The vibe Silicon Valley must be getting from the masses is that low cost, pint-sized PCs are the wave of the future, hence why we’re seeing so many of them recently. The most popular of the bunch right now is the Raspberry Pi PC, but lo and behold, VIA is jumping in the ring with a $49 APC Android PC.

“APC brings the familiarity and convenience of Android to the PC at a US$49 price point that will open up exciting new markets and applications,” said Richard Brown, VP of Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. “Like a bicycle for your mind, APC will enable more people than ever before to explore the vast online universe.”

The system consists of a Neo-ITX motherboard that can hooked up to a TV or PC monitor. It measures just 17cm x 8.5cm, can be housed in a standard mini-ITX or micro-ATX chassis, and consumes just 4 watts at idle and 13.5 watts under load. An ARM-based VIA processor clocked at 800MHz does the heavy lifting and is helped by 512MB of DDR3 memory, 2GB of NAND flash storage, and built-in 2D/3D graphics with support for up to 720p. It also has an HDMI port, VGA port, four USB 2.0 ports, audio outputs, a microSD card slot, GbE LAN port, and a custom build of Android 2.3.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/VIA-Hops-on-the-Low-Cost-PC-Bandwagon-with-a-49-APC-Android-System/

Get Online @ Home, the government scheme intended to get the last eight million UK citizens online, will offer discounted refurbished PCs with a year’s worth of broadband through TalkTalk, for £159.

Headlined by UK’s Digital Champion Martha Lane Fox, the scheme is also supported by Microsoft, Simplify Digital and a host of computer hardware recycling companies. It is part of the GO ON UK initiative launched last month to boost the digital capability of UK SMEs, charities and the remaining 8.2 million adults who have never used the Internet.

The initiative is a successor to the Race Online 2012, a two-year campaign that got 2 million Brits using the Internet for the first time.

Cheap and cheerful

“We know that the cost of buying and connecting a PC is a significant barrier and so being able to offer a PC with a year’s broadband for under £160 will be a lifeline for many,” Lane Fox told the Telegraph.

Get Online @ Home will provide refurbished desktop computers and laptops pre-loaded with Windows 7 and a Talk Talk Internet connection, ready to use out of the box, to anyone in the UK.

The price for a desktop PC without the Internet connection is £149, reduced to £99 for charities and people receiving certain benefits. Every computer comes with a 15″ flat screen monitor, keyboard, mouse, CD drive and USB ports. Contents inside may vary, but customers can count on at least a Pentium 4 2GHz processor, 1Gb of RAM and a 40Gb hard drive.

Laptops are slightly more expensive, with a £199 price tag, reduced to £169 for those less fortunate. Each will have a minimum of 1 hour standby battery life, a webcam, several USB ports, and at least a Celeron processor with 1Gb of RAM and a 40Gb hard drive.

The scheme has delivered discounted hardware since March 2011, but the new partnership with TalkTalk involves a cut in prices for computers, or broadband, depending on how you look at it.

If broadband, priced at modest £5 a month, is bought together with a Get Online @ Home PC, TalkTalk will give customers a £50 discount, making a year’s worth of broadband connection cost just £10 on top of the cost of the computer.

The offer includes 40GB monthly download allowance, a free wireless router, free set-up and unlimited evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. However, customers will also have to take TalkTalk’s £14.50/month line rental (which has to be paid to use a landline phone anyway).

“The Internet connects and entertains, educates and informs – it even saves money. Yet there are children growing up today in towns and cities that are fully broadband enabled who do not have internet access at home to support their education. TalkTalk believes that every family should be able to have safe and affordable internet access and, as theUK’s leading value for money broadband provider, this belief is at the very heart of our business. We are proud to be a founder partner of Go ON UK and make this vision a reality,” said Dido Harding, CEO of TalkTalk, at the launch of GO ON UK last month.

It is unclear why Get Online @ Home chose TalkTalk as its partner, taking into the account the company’s abysmal performance in Ofcom’s annual customer satisfaction survey.

Last month also saw the launch of the HomeKey – a £70 bootable computer on a USB running Linux, designed to give older or less able people an easy-to-use PC on cheap hardware. HomeKey’s creator, SimplicITy was very critical of the Race Online scheme, saying that the problem iis the difficulty of using Windows, not the price of hardware, and claiming that many of those trained by the initiative will have failed to carry on using their systems once the training is complete.

Source:http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/government-scheme-offers-pc-with-broadband-for-159-79070

MobileDemand, the nation’s leading provider of Rugged Tablet PC systems in Transportation, announced today that the xTablet T7000 rugged tablet PC is now Gobi 3000 certified. Gobi allows the computer hardware to access the 3G global networks provided by various wireless carriers.

MobileDemand users of xTablets equipped with Gobi 3000 will be able to take advantage of high speed mobile networks, embedded GPS capabilities and a Gobi application programming interface. All of this can be done at speeds up to 14.4 Mbps downlink and 5.76 Mbps uplink.

“Many of our customers have field operations that are mission-critical to their business. With the xTablet T7000 with Gobi 3000, they can extend enterprise applications beyond the four walls so that mobile workers can get the information they need to be more efficient and productive at the point of work,” says Bob Zink, MobileDemand Vice-President of Sales and Marketing.

In industries such as field service, transportation and public sector, it’s vital for employees in the field to have a wireless connection at all times. Whether it’s used by a manager, dispatcher or other field worker, Gobi 3000 is a go-to solution that puts an end to connectivity limitations. Now, real-time information such as asset tracking, route optimization and work order management can be enabled with the MobileDemand Rugged Tablet PC, the ultimate productivity tool.

MobileDemand xTablets are built military rugged to withstand the rigors of real-world field applications. They are MIL-STD 810G compliant and have an Ingress (Sealing) Rating of up to IP65, which means they have been tested to survive pressured water, temperature extremes, rain, humidity, salt, sand, dust, shock, vibration and 26 consecutive drops up to 5 feet. xTablets are full Windows 7 PCs and are powered by Intel processors to provide all the performance needed to handle graphic and data intensive applications. They offer hot-swappable and high capacity batteries for all-day use and several input options such as pen-stylus, numeric keypad, on-screen or full QWERTY keyboard. They provide all-light readable displays, color cameras, and optional bar code and credit card scanners (on the xTablet T7000 and xTablet T8700). Optional cradles, mounts and accessories are also available.

The MobileDemand xTablet T7000 Gobi 3000 has been certified on the T-Mobile and Verizon 3G Networks. MobileDemand customers with a rugged tablet PC with Gobi 3000 who currently use these networks can realize all of the advantages of staying connected. Employees, customers and partners can now work together from wherever they are and improve processes and customer experiences to achieve sustainable growth.

Source:http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/720944

Over the past few months there have been no fewer than three tiny, cheap Linux PCs making headlines, and now there’s a fourth to add to the list.

First we saw the Raspberry Pi and the Cotton Candy devices emerge; then, almost exactly a month ago I wrote about the Mele A1000, a small ARM device that sells with Android but can be configured to run Ubuntu Linux as well.

The latest to appear? None other than the MK802 micro-PC, a USB-sized device priced at $74 that runs Android 4.0 and Linux.

This is turning into a veritable smorgasbord of choices, and I believe it’s just the beginning of a real revolution in computing.
1080p HDMI Video Output

Featuring a single-core 1.5GHz AllWinner A10 Cortex A8 ARM processor, Android 4.0, 512MB of DDR3 high-capacity memory, and WiFi connectivity, the MK802 is now available on Aliexpress for $74 including free shipping to the United States via China Post.

With a MALI400 graphics processing unit, the device from Chinese brand rikomagic features 4GB Flash storage, a microSD slot, and two USB ports: one full-sized and one micro, according to CNXSoft. Video output is via 1080p HDMI — an HDMI cable needs to be added separately — and users can tap either an Android virtual keyboard or add a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Perhaps best of all is that users can run Ubuntu, Debian, or another Linux distribution of their choice via microSD card.
A New Category of PC

It’s true that this device is more expensive than the $35 Raspberry Pi, but it’s also cheaper than the $199 Cotton Candy. It’s very comparable to the $70 Mele 1000.

The bottom line, though, is that this is yet another choice for those seeking a low-cost computing option, and once again it’s powered by ARM and Linux — both the Android variety and more traditional forms, if so desired.

There will surely continue to be a place for the many high-priced computing options in this world, but it’s endlessly exciting to imagine what new innovations these tiny, cheap, Linux PCs will enable.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9227329/A_tiny_PC_that_runs_Linux_and_Android_4.0_and_costs_just_74?taxonomyId=89

The machine shown here may not look nearly as good as the latest Digital Storm PC or Alienware laptop, but that’s not the point. The point is to put a lot of power into a portable package, and make it sip power in a way that monster towers can only dream of doing. VIA knows a thing or two about efficiency, with the new VIA AMOS-3002 being revealed and designed around the VIA EPIA-P900 Pico-ITX board. Within, there’s a 1GHz VIA Eden X2 dual-core CPU, a VX900H media system processor (MSP) on the VIA EPIA-P900 board, fully HD-capable graphics engine, support for a variety of codecs (MPEG-2, WMV9 and H.264) and native HDMI support. The VIA AMOS-3002 has a certified operating temperature of -20 to 60 degrees C, vibration tolerance of up to 5Grms and a shock tolerance of up to 50G. The VIA AMOS-3002 is also available with the VIA EPIA-P830 featuring a 1.0GHz Nano E-Series processor, offering an operating temperature of -20 to 70 degrees C.

In other words, this thing is designed for lots of unique applications. In a boat, in a car, or in any other super tight space where cooling would usually be an issue. There’s also a SATA interface Flash drive, while an optional storage sub-system expansion chassis offers support for a standard 2.5″ SATA drive. Comprehensive I/O functions on front and rear panels include two COM ports, six USB 2.0 ports, including two of which are lockable for increased ruggedization, line-in/out, one DIO port, one VGA and one HDMI port for display connectivity and two GLAN ports for dual Gigabit networking. Optional Wi-Fi and 3G networking are available through a MiniPCIe expansion slot.

No word on a price just yet, but if you’re looking for your next carputer, here it is.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/VIA-Launches-Fanless-AMOS3002-Mini-PC/

Ever been told that you should fully discharge your battery to prolong its life? Or that jailbreaking your phone is illegal? Or that you should wait for the newest Intel processor because it’s going to be “so much faster”? These are tech myths we hear all the time, and likely spread to our friends—but most are just a waste of your time (and in some cases, they can actually harm your gadgets). Here are some of the worst offenders.
10. Better Hardware Specs = Better Gadgets

If you’re waiting to upgrade your gear until the next big processor comes out, or until the latest Android phone with even more RAM appears, you’re probably wasting your time. These days, most hardware specs don’t even matter that much. Processors have more power than most users will ever need, and phones come out so often that by the time your dream phone comes out, another one will have already been announced. There are exceptions to these rules, of course—both for computers and smartphones—but in general, stop crying over your current device and just upgrade. You’ll be a lot happier once you do.

9. Lossless Music Sounds Better than MP3

While bitrate can make a difference in your music, there’s a pretty big misconception that as long as you have a good ear, you can hear the difference between lossless files and MP3. It takes a lot more than just careful listening—you’d need a very fine-tuned ear, some really high-end speakers, and a specific type of music, like classical or jazz. Don’t believe me? Take an ABX test with your own music files and find out for yourself. You may be surprised at the results. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should junk all those FLAC files—they’re still ideal if you want to convert that music to a new format later on. Photo by Tess Watson.

8. Android Task Killers Are Necessary for Good Performance

Not only have we Android users perpetuated this myth, but lots of hardware manufacturers and cellphone carriers will recommend you use a task killer to lengthen your battery life and speed up your phone. Not only will they do nothing for your battery life, but most are designed to solve problems that don’t actually exist (like running out of RAM). If you experience performance boosts with a task killer, it’s because you’re killing a task that’s either gone awry (in which case you’re better off just rebooting your phone) or because you’ve downloaded a poorly written app (in which case you should uninstall it). Task killers can cause other problems with your phones, and you shouldn’t use them unless you’re using a very, very old phone with very, very outdated software. Check out our explainer on task killers to learn more, and if you want to speed up your phone, check out these other tried and true methods instead.

7. Jailbreaking Your Phone Is Illegal

While jailbreaking your phone will definitely void your warranty, people have been going around saying it’s actually illegal to do—which is 100% false. The Copyright office has officially said that jailbreaking is completely legal to do with a device you own, as long as you aren’t using it to pirate apps, of course. That said, there are a lot of ways you’re probably breaking the law without knowing it, so read up on those if you’re curious. But if you were holding back on jailbreaking your phone, now would be a great time to check out all its awesome, legal benefits.

6. Mac Users Don’t Need to Worry About Malware

Mac users have often touted their computers as “more secure” than Windows PCs, which is a very hotly-contested issue—some say OS X’s UNIX underpinnings make it inherently more secure, while others claim it’s only because the Mac isn’t a big target for viruses. Either way, it’s important to note that while viruses aren’t as widespread as they are on Windows, Macs are far from immune—in fact, we’ve already seen a few instances of real Mac malware. Don’t let your choice of OS obscure the fact that safe browsing and common sense are the best protection against viruses and other malware. After all, just because that email virus didn’t infect you doesn’t mean you didn’t pass it on to your other Windows-using friends.

5. You Should Buy an Extended Warranty for New Gadgets

No matter how careful you are, we’ve all broken at least one gadget in our lives—and it may have tempted you to buy an extended warranty the next time. However, extended warranties aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Sometimes they only cover half the things that could go wrong, or sometimes the chances of your device failing are just plain slim. Instead, you’re better off setting up an extended warranty fund for yourself—as long as you aren’t really clumsy, you’ll probably come out ahead in the end.

4. You Should Fully Discharge Your Laptop Battery Every Time

Battery life is always at a premium these days, and you’ve probably heard a whole host of tricks for keeping your battery in tip top shape. This particular myth—that you should fully discharge your battery every time you use it—is left over from old nickel cadmium batteries that suffer from a memory effect no longer present in modern lithium batteries. Today’s batteries take less maintenance, but there are still some good ways you can prolong its lifespan, so check out our guide to battery care for more info.

3. Password-Protected Wi-Fi Networks Are Safe from Hackers

So you’ve heard about how important security is on public Wi-Fi networks, but a lot of people are still misinformed about what really constitutes a public network. Just because your network’s protected with a password doesn’t mean it’s secure. In the case of home networks, it means it’s secure from outside hackers, but if you head to a coffee shop or hotel, that network is still public. Anyone with a password can still connect to the network (like other coffee shop patrons) and potentially sniff your traffic. So, unless you’re at home, always protect yourself when connected to Wi-Fi—you never know who else is connected. Photo by °Florian.

2. PeerBlock will Keep You Safe and Anonymous on BitTorrent

A lot of BitTorrent users are looking to cover their tracks these days, and most are doing so by enabling encryption and using something like PeerBlock to keep unwanted eyes from watching their downloads. However, this does not make you anonymous in any way—encryption only keeps your ISP from throttling you, and PeerBlock is not even close to being foolproof. If you really want to stay anonymous, you have to use a VPN or a proxy service like BTGuard. You can also use a private tracker, which offers other benefits as well, but still isn’t quite as secure as other methods.

1. Will Speed Up Your Computer

These are some of the worst myths out there. Everyone’s always looking for a quick, free way to drastically increase their computer’s speed, and a lot of them are loads of baloney. At best, they’ll do nothing, and at worst, they can actually degrade performance. We’ve talked about a ton of them before, so brush up on your myths before you go trying to speed up your PC. If you really want some speed boosts, upgrade your hardware, or at least make sure you’re performing regular maintenance. With proper care, you should never need to do a clean install of Windows again.

Source:http://lifehacker.com/5911623/top-10-pervasive-tech-myths-that-are-only-wasting-your-time

Tremendously powerful new processors toiling away in the cloud could make it irrelevant what kind of screen you connect with, ushering in a new age of computing.
Last week, Nvidia launched the first graphics processing unit (GPU) designed for the cloud, dubbed Kepler. Supporting vendors include a who’s who of server providers, such as HP, Dell, Cisco, and IBM — all of which will have products on the market shortly.

The whole concept behind these servers is to serve up a desktop experience from the cloud. This means delivering games, applications, utilities, and media to any device that will run the client: iPads, iPods, Android tablets, smartphones, and even cars and smart TVs. As this technology comes to market, it will increasingly not matter what you are using — you’ll be able to get your stuff on it as long as it is connected with decent bandwidth.
Let’s talk about some of the results.

Gaming from anything
On stage at its GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, Nvidia had one person on an iPad gaming head to head with another on a new LG TV using a service called Gaikai. The demo game was Hawken, a mech-oriented title that isn’t even in market yet. These two were gaming on hardware that couldn’t hope to run top-line graphics intensive game locally. Yet both where pounding away at each other, and the amazing thing was, the guy on the tablet was winning, showcasing that screen size didn’t matter as much as gaming skill.

This is often the problem with games: If it comes out on one platform and you or your friends don’t have that platform, not only can’t you play the game, the developer gets a fraction of the available revenue. But if games were delivered like streamed movies, then they could go everywhere. You could play from your connected AV system in your car, your iPad, or your TV in the home.
This is truly cloud computing, though Nvidia calls it GeForce Grid.

Windows on an iPad
I was out to breakfast the other day, and I have a nasty habit of listening in on the conversation at neighboring tables if it has to do with tech. The guy talking had been a recent convert from Windows to the Mac, and was talking about switching back because the Mac sucks. (His words not mine, no desire to peg the hate-mail meter this week.) He was complaining because he was going to have to dump his near-new MacBook Pro for an Ultrabook, and he was going to lose on that investment.

Well, what if you could run Windows on a Mac, or an iPad, or anything that would host a tiny client? If you like Apple hardware but hate the Apple platform, you can still run Windows. If you want to run Windows on your big smartphone or tablet in an emergency, you can do that, too.

Citrix demonstrated new hardware that could scale to support 100 desktops off one tower that looked smaller than my (admittedly rather large) PC.
This is the freedom to run what you want wherever you want. To not be tied to Apple or anyone else. To have software delivered like it was electricity. Someone else worries about malware, and backups, and making sure a catastrophic event doesn’t destroy your digital life along with your real one.

Galaxy-class performance
One of the most fascinating demonstrations had to do with modeling galaxy-class events. No I’m not referring to something out of Star Trek (the Enterprise was a Galaxy Class Starship). What Nividia showed was the progress from its existing Fermi platform, which can model the birth of the universe, to the Kepler platform, which can model what’s going to happen in a few short years when the Andromeda Galaxy runs into our own. Granted, a few short years in galaxy-class events is 3.5 billion years, so no need to jump under a table (not this would do you any good, mind you). As you can imagine, the scale is massive, and the capability is a magnitude (10 times) greater than what it was with the older hardware.

We often get excited about 20 percent performance leaps, so 10 times the performance is amazing. If this level of advancement keeps up, heck, we’ll be obsolete in a few years.
Universal robotics

You may think I’m joking on this last one, but one of the other Nvidia presenting at the show was Universal Robotics. This is the company bringing to market thinking robots that can respond to sensor-based events. In short, they can see and change their actions based on what they see. I’m hoping the eventual result is more like Robbie the Robot than Terminator, but I have my doubts. In any case, at the Nvidia conference, we once again saw major progress with regard to what you can do in the cloud, and even what machines will be able to do in the near-term future. Granted, they may be the only thing that is left of us in 3.5 billion years to say “oh crap” when the galaxies do collide.
And on that festive note, I’ll leave you to ponder our near, and far, future.

Source:http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-nvidias-kepler-chips-could-end-pcs-and-tablets-as-we-know-them/

The champion of streamlined PCs, uncluttered with so-called “crapware,” is… Microsoft? Microsoft has begun selling a line of “optimized” PCs online as well as at its 16 retail stores. These “Signature” branded PCs retain the same OEM branding as those sold in other retails stores, such as Best Buy, but without the trialware and other promotional materials that normally accompany retail PCs. Microsoft has yet to say when the scheme will be rolled out to other countries.

Microsoft has also launched a $99 (around £60) service that will allow users with Windows 7 PCs (and possibly Windows 8), purchased elsewhere, to bring them in to a Microsoft Store and tune them to “Signature” standards, Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg disclosed.

The reduction in the number of programs installed on a PC should make the PC faster and easier to use, Microsoft says on its http://signature.microsoft.com/ Signature website. Microsoft claims that Signature PCs will sleep 21 percent faster, start up almost 40 percent faster, and resume about 51 percent faster than an unoptimized, otherwise identical PC. In one initial setup of a Signature PC, Microsoft found it took 4 minutes, 47 seconds to set up, while the unoptimized PC required over 18 minutes.

“PCs with Microsoft Signature are designed to be lightning fast from the moment you turn it on the very first time,” Microsoft said. “Many computers require significant configuration to get them to work the way you want, but with a PC and Microsoft Signature, you won’t spend hours configuring it. It comes ready to go and as a result, it will help save you time – and lots of it.”

Naturally, Microsoft favors its own software. Each Signature PC includes Windows 7, Windows Live Essentials, Zune software, the Internet Explorer browser with Bing optimizations, and Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft’s own free firewall and antivirus program. In addition, users will receive free phone support for 90 days, Microsoft said.

Microsoft doesn’t appear to favor any one brand or OEM: its store includes highlighted Signature offerings including the HP Folio 13-1051nr, the Dell XPS 15z, and the Samsung Series 7 NP7000Z3a notebook. Signature desktops include the Sony Vaio L series, and the Samsung Seris All-in-One. Microsoft also offers tablets and peripherals, but without the Signature branding.

Source:http://www.itproportal.com/2012/05/17/microsoft-introduce-paid-crapware-free-pc-scheme/

LONG AWAITED PC and Mac gaming sequel Diablo III is upon us, bringing with it a raft of role-playing action glories.
It looks likely that Diablo III will be an absolute smash and Blizzard said that it has already taken some two million pre orders, which is a lot of swords, sandals, and elfs in anyone’s book.

Blizzard starting selling the game at midnight in launches around the world, and said that its users are already storming things in pursuit of a character called the Lord of Terror.

“This launch is a culmination of many years of hard work by our development team, and many years of passionate, dedicated support from gamers around the world,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment.

“We’re grateful for the enthusiasm of our players, and for the help of our beta testers in getting the game ready for release. Now that Diablo III is live, we hope everyone’s ready to have a hellishly good time slaying demons and collecting loot in Sanctuary.”
There are a couple of options for people buying hard copy versions, including one that sells for around the £100 mark and offers purchasers DVDs, a soundtrack and a bunch of other gew gaws.

In the understated title, players must don one of five guises – barbarian, witch doctor, wizard, monk, or demon hunter – and try to save the world of Sanctuary, a name that at best sounds misleading.

The popularity of the game might be its own worst enemy today, however, as gamers are already complaining that the servers are too overcrowded.
Players frustrated about this took to Twitter under the hashtag Error37. Searching for that term on the micro-blog brings up some colourful responses to the apparently common message.

Blizzard has acknowledged the problem in its Diablo III support pages. There it says that if users are having difficulties logging into the Battle.net then they should try logging in and out again.

“It is possible to get ERROR 37 (The servers are busy, please try again) when logging in if the servers are under heavy stress,” it said in its message to the collection of waiting barbarians, witch doctors, wizards, monks, and demon hunters.

Source:http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2174867/diablo-iii-arrives-pc-mac

For the first time, Chinese personal computer maker Lenovo has cornered the largest share in the overall Indian PC market, overtaking Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP), according to data from market researcher IDC.

Latest data shows that Lenovo has a market share of 15.8% in the three months to March 31, compared to 10% in the previous period, which had put the Chinese PC-maker at 4th spot then. Dell, which is at number two spot, saw its market share shrink by 2.6 % while HP follows with a market share of 14.9 % in the March quarter.

With the top spot switching among HP, Dell and Lenovo, Indian PC market is witnessing high competition, especially as the PC penetration here is extremely low and hardware makers sense a long-term opportunity.

Lenovo’s push to the top was aided by a large order from the Tamil Nadu government to supple free laptops to graduating school children – a promise made during last year’s state assembly elections. A few months ago, Tamil Nadu announced procurement of 9 lakh laptops at about 14,000 a piece. Lenovo, along with HCL Infosystems and Acer, had bagged the contract.

Coming out of a slump, the Indian PC market grew 7.7% in the first quarter of the year as a revival in consumer sentiment backed by strong sales in semi-urban areas pushed sales upwards.

According to IDC, nearly 2.63 million units were shipped from January to March this year. Consumer segment grew the most at 19.6% in the first quarter of 2012 over the same period last year.

“Consumer-led sales are a healthy sign,” said Adwaita Govind Menon, associate director & head of new products at the Indian arm of IDC.

“The growth in the consumer category is seen primarily in the portable PCs as consumer purchase pattern shifts away from the desktop devices towards more compact and mobile devices such as notebooks, mini-notebooks and other ultra portable PCs,” said Kiran Kumar, senior market analyst at IDC.

As governments in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab gear up to fulfil election promises, more such government deals are likely to happen in the last quarter of this fiscal year.

Despite being the festive season, computer sales had gone down in the December quarter last year because of a shortage of hard disks and fluctuations in the value of rupee against other currencies, especially dollar. Brands that are importing components or the whole PC to sell it in India are struggling because of the price rise and foreign exchange fluctuations.

“Everyone is making a loss in the Tamil Nadu deal,” said Menon. Though sequential growth of 7.7 % is encouraging, a year-on-year growth of 3.5% is not enough, feel PC makers.

“Comparatively, emerging markets are growing 15-16%,” said Amar Babu, Managing Director, Lenovo India. Going by the low PC penetration level, India should grow much faster and consumer buying needs to go up, said Babu.

Commercial PC market slowed down in the first quarter, dropping by about 6% year-on-year. “This is largely because of cautious spending by enterprises even as fears of global downturn remains to simmer down,” said Kumar.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/lenovo-emerges-as-top-pc-seller-in-india-overtakes-dell-hp/articleshow/13142386.cms

Most computer users live in fear of a crashed computer and lost data, or are frustrated by a computer that seems to take hours to perform the simplest task. The trick is to learn from these problems and either fix the computer before the worst happens, or at least make sure it never happens again.

This is not work that can only be performed by experts. Even a blue screen can be helpful, since Windows uses it to deliver a Bug Check Code, which gives some hint about the cause of the problem.

Thus, the message KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED indicates a problem with a driver. Microsoft provides a complete list of all check codes — and possible solutions — online. Such tips are necessary; otherwise any effort to fix a computer can quickly turn into a waste of time.

“Unfortunately, the diagnosis is anything but easy,” says Hans Ludwig Stahl, director of the Institute for Computer Science at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. Problems can stem from issues with either hardware or software. Or the PC could be having resource issues related to working memory or hard drive space.

Stahl recommends seeking the source of the problem in the recent past. “Maybe the problem cropped up right after putting in a new piece of hardware or installation of some new software.” If that’s the case, remove the potential source of the problem as a test. Maybe the computer will work fine without it.

Sometimes combinations of hardware, software and operating system simply don’t work, says Stahl. “That can always happen with open systems like Windows.” In a worst case scenario, that can mean living without the problem hardware or software. Sometimes a patch or a new driver from the website of a manufacturer can help. Or maybe the computer just wasn’t prepared properly for the new hardware. For example, new working memory will only function with the right settings for BIOS, the foundation of the PC’s firmware.

In such a case, beginners should leave any major changes to experts.

“A sudden crash usually indicates defective hardware,” says Harald Goerl, who focuses on operating systems and computer architecture at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich.

On the other hand, if problems develop slowly over time instead of all at once, it indicates a resource problem, such as a lack of hard drive space or too little working memory. This can be solved with more kit, or by cleaning out the hard drive.

If a computer crashes after it has been running for a while, other problems might be manifesting themselves.

“That can just be a problem with heat,” says Stahl. Many computers indicate overheating with a beeping sound — not from the loudspeaker, but directly out of the computer’s housing. In such cases, the PC should be opened so the ventilator can be cleared of dust. Laymen can easily do this task, usually with a small brush or pressurised air.

If, after a hardware check, a cleaning of the housing and a virus scan, the problem still exists, then users will have to consider the possibility of a problem with the operating system.

“That is often the biggest problem and it can never be completely ruled out,” says Goerl. Just the core of Windows has 70 million lines of programming code, creating more than enough possibilities for problems to crop up.

If that’s the case, consider a new installation — but only after you’ve exhausted all other options. Also consider whether Windows’ regular updates are making the system slower.

“The operating system is always getting bigger because of them,” says Stahl. The bigger the system, the longer it takes to boot up or call up programs. But don’t avoid the updates either, he warns, as they usually contain files to close up serious security gaps.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/article3414779.ece

Microsoft and its partners are preparing to launch a Windows 8 upgrade offer for those buying Windows 7 PC in an attempt to boost sales in the months leading up to the release of the new operating system, according to Mary Jo Foley over on CNET.

Microsoft has traditionally used similar upgrade offers in the run up to the launch of a new operating system.

The offer speculated about is for the feature-rich Pro edition of Windows 8 and not the consumer-oriented Windows 8 edition. Given this, the upgrade offer is unlikely to be free and will carry some sort of fee.

It is likely that Microsoft or its partners will offer a free upgrade coupon to Windows 8 on selected systems.

But are these upgrade offers a good deal?

The answer to this question depends on the reason why you are buying the new PC in the first place. If you need a PC — because your old one has died or for your child for school or college — then a coupon that allows you to upgrade to the latest version of Windows — either for a fee or for free — is an added bonus. You can take it or leave it because it was an added bonus that came with a PC that you needed. You didn’t buy the PC based on the offer.

But these offers aren’t aimed at people who are buying a PC because they need one. What Microsoft is banking on is that the offer of an upgrade to Windows 8 will encourage people to buy a PC during the run up to the release of Windows 8 rather than wait it out for a new PC with Windows 8 pre-installed. This is good for both Microsoft and its partners because it prevents a precipitous fall in sales during the run up to the release of a new operating system.

So is it a good deal, or should you wait for a PC with Windows 8 pre-installed?

I think that anyone who considers buying a PC on the basis on an upgrade coupon to the next release of Windows — or who is influenced by the presence of such an offer — needs to see the offer for what it is, which is a lure to get you to spend money on technology that will be superseded in a few months. New operating systems always represent a big turning point when it comes to hardware, and given Windows 8’s huge emphasis on touch and gesture control, this will be doubly so with this upcoming release.

Buying a PC in the last few months leading up to the release of a new operating system is, in my opinion, a bad idea. If you hold out a few extra months, not only will you get a system with Windows 8 pre-installed on it — eliminating all the hassles of getting the new operating system installed — but you will inevitably get better hardware for your money. Also, the system will be designed with Windows 8 in mind, and all the hardware and software drivers will have been figured for you by the OEMs. This is especially true for hardware such as ultrabooks, which are going to see a significantly revamp for Windows 8.

Also, while installing an operating system is usually a relatively painless process, installing it on a system that has data and applications on it has the scope to go wrong. Unless you have a method of backing up the system in some way before carrying out the upgrade, there’s a chance of data loss, or even being left with a system that doesn’t work.

My advice is simple. If you can avoid buying a PC in the months leading up to the release of Windows 8, then do so. While I’ve no doubt that the hardware you buy during that time will be able to run the new operating system, you’re going to get a better experience, not to mention better hardware, if you wait.

Source:http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/dont-let-windows-8-upgrade-offers-lure-you-into-buying-a-new-pc/20340

First we had the keyboard and mouse.

Then smartphones popularised the touchscreen movement, and then hardware like the Xbox’s Kinect system made gesture controls feel like second-nature.

Now we are getting ready to enter the world of thought-control, with headsets that can read our minds now available for as little as £300, and the software to turn our dreams into actions starting to take shape.

Kevin Brown, senior inventor at IBM, works to bridge the gap between emerging technology and the practical applications they can offer society.

Already he is working hard to make everyday tasks easier through mind control, using headsets such as the commercially-available Emotiv Systems headset.

The Emotiv headset retails for $299 and can simply be plugged into any recent Windows machine to begin working, with apps and games – including Angry Birds – being adapted by enthusiasts to run with simple mind controls.

Kevin, who has been an IBM for 16 years, said: ‘The current headsets can already pick up a range of sensory input from our brains, and this will only improve over time.

‘The Emotiv Systems set can pick up a range of emotions – currently whether we are bored or excited, and if we are concentrating on a task or if we are relaxed.
‘It can also pick up on what our brain is telling our muscles to do, so it can pick up a smile or a frown, and react accordingly.’

Source:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2142340/Mind-bending-Controlling-Windows-PC-brain-possible-hardware-shelves.html

Computerworld – If you want to speed up your PC but don’t want to deal with a new hybrid hard drive, one way is to simply add an SSD cache drive to your PC. These drives aren’t meant to be mass storage devices; instead, they cache your most frequent application operations and thereby improve performance.

Crucial Adrenaline

One of the newest SSD cache drives out there is the 50GB Crucial Adrenaline, which sells for $100. (The drive actually has a capacity of 64GB, but 14GB is used for internal housekeeping.) For no more work than it takes to pop open your computer, install the SSD and load some management software, Crucial says you can get up to an eight-fold increase in the performance of your existing hard drive on a Windows 7 PC.
In the box

Like almost all SSDs, the Adrenaline is a 2.5-in. drive, which can be problematic for most desktop computer cases because they’re engineered for 5.25- and 3.5-in. drives. (The 2.5-inch form factor is typically associated with laptops and other smaller devices.) Crucial supplies you with a bay adapter and the data cable you’ll need to install the drive.

There’s no documentation or software included in the package, but you’ll need both. A video and a PDF version of the installation guide can be found on Crucial’s website. I would encourage you to download that PDF and look through the list of requirements and exclusions. They are more detailed than I could go into here.

The PDF includes a link allowing you to download Dataplex software. Dataplex is the caching algorithm that the Adrenaline drive uses to determine what you are doing on your computer and what should be cached as a result. You’ll need the software key supplied on the small placard in the Adrenaline box to initiate the download and, later, to install the software. Don’t try to install Dataplex until the hardware is in place.
Installation

I installed the Adrenaline drive into a Max Force Revolution 2600K PC equipped with an Intel Core i7 2600K processor (overclocked to 5GHz), 8GB DDR3 RAM, a dual 1TB hard drive, dual EVGA GTX-570 SLI graphics cards and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium.

The Adrenaline installation offered no surprises. If you’ve ever installed a hard disk, you won’t have any problem — once the SSD is attached to the drive bay adapter it follows the same general procedures. Based on my experience, however, I’d recommend connecting the data and power cables to the Adrenaline before you install the assembly into your drive bay. That may not be necessary, but the space between the back of a hard drive and the back of your computer’s power supply is often only a few inches and it’s usually crowded and dark.

The Dataplex software installation is also routine. Once it is installed you’ll need to reboot your PC for it to “grab on,” start analyzing how you’re using data, and begin to speed things up.
Performance

You may not notice any difference whatsoever during that first reboot. Dataplex relies on a statistical preponderance of activity to “learn” what needs to be cached; that first time just provides a baseline. By the second — or possibly third — reboot, you should notice a reduction in the time it takes.
At a Glance
Crucial Adrenaline
Crucial
Price: $92-$114
Pros: Low price, easy installation, almost guaranteed results
Cons: Requires a software key

In my own real-world comparisons, the PC’s boot time decreased by about 10 seconds the second time I rebooted it. Loading the game Company of Heroes, with all its background information, was even less of a wait — it took about a fifth of the time it normally takes. (This despite the fact that progress in a game can alter the information that will be cached, reducing the effectiveness of the Adrenaline.) Microsoft Word, which is a much less graphics-intensive application, popped up on screen like a genie from a lamp, especially when loaded with a previous document.

As scenarios change (a different Word document, a different battle level in Company of Heroes, or even a different application), you will notice variations in speed as the Adrenaline relearns what it needs to preload into cache. And while you may never see data rates improve “by up to 8 times” as Crucial suggests, I did see boot times decrease by as much as 40%, while application and game loading improved anywhere from 20% to 40% (or even as much as 60% in a few cases) over their noncached rates.
Bottom line

The Adrenaline drive doesn’t work in a vacuum. Any gains you might see will depend upon the overall speed of your computer, the speed of your disk interface and the type of applications you run. However, even a 10% to 20% improvement, given the Adrenaline’s low cost, is worth the price of admission. As a result, I give the Adrenaline an unabridged two thumbs up.

Source:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9226992/Crucial_Adrenaline_review_SSD_cache_drive_speeds_up_your_PC

Whenever you bring up Windows on a new PC or perform a clean Windows install on any PC, a small amount of fiddling is always required afterward to arrive at a stable collection of Windows device drivers. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview does a good job of recognizing most hardware and making it usable all by itself, but IT administrators will want to do a little homework to get all the drivers they want working well.

In fact, the handful of touch-capable systems on which I’ve recently installed the operating system recognized the touch hardware sufficiently early in the installation process to permit touch control over that process. The Windows 8 Consumer Preview seems adept at choosing generic device drivers so that it is stable immediately after installation.

During the week while I was working on this article, there were numerous developments, all of which augur well for those interested in working with Windows 8 sooner rather than later.

Source:http://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/tip/Tuning-and-tweaking-device-drivers-on-the-Windows-8-Customer-Preview

Thermaltake brought water cooling technology to the mainstream in 2002 with the introduction of Aquarius and BigWater Series of liquid cooling solutions for computer enthusiasts and DIYers. The solutions were developed by garnering enthusiast communities’ experience and feedback, coupled with Thermaltake’s core expertise in thermal management.

The goal was to enable PC enthusiasts to achieve higher PC performance by providing additional cooling needed in order for the CPU to run at higher frequency. Today, Thermaltake is introducing its WATER 2.0 line of liquid coolers and announcing immediate availability of the all-new WATER 2.0 Performer and WATER 2.0 Pro all-in-one closed-loop CPU liquid coolers.

The “2.0” in the name denotes the progression and improvements that Thermaltake has made in the performance liquid cooling segment as well as the new approach which WATER 2.0 solutions are taking. While traditional D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) liquid cooling kits offer expandability, the same benefit often complicates installation and filling these coolers introduces a risk of mixing water and electronics. WATER 2.0 specifically addresses these concerns by having a closed-loop design, meaning all the fluid that are required for maximum performance are pre-filled and sealed inside so the users do not need to handle any type of liquid during installation or operation.

“WATER 2.0 is not a direct replacement of air cooling solutions. The all-new WATER 2.0 is an improved performance-driven solution that offers added benefits of simple installation, no-maintenance and extreme reliability to the traditional liquid cooling kit. After a long period of research and development, we came to a point where WATER 2.0 has reached the performance standard that Thermaltake has set forth while ensuring a fluid user experience from installation to actual operation. Now is time perfect time to discover an all-new performance-driven alternative CPU cooling solution” commented Ramsom Koay, Director of Marketing for Thermaltake.

Water20Performer2 300×292 Thermaltake Announces WATER 2.0 Series All In One Closed Loop CPU Liquid Cooler

WATER 2.0 Series closed-loop CPU liquid coolers are available in three different performance categories that cater to different performance requirements or applications. The WATER 2.0 Performer features dual 120mm PWM fans with a high-performance 120mm x 25mm radiator that can be mounted to any chassis with an available 120mm case fan mount. The liquid circulation is handled by a high-efficiency, low-profile pump that sits on top of the all-copper cold plate. The low-profile pump is ideal for high-performance systems where high-end air cooler may interfere with enthusiasts-grade memories that often come equipped with taller heat spreaders. A dual-PWM adapter is also included allowing both included PWM fans to be connected to a single PWM fan header on the motherboard to ensure synchronous fan speed operation.

For more performance, the WATER 2.0 Pro utilizes a much thicker radiator, 49mm compared to 25mm found on the Performer model, to dramatically increase the heat-dissipating surface area by almost doubling the doubling the volume of the radiator. The WATER2.0 Pro also includes the same low-profile pump along with dual 120mm PWM fans including the dual-PWM adapter.

While all of the WATER 2.0 CPU liquid coolers provide performance and low-noise operation, WATER 2.0 Extreme delivers the ultimate performance by incorporating a double-long (240mm x 25mm) radiator that further increases the available heat-dissipating surface area for maximum cooling power. WATER 2.0 Extreme ships standard with dual 120mm PWM fans and it is capable of supporting up to four PWM fans in push-pull configuration. Targeting enthusiasts and overclocking consumers, the WATER 2.0 Extreme also comes with Smart Control Software that allows the user to monitor status of various hardware elements within the cooling unit, in addition to creating cooling profiles that best matches the user’s working and gaming environment.

“WATER 2.0 Series of closed-loop CPU liquid coolers are not just new products that Thermaltake is introducing,” stated Weller Chen, Director of Product Management at Thermaltake, “WATER 2.0 represent a shift in design philosophy from Thermaltake that aligns user experience in the same breath with performance, as consumers can see from the maintenance-free operation as well as simplified installation.”

The WATER 2.0 Performer and Pro are now available at major retailers in the United States and Canada. MSRP for WATER 2.0 Performer is USD $69.99, and USD$99.99 for WATER 2.0 Pro.

The WATER 2.0 Extreme will be available in July at major retailers with MSRP at USD $129.99.

Source:http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/news/thermaltake-announces-water-2-0-series-all-in-one-closed-loop-cpu-liquid-cooler/

The world is divided into two types of people: those who have suffered a hard disk failure and those who are about to. Perhaps you think that’s a bit melodramatic but figures suggest that disk crashes are more common than you might think.

According to a recent study by Google, once a disk reaches a couple of years old, there’s an 8 percent chance that it’ll fail within the next year. This means that if there’s a desktop and three laptops in your household, the likelihood of suffering data loss in the coming 12 months could be worryingly high.

It’s not just a disk crash that you have to worry about either. As soon as a laptop is taken out of the house it’s at risk from accidental damage, loss or theft and while the hardware can be replaced, the same can’t necessarily be said for the data on its disk.

Adding to the list of worries is accidental deletion. Statistics here are hard to come by because nobody wants to admit to being so careless but let’s admit it, we’ve all lost data this way. The sad fact is that, for a variety of reasons, your valuable data isn’t nearly as secure as you probably expect and hope.

All of this would just be a minor inconvenience if our data was properly backed up but if figures are to be believed, 35 percent of computer users have never backed up their PC and 51 per cent do so less often than once a year. What’s more, if your data isn’t backed up when you suffer that disk crash or theft, it’s gone for good.

Talking about data is rather impersonal, so let’s bring it closer to home. Without a proper back strategy you risk losing all your digital photos, your music collection, work and personal documents, emails, passwords, and so much more.

If you’re in the majority of PC users who don’t give backup the priority it deserves, it’s probably because you think it’s too much of a hassle to set up. Our aim here is to change that perception by providing practical guidance that will make backup less arduous, less expensive, and more effective.

If you follow our advice, you’ll spend just a few minutes each time you carry out a backup and all it need cost you is the price of a few optical disks or from £5 per month for an online service. With figures like these you’ll really have no excuse.

Backup basics

Right at the outset we need spell out the difference between backups and archives since the two are often confused. A backup is a copy of files that you are actively working on whereas an archive is a copy of files which are largely static but to which you still want to refer.

By recognising the difference, the amount of time you spend carrying out regular backups – and the amount of media you need – can be very much reduced. For example, you’ll need to backup files that you’re editing on a daily or weekly basis: spreadsheets of household expenses or company accounts, folders containing emails and correspondence, presentations, company or club newsletters and the like.

Since these files are constantly changing, you’ll need to back them up regularly so that if you do suffer a loss, the amount of information you lose is limited. Exactly how regularly you schedule backups, though, is for you to decide.

The interval will vary from perhaps once a day for businesses, to once a week for individuals. Static but important data – your digital photographs from 2011, for example – can be archived. There’s no need to regularly rewrite that archive because the data won’t have changed.

Another vitally important consideration is that of ‘generations’. Put simply, using just one backup media isn’t safe enough. Let’s assume that you use an external disk drive as backup media and that you suffer a hard disk crash while you’re performing a backup. Because the state of the media is unknown while a backup is being written, such a crash might leave you without a full backup. As a very minimum, therefore, you need to use two generations of backup, alternating between the two sets of media.

Of course, this applies to local backup only. It isn’t a consideration for a properly implemented online backup service. However, there’s another reason for maintaining multiple generations that applies irrespective of whether you backup locally or online.

If you want to provide protection against accidental file deletion or file corruption you might choose to maintain more than two generations. For example, if you back up once a week and you don’t notice a loss for four weeks, that file would only be available if you cycled between four sets of media or maintained four generations online.

Source:http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/software/3356160/how-backup-your-pc-laptop/

They say that patience is a virtue, but sometimes the excitement of a new system proves too tempting to wait a week or two for new technology that might be just around the corner. That was a case prior to Intel’s Ivy Bridge launch, though there’s no reason to kick yourself if you jumped the gun and ordered a rig from Origin PC. Why? The boutique system vendor dropped us a note to tell us it’s currently “giving a free upgrade to Ivy Bridge processors on all desktop and laptop orders that were ordered prior to Ivy Bridge launch.” How cool is that?

Ivy Bridge desktops systems at Origin PC start at a little under $1,200. That type of investment gets you a Chronos small form factor (SFF) gaming rig built inside an NZXT Vulcan case with an Intel Core i5 3450 processor, 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1600MHz RAM, AMD Radeon HD 7750 graphics card with 1GB GDDR5 memory, 500W Corsair CX500 PSU, Asus P8H61-I motherboard, 500GB SATA 6Gbps hard drive, 24X DVD burner, 8-channel on-board audio, GbE LAN, and Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit.

You can also find Ivy Bridge options in Origin PC’s Millennium and Genesis desktop systems, and select EON laptop configurations.

Source:http://hothardware.com/News/Origin-PC-Upgrades-Pending-Systems-to-Ivy-Bridge-for-Free/

One final and possibly unwelcome clarification on media options in Windows 8. If you don’t install Windows 8 Pro and also buy into the Media Center upgrade, your computer may not play DVDs any more.

Microsoft explains its logic in a post on the Building Windows 8 blog. Essentially, with an increasing number of PCs and ultrabooks shipping without a DVD drive, licensing the codecs required to play DVDs for inclusion in Windows Media Player (which every edition of Windows gets) increases the price (by around $2 a copy, Microsoft says). Since online media is now dominating, Microsoft figured cutting out DVD playback makes sense.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have to pay for an upgrade to get DVDs. Many vendors include licensed DVD playback software on their machines, and many external DVD drives also come with software that includes licensed copies of the codec. (That’s one of the few rational arguments for vendor crapware I’ve ever heard.)

If you have an existing machine running Windows 7 and are planning to upgrade to Windows 8, the situation is a bit hazier:

In other words, you’ll be relying on an OEM manufacturer to update its software, which is an unpredictable scenario.

The big lesson? If you buy a new machine with Windows 8 on it and it includes a DVD drive, check that software is included. Microsoft has made it clear that it won’t be licensing Windows Media Center for shipping on hardware — you’ll have to buy it yourself as an upgrade — so you’ll need to know this before buying if you don’t want unexpected expenses. While VLC is a capable media player and is what we use for DVDs whenever possible, it can have occasional issues with commercial DVDs, so it’s good to have a backup.

Source:http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2012/05/your-windows-8-pc-may-not-play-dvds/

PC owners know that every computer has a unique assortment of components, applications and peripherals. Nevertheless, certain things–including a host of common PC problems and mysteries–are part of the shared experience of computer ownership. The editors at PCWorld have seen and solved hundreds of PC mysteries, ranging from balky printers to diffident video players to persnickety file attachments. Most of the answers to these tech questions are simple and straightforward, so we’ve taken the liberty of compiling some of the most frequently encountered PC mysteries into a single list that we’ll update regularly. Following each question we provide a short response that summarizes what we know. For a more detailed explanation and some helpful tips, click the links in each answer.

Why is [Program X] always running when I start my PC?

Windows maintains a list of programs that automatically run every time you boot up your computer. Some of these startup programs (such as antivirus utilities) are beneficial, but many of them are not necessary and can slow your PC as they run automatically in the background. Speed up your boot time by disabling Windows startup programs.

Why does my PC keep making a grinding sound?

This can happen for a lot of reasons–and unfortunately almost all of them are bad news. The most likely answer is that a fan or hard drive in your PC is starting to die, causing it to spin off-kilter. PCWorld contributing editor Lincoln Spector wrote a smart guide to pinpointing the source of a grinding-sound problem in this Answer Line column. No matter what the cause turns out to be, you should immediately back up your hard drive, just in case.

Why do I need administrator access to delete certain files?

That requirement is just a security precaution: Windows 7 insists that you have administrator access in order to modify or delete files when doing so might affect other people who use the computer. If you need to delete something and you don’t have the password to get into the administrator account (if you bought the PC used, for example) here’s how to gain administrator access without a password.

Why did Windows come bundled with so many unwanted programs?

For once, Microsoft isn’t to blame. Most PC manufacturers stuff new computers with extraneous trial versions of games, movie players, antivirus utilities, and other software. If you want to get rid of this bloatware, here’s how to remove preinstalled software from your PC.

Why won’t Windows allow me to delete a certain file?

If Windows refuses to delete a file or folder, some application or process is accessing it; you must close that application before you can finish deleting the unwanted file.

Why does Windows sometimes reboot without my permission, and how do I prevent that from happening?

This problem relates to how Windows installs automatic updates. Fortunately, you can make adjust some settings to put yourself back in control.

I updated my hardware drivers and now my PC is acting funny. What happened?

Though it’s a good idea to download the latest drivers for your components, occasionally a buggy or beta driver update may degrade your PC’s performance. If that happens, try to roll back to a previous version of the driver that you know is safe; if you can’t do that, you’ll have to uninstall the problematic driver entirely. Our walkthrough of how to uninstall drivers in Windows explains how to perform a rollback and how to uninstall a driver.

Does it matter whether I ’safely remove’ devices?

Absolutely: If you ignore Windows’ requests to “safely remove” your storage media, you could end up with corrupted files, un­­readable media, or both.

Where did my downloaded files go? Why can’t I find them?

Your browser chooses where downloads go, but you can control the process.

Why are some of my critical files hidden?

Windows typically keeps critical system files hidden from view to make it more difficult for untrained users to modify or delete them, and thereby inadvertently cause a system error. Usually the only hidden files are ones you shouldn’t tamper with (such as your boot.ini file); however, if you need to find a file or folder and you think it might be hidden, check out our tips on how to view hidden files and file extensions in Windows.

Why doesn’t my iPad charge when I connect it to my computer?

Your PC’s USB port doesn’t supply enough juice to charge a new iPad quickly–but you can still charge your iPad gradually. Some USB ports, however, like the ones highlighted in red below, have a higher trickle charge rate to help you charge smartphones, tablets, and other external devices.

Why does a video play on my desktop but not my laptop?

If a computer doesn’t have the specific decoder required for a video format, you can’t watch the video. Make sure that you get the right one.

My printer won’t print, and Windows won’t let me cancel or delete print jobs. What’s going on?

Usually this problem arises because of a communication problem between the PC and the printer. When they have trouble talking to each other, you may need to help them.

I hear beeps when I turn on my PC. What do they mean?

Those beeps come from the BIOS (a piece of software built into the motherboard). Specific “beep codes” have specific meanings.

Why are my USB ports different colors?

UItimately your USB ports can be any color your motherboard manufacturer desires–or all the same color, for that matter–but USB 3.0 ports are often bright blue to distinguish them from older, slower USB 2.0 ports. USB 3.0 devices are backward-compatible with USB 2.0, and the ports look identical, which makes some sort of visual indicator (such as a coat of blue paint or a “USB 3.0″ stamp) extremely useful.

In a folder full of digital images, I often see a file called Thumbs.db. What is it, and can I safely delete it?

Thumbs.db is a Windows XP system file that contains the thumbnail cache for a particular folder. You can tweak Windows to get it out of your way.

Why does every digital camera–including the one on my smartphone–store photographs in a folder called DCIM?

DCIM (for Digital Camera IMages) is the default directory structure for digital cameras–and having such a standard is very useful.

I’ve noticed a strange port on my PC. What kind of connection is supposed to go there?

This is a common mystery, and the answer can be any mumber of things. To figure out what your mystery port is and how you should use it, check out our picture-filled primer on PC ports.

My Recycle Bin has disappeared. How do I restore it?

Whether it was the victim of a glitch or was never available in the first place, you can restore your Recycle Bin in a few simple steps.

Where do all of these mysterious Web browser toolbars come from, and how do I get rid of them?

Sometimes spyware installs browser toolbars, and sometimes you do it accidentally during software installation.

How did QuickTime end up on my PC, and do I need to keep it?

This media-playback software comes bundled with iTunes and installs along with it.

I have Microsoft Word installed on my PC. Why can’t I open the .docx files my friend sent me?

If you use Word 2003 or an earlier version of the program, you need to pick up the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats.

Why do some programs leave files and folders behind even after I’ve uninstalled them?

Many programs’ uninstallers are ineffective. It’s a good idea to use a utility that removes not only the application but also all of the pieces it leaves behind.

Why do Adobe Reader and Java update so frequently? Do I have to allow it?

Most Adobe and Java patches are made to plug security holes, so you should update them–or use alternative software.

Is it necessary to update Windows?

Yes, you should definitely apply Windows updates for security reasons, but you can take a few steps to reduce Windows’ nagging and pushiness about when to make the changes.

Windows asks me if I want to enable Sticky Keys. What are they, and how should I use them?

The Sticky Keys feature makes certain keyboard functions easier to access.

Why can’t I send a particular file attachment via email?

The file is probably too large. Check out free services that let you work around file-size restrictions.

How can I determine whether an unknown Website is safe to visit?

Read our advice on how to figure out whether a link is safe from malware or other threats before you click it.

What are the .dat files that I sometimes receive in email messages, and how do I open them?

Microsoft Outlook uses a modified version of Rich Text Format (RTF) to preserve fonts and the like, but the format often causes problems for the recipient. We have three suggestions for coping with this situation.

Source:http://www.itworld.com/hardware/273070/greatest-pc-mysteries-solved