10 REASONS WHY PCs CRASH YOU MUST KNOW

10 REASONS WHY PCs CRASH YOU MUST KNOW

Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."

You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Microsoft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?

1. Hardware conflict

The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.

For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.

If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.

Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.

Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.

Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).

When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.

To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.

2. Bad Ram

Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.

But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.

One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.

Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.

EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.

3. BIOS settings

Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.

Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.

A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.

Microsoft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).

4. Hard disk drives

After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter

This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.

The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).

Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.

Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.

Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to

* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk

Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.

5. Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors

Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.

These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings

Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.

If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager

Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.

If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.

The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.

Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics

Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).

Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.

6. Viruses

Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to

* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs

Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.

A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.

An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).

7. Printers

The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.

Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.

If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.

8. Software

A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.

The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.

Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org

Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.

Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.

Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.

Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.

9. Overheating

Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.

One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com

CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.

10. Power supply problems

With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.

If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.

It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.

THE FASTEST BROWSER IN THE WORLD

THE FASTEST BROWSER IN THE WORLD

Opera Software ASA released Opera browser mainstay of 10.60. his browser company claimed as the fastest browser in the world. This means that this browser is the fastest browser in the world.

Seem to need a trial first to prove this, because until now many prominent browsers such as Firefox or Internet Explorer incentive to update.

For those interested in the browser quickly, please just try and then review. opinions might be different.

click download image and follow the instructions.

Opera 10.60 for Windows - 10.3 MB

Good Luck :)

Software Download 2010

DOWNLOAD SOFTWARE 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional (beta)
Deskripsi:sebuah software Pengolah kata yang sangat terkenal buatan Microsoft Corporation.

AVG Anti-Virus 9.0.730
Deskripsi:software antivirus internasional yang ampuh membasmi virus-virus, Online Shield, Ati-Spaware, dll.Buatan AVG Technologies.

SMADAV 8.2 2010
Deskripsi:software antivirus buatan Indonesia yang sangat ampuh membasmi virus-virus yang bertebaran diIndonesia.

Winrar 3.93 (new)
Deskripsi:Software mengkompres file yang sudah sangat terkenal buatan Alexander Roshal.

Winamp 5.581(new)
Deskripsi:Software multimedia yang sangat terkenal buatan Nullsoft,Inc.

Mozilla Firefox 3.6.4
Deskripsi:salah satu software untuk berselancar didunia internet. buatan Mozilla Corporation

nah,mungkin itu dulu yang bisa saya tampilkan
nanti akan saya tambahkan lagi.OK!
www.compu-tech18.blogspot.com

Compare Windows XP and Windows 7

COMPARE WINDOWS XP DAN WINDOWS 7

Microsoft Windows.siapa yang tidak kenal dengan sistem operasi andalan dari Microsoft ini. yang dimulai dengan pemunculan era Windows 3.0 pada tahun 1990. ok,kita gak akan membahas sejarah Windows disini mungkin ditulisan saya lain kali aja ya...
dan hingga saat ini kita telah mengenal Windows dengan berbagai kemudahan dan keunggulan dari versi ke versi salah satunya yang akan saya bahas disini nanti yaitu, 2 produk Microsoft Windows yang sangat terkenal Windows XP dan Windows 7, nah disini nanti saya coba membandingkan sedikit kedua versi tersebut.

Pertama, Windows XP atau Windows ExPerience yang dirilis pada tahun 2001 dengan nama kode "Whistler" yang merupakan hasil gabungan dari windows 9x dengan Windows 2000, yang masih eksis hingga tahun 2007 dan update terakhir dengan Windows XP SP3. adapun versi dari Windows XP yang di kenal dipasaran adalah
Home Edition, Professional Edition, Media Center Edition dan Professional x64 Edition.

dan penantangnya

Kedua, Windows 7 yang dirilis pada tahun 2009 dengan kode "Vienna" yang merupakan hasil pengembangan yang sangat profesional dari Microsoft, hingga melahirkan sebuah sistem operasi yang layak disebut Best of the Best Windows, yang masih eksis hingga sekarang dan rencana akan muncul Windows 7 SP1 pada pertengahan 2011 nanti. adapun versi dari windows 7 adalah Windows 7 Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Enterprise.

Perbandingan Windows XP dan Windows 7
ok!sebelum mulai kita membandingan perlu diketahui, spesifikasi komputer yang saya gunakan sebagai pembanding untuk keduanya adalah sama, dan saya rela menginstal ulang windows Fresh Instalation, agar mendapatkan hasil yang obyektif untuk keduanya. yaitu :

-Prosesor       : Intel Pentium 4 kecepatan 2.66 GHZ FSB 533 soket 478
-Main Board  : Gigabyte GA-8I848E (-L) dengan Chipset Intel I-848-P
-RAM            : 3x 512 MB DDR1 PC 3200
-Hardisk         : WD 40 GB
-VGA             : ATI Radeon 9600 256 MB 128 Bit
-Sound Card   : CMI-8738
-Power Suppy : 500 Watt

yang mungkin bagi anda adalah merupakan komputer tua untuk ukuran tahun 2010,,,hehehe tapi saya bangga dengan.

oke!kita mulai perbandingannya

untuk Instalasi XP: Windows XP lebih lama untuk proses instalasinya 30 menit. dan membutuhkan ruang untuk windows sekitar 1,5 GB
untuk Instalasi 7 : Windows 7 berjalan lebih cepat untuk proses instalasinya 15 menit,WOW!! membutuhkan ruang untuk windows sekitar 9 GB

untuk Tampilan XP: Windows XP masih ada kekurangan pada efek efek desktopnya dan efeknya tidak kelihatan begitu menonjol.
untuk Tampilan 7: Windows 7 memiliki banyak sekali efek untuk tampilannya, salah satunya adalah Aero Glass, kalau boleh saya katakan untuk urusan tamilan windows 7 lebih optimal sekali untuk urusan efeknya.

untuk MultiTasking XP: untuk urusan multitasking,Windows XP kadang masih mengalami error atau Hang, kalau saya membuka aplikasi banyak, yaitu 6 program secara bersamaan.
untuk MultiTasking 7: untuk urusan multitasking, Windows 7 tidak ada masalah, bahkan saya pernah coba buka 6 aplikasi  secara bersamaan, windows 7 tetap dengan enteng berjalan normal dan tidak hang.

untuk Kecepatan XP:untuk ukuran kecepatan, padahal menggunakan ruang 1,5 GB dan dengan spesifikasi komputer diatas tapi kadang masih terjadi Blue Screen Of Dead (BSOD). dan sering Not Respond, oh no
untuk Kecepatan 7 :untuk kecepatan padahal dengan spesifikasi komputer sama, dan membutuhkan ruang 9 GB, tapi windows 7 berjalan sangat bagus dan ada yang bilang bahwa windows 7 membutuhkan hardware yang super besar, tapi nyatanya dengan spesifikasi komputer saya diatas, windows 7 berjalan sangat cepat dan lebih stabil dari XP. BSOD hampir tidak pernah muncul.WOW!!

untuk Multimedia XP: dengan menggunakan Microsoft Directx 9.0, saya rasa masih kurang untuk Film, music bahkan untuk bermain game kurang tajam.
untuk Multimedia 7: dengan didukung Microsoft Directx 11, memang sangat fantastis untuk ukuran komputer saya tadi, lebih tajam dan lebih jelas. bahkan untuk bermain game lebih nyata.
(adapun game yang saya coba untuk keduanya adalah The Sims 2 Deluxe Edition, Operation FlashPoint, Soldier :Heroes World War II, Age Of Empires 3,Age Of Empires I dan II, Delta Force, etc)

untuk Kompatibel XP:windows XP memiliki kompatibel yang sangat bagus.hampir tidak ada masalah.
untuk Kompatibel 7:walau merupakan windows generasi terbaru tapi untuk urusan kompatibel dengan software maupun hardware lama masih sangat bagus.

nah, demikian sebuah perbandingan kecil hasil pengalaman saya antar kedua keluarga Microsoft Windows yang terkenal tersebut dengan hardware yang  boleh dikatakan tua untuk ukuran tahun 2010.

Ok!Thank You..semoga bermanfaat.

www.compu-tech18.blogspot.com

Easing the XP-to-Windows-7 Migration

Despite Microsoft's lack of upgrade support, transitioning from Windows XP to Windows 7 will be easier than you think.

This week's Windows Connections Conference in Orlando has offered a wealth of information, but some of the most worthwhile insights have come outside the official sessions, in conversations with IT pros about their strategies and concerns around Windows.

One such discussion I had over coffee involved two Windows admins, one from Denver who maintains 2,000 users, and one who maintains 5,000 students in Buffalo, N.Y. When I asked them whether they had or intended to deploy Vista, both shook their heads and said, "We'll wait for Windows 7 ... maybe."
That seemed to be the approach many in attendance were taking: no to Vista and cautious on Windows 7. In fact, the session about moving from XP to Windows 7 was reasonably full.
Microsoft technovangelist Adam "the Bomb" Carter, who you may know from the TechNet Edge video site, led the session, which left me with three key takeaway items to ease some of the anxieties you might have about transitioning from XP to Windows 7 when its RTM arrives.
User state migration made easy
You may recall a little back-and-forth debate my colleague Randall Kennedy and I undertook recently regarding the lack of XP-to-7 upgrade support. In his blog, Kennedy argued that "Microsoft needs to provide an in-place XP upgrade mechanism in Windows 7, if for no other reason than to demonstrate contrition for its myriad Vista sins." My retort was that (a) most IT pros don't perform an in-place upgrade of enterprise systems and (b) Microsoft provides excellent tools in the Windows Deployment Kit -- the User State Migration Tool, for example -- that will make the process a breeze.
I must confess I went out on a limb with that second point. Yes, Microsoft has done fine things with deployment tools, but I had yet to see actual proof that Microsoft would in fact be up to the task in this case. That is, until this week, when Adam Carter demonstrated the migration of an XP system with 12GB of personal data to Windows 7 using Windows Deployment Tools, taking the XP system's personal settings with it.
Windows Deployment Tools copies everything to a folder on the drive, which isn't swiped afterward if you don't want it to be, and then installs a fresh Windows 7, restoring the settings and documents. The whole process took about 30 minutes after answering a few simple dialog box questions about the OS installation -- name of the computer, domain or workgroup, and so forth.

As for the applications, those can be reinstalled manually (the hard way), by using Deployment Kit during Windows 7 install (easier), or through Group Policy assigning or publishing of software (automagically).

Locking down allowable apps
Another Windows 7 feature worth noting is AppLocker, which is also new to Windows Server 2008 R2
Using Group Policy settings can whitelist or blacklist sets of applications that you allow or deny on users' machines. Going well beyond the Software Restriction Policies we have today, AppLocker allows you to define rules based on any number of digital-signature attributes, including publisher, product name, file name, and file version.What impressed me with this feature is that you can create a reference machine with the applications you want users to have and then use that to create the default set of rules you want for your policies, all with a couple of clicks.

Triaging trouble tickets with image capture
Finally, what may be one of the biggest headache-savers is a little tool called Problem Steps Recorder, or PSR, discussed by Mark Minasi and demonstrated by Adam Carter.
We've all received calls from users frantic about having "clicked something" and "it just went poof." OS vernacular seems to slip their mind in times of distress. With PSR, users can record what they are doing on screen. The recorder doesn't make a video, but a simple file with image snapshots of what they clicked and what the screen showed them. In addition, PSR provides a list of what users clicked and did. All of this is put into a zip file that can be e-mailed to you for review.
As I'm sure you can see, PSR is an incredible tool -- if for no other reason than to help your mother set up Windows 7 as soon as it goes on the shelves, as I plan to. Oh, and as for file size, the one PSR archive I saw created came in at half a megabyte zipped.
These are just a few of the worthwhile Windows 7 tools I have seen at this year's Windows Connections. For those holding out for Windows 7, it will be worth the wait.
As for the rest of Windows Connections, expect to see more tidbits about Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Exchange, virtualization, ESX vs. Hyper-V, and SharePoint in this blog in the coming weeks.

By  J. Peter Bruzzese
share by compu-tech18