Myths Of Computing Part 2 [aboutcomputer99.blogspot.com]

Myths Of Computing Part 2 [aboutcomputer99.blogspot.com]

The processor's power, for the most part, will determine what a user will be able to do with the computer now, and more importantly, in the future. A computer is both a financial investment and a commitment of three to five (or more) years. Depending ... Buying a new computer? Consider the processor first

Rob Hubbard, who composed a lot of classic game tunes, especially on the C64 (eg Monty on the Run, Commando, Delta, Skate or Die, Crazy Comets and many more), talks about the good old times. Part 1 of 5. Check out my videos in order to find the other parts.

aboutcomputer99.blogspot.com Rob Hubbard - Golden Days of Computer Game Music (Part 1)

Last week I started a list of my most hated computing myths and began setting the record straight. Unfortunately there were simply too many of them to fit into a 600 word article so we're back again this week to hopefully complete the list.

Unnecessary Screen Savers

Screen Savers have been redundant for many years now but yet many users still insist on having them on their machines. The idea of a screen saver stemmed from the days of monochrome monitors; these had a tendency to suffer an incurable 'burn in' if a still image was left on the screen for an extended period of time. There is no longer a need to have your screen saver turned on as modern monitors, especially TFT's, don't suffer from this affliction. A better idea would be to have your PC automatically switch the monitor to standby mode after a set period of time as this would save power and extend the life of the monitor.

To activate this feature head to control panel, double click on the power options icon and then select how long you would like the PC to wait before the monitor is switched in to standby when it's not being used.

If you don't 'stop' a USB device before unplugging it from a PC you'll mess it up.

Your computer will most probably moan at you and make a violent noise if you remove a USB device before stopping it correctly from within Windows. Whilst it is true that if you do this with a device such as a flash drive or USB hard drive whilst it is juggling data around that some real damage can be done there is no real reason that unplugging a printer, scanner, camera and so on without first stopping it will cause any damage to the device.

Overzealous Defragmenting

I have covered defragmenting before in Click but very briefly I'll quickly recap for those who are unsure what I mean by this term.

A computer will not always write a single file in a continuous space on the hard disk but will often write the file in several pieces on the drive in whatever space is available. Over time this can lead to the drive becoming 'fragmented' which results in the computer working harder, and as a result taking longer when accessing the hard drive as the data has to be read from several different areas of the disk, rather than being read in one continuous stream.

A defragmentation program, such as the one provided free in Windows, is used to reorganise the files of the hard drive so that, where possible, a file is always stored in one piece rather than scattered across the drive. The problem is that these programs can become addictive and often lead to an obsessive desire to have every file on your hard drive defragmented. I know people who run these utilities several times a week and the simple truth is that there is nothing wrong with a fragmented drive. Modern Operating Systems attempt to keep fragmented files to a minimum and even a large amount of fragmentation will make a relatively small difference to your overall system speed.

It's worth mentioning, whilst on the subject, that it's quite normal that some files cannot be defragmented; this is because they are being used by Windows and as such they can't be moved around. There are ways to get around this but since this space is more often that not occupied by temporary virtual memory, it really isn't worth worrying about.

I can't argue with the fact that if your hard drive is genuinely very fragmented then running a utility such as Windows Defrag can result in some modest speed increases but please, don't get in to the habit of doing it more than a couple of times a year. Pleas ignore the person that comes up to you and tell you how much of a difference it makes when they spend two hours per week defragmenting their hard drive.

More Myths Of Computing Part 2 Issues

Question by Naoki K: How do I see if individual computer parts work? How do I see if individual computer parts work without a functioning motherboard? I spilled water on my computer and broke it a few weeks ago, and the warranty had been expired for quite some time. I need cash to buy a new computer and wondered if I could sell some of my parts (RAM, Hard drive, and CPU specifically). I'm sure my motherboard is broken, and I was wondering if there is a way to test if these individual parts are functioning properly. Best answer for How do I see if individual computer parts work?:

Answer by geek-in-training
As soon as you get a functioning motherboard, you can test your parts. Until then, you'll never know.

[parts of computer]