When your computer writes information onto your hard drive, it does not always write information in the same location on the actual hardware. A section of a file can be written near the beginning of the disc, whereas the rest of that file could be written near the end. This causes programs to run slowly, as the computer spends time in retrieving these file clusters from all over the disc. Defragmenting your computer sorts all of your files [as well as free space] in an orderly manner, in effort to reduce loading time. Here is how to do it.

Steps

Make sure that your desired drive is selected [C: being the default drive], and click on the Defragment button.

 Warnings

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Check your computer’s specification

When you buy computer software or a peripheral such as a printer or scanner, you’re sure to find the product’s minimum requirements listed somewhere on the packaging. Minimum requirements give the lowest specification of each component of your computer – memory, processor or graphics card, say – that’s needed in order for the program or peripheral to run properly.

If you’re unsure how much memory your computer has, how powerful the processor is or which operating system you’re running, here’s how to find out. We’ve included instructions for Windows Vista, Windows XP and Mac OS X.

Check specs in Windows Vista

If your computer is running Windows Vista, you can find out details about its system using the following steps:

Select Start > Control Panel > System. 

This brings up a box showing basic information about your computer such as the type of processor and the amount of memory installed.

You can get further information about your graphics card, sound card and attached peripherals, too:

Clicking on Device Manager from the left-hand Tasks menu will show you more information about the hardware you have installed. 

(See the instructions for using Windows XP, below, to find out more about Device Manager).

Check specs in Windows XP

If your computer is running Windows XP, you can find out details about its system using the following steps:

Select Start > Control Panel > System. This launches the System Properties dialog box.

Alternatively, right-click the My Computer icon (usually on your desktop or accessible from the Start bar) and select Properties.

The General tab on the System Properties window displays those all important Ram and processor details and which version of Windows you’re using (including the Service Pack).

Device Manager

You’ll notice that there are other tabs running along the top of the System Properties box. Clicking on one of these tabs brings up further options within the box. For example, to see what printer, scanner or graphics card is installed on your computer, click the Hardware tab, then Device Manager. 

You’ll see a list of different types of hardware. To bring up further information about a piece of hardware, right-click on the hardware in the list, then select Properties to see more details.

Check specs in Mac OS X

If your computer is running Mac OS X, you can find out details about its system using the following steps:

Click the Apple icon at the top left of your screen, and select About this Mac (you’ll see About this computer instead on older Macs).

A box will appear on the screen containing information on what operating system you’re running, how much Ram memory your Mac has and details about your processor. 

The latest versions of Mac OS X have a ‘More info…’ button you can click for in-depth hardware and software specifications.

The full list is as follows:

1. Secure your wireless network.
2. Download Microsoft Windows Security Essentials, a free security suite.
3. Back up your important files regularly.
4. Switch to a webmail account such as Yahoo! or Google Mail. This will make it easier if you want to switch to another ISP.
5. Change your online passwords regularly.
6. Don’t call expensive 0870 numbers on technical helplines if your PC breaks down. Instead look up a cheaper number on www.saynoto0870.com
7. Organise your family and friends with one online calendar.
8. Download and install AVG’s free anti-virus programme. This could save you up to £40 a year, every year.
9. Clean your PC regularly – a dirty keyboard can harbour more germs than an average toilet.
10. Finally, thinking of changing job? Social networking websites and online job boards are helping many more people find work than traditional methods.

The How to section provides valuable information for all technology users, with articles such as…….How to buy a wireless router……How to speed up your computer., How to buy a Netbook, Buying a Laser Printer, Buying a Laptop

A basic wireless router with the above specifications should cost around £25.

A standard 802g wireless router will be fast enough to share an Internet connection, but probably a little too slow for file sharing.  It doesn’t have a built in modem, so you’ll have to use it with an existing broadband modem that has an Ethernet port.

If you have ADSL (most broadband is provided by ADSL except Virgin), you should get a wireless router that has a built-in modem.  This will cost more than a standard cable router (you should only need this if you are connected to Virgin), but it lets you connect your router directly to your broadband connection without a separate modem.  An ADSL2+ modem will support broadband connections up to 24Mbit/s with an appropriate Broadband provider.

If you want to share large files over your wireless network, you’ll need an MIMO or Draft-N router.  You can identify MIMO routers by the fact that they have multiple antennas.  They’re usually WiFi compliant and are capable of transfer speeds (the speed that your data is transferred from point A to Point B) of around 30Mbit/s.  Both MIMO and Draft-N routers require network adaptors to run at full speed…so check out you have one first.

If you have problems getting a wireless signal, a MIMO or Draft-N router can help.  Alternatively, a hi-gain antenna for your router will help boost signals and improve the signal and range throughout your property.  You can also add a hi-gain antenna to a PC’s network adaptor.

If you’ve got a printer that you want to share on your network, select a wireless router with a built-in USB port and print server. 

If you want to make Voice Over IP calls using a provider such as Vonage or Skype, look for a router with a built-in SIP connection and phone sockets, as this can save you a huge amount of money on your phone bill.

To use Disk Cleanup

1.  Click, Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.  If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean.  Disk Cleanup calculates the amount of space you will be able to free.
2. In the Disk Cleanup dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list.
3. Clear the check boxes for files that you don’t want to delete, and then click OK.
4. When prompted to confirm you want to delete the specified files, click OK.

Defrag your hard drive

1.  From the start menu point to “all programs”
2. Point to “System Tools”
3. Click on “Disk Defragmenter”
4. The disk defragmenter will display the hard drives on your computer.  Just select and click Defragment.

 You can use Disk Cleanup to…

• Remove temporary Internet files
• Remove downloaded program files
• Empty the Recycle Bin
• Remove optional Windows components that you don’t use
• Remove installed programs that you no longger use

Get rid of Spyware

Spyware is software that is usually installed in your PC without your knowledge and spies on your computer activities with malicious intent.

Spyware can use up your computer’s system resources, memory and Internet bandwidth, making your computer and/or Internet connection slow.   Spyware can also delete, modify or disabble files, folders, programs and essential Windows components and services.

Many spyware removal programs allow you to immunize your computer from further attack after it has been cleaned. You can also do this manually in Internet Explorer by blocking these sites as well:

• Start by opening the Internet Explorer browser.
• Click on the “Tools” button located at the top of left hand of the page.
• From this point it is necessary to double click on the “Internet Options” button, and a window will open up.
• From here click on the “Privacy” tab and scroll down to the “Edit” button at the bottom right side of the page.
• The “Per Site Privacy Actions” window will open and from here you can add the addresses of the websites that you which to block.
• Clicking “OK” twice will then save the changes you have made.

A netbook is a low-cost, energy-efficient laptop designed for tasks such as working on office documents, email and web browsing.  Most netbooks weigh less than 1.5kg.  Before the first netbooks appeared two years ago, a laptop of similar weight could cost £1,000 or more.  Most netbooks cost less than £350 including VAT.

Buying a netbook involves many of the same considerations as buying a laptop.  It is worth considering the following factors to ensure you get the best value for money.

Battery life can vary making some nnetbooks more suited for working away from a wall socket than others.  However, most netbooks will last for at least 3 hours.

To ensure that you can work on the move you should make sure that your netbook has a 3G broadband modem and an accompanying SIM cardto allow you to connect to the web using the same wireless network as mobile phones.  Some mobile networks, such as Voodafone and 3 mobile, will give you a free netbook if you sign up for a one or two your mobile broadbband contract.  So make sure that if you want to use wireless internet access that your netbook has a 3G modem built in.

The bigger a netbook’s screen, the larger and heavier it will be.  Netbooks with 10in screens or smaller weigh 1.3kg or less, while models with 12in screens are heavier.  The netbooks with 10in screens will have a good resolution of 1,024 x 600 pixels, which is large enough for browsing the web and editing documents.  To get a higher resolution which makes creating and manipulating documents easier go for a 12in screen.

Most netbook displays have a glossy finish, although a handful have a matt finish.  Glossy finishes make images and videos brighter, but they pick up reflections, which can make them hard to view under bright lights.

A large keyboard is essential to create and manipulate most documents in comfort.  Netbooks with larger screens tend to have more room for a larger keyboard, but even they have a few undersize keys.

Some touchpads support multitouch geastures, so you can perform actions such as scrolling through windows.

Tablet netbooks have touchscreen displays and styluses, which are useful for notetaking and graphics.

Hard disks range in size from 60GB to 250GB.  If you only need to store office documents, you can get away with a smaller disk.

There are a number of good retailers in the market such as Dabs.com, the co-op electrical shop, viking direct , and Eurooffice  that provide excellent deals on Laptops, Netbooks and software.  But you should also look for cheaper print cartridges at cartridge people.

Most laptops come with 15.4in 1,280×800 widescreen displays. These screens are great for watching DVDs or TV but if you want a laptop for home use, it’s worth considering one with a 17in display. This will also give you a higher resolution of at least 1,440×900, giving you a bigger desktop. This makes it far easier to use applications such as video-editing software.

A moden, 10/100 Ethernet port and wireless 802.11b/g networking (WiFi) should be fitted as standard. Bluetooth is handy for connecting to a mobile phone, but is usually fitted on the most expensive business laptops. Memory card readers are standard, but you should check that your camera or MP3 format is supported.

If portability is not a major concern you could go for an entertainment laptop.  Entertainment laptops  give you loads of features and still keep the price under £1,000.  The features you will expect with an entertainment laptop include a 17in widescreen display, hybrid TV tuner and remote control.

You can add features to a laptop without increasing the weight or battery life.  A 250GB or 320GB hard disk will give you more storage space, while 4GB of RAM (memory) will help Windows speed through tougher tasks.

Dedicated graphics let you play 3D games and are getting more common on most laptops.  Many laptops use integrated graphics, which are ok for most purposes, but can use up substantial system memory.

Before you decide on your web hosting package , make sure you check the features you need and the features you require.  Compare features and the different price of the different packages.   But most of all select a package that meets the features that you require.  Here are several web hosting plans available for you to choose for your website.

Standard Web Hosting

This hosting is suitable for sme websites that don’t require a lot of server resources and the level of traffic sme businesses can deliver.  On a shared plan, you share the server resources with other websites, you should be aware that you are some limitations when using this type of hosting.

Shared hosting prices range from £1 to £20 per month, but the price you pay depends on the features you require. Ultimately the price you pay depends on the features you need and the providers you choose.  Higher prices usually give you more features, more space and more bandwidth.  

Free Web Hosting Service

With free hosting packages it does what it says on the tin and you get the package free.  But you will usually need to place advertising on your web pages when using the free hosting service.  I don’t recomment you use this type of service as it won’t look that professional, will provide next to no support and basic features.

Dedicated Web Hosting Plan

If you have a large number of visitors to your website on a daily basis, you need a package that provides good server resources.  With this in mind, a shared hosting plan will not be good enough for you.  A dedicated web hosting plan is probably your best option for you where you don’t have to share the server resources with other users.

If you are looking for a dedicated hosting plan, your best option will be to go with one of the big hosting providers.  They usually offer serveral dedicated server plans you can choose that suit your needs and budger.  The prices are higher than that of a shared plan, but you can do almost anything with a dedicated hosting plan where more server resources are at your disposal.

Co-location Hosting Plan

Co-location plans are similar to dedicated hosting plans.  The difference is you are the one who buys the computer server and maintains it.  Do you really want to do this?  You will also need to pay for the internet  connection and the storage of your server equipment.  Co-location hosting is perfect for the larger business that needs full control over their website.  Most big online companies use this type of hosting since they need full control of the server and website…but remember that they have the resources at their disposal to maintain it.

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You will have to spend more for a printer with the build quality and speed to cope with a heavy workload.  Heavy users or small workgroups need up to 25 pages per minute (ppm), and whole departments need more.  Bulk printing demands costs 1p per page or less.

Four-pass colour lasers are available for around £130.  They are cheaper, but much slower to print colour than a singlepass model.  Fortunately even some of the most economical printers are now single pass.

Support for a printer language ControlLanguage (PCL) 6 or PostScript 3 means you can use the printer with any computer and even some PDAs.

Not all laser print graphics well, but a 1,200dpi resolution helps.  Colour lasers can often print  high quality graphics, but should have at least 32MB of memory.

A network adaptor allows you to connect a printer to an Ethernet network, so all the network users can print to it directly.  Smaller groups can use a PC to host and share any printer using Windows’ File and Print Sharing Wizard.

Duplex printing is an increasingly affordable option and lets you print on both sides of a sheet of paper automatically.  A scanner/fax unit turns your printer into a multifunction peripheral.  Large groups should get multiple paper trays to deal with headed paper and other stationery.

All modern laptops, but not netbooks, come with dual-core processors.  These provide plenty of processing power for most tasks.  Only those who need to undertake serious tasks, like editing HD video, on a daily basis should consider a quad-core processor in a laptop.

Most laptops come with 15.4in widescreen displays, which are great for watching DVD’s or TV.  If you want a laptop for home use, it’s worth considering one with a 17in display.  This will also higher resolution of at least 1,440 x 900 giving you a bigger desktop.  This makes it ffar easier to use complex applications such as photo or video editing software.

A modern 10/100 Ethernet port and wireless 802.11b/g networking (WiFi) should be fitted as standard.  Bluetooth is handy for connecting to a mobile phone, but it’s usually fitted only to more expensive business laptops.  Memory card readers are pretty much standard, but check that your camera’s or MP3 player’s format is supported.

If portability is your main priority, look for a laptopwitha 12.1in display.  Spending around £1,000 will get you an ultra-portable laptop that weighs under 2kg, but is still as powerful as its larger counterparts.  Some ultra-portable use slower ultra-low voltage (ULV) processors to increase battery life further.

If you’re on a budget, a low-cost netbook is a good alternative for portability.  You won’t get a powerful porcessor or an optical drive, and the hard disk and screen may be much smaller.  However, you should have enough power to browse the web, read emails and use office applications.  Expect to pay up to £300.

If you are not swayed by ultra-portable chic, you can get more for your cash.  Entertainment laptops pile on the features but still keep the price under £1,000.  You should expect a 17in widescreen display, hybrid TV tuner and remote control.

You can add features to a laptop without increasing the weight or reducing battery life.  A 250gb or 320gb hard disk will give you far more storage space, while 4GB of RAM will help Windows speed through tougher tasks.

Dedicated graphics let you play modern 3D games and are increasingly common. on all but the cheapest or lightest laptops.  Look for an ATI Mobility Radeon 350 or Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS chip as a minimum for getting smooth frame rates on the latest titles.  Many laptops use integrated graphics, which are fine for most other purposes, but use up system memory.

Once you’re happy with your specification, start to shortlist some models.  Pay attention to the quality of the jeyboard and touchpad, as these will be in constant use.  Balance the weight, battery life and display size against the features you’ll really need