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Over time, the fixed disk on a computer becomes fragmented. Fragmentation is where related information is scatter over the disk, requiring numerous head movements and causing the computer to slow down. It can also cause the computer not to shut down properly, or to hang when you try to shut down. When it gets to that point, it’s time to format the drive and reinstall the operating system. All data will be lost! But have no fear my dear, there is always a simple solution to may seem like a complicated problem at first, once you complete it the problem will no longer be an issue.

To avoid the problem becoming something bigger than it might seem, you should defragment your C drive about twice a year. To start a defragmentation, go to “My Computer”, right mouse click on the C drive, left mouse click on “Properties”, select the “Tools” tab. The last item is “Defragment Now” – click on it, then click “Analyze”. Windows will indicate whether or not your drive needs defragmentation. If it does need defragmentation, do it by just clicking on the defragment button. If it does not, check again in six months.

If the drive is still fragmented after you try to defrag it: Try doing a Scandisk – the first item on the tools tab – sometimes called “Error Checking”. When it starts, be sure to check “Automatically Fix Errors”. If Scandisk cannot complete it means that you have a corrupt file system. This can lead to numerous problems, and must be fixed, or eventually your computer may not start.

The defragment program in Windows is not very good. There are many situations where it cannot defragment a drive. Fortunately, there are after market defragmenters available. Go to www.diskeeper.com for a good version.

If Diskeeper will not solve the problem, it’s time to reformat your disk, and re-install your operating system. This process of reformatting should be done with professional help. If you would like, the technician’s over at Geek Choice will be more than happy to do this for you. Be sure to back up your system before this.

The whole purpose of cleaning up your hard drive is to improve performance and make sure that it runs smoothly. After a while, it can get real frustrating trying to do simple tasks on the computer like internet or running a program if the C drive is full of unused files, temporary internet files, and programs you do not use. Get rid of it!

Personally I use Piriform’s CCleaner, or “Crap” Cleaner, whose name lives up to its task of getting rid of the crap that piles up in yourhard drive. This program actually has a defragment process that you can use with ease, with options to back up the system for you. I strongly recommend that if you are having problems with your computer, and you think that this might be the cause, consult a professional or someone who knows their stuff about computers.

Good Luck!

The United States is thought of as always first, always the best, always everything great and prestigious. Then why is the United States 25th in the world for internet connection speeds? Something is wrong here, there is a problem that needs to be solved, but how will that happen if we can barely connect to the internet? The world wide web runs the world now, and we wonder why we are so far behind all of a sudden

According to the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) definition of broadband, the average speed of all US internet connections is 4 megabits per second. Wow that is low, compared to other countries that you would never think have the fastest connection. South Korea is number one with 34.1 mbps, followed by Sweden with 22.2 mbps and Romania 20.3 mbps.

Barely any computers in the United States reach the standard the FCC set as a goal to reach 50 mbps connection speed by 2015.

This is disturbing to someone who thinks the connection speed is fine where it is and is really fast. Wrong, we could be number one with very fast connection speeds that could help advance communications, medical, and science fields. Since the United States is running on internet, if it is slow, then progress and advancement is slow as well. With slow connection speeds and low bandwidth, new and innovative networks cannot operate, thus leaving many jobs and opportunities unavailable.

Want to determine how fast your internet speed is? Check out this site here, click on the city that is nearest you and watch the speedometer go up as it clocks how fast you connection is. Sometimes it is fast, sometimes it is slow, but overall in America 4 mbps is molasses.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski repeated his call to redirect funds subsidizing traditional telephone service, in the Universal Service Fund, to broadband deployment, during a speech accompanying the release of the report. He also echoed CWA support for new net neutrality rules prohibiting broadband providers from selectively blocking or slowing Web traffic.

The solution is not yet defined, as there are so many different computers that might still be running on dial-up, it is uncertain how America will speed up its connection and join the race for the fastest, and by fastest I mean the leader of future technology.

“Broadband enables businesses to start and grow, and jobs to be created, anywhere in America, from the biggest urban city to the smallest rural town,” Genachowski said. “Broadband opens new markets, allowing businesses — small and large — to reach customers in the next neighborhood, the next city, the next state, and even overseas. And broadband allows the smallest business to have cutting-edge products and services that increase productivity and efficiency, reduce costs, and boost revenue.”

Today the standard for cutting edge is getting sharper, and the need for the fastest most capable machine is in a high demand, but can you really get that with Dell, Asus, or Sony? The answer is no, not if you want a truly custom PC which you “put together”, one that actually has the hard and software you actually wanted on there. Why not be different? Instead of purchasing the run-of-the-mill, regular or even premium PC with added options, check out this increasing trend called “Boutique Builders”.

Recently a friend of mine went online and was excited because at the Sony store it enables the customer to choose the color, what programs to add or take off, and even the ascetically pleasing choice of an inscription written on your m0niter! All this is nice, if it had something to do with performance. Sure it has the i7 processor speed, and all the RAM and GB to float your boat, but the same things that float your boat can capsize it.

Unfortunately most of the programs he thought he said NO to, such as Internet Explorer, were staring back at him when he booted up his laptop for the first time. Forget the funny business and go to an independent dealer.

The reason for picking a custom built PC depends on what you want to use it for. If you are looking for a pure gaming giant then choosing the right graphics cards and the best video cards specifically designed for top-performance is the way to go. Some need the best computer for their occupation, say a photographer or a video producer, in which the stock PC will not cut the cake they need something more.

Something more is all in the details, like what type of processor, OS, and specs you want. Wouldn’t you want to know exactly what is put into the computer you bought? It is easier to order a computer from the store, yes that is true; however, what about all that annoying trial software and advertising that clutters the computer you paid good money for before you even use it? Plus you get the cool feeling like the computer is special because it is really yours.

In the beginning of the custom built PC no one really jumped at it because of how expensive they were. Building your own PC meant spending the life insurance on it, so people went to the stores and settled for one already made for them. Now it is different, now the boutique builders have low costs and high end products.

So whether you are just curious or you are serious about this and want to say goodbye to being a boring normal person, check out these websites that offer a custom built PC for cheap.

Alienware

Digitalstorm

Falcon Northwest

Here at Geek Choice we see it happen all the time. People call in asking for help recovering their email or even their log-in so they can access the computer, because the evil hacker guessed “monkey” and got it right. Stop these weasels before they really do some damage to your email or computer.

A computer security company called Duo Security ran a decryption of hundreds of thousands of passwords and was able to crack everyone of them, simply because they were “weak”. A weak password contains only letters and numbers, sure mixing them up with alphanumerals is good, but not enough.

Passwords seem like something to get it out of the way so you can sign up or log in fast. This attitude can prove to be fatal, as hackers can just as easily decrypt passwords like Duo did, but with evil intentions reek havoc on your personal files.

Some of the accounts that Duo cracked into were from federal and state government agencies, with employees providing weak passwords, anyone with a knowledge of hacking could have access to confidential information that is very valuable. If you think your email was one of the ones tested, go to this Web-based tool to find out just type in your email address.

Personally I used to just put in a funny name or something relevant to my life that I could remember. I learned quickly that it is not what I can remember, but what someone who wants to access my files remembers. Now I am being safe by using letters, a symbol or two, and a number. This is the safest bet to ensure that hackers will at least have a harder time trying to get in.

The most common ways of hackers is to guess:

• the user’s name or login name
• the name of a significant other, a friend, relative or pet
• birthplace or date of birth, or a friend’s, or a relative’s
• automobile license plate number, or a friend’s, or a relative’s
• office number, residence number or most commonly, their mobile number.
• a name of a celebrity they like
• a simple modification of one of the preceding, such as suffixing a digit, particularly 1, or reversing the order of the letters.
• a swear or curse word

If you use the last one on this list, you might as well deserve to be hacked into and destroyed. But for the rest of you out there enjoying the a small sense of security when you login to accounts such as PayPal, online banking, or online stores with saved credit card information, it is time to open your eyes to the big picture. You know, the one where you are hiding in the corner because all your information was hacked into and used to buy all sorts of lewd and unexplainable items. This is something you could have avoided if you had heeded the advice given at Geek Choice Blogs and changed the password to something like: ilovegeeks@123

It can’t hurt, but it will if you are not smart and leave the password at: “iamamonkey”

That is just what a printer problem is, a riddle, a riddle that can only be solved if you know the exact answer to the issue blocking your document from being printed. Even if you figure out the problem and do what is required as said on the little LCD screen to fix it, the printer likes to mess with you and tell you that it is still not fixed. No wonder those Office Space guys took the printer out into the field with a baseball bat and unleashed all their resentment, smashing the machine that never worked right.

This topic is current because there is a printer problem every day in the United States, this is not a fact grounded in research, but rather an obvious statement. Printers seem to come equipped with a little guy inside of it, waiting for you to print out homework, or a research paper, or directions, who loves to disrupt your life. So here are some tips to help you beat the little guy inside and print without a problem. Yes, it is possible.

One reason for the problems with printers is that there is so many different types and models, all with their tweaks and twists making the solution clouded in confusing PDF’s and troubleshooting guides.

Printer Does Not Print: This is a common malfunction with printers, you are all done after working for days on a presentation and all you need to do is print it out. Caring freely you click on the print button, and you wait. About 10 seconds goes by, and in the technology world today that is equal to an hour, with nothing happening. What could be wrong? It could be that your printer is out of date, which in that case you need to update it to the current version. Most printer manufacturer’s have websites, you can go online and go to the support section then click on the model of your printer to download the newest driver. Or you can cut out the middle man and go to Windows Updates located in the All Programs from the Start Menu. Run that and follow the instructions. If that does not work, then call Geek Choice and we will gladly come to fix the problem for you.

Paper Jam: This is the worst of the printer problems, this nuisance of a headache that will not go away even when you clear the paper jam. There are many causes to a paper jam, such as something getting lodged in there like a paper clip or a piece of food, but whatever the cause be careful when trying to clear the jam. I tried doing this by ripping the paper out of the printer, frustration got the best of me, and ended up ruining my printer because I stripped the gear threads and now the feed is all messed up. When the paper gets jammed, breath in, calm down, and turn off the printer. Once it is unplugged it will be safe to go in and, according to the user manual, remove the paper yourself.

These two problems are the biggest for printers, nothing gives people more headaches than a printer that won’t print or once it does print, the paper gets stuck. Good luck trying to find a printer that is infallible to these issues!

Remember Monty Python’s Flying Circus? One of the skits is done in a cafe where the only item on the menu is Spam. “Spam! Spam! Spam! Spam! Lovely Spam! Wonderful Spam!” sang the Viking patrons at the cafe. That is where all that nasty lunch meat reference of an annoying computer scam comes from.

Not many people are big fans of a can of Spam, there are some who enjoy the taste, but I do not know of anyone who likes electronic spam. Spam is spread out all over the internet and is designed to attack computers gathering information, data, or just giving them viruses. It began back in the 90′s with the use of email, spammers sending out thousands of bogus emails. Email providers even had to get a service that detected spam and sent it to a separate folder. But even that is not keeping out the crap as spammers find new ways to infiltrate and bypass security systems to annoy you even more.

I read in a message that a person had 493 messages that were spam, wow.

Today, botnets are software agents that run by themselves and are independent once they are set up by a hacker or spammer. They are sent out through distributed systems, systems that are autonomous and communicate with other computers in a network. Hence the name: ‘roBOT NETwork’. These robots are designed to infect your computer with trojans, worms, and other malicious wares.

In fact, the email botnets send out so much spam equaling 85-90% of all messages send and received!

Spam does not stop at emails, they reach out to instant messaging, social media such as Myspace and Facebook, and even blogs like Geek Choice. I cannot tell you how many spam comments I get with bogus links to websites or just random words to fill and clutter the inbox.

The number of spam messages for the United States reached 6.6  Trillion this past year, they were second only to Brasil with 7.7 Trillion, and India came in third with 3.6 Trillion.

This is a costly business, spam means manpower, loss of productivity, and additional equipment and software, in 2007 the United States spent $13 Billion alone on combating it. What can you do at home to fight back against these bots? Not a whole lot.

These botnets are so numerous to name, trying to will give you a headache, which is exactly why they are designed. The infected computers, called “zombies”, send out all those annoying emails about Viagra or Cialis, or new products, or a girl who wants  to have sex with you(check to make sure it might be a real one).

You might not even know it, but your computer could be infected and be sending out messages! Once the virus is installed, the “botmaster” can control is from anywhere. Recently a botnet named Rustock has become the biggest of the bots, controlling over one million bots sending out over 44 billion spam messages a day(Symantec study).

They are getting harder to detect too. These new botnets can be detected right away with the security softwares, so they are switching from carrying bulk messages to carrying smaller amounts so they can slip right by and into your inbox.

Bottom line, there will always be spam sent out in the billions every day. It is a fact of life, as long as internet exists, so will spam. Yum!

Email is the center of the work place, the tool that replaces the phone, and the communicator which connects people around the world. Even old folks got into it making life much more enjoyable sending emails to relatives and friends, especially forwards: my grandfather loves those. How did email come to be, and more importantly, how did it come to be such a Fustercluck!?

Back in the day, let’s say the 1970′s before crack-cocaine hit, electronic mail was sent to another computer that had to be on at the same time. It looked almost exactly identical to the emails you see today, with the header, the subject, and the body all there.

Did you know email predated the internet? That is right, and it actually helped to create it too. Originally email started as a way for two or more people in a business to communicate back and forth with each other about what they were working on. From this it has turned into THE way to communicate with each other, period. Try to call the guy you need a quote from, what will he say? He probably will not even pick up the phone, because he knows that the email will be on its way.

This is all great, really just fine and super, but what about the constant headache of spam, viruses, and all out email bombardment of messages from India to China? Well, I will tell you what that is about, that is about you! I know it seems hard to realize that the one at fault is the one reading this, but the truth is funny like that.

If you want to avoid all that spam? Do not give out your email address by signing up to websites such as Facebook, any site with a newsletter or membership, avoid anything that asks for your email address. How can you still operate without the hassles? Simple, two emails.

I found this out recently when I had so much spam and so much crap coming into the inbox that it seemed impossible to completely stop, until I opened up a new account with the same email server, which is Gmail. If you are like me and you have already screwed up your email account by giving it out too much, then there is a solution, and it is simple. Keep that first email address which still has some use, and get a new email account, call it the top-secret inbox.

Now you have two emails, one for all the spam and baloney that gets piled in the inbox, and the other you only give out to friends, family, and sites your trust will not give out your email address. I stumbled upon this great idea after a month has gone by without one message in the spam box! That is a beautiful thing, and the emails I do get I know for a fact that they are real and that they need my attention.

This saves me so much time wasted trying to delete random messages and spam I thought I marked as spam but now is hanging in the box.  When you handle emails constantly every day, and the response time is expected to be short and prompt with replies, you have no time to be analyzing words and making sure they are okay.

To bring it all down to the heart of the matter, optimize your email by creating duplicity, and getting away with more because now you have a fall guy to take the hit for all those people emailing you and trying to ruin your email experience.

The big chip boys of Intel are getting ready for the upcoming year when they will jump into the tablet market head first. Intel chips already go into more than half of PC’s around the world, but this is not enough as the trends swing towards mobility. While the tablet world is still young, with companies Apple and Android still infantile when it comes to new advancements, Intel is looking to make the tablet run faster using less power.

Meet the Atom chip. Released in 2008, the Atom is an ultra-low-voltage microprocessor that is used mainly in mobile devices like netbooks. What will we see for the future of this chip? After only two years the computer technology has changed dramatically with the introduction of smartphones and tablets. It is hard to tell what the outcome will be, but Intel has already got the interest of major PC companies on the idea of a processor that can be run on either a tablet or a more mobile device.

But first, what is a processor and how does it work?

The CPU stands for Central Processing Unit, and goes back to the 60′s when the first computers were coming out. The primary function of the CPU is to execute a series of numbers or instructions called a program. The processes of this unit first “fetch” the instruction from the program through following a sequence of numbers, then “decode” it by finding the operation code or group of numbers specific to a certain function. The next step is the execution of the data, in which the CPU is organised to complete the action. In other words, once you click on a program the CPU runs the numbers attributed to that program so that is reaches the end result, loading the program for you to use.

Microprocessors like this one which was the first Intel made, came into existence in the 70′s. Microprocessors have become such a widely used part of personal computers that when you think CPU, you think microprocessor.

Integrated Electronics Corporation, founded in 1968, has been the number one chip maker bringing the stored programs to a fast and reliable place in computer technology. They have since branched out to make graphics chips, motherboard chipsets, integrated circuits, and flash memory. They are at the forefront of technology when it comes to installing programs in computers.

Now they are getting into the cutting edge that stretches around the tablet. There is the Apple iPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, and the Android Tablet leading the tablet race. But there are so many different types of tablets coming out that it is ridiculous to presume anything. One thing I can presume is that Intel will be making deals and getting their hands inside the new tablets to come, making them contenders in the tablet market.

But that is not all they are working on. Code named Sandy Bridge, Intel is marking a new epoch in the annals of low end graphics processing. With this new chip, expected to ship in volume in 2011, there will be improved graphics as well as a boost in graphic and video performance.

Stay tuned to the Geek Choice Blog for updates on this developing technology.

Yes, you have heard correct my friend: Google has announced the release of Chromium OS during the holidays of this year. This is a cloud based operating system, the first of its kind, and it is designed to let the user access it from anywhere. There is also a notebook called the CR-48, which is exclusively a Chrome OS notebook, sources say Acer and Samsung have dibs, the release expected in mid-2011. The new operating system will have to contend with Windows 7 and Mac OS x, how will it compare and what is the contrast which Chrome OS brings to the stage?

First is the amazing transformation from internet web browser to operating system, Google is a tough competitor when it comes to innovation and ideas put to the test, so this is nothing new. But it is quite a leap, and it will be interesting to see how it reaches both business and personal computer users. I mean, it is a Chrome is all about the internet. How can a browser be an operating system?

The answer comes in the form of Apps, which will be the only way for the user to accomplish anything on the operating system, since there are no downloads. This is what makes it versatile in that you can access the system from anywhere, with the apps the saved content from them will be stored like it is a web browser. No software needed.

Instead of trying to be their own entity and create web apps only for Chrome, this operating system includes all apps for all programs, including Microsoft Office. You can run most of these apps offline.

The big boast of Google with Chrome OS is the boot-up speed: 7 seconds. Wow, that is fast. In tests of Macintosh and Windows 7 it takes at least 30 seconds for Mac to load and a minute of so for Windows, so Google beats them hands down in speed.

One drawback it has right now is that it will only work with Solid State Drives(SSD), so all you people with netbooks have to buy the new netbook that has the Chrome OS pre-installed.The OS will look similar to the internet browser Chrome, with icons for web apps on the screen. Notifications of email, calendar events, and instant messaging will be on the screen as well.

But what is perhaps the most important piece to this puzzle is in the failure of other regular operating systems: you can recover and log on to Chrome OS if your hard drive breaks down, you lose your laptop or netbook, or your system fails.

What about security? Chrome OS will be protected much like the internet browser, with HTML5 and Open Web Platform, as well as sand-boxing technologies. What this means is that the access will be limited so that hackers cannot slip in undetected. People often wonder about cloud based programs, such as privacy and not wanting companies like Google knowing exactly what they are doing on the internet. Depending on what you are up to, the cloud has it’s up and it has it’s downs, the point lies in what you want out of an operating system.

The choice is yours.

Owning a computer is great, it allows you to do so much with such little effort, perfect for our lazy natures to sit down and spend days not really doing any physical activity. I bet you want that to last a real long time, am I correct? Well, how do you think that will happen? Just by being lucky?

I say lucky because most people including me think they are invincible, or that nothing wrong and unexpected will happen to them. Recently I forced myself to go to Staples and by DVD-R’s for the purpose of backing up my system. I had seen too many people hopelessly lost due to the fact that their invincibility shield wore off and their system crashed.

If you are nodding your head in agreement wanting to back up important files, but do not know how to do it, Geek Choice is here for you as a friend to help with this. It is simple, but the mind complicates simplicity, so throw that out and just read.

Backing up your system is the smartest thing you can ever do on a computer, people think porn is, but those people are Neanderthals and need counseling. The computer is a machine, and machines have flaws, bugs, problems, and failures. So it is only right for someone who is of the right mind, to make the decision “just to be safe”, saving a huge headache in the event of disaster when all your precious files are lost.

Step 1: Get the hardware, go to your local supplier of computer devices and ask them for their best opinion on backup. Try DVD-R, they hold at least 4 GB, and they come in spindles so you get the biggest bang for your broccoli. If you do not have a DVD writer, which you can tell if you look at the disc tray(DVD ReWritable), then get a flash drive. If you are backing up a LOT of files, go the external hard drive.

Step 2: Go home, get a drink of something strong like hot apple cider, and put the device whether it be the DVD-R in the disc tray, or the flash/external hard drive in the USB port. Go to the computer folder, and look for the “Devices” section, you will see your device. Open that, this is where you will be copying files to.

Step 3: Now, here is where discretion is best put to the test: what do you need to backup and what do you need to ignore? That is up to you. Personally I backed up everything I could not recover simply by installing it again like games or internet browsers. They will only take up valuable space on my device which is meant to backup IMPORTANT files, such as documents and photos.

Step 4: Go through your computer with this discretion in the forefront of your mind, use the search button that is located in the Start Menu, this is an easy way to find all that crap. When you get the files up, copy them, and paste them onto the device.

Step 5: Take out the device, store it some place that is safe, and go to sleep that night with a smile knowing that no matter what happens, at least your computer which is your life, is backed up!