Archive for February, 2012

With the advent of UEFI and Windows 8 comes some security and usability issues. When Windows 8 is released, UEFI’s “Secure Boot” will be required to be turned on by default and it will be left to the OEM’s on how to implement it. What does this mean to you? Maybe nothing.

Windows is still the most popular PC Operating System in the world. As such, it is highly likely that the computer you are reading this article on is running some version of Microsoft Windows. If you are running Windows 7 and up, your OS is compliant to UEFI specifications. But what if you want to run a different OS, like Linux, older versions of Windows?… >>>Click Here To Continue Reading

Ever since the computer was born, there needed to be a program to tell the CPU where things are and how to use them. In 1981 the IBM 5150 introduced the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) to the IBM-PC market. The IBM 5150 had an 8088 16bit (16bit internal bus, 8bit external bus) processor, so the BIOS chip was limited to 16 bits and 1MB of memory space. Years went by and the CPU became more powerful, with a wider bus and more memory access. However, the BIOS remained the same, and retained it’s 16bit bus and 1MB memory limit, depending on the PC-AT hardware platform.

Enter EFI/UEFI (Extensible Firmware Interface/Unified Extensible Firmware Interface respectively).… >>>Click Here To Continue Reading

Overclocking your CPU can be risky business, however if done properly and with the proper amount of care, it can improve system performance anywhere from 5% to 50% depending on the CPU and how it is overclocked. In this article, I am going to discuss the various methods, benefits and downfalls of overclocking. Remember, ALL forms of overclocking beyond the manufacturers specifications voids the warranty and has the potential of “bricking” your CPU, Motherboard, or both. Therefore I take no responsibility what happens to your CPU/Motherboard if you attempt an overclock. If you are not technically inclined, or feel uncomfortable changing these settings, please give it to someone who is or just don’t try it.… >>>Click Here To Continue Reading

APM is a set of programs that control the Advanced Power Management system found in most modern laptop computers… >>>Click Here To Continue Reading

ACPI establishes industry-standard interfaces enabling OS-directed configuration, power management, and thermal management of mobile, desktop, and server platforms.… >>>Click Here To Continue Reading

Enable or disable support for the hard disk’s S.M.A.R.T. (Self Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology) capability. S.M.A.R.T. is supported by all current hard disks and allows the early prediction and warning of impending hard disk failures.… >>>Click Here To Continue Reading

IDE: Compatibility mode disables AHCI support.

AHCI: Supports advanced SATA features such as Native Command Queuing.

RAID: Allows multiple drives to be merged into larger volumes for increased performance and/or reliability. Always enables AHCI.

Warning: operating system may not boot if this setting is changed after the operating system installation.… >>>Click Here To Continue Reading

 By:  Derek J. Gordon.

Introduction

            Computer networks are inundated with unwanted email messages (emails) on a daily basis.  These unwarranted messages are called SPAM, or unsolicited bulk, email.  A majority of these messages are for illegal activities.  However, some emails are legitimate messages from businesses to a consumer.  While one email is minuscule, the number sent to an individual email address each day number in the thousands.  In fact, a personal mail server typically processes three thousand emails per day that have no legitimate purpose or mail box for delivery.  Corporate mail servers can process over a million SPAM emails per day. … >>>Click Here To Continue Reading