Computers and Technology
Dave’s
Dave’s Tutorials!
Speed up on a budget
Jan 12th
So you are reading this article wondering what its gonna be about? Well I am cheap, its January and everybody is broke. Oh yeah and the economy sucks. Supposibly the companies thought that people would stop buying computer parts so they slowed down production, which made some parts prices skyrocket. Example: I have bought 2x2gigs 667MHz laptop ram for 35 bucks shipped, regular price about 2 years ago. Now, it is insanely twice the price, seriously OMG???? Talk about custom built computer getting more expensive by a gig.
Even though the ram is expensive, it is still the easiest hardware and most efficient upgrade out there. You have no idea what ram you have in your PC or Laptop, do you? Well, sometimes neither do I, and it is annoying to open case or laptop to not be sure afterwards anyway. Wouldn’t you like some software/tool that would find that out for you? Yes, there is one! Thanks to crucial, ram manufacturer, you do not have to worry about it anymore. Go to their website, surprise it is crucial.com and then click on the crucial system scanner tool, it will take you to another site. Make sure that you click on the box to agree with stuff and then download the scanner tool or just click run. Either way it will scan your system and tell you what you need and of course try to sell you their ram. You can buy their ram, great company, I have used their ram numerous times myself. Or….. you can check to see the specs of the ram ie. Pc2 5300 etc. to see what you need exactly. They will also tell you what is the maxium amount of ram your motherboard will accept. Since ram is expensive I suggest upgrading as follows: If you have 256 or 512 get a stick of 1GB which should be around 40 bucks tops. FYI the performance boost it will give will be like a night and day (promised). If you have 1Gb and you have Vista or Win7 get a pair of 2x1GB sticks of ram or if wallet permits and motherboard too, get 2x2GB. You ask where at, right? Well I have been very happy customer of newegg.com for years. However, I don’t stick to one name, for me the price is the final verdict, and if you live in NJ, CA and I think TN you will have to pay tax and it might make your deal worse than going to a local shop (doubt it though). There is another website that tracks prices of ram, here is their link http://dealnews.com/memory/
So I hope that this has helped you, BUT BE CAREFUL WITH STATIC ELECTRICITY because it can kill your ram in split second.
Slap some DD-WRT on that Asus WL520gU, will ya?
Oct 23rd
DISCLAIMER: Yes, one of these, but I have to. I am not responsible for any of your actions, or if you harm yourselves (wonder how), break the router, void the warranty, make your mom mad or dad. Do this at your own risk; I have.
Just so you know its very hard to brick the ASUS WL-520gU, thats why its so More >
Ooops, so you went crazy with the delete button
Sep 29th
RECUVA
Who hasn`t done this? I know I have many, many times. You go on cleaning the hard drive, trying to make space frenzy, and it never ends well. More >
So you caught a bug(s)
Sep 26th
So you caught bug(s)
Many of us rely on one software to clean, guard, protect, and a lot more. I used to use one, thinking that was sufficient, but it was not. When I get an infected computer, and it has possibility to be repaired I use series of programs. First I connect the hard drive to my computer, make sure, if you do this, your antivirus is updated. Then I do series of scans, and if they pass I move on to another stage, which is to boot up the infected computer and scan it while the system is running. More >
Solution to new Laptops/Computers with annoying software
Sep 20th
PC Decrapifier
As the title says, the software “decrapifies” your computer. Let me explain, when you buy a laptop, especially around 400 and even more, it has a lot of bloatware on it. Bloatware are programs that you don’t need and slow down your laptop or Computer, they come preloaded. If you followed my article on What Laptop to Buy then you most likely bought or will buy a laptop that will have a lot of bloatware on it, almost every laptop and Computer has bloatware on it or 99% of them do. It takes a while to get rid off it, or sometimes you might not know if you should delete that program or not. Thanks to PC Decrapifier, it will delete/take off everything that you do not need. I will show you what the steps are, but remember that every laptop/Computer is different so you might not have the same bloatware on it as I do. More >
What Laptop to Buy
Sep 18th
What Laptop to buy???
I get asked this question numerous times a day. I will try to give out some pointers for what and how to buy. First of all you have to be true to yourself. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO USE THE LAPTOP FOR? Please, be honest; you won’t be doing any gaming, more like writing essays and surfing the Internet. Next is the screen size, there is a difference between 14.2” and 15.4” screen. Screen resolution goes hand in hand with the size, the higher the numbers the better.
Here are some examples for cheap laptops
WXGA 1366×768…………………. Not that good for 15.4” screens, very cheap
Defragment! Yes, you should (have to)…
Sep 13th
Defraggler
Download it for FREE at defraggler.com. When my friends ask me how to speed up their computers, or just plaincomplain about their computers being slow, I have few steps. One of my steps is to tell them to “defragg” their hard drive. With the new era coming in with humongous hard drives the defragmenting is more and more nescessary. First of all and advice, Your main hard drive or the one that has your operating system on it should be less than 320GB. You ask why? You need only about 100GB, if that, for your operating system and other programs. For your data: MP3, pictures, and movies use the big hard drives like 1TB or bigger. The reason being, is when you defragment your main hard drive, the one with operating system, you will not really add that much stuff, well not as much as a library of songs or pictures. If you follow this then defragmenting will not be needed that often and will take significantly less time.
Well now to the software…
Defraggler made by the same company as CCleaner is
CCleaner
Sep 5th
CCleaner
Download it for FREE at ccleaner.com I have been using ccleaner for a while now(couple years); it is among my top 5 maintenance utilities. It is very easy to use, and relatively safe. I say relatively because it will delete any passwords and user names you might have saved under Firefox, Opera, or Internet Explorer. Other than cleaning junk from your computer, it also cleans the registry. Registry clean-up has been always safe for me, never had any problems. Also, the program has an option to disable startup of unnecessary programs. What I usually do is just press “analyze” to see how much data CCleaner found, sometimes I forget files in trash that I do not want to delete.
This part of CCleaner looks for registry problem, always make sure to backup your registry. When you click on scan for issues, it will automatically ask you if you want to back up the registry. More >