Computer Spot dot Net

For those that have decided to walk into the world of technology, they may be overwhelmed by the types of knowledge that are available.

There are several code languages and words as well as different areas that you can move into.  If you are a beginner in technology, you can find programs that will help you to move past the first level.

Learning basic PC skills through IT Certification is an easy way to begin to understand the several levels and languages of technology.

However, before deciding to get IT Certification for basic PC skills, you will want to narrow down which types of PC skills you will want to get. Read the rest of this entry →

We’ve all heard about someone whose computer has crashed. It’s a terrible mess. That person probably thought that it couldn’t happen to them until it did. Be proactive and back up your data.

A computer’s hard drive can crash for any number of reasons. You don’t want to be happily finishing up a 30 page project when it happens. Where does the information go? It is lost in the abyss that has become home to many a kilobyte.

It’s more frightening than a bad hair day but you can keep it from happening to you. Back up your computer files so that you don’t lose all of your work to the great beyond. It is a good practice for anyone who has a computer.

It is not hard to put a backup system in place. When you buy most laptops these days, the system comes with free backup for one or two years. Read the rest of this entry →

In 1998, Microsoft Corporation released their latest update of the popular Windows operating system – Windows 98.

It was a successor to the previous version of Windows 95 and was an improvement on technology contained in its predecessor.

One of the great advantages to Windows 98 was that it required relatively low system requirements making it easier to gain its full potential even on older machines.

This version of Windows gave full support to DOS applications because it could be switched between DOS mode and Windows mode.  Being able to do this allowed the user to fix certain system errors manually.

Windows 98 was never as stable as regular computer users needed.  This was due to many reasons.  Often the software developers of drivers and applications had insufficient experience with the creation of programs for the new system. Read the rest of this entry →

Do you still remember windows98? It was my favorite operating system from windows. Here is the brief history of windows 98.

Windows 98 – codenamed Memphis – was released by Microsoft Corporation on June 25, 1998.  Windows 98 was the successor to Windows 95 and presented a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit monolithic product which was based on MS-DOS.

It was quickly followed by an updated to the operating system with Windows 98 SE (second edition) as Microsoft attempted to fix many bugs that were present in the original version.

Among the newer features of Windows 98 were better AGP (accelerated graphics port) support, functional USB (universal serial bus) drivers, and support for multiple monitors and Web TV. Read the rest of this entry →

Normally the sound of your prepackaged speakers or your laptop speakers are awful.  The are tinny, lacking depth, and most commonly don’t allow much volume.

If you’re really wanting to get the highest quality sound possible from your MP3’s, and online videos, you will need to invest in a set of high quality speakers.

The speakers I bought are the Logitech Z-5500 Digital Speakers with 5.1 Surround sound, these speakers are even THX certified, and with over 500 watts of power they can really get your music cranking.

These are higher end speakers, but worth every penny.  But if you’re wanting to save some money and still have great sound, then I’d recommend the Creative Gigaworks T20.  The T20’s have much lower power, and only include two speakers, by they do sound fabulous. Read the rest of this entry →

I get asked all the time, “What video card should I buy?”, and I always have to answer, “What are you using your PC for?”.

Depending on whether your needs are for business, watching movies, or for extreme gaming can change the answer greatly.

For most of us common users, we are most interested in having great speed while watching our movies, and videos, with a card that can do a little gaming.

If you are a hardcore gamer, then you know you need to match your games to your video card.  Often many games only support certain video chipsets.

So, if you have a favorite game, make sure you buy your video card based upon their recommended chipset. Read the rest of this entry →

Computers have been in use for more than forty years now but there has been no respite from computer errors. In fact, with the advent of the Internet, computers have become more susceptible to problems caused by malicious software and online criminals.

The problem is further compounded by the increasingly large number of software applications that we install on our computers.

The only way to minimize the agony and losses caused by computer problems is by taking the responsibility of combating this menace on your own.

This task involves adopting a two step strategy – learning to protect your computer from computer errors and learning to repair common errors yourselves. Read the rest of this entry →

The first program I always run is Microsoft’s Malicioius Removal Tool.  You may have noticed updates to it downloading when you do your windows updates, but did you have any idea how to run it?

For Windows XP, click on Start, then Run, and type in MRT and click OK.  You can select to either do a Quick Scan or a Full Scan.  If you suspect your are infected, do a full scan, it will take longer, but is much more thorough.

The only difference on Windows Vista, you’ll need to hold down your Windows key, and push R on your keyboard to get your Run menu.

Another tool I like to run is ComboFix.  It is a very agressive tool in removing spyware and malware.  I’d recommend trying Microsoft’s Malicisious Removal Tool first.

But often when Microsoft’s tool fails, ComboFix will succeed.  ComboFix can be found quickly by searching on Google.

The most important thing to do after you’ve cleaned your PC, make sure you have a current generation AntiVirus/Malware program, and you keep it up to date.

Schedule it to scan your PC at least once a week, to make sure you’ are staying clean, and ready for use.  I personally like Trend Micro’s Internet Security Suite.

It is full featured, and has been very effective.  Trend also has a wide variety of free tools for you to use to clean your PC.  It is critical that you keep your Windows up to date, for the best protection.

By using these simple tools you can clean your PC, and keep it clean for the future.

Has your PC started showing it’s age, and is feeling slow?  Here’s a few things you can do to get some additional speed.

First let’s make sure how much memory you have.  If you’re not sure, click on Start, then right click on My Computer, and choose properties.

On this information page you will see how much RAM you have in your PC.  If you have less than 1GB of memory, the best thing you can do is upgrade your RAM.  For Windows XP the sweet spot for memory starts at 1GB.

For Windows Vista, you’ll want to have 2GB or more.  Adding memory to your PC is very easy, and will give you a great boost in speed. Read the rest of this entry →

Don’t know how about you guys who will read this post, but personally I was always irritated by the fact that I couldn’t download videos from YouTube and other video sites.

I just couldn’t understand why these brainy guys sitting in their software developing offices didn’t even think that some people would like to have their favorite videos on their machines, but not on the Internet!

All right, it’s okay when I’m connected to the net and can download the video and watch it (thought waiting is not comfy as well).

But when you can’t access the Internet for some reasons but still want to watch the video? As for me I often have such problems with my provider (I know I’d better change it) and do appreciate video saved on my PC. That’s why saving video from such sources as YouTube would be just great thing to have.

Recently, I was surfing the net and was again stunned by what Google answered to ‘save youtube video’ search phrase.

Oodles of sites like ‘enter the link and download’ and only one site that satisfied me. All these sites were all the same: you watch the video, then add a new window, enter their address and enter the video’s link.

Too much to do, yep? But one of the Google search results really was the highlight of the day. That was http://savetubevideo.com/, with a free program called Save Tube Video.

I decided to download this free program and install it. After the installation has been completed (it took about 2-3 minutes), I relaunched the browser and saw two new buttons: ‘Save Video’ and ‘Show Status’.

After that I went to YouTube and clicked on the first video I saw. When the browser began playing the video I just clicked on the ‘Save Video’ button and the program asked me to specify the path to video download folder and video format (two most popular formats are available: avi and flv, I used flv).

After that the video in browser has been played as usual, and its ‘hard copy’ was being saved to the chosen folder.

When I clicked on the ‘Show Status’ button I saw the video download status. After the installation had been completed, there appeared three options: ‘Play’, ‘Delete’ and ‘Open’.

Clicking on the ‘Play’ button started video playback. ‘Delete’ button allows you to delete file, and the ‘Open’ one – to open a folder with the video file.

It’s also worth saying that the software works well with Internet Explorer, it didn’t even slow it down and the site says that Save Tube Video will work with Mozilla Firefox as well.

As for other options: if your connection with the Internet has been lost and the download broken up, you may resume your download at any time (which is especially important to me).

Oh, and the program allows you to download two or more videos at the same time which is very convenient. I would recommend this program to everyone who likes videos and wants to watch them offline and just to any web surfer as it doesn’t take much place and may come in handy one day?.