WHY WE SHOULDN'T DRINK NEAR OUR COMPUTER - LAPTOPS?

Drinking near a computer especially laptop is the craziest thing a user would ever do. Laptops don’t like drinks, any kind of them. Some may tolerate a small sip of juice or coffee, or anything near it but that’s about all. Any other kind of drink – coffee, tea, or any soft drink will kill your computer almost instantly.

I've been dealing with laptops for some time now but have seen only couple of mainstream laptops that are spill-resistant. This is the problem most of the design with laptops. Is it hard for the laptop manufacturers to put a plastic under the keyboard that could prevent any spilled liquids from entering the laptop?  It doesn't need to be waterproof either, being spill-resistant would do better. It’s not hard to do it though and would cost them less but the sad thing is..nobody have done it.

What are you going to do if you accidentally spill something on your laptop? Here’s how. Unplug the power cord and any other cords, turn the laptop upside down and remove the battery. Don’t try to shut down the laptop that takes time. The damage you may do to the operating system by removing the battery while the laptop is on is insignificant compared to the damage the liquid will do to your laptop when it penetrates to your laptops motherboard.

After removing the battery, keep the laptop upside down for a while, allowing the liquid to drain as much as possible. Don’t even think about turning it back on to see if it still works! It has to dry completely first. That takes at least 48 hours. After the liquid has drained, remove the hard drive, usually held in place by one or two screws, the CD/DVD if possible, and all small covers on the back that are held by screws (there is at least one, covering your RAM expansion slot, and possibly another covering the WI-Fi card).

The next step is removing the keyboard. That is usually not very hard but unless you can get a service manual describing exactly how to do it on your laptop. I suggest calling and letting a technician do it. It is important to remove the keyboard because it is most likely damaged and will need to be replaced and because that will expose the area where most of the spillage occurred, allowing it to dry.

The important thing to remember is not to turn the laptop back on before it is completely dry. However trying to speed up the process with a hairdryer is a very bad idea, as the temperature of the air is too high and may damage the laptop. I've seen a few melted laptop cases from a hairdryer.

COMPUTER COULD NOT BE FOUND ON THE NETWORK - WHY?

You've just formatted several computers, linked it up and its working smoothly on the network. After you've found a problem when you try to link an old computer which is already there but wasn't added on the network before you made a turn to format the others.

You keep in changing network cables to fixed the problem but for no avail, the problem hasn't been fix.

There are instances that this problem will be encountered by several people in the office or in any cafe where a connection is present, but the question is, can this problem be fixed without the need of formatting the computer?, is there any virus present on the computer and could be the reason that after being configured thoroughly, nothing happens and still the computer you try to connect to the network can't be seen on the network? 

Some would desperately format the PC if they find it useful to do. Some might just take the computer out of the network.

But there is a technique to overcome this kind of problem. Of all the problems encountered, this is the easiest and got only little to do to solve and fixed it.

How?

Here's how. 

For this tutorial, I am referring to the Windows 7 Operating System. On the desktop, right click on the My Computer icon, and Select Properties. After clicking properties, a new windows will open which has some informations about your computer.

You can find a link on that window named Change Settings, clicking that link will open up the System Properties window. There you can see the workgroup name. This workgroup has a great impact in networking. It is also one of the reasons you can share some files and share an specific computer on the network if this is configured like the other computers. Its not just making some configurations on the computers IP but this could also help.

Renaming the workgroup name like the other workgroup names would definitely fix the problem.

Try it and if you failed..get back to me and tell me I'm wrong.

BASIC NETWORKING TECHNIQUES

Knowing the Basics - Computer Networking

A computer network is a series of two or more connected computers. When computers are joined in an specific network, people can be able to share any files on different computers connected to the network. When networks at any locations were connected using services that are available from internet service providers, people can send private messages known widely as e-mails, share links to the global community and one may create video live streaming conferences with other users remotely.

Every network includes:
- at least two or more computers, a server and a client workstation.
- networking interface card
- a connection medium, such as a wire or cable, although wireless communication between network
   computers and peripherals were also possible.

There are several types of networks;

LAN (Local Area Networks)
        These are networks usually assigned to a certain area, such a single building or any institution. LAN's can be small, linking two or three computers and most often link by a several computers used by several users. The development of standard networking protocols and media had resulted in worldwide proliferation of LANs throughout businesses and educational institutions.

WAN (Wide Area Networks)
        These are networks which combined multiple LANs which are geographically separated. This can be accomplished by connecting different LANs using services such as dedicated leased phone lines, dial-ups, satellite links, and data packet carrier services. WANs can be as simple as a modem and remote access server for employees to dial into it, or it may be as complex as hundreds of branch offices globally linked using special routing protocols and filters to minimize the expense of sending data sent over vast distances.

Internet
         It is a system linked networks that are worldwide in scope and facilitate data communication services such as remote login, file transfer, electronic mail, the World Wide Web, and newsgroups. With the rise of demand for connectivity, the Internet has become a communications highway for millions of users around the world. Internet was initially restricted to military and academic institutions, but now it is a full-fledged conduit for any and all forms of information and commerce. Internet websites now provides personal, educational, political and economic resources to every corner of the planet.

Intranet
       With the advancement made in browser-based software for the Internet, many private organizations are implementing intranets. An intranet is a private network utilizing internet-type tools, but available only within that organization. For large organizations, intranet provides an easy access mode to corporate information for employees.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)
       This type of network uses a technique as tunneling to transfer data securely on the internet to a remote access server on your workplace network. Using this network, helps you save money by using the public internet instead of making long-distance phone calls to connect securely with your private network. There are two ways to create a VPN connection, by dialing an internet service provider (ISP) or by connecting directly to internet.

THE COMPUTER WILL NOT TURN ON | NO POWER.

It would be a very very bad to start you day when you press the power button on your computer and nothing happens. Few computer problems were more frustrating than your computer that won't able to boot up.

There are several reasons why a computer won't turn on and often very few clues about what might be the problem. Usually, the simple fact that nothing works which isn't much to go on, and the fact that whatever is wrong about the computer could be an expensive part of your computer to replace - like the motherboard or the processor.

Don't be afraid about taking some extra precautions in reviving your computer. All you need to do is to follow the steps bellow.

Note that while applying the following steps or procedures, you must observe the LED status in each step being applied. This will provide additional information for the computer technician, should his services deemed necessary.


1. Check if the DC jack is loose or damaged within the computer. If its loose, your computer requires

    service from a computer technician or someone who are an electronics professional.

2. Remove media from the CD/DVD drive if there's any.

3. Disconnect all the external devices that are connected to the computer 

         - some of the devices may include, but not limited to a network connection, a usb device, a printer, a

            keyboard or a mouse.

4. Connect the AC Adapter into an AC outlet and to the DC jack on your computer, and then attempt to

    turn on the computer manually. 

         - you must ensure that you are using the correct AC Adapter and not a third-party replacement 

           adapter.

         - connect the AC Adapter directly to a wall outlet and not to a surge protector or extension cord.

         - some AC Adapters has a power led indicator and can be confirmed as receiving power if the LED

          is lit. If the AC Adapter is damaged, or the LED doesn't light up or continuously flickers when plugged 

          into a working AC outlet, the AC Adapter must be replaced.

5. Disconnect the AC Adapter, remove the battery, and then press and hold the power button or power 

    switch for 30 seconds. Once its done, connect the AC Adapter again, and then attempt to turn on the 

    computer normally without the battery installed.

          - if the computer turns on without the battery, the battery is either completely drained.

          - since it is totally drain and the computer is working using only step #6, you need to put the battery

             back in, reconnect the AC Adapter and then charged the battery for about 24 hours.

          - if the problem is still there even the battery is completely charged, then the battery is the problem

            and needs to be replaced.

          - if step # 5 didn't fix the problem, continue to the next step.

6. Remove any additional RAM that may had been added to the computer. 

          - if removing the added RAM resolves the issue, check the computer specifications to ensure the 

            memory modules meet the minimum requirements. If they do, the modules themselves may be 

            defective.

7. Finally, after applying the step #6, turn the computer on.

IMPORTANT:

           The troubleshooting steps listed above should resolve your issue. If you have completed all the steps

      and the problem is still not resolve, service may be required. You need to call for a professional and 

      certified computer technician in your area.

THE BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH

Early BSOD

The Blue Screen of Death - technically known and often refer to as a STOP message or STOP Error. It's a full screen error that often displays after a fatal system crash.

Texts on the Blue Screen of Death may list files or several files which are the reason of the system crash including any drivers that may had been faulty, often a short and sometimes cryptic, description of what to do about crash or the system failure or problem as they had describe it.

The text on the error screen were several error codes along with most often, four other codes, whose meanings depend on the error code itself, and an error name. Depending on the code, it may display the memory address at which the problem occurred, together with identifying some details of the driver file which are loaded to that address.

BSOD on earlier Version of Windows

By default, Windows based systems creates memory dump file when an BSOD error occurs. Depending of the operating system version, it would range from a 64kb mini-dump to a complete dump of memory that saves the entire contents of the RAM, which the file can be analyzed later. Memory dumps and error details were stored in %windir%\MiniDump\. A kernel debugger program may be used in order to obtain a trace to find the real cause of the problem, as the on-screen information is limited.

A BSOD error or STOP error can also be caused by a critical boot loader error, where the operating system is unable to start from the bootable drive due to the presence of a damaged file systems, an incorrect disk driver, which in some cases, no memory dump is being saved.

Microsoft, released a new operating system platform last year, 2012, which popularly known as Windows 8, which had a feature of a redesigned Blue Screen of Death. Instead of displaying detailed technical information about the error and what causes it, it simply displays short explanation that the system needs to be restarted, a technical name of the error, and a sad emoticon.

Windows 8 BSOD

The redesigned Blue Screen of Death in Windows 8 also contains a lighter share of blue in the background. Some known technology websites like of TechCrunch described the redesigned BSOD version in Windows 8 as "a step in the right direction",  stating that the information provided on previous versions was unintelligible to most Windows users. 

However, it does contains less information than the previous versions, omitting some memory addresses and file names which makes the advance users to potentially spot the underlying problem such as an obvious driver related problem.

In general, Blue Screen of Death, usually caused by an illegal operation being performed, where the only safe action to take is to reboot or restart the computer. As a result, some data's which are not save will be lost, since the user's not getting the opportunity to save their work.

One good suggestion I could offer you guys before you can do any troubleshooting is, you will need to prevent this automatic rebooting by disabling the automatic restart on system failure option in Windows which can be access in Advance Boot Options Menu by pressing F8 as the Windows splash screen begins to load. This method of accessing the Advance Boot Options Menu applies to all versions of Windows that includes the menu, including Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, etc.

After rebooting, of course, you will have to find the the BSOD code which appears during the crash on several known search engines and then apply it on your system to see if its gonna work, else, you need to ask for someone who could do it for you easily. Of course, you need to pay for the services. 

ADWARES AND SPYWARES: How To Get Rid Of Them?

             Adware are software applications which makes the banners appear the whole time that it is function. It has a program that can install components that transmits information about the user who accepted the adware without knowing, and its behavior. Unlike spywares, the user being attacked by an adware will be asked to install the program. In general, an adware is an application which, along its functionality, show commercials in a while, downloaded periodically from certain internet servers.

             Spyware is a program, usually downloaded from the internet, that sends information about the user without knowing it (if accidentally installed without knowing that it is a spyware program), every time he or she connects to the internet. Sometimes, the package sent contain marketing information and not confidential information, although some programs can do the same way a spyware do.

             Though some applications were both adware and spyware, most of the times spyware applications have installed themselves and had been working without the user’s knowledge, opposing the adware application that cannot be installed without the user’s consent of installing it on his computer’s hard drive.

            At first, they cause no harm to your computer, but later on you will encounter different problems arising on your computer, from altering your browser and its settings, launching background applications that monitor your computers activity.

Among other effects that follow after installing adware and spyware are the following: 

• Adding links to various magazines, sometimes porn magazines
• Adding new commercials on the web pages, even replacing the existing ones,
• Gaining access to you computers personal passwords e.g credit cards, email accounts
• monitors browser behavior in commercial purposes
• new and strange icons appear in your desktop
• and slowing down your computer
• 
  

           These problems are so annoying. But since the internet evolves, there are some software applications which can detect, minimize the adware and spywares from working on their own, or can make them stop from what they usually do to your computer.

           I can recommend to you guys the antivirus software that I've been using at present. Been using it for almost three years now since I discovered it couple of years ago. I thought I could get rid of those adware and spyware using AVG antivirus, Kaspersky Anti-virus and Avast Antivirus. Like I’ve said, I discovered it a couple of years ago from a certain website that offering antivirus software’s, but since AVG, KASPERSKY, AVAST been good at the time and obviously very popular in those times, not to mention that I am anti-virus hooping just to know which would be the best to get rid of adware and spyware.

         The best that I've been using so far and currently using to detect, minimize and prohibits adware, spywares and even viruses from infecting and coming back to my computer is by using the superb Eset NOD32 Antivirus. Eset  has the combination of guarding your computer from adware, spyware and antiviruses attack from the internet. You may tell me that it is not the best, maybe but I can guarantee you that after using it on my clients computers, been a year already that they don't call me to fix their computer even again. They might call me to fix it but not because of those adware and spyware. You guys can get your own copy of Eset NOD32 Antivirus here. You buy it if you like.

FIXING COMPUTER FROM FREEZING (HANG)

Computer Freeze define as to when an application installed on your PC or the computer itself stops to respond to whatever mouse or keyboard input you do. Better known as a hanging computer.

Computer freezes is one of the biggest problems Microsoft users encountered. They seem to happen randomly and force you to reset the computer manually. Some people, as a computer technician, ask me how to stop this kind of problem. Before we get in to preventing it from occurring, we need to determine what exactly causes it.

The most frequent and major cause of the computer to freeze were errors in the windows registry. The registry is the area in our computer which contains several information on how to run all software and hardware on our computer. If our CPU is a vehicle, think of the registry as an engine.

Upon having our new computer, purchasing it from a computer store, the registry is clean and runs very smoothly. But the more we put on it, like installing some software or hardware, the more the registry needs to be tune-up. When we install software, update installed programs, or uninstall unnecessary programs, our registry becomes loaded with corrupted and redundant information. Much of this information becomes incompatible with your operating system and our computer hangs up or we may get a windows blue screen or widely known as the blue screen of death.

NEED COMPUTER HELP?

           No matter how new or how well maintained our computers, we all may encounter several computer problems sooner or later. The good news is that we don’t have to face them alone. There are a several resources available to walk us through computer issues but it may take a little knowledge in knowing how to access them. This article will show you how.

1. Remember help files. It’s funny, but people seem to forget that every computer and every program installed on a computer comes along with its own help file. Even the operating system of a computer has a help file and it really should be the first place to look for answers. Help files are designed not only to guide the usage of a computer, but were also designed to solve problems if we encounter some. Inside a help file, look for a section called, “Troubleshooting” (or something similar) when you need to resolve an issue. This section is reserved for solving problems specific to the software or hardware that you’re using.

2. Product websites. If you’re having a problem with a piece of software or with a hardware part, try the website of that software’s or hardware’s manufacturer. Most (if not all) manufacturer’s reserve a portion of cyberspace and dedicate it to support the products that they build. Microsoft’s help desk is good example.

3. Support Lines. Another source for help that we shouldn’t forget are the support systems of various manufacturers. You can reach these systems by calling the phone number associated with the product that you’re having trouble with. Some calls may be free and some aren’t.

4. PC support groups. These are groups that meet in libraries, computer stores, or other local areas and they discuss all sorts of issues related with a particular product. Even if you aren’t experiencing a computer or software problem, user groups are fun to participate in and they can help you network into other interests such as job or teaching opportunities.

           Surprisingly, you may even get a helping hand from the salespersons at your local computer store. We don’t recommend that you make this your first pit stop when you experience a problem, but we don’t recommend that you rule this option out altogether either. Computer salespersons are hired for a reason – and that’s their knowledge. Often, these kind folks can help you resolve an issue over the phone and prevent you form having to buy a costly solution.

           As you can see, help is easy to find - You’ve just got to know where to look for it. Most of the contacts within these resources are extremely friendly and willing to take the time to walk you through a problem at little to no cost. From online discussion groups to the files on your own computer, help is often just a click away. You just need to dig in to find them.