How Fast Is Internet Service with Verizon FiOS?

FiOS, high speed internet speed is up to 50mb per second downloads. Connection speeds vary based on the distance between your are and the Verizon signal located at their central office. Speed depends on wire condition, computer configuration, network congestion, and browser speed.
Verizon FiOS offers the fastest internet connection by far. When we talk about speed we refer to two components, connection speed and throughput speed. Connection speed refers to the speed at which data is transferred between the Verizon central office signal and your computer when you first connect to the FiOS service. Throughput speed is the rate of transfer of information, whether to or from, your computer and the central office signal. Download speed differs from upload speed in that download speed is always quicker. Download refers receiving an email or saving a program from a server to your computer, while upload refers to sending an email or posting email files onto another server.

Speed is also affected by the configuration of your computer and the number of computers in one location using the same connection. Networking multiple computers together can eat up bandwidth and slow up all the computers within that network. If all computers within a network are being used and are downloading or uploading at the same time, it can significantly slow things up. However, with FiOS, the speeds are so quick that it is not as noticeable as with other internet connections such as broadband, DSL or dial up.

Internet speed is important to everyone. Even if you just use email and browse around a bit. Today with digital picture sharing, just sending a few pictures through email could take a while with slower internet connections. Browsing on a slow connection is often futile and frustrating, even if it is just for fun. There are so many interactive sites, not to mention gaming sites that require speed. The faster the connection the more enjoyable the internet becomes. Fiber optics creates a connection that literally travels as fast as light. The tiny fibers can be packed in multitude in one cable, providing much more bandwidth than before.

Verizon FiOS offers 24/7 technical support as well as online tutorials, a FAQ section and user guides as well as online help. Knowledge is power and knowing how your computer works, how to best use your system and how to navigate the web in the best way possible, is invaluable!




About the Author
FiOS, high speed internet speed is up to 50mb per second downloads. Connection speeds vary based on the distance between your are and the Verizon signal located at their central office. Speed depends on wire condition, computer configuration, network congestion, and browser speed.

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Solutions for Small Business Computer Networks

Setting up a computer network to your small business is very easy nowadays. Having a small computer network allows all of the computers in the business to use one internet connection, and for the computers to share files. Putting up a computer network is a simple task and it is very essential for a starting business. First of all, you need to decide first what kind of requirements you would need for the setup. You need to know if you are going to use a wireless network or a wired one remember that a wired one will be more secure.
Most of the devices are now plug and play you don't need an advanced technical degree to go wireless. What you just need to do is to know how many gateways you'll need and then acquire some of the basic equipment.

A single wireless gateway or router can sustain up to 25 computers which would be more than enough for a small business. If you are planning on adding more computers to your office, you can just add on in the future or you could buy an extra gateway in advance. Your existing computers should be able to support Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity networking. Most of the current computers are already equipped with this function. If you are using an older version of computer or laptop, you could just insert a PCI or PCMCIA networking card to take advantage of Wi-Fi capabilities.

You can also add additional security packages to protect and maintain your network perimeters, checking for attacks from both the outside and the inside. Wireless networks will also allow you to use a wide variety of devices such as wireless cameras, and wireless digital multi-media receivers.

A computer network setup is an important part of every organization today especially with the technology advancement. The connection of the different computers in the office space helps in the growth of the business and it saves you time and money. It speeds up the work in progress and typically saves a lot of time. Each office would have its own specific needs. You can approach network consulting firms with your requirements and have a computer network setup that caters specifically to what your office needs. Your computer must be used to its full potential and all your needs should be met with a good computer network system in place.

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All About Broadband Service and More

The easiest way to explain it is that broadband is the term used to define the channel between our computers and the internet. Nowadays, a connection to the internet is an absolute must because of the fact that this is the century of speed. If you want something, you want it good and fast. Any piece of information you need is just a "connect" click away. So why refuse it? You can browse through the internet, download anything you want, communicate with others easily. We have it here, where we need it and when we need it. So, let's find out how does broadband work, what are it's advantages and how to choose the right internet package for you.
We can think of broadband as a class of communication channel that can carry 10 times more data than the regular phone lines. The wider is the bandwidth of the channel the faster can it send data. This channel comes to our homes through cables and lines set up by internet service providers. These providers have made it easier for us to have access to the web. Because of its' large demand, a very large number of providers have emerged to fulfill our wishes. Whatever we need, it's included in one of those special packages of theirs. But what's that special about it? I guess it's high time we talked about the advantages broadband has brought us and how advanced is it.

So, what's the fuss? Well, just imagine that the simple fact that you can read this article lying comfortable in your bed while downloading the latest track from, I don't know-Depeche Mode, is possible because of broadband. Oh, and just wait, 3, 2, 1...Done! You're already listening to that track. Yeah, it's a miracle. I bet you've never thought at it this way. It's fast and provides better uninterrupted service. Remember that dial-up that made your phone busy and that made you pay trillions every month? Forget it! These days you can have unlimited access with the minimum of resources. You just have to decide what you need in order to get the best deal.

What do you use your broadband connection for? If you have an online business and need internet all the time for checking that everything is going smoothly and also checking your email, communicating with your clients, then you need an unlimited broadband. Also, if you use it for games, downloading music and videos, then you also need an unlimited connection as you'll be a lot online and this way you save money. If you only use your broadband service for checking emails in order to connect with other people then you should get a package in which you pay for what you use as you won't be that much online.

Availability of the internet service provider, connection speed and the download limit are the three things that tell you the kind of the performance the broadband connection offers. Also, the cost of all of this is not to be neglected. Most of the time we don't have the internet usage we need or we pay too much for what we use. Availability depends of the network coverage in the area the provider has. Connection speed and download limit depends of course of the rates the provider demands. After you decide what your needs are, the next step is comparing the different packages of different service providers and choose the one that fits your budget best.

What have we learned? Using an internet connection makes you faster and more efficient. Also, you can find the best provider that offers a range of quality business broadband services in order for your business to be at its' best. So, contact your IT Support service company and get the best deal on broadband service. If you find a company that provides better deals, then change your current one. It's not a crime. And also, don't forget about other services like it security, remote backup, online backup, disaster recovery, technical support. They might come in handy if you want your business to have the best chance in succeeding with fewer obstacles.

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Windows 7 comes with pre-loaded Internet Explorer 8

Perform your online tasks more promptly and efficiently with Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7.
Internet Explorer had always faced a tough competition by other web browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and some more.

IE 8 in the latest Windows 7 has faster speed, enhanced security and increased performance.

The newly introduced features of IE 8, like accelerometers, instant search and web slices make it stand out ahead of others. Even if we compare it with its own previous versions, IE 8 is far better. There is privacy option which when enabled lets you explore the sites without saving any temporary internet files. You also do not have to worry about the browsing history that is saved in History folder. Quick tab enables you to view all opened website tabs under one Window.

IE8 helps users find the information faster. With new address bar, improved search tabs, privacy options and Favorites bar, IE 8 brings more information with less trouble. With remarkable improvements, IE 8 is a must-have for your computers and laptops. Get ready for never before web experience. Windows 7 promises users with enriched gaming experience as the Microsoft's newest operating system has several new features in its Games Explorer including fresh technical guidelines and requirements.

Taking in popular demand, Microsoft has included three most loved XP games - Internet Checkers, Internet Spades, and Internet Backgammon - in Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate editions. Game Explorer has also been redesigned for On Windows 7 which offers games updates, statistics, new feed, etc. It is redesigned with the purpose to satisfy both casual and hard-core gamers. latest windows 7 creates an easier game installation feature, 32bit and 64 bit platforms and Parental Controls are supported by it.

It also offers improved game updates notification for game titles. This allows more participation from the game developers with more game titles that pass the standard of technical requirements. These new requirements for the games for latest windows 7 will help the developers to have an advantage of Windows 7 feature which allows them to check the compatibility with Windows 7. When the game is installed on Windows LIVE 3.0 client on Windows 7, Games for Windows - LIVE is added to Game Providers in Games Explorer. All these newly included features will help to enhance the consumers experience through the games for Windows.

Microsoft hopes to change after the proclamation of a streamlined approval process for GFW-labelled games - the "Games for Windows Self Certification Site." Many advertisements have been made regarding the various marketing benefits of bringing titles to the GFW label. As many as 22 popular game titles have been installed and launched to check which games run on Windows 7.




About the Author
I am a windows 7 expert working for iYogi, a leading IT support company Headquartered in India, iYogi provides windows technical support , via phone and remote access for home and small business users globally.

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Windows 7 replaces its successor

Windows Vista was harassed with many complaints and negative reviews but high hopes are set for Windows 7. Windows 7 has created hustle and bustle and become the talk of the town. Windows 7 flags many new features that are smooth and highly finished. Many enhanced features have been introduced such as new graphical features, enhanced taskbar and security that makes it safer and user friendly. Additionally, it does not demand hardware upgrades that were needed in Windows Vista.
Microsoft released and made available beta and one release candidate for public testing process for Windows 7 which is the largest shareware trial period offered by any and it does not prove to be irritating as Vista was. Microsoft is providing the users with six Windows 7 versions: Starter, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, OEM, and Enterprise but basically three versions are being promoted by Microsoft Research Redmond that are Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate.

Both 32-bit and 64-bit systems will be supported by Windows 7. The minimum system requirements for the 32-bit include a 1 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB available hard-disk space, and a DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver whereas 1 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB of free space on your hard drive, and a DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver will be required by 64-bit system. Many ways to install Windows 7 has been offered by Microsoft. Computers are coming with installed operating system, the user can upgrade from Windows XP or Vista, or can do a clean installation. And if you are in a dilemma if your computer would support Windows 7, download and run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to check the compatibility.

The best improvements that Microsoft has made are in taskbar that features pinned program, jump lists, aero peek, aero snap, aero shake, etc. It is now quite easier to resize the windows, change theme packages. With windows media player you can stream media files, over the network, to another computer. Device stage allows you to combine printers. Native search features have also been improved in Windows 7; all the files that are added to hard drive can be easily indexed. Use your fingers over mouse with new touch features. As many new features have been introduced in Windows 7 that surpasses the reputation created by earlier operating systems.



About the Author
K.P.Pandey is an online windows 7 support specialist for iYogi, a leading IT support company Headquartered in India, iYogi provides computer support via phone and remote access for home and small business users globally. Live 24/7 windows 7 installation service from India

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Overview of HTTP

The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the Web's application-layer protocol, is at the heart of the Web. It is defined in [RFC 1945] and [RFC 2616]. HTTP is implemented in two programs: a client program and a server program. The client program and server program, executing on different end systems, talk to each other by exchanging HTTP messages. HTTP defines the structure of these messages and how the client and server exchange the messages. Before explaining HTTP in detail, we should review some Web terminology. A Web page (also called a document) consists of objects. An object is simply a file-such as an HTML file, a JPEG image. A java applet or a video clip-that is addressable by a single URL. Most Web pages consist of a base HTML file and several referenced-objects. For example, if a Web page contains HTML text and five JPEG images, then the Web page has six objects: the base WI'ML file plus the five images. The base HTML file references the other objects in the page with the objects' URLs. Each URL has two components: the hostname of the server that houses the object and the object's path name. For example, the URL
http:/ /www.someSchool.edu/someDepartment/picture.Gif

has www.Someschool.edu for a hostname and /somedepartment/picture.gif for a path name. Because Web browsers (such as Internet Explorer and Firefox) implement the client side of HTI'P, in the context of the Web, we will use the words browser and client interchangeably. Web servers, which implement the server side of HTTP, house Web objects, each addressable by a URL. Popular Web servers include Apache and Microsoft Internet Information Server.

HTTP defines how Web clients request Web pages from Web servers and how servers transfer Web pages to clients. We discuss the interaction between client and server in detail later, but the general idea is illustrated. When a user requests a Web page (for example, clicks on a hyperlink), the browser sends HTTP request messages for the objects in the page to the server. The server receives the requests and responds with HTTP response messages that contain the objects.

HTTP uses TCP as its underlying transport protocol (rather than running on top of UDP). The HTTP client first initiates a TCP connection with the server. Once the connection is established, the browser and the server processes access TCP through their socket interfaces on the client side the socket interface is the door between the client process and the TCP connection; on the server side it is the door between the server process and the TCP connection. The client sends HTTP request messages into its socket interface and receives HTTP response

messages from its socket interface. Similarly, the HTTP server receives request messages from its socket interface and sends response messages into its socket interface. Once the client sends a message into its socket interface, the message is out of the client's hands and is "in the hands" of TCP. TCP provides a reliable data transfer service to HTTP. This implies that each HTTP request message sent by a client process eventually arrives intact at the server; similarly, each HT1'P response message sent by the server process eventually arrives intact at the client. Here we see one of the great advantages of a layered architecture HTTP need not worry about lost data or the details of how TCP recovers from loss or reordering of data within the network: That is the job of TCP and the protocols in the lower layers of the protocol stack. It is important to note, that the server sends requested files to clients without storing any state information about the client. If a particular client asks for the same object twice in a period of a few seconds, the server does not respond by saying that it just served the object to the client; instead, the server resends the object, as it has completely forgotten what it did earlier. Because an FTTP server maintains no information about the clients, HTTP is said to be a stateless protocol. We also remark that the Web uses the client-server application architecture. A Web server is always on, with a fixed address and it services requests from potentially millions of different browsers.

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Socket Programming with TCP

Now that we have looked at a number of important network applications, lets explore how network application programs are actually written. We'll write application programs that use TCP; in the following we'll write programs that use UDP.
Recall from many network applications consist of a pair of programs-a client program and a server program-residing in to different end systems. When these two programs are executed, .a client and a server process are created, and these processes communicate with each other by reading from and writing to sockets.

When creating a network application, the developer's main task is to write the code for both the client and server programs, There are two sorts of network applications. One sort is an implementation of a protocol standard defined in, for example, an RFC. For such in implementation, the client and server programs must conform to the rules dictated by the RFC. For example, the client program could be an implementation of the client side of the FTP protocol the server program could be an implementation of the FTP server protocol, also explicitly defined in RFC 959. If one developer writes code for the client program and an independent developer writes code for the server program, and both develop- en carefully follow the rules of the RFC then the two programs will be able to interoperate. Indeed, many of today's network applications involve communication between client and server programs that have been created by independent develop- en-for example, a firefox browser communicating with an Apache Web server, or an FI'P client on a PC uploading a file to a Linux FTP server. When a client or server program implements a protocol defined in an REC, it should use the port number associated with the protocol. The other sort of network application is a proprietary network application. In this case the application-layer protocols used by the client and server programs do not necessarily conform to any existing RFC.'A single developer (or development team) creates both the client and server programs, and the developer has complete control over what goes in the code. But because the code does not implement a public-domain protocol, other independent developers will not be able to develop code that interoperates with the application. When developing a proprietary application, the developer must be careful not to use one of the well-known port numbers defined in the RFC.

We examine the key issues in developing a proprietary client-server application. During the development phase, one of the first decisions the developer must make is whether the application is to run over TCP or over UDP. Recall that TCP is connection oriented and provides a reliable byte-stream channel through which data flows between two end systems. UDP is connectionless and sends independent packets of data from one end system to the other, without any guarantees about delivery.

We develop a simple client application that runs over TCP we develop a simple client application that runs over UDP. We present these simple TCP and UDP applications in Java. We could have written the code in C or C++, but we opted for Java mostly because the applications are more neatly and cleanly written in Java. With Java there are fewer lines of code, and each line can be explained to the novice programmer without much difficulty but there is no need to be frightened if you are not familiar with Java. You should be able to follow the code if you have experience programming in another language. For readers who are interested in client/server programming in C, there are several good references available [Donahoo 2001; Stevens 1997; Frost 1994; Kurose 1996].

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Are you confident your application will work in the WAN?

LANs vs. WANs

LANs are big, fast and reliable networks normally found within an organisation's main site or building (or the test lab). They can be rightly viewed as being super fast highways. The amount of data they carry is light relative to their capacity and the distances this data travels is relatively short. In contrast, WANs are geographically disbursed networks of often lower capacity which are required to carry a high volume of data compared with their capacity, over much greater distances.

There are three network key characteristics that influence an application's performance:



Available Bandwidth

WANs tend to have a much lower bandwidth than LANs which means that individual applications have to compete for space. This lower bandwidth can have a detrimental affect on software performance. Additionally, network administrators can set up their networks to favour certain applications like Voice over IP (VoIP) over 'conventional' applications, so once in the production environment the application is again competing for supremacy over others.




Latency

Latency is the delay encountered when running an application between two networks. It occurs because standard TCP/IP networks do not do not send data in a continuous stream, instead breaking it down into packets (like envelopes in the post) and sending it in batches. They also wait for confirmation that the packets have arrived safely before sending more, causing further delay. Also, the journey itself is not direct and various network devices will be encountered along the way, which all add their own additional delay. As a result, it can take 90ms to complete a round trip journey and an application transaction will consist of many such trips.



Packet Loss, Error and Reordering

As the packets of data travel over the network they can be lost, errored or reordered so that they arrive out of sequence, or don't arrive at all. It's like sending a bus down the road that either doesn't arrive or doesn't arrive entirely intact and is therefore probably useless when it reaches its destination. Wireless WAN, Satellite and 3G/Mobile Phone networks are generally subject to higher loss and error rates than wired networks. The increased use of wireless networks within buildings and as a way of allowing mobile 'on-the-road' members of the workforce to receive data means that applications need to be developed to cope with this potential for loss, erroring or reordering.



WAN emulation / network simulation

Reproducing these three network conditions is impossible if testing is confined to the internal LAN. However, WAN emulation / network simulation technology can be deployed in the same room as a normal test rig or even on a desktop. It allows the user to recreate a wide variety of different WAN or Wireless conditions and enables testing during prototype, development, quality assurance and pre-deployment stages.

A WAN emulator also gives complete control over the conditions in a single test in and also has the ability to reproduce these conditions time and again. This cannot be guaranteed if using a live network and additionally testing on a live network can interfere with existing mission-critical business applications already running.

This article is condensed from the iTrinegy Networks white paper "The Importance of Testing in Realistic Network Conditions". You can request a copy of the full white paper by emailing info@itrinegy.com.

To find out more about how iTrinegy's WAN emulation solutions can help you please visit www.itrinegy.com.



About the Author
Written by Phil Bull from iTrinegy, developers of sophisticated, yet easy-to-use, application response time monitoring, network traffic analysis and WAN/Network emulation technology to help organizations address networked application performance issues.

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The Complete Guide For Mac Book Pro

After the i-Mac, Apple continued to remove older peripheral interfaces and floppy drives from the rest of its product line. While the i-Phone was initially sold on the AT&T network, various hackers have found methods to unlock the phone from a specific network. Apple announced a battery replacement program on 14 November 2003, a week before a high publicity stunt and website. Apple Insider and Engagement concluded that it may well be Apple best Mac Books to date and these are terrific choices not only from an industrial design standpoint, but in specs as well respectively, while also drawing attention to a lower quality display as compared with the Mac Book Pro. The Macintosh Portable was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh and turned out 17 pounds with 12 hour battery life.
The original i-Mac was the first Macintosh computer to include a universal serial bus port. Even where not required, vendors usually offer activation for the buyer convenience. Several industries are modifying their products to work better with both the i-Pod line. Charlie Sorrel of Wired News reached an identical conclusion about the Mac Book display, citing its poor contrast and lack of vertical angle in comparison with the Mac Book Pro. In the first edition, released in August 2006.

The i-Mac was the first major case redesign of the i-Mac line. The items included with the i-Phone. When unzipped, they reveal executable files along with common audio and image files, leading to the possibility of third party games. Mac Book complete guide shows how the Mac Books have largely followed the industrial design standard set by the Power Book, the Mac Book was Apple first notebooks to use features now standard in it is notebooks, the glossy display, the sunken keyboard design, and the no mechanical magnetic latch. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a graphical user interface, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.

For example, the i-Mac integration of monitor and processor, while convenient, commits the owner to upgrading both at the same time. For example, if a song is playing while a call is received, it gradually fades out, and fades back when the call has ended. Because the dock connector is a proprietary interface, the implementation of the interface requires paying royalties to Apple. They were resolved through software and firmware updates.

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The Complete Guide For Mac Book Pro

After the i-Mac, Apple continued to remove older peripheral interfaces and floppy drives from the rest of its product line. While the i-Phone was initially sold on the AT&T network, various hackers have found methods to unlock the phone from a specific network. Apple announced a battery replacement program on 14 November 2003, a week before a high publicity stunt and website. Apple Insider and Engagement concluded that it may well be Apple best Mac Books to date and these are terrific choices not only from an industrial design standpoint, but in specs as well respectively, while also drawing attention to a lower quality display as compared with the Mac Book Pro. The Macintosh Portable was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh and turned out 17 pounds with 12 hour battery life.
The original i-Mac was the first Macintosh computer to include a universal serial bus port. Even where not required, vendors usually offer activation for the buyer convenience. Several industries are modifying their products to work better with both the i-Pod line. Charlie Sorrel of Wired News reached an identical conclusion about the Mac Book display, citing its poor contrast and lack of vertical angle in comparison with the Mac Book Pro. In the first edition, released in August 2006.

The i-Mac was the first major case redesign of the i-Mac line. The items included with the i-Phone. When unzipped, they reveal executable files along with common audio and image files, leading to the possibility of third party games. Mac Book complete guide shows how the Mac Books have largely followed the industrial design standard set by the Power Book, the Mac Book was Apple first notebooks to use features now standard in it is notebooks, the glossy display, the sunken keyboard design, and the no mechanical magnetic latch. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a graphical user interface, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.

For example, the i-Mac integration of monitor and processor, while convenient, commits the owner to upgrading both at the same time. For example, if a song is playing while a call is received, it gradually fades out, and fades back when the call has ended. Because the dock connector is a proprietary interface, the implementation of the interface requires paying royalties to Apple. They were resolved through software and firmware updates.

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How apple computers will help the art industry and its revenue

Artist love Apple computers it was made for them. Apple computers are famous with graphic designers using photoshop, illustrator, my favorite dreamweaver. But not only visual and graphic artist also musicians too. Many music producers have taken a full time career using programs like sound booth. speaking from experience I realize that when it come to creating some design on photoshop it much plesurable to do it on an apple computer.
If you are a musician, artist, graphic designer you know there is something about apple computers that just attracts us to it.

Moving on to the purpose of the topic apple computers will increase the revenue of art careers with even something difficult to profit from like being a painting. There are now programs that one can use to advertise themselves.

You can use a programs to design creating cards if you are a paintor and then sell them to companies like walmart to sell them their store and receive residual income. Macintosh is creating these programs for you to make a living as an artist.

All you need these days is a labtop (your apple computer) with your favorite programs to use and your own website to promote your work. Apple computers will help the art industry and its revenue.

Even musicians use them too. Many music bands these days produce and mix their own music with sound booth they dont need a producer to do it for them. They record their songs in their basement in the comfort of their pijamas.

Having these equipments makes look and be a professional in the field that you love. Try going to a job interview and show them your work on your apple computer and all the programs that you have prepared your self with. Then try to go to a job interview without your apple computers and tell the employer that you are a graphic designer.

Which one will give you better results.

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ASUS UL30A-X5 Laptop Review

The traditional laptop manufactures better watch out. ASUS has taken over the Netbook market with their slim, sleek, ever-lasting line of Netbooks and now they are gunning for control of the laptop market with the ASUS UL30A-X5 which has just been released. It has one characteristic which sets it apart from all of the other laptops available.
Last week I had to take a flight from California to New York. On this flight, which I do far too often, I like to get some work done, watch a movie or two, and maybe play some games on my laptop. This flight takes approximately 5 hours.

Normally, I carry my Dell Latitude Laptop computer with me because this is where all of my work is stored. About half way through the flight, the battery sends me signals of death and I am forced to put in the extra battery that I carry with me. On my particular Dell Laptop, they boasted that the battery would last for 5 hours. In reality, after one year of use, I am lucky to get 2.5 hours of battery life. Thus, I have to carry a spare battery which also becomes drained on the 5 hour flight.

I looked at this as simply the necessary pains of doing business on a long flight.

However, this flight would be different and much more pleasurable. I recently heard about a new line of laptops by ASUS and offered to give one a test drive for this trip. The model number on this was the ASUS UL30A-X5, which had just been released and promises to be on the best laptop computer list very soon.

I have test-driven the leading ASUS Netbook and loved it. In fact, I often carry their Netbook model, voted the top rated Netbook, with me for the long battery life. However, for this trip, I needed a full-fledged laptop so I was delighted to test-drive their new model.

It boasts 12.5 hours of battery life, which simply blows away the competition! 12 hours on one battery--amazing. But is it true?

With laptops, I always want to know three things: battery life, aesthetics, and support. The reason that these three things stand out is because all else is equal. All of the inside parts on most laptops are exactly the same.

So, my three questions are as follows: Is the battery life as good as they say? Do I like to type on it and work on this machine? And, if it blows up, is there someone on the other end to help me?

The ASUS UL30A-X5 wins in all of these categories. The battery lasted the duration of my flight and for 3 hours when I got home. I used resource intensive applications for 8 hours and the battery was still humming--best I have ever seen. Second, I like the Chiclet style keyboard even though I am not accustomed to it. It was easy to type on and the overall look and feel of the machine was great. On the support question, I never had anything go wrong so I never had to call ASUS, but they do have a 24/7 hotline available if needed.

In summary, the "big boys" of laptops (Dell, HP, etc.) need to watch out. ASUS overtook them in the Netbook market and now they may just do the same in the laptop market with the ASUS UL30A-X5. It is a laptop with a great look and feel, it's extremely price competitive, and it has battery life that blows away the competition.

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A Solution to Network Change Problems

In this era of instant connectivity, any business requires itself a good network system in order to be effective and stay in the competition. The networks are usually not only intranet but also include networks of their client companies and even individuals. The sole purpose for this is to maintain a communication system in real-time not only between persons but between computer systems as well.
Network management is naturally more difficult when it involves more people and computers in a wider scope. For those that have established an international network, it is even more complex. No matter how supposedly hi-tech a network system claims it is, the truth is that the human factor still affects much its operations. There are even cases that the computers themselves can have errors minus the human errors.

When there are non-compliant changes introduced into the network, there is always the possibility of having troubles in the system. Consequently, this will adversely affect the business processes of any company. Sometimes, this would drive the company's IT personnel into a panic mode, hurriedly creating solutions to lessen the damage. However, remedies are oftentimes made late already. The best solution to a problem, however, is one that is already in place even before the problem breaks out into the open. This is how a network solution should be instead of merely relying on the reflexes and availability of the IT personnel. A good means is the employment of network management software. Upon installation, this will start minimizing the role of human supervision.

It would even be better if it can also serve as a network change management software that can spot rapidly and easily strange changes made in the system and just as quickly notify concerned individuals about the matter. It would be good also; if it can prevent the changes by itself in cases when human intervention is not needed.

When the changes are officially entered, the network change management software can also establish it in the whole network in just a few seconds. Consequently, introducing network changes would not require additional expenses despite the scope of the network. Since the changes are legitimately introduced in real-time, the individual persons and computers connected to the network are just as soon informed and affected.

Many organizations have long been using network management software bought from the software manufacturers. Most of those software, however, do not have the feature of being able to recognize unauthorized changes and to invalidate it. Although these may have capabilities in network management roles, these do not have the defenses against human factors and unauthorized changes. In fact, not using a network change management software has resulted in revenue losses for some companies.

Meanwhile, those companies and institutions that have installed a network change management software in their networks have avoided occurrences when their systems go down due to incursive amendments from malicious parties. This does not only mean cutting down budget for repairs but this also means saving the funds that are supposed to be spent on maintenance. Instead of acting as repairmen, their technical people are now using their time in developing the company's IT sector

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MSI Netbooks Overview


The MSI netbook is the ultimate computing companion. Enjoy its lightweight and advanced features that are standard with the machine. The netbook comes with a 10inch LCD screen for the best in internet browsing. The high resolution screen will allow users to be able to see full pages on the web.

The netbooks screen also has a LED power conserving technology that not only saves power but also gives fantastic brighter colors. It has a low power processor that ensures longer battery life. It runs on windows XP home operating system. The MSI netbook is stylish in design and comes with an inbuilt 1.3 mega pixel webcam on top of the screen.
The webcam can take still photos of you that you can send to friends via e-mail. Also integrated within is a microphone that allows you to enjoy video chats with other people that are online. In addition the keyboard is highly agronomical in design. The netbook keyboard is only twenty percent in size smaller to a full sized one.

Further more the keyboard has an amazing texture and feel. The keys are also spaced in such a way that typing is highly comfortable the user. The roomier keyboard and ideally placed spacebar are a welcome addition. The note book has a 1.6 Intel atom processor which has an advanced circuitry. This reduces the amount of leakage of current. The processor only uses 2.5watts power, which is way less than a typical Intel processor. The processor also has a power optimized bus that allows for quicker data transfer.
The MSI netbook gives six hours of battery life. Also standard with the netbook is the 160 gigabyte hard disk. The hard drive is able to store a digital library. It can hold more than 26,000 songs and still have enough room for software and movies. The SATA hard drive also makes data transfer to be very fast. In addition it has one gigabyte of random access memory.

You can upgrade your memory to up to two gigabytes if you like. There also are high quality internal speakers and a multifomat card reader in built within. The netbook has three universal serial ports and a VGA monitor slot. Also included on the netbook is the WI-FI networking feature which allows connection into a wireless local area network. The model comes in different colors. The colors to choose from include white, pink and black.

You also get a carry on bag that is the same color with the netbook. These netbooks can be able to enlarge text within a program. This includes for both internet and office documents. This makes it easier for you to focus exactly on what you editing or reading. You can connect optional drives on the MSI netbook through any of the serial ports available.

These can be both DVD and CD drives with help you burn your own movies and music on DVD and CD format. Also standard with the netbook is headphone and microphone serial ports. There is also a four in one card reader. The netbook has a MSI ECO power saving technology that ensures that power is distributed equally.

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How Do Packets Make Their Way Through Packet-Switched Networks?

Earlier we said that a muter takes a packet arriving on one of its attached communication links and forwards that packet on to another of its attached communication links. But how does the router determine the link onto which it should forward the packet? This is actually done in different ways by different types of computer networks we will describe one popular approach, namely. The approach employed by the Internet. In the Internet, each packet traversing the network contains the address of the packet's destination in its header. As with postal addresses, this address has a hierarchical structure. When a. packet arrives at a router in the network, the router examines a portion of the packet's destination address and forwards the packet to an adjacent router. More specifically, each router has a forwarding table that maps destination addresses (or portions of the destination addresses) to outbound links. When a packet arrives at a router, the router examines the address and searches its table using this destination address to find the appropriate outbound link had muter then directs the packet to this outbound link.
We just learned that a router uses a packet's destination address to index a forwarding table and determine the appropriate outbound link. But this statement begs yet another question: how do forwarding tables get set? Are they configured by hand in each and every router, or does the Internet use a more automated procedure? But to whet your appetite here, we'll note now that the Internet has a number of special routing protocols that are used to automatically set the forwarding tables. A routing protocol may, for example, determine the shortest path from each router to each destination and use the shortest path results to configure the forwarding tables in the routers.

The end-to-end routing process is analogous to a car driver who does not use maps but instead prefers to ask for directions. For example, suppose Joe is driving from Philadelphia to 156 Lakeside Drive in Orlando, Florida. Joe first drives to his neighborhood gas station and ask how to get to 156 Lakeside Drive in Orlando, Florida. The gas station attendant extracts the Florida portion of the address and tells Joe that he needs to get onto the interstate highway 1-95 South, which has an entrance just next to the gas station. He also tells Joe that once he enters Florida he should ask someone else there. Joe then takes 1-95. South until he gets to Jack-sonville, Florida at which point he asks another gas station attendant for directions. The attendant extracts the Orlando portion of the address and tells Joe that he should continue on 1-95 to Daytona Beach and then ask someone else. In Daytona Beach another gas station attendant also extracts the Orlando portion of the address and tells Joe that he should take 1-4 directly to Orlando. Joe takes 1-4 and gets off at the Orlando exit. Joe goes to another gas station attendant, and this time the attendant extracts the Lakeside Drive portion of the address and tells Joe the road he must follow to get to Lakeside Drive. Once Joe reaches Lakeside Drive, he asks a kid on a bicycle how to get to his destination. The kid extracts the 156 portion of the address and points to the house. Joe finally reaches his ultimate destination. In the above analogy, the gas-station attendants and kids on bicycles are analogous to routers. Their forwarding tables, which are in their brains, have been configured by years of experience. How would you actually like to see the end-to-end mute that packets take in the Internet? We now invite you to get your hands dirty by interacting with the Tracer-oute program.

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File Transfer: FTP

In a typical FTP session, the user is sitting in front of one host (the local host) and wants to transfer files to or from a remote host. In order for the user to access the remote account, the user must provide a user identification and a password. After providing this authorization information, the user can transfer files from the local file system to the remote file system and vice versa. The user interacts with FTP through an FTP user agent. The user first provides the hostname of the remote host, causing the FI'P client process in the local host to establish a TCP connection with the FTP server process in the remote host. The user then provides the user identification and password, which an sent over the TCP connection as part of FTP commands. Once the server has authorized the user, the user copies one or more files stored in the local file system into the remote tile system (or vice versa).
HTP and Fl? are both file transfer protocols and have many common characteristics; for example, they both run on top of TCP. However, the two application-layer protocols have some important differences. The most striking difference is that FTP uses two parallel TCP connections to transfer a file, a control connection and a data connection. The control connection is used for sending control information between the two hosts-information such as user identification, password, commands to change remote directory,-and commands to "put" and "get" files. The data connection is used to actually send a file, Because FTP uses a separate control connection, FTP is said to send its control information out-of-band. We'll see that the RTSP protocol, which is used for controlling the transfer of continuous media such as audio and video, also sends its control information out-of-band. HTI'P, as you recall, sends request and response header lines into the same TCP connection that carries the transferred file itself. For this reason, HTTP is said to send its control information In-band. In the next section we'll see that SMTP, the main protocol for electronic mail, also sends control information in-band.

When a user start p )9P session with a remote host, the client side of FTP (user) first initiates a control TCP connection with the server side (remote host) on server port number 21. The client side of F1'P sends the user identification and password over this control connection. The client side of FTP also sends, over the control connection, commands to change the remote directory. When the server side receives a command for a file transfer over the control connection (either to, or from, the remote host), the server side Initiates TCP data connection to the client side? FTP send exactly one file over the data connection and then closes the data connection If, during the same session the user wants to transfer another file FTP open another data connection. Thus, with FTP, the control connection remains open throughout the duration of the user session, but a new data connection is created for each file transferred within a session (that is. the data connections arc non-persistent).

Throughout a session, the FTP server must maintain state about the user In particular, the server must associate the control connection with a specific user account, and the server must keep track of the user's current directory as the user wanders i put the remote directory tree. Keeping track of this state information for each ongoing user session significantly constrains the total number of sessions that FTP? can maintain simultaneously. Recall that HTTP, on the other hand , is stateless-it does not have to keep track of any user state.

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Networks Under Attack

The Internet ha become mission critical for many institutions today, including large and small companies, universities, and government agencies. Many individuals also rely on the Internet for many of their professional, social, and personal activities. But behind all this utility and excitement, there is a dark side, a side where "bad guys" attempt to wreak havoc in our daily lives by damaging our Internet-connected computers; violating our privacy, and rendering inoperable the Internet services on which we depend [Skoudis 2006].
The field of network security is about how the bad guys can attack computer networks and about how we, soon-to-be experts in computer networking, can defend networks against those attacks, or better yet, design new architectures that are immune to such attacks in the first place. Given the frequency and variety of existing attacks as well as the threat of new and more destructive future attacks, network security has become a central topic in the field of computer networking in recent years. One of the features of this fourth edition of this textbook is that it brings network security issues to the forefront.

We'll begin our foray into network security in this section, where we'll briefly describe some of the more prevalent and damaging attacks in today's Internet. Then, As we cover the various computer networking technologies.We'll consider the various, security-related issues associated with those technologies and protocols armed with our newly acquired expertise in computer networking and Internet protocols, we'll study in-depth how computer networks can be defended against attacks, or designed and operated to make such attacks impossible in the first place. Since we don't yet have expertise in computer networking and Internet protocols, we'll begin here by surveying some of today's more prevalent security-related problems. So we begin here by simply asking, what can go wrong? How are computer networks vulnerable? What are some of the more prevalent types of attacks today? The bad guys can put malware into your host via the Internet. We attach devices to the Internet because we want to receive/send data from/to the Internet. This includes all kinds of good stuff, including Web pages, e-mail messages, MP3s, telephone calls, live video, search engine results, and so on. But, unfortunately, along with all that good stuff comes malicious stuff-collectively known as malware-that can also enter and infect our devices.

Once malware infects our device it can do all kinds of devious things, including deleting our files; installing spy ware that collects our private information, such as social security num-hers, passwords, and keystrokes, and then sends this (over the Internet, of course!) back to the bad guys. Our compromised host may also be enrolled in a network of thousands of similarly compromised devices, collectively known as a botnet, which the bad guys control and leverage for spam e-mail distribution or distributed denial-of-service attacks(soon to be discussed) against targeted hosts. Much of the malware out there today is self-replicating: once it infects one host, from that host it seeks entry into other hosts over the Internet, and from the newly infected hosts, it seeks entry into yet more hosts. In this manner, self-replicating malware can spread exponentially fast. For example, the number of devices infected by the 2003 Saphire/Slammer worm doubled every 8.5 seconds in the first few minutes after its outbreak, infecting more than 90 percent of vulnerable hosts within 10 minutes [Moore 2003). Malware can spread in the form of a virus, a worm, or a Trojan horse [Skoudis 2004]. Viruses are malware that require some form of user interaction to infect the user's device. The classic example is an e-mail attachment containing malicious executable cods. If a user receives and opens such an attachment, the user inadvertently runs the malware on the device.

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Network Application Architectures

Before diving into software coding, you should have a broad architectural plan for your application. Keep in mind that an application's architecture is distinctly different from the network architecture. From the application developer's perspective, the network architecture is fixed and provides a specific set of services to applications. The application architecture, on the other hand, is designed by the application developer and dictates how the application is structured over the various end systems. In choosing the application architecture, an application developer will likely draw on one of the two predominant architectural paradigms used in modern network applications: the client-server architecture or the peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture.
In a client-server architecture, there is an always-on host, called the server, which services requests from many other hosts, called clients. The client hosts can be either sometimes-on or always-on. A classic example is the Web application for which an always-on Web server services requests from browsers running on client hosts. When a Web server receives a request for an object from a client host, it responds by sending the requested object to the client host. Note that with the client- server architecture, clients do not directly communicate with each other; for example, in the Web application, two browsers do not directly communicate. Another characteristic of the client-server architecture is that the server has a fixed, well- known address, called an IP address (which we'll discuss soon). Because the server has a fixed, well-known address, and because the server is always on, a client can always contact the server by sending a packet to the server's address. Some of the better-known applications with a client-server architecture include the Web, F1'R Telnet, and e-mail.

Often in a client-server application, a single server host is incapable of keeping up with all the requests from its clients. For example, a popular social-networking site can quickly become overwhelmed if it has only one server handling all of its requests. For this reason, a cluster of hosts-sometimes referred to as a server farm-is often used to create a powerful virtual server in client-server architectures. Application services that are based on the client-server architecture are often infrastructure intensive, since they require the service providers to purchase, install, and maintain server farms. Additionally, the service providers must pay recurring interconnection and bandwidth costs for sending an4 receiving data to and from the Internet. Popular services such as search engines (e.g., Google), Internet commerce (e.g., Amazon and e-Bay), Web- based v-mail (e.g, Yahoo Mail), social networking (e.g., MySpace and Facebook), and video sharing (e.g., YouTube) are infrastructure intensive and costly to provide.

In a P2P architecture, there is minimal (or no) reliance on always-on infrastructure servers. Instead the application exploits direct communication between pairs of intermittently connected hosts, called peers. The peers are not owned by the service provider, but are instead desktops and laptops controlled by users, with most of the peers residing in homes, universities, and offices. Because the peers communicate without passing through a dedicated server, the architecture is called peer-to-peer. Many of today's most popular and traffic-intensiye applications are based on P2P architectures. These applications include file distribution (e.g., BitTorrent), file searching/sharing (e.g., eMule and LimeWire), Intemet telephony (e.g., Skype), and IPTV (e.g., PPLive).

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ISPs and Internet Backbones

We saw earlier that end systems (user PCs, PDA's, Web servers, mail servers, and so on) connect into the Internet via an access network. Recall that the access network may be a wired or wireless local area network (for example, in a company, school, or library), a residential cable modem or DSL network, or a residential ISP (for example. AOL or MSN) that is reached via dial-up modem. But connecting end users and content providers into access networks -is only a small piece of solving the puzzle of connecting the hundreds of millions of end-systems and hundred of thousands of networks that make up the Internet. The Internet is a network of networks- understanding this phrase is the key to solving this puzzle. In the public Internet, access networks situated at the edge of the Internet are connected to the rest of the Internet through a tiered hierarchy of ISPs. Access ISPs (for example, residential cable and DSL networks, dial-up access networks such as AOL, wireless access networks, and company and university ISPs using LANs) are at the bottom of this hierarchy. At the very top of the hierarchy is a relatively small number of so-called tier-1 ISPs. In many ways, a tier-1 ISP is the same as any network-it has links and routers and is connected to other networks. In other ways, however, tier-I ISPs are special. Their link speeds are often 622 Mbps or higher, with the larger tier-I ISPs having links in the 2.5 to 10Gbps range; their routers must consequently be able to forward packets at extremely high rates. Tier-I ISPs are also characterized by being: * Directly connected to each of the other tier-1 ISPs * Connected to a large number of tier-2 lSPs and other customer networks * International in coverage Tier-l ISPs are also known as Internet backbone networks. These include Sprint, Verizon, (previously UUNet/WorldCom), AT&T, NT]', Level3, Qwest, and Cable & Wireless. Interestingly, no group officially sanctions tier-I status; as the saying goes-if you have to ask if you are a member of a group, you're-probably not. A tier-2 ISP typically has regional or national coverage, and (importantly) connects to only a few of the tier-I ISPs thus, in order to reach a large portion of the global Internet, a tier-2 ISP needs to route traffic through one of the tier-I ISPs to which it is connected. A tier-2 ISP is said to be a customer of the tier-I ISP to which it is connected, and the tier-1 ISP is said to be a provider to its customer. Many large companies and institutions connect their enterprise's network directly into a tier-I or tier-2 ISP, thus becoming a customer of that ISP. A provider ISP charges its customer ISP a fee, which typically depends on the transmission rate of the link connecting the two. A tier-2 network may also choose to connect directly to other tier-2 networks, in which case traffic can flow between the two tier-2 networks without having to pass through a tier-I network. Below the tier-2 ISPs are the lower-tier ISPs, which connect to the larger Internet via one or more tier-2 ISPs. At the bottom of the hierarchy are the access151's. Further complicating matters, some tier-I providers are also tier-2 providers (that is, vertically integrated), selling Internet access directly to end users and content providers, as well as to lower-tier ISPs. When two ISPs are directly connected to each other, they are said to peer with each other. An interesting study [Subramanian 2002] seeks to define the Internet's tiered structure more precisely by studying the Internet's topology in terms of customer- provider and peer-peer relationships.

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Wireless Access

Accompanying the current Internet revolution, the wireless revolution is also having a profound impact on the way people work and live. Today, more people in Europe have a mobile phone than a PC or a car. And the wireless trend is continuing with many analysts predicting that wireless (and often mobile) handheld devices -- such as mobile phones and PDAs-.will overtake wired computers as the dominant Internet access devices throughout the world. Today, there are two common types of wireless Internet access. In a wireless LAN, wireless users transmit/receive packets to/from a base station (also known as a wireless access point) within a radius of a few tens of meters. The base station is typically connected to the wired Internet and thus serves to connect wireless users to the wired network. In wide-area wireless access networks, packets are transmitted over the same wireless infrastructure used for cellular telephony, with the base station thus being managed by a telecommunications provider. This provides wireless access to users within a radius of tens of kilometers of the base station.
Wireless LANs, based on IEE 802.11 technology (also known as wireless Ethernet and WiFi), are currently enjoying widespread deployment in university departments, business offices, cafes, and homes. Many universities install IEEE 802.11 base stations across their campuses, allowing students to send and receive e-mail or surf the Web from anywhere on campus (for example, library, dorm room, classroom, or outdoor campus bench). In many cities, one can stand on a street corner and be within range of ten or twenty base stations (for a browse able global map of 802.11 base stations that have been discovered and logged on a Web site by people who take great enjoyment in doing such things, see [wiggle.net 20071). The most commonly deployed 802.11 technology.

Today many homes are combining broadband residential access (that is, cable modems or DSL) with inexpensive wireless LAN technology to create powerful home networks. This home network consists of a roaming laptop as well as a wired PC; a base station (the wireless access point), which communicates with the wireless PC; a cable modem, providing broadband access to the Internet; and a router, which interconnects the base station and the stationary PC With the cable modem. This network allows household members to have broadband access to the Internet, with one member roaming from the kitchen to the backyard to the bedrooms. The total fixed cost for such a network is less than $150 (including the cable/DSL modem). When you access the Internet through wireless LAN technology, you typically need to be within a few tens of meters of a base station. This is feasible for home access, coffee shop access, and, more generally, access within and around a building. But what if you are on the beach or in your car and you need Internet access? For such wide-area access, roaming Internet users make use of the cellular phone infrastructure, accessing base stations that are up to tens of kilometers away. Conceptually, this is similar to a home user with a dial-up connection to the Internet over a wired telephone line, except that now the cellular telephony infrastructure, rather than the wired telephony infrastructure, is used.

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Understanding the Significance of Network Configuration Management and Network Performance Monitoring

In delivering the best of services to respective recipients, IT based systems play a vital role for various companies. But then, these systems are often vulnerable to all types of changes. Thus, network configuration management is required.
Even though the configuration of your network devices experience constant change, they are very much under your control through the aid of a network configuration management. Furthermore, you will be able to find useful tools in making significant changes to the network. And if the recent changes you have made are proven to be unsuccessful, you can easily take them back and reuse the previous configuration.

In reality, handling the changes in your network is a very difficult task especially without a network configuration management. Changes are not documented automatically and therefore, you have to do it manually. In the case you forget to document all those changes, recalling them can be very frustrating.

All the computers that belong in a certain network are able to work in unison through the aid of a network configuration management. In most cases, constant changes are made on different devices in the system. And it becomes virtually hard to troubleshoot these certain changes when the time comes.

Network performance monitoring mainly focuses in understanding the details on network traffic and resource utilization. It is vital to perform this function with both the hardware and software of the network.

Like performing any other functions, network performance monitoring also requires specific tools. Windows 2000 provides one of the most commonly used tools. These tools are the Network Monitor and the System Monitor; tracing the resource utilization as well as the network throughput.

Windows 2000 Professional and the Windows 2000 Server are both needed in putting up the System Monitor while the Windows 2000 Server is the only system needed to set up the Network Monitor. Moreover, the Network Monitor supervises local traffic.

Other than aforementioned tools, network performance monitoring can also be done by other means. But then, it is important to bear in mind in choosing the best possible tools for the task.

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Fearlessly Upgrading Your PC to Windows 7

For PC users, system upgrades like the soon-to-be-released Windows 7 are a cause for both excitement and anxiety. The excitement is for the new capabilities and performance improvements that Windows 7 promises. The anxiety comes from bitter experience. Many have tried Windows® upgrades in the past only to decide they liked the older version better. Then they discovered how hard it was to get their PC back to the way it had been prior to the upgrade.
Restoring a PC after an upgrade attempt can be difficult because the upgrade also replaces a host of software drivers with new code supporting the new Windows®. Removing the upgraded operating system does not always remove these new drivers, and re-installing the older Windows version will not necessarily re-install the drivers you had been using. As a result, your PC could end up with incompatible or obsolete drivers. Your PC might behave differently than it had before the update attempt, or it may even stop working. Incompatibility in key system drivers can leave the PC non-operational and your prospects for fixing the problem bleak.

To make sure your PC gets fully restored, you need to find out what drivers changed during the upgrade and subsequent regression, and identify which driver versions to re-install, a tedious and error-prone task.

Fortunately, there is a solution available called DriverAgent™(www.driveragent.com). This inexpensive and easy-to-use tool scans your PC to find all the drivers, and then searches an online database to determine if your drivers are all the right versions. It can also automatically download and install any drivers that need updating.

DriverAgent is especially useful for those planning to install a Windows upgrade because it offers a unique new feature - the Migration Wizard. This application makes upgrading or downgrading a much less risky proposition. It scans your hardware and builds a CD of all the drivers you will need for your target operating system.

By all accounts, Windows 7 seems like a winner; however, it never hurts to have a plan B if you need to downgrade. DriverAgent and its Migration Wizard make changing Windows versions so simple that you can do this upgrade fearlessly.

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The Four Steps of the Red Flags Rule

It has been said that the best defensive plan is an offensive one. The saying is true for any situation in which information is available to stop problems before they start, especially in the business world. In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it would be applying the same proactive principal to the widespread problem of identity theft and business fraud. By implementing mandatory standards of fraud security, the FTC's Red Flags Rule hopes to protect both businesses and consumers nationwide and fight back against hackers and identity thieves.
However, as with any attempt at mass standardization, the Red Flags Rule has been turbulent to introduce. The date by which all affected businesses are expected to comply has been moved twice since the rule was announced. Many businesses claim that the language of the rule has made them confused as to how to achieve compliance, or if their industry will be affected. The FTC has since increased its awareness programs, breaking Red Flags compliance down into four easy steps.

In this article, we will discuss the four steps of Red Flags Rule compliance, and how each is an opportunity for your business to take a proactive role in the fight against business fraud.

Step One: Identify Red Flags Every business industry has it own unique set of potential red flags, or indicators of potential business fraud. Before you can implement a successful program to detect and prevent red flags, it's essential to first identify suspicious activity unique to your corner of the business world. The FTC provides a series of categories to consider when building a list of relevant red flags, but also urges business owners in this stage to pay special attention to the details of the accounts they manage on a daily basis. What sort of accounts your business deals with-how they are accessed, managed and changed-will play an important role in helping you decide how you will focus on attempts at fraud on your business.

Step Two: Detecting Red Flags Relevant red flags may exist in two places: new customers and existing customers. It's important to have procedures in place to identify both new and current fraudsters in a way that is not disruptive to your daily business. Comprehensive identity verification and identity authentication systems, when paired with reliable data sources, can be essential tools in helping your business detect fraud. But, there is no universal detection system that will work for everyone. Depending on your industry and the sensitivity of your accounts, you may wish to pull consumer data from multiple sources or invest in an authentication or verification service that covers several different means of making sure your customers are who they say they are. It all depends on what works best for your business.

Step Three: Mitigate Red Flags If you encounter a red flag, it's important that your business and employees are aware of what steps must be taken to properly mitigate the threat and reduce the opportunity for it to happen again. The appropriate response may depend entirely on the situation, the nature of your business and the nature of your red flags detection program. The FTC offers a set of guidelines for dealing with red flags and fraud encounters, but as the business owner or operator, the situation is truly in your control. It's up to you to determine the best course of action to protect your business, your employees and your customers.

Step Four: Maintain Currency The methods with which identity thieves and fraudsters attack businesses change on a daily basis. It's essential for all Red Flags compliant businesses to keep their fraud prevention systems up to date with current industry knowledge in order to keep their prevention programs sharp. While a reliable data provider will stay up to date with consumer information, it's up to you and your business to identify which methods are most effective and which should be evaluated or updated for maximum impact on your unique operation.

The Red Flags Rule is simple in and of itself. By following these four easy steps to compliance, you'll be building a system that will effectively prepare you and your employees to prevent, mitigate and report fraud in your daily business. Your system will reach beyond the walls of your business and impact your business partners and customers alike. By being proactive, you'll be doing your part to keep transactions honest and customers confident in their decisions to bring their business to you.

Electronic Verification Systems, an industry leader with more than 10 years of data provision and fraud prevention services experience specializes in integrating identity verification and authentication procedures into established business security structures. We can help you detect and prevent identity fraud, making our solutions ideal for those seeking to become Red Flags compliant.

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Wondershare Registry Optimizer

Differing from common software reviews, this registry optimizer review will focus on the three following aspects so as to help you know better you computer on one hand, and improve your PC performance by yourself like a technician on the other.


1>Why we need registry optimizer software?
2>What to look for in registry optimizer software?
3>How does Wondershare Registry Optimizer work to boost your PC performance?
1. Why we need registry optimizer software?

Like a new car, a new computer runs fast when you first bring it home, but after a few miles it slows down and can leave you stranded. Registry optimizer is like the best car mechanic; it can diagnose problems, fix broken down components, free up stuck mechanisms and get your computer back to speeding down the Internet highway.

Registry optimizer software is designed to make the complex process of cleaning your registry and optimizing system relatively simple. Fixing Windows registry is not a procedure where you want to make a mistake. Registry optimizer software is an excellent tool for safely and easily cleaning and optimizing registry, no matter your experience level.

2. What to look for in registry optimizer software?

We have tested and reviewed over 10 award-winning registry cleaner & optimizers, and refer to criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to rank registry cleaner & optimizer software. Below are the features what we think a worth-your-trust registry optimizer must have.

Feature Set-Significant features a registry optimizer should have:

Significant features of a top registry optimizer should contain registry and disk cleanup (capable of cleaning errors including invalid or empty entries, shortcuts, fonts, invalid ActiveX, DLLs, file extensions, invalid files path, setting errors, custom controls, help and resource, etc), registry defragmentation, system optimization (adjusting registry parameters), backup, and other useful system tools like IE repair, start up menu manage, uninstall manager, system info, etc.

These features should be logically organized and easy to access.

Ease of Use:

User-friendly software should be simple to use for computer users of all levels of expertise. Well-designed software interface have a logical and considerate structure, and do not require complex, multiple steps.

Safety:

A concern people may have with registry repair is that altering the registry may do more harm than good. If you charge ahead without having learnt helpful information from a good registry management program, you can incur additional problems. Safety is paramount. Superior software imparts a high level of communication so that problems can be analyzed from a broad perspective and down to the individual error.

Help/Documentation:

Good customer support, provided by quality programs, offer comprehensive help options presented clearly and not littered with technical jargon. The manufacture should also provide several methods of contact including telephone, email or chat for inquiries with useful and quick responses.

Ease of Setup:

The criterion rates how quickly the software installs and whether additional programs or downloads are required to get it run at its optimal capacity.

Compatibility with OS

Few registry optimizer works on all operating systems, so just select the one for your OS. But generally speaking, the most popular operating systems contain: Windows Me/2003/Vista/XP. And you may need to prepare for the coming Windows 7.

3. How does Wondershare Registry Optimizer work to boost your PC performance?

Wondershare Registry Optimizer is an outstanding registry cleanup and optimizing utility, which features user-friendly and fully functional. Besides the robust registry cleaning and system optimize functions, it also includes other utilities such as IE repair, startup manager, uninstall manager and system info for your choice. You can set your mind at rest when using it since there is an automatic backup utility for restoration anytime.

Wondershare Registry Optimizer standout features: Remove invalid registry entries, orphaned shortcuts and references Eliminate system crashes and errors Build an optimized registry from the old one Optimize PC boot up and application response speed Remove useless files with privacy cleaner Protect privacy and save memory

Ease of Use:

Wondershare Registry Optimizer is very user-friendly. All the functions are divided into four modules so that it takes only one click for you to go to the section you want. For scanning registry, you only need to click once.

Feature Set:

Wondershare Registry Optimizer is actually an entire PC utilities suite with a large arsenal of tools for PC speedup and maintenance. The suite application comprises registry cleaner, registry optimizer, shortcuts cleaner, privacy cleaner, system optimizer, backup and restore, IE manager, startup manager, uninstall manager, built-in scheduler, options, system info and quick access to useful system tools.

Startup manager provides you a list of programs that automatically start up when your boot up your computer, you may disable or delete unnecessary programs from start up menu so as to reduce PC startup time. Another well-designed fantastic function is registry defrag, which first takes you one click to analyze the registry, then presents you an intuitive report of the fragmentations in registry and recommended solution, lastly you decide whether to defrag the registry, if yes, the defragmenting progress will be displayed for you convenience.

With the registry optimizer utility, you can easily customize areas and items to be scanned and select important cookies to keep from being deleted. Even you carelessly delete file, you can restore it with the backup points provided. Along with all of this, a built-in scheduler is offered for you to schedule an automatic and customized scan. PC maintenance gets easier than ever!

Safety:

Safety is the most critical issue of registry optimizer software. Wondershare Registry Optimizer offers many safety features including customizable scan, automatic or manual repair, registry backup and system restore applications. Besides, it offers severity rankings for each error so you can decide which one to repair.

Ease of Installation:

There are no complications and extras during the installation of Wondershare Registry Optimizer.

Help/Support:

The help and documentation segment for this program is excellent. The application comes with a help manual that can be easily accessed through the Help button. Detailed tutorial of how to use the application, FAQ and tech support (through email or online contact form) can be accessed here.

Compatibility with OS:

Wondershare Registry Optimizer is compatible with Windows 98 / me / NT(sp6) / 2000 / XP / XP64 / 2003 / Vista32 / Vista64.

Summary:

With the 12 function modules provided, Wondershare Registry Optimizer features the most complete system utility for PC speedup and maintenance. It's intuitive user-friendly interface and customizable operation makes it fit both novice users and IT experts. It helps you flexibly diagnose and fix system problems, get your computer back into shape, tuned-up and run at peak efficiency! Like most other programs, it offers a try-before-buy version, enabling you to find the potential of both this registry optimizer program and your PC!

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Recover from digital photo disasters

Accidental deletion of photos and brooding over it is more futile than anything on earth, so take precautions to make sure that such incidents don't get replicated in your life. Photo disasters are common occurrences that can happen to anyone but a little alertness can do a lot of good than we can even imagine.

The easiest formulae to avoid these common but frequently committed follies is checking the status of the photos clicked as against the photos that you are intending to click later i.e. its advisable to be forearmed and forewarned before you click further photos and save the older ones to the other storage medias that are available in the market.

Unconsciously and carelessly resorting to some of the express features provided in the advanced Digital Cameras can wreak more havoc to your photos than manually deleting them. Provided below are some basic tips which can bring down the incidence of photo loss to a great extent


Maintaining the media properly


The media that is being used for the purpose (be it the storage medias on which you store the pictures for future references or the drives that are used for transferring the pictures from the Digicams to the computer) should be maintained in optimum condition.

Manhandling the media by exposing it to fire and moisture, keeping it too near to the bonfire or oven, letting the camera screen rub against rough surfaces and sand should be strictly avoided under all circumstances.

Carrying media in overstuffed suitcases can harm them physically and render them unreadable. Medias kept near the fire or heat does not damage the pictures but the memory cards may get distorted and this might stop the card reader from recognizing the memory card. It is advisable to wrap the media in clothes and place them in the middle of the suitcase. This would offer some degree of protection while traveling. Never leave the memory cards in an elevated temperature environment.


Features that kill


Advanced features enable us to perform many tasks that would have been rendered impossible without them but its of great import to remember that accidental overwriting of photos stored in the camera memory cards is a common mistake that accounts for a large percentage as far as deletion is concerned. To avoid this from happening take a little time out and back up your photos in PCs, laptops, CDs or DVDs for future references.

This would keep your photos safe and invalidate any chances of overwriting.

Contrary to what most people believe, reformatting is capable of deleting photos from print orders and also the pictures that are protected. Reformatting erases all the files that are stored on the memory card, which can only be retrieved by an image recovery software company.


Protection provided to digital medias


Always keep the digital cameras and the medias in padded and watertight cases in order to keep them safe and secure. If you have lost your precious photos due to the onslaught of any of the aforesaid causes, consider getting a photo recovery done from Stellar Information Systems Ltd.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery v3.2 is designed to recover lost photo, audio, and video files of various formats from almost all storage media. Compatible with Windows and Apple Mac operating systems, this self-explanatory non-destructive image recovery software program saves the recovered data in a user-specified location without modifying or overwriting the original files.

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Inbox Repair Tool Fails with Unknown Error to Access the PST

PST files are used for storing Outlook data. If Outlook fails to open or results errors when you try to access mail folders, chances are that you Outlook data file (.pst file) is corrupted. The Inbox Repair Tool is a built-in utility provided by Microsoft that can deal with some of these corruption problems. It can repair the PST file, if it has been corrupted by Outlook itself or some hard disk issues have rendered the file unusable. To deal with other Outlook PST Repair tasks, third-party applications can work. However, it is recommended to apply the backup, provided is available and valid.
Consider you use Microsoft Outlook and .pst file corrupts for some reason. As the prime solution, when you run Inbox Repair Tool to try fixing the corruption issues with the file, you receive the similar error as below:

" An unknown error prevented access to the file C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst"

Trying to open the same file with hex editor also fails with the below error message:

"Couldn't open 'C:\Documents and Settings\USER\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\outlook.pst' for reading."

When you attempt to copy the file, it results into CRC erros and you cannot copy it.

Cause

Such errors suggest that .pst file is severely damaged, beyond repair. Inbox Repair Tool comes with limited functionalities to repair the damaged file. It analyzes the file for fixing directory structure and item headers issues.

You can encounter these PST problems if the disk is infected. Hardware related concerns can also prevent any file to be opened.

Solution

You are suggested to follow these measures to solve the above problem:

1-Run chkdsk to diagnose and repair disk issues 2-Perform hardware diagnostics to determine and isolate hardware issues, if any 3-If none of the method works for you, it is highly recommended to use third-party PST Repair applications.

Outlook PST Repair tools are comprehensive tools, exclusively designed to diagnose and repair a corrupted PST file. These products are safe to use and prove completely efficient to bring results, even when the Inbox Repair Tool fails to fix.

Stellar Phoenix Outlook PST Repair is a reliable and advanced repair utility for PST files created with Outlook 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. It is one of the known PST Repair product that is competent to restore all file objects, including emails, notes, journals, tasks and contacts. The tool incorporates high-end scanning algorithms and graphically rich user interface.

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Digital Photo Recovery from Caplio GX100 VF KIT Camera

Caplio GX100 VF KIT is a compact digital camera with 10.01 mega pixel CCD combined with an advanced image-processing engine to capture low noise high quality pictures, 24 to 72 mm equivalent wide zoom and a removable electronic viewfinder.


The storage media of the camera are its own inbuilt memory, MMC, and SD card. These storage media tend to be corrupted due to both internal and external errors resulting in loss of data. At such times, there arises the unavoidability of using an efficient Photo Recovery software.



Suppose, you took some photographs with Caplio GX100 VF KIT; and now, when you try to see or transfer them to your PC, you are startled by the appearance of an error message something like the following:



"Card Error"



After this error message it becomes clear that your photos are either lost or inaccessible, and each attempt to access them prompts the same error message repeatedly.



Causes:



The above error message could have appeared due to one of the following errors:



Using unsupported MMC or SD card, Pulling out of the card during read/write process, Using a card not formatted for use in Caplio GX100 VF KIT, Using a corrupted or damaged SD card, MMC or internal memory.

Solution:



If the problem is due to using SD cards or MMCs unsupported by the camera, changing for a supported one is necessary. Every new storage medium needs formatting first for it to be usable. If you are using an unformatted one, format it. If your internal memory, SD card or MMC is corrupted or damaged, you need to change the device for a good one. If the problem was due to removal of the device while read/write process is in progress, your photographs are corrupted and hence inaccessible at best, or lost otherwise. This condition needs reformatting of the storage device; but this command will erase all the photographs the safety of which is your primary concern.



Luckily, the lost photographs can be recovered by using an updated data backup process. However, if backup process is not available, or it fails you will need to use some powerful Photo recovery software. Digital Photo Recovery programs are developed employing highly advanced scanning and recovery algorithms to recover lost digital photographs.



Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery v3.2 is designed to recover lost photo, audio, and video files of various formats from almost all storage media. Compatible with Windows and Apple Mac operating systems, this self-explanatory non-destructive Digital Photo Recovery program saves the recovered data in a user-specified location without modifying or overwriting the original files.

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Recovering Images from Nikon D5000

Equipped with a 12.30 megapixel CMOS sensor, 18-55 mm zoom, a shutter speed of 30-1/4000, 3.5 max aperture, ISO ranging from 200 to 3, 200 with a Lo 1 setting of 100 and a Hi 1 setting of 6,400, and 2.7 inch LCD viewfinder, Nikon D5000 can take high definition still and motion pictures.

With no inbuilt internal memory, Nikon D5000 uses SD or SDHC cards as it storage media. These storage media are prone to several internal and external factors of damage or corruption leading to eventual data loss.


Faced with such a situation, you need to use some powerful Digital Image Recovery Software .


For example, you have some pictures taken stored in your Nikon D5000 memory card. But, when you try to view or transfer them to your PC, you are startlingly shocked by the appearance of some error message like:


"No memory card inserted."


After this error message you find your images inaccessible, and every attempt to access squarely prompts the same error message.

Causes:


The above error message could have been prompted by one of the following reasons:

Unsupported SD/SDHC card on camera,

Corrupted/damaged SD/SDHC card on camera,


Unformatted card on camera,

Card removal during read/write process.

Solution:


In case of the first two possible causes, changing your unsupported, corrupted or damaged SD/SDHC card for a new good supported one will put an end to the repetition of the problem. If the memory card on your camera is unformatted, it needs formatting for it to be usable, meaning that your attempts to capture images with your unformatted memory card failed.

If the problem was due to removal of the device while read/write process is in progress, your photographs are corrupted and hence are inaccessible at best, or lost otherwise.

This condition needs reformatting of the storage device; but this command will erase all the photographs the safety of which is your primary concern.

Luckily, the lost photographs can be recovered by running an updated data backup process. However, if backup process is unavailable or unsuccessful, you will need to use some powerful Image Recovery Software .

Programs to recover lost images employ highly advanced scanning and recovery algorithms to cater to the most complex needs of the time.

Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery v3.2 is designed to recover lost photo, audio, and video files of various formats from almost all storage media. Compatible with Windows and Apple Mac operating systems, this easy-to-use digital image recovery software program saves the recovered data in a user-specified location without modifying or overwriting the original files.

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The Easiest Way To Uninstall ATI Drivers - Use ATI Driver Removal Tools

Thousands of people complain the problems of ATI video card driver such as display anomaly, sudden freezing up, blue screen and even corruption. What a pain in the neck! Some try to uninstall the ATI video card drivers and reinstall, but still fail to solve the problems listed above.
Why ATI constantly has so many problems and errors in their products? Because they outsource their product and software programming. This leads to poor compatibility between the hardware and programs. So people want to uninstall or even remove the ATI drivers and don't use ATI video cards any more.

But I want to tell you that you don't need to uninstall or remove them! You can download and install the latest versions. This will solve most of your video card problems. ATI frequently update and release on the website the drivers of their video cards to fix some problems and errors or to get the most out of graphic card performance.

If you download and install the latest version but still cannot fix the problems and errors, you maybe download the wrong version or your computer has some errors which lead to installation failure.

I suggest you download some ATI driver removal tool to help you uninstall the faulty ones and download the newest one to install. Normally a driver removal tool is integrated with some other functions such as driver update, restore, backup and so on. This kind of utility is usually call driver update software or san software. Some powerful software can also detect the errors and problems, and download and install the newest versions of drivers.

So if you are suffering from ATI video card errors or problems, you can use a ATI driver removal tool or update software to help you solve them and update your drivers to the newest version.

You can click here to get a free driver scan to detect your ATI graphic card errors and problems. Or click here to learn how to learn more about how to solve ATI driver problems by yourself.

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Windows 7 Installation

Windows 7 beta is now available on the market. There are a few steps to install on your PC. 1. Preparing the DVD ISO image Burn a DVD ISO image downloaded. The requirements are a DVD burner, DVD burning software and a DVD-R or DVD-RW. Thus, the installation disc will be ready. Preferably choose a very low burn speed for best results. 2. Set up your computer and BIOS settings After burning the DVD to restart your computer. 3 Booting Tips Read the instructions carefully so that the process runs correctly during the Windows 7 installation. In the dropdown, select your preferred language, time and currency, a keyboard or input method. Install option is now on the next page you will install Windows 7. If the installation is damaged then use the Repair option to make the team. This button is on the bottom left. Carefully read the license terms before accepting.
On the next screen you will find two options, update and customized (advanced). Preferably choose the latter.

4. Place of the installation of Windows 7

When you click the custom button on the screen for selecting installation location. If not a test machine, you get the list of all hard disk partitions. The recommended size is 15 GB. Be aware of important data on the drive you choose. Otherwise it will be deleted.

5. Create or modify partitions

Click the advanced options of the unit, such as delete, format, new and expanded. You can also create a new partition only opting for the new button. After the partition has been selected, click Next to continue. The new option provides a text box to enter the sizes. Click the application button to continue. Window 7 could create additional partitions for system files.

Almost everything is now done. A 8.8-GB primary partition is created in this way. Select the newly created partition. Click Next. Wait for 20-30 minutes. And all the new operating system Windows 7 is on your PC, installed.

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