7 Tips For Buying Cheap Laptop

Laptops are gaining in popularity these days. Almost everyone is carrying one now either for work or entertainment. Laptops with the latest technology are introduced to the market everyday and these new laptops come with a huge price tag. However, that does not mean you cannot get a good and cheap laptop. I have put together a guide that may help you out in your hunt for a cheap and good laptop.

Buy cheap laptop with older technology
Rapid advance in technology makes it meaningless to buy the latest technology at a high price. When laptop with wireless capability first came to the market, a unit with this technology can cost up till US$2500. NOw after 2 years, you can get a relatively fast centrino laptop for less than US$1000

Buy used or refurbished laptop
The depreciation of a laptop value is so high, that after one year in the market, a laptop can easily lose half its value. So if you are looking for a cheap laptop, look for one which is close to one year old. Not all used laptop are in bad condition. You will be surprised to find that some used laptops are still in good condition because their owners are power users or gamers.

Buy laptop from power users or gamers
I like to buy electronic gadgets including laptops from hard core power users or gamers. Let me share with you why. Gamers or power users usually require the latest and most powerful technology to run their games or power hungry applications. They often will not settle for second best. They also have the tendency to chase after the latest technology. So after one year, they will be bored of what they have and will look to sell off their laptops so that they can buy a new one. Now if you are looking to buy cheap laptops with up to date technology and you happen to have friends who are gamers, do ask them if they are looking to sell off their laptops. Who knows, maybe you can buy a good and cheap laptop from them.

Scan through gaming forums and local gaming community
if you do not already have friends who like to play computer games, then scanning through gaming forums on the internet is another way to get good and cheap deals for used laptop. Internet makes it easy for you to do this. Go to google.com and start searching for gaming forums. Visit each and everyone and see if they have a Trading Section. You will definitely find many post from gamers looking to sell their gaming laptops.

Scan through local bulletin boards
Do scan through local bulletin boards near you for cheap deals on laptop.Especially if there are software companies around the area. Software companies do offer their used computers or laptops for sale when their software projects end. I personally had gotten a few good deals for my family and friends.

Look for cheap laptop with at least 512mb memory
This is especially important for used laptop. If the processor speed is slow, then having more memory can compensate for the lack in speed. In fact, The size of memory plays a big part in determining how fast a laptop runs an application. Just by increasing the memory size, you can see a huge difference in speed. A cheap laptop with at least 512mb memory can run most non graphic intensive application easily.

Get cheap laptop from reputable manufacturer
This is very important because if you are buying used laptop, then the chances of requiring servicing is higher than a new laptop. So if you buy from a reputable manufacturer, you will save alot of trouble and time if your laptop do require servicing.

A Safer Way to Recover Damaged Partitions

Repairing damaged partitions on is a risky business. Even if you use the best toolkit and are absolutely sure in what you are doing, you are still risking your files shall something go wrong. Changes made to the damaged partition are irreversible; it is just too easy to overwrite an important system structure that holds vital information about your disk, files and data. Bottom line: it's good to backup before performing data recovery. But is this really the best way to do it?

There is a different approach to do data recovery that is even safer. No need to backup and restore during the recovery. Instead of making a backup copy of corrupted data, you can simply take a binary snapshot of the partition being repaired, and attempt the recovery with different settings as many times as you need on this snapshot instead of the actual disk.

SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor by http://softambulance.com/ is one of a few data recovery tools that allow recovering a virtual image of a damaged hard drive instead of repairing the hard drive directly. The data recovery tool lets you create a binary image of the damaged hard drive, and works with the binary image instead of the real thing. The binary image is a big file stored on another hard disk, CD, DVD or other media. The technology is similar to making an .iso image of a CD or DVD disc, only SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor extends it to partitions or even entire disks.

The hard drive copy may be virtual, but any data you save from it is for real. SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor can recover your files, documents and other data from the binary image and put it on a healthy media. After that, you can attempt fixing the damaged system structures of the corrupted hard drivewithout taking any risk at all. Any modifications will be performed on the virtual image.

Don't rush the recovery. Don't take the risk of losing or corrupting your data. Create a virtual snapshot of the hard drive being repaired, and work on that snapshot instead of accessing the corrupted hard drive. This procedure keeps your original data safe, and ensures the highest level of safety during the recovery process.

SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor recovers files from damaged and corrupted disks and partitions and fixes damaged hard drives. The disk recovery product supports all 32-bit versions of Windows, and recovers FAT and NTFS formatted hard disks, memory cards, CD and DVD media, and USB flash drives. The evaluation version is available for free at http://softambulance.com/

10 Tweaks that will make your Windows Vista fly

1. Speed Up Windows Vista Start Menu Search
As you execute a search you will be using the search box located in the start panel. Then Vista will start searching the file index without any prompting. Keep in mind that the file index will be very big due to the fact that it has all files included on your hard drive. If you are looking to speed up your searching methods then you can try this. Go to your Start Menu and narrow down the scope of the search. In other words try to narrow down what you are looking for. Instead of a general term use something more specific. There are two ways in which you can do this.

The first way is called the Registry hack and for that this is what you have to do.

1. Step one: Open up the registry editor using the word regedit.
2. Step Two: Guide to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer and then choose the Advanced key.
3. Step Three: Locate and then right click on the Start_Search Files and then select the Modify key.
4. Step Four: You now have to change the Value to Zero.
5. Step Five: Then restart your Explorer.exe or you can simply just reboot the computer.

If this method does not work for you then you can try this:

1. Step One: Using your mouse right click on the Start button and then choose the Properties key.
2. Step Two: then click on the button that says Customize.
3. Step Three: Then see all of the checked items, uncheck the Search Communications.
4. Step Four: Then reset the search files to the setting Don’t Search for files.
5. Step Five: Click the Ok button.

2. Increase your SATA Disk Drive Performance
If you are looking to increase your SATA Disk Drive Performance you can definitely do so. What your first step is in doing so is setting up your write caching. But keep in mind as you do that there is a risk of data loss and corruption in the event of a power loss. This loss is only significant in a personal computer, the risk is a lot less in a lap top because, it runs on batteries.

To increase the SATA Disk Drive performance you can follow these simple steps:

1. Step One: Start by clicking on the Start Button and then enter the Device Manager and then hit the enter key.
2. Step Two: Expand the Disk Drives so they are not carrying too much information which will slow them down.
3. Step Three: Then right clock on the hard disk drive and then choose the Properties key.
4. Step Four: Then where it says Policies, you want to have checked off the Enabled Advanced Performance key.
5. Step Five: The click the Ok button and then close the device manager and you are all set.

3. Speed Up your Windows Vista Aero
The way Windows Vista is set up is really just for show. But because it is a new systems it can decrease the speed of your system. There are really only two ways to increase the speed of the Aero interface that is on your Vista system.

The first way is to Disable the Transparent Glass Effect:

1. Step One: Click on the Desktop icon on your screen and then choose Personalize.
2. Step Two: Choose the Windows Color and Appearance of your choice.
3. Step Three: Make sure you remove the check from the enable Transparency key.

The second way to speed up the Aero is to remove the Windows Minimum and Maximize the Animation key. You can do this by:

1. Step One: Start by clicking the Start Menu and then enter the System Properties Performance and then hit the enter key.
2. Step Two: When you see the Visual Effects section, remove the check mark from the Animate Windows When Minimizing and Maximizing.
3. Step three: Click Ok.

4. Windows Powered Smart Display
What is the Windows Powered Smart Display ?
What this is, is part of the Windows XP Professional Desktop. It is used in conjunction with the Remote Desktop Connection which is used through a wireless LAN link. This link is then used to get into your XP desktop from anywhere in the wireless range. So in other words, it is a remote wireless connection that your computer can use as along as the computer sits in the range of the wireless access.

Here are some other features that the Smart Display has:
The Smart Display has some great features, there is an on the screen keyboard which actually uses handwriting recognition software. It will allow you to use a USB mouse and keyboard if you are not used to the onscreen device yet . It can be used with a docking station and a mouse and keyboard. It is like using a small desktop computer from anywhere in the house or office. You have to keep in mind that the Smart Display itself does not have any file storage at all but the information that you use on the Smart Display will actually be stored on your desktop.

5. User Access Control
The User Access Control, this does not have to be used and can be turned off by simply clicking the Start button and then click the new Tools Menu and then scroll down and then when you see the access control key click it off. Then reboot your system.

6. Run as Administrator
You have to check because there is some software that you will not be able to install, even though you are logged in as an Admin. Simply right click in the mouse in the setup file and simply choose the Run as Administrator.

7. Added Wi-Fi Security
Added Wi-Fi Security, When you are looking for more security, go into the Network and Sharing menu and then click on Customize and choose the Public key . This will tighten up your Wi-Fi security when you are on public Wi-Fi.

8. Add Copy as Path
Simply hitting the shift key and then right click on a folder or you can choose any icon adds Copy as path and Open as command window here, you can edit them to the Windows Defender. Open up the Windows Defender and then click on the Tools key and then click on the Software Explorer and then take off the
programs that you don’t want to run.

9. Keyboard short cut secret
Using a left to right format give the icons on your Quick Launch bar a number, this way you can launch the icons in order of preference.

10. Free Up More Space on your computer
In order to do this you can use the Windows Disk Cleanup . This will get rid of files that you don’t use, it will also get rid of memory and other operating system that contain files of unwanted material. By getting rid of the junk you can free up a lot of space for the important things you need.

Increase Broadband Speed using a Simple Tweak

Note:
Make sure you Logon as Administrator, not as user with administrative privileges.

1. Go to START button.
2. Choose RUN from the Start Menu.
3. Type GPEDIT.MSC
4. Expand the [ADMINISTRATIVE TEMPLATES] branch.
5. Expand the [NETWORK[ branch.
6. Highlight (select by single click) [QOS PACKET SHEDULER].
7. Double-Click [LIMIT REVERVABLE BANDWIDTH] (Available at the right side panel).
8. Check (select by single click on it) ENABLED.
9. Cahnge[BANDWIDTH LIMIT %] to 0%.
10. Click [OK] button.
11. RESTART your computer
12. Check the Seed.

Fast Browsing and Buffer for Audio and Video Streaming

FOR FAST PAGE LOADING:

download the file and follow these steps:

Save the file (Filename.reg) to your desktop, double-click the file, the affected registry key will be exported for you, and the registry file will be merged.

Usually your computer must be restarted for these to take effect. However you’ll already see the changes by just refreshing your browser.

Download 

What does this file contain?

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Tcpip\ServiceProvider]
"Class"=dword:00000008
"DnsPriority"=dword:00000003
"HostsPriority"=dword:00000002
"LocalPriority"=dword:00000001
"NetbtPriority"=dword:00000004
What does this do?
This tweak reduces the time for name resolution.

DISABLE DNS CACHEING

What does this do?
This registry file disables the caching of DNS lookups.
Windows caches failed and successful lookups so this disables them.
By caching failed lookups, it slows the connection down.
This disables that.
 
Download 

What does this file contain?

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Dnscache\Parameters]
"NegativeCacheTime"=dword:00000000
"NetFailureCacheTime"=dword:00000000
"NegativeSOACacheTime"=dword:00000000 

FAST STREAMING TWEAK

What does this do?
This registry patch increases the AFD buffer from 512 to 1024. Increasing this value increases the number of messages sent before flow control is imposed. This increases throughput.

Download

What does this file contain?

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\AFD\Parameters]
"BufferMultiplier"=dword:00000400

IMPORTANT:

Its more comptible to Win 2000 and Win XP. Its also Compatible for any tunneling app and whatever ISP.
However for Vista and Windows 7 users some says it worked but i guess it's better if you try it yourself and leave your comments if it really worked on your behalf..

=NOTE=
For those who are afraid or in doubt of editing or running registry file please don't try it. It's for your good..

A little bit of fun on your browsers...

Copy and paste these code in your address bar.. and see what happen...

javascript:R=0; x1=.1; y1=.05; x2=.25; y2=.24; x3=1.6; y3=.24; x4=300; y4=200; x5=300; y5=200; DI=document.getElementsByTagName("img"); DIL=DI.length; function A(){for(i=0; i-DIL; i++){DIS=DI[ i ].style; DIS.position='absolute'; DIS.left=(Math.sin(R*x1+i*x2+x3)*x4+x5)+"px"; DIS.top=(Math.cos(R*y1+i*y2+y3)*y4+y5)+"px"}R++}setInterval('A()',50); void(0);


Enjoy!!!

How to make you Firefox browser run faster?

1. first in the URL bar, Type “about:config”.

It will bring up a list of commands and variables you can edit.

2. The second step is to put “network.http.pipelining” in the filter and change the value to “true”.

3. After that you will want to put “network.http.proxy.pipelining” in the filter.
Like the last one, make that value set to “true” also.

4. Next, locate “network.http.pipelining.maxrequests” and change the value to some number higher, say 10,20 or even 30, it would make up to 10,20 or 30 requests at once.

5. The last step is to right click anywhere and select “New” then “Integer”. Name it “nglayout.initialpaint.delay” and make its value “0?. This will make the browser respond faster on the information of the websites it receives.

6. Close out FireFox  and restart it