>Security Enhancements

>

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Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.
1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (Security Updates) have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.
2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate  and ZoneAlarm offer free versions.
3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors’ Choice (“Spyware,” April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies).
4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you’ll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.
5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.
6. If you’re using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.
7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you’re not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., ). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at Panda antivirus and  free antivirus.Trend Micro Free 
8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.
9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at E-mail Secutiry, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.
10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don’t assume that e-mail “From:” a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it’s that person. Don’t assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don’t give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from “support.”

Technorati Tags: security experts,online secutiry,computer security,internet secutiry

LiveJournal Tags: security experts,online secutiry,computer security,internet secutiry

>Security Enhancements

>

.
Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.
1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (Security Updates) have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.
2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate  and ZoneAlarm offer free versions.
3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors’ Choice (“Spyware,” April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies).
4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you’ll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.
5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.
6. If you’re using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.
7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you’re not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., ). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at Panda antivirus and  free antivirus.Trend Micro Free 
8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.
9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at E-mail Secutiry, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.
10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don’t assume that e-mail “From:” a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it’s that person. Don’t assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don’t give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from “support.”

Technorati Tags: security experts,online secutiry,computer security,internet secutiry

LiveJournal Tags: security experts,online secutiry,computer security,internet secutiry

Increase Your Speed of Computer

• Since defragging the disk won’t do much to improve Windows XP performance, suggestion that will help you. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers’ PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing. To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
•  If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
• Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

•  Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a “searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

  The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

  Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it. 

• Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, apply changes to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the Ignore All button.
   Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

•  Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.
   Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.
   In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
   
• Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cable select,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
   
• Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.
   
•  Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.
   
• Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
   
•  Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.
   
•  If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
   
•  Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
   
•  Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
   
•  Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.
   
•  Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
   
•  Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
   
•  If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.
   
• Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
   
•  If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,” and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
• At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.

  Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers’ computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

>Increase Your Speed of Computer

>

• Since defragging the disk won’t do much to improve Windows XP performance, suggestion that will help you. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers’ PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing. To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
•  If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
• Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

•  Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a “searchable keyword index.” As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

  The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

  Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it. 

• Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching.” Next, apply changes to “C: subfolders and files,” and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as “Access is denied”), click the Ignore All button.
   Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

•  Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can “prefetch” portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.
   Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.
   In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
   
• Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support “cable select,” the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
   
• Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.
   
•  Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.
   
• Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
   
•  Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.
   
•  If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
   
•  Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
   
•  Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
   
•  Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.
   
•  Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called “D drive.” You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
   
•  Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
   
•  If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.
   
• Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
   
•  If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to “Launch folder windows in a separate process,” and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
• At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.

  Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers’ computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

Reasons Why Computer Crash

Reasons Why Computer Crash

1.FATAL ERROR : The system has become unstable or is busy ,Like “ Enter to return to windows or Press Control-Alt-Delete to restart Your computer. If you do this you will lose unsaved data in all open application. HOW U ?

• Hardware Conflict
  The one reason why window crashes is hardware conflict. Each Hardware device communicates to other devices though an interrupt request channel(IRQ).These are supposed to be unique for each device. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself (printer,scanner etc).
  If there are lot of devices,or if they are not installed properly,two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen.
• So ,do Start-Settings-Control panel-System-Device Manager
  Often if a device has a problem a yellow ‘!’ appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer(in the Device Manager) and press properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer.
• If the IRQ number appears Twice, Two devices may be using it.
• Sometime a device might share and IRQ with something described as “IRQ holder for PCI steering”, This can be ignored.
  The Best way to FIX the problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.
• Sometime you may have to fined more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A Good resource is WWW.DRIVERGUIDE.COM .If the device is a sound-card, or a Modem it can Often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard.
• When working inside the computer you should switch it off,unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any Static electricity.
• Bad Ram
  Ram (Random Access Memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying FATAL EXECPTION ERROR.
  A Fatal Error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometime It means a Part is damaged and will need replacing.

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

• So ,the One way is , Enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of The RAM.This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected RAM problem is to rearrange the RAM chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. When handling RAM try not to touch the gold connections , as they can be easily damaged .
• BIOS SETTINGS
  Every motherboard is supplied with a rage of chip-set settings that are decided in the factory. A Common way to access these settings is to press F2, or DELETE button during The first few seconds of a boot-up.
  Inside the BIOS, care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a paper all the setting that appear on the screen. That way, If you change something and the computer becomes more unstable,you will know that settings to revert to a common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This defers to RAM .Older EDO(extended data out) .RAM has a CAS latency of 3.newer SDRAM has a CAS latency of 2.Setting the wrong figure can cause the RAM to lock up and freeze the computer’s display.
• HARD DISK DRIVES
  It is a good idea to derangement the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIS-SYSTEM TOOLS-DISK DEFRAGMENTER
  This will start the procedure.
• START-SETTINGS-CONTROL PANEL-SYSTEM ICON -PERFORMANCE-FILE SYSTEM-HARD DISK.
  Hard disk will slow down and crash if they are too full, Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the windows folder on the window drive where you install the operating system and find the temporary Internet files folder.Deleting the contents(NOT FOLDER) car free a lot of space. And Also Empty The Recycle Bin

Every week to free more space. Hard Drive should be scanned every week for error or bad sectors,

Go To START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIES-SYSTEM TOOLS-SCANDISK

• Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors
   Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to START-SETTINGS-CONTROL PANEL-DISPLAY SETTINGS
   Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the color settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high color 16-bit depth is adequate.If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

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

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

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

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

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

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

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

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

• Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs
   Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

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

• Printers
   The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer’s performance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heat sinks are available from WWW.COMPUTERNERD.COM OR WWW.COOLIT.COM

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

10 Power supply problems

>Reasons Why Computer Crash

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Reasons Why Computer Crash

1.FATAL ERROR : The system has become unstable or is busy ,Like “ Enter to return to windows or Press Control-Alt-Delete to restart Your computer. If you do this you will lose unsaved data in all open application. HOW U ?

• Hardware Conflict
  The one reason why window crashes is hardware conflict. Each Hardware device communicates to other devices though an interrupt request channel(IRQ).These are supposed to be unique for each device. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself (printer,scanner etc).
  If there are lot of devices,or if they are not installed properly,two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen.
• So ,do Start-Settings-Control panel-System-Device Manager
  Often if a device has a problem a yellow ‘!’ appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer(in the Device Manager) and press properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer.
• If the IRQ number appears Twice, Two devices may be using it.
• Sometime a device might share and IRQ with something described as “IRQ holder for PCI steering”, This can be ignored.
  The Best way to FIX the problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.
• Sometime you may have to fined more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A Good resource is WWW.DRIVERGUIDE.COM .If the device is a sound-card, or a Modem it can Often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard.
• When working inside the computer you should switch it off,unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any Static electricity.
• Bad Ram
  Ram (Random Access Memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying FATAL EXECPTION ERROR.
  A Fatal Error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometime It means a Part is damaged and will need replacing.

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

• So ,the One way is , Enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of The RAM.This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected RAM problem is to rearrange the RAM chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. When handling RAM try not to touch the gold connections , as they can be easily damaged .
• BIOS SETTINGS
  Every motherboard is supplied with a rage of chip-set settings that are decided in the factory. A Common way to access these settings is to press F2, or DELETE button during The first few seconds of a boot-up.
  Inside the BIOS, care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a paper all the setting that appear on the screen. That way, If you change something and the computer becomes more unstable,you will know that settings to revert to a common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This defers to RAM .Older EDO(extended data out) .RAM has a CAS latency of 3.newer SDRAM has a CAS latency of 2.Setting the wrong figure can cause the RAM to lock up and freeze the computer’s display.
• HARD DISK DRIVES
  It is a good idea to derangement the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIS-SYSTEM TOOLS-DISK DEFRAGMENTER
  This will start the procedure.
• START-SETTINGS-CONTROL PANEL-SYSTEM ICON -PERFORMANCE-FILE SYSTEM-HARD DISK.
  Hard disk will slow down and crash if they are too full, Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the windows folder on the window drive where you install the operating system and find the temporary Internet files folder.Deleting the contents(NOT FOLDER) car free a lot of space. And Also Empty The Recycle Bin

Every week to free more space. Hard Drive should be scanned every week for error or bad sectors,

Go To START-PROGRAMS-ACCESSORIES-SYSTEM TOOLS-SCANDISK

• Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors
   Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to START-SETTINGS-CONTROL PANEL-DISPLAY SETTINGS
   Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the color settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high color 16-bit depth is adequate.If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

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

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

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

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

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

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

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

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

• Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs
   Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

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

• Printers
   The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer’s performance.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heat sinks are available from WWW.COMPUTERNERD.COM OR WWW.COOLIT.COM

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

10 Power supply problems