Quickly bookmark a web page

Bookmark any web page form field and quickly access it from the browser address bar. Below is an example of how you could bookmark the Computer Hope search and quickly search for help anytime .

1. Right-click on the search box in the top left portion of this window.
2. Click "Add a keyword for this search".
3. In the Add bookmark window, type any name or leave it blank and for the keyword make it something simple and easy to remember. For example, "CH" for "Computer Hope" and click Ok.

Now in your address bar you can type: "CH " and then anything you need help with. For example typing: "CH motherbaord" would open the search results for motherboard.

Hide / Tweak the Firefox download window

Remove that pesky download window that appears after downloading a file by adding the Firefox Download Statusbar Add-on to your browser. Alternatively editing the about:config settings as shown below can also disable this window from being displayed.

1. Open a new tab in Firefox.

2. In the address bar type: about:config

3. Locate browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting by copying and pasting the bold text into the Filter box.

4. Double-click the name or value to change the value from True to False. Once done close the tab.

If you've hidden your download Window it can still viewed by clicking Tools and then Downloads or pressing Ctrl + J.

Quickly find icon and/or file

Quickly find an icon in a group of icons or a specific item in an alphabetic list of items by highlighting one of the icons or list items and pressing the beginning letter of the item you're looking for. Below are some examples of how this could be used.

Windows desktop icons - If you have a lot of icons on your desktop or in another folder highlight one of the icons and press the first letter. For example if you were looking for an icon named "test" highlight any icon and then press the "t" key. Note: you can also press the "t" key multiple times to individually highlight each icon that starts with "t".

Internet drop down list - Instead of scrolling through a list of options in an Internet drop down list press the first letter of the option you're looking for. For example, if you were looking through a list of states and you wanted "Utah" press U to automatically scroll down to it.

Create a send to shortcut

Send to is a feature that enables users to send programs to an alternate location or a location where you store all your files. An example of the send to feature is right-clicking a file and clicking send to and then the floppy disk drive. Users can create their own send to destinations by following the below steps.

Microsoft Windows 95 / 98 / ME users

Create a shortcut in the windows\sendto directory

Other Windows users

Create a shortcut in the documents and settings\\sendto directory.

Note: is the name of the user logging into the computer. In addition it is possible that the sendto directory is hidden.

Windows explorer multiple renames

Quickly and easily rename multiple files in Microsoft Windows XP Explorer by following the below steps.

1. Open Explorer.
2. In Explorer select all the files you wish to rename.
3. Once the files have been selected press F2 and type the new name for the files. For example, typing "test" will rename the files to test, test(1), test(2), test(3) etc. If you have file extensions shown make sure to also type the name of the file extension you're renaming

Windows XP mouse Snap To

Enable the Microsoft Window XP mouse Snap To feature to automatically focus on dialog box buttons. Enabling this feature will automatically move your mouse cursor to the default button on any dialog box that appears on Windows. This is a great way to save a little time and not have to move you mouse cursor to the "Ok" button each time a dialog box appears. To enable this feature follow the below steps.

1. Click Start, Settings, Control Panel.

2. Double-click the Mouse icon

3. In the Mouse Properties window click the Pointer Options tab and check the "Automatically move pointer to the default button in a dialog box" option.

Speed up Windows Explorer

Speed up the display load time of Microsoft Windows Explorer by disabling the feature to search for network printers and folders. By default each time Windows Explorer is opened it'll attempt to locate any network printer or folder on your computer network. If your computer is not on a network and/or you have no network printers, folders, or shares disable this option by following the below steps.

1. Open Windows Explorer

2. Click the Tools drop down menu and then Folder Options

3. Within the Folder Options tab click the View tab

4. Uncheck "Automatically search for network folders and printers"

Microsoft Windows XP and Vista boot time

If you're running Windows XP or Vista with a computer that has a multiple core processor such as the Intel Core 2 duo you can increase how fast your computer boots up by having it use multiple processors for its boot sequence. Following the below steps to have Windows do this for you.

1. Click Start and Run (for XP) and type: msconfig and press enter.

2. Click the BOOT.INI or BOOT tab.

3. XP users highlight the line beginning with "multi" if not already selected and click the Advanced Options button.

In the Advanced Options Window for /NUMPROC= or Number of

4. Processors change it to 2.

5. Reboot the computer.

Create a shortcut key for Internet Web pages

Create a PC shortcut key to a favorite web page by creating a shortcut to the web page or URL. Users using Internet Explorer can quickly do this by right-clicking on an empty spot of a web page and click 'Create Shortcut'.

Once the shortcut has been created locate the shortcut and right-click or view the properties of that shortcut.

In the shortcut properties assign a new shortcut key and click OK. Now when the shortcut key is pressed the web page will be automatically loaded.

Sending a web page to a friend

Internet Explorer users
Send a friend the web page you are viewing by clicking File, Send, and "Page by E-mail".

Netscape users
Send a friend the web page you are viewing by clicking File, and "Send Page".

Google tips

Below are some basic tips as well as some secrets that can be used on Google to help improve your search results and find things you may have never thought of.

1. Group your search query to find better results. For example, if you're searching for computer help, you'll find better results if you search for an exact phrase by surrounding it in quotes: "computer help".

2. If a lot of your results have keywords you're not search for use a minus sign. For example, if you're looking for computer help but don't want pages containing Windows type: "computer help" -windows

3. Google supports number ranges, for example, if you're searching for computer help between the year 2000 to 2005 you can type: "Computer help" 2000..2005

4. See the Google operators page, which lists dozens of the available operators Google allows. For example, the below search would search for URL that contains the word computer: allinurl: computer

5. Visit the Google Features page, which lists hundreds of different examples of the type of things you can find through Google and how to find them.

6. See our Google dictionary definition for a listing of dozens of other Google services.


Below are some more advance searches people are commonly looking for and what they do.

intitle:index.of + mp3 -asp -html -htm -php -pls -txt

In the above example, when entered into Google this search result looks for any index of MP3 files that does not contain the standard web pages like HTML, PHP, etc. or any other non-related pages. In the above example you can replace mp3 with avi or other file extension to search for these types of files.

intitle:index.of + mp3 "" -asp -html -htm -php -pls -txt

In the above example you could replace "" with the artists name, track, group, or name of the MP3 you're looking for. Keep in mind when downloading MP3 that you should own the track or song you're downloading otherwise it's considered illegal.

inurl:"ViewerFrame?Mode="

In the above simple example, Google will return results of insecure live web cams and with some of the services even allow you to control the cameras over the Internet.

The above three examples are just a few more advanced searches used to help illustrate how many different things can be found through Google.

Tabbed browsing

With the introduction of Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 all major browsers now support tabbed browsing. Below are various tips to improve your browsing using tabs.

1. Clicking on any link with your middle mouse button or wheel will open that link in a new tab. Alternatively you can hold down your CTRL key in IE and Firefox and click a link to open that link in a new tab.

2. Clicking on an open tab with your middle mouse button will close that tab.

3. Mozilla Firefox users can middle-click the back button to open a previous page in a new tab.

4. Pressing CTRL + T will open a new tab in IE, Firefox, and Opera.

5. Firefox and IE users can hold down CTRL and press 1 through 0 on their keyboard to open that respected tab.

6. Right-clicking the active tab will give you an option to close all other non-active tabs.

Move back quickly

The most commonly used feature in Internet browsers is the back button. However, all browsers also have a small black down arrow to the right of the back button. This button allows you to easily see the history of the last 5-10 pages you've visited and quickly get back to them. This feature is especially helpful for those pesky pages that forward you back to a page each time you press the back button or for when you wish to move back several pages but don't want to have to press the back button several times.

Create short Internet addresses

Create easy to read and type Internet addresses from long convoluted addresses often found on popular sites such as Amazon, eBay, MapQuest, etc. by using online services that shrink the address. For example, the URL: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/cmos.htm would become: http://tinyurl.com/ynkjhp. Below are examples of sites that allow you to copy and paste any URL into them to make them smaller.

http://tinyurl.com/
http://snipurl.com/
http://tubeurl.com/
http://cuturl.com/

Google 10 tips

Below is a list of our top ten Google tricks many users don't know about.

1. Definitions - Pull up the definition of the word by typing define followed by the word you want the definition for. For example, typing: define bravura would display the definition of that word.

2. Local search - Visit Google Local enter the area you want to search and the keyword of the place you want to find. For example, typing: restaurant at the above link would display local restaurants.

3. Phone number lookup - Enter a full phone number with area code to display the name and address associated with that phone number.

4. Find weather - Type weather followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions and forecasts for upcoming days.

5. Track airline flight - Enter the airline and flight number to display the status of an airline flight and it's arrival time. For example, type: delta 123 to display this flight information if available.

6. Track packages - Enter a UPS, FedEx or USPS tracking number to get a direct link to track your packages.

7. Pages linked to you - See what other web pages are linking to your website or blog by typing link: followed by your URL. For example, typing link:http://www.computerhope.com displays all pages linking to Computer Hope.

8. Find PDF results only - Add filetype: to your search to display results that only match a certain file type. For example, if you wanted to display PDF results only type: "dell xps" filetype:pdf -- this is a great way to find online manuals.

9. Calculator - Use the Google Search engine as a calculator by typing a math problem in the search. For example, typing: 100 + 200 would display results as 300.

10. Stocks - Quickly get to a stock quote price, chart, and related links by typing the stock symbol in Google. For example, typing: msft will display the stock information for Microsoft.

Only browse safe web pages

Concerned about the safety of web pages you or others are visiting on your computer? Consider installing the free browser add-on WOT (Web of Trust), when installed this free add-on will display a large warning across the window of any web page that has been poorly rated, contains adware, been known to fraudulently charge visitors, contains malware, and/or is otherwise unsafe. This add-on can be downloaded from their web page.

How to enable the Windows Task Manager and Regedit Editor?

Today tip will help you to unlock the windows Regedit Editor and Task Manager. Normally the reason of this message is that your computer has been infected by virus, trojan, or piece of spyware and message look like" Registry editor has been disabled by your administrator" or "Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator". By default Windows Task Manager and registry editor status is enabled, but a user can also disable or enable it manually. Some time a registry hack applies on both editors to disable it. Before proceeding further, first scan your system with up-to-date antivirus, and then follow the given steps to enable it.

To enable this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.

First go to the link of registry tools to access the useful script file and download it to your computer hard disk.

Now double click on this file to run this .vbs file and then a small message will appear on screen.

Here click on Open button to execute this file and you will get a confirmation message on screen.

Click on Ok button to finish the process and now you can run the both windows editors.

Tips On Desktop Computer Rentals

Special projects, temporary staff increases and internal training are made much easier when you consider desktop computer rentals. Just think of the problems you can avoid when you rent:

- No scrambling to find enough machines to set up a training room or office for temporary staff
- No costly purchases of equipment that will become surplus once the project is complete
- No need to sell or dispose of used equipment

Desktop computer rentals offer other benefits:

- A full-service computer rentals firm will offer setup and takedown services
- You can get the latest equipment for your project without the high costs of acquiring new equipment
- The computer rentals firm can help you by pre-loading the software you need on each machine
- Your desktop computer rentals will be fully supported by the rental firm

Who Uses Desktop Computer Rentals?

Many organizations depend on desktop computer rentals for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few:

- Contractors and Temporary Staff ? Organizations with short-term special projects often hire people on contract. To avoid large expenditures on new equipment, they turn to desktop computer rentals. Industries that rely on computer rentals in this kind of situation include software development companies, income tax services, and non-profits that need to enter large volumes of donations during fundraising campaigns.

- Testing ? Many businesses need to test new hardware and software before rolling it out to a broad base of users. With desktop computer rentals they can obtain the hardware they need, tailored to their exact specifications, to create a testing network that is identical to their real work environment.

- In-house Workshops and Training ? Whether it is training in the use of new software or workshops designed to enhance job skills, many organizations conduct courses for their employees. Desktop computer rentals enable them to set up a temporary classroom that can be easily dismantled when training is complete.

Get Your Desktop Computer Rentals from a Full-Service Provider

The computer rentals company you select should offer you a wide range of services and products. Be sure to find out what is included in the service they provide. You can ask about:

- Product Selection ? Can they provide hardware that matches your specifications? Can they source machines that they don?t currently have in stock?

- Support ? What happens if your rented hardware malfunctions? Does the company offer phone or on-site technical support?

- Changes ? What penalties are charged if you change the timeline of your rental agreement? How does the company deal with early or late returns?

- Setup and Removal ? Does the company offer full setup of its desktop computer rentals? Data security is crucial ? be sure you know how the company removes data from rented machines.

If your company is anticipating temporary staff increases or special projects, make sure to include desktop computer rentals in your planning. Do your homework and research competitive companies online before you agree to a log-term or short-term agreement and make sure it is flexible.

Make sure the company provides 24/7 phone technical support or a rent-a-tech program and start a relationship with a sales representative you can trust!

5 Tips To Deal With Slow Computer Performance

All computer users encounter slow performance or a sudden computer breakdown at one time or another. Quite often, registry problems are behind this gradual deterioration in your computers performance.

When you install or uninstall applications, your system is infected by a virus, the system crashes, or many such activities occur on your system, several unwanted, invalid, and malicious entries get added to the registry that unnecessarily cause it to grow to a very large size. A large registry slows down, and as a result slows down your computer. In more severe conditions, registry problems may also cause various computer-related errors, which can eventually crash your system.

This can be completely avoided if you perform certain actions on regular basis to speed up the performance of your computer.

1) Perform regular virus checks

If you are a regular net surfer, and don?t care to systematically scan your system for viruses or malware, you are actually inviting trouble. Do you know that you can unintentionally download viruses and malware in your system just by visiting a website? The chances of infecting your system rise if you continue downloading software programs, music, and video clips on your system. Therefore, you must scan your PC for virus infections by using effective anti-virus software.

2) Use your System Tools

Before you invest too heavily on various types of PC maintenance software, you should use the System Tools, which are offered for free with your operating system. For example, you can use the Windows Disk Defragmenter tool to reorganize your files and check the hard drive for errors. The Disk Cleanup tool, on the other hand, helps you remove unnecessary files from your system.

3) Think twice about free downloads

Though you may find it an attractive option to download ?free stuff? from the Internet, but there exist many websites that actually install spyware onto your computer and trace every activity on your computer and display unwanted popup ads. Many other programs secretly add programs to your browser or registry, which can affect system performance and crash your PC sooner or later. So, practice cautions before you click the ?Free Download? button next time.

4) Troubleshooting errors when they appear

Do you know that more than 90 percent of computers contain corrupt and significantly harmful files with more than 200 errors? If you ever witness an error message on your screen, you should immediately take action to resolve it. This is because it may gradually start affecting the performance of your system and causing you to reboot, among other things. For example, if you notice a Regsvr32.exe error on your system, you should logon to the Microsoft technical support page and enter the name of the error. This would display a step-by-step process, which you can follow to resolve your problem.

5) Using a registry cleaner

Using an effective registry cleaner tool is probably one of the most simple and non-technical methods to tackle the slow performance of your computer. You can opt for an advanced registry cleaner or scan your system?s registry. This would also allow you to deal with multiple errors at the same time while enhancing the speed of your PC.

Useful Tips To Build The Best Gaming Computer

Every gamer will want their computer to be the best gaming computer among their peers. Sometimes, with a little knowledge and tips and tricks, it is possible to build the best gaming computer and show it off to your peers. This article will show you how:

1) You can't get the best gaming computer from computer retailers

If you want to get the best gaming computer, you have to build your own. Different gamers have different requirement for their gaming machine. Unless you are willing to pay a high price, you will not be able to buy a commercial computer that fulfils all your gaming needs. The only option you have is to build your own gaming computer.

2) You don't have to be rich to build the best gaming computer

It is not necessary to burn a hole in your pocket to build the best gaming computer. With some due diligence, do some market research and compare prices around the marketplace. Merchant such as TigerDirect and NewEgg give regular discount to their products and you could save a lot of money if you catch them during their promotional period.

3) Most expensive parts do not have to be the best part

Sometime, the latest model or the most expensive model does not have to be the best part for your computer. It requires various components to work together to form the best computer system. When choosing a computer part, what matters is how well it can integrate with the rest of the components. Compatibility is more important than individual performance. What use is there if you spend lot of money on the latest quad-core processor and find that your motherboard doesn?t support it?

4) You don't need to change the whole PC to own the best gaming computer

It is a misconception that you have to change the whole gaming machine to build the best gaming computer. If you already have a good barebone system, what you need to do is to upgrade the necessary parts and your gaming computer can roar back to life instantly.

5) Brand is important

Unless you want to see your computer system malfunction every few days, it is important that you purchase the parts from branded manufacturers with strict quality control. Motherboard brand such as Gigabyte, ABIT, ASUS are some quality brands that you can consider

If you follow diligently to the tips stated above. You will be on your way to build the best gaming computer. While price can be an issue, it is better not to scrimp on important computer parts such as motherboard, CPU, RAM and graphics card as it will cost you more to upgrade in the future.

Ten Tips For Building Your Own Media Center Computer

With new faster processers, bigger hard drives and new larger LCD televisions building a media center computer has become more and more practical. A media center computer can record multiple television shows at one time, can organize all your music and pictures and can also be used as a normal computer. They are definitely very cool. However, before you decide to build your own media center here are ten quick tips...

1. Consider building a machine with a dual core or quad core processor. The multiple processing threads will be very useful when recording multiple programs and watching a program at the same time. A fast multi core processor is a must if you plan on watching and recording hi definition TV.

2. Don't skimp on the RAM. A good media center will have at least 2GB of ram and should probably have up to 4GB. The ram will help keep things moving quickly while you are recording programs.

3. You can never have enough hard drive space. With high definition TV becoming more of a standard you are going to want to consider having large amounts of hard drive space on your machine. I wouldn't build a machine that had less than a terabyte of hard drive space.

4. To increase performance considering using a raid configuration for your hard drives. Using raid zero along with high speed SATA hard drives can help you improve video performance and can prevent recording errors.

5. Get good TV tuner cards with built in hardware encoding. Tuner cards with MPEG hardware encoding will take a load off your processor when they record tv shows, this will help ensure that you won't get any skipping or problems in your recorded output. I use Hauppauge cards in my machine and they work great.

6. Invest in a good decoding program. The software decoder software offered by Nvidia does a good job on my media center. However, I tested four or five different ones before I found one that operated the way I wanted with my hardware configuration. Be prepared to test some different options before you settle on the one that will work best for you.

7. Don't forget to order the remote control. A media center without a remote control is a travesty. These computers are designed to operated while you sit back on your couch. The remotes don't cost that much and they work great.

8. Buy the best video card that you can afford. The better the video card that you have the less chances you have that you will have problems with playback. Before you buy your video card also make sure to check the list of Media Center approved cards. If the card isn't on there you might want to avoid it. Also make sure that you buy a video card that has a high definition output that matches your TV (either DVI or HDMI are the best).

9. Get a good audio card that is capable of feeding source audio to your receiver or your speakers. If you plan on outputting 5.1 or 7.1 data from DVD's you are going to want to make sure that the sound card that you pick has an optical or digital coax output. You might also consider buying a card that will convert all the sounds used on your computer into a 5.1 or 7.1 digital audio feed.

10. Be prepared to play with your configuration and build. Unfortunately, building a media center is not an exact science and there is usually quite a bit of tinkering involved in getting a stable fully functional system. If you aren't comfortable playing with the settings and the drivers to get things to work you might consider buying a prebuilt media center and have someone else do the testing and configuring for you.

I have been running windows XP media center edition for quite a while now and I love it. I have built two different media centers and they have both been a blast. Try it for yourself and see.

Safe Password Tips for Better Computer Security

With so many online accounts to manage, most people tend to use the same password for everything. Many also tend to use a very ?easy to guess? password. These are two common ?password mistakes? that cyber-thieves are looking for. One of the most important things you can do to stay safe online is to ensure your passwords remain private.

Passwords are designed to offer protection, used as the ?key? to a door that provides access to some very sensitive personal information. If this information got into the wrong hands, financial loss or identity theft could easily occur. Password theft and identity theft is more common today than ever - due to spyware, Trojans and phishing scams. Once a password has been compromised, an insurmountable amount of personal damage can occur in a matter of minutes. The more accounts your password works with, the greater the damage. For the best security, online account passwords should be different as well as difficult.

Safe Password Tips

• Use passwords that are at least eight characters long.
• Use a combination of upper and lower case letters, and include at least one number or special character. A ?special character? is something like *, &, or -.
• Never use your email password for anything other than your email account. Make sure all bank and credit card account passwords are different from each other.
• Never use your name, birth date or social security number in a password. Change your passwords from time to time, especially bank account passwords. Never store passwords in a common document file (Excel, Word, Notepad, etc?) that is not protected by encryption.

Password Management

Most people tend not to use difficult and/or varied passwords, because password management can be a tedious and time consuming task. When we?re paying bills or shopping online, we want easy and instant access to our account so we can complete our tasks. It?s frustrating to get ?bad password? error messages, and it?s a hassle to answer challenge questions in order to request a password reset. Because it?s nearly impossible to follow safe password practices without writing down all our passwords, the only way to securely manage passwords is to use some type of password management software.

There are two good options here, and both are easy and inexpensive. The easiest thing to do is to utilize file encryption software to protect the document that has the passwords stored on it. For this, I recommend something like Absolute Password Protector by Last Bit Software. They have a free trial version you can download to see how you like it. This software uses strong 128 bit encryption to securely encrypt any file you have stored on your computer ? making it easy for you to access but very difficult for a thief to utilize. With this software, you can store all your passwords in a Word, Excel or text file and then encrypt that file to keep it secure.

Another good way to manage passwords is to use an encrypted database to store all of your password information. I use Passwords Plus by DataViz. This is designed to be used on a PDA, but I use it on my computer. Passwords Plus is easy and convenient, but the downside is you have to set up the database by keying in all your accounts and passwords. Both of these methods of password management cost around $29, and it is well worth it. Unlike a lot of software that requires a subscription to keep it functioning, password management software is a ?one time? purchase.

Practicing Good Computer Security Habits Will Help Keep You Safe Online

Maintaining "difficult to guess" passwords is just one very important thing you can do to keep yourself safe online. There are many more things you can (and should) do to protect your computer and your data from cyber-thieves and malicious software. A few things to keep in mind are to use a good antivirus and anti-spyware software product, avoid downloading and installing "free" software (it usually contains spyware and/or adware) and never click links in emails that appear to come from a financial institution.

Tips to Reduce Computer Eye Strain

Bye-Bye Computer Headaches
Nine out of ten computer users experience eye problems such as blurred vision, tired eyes, itchy eyes, or headaches. Whether a mild annoyance or a persistent on the job problem, most of us learn to live with it.

Must you, however, trade your comfort for technology?

The answer is no. There are specific steps you can take to minimize computer eye strain.

FREE and simple tip for those using Microsoft XP operating system-Given you already have an LCD screen, increasing the contrast can help the reading material stand out on the page. Here is a great tip for XP users:

Left click on desktop

Appearance Tab

Effects Button

After "use the following methods to smooth edges...", select ClearType

LCD Monitor-One reason for eye strain during computer use is the flickering, or shimmy, of the monitor. Your eyes are constantly trying to find a focal point where there is none, thus making the eye muscles tired. A moderately priced LCD screen will fix the problem for there is little to no flicker. A couple of hundred dollars is well worth the investment, and a great resource for finding the right one for you follows: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=1745344

Melanin tinted computer glasses- Melanin is a molecule that is in our skin for the purpose of absorbing light so that it doesn't damage underlying tissues. The melanin in computer lenses also absorbs light. Specifically, it reduces the blue and violet light from computers and fluorescent lighting that can damage your eyes. They are available in non-prescription, as well as with reading magnification at many local opticians, or online from many ready-to-wear reading glass retailers. Computer glasses run from $10 to upwards of $100. You don't need a prescription for the plano or straight forward reading magnifications, though you should have your eyes checked by an eye doctor in the case of visual discomfort and/or strain.
http://www.debspecs.com/Computer_EyeGlasses_C57.cfm

Remove any back light behind your computer- Many people experience photophobia. You may not be familiar with the word, but very well may know what it means; literally, fear of light, but used mostly to mean "sensitivity to light". If this is the case, you are double dosing yourself if you have a lamp behind your computer (or in front of it for that matter) that's pointing in the general direction of your face.

I hope these tips were useful for you today! They have worked wonders for me, increasing productivity and the amount of time I can spend on the computer.

Food & Fitness Tips for Computer Users

Working at a computer can take a toll on the body with lack of exercise and healthy eating habits. So take charge and turn your habits around with these helpful tips.

1. Journal and keep a daily diary about what you eat and how much activity you get each day. Make sure to get at least 10 minutes of activity daily away form your computer with healthy exercise; walking, jogging, biking, stationary-biking, something?

2. Keep healthy snacks and foods on hand like:

? Tuna

? White cheeses and low-fat crackers

? Celery and low-fat peanut butter

? Carrot and Celery sticks

? Salad (bagged and prepared is fine) and low-fat dressing

? Cucumber slices

? Snow peas

? Broccoli and cauliflower

? Wheat bread

? Veggie egg rolls

? Fresh Fruits / Fruit Bowl

? Frozen grapes

? Wheat Toast and jelly

? Bagels and jelly or lite cream cheese.

? Freezer treats (lite ice milks, low fat yogurts, flavored ices, etc.)

? Jello (with or without fruit and/or lite whipped topping)

? Pudding with low-fat milk

? Healthy beverages: teas, coffees, bottled flavored waters

3. Take the batteries out of any remote control units you have at home and get up and walk over to change channels.

4. Take your dog for a walk every evening. If you don?t have one, take your elderly neighbor?s dog for a walk.

5. Do exercises while watching television. No need to wait for commercials, for jump in there and hit the floor.

6. Pick up healthy cookbooks at the local library, bookstore and online. And find favorites to use, changing your bland, some-old same-olds.

7. Add healthy no-sugar cereals to your day, sweetening them with fresh berries (or some brands now have the fried fruits packaged right in the cereals.) You can eat cereal as a snack, too.

8. Oatmeal is healthy and good for you. Experiment by adding raisins, nuts, a little brown sugar and other goodies to make it a nice, warm meal.

9. Stock up on soups: vegetable, tomato, vegetable beef, chicken, bean, chicken and stars, chicken and rice, chicken and noodle. And stock up on a variety of crackers to go with them: oyster crackers, saltines, Ritz, Sociable Crackers, etc. Eat your heavier meal for lunch and leave the lighter ?soup? meal for dinner.

10. Invite a friends or friends over to eat. Stop hiding out and socialize. Share recipes and healthy food ideas. Plan a round where someone brings the main course, someone else brings the side dishes, another brings dessert.

Dietary Tips for Computer Users

A sedentary keyboarding lifestyle leaves your bottom half pretty well-rounded and growing if you don?t use caution with your diet. To help get and keep better fit, try these diet tips during your day.

1) Drink plenty of water and healthy beverages throughout the day. Skip the sodas and other sugary drinks. You can get flavored waters, teas, coffees and other healthier beverages, but do skip the sugar in all of them when possible or at least opt for much less sugar or diet drinks and shakes.

2) Look at your local stores for diet snacks and drinks. You can often find healthy power bars and other snack bars, protein shakes and trail mix. If your store doesn?t have much of a selection, check on Amazon.com and eBay.com, especially for special rates and discounted bulk packages.

3) Opt for fresh fruits when you can, over fruit juice or water down your juice, like half-and-half. These means less unhealthy sugar.

4) Check with your healthcare provider and see about adding vitamins and other supplements to your daily diet.

5) Brush your teeth after each snack and meal. This will cut down on your desire to snack more, because you won?t want to keep cleaning your teeth over and over.

6) No need to totally cut out fat. Just cut down, though, and trim fats, eat white meats, nuts and fish more.

7) Make healthy substitutions when you can like apple sauce for oil in recipes, and no fat non-stick spray for grease in pans.

8) Don?t keep jumping around to different fad diets. Either develop a plan following the approval of your doctor, or get professional help choosing and following the right one for you.

9) Go long! When you take a snack break, get up and away form your computer. Do NOT eat there in front of it or around it even. When possible go outside for some fresh air. But get up off your rear and hunt down your food. Don?t make snacking so easy. Stash your goodies in your car and park far away, for example.

10)Keep plenty of healthy foods: fruits and vegetables around, plus dips and anything else you like to go with them. You know where your chocolate is, but how anbout healthy stuff? Set out a fruit basket!

11)While you?re eating - -STAND. While you?re doing other things on your break ? - STAND. In other words, stop sitting so much.

Three Tips To Protecting Your Computer Data

Imagine for a second, your computer system just crashed and you may have just lost all of your precious data. Do you feel the emptiness in your stomach or the lump in your throat? Have you put off doing a backup of your PC for the last time or will you procrastinate again? You never know when disaster might strike and you will need to perform a system restore.

While you sit their reading this you should become aware of where you are backing up your data. Once you realize that your data is precious you should decide to protect it. Next, you might ask, "How?" and "Where do I backup my files?".

Knowing where to backup your data is an important factor in this process. You will have so many choices but we will whittle them down. Below are just a few options you will encounter:

USB connected storage

Firewire connected storage

Network connected storage

You will come across storage sizes ranging from 20 GB to 750 GB.

The point is you need to identify what YOU need. Don't let anyone sell you anything you don't need. Plan this out before you begin, it will save you some time and money in the long run.

What do you need to know for you to plan this out?

How much data will you backup?

Will you be backing up your mp3's, pictures, videos, or just work data?

What ever data you have decided to backup the size of it will matter. How many MB (mega bytes) does it take up on your hard drive?

You may be wondering how you can find out how much space all of your data is taking up. Well, for one, most people keep some type of folder structure.

All you have to do is right click the folder of choice and click on properties. That gives you an idea of how much space the entire folder is taking up. You can keep a tally of all of your folders and it will give you an approximate amount of drive space you will need to backup your data.

Ok, this is pretty simple but you don't want to go out and purchase a drive that is at the same size as your data you have just calculated. The reason for this is because more than likely your data is going to grow over time.

The amount of growth is going to be determined by how often and how much you add to your collection of data. This growth will be different for every person depending on how they use their computer. The industry standard is about thirty percent growth per year for data in many businesses. That figure is just to give you an approximation to start looking at how much data storage you will need.

Getting a plan to start is one of the first things you need to do before you start backing up your data. You have to know what you want to back up and where you will put it before you start.

You should test your backups regularly because you never know when you will need to perform a system restore or a desktop restore. You can go to any electronics store and find a large variety of Hard Drive storage. Don't be afraid to ask questions. This is your data we are talking about.

Now that you have begun to get a foundation on backing up your data you will eventually need to learn how to perform backups and system restores. You will feel better now knowing that you have learned some of the steps necessary to protect yourself and your data from catastrophe. Take some action and start backing up your PC today.

3 Tips On How To Clean Up Your Computer

Is your computer running slow? Is it locking up, or freezing, or even giving you a blue screen? We have all gone through this, and know the pain and agony. Luckily, there are things you can do to fix this. I will give you 3 tips on cleaning up your computer.

The first thing you should check is for viruses. Find top quality anti-virus scan software, and install it on your computer. Then run the software and let it search for viruses. If it happens to find any, let the software fix the problems. Now you will have a verified virus free computer. Set the virus scan to run all the time. It will search your computer, and scan all of your emails and attachments or downloads. This is a must for anyone who surfs the internet and receives email.

The second thing you need to do is get rid of all the spyware or adware on your computer. And believe me, you have this stuff on your computer if you surf the internet. Basically, websites will drop of small programs into your computer. You will have no idea this has happened. What these programs do will vary, but the main focus of spyware is to do exactly what it says: SPY. The software will track your surfing patterns, of your keyboard strokes, and then feed this information back to the original website. This website can then put together information all about you, and you have no idea about it. And, it is these programs running in the background, which will slow down your computer. These little guys need to be cleaned up. There are plenty of quality spyware removal programs out there. Just download one, run it, and let it remove all of the spyware for you. Two down, one more to go.

Lastly, you need to keep your registry cleaned up. Registry files contain the data on how the software and hardware on your computer is supposed to run. If any of these files get messed up, then the software or hardware will not run, and this can cause the computer to lock up. Once again, there are quality programs out there which can fix your registry. Download this software, and it will scan your registry for errors. If it finds any, it will fix them for you. Now your registry will run with no problems.

Those are the 3 tips to keep your computer clean. Install an antivirus, spyware removal, and registry fix program on your computer, and run these weekly. These 3 items will keep your computer running with no errors, and keep you surfing the internet.

Easy Tips To Make Your Computer Run Faster And More Efficiently

Have you noticed that your computer does not run as fast as it did when it was new?

A slow PC is one of the primary complaints of most computer owners who currently run Windows XP. Memory gulping start-up programs, greedy anti-virus applications and a hard drive that has not been defragged since...who knows when. All these issues contribute to degrading your computer's performance.

Are you ready to get back up to speed? If so, the first and most basic task is to run defrag on your hard drive. Few people do this anymore because they think Windows XP does it automatically - it does not. So let's get started.

Task #1

Click "Start", then "All Programs", then "Accessories". Now go to the "System Tools" folder and select "Disk Defragmenter". When it opens, select your primary "C:" drive, then click "Defragment".

If you have multiple drives you can defragment them after you have done your primary "C:" drive.

Task #2

Visit the Startup Inspector website.
You will find an excellent tool that allows even novice users to manage Windows startup applications.
Here's the link: http://www.windowsstartup.com/

This helpful utility allows you to:

• scan all programs that are in the Windows Startup Folder and
  Registry and provides you with background information about the program.

• remove harmful programs like spyware, virus, and dialers, thus making your system healthier.

• remove unnecessary programs like reminders and monitors. This helps improve your systems performance.
  

The Startup Inspector is freeware and costs nothing to download. Download it to your desktop, double-click on it and select "Run".

The best thing about this handy little utility is the Startup Programs Knowledge Base. This is the database source for Startup Inspector. If you see an unidentified process on your computer you may find some information about it here. There are currently over 6500 entries in the database, but it grows daily as users add new entries.

When using Startup Inspector always use extreme care when removing and disabling startup processes.

Task #3 Power Tips

Your next task is to enable DMA if it's not currently enabled.

DMA is a mode that allows your hard drive to bypass the CPU and access memory directly from RAM (random access memory). When DMA is enabled your CPU does less work - so it works faster when handling other processes.

To enable go to "Control Panel", open the "System" folder, select "Hardware" and then "Device Manager". Look for the "IDE ATA Controllers" section, click the plus sign (+), then double-click "Primary IDE Channel, select "Advanced Settings" and make sure the DMA option is selected for both Transfer modes. Click "OK" and repeat for the "Secondary IDE Channel".

While you are still in "Device Manager" go to the "Ports" section and disable "COM" and "LPT".

DO NOT disable "COM" if you are using standard dial-up to access the Internet.

DO NOT disable "LPT" if you are using a parallel printer.

Lastly, if your drive is still configured to FAT (File Allocation Table); you will want to convert it to the faster more efficient NTFS (New Technology File System).

Just go to "Start", then "Run" and type in "cmd". When you get to the prompt, type "convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs" without the quotes. Press enter.

Some WARNINGS about converting to NTFS (if you're in doubt about any of these points - hold off until you get any issues resolved):

• Some DOS and older Windows apps can't read NTFS drives, although there are utilities to help overcome this limitation.

• Once converted to NTFS, you cannot convert the drive back to FAT.
  

The conversion process takes some time, so take a break and slow down while your computer system speeds up.

Tips to Keep Your Computer Cool and Running Good

Keep that computer running cool and efficient. Here are some simple steps.

1. Shut it down. Switch it off. Pull the plugs. Take the cover off. And give it a good
blow out to get all the dust out of it so it can breathe.

2. If there is somewhere to put a fan, 80mm is most common, put one in.
It'll increase air flow. Most come with male/female molex plugs for
easy installation with no extra wires required.

3. Replace those flat ribbon cables with round ones. It'll increase air flow.
They make them for CDROMS, hard drives, and floppy drives.

Then if you want to get real serious.

4. Put new heat sink compund on your heat sinks. Like the processor
heat sink. Heat sink compound dries up after a while and becomes
less efficient.

5. Replace your computer case with one that offers more fan placements.

6. Purchase a hard drive cooler and put it in to keep your hard drive to keep it
cooler so it won't wear out so fast.

7. Memory card heat sinks will also help keep your memory cooler and help
prevent crashes for the memory cards getting overheated.

8. Copper heat sinks have a faster heat transfer than aluminum which will also
help keep your high dollar processor cooler.

9. Shutting a unit off after use also lengthens the life of your computer.

10. Sometimes the north and south bridge chip sets get too hot and slow your unit.
Little fans with heat sinks can be purchased for these. And most usually has adhesive
heat sink compound already applied. Just peel and apply with firm pressure. With a
plug that will plug into your mother board near by.

Following these simple steps can help any computer. And you can do it yourself
and not have to pay a shop to do it for you. All you need is a philips screwdriver.

Safety Tips to Building a Computer

There are some important precautions you should take into account when building a computer to ensure the safety of you and your computer parts. This article gives you some helpful tips on building your computer in the safest way possible.

Stay Safe With Electricity

Electricity is an important issue to consider with dangerous implications for those who ignore it. When building your computer, be 100% sure that the power supply is disconnected from the mains. Also make sure that all network cables and telephone lines are disconnected from the computer.

Another electricity safety tip is to only turn the power on to your computer when the case cover is on. Don't ever work on the inside of your computer with the power plugged in and turned on.

Be Aware of Static Electricity

Static electricity is a real hazard than can cause significant damage to your computer components. To prevent this from happening, follow these simple tips:

- Always wear an antistatic wrist band when building your computer.

- Keep sensitive components in the antistatic bags that they came with, and only remove them from the bag when you are ready to install that component.

- Try to handle your computer components by their edges only.

- Avoid building your computer in areas of high static such as carpeted areas. If you can, try to avoid wearing clothing such as those made of synthetics as they may create static.

Use the Right Tools for the Job

These days, building a computer doesn't require many tools at all. But if you're going to be using a tool, make sure you use the right one for the job. Some tools that you may need for assembly are:

- Phillips screwdriver

- Flat nose screwdriver

- Pliers

- Antistatic wrist band (highly recommended)

- Nut driver (optional)

Conclusion

After reading this article you should now be aware of the main safety issues you need to consider when building a computer. Follow this advice and you will greatly reduce the risk of damaging your computer, or yourself.

Tips For Going Wireless With Your Own Notebook Computer

In this article we are going to look at the basics of a wireless router. How they work and what you can do to make sure it stays that way. If you have a recent model notebook computer you probably have wireless technology built into it. If not you can get a wireless card to install into your notebook to work in conjunction with your wireless router.

Once you are wireless you will know the joy of picking up your computer and walking anywhere around your house with it. Depending on your signal strength you may even be able to hang out on your patio.

Newer notebooks are Wi-Fi ready. It already has the wireless hardware and software built into your computer. Several people in your family may be wireless as well. It is a beautiful thing to see everyone hang out in the family room with their notebooks all able to work or play online at the same time.

You will always be able to connect using the Wi-Fi network at work or steal bandwidth from someone else. There are hotspots everywhere you go including your own neighborhood. You are better off setting up your system in a secure way to avoid your neighbor's doing this to you and then you do not do it to them either.

If you are not wireless yet you will need a few things to convert your home network into a wireless network.

1. You need a Broadband connection using a Cable or DSL modem. You can not have a wireless network if you are on Dial-Up connection

2. A router to broadcast the wireless signal

3. A wireless computer

To set up your wireless network turn off the power to your computers and your Broadband modem. Your computer will communicate with your router automatically when you start it up enabling you to get on the network without any confusion. The router and your notebook should not need any further configuration. The default settings should work.

Your Internet connection should be present. The Modem will have two connections. One for the Cable or DSL modem and one for your computer.

Take the Ethernet cable that is connecting your computer to the Modem. Reconnect it to your wireless router in the WAN connector. If all the cables are correctly placed, you should now be able to get on the Internet from your existing computers and your wireless computers.

A wireless router allows you to communicate to the Internet. A wireless computer communicates to the router. When the two are working in harmony you have a great system that allows you flexibility to enjoy your notebook whenever and wherever you want.

4 Tips to Fix Your Crashing Computer

Have you asked the question lately, ?How do I fix my pc because it keeps crashing?? Does your computer run so slow that it?s giving you a headache? Are you constantly being harassed with those annoying pop-ups? Well you are in luck because these 4 tips will help you fix your crashing computer.

1. Run a Diagnostic Scan to determine your PC problem.

a. A diagnostic scan will tell you exactly what is going on with your pc and the source of your problems. The best thing would be to purchase a Registry Cleaner Software because it will scan you computer and automatically fix any of the issues you are having.

2. Check your memory because it may be time to add more memory.

a. To check your memory go to go to the Start menu, click Settings, and then click Control Panel. Click System and then select the General tab. At the bottom of the page you should see the amount of RAM.

b. The amount of memory you need will depend on your operating system. For Windows 98, 128 MB to 256 MB is more than enough. For Windows XP, if you're just surfing the Internet and writing letters, you need 256 MB to 512 MB. If you play a lot of games or use a lot of applications at the same time then you will need to go from 512 MB to 1 GB RAM. RAM modules can be purchased in 128 MB, 256 MB, and 512 MB sizes.

3. Run a virus scan to check for adware and spyware.

a. Spyware and Adware is software made by publishers that allow them to snoop on your browsing activity, invade your privacy, and flood you with those horrible popups.

4. Delete unnecessary files that may be saved on your hard drive.

If your pc keeps crashing implementing these tips can improve your pc?s performance and protect your personal information. These 4 tips will help you fix your computer so it won?t crash.

Network Errors Solutions

... is not accessible

Message: "....is not accessible. You may not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions. Network path was not found."

Resolutions:
1) make sure no any firewall blocks the LAN traffic.

2) make sure you have created the same workgroup, and the same username on w2k/xp for logging on a remote computer.

3) check user's rights.

4) you may want to enable guest account on w2k/xp.

5) if you are using simple file sharing, you may try to disable it and re-share the drive manually.

6) if it is mixed OS (win98, NT, ME and W2K/XP) network, enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

7) make sure the Computer Browser service is started if all computers are w2k/xp.

8) stop Computer Browser service on win9x, ME and NT if this is a mixed OS network.

9) cache credential by using net use \\computername\share /user:username command (it is better to have the username logon shared computer).

10) if you have tried enabling netbios over tcp/ip but doesn't work, you may try to load netbeui (loading netbeui may slow your network).

11) Make sure the server service is running.

12) If you can see the share in Network Neighborhood but not access it, this issue may be resolved by verifying that both the share permissions and the NTFS partition permissions are correctly configured for individual user or group access.


"... not accessible. Logon failure: account current disabled.

Symptom: When browsing a network drive in Windows Explorer, you may receive above error message.

Resolutions: this is cache credentials issue. To fix this problem and cache the credentials, use net use \\computername /user:username command.


"... not accessible. Access Denied "

SYMPTOMS: When you attempt to connect to a network share, you may receive the following error message: \\Servername\share is not accessible. Access Denied. If you are accessing a share in another domain, this message may appear even though you have verified that the trust is configured correctly. Also, the share may be visible in Network Neighborhood.

RESOLUTION: This issue may be resolved by verifying that both the share permissions and the NTFS partition permissions are correctly configured for individual user or group access.



"...not available. The server is not configured for transactions"

Symptom: when trying to browse My Network Places, you may receive this message "...not available. Server is not configured for transactions".

Resolution:
1. Use "net share" command on the shared computer to check share status. If there is not a share named "IPC$" in the share list, use "net share ipc$" command to create it.

2. Check your the network administrator if he/she may choose to not share the server's resource.

3. Case Study - Server is not configured for transactions - it may be a virus



"A domain controller for your domain could not be contacted. You have been logged on using cached account information. Changes made to your profile since you last logged on may not be available"

Resolutions:
1. Check the DNS settings and make sure the client points to correct DNS.

2. Make the computer have correct TCP/IP settings and can ping the domain controller.



"Access is denied"

Symptoms:
1. When attempting to create a folder or copy a folder on a network drive, you may receive "Cannot create or replace xxxxx: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use".

2. When attempting to save a file on a network drive, you may receive "Cannot save or create xxxxx: Access is denied. Make sure the disk you want to save the file on is not full or write-protected or damaged".


Resolutions:
1. go to the properties of the drive>Sharing, add the the user and give Change permission.

2. Make sure everyone has Change permission.



"Access Denied" Message When Opening from or Saving to a Network Folder

Symptom: When opening a network folder in Windows Explorer and then try to open a file from or save a file to that folder, the associated program may report a sharing violation, return an "access denied" message, or open the document as read-only. Typically, this problem occurs when you open a network folder and then double-click to open a Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel file. The document opens as read-only.

Resolution: To fix this problem, go to Windows Explorer, open the network folder that contains the file that you are trying to open or save. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options. Click Use Windows classic folders, and then click OK.



"An extended error has occurred" or "Access Denied"

Symptoms: When mapping a network drive using net use or using the net view command to view a different computer in the domain, you may receive: "An extended error has occurred" or "Access Denied" error messages.

Resolutions:
1) This issue may occur if the workstation doesn't synchronize the time with the server. After verifying that basic network connectivity exists, you can force time synchronization on the client computer manually. To do this, run net time /domain /set command.

2) Make sure you have granted enough licenses for clients accessing.
" computername is not accessible. No permission to access the resources"

If both win2000/XP and win9x can see the workgroup but only win2000/XP can access a win 2000/XP computer, and win9x gets the above error, check the group name. If they are the same name,

Check these:
1) are you sure the logon user has permission to the shared folder?
2) have you tried to logon using the same user name and password of the accessed win2k/XP computer?
3) the last and risky one, if you enable guest account in the accessed win2000/XP computer, can you access now?


Logon unsuccessful: The user name you typed is the same as the user name you logged in with

Cause: it could be the name resolution issue, especially DNS issue.

Logon Message: You do not have access to logon to this session
Symptom: When attempting to logon using the Terminal Services client, you may receive the following error message: "Logon Message: You do not have access to logon to this session".
Resolution: By default, TS connection security setting allows only administrators to log on. To set custom TS connection permissions, go to Terminal Services Configuration>Connections folder. Right-click the connection (RDP-TCP)>Properties>Permissions, add the users or/and groups that needs access to this connection.



More Connections Can Be Made At This Time

Symptoms: When attempting access a shared folder on a remote computer, you may receive this message “No more connections can be made at this remote computer at this time because there are already as many connections as the computer can accept” or “This request is not accepted by the network. Try again later”.

Causes:
1) The share that is configured to allows a specific number of connections, and that number of connections has been reached.
2) The 10 user connection limit has been reached if the remote computer is w2k/XP.
3. If you have Per Server licensing, the license limit has been reached




"Multiple connections to the server or shared resource are not allowed"

Symptom: when attempting to join a domain, you may receive "Multiple connections to the server or shared resource are not allowed. Please disconnect all previous connections to the server or shared resource and try again."

Resolution: try using net use /d from a command to clear all your mapped connections before joining the domain. You can also disconnect the mapped drive in Windows Explorer by right-click the mapped drive and select disconnection.



"Network path not found" in a domain network 1

SYMPTOMS: When trying to join a W2K/XP to a Windows 2000 domain by using he NetBIOS domain name, you are successful but not the FQDN and you may receive one of the following
error messages:
1) The following error occurred attempting to join domain "example.com": The network location cannot be reached. For information about network troubleshooting, see Windows Help.
2) Network path not found.

RESOLUTION: This issue may occur if the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service is not running on the client computer. To start the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service, go to MMS>Services, double-click TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service.


"Network path not found" in a domain network 2

Symptom: some w2k/xp can't join the domain randomly. The DNS server is multihomed server..

Resolution: You can find some computer browser errors on the DNS server. Disable one of two NICs will work. More resolutions can be found in browser Issue page.


"Network path not found" in a workgroup network - error 53

RESOLUTIONS:
1) Make sure that File and Printer Sharing is enabled on on the shared computer.
2) Make sure that shared machine has something shared.
3) Make sure that you have created the same workgroup and logon the same username if you try to access w2k/xp network.
4) Make sure that you have enabled NetBIOS over TCP/IP if this is a mixed OS network.



"Not accessible. You may not have permission to use this network resource"

Symptom: Your WinXP, in a peer-to-peer network, may receive the following error when you double-click My Network Places/Computers Near Me: is not accessible. You may not have permission to use this network resource.

Resolution:
1) Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on one or more computers in the workgroup. To do that, go to properties of Local Area Connection>properties of Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)>General> Advanced>WINS, check Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP (If you have a DHCP-assigned IP address, select Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server ).
2) Make sure the Computer Browser service is started.



"Not enough server storage is available to process this command." error.

SYMPTOMS: When accessing shares on a server from a client, you may receive "Not enough server storage is available to process this command." error. You may receive this message and Event ID: 2011 after you install Norton Antivirus for Windows.

Resolution:
1) The registry value IRPstackSize may be not explicitly present. To increase the value of the parameter, go to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ LanmanServer\Parameters. If the key is not present, choose Add Value in the Registry Editor. The Value Name should be IRPStackSize and the Data Type is REG_DWORD.

2) Remove any unnecessary entries from this value in the registry, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters\NullSessionPipes.
3) If the machine has a non-zero PagedPoolSize in the Registry, you need to re-set it by going to HKEY_LOCALMACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management and double-click on PagedPoolSize and set to 0.

4) Disable Norton antivirus to see if that will fix the problem.

For consultants, refer to Not enough server storage is available page.



"Not Enough Storage to Complete Operation"

SYMPTOMS: When you try to open the Printers folder, you may receive the following error message "There is not enough storage to complete this operation". This is because the size of the registry has exceeded the maximum size set in the virtual memory settings.

RESOLUTION: Increase the maximum registry size. To do that, go to Start>Control Panel>System>Performance> Change (In Windows 2000, click the Advanced tab, click Performance Options, and then Change). Type a larger value in the Maximum Registry Size box.


"No logon server available"

Symptoms: you can ping the server by ip and name but can't map the shared drive by using net use \\ip or \\servername. If you try, you may receive the "No logon server available".

Resolutions: This sounds like cache credential issue. 1) make sure the computers in the same network, the same workgroup/domain and have created the same username. 2) use net to cache the credential. 3) The user profiles may been damaged.



"No domain server was available to validate your password"

Symptoms: when trying to logon a domain from win9x, you may receive a message "The following error occurred while loading protocol number 0. Error 38: The computer name you specified is already in use..." and then "No domain server was available to validate your password".

Resolution:
1) make no two host name in the network.
2) check WINS and make sure no one host uses two IPs. If it does, delete all of them and reboot the computer.



"No domain server was available..." while the dialup connection is active

Symptom: you have windows 2000 domain controller with DNS, DHCP, WINS and Dialup connection. Whenever the dialup connection is active, none client can't logon and gets a message "No domain server was available to to validate your password. You may not be able to gain access to some network resources"

Resolution: Make sure you don't have "Register this connection's addresses in DNS" checked under TCP/IP Advanced DNS settings. To check this, go to the Properties of the connection> the Properties of the TCP/IP>Advanced>DNS, uncheck "Register this connection's addresses in DNS"



Resource: \\computername\IPC$ - An extended error has occurred

Symptoms: When you attempt to connect to w2k/xp computer over the network, you may receive one of the following error messages: "You must supply a password to make this connection: Resource: \\computername\IPC$" -or- "computername An extended error has occurred"

Resolutions:
1. make sure netlogon service is running.
2. Make sure you have created logon ID and password for remote computer logon.
3. Or enable guest account.


Remote Procedure call terminated unexpectedly - ...NT authority must shut down your computer in 30 seconds."

Symptoms:
1. Your computer reboots every few minutes without user input.
2. The computer become unresponsive.
3. You may receive "Remote Procedure Call terminated unexpectedly" and ...NT authority must shut down your computer in 30 seconds."
4. There is msblasr.exe running on Task Manager


Cause: "W32.Blaster.Worm" or "MSBlast."



RPC Server is Unavailable

Symptoms: When running Replication, Winlogon, Terminal Server, User authentication, enabling trusted relationships, Connecting to domain controllers and trusted domains, you may receive the above error.

Causes:
1. The RPC service may not be started.
2. You are unable to resolve a DNS or NetBIOS name.
3. An RPC channel cannot be established.
4. This issue occurs because the DNS service cannot locate server resources on the domain with which you are trying to establish the trust.

Resolution: Run the Netdiag /debug command on the server in question to check any errors. Also check these articles - .RPC Server is Unavailable



"Spooler Subsystem Application Needs to Close" - "Operation Could Not Be Completed" Error Messages

Causes:
1. Bad printer driver.
2. New MS update conflicts with the printer driver.
3. ICF conflicts with the printer driver.


The system cannot log you on to this domain because the system's computer account in its primary domain is missing or the password on that account is incorrect.

Causes:
1. incorrect password.
2. This behavior may occur if the password for the computer account and the local security authority (LSA) secret are not synchronized.
3. Computer names conflict.



This account is the same as the one logged on to the system and that this account was tried before to logon
There is no domain controller available to validate this account.
There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request.
Event ID 5719

Symptoms:
1. In client, you may receive Event ID 5719: "No Windows NT or Windows 2000 Domain Controller is available for domain Domain. The following error occurred: There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request."

2. In DC, you may receive Event ID 5719: "No Windows NT or Windows 2000 Domain Controller is available for domain chicagotech.net. The following error occurred: There are currently no logon servers available to service the logon request.

3. You logon domain user in a domain network, the mapping logon script displays this message: "There is no domain controller available to validate this account."

4. You use a office laptop to connect the office VPN, when you map a network drive using this command line: net use \\chicagotech\shared /u:chicagotech.net/blin, you may receive this message: "This account is the same as the one logged on to the system and that this account was tried before to logon. There is no domain controller available to validate this account"

Causes:
1. The DC is down.
2. Can't access the DC.
3. The DNS issue.
4. Run out of buffer space in the NetBT datagram buffer.



'TCP/IP transport not installed

Causes:
1. TCP/IP is not enabled.
2. Installed too many TCP/IP protocols.
3. Old NIC driver.
4. Winsock issue.


"The computer account already exists"

Symptoms: When joining w2k/xp into a domain, you may receive "The computer account already exists". You may be able to ping the computer account, for example ABC, but ping -a ip address (the same ip of ABC) shows different computer name like XYZ.

Resolution: Go to the DNS ad WINS to find and delete the ABC account and wait for while to re-join the domain.


The network folder specified is currently mapped using a different user name and password

Symptom: If you use the Map Network Drive Wizard to connect to a network share by using different user credentials and you use the browse functionality to locate the network share, you may receive the following error message: The network folder specified is currently mapped using a different user name and password. To connect using a different user name and password, first disconnect any existing mappings to this network share.

Resolutions:
1. Disconnect the existing mapped drive.
2. Apply latest SP.



"The password is incorrect. Try again"

Symptom: While trying to access a win2000/XP computer and type administrator password on Enter Network Password screen in the same peer-to-peer workgroup, you may get Error: The password is incorrect. Try again.

Resolution:
1) You need to setup every user that needs access to the shared folder on every computer they have to connect to. Then give the proper user proper permission to the shared folder.
2) logon the same user and password.
3) as always, you can try to enable a guest account on the accessed machine.



"There are no entries on the list"

Symptom: when using net view \\remotecomputer command, you may receive "There are no entries on the list". And you may have a problem to access the remote computer.

Resolution:
1) If there are no file or print shares on the computer, the net view command displays a "There are no entries in the list" message. So, make sure there are file or print shares on the computer. Or to use net share command to check sharing status.
2) Make sure no firewall running because the firewall may block sharing.
3) Make sure client for ms network is enabled.



"There is not enough memory available to print your document"

If you receive all following message, you may have firewall running on the LAN connection and you should disable it. "computer is not accessible...", "There was an error writing to \\XP computer for printer..." and "There is not enough memory available to print your document. Quit one or more programs and try again. ..."


Transmit failed, error code 65 or 10050

Symptom: When attempting to verify network connectivity with a remote computer by using the Ping.exe command, you may receive a command-line error message similar to the following: Ping: transmit failed, error code 65 or 10050.

Resolutions: This behavior can occur if the following conditions are true: 1) ICS is enabled; 2) a firewall software is running on the computer; 3) The ZoneLabs program is not correctly configured for ICS. To fix the problem: 1) re-configure ZoneAlarm for ICS. 2) Remove the Zone Labs firewall software from the computer.



"Unable to access Computers Near Me" or "Workgroup is not accessible" errors

Symptom: When several Win2000/XP computers are configured as members of a workgroup in a peer-to-peer network environment and you click on Computers Near Me in My Network Places or workgroup name Entire Network, the following error message may appear: "Cannot Access 'Computers Near Me' " or "Workgroup is not accessible" errors.

Resolution:
1) NetBIOS over TCP/IP. To do that, go to the properties of TCP/IP>Advanced>WINS. If you are using a static Internet Protocol (IP) address, click Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP. If you have a DHCP-assigned IP address, click Use NetBIOS setting from the DHCP server.
2) No Master Browser or too many browsers may cause this issue. Check Browser issue.



"Unable to Browse Network"

Symptom: When you attempt to browse your network by opening Entire Network in My Network Places/Network Neighborhood, you may receive the following error message: "Unable to Browse Network."

Check Lists:
1) have you loaded the NIC or is it working?
2) have you loaded common protocol, TCP/IP?
3) does the Computer browser work?
4) have you enable file and printer sharing in the accessed computer?
5) is the workstation service running?



"You may not have permission to use this network resource"

Refer to ... is not accessible

and "Resource: \\\ipc$"

"You must provide a password to make this connection." and "Resource: \\\ipc$"

Whenever you receive "Enter network password. You must provide a password to make this connection." and "Resource: \\\ipc$", it is permission and workgroup issues.

This behavior can occur for any of the following reasons:
1) The Windows 9x computer is not a client of a domain environment but the Log On To Windows Domain option is enabled.

2) The user name and password you are using to log in to the Windows 9x are not contained in the local user accounts database of the Windows NT/2000/XP computer you are attempting to browse.

3) The Windows 9x host is configured with user-level authentication to a domain.

Resolutions: To resolve this issue, use the appropriate method:
1) Disable the Log On To Windows Domain Option.

2) Log on to the Windows 9x with the local user accounts database of the Windows NT/2000/XP computer you are attempting to browse.

3) Disable User-level Authentication on the Windows 9x.
Windows needs your current credentials to ensure network connectivity


"Windows needs your current credentials to ensure network connectivity. Please lock this computer,
then unlock it using your most recent password or smart card. To lock your computer, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE,
and then press Enter."

Cause: you are logging on mutiple computer using the same logon ID and password while changing the password.

Tip: Best Practices for File Sharing in a Workgroup Environment

In a home office or other workgroup environment, best practices for sharing files on Windows Vista computers include the following:

-Enable sharing on your Public folder to share files with other users on the network when all users should have the same level of access to these files. Then drag your files and folders into Public to share them easily.

-Share files from within your user profile when you want to have greater control over who can see and access shared files on the network. Windows Vista’s Access-Based Enumeration technology means that users can see only the shared files for which they have a minimum of Read permission—if they don’t have Read permission, they won’t even know the file is shared.

-If you share files from within your user profile, share them from the appropriate folder: Share documents from within your Documents folder, share music from within your Music folder, and so on.

-If you share a file or folder, e-mail or otherwise communicate the UNC path to your share to network users whom you want to be able to access the share. Otherwise, users will have to browse the network using Windows Explorer to find any new shares present on the network.

-Make sure Network Discovery is turned on for all Windows Vista computers on your network. Network Discovery makes browsing for shared resources faster and more reliable.

-Make sure if you are setting up a work workgroup or a home network that your network type is a private network. This will allow you to enable things such as discovery and sharing on this network, but when you pick up your laptop and take it to a wireless hotspot, the computer will be less exposed, because your network type will switch to the public profile, which won’t have services such as discovery and sharing turned on. Additionally, the Windows Firewall exceptions will apply only to your private network, blocking incoming requests when connected to public networks.

Note:If you don’t want your user profile folder visible from the network, don’t share any files from within your profile. Sharing a file from within your profile automatically causes the %SystemDrive%\Users folder to be shared on the computer, and this means that other users on the network will be able to see your user profile folder on the computer. Of course, they won’t be able to look inside your profile folder unless they somehow have administrator credentials on the computer. But simply knowing the names of profile folders on the computer can give malicious users knowledge that can help them footprint your network, because these folder names correspond to logon names for users either on the computer or on the network.

Tip: Best Practices for File Sharing in a Domain Environment

In an Active Directory environment, best practices for sharing files on Windows Vista computers include the following:

-Turn off Network Discovery in a domain environment, as it can generate excessive network traffic that can interfere with normal network activities.

-Publish shared folders in Active Directory so that users can search for them in the directory and access them instead of having to browse the network to find them.

-Use Group Policy to prevent users on Windows Vista computers from sharing files on their computers from their user profiles unless they are local administrators on their computers. For more information, see the section titled “Managing File Sharing Using Group Policy” earlier in this chapter.

-Allow only advanced users the ability to share folders on their computers by giving them administrative rights on their computers.


Note: Do not make users local administrators on their computers unless you understand the consequences of doing so. One consequence is that they will be able to share folders and open firewall exceptions on their computers. Sharing folders from desktop computers in a domain environment may mean that important documents are being stored on computers instead of on network file servers, and since desktop computers are not normally backed up, this can mean lost work. Educate users to store files instead within shared folders on network file servers where their work can be centrally backed up regularly.

Tip: Track and Analyze System Stability and Reliability with RACAgent

Reliability Monitor gathers and processes data with the Reliability Analysis Component (RAC). The RACAgent is a hidden scheduled task that is automatically configured during system installation. This task is responsible for gathering the reliability data and displaying it in the chart view. The RACAgent task typically runs once every hour and will not wake the computer if it is sleeping. If the computer is a laptop on battery power, RACAgent.exe will immediately exit if the battery capacity is at less than 33 percent.

To view the RACAgent task in Task Scheduler, select RAC within the Task Scheduler library and then right-click and select View – Show Hidden Tasks in the MMC action pane.

If you do not want to track system stability, you can disable the RACAgent task by selecting the Disable option, which is accessible in any of the following ways when the RACAgent task is highlighted in the main MMC pane:

-Via the action menu
-Via the action pane
-Via the shortcut menu for the task

Tip: Troubleshoot Group Policy with GPLogView

GPLogView.exe is a command-line troubleshooting tool that you can use to dump Group Policy–related events logged in the System Event Log channel and the Group Policy Operational Event Log channel. GPLogView.exe works only on Windows Vista; it is not included with Windows Vista but GPLogView.exe is available as a free download. The command-line options for this tool are:

-? Shows this usage message.
-o [output file name] Output filename required for text, xml, or html; not valid if -m is specified.
-n Do not output the activity ID.
-p Dump the process ID and thread ID associated with each event.
-a [activity id guid] Shows only events matching the given activity ID.
-m Runs the tool in monitor mode displaying events in real time.
-x Dumps the event in XML; the only other options allowed with this option are –m and -a but not both together.
-h Dumps the events in HTML format; -m or -x option not allowed, and -a and -n are allowed, but not both together. Also must specify -o option.
-q [Query file name] Uses the query specified by query file.
-l [Publisher name] If -q is specified, the publisher name must be specified.


The following examples illustrate the use of this tool:

GPLogView.exe -o GPEvents.txt
GPLogView.exe -n -o GPEvents.txt
GPLogView.exe -a ea276341-d646-43e0-866c-e7cc35aecc0a -o GPEvents.txt
GPLogView.exe -p -o GPEvents.txt
GPLogView.exe -x -o GPEvents.xml
GPLogView.exe -x -m
GPLogView.exe -x -a ea276341-d646-43e0-866c-e7cc35aecc0a -o GPEvents.xml
GPLogView.exe -h -o GPEvents.html
GPLogView.exe -h -a ea276341-d646-43e0-866c-e7cc35aecc0a -o GPEvents.html
GPLogView.exe -h -q somequeryFile.txt -l Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy -oGPEvents.html

Tip: Manage Volume Shadow Copy Service from the Vssadmin Command-Line

You can manage the Volume Shadow Copy service using the Vssadmin command-line tool from an elevated command prompt. You can use this tool to run the following commands:
Vssadmin List Providers Lists registered Volume Shadow Copy providers. Windows Vista includes Software Shadow Copy Provider 1.0.

Vssadmin List Shadows Lists existing volume shadow copies, the time the shadow copy was created, and its location.

Vssadmin List ShadowStorage Lists the volume shadow storage space currently in use, the space that is reserved for future use (labeled as allocated), and the maximum space that might be dedicated. This space is used to store changes while a shadow copy is active. The following sample output was generated using a computer that currently had about 3GB of files stored in a shadow copy, but that might allocate as much as 6.4GB.

Vssadmin List Volumes Lists volumes that are eligible for shadow copies.
Vssadmin List Writers Lists shadow copy writers, which support communicating with the Volume Shadow Copy service to ensure that files are captured in a consistent state. By default, subscribed writers include an operating system writer, a registry writer, a WMI writer, and a search service writer, among others. SQL Server also provides a Volume Shadow Copy writer.

Vssadmin Resize ShadowStorage Resizes Volume Shadow Copy storage. You can use this command to increase the maximum space that might be used by Volume Shadow Copy. Typically, this is unnecessary. However, if you discover that backups are failing on a computer because of an extremely high volume of changes during a backup, and Vssadmin List ShadowStorage reveals that the used Shadow Copy Storage space is at the maximum, you might be able to resolve the problem by manually increasing the maximum size.

Tip: Remove Unwanted Toolbars and Fix Settings in Internet Explorer

Remove Unwanted Toolbars

Internet Explorer and Windows Vista include several layers of defense to prevent unwanted software from modifying the Internet Explorer configuration. If an unwanted toolbar does appear in Internet Explorer, you can disable it using the Add-on Manager. Sometimes, however, the problem may be more persistent. If the problem persists, start Internet Explorer in No Add-ons mode and then use the Add-on Manager to disable all add-ons that you have not intentionally installed.

In Internet Explorer 7, No Add-ons mode allows Internet Explorer to temporarily run without any toolbars, ActiveX controls, or other add-ons. It is very useful when troubleshooting a problem that might be related to an add-on. To enable Add-ons Disabled mode, follow these steps:

-Open the Start menu and point to All Programs.
-Point to Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Internet Explorer (No Add-ons).
-Note the Information bar display in your browser that indicates add-ons are disabled.


Running Internet Explorer from the standard Start menu shortcut will return the functionality to its prior state.


Fix Unwanted Changes to Settings

If the home page or other settings have changed, you can reset all browser settings except for Favorites, Feed, Internet Connection Settings, Group Policy Settings, and Content Advisor Settings by following these steps:

-Close all windows except for one Internet Explorer window.
-Click Tools and then click Internet Options.
-In the Internet Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
-Click Reset.
-In the warning box that appears, click Reset.
-Click Close and then click OK twice. Restart Internet Explorer.

To prevent unwanted changes in the future, ensure that you have all Microsoft Security Updates installed and are using anti-malware software, such as Microsoft Forefront or Windows Defender.

Tip: Prevent Users from Deleting Browsing History and Clearing Cookies

Browsers store many traces of the sites users visit, including cached copies of pages and images, passwords, and cookies. To simplify removing these traces, Internet Explorer 7 provides a Delete Browsing History option that allows users to initiate cleanup with one button, easily and instantly erasing personal data.
To delete browsing history, follow these steps:

-In your browser, click Tools and then click Internet Options.

-In the Internet Options dialog box on the General tab, click Delete in the Browsing History group.

-In the Delete Browsing History dialog box, shown in Figure 21-15, delete only the objects you need to remove. Alternatively, you can click Delete All.

You probably knew that already. But did you know you can disable these options?
If you don’t want users to be able to delete their browsing history, form data, or passwords, you can enable the following group policy settings located in both Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer\ and User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Internet Explorer\:

Turn off “Delete Browsing History” Functionality
Turn off “Delete Forms” Functionality
Turn off “Delete Passwords” Functionality

Tip: Manage Scheduled Tasks with the SchTasks.exe Command

An administrator can use the SchTasks.exe command-line utility to create, delete, query, change, run, and end scheduled tasks on a local or remote system through the command shell. The SchTasks.exe command interface uses the following syntax:
schtasks /{parameter} [arguments]

The Command Parameters Are:
/Create Creates a new scheduled task
/DeleteDeletes the scheduled task(s)
/Query Displays all scheduled tasks
/Change Changes the properties of scheduled task
/Run Runs the scheduled task immediately
/End Stops the currently running scheduled task
/? Displays this help message

Tip: Know the Network Troubleshooting Tools in Windows Vista

Windows Vista contains an assortment of utilities you can use to diagnose, monitor, and repair network connections. Here’s an overview of the key tools you’ll find in Windows Vista and what they’re used for.


Get MAC Address (Getmac.exe)
Discovers the Media Access Control (MAC) address, and lists associated network protocols for all network cards in a computer, either locally or across a network.


Hostname (Hostname.exe)
Displays the host name of the current computer.


IP Configuration Utility (Ipconfig.exe)
Displays all current TCP/IP network configuration values, and refreshes DHCP and DNS settings.


Name Server Lookup (Nslookup.exe)
Displays information about Domain Name System records for specific IP addresses and/or host names so that you can troubleshoot DNS problems.


Net services commands (Net.exe)
Performs a broad range of network tasks; type net with no parameters to see a full list of available command-line options.


Netstat (Netstat.exe)
Displays active TCP connections, ports on which the computer is listening, Ethernet statistics, the IP routing table, and IPv4/IPv6 statistics.


Network Command Shell (Netsh.exe)
Displays or modifies the network configuration of a local or remote computer that is currently running; this command-line scripting utility has a huge number of options, which are fully detailed in Help.


PathPing (Pathping.exe)
Combines functions of Traceroute and Ping to identify problems at a router or network link.


TCP/IP NetBIOS Information (Nbtstat.exe)
Displays statistics for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) protocol, NetBIOS name tables for both the local computer and remote computers, and the NetBIOS name cache.


TCP/IP Ping (Ping.exe)
Verifies IP-level connectivity to another internet address by sending ICMP packets and measuring response time in milliseconds.


TCP/IP Route (Route.exe)
Displays and modifies entries in the local IP routing table.


TCP/IP Traceroute (Tracert.exe)
Determines the path to an internet address and lists the time required to reach each hop; useful for troubleshooting connectivity problems on specific network segments.

Tip: Query and Manage Event Logs with the Windows Events Command Line Utility

The Windows Events Command Line Utility (Wevtutil.exe) lets you retrieve information about event logs and publishers; install and uninstall event manifests; run queries; and export, archive, and clear logs from an elevated command prompt. (The usage for this command is described later in this sidebar.) Note that you can use either the short (ep /uni) or long (enum-publishers /unicode) version of the command and option names, and all commands, options, and option values are case insensitive.

The general syntax for Wevtutil.exe is as follows:
wevtutil command [argument [argument] ...] [/option:value [/option:value] ...]

Here command can be any of the following:
al (archive-log) Archives an exported log.
cl (clear-log) Clears a log.
el (enum-logs) Lists log names.
ep (enum-publishers) Lists event publishers.
epl (export-log) Exports a log.
gl (get-log) Gets log configuration information.
gli (get-log-info) Gets log status information.
gp (get-publisher) Gets publisher configuration information.
im (install-manifest) Installs event publishers and logs from manifest.
qe (query-events) Queries events from a log or log file.
sl (set-log) Modifies configuration of a log.
um (uninstall-manifest) Uninstalls event publishers and logs from manifest.


Common options are as follows:
/r:value (remote) If specified, runs the command on a remote computer named value. Note that im (install-manifest) and um (uninstall-manifest) do not support remote operation.
/u:value (username) Specifies a different user to log on to remote computer. Here value is a user name in the form domain\user or user. This option is only applicable when option /r (remote) is specified.
/p:value (password) Specifies a password for the specified user. If not specified or value is "*", the user will be prompted to enter a password. This option is only applicable when /u (username) option is specified.
/a:value (authentication) Specifies an authentication type for connecting to a remote computer. Value can be Default, Negotiate, Kerberos, or NTLM. The default is Negotiate.
/uni:value (unicode) Displays output in Unicode. Value can be true or false (if true, output is in Unicode).


To learn more about a specific command, type wevtutil command /? at an elevated command prompt.