You’re basically working on the last page of your 20 page report. You’ve researched and labored with the report the whole day and you’re just glad it’s about to be done with. But then, boom! The power goes down and you weren’t able to save any of the information, except for things your computer automatically saved, which is probably only half of what you’ve done. At this point you swear that technology has become a burden and not an asset to any of the things you do in your life.
That’s why UPS was invented. No, it doesn’t mean the United Postal Service. It stands for Uninterrupted Power Supply. By the name itself you can bet this gadget is really helpful. The power supply has the ability to save any work you’ve done, even if the power is already out. The UPS will work as a temporary battery, but it’s not going to give you the power to turn the PC on until the power returns, which gives you enough time to save your 20 page report and avoid complete frustration. Most of them can let your computer stay on for the next five to ten minutes, just enough to shut down your computer normally.
However, we don’t just plug it in after we take it out of the box. Think of these things as new but empty rechargeable batteries. If you plug your computer in it while the power is normally running, it will get the power and transfer it to your computer, but it won’t store anything in case the power shuts down. Clearly it will not work. Out of the box, be sure to charge it. All of the modern UPS devices are easy to charge. All you need to do is to switch it on without plugging anything in it and let it stay on for six to eight hours. If you’re not sure, don’t worry: there are instructions added in the box.
Another great thing about most of the modern UPS is that it eliminates the need to purchase a separate AVR. AVR stands for Automatic Voltage Regulator. Computers in general are very sensitive to power fluctuations. Even if there’s power available, the computer will greatly suffer because of the surge of power. Before you know it, your computer will just be fried. Naturally, AVR becomes an important tool for your computer. If you have an UPS with you, you don’t need to have AVR anymore. Most of the UPS boxes sold today also function as an AVR, and they really do the job with ease.
Remember to plug your PC and monitor to your UPS. If you just plug in one of them, the other will not function. If you need to let your external modem stay, even if there’s a power blackout and there’s not enough female plugs, you can just create an extension. However, make sure not to overload your UPS since it will shorten its staying power after the blackout.
Make sure you have one of these in your house. It’s hard enough to do your assignments, but it’s even harder if you don’t finish them on time.
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The Mac and PC debate goes back long before most of us even used computers. PC’s and Microsoft still pretty much dominate the computer industry but Apple is slowly sneaking some market share away. On Monday, Apple Inc. chief executive officer Steve Jobs introduced the Safari web browser for Windows-based computers. Safari was previously only available on Mac computers although Internet Explorer has been available on Mac’s for some time now. Apple Inc. has always been known for the revolutionary and addicting products, and they believe Safari will accomplish the same task. Safari will go up against the pre-installed Microsoft Internet Explorer on Windows-based computers which owns about 78 percent of the market share. The other contender in the Internet browser arena is an open source project known as Mozilla Firefox which has quickly stolen 15 percent of market share. All 3 of these top Browser contenders are available for free. While Safari definitely dominates the Mac browser world, it currently only comes in at about 5 percent of the overall Internet browser market share.
Apple is excited to introduce PC users to innovative Apple products. Steve Jobs claims that Safari will outperform all the PC browsers by being twice as fast. Apple has increasingly made its products available to multiple platforms. The iTunes music store and iTunes itself have been available to PC users for several years. The increase of multiple platform applications is designed to steal more users from their familiar PC’s and get them interested in trying a Mac. Apple Inc. still has a lot of room to grow but they have been doing pretty well for themselves over the last couple of years. According to IDC, a market research company, Mac sales have grown at a great rate and have grown about 1.4 percent in the United States over the last two years. Apple has the products and applications to persuade people away, they just need to overcome the familiarity hurdle of Windows-based computers. “Safari is another Trojan horse that introduces an innovation of Apple to the Windows community and entices them to the Mac platform,” said Tim Bajarin, an industry analyst at Creative Strategies, a technology consultancy.
The timely announcement of Safari to Windows users came a few weeks before the long awaited release of the Apple iPhone in the United States. Steve Jobs, one of the most charismatic and exciting CEO’s in the world, also threw in that Safari would be the featured browser of this new, ground breaking cellular phone. Any applications designed for Safari will also be compatible with the new iPhone. Following Steve Jobs announcement, many people were excited and are predicting a strong increase in Mac users and the overall sales of Apple Inc. products. Some analysts believe that it won’t have that great of an impact but will just create a stronger community where computer users will use the platform they are comfortable with but will also have the ability to pick and choose their applications and not be restricted by the manufacturers.
You switch on your PC and you expect something really fast. Everything should be up and running before you can go to your fridge and back. You click on a shortcut and it will automatically pop-up in your desktop and do the things you want in your favorite software. Yet, the exact opposite happens: to start your PC you still have to wait more than 15 minutes, clicking on a shortcut will drag your PC, and as you use more software, your PC really gets slow in transferring from one program to another, and the other programs may stop responding.
Don’t worry; there are ways to make your PC faster. Tweak your PC a little bit and it will be faster, especially in starting your PC when you switch it on.
The best thing you need to remember is your PC will run faster if you have a good amount of RAM. The higher the RAM, the faster your PC would be. If your PC is more than two years old, it would be time for you upgrade the RAM in your PC, and consult your local technician on what specs you can actually install in your PC. RAM comes in 128M, 256M, 512M and 1G RAM. If you are using your PC for simple office work, an additional 256M is not bad. But if you’re dealing with games and graphics all day long, upgrade to 512M or 1G if your budget allows. Make sure to ask your technician if your PC motherboard can handle the upgrade.
Next is to protect your hard drive from any unwanted files. Always review the files you are about to download. Corrupted files will definitely ruin your PC altogether. It will slow down your PC and eventually destroy it. Have good antivirus software in your PC at all times. Review your programs and uninstall all that are not useful. Some programs can’t be uninstalled in the start-up page but you can do that by going to your control panel and go to add/remove programs. There are programs hidden in your computer that you don’t see everyday.
Protect your hard drive from being scratched. Defragging your PC every week is good in itself but potentially dangerous to your PC. Defragging your PC too much might scratch your hard disk. If your operating system is Windows XP, instead of clicking on defrag, select analyze and your PC will advise you if its time to defrag or not.
Lastly is speeding up your PC’s start up window. The reason your PC is very slow to start is the various programs that automatically starts when your PC is switched on. You can disable these with a very simple trick: click start and go to run and type in “msconfig.” A window pops up and when it does, go to the startup tab. The tab will show you all the programs that automatically start every time you switch it on. Uncheck all the programs you really don’t need to run automatically and reboot your PC. You will notice a faster PC once you’ve completed the reboot.
The userbase of Linux operating systems is growing rapidly. More and more people are venturing away from Microsoft Windows and finding their way to open source operating systems. Just as more people are using them, more and more Linux distributions are available. According to DistroWatch, there are more than 400 Linux distributions available and active, with many versions for each, which in turn gives you thousands of options. With large PC manufacturers starting to offer Linux based operating systems as an option for a new computer, which operating system will come out on top and dominate this industry? Among the open source operating system crowd, there are 2 main contenders: Ubuntu and Fedora.
Ubuntu
First things first, the installation of Ubuntu was very simple and straightforward. No tricky, unfamiliar feats you must overcome. For the first time Linux user, Ubuntu is by far the easiest to start learning and also includes the most basic options which keep things simple. As you learn the operating system and desire additional features and options, they can be added separately which is great for those who are just new to the Linux scene. Most Ubuntu users are probably a little more computer literate than the average user but with a single disc install, anyone could set this operating system up. The set up process detects your hardware very well and things run smoothly. One of the driving forces to a Linux operating system is the unstable and hacker friendly Microsoft Windows. The biggest downside of Ubuntu is that there is no firewall on the system. There are solutions to work around this but this is one feature that should’ve been included. Another disappointment was the limited multimedia resources. You will probably have to look outside Ubuntu to find what you need in the multimedia department.
Fedora
This open source operating system has a strong history and has been a strong contender for awhile. Fedora has been the most consistent with stability issues which have plagued other open source operating systems. The recently added network tools are a great addition to this product and actually include eight tools into one easy to use interface. Your multimedia options are expanded somewhat but Fedora doesn’t provide any support for non open source programs that are really common among other users. The included Helix Player is fairly simple and provides a satisfactory replacement for the average multimedia user. Fedora also lacks some of the bells and whistles and human friendliness of other open source operating systems. The security options exceed those of Ubuntu, which is a strong point for Fedora.
Up to this point, Ubuntu appears to be taking the lead in the open source operating system world with a strong backing from Dell Computers. Both operating systems are fully functional and have surprisingly strong features. If you are new to Linux operating systems, Ubuntu is probably the way to go but Fedora users have no reason to jump ship quite yet.
Continuing from the previous article series on “Building Your Own Computer” Part 1 and Part 2:
Step 7
Take out your power supply and slide it into the space at the top of your case. Screw this in. ‘O’ means off and ‘I’ means on. Take the largest wire coming out of the power socket and plug that into the motherboard – the largest pin on the motherboard closest to the power supply. REMEMBER: Do NOT plug the power supply into an outlet!
Step 8
Take out the metal PCI slot in front of the PCI-Express or AGP slot on your motherboard. Depending on the type of GPU you have, you may need to take out the one next to it as well. Take out your graphics and you should see a hook at the end of one side. Sliding the hook into place first, lower your graphics card into the PCI/AGP slot. You should be able to see the end of your graphics card sticking out the back of your computer and you may need to press the card in until you hear a click to make sure that it is secure.
Step 9
Take out your hard drive. Depending on the case you bought, slide the drive into one of the HD slots. These slots should not be sticking out in front of your computer. It will most likely be near the bottom of the case. Take the read wire that came with the drive and plug one side into the hard drive and
the other into a purple slot on the motherboard. Take one of the cables coming out of the power supply and plug the one of best fit into the hard drive.
Step 10
Take out your read/write drive and push one of the slot cover the drive port out the front of your computer – this makes the front of the read/write drive visible (where you put your discs in) from the front of the computer. Slide the drive into the slot. Now take out the flat grey wire that came with the motherboard. Plug one end into the Read/Write drive and another into a long plug usually located on the right of the RAM slots. Take another cable from the power supply and plug this into your read/write drive.
Step 11
Now you will need to plug in the remaining wires that come out of your case. Since every motherboard and case is different, it would be best to consult your motherboard manual for this part. In general, the wires coming out from the front of your case and leading towards the motherboard are the LED, Power switch, Reset switch, and a couple others. They must all be plugged into the sockets located towards the bottom of your motherboard. You may have to plug individual wires in one by one. On the wire itself, there is usually a label on the end of it that corresponds to one on the motherboard. Remember that whenever you are in doubt you should consult the motherboard manual.
Step 12
Close up your computer and plug the mouse, keyboard, and screen in. When you turn on your computer you should hear a beep. This means that the motherboard has detected your hard drive. Install an operating system, and congratulate yourself. You just built a computer!
Continuing from the previous article, “Building Your Own Computer: Part 1,”
Once you have chosen and bought all the parts to you computer, you should have: case, motherboard, CPU, RAM, graphics card, power supply, hard drive, read/write drive. Remember, you should not start building your computer without first having all these parts.
Here are starting tips:
- No food or water near the place you are building.
- A wide open and bright place is best.
- If something doesn’t fit, don’t force it.
- Remember to ask for help if something seems wrong. Professionals at your local tech store are good enough.
Step 1
Organize all your parts and ‘unbox’ them. Double check that you have all the parts you need – it is the worse thing to start building a computer and realize you forgot to buy part. You would then have to go
back to building the rest of the computer after that.
Step 2
Take out your case and ground yourself. This removes the static electricity in your body. Static electricity could potentially fry any chip. Ground yourself by touching the metal chassis of the case when it is lying on the ground.
Step 3
Take out your motherboard and CPU. Align the CPU to the pins on the CPU slot on the motherboard, and gently push the CPU in applying even pressure to the entire surface area. Attach the heat sink and fan on top of the motherboard using the latch or hook oh the fan. Plug the fan into the motherboard for
power, the plug should be right beneath the CPU slot, and is jutting out.
Step 4
Take out your RAM. Depending on your motherboard, the RAM slots should be located on the right of the CPU slot. There is a notch on the bottom of the RAM that should correspond to that on the CPU slot. On either side of the RAM slot should be a hinge. Push these down first. Then take your RAM and push that into the slot. The hinges should move upward and secure the RAM module into place. It is securely fastened when you hear a light click. Do this for all the RAM modules you have.
Step 5
Open the case so that the inside is facing up. Take the screws with a hole in the middle – these come along with the case. These screws act as legs for the motherboard and lift it up off the case allowing better ventilation. Screw these into the holes on the case in the same shape as the holes on your motherboard. Once done, your motherboard should fit onto these legs without any problem.
Step 6
Using the longest screws you have, screw your motherboard on to the legs. Make sure that the back panels of the motherboard can be seen from the outside of the cash and nothing in interfering with them.
Continued in the next article, “Building Your Own Computer: Part 3.”
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