HOW TO BUY THE PERFECT PC

By DEDEN SURA AGUNG

PCs have become a staple in every home. Without PCs, you will find it hard to stay connected and to even do the work required of you in school or in the office. With so much PC packages being shoved to our throat every time we go to department stores and computer shops, you'll really get quite confused on what you really need and what PC package will fit your budget and lifestyle. To help you through this dilemma, here is a brief backgrounder of the parts of PCs that you should get to know.

Processor.
This is one of the three primary components of your PC. The processor is the part that determines how fast your computer process information. Intel is still the leading brand in processors but competitors such as American Micro Devices (AMD) are slowly catching up, offering cheaper alternative. In shopping for a processor, one should consider the following:

Clock speed – this will show the number of instructions that a computer can execute in a second. This usually comes after the brand name. Processors nowadays are already set at the gigahertz range.

Cache memory – this stores the data that were previously accessed. This simplifies the work of the computer as it would not take twice as long to access information already stored in memory bank. Without a cache memory, much of the work will fall on the RAM (Random Access Memory).

Operating temperature – some processors easily heats up. Before buying, make sure that you have asked about the operating temperature just in case you need to buy additional fans or put the computer in an air-conditioned room.

RAM (Random Access Memory).
RAM serves as the temporary memory of the PC, containing information that are needed for the computer and the programs to function. In addition to processors, RAM also determines the speed of the computer. The higher the RAM, the faster the computer is in accessing information and responding to commands.

Motherboard
This is where all the parts of the PC's CPU (Central Processing Unit) are attached. Some motherboards already have videocards and soundcards embedded on it while others don't. what is important however is to choose a motherboard that is compatible with your RAM and processor. Incompatibility of PC hardware can cause major problems and may even lead to the breakdown of your computer.

Hard drive.
This is the part where you store all the information in your PC. Picture a floppy disk with much much larger storing capacity. The hard drive serves as the permanent memory of your computer. Here you install all your programs and save all the documents that you need. It is also important that you buy a hard drive with really big capacity especially now when people are so used to storing multimedia files that may use up a lot of hard drive space.

Video cards
This is the part of the computer which determines the quality of the multimedia images that you will view. The higher the memory of the video card, the better is the picture quality and the colors. Also, video cards are also responsible for how fast multimedia images are accessed. This is especially needed if you use your computer for multimedia activities such as watching a movie or playing video games.

By DEDEN SURA AGUNG

HOW TO CLEAN THE WINDOWS REGISTRY?

The windows registry accumulates errors which slow down your computer over time. This occurs because your computer searches through the registry when retrieving information. Without the registry, your computer would not be able to run.

Your computer searches through the registry for your settings and preferences every time you boot your computer up. And each time you shut it down; it will record the changes you made while your computer was on. Obviously, the bigger your registry, the more time it will take for your computer to sort through it. This is exactly the reason why you need to clean your registry and keep it down to a manageable size.

Fortunately, a registry cleaner is a very easy to use tool.

The benefit of running a registry cleaner periodically is that your computer will run faster. You will also have less crashing and stopping.

Registry cleaning is never something you should do on your own. Even experienced computer owners will use a tool to clean their registry. It's too risky to start deleting registry records on your own. This can cause permanent damage to your computer.

You will want a registry cleaner with the following features:

- A cleaner that will scan your registry first for unnecessary registry records and then repair them.
- A back up feature to make sure your registry is safe just in case the software deletes a registry record that was needed (this is not often the case, but it is piece of mind).
- A registry cleaner that will remove the fragmented registry records.
- A scheduler which will allow you to set up a schedule. That means your registry cleaner software will run every month or whenever you set it up. Once set up, you don't need to think about it again!

Turn registry cleaning into habit.

Fixing registry problems after they have already happened is very difficult. Therefore, it's better to prevent them. Running a registry cleaner on a regular schedule will help prevent registry errors and their side-effects. Don't wait until your computer starts acting up to run a registry cleaner. You need to maintain it for the long run and take preventative actions now. Otherwise you may be stuck dealing with computer freezes, windows errors, shutdowns, and programs that do not respond.

By DEDEN SURA AGUNG