To start of the new year, About.com is starting its Reader Choice Awards for 2010. This will allow our readers to tell us what they think is the best in a variety of different categories. On the PC Hardware / Reviews site, there will be three awards: Best Desktops, Best Laptops and Best PC Monitors.

Since January 1st, readers have been able to place nominations for their favorite desktops, laptops or PC displays. Nominations are set to close on the 25th, so if you haven’t taken the time to submit your nominations be sure to do it now. Just remember that if you don’t, then your favorite might not end up in the finalists to be voted on starting next month.

• About.com Reader’s Choice 2010 – Desktops, Laptops and PC Monitors

Reader’s Choice Awards 2010 – Last Chance To Nominate originally appeared on About.com PC Hardware / Reviews on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 10:00:12.

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You suspect, for whatever reason, a virus infection on your hard disk and are not sure what to do  about it.

*Recommendation:* You will want to do all of the following:

If you suspect a virus infection,  stop using your PC immediately. Locate all floppy disks that  have been used recently and stop using them as well. Make  sure that no PCs networked  to  you are accessing your hard disk, or they could get whatever  you have (depending on what it is).

Obtain virus scanning software and follow its directions.  You will normally be instructed to boot the system from a provided bootable floppy disk and scan the hard disk  for viruses. You should then install the software to your  hard disk and use it to scan for viruses regularly.

Make sure you scan any floppy disks that you have used in  the system for viruses as well or you may reinfect the PC  again. If you’re not sure how to do any of this or don’t want to deal with it yourself, Please call ASK ERIK Computer Services at (562) 212-2366.

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Economic times are tough and many people are looking for ways to save some money on things they want or need. We all know computers are expensive, but most of us don’t realize just how easy it can be to build one yourself. You can save a couple hundred dollars compared to buying a computer at the store. Not only will you save money – you will also end up with a better computer!

In addition to saving money there are many reasons for building your own computer.

1. You will have complete control over the quality of the components. Pre-built computers from the store usually contain cheap, generic parts that are unreliable and difficult to repair or upgrade later. This is even true for many of the top brands. When you build your own computer you can use only top-quality name brand parts to make sure your new computer is fast and reliable.

2. Store-bought computers usually come burdened with tons of junk programs and advertising that gets in your way and interferes with the smooth operation of the computer. Remember when you brought your last computer home from the store? You turned it on only to be greeted by a dozen pop-up advertisements trying to get you to pay out more money for software you didn’t want? Your new self-built computer will not have this problem. You will have only the software you choose to install – no junk programs slowing things down.

3. You will learn a useful new skill and you will gain the knowledge required to upgrade and repair computers. Next time something goes wrong with one of your family’s computers you will know how to fix it. You won’t have to take it to the repair shop and spend a bunch of money.

4. You will be able to take pride in having built your own high-tech, top-quality computer. Your family and friends will be impressed that you were able to build a computer that is faster and more powerful than the name-brand PCs they paid big money for.

5. Your new computer will have exactly the parts you want. You can customize your machine to excel at the specific tasks you use it for.

6. Want to play the latest action adventure games? Just add in a cutting-edge graphics card of your choice. It is almost impossible to buy an awesome gaming computer at the store. Those computers are geared toward casual computer users for generic home office and homework usage. Store-bought computers usually have very poor graphics performance compared to a home-built machine.

If people knew how easy it is to build a computer then many more people would be doing it. There are only three simple steps required:

1. Buy the parts. There are only about a dozen components you will need. There is a case, a power supply unit, disk drives, a few circuit boards, monitor, keyboard and mouse. You can find recommended parts lists on the Internet or ask at your local computer store. The parts you buy will vary based on your budget. If you are replacing your current computer you may be able to “recycle” some of its components and use them in your new computer to save money.

2. Assemble the parts. This part is easy. If you have ever assembled a piece of furniture or some shelving you can certainly assemble the computer. All the pieces plug nicely into the case. It will only take about an hour.

3. Install the software. You will need to copy your favorite programs onto the hard drive, but that is easy too. Most of us have installed many programs on our computers over the years so this step will be a familiar experience.

After you get everything set up and working properly you will be ready to start surfing the Internet, playing games, tracking your finances, organizing your digital photos or doing your homework. But from now on you will be doing it faster and with some extra cash in your pocket than if you had gone to the store to buy a name-brand PC.

Nick Doran

http://www.youcanbuildyourowncomputer.com

Would you like to learn how to build a computer that will make your friends jealous? We provide simple instructions complete with photographs. We list the exact parts we recommend for you to use, and we research the prices to let you know which vendors currently have the lowest prices on our recommended parts.

Author: Nicholas Doran
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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A computer is like a car, as stated in the video entitled Ways to Speed up Computer – Speed Up Your PC and Fix Error. No matter how good the computer’s hardware specifications are, like the car, the computer will not be able to boost its performance without proper maintenance. Without maintenance, certain computer errors and other problems will plague the PCs. The computers will just continue to depreciate, and with that, continue to provide slow processing tasks as the days pass by.

The free video entitled Ways To Speed Up Computer – Speed Up Your PC and Fix Error gives hints on how to dramatically speed up computer performance at its optimum level. It doesn’t necessarily mean that one’s PC should be the latest model with the latest speedy hardware. The video simply addresses to all kinds of PC users.

The said video also provides examples that would surely amaze PC user. Even resource intensive programs and websites could be easily configured to load at maximum loading time of five seconds. Everybody would surely agree that it is pretty fast. Like what the video said, everybody could have a super fast computer, so it’s really worth checking out.

Want A Faster Computer Without Spending A Penny… And In Only 9 Minutes?

For a limited time, you can claim the “Internet’s Best Kept Secrets” Report absolutely FREE! Click Here: Speed up my computer – http://Speeding-Up-Your-Pc.com

Author: Kris Mainieri
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital pipeline

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If you own an iPod, you are probably curious about whether or not you can transfer your iPod content onto more than one PC. After all, wouldn’t it be convenient to share your favorite music with friends and family? Well, the answer is yes, you can. In fact, transferring your iPod content onto multiple PCs is easy to do. All you need to do is make sure that the PCs in question have iTunes or a similar software program installed on them. Without the proper software, you will be unable to access your iPod content on another PC, let alone download it to that PC.

Once you’ve made sure that the PC that you want to transfer your iPod content to does have iTunes, or a similar program, installed on it, you can begin the transfer process. It is easy to transfer the content of your iPod. To begin, just synchronize your iPod with the PC that you want to transfer iPod content to. You can choose to transfer all of the content of your iPod but, more than likely, you’ll only want to transfer certain parts of it. If that’s the case, simply select the iPod content you want to transfer over and drag it to the PC library to copy it. That’s all there is to it. Once you’ve done that, just disconnect your iPod from the PC. Then you will be ready to repeat the iPod content copying process on the next PC you choose, as long as it has the proper software installed.

So, with your new found knowledge, you will be able to share your iPod content with anyone you want, as long as they have iTunes on their computer. The next time your friends or family want copies, just have them install iTunes and you’ll be all set. Enjoy transferring your iPod content to multiple PCs. After all, everything is more fun when you can share it with a friend.

For more information on iPod to Computer transfer software and for in-depth reviews of popular video and audio converter software, visit the Video Converter Review Center today at http://videoconverterreviews.com/

Author: Victor Vargo
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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So, what’s a network? Simply put, a network is when two or more computers are connected and sharing data. That’s it! Nothing more, nothing less. These computers can be connected in a variety of ways and we will touch on that a little later. What we want to do now is work out the type of network we need in our house.

Why do I need a network again? There are a lot of benefits to having a network. If you have more than one computer in your house you really have no reason not to have them networked, and by networking them you will be able to: Share printers, CD-ROM drives and other removable drives between the computers. Eliminate having to transfer files from one computer to another using a floppy (do they still exist?) or CD-ROM and share files directly between PCs. ( a great advantage if you are lazy like me) A huge benefits is you can share your internet connection with the other computers in your home, store only a single copy of large files, saving space on the other PCs’ hard drives.

Fantastic, how do I get started? Whoa there! Before we can start anything we need to plan first. “Plan?” I hear you say. Yes, plan! Building a network is a kin to building a house; we need a strong foundation to build upon. I can hear the groans already! You will be thanking me later. There are two types of schemes you can use in a Network; Client/server network and peer to peer.

In the client/server network, you have one computer that acts as the server (the manager of the network or files), which controls the way other computers (known as clients) access the network, whether that being file sharing or running a program. Servers play a very important role on this particular type of network. Most home networks are based on the peer to peer Network, which has more relaxed controls thus is a better network for you and your family.

Operating Systems

This basic Networking guide assumes your operating system (OS) is at the very least windows 98 Second Edition. Although Windows XP would be preferable it’s not a requirement. The reason for this is because networking was built to function from the ground up in windows 98 SE to windows XP. The following OS will work perfectly with networking:

Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows NT
Windows ME
Windows 98 SE (Second Edition)

Also all these OS versions have a pretty little nifty tool on them known as Internet Connection Sharing. This allows all computers to share the internet, so while you are reading an e-mail on your laptop, your kid can be checking out their facebook page on the PC. Each computer must have a Network interface card otherwise known in short form as a NIC. Traditionally a NIC is a little electronic card that goes inside your computer right on its mother board, I use the term traditionally as not all NICs are cards anymore, and we now have network adapters that are connected via USB (Universal Serial Bus).

How to Connect – Cables, wires or thin air?

Now we must decide the type of connections we will use to connect our computers. This is very important as the type of connection we use will affect the speed that data travels across the network. Why is speed important? Well waiting a long time for a file to open in a software application or for a file to be copied from one machine to another can be very frustrating to put it mildly. We have four different ways to connect our PC’s, each have their own advantages. Let’s look at them shall we?

Ethernet Cables

The connection type of choice for many businesses. Fast and reliable
Can carry data up to1000 mbps across a network depending on the rated speed of the NIC cards
Used by most businesses to connect their computers
Though similar looking to telephone wire, it is designed to carry data unlike telephone wire which was designed to carry voice
You will need a concentrator (we will get to this later,) to use Ethernet cable.
The connector at the end of the cable looks like the connector at the end of your telephone cable, but it’s actually slightly fatter.

Telephone Line

Connect each computer’s NIC (has to be a Telephone-cable NIC. Have you visited the NIC page yet?) to the telephone wall jack using a regular phone cable.
Telephone cable is inexpensive and is available every where, including your super market
Networking process uses part of the line voice communication doesn’t, so you can still make calls whilst on the network
Can transmits data up to 10mbps
Is increasing with popularity.
You will need a splitter for telephone wall jacks, to use your phone in the same jack
If you have multiple lines in your house, all computers must be connected on the same line (same number)

Wireless connections

No wires to trip over
A very popular choice
Best used on Windows XP, so would be best option to have all PC running XP
Requires network adaptor that can receive and send wirelessly.
Frequency can travel roughly 150 feet, passing through ceilings, walls and floors.

To Learn More about the different types of Home networks visit http://www.how-to-network-computers.com where you can find this and much more, including Internet connection sharing and firewalls.

Author: Emanuel Osei
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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As the name suggests, desktops are used to refer to computers that can be placed at your desk and are not portable. Though laptops had also made it into the market, they have never been able to replace desktops and a vast majority of businesses still prefer desktops over laptops. This is due to a number of reasons that still puts desktops in par with laptops.

Desktop computers have a large number of features. In addition to this they are long lasting, very easy to upgrade and updated. In spite of all these advantages, desktops are really affordable making it possible for almost everyone to own a desktop. Over the year desktops have undergone vast transformations and we get to see very diverse and innovative models everyday. Of late, many sleek and stylish desktops have also made it into the market. This has made it possible to fit them in even the smallest available space. Most desktops also come with a chassis that acts as a cabinet and provides better security to the systems.

In this article we will take a closer look at the some of the different variants of PCs that are available in the market.

Desktops PC
These are the traditional desktop PCs that are most commonly used at home and at work. Desktop PCs are very versatile and can be used for a wide range of purposes.

Workstations
Workstations are often confused with traditional desktops and it is difficult to draw a line between the two. But in reality, there is a difference amid the two and many PC manufacturers like HP do not treat them the same. Workstations are high performance, more powerful machines than desktops that are very similar to servers in configuration and power usage. These machines are often specially tuned for our applications. They offer better graphics and more reliable memory capabilities. Due to this they are better suited for engineering design purposes

Thin Clients
Thin Client PCs are systems that are on the lower end with respect to configuration. Designed to minimize the environmental carbon dioxide emission, these machines are most suited for those who do not have high requirements. These sleek and environmentally friendly systems are absolutely reliable, simple to use and maintain, even the power utilization is substantially reduced. Thin Clients depend on the server for most processing needs and are restricted in terms of storage, user interfaces and applications. This helps for more centralized management and added workspace for users.

Popular PC manufacturers like HP have many models of commercial desktops, workstations and thin clients.

To understand more about this visit http://www.computronestore.com Here you will able to perform comparisons of various desktops, workstations and thin clients for their prices and technical specification’s differences.

Jennifer Abej
Computron Distribution
Dubai
U.A.E.
http://www.computronestore.com

Author: Jennifer Abej
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Not so long ago, the best way to get your computer fixed was to take it to a repair shop. This was a costly investment in your equipment because it meant losing productivity time, disconnecting your hard drive from the rest of your peripherals, taking it to the repair person and leaving it there to be repaired for at least a day and as long as a week if certain parts had to be ordered and replaced.

Today, there are many options to accomplish computer repair for your PC. Whether you have a bank of computers that stretches a mile long or just a single PC in your home office, the need for repair is no less important. Fortunately you can get your repairs done online for many issues. You can also choose from computer repair agents who can come to your location and repair your PC on the spot for you.

There are many complex parts that make up the inner workings of the hardware and operating system. With most systems using some version of Microsoft or MAC as their operating system, it is important to have a thorough understanding that the operating system can shut down your entire PC and render it useless until fixed.

Some repairs can be completely avoided, provided that routine maintenance such as defragmenting the hard drive, keeping your antivirus protection up to date and getting a professional to provide computer repair that cleans the registry are some of the important tasks that will keep your system in good shape.

The most sophisticated PCs on the market are expensive pieces of equipment that can accomplish just about anything from taking pictures to making videos. Many people rely on their portable computers that allow them to work at even the most remote location. A need for quality computer repair may give you cause for concern at first because you may imagine that it’s going to cost you a great deal of money.

In actuality, however, even the most sophisticated PCs on the market today can be repaired, maintained and fixed at a price that won’t break your budget. One important factor to keep in mind, however, is not how cheap you can find the service but how well it will be performed. The best price is one that is affordable but also provides the best work you could find for what you had to pay.

OnlineComputerHelpers.com – Computer Repair

Author: Keith Reig
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Beyond simply slowing down a computer, the wrong kind of spyware will read personal information, like social security numbers and banking information right out of the computer’s onboard memory.Fortunately, everyone is aware of this and so just about everyone uses a spyware cleaner periodically.

Spyware Is The More Pressing Matter

If you don’t have a top-notch virus/spyware cleaner installed on your computer, you really ought to take care of this situation right away because spyware and viruses can cause great harm to you and your finances!

While viruses and spyware may be on the top of our list of worst computer outlaws, there is one more thing that threatens our computer’s ability to function with any amount of speed and efficiency.

It is registry corruption and though a lot of folks are not yet familiar with it, it can be very damaging to a computer’s capability to function.Registry corruption is known for making a once speedy computer about as useful as a doorstop.So, a computer that is virus and spyware free and is still operating somewhere between sluggish and brain dead, probably has corruption present in its registry.

Keeping Away From Registry Corruption Is Impossible

It is not practical to operate or care for a computer in such a way as to keep corruption out of its registry.In the case of an older operating system, probably not deleting any programs or upgrading any drivers would do the trick.However, Windows XP and Vista don’t work exactly the same way as their predecessors and though they are a huge advancement over yesterday’s OS’s, their registries corrupt very easily.

In today’s computing world there are an endless number of temporary files being exchanged constantly.Also, the unbelievably large sizes of the new operating systems make them a magnet for registry corruption.It does not mean the operator was careless if his/her Windows XP or Vista registry becomes corrupt.It happens to everyone eventually.
Nipping Registry Corruption In The Bud

Fortunately, you can get a free registry scan with a top performing registry cleaner so you can see if you do have corruption in your computer’s registry.If you do, you will want to make registry cleaning a part of your computer maintenance routine along with regular virus/spyware cleanings.Registry cleaners are inexpensive and can literally save you computer’s life. So it is a smart move to have one on hand.

In closing, remember it is important to note spyware can strike against you in two ways.First, it can slowdown your computer’s operations as well as cause errors and crashes.Secondly, it can rob you of your privacy and make it possible to have your identity stolen.Registry corruption has no way of performing this second horrible feat.However, it can wreak havoc on your computer’s speed and operations.On several occasions, I’ve seen registry corruption built up to the point it rendered PCs inoperable.

You’ve learned a lot about spyware and registry cleaners and what they can and cannot do. Now find out how certified computer technician Ed Lathrop rates the top spyware cleaners and get a free spyware/virus scan at Best Antispyware Review.

Then see how all the top tier registry cleaners rate against one another and get a free scan with any one of them as well at Registry Cleaners Review.

Author: Edward Lathrop
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Digital Camera Information

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