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It is not uncommon for computer users to encounter computer errors every now and then. These errors not only hamper your work, but may also cause unnecessary frustration.

Most of these errors are pretty common and can be easily resolved. For instance, the stop: c000021a error is raised by the kernel when it sees that some crucial Windows service is not running anymore.  The sndvol32.exe download error is generated when you are facing some driver problems, and the msvcr71.dll windows 7 error is encountered when the msvcr71.dll file is missing or corrupt.

Whatever your skill level may be, you can solve all these problems by following the very simple steps listed below:

Step 1 – Perform regular registry cleanups – The registry is your system’s master database. It stores all information and settings related to literally everything that moves or lives in your computer, from the most complex software to the mere colors of the taskbar.

As the system gets older, several outdated settings remain behind in the registry, causing a bottleneck in system performance, and also frequent application crashes. To take care of the registry, invest in a good-quality registry cleaner software, which will scan, fix and optimize your registry within minutes. However, it is very important to make sure that you download the software only from a trusted vendor, or else it can backfire as well.

Step 2 – Update device drivers – In case you didn’t know it, device drivers are the most powerful programs on your computer. They sit close to the hardware, and do much of the control and data access. In a sense, they are what the operating system essentially is. Therefore, it is very important that you update them as well.

Now while it may sound like rocket science, believe us that it isn’t so at all. All you need is a good third-party driver-update tool, and it will scan and update the system drivers at the click of a mouse. It is as easy as running any other software.

Step 3 – Perform full system anti-virus scans – While everyone has heard of anti-virus programs, and even most likely has one installed on his or her system, a few words of advice would be prudent here. You shouldn’t rely on free anti-virus programs too much, and should go for a professional anti-virus even if it costs you at the start. The benefits are just too many to list.

You should also have a good internet connection so that your anti-virus tool is updated regularly for the latest in virus definitions and threat databases. At the same time, you should schedule regular scans for your computer, and even check the boot sector for possible viruses. This will ensure that you remain protected from any detrimental viruses or worms.

As we have shown in this article, it is very easy to keep your system free from most of the common errors. As they say, it’s easier to do it, than understand it!

What is your computer doing in there? On the exterior it is a mass of plastics and metals, roughly pressed together to provide your PC with a protective case. But is it protecting your PC from the outside, or is it protecting youfrom the strange and arcane things happening inside your PC?

Perhaps it is time to find out exactly what your computer is up to – particularly if your computer is behaving badly. There are many third-party tools that can clean, scrub, and protect your PC, but none of those will help you better understand what’s going on. A program that can help you understand what is going on ships with every Windows PC. It’s called Windows Resource Monitor. Let’s take a look at what it can tell us.

Opening Windows Resource Monitor

Of course, we need to open Windows Resource Monitor before we can do anything. Windows Resource Monitor is a feature that was added in Vista and carries over to Windows 7. As far as I can gather, the only way to open it is through the Windows Task Manager - so press CTRL-ALT-DEL and open it.

Once Task Manager is open, go to the Performance tab. In the lower right hand corner is a button labeled Resource Monitor. Click it, and you’re ready to go!

The Basics

Windows Resource Monitor will, by default, open up to the Overview tab. This provides general, but useful, information about your computer. The best way to start becoming acquainted with Windows Resource Monitor is probably the graphs on the right side of the Overview tab. There are graphs here for your processor, hard disk, network and memory. These graphs will tell you how much of each is being used.

A computer at idle should display each graph as nearly flat. There may be minor spikes in usage, typically due to background processes, but these spikes should be few and they shouldn’t significantly consume system resources.

Other usage scenarios will result in distinct patterns.  For example, it is normal to see high disk activity and high network usage when you are downloading a file. It is also normal to see high disk activity while your virus scanning software is operating.

Sudden (or not-so-sudden), unexplained spikes are not normal. They may be the result of bloatware (unwanted programs that come pre-installed in your system), an inefficent antivirus program, a program that did not close correctly or even malware.

A Deeper Look At CPU Usage

Open the CPU tab of Windows Resource Monitor. When you do so, the graphs on the right will change. You’ll now be shown a graph for each core Windows detects (or two graphs for each core if you have an Intel processor with Hyper-Threading enabled). The total CPU usage graph remains, as well.

But the most important informaton here is not the graphs. What you’ll need to take a closer look at is the text information under the labels of Processes and Services. A process is an active application, while a service is a background application that conforms to special rules (it can run automatically on boot, it can run when no user is logged on, etc).

When it comes to checking out processor usage, however, you’ll organize both using the same tactic. Simply organize the processes or services by the average CPU value. Tada! You now know what programs are taking up your processor’s power. Please note that common processes and services can sometimes appear under odd names in Windows Resource Monitor. Be sure to Google an unknown program and identify it before you close it.

Analyzing Memory Usage

The way your computer uses its short-term memory (RAM) is important to overall performance. If you’re running low on available memory you’ll find that your computer’s performance becomes sluggish.

RAM usage can be found under the Memory tab. A new, useful line graph appears at the bottom of Windows Resource Monitor. This graph shows you how much memory is in use, how much is on stand-by (containing active data, but not actively in use) and how much is completely free.

Ideally you’ll want to see some free memory on this graph. The real problem, however, comes when your in-use memory fills up most of the graph. This means you simply don’t have any RAM left to use! You can free up memory by organzing processes by their Working memory share and shutting down memory hogs. If your system has limited memory, however, you may simply need to add more memory to your PC.

Hard Disk & Network Usage

Most users underestimate the effect their hard drive can have on overall system performance. The speed with which you can download files, install programs, transfer information, and open programs can all be affected by your hard drive’s performance. Sometimes a program, such ananti-virus scanner, will bombard your hard disk with requests for information.

Opening up the Disk tab will show you the Processes with Disk Activity display. This shows you all the active processes that are consuming your hard disk’s time. You’ll usually see a few common Windows processors, like System and svchost.exe, listed here. But you may also see other programs. This may clue you in as to why programs are loading slowly.

Finally, take a look at the Network tab. You will again see a Processes with Network Activitydisplay, which is very useful for tracking down programs that are making unwanted network connections (although nasty malware is often programmed to dodge Windows Resource Monitor or disguise itself as a more innocent process). You can also analyze your active network connections using the TCP connections display.

Conclusion

Familiarzing yourself with Windows Resource Monitor is a great idea. It is a very effective program that can tell you a lot about why your computer is behaving well or poorly. You can track down runaway programs and close them, and you can also see if a hardware upgrade is necessary to use the programs you prefer.

via MAKEUSEOF

I listened to Tim Wheeler and the Ash crew on TodayFM the other day and they were discussing how the music industry has changed. It was a long interview but something stood out to me that I have been thinking about for days. They said they will no longer release traditional albums. In fact, the only thing scheduled for release is the compilation album.

They were discussing how the record companies are falling behind the times and have given them seriously bad advice over the years, sighting Shining Light as an example. The record company refused to put it on the album and to get it released, they had to record it themselves.

Anyway, the point of all this is that they are now moving to a new model. A model that embraces new technology (or old depending on your perspective ). They have noticed the obvious download trend that is happening and realise that we aren’t going into the shops to buys albums. They realise now that the web is their new audience and they are going at it FULL FORCE!

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A new track EVERY two weeks!

The idea is that they will release 26 tracks this year. They will release one every two weeks. This is amazing for die hard fans and passing fans. Other bands have played similar ideas but have not come up with something this great. Hats off to Ash for being creative and business minded, and also rewarding their fans directly.

I may add, they are only charging £13 for this service. You get to download all past releases and all future releases. Thats only 50p a track!!

You can listen to the tracks over on ash-official.co.uk. Check out Dionysian Urge

It appears as if the new feature is currently being tested only with a very small subset of users; we haven’t seen it at the bottom of any Facebook notification e-mails yet and there are only about 4 tweets from the past couple of days mentioning the new feature. We asked the company about the apparent bucket test, and they’ve acknowledged that they’ve started roling out the feature again for a small percentage of users after running similar brief tests a couple of weeks ago and making some improvements. Facebook hasn’t provided more information (e.g. how they plan to prevent autoresponder messages from being posted to Walls all the time) but said it was hoping to release the new feature to all of its users in the coming weeks.

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• It doesn’t tell you which shows are missing.
• It doesn’t tell you which shows names are incorrect – E.g Instead of 24 Season 7 Episode 17 … it should be….  24 – S07E17 – Episode Name
• It doesn’t look for the missing show online and automatically download it once available
• It doesn’t maintain your folder structure – which is essential for media centers to catch everything

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Installation

For Windows Home Server Installs:

For Windows XP/Vista/7 Installs:

My Experience

Desktop Console View

Search View

WHS Console View

Great Features

• You can completely control the categories. Which is great because here in Ireland, we dont use certain preset categories. These are changed with a right-click.
• Allows you to perform backups of the archives in case you ever lost anything or damaged your pc.
• Once your archives are filed – they become centrally available to anyone you allow
• Allows you rotate or crop and split PDFs before filing them.

Support

Summary

LAlarm is a free laptop alarm security software. LAlarm sounds an alarm when a laptop is in danger of being stolen or losing data, and it can recover and destroy data if the laptop is stolen.

Highlights

• Theft Alarm- It prevents laptop theft by sounding an alarm when a thief tries to steal a laptop.
• Perimeter Alarm- It alerts when a laptop goes outside a perimeter. It helps prevent laptop misuse and keeps the laptop within a safe boundary.
• Inattention Alarm- It sounds an alarm when the owner leaves the computer unattended in an unsafe area for a period of time. It helps prevent laptop theft.
• Battery Alarm- It alarms when the battery is under stress in order to preserve the battery capacity and prolong the battery lifetime. It also alarms when the battery level is low to prevent data corruption due to sudden power loss.
• Disk Alarm- It alarms when a hard disk drive needs a repair or replacement in order to prevent data loss and laptop failure.
• Data Destruction- It protects sensitive data by destroying the data if the laptop is stolen.
• Data Recovery- It can recover data from a stolen laptop.
• Mobile Phone Alert- It sends an alert to a mobile phone via email or SMS.
• Theft Response- you can tell your laptop what to do in advance if your laptop is in hands of a thief.

Media Companion – Organize you TV Life!

Sort Out Your Movies

Sort Out Your TV Shows

How To Organize Your Folders

Naming, Re-Naming and Re-Re-Naming

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Profits at online auction giant eBay have fallen by 29% as it continued to struggle amid the weak economy.

This is how the home page is changing:

“Facebook is simplifying the user experience on the home page by introducing Top News and Recent Activity streams. Now, when users log on to Facebook for the first time in a while, they will see the most important stories that they missed while they were away. From there, users can navigate to the real-time stream and toggle between both views throughout their sessions. In addition to making it easier for users to view content that is most relevant to them, this change also speeds up the time it takes for the home page to load and makes birthday reminders more prominent. Ultimately, Facebook believes these changes will increase engagement on the home page by surfacing more relevant stories to users.”

New feed stream info coming to our pages:

“Facebook has also put information back into the stream that people have asked for, including photo tags, friend acceptances, relationships, Event RSVPs and group memberships. In addition, birthdays are now viewable above the fold.”

Engagement Ads and Fan Pages:

“The opportunity to acquire Fans increases with this new home page design. This is due to several reasons including the migration of Fan stories into the center stream, and the increase in “Suggestions” from one to two connections.” So what do you think…does it need changing?