How can you make your old desktop or laptop faster? Get an SSD

Laptops and desktops have quite a long life. Most people don't upgrade or buy new PCs every year. People do that for smartphones, but the upgrade cycles are much slower. In fact, many people, in the case of desktops can upgrade multiple aspects of their computer, so you don't need to go for a completely new machine.

If you happen to own a 4-5 year PC or Laptop, and you are thinking that it has become too slow, there are ways to squeeze more life out of it. One sure shot way of achieving this is swapping out your existing hard drive for a solid state drive, which is popularly known as a SSD. Here's why.

SSDs are more reliable

A traditional hard drive spins and has many moving parts. This makes it more susceptible to mechanical faults, especially in case you bump your machine or if your laptop falls. SSDs, because they don't have any moving parts, don't have mechanical failures. This doesn't mean that SSDs can't fail. They can but it is just that the chances of a user losing data are lower with the SSD.

SSDs are speed demons

Modern SSDs can be up to 100 times faster than a traditional hard drive. How is this possible? Well, on a traditional hard drive speed is dependent on where the data is on the read-write heads. It will access data faster the closer it is, but it will take longer if data is further away from the read write heads. On a SSD all parts can be accessed at the same time, this converts to almost instantaneous access. This will result in everything being faster -- boot, data access and file transfers. Basically everything will be faster. That's why Apple ditched the hard drive on the original MacBook Air. Even on Ultrabooks, which have a hybrid storage system, the OS -- Windows is normally installed on the smaller SSD.

If you even get a small 32 GB SSD and install Windows on it and keep your traditional hard drive for data, your experience will be faster. SSD's just offer a higher level of performance.

More battery

SSDs consume less power. So if you swap a SSD for a hard drive on your laptop, chances are your battery life will improve slightly. The same will hold true on a big gaming rig.

No sound

A hard drive, because it has mechanical parts, makes sound. SSDs are totally silent while they are writing or reading data. This means no whirring sound or vibrations from your laptop when you are copying thousand of photos on it.

But one disadvantage...

SSDs are more expensive. They also don't come yet in large memory options that you'll normally get on a hard drive. SSDs currently max out at 2TB and for that too, you'll be basically shelling out a kidney and it will be more expensive than the machine you are upgrading.

However, getting a smaller sized SSDs (something like 64GB or 128GB) makes a lot of sense. In the long run, the benefits just outweigh the cons. You'll be glad when your precious data doesn't disappear because of a hard drive crash.

-   indiatoday

How to Connect a Laptop or Desktop Computer to a TV Easily

Suppose you wish to watch a movie or share a slide-show of pictures with your family on your PC but have a screen that leaves much to be desired. In such a situation, you can connect your computer to a television screen to allow your entire family to enjoy comfortably.

There are many ways in which you can connect your laptop/ computer to a television. However, the overall video quality will be different for different methods. You can choose which one to use based on the quality or the availability of hardware. The first step is to know what type of ports and connections your TV and computer have. If you already know the type of ports and connections available on your hardware, you can directly jump to Step 2. If not, then the different types of ports are explained in detail below:-

Different types of PC to TV connection ports

1) RCA/Composite: The oldest and the lowest quality connection available. They are the Yellow, Red and White connections most of us are familiar with. Yellow is used for composite video, white for left analog audio and red for right analog audio.

2) S-Video: S-Video or Super Video offers slightly better quality than Composite connections. As it is one of the oldest type of connections available, most televisions and computers have it. There are two types of S-Video ports, one containing 4 pins and the other containing 7 pins. This type of connection is used only for video. So you will need to connect an audio cable from your computer's headphone jack to the red and white audio inputs on your TV if you want audio to work.

3) VGA(Video Graphics Array): Most computers and televisions have a VGA port. It offers much better quality than S-Video and should be preferred if you have a HDTV. Older CRT TVs however, will not have a VGA port and will require a PC to Television converter. Just like S-Video, VGA also does not support audio and will require an additional audio cable.

Different types of connecting cables to connect computers to TVs

4) DVI: Digital Video Interface offers much better quality than VGA connections. Most laptop computers and HD TVs will have these connections. Just as the name suggest, this type of connection can be used only with digital TVs. Also like the previous two, DVI connections also require the use of an audio cable for audio to work.

5) HDMI: The highest quality connections available. Most HD TVs will have this connection, however, chances are that your computer would not. If your computer happens to have a HDMI connection port, this should be preferably used. If your computer doesn't, you can use an HDMI to DVI adapter to convert HDMI to DVI. 

Step 2: Once a common type of port between the two devices is recognized, you will need the right connector cable to physically connect them. The different types of connector cables are pictured above. If you do not find two matching types of connection ports, you will need an adapter to make the connections type match.

Step 3: After connecting the two devices, on your TV, select the external input with which your TV is connected to the computer. It may be HDMI1 or AV1 depending on how you have made the connection. This is much similar to how you select input from your DVD player.

If you have followed the steps correctly, your TV should now be displaying your computer's screen.

Important: If your computer is not recognizing the external display, you must connect the TV before starting your computer. If the picture appears distorted, you will need to change the screen resolution of your TV by altering the display settings from your computer. Most older TVs will support only one display resolution while newer TVs will support plenty of them.

-  tweakandtrick

Top tips for buying your first laptop

Laptops come in all shapes and sizes, and if you’re buying one a little later in life, you’ll have certain considerations. Here’s what you should be looking out for.

If you’re thinking about buying your first laptop, it’s worth doing a little extra research before spending any money.

Everyone’s needs are different, of course, and any laptop can arguably be used by anyone, but thinking carefully about a few key features will help buy something you don’t regret a few months later. 

Size and weight

If you just want a laptop because it’s a compact computer and plan to leave it on a table or desk all day, then size is immaterial (but see ‘Screen size’ below).

If you want one to take from room to room or into the wider world, on the other hand, then it’s worth buying a model you can carry easily and use comfortably on your lap.

Thin and light laptops tend to cost more than thick, heavy ones, so look carefully at the weights when buying online, or pick up a laptop in a shop to see how it feels. Anything up to around 2kg shouldn’t be a problem to move around at home, but you’ll appreciate something lighter if you plan to carry it around outside in a bag.

Screen size

The overall size of a laptop is directly connected to the size of its screen, which is measured across opposite corners, in inches. The smallest and lightest models that are still practical to use have 11-inch screens, but unless you have 20/20 vision, something with a 13 or 15-inch is much more sensible.

With Microsoft Windows, a bigger screen also means you can increase the screen magnification (using something called the ‘dpi’ setting — see below) to make everything appear larger without losing too much on-screen space. This can make a huge difference if your eyesight isn’t what it used to be. 

If you’re not too concerned about a laptop you can move that easily, then consider one with a 17-inch screen. This will be big and heavy, but the larger screen gives a much better view on whatever you’re doing, particularly if you use the afore-mentioned Windows dpi feature.

What about battery life?

Almost any laptop should last for a couple of hours on battery power, which is enough for a spell of web browsing in the garden — or to see you through a power cut, if you live somewhere out in the sticks. Longer battery life than this should only be a concern if you plan to use your laptop away from a plug socket for long periods, but unless you’re looking at a thin and light laptop to carry around all day, a mains extension lead might be all you need.

Wireless networking

All laptops now have built-in wi-fi, so you can connect to the internet without worrying needing a network cable. This does depend on having a wi-fi network to connect to, so if this is your first computer, you might also need to factor in the cost of a wireless router for your home internet connection - talk to your internet service provider about this.

Wi-fi can also be used to connect to public wi-fi hotspots, so if you only need occasional internet access and don’t have a connection at home, taking your laptop to a local cafe or library might be all you need.

Keyboard and trackpad

Trying a laptop in a shop before you buy is a great way to see if you like the keyboard and trackpad, but you’ll probably find a better price online. Online selling regulations still give you seven days to return a purchase if you don’t like it, though, and some online retailers accept returns for longer.

It’s unusual to encounter a poor-quality laptop keyboard these days, so it’s the size that’s usually an issue. Again, the larger the laptop, the larger the keyboard, but remember that you can always plug in a full-size desktop keyboard if that’s what you’re used to typing on.

The same applies to the trackpad — the rectangular pad below the keyboard that you move a finger on to more the on-screen mouse pointer. This can take some getting used to and are no use at all for drawing, for example, but there’s nothing to stop you connecting a mouse or other kind of pointing device.

Laptop alternatives

If you’ve never used Microsoft Windows before and you’re worried about making sense of it (particularly if its’ Windows 8), then there are a couple of other options.

A laptop that instead uses Google Chrome OS has none of the security worries of Windows and it’s near impossible for a rogue application, or misplaced mouse-click, to upset. And even something catastrophic does happen, it’s easy to reset it to a factory-fresh state, and restore both your applications and data from the internet storage that all Chromebooks use.

Alternatively, a tablet can make much more sense for a complete computer novice. Touching the screen to type and launch programs is much more intuitive than using a keyboard and mouse, and the simple interface that shows one full-screen application at a time is much easier to understand than a desktop with several applications running side-by-side. The Apple iPad is the better option here, since it’s simpler to use than Android, but cheap Android tablets sold in supermarkets still offer excellent value.

And finally…

If you already have a desktop or laptop PC and are just finding it difficult to use, you don’t necessarily need to buy a new one. You can alter the Windows dpi setting on any computer to make everything look larger — just right-click the Desktop, choose Personalise and click Display on the left of the window that opens. Windows also has a built-in magnifier tool too to make things look even larger — search for “magnifier” from the Start menu or Start screen.

source:- BT

Increase battery life of laptop Easily

Every laptop user these days have the same headache of limited backup time of batteries. As far as your system is new , you will have a good backup time but when it becomes a few months old you will definitely face problem of limited battery life.

So here I am giving you a solution to Increase battery life of laptop upto a sufficient extent.

There is an inbuilt command in your computer to Increase battery life as well as the performance of the system but not all users are aware of it. Some laptops directly provide an interface with option termed as “ POWER SAVING MODE ” but  if your laptop is old or don’t have this feature by default , you need not to worry because you can do the same task manually.

If you have a laptop with Windows 7 installed, you can use the ‘powercfg‘ command . It will display useful information about your laptop’s energy consumption and usage. If  you can understand and maintain  it correctly then you can extend your Battery life and performance by great amount.

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Steps to Increase battery life of  laptop

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Step 1: Click on the Start Menu and type “ CMD ” in the Start Search bar.

Step 2: The search will start and it will then display an icon of “ CMD ” . simply right click on it and select Run as administrator.

Step 3: It will open command line, now simply run the command “powercfg -energy” without quotes. (For windows 7 users.)

Windows 8 users can Simply run the command “powercfg /energy” without quotes.

Step 4: Now Press “Enter”.

Once you successfully execute this command , Windows  will run a complete scan of  your system and it will find some ways to improve performance and power efficiency.

The results of this process will be saved to an HTML file, which is commonly  present  in the “System32”folder of most of the systems.

To access this file, simply follow the path which will be displayed in command prompt window after completion of the command. Read This file to understand that what program in your system is consuming more power and degrading the performance. Fix the Problem to Increase battery life of laptop.

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Some More Use full Tips to Increase 

battery life

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• Eject or Remove External Devices like Pendrive/DVDs/External HDD if not in Use
• Run Apps that don’t Eat up much RAM
• Disable Bluetooth of your Laptop if not in use.
• Reduce Screen Brightness, This takes away lot of your battery, Reducing Brightness will help
• Turn of Internet if you are not using it.
• Make sure your Laptop’s Temperature remains Low

I am quite sure Performing these Tasks will help you to Increase battery life of laptop.

via:- http://www.smarttricks.net/

7 Things to know while buying a Laptop

Laptop designs and technology have changed considerably over the years and picking up a laptop that suits your needs and budget can be a challenging task. Follow these tips while buying a laptop…

1. Touchscreen

If you love gadgets that you can operate via touch, then a touchscreen laptop is right for you. For instance, the tile- and gesture-based Windows 8 interface is far easier to use with a touchscreen.

Touchscreen laptops also have a number of benefits. It is easier to scroll through web pages, start apps, browse images and view lengthy documents. In touchscreen laptops, you can also revert to traditional keyboard mode.

As of now, touchscreens are available in Windows only. A touchscreen laptop with Windows 8 can be purchased for less than Rs 30,000.

2. Weight and design

If you travel a lot, opt for a lightweight 12- or 13-inch laptop that offers good battery life. If your usage is mainly at home/office, go for a laptop with a 14- or 15.6-inch display that can be carried around occasionally.

If you are a gamer or photo/video editor who prefers a powerful machine, then consider getting a powerful 15.6- or 17-inch machine.

If your laptop travels with you all the time, then go for a laptop which has a metallic body instead of a plastic one. If your kids also use the same laptop, then go for a corporate model laptop built from metal to make it more durable.

3. Storage capacity

Optical drives are bulky, so they were the first to go. These days, unless you get a 15.6-inch laptop, optical drives are rare. Another change is the shift to flash based storage (SSDs) from hard drives or HDDs.

Flash storage is more expensive but less prone to failure and can be much smaller and offers better speed.

4. Operating system

Many people, just to save a few bucks, do not go for a pre-loaded operating system, without realizing that installing an OS on your own along with other software is a tough and time-consuming task. Also go for an operating system which you are familiar with.

5. Size does matter

If you need a laptop for your home office, then go for a bigger screen laptop as it not only improves your productivity but is also good for your eyes.

However, if you need a laptop to give presentation, then a light notebook with a small screen would be ideal.

6. Features

A good laptop needs to have a higher multi-core CPU like Intel and AMD CPU, which have multi-core have good speed. Also ensure that it has 3-4 USB slots.

7. Watch out

Do not buy re-certified or refurbished laptops. Buy from a reputed dealer or e-commerce sites, as well-known brands offer after-sale services and their laptops last longer.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Laptop / PC not recognizing your USB drive? Here's what to do

External drives — either USB flash drives or external hard drives — should be easy to use. In some cases, you may connect your drive to a Windows PC or another device with a USB port and find that it's not recognized. This problem can be caused by partition issues on your external drive, using the wrong file system, dead USB ports, driver issues in Windows, or other problems. In a worst case scenario, the drive itself may simply be dead. 

The steps below will be the same for both USB flash drives and larger external hard drives, which work similarly. 

Does the drive show up in disk management?

First, let's check whether Windows detects the drive when you plug it in. Plug your removable drive into your computer. If it's an external hard drive, you may have to flip a power switch on the hard drive to activate it. Some heavy-duty removable hard drives may even have to be plugged in with a separate power cable before they'll work. 

Next, open the Disk Management tool. To do so, press Windows Key + R, type diskmgmt.msc into the Run dialog, and press Enter. 

You should see your external drive listed in the Disk Management window. Even if it doesn't appear in your Computer window because it doesn't contain any partitions, it should show up here. 

If you do see the drive here, you can continue to the last section where we'll format it properly so Windows or your other devices can access and recognize it.If you don't see the drive here, continue to the next section where we'll try to determine why your drive isn't recognized. 

Making Windows recognize the drive 

If Windows doesn't see your drive at all, it's possible there's a hardware issue with your computer's USB port, a driver problem with your Windows computer, or you may just have a dead drive. 

First, unplug the drive from your USB port and try plugging it into another USB port on your computer. If it works in one USB port but not another, you may have a dead USB port. If you've plugged the drive into a USB hub, try connecting it to the computer instead. Some USB hubs won't provide enough power for your external drive to function. 

If the drive doesn't show up in Disk Management even after you skip the USB hub and connect it to another USB port on your computer, it's tough to know for certain whether the drive itself is bad or the computer is having a problem. If you have another computer nearby, try plugging the drive in there to check whether it's detected. If the drive doesn't work on any computer you plug it into — be sure to check whether it appears in the computer's Disk Management window — the drive itself is likely dead and will need to be replaced. 

If the drive does work on other computers — or you don't have another computer around to test this with — Windows may be having a driver problem with the drive. You can check for this using the Device Manager. 

To open it, press Windows Key + R, type "devmgmt.msc" into the Run dialog, and press Enter. 

Look under Disk drives and check for any devices with a yellow exclamation mark next to them. If you see a yellow exclamation mark, you have a driver problem. Right-click the device with a yellow exclamation mark, select Properties, and look at the error message. This error message can help you fix the problem — you may want to perform a Google search for the error message you find. 

Such problems can be tricky to fix. If the problem started recently, you may want to run System Restore. You may want to use the Update Driver button to install an updated driver, use the Roll Back Driver button to revert any changes, or use the Uninstall button to uninstall the device from your system and hope that Windows will reinstall the driver and configure it correctly when you reconnect the drive. 

Partitioning and formatting the drive 

We can use the Windows Disk Management tool to fix partition and file system issues with the drive. If you see that the drive is unpartitioned and is full of "unallocated space," you'll want to create a new partition on it. This will allow Windows and other operating systems to use it. 

To do so, right-click inside the unallocated space, select New Simple Volume, and go through the wizard to create a new partition. 

If your drive is partitioned and you still can't see it, ensure you've set a drive letter so you can access it in Windows. This should happen automatically, but if you've manually unset the drive letter, the drive may not show up and be accessible in Windows. 

To do this, right-click the removable drive's partition, select Change Drive Letter and Paths, and add a drive letter. For example, add the letter G: and the removable drive will be accessible at drive G. 

If the drive does appear to be partitioned, it may be partitioned with the wrong file system. For example, you may have formatted the drive with the ext4 file system from Linux or the HFS Plus file system from a Mac. Windows can't read these file systems. Reformat the drive with the newer NTFS file system or older FAT32 file system so Windows will be able to recognize it. 

To reformat a partition, right-click it, select Format, and select your desired file system. 

Note that this will erase all the files on your drive, so you'll want to copy any important files off of it first — for example, if you formatted the drive on a Linux or Mac computer, take it back to a computer running Linux or Mac and copy your important files off of it before continuing. 

If you can't access the drive from another device, such as a DVD player, smart TV, game console, or media center device, it may be formatted as NTFS. Many devices, even Microsoft's own Xbox 360, can't read the Windows NTFS file system. They can only access drives formatted with the older FAT32 file system. To fix this problem, simply reformat the NTFS partition as FAT32. The drive should then be recognized by other devices when you connect it to them. 

Note that this process will erase the files on your external drive. Copy the files off the drive to back them up first, if necessary.format-removable-drive-as-fat32 Following this process should solve most of the disk recognition issues you'll encounter. If a drive isn't recognized by any computer you connect it to and never shows up in the Disk Management window, it's probably dead.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

What is the Difference Between Log Off, Restart, and Shut Down?

      

      A concept users frequently have difficulty with is the difference between “logging off,” “restarting,” and “shutting down” a system. This article will clear that up.

Tech support staff will often instruct users to take a specific action, such as “log off your system” or “power down the system.” Confusion between these terms can cause problems and waste the time of the support staff and the end user, so these are good, simple terms to understand.

To shut down (or power down, or power off) a system means that, when the process of shutting down is complete, the machine is powered down, and it will not come back up again without a someone taking further action, e.g., powering it back on again. If you expect your system will be needed for maintenance or remote access by someone else, shutting it down effectively prevents this.

To restart (or reboot) a system means that the computer goes through a complete shutdown process, then starts back up again. This is frequently required after software installations or during troubleshooting.

To log off a system means that the user who is currently logged on has their session end, but leaves the computer running for someone else to use. This is faster than a full restart and, generally, a better choice during the course of the business day when a system is shared between multiple users.

To power on a system means that you simply press the power button and let the system come up to a login prompt.

If you enter your username and password, you have gone a step further and have logged on.

If support staff instructs you to take a specific action, it is in everyone’s best interest that you do exactly what was suggested, and not something else. For instance, if you are instructed to “power on” your system, just power it on, but do not enter your username and password. Similarly, if you are requested to log off, just log off, but do not shut it down.

via: mrsupport