Know your PC 3 ------ POWER SUPPLY

A power supply changers the alternating current (AC) that seems from an electrical outlet to the direct current (DC) that ac computer can use.

HOW TO REPLACE A POWER SUPPLY?

Before replacing a power supply, turn off the computer, unplug the power cable and remove the cover from the computer case.

1. Disconnect the power supply cables from the system board and other devices inside the computer.

2. Remove the screws that secure the power supply in the computer case. Then slide the power supply out of the computer case.

3. Slide the new power supply into the computer case and use screws to secure it.

4. Reconnect all the cables. If necessary, reconnect the power switch and replace the front of the computer case. Then replace the cover on the computer case.

REPLACEMENT CONSIDERATION:

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN I NEED TO REPLACE MY POWER SUPPLY?

Power supplies are reliable and usually work for many years without any problems. As a result of a faculty power supply, the computer may lock up repeatedly or other components may fail to work consistently.

Before you replace a power supply, make sure the problems you are experiencing are not caused by another component. Some problems that you think are due to a faculty power supply may actually be caused by another component such as malfunctioning of hard drive.

WHAT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS SHOULD I TAKE WHEN REPLACES A POWER SUPPLY?

You should unplug the power supply from the electrical outlet on your wall and you should never take the cover off a power supply you are replacing. Even without the power supply being plugged into an electrical outlet, it can still contain power.

How to create a simple wireless LAN for playing LAN games....

We can always connect our computers through wireless card. We don't need any infrastructure like LAN cable or router to connect our computers while playing games. We can do this through wireless ad hoc. The only thing we need is wireless card. So, for laptop users this is a very good way to set up a wireless LAN to play LAN games.

A wireless Ad hoc network is a decenralized type of wireless network. Each node participates in routing by forwarding data for other nodes, and so the determination of which nodes forward data is made dynamically based on the network connectivity. In addition to the classic routing, ad hoc networks can use flooding for forwarding the data. 

Here are the steps to create a ad hoc network.

Step 1. Go to Network and Sharing center. And Click on Set up a Connection or network.

Step 2. Now scroll down and select " Set up a wireless ad hoc (Computer to Computer) netwrok " and Click next.

Step 3. You will directed to this screen. Again click next.

Step 4. Now you will be given option to set up the name and password for your wireless network. Set one and hit next.

Step 5. The network will be created and shown to your friends laptop. They can simply connect to that network and you guys can enjoy playing game in LAN.

Top I-phone, I-pod apps you must have....

There are a lot of awesome apps for the users of  i-phone and i-pod. When a good app comes and becomes popular, other developers tries to build app similar to that. And the new users are in dilemma which one to choose. Anyway, here is a list of 5 awesome apps you must have.

1. AVplayer

Avplayer is a movie watching app. What awesome about it is you don't need to convert movies. You can directly  put the movies int his app through itunes or ifunbox and enjoy them. It also supports subtitles in .srt form. The price of this awesome app in appstore is $2.99. But if you have a jailbroken device, you can get it free from installous.

2. Facebook 

Most people have facebook these days. And if you are a facebook worm too the you can have facebook app in your IOS device and stay connected with you friends. Facebook in IOS device have almost every features you will have in facebook while using it in PC. Start a chat, keep up with friends' photos and status updates, look up a phone number, upload photos to Facebook and more—right from your iPhone.Also, this is a free app in appstore.

3. Skype  

Call, video call and instant message anyone else on Skype for free with Skype for your iPhone or iPod touch. Plus call and text your Contacts (or any other number) at Skype’s low rates. It’s great value with Skype Credit. This app is absolutely free in appstore.

4. Garageband

For a music lover and music maker, garageband ia the app for you. You can create music from three differetn instruments in garageband ie, guitar, piano and drums. There are variation in the instruments too. You can record your voice and play live guitar and record that music in garageband. The price of this app in appstore is $4.99.

5. iMovie  

Make beautiful HD movies anywhere with iMovie, the fast and fun moviemaking app for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Designed for the Multi-Touch screen, iMovie puts everything you need to tell your story at your fingertips. Make a movie in minutes by adding video, photos, music and sound effects. Then add a theme, titles and transitions. And you can share share your movie with the world – right from iMovie. The price of iMovie in appstore is $4.99.

Know your PC 2 -------- SOUND CARD

A Sound Card allows the computer to play and record high-quality sound.

INSTALLING A SOUND CARD

Before installing a sound card, turn off the computer, unplug the power cable and remove the cover from the computer case.

1. Select the expansion slot on the system board where you want to install the sound card.

2. Remove the expansion slot cover from the computer case. The cover is usually held in place by a small screw.

3. Place the sound card in the expansion slot firmly and evenly across the top of the card until it is securely inserted in the expansion slot.

4. Secure the sound card to the computer case using small screw. Then replace the cover on the computer.

SETTING UP

DO I NEED TO ADJUST THE SETTINGS FOR MY SOUND CARD?

Several computers resources, such as Interrupt Requests (IRQ), Direct Memory Access (DMA) channels and Input/Output (I/O) addresses are required by a sound card. The documentation included with your sound card gives information on the resource settings the sound card requires.

Before installing a sound card, make sure you have a list of the resources used ny the other devices. If the sound card requires the same resources the same resources as another devices, you may need to change the settings for the devices.

DO I NEED TO INSTALL A DRIVER FOR MY SOUND CARD?

Sound cards require one or more drivers. A driver is the software that allows the computer's operating system to communicate with and control the sound card. Most sound cards include an installation program that installs all the necessary drivers at once. If there is no installation program, you may have to install a separate driver for each port and jack on the sound card. Drivers are usually available at the sound card manufacturer's website.

Know your PC.... MEMORY (RAM)

Memory stores data in a computer temporarily. The main memory in a computer is called Random Access Memory (RAM). Memory Module on other hand is a small circuit board that hold memory chips. This module connects to a socket on a system board using small metal pads, called pins. A memory chip stores data used by the computers.

Types of Memory Modules:

SIMM

The most common type of memory module is a Single In-Line Memory Module. SIMMs can have either 30 or 72 pins. The 72 pins module is more common in new computers. A bank of SIMMs usually consists of two sockets. So, you must install two SIMMs at a time.

DIMM

DIMM stands for Dual In-Line Memory Module. It is used in computers with a pentium or compatible CPU. A DIMM is similar to SIMM except that it has 168 pins. A bank of DIMMs consists of only one socket. So, you only need to install one DIMM at a time.

                        

INSTALLING RAM

Before intalling an RDRAM, turn off the computer, unplug the power cable and remove the covers from the computer case.

1. Disconnect any cables inside the computer that restrict access to the memory sockets.

2. Push the clips on each end of the socket out of the way.

3. Locate the key on the side of the socket and the notch on the side of the memory module. To ensure you install the memory module correctly, align the key with the notch.

4. Push down dirmly and evenly across the top of the memory module to insert it in the socket.

5. The clips snap into place to secure the RDRAM in the socket.

                                       

6. Reconnect ant cables inside the computer. Then replace the cover on the computer.

Download Backtrack...

Backtrack is a  digital forensics and penetration testing OS.  It is a Linux-based penetration testing arsenal. Backtrack is used in different areas like Information Gathering, Vulnerability Assessment, Exploitation, Maintaining Access, Forensics and many other areas. The official website of backtrack is http://www.backtrack-linux.org/. 

You have the option of downloading Backtrack for different platforms. You can download it to use with virtual machine or directly to install in the hard drive. You also get the option of downloading backtrack for 32-bit or 64-bit architecture. For the convenience of users, downloading is available in the form of torrent as well as  direct download option too. You can DOWNLOAD backtrack from here: "download". 

Backtrack is a free software under GNU/GPL. Developers are always working to make Backtrack more better. The latest version of Backtrack is BacKTrack 5 R3. It was released in August 13 2012.

Softwares for VFX and real life animation

Most of the people want to learn real life animation and Visual effects done in movies. But they don't have any idea where to get start from. Well this article is about the softwares which are used for visual effects and real life animation. these software are used in making big hollywood projects too. 

So lets begin knowing these softwares.

1. Adobe After Effects

After Effects is a very powerful video editing software from adobe company. Its latest version is CS 6 which offers powerful elements and tools to add special effects and motion graphics in your video. Roto, masking, layers, animation almost everything is possible through after effects. After effects supports 2D effects as well as 3D effects too. If you are familiar with youtube then you must have known Freddie Wong and watched his videos. If you are not, then click this link Freddie's youtube channel and watch some of his videos. Then you can get idea of what you can create through this amazing software. Almost every visual effects on his videos are done in After effects.

There are various plugins and effects in-built in the software but you can also add third party plugin and effects in the software.

2. NUKe

Another powerful software for video editing and putting special effects more advanced than after effects is Nuke. It is produces and distributed by The Foundry. For it amazing features, NUKE won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 2001. 

The work of nuke can be seen in big holly wood movies like District-9, Tron legacy, King Kong, Jumper, The Curious case of Benjamin Button. Big hollywood production companies like Dreamworks and Sony pictures use this saoftware. Nuke is a node based digital compositing software. Nuke is available for olll three major OS, linux, Mac OS X and windows. 

Windows 8 features

Windows 8 is latest Operating System from Microsoft. While three pre-released version are already released by the Microsoft, final release is due on October 2012. A lot of new features has been added in Windows 8. They are expecting to add more new features by the time it will released for general availability.

Here are some brief introduction of the new features of Windows 8.

1. Metro User Interface

Microsoft is actually layering a new animation-enabled user interface (UI) in Windows 8. A user interface, extensively redesigned which incorporates its Metro design language is featured in Windows 8 and it is optimized for touchscreens as well as keyboard and mice.

2. Faster boot time

Windows 8 boot speed is more faster than of windows 7 and its predecessors. A technique where system kernel hibernates (think of it as your OS’s resource manager) when you shut down, and it becomes mostly a partial hibernation every time. So, when you reboot your system, the ‘memory’ of your previous session gets reinitialized more faster. Also Better resource allocations to applications and the system plays part in this.

3.Internet Explorer 10

Finally, the funny meme about internet explorer would come to end. (At least we hope) because the internet explorer 10 which is built in windows 8, is designed to offer faster browsing through greater hardware acceleration, along with rapid gesture-based zoom, pan, and Web site navigation. Cool thing is, its going to be touch screen.

How to boot from a CD/DVD

Most of the people these days know hot to boot from a CD or DVD. But if you don't then this post will help you how to do it. So the required things are obviously a bootable CD and a computer to boot. And the steps are listed below.

Step 1: Insert the bootable CD/DVD in your computer. And then restart it.

Step 2: Most of the computer these days are configured in such a way that once you insert the bootable CD/DVD and restart the computer, a message will automatically pops up saying "press any key to boot from CD/DVD".

Step 3: If the message dosent pops and goes direstly in login screen then wait and restart again. This time when the computer is about start press F2 or DEL or F12 according to computer.(Most of the desktop needs to pressed del key while the laptops depend on the company they are made from. But usually its either F  or del or F12)

Step 4: Now pressing these keys in the beginning will brings you to the BIOS settings window where you can configure how a computer boots.

Step 5: Now go to Boot option and select the 1st boot priority to CD/DVD ROM. Hit F10. A message pops up saying save changes and exit. Hit on yes option and the computer will save the configuration and restarts again.

And once the computer starts again this time the message is sure to come in your screen. Then press any key and it will take you to whats inside that CD/DVD and you can do your stuffs.

how to reset your windows password with windows bootable CD/DVD

This post is about how you can reset your windows 7 user account password with only windows bootable CD. My friend once played a prank with me by changing my user account password and he wouldn't tell me.

I had only one user account (that is administrator account myself) and the guest account was turned off. And I couldn't get logged in my computer. But no worries, i knew how to reset my account password with just a bootable DVD of windows 7. 

These days almost everyone can boot from a CD/DVD so these steps are very easy. If you don't know how to boot, no worries, this steps will guide you steps by steps to reset your user account password. The only  thing that you required is a windows 7 bootable CD/DVD and a locked computer in which you cant get logged on.

Step 1: First, you boot the computer from the bootable CD/DVD.

Step 2: Then, when the windows installation Screen comes up, look in the bottom right corner and serach for   

             " Repair windows " option and click it.

Step 3: Follow the instruction untill you come up with "repair with command prompt" option. Click it and CMD   will run in the screen.

Now with the CMD program you can get access as the administrator and bring that cmd program in log in screen.

Now restart the computer once you are in your login screen click shift 5 times. The cmd window will pop up with full administrator access.

Now you just type the command :   net user account_name new password

                           where in account_name type your actual account name and in new password type the password you wanna keep.

now type the new password in your login screeen and BINGO you get logged in.