Types of Secondary Storage Media

There are several types of secondary storage media used today in the world, each of these can be compared to each other in terms of portability, speed and capacity. Here are discussions on some Secondary Storage Devices: Magnetic Tape Magnetic Tape is a recording medium consisting of a thin tape with a coating of a fine magnetic material, used for recording analogue or digital data. A device that stores computer data on magnetic tape is...

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IP (Internet Protocol) Address - A Basic Overview

An IP address is an address (a binary number) assigned to devices on a computer network. This allows one device to communicate with another via the Internet. IP addresses allow all that are connected to the Internet to be differentiated from other devices. The two main functions of an IP address are (1) host and interface identification and (2) location addressing. IP stands for Internet Protocol. Protocols are a set of rules that allows communication and data passing between devices. The Internet Protocol governs internet activities...

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Protect your FB Account from Hackers

A friend of mine logged into her account yesterday after 2 weeks of being off facebook, and was devastated to see that she had shared pornographic images with friends and family; I had a good laugh about it, but she was madd... After seeing an outburst of facebook accounts being hacked, including lots of my friends accounts, and reading a 2011 survey which showed that 30% of teen’s accounts had been hacked – by a friend!; i have decided...

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SQL Injection In-Depth: Attacks and Prevention Methods

SQL injection attacks are a type of injection attack, in which SQL commands are injected into data-plane input in order to effect the execution of predefined SQL commands (OWASP, 2012). SQL injection attacks pose a serious security threat to Web applications: they allow attackers to obtain unrestricted access to the databases underlying the applications and to the potentially sensitive information these databases contain (Halfond, Viegas, & Alessandro , 2006). An SQL injection attack consists of inserting or "injecting" some...

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How to Configure A Wireless Router

Hello everyone, Wireless networking means freedom from cables and wires!! A wireless router is a network device that performs the function of directing and forwarding information and it does this using radio waves without the need for a cabled connection. How cool is that? Thats not all. A wireless router also (and more importantly in my opinion) performs the security function of a hardware firewall which blocks unauthorized access to your...

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Windows cannot find rundll32.exe: Fixed

Hello everyone, I got a computer from a client yesterday and when I started to repair it, I couldn’t access hardly any of the tools in Control Panel (Windows XP). I kept getting the error message: “Windows cannot find C:\Windows\system32\rundll32.exe” Obviously I was missing the rundll.exe process. Rundll32.exe is a process that allows dynamic link libraries (DLLs) to be executed. Many system DLLs contain entry points for external use. These...

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Hard Drive Failure: Five Great Tools

Hello everyone, Many of my computer repair jobs involve the hard drive in one way or another. Lately I’ve been seeing about three hard drive failures per week. In this post I would like to tell you about five great hard drive tools that will both predict and prevent hard drive failure. Great stuff! 1) CrystalDiskInfo: CrystalDiskInfo is a HDD health monitoring utility. It displays basic HDD information, monitors S.M.A.R.T. values and disk...

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How I Fixed: USB Ports Don’t Work After New OS Installation

Hello everyone, Note: In this previous post I wrote about proper driver sequence in a Dell machine. I got a home made computer from a client and the USB ports were not working. The operating system (Windows XP) had just been freshly installed as well as all Windows updates. Everything was working great except for the USB ports. The motherboard  manufacturer was BIOSTAR, so I went to the BIOSTAR site and looked up the exact motherboard...

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Device Drivers And Correct Order Of Installation

Hello everyone, A driver is a software program that runs (drives) a hardware device. There are many hardware devices both inside and outside of a computer and these devices cannot run unless they are “driven” by a device driver. Here are some examples of  computer hardware devices that will not function without the software that “drives” them. printers video adapters network cards sound cards mice, keyboards, USB drives computer storage...

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Chronicle Of A Windows XP To Windows 7 Upgrade (Part 2)

Hello everyone, In my last post (http://spacelogin.blogspot.com/2013/11/chronicle-of-windows-xp-to-windows-7.html) I chronicled my exact steps when upgrading a clients PC from Windows XP to Windows 7. Once the new OS has been installed successfully you are not through – in fact the most important part is yet to come. You must now reinstall your clients precious data, programs, emails, contacts, drivers and more. What good is a new OS installation...

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Chronicle Of A Windows XP To Windows 7 Upgrade (Part 1)

Hello everyone, Today I upgraded a clients PC (Toshiba Satellite Laptop: A75-S229) from Windows XP to Windows 7. In this post I would like to tell you my exact steps from beginning to end. It’s my fervent wish that this information will help you when you upgrade to Windows 7. Before I Ever Inserted The Windows 7 DVD Install Disc: 1) Ran Windows Upgrade Advisor ( checks for any known compatibility issues with your hardware, devices, and installed...

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How To Convert VHS Tapes To DVD

Hello everyone, I am living in an area of the country where there are many retirees. Many of these wonderful seniors have much of their most precious life memories (also movies, TV series, etc.) recorded on VHS (Video Home System) tape. A VHS tape has an approximate shelf life of 15 – 20 years (the range depends on how well it’s taken care of, and how often it’s watched), and many of these highly valued tapes are literally starting to disintegrate....

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Seven Steps To Create A Factory Default Recovery Disc

Hello everyone, It used to be that when you bought a new computer, the computer manufacturer (Dell, Toshiba, Gateway, HP, etc.) would include a couple of discs which contained a backup of the original factory default operating system. These recovery CD’s allowed you to reinstall the OS to exactly as it was when you first bought the computer. In recent years these recovery CD’s are no longer being included with the new computer (cheaper for...

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How To Force A Windows Program To Always Open Maximized

Hello everyone, A question that I often hear from my clients is the following: How do I get my Windows applications to always open “maximized” (full screen)? They complain about always having to employ a second click by hitting the maximize button in the top right hand corner of the screen. I totally understand their complaint because this issue bugs me too! So today I would like to show you an easy way to do this which will work great with...

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Do You Know The Ctrl+Enter Trick?

  Hello everyone, Today a great tip comes from guest blogger Jorge R. Hernandez. Jorge is a great computer repair technician who runs 123 Computer Repair Services (http://123ComputerRepair.com) in Florida. Since learning this cool trick, I’ve been using it every day. Thanks Jorge! “Save Keystrokes by using Ctrl+Enter to complete URLs” You want to open http://www.bing.com -  so you start typing http:// or www. and bing and .com There...

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How To Make A One Click Shut Down For Windows 8

Hello everyone, I’ve been working with a lot of Windows 8 machines lately. Not only does Windows 8 not have the typical Windows start button, but shutting Windows 8 down is now a four click process (starting with the Charms Bar). Here is a way to put a single shut down icon on the desktop. One click and your machine will shut down. Enjoy! First, get to the main desktop screen. Next, right click on the desktop and select New –> Shortcut. When...

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How I Fixed: Network List Service (Vista) Will Not Start

Hello everyone, The other day I was working on a Windows Vista computer and I noticed that the Network Icon in the Notification Area (two small blue monitors with a blue globe in front) was covered up by a red “X”. This was an indication that the Network List Service (netprofm) was not working correctly. The Network List Service: “Identifies the networks to which the computer has connected, collects and stores properties for these networks,...

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What You Should Know About The CryptoLocker Virus

Hello everyone, CryptoLocker is an awful virus that an alarming amount of people are falling victim to. It presents itself in the form of an email message that will look familiar and authentic (it will apper as from legitimate businesses and as fake FedEx, DHL, and UPS tracking notifications). This could also be something from a bank or paypal, prompting you to click a link. It may look like a .PDF file, but in reality it’s an executable file...

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How I Eradicate The Plague Of Toolbars, Browser Highjackers, Add-Ons, and Extensions

Hello everyone, In just the past month I have witnessed a veritable plague in my area of computer repair work. Unwanted items are almost secretly installing themselves to the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers. Many of my great clients are seniors and they are being “suckered” into installing these unwanted programs. These malicious items cause annoying pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, and coupons. They change...

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The Major Hardware Components

Hello everyone, I love to repair computers, but what I really love is to teach others how to understand/repair computers. I attempt to simplify any kind of explanation so that even the novice can understand what I’m teaching. Here is how I teach/explain the seven major computer components: 1) Motherboard The motherboard is the heart of the computer. Every other computer part either sits on, or connects to, the motherboard in some way. The motherboard is the rectangular colored board that sits at the bottom of the case. 2) CPU The CPU (Central...

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