Computer Tips and Guides

Archive for July, 2009

Many times in order to remove a piece of spyware or for troubleshooting and diagnostic purposes, you’ll have to start Windows in Safe Mode. While in Safe Mode, only specific programs and files needed to run the operating system are loaded. Some functions, such as connecting to the Internet, will not be active in Safe Mode and a standard video driver will be loaded causing a washed out look and a possible change in resolution.

However, because just the essential programs ..read more

Many times when trying to remove an unwanted program, especially a piece of adware or spyware, you may run across a file that is undeletable by any normal method. When you try to remove it you’ll receive the error message shown below telling you “access denied” and explaining the file may be in use.  You may also receive one of the following messages.

Cannot delete file: Access is denied There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in ..read more

Step 1: Know Your System

The first preventive step you need to perform is to take an inventory of your computer system. This information will be vital if you later have to contact technical support or have your system serviced.

Start by noting your serial number and model number. With this information, your system manufacturer can determine the components of your system. If you’ve added components to your system, ..read more

I’ve had a few computers that will not boot correctly after I’ve installed Windows XP Service Pack 3 on them. The computer finishes the install and then prompts for a reboot. The computer will start to reboot then give a BSOD Stop Error for a second and reboot again. This process will continue unless the computer is started in Safe Mode. In Safe mode the computer boots correctly and everything seems fine.

This problem only appears on some systems after upgrading ..read more

Best Content Filtering Software? [Hive Five Call For Contenders]

Despite the fact that the internet is quite mainstream, it’s hardly lost its Wild West ways. Which tools do you use to tame rowdy content and make your computer kid and co-worker friendly?

We’re huge advocates of the freedom of information and the personal responsibility that comes with access to a tool as powerful and far reaching as the internet. Nonetheless, there are times when it’s necessary to filter the information coming down ..read more

Although I covered most of the ways to speed up Windows boot time in another article, I encountered a unique roadblock recently that made me write this article.

During the last week I was asked by a customer to upgrade one of their office computers from Windows 98SE to Windows XP. Normally this is pretty standard, however because their current hard drive was only a 20GB with a gig or so remaining I wanted to upgrade their hard drive as well.

I ..read more

One of the questions I am often asked is how to speed up the time it takes Windows to load or boot. There are a variety of factors (both hardware and software) involved in lowering the amount of time it takes for Windows to load. I will go over most of these ways in this page starting with changes in the system BIOS and moving onward from there.

All of these changes are optional, and do not need to be carried ..read more

DropRecord Uploads Your Files to Multiple Hosts

Bulk uploading a file you want to share to multiple file hosting services is quite a time saver. DropRecord is a simple way to upload your files to over a dozen hosts.

DropRecord will accept files up to 500MB in size and will upload to over a dozen file hosts including the big players like RapidShare, MegaUpload, and EasyShare. Once you upload your file you’re given a unique URL for the file which shows the ..read more

Get Google Gears Up and Running in Firefox 3.5

Windows/Mac/Linux: Most developers did a bang-up job preparing their extensions for the Firefox 3.5 update, but on the Firefox 3.5 release day, one very popular extension didn’t make the cut: Google’s browser plug-in, Gears.

It’s a week later, and still no update from the folks at Google, but a few adventurous users have hacked together their own Firefox 3.5 compatible builds of Gears. We wouldn’t recommend that just anyone go download and install ..read more

File Recovery for Mac

File Recovery for Mac is a powerful data recovery software that can recover data from deleted, formatted or corrupted hard drives and restore volumes on Apple Mac computers. It’s easy to use, and because it won’t write to the drive you are recovering from it’s safe and cannot harm your data.

Use File Recovery for Mac to recover lost data whether it has been accidentally deleted, the drive has been formatted or partitioned, or if it won’t mount ..read more