10 Tips to Choose the Best Motherboard

Motherboard is the main part of any computer and you need to be highly concerned while choosing a motherboard for you computer. It is very simple to choose a motherboard. Motherboard is mainly integrated with number of devices.

It is highly recommended to select the motherboard with maximum number of ports with 2 serial, 1 parallel and 4 USB ports. It is also recommended to check the availability of upgrade options such as memory support and number of available PCI slots etc.

Here are some important tips to choose a motherboard when you decide to buy a new PC:

1. First thing you need to consider is the CPU you want to use because motherboard differs from CPU to CPU i.e. Intel and AMD CPUs both use different motherboards. This is because of socket type they use. The CPU needs the socket to communicate with motherboard components through the chipset.

2. Take a time to research on motherboards either from a computer magazine, online reviews, reading surveys, etc. And also look for some competitors on best motherboards online.

3. Do not go for costliest motherboard for unused additional features. Every time look cost for benefit ratio and select the motherboard assessing the utility value.

4. If you are looking motherboard for gaming purpose then you have to check for enough space around CPU to install larger heat sink-fan combination for cooling. So be sure to go for motherboard having facility to overclock Front Side Bus (FSB) in steps of 1 MHz and core voltage adjustment.

5. You also need to confirm the compatibility of chipset on motherboard with the speed of processor and FSB. It is very important step in order to improve the system performance.

6. Try to find out the feature rich motherboard for future upgrade and ensure about the extra PCI and memory slot for future expansion. This is important because the motherboard type you choose is sufficient for now but it may not always enough for latter.

7. Motherboard are also feature with onboard video chipset and an AGP slot. So if you are planning for expensive motherboard then be sure to check for such feature and also confirm whether AGP slot supports latest transfer rate.

8. Check the motherboard for onboard sound and integrated Ethernet because all the recent motherboard must features such thing otherwise you need to expense a bit more money to buy extra Ethernet chipset and sound card.

9. You need to consider on memory when selecting your motherboard. Most motherboard today comes with at least 2 memory slot and many with 4. If you are serious gamer then it is better to choose for 4 memory slots motherboard and 2GB memory card is enough if you like to add video graphic card.

10. Other things you need to consider while selecting a motherboard are the peripherals, such as keyboard, mouse, printer, flash drive, external drive and digital camera. You need to consider about battery ( you need to change it 4-5 years) and the preloaded BIOS (boots up computer)

There are still many things to consider while choosing the best motherboard. If you are still having a problem choosing a motherboard then you can look for some motherboard manufacturers for details on them. The best known motherboard manufacture is Kontron which deals with embedded motherboard the best for solution for wide variety of applications.

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How to Check a Sound Card

A sound card is a device that translates data into signals that can be output as audible sound to speakers or headphones. Sound cards usually have several input and output ports that are accessible from the back of a computer's case. Some sound cards are self-contained, meaning they plug into the motherboard through a PCI slot, while other sound cards are integrated into the motherboard itself.

Instructions

Checking a Sound card with the Dxdiag Command

1. Step 1

   Click on the "Start" menu and then click "Run."

2. Step 2

   Type "dxdiag" in the run box, then click "Ok."

3. Step 3

   Click on the "Sound" tab or tabs on the diagnostic pop-up window for detailed information about your sound devices.

Checking a Sound Card with the Device Manager

4. Step 1

   Click "Start," then click "Control Panel."

5. Step 2

   Double click on "Device Manager."

6. Step 3

   Locate "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" in the list of devices, and click the plus sign to expand the list.

7. Step 4

   Right-click on the audio device listed and select "Properties." The various property tabs will have information about the sound card, its driver and whether it is working properly.

Physical Identification of a Sound Card

8. Step 1

   Turn off the computer and unplug the power cable.

9. Step 2

   Use a screwdriver to take out the screws holding the left side panel of the case, and set the panel aside.

10. Step 3

    Locate the sound card inside the computer by noting which device your speakers are plugged into. If your speakers are plugged into the motherboard, you have an integrated sound card. If they are plugged into a card in a PCI slot (small, light-colored slots along the back of the case), it is a dedicated sound card.

11. Step 4

    Inspect the sound card for more information. An integrated sound card may not have any identifying information available, but a PCI sound card may have a sticker citing its manufacturer, the card type or other information.

12. Step 5

    Close the case when finished inspecting the card.

Identifying an Audio Device on a Mac (OSX)

13. Step 1

    Click on the "Apple" menu.

14. Step 2

    Click on "About this Mac."

15. Step 3

    Click "More Info."

16. Step 4

    Click "Audio" in the list of devices on the left-hand side of the window. This should produce a list your audio devices.

Tips & Warnings

• If your sound card is not working properly, faulty drivers are a likely cause. Try reverting to old drivers or installing new ones from the manufacturer's website to fix the problem. Laptops are likely to have integrated sound devices that can be difficult to access, so it is best not to attempt to physically identify laptop cards.

How to Check a Motherboard

All of the various components of your computer are connected in some way to the motherboard, so if it stops working your entire machine will be useless. Unfortunately checking a motherboard for problems is a much more extensive process than with any other part because every other component has to be ruled out first.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Power off the computer completely and then unplug all of the cables from the back of the case. Move the computer close to a different electrical outlet that you know for certain is working. Plug the power cable into the outlet and press the power button to see if the problem lies with the outlet or with a component on the computer.

2. Step 2

   Put your hand behind the power supply on the computer when it is powered and wait to see if you feel any air flowing from the fan, which will indicate that the power supply is working properly and is not the cause of the problem.

3. Step 3

   Turn off the computer and then remove the power cable. Set the computer case down so that the left side panel is facing up towards you. Check the back edge of the computer to see if the panel is connected to the case by a series of case screws, a twist-off thumbscrew or a metal latch.

4. Step 4

   Disconnect the side panel from the case by pulling up on the latch, twisting the thumbscrew off or pulling out the case screws with a screwdriver. Remove the side panel from the case and set it aside.

5. Step 5

   Check to see if there are any bent or burnt pins or transistors on the motherboard, which is the large flat sheet on the bottom of the case, to which all of the other components are connected.

6. Step 6

   Grab both sides of the plastic end of the SATA cable that is connected to the power supply and pull it out if the fan was not blowing air earlier. Remove the screws holding the power supply to the drive bay and then pull the power supply out. Slide a replacement power supply in and re-attach the screws and SATA cable.

7. Step 7

   Remove all of the SATA cables that are connected to the power supply a drive bays if the fan was working earlier. Pull out any expansion cards, such as video or sound cards, from the card slots on the lower left side of the motherboard. Remove the screws that hold the motherboard to the case.

8. Step 8

   Pull the entire motherboard out of the case carefully and set it down on a non-conductive surface such as a wood table. Place the video card back into the expansion slot if you are using one. Plug the power cable directly into the motherboard and then connect the monitor's cable into the corresponding port.

9. Step 9

   Pull the processor off of the motherboard and push down a replacement processor. Use a screwdriver to press in the latch that depresses when you would press the power button on the case. Check to see if the computer powers up properly, which will indicate the problem is with the processor instead of the motherboard.

10. Step 10

    Power off the motherboard. Repeat the process of using a replacement unit with the RAM modules and graphics card to see if either of them are causing the problem. Purchase a new motherboard if the computer still will not power on after replacing the processor, RAM and graphics card.

More Tips & Warnings

• Touch your hand to a metal object connected to the ground to remove the built up static electricity in your body before opening the computer case.
• Do not touch the motherboard or any of the components while the power is on as you can seriously injure yourself because of the electricity.

After You buy a new Computer..

Many people experience problems with their Personal Computers sooner or later. Properly setting up and configuring a new Windows XP computer gets you off on the right foot and goes a long way towards insuring a trouble-free experience with it.

95% of the class applies to any Windows computer, not just new ones.

The first time you turn on a new Windows XP computer you are asked a whole host of setup questions. The class helps you understand these questions and offers advice on answering them.

Next we inventory the computer to make sure that it is exactly what you were expecting. For example, your computer was supposed to have a 40 gigabyte hard disk but Windows says the hard disk is only 34 gigabytes. Or, the machine came with 512 megabytes of RAM memory but Windows says there is only 484 megabytes. Understand why this is and whether it is a problem.

Then we cover adjusting the monitor. Considering that your eyes are more important than any computer, this may be the most important topic. This is followed by demonstrations of running the hardware through its paces; testing the ram, hard disk and other hardware with free diagnostic programs. If anything is wrong, you want to know while the warranty is still in effect.

All too often, Windows gets fouled up to the point that you have to start over. The class covers the various schemes available for returning your computer to a like-new state and some up-front preparation that may be necessary before trouble strikes.

To prevent problems, the class covers the usual defensive armor needed by any Windows PC: setting up and choosing a firewall program, installing bug fixes (a.k.a patches) and configuring your anti-virus program to provide the best defense (and testing it).

Then we cover customizing both Windows and Internet Explorer. Many default settings were poorly chosen by Microsoft and should be changed. This topic helps make the computer yours (by, for example, changing the desktop background image). We also discuss setting up email, your Internet connection and my suggestions on free software needed on every Windows computer that is never pre-installed. This includes Firefox, anti-Spyware software and more.

Technical support from computer manufacturers is often poor. The class includes a number of questions that you can ask your vendor to both learn useful information about your computer and also test the quality of their support.

Underlying Windows is the BIOS. I briefly explain what the BIOS does, why you might care and how to modify it.

No computer should be directly plugged into an AC outlet. At the least, it should be plugged into a surge protector. The class tells you the features to look for when choosing a surge protector (there is more to it than simply Joules). Computers used for important purposes should instead be plugged into a Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and suggestions are offered on choosing a particular model.

For students that have an old computer, the class handout covers transferring files and settings to the new computer, securely deleting files from the old computer and recycling or donating the old computer rather than throwing it in the trash. Time usually does not allow these topics to make it into the classroom discussion. Many links about recycling an old computer are further down this page.

There is an 85 page handout, so students can learn without having to take notes. The class runs about four hours.

Pre-requisite: The only pre-requisite is experience using a Windows computer (the class is not for Apple Macintosh users). Note that this is not a class on how to use Windows.

How to edit registry key in Windows XP or Vista?

Basic Registry Editing in Windows XP/Vista

Editing registry key can be very complicated and highly risky. Please do NOT try this unless you are absolutely positive that you might mess up the system, and as always, it’s highly recommended that you do a backup of the registry (or whole system) before making any modifications.

Since it would take hours to talk about the registry, I am just going through the very basic steps. You can always refer to the Microsoft website or books for full details. Here’s the most common steps you might ever need to know for basic troubleshooting:

For Windows XP:

1. In Windows XP, from Start, and then click on Run.
2. Type “regedit“, then click on OK.
   
3. Now it opens the Registry Editor.
   
4. You can easily navigate through the subkey if you know what you are looking for. Or, you can press “Ctrl + F” to locate the subkey that contains the value you want to edit. (F3 to Find Next)
   

For Windows Vista:

1. From Start, then type “regedit“.
   
2. Click on “regedit” on the search result to open the registry editor in Windows Vista.
3. Step 3 & 4 are the same as Windows XP (see above).

That’s all you need to know for basic editing such as removing spyware or troubleshooting a basic Windows problem. Please digg it if you find this helpful. Good luck!

6 Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows 7

Now that you've had a chance to install the Windows 7 Release Candidate and spend a few weeks exploring the OS, it's time to get serious and learn some keyboard shortcuts. Windows 7 adds some new ones to the mix, all of them based on the Windows key. Here are my five favorites:

Win + Home: Minimize all windows except the one that's currently active. Hit it again to restore the windows.

Win + Space: Makes all windows transparent so you can see through to the desktop.

Win + Up Arrow: Maximizes the active window.

Win + Left/Right Arrow: Docks the active window to the left or ride side of the screen.

Win + (+/-): Enables the magnifier and zooms in/out.

Win + P: Opens Windows' presentation settings so you can quickly adjust display settings to include a second monitor or a projector.

While we're on the subject of shortcuts, be sure to check out Three Keyboard Shortcuts You Need to Learn Right Now, Seven More Keyboard Shortcuts You Need to Learn Right Now, and Five Firefox Shortcuts (also best learned right now).

Why do you need to Defrag your Computer.?

computer becoming slow? Defrag your computer and save more time on loading! The most significant reason why your computer is slow is its disk fragmentation.

Each time you store a file on a hard disk, the computer saves the new data on your available disk space, which may cause its existing files to get scattered across the disk.

This can cause computer loading latency, you need to defrag your computer from time to time to avoid massive slow down. If you want to avoid this problem, you need to regularly defrag computer and the easiest way to do this is by using Lacelevel2.

Why do we have to Defrag?

• When Fragmentation level increases, and you find it yourself by the change in the response time of the computer, it is too late and Defrag won’t help too much.
• Analysis of the feedback from our last 100,000 users shown that 4% found out that their fragmentation is too high as described above, while with 32% the early warning provided enabled them to avoid entering this state.
• In 60 seconds you will know your status. Just download and run Lacelevel2.
• You will not risk any more an unnecessary Defrag unless it is really required.

“Lacelevel2” is the measurement unit for the fragmentation level. It is related to the quality of the data and not to the size or utilization of your disk and you’ll understand how to use it later in the Advanced Services. Like an earthquake, the higher the number is on the scale, it describes a worst situation.

Lacelevel2 is the desktop product which calculates the fragmentation level of your disk. It is also distributed by Google as a gadget for Google Desktop Search. Downloading it from here enables both functions.

LaceWatcher enables distributed fragmentation management on your servers, workstations, PCs and Linux machines by a central operator – preparing a maintenance plan. You may now control data quality and save a lot of resources. Visit http://www.disklace.com

Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life

Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible? Here are 15 easy ways to do so.

1. Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. (but not while it’s on battery of course!) Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.

2. Dim your screen - Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.

3. Cut down on programs running in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.

4. Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.

5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.

6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD - As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. Even having one in the drive can be power consuming. They spin, taking power, even when they?re not actively being used. Wherever possible, try to run on virtual drives using programs like Alcohol 120% rather than optical ones.

7. Keep the battery contacts clean: Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.

8. Take care of your battery - Exercise the Battery. Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects)

9. Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.

10. Keep operating temperature down - Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner, or refer to some extra tips by LapTopMag.com.

11. Set up and optimize your power options - Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).

12. Don’t multitask - Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you don’t you’ll only drain out your batteries before anything gets completed!

13. Go easy on the PC demands - The more you demand from your PC. Passive activities like email and word processing consume much less power than gaming or playing a DVD. If you’ve got a single battery charge - pick your priorities wisely.

14. Get yourself a more efficient laptop - Laptops are getting more and more efficient in nature to the point where some manufacturers are talking about all day long batteries. Picking up a newer more efficient laptop to replace an aging one is usually a quick fix.

15. Prevent the Memory Effect - If you’re using a very old laptop, you’ll want to prevent the ‘memory effect’ - Keep the battery healthy by fully charging and then fully discharging it at least once every two to three weeks. Exceptions to the rule are Li-Ion batteries (which most laptops have) which do not suffer from the memory effect.

Bonus Tip #1: Turn off the autosave function. MS-Word’s and Excel’s autosave functions are great but because they keep saving regular intervals, they work your hard driver harder than it may have to. If you plan to do this, you may want to turn it back on as the battery runs low. While it saves battery life in the beginning, you will want to make sure your work is saved when your battery dies.

Bonus Tip #2: Lower the graphics use. You can do this by changing the screen resolution and shutting off fancy graphic drivers. Graphics cards (video cards) use as much or more power today as hard disks - Thanks Andrew

Update 7/7/07: Bonus Tip #1 to give caution about turning off autosave, tip #8 to change information about discharging batteries - thanks to all who pointed it out. Added Bonus tip #2, Tip #1 to add in clause in regards to Mac OSX, Tip #1 about the spinning of hard drives - thanks to all who pointed it out

Five tips to buy a good laptop computer

Here are Five Tips for buying a New Laptop for you, Check this out before you buy a new Laptop Computer :

1. Be aware of the warranty

One of the most overlooked issues when buying a laptop is the warranty. In the excitement of the new toy you don't even care about this. However, when the laptop has a problem this can be a real headache.

Make sure that you get informed if the warranty for your equipment is good enough. Check with friends that had to use the customer services if the company is efficient. Finally, check if you need to buy an additional coverage package.

2. Choose a processor that is adequate but not too expensive

Processors are the engine of your laptop. If you get a fast one, you can run a lot of applications faster. That is why processor is such an important factor in choosing a laptop.

These days, however, speed is not the only indicator of capacity for a processor. Some processors are more efficient, even at lower speeds. Higher speeds also mean higher temperatures, which can be difficult to manage in a small laptop -- they can literally burn under the heat.

Many processor nowadays are dual, which means that they have a copy of itself available for similar work. This is great because different programs can use different processors, and therefore can run faster as a result. Dual cores are the ones with such capability, and quad-cores (with four processors) are coming to the market.

3. Find a laptop with enough room for growth

Laptops are different from desktop computers mainly in that it is difficult to expand its capacity. If your hard disk, for example, gets full after a few months, it is difficult to replace it with a bigger one. Especially if you find out that this is not allowed by the company.

You should always plan to buy a laptop that has features that allow it to grow without major headaches. For example, extra slots for memory extension, several ports for communication with external devices, replaceable drives, etc. This will certainly pay off when you need to improve your laptop in the future.

4. Do not be cheap with memory: you always need more

Memory is like money: you always need more. The general law of programming is that each program is made to use ALL memory available at any given time. And companies spend their time creating software that tries to eat even more memory, such as Windows Vista, Java programs, etc.

The good thing is that memory is cheap these days. So, make a good investment and buy enough memory to satisfy the hunger of your preferred applications.

5. Hark disk is essential

One feature that can make or kill your laptop is the hard disk. It is difficult to replace hard disks, and if your is too small it won't fit all the information you need.

Prefer hard disks with generous sizes, even if you have to pay a little more. It is good investment, because it will save you a lot of trouble when you try to install the new multi-Giga software or when you try to store the record you made of your children.

Top 5 tips for buying a new computer

Get info from the three sources
Editor's reviews, user opinions and manufacturers information — each has a different perspective. Editors are going to have approached the product methodically and without bias if they are from an independent source like CNET.com. Users will have lived with the product for the longest time and in the most diverse ways, which can reveal flaws or benefits that don't become apparent in short-term lab reviews.

And Manufacturers will have a unique concept of how they intended the product to be used and what makes it stand out. Armed with these three perspectives you can feel pretty well-armed to figure out if the computer — or any consumer electronics product — is the right one for you.

Make more RAM (random access memory) your main priority with any PC
CPU speed and hard drive space are usually OK, memory is what's often skimpy on a new machine. All too often what is perceived by users as their computer being too slow is actually not the CPU speed but the amount of memory. When a computer has too little memory, it doesn't tell you, it just starts using part of the its hard drive space as a poor form of additional memory known as swap space or virtual memory. It's a clunky, slow way for a computer to run but it at least keeps things going. Much better is to give a computer the RAM it needs, 2GB at least if you want to run any of the latest operating systems with all their features.

Consider 3GB if you can afford it because there's almost no such thing as too much RAM and the sweet spot for RAM for most users is somewhere between 2GB and 4GB if they are running Windows Vista with all the bells & whistles enabled.

Shop for a laptop online and in store
You need to test drive the keyboard, mouse and monitor since they are integrated. You can always change the monitor, keyboard and mouse on a desktop PC but not on a laptop unless you have it tethered to a desk. Check the keyboard for good key action — the amount of travel from top to bottom of a key press; more usually feels better. Laptops use many different kinds of mouse pointing devices so make sure you like the one your new laptop uses. Or at least find out if you hate it and should buy a travel mouse right away.

And of course check the brightness of the monitor. Laptops are often used in brightly lit areas where ambient lighting it not idea, so make sure you have a bright display and one that seems large enough to your eyes.

Take advantage of weekly store specials
Computers are largely commodities, so chase a low price point aggressively. There are new models of computers coming on the market every few weeks and frankly they often differ very little in any meaningful way. So take advantage of the fact that the retailer wants to move the "old stock" by cutting prices of the remaining units in inventory. They also have other incentives for offering special price cuts, like special promotions from the PC manufacturer. The bottom line: There is usually nothing "wrong" with a machine that is being blown out cheaply since computers are very mature and not subject to dramatic technology improvements month to month. Shop for price somewhere in the range of $500 - $750 and you could almost go to the store blindfolded and still make a good choice.

Don't get hung up on parts
Computers are largely made from the same components. Rather, shop for a brand that will have good customer support. Computers are often considered commodity products since they all use pretty much the same guts, with just a different case and brand name on the outside. Businesses have known this for years and buy whatever brand gives them the best price when they deploy thousands of machines across an enterprise.

So buy like the pros and don't get hung up on some concept that a certain brand of PC is necessarily faster or better built than another. Instead you might want to ask friends and other users online what kind of product support experience they have had with a given brand of computer. That's where PC brands can differ rather substantially. Check the warranty, support section of web site, and even call their toll free support number with a test question to see what the people are like on the other end.