PC FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Questions About Your Display Settings:
How do I change my screen resolution?
You can change your screen resolution by either right-clicking the desktop and selecting Properties, or by going into the control panel and clicking the Display icon. You will then click the Settings tab. In Vista, you will find the monitor settings under the Personalization icon, then the monitor tab.
Next, look for the slider bar that says Resolution. Be careful not to set the resolution too high, as older monitors may not be able to handle the resolution and could possibly go black. If this happens, do nothing, as Windows will usually revert the resolution back after 15 seconds without a response from you. Typical resolutions are 800X600 or 1024X768. If you have a wide screen monitor, you can even try 1280x768.

My colors are grainy and speckled with dots. What should I do?
You may have a couple of problems here. 1) Your colors may be set to 256 and should be set to 16-bit or 32-bit depending on your graphics capabilities. Or 2) You should make sure your graphics drivers are installed. To update your graphics drivers, visit the manufacturer of the card (nVidia, ATI, etc..) and download the latest drivers, then go to the Control Panel, then System, then Device Manager. You will see a listing for your display adapter. Right-click the adapter, then click Properties, then select the Driver tab and finally Update Driver.

What does the refresh rate on the monitor do?
Generally, you will not want to mess with these settings if your monitor is working okay. If you're monitor flickers or if you are suffering unusual eye strain, you may want to increase the refresh rate to reduce the flickering.

I have a dual output video card and want to use two monitors. Is this possible?
Yes, having two monitors is great for multitasking or increasing the amount of your workspace for photo editing, spreadsheets or other tasks that demand multiple Windows open at once. To do this, connect both monitors to the card and navigate back to the Display settings area. You should see a box with a 1 and a box with a 2. The number 1 box is your main monitor. If you click on the second box, you can now adjust the settings for the second monitor. If you're not sure which monitor you're adjusting, click Identify Monitor and a huge number will be displayed on your screen. You can even drag the boxes around to get the exact orientation of the physical monitors.

Questions about Hard drives:
What is the difference between SATA and IDE?
The first thing you'll notice is the interface. SATA drives have a single cable with a small connector, while an IDE drive will have a flat ribbon cable. SATA drives have a faster data transfer rate. Your motherboard must be able to support a SATA drive. Otherwise, you'll need to buy an IDE drive.

How often should I defrag my hard disk?
That really depends on what you do with the drive. If you add and delete a lot of data, you'll want to defrag monthly. If you're a casual user, every three to six months is probably fine.

How can I diagnose problems with my hard drive?
A great place to start with hard drive diagnostics is right at the manufacturer's web site. All major brand drives will have utilities for their drives, such as Maxtor's Maxblast or Western Digital's Data Lifeguard.

Can I put my old laptop hard drive in my desktop computer?
Sure, all you need is an adapter. The adapter converts the connection to the laptop drive to interface with the IDE and power cables of your desktop PC.

What is the best way to partition my drive?
If you have a Windows XP or Vista disk, you can install the Operating System and create partitions during the install. The installation will ask you how much of the drive you want to use for the Windows install, and you can specify a portion of the drive's space and leave the rest to be formatted later within Windows. That extra space is another partition.

Can I recover data that has been erased by my hard drive?
Yes, there are programs out there that recover lost data quite easily. The important thing to remember is that data will be overwritten the more you use the PC. So if you accidentally erased something critical, be sure to stop and give us a call.

Questions about Power Supplies:
My power supply fan isn't moving. Can I replace it?
You can if you have experience working with a soldering iron, but we advise against it because the fan may not even be the source of the problem. It's also dangerous. You can easily replace the entire PSU for very little money.

Our computer's power supply has failed. What type should I get?
You'll probably find your power supply is a standard ATX power supply with a single 20-pin connector to the motherboard. You should replace it with one of equal or greater wattage. Spending more on a power supply with greater wattage will not improve performance, just allow you to run more devices. Look for a name brand like Antec or Thermaltake.

Is there any easy way to test my power supply?
Many local PC and electronics stores will sell stand-alone power supply testers for about $12 USD. All you have to do is plug the power supply into the adapter and turn it on. The device will instantly tell you if the power supply is bad. If you have a multimeter, you can also test the voltages.

Why can't I turn off my computer when it crashes? I have to use the power supply switch on the back.
Try holding the front power button for five or six seconds. Merely pressing the button will not turn the PC off, as this isn't a spring-loaded switch that has an On and Off. By holding the button for several seconds, the computer knows to shut the the power supply down.

I just installed a new device. Does it matter which power plug I use?
No. You'll notice that your power supply has several plugs not being used. As long as it fits, it's okay to use. There may be a couple of odd connectors that go to the case fans or floppy drive, but any of the 4-wire plugs can be used for devices such as hard drives, CD and DVD drives, case fans, etc.

System Restore Questions:
What is System Restore in Windows?
System Restore is a Windows utility that allows you to revert your system's state to previous point in time. This allows you to undo damage caused by a program, update or driver.

What are "restore points?"
A Restore Point is a snapshot of your registry at a specific time. Restore Points are created each time you install or upgrade Windows, and updates are also created before each update via Microsoft Updates.

Do I need to create Restore Points?
You should occasionally create a Restore Point. Before Vista, Windows would generally create restore points after a major event, such as an update or a program installation that uses InstallSchield or the Windows Installer. If your system is running good, consider it part of a good preventive maintenance scheme to create a restore point.

Will I lose my data if I do a System Restore?
No. Windows restores programs and Windows files only and will not erase data such as photos, Emails, music, or any other personal files.

How do I start System Restore?
You can access the System Restore utility by going to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools and clicking System Restore. A Wizard will launch and help you either restore your PC or create an actual restore point.

Can I undo a System Restore?
Yes, you can undo a System Restore in the same manner by which you initiated the original system restore. You will now see an option to undo the last restoration.

I have a installed a bad driver. Do I need to perform a system restore?
No. Windows has the ability to roll back drivers. You can do this from the Device Manager under the System icon of the Control Panel. While a system restore will fix driver problems, its overkill in this point.

Do I still need to backup my system?
Yes. System restore is not a substitute for backing up your data.

Virus Questions:
How can I protect myself against viruses?
The first things you should do are 1) Buy or download a free anti virus program. Update that anti virus program, then run a full scan of your system. 2) Do not open Email attachments--even if you know who they're from. Some Email worms will send mail from a friend or loved-one's computer, so the send might appear to be from someone you know, but might actually contain a virus. 3) Stay away from shady sites.

What is a good free anti virus?
There are many great free anti virus programs. AVG Anti virus and Avast! are a couple of good ones. You can also do online scans from Housecall. While Housecall will not give you real-time protection, it will scan your drives and help remove viruses already on your computer.

Will my firewall protect me from viruses?
No. While some firewalls may save you from worms scanning the Internet for open ports, a firewall will not save you from Human error virus infection, such as opening email attachments or partaking in file sharing.

Can viruses affect my hardware?
No. While in theory a virus can erase the BIOS of a PC and some even manage to erase all the data on hard drives, this type of damage is not permanent.

What are Trojans?
A Trojan is a program you might willingly put on your computer that turns out to actually be a virus.