PC & Laptop Tips

Computer Traumas

2007-02-14T23:57:00.003-08:00

It has happened! Computer games have started to control my life on and off the screen. No complicated games like Age of Empires, just the simple one of Tetris. You know the one, where different shaped and colored bricks fall out of the sky and you have to arrange them in nice lines at the bottom? Hopefully with the end result of all colors matching in straight lines so that they can be removed and point gained.

Crazy really, it first happened many years ago when I had this stupid bet that I could get more points than the next guy. What that really means is that, "I am going to be up all night playing this game and will be totally incapable of staying awake in the office tomorrow, unless of course I play the game in the office as well". That’s what computer games do to us. We become machines where food and sleep are secondary items to all else. Just keep on playing.............till you drop.

I managed to get through that episode with only a slight increase in my weight and a damaged back from not having moved anything else except my two fingers for a sustained period of time. The latest episode though has created havoc with my life in more ways than one and I am getting seriously worried about it.

I had been playing that game in the evening for around three hours and had then gone to bed early for a dreamless and normal sleep. All okay and expected you say? Well, the sleep was but when I drove to the office the next day things started to happen that rapidly woke me up to the danger that I was in. There I was in my blue car approaching the traffic lights when all of a sudden I swerved into the other lane thus ending up stopped neatly behind this other blue car. Behind me, confused and irritated drivers with green and red cars tooted their horns angrily wandering what this maniac was doing. But I? I was happy in that I had managed to get the colors arranged and all I needed was another blue car and then we could have a full line................oh, no, what is happening to me? I sat there for a while shivering as it dawned on me that I had entered the game itself, it had taken me over.........I was a brick!

Yeah, and that was not all. I found myself one afternoon staring inanely at a house wall and following the line of bricks along trying to sort out in my mind which pattern was best and which was not. And at my desk I found that I had arranged all files and papers in a neat pattern according to color and size having totally disregarded any format associated with the importance of in-going, outgoing, urgency, etc. Extremely worrying to say the least!

I have withdrawn from playing Tetris and other games of that sort hoping that I will stop having these off the screen episodes in real life. In the hope that I can return to a normal existence without having off-the-screen battles. Do other people suffer from this or is it just me?

The other game that I played to have a break from Tetris was "Prairie Dog". One of those annoying games where you have a choice of guns and dogs keep on appearing on the screen. Aim and fire being the next step. Bang, Bang, Bang, another dog bites the dust. Yes, I know, pathetic really, but great fun. Volume up full, there I would be furiously firing at any movement, reloading and starting again and the dogs would make a strangled sound as I hit them. But once again I one day realized that all was not well with me, as I used to sit on my balcony and take imaginary potshots at cars as they appeared on the road. Or in a busy street I would say "bang, bang" and pretend that I had cleared a path for myself through the crowds.

I played that other game Age of Empires many times to. Love that game as it takes s kill and thought as well as two fingers and rapid movement and I became extremely proficient at it as time went by. My computer often struggled to cope with the size of my army and the enemies that I faced. I would sit there for hours on end, maneuvering, shifting, attacking and withdrawing till the sun started to come up on the horizon. It would be then that I would force myself away and climb into bed only to resurface two hours later, make a large urn of coffee and re-attack with a vengeance. Although this game never caused me to start charging at other cars on the highways or lobbing screwed up notes at others in the office it did cause me to take a good look at myself. What would happen if suddenly I started to do this sort of thing in real life? If I started to make deals with my neighbors to attack next door offices or ping elastic bands at the mail delivery boy? I’ve stopped playing games now and have become a serious and boring "been there, done that and cured myself" type of person. I do have long and empty hours where I feel the urge to take up where I left off and I get extremely jealous when others talk about games or I see others playing them but I resist. I think it must be like smoking where one never loses the urge to light up and take a draw – just the one! No, No, I cannot! I now sit there and lecture others on the dangers of playing games and that they should stop before it is too late. And they? They just nod politely and then disappear to talk amongst themselves............."must be and ex-player", whisper, whisper, whisper.

About The Author

Ieuan Dolby, from Scotland is an Engineering Officer in the Merchant Navy. He has been travelling the world for 15yrs on an endless tour of cultural diversification. Currently based in Singapore he writes various articles for magazines and newspapers and is working on a marine glossary.

ieuandolby@lycos.com

Computer Viruses are Bad Luck

2007-02-14T23:57:00.001-08:00

OK, so you caught a computer virus and your system is all screwed up and you're frustrated and angry and upset. Bad luck.

Here's something that might make you feel better ...

The universe has true balance. And if a computer virus causes bad luck for the user it can also cause bad luck for the person who launched it.

Computer virus creators are usually very young and do not realize, or care, that they are causing harm to others. They just think it's cool. What they don't realize is that when a virus is launched it also unleashes a mystical power into the world, a malevolent thing that does bad things and makes victims of other people.

What these teen and pre-teen computer terrorists also don't realize is what goes around comes around. The universe will get them. Sooner or later. Payback time. They cause you bad luck, bad luck will befall them. What goes around comes around. If they launch a virus, causing bad luck for millions of people, in return, that can unleash and focus millions of bad vibes, BIG bad luck, back at them. That could mean serious bad luck for the launcher of a virus. Perhaps their mother will finally become totally disgusted with their attitude and behavior and cease to love them. Maybe they'll end up in a foster home, too old for adoption. Or maybe they'll have to run away and live on the streets, with no place to hook up their computer. Or maybe they won't run away but will get a weird but temporary brain disease that prevents them from using a computer until they're old enough to use it responsibly. Bad luck for them.

The computer virus. Bad luck for you, worse luck for the one who launches it.

About The Author

Maya Pinion is a New Age writer, contributing editor at News4Net and, for those who wish to discover their true destiny, highly recommends DestinyFinders.com

Learn How To Diagnose Power Supply Problems

2007-02-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

The Power Supply convert's your regular household current into low DC voltage used by the computer. When this component fails,there is simply no activity going on wih your computer.Remember to do the easy troubleshooting first.Inspect the Power Supply for any damage.Double-Check all connections.

Learning how to check your power supply and how to replace it when needed can be a life saver if you're a computer buff or in business with the trusted PC.Don't take for granted the simple pleasure of turning on your PC and everything works just fine.

We turned on one of our computers recently and in about one hour,it just re-booted itself.And it continued doing so about 10 times a day until we found out the power supply was the culprit.Things to look for when your power supply is going bad or just dies on you are the following.

NO POWER TO THE COMPUTER

Here you must first check the wall outlet for power by connecting another device such as a radio or lamp to be sure power is present.If the computer is connected through a surge protector,check it as well.

If the wall out has power,check the power cable going to the PC to see if AC voltage is making its way to the system unit.Do this with the use of a multimeter.

If there is power,you will have to open the PC and check for power from the power supply to the motherboard.

When using a multimeter to check voltage,be sure you have a good ground for the black lead of the multimeter.

RE-BOOTING PROBLEMS

One main problem you may face with an ailing Power Supply is that it may re-boot the computer without any warning.All information is lost and it seems as though this happens at the worst possible time.

Booting errors when the computer first start's up is another indicator of this component going on the blink.

POWER DISTRIBUTION PROBLEMS

When the power supply begins to fail,you may receive power at one device and not another.For example,the Hard Drive may receive power but the CDROM Drive has nothing at all.

Another headache with would cause re-booting is the intermittent power going to the drives or the motherboard itself.Follow the steps below to check your power supply should you experience some of the above problems.

CHECKING THE POWER SUPPLY

If the wall outlet,and the power cord are good,make sure the connection at the motherboard is secure.Then you may have to face the fact that the power supply itself is bad.If you have a Multimeter you can test the power supply output before purchasing a new one.Simply follow these steps.

Turn off the PC,but do not unplug it,open the system unit. Set the multimeter to read DC volts in the next range higher than 12 volts.Locate a power connector similair to the hard drive,or cdrom drive connector that is unused and turn on the PC.

You can also unplug a drive connector and use it as well.Turn on the PC and insert the BLACK probe into the power connector on one of the BLACK wires.Touch the RED probe to the YELLOW wire on the power connector.

The multimeter reading should be +12 volts Now touch the RED probe to the RED wire and the reading should be +5 volts.If no readings or different readings occured,you'll have to replace the power supply.If the readings were correct,you should check the P8 or P9 connectors at the motherboard. These connectors may also be named P4 and P5.To check these connectors,perform the following...

Insert the BLACK probe into P8 at one of the BLACK wires. Insert the RED probe into the P8 connector at the RED wire. The reading on the multimeter should be +5 volts

Check the power going to the Motherboard connections by inserting the RED probe into P8 at the YELLOW wire and you should get +12 volts.Leave the BLACK wire touching the black wire at the P8 connector.Check the BLUE wire and the reading should be a -12 volts.

Now move the BLACK probe to the BLACK wire on the P9 connector.Test the WHITE wire by inserting the RED probe and the reading should be -5 volts.Check the RED wires on the P9 connector and you should get +5 volts on each red wire.You won't get exactly 5 or 12 volts but the readings will be very close, such as 5.02 volts.

If the Power Supply is a couple of volts off,in either direction,such as when the RED wire should be reading -5 volts but it reads -8 volts,or if there are no readings,replace the power supply.

DO NOT remove the power supply from the system unit case when performing these tests.DO NOT perform these tests if you do not feel comfortable.Be sure to remove any and all electrical static build-up from your clothes and body BEFORE touching any parts inside the system unit.And NEVER open the power supply case for any reason,since high voltage may be present.

About The Author

Otis F. Cooper is solely dedicated to boosting the knowledge and confidence of every computer user that is serious about knowing computers.Use his informative articles and videos to understand every aspect about the PC. Read more about his formula for pc training at http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com

allaboutpc@juno.com

Laptop Computers and the PVP Effect!

2007-02-14T23:47:00.002-08:00

Roll over lumbering desktop computers, the limber laptop is here, and it's here to stay! For a while now notebooks have outstripped their ageing desktop PC siblings, easily winning the gold medal in the computer sales olympics. We will illustrate how the PVP effect has contributed greatly to the increase in popularity of notebook computers.

(P) Portability:

Firstly it may be stating the obvious, but people buy laptops because they can take them anywhere. Office workers need no more be confined to their claustrophophic cubicles. Instead those statistic charts and data reports can be compiled on a train, in the comfort of an arm chair, or even on the beach! Portability equals flexibility, but alas this hasn't always been the case. Todays ultra portable laptop computers have a come along way since the bulky, sewing machine sized machines of the late seventies and early eighties. Indeed one of the first portable computers was built by IBM, and this machine (IBM 5100) weighed in at a hefty 50lbs! Today's corridor warriors would have trouble lugging that puppy from meeting to meeting, unless of course they subjected themselves to an intensive dose of steroids :)

(V) Value:

In the seventies the aforementioned IBM 5100 would have set you back a staggering 20,000 dollars. Today a top of the range IBM Thinkpad can be bought for around 3000 dollars. Cheaper Thinkpads can often be obtained for well under a thousand dollars, especially if you don't mind purchasing a used or refurbished model.

(P) Performance:

Many laptops today come fitted with Centrino processors which offer superb performance and improved battery life. What is Centrino I hear you ask? Well this is Intel's name for their new notebook technology that combines their Pentium M processor, 855 chipset and the Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 WiFi 802.11 network interface. Laptops fitted with these processors are usually lighter because of the smaller components used.

Couple this attractive feature with wireless networking technology and you have a powerful technological package. Wi-Fi is short for "Wireless Fidelity" and it's usage is growing quickly amongst home users, office workers, even coffee shops. If you enter Wi-Fi areas with a properly equipped notebook, you can access the Internet at broadband speeds.

About The Author

Tom Fox writes for http://www.cheap-laptops-notebooks.com, a web site providing information and articles related to notebook computers.

Laptop Computer Extras for the Mobile Traveler

2007-02-14T23:47:00.001-08:00

A laptop computer certainly provides you with an unprecedented level of freedom and mobility away from the office. However there are a few extras you might want to bring along on your laptop travels:

Extra 1: portable printer

If you travel a lot, you never know when you might need to commit one of your digital documents to paper.

Sure, you can probably find a Kinko's, or even the business center at your hotel, but the experienced business traveler knows you're much better off when you're not at someone else's mercy.

Extra 2: USB hub

If you need to connect to several external devices simultaneously, the one or two USB ports on your laptop may or may not be sufficient. If not, keep an inexpensive four- port USB hub in your laptop case.

Extra 3: PC card token ring adapter

Ethernet is the industry standard for computer networking, however back in the 1970s IBM introduced a competing technology called Token Ring.

While Token Ring has all but faded from the mainstream, some hardcore IBM'ers still use it.

If you're going to be working in such an environment, you'll need a PC Card to connect to the network.

Extra 4: Foreign power kit

If you travel abroad, you're bound to run into a wide variety of power schemes - power schemes that aren't compatible with your laptop.

When you're away from the homeland, you'll need some sort of adapter/converter if you want to plug into a local wall outlet.

These are relatively inexpensive and can be easily found online.

About The Author

The author, computer journalist John San Filippo, has created the definitive guide for buying a laptop computer and mobile accessories. Visit the site at: http://HowToBuyALaptop.com

How to Protect your PC from Spyware in the Cyber Age.

2007-02-14T23:46:00.002-08:00

Wouldn't you be shocked to find that your personal sensitive information, like files, credit card information, operating system / software and other non-disclosed data to be penetrated by unscrupulous prying eyes? Even worse...

"Is your computer infected by Spyware?"

What is Spyware? Spyware are infectious programs developed to secretly subtract and transfer electronic information over the Internet, without a User's apprehension.

Norton Anti-Virus or any other "virus protection" solution, will not protect your computer from malicious applications like Spyware.

Ever Downloaded any kind of Music, Video or "Free Software"?

On the Internet, anything "free" has a hidden cost... much more than the cost of a highly-priced product.

How much is your Privacy's worth to You?

To diabolic marketing companies, your identity my friend, is worth thousands of dollars... they get rich by capitalizing and selling your privacy to third parties, who will in return, sell (again!) or use you as a guinea pig for their promotions -

your Anti-Virus won't protect you from Spyware!

Hint: Some even sell your information to telemarketers, or bulk e-mail marketing companies.

The question is... are the gigantic companies selling "anti-virus solutions", a part of this greedy industry?

Two of the best "Spyware Scanners" you must-have to protect your computer and identity from prying Spyware.

Free Spyware Removal Tools

No Adware : Stops privacy invaders like Gator, Kazaa or Adware and PC cluttering pop-ups.

http://cyber-software.com/spyware-removal

X-Block Probably the most powerful tool to automatically tracking, cleaning and informing you about malicious spyware, Trojans and Privacy-intruding programs.

http://cyber-software.com/x-block

Scan your Computer now for free. Open the program here and then opt to choose "RUN" instead of downloading it. You will be probably shocked to see how your Computer's system is infected with several spyware programs.

About The Author

Article written by George Papazoglou This article maybe freely republished provided that it is left intact including Author's credits and this resource box at it's total entirety. © Cyber-Software.com

How To Format A Hard Drive

2007-02-14T23:46:00.001-08:00

Here's how to format a hard drive (Legal Stuff: We are not responsible for any damages, lost data, or anything of the sort)...

If you have a computer, you surely know what a hard drive is. If you don't have one, or simply don't know what a hard drive is, then this article will begin with a short description of the hard drive. Then we will cover formating a hard drive...

Step 1: What Is A Hard Disk Drive?

A hard disk drive in computing is a type of storage device made up of hard disk platters, a spindle, read and write heads read and write arms, electrical motors, and integrated electronics contained inside an airtight enclosure.

Now you know what the hard drive is. Let's stick to the point and start with the information on the title of this article. How to format a hard disk drive....

Step 2...

First of all, you should have a reason if you really want to learn how to format a hard drive. But don't forget that formating a hard drive does NOT permanently delete your data!

Of course, when you format your hard drive you think that the data is really deleted, but that is not the case.

The fact is that the data you have "deleted" can be restored. Nonetheless, you should not experiment with formatting a hard drive because you never know what may happen. Of course, it also depends on the software you use, for example, there are such products that will permanently delete the data you want and then you can continue the process of how to format a hard drive.

Step 3...

In fact there is nothing so difficult in it. You first need to decide what operating system you intend to load after formating a hard drive.

It is best and easiest to use a boot disk for that Operating System, such as MS Dos6.2 or Windows95b or Windows98SE. You will need the proper Windows95/98 boot disk in order to load these operating systems on the computer, else it will reject loading due to the wrong Operating System on the computer.

Step 4...

Then you will have to insert your boot disk in the floppy drive and start the computer.

Once the system has completed booting and an A: prompt appears. You will need to type format C: /s and then press Enter. The function of this command is to tell the system to format your "C" drive and when it is finished to copy the system files to the drive.

The "/s" switches for "System". You can format a different drive this way by using a different drive letter.

Step 5...

After that you will see on the screen the following text: "WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST! Proceed with Format (Y/N)?" and if you really want to continue, type [Y] and then press Enter.

Your screen should display the size of your drive and a countdown in percentage of formatting completed. Depending on your computer's speed and the size of the drive it can take from a few minutes to over 15 minutes.

When it reaches 100% complete, you will see a new message: FORMAT COMPLETE. SYSTEM TRANSFERRED. This message is to indicate that the files required to boot your computer from the hard drive have been copied from the floppy to the hard drive.

The computer can now boot from the hard drive without a boot disk in the floppy drive.

The last message that will appear on your screen is the following: "Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?" You can either press any key to continue, or simply to press Enter. And now, you can finally begin to load your Operating System.

Keep in mind that you can receive an error message, which says "insufficient memory to load system files". If you do receive such message, do not worry. It is caused by the lack of a memory manager loaded at boot and your PC can only access the first 1mg of ram memory.

You can handle this situation with two options. The first one is to omit the /s switch when formatting. You should do it by typing this: FORMAT C: and then press Enter. Then when the format is complete, manually add the system files to your hard drive by using this command: SYS C: and press Enter again.

The second solution is to load a memory manager in order to overcome this issue. If you don't have any you can easily download one from one of the million sites on the Internet.

Step 6...

You see, we have finally reached the end of How To Format A Hard Drive. and consequently – the end of this article. Now you surely know how to format a hard drive. But, once again, don't play with the commands if you are not serious about formating a hard drive.

Even if the data is restorable you may do something wrong to your computer. That is why, you should be careful! And now, good luck!

http://www.cheap-computers-guild.com

About The Author

Brian Maroevich is founder of Cheap-Computers-Guild.com. Brian is also an author, marketing consultant, computer enthusiast, and athlete. Email: brian@cheap-computers-guild.com

How to Backup Windows XP Home Edition

2007-02-14T23:45:00.002-08:00

Your computer cost you from hundreds to thousands of dollars, but the computer itself is not the most valuable part. The data on the hard disk is the most valuable part. How many hours of work did you put into creating that data? One little event, like a power line spike from a lightning strike, and all that work could be lost. Unfortunately, backing up with Windows XP Home Edition is not as simple as it should be.

The first step is to choose a backup device. You might choose a tape drive or a DVD drive, but those devices might require drivers to be installed before you could restore from them. The simplest option is to install a second hard drive in your computer.

The second hard drive doesn't have to be equal to your main hard drive. You can use an older, smaller hard drive as the backup device, as long as the backup drive has more "Free Space" than the main hard drive has "Used Space".

Install a Second Hard Drive

When installing a second hard drive in your computer, it's important to configure the drives correctly. Your motherboard should have two ATA (sometimes called IDE) connectors. The primary connector should have a cable with two drive connectors. The end connector should go to your main hard drive, the middle connector can be used for a backup hard drive. The second motherboard ATA connector should go to your CD-ROM.

On the back of each hard drive is a jumper. The jumper on your main hard drive should be set to the "Master" position. The jumper on your backup hard drive should be set to "Slave" position. Most modern computers use "Cable Select", so you can set both jumpers to the "Cable Select" position. Don't forget the power connector for the second drive.

When you restart your computer, the second drive should be automatically recognized and be designated with the next drive letter available, usually E: (D: being used for the CD-ROM drive).

Format the Second Hard Drive

Generally, you will want to re-format the second hard drive after installation to remove any previously installed operating system and to remove any previous file access rights. To format the drive, select Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administration Tools | Computer Management. In the "Computer Management" window, under "Storage", click on "Disk Management".

Right click on the backup disk's drive letter. In the popup menu, select All Tasks | Format... In the Warning dialog box that appears, click on the "Yes" button. In the "Format" dialog box, in the "File system" drop-down list, select NTFS. Click on the "OK" button. Again, in the Warning dialog box that appears, click on the "Yes" button.

Install the Backup Utility

Windows XP Home Edition doesn't install the Backup utility by default. You'll need to install it manually from your Windows XP CD-ROM.

1. After inserting the CD-ROM, open Control Panel's "Add or Remove Programs" utility. In the "Add or Remove Programs" utility", click on the "Add New Programs" button, then click on the "CD or Floppy" button.

2. In the "Run Installation Program" dialog box that appears, navigate to the VALUEAD/MSFT/NTBACKUP folder on the CD-ROM and select the file NTBACKUP.MSI. Click on the "Finish" button. The Backup utility will be installed.

Perform a Full Backup

To perform a backup, select Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Backup to open the Backup Utility.

Note: If you don't find Backup listed in System Tools, double click on the file name ntbackup.exe in the Windowssystem32 folder.

In the "Backup or Restore Wizard", click on the "Advanced Mode" link. In the "Backup Utility" dialog box, select the "Backup" tab and set the checkbox next to the drive to backup (c:) and set the checkbox next to "System State".

In the "Backup media or file name" text box, enter the path to the file for the backup (example E:Backup.bkf). Click on the "Start Backup" button.

In the "Backup Job Information" dialog box that appears, set the radio button next to "Replace the data on the media with this backup". Click on the "Start Backup" button. The "backup Progress" dialog box will appear.

Even when you backup to relatively fast media like hard disk, the process can take 30 minutes or longer depending upon how much data is on the main drive.

When the backup is complete, turn off the computer and remove the data and power cables from the backup drive. It doesn't make sense to leave the backup drive connected because if the cause of a failure is a power spike, it will take out both drives. Next time you want to backup you'll need to reinstall the cables.

How to Perform a Restore

In the unfortunate event that your computer crashes and you can't get it back by any other means, you'll need to reinstall Windows XP from the CD-ROM. (Automated System Recovery is not supported in Windows XP Home Edition.) You'll need to re-install the Backup utility. Then you'll need to shut down the computer to install the data and power cables to the backup drive. Restart the computer and use the Backup Utility to restore Windows XP from the backup file.

When using this backup method, it's important to be careful not to break any pins when you are removing and installing the data cable of the hard drive. And if your computer doesn't use "cable Select", don't forget to change the jumper on the main hard drive back to "Single".

Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint, distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is included.

About The Author

Stephen Bucaro

To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter visit http://bucarotechelp.com/search/000800.asp

7 Reasons NOT to Take Your Laptop on Holiday!

2007-02-14T23:45:00.001-08:00

Heading off on vacation soon?

Then perhaps you're tempted to take your trusty laptop along for the trip.

After all, you bought it for its mobility, and it's nice to stay in touch via email with your family and friends back home.

However, just before you start packing, its pays to consider the downside of traveling with a laptop, particularly if you're planning to go abroad:

1. Weight

A laptop (plus accessories) starts to feel heavy very quickly. And who really needs MORE luggage to carry around?

2. Security risk

To you, it's a laptop computer. To a thief, it's a bag of easy money. (About $1000). And that bag is something you have to guard every second of your vacation.

3. Power supply problems

You'll need a different power adaptor plug for each country you visit. And depending on your laptop power supply cable, you may also need a step-up / step-down voltage transformer.

4. Connection complications

You'll need to find a way of connecting to the Internet. If your laptop is suitably equipped and you can find a local hotspot, you can take advantage of wireless Internet access.

Otherwise you're stuck with dial-up modem access, which means a choice between:

- using your existing ISP's local call number in the country you're visiting (provided your ISP has a local number! AOL and Compuserve generally do.)

- making a long-distance telephone call to your regular dial-up number back home

- signing up with a local ISP (rarely practical in the short-term)

5. Telephone socket trouble

Different countries have different types of telephone socket. If you're planning on connecting via dial-up access, you'll have to bring a suitable telephone adaptor plug.

You'll also need a digital signal tester to test for higher- voltage digital telephones lines. Otherwise you could end up frying your modem and possibly the motherboard too.

6. Extra insurance cover

It's highly unlikely your travel insurance policy extends to laptop computers. You'll therefore need to arrange separate specialist insurance cover, which isn't cheap.

7. You're on holiday!

Do you really want your office with you on vacation? Aren't you supposed to be getting away from it all?

If you're beginning to think that traveling with a laptop computer is a major logistical exercise, then you're right. (Just ask any "road warrior"!)

However, there IS an alternative:

An Internet Cafe.

Almost every city and large town now has several Internet cafes. To locate one when you're abroad, just ask your hotel receptionist or a friendly taxi driver.

You'll also find Internet cafes in airports, railway stations, major hotels, business centers, public libraries, and even onboard cruise ships.

Before you leave on your travels, simply ensure you can access your email via a web browser. (This is known as "webmail". Most ISPs offer this option automatically - just ask them if you're unsure.)

Alternatively, set up a free webmail address (at hotmail.com or yahoo.com) for the duration of your trip and give it to anyone who might need to contact you.

With webmail set up, all you have to worry about is remembering your email login and password. Everything else - hardware, connectivity, security - is somebody else's problem.

To summarize:

Unless you have a very good reason for taking your laptop on holiday, you'd be wise to leave the darn thing at home and use an Internet cafe instead.

And who knows - maybe your laptop could use a vacation from you!

About The Author

Steve Robson is a successful technical author and contributor to http://HowToBuyALaptop.com - For advice on how to buy a cheap laptop, visit: http://howtobuyalaptop.com/cheap-laptops.htm

3 Tips to Fix Unreliable Wireless Connections

2007-02-14T23:44:00.000-08:00

Generally speaking, wireless computer connections are reliable. However, nothing is perfect, and sometimes you may lose your connection or experience a weak signal. There are many factors that impact the reliability of your wireless connection. For example, if your wireless adapter is too close to a 2.4 GHz wireless telephone, you may notice a decrease in your computer’s wireless single strength. Why? Because the phone and the computer reside on the same frequency and can interfere with each other’s performance.

Handy Repair Checklist for Wireless Interruptions

1. First check to see if your cable or DSL is actually working. Usually located in your basement, most modems have four lights. You have a live Internet connection if the “data” or “status” light is on. If it’s off, or flashing, your cable is out.

2. If your cable/DSL is working, then reboot your computer. Sometimes, if your cable/DSL goes out for even 10 seconds, your computer and the wireless router may no longer be able to talk to each other. By rebooting your computer, a new IP address is assigned, allowing them to once again communicate.

3. If your desktop is wireless and you’ve moved the wireless adapter [the box that sits next to the computer with antennas], then you may need to move the adapter until you find a stronger signal.

About The Author

Sharron Senter is co-founder of http://www.VisitingGeeks.com - an on site computer repair, security and networking company serving north of Boston, Southern NH and Maine. Visiting Geeks’ technicians are crackerjacks at squashing viruses, popups and securing and making computers perform faster. Learn more about Sharron at http://www.SharronSenter.com