A few things to look out for when you buy new computer

Hi!
      This is actually a mini hardware tutorial covering some of the basic but important things which all computer users should know… A few advanced terms like cache memory, FSB etc. are also covered. As I said earlier, this is not just a laptop buying guide but a mini hardware tutorial…

OK! Let’s start…
Before I start… This guide is written by keeping in mind, the needs of an average user… If you are a hardcore gamer or somebody like that, you should go for a better configuration. But the basics which I’m about to write are applicable for all users. 

hmmm…

Screen Size (For Laptop Users)

              First of all the screen itself since it is a laptop… Because you should have a clear idea about your laptop’s size… Students should go for smaller ones because they are compact and portable. I think a 15 incher will be enough for most people. Keep in mind that bigger screen means bigger laptop. Big laptops are difficult to carry.

CPU

  Go for a Core 2 Duo processor or a Pentium Dual Core (Pentium D) processor. Anything below 2 GHz is enough. The processor has 2 cores. So if you buy a processor (C2D or Pentium D) with 1.8 GHz clockspeed, the actual speed will be 1.8*2=3.6 GHz. There are differences between Dual Core and Core 2 Duo s. I'm not posting it here but if you get the opportunity, always go for the Core 2 Duo.

RAM

              The memory(RAM) is something to which the programs are loaded. Consider the RAM as a table and and the programs as books or something like that. The bigger the table the more books (programs) you can arrange on it. 1 GB of RAM is enough. 2 GB is more than enough. Don't even think about anything more than that (it is a laptop, not a server).

Hard Disk

             A 160 GB Hard Disk is enough for most users (even for the advanced users). For those who don’t know what a hard disk is: It is something to which all your data is stored. The bigger the hard disk size, the more space you will get.

GPU

             There's a thing called GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) which is integrated to your motherboard. With a good GPU you can play the latest games and edit videos etct. In short it will increase the graphics performance. So ask the vendor about the quality of the GPU (I don’t want to confuse you mentioning the names) .

             There's no need to comment on other factors like optical drive (DVD writer, CD drive etc.), battery backup etc. Just use your common sense and decide.

Additional Information (Mainly For PC Users)

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Cache Memory
The CPU has a very special ability (something like the 6th sense). The data is loaded to the CPU even before you ask the computer to do a particular thing. Actually the CPU is guessing. The advantage of this guessing is that if it is correct, then the CPU wont have to contact the RAM to load the data. So things will be very fast. A correct guess is called a cache hit. More than 90% of the guesses are hits. So it is a very useful feature. A CPU with a big amount of cache memory can make more guesses. So naturally the no. hits will increase which in turn increases the speed. Most of the processors come with a good amount of cache memory. 2 MB is a v. good size.

FSB
FSB (Front Side Bus) is the speed at which data is transferred through the channel (on the motherboard) that connects the CPU and the RAM. Latest motherboards have FSBs of about 1333MHz. So you should choose a motherboard with a big FSB (the cpu also should support such high FSBs).

Well, that was just a brief description… I’m planning to write a special post explaining in detail, some of the overlooked factors like GPU, Cache Memory, FSB etc.. There will be a special post on Motherboards also…

If you have any queries, contact me…

I’m very busy with my studies nowadays and that’s reason for the big time gap between posts. 
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Prince

'Firefox like browsers'...are they any better?

The Mozilla Firefox web browser has been around for quite a long time now... The browser became better and better ever since it came out in Nov 2004. Today most of the expert users use Fx for safe net surfing.
It is my favourite web browser. I used Google Chrome for some time but I didn't like it. The Fx project was such a huge success and people started to think about creating new web browsers based on the Fx source code (since it is an open source program).
The two names that come to my mind when thinking about such 'Firefox like browsers' are CometBird and Flock.
CometBird
CometBird is a lightweight, powerful and fast web browser. It uses less resources of your pc to display web pages faster and has lots of features, including anti-virus software integration, pop-up blocker, private data clearing function, Integrated web search, Smart Location Bar… etc. Also, you can customize the look&feel of the browser and integrate different add-ons into your browser to make it your style. You can even download videos directly using this browser. And sometimes it was even quicker than Firefox. I mean there was a clear difference in speed. Really impressive!
Flock
Flock is a web browser heavily based upon Mozilla Firefox and other Mozilla technologies, Flock is also the name of the company developing the browser. Flock's creators call it a social browser , due to its ability to interact with popular social networking web services. Such web services include Flickr, Del.icio.us, Technorati, Photobucket, and various popular blogging and news aggregation services. This web browser is very good for day to day use and the name 'Social Browser' really suits it. But I had some problems with it. It crashed often and it is not the quickest out there.
For an average users who google for some time and regularly visit these Social Networking sites, Flock is the best option. And CometBird is for intermediates and advanced users. But I still use Firefox.

 

You can download CometBird from here and Flock from here.

Some tweaks/tricks which you should avoid.

Many of the tricks which we use nowadays to speedup our computers are actually useless. I pointed out one of them in my previous post (about the registry cleaners). Today I will tell you about 2 more fake tweaks/tricks.

1) Disable QOS to speed up internet.

This is one of the most famous internet tweaks out there. Majority of the users don't know that this one is a useless tweak. Disabling QOS wont make any difference in surfing speed (under normal conditions). I think it is a ploy to wipe out those programs that depend on QOS.

2) Memory optimizers

They cant speedup your system. I don't want to give a technical explanation to this but you can test it yourself. Open 7 applications and minimize 6 of them. After some time, start a memory optimizer and ask it to free up memory. After that try to maximize those 6 windows on the taskbar. Did you notice how long it takes to load a single window??? very very slow. Why??? Simply put: Allocation and de-allocation of memory. But these memory optimizers are widely used. I wonder why.
Don't tweak your system unnecessarily and you should have a good idea about what you are doing.

Virtual Machines for testing Operating Systems.

Technorati Tags: How to do's

Many of the users are still not aware of the uses of Virtual Machines (VM). It is not commonly used but that doesn't mean that it is useless. The term Virtual Machine is a bit confusing but it is nothing more than a Software. I will tell you about the basics of a Virtual Machine. After reading this post, you will be able to set up a Virtual Machine easily.OK lets start…

What is a Virtual Machine?

A virtual machine (VM) is an environment, usually a program or operating system, which does not physically exist but is created within another environment. In this context, a VM is called a "guest" while the environment it runs within is called a "host." You can install Operating Systems on a Virtual Machine software without disturbing your default operating system. What a Virtual Machine does is that it creates a virtual environment for an operating system to run. The VM software can be installed onto a computer just like you install a software. But it runs in a different way. The term Virtual Machine has several definitions. Actually there are different types of virtual machines (having different functions). I don’t want to explain too much. I will tell you about the other types of virtual machines later. Today, we will learn about installing an operating system on a VM.

Why should I install an Operating System using a VM?

Imagine that you’ve got a no.of Linux distros and you just want to test them and select the suitable one to dualboot. It is difficult to install them one by one in the regular way. And it is not easy to remove them also. The changes you make during an installation is often difficult to revert. But you can test them on a virtual machine like installing a software and you can also remove them very easily. Even if something goes wrong with the installed operating system or the programs in it, nothing will happen to the host OS or the data in your computer.

How to setup a Virtual Machine?

To setup a Virtual Machine, you need the following :
1) A Virtual Machine Software.
2) An image file or a CD/DVD of the Operating system you want to install.
3) A decent machine.
1) Virtual Machine Software : A lot of them are out there. VMware Workstation is a very popular VM but it is vey costly. A free but very efficient VM software out there. It is called Virtual Box (Sun xVM) Download it from here.
2) You can use a DVD or image file to install the OS. I will be using an image file of Sabayon Linux which I downloaded from their website.
3) A P4 with 1 GB of RAM will be enough.
Actually there is no need to explain the installation procedure. It is very easy. After installing virtual box, open it and go to help->contents. Everything you need to know about setting up a new VM is explained perfectly there. Just read the help section (it is a guide actually) and follow the instructions.

A Virtual Machine is not an alternative for the real machine. It has so many limitations. So it is not a permanent solution. The best idea is to test the operating systems using a VM and if you find it useful, dual boot it along with the host OS.
You now know what a virtual machine is and you know how to setup one. You are now an advanced user…at least in the eyes of your bathroom mirror. : D
Congrats
Prince

Ultimate Windows Tweaker 2.0

Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.0 is a freeware Tweak UI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows 7 & Windows Vista, 32-bit & 64-bit. It can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application to customize your Windows to meet your requirements. With judicious tweaking, it can make your system faster, more stable, and more secure with just a few mouse clicks.The tweaker is a 345KB .exe file which does not require an install, but yet packs over 150 tweaks & settings. Simply download the zip file, extract its contents and run Ultimate Windows Tweaker.

The latest release adds even more useful tweaks like disabling Aero Shake, Snap, or Preview in Windows 7, customizing the amount of items on Jump Lists.

The tweaker detects whether you have Windows 7 or Windows Vista installed and accordingly offers you the relevant tweaks only.

An easily accessible button for creating the same has been provided in the tweaker. You can always restore your system to the Windows Vista default settings using the Restore Defaults button and applying them.



Download Ultimate Windows Tweaker 2.0

Test the speed of your Internet connection.

Don't know how fast your internet connection is? There are many online tools that will help you to calculate the internet speed. Speedtest is one of them. It is one of the most popular speed test tools out there.

Speedtest

Speedtest.net is a broadband speed analysis tool that allows anyone to test their Internet connection. Ookla provides this service for free to anyone curious about the performance of their connection to and from hundreds of locations around the world. Whether you test just for fun or you really need to certify and validate the true speed of your Internet connectivity, Speedtest.net is the place to be. You can view all of your historical results, share them easily, and even compare them to others in your immediate area or around the globe.

Speedtest.net performs three key measurements used to determine the overall quality and performance of your Internet connection.

*
Download Speed

The speed at which data is sent from the Internet to your computer
*
Upload Speed

The speed at which data is sent from your computer to the Internet
*
Ping (Latency)

The time it takes in milliseconds for a small piece of data to be sent from your computer to the Internet and back

The speed test results are very accurate and the test results will be shown as a png image. So you can copy the link and paste it on your website or forum.




Follow this link...

Increase the performance of Windows XP!

Deleting unwanted startup items.
Go to Start menu->Programs->Startup. Delete the unwanted startup items in this menu . For eg: MS Office. Now let’s do it in a more advanced way. From the start menu click on Run and type msconfig and cilck ok. This will launch the system configuration utility. Now click on the startup tab. A list of programs starting along with windows can be seen. Enable those ones which you want (for example antivirus software) and usually 95% of the startup items are useless. So disable all those useless ones. Remember that by doing this you are only preventing the software from starting along with windows. You can start them manually at any time.

Deleting Temporary files and cleaning up the registry.
Temporary files are residual files that remain after program installations, or that are created by programs when the programs shut down abnormally. These files will slow down your system and will occupy a lot of space too. These files can be deleted using several methods.

Registry is another very important part of the operating system. It stores very important information about the software, users, their settings etc. Sometimes unwanted keys pile up in the registry. Usually this occurs due to improper removal of software. Manually editing the registry is too dangerous.

It is better to use a software in this situation. It is easy and will take no time. CCleaner or Crap cleaner is probably the best option. You can download it from here.
Download and install it. To delete temporary files, run ccleaner, go to the cleaner tab and click on the analyze button and after the analysis click on run cleaner. Done!
Now to clean the registry, click on the Registry tab and after that click on the scan for issues button. When the scan gets complete, click on Fix selected issues button. You should always backup the changes you have made to the registry. Crap cleaner can be used for deleting startup items also. Some other functions of Ccleaner are not described here since they have nothing to do with the performance of a computer.

Note: Cleaning up registry will not increase the speed of your computer by much. There are 1000s of keys in the registry. So removing 50 or 60 of them will not make your system run faster. But your computer will become more stable. Thats for sure.

Changing the file system.

File system plays an important role in the performance of a computer. It is of two kind : FAT and NTFS. FAT is the older one and NTFS is relatively newer. NTFS has so many advantages over FAT. It is quick, safe… Still most of the people are using the FAT file system. To know which file system your computer has, right click on my computer icon on desktop->manage->Disk management (under storage tab). Now on the right side of the window the list of partitions and their details will appear.If you have FAT file system, you should convert it into NTFS. Here is how you do it without losing data (I mean without formatting the drive).
Start->Run->type cmd and hit enter. The command prompt will appear. Now type convert driveletter:/fs:ntfs Eg. convert c:/fs:ntfs. Done! This is a very useful tweak.


More tips will be posted in the next post...

Attack on Twitter -More details revealed

Twitter.com which is one of the most famous social messaging utility has been hacked. First reports of the attack actually came out in May but more and more details about the attack are coming out everyday. Recently, more evidence of the attack was published on a French website. The screen shots of the accounts and some other confidential data are published there.

The hacker, who introduced himself as 'Hacker Croll' reportedly accessed the accounts of the Twitter employees and some celebrity members like Britney Spears.

He claims to have found out the following:

• The complete list of employees
• Their food preferences
• Their credit card numbers
• Some confidential contracts with Nokia, Samsung, Dell, AOL, Microsoft and others
• Direct emails with web and showbizz personalities
• Phone numbers
• Meeting reports
  
• Internal document templates
• Time sheet
• Applicant resumes
• Salary grid

But there is no evidence for this.

The hacker got into the Gmail account of @Ev first and then got into the other accounts from there.

He claims to have gained access to some secret documents, including projections for reaching 25 million users in 2009, 100 million in 2010, 350 million in 2010, and an outlandish goal to eventually become the first Internet service to reach one billion users.

The hacker in his letter to the site member explains that he hacked to teach the experts the lesson that nobody is safe on the net. He also points out the lack of effectiveness of the secret questions.

This attack on Twitter tells us how easy it is to get into a website just by hacking a Gmail account.

So guys, be careful!!! Don't set security questions that can be answered easily and don't use the answer of the security question as a password. Use unique passwords for all your accounts.

Windows 7 RC 7100 Review for XP users

Windows 7 is the latest operating system from Microsoft after the disappointing Vista. After releasing many evaluation versions, Microsoft Windows 7 will be launched on 13th. Many people (especially XP users) are wondering what it actually is. Is it another Vista like OS? Is it worth price? So I am gonna write a review on Windows 7. The previous reviews I wrote on Windows 7 didn't include the difference between Windows 7 and Windows XP. This review is for XP users. This is a late review but I actually wanted to wait till the last RC because it will be most similar to the officially released OS. The intention of this review is to give the reader a clear idea about Windows 7 and its features.

I downloaded the ISO image of the OS from the Microsoft's website burned it using Imgburn and straightaway started the installation. Anybody with a bit of common sense can install this OS. So there is nothing much to explain about the installation procedure. If you can install XP, you will be able to install this one. Just use your common sense and as I always say : read the descriptions carefully. Btw, during the installation my screen looked weird. It was because of some graphics problems. It didn't hinder the installation because it was just the background that looked very dull. The installation was reasonably quick. But don't compare the time with XP. This one is much bigger in size than XP.

The new welcome screen looked very good. I was introduced to the new desktop of Windows 7. I was not surprised because I had already used the RC 7000. But the screen resolution was locked at 600*800. I had a set of XP drivers and I tried to launch the setup program. But I couldn't install the display drivers. So I decided to install the drivers manually. I opened the device manager, right clicked on the device and chose the update driver option and asked Windows to search for the drivers on the CD and this time it didn't disappoint me. I had some problems with the display drivers because I used a very average hardware. But I managed to install all the other drivers by launching the setup. Most of the people wont have trouble installing the drivers but somebody with very outdated hardware should be very careful because you may get into trouble. But you can install them manually. I installed Windows 7 on many old systems and I managed to install the drivers manually on all of them.

First Look at Windows 7

The interface looks pretty but it is simple at the same time except the taskbar. But you can make it look pretty by adding different gadgets and changing wallpapers etc. I just did that and it looked like this :



You might have noticed the taskbar of Windows 7. Actually it deserves a special mentioning.Internet Explorer (IE), Windows Explorer and Windows Media Player (WMP) are pinned to the taskbar. When you open multiple windows of these applications, you will see the only one of them on the taskbar. When you just click on the application's icon you will see the list of windows that are opened by you. It is very useful for people like me. You can pin other programs into the taskbar if you want and can remove the ones that are there already. I removed IE because I use Firefox and Google Chrome for surfing the net.

There are some new features in Explorer but it doesn't look that great. I think they should improve Explorer a bit more.

New and modified features

Start Menu: Windows 7 comes up with some very nice features. There is something new in everything. Like the taskbar, the startmenu also has something new yo offer. The 'Search' option and 'Run' option are absent in the side panel of the startmenu. A search + run bar is present in the startmenu itself. You can search for files and enter commands there.

Display settings:The Display Settings in Windows 7 can be changed very easily. There is no need to open a 100 windows to alter the settings. Everything you need is a few clicks away. A very very nice collection of wallpapers is included in Windows 7 and there is an option to change the wallpapers at a specified interval. So the days of wallpaper changers are over. You can alter and create new themes using Windows 7 and if you want you can save it for future use. But that is not the greatest thing about it. You can actually save your theme for sharing and send the file to your friends. Isn't that great? I think so!



Clarity fonts have been a problem with LCD screens. The Clear Type Text Toner in Windows 7 is good enough to solve all such problems. You can increase the sharpness and clarity of the fonts very easily with this application.

A large number of sound schemes are there in Windows 7. I use the Sonata scheme which is very nice.


Ease Of Access:There is an ease of access center which is very useful for impaired people. It offers some new services in addition to the ones in XP.




Snipping Tool: You can use Snipping Tool to capture a screen shot of any object on your screen, and then annotate, save, or share the image. 'The Free-form Snip' option is very useful. Just select a portion of the screen and get the screen shot of that portion. Here is an example.




User Account Control (UAC) : The UAC settings in Windows 7 can be changed very easily. Many XP users don't know much about UAC. But it has been a nightmare for many Vista users. In a way one can say that UAC's job is to confirm all the actions of the user. Whenever a system-level change is made, a new window pops up asking for confirmation and many users including me found it very annoying. The feature which was built to make Vista secure became the most hated feature. Windows 7's UAC settings can be changed very easily and the user can turn it off if needed. But it adds a hole in the security system. It is reported that a malware can turn of the UAC itself if you run it. But I'm with Microsoft this time. Since this is a review, I cant explain why but if you guys want an explanation I will post one. Here is a pic of the UAC





System Tools: Some more useful apps are added to the System tools section. One of them is the resource monitor.

Parental Controls: I get many emails everyday from parents who want put certain limits on the computer usage of their children. It is difficult to reply to all the emails because different people need to control their children in different ways. So I had to send separate emails. There is a Parental Control option in Windows 7 which is very OK. You can control your child's activities in the computer using this application. There is an additional controls section where services like web filtering and activity reporting can be set.







BitLocker: Bitlocker is a very useful application that can be used to encrypt hard drives and external storage devices. It is extremely useful for people who carry some big secrets in their pockets and bags. I encrypted a pen drive of mine using BitLocker. It was very easy and smooth. It is one of the highest rated features in Windows 7 and one of the most useful too. There is an option to automatically open the device in your computer without entering password. So it will ask for password only if the device is plugged to another computer.



Windows Power Shell is included in Windows 7. It is very useful for many advanced users.

Windows Live Essentials include some very nice programs like Windows Live Family Safety and Windows Live Writer.

Compatibility with software: I tried to install some of the most used software like Ccleaner, Mozilla Firefox, Eset Smart Security etc. into Windows 7. They were all installed without any trouble what so ever. I installed some rarely used programs also and haven't had problem with a single one of them so far.

Performance : I used an old system with a P4 processor and 1 gig of RAM to test this OS. I didn't use a graphics card. It was reasonably fast during the initial stages. After some tweaking it worked very smoothly. This one performs far better than Vista. Don't expect Windows 7 to run as smoothly as XP. But it is almost there. Explorer in Windows 7 seems to faster than the one in Windows XP.

There is no Windows Movie Maker in Windows 7. It is replaced by Windows Live Movie Maker. Windows Live Movie Maker requires ATI Radeon 9500 (or higher) or nVidia GeForce FX 5900 (or higher). This will prevent many users from using it. But I didn't find anything special in it. Other video editing software are far better than this new Movie Maker.

I know that there are many areas which I left untouched like the improved Windows Help and Support center. But I think this review is enough to learn about some

After all this is a review of the RC. But since this one is the final RC, you can expect the original Operating System to be very similar to this. 7100 seems to be very stable but I had some issues with 7000. So that means the developers are working hard on it. The decision to replace Windows Movie Maker with Windows Live Movie Maker was a poor one. They should try to improve the looks of explorer. Some more features should also be added to the explorer.

Conclusion: I'm very impressed by this Operating System and its performance. It performed well on average systems. It offers many new facilities.Of course, if you have a high end system you will enjoy this OS a bit more than the others.

Even XP had problems when it first came out. But it later came on to become one of the best Operating Systems ever. So I expect this OS to become better and better.

But it costs heavily on your pocket. $300. I know what word is in your mind now... It is a word that starts and ends with the letter t. :-D

Hope that you enjoyed this review.

Regards,
Prince
നന്ദി, നല്ല നമസ്കാരം.

Hi to all!

Hi everybody!

This is the first post in this blog. I'm a guy who started using computer at a very young age. I write reviews on software and hardware products and I'm the moderator of a website too. I learned quite a lot about computers over these years and I'm willing to share my knowledge with you. I will be writing reviews on both software and hardware here. Even though I'm more interested in hardware, I will be writing more about software because I think it is more useful for the common man. Along with the reviews and news, there will be some how to do's, buying guides and also some tips and tricks for you.

I created this blog because many other people (not everybody) who write reviews carryout tests using costly and sophisticated machines. So their reviews can be misleading. I don't and wont use the most modern machines to test the products. All the tests are conducted on average machines. So you can trust my reviews.

I will try my best to update this blog regularly. If you have any doubts or queries regarding computers, you may ask me either by posting comments or via email. This blog is in its initial stages. So I apologise for any inconvenience.
Regards,
Prince