Another Computer Virus on the Loose

Protect your personal computers!

That sure is something that you have been reminding everyone you know regarding their PCs. After all, it has not been that long ago when you actually had to go through a trialing time - your computer went nuts because of a virus you accidentally let in. Oops! Well, do not start blaming yourself now because you never did have a chance to really know that it was a virus that time.

You do know the destruction that viruses can bring to your computer. Like in your case, your computer went nuts. It would just continue to reboot over and over again. For others, they come to face the blue screen of death. And then there are also those which would only make your computer run slower and would maybe sometimes just wreck havoc to programs that you are running.

Cases have told of a new computer virus that is now causing trouble and disturbance to the computer world. Reports said that the new computer virus is making rounds through email. They come as attachments and their subject reads "UPS/ Fed Ex deliveries". With such a means for communication ready, the virus sure is easily sent out.

You may be wondering about the subject of the email. Is there really truth that the people behind this are from the mentioned company? Well, according to the reports, if you are going to open the email, you will see it to be as if it indeed came from them. You will find a packet number as well as a message which will inform you of a package for you which is still undelivered.

Now, the message also will continue to disclose what you would need to do so that you could get the package delivered to you. There are even instructions including printing an invoice. The invoice said to be attached in the email. And those who have gotten the virus say that perhaps by checking the invoice or clicking on the print option, that was how they got the virus.

So that you can avoid this virus, experts are suggesting that you refrain from opening unsolicited emails. In case you have received such emails, you should contact UPS or Fed Ex to see if there is really a package for you. Another good measure to do is to download antivirus software like cyberdefender free download. You can also avail of the cyberfender free trial. You can protect your computers and be free from hassles.

How to Set a Wallpaper on Your Desktop

Once you have downloaded a wallpaper and you don't know how to use it on your desktop.There is nothing to worry about as it is a very easy task to set a wallpaper on your desktop. You can follow these steps and the wallpaper will be on your monitor screen in no time.

1 - Download the wallpaper
2 - Place the wallpaper in "My Pictures" folder
3 - Click on the "Show Desktop" icon located in the task bar
4 - Right click on the desktop and then click "Properties"
5 - Click on the "Desktop" tab located at the top
6 - Click on the "Browse" button
7 - By default the location will be set to "My Pictures". If not then navigate to the "My Pictures folder". Click on the wallpaper you downloaded.
8 - Click on the apply button
9 - Press the "OK" button to close the "Properties"

You will see that the wallpaper you downloaded is now on your monitor screen. Use the same method for each wallpaper you download. Another easy way to set the wallpaper as your desktop background is to open the wallpaper and then right click on it. After that click on "Set as Desktop background" and you are done. This is the shortcut method and also works the same.

If you are finding both of those methods difficult then you can also download some good wallpaper changing software from the Internet. this software can change wallpapers for you automatically and you don't have to do anything. For beginners who are not very much friendly with computer can use the software method to change their wallpapers regularly.

A Good Registry Cleaner - When Do You Need It?

I think it is safe to assume that most computer users do not know the basics about when do you need a good registry cleaner. Most people have heard all the buzz words about cookies and perhaps a weekly cleaning of your system in other ways, but the registry cleaning is one area that is often overlooked. Then again, perhaps as much as it is overlooked, for those that do know when to use it, they may be using the wrong tools altogether. It is very important that you know when do you need a good registry cleaner.

Take as an example the cookies that you are probably diligent in clearing out from time to time to make sure that you are getting the best speed and function from your computer. The registry cleaner is a step beyond cookies. The cookies are easy enough for you to delete with the programs that came along with your computer. The registry on the other hand, did not come with such software to clean your computer. As a matter of fact, the software that you will need to clean the registry you have to place right with all the other software in your computer.

The reason you need to know the basics of when do you need a good registry cleaner is because you need to make sure not to buy just any product for this. Perhaps that is why software does not come with the computer in the first place. Running a registry cleaner can be scary if you do not know what you are doing and have no way to back up your system should something fail.

As aforementioned, the registry cleaner is going to be running right there where all the other applications are placed for everything on your computer. From software to hardware to your specific preferences, the cleaner is going to start. It will get rid of those unwanted items that you may never even knew were sitting in your computer. It will get rid of those, but the discretion is limited and may wipe out items that you need to run other daily applications.

If you are experiencing bugs in your system and you have tried all the other ways you know of like clearing cookies and organizing and cleaning your computer of unwanted bugs, then may be it is time you consider the question, "when do you need a good registry cleaner"? Try this last as a major clean up of your computer but make sure you go with a legitimate cleaner or get professional help. You can visit registry cleaners review site to make the best choice of a good registry cleaner

Remove Registry Errors - Guess What, You May Be Infected With Spyware

If you have errors in the registry they will drive you crazy. These errors can take several forms, from the annoying to the dangerous.

A few errors linked to files that are no longer installed will at most slow down your computer. More sinister errors though linked to spyware need to be removed quickly as these are not just files in your registry you have to worry about.

If your computer runs very slowly, restarts for no reason and if you see frequent annoying pop ups all over your screen then there is a good chance your registry has some corrupt entries and you need to scan your computer quickly to verify this.

The registry is where all the information about programs and hardware is installed on your computer. So if there are any errors in it the performance of your computer is affected.

This is where spyware likes to hide. Spyware may silently install it's own files on your computer but the registry will give it away and running a scan on your computer will reveal what is hiding there.

If you think your registry has some corruption or some spyware is lurking there you can do several things:

#1 - Run a scan on your computer and scan the registry. This will immediately tell you if there is a problem and if your registry just has some harmless entries which can be removed of or there is something more sinister going on.

#2 - Install a good registry checker and run it regularly to ensure there are no errors. This will help you to keep spyware away from your computer and keep all your confidential information including credit card information and bank information away from software trying to silently steal it away.

Remove errors in the registry fast and easily with a registry cleaner. Do a free registry scan now.

Black and White Laser Printers

Black and white laser printers are a great addition to most any office. They print high quality documents with beautiful text in next to no time at all! If you are using an ink jet printer because the last time you looked at laser printers they were too expensive, the prices have come down and are now much more affordable.

Many offices are frustrated with their ink jet printers because the printer is slow and loud enough to disturb people who are trying to get their work done. A laser printer can printer 10 or more pages per minute and is very quiet. You'll be surprised how affordable a black and white laser printer can be these days. Now that they are a mass market product, you can buy a good one for between $100 and $200, and less than $100 for a lesser known brand that is on sale.

The level of quality between an ink jet and a laser printer for text documents can be striking: The laser printed text generally looks more professional. Print your drafts on the ink jet but print the final copies for your clients with the laser. Most people that have added a laser to their offices have been very happy with the choice for the increased flexibility and printing speed that they are able to find and would struggle if they were forced to return to an office without a black and white laser printer! You can often find good deals by buying one used too.

The Computer Hardware That Starbucks is Clearly Missing

Let's say for hypothetical reasons that you are an MBA management and marketing student fresh out of college and you are hired by Starbucks Corporation to redo all their computer system and point of purchase systems for all their front counters; some 8,500 stores in fact. The goal of the corporation is to serve the clients quicker, cut down on the mistakes of drink orders that are made, and thus, increase profits and productivity through efficiency.

So, what does the computer system need at Starbucks to make things go faster? And what kind of computer hardware and software is available in the marketplace that could get this done. Remember it has to be something that is easy to implement and will definitely improve the efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Obviously, when people's drinks are made incorrectly they are not satisfied, and when Starbucks has to remake the drink they either waste product, or they give it to someone for free, but either way they lose money; because there is still cost of that.

Is There a Potential Computer Hardware and POS System Solutions?

Why not implement a system that allows people to use speech recognition to order their drink their way. Once the customer states the product that they want, it would be posted up here on a screen and repeat back to them what they just said and if they said "okay" it would mark a cup and have that ready for the person making the drinks.

You might also put a credit card sliding machine for debit, credit, and Starbucks cards. If you came up with such a system and it worked you would save Starbucks billions of dollars a year and it would prove that your MBA degree was worth all the money that you paid for it. Please consider all this.

What Are System Resources? And Why Are They So Important?

A school might be said to be lacking resources. In other words, it could be short on School Teachers, Books, Pencils, Funds and so on. All of which are known as resources. In computer terminology resources are Memory, Graphics (Images) and Hardware in general.

If a school is short on books the pupils have to share the books. If a computer is short on memory the remaining memory can either be allocated to one program or shared amongst many programs. This is then known as a shared resource. Shared resources are very common with computers. In schools we prefer the pupils to have one book each. However. When two pupils have to share one book you have a choice. Pupil one can read the whole book before passing it to pupil two or they can simply read the book together. The computer uses the same logic. One program can be using all of the memory or ten programs can be sharing the memory. All is well. Problems arise when there is not enough memory for each program to have one piece each. For example. If the memory is 10 MegaBytes. One program running has the whole 10 MegaBytes to use. Ten programs running would have 1 MegaByte each. But what happens when a program needs 5 MegaBytes for itself? Well it depends where it is in the queue. If nine programs are running with 1 MegaByte each and the tenth program wants to use 5 MegaBytes it has to wait until four other programs have finished with their 1 MegaByte. It could start using its 1 MegaByte but it would still have to wait for the other 4 MegaBytes. This might not seem like a problem but more of a waiting game. And this is true if it was that simple. The fact is though programs do not like waiting for memory because it stops their tasks from fully functioning. Some programs might quit if they cannot get the memory. And if they are prepared to wait for memory the time it takes is what makes a program fast or slow. The same with the Internet. If it has a slow connection all downloads (images and text on the website page, the files and so on) will be slower because they are having to wait longer for each Byte to come down the phone line.

The Graphics resources (Graphics Memory on the Graphics Card and the Graphics Card's CPU) are the same. If you have one paint program open it can use all the graphic resources for itself, which means drawing instructions and the editing of a photograph for example will be quicker than if ten paint programs are open and sharing the graphics resources. The graphics resource has the job of drawing your Imagery, Microsoft Word 2007 documents and so on, onto the monitor screen by using its graphics memory for editing and display purposes and its cpu to translate drawing instructions.

If you are short on resources sometimes you can do something about it. For example. It might be possible to get a better graphics card with more graphics memory on it. Or a better Webcam. A webcam is a resource in its own right, but if it is too cheap it will use up a lot of the computer's own memory, cpu and graphics resources because it will not have any of its own. The more expensive webcams have their own which means they can display the camera image a lot faster, record video with better quality and so on. As a rule, try and buy a Quality webcam, scanner, printer, anti-virus package and so on as the cheaper varieties tend to use a lot more of the computer's own resources.

What is a CPU and What Does it Do?

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is a microchip, classed as the brain of the computer. Its job is to interpret the instructions that come from the hardware and software, so that the hardware and software can communicate with each other for example. CPUs have different types (Celeron, Pentium, AMD and so on) and different speeds (600Mhz, 700Mhz, 1.79 (1,790Mhz) and so on). The CPU is one of the main reasons for buying a computer. The faster the CPU can process instructions the faster the computer. However. This is not strictly true. An Intel Pentium 4 is faster than an Intel Pentium 3, in theory. And the "stripped down version" of the Intel Pentium 4 - the Celeron CPU - is supposed to be faster than the Intel Pentium 3. I say supposed and in theory because it depends how you slow the computer down or speed it up.

An Intel Pentium 2 with a 7200rpm hard drive is faster than an Intel Pentium 2 with a 5400rpm hard drive. And Windows 98SE with 256 MegaBytes of memory is faster than Windows 98SE with only 64 MegaBytes of memory. So far this is as expected. However. You can have a Pentium 2 with 256MB of memory and a 7200rpm hard drive that will be faster than a Pentium 3 with only 64MB of memory and a 5400rpm hard drive. This is because even though the Pentium 2 processes instructions slower the instructions are being put into memory a lot quicker. For example. If a Microsoft Word file on the hard drive is being copied into memory, perhaps for printing and/or editing purposes, the copying might be done at 1MB intervals. Whereas when Windows 98SE knows it has more memory it knows it can copy data at 2MB intervals for example. With a faster hard drive as well moving files, installing software, file indexing and so on also becomes faster. So the memory and hard drive make up for the slow CPU.

With time and progress manufacturers have now made it possible for the CPU to be split up into two or four parts (cores), known as Dual Core and Quad Core respectively, which basically means the CPU now has two or four brains to use. These core CPUs spread tasks amonst themselves, making it possible for one brain (core) to print out a document for example while another brain (core) takes care of processing internet tasks for example.

Cheap Laser Printers

These days, many offices are moving from ink jets up to cheap laser printers. Years ago, laser printers were a luxury item that only the most high end offices could afford. Now, they are very common and have come dramatically down in price. Many are available between $100 and $200, and you can even find some on sale for less than $100. Even cheap laser printers have some great benefits over ink jet printers. Most importantly, they usually print very fast, are quite quiet and can print very high quality text. They may not be as good for printing photos and pictures, but the ink jet will have a hard time producing text documents that match a laser, and these types of print outs are the most common by far in many business offices.

If you need a really cheap laser printer, you can also look into buying one used. They are so common these days that you can easily find them on eBay or being sold on craigslist in your local area. Unless you have time to do a lot of research and careful correspondence, buying a printer in person is probably easier since you can judge the condition and take a close look before committing to buying it. eBay is harder for non experts since the seller may not accurately talk about the condition, and it can be hard to see much of anything through small photos available online. Most offices absolutely love their laser printers for printing out text documents.

Get More Value Out of Your Online Printer

Do you want to get the best value for printing with your online printer? Well in this article, we will teach you about getting discounts in printing, getting printing templates and generally just getting everything that you can from your online printer. You just need to be a bit wise to get the most value with your printing orders. So without further ado, here are our tips on how to get the most of everything with your online printer.

Print in bulk to get discounts
To get discounts on a "per piece level" with your printing orders, you have to try printing in bulk or wholesale printing. Bulk prints basically mean that you are printing a large amount of materials in your printing order. The bigger the order, the more online printers offer that per piece discount. You get cheaper prices the more you print basically. So if you really need to print a lot of things anyway, try to save money and print in bulk.

Play extensively with printing options
Another good way to get best value with your online printer is to play extensively with the printing options of your printing order. You might not know it, but usually you can configure your prints in such a way that you can get great printing options like glossy paper and inks for far less if you didn't use the options together. It is all about mixing and matching your options to get the best value. So try to play with your options, you never know the savings that you might get

Download and use all possible templates
Now in terms of usefulness, do not forget to download and use all the free templates that your online printer has to offer. Lots of online printing companies offer free templates to people since it makes the printing process a lot faster. These templates are great for teaching you the best layouts for your prints and sometimes you can even use them yourself for your own custom printing at home. So, while it is still free, just download as much as you can. You may have use for it in the future.

Look for good delivery options and perks
Also, try to see if there are good delivery options that the online printer can offer. Some printers for example can let you use the same delivery box for different types of print orders. In this way you can save money for delivery since all your printed materials, however different, can delivered using one box instead of multiple boxes per type of printer order. So make sure you try and ask for this from your online printer.

Find printers with mailing or distribution services
Finally, you may also want printers who provide mailing or distribution services themselves. This feature is quite amazing since you can design your materials and then do a little mail marketing all at the comfort of your own home. You just need to send the designs, pay for it and in no time at all; people will receive your marketing materials at their door step. You will not even need to break a sweat with that marketing strategy.

Hopefully these small tips should get you more value out of your online printer. Try it out! You will not regret doing some of these things. As long as you are smart and analytical you should have no problems.

Multi-Core Processor Evolution

You might be amazed with all the new processors that are now available in the market.This article aims to help average computer users to understand better the multi-core processor revolution. Understanding what the different multi-core processor is can help you decide which processor to get if you want to make your computer run faster, have an upgrade or just want to know what a core does in the first place.

A Processor or Central Processing Units or also known as CPU is the brain of your computer. It handles everything that needs to be processed in your computer except for video processing. That makes the CPU a very important part of your computer system. The faster your CPU can process the data, the faster your system responds and the less time you need to wait for a command or task to be finished.

As time goes by, CPU manufacturers started making faster CPUs. Most of them failed and only Intel and AMD survived that tough competition. For a decade, Intel and AMD improved their silicon to go faster and faster until around 2004. The current technology limits the CPUs to go above 4 GHz (GHz is a measure of CPU speed to process information). Currently attempting to break the 4 GHz is not possible. According to Moore's Law, computing is increasing or improving exponentially approximately every 2 years. But the engineering limitations of the CPUs that time has been reached so they need to come up ways to improve it and there was no choice but to increase the number of cores in the CPU.

The logic behind can be compare to a car that twice the number of "cylinders" should produce twice the "speed." but it didn't really work out that way. They placed a 3 GHz core and fit it next to another 3 GHz core but that didn't process like a 6 GHz core at all. That's because the second core needs specific software to process at the same time. The computer get confused when it process data from the two cores. The first data should be processed first before the other. It's like a single cashier register queue. If the cashier tries to process two customers at once it will get confused. Same with the computer it will get confused and process nothing at all.

It turned out that the new processor doesn't need to process a single data using two cores simultaneously. There are less than 1% of all popular software applications that needs to more than 3 GHz speeds. For example, Adobe Photoshop can perform really fast on a 3 GHz per side dual core. Photoshop performs like it was using a 6 GHz single core. Even though that there are software and games that don't recognize the CPU's second core and kept plugging along at normal speed. Operating Systems (OS) such as Windows XP and Vista can slough off some of their own OS functions to one of it's CPU cores so that the other core can be dedicated to applications that are not "multi-threaded" like the Photoshop. Users who have tried dual core CPU have noticed a serious increase in speed when tried it. To make it short dual core CPU performs by allotting one of its core to be dedicated to only running the application and the other core will run all the background functions. So if you want to enjoy a faster and happier computing experience you should not buy another single core CPU again especially if you are fond of multi tasking when you are using your computer.

Aside from dual core, quad core processors are becoming more popular in the market today. A quad core is double a dual core that means that it can process four streams at once. This is really a very processing speed especially for very rare "multi-threaded" applications but for regular users, it would be hard to tell the performance difference between a dual core and a quad core processor. People who use "multi-threaded" application or future application that will take advantage of multiple cores in the future will surely enjoy using one of these babies. When you buy a quad core today you are securing yourself from any future developments that will take advantage of multiple core processors making your computer system from being obsolete.

Protecting Data on Branded USB Memory Stick

If you've just invested in some branded USB memory sticks to support your marketing and advertising activities then you're probably thinking about pre-loading data onto the memory stick. After all, it makes sense to use the available storage space on the memory stick to pre-load your product information, your sales data sheets, maybe some presentation files or perhaps just a link to your web site and some promotional movies.

If you're using memory sticks as a way of distributing speakers' notes and slides at a conference or seminar then it's a must. No question, audiences at most seminars will be hoping for a USB memory stick with everything neatly stored on it rather than having to make their way home weighed down with a mass of paper.

It makes sense for you as well as the giver. By loading your files/data onto the memory stick you don't have the printing costs and overheads. You don't have to worry about making deadlines at the printers, it matters less if your speaker notes are delivered a little later than hoped for and you also don't have to haul tons of printed-papers to your event.

How to Make Your PC Fast

Slow computers are an incredibly frustrating and annoying problem, which prevents you from doing even the most simple of tasks on your PC. There are millions of slow computers throughout the world, all preventing you from being able to do every thing from watching movies to playing games. Some of the worst computers even stop you from doing your work... It's a huge problem which needs a big solution, and luckily for you, there's actually an easy way to make your computer fast without spending $100's on upgrades.

The problem with slow computers is that they almost always prevent you from being able to do what you want on your PC. They end up making your programs run slow... and it's all down to a simple problem which you can easily fix, even if you're a beginner. It all boils down to a part of your system called the "registry". This is the central database for Windows, where your settings and options are stored for your computer. Everything from your latest emails to your desktop wallpaper are kept in this database, making it one of the most important parts of your PC.

The reason why the registry makes your system run slow, is because Windows actually ends up corrupting it. Because Windows is using 100's of registry files to tell it how to do all different things, it ends up actually saving many of these files wrong, which makes them corrupt. When this happens, each file becomes like a book which has all the pages mixed up, making Windows spend longer to try and read them... which slows it down.

Over time, 1,000's of registry files become corrupt, making it more and more difficult for your computer to operate smoothly and quickly. To fix this, you just need to use a registry cleaner to go through the registry database and fix up all the problems in there. This will make all the files readable, which allows your computer to quickly find any of the files it needs.

Registry cleaners have been designed to speed your computer up... and they actually work surprisingly well. You'll likely see a dramatic impact on the speed of your computer if you use a cleaner such as "RegAce". These type of cleaners have been designed specifically to speed up your PC, scanning every registry file and cleaning all the bad ones that they find.