Computer tips by Mr.Coffee!

[MrCoffee]

MrCoffee's Computer Tips


Virtual PC Care

1.Always use antivirus, yes it may use more CPU and cause you to run games slower but in fact it protects you PC from viruses, spyware, root kits. They are all difficult to remove I recommend AVG Free; It's a great program, updates with new virus lists almost daily, comes with an email scanner, and is has a user friendly interface.

2.Try to keep the demo's and hacked or ripped software to a minimum because many demos have small extras that pop up reminding you to buy their product.

3.Increase your computer start up speed. Do you ever find that your computer starts up and takes forever to load all the programs that automatically load when you turn on your computer? Heres the fix for that, though many games have the function button in there UI (User Interface)
Go to Start
Run,
(in the box that should pop up)
Type "msconfig"
Ther very last tab "Start up" go to that and uncheck all the boxes that you ABSOLUTELY know are your games. Many of these are windows drivers to keep your computer running DO NOT disable if you don't know what they are. (there titles should give you a little bit of a hint)

4.Run disk defragment once a week. Disk defragment can be found in your accessories folder in your start menu.

5.Do not leave your computer on for more than 4 hours at a time if you are not using. Seeing as thisis a gaming community I'm sure all of you download large files such as movies, games, and tv shows. Now It is fine to leave you computer on but you should turn off your screen. What I do is I have an old computer which I use for a server and noone uses so what I do is setup a network (which is relatively easy) and download the files on the old computer which I can leave on around the clock.

Hardware Care

1.Do not use air compressed cans or air compressers on the inside of your computer. The air pushes the dust into the little cracks of your circuit boards and actually shortens the life of your computer. I suggest use a vacume once a month. Note, that air comrpessed cans like "Dust off" can be very hazardbecause if not held completely vertical a liquid comes out which is infact frozen air (I think not sure my friend agreed) and can damnage your hardware. it is great for cleanign TV's, and teh case of your computer as well!

2.Clean out your fans! Most people never do this but it is very important, I have a temperation gage on the from of my computer and the temp when up considerably when I turned off one of the fans!
3.If your computer is in a carpetted room raise it off the ground with piece of wood, Some people even take some of the magnetic plastic that you get with circuit boards between the ground and the computer.

4.Laptops arn't literally ment to be put on you lap. You should have something between you and your clothing. Many laptops have fans on the bottom for no good reason and over heat easily. Also laptops move around more so use a vacum and suck on the fans at least once a week to keep dust and hair from building up!

5.When buying parts by from a whole saler. Many of them will give you advice for installing. Here are some wholesalers in the lowermainland. http://www.atic.com http://www.mikescomputershop.com (My Favorite) http://ncix.com.

Hope you enjoyed my little tips on computers. Please reply with qeustions or email me at lanparty@shaw.ca!

[Canyarion]

Thanks. :) I'll defragment more often.

[Null]

5.Do not leave your computer on for more than 4 hours at a time if you are not using. Seeing as thisis a gaming community I'm sure all of you download large files such as movies, games, and tv shows. Now It is fine to leave you computer on but you should turn off your screen. What I do is I have an old computer which I use for a server and noone uses so what I do is setup a network (which is relatively easy) and download the files on the old computer which I can leave on around the clock.


im not so sure about that one. its widely argued that shutting your computer down every so often actually does more damage to it then leaving it on.
i shut mine down every night, its on all day long, and some will even say thats shutting it down too often.

For the Monitor, i've never read anything on that says its not good to turn it off, if i ever leave my computer on over night while its downloading or defragging, i turn my monitor off, but often thats because i dont want the glow from it at night. computers have the option to put the monitor in sleep mode after so much time not being used for a reason.







Also for the Msconfig, really theres only a couple that the computer needs when it starts up, and it will usually turn it back on if it needs it. but if you are going to turn off ones your unsure of, do em 1 at a time, turn off one, reboot and see if things are good before turning off the next.

and also, if the name doesnt give you a hint of what the program is, if you look at what directory its in, you can usually see what program its for.

[Dyne]

Any Mac tips?

[MrCoffee]

jeez why would I give mack tips they are elite.

Heres a tip to the mac user. Be proud.

[KillerGremlin]

I rarely shut my computer down. But, I'm like Null when I do, I'll fire it up when I wake up, and turn it off before bed. In this day of age, I think it's okay to turn it off when you're not using your PC to save power, but I always have crap downloading so I'm on a lot.

[MrCoffee]

Good point, but I mean like if your downloading go for it ro have use, but in the long run it will benefit you if you turn it off when you aren't using it, I have noticed that when I leave my computer on for long periods of time for example a couple days it will gradually slow down, Basically I'm giving my computer a break :) anyway this isn't neccessary but can be a good idea.

[Jonbo298]

If you want ot asve on the electric bill, you shut it off :p