4 Things You Absolutely Must Check Before Upgrading Your Desktop PC

Upgrading your desktop computer is an excellent idea. You can extend the lifespan of a PC indefinitely by changing out components over time. Absolutely everything can be replaced.

Computers are complex, however, and this can lead to headaches when trying to upgrade. Nothing is more frustrating than finding out that you have a compatibility issue while you’re in the process of installing new hardware. Let’s review 4 potential trouble spots you should check before digging into your desktop’s internals.

The Power Supply

A desktop computer consists of various components, each of which needs power. The power supply is responsible for managing and distributing power. It needs to have the right plugs and it needs to be able to handle the overall power demand of your desktop at load.

Some of the power connections in desktops have remained the same over time, but some haven’t. The most recent examples of new connections are SATA and PCI Express. If you own a computer that is more than five years old it may not support them, and that means you won’t be able to use a SATA hard drive or a PCI Express video card without an adapter. Always makes sure that your power supply has the connectors required to accept any new hardware you might purchase.

Overall power draw can sometimes be an issue, as well. Video cards are the primary troublemaker. Be sure to check the power requirements specified by the manufacturer before buying a new video card. If your current supply is below the requirements you should upgrade it before installing new hardware.

The Motherboard

Everything inside a computer must connect to the motherboard for it to function. Most motherboards have a significant number of connectors for installing new hardware, but the number is finite, and can be filled to capacity more quickly than you’d think.

Always check how a new piece of hardware will connect to your motherboard. The most common connections are SATA (for hard drives and optical drives) and PCI Express (for video cards, sound cards and network adapters), but there are others.

Once you’ve discovered what is required, verify that your motherboard can accommodate the upgrade by opening up your desktop and inspecting it. This is an important step. Your motherboard may technically have eight SATA ports, but what if a large video card or cooling fan is blocking two of them? This is not something you’ll discover just by cracking open your desktop’s manual.

The Enclosure

Once you’ve verified that your power supply and motherboard can handle new hardware you’re done, right? Not quite.

Even if these components can handle your upgrade you may still run in to trouble if it won’t fit in your enclosure. This has always been a common problem, but it’s even more common today. Computers are becoming smaller, which means a lack of physical space is more of a concern.

Find the physical measurements of any hardware that you plan on installing and use a tape measure to make sure that you have room. Be sure to account for not only the width of new hardware but also its depth. Some cases have thin profiles that will only fit “half-height” PCI Express cards. Processor coolers are another common troublemaker, as the most effective air-cooled models tend to have extremely large heatsinks that are as tall as the typical mid-tower PC case is wide.

The Operating System

Last, but not least, you need to deal with the software.

Operating systems generally are not a limitation when you are upgrading hardware, which is why the topic shows up last in this article. This doesn’t mean they are never an issue. It’s possible that you may find yourself with a hardware upgrade that is physically compatible with your system in every way but still doesn’t work.

This most commonly occurs because you’re using an older operating system or an unpopular one. Windows XP will work with most of today’s hardware despite its age, but you’re often going to be left with reduced functionality. Mac OS X is very finicky about the hardware it will work with. Linux is a little better, but only if you stick with popular, well-supported distributions.

You should check the specifications of the hardware you’re buying to see what operating systems it is officially compatible with. If you are using a Linux distro, you should check its help forums. You’ll often find lists of fully and partially compatible hardware.

Conclusion

Once you’ve accounted for these four points you can safely purchase a hardware upgrade. Yes, I know – checking all of this can be a bit annoying and will take some extra time. But it does reduce the chance that you’ll buy incompatible hardware. It will also make you more familiar with your system and with computers in general, which means you’ll have less homework to do the next time you want to upgrade.

Have you run into any other compatibility problems while upgrading?  If so, tell us about it in the comments.

Control PC From Another Computer Mouse, Keyboard on LAN or Same Wifi Network

There are times when you want to control a PC from another computer using the mouse and keyboard connected to another computer, you may be wondering if this can be done. Yes this can be easily done for free using some free softwares so you don’t have to pay anything.

This is a basic scenario in which you actually need use one mouse and keyboard on two or more computers, there are many ways you can do this for free, after searching on web we found out many software that could help you do the same as well by default if you don’t want to use any software for this you can use the default remote desktop to do this, in case you cant do remote desktop to a windows machine.

Another way to remotely control a PC can be done by using teamviewer which is free remote desktop tool to control a computer remotely but for using this tool you will need to make sure that both the computer from which you want to control another computer and computer to be controlled should be connected to internet, teamviewer has unattended mode of connectivity so that you can control without any user input required on the computer to be controlled from other computer using a different mouse and keyboard.

Both of the above ways seem are slow ways as compared to one in which you use a software called Synergywhich is again a free software which lets control another computer, Synergy is another free software that provides the ability to control two or more one keyboard and one mouse connected to any of the computer. But make sure that all these computers are connected to the same wifi network. Once you have installed Synergy software all the computers and configured them as server and client, you can move from one computer to the other by simply moving your mouse out of the computer screen.

Please Note: You will also need a separate monitor for every computer in this case but switching between computers will be as easy as moving the mouse in the right direction.

You will also need to configure which is computer in on the right or left only then the software will work for you. The computer which you to be controlled should looks like this in synergy settings as shown in the image below.

The computer which you will use to control the other should be configured as per the settings as it looks like in the image below.

 

So the configure settings need to be done from the computer on which the computer keyboard and mouse are connected physically as shown in the image below.

Here in the image above windows7mac-pc is my laptop from which I want to control another computer called hp-netbook which is connected to my tv in my case, so I control the netbook using synergy. The settings you see in the image above, you will need to create as per your own requirement, by clicking the + sign button you can add computers. In order to make this work, you will need to run synergy on both of the computers, click on start button under configuration settings on both the computers.

If you think synergy is too confusing for you to configure, then you can use another free software calledInput Director which is a Windows application that lets you control multiple Windows systems using the keyboard/mouse attached to one computer. It is designed for folks who have two (or more) computers next to each other and find themselves regularly switching from one system to the other. With Input Director, you can share a single keyboard/mouse across a set of systems. You switch which system receives the input either by hotkey or by moving the cursor so that it transitions from one screen to the other (in a very similar fashion to a multi-monitor setup).

Please Note: Input Director requires Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4), Windows XP (Service Pack 2), Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows 2008 or Windows 7. The systems must be networked.

Computer Tricks And Computer Tips: How to kill process using DOS when your TASK MANAGER is disabled

How to kill process using DOS when your TASK MANAGER is disabled

Its not a big deal to kill a process form task manager , while in case of when you have lost your task manager then how to kill a process so that I'm giving a way to kill any background process running in windows behind the program using DOS utility, so whenever your task manager has been disable don't be depress that how to kill a background process whether your computer is going to hang  just open your DOS prompt and type some of the few commend to kill a process.


So, here today, I'm giving a way to kill a process running in your task manager or computer windows.

Just follow the simple steps:

1. press [win] + [R] key or go Start >>  RUN.
2. write cmd or command,
A DOS Prompt appear on your computer screen.
3.write a command tasklist and press Enter, you will show all the process running in your computer. and whether you want to  arrange these  process you can use this command, tasklist /? 

4. so now use taskkill command to kill a process like this.
      taskkill /im chrome.exe /F
   /im : show the image name and 
   /F : kill a process by force.
Syntax :
TASKKILL [/S system [/U username [/P [password]]]] { [/FI filter] [/PID processid | /IM imagename] } [/F] [/T]
Examples: 
    TASKKILL /F /IM notepad.exe /IM mspaint.exe
    TASKKILL /F /FI "PID ge 1000" /FI "WINDOWTITLE ne untitle*"

4 Things You’ll Love About Ubuntu 12.04

he new version of Ubuntu–12.04, codename “Precise Pangolin”– is officially here, meaning two things: I get to be really happy about new features, and some people get to complain about Unity in the comments. Horray!

It’s been a year since Ubuntu made Unity the default interface, and man: many of you were not happy. I was thrilled, however: in my opinion Unity is better looking and easier to use than any other Linux user interface. Sure: there were some rough edges in that release, but overall I got the Linux desktop I’d been trying to hack Gnome into becoming for years.

Heck: in a lot of ways I like Unity better than OS X, an operating system I use a lot.

Unity isn’t a tablet user interface being forced on desktop users: you’re thinking of Windows 8. Unity is a system that works well on laptops and desktops–it’s really easy to use using only the keyboard–but will also work well on a tablet if necessary. This interface, along with projects like Ubuntu for Android, won’t bring about the magical “Year of the Linux Desktop”, but they do give Ubuntu a solid spot in today’s complex computing market.

12.04 improves on Unity’s strengths, and addresses some of your old complaints. It’s fast, includes new features desktop users will love, and, as always, gives you quick access to the latest free software. There are even new customization options by default–including the ability to auto-hide the dock.

Not sure what Ubuntu or Unity is? Check out this in-browser demo of Unity to get a feel. Then keep reading to find out why I love Ubuntu 12.04.

Speed

First things first: this version of Ubuntu is fast. My primary laptop isn’t terribly powerful: it’s a few years old and I’ve only got one gig of RAM. But upgrading to Ubuntu 12.04 feels like I got a new computer.

Simply put: if previous versions of Ubuntu in general and Unity specifically felt slow to you, you’re in for a treat. LTS releases tend to focus on stability and speed, and Ubuntu 12.04 certainly feels that way.

Press the menu button; see the menu, instantly. Search for something; get results, instantly. Speed is no longer a reason to complain about Unity: it’s one of the its main advantages.

The HUD

They’ve been there since the 80s: menus at the tops of applications, giving you access to different functions. Somewhere, in the midst of “File”, “Edit”, “View” and “Help” is the exact menu item you’re looking for. Computer users are used to exploring these menus and memorizing locations.

With 12.04, Ubuntu offers a different strategy:

1. Press “alt”.
2. Search for the function you want.
3. Hit enter.

It’s called the HUD, and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite Ubuntu features. It doesn’t replace anything – you can still browse the menu of any application using the mouse – but it sure makes finding features easy. It’s particularly nice in software like The GIMP, the menus of which are a maze of functionality. With HUD you can find what you’re looking for, quickly.

Even better: you don’t need perfect typing to use it. For me it found several items I misspelt, as in the screen below:

This means I find what I’m looking for even when I make a mistake.

The Main Menu No Longer Sucks

If there’s one thing commenters here at MakeUseOf–and I myself–didn’t like about Unity, it was the “tablety” main menu. With useless, static links to things like “The Internet”, it was rarely used. Good news: the giant uncustomizable buttons are gone. The main menu now defaults to your recently used applications and documents:

Only programs not in your dock show up, meaning there are no redundancies. Don’t see what you want?  Just type to search and it will show up instantly. Alternatively, you can browse your apps and much more by looking through the lenses. It’s a way better way for the menu to function, and I think you’re going to like it.

New Customization Options

If there’s one thing people complained about when Unity first came out, it was the lack of customization. Unity is never exactly going to be KDE when it comes to this, but there are some frequently-requested tweaks offered in the “Appearance” settings.

Tired of the dock showing up whenever you move your mouse to the left? Set the top-left corner to be the pressure point instead of the entire side of the screen. You can also turn auto-hiding on or off for the launcher. Another setting, on the “Look” tab, lets you make the dock whatever size you’d like.

Conclusion

If Unity turned you off initially, give it a chance now: you might like it. The improvements go beyond what I outlined above: those are just my favorites. Feel free to tell me your favorite new features in the comments below.

Alternatively, you can tell me I’m a moron and link to Linux Mint. I won’t care, because I don’t want a desktop interface that looks like a version of Windows from 1995. I want Unity.

Repair Windows XP

Have sfc check the system files by running the command sfc /scannow from the Command Window (Start > Run). Put XP disk in, click on exit when it comes up on screen, leave disk in, type in run box off Start sfc /scannow and click OK. (Space between c and /)

Removing Menu Delay

To remove any delay from menus sliding out. 
use regedit The key to change this is located in 
HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop. 
The actual key is called MenuShowDelay - 
all you have to do is change the value to 0. and re-boot your computer.

Change the Logon Message in Windows XP

Start regedit.

go to H_KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWSNT\CURRENTVERSION\WINLOGON.

In the key LegalNoticeCaption enter the Title you want to give the window.

In the key LegalNoticeText enter whatever message you want to display at logon.
Close regedit. restart your computer

Remove Dummy programs in Add/Remove Programs in win xp

On occasion, you'll find that an application listed in Add/Remove Programs even after you've uninstalled it from your computer. You can remove such applications from Add/Remove Programs by editing your computer's registry. Begin by running Registry Editor and accessing the key      "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-Software-MicrosoftWindows-CurrentVersion-Uninstall".
You'll find keys listed below the Uninstall key that correspond to the applications you see listed in Add/Remove Programs. You remove an application from this list by selecting its key in Registry Editor and then deleting it.

speed Performance in xp

Input/Output Performance in xp 
This tweak is only really valuable to anyone running a server - it improves performance while a computer is performing large file transfer operations. By default, the value does not appear in the registry, so you will have to create a REG_DWORD value called IOPageLockLimit. The data for this value is in bytes, and defaults to 512KB on machines that have the value. Most people using this tweak have found maximum performance in the 8 to 16 megabyte range, so you will have to play around with the value to find the best performance. Remeber that the value is measured in bytes, so if you want, say, 12MB allocated, it’s 12 * 1024 * 1024, or 12582912. As with all these memory tweaks, you should only use this if you have 256MB or more of RAM.Win2k/XP Shutdown Fix:First of all open RegEdit, if you dont know how do do this its simple Go to Start,
click on Run (should be in the bottom right hand side) and type Regedit.

Navigate your way to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then ---> SYSTEM then --->CurrentControlSet then --->Control
Click on control and in the right window you will see this key WaitToKillServiceTimeout

It should be set to 20000, what this means i do not know, but lower it to 200, i did this safely with no problems.Make XP Browsing faster:This make broswing a lot faster, but if you use scheduled tasks, don't do this, Open up the Registry and go to :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under that branch, select the key :

{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

and delete it.

Default Keyboard Shortcuts

Getting used to using your keyboard exclusively and leaving your mouse behind will make you much more efficient at performing any task on any Windows system.

Windows key + R = Run menu
This is usually followed by:
cmd = Command Prompt
iexplore + "web address" = Internet Explorer
compmgmt.msc = Computer Management
dhcpmgmt.msc = DHCP Management
dnsmgmt.msc = DNS Management
services.msc = Services
eventvwr = Event Viewer
dsa.msc = Active Directory Users and Computers
dssite.msc = Active Directory Sites and Services
Windows key + E = Explorer
ALT + Tab = Switch between Windows
ALT, Space, X = Maximize window
CTRL + Shift + Esc = Task Manager
Windows key + Break = System properties
Windows key + F = Search
Windows key + D = Hide/Display all Windows
CTRL + C = copy
CTRL + X = cut
CTRL + V = paste

Also don't forget about the "Right-click" key next to the right Windows
key on your keyboard. Using the arrows and that key can get just about
anything done once you've opened up any program.

--
Keyboard Shortcuts
--
[Alt] and [Esc] Switch between running applications
[Alt] and letter Select menu item by underlined letter
[Ctrl] and [Esc] Open Program Menu
[Ctrl] and [F4] Close active document or group Windows (does not work with some applications)
[Alt] and [F4] Quit active application or close current window
[Alt] and [-] Open Control menu for active document
Ctrl] Lft., Rt. arrow Move cursor forward or back one word
Ctrl] Up, Down arrow Move cursor forward or back one paragraph
[F1] Open Help for active application
Windows+M Minimize all open Windows
Shift+Windows+M Undo minimize all open Windows
Windows+F1 Open Windows Help
Windows+Tab Cycle through the Taskbar buttons
Windows+Break Open the System Properties dialog box


--
acessability shortcuts
--
Right SHIFT for eight seconds........ Switch FilterKeys on and off.
Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN....... Switch High Contrast on and off.
Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK....... Switch MouseKeys on and off.
SHIFT....... five times Switch StickyKeys on and off.
NUM LOCK...... for five seconds Switch ToggleKeys on and off.

--
explorer shortcuts
--
END....... Display the bottom of the active window.
HOME....... Display the top of the active window.
NUM LOCK+ASTERISK....... on numeric keypad (*) Display all subfolders under the selected folder.
NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (+) Display the contents of the selected folder.
NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN....... on numeric keypad (-) Collapse the selected folder.
LEFT ARROW...... Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder.
RIGHT ARROW....... Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder.

--
Type the following commands in your Run Box (Windows Key + R) or Start Run
--
devmgmt.msc = Device Manager
msinfo32 = System Information
dxdiag = Direct X Diagnosis
cleanmgr = Disk Cleanup
ntbackup = Backup or Restore Wizard (Windows Backup Utility)
mmc = Microsoft Management Console
excel = Microsoft Excel (If Installed)
msaccess = Microsoft Access (If Installed)
powerpnt = Microsoft PowerPoint (If Installed)
winword = Microsoft Word (If Installed)
frontpg = Microsoft FrontPage (If Installed)
notepad = Notepad
wordpad = WordPad
calc = Calculator
msmsgs = Windows Messenger
mspaint = Microsoft Paint
wmplayer = Windows M*dia Pl*yer
rstrui = System Restore
netscp6 = Netscape 6.x
netscp = Netscape 7.x
netscape = Netscape 4.x
waol = America Online
control = Opens the Control Panel
control printers = Opens the Printers Dialog

--
internetbrowser
--
type in u're adress "google", then press [Right CTRL] and [Enter]
add www. and .com to word and go to it

--
For Windows XP:
--
Copy. CTRL+C
Cut. CTRL+X
Paste. CTRL+V
Undo. CTRL+Z
Delete. DELETE
Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE
Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item
Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item
Rename selected item. F2
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW
Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select all. CTRL+A
Search for a file or folder. F3
View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER
Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4
Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4
Switch between open items. ALT+TAB
Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6
Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10
Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC
Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name
Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu
Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW
Refresh the active window. F5
View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task. ESC
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.

--
Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes:
--
To Press
Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB
Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move forward through options. TAB
Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB
Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter
Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER
Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys
Display Help. F1
Display the items in the active list. F4
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE

--
If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible
keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key ,
you can use these keyboard shortcuts:
--
Display or hide the Start menu. WIN Key
Display the System Properties dialog box. WIN Key+BREAK
Show the desktop. WIN Key+D
Minimize all Windows. WIN Key+M
Restores minimized Windows. WIN Key+Shift+M
Open My Computer. WIN Key+E
Search for a file or folder. WIN Key+F
Search for computers. CTRL+WIN Key+F
Display Windows Help. WIN Key+F1
Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch
users if you are not connected to a network domain. WIN Key+ L
Open the Run dialog box. WIN Key+R
Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U

--
accessibility keyboard shortcuts:
--
Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN
Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds
Open Utility Manager. WIN Key+U

--
shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:
--
Display the bottom of the active window. END
Display the top of the active window. HOME
Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)
Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW