Personal Computer World articles from March 2009

Personal Computer World archives from March 2009

Get better sound with Vista.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Niall Magennis Get better sound with Vista Take a tour round the inner workings of Windows Vista's audio controls When it first launched, many people complained that audio support under Windows Vista was worse than under...

How WaveRT can help with time-critical tasks.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Niall Magennis How WaveRT can help with time-critical tasks Many people seem confused by the WaveRT driver format, especially as not all soundcards seem to support it or need to support it. WaveRT is part of the audio system...

Primary relationships.(using Microsoft Access)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Mark Whitehorn Primary relationships Discover what compound primary keys can do for you and your data A primary key provides a value that is guaranteed to be unique for every record in a table. This is often a number in a...

Playing with time.(creating video-editing effects )
March 19, 2009... Byline: Ken McMahon Playing with time How to create impressive video-editing effects such as matting When I was a kid, at the dawn of the TV era, there were two Australian TV imports that I liked to watch: Skippy the Bush Kangaroo...

When updates go bad.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Gordon Laing When updates go bad A solution to software update ills and how a plug-in can improve audio quality In this month's Hardware column, I'm revisiting the topics of patching software and achieving audiophile...

Switching routers.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens Switching routers Ditching the free router supplied by your ISP can create problems I've a number of tales of woe to regale you with this month, starting with the troubles I had when I tried to change my...

How to tailor your O2 wireless router.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens How to tailor your O2 wireless router I'm used to being able to explore and tailor the configuration of a router via its web interface, but most of the options on the O2 wireless router are locked and can't be...

A question of priority.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Tim Nott A question of priority How to manage programs and processes with the Task Manager You may sometimes find that certain processes hog CPU cycles to the detriment of other programs and general Windows performance....

Counting out the cash.(using Microsoft Excel)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Stephen Wells Counting out the cash Use Excel to ensure your customers aren't short-changed Reader Dan Cutforth wrote in to say: "I would like a spreadsheet that calculates the most efficient combination of notes and coins...

Helpful shortcuts.(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Stephen Wells Helpful shortcuts After you make an entry in Excel, the cursor moves to the next cell. If you want it to stay in the same cell in Excel 2007 you could click the Office icon, Excel Options, Advanced, Editing...

Debug for free.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Stephen Wells Debug for free Three ways to edit and debug your Javascript code Javascript is one language you cannot avoid if you go anywhere near web development or cloud computing. Even when coding in PHP, ASP.Net or...

Editing HD footage.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Gordon Laing Editing HD footage How to get around the editing problems posed by high-definition video If you thought playing HD video on your PC could be demanding, wait until you try to edit it. As an increasing number of...

Question Time.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Various Hardware QOver several months I have been recording TV programmes with my Hauppauge WinTV tuner. The files are in the order of 1.2GB for a one-hour programme, including five-minute padding at each end and the adverts...

Videoi?1/2s eating up my hard drive.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Various Video's eating up my hard drive Digital imaging QI have about 50 DV tapes and I bought a laptop to turn them into DVDs. I use Pinnacle Studio, which can be maddening but does the job. Alarmingly, after only three...

How to regain administration access in Ubuntu.(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Various How to regain administration access in Ubuntu Linux QI have played around with my Ubuntu configuration and have lost administration access. I am unsure how to get this back. I have worked out how to access the...

Duplicating partitions.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Barry Shilliday Duplicating partitions How to use dd and ddrescue to back up your data A few months ago we looked at duplicating partitions as a way to back up your data. A number of readers have expressed an interest in...

Nvidia driver fix for Ubuntu 8.10 users.(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Barry Shilliday Nvidia driver fix for Ubuntu 8.10 users There is a problem in Ubuntu 8.10 with the proprietary drivers from Nvidia. Unusual image corruption occurs with window borders when using the 3D desktop effects on...

Process of elimination.(managing computer processes)(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley Process of elimination It's easy to keep track of how many programs you've got open at any one time simply by looking at the Windows Taskbar. However, this doesn't tell the whole story, and there could be any...

Enriching equations.(using Microsoft Equation 3.0)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Tim Nott Enriching equations How to use the EQ field to build equations If you are of a mathematical bent, Microsoft Office comes with a powerful equation editor -- you fire it up by going to Insert, Object, Microsoft...

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Incredibly scary with smooth gun-slinging action There's one question you have to ask yourself when deciding if F.E.A.R. 2 is the game for you: "Do I like to be scared?" If you like...

i2i Stream.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Lester i2i Stream Send your favourite tunes to a friend or a home stereo with these wireless transmitters The i2i Stream is a digital audio gadget designed to send tunes wirelessly from a portable player to another...

Apple iLife 09.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Cliff Joseph Apple iLife 09 An impressive upgrade for users of iPhoto, iMovie and Garageband Apple says that iPhoto is the flagship of its iLife suite, and it certainly gets a lot of attention in this latest upgrade. The...

Pentax Optio M60.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley Pentax Optio M60 Low-cost 10-megapixel digicam with some decent features Small and stylish with a 10-megapixel sensor, it's a surprise that the Optio M60 from Pentax costs just [pounds sterling]99. With so...

Sentry Parental Controls.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Cliff Joseph Sentry Parental Controls A powerful, but complex, online security system Once set up properly, Sentry Parental Controls turns out to be quite an impressive online protection system for your children. You...

Service Desk Plus 7.5.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens Service Desk Plus 7.5 Helpdesk software in a browser from Manage Engine Helpdesk applications can be both expensive and complicated. Service Desk Plus from Manage Engine, however, is priced at a level most...

Big Bang Universal Imaging Utility.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens Big Bang Universal Imaging Utility Hardware-independent disk imaging tool for those who need to deploy Windows on multiple PCs The task of installing new PCs can be mindlessly repetitive; even if you are only...

HP Compaq 6720t.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens HP Compaq 6720t Not quite the ordinary notebook it seems It looks like an ordinary laptop, but the HP Compaq 6720t is really a thin client, for use with Windows Terminal Services and the latest desktop...

Billion Biguard S3000.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens Billion Biguard S3000 Conventional remote access in a self-contained appliance Did February's snow stop you or your staff getting to work? Remote access would have helped and it doesn't have to be difficult or...

Fax of life.(trends in facsimile transmission)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens Fax of life There is still life in the humble fax. Alan Stevens investigates With email reaching into every corner of both personal and business life it's not unreasonable to assume fax to be on its way out....

The scanner came too.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens The scanner came too If you opt for software-based faxing, bear in mind the need for a scanner of some kind if you want to fax paper originals, plus the software to drive it. This is not a problem if you do a lot...

The pros and cons of using Fax over IP.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens The pros and cons of using Fax over IP Slated as the next big thing in faxing, Fax over IP (FoIP) does for facsimile what Voice over IP (VoIP) did for voice. It gets rid of the need to fax via a modem and analogue...

only the fax.(fax messaging)(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens only the fax If you thought that fax went the way of the dinosaurs, you need to think again. Despite the growing assault from email, SMS and instant messaging, it refuses to lie down and die. In this month's...

Sage Act.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Alan Stevens Sage Act An affordable CRM tool with some useful features Act is probably the best known and most used of small-business CRM (customer relationship management) applications It provides the tools needed to...

Ad-Aware Pro Anniversary Edition.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Lester Ad-Aware Pro Anniversary Edition An anti-malware suite that is effective and easy to use The anniversary edition of Ad-Aware, the virus and malware detection and removal suite, celebrates 10 years of offering...

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Nigel Whitfield Nokia 5800 Xpress Music Is Nokia's latest touchscreen phone all fingers and thumbs? Touch is the latest trend in mobile phones; popularised by Apple, just about everyone has brought out new devices recently...

Customise your Word Press.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Ken McMahon Customise your Word Press You don't need extensive design knowledge to make your blog stand out. Ken McMahon explains Given that a blog is essentially a list of chronologically ordered posts, you might think...

Improve your design with a widget.(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Ken McMahon Improve your design with a widget Word Press widgets are add-ons that allow the addition of design elements and other content to your blog. The widgets displayed in the default theme include Your Pages, Archives,...

Hosting your own Word Press blog.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Ken McMahon Hosting your own Word Press blog To run your own Word Press blog you'll need a server that supports My SQL and PHP. For most people that means it will be a Linux server running the Apache web server. Before you...

Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Tim Anderson Internet Explorer 8 Release Candidate 1 Microsoft's new browser is decent but faces vigorous competition When Microsoft showed the first Internet Explorer 8 beta at the Mix 08 conference in Las Vegas, it was...

Skype 4.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley Skype 4 A new interface with improved video calling, but still no three-way video option Following its beta release back in July 2008, the finished version of Skype 4 is now available. The interface has been...

Better sound.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Matthew Moore Better sound on the move You don't have to have mediocre audio on your laptop or netbook. A few additions and changes can improve your listening experience greatly. Matthew Moore explains The PC's...

Streaming on your network i?1/2 inside the acronyms.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Streaming on your network -- inside the acronyms With some Nas units boasting Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) streaming, and others DLNA, what's the real difference and what should you be looking for? UPnP is a...

Cisco Linksys Media Hub NMH305.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Cisco Linksys Media Hub NMH305 Price [pounds sterling]269.99 Contact Cisco 0800 026 1418 www.linksysbycisco.com The latest Nas from Cisco-owned Linksys is specifically media focused. It ticks our main criteria...

D-Link DNS-323.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen D-Link DNS-323 Price [pounds sterling]139.99 Contact D-link 020 8955 9000 www.dlink.co.uk Since appearing in our August 2008 Nas group test, D-Link has developed new features for the DNS-323, including a...

NAS EdsChoice.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Most of these Nas boxes offer an excellent experience for streaming media to your preferred device, the only real exceptions to this being the Western Digital and Sony Nas units, although future firmware updates may...

How we tested.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen How we tested To test file transfer speeds, we copied a 901MB file between each Nas appliance twice in each direction in Windows Explorer, repeating if there were wild fluctuations between runs. The average time...

Streaming servers.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Streaming servers A Nas server can make streaming media easy. Emil Larsen reports Network-attached storage (Nas) devices -- small, dedicated servers that make it easy to share files between PCs at home -- are...

Iomega Storcenter ix2.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Iomega Storcenter ix2 Price [pounds sterling]317 Contact Iomega www.iomega-europe.com We got off to a tremendously bad start with the Storcenter ix2. Our testing process always starts with a hard drive format...

Lacie Internet Space.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Lacie Internet Space Price [pounds sterling]184.99 Contact Lacie 020 7017 0040 www.lacie.com Lacie's Internet Space is small and beautiful. We love its brick design and the blue light that reflects onto any...

Netgear Readynas Duo RND2150.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Netgear Readynas Duo RND2150 Price [pounds sterling]279.99 Contact Netgear 01344 458 200 www.netgear.co.uk Netgear's Readynas Duo looks just like a real server, only scaled down like a toy car. It keeps many...

Qnap TS-209 II.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Qnap TS-209 II Price [pounds sterling]236 Contact Qnap www.qnap.com Qnap has two versions of the TS-209 II, a pro and a non-pro. We tested the cheaper non-pro that excludes the NFS and Active Directory support...

Raidsonic Icy Box IB-NAS4220-B.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Raidsonic Icy Box IB-NAS4220-B Price [pounds sterling]114.99 Contact Raidsonic 0870 162 0818 www.nanopoint.co.uk A DLNA-compatible Nas drive for around [pounds sterling]100 sounds like a bargain, but in the...

Sony Vaio Home Server HS1.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Sony Vaio Home Server HS1 Price [pounds sterling]489 Contact Sony 020 7365 2947 www.sonystyle.co.uk We discovered the awkward truth behind DLNA when testing Sony's Home Server HS1. DLNA only stipulates that...

Synology Diskstation DS209+.(Product/service evaluation)(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Synology Diskstation DS209+ Price [pounds sterling]414 Contact Synology 01908 673 709 www.synology.com The DS209+ has all the standard server types you'd expect from a Nas, as well as HTTPS for secure website...

Thecus M3800.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Thecus M3800 Price [pounds sterling]549.99 Contact Thecus 0844 288 6868 www.originestore.com The Thecus M3800 is a solidly built and quiet Nas with a very interesting front panel that shows its IP address, fan...

Western Digital Sharespace.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Western Digital Sharespace Price [pounds sterling]499.99 Contact Western Digital 01372 360 055 www.wdc.com Western Digital's hard drives are popular in Nas boxes, particularly the low-power models with...

Zyxel NSA-220.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Emil Larsen Zyxel NSA-220 Price [pounds sterling]206.99 Contact Zyxel 01344 303 044 www.zyxel.co.uk A cool all-white metal chassis covers Zyxel's NSA-220. It's all for show though, since what appears to be an LCD panel...

Free Windows toolkit.(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley Free Windows toolkit With so many options, deciding which software to use in order to keep Windows in tip-top condition isn't easy. Below, we've listed some of the best utilities, all of which are free. There are...

Turn back time with disk imaging.(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley Turn back time with disk imaging There will always be times when the only way to restore your PC to its former glory is to bite the bullet and reinstall Windows. This process, however, creates its own problems, not...

Using Autoruns to improve boot speeds.(managing laptop computers)(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley Using Autoruns to improve boot speeds The Autoruns application mentioned in this feature can have a big impact on boot times. To test it out, we used it on an ageing Windows XP laptop littered with various bits of...

Speed up Windows.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley Speed up Windows Will Stapley shows you how to revitalise a sluggish XP or Vista PC Cast your mind back to when you first switched on your new PC and you'll most likely remember Windows booting at lightning...

Nintendo 100 Classic Book Collection.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Kelvyn Taylor Nintendo 100 Classic Book Collection Read books on your Nintendo DS Harper Collins' 100 Classic Book Collection is the first commercial attempt at turning the Nintendo DS Lite into a mini ebook reader, and it...

HP Touchsmart tx2-1020ea.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Will Stapley HP Touchsmart tx2-1020ea A tablet-style laptop with a multi-touch navigation feature HP isn't calling its new Touchsmart tx2 a tablet, but with a screen that swivels and folds back on itself it certainly looks...

Advent AIO200.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Simon Crisp Advent AIO200 A convenient all-in-one -- as long as you're not a gamer We looked at Advent's netbook-based AIO100 all-in-one last month, this month it's the turn of its bigger brother, the AIO200. Reminiscent...

His HD4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Simon Crisp His HD4870 IceQ 4+ Turbo A high-performance graphics card that's quietly cooled The IceQ 4 series from His has a custom heatpipe cooling solution, allowing for quieter and more efficient cooling, which in turn...

Sony Vaio VGN-FW31ZJ.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Simon Crisp Sony Vaio VGN-FW31ZJ A stylish laptop that can play high-definition movies Sony's Vaio FW31ZJ entertainment notebook has a 16:9 aspect screen, full HD support, and a built-in Blu-ray drive. The stylish...

Access and navigate the Registry easily.(Brief article)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Mark Wilson Access and navigate the Registry easily Step1 Although the Registry can be launched from a Run box, frequent editing may justify creating a shortcut. Simply create a new shortcut pointing to regedit.exe on the...

Edit the Registry with tweaking software.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Mark Wilson Edit the Registry with tweaking software If you use Windows 98 or XP, a handy tweaking tool called TweakUI is available. This utility makes it possible to change system settings that are otherwise only accessible by...

Refine your Registry.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Mark Wilson Refine your Registry The Windows Registry is viewed with fear by many, but it's easy to work with once you understand the basics. Mark Wilson explains The Windows Registry is something that a surprising number...

Optoma Pico.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Nigel Whitfield Optoma Pico A pocket-sized projector to plug into your phone or media player Optoma's Pico is compact and straightforward; there's an on, off and brightness slider, a focus wheel, plus a mini-USB port for...

AVM Fritzbox Fon 7270.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton AVM Fritzbox Fon 7270 Price [pounds sterling]179 Contact www.fritzbox.co.uk The Fritzbox Fon range from AVM redefined our expectations of the modem router. In fact the 7270's feature set is so much more...

Belkin N+ Modem Router.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton Belkin N+ Modem Router Price [pounds sterling]100 Contact http://catalog.belkin.com Belkin's N+ Modem Router looks a little different. There's is a reason radio masts don't lie flat along the ground and a...

D-Link DKT-810.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton D-Link DKT-810 Price [pounds sterling]115 Contact www.dlink.co.uk We looked at the DKT-810 over a year ago, when it received our Great Value award for its strong set of features at a competitive price. Today...

Linksys WAG160N.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton Linksys WAG160N Price [pounds sterling]90 Contact www.linksysbycisco.com The WAG160N is unique in this group because it has no visible antennas, making it extremely home-friendly and unlikely to clutter up...

Netgear Wireless-N Modem Router DGN2000.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton Netgear Wireless-N Modem Router DGN2000 Price [pounds sterling]116 Contact www.netgear.co.uk The DGN2000 is an ultra-compact device: Small, black and cute, it's approximately half the size of D-Link's router,...

Trendnet TEW-635BRM.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton Trendnet TEW-635BRM Price [pounds sterling]80 Contact www.trendnet.com Trendnet's tiny TEW-635BRM is a modest device that, due to its rather cheap construction, looks as if it should cost less than the...

How we tested the Draft N routers.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton How we tested the Draft N routers Draft N devices are often rated at speeds of up to 300Mbits/sec, but, even under ideal conditions, real-world throughput is always much lower than this link speed. Many factors...

Routers EdsChoice.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton Among the six wireless routers tested here, we found large variations in price, performance and features. AVM's Fritzbox Fon 7270 costs more than twice as much as Trendnet's TEW-635BRM, but brings with it a host of...

Draft N routers.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Paul Monckton Draft N routers These high-speed routers use a yet to be finalised, but highly lauded, technology. Paul Monckton pits six against each other Touted as a replacement for wired networks, Draft N wireless...

Cyberpower Gamer Infinity 600.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Simon Crisp Cyberpower Gamer Infinity 600 A reasonable gaming system at an affordable price Cyberpower is well known for producing some blisteringly fast gaming systems, many of which feature extreme overclocking and...

The Symantec web tangle.
March 19, 2009... The Symantec web tangle It's not easy to get the Norton security suite vendor to sort out a virus -- and it could cost you It was unhappy coincidence that colleague Clive Akass and I were in the same week asked by friends for help with...

Epson Perfection V300.
March 19, 2009... Byline: Simon Crisp Epson Perfection V300 A good-value scanner, with built-in features to digitise slides and negatives You might think that with the huge range of multifunction devices (MFDs) available these days, there wouldn't...

May 2004.
March 19, 2009... May 2004 Nvidia's rivalry with ATI was in full swing, prompting the problem of when to buy a rapidly changing technology. In our group test of 3D graphics cards, we pointed out that prices would plummet with the release of the next...

Sapphire Radeon HD4670 512MB GDDR4.(Product/service evaluation)
March 19, 2009... Sapphire Radeon HD4670 512MB GDDR4 Price: [pounds sterling]75.99 www.ebuyer.com 0871 521 3300 Overall: HHHHH Sapphire's latest addition to its range of cards based on the HD4670 (RV730 core) should really have a special name...