Configuring your Computer System - P6

There are many things that you can do to configure your system to meet your needs, some of these are as follows:

Left and right mouse buttons

I am now going show you some screenshots on how to change your mouse buttons over, for people who are left handed.

First of all, you have to find the mouse settings, if you go to the control panel, which is found here:
Start > Control Panel

Once you have opened up the control panel, you need to find the one that is named 'mouse', like follows:

Open this up and you will be in the mouse settings, like follows:

Now, at the top of this window you will see a box that you can check, that says 'Swich Primary and Secondary buttons', once you have done this and clicked 'ok' your computer will be ready for someone who is left handed to use.

Power saving options

Next i am going to guide you through changing the power saving options, in order to save yourself energy, or make the screen turn of earlier.

First of all you have to find the power settings, which can also be found from Start > Control panel, a image below shows you where to find it.

Once you are in the control panel, you will have to look for the once that says 'power options', open this up and the following screen will apear:

Now I am going to change the time that it takes for the computer monitor to turn off from 15 minutes to after 5 minutes of non-movement, a sceen shot shows this as follows:

If you follow all of these steps, you will successfully be able to change you power settings to suit your needs.

Changing the settings for screen resolution

Now I am going to show you how to change the settings for the screen resolution, the first thing that you need to do is go to your desktop and right click, and click Properties.

After you have done this the following screen will come up:

Now if you click settings, on the right hand side, then you can change the resolution that your monitor displays at, the lower the resolution, the less pixels that are displayed on the screen and it will make images less seem bigger, Below is an image that shows you where the resolution is on the screen:

The red box highlights where the resolution settings are, and if you adjust this bar, you can make there be less pixels displayed on screen or more pixels.

By doing any of the above you will will be able to customize your computer system to meet your desired needs.

Installing the software for a printer - P5

In this post I will show you how you can install the software for your printer, to be able to print.

First, you will need to make sure that the printer is all plugged in and connected to the computer, like so:

One you have done this you need to insert the CD into the computer, like so:

Once you have inserted the CD, the next step should pop up on your computer screen:

Click quick install and it will then take you onto the next page, which is as follows:

Agree to their terms and conditions after you have read through them, and click 'next', you will then get this screen:

It will now ask you what components you want to install, choose the ones that you want a click 'next', the following screen will appear:

The Printer software is now installing onto your system, it will take a few minutes, and then you will end up with the following screen:

You will now need to register your printer, if you are connected to the Internet, if not you don't have to do this, now i will show you that the printer works:

I have now printed something off of Microsoft word in order to show you that the printer works, an image is as follows:

If you follow all of the previous steps then you will successfully install your printer software.

Removing and reinserting a peice of hardware - P5

I am going to show you how to remove and reinsert the graphics card, next is some images that will show you step by step how to do this.

First of all, you need to make sure that you have all of the safety equiptment set up, as you can see from the above image that i have already done so.

Make sure that any cables that are attached to the graphics card are removed before removing the graphics card itself.

Now you need to unscrew any screws that are holding the graphics card in place.

Now all you will have to do is pull the graphics card out, when you pull it make sure you are gentle and don't be too aggressive with it, as you would not want to damage the card. a gentle tug should do the trick.

This is picture of the graphics card away from the motherboard, now i am going to show you how to put the graphics card back in.

To put the graphics card back in you have to align the slot with the graphics card and give it a push in the center of the graphics card, and it should just pop back into place. like so:

Then you will have to re-screw the screws back into place, like so:

And then when you have done this, reinsert the VGA cable in to the back, like so:

Once this is done, stand the computer back up, turn the switches back on at the wall and turn the computer on, and the monitor should now be working as it did before, like so:

If you follow all of these steps you will successfully be able to remove and re-insert your graphics card.

How will these utilities speed up my system? D1

How can software utilities speed up your computer?

Anti-virus

Anti-virus software speeds up your system by eliminating the following problems:

-          Viruses, that cause the following issues:

o   Messing around with the settings of your computer so it is more difficult to use.

o   Someone planting a virus on your computer and causing it to run slowly, because the software is using up all of your RAM space.

o   Someone planting a virus onto your computer and using it to take over your computer.

o   If someone plants any sort of virus on your computer that needs to run in order for them to use it, this will take up your RAM space and make your computer slower.

These things are the reason why you should always have some sort of software that protects you against viruses, so it will keep your computer running at its fastest.

Firewall

Having a firewall will speed up your system because it will stop any unauthorised connections from connecting to your computer, by the use of ports. What this does is it blocks any connections that you don’t want, say for instance, if someone tried to hack into your computer they wouldn’t be able to do it because there are only certain ports that will be open, these ports will allow you to use the applications that you want to. Not to be hacked, and if they hack you it can slow down the performance of your computer. This is why you should always have a firewall.

Software Utilities - P3

Software utilities – P3

There are many different software utilities, they have many different functions but the two main ones that I am going to write about is virus protection software and firewalls, as these both have an important function in keeping your computer safe and sometimes you can get a programme that has both pieces of software in one.

First I am going to explain what virus protection software does, this piece of software has a vital to any computer, since it stops any infections from getting into your computer, although no anti-virus will protect you 100% from viruses, it can protect you 97% of the time, simply because new viruses are made every day, doing different things to harm your computer.

So what is a virus?

A Virus is a piece of software or malware that gets into your computer system and it can severely damage it, doing things that can stop you from loading your computer, to using it as a key logger to find out personal information, like credit card details ECT.. and this is why it is vital to have anti-virus software to make it almost impossible for this to happen.

There are many different companies who offer many different anti-virus software, a few of them are AVG, Norton Anti-virus and Mcafee anti-virus. Some of these are free, but some of them you have to pay for.

So what might happen if you don’t have anti-virus software?

If you don’t have a good piece of anti-virus software, then if someone hacks into your system and plants a virus on it, then you could face things like: your computer is unable to boot up, fraud, constant pop-ups advertising and more things that you wouldn’t wish for on your computer and that is why having anti-virus is vital.

  

The other utility I am going to talk about that is for your computer system is a firewall, windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7 and some MAC Operating Systems have a firewall that is already installed into the operating system. A firewall is a piece of software that filters any unwanted traffic coming in through the internet, the firewall opens ‘ports’ for certain connections you are using, and connections that are unwanted are automatically blocked by your firewall, stopping any unwanted trespassers from getting into your computer system.

So what would happen if you don’t have a firewall?

If you don’t have a firewall, it will allow trespassers access to your system, giving them access to all of your personal details, including your bank account details, and possibly more, anything that you have stored on your computer, it can also allow people to ‘plant’ a virus into your computer. So both a firewall and anti-virus is vital for your computer.

Sometimes people switch the firewall off as it speeds up the connection to the internet because it doesn’t have to pass through the firewall first, but this is unadvisable, as it will leave your computer open to hackers, who will hack into your computer and steal your personal information. So keeping a firewall on at all times when using the internet is what you should do, as it will keep any unwanted traffic away from the compter.

What is an operating system? - P1

What is an operating system – P1

An operating system is a piece of software that is stored on the hard drive, which the computer uses when you switch the computer on. This piece of software creates an interface between the user and the computer, which you can run programmes on your operating system, all of the different operating systems differ in some shape or form, that’s why depending on what operating system you are running depends on what software you can run and can’t run. Without an operating system you wouldn’t be able to use a computer, as this is the main piece of software.  A operating system also has control over all of the hardware inside of the computer, like the HDD and the motherboard, so the operating system is the most important thing. There are a few different types of operating system out there, which are mentioned in this post.

Health and Safety - CS1 - P1

First before you read on any further into this blog you must know health and safety, by this I mean whenever you need to change something inside of a computer you must have an anti-static mat, an anti-static wristband and the cables to interconnect them. The reason for having this part of equipment is to prevent damage to your computer. The reason your computer may get damaged if you do not use this equipment is because you could have a slight positive or negative charge, and then when your touch the computer it could send that charge through the part of the computer and cause damage.

                                             

To use the equipment you must first lay the mat on a table or on the ground, it doesn’t matter. Then lay the computer on the mat, making sure you don’t touch anything inside until you’ve done the required steps. Then put on the wristband and attach the wristband to the mat, there should be somewhere on the mat where the clip attaches to. Then get the wire with the crocodile clip on, clip it to the mat the same way you did the wristband, then attach the crocodile clip anywhere on the casing of the computer. Then there should be one more wire, the last one will plug into the power supply in the wall and also into the mat. Once you have done all of these steps you are ready to start working on your computer.

Also, when you remove equipment from the computer you should always place them inside an anti-static bag, to prevent them from getting damaged.