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Are Optical Discs (CDs, DVDs, and BDs) Going the Way of the Floppy Disk?

2012-05-16T11:36:04Z

Everyone knows that the floppy disk is dead. It has been for years (and years). For the most part, the optical drive replaced the floppy drive, and discs like CDs, DVDs, and more recently BDs, replaced the floppy disks themselves.

However, smaller computers plus the size of optical discs, a slow increase in capacity, among other factors, is seriously limiting the value of those shiny discs we so love.

Mark Kyrnin, the About.com Guide to PC Hardware & Reviews, has an excellent piece about the end of the disc era:

Death of the Computer Optical Drive

I highly recommend you check it out.

Image © omernos http://www.sxc.hu/photo/525701

Are Optical Discs (CDs, DVDs, and BDs) Going the Way of the Floppy Disk? originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 at 11:36:04.

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Patch Tuesday May 2012: 7 Updates Correcting 23 Issues

2012-05-08T13:58:29Z

Today is Patch Tuesday. May's patches consist of 7 updates that correct a total of 23 unique issues across Microsoft Windows operating systems and some other Microsoft software.

What Do These Security Updates Do?

These patches from Microsoft update several individual files involved in making Windows and other Microsoft software work.

Do I Need These Security Updates?

You need these updates if you're running any currently supported Windows operating system (Windows 7, Vista, XP, etc.) or any version of any Microsoft Office program. Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions are affected.

Some of these updates fix problems so serious that if left unpatched, it's possible that someone could gain access to your computer. These issues are given a Critical severity rating.

Other fixes aren't quite as serious but are security issues that should be corrected nonetheless. These are categorized as Important.

Are There Any Non-Security Updates This Month?

Yes, a few, including updates to the Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool and an update for ActiveX Killbits. There may also be non-security updates included this month for Microsoft software other than Windows.

Patch Tuesday Problems

This blog post has become Grand Central Station for Patch Tuesday problems. However, overall, Microsoft provided updates rarely cause problems. That might be hard to believe based on the number of comments below, but it's true. There's no reason to fear installing them.

However, see How To Prevent Windows Updates From Crashing Your PC for a number of preventative measures you can take if you're concerned about potential problems.

If your computer freezes during the installation of an update, see How To Recover From a Frozen Windows Update Installation for help.

If the updates installed completely but you're now experiencing a problem, try a System Restore first.

Automatically install: via Windows Update.

Manually install: via the individual Security Bulletins listed here.

Details from Microsoft: Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for May 2012.

Non-Security Updates: New Non-Security Content for 2012.

Next Patch Tuesday: will be June 12, 2012.

Related Topics:

A Note on the Comments Below:

I reuse this blog post for each Patch Tuesday by Microsoft so most of the comments left are for previous Patch Tuesdays. You can tell which Patch Tuesday a comment is referring to by looking at the notation at the end of the comment. For example, comments addressing Patch Tuesday May 2012 will end with [PT: May 2012].

Patch Tuesday May 2012: 7 Updates Correcting 23 Issues originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 13:58:29.

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Staples Now Offering Free Computer & Technology Recycling

2012-05-07T12:18:52Z

Beginning in late April, Staples began offering completely free computer recycling services:

Staples Recycling & Eco-Services

Not only will Staples take your old desktop, laptop, and tablet computers and peripherals and recycle them for free, they'll also do the same for your eReader, shredder, battery backup, GPS, MP3 player, cordless phone, and more.

You also don't need to worry about brands or where you bought the device. Staples will take it all.

There was a day when recycling your computers and gadgets was difficult and expensive. I'm glad those days are over.

Best Buy also offers a similar free recycling program.

See www.1800recycling.com if you have any other recycling needs and you're' not sure where to go.

Image © Staples, Inc.

Staples Now Offering Free Computer & Technology Recycling originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 12:18:52.

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What To Do After You've Been Hacked

2012-04-29T11:38:20Z

No doubt the first question after realizing you've been infected with a major virus, or been a victim of a more traditional "hack" is: "What Do I Do Now?"

Andy O'Donnell has you covered from start to finish:

I've Been Hacked! Now What?

Here are some other resources that might help during your recovery as well:

How To Wipe a Hard Drive
How To Clean Install Windows
How To Properly Scan for Malware

Image © linusb4: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/883988

What To Do After You've Been Hacked originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Sunday, April 29th, 2012 at 11:38:20.

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AMD Radeon Video Card Drivers v12.4 Now Available

2012-04-26T17:00:04Z

Version 12.4 of the AMD/ATI video card driver suite is now available. This update adds support for the HD 7000 series in Windows XP, fixes a number of issues, and improves on several image quality variables.

Here are more details on some of the fixes and improvements in version 12.4:

AMD Radeon HD 7000 series GPUs are now fully supported in Windows XP. Windows Vista and Windows 7 first supported the 7000 series in previous updates.
Improves Level of Detail (LOD) image quality and texture filtering.
Significantly improves Morphological Anti-Aliasing (MLAA).
Fixes issues in Windows 7 with Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, Rage: Vsync, and several other games, plus some issues with Windows Media Center and some overall problems.
Corrects an problem in Windows Vista when opening Catalyst Control Center during Blu-ray playback with WinDVD.
Fixes issues in Windows XP with Dirt 3 and Dragon Age 2.
Updates AMD Radeon display driver, AMD Catalyst Control Center, and AMD Vision Engine Control Center to v8.961.

You can see all the details on this new release, including the full list of fixes, plus a full list of compatible AMD/ATI GPUs, in the Catalyst 12.4 Release Notes.

You can download the 32-bit driver version for Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP at the respective links. Drivers compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows, and other ATI related drivers like ATI TV Wonder, ATI integrated video, etc., can be downloaded here.

Note: The Catalyst Driver Suite contains the actual AMD Radeon display driver, the Southbridge/IXP driver, HydraVision, the AMD Catalyst Control Center, and the AMD Vision Engine Control Center.

Note on Comments: The comments below are carried through updated blog posts when new Radeon drivers are released so some may apply to older versions than this one. I'll add a note at the end of each comment, reflecting the version number it was left for.

Related Topics:

AMD Radeon Video Card Drivers v12.4 Now Available originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Thursday, April 26th, 2012 at 17:00:04.

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Windows 8 Editions Revealed

2012-04-18T13:34:36Z

On Monday of this week, Microsoft officially announced the editions of Windows 8 that will be available. [They also confirmed that it would be called Windows 8. The release of the logo two months ago was a pretty good indication but it's for sure now.]

They are: Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro. Each will be available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Very simply, Windows 8 Pro is for techies and businesses. Windows 8 is for everyone else.

I'll save you the rehash and just send you to Microsoft's post:

Announcing the Windows 8 Editions [Microsoft: The Windows Blog]

Check out the excellent table mid-way down the page that compares the availability of major features between the Windows 8 editions.

I like the simplified options, at least compared to previous versions of Windows. What do you think?

ETA: There will also be a Windows 8 RT (aka Windows on ARM or WOA) that will only be available pre-installed on computers (primarily tablet computers) powered by ARM processors. There will also be an enterprise edition called Windows 8 Enterprise. The server version of Windows 8 will be called Windows Server 2012.

Windows 8 Editions Revealed originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 at 13:34:36.

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Free Online Backup: Your Options

2012-04-18T12:52:29Z

As you may have noticed in your years of Internet use, a lot of things online truly are free, especially when it comes to software. I've talked several times about free file recovery software and free registry cleaners. There are even completely free office software suites.

Here's another one that might surprise you: online backup. I've blogged about online backup services before. There are tons of them. Dozens of popular ones by my last count. But there are also free ones:

List of Free Online Backup Plans

Yes, completely free, and yes, of course there's a catch. You're limited as to how much you can backup. MiMedia gives you 7 GB, several others offer anywhere from 2 GB to 5 GB.

The really cool thing about these free online backup offerings is what isn't restricted: basically, everything else. In other words, all of these free online backup plans sport the same software, encryption, and feature set as their premium offerings.

That means that, as long as you only have a few gigabytes of files you find most important and couldn't live without, you can have the same awesome online backup service your neighbor has, and pays for, for free.

Have you ever used a free online backup service?

Free Online Backup: Your Options originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 at 12:52:29.

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Mainstream Support Ends for Windows Vista Today

2012-04-09T21:09:46Z

Today is the last day of "mainstream" support for Windows Vista:

Windows Vista Product Lifecycle [Microsoft]

What does this mean?

Non-security related fixes are no longer free. Non security fixes are like the kind that fix a problem between Windows Vista and a piece of hardware or software.

Security related fixes, like the kind that come out on Patch Tuesday, will continue to be free... until April 11, 2017 to be exact.

To all you Windows Vista users out there: Does loss of mainstream support for your operating system have any impact on your decision to upgrade to Windows 7, or maybe Windows 8?

Mainstream Support Ends for Windows Vista Today originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Monday, April 9th, 2012 at 21:09:46.

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NVIDIA GeForce Video Card Drivers v301.24 Beta Now Available

2012-04-09T14:00:11Z

NVIDIA has released GeForce drivers version 301.24 Beta, adding a ton of new features and improvements.

Here are some of the changes and fixes available in v301.24 Beta:

Adds several new features including NVIDIA FXAA Technology, NVIDIA Adaptive Vertical Sync, NVIDIA Frame Rate Target, and more!
Adds support for the GeForce GTX 680 GPU.
Adds several improvements to the NVIDIA Surround Technology feature.
Updates or adds SLI and 3D Vision profiles for over a dozen games.
NVIDIA PhysX is at v9.12.0213 and HD Audio is at v1.3.12.0 in this release.

A more complete list of the new features and improvements in this update are available on the NVIDIA driver download page for your operating system. For complete information, see the release notes here [PDF].

You can download the 32-bit version for Windows 7 and Windows Vista here. Versions of the 301.24 Beta driver for 64-bit Windows, as well as for other operating systems like Windows XP, are available here.

Important: This NVIDIA driver is a beta release, meaning it has not been tested in-the-wild by NVIDIA, nor certified by Microsoft. I recommend that you wait for the final, WHQL release of this driver before installing it unless it fixes a serious issue you've been having or you're very interested in a new feature and are willing to take the risks of using a driver that might still have some issues. The latest WHQL certified NVIDIA GeForce driver was v296.10.

Note: If you're using a recent version of NVIDIA's GeForce drivers, just right-click on the NVIDIA icon in the system tray and choose Check for updates.... You can download and install the driver automatically from there. If you want to be prompted for beta driver updates, be sure to check the appropriate box in the Preferences tab.

Related Topics:

NVIDIA GeForce Video Card Drivers v301.24 Beta Now Available originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Monday, April 9th, 2012 at 14:00:11.

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Realtek HD Audio Driver R2.68 Now Available

2012-03-31T19:20:20Z

Realtek high definition (HD) audio drivers version R2.68 is now available, adding support for the ALC282 audio chipset.

You can download this latest Realtek HD audio driver for Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and more here.

Both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the R2.68 driver are available.

Note: As is typical with Realtek audio driver updates, there are no listed feature additions or fixes. This update was only released to improve compatibility with newer hardware that contains the Realtek audio chipset. Because you're likely not to gain much by updating, I don't recommend you install the R2.68 update unless you were asked to do so by your hardware manufacturer's technical support or you're trying to solve an issue with your Realtek-based sound card/chipset and reinstalling the drivers is a wise troubleshooting step.

More Information About R2.68:

This Realtek HD audio driver supports the following chipsets in Windows 7 and Windows Vista:

ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC886, ALC887, ALC888, ALC889, ALC892, ALC899, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC670, ALC672, ALC676, ALC680, ALC221, ALC231, ALC260, ALC262, ALC267, ALC268, ALC269, ALC270, ALC272, ALC273, ALC275, ALC276, ALC280, ALC282, and ALC290.

These chipsets are supported in Windows XP and Windows 2000:

ALC880, ALC882, ALC883, ALC885, ALC886, ALC887, ALC888, ALC889, ALC892, ALC899, ALC861VC, ALC861VD, ALC660, ALC662, ALC663, ALC665, ALC670, ALC672, ALC676, ALC680, ALC221, ALC231, ALC260, ALC262, ALC267,ALC268, ALC269, ALC270, ALC272, ALC273, ALC275, ALC276, ALC280, ALC282, and ALC290.

Related Topics:

Realtek HD Audio Driver R2.68 Now Available originally appeared on About.com Focus on PC Support on Saturday, March 31st, 2012 at 19:20:20.

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