Archive for 'Tips and Tricks'

Do your computer really require repair?

April 7th, 2009 by admin under Tips and Tricks. No Comments.

computer repairAs experienced computer  users can easily make correct diagnosis out of symptoms exhibited bt their PCs, and the rest of us don’t have any clue whether something is really wrong with the computer. We know that some serious problems require an expert to fix the problem, most glitches can easily solve the problem without a need for a technician. So how do you come on conclusion whether you really require? Here are some tips on how to check whether you need a technician or not.

Learning to eliminate
Unless you are experienced at diagnosing what ails your computer, the best thing you can do is to try to determine the problem by elimination.  First, find out the symptoms and then consider the most possible causes and eliminate those that are not plausible.  This will help you discover the most possible explanation for the problem.  From there, you can decide whether or not your computer really requires repair.

Learning to scan
Many of the problems manifested by the computer are caused by malware such as viruses, spyware and adware.  As long as your computer and antivirus software are updated, you can perform a regular scan to check for any infection.  In most cases, common problems are solved this way, although others may require you to download patches to correct any errors and vulnerabilities.

No power
If your computer won’t turn on, don’t immediately assume you’ll need professional help.  Check if it’s connected to a power outlet and then check if there is power.  Next, check the power button and the connections for the cables.  If using a battery to run a laptop, determine if the battery has been sufficiently charged.  Only when you’ve checked all possible scenarios and still failed should you consider having your computer repaired.

Slowpoke computer
A slow computer may not always be a sign that it really requires repair.  It may be because you’re running a lot of programs that may be too much of a burden for the amount of memory your computer has.  Try to close programs you don’t need and delete stuff you have no use for.  Empty your recycle bin right after.  Defrag your system to re-organize your files.

If these steps still don’t fix your problem, it may either be because you need more memory or that there’s something in your system that requires a checkup from the professionals.

Missing drivers
This usually comes as a surprise, when your computer shows a message indicating that a device is missing.  If you are quite sure that drivers for hardware you’re using have already been installed, try to re-install them using the appropriate CDs.  In minor cases, that should fix the problem.  If the problem continues or if your computer exhibits even stranger symptoms, that’s a clear sign that you really need to have it repaired.

The need to reboot now and then
Frequent rebooting is often the result of a system freezing or hanging up.  This is when the computer screen just simply stops reacting to what you do and nothing you can do to the keyboard or the mouse seems to work.  The only way to make the system work again is to press the reboot button.  If this happens, then it’s a sign that you shouldn’t try to fix it yourself because your computer really requires repair.

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Use iTunes to Crop and Split Files

March 18th, 2009 by admin under Tips and Tricks. No Comments.

If you want to crop a audio file — that is, remove some of the unwanted audio from the file, like cropping a photo — you can use iTunes to perform the operation and maintain the quality of audio file. Cropping is not the most intuitive operation, but it is simple to use. This is handy when you want to remove extraneous sound at the beginning and end of an audio file. Cropping is also useful for isolating a small snippet of sound from a file.

Using a similar set of operations, you can also separate a lengthy file into smaller chunks, each of which is a new audio file. This is great when you have extremely long audio files that you would like to split. This may happen, for example, when you record an LP record. It is easier to simply record an entire side of an album and then chop it up in iTunes later, rather than start and stop the recording process for each song on the album.itunes software

1.    Click the iTunes icon in the Dock.

2.    Click a playlist name.

3.    In the playlist, click a song from which you would like to copy a segment.

4.    Listen to the song and locate the exact times of the clip segment you would like to copy.

Note: To locate where you would like the clip to start, move the playback head in the display to the desired point. Write down that time. Then move the playback head to determine the end time of the segment.
5.    Press Command-I. The Info window opens.

6.    Click Options.

7.    Click Start Time and type the beginning time of the segment to copy.

8.    Click Stop Time and type the ending time of the segment to copy.

9.    Click OK..itunes software

10.    Press Command-, (comma).

The iTunes Preferences dialog appears.

11.    Click Importing.

12.    Click the format of the new clip; for example, select AIFF Encoder.

13.    Click OK to apply the settings and dismiss the Preferences dialog.

14.    Click Advanced.

15.    Click Convert Selection to AIFF.

iTunes converts the segment that you defined into a new track.

iTunes plays a “ding” sound when the conversion is complete.

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