The Hard Disk

Written by Pawan Bangar,Technical Director,Birbals,India.


Continued from page 1

1- First reinstall Windows and then application programs you use. 2- Restore your backups into appropriate files. If you use a Zip drive or a CD-writer, these need to be installed first. 3- Reinstall all drivers forrepparttar printer, modem or other peripherals.

Dorepparttar 107770 defrag

A file on your disk may not be stored all in one place or cluster. For example, if you create a Word document and make changes to it at a later date,repparttar 107771 change may get saved in a different cluster fromrepparttar 107772 original file. The more often you make changes to a file,repparttar 107773 more disorganizedrepparttar 107774 cluster becomes, andrepparttar 107775 disk becomes fragmented. This makesrepparttar 107776 magnetic head that reads and writes data to and fromrepparttar 107777 disk, works harder to retrieverepparttar 107778 entire file. Fragmentation of hard drive reducesrepparttar 107779 storage efficiency and then access time for retrieving information.

The process of defragging helps to rearrangerepparttar 107780 files and unused space on your hard disk so that programs run faster.

Before Defragging, it may be a good idea to check how much of your hard drive is fragmented. You can do this by running ScanDisk. Emptyrepparttar 107781 temp folders and Recycle Bin before defragging.

Windows 95 and Windows 98-: Openrepparttar 107782 Start Menu, choose Programs, choose Accessories, and choose System Tools and click on Disk Defragmenter. You defragging schedule will depend on how much you userepparttar 107783 PC. A good rule ofrepparttar 107784 thumb is to defrag every two weeks. Make sure all your files are closed and then you have turned ofrepparttar 107785 screensaver also.

Spring Cleaning No more hard disk space left? Getting disk error or illegal operations? It may be time to clean up your hard disk. A few spring cleaning pointers to help you out.

1- Toss out unwanted applications-: check out allrepparttar 107786 software applications you have loaded onrepparttar 107787 PC. Deleterepparttar 107788 old applications if you have installed newer versions. Go torepparttar 107789 Control Panel’s Add/Remove program option and uninstall those applications you don’t need.

2- Run ScanDisk-:repparttar 107790 ScanDisk option in Windows is very useful application which fixes problem like lost clusters, invalid directory entries and physical disk errors. Run ScanDisk once a month.

Go to start, choose Programs, choose Accessories, and choose System Tools and click on ScanDisk. Clickrepparttar 107791 drive that containsrepparttar 107792 folders and files you want to check.

3- Defrag often, once in two weeks.

4- Empty Recycle Bin-: Right-click on Recycle Bin icon onrepparttar 107793 Desktop and choose Empty Recycle Bin fromrepparttar 107794 dropdown menu. 5- Clean out your folders-: do you really need all those download you had undertaken for a past research project or those games you seldom plays? Delete those folders that are not required.

6- Delete .tmp files and create more space on hard disk.

Close all programs. Go to Windows Explorer. Pressrepparttar 107795 key to open find dialog box. Enter *.tmp inrepparttar 107796 box. Make sure that C: Drive is listed inrepparttar 107797 Look-in box. Include subfolders by checking them. When .tmp files appear, delete them.

7- Delete temporary Net files to create more space.

Go torepparttar 107798 temp Internet Files folder in Windows Explorer. Delete all present files.

8- There are several Windows components on your hard disk that you could do without. You could remove these individual components fromrepparttar 107799 Add/Remove Windows setup option and create more space on your disk

Some windows components that are not necessary are accessories such as Desktop Wallpapers (a saving of 700kB) and games (a saving of 600kB

Before you format….. 1- Enterrepparttar 107800 hard drive’s technical specifications (number of cylinders, tracks, sectors etc.) intorepparttar 107801 PC’s BIOS setup table so that it is available forrepparttar 107802 machine’s Startup program.

2- Backup all your important data onto another hard disk, recordable CDs, Zip Drive, magnetic tapes or floppies. If you have a sort of backup space or are in hurry, copy only important folders. Backup your e-mail and address books too. After takingrepparttar 107803 backups, check them out to make sure that they are okay.

3- Backup any folders that you share with others over a network.

4- Keep handyrepparttar 107804 installation disks or CDs ofrepparttar 107805 application software you use, such as Windows or an office suite. These will have to be re-installed after formatting.

5- Keep handyrepparttar 107806 driver disks for your printer, sound card, CD ROM driver, modem or other devices. These will have to be re-installed after formatting.

FAT Facts

When a hard disk is formatted, a File Allocation Table (FAT) is created onrepparttar 107807 disk. FAT keeps a record ofrepparttar 107808 locations of allrepparttar 107809 files onrepparttar 107810 disk FAT 16 isrepparttar 107811 file allocation system used in DOS and Windows 95. FAT 32 file system is used in Windows 98 or Win 95 OSR 2. FAT 32 is considered to be more efficient as it saves more space onrepparttar 107812 disk.

The performance of hard disk largely affectsrepparttar 107813 overall performance of a PC. Hard disk performance factors include storage capacity, data access time (the time it takes forrepparttar 107814 read write heads to find a required position onrepparttar 107815 magnetic surface), data transfer time (measure how many million bit per second can be transferred from disk to RAM) and reliability.

TIP Keep your hard disk in tip-top condition and optimize its performance. 1- Create separate folders for each business application, data or for each family member. This will keep your disk clean and organized.

2- Avoidrepparttar 107816 compression Though file compression increasesrepparttar 107817 amount of storage space, it also considerably slowdown system performance. 3- Keep 10% free. Always keep at least 10% of your hard disk free-filling it beyond 90% of its capacity will lead to system slowdown and potential loss of information.

4- Runrepparttar 107818 Maintenance Wizard utility of Windows 95 and 98. This utility make your programs run faster, checks your hard disk for problems and free hard disk space. You can schedule it to0 run on a regular basis at a specific time, for example once a week or other interval of your choice.

Start maintenance Wizard by clicking on Start, choose Programs, choose Accessories, choose system tools and click on Maintenance Wizard.

5- Use software package that help to optimize your hard disk’s performance, e.g. Symantec’s Norton Utilities.

Pawan Bangar, Technical Director, Birbals, (Hbirbals,Seobirbals,Ebirbals,Ibirbals) Cell:91-175-3150734 Cell:+91-98153-52253 email: pawan@ebirbals.com pawan@birbals.com pawan@hbirbals.com Yahoo Messenger:pawanishappy@yahoo.com MSN messenger:ebirbals@hotmail.com


Tips for Buying a PC

Written by Pawan Bangar,Technical Director,Birbals,India.


Continued from page 1

What's available?

The more you haverepparttar better it is. A lot of PCs still come with 128 MB RAM-we advise you to go for 256MB atrepparttar 107769 very least. If you're a gamer or into heavy graphics, you'll need more than 256 MB. Nowadays, DDR RAM is available for faster output. How much do you need?

Video RAM---What is it?

This is a card that carries outrepparttar 107770 processing for all that's related torepparttar 107771 display. You could have a fast processor, lots of ROM and hard disk that keeps pace with it all. But ifrepparttar 107772 display can't match all this-the speed at whichrepparttar 107773 things have got processed will take ages to show up on screen. The card has its RAM- called video RAM (VRAM).

What's available?

As we said earlier, some motherboards have this function inbuilt, but others need you to have a graphics card for this. You get a range of cards now.

How much do you need?

If you're into heavy gaming and graphics and CAD and 3D modeling, you need to have a card with at least 16 MB VRAM, 32MB if you can afford it. For other purpose, 16 MB VRAM is good enough.

All software comes on CDs. A lot of computers magazines that teach you how to use computers come with CDs. So a CD-ROM drive is a must. Now you haverepparttar 107774 option of going for CD-RW drives or even DVD drives. And some vendors haverepparttar 107775 check to see PCs without them.

Higher X ratings-such as 48X, 52X for a CD drive doesn't mean thatrepparttar 107776 drive will run at blazing speeds. In fact for routine things opening a CD tray, making a CD auto run-an 8X will do just fine. But if you were to rip songs from your audio CDs to convert them into MP3s you would need a faster drive.

A DVD drive is great if you are going to be watching a lot of movies on your PC- but make sure video card and sound card and speakers match up to it.

Go for a CD-RW drive if you are going to be burning a lot of CDs-keeping backups, making MP3 CDs, and so on.

The basic PC:

For running productivity applications: word processors, spreadsheet, presentations, Surfing. Using e-mail, using personal information mangers. Play music and videos, some light games and multimedia CDs

Specs:

•AMD XP 2200 or above/AMD K6 series or Duron 550 MHz or above •128 DDR MB RAM •15" color SVGA monitor •20-40GB ATA/66 hard disk with 7200 RPM •On board video abd sound •52x CD-drive •101-keys Keyboard •3-button mouse •56 kbps modem

The high-end PC -

For heavy gaming, graphics, multimedia creation, sound editing

Specs:

•Pentium IV 1700 MHz or higher clock/ AMD XP 2400+ and higherMHz or higher •256 MB DDR RAM •80 GB hard disk drive 7200 •video card with 64 MB VRAM •101-keys keyboard •on board sound (for those into sound editing and composing, a high-end sound card like Creative SoundBlaster Live is needed) •19" monitor(Flat Panel or LCD) •Optical Scroll mouse •56 Kbps modem

Sound card and Speakers:

The sound card processesrepparttar 107777 sound that you hear on your PC. These days sounds cards not only make multimedia application sound great, they also let you compose record and edit your own music.

Monitor:

14" monitors are out. You can get in your some other type ofrepparttar 107778 monitor in 15", color monitor, 16 inches and 17 inches monitor are available inrepparttar 107779 market.Nowadays LCD's and Flat Panel Displays ar ver common.

PORTS -

Ports are where you plug in peripherals. The mouse and keyboard go into their respective ports. Serial ports take in modems. Parallel ports take in printer, scanners, etc, There are now USB ports for USB printers, scanners, digital cameras, etc. Now there are Fire Wire ports t00-but these are useful for those into video-editing and such tasks that need a lot of data to be transferred in a shot.

Keyboard and Mouse-

There is a range of mice to choose from Look for one that you fell comfortable working with. There are different types of keyboards. Again look for one that doesn't require you to thump hard to type, feels ergonomic. You could also go for devices go for devices that have programmable buttons/keys.

Software-

You need an operating system-the common one is of course, Windows 98. Nowrepparttar 107780 latest version of Windows forrepparttar 107781 home is Windows XP and Windows 2003.

You need an office suits, or at least programs that do word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. You need a browser torepparttar 107782 Web, and an e-mail program. You'll also need an antivirus, some system diagnostic tools, some graphics programs, and some useful things like media players (to run your movies and play music), file compression tools like WinZip. Then of course, there is a world of games and multimedia titles to explore.

Pawan Bangar, Technical Director, Birbals, (Hbirbals,Seobirbals,Ebirbals,Ibirbals) Cell:+91-98150-04114 email: pawan@ebirbals.com Yahoo Messenger:ebirbals@yahoo.com MSN messenger:ebirbals@hotmail.com


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