Strange Computer Noise

Your computer just started making a strange sound when you turn it on. It sounds like rapid ticking or rattleing (not hard drive sounds either) and goes away after a few minutes. It sounds like a problem with one of your fans (no, not the people who love you, the ones that blow air).

Your computer probably has two internal fans - one that sits on top of the CPU and one inside your power supply. Most of the time the sound you're describing comes from the fan in the power supply. Note they can make that annoying noise for a long time before they finally belly up and die.

However, if it's your CPU fan, you may have a serious issue. If that puppy dies, your CPU can turn to toast in a hurry (and trust me, they're not very good with butter and jelly).

So, the best advice is to wait till your computer is completely cooled off and remove the case cover. Turn the computer on and see if you can determine where the sound is coming from. If it's the CPU fan, that'll need replaced.

If it's the power supply fan, you'll need to repalce the entire power supply to get rid of the noise. If you think you're going to open the power supply and fix the fan - don't. They're not user serviceable. Besides, if you touch one of its capacitors on accident you'll take a nice little flight across the room.

You may want to listen to your hard drive too (it's the square, slim box looking thingy). The sound described in the question above probably isn't hard drive related, but it's always a good idea to give it a quick listen.

Remember, most of the time these power supply fans still work for years after they start rattling, so usually there's no rush - just keep a close eye on it. If that fan dies, your computer can overheat in a hurry.

Oh, after you're done playing with your machines innards, be sure to put the cover back on. Believe it or not, your computer can overheat with the cover off. The computer is desigend to pull air thorugh the case in a certain pattern. If there's no cover, the airflow is all wrong and things don't cool as they should.

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Organize Your Wires

Most of us have wires all over the place. If you're a neat freak, this can be a constant source of aggravation and frustration.

Well, there's a simple way to get them off the floor, off the monitor, and generally out of the way.

A woodworking tool known as a 'clamp' (a spring type thing for holding wood together, SIMILAR to huge spring clips for paper), selling for anywhere from $0.99-2.00 at Home Depot, works fantastically well for this. I am in the process of moving around (yet again) and until things are situated right (with networks, attachments, scanners, etc.) the wires are in the way.

I just took one of those big clamps and clamped it to a shelf on the desk. There is plenty of room behind the grasping edge of the clamp and the jaws to fit a bunch of wires. I used a total of 4 clamps and all the wires are up and out of the way.

Tip contributed by Richard Kiernan

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Troubleshooting Video Problems

Does your display flicker? Are your animations not working correctly? Have you been notified that you have “display problems. This program can’t continue”? This tip will help you solve those video problems.

Hold down the Alt key and double click on the My Computer icon, then select the Device Manager tab (XP Users: it’s the Hardware tab). Double click Display Adapters.

Next, double click your video card. The Device Status window will list any problems with your video card. If a problem is listed here it is usually a conflict between two devices. Click on the Resources tab. If there are any conflicts listed in the Conflicting Device List, make sure the Use Automatic Settings is checked and reboot your computer. You can also try running through the steps under the Troubleshooting button in the General tab of the Properties window.

If either of these solutions doesn’t solve your problem, reload your video driver by repeating the above steps up to double clicking on your video card. From there click on the Driver tab, then Update Driver and follow the on-screen instructions. Have your video card driver disk or cd ready when you reinstall the driver.

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Wheel Mouse Warning!

So, you have one of those cool little wheel mice. Great aren't they? Once you start scrolling with a wheel, you never want to go back - that's for sure. In fact, one day you may be telling your wide-eyed grandkids about the way you used to have a mouse that didn't have a wheel between the keys.

Well, there's something you need to be aware of - call it "the dark side of the wheel" if you like.

Wheel mice can change drop down box selections.

OK, that doesn't sound all that bad, does it? In fact, if you know that you can use your wheel mouse to change selections in a drop down box, you may even think that it's a handy little feature.

Here's the problem. Let's say you come across a drop down box and make a selection. Now, you need to move down the page so you instinctively spin the little wheel on your wheel mouse. Well, if you didn't take focus away from the drop down box first (i.e. you didn't click on a different are of the web page) you'll find that you may have inadvertently changed your selection!

Of course, while your changing the selection you don't scroll. However, what most people do is scroll a little, see that nothing happens, then click a blank area on the web page and the scrolling starts again. They don't even realize that they have changed their drop box selection.

Want to see what I mean? Try selecting something in the drop box below, then spin that little wheel mouse wheel (don't click outside the box though!)

Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5 Sample 6 Sample 7 Sample 8 Sample 9 Choose Sample 5 and scroll

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Multiple Monitors

If one monitor is good, two is better, right?

I've been using two monitors simultaneously with my laptop for over 3 years now. Let me tell ya, it's great having all that desktop real estate to play with. Your mouse moves from screen to screen and you can move open windows from one screen to the other just as if you were using a single large monitor.

So how do you set it up?

Basically, all you need to have is two video adapters (cards). Your computer already has one, but you'll need to either install another one yourself or take your computer to someone who can.

Keep in mind that depending on your configuration, you may not have any space (or interrupts) left for adding another video card. Due to the millions of possible configurations, I don't really have any guidelines to give you in regard to this. If you're not sure, take your machine into a computer shop and have them look at it.

If you're using a laptop, you may already have multiple video adapters. One for your LCD display and one for a standard monitor. Just plug your regular monitor in and go. It's that easy. Of course, you'll want to confirm this before you go out and buy a new monitor, buy most newer laptops will support this configuration.

Once you get the hardware taken care of, the rest is easy. Right-click your desktop and select "Properties" from the resulting menu. Hit the "Settings" tab.

You'll see both monitors displayed. You can set resolution and color depth for each individually as well as drag the monitor icons themselves into their real world positions (makes transitions from one monitor to the next smoother).

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Leave It Run, Or Not?

This is one of those topics that always seems to make digital sparks fly.

I guess I'll give you the thoughts from both camps and let you decide.

Leave it on: The electronic components within the computer tend to last longer if they aren't constantly cooling off and warming back up. Additionally, you don't get any kind of initial "spike" in power when your machine is first turned on (not a big problem if you have an ATX type motherboard - most newer computers do). Finally, it's much more convenient to just plop down in front of your computer and start working than to sit through a lengthy boot-up.

Turn it off: Your hard drive may last longer, especially if your computer doesn't put the drive on "standby" after a certain amount of idle time. The constant spinning of your hard drive motor can wear out the internal bearings. I personally don't think this a big deal. Newer hard drives will probably be in good service longer than the computer they live in. Another "turn it off" argument is that you'll save on your electric bill. Depending on your machine, it uses the same power as one or more 100 watt light bulbs. Finally, you're going to pull more dust into your computer if it's running all the time. More dust = more heat. More heat = short lived computers, unless you clean it out regularly.

Those are the main reasons both ways. My opinion? I let it run during the day when I'm using it and shut it off at night.

I don't think it's good for the computer to have someone poking at the power switch constantly. If you're going to use it in the morning and then again in the afternoon, leave it run till you're finished for the day.

I used to leave mine run 24/7, but a few things have changed my mind.

For one, any chip faster than 133Mhz needs a cooling fan to keep it from burning itself into a silicon cinder. These fans are not totally reliable.

If I'm using the computer and am getting signs that I have a CPU that's overheating (your computer will act *really* strange, some will play a little tune through the internal speaker), I can shut things down and get it fixed. If it happens in the middle of the night, I'll have a roasted CPU in the morning.

Another reason is that I've seen power supplies go bad and try to catch themselves (and anything nearby) on fire. Again, not something I want to have happen at 2:00 AM when I'm asleep dreaming about program code.

Finally, anyone who uses Windows knows that it should be re-booted on a daily basis. So, by shutting it off at night and turning it back on it the morning, I automatically get my re-boot (that's not to say I don't have to do the occasional re-boot during the day though with win 9.x type machines).

So, my advice is to run it when you need it, and when you're done for the day, shut it down.

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Multiple Monitors

If one monitor is good, two is better, right?

I've been using two monitors simultaneously with my laptop for over 3 years now. Let me tell ya, it's great having all that desktop real estate to play with. Your mouse moves from screen to screen and you can move open windows from one screen to the other just as if you were using a single large monitor.

So how do you set it up?

Basically, all you need to have is two video adapters (cards). Your computer already has one, but you'll need to either install another one yourself or take your computer to someone who can.

Keep in mind that depending on your configuration, you may not have any space (or interrupts) left for adding another video card. Due to the millions of possible configurations, I don't really have any guidelines to give you in regard to this. If you're not sure, take your machine into a computer shop and have them look at it.

If you're using a laptop, you may already have multiple video adapters. One for your LCD display and one for a standard monitor. Just plug your regular monitor in and go. It's that easy. Of course, you'll want to confirm this before you go out and buy a new monitor, buy most newer laptops will support this configuration.

Once you get the hardware taken care of, the rest is easy. Right-click your desktop and select "Properties" from the resulting menu. Hit the "Settings" tab.

You'll see both monitors displayed. You can set resolution and color depth for each individually as well as drag the monitor icons themselves into their real world positions (makes transitions from one monitor to the next smoother).

Read more »

Posted in: Hardware Tips

Multiple Monitors

If one monitor is good, two is better, right?

I've been using two monitors simultaneously with my laptop for over 3 years now. Let me tell ya, it's great having all that desktop real estate to play with. Your mouse moves from screen to screen and you can move open windows from one screen to the other just as if you were using a single large monitor.

So how do you set it up?

Basically, all you need to have is two video adapters (cards). Your computer already has one, but you'll need to either install another one yourself or take your computer to someone who can.

Keep in mind that depending on your configuration, you may not have any space (or interrupts) left for adding another video card. Due to the millions of possible configurations, I don't really have any guidelines to give you in regard to this. If you're not sure, take your machine into a computer shop and have them look at it.

If you're using a laptop, you may already have multiple video adapters. One for your LCD display and one for a standard monitor. Just plug your regular monitor in and go. It's that easy. Of course, you'll want to confirm this before you go out and buy a new monitor, buy most newer laptops will support this configuration.

Once you get the hardware taken care of, the rest is easy. Right-click your desktop and select "Properties" from the resulting menu. Hit the "Settings" tab.

You'll see both monitors displayed. You can set resolution and color depth for each individually as well as drag the monitor icons themselves into their real world positions (makes transitions from one monitor to the next smoother).

Read more »

Posted in: Hardware Tips

Multiple Monitors

If one monitor is good, two is better, right?

I've been using two monitors simultaneously with my laptop for over 3 years now. Let me tell ya, it's great having all that desktop real estate to play with. Your mouse moves from screen to screen and you can move open windows from one screen to the other just as if you were using a single large monitor.

So how do you set it up?

Basically, all you need to have is two video adapters (cards). Your computer already has one, but you'll need to either install another one yourself or take your computer to someone who can.

Keep in mind that depending on your configuration, you may not have any space (or interrupts) left for adding another video card. Due to the millions of possible configurations, I don't really have any guidelines to give you in regard to this. If you're not sure, take your machine into a computer shop and have them look at it.

If you're using a laptop, you may already have multiple video adapters. One for your LCD display and one for a standard monitor. Just plug your regular monitor in and go. It's that easy. Of course, you'll want to confirm this before you go out and buy a new monitor, buy most newer laptops will support this configuration.

Once you get the hardware taken care of, the rest is easy. Right-click your desktop and select "Properties" from the resulting menu. Hit the "Settings" tab.

You'll see both monitors displayed. You can set resolution and color depth for each individually as well as drag the monitor icons themselves into their real world positions (makes transitions from one monitor to the next smoother).

Read more »

Posted in: Hardware Tips

Hardware Refresh

Here's a cool way to save yourself some time. If you have any kind of external (non USB) device (like a scanner, tape backup, external zip drive, etc), they probably need to be powered on before you boot up your computer. If not, the computer doesn't recognize them and you need to turn them on and re-boot. Or do you?

For example, let's say you forgot to turn on your scanner. Now, normally you would have to turn it on and re-boot the computer. Wait - here's how to get around it.

1. Right-click My Computer and select Properties from the resulting menu.

2. Click the Device Manager tab and then the Computer item at the top. Towards the bottom of that screen, you'll see a "refresh" button. Click that.

Windows will now "refresh" it's hardware profile! Once it's done (it shouldn't take too long at all) you'll find your scanner is now part of the hardware profile and you can now use it, no re-booting required!

This will (should) work for any device that's attached to your computer and you forgot to turn on. It seems like I need to hit the refresh button twice on some computers to get this to work. Go figure.

Please note - if you forgot to attach a device to your computer, it's best to attach devices to the computer ONLY when it's off (Unless is a USB device).

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Printer Sharing

If the computers are networked together, enable printer sharing on the computer with the printer. This is done under the Network icon in the Control Panel.

Then, install the networked printer you created above on the second computer. You do this from the Printers folder in My Computer (XP users, head to the Control Panel). Just click "install Printer" and when asked, tell it you're installing a network printer. There's a handy little wizard to guide you through the process (it's actually very easy). That should get you printing.

The only potential problem I can see is if the printer is not able to be used on a network. Most can be, but there are some that will refuse to run.

OK, but what if the computers aren't networked together?

If they're not networked, you still have an option. Most computer stores sell a switch box device that can be used to connect a single printer to several computers. Although this doesn't work everytime (some printers are funny about switchboxes), most of the time it does the trick. You should be able to get these switch boxes for under $30.00.

A word of caution - you may want to check your printer documentation to make sure that the switch box is safe for the printer in question. I've never really seen a problem with using a switchbox, but it never hurts to check.

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Posted in: Hardware Tips

Printer Sharing

If the computers are networked together, enable printer sharing on the computer with the printer. This is done under the Network icon in the Control Panel.

Then, install the networked printer you created above on the second computer. You do this from the Printers folder in My Computer (XP users, head to the Control Panel). Just click "install Printer" and when asked, tell it you're installing a network printer. There's a handy little wizard to guide you through the process (it's actually very easy). That should get you printing.

The only potential problem I can see is if the printer is not able to be used on a network. Most can be, but there are some that will refuse to run.

OK, but what if the computers aren't networked together?

If they're not networked, you still have an option. Most computer stores sell a switch box device that can be used to connect a single printer to several computers. Although this doesn't work everytime (some printers are funny about switchboxes), most of the time it does the trick. You should be able to get these switch boxes for under $30.00.

A word of caution - you may want to check your printer documentation to make sure that the switch box is safe for the printer in question. I've never really seen a problem with using a switchbox, but it never hurts to check.

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Clean Computers

When it comes to our computers, all we tend to think about is the stuff we see on the screen - the software. Most of tend to neglect the computer itself.

What can you do with your computer to make it run longer? Keep it clean.

I can't tell you the number of computers I've opened that have been clogged with dust. In fact, I've seen computers fail and have intermediate problems due to excessive dust build up. In addition, a lot of dust in your computer can cause it to run hotter than it should, shortening its life.

So, what can you do?

I recommend that you open your computer's case (unplug it first) about once every 6 months or so and blow it out with that canned air stuff (you can get it at any office supply store). Of course, be careful not to disconnect or damage anything. Make sure you blow out the power supply (DO NOT open up the power supply unit) and the CPU fan too. Since all this dusting can make a mess, you may want to do it outside.

Here's a shot of one of my dirty old PCs. This one uses a Pentium III processor, so its CPU fan is vertical in orientation. Your CPU fan may be flat on the board.

Also, make sure you keep your can of compressed air upright. The propellant inside those things tends to come out when the can is inverted or at an angle, so be careful.

Oh, if you can get some kind of good "mini-vacuum" that would be OK too. In fact, some would argue vacuums are better because compressed air can force dust deeper into the cracks and crevices of your computer.

That said, I still like canned air better for a several reasons.

1. I've yet to find a little vacuum that was any good. They all seem to leave a ton of dirt behind on the boards. In my opinion, if you can't get all the dirt off, what's the point?

2. In addition, there are a lot of places that even small attachments just can't get to. Again, what's the point of cleaning if you can't get it all?

3. I've been cleaning computers since before DOS, and have yet to actually see a problem with using canned air. In my opinion, compressed air simply removes the most dust. So, I'll stick to my little cans, you can still vacuum if you like :-)

Finally, no matter how tempting it is, washing your computer with the help of a garden hose is always a bad idea :-)

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Liven Up Your Mouse

I've read about the FDA testing the effect of caffeine on laboratory mice, but that won't help us here. Adjusting the speed of your mouse pointer and buttons can help liven up your mouse.

Open Mouse in the Control Panel (click Start , Control Panel , Printers and Other Hardware , and then Mouse )

Under Buttons , you can adjust the double-click speed to your preference. Just slide the Speed setting left or right to adjust. (NOTE: I use an optical mouse with Windows XP, so your interface and options may vary. You may need to search around for this feature).

On the Pointer Options tab, under Motion , drag the slider make the mouse faster or slower.

While you're in Mouse Properties, look around at the other cool stuff that might be available to personalize your mousing experience.

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Ahh, I'm losing my mind, I mean, my mouse!

Yes, I hear that cry daily... You're typing along, life is good, then you need to click on something and you can't find your mouse. Despite moving that little critter all over your desk, your eye can't seem to locate the pointer. Ugh!

Well, here's a quick solution for you Windows XP users:

Click on Start, select Control Panel, click on "Printers and Other Hardware," and choose Mouse. In the resulting window, click on the Pointer Options tab.

In the Visibility section, I would recommend un-checking "Hide pointer while typing" so your mouse cursor doesn't disappear that often. Then check "Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key." This will activate a bulls eye target to appear around the mouse cursor when you press the Ctrl key.

(Your mouse control panel may look different and have fewer features, so don't be surprised if it is not the same as what you see here.)

And don't worry, it won't interfere with keyboard shortcuts using the Ctrl key. Once you've made your selections, click Apply and then OK and you'll have a mouse that doesn't scurry away quite as much!

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Ahh, I'm losing my mind, I mean, my mouse!

Yes, I hear that cry daily... You're typing along, life is good, then you need to click on something and you can't find your mouse. Despite moving that little critter all over your desk, your eye can't seem to locate the pointer. Ugh!

Well, here's a quick solution for you Windows XP users:

Click on Start, select Control Panel, click on "Printers and Other Hardware," and choose Mouse. In the resulting window, click on the Pointer Options tab.

In the Visibility section, I would recommend un-checking "Hide pointer while typing" so your mouse cursor doesn't disappear that often. Then check "Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key." This will activate a bulls eye target to appear around the mouse cursor when you press the Ctrl key.

(Your mouse control panel may look different and have fewer features, so don't be surprised if it is not the same as what you see here.)

And don't worry, it won't interfere with keyboard shortcuts using the Ctrl key. Once you've made your selections, click Apply and then OK and you'll have a mouse that doesn't scurry away quite as much!

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Posted in: Hardware Tips