Personal Computer World articles from December 2008

Personal Computer World archives from December 2008

Dates and databases.(Column)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mark Whitehorn Dates and databases How to use the Datevalue function to solve data migration woes Not long ago, I was working on a database that contained a table with a couple of date columns (nothing strange there) and my...

The need for speed.(Column)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Gordon Laing The need for speed How to squeeze every last drop out of your processor Overclocking is a favourite pastime of PC hardware enthusiasts, including myself. However, most of us understand that overclocking isn't...

Overclocking theory.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Gordon Laing Overclocking theory Overclocking is the process of driving a component faster than it is officially rated to go. This is possible because component manufacturers build headroom into their parts so they run...

Beware Windows updates.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Gordon Laing Beware Windows updates Often touted as essential, there are times when you should avoid certain updates A perennial subject for us is the attempts of enthusiasts to build and maintain the perfect home theatre...

Lock down your computers.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Lock down your computers Learn some simple and effective access controls for public computers Looking after PCs is a never-ending task, even on a small home network. It's amazing just how much can be...

LLTD and Windows XP3.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens LLTD and Windows XP3 Many thanks to reader Mayo Marriott for highlighting a problem caused by the Windows XP SP3 update when networking XP and Vista machines together. With Vista, you can build graphical maps of...

Programming for the cloud.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tim Anderson Programming for the cloud An introduction to the web-based programming platform Another year, another buzzword A- and at the end of 2008 it was cloud computing. Microsoft even announced Azure A- Windows for...

Delphi returns to .Net.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tim Anderson Delphi returns to .Net In May 2008, Embarcadero announced its acquisition of Codegear, the Borland subsidiary responsible for the Delphi and JBuilder development tools. The move seems to have been good for Delphi....

Functions and formulas.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Stephen Wells Functions and formulas A selection of hidden Excel gems to boost your productivity A spreadsheet function is a built-in mini macro designed to save you time and the computer's memory. The first function, and...

Ubuntu 8.10 arrives.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Barry Shilliday Ubuntu 8.10 arrives What to expect from Intrepid Ibex, the brand new Ubuntu distro As those of you who regularly read this column will know, the end of the year means a new season not only in the...

Adobe Flash for Hardy and Intrepid.(Adobe Systems Inc.)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Barry Shilliday Adobe Flash for Hardy and Intrepid When Adobe released version 10 of its Flash Player software, the Linux release came at the same time as the Windows version. Adobe has also this time released .deb packages...

Bubble and tweak.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tim Nott Bubble and tweak How to reclaim control of your Vista PC We've been waiting for the Vista equivalent of Tweak UI for nearly two years, and it looks less likely that Microsoft is going to come up with anything to...

Better than bus tickets.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tim Nott Better than bus tickets How to insert and use bookmarks, and rooting out the curious logical not sign Bookmarks in a document let you jump to a particular location instantly, but not only can you bookmark a page,...

Going mobile.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Nigel Whitfield Going mobile Some solutions for making your website mobile Mobile web access has come a long way since the days of Wap, when over-optimistic phone networks put thousands off with a dismal rendering of a few...

Media player update.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Nigel Whitfield Media player update No sooner had I extolled the virtues of the JW Flash Media Player (www.jeroenwijering.com) for adding video to your site in the PCW Christmas issue than there was an update to the software....

House of cards.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Ken McMahon House of cards All you need to know about your camera's memory card Media isn't what it used to be. In the days of film, your choice of stock was an important and individual thing. Not only was it a question of...

HO_Question Time.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Various Digital Imaging QMy friend's daughter accidentally deleted a load of family photos from their PC. I managed to salvage them using a data recovery program, but quite a lot of them cannot be accessed and seem to be...

Make Outlook the default mail client.
December 24, 2008... Make Outlook the default mail client Windows QI have Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 installed on my home computer, which runs XP Professional. Office includes the full version of Outlook, but I still run Outlook Express for my...

A varchar too much.(Brief article)(Column)
December 24, 2008... A varchar too much Databases QIn a conversation the other day about the text fields in a table in my Access database, the person I was taking to kept saying the word "var-char" whenever I said text, like I was wrong. Is text wrong?...

Archos 5 with DVR Station.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Paul Lester Archos 5 with DVR Station A slim but pricey device with excellent features The Archos 5 is the latest in an award-winning series of portable media players that many use as the yardstick against which competing...

Uniblue Driver Scanner 2009.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Uniblue Driver Scanner 2009 Keep your drivers bang up to date with this worthwhile tool Maintaining a PC's drivers is one of those annoying tasks that's dull but worthy. Although a lot of software application...

Webroot Internet Security Essentials.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Paul Lester Webroot Internet Security Essentials Webroot offers security, backup tools and more in its comprehensive suite Webroot is the latest security suite that attempts to curry favour by offering a range of extra...

Filemaker Bento 2.0.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Cliff Joseph Filemaker Bento 2.0 A solid upgrade for this easy-to-use Mac database program There has never been much in the way of database software for the Mac. With no Mac version of Microsoft Access available, Mac users...

Logitech Digital Video Security System.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Clive Akass Logitech Digital Video Security System Home and office surveillance equipment that is easy to install Logitech's Digital Video Security System is a suite of home or office surveillance products promising...

Terratec Noxon iRadio Cube.(Product/service evaluation)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tom Royal Terratec Noxon iRadio Cube A small, smart internet radio Terratec's Noxon iRadio Cube is, as you might expect, an internet radio. On the other hand, it's not actually a cube: it measures a slightly wonky...

Who do you think you are?
December 24, 2008... Byline: Robin Nixon Who do you think you are? Helped by the advent of the internet and the ease of research it provides, researching family trees is one of the fastest-growing hobbies, as people try to discover as much as they can...

Collectori?1/2s heaven.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Robin Nixon Collector's heaven Possibly one of the the most popular pastimes is collecting things. Whether it's stamps, toys or vintage computers, we seem to have a passion for trying to build up and complete our collections....

Have a break get a hobby.(Website overview)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Robin Nixon Have a break get a hobby Robin Nixon presents a comprehensive round-up of hobby-related PC and internet resources Having downloaded tens of dozens of programs and viewed hundreds of websites, here's a...

Netbooks for web surfers.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Simon Crisp Netbooks for web surfers The new internet-focused super-portable mini-notebooks are coming thick and fast. Simon Crisp puts five through their paces It is a measure of how fast the netbook market is growing that...

GT_NetbooksRoundup_body.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Simon Crisp Advent Netbook 4213 While Advent's previous netbook, the 4211, was based on MSI's popular Wind, its 4213 uses an ECS design and is altogether much slimmer-looking, although this does cause a few problems,...

Dell 5330dn Laser Printer.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Dell 5330dn Laser Printer This laser is faster than a speeding bullet - well, almost The 5330dn is Dell's fastest ever laser printer. Monochrome only, it's capable of churning out up to 48 A4 pages per minute...

Nokia N96.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Nigel Whitfield Nokia N96 Greatly improved battery life but Symbian flagship upgrade still needs to do more with the browser Until recently Nokia's N95 was the flagship Symbian phone. Its successor, the N96, certainly has...

Devolo DLan 200 AV Wireless G Starter Kit.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tom Royal Devolo DLan 200 AV Wireless G Starter Kit A simple way to extend your wireless network Wireless networks are ideal for sharing internet access around the house, but there are often places where the signal from a...

Benq MP522ST.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Benq MP522ST Get up close and personal with this short-throw projector The trouble with most projectors is that they need to be a long way away from the screen in order to give a decent-size image. That's not...

Antec Skeleton.(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Simon Crisp Antec Skeleton Price [pounds sterling]119.43 Contact www.techstore.co.uk Overall HHHHH Antec's latest open-air enclosure is for people who love to tinker with their systems and think a standard case just gets...

Asus P6T Deluxe.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Simon Crisp Asus P6T Deluxe Price [pounds sterling]249.96 Contact www.ebuyer.com Overall HHHHH The Asus P6T Deluxe is the first motherboard we have seen that supports Intel's Core i7 and X58 chipset technology, and from...

GT_Netbooks_EdsChoice.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Simon Crisp Choosing a netbook is even more about personal choice than it is with a notebook. Do you remain faithful to the original concept and look for something with an 8.9in screen, for example, or follow the current trend for...

VMware Workstation 6.5.(Product/service evaluation)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens VMware Workstation 6.5 Do virtually more with this updated VMware release When we last looked at VMware Workstation (PCW August 2007 www.pcw.co.uk/2192774), we recommended it as an essential virtualisation...

Shuttle X27D.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Emil Larsen Shuttle X27D A system that muddies the waters between low-end and regular PCs Shuttle has broken with tradition with its new X27D barebones by bundling a processor - Intel's new dual-core Atom - as well as the...

Data allowances.(T-Mobile (UK) Ltd.)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley Data allowances All the mobile broadband packages in our group test come with restrictions on the amount of data you can download in a single month. Some will charge you for exceeding your limit, the penalty...

The risk of roaming.(T-Mobile (UK) Ltd.)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley The risk of roaming Given the often exorbitant charges associated with using a mobile phone when abroad, it will come as no surprise to find that using mobile broadband when travelling is similarly expensive....

GT_MobileBB_EdsChoice.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley It's important to stress once again that the speeds we achieved in our tests should not be taken as gospel, but they do indicate just how different speeds can be from the named theoretical maximums. The speeds you...

Speedy surfing in the street.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley Speedy surfing in the street With plenty of great deals, is mobile broadband set to take over from the fixed line? Will Stapley puts the networks to the test Once prohibitively expensive, mobile broadband is...

O2 Mobile Broadband.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley O2 Mobile Broadband Price [pounds sterling]15 per month Contact O2 0844 202 0202 www.o2.co.uk Installing O2's mobile broadband package didn't throw up any problems, although the message warning us that...

Orange Internet Everywhere.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley Orange Internet Everywhere Price [pounds sterling]15 per month Contact Orange 0800 079 2000 www.orange.co.uk As with all but one of the packages on test, Orange's [pounds sterling]15-per-month service comes...

3 Broadband 5GB.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley 3 Broadband 5GB Price [pounds sterling]15 per month Contact 3 0800 358 6946 www.three.co.uk Whereas all the other packages on test offer a 3GB data allowance in return for a [pounds sterling]15-per-month...

T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Plus.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley T-Mobile Mobile Broadband Plus Price [pounds sterling]15 per month Contact T-Mobile 0800 956 2208 www.t-mobile.co.uk As well as HSDPA, the T-Mobile package supports HSUPA, which enables theoretical...

Virgin Media Mobile Broadband.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley Virgin Media Mobile Broadband Price [pounds sterling]15 per month Contact Virgin Media 0845 650 4500 www.virginmedia.com.shrunk Unlike the other five services in this group, Virgin Media doesn't have its own...

Vodafone Mobile Broadband.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Will Stapley Vodafone Mobile Broadband Price [pounds sterling]15 per month Contact Vodafone 0808 004 4423 www.vodafone.co.uk First impressions of Vodafone's mobile broadband service were good when the software loaded...

Types of memory module.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Types of memory module It's not only memory technology that has evolved - its packaging has too. The memory chips in the original IBM PC in 1981 were mounted directly on the motherboard, with extra memory added...

Early memory.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Early memory Unless you're a mathematical prodigy, chances are that you'll use a piece of paper to work out complicated arithmetic long-hand. The paper is acting as a short-term data store, or memory. Similarly,...

Refresh your memory.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Refresh your memory All modern PCs use dynamic random access memory (D-Ram) as their main working memory to let the processor (and other devices, such as I/O devices and graphics cards) store and read the data it...

Memory matters.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Memory matters Kelvyn Taylor takes you on a guided tour through the complex, but fascinating, world of PC memory If you're confused about memory, look no further. In this article, you won't find any...

Restoring movement in paralysed limbs.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Jon Thompson Restoring movement in paralysed limbs The goal of being able to restore paralysed limbs recently came one very important step closer to reality. In October 2008, scientists led by Professor Eberhard Fetz of the...

Virtual patients help out in drug trials.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Jon Thompson Virtual patients help out in drug trials How close are we to developing a computerised model of a full human that can repeatedly contract disease and respond to treatment? With massive computing power now cheaply...

Dr PC will see you now.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Jon Thompson Dr PC will see you now Computers are playing an increasingly important role in healthcare. Jon Thompson makes a digital appointment to find out more about the exciting new technology In recent years, an...

Primera Technology Disc Publisher.(Product/service evaluation)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Primera Technology Disc Publisher The easy way to publish professional-looking optical discs in quantity Burning the odd CD/DVD here or there is a relatively trivial task, but if you need to publish optical...

T-Mobile G1.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Nigel Whitfield T-Mobile G1 The Google phone lands in the UK Google's Android phone system has been keenly awaited for some time now, and it has made its first appearance in the UK in the shape of the T-Mobile G1,...

Left 4 Dead.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Emil Larsen Left 4 Dead A stylish, challenging and rewarding battle for survival against lots and lots of zombies Left 4 Dead is, initially, a stab at the co-operative team-play versus computer-controlled opposition...

Netop Remote Control 9.2.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Netop Remote Control 9.2 Cross-platform remote control and a whole lot more Netop Remote Control is a mature and very capable program that can be used to control a variety of platforms from Windows through to...

Abbyy Fotoreader.(Product/service evaluation)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tom Royal Abbyy Fotoreader A handy tool for extracting text from photos and other images Abbyy's Finereader is one of the best-known OCR tools for converting scanned documents into editable ones. This new product uses the...

Taking Defensive action.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Taking Defensive action Notebook computers, USB keys and optical discs make it easy to carry data around. They're also easily lost or stolen. In this month's business section, we look at what you can do to minimise...

Keep your data safe.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Keep your data safe Notebook containing sensitive files left on train! Bank records go missing! We've all seen the headlines and read the news stories about data loss at government departments and big...

Encrypting Windows files and folders.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens Encrypting Windows files and folders The Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) can be used to protect individual files or complete folders. Folders are best, however, as any files created or saved in an EFS folder...

How to back up EFS keys.(encrypting file system)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Alan Stevens How to back up EFS keys There's no need to explicitly create encryption keys for use with the Windows Encrypting File System (EFS) as they're generated automatically. However, it's a good idea to take a backup in...

Ixos XMM238 Cube.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Nigel Whitfield Ixos XMM238 Cube Price [pounds sterling]12.99 Contact www.ixos.co.uk Overall HHHHH This 70mm cube is a portable stereo speaker that comes in pink and white as well as black, and has a 1W amp for each...

Shure SE102 Earphones.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Nigel Whitfield Shure SE102 Earphones Price [pounds sterling]52.99 Contact www.shure.com Overall HHHHH The earphones that come with most portable music players or phones win no prizes for sound quality, and Shure's SE102...

Ashampoo Photo Commander 7.(Product/service evaluation)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Ken McMahon Ashampoo Photo Commander 7 Edit and organise your photos Ashampoo produces a range of software, including security products, disc-burning applications and utilities such as Win Optimizer and Power Up. Photo...

Iomega Storcenter ix2 2TB.(Product/service evaluation)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Tom Royal Iomega Storcenter ix2 2TB File backup and media streaming in a compact package External hard disks that connect via USB or Firewire might be a convenient way to add extra storage to one PC, but if you have a...

Uniblue Disk Rescue 2009.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Uniblue Disk Rescue 2009 Keep your hard disk running at top speed with this disk defragger Defragmenting your hard disk occasionally is a simple, but effective, way to keep your system running at peak...

Speed up your hard disk in three easy steps.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Speed up your hard disk in three easy steps 1Launch Uniblue Disk Rescue 2009, specify the hard disk you'd like to defragment, then click Start Scan. Now wait as the program crawls all over your file system looking...

get System Tweaker for free.(Uniblue)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams get System Tweaker for free Uniblue System Tweaker provides easy access to 1,000 different Windows tweaks covering all kinds of areas: simplifying and speeding up your PC startup and shutdown, making your system...

RecentX 2.0.(Conceptworld)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams RecentX 2.0 Get faster access to files, folders, applications and websites It's a fundamental law of computing that the file you need is always at least four folders away from your starting point, so most...

End your file and folder navigation hassles i?1/2 forever.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams End your file and folder navigation hassles - forever 1Need to examine or edit an important file you've accessed recently? You could launch its application, click File, then Open, and browse through your hard disk...

Save 30 per cent on Notezilla.(Conceptworld)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Save 30 per cent on Notezilla This is the very latest version of RecentX and so there's no update available. However, Conceptworld is offering a special deal on its sticky notes program, Notezilla, which allows...

Paragon Drive Backup 9 Personal SE.(Paragon Software Ltd.)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Paragon Drive Backup 9 Personal SE Keep your data safe with this fast, efficient backup tool Install Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal SE and you'll get a very capable image backup tool that can clone any hard...

Three reasons why you need Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal SE.(Paragon Software Ltd.)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Three reasons why you need Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal SE 1If you're looking to back up your system then an imaging tool like Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal SE delivers the best results. It's reliable,...

Save 20 per cent on Paragon range.(Paragon Software Ltd.)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Save 20 per cent on Paragon range Move to Paragon Drive Backup 9.0 Personal and you'll be able to exclude some files and folders from your image, speeding up the backup process. A scheduler runs backups...

Panda Internet Security 2009.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Panda Internet Security 2009 It's no secret that the web is a dangerous place, and you probably have one or more tools designed to help keep your PC safe from harm. So why try Panda Internet Security 2009? ...

extend your panda licence.
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams extend your panda licence This copy of Panda Internet Security 2009 provides everything necessary to keep your PC safe from online threats for 90 days. If you want to use the program after that, you'll need to...

Squeeze the maximum performance out of your PC.(personal computer)(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Squeeze the maximum performance out of your PC 1Is your PC set up to run unnecessary software that's sapping your system resources and slowing you down? To find out, Click Optimize Performance, then StartUp Tuner....

get Ashampoo Win Optimizer 6.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams get Ashampoo Win Optimizer 6 Move to Ashampoo Win Optimizer 6 and you'll discover the program can defragment your system when it boots, giving much better results as it can now defragment files that would...

Ashampoo Win Optimizer 5.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Ashampoo Win Optimizer 5 Clean, tune and tweak your PC with this one-stop utility suite Ashampoo Win Optimizer 5 is a comprehensive toolkit that provides everything you need to clean, optimise, tune and manage...

Alpha Five v9.(Brief article)
December 24, 2008... Byline: Mike Williams Alpha Five v9 Microsoft Access has been the big name in PC database applications for many years, but it's not your only option. Alpha Five v9 is a particularly powerful development tool with a number of features...