"A Stitch In Time May Save Nine."

                                                                         

It was a fine crisp evening. I was full throttle on my bike, enjoying a sense of content. I tell you there is no joy compared to the joy of finishing a set task on time. I was on my way to meet the owner of a web site hosting company, off course with my partner, my dear laptop. I was pretty much happy because I had just finished developing a project which I wanted to host at this company’s web space. It was all fine, the evening, me and my love. No chance for any misfortune to happen. The code for the project had been tested over and over again. It was like the winner was announced long before the race had begun.

As soon as I reached,I was ushered into the owner’s office. Greetings and pleasantries were exchanged which was followed by a small formal introduction. The ’Meeting’ began!  A little talk and I was asked for a quick demo of the project. Out of reflexes, I got my laptop out from the case, hit the power button and waited for my sweetheart to start the show. It was over 10 minutes, I and the owner rambled on every possible topic related to my project but laptop wouldn’t start, phew what a snob I thought! I take my laptop out for the first time and it behaves like this. That day I realized what it feels to be in a relationship where you have to refer another person as high maintenance. Just an hour ago when I tested my code everything was at the zenith of its health and now it won’t even start. Finally when we both couldn’t ramble anymore, we decided to call off the meeting. I was out of the building, embarrassed, lost and of all willing to have a nice talk with my laptop, if at all it decided to start.

I reached home, again took laptop out of case, hit the power button and guess what, it starts. Project is up and running. Apparently I thought, may be my laptop heard Al Pacino when he said, ”Vanity is my favorite sin!” Why so much attitude, you start in one place and you don’t start at other! I was pretty upset that night; you may say our relationship was on the rocks. As Harvey Dent said in ‘The dark Knight movie’: ”The night is darkest just before the dawn”, I am sure it was not the darkest of the nights in my life but the dawn for sure arrived.

Once again sleeves rolled up, fingers moved and in no time I was in company of Master Oogway. O now-a-days I call Google Master Oogway from Kung fu panda! Geez can’t imagine my world without that thing; it would be like the entire mankind taking a step back in Stone Age. Alright the main thing in here is the problem was with me. It was my surprisingly lazy attitude towards maintenance that got me into this trouble. As it turned out, a few simple maintenance chores would have sailed me through that meeting. I am pretty sure the authors of the quote “What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient” must be laughing their guts out as their quote just got demonstrated. I chose only to use my laptop, never thought that like any other thing it also needs maintenance! This brings us to the topic of this post!

    Actually the gamut of laptop maintenance is pretty large area to cover but I shall try to sum up the most important points. Laptop maintenance can broadly be of two types: hardware and software maintenance. These are few of the errands you can run just to keep your laptop from embarrassing you occasionally:

Source (mobileoffice.about.com)

1. Clean Your Hard Drive

Over the course of a month it is easy to accumulate a lot of unnecessary files on your laptop hard drive. Take the time once a month to go through your hard drive and examine the files there. Determine which should be saved elsewhere for future reference and which can be trashed. If you download programs on a regular basis to try new things or just to have access to new programs for projects, properly uninstall those programs when no longer needed. A cleaner hard drive runs smoother.

2. Defrag Your Hard Drive

Defragging your hard drive is another step to ensuring your laptop will run more efficiently. Taking the time to defrag once a month will allow your programs to run more quickly and make better use of the space on your hard drive. When you defrag your laptop hard drive on a monthly basis you should notice fewer software crashes or freeze ups and programs will run better. Here’s where I made my goof-up.

3. Keep Your Laptop Clean

Cleaning your laptop helps prevent overheating and those nasty dust bunnies from building up inside your laptop fans and exposed ports. Now didn’t I tell you this in my first post? Cleaning the screen also means you'll always view your data clearly and it's much easier on the eyes. Keeping your case free of dust and dirt buildup will help your laptop by preventing that dirt from getting inside the laptop.

The five general parts of the laptop you should keep clean are: the case, the LCD screen, the laptop keyboard (and touchpad), the ports, and the cooling vents.

You can also open up your laptop to expose and clean its cooling system (the fan and heat sink), but only attempt that if you're comfortable opening up your laptop. Cleaning the cooling system can help solve laptop overheating problems and related symptoms like your laptop freezing or having issues shutting down.

As always, defer to your laptop manufacturer's manual for the recommended procedure for laptop cleaning.

Materials

You'll need the following things to clean your laptop:

• Isopropyl alcohol, available at drugstores and supermarkets. Because it evaporates quickly and doesn't leave a residue, isopropyl alcohol is safe to use on electronic equipment and LCD displays. Not safe to use: ammonia, tap water, mineral water, and household window cleaners.
• Distilled or purified water or bottled water. Avoid tap water, which can leave permanent mineral spots.
• Can of compressed air, also commonly available at many types of stores.
• Lint-free cloth, like the kind used for cleaning eyeglasses. In a pinch you can use a soft, 100% cotton cloth. Do not use: paper towels, facial tissues, or scratchy or abrasive cloths.

Prepare to Clean

• Make sure the computer is off and unplugged, and remove the battery.
• Make a 1:1 cleaning solution using the water and alcohol.
• Dampen the cloth with the cleaning solution--it should be slightly moistened rather than very wet. Also, never spray anything directly on the computer; the liquid should go on the cloth first.

Clean the Laptop Case

Use the damp cloth to wipe down the exterior of the laptop. This will help you make it look brand-new again. Then open the lid and wipe the areas around your keyboard.

Clean the LCD Screen

Clean the display using the same cloth or a new moistened one if the original is too grimy (again, don't spray any solution directly on the screen). Use gentle circular motions or wipe the screen from left to right, top to bottom.

Clean the Keyboard and Touchpad

Use a can of compressed air to loosen and remove dirt, crumbs, and everything else that may be stuck in the keys. Alternately, you can turn the laptop over and gently shake out any loose debris, running your fingers over the keys to aid the process.

If you have stuck keys or a very dirty keyboard (due to spilled drinks, for example), you can also remove the individual keys and wipe beneath them with a cotton swab dipped in the cleaning solution. Be sure you check your laptop manual to make sure the keys can be removed for cleaning, and, of course, put them back the right way.

Some laptops have drains built into the keyboard tray. If yours is like that, you can pour distilled water into the keyboard and let it air-dry. Check your manual to be sure.

Finally, use the damp cloth to wipe the keys and the touchpad.

Clean the Ports and Cooling Vents

Use the can of compressed air to clean the case openings: the ports and cooling vents. Spray from an angle so the debris is blown away from the computer, rather than into it.

Also, be careful when spraying the fans, because if you spray too hard liquid may get in the fan blades. To prevent the fans from over spinning while you're blowing the air on them (which can damage the fans), place a cotton swab or toothpick between the fan blades to hold them in place.

Last But Not Least

Make sure your laptop is completely dry before turning it on.

4. Full Back-Up

Full back-ups should be conducted on a monthly basis and you should have a secure, fire-proof location to store your back-up. There are a variety of software and hardware options available. You should choose the method that is easy and can be done without fuss on a monthly basis. It may require trying different methods before you find the best back-up system for your needs.

5. Software Updates

Just as you keep your anti-virus and firewall software up-to-date, you should also keep your software programs updated. For many programs the updates will address security issues which help keep your laptop and data protected.

Now TuneUp Utilities is one such product which helps you to at least relax on software maintenance front. After installing it, your laptop does become more efficient. Again there are many products for doing these things but TuneUp is something I personally use. So this is it! Enjoy a happy and clean laptop!

Beware of Greeks bearing gifts

    Before starting this article I would like to share a story. This story was posted in The Washington Post on 4 March 1916 (page 6):

      On the fifth floor of the apartment house at 203 West 130th street lives Miss Mable Godfrey. When she came to the house about seven months ago she brought Blackie, a cat of several years' experience of life.

     The cat seldom left the apartment. He was a hearth cat, not a fence cat, and did not dearly love to sing. In other respects he was normal and hence curious.

      Last Tuesday afternoon when Miss Godfrey was out Blackie skipped into the grate fireplace in a rear room. He had done this many times before. But he had not climbed up the flue to the chimney. This he did Tuesday. Blackie there remained, perched on the top of the screen separating the apartment flue from the main chimney, crying for assistance. Miss Godfrey, returning, tried to induce her pet to come down. If you are experienced in felinity, you know that Blackie didn't come down.

      On Wednesday the cat, curiosity unsatisfied, tried to climb higher—and fell to the first floor. His cries could still be heard by Miss Godfrey; who, to effect Blackie's rescue, communicated with the following departments:
1. Police department.
2. Fire department.
3. Health department.
4. Building department.
5. Washington Heights court.

       Among them they lowered a rope to Blackie. But it availed neither the cat nor them anything. Thursday morning, just before noon, a plumber opened the rear wall back of the chimney. Blackie was taken out. His fall had injured his back. Ten minutes later Blackie died. And so the saying “curiosity killed the cat”.

      Now most of you must be wondering as to what a cat is doing in a blog about laptop. Few of our dedicated readers might also go as far as to think that is he planning to cheat on his laptop for a cat. Let me make few things clear. First of all, I am not cheating on my laptop and second thing unfortunately the cat in the story is none other than me.  Yes I am the cat who died of curiosity.

     It was just another day when I was on my usual net surfing expedition. Exploring various areas made available on net. Get amazed like a school going kid, feeling chest puffed on finding something “cool”, as if I was the Vasco da Gama of internet. Novice would always be a novice after all.  And in one of these explorations I came across a “website”. Trust me friends no one in the world could ever imagine the joy I had when I first discovered this site. It was like after wandering aimlessly in the desert of internet I finally came across my oasis. Imagine the happiness I had. But what is true of all good things happening to you was also applicable to this one. They all last for little time. Being a huge “movie buff” myself, I pounced on the website like a hungry hound who has just been offered a piece of bone. Piece, I have had an entire mass in here. Fingers started moving fast, off course for typing movie names! And the window popped-“downloading started”. It was as if oracle corporation had started distributing its commercial product for free (imagine all you data administrators there, what level of happiness you would experience). I was on that level!

   Then one more window popped-“download completed”. Kudos! First download without searching for torrents of movies. Easy catch and that’s exactly where the cat was ambushed by the evil forces on net. I not only downloaded movie but also paid a price for it -- an easy malware installation on my laptop. All efforts that Mozilla puts to prevent such things gone to drain because of my curiosity. I was like Troy city being invaded by Trojan horse. No one to blame, but me for my misery. My privacy and security was compromised. Compromised! What a dreadful word to read. Yes, I was a sitting duck for all those poachers (hackers- ethical, unethical) who always aim at innocent victims like me. Innocent and me! What an expression that is to read. My laptop was near about to be labeled as another scrap. It was that bad people. And also it was one of those days when I stayed up all night long sitting beside my laptop praying to god that “spybot” saves my laptop. Spybot, an unsung hero of this story, another brilliant open source software. My savior, my god! Finally my laptop was recovered from those dreadful programs. And not to forget the contribution of my best buddy who happens to be a computer expert himself who brought this messiah, spybot, to me. Those were some of the worst moments of my life, watching spybot scanning my laptop. It was like a combing operation. Finally we found our villain. Captured, tortured and then deleted!

    After the storm got settled, the Sherlock Holmes in me came to life. A full fledged investigation was started. I am just presenting a report of that investigation here.  Here are some of the main sources of a malware attack:

Source (ezinearticles.com)

Music and movie downloading sites (my source of attack)

   These sites normally force you to install special downloading software on your computer so that you can download files from them. These download managers are often bundled with spyware and are Trojan horses themselves, downloading tons of other spyware programs while you cheerfully download your illegal MP3's. They sometimes place tracking cookies on your PC to monitor your browsing habits and hijack your browser to make sure you return to their site or a site of a partner.

Software Piracy web sites

     If you love using illegal software, cracks, serial numbers or license key generators (keygens) then you most probably had to remove some malware infections in the past after visiting one of these sites. Most of the people using these cracks are normally technical wizards and know how to disinfect their computers. Many of these sites do not only contain harmful scripts but also fake cracks and key generators, which are nothing else but malware. Some crack developers create a working crack but distribute it with spyware or a trojan horse to make your PC their slave.

Peer-to-peer file sharing programs and networks

   The file sharing community is loaded with pirated software, music and movies. Is it not amazing that everywhere these guys make their appearance you also find spyware, viruses, Trojan horses and all kinds of malware? The client software is also often bundled with spyware (or adware as they call it).

    The culprits discussed so far are those connected with illegal and indecent activities. People visiting these sites and using these services deserve getting infected with malware. These culprits are also some of the biggest sources of malware epidemics. What flows from the mouth, comes from within the heart. The same rule applies to your computer, those nasty little programs crawling inside your computer is the direct result of your own sinful actions and activities. Actually I liked this line so I kept it as it is from the original article.

Pop-up and pop-under advertisements

      Another culprit that wants to catch you off guard. A pop-up window may appear out of the blue or a concealed pop-under window may load in the background without you even knowing it. These windows can start downloading malicious programs and install them on your computer. They can appear on any web site, not just illegal and other bad web sites. You can prevent these windows from opening by using a secure browser like Firefox, another great example of community work, with a built-in pop-up blocker.

Fake anti-virus and anti-spyware tools

       You visit a legitimate looking web site and suddenly a banner appears telling you that your computer is infected with spyware. You can scan your computer with all the anti-spyware software in the world, over and over again until you are blue in the face, but that banner will keep telling you that your computer is infected with spyware. This is because it is a plain image banner. The site never does a scan of your computer; it is a fixed message that will display on any computer, no matter how clean it is. Simply put, it is a blatant lie! They want you to believe that your computer is infected and that only their software can remove this spyware. If you download and install their software you will only find that it is spyware itself. You may end up infecting a completely clean system with a dirty program.

     A system scan is not a three second process; it takes time, so no scanner can tell you instantaneously that your system is infected with spyware. I do not believe in online scanners, rather use software with a good reputation, a local scan is much faster. Most online scanners are no online scanners at all; you actually download the whole scanning engine and end up doing a local scan anyway. A real scanner will tell you the name of the malware and its location on your hard drive, if it does not give you this information, then it is fake. Even if it gives you this information, it still does not mean that the software is legitimate.

Free games, screen savers, media players, etc.

     No, not every free program comes bundled with spyware, but spyware (once again the developers prefer to call it adware, but it is still the same thing) is often the price you have to pay for the free software. It is normally a ploy to monitor your use of the program, to send the creators statistical data or to collect data about your online behavior in order to send you targeted ads. If you try to remove the spyware you normally render the main application useless. Read the EULA (End User License Agreement) very carefully before installing the application. But everyone knows that nobody reads those tedious, long license agreements, so use EULAlyzer by JavaCool Software to check for specific keywords and phrases that might reveal any spyware programs being installed or privacy breaching practices that may occur if you install the free software.

Malicious web pages with harmful scripts

        You also get web pages containing malicious scripts, totally innocent looking web sites, like a site donating money for cancer. You go to their homepage and suddenly a script virus strikes your computer. This is what an anti-virus shield was made for, that unexpected attack. Firefox is also designed to prevent harmful scripts and browser hijackers from accessing the system and taking advantage of flaws and weak spots in your operating system.

E-mail

     Virus worms spread themselves by forwarding a copy of the virus to all the contacts in your address book. Those contacts that are unaware of these worms will most likely open the e-mail and the file attached to it. But when you open a strange infected e-mail from an unknown sender, then you are guilty of double negligence. For the virus to be activated you need to open the e-mail and in most cases you need to deliberately open the file attachment too. By using a little common sense you will know that strange e-mails from unknown senders are dangerous, especially when they have executable attachments with file names ending with the "exe", "com", "bat" or "scr" extensions. Even dangerous e-mails from known, trustworthy contacts can easily be identified if the contents of the e-mail seem strange and out of character. By being careful and responsible when opening your e-mails, you will not only prevent your own computer from getting infected, but you will also prevent the worm from spreading any further.

After source let’s also look into some of the symptoms of malware attack:

Source (michaelhorowitz.com)

1. Your web browsing speed may be slow. Your computer, in general, may be slower that it was and may take much longer to start up than it used to.

2. It is likely Internet Explorer is modified. Your homepage and/or search page may be changed, new favorites that you didn't create may appear, a new toolbar may appear or you may end up at unknown web sites when you try to do a search.

3. To prevent you from undoing the browser modifications made by a malware program, some of them remove or disable the Internet Options from the Tools Menu and from the Control Panel. If you try to reset your home page and can't, it's likely due to malware. If you can't get to anti-virus or security web sites, but can get to other web sites, it's likely due to malware.

4. Adware will bombard you with pop-up ads. More malicious programs serve up a constant barrage of ads for pornographic web sites. That's on top of the pop-ups from the web sites you're viewing. If you see pop-up ads even when you are offline, it's due to malware.

5. Actual Spyware (as opposed to other malware) has to phone home to report what it found. If your firewall provides outbound protection you may see the 'phone call' and be able to stop it.

Malicious software may also shut down or disable your anti-virus program or your firewall program. It may prevent the normal activity of your anti-Spyware software. It may prevent you from accessing Task Manager or msconfig or regedit.

6. Adware programs may create new icons on the Windows desktop, task bar, or system tray. They may also create popup windows that you are unable to close. If your computer mysteriously dials the phone on its own, it may be infected with a porn dialing program.

Here’s a list of some of the softwares which can help you prevent or remove malwares:

Source (lifehacker.com)

1.      Spybot search and destroy

2.      SUPER Antispyware

3.      ComboFix

4.      Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware

5.      HijackThis

And last but not the least, all my facebook loving friends, here’s a piece of warning for all you people. Please do not click on spam links. Of lately the one claiming who view’s your profile. It is just not possible to check such things, as facebook doesn’t provide such feature.

So as to finish the article – “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts (from the story of Troy)”, as this might be a trap for you. Because always remember “nothing comes for free!”

Devil wears the Prada…

      As the cycle of nature goes, after some heating period comes a cooling phase. Things finally started settling down between me and my laptop. But our relationship was put to test once again, this time by a messenger. Now one might wonder what role does a messenger has to play in a relationship between two people. So just to make things clear, my love and I speak all together a different language and we need an interpreter or a messenger for communicating, which in our case, is the Operating System running on my laptop. The Operating System (OS) is the system software that makes the computer work. We can say that an OS is software that acts as an interface between you and the hardware. It not only contains drivers used to speak the hardware's language, but also offers you a very specific graphical user interface (GUI) to control the computer. An OS can also act as an interface (from the hardware) to the other software. Now that’s hell of a job.

      The time when I bought my HP laptop, apparently HP and Microsoft got into some kind of deal and made it mandatory for HP to run Windows Vista and higher versions. So by default my laptop was shipped with vista, which off course “was” the messenger.Vista, what a cool thing to be running on your laptop, was my initial reaction and most of the people using it for the first time would agree with me. After all if you get some of the features like:  Future Fix Notifications, Windows Explorer’s Details Pane, Windows Explorer’s Folders Pane, Volume Mixer Changes, Task Manager Additions, Windows Explorer’s Breadcrumb Bar, Richer Drags, and Voice Recognition who would not get impressed.  But, remember folks all that glitters is not gold. As rightly said by PC Magazine, "Call it a nice-to-have product rather than a must-have."

      My first enlightenment came when I tried to run a software from previous windows version. Well I must say it was a nightmare. It was then when I realized devil was indeed wearing a Prada. That entire flashy interface, claiming to take user experience to an all together new level was in fact an attempt to conceal the draconian features the new windows software has got. Vista enforces new forms of “Digital Rights Management (DRM)”. DRM is more accurately called Digital Restrictions Management, because it is a technology that Big Media and computer companies try to impose on us all, in order to have control over how our computers are used.Technology security expert Bruce Schneier explains it most concisely: 'Windows Vista includes an array of “features” that you don't want. These features will make your computer less reliable and less secure. They'll make your computer less stable and run slower. They will cause technical support problems. They may even require you to upgrade some of your peripheral hardware and existing software. And these features won't do anything useful. In fact, they're working against you. They're digital rights management (DRM) features built into Vista at the behest of the entertainment industry—And you don't get to refuse them. '

As one of the blog explains:

DRM gives power to Microsoft and Big Media.

• They decide which programs you can and can't use on your computer
• They decide which features of your computer or software you can use at any given moment
• They force you to install new programs even when you don't want to (and, of course, pay for the privilege)
• They restrict your access to certain programs and even to your own data files

      DRM is enforced by technological barriers. You try to do something, and your computer tells you that you can't. To make this effective, your computer has to be constantly monitoring what you are doing. This constant monitoring uses computing power and memory, and is a large part of the reason why Microsoft is telling you that you have to buy new and more powerful hardware in order to run Vista. They want you to buy new hardware not because you need it, but because your computer needs it in order to be more effective at restricting what you do.

      Microsoft and other computer companies sometimes refer to these restrictions as “Trusted Computing.” Given that they are designed to make it so that your computer stops trusting you and starts trusting Microsoft, these restrictions are more appropriately called “Treacherous Computing”.

Even when you legally buy Vista, you don't own it.

      Windows Vista, like previous versions of Windows, is proprietary software: leased to you under a license that severely restricts how you can use it, and without source code, so nobody but Microsoft can change it or even verify what it really does.

Microsoft says it best:

      The software is licensed, not sold. This agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights. Unless applicable law gives you more rights despite this limitation, you may use the software only as expressly permitted in this agreement. In doing so, you must comply with any technical limitations in the software that only allow you to use it in certain ways.

      To make it even more confusing, different versions of Vista have different licensing restrictions. You can read all of the licenses at this link.It's painful to read the licenses, and this is often why people don't object to them. But if we don't start objecting, we will lose valuable freedoms. Here are some of the ridiculous restrictions you will find in your reading:

• If your copy of Vista came with the purchase of a new computer, that copy of Vista may only be legally used on that machine, forever.
• If you bought Vista in a retail store and installed it on a machine you already owned, you have to completely delete it on that machine before you can install it on another machine.
• You give Microsoft the right, through programs like Windows Defender, to delete programs from your system that it decides are spyware.
• You consent to being spied upon by Microsoft, through the “Windows Genuine Advantage” system. This system tries to identify instances of copying that Microsoft thinks are illegitimate. Unfortunately, a recent study indicated that this system has already screwed up in over 500,000 cases.

     And off course how one can forget of laptop battery life. I almost lost my love to this problem. The new features of Vista can drain the battery much more rapidly than Windows XP, reducing battery life. Well actually there’s a solution to this problem. With the Windows Aero visual effects turned off, battery life is equal to or better than Windows XP systems. Apart from the battery life problem there’s this explorer of vista getting constantly crashed. Every time you try to login this dreaded message box reading “Explorer has stopped working, searching for a solution…” is displayed. To solve your explorer related problem you can click in here.

    With all these plethora of problems plaguing us, tell me how in the world one is expected to continue having a cordial relation with ones laptop? There off course are many sources for solving above mentioned problems but I rather choose to give up vista and upgrade to windows 7. Communication lines have been restored between me and my machine. And to this date they have been working just fine. The vista episode really proved that “Devil wears the Prada!”  

Heating Episode

            When I first laid my eyes onto those curves, something in me hinted that this one is the one for me. It was like one of those moments when you feel just right in your heart. Hence without much of ado I decided to commit myself to that special one. So this is how without any inquiry and research, just because I felt good about it, I decided to go with my decision. And the first baby step towards a long journey was taken.

            Initially in spite of my curiosity I didn’t take much of an interest in the new entry in my life. It was although we were in each other’s seeing but the time was not right. Call it a destiny or something else, I took admission to PG Diploma in Bio informatics and it was at this point when we two really started, in real sense, hanging out together. As the time went by we both got to know each other and slowly but steadily a relationship started building up and before I could understand anything I was in love with my laptop! Yes you read it right. No you are not dreaming. It’s true my first love and stable relationship was with HP pavilion dv5 series Entertainment Notebook PC. HP dv5-1002AU model to be more subtle. To brag about my notebook PC, here’s the configuration I brought it in:

Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic 64-bit

Processor: AMD Turion™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor RM-70, 2.0 GHz

Internal drives: 250GB

Hard disk drive speed: 5400 rpm

Display size: 15.4″ WXGA High Definition Bright View Wide screen

Display resolution: 1280 x 800

Graphic subsystem name: ATI Radeon™ HD 3200 Graphics 
Network interface: Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabyte Ethernet LAN.

Modem: High speed 56K modem.

Wireless technologies:  802.11b/g WLAN

            Now everything was going great in our little love paradise when the first problem hit the shores of our love island. It happened this way. One day as usual I was busy downloading some stuff (guys know what it is……..) and suddenly out of nowhere my laptop shuts down. My heart is in my mouth counting my teeth. What in the name of sweet lord happened to it, not to mention fate of my download in the dark? My initial reaction was that I lost my laptop. After some time somehow I gathered all my wits and restarted the system. It rebooted normally. Heart back to its biological position but now brain in action. ‘What happened?’ was the first question that came to my mind. So I decided to do some soul searching and went onto Google (of course Google is the place where most of the people of my generation these days do all sorts of searching).

After a bit of searching, thanks to Larry Page’s algorithm running at the back-end, I triangulated on the real problem my laptop faced. In technical jargon it is known as ‘Overheating of laptop’. And this brings us to the discussion of one of the many problems we gonna discuss on this blog relating to laptop.

            An overheating laptop can have far-reaching negative effects on the hardware. In many laptop configurations, two of the hottest components---the processor and the hard drive---sit next to one another. Heat can cause a cascading effect that shortens the life of both components. Additionally, overheating can permanently reduce the capacity of the lithium-ion batteries that power most laptops.

Here are some of the common reasons why laptops heat up:

1.   Clogged laptop vents: Your laptop’s cooling system is clogged with dirt and dust.

2.   Room Temperature: If your laptop's vent is clear of any obstruction, but you still feel your laptop heating up, the problem may be caused by the temperature of the room where you are working. Hot room temperature contributes to the heating up of your laptop.

3.   Improper Placement of Laptop: You are using your laptop in a way that is preventing the cooling system from working properly.

4.   Malfunctioning laptop internal fan

5.   Over performing laptops: Multiple heavy processes running simultaneously can also lead to heating problem.

            6.   Processor heat sink's being dislodged (generally from dropping the computer)

How to prevent or solve these problems:

            1.   Clean laptop vents: An aerosol air duster (available from all good PC Stores) or a vacuum cleaner with a crevice tool.

            2.   Work in a Cooler Room:

            3.   Check Your Laptop's Internal Fan

            4.   Adjust Power Settings: Adjust the laptop's power settings to a level that won't   overpower your laptop's capabilities. Laptops today have the option for various usage settings. Study the best settings for your laptop, specifically those that could lessen the heat generated by your laptop.

            5.   Laptop Cooling Pad: These cooling pads are available in any computer store. Although using them may not make a big difference but they can reduce your problem up to a certain level.

            Consider adding a heat-monitoring program on your laptop. SpeedFan is probably the most popular: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php.

             As the saying goes- “A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” It was only when  problem struck in our lovely relationship that I started taking more interest in my laptop. I hope this blog helps first time laptop users to come around their problems. This is the first post in the series of problem- discussion and solving. Next in the series is Vista episode. So coming soon…