What is the difference between a partition and a hard drive?

People often get confused when it comes to distinguishing between a partition and a hard drive because on the actual computer, viewing them through the Windows Operating system, they look exactly the same. You might have one hard drive that is partitioned into four sections, however in my computer it will appear as four hard drives all labeled with their own drive letter. This is quite deceiving to the unsuspecting newbie as it may appear that there are more hard drives that there actually is.
As you can see from the screen shot below, my main hard drive has been partitioned into 3 sections. C: drive, D: drive, and E: drive. This was a 500GB hard drive that now looks like three separate hard drives which are in fact partitions. If there were no partitions C: drive would be 500GB. But C: drive is only using 116GB of the 500GB that was available.
You can also see J: drive and H: drive look like more hard drives or partitions but are infact an external 250GB hard drive connected to my computer. It has two partitions.
Therefore when viewing my hard drives and partitions in my computer, you cannot tell the difference between a partition and a hard drive.

What is a hard drive or hard disk drive?

A hard drive or hard disk drive is a physical computer component that is used to store your computers files and data. The hard drive needs to be attached to the motherboard for a computer to function. You can install more than one hard drive into a computer or even have an external hard drive connected.

What is a partition?

A partition cannot exist without a hard disk drive. You can divide your hard drive into sections which are called partitions. A hard drive volume can have as many partitions as you like, however it can become confusing. I like to have 3 main partitions, one for the operating system, one for the files, and one for backup.

Why should you partition your hard drive into sections?

Here are some reasons why it is good to partition a hard drive:

• You need to have at least one small partition on a hard drive to install Windows.
• You can save all your files on a separate partition and still format C: drive without touching the files.
• It helps organize files into sections.

How can you tell the difference between a partition and a hard drive?

You cannot tell the difference between a partition and a hard drive in my computer but you can in your computers disk management section.

How to find disk management?

1. Go to the Start Menu, choose control panel.
2. Then Double click on the Administrative Tools.
3. Then click on  computer management.
4. Choose Disk Management in the left side menu. Then you see all your drives listed in the right side.

A quick shortcut to get to disk management:

1. Go to the start menu.
2. Right click on my computer or computer for Windows Vista.
3. Choose manage from the menu.
4. Choose storage.
5. Then click on  computer management.
6. Choose Disk Management in the left side menu. Then you see all your drives listed in the right side.

Once you have opened the disk management window you will see your hard drives listed as Disk 0, Disk 1, and so on. Any partitions created under Disk 0 will be in the Disk 0 line. C: drive is usually the default system volume where you will boot into to start your computer and the Operating system. Disk 0 in the screenshot below is my main hard drive as explained earlier. The status of the hard drives are listed as healthy and in brackets it tells us if the drive is merely a partition or a physical hard drive.
Therefore to find out if a drive is actually a hard drive you will be looking for Disk 0 and Disk 1 and so on. If you only have one hard drive then it would be Disk 0 with the partitions listed next to it.
A Primary partition is usually the partition with the system files and the boot sector files on it. A logical drive is a partition of the main hard drive. See the legend at the bottom of the screenshot. Primary partition  =  dark blue.

Notes:

• An extended partition is a partition that is not formatted or assigned a drive letter.
• If your hard drive dies then you loose all the data on all the partitions it had. Therefore it may be better to have a separate hard drive for backup

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How to Repair a Windows XP Installation Without Formatting your Computer

Repairing an installation of Windows XP will not wipe all of your files like formatting will. Formatting Windows XP cleans your computer of absolutely everything that you had on your computer, and therefore this fact alone makes repairing  a good option to try when fixing an error. If you suspect that there is a problem with the Windows system files you can simply try to repair it before resorting to formatting your hard drive.

What you will need to Repair a Windows XP installation:

1. An original Windows XP cd. The one you originally installed. (Not an OEM)
2. A COA sticker with a serial number that matches your installation.

There are other options to Recover your corrupted Windows instantly even if you do not have an operating system cd. If you do have a cd then you can use this to recover or repair your Windows XP.

How to Repair a Windows XP installation without formatting your computer:

I am assuming you have your operating system cd. If you do not see the option to repair and you only see an option to set up Windows then this tutorial is not for you.

1. First you must put your Windows XP CD in the drive.
2. Then restart your computer.
3. When it says press any key to boot from cd, Press any key on the keyboard. (Go to step 6)
4. If it doesn’t ask you this then restart your computer again.
5. Go into the BIOS settings of your PC, usually by pressing the F1, F2, F10, or maybe the delete key. If you are not sure watch the screen at startup and it will say “To enter setup press…….”. You have to be quick and press it. If you miss it restart again. Once you are in the bios you have to change the boot options. You have to make your cd rom the first boot option. Save and exit.
6. A blue screen will appear and you are on your way..

1. Press Enter to setup Windows XP now. Do not choose to Repair yet.
2. If there is a copy of Windows XP on your computer setup will find it.
3. See below where it says C:windows “Microsoft Windows XP Professional” Make sure this is selected. It may say Windows XP home also.

1. Now choose to Repair the selected Windows XP installation by pressing the letter R on the keyboard.
2. Now windows will seem to run through the usual setup process, however a lot quicker. Don’t panic because it will not wipe your files if you have chosen to repair.
3. At some point you will have to enter the serial number and restart the computer.
4. When you login again your files will still be there but the Windows errors you had will not.

Notes:

• This article relates to an original Windows XP cd. If you use an OEM Version of Xp it may actually format your entire computer and you will loose all of your data.

How to Repair a Windows XP Installation Without Formatting your Computer

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How to connect your computer to a Bluetooth device such as a mobile phone using the add Bluetooth device wizard

Before opening the the Bluetooth device wizard, you will need to enable the Bluetooth device that you want your computer to connect to. If it is a mobile phone you will have to enter the settings menu on your phone to enable your Bluetooth mobile phones signal to be found or discoverable.
If your are connecting a computer Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, make sure there are batteries in the device, then switch it on or press the connect button.
How to connect to a mobile phone, mouse, or keyboard, with the Add Bluetooth device wizard:

The first thing you need is a Bluetooth adapter either in-built or added onto your computer (most new laptops have a Bluetooth adapter in-built)
Then you must make sure that your device is available to find (DISCOVERABLE) or is on.

1. Open the add Bluetooth device wizard either by double clicking on the icon in the taskbar notification area, or by going to the control panel and double clicking on the Bluetooth icon.
2. When the Bluetooth devices window appears, go to the devices tab
3. Press on the Add button to start the add Bluetooth device wizard
4. When the wizard opens tick the box that says my Bluetooth device is set up and ready to be found.

1. In the screenshot above I would click on ME 2 which is a new device.  Notice that the other devices say Already connected underneath them.
2. Then press next.
3. Now you can choose to enter a pass key or let the computer choose one for you.
4. If your Bluetooth device has a manufacturers pass key then enter it in.
5. If you choose to let the computer get a pass key, you will have to enter this into the device you want to connect.

Notes:

• If there is a manufacturer’s pass key or a pass key you have set it is best to use this as it saves time.
• The device you want to connect to must be in range to connect to.

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what is bluetooth?

No matter the commercial in recent years, it seems every product claims to be bluetooth enabled. The other day I think I heard about a loaf of bread even having bluetooth access. The question begs to be asked; exactly what is bluetooth? To many people, its sounds like something you’d get from kissing a smurf.
Bluetooth was named after King Harold Bluetooth who united Denmark, Norway, & Sweden. The bluetooth technology is a personal area network that unifies your electronic devises. Ericcson developed the technology so that a laptop, cell phone, and camera could all be connected within a small radius. The range of the network can be between 30 and 100 ft. The infrared rays also travel through walls so it doesn’t work like a TV remote where you need a fairway of clean paths just to switch the channel. Devices that are bluetooth ready prove to be a nice safety addition for hands free cell phone use while driving. Information can be shared between users within a small network. So the answer to what is bluetooth could be listed as a small personal network used for safety, communication, and device interaction.

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How to Format a Computer With Windows

You can save yourself a huge amount of money if you learn how to format a computer yourself and it isn’t that hard, it just has to be done right. About 25 years ago I had just bought a new computer and within one month I had called the computer technician to fix my computer. Each time I called him he formatted my computer while I watched and asked a million questions. He must have absolutely hated me!
In those days it was a highly skilled task to format a computer and it is definitely easier with Windows Xp, Windows Vista, and now Windows Seven.

Before you attempt to format a computer with Windows:

• Backup your computer files and settings.
• You should also make sure you have a copy of your systems drivers and a copy of your important passwords.

How to Format a computer general information:

Why should you format your computer and what does it mean?
If you are not sure what formatting your computer actually involves then you should find out first. It is easy for the average computer user to format a computer, however all the steps must be performed correctly.
A list of the most important computer system files and folders to Backup
Before you format your computer you must backup your files. Here a list of the most important files that you cannot and must not forget to backup when you format your computer. Some files are hidden and some are just obvious.
How to format Windows XP
How to format your computer using Windows XP. Step by step instructions on how to format a computer in windows XP. Starting from the minute you boot from the Original Windows cd and how to make your computer boot from it.
Formatting a hard drive
This article shows how to format all versions of Windows and compares them to each other. This is handy if you are experienced in formatting with Windows XP and you now want to format a computer using Windows Vista.
How to get into Your BIOS and change settings
To begin to format your computer you will need to make your computer boot directly to the cd drive first, instead of the usual hard drive. You want it to read your Windows cd that you want to install.
Damaged boot sector How to repair a damaged boot sector by replacing the master boot record (MBR) in Windows XP. Sometimes when you have a computer problem, before you format your computer you can try and repair the boot sector of your hard drive.
How to repair a Windows XP installation without formatting your computer and loosing your files
This is something you can try if you have a Windows CD, the original one you installed onto your computer in the first place. By inserting the CD your files can be compared to the ones on the original CD.
How to delete a partition on a hard drive
When you format a computer you need to delete the main partition that had the previous version of Windows on it then create a new partition to start from scratch. You can also create extra partitions from one hard drive.
Delete, merge, create, and rename a hard drive partition without formatting Windows
If you don’t need to format your c: drive but just want to clean up your other partitions you can do this without having to format your computer. You can delete partitions or create them as long as you are not touching the main c: drive.
Should I choose NTFS or FAT32 file system
Just to make it clear for the beginners that have not formatted before. When you first format your computer you have to choose the file system your want. You can choose between NTFS and FAT32.
How to format an External Hard Drive
If you have a spare hard drive in your computer or an external hard drive attached to your computer, you can format you computer without effecting the main hard drive. You can also format you usb flash drive or any portable external drives this way.

Recover files before you format a computer:

Recover emails, files, and data from a crashed hard drive or computer
If your hard drive or computer has crashed you can maybe still get your important files of the hard drive before formatting your computer again.
What is the difference between a partition and a hard drive?
If you go to my computer and see the hard drives there, you might a C: drive and then maybe D: or E: and so on. These drives might only be partitions. This means that your one hard drive has been sectioned into different areas. If you had 2 different hard drives it would still appear the same. This article shows how to tell the difference between a partition and a hard drive.
How to shrink a partition on your hard drive
If you have other partitions besides C: then you can shrink or merge these partitions.
How to label a new hard drive or partition and assign a drive letter?
When you install a hard drive, sometimes it does not show up in my computer. You might have to label the hard drive by assigning it a letter or a name.
What are Device Drivers and why do I need them for my computer?
When you format a computer, unless you are using a compete restore disc that came with your system, all drivers will have to be re-installed. This includes drivers like lan, display, audio, and drivers for any other devices that might be extra on your computer.
You can also download a free PDF report on How to Format Windows by visiting our downloads page.

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Learn To Type Faster Using The Dvorak Keyboard

Would you like to type faster? Think of how much more you could accomplish if you could type only 20% faster. You could send more emails, reply to instant messages quicker, and write more blog posts or corporate reports.

It’s possible to type faster on a regular keyboard layout (qwerty), but it could be hazardous to your health. I started typing thousands of words a day at 60 to 80 words a minute, but I started to get pain in my hands and wrists. It was bad enough that I often had to stop typing for the day.

Then I discovered that there was an alternative to the standard keyboard layout. It was free and it was faster and, best of all, it could eliminate my pain. I started using it about two months ago and now I type more than I ever did before—and I type every word pain-free.

Type Faster With The Dvorak Layout

The alternative layout I mentioned is called the Dvorak layout. It’s named after the scientist who designed it, Dr. August Dvorak.
I should note that most people, myself included, don’t use the exact layout Dvorak created. We use the “Dvorak Simplified” layout. The reason we use the simplified layout is that you can use it more easily on a standard keyboard. Whenever I mention the Dvorak layout in the rest of this article, I mean the Dvorak simplified layout.

Look at the Dvorak layout and notice how Dr. Dvorak laid out the keys logically. Compared to it, the traditional qwerty layout looks like someone threw a bag of Scrabble tiles on a keyboard.
All of the vowels except Y are under the fingers of your left hand on the home row. The most frequently used consonants are under your right hand on the keyboard. And the letters you hardly ever use stay out of the way on the bottom row.

Learning To Type Faster

Learning to touch-type on the Dvorak keyboard is both easier and more difficult than when you first learned to touch type on qwerty.
It’s easier because your hands already know where all the keys are. You don’t need to relearn the key arrangement. But it’s more difficult because you need to relearn what keys are where. You’ve probably pressed the E key 10,000 times—but now you need to press a different key to make an E.
It took me about two weeks of learning to get up to even 20 words per a minute on the Dvorak keyboard. Coming from 60 words per minute on qwerty, that felt painfully slow, but it also gave my hands time to recover from the abuse I had heaped upon them.

How To Use The Dvorak Layout

Changing to the Dvorak layout in Windows is simple: from the Start menu, open the Control Panel. Launch the Region and Language Options wizard, click the Languages tab and then the Details button, and add “English (United States) Dvorak”. Close all of the dialogs by clicking each dialog’s Ok button. Now you’re using Dvorak. You can change back to the regular Qwerty keyword by choosing the default English keyboard.
Print out a chart like the one shown in this article (which is from Wikipedia) to help you find the right key.

How To Study Dvorak

This is the easiest way I know to learn Dvorak: start slow. Learn where all of the keys are before you try to actually use the Dvorak layout for real. Here’s how:

1. Change your password. Start by changing your login password to the Dvorak version of your password. For example, if you currently use the password plutarch, change it to rpfkaoij. That way you type a little Dvorak every time you login.To increase the frequency of your practice, set your screensaver to activate and lock your computer whenever you’re idle for more than 10 minutes. That way you’ll type your Dvorak password more often.After you master the Dvorak version of your password, learn the rest of the characters. The following phrase contains every English letter character: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.Every few days, add another word from this phrase to your password. For example, add the Dvorak version of the word “The” to your previous password: rpfkaoij Kjd. A few days later, add Dvorak “quick”: rpfkaoij Kjd xfgiv. Eventually you’ll know where to find every letter on the Dvorak keyboard layout.
2. Now learn to type your most common words.I wrote a quick computer program to analyze the last 100,000 words I’ve written and I discovered that about 50% of the words I wrote were the same top 100 words over and over.If you learn to type just the top 100 words quickly, it’ll be a lot easier to use Dvorak for real.
3. Go Dvorak full time. Now it’s time to make the switch. Watch out—your typing speed will go way down for the first week or two after you switch, so make sure you don’t have any urgent projects due. Try to switch while on vacation or summer break.

It’s best to avoid typing qwerty during the learning phase. After you learn Dvorak, you can switch between the two layouts whenever you want.
In addition to your regular typing, you may want to increase your Dvorak speed faster by using a typing program like Mavis Beacon. You don’t need any special settings for Dvorak—just skip to the full typing speed tests. (I like the games.)

After Learning To Type Faster

On typing speed programs, my speed is now about the same as it was when I changed to Dvorak—but my error rate is lower, so my total speed is a bit higher.
More importantly, I can type for hours without any pain, so I type much more in a typical day.
I also expect my speed to continue to increase—it’s still going up by about 5 words per minute a week. I don’t know where it will stop, but every extra improvement will make me more effective. Plus it’s nice to know that I can type faster than most other people

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How to delete a partition on a hard drive

When you format a computer it is always best to start fresh. If it is a new computer then you will have to create a partition, however if it already has windows on the hard drive, you will have to delete it. To delete the previous copy of windows you will need to delete the partition on your hard drive where it is stored. If you are not formatting a hard drive and simply deleting an extra on partition your hard drive then see this article on how to delete and merge a partition.
This will mean that you will lose all the information and data that was previously on that section of the hard drive. Obviously you should backup your important files.
If there is a copy of Windows XP on your computer and you wish to overwrite it you will have to press the escape button when prompted. Do not install Windows XP in another directory unless you know what you are doing. Just overwrite the previous version as you should have backed up your data anyway.
To delete the partition that windows is on you have to select it by making it blue. Then you can press the letter D on the keyboard. You will have to press the letter L to confirm that you want to delete this partition.
If there is more than one partition with other data on it , you can either leave it there or delete it as well. If you leave it there, create another partition to replace the one you deleted, and install Windows to this one. Therefore the other partition will still have it files intact.

How to delete a partition without formatting Windows

If you have more than one partition on your computer you can delete a partition as long as it has not got Windows system files on it. If you want to change a partition that has Windows system files on at you will need to download a third-party program such as partition Magic.

Notes on how to delete a partition:

• When you first start deleting partitions it can be a bit scary, however it is not a problem if you have everything backed up anyway.
• You can format any other hard drives or partitions while still in Windows. You cannot format the partition that holds Windows unless you start from scratch with the install cd. This article on how to format an external hard drive. will help to format a spare hard drive.
• I have a 400gb hard drive divided into two 200gb partitions. When formatting a hard drive I only delete the first 200gb partition with Windows on it. All the other data has been backed up onto the second 200gb. Of course I have another backup hard drive just in case the whole thing packs up on me.
• If you need to delete a partition on windows Xp then this article on how to format a computer might also help.

You will need to know how to delete a partition when trying to format a computer.

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Exclamation Mark Next to Boot From CD Option in My Computer BIOS

I have an HP pavilion. I don’t have the original CD ROM installed. I have a third party CD rom installed. I am trying to format it, but the bios has a Exclamation Mark next to boot from CD option.
This seems to be a pretty common occurrence. Some people see an exclamation mark next to CD-ROM drives like shown in the screenshot below, while other see an exclamation mark next to an actual hard drive. It could be any device.
Some people install operating systems and everything goes well, but cannot boot to the hard drive where the operating system is on. This is because when they go into the BIOS they see the exclamation point next to the hard drive.
Seeing an ! point next to your boot device does not always mean there is a problem so below I have mentioned some easy things to try. The first option below is the number one solution for this problem so I suggest you start there.

How to ged rid of the exclamation mark in boot priority options?

1. The exclamation mark next to a boot device means it’s disabled. Selecting the device in the list and pressing Shift + 1 will re-enable it. In some BIOS , if you use the “help” feature on the screen showing that ” ! ” it will tell you how to get rid of it. The ” ! ” in front of that device means the BIOS will bypass that device ( note- this is NOT applicable to all BIOS )
2. If the first option does not work, you can try unplugging your power cords and pressing the power on button while the power is not plugged in.
3. You can try disabling quick boot mode in your BIOS because this mode makes the BIOS go fast and skip checking all devices.
4. You can remove the CMOS battery from your motherboard, leave it to 15 min, and then replace it. This should reset the BIOS.

What is quick boot?
Quick link is a BIOS feature that allows you to decrease the time it will take your computer to boot up. It skips certain standard booting procedures to make the whole process faster. When enabled, this feature will eliminate logo delays, access your hard disc is faster, read memory size faster. If the quick boot option is enabled the BIOS will run the whole set of bootup tests and do a thorough job.
You will find the option to enable or disable quick boot in your BIOS section.
Hopefully this mini tutorial will help you get rid of the exclamation mark that is showing up in your boot priority options in your BIOS.

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Files To Backup Before You Reinstall Windows

When you reinstall Windows, all of the files on your main partition will be destroyed, so you absolutely should make a backup. I suggest a complete system backup to ensure that you don’t miss anything, but here is a list of the top 10 most important files to backup if you just want to cherry pick the good stuff before you format Windows. Previously we have written about the most important files to backup, however times have changed. There are so many ways to make secure backups and so many computer backup storage options but the files are relatively the same, although they might be located in a different location.

Three System Files To Backup Before You Reinstall Windows

1. Your Registry is one file you certainly want to backup before you reinstall Windows, especially if you have licensed copies of software and you don’t know your license key. Most software stores its license key in the registry, so if you backup the registry, you’ll be able to reinstall your software.To backup your registry, click Start and search for regedit. Start regedit.exe, click the File menu, and chose Export.
2. Special Drivers are an essential backup if you use custom hardware on your computer. If you’ve paid dozens or hundreds of dollars for special hardware, don’t let the investment become worthless when you reinstall Windows.
3. Executables including programs and special Dynamically-Linked Libraries (DLLs) are something else you may have gone to great effort to acquire which will be lost when you reinstall Windows. Go through the Add/Remove programs wizard in the Windows control panel before you start to reinstall Windows to see if there’s any software you can’t easily re-download.

5 Types Of Personal Information To Backup Before You Reinstall Windows

Personal information is the most important thing to backup because, once you lose it, it’s gone forever. Make sure you back all of the following before you reinstall Windows:

1. Email is probably today’s most important communication tool. Many of you use online email programs like Google Mail and Yahoo! Mail, but for all the rest of us, a through backup of our email is a top priority before we even think of trying to reinstall Windows.
2. Web Browser Bookmarks are something I’ve forgotten more than once before reinstalling Windows. But when they’re gone, you’ll miss them, even if they are easy to recreate. Most Web browsers these days include a bookmark export option—give it a whirl before you reinstall Windows.
3. Email Contacts are another thing I often forget to backup before reinstalling Windows. Unlike bookmarks, email contacts are not always easy to recreate—especially if you include extra information with your contacts, such as birthdays and phone numbers.
4. IM Conversations aren’t something everyone needs to backup, but those of us who automatically log all of our business conversations should be just as concerned about backing up instant messenger (IM) conversations as we are about backing up email threads before we reinstall Windows.
5. Music is something I thought I had adequately backed up to my digital music player until I went ahead and wiped my disk drive. Later I discovered some of my most precious older music was lost forever. If you’re not going to backup your entire music collection, at least make sure you backup your favorite songs.

Double Check This Before You Reinstall Windows

If you share your computer with anyone else, make sure you throughly check your computer for any of their stuff that needs to be backed up. It’s easy to strain your relationship by destroying someone else’s data. The worst thing I ever lost was several years of hand-entered accounting data—it took the person who lost it over a hundred hours to re-enter, which made me feel rotten.

2 More Things You Should Backup Before You Reinstall Windows

1. Documents are where you’ve probably invested the most time in your computer, whether you’re a student or a work-at-home parent. Don’t just assume that backing up your My Documents folder before reinstalling Windows will preserve all of your documents. Use the Windows find tool to find all files with .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, and other document extensions you often use.
2. Digital Photos and Videos are one of the things you can probably never reproduce. The photos and videos you took on your honeymoon or at your kid’s college graduation belong to events that will never recur. Just as with your documents, don’t just backup up your My Pictures folder and assume you have a copy of all your precious photos. Do a full Windows file search for files ending in .JPG and .jpeg (and .raw if you use RAW photos). If you edit your images, search for files with your image editor’s file extension.

For your most important files, you may also want to do a “dry run”. Create a new account on your computer before you reinstall Windows and import all of your old files and documents. Make sure everything is there before you finally go ahead and reinstall Windows.

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No Hard Disk Error When Installing Windows XP After Vista or Seven

If you are installing Windows XP after your machine has already had Windows Vista or Windows Seven, you will most likely get the “No hard disk error”. Many people still love Windows XP and just cannot get used to the newer operating systems from Microsoft. The “no hard disk drive” error usually occurs when your laptop or desktop computer is too modern for Windows XP. This older operating system does not come equipped with fancy drivers to run newer type hardware as this hardware was probably not even invented at the time of the Windows XP release.
The most common driver that causes this problem and brings up the “no hard disc error” is the lack of drivers for your hard drive. In the old days, all hard drives were connected by an IDE cable, however newer hard disks have SATA connections. See the screenshot below showing the error. Sometimes you might even see the error when you are trying to select your partition that you want to format. Either way you will see no hard drive.

Now presuming you have your hard drive actually installed properly, and you did previously have Windows Vista or Windows 7 on your computer, then the solution is sometimes obvious.

How to fix the No hard disk drive error?

There are many solutions for this problem on the Internet that all seemed very difficult, however I have found the easiest way is to enter into your BIOS and change settings. To do this you might need to press a certain key on your keyboard when starting your computer. This could be F2, F10, DEL, and so on. Go into your bios and change your SATA Device Operation to ATA instead of AHCI. Install the OS then update all your drivers while in Windows XP and change it back when completed. Now what we will be looking for is something to do with your SATA connection and the menu titles are different for all brands of BIOS.
#1. Look for SATA options. Therefore you can look for any of these menus:

• SATA options under Config menu
• legacy drives under the hard drive section
• basically anything to do with SATA options

#2. When you find this menu you then need to change the SATA options to allow IDE emulation. Below are some examples of what you might be looking for:

• Change SATA Native Support from enabled to DISABLED
• AHCI to IDE emulation
• BIOS -> Config -> SATA -> change: AHCI to Compatibility
• Set ACHI mode to IDE mode

I know this might seems confusing but the moral of the story is to disable or change the AHCI setting so that Windows XP can see the SATA hard disk drive.
#3. Save and exit your BIOS.
#4. Reboot your computer and now the Windows XP error “No hard disk ” found should be gone. Once you have done this you can Install the OS then update all your drivers while in Windows XP and change it back when completed.

Further resources for the “No Hard Disk Error”

http://www.howtogeek.com/..setup-did-not-find-any-hard-disk-drives
http://en.kioskea.net/downgrading-from-windows-vista
http://www.tomshardware.com/..hard-disk-error-install-sata

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Repair Startup Errors in Windows Vista and Seven with Bootrec.exe

Back in the days of Windows XP bootrec.exe did not exist. Fixing the master boot record in Windows XP is a bit different. In this article I will show you how to use the Bootrec.exe tool to repair boot problems in Windows Vista or Windows 7.
The bootrec.exe tool can be used to fix:

• A master boot record (MBR)
• A boot sector
• A Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store

Please note that this tutorial presumes you have your original operating system disc so you can troubleshoot and repair startup errors. You will also need to make sure that the boot options in your BIOS are set to boot from your cd/dvd drive. If your dvd does not boot up and you do not see the option to “press any key to boot from dvd” then you need to enter into your BIOS and change boot options.

If your PC cannot enter Windows, or your Windows has problems, this CD can help!

The first thing you should try if you are having boot problems it to start Windows Recovery Console and choose the Startup Repair. Then if that does not work you can try some more advanced options such as using the Bootrec.exe tool.
To run the Bootrec.exe tool, you must start Windows Recovery. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Place the Windows Vista or Windows 7 installation disc in the disc drive, and then start the computer.
2. Press a key when you are prompted.
3. Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or an input method, and then click Next.
4. Click Repair your computer.
5. Click the operating system that you want to repair, and then click Next.
6. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click Command Prompt.
7. Type Bootrec.exe, and then press ENTER.

Bootrec.exe options

The Bootrec.exe tool supports the following options. Use the option that is appropriate for your situation.
Note Use the Bootrec.exe tool to troubleshoot “Bootmgr Is Missing” issue. If rebuilding the BCD does not resolve the startup issue, you can export and delete the BCD, and then run this option again. By doing this, you make sure that the BCD is completely rebuilt.
To do this, type the following commands at the Windows RE command prompt:

• bcdedit /export C:BCD_Backup
• c:
• cd boot
• attrib bcd -s -h -r
• ren c:bootbcd bcd.old
• bootrec /RebuildBcd

/FixMbr

The /FixMbroption writes a Windows 7 or Windows Vista-compatible MBR to the system partition. This option does not overwrite the existing partition table. Use this option when you must resolve MBR corruption issues, or when you have to remove non-standard code from the MBR.

/FixBoot

The /FixBoot option writes a new boot sector to the system partition by using a boot sector that is compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Use this option if one of the following conditions is true:

• The boot sector has been replaced with a non-standard Windows Vista or Windows 7 boot sector.
• The boot sector is damaged.
• An earlier Windows operating system has been installed after Windows Vista or Windows 7 was installed. In this scenario, the computer starts by using Windows NT Loader (NTLDR) instead of Windows Boot Manager (Bootmgr.exe).

/ScanOs

The /ScanOs option scans all disks for installations that are compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Additionally, this option displays the entries that are currently not in the BCD store. Use this option when there are Windows Vista or Windows 7 installations that the Boot Manager menu does not list.

/RebuildBcd

The /RebuildBcd option scans all disks for installations that are compatible with Windows Vista or Windows 7. Additionally, this option lets you select the installations that you want to add to the BCD store. Use this option when you must completely rebuild the BCD.

Watch this video tutorial showing hot to fix startup errors with Bootrec.exe

IFRAME Embed for Youtube

This won’t work if

1.  If your computer is not configured to start from a CD or DVD, check the information that came with your computer. You may need to change your computer’s BIOS settings as stated above.

• Choose your language settings, and then click Next.
• Click Repair your computer.
• Select the operating system you want to repair, and then click Next.
• On the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair

2.  If you added anything that your PC hardware will recognize as a hard drive (USB external HD, memory card reader & maybe even a MP3 player), then Win7 will install /Boot/BCD to one of these.
3. I’m also assuming that you don’t have multi-partitioned HD with dual-booting OS’s. Just reconfigure your hardware & BIOS to the same as when you installed a working Win 7. If it works, then do the utility thing.

Using software to recover the Boot Sector of your hard drive

You can easily buy a boot disc to repair your computer for you, however if you are going to fork out your money you might as well do it properly with something you can use for more than just one purpose. Before buying anything you should look at paying $49.95 for The NO.1 Boot Utility Disk – praised by PC Magazine! This program will:

• Boot up computer even if it is infected with virus.
• Fast recovery from crashes such as bluescreen and blackscreen.
• Fix booting problems and random crash.
• Fix missing file crash such as “ntldr is missing”, “bootmgr is missing” etc.
• Repair partition table, corrupt registry, registry key value infected by virus, and crashed MBR even it is infected with virus.
• 1-click system file recovery.
• Rescue Windows 98/ME/2K/HOME/2003/XP/NT/Vista/7.

It will also recover files from a damaged hard drive, format, clean, clone and backup. Need I say more? This is what the computer techies use to fix your computer and charge you loads of cash per hour for their labor.

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Change What the Power and Sleep Buttons

As per the configuration of the Windows 7, when ever you press on to the sleep or the power button on your computer or keyboard, your computer will go to sleep.
It is possible that the default configuration is useful for most people; however other people would actually prefer that the power button should shut down the computer system. Many people may wish the sleep button to actually hibernate the computer system rather than just positioning it to sleep mode. Many people may wish to disable either one or both the buttons in order to prevent the actions from taking place in case they are pressed by mistake.

How to change What the Power and Sleep Button do:

1. Choose the “Control Panel” from the “Start” button in Windows 7.
2. In case you are utilizing an expanded Control Panel then choose “Power Options”.
Other than this click “Hardware and Sound”, then choose “Power Options”.
3. After clicking the Power options select “Choose what the power buttons do”.

4. Next to the option “When I press the power button”, select any option that is present beneath “Plugged in” and “On battery”:

* Do nothing
* Sleep
* Hibernate
* Shut down

5. After the completion, click on “Save changes” in order to store the settings.

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Change the text Size on your computer screen

f you have problems with your eyesight and need to make your text size larger on your computer screen then its really easy on Windows Seven. If you increase the dots per inch (DPI) scale the text gets bigger and if you decrease the DPI scale its gets smaller. When you have smaller text you can fit more on your screen. Please be aware that if you do make your text size bigger there might be some items such as WebPages that might have items you can’t see on your screen. So in this case you would need to scroll to the right to see the rest of the webpage.

How to change the test size on your computer screen in Windows Seven

Note: Please be signed in as an administrator to do this:

1. Go to the start menu at the bottom left corner. Open it.
2. Choose control panel from the menu.
3. In the control panel choose the Appearance and Personalization section.
4. Then choose Personalization.
5. In the left sidebar, click the link that says Adjust font size (DPI).
6. The DPI Scaling dialog box will appear. See below.
7. You can now choose Larger scale (102 DPI) – make text more readable. this will make the text bigger.

 Notes on changing the text size in Windows Seven:

• You can always come back and change the text size back to normal by choosing Default Scale which is the first option you see.
• You can also choose to make your own custom DPI settings .

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How to connect two computers to a broadband modem

If you have a broadband modem or one that is supplied from your internet service provider (ISP) you can most probably connect two computers to it without needing a router. If you look at the picture of my modem below, it has a USB (blue) and a ETHERNET (yellow) port. Of course there are many other ways to connect two computers together to share files or an internet connection, however this article is about connecting two computers to one modem.
My service provider, Telstra Australia, supplied this modem to me. It came with an installation disc, which you should use to connect to the modem through the USB.

Now if you do not have a router, but have a similar modem to the one shown, you can connect two computers off the one broadband modem and thus both accessing the internet.
One computer can connect through the USB port and the other through the Ethernet.
A USB cable and and Ethernet cable come with the modem, however to connect the second computer you may need to buy a longer Ethernet cable. Get a blue cable.. NOT yellow or red. The blue one is a CROSSOVER cable, the others will be PATCH cables. They have the same connections on them but do entirely different jobs. (this colour coding applies in Australia, I don’t know about other countries.)

How to connect two computers to one broadband modem?

In this tutorial I will show you how to connect two computers to the same broadband modem.

What do you need to connect two computers?

1. You will need two computers to connect to one modem.
2. You will need an ethernet cable and a USB cable.
3. You will need a modem similar to the one pictured above.
4. You will need an internet connection.
5. You will need an installation CD to install through USB connection.

To connect a computer to a broadband modem through USB, it is recommended that you use the installation cd. It will ask you to choose how you want to connect and you select USB. Make sure you know your user name and password for your internet service provider.
To connect the second computer to the same modem but through the Ethernet, just plug it in…It usually works straight away. If it does not, use the installation cd, but choose to connect with Ethernet.
See more Computer Networking Tips

Notes on how to connect two computers:

• If you do not have an installation cd, phone your internet service provider and they will send one to you.
• See 3 other ways to connect two computers together.
• If you run into any problems, phone your internet service provider and they will help. It is perfectly OK to connect two computers to a broadband modem.

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What operating system Do I have? A 32bit or a 64bit?

What operating system do I have? I stumbled across this dilemma when I needed to download a free file from the Microsoft website and was presented with two choices for my download. I could download the file in 32 bit version or 64 bit version, depending on which one suited my operating system.
But the question remained, what operating system do I have? You really need to know if you have Windows XP home, Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista Home, Premium, Ultimate, or Business? The list goes on. Maybe you have Windows Seven. Also the average user has no idea what the difference is between a 32 bit operating system and a 64 bit so I will show you how to find out which one is running on your computer.
Lets start with some computer basics:

What is a processor?

The processor is a main component of a computer that is attached to the mother board. It is technically called the Central processing Unit or CPU for short. It is the brain of the computer because it processes all of the information and data. The bigger your processor, the faster your computer performs your tasks. If you have a 64 bit processor it would probably be reasonably fast as this is a new technology. We have also mentioned components of a computer in a basic computer terminology article.

What is an Operating system?

An operating system is the software you install on your computer that allows you to operate the computer. Windows is an operating system. If you want to find out what operating system you have then this is very simple. You need to know what operating system you have on your computer so you can download the right drivers and software that is compatible.

What Operating system do I have?

If you are wondering if you have Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows Seven, it’s very easy to find out. If you are wondering if your computer is a 32bit or 64bit then read on further down the page. People often ask me “what operating system do I have?” I would have thought this was a well known computer basics thing to know, however many do not know the answer. The average computer user does not work with all versions of Windows as much as I do so how can I expect them to know?
1.  Go to your start menu. This will apply for all Windows Versions.
2.  Click on control panel in the menu.
3.  Double click on the system icon. If you cannot see all the pretty icons press on the link to view the control panel in classic view.
4.  You will see all the details in front of you. See the screen shot below. Click on the picture to see a larger size. Here you can see what operating system you have.

The above screen shot shows Windows vista and the below shot is Windows XP. It looks different but the information result is the same. They both tell you what operating you have.

The information I can see here is:

• What operating system I have and what version and service pack.
• How much computer memory I have.
• What processor I have.
• What speed the processor is.
• If I have a 32bit or 64bit processor. (Sometimes it is not shown on an old computer)

What Operating system do I have and is it 32bit or 64 bit?

A 64 bit operating system is an operating system such as Windows XP or Windows Vista, that has been purposely developed for a computer with a 64 bit processor. You cannot use 64 bit software on a computer with a 32 bit processor but you can use 32 bit software with a 64 bit processor.

What operating system do I have and is 32 bit or 64 bit?

Windows XP

1. Go to the start menu.
2. Choose all programs.
3. Then choose accessories, then system tools.
4. Now choose system information.
5. See the screen shot below.

If it says x86 then you have a 32 bit operating system. If the processor area mentioned a 64 or AMD64 then this means you have a 64 bit processor.  If it said Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Version then this means it is a 64 bit operating system. However as you can see from above, it says Microsoft Windows XP Professional and the processor starts with X86 so therefore this is a 32 bit processor with a 32 bit operating system.

The screen shot above shows a 64 bit operating system which means I also have a 64 bit processor to allow this.

Windows Vista

In Windows Vista you can find out the same way. Start menu>Programs>Accessories>System tools>System information. You can also type the word system into the search bar in the start menu.

Bargain: If you find that you do have a 64 bit processor check out this Windows Seven operating system for under $100!
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

What operating system do I have? Another way to see if you have a 32 bit or a 64 bit operating system

1.  Go to control panel by going to the start menu in the bottom left corner.
2.  Click on the system icon.
3.  The information will be there.
4.  See in the screen shot below I have a 32-bit Operating system.

On my laptop I have a 64 bit Operating system installed because the laptop has a 64-bit processor.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a 64 bit system?

• You will need to install 64-bit drivers for all your add ons like your printer, usb stick, digital camera, and more. This is why people have had problems with having a 64 bit system. However as time goes on the technology gets better and more refined… Soon drivers will be available for most devices.
• If you have a 64 bit processor and a 64 bit operating system you will have to have  64-bit software applications like office programs, picture editors, and so on..
• There is not much compatible software available at the moment, however this is changing.
• A Vista 64 bit operating system does not support any 32 bit software.
• An AMD 64 bit processor supports both 32 bit and 64 bit operating systems.
• Vista 64 bit operating system has major improvements on security features and kicks the 32 bit butt. New features that prevent and almost make system attacks impossible.
• Vista Home Basic 64 bit supports up to 8 GB of RAM, Vista Home Premium 64 bit supports up to 16 GB and Vista Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate 64 bit supports up to 128 GB, whereas 32 bit Vista supports 4 GB or RAM.
• A 64-bit processor is made with more advanced processes, have more features, and of course has faster speeds.

Notes: 32 bit and 64 bit operating system

• You can upgrade from XP 64-bit to Vista 64-bit, but not from Vista 32-bit to Vista 64-bit.
• If you are running a 64 bit operating system then we must presume you have a 64 bit processor as well.
• You can also type winmsd.exe into the run box for the system information box to come up.
• You can also press The WIN KEY and pause break to open system properties. Sometimes the information is there.
• Now that you know if you have a 32bit or 64 bit system, find out more information about your computer.

If you are still asking what operating system do I have, then please make a comment below?

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speed up your computer

Finding ways to speed up your computer is the most important thing you could do as a computer user. This might save your computer from being thrown out the window, or even smashed up with a hammer. This is how far people get pushed when computers don’t do what they want them to do. It is one of those annoying little things that you have to do all the time, maintenance jobs, just to speed up your computer.
When you have a slow computer and you are trying to work on it, you can easily get frustrated to the point of doing something drastic!
Hey but calm down! I have to tell you something truthfully. It’s your fault that your computer is slow because you do not perform computer maintenance on it. It is your responsibility to speed up your computer and make it run at its optimal performance. Don’t go blaming the computer because it is slow, follow these steps below and fix your problem now!
Most slow computers have nothing to do with your CPU speed and everything to do with junk files building up on your computer and the lack of organization. Lets see if we can help you make your computer run faster.
Here is a link to my computer maintenance tips and tricks and my computer maintenance checklist.
Download this article as a PDF file to save to your computer. 15Tips on How To Speed Up Your Computer.

15 tips on how to speed up your computer

Delete unwanted files

When I say to delete unwanted files, I do not mean you should go around your computer and delete any file you do not want. In this case, I’m talking about the files that you have created yourself, and are totally aware of what they are. For example if you created a Microsoft word document and you no longer need it, and never will, then I suggest you delete that file. This is the kind of junk that clogs up your computer. You have to ask yourself, “Do you really need it?”
Files that you have created such as documents and image files can be safely deleted by going to the file on your computer, right clicking on its, and choosing delete from the menu. Keeping your computer or organized and junk free, is a great way to speed up your computer.
Please see what files are safe to remove from my computer?

Delete hidden junk files

Hidden or temporary files are created without the user knowing. All you have to do is open files, browse the Internet, install programs, and more files are created in the background. There is so much happening in the background that most people are unaware of and do not know that this area exists.This is something you are going to have to learn about if you want to speed up your computer.
Here is an article about safely deleting temporary files.

Remove unwanted programs

Are you one of those people that constantly download programs and install them onto your computer? Every software program you have on your computer is taking up space. It is not only taking up space, but it might also be checking for updates and connecting to the Internet. It also might be starting up when your computer starts up. There are so many good reasons why you should remove unwanted programs.
Here is an article that shows you how to safely remove or delete programs from your computer.
Here is another article about removing a program from Windows Vista.
After you have removed the software program that you did not want, make sure you restart your computer to complete the process.

Defrag to speed up your computer

Check & Fix system errors; Speed Up your PC by 300% times!
When you install programs and save files on your computer, the files are automatically saved to the closest available space on your hard drive. This means that files for your programs are fragmented if your hard disk drive is not organized correctly. This is why we need to de-frag our computer to place the files back together and to place the most frequently used files at the front for easy access.
You should defrag your computer at least once a week if you use your computer often. If you do not use your computer that often, then you can defrag less often.
If you are using the Windows disk defragmenter which is located at start menu>accessories>system tools>disk defragmenter, you can choose to “analyze” first before you choose defrag. This feature will tell you if you need to perform this task or not.
Here is a simple way to use the Windows disk defragmenter to defrag your computer hard drive.

Disk CleanUp

Disk CleanUp comes free with Windows and will get rid of the rest of the junk files that you have missed. Go to start menu>accessories>system tools>disk cleanup. You can see more information about this system tool on my computer maintenance checklist.

Always pay for a virus program!

By all means, you can waste your time trying to find the best free anti-virus program, but do you really want to risk it.
Don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a free anti-virus program. In fact I will recommend Avast as my number one freebie. However, even though this proved to be secure, it is safer to have the extra security features that come with the paid versions. Now days most new antivirus also come with a firewall that if they do not, Windows provides a perfectly good firewall for free.
Over the past 25 years I have tested at least 10 paid virus programs and have ended up with Avast running on my computer. It does not annoy me, it is not asked be stupid questions that I cannot answer, and is not make me deal with difficult settings. I like a program that just does its job.
Please see Top 10 tips to protect yourself from viruses! And my top virus removal software.
If you do not have a virus program installed you are risking everything! Sometimes your computer will gradually slow down when it gets a virus, and other times it will be crashing within minutes. Is that really worth the hassle?

Avoid multitasking with large programs

If you’re anything like me, you will have 20 Windows open at the same time, with your Internet browser having at least 15 tabs opened as well. Yes I know it is crazy and I’m trying to reform. I have a lot of experience in multitasking and have realized that some programs cannot be open at the same time as others. For example you should not be running a large program like Photoshop or Pinnacle video studio, while running a virus scan at the same time. We all know what the right thing to do is, but we just can’t help ourselves.

Warning: Working on 20 programs at the same time is not good if you are trying to speed up your computer!

Use an external hard drive for backup

Nowadays there is no excuse for not backing up your files! It is unbelievably cheap to buy an external hard drive or even a portable USB flash drive to store backup files on. Both these portable devices are simple to connect to the computer via a USB plug. Once connected, you will find the device if you go to your start menu and then press on computer. For older versions of Windows it will be called my computer.
Please see: what is an external hard drive and why do I need one?
Also see this video on YouTube: how to move files around on your computer.
You can use these devices to store all of your files on, leaving your computer clean and free to work on.

Update programs regularly

Every program on your computer must be updated regularly. If you do not do this, you will find that you will get problems, guaranteed! Even Windows itself needs updating, along with any other applications and games, and even hidden device driver software.
To see if your device drivers are performing properly you can go to the Control Panel, click on system, advanced settings, and then you will find device manager under the hardware tab.
Here is an article: what are device drivers and why do I need them?
I use a program called Driver Finder. Most computers need a program like this because having outdated driver software on your computer can cause horrendous problems. Having the wrong driver software on your computer has been known to cause black screens, blue screens, and total computer crashes.
To find out if Windows needs updating, simply go to your start menu and type in the search section, “Windows update”. A link will appear in the menu, click on it to see your details. See the screen shot below.

Upgrade your computer memory

When you buy a new computer now days it should come with a minimum of 2 GB of memory installed. This should be okay for a year or two, however as times change, you will eventually need to upgrade your memory.
Older computers are in an even worse situation. People are using old computers to do new things that these computers were not made for. Upgrading your computer memory and increasing your hard drive size can help speed up an old computer.
When upgrading your computer memory in order to speed up your computer, there are two options, to do it yourself or get someone else to do it for you. If you are seriously hopeless with technical stuff, like my friend Deb, I would suggest you take it to a computer store for the upgrade.
If you are willing to give it a go you can buy computer memory online (making sure you have the right type) and do it yourself.
Please see this article: upgrade computer memory
That was 10 detailed tips on how to speed up your computer and now here is five more.
Check & Fix system errors; Speed Up your PC by 300% times!

5 more quick tips on how to speed up your computer:

1. Keeping a clean computer means a faster computer. Therefore you should always organize your computer files in a way that makes them easy to find and also easy to backup.
2. When you boot into your computer it is not only the Windows operating system that is starting, as most people have many other programs starting at the same time. To speed up this process you need to disable startup programs.
3. A great way to speed up your computer is not to overwork it in the first place. For example most people have five or six programs open at the same time and they really aren’t using all of them. Close down programs you are not using.
4. Keep up with your computer maintenance as it is will speed up your computer just by doing this.
5. Another good way to speed up your computer is to disable automatic updates on certain programs. Did you know that programs are checking the Internet every time you start your computer to see if they need to be updated or not?I am not talking about disabling Windows automatic updates as it is really all the other little programs that are doing the damage. If you have a notification icon in the notification area you can usually right click on it to get to the settings and disable the updates that way.
6. And one extra. Try and disable indexing to speed up the computer.

Install a program to do it all for you! Speed up your computer!

A software program will not upgrade your memory but it will clean out all the junk files, detect Malware, delete unused registry keys, Automatic Driver updates, and more.  At the moment I am using PC Matic to maintain everything for me. This software is amazing and has won a number of top awards. You can get a free scan for your computer to see how it works before you buy.

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The Five Kinds of Computer Backup Storage

There are five kinds of computer backup storage each with its own advantages and disadvantages you should consider. We’ll briefly describe each type of computer backup storage in this article so you can choose the best option for you. I have definitely learned the hard way, over the years, about the importance of backing up files. Many times I thought my files were safe and secure when they actually were not! I also sometimes just simply forgot to backup all the files and now have a list of the most important computer files to backup.

Computer Backup Storage #1: No Backups

Even a few years ago, it would be crazy to suggest to people that they use computers without making regular backups, but today it’s a very real and very legitimate option. Thanks to the prevalence of “cloud” applications from Google and other companies, many users today store all of their files and applications entirely on the Web.
If you use hosted applications for everything, then you have nothing to worry about when your computer fails. You just need to stand up, walk to another computer, and log in to start working where you left off.
This option isn’t for everyone. Anyone who still needs an offline application or wants to keep their files private from Google still needs to store files locally and should make Easy Secure Backups using the methods described later in this article.
We expect a significant rise in the number of users who store all of their data in the cloud when Google releases its upcoming Chrome operating system for computers.

Computer Backup Storage #2: Same Disk Backups

At first, making a backup to the same disk doesn’t make any sense. If the disk fails, you lose both the original and the backup copies. Plus, making a same disk backup will run slowly—hard drives aren’t designed to quickly copy data from one part of the disk to another part of the same disk.
But a same disk backup can give you access to an important computer backup storage feature: the ability to save multiple versions of the same file. For example, you can make a new copy of your accounting Excel worksheet every time you save so that you can always restore an older version if you make a mistake. You probably also want to do this with important Word documents in case you accidentally delete a few paragraphs or pages, your Outlook email files in case you delete an important email, and many other applications.
Although a same disk can be useful, you should always remember that a disk failure will wipe out both original and backup copies, so this method is best used in combination with computer backup storage methods described later in this article.

Computer Backup Storage #3: External Backup Disks

External backup disks is one of the cheapest methods of computer backup storage and probably also the method that offers the best privacy for your files. Best of all, external backup disks are easy to use with Windows.
Most external disks these days use USB 2.0, although a few disks use Firewire or eSATA. In any case, all you need to do is plug in your external disk and wait for Windows to load it (also called mounting). After you disk mounts, go to the Windows Backup Wizard located in the System and Maintenance menu of the Control Panel. Set up a backup and start it right away.
You have so many choices when buying an external hard drive to use for computer backup storage. You can now get a 2 TB External Hard Drive for under $100.
Your first backup to an external drive will take a while, but your second and subsequent backups will go much faster because Windows transfers only the files that have changed.
After you make your backup, you need to safely remove your disk and then store it somewhere safe. It’s no use to you if the same natural disaster that destroys your computer also destroys your backup. You also need to keep the disk safe from attackers or your private files could fall into the wrong hands. For both purposes, we recommend storing your backup disk in a sturdy fire-proof safe.
Thanks to the low price of disk drives, an external backup can cost much less than any of the Internet-based computer backup storage methods mentioned later in this article. It also ensures companies like Google don’t get to spy on your private files. If you are still confused please see what is an external hard drive. Also if your are thinking about purchasing, you should see my external hard drive buying guide to make sure you buy the right hard drive for you.

Computer Backup Storage #4: Network Storage

At businesses and even in homes, more and more people are using Network-Attached Storage (NAS), which is simply disk drives accessible over your local network. NAS offers almost all of the benefits of external backup disks and also Internet-based backups for computer backup storage. Many devices made for small and home offices are also very easy to use.
Similar to external disks, a NAS plugs into your computer—but instead of plugging into your computer directly, in plugs into your network router. You can then create a folder on your computer that stores all the files on your NAS. You can backup files to this folder like normal and you can also share files with other people on your same local network.
Because the NAS is separate from your computer, there’s much less chance it will be destroyed by any calamity that strikes your computer. You can even store NASes in a safe place where they’re resist fire damage and thieves while still connected to the network, providing the ultimate in safety and convince.

Computer Backup Storage With RAID

Another great feature available in higher-end NASes is the ability to use a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) for extra safe backups. If you use your computer for business and worry about losing thousands of dollars of data to a disk drive crash, a NAS with RAID should be an important part of your computer backup storage plan.
RAID is also available for all full-sized PC computers using a special card called a RAID controller , but this method can require a lot of hassle and unskilled users can easily wipe out all their data by choosing the wrong option. With a RAID-enabled NAS, all you usually need to do put a second disk drive in your NAS, browse to a Web interface, and click a button to enable RAID computer backup storage protection.

Computer Backup Storage #5: Internet-Based Backup

The sudden popularity of Dropbox has brought increased attention to the already-established industry of Internet-based backups. Non-geeks will probably appreciate Internet-based backups the most, as very little setup is required. For example, to use Dropbox, all you need to do is install the Dropbox application, create a Dropbox account, and copy your files to a Dropbox folder. Dropbox will do all of the rest.

Dropbox and Mozy both offer free 2Gb storage and promise better security, but you’re still trusting someone else with all of your most important files.  You can get online easy secure backup that is guaranteed against data loss, however it costs an absolute fortune. Livedrive offer unlimited online storage.  Click here to sign up for a 30 day free trial – no credit card details required!

The main disadvantage of Dropbox is that you trust the security of your data to Dropbox. Although Dropbox uses high-security technology, any hacker who ever figures out how to get around it will have access to the private files of millions of customers—and that’s an awfully tempting target. In contrast, if you keep your own computer backup storage, you only need to worry about direct threats against your computer.

Conclusion: You Can’t Avoid Computer Backup Storage

Whether you choose to keep your data in the cloud or store it on a high-end NAS, you should still make a clear choice about how you want to keep your computer backup storage before something goes wrong and your data is suddenly gone. If you organize your computer files neatly you will find that any kind of backup is a whole lot easier!

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protect yourself against computer viruses

When your computer gets infected with a virus it can be a devastating experience and this is exactly why you need to protect your computer from viruses. A virus can consume your precious computer files and even damage your computer hardware. Is this worth ignoring? I don’t think so! Even sites like www.lifelock.com will tell you the same. Anything you can do when protecting your computer from viruses has to be a good thing and is well worth spending your time on. We all know prevention is better than a cure so I am going to share my top 10 tips on how to protect your computer from viruses.

10 tips to protect your computer from viruses

There are many ways to protect your computer from nasty viruses invading. Protecting your computer is an number one concern for every computer user on earth. I do not know anyone that wants to have their computer crash due to a virus invasion. Here are 10 ways to protect your computer and keep your files and data safe.

1. Learn about viruses

The first thing that I recommend is to research and become knowledgeable about viruses. How can you protect your computer from viruses if you don’t even know what they are. Here are some previous tutorials I have written about viruses. See What is a Virus and how do I know if I have one? and What is the difference between a virus, spyware, Malware, and adware? How can you protect your computer from viruses if you don’t know what it is?

2. Arm yourself with the best Anti-virus software to suit your needs.

Not everyone can get away with using free Anti-virus software because it depends what you do on your computer. It depends on factors such as if you download files or not, if you open email attachments, and if you surf suspicious websites. See my reviews for the best Virus Removal Software. Lets face it, if you do not have protection against viruses installed on your computer, you will without a doubt, get a virus within the first hour of surfing the internet. It is that easy. For years I would remove a virus from my dads computer at least once a year, until finally I realized that he needed a paid Anti-virus program. He wasn’t good with computers and if a windows popped up and said he needed to take a scan, he would just do it. He would just presume it was the program I had installed to protect his computer. Now I have Avast on his computer and there has not been one problem since. I bought the Internet security version so it has full protection. It never asks him to do anything and just works in the background.

3. Regular Updates

Having a great Anti-virus program installed on your computer to protect your computer from viruses is great, however if you do not regularly update the virus definitions, then the program is useless. New viruses are produced daily and this is why we constantly have to update the viruses definitions and stay ahead of the bad guys. Avast Internet Security simply updates by itself and just tells me when it is done.

4. Downloading

When surfing the internet avoid websites that contain illegal software downloads, sexual references, free screensavers, cracks or serials, etc. I am sure you get the picture. If you go near these sites you are immediately asking for trouble. Some other websites that you should stay away from include foreign websites where you cannot understand the language on them. This is because you cannot tell what is on the website.

5. Windows Updates

Always update Windows when protecting your computer. These updates contain security updates that will help in your fight against viruses. If you do not perform regular Windows updates you are leaving your computer in a vulnerable state. You can simple check to see if your computer needs updates by going to he start menu and typing in “windows update”. See the screen shot below. You can also view recent Windows update history so you can be in control of the whole situation.

6. Opening Emails

Be careful when opening emails. There are obvious emails that you know you shouldn’t open, however what about the ones you get from people you know? What if your friend has a virus and it is spreading itself through emails? An email cannot be important enough to risk getting a virus. Delete the email and send a fresh email to your friend asking them if they actually did send you the email. It is better to be safe than sorry.
You can also create a whitelist so only certain emails get through. You will still have to be careful though, as you do not know what security the sender has installed on their computer. It’s like driving on the road, you need to watch how others are driving to stay safe.

7. Change your settings to protect your computer from viruses

If you are really serious about protecting your computer you can change your email settings and receive text emails only. You can also disable the ability to open email attachments. Virus travel in HTML enabled emails and file attachments. They cannot travel in text email messages. I know this sounds very boring, however, I would rather be boring and protect my computer from viruses.

8. Peer to Peer file sharing – ways to protect your computer

Do not use peer to peer (p2p) file sharing programs. These include programs such as Limewire, Bearshare, Gnutella, Morpheus, Torrents, etc. These program let you download files from other computer users connected to their program network. You have no way of knowing what you are actually downloading until it is on your computer. Even if you share files from a cd from a friend, it may have a virus. Protecting your computer from viruses is the most important priority for you and you do not want to risk your computer safety just because you trust your friend.

9. Do not download files from websites

Again, there is no way of knowing what you are downloading. The file can appear to be named like the file you want, however it could be anything. Most of the time, this is how a virus is unleashed, it usually seems like a harmless, familiar object. If you are looking for a driver for a certain brand of computer then make sure you are getting the download from the genuine website. Many websites on the Internet offer free driver downloads, however, many of them contain viruses. Everything is not what it seems, so be very careful.

10. Have Firewall Protection

Make sure you have a firewall enabled on your computer. Windows comes with an inbuilt firewall or you can use a third party firewall program like Zone Alarm. Either way, make sure the firewall is on…To check the Windows Firewall go to the security settings in your control panel.
If you are careful and are serious about learning how to protect your computer from viruses, it is possible to stay safe. My top 10 tips will help you keep your computer running smoothly, and virus free.

Notes on tips to protect your computer from viruses:

• These 10 ways to protect your computer from viruses are extremely important tips to follow. If you have had a virus in the past you would know how devastating it is when you lose all of your files and your computer crashes.
• People often try to install more than one anti-virus program to protect their computers from viruses. This is not how to protect your computer from viruses as installing more than one program always causes a problem. You can only install one virus removal program at any one time.

Please share how you protect your computer from viruses as I know there are many more ways to protect your computer?

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A free program to recover (Recuva) and restore accidentally deleted pictures, photos, and files

Sooner or later you will be desperate to find out how to recover deleted files, because accidentally deleting your precious pictures, photos, and files is bound to happen to anyone. I hope that you do not encounter this dilemma, however if you do, you may possibly have a chance to recover deleted files. One way is to get a professional IT guy that specializes in file or data recovery, which in itself can be very expensive. Maybe you are recovering files from a crashed hard drive and haven’t actually deleted anything or maybe you want to recover deleted pictures from your digital camera. This article is about how to recover deleted files free using software but if you have a crashed hard drive then this is a different story altogether.
Firstly we need to know what has happened to our deleted files so that we can learn which action is best to recover deleted files.

What does Windows do with deleted pictures, photos, and files?

When you delete a file from your computer, providing it is not a huge file, it is sent to the computer recycle bin. There is usually an icon on your desktop that will allow you to open your recycle bin and see the file in there. If you have gone to that extra step of deleting the file from the recycle bin, then this is when we are faced with this situation of trying to figure out how to recover deleted files. Here is a basic tutorial on how to recover a deleted file from your recycle bin.
Even when you have deleted a file from the recycle bin it is not really gone. Windows simply marks the file as deleted, and waits for the space to be overwritten by another file needing the space, for it really to be deleted. If you didn’t format or defrag the drive the file may possibly be there for years to come. This is what happened with my D drive.
People often have to buy a program that will recover deleted files and photos, because that’s how desperate they are to retrieve their precious data..
Well this is your lucky day because you have actually hit the jackpot by finding this fantastic free program called Recuva. I know I was ecstatic when I found it and actually recovered my irreplaceable family photos that I had accidentally deleted from the recycle bin. I seriously thought that it would not work, because after all, it is a free program after all. More details are available on our freeware page.

“Recuva (pronounced “recover”) is a freeware Windows utility to restore files that have been accidentally deleted from your computer. This includes files emptied from the Recycle bin as well as images and other files that have been deleted by user error from digital camera memory cards or MP3 players. It will even bring back files that have been deleted by bugs, crashes and viruses!” Quoted from the Recuva website, it just sounded too good to be true.

When can you use Recuva to recover deleted files free?

• When you have recently accidentally deleted a file, photo, or picture from your computer you can use Recuva to recover deleted files.
• You can recover deleted pictures free when you haven’t used your computer too much and overwritten the deleted file.
• When this program says “No overwritten clusters detected” and that the file is in Excellent state after scanning your drive.

When can’t you use Recuva to recover deleted files free?

• When you have been formatting a hard drive you will not be able to recover deleted pictures free because the files would have been overwritten.
• Sometimes if you have defragged your computer. In my tests, after defragging my hard drive I could not recover deleted pictures free as they were then damaged. At this point you would need a professional data recovery service.
• If the program says the file has overwritten clusters. If you are trying to recover deleted pictures free using Recuva and you see the files have a red dot next to it, that’s not good.

Recover deleted files – What are the results from my tests with Recuva?

• I have two hard drives and scanned both. One is C drive and one is D drive. C drive is the main hard drive and D is storage. Nearly all the files that showed up were available for recovery.
• D drive had very old files show up. Half the stuff I could hardly remember because I had been storing files on there for a few years.
• C drive had less as I had recently formatted it, but all the recent deleted filed were available. Therefore I could recover deleted files easily, well the ones available.
• Then I decided to defrag C: and then scan it again. This definitely reduced the number of files that were in Excellent condition to recover. It probably overwrote 75% of files by defragging.
• I was amazed at what it actually recovered. It had every little thing that had been stored in my internet history, cookies, and other stuff that you thought would have been gone. It was almost scary how much detail this program went in to. All this from a free program.

Notes on how to recover deleted files:

• Files that has Excellent state and with the comment No overwritten clusters detected can be recovered.
• You should always recover deleted files to another hard drive as you might overwrite the file your are trying to recover.
• You can also recover deleted files and photos from your camera storage card! How great is that?
• This program is totally free and is made be the same guys that made Ccleaner. Their programs do no nag you to upgrade and they have no spyware contained in them. All they have is a donation button on their site. So if you find this free program handy then go and give these guys a donation.
• You can also try The World Leader in Data Recovery Software! No Recovery, No Charge!

Also watch the video below to see how to recover deleted files, photos, and pictures.

Please feel free to share your story about how to recover deleted files free in the comments section below.

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