Desktop buying tips

Desktop buying tips

Purchasing a home or business computer can be a big and sometimes costly decision. Below is a listing of helpful suggestions on what to look for and what to ask when purchasing a new computer.

New vs. refurbished or used

If you are looking to save money buying a used or refurbished computer can save you money. A refurbished computer is a computer that has been returned to the company has been checked out as good but cannot be sold again as new. All major computer manufacturers have a refurbished section showing all their available refurbished products. Buying one of these computers instead of a new computer can save you hundreds of dollars.

In addition to refurbished computers individuals and companies for various reasons also sell their used computers. When buying these look out for the following.

• Verify it has no physical damage by inspecting the ports as well as the inside and the outside of the case.
• Make sure you pay for what you are getting. See the scam section below for additional details.
• Make sure computer comes with any CD's for the operating systems or programs that are promised to be installed.
• Realize that many computer manufacturers will not transfer the computer warranty from the old user to you.

Seven Ways to Secure Windows 7

Software makers routinely sacrifice some security for the sake of usability, and Microsoft is no exception. I've built a career on teaching people how to harden Microsoft Windows over its default state. Several of my inch-and-a-half thick books instructed people what security templates to apply, what files to remove, and what registry edits to make to bring Windows into what I considered a safe but generally functional baseline.

Starting with Windows Vista, most of that old advice is no longer necessary. Microsoft now delivers a product that is significantly more secure out of the box. You don't have to download NSA security templates or modify the system in any way to be fairly secure from the start. Most of today's client-side threats come from users being tricked into running malicious Trojan horse executables and naively lowering the default defenses, such as by disabling UAC (User Account Control), turning off automatic patching, or deactivating the built-in Windows Firewall.

That's not to say there aren't things you can do to increase the security of Windows 7 beyond basic defaults. This article covers the recommendations for any administrator or home user who wants to crank out a bit more security while still operating a computer that will run most applications without causing too many problems. These tips won't result in applications that refuse to run or Web sites that refuse to load.

Windows 7 System Error Codes (0-499)

Note  

The information on this page is intended to be used by programmers so that the software they write can better deal with errors. If you are an end-user that is experiencing difficulty with an application you are installing or running, contact customer support for the software that is displaying the error message. To obtain support for a Microsoft product, go to http://support.microsoft.com.

The System Error Codes are very broad. Each one can occur in one of many hundreds of locations in the system. Consequently the descriptions of these codes cannot be very specific. Use of these codes requires some amount of investigation and analysis. You need to note both the programmatic and the run-time context in which these errors occur. Because these codes are defined in WinError.h for anyone to use, sometimes the codes are returned by non-system software. Sometimes the code is returned by a function deep in the stack and far removed from your code that is handling the error.

15 IPhone Tips

Whether it’s the first time you’ve picked up an iPad or the seventeenth time you’ve pulled out your iPhone today, there are probably still some iOS 7 features and functionality that you’re not familiar with. Don’t sweat it: We’re here to help. We’ve collected some of our favorite and most useful tips and compiled them here, just for you.

33 great tips and tricks for iOS 7

Whether it’s the first time you’ve picked up an iPad or the seventeenth time you’ve pulled out your iPhone today, there are probably still some iOS 7 features and functionality that you’re not familiar with. Don’t sweat it: We’re here to help. We’ve collected some of our favorite and most useful tips and compiled them here, just for you.

What's Eating Internet Security?

Researchers constantly are discovering new ways to attack existing systems, "not because computers are better or faster, but just because of new investigations, insight or inspiration," said Seth Hanford, manager of Cisco's Threat Research Analysis & Communications. In short, we could be discovering more security flaws because we're now paying more attention to security.

It's a given that hackers can and do penetrate websites with laughable ease, ranging from those of retailers to those of the United States government.

It certainly doesn't help the security-minded to know that the U.S. National Security Agency and other countries' spy agencies, including the UK's GCHQ and the West German intelligence agency, are tapping into online communications at will. In fact, the Germans have set aside US$136 million for that purpose.

iOS Insecurity - Designed by Apple?

The argument no longer seems to be whether iOS is more or less secure than Android. The debate has shifted to whether Apple intended to build in back doors or just got sloppy. Though not suggesting a "grand conspiracy" -- a modest conspiracy, perhaps? -- iOS hacker Jonathan Zdziarski pointed to a host of features intentionally added by Apple that resulted in serious data-spilling vulnerabilities.

The long-held belief that Android is the least secure of mobile OSes was shattered by security researcher and expert iOS hacker Jonathan Zdziarski at the Hope/X hackers' conference, held in New York over the weekend.

Zdziarski unveiled a host of iOS vulnerabilities, the scope of which was staggering.

They include undocumented services that bypass backup encryption and can be accessed both via USB and wirelessly; a means to access all data encrypted with data protection if the device has not been rebooted since the user's PIN was last entered; and a packet sniffer that can be monitored remotely over WiFi.

How To Fix Your Broken iPhone Display

Apple builds their flagship devices with great care and makes them able to withstand a lot of wear and tear. But people do treat them like they are made of an indestructible material and throw them around a bit, which of course they aren’t and so the occasional cracked display will arise.

There are many tech-heads, which make it their job to tear down beautiful devices, such as the iPhone 5 and see just what makes them tick.  Take the guys over at iFixit for instance, they have very nicely  supplied a guide to replacing the screen, if you feel like you are up for the challenge, that is.

GoTenna Gives You A Cell Signal Anywhere

I’m sure you’ve been there at some point in time in your life – you really need to use your cell phone and no matter how high you hold your phone, you just can’t seem to get any kind of a signal. While that’s inconvenient, it can also be extremely dangerous, especially when you really need to get a hold of someone. And while there are more cell towers now than ever before, there are still places where it’s next to impossible to get a signal. While I may not be able to help you get a cell tower built near where you live or work, I can help point you toward a new gadget that promises to give you a bit of a signal wherever you may find yourself.

It’s called the GoTenna, and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like – an antenna for wherever you go. It’s a small wand weighing only about 2 ounces that can attach to a backpack or a belt. Using Bluetooth low energy, it connects to an app and lets a user send texts and/or GPS coordinates to another user.

$30 To Waterproof Your Smartphone

A number of smartphone sellers are now focusing on manufacturing their flagship smartphones water-resistant, following Sony’s lead. Samsung’s Galaxy S5, the company’s latest phone, is a good example of this.  The handset’s water-proofing treatment is going to end up saving the consumer a bucket load of cash, not to mention the hassle, by helping our most used gadget survive the occasional spill.

What if you are like me and have gone for Apple’s offering? or maybe one of the many other various Android models that aren’t shipped with a water resistant coating? Well, good people fear not! The guys over at Impervious have got you covered…Literally.

Could You Live Without Your Smartphone? Probably Not.

It sure didn’t take very long before smartphones came into the world and started to dominate our lives. Even sitting here thinking now, I can’t think of very many people I know who don’t own a smartphone. I can still remember when the very first iPhone was released and can’t believe how much has changed in the (relatively) few years since then. But just how important our cell phones in our lives? Well, if a survey from Bank of America has anything to say about it, they’re pretty important – some would say they’re almost the most important thing in our lives – and that’s a little scary.

The above mentioned survey by Bank of America revealed that a whopping 47% of U.S. smartphone users said they couldn’t go a day without their beloved phone. Wow. One day? Come on U.S. – there’s a physical world outside of your digital one. That particular statistic may not be the most telling one, though, especially among the younger folks surveyed.

Samsung Mock Apple Before iPhone Release

So do you belong to the church of Apple or are you an Android enthusiast?   Well, Samsung has released an ad on YouTube entitled, ‘Screen Envy’ which mocks iPhone users for their ‘patience’ at having to wait for a larger screen.

Two friends are sitting in a cafe, both looking at their phones.  One has a Samsung while the other is sporting his iPhone.  The iPhone carrying friend states that the ‘iPhone might be getting a bigger screen.’  “That hasn’t happened yet?” responds his friend with the Samsung, obviously sporting a much larger screen.  “You know that thing you’ve been waiting on for like two years, and how it’s supposed to be awesome, and how it’s gonna blow your mind?” the narrator pipes up in an extremely sarcastic manner.

Meet Intel’s New 730 Series SSD

The Intel Corporation knows both the technical and commercial value of SSD’s and has a selection to choose from.  One of the frontrunners is the Intel 730 Series.  This was introduced to market a couple of months ago in February 2014.

The drive was aimed squarely at professionals and enthusiasts, as it is a high-performance consumer SSD. This SSD was in contrast to recent drives that have taken to employing SandForce controllers with Intel’s firmware.

So this time, Intel went back to using its own controller and firmware and the drive specifies its own NAND flash, here 20nm MLC. Intel says that up to 70 GB of writes per day for the 480 GB capacity models can be accomplished, this suggests a total writespan of 127 TB.   The firm is confident of the product’s endurance that they have offered a 5-year warranty.

Handy Hints For Windows 8.1

So by now you’ve had plenty of time to play around with Windows 8.1 and get to grips with the customisable start screen, new and improved apps and the fact that OneDrive weaves itself throughout the operating system. Plus you’ve probably breathed a sigh of relief that the Start button was finally put back. There were so many new features and tweeks built into Windows 8.1 that it is easy to miss them, so here is a quick guide to some of the best additions.

Automatic App Updates

To keep up with app updates in Windows 8 you had to do it yourself through the Windows Store but in Windows 8.1 that is no longer necessary as they automatically update; you just need to activate them to do so. You can do this by launching the Windows Store and opening Settings, then select ‘App Updates’.

How To Convert A PDF To A Word Document Using Adobe Reader

Have you ever created a PDF and then needed to send it to someone who uses Microsoft Word as his or her primary office tool?  It isn’t really an issue for either party, as you can you edit your PDF easily and convert it to a Microsoft Word document.

First of all you need to open Adobe Reader 10.1.3 or above.  Next, open the PDF you want to export to Word.  Now navigate to the Reader toolbar and locate the Convert PDF icon.  This will open the Tools pane.  Now an Export PDF files panel will appear. Choose Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel for Convert To.  Please note: If the document contains scanned text in another language, you need to click Change, select the language in the OCR Settings dialog box and then click OK. Finally click Convert.