Computer Spot dot Net

Anytime your hard drive crashes or you lose your data, you’ll need to turn to data recovery to properly restore your information.  Data recovery is something most computer users are familiar with, as a majority of us have had to turn to data recovery at some point in time.  Even though hard drives are becoming better and better, they are still mechanical and will always encounter problems.

The first thing to do, before any problems happen, is to always back up your data.  If you create backups of your information, you’ll be well prepared in the event of a disaster.  This way, even if your hard drive cannot be repaired and the data is lost forever, you’ll have the back ups to continue going as normal.  If you didn’t make back ups, you’ll find the situation very traumatic when you discover that your data cannot be recovered. Read the rest of this entry →

If you can see the importance of organizing your materials on your desk, then you might have also realized how significant it is to get the files on your computer arranged in order. That is the very function of the folder feature of our computers. Since there usually comes a point when we our hard disk gets full of files which results in difficulty finding our files in it.

Filing protocol

You must learn to organize your documents so that they won’t be scattered everywhere. Now that you are aware of the necessity, the next thing that you need to know is how you can create folders in your computer. To get started, all you need to do is to follow these simple steps. Read the rest of this entry →

Most of us who use computers maximally get frustrated when our computers have slowed down. Naturally, we look for someone to help us so we can increase the speed of our computers.

This can sometimes be a further waste of time as we try to look for someone when actually, we can do the jobs ourselves. Here’s how:

1. Get rid of those unnecessary wallpapers. Simply go for the basic built-in designs to improve the speed a great deal. If you can’t help it, don’t stretch the wallpaper because dragging can slow down the functions. Also, remove animations that aren’t needed by your programs.

Read the rest of this entry →

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 →

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?.