9 Easy Ways to Boost Wireless Router Signal

Need some tips to boost your wireless router signal? Working wireless gives extra mobility and freedom to work from anywhere. Many of us might be using wireless routers to stay connected to the internet on our laptop or PC which is great but sometimes the signal strength is inadequate, which results in slow connectivity or no connectivity.

This may occur due to wide range of problems ranging from your router, other objects or even other wireless equipments. These problems can be easily over come and you can rebuild the signal strength of your wireless router and work without any interruption.

Boost Wireless Router Signal

Herein are some handy tips that enable you to boost up the signal strength of your wireless router.

1) Position of wireless router – Placing your wireless router in a room may result in signal loss or weak signal. It is always advisable to place the wireless router at the center of your home, such that you will have the same signal strength all over your place. Placing router near to metal objects like file cabinets or near dense brick walls can also add to signal loss or weak signal. So care must be taken not to place the wireless router near to any bulky objects such that the signal path is obstructed.

2) Interference by other wireless equipments – We use many other wireless equipments other than the wireless router like cordless phones, garage door openers, etc, which also operates using radio signals. Most of the wireless equipments emits radio signals in the same frequency, hence signal interference can take place. Placing the wireless router near to these equipments can also lead to signal scrambling and signal strength loss. Place the router away from these appliances and you can also change the frequency of the wireless router such that its signals will not be interfered with others.

3) Change Wireless router relay frequency - In US and Canada most of the routers relay signals using channel 6 2.4 G Hz by default and most other equipments like cordless phones may also use the same frequency. So try changing the channel such that the signal frequency will change and help reduce the signal interference and may improve the signal strength. You need not have to change any settings in your computer as it will detect the signal automatically.

4) Update Router firmware – The Router manufacturers will constantly update the firmware fixing problems which help in improving the performance and signal strength. To do this just visit your Router manufacturers web site and download or update to the latest firmware. It is always better to keep your operating system up to date such that any improvements or updates made to the network adapter drivers will be updated automatically. This can improve the performance of your system as well as improve the network adapter performance.

5) Buy Router and network adapter of same brand- Signal strength and the wireless performance can improve a lot when you use the Router and the network adapter of same make. Many manufacturers include signal boost techniques in there equipments such that you can have high performance. Router and adapter from different vendors may work fine but they cause problems some times and may not perform to the full capacity.

6) Use high gain antenna - Antenna supplied with the router will be an Omni directional antenna which will emit signals in all directions. So when you have placed the router in your living room then half of the signal is transmitted outside your house which is of no use. This can result in signal loss and poor performance. The solution is replacing it with High gain antenna which will emit signal in only one direction. You can install the antenna in such a way that all the signals will be transmitted inside your house. This is only possible if your router has a removable antenna. Check it before you install.

7) Placing a repeater - Router can transmit signals only to certain distances, mostly up to several meters. As you move away from the signal source (that is router), signal becomes weak and performance will be decrease. To overcome this problem you can place a repeater to boost the signal strength such that you can roam for more distance.

8) Replace your network adapter - The signal problem may not be always related to the router itself. Remember it is a two way transmission, so check the wireless network adapter of your PC or Laptop. Try replacing the network adapter and check if the problem is resolved. You can also use wireless USB network adapters for better performance and reliability.

9) Boost the signal with reflector - Reflector will reflect back the signal in the direction that we need, just like a mirror reflecting the light. Wireless signal from the router can be reflected the same way using a Tinfoil reflector which acts like a mirror. This can be easily made in your house using daily household items and in few minutes – all that you need is tinfoil, cardboard, sticky taps.

• Cut cardboard in rectangle shape about 15 x 10 cm in size and wrap tinfoil around it.
• Cut another piece of cardboard (or paper) in a circular shape. Now bend the circular paper slightly and place it like shown in the figure.
• Now pass the tip of the antenna along the focal point of the parabola, reflector. This not only helps to reflect the signal but also acts just like a dish to receive signals and focus them on to the antenna.

via - QuickOnlineTips

Top 14 Open Source Applications for Windows

Open Source Foundation and people involved with it have developed some of the most used applications on the web and on Windows platform without expecting anything in return. Here are the top 10 open source applications on Windows which we use daily without probably even realizing that they are open source.

Photo by flod

1. Mozilla Firefox: Mozilla Firefox is considered to be the most popular open source application and browser today. According to a statistics by W3School, Firefox is used by 47.1% of internet users while Internet Explorer 28%. Firefox holds a Guinness World Record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. From 18:16 UTC on June 17, 2008 to 18:16 UTC on June 18, 2008 - 8,002,530 people downloaded Firefox 3.

2. Mozilla Thunderbird: Yet another Open Source application from Mozilla. Thunderbird is a desktop email client with loads of features and strong spam filtering.

3. Open Office: Open Office is an Open Source alternative for Microsoft Office. It comes with great features including support for DOC and XLS files. The Open Office Suite pack has applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It saves all your data and files in International Open Standard Format and also comes with the ability to read and write files from other standard office software packages.

4. GIMP: GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation Program can easily replace professional graphics application Adobe Photoshop. GIMP is the best ever open source graphics designing application with loads of features. Also it has the ability to open and edit Photoshop PSD files.

5. Pidgin: Pidgin is an Open Source instant messenger. It supports other IMs as well. You can chat with users of almost all leading IMs like MSN, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, GTalk, ICQ etc. Previously it was known as GAIM.

6. VLC Media Player: It's a cross platform Open Source media player and server. It supports a huge range of audio and video formats like MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, DivX, MP3, OGG, AAC, DVDs, Audio CDs, VCD and many more. VLC has support for streaming media protocol as well.

7. ClamWIN: ClamWin is an Open Source GPL virus scanner for Windows. It has following features …

• High detection rates for viruses and spyware;
• Scheduler for Scanning.
• Auto downloader for regular Virus Definition Update.
• It's a standalone virus scanner application and you can integrate with Microsoft Windows Explorer just by right clicking it.
• Available with Outlook Add-on to scan emails and attachments.

8. 7-Zip: 7-ZIP is Open Source compression utility with support for all popular compression formats. The 7Z format compression has the best compression ratio compared to popular applications like WinZip, WinRAR.

9. Media Coder: It's an Open Source batch media transcoder for almost all popular media formats. It can covert both audio and video formats with batch processing support. Media Coder comes with multi-threading design and is optimized for multicore CPUs.

10. FileZilla: FileZilla is another great Open Source application for Windows. It's a multi-platform full featured GUI Based FTP, FTPS and SFTP client. FileZilla is considered as the best available FTP client for windows.

11. Drupal: Highly flexible content management framework powering celebrity sites like MTV and Yahoo developer. Drupal bridges the divide between a content management system like Joomla and a PHP based web framework like say Symfony. My site MWolk is also running drupal as well as the WordPress themes directory.

12. µTorrent: almost all BitTorrent clients like uTorrent, Azureus etc are open source so the list will be incomplete without inclusion of one from torrent family.

13. Eclipse: One of the most powerful and versatile IDE for developers of any language. With its numerous plugins, it can be extended to do much more, not to mention it has a great community.

14. Python - I will finish the list of top open source applications by mentioning Python, the programming language. It has come a long way in the past 8 years and is now preferred web development language too along with frameworks like Django.

So this pretty much covers the list of popular and best open source application which we are using on daily basis, if you know of few more, please tell them in comments.

Guest author Abhimanyu is the owner of MWolk Media and manages MWolk and its various sections. He is a full time blogger and blogs at MWolk Blog and India Blog too. You can also write a guest article and share your tips on QOT.

via-QuickOnlineTip

10 Best Firefox Extensions to Manage Tabs

Even though Firefox was not the first browser that supported tabs, no other browser can even come close to Firefox when we talk about the tab management. There are innumerable extensions for your Firefox tabs, but extensions below can really help you save your time managing tabs. Here are my picks…

Fox Tab - Browse in 3D
If you are a fan of Apple's Cover Flow then you'll love this extension. With 5 layouts, you can flip between tabs and manage your tabs in 3D. It'll definitely add 5 stars to your tab experience in Firefox.

Colorful Tabs - Mix Colors
As the name suggests this extension will color your tab titles in different colors. This may help you distinguish between the tabs and group them as you want. This should not be confused with new IE 8's color coded tabs, but still it can be very useful extension.

Firefox Showcase - Search and manage your tabs
This is a must-install Firefox extension that I'd suggest. This Firefox extension will show you opened tabs and windows as a thumbnail preview in a single window. Not just that, you can also search for tabs and group their thumbnails as you like.

Tab Renamizer - Rename your tabs
Tabs in Firefox always have title as page's title. You may have opened up some websites that you wouldn't like everyone to see if it has some obscure title. Just use Tab Renamizer extension and rename the title of the tab to some other website's title like Google, Yahoo etc.

New Tab Homepage - Choose your home
Are you Google-holic? New Tab homepage can be very useful extension if you have to Google around your queries every now and then. You can set the preferences so that whenever you open a new tab a default website (Google etc) will open.

Duplicate Tab - Clone your tabs
Ok now consider this. You are chatting on Gmail on one Tab and on other you want to check your mail. Duplicate tab will clone your tab so that you don't have to open a tab again for checking mail. It'll retain the history of the tab too.

Basics - Add new tab Button like IE
Not everyone knows the easy shortcut CTRL + T to open a new Tab. You can always customize your toolbar and add new tab button there but you'll really find it very easy to open a tab with Basics extension.

Tab Popup - See tabs thumbnail preview
If you've ever used Opera then you must be knowing about thumbnail previewing of Tabs when you hover your mouse pointer on the tab title. Tab popup does the same thing. It's a very useful extension if one of your tabs is loading and you want to see if it's done or not.

Close and Forget - Delete tab history
As the name suggest, Close and Forget extension deletes the history of your Tab once you close it. Let say you are checking your mail and want to logout and erase all your history as soon as you close the tab, then you should really install this useful extension.

Too Many Tabs - Extra rows
This is an excellent extension. With Too many Tabs you can not only rearrange and group your tabs by dragging and dropping but also you can set apart idle and inactive tabs in a separate row and free your memory. You can also color or pin your tabs for future use.

via - QuickOnlineTips

Computer tips for parents of teens

Reinforce the public nature of the Internet and let your adolescent know you will supervise online activity. Adolescents are more likely follow the rules when you let them know you will be watching out for them.

. Limit the amount of time spent online

. Use filtering software

. Monitor increased independence.

Even though adolescents may appear as though they can "handle" certain situations, they actually require and unconsciously seek adult guidance and supervision

Explain where it is appropriate for your adolescent to have privacy: confiding in close friends face-to-face, writing in a paper journal, in his/her bedroom, etc. Reinforce that there is no privacy on the Internet

. Know their passwords, screen names, and the friends they are communicating with online

. Monitor the use of webcams and mobile phones, as well as the posting and exchanging pictures/video online

. Explain that once a picture is sent online they lose control of what is done with it (it may never be completely removed from the Internet)

. Teach them that it is illegal for people to manufacture, possess or distribute naked or sexually explicit pictures of children under 18 years of age. Explain that they need to tell a trusted adult if they are presented with this situation

. Teach them that it is illegal for adults to offer them gifts or money in exchange for sexual activity

. Discuss dignity and self-respect and how it can be preserved or destroyed by messages sent online and offline

. Discuss the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships

. Explain that they should never meet in person someone they first meet online without a parent or guardian

. Discuss online and offline high-risk behavior and create "what if" scenarios together to help your adolescent recognize dangerous situations and practice responses

. Encourage open communication and be aware of your adolescent's sensitivity to social judgment. S/he may be hesitant to share personal experiences

. Monitor and verify any job offers made, and accompany the youth to interviews

Source: Canadian Centre for Child Protection

How to Clean Disc Drives

When your CD or DVD (disc) drive starts giving you problems, your first thought may be to replace it or take it to the repair shop, but a good cleaning may be all it needs.

Below are three methods to clean the disc drive. The easiest method is the least effective. The hardest method is the most effective. Since the hardest method takes some time to do, I recommend that you start with the easiest method. If it solves your problems, congratulations. If not, try the next method.

The Cleaner Disc method - this, the easiest method, uses a special cleaner disc which can be purchased in computer stores. The disc usually comes with a little bottle of cleaner solution. Apply a few drops of the solution to the disc and insert it in the disc drawer (be sure to read and follow the instructions that come with the cleaner disc). The drive will turn the disc and clean the lens. Unfortunately, this only works adequately about half the time.

The Cleaning Stick method - this is what I do in desperation when the cleaner disc does not work and I don't want to disassemble the drive. Since all that is needed (at least in my mind this is true) is a little more pressure applied to the lens, I start out in search of a thin, flexible stick of some type which is at least six inches long. It should not have sharp or rough edges that would scratch the lens. Next, get a soft, thin cloth and put water or rubbing alcohol in the middle of it. Place one end of the stick under the wet part of the cloth and slide it into the opened disc drawer. The goal is to rub the wet cloth on the lens to clean it. Do not apply so much pressure that you will scratch and ruin the lens. Also try blowing into the disc drive to remove any dirt that may have accommulated in it. If you do not succeed at this, proceed to the next method.

The Disassembly method - this method should work but it requires you to disassemble the drive. So if you are not comfortable with taking the drive apart, please take it to a computer repair shop and let them do it.

Take the cover off your computer, unplug the cords from the back of the disc drive, remove any screws holding it in, and slide it out (you may need to remove the face plate on the end of the drawer to get the drive out). Remove the screws in the drive housing and take the cover off. The bottom side of the drive is a circuit board, so if that is what you see when you take the cover off, figure out how to access the other side. On the correct side, you should see a lens that runs on a track (there is no harm in moving the lens along the track but do not touch the lens itself). Use a wet, soft cloth to clean the lens.

Sometimes a disc drive malfunctions because there is too much dust or debris in it, so be sure to clean out the inside with either compressed air, a soft cloth, or a cotton swab. Reassemble the disc drive, put it back in the computer case, and cross your fingers. Hopefully, it will work when you turn on the computer.

If these methods work, you just saved yourself some money. If not, you needed a better disc drive anyway.

How to Clean the Registry

In the beginning Windows' registry consisted of two files totalling around 5mb in size. Today it consists of at least 12 files with the Software file itself being 30mb or bigger in size. As the size of the registry has exploded, so has the trash and clutter in it. It may seem like a daunting task, but cleaning the registry properly can fix system problems, speed your computer up, and make it run more efficiently.

I have spent many years developing and refining thousands of procedures to do just that. I could share these methods of hunting down the trash with you and let you find them and delete them by hand, but if you were to sit down at your computer right now and work nonstop, you would still be busy with them a week from now when the next issue of Ray's Computer Tips arrives. By then your registry would have new clutter and you would have to start all over again.

To make registry cleaning easier on everyone, I wrote a program called RegVac Registry Cleaner (http://regvac.com/regvac.htm) to perform those procedures. It has been so successful that several companies have asked me to model their registry cleaners after RegVac and even more have copied processes that first debutted in RegVac.

The first place RegVac cleans is the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT section (the Classes Vac in RegVac does this). This section contains settings for the classes of Windows. Think of a huge box full of snakes and you will get an idea of how complicated and interwoven it is. It is so complicated that many registry cleaners bypass it or simply perform surface scans of it. RegVac uses over a hundred processes to follow each tentacle of each class deep into this area and make sure that they abide by the rules.

Next RegVac validates the entries in 22 lists with 7 different methods (the FilesList Vac does this). This is a minor part of RegVac but the bulk of most other registry cleaners even though they usually do not clean all 22 lists.

Another part of RegVac, the Software Vac, which is unique to RegVac, finds old software sections in the registry and provides a way to remove that software's entire branch. Other registry cleaners only remove a few entries in this area often leaving huge portions of the registry that do nothing but take up space and get in the way.

Even more trash can be discovered in hundreds of stashes used to store data you will never use. Most registry cleaners do not even touch these. The Stash Vac lists these stashes and lets you go through and select which ones to empty out. Please use caution when using the Stash Vac because some of the items listed there may be important. For example, one folder in the Stash Vac lists places where data for international keyboards are stored. You probably will never use the data for Bulgarian keyboards, so you can remove it, but if you live in the US you may experience problems after removing the United States 101 keyboard. The items that you can safely remove are usually obvious.

Last but not least, when cleaning the registry, you should look for broken links to files on the computer (this is what the Bad Link Vac does). If a file is referenced in the registry but it does not exist on your hard drive, that is a good indicator that something is wrong. Many programmers start out writing a registry cleaner thinking all it has to do is check for these broken links and remove them. In fact, that is all many registry cleaners do.

Even though that is all they do, they often don't do it correctly. If you check the results of such scans, you will find out that many of the broken links are really good links. I spent several months refining this part of RegVac so that as far as I know it is 100% accurate. Despite this, please realize that some software enter broken links in the registry and require them to be there in order for them to run. RegVac skips the ones it knows about, but you still need to be careful with this part of RegVac.

RegVac has six more tools that clean even more areas: the Add/Remove Editor, the System Config Utility, the OpenWith Editor, the AutoComplete Editor, the Junk Keys Editor, and Registry Backup, Pack, and Restore.

Many of you already use RegVac but if you don't, you can downloaded a free 30 day trial of RegVac at http://regvac.com/regvacz.exe. For more information about RegVac Registry Cleaner go to http://regvac.com/regvac.htm. If you like RegVac, you can purchase it for only $29.95. All future updates are free.

Keep the Windows registry clean and running smoothly with RegVac Registry Cleaner.

How to Clean a Printer

Does your printer have frequent paper jams? Does it put ink where ink shouldn't be? Is the outside of your printer dirty or covered with smudges? If so, it is time to clean your printer.

First, there are some general rules that apply to cleaning just about any electrical device. It is best to turn off the printer before cleaning it. Do not spray water or cleaner on or in the printer. Instead wet the rag with it and clean the printer with the rag.

Different types of printers require different cleaning methods. So if you can get your hands on cleaning instructions for your make and model of printer, do so and follow them. Unfortunately, many manufacturers only make that kind of information available to their licensed technicians. In that case, you are stuck with these instructions, so read on.

Open up your printer and take a look.

If you have an ink jet printer and there is an ink mess inside, clean it up with wet paper towels.

If you have a printer that uses toner either vacuum or blow it out. Some toner, especially color toner, can be harmful to you, so only use a vacuum with a micro-toner filter or blow and run. Figure out where the drum is (it is shiny and larger in diameter than the rollers) and do not touch or scratch it. If you do, the scratches will turn up as marks on every paper that you print and will require that you replace the drum (not a cheap option) to fix it.

Examine the path that the paper takes through the printer. Clean all of the rollers (but on a toner printer, not the drum or rollers near the drum and watch out for the rollers after the drum because they may be hot). It may take some disassembly and/or contorting of your arm to get to some of the rollers. Access is not always easy. The most important rollers to clean are the ones which pick up the paper from the paper bin and transfer it into the printer. If these rollers are dirty or bad, they will cause consistent paper jams.

The rollers are made of either hard plastic or rubber. All of the rollers can be cleaned with water or rubbing alcohol. If the rubber rollers have deposits that you can't get off, you can use harsher cleaners but be careful because those cleaners can damage the plastic rollers and parts.

To clean a roller, wipe across the roller with a wet rag, rotate the roller, and wipe again. Do this until you have worked your way all the way around the roller. Look at the rag. If it has been blackened by the roller, move to a clean part of the rag and clean the roller again.

Once everything is clean on the inside, close it up and clean the outside. Wipe off the case and each of the buttons or knobs. If there are staples or paper clips sitting on it or wedged in the cracks, remove them and throw them away.

Other areas of the printer can be cleaned but to do so, you will have to either get training and special tools or leave it to a trained professional.

by: Ray Geide

How to clean your Mother Board

By: Ray Geide

If you have not done the inspection mentioned in the previous article - How to Clean your Case, now is the time to do so. Look at the blades of the fan in the back of the computer. Also look at any vents. Is there clusters of dust there? Is there grime caked on to it? If so, the inside needs to be cleaned. If the fan blades are clean but it has been several years since you have cleaned the motherboard or if the computer is around cigarette smoke, it probably should be cleaned anyway. Dust and particles in the air (like cigarette smoke) can build up on the circuitry of the motherboard and cause it to heat up and/or corrode.

The first thing that you need to do is unplug your computer. Then open up the case to get access to the motherboard. Cases open differently. If you don't know how to open your case, look on the back of your computer along the edge for some screws. These screws may hold on side panels or an upside down U shaped panel that covers the sides and top. Removing the screws will allow you to take off the cover. Other cases have the screws on the front of the computer. To get access to these screws, you must first remove the front panel by pressing a hidden latch. The cover is there to give easy access to the inside of your computer, so if you look hard enough, you should be able to figure out how to remove it.

Remember that if you touch anything on the motherboard, you should be grounded by either touching the metal frame of the computer with your other hand or by wearing a special grounding device.

The goal of cleaning the motherboard is to remove all dust and debris from the motherboard and all components inside of the case. This can be done using one of three methods.

The preferred method is to use a can of compressed air to blow it out. Always hold the can in an up-right position to prevent the propellent chemicals which can damage or corrode components from coming out. Dust and dirt should be blown away from the motherboard and out of the case.

Another way to remove dust is to use a vacuum. The common advice is to only use a battery operated vacuum because an AC powered vacuum causes static and static can ruin the motherboard. I have used an AC powered vacuum (before I knew that it was not recommended) to clean my motherboard many times and it has never caused any problems, but I may have just been lucky. When using the vacuum, keep the nozzle a couple of inches away from the motherboard or any other components so that it does not come in contact with them and so that any small parts are not sucked into the vacuum.

If you do not have a can of compressed air or a vacuum, you can use a dry cloth and brush to clean the motherboard. Be careful not to dislodge or break anything using this method.

While cleaning the motherboard, be careful not to unplug any cables or connections or to dislodge any loose components, such as, jumpers.

Methodically clean the whole inside of the case going over all of the motherboard from one end to the other and all other components. Don't forget to clean the fans and heat sinks. Do not open up the power supply box or stick anything in it beyond the fan. If you do, you could get a shocking surprise and ruin your computer.

If your computer does not work when you put it back together, something was obviously dislodged during the cleaning. Open the case back up and push all connections and cards into their slots. Look for anything that may have become disconnected.

Cleaning the motherboard is probably the most dangerous form of cleaning but it is necessary to prevent an early death of your computer.

How To clean your Case

There is nothing wrong with leaving spills, dirt, and stains on your computer case. After all isn't that what the case is for, to protect the electronic components inside from spills and dirt? This is true, but there are still parts of the case that need to be cleaned and checked if you want your computer to live a long and prosperous life.

Unless you like looking at dirt everytime you look at your computer, you should go ahead and clean those spills, stains, and dust off of the case. You can do this with just about any cloth and cleaner. Do not use highly abrasive cleaners that might ruin or mar the surface and do not use solvents on plastic. A wet sponge will even work. Just make sure that the cleaner or any liquid does not seep into the inside through cracks and vents. If there is any possibility that you are going to get that messy, turn off and unplug the computer first and wait to turn it back on until any liquid has had a chance to fully dry.

After you have wiped off the outside, it is time for a little inspection. Look at the blades of the fan in the back of the computer. Also look at any vents. Is there dust there? Is there a lot of dust and grime caked on to it? If so, that is an indicator that the inside also needs to be cleaned (I will tell you how to do that in next week's article - How to Clean your Motherboard).

Some clean environments never have to have the inside cleaned. Some need it cleaned monthly. When I lived in Russia, even though I didn't notice it, the air was not clean. The fan on the computer would cake up with dirt and grime after about a month of use. And so I would have to clean the fan, vents, and inside monthly. If I had let it go for several months without cleaning, the fan would have stopped working and the computer would have overheated. Where I now live in the US, the air is clean and I have gone years without having to clean it. Again, the indicator of this is the blades of the fan and the vents. If they are dirty, they need to be cleaned.

You can do some of the cleaning from the outside. First, turn off the computer. Then get out the vacuum sweeper and using the hose, vacuum out the vents and the fan(s). If you have compressed air (you can purchase compressed air from your computer store), you may want to blow air in through the vents (or intake fan if you have one) to loosen the dust and suck it out using the vacuum. If there is still dust or dirt in the vents or on the blades of the fan, you can use a Q-tip to clean them.

If you do not have a vaccum, you can use compressed air alone. Always use short bursts to avoid moisture buildup. Start with the computer off and blow into every hole and vent. Then turn the computer on and blow everything except for the exhaust fan once again.

With the case clean, your computer will look nicer and with the fan and vents cleaned out it will breathe easier and run cooler.

How to Clean your Keyboard-Part 2

When it comes to cleaning your keyboard there are many methods that can be used, some harder and more effective than others.

The easiest method is the Shake Method. It is so easy that you can do it right now. Pick up your keyboard, turn it over being careful not to press any keys, and shake it. See all of that stuff fall out? It is dirtier than you thought, isn't it? You can use one of the following methods to clean it further.

The Blow Method - You can buy cans of pressurized air at the computer department or computer store which are made especially for cleaning your computer. They usually have either a hose and nozzle or a tube extending from the nozzle. Hold the keyboard up vertically (that means that end of the keyboard is up and the other end is down), aim towards the keys and press the button. Keep blowing until all of the debris is blown out. Be sure to get around and in between all of the keys. This can be done with the computer on, but it is better if it is off so that you do not have to worry about pressing the keys and coming up with a page of aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa's.

The Vacuum Method - This is just like the Blow Method except that a vacuum is used instead of a can of pressurized air. It is quite simple. Just turn the vacuum on, pull out the hose, and run the nozzle over the keys. Before doing this make sure your keyboard does not have any loose pop off keys that could be sucked into the vacuum.

The Cotton Ball Method - This can be done in addition to the above methods and in lieu of the following methods. Take a cotton ball or cloth and wet it with rubbing alcohol. It should not be so wet that the alcohol runs down into the cracks of the keyboard. Wipe the tops and sides of the keys.

The Dishwasher Method - I hesitate to tell about this method because there is the possibility that it could fry your keyboard. When I had less experience with computers, I dunked my keyboard in a sink full of water to clean it. It did work afterwards, so I don't doubt those who say this method will not mess up your keyboard, but if it does, don't complain to me. I warned you. If your keyboard is not the standard membrane type of keyboard or if it is on a laptop, do not even think of trying this.

This is how you do it. Unplug the keyboard and place it face down in an empty dishwasher. Do not disassemble the keyboard and do not put it in a dishwasher that has dirty dishes in it. Some say to add soap, some say not to. Run the dishwasher through a regular cycle. Take the keyboard out, shake the water out, and stand it on end until it is completely dry (this may take several days). If it does not work after doing this, it may not be dry. Let it stand another week and try it again. If it still does not work, I warned you.

The Disassembly Method - This is the most thorough method, but it should not be done on laptop keyboards or non-standard non-membrane keyboards.

Turn off the computer and unplug the keyboard. Turn the keyboard upside down. You may want to get two books or short boards to place the keyboard on. Position them so that they hold up the keyboard on the edges when it is turned over. This should leave the keys dangling and not touching the books or the floor. This is especially needed when the keyboard's back is off; otherwise the keys will be lifted out of their position by the floor (or whatever surface it is laying on).

Get a screwdriver and remove all of the screws from the back of the keyboard. Lay the keyboard down on the books and carefully remove the back.

Take everything apart and clean thoroughly. It is better to take the keys out one at a time and clean them so that you do not put them back in the wrong place. Wipe each one down with a wet cloth and then with a dry cloth. Any keys that may be hard to put back in, can be cleaned in place without removing them. Wipe around the keys as they sit in place and blow any debris out with your lungs (using compressed air or a vacuum may upset the keys). If you are really brave, you can remove all of the keys at once and give the frame a good wipe down too.

Do a once over and make sure that you have cleaned everything. Then reassemble it all.

Don't forget the keyboard's cable. Wrap a wet cloth around it and wipe it down. It may have an accumulation of grime that needs to be scrubbed off. Also if any of the letters on the keys have rubbed off, you can use a fine point permanent marker to draw the letter back on the key.

Use these cleaning methods and your keyboard will last a long time and be something you can be proud of.

How to Clean your Mouse

If your mouse is working sluggishly or not at all, don't go out and buy another cheap mouse. The cause is probably just a dirty mouse. A quick cleaning could fix the problem.

First, you need to identify which kind of mouse you have. If you turn your mouse over and part of a ball is showing, you have a ball mouse. If you see a lens, you have an optical or laser mouse. Each type of mouse requires a different type of cleaning.

The optical or laser mouse does not need to be cleaned near as often as the ball mouse, but it and the surface it runs on can still get dirty. If you do not clean the surface that the mouse moves on, it will soon turn black. So about once a month or so, wipe the surface off with a wet rag. The lens probably never will get dirty, but if it does, take a soft cloth, cotton swab, or q-tip wetted with window cleaner or alcohol and clean the lens.

The ball mouse may need cleaning quite often, so you should get well acquainted with the following cleaning procedure. The dirtier the ball mouse gets, the harder it is to get it to move the cursor on the screen smoothly. If you have to move the mouse across the mouse pad several times to get the cursor to move halfway across the screen, it needs to be cleaned.

The mouse does not need to be disconnected to clean it, but you should close all of the programs that are running, so that you don't accidentally click on something and mess it up. If you do decide to disconnect the mouse, be sure to turn off the computer first. The mouse cord should never be unplugged from the computer while it is running. Doing so could ruin your motherboard.

Turn the ball mouse over and find the cover that holds the ball in. Look for arrows on the cover to show which way it needs to be turned. Place two fingers on the cover and push in the direction of the arrows. Once the cover has been turned about an inch, cover it with your hand and turn the mouse back over to the upright position. The ball and cover should fall into your hand. If it doesn't, shake the mouse gently.

Wipe the ball off with a wet rag.

Now look in the ball well and find the three rollers. Start by cutting across the buildup on the rollers with your fingernail (a knife or steel dental pick may also be used gently), then turn the roller and remove the buildup as you go along. If you do this correctly, you will end up with one curled strip of buildup for each roller. Make sure to remove the buildup from the well. If it falls inside somewhere, blow and gently shake it until it comes out.

Take a wet rag and clean each of the rollers by wiping across it, then turning it and wiping again. Continue until the entire roller is cleaned. Put the ball back in the ball well and lock the cover back in place.

If the mouse still has problems once it is assembled, try cleaning it again. If that doesn't work, you may need to buy a new mouse.

It is a good idea to regularly clean the surface that the mouse is on because the cleaner the surface, the less dirt will get inside the mouse and the less often you will have to clean it.

If your mouse is shared by many people (especially if one of them is sick), you may want to disinfect the top of the mouse between users.

Follow these instructions and your mouse will be up and darting again in no time.

By : Ray Geide

How to Clean your Keyboard- Part 1

I know most of you will not heed this advice, but KEYBOARDS CAN MAKE YOU SICK (how's that for tactfulness?). Germs live on your hands and fingers. When you type, many of them jump on to the keyboard. When someone else types on your keyboard, those germs transfer to their fingers. Or when you later type on the same keyboard, those germs reconquer your fingers. Regularly disinfecting the keyboard can prevent this.

To disinfect the keyboard, turn off the computer. Then spray disinfectant on a cloth. Be sure to use disinfectant and not just any type of cleaner because not all cleaners disinfect. Also do not spray the disinfectent directly on the keys. Spray it on the cloth. Wipe down the top and sides of the keys. Give the keys a few minutes to dry off before turning the computer back on.

Now that you know how to do it, you should make it a regular practice to disinfect the keyboard. It's one step towards a healthier you.

So you have your keyboard disinfected and life is great. Then your child spills koolaide all over it. What do you do? There are certain steps that you should take when something, like pop, beer, wine, coffee, milk, or kool-aide, is spilled on the keyboard.

The first thing to do is immediately unplug the keyboard from the back of the computer and turn the keyboard over so that its keys are down. This will allow the liquid to drain out. You will probably want to put a cloth under the keyboard or at least make sure that the surface you have put it on is washable.

Then use the mouse to shut down Windows and turn off the computer (this is important because later you will have to plug the keyboard back into the computer and you should never plug any device into a computer while it is on).

While the keyboard is upside down use a cloth to dry as much of the liquid off as you can. If you have a can of compressed air or a vacuum, while the keyboard is upside down blow or vacuum it out. Then let the keyboard set upside down for at least a night so that it can adequately dry out.

If the liquid that spilled on it was sticky, you may want to follow the extensive cleaning procedure explained in the next article, How to Clean your Keyboard - Part 2.

Liquid spilled on a laptop keyboard can easily reach the hard drive, so turn it over immediately and leave it in that position until it dries.

Keyboards are quite resilient and so it should work when you turn it on again. But if not, another attribute of keyboards is that they are cheap and so it won't cost too much to buy another one.

With these pointers in mind and a quick reaction, you just may save your keyboard from total destruction the next time it gets coated with coffee.

Multi Functional Printers

Printers have evolved as a very important part of today’s infrastructure of any company. Traditionally people have to invest separately for different products required in an office (essential ones also). There have to be a printer, a fax machine, a scanner….but now as the technology is converging, so are the products. We have today a Multi functional Printer that does all the tasks like faxing, copying, scanning and printing for us.

A multi functional printer is a combinational product comprising of a printer, scanner, copier, and sometimes also a fax machine. It is a very useful product as avoids the maintenance of numerous machines. Printers are typically classified in two categories based on the technology (widely used today) - Inkjet printers and Laser printers.

 

This article will help you to figure out the companies in multi functional printers that are leading marketers in India:

 

• HP OfficeJet 5610 – this is an inkjet multi functional color printer that provides 4800x1200 dpi. It uses A4 size paper and provides an optical resolution of 1200x1200 dpi for scanning. Its printing quality is good and is available for Rs.85, 00 but uses an expensive cartridge.
• Canon Pixma MP180 - this multi functional printer comes with a bubble jet printing technology that allows color printing with a maximum resolution of 4800x1200 dpi and an optical scanning resolution of 1200x2400 dpi. It also comes with the features like Card Direct and Camera Direct for printing straight from a memory card. It is available in market for Rs.7, 995.
• Canon Pixma MP 600 - this inkjet multifunctional color printer provides a high quality print with a resolution of 9600x2400 dpi. It supports flash memory and can copy up to 30pages/min. It is available for Rs.6, 995.
• HP LaserJet M2727nfs – this multi functional laser technology based printer uses laser-monochrome printing technology with an optical resolution of 1200x1200 dpi and is a digital copier type. It better suits to small offices and houses. It costs $700 which is considered a bit expensive for this type of printer.
• HP Officejet 9120 multifunction printer – this multi functional printer inkjet color printer with color resolution of 4800x1200 dpi has an Ethernet print server and prints 22pages/min. The market price for this product starts from $470.
• Samsung SCX 4200 – this multi functional laser printer provides an optical resolution of 600x2400 dpi scanning resolution. It provides a good print quality and good print speed. Its price range starts from $55 to $200.
• Samsung SCX 4100 – this multi functional printer is laser monochrome and provides a resolution of 600x600 dpi. It has some other features like auto-fit, poster printing and clone copying. Its market price is Rs.8, 900.
• Ricoh Aficio 2228C – this multi functional color printer can satisfy medium workgroups with 28pages/min and is pretty fast. It provides good printing quality at a good speed. It is pretty costly.

New computer user Want to make your own Web Site?

Today Internet is the pivotal point for online marketing. It has the potential to create magical effects on the sales of your product and can create wonders for your business.

People have become aware of the Internet’s potential but still do not know about its real powers. They still think Internet as a place where the product can be posted and magic will happen for sure. But this is not the right mind set. To get benefits, you will have to push something from your side. The first you can help is to make an effective site that can help the consumers to attract them to your web site and can hold them for a while. Following is the list of steps that can help you to make a good looking and effective site:

Ø  Band Width and Web Space Requirements:  To start with building your Web Site, you must exactly have the calculation of the band width and the Web Space that you require. Have a rough estimation of the monthly traffic rates and then decide how much web space you require?

Ø  Domain Name Registration: The next thing that you have to do is to get a domain name registered for your web site. You have to propose a unique name and get it registered by paying an annual fee to a registrar to have the right to use that name. Getting name registered is just one step out of so many steps to make an effective site.

Ø  Select a web Host and get yourself Signed Up for their account: A Web Host is a company that has many computers linked up with Internet. It can facilitate you to reach maximum potential users and can help you to get recognition. So the next thing is to get registered with any Web Host.

Ø  Design the layout: After getting the bits of raw materials that are required to start with building a web site, the next important thing is to design a web layout for your web pages and home page. Web layout is the pictorial description of the elements that your web site will have and will look like? So just come out with a design that is simple and yet effective.

Ø  Simplicity is Best: If you are in IT or Computers then also try to make your Web Site simpler which makes it easier for the common users to navigate it through with ease. Do not make it that tech and jazzy but yes you can add a bit of both the elements.

Ø  Load Time: You can add graphics to your sites according to your wish but just take care of load time. If your site takes a lot of time to get load then you are going to be the victim of Click of Deaths that is your site can not hold the visitors.

Ø  Reduce the Click number: Make the surfing element of your site simpler. Make the process of locating anything on your site easier by reducing the number of clicks required.

Ø  Submit your Site: After doing so much efforts do you really want that no one is recognizing you. Make sure that you have registered your site with good sites and some search engines that can help people to move to your site based on some keywords.

These all steps will help you lot in creating a good site with a respectable number of monthly traffic rates. With time you can add further to make your site more good and user friendly.

Tips to buy a scanner

With the ever-increasing craze for photos and pictures, the scanner is emerging as an important utility for the computers.

 

The computer users are developing a fancy for the scanners. The uploading of photos to image galleries, sharing them with the family members have brought a change in the mindset of people. People are looking for scanners and are following the same way as in the selection of other sophisticated technologies. This feature will help you to know the must of scanners to make a quality purchase. Before buying a scanner the points to consider are:

 

While you are making a scanner purchase, the most important aspect to look at is the Bit depth. To read every image or pixel of an image the scanner stores some bit in its memory. This bit storage is called as the Bit Depth. The higher will be the bit depth, the more will be the clarity of images scanned. It is advisable that you look for the scanners having 24 or more bit depth.

 

The second aspect to take care is the speed. The speed mainly depends on the scanning resolution. Higher is the scanning resolution, the longer you will have to wait. The parallel ports scanners are typically slow but the USB scanners that connect to your PC via USB port are costlier. SCSI card scanners are the fastest and most expensive also.

 

While you are looking for the scanners that are faster and cost effective also you must take acre of which US port your computer is using to. The scanners in the market make use of USB 2.0 and if you are using these on old computers, you really need to update your PC.

 

The next aspect to take care of is the Optical Resolution. Resolution is the dots per inch. The higher will be the resolution; more will be the clear scanned image. The resolution of 300 dpi is advisable for the common users but for the graphic users 600dpi is highly recommended. To scan the slides or transparencies you will need an optical resolution of 1200dpi.

 

 

While making a scanner purchase, you are also making a purchase of software. Always look at your requirements and check whether you are having the right set of software bundled with your scanner. For instance to edit the scanned document you will need an Optical Character Recognition Software (OCR). If required update your software to match your requirements.

 

These tips can surely help you to make a profitable and intelligent purchase.

Renu singh