PCinfospace

Recycling has become a big thing. However, some communities do not have a good way to recycle computers, their parts or other peripherals such as printers and monitors.

Recycling can mean many things.  Actually it could mean donating the computer (or other device) to charity or some needy cause.  Unfortunately these sources are quickly rejecting really old computers.  This normally means it is not usable for most situations.  The “older” computers are normally slow and do no have the necessary hardware and software to meet today’s high demands.

Monitors have changed drastically.  This is both good and bad.  Everybody is trying to get the latest and greatest monitors which are usually LCDs. This means that something has to happen to the old monitors.  Unfortunately they contain lead or other toxic elements that may hurt the environment.  Even worse, nobody wants them even if they work. Many communities don’t make it easy to recycle the old monitors.  Most of them charge a small fee to get rid of them.  The LCDs have their own problems which will surface in the future as they get replaced. Even as I write this article LED monitors are coming onto the market. These are extremely thin and brag a better picture than ever before.  Price is fairly good also.

The motherboards in computers and other digital devices may not be recyclable in your area either.  They contain PCBs or other toxic elements.  If they are no good for any reason you need to find a legal way to dispose of them. Check with your municipality to find out the rules that cover how to handle these.

The way it can be done!

If your computer or device is no longer usable you can start by taking out the mother board and all the cards if it has any.  Remove the CD, DVD, Hard drive, power supply or other internal devices.  Once you have stripped the inside, remove any plastic part that may be attached to the case.  Newer cases may be plastic and may be recyclable for the plastic they contain.  If the case is steel you normally can take it to a recycler in your area.  Don’t forget to remove the RAM from the motherboard if you dispose of it. The battery on the motherboard is normally reusable also. Remove any and all cables and cords.

Reuse is the best way to recycle.  The CD, DVD, hard drive, power supply and maybe other internal hardware may be able to be reused in another computer.

Online auctions may be another way to get rid of the parts that can not be recycled.

IMPORTANT!!  If you plan to recycle or give away your hard drive, BE SURE all your personal information is off of it.  If you don’t know how to do this ask a technician in your area. It can be a big mistake to not do this in the event some criminal wants to steel your identity or personal information for some reason.

Probably the only reason you would want to know this is if you plan to actually building a computer from scratch.  These kits do come with components that are compatible to each other but you will need things that are not included.

In the event that you do plan to buy one of these kits you need to know:  1. What are you going to use the computer for? 2. What is in the kit?  3. What quality of parts are in the kit? 4. What kind of case and power supply does it have?  5. Is the processor and mother board at the speed and type you need and want for the applications and operating system you are going to use? 6. Is the amount of RAM enough for what I plan to do?  Vista needs at least 2GIG in order to run efficiently.  7. Is the hard drive big enough?  You need at least a 250 GIG but I recommend the biggest you can afford.  Some kits may include more or less items than listed above.

Good to know stuff

Do you feel you have enough knowledge to do this?  You should have at least a basic understanding of how to build a computer.  Know what IS NOT in the kit.  This is very important! Here is a kit example: mid tower, ram, power supply, motherboard and processor.  Now you say: “what is NOT in this kit?” well for one thing it doesn’t have an operating system included and there is no DVD-RW.  Just the operating system alone will add over $100 to the price. Vista is more expensive depending on the flavor you get.  That is to say: if you get Vista home you will be at $99.00 but other versions such as Vista Home Premium are more expensive.

Bottom Line

Price!! Do you really save anything by doing it this way?  It is hard to say but normally not much.  If you want to be sure you have the kind of hardware you want and “only” the software you want it may be worth it.  Off the shelf computers come with a lot of bloat ware.  These are programs that are not full programs or are only good for 60 or 90 days in most cases. Warranty is usually on the separate components.  If you buy it from a retail store the warranty is on the entire unit.  The thing to take into consideration with off the shelf (store) computers is that they do not come with any programs.  Unless you have them already you must buy them.  Even the Anti-Virus programs are only good for 60 or 90 days.  That is why they can sell them at such a cheap price. They may also have cheap or low quality parts that may not last or last just long enough to go past the warranty period.

Computer Cautions

If you do build one of these, be sure you ground yourself first.  Even a slight jolt of static electricity will render the mother board or processor worthless.  BE CAREFUL!! Most parts these days are plastic.  Even the cases are plastic.  Don’t plug anything in until you double check everything.  You could blow out the mother board or yourself.  If you don’t know how to do something look it up on the internet or get somebody to help you.  If something doesn’t work just double check your connections.  You may have forgotten to hook up something or you may not have a plug in all the way.  Seek professional help if need be.

This article assumes you are on high speed internet such as cable or DSL.  If you have Dial-up it needs to be approached in a different way.

What if your page does not display?

Don’t assume it’s anything you did or didn’t do. Open Internet Explorer. Left click tools then Internet options. Click the tab that says connections.  Be sure that “Never Dial a connection” is clicked.  If you have one of the other buttons selected, your browser will attempt to use a dial-up connection.  Click on LAN Settings.  Click the block that says “Automatically detect settings”. Click OK and Click OK again on the next screen.  Reopen the browser.  See if that works.  This should help detect your settings.

Verify that all cables are connected securely to the proper device. When you look at the cables inspect them for damage. I have had cases where a vacuum cleaner ate the cable or cord.  If everything checks out unplug your DSL or cable modem.  If you are using a router unplug it also.  Wait about 10 seconds and plug one or both back in.  Check the lights on your modem and be sure the ones that should be lit are lit. (This may vary according to the type of modem or router you have) Try opening a web page again.  If it still fails, reboot the computer.  If you still are having trouble you may need to call your service provider.  Things can go wrong at your service provider also. They can help you determine the status of your connection. This can save your hours of troubleshooting and maybe some money.

Some other problems

You may have a Virus.  In fact this is one of the leading causes why you can’t get a web page to display.  Your web browser (normally Internet Explorer) may be corrupted for some reason.  If you have a different browser, such as Foxfire, try that. If you still are having difficulty you may need to take it to a professional.  They may need to remove a Virus or Spy-ware.  If it is really bad they may need to reload the operating system. There are many problems that can cause the same thing.  Another possibility is that your network card is defective or the driver for it may have become corrupt or disabled.
One thing you can try if you think you are skilled enough.  Go to start and click on run.  Type in the word: Command.  Hit enter. At the command line type: ping www.(website).com and hit enter. Be sure to put a space between the word ping and the web site address. Use any web site you want to.  See if you have any errors.  If it does communicate you definitely have a bad browser.  If it does not communicate you need to check deeper.  This article is not intended for the advanced technician.  I would recommend finding somebody in your area that can help you solve this problem if you don’t understand what to do.

Critical settings

Security setting in Internet Explorer control how a computer running Windows XP handles content from application servers inside and outside the network. Security settings are as follows: 1. Internet   2. Local Intranet 3.  Trusted Sites  4. Restricted zones.  Set  these to their default level. Viruses will try to reset these so can gain access to the browser or other parts of your computer.

SAVE $60 – HP Photosmart C4580 All-In-One Color Inkjet Printer 4800×1200 Optimized dpi 30 ppm Wi-Fi Refurbished $69.96

Did you ever send an e-mail to somebody that had an attachment they couldn’t read?  Did you ever get an auto response that got stuck in the outbox?  It would be real surprising if you haven’t had at least some kind of e-mail issue.

If you get an attachment that will not open the chances are that either you don’t have the version of the software that they are sending you or you don’t have the program at all.  Well! Here’s the deal. You MUST have the same version or higher of the program the person saved the attachment in.  To solve this one you will either have to get the latest version of the software or you can tell the person to send it again in an earlier version.  You can also send it in text format right inside the e-mail.  This can be a problem with pictures.

Another problem, which seems to be growing, is they can’t send from their e-mail program.  This mostly happens with earlier versions of Outlook and Outlook Express.  Normally auto responses are the problem.  Go to your out box and delete them and usually you have solved the problem.  Why!  Because the “old” programs are not compatible.  That is to say they don’t know what to do with them.  These new features either didn’t exist or they have been upgraded.  Thus the reason they won’t send.  What is worse is that it will freeze up your outbox.  If somebody sends you an auto-response do not accept it.  If you do accept it you will need to go to your outbox and delete it.  Needless to say you could update the e-mail program.  This would also solve that problem. You could have a problem with your SMTP setting also. Call your service provider if need be.
If you do upgrade your old e-mail program be sure to back it up first.  You may need to import the old file which contains all your contacts and old e-mail folders.  If you do not know how to do that simply push the F1 key when the program is open and ask it.   If you go to a search engine they can offer advice also.

Another issue you may run into (I hate this) is that you need to have everything inside the contacts folder in order for it to show up when you click To: when you are sending an e-mail from you address book.  If you want to copy or move addresses to the contacts folder here is what to do.  First click on the folder that contains the address (es) you want to have in the contacts folder.  You MUST highlight any contact that you want to move or copy.  RIGHT click and drag the name to the contact folder and let go of the mouse.  A menu will come up that says move or copy.  Click on your choice.  Personally I like to copy it until I am sure everything is where I want it.  You can always go back and delete what you want to.   You can not delete a folder until you have it completely empty in Outlook 2007.

Online e-mail is not affected by the above rules.  Other e-mail programs may have different rules and different problems.

Top Ten Deals of the Week!

This is a question that comes up many times especially in business settings.

The short answer is that it may not matter. Mostly there is nothing wrong with leaving it on. However, it may matter how you use your computer and when. If you use your computer at length during a certain time of the day you might as well leave it on.  It may be possible you leave it periodically but not for long periods. Then you also would want to leave it on.   It does take a while to boot up and load necessary programs. It is very frustrating to wait for a computer to boot just when you need it the most. If however, you are away for any length of time it would be a good idea to turn it off.

Why would you want to turn off your computer in the first place?

For one thing programs take RAM (memory) to run. Periodically memory is not released after you close a program. Eventually this can add up and things can get slow. If your reboot your computer you “release” the memory. If it is still slow once you reboot you probably have a different problem such as a Virus or spy-ware. The reason I feel is even better is the amount of power they take. You can save significant amounts of money by turning off your computer. There is also something else to look at here. What about all those devices you have hooked to your computer? A lot of them have transformers. I have seen times where there were more than six transformers connected to one surge protector. This can also be unsafe. If you overload your power outlet you could cause a fire. Your monitor, printer and other devices are also power drains.

What is the best way to handle it?

I would recommend plugging everything associated with the computer into a surge protector. However there is a limit as to how many you can plug into one wall outlet. After you close down the computer you only need to push one button on the surge protector. It will not bite you! It is not hard to do. Take a look at your electric bill. Now that may bite you!

There are many schools of thought about this subject. I like to put it in dollars and cents.

Also, if for any reason you are having trouble rebooting your computer it may be an indicator of a bigger problem. If this happens you should contact a professional to check into it.

If your computer doesn’t run as long you will extend its life by quite a bit. Just think! If you shut down the computer over night every day for a year how much time we are talking about and how much money you could save. For every second the hard drive and components aren’t working you are extending their life.