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Showing posts from August, 2016

What is the Difference Between BIOS and Firmware?

BIOS is Firmware for computers. As you continue to read and learn about computers, you will gain understanding about BIOS, UEFI, EFI, and so on. BIOS is an acronym for Basic Input/Output System and also known as System BIOS, ROM BIOS, or PC BIOS. It is a type of Firmware used during the booting process (power-on/start up) on IBM PC compatible computers. BIOS Firmware is built into PCs, and it is the first software they run when powered on. The name itself originates from the Basic Input/Output System used in the CP/M operating system in 1975. Firmware is a combination of persistent memory, program code, and the data stored in it. Typical examples of devices containing Firmware are embedded systems such as traffic lights, consumer appliances, digital watches, computers, computer peripherals, mobile phones, and digital cameras. The Firmware contained in these devices provides the control program for the device.

Why do people prefer scanners for scanning books and not photograph them?

Have you ever tried to photograph a whole book? It's much harder than one would have thought - first, you need a well-lit place where the photo taking will take place. Then, you actually need something that would keep the book open, so it won't close when you are in the middle of taking picture. Then, you also need a good camera, or at least a phone with a good camera in it, otherwise the letters will be blurry and you will lose loads of time by re-taking every picture because you can't read it. And last but not least - editing pictures is a pain, especially if there is (for example) a hundred of them. While scanner? Whoosh, scanning a really thick but is actually a cakewalk, compared to taking photos of it. You need a scanner and the book. You open the book, place it on the scanner, push a button, poof! The page is scanned, without needing light and extra set of hands. Not to mention that there are programs around that allow you to scan the page into a text

Bad High Memory Usage vs. Good High Memory Usage

First of all, high memory usage isn’t always a good thing. If your computer seems very slow, then high random access memory (RAM) usage is not a good thing. If your RAM is full, your computer is slow, and its hard drive light is constantly blinking, your computer is swapping to disk. This is a sign that your computer is using your hard disk, which is much slower to access, as an “overflow” for your memory. If this is occurring, it’s a clear side that your computer needs more RAM – or that you need to use less memory-hungry programs. This is definitely a bad thing. However, there’s a clear difference between this case, where your computer isn’t performing well, and the more common case where your computer seems to be performing just fine, but there’s an alarming amount of RAM being used with few programs open.

Wise Registry Cleaner V9.24 is released

Wise Registry Cleaner keeps on its improvements, and the newly released notes are as follows: Improved the optimization feature for SSD hard drives. Improved the export feature. Improved localization and language support. Added large icon to the desktop shortcut. Minor GUI improvements. More about Wise Registry Cleaner Download Wise Registry Cleaner

How to Clear “Recent Files” in Windows 10’s File Explorer

While Windows 10 and its subsequent updates have brought many major new features to the table, there are also little touches that you might not notice at first. From wording changes to the aesthetics of system utilities, there’s good and bad to discover in the small changes Windows 10 made. One of those changes you might love or hate is the recent and frequent items being always kept at the bottom of your File Explorer’s left-hand panel, along with the Quick Access menu. We’ve covered how to get the most out of the File Explorer before, and that certainly includes having quick-access folders stay the way you want them. If your recent files are clogging up your otherwise clean file explorer, here’s how to reset them to a clean state. Open a File Explorer window and click File in the top-left corner, followed by Change folder and search options. Near the bottom of the resulting options window, you’ll see a section titled Privacy that lets you completely turn off these su

Tips for Better Browsing

Bookmark sites that interest you Use the "bookmark" or "favorites" feature of your browser to add interesting sites to a permanent address list inside your computer. Later, you can simply click on the name of a site in your list, and your computer will automatically take you to the correct URL. Because browsing can often lead you along a complex path of links from one site to another, it's usually better to bookmark anything of interest rather than expect that you will be able to find your way back. Start making this a habit by adding EDSITEment to your list of favorites! Take advantage of plug-ins Your browser may need an additional piece of software, called a "plug-in," to handle some of the more sophisticated materials available on the Internet, such as video clips, audio clips, and interactive games. Some browsers notify you when a plug-in is needed and offer to find and download it for you automatically. In addition, many websit

What is Local Group Policy

Group Policy isn’t only useful for networks of computers in businesses or schools, however. If you’re using a Professional version of Windows, you can use the local Group Policy Editor to change Group Policy settings on your computer. Using Group Policy, you can tweak some Windows settings that aren’t normally available from the graphical interface. For example, if you want to set a custom login screen in Windows 7, you can either use the Registry Editor or the Group Policy Editor – it’s easier to change this setting in the Group Policy Editor. You can also tweak other areas of Windows 7 with the Group Policy Editor — for example, you can hide the notification area (also known as the system tray) entirely. The local Group Policy Editor can also be used to lock down a computer, just as you’d lock down a computer on an enterprise network. This can be useful if you have children using your computer. For example, you can allow users to run only specific programs, restrict a

What Is Encryption?

While computer scientists, developers, and cryptographers have created far smarter and complex methods for doing so, at its heart, encryption is simply taking some information that makes sense and scrambling it so it become gibberish. Turning it back into real information–video files, images, or simple messages–can only be done by decrypting it back from gibberish using a method called a cipher, usually relying on important piece of information called a key. Already there are a lot of unusual words being thrown around. If you’ve ever written in a “secret code” when you were a child, you’ve encrypted a sentence. A cipher can be as simple as moving a letter down in the alphabet. For example, if we take the following sentence: This is really geeky With this simple encryption, A becomes B, and so on. This becomes: Uijt jt sfbmmz hfflz If you want to make it more difficult to understand, you can easily represent letters as numbers, when A is represented by a 1, a

New product - Wise Duplicate Finder

Dear users, We are very excited to announce the release of Wise Duplicate Finder beta! Find & Remove Duplicate File, Photo ! Wise Duplicate Finder is a fast and accurate Windows duplicate file & photo finder, it is simple and easy- to-use. 1. Wise Duplicate Finder can help you find specified location duplicate document file, photo, email, video, audio, archive. 2. It provides four compare modes: a. Match filename and size ;  b, Partial content match ; c, Exact content match ; d, Only find 0 byte files . 3. It can help you remove duplicate files and only keep one. 4. When you delete duplicate files, wise duplicate finder can auto backup them, you can restore them in any time. Click here for direct download Wise Duplicate Finder beta   However, there is still space for improvement for this beta version, please leave a comment or write down the bugs you found below. We would really appreciate that. Thank you! WiseCleaner Team

How Much Bandwidth Do Streaming Services Use?

Download speeds can increase dramatically. There’s no theoretical limit — it’s all up to what the remote server can provide. But, if all the files you want to download already download almost instantaneously, you don’t necessarily need more speed. However, for streaming, you only require a certain amount of speed. For Netflix HD streaming, Netflix says it will take 5.0 Mbps (Megabits per second). Other services — from YouTube to HBO Go — should require a similar amount of bandwidth for their HD, 1080p streams. if you’re using Netflix’s 4K UHD stream — and you’re probably not — that will require 25 Mbps. Music streams will require much less bandwidth than video streams. Take this into account. If you’re using a Netflix HD stream, upgrading from 25 Mbps to 50 Mbps won’t help you. But upgrading from 5 Mbps to 15 Mbps would definitely give you some wiggle room, allowing you to handle multiple streams or a stream and some downloads without problems. http://www.wisecleaner.

How do you manage your Windows desktop?

I don't like my desktop full of icons, so I put them all in the tasbar, doing the following: Right-click in a blank, empty area of desktop and chose "View", the up-most option. Uncheck the last option, "show icons on desktop". The icons now desapear from desktop. Right-click in a blank area of task bar, check "tools bar", and "desktop". All icons now apear in task bar. Right-click in a blank area of task bar, uncheck "show labels" and "show text". You might rather have there only the icons you use daily, the rest of them should better be on start menu. To keep the task bar clean and orderly, you may create folders for all matters you have, no need of "virtual desktop" or "launchers", Desktop is already a good "launcher". Create folders like games, documents, apps, internet, as suggested above, but this way of doing is more simple. Read more answers from euask: http://www.euas

How to Upgrade Windows 10 Without Needing a Password

Here’s how to get it going: Launch Settings (hit Windows Key + I or type Settings into the Windows search box). Go to Update & security. Click Windows Update. Click Advanced Options. Turn on Use my sign in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update by ticking the box next to it. Now, when you perform a Windows update, you won’t need to login to complete those steps, so when you return, it will all done now partially done like it used to be. http://www.wisecleaner.com/think-tank/211-How-to-Upgrade-Windows-10-Without-Needing-a-Password.html

Where is the safest place to store important files?

very easy... Buy a good quality external HDD and put your files on that HDD. After backup disconnect the HDD and put it in it's original box and and store somewhere safe.. Only use that HDD when you have really lost something and for backup.. Usually a HDD will not damage when not using it and (no factory faults) will outlive us all.... I personally do not really trust the cloud with all my data... Read more answers from Euask:  http://www.euask.com/topic/7027-Where-is-the-safest-place-to-store-important-files

How to Disable Cortana via the Registry

If you have Windows 10 Home, you’ll have to edit the Windows Registry to make these changes. You can also do it this way if you have Windows 10 Professional or Enterprise, but just feel more comfortable working in the Registry as opposed to Group Policy Editor. (If you have Pro or Enterprise, though, we recommend using the easier Group Policy Editor, as described in the next section.) Standard warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack and as long as you stick to the instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes. You should also make a System Restore point before continuing. Windows will probably do this automatically when you install the Anniversary Update, but it cou

How to Find Duplicates in Excel

Conditional formatting is the quickest and easiest way to find duplicates on a single sheet. We’re going to use this technique to sort through this database of email addresses, weeding out any duplicates that have arisen thanks to users submitting the same information more than once, and registering the same address under more than one name. The first step is to select all the data we want to scour for duplicates. Then, head to the Styles section of the Home tab and navigate to Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Duplicate Values. This will bring up a window that allows you to customize the way that duplicate values are styled. This is an optional step, so if you’re just looking to find duplicates and don’t care about the color scheme, click OK to move on. You should find that any duplicate entries are now highlighted in red. This should make it easy for you to delete unnecessary cells, or even at least understand at-a-glance which information is ex

How to Remove the Windows Defender Icon

You can’t simply right-click the Defender icon and close it, nor can you open the Windows Defender interface and find an option to hide or unhide the icon. Instead, the tray icon is produced by another program that launches when you sign into your PC. You can disable this autostart program form the Task Manager. To access it, right-click your taskbar and select “Start Task Manager” or press Ctrl+Alt+Esc on your keyboard. Click the “More Details” button, then click the Startup tab. Locate the “Windows Defender notification icon” option in the list, right-click it, and select “Disable”. This will disable the Windows Defender tray icon, and it won’t automatically start whenever you log in. You can sign out and then sign back in–or restart your computer–and the icon will be gone, though Windows Defender will still run. To get rid of the tray icon without signing out of your Windows user account, you can close the process manually. Click over to the “Processes” tab in th

What are MD5 Hashes?

MD5, the Message-Digest Algorithm, has been used in multiple types of security-based programs in the past, but it’s also widely employed for another purpose: data verification. These types of algorithms work great to verify your downloads. Imagine, if you will, you’re online trying to grab the latest Ubuntu release from BitTorrent. Some horrible troublemaker starts distributing a version of the .iso you need but with malicious code embedded into it. Not just that, he’s clever, so he makes sure the files are exactly the same size. You wouldn’t know you had the bad file until you tried to boot the CD, and by then, permanent damage could have already occurred! Thankfully for us, Canonical posts the MD5 checksums for its images online. You can run a hash check yourself with any number of tools, and then check it against the posted checksum. If there are any differences at all, you know that the file you have was tampered with, did not complete properly, or something else pre

Don’t Reuse Passwords!

Password reuse is a serious problem because of the many password leaks that occur each year, even on large websites. When your password leaks, malicious individuals have an email address, username, and password combination they can try on other websites. If you use the same login information everywhere, a leak at one website could give people access to all your accounts. If someone gains access to your email account in this way, they could use password-reset links to access other websites, like your online banking or PayPal account. To prevent password leaks from being so damaging, you need to use unique passwords on every website. These should also be strong passwords – long, unpredictable passwords that contain numbers and symbols. Web geeks have hundreds of accounts to keep track of, while even the average person likely has tens of different passwords. Remembering such strong passwords is nearly impossible without resorting to some sort of trick. The ideal trick is a

How to Gain Full Permissions to Edit Protected Registry Keys

We talk about a lot of cool things here at How-To Geek that you can do by editing the Windows Registry. Occasionally, though, you will run into a Registry key or value that you don’t have permission to edit. When you try, you’ll see an error message saying “Cannot edit _____: Error writing the value’s new contents.” Fortunately, just like in the Windows file system, the Registry provides tools that let you take ownership of and edit permissions for keys. Here’s how to do it. Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. So there’s a reason some of these Registry keys are protected. Editing a protected key can sometimes mess up Windows or the app the key relates to. We will never point you to any hacks that we haven’t tested ourselves, but it still pays to be careful. If you’ve never worked with the Registry before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up

How to Make Any Computer Boot Up on a Schedule

All types of computers can accept “Wake-On-LAN,” or WoL, magic packets. Support for Wake-on-LAN is baked into a computer at the BIOS or UEFI firmware level, below the operating system itself. When using Wake-on-LAN, a computer that’s shut down or asleep continues providing power to its network interface. This is usually a wired Ethernet connection, but you can also set a computer to accept Wake-on-LAN packets sent over Wi-Fi. When it receives an appropriately crafted packet, it will wake the computer back up again. This option is generally enabled by default on desktop computers, but it may not be enabled on laptop computers to save battery power — especially not on the Wi-Fi interface. You’ll have to ensure Wake-on-LAN is enabled on your computer first and try it out. Once you have Wake-on-LAN working, you could set up a device to send Wake-on-LAN packets to other devices on a schedule. For example, we’ve covered using a router running DD-WRT to send Wake-on-LAN packe

Wise System Monitor V1.42 is released!

Wise System Monitor keeps on its improvements, and the newly released notes are as follows: Improved the compatibility with 32-bit system. Improved the startup function in Windows 10. Updated various translations. Minor GUI Improvements. More about Wise System Monitor Download Wise System Monitor

Want to Browse Faster? Stop Clearing Your Browser Cache

Do you regularly erase your browsing data, run temporary-file cleaning tool? You’re probably clearing your browser cache, and it’s slowing down your browsing. The cache contains local copies of bits of websites. Your browser loads these bits from your hard drive when you visit a website that requires them, speeding things up and saving download bandwidth. The cache is erased as part of the “erase private browsing data” tool included in all web browsers. Because the cache is an archive of files from websites you’ve visited, someone with access to your computer could examine the cache and see some websites you’ve been visiting. It’s not as comprehensive a browsing history as your browser’s actual History feature, but it can be used in a similar way. For example, if someone finds the How-To Geek logo image in your cache, they know you’ve visited How-To Geek. If you’ve visited sensitive websites you don’t want other people knowing about, clearing your cache will wipe away t

Is it free to modify a Wikipedia page?

Yes its free to modify a wiki page as long as its a unprotected page. Protection can only be applied to or removed from pages by Wikipedia's administrators, although any user may request protection for a page. There's no fee or charge associated while editing a unprotected wiki page as wiki is a community contributed content site.  http://www.euask.com/topic/7026-Is-it-free-to-modify-a-Wikipedia-page