Share Folders Using Advanced Sharing in Windows

How to Share Folders Using Advanced Sharing in Windows

Sometimes you may need to disable the sharing wizard in Windows 7 or Windows 8, in order to gain more control over how libraries and folders are shared. It shouldn’t happen often though. Using Advanced Sharing is more complex but it provides additional control over what gets shared, with whom and how. That’s why, in this article, I will cover the following: how to disable the sharing wizard, how to share folders with specific people or with the Homegroup and how to stop sharing a folder.

How to Disable the Sharing Wizard in Windows 7 & Windows 8

Both in in Windows 7 and Windows 8, the sharing wizard is enabled by default. If you are the old-school type who would rather skip using wizards, then you can disable it.

First, open Windows Explorer (in Windows 7) or File Explorer (in Windows 8). Then, go Folder Options:Organize -> Folder and search options in Windows 7 or View -> Options in Windows 8.

In the Folder Options window, go to the View tab. Then, scroll down until you find the box that says 'Use Sharing Wizard (Recommended)'. Uncheck it.

Click or tap OK. The sharing wizard is now disabled and you will be able to follow the steps below to share folders with other computers and devices on the network.

NOTE: when you disable the sharing wizard, sharing libraries is no longer possible. You can share only folders.

How to Share Folders with Specific People in Windows 7 & Windows 8

If you want to share a folder with a specific user, right click or press and hold on it. Then, from the right-click menu, select 'Share with -> Advanced sharing'.

An alternative is to right click (or press and hold) the folder, select Properties and then go to the Sharing tab in the 'Folder Properties' window.

In the Sharing tab you view if the folder is already shared or not. If it is not shared, the Network Path entry will state ”Not Shared”.

Click or tap 'Advanced Sharing'.

The 'Advanced Sharing' window is opened.

First, check the 'Share this folder' box. If you want to use a different share name from the default one, type the preferred name in the 'Share name' text box.

Then, you need to set the permissions for the folder you are sharing. Click or tap Permissions.

In the Permissions window you will see the users or groups that have permissions to access the folder you are sharing. By default, any folder is shared with the user Everyone. On the bottom you have the permissions given to the selected user or group.

Before modifying the permissions assigned to each user or group, let’s add another user account that will receive access to the folder. Click or tap Add.

The Select Users or Groups window opens. In the text-box on the bottom, type the name of the user or group you want to give permissions to. If you are not sure which users/groups are registered on your PC, click or tapAdvanced. If you know the exact user name or user group, click or tap Check Names to verify yourself, thenOK and skip the next step.

Clicking or tapping Advanced, extends the Select Users or Groups window with new options and buttons.

Click or tap 'Find Now' and Windows shows a list with all user accounts and user groups registered on your PC. Select the one you want to share with and click or tap OK to get back to the previous window.

.

There, click or tap OK one more time.

Now it is time to pick the access you want to give to each user or group. Select each user or group and check the permissions level you wish to assign:

• Full Control - this is self-explanatory. When assigned, users or groups who have access to the shared folder can do anything with it: view it, modify it, delete it, etc.
• Change - users or groups can change the contents of the shared folder but cannot delete its content.
• Read - users or groups can only view the existing content without being able to perform any changes to it.

To remove a user or group, select it and click or tap Remove.

When done setting things up, click or tap OK. Then, click or tap Close in the Properties window.

The folder is shared with the user accounts or groups you selected, using the permissions you have set.

How to Share Folders with the HomeGroup Using Advanced Sharing

To share a folder with the HomeGroup, you need to follow the same steps as above. The only difference is that you need to give permissions to the HomeUsers group.

Once the HomeUsers group is added to the list of users and groups which have access to the shared folder, set the permissions you want to assign and you are done.

How to Stop Sharing a Folder Using Advanced Sharing

To stop sharing a folder, right click or press and hold on it. In the right-click menu, select 'Share with -> Advanced sharing'.

An alternative is to right click (or press and hold) the folder, select Properties and then go to the Sharing tab in the 'Folder Properties' window.

In the Sharing tab, click or tap 'Advanced Sharing' to open the 'Advanced Sharing' window.

Deselect the 'Share this folder' box and click or tap OK. Then, click or tap Close in the Properties window.

NOTE: If you only want to remove access for certain user or group to a shared folder, follow the instructions from the first section.

Conclusion

Sharing content over the network without using the sharing wizard is not as easy and straightforward as when using it. Also, it introduces a few limitations like not being able to share libraries. But you can control what user accounts and user groups access a folder, the permissions assigned to each and the share name of the folder.

How to Create bootable USB drive

Windows USB/DVD Download Tool

Editor’s Note: if you want to create a bootable Windows install USB, this is the tool you should choose.

The Windows USB/DVD Download Tool is an official, freeware tool from Microsoft that allows you to install Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Windows 10 without having to first run an existing operating system on your computer. You can change the boot order of the drives in your computer’s BIOS so the Windows installation on your USB drive runs automatically when you turn on your computer. Please see the documentation for your computer for information about how to access BIOS and change the boot order of drives.

See this link & video :- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X0gqXN5d8o

Windows 7 installation guide

Windows 7 is going to be released soon, on October 22nd, to be precise. It's the next big Microsoft operating system, bringing much hope after the Vista lackluster performance. While many local Windows XP users have refused to think of switching to Vista, they might be inclined to try Windows 7.

I thought this was an excellent opportunity to write a number of tutorials introducing Windows 7, starting with the installation guide. In the second article, we will focus on security. In the third article, we will talk about desktop customization. Today, I'm going to show you how to install Windows 7 on your machine.

See this Video-

Introduction

I have already reviewed Windows 7 Beta in great detail. You're encouraged to read the article, so you can familiarize with some of the changes that Windows 7 brings, including system requirements, memory usage, Windows XP compatibility mode, and other features.

Installing Windows 7 - Step by step & preparations

Backup

You may be installing Windows 7 on a machine that already has an operating system installed. In that case, you will have to consider what to do with existing data on the disk.

You may want to completely wipe the existing data and start clean. Or you may want to incorporate Windows 7 into the existing setup, whether as a side-by-side installation or an upgrade.Whatever you choose, please make sure your files are safely backed up, so that you do not accidentally, irrecoverably overwrite critical data during the installation.

Installation key

Please make sure you have the Windows 7 installation key available. Without it, you will not be able to install the operating system.

Drivers for the computer hardware

There is no guarantee that Windows 7 built-in set of drivers will include your specific hardware. Therefore, please make sure you have the right drivers available before you start the installation. The drivers usually come on CD/DVDs supplied by the manufacturer with newly purchased hardware. Alternatively, you may also download them from official vendor websites. Having the drivers available will make sure that after you have installed Windows 7, your system will perform to its fullest. If you meet the above three requirements, we are ready to go.

Boot from Windows 7 DVD

The first step is to place your Windows 7 DVD into the DVD tray and boot the machine. Your computer needs to be configured to boot from DVD. This is done via BIOS. On most computers, the BIOS menu can be accessed by pressing either the F2 or Del keys while the machine is booting.

Once you have completed this stage, Windows 7 will start loading. If you see the below image, you're doing well so far.

After a few moments, you will reach the installation menu. Your first step is to choose the language and the keyboard.

You will be now taken to the Install now menu. We have already prepared for the installation, so you can click Install now and proceed.

The next step is to accept the license agreement.

After this, you will have to decide whether you want to Upgrade an existing installation or perform a Custom (advanced) installation, which is basically creating a new copy of Windows.

We will discuss multiple boots in a separate tutorial. For now, if you are interested, you may want to explore a Dual boot tutorial that tackles this issue from the Linux side, with a Linux distribution being installed alongside Windows XP. In the soon-to-come multiple-boot tutorial, I will address the installation of Windows 7 alongside other Windows (XP and 7), as well as Linux.

Personally, I recommend you install a new copy. Fresh installations are always better. Your machine starts in a pristine state and does not rely on old leftovers.

Partitioning

The next step is to choose where you want to install Windows 7. This is probably the most important part of the entire installation, so you need to be very careful here and make the right choices.

We only have a 20GB unallocated space on our disk, so we have no dilemma. However, it is possible that you may have other partitions from previous installations present, or you may have created a custom partitioning setup before starting Windows 7 installation using a third-party partitioning software, like GParted. We will soon this discuss in greater detail. For now, let us create our Windows 7 partitions.

Inexperienced users can simply highlight the unallocated space and click Next. The partitioning layout will be created for them. However, we want to explore additional features. To this end, we need to expand the Drive options (advanced).

You now have the option to create new partitions, format them with a desired filesystem, change the size of existing or newly created partition (Extend), or delete them. The Load Driver function is usually necessary if you want to create more complex setups like RAID, but this is currently beyond the scope of this tutorial.

We will create a new partition. According to official system requirements, Windows 7 needs 16GB of free space. However, you can do with less. The minimum recommended space for a partition where you want to place Windows 7 is 10350MB. Eventually, the installation itself will take approx. 7GB.

Just for your information, here's a snippet of what would happen if you try to install Windows 7 on a partition that does not meet the minimum expected size limit:

This does not mean your installation won't succeed. It might, but why risk it? We will create a 14GB partition:

Windows 7 installer will now tell you that it will have to create an additional partition for the core system files. This will be a small primary partition ahead of your newly created one.

This is what it looks like:

Important technical bits to pay attention to!

We now have a system partition and a primary partition, plus some free space. In purely technical terms, there is no such thing as a partition of the type system. There are only two types of partitions: primary and logical. The above-mentioned partition is a primary partition.

In total, there can only be up to four primary partitions on any physical disk. Windows 7, by itself, creates and uses at least two primary partitions. If we created another partition in the free space, it would too, become a primary partition.

Some quick math, this means that if we want to have more than two Windows 7 installations side by side, we don't have enough partitions available.

Recommendation

Use a third-party partitioning tool to create a partition layout beforehand. This will allow you to place Windows 7 files on a logical partition, saving yourself the precious commodity of wasting primary partitions on what is essentially non-system data. We will see this example in a separate tutorial.

If you're using ONLY Windows 7 to create a partition layout on your system, then you should just create a partition with a sufficient size to hold the Windows 7 data files and nothing else. The system partition will be added. Leave the handling of any unpartitioned, free space after the installation.

Begin installation

If you're comfortable with your setup, highlight the created partition and click Next. Windows 7 will be installed to this partition. Depending on your hardware, this can take some time. My testing shows approx. 30-40 minutes.

During the installation, your computer may restart several times. Let it be.

User settings

Eventually, you will be asked to provide your username and a computer name. You will also have to password-protect your account. This is most advisable. You should opt for a strong password.

Activation

The next step is to activate your Windows. Grab your key and type it here.

Updates

You will be asked to configure your updates. You can choose either setting you like. However, I recommend you configure this choice later, after Windows 7 is installed and running properly.

We will discuss this separately in the Windows 7 security tutorial. Therefore, I will choose Ask me later, but you may want to go for either the first or the second option, as you see fit.

Time zone

Configure your time zone:

Location

Your location will determine the firewall settings for your newly installed Windows 7. You have three choices: home, work or public network. Home and work networks are supposed to be trusted, so you should not experience any problems adding other machines to your group or sharing data with them.

However, the public network is meant to be untrusted. So if you have installed Windows 7 in, let's say, Internet cafe, then you should choose the third option.

Congratulations!

Congratulations, you have just successfully installed Windows 7.

Conclusion

Installing Windows 7 is not that difficult. The installation is more streamlined and user-friendly compared to Windows XP, however some of the options are more restrictive, like the partitioning, for example.

Overall, it's a simple procedure that should take you no more than an hour to complete. Of course, once the installation is done, there's the long post-install setup, where you should customize the looks of your new desktop, determine the security settings, and choose the programs you want to install and use.

We will talk about getting familiarized and comfortable with using Windows 7 in the following tutorials. Our second article will deal with the most important aspect of system configuration after the installation - security.

Hard Drive Software Troubleshooting

Hard Drive Software Problems and Solutions

If the drive CMOS settings are not correct, the drive will not boot up. Find the key combinations to access your BIOS and check the settings to see if the drive has been recognized. Select "Auto" from the main BIOS screen and after rebooting, the drive should be detected automatically. Be sure to save the changes and then reboot the computer to see if the drive works.

Computer Boots but with Many Errors or Hangs

The LBA or Logid Block Addressing settings may be set wrong when your computer have many errors, and if your computer is an older model. LBA is a method used by older PCs to support IDE hard disks larger than 504 megabytes.

Access your BIOS and check the LBA settings. If the LBA settings are not enabled, enter
the BIOS and enable your LBA.

Your Hard Drive may have an IRQ Conflict

The primary hard drive controller normally uses the IRQ or Interrupt Request Line of number 14 and if you have a second drive, it may use number 15.You may install a new device such as a modem that uses IRQ 14 by default and once installed, the may not recognize the hard drive.

The solution here would be to change the IRQ setting of the new device you installed to another IRQ. Check the manual that came with the new device for possible IRQ settings.

Your Hard Drive Device Drives Causing Problems

In Windows XP, Vista, and 7, you can view the device drivers in the Control Panel and update them if needed. If you are not sure you have the latest device drivers, perform these steps to update, especially if you operating system is Windows 7.

Click on Start, Control Panel, System, and the System Properties will appear. Then click on Hardware, and Device Manager. Click on Disk Drives and then your Hard Drive. Click on Driver and here you can Update the Device Driver. You also have the option of Rolling back to the old driver should something go wrong.

Here's How You Can Recover From a Hard Drive Crash

In addition to 'daily backup', I prefer to do a 'weekly backup' every weekend. You should use one directory on your portable computer for "long-term backup". Particularly if you often download a software and don't have any physical representative of it. Re-arrange the directory structure on your desktop computer , creating one primary root directory, with a sub- directory for every application you use to work with. The subdirectories under the root "Own" are only to take the data files associated with Winword, Eudora or any other programs that create output. Whenever you create or modify a file (whatever the file type), be sure to write/update the current date in a comment line near the top.

Finally, let's not forget that, especially in computing there is hardly anything bad that wouldn't have any positive side effect. Over time a lot of the "scrap" will assemble on your hard drive. Nowadays that's not much of a problem, just some wasted storage space. But remember the performance is diminished when the operating system has to struggle with a lot of complicated entanglements.

Repairing The Hard Drive, Hardware And Software

Since computer users are human, the user can be the primary cause of computer failure. And we operators of our computers are in most cases but that, we operate the computer but know very little concerning software and hardware components and peripherals.

Since this is the case, you should ASSUME NOTHING when diagnosing any computer
problem. We diagnosed a new PC with a video display problem. After briefly looking at
the video card it took a while to see that the video card was not pushed into the adapter slot
completely.

Even though I looked at the card, I failed to check it thoroughly. This cause me to spend more time on troubleshooting that was not needed. The thought of a hard drive failure strikes terror in the heart of every computer user. This is because a hard drive failure may lead to invaluable data loss. Here are the most common procedures you should perform when you experience hard drive failure.

General Hard Drive Troubleshooting

The hard drive can display problems such as "retry, abort, ignore" or "cannot read sectors" while operating. This is an indication that there may be bad or unreadable spots on the drive.

Reformatting and reinstalling the operating system can normally correct this problem. This will cause you to loose all data on your drive so it is important to always have a good backup of your files daily.

There are good good utilities you can purchase that can repair hard drive problems without destroying data. The utility Spinrite is a good utility and only cost $100.00 which is a good price if you want to avoid the hassle of reformatting the drive and restoring the operating system. Here are some general hard drive problems you should start from and we'll be more specific later.

Use Operating System Utilities

First you may be able to correct those bad spots and errors from your hard drive by performing those PC maintenance in the operating system. Windows has Disk Defragment and you should run disk defragment after running Scandisk since scandisk will need to fix any problems it finds. After scanning the drive and defraging the files, run Disk Cleanup to ensure all junk files have been delete.

Check Drive Cables and Connections

If there is on indication that the drive is receiving power (you don't hear that familiar clicking noise or the drive light is no working) check the 4 wire connector coming from the power supply.

If the connection is secure, you can remove the power supply connector and do two things. You can check to see if there is voltage with a multimeter. But its much faster to connect another 4 wire connector to the drive to see if the drive works.

There are normally extra connectors from the power supply or you can use the connection
to the cdrom drive to test for voltage from the power supply.

How To Upgrade Your Graphics Card

Your graphics card is responsible for sending data to the monitor to display pictures, presentations, and videos that you love so much. That being the case,it would be a great benefit to you if you get and keep your graphics card up to date. If your graphics card seems slow you may want to update your current card by visiting its support web site and look for any patches or new device drivers.
Take the time to download and install these files and you should see a big leap in the performance of your graphics card. As you download the files, don't forget where you saved them.

Installing The Graphics Card In The System Unit

After choosing the video card that you know is compatible with your monitor,open the system unit after the system is turned off, unplugged, and all peripherals are disconnected. You may want to lay the system unit on its side for easier access to the empty expansion bays. Locate the empty AGP Slot to insert the video card and remove the cover plate at the rear of the case with a screwdriver. Save the screw to secure the card later. Before removing the new card from its protective wrap,ground yourself to remove any and all electrical static charge from your body. Now you can carefully and firmly inserted the card into the Accelerated Graphics Port. Aligned the card in the port and slowly but firmly pushed the card in the AGP Port. You may use a slight rocking back and forth motion to seat the card in the port. Check to be sure it has been pushed all the way in the slot for a solid connection. Secure the card to the case with the screw you saved from the cover plate earlier. Check and double check your installation process before replacing the cover onto the system unit case. With the cover replaced,reconnect peripherals and turn on the computer.

AGP Graphics Card

Check to be sure the Monitor is connected to the correct connector at the rear of the system unit. While this may sound rather simple, its possible to make the wrong connection. Look for the connector that is color coded with a monitor icon found on the rear of newer systems.

The operating system should detect the new video card and install the device driver software that will allow the card to talk to the computer. A cdrom should have come with the new card with the device drivers and other useful software.

And you should now be able to experience the ultimate in crisp, clear quality graphics on your monitor. Its that easy to install and setup your video card.

Graphics Card Problem Solving

When you have problems with your video display, it can be something as simple as having the brightness turned down to a bad controller on the motherboard. If you have not done,first learn to identify the components of the video display system. When you look inside any open computer,see if you can locate the Video Card. Is your video card mounted in an adapter slot or is it integrated onto the motherboard. If the card is motherboard integrated, locate the jumpers that will allow the card to be disabled should you need to install another card.

The Monitor is the second component in the video display and it must be compatible with

your video card. Be sure the maximum resolution of your video card and monitor are the

same. Its even better to your a higher resolution display on your monitor.

Nothing on the Monitor

As we first mentioned, check the brightness and contrast buttons on the monitor to be sure they are not turned down. Yeah,we know. This sounds a little silly to think this could be overlooked,but believe me, it really does.

And while we're talking about simple checks,be sure the monitor is receiving power. If the power indicator light is out, remove the power cable and look for any bent or broken pins or connectors.

Try to reboot the computer one or two times to be sure the system did not just lock up. If nothing happens, replace the cable with a known good cable to prove that the wall outlet or surge protector has power.

Monitor Works But No Display

When the Monitor is known to be good but its screen is still blank, the Video Card is the most likely culprit. First inspect the card to be sure it is fully seated in its slot if it is adapter slot mounted. Check the jumpers of any motherboard mounted card to be sure a jumper has not been lost or loose. If you have been inside your system,its always a possibility to have moved the card.

Monitor Works But Poor Display

If your monitor works but the images appear fuzzy, or flickering often, and the text are hard to read, it may be time to adjust the video card's resolution and the refresh rate. Right click the desktop, select properties and open the display properties dialog box. Choose the tab for settings and adjust the slider to change your display resolution. Most 17-inch monitors will have a resolution of 800 x 600 but choose the best resolution for your eyes.

After adjusting the resolution, check the display to see if all flickering and other problems

have vanished.

How To Speed Up Any Desktop Or Laptop Computer

When you start using a new computer it's fast and may impresses you as a big change from before. On the other hand you may be disappointed at the relatively small increase in speed. Even if fast, over time your machine may get bogged down.

After a few months you may wonder if it is worth computing at all, considering how long
it takes to do anything.

The truth is by default when your computer arrives it has many services and unneeded programs that can be turned off or deleted without harm. Also with a machine that has slowed over time, many things can be done to improve the speed. In fact, after a treatment like here's, you'll be amazed what a tiger was under hood. If you were considering it, you may decide to postpone the purchase of a new one. The various procedures and habits you can perform and change are as follows:

Make Sure You Have Enough Memory

Choose Start Button → Start Menu → Settings → Control Panel → System → General Tab
Before You Buy Computer Memory Upgrades, you can find out how much you have by clicking on the System Icon in the Control Panel. The amount is on the first tab that comes up, the General Tab.

With Windows 2000 or XP, you really should have at least 1 GB of memory and 2 GB is a more comfortable amount. With Vista be sure to have 2 GB of memory you'll be much happier.

Be Sure To Clean Up Your Desktop

Windows puts everything on your Desktop into memory, for rapid loading purposes. If you have a lot of big files there, that means trouble. Apparently folders are not loaded. Shortcuts apparently are loaded, but it stops there. The applications the shortcuts point to are not loaded. Maybe downloaded exe files are though.

Make Sure You Have a Fast Enough CPU Chip

Only Windows XP and Vista, in the System Applet again, will show you how fast your processor is.
1 GHz Processor is really the minimum these days. If you have less than this, spare yourself some
frustration and buy a cheap new computer for $250- $400 from Dell, HP, Compaq, E-machines, or
Gateway. You'll be much happier.

Uninstall Those Unneeded Applications To Free Up Memory

One last suggestion of the about.com article that sounds useful, is to uninstall unneeded programs. The reason for this is apparently the registry settings made by installed programs can eventually slow down your machine. A smaller cleaner registry is therefore useful. A registry cleaner might be a good tool to use too after removing the unneeded programs. It will be discussed again below.

Get And Keep Your BIOS Fine Tuned

In the BIOS (or "Setup") stop floppy seek, stop memory check (Fast Boot), and put the
disk on best performance setting instead of silent if you have it.
For a faster boot up enter your Bios, by clicking the Delete, F2, or F12 key or whatever flashes on the screen when you turn on the computer. Next choose boot order, and remove all entries except the first one which you should set to your hard drive. This will stop the most of the time useless seeking of a floppy disk at boot time.

If you need to reinstall Windows or some other operation, you can always go back and change this entry to floppy or CD. Also there should be a setting in your BIOS to make the boot, quick.

Patch Your Computer To Keep It Updated

Go to Windows update on the top of your start menu and download all the patches for your
operating system, whether they are optional or critical.
Better yet, go into the Control Panel, choose Automatic Updates, Choose Automatic (your
screen might look different with a different version of Windows). Make it Every Day at a
time when you are not using your computer.

Generally if you have cable or DSL, despite the risk of infection, computers should be kept
on and attached to the Internet. This is to allow antivirus and security patches downloading
at off-peak hours.

Defragment Your Hard Drive Regularly

Vista now includes an automatic defragment system that is enabled by default. With XP or

Vista (if you want to set it off outside the schedule) defragment your hard drive by choosing 

Start → Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Disk Defragmenter.

This should be done every week if possible and can take several hour, so again do it at night or while you are at work. There are some free disk defragmenter scheduler solutions, so you can "set it and forget it." They are startdefrag, autodefrag and Lexun Freeware Drivecare. There is also a Microsoft article that tells you how to use Scheduler to schedule defragmentation.

Remove Those Unneeded Files

Hard disk begin to fragment files noticeably and slow down after passing the 50% full mark. For this reason, it is said that the single most important investment one can make to improve the performance of a PC is to purchase the largest hard drive possible.This situation will change with the advent of solid state hard drives as the files don'tfragment meaningfully in these sort of devices. At any rate if you have a hard drive and it's over 50% full, use a program like CCleaner or Microsoft's disk utility to get rid of unneeded files.

Also uninstalling unneeded software can improve performance for disk space reasons and because programs often install right click options which disappear after uninstallation. This is valuable because menus are often built on the fly and take time to rebuild each time you open them. With less options there's faster performance.

Clean the Registry

Over time the registry gets clogged up with useless registry settings that slow a PC. Freeware to fix this issue include PC Fixer, CCleaner and Toni Arts EasyCleaner among others.

Stop Unneeded Services

Services are again programs that Windows starts up automatically at startup and run in the
background (some of them at least others are started when needed). Many of these are not
needed and stopping them can help speed up you considerably.

To get to services, click on the Start Menu and in the Run dialogue box add "services.msc" and hit return. Now, consult one of the lists on the net, which list which services are necessary and which are not.

Look at a program called WinServices. If you download the mini setup of version 2.1.4.0,
and choose Tools → "Program Settings" → Columns Tab → Select Activate Recommendations → check "Suggested Settings" and "Safely disable", the program will show which services you can disable. Use a little common sense here, for instance Task Scheduler might be better left on. Check with the other sites.

Turn Off Fancy Desktop Backgrounds, and Screensavers

Elaborate background pictures and fancy screensavers can take up an enormous amount of
RAM memory and Hard disk space. For instance with hibernation activated, a file easily 1
GB in size is created in the root of the C: drive.

If you are low on hard disk space, this can be vital. These operations can be done by right
clicking on a blank part of your Desktop and choosing "Properties." Go to the Desktop Tab
and set the Background to "None." On the screensaver Tab, set the Screensaver to "None."

To turn off the Hibernation feature in XP only: Right Click on your Desktop → choose
Properties → Click on the Screen Saver Tab → Click on the Power Button in the
lower right corner → Click on the Hibernate Tab → Uncheck "Enable hibernation".

Installing A Sound Card The Easy Way

Sound Card installation is indeed simple and rather straight forward, that is,when you
know how to do it. Opening the system unit can be a scary task for some of us, especially
if we have not performed this task before.
The key is to be calm,take your time,and make it fun. Look forward to looking inside the
computer and see just how many components you can readily identify. Remember to touch
a doorknob or any grounded metal object to remove static electricity from your body. To
install your new sound card,let's perform the following.

installation of the new card.

New sound cards must be installed in the PCI slot. After removing the small rear cover,
remove the new card from its protective wrap. This wrap is intended to keep the card away
from electrical static charge.
Installing The Sound Card

Grasp the card and align it with the PCI slot. Slowly but firmly press the new car
completely in the PCI slot. Check to be sure no part of the yellow contacts can be see when
the card is pushed in.

Secure the sound card to the system unit by using the screw that you removed when
removing the rear cover. Use this screw to secure the card to the case.
If you have on sound installed on the motherboard and you want to install another card,
most systems will disable the motherboard integrated sound. If not, consult your computer
manual to find the correct jumpers to disable the motherboard sound.

Now the cdrom audio cable must be connected. Insert one end of the audio cable for the
cdrom or dvd drive into the CD-IN socket of the sound card. The other end is inserted into
the audio-out socket of the cdrom or dvd drive.
Check and double check all connections before you replace the system unit cover. If all
connections are good, replace the cover and reboot the system after all peripherals are
reconnected.

Installing a USB Sound Card in Your Laptop

The newest laptops ship with no PCMCIA slot, only the ExpressCard slot. Normally, there
are no sound cards that fit the ExpressCard slot so you’ll need to use a USB sound card or
system.
Follow these steps to install a USB Sound Card......
1. Plug the USB sound card into the appropriate USB plug on your laptop.
2. Wait for the computer to recognize the new USB device.
3. Insert the sound card manufacturer’s CD if prompted to do so.
And you're off and running. Use the USB Sound card without the worry of having to open
any computer.

Quick and Easy Sound Card Problem Solving

When something goes wrong with the sound in our computer,we want it fixed,and fixed
now. Whether its our favorite game we are playing,or that new multimedia application we
just installed,we simply must have our sound.

When performing any troubleshooting procedure, always perform the basic procedures
before you remove that device. Its good to look at your sound card and become familiar
with its location,the type of slot it is inserted into or if it is motherboard integrated.
Carefully take note of any cable,connections on or near the sound card. Sound Card audio
loss is no fun when you are so used to multimedia sound blasting out of those super
woofers.

Follow these procedures as a guideline to correcting sound card woes. Be sure to consult
the sound card or computer manual for actual repair procedures.

First: you check to see if the speakers have power. Don't take this for granted. It does
happen that the speakers have no power or the volume was turned down.
Second: Check to audio cables that connect the speakers to the computer. Check to be
sure these cables are secure and that the audio connector at the rear of the system unit is
inserted into the right connector. These connections are color coded on new cards.
Third: Check the possibility that your speakers may be on the blink. Although the
speakers very rarely fail,it is a possibility that should not be overlooked.
Fourth: Before replacing the system unit cover, check and double check to see if the
card is fully inserted into the PCI Slot. Its a possibility the card may have crepted out of the
slot if it was not properly secured to the case.
Fifth: After replacing the system unit cover, reconnecting all peripherals,and turning on
the computer, check the Windows system folder to see if there are problems with the
device drivers which are small software used to allow the sound card to communicate to
the computer.
After you have performed these procedures and the sound card is not working at all,
remove the card from the computer and try inserting in another system. As a last resort,
you maybe able to save the purchase of another card,when there was no need.

Computer Storage By Installing A Larger Hard Drive

Your Hard Drive is one of those components inside your computer that is mostly likely to

fail as the system gets older. This is because it is a mechanical device that uses motors, and

other moving parts that are guaranteed to wear out.

Before you remove the system unit cover to gain access to your hard drive, remember tor

remove any and all ESD (Electrical Static Discharge) from your body. This is done by

touching an object such as a doorknob or the case of the system unit. After this safety

precaution is done, remove the system unit cover and locate the drive.

Depending on the location of old your Hard Drive, you may have to remove other

components just to have access to it. If so, take very good notes of everything you

disconnect or remove, you can refer to them later as you replace the components.

Look to be sure you have empty drive bays to install extra drives should you decide to add
a second drive.
Once the drive is clear of other cables and components, carefully remove the power and
data cable from the drive and remove the drive retaining screws. Some drives are mounted
on rails, if this is the case,just slide the unit out through the front or top of the system unit
chassis.
Separate the drive from the rail and now install the new drive to the rail. Watch those
screws, they are small and can be easily lost. Remember to ground yourself from time to
time to remove electrical static buildup. Watch this short video to see the Drive being
installed in the system unit.
When the drive is mounted on the rail, (if you have one) write down any information on
the front of the drive that may give you the type, model number, sectors, cylinders, access
time and other information that seem important. You may need it when you configure the
hard drive. Nearly all new hard drives have software that does this for you.
After being certain that all cables,connections and all other components are in place,
replace the system unit cover, reconnect all peripherals to the system unit and plug it into
the wall outlet.
Turn on the computer. Now you will need to tell the computer that it has a new or different
hard drive. You will have to start your PC with a bootable floppy disk if you replaced or
installed a new hard drive.
If your new drive came with a owner's manual, keep it handy for future reference and you
may need it to config your drive. Even though you have installed the drive with its cable,
the computer doesn't know that you have done this. So we must tell the PC and while we
are at it, we must make the drive useable by partitioning and formatting it.

The Computer Repairing Guide

How To Add Random Access Memory To Speed Up Your Desktop

When you purchase a computer, it will come with an adequate amount of RAM or Random

Access Memory to run the operating system and all software that is installed.

However,as you install more software, your PC will begin to slowdown. The amount of

RAM you need depends on your operating system on all applications you may be running

on your computer at any one time.

Installing memory is one of the easiest tasks. Take the time to first be sure you have the

right RAM for your computer. If you're in doubt take it back to the place of purchase and

be sure you have the right RAM.

Install More RAM In Your Laptop For More Speed

Your Laptop is indeed your companion, especially when you're on the go. We often take

both our laptops on vacation, in town to catch up on some work. And boosting your

knowledge of your laptop with go a long long way in saving you money by repairing it

yourself.

Installing memory is one of the easiest tasks. Take the time to first be sure you have the

right RAM for your computer. If you're in doubt take it back to the place of purchase and

be sure you have the right RAM. After being certain you have the right RAM, you're ready

to open the system unit and begin. But first, you need to remove static electricity.

First: Turn Off the Laptop and remove the Battery, normally located on the bottom of

the computer.

Second: Turn the Laptop over and locate the RAM compartment. Some Laptops

Memory Module Compartments may be located in another area. Check your owner's

manual to be certain.

Third: Remove any and all ESD or Electrical Static Charge from your body and clothes

so no damage to the chips can occur. Use a screwdriver to remove the RAM compartment

cover.

Fourth: Study the Memory Modules for a minute to understand how they are installed

so you won't forget how to add the upgraded modules. Grasp the clip holding the old

Module in place and push it up.

Grasp the module and carefully lift it up and out of the socket. Notice the indent in the

module. This allow the module to be installed in only one way.

Fifth: Remove the new RAM from its protective wrap and study it to be sure it is not

damaged. Place the module in the empty socket, carefully press down and allow the clips

to click in place.

Sixth: Replace the Memory cover, and Battery. Reboot the computer and the operating

system should recognize your new or added memory without any problem.

How to Easily and Safely Install RAM

KNOW THE TYPES OF RAM MEMORY HERE

Check to see if you have ample light. You may want to have a container to place small
screws in. The system unit cover may have small screws and you don't want to lose them.
After you have plenty of work space and ample lighting, prepare your mind as well. Make
this and every other adventure of working on your computer educational and fun.
Now go over to www.ultimatepcrepair.com/photos.html to familiarize yourself with all
components inside the PC. Take the time to study the actual components inside your
computer. You'll be glad you did should something go wrong. Follow these steps to install
your drive.
Turn off your computer and unplug all peripherals. Take notice of how you unplug or
disconnect any devices.

How To Troubleshoot RAM Memory

When you have memory problems, you know you are limited in your troubleshooting
and hopefully you will be able to resolve the problem quickly. Its a great idea to first verify
the problem exist.

Memory problems are normally caused by defective memory chips, installing the chips
wrong,and the memory being configured improperly. So often, the suspected memory
problem may be due to software, especially if new software was recently installed.
Many seemingly memory problems are sometimes problems coming from other
components. If you see error messages on the monitor as the system boots up, be sure to
write the message down for reference later in troubleshooting.
Memory problems can come from brand new computers. When this is the case,you'll need
to troubleshoot the computer as a whole. In this case, contacting your PC's support will be
your first line of defense.

If The Computer Fails To Boot: If you installed new ram memory, check to be
sure the memory modules are completely installed. It may be that they are not fully seated
in their banks.
Check the same even if your computer is brand new. Installation at the factory often lead to
computer failure by employees making mistakes when computer assembly is done.

If Computer boots but the screen is blank: this is another symptom of loose
memory chips. Another cause may be you are installing the wrong type of memory.
This problem can also be caused by video display problems. If the monitor brightness and
contrast are turned down,the blank screen will be the result. And a loose or uninstalled
video card will produce the same failure.

If Computer Produce Error Codes: write the code or codes down and look up
the codes in your user manual or support web site. If you install mismatched memory
chips,certain error codes will appear.

Shutdown and reboot your computer to see if the problem re-appears. Sometimes rebooting
the PC will correct the problem and you'll be on your way.

If PC boots but all memory not recognized: check to see if you installed the
right type of memory. Again, even if the computer is new, verify this by contacting your
PC support by phone,or email.
THAT "General-Protection Faults" Error is caused when two or more
software programs are trying to use the same memory address. In most cases, simply
rebooting the computer will correct this.

About Computer

A Computer is a machine which helps us to calculate, simulate and store different scenarios. For example, in order to write an e-mail, instead of paper and pen first we use a software (or program) called wordprocessor which helps us enter sentences through keyboard (Input), computer's screen (output) to read, and modem (output/input) to send it to a distant relative, friend, etc.
The mechanism to simulate a regular mail into an e-mail, gave us a very fast and much cheaper medium to communicate (not a simulation anymore). Same way, using computers we can simulate other things over which we do not have any control, for example weather, behaviour of atomic bomb, behaviour of a deadly virus, Earthquake, a innovative design for a new auto, airplane, machine, etc.
Any computer has five parts Input, Output, CPU, Memory, disk (storage) . Input is things like mouse, keyboard, modem. Output is computer screen, printer. CPU or central processing is brain of the computer which controls and execute all calculations, manipulations and output. Memory (RAM)is a temporary storage to be used by CPU when doing calculations, etc. Think of it as a scratch pad for CPU. Disk is permanent storage, on which all the software and data is stored.

Database

A database is a software which lets user to organize their data in an orderly fashion. For example consider a company which sells cookies, they have a database of which has tables (or records) of customers, types of cookies and orders. So when customer x orders n number of x type of cookies his orders is placed in table orders. There are several type of databases. Some which are simply text files with records, others which are complex with tables of information. A table of information means "an array of one type of records", for example "an array of customer names, addresses, phone numbers". A Relational database is in which there are relations among the tables, for example consider three tables with customer info, inventory info and orders info. The relations between these three tables define the relational database. So when a customer X from customer table orders Item Y from Inventory info it is put in Orders table, there are links in these tables (through primary keys, secondary and foreign keys such Social Security number, product number, order number, etc) which lets us do that and thus making it a relational database. Popular type of relational databases are Access for PCs on windows 95, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, for huge business environment (running Unix operating systems).