PC Buyer Beware! is a PC information website that helps solve hardware and software problems and provides the knowledge required to make sensible buying and upgrading decisions. My name is Eric Legge and I am the researcher, writer, webmaster, and proof-reader of this website...

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The Latest Computer-Related News...

Microsoft laughs Yahoo! take-over off

May 4, 2008 - Microsoft thinks that Yahoo! wants too much for its business so it has laughed the take-over off. Visit the following link if you want to know more.

Microsoft walks away from Yahoo -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7382572.stm

Microsoft begins automatic distribution of Windows Vista SP1

April 23, 2008. - On March 18th 2008, Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) was made available to users who choose to download and install it manually from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese.

In mid-April, the remaining languages were made available, allowing Windows Update users to download SP1 in any of the 36 supported languages.

Today, the automatic distribution of SP1 in the English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese versions was made available. Over the next few months, Microsoft will distribute SP1 automatically to computers that have Windows Update in Vista's Control Panel enabled to install updates automatically for English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese versions. If you want one of those versions immediately, you can download it manually from the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update. The automatic distribution of the other supported languages will begin some time in mid-May.

Laptops with a new type of solid-state drive are now available

April 15, 2008. - Laptop/notebook PCs that have a new type of solid-state drive (SSD) are now available in select models from Dell and Alienware. SSD drives are purely electronic devices that use flash memory instead of magnetic platters that are accessed by moving heads. Because they are purely electronic, they are unlikely to be as easily destroyed by dropping the laptop than are mechanical hard drives, the platters of which are made of glass in laptop models.

The manufacturer of the new 64GB SSD drives, which use the new SATA II standard, is Samsung. The company claims that the new drives are faster and more energy-efficient than the current SSD drives used in laptops from manufacturers such as Lenovo, Apple, and Toshiba, and are between two and five times faster than conventional mechanical hard drives. According to Samsung the new SSD drives use almost 75% less power than conventional hard drives. However, because flash memory is still more expensive than conventional disk space, laptops containing the new drives are more expensive than laptops with similar specifications containing converntional hard drives.

Samsung Solid State Drives -

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/products/flash/ssd/index.html

Microsoft's Security Bulletin for April 2008

April 9, 2008. - Microsoft's Patch Tuesday has released eight new security updates for April 2008, five rated as Critical and three rated as Important. The updates address vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, and Internet Explorer.

If you have Automatic Updates (Windows XP), and Windows Update (Windows Vista) enabled in the Control Panel to install the updates, or inform you of their availability so that you can choose when to download and install them, you need take no other action to install them. However, there will be a delay between the announcement today and when they are made available for automatic download. Therefore, if you want to install them immediately, you can make use of a download facility on the following page that also provides access to the details of the updates.

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/updates/bulletins/200804.mspx

The technical details of every released security update to date can be found on this page:

Microsoft Security Bulletin Search -

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/current.aspx

Visit the following page if an update refuses to install and keeps being announced as being available to install. You can download and install any particular update manually from there. Scroll down the page for the update links.

Windows service packs & updates for Windows XP and Windows Vista -

http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/index.html

Adobe makes Photoshop available online

March 29, 2008. - Adobe has launched a public beta of its Photoshop application online. Photoshop Express is an Internet application that enables the non-destructive editing of uploaded images. All a user needs is a web browser (Internet Explorer/Firefox/Safari, etc.) to be able to store up to 2GB of images online free of charge. Edits such as removing blemishes and redeye, converting to black and white and cropping and resizing can be performed. The results can be shared online. Users who don't have photo-editing knowledge can select what looks best from sample photos. Sharing options include uploading photos and slideshows to an online gallery hosted by Adobe, or embedding or linking photos to social-networking sites and blogs, such as MySpace, from within the application.

Adobe Photoshop Express beta is available now at http://www.photoshop.com/express.

Microsoft has released Windows Vista Service Pack 1

March 27, 2008. - Microsoft has released Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Vista via the Windows Update site. SP1 will start downloading to PCs automatically beginning in mid-April 2008 if Windows Update in the computer's Control Panel is configured to download updates automatically. It will download automatically, but will not install automatically; you will have to agree to the installation. However, if you want SP1 immediately, visit Windows Update (Start -> All Programs -> Windows Update and click Check for Updates). If having run Windows Update online you discover that Windows Vista SP1 is not listed, there are eight causes of this listed here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=948343. If you find that SP1 is not offered by Windows Update no matter what you try, you can obtain the "standalone installer" from the Microsoft Download Center.

Before you install SP1, you should read the Things to Know Before you Download Windows Vista SP1 and the overview from Microsoft TechNet.

If you have only one computer to update, you should use Windows Update, but for many computers, it is best to use the stand-alone installer from the Microsoft Download Center. If you have problems, the following article provides instructions on how to remove Vista SP1.

FAQ: How to dump Vista SP1 -

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?...

Here is how to block SP1 from downloading:

Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool -

"A blocking tool is available for organizations that would like to temporarily prevent installation of Windows Service Pack updates through Windows Update." -

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-gb/windowsvista/bb927794.aspx

iTunes updater installs Apple Safari browser

March 24, 2008. - The latest version of the iTunes Windows updater automatically selects the Safari browser to be downloaded, whether or not the user already has the browser installed. Users have to uncheck a box to prevent Apple from installing Safari on their PC. Mozilla's CEO, John Lilly, claims Apple is abusing users' trust. He has written on his blog that "What Apple is doing now with its Apple Software Update on Windows is wrong. It undermines the trust relationship great companies have with their customers, and that's bad - not just for Apple, but for the security of the whole web."

Read the full article here: http://john.jubjubs.net/2008/03/21/apple-software-update/.

Updates:

Safari triples on Windows -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/news/193962/safari-triples-on-windows.html

Companies struggle as Safari pops up on networks -

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?...

Verbatim's faster blank Blu-ray rewritable double-layer discs with double capacity due out in June 2008

March 8, 2008. - Optical CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray disc manufacturer, Verbatim, has announced a new range of blank Blu-ray high-definition discs that will be available in June 2008. Current single-layer rewritable Blu-ray BD-RE discs can only store up to 25GB of data, but Verbatim's new double-layer rewritable discs can store up to 50GB of data. However, they will be limited to 2x write speeds, which is slow compared to the current write speeds of DVD rewritable discs that operate at between 4x and 8x. Verbatim's other new products include 25GB single-layer, single-use BD-R discs that can be written to at 6x, and 25GB single-layer rewritable BD-RE discs that can be written to at 4x. This is an improvement compared to current 25GB single-layer, write-once and rewritable Blu-ray discs which are limited to 4x and 2x respectively. Verbatim says that its write-once discs have a shelf life that should exceed fifty years and that it will continue selling blank HD-DVD discs for players that support Toshiba's defunct high-definition standard as long as there is demand from consumers. Verbatim will not be developing faster or higher capacity HD-DVD discs, because Toshiba has announced that it has stopped developing the technology.

Sony beats Toshiba in the high-definition format war

February 20, 2008. - Yesterday, the news agency Reuters reported that Toshiba is moving to cut impending losses and kill off its HD DVD high-definition disc format, leaving Sony's competing Blu-ray high-definition format the winner of the format war. Today, Toshiba made a formal announcement of its withdrawal from the competition. Losing out to Sony is expected to cost Toshiba hundreds of millions of dollars.

This result was inevitable after Warner Brothers, which has the largest share of the global home video market, withdrew its support for the HD DVD format, because, as expected, several other high-profile companies, including Wal-Mart in the US, withdrew their support for the HD DVD format.

Although the HD DVD format has cheaper players and cheaper discs, consumers will now only be able to purchase the more expensive Blu-ray players and discs. The confusion as to which player to buy has at last been ended by this development, but consumers are unlikely to be able to pay HD DVD prices for Blu-ray given that Sony and the manufacturers of Blu-ray players did not drop their prices when the outcome of the format war could not be foreseen.

Toshiba makes it official, abandons HD-DVD format -

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?...

Home movie DVD battle won, hard sell begins -

http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSSIN2084220080218

About the PC Buyer Beware! website...

The site is devoted to providing useful and enlightening information on every aspect of personal computers, which include desktop PCs, laptop/notebook PCs, and Media Center PCs.

To get an idea of the coverage, look at the links to the main pages in the orange navigation bar on the left.

Extensive information is provided on all of the internal components of a PC - processors, motherboards, hard disk drives, CD and DVD optical drives, CRT and LCD monitors, video/graphics cards and sound cards, dial-up modems, wired and wireless networking adapters, computer cases, power supply units, and RAM memory. Information is also provided on external peripheral devices - printers, USB and FireWire devices and adapters, wireless network Access Points and routers.

The Software and Diagnostics pages provide information of the various versions of Windows used by home-computer users (including Windows Vista) and software applications, and the Linux pages are devoted to that ever-improving much cheaper alternative to Windows.

The Problems & Solutions pages are devoted to answering the most common kind of problems that desktop and laptop/notebook PC users experience. Security issues are of paramount importance. Extensive information on the subject is provided on the Security section of this site. Other pages on this site well worth reading are: Using Windows Vista, Warranties, Networking, and the Build Your Own PC pages.

Make no mistake about it, buying a personal desktop or laptop/notebook computer, or the components to build a desktop PC, can be an unnecessarily involved or costly minefield.

This site has been designed to provide you - directly or indirectly in the form of links to other sites - with all of the information you need to know about PCs in order banish your ignorance and protect yourself from the spyware, adware, scams, and rip-offs of the vendors and the snoopers out on the web eager for personal marketing information, and from the hackers looking for prey.

Because of the modular design of a desktop PC, there should be no reason why anyone who can use a Philips screwdriver could not easily build one from its components. - Components that you can choose yourself to suit your computing needs instead of any need of vendors to profit from your ignorance.

Computer diagnostics: How to solve or fix common PC problems

To diagnose and troubleshoot specific and general problems with Microsoft's software (Windows 95, 98, Me, and XP, Internet Explorer, and Outlook Express) using the MS Knowledge Base, visit the Diagnostics page on this site.

Click any of the relevant links below to visit the information it describes on this site:

1. - Recovering and repairing Windows XP when a computer crashes or fails to boot

2. - Recovering and repairing Windows Vista when a computer crashes or fails to boot

3. - Windows XP: How to troubleshoot and fix shutdown, restart (reboot), and startup problems

4. - Typical DLL (Dynamic Link Library) device driver problems

5. - Software problems: How to fix problems with Windows, programs, and utilities

Also visit the Software pages on this site for more information on specific software-related information and problems.

6. - Motherboard and power supply problems: How to fix common problems with faulty motherboards (mainboards) and power supplies (PSUs)

7. - RAM memory problems: How to fix problems with the Random Access Memory

8. - Hard disk drive problems: How to fix computer hard disk drive (HDD) problems

9. - CD/DVD drive problems: How to fix problems with CD and DVD drives and discs

10. - Processor problems: How fix common processor (CPU) problems

11. - Video/graphics card problems: How fix common computer video and graphics problems

12. - USB and FireWire problems: - How to fix common USB and FireWire problems

13. - Network problems: How to fix common wired and wireless networking and internet problems

14. - Laptop/notebook problems: How to address or fix the most common laptop/notebook problems

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How to fix problems with device drivers in Windows XP

Although the information on the following page is specific to Windows XP, much of the advice is relevant to the earlier versions of Windows. Click here! to read Troubleshoot Device Driver Problems.

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Visit the Build a PC page for information on how to build a desktop PC and solve self-build problems, and visit the other pages, such as the Video/Graphics, Sound, Motherboards, and Monitors pages for more problem-solving information, all of which can be accessed via the menu items and jump menu on the orange navigation bar, or via the site search engine at the top of each of the main pages.

The Tips & Tricks pages of this site contain additional useful tips, tricks, and problem-solving advice.

Media Center PCs

It is now possible to build your own Media Center PC that is specifically designed to provide home entertainment, because the version of Windows that runs such a computer - Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 - can now be purchased on its own instead of only as part of a Media Center PC. Moreover, Windows Vista Home and Windows Vista Ultimate editions come with Media Center built into them.

Visit the Media Center PCs page on this site for information on them.

Visit the Using Windows Vista section of this site for information on the new versions of Windows.

Upgrade checklists

Visit the Upgrade Checklists pages on this site for checklists and useful information that cover upgrading the main componenents of computers of various ages.

The safest way to upgrade RAM: Use the UK and US Crucial Memory Advisors

Paul Mullen, the highly-respected computer guru of the Helpfile at ComputerShopper.co.uk - "I have recently been buying my memory only from Crucial Technology. I would rather pay the extra cost than waste time trying to track down the obscure program faults that bad memory can cause."

The memory requirements of the versions of Windows Vista

Most of the versions of Windows Vista require more RAM memory to run optimally on a computer that doesn't use memory-hungry applications than Windows XP. A video-editing application is an example of memory-intensive software. Only Windows Vista Home Basic has a recommended minimum amount of memory of 512MB, which is the same amount recommended for Windows XP. Windows Vista Home Premium, the most popular version, and Windows Vista Ultimate require a recommended minimum of 1GB (1024MB) of memory, which is twice the amount of minimum memory recommended to run Windows XP. For more information on computer memory, read the RAM pages of this site.

UK - Crucial Memory Advisor - UK

USA - Crucial Memory Advisor - USA

For example, if your computer has an Asus motherboard, open the menu, scroll down to ASUS, and click GO. If, say, you have a Dell computer, scroll down to DELL, and do likewise. You will be taken to the relevant information on Crucial's website.

If you don't know the make and model of the motherboard installed in your computer, here is a good free utility - Belarc Advisor - that creates an analysis of the hardware and software on a personal computer. Look under FREE DOWNLOAD - http://www.belarc.com/. Another utility that also provides detailed information on the memory itself is CPU-Z.

Desktop PCs and laptop/notebook computers

If you need to get a good idea of the components that are used in current desktop PCs and laptop/notebook computers, all you need to do is read the reviews of the latest machines on the market. Then you can read the detailed information provided about those components on this site. Here are links to review pages and pages on this site on desktop and laptop PCs to get you started:

Reviews of desktop computers -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/archiveproductsearch/2/Desktop-computers

Visit the Desktop PCs page on this site for information on desktop computers.

Reviews of laptop/notebook computers -

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/shopper/archiveproductsearch/9/Laptops

Visit the Laptop PCs section of this site for information on laptop/notebook computers.

Using Windows Vista

Click here! to go to the page on this site that deals with Windows Vista, Microsoft's replacement for Windows XP.

COMPUTER SECURITY

For PC security information, visit the Security section of this site, or make use of the site search engine at the top of each of the main pages to search for references to specific information on, say, viruses, firewalls, spyware, adware, etc.

DISCLAIMER

While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained on this site, the author assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

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PC Buyer Beware!

PC Buyer Beware! - the site designed to prevent PC users from being ripped off

Here is an example of HTML code that links the top GIF file to my site:

Shared Birthday: sharedbirthday.co.uk

I have created an experimental, interactive site called Shared Birthday that is devoted to finding out if the claims made by astrology have any validity whatsoever. To achieve this, I need volunteers to fill in a completely anonymous form on the site that can provide me with the kind of information that could determine for sure if people who share the same birthday (and usually, but not always, the same astrological sun sign) have as much in common as the astrologers, many of whom make a very lucrative living from belief in astrology, claim that they do... http://www.sharedbirthday.co.uk/

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