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Month: April 2013

What is a computer driver?

What is a computer driver?

I have often been asked the question “what is a computer driver”? Computer hardware companies sell physical hardware for your computer which needs to be talked to by your computer’s OS (Operating System). The computer OS could be Windows XP; Vista or Windows 7. Together with your new hardware, the company will release a piece of software (computer programme) which you need to install on your computer. By “hardware” I mean anything from a graphics or sound card to a printer…

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Missing programs from add/remove programs

Missing programs from add/remove programs

We just had a customer who was missing programs from add/remove programs. The customer had wanted to remove a particular anti-virus programme but couldn’t find the programme listed under the “Add or Remove programmes” tool in Control Panel. For some reason the entry had been removed. There was also no uninstaller for the Programme listed under the Programme’s entry in the Start/Programs list, or in the Programme’s folder in Windows Explorer. This was an interesting situation as the programme was running on…

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Backing up your computer files

Backing up your computer files

“Backup, backup, backup!” is a mantra that I preach often as now, more often than not, precious computer files such as photographs; documents; videos or songs are stored on a computer hard drive and not periodically “backed up”. Because of digital photography, we have all gotten lazy and rely on our computers to store these valuable milestones, comfortable and complacent in a false sense of security that we can view them at our leisure. Gone are the days where we were handed photographic…

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What does boot up your computer mean

What does boot up your computer mean

Have you ever wondered why turning on your computer has coined the phrase “Boot Up” or what does boot up your computer mean? The explanation goes back to the days when folks wore boots as their normal foot attire and people remarked  to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Bootstraps were the loops at the back of each boot that you used to pull the boot onto your foot and the phrase  “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” simply meant to get yourself…

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Windows Defender Offline CD

Windows Defender Offline CD

Sadly, some Malware cannot be removed conventionally by anti-malware aka anti-virus software. Luckily, Microsoft has come to the rescue by allowing you to create a boot up CD disc that will remove this malware. This CD has its own anti-Malware operating system included and will allow you to fix any problems before they have had a chance to take hold. The procedure is to download the Windows Defender Offline software and then create a boot up disc. Please make sure that you…

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Improve your TV sound

Improve your TV sound

My husband and I decided to buy a new LED backlit television for Christmas to replace our aging CRT TV. Unfortunately the sound quality of our new 32″ panel was poor in comparison to our old TV. In order to try to improve the sound quality, we did research on the new “Soundbars” that have come into the market. Unfortunately, most of them were quite expensive and out of our price range. I told my husband that I had an…

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Deleting Vista’s Windows Mail “Autofill” entries

Deleting Vista’s Windows Mail “Autofill” entries

Recently, we had a client who complained that when he typed a friend’s name into the “To” field of a new email, he saw entries for his friend’s old email address appear as well as the current correct email address. Even though he had deleted the obsolete address information from the contact list the deleted entries still automatically appeared. This is a quirk with Windows Mail and for some reason Microsoft haven’t gotten around to fixing it yet. This is…

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Disk or Disc?

Disk or Disc?

Which terminology is correct: Hard “Disk” Drive (HDD) or Hard “Disc” Drive? Is it a compact “disk” or “disc”? The answer is that if light is used to read the data, then the correct word is “disc” as in Compact Disc or Digital Versatile/Video Disc (DVD). Your hard disk doesn’t use light to read the data. The data is read by detecting the magnetization of the material in the platter; so it is a “disk”.  

Phishing email

Phishing email

In the last few days, we have received two emails at Comp-U-Train purporting to be from ABSA bank. This email rang our alarm bells immediately as firstly we don’t bank with ABSA and secondly we recognised it as a typical “Phishing” email This email is a typical Phishing hoax and is a way to try to get you to reveal your banking username & password. Once the criminals have this information they can log onto your banking account and part you…

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