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Showing posts from 2013

Windows restarts without warning

Question Windows restarts without warning. Cause This issue could be caused by any of the below possibilities. Software issue or error. Hardware issue or error. Heat related issue. Computer virus. Issue with operating system. Answer Tip:  This document is for computers that are  restarting or rebooting  by themselves and not  computer's that turn off and remain off . Software issue or error With the introduction of Windows XP Microsoft designed Windows to automatically reboot each time an error occurs such as a  BSoD . Although this may be nice for errors that do not occur often, users who have a re-occurring error may wish to identify the error to troubleshoot it. Below are the steps on how this feature can be disabled and enabled in Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8. From the  Desktop   right-click on My Computer . Click the  Properties  option. In the System Properties  window  click the  Advanced   tab or the  Advanced system settings  link. In Advanced c

Why do Windows programs stop responding

Issue Why do Windows programs stop responding? Additional information A computer, operating system, software program or driver may stop responding or cause other programs to stop responding because of several possible reasons, such as a confliction of software or hardware resources between two programs, lack of system resources, or a  bug  in the software or drivers. Solution To recover from a program that has stopped responding, a user can press the  CTRL  +  ALT  +  DEL  keys on his or her keyboards to open the "Close Program" window or open the "Task Manager" window and click the "End Task" button to terminate the program. If another window opens, click the "End Task" button again to confirm stopping that program. It is important to realize that when a program stops responding any work that has not been saved will more than likely be lost when end tasking a program. Unfortunately, there is no alternative. If you continue to e

Computer turns off without warning

Question Computer turns off without warning. Cause This issue could be caused by any of the below possibilities. Heat related issue. Hardware issue or error. Computer virus. Issue with operating system. Other failing hardware Answer Tip:  This document is for computers that remain off and not computer's that turn back on (restart)  or  computer's that turns off almost immediately after they are turned on . Caution:  Some of the below steps require you open your computer. While in the computer, be cautious of  ESD . Heat related issue A computer that turns off without warning is usually caused by a heat related issue. Many computers today are designed to turn off automatically if the computer, processor, or other device gets too hot. Start by verifying the fan on the  power supply  is working by examining the back of the computer and seeing if the fan is moving and moving smoothly. For all other  fans  in the computer, you will need to  open the comp

Internet continuously connecting and disconnecting...

Question Internet continuously connecting and disconnecting. Answer If you are experiencing issues with the Internet on your computer, where it is connecting and disconnecting again and again, it could be due to several possible reasons. Below are some of the most common ways to try and fix the issue. Tip:  If you have another computer,  smart phone , or  tablet  that can connect to the same Internet connection use it to test if you have a connection issue or a computer issue. If all devices connected to your network have the same problem with the Internet connecting and disconnecting you have a connection issue that likely is with the  cable or DSL modem ,  network router , or  ISP . If only one computer is disconnecting and connecting it's likely a problem with the computer. Cable or DSL Modem The cable modem may be having trouble keeping a stable connecting, due to internal programming issues. This is one of the best things to check for first. To try and fix a pos

BIOS BEEP AND ERROR CODES

BIOS Beep Codes When a computer is first turned on, or rebooted, its BIOS performs a power-on self test (POST) to test the system's hardware, checking to make sure that all of the system's hardware components are working properly. Under normal circumstances, the POST will display an error message; however, if the BIOS detects an error before it can access the video card, or if there is a problem with the video card, it will produce a series of beeps, and the pattern of the beeps indicates what kind of problem the BIOS has detected. Because there are many brands of BIOS, there are no standard beep codes for every BIOS. The two mostused brands are AMI (American Megatrends International) and Phoenix. Below are listed the beep codes for AMI systems, and here are the beep codes for Phoenix systems. AMI Beep Codes Beep Code Meaning 1 beep DRAM refresh failure. There is a problem in the system memory or the motherboard. 2 beeps Memory parity error. The parity circuit is n

Easily Fix spots and other problems in photos

Easily fix spots and other problems in photos Expensive programs such as Adobe Photoshop have a feature known as Content-Aware, which allows them to fix spots and other problems in a photo with little work. The free online service Webinpaint has the same capability and allows you to easily remove spots, blemishes, scratches, objects, and any other problems you may have in a picture. For example, in the below picture I start off with an image with four big air balloons and one small air balloon in the middle. I think the image would look better without this small balloon, so I draw over the balloon and then click the Inpaint button to remove the small balloon from the picture. Once the changes have been made I can save the new photo and be done with a fairly difficult photo edit in a less than a few minutes. Webinpaint can be done online without having to download any software or can be done using the free download also found on their website. Visit Webinpaint Computer ti

Top 10 google search engine tricks

Below is a list of our top ten Google tricks many people who use Google don't know about. 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. 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. Phone number lookup: Enter a full phone number with area code to display the name and address associated with that phone number. Find weather and movies: Type "weather" or "movies" followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions or movie theaters in your area. For example, typing  weather 84101  gives you the current weather conditions for Salt Lake City, UT and the next four days. Typing  movies 84101 would give you a link for show ti

Top 10 google search engine tricks

Below is a list of our top ten Google tricks many people who use Google don't know about. 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. 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. Phone number lookup Enter a full phone number with area code to display the name and address associated with that phone number. Find weather and movies Type "weather" or "movies" followed by a zip code or city and state to display current weather conditions or movie theaters in your area. For example, typing  weather 84101  gives you the current weather conditions for Salt Lake City, UT and the next four days. Typing  movies 84101 would give you a link for show times

Top 10 computer mouse tips everyone should know

Top 10 computer mouse tips everyone should know Most computer users don't take full advantage of the computer Mouse. Below are computer mouse tips and secrets that help you get the full potential of your computer mouse and increase your overall productivity while on the computer. Shift key and mouse click Many  text editors  and programs allow you to highlight  all or portions of text using the  Shift key and the mouse. For example, place the  cursor  at the beginning of a paragraph in a text editor, hold down the Shift key and  click  at the end of the paragraph to highlight the full paragraph. Bonus tip:  Holding down the  Alt key  while dragging and highlighting text in a text editor will allow you to selectively highlight text. This can be useful if your paragraph or other text is in a column. Take full advantage of the scroll wheel Today, everyone is familiar with a  mouse wheels ability to scroll up and down on a page. However, this wheel can also do so much mor