We’ll start this one by first defining what "ancient crappy PC" means.

Concerning the hardware, it is any PC over 5 years old. Any PC in the workplace over 5 years old is obviously owned by the company as no OEM would dare lease computer boxes for over that length of time, due to the fact the liability is too great.

Concerning the software, it is any OS that is not supported directly by the OEM any longer, with the keyword being directly. It also counts for any apps/programs used that are no longer supported.

When you put the above two together, you’ve got yourself an ancient crappy PC. This is the computer that literally takes 5 minutes or longer to boot due not only to the crappiness of the PC itself but also the network it connects to. Doing anything on this computer is an exercise in patience, and a whole lot of patience at that.

Many who have to deal with computers like this in the workplace often wonder, "Doesn’t this slow down productivity by having to wait for the stupid computer to do things all the time? Wouldn’t it be worth the cost to at least upgrade the PCs being they’re so cheap these days?"

These are legitimate valid concerns. But there are reasons why these oh-so craptastic computer boxes stay around:

1. Nobody is complaining.

When nobody complains as to how slow the computers are, upper management thinks everything is A-OK and that nothing needs to be done.

Why is it more people don’t complain? The answer is simple: They don’t want to lose their jobs by being labeled as a complainer.

2. The department (supposedly) has no budget for new computers.

You will notice certain departments (usually Finance, Sales and, of course, Marketing) always seem to get nice fast newer computers while you’re left to suffer with junk. This is because the department has no money for PCs, either for real or fabricated reasons.

If you’re wondering what a fabricated reason is for "we have no money for new computers," all you have to do is look around your department to see if there are any new/shiny things around that serve no legitimate business purpose for what your dept. does – such as your boss outfitting his or her office with all brand-new expensive furniture that absolutely wasn’t needed. Now you know where the money went.

3. It’s a "home grown" app made by somebody who doesn’t work there anymore.

You may have this specific program at work that makes you grit your teeth every time you have to use it. Is it so old that you’re surprised your computer doesn’t gag and wheeze every time you run it. This app crashes constantly and no matter how often you complain, nobody is able to fix it.

"Home grown" programs you use made by employees of the company who coded it in-house (meaning in-company) originally. But those employees are long gone. They either quit or retired long ago and there is nobody left to support these dinosaurs any longer. Not only that, but nobody wants to put the time, effort, or spend the money to convert these dinosaurs over to newer, more efficient and moreover supported systems.

On top of all that, this is also part of the reason the company refuses to upgrade anybody’s desktop OS because they have absolutely no clue whether that home grown app will work on XP, never mind Windows 7!

There is unfortunately nothing you can do about this except hope for a major system crash server-side that forces the company to fix it.

4. Prevention of in-office political bickering.

This is when departments refuse to upgrade anything just to keep people from yelling at each other.

"Well, John got a new computer. Why can’t I?"

You can see how this would turn into a bicker-fest in short order. If John gets a new PC, then Bob has to get one. When Debbie see that, she wants one. And so does Alice. And Tom. And so on.

There are times more often than not when upgrades don’t happen just to keep the peace. Personally I think this is a rather stupid thing to do, because there’s no excuse considering how utterly cheap new boxes are these days. Yes, it does cost time to set them up and "vanilla" them, but c’mon.. just get new boxes and be done with it already.

5. Slowness of computers allows those in charge to be lazy.

There are department heads who are very happy to keep things just as they are, slowness and all – even if they do have the budget for new PCs. This is so they can take two-hour lunches and simply not worry about it since there’s no way anybody would be finished with whatever it is they’re doing by the time he or she comes back.

See, the deal is that a boss really doesn’t want to hear how you could be more productive with a new computer. But if a new computer allowed the boss to do less work and be even more lazy, then you’ll probably have a new PC on your desk next week! Sad but true.

Do you have slow crappy computers in your school or office?

I’m betting you do. Tell us your tales of woe.

Yesterday by chance I logged into a Yahoo! Mail account I hadn’t used in a while, and lo and behold there was a notice from Yahoo! that stated GeoCities would be officially closing October 26.

Many of you will think, "Yeah? So?"

The deal here is that it’s a final notice, as in the last one. For anybody that uses GeoCities that didn’t receive it, they won’t get any warning whatsoever that their web site(s) are going to be deleted forever.

I sent a copy of this email over to Jason Scott (he’s big into computer and internet history,) who made a blog post of his own about it. The people who cherish computer history aren’t exactly too happy with Yahoo! these days given their rampage of service closures (Yahoo! 360, Yahoo! Pets, Yahoo! Live, etc. – all gone.)

This at least isn’t as bad as when AOL Hometown got the axe, because now at least with GeoCities, people have some warning outside of a cold, terse Yahoo! notice.

I know some of you are thinking, "It’s GeoCities. Who cares?"

The closure of GeoCities is no different than if MySpace, Facebook or Twitter shut their doors on you. Many of you put a whole lot of effort into those social media sites, and I guarantee few to none of you have any backups of your messages (or anything else for that matter) on that system. If any of those sites closed, you have no choice but to simply lose everything. All your friend connections, all your in-system messages, all the photos, videos and so on – gone.

Kind of gives you that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, doesn’t it?

Web sites that are big-n’-social now can turn into a future "GeoCities 2.0," if you will. This is already happening with MySpace. Do you think when they inevitably close that they’ll give anybody a way to back up their stuff? Probably not.

Most people don’t realize that sites like GeoCities, Facebook and everything in between is part of internet and computer history. When any part of it goes away, it usually never comes back. This directly goes against one of the single largest advantages of the internet, that being the ability to store mountains upon mountains of information at the lowest possible cost. But instead of taking advantage of this, we usually throw it away without a second thought.

This is how we treat our own history?

I recently came across a thread on a random forum where it called out to the members to post a screenshot of their desktop to show off their wallpaper graphics.

What was interesting wasn’t the graphics per sé but rather the screen resolution for most of the screen shots shown, which happened to be 1024×768. It showed up so much that a few commented on it saying something to the effect of, "Why are all you people using such low resolutions?"

Want to know the real kicker? These people posting screen shots were all in their late teens, 20s and 30s. This was not 40+ territory whatsoever.

So why is it that so many people still use 1024×768?

There’s actually a few good answers.

If you’re on a netbook, the vast majority of them have screens that are a native resolution of 1024×576 or 1024×600.

A teen may be using his parent’s computer where the parent prefers the resolution at something he or she can read, and that’s usually 1024×768.

The really interesting crowd are the twenty and thirty-somethings. I fall into this crowd because I’m 34. I wear eyeglasses, but my primary 20-inch monitor is 1680×1050 and the secondary 1280×1024. What’s the deal with 1024×768 in this age group?

The answer is something you probably didn’t think of: Games.

Games run much better and faster at lower resolutions. And if you keep your Windows resolution as 1024×768, when the switch to the game happens your icons don’t get all messed up and moved around. This is common in XP when you have your Windows resolution set different than your game resolution.

In addition, not all computer gamers run the newest blazing fast PC hardware. Many run decidedly old stuff and couldn’t care less about things like anisotropic filtering as long as the game plays smooth and fast. To get any advantage in speed and smoothness possible, the resolution is lowered on purpose even if the eyesight is just fine.

If you thought 1024×768 was only for the 40+ crowd, think again. There are plenty, and I mean plenty of younger users rockin’ the 1024 resolution for daily use.

What’s your res?

Write a comment and let people know. Include the resolution and your monitor’s physical size (ex: 17-inch, 19-inch, 20-inch, etc.)

This is a call for all of you out there to post a comment telling us what you’re running right now for a computer. It doesn’t matter if it’s old or new, pre-built or custom, fast or slow, laptop or desktop, etc. Post your specs.

If you have multiple computers in the home, go ahead and name them all.

What I’m looking for here is a simple one-liner for each computer containing its specifications, monitor resolution, the current operating system on it and how long you’ve owned it.

Here’s an example using my two computers:

Custom build, 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 16x DVD Burner, EVGA nVidia 512MB video, dual monitor, 1680×1050, Windows 7 RC, 3 years

Dell Inspiron 6000, 1.5GHz Celeron M, 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, 8x DVD Burner, integrated video, single monitor, 1680×1050, Windows XP SP3, 4 years

If you don’t know all the above info for your box, just take your best guess or put "unknown" for the ones you don’t know.

If you want to add in additional info like make/model/dimensions of components such as for motherboard, RAM, monitor(s) and so on, feel free to post that as well.

Why am I asking for this info?

A few reasons:

1. There’s going to be a swath of you considering upgrading to Windows 7 in October. If we know your specs, we can give better advice and tips because not everybody runs a super-duper-fast quad core machine.
2. For those running older hardware, this gives us a better idea of what Linux distributions to recommend to keep you modern without the need for hardware upgrades.
3. Using a laptop? Would be nice to get a general idea of how many of you have one.

Go ahead and post your specs!

This article concentrates on the crap you download and not the crap that just accumulates over time.

It honestly amazes me how much I download. If you’re like most people (including myself), you probably have a downloads folder where you place everything. Then seemingly all of a sudden the folder contains 6 gigs or more worth of files, with the top 3 culprits (in bigness) being video files, audio files and installation executables.

And forget about organizing the downloads folder you have because every time you think you’ve got it just right, you need another category which means another subfolder. And another. And another.

Here are the 5 ways to keep crap off your computer box.

1. Keep email attachments in email.

Email in today’s modern internet has gigs and gigs of space at your disposal. Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Gmail have ever-increasing file quota sizes. That being the case, if someone sends you a file and you view it once, delete it off your drive afterward. It’s in your email anyway, so if you ever need to retrieve it again, it’s there.

2. Make a habit of archiving installation files immediately after installation.

You download Mozilla Firefox because you want to try it out, and install it. Right after the installation, push the file over to CD, DVD or USB stick and delete it off your hard drive.

Do this for every type of program you download and make a habit of it, else these seemingly smaller executable files can turn into a mess in short order.

3. Periodically search your hard drive for the largest files.

In Windows XP: Start / Run / type explorer / press Enter.

Highlight your primary hard drive (usually C).

Click the Search button or use the CTRL+F keystroke.

Choose to search All files and folders.

Expand What size is it? and choose to search for files 5000 KB or larger.

It should look similar to this:

The search will take time to complete. When finished, click View, then Arrange Icons By, then Size so you can see the largest files first (or last depending on how your list is set up).

Examine what you find. Sometimes you’ll find crap in there you don’t even need.

Here’s an example using my own computer:

The file I have highlighted is wireless drivers for my Dell laptop. I archived this months ago. 80MB of space wasted. I deleted it and got the space back.

Important note: Do not delete anything out of vital system folders, such as C:\WINDOWS, C:\Program Files or anything underneath it.

And if you find a file that looks odd to you, perform a Google search to see what it is. For example, in the above screen shot you see MRT.exe. A Google search for that file reveals that to be a Microsoft-specific program needed by the operating system.

4. Use a compression program for large batches of files.

I recommend 7-Zip to compress files into smaller easy-to-manage archives.

Example: You have a digital camera and take a lot of photos. On your hard drive are 500 of them you want to store.

After installing 7-Zip, go to where the files are, highlight them all, right-click, hover over the 7-Zip menu and select to add to archive. Make your archive and it’s a done deal.

Archiving with a file compression program is not so much for saving space as it is for organization using it in this way. In addition you can encrypt archives and set passwords with 7-Zip. It even has the option to make self-installer executable SFX archives too.

5. Use encrypted volumes that mount drive letters easily.

You know that a store-bought DVD can hold 4.7GB worth of data.

Wouldn’t it be nice to set a drive letter in Windows that was exactly that size, so when it’s full you know it’s time to archive it and make a new one?

With TrueCrypt you can do just that – and do it securely.

Download that software (it’s free) then read the Beginner’s Tutorial on how to create a "container" on your system. While following the directions, make your container size 4.7GB (it’s best to set it to just 4GB so you know it will always fit on a DVD no matter what).

Assign it a drive letter in Windows (the software does this easily and tells you how) and when it’s all filled up, push it to DVD afterward, then just create another.

When the size limit is reached for the container, Windows will let you know by stating it cannot write any further data to the selected drive.

It doesn’t get any easier than this. There is no partitioning necessary, no rebooting, none of that. You get the "extra" drive letter you want at exactly the right size you specify that gives you appropriate warnings when you tap the limit.

Try to keep your computer box crap-free, everybody.

Going "niche" market means to be specialized to one particular product. And if the product you sell has enough of a following, it sells itself just by brand alone.

Selling a new PC is tough because you simply cannot compete with Dell. They will always be able to sell for less than you can. And if not Dell, some other big name PC maker will always have better prices than yours.

A vintage computer on the other hand is a collectible item, and selling collectibles eliminates having to fight with big PC maker corporations because that’s not their business.

Concerning yesteryear computers, there’s an ever-growing following for older computers, and in particular, 8-bit and early 32-bit systems. And its not just for the old folks either. People in their teens and twenties are seeking old computer gear because "retro" is "cool".

The best place to find what’s selling and for how much is to see the Apple and Vintage Computing Categories on eBay. To get there, go to Computers & Networking, and choose either Vintage Apple from Apple Computers & Components or the Vintage Computing category.

Check out what’s listed and see how much it’s going for. You’ll be surprised to find that some old clunkers command $500, and in some cases over $1,000. Take note of the ones that command higher prices.

Where do you find vintage systems on the cheap that you can resell for higher prices later?

The two best places are computer recycling centers and the tried-and-true good ol’ flea market.

Computer recycling centers will usually only sell what they can get rid of quickly and normally don’t deal with vintage stuff whatsoever. For whatever they receive that’s over 5 years old, that usually goes straight to destruction so it can be stripped of all its precious metals for reselling later. You will almost never see a recycling center post eBay listings for vintage computer gear.

You have to call the recycling center and ask specifically if they have any ancient computers. Most of the time they’ll say yes and will be more than happy to sell them to you just to get it off the floor, because they will make more off that compared to the metals. From there you just drive on over, walk the warehouse and see what’s there. Bring a truck or van, you’ll most likely need it. If what they have looks like something you could sell, take it.

And if you’re wondering where the computer recycling centers are, they’re in the phone book. Or just search on Google Maps for one local to you. They’re not difficult to find.

You will, without fail, always find vintage computers at flea markets. And some are in darn fine condition or can be restored easily. You will never find these vintage units at vendors specifically selling computers, but rather the guy or girl that is selling potpourri-style. You may find that sought-after VIC-20 in the box. What’s worth more, the computer or the box? The box, of course. This is back in the day when computers came in full-color print laminate boxes (see here for a photo of the one the VIC-20 came in).

Sometimes specific components are worth just as much, if not more

The best example I can give of where the component is worth more than the computer is the Commodore 1581 floppy disk drive. Sure, Commodore 64 computers are a dime a dozen. It was the best selling computer of all time (still to this day). But the 1581 drive is tough to locate. In mint condition they sell for around $200. If you see one at a flea market with its power supply for $15, grab that sucker.

Chances are you’ll make more cash with collectibles

With the right acquisition of vintage computer gear you know that sells (via eBay research), all you need to do is acquire the goods, clean them up, make sure they work and then sell them. Whether it’s entire systems or specific components, there’s a market for it. And you’ll probably make more from vintage computing than you ever would with building new units.

The single largest advantage of building is the ability to transfer parts from build to build. What this means is that when I upgrade, I don’t have to build a complete computer each time. And this is where the true savings come in when you build PCs.

For example, I don’t have to buy a new case, nor do I have to buy a new optical drive. I also don’t need new audio speakers, mouse, keyboard or monitor. In my current setup I could also transfer over my video card as well.

When you add these things up it shaves off a lot of cash you would otherwise have to spend.

Many PCMech readers have built PCs before, but if you’re someone who hasn’t yet, I can say without question that your most expensive build will probably be the first one. And this is because you have nothing to transfer from a previous build. Everything must be bought new and yes, it can get costly – but only for the first time around.

What you can do is think of the future when building your first box so it will cost less when you upgrade later. The checklist is short and easy to remember.

Future-use things to consider when PC building

Computer Case

Your case should be a full-sized tower. The reason is so you can use standard ATX or MicroATX motherboards. This gives you more choice of what motherboard you want to use now and in the future.

The case you buy should be above average. You want something built well that will withstand the test of time. Being that your intent is to use the same case over and over, build quality matters.

Motherboard

Use a motherboard that supports several different types of processors. The better ones support at least four. This Intel motherboard for example does just that. For now maybe you want a Core 2 Duo processor but later on want to upgrade to a Quad-core. Using a motherboard that supports multiple CPU types will save you cash because you don’t have to buy another board when ready to upgrade.

Also bear in mind the new board you buy should support (at the time of this writing) a minimum of 8GB of RAM which the one linked above does. If you buy a new board that only supports 4GB, that’s your limit – and that’s not good. 8GB should stay current for at least 5 years, and you can incrementally update as needed.

Optical Drive

This is something you don’t have to put a ton of cash into because more people are moving away from the optical format in favor of flash-based media.

Concerning this particular component, the key is to avoid things you don’t need that add extra cost, such as:

• LightScribe – This is more for "cool factor" than anything else. You’re better off just labeling your discs with a Sharpie marker. It’s cheaper and does the same job. True, it doesn’t look as professional, but nobody cares.
• Super fast DVD burning – Not necessary. Why? Because getting blank media that supports the higher speeds costs more and probably isn’t available on the shelf where you buy discs. Most of the time the blank media you buy will be 12x max write speed for DVD and 30x max for CD, so the fact your drive can burn faster means nothing unless you’re willing to custom order blank discs that support it – which you probably won’t.
• Blu-Ray compatible – Again, not necessary. The only people truly interested in this format are those who have Blu-ray players for their television. And yes, you will get a big-big 25GB of storage on one of these BD-R discs, but, each disc at present costs $5 – and that doesn’t include shipping. You’re better off using flash-based media, if only for the fact that write/rewrite is much easier and faster compared to optical.

Input Devices (Keyboard and Mouse)

Concerning the mouse, make sure it connects via USB. With wireless, go for RF and not Bluetooth. For example, a really kick-ass wireless mouse is the Logitech G7. It’s got a ridiculous price tag (but worth it to some) and is USB/RF-wireless based. And don’t worry, there are plenty of RF-wireless USB mice that are much lower in price, like this one.

Note that there’s nothing bad or wrong about Bluetooth wireless, but you get more choice with RF. A lot more.

Concerning the keyboard, you want something that will stand the test of time like your computer case. There are many keyboard makes to choose from, but typically the best for long-term use are made by Microsoft and Logitech. Sure, other keyboards have lots of whiz-bang features on it, but what matters most is comfort and longevity.

With Microsoft and Logitech it’s the simple things that make them better, such as not having the lettering literally wear off your keys in less than six months.

Of course, neither beat the best computer keyboard of all time, the IBM Model M. But that takes a little bit of doing (i.e. a USB converter) to make the older ones work. And lets not forget they’re frickin’ loud. A resounding CLICK-CLACK happens every time you press a key on one of those. But it’s a good sound. At least I think so.

Audio speakers

The only rule to follow here is to use an audio speaker setup that is not overly dependent on software. And what I mean by that is you should not buy speakers that require software just to hear sound come out of them.

Whatever you buy should work like this: Open the box, take the speakers out, plug the AC adapter into the wall, plug in the audio cable to the sound card, done.

Software that controls the sound card is fine (and necessary). Software that’s required just to make the speakers work is bad.

If you want an example of bad, Creative is notorious for having speaker setups that are too "attached" to software, so to speak. And without their proprietary software installed, the speakers either sound like crap or not work at all. Not good.

Final notes

Many people make the mistake of building a PC that only has "right-now" tech in it, meaning the end build will not stay current for more than 2 years at the most.

For example, let’s say you bought a brand new motherboard today but it can only use a Core 2 Duo processor as the fastest it will support. That’s a mistake. Yes, the Core 2 right now is fast – but it won’t be 2 years from now and you’ll be forced to buy another motherboard later when the time comes. What you should have done is bought a board that can support Core 2 or Quad-core. When the Core 2 becomes too slow, it’s not a problem because you can upgrade to a Quad-core and get another 2 or 3 years out of the same motherboard, thereby saving you money.

When building your first (or next) computer box, consider the future. Buying the right stuff the first time and spending a little extra means savings for the long-term.

If posed the question as to what you think the worst possible thing could happen to a PC is, your answer would probably be, "when the hard drive dies".

Wrong.

The worst possible thing that can happen is fire. This is when something in your computer overheats, catches fire and starts melting the "guts" (motherboard, chips, etc.). Fire is the worst because it makes any computer literally unusable – and that’s far worse than a hard drive that croaks.

A small and true story before continuing:

Years ago I was working for a large corporation and the LAN Administrator was delivering a brand new laptop to one of the six-figure guys in the corporate office in Boston Massachusetts. The laptop in question was a Texas Instruments TravelMate 5100. This was at a time when the Pentium processor was still new and laptop makers didn’t really know how to cool those things down just yet.

The guy goes into the six-figure employee’s office, sets up the laptop, plugs it in, presses the power button, and..

POP.

Sounded like a small gunshot.

Smoke comes streaming up from the keyboard. The smell of burnt silicon stunk up the office and more or less the whole floor soon after that. The stench stayed there for a week it was so bad.

Modern-day PCs and laptops thankfully rarely if ever catch fire and start melting stuff, however the threat of fire is not 100% out of the question.

Two common situations that may set your PC ablaze

1. Unbound wires/cables

Dangling unbound wires in a PC case is a fire threat. This is because a wire can get too close to a fan, a fan blade chops the wire, that sets off a spark and if that spark hits the right spot (which it always does), it’s burn city.

Or..

A wire gets too close to a hot item in your case, the wire wrap melts, wire is exposed, throws sparks and produces the same disastrous result.

I cannot stress enough that you should never have dangling wires in a computer case. Ever. Bunch your cables, keep them as far away from fans and sources of heat as possible.

2. Dead fan(s)

A fan’s job is to cool. If a fan dies and for some crazy reason the computer doesn’t shut off like it’s supposed to when it gets too hot, whatever it was cooling will overheat, burn up and possibly take the whole computer with it.

Indicators that your computer is running too hot

1. When you touch the side of your case, it literally feels hot to the touch.

This is bad news. It is normally okay for a case to feel slightly warm to the touch, but if hot, that’s a problem.

If you have a laptop, that’s a different story. Many laptops run hot on the backplane (a.k.a. the bottom) due to the very limited space inside the chassis and there’s really not much you can do about it other than deal with it, or use a laptop stand with built-in fans.

2. Your computer randomly shuts off for seemingly no reason.

There probably is a reason – it’s running too hot. And your computer is saving itself by powering off to prevent itself from burning up. The solution is more fans or better fans if you can’t add any. Maybe a cooling system if you’ve got the cash for it.

What type of PCs have a higher risk of fire?

Custom built. Many people who build their own PCs cut corners and this can lead to disastrous results like fire later.

Bear in mind that I’m not talking about just high-powered gaming rigs here. Any improperly wired/fan’d PC box can burn up.

OEM boxes on the other hand, be they by Dell, Apple, Gateway or the like almost never have fire threat issues, much less actually catch on fire. The manufacturing process is done in such a way where extra special attention is given to ensure fire (almost, repeat, almost) never happens.

Got a disaster story with a computer burning up?

Whether it’s your story or someone else’s box, let us know in the comment section. Bonus points if you have pics (although not required).

Periodically I get asked the question, “So, what are you running?”, in relation to my computer box, its OS, the apps I use, the hardware I use and so on.

Before I list off my stuff, Dave uses a Mac Pro quad-core with I believe 9GB of RAM. His monitors are dual Dell 24-inchers and an older third one that I can’t remember the make/model of at the moment.

The hardware:

• My box is a custom case with a Biostar motherboard.
• My CPU is a 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo.
• I run 2GB of RAM.
• My hard drive is 250GB (and yes I know I should really add in another drive given how cheap they are these days).
• I use a plain-jane wired optical Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000 with the wheel-click set as a double-click (very handy) using the Microsoft Intellimouse software. (INTERESTING TIBIT: On that link for the software, Windows 7 is already mentioned. Interesting, eh? There’s even a support page for it already.)
• My keyboard is a Saitek Eclipse blue LED backlit, bought on sale for $29.99 with free shipping so it was a true $29.99. Works fairly well. Not the best keyboard I’ve ever owned but does the job. I appreciate the fact the Saitek does not require any special drivers at all to use. Just plug in and go.
• I run a dual-monitor setup, one is a BenQ FP202W at 1680×1050 and the other an now-ancient Sony SDM-S73 17-inch which has definitely seen better days but functions fine as  a secondary monitor. I do appreciate that the base on the Sony is heavy. It stays put.
• The video card I have is 512MB EVGA which is an nVidia 8400GS dual-head (one DVI, one VGA).
• I own three USB sticks, all Sandisk cruzer micros. One is an older 512MB, one 2GB and one recently purchased 4GB. My next one will most likely be a 16 or 32GB because it would be very cool to offload most if not all the stuff I have backed up on DVD on to a single USB stick. The dream situation (which may happen in less than 2 years) is to have a 120GB stick or at least 80GB. For all intents and purposes, that’s a backup drive and a darn good one at that.

Some of the software I use (if I listed it all it would be a bit too lengthy on read):

• My primary OS is Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3 with all the latest updates. No, I do not own Vista and don’t plan to considering Win 7 will be here in less than a year.
• My primary office suite is OpenOffice. I have been using this for a long time. And since version 3 was released it looks and feels just about right.
• My secondary office suite is a now-ancient Microsoft Office 2000. This in my opinion was the last version of MS Office that ran fast before it got all bloated up and ran like crap. Some say that the current Office 2007 goes back to how fast the software used to be, but I personally don’t feel like shelling out $500 just to find that out, nor do I feel like installing the 60-day trial (although it is nice Microsoft offers a trial run for that long). OO does the job, and if not, MSO 2000 will.
• I use Launchy a lot. A whole lot. It is faster than using a mouse to launch apps and I like speed.
• I use Sizer to quickly resize windows to specific dimensions. It comes in handy when I record screencasts.
• My primary browser is Firefox. I use only a scant few plugins to keep memory use down. The two I use most are Foxmarks and ScreenGrab.
• My primary text editor is Notepad++. It’s the best text editor for Windows, period.
• My PDF reader is FoxIt Reader. It is lighter and faster than Adobe Reader.
• I create PDFs using OpenOffice (there’s a “PDF” icon right in the software) or PDF Creator as a pseudo print driver.
• My primary instant messenger is AIM Lite, and if I weren’t using that I’d most likely use Miranda. Both these IM apps are not about features but all about being lightweight and speedy.
• My primary blogging tool is Windows Live Writer. If I had to go without this, that would suck.
• My email application is Mozilla Thunderbird. No matter what mail I go with I inevitably always come back to t-bird.
• I backup my mail using KLS Mail Backup.
• I use KeePass Password Safe as my password manager.
• Being the GPS nut that I am, I have a host of mapping utilities including Garmin’s MapSource, WebUpdater, and POI Loader. I also use Google Earth, KMLCSV, GPXTOPOI and a few others.
• I do have Steam installed when I feel like playing a few games every so often.
• For easy dual-monitor wallpaper I use Display Fusion.
• For screencasting I use Camtasia Studio.

Well anyway, that covers about, oh.. 35% of the apps I use.

What’s your hardware?

List the stuff in your computer box. Does it work for you? What do you plan to upgrade later?

What’s your software?

What do you use most often and why? Do you prefer to stay with older versions or go with the latest/greatest?

Let us know.

You may have a loud computer box. Whenever you turn it on, the whirring sounds of the fans, optical drive and hard drive may really annoy you. Here are 5 ways to quiet that box down.

1. Upgrade to a new hard drive

Many hard drives get louder as they get older. Your ears are not fooling you if you have an old hard drive. Getting a new one can cut the noise out quite a bit.

2. Soundproof your PC case

Foam blocks do wonders. And yes there are kits specifically for it. For those that would ask, "Doesn’t that increase heat?", not necessarily. It depends on the application.

3. Put it on the floor

Sounds obvious, but if the computer box is on the floor and not on the desk you won’t hear it as much.

4. Keep it away from the wall

Sound will bounce off the wall in your direction if your computer is directly adjacent to it. To note, if you’re forced to have it next to the wall, put some kind of foam or cloth on the wall itself and it will significantly decrease the sound-bouncing.

5. Use premium-grade case fans

Cheap case fans are loud or will become loud in short order. Spend the extra few dollars on premium fans with better bearings to keep it quiet.

In 2007 and 2008 the netbook laptop format made a big splash and continues to do so in 2009. But what about having this mini-sized format in a standalone desktop computer? Is there an option and moreover it is cheap?

Yes and yes.

Enter the booksize PC format.

These PCs are called as such because they are similar to the size of hardcover printed books. And they start at just under $130.

Pros:

• Cheap.
• Small, easy setup.
• Integrated processor or house an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU or AMD Phenom (the ones that can house the higher-end processors cost around $200).
• Makes for an excellent media center computer.

Cons:

• These are "barebone" PCs, meaning you have to put in the extra parts such as RAM, hard drive, and possibly the processor depending on which unit you get. However bear in mind you don’t have to build anything. Just add parts and go.
• Only has a single memory slot (most can support a maximum of 2GB RAM, some support dual-channel).
• You do have to install the OS. If not Linux you have to buy a license of Windows.
• Size does limit what you can do on the inside with it. And yes it’s cramped.

Said honestly I’m glad the booksize style exists. It’s nice that there’s something out there that’s cheap, can be customized with hardware, stylish and moreover serves a legitimate purpose. As I noted above, a pro is that this is a perfect fit for a media center computer box. And let’s not forget that for such a task you can make it fast (a multi-core CPU with 2GB of RAM in a media center box is a really good combination that ensures very smooth operation).

Bear in mind that if you buy one with an integrated processor and use Linux, the total cost new could be a low as $150!

Not bad. Not bad a’tall.

Buliding PCs hasn’t really changed all that much save for the fact the parts are different compared to years past. However standard cases are still ATX/Micro-ATX, nobody has yet to perfect the screw-less case (although many have tried), quarters are still cramped when you work on the inside of a computer box and the tools you work with can either make working on PCs easy or a nightmare.

Continued

Are certain computer parts better than others when it comes to building your own PC? Yes. Are certain computer parts better than others concerning Microsoft Windows? That’s another yes.

If you stock your built PC with parts that are the right choice the first time, your Windows installation will run better and faster.

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In the days of old people would keep computers as long as 5 years or longer. However these days a new computer barely gets past 3 years before needing replacement – or so it seems.

You can easily get 5 years out of a computer if you buy it correctly the first time.

In fact, you most likely already own a computer that you can get a few more years out of.

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In the days of old people would keep computers as long as 5 years or longer. However these days a new computer barely gets past 3 years before needing replacement – or so it seems.

You can easily get 5 years out of a computer if you buy it correctly the first time.

In fact, you most likely already own a computer that you can get a few more years out of.

Please Login or Register to read the rest of this article. Gold/Silver Membership required.