(FOR THOSE WHO DID NOT SEE THIS POST FROM EARLY 2011):The Most Common Computer Problems People Ask Me About

Today I want to re-issue a post published in early 2011, because lately a lot of people come to me with the same problem questions.

I thought that the following will be useful for all of you:


"Dear visitors to this blog,

I spend a lot of time, (and enjoy it!), in writing stuff for this blog and finding interesting computer related items in other publications that may be of interest to all of you.

I also spend time helping mostly friends and other people they refer me to, around the area where I live, Chapin in South Carolina.

Can you guess what are the most common problems most people have when they ask for my help?

It should not be difficult to guess: "George, my computer runs so slow", or "my computer freezes for no reason", "my hard drive stopped working and I lost all my files", "I can't connect to my printer", "it takes 15 20 minutes for the computer to boot!" etc. etc.

Most of the above problems could be avoided or at least simplified if such computers would be handled with more care. A lot of people think that computers run forever and follow the principle that "as long as it ain't broke don't try to interfere with it...".

This is bad, very bad. First of all you all should believe that ALL computers, (for sure), some day will break up due to hard drive problems, viruses and spyware infections, power surges, power supply failures, etc. etc.

HOWEVER, if you handle your computer with care, (later on I'll cover what care really means), computers can last a long time and in some cases even be upgraded to the latest,(or close to it), technology available. Take for instance my wife's computer,(which of course is taken care of by me), it is about 5 years old, runs like new, has been upgraded with more RAM memory, Windows 7, and I am now contemplating installing a new 1 TB hard drive.

Let's now talk about what computer care means:

-Fight infections from viruses, malicious spyware, trojans and other invasive malware.
-Reduce atart-up programs that load automatically every time you boot the computer.
-Free hard drive space by eliminating programs that you do not use, or were loaded without you ever noticing.
-Delete on a regular basis temporary Internet files, other temporary files, cookies etc.
-Defrag your hard drive on a regular basis.
-Check for malicious programs like spyware, spam, viruses etc.
-Install more RAM memory, at least up to 4 GB. RAM memory is so cheap today that this is a must.If you have 64 bit Windows 7 you can use as much RAM memory as you can afford, but for any other version of Windows, including 32 bit W7, no point in going over 4 GB RAM, because Windows will not recognize it.
-BACK UP your important files or better still make a mirror copy of you hard drive.
-Keep you computer clean and free of dust that accumulates on the cooling fans openings and inside the computer case.

The above are some of the most important steps most computer owners can easily take care of. If you take care of those I can assure you that your computer will run much better than it does now, and it will last much longer also.

There are many utility programs that can be used to correct all of the problems outlined above. Many are free for the taking, others have to be paid for.

I have made available on this blog, many of these utility programs, which can be downloaded and installed, by just clicking on web addresses also outlined on these pages.

THEY ARE ALL STILL AVAILABLE BY JUST VISITING THE POSTS PUBLISHED SINCE THE BIRTH OF THIS BLOG IN DECEMBER 2008.

All you have to do is scroll down to older posts or check the roster of posts outlined on the left column of the opening page.

Here is a list of the most popular and best utility programs you can find here, that will help you keep your computer in top shape:

-Ashampoo Win Optimiser
-CCleaner
-Advanced System Care
-Disk Keeper
-Free Fixer
-Registry Mechanic
-Defraggler
-Startups-all
-Ad Aware
-Spybot
-Fences
-Speccy
-Starup Delayer
-Avira Antivirus
-Clamwin Antivirus

And many more...

By the way, if you have a problem finding any of the above on the blog, all you have to do is google the name, and for sure you'll find the proper web address to download whatever you are looking for.

I will be glad to help you use all of the above or give you more recommendations, all you have to do is ask me.

George Freire "

Hope you all will enjoy and use the information,

George Freire

OPERATIONAL V-12 DIESEL ENGINE THAT FITS IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND.

A friend of mine sent me this email:

This is not CNC technology; this guy made everything at home on his
> > lathe and drill press. Took 1220 hours (a year and a half?) to make the 261
> > pieces. Note the end-loaded crankshaft into the block (like an Offy), 12
> > individual cylinder heads, TINY rods and pistons, dual "underhead" cams
> > with pushrods to rockers in the heads. And, he did break-in runs using an
> > electric drill driving the crankshaft! .

I was totally flabbergasted when I clicked the following link:

http://www.wimp.com/tiniestengine/


Even you guys who are not mechanically inclined, it is amazing what this fellow accomplished!

The video is in Spanish, I don't know who the fellow is, but you judge by yourselves, it is simply amazing.

George Freire

How to Troubleshoot Your PC

Today we'll give you another link to another PCWorld article that we can classify as a continuation of our latest post of May 7, "The Greatest PC Mysteries Solved".

This time they tackle PC problems such as:

-My Computer Takes Minutes to Respond When I Click Something

-During Shutdown, a Message Appears That Says 'Other People Are Logged On to This Computer'

-Beep Codes Sound While My System Is Booting Up

-My System Won't Start at All, and Pressing the Power Button Has No Effect

-My Monitor Has Color Issues or Suddenly Goes Blank (No Display)

-My System Randomly Restarts Without a Crash or a Blue Screen

-My Keyboard Isn't Working--Nothing I Type Comes Up on the Screen

-My Computer Is Trapped in a Cycle of Continual Reboots, With Constant Blue Screens

And many more that you'll appreciate by clicking the following link:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/255985/how_to_troubleshoot_your_pc_a_hypochondriacs_guide.html


I love PCWorld for all the good stuff they come up with. They have by far the best tech writers in the business.

I get almost daily technical emails from them and of course I have been a PCWorld  subscriber for many years. Some of you might want to check how to subscribe to this wonderful magazine. It only costs about $25.00 per year vs. the cover price of $84.00 if you had to buy the 12 monthly issues separately. If you are interested, just go to PCWorld.com and check it out.

I am making this recommendation out of self appreciation for this magazine, nothing else.

George Freire