Announcements

Wanna Build Your Own Computer?

It's actually not all that hard. I remember my first time. I built a 150Mhz "monster" machine with 32 meg of RAM and a 2Gig (wow) hard drive. Took me about three hours to put together.

And it was a ton of fun!

Well, if you would like to learn how to do the same, or maybe just learn to upgrade your computer yourself, you're in luck.

When I did my first one, there wasn't too much in the way of guidelines out there. Now, there's an awesome CD ROM that makes it easy for anyone with basic computer knowledge to put their own PC together!

It's called, appropriately enough, "How To Build Your Own PC" and we have it for only $14.97 (and US Shipping is FREE!).

Jonathon does the bulk of our tech support and says he wishes he would have had this at his disposal when he was going to school. Just a few hours with this would have replaced a ton of classroom time. I'm with him - I wish I would have had this when I was learning the basics and putting my first computer together.

It takes you step by step through the process using video and multimedia to make is easy to understand. Just click and watch, it couldn't be easier. This is also an excellent way to see how to do hardware upgrades - and that's something we all need to do at one time or another.

Sections include installing the motherboard, CPU, RAM, video card, sound card, modem, hard drive, CD / DVD drive, floppy drive, and more. Of course, it shows you how to put all of it together (you know, making sure the right wires are in the right place). It even shows you how to format your hard drive and install an operating system (like Windows).

In addition, it has a checklist of parts you'll need. There's a lot that goes into a computer, and with this you'll know exactly what you need - and what you don't.

If you're ready to take this next step in computing, this will be a tremendous help. Besides, it's really cool when your friends ask where you got such an awesome computer and you reply, "Oh, that's a custom job I threw together myself."

Of course, you may end up building them a computer too…

Anyhow, here's the link with more info:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/build-your-own-pc.htm

PS - Don't miss out. Even if you don't want to build your own computer, the hardware upgrade "how tos" in this program make it a must have! Quantities are limited, so be sure to order today!

Computers 101

Q:
I've downloaded some software and ran its setup program. Am I safe to delete the setup program?

A:
Usually. If it was a .ZIP file, you're normally safe. If it was an .EXE file, make sure it's only a setup program and not the actual program itself. (In most cases, it's only a setup program)

Here's why:

The way most setup programs work is they are a "package" for the program and its associated files. It installs the program and files to where they belong then it just sits there. Taking up space. Once the installation procedure is over, you no longer need the program.

HOWEVER - Make sure that if something happens to your computer you'll be able to re-download the software should you need to re-install it. If there is any question about the future availability of the software, it may be a better idea to save the file to a floppy disk, zip disk, or CD-R.

For more on downloading, check out my download guide.

Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Defrag Mysteries

Is your computer running slow? Is it locking up on you? Are programs suddenly terminating?

Perhaps it’s time to Defrag!

When you "defrag" your hard drive, you run a disk defragmentor program to optimize the placement of files on your hard drive. Here's what happens. As you use your computer, it writes to the first available spot on the hard drive. Over time, files tend to get rearranged on your hard disk, or fragmented.

If your disk is fragmented, when it tried to load a program, it may have to grab one file from the middle of the hard drive, one towards the outside, then back to the inside. The net result is that you computer runs slower.

When you run a defrag program, it puts the pieces back together, organizes them in similar groupings, so stuff loads faster. It's probably a good idea for the average user to defrag once every 2-3 months or so.

Warning - Be careful when running defrag. First off, it takes a long time (I usually run it at night) to defragment a large hard drive (3 meg or higher). Also, the defrag program takes files off your hard drive and sticks them into your system RAM while it's reorganizing your disk. If you lose power during a disk defragmentation, it can spell disaster for your computer. At best you'll mess up a program or two and at worst you may no longer be able to access your hard drive and Windows. Definitely not something to do during a thunderstorm!

History
Defrag began in the good ol’ DOS days as “Optimize.” This was a 3rd party utility that was shipped with the earlier versions of DOS. Defrag became a major utility with MS-DOS 5/6. It was faster than Optimize, had a Semi-GUI interface, and you would actually notice performance improvements after running it. Defrag has improved over time, but then it came to a standstill with Windows NT/2000. While Intel wrote the 95/98 Defrag, the Windows NT and 2000 versions were written from Executive Software's Diskeeper. Because Diskeeper was written for servers, it is a very “careful” product, which translates to “it is slow.” Unfortunately, its benefits are no greater than the Defrag written for earlier operating systems.

Enough already! Now, how do I defragment my hard drive?

First, you need to run Scandisk.

Windows 95/98/ME Users:
Click on the Start Menu then select Programs, Accessories, System Tools, then Scandisk. Select the drive you would like to check, then select the type of test you would like to run (standard or thorough). Finally, click Start.

WindowsNT/2000/XP Users:
Double click your My Computer icon. Right click on the C: drive. Select Properties then choose the Tools tab. Under Error Checking, click the Check Now button. A dialog box will pop up, check both check boxes and click Start.

A dialog box will pop up telling you, "The disk check could not be performed because exclusive access to the drive could not be obtained. Do you want this disk check to be scheduled the next time you restart the computer?" (I don't know why you would go through all of this if you didn't want to click ‘yes’ and why Microsoft held this over with 2000 and XP, but in their infinite wisdom they did! There may be good reasons to back down now but I can't think of any, so…)

Boldly click the Yes button! I guarantee it won't hurt a bit.

Now, on to the Disk Defragmenter

Make sure all AntiVirus software is disabled along with any background applications that may write to the hard drive which you are defragmenting.

Click on the Start Menu, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and select the Disk Defragmenter. Select/highlight the drive you want to defrag and click Defragment.

Easy as that! Now just step back and let her organize your hard drive. If only you could Defrag your house…

--Van Palmer (Defrag Term by Steve)

Have a tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitatip.htm

Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Ya-Ya Name Generator

If you watch TV you’ve seen all of the commercials for the movie Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Well, this site has a Ya-Ya name generator. So are you curious what my name came out to be?

I don’t think I should tell you... it is a secret after all.

Okay, you’ve twisted my arm. Mine came out as "Queen Crescent Moon." Not too bad, huh!?!

So what’s your Secret Ya-Ya Name?

P.S. This isn't just for the Sisterhood either. Men can do it too! Just change the title from its feminine form to its masculine one. Steve’s was "Marchioness Social Butterfly." So simply change the Marchioness to Marquise and you have the male form.

So what's your Ya-Ya secret name?

http://www.moviefone.com/features/feature.adp?id=1021389568,0&uid=5500

Do you have a cool, non-commercial site that you want to share?
Send it to Amanda at amanda@worldstart.com