Is your computer slower than when you bought it?

I tend to see this problem a lot when dealing with PC’s that have a wide range of users working with them.  From gamers down to Internet email checkers, their PCs will be screamingly fast when launching applications and the Internet will be quick as well.  Then all of a sudden, sluggishness rears its ugly head.  Now, out of frustration, some who have the indispensable bank account will just go out and buy another PC.  There may not be a need to send a PC to an early grave just because it’s slow.  We need to quantify that slowness and make sure we have made efforts to speed it up before calling time of death.

In my experience, people oftentimes link an old PC with the ability to surf the web quickly.  This is not entirely true.  When you launch your favorite Internet Browser, the time it takes for the window to simply pop up on your screen is the PC’s job, however the length of time after that where you wait to get the www.cnn.com website to pop up is another’s job, the Internet.  If you are at a location in where Internet bandwidth is limited, or you have paid only for a certain amount of bandwidth that will be shared with others, this could make Web Pages take a long time to load (appear).  This is by no means the fault of the PC; it’s the Internet connection that you are using.  How to fix this?  If the decision is up to you, seek a connection with bigger bandwidth, call your service provider and explain that you are not getting Internet speeds to your liking and you would like them to investigate and propose a remedy or discuss options for increasing the amount of bandwidth available to you.

Aside from Web Surfing, users have complained to me about their applications and how they take “forever” to load.  The PC’s ability to load applications quickly sits in the memory, or RAM.  The higher the PC’s memory, the more likely you are to have applications that pop up faster.  How can you check to see how much memory you have?  It’s easy.  Right click on the “My Computer” icon on your desktop and go to “Properties”.  The screen that pops up will have your PC specs, one of which will be RAM, that’s your memory.  Now you might want to dig around and see how much memory your computer is using.  For that you can press “ctrl-alt-delete”, and select “Task Manager”.  From there, click on the “Performance” tab.  You will see the section called “Physical Memory”.  Compare how much memory you have available versus the total.  If your available amount is low, consider increasing it to give your PC a chance to load more things quicker.  How can you increase your memory?  It’s not as hard as it sounds, however every PC is different.  Post the type of PC you have and I’ll try to help you out.

Wireless, how to connect and what to connect to.

It seems that everywhere you go with your laptop you see multiple wireless networks available for you to connect to. Which one should you use? That’s a good question. The first thing you should do is ask someone who works at the establishment you are visiting if they provide wireless and at what cost. Oftentimes, businesses offer it for free, but there may also be pay-for-use options available that the unsuspecting patron might log onto. If the establishment does not provide WiFi, then you may need to search for Wireless Networks and pick one that satisfies your need. How do you do this? Well, you probably have something in the bottom right corner of your desktop window near the clock that looks like a computer with a few waves next to it. If you right click on that, there will be an option to “View Available Wireless Networks.” Select that and a window will pop up showing all of the Wireless Networks that are within range. Usually it’s best to select the one with the strongest signal. Once you do that, and you are connected, you’ll most probably need to launch an Internet Explorer window to pay for time. Launch it and it should re-direct you to a page where you can enter your credit card information and get surfing. If this type of page does not pop up,you’re in luck; you've found a free network to connect to.

Connecting to a free network has its pros and cons. If it’s a publicly broadcasting free network, you’re fine to log onto it. However, if you see a “Linksys” or other private named network and are able to connect, you’re technically breaking the law by using a WiFi network without permission. It’s always best to verify you are connecting to a company name or something labeled “Free-WiFi.”

This brings me to setting up your own wireless networks at home. Mobility is a standard nowadays, so you most probably have picked up a wireless router from Best Buy or Circuit City and are using it at home. The most common type of security is WEP. WEP can employ different levels of encryption, 64 bit or 128 bit (most-common). When you’re setting it up, I advise you to set up a complicated key that cannot be guessed, i.e., don’t use 1234567891 or abcdabcdab. It is also advisable to have some security applied to your wireless network. Ultimately you are responsible for any malicious behavior that comes from your connection; therefore, if your neighbor feels like accessing your network, their activity will become your responsibility. It would be very difficult to prove it was not you. Better to be safe with WEP than sorry.

Now that you know some extreme basics about WiFi, wireless networks, and securing them, I wish you well in your Internet travels.