REMOVING POP-UPS You are browsing the internet when suddenly a window pops up with a message, for example, 'free update for your computer', or 'scan your computer with free antivirus'. In some cases pop- ups messages may be helpful, more most often they're not. Pop-ups are basically an advertising ploy or unwanted program that might be affect your computer's performance. If you are working with Internet Explorer and want to block the pop-ups windows and unwanted messages, open the Internet Explorer and click on Tools menu. Go to the Pop-up Blocker option. Here you can use Pop-up Blocker to block pop-ups from all websites. Don't be surprised if you still get an occasional pop-up or two,some do sneak by. But the blocker will get most of them. Remember, pop-ups are not the same as cookies. Many web sites insist you allow cookies to open the site. No sound is heard from audio (music) CDs Various conditions may cause this problem. To troubleshoot, check the following: Microsoft Volume Control or your mixer program mute options and volume sliders. Connect headphones to the stereo phone jack on your CD-ROM drive’s front panel; adjust the volume control settings on the drive. If there is sound from your headphones, check the CD audio cable connection from the CD-ROM drive to the audio card. Ensure the speakers are properly connected to the audio card’s output connector ERROR MESSAGES Take notes of what you have done and all the error messages. You may need to use them later. For instance, when you see an unusual blue screen with an error message, copy the entire message onto a piece of paper. In many situations, that message may point to the right direction in getting the problem solved quickly. PROGRAM RECOVERY To recover from a program that has stopped responding, a user can generally press the CTRL + ALT + DEL keys on his or her keyboards to open the "Close Program" window or open the "Task Manager" window and click the "End Task" button to terminate the program. If another window opens, click the "End Task" button again to confirm stopping that program. It is important to realize that when a program stops responding any work that has not been saved will more than likely be lost when end tasking a program. Unfortunately, there is no alternative. PC FAN CHECK Use your hand to touch and feel the cover of your computer at least once a week. The cover should be at room temperature. If it feels warm there may be a problem! Check to make sure that the cooling fans on the power supply and CPU are working properly. Clean the air pathway on the back of the power supply on a regular basis. POWERING OFF YOUR PC If you use your computer more than a few hours per day, we suggest you not to turn off your computer at the end of the day. Instead turn off only the monitor to save electricity. Powering your computer up and down on a regular basis exposes the components to high and low temperature cycles that are not good for the life-time of the components, particularly the critical ones such as hard drives, CPU, and memory. The temperature cycle would result in expansion- shrinking cycle for the components. The life-time of electronic components would be increased if they are run at constant temperature with adequate ventilation. This does not apply to laptops. More about that next week. COMPUTER FREEZE UP So anyhow, you're typing along on the computer or maybe checking out the latest YouTube videos when, quite suddenly, your computer freezes up, I mean freezes solid. Nothing works, the mouse, the keyboard, the foot pedals.....oh wait, that's a sewing machine. So what are you going to do? Here's a suggestion. Before you spend an hour on the phone waiting for a technician, only to find that when he finally answers you can't understand a word he's saying, try this. Turn off your computer. That's right, turn it off. That probably means hitting the switch on your power strip, or unplugging it from the wall. Wait a little bit, maybe 20 or 30 seconds, then plug it in and boot it up. Hopefully at this point everything will boot up properly and you'll be back watching senior citizens Wii bowling on YouTube. Don't try to figure out why your computer froze to begin with, it will drive you crazy. But do a system scan anyway, and if you have a spyware removal program, use that too. Of course if it continues to freeze, that long tech call to India may still be in your future. We'll cross our fingers. |
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