Do You Have Dead Pixels?Written by Lynn Chan
Take a good look at your notebook computer screen. Do you find some tiny dark spots? You could have dead pixels. One of most expensive parts of your notebook computer is LCD screen.LCD's are highly sensitive and any amount of pressure, touching or handling may damage it. As such, dead pixels aren't an uncommon thing. Apparently, some degree of dead pixels is to be expected. Still if you have a lot of them, it would be classified as a defective screen. So, how do you determine if you have dead pixels? Before we go there, make sure it's not just dust. Clean your screen first. The best way to do that is to use a soft cotton cloth - no rags or paper towel as they can scratch your screen easily. Moisten cloth with plain old water and wipe screen gently. Side note: I've also tried maintaining my screen dust free with a Swiffer Duster. These are inexpensive, very soft and they pick up dirt not just re-distribute it. It has worked well. Of course, this will not take care of smudges or dried on dirt. So you'll still have to use cotton cloth and water combo sometimes. Once you've cleaned it, you can run a quick check with a free software called Dead Pixel Buddy. It's basically a very simple file that will rotate your screen through all basic colors. This way you can tell if a pixel on your screen is not displaying properly. One tip, you might want to get a help of a friend. Two sets of eyes are better than one especially since pixels tend to be miniscule.
| | Computer Help Desk Stupid Questions brought to you by Computer Service Now (CSN)Written by John Beagle
CSN Helps desk technicians know first hand that phrase 'there are no stupid questions' is untrue. It's understandable that people are nervous about computer technology, but everyday computer technicians are asked to help people out of problems that leave them asking... ...how do you get to work?Here is some proof from help desk stupid questions archives at CSN: A customer was enraged because his computer had told him he was "Bad and an invalid." The tech explained that computer's "bad command" and "invalid" responses shouldn't be taken personally. Another customer called tech support to say her brand new computer wouldn't work. She said she unpacked unit, plugged it in and sat there for 20 minutes waiting for something to happen. When asked what happened when she pressed power switch, she asked, "What power switch?" Computer companies have change text to their manuals from "Press Any Key" to "Press Return Key" because of question where is "Any Key"? A confused caller was having trouble printing documents. He told technician that computer had said it "couldn't find printer." The user had also tried turning computer screen to face printer-but that his computer still couldn't "see" printer.
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