Buy and use an external hard drive. Backup all your important files and documents for the outside. If you must reformat the hard drive, this will ensure you have access to all your important information.

Install antivirus and schedule it to run daily. You also want to configure it to scan e-mail for malicious attachments. AVG Free is a good anti virus program, and as the name suggests, is free to download and use.

Every time you download something, make sure you scan before opening it. This is a fast way to spread a virus. Take the extra 10 seconds to scan and protect your computer.

Download Spyware protection. Super Anti Spyware Free is a great protector spyware and is free. The threat of spyware is that it can send information from your computer to a hacker. So, when you access your bank account or your credit card account, the information you are typing can be forwarded to the hackers! Protection from spyware and a firewall are crucial for protection against spyware.

Make sure you have a spam filter installed if you use a desktop e-mail. Use an online service such as Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail web based email accounts. Sure to set your spam settings in the Account Settings.

Be careful when opening attachments. Always scan the attachment, and never, never open an attachment with the extension EXE. This is more than likely a virus and once you open there to stop him.

If you do become infected with a virus, disconnect from the Internet and start running your antivirus program. Sometimes you have to surf forums to seek help. In these cases, use a different computer and take notes. If you are unable to remove the virus, so it may be necessary to contact a computer tech that can solve the problem for you.

Worse case would reformat the hard drive, which is basically starting from scratch with a fresh install of Windows. We hope that you backed up all the important information.

• www tohp
• how can you protect your computer from viruses game

Buying a Computer

It isn’t fair, but buying a computer is just plain easier for some than it is for others. Those who’ve purchased and used a computer in the past already have an idea of what they need in a new computer. But those who are new to the computer world could get lost in the myriad of choices available.

The short answer to “What should I buy?” is “The best.” Of course that answer is extremely subjective because “the best” to one person is certainly different to another. Our definition of “the best” is the fastest and the biggest, but even that leaves the computer newbie confused. Here’s a quick rundown of what the computer novice should do and why.

1. Buy a computer that includes basic peripherals. Every computer can be broken down into four major components: CPU unit, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. For the novice, it’s best to buy a computer that has all of these components included so that when it’s taken home, assembling the computer is a simple matter of plugging things in where they belong. Save the individual purchases of these components for those who have more experience.

2. Decide what you’ll use the computer for. If you want to use your computer for cruising the web, sending email, or performing simple word-processing or spreadsheet tasks, a computer with the basic components that we just described should suffice. If you want to use a computer to help with a career in multimedia however, you’re going to need to accessorize your system with a scanner, printer, digital camera, tablet, or digicam for example. If you want a computer to help with a career in music, you will need a quality microphone and set of speakers.

3. Create a budget and stick to it. How much can you afford to spend on a new computer? Although the prices of computers are decreasing, they can still create a hefty expense especially if you need additional peripherals described above. In addition, you’ll need to figure in costs for maintenance, servicing, and insuring.

4. Start comparison shopping and look for the “fastest and biggest.” By “fastest and biggest,” we mean the computer with the fastest processor, the fastest modem, the biggest memory, and the biggest hard drive capacity. Even if you think that you’ll never need the amount of speed or space available on the market today, it’s important to have in the event that you truly do need that much in the future. Having such a large reserve will cut down on costs when the time comes to upgrade for more than what you may settle for in a computer that offers less.

5. Stick with the better-known brands. Venturing off the beaten path with lessor-known brands is again, an adventure for those who have more experience with computers. Although those better-known brands may be a tad bit more expensive, the computer novice will appreciate the comfort in purchasing a computer from a business that has a long record of building quality products, and that has the funds available for fulfilling returns, trades, servicing, and warranties.

6. Select a store. Having an idea of what you want in a computer and what kind of computer that you want, your only task left is to select the place in which you want to buy it. There are a number of places available including computer store outlets, online stores, auction sites, used computer stores, or your friendly neighborhood yard sale. For the computer novice, we recommend buying a computer from a physical store. In  a physical store, you have the opportunity to see the computer of interest in person and ask questions. New computer buyers also have access to store warranties, returns, trades, and services.

These suggestions should give the computer newbie a great start in selecting a quality computer for the first time and they apply to either Windows computers or Apple Macintosh computers. After making these decisions and finally selecting one that fits your needs, you can then venture into the fascinating world of software – a world that is just as grand as the world of hardware!

Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (32/64-bit version), SP1
Memory Size*
4GB
Memory Speed*

PC3-8500 DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM
Display Size*
17.0″ widescreen
Display Type*

WSXGA+ with TruBrite® Technology
Display Resolution*
1680×1050
Graphics Engine*

Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GTS graphics with NVIDIA® SLI® Technology
Graphics Memory*
512MBx2 GDDR3 discrete graphics memory plus up to 1663MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory using NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology
Hard Drive Size*

128GB Solid State Hard Drive (SSD)
Secondary Hard Drive Size*
320GB 2nd HDD
Secondary Hard Drive Speed*

7200rpm
Optical Drives*
DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash™ drive supporting up to 11 formats
Wireless LAN*

Atheros® Wireless-LAN (802.11b/g/n)
Bluetooth
Bluetooth® V2.1 + EDR
Webcam

Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel
Inputs and Controls
CD/DVD Buttons (Play/Pause, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track), Mute button, Media button, 104 key US keyboard with 10 Key Pad, Camera control buttons, Dolby settings, Panel Lights
Modem

Modem
LAN
10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN
Audio

Built-in microphone, Microphone jack (mono), 4 harman/kardon® stereo speakers with subwoofer, S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port), Headphone jack (stereo)
AC Adapter
230W (19V 12.1A) Auto-sensing, 100-240V / 50-60Hz input
Battery

Li-Ion (3200mAh)
PC Express Slot
1-ExpressCard™ Slot
Media Card Reader

5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter, S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port)
USB Ports*
3-USB (2.0) with Sleep and Charge, 1-eSATA/USB (2.0) combo port with Sleep and Charge
iLINK

i.LINK™ IEEE-1394
Regza Link
Regza Link (HDMI-CEC), 1080p support
Software*

TOSHIBA ConfigFree®, WildTangent® Orb™ Games Console, Hard disc (HDD) recovery, PowerCinema for TOSHIBA, TOSHIBA Face Recognition, Norton 360™ All-In-One Security (60-day Trial), TOSHIBA Disc Creator, Microsoft® Works Version 9.0, TOSHIBA Recovery Disc Creator, TOSHIBA Speech System, Ulead® DVD MovieFactory® 5 for Toshiba, Google Picasa™, TOSHIBA DVD Player, Microsoft® Office Trial Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial)
Weight*
Starting at 9.04 lbs.
Color

Fusion Finish™ with Rogue™ pattern
Standards*
RoHS Compliant
Standard Limited Warranty*

1-Yr Parts and Labor, 1-Year Battery
Wireless USB*
Wireless USB Ready

Ease of Use    Easy
Portability    Easy to carry
Reliability    Reliable
Design & Look    Good
Value for Money    Expensive

Advantages:    good and elegant
Disadvantages:    no Disadvantages

Recommend to potential buyers:    yes

source : ciao.com

As owner of HP Compaq Business Desktop Dc5800, I strongly suggest to upgrade the shared VGA into better one. It cost about $ 100 depending on what graphic card you want. And also maybe consider to add more RAM since I think the more RAM you have the better performance you get.
This HP Compaq Business Desktop Dc5800 is powered by Processor Intel Pentium Dual Core E5200 / 2.5 GHz, that will guaranteed that this micro tower Form Factor PC is capable and fast enough to handle today’s applications.

HP Compaq Business Desktop Dc5800 Interfaces:

8 x Hi-Speed USB – 4 pin USB Type A ( 2 in front )
1 x serial – RS-232 – 9 pin D-Sub (DB-9)
1 x keyboard – generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style)
1 x mouse – generic – 6 pin mini-DIN (PS/2 style)
1 x display / video – VGA – 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15)
1 x audio – line-in/microphone – mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
1 x audio – line-out – mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
1 x network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T – RJ-45
1 x headphones – output – mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front )
1 x microphone – input – mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ( 1 in front )
1 x audio / video – DisplayPort – 20 pin DisplayPort

I strongly recommend this PC only for the use in daily home usage or just a small business.

source : ciao.com

Opera 9.6 also has a new RSS feed preview feature that lets you see the contents of an RSS freed before you subscribe. In fact, the newspaper-style layout of the feed preview is so nifty that you might find yourself bookmarking RSS feeds to read in your web browser instead of the original web pages.

There are also a bunch of bug fixes and stability and performance improvements. Users can also synchronize their custom searches and typed history with
source : ciao.com

Create, send, and receive faxes, documents, and images from one spot.
Enjoy easier setup and simplified maintenance

source : ciao.com

Learn how to move the computer mouse:
Slowly slide the mouse around on the mouse pad. See what happens to the arrow on the screen as you slide it around.

Do you need a mouse pad:
You should have a mouse pad under your mouse, (although the new optic mice do not require one). You will have an array of choices when purchasing a mouse pad; find the one that is comfortable for you. Rest your hand on the mouse pad or desk and move it slowly, there is no need to lift the mouse off the mouse pad unless you run out of room, then you just lift it up and reposition where needed. You don’t need to move the mouse to the left or right, simply slide it left or right with the buttons still facing away from you.

What does clicking do:
Clicking sends a command to the computer. To click, gently press and release the left computer mouse button. Be careful not to move the mouse while you are clicking, if you accidentally do simply slide the mouse back to where you want to click and try again. Try to keep you hand relaxed on the mouse as you press and release without lifting your finger completely off the button.

You are Done – Great job! That is all you need to know to start using your computer and that mouse. Keep working on it and before you know it, it will feel like second nature to you and you will not even have to think about what you are doing.

Computer peripherals, from keyboards to web cams, are an important part of our activities whilst on the computer, if not the most important one, depending on our needs and habits. When you are faced with the situation in which you have to choose peripherals, consider a few things before making your move.

When we buy a printer we must think of our needs before buying it. For instance, if it is meant to be an office printer and it will be used to print out contracts and objectives, then the best choice is an all-in-one printer that can print, scan and have the functions of a fax machine at the same time. If we want a personal printer mostly to get copies of our digital photos then considering a color printer is a must.

The keyboard and the mouse are two very important components of a computer as they are used most often. There are several mouse/keyboard packages that are value for money and are feature packed. You can buy them in any color you can think of and even get wireless ones.
Communication with friends and family is done online quite often. This is why you will need the right equipment to make that communication more enjoyable. Equipment such as a web cam. A web cam will allow you to see the person you are speaking to. A headset to be able to have a conversation through the use of software such as Skype.

There is a vast array of computer peripherals that allow us to do amazing things. Peripherals such as speakers, webcams, headsets, card readers, digital cameras, USB flash drives etc. The main thing to remember is to make sure that the peripherals meet your wants and needs.

The truth is that computers do not get slower as they age, a slow computer is a sign that something is literally holding your PC back and affecting its performance. And the good news is that you can do something about it.

There are many things that can affect your computer’s performance, from low memory to a fragmented hard drive and everything in between. The things that can affect your computer’s performance are usually of your own doing. You see, each time we download a program or delete a program, we affect the way our computer operates. This change in operation can leave holes in our PCs operating procedures or may even leave behind programs that can affect our computer’s performance.

Here are just a few things that could be making your computer slow:

· Running Background Programs – These programs are software applications that are running behind the scenes even when they are not in use. You may not even know that they are running, but they can zap precious memory and slow down your other tasks considerably. To see if you have programs running in the background, press Ctrl + Alt + Delete at the same time. The box that pops up will show you all applications that are running.

· Full Hard Drive – If your hard drive is too full of data, it will not have enough space to perform chores. Your hard drive should have at lease 2MB to 3MB in free space.

· Fragmented Hard Drive – When you download and delete programs, you create holes in your hard drive. These holes mean that your PC has to search for the files it needs over greater distance and not necessarily in the order that it needs them.

· Left Over Parts – When you install and uninstall Windows programs, they leave behind parts or applications that can slow down your computer. You may even unknowingly delete a file needed for other software applications. (Note: Spyware and viruses can also slow down your PC’s performance, but for the purpose of this article we are assuming that the problem lies in application errors.)

Make Your PC Run Like New

While it’s not rocket science, making your computer lightning fast once again will take a little work from you. Sometimes, this is as easy as running your Windows System Tools program. You can find these programs by clicking “start,” “all programs,” “accessories,” and “system tools.” Here you will find several system optimizers to help you free up your disk space, defragment your PC, and detect and repair disk errors.

In addition to tools already installed on your PC, you can opt to download additional programs to optimize your computer’s performance. These optimizers can be purchased as a set with other software programs that can help you get the best out of your computer. Here are just a few of the extra optimization programs that you may want for your PC:

· Memory Optimizer – When you are using your computer, it takes several programs and application to handle everything that you are doing. Each of these programs uses memory. When memory is short, computer response time is slow. Memory Optimizer helps to make the allotment of memory to each program more efficient. This can help you eliminate slow PC execution time, Windows hang up or crashing, loss of data and unwanted shutdowns.

· Registry Deffrager and Optimizer – As mentioned before, a registry with holes results in slow response times as your PC searches for the data it needs. This program improves the system response time and saves memory by creating a smaller registry.

· Windows Optimizer – We all use our computers differently. Some use their computer as a media and entertainment centerpiece while others use their PC for data storage and business purposes. Windows Optimizer allows you to tweak program settings so that they will perform in line with your needs.

Granted, a slow computer is a nuisance and it may leave you wanting to go out and purchase a new model. But before you give up on your current model, make sure that you have optimized it first. You may be surprised by how much life is still in your PC.

• netbook optimizer

There is a variety of different types of memory, and it is important that you choose memory that is compatible with your notebook computer. Memory is also a little delicate, so you need to be very careful when handling it.

Adding Computer Memory – Some Tips

You should ensure that the Notebook is turned of and disconnected from any exterior power supply. No lights should be visible, and if they are, stop and double check for any live power sources.

Notebook computers are a little different to desktop PC’s in that there is no need to take them apart in order to add memory. Access to the memory slots is via a panel located (usually) in the bottom of the laptop. Once you have found this panel, it should be a small matter of using a screwdriver to open up the panel and view the existing memory. In fact, you can do this to check the exact type of memory that your Notebook currently uses, because it is usually shown on the front of the memory strips and should be visible when you open up the memory panel.

The memory strips are usually locked in with small clips on the ends of the strips. To remove existing memory, simply flip the clips and then pull the memory strips gently from their holding place. If you are simply adding memory of course, and there is space available, just add the new memory, gently pushing it in to ensure it is fully seated in the slots, and then close the clips to hold the new memory in place.

Once you have replaced or added your Notebook computer memory, it is simply a case of replacing the access panel, and then screwing the panel back in place.

Finally, power up the Notebook, and ensure that the memory has been read by the Notebook. When the PC starts up, it should count the memory and tell you how much it thinks it has access to.

If any problems occur, repeat the whole procedure, checking very carefully that the memory is properly seated in the notebook.

• inkjet printer cartridge
• refurbished notebook