Security features come in two flavors, hardware and software. When you pit the desktop vs. the laptop, which of two has the better security features?

Kensington Lock

Almost all laptops and most new desktop computer cases have a Kensington lock on them. With laptops, the lock is on the side and on the desktop case it’s almost always in the back. For example, the Cooler Master 341 does have a Kensington lock on it.

Winner: Both

Hard Drive Password

This is a password set on a BIOS/UEFI level that locks the hard drive so the system won’t even boot until you enter a password first.

Generally speaking, it is easier to set a hard drive password on a laptop. This is not to say that you can’t set a password on a desktop PC’s hard drive, but the laptop’s BIOS/UEFI interface usually makes it much easier to get to that setting.

Winner: Laptop

Fast disconnection of networking

Why disconnect your network? Some people like having the knowledge of knowing that absolutely nothing is being sent or received from the computer while doing certain things on it.

Most people don’t know how to disconnect their network other than by physically unplugging the network cable from the computer, or simply turning off the router.

In all operating systems you can disconnect the networking on a software level within the OS, but in most instances it’s not exactly a 1-2-3-easy thing to do.

Laptops are far and above easier to disconnect from a network compared to a desktop. If wired, the network cable is literally within arm’s reach. If wireless, network disconnection can be done by software means (usually by keystroke Fn+F2 on most laptops), or in some instances there’s actually a separate physical button to kill the wireless radio instantly.

Winner: Laptop

Fingerprint identification

This is available for both desktop and laptops, but the advantage of the laptop is that there are models made that have a fingerprint scanner in-built to the chassis, eliminating the need for an otherwise cumbersome wired scanner or keyboard with the scanner in-built to it.

Lenovo was one of the first brands to have fingerprint readers in-built to certain models.

Winner: Laptop

Bulk

Adding bulk does add security. Laptops are meant to be portable, so it’s basically not an option unless you’re willing to mount it to a physically lockable station with "grabber" arms on it (like the kind you see for laptop displays at electronics stores). With a desktop case on the other hand there is the ability to use the holes in the bottom to physically drill in a heavy base if you wanted.

Winner: Desktop

Added info: How does one go about using a Kensington lock?

It’s easy to say, "Yeah, use a Kensington lock" but that doesn’t exactly show you how to use one. Fortunately, Kensington has a quick video to show how easy it is to do. See below.

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Desktop vs. Laptop Security Features

1. Verbatim 8.5GB 2.4x DVD+R DL 95310 20-pack

First on the list took me by surprise because of the low unit count. Not a 5, 10, 50 or 100-pack, a 20-pack. Ordinarily people stray away from these but in this case, 20 seems to work for most people. Evidently, when people are shopping for dual-layer DVD+R discs with an 8.5GB capacity, 20 is the just-right number people want. It may be that most shoppers consider 20 the best bang for the buck with DVD+R DL discs.

2. Verbatim DVD+R 95098 100-pack

"Aren’t all Verbatim 100-pack DVD+R spindles the same?" No, they’re not. There are many who very specifically seek out the 95098 spindle, meaning not the 97459 and not the 97460. Many people feel that the 95098 is the best DVD+R recordable Verbatim makes. And no there is no price difference between this particular spindle and others by Verbatim; it just happens to be that people like the 95098 the most.

3. Verbatim 700MB 52x CD-R 97458 100-pack

In yet another offering from Verbatim is the tried-and-true CD-R in 97458 flavor. These aren’t exactly easy to find on store shelves, but online people are buying these things up left and right. Why? I really have no idea. I personally bought them so I could have better disc compatibility with older computers I have. Maybe the retro PC crowd is what makes these such a hot seller?

4. TDK DVD+R Model 48521 100-pack

This one is actually very easy to explain as to why it’s popular as it has the most compatibility with both computers and console DVD players. If you’ve ever burned a video disc and it didn’t work in your console, chances are very good that if you use these TDKs, it will. The same applies from PC to PC or PC to Mac and vice versa. When you use the TDKs, there’s no worry whether or not it will work in specific computers, because it will. Worth the extra 5 to 10 bucks to buy this spindle? Absolutely.

5. RiDATA 4.7GB 8x DVD-R Inkjet Printable 50-pack

The reason these sell well is because of their inkjet printer compatibility, and the fact they’re only 8x max-speed-write. And yes, the slower write speed is actually a selling point, because some claim this particular disc has one of the longest life spans for the least amount of money. How long? Up to 3 decades if taken care of properly. But will it actually survive that long? Time will tell. This is an ugly disc in an ugly package, but a darned good product nonetheless.

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The 5 Most-Talked-About Optical Discs

Below are 5 mice of varying styles, all wireless, and all good.

Logitech Performance Mouse MX
(up to 30% off through the above link!)

The MX is a high-performance mouse with its biggest perk being that it works on many surfaces, even if it’s glass.

Logitech M570
(up to 12% off through the above link!)

For you trackball fans out there, this is arguably one of the best there is. Battery life is up to 18 months (yes, really!), and yes, this is a laser trackball which means very good precision.

Logitech Optical Trackman
(up to 20% off through the above link!)

One of the best selling points of this trackball wireless mouse is that it’s virtually maintenance-free, and one of the few that is truly "set it and forget it".

Pixxo MA-W6G5

If you like the idea of a wireless mouse but want something on the inexpensive side, Pixxo delivers here with a plain simple wireless mouse – which for many is all they require.

Logitech M510
(up to 13% off through the above link!)

This Logitech offering has real soft-rubber grip body, ensuring you’ll never let go of this mouse accidentally. And yes, it’s a laser mouse for great precision use.

Do you own any of these mice?

If you do, feel free to leave a comment and rate it!

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5 Good Wireless Mice Choices

A major problem that those trying to preserve software run into is trying to get images of floppies regardless of format type. Vintage computer enthusiasts would love it if there were a device you could simply plug in a floppy drive to and copy the diskette raw so at least you’d have something for a backup.

Well, such a device exists, and it’s called the KryoFlux.

With the KryoFlux, you power it via USB cord, then plug in the floppy drive directly to the board. From software using a modern PC, you instruct the card to read the floppy diskette then create your mountable image or pull in raw data, and you’ve got your copy regardless of what the floppy format is. This means you can pull and archive data from Apple II, Commodore, Amiga, Atari, MS-DOS and several other floppy format types all with one floppy drive.

Does the card need to be mounted in a PC? No, it doesn’t. You can keep your big 5.25-inch drive and card outside the case and run it that way if you wish.

Do you have write capability as well as read? Yes, you do.

There are two versions of the KryoFlux, basic and advanced. The basic is $139 and the advanced is about $147. This is a small price to pay to archive all the software you paid hundreds of dollars for years ago.

And to note, if you have piles of those 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch floppies that you said you’d archive someday, you’d better get to it quick. Even if you have your floppies stored properly in dust-free cases and in paper sleeves, they’re disintegrating from age. Archive them now while you have the chance, because if you don’t, you’ll lose them.

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Retro Friday: KryoFlux USB-Based Floppy Controller

What this means is that you probably have an older LCD panel monitor that’s in perfect working order and aren’t doing anything with it. It’s sitting there, in the closet, and you’ve finally decided to get rid of the thing.

Below are my suggestions on how to sell an old monitor quickly.

Before I list off my suggestions, here are a few no-no’s:

• Don’t state how much you paid for it originally. Nobody cares, and it doesn’t make your monitor any more valuable because the thing is used. Saying "Originally paid $X" in your ad means absolutely nothing.
• Do not price it higher than the current lowest-priced new monitor of the same size. It’s very unlikely anyone will buy it if you do this. Let’s say you have a 19-inch panel. The current lowest-priced panel in that size is $95. If you price it anywhere near there, that’s bad. "But I paid $250 for it originally!" Again, nobody cares because it’s used. The highest price you can charge is 20% below what the cheapest new monitor of the size size costs now – assuming yours is in mint condition.
• Not showing a photo of the monitor with a picture on it. It’s a monitor and buyers want to see it working. Don’t show that, and it will be a hard sell.

Where to post your ad?

In the USA, the best place is Craigslist. No cost for the ad, and tons of people use CL every day.

How to post your ad?

Unless you live in the middle of the woods, it should be a local-only sale, cash only, local pickup only (meaning no shipping). If you have to ship the thing, you’ll have to increase the price out of what most people would be willing to pay.

Example ad

Title: [Size here] [Brand name here] [Model here]
Price: [20% below cost of same-size monitor brand new here]
Description: Mint condition [Size here] [Brand name here] [Model here] monitor. No dead pixels, backlight is good and bright, all controls work, comes with power cable. Local pickup only, cash only.

Some people feel compelled to write ads that waffle incessantly. Don’t do that. Just get to the point and the monitor will sell quickly.

How to determine your price and deal with hagglers

Using the 19-inch example, we know a new monitor in that size sells for $95. Knock off 20% and you end up with $76. Knock off another buck resulting in an "even" number and you have $75, so that’s what you post as the price.

The haggler, looking to get everything for nothing, will lowball you and offer $40. Come back with $65, he’ll say $45, you say $55, he says $50, you take the $50.

And yes, if you can sell a 19-inch used panel for $50, take the money and be glad you got it.

Final notes:

Don’t discuss price in email. If the haggler makes an offer before coming over to see it, just reply with "We can discuss price when you come to take a look at it". That lets the haggler know you’re willing to negotiate. However if the haggler starts getting snippy at you in email, don’t bother with the guy and wait until more replies to your ad come in (and believe me, they will).

There’s always that idiot that will reply to your ad and say "Do you ship?" even though you said point blank "Local delivery only" in your ad. If this happens, reply and say you’ll have to add in shipping cost to do that. If the buyer agrees, calculate the ship cost, reply back, tell the buyer the new price, and if he agrees, sell it.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

How To Sell An Old LCD Monitor Quickly

Like with all memory cards, there does come a point with SD when it will fail and stop working. But how do you know when it does?

The first thing to examine is whether it’s a fault of the device itself.

SD cards usually mount in one of three ways.

1. The card slides into its slot without any spring mechanism to hold it in (many PC multi-card readers operate this way).
2. The card slides in with the assistance of a spring mechanism to hold it in place, as in push-and-click-in/push-and-click-out, to hold it in place (digital cameras/camcorders use this a lot).
3. The card is laid down and then “sealed” into place with a metal flap manually moved into place (used mostly in smartphones).

If method 1 is used, SD card failure is almost never the device’s fault because there’s hardly any pressure applied; it’s not like there’s any point where you’re jamming the card in there because it only requires minimal effort to take in and out.

If method 2 is used, yes the device itself could be at fault here. Click-in/click-out methods of mounting cards do put significantly more pressure put on the card and contacts; that’s just the nature of the way they work.

If method 3 is used, it’s unlikely the device is at fault because at no time are you putting significant pressure on the card, with the exception of the “flap-and-click” where you lay the card down, pull over the flap, then pull the flap with your finger and click the contacts into place. But even then, that’s really not that much pressure.

Read and write failures

One day you go to turn on the device that uses the SD card, write some data to it (such as taking a photo with your digital camera), you go to check the data and it’s corrupted or simply isn’t there – but you know you wrote data to it. This is highly indicative that the card is nearing the end of its lifespan and should be replaced.

System initialization failures

Using a digital camera as an example, you power up the camera and the screen says no card exists even though there’s one in there. You power the camera off, then on again, the card is then recognized and you go about your business. This camera is telling you (albeit indirectly) that the card is exhibiting problems, and you should replace it.

If on camera startup the screen always reports that there’s no card in there, it’s most likely true the card has failed completely and you should replace it.

Bad contacts

Contact points can go bad on both ends, both on the card itself and the device just from using them so much that they wear out; the click-in/click-out method of mounting an SD card is the most susceptible to this because you’re probably inserting and removing the card often.

Although this may sound very non-technical, it is true that blowing on the device’s contacts can sometimes save the device, and this is pretty much all you can do because it’s not like you can get in there with a cotton swab to clean it out.

How to avoid contact failure?

The easiest thing to do is to simply not move the card. An alternative method for getting data off an SD card is to use a USB cable instead. With a digital camera for example, you can plug that into your PC via USB cable to get data and photos off the SD card without ever physically removing it from the device.

I especially recommend using the USB cable method for those of you out there with older devices that use SD, as it will extend the life of the device significantly.

How come devices that use SD storage won’t give me “friendly” errors to tell me what’s going on?

They were never designed to, and for the most part still aren’t.

In the early days of devices that used SD, when a card failure occurred, the device would report “system failure”, which obviously tells you nothing other that there’s an error somewhere, but where? It won’t tell you. But it’s almost always a memory card fault.

Later on as devices advanced, the better ones will report an on-screen error such as, “CARD READ FAILURE”, or show an on-screen red icon with a picture of a card with a slash through it, telling you up front the card is the problem so you know it needs to be replaced.

You have to remember that the tiny computers that are in things like digital cameras aren’t exactly the most user-friendly things at times, so when an error pops up, sometimes you have to figure out for yourself what the error means.

More often than not however, should an error appear and you’ve ruled out everything else that could present a problem, it’s probably the SD card that’s causing the error in the first place. And if on replacement of the card the error doesn’t go away, try as best you can to clean the contacts on the device by blowing on them yourself or with a can of compressed air using very short bursts.

Need a new SD card for a good price?

There’s a whole bunch of them here. Remember, SD cards are cheap and readily available, so if yours is old, replace it.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

How Do You Know When An SD Card Is Failing?

I’m running Win XP Professional with Office 2007, Windows Live Mail (version 2009, seems that’s the most current one) along with IE8. I have Cablevision as my provider for Internet/TV/phone services. Is there an open source (I take it that means "free", right?) fax program that’s easily installed/used with Cablevision’s service? I asked them about this but have yet to receive a reply. I don’t fax regularly but it would be nicer/easier if I could do this myself vs using a fax elsewhere in my building. Thank you for your kind attention to this inquiry. I’ve Googled this but got nothing helpful except a link to Cablevision which, so far, has resulted in nothing as well.

Faxing is not something which is provider-specific, meaning you can use it with any phone or internet service as long as you have the proper equipment.

If using a phone line, you need a fax machine or multi-function printer that has a phone jack and scan/print/fax capability.

If using the internet for faxing, technically all you need is your computer and an internet connection, although having a flatbed scanner is required if you want to send faxes that require scanning first.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that the computer/scanner method is the easier of the two. Not only is it cheaper but quicker and more reliable.

There are several internet resources that will allow you to send faxes for free. Here’s a few of them:

• faxZERO
• myfax
• GotFreeFax.com
• Freepopfax

A whole bunch more are listed here, so you have plenty of choices.

In basic terms, all you do is use your flatbed scanner to scan in what you want to fax out, save the file, then use that file on one of the freebie faxing sites to deliver it to whatever number it needs to get to.

Whatever flatbed scanner you have will come bundled with the scanning software you need to get the file you want to fax out.

If the computer/scanner method sounds too complicated, most people who have digital phone service have unlimited nationwide long distance in the USA. As such, you can buy a cheap fax machine and just plug that right in to your existing phone line whenever you need to send out a fax. Being it’s unlikely you’ll require the need to receive faxes and only want sending capability, the cheap-o fax machine fits the bill here just fine.

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Is There A Free Fax Program That Will Work With My Internet Service?

In my possession I have a really old 512MB Sandisk cruzer micro USB stick. To make absolutely sure I was going to get the maximum space out of it, I low-level formatted it first to obliterate any and all partitions (which includes any hidden ones):

Note the low-level format tool says at top that the space available is 524.28MB.

Then a regular format:

Note that Windows 7 states the capacity is 500MB before regular formatting.

After format, Windows 7 via "Computer" then states there is 499MB available:

On a right-click/Properties of that storage device, the same information is displayed:

Now the question is this:

How did we go from a stick labeled as 512MB to a reported 524.28MB to 500MB to 499MB? Are they all correct? Are none of them correct? What’s the deal here?

Raw Capacity

This is the space available in an unformatted state.

The HDD Low-Level Format tool is correct. In a raw unformatted state, the USB stick does have 524.28MB total space available.

When storage media is formatted, space is used and that’s why what you get is smaller when formatted compared to raw.

Windows 7 was also correct in stating the total space available was going to be 500MB before I formatted the stick; it guesstimated that 500 was about what I’d get.

Formatted Capacity

The 499MB total formatted space available is also correct. You can see in the above screenshot that the total formatted space available in bytes is 524,009,472. That translates to 499.7MB.

"Is there any way I can get my space back?"

No. Once formatted, what you get is what you get.

"Does this mean the box my hard drive came in lied to me?"

No. The way hard drive OEMs determine what capacity size to print on the box is to literally take the raw capacity size in bytes, divide by a billion and use that number. And yes, it is technically correct.

"Why do they do that?"

Different operating systems determine formatted usable space in different ways, meaning the usable space you get with any hard drive depends on which operating system you use. In a raw, unformatted state, the size remains consistent and isn’t dependent on any particular OS, so that’s why they use that figure first.

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Why Is Your Computer Lying To You About How Much Space Is Free?

Above is the newly-unveiled TRENDnet TEW-811DR and the TEW-800MB wireless router and bridge using the 802.11ac specification that allows for 1.3Gbps wireless connectivity. No, they’re not available for sale yet (that will happen later this year), but yes they will be backward compatible with Wireless N as long as you stay on the 5GHz band.

The question however that always rears its ugly head is, "Okay, it’s faster, and that’s cool. But will I get better range out of this thing?"

I can’t give a definitive yes or no on that. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. There’s a TRENDnet-specific technology called "Beam Forming" with these newer units that supposedly transmits signals around objects and walls better, but does it? That I don’t have the answer to.

What I can say however is this: If you have a newer dual-band wireless N router now and the range in your particular application isn’t that great, chances are that buying an 802.11ac spec replacement won’t perform much better – and that you should seriously consider buying a second router for use as a WAP to accommodate for signal issues.

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Better Wireless Routers Are Coming – But What About Range?

Believe it or not, it’s actually not as simple as just plugging it in. Here’s a no-nonsense, general-purpose guide for getting your router up and running.

Once you’ve got it plugged in via ethernet to your modem, there’s a few things you should do.

Accessing Your Router

You can generally access your router at the address 192.168.0.1. The username and password will be set to the default values for your system, and you can find a list here. There should be a sticker on the bottom of your router (or an identifying number somewhere on it) telling you the model number of the system. You can usually change your router’s default username and password by going to “other settings.”

Change Your Wireless Settings

Most routers have a section for changing your wireless settings on the main menu. It’s pretty straightforward. The wireless encryption key is the password users have to use to connect to the network, and the SSID is the name that’s attached to your network – it’s what people see when they try to connect to the network.

There are generally two different types of encryption- WEP and WPA. WEP is pretty low-security. It consists of five, thirteen, sixteen, or twenty nine characters and requires users to type in the key in order to connect. WEP networks are very easy to break into (via packet sniffing – more on that later) if the right person knows how to do it, but chances are if you’re just running a residential network, WEP might suffice.

WPA and WPA 2 are far more secure with more complex security keys and in the case of the latter, the ability to ‘cycle through’ a number of pre-set encryption codes. In addition you’re able to copy the network key over to a flash drive and use said flash drive to connect systems to the network. The problem with these two types of encryption is that older devices can’t really understand them. If you’ve got a wireless card that’s more than a year or two old, it might run into a few problems with WPA/WPA2.

Some routers also allow you to change the frequency of the network. Generally, I’d recommend keeping it at the default. Of you change the frequency to Wireless-N/5.0 Ghz(the fastest wireless speed possible), older wireless cards may be unable to connect.

Forward Your Ports

You need to forward your ports in order for certain programs to run on your network. You can find an excellent guide to port forwarding here.

Blocking Users and Enabling Security Settings

If there’s been someone piggybacking on your network, you’ll want to block them. If your wireless encryption isn’t keeping people out as much as you’d like, you can enable MAC filtering. Doing this will prevent anyone from connecting to your network unless their MAC address is on the list of allowed devices. Since no two computers have the same MAC address, enabling MAC filtering will set your network up so that only the people you wish to allow a connection have one. A bit of a pain, but a really good security measure even if people can ‘fake’ the MAC address.

You can also set up your wireless network so that it doesn’t actually publicly broadcast. Users will need to know both the SSID and the encryption key in order to connect.

Finally, many routers have a firewall attached to them. This does induce an added layer of security, but it also makes opening ports and setting up network tunnels something of a royal pain. Honestly? I’m personally of the opinion that router firewalls are more trouble than they’re worth. If you don’t foresee anyone directly targeting your router with an attack, you can probably disable the firewall.

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How To Set Up Your Router