computers are alot simpler than most people think

I used to not know anything about computers at all. after paying a guy $35 per hr (the cheapest in the phone book) twice within 3 weeks, for 2 hrs a visit, i decided i wasn't going to do that again. That was more than my computer was worth! And all the guy did was reinstall windows!
my only other option was to learn to do fix it myself. thats exactly what i did!
After i learned a little bit i started buying computers on ebay and fixing them up. I currently own a dell that was $1,800 new that i payed a little over $100 bucks for. all it needed was a new faceplate, hard drive and a fresh windows install. The parts were under $100. Now everyone i know asks me to fix their computers for them.


Check your antivirus!!

First of all i would like to stress how important anti-virus software is!!! I have used all sorts of different programs.

there's a lot of good choices out there both free and paid license software. personally, i am a strong believer in the saying "you get what you pay for". i have used all the top rated programs
such as, Kaspersky, nod32, and AVG Anti virus. But by far the best one i have come across is definitely Kaspersky! it found at least a dozen trojans that i had on my computer for a couple years and didn't know because I was running Norton Anti virus. I would (from personal experience) stay far away from norton at all costs!!! It's all hype!! norton has a huge footprint and slows down your computer atrouchously!! And it wont find viruses that even some freeware will pick up, don't waste your money.Once again Kaspersky is the best it will completely redirect you to a blank page if you try to enter an attack site.
until i got it i had been frequenting attack sites without even knowing it, and I wondered why i had to re-install windows every other month. now i can't visit those sites if i wanted to.


this is very important because viruses on your computer are, for the most part harmless until they are executed. That's why having software that will detect and remove the virus before it's executed is so important. most times once the virus is executed there is no way of completely removing it without wiping your drive and reinstalling windows.

So if you believe a virus has been executed you will want to re-install your OS (operating system). if this is the case, don't be intimidated it's a lot easier than most people think. if you would like a hand with this see my Guide to Installing Windows

Feeling Adventurous?

Tired of dealing with the headache of viruses and crashes, Try using linux. Its a completely free OS! all the software is also free!
it's office software is that comparable to Microsoft's, and their photo editing software is just as good as the best adobe programs that can run hundreds of dollars! See my basic guide to linux for help setting up a linux system. Most people don't realize that linux needs no antivirus. yes, that right NO anti-virus at all! its almost impossible to get a virus with it. It's basicaly just like the mac osx operating system.

Simple adjustments that may help the problem

here are a few quick tips for optimization of your system with no added software.(just adjustment for settings) i will go into addressing more complex issues later on.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Performance Monitor

Vista, like its business-oriented predecessors (XP Professional, Windows 2000, and NT Workstation), includes a performance monitoring tool that allows you to do detailed monitoring of various counters relating to both software and hardware components.
You'll find the tool under a new name, Reliability And Performance Monitor, on the Administrative Tools menu in Control Panel. Figure A shows the Performance Monitor, monitoring % Processor Time and Memory Pages/Second.

Figure A

You can use the Performance Monitor to assess performance of almost any component in the computer.
The Performance Monitor is a great tool for IT pros, but it may be a bit daunting for the average user. Luckily, Vista has a simpler way for you to know, at a glance, which of your hardware components may be bottlenecks when it comes to running Aero.

Performance Information And Tools

A new feature in Vista is the Performance Information And Tools control panel, which analyzes your computer's hardware components and assigns a rating known as the Windows Experience Index (WEI) score. Your processor, RAM, graphics capabilities (separately rated for Aero and for gaming/3D), and primary hard disk are each rated individually. The lowest score determines your overall WEI score.
Possible scores range from 1.0 to 5.9. Generally, a computer needs a base WEI of 3.0 or better to satisfactorily run Aero and other advanced features. To find out your WEI, click Start | Control Panel | Performance Information And Tools.
Running this tool showed me why using Vista on my laptop was such a different experience from using it on my desktop. As shown in Figure B and Figure C, the desktop machine's hardware rated a 5.1, whereas the laptop scored a measly 2.0.

Figure B

A high WEI score, such as that of my Dell XPS, results in a good Vista Aero experience.

Figure C

A score under 3.0, such as that of my Sony laptop, is likely to result in a poor Aero experience.
As you can see, the RAM scores fine now, with 1.5 GB of memory, and the hard disk isn't the problem, either. Even the processor is close to the 3.0 threshold. But the graphics adapter in the laptop is not up to the task of running Aero.
That leads me to this question: Why is Sony selling these systems with Vista Business installed if they won't run the interface properly? But that doesn't help with the immediate problem: How can I make this computer work acceptably and benefit from at least some of Vista's new features?
The Performance Information And Tools interface makes it easy for you to tweak several components that can affect Vista performance. These options are shown in the Tasks pane on the left side of the window, as you can see in Figure C. Some performance tweaks you can do from this interface include:
  • Managing startup programs to help Vista load more quickly
  • Adjusting visual effects to help Vista perform better if you have an inadequate video card
  • Adjusting other advanced settings that affect performance, such as processor allocation and paging file location and size
  • Adjusting indexing options to prevent indexing from using up too many resources and thus slowing other applications
  • Adjusting power settings to balance performance needs with energy conservation needs
  • Cleaning up the hard disk so Vista can access data stored there more quickly
  • Using advanced tools, such as the disk defragmenter, task manager, system information tool, event logs, and Reliability And Performance Monitor to diagnose performance problems and fix them
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