Keep Your Computer Up To Speed

Posted under Computers, Hardware, Internet, Software

New Computers are getting faster and faster every year. But the more programs you load, the slower it seems to gets. It may be time to clean house and get rid of the programs you no longer use.

To remove programs, start by going to the Control Panel. To find the control panel, click on the Start Menu button on the lower left-hand corner of the Windows XP desktop. The ‘Control Panel’ should be listed in the Start Menu.

If it’s not on your Start Menu, it’s easy to add.

1. Right-click the Start button and choose ‘Properties’ from the pop-up menu.

2. On the Start Menu tab, make sure the first (non-classic) Start Menu option is selected and click Customize.

3. Click the Advanced tab.

4. In the Start Menu Items list under the Control Panel section, select Display As Link.

Now that you have found the Control Panel, select ‘Add or Remove Programs’. A list of currently installed programs will be displayed. Start at the top of the list. The first program on the list will be highlighted. Use the up and down arrows to scroll the list.

You will see some details about the program. The size, used, and last used on date. There will also be a ‘Change/Remove’ button. Click on ‘Change/Remove’ to start the uninstall wizard. Some wizards will ask you to turn your computer off to finish the removal of the program. That’s fine, go ahead and restart your computer and continue down the list.

There may be some programs on the list that you don’t recognize. If there are other people using your computer, you might want to ask them about it before deleting it. Also, if it has words like driver, Windows, Microsoft, update or your Internet providers name in the title, you should leave it alone. Be sure to check the date last used. Then, if it has been more than a few months and is used rarely, it is safe to remove.

After you’re done removing programs, you should defrag your hard drive. Defragging your hard drive gets all the files back in line and helps your computer run faster.

To defrag your computer:

1. Select ‘My Computer’ from the Start Menu.

2. Right-click on the hard drive, this is usually referred to as the ‘C’ drive.

3. Select ‘Properties’ from the pop-up menu.

4. Select the ‘Tools’ tab and click on the ‘Defragment Now…’ button.

5. Click on the ‘Analyze’ button.

Wait a minute or so, and a little window will pop-up telling you if you need to defrag your hard drive.

When this is finished your computer should be Up to Speed. - Janean Wilson

Owning a Hybrid Car

Posted under Cars

The first warnings were launched about 30 years ago, when the Middle Eastern countries had stopped the oil exports, sending the world into a never before seen energy crisis.

Today’s world is not that different, with oil prices climbing up day by day. Besides the peace factor, modern cars burn millions and millions of tons of oil each year, resulting tons of carbon dioxide and other gases that are the main causes of global warming.

Mankind has to find an alternative to traditional fuels and with today’s level of engineering, the hybrid cars appear to be the solution, as least for the time being.

With the advent of the hybrid car, car owners and users all over the world are now finding relief that indeed there is hope from spending hundreds of dollars each month at the gas station.

A hybrid car combines a traditional engine (an engine with internal combustion, either gasoline or diesel powered) with an electric engine to move the car.

A hybrid car has the advantage that at slow speeds, such as those on busy motorways, the car uses only the electric motor to move. This results to low emissions and a very high mileage (the electric engine brings in its benefits in those areas where the internal combustion engine was the least beneficial - at slow speeds and around the city). When a certain speed is passed, the internal combustion engine kicks in to help the electric engine move the car.

If you look at a hybrid from a pure technical point of view, a hybrid cannot be classified as an electric vehicle entirely because only about 40% of the energy consumption of the vehicle is from electric sources. This energy is stored in large batteries inside the car.

Until technology finds better solutions to burning oil and gas to move cars, hybrid cars are the only alternatives that can help you save money and contribute to the stop of global warning. However, there are also a series of drawbacks to owning a hybrid car.

First, the hybrid technology used in cars today is very new and its development costs have not yet been recovered by manufacturers. That is why a hybrid car will cost significantly more than the normal version of that car. Studies have shown that on average, a hybrid car costs more than the regular model by around $2,000 to $5,000, sometimes even more. The production facilities are limited and the demand is high, so manufacturers have the pleasure keeping prices up for hybrid cars.

Second, the batteries storing the electricity required by the electric engine are very heavy and large, taking up significant interior space. . There are several states in the United States and some other global governments that are charging additional fees and other charges for acquiring a hybrid car, in the end the user ends up paying more than the car would normally cost.

The voltage required by the electric engine are very high and this adds to the car’s complexity and makes it difficult to find specialized repairing shops There is also the possibility for more dangerous car accidents if something goes wrong with the electric parts of the car. Furthermore, the prices of spare parts can be very expensive for a hybrid car. You have to take a lot of things into consideration when deciding to buy a hybrid car, as things are not that simple as they might appear at first sight. - Dennis