How Internet Browsers Work

Ever find yourself asking how our favorite browser works? How it can display to you the website you wanted? Here's an interesting comic showing the simplest explanation :)

Networking with Windows 7's XP Mode

Windows 7's XP Mode, part of the Windows Virtual PC, allows you to run a separate version of XP inside the newer OS. The Virtual PC comes as a free but very large download that works in the Professional and Ultimate editions of Windows 7.

What is a Hard Disk Drive Crash?

When a hard drive spins, the head that reads and writes the magnetic data floats just above the surface of the platter. Originally, the term hard drive crash referred to the head literally crashing into the platter, causing serious damage to your hardware and data.

Ditch Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)

Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) is an outdated, unsupported, potentially dangerous browser that deserves to be put down like a lame plow horse.

Indeed, there's only one legitimate reason for sticking with it: work. If you're using, say, a company laptop, you may have no choice but to use the IT department-approved browser, which in many cases is still IE6.

Otherwise, it's time to make a change. I highly recommend upgrading to Internet Explorer 8, which will very likely solve your problem and open the door to all kinds of worthwhile features: tabs, Accelerators, Web Slices, and a wealth of malware and phishing protections.

Why Computers Become Slooooow

You can't always determine what's slowing down a PC--at least not easily. But taking the following steps in the order I list them will likely locate and solve the problem.

1) Scan for malware. A program that means you no good just might be the culprit. If your PC is mass-mailing spam or taking part in some other evil activity without your knowledge, that could slow it down. I assume you already have a good anti-virus program, but just to be safe, install, update, and scan your PC with either SUPERAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware.

How To Restore Outlook Express Backup Folder

A friend of mine backed up his Outlook Express folder to a flash drive. He then consulted me how to recover the messages inside it.

What appears as a folder in Outlook Express isn't really a folder. As far as Windows is concerned, it's a single file with a .dbx extension. The email program has to know it's there to look for it and open it.

Keep Your Keyboard Clean

When was the last time you did anything with your keyboard besides drop cookie crumbs on it?

Over time, all keyboards accumulate dust, crumbs, and other everyday dirt. And all it takes for, say, your 'S' key to stop working is for something to get lodged under it.

Blue Screen of Death During Startup

If you're trying to boot from an existing Windows installation on a hard drive transferred from an older system, then a BSOD on startup can occur. This often means that the system can't find the right storage controller; the actual error code is 0x0000007. Maybe your old system had its SATA ports set to IDE mode and your new one is set up for AHCI. Or perhaps your new board has a different chipset.

Troubleshoot POST Problems

Every PC goes through POST--power-on self test--when it first powers up. One mistake many new system builders make is to assemble the entire system, then try the first boot. The problem with this approach is that it's difficult to narrow down the actual culprit behind a boot problem. Instead, install the CPU with CPU cooling solution, memory, and the graphics card. Don't connect hard drives, external storage, or optical drives. Don't install additional expansion cards yet, either. Try a bare-bones boot first, with only the monitor and keyboard attached to the system.

Troubleshooting Your PC

Here are a few tips to avoid getting stuck in a troubleshooting rut.

State the problem clearly, even if it's only to yourself. If you need to, write it down. "The system won't boot" isn't good enough. Instead: "The system won't boot; when it tries to boot, it generates an error saying that no operating system is installed. When I try to reboot, I can see that my hard drive isn't visible to the BIOS."

How to Backup Firefox Preferences

Firefox saves your preferences and settings in a single place. Some of those settings you can alter in the Options dialog box, but not all of them. The others require going into an obtuse, difficult-to-understand work environment called about:config.

And if you play around in about:config, changing settings that you think you understand, you can really mess things up. That's why, when you enter this environment--which you do by clicking the address bar (pressing CTRL-L will not work in this situation), typing about:config, and pressing ENTER--you have to click a button that reads "I'll be careful, I promise!"

Use Hibernate for Laptops

A friend recently told me about a problem with her new laptop: Whenever she'd step away from it for more than a few minutes, she'd close the lid. Upon returning, she'd open the lid, only to be faced with a blank screen and no response from the mouse or keyboard.

Want to know why? The default lid-closing action for most laptops is to put the system in Sleep mode, and Windows is notoriously bad at waking up properly. I advise most laptop users to use Hibernate mode instead, as it's much more reliable when it comes to waking up.

Re-Use Your Old Laptop's Hard Drive

Inexpensive hard drive enclosures are ideal for recycling old laptop drives that have been replaced by higher-capacity models.

An enclosure is essentially an external case for that internal drive, one that lends it a USB interface. When all is said and done, you'll have a compact USB hard drive you can use for backups, extra storage, transporting files, and so on.

More immediately, an enclosure lets you easily restore your data onto the new drive--a simple drag-and-drop operation. With that done, you'll have to decide if you want to wipe the drive or keep it intact.

Upgrade Your Laptop's Memory

So my boss was griping that his Toshiba laptop takes forever to boot. I inspected it for spyware, excessive startup programs, and the other usual suspects, but everything checked out.

Then I remembered that the machine is about three years old and wasn't a powerhouse to begin with. So I checked the RAM. Bingo: it has only 1GB. Windows Vista needs at least 2GB to run smoothly.

Upgrading a laptop's RAM may sound like a big deal, but it's actually the single easiest upgrade there is. The only challenge lies in determining how many RAM modules your system currently has and what kind they are.

How to Fix a Rogue Process

When Windows slows down to an unbearable crawl, there's a good possibility that one particular process is at fault--sometimes taking close to 100-percent of the CPU's capabilities. In such a case, it's best to kill the process.

A process is a program or an independent piece of a program. As I write this, I have six applications, but 57 processes, running on my computer.

And if the problem keeps occurring, it's best to find out what that process is about and stop it from loading altogether.

Fix Internet Explorer 8's Crashes

Browser crashes can be tough to troubleshoot--especially when you don't provide information about your PC, operating system, and so on. (ahem). That's something everyone should remember when asking for help with system problems: the more details you can provide, the better.

The smart short-term workaround for any browser problem: try another browser.

Anyway, you've got two likely culprits here: a corrupted add-on or a bad Flash plug-in. I suspect the latter, so let's start with that.

Never Open Your Power Supply

A friend of mine opened his PC's power supply to clean it. Now it doesn't work.

Power supply units (PSUs) aren't really meant to be opened and messed with on the inside. Most likely you accidentally broke something or put it together wrong.

Since you've already done the deed, you might as well try it again to make sure nothing is broken or out-of-place. Pay particular attention to dull-colored, cold solder connections, to see if they're damaged.

How To Save Your MP3s

A friend of mine asked for the safest possible way to protect his large mp3 collection. I have a huge database of mp3s as well so I decided to share with you some of the ways to be able to do this.

If you really don't want to rip all of your CDs again (or re-download them from the digital store), I'm going to recommend a multi-prong approach:

1) Keep them on your internal hard drive. Not only will they be convenient for listening, but they'll move to your next computer along with the rest of your data.

Fill Out Forms Faster with Tab Key

The other day I spotted something that made my eyes hurt. A woman was filling out a lengthy Web form. After she'd complete one field, she'd reach for her mouse, find the cursor, carefully click inside the next field, and type more data. Then she'd repeat the entire process.

As I mentioned a couple years back when I first mentioned this tip, I continue to be amazed by how many people don't know the faster, easier way to navigate Web forms: with the Tab key.

Is It Okay To Work During a Windows Update?

Windows Update explicitly says that you can go on working while updating. I do it, and have yet to run into problems I could connect to this habit. The simple truth is that the serious part of the update, where your system files are changed, happens later with the reboot.

Which isn't to say that there aren't some jobs you should probably avoid at that time. Defragging isn't a good idea while an update is going on. I'd also avoid installing or uninstalling an application.

The worst part of the update experience (assuming the update itself doesn't do more harm than good), is the message popping up asking for a reboot. Luckily, you can put off the actual reboot until it's convenient for you.