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A computer starts to depreciate the moment you buy one and walk out of the shop. What depreciates worse than that is one of the key components of the computer - Graphic Cards. You could say that graphic cards start depreciating the moment they start shipping. This is because a newer better graphic card has almost neared completion by the time this one has started shipping.

As a gamer you need to squeeze every little bit you can out of your machine. Here are some simple things you can do to aid you in the process.

1. Perform maintenance - Keep plenty of hard disk space available. The more clogged up it is, the slower the read/write operations. Using a disk defragmenter regularly is also a good practice to follow. Get rid of unused applications and update everything else that you use.

2. Increase efficiency - You don’t need to have MS Word, the Chrome browser, Photoshop and a few other things running in the background while you play a game. Your processor is working double time to keep all these things running at the same time. Close down any unnecessary apps and you will see a big boost in performance.

3. Maximize bandwidth - If you are playing online you should close all chat windows, active downloads, etc. Keep as much of your bandwidth reserved as possible so that you do not experience lag in any form. If you need to communicate with other players, use specialized communications software like Ventrilo or Steam.

4. Update - Check regularly for driver updates from graphics card vendors. This will make a remarkable difference in performance.

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Losing data is the most annoying and frustrating thing that can happen to a user. If your hard disk “dies”, then there is nothing you can do (other than spending thousands of dollars on expensive data recovery methods) to recover that data. The best practice to follow would be to take regular backups of your data. But what about your Operating system and all the Applications that are installed on your system?

Normally re-installing everything on a new hard disk would be long and arduous process. However, there is an easier solution. Taking a Disk Image backup is a worthwhile process. This type of backup takes a “snapshot” of everything on your system at that point and stores it in another location. This could be a DVD, Internal/ External storage, Networked storage devices, etc. In the event of your hard disk failing, restoring your system to the point where the image was taken is an easy process. In one simple restore process, you can have your OS and Apps back and working within a short space of time. The best part is that you don’t have to spend time digging up the serial numbers for all the software you have installed.

However, this full restoration of the system takes you back to a certain time period. This means that most of the latest data that you had on the system would be lost. This is where the normal regular backups come in. With those and a Disk Image, you can have your system up and running very fast and therefore avoid any frustration of losing data.

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Gone are the days when the word password keeper meant the man at the door asking people to give the right password in order to enter. In today’s world of computers and more so, with the explosion of the internet, security and privacy has become more important than ever.

For the folks who travel a lot, password security can be a thing to watch out for especially if you are accessing financial or corporate information from a computer that does not have appropriate levels of security.

And so keeping these online hazards in mind, there are sites that have created the option of a free password manager with levels of security that can protect you from such issue with privacy even when you are away from your personal computer.

All you have to do is sign up for the password manager at the site you find most suitable to your needs and store all your passwords for all your favorite sites in one place, which also means that you don’t have to remember them anymore as well. From there on, you just have to login at the site, and gain access to all these sites at the click of a button.

It should be heartening to know that these sites employ security standards that are compliant with security standards at the NSA while also offering you additional features such as extra protection that constantly monitors your account for any suspicious activity.

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In the old days, going through a photo album meant that the person who took the photos had to be there to explain some of the situations that were captured. With Facebook this is no longer a problem, as captions can be included to do the same thing. However many users can’t be bothered with writing captions for every photo, especially if they are uploading vast numbers. There are a few solutions to this problem.

Uploading via email is an option that Facebook gives its users. When this method is used, the subject line of the email turns into the caption on Facebook. The only drawback to this method is that if multiple photos are uploaded, then the subject line becomes the caption for all the photos.
A better method would be to use a desktop application. This will allow you to organize your photos, add captions and edit other information before you upload. So all you have to do thereafter is, upload and forget about it. Some apps even offer a few extra features like bulk captioning and so on.

Another method you can use is the Picasa plugin called the Picasa Uploader. This will allow you to upload your pictures straight from Picasa, making your life very easy. This also means that if you have already captioned your photos in Picasa, the uploader will pick it up saving you the trouble of doing captions all over again. It also allows you to create new albums on Facebook.

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Let’s say you are looking for any computer file on your laptop or desktop. Yes, the first thing you would do if you use a computer with Windows as its operating system, would be to use Windows Search to locate the file mostly sound and text files, images and videos.

However, this is only the basic function of a desktop search app as not only do these apps look for files mentioned above but are designed to look for information such as web browser histories and email archives.
So, if you’re interested in using a desktop search app, here are three options that could work for you:

1) Google Desktop
One of the best search apps that is available across popular platforms such as Windows, Mac and Linux. What validates its functionality is that Google, its creator, has revolutionized the internet with a similar ’search’ product.

2) Locate32
Known to only index files based on file name and location, it still remains a popular desktop search app because it performs the search very quickly as well as leaves a tiny memory footprint. Even though it might not be suitable for deep searches, compared to other app this one doesn’t need a lot to index and search for file.

3) Copernic Desktop Search
Even though this search app isn’t backed by any large corporation like Microsoft and Google, it seems to be the most popular choice amongst personal users with it being offered free for personal use. Not only does it index every file on your desktop but it allows you to see the file, by its ‘Preview’ function.

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While there’s no doubt that mind maps are an effective way to improve one’s memory recall, it does not however end there. Its areas of application can be anything from problem solving, taking notes, sorting out complicated ideas and even expressing your thoughts and emotions in a graphical and non-linear manner as creatively as possible.

Perhaps its use at a personal level only requires a pen and some paper but when you would like to use it at an organizational level (where several central themes) have to brainstormed, mind mapping software can help you to organize large amounts of information.

Several mind mapping software are available that come with the option of being offered at no cost or are charged a one time fee for its use. The official mind mapping software designed by Tony Buzan himself if offered at a cost in three version, whereas there are other mind mapping software that are offered for free.

MindMeister, the online mind mapping software, which is published by MeisterLabs Inc. in 2007, has three editions that one can pick from namely Basic, Premium and Business. Of course, the Basic version is free of cost with three mind maps while the other two are priced at $ 59 per year (Premium) and 6 per user per month (Business) along with a 30-day free trial period for the latter.

Not only are they available on a web-based platform but also offer a variety of tools such as MindMeister API, an iPhone app version of MindMeister, in Offline Mode using Google Gears and a free service known as Geistesblitz.

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If you do own a laptop or a desktop computer, at some point of time or the other, you will have to install or reinstall your drivers. Perhaps this is the first time when you come across these programs that will continue to play an important part in the smooth functioning of your computer.

Very simply, a driver works as a ‘translator’ between a hardware device and the applications that are considered higher level computer programs or the operating system that is intends to use the program for a particular function. Now each hardware device requires their own specialized set of commands in order to function properly, and thus require their own device drivers.

Device drivers are normally used for hardware such as scanners, printers, digital cameras, sound cards, network cards, graphics cards and computer storage devices such as floppy, CD-ROM and hard disks.

Most experts recommend that it is a good idea to update your drivers that will help improve the performance of the device being used, as the code used to write the driver is continuously being fine-tuned for improvements. So, if you want your computer and the hardware being used to work at an optimum level and especially being free from bugs, it is important to constantly update your drivers.

Some of these drivers, when installed, are set to be updated automatically whereas some drivers require the computer user to manually download the latest version of the device driver from the manufacturer’s website. Another method is by going to Device Manager in Windows (Right click on ‘My Computer’) and updating each driver from there as well.

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Let’s say that you wanted to access both your home and office PCs. The easiest way to do this would be by using remote pc access software. Also known as remote administration, this concept exists in both its legal and illegal forms and simply means that one can gain access to any PC from a remote location without having to be physically located at that particular computer. And in layman’s terms, a remote location could be anywhere from being in the next room to the other side of the world.

Some of the common tasks that are possible through this software are such as shutting it down, accessing peripherals, viewing and modifying information and applications that are on that particular computer.

Depending on whether this is for personal (which just requires access to basic information such as files and data) or corporate use (whose functions can allow an employee to access sensitive company while on the road or from home), a Virtual Private Network or an Online Remote Access service can be deployed to enable remote administration.

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Client is an option that comes bundled with operating systems such as Windows XP, Server 2003/ 2008 and Vista. Windows NT and 7 which have remote administration tools such as Active Directory and Remote Server Administration Tools also enable IT administrators to perform complex tasks on a network.

Some popular options of third-party remote desktop software are Anyplace Control, Apple Remote Desktop 3, BeAnywhere, GoToMyPC, LogMeIn, RealVNC, ShowMyPC, SkyFex, TeamViewer and UltraVNC.

Apart from these options, remote administration can also be executed using wireless devices such as Palm, Pocket PC and Blackberry devices as well as some mobile phones.

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Prior to its release in 2004, being ‘bundled’ with Microsoft Windows XP SP 2, Windows Firewall has come under fire due to compatibility issues with several applications on Internet sites (which led to most corporates opting out of the XP SP 2 upgrade) though being a positive shift from the accusation that Microsoft was not protecting its customers from viruses and worms, thanks to the ineffectiveness of its predecessor, the Internet Connection Firewall.
However, with Windows Vista, a significant number of concerns (especially raised by corporate) were addressed putting to rest the negative publicity (but publicity all the same) that its earliest versions raked up.

Now if you have any Microsoft operating system after XP, you can easily configure Windows Firewall to protect your system, and here’s how:

Although in some cases, the firewall is turned on by default in any of Microsoft’s operating systems, most customers are given the option to try other firewalls before using Windows Firewall. But in doing so, one must remember to turn OFF Windows Firewall before running any other firewall software.

Now, in order to check whether it is turned on or not, Click ‘Start’ and stop your mouse pointer at the ‘Settings’ tab, after which you can select the option ‘Control Panel’. Find ‘Windows Firewall’ from the list and then look for the tabs named ‘General’, ‘Exceptions’ and ‘Advanced’.
In the General tab, you will see two options such as ‘On (recommended)’ with a green shield bearing a tick mark and ‘Off (not recommended)’ with a red shield bearing a crossed mark.
From here on, all you have to do is select ‘On’, if you would like to use Windows Firewall, and then hit ‘Ok’.
And we’re done!

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Let’s say you work on a document in Microsoft Word 2007 (with the docx format) and would like to share it with someone who has Windows 2003 operating system on their PC or laptop. Do you think they will be able to see it?

As much as you’d like for them to be able to see it, the answer to that question is no.

What you will have to do is create another document that can be viewed by MS Office 2003, and send it across to the user.
Now wouldn’t this problem be solved if we converted that MS Word 2007 document into the PDF format, and then sent it across?
Since it works seamlessly between several (often competitive!) software programs such as spreadsheet, photo-editing and organizer programs, this is one reason why PDF has become so successful since Adobe Systems introduced it in 1993. All your user will have to do is to download and install a PDF Reader from the internet. In short, PDF helps creators across the globe share their work over the internet twice as securely as any other file format available in almost no time at all.

Now, in order to change the file format to PDF from other formats that you are most comfortable working with, you will need a PDF converter. And there are several of them that are available for free over the internet (just google the keyword ‘free pdf converter’) that will convert MS Office, Lotus, Open Office documents, images and even web pages, apart from the expensive Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro software which will help you create PDF documents from a scratch.

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