Hard Drive Troubleshooting
The hard drive in your system may be an IDE or a SATA. IDE is the older variety, with the long, flat ribbon cable connector. SATA drives began appearing a couple of years ago. Gone is the flat ribbon cabe. In its place is a thick serial cable.
You hard drive will have jumper on the rear. On IDE drives, these jumpers indicate which HDD is the Master and Slave. Yu can even configure a jumper to indicate which place on the cable determines who is the boss. This is called Cable Select. Either Cable Select or Master / Slave modes are fine, but the drives must be set up one way or the other.
Is the Hard Drive Detected?
If this is a new installation of a hard drive, be sure to check the power and jumpers setting first. If the hard drive is not showing up, you first need to confirm that it is getting power and that the Master / Slave / or Cable Select jumpers are set properly. If you are using a Serial ATA drive, jumper setting are not necessary.
Check the BIOS. You will need to tap a certain key to enter the BIOS settings. This is normally either the ESC, F1, F2, F10 or Delete key and is usually indicated on the very first screen when booting the PC. Once in the BIOS make sure the drive shows up in the appropriate place. If this is the Primary drive, is should show up under the Primary Master position. If it does not, then it could be connected to the motherboard incorrectly or the jumpers may be wrong. Also, while in the BIOS, make sure it is set to Auto Detect the drive.
Check the IDE Cable
If you’re using an IDE drive, it can be possible to connect the ribbon cable incorrectly. The ribbon cable will usually have a red or dotted line down one side. This line indicates Pin 1 on the cable. One the hard drive end, this line needs to be closest to the Hard Drive’s power connector. On the motherboard side, this line needs to be at Pin 1 on the motherboard (you may need to look close, but it should be printed on the motherboard).
Is the Drive Making Noise?
A defective drive will often produce unusual clicking or scraping sounds. There are a lot of moving parts inside a hard drive, so if the read / write head, platters, spindle or actuator arm becomes defective it can produce noise shortly before complete failure.
Does the Hard Drive Spin Up?
If the hard drive is not spinning, then it may not be getting power. You may need to listen real close to hear it spin, or touch the side with your finger to feel any vibration. If the drive is not spinning, test the power dongle with a multimeter, or try a different power connector. A power supply will ofter have severl molex connectors not being used. If the hard drive still does not spin up, the drive may be dead.
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Power supplies for electronic devices can be broadly divided into linear and switching power supplies. The linear supply is a relatively simple design that becomes increasingly bulky and heavy for high current devices; voltage regulation in a linear supply can result in low efficiency. A switched-mode supply of the same rating as a linear supply will be smaller, is usually more efficient, but will be more complex.
Computer Diagnostic Utilities
If you’re experiencing computer trouble, these popular computer diagnostic tools can help you save money by troubleshooting the PC yourself, without the need to take it to an expensive computer repair shop. Computer diagnostics can be done on several different levels, by running software, visiting sites that can automatically perform checks, and by physically adding hardware to your machine to run tests. Depending on your circumstances, some of these options can help you diagnose problems you’re having with your PC.
Diagnostic Software
If you’re experiencing problems with your computer crashing, you might have problems with your RAM or your hard drive. To run software that can scan your hard drive, you should first determine what model hard drive you have in your computer. Chances are, you have a Maxtor, Western Digital or Seagate drive. The following software can be run, depending on your model:
Seatools
Western Digital Data Lifeguard
MaxBlast
If your computer is unstable, you could be having problems with your RAM. Since the RAM stores programs that are running in memory, a bad stick of RAM can cause your computer to crash, reboot or suffer from low performance. If you suspect you have a problem with your RAM, be sure to download and run Memtest86. Windows 7 and Windows Vista have a memory checking utility built it. To run it, click the Start button and type in mdsched and hit return. You will need to reboot to run the scan.
Diagnostic Websites
When it comes to diagnosing and benchmarking computer problems, there are a multitude of website that can provide you with services. If you’re looking to test your broadband connection for speed, you can try Broadband Reports and run their tools. If you’re looking for an overall diagnostic website, PC Pitstop has been around for years.
Hardware Diagnostic Tests
Sometimes a computer is in such bad condition that it will not even boot. To make matters worse there is no way to figure out what piece of hardware is bad. If the BIOS will not produce a beep code, or if your computer is not equipped with diagnostic LED lights, then you have no recourse but to install a PCI Diagnostic Card. This card will produce a numeric code you can use to figure out which piece of hardware has gone bad.
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A GPU is a dedicated processor optimized for accelerating graphics. The processor is designed specifically to perform floating-point calculations, which are fundamental to 3D graphics rendering. The main attributes of the GPU are the core clock frequency, which typically ranges from 250 MHz to 4 GHz and the number of pipelines (vertex and fragment shaders), which translate a 3D image characterized by vertices and lines into a 2D image formed by pixels.
How to Remove Bloatware From New Computer
If you buy a major brand name computer from any of the top manufacturers such as Dell, HP, Sony or Acer, you will invariably notice a lot of different software installed that you do not want, did not ask for or do not know how to get rid of. This extra software is typically trial programs referred to as “bloatware” or “crapware.”
Automatically Remove Crapware From Your Computer
There are a few ways to uninstall all of this junk so your computer will run the way it should. You can manually uninstall it all or you can use third-party programs such as the PC Decrapifier, which scans your computer for bloatware and uninstalls it for you. DeCrapifier is a .exe file, so your antivirus might think it is a virus, but it is not. Click through the wizard’s menu and select the programs you want removed.
Manually Remove Bloatware From Your Computer
Bloatware programs are not viruses. They can be uninstalled easily by visiting the Add Remove Programs section of the Control Panel (or Control Panel>Programs>Uninstall Programs in Windows 7). Remove anything you did not order with the computer, such as trial versions of games, antivirus programs like Norton or Macafee.
You can also prevent bloatware while ordering your PC. If you order a computer online, you usually have options to uncheck the option for trial software. Be sure to read through those pages and make sure you are not accidentally ordering crapware to be installed on your PC.
But why does this happen? It’s easy. In order for computer manufacturers to make a better profit, they make deals with these third-party vendors to install trial software on your new computer in hopes you will either choose to buy the programs or be tricked into thinking you need them. So which of these do you need? You don’t need any of them. You should remove all of it and install your own antivirus program, such as Microsoft Security Essentials, which is a free antivirus through Microsoft that works great.
Related Info:
As a discipline, computer science spans a range of topics from theoretical studies of algorithms and the limits of computation to the practical issues of implementing computing systems in hardware and software.[20][21] The Computer Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) [22] – which is made up of representatives of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society (IEEE), and the Association for Information Systems (AIS) – identifies four areas that it considers crucial to the discipline of computer science: theory of computation, algorithms and data structures, programming methodology and languages, and computer elements and architecture. In addition to these four areas, CSAB also identifies fields such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, computer networking and communication, database systems, parallel computation, distributed computation, computer-human interaction, computer graphics, operating systems, and numerical and symbolic computation as being important areas of computer science
Google sees mobile ad rates passing PC rates
Google Inc said that it expects the rates that companies pay for search ads on mobile phones could surpass the rates of its existing PC-based ad business thanks to the growing popularity of powerful smartphones.
Google Engineering Vice President Vic Gundotra did not say when he expected the crossover in the so-called cost per click of its search ads to occur, during a webcast to analysts about the company's mobile business on Monday. But he said that mobile ad rates have increased "dramatically" in recent years.
And he noted that the number of Google searches on mobile phones have increased five-fold in the last two years.
"We hope and believe that there's even a chance that we could exceed desktop in the future," Gundotra said in reference to the cost per click of mobile ads.
He cited the availability of technology, such as the GPS data that can tell Google a phone user's physical whereabouts, as helping the company create more "relevant" online ads.
Google, the world's No.1 Internet search engine with $23.7 billion in 2009 revenue, has stepped up its mobile efforts as consumers increasingly access the Web from smartphones like Apple Inc's iPhone.
Google offers its own Android operating system that handset manufacturers like Motorola Inc and HTC use in their devices, and in January, Google began selling the Nexus One phone directly on its Web site.
In November, Google announced plans to acquire mobile advertising firm AdMob for $750 million, though the deal is currently facing regulatory review.
The mobile briefing comes as Google is in a standoff with China, the world's largest Internet market by users, over the future of its Internet search website in the country. Google has said it will no longer censor search results in China, a move that some analysts believe could mean the end of its Chinese language web site Google.cn.
Asked what the search situation might mean for Google's mobile plans in China, Google CFO Patrick Pichette said on the webcast on Monday that Android was an "open source" platform that's available to everybody and that the company thought China represented "another great market in which Android should flourish."
Related information:
A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end user, with no intervening computer operator. This is in contrast to the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed large expensive mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time, or large data processing systems which required a full-time staff to operate efficiently.
A personal computer may be a desktop computer, a laptop, tablet PC or a handheld PC (also called palmtop). The most common microprocessors in personal computers are x86-compatible CPUs. Software applications for personal computers include word processing, spreadsheets, databases, Web browsers and e-mail clients, games, and myriad personal productivity and special-purpose software. Modern personal computers often have high-speed or dial-up connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other resources.
A PC may be used at home, or may be found in an office. Personal computers can be connected to a local area network (LAN) either by a cable or wirelessly.
While early PC owners usually had to write their own programs to do anything useful with the machines, today's users have access to a wide range of commercial and non-commercial software which is provided in ready-to-run form. Since the 1980s, Microsoft and Intel have dominated much of the personal computer market with the Wintel platform.
how to speed up sluggish PC
pc_doctor
Tesa was working on her first home based job. Hurried, as it is time for her to submit the files needed by her boss. She is attaching a file on her email when suddenly the PC slows down, and it took hours before she finally submitted her work. Her angry boss sent his last email to her …. And Tesa lost her chance. This typical story shows how a sluggish PC can disturb one’s life. To save you from a trouble like this, you should read the following steps on how to speed up sluggish PC.
Improving your PC performance
The most typical reason why a computer slows down is having a heavy carried data. This happens as you use your computer in your daily activities, data continually clutters the computer storage especially if you explore internet constantly. Remove these clutters from your PC. Delete the browsing data such as cache, cookies, and history. Check also your pc storage memory, removing the files and application you no longer. Include those boring old games as it occupies a lot of space in your PC memory. Remove also spywares and adwares, including their traces contained in the temp folder. This will save a lot of space on the storage memory making your PC to perform at maximum performance.
Check also what loads up as your computer boosts up. These start up programs also consume much space in your PC memory and slows down your computer. Delete your unwanted start up program as this will contribute to fasten your PC.
Do these steps every month as this will save you to a lot of problem in the future. If you think these steps would be a down time, then you could just download some free software that optimizes PC performance by doing the cleaning, organizing, as well as fixing PC encountered errors. This software usually comes with a feature that monitors your PC performance and automatically fixes PC performance problems. If you are tired of a slowing down, do these easy ways on how to speed up sluggish PC as this will benefit you in the long run.
More Info :
Registry Fix Review
Are You Tired of Slow Pc? Discover how you can have your pc running as brand new by clicking the link above to read the 'Registry Fix Review
‘StarCraft 2′ Beta Testing FAQ Leaked?
Blizzard announced a host of changes to Battle.net that will affect "StarCraft 2" and other future releases, but they haven't gone on the record with much official info on the "StarCraft 2" beta test that was delayed into 2010 after a tentative rollout deadline expired last year. A purportedly legit FAQ showed up on the Internet yesterday, however, and it may or may not answer a few questions.
Beta access code holders from past Blizzard events and new applicants will have separate processes to go through in order to get in on testing, according to the document post on StarCraft-Source.com. In addition to noting "multiplayer ladder quick" matches with "1v1, 2v2, and free-for-all (FFA) modes" and "unranked custom matches" for the beta, the FAQ also mentions a forthcoming Mac beta test and explains how friend-adding will work.
I see two reasons to believe this document could be the real deal. First, its emergence coincides with the Battle.net alterations Blizzard unloaded last week. It would make sense that certain features might have remained tentative until the Battle.net framework was finalized. Second, many of the answers on there are ambiguous "we don't know yet" and "wait and see" types of responses that don't give a whole lot away.
Then again, since it doesn't come from official Blizzard communication, there's a good chance anything in the FAQ could be tentative or outdated, since a leaked set of details doesn't create any binding policies for them. Don't take it as gospel, but if you want in on the "StarCraft 2" tests, you should give it a look.
Do you see anything in the "StarCraft 2" FAQ that looks surprising? Do you think it's real? Sound off in the comment section below.
‘Battlefield Bad Company 2′ Features ‘Mass Effect 2′-Style DLC Access Code, In-Game Store
When you buy "Battlefield: Bad Company 2" early next month, each new copy will include a "VIP" code which will allow you to access the game's downloadable content. I spoke with Patrick Bach, the senior producer on "Bad Company 2," to find out just what sort of DLC plans the developers had in mind. Here's what he had to say:
"We want people to insert the code they get when they buy the game to get access to [DLC content].
It's connected to your personal account, more or less, and what we want to do is give you something extra, added value, for that. In the future you will get more content, for free, if you have this VIP code."
Bach went on to confirm that the system is similar to that of the in-game "Cerberus System" used in "Mass Effect 2," which also offers free DLC.
Once you enter the code in "Bad Company 2," you'll be able to access an in-game store which lists all current and upcoming DLC in the near future. This includes free DLC that will be available on launch day, which will be a set of new multiplayer maps.
It appears that the VIP code will be attached to your EA.com account, which is something that caused a bit of headache surrounding the launch of "Mass Effect 2," since it's a separate system from Xbox Live and PSN. Hopefully some of issues that came about will be worked out before the launch of "Battlefield."
As for folks who purchase "Battlefield Bad Company 2" used, they'll have to pay for VIP access (again, just like "Mass Effect 2"). That price point isn't locked down yet, but $15 seems to be the standard that EA has set for these sort of codes.
‘Heavy Rain’ Was Originally Designed For PS3 Motion Controls
"Heavy Rain" will beat Sony's PS3 motion controller into stores by nearly a year, but the team behind the game at Quantic Dream was a little bit more optimistic when they first started work. In fact, Quantic Dream's co-CEO David Cage said the "Heavy Rain" code still contains leftovers from the early days when motion controls were part of the plan.
"If you are talking about Motion Control, this is something we initially considered for Heavy Rain," Cage revealed in a Q&A for Dagbladet.no.
"The very first version of the game design was based on motion control, but it was not feasible at the time. But all the controls of the final version of 'Heavy Rain' is still based on motion."
Instead, Cage was forced to postpone his studio's Sony motion controller debut. But he predicted that some news on that front would be showing up soon.
"I have a lot of interest in Sony's motion device and there is a good chance that we announce something about it in the coming weeks," he said.
That last line is particularly interesting, given that Sony has been lagging behind Project Natal in terms of the number of vocal developers who have been talking it up. You can bet that whatever Quantic decides to do will catch some headlines.
Would you like to have seen motion controls in "Heavy Rain"? Whose motion control system are you more interested in, Microsoft's or Sony's? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
‘Alan Wake’ For PC Not Happening
"Alan Wake" got some heavy inspiration from "Lost," and much like its muse, the game will be gravitating toward TV sets when it comes out as soon as this May. Though a PC edition may have been in the cards at one time, Microsoft has now shut down any such expectations in favor of focusing on their console.
"Some games are more suited for the intimacy of the PC, and others are best played from the couch in front of a larger TV screen," a Microsoft spokesperson told Strategy Informer.
"We ultimately realised that the most compelling way to experience 'Alan Wake' was on the Xbox 360 platform, so we focused on making it an Xbox 360 exclusive."
The word "exclusive" should remove all doubt there, and the company emphasized that the choice came about because the game wouldn't provide the experience they wanted to achieve on a PC.
"Both Microsoft and Remedy have long histories in PC game development," the statement read. "This decision was about matching this specific game to the right platform."
The justification given sounds reasonable for two-room gamers, but with TV episode streaming becoming widespread these days, I don't know that I would be too taken aback by the differences in presentation. Also, for those of us whose 360's share a monitor with our PC's, "Alan Wake" will probably look the same in the end anyway.
Would rather "Alan Wake" came out for both the 360 and PC? Do you think it's better suited for console play? Share your reactions in the comment section below.
EA in the red for 12th quarter in a row
US video game giant Electronic Arts was unable to fight its way out of the red over the Christmas holidays, posting a net loss for the 12th consecutive quarter on Monday.
The Redwood City, California-based company behind the "Sims," "Madden" and other games posted a third-quarter net loss of 82 million dollars compared with a net loss of 641 million dollars a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter which ended on December 31 declined 23 percent to 1.24 billion dollars.
"The decline is due to several factors, including fewer titles this holiday quarter versus the 2008 holiday quarter, and a weak overall packaged goods sector in Europe," EA said in a statement.
It said sales were driven by the launches of "Dragon Age: Origins," "Left 4 Dead 2" and "NBA Live," and catalog sales of "FIFA 10," "Madden NFL 10," and "The Sims 3."
EA said it expected revenue of between 925 million dollars and one billion dollars in the current quarter.
"'Mass Effect 2' is the first blockbuster of 2010 and we are looking forward to the launch of "Dante's Inferno" and 'Battlefield Bad Company 2,'" EA chief executive John Riccitiello said.
For the current quarter, Wall Street analysts had been expecting earnings per share of up to 13 cents and were disappointed by the two cents to six cents reported by EA.
For fiscal 2011, EA said it expected revenue of 3.45 billion dollars and 3.70 billion dollars, below the 4.07 billion dollars expected by analysts.
EA shares tumbled in after-hours electronic trading, losing 8.40 percent to 16.30 dollars.
"The company cannot find its footing and cannot find its way home," analyst Jon Ogg said on 247WallSt.com.
"In fact, things are getting to the point that many holders and traders are starting to hope that the price of the stock is low enough that the company will just get acquired."
Videogame sales in the three leading markets -- Britain, Japan and the United States -- declined eight percent last year to 379.3 million units, according to a Top Global Markets report released last week compiled using figures from the NPD Group, GfK Chart-Track Ltd and Enterbrain Inc.
