounts, financial...

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Hi, I need to know why Norton Anti-Virus 2008 is "constantly" (many times in a day) showing that it has blocked an intrusion. And the intrusion seems to me basically the "same" one or similar all the time? It's getting to be very frustrating. Like lastwraith said, it depends on what the intrusion is. But there are always 'probes' into every network, looking for vulnerabilities to report (back to the prober) and exploit. This happens many times an hour, we just don't see them as regular users unless we have security software to point it out for us. Let me try an analogy. Imagine if you always kept your blinds or...

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I live in So. CA and would like to be referred to someone who will help me set up a professional blog site. I know I could slog through it myself, but I'd like to have the best set up. Can I get any referrals for consultants in this area? Could you explain what you mean by 'professional' blog? I know many people (myself included) who could show you how to set up and run a blog in no time flat, no matter where we live. I've given folks tutorials via Remote Assistance and Live Messenger for a reasonable fee.

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Why does Windows allow all of the security settings in Group Policy to be bypassed within its own software with very little difficulty? Because Windows security does not follow some of the more secure software security models, where there are layers and privileges assigned to those layers, etc. The Microsoft security model is basically a 'bolt on' method that is in many cases easily bypassed. As long as a user and the software they run have the same access as the 'system', security will be poor.

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What third party software that can be used to examine a computer system and help to identify and fix problems? It depends on what you mean by 'problems'. Iolo's System Mechanic seems to do a decent job of finding software and hardware issues, but of course no program is perfect. I'm assuming you don't mean infections or malware - System Mechanic is not suitable for that.

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How did you learn to use a computer? Did you go to a class or did you learn by exploring on your own? I'm talking about for your personal use. Thankx! One or two of my co-workers in the mid 1980s were into computers and I was curious. So I watched and asked lots of questions. Once I saw what they were doing with their computers, I had to get one. Now mind you, this was in the days of DOS and the earliest versions of Windows, so you had to know much more about configuration than now. One computer led to another and like some others here, it...

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What's so great about Mozilla? Mozilla..... what? Firefox? Thunderbird? Or just Mozilla in general?

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Is there a way to play call of duty 4 on a mac? Call of Duty for Windows? Yes - two ways. You could use Parallels and run Windows as a virtual machine within the Mac OS and run the game that way. But that wouldn't use your hardware efficiently. The better way would be to use Boot Camp and dual boot the Mac OS with Windows XP. Then any time you wanted to run the game, you just boot to Windows.

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With this latest major'sophisticated' cyber attack on world banks ..I am led to believe that if my antivirus/spyware is up to date [symantec/dr spyware] that my accoutnt should be okay. Is this true? Cyber attacks on banks are not about spyware and viruses, they are usually more about exploiting vulnerabilities in the banks' servers or accessing data hosted on those servers either through a weakness in the network's security or by having obtained access fraudulently. Having anti-virus running on your computer protects the data on your computer, but has nothing to do with online...

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Post your opinion on this ok? Sorry if you knew but here is a cool code to download free music ONLY on Google. Here: intitle:"index.of"(mp3|mp4|avi)name.of.song -html -htm -php -cf -jps Yeah, it's an old trick. It makes use of the fact that some people store files on publicly searchable web folders.

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I recently had the hard drive on my compuer replaced by GeekSquad and they backed up the files from my old hard drive on 3 cds. How do I put the files in the right place on my computer?(settings, software, wireless network, even the volume doesn't work) Only Geek Squad can answer that......... since they made the CDs. That was a very crappy way to backup the files. They could have just as easily cloned your entire old drive to the new one. What a bunch......

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Music on blogs- hate it/love it? If you mean music that instantly starts playing when you visit a blog, I don't mind as long as you can turn it off. If you mean links to music to try out - that's great. I've discovered some awesome artists courtesy of the better music blogs.

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Do you think the new Apple Mac Air is worth the outrageous price for what you get? It's worth the money for those who place first priority in weight and style, I guess. It does have some neat features even though it's short on some features. But it will be very easy to carry around. I wouldn't buy one, but I know some folks who would.

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For someone who is pretty broke, where should they go to get a good quality computer? Put the word out that you need a free or almost free computer. People looking to sell their computer don't typically care if a potential buyer can't afford the price, because there's always another potential buyer. So you need to get word out to someone willing to give their computer away. It's not easy, but it is possible. Some folks who have 4+ year old systems (and are...

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Has anyone else recieved the e mail that says bill gate is giving money to people who forward the e mail,it was supposed to have been on good morning america...or it it a scam as i think it is. When you think you've stumbled across a hoax, go to snopes.com Here's an example of the hoax you describe: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/nothing/microsoft-aol.asp

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When your out buying a flat panel monitor for your computer and see that it has 2 ms response time. What's the difference between 2 ms and 5 ms? Not enough to notice.

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Do you think myspace is safe, if you are careful? If you are careful and informed.

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Do you believe the world would be a better place without the internet? How would the world be different if you say yes or no? Every tool is useful to some degree. Every tool can also be abused or used for purposes other than what was intended. There is no stopping this trend. So, of course the internet can be abused - but its benefits totally outweigh (IMHO) the abuses. If nothing else, the internet makes information available to the masses that would not ordinarily be accessible. Information is power. So I...

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How to create a exe virus residing in flash drive which gets executed whenever the drive is mounted and later on copy itself in program files and again copy itself to any new flash drive to repeat the process on a new m Become a programmer. You'll learn all the skills necessary to answer your question and make what you've described.

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Honestly,do you always buy original softwares or get them from other sources? I buy software that I believe is worth the price. Some games (especially once they drop in price after they aren't in fashion). But I find most productivity software is too expensive to justify the cost. In those cases, if I can't get a free alternative (such as the Gimp and OpenOffice), I sometimes get them from other sources. I try not to abuse the system, because I do believe that...

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Where is the best place to have a blog? I'm a fan of Blogger.

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I get an error message about an unknown trojan virus on my computer,I have tried several virus and spyware removal programs to no avail.Help please this is very annoying What program is reporting this trojan? If it's not your native anti-virus etc. software, it could be a pop-up (hoax). Hopefully you didn't click a 'click here to get rid of it' link if it was a pop-up.

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If I have a website, is there a way for me to track what site people are linking over from? If Google or MSN or anybody for that matter shows them a link and they click through to me, can I know this for sure? I added a stats package to my blog from addfreestats.com This allows me to see the kind of data you're looking for.

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I got a wireless router in my bedroomand my laptop is in living room close to my roommate's bedroom, and he got an old wireless card and can barely receive signal from my router, is it possible to get him online using my laptop as an access point?Ad-hoc? The question on my mind is this: If they have difficulty connecting to a router in the next room, what makes you think they'll connect to your laptop any better? Not taking interference into account, wireless signal should be good for at least 50-100 feet.

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Can laptop touchpads damage your fingers after a long period of use? mine feel a bit sore You may be pressing too hard.......

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When you have problems with your computer do you do your own troubleshooting or do you bring it to the shop for repairs? I'm a technologist, so I troubleshoot it myself. I even teach courses so that others can learn how to do that themselves.

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I am buying a new PC in April... should I get an HP or a Dell? Why? If all you're doing with your PC is creating a few documents here and there and surfing the web, you can get the cheapest brand name package deal and you might be happy until it's time to upgrade or repair. Brand names are notorious for build techniques and parts selection that make it annoying when it's time for upgrades and repairs. In other words - but brand name - write it...

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Is it worth while in getting my laptop screen replaced - or is it advisable to buy another computer Every laptop is different, but replacement screens generally cost $500-$900. That's a lot of money just to replace one part. But if you just bought the laptop, you'd be hesitant to just give up on it that quickly. It's a judgement call, but if the laptop is more than 1.5 years old, I'd be leaning toward a complete new laptop. Especially with prices being what they are today.

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Mac users: what is the most useful widget you have found for your Dashboard? For me it would have to be my MacWireless widget. It shows all the wi-fi networks that are accessible, their strength and whether they're unlocked etc.

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What are the advantages of linux over windows Just to add to what The Troll said.... From what I've seen of the Linux culture, they seem much more involved in trying to make software the best it can be. Ever since I got involved with the Ubuntu flavour of Linux, I noticed that whenever I heard people say "I wish the software did this" or "Too bad it doesn't have this feature", it almost always ended up...

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Can your real name be Googled to reveal who you are or where you live or what you look like? This won't work on everyone obviously, but for some people the answer is 'yes' and the number increases everyday. If there are pictures of you indexed online, through a blog or Facebook or online photo repositories, people can see what you look like. The address thing is easy too, especially in North America, where public phone listings are online.

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I suspect that someone (a professional) has hacked into my computer and installed spyware. How can I change my IP address. Before this thread steers out of control, what symptoms are you experiencing that makes you think you're infected? Let's deal with the symptoms before we draw any conclusions. (P.S.: what the others have said about changing the IP not mattering is true)

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Does anyone use Blogspot? I just posted my first blog ever and I'm not really sure how it all works. Can someone tell me what I'm doing here? http://xosted1.blogspot.com/ I have a blog on Blogger (blogspot.com). It's been going since July 2004 (http://whitenois.blogspot.com/). The thing about blogs is that some people create a blog just to see what it's about and then realize they have nothing to say. Or they get disillusioned by the fact that very few people read their blog. Then they stop. But I can tell you this - you have to create and...

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Why is it that whenever someone asks about a way to get past the blocks and firewalls and they say they are at school some goody person has to come and say that they shouldn't be doing that, do you really think I care?!!! I want a answer not a comment!!! Because the majority of Answerbag members don't want any part of contributing to the violation of a network owner's policies - translation: activity that might be deemed illegal. It would be no different than if you went on a locksmith's forum and asked them how to pick a lock. They would likely comment long before they would tell you how to do it. But let's play...

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When trying to play .avi files in Windows media player 11 it doesn't work. I get audio but no video. The help section says to remove or reset the file's ID3 headers. How do I do that? Could there be another problem? You're probably missing a codec needed to play the file. All .avi files are not created equal. And all .avi files are not playable in WMP 11. I do recommend you download and try the free VLC media player. It plays many more video and audio formats because it has most of the common codecs built in.

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If someone gave you a computer free of charge and also gave you the option to choose what kind would you choose a Mac or a PC? WHY? I would choose the Mac. I already have a MacBook as part of an experiment to see if I could do all the normal tasks I used my Windows-based laptop for. The experiment was a success, so I wouldn't mind having a Mac desktop. I do realize that Macs aren't as upgradeable and flexible as PCs, but their design, reliability and (supposed) longevity make up for it (IMHO). Now, I could in...

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What steps you can take to backup your computer data Are you looking for the methods? The technique? Or the storage options?

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Can you download .jpg format onto a DVD+R recordable disc? Others have already answered the question. I'm just confused why you're asking. Did something lead you to believe you couldn't?

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What is the difference between html and http? HTML is the language of web pages. A Word document contains text and formatting code for example. The text code is the content and the formatting code tells Word how to display the text on the screen / page. HTML is very similar. It contains the content (which is easily edited). It's the formatting code that determines how a web page's content will look in a browser. HTTP is the...

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How is it possible, when full virus software is running, that I still get 92 infections? If you're updating often (and it sounds like you are), it doesn't make sense, unless there are parts of the anti-virus program that are disabled. Some folks disable Windows startups not realizing that some of the tasks that get loaded at startup are part of the anti-virus program. If you go into Task Manager and look at your processes, is one of them your anti-virus? (You may have to...

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A page keeps popping up warning of a virus. The page has a Security Essentials title w/ 4 categories below it. Is this a virus, or is it safe to open? This does not sound safe. Go into control panel to find out what programs are installed on your PC. You should be able to spot the anti-virus in the list. If you don't have one, get one immediately. AVG is free and works just fine.

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Are internet chatrooms a bad thing? No they're not. You just have to be aware of the dangers. In the same way you're aware that it's not a great idea to get into a car alone with a stranger.

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If i have one gb of memory should i upgrade to 2 gb or not? Just don't buy more RAM if the computer is close to the end of its usefulness, because you likely won't be able to bring it to use in a newer PC. So basically, it's a return on investment concept.

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Anyone else send themselves e-mail to remind them to do something? I've found this to be a convenient method of 'jogging' my memory. Anyone else? I used to do that. Then I bought a Palm PDA. That's my new reminder system now.

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How do I get blog traffic? Post more stuff a lot of people would be interested in. That may sound like a pat answer, but it's like asking, "What's the best way to get more people to read my books?"

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Is anyone familiar with "StumbleUpon"? I use the StubleUpon toolbar from time to time. I can rate new sites I visit as either like or not and these choices help the service choose new sites for me to view based on my likes and dislikes. I don't use it often, but when I do, it finds interesting stuff for me.

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Do you prefer explorer over firefox? or vis versa? Firefox. I like how I can completely customize the GUI. I have everything on one toolbar. I like how it's faster than IE. It almost never freezes on me. Certainly less often than when I use IE. I like how you can make Firefox into a portable application that you can take with you on a memory stick. Try that with IE......

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I am looking into buying a new laptop. Any recommendations? Horror stories of brands to avoid? I'd appreciate input!! My favourites based on experience are (in non particular order) Toshiba, HP, Dell.

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Have you ever done a search on your C Drive to notice all the garbage this site puts there? Pardon my question, but it's a serious one. What stuff exactly? Cookies? Temporary files?

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Why do so many people mistakenly think linux is an operating system, when it is really JUST the kernel? Because Windows users don't know what a kernel is. Telling them it's an OS is easier for them to understand.

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If you could, how would you make this site better? The points system doesn't seem equitable anymore. I don't know many folks who have as many accumulated points that are as low a level as I am. I wish there was a way to justify why we reject a question. Sometimes my rejections get rejected, but I have no way of explaining why I rejected them - for often very good reasons. You shouldn't be able to downrate an answer without...

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Would anyone here recommend a Macintosh for any particular reason? I would recommend you visit someone who owns a Mac (preferably a newer one) and have them demo it for you. Mac owners love showing off their systems and it is (IMHO) the best way to see the difference.

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How do i fix the constantly decreasing speed of my laptop? Define constantly and define over how much time. What OS are you using? Vista? XP? The first thing I'd be doing is monitoring the processes in task manager to see what's actually running that could be slowing things down.

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Why do computers loose speed over time, even if you factory restore them? I am not aware of any noticeable difference in the speed of any computer that has been put back to the exact factory state (regarding the operating system and software). Could you explain why you conclude that your computer gets slower even with a complete restoral?

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How do you cheak the specs of your computer? System Information for Windows is good too. http://www.gtopala.com/

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How do you erase cookies on your computer? i hear it makes it go faster! please help!!! Although others have indicated how to delete your cookies, I'm afraid it won't speed up your computer in any noticeable way.

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How can I free up disk space on my PC? In addition to what's been mentioned so far, consider moving files that you've created but don't use regularly to an external drive or archiving them to CD or DVD discs. I'm specifically referring to documents, multimedia files, etc.

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Google's free storage space keeps adding up every moment.How's that possible?Where do you think it'll eventually end up? It's really more of a marketing ploy than an exact value, but their storage quantity does continue to increase. How? They keep adding to the storage capacity of their server farms. I don't think it will end. Google has plans to use their servers for more and more storage capabilities and features, so I believe it will grow indefinitely.

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For those who have tried them both: Mac OS X or Windows XP? Why? Or is Linux better if you have tried it? It really depends on your priorities. If you're not tied down by any Windows software, Mac OS X is great, although it commands slightly more expensive hardware to run it. Linux (Ubuntu being my favourite) is the most value added OS and runs on virtually any PC that will run Windows. Linux comes with tons of free software and more is available online (again, Ubuntu makes this easy)....

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Do you use the same password for different accounts you hold? Partly. Any online account of little value (or perceived threat of danger if someone gets access) can share a password with another similarly low value account. But any account worth anything to my privacy, etc. gets its own, strong password.

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Who has a mac computer? I bought a low end MacBook last summer as an experiment. It's an impressive little machine. The operating system is great too. I'm hoping to convince my wife to let me buy her an iMac for her next desktop. I only keep Windows around for certain software and familiarity (to support my clients - all Windows users).

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Can i get a job after ive passed my comptia a+ certification exam in the uk? It really depends. I know of some companies that make a big deal out of having A+ (and other) certifications and I know of companies that don't give these certifications much credence at all. I'm not a big fan of certifications because they are easily gotten after some heavy studying, even if the person has no real world experience. In fact, we've had to let some certified people...

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Which of the following Certifications is preferred by employers? CCNA or CCNP or CCDA or CCSP or CWSP? It depends on the job. It also depends on the employer.

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My system resources are being used by something it averages at 85% with nothing open. It sounds like there is a scan going on incessantly. I have uninstalled Norton and reinstalled AVG. I have cleaned the registry, and i have defragmented Use Task Manager to identify what process(es) are using all the CPU's resources.

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My ex put my laptop and my PC in the shower, with the water running. Am I hosed? It depends on how much water got inside the case and what it soaked. If your hard drives are dry, you can transfer them to a different PC to recover your data. If the inside of the case is mostly dry, let it dry completely (this could take many days) and then try turning it on - you never know.

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Will a DVD/CD bought in N. America work normally in a player in Europe? DVD (movie) no. CD (music) yes. There are no region codes for music CDs.

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When you use a laptop, do you still use a traditional mouse because you're more comfy using it? I only use the mouse when I have the desk space to use. When I use it on my lap I use the touchpad. The touchpad on a Macbook is actually quite nice.

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The red in my ink cartridge is not working on my canon IP1000 printer why The contacts between the cartridge and the cradle it sits in may be dirty.

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What speakers do you have? Connected to my PC? Creative Labs Gigaworks T20s. On my home theatre I have Paradigms.

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How many people in the US are online? Not at one time but altogether. what percentage of households have online computer service? The average number I hear being thrown around is 80%.

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I'm thinking of getting an all-in-one printer (including printing, scanning, photo copying, faxing) that don't use expensive printing ink cartridges and of good quality. Any suggestion what brand or perhaps what model as well? Just shop around to see which brands' cartridges are cheaper. I've had good luck with Brother. But I hesitate to use an all-in-one device as that is putting all my eggs in one basket (the thing breaks - I have no fax / scanner / printer / copier)

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Is it true in terms of file sharing such as torrents, you will only get hunted if you seed files? Not to worry. There are plenty of countries around the world who have not yet resorted to suing file sharers.

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Can i use the s-video port on my laptop as an imput? No, it's only an output in most circumstances.

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Why does the internet always lead me to that stupid mywebsearch place whenever I type in www.pokemon.com in the address bar? Because you have a toolbar installed in your browser that redirects. Read this: http://www.safer-networking.com/removeMyWebSearch.php

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How do you get rid of a computer virus? Is there a program you can download or Do I need a tech to come out? First of all, you need an up-to-date anti-virus program installed to detect and remove infections. Sometimes the detection part works fine, but the program doesn't know how to handle the 'removal' part - yet. The solution in that case is to search the internet for a reliable (translation - made by a renowned anti-virus company) removal tool or removal instructions. But you...

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Can I connect multiple bluetooth devices to my laptop at the same time? Interesting dilemma. Who are you going to believe? Here's an excerpt from the wikipedia article on Bluetooth: "A master Bluetooth device can communicate with up to seven devices. This network group of up to eight devices is called a piconet. A piconet is an ad-hoc computer network, using Bluetooth technology protocols to allow one master device to interconnect with up to...

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Hi, I have 3 PC's that use the same wireless router to access the web and email. I want to be able to use any of the machines to view my email - would buying a NAS and setting the email client(s) to store mail on it work? I have a cheaper, alternative solution. I've given up on using standard email clients for the very situation you've described and more. Now, I use web mail access for all my email accounts. That is to say that instead of using Outlook or some other email program to access my messages, I use the ISP's web mail site to access the messages using a web browser instead. This solves a...

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Can I load XP over Vista without having to format the hard drive? I can't bear the thought of having to reload all my files. Not properly. I've read a few of the discussions in this thread and I have to tell you - I am in no way surprised that you feel betrayed by the lack of performance in your PC with Vista. It happens all the time. Vista isn't loaded on new PCs and laptops because it's ready for prime time, it's loaded because that's the agreement manufacturers made with Microsoft,...

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In what folder are my Firefox bookmarks? How do I find them? If you're using XP, they'll be in: C:Documents and Settings<your user name>Application DataMozillaFirefoxProfiles In that folder will be typically one profile folder with a cryptic name like pl4ri4y6.default. The file you're looking for is named bookmarks.html

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Anti-spywares are now on sale at many stores at up to 66% discount from regular retail. Is this a good deal, or are they just dumping the older versions in anticipation for the newer ones? IMHO, paying 'any' money for anti-spyware isn't a good deal. Anti-spyware is one of the biggest scams out there.

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How do i get jammed paper out of my printer Because each printer has different parts and paper paths, the best approach is to read what the manual says about removing paper jams. If you can't find your manual, you can most often find a copy at the manufacturers web site.

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Just brought a phillips router! the make is sna5630ns - bloke said it was broadband but has wire for dial up - useless with computers! can anyone help me figure it out? It's a DSL (broadband) modem / router. It has what looks like a dial-up cable because DSL connects to the phone line. But it is not a dial-up modem.

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What do the "unmovable files" in the Defragmentation utility consist of? Your page (or swap) file is also unmovable. this is the part of your hard drive used by Windows to store data when RAM is getting full.

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How do I install a Linux operating system such as Ubuntu within Windows? Do you actually mean 'within' Windows, such as running Ubuntu while Windows is also running? Or do you mean having both installed on the same PC and choosing which one you want to boot to at each bootup (known as dual booting)?

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I have recently purchased 2 pcs for my boys..i am quite pc advanced in some areas but these were set up prior to my buying them..what i would like to know is.how do i tell if they are ethernet enabled? my oldest wants to set up xbox live any help plz? Most modern computers are Ethernet enabled. Most modern motherboards have ethernet adapaters built right in. Just look for the connector cluster around the back of the case. I would be very surprised if it didn't have one.

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I am running 4 pc's from one bt hub.. two downstairs networked and running via ethernet and 2 upstairs that are wireless..how do i make the 2 up secure from wireless hackers etc? You want to enable the wireless security feature. Your wireless router manual will describe how to set that up. You'll be looking for WEP or preferably WPA.

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I'm a first time lap top buyer - what in your opinion is the most important feature I should look for? Aside from the obvious things, like getting the most bang for your buck? Number one - battery. How long does the battery last? If it's only 2 hours, is that good enough for you? Also, how easy is it to find replacement batteries when the original stops working? Price? Number two - comfort. A laptop is useless unless it's ergonomically friendly. A lot of folks spend time oggling...

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Do you use a wireless network? Yes, but only when I use my laptop (so I can roam around the house and porch and back yard). Otherwise I use a wired network.

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What are the first three websites you go onto when you turn on internet explorer? I don't use Internet Explorer - I use Firefox. The first 3 sites I usually visit are email, my blog, facebook.

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What is the best laptop manufatcure? Here we go again hey? This is like asking "what is the best car manufacturer?" It really depends on your personal preferences. Ask 100 different people and you'll get 50 different answers. But since you're asking....... If I were buying a laptop, here are the brands I would consider (not necessarily in this order): Toshiba; HP; Dell; Apple. The ones that I list here have...

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In the development of a solution to a problem, which logical step should a technician take in the process of troubleshooting? When did it last work? When did it stop working? What changed?

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I lost the disc containing my microsoft office professional edition 2003 how do i go about getting it back on my computer Sadly, Microsoft offers no joy to those who have lost or damaged their original software discs. Your only legal option is to buy a new copy.

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Why doesn't Limewire get in trouble like Napster did when they started? What is the difference? Partly because once they knew the industry had their sights trained on them, they offered to filter their content for copyrighted works. It was enough to appease the entertainment industry - for now. I also seem to recall (but don't take my word for it) that industry trolls were seeding Limewire with fake content and infected files.

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Being that I do in fact live in a place that doent give u the option to have anything other than dial up....very small town.... I want to send a video file through email. Is it possible to compress the video some how to make uploading faster...? Depending on the format the video file is in, it may already be fairly compressed. But even if it isn't, compressing the file isn't going to achieve so much shrinkage that emailing it over dial-up will be much faster. That may be your only online option, but the whole time you're sending the file, you'll be hard pressed to get anything else done online because your bandwidth...

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I just got a WD Passport hard drive. Can I use this as a back-up disc for the Time Machine part of Leopard (Mac OSX) AND as a general hard drive, to put on whatever I want? Not to the best of my knowledge. I did the same thing and Time Machine wants the whole disk to itself.

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Can anyone help me by sending me the 70-291 Mcse exam?(sample)-dumps Absolutely. Because what the world needs now is more IT support people who don't actually know anything because they used exam dumps to prepare for their exams instead of actually learning stuff.

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Have you ever added RAM to your computer? Did it help? Yes and yes. But you have to consider the cost benefit of adding more RAM. If your PC is near the end of its life (more than 3-4 years old puts it in this category IMHO), buying more RAM might be considered a waste of money. I say this because you more than likely will not be able to take your old RAM and put it in your next PC.

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I have an emachine that i want to remove the hard drive from and install in a different pc. What steps do i need to perform to make this happen? I had difficulty finding a tutorial to 'move' a hard drive, but found one to 'install'. This should give you enough material. http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/hack-attack-how-to-install-a-hard-drive-137179.php

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Just bought a Lexmark Z1300 for my mom's old computer, but they don't support Windows Me for the driver...anyone know how I can either work around this problem or offer an easy upgrade solution to windows 2000 (not sure if her computer could handle XP). Welcome to the world of obsolescence. Sometimes people ask, "when is a good time to get a newer computer?" This is a good example of that time. Sure, you might be able to patch around the problem by going to Windows 2000, but problems like these are just going to keep rearing their ugly heads. What you'll pay to get 2000 will almost pay 25% of a new, budget model PC. In my...

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Can my PC (eMachines T5088) support this graphics card (XFX GeForce 7600 GT / 256MB)? ***I'm on a budget*** I'm not familiar with your model of eMachines PC, but I do know that eMachines tends to put the least expensive parts in their PCs. How this translates come upgrade time is that your power supply may not be able to support better or more adapter cards (like the one you're considering), it may not support more RAM, the BIOS may be quite old (meaning fewer current features), etc. The...

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Can i upgrade my laptop? sony FZ-160! 2.0 GHz with 2 GB of RAM ! What kind of upgrade are we talking about? Most laptops don't allow for an upgrade to the CPU or video card. The best you can hope for is extra RAM (but only if it supports more) and maybe a bigger hard drive (ditto).

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Can you transfer from a computer to a memory card? Most certainly. With a memory card reader (like the one linked to below), you can use any kind of memory card as a portable memory device, not unlike a USB memory stick. http://www.techshout.com/images/kingston-mobilelite.jpg

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Does anyone know any music download clients that dont give you many virus's? Ive tried limewire and bit comet/torrent. It's not the client that gives you the virus. It's the source you're getting the music from. I don't want to be a party pooper, but the fact of life is that when you go after online material that is of dubious origin (or legality), the risk of getting something 'extra' is a fairly common side effect. It's like someone saying, "I like hanging around...

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What brand is your computer and do you like it? Custom build. So many more choices.

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Why do anti-virus software companies allow home users to download their softwares for free? Do they do that out of the kindness of their hearts, or is this just a marketing ploy? AVG only gives the basic home version away. The pro version (with more features) costs money as does the corporate version. The money they get from the paid version subsidizes the free one. I have been using free AVG for 4 + years with no complaints.

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What kinds of website more likely serve as a platform for a virus to infect your pc? Were the operators of those websites not as vigilant in preventing this from happening, or they just couldn't help it? The operators of web sites that help propagate infections are usually fully aware that it is happening.

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Why is it at times the internet can run so slow? It depends what you're doing. Are you referring to downloads? Just regular web surfing? Could you be more specific?

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The screen on my laptop broke so i wanna hook up my laptop to my desktop monitor...how do i do that? You simply connect your monitor to the video connector (if there is one) on your laptop. To see video on your monitor, you may have to enable external video. This involves using a function key (top row of keys). It is often easy to find - it has a picture of a monitor on the key. Press the 'Function' key and the key with the monitor picture once or twice until you see the video on...

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Do you think its possible to have a good career if you have no computer skills? Sure - if you pay other people to do all the computer-related work for you.

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How do i remove the DOWNLOADER virus, Norton detected it but said the file was ACCESS DENIED... can anyone help? Here are the steps: http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2002-101518-4323-99&tabid=3

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I need of your opinion; we are thinking of changing the look of our website and we are torn (big step 4 us). Which looks better to you, our current home page http://www.primetap.com or the test page http://www.primetap.com/indexTest.html? Suggestions? I'm being brutally honest, OK? The test page at least has a better background (more contrast). But I've got to tell ya - the page is way too cluttered. A great web page makes it very easy to find things and is easy on the eyes. Your design makes it so that I almost have to scroll through the entire page to find what I'm looking for. Titles are in small text. This is textbook...

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I need information on the viruses win32:Renos-BI and win32:Zlob_AIK. What harm do they do to your pc? Well, basically, they try to convince you that you're infected (which you are, but not in the way you'd think). It's a ruse to get you to download even more malware - which you should definitely NOT do. With a little Googling, or following the links provided by Brian I, you can find procedures to remove them.

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Windows Media Player is blocking videos from an online survey site, giving me error messages that I do not have the rights to play the file. Is there any way to disable this? Don't use Windows Media Player....

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Does anyone know a website which asks you x number of questions and then finds what you have in mind? 20Q.net http://www.20q.net/index.html It's very good at guessing.

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This week I have been getting nothing but spam at my work email regarding "penis enlargement". I don't even have a penis. Are men really that concerned about penis size anyway? Some men are..........

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What's better, a Pocket PC or a Palm? It's personal preference of course, but solistics pretty much nailed it on the head. I prefer Palm because I like the interface, I like the sync software that doesn't depend on Outlook or any other crap that I don't use. I also like that it works with my Macbook. But that doesn't mean Pocket PC isn't any good. It just isn't suitable for "me".

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Wat is the difference between .com and .co.uk e mail address and why are there these? Any country can use a .com email address (hotmail.com; gmail.com) but email addresses ending in .co.uk are hosted by a company registered in the UK. The purpose is to help identify the origin of the email address.

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Who else dislikes using the new "built-in" mouse on laptop computers? It's so awkward to use. I find some touchpads more usable than others. Size has a lot to do with it. Plus, the space used for scrolling takes away from usability (IMHO). I like the Mac design - big pad and multi-touch controls.

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It is profitable in terms of money to run a commercial website? Just like any other business, you have to find a niche. Business is always about supply versus demand. Either you're satisfying a demand that isn't being met by other suppliers, or you need to create a demand for what you want to supply. If only it were that easy, because even if you have what people want - it's useless unless you can get the word out. Assuming all those...

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Do you agree with PC World that Microsoft Vista was the Biggest Tech Disappointment of 2007? I certainly can't argue against it.

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What is your favorite XP "tweak"? Turning off unneeded services.

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How do you keep the ink in your printer from drying up? I know this sounds funny but it's true - use it. The ink tends to dry up when the printer isn't used much.

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How many of you guys and gals here like or have any kind of Mac? Cause I have a black Macbook and I'm just curious to see how many other people on sites like these have macs. I have a 6 month old bottom of the line white Macbook. Love it.

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Can any one suggest a malicious script or a virus that crashes your computer but not the network? Viruses typically don't crash networks. Worms crash networks. So let me get this straight - you 'want' a virus?

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How could you hack into other websites? Are you looking for lessons? Do you think you're going to be successful?

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Any tips on bulding a good cheap,quick pc?Would like to spend $200 $275or so(Canadian)....Plan on using for music and web...Any chips,graphics cards,ram parts,cases etc etc you know of?...Thanks... Pardon my frankness - but good and quick don't usually belong in the same sentence with cheap. Having said that, if all you're doing is music playback and web browsing, any current model PC will do. The problem you'll run into now is that Vista will be just as much of a hog on your 'cheap' PC as XP was on your K6-2 400MHz (if this is the same person). So I would...

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Can I get a Windows Vista Home Basic DVD? I have a laptop with the authentic key code attached, but the DVD is missing and I have to reinstall. Where can I loan one or purchase just a copy without the expensive license? I hate to say this, but you can't get a deal on a copy of Windows Vista just because you have a license key. You need that DVD.... was it missing from the laptop packaging? If so, demand a replacement. Also, don't bother trying to use the key you have on a different edition of Vista - it likely will not work, as the versions of Vista that are bundled with laptops are not exactly the...

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If I put a couple of mp3's on a writable cd, and just drag them to the writable cd folder, then write it with window's built in writer. Can I still play it on a normal dvd player? If not, plz give instructions how can I make a music cd Dragging mp3 files onto a blank CD-R using the built in Windows writer capability will not be playable in a normal CD/DVD player that doesn't have mp3 support. In other words, the files are not converted to CDDA (CD audio) files. For that, I believe you can use Windows Media Player, although I prefer 3rd party software like Nero to do the job well. Just my opinion there.

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I need the best software to permanently erase(federal level) all the data in a harddisk or other physical drives, what am I looking for? Here you go.... http://cmrr.ucsd.edu/people/Hughes/SecureErase.shtml This is one of the only true secure erase utilities.

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My Computer has been compromised by a Trojan Called Spy 32 or similar, what is the most effective method for ensured Removal? I'm not being sarcastic - but you can't just provide an approximate name, you need to be very specific about the name of the trojan. You also need to mention what anti-virus product you used to diagnose the trojan because each product tends to call an infection by a different name. Once we have the details, there are often very specific removal options available on the internet and...

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Where can i find the drivers for S3 Graphics Savage/IX 1014 for an IBM Thinkpad T20? Go to the Lenovo site, click on support, start filling in the details of your Thinkpad and it will list all the support files, including drivers. http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/product.do?template=%2Fproductselection%2Flandingpages%2FbrowseByProductLandingPage.vm&sitestyle=lenovo&brandind=10&validate=true

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My sister has recieved an email about winnin some lottery from "united kingdom <united_kingdom76za@hotmail.co.uk> " Could it be real or a hoax? I feel it maybe a virus or somethin Whenever you doubt the veracity of something, check with Snopes.com Here's a link to a Snopes article on fake lottery winnings: http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/lottery.asp So, as you can see - it's a hoax.

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Whenever i try to recover my computer and it goes into the setup menu for recovery and it doesnt accept the 2nd disc and my computer is a compaq and it runs windows xp so please explain if u know how to get this madness to stop If it doesn't accept the 2nd disc, the disc may be scratched or dirty. Check the underside for fingerprints and whatnot and clean the disc with a soft cloth and some filtered water. Do not clean in circles, use a motion in a straight line across the center. If you don't know what I mean, Google 'how to clean a CD'. If it's a scratch, and the scratch cannot be...

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I am contimplating getting a Macbook Pro Vs. a Tablet PC. Which do you recommend? I'm not sure if by tablet PC, you mean laptop - only because choosing between a tablet and a Macbook Pro (laptop) are two different things for two different situations. A tablet PC has a touch sensitive screen and has the advantage of not needing a mouse or keyboard for most functions. A Macbook Pro does not (to the best of my knowledge) offer the features of a tablet PC. Now having...

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What precautions do you take to safeguard your laptop from being stolen? When I'm on the road, I never leave it out of my sight. Even in a hotel room, I lock it up in the safe or otherwise secure it.

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Why is Microsoft windows the most influential technology in today's society? Because Microsoft lobbied to get Windows installed on most newly built computers for work and home use and managed to get the cost hidden into the cost of the computer in most cases. This gave them a huge advantage.

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Can I download a regular file off of my computer onto an mp3 player (use it like a USB drive) such as a Sandisk e250? It depends on the make and model. Many can with no additional setup, some can if you install software that came with the mp3 player and some just can't period.

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Do you think it is ok for employers to search someones myspace account to get an idea of their character? Of course it's OK. What people have to come to terms with is that everything posted on the internet is available for everyone to see. Employers current and future, family members, friends, you name it.

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Do all computers have 2.0 USB ports? Generally, computers made after 2001 have USB 2.0 Of course, this isn't a guarantee, because sometimes computers are sold with older parts, so if the motherboard was made prior to 2001, it may not have USB 2.0 So the longer after 2001, the more likely it has 2.0

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What issues should consumers consider when buying computers? It's hard to select a new computer. Especially when you really don't know what you need. The problem with relying on retail salespeople to give you good advice is that they often: a) Have little idea what they're talking about b) Are only interested in moving product out the door Sometimes I advise my clients to consider seeking professional advice before buying a computer,...

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Does the SYSTEM RESTORE utility in Windows make it impossible to really delete any files at all? How do I permanently delete a file? Or is this impossible without investing in expensive third party service? No. System Restore doesn't keep 'all files', only the important system files Windows deems necessary to undo the most common system instability issues. It does not save emails, documents, program files, etc.

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Do you think hugging someone on Facebook is more likely to lead to a relationship when you next see the person? No.

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After you replace an ink cartridge in an inkjet printer, an error message is displayed. What is the first thing you should do? Exam question alert.

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When a printer is not working correctly, what are two ways the problem is communicated to users? Exam question alert

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Do you think that young kids, lets say 13 and under, should be on the internet unsupervised? After all it's not the safest place to be! Every parent has to decide what they want their children exposed to. It doesn't matter what the rest of us think, they're not our kids. But since you're asking.... I don't believe in monitoring software. It can easily be defeated. Even if your kids don't figure it out, the software isn't foolproof and will often return false positives, ensuring they...

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So, if you dont want your emails read by your significant other-are you keeping secrets from the person you love? No. Everyone is entitled to some privacy. Couples have to agree on where the boundaries are. To not cross them requires trust. I think that just about covers it.

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Guys-if your wife, girlfriend, or both looked at internet porn with you-would it still be exciting? Absolutely.

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Can I hook my printer to my wireless router and be able to print from my laptop? If your wireless router has a printer port, then yes you can. Why some people answer a question by saying they cannot answer the question is beyond me. But I digress.

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I am trying to watch a video clip and it says I need to download a plug-in. I don't know what it is since I already have Java and everything. What could be the problem? Some web sites use proprietary video software to stream video. This is why you need to download a plug-in. I hate sites that don't use traditional video streaming methods.

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Can sun exposure damage my laptop, for example leaving it in the car all day? Direct sun can warm up the laptop to a point where components might melt / warp or get damaged. Find the operating instructions of the laptop, it will usually list the operating and storage temperature limits. As long as you meet those specs, you should be alright. But just my two cents - leaving a laptop in a car is asking for trouble (theft).

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Do you use FireFox, Internet Explorer, or something else? Firefox

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IS DOWNLOADINDING TORRENT FILES LEGAL It could be. Only if the torrent file is a copyright protected item and you have laws in your country regarding downloading copyrighted material you do not have permission to have is it illegal. I know people will laugh, but torrent is used more than just to share pirated material.

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What makes a stylus different from any object with a soft plastic tip? Nothing really. The tip of a stylus is made of a material designed not to scratch the screen. If you are positive the replacement object won't scratch either - go for it.

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My neighbors want to hook a router up to my cable internet in exchange for paying me monthly. They travel and are only here 5 months a year. Is this a bad idea? Can they see where I go online? Will it slow my connection? Any other downfalls? Yeah, I agree with Nelson. I know your intentions are good, but there are potential legal issues that cannot be avoided and you will lose bandwidth when they're using your connection. I wouldn't worry much about them seeing what you do online if it's set up properly. But in the end, it's a bad idea. They should look into an ISP that allows them to temporarily stop their...

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Should I get a 15" MacBook Pro now? Or is the next version coming within a few months? I would only wait until you can get it pre-installed with 'Leopard' (Mac OS X 10.5). Otherwise you'll have to (maybe) buy it and install it yourself.

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My bank got in touch with me and said they thought my credit card had been fraudulently used and they were right to the tune of £400.00 in two days,how do these people get hold of my information when i only use secure sites while on the net? We're concentrating too much on online culprits. Why isn't it possible that the card was compromised during a transaction in a store. Every time you give your card to someone and it leaves your sight, there is a risk that it might be compromised. But I heartily agree with avallach in that it's not the online transaction that you need worry about - it's what the vendor...

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When i turn it on, my computer screen is black. it does nothing. I tried using the recovery discs and it says that there is no hard drive! The power surged the other night so I'm assuming my hard drive is fried. Can anyone suggest a replacement? It may not be your hard drive, even though the symptoms suggest that. It could be your motherboard, your power supply.... Best to have a professional technician look at it before you spend unnecessary money on replacement parts you don't need. If the cost estimate is more than $500, consider a new PC. If you go that route, make sure the hard drive was not broken and get your files...

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What can i do to get my computer to run fast like it used to All the clean-up and tune-up tips you will get here and find online are great. But ultimately, nothing in the world will give you a better performance boost than to backup your personal files and format the hard drive and re-install the operating system (Windows) from scratch - and only installing the programs you actually use. In the end - it'll be like the day you first used your...

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Why can you only have 65,536 rows in excel? Because Excel only used 16 bits (in binary) to represent row numbers. With 16 bits, you can only count to 65,536.

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Describe how a network is used by an organisation to manage its resource Exam question alert.....

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I have trojan.zlob-x.a what is the best way to remove it? Read this: http://www.precisesecurity.com/tools-resources/adware-tools/smitfraudfix/

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How can I check the authenticity of a website and if its legit or not the website is www.nike-shoes.com but Iam a little skeptical about the ordering procedures can someone please help me!!!! If you're not sure if a web site is legitimately representing a vendor - call them and ask. It's really the only way to be sure, and something most people never think to do. By the way, the site you mention doesn't exist when I try to type the URL in my browser.

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Do two people have to be on the same IM service to chat together? Or can one person use AIM, for example, and another use Yahoo IM? You have to be on the same network to chat. The answer to your second question is 'no'. You can use third party IM programs to connect to more than one network at a time, but you still need to connect to AIM for example, to chat with someone else on AIM.

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How do you stop people hacking into your computers? A combination of safe computing practises, reliable security software and network protection (firewall) is a start. You can also throw in installing all security related updates to all the software on your PC. These in combination should reduce your risk. Notice I said 'reduce'. That's because all the security measures in the world are useless if you can be socially engineered...

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Can anyone tell me anything about Windows Vista? Im buying a new computer for X-Mas and would like any input on the new OS before I spend the money. I'm not going to waste too much time defending Vista, because although it isn't the worst OS in the world (remember Windows Me?), it won't really be ready for prime time until SP1 arrives. Besides, others are going to chime in any second and trash the thing much more effectively than I could. Let me suggest alternatives. Get the new PC with Vista (usually included free). Then...

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Why do people like re-enacting commercials and posting them on Youtube? They're never funny. I may be way off base, but another explanation might be - if you re-enact a commercial, nobody can sue you for posting it on YouTube.

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How can you Paste And Copy using a Apple Macbook? Quite easily actually. Command + C to copy and Command + V to paste.

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Computer people: What is the advantage of PDF (Adobe)? There must be some reason they just don't use a normal webpage. What is it? In addition to security, a PDF file renders the same on all platforms, regardless of the browser they might be using. That can't be said for a web page. Also, if the material on the page is likely to be printed, a PDF will do wonders in that department as well, in terms of what you see is how it will print.

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What should you do if you find a site where full-length movies can be downloaded or otherwise distributed illegally? This is one of those questions begging for a sarcastic answer. I'm not going to bite though.

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Do Apple Powerbooks have built-in webcams? Yes - new ones do.

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What is best desktop computer processor among intel n amd? This is such a hard question to answer these days. there's nothing wrong with either anymore. AMD has a big advantage in price. I believe it makes a good choice for a home desktop. But Intel is perfectly fine too.

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Is the higher GHz the better the laptop? Not necessarily. Although faster is better by itself, as Shopping Sheryl said, there's more to a laptop than the CPU. Also, the difference in speed between CPUs that are close to each other in GHz is not noticeable.

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My typist tells me that the formatting of my manuscript will not be preserved if it's sent electronically. How can we correct for this and does it involve PDF? Here's the deal. The formatting of a document is usually only guaranteed to be preserved when the person receiving the document is using the same program and version on the same platform (Windows / Mac / etc.). Otherwise, there is a risk that formatting may not be exactly preserved. The way around this is indeed PDF. This format is intended to be like a picture of the document rather...

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I just got a laptop with Vista, and aside from a couple minor networking issues (they are straightened out), I haven't had a problem and I kinda like it. Anyone else think it's not so bad? I've said it what seems like a million times already - Vista isn't a horrible beast. A lot of people have no problems with it. It doesn't work fine for everyone, but people have to realize that it's a question of personal choice. I don't use it simply because I don't need it. It will come by default on my next computer and that's when I'll take the...

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Can the sensitivity of the little mouse pointer square thingie on a laptop be changed? When I type, I often end up accidently clicking on things. Not easily. Assuming you use the 'mouse pointer square thingie' (which you can call a touch pad), the best option is to temporarily disable it. This is one reason I like the HP laptop I bought 3 years ago - it has a button right above the touch pad that instantly turns the thing on and off. This may sound dumb, but you also might consider raising your chair slightly. It may be...

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Is it possible to hide a friend ID from one or more of your other friends on facebook? I don't want a new girlfriend to see that I am still facebook friends with an old girlfriend. Ahhhhh welcome to the totally non-private world of Facebook. I'm afraid the answer to your question is 'no'.

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1.what are the general between linux,macintosh,and windows operating systems? 2.Identify the role of the operating system software for the operating systems listed in question 1? % If this isn't an exam question, I'll eat my supper.

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Do any of you guys go to myspace? I only go to Myspace for the bands. It's nice to hear samples of their music.

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If you had unlimited time and resorces list 10 things you would like to do 1. Learn to fly an aircraft and get my license (for real - not just a sim on my PC). 2. Get humankind into space. We need to get our asses off this planet. 3. Learn how to talk to the animals. 4. Find a way into other dimensions and visit with other probabilities of myself. 5. Figure out whatever happened to that awesome peanut butter and vanilla ice cream I used to eat on the boardwalk at...

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I have two computer and one has never been connected to the net to avoid viruses / hackers etc. If i wanted to do a scan on it, would it be as simple as plugging the studio pc tower into my laptop via a usb port and scanning the drive? If you must absolutely not connect to the internet with the 'virgin' PC you mention, I believe most virus scanners have the ability to at least scan network shares. So here's what I'd try: I'd network the 2 computers together with the internet disconnected entirely and map the drive(s) of the 'virgin' PC so that the other one can access the drive(s). If you...

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Why do some companies bundle adware with their programs? Because we're cheap. I'm serious. Adware and spyware all started when people stopped paying for software they found online. We would find something we liked, try it, then find a way to get it for free. I'm using the royal 'we'. I know not everyone is cheap. The problem with that is if you're trying to make a living making and selling software, you can't. Ad...

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Hi there My PC is constantly running at 51/52% PCU usage. I've scanned and removed any spyware found using Spybot and Adaware. Not sure what to do next...? Thanks for any help. Try this. Open task manager (I'm assuming you know how if you're reporting how much CPU usage you're getting) and look at the processes tab. Double click the CPU column header until the process taking the most CPU time is at the top of the list. Monitor this list for what process(es) are consuming all that CPU time. You will have your culprit. If the process is...

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Is having 6 seeds, during a torrent download, better than having only 1 or 2? Oh yeah, BTW, what the HELL is a 'leecher'? Yes, having more seeds is better. This is because if there are more people that your Bittorrent client can connect to who have the entire torrent you're trying to download, you can get the complete torrent faster. Each seed is capable of giving you separate parts of the same torrent at the same time. A leech is someone who always download a torrent and then disconnects as soon as the...

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What is the proper way to dispose of an old computer ( one that crashed a while ago and is really old). I just want to get rid of it. I don't know how it works where you live, but in Canada, we have e-recycle depots where you can bring any electronic components, including computer parts.

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I borrowed a CD from a friend and a pen exploded and got several blots of ink all over it. The ink is now dried. Is there any way to clean it off? It depends on the type of ink. Alcohol is the strongest solvent I would try to clean it - anything stronger and you risk damaging the plastic, which would ruin it. Try rubbing alcohol.

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When i turn on my laptop it goes to a black screen and says non system or non disk replace and press any key to continue i need to know how to fix my laptop You don't happen to have a floppy disk in the drive, do you?

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I have avg-free antivirus on my system..but it does not detect and heal cerain virus/trojan.. which is a better alternative for this? can i install avast and avg together.. or will they conflict 2 anti-virus products will almost always conflict with each other. Practically every free anti-virus product is going to be unable to remove a few viruses / trojans. The way around this is to search for manual removal tools for those infections. It won't be hard to find. If the AV you're using is not able to detect the infections you have, I hate to say it, but you're not...

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How does that work, that at a likeness quiz with 10 questions you can get a result of a 99% match? There's no real correlation. The quizzes just slap a percentage on there, but they mean nothing. Otherwise, they'd show you how your answers matched your friends. It's all a big data mining scam. I'm joking of course, but maybe not. The more I think about it......

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I am looking for a software to give me my usernames and passwords for certain websites, but it should be really professional. Take a look at KeePass. Site here: http://keepass.info/ Wikipedia entry here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KeePass

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What is the most effective way to hack into somebodys hotmail account if you know the email but not the pw? lol. yes. i know. scandilous.sshhhhh. ^_~ Did someone rename Answerbag to Haxorbag while I wasn't looking?

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Do you spend any time in "second life"? I wish. I have too much to do in this life. That's all I need is a second life........ LAFF.

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I want to get my 6.5 gig music library off of my desktop and onto my laptop. My USB drive isn't nearly big enough, and the online storage site Xdrive only offers five gigs of storage. I don't have a firewire. Any ideas? I prefer the USB external hard drive option. It will make transferring your whole collection much easier, plus it acts as a backup for all of your music and your important computer files.

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Which brand and type of computer (preferrably a laptop) is best for someone who likes to play lots of games? There's really no brand of computer that excels in gaming more than another. OK, that's not entirely true - Alienware makes computers specifically tailored to gaming, but most folks would balk at their prices. What you need to look at isn't brand so much as what components it comes with. Games benefit from fast processors, lots of RAM and a decent video card mated to a good...

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In what type(s) of file format are there higher risks of getting viruses on your computer? Any file that is executable on its own is a risk. Refer to jj_in_nyc's list. But - any file that depends on another program to be opened / played can also be a risk if the program needed to open / play the file has unpatched security vulnerabilities. That includes video files, documents, music files.... the list is long. But getting to a bigger point - it's not so much the...

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Is it legal to let people download and upload files on a website of a program that is already free on the internet by its creator? Often web sites will offer to act as mirrors to the original download site, so as to help share the load of downloads. But that's something you normally arrange with the author of the program. You just don't take it upon yourself to do that. It also goes to the trustworthiness of the file(s). If the author prefers to have complete control over the downloads, so be it.

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How hard is it to break a laptop hard drive by moving it around? If you dropped it, would it still work? No, it is not hard to break any hard drive by dropping it. Hard drives are very susceptible to physical shock. Some laptop makers try to help things by encasing the hard drive in a gel pack of sorts, but this only applies to more expensive laptops. If you've subjected your hard drive to any degree of physical shock, I would recommend performing a thorough error check of the drive...

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How do I get blog traffic? There is no magic bullet. To get traffic, you have to generate interest in your posts. The best way to do that is to write about either interesting stuff or controversial stuff. That doesn't mean those are the only roads to lots of traffic, but they'll get traffic fast. Personally I say give the readers something of substance. Getting visits is one thing. Keeping them is another.

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I know this may seem bad, but Its very important. And for a good reason. If you know anyone who can get into someone's yahoo account, please let me know. or if you know how to. thanks No matter how you sugar-coat it, it's still an illegal act. A judge will not listen to your 'moral' reason for committing it. And as JohnThePyro commented in Jewel's answer, any information obtained through illegal means will not be valid as evidence.

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If I have cable internet installed one part of the house can I hook up another cable modem to any random cable outlet and be able to have internet on that cable modem also? No, you cannot. The equipment at the other end of the cable can only talk to one cable modem. The idea is to use one cable modem to convert the signal coming into your house into something a computer can use. If you need to share the connection coming out of the modem, you simply connect a hub or (preferably) a switch or router to the modem, then run ethernet cable from the router to the...

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How many of you are mac users and what are the benefits that your mac gives you that a pc wouldn't give you? Part-time Mac user here, that is to say I still have Windows on some computers, but bought a MacBook (laptop) as an experiment. OK - benefits: Everything seems very well designed. Design may not be the be-all-end-all, but it's important to usability. Because the Mac OS is designed for Mac hardware - stuff works. Well. Because the software is designed for the Mac OS in a manner far...

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Can I burn all audio files onto a "data cd"? As Shawn said, yes you can. But what I'm curious about is the intent of choosing to create a data disc with audio files. May I ask what is the point? By just creating a data disc containing .wav files, you're limiting yourself to only being able to play those files on a computer. It won't play in a standard CD player. Is that your intention?

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Do you personalize your browser? Yeah - may sound boring - but I put everything on one toolbar in Firefox to maximize my screen real estate.

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Wife had a one night stand i know her email adress but not password how can i check email to see if its more then she says without her knowing That would be an illegal act. Be careful - if you do this and get evidence that she is not telling the truth, this evidence will not help you in any legal matters as it would have been obtained illegally. Plus if she finds out, you could face legal consequences. [update] To the person that down rated this answer, thank you very much.

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Can you get in trouble for looking at someones e-mail if you know all their information and can change their password? It depends on how you got that information. If they shared it with you willingly - then no, it's not technically illegal. If you used illegal means to obtain the credentials necessary to access the email, then it is an illegal act. If you changed the password to prevent them from accessing their own email, that could also be construed as illegal.

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Had DSL installed yesterday..today had problems getting on the 'net, but finally here I am. If I don't turn off the computer and just leave it on all the time, how much impact will that have on our electric bill? Just to add to the other answers, one thing I typically tell my clients is this: If you want to give your PC a break while still not wasting too much electricity, just turn your PC on when you first go to use it on any particular day. Then turn it off when you go to bed. You can also turn it off if you don't intend to use the PC for many hours. But if you find yourself turning it off and...

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Is a dell or gateway laptop better? Dell gets my vote of the two, but I wouldn't buy either if I had the choice.

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Is this a good laptop? Worth the money? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=product&id=1188561005895 It seems like a good laptop, but the only person who can truly answer this question is you.

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Have the kinks been worked out of windows Vista yet? Not yet. Microsoft is working on a service pack as we speak. No telling when it will be out, but once it is, it will make Vista better than it is now.

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Can you retrieve information from a computer after it has been cleared from the history, like Peace asked?? This is very interesting!! I think we're talking about different things here. If you really mean browser history, yes you can. Even though browser history has been cleared, there are telltale clues in various places in Windows that can reveal where you've been on the internet. These places include, but are not limited to, temporary internet files, the registry and the recycle bin. I remember a story where...

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I don't have a wireless connection but I can get it in my kitchen then I can go back to my bedroom and use it flawlessly, but I can't connect to it initially in my bedroom, I have to go the kitchen to do it first then I can use it in bedroom, why is that? If Windows is managing your wireless connection using Wireless Zero Configuration, it may see other stronger wireless signals that overpower your own network signal. In this case, it will try to connect to the stronger signal first. If your wireless signal is strongest it will connect to it right away. This is why a lot of folks disable the WZC service in Windows and use the software that came...

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My laptop won't turn on! It's an Acer TravelMate 2428AWXCi, only a year old. It was fine this morning, I didn't do anything out of the ordinary. This is the first time it's happened. I press the power button and nothing. Can anyone help me???? :( Are you getting any indication at all? Are there any LEDs lit up anywhere on the laptop?

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Anyone have a method better than Windows Task Manager (ctrl-alt-del) for monitoring actively running programs? Thanks. It depends on how granular you want the information to be. I've always been impressed by what Process Explorer (free) can do. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/processexplorer.mspx

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What are the best type of printer for home use? By 'type', do you mean brand? Or laser versus inkjet?

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I need a Linux Server that also has a desktop interface. Can any one help me find the right LINUX OS? I already have EnGarde & Ubuntu but neither has a desktop. I'm a little confused. You say you've installed Ubuntu and have no desktop? What exactly do you mean by no desktop? That's not normal.

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I have a video casette, how can i put that movie up on my pc and play the video. (remember its a VIDEO CASETTE TAPE). ? please tell me i have to know The other alternative to what Scubabob described for the video connection is to use an outboard video capture device that connects via USB. This allows you to keep your existing video card. Everything else he described is the same.

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I have my own computer. Is it safe to get internet explorer to save my passwords so that I don't have to type them in myself? Or is it a security risk? Although browsers encrypt saved passwords, there are well known flaws that make accessing them in their unencrypted state easy: http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1882 http://www.securityfocus.com/infocus/1883/1 Let me summarize. The attacks that exist to crack browser-stored passwords are not hard to use. So you have to ask yourself, is the risk worth it? Am I willing to give away my...

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I get very good internet speed even though the signal strength is "Very Low" as Windows describes, why is that? Signal strength of a wireless connection isn't firmly related to speed. If you only show signal strength of half the maximum, that doesn't mean you get half the speed. It only means that you're getting something between nothing and maximum. At some point, a weak signal translates to missing packets, which translates to lower speed. But that point quickly turns into no connection...

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How do bloggers get readers? By creating interesting posts. Sometimes the writing itself is the star. Sometimes the subject matter is interesting. Sometimes the writer is the star. I have about 120 or so readers on my blog and they come back because they identify with my material. Or they're just amused. They never say which.

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Whats the difference between free software and open source software? When in doubt, get it from the horse's mouth. http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd The source code part of the definition is the part that sticks in most peoples' minds. Ultimately, free software that isn't open source is licensed in a way that still protects the creator from having to reveal how the program works. Open source allows for the improvement of software by other...

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The memory in my sad little Dell laptop is full-all I really use it for is music and internet. What can I safely dump to make more room? The only caveat here is that if your laptop is nearing the end of its life, buying a bigger hard drive for it might be a waste. I'd go for the external drive. In fact, if it's just to hold music, I would suggest buying a Creative Labs Zen mp3 player. I have one and when I hook it up to my computer, it thinks the Zen is just a drive full of music files, allowing me to use it like an...

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I save a file on my pc, (my desktop or my documents), i then delete it, and from the recycling bin, is it still on the hard drive, that file?? if it is, how do i delete it permanently so that no-1 can see what is in my hard drive. If you are only trying to hide files from non-professionals, regular disk wipe utilities will do the trick. Even consumers are figuring out that there exists un-delete programs. If you're trying to hide files from professionals, good luck. Hard drive forensics experts can do tricks that would amaze most people. This is not just my opinion.

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Find it quite amazing how much impact you can make on people across the world just by typing a few words? Indeed I do. Why, just the other day I called someone a smartass for using the 'whatever' comment on me (which I took quite rudely) and that escalated into an unnecessary exchange.

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What are the appropriate features of laptop computer for a graduate student? Well it really depends on what you intend to do with it and what software you need to use. Could you tell us more?

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What are the main differences between KDE and GNOME? I don't know if you're looking for the technical answer or just a general one, so I'll stick with general. KDE and Gnome are just different desktop packages that form the desktop interface (and built-in software that comes with it) in Linux. Most flavours of Linux come with one or the other, but some come with both. Some folks think if you use Gnome, you can't use any...

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Whih is better: Microsoft Vista or Apple Leopard? Leopard gets my vote.

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I have received a counterfeit check through my business. The FBI wants to know if I have the person's IP address. Can I obtain their IP address via e-mails I've already received from them? Not if they've used measures to cover their tracks.

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Microsoft produces a DUD occasionally- Windows ME, Window 2000. Can we add VISTA to the list? Why or Why not? I don't think Vista will by judged as another ME, at least not in the long term, because unlike Me which didn't really incorporate anything new, Vista does come with improvements. Vista's weakness (IMHO) isn't what it does, but what hardware is needed to do it. I also don't lump 2000 into the dud category.

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What is the best kind of affordable laptop out right now? Price range around $1,000 It really depends on what you want / need. Like any other consumer item, you get what you pay for. So a recommendation from me might be missing the features you need or have features you don't care about. I could recommend Toshiba, but if after sales support and accessories isn't priority one, it wouldn't be the best recommendation.

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I have a Packard Bell laptop and Windows XP? How can I see how much memory I have left? I'm assuming you actually mean memory and not hard drive space. To see how much free memory you have, right click on an empty part of the task bar and select Task Manager. Then click on the performance tab and look under physical memory. The available figure is how many Kilobytes of RAM space is not in use, so 1008597 is about 1 Gigabyte free.

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How to transfer data from a desktop to a laptop the easy way? Easy = external media External hard drive or memory stick.

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What can happen to a computer if improperly shut down? If any open files have not been saved (this doesn't just refer to your files - system files too), this can cause issues. But with XP and later the chances of issues are less - but it's still a good idea to close Windows properly. Sometimes you can't (Windows freezes, power goes out).

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In light of the resent surge of fraudulent and hateful emails can anyone tell me how I would go about tracking emails to their source? The average person doesn't have the tools or knowledge to track a fraudulent email to its source. That's not because they're dumb, it's because these emails rarely actually come from where they indicate. The best policy is to report the email to the abuse address of your ISP. Unless there is a computer fraud section of your local or state / provincial / federal police.

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Why do you use Answerbag? Because I believe that information should be shared. If you know stuff, keeping it to yourself is a waste.

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Define and contrast serial and parallel communication. Give examples of computer industry standards for each of these forms. Exam question alert.

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What is flash media? You know thumb drives / memory stick / jump drive? That's an example of flash media. Memory that doesn't need power to keep its contents and can be written to. Unlike RAM. And ROM.

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The thing where I put disks into my p.c. cracked one of my cds into pieces yesterday,and now whenever I get onto the computer it comes out,and keeps coming out when you push it back in,what is wrong with it,and how can I fix it? When a CD breaks inside a drive, it can really bork up the drive. It may be necessary to remove the cover and clean the drive out by shaking the loose pieces out and maybe blowing it out with compressed air. The pieces may have even damaged parts inside. Get a pro to do this if you're unsure.

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My cd drive tray on my computer won't stay close,what might be the problem,and how can I fix this? It's really not necessary to ask the question twice.

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Do all video cards have processors and in the specs is it called processor? The processor on a graphics card is usually called a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

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My pc is runnin very slow, i have only 128mb ram, iver used disk cleanup, fragmentor, and deleted all uncecessary files and programs, what can i do 2 make it speed up and run more faster? shud i get 512 mb ram? if not what? If you're using anything newer than Windows 95, 128MB of RAM is just not enough, IMHO. But if your computer is more than 4 years old, you have to ask yourself - will buying more RAM be throwing good money after bad, or is the money better spent toward a newer PC? Because any RAM you buy now for an old PC isn't going to be usable in a new computer.

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If i buy an external dvd/cd writer, and if i connected the cables to the pc, will it work just like that? or their there any software i wud need to install? and which is better external or the normal cd writers? Sometimes it will work right out of the box, but if you need any special software or drivers installed for it to work with your particular operating system, the drive will come with a disc.

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Why we must name the main page of your website as 'index.html'? Because convention indicates that if you enter a web url (such as www.website.com), the server hosting that site will automatically serve the file index.html, which acts as the front page or welcome page of the site. You can of course bypass that default page by putting a different file name in the url (such as www.website.com/music.html).

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Is there something wrong with my computer if the fan is noisy? Aside from what scubabob said, the fan blades can get caked with dust and grime. When this happens, they get noisy. If your fan blades are dirty, cleaning them can often get rid of the noise. If not, refer to scubabob's answer.

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What is the safest website to download music? The kind that are legal. Sorry, but it's the truth.

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What is the best motherboard for a computer thats the os is vista ultimate? It's not the motherboard you need to worry about. It's the CPU / RAM / Video. Fast answer - newer / faster / more equals better.

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Does anyone know where i could get the best deal for a laptop? Like others have already said, it really depends on what you want / need. Like any other consumer item, you get what you pay for. So a recommendation from me might be too much money in your eyes, or be a laptop that doesn't have the features you need. We can help, but you have to give us more to go on. It's like asking - does anyone know where I can get a deal on a car? Yep I do -...

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What is a good website where you can modify your pictures to black and white? I use a site called Picnik. It allows you to upload and edit pictures in a variety of ways (including B&W). You don't even need to have the pictures on your PC, they can be on the web. http://www.picnik.com

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Desktop or laptop? Why? I couldn't pick one or the other - I need both.

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I live in remote area where i can not get internet all the time,can i get antivirus that dosen't need updates? Another alternative that may work for you is to scrap using Windows on the internet. Most (99.97%) viruses target Windows, so if getting updates is a real issue, you could switch to Linux or Mac. If you have the hard drive space to pull this off, you could install Ubuntu Linux on a separate hard drive partition and set it up to dual boot. Then, when you want to connect to the internet, you boot...

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Why do some people seem to have an unnatural ability to have absolutely no idea whatsoever how computers work, how to use them, what they're made of, or what they can do? People do things with computers (that breaks them) that they'd NEVER do elsewhere... To many people, computers are an enigma wrapped in a riddle. They seem intelligent one minute and as dumb as a bag of hammers the next. They seem to work fine, then stop working for no apparent reason. Computers don't reveal their secrets easily. They may come with dozens of handy software tools that remain hidden in menus or at the prompt (something many people don't even know...

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Can you play computer games on Ubuntu? Alternatives to Wine: Install a virtual machine in Ubuntu and run Windows in it for your games (needs decent processing power and RAM); or dual boot Ubuntu and Windows - use Windows only when you need to.

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What is the best way to avoid virus & other such things from a personal computer (Windows). This PC is used for browsing. Lot of CDs/DVDs and other Email attachments are copied or downlaoded to this PC. That's like asking 'what's the best way to avoid getting wet while white water rafting?' But seriously, the two most common vectors viruses use to get around are email attachments and infected downloads from untrusted sites on the net. So to start with, you want to have an anti-virus program installed and keep it up to date - daily. Configure the program to check...

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My HP laptop has a problem w/ the keyboard. press "a" and you get "sa", press "s" and you get "sa", "x' is "xz" etc. only on the left side of keyboard and only certain letters. This driving me crazy........Any ideas? Since the keys that are misbehaving are right next to each other and are all in the same general area, it almost sounds like you've got something stuck under the keytops that when you press on one key is pressing down on the one beside it. Time for a cleaning.

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How does a .ISO file work? (a "for dummies" explanation please lol) Slothmister's answer is great, I'm just going to word mine differently. To copy a CD-ROM you have 2 choices - you can copy all the folders and files and try to keep them in the right order, or you can create an image of the CD-ROM which copies every bit from beginning to end, ignoring the structure of the files and folders and concentrating on the bits only. This 'image'...

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How can i switch my c: to my d:? If you have 2 hard drives installed inside your computer and you want to switch their drive letters, swap their jumper settings (make the master the slave and vice versa). But if the D: (what is D: now) doesn't have a bootable operating system on it, you'll have issues....

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I need a good firewall. Any suggestions? Is there something the built in Windows firewall doesn't provide for you?

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Everyone says that Mac computers are great. If they are so good, and don't get as many virus as PC's and hackers don't bother much with them, then why are they not in more households? Most people still seem to want PC's , why? For the same reason VHS won over Beta - volume and mass adoption wins over quality. In case you're too young to know what that means, I'll try to summarize with my own thoughts: -Windows PCs seem to be a better value compared to Macs -More Windows software is available and there is little knowledge about the ability to run Windows and its software on a Mac -people go with what...

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If you could make a website on yourself, what would you name it? www.timidlypompous.ca

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How much do you trust the Internet? The internet is no different than the people you know plus the people you have yet to meet. Their opinions matter, but should never form the entire basis of your own decisions.

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How would I go about connecting multiple microphones to a single computer? Buy an inexpensive multichannel mixer.

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What is the most robust Anti virus on the market? Kaspersky is often the highest rated anti-virus product, but I have a soft spot for AVG Free.

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I have a wireless optical mouse that I use on "woodgrain" desk. Why is it that it works for weeks w/o any problems, then for a couple days it'll only work if I use it on my leg instead of the desk? Then it works just fine again for weeks! It's a leap, but it is possible that your 'wireless' mouse isn't having problems 'tracking' as much as it might be suffering RF interference from something close to where it is normally placed. By putting the mouse on your hand or leg, you're moving the mouse away from the source of the interference. Many people don't realize that items like cell phones,...

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Whats the best device for recording from a record player to a CD through my computer? (hardware and software) I don't know what kind of advice you're looking for. I would get all the necessary connections in order to your sound card from the record player. Then I would use Audacity to record the music in raw .wav form. Then I would adjust the sound as needed. Then burn to CD. Ta-da.

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My computer used to be really fast, and now it's not so fast. Any ideas? A slower than normal PC is usually a combination of any one or more of the following things: Too many processes running / not enough RAM (leads to page file usage) / fragmented files / malware (virus, worm, trojan) / instability related to a running program, driver, OS function / problems with the registry / an excess of temporary files...... This is just a partial list. You probably need...

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What is the make and model of your computer that you are using? My desktop isn't a brand name machine - it's a custom build of brand name parts. Much more selection and choice that way.

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Should i get a MAC or a vista? Only you can answer that question. You can't go by the advice of others on this issue simply because everyone has their own priorities, preferences and peculiarities. My suggestion would be to arrange to visit people who own Mac and Vista computers and have them give you a tour. Note the performance and ease of use. If the Mac user has Windows running on their Mac, make them show you...

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Do YOU own a laptop? What kind? Is it reliable? I have an HP Pavilion ze5300 series. It's not too bad. It's a bit on the heavy side and the battery life is horrible, but those are the only bad things I can say about it.

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How do i get www. to automatic show in the browers window? You don't. That feature doesn't exist because it doesn't have to. If you forget to type in the 'www' part of a URL, the DNS server that translates the web address figures that out for you. Try it.

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Why is our wireless router suddenly disconnecting every minute? should i reset it? Sometimes this is caused by Wireless Zero Configuration in Windows. Wired had an article about it here: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2004/06/63705 With a solution on the second page of the article.

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How far can I run ethernet cable? The maximum run of an ethernet cable between two devices shouldn't be longer than about 90 metres (100 metres refers to the wires stretched straight).

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My firefox is using more than 55 k memory. Whats the reason? How can I fix it?((Other programs are using only 3000-7000 k)) Firefox grows in size as you surf more web pages. The explanation I got once is that it tries to index all the links it sees on the pages you have open to make opening them faster. Open task manager and watch the Firefox process size when you first open the browser and watch it grow as you surf web sites - especially if you have many tabs open. The solution, as primitive as it may sound, is...

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If a website asked you for an email address to sign up/sign in(such as answerbag), would you put the password the same as your email provider? I always think that this is a trick you get your email and password. It's never a good idea to share passwords between any kind of account - email, banking or anything for this very reason. Most online resources only require 2 things to log in - a username and a password. One can assume that in many instances, a username can be guessed fairly easily, depending on the user. That often leaves the password as holding the keys to the vault, as it were. So it...

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When using a cat5 cross cable between two PC's, do I only need to make both PC's memebers of the same user group? Or is there more. One is Vista and the other is XP. Both have to be members of the same Workgroup and file and printer sharing need to be enabled on the one you want to see. There may be more, but I haven't had my first coffee yet this morning. I'm sure others will jump in......

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ITunes, or Windows Media Player? Neither. Winamp. The Lite version. With the Enhancer plug-in.

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Why is my laptop so noisy? Every few minutes it starts up and whirs. It has always done this. It's the fan. I'm guessing you wanted a serious answer too.

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How can i tell if the I.T. guy is watching my P.C.? If they're using a tool on your PC to do the 'watching', it's not hard to tell. Just use any process explorer. If they're examining packets passively on the network - no way to tell.

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My Lexmark Z65 printer (about 4 yrs. old) goes thru black ink too fast. I get about 20 pages out of a black ink cartridge. Should I just toss this thing and get something reliable? It doesn't sound good. It isn't likely the cartridges based on your description. The question is - where is all that ink going? Is it on your paper?

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What was the first computer you ever used or owned? Commodore Vic 20

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What are the advantages of a Mac compared to a PC? (Truthful answers, please, I am doing research.) Macs have one major advantage in that the operating system is designed to work specifically with Mac hardware. As a result, the reliability factor increases.

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When did you hear about the concept of internet? Around 1992, but I never got connected until 1994.

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I need to uninstall a program but its disapeared from add and remove,how can i uninstall it? This may not be the answer you're looking for, but sometimes I manage to solve un-install issues by re-installing the program and looking to see if it shows up in add remove programs. If not, then follow BrianI's suggestion.

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Can i move a memoery card from one laptop to another|? Yes you can. Whether it will work is a function of whether the memory (called SO-DIMM) is the right speed for the laptop you're moving it to.

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MAC OSX Leopard. Are you excited, for those waiting? And, are you going to get it? I'm kind of excited, I'm just waiting to see if the new version is likely going to drag my low end MacBook down or not.

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My new laptop take damn too long to startup. I tried disabling some of the startup and system services under msconfig. Its still takes too long. Any Ideas I'm with harrymcwealth on this one. Most retailers sell even their low end laptops with Windows Vista pre-installed. This is not a great idea, considering that Vista generally requires a combination of hardware meeting certain performance capabilities. You will notice a huge difference with XP. The problem is that most stores will not offer XP instead of Vista. I hope that changes soon....

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Is there any free software I can download to get rid of a few viruses? For the benefit of others reading AB, were you operating without an anti-virus program until now?

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Does using the remote assistance function requires an internet connection Only if the other computer isn't on your network.

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I have had to stick a recovery disc in but have lost my emal address on out look express dose any one konw if i can get it back again with the same address I'm not sure I get your question. If you're asking if you can reconfigure Outlook Express to connect to your email again using your usual email address.... the answer is yes. Now I must apologize, because I don't use Outlook Express anymore, so I'm not up on the procedure. But if you can verify that this is what you're looking for, many here can help you.

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Are you happy with your cable company? Not really. I find cable companies charge too much in Canada and part of the reason is there is no competition. Other cable TV services in the country offer features ours does not - like choosing multiple camera angles while watching sporting events. Their selection of time shifted network channels is pathetic. They also pollute the lineup with lame channels I'm sure nobody watches. But...

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Are you happy with your internet provider? Yes. I picked a local company that didn't grow so big it forgot who its customers were. Slightly higher price, but amazing customer service. I sometimes think about going with a cheaper, national ISP and then I smile and calm down.

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Where can i get information about computers - ports and connectors, cables, maintaining a pc, troubleshooting etc...? http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto.html That's the most all-in-one site I have bookmarked. There are more sights, but there are so many. If you could be specific, we've got recommendations.

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Does anyone know a good company to get a new computer from for playing games on? By company, do you mean brand name? Or retailer?

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How much percentage wise would you say you use your computer to its full potential. Less than 5% most of the time. The extra computing power comes in handy only when I'm doing one of the following: Playing a complex game; Encoding sound or video; editing sound or video.

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What do you call the websites you end up in when you make little mistake in typing the link in the browser? I call them URL traps.

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I have a dell labtop and when i turn it on it opens all these programs i do not need to run and it slow it down so much if i hit ctrl/alt / delete my task manger has like 40 some programs running how do i stop that thank you Just to add to what Taylor said, besides msconfig, which is built into Windows, I like using a free third party application (now owned by Microsoft - go figure) to control what starts at Windows startup - Autoruns. Google it, you should have no trouble finding it. I just find msconfig complains too much when changes are being made. Once you have it on your computer, the tab you're...

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How many wireless devices do you own? 18. I know..... I was shocked myself, but if you include remotes, that's how many.

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I know that in the networking field you have to be certified to get a networking job, but do the employers look down to people who got their 1 year certificate compared to a 2 full year degree? It depends on what they value most. Many employers value certification that has little actual value because that's the only way they know to quantify applicants' value. Better employers are as much interested in experience (or perhaps more). Best practise doesn't pay much attention to certification and instead gets the department manager to test the applicant with real...

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How would you define the internet? hyperconnectivity? the ultimate revenge of the nerds? networking society? etc. Anything about everything.... whether you want it or not.

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I just got ANOTHER one of those stupid e-mails warning me about a 'bad virus'. . . So, what would be a 'good virus'? ;-) The kind that let you stay home from work.... or school.

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I have a desktop computer networked to a laptop with a wired router, both working fine on Win XP until today. I had to unplug the desktop to move it and when i plugged it back in my desktop computer showed a Local Area Connection icon in the taskbar, but but...........

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How many computers are there in your house? 4. 2 desktops (one for me, one for my spouse) and 2 laptops (one Windows and one Mac).

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I have never picked someone up or been picked up for a one night stand. Am I missing a really thrilling experience? Just in case you're wondering attempts have been made to pick me up and I have definitely been tempted. I've never had one but know a few who have. If you have one it should be for the right reasons (which you both agree to) and all precautions should be taken. But just like a date, you cannot predict what it's going to be like beforehand and whether it was a good idea until after. This fact alone prevents most folks from trying it at all. Then again, sex with a friend probably...

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How many of you have a facebook account and do you use it alot? Yes, I use it every day. It's a cool way to keep in touch. I've found so many people I've lost touch with....

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Can someone give me the short bus version of what Binary Code is and what it does, please? The reason binary numbers are so handy is because there are only 2 values (0 and 1). This translates perfectly into a digital electronic circuit, which only has 2 states (off and on). So binary is used by computer programs working in computer circuitry to perform math. But it's this math that make games work, pictures appear on your screen and gives you the ability to create documents,...

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Has anyone else had any problems with their Norton or Symantec Anti-virus software? What's the deal? Short answer: Norton is like the Cadillac of AV when all most people need is a Yaris. Oversimplified, but you get the picture.

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Which is REALLY better: the white 2.16GHz Macbook w/ 120GB of hard drive, or the Black 2.16GHz with 160GB of hard drive? They're both the same MacBook except for the colour and the hard drive capacity.

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What was life like before the internet was invented? (18 year old here!) I'm answering this question not from the perspective of what did we 'use' before the internet, but what did we 'do with our time' before the internet. I'm not certain this is what you were asking, but anyways..... We read books; watched TV; listened to the radio; played records; we went outside; went to the park; hiked; played sports; went to poolhalls;...

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I have a wireless mouse (no ball on the bottom) It seems to have a mind of its own. It freezes up and then it just goes everywhere. I have already replaced the batteries. Any other idea what it could be? Aside from the mousing surface.... (did I just say mousing surface?) Sometimes wireless mice suffer interference from other RF devices. It's a long shot, but if you have any of the following near either the mouse itself or the transmitter it talks to (connected to the PC), try moving them a foot or more away: Cell phone; cordless phone; bluetooth anything; microwave oven; wireless...

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How are RAM and ROM similar They are both types of memory. Is this an A+ exam question?

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Is it possible to set up a caller ID program if you have DSL internet running thru your phone lines? Absolutely - if the program is running on a PC using a regular dial-up connection. That data is embedded near the voice frequencies on the phone line. Your internet connection through a DSL modem will not pass these signals through.

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Wats the differnce betwen microsoft outlook & outlok express Outlook is an integral part of Microsoft Office and is more than just an email client, it can be used as a contact manager, a calendar, a task list, and so on. All of which (with the help of an Exchange server) can be collaborated with other Outlook users. Outlook Express is just a standalone email client.

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Why do people judge an operating system before actually using it? My friends all say "nothing runs on Linux" or "Linux has no drivers" or "Linux is ugly". These are all blatantly false but people still believe them. Why? Because some people base their reality on one set of observations instead of being open minded and using as much evidence as they can get their hands on. I never understood why Mac users were so annoyingly cult-happy about their OS, but I never said it was crap, because I had never tried it for myself. Now that I have, I think it's awesome. Another phenomenon I've observed is...

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Is it just me or does Facebook just seem to be full of vulger & pornographic funwalls. Why do people feel the need to send them? It depends on your friends. My friends don't send those kinds of images. Besides, Funwall is an optional application in Facebook, so if it's causing you consternation, remove it.....

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What is the best laptop for home use? That depends on so many things. Will you be playing games? Processor intensive programs? Video editing? What's your budget? Does screen size matter? Does battery capacity matter? Are you using this as a replacement to a desktop? Do you plan to take it with you a lot? Do you see where I'm going with this? It's hard to answer this kind of question with no specifics. Give me more...

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My computer got damp after leaving it in a very cold hall overnight. There was some condensation. It will not boot up. The monitor even turns in hibernation mode . No beeps, no nothing. The power and the fans work. Could someone please help me? Let it completely dry out and return to room temperature first. Then try again.

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What means are there to back up the data on your harddrive and what is the most effective one? There are so many factors affecting backup options that you need to consider more than just reliability and consider practicality, degree of risk, cost and time invested. There is no such thing as a "best" solution - only best for you. Ask yourself, is the data on my hard drive truly that valuable? Can I get by with just a backup of files created by me (documents, music, etc.), or do...

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I have a Flash Drive, and i plug the it in our newly installed Windows XP, and it refuses to work, and when you pull it out its hot. And after that incident, it does not want to work on any pc at all. What can i do? Sounds borked to me. It should not be 'hot' and it should work in every PC / Mac / Linux with a newish version.

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Why do videos keep breaking on the internet when i try to view them? We need more information. What site are you viewing them at? What are you using to view them? Your browser or a special program or browser plug-in?

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Am i the only person here that doesnt have facebook?! I thought practically noone used it! Facebook became quite popular as soon as it opened up to everyone outside of the university community. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. But I've been enjoying it. It's a great way to share photos. I've found long lost friends that I didn't know where they were anymore. It has some annoying traits, but these are fairly easy to ignore.

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What's your favourite web comic? Care to post a link? I'll post some as well in an answer. http://xkcd.com/ A little on the geeky side, but very funny.

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Did you ever try to install Ubuntu in a intel Mac? No, but I plan to. As soon as I buy Parallels, I'm going to try both Ubuntu and Windows XP as virtual machines on my MacBook. If you watch my blog (http://whitenois.blogspot.com) in the coming couple of months, I'll be reporting my findings. If you'd rather hear from me directly, just email me in a few weeks (kplesz [at] that hotmail service) and ask me, I'll be glad to tell...

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I am using Windows Vista OS Home Basic running on my Lennova celeron laptop. The volume is very low, even if i keep the volume control to 100. Need ABers help to fix this problem! Please help! There are many things that can affect overall volume, but I'll assume the solution is a simple one. Instead of clicking on the speaker icon in the tray, double click on it. Look for any volume controls (wave, cd volume, etc.) and make sure they're turned up too.

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Is it difficult to install a sound card in my computer? Not if you've ever installed any other internal adaptor card before. If it's your first time opening a computer case it can be daunting. Here's a general sequence of events: http://www.ehow.com/how_5569_install-sound-card.html

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I was about to put files on a disk, then there was this roar, crackling noises from the hardrive and it was loud. The computer ejected the disk. I put it back in. It made another noise. I ejected it, but it doesnt come out! It was jammed! what can I do? It sounds like the CD (I'm guessing that's what it was) came off the spindle. This happens when the CD isn't quite centred on the tray, or it has a paper label stuck to it that isn't centred. If your drive has a tray (not a slot-load) you can force the tray open (power off first please) by using a paper clip to push in the emergency eject hole. This is a tiny hole on the...

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There are so many anti-virus programs, which one is the best or most popular? I'm sure I answered something similar to this a while back. The big name paid programs do a good job of detecting and removing viruses and other malware. Their biggest problem though is that they tend to be resource hogs. What I mean by that is that they are big programs that tend to slow things down and interfere with normal computer operations more than they should. I have had many...

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Do you have a blog? If so, care to share it? :] http://whitenois.blogspot.com It's over 3 years old with almost 3700 posts. Enjoy.

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What is the best image viewer? I am tired of using Windows' default. Is there a viewer that would allow me to put various images up simultaneously and not blur them in its resizing process? Simultaneously in their own Window? Or in separate Windows?

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Is America obsessed with technology? It's not just America. Trust me. America lags behind some countries with regards to technology. Wireless networking - go to Finland and report back to me. Cell phone technology - Japan beats us all. High Def TV - Japan again. Broadband access per capita - Canada has more connected per capita than the US. This is just a glimpse.

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Two monitor one CPU Yes. It's what many computer users dream of....

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What is better for your laptop battery? Leave it on charge all the time or let it drain down and then charge again? What do you do? It depends on the type of battery. Check it out. http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone.htm

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For all you into Linux, whats your distro? Why? Ubuntu. Easiest to set up and use. Live CD. Huge online repository of software. Comes with Firefox. The latest version (7.10) is pretty decent.

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Where is the Internet? It's in the airwaves to a certain extent (wi-fi and cell phone access, satellite, microwave relays), but it's mostly in the phone lines, cable TV network, and fibre optic lines connecting our homes, businesses and internet providers all over the world.

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If your virus scanner picks up a spyware virus and deletes it,then the next scan is clean how do you know that it really has gone? If it wasn't, the next scan wouldn't be clean.

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My laptop's battrey drains out quicker than before, are there any ways how i can make it last long? please help Buying a new battery will solve your problem immediately. Depending on the kind of battery your laptop uses (likely Lithium Ion but not necessarily), you should Google 'how to maintain battery life' or something similar to learn about how to help your battery last longer (I listed one such site below). Your laptop software may also have a battery resuscitator (the exact word I was...

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Many new PC's don't have floppy drives. How long do you think it will be until they don't have mechanical hard drives? Some types of computers are already loading custom operating systems right from memory devices. This won't become mainstream until the cost of memory falls further. I'd guess 4-8 years. The problem is that as our hard drives get bigger, we tend to collect more data on our computers too. So the question is will memory storage alternatives to hard drives be able to keep pace with our...

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Does my computer get any virisus downloading the program itunes?Is it ok if i install it on an xp computer? Make sure you get it from the genuine Apple site only.

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Is the itunes program save for my computer? Are there any risks? The only down side of iTunes is that if you have mp3's that have DRM (restrictions to prevent copying to other devices) you may find it impossible to move your mp3 collection around from one device or even computer, to another. This could be the case depending on where you bought the mp3s. Assuming you bought them. If you just pirated them off the internet, you won't have any...

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I have old 5 1/4" floppy disks that I want to get the data from. I installed an old 5 1/4" floppy drive into a fairly newer computer. I can see that it powers up but the computer won't see it? Any Ideas? There are many possibilities. The drive may be toast. The BIOS may not be set up to recognize a floppy drive. The cable may be the wrong type. Floppy drive cables have a twist in certain wires that identifies the A: drive from the B: drive. If you hook the drive up to the middle connector versus the end connector, it won't work. The cable may be backwards. Some new motherboards don't...

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Which B&W Laser printer is better HP or Brother? Brother is fine. I have owned 2 with no trouble. Although I suspect HP are slightly better quality, their cost and toner cost made me choose Brother.

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Have you ever been on the road and "borrowed" an unsecured wireless router to surf the internet? I tend not to borrow home-based unsecured internet - I find that rude (my personal opinion). But I have been known to ummmm.... borrow free wi-fi internet from other hotels when the one I'm staying at isn't working.

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I have chosen to stop certain programs from startup. Every time I start up, I get a balloon telling me certain programs were blocked from start up. I know this. I chose this. How do I stop this balloon? I use third party software to manage startups. This prevents Windows from whining when stuff is disabled. My current program of choice is Autoruns - which ironically is now owned by Microsoft. But they did not develop it.

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How rich would the guy who invented the internet Sir Tim Berners-Lee have been had he chosen to persue financial gain from it rather than gift it to mankind? Let me answer your question with another question? How crappy would the internet be if he had made it into a commercial venture right from the start like the one you describe? I bet it wouldn't be as good (or as cheap) as it is today. Incidentally, Sir Tim Berners-Lee did not invent the internet. He invented the World Wide Web. Big difference. But I digress.......

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Is there a logical reason to be afraid of Apple? Not really. But humans are rarely logical in their actions. It's human nature to abhor change. I know many people who refuse to even consider the Mac (heck I used to be one of them) and they seldom have a really good reason. Some do, but not many. I took the plunge out of curiosity and am glad I did.

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Do people that bought a Mac around a month before Leopard comes out gets a special deal, like what Apple did to OS X Tiger? Apparently they do, yes.

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Do you use StumbleUpon? From time to time, yes. I use it to find new sites based on sites I've enjoyed before and it has proven fruitful when I've used it. I just don't find the need for a randomly suggested site much these days.

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Has technology made our lives easier or increased our dependency on external means? Technology has made it possible to do things we wouldn't have been able to do without it. But then we become dependant on that technology because we take those new tasks for granted. Whenever I discuss this subject with my friends, I ask them to imagine what it would be like if a certain software, gadget or technology were absent from our lives. Then the discussion typically evolves to...

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Can i share an internet connection through my motorola sb4200 cable modem You should be able to share any broadband internet connection by either: a) using internet connection sharing in Windows XP, or b) preferably - put a cable/dsl router between your computers and your cable modem.

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My laptop keeps disconnecting from the internet on an every use basis, any ideas what can be wrong? Sometimes it will stay on for 20 minutes, sometimes only 5 . Another issue that can cause this symptom is the Windows Wireless Configuration Wizard service. When there are other wireless connections nearby and they become as strong or stronger than the one you're using, the service drops your existing connection and tries to connect to the stronger one - which usually fails because it's not yours (and protected). The cure is to turn this...

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Which computer to go for(forget price) PC or MAC and why that instead of that...? I'm actually getting tired now of answering this question so forgive the briefness (is that a word?). PC: less cost; more options; more native software. Mac: Better OS; Better design; Now can run Windows, almost eliminating the last advantage on the PC list.

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How can I hack the administrative password on the lapton my school's given to me? I want to download flash, but they have an admin password, and going in to the CMD doesn't work. Please help. The problem with hacking the locks on the laptop is that if they got you to agree to their terms and the terms of getting a laptop include not modifying the configuration - then doing so forfeits the agreement and they have a right to take the laptop back. At the very least. Get their IT to install Flash for you. If they refuse and you have a case, push it. It's one thing to put...

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A friend of mine told me "Mac" is a suficticated machine!but then i was wondering how complex is it then to PC?knowing there exist a difference at the level of software...! who out there knows more on this issue? All the technical jargon aside, buying a computer is as much about personal preference and a connection than practicality and suitability. Think about it - if people only bought computers based on what the computer could actually do productively, half the manufacturers would be out of business. Never mind that many people who buy technology don't actually know much about what they buy....

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I've heard that some people think internet access should be free. What do you think - should it be free? Should 'free' mean cable internet access, or just dial-up? Who will pay for it? Well, British Telecom (BT) is introducing a new plan for their internet customers. It's a 'scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' scheme and it could make the UK the most widely served free wi-fi access country in the world. The idea is if you are a BT internet customer, they'll give you a special wireless router that allows part of your bandwidth to be available to...

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I live in a shared house and we all use the same pc. People now know both my email addresses but one was meant to be for business use. How do I change the settings so that e-mail addresses aren't remembered on the pc when signing into websites etc.? I believe the best solution here would be for everyone to have their own unique login account. If you give the other people their own account, their preferences and history are kept in their user folder and they would no longer be seeing your information. But of course this means you have to enforce login discipline on your computer - tough to do in some households.

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My MS Office- Powerpoint shows default unit as "Inches". How do I change it to "centimeters" or "Millimeters"? Go into Microsoft Office Help and type in 'metric' (no quotes. Then hit 'search'. The very first item that should appear is the article 'change the ruler units from inches to centimetres'. Go to the article and follow the instructions. Incidentally, you'll be changing the Windows regional settings, not something in Office.

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How does Windows Vista actually differ from Windows XP? Is it actully worth getting it? There are many articles online that speak to what's new or different in Vista versus XP. Everyone has an opinion on whether it's worth switching. I found one article that not only identifies what's new, but suggests whether the same features could be had in other ways in XP. http://windows.about.com/od/windowsvista/tp/best_vista.htm In my mind, it is potentially a better OS...

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What is difference between POP3 and SMTP in mail transfers? SMTP is the protocol (mechanism) used to get email from the sending computer all the way to the recipient's email server. This could be at a company, an ISP, or a web mail hosting service (like Hotmail). POP3 is the protocol used to download the email message from a mail server to a computer using an email client program (like Outlook). When you check your email, the messages are...

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Help i have a bad case of spywere avg anti spyware tells me i have 42 cases of it from tracking spyware to aply now for a loan i can delete them allwith avg but soon as i go back on the net thay are back again You see, here's where I get a little angry about anti-spyware. I'm going to assume - like others that have responded, that AVG identified tracking cookies, rather than actual malware. If this is the case..... RELAX! Tracking cookies are a normal part of using the internet. I truly do not understand why everyone became so paranoid about web marketers tracking your surfing activity...

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Is the government going to start making people put stamps on emails? It's not the government you should worry about. This idea has come up before and it was proposed by the people who provide your internet access and/or your email service. Right now, the companies that built the internet superhighway are lobbying your government to make the internet 2 tier - data from sites that pay those companies a premium get first priority on the data highway. By the...

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Which symptoms identify a corrupted computer registry? Can I write a book? But seriously, a corrupt registry is one of the most annoying faults you can get on a Windows computer because it can affect so many things. The registry contains data pertaining to every piece of software installed on the computer, even down to program updates and what files live where or belong to what process. But that's not all. Hardware information is stored here...

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How do i download songs from my PC onto my MP3 player? That depends on your mp3 player. Some players provide software (to be installed on your computer) to act as the file transfer mechanism. Often this makes it easier to manage your collection and what parts you actually want loaded onto the player. Other mp3 players simplify the task by making it look like your mp3 player is just another USB attached memory device - like a memory stick. This...

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Describe categories of attack to a system that can occur as a result of ActiveX content downloaded via the Internet. Exam question alert.........

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Describe factors relating to electrical supply that should be considered prior to installing a computer system. Exam question.....

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Are computers running the ubuntu (linux) operating system susceptible to common viruses? There's really no such thing as a common computer virus. It would be better to define viruses as those designed to run on Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Java, Office Macros, etc.

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I'm going on holiday to Paris and i have made a list of places to visit. What i'm after is a website where i can enter these locations and see them all on one map, so i can see which ones are close to which others. Can anyone help? If you have a Google account, you can use Google Maps in My Maps mode, which allows you to place pins on the map to mark locations. That will help you see how they relate to each other.

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Do you think it’s proper to buy a CD, rip it to your hard drive, and then make copies for your own personal use on multiple devices or computers? Are there any types of copies that are more or less acceptable? There currently is no 'law' that prevents making copies for your own personal use. But the music industry is lobbying very hard to make it illegal. If they had their way, every copy of a piece of music you own for each device (car stereo, mp3 player, home stereo, computer) would have to be purchased separately.

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My laptop died. I need a new one. Preferably XP, good speed, decent memory, DVD capability, wireless. Only need it for work(documents/Word), email net surfing/researching, AB etc. Price range $1,000-$1,500. Any suggestions? I don't know what brands and models you have access to in your area. The brands I tend to stick to when it comes to laptops are Toshiba, Asus, HP, Dell. In that order. Or you could consider a Macbook. I did - haven't regretted it yet.

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Will flight simulator x work with directx 10? The story I heard is that Flight Sim X was 'optimized' for DirectX 10.

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I can't use my cd/dvd drive on my computer. Every time I try to put a cd in it does nothing. My computer is about 3 years old. I have only use the cd drive maybe once or twice. Anyone knows whats wrong. I also used a dvd cleaner but thats not helping Right click on My Computer and choose Properties. In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab. Then click the Device Manager button. In the list of devices should be a category called DVD/CD-ROM drives. Expand that category and look to see that your CD/DVD drive is listed. If it isn't this is your problem and I would follow Legend's instructions. If it is listed, make sure...

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Is anybody having trouble looking at "streetview" under google Maps. I use firefox . When I use IE, it works fine. Could there be something wrong with firefox? I am not having any problems - just to show you that it's not a problem everyone is experiencing.

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What is a peripheral? A peripheral is a computer device that when added to a computer, expands its capabilities. By some definitions, it describes devices that are optional in nature. But many people use the term to identify devices that are external to the case. So by one definition, monitors and keyboards are not considered peripherals because they're not really optional. But others would argue that using the...

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2 homes: Home-{A} has a P.C. Home {B} has no P.C. yet. Both homes are on same phone services. {A} Also has Internet service with different Co. that gives local Dial-Up. Can the P.C. in Home {A} be moved to Home {B} And used without making any changes? If I understand your situation - yes. You're using dial-up to connect to the internet at home {A}, so the server you dial into is theoretically same phone number, unless you moved to a different area code or an area that requires adding a 1 or the area code to the number dialed. This is the essence of roaming dial-up accounts provided with a broadband account - you should be able to use it...

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Why are screen savers useful? (if at all) Screen savers are no longer useful for the purpose they were originally created. 'Screen burn in' is a phenomenon that hasn't been an issue with monitors for over 12 years. This means that although you might think you're using a screen saver for something useful, today they're merely entertainment only. Although some argue that a screen saver is useful to lock...

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What is the difference between buffered and un-buffered RAM. I don't know if you're looking for a technical explanation or a general one, but buffered RAM is also known as registered RAM. In plain English, registered / buffered memory has a register on the memory module that acts as a go-between between the CPU and the RAM itself. Buffered RAM was invented to overcome the issue of electrical instability on motherboards with many memory modules.

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Where can I download Photoshop for free SAFELY? And how can I know for sure that it is safe? What others are saying is true. While finding a pirated copy of commercial paid software may not be difficult, it does come with risks. You really are better off just buying it for so many reasons. If you're serious about wanting a copy to try before you buy, you could always ask the company for a trial version. It may not be available, but you'll never know unless you try. If...

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I have some important videos on VHS tape and want to save to my computer. What equipment, level of computer, and programs do I need to do that? There is a one-stop solution to what you want to do and it takes into account the necessity for all the correct connectors and the video compression that shshao mentioned. Hauppauge makes an outboard device called the WinTV PVR that hooks to your PC via USB 2.0 It does much more than what you need it for - it can also turn your computer into a digital VCR (PVR) as long as you hook cable to...

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Why are more people blogging? I think people are discovering how easy it is to blog. But they will also discover over time how much effort it takes to maintain one (speaking from experience - 3+ years and counting). Let's face it, blogs don't have to cost anything but your time. But the point of a blog now is changing too. In the beginning it was just about a diary or journal made public. Now it's also...

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As internet cafes become more widespread, people are going to want ways of going to one anywhere in the world and conducting business form them. describe a way to produce signed doucments form one using a smart card . is your scheme secure? Is this an exam question?

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I have a new Acer laptop with Vista Home Basic. I have very few programs installed yet. I have BitDefender security. The slowness of opening and moving around is driving me nuts! Anyone else experiencing this? Here are my questions. Was it like this from the very beginning or has it gotten slow over a period of time? Does rebooting the laptop make things faster - even temporarily? How much RAM (memory) does your laptop have? Is the slowness affecting all programs or just certain types of activity - like browsing web pages? Your answers to these questions will steer us in the right direction.

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Got Bitdefender antivirus scanner its a bit worrying that it never ever finds a virus is that a good thing? Please don't be insulted by my question, because there are a lot of folks who don't know any better. But is your anti-virus program actually set to 'scan' all of your files on a regular basis? Are you basing the lack of viruses on the reported results of a complete scan? Also, are you sure you are getting all the latest anti-virus program's updates? If the program...

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Which Linux OS would be best for a multimedia computer? I enjoy watching & making movies, I have an extensive music collection, and I wish to get away from Windows. Word on the street points toward 64 Studio as the best option for serious multimedia tasks, but this may not be full featured enough for regular computing. Other multimedia focused distros include Musix, DeMuDi (Debian Multimedia Distribution) which kind of died out, and dyne:bolic (intended to be used as a Live CD). So if all you want to do is multimedia, I'd start with 64 Studio,...

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How many of you are e-bay users? Are you happy w/your transactions, so far? I use eBay on occasion. So far, I'm pretty happy. But I did a lot of research on the risks involved and am aware of what to look out for. People who go into eBay uninformed are likely to run into problems at some point. Due to the risks involved, I go into every transaction prepared for the worst and hoping for the best. My most recent incident involved a DVD I sold apparently not getting...

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Have you ever downloaded a song illegally? Crap, sorry, meant to submit this as a comment. Ignore....

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Why do i have to keep buying new technology? What if i don't want windows vista or a eye phone? You don't. I don't want Windows Vista either and I don't use it. I bought one copy to trial it at home and I chose not to continue using it. XP works just fine. There's no law that says you have to get it. It is still possible even (in fewer and fewer instances mind you) to buy a new PC with XP. You don't have to buy an iPod either. I didn't. I chose the...

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Whilst checking my firewall's event log, I was quite surprised by the frequent attempts of hackers to get past my firewall. Does this happen to you and does it bother you? Network probes happen all the time and they're not trying to get past your firewall, they're trying to get into your operating system.

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What is the best personal firewall software for my home Windows-based PC? The firewall built into Windows XP (service pack 2) isn't bad. It's weakness is primarily that it doesn't filter for connections trying to be made from outside. But this is easily solved if you own a Cable/DSL router, as these have a firewall in them that does the exact opposite. They only filter for connections trying to be made from outside. If that isn't good enough...

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Why computers use digital signals instead of analog signals? One of the main advantages of digital signals is that unlike analog signals which can expected to represent an infinite number of values in the signal, a basic digital signal only represents two values - 0 and 1. This makes it possible to suffer huge amounts of noise that would typically cripple an analog circuit.

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If I received two different emails from two different people on the same network (i.e. both have Yahoo email accounts), and the "Received from" IP address is the same number, does that mean the two computers are on the same LAN? No - it would indicate that they came from the same computer. But that's not necessarily the case either, because the IP address of the source PC is easily spoofed.

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Intel or Amd..Which one is better and how? That's a really tough question to answer. It really depends on what's important to you: price, power consumption, performance, ability to be overclocked, reliability, longevity, issues with overheating, internal architecture..... Both companies have various models of CPU that each have their pros and cons. To the average consumer, price is the bottom line and AMD tends to beat...

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Does more RAM mean that it will take longer to hibernate? Theoretically - yes. The more data is stored in RAM, the longer it would take to copy all of that data onto the hard drive to before the switch to hibernate mode. I don't think swap file data comes into play here (any Windows process experts here?) because it's already on the hard drive.

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What is the difference between Windows Vista Home Edition and Windows Vista Premium? If you mean the difference between Home Basic and Home Premium - a lot. The consensus is that Home Basic is a waste of most peoples' time because it doesn't really come with anything that defines Vista as a new, feature-rich OS. In fact Home Basic has less as an operating system than XP. I would never recommend Home Basic to anyone. My opinion.

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If you are using a DSL westell 6100 modem with a netgear WRG614 wireless router,are you supposed to connect the DSL modem's ethernet (output to computer cord) to the ethernet in port of the netgear wireless router.A friend gave me 1 with no instruction. Yes, that's how you would connect it.

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I'm about to buy a DSL wireless router.My service is Verizon w/DSL modem.I've narrowed my choice down to a (Netgear WGR14 802.11g/b wireless cable/DSL WiFi router) & a (2Wire 2700HG ADSL modem router wireless G firewall).Which is best for me? Hard to answer without knowing your priorities. I would recommend you read what features are available on each and compare what one has that the other does not. Some things to watch for is what types of wireless security do they offer? I would recommend choosing one with WPA2 security as an option. How many wired ports does it have and do you care? Do a search for reviews on both models...

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I need a combination wireless router/cable modem with parental controls. Does anyone have any product suggestions? I have to jump in here to offer what is often an unpopular take on this debate...... but we each have our own opinion, right? I am not a huge fan of parental controls. There are inherent weaknesses in relying on software to control other's web surfing habits. For one, every parental control software can be broken. This may come as a shock, but they all have vulnerabilities that are...

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I want to unistall internet explorer from my cpu, the add remove features don`t have it listed. I can`t even uprgrade is theres a way i can remove it from my cpu or a tool to fix it so i can upgrade? You do not need to uninstall IE to upgrade it. You simply download the newer version and install it. It is not possible to uninstall IE anyway, nor do you need to, even if you're using a different browser. Unlike most programs, IE is not a standalone program, but is an integral part of Windows. Microsoft did this on purpose.

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I have been losing several letters on my keyboard, meaning that when I first type them they don't show, I have to type that same letter 2 or 3 times before it shows. It isn't the keyboard because I replaced it and it is still doing the same thing. I don It may be purely software related too. Is this happening always in the same program? Are there any suspicious programs running in the background on your PC? These are my first 2 questions....

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Why is it some people go on the world wide web to (networking sites, chat rooms) 24/7 and take what people who are not local and ARE STRANGERS to heart on the internet? I think it's absurd. Do you? Well, some people establish a whole social experience online that they can't establish in real life (for whatever reason) and after a while some folks blur the line between their online lives and reality. So it becomes easy to take online experiences too seriously for some people. Did you have an example that you found absurd?

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I am trying to backup my DVD collection to my PC. I own the dvd's so I am not trying to copy for stealing pruposes, just trying to back them up so I can watch them from my pc without having to mess with the CD. Know a program I can get for free to help? This is the program I have used: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/RipIt4Me It's not perfect, it's not super easy, it requires (the last time I checked) additional free software to be installed to work completely. But I have had mostly successes.......... for legal backups of my own DVDs.

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Norton Internet Security comes with the option to install on 3 computers. Is this just a simple process of installing on three computers and using the same serial? Or is there other requirements like the computers being networked? I'm not sure what Norton's methodology is in your version, but when a program allows you to install on more than one computer, you can typically use the same serial number on each one - just follow the instructions. When the program contacts the company servers (such as happens during an update), it probably reports the hardware details at the same time, which includes data unique...

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What's the difference between broadband & DSL routers?Can you use a broadband on DSL service? The problem here is that the terminology has been abused to the extreme. DSL is a type of broadband service. So is cable internet. The boxes that are provided with DSL and cable internet services are not called routers. They're referred to as modems - which unfortunately, is also a huge misnomer, but I digress. A cable / dsl router or broadband router as it is also known, can be...

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I'm about to get my MCSE and my CCNA in a couple of months and i want to know where do i start to get the experiance i need to get a good job? i have no work experiance in the field so who will ever hire me to get that experiance? Don't get me started.... It's truly a double-edged sword. Sometimes, having 'any' computer experience can mask the lack of MCSE or CCNA experience when applying for a job. Sometimes the certification is called for even when they know they might consider hiring someone without that certification. If you really want to get experience without applying for a formal job,...

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Help! I just dropped my laptop and I had USB cord plugged in. The USB port got pushed into the computer. How can I fix it? I'm all for saving money when it comes to repairs, but I cannot recommend opening up a laptop computer that you care about if you've never opened up a piece of miniaturized electronics before. The reason I say this is that laptops are not built with the same size or type of screws and fasteners as those used in a normal desktop case. The screws are not only smaller, but of varying...

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Where can you find free web domains that do not require entering credit card number? As far as I know, there's no such thing as a free domain name. If someone can prove me wrong, that would be great, as I've been hoping for free domains since the birth of the internets.

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In your opinion which webcam is the best, and why? This is a tough question to answer unless I know what your priorities are. But in general, like everything else, you get what you pay for. Aside from resolution and added features, there's nothing really unique from one webcam to another. Personally, I would stick with the major brands, which at least offer some modicum of support. Logitech, Creative Labs, Microsoft, Labtec, more or less...

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XP or Vista? XP. Vista certainly has some improvements, but to enjoy what this OS has to offer generally requires the very latest in hardware. Plus, as a new OS (as others have said), it is in need of a service pack sized bug fix before I think it's ready for prime time. But don't take my word for it - Microsoft has already made it possible for corporations who bought new PCs with Vista...

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Along with the recycle bin not working I have noted that the sites I visit on the interent do not stay in my history. I have checked all the right boxes to keep the history for 10 days. Along with what avallach said, if it's not what he suggested - then I'd think Windows is having problems. Try examining your processes (through task manager) and look for anything unusual - Google is your friend here. If you cannot find any rogue software causing these symptoms, it may be time for a fresh Windows install.

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Which program for Mac do you think is better ... Safari or Firefox & why? I don't know about 'better'. I never really gave Safari a full workout. I know Firefox, I like it and it's available for Mac - so I use Firefox on my Mac.

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Would you use Vista, or just hang it up and use Linux instead? I haven't given Vista a fair try. I've only tried it on my laptop and I wasn't impressed. So I went back to XP. Knowing that Vista won't come into its own until the first service pack, I took a different tack. I bought a Macbook. Just to give it a try. My Windows laptop hasn't seen the light of day since. I still use my XP desktop, but the Macbook and I have...

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I have windows xp now. I would like to install linux too.My hard drive is only 80 GB. Please advise me to do that There is another option. It has risks, but it often works. First, backup anything important to you (that can't be re-installed). Then use a program like Partition Magic to resize the existing partition and make it smaller to make room for a second partition for Linux. Some distributions of Linux (like Ubuntu), have this ability built in. Problem solved.

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Most computers come loaded with crap. How do I know what is ok/safe to delete or uninstall? Tell us what was installed and we'll offer our suggestions. Some included software may be of value.

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What company produces the best laptops at a reasonable price? I'm sure you know this is a hard question to answer because it really depends on your priorities. Some people really value a laptop that won't fall apart easy. Others value less weight. Others like a battery that last more than 3 hours. Others focus on after sales support or reliability or availability of accessories and parts. Others only care that they got the best bang for their...

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For the average computer user, learning DOS was a waste of time. What other program knowledge will be useless in 10 years? I'm sorry that this doesn't answer your question, but I have to counter that having DOS knowledge isn't a complete waste of time. Anyone without DOS knowledge is useless at the command line. Command line knowledge is extremely useful in troubleshooting some Windows problems and even more useful in Unix /Linux (which isn't going anywhere any time soon). When I was teaching...

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Can you uue a DVD disk to make a audio disk? One that will store CDDA (normal CD audio) and play in every CD player..... no. One that stores mp3 files, playable in a CD player that is mp3 capable (or a computer)...... yes.

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In layman's terms, what is the difference between a MacBook and a Macbook Pro? Macbook Pro comes with hardware that provides better performance. You said layman's terms, so I'm trying to stay away from technical details. For regular everyday use that doesn't require the best graphics, the biggest screen, a lot of file storage, etc., the Macbook is good enough (I just bought one). They're more affordable too. Power users will appreciate the extra...

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If I'm going to start blogging, what are the pros and cons of starting my own website vs. using a blogging website? Using your own domain name: Adds a certain amount of prestige and status to the blog, but costs money. I've heard arguments for and against your own domain for a blog. I tend to take a compromise position. If your blog gets a life of its own and becomes really popular, you might want to get your own domain name and use ad revenue to help fund the cost. Using a blogging website: Free....

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Do you back up files on your computer every once in awhile? Absolutely! I use an external hard drive to store backup Ghost images of my hard drive. Is it necessary to go to this extreme? No. In reality all I 'need' to do is backup any files that cannot be replaced (Windows and programs can be re-installed). But having a working Ghost image eliminates the need to have to reconfigure everything and add updates, etc. I also make backup copies of...

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I want to share some long family videos online. I want to stream the videos; they're way too big for email attachments. And I only want to share them with family, not the whole Web. What are the best free sites for privately streaming lengthy videos? Youtube allows you to set the broadcast option to 'private', which does not share the video you upload with the whole web and allows you to decide who can view it (on a video by video basis) up to 25 people.

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In the market who is selling more mac or pc? According to Mac's stats, MacBooks have 14.3% of the laptop market and 10.4% of the desktop market. Those figures are not confirmed and likely inflated. But pundits agree Mac's share of the market is growing. But for the foreseeable future, PCs still rule.

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What is the best free software for making basic PDF files? It might be overkill, but the OpenOffice suite, an open source and free alternative to Microsoft Office, has the inherent ability to save 'any' document as a PDF. Built in.

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Why A and B drive names are missing in the PCs these days? It's because A and B were reserved solely for floppy drive use. Since floppies were used to boot from, especially while troubleshooting, it was handy having them get their drive letters first. Even though we don't have floppy drives in PCs today, the drive letter convention remains for backwards compatibility. By the way, this is a DOS / Windows phenomenon. Unix / Linux / Mac do...

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How can i make a simple web page that will allow me to show pics of my dogs and the puppies so people can see them I have 2 alternatives: Set up a Blogger blog and post the pictures with narratives too; or Join Facebook and post pictures and more, plus enjoy a means to keep in touch with friends and relatives.

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Is it an invasion of privacy to monitor employees E-mail and internet use at work? In fact, (just to add to avallach JSAIMU's awesome answer) thanks to certain laws, companies are now required to keep an archive of their email in case content is used in any type of litigation.

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Do you think that PC computer companies have basically screwed all of their customers by only offering the Vista operating system on new machines? This is yet another reason why I often tell my clients to consider buying a clone (non-brand name on the case - but brand name components on the inside) from a mom and pop computer store instead. They will often accept orders to install XP instead. There are still a few brands that will install XP, but they are dwindling in number and many don't make it obvious.

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I'm used to XP but the laptop I'm getting only comes with Vista. I have no choice. What compatibility or other issues can I expect? Never used vista before and I've heard both good and bad stories... Like Kieran B said, the biggest thing you'll notice is that things don't seem to be where they belong in the GUI. You'll also notice that it asks your permission to do administrative type tasks now. As far as compatibilities go, there aren't a lot of programs that don't work with Vista, so that shouldn't be an issue unless you happen to use what I'd call...

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Can i use a wireless router on my computer when it isn't a laptop, do I have to inform my internet service provider? You seem to be asking 2 questions here. You do not have to inform your ISP that you are using a wireless router. You can use a wireless router with any kind of computer, laptop or otherwise.

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When going through the proceedure to reinstall Windows XP, when I get to the Set up page which gives you three options: Press enter to begin, F3 to repair or Esc. to exit my keyboard is totally unresponsive. Any Ideas why? Even after running utility progr If your keyboard connects to the case /tower via USB as opposed to a regular keyboard connector, this may cause a problem. There's a BIOS setting that can disable USB keyboard support. See if you can find that and make sure keyboard USB support is enabled. Otherwise, the keyboard may not be detected until 'after' XP is installed.

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How do you make an mp3 file on your computer? There are a variety of options. You can use a single program like Windows Media Player or iTunes to both extract the audio from a music CD and then encode it into an mp3 file all in one fell swoop. An mp3 file is just another type of file format to store music, albeit a compressed one that requires decoding to play the music back. Some people prefer using software that offers more control...

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What is the best anti-virus progarm that gets rid of trojans..besides avg. I'm afraid the answer is - none. No one program can detect and remove 'every' Trojan that exists - even the paid ones. Your defence against this situation is to identify what Trojan you do have and search for a manual removal tool or find manual steps to remove it. You might be tempted to install more than one anti-virus program - don't. It's a bad idea and they...

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Is it possible to take a freeze-frame from an online Flash video clip (e.g. YouTube videos) and capture it as an image file? If so, how does one go about doing this? Well, I do it all the time, but it's pretty low tech. I just pause the video on the frame I want to capture (this might take several attempts) then use my screen capture utility (I use Screen Seize) to capture the frame and save it as a bmp file, which I then resize and convert (using Irfanview) to a jpg.

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My old AMD Athlon 3700+ has 4 memory slots for a maximum of 4GB DDR memory. My new AMD Athlon 4400+ has only 2 memory slots for a maximum of 2GB DDR2 memory. Isn't my new pc actually a step backward? The short answer - yes. It is a step backward in terms of how much memory you can have. I noticed from your comments to other answers that your PC is an eMachine. That tells me a lot right there. eMachines are not known for including quantity or quality of parts in their computers compared to the next higher price range. You know the old saying - 'you get what you pay for'? I love...

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Occasionally my internet stops working and I need to restart my modem to get it back; is there a way to stop it from dying on me? (I have dsl) Note the time when it stops working. Is it the same time each occasion? If it is, it may be your IP address getting renewed by your ISP

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Why computer's industry is not like car's industry in terms of "the product"? What I want to say is why is not an industry capable of producing packs and not parts as the market actually is... I remember when they sold incredible packs... I think I understand your question, but I don't agree with your conclusion. If I choose to buy a car, I am more often than not denied the ability to customize and choose the parts I want included in that vehicle. What if I want a 4 cylinder with turbo? What if I want sport-shift on my automatic transmission. What if I want an auxiliary audio input for my stereo? I can't always get...

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My AMD Athlon 3700+ came with a 512MB (PC3200, 400MHz) DDR memory stick. Would a 1024MB PC5300 DDR2 memory stick be compatible as an add on? It is highly likely to be compatible (as an add-on). It won't hurt anything to try it, unless it's totally the wrong kind of RAM for your computer. If you told the store selling the RAM what model of PC or better - motherboard you have, they'll easily be able to tell if it will work or not. The problem is going to be that the speed the new RAM is rated for will not be acheived...

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When I start my PC, I can hear a loud noise from the fan direction, louder than usual. Still, about 15-20 seconds after I log on my user account the whizzing noise disappears almost instantaneously and can't be heard again until next turning on..? The fan in your power supply is dirty. The symptoms you describe are classic 'dirty fan' symptoms. Do as CWST suggested and use compressed air on the fan blades to blow the grime off. 85% of the time, that works. Otherwise, you may have to hand clean the fan blades.

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What is the best software to design websites? The best free software out there that I am aware of is Nvu. Product site: http://www.nvu.com/index.php Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nvu I haven't had time to play with it much, but it's been getting rave reviews for a free product.....

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Can you burn .mp3 files onto a "data cd" to transfer them to another computer? Yes. An mp3 file is treated just like any other computer file when you burn a 'data' CD.

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My mouse freezes up sometimes, I can't click or do anything. It's fine right when I turn on the computer, then it freezes for a short period and it gets longer. Help? After Windows boots, right click on the task bar and open task manager. Click the processes tab and click the CPU header to sort the list by CPU usage until the list is in the order with the most CPU usage at the top of the list. When the mouse freezes, watch to see what process if any is pegging CPU usage. If nothing's happening in the list when the freeze occurs, it's probably a...

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O'h please, i have been trying to get AVG Firewall on VISTA to install and it won't, i am sick of it, why is'nt it straight forward What exactly did you buy? AVG Internet Security Home Edition? If so, it is supposed to be compatible with Vista. If you're having problems with this paid software, they offer free support from their web site. http://www.grisoft.com If you are asking about a different product, let me know, and I'll help out. See - we're not all rude........

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I need alot of help on my a+ certification hardware exam any tips or quick good answers for the test i took it about two times and maneged to get a 417 score on it .. I know you don't want to hear this, but I'm being honest. It is very difficult to pass an A+ exam without having some experience in the industry. Because all the cramming in the world isn't going to cement the knowledge you need to pass it. How do I know? I used to teach elements of A+ and our students found it difficult to pass the exam before getting out into the real...

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Where can you check to find out how much MB your video card has? One (free) program I use to get information like that is System Information for Windows: http://www.gtopala.com/

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How do I reduce the noise from my HDD fan? Any programs? Based on your comment to another person's answer, I think you're talking about the power supply (if it's rated at 450W). In that case - no. There are noisy fans and quiet ones. They are what they are. If you need a quieter fan in your power supply, I would take the new one back and ask for one with a quieter fan.

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Would a Panasonic Toughbook be a reliable machine for use in a building that isn't climate controlled and is often open to the elements? According to the specs listed here for the CF30 model: http://www.panasonic.ca/english/Office/notebook/cf30_specs.asp It can operate from 5C to 35C (41F to 95F), so that might answer your question. Even ruggedized laptops aren't impervious to the elements, but they're often better equipped than regular laptops.

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What is an operating system? An operating system tells a computer how to work with all of its parts. It also provides an interface for you to interact with the computer. A computer must have an operating system to do anything, including running other programs. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard or mouse, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and...

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Been doing alot of movie downloads, some are .rar, .avi, .bin and cue whatever, why all the varieties, why don't we all use the same, life would be simpler for us all? Personal preference. It's that simple. People who offer movies will offer them in .bin and cue formats if they are inclined to save you the hassle of creating your own image from the movie file. People compress the movies to make them download faster. People choose different movie formats because they have preferences of quality, or file size, or whatever. If I have a particular...

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I just bought a Dell computer that came with a dvd burner 16x DVD-/+ burner . The burner will not allow me to burn DVD+R only DVD-R. I've tried to burn the same movie on both types but had no luck with the DVD+R. Why does one work and not the other. Sometimes computer manufacturers label their DVD burners (+/-) to refer to read capability only. What is the exact model of Dell you bought? If you present it in the comments, we can prove that one way or the other.

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I have windows xp profestional and windos xp home both on my rebuilt pc and it's taking up all my memory,how do I uninstall one of them? It depends on how exactly you have 2 versions of Windows installed on the same computer. Are you greeted by a menu asking you to choose which version to boot to every time you turn your PC on? If so, you may have one Windows version on a separate partition. Getting rid of one might be a little tricky, but not impossible. There is too little information to give you a good answer.

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Is anybody here a computer wiz? I need help with my brand new computer big time! What kind of help do you need? We're here to help. We just need to know what you want. What's the trouble?

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Why do laptops cost more than desktop PC's? Because of the task of fitting all those components into such a small package. The parts that go into a laptop are more miniaturized than normal and that typically costs money. Plus, laptop parts need to be able to take more heat than their desktop counterparts because of the lack of sufficient cooling. Also, unlike a desktop, where each component is modular and usually transferable from...

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Is limewire (a "free" website to download music on) really free, or is it a scam. If not a scam, will it bring viruses, spyware, or any bad stuff into my computer? People get infected not because of Limewire, but because of downloading untrusted content. It makes no difference if you got the music from Limewire, Bearshare, WinMX, a web site, a web folder share, someone's iPod, a friend's email........... Untrusted content comes with risk. Period!

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Why is it a bad idea to be on a computer during a storm? Generally, yes - it's a bad idea. But even if you turn your PC off during a storm, you can still experience damage to the system from lightning coming in through the AC power or the phone line or cable line (if applicable). So invest in a good surge protector to absorb as much errant energy as possible. Replacing a $40 surge protector is much better than replacing a $1000 computer.

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Do you prefer inkjet or laser printers? Which brand? If we're talking just black printing, I would always go with laser over ink jet. It's just a better quality of printing. The cost of operation is lower too. But when we include colour in the equation, colour laser printers still have a long way to go before they match the vibrant colours offered by ink jet printers. But now we have the dilemma of ink cartridge cost. So if colour...

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Is sending music files through E-Mail illegal? The RIAA would have you think so. But no - it isn't.

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What steps can I take to adequately restrict internet access to adult websites on our "family computer" at home? What software is available if any? Everyone has the right of course to try to limit what their children can view on the internet. But I should caution those that would make use of software to achieve this purpose. Typical net-nanny software is far from perfect and can lead to a false sense of security. Because while this software may be marketed as being very effective at blocking objectionable content, the truth is far...

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I need to buy a new computer, but don't have alot of money to spend. Which computer is the better of the two...emachines or a Dell? Between eMachines and Dell, the choice is Dell every time.

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How close can speakers (magnets) get to a hard-drive without risking the loss of data? I would keep them a foot away at least. But speakers designed for a computer are typically magnetically shielded. If that's the case, they would be safe right next to the drive.

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Can someone recomend a good free antivirus program that is not agv that is good Avast is another alternative to AVG. Clam Win is another. http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html http://www.clamwin.com/ I'm curious to know why you're not interested in AVG though.....

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How do you know where to look on your PC for what type of proper driver you need to display your PC on your TV? The ability to display your PC video on your TV rarely has anything to do with a driver and more to do with proper connections. If you have a TV OUT port on your video card, you should be good to go. All you then need is the proper cable.

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Why are operating systems considered to be mutually exclusive and enemies? Why can't they be friends? http://elilies.com/parallels.jpg - it's better when they get along. In my experience it has to do with choices. Windows doesn't really give you the option to install other operating systems on the same computer. Linux has no problem with the idea and usually installs a boot loader to give you the choice every time you boot. Regardless, each operating system must live on its own partition so that they don't meddle in each others' file systems....

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I read conflicting opinions on the effectiveness of *Registry Cleaners* to improve performance of a PC. Anyone know the straight scoop, if they work which should I try? (It's hard to find good computer maintenance info, so much clutter to dig through) Registry cleaners were designed by people. People who have to try and predict how all the software that might be installed on your computer affects the Windows registry. When these people predict correctly, the cleaner does its job and cleans out irrelevant entries. When you have software on your computer that does not follow the standard practises of what goes where in the registry, these...

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What is a good brand of PC laptop? Can you really get a GREAT laptop for under $700 or do you need to spend more for quality? I want a Mac but hubby doesn't want to spend the $$ :( I've been finding that there isn't much difference in price between laptop brands with the same specs. So what that means in my books, is that you get what you pay for. So a $700 laptop just might satisfy your needs, but it's going to be hard to determine those needs if you don't know what they are. What you need to do is talk to a few people about what you intend to...

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Why is a tablet PC so expencive, although notebooks are so cheap? I'm guessing the extra cost has to do with the touch screen capability. And if we're talking about a true tablet (no separate screen that lifts up like a regular laptop), they tend to be much thinner than regular laptops and that extra miniaturization also costs more money.

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I just saw a site that allowed new users to talk to verified owners of consumer products. Is this more useful than reading product reviews? I think it would be more useful, so long as it is legit. The problem I have with user review sites as they are now, is that for one thing, they tend to get polluted with reviews from folks who either work for the company (and therefore write unwarranted shining reviews), or the competition (and write unwarranted negative ones), or users who don't write balanced reviews (like why...

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I have had wireless installed to cover 2 computers having no end of problems from no emails,slow connections and pop ups,anyone else had problems and should i get it uninstalled. Well, I can't tell why you're getting slow connections, but I will tell you that there's no point blaming the wireless connection for pop-ups and no email. The connection either works or it doesn't - it can't change the characteristics of what applications work properly on the connection (save for a firewall setting - again, not a fault of wireless). Please...

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What brand of computer are you using right now? My computer isn't a brand name - it's a clone with brand name parts. I have an MSI motherboard, Seagate hard drive, eVGA video card, a Cooler Master case and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor. Of course - this is a desktop, not a laptop. Buying this way gives me much more control over what's inside. But it's a personal choice. There's nothing wrong with Dell or HP etc....

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My pc shutdown problem is as following: (i)when my LAN cable is plugged into the network card the pc hangs at the stages "Closing Network Connection" and will not shut down already. what is the cause the problem?Can somebody help...urgent>>>>>>Thanks.. Are there any other computers on your LAN? Are you sharing or serving files to those computers? Is there anything on your PC that might be still connected to the internet (bittorrent; malware; IM). All these and more can be culprits.

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What is the difference between DVD and double sided DVD A double sided DVD is essentially two DVD discs glued together by their top (label) sides. Giving you twice the capacity, but needing to flip sides to read the data on the other side (unless you have one of those fancy DVD players that can read the top and bottom of a DVD).

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Does the internet help expose and promote music, or is it destroying music through p2p? It depends who you ask. The recording industry would have us believe that p2p is hurting their business. But independent (read: not paid for by the recording industry) studies have revealed that there is no measurable correlation between p2p downloads and slumping music sales. I personally believe the reason music sales have slumped is because: 1. Music isn't perceived by the masses...

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How do I turn a picture into a 50x50 avatar? Irfanview (a great free picture viewer program) has the ability to change picture sizes right down to the pixel height / width you want. The only thing you'd need to do in advance is make sure the picture was already an equal height / width, then shrinking to 50 x 50 pixels is easy.

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Is there anything wrong with clearing out your cookies folder occasionally? (Documents and Settings -> User ->etc) There's nothing wrong with it, but it's a waste of time. My opinion only - there is little point clearing your cookies, which are so very useful for the sites that use them for your benefit, when you consider that as soon as you resume browsing the net, they return almost instantly.

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Why are we so hooked on our computers? Because it can provide us with so many things. I mean - think about it. What other item in our possession can we use to map out a trip, find the nearest pizza place, check into an upcoming flight, read reviews of a hotel, fly a virtual plane, contact friends, listen to music, watch video, live in virtual worlds, build virtual cities and learn about things we want to know more about?

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What anti-virus software do you recommend and what software do you have on your computer? Grisoft's AVG and that's what I have on my PC. The free version.

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I have a USB2 External harddrive and when i plug it into my usb1 it registers but dosen't show the drive in my computer, so i can't access it. When i plug into usb2 computer it works. What version of Windows are you running? USB drives don't always work on any version of Windows older than XP.

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Do you use Wikipedia as a reference to questions and answers? How has it helped you? Absolutely. It is no worse than any other source of information. You just have to use it with the caveat "don't believe everything you read". It has helped me in more ways than I can count.

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Highest bid $115? For "QPOP.COM"? Shouldn't I get more? I'm selling it at GoDaddy's domain auction but the auction only has about 20 hours left and the highest bid is only $115. Shouldn't a name like QPOP.COM sell for mor I think you will find that domain names don't garner the same degree of interest as they used to in light of what magentastudios said, and that many jurisdictions have passed anti-squatting laws. Meaning that there's no point sitting on a potentially popular domain if the organization that would logically want it has the right to sue the squatter and is likely to win.

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Why are so many people anti Wikipedia? I think it's because some parts of society aren't ready to accept a resource that is so editable by the masses. If I was a person who relied solely on printed material, I would probably find Wikipedia to be an abomination because the material can be contradicted by anyone. The generation that grew up on encyclopedias and other reference textbooks cherish static information because...

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What would be a good brand of External Harddrive to get for storing pictures, mp3's, and various files on? Are they reliable? I'm partial to the well known brand name external hard drives like Seagate, Maxtor and Western Digital. They are as reliable as their internally installed counterparts. Which means they could fail without warning too. So it's a question of how many copies of your irreplaceable files do you need to feel safe.

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My C Drive is completely full on my desktop computer. How do i move my Windows XP operating system to my very empty D Drive from my C Drive? If you intend to keep your original drives exactly as they are configured, you cannot move Windows to the D: The reason is that as long as the drive is still called 'D:', any reference to the original paths to files residing on 'C:' would then be completely invalid. This includes registry entries. There is another option though. If you would consider swapping hard...

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If you started up your own anti -virus company , what would you call it? The Wallrus - fireWALL and anti-viRUS. Sorry, best I could do on short notice.

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Is there any way to right click on something that is not right clickable (right clicking disabled)? If you explained exactly what you're trying to do, we might be better prepared to give you a solution.

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My compaq presario v2000 is not registering that the AC adapter is plugged in. It's running on battery only, it will not recharge. It has been restarted. What could cause it to do this? How do I fix it? It sounds like your AC adapter is broken. It happens. If you know anyone with a multimeter, they could confirm it for you. AC adapters are not economically worth repairing, because they are cheaper to replace. Once you get proof that it is broken, buy a replacement. Make sure to get one suited for your particular laptop, or you will have the same problem again in less than a few weeks.

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I'm a math tutor, but I can't be everywhere 24/7. I was wondering if there were software that I could use to solve problems and send them to others online. I've heard of graphic tablets, but I was wondering if that is my only option or are there others? What follows may be a rudimentary solution, but hear me out. If you already have the ability to 'write' on your own PC because it's a tablet or you have a touch pad usable for drawing / writing, you're halfway there. Use Windows XP's built in Remote Assistance tool to let your students watch what you're doing on your own PC. This will only work with one person...

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When i switch on my computer, where it shows all the users under each one its shows the mount of inbox amount, how do i remove this? If you mean you want to disable the Unread Mail Messages on your Welcome Screen, the fix is a registry edit. Go to this site: http://www.pctools.com/guides/registry/detail/1009/ the instructions are there. Always back up your registry before editing it to be safe.

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When I turn on my PC only the green light on the tower turns on. No sound, no fan, no hard drive noises. The monitor works and is connected to tower, reads "no signal". The light goes off only if i cut the power, and it turns off after 2 sec delay. help. Sounds like power supply or an electrical problem with the motherboard and anything connected to it or the power supply. The first thing I would try is to disconnect external devices from the case, then internal devices from the power supply or mother board one by one and see if things improve. You may find your culprit. If not, then it's the mobo or power supply.

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What determines the speed of a LAN that consists of both 10Mbps and100Mbps devices Who is talking to who. If there are 3 devices and one is 10Mbps, the two 100Mbps devices can operate with each other at that speed. But as soon as communications involves the slower device, the speed comes down to match that device.

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Is it legal to pick up other wireless signals to use laptop when not at home? It does depend on where you live as to whether laws exist covering this type of activity. I believe it is improper to take advantage of someone's unprotected wireless connection for one basic reason - often the owner has no idea what they're doing and even though it's their fault for not reading the manual, wireless setup is not easy and many users just give up on proper...

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Something is always running on my pc. How can I make it stop. I have done the whole ctrl alt delete thing and the msconfig in the run menu but it is still not telling me what is running. When you do the whole ctrl alt delete thing and choose task manager to look at your processes, click the CPU column until the highest CPU numbers are at the top of the list. Then monitor the highest CPU processes. They will change over time, you'll need to watch for a while. If you care to list which processes are hogging the most CPU time, we can offer more assistance.

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Will using an proxy server or anonymity network like TOR, keep my ISP from tracking my clickstream, browsing history, etc...? No, it will not. Using an anonymity service only prevents the other end point (web servers, etc) from tracking you. Your ISP is the access point to the internet, so they have the capacity to see everything - and - they are subject to laws in some jurisdictions to turn their records over to law enforcement if required.

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Which is the best processor for a computer? Are you asking for someone to compare AMD to Intel?

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What program should I use to create a logo for my website? No price range for the program. If you have budget constraints, I would recommend The Gimp. It's an open source alternative to Photoshop and is available for Windows. It will cost you nothing. http://www.gimp.org/windows/

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Funniest blog website ever? I've been a fan of defective yeti for a long time. http://www.defectiveyeti.com/

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I'm going to purchase a laptop with a hard drive speed of 4200 RPM. Is it worth it to upgrade to 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM hard drive? How old is the laptop? You didn't mention if it's new. If it's more than 3 years old, I would venture to say that a faster hard drive might not make much of a difference.

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My computer has no audio output device. what can I do to get one or can I download it so I can hear my music? An audio output device isn't something you can download, like software. An audio output device is referring to your sound device or parts of it (a sound device may have more than one audio output function). If yours isn't working and you're sure there's a sound device installed, you may need to install drivers for that device.

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Is there a limit on the number of blogs you can have at once on a regular Blogger account? And if so, what is it? I have no idea. But I have a great suggestion. Ask the folks at Blogger. They're usually pretty good at answering questions about their product.

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When I first start my puter it works fine for a few minutes and then get's very slow. After a restart all seems ok. It is a two yo HP Pavilion. I did some hard drive checks and they said ok. Very little data on the 100g memory. There's a really good, step-by-step article on tuning up XP here: http://www.tweak3d.net/.../15-minute-xp-tune-up The only thing it doesn't cover is infections or malware.

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Instructions on how to make a website where you can leave stuff like riddles and brain teasers for othe pepople to see If you just want something of hobby quality and don't care about your own domain name etc., I would consider publishing your riddles and stuff on a blog. With Blogger, there is no cost and I think the medium would be well suited to your idea.

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Are personal blogs a result of societal isolation or just purely priviledge and self absorption? I blog for a number of reasons, most of them selfish and self absorbed. And yet - I have regular readers. But seriously, I consider it a form of therapy, a creative outlet, a way to rant about life, a means of sharing the interesting things I find on the web, a means to ask people their opinion on stuff. It's OK if my audience is small. I don't know if I would continue indefinitely...

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I need to add more devices to my ethernet router Buy a switch. Connect the switch to one port on the router. This gives you more total ports.

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What's the best way to clean a laptop screen? Lint free cloth using distilled water. Windex = bad. Pure rubbing alcohol may do the trick in extreme cases. Tap water will leave residue. Apply the lightest pressure possible while cleaning. Do not allow liquid to drip into the display casing. Ever.

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What is a situation in which it is appropriate to use a null modem cable that has a 9-pin connector on one end and a 25-pin connector on the other? When one device has a full 25 pin serial port and the other device only has a 9 pin serial port. I know that sounds sarcastic, but it's true.

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Should a null modem cable be used in place of a modern network connection, if a network connection is available? I don't know what you mean by 'in place of a modern network connection'. A null modem cable is a serial cable that allows for communication between a DTE and another DTE without involving a DCE. In plain english, it allows you to connect two terminals (PCs) together via their serial ports. But if you have a modern network available (Ethernet ports, cabling and a hub or...

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Can someone passwords sent over the internet if they ONLY have my IP address? Only if they've infected your computer or know the login for a user with admin privileges. But you said ONLY your IP, so the straight answer is NO.

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Can someone hack into my computer and look at personal files if they ONLY have my IP address? Theoretically, they could, but the conditions would have to be just right for that to happen. If you have a firewall separating you, have kept your OS updated, and have a functional anti-virus program running, that reduces most of the risk right there. But this is a scenario much less likely to occur these days as there are much easier ways to get into a person's computer - let the...

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Hello, I am wondering if anybody can help me. I accidently downloaded 2 Dr.Antispy products to delete some viruses on my computer, and i am trying to get a refund for one of them but they wont return my e-mail. can anyone help or know how to contact them. I could be wrong, but my sources indicate that Dr Antispy products are malware - in other words they don't do anything good for your PC - just the opposite.

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If you used someone's microsoft office for students and it allows 4 computers to download is it ok to download on your computer. I'm sorry if I'm being a moron, but I don't quite understand. If the Student edition allows for 4 installations of Office, you want to know if it's OK to install it on your computer? If there aren't already 4 installations, then my answer would be yes.

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Right now I am having different gas and electric providers submit bids for my business. I am thinking that a fixed rate is better than a variable rate. Do you have any thoughts on the matter? Just to counter rustedearth's argument, companies often calculate their fixed rate after estimating where they think rates are going to go over a certain period. They tend to estimate high, because they don't want to lose money if rates go up. So if you think rates are going to fluctuate a lot, choosing variable is often going to weigh in your favour because the low cycle will make up...

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What are you thoughts on fascist controlling parental prick software? http://www.pic-pc.com/ There are inherent weaknesses in relying on software to babysit children's web surfing habits. For one, every parental control software can be broken. So, in the end, it leads to a false sense of security. Second, using this type of software sends the wrong message to our children - that there is an automated, non-human, blanket solution to every problem. Third, parental control...

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Which is the software that you'd recommend to rip audio CD's to mp3's? also specify if its available for free download, I'm looking for something that's free and works efficiently. The software I use is called CDex. Been using it for years. http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos/ It is free.

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What is the best way of preparing your laptop for a trip? Preparing? I'm not aware of any preparations that are needed. Mind you - I'd be doing a backup before the trip just in case. As for packing, I would never pack a laptop in anything that will be leaving my sight. Find a nice, padded carrying case that can hold all the cables and mouse and anything else and just keep it in there. Keep it with you at all times and treat it like the...

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We have a computer monitor, an Amptron ES19. HOW do you turn it OFF without turning the computer off? (Can't find the off button anywhere.) I saw the picture of your monitor and I understand what you mean. The power switch may not be on the front panel. Sometimes they hide it underneath or on the side or back - expecting you to read the manual (if you have one). If you have no luck finding one, go here: http://www.amptron.com/html/es_monitor.html and use the link at the bottom of the page to email their sales department...

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Why defects are always seen in any software? Can we have defect free softwares ever? The problem with creating software for the PC platform is that you can never know every configuration combination that may exist on the user's PC. Nor can you anticipate every hardware setup. Then you have to adjust for different operating systems. The effect that updates have on the OS. There are so many variables. Even if you create software that is totally unaffected by any...

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Why doesn't my burnt DVD play on my DVD player? I am using DVD+R discs on my HP laptop to burn DVDs. Just a stab in the dark, but if you don't 'finalize' a DVD, it may not play in your DVD player.

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I never use the outlook express,is it alright to remove it.If so,what's the proper procedure to do this. Thanks,Steve Unfortunately, you could look through the list of installed programs all day and not find Outlook Express listed. When you get to the add / remove programs list, click 'add / remove windows components' on the left side. Outlook Express will be listed as a Windows Component. Uncheck the box next to it and click 'next' to uninstall it.

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I shut off my computer overnight and when I turned it on the next morning it sounds different then before and the fan is working double fast. Its kind of like the sound when you put a CD in and its loading up. Its been like this for week whats the problem Just a guess, but if it's your fan making the racket, it could just be dirty. The scenario you describe is consistent with a dirty fan. If it's noisy when you first turn the PC on, then quiets down after a few minutes, dirt is a likely culprit. Use a can of compressed air on the fan blades - this usually fixes the problem.

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Why do some websites have “http://” in front of the www? Just to expand on what AB-Jon said, there is also https. If you try to access a site that requires that protocol without specifically typing it in, it won't work.

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My computer moves really slow and sometimes freezes. How can I clean out my computer to prevent it from shutting down? There's a really good, step-by-step article on tuning up XP here: http://www.tweak3d.net/joomla/tweak-guides/windows-xp/15-minute-xp-tune-up The only thing it doesn't cover is infections or malware.

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What is the worst program you have ever downloaded? (perhaps you downloaded something intentionally only to find is was just an adware, spyware, or trojan program) The worst for me was Morpheus.

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Name the anti-virus of your choice and justify. Also name your least preferred anti-virus. I don't have a least preferred program, although I find Norton and McAfee too bloated for my needs. I've been using AVG for 4 years and have no issues. But I am not at much risk of infection due to my computing habits. In my opinion, it's much more important to learn everything you can about safe computing than squabbling over anti-virus brands. Because once you reduce your...

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Does having more programs installed on a computer slow it down? Besides the hard drive space issue, and the running many programs at the same time issue brought up already, it will slow Windows down a bit because of all the extra registry entries. But this isn't constant slowness, it tends to be more pronounced at bootup. Also, each new program may install a helper program in the system tray and that can also slow things down a little.

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Computer moniters. which one to buy? This may sound facetious, but buy the one you like. I've interrupted more people trying to convince others on which monitor to buy, like their preferences are the same as everyone's preferences. Buy the best monitor you can afford that has the picture quality you like, but don't go crazy, because costs are always falling.

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Do you prefer explorer over firefox? or vis versa? Firefox wins hands down. I don't get crashes at all.

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Can someone tell me a bit about the SiS Utility Tray, and which people actually use it? I've heard it can be a bit of a security risk on the computer due to the way it works, but I'm not techno-savvy so I can't figure out HOW that would be. I've never seen any mention that this utility is a security risk. All this utility does is offer access to SiS video settings from the tray instead of by any other means. There are some folks who feel that having utilities running all the time in the tray is a waste of system resources, especially if you don't use it much. I tend to agree.

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I'm looking into buying a new laptop. What are the pros and cons of owning a Mac vs. a PC? I sometimes get the feeling like I've tried to answer this question so many times lately. I'll try to be brief. In general, a Mac's hardware and software work so well together because they were made for each other (literally). Where Macs suffer is from software availability. In other words, you might not find the same degree of expansive variety of Mac software as for a PC. ...

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Before you are about to upgrade your operating system for your pc , does it need to be reformated? Ideally - yes. (I assume we're talking about Windows) It doesn't need to be formatted, but Windows upgrades typically do not do as well as fresh installs on a blank hard drive. Your software will usually integrate much better with a fresh install of Windows than migrating to a newer version by the upgrade method. This is not my opinion. This is based on the experiences of many...

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What is the fastest selling computer operating system in history? According to Microsoft, they sold 40 million licenses in 100 days for Vista. http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/15/news/companies/microsoft_vista_sales.reut/index.htm

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Whats your opinion on the Dell inspiron? my boss seems to be dead against it saying "there is a reason why they are cheaper, they are made from inferior material!" Has any of you used an inspiron for more than 3 years? Does it have any major problems? I would agree that they are made from material not conducive to being treated rough (as much as a Latitude or Precision). But if that's not important to you, then I would say they are fine. But you do get what you pay for and the Inspiron line is budget priced because it uses low end parts. That doesn't mean they're garbage, it just means they are not stellar performers.

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What is the best alternative energy source in your opinion? Solar. If we ever find a way to make huge solar collectors to put in orbit and transmit that energy down here - that may solve a lot of problems.

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What is the big deal about facebook? Well, it's not everyone's bag of course. But it does have potential if you're interested in keeping up with a bunch of people in your social network. In my case, it has allowed me to get in touch with people I haven't seen in a while and that's cool. I know a lot of people who, having tried it, are going to get annoyed with it real quick. But if you're big on...

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Is there a way to burn the content of an LP on a cd? Sure. You can't hook a turntable directly to a computer sound card input, but you can hook the stereo component the turntable connects to (pre-amp or receiver) to your sound card in your PC. Use a program like Audacity (free) to record the music while the LP plays and save it to your hard drive. Then burn it to CD-R. The hardest part is hooking everything up.

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What do I look for when shopping for a new computer? Wow, have you got an hour? Seriously though, I'll try to summarize what you might want to know. There is little profit in computer sales, so you really do get what you pay for. You basically have 2 general options on how to buy, get a brand name system from a box store or get a custom system from a mom and pop store. Making a choice is hard because you have to know what your needs...

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I got a new monitor for my computer and my computer doesn't seem to have the correct setting for the screen area. The largest resolution is 1152x864, but it should be set at 1440x900. It's a problem because everything is stretched out. What can I do? I'm just grasping at straws here, so forgive me if I'm suggesting stuff you already considered. Often, people use their video adapters with default Windows drivers instead of drivers provided by the manufacturer for that particular model of adapter. You may be missing the needed resolution in this case. But as others have said, it is possible that your adapter doesn't...

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How can I convert a MPEG video clip to a WMV clip?What software should I use?... so as I can maybe upload it to Youtube. I use Super to do all my video conversions now. It is free too. Not totally user-friendly at first, but boy does it have a lot of capability. http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html

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My computer is being really slow lately and I dont know why. my virus scans and such are always up u to date and my computer is not infected with anything. i also have optimum which should be really fast. what could be affecting my internet speed? This is a snap answer, but bear with me. Are you using Internet Explorer to browse the web? If so, just try an experiment. Download and try Firefox for a day or so. Is your web experience much better? Then IE is to blame. You may have a hijacked browser. Or some other IE related issue.

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If you've known (interacted with) someone on AB for two + years, and his/her behavior has been constant and consistent for the entire time, would you believe that person is who he/she claims to be? Some people like to keep certain aspects of themselves private, so they may keep their true gender or age hidden to protect themselves. But I would suggest It's hard to keep a total sham going for 2+ years without a great deal of effort. I used to try to protect my identity online back in the day, but it's just not worth the effort. How do you keep track of all the lies? Not for...

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If a moderator on a board that you participate in jokingly invited you to a wine tasting party and then found out that you only lived 1 hour away, would you accept the invite or would you be inclined to turn it down? Not everyone in the world is a dangerous person. You have to use common sense though. If you hardly know the person, you would be wise to decline. But I have gotten to know many people online over a long period of time and some of them are very nice. And, yes, I've met one or two in person.

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What are the best and worst things about the Internet? Best: having this much information at my fingertips. Worst: knowing that not all that information is trustworthy.

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How do you find out what video card is on your computer? Just to offer an alternative program to what rameystarman suggested, give System Information for Windows a try too. It's stand-alone, meaning it doesn't require installation. http://www.gtopala.com/

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Do you think Myspace is becoming the new internet? or is it a glorified address book? I think it's more than a glorified address book. It does offer a lot of features on one site that you would otherwise have to use multiple sites for. This has value to a lot of people. Personally, I prefer to limit my online community to my blog and my Facebook page. The bottom line is, just because something isn't of value to you doesn't mean it isn't of value to others.

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My LJ 3390 printer says that there is no ink left but i have just put in a brand new ink cartridge. i even let the PC know i have new ink but it won't register. What should i do? It's possible that the electrical contacts between the cartridge and the cradle it fits into are dirty. I'd try cleaning those first.

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What is your opinion on chain letters (like: if you send this to 10 people, the love of your life will talk to you)? Not only do I not like them, I go so far as to tell the senders that if they continue to send me stuff like that, their email address will be blacklisted and I will politely ask them to remove my address from their list. It's tough love to be sure, but sometimes it's the only way to get the point across. We didn't sign up for email so that we could enjoy more junk mail.

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How does DSL and Cable internet work? Do you need any special equipment besides the modem and is a phone line need to be installed for either? Which one is better? Im getting a new computer and I need to know. Both DSL and Cable internet make use of the capabilities of a wire that the original service doesn't use. Without getting too technical, in the case of DSL, the internet data is using leftover bandwidth of the phone line that normal voice calls don't need. So yes, you do need a phone line to get DSL. But you also need to be within a certain distance of DSL equipment to qualify. A DSL...

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I have a hard drive divided into two partitions -- one partition has WinXP, the other has Win98. Is it possible to wipe just the Win98 partition to get rid of it, or do I have to erase the whole drive and start over? As cramidy said, you could format one partition and then use it for whatever you want - storage, or even install a different OS (with conditions). If you want to recombine the second partition with the first, you'll need a tool like Partition Magic.

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Recommendations for the best computer brand, for the best price? I'm looking into making a purchase, and would love some feedback. Assuming you know what kind of specs you need in your new computer, and assuming you are using your computer for general computing, not a powerhouse gaming system or graphics system, then I will deal solely with brand / value. If I were building a scale of value (customer service not included), it might look like this (lower value at the top): Alienware Sony Panasonic HP Compaq Acer...

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How many different types of PC brands are there? Globally, there are dozens. But you have to understand that there are far fewer computer brands (companies that put their brand on the case), than there are brands of computer parts. Some examples: Dell, Sony, Acer, HP, etc. all make whole computer systems. But you might be surprised to know that they do not make all the parts inside. Nor are the parts necessarily interchangeable with other...

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Microsoft is a Monopoly. Plain and Simple. Do you think the government will have to step in eventually and split it up like they did to AT&T? Just to add my own 2 cents to what doobie said: I have to give Microsoft a lot of credit. They are an aggressive business, using tactics that are obviously very successful. Many years ago, I watched a rather large organization (that I used to work for) go from using Word Perfect to MS Office, not because of any functional advantage, but because Microsoft made the organization an offer they...

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Is anyone using Vista? Do you like it? My computer came with Windows XP, but I'm being sent an upgrade to Vista. Should I install it? You know, not everyone is having issues with Vista. That doesn't mean I endorse it completely. My recommendation to you would be this: Get yourself a program like Ghost, that creates an image of your PC in its current, working state. An external USB hard drive is perfectly suited to this. If you don't have one of these, it's a good investment - because you always need...

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Which is better as a home PC: a laptop or desktop? This has been asked before and here are the responses: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/49042 And I also answered a similar question once that looked at the finer points of choosing a laptop: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/113095

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How do I know what format a video from the internet is? I'm assuming the member asking the question is referring to video that is playing / streaming in a browser window. In this case, you cannot actually tell the format unless it is proprietary to the browser plug-in being used. For example, if it's playing in a Quicktime window, it is likely to be (but not guaranteed to be) a .mov file. There are ways to 'capture' a video...

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What is the best website to download complete seasons of tv shows? You won't find many web sites that actually host whole seasons or even episodes of TV shows or movies because they are found quickly and shut down (or at least threatened). But as most people know, everything under the sun is available via bittorrent. I do not condone stealing massive quantities of entertainment content, but.... well..... you know. You have free will.

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I'm opening a custom computer company, but don't know much about troubleshooting the larger hardware issues that go outside of a cable not being plugged in properly. Does anyone have any good book or website suggestions that I could read up on? It's not easy learning enough about computer hardware to be able to troubleshoot effectively. I speak from experience - I used to train folks wanting to switch to an entry level IT support job. It was a compressed, 7 month program. To learn on your own, get yourself any new A+ genre textbook. I'd stay away from study guides only because they gloss over the deeper topics you'll...

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Which site is the best for recipes? Here's some more: http://allrecipes.com/ http://www.recipeland.com/category/ http://www.recipesource.com/ http://www.elise.com/recipes/

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My wife travels a fair amount and we were talking about purchasing a couple of webcams so that she could stay in touch with me and our son. How do I set this up and is it possible? All you need are the webcams and their software installed. After that, you can take advantage of webcam functionality built into IM services like Live Messenger (Microsoft) and Yahoo. The only thing you need to use them is an account for each of you on the same service.

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Should I get a new PC now? I have been waiting for the bugs to be worked out of Vista... If you're waiting for Vista to improve, you probably want to wait for the first service pack to be released. But some vendors will still agree to sell you a PC with XP on it. If you plan to use Vista at some point, you'll want to make sure all hardware is Vista-ready. But don't take the vendor's word for it. They're putting Vista on systems that are not quite up to...

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Can you burn a video on to an audio disc that would be readable by a dvd player? As BryInLanza said, if you're referring to a CD-R, you can make a VCD or SVCD. Note that older DVD players may not play VCD discs, but the newest ones should. Go here: http://www.videohelp.com/ and look up VCD and SVCD at the top left of the page.

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I have a Symantec 2006 anti-virus and i also use AVG from time to time to clear out stuff that Symantec doesn't. But i'm not able to find a solution to the worm(I think!) called W32.Fujacks.html Please help! Don't restrict your search too much. I Googled 'W32.fujacks' and got many hits, including removal instructions from a variety of reputable sources.

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At start, the fans work, light is on, but there is no HD action, no beeps, no video signal. I recently had heat-related crashes (neglected dust and cat hair). CPU? Motherboard? Yes and yes. You can also add power supply and case connections. Try re-seating your RAM and expansion cards if any too.

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I am using a wireless internet connection on my laptop and want to know how i increase my range when using unsecured connections. Thanx Sarge Could you be more specific about your situation? Are you trying to increase the distance between you and your access point at home or are you wardriving like insanesquirle said?

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How they crack the msn ,yahoo or the other mail systems i want to know little about it any one can help me You won't get much help here. Answerbag users tend to avoid all discussion of activities deemed illegal.

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How do I change my firewall settings? And perhaps you're not talking about a software firewall? If the firewall you're referring to is the one in your cable/dsl router, then you typically access it by opening a browser window and typing in the IP address 192.168.1.1, at which point you'd need to provide a username and password to access the router's options, including the firewall options.

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Do you value shopping websites that have a lot of security features when it comes to credit card processing or does it annoy you? I value the extra security during the transaction. But what I'm really concerned with is how they treat my information once they have it. All the transaction security in the world is meaningless if they allow unauthorized persons to have access to their database of client information...... such as by 'losing' it.

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How I find competent reviewers for my new blogs? I'm not sure I understand the question. You want to hire reviewers to write 'for' your blogs? Please elaborate....

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What is the name of the most important hardware piece inside of a computer? Not to argue with kevin's answer, because it is correct - allow me to play devil's advocate for a moment. Your PC would be useless without a power supply. Ditto for RAM - with no RAM, you might get to a certain point in the Post, but that's it. Speaking of the Post - how about the BIOS? How about the motherboard? And finally, no hard drive - no operating system and that makes...

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Why is it necessary to use a cross over cable instead of a standard ethernet cord when connecting 2 computers to each other? Just to expand on (not correct) what doobie said, the reason you need a crossover cable is because if you used a straight-through cable, you'd be connecting the transmit wires of one computer network interface to the transmit wires on the other computer network interface and the same for the receive wires. What the crossover cable does is connect transmit to receive in each direction, to...

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When I try to go online I get an error message "low virtual memory" what can I do? Low virtual memory is usually a sign that you are running low on hard drive free space. Find out how much free space you have. If it's only a few hundred Megabytes or less, this is your issue. As others have said, more RAM or deleting unnecessary files from your computer (with the help of a professional) may solve the issue. But.... if this is only happening when you open your web...

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Regarding Downloading Free Music.... Some say " __" or "__" (fill in the blank), others say "__" will destroy your computer. I'm sure if asked if eating an apple is safe someone will say "don't do it, it will kill you". 3 weeks I've been searching..... One product that has always been free of the problems experienced by other file sharing software is WinMX. There is a downside though. It is not the most user friendly program to use and you will have to find the most current networks to join in order to have access to any content. But it definitely will not mess up your PC in any way.

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What is the difference between a Web Log 'Blog' and a Forum? Although a blog can have more than one author and can allow for comments to posts like a forum, in a blog, the authors have control over content. They are the ones posting the content and controlling the comments. So, aside from the format differences, a forum is more of a free-for-all. A Blog's content is controlled by the author(s).

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I am a teacher. How can I tell if students are discussing me on facebook? Aside from joining or convincing a snitch to join - there isn't. More importantly, I wouldn't bother looking. Gossip on Facebook is no different from gossip in person, save the fact that in Facebook, the gossip reaches more people. But the fact is - gossip is inevitable. If the internet didn't exist, would you be tasking students to hang out with other students to see if...

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I currently run Linux on a P3-550 as a secondary system (as opposed to my P4 Windows gaming system). Someone just gave me a P3-700. Is it worth the hassle of upgrading to get an extra 150 mhz? Same RAM etc. No. I can guarantee you will not notice a difference.

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What is the best free spyware software available for download? Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy are the most recommended products to date.

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Does anybody use "Bit Torrent" like filesharing sites, and if so can someone reccomend me one? Here's a good article for you: http://comparebt.blogspot.com/

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Can someone give me a product key for Microsoft Word? Welcome to Answerbag....... We don't promote illegal activity here.

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Trojan making setup.exe and autorun.ini -- Anti-Virus software detects and deletes but doesn't prevent. How can I stop it period? It keeps coming back. Disable System Restore before attempting manual removal of any infection. Most new infections are quite crafty and makes use of Windows' foibles to resurrect themselves. Switching to another antivirus product will not fix your problem. Also, be sure to Google the specific infection you have and see if exact removal instructions exist for it.

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I have just bought a great laptop but it has 64 bit Vista Unltimate. Can I install my Office 2000 on this machine or do I have to pay $600 for Office 2007? You can install Office 2000. The advantage to getting Office 2007 is you'll get the 2007 features and be able to enjoy the features in 2007 specifically written to work properly in Vista. In other words, some specific (cosmetic) features of Vista may not translate to Office 2000. [update] And I forgot to mention. You may not have to pay $600 for Office 2007 if you ever do decide to buy...

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Can anyone give the names of all windows' processes? I mean, the processes windows execute to be able to work ??? my pc probably has some malware, and so, I will be able to identify windows' processes from others. Listen to what doobie and anglrckx said. We cannot provide you with a definitive list of valid processes, because the list can be quite long and depends not just on Windows, but all the other software that's running in the background. Just let me say it's a good thing that you are investigating your processes, because so many users have no idea what's running on their...

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What youtube video makes you laugh the most? Some hosers try to explain quantum mechanics: http://youtube.com/watch?v=T0xKtU2-L9s OK......... I admit it. It's a plug.

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Are you allowed to cite news sources from like CNN, Reuters, MSNBC and post on your blog as long as you cite? Citing your source is always the right thing to do. But even if you do, many sources (especially big media) will still get upset if you copy parts of an article. To play it safe(r), I usually just recap the story in my own words and then quote the source if my readers want the rest of the story.

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Anyone know where I can get a free registration key for evidencenuker so I don't have to pay for it? You must be new to Answerbag. Otherwise, you'd know you'll not likely get that answered.

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Is it possible that my anti-virus software is preventing me from getting 'online' at times? Maybe not anti-virus software, but the internet security component (if you have one) might be. One of the many reasons I switched to no frills products like AVG Free.

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How to stop a 'control freak ' from spying on my PC via my phone line, IP or email address? Better yet, hire a trusted professional to determine if there's anything amiss on your PC and put an end to it. You may need no software at all. Just a thorough diagnostic of your running programs, enabling a firewall and you should be good to go.

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My external hard drive has fell and is now not working what should i do,what would you do can i get it fixed? Aside from repairable damage, like a connector coming loose, etc., this is likely a fatal fault. Hard drives are not as robust as we think they are and physical shock from a drop is at the top of the list of things that can permanently damage a hard drive. If the data on the drive is extremely important, you can send it off to data recovery experts, who can often extract most of the data by...

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I have put up a video on youtube and sent links out to outhers. I now need to change the video slightly but I can't seem to upload it to the same url so if someone uses the link I already sent out, it won% I don't think there's anything you can do about this.

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Is ebay an addiction, or a need. Do you actually need the stuff you buy? Good question. I don't think half the stuff I buy anywhere is stuff I actually need. But that's one of the by-products of living in a consumerist society. So I don't really blame ebay. I like that I have been able to find stuff that I want that I cannot find in local stores on ebay - so I buy it. But I'm not out of control.

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My wireless connection has got an "excellent" signal strength, but sporadically (and with no particular pattern) cuts out, disconnecting and reconnecting. Is there a way to get it to maintain a constant connection? This symptom is common among Windows users who have Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) enabled in Windows. The problem has to do with the fact that WZC tries to connect to another wireless network it sees if the other signal is stronger. WZC tries to make wireless connections a breeze, but it sometimes tries to do stuff we don't want it to. It's a pain, especially if you need WZC to...

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What are the most common problems people have with Windows Vista? I base this answer only on feedback I've gotten from colleagues, as I am not yet using Vista except in a very limited capacity. The biggest problem seems to be incompatibility with hardware, especially video. One workaround seems to be using an XP driver. Reportedly, some programs may not work properly. One would expect that this issue would be resolved in time.

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Do I have to have Raid on my home pc with only one hdd. The people who've answered already have made the point, but what I wonder is what context are you asking this question. Are you trying to decide whether to get a motherboard with RAID capability?

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How difficult would it be for someone to identify you, if they found your notebook computer in a public place? That depends on so many things. We often lose touch with just how much information we have on our computers just through normal use. Besides files that may contain personal data, there's all the web sites you might have saved in your browser - which in and of itself might not be a bad thing. But if any sites automatically log you in , that might give the person who found your notebook...

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