Monday, May 3, 2010
How Big is a Gigabyte
I have previously mentioned how glad I was when I got a new computer and it had a 25 MB hard drive and now there seems to be no end to the amount of data of data storage. For some time the limit was 137 GB, which is a rather large amount of data and if you are talking to a mathematician he will describe it as 10 to the ninth (9) power or 10 ⁹ and written in numerical form would be 1,000,000,000. So 1 GB would be 1,000,000,000.
If you have an older computer with a 28 bit communication address system on the hard drive this system in effect limited the size of your hard drive to 137 GB. A hard drive is divided into sectors and a sector is an address containing, or is capable of containing 512 bytes of information. The 28 bits is a binary number and when converted to decimal numeration it limits the size of the sector to 268,435,455 sectors on a hard drive and multiplying 268,435,455 x 512 (512 bytes of information) gives 137 GB with this being the maximum size of a usable hard drive on an older computer.
A newer standard of ATA/ATAPI – 6 changes the addressable size address to 48 bits thus giving us a system of petabytes now instead of gigabytes.
When thinking about a gigabyte in these terms it really doesn’t seem so large. The hard drive of just a few years ago with a maximum size of 137 GB in my computer today would be full and information left over with no place to stay. But just think about the newer standard using 48 bits for the address the new standard changes our way of thinking from megabytes, to gigabytes to petabytes and computer science tells us the new limit is 144 petabytes and should sustain us for the next 50 years. I guess by then they will have to come up with a new numbering system.
In case you were wondering a petabytes is the same as a quadrillion and it has 15 zero’s. A gigabyte is known as a billion and has only 9 zero’s. When thinking about numbers of this size, it reminds me of our national debt of a trillion dollars having 12 zero’s and climbing.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH
What Happens When the Hard Drive Crashes?
You may never experience an actual hard drive crash but if you do you will undoubtedly know what has happened. Of all the computers I have owned I have never had a “real” hard drive crash. I have had my computer crash but not from a hard drive failure. I have recently worked on at least two different laptops than had hard drive failures and the only way for a repair was hard drive replacement.
Let us take a look at what actually happens when a hard drive crashes. In a recent article I referred to the distance between the platter and the read/write head and it is a matter of NM’s (Nanometers) above the platter. When you think about this thickness, a sheet of paper can be thicker than the distance between the platter and the read/write head. This is the reason for being careful of how we treat the computer and not be rough when moving it etc. another item of harm is dust and grit. The hard drive is somewhat sealed but things can happen and dirt can sometimes get into the hard drive itself. Recently I got a laptop to work on and when I plugged it in and turned it on you could hear the hard drive grinding against things it was not supposed to be touching. I knew without looking the hard drive was history; however, I still took it apart to investigate further.
Sometimes part of the data can be recovered but often it is not, whatever was being written at the time and all of the past memories on the drive may be lost forever. But what actually happened? The platter is certainly not indestructible and scratches can occur and dropping the computer may in fact cause extreme damage to the drive. Because the platter is spinning so fast when it comes in contact with something it should not, bad things are going to happen and it may be lost forever. This is a good reason for backup plans but like any good business plan, the backup plan must be before it is needed. An extra hard drive could be the solution and if it is setup as a RAID1 it will be a redundant copy of everything on the drive. If you have a RAID0 extra drive installed the data is alternated between drives so only part of your material would be lost or you could have a good external hard drive where data is backed up on a routine basis to secure at least a part of your data. I have my external set to backup every Saturday morning
You may never experience an actual hard drive crash but if you do you will undoubtedly know what has happened. Of all the computers I have owned I have never had a “real” hard drive crash. I have had my computer crash but not from a hard drive failure. I have recently worked on at least two different laptops than had hard drive failures and the only way for a repair was hard drive replacement.
Let us take a look at what actually happens when a hard drive crashes. In a recent article I referred to the distance between the platter and the read/write head and it is a matter of NM’s (Nanometers) above the platter. When you think about this thickness, a sheet of paper can be thicker than the distance between the platter and the read/write head. This is the reason for being careful of how we treat the computer and not be rough when moving it etc. another item of harm is dust and grit. The hard drive is somewhat sealed but things can happen and dirt can sometimes get into the hard drive itself. Recently I got a laptop to work on and when I plugged it in and turned it on you could hear the hard drive grinding against things it was not supposed to be touching. I knew without looking the hard drive was history; however, I still took it apart to investigate further.
Sometimes part of the data can be recovered but often it is not, whatever was being written at the time and all of the past memories on the drive may be lost forever. But what actually happened? The platter is certainly not indestructible and scratches can occur and dropping the computer may in fact cause extreme damage to the drive. Because the platter is spinning so fast when it comes in contact with something it should not, bad things are going to happen and it may be lost forever. This is a good reason for backup plans but like any good business plan, the backup plan must be before it is needed. An extra hard drive could be the solution and if it is setup as a RAID1 it will be a redundant copy of everything on the drive. If you have a RAID0 extra drive installed the data is alternated between drives so only part of your material would be lost or you could have a good external hard drive where data is backed up on a routine basis to secure at least a part of your data. I have my external set to backup every Saturday morning
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tracks, Heads, and Sectors
Broader Description of Tracks, Heads, and Sectors
In the previous writing I discussed a little about the Hard Drive Capacity but did not go into much depth. This could leave some confusion about the amount of data stored because of not knowing how each of these parts work. When looking at the “Head” this is the part of the Hard Drive that actually reads and writes data either to or from the platters on the hard drive. If you Google these parts you can find pictures and as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, that certainly applies. The picture will show the head as being more like an arm and this arm extends over the platters which are spinning. Some platters spin at a rate of 10,000 revolutions per minute (RPM) and this arm is a paper thin distance above the platters. This is measured in nanometres and if you looked to try to see between the head and the platters the naked eye probably could not detect a space in this small separation. Hard Drives normally have multiple platters and the platters are two sided with data on both sides. The heads or arms that read and write data are on both sides of the platter and work simultaneously transferring or reading data. Not all platter are two sided however as is the case with floppy disk drives.
As in earlier writings I have mentioned tracks but did not explain in depth. Tracks are sometimes referred to as cylinders but mean the same thing. These are the tracks going around the platter in ever decreasing circles if looking from the outside edge toward the inside where the small hole is in the center. You can see the results of writing to the platter if you will take the CD disk out and look at the shinny side. You will see a difference in the tracks and notice it writes from the inside toward the outside of the platter.
The sectors on the disk are addresses on the tracks and on the older disk there were 17 sectors and all were the same size and contained equal amounts of data or 512 bytes of data regardless of the radius of the track. Looking at the track you understand from the inside near the hole in the center toward the outside edge the radius the size changes but the sector which contains the data remains the same regardless of where it is on the track, and it contains 512 bytes of data. A bit is one single piece of data and a byte is equal to eight bits. If reading this in literature or from Compact Disk information if it is bytes it would be written as MB (Notice the capitol B) for megabytes or Mb (Notice lower case b) for megabits.
In the previous writing I discussed a little about the Hard Drive Capacity but did not go into much depth. This could leave some confusion about the amount of data stored because of not knowing how each of these parts work. When looking at the “Head” this is the part of the Hard Drive that actually reads and writes data either to or from the platters on the hard drive. If you Google these parts you can find pictures and as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In this case, that certainly applies. The picture will show the head as being more like an arm and this arm extends over the platters which are spinning. Some platters spin at a rate of 10,000 revolutions per minute (RPM) and this arm is a paper thin distance above the platters. This is measured in nanometres and if you looked to try to see between the head and the platters the naked eye probably could not detect a space in this small separation. Hard Drives normally have multiple platters and the platters are two sided with data on both sides. The heads or arms that read and write data are on both sides of the platter and work simultaneously transferring or reading data. Not all platter are two sided however as is the case with floppy disk drives.
As in earlier writings I have mentioned tracks but did not explain in depth. Tracks are sometimes referred to as cylinders but mean the same thing. These are the tracks going around the platter in ever decreasing circles if looking from the outside edge toward the inside where the small hole is in the center. You can see the results of writing to the platter if you will take the CD disk out and look at the shinny side. You will see a difference in the tracks and notice it writes from the inside toward the outside of the platter.
The sectors on the disk are addresses on the tracks and on the older disk there were 17 sectors and all were the same size and contained equal amounts of data or 512 bytes of data regardless of the radius of the track. Looking at the track you understand from the inside near the hole in the center toward the outside edge the radius the size changes but the sector which contains the data remains the same regardless of where it is on the track, and it contains 512 bytes of data. A bit is one single piece of data and a byte is equal to eight bits. If reading this in literature or from Compact Disk information if it is bytes it would be written as MB (Notice the capitol B) for megabytes or Mb (Notice lower case b) for megabits.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Floppies and Hard Drives
STORAGE – HARD DRIVES AND FLOPPIES
Floppy Drives
In the study of a hard drive the first place to look is at floppy drive technology. Even though floppy drives are old and obsolete they are still around in a few computers and there is a relationship between a floppy and a hard drive. Looking back at older computers you may remember having an A drive and a B drive. A drive was in some cases the boot drive and required a disk to boot; however, that is going way back. A drive was a 3.5" drive and held 1.44 MB of storage. Both A & B hooked to the motherboard via a data cable with a 34 pin connector. On these older computers both A & B were connected by the same data cable; however, newer computers will only have one cable and just the 3.5 floppy drive. Drive B was a 5.25" floppy and since they were both hooked to the motherboard by the same data cable, the distinction of these two floppies was made by the BIOS. The 5.25" drive has gone the way of the Dinosaurs and is no longer available on most computers. The cable used was identifiable by a twist in the cable for drive A and number 1 pin had a color along the edge of the cable.
In preparing the floppy for use you need to know a little about its construction. Inside that disk is a flat, blank, magnetically coated plastic cylinder with nothing on it. There are no groves, no sectors, and no writing. In order to use this cylinder we must prepare it or make it ready to accept data by a process called formatting. The first thing done is to format the disk by inserting it into the proper drive, going to the DOS prompt (A ://>) and typing the command in the line telling the computer to prepare this disk for use. When you hit enter it will begin its work of creating circles or tracks and sections called sectors on the disk. When it is finished a high density disk will have 80 circles or tracks on each side of the disk and 18 sectors on each side and the circles will be numbered 0 through 79 and the sectors numbered 0 through 18. All sectors will store the same amount of data. The data is written to the disk in binary code of 1's and 0's with each bit being magnetized. I normally do formatting from the dos prompt but you can also format from a shortcut in Windows Explorer. All material is written using magnetism for the binary code 1's and 0's and a different magnetic code for the spaces. When it is read the computer uses a magnetic read/write head mechanism in the floppy drive. There is some difference in the method used by a floppy drive as opposed to a hard drive. The floppy drive head lightly touch the surface of the disk while the disk is rotating at 360 revolutions per minute. The floppy drive has two heads, one on top of the cylinder and one beneath and they move back and forth in unison. A hard drive works the same way but the drive heads never touch the disk.
Let's dig a little deeper in this hole of knowledge. Sectors can be grouped as one or more sectors together making up a cluster. A cluster is the smallest unit of space on a disk used for storage and just like your office at home you need a filing system to keep everything organized. On your computer that filing system is a "FAT" or File Allocation Table and on some newer units it will be a NTFS or New Technology File System used on Windows NT, 2000, and XP. NTFS provided better security and more storage than FATs.
Now that we have a File Allocation System we need some explanations about the system. The first sector in the file cabinet is the boot record and it tells us how many sectors the disk has and how many sectors are allocated per cluster and how many bits are in each FAT entry. It will also advise of the version of DOS or Windows used in the formatting process of the disk.
If your floppy drive has a problem the idea now is to replace it because the price has made repairing of floppy drives obsolete. I am not going to go into detail here on replacing the floppy. It is very simple and directions for your computer can be found on the internet in Google. One word of caution, if you do decide to replace a defective floppy don't forget about electro static discharge (ESD) and make sure you are properly grounded before entering the case. In the beginning of this discussion I stated the floppy drive and hard drive were similar. In fact they are very similar. Where a floppy has one Mylar disk a hard drive will have two and possibly more.
HARD DRIVE
Let me emphasize hard drives are fragile and should be handled gently. If you listen to your hard drive as it spins up and hear crunching or unusual sounds, prepare to install a new hard drive. The platters or disk spin in unison and all that I have seen were housed in a metal case. Inside this case are firmware chips and devices to read and write information to the platters or disks. Just like floppies the key to a hard drive is magnetism. Material is written to the platters by a magnetic spot and this is one reason nothing with magnetism should ever get close to your hard drive or for that matter the computer. Magnetism can totally destroy the data on a hard drive in microseconds. Another similarity to a floppy is if you have multiple platters data is written to both sides. Similar to a floppy data is written to the platter beginning from the outside of the circle and continuing to the inside and even though it would seem the sectors are smaller they all contain the same amount of data. This does not hold true with newer units because a new technology was introduced called zone bit recording. Even though it differs from the older drives each sector still holds 512 bits of information. Just like the floppy, hard drives are disposable and when sectors begin to fade or go bad, pull the drive out and replace with a new one. Just be sure to try and recover as much of your data as possible. Hard drives eventually fail and will begin rendering "Bad Sector or Sector Not Found" errors and this is usually caused by fading of the low-level formatting done by the factory whereby it set track and sector markings. As the computer ages these lines gradually fade to the point of eventual failure errors. They have a life expectancy of, "the life of the drive."
Older computers built during the first 1990 years were rather primitive and their controllers couldn't handle complicated arrangements that changed between tracks. As a result, every track had the same number of sectors. This wasted a great deal of space but since all sectors held the same number of bytes, it was easy to calculate the size of the hard drive. If you knew how many tracks, heads, and sectors were on the hard drive you could simply multiply the number of heads, by tracks, by sectors, by 512 bytes and this gave you the size of the hard drive. An example is (855 X 7 X 17 X 512.) then you must divide by 1024 and divide again by 1024 to convert to MB and this gives the size of the drive. I remember my first 25 MB computer and at that time in 1993 it was state of the art. Today it would not have enough memory to install even the smallest available PC operating system.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
MORE ABOUT RAM
WHAT ABOUT MEMORY?
Ram Technologies
Computer Memory is divided into two categories: RAM and ROM. RAM stands for random access memory and ROM stands for read only memory. ROM retains its memory when the PCI where it is located is turned off; however, RAM memory will be lost. The Central Processor Unit CPU contains a small amount of STATIC RAM embedded within the processor housing. On the motherboard there is a firmware chip that holds the ROM BIOS.
Most RAM is stored on the motherboard in modules called DIMMs, RIMMs, or SIMMs. There are two types of RAM, dynamic and static. When ordering RAM it will be listed as DRAM or SRAM. Of the two, SRAM is the faster because it does not have to be refreshed nearly as often and does not lose data as quickly. Located inside the processor of most computers is a memory cache used to speed up memory access. This memory will be SRAM because SRAM is faster than DRAM. Some computers even have a small amount of SRAM embedded on the motherboard in addition to the SRAM in the cache location. SRAM and DRAM are made of transistors and a transistor is a switch. To keep a transistor switch open it must have a small amount of voltage at all times. DRAM transistor switches are charged by capacitors and they must be recharged; however, SRAM does not use capacitors so SRAMs are faster, they are also more expensive. Because of cost you will have a small amount of SRAM on a computer and a lot of DRAM.
As stated above DRAM is always stored in DIMM, RIMM, or SIMM modules which are plugged directly into the motherboard. The difference in these modules is the width of the data path each module accommodates and the manner data is transferred from the system bus to the module. The DDR2 chip is into a DIMM module. It has 240 pins and is the fastest memory at this time. This chip can be inserted as a single channel or dual. The difference is that the dual channel sticks are matched pairs of memory. To work the modules must be technically identical: same size, same timings, etc. Single data rate (SDR) DDR2 is able to operate with faster bus speeds; your memory doesn't hold back the performance of your processor. Generally speaking, motherboards are built to support only one type of memory. You cannot mix and match SDRAM, DDR, or DDR2 memory on the same motherboard in any system. They will not function and will not even fit in the same sockets. DDR stands for Double Data Rate; DDR2 is the newer and faster technology and is replacing DDR.
The following is a discussion of the advantages of DDR2 Memory over DDR.
The difference in DDR2 is the architecture that supports improvements in chipsets and in other system components. DDR2 processes memory more efficiently and reduces system latency time and can operate at a data rate of 667 MHz and sometimes faster. It is also known for consuming lower power rates which prolongs notebook battery life. DDR uses 2.5 volts of electricity and SDRAM consumes 3.3 volts but DDR2 only uses 1.8 volts. These lower voltages result in lower operating temperatures which is a big plus factor for servers and notebooks.
The third picture is a 168 pin SDR DIMM or Single Duty Rate and has 168 pins and has two notches instead of one. The two notches regulate the voltage and rather it is buffered or unbuffered, registered or unregistered.
RIMM stands for Rambus inline memory modules and RIMM modules have 184 pins used for Rambus DRAM. I have only seen one RIMM module and they are recognizable by the heat shield around the chips due to the excessive heat generated. Rambus Inc developed RDRAM or Direct Rambus DRAM and RDRAM uses RIMM. Every slot must be filled when using RIMM memory with either a RIMM memory card or a C-RIMM (Continuity RIMM) also called a placeholder module in order to maintain continuity throughout all slots. The C-RIMM does not contain a memory chip but the slot must be filled with a card.
The last memory chip I will mention is a 72 pin and a 30 pin SIMM. The 72 pin must be installed with two modules to a bank of memory and the 32 pin SIMM module and must be installed four modules to a memory bank. SIMM means single inline memory module. SIMMs are rated by speed and measured in nanoseconds, the data path is 32 bit. Speed is measured in nanoseconds and in rating the lower nanosecond is faster than the larger number because it is measured from the time it takes for the processor to request the data, the memory controller to find the data on the module chip and load the data onto the bus and return to the processor to be read and then the memory controller to refresh the memory chip on the SIMM. So we are measuring elapsed time measured in nanoseconds instead of how fast the data is traveling.
Asynchronously or Synchronously
Older DRAM operated asynchronously but newer memory is synchronous. Synchronous keeps time with the system clock and asynchronous does not and this makes the newer DRAM a better choice. As technology improves the goal remains to increase speed but maintain accuracy.
DIMM Technology
The data width of DIMM modules is a 64 bit path and this by itself would make DIMM faster that SIMM at its 32 bit. This means that instead of sending 32 bits of information at a time the DIMM is sending 64. DIMM’s can have chips on one side or both sides and can have double or single sided contacts. If they are double sided each side operates independently of the other. This double sided technology makes them faster than SIMM’s. DIMM’s can hold from 8 MB up to 2 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM) and have 168, 184 or 240 pins on the connector side of the board. SDRAM or synchronous DRAM was the first DIMM to be synchronized with the system clock. Improvements to DIMMs are the DDR, DDR2, BUFFERED, REGISTERED, and dual channel DIMMs. Extended Data Out or (EDO) extended or improved the performance of Fast Page Mode by eliminated wait states by keeping the output buffer active until the next cycle began. Burst EDO or (Burst EDO) was a faster type of EDO that gained speed by using an address counter for next addresses and a pipeline stage that overlapped operations. These types of memory probably do not have significant meaning to you but they do show a history of memory improvements and some still in use. Typically the memory modules I run across are the DDR2 DIMMs.
BUFFERED AND REGISTERED DIMMS
The purpose for buffering and registering is to amplify the signal just before the data is written to the module. Not all DIMMs use buffering or registering and some are either buffered or registered; however if a DIMM uses buffers it is called a buffered DIMM; if it uses registers it is called a registered DIMM. This seems kind of redundant but if it does not support registers or buffers, it is always referred to as an unbuffered DIMM.
“Extended Data Out (EDO)” and “Fast Page Memory (FPM)” modules used buffers and buffering did not degrade performance. Registers do reduce performance in SDRAM some; however, motherboard can support more memory modules when SDRAM uses registers. Servers using advanced buffering technologies are fully buffered DIMMs (FB-DIMMs) and this makes it possible to support more DIMMs.
If you read the identifying description the position of the notches on memory modules identifies the technologies it supports. The major purpose for the notches, while it does help identify the module, it also determines where the module will go. Because of the notches you will not put the wrong module in the wrong slot, it will not fit. When looking at the module, the notch on the left identifies if it is buffered, registered, unbuffered or unregistered memory and the notch on the right determines the voltage used by the module.
SOME MOTHERBOARDS USE DUAL CHANNELING
When DDR or DDR2 uses dual channeling on the motherboard memory and performance is improved. An SDRAM stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory. DDR is short for "DDR SDRAM" and stands for Double Data Rate. It is dual channeling technology that improves memory and enables the controller to communicate with two DIMMs at the same time and this ability effectively doubles the speed of access. The circuit board on the motherboard has two channels and they are simply called Channel A and Channel B. Each of the channels implements dual channeling. To support dual channeling you install two matched DIMMs in Channel A and two matched DIMMs in Channel B and each can be accessed at the same time. For clarification the two DIMMs in Channel A are accessed at the same time and the two DIMMs in Channel B are accessed at the same time. By matching the DIMMs this doubles the access time. To explain how this is possible the DIMMs are both at the same time placing 64 bits of data at the same time and because it is two different DIMMs this will effectively double the access rate from 64 bit to 128 bit. These DIMMs must be equally matched in speed, size, and features for dual channeling to work. If you have the computer case open you will see the two slots are different colors. The Channel A slots are yellow and the two Channel B slots are black. If you have matched DIMMs in the yellow slots and decide to put DIMMs in Channel B black slots they must match but they do not have to match the DIMMs in Channel A, the two Channels run independent of each other. If the DIMMs are not matched the motherboard will revert to single channeling.
ERROR CHECKING AND PARITY
In parity we must first remember machine language there are no letters and every input is in binary code, either a 1 or 0. Older computers the memory banks or a row was nine chips on each memory card. The data path of older machines was eight bits with a bit being a single bit of information, either a 1 or 0. The computer recognizes this bit as a switch for electrical current and the switch is either on or off and in the case of an 8 bit card each of the switches would either be on or off. A 1 turns the switch on and a 0 turns it off. The switch being on is represented by a 1 and if off it will be a 0. When explaining “parity,” each bank held one byte and as you know a byte equals 8 bits. In parity, every byte has an even number of one’s or every byte has an odd number of ones. In describing parity every bank has an extra chip to store an extra bit so every byte has nine bits rather than eight. The ninth bit is an error checking bit and if the computer uses odd parity it makes the ninth bit or the parity bit either a one or zero in order to comply with parity of the computer. In other words it makes the ninth bit either a one or a zero representing whatever is needed for conformity. Simplifying even more, when the error checking bit counts the number of 1’s and finds 4 and 4 zeroes it determines it is even parity and the computer needs it to be odd parity it will make the ninth bit either another one or a zero thus correcting the error. This system of error checking is no longer used. Error correcting has been improved and today it uses error-correcting code (ECC) and can detect and correct an error in a single bit. ECC is supported by some SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 and RIMM memory modules. Not all memory modules support error correcting code and where it does it will have an odd number of chips on the module. A DIMM normally is a 64-bit module, but if it supports ECC it will be a 71 OR 72 bit module. Important to remember is to always replace memory with what the motherboard supports.
CAS LATENCY AND RAS LATENCY
Two additional memory features to think about are column access strobe (CAS) and row access strobe (RAS) these are two means of measuring speed relative to clock cycles or the number of clock cycles it takes to write or read a row or column of data from a memory module. CAS stands for column access strobe and RAS means row access strobe.
DO YOU WANT THAT IN TIN OR GOLD?
Both the connectors on the memory modules and the connectors inside the memory slots are made of either tin or gold. On older computers the connectors were made of gold but as a cost reduction factor modern machines are now using tin. Mismatching the connectors, or placing gold chips in tin slots can result in a chemical reaction causing corrosion which may lead to memory errors and may prevent your computer from booting.
DIFFERENT MEASURMENTS OF MEMORY SPEED
Memory speed is measured in different ways and sometimes this makes it difficult for the non technician to determine what they are buying when purchasing a new computer or ordering replacement parts. There are also several factors that will determine how fast memory will run. Several ways speed is measured are nanoseconds, MHz, PC rating, RAS Latency and CAS Latency. Earlier we discussed parity, ECC, dual channeling, and buffering and each of these will affect memory speed. SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, and RIMMs are measured in MHz but sometimes DIMMs and RIMMs are measured according to PC rating. It is not unusual to find DDR listed as DDR266 or DDR333 meaning it runs at either 266 MHz or 333MHz. A way to understand this is a module has a 64 bit data path which means it yields a path of 8 bytes and 8 x 8 = 64 or 64 bits. This then would effectively yield a speed of 2128 MD pr second or DDR266 x 8 = 2128MB/second.
When buying a new computer determine how much memory is installed because the more memory, the faster the system and you should get as much memory as the system and your wallet can support. Look at the technology used and know that a DDR2 is faster than a DDR and DDR is faster than SDR SDRAM. Regardless of the technology when replacing or adding RAM always use what the mother board and its technology supports.
If you install modules of different speeds in the same computer system, the system will run at the slowest speed or it will become unstable. You should use the fastest memory the motherboard supports. You usually look for the higher number but in the case of CAS OR RAS lower numbers are better. You probably will not see either of these ratings because they are not normally listed. And last to use dual channeling make sure you use matching pairs of memory in each channeling slots.
Some of this material was found in search engines on the internet and some form Guide to Managing and Maintaining your PC. To the best of my knowledge there are no direct quotes however the material was learned while studying from this book and referencing on the web while preparing for the A+ exam.
UPGRADING MEMORY
To upgrade memory simply means to add more RAM. Some people confuse memory with storage, memory is RAM, storage is like your HARD DRIVE or DVD, etc. If you are getting an error message of “Insufficient memory” it means you need to add RAM. If your computer is new and never had the case off it may have memory slots with no cards installed. If this is the case, how much memory do you need? Previously I emphasized buy whatever the computer and your wallet will support and certainly that is true here.
HOW MUCH MEMORY TO BUY?
Jean Andrews in her book “Guide to Maintaining and Managing your PC” when you are adding memory to ask yourself these questions:
*How much memory do I need?
*How much RAM is currently installed in my system?
*How many and what kind of memory modules are currently installed on my motherboard?
*How much and what kind of memory can I fit on my motherboard?
*How do I select and purchase the right memory for my upgrade?
Then she proceeds to answer these important questions. First she states the same thing I have written before, “All you can get.” In my writing I state you probably should get all you can afford but of course this is relative to the other questions Jean asks. It would be foolish to buy more RAM than can go in your PC but if you take my answer at face value you may have a shelf with unused memory. Before we buy RAM we must know what is required by the software we have installed and the hardware it is going into. The different operating systems have different requirements for memory. In my previous articles I have written to determine memory right click on “My Computer,” then click on properties and you could find what was installed. A better method because it gives much more information is to click on the “Start” button then type in the “Run” box “Msinfo32” and hit Enter. A new window will be displayed with the information needed. The amount of physical and virtual memory can affect how your computer operates and if it is sluggish.
A physical examination of the inside of the computer will appraise you of the number of memory slots available and the type, size, manufacturer, and a real close exam will reveal if the memory was relabeled or not. It is not unusual for some unscrupulous builders to reuse memory as a cheap method of constructing a computer. Do a little scrape test with your fingernail to tell if it has been relabeled.
Ram Technologies
Computer Memory is divided into two categories: RAM and ROM. RAM stands for random access memory and ROM stands for read only memory. ROM retains its memory when the PCI where it is located is turned off; however, RAM memory will be lost. The Central Processor Unit CPU contains a small amount of STATIC RAM embedded within the processor housing. On the motherboard there is a firmware chip that holds the ROM BIOS.
Most RAM is stored on the motherboard in modules called DIMMs, RIMMs, or SIMMs. There are two types of RAM, dynamic and static. When ordering RAM it will be listed as DRAM or SRAM. Of the two, SRAM is the faster because it does not have to be refreshed nearly as often and does not lose data as quickly. Located inside the processor of most computers is a memory cache used to speed up memory access. This memory will be SRAM because SRAM is faster than DRAM. Some computers even have a small amount of SRAM embedded on the motherboard in addition to the SRAM in the cache location. SRAM and DRAM are made of transistors and a transistor is a switch. To keep a transistor switch open it must have a small amount of voltage at all times. DRAM transistor switches are charged by capacitors and they must be recharged; however, SRAM does not use capacitors so SRAMs are faster, they are also more expensive. Because of cost you will have a small amount of SRAM on a computer and a lot of DRAM.
As stated above DRAM is always stored in DIMM, RIMM, or SIMM modules which are plugged directly into the motherboard. The difference in these modules is the width of the data path each module accommodates and the manner data is transferred from the system bus to the module. The DDR2 chip is into a DIMM module. It has 240 pins and is the fastest memory at this time. This chip can be inserted as a single channel or dual. The difference is that the dual channel sticks are matched pairs of memory. To work the modules must be technically identical: same size, same timings, etc. Single data rate (SDR) DDR2 is able to operate with faster bus speeds; your memory doesn't hold back the performance of your processor. Generally speaking, motherboards are built to support only one type of memory. You cannot mix and match SDRAM, DDR, or DDR2 memory on the same motherboard in any system. They will not function and will not even fit in the same sockets. DDR stands for Double Data Rate; DDR2 is the newer and faster technology and is replacing DDR.
The following is a discussion of the advantages of DDR2 Memory over DDR.
The difference in DDR2 is the architecture that supports improvements in chipsets and in other system components. DDR2 processes memory more efficiently and reduces system latency time and can operate at a data rate of 667 MHz and sometimes faster. It is also known for consuming lower power rates which prolongs notebook battery life. DDR uses 2.5 volts of electricity and SDRAM consumes 3.3 volts but DDR2 only uses 1.8 volts. These lower voltages result in lower operating temperatures which is a big plus factor for servers and notebooks.
The third picture is a 168 pin SDR DIMM or Single Duty Rate and has 168 pins and has two notches instead of one. The two notches regulate the voltage and rather it is buffered or unbuffered, registered or unregistered.
RIMM stands for Rambus inline memory modules and RIMM modules have 184 pins used for Rambus DRAM. I have only seen one RIMM module and they are recognizable by the heat shield around the chips due to the excessive heat generated. Rambus Inc developed RDRAM or Direct Rambus DRAM and RDRAM uses RIMM. Every slot must be filled when using RIMM memory with either a RIMM memory card or a C-RIMM (Continuity RIMM) also called a placeholder module in order to maintain continuity throughout all slots. The C-RIMM does not contain a memory chip but the slot must be filled with a card.
The last memory chip I will mention is a 72 pin and a 30 pin SIMM. The 72 pin must be installed with two modules to a bank of memory and the 32 pin SIMM module and must be installed four modules to a memory bank. SIMM means single inline memory module. SIMMs are rated by speed and measured in nanoseconds, the data path is 32 bit. Speed is measured in nanoseconds and in rating the lower nanosecond is faster than the larger number because it is measured from the time it takes for the processor to request the data, the memory controller to find the data on the module chip and load the data onto the bus and return to the processor to be read and then the memory controller to refresh the memory chip on the SIMM. So we are measuring elapsed time measured in nanoseconds instead of how fast the data is traveling.
Asynchronously or Synchronously
Older DRAM operated asynchronously but newer memory is synchronous. Synchronous keeps time with the system clock and asynchronous does not and this makes the newer DRAM a better choice. As technology improves the goal remains to increase speed but maintain accuracy.
DIMM Technology
The data width of DIMM modules is a 64 bit path and this by itself would make DIMM faster that SIMM at its 32 bit. This means that instead of sending 32 bits of information at a time the DIMM is sending 64. DIMM’s can have chips on one side or both sides and can have double or single sided contacts. If they are double sided each side operates independently of the other. This double sided technology makes them faster than SIMM’s. DIMM’s can hold from 8 MB up to 2 GB of Random Access Memory (RAM) and have 168, 184 or 240 pins on the connector side of the board. SDRAM or synchronous DRAM was the first DIMM to be synchronized with the system clock. Improvements to DIMMs are the DDR, DDR2, BUFFERED, REGISTERED, and dual channel DIMMs. Extended Data Out or (EDO) extended or improved the performance of Fast Page Mode by eliminated wait states by keeping the output buffer active until the next cycle began. Burst EDO or (Burst EDO) was a faster type of EDO that gained speed by using an address counter for next addresses and a pipeline stage that overlapped operations. These types of memory probably do not have significant meaning to you but they do show a history of memory improvements and some still in use. Typically the memory modules I run across are the DDR2 DIMMs.
BUFFERED AND REGISTERED DIMMS
The purpose for buffering and registering is to amplify the signal just before the data is written to the module. Not all DIMMs use buffering or registering and some are either buffered or registered; however if a DIMM uses buffers it is called a buffered DIMM; if it uses registers it is called a registered DIMM. This seems kind of redundant but if it does not support registers or buffers, it is always referred to as an unbuffered DIMM.
“Extended Data Out (EDO)” and “Fast Page Memory (FPM)” modules used buffers and buffering did not degrade performance. Registers do reduce performance in SDRAM some; however, motherboard can support more memory modules when SDRAM uses registers. Servers using advanced buffering technologies are fully buffered DIMMs (FB-DIMMs) and this makes it possible to support more DIMMs.
If you read the identifying description the position of the notches on memory modules identifies the technologies it supports. The major purpose for the notches, while it does help identify the module, it also determines where the module will go. Because of the notches you will not put the wrong module in the wrong slot, it will not fit. When looking at the module, the notch on the left identifies if it is buffered, registered, unbuffered or unregistered memory and the notch on the right determines the voltage used by the module.
SOME MOTHERBOARDS USE DUAL CHANNELING
When DDR or DDR2 uses dual channeling on the motherboard memory and performance is improved. An SDRAM stands for Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory. DDR is short for "DDR SDRAM" and stands for Double Data Rate. It is dual channeling technology that improves memory and enables the controller to communicate with two DIMMs at the same time and this ability effectively doubles the speed of access. The circuit board on the motherboard has two channels and they are simply called Channel A and Channel B. Each of the channels implements dual channeling. To support dual channeling you install two matched DIMMs in Channel A and two matched DIMMs in Channel B and each can be accessed at the same time. For clarification the two DIMMs in Channel A are accessed at the same time and the two DIMMs in Channel B are accessed at the same time. By matching the DIMMs this doubles the access time. To explain how this is possible the DIMMs are both at the same time placing 64 bits of data at the same time and because it is two different DIMMs this will effectively double the access rate from 64 bit to 128 bit. These DIMMs must be equally matched in speed, size, and features for dual channeling to work. If you have the computer case open you will see the two slots are different colors. The Channel A slots are yellow and the two Channel B slots are black. If you have matched DIMMs in the yellow slots and decide to put DIMMs in Channel B black slots they must match but they do not have to match the DIMMs in Channel A, the two Channels run independent of each other. If the DIMMs are not matched the motherboard will revert to single channeling.
ERROR CHECKING AND PARITY
In parity we must first remember machine language there are no letters and every input is in binary code, either a 1 or 0. Older computers the memory banks or a row was nine chips on each memory card. The data path of older machines was eight bits with a bit being a single bit of information, either a 1 or 0. The computer recognizes this bit as a switch for electrical current and the switch is either on or off and in the case of an 8 bit card each of the switches would either be on or off. A 1 turns the switch on and a 0 turns it off. The switch being on is represented by a 1 and if off it will be a 0. When explaining “parity,” each bank held one byte and as you know a byte equals 8 bits. In parity, every byte has an even number of one’s or every byte has an odd number of ones. In describing parity every bank has an extra chip to store an extra bit so every byte has nine bits rather than eight. The ninth bit is an error checking bit and if the computer uses odd parity it makes the ninth bit or the parity bit either a one or zero in order to comply with parity of the computer. In other words it makes the ninth bit either a one or a zero representing whatever is needed for conformity. Simplifying even more, when the error checking bit counts the number of 1’s and finds 4 and 4 zeroes it determines it is even parity and the computer needs it to be odd parity it will make the ninth bit either another one or a zero thus correcting the error. This system of error checking is no longer used. Error correcting has been improved and today it uses error-correcting code (ECC) and can detect and correct an error in a single bit. ECC is supported by some SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 and RIMM memory modules. Not all memory modules support error correcting code and where it does it will have an odd number of chips on the module. A DIMM normally is a 64-bit module, but if it supports ECC it will be a 71 OR 72 bit module. Important to remember is to always replace memory with what the motherboard supports.
CAS LATENCY AND RAS LATENCY
Two additional memory features to think about are column access strobe (CAS) and row access strobe (RAS) these are two means of measuring speed relative to clock cycles or the number of clock cycles it takes to write or read a row or column of data from a memory module. CAS stands for column access strobe and RAS means row access strobe.
DO YOU WANT THAT IN TIN OR GOLD?
Both the connectors on the memory modules and the connectors inside the memory slots are made of either tin or gold. On older computers the connectors were made of gold but as a cost reduction factor modern machines are now using tin. Mismatching the connectors, or placing gold chips in tin slots can result in a chemical reaction causing corrosion which may lead to memory errors and may prevent your computer from booting.
DIFFERENT MEASURMENTS OF MEMORY SPEED
Memory speed is measured in different ways and sometimes this makes it difficult for the non technician to determine what they are buying when purchasing a new computer or ordering replacement parts. There are also several factors that will determine how fast memory will run. Several ways speed is measured are nanoseconds, MHz, PC rating, RAS Latency and CAS Latency. Earlier we discussed parity, ECC, dual channeling, and buffering and each of these will affect memory speed. SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, and RIMMs are measured in MHz but sometimes DIMMs and RIMMs are measured according to PC rating. It is not unusual to find DDR listed as DDR266 or DDR333 meaning it runs at either 266 MHz or 333MHz. A way to understand this is a module has a 64 bit data path which means it yields a path of 8 bytes and 8 x 8 = 64 or 64 bits. This then would effectively yield a speed of 2128 MD pr second or DDR266 x 8 = 2128MB/second.
When buying a new computer determine how much memory is installed because the more memory, the faster the system and you should get as much memory as the system and your wallet can support. Look at the technology used and know that a DDR2 is faster than a DDR and DDR is faster than SDR SDRAM. Regardless of the technology when replacing or adding RAM always use what the mother board and its technology supports.
If you install modules of different speeds in the same computer system, the system will run at the slowest speed or it will become unstable. You should use the fastest memory the motherboard supports. You usually look for the higher number but in the case of CAS OR RAS lower numbers are better. You probably will not see either of these ratings because they are not normally listed. And last to use dual channeling make sure you use matching pairs of memory in each channeling slots.
Some of this material was found in search engines on the internet and some form Guide to Managing and Maintaining your PC. To the best of my knowledge there are no direct quotes however the material was learned while studying from this book and referencing on the web while preparing for the A+ exam.
UPGRADING MEMORY
To upgrade memory simply means to add more RAM. Some people confuse memory with storage, memory is RAM, storage is like your HARD DRIVE or DVD, etc. If you are getting an error message of “Insufficient memory” it means you need to add RAM. If your computer is new and never had the case off it may have memory slots with no cards installed. If this is the case, how much memory do you need? Previously I emphasized buy whatever the computer and your wallet will support and certainly that is true here.
HOW MUCH MEMORY TO BUY?
Jean Andrews in her book “Guide to Maintaining and Managing your PC” when you are adding memory to ask yourself these questions:
*How much memory do I need?
*How much RAM is currently installed in my system?
*How many and what kind of memory modules are currently installed on my motherboard?
*How much and what kind of memory can I fit on my motherboard?
*How do I select and purchase the right memory for my upgrade?
Then she proceeds to answer these important questions. First she states the same thing I have written before, “All you can get.” In my writing I state you probably should get all you can afford but of course this is relative to the other questions Jean asks. It would be foolish to buy more RAM than can go in your PC but if you take my answer at face value you may have a shelf with unused memory. Before we buy RAM we must know what is required by the software we have installed and the hardware it is going into. The different operating systems have different requirements for memory. In my previous articles I have written to determine memory right click on “My Computer,” then click on properties and you could find what was installed. A better method because it gives much more information is to click on the “Start” button then type in the “Run” box “Msinfo32” and hit Enter. A new window will be displayed with the information needed. The amount of physical and virtual memory can affect how your computer operates and if it is sluggish.
A physical examination of the inside of the computer will appraise you of the number of memory slots available and the type, size, manufacturer, and a real close exam will reveal if the memory was relabeled or not. It is not unusual for some unscrupulous builders to reuse memory as a cheap method of constructing a computer. Do a little scrape test with your fingernail to tell if it has been relabeled.
Monday, February 8, 2010
WHY IS MY COMPUTER LOSING TIME
WHAT IS LIKELY TO BE WRONG IF YOUR COMPUTER DISPLAYS THE WRONG TIME AND DATE?
I have several old computers and it never ceases to amaze me that the time and date seem to always be correct. Granted the time may eventually get off by a minute or so but never by a large amount. The date is always correct. One of the computers is an old eMachine 700 which originally had a Windows ME operating system but now runs with Linux. It sat unused for several years because the operating system had crashed and I no longer had the restore disk or a Windows ME disk to restore the system with. After contacting Microsoft and being unable to obtain help or a new disk, I finally in despair downloaded Linux. When I rebooted the system I was surprised the time and date in the lower right corner was still correct.
I had a laptop I used in my travels for some time. It had a program which would check the time with an internet clock somewhere which in turn was linked to the atomic clock. If my computer got off a little it would reset the clock. The date was never wrong, and normally the time would not be more than one minute off. I often wondered how it always knew the time. Here is the answer. Located somewhere inside your computer on the motherboard is a chip called the CMOS. This little device preforms not only the task of telling the computer how to boot but also the correct time. My old Commodore 128 had to be booted from a diskette we usually referred to as a floppy. Before you pushed the start button you would insert the floppy in the A drive, push the start button, and wait for the computer to boot. The entire program for starting the computer was on the floppy. In some ways this was good, because the CMOS settings never accidentally changed. They only changed if you intentionally changed them. I don’t remember having any operating system other than the DOS program although at some point I did have Windows 3.0.
This process has changed somewhat with newer computers. Now CMOS remembers how to boot your computer, it also remembers the time. The program is stored in CMOS RAM. This can be a little confusing if you know anything about “memory.” RAM is a term for random access memory. An important thing about RAM is when power is lost, RAM loses its memory. The more RAM you have on your computer, the faster and better it works. While you work with your computer, information is suspended in RAM. Enough RAM will include the operating system and the application you are working with, as well as what you are typing or doing. If the application had to go to the hard drive for everything needed it would perform much slower. Hard drives are cylindrical with groves and sectors with the cylinder spinning at about 7500 rpms. If everything was stored on that cylinder the programs would have to search the hard drive every time you typed something into your work. RAM goes straight to the source with very little time lost in the search. Partitions are put on the hard drive when the computer is built. The first sector is a very small sector and contains the boot sector which is also referred to as the Master Boot Record. The boot process got there because it was following directions given by the CMOS RAM. There is just enough information in the CMOS RAM to send the computer to an address on the hard drive containing the memory boot record (MBR).
If something happens to the CMOS RAM the computer will not boot because it does not have an address for the location of the boot process. The computer is lost and has no idea where to go or how to get there. This is when you hope you have all of your application CD’s and all of your data has been backed up. To boot your computer you will either use a boot disk or a restore system. The restore program can either be CD’s you received with your computer or it may be a restore system located on the hard drive. This is in another predefined sector on the hard drive. If you must use the restore system all applications and data will be wiped clean and your computer will be restored to the original configuration. Now we need to know what caused this to happen in the first place.
In many cases the problem could possibly be found in the CMOS RAM. Your computer may have been warning you of this impending danger for some time, and you just shrugged it off. If your computer begins losing the correct time or date it is warning you that something is wrong. Since all RAM is volatile the CMOS RAM is no different. When power is lost programs and information in RAM are also lost with everything in CMOS RAM. The RAM located in CMOS remains when you turn your computer off or even unplug it from the outlet because it relies on a CMOS battery to supply power. It amazes me how long those tiny little batteries last. If you open the case on your computer and look around you will probably see the CMOS battery. It looks like a coin and is like the battery you would find in a camera, a calculator, glucose monitor, or many other small electronic devices. When it begins to go bad things begin to happen to your computer such as losing the correct time and/or date when you turn the computer off then back on again. If you want to avoid losing the ability to boot your computer and it begins displaying these simple symptoms, replace the battery before you lose your data.
Kermit
I have several old computers and it never ceases to amaze me that the time and date seem to always be correct. Granted the time may eventually get off by a minute or so but never by a large amount. The date is always correct. One of the computers is an old eMachine 700 which originally had a Windows ME operating system but now runs with Linux. It sat unused for several years because the operating system had crashed and I no longer had the restore disk or a Windows ME disk to restore the system with. After contacting Microsoft and being unable to obtain help or a new disk, I finally in despair downloaded Linux. When I rebooted the system I was surprised the time and date in the lower right corner was still correct.
I had a laptop I used in my travels for some time. It had a program which would check the time with an internet clock somewhere which in turn was linked to the atomic clock. If my computer got off a little it would reset the clock. The date was never wrong, and normally the time would not be more than one minute off. I often wondered how it always knew the time. Here is the answer. Located somewhere inside your computer on the motherboard is a chip called the CMOS. This little device preforms not only the task of telling the computer how to boot but also the correct time. My old Commodore 128 had to be booted from a diskette we usually referred to as a floppy. Before you pushed the start button you would insert the floppy in the A drive, push the start button, and wait for the computer to boot. The entire program for starting the computer was on the floppy. In some ways this was good, because the CMOS settings never accidentally changed. They only changed if you intentionally changed them. I don’t remember having any operating system other than the DOS program although at some point I did have Windows 3.0.
This process has changed somewhat with newer computers. Now CMOS remembers how to boot your computer, it also remembers the time. The program is stored in CMOS RAM. This can be a little confusing if you know anything about “memory.” RAM is a term for random access memory. An important thing about RAM is when power is lost, RAM loses its memory. The more RAM you have on your computer, the faster and better it works. While you work with your computer, information is suspended in RAM. Enough RAM will include the operating system and the application you are working with, as well as what you are typing or doing. If the application had to go to the hard drive for everything needed it would perform much slower. Hard drives are cylindrical with groves and sectors with the cylinder spinning at about 7500 rpms. If everything was stored on that cylinder the programs would have to search the hard drive every time you typed something into your work. RAM goes straight to the source with very little time lost in the search. Partitions are put on the hard drive when the computer is built. The first sector is a very small sector and contains the boot sector which is also referred to as the Master Boot Record. The boot process got there because it was following directions given by the CMOS RAM. There is just enough information in the CMOS RAM to send the computer to an address on the hard drive containing the memory boot record (MBR).
If something happens to the CMOS RAM the computer will not boot because it does not have an address for the location of the boot process. The computer is lost and has no idea where to go or how to get there. This is when you hope you have all of your application CD’s and all of your data has been backed up. To boot your computer you will either use a boot disk or a restore system. The restore program can either be CD’s you received with your computer or it may be a restore system located on the hard drive. This is in another predefined sector on the hard drive. If you must use the restore system all applications and data will be wiped clean and your computer will be restored to the original configuration. Now we need to know what caused this to happen in the first place.
In many cases the problem could possibly be found in the CMOS RAM. Your computer may have been warning you of this impending danger for some time, and you just shrugged it off. If your computer begins losing the correct time or date it is warning you that something is wrong. Since all RAM is volatile the CMOS RAM is no different. When power is lost programs and information in RAM are also lost with everything in CMOS RAM. The RAM located in CMOS remains when you turn your computer off or even unplug it from the outlet because it relies on a CMOS battery to supply power. It amazes me how long those tiny little batteries last. If you open the case on your computer and look around you will probably see the CMOS battery. It looks like a coin and is like the battery you would find in a camera, a calculator, glucose monitor, or many other small electronic devices. When it begins to go bad things begin to happen to your computer such as losing the correct time and/or date when you turn the computer off then back on again. If you want to avoid losing the ability to boot your computer and it begins displaying these simple symptoms, replace the battery before you lose your data.
Kermit
Saturday, January 30, 2010
OVERCLOCKING YOUR COMPUTER
When I was a teenager my Father bought me a 1957 Chevrolet. It came with a good motor and I really liked the car but after a while we decided it needed a little more oomph. Dad thought about different things we could do. Finally, he went to a junk yard and bought an almost brand new motor out of a wrecked Corvette. We pulled the old motor out and put the new one in. Boy, we were happy with the new performance.
There were a number of things we could have done to hop-up that old Chevrolet but we went the new motor route. It had much more horsepower and a lot of things that made the motor really hum. I told you that to lead into what can be done to boost your old computer you think is a little too slow.
Back to the Chevrolet, we could have replaced the cam shaft with a high lift cam and installed much larger valves with stronger springs, port and polished the exhaust and maybe even blue printed the engine. It possibly would have been faster and stronger than the new Corvette engine. A computer you are getting tired of is much the same. There are things you can do to make it come alive and have that special feeling you may think is lost.
Right now I have an HP Pavilion a6237c with an AMD Athlon™ 64 x2 dual core 5000 processor running at 2.60 GHz. I am thinking it is too slow. When I first bought this computer I thought it was really fast but with time it seemed to get slower and slower. I have to admit, not all of this slowness is the fault of the computer but due to the many applications I have added to the system. Every time you add a new application, the vendor has this feeling their product is so important it must be attached to the start up menu. So guess what, every time you boot your computer, it loads all of the applications you have added to the already too long list.
You could do what my Dad and I did with the Chevrolet and replace the motor (Processor CPU), but there are many things you must consider if you go that route. Another idea could be to simply overclock or over throttle the CPU and make a few other changes to your system. There are things you must consider before overclocking. Number one is that this can very easily damage your computer motherboard and the processor itself. Still, this procedure is done all the time by computer geeks and they get away with it. Does their computer last as long as it would have? Probably, but you need to use care in the process. Look at the numbers for a moment to understand what I am talking about. Above I told you my HP computer’s processor was running at 2.60 GHz, now just what does that mean? That means the speed of my processor is 2,600,000 beats per second. Yes, that was per second and the first number was million. If I overclock my processor I probably can get away with increasing it to 2.7 or maybe 2.8 without doing harm if I use other precautions. That may seem like a very small amount of increase but consider what this small numerical increase really is. It would indicate an increase of 100,000 to 200,000 beats per second. Now that number doesn’t seem so small does it? If I overclock a major concern is heat. The processor usually has a fan attached right on top of the processor and it is designed for that processor running at the speed designed for. If I overclock, it may run hotter. Newer computers guard against overheating by down throttling when the temperature goes to high, but sometimes this protection must be turned on. This involves checking the settings in CMOS to be sure automatic throttling has been enabled. If it has not, then you should turn this setting on. To get into your CMOS on most computers simply reboot. While the computer is in the process of rebooting, press a key on the keyboard (sometimes F8 or F10). That will probably put you into another screen asking you for directions. From there you can get into your CMOS. On some computers you will need to press the delete key and on others it may be some different key.
One processor famous for heat damage is the AMD AthlonXP™. Some geeks will increase the voltages in the overclocking process and this can cause heat problems. There are basically two ways to increase the speed of the processor: one is to increase the multiplier and the other is the speed of the front side bus (FSB). I have not discussed either of these two terms but if you Google them there are many articles which simplify their explanation. An effective overclocking will usually involve some small, and I emphasize small, voltage changes. These changes should only be in the range of .05 to .1. Most modern processor will not allow changing the multiplier so that leaves one method and that is to change the speed of the front side bus.
The simplest way to overclock your system is through the BIOS if your BIOS will allow you to make the needed changes. Unfortunately, my AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000 is locked and does not allow these changes. My option is to change the CPU. AMD CPU’s are mostly locked; however, the Black Edition is unlocked and you can make the changes from the BIOS, and it is a simple process of changing the multiplier. Let me show you an example. The formula for these changes is multiply the bus speed by the multiplier to get the core speed. On my computer the actual bus speed fluctuates between 200.1 and 200.9. If you multiply this by 13 (the multiplier) the answer is about 2612 MHz. On my computer since the bus speed changes slightly, the actual core speed changes as well. If you have a CPU-Z gauge you can watch these changes in real time. If I buy and install a Black Edition CPU that has an unlocked multiplier it is a simple matter of changing the multiplier. Just don’t make large changes, and be sure to keep a close track of the temperature of your computer. I will show you a couple of formula changes and you can see the difference it would actually make: 200 x 13 = 2600 or 2.60 GHz, 200 x 13.5 = 2700 or 2.70 and 200 x 14 would give you 2800 or 2.80. You should be able to achieve a core speed of 3.0 easily enough.
I hope this has been an enjoyable blog for you. It certainly has been a learning experience for me because I had assumed I could just open the BIOS change the multiplier and overclock my computer. It took a lot of research to find that would not work on my AMD processor.
Kermit
There were a number of things we could have done to hop-up that old Chevrolet but we went the new motor route. It had much more horsepower and a lot of things that made the motor really hum. I told you that to lead into what can be done to boost your old computer you think is a little too slow.
Back to the Chevrolet, we could have replaced the cam shaft with a high lift cam and installed much larger valves with stronger springs, port and polished the exhaust and maybe even blue printed the engine. It possibly would have been faster and stronger than the new Corvette engine. A computer you are getting tired of is much the same. There are things you can do to make it come alive and have that special feeling you may think is lost.
Right now I have an HP Pavilion a6237c with an AMD Athlon™ 64 x2 dual core 5000 processor running at 2.60 GHz. I am thinking it is too slow. When I first bought this computer I thought it was really fast but with time it seemed to get slower and slower. I have to admit, not all of this slowness is the fault of the computer but due to the many applications I have added to the system. Every time you add a new application, the vendor has this feeling their product is so important it must be attached to the start up menu. So guess what, every time you boot your computer, it loads all of the applications you have added to the already too long list.
You could do what my Dad and I did with the Chevrolet and replace the motor (Processor CPU), but there are many things you must consider if you go that route. Another idea could be to simply overclock or over throttle the CPU and make a few other changes to your system. There are things you must consider before overclocking. Number one is that this can very easily damage your computer motherboard and the processor itself. Still, this procedure is done all the time by computer geeks and they get away with it. Does their computer last as long as it would have? Probably, but you need to use care in the process. Look at the numbers for a moment to understand what I am talking about. Above I told you my HP computer’s processor was running at 2.60 GHz, now just what does that mean? That means the speed of my processor is 2,600,000 beats per second. Yes, that was per second and the first number was million. If I overclock my processor I probably can get away with increasing it to 2.7 or maybe 2.8 without doing harm if I use other precautions. That may seem like a very small amount of increase but consider what this small numerical increase really is. It would indicate an increase of 100,000 to 200,000 beats per second. Now that number doesn’t seem so small does it? If I overclock a major concern is heat. The processor usually has a fan attached right on top of the processor and it is designed for that processor running at the speed designed for. If I overclock, it may run hotter. Newer computers guard against overheating by down throttling when the temperature goes to high, but sometimes this protection must be turned on. This involves checking the settings in CMOS to be sure automatic throttling has been enabled. If it has not, then you should turn this setting on. To get into your CMOS on most computers simply reboot. While the computer is in the process of rebooting, press a key on the keyboard (sometimes F8 or F10). That will probably put you into another screen asking you for directions. From there you can get into your CMOS. On some computers you will need to press the delete key and on others it may be some different key.
One processor famous for heat damage is the AMD AthlonXP™. Some geeks will increase the voltages in the overclocking process and this can cause heat problems. There are basically two ways to increase the speed of the processor: one is to increase the multiplier and the other is the speed of the front side bus (FSB). I have not discussed either of these two terms but if you Google them there are many articles which simplify their explanation. An effective overclocking will usually involve some small, and I emphasize small, voltage changes. These changes should only be in the range of .05 to .1. Most modern processor will not allow changing the multiplier so that leaves one method and that is to change the speed of the front side bus.
The simplest way to overclock your system is through the BIOS if your BIOS will allow you to make the needed changes. Unfortunately, my AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000 is locked and does not allow these changes. My option is to change the CPU. AMD CPU’s are mostly locked; however, the Black Edition is unlocked and you can make the changes from the BIOS, and it is a simple process of changing the multiplier. Let me show you an example. The formula for these changes is multiply the bus speed by the multiplier to get the core speed. On my computer the actual bus speed fluctuates between 200.1 and 200.9. If you multiply this by 13 (the multiplier) the answer is about 2612 MHz. On my computer since the bus speed changes slightly, the actual core speed changes as well. If you have a CPU-Z gauge you can watch these changes in real time. If I buy and install a Black Edition CPU that has an unlocked multiplier it is a simple matter of changing the multiplier. Just don’t make large changes, and be sure to keep a close track of the temperature of your computer. I will show you a couple of formula changes and you can see the difference it would actually make: 200 x 13 = 2600 or 2.60 GHz, 200 x 13.5 = 2700 or 2.70 and 200 x 14 would give you 2800 or 2.80. You should be able to achieve a core speed of 3.0 easily enough.
I hope this has been an enjoyable blog for you. It certainly has been a learning experience for me because I had assumed I could just open the BIOS change the multiplier and overclock my computer. It took a lot of research to find that would not work on my AMD processor.
Kermit
Saturday, January 23, 2010
PARTS INSIDE YOUR COMPUTER
A LOOK AT PARTS INSIDE YOUR COMPUTER
There are all kinds of parts inside your computer. At first view it may look like a jumbled mess of unknowns. For today’s blog I am going to look at a few of those components. While you may plug your power cord into a 110 volt power socket on the wall, your computer uses different voltages, wattages, and in some cases changes from normal AC electric to DC current. Current here in the USA oscillates at 60 times per second (referred to as 60 hertz or HTZ) and is an alternating current thus the term AC. This term literally means the current flows in both directions. When it is inbound it is a positive current but when it reverses it is a negative current. When the electricity is traveling from the substation to your home the Utility Company has decreased the current and increased the voltage so the electricity will flow a much greater distance. When it reaches your house, travels to the outlets and into your computer it has been stabilized by doing just the opposite. The current increases and the voltage decreases. This change is made just outside your house inside a transformer.
The power supply inside your computer is both a transformer and a rectifier. Your computer uses various voltages including 3.3, 5, and 12 volts and it is no longer alternating but is direct current or (DC). This explains why the power supply is both a transformer and a rectifier; a rectifier changes the current supply to DC by the use of diodes. Not so with your monitor, it still requires 110 volts of electricity; however, it is converted to DC. A main difference between AC and DC current is DC only flows in one direction. This only covers a small explanation of electricity but may give you a little more understanding of the importance of your power supply acting as both a transformer and rectifier. While looking inside your computer you will see the mother board and cards as well as other items attached to the mother board. On the mother board and cards you may also see transistors, capacitors, resistors, and diodes. A transistor acts as a switch and can amplify the electricity flowing in the circuit. A capacitor is a device that holds a charge and causes the flow of electricity to be more even. A diode only allows electricity to flow in one direction, and the resistor limits current. The color code on the resistor informs you of the amount of resistance it provides. If you would like to learn more about electrical circuits, I found this site on the web after I had written all of the above. http://www.allaboutcircuits.com. I liked what I saw on his site.
The power supply is the most important component in your computer’s electrical system. The job of the power supply is to change voltage in your computer to a manageable level by converting it to a lower level of DC voltage. Every component within your computer receives it power from the power supply, including but not limited to, the motherboard and Central Processing Unit (CPU). There may also be connections on the motherboard itself to power more systems or components. I read in another location the motherboard is the most important component inside your computer; however, without the power supply, the motherboard is inoperable so I will agree with the above statement, the power supply is the most important component in your computer.
Different computers come with different sizes of power supplies. (Click on Tiger Direct above and look at different computers) A power supply can have two basic problems. First it may itself be defective, and second it may not be large enough to supply all the power needed for your computer. This can be especially true if you have upgraded by adding additional systems like graphic boards or maybe a video card. If you are experiencing hang, reboot, system errors, and in some cases your computer not booting at all, a first look should be at the power supply. An expansion card within your system that is defective may be drawing too much power and causing your problems. A quick check to determine if any of these are causing your problems is to simply remove nonessential boards one at a time and try your computer to see if the problem goes away. If in fact a too small power supply is your problem the solution is to replace with a larger one. Unless you are very capable working within the case, I suggest you have a computer repair shop in your area make this change. They can measure the current supply with meters and testers to determine if your power supply is providing the correct voltage.
I didn’t go into great detail because that is not the intention of this blog. My intent is whetting your desire to know more. If it has done this I am happy. Check back often and thanks for looking.
Kermit
There are all kinds of parts inside your computer. At first view it may look like a jumbled mess of unknowns. For today’s blog I am going to look at a few of those components. While you may plug your power cord into a 110 volt power socket on the wall, your computer uses different voltages, wattages, and in some cases changes from normal AC electric to DC current. Current here in the USA oscillates at 60 times per second (referred to as 60 hertz or HTZ) and is an alternating current thus the term AC. This term literally means the current flows in both directions. When it is inbound it is a positive current but when it reverses it is a negative current. When the electricity is traveling from the substation to your home the Utility Company has decreased the current and increased the voltage so the electricity will flow a much greater distance. When it reaches your house, travels to the outlets and into your computer it has been stabilized by doing just the opposite. The current increases and the voltage decreases. This change is made just outside your house inside a transformer.
The power supply inside your computer is both a transformer and a rectifier. Your computer uses various voltages including 3.3, 5, and 12 volts and it is no longer alternating but is direct current or (DC). This explains why the power supply is both a transformer and a rectifier; a rectifier changes the current supply to DC by the use of diodes. Not so with your monitor, it still requires 110 volts of electricity; however, it is converted to DC. A main difference between AC and DC current is DC only flows in one direction. This only covers a small explanation of electricity but may give you a little more understanding of the importance of your power supply acting as both a transformer and rectifier. While looking inside your computer you will see the mother board and cards as well as other items attached to the mother board. On the mother board and cards you may also see transistors, capacitors, resistors, and diodes. A transistor acts as a switch and can amplify the electricity flowing in the circuit. A capacitor is a device that holds a charge and causes the flow of electricity to be more even. A diode only allows electricity to flow in one direction, and the resistor limits current. The color code on the resistor informs you of the amount of resistance it provides. If you would like to learn more about electrical circuits, I found this site on the web after I had written all of the above. http://www.allaboutcircuits.com. I liked what I saw on his site.
The power supply is the most important component in your computer’s electrical system. The job of the power supply is to change voltage in your computer to a manageable level by converting it to a lower level of DC voltage. Every component within your computer receives it power from the power supply, including but not limited to, the motherboard and Central Processing Unit (CPU). There may also be connections on the motherboard itself to power more systems or components. I read in another location the motherboard is the most important component inside your computer; however, without the power supply, the motherboard is inoperable so I will agree with the above statement, the power supply is the most important component in your computer.
Different computers come with different sizes of power supplies. (Click on Tiger Direct above and look at different computers) A power supply can have two basic problems. First it may itself be defective, and second it may not be large enough to supply all the power needed for your computer. This can be especially true if you have upgraded by adding additional systems like graphic boards or maybe a video card. If you are experiencing hang, reboot, system errors, and in some cases your computer not booting at all, a first look should be at the power supply. An expansion card within your system that is defective may be drawing too much power and causing your problems. A quick check to determine if any of these are causing your problems is to simply remove nonessential boards one at a time and try your computer to see if the problem goes away. If in fact a too small power supply is your problem the solution is to replace with a larger one. Unless you are very capable working within the case, I suggest you have a computer repair shop in your area make this change. They can measure the current supply with meters and testers to determine if your power supply is providing the correct voltage.
I didn’t go into great detail because that is not the intention of this blog. My intent is whetting your desire to know more. If it has done this I am happy. Check back often and thanks for looking.
Kermit
Thursday, January 21, 2010
A SHORT LOOK AT MEMORY
A SHORT LOOK AT MEMORY
Let’s take a short look at memory on your computer. When asking about memory most people may think about the size of storage on your computer, for instance what size is the hard drive? Actually the size of your hard drive doesn’t have much relationship to your memory. When asked about the memory on your computer the reference is to the memory modules installed in the memory slots on the motherboard. These modules usually install in the PCI slots. There are two things to keep in mind about this memory. One is “Form Factor” and the other is the type of modules installed, and they must match.
On XP and Vista operating systems you can find out how much memory your computer has installed by clicking on the “Start” button then on “My Computer” or Vista’s just Computer. From there right click anywhere within the window that will open. Next, click on “Properties.” The information here will tell what operating system is on your computer, who the manufacturer is, the processor that is installed, how much memory you have, rather you are using a 32 bit or 64 bit system (older computers may have 16 bit), and the product ID for your windows operating system.
I am not going to get into Form Factor because it would take several pages just to write about this subject. Unless you are into building or going to replace internal parts it is not something needed just for normal use. The easiest way I have found to learn about my computer, the memory installed, and what kind of memory to purchase to upgrade is go to a source that sells the memory. Two sources that make searching for memory use easy are www.crucial.com and www.kingston.com. My reason is they provide a download, then scan your computer after which they will tell you how much memory you have and how much you can increase. The memory modules they ship are guaranteed will be the correct ones for your system. If you know what memory you need and how many modules, then you can also shop at “Tiger Direct.” You will find a direct link from this site, and after you know what modules you need; it very well may be cheaper from Tiger Direct. I prefer ordering from them. For best performance use the most memory your system will support.
Let me provide a short reason for adding memory. When you boot your computer and the operating system is loaded it will be transferred from a storage location to the memory on your computer. As you work with applications, more is placed in the memory sections of your computer. If you don’t have enough memory, you have to wait while the windows application searches through the hard drive to find what it needs. If you have enough memory installed the search is much shorter because this location is much faster than searching through the hard drive. When purchasing a new computer it is unlikely the manufacturer will have installed the maximum amount of memory.
Be sure to make your purchase from a reputable supplier because if your memory modules are of poor quality they will most likely adversely affect your computer and causing system errors and instability. Some suppliers may deliver used modules. When your memory modules arrive look for the manufacturers date stamp stamped on the chip itself. The date will be shown as year and week. It will be in this form, YYWW with the Y representing the year and the WW showing the week of the year. An example would be 0952 representing the 52nd week of 2009. If it has an older date stamp I would question whether it is a used chip. Take a good look at the edge of the chip for a reflective and polished, protective coating appearing on new chips.
I hope this article was helpful, add your comments or email questions and suggestions.
Kermit
Let’s take a short look at memory on your computer. When asking about memory most people may think about the size of storage on your computer, for instance what size is the hard drive? Actually the size of your hard drive doesn’t have much relationship to your memory. When asked about the memory on your computer the reference is to the memory modules installed in the memory slots on the motherboard. These modules usually install in the PCI slots. There are two things to keep in mind about this memory. One is “Form Factor” and the other is the type of modules installed, and they must match.
On XP and Vista operating systems you can find out how much memory your computer has installed by clicking on the “Start” button then on “My Computer” or Vista’s just Computer. From there right click anywhere within the window that will open. Next, click on “Properties.” The information here will tell what operating system is on your computer, who the manufacturer is, the processor that is installed, how much memory you have, rather you are using a 32 bit or 64 bit system (older computers may have 16 bit), and the product ID for your windows operating system.
I am not going to get into Form Factor because it would take several pages just to write about this subject. Unless you are into building or going to replace internal parts it is not something needed just for normal use. The easiest way I have found to learn about my computer, the memory installed, and what kind of memory to purchase to upgrade is go to a source that sells the memory. Two sources that make searching for memory use easy are www.crucial.com and www.kingston.com. My reason is they provide a download, then scan your computer after which they will tell you how much memory you have and how much you can increase. The memory modules they ship are guaranteed will be the correct ones for your system. If you know what memory you need and how many modules, then you can also shop at “Tiger Direct.” You will find a direct link from this site, and after you know what modules you need; it very well may be cheaper from Tiger Direct. I prefer ordering from them. For best performance use the most memory your system will support.
Let me provide a short reason for adding memory. When you boot your computer and the operating system is loaded it will be transferred from a storage location to the memory on your computer. As you work with applications, more is placed in the memory sections of your computer. If you don’t have enough memory, you have to wait while the windows application searches through the hard drive to find what it needs. If you have enough memory installed the search is much shorter because this location is much faster than searching through the hard drive. When purchasing a new computer it is unlikely the manufacturer will have installed the maximum amount of memory.
Be sure to make your purchase from a reputable supplier because if your memory modules are of poor quality they will most likely adversely affect your computer and causing system errors and instability. Some suppliers may deliver used modules. When your memory modules arrive look for the manufacturers date stamp stamped on the chip itself. The date will be shown as year and week. It will be in this form, YYWW with the Y representing the year and the WW showing the week of the year. An example would be 0952 representing the 52nd week of 2009. If it has an older date stamp I would question whether it is a used chip. Take a good look at the edge of the chip for a reflective and polished, protective coating appearing on new chips.
I hope this article was helpful, add your comments or email questions and suggestions.
Kermit
Monday, January 18, 2010
BOOT INTO SAFE MODE
BOOT TO SAFE MODE
Most computers will boot to save mode by pressing F8 when Windows starts to load. When the advanced menu appears you will have choices of how to boot your computer. Choose “Safe Mode.” Allow your computer to boot in Safe Mode, and if you have purchased Norton or McAfee insert their software disk then hit enter. At this point the menu should give choices, choose install the software. Even though you are booting in Safe Mode you will still be given choices so choose to register your software. When the software has been installed, run a scan of your computer to find hidden viruses. As I explained in the earlier blog, you will not be able to access the internet at this time; however, when you reboot later you will be able to complete the registration and download all updates for your anti-virus software. Complete the updates and rerun the software searching for more viruses hidden in your computer.
When the software completes its scan it should display a window showing any unwanted programs it has found. Sometimes there will be programs you purposely downloaded and may want to keep, but your anti-virus program recognizes the program as potentially dangerous. My choice would be to delete the program. In most cases your software will be better informed than you. My wife and I personally have a website we visit but every time we go to that site it has a pop under for Netflix. To eliminate this problem I downloaded Mozilla Firefox browser and then downloaded an add-on to the program. Now we are no longer bothered with this pop under. The web site is a very popular news station.
Sometimes your anti-virus software may not be able to remove a virus program or it may leave portions behind. When this happens it may leave a message on your screen about some type of error. Unless you are a power user this can be hard to repair or remove. In this case you will have to click on the start button and depending on your operating system get into “msconfig” and into the registry. I am not going to explain this because my blog is not intended for power users. If you are a power user you will already know where to go from here. I don’t want to take a chance on you messing up your computer by changing things when you do not know how. You should also run disk cleanup to delete temporary internet files. When finished, don’t forget to empty the recycle bin.
I am going to insert one location for power users. Be sure you really know what you are doing before using this web but if you are a true power user it can be very useful. The site is: www.sysinternals.com. This site will display your registry locations. If you have deleted viruses and parts of the programs have been left in the registry, this site will show you where they are. I will caution you again to not use this program unless you are a power user because when you start removing things from the registry you can end with a computer that will not work or boot.
Most computers will boot to save mode by pressing F8 when Windows starts to load. When the advanced menu appears you will have choices of how to boot your computer. Choose “Safe Mode.” Allow your computer to boot in Safe Mode, and if you have purchased Norton or McAfee insert their software disk then hit enter. At this point the menu should give choices, choose install the software. Even though you are booting in Safe Mode you will still be given choices so choose to register your software. When the software has been installed, run a scan of your computer to find hidden viruses. As I explained in the earlier blog, you will not be able to access the internet at this time; however, when you reboot later you will be able to complete the registration and download all updates for your anti-virus software. Complete the updates and rerun the software searching for more viruses hidden in your computer.
When the software completes its scan it should display a window showing any unwanted programs it has found. Sometimes there will be programs you purposely downloaded and may want to keep, but your anti-virus program recognizes the program as potentially dangerous. My choice would be to delete the program. In most cases your software will be better informed than you. My wife and I personally have a website we visit but every time we go to that site it has a pop under for Netflix. To eliminate this problem I downloaded Mozilla Firefox browser and then downloaded an add-on to the program. Now we are no longer bothered with this pop under. The web site is a very popular news station.
Sometimes your anti-virus software may not be able to remove a virus program or it may leave portions behind. When this happens it may leave a message on your screen about some type of error. Unless you are a power user this can be hard to repair or remove. In this case you will have to click on the start button and depending on your operating system get into “msconfig” and into the registry. I am not going to explain this because my blog is not intended for power users. If you are a power user you will already know where to go from here. I don’t want to take a chance on you messing up your computer by changing things when you do not know how. You should also run disk cleanup to delete temporary internet files. When finished, don’t forget to empty the recycle bin.
I am going to insert one location for power users. Be sure you really know what you are doing before using this web but if you are a true power user it can be very useful. The site is: www.sysinternals.com. This site will display your registry locations. If you have deleted viruses and parts of the programs have been left in the registry, this site will show you where they are. I will caution you again to not use this program unless you are a power user because when you start removing things from the registry you can end with a computer that will not work or boot.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
IS YOUR COMPUTER RUNNING SLOW?
IS YOUR COMPUTER RUNNING WAY TOOO SLLOOOOW?
Is your computer running slow? Does it seem like you are on a dial-up even though you are using DSL? Many times this is caused by either a viruses or spy-ware cluttering up your computer. There are many ways our computers become infested with things we do not want on our machines but a primary way is when we visit web pages that are infected. Another method is through the emails we receive.
We all hear these things but still take our chances sometimes visiting sites that we should not. Often email will have a link included, and when we click on that link suddenly our computer is infected. If you are not a computer tech, your only clue may be that your computer begins to be slower and slower. It can even reach the point of crashing because of these contamination.
DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN VIRUS AND SPY-WARE
One main problem with a virus is that it replicates and attaches itself to other programs on the computer. A virus is a computer program. It could be in the form of an "application" or sent to your computer in a document. I have seen viruses replicate themselves so rapidly that before you could delete it from one place it had already contaminated the computer in another. I remember at least one such incident recently which resulted in having to reformat the hard drive and reload all programs including the operating system. This becomes an expensive and time consuming process.
Spyware is also software that installs itself on your computer. The purpose of spyware is to do just what its name implies, "spy" on you. At some point it will send this information to someone else. Spy-ware purpose is to tell someone else what web sites you visit and items you may be interested in. There are several ways we get spy-ware on our computers but most will come from email attachments and such programs.
When a virus attacks your computer it will hide from you, and it is quiet efficient at this task. There are several different kinds of viruses. Each one will hide in a different manner and attack different parts of your computer. Some viruses hide on the hard drive or a floppy disk or they may be within the main Master Boot Record of your system. A lot will be within a document which hides an executable file. Another type is a script virus. When you go to a web site and click on a link, suddenly you are infected.
Not only is the virus trying to hide from you, but it also must camouflage its location from your anti-virus software. In dislodging viruses I believe it is best to boot your computer in "safe mode", and work from an anti-virus program located on CD. The disadvantage of working from the CD is you will not have the latest updates for the program, but you are also not being exposed to further attacks from the internet while you are working. When you load your anti-virus software into your computer remember to register the program as soon as you are back on the internet, update the program and run the anti-virus software again. You may wonder what program to use. I have found several "free" programs I believe are much better than the ones you pay for. Stay tuned for updates.
Look back often for new posts.
Kermit
Is your computer running slow? Does it seem like you are on a dial-up even though you are using DSL? Many times this is caused by either a viruses or spy-ware cluttering up your computer. There are many ways our computers become infested with things we do not want on our machines but a primary way is when we visit web pages that are infected. Another method is through the emails we receive.
We all hear these things but still take our chances sometimes visiting sites that we should not. Often email will have a link included, and when we click on that link suddenly our computer is infected. If you are not a computer tech, your only clue may be that your computer begins to be slower and slower. It can even reach the point of crashing because of these contamination.
DISTINCTIONS BETWEEN VIRUS AND SPY-WARE
One main problem with a virus is that it replicates and attaches itself to other programs on the computer. A virus is a computer program. It could be in the form of an "application" or sent to your computer in a document. I have seen viruses replicate themselves so rapidly that before you could delete it from one place it had already contaminated the computer in another. I remember at least one such incident recently which resulted in having to reformat the hard drive and reload all programs including the operating system. This becomes an expensive and time consuming process.
Spyware is also software that installs itself on your computer. The purpose of spyware is to do just what its name implies, "spy" on you. At some point it will send this information to someone else. Spy-ware purpose is to tell someone else what web sites you visit and items you may be interested in. There are several ways we get spy-ware on our computers but most will come from email attachments and such programs.
When a virus attacks your computer it will hide from you, and it is quiet efficient at this task. There are several different kinds of viruses. Each one will hide in a different manner and attack different parts of your computer. Some viruses hide on the hard drive or a floppy disk or they may be within the main Master Boot Record of your system. A lot will be within a document which hides an executable file. Another type is a script virus. When you go to a web site and click on a link, suddenly you are infected.
Not only is the virus trying to hide from you, but it also must camouflage its location from your anti-virus software. In dislodging viruses I believe it is best to boot your computer in "safe mode", and work from an anti-virus program located on CD. The disadvantage of working from the CD is you will not have the latest updates for the program, but you are also not being exposed to further attacks from the internet while you are working. When you load your anti-virus software into your computer remember to register the program as soon as you are back on the internet, update the program and run the anti-virus software again. You may wonder what program to use. I have found several "free" programs I believe are much better than the ones you pay for. Stay tuned for updates.
Look back often for new posts.
Kermit
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