How to restore your SSD to peak performance

del.icio.us Tags: SSD Drives,tips

• Jan 16, 2014 3:30 AM

Jon L. JacobiFreelance Writer, PCWorld

Back in the days when mechanical hard drives with spinning platters were the norm, you could simply hand your old hard drive to a deserving relative or friend as an upgrade, get a thank you, and call it a day. It’s not so simple with today’s solid-state drives.

In many cases, used SSDs simply aren’t as fast as newer ones. The biggest issue in retasking, reselling, or even maintaining an SSD for a prolonged period stems from an inconvenient characteristic of NAND flash memory: Previously written cells must be erased before they can be rewritten with new data. If the SSD is forced to reuse cells rather than use new ones while storing data, performance will plummet.

To avoid this problem with NAND flash memory, modern SSD controllers use a number of tricks, including building in extra capacity that users can’t touch—a technique known as over-provisioning. There’s also a command called TRIM that tells an SSD when blocks of memory are no longer needed and can be consolidated and erased.

Sounds good, right? But there’s a catch.

Better in theory than in practice

Intel

NAND memory inside an Intel enterprise-class X-25E Extreme SATA SSD.

Not all garbage collection (as the cleaning up of an SSD’s NAND is known) is created equal. It doesn’t run constantly, and some older operating systems don’t even support the TRIM command. As such, more “used” NAND cells are left hanging around on your SSD than you’d suspect, according to nearly every vendor and data-recovery specialist I consulted

After prolonged use, these idle cells can add up to a big hit on your SSD’s performance. That’s not good.

Simply deleting files and repartitioning and formatting your drive won’t do the trick, however, as those operations take place at levels above where true garbage collection occurs. In fact, due to the total absence of utilities that force complete garbage collection, there’s only one way to return an SSD to pristine, like-new condition—the ATA secure-erase command.

Secure erase to the rescue

Secure erase, a function built into every ATA-based drive since 2001, erases everything on a drive and marks the cells as empty, restoring the drive to factory-fresh default performance.

Once upon a time, you could invoke secure erase only via command-line utilities such as Linux’s HDparam or the DOS-based HDDerase, developed by the University of California San Diego (with funding from the NSA, incidentally). But now, many SSD and hard-drive vendors provide a free utility—such as OCZ’s ToolBox, Samsung’s Magician, or Seagate’s SeaTools—that provides a secure erase capability.

Note that while the command is standard, many vendor utilities work only with their company’s products. If your vendor doesn’t provide a secure-erase command, you can use the DriveErase utility found in the stellar Parted Magic software.

Got all that? Good. Here’s how to restore your SSD to top performance, step by step.

How to restore your SSD to peak performance

First things first: If you have data on the SSD you’d like to retain, back it up. If you’re worried only about backing up files, simply drag and drop them onto a flash drive or external hard drive, or use your favorite backup program.

If you have a working operating system that you’d like to keep, however, use an imaging program such as Acronis True Image or R-Drive Image that copies everything. Do not use Windows System Recovery unless you’re restoring the data to the same drive. It won’t restore to a smaller drive and it sometimes hiccups even with a similar-size drive that has plenty of room.

Next, download the drive utility provided by your SSD vendor, or snag Parted Magic.

Before you get down to brass tacks, disconnect all other drives and boot from a flash drive to perform the erase procedure, to avoid accidentally overwriting the wrong drive. Parted Magic is a great option for this, since it works as a bootable flash drive. If disconnecting your other hard drives is too much hassle, make darn sure you’ve selected the correct drive to erase throughout this procedure. Secure erase is irrevocable.

Now run the secure-erase function. The exact method varies by program. PCWorld’s guide to securely erasing your hard drive explains how to activate secure erase in Parted Magic, which runs on a bootable flash drive. Some SSDs implement the enhanced version of secure erase by default—which also deletes the drive’s housekeeping data—but if an enhanced erase option is available, you might want to use it. Definitely use it if you’ve been doing work for the CIA.

Parted Magic contains all the tools you need to restore an SSD to top performance. 

The secure-erase process should take just a few minutes on a modern SSD. (Traditional hard drives can take hours, by comparison.)

Once the process is done, repartition and format the drive if you intend to copy data back to it. Parted Magic handily provides a full partition editor for this purpose, but you can use Windows’ own Drive Management utility (Control Panel > System and Security > Administrative Tools > Create and format hard disk partitions) to do the same task. Most commonly, you’ll want to use the full capacity of the SSD in a single partition and format it as NTFS.

Once that’s done, you’re good to go. Dump any data you may have saved back onto the drive and bask in the super-speeds of your good-as-new SSD. Check out PCWorld’s guide to prolonging the life of your SSD to keep your drive humming along for years to come

Windows 8.1 Tip: Move the Location of the SkyDrive Folder

 

Relax, this one's easy

Sep. 10, 2013 Paul Thurrott

del.icio.us Tags: Windows 8.1,mobile,computers,tips

While most agree that the further integration of SkyDrive into Windows 8.1 is a good thing, some have been griping that there's no way to change the location of the SkyDrive folder. But it turns out you can very easily change where your SkyDrive files sync. You just need to know the secret.

As a recap, Microsoft has integrated SkyDrive more deeply than ever in Windows 8.1. As I wrote previously in Hands-On with Windows 8.1: SkyDrive Integration, SkyDrive file sync is on by default and can be managed from a new PC Settings-based interface. No separately installable app is required.

But there is a downside to this integration. With the previous solution, the SkyDrive desktop app, you could configure where SkyDrive synced its files. On modern PC devices with relatively small amounts of solid state storage, the inability to do so in Windows 8.1 can be an issue. Before, you could tell SkyDrive to sync to micro-SD storage or some other location.

But it turns out you can do this in Windows 8.1, too. You just can't do it from that shiny new PC Settings interface.

Instead, you can configure this from the good old Windows desktop. In the default This PC view, right-click on SkyDrive in the navigation pane and select Properties. Then, navigate to the Location tab. Yep, this is the place.

To change the location where SkyDrive syncs its files, simply click the Move button and choose a new location. It's that simple.

Windows 8.1 + ModernMix

Stardock helps make our transition to the mobile future a lot easier

Paul Thurrott

Aug. 18, 2013

del.icio.us Tags: Windows 8.1,Windows RT,Operating Systems,installation,tips

Ever since Microsoft released the Windows 8.1 Preview back in June, readers have asked me whether Stardock’s useful utilities like ModernMix and Start8 will work with the new OS version. With the recent leak of a near final Windows 8.1 build, I decided to test ModernMix on my daily-use PC. And I think this is going to be a very useful transition tool indeed.

I think it’s fair to say that Windows 8 has presented a certain challenge to many if not most of the 1.5 billion Windows users worldwide. The cause is obvious: Windows 8 is a “touch-first” version of Windows that ships with its first-ever mobile environment, originally called Metro. And this new Metro environment was unceremoniously and awkwardly tacked onto the classic Windows desktop. The result is a disjointed experience that is optimized for neither touch nor mouse and keyboard.

Enter Windows 8.1. This very major update to Windows 8 (and RT) provides users with the OS that Microsoft should have shipped originally. Windows 8.1 includes major improvements to both the Metro and desktop environments, making this system a far better fit for those users that prefer either. It also eases the transition between the two, which is important because Windows will be moving further down that mobile path in future releases as the desktop is deemphasized and then made optional or removed.

Depending on your mindset, that future is either dystopian or utopian, but let’s not get bogged down in things we can’t change today. For now, we have Windows 8, imperfect as it is, and Windows 8.1, which finally offers some apps—like the improved Mail, Calendar and Xbox Music, among others—that are good enough that even desktop users should start paying attention. But doing so on traditional (non-touch) PCs is still a bit awkward, despite the useful advances in Windows 8.1

Enter Stardock. This Michigan-based firm has been around for over 20 years and been developing useful Windows-based utilities for years. With the advent of Windows 8, Stardock has stepped up to the plate and released a series of very useful products that help ease the transition to Windows 8 and make this less-than-optimal system work the way Windows users expect.

I’ve written about a few Stardock utilities in the recent past, including ModernMix (Windows 8 Tip: Run Metro Apps in Windows on the Desktop) and Start8 (Windows 8 Tip: Boot Directly to the Desktop with Start8) and recommend both highly. But now that I am using a near-final version of Windows 8.1, I find myself curious about using some of those new app versions at home, on my desktop set up (which is currently a jury-rigged Surface Pro docked to a large desktop display, keyboard, mouse and other peripherals, but is normally a tower PC). The thing is, these full-screen apps, good as they are, still don’t work well on such a PC configuration.

So I’ve been using ModernMix to see whether this utility can help cross that final divide between the future (mobile apps) and the present (my desktop PC with keyboard and mouse). And though there are a few bugs that I attribute to the pre-release nature of Windows 8.1, the answer is … yes. Most definitely.

New Windows 8.1 apps running in windows on the desktop

ModernMix provides what I think is a better “mix” (hence the name, presumably) of mobile apps and desktop. It lets you run Windows mobile apps (Mail, Calendar, Xbox Music, etc.) in windows on the Windows desktop, just like real desktop applications. This means they can float, be resized, be pinned to the taskbar, and so on.

What’s interesting is that ModernMix is so mature that it’s smart about how these apps work. I’ve pinned Xbox Music to the desktop, for example, and when I launch it from there it runs in a window as I want. But if I launch the app from the Start screen—which I might do when out and about in the world with the Surface, now used as a tablet—it will run normally, in full-screen mode. Which is also what I want.

This dual-mode use is why ModernMix is so useful as a transition tool. Yes, if you’re just going to use Metro apps on a desktop PC, you may simply want them to run in a window. But if you’re transitioning to this mobile future, not just through software but with a hybrid mobile device like a Surface, Lenovo Yoga, or whatever, you can have it both ways.

Choice is good. And while I applaud the changes Microsoft has made in Windows 8.1, some people will always believe that they’ll never go far enough. For those, and for any user that simply wants an easier transition from the desktop systems they’ve spent over 15 years using, ModernMix is a great (and, at $4.99, inexpensive) option.

You can download Modernmix from the Stardock web site.

How to Fix a Cracked Touch Screen Phone

August 1 2013

del.icio.us Tags: mobile,repair,screen,smartphone

Even if you're super-careful with your phone, accidents happen. Sometimes that beautiful touchscreen phone takes a fall and the glass cracks.

Today, we'll show you how to remove the glass from a touchscreen phone (in this case, a Samsung Galaxy S3), then apply a new piece of glass on it. We are not removing the actual display or digitizer. A digitizer is what actually recognizes your inputs. Burke McQuinn came by to show us how he repaired his cracked Galaxy S3. He consulted the forums at XDA Developers to provide a guide.

Materials

You will need a replacement piece of glass, goggles, a heat source, a prying tool, microfiber cloth, some tape, and time.

You can find a replacement piece of glass on Amazon. You can even get kits that include prying tools. Example kits: ProKit for Galaxy S3 |Replacement Glass Kit by NewerStone.

Before You Start

Before you begin taking apart your phone, back up the phone if you can in case you damage the phone. After that, take out the battery and MicroSD card if you have one installed.

Removing the Glass

To remove the glass, we will use a heat gun to melt the glue that affixes the glass to the digitizer and then pry off the glass.

For our heat source, we used a heat gun. You can probably get away with using a hair dryer if you don't have one. We checked on the temperature of the glass periodically using a thermometer and tried to keep the temperature around 200 degrees Fahrenheit (roughly 93 degrees Celsius).

From there we pried the glass away from the digitizer using a prying tool in the corner of the S3. The one we used is called iSesamo, which is a metal prying tool. This can cause more scratching of your device if you're not careful. You can opt to use a plastic prying device like theoOpener.

Burke then heated around the border of the glass prying up each part slowly and keeping the glass away from the digitizer using plastic razor blades.

Use caution when removing the glass from the bottom of the device where the home button is. There is a small ribbon that flanks the home button. It controls the two capacitive buttons on the Galaxy S3. You don't want to damage that.

Replacing the Glass

Once the glass is removed, you'll want to clean off the digitizer of any excess glue. Burke wore latex gloves used painter's tape to remove any dust and remnants of broken glass on the screen. You could use a microfiber cloth to clean off the screen before you replace the glass. You want the screen as clean as possible, but don't damage it with too much pressure.

Burke applied the glass from the bottom of the device, carefully placing the ribbon under the glass. Then he heated the new glass to affix the glass to the device. Then you just have to let the phone cool off before you use it.

Test Your Results

Once your phone is cooled off, reinstall your battery and test out your handiwork. With the new glass, Burke's phone worked flawlessly.

Passwords: You're doing it wrong. Here's how to make them uncrackable.

del.icio.us Tags: security,passwords,tips

Rick Broida@justrick

• print

For years now I've harangued relatives about their shoddy password practices. Either they use easily-hacked passwords or forget the passwords they've created—sometimes both.

If you won't take it from me, beloved family, consider this Password Day (yes, apparently it's a thing) statement from McAfee's Robert Siciliano: "74% of Internet users use the same password across multiple websites, so if a hacker gets your password, they now have access to all your accounts. Reusing passwords for email, banking, and social media accounts can lead to identity theft and financial loss."

What's the fix? It's easier than you might think. For starters, head to Intel's Password Grader to see just how easily cracked your current password is. (The site promises not to retain any information, though still recommends that you not use your actual password—so maybe just use something similar.)

From there you can scroll down to see a simple step-by-step process for making your "hackable" password "uncrackable." (There's a longer and more informative version of this info graphic on Sicilian's blog—and it doesn't require you to use the Password Grader if you'd prefer not to.)

The key takeaway here is to avoid the usual mix of letters, numbers, and punctuation you're often advised to use, and instead opt for an easier-to-remember passphrase.

So, for example, if your PC World password is something like "PCW0rldD4ve," you'd actually be better off with "I Love Reading PC World!" Sounds crazy, but as McAfee and Intel note, it's not about complexity, it's about length.

And you could adapt a similar passphrase to every other site you visit: "I Love Reading Facebook!", for example, and so on. Now you've got both diversity and simplicity in your corner. The only catch is that some sites won't allow you to use spaces, and others may limit password length.

How'd you fare on the Password Grader, and what other methods have you employed to create a hack-proof password system? I know some folks are big fans of tools like LastPass, which can auto-generate (and auto-fill) complex passwords for you. Your thoughts?

DIY Hacks & How To’s: Get Emergency Power from a Phone Line

 

del.icio.us Tags: technology,cellular,tips

By Jason Poel Smith

• Posted 2013/05/06 @ 12:10 pm
• Category Computers & Mobile, Electronics

What do you do if the power is out, but you need to charge your cell phone to make an emergency phone call? In this episode of DIY Hacks & How To’s, I show you how to tap the power flowing from your phone line.

There is a small amount of electricity that is constantly available in a phone line. This is what powers traditional corded phones. Because the phone system is independent of the power grid, the phone line generally even has power during a black out. While this is not a lot of power, it is enough to charge your small electronics such as your cell phone or other USB device. All you need is a simple voltage regulator circuit.

Complete step by step instructions can be found at:http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Get-Emergency-Power-from-a-Phone-Line/

iStarUSA WA-3FAN-120AC Cooling Fan

 

del.icio.us Tags: entertainment,technology,intsallation,tips,cooling

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110 V 120 mm 3 3 x 120 mm 5.25" Height x 19" Width x 2" Depth The WA-3FAN-120AC Cooling Fan can be installed either in the front or rear of the cabinet to increase air circulation and cooling air-flow to keep equipment cool and reduce system downtime.
Cabinet Cooling Fan RoHS WA-3FAN-120AC WA-3FAN-120AC Cooling Fan Yes iStarUSA iStarUSA, Inc www.istarusa.
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ALERT! UPnP vulnerability leaves millions of devices exposed to attack

del.icio.us Tags: network,security,UPnP

WARNING! This is not a joke, or a scam, people. Please inform your friends, and family.

Here's how to check and see if you are safe:

Step 1) Go to www.grc.com

Step 2) click on Services in the menu, and select ShieldsUP!

Step 3) on the next page click the "Proceed" button

Step 4) Click on the "GRC's Instant UPnP Exposure Test" button

Step 5) Depending on the result, you will be instructed if any further steps need to be taken. (I was safe) All of you should do this A.S.A.P.

ALERT!    

http://www.klocwork.com/blog/embedded-software/universal-plug-and-play-vulnerabilities-leave-millions-of-devices-exposed/

https://protect.iu.edu/blog/2013/02/08/upnp-vulnerabilities-network-devices

http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/microsoft-upnp-universal-plug-and-play-vulnerability

Turn your flash drive into a portable PC survival kit

del.icio.us Tags: usb,flash drives

If you're using your flash drive as a vehicle for simple file transfers, you’re missing out on one of the single-best roles one of these wee data buckets can fulfill. Indeed, hardcore enthusiasts know that simple flash drives are perfect portable repositories for all the software that can breathe life into an otherwise ailing PC.

All the web apps in the world won’t help you when your PC breaks down or falls prey to a particularly nasty piece of malware and refuses connect to the Internet. A properly loaded USB drive, on the other hand, can be a machine saver. And when your grandma calls with a dire PC emergency, you'll be glad to have an always-ready "ninja drive" to slip into your pocket as you run out the door.

In this article we’ll show you how to load out a USB drive with everything you need in case of a PC emergency. So next time your computer breaks down, don’t panic. Instead, take a deep breath, plug in your ninja drive, and start making things right.

PortableApps

The Portable apps UI.

The first thing you’ll want to install on your drive is PortableApps—a free, open source platform for installing desktop applications on removable media, like a USB drive. PortableApps manages the installation of new portable software on your USB drive, and also acts as a frontend when you’re actually using the USB drive, letting you easily browse and launch applications.

PortableApps maintains a list of hundreds “portable” versions of popular free programs, designed to work without installation. You can find the full list here.

Each of the following apps with the word “Portable” in their title is available for the PortableApps platform. You can download them at the links provided, or just start PortableApps and click on Apps > Get More Apps. You’ll see a large list of applications appear. Just check the ones you want and click Next to download and install them all automatically.

Chrome Portable

Even though it’s not a maintenance application, strictly speaking, a mobile browser is a great inclusion on your emergency thumb drive. Why? A lot of malware targets your web browser, so it’s one of the most likely components of your system to be out of commission, or otherwise compromised. Chrome's sandboxing security feature and Safe Browsing functionality—which guards against malicious websites and downloads—make it one of the better options for mucking around on a potentially infected system.

Spybot Search and Destroy Portable

Spybot ain't fancy, but it works well.

If your computer is running slow because of malware, Spybot S&D should be the first (and often last) weapon in your arsenal. It’s one of the oldest and best spyware removal suites around, and should be able to weed out most malware on even the slowest of machines.

ClamWin Portable

ClamWin is a Windows graphical interface for the Clam open source antivirus engine. It doesn’t provide real-time scanning like you’d get in an installed antivirus application, but the portable versions provides powerful on-demand virus scanning for any suspicious files.

Malwarebytes

Many unofficial tech support geeks consider Malwarebytes to be a go-to malware scanning solution, but it doesn't offer a portable version. You can, however, save the Malwarebytes installation file to your emergency drive and unpack the app directly onto the maligned PC after you've taken a first pass at badware using ClamWin and Spybot portable. A second opinion never hurts when you're dealing with viruses.

Kaspersky TDSSKiller

When you need to root out stubborn malware, a rootkit detector does the trick.

If you’ve tried running malware removal programs like Spybot Search and Destroy but your computer is still exhibiting malware symptoms like bogus error messages and browser hijacking, you might be dealing with a rootkit. Rootkits are designed to conceal malware running on your system, and can be very hard to detect themselves. If you suspect your computer might be infected with one, try running TDSSKiller, a rootkit scanner from Kaspersky. Just leave the .exe file on your thumb drive, and run it on the infected computer—it will find and remove most rootkit malware.

FileAssassin

Even if you’re not trying to uninstall whole programs, deleting files can prove to be a challenge—especially when you're dealing with an infected system. Windows might tell you that access is denied to a file, or that another program or user is currently using it, or otherwise tell you that the file you want gone isn’t going anywhere at all.

FileAssassin lets you get around those roadblocks, and delete any file you want. Make sure you really want it gone, though, because it’s going to be.

When you snag the program, make sure to grab the portable version, at the bottom of the download list.

Eraser Portable

Sometimes the problem isn’t that you can’t delete a file, it’s that you want to make sure that it’s really, really gone. If you need to securely delete sensitive documents or files, use Eraser—an application for securely erasing and overwriting files and directories stored on standard mechanical hard drives. You can also user Eraser to overwrite all the empty space on a disk, making sure anything you’ve deleted in the past is truly gone.

Revo Uninstaller Portable

Revo Uninstaller makes uninstalling lots of programs a breeze.

One of the simplest ways to get a gridlocked computer running faster is to remove programs that you don’t need. This has two benefits: you clear up hard disk space, which can speed up your computer, and you reduce the number of apps running at startup, which can make your boot time shorter. You can uninstall programs by hand, but that’s slow going and the programs aren’t always completely removed. Instead, keep a portable copy of Revo Uninstaller handy to quickly and completely uninstall as many programs as you want.

Autoruns Portable

One of the main reasons that older systems gradually slow down is the accumulation of programs and services set to automatically run at startup. Autoruns is a powerful app from Sysinternals that shows you every single process that will start with your computer, along with other common sources of trouble, including browser toolbars and shell extensions. Telling a process to not run at startup is as simple as unchecking a box.

KeePass Portable

If you use KeePass to store your passwords (and if you don’t, you should think about it), it’s not a bad idea to keep your KeePass install and password database on a thumb drive. That way, you’ll always be able to access your online accounts, no matter what computer you’re on. Even better, you don’t have to worry about identity theft if you lose the USB drive, because the Keepass database is encrypted and requires a master password. Be careful about logging in to potentially infected computers with KeePass, though.

The other USB drive: SystemRescueCD

SystemRescueCD: Perfect for that oh-so-bonked PC.

If you want to be really, truly prepared for a PC disaster, you can go one step further than just creating an emergency app thumb drive. By loading up a second drive with a Live install of the SystemRescueCD operating system, you’ll be prepared even if your computer’s OS is so FUBARed that you can’t even log in.

SystemRescueCD is a free live operating system, meaning you don’t have to install it on a hard drive. Just insert the SystemRescueCD USB drive into the computer, restart, and boot from the thumb drive. The Linux-based operating comes equipped with software that you can use to access the data on your hard drives and back it up across the network, along with various other handy-dandy utilities—basically, everything you need to fix (or at least recover) as much of your broken OS as possible. The makers of the distribution were even kind enough to provide step-by-step instructions on how to get a SystemRescueCD live drive up and running.

How to activate Windows Defender in Windows 8

 

del.icio.us Tags: Windows 8,Windows Defender

Brad Chacos@BradChacos

Like every new Windows release, Windows 8 is more secure than the operating systems that came before it. That's due in large part to three major enhancements: An increased emphasis on UEFI Secure Boot optimizations, the extension of the SmartScreen Filter across the operating system, and the default inclusion of a more robust version of Windows Defender, which now protects against all kinds of malware—not just spyware.

Windows Defender's increased scope doesn't sit well with computer manufacturers, however. OEMs make beaucoup bucks by installing those trial versions of McAfee, Norton and other security suites you'll find bundled on boxed PCs. Windows Defender's default installation threatens that gravy train.

Microsoft tossed its partners a bone by allowing OEMs to deactivate Windows Defender in order to ship boxed PCs with alternative security solutions installed. That's all well and good from a "variety is the spice of life" perspective, but one side-effect that isn't so hot is what happens when you fail to register that third-party security software: Windows 8 doesn't automatically reactivate Windows Defender by default. In other words, your pretty new prepackaged PC is wide open and vulnerable to all the nasties of the 'Net.

Fortunately, activating Windows Defender is a snap. Here's how to do it.

Activate Windows Defender in Windows 8

Windows Defender isn't subtle about being deactivated.

First, head to the modern-style Start screen and type "Windows Defender" to have Windows search for the program, then click on the Windows Defender icon when it appears in the results. A Windows Defender window will appear on the classic desktop. If Microsoft's security software is disabled, you'll seen a lot of scary red tones alongside an "At risk" warning and an image of a computer screen with a big X on it. Subtle, eh?

Next, click on the Settings tab at the top of the window. Make sure "Real-time protection" is selected in the left pane, then check the box next to "Turn on real-time protection (recommended)." Finally, click Save Changes at the bottom of the Window.

How you want your Settings tab to look!

You'll know it worked when the terrifying red "At risk" bar at the top of the Windows turns a much more soothing shade of green and switches to "PC Status: Protected."

Check for leaks

You're not quite done yet. Now it's time to make sure your PC is actually malware-free! Click the Update tab, then click on the big Update button in the middle of the Window to download the latest malware definitions Microsoft has on file.

Next, open the Home tab and select the "Full" radio button in the Scan Options list. All you have to do now is click Scan Now, then sit back and wait while Windows Defender checks the nooks and crannies of your PC for any hidden baddies. Grab a cup of coffee; it may take some time. While you're waiting, we recommend checking out your Windows 8 antivirus options.

7 Things I Wished Every Computer User Knew

Technorati Tags: computers,tips

1) Keep all your data backed up.

Put it on a disc, external HDD, upload it to a data safe website, another computer, somewhere! One place is NO GOOD, two places is OK, but once one fails, you need to create another second spot! This will save you from 99 to 149 dollars when you bring your computer in to Geek Squad right off the bat. NO manufacturer warranty covers your data, you need to do it yourself. Back up your pictures, contacts, documents, taxes, music and ANY business information you have.

2) Have recovery discs for each computer you have.

This is your licensed copy of your OS. These are specific to your computer's guts (processor, mother board, sound and graphics cards) They have the drivers needed for your computer to use itself. Burn them right away when you get your computer on to DVDs and put them somewhere safe. It will take from 1-3 hours to do. If you loose them you can order them from your manufacturer for between 15 and 50 dollars, depending on the brand. HP is usually cheaper, Sony is wicked expensive. They take about 2 or 3 weeks to get in if you end up needing them when you replace a hard drive or need to fix windows. If you don't get them that way, you can purchase a full copy of snow leopard for about 30 dollars, or windows 7 for about 200.

3) One antivirus at a time, please.

Two at a time is like pushing fat pigs through a dog door, neither can get inside correctly and they block each other from functioning properly. They can tear nasty holes in your operating system depending on which ones you're trying to combine (seen it!) or at least SLOW YOU DOWN TO A CRAWL because two systems are trying to scan your every move as well as each other's moves. More than one is usually LESS protection than one good one. Remove the old ones, even if they're expired they'll get in the way. YOUR COMPUTER CAME WITH A TRIAL OF SOMETHING, take it off if that’s not the one you're gonna use! Most antivirus is 40 dollars for a year, but if you buy 2 or 3 licenses you usually get a deal.

4) Don't install tool bars, they're bloatware that will slow down your internet speeds.

You don't need 5 of them, they take up most of the screen and will end up effecting performance.

5) "Free" stuff can be expensive:

Free games, movies, music taken from torrent sites, as well as pornography sites and even free social networking sites are riddled with viruses. Virus removal is 129-199. Be safe and smart on the internet. If you got a virus, it's your own fault. Viruses are a software issue, and are considered private data, not covered by any warranties.

6) Computers don’t like liquids.

This includes water, coke, beer, soup, bodily fluids and excessive cleaners. Don't spray screen cleaner directly on your screen, spray it on your cleaning cloth and then wipe. A stream of any liquid can cause damage. Computers also don’t like gravity or being punched. This will probably cause lots more damage and not fix a speed issue.

7) No computer is immortal.

Technology changes at an extremely fast rate. Average computer life span is 2-3 years for a laptop or closer to 4 for a desktop. This makes sense, because laptops undergo more stress: movement, impact, temperature changes, and are prone to overheating on a lap. Your computer takes electricity, and circulates through lots of things and gets hot. They burn out sometimes, but if you have your data backed up, you'll be up and ready on a new one in no time.
You wouldn't get mad at your mechanic because you don't know how to change your oil, or your vet because you didn't know how to take care of your dog. BE POLLITE to people in the service industry. They touch your grimy nasty computers full of skin, nicotine, pet hair, dust bunnies... and fix them if you can't.

How to Build a Powerful Home Theater PC for Less Than $500

 

It used to be an expensive and time-consuming task to custom-build a dedicated home theater PC (HTPC). Here's how to build a tiny dedicated HTPC with Blu-Ray drive, 2 GB RAM, 128 GB hard drive and heatsink for less than the price of most off-the-shelf Blu-Ray players.

Technorati Tags: HTPC,Home Theater,entertainment,audio,computers,Blue Ray

A few years ago, I built an enormous home theater PC that cost about $1200. Because it's on most of the time, it runs too hot, and the fans trying to cool it down are loud, which makes the whole thing sound like a jet engine. My new HTPC, built around Nvidia ION graphics, is outperforming my old PC and has been shrunk down to the size of a cigar box. With some new features such as an internal Blu-ray player and a noiseless heatsink (instead of a loud fan) to absorb and dissipate heat, it streams HD multimedia without flickering or stuttering and it cost less than $500 dollars (and could cost as little as $300).
If you don't want to build your own computer, start with either a bare-bones (preassembled) PC like the ASRock ION 330. The computer is missing a Blu-ray drive, but comes with 320 GB HD and 2 GB of memory all wrapped up in a small, glossy black case.
But if you're a real DIYer, start with separate components, tailoring the PC however you want. The entire building process took me less than 30 minutes.
Heres a shopping list: case, motherboard, RAM, wireless remote, Windows OS and a hard drive. NVIDIA's new ION graphics processor is powerful for integrated graphics. Think of it as a supercharger for the PC's visual performance. It excels at handling full 1080p video with 7.1 surround sound and transcodes video up to 10 times faster than an Atom CPU alone. ION can even handle a few games without choking.

The process begins with the motherboard and case. Start with an ION motherboard like the Zotac ION-ITX and a case like the Travla C287 Mini-ITX Case. The essentials, such as a mini-PCIe Wi-Fi card, an HDMI out and a dual-core Intel Atom 330 processor, are already onboard in the motherboard. The only thing left to do is add RAM and turn it on.

Place the Zotac motherboard into the case using the four supplied screws.

Snap in some RAM. I used 2 gigs of Corsair xms2.

I added a Kingston 128 GB SSD hard drive for speed. And an HTPC wouldn't be complete without a Blu-Ray drive. I screwed an internal laptop Blu-ray drive from Panasonic into the case's supplied tray.

Connect the wires (all three!) and close the case. Attach it to a TV with an HDMI cable and power up.

The rest of the time is spent installing Windows 7 and configuring some applications.
I've kept it very light on software. Kaspersky is my favorite virus-protection software; I install this in every PC I build. Pidgin is my choice for IM client; Libre Office for a free alternative to the extremely expensive Microsoft Office. I wanted to make sure ION could handles some games. I installed Spore (perfectly playable), Call of Duty 4 (I changed most of the settings), and Left4Dead (set everything on low) and it works. TMPGEnc 4.0 Xpress (with Nvidia's CUDA) is fast and straightforward. Now the best software recipe for playing Multimedia is a combination of Windows Media Center, Cyberlink's PowerDVD 9 and Media Player Classic Home Cinema. Windows Media Center does 95 percent of the work playing movies and music files, while Cyberlink's PowerDVD 9 handles the decoding of Blu-ray discs. And as for streaming 1080p MKV files, I rely on Media Player Classic Home Cinema. From music to movies, surfing the web to streaming Netflix, everything is working perfectly. No hiccups, stuttering, loss of audio or overheating. This is the easiest home theater PC you'll ever put together ... until the next breakthrough product comes along!

Turn Your Old Router into a Range-Boosting Wi-Fi Repeater

ROUTERBY KEVIN PURDY JUN 15, 2010 9:00 AM

If you're upgrading to a faster, stronger wireless router, don't chuck your older Wi-Fi box. With the magic of DD-WRT, you can turn your older wireless router into a range-expanding Wi-Fi repeater to cover everywhere you need a connection.

The advent of wireless home networks grew slowly in the past decade, but reached the point at which nearly every home with a high-speed connection had a wireless router that shared Wi-Fi connections throughout the home. Now Wireless N has become the standard at electronics retailers, promising faster connectivity with your wireless devices, faster transfer and streaming speeds between devices, and better connectivity. So what's to be done with your home's first wireless router?

Our suggestion is to install the open-sourceDD-WRT firmware on your router and turn it into a repeater for your main router, expanding your Wi-Fi signal to reach every nook and cranny of your house, and even into your backyard or garage, if needed. You'll be able to use the same password and security scheme, you won't need anything except a power outlet for the repeater when you're done, and most of your devices will automatically switch between the two signals when needed.

We've previously run down how to install DD-WRT on a Linksys router to give it many, many more features, including the repeater function we'll cover here. If you've already installed DD-WRT, then, skip to the section on repeater configuration. One notable difference in this guide, too, is that I'm installing a custom build of DD-WRT, the "micro" flavor, on a Linksys WRT54G ver. 6, or "version 6." Adam wrote his original guide in 2006, with a fully-DD-WRT-compatible Linksys WRT54GL router, and at that point, those who picked up a blue Linksys box without knowing about open-source firmware were pretty much stuck. Now there's a huge array of supported devices, and even my sadly restricted Linksys can run a Micro build, and Micro now includes a repeater function.

Update: A Note on Speed

Some intrepid bandwidth watchers, Will Smith among them, have pointed out that their own experiments with repeating signals has left them with slower connections. To be honest, I was using the repeater mostly for Google Reader in bed, and browsing and web working from outside the house, so I hadn't seen a noticeable drop in speed. A few tests atSpeedTest.net tell the tale. Pictured at left here is the result from my main router, a Buffalo model with Wireless N (detailed here), connecting from my upstairs office to the downstairs living room, then Buffalo, NY to Toronto, ON.

This result is through the modified Linksys WRT54G ver. 6 router about 10 feet away, connected as a repeater to the Buffalo router downstairs, and then tested again through Toronto. There is, as you can see, a download speed difference, and if I'd been using my Wireless N modem, it might be even more severe. So take a repeater for what it is—a slight trade-off in speed for a greater reach, with your mileage varying based on your hardware and connection. You might also note, though, that using SpeedTest's Android app, I actually received better download speeds from my office through the repeater than through the main router—for a smaller antenna, perhaps, connectivity can sometimes win over latency concerns.

What You'll Need

• Compatible router: Grab that old-but-still-works router and flip it over. Get the model number off the label, and write down the MAC address, while you're at it—the locations for both, on a standard Linksys "blue box," are pictured above. Type the first few characters of your model number into DD-WRT's router database, and look for your model to pop up. If you get any kind of green "Yes" listed with your model, you're in the clear—even the most pared-down DD-WRT build, micro, supports the repeater function.

• Firmware files for your router: In that same router database, click on the line that relates to your router model, then grab all the files listed there. You may not end up using all of them, but once you've taken your router offline, even if it's not your main router, you'll want to have all your files available offline.

• Print-out of your instructions: There's a good chance, if you've got a fairly popular router, that you'll have access to specific router model instructions on the DD-WRT wiki. You'll usually see a link on the same page as your firmware files; if not, go ahead and search the wiki. If you don't have a printer, or hate wasting paper, use a print-to-PDF tool like doPDF or the Nitro PDF Reader for Windows, or the built-in PDF functions in Mac or Linux. The reason, again, is that you want to be prepared in case you lose internet connectivity on one or more routers during the flash process.

• Ethernet cable & computer with Ethernet port: Enough cable to comfortably reach from your computer to the router you're working on, and a computer without any networking problems that you know of.

• A pen and paper: The paper for notes, and the pen for both writing and pressing and holding down the reset button on your router.

• At least an hour's time, and patience: Instructions for most routers are laid out in step-by-step detail, with very specific instructions. Even so, you do not want to rush things, or load the wrong file at the wrong time. Doing so opens the potential for a "bricked" router, one that doesn't work and can't be accessed or set back to its default, factory-fresh state. That's not going to happen to the patient, cautious firmware flasher, though.

Get Started

As stated above, different routers will take different paths to installing DD-WRT. There are some common procedures, and a general path, to getting it installed, though, so you can read along as I follow the DD-WRT Wiki's instructions for a WRT54G version 6 installation.

• Do a hard (30/30/30) reset on your router: A "hard" reset, or a "30/30/30," means locating the reset notch on the back of your router, then inserting a pen and holding it there for a total of 90 seconds—30 seconds at first with the power on, then yank the power cord and wait another 30, then plug the power cord back in and wait 30 seconds, all while still holding the pen. It seems a bit excessive, but trust me—I've had friends with electronic engineering skills explain just how finicky, and sometimes random, physical memory chips like those in routers can be at holding their settings or otherwise not completely blanking out.

• Set a static IP address on your computer: Most DD-WRT guides want you to set your computer's IP address, the one it draws from your router, to 192.168.1.7, and set a subnet mask to 255.255.255.0. How do you do this in your computer, without the router being accessible?

Head to Windows' Network and Sharing Center, usually by right-clicking on your network connection icon in the system tray, or heading there through the Control Panel. In the left-hand panel, click "Change adapter settings," then right-click on your "Local Area Connection" offering and select Properties. Under the Network tab, select the "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and hit the Properties button. Now in the General tab, change the first radio switch button to "Use the following IP address:", then enter 192.168.1.7 in the IP Address field, and 255.255.255.0 should fill itself in under "Subnet mask." Make sure you've got the IP entered correctly—Windows can skip the "7" part if there's only a single digit in the third section—and hit OK when you're done.

Firmware Installation

Now we're gonna get serious. Connect the Ethernet cable between your computer and the router—be sure to insert the cable into one of the numbered ports, not the port labeled "Internet" that's slightly distanced from the others. Turn off any wireless connection to your main router, unplug any broadband cellular modems, and so forth.

In the case of my WRT54G ver. 6, I had to create a customized flashing image for my router, with a designated MAC address written in. The MAC address is a supposedly unique identifier given to all computer hardware that can access the internet, one that allows networks to allow and block hardware based on this address. Your internet provider and the the cable modem they provided also tracks the MAC address of your router, and can deny service if a different router than the one the modem is used to servicing suddenly appears. So I followed the instructions for downloading GV5Flash.zip, unpacking its contents, then running the vximgtoolgui application and filling in the MAC address I wrote down from underneath my router, and pointing the app at a place to drop the resulting .bin file.

Now you're going to pull off one of those "hard," or 30/30/30 power cycles—hold down reset for 30 seconds plugged in, 30 unplugged, then 30 seconds again plugged in. When you're done, wait a few seconds, open your browser (making sure your computer's still connected by cable), point it to http://192.168.1.1, and you should get a prompt for a username and password. The default for my router in this mode is "root/admin"—yours can likely be found atRouterPasswords.com, or in your own DD-WRT instructions. After entering that combo, you should see the default router screen. A Linksys default usually looks like this:

In most cases, you're next going to head to the Administration section (circled in the pic), then click the Firmware Upgrade sub-section. It's usually a simple affair: a Browse button to find the file you want to upload, and an OK/Apply button to set it in motion. From here on out, unless you have my same exact router, you'll possibly have a different set of one or two files to upload, in a very particular order—follow your own DD-WRT customized instructions. In general, though, you'll be doing a procedure along these lines:

• Uploading a "prep" file that gets your router ready for a new firmware.
• Waiting a solid five minutes—no cheating.
• "Power cycle" the router (a simple unplug, 30-second wait, then re-plug).
• Re-connect to 192.168.1.1, see the "Management Mode" window, then upload your (possibly customized) specific DD-WRT image and hit Apply.
• After seeing this nice little "Upgrade Success" message, wait another full, honest five minutes.
• 
  
• Open a TFTP program, usually provided among your DD-WRT files, and point it at 192.168.1.1 (your router). Select your specific DD-WRT firmware (a micro build, in my case), then set the retries to 99—But! Before hitting "Upgrade," power cycle your router, wait a few seconds after re-powering, then go for it. When your TFTP app has a green light and success message, wait another fullfive minutes, then come on back.
• Undo the static IP setup you put in place on your computer from the Network and Sharing settings. Unplug and re-plug your cable, then open a browser. If you can connect to 192.168.1.1 on your computer browser and see a setup page for DD-WRT, do a (final) 30/30/30 "hard" reset on your router, then check that you still see the DD-WRT setup. If so, you're all set up!

Setting Up the Repeater

Now that you've got your oldie-but-goodie router set up with DD-WRT, you can set it up to pick up the signal from your primary router and re-broadcast it within its own radius. Here's how to do that.

With your computer still hooked up to the now-secondary router, head into the DD-WRT setup screen. It will ask you to set a better password and username at first, so go ahead and do that—you'll probably want to set up the same admin/password as your primary router to avoid confusion. Once you're in, your setup screen will look something like this, as my Micro setup on my Linksys appears:

First up, click on the Wireless tab, then choose Basic Settings. Switch "Wireless Mode" to "Repeater," and the "Wireless Network Name" to the same as the main router you're going to be re-broadcasting. Don't worry about the bridged/unbridged radio buttons—they'll set themselves later. Hit the "Save" button at the very bottom, but do not hit "Apply Settings" just yet.

In the "Virtual Interfaces" section, below that main "Wireless Physical Interfaces" section you just modified, hit the "Add" button, then enter a new name for your repeater—don't use the same as your router, or else suffer the wrath of confused devices. Adding "Repeater" or "2" to the end of your main router's name is pretty sensible in most cases. If you prefer an access point that doesn't broadcast its name, save that for switching off later—while we're testing our repeater, we'll be using basic settings to make sure the connection goes through. Hit the "Save" button at the bottom again.

With the main Wireless tab still selected, head to the "Wireless Security" sub-tab to the right. You'll see two interfaces again—a "Physical Interface" and a "Virtual Interface." In the "Physical Interface" section at the top, fill in the same exact security settings as your primary router—the security mode, the algorithm (TKIP or AES, generally), and the password any device would use to connect. You might need to jump back into your primary router settings to confirm these—that's fine, but do so from another device. Under the "Virtual Interface" section, set up the same exact security settings as your primary router, again. Hit the "Save" key at very bottom again and, again, avoid "Apply Settings" for the moment.

Jump over to the Setup tab at the very top, then scroll down to the Network Setup section under Basic Setup. The main thing to do here is slightly alter the "Local IP Address" from what your primary router is. If you connect to your main router at 192.168.1.1, for example, set this repeater router to something like 192.168.2.1, or another number that you can remember in the second-to-last position. Hit (you guessed it!) Save.

Finally, head to the Security tab up top, and in the Firewall section, disable the "SPI Firewall," and un-check everything under the "Block WAN Requests," except "Filter Multicast." Hit "Save" at the bottom one last time. Finally, head over to Administration, double-check that you've got your administrator password written down or remembered, and hit "Apply Settings" at the very bottom. Your router will reset itself now, so give it time to do so.

Unplug your computer's Ethernet cable, turn on a wireless device, and see if you can find your new repeater bridge. Connect to it, use the same password you'd use for the main router, and you should have success. If not, run through the steps and double-check your settings. DD-WRT's wiki page for WLAN Repeaters has a good deal of troubleshooting advice, so check there too.

You've now got a second Wi-Fi station in your house that picks up signal from the main router and offers it out to devices that are farther out. It's likely not as fast a connection between devices—it's wireless G, in most cases, as opposed to N. Then again, at this point, there are very, very few services or streaming applications that make full use of Wireless N's crazy bandwidth potential, so your Hulu streaming, web browsing, and other usual internet life will likely be unaffected.

In my own case, my wife and I don't have to use modern-day divining tricks in our very non-linear Victorian home to keep a spotty Wi-Fi signal to an iPod touch or Android phone, and a side patio has just become a preferred secondary home office for the summer. As a bonus, my closest neighbors now know that I'm a serious, serious nerd when they fire up their laptops. Here's hoping you find similarly fun and free uses for a Wi-Fi repeater.