How to Repair Windows XP
If your Windows XP installation becomes corrupt and you cannot boot into Windows normally or through Safe Mode, it may be possible to repair Windows without having to completely start over with a fresh installation. A Windows XP repair installation will overwrite the operating system files back to the original state, while leaving your programs and documents intact. This guide explains the process for repairing a corrupt Windows XP installation.
Safe Packing Instructions – Antec 4400 or 4480
A guide to safely packing your Antec 4400/4480 computer tower for shipping.
Safe Packing Instructions – Silverstone TJ07
A guide to safely packing your Silverstone TJ07 computer tower for shipping.
Safe Packing Instructions – Antec P180/P182/P183
A guide to safely packing your Antec P180, P182 or P183 computer tower for shipping.
Safe Packing Instructions – Lian-Li PC7H
A guide to safely packing your Lian-Li PC7H computer tower for shipping.
Top 10 things you should be doing to maintain your computer
Everyone loves computers when they work. Everyone screams at them when they don’t. Here’s ten ways to keep your computer running smoothly into its old age. While I can’t promise that these tips will keep your computer from ever having problems, it will at least help prevent them, and make recovery easier when they do occur.
A Look at Popular NAS Units
Network Attached Storage (NAS) has been on my mind quite a bit in the last year. With the birth of my son last May, my wife and I are going crazy with our digital camera, and what used to be a nice and spacious hard drive is no longer adequate. What’s worse, we’ve found that video is a much better way to capture all the little things we want to remember, which probably increases our storage needs by a factor of 100!
On the business side, we’re encountering the same thing. As our company grows, the 200GB network share we all use for shared storage has become both too small, and dangerously difficult to back up. As we expand our website with more and more multimedia content, the need for “scratch space” has grown exponentially.
Both at home and at the office, we need more space, and we need a good level of protection from data loss. A NAS is a natural choice.
Sound Cards: Creative Labs, and Alternatives
The last few days have seen a lot of negative press surrounding the largest sound card manufacturer on the block, Creative Labs. Here’s a little background on what’s happened:
Creative Labs has had a near-monopoly on the sound card market for a long time. Barring onboard sound controllers (like those integrated into almost all Nvidia and Intel based chipsets), Creative cards make up an overwhelming majority of audio cards currently in use. Creative has not done a very good job of getting Windows Vista sound drivers working which offer the same amount of features that their XP drivers have had. A lot of people have been really frustrated by this, since their expensive audio cards weren’t working or were giving reduced functionality.
My Perspective on Personal Computers
My name is Daniel Brown, I am a PC technician. I’m writing this article because I feel like, based on my experience, I may have some wisdom to impart regarding PCs. I’ve been working with PCs for most of the last 13 years. Even when not employed in the computer industry, I’ve consistently dedicated a significant portion of my own time to staying up to date with PC hardware trends and learning more about personal computers. During my time in the IT industry, I’ve encountered more than my share of problems and done countless hours of troubleshooting. In my current role as ‘Lead Support Technician’ here at Puget, I add to those hours of troubleshooting daily, dealing with modern PC systems.
Drooling Over New Technology
I don’t drool often, but I have to say — this is an exciting time to be in the technology field. We work closely with both Intel and nVidia, and they both have new products out that are changing the way I look at high performance computers.