Longmont Computer Physicians Logo

Longmont Computer Physicians Learning Series – Windows 10 apps

As part of our series of helping customers with their small business needs Longmont Computer Physicians, LLC is offering these free classes on how to use and install Apps in Windows 10.

Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft decided that it wanted to have a common interface for the version of Windows running on tablets and the version running on desktop PCs. Unfortunately for them, this idea didn’t work out too well. Windows 8 was kind of a flop, and didn’t last too long. Even though Windows 10 is a huge improvement over Windows 8, Microsoft still tried to sneak in some of that tablet interface aspect into Windows 10, but this time it works, for the most part. Apps vs. Programs Even though most of us are used to running programs like Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop, that doesn’t mean that they are the only types of software we can run. Windows 10 comes with apps that are preinstalled on your computer and also allows you to install more apps for things like games, photo editing programs, and so on. There is a difference between a program and an app, even though they may function in a similar way. A Program (also called Desktop App) is a traditional Windows software package that you install on your computer, and it can be from any number of software manufacturers. Programs will have a specific type of interface designed to be used with a mouse and keyboard and will only run on PCs, not smartphones or tablets. Windows Apps on the other hand look and feel more like an app you would use on your smartphone or tablet, and run on all types of devices.

Windows 10 comes with a bunch of apps preinstalled, and you can find these apps on the start menu. They will be listed alongside your desktop apps. Some examples of common default Windows 10 apps include Facebook, Calendar, News, Mail, Maps, and Paint 3D. Microsoft Store Apps If you have a smartphone, you have most likely used the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Android) to get more apps for your phone or tablet. Windows 10 comes with the Microsoft Store that lets you search and download new apps that can be used on your computer. There are many free applications to choose from as well as more advanced apps that you can purchase. To get to the Microsoft Store simply find it on your Start Menu, or do a search for it using Cortana. After you find and open the app, you will see a window similar to figure 5.3. As you can see, the Microsoft Store is categorized by types of apps on the top and then has a search function underneath that.

Once you find an app you want to try out, simply click on the Get button to have Windows download and install the app for you. If you scroll down past the Get button you will see the system requirements for the app as well as additional information such as the developer name, release date, and size of the app itself. Just like with your smartphone, there are many apps that you can download and try out for free and many that you can purchase, but just remember that when you install these apps on your computer they will take up disk space, just like regular programs will. Uninstalling Apps If you are the type that likes to try new things, then there is a chance you might go overboard at the Microsoft Store and download one too many apps while checking things out. If this is the case there is no need to worry, because it’s easy to uninstall these apps once you have installed them.

Longmont Computer Physicians, LLC can help you with any computer problem you may have. Please call us to set up an appointment. In Longmont, Boulder, Denver Colorado

How to Create and Use Tables with Excel in Microsoft 365 and Office 365

As part of our series of helping customers with their small business needs Longmont Computer Physicians, LLC is offering these free classes on how to use different software programs. Here is our instructional video on using Microsoft Excel spreadsheets. 

Microsoft 365 Beginner class – Excel
Microsoft 365 Intermediate class – Excel
Microsoft 365 Advanced class – Excel

Excel can store information in tables. An Excel table is information saved in a table format and explicitly defined as a table in Excel. When you store information in a table format, you place the different types of information to collect in columns, called “fields” in database terminology. Each “field” contains a separate type of information. Examples could be: “First Name,” “Last Name,” “Title,” “Address,” “City,” “State,” and so on. Each row in the table is called a “record.” A record is a single entry in which you record each type of field information about a single instance of the subject of your table. For example, within a “Customers” table that contains the fields in the previous example, a record in that table might contain the information: “John,” “Doe,” “Mr.,” “111 Nowhere Ln.,” “Anytown,” “MI.” When entering data into a table, avoid creating entirely blank columns or rows! Having entirely blank columns and rows in a table can often lead to problems with sorting and filtering table data. Before you create a table in Excel, consider the information you must collect. Sometimes, it is easier to think of the fields to create after thinking of the subject of the table, first. For example, to create a table to record customer data, you must think about what information you want to collect about your customers.

The types of information you decide to track become the “fields,” or columns, in your table. For the purpose of the example, assume you decided to record your customer’s name, address, city, state, and zip code. When thinking of the table’s field structure, you need to consider how detailed to be with the customer’s information. Poor decisions in the planning phase can be problematic later. For example, do you want to record the customer’s name in one field or more than one field? If you ever want to sort the database by the last name of the customer, you will probably want to store the customer’s name in at least two fields: “firstname” and “lastname.” Noting little things like this during the creation process can save time in editing the table structure later on, after it becomes a problem. After deciding what information to record in which field, enter the titles of these fields as the top row of the table.

The top row in a table is a special row and is often called the “header row.” It is always the top row in a table and it displays the names of the fields for which you are collecting data. After creating the header row, you can then define it as a “table” in Excel to enable the table management features. To do this, select the cells within the header row. Then click the “Table” button in the “Tables” button group on the “Insert” tab of the Ribbon. In the “Create Table” dialog box that appears, the reference to the selected cells appears in the “Where is the data for your table:” field. Check the “My table has headers” checkbox and then click the “OK” button. Doing this then creates the table area within the worksheet and adds a new row into which you can enter your first table record.

Another way to create a table in Excel is to create the header row of your table and then enter as many records as you want to initially record. Then click and drag over the entire table, including the header row and all the table’s records, to select it. After selecting it, click the “Format as Table” button in the “Styles” button group on the “Home” tab of the Ribbon. Then select the table style to apply from the dropdown menu that appears. At this point, the “Format As Table” dialog box then appears. The range of selected cells also appears in the “Where is the data for your table?” field. If your table has a header row at the top of the table, be sure to check the “My table has headers” checkbox. Then click the “OK” button to apply the selected style, and also define the range of cells as a table. Note that each field within the header row of a table has a drop-down button in it. These are “AutoFilters,” which you use to filter data in the table. We will look at using those in a later lesson. Also notice that the table has a different formatting than the rest of the worksheet area in Excel.

New versions of Song Director released in 2018

There have been some new versions of Song Director released in 2018.

To know which version you are using go the pull down help menu and choose “about”

To get the latest version, simply download Song Director again from the website and install it into the same location as before, just like the first time.  The setup program will not overwrite any of your existing data.   Here are the changes:

(more…)

Computer Repair Windows update in Longmont, Boulder, CO

Our Longmont Computer Physicians, LLC office computer had an interesting issue recently I thought I would share:

After an automatic installing of windows 10 update for Valentine’s Day Feb 14, 2018 (KB4074588) my USB keyboard on my desktop computer would no longer work. I tried 3 different USB keyboards  – none worked.  So I went into device manager to uninstall, reinstall, and update the keyboard drivers.  That did not work. So then I uninstalled the windows update.  This fixed the problem, but the update would try to install again the next time I reboot.   So I set the windows update to never install hardware drivers during the update in (system properties) I would need to choose what driver update I want manually from now on.

Computer Physicians provides PC computer networking, repair, Data Recovery, training and virus removal  in Longmont, Boulder, Denver, Erie Colorado and the Colorado Front Range

Boulder/Longmont Computer Repair – PC with no hard drive used

Longmont Colorado PC Computer not using it’s hard drive:

Computer Physicians, LLC  just worked on a unusual situation on a Zotac mini PC computer in Longmont, CO that had a boot windows drive that was filled up.  I thought this would be good to share with my readers:

This very small Zotac mini PC computer running Windows 10 home with 4GB of RAM was booting to a 64GB memory chip located on the motherboard and was not using the 300GB internal SATA hard drive.  As a result since the Windows OS was on a small 64GB memory chip it quickly got filled to capacity.  I backed up the customer’s data to an external hard drive.   The internal hard drive was not being used except for the storing of a few small files.   I could not clone the 64GB memory chip but was able to transfer the OS using special disk software.  I then needed to go into the BIOS and set the boot drive to the internal drive.  The computer is running  slower now since it is not using the small 64GB memory chip for windows and the CPU and computer itself is an inexpensive under-powered computer which was designed to run on the 64GB memory chip. The problem with this design is that the 64GB memory chip quickly gets filled to capacity.  (Windows 10 uses a lot of hard drive memory most systems have 1000GB or more)

I do not like this design and would not recommend this Zotac computer to a client.

The computer will run faster if the original drive is replaced with a solid state drive and if the OS can be transferred and if more RAM memory is installed.

These are some of the situations that Computer Physicians, LLC runs into.

-Steve

Longmont’s Computer Physicians Computer Service and Repair in Longmont Colorado

Computer Physicians, LLC is a computer service company in Longmont, CO in business since 1999.

Longmont Computer Repair Data Recovery in Boulder Erie Denver Colorado Networking PC services help virus removal training

We provide computer repair and other services onsite at your location for same day service or in our workshop for the lowest cost in the area.

We also provide: Computer training, tutoring, help, upgrades, computer systems, rentals, sales, troubleshooting, performance improvement, cyber security, virus removal, networking, website development and hosting, internet setup, router and switch install and we can use our 1gbps upload and download internet service connection at our office for any fast internet needs you have.  We are experts at Data Recovery of lost data and PC system crash recovery. We also develop, program and create Song Director and NameBase database software.

Computer Physicians services the entire Colorado front range. Our main technician and president is CompTia A+, MCP, MTA Microsoft certified professional with many college degrees in computers.

Call us today for any of your computer needs.

Trends in PC technology – Computer Physicians Longmont/Boulder/Erie, CO

 https://www.computer-physicians.com/
Computer repair data recovery networking virus removal in Longmont/Boulder/Denver Colorado

 Here is a good article which talks about the changes in PC technology and the trends.

Past, Present and Future Trends in the Use
of Computers in Fisheries Research By
Bernard A. Megrey and Erlend Moksness
1.2 Hardware Advances
It is difficult not to marvel at how quickly computer technology advances. The
current typical desktop or laptop computer, compared to the original mono-
chrome 8 KB random access memory (RAM), 4 MHz 8088 microcomputer or
the original Apple II, has improved several orders of magnitude in many areas.
The most notable of these hardware advances are processing capability,
color graphics resolution and display technology, hard disk storage, and the
amount of RAM. The most remarkable thing is that since 1982, the cost of a
high-end microcomputer system has remained in the neighborhood of $US
3,000. This statement was true in 1982, at the printing of the last edition of
this book in 1996, and it holds true today.
1.2.1 CPUs and RAM
While we can recognize that computer technology changes quickly, this state-
ment does not seem to adequately describe what sometimes seems to be the
breakneck pace of improvements in the heart of any electronic computing
engine, the central processing unit (CPU). The transistor, invented at Bell
Labs in 1947, is the fundamental electronic component of the CPU chip. Higher
performance CPUs require more logic circuitry, and this is reflected in steadily
rising transistor densities. Simply put, the number of transistors in a CPU is a
rough measure of its computational power which is usually measured in floating
point mathematical operations per second (FLOPS). The more transistors there
are in the CPU, or silicon engine, the more work it can do.
Trends in transistor density over time, reveal that density typically doubles
approximately every year and a half according to a well know axiom known as
Moore’s Law. This proposition, suggested by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore
(Moore 1965), was part observation and part marketing prophesy. In 1965
Moore, then director of R&D at Fairchild Semiconductor, the first large-scale
producer of commercial integrated circuits, wrote an internal paper in which he
drew a line though five points representing the number of components per
integrated circuit for minimum cost for the components developed between
1959 and 1964
The prediction arising
from this observation became a self-fulfilling prophecy that emerged as one of
the driving principals of the semiconductor industry. As it related to computer
CPUs (one type of integrated circuit), Moore’s Law states that the number of
transistors packed into a CPU doubles every 18–24 months.
Figure 1.1 supports this claim. In 1979, the 8088 CPU had 29,000 transistors.
In 1997, the Pentium II had 7.5 million transistors, in 2000 the Pentium 4 had
420 million, and the trend continues so that in 2007, the Dual-Core Itanium 2
processor has 1.7 billion transistors. In addition to transistor density, data
1 Past, Present and Future Trends in the Use of Computers
) of CPU
performance. Note y-axis is on the log scale (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teraflop,
accessed 12 January 2008)
1 Past, Present and Future Trends in the Use of Computers
5
Manufacturing technology appears to be reaching its limits in terms of how
dense silicon chips can be manufactured – in other words, how many transistors
can fit onto CPU chips and how fast their internal clocks can be run. As stated
recently in the BBC News, ‘‘The industry now believes that we are approaching
the limits of what classical technology – cla
ssical being as refined over the last 40
years – can do.’’ There is a problem with making microprocessor
circuitry smaller. Power leaks, the unwan
ted leakage of electricity or electrons
between circuits packed ever closer toget
her, take place. Overheating becomes a
problem as processor architecture gets ever smaller and clock speeds increase.
Traditional processors have one processing engine on a chip. One method
used to increase performance through higher transistor densities, without
increasing clock speed, is to put more than one CPU on a chip and to allow
them to independently operate on different tasks (called threads). These
advanced chips are called multiple-core processors. A dual-core processor
squeezes two CPU engines onto a single chip. Quad-core processors have four
engines. Multiple-core chips are all 64-bit meaning that they can work through
64 bits of data per instruction. That is twice rate of the current standard 32-bit
processor. A dual-core processor theoretically doubles your computing power
since a dual-core processor can handle two threads of data simultaneously. The
result is there is less waiting for tasks to complete. A quad-core chip can handle
four threads of data.
Progress marches on. Intel announced in February 2007 that it had a
prototype CPU that contains 80 processor cores and is capable of 1 teraflop
(10
12
floating point operations per second) of processing capacity. The potential
uses of a desktop fingernail-sized 80-core chip with supercomputer-like perfor-
mance will open unimaginable opportunities (Source: http://www.intel.com/
pressroom/archive/releases/20070204comp.htm, accessed 12 January 2008).
As if multiple core CPUs were not powerful enough, new products being
developed will feature ‘‘dynamically scalable’’ architecture, meaning that vir-
tually every part of the processor – including cores, cache, threads, interfaces,
and power – can be dynamically allocated based on performance, power and
thermal requirements.
Supercomputers may
soon be the same size as a laptop if IBM brings to the market silicon nanopho-
tonics. In this new technology, wires on a chip are replaced with pulses of light
on tiny optical fibers for quicker and more power-efficient data transfers
between processor cores on a chip. This new technology is about 100 times
faster, consumes one-tenth as much power, and generates less heat (
Multi-core processors pack a lot of power. There is just one problem: most
software programs are lagging behind hardware improvements. To get the most
out of a 64-bit processor, you need an operating system and application
programs that support it. Unfortunately, as of the time of this writing, most
software applications and operating systems are not written to take advantage
of the power made available with multiple cores. Slowly this will change.
Currently there are 64-bit versions of Linux, Solaris, and Windows XP, and
Vista. However, 64-bit versions of most device drivers are not available, so for
today’s uses, a 64-bit operating system can become frustrating due to a lack of
available drivers.
Another current developing trend is building high performance computing
environments using computer clusters, which are groups of loosely coupled
computers, typically connected together through fast local area networks.
A cluster works together so that multiple processors can be used as though
they are a single computer. Clusters are usually deployed to improve perfor-
mance over that provided by a single computer, while typically being much less
expensive than single computers of comparable speed or availability.
Beowulf is a design for high-performance parallel computing clusters using
inexpensive personal computer hardware. It was originally developed by
NASA’s Thomas Sterling and Donald Becker. The name comes from the
main character in the Old English epic poem Beowulf.
A Beowulf cluster of workstations is a group of usually identical PC com-
puters, configured into a multi-computer architecture, running a Open Source
Unix-like operating system, such as BSD or
Solaris They are joined into a small network and have libraries and
programs installed that allow processing to be shared among them. The server
node controls the whole cluster and serves files to the client nodes. It is also the
cluster’s console and gateway to the outside world. Large Beowulf machines
might have more than one server node, and possibly other nodes dedicated to
particular tasks, for example consoles or monitoring stations. Nodes are con-
figured and controlled by the server node, and do only what they are told to do
in a disk-less client configuration.
There is no particular piece of software that defines a cluster as a Beowulf.
Commonly used parallel processing libraries include Message Passing Interface;
(Both of these permit the programmer to divide a task among a group of
networked computers, and recollect the results of processing. Software must
be revised to take advantage of the cluster. Specifically, it must be capable of
performing multiple independent parallel operations that can be distributed
among the available processors. Microsoft also distributes a Windows Compute
Cluster Server 2003 (Source: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/ccs/
default.aspx, accessed 12 January 2008) to facilitate building a high-performance
computing resource based on Microsoft’s Windows platforms.
One of the main differences between Beowulf and a cluster of workstations is
that Beowulf behaves more like a single machine rather than many worksta-
tions.
Past, Present and Future Trends in the Use of Computers
CPU + memory package which can be plugged into the
cluster, just like a CPU or memory module can be plugged into a motherboard.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_(computing), accessed 12 January
2008). Beowulf systems are now deployed worldwide, chiefly in support of
scientific computing and their use in fisheries applications is increasing. Typical
configurations consist of multiple machines built on AMD’s Opteron 64-bit
and/or Athlon X2 64-bit processors.
Memory is the most readily accessible large-volume storage available to the
CPU. We expect that standard RAM configurations will continue to increase as
operating systems and application software become more full-featured and
demanding of RAM. For example, the ‘‘recommended’’ configuration for
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition and Apple’s new Leopard operating
systems is 2 GB of RAM, 1 GB to hold the operating system leaving 1 GB for
data and application code. In the previous edition, we predicted that in 3–5
years (1999–2001) 64–256 megabytes (MB) of Dynamic RAM will be available
and machines with 64 MB of RAM will be typical. This prediction was incred-
ibly inaccurate. Over the years, advances in semiconductor fabrication technol-
ogy have made gigabyte memory configurations not only a reality, but
commonplace.
Not all RAM performs equally. Newer types, called double data rate RAM
(DDR) decrease the time in takes for the CPU to communicate with memory,
thus speeding up computer execution. DDR comes in several flavors. DDR has
been around since 2000 and is sometimes called DDR1. DDR2 was introduced
in 2003. It took a while for DDR2 to reach widespread use, but you can find it in
most new computers today. DDR3 began appearing in mid-2007. RAM simply
holds data for the processor. However, there is a cache between the processor
and the RAM: the L2 cache. The processor sends data to this cache. When the
cache overflows, data are sent to the RAM. The RAM sends data back to the L2
cache when the processor needs it. DDR RAM transfers data twice per clock
cycle. The clock rate, measured in cycles per second, or hertz, is the rate at which
operations are performed. DDR clock speeds range between 200 MHz (DDR-
200) and 400 MHz (DDR-400). DDR-200 transfers 1,600 megabits per second
(Mb s) while DDR-400 transfers 3,200 MB s

DDR2 RAM is
twice as fast as DDR RAM. The bus carrying data to DDR2 memory is twice as
fast. That means twice as much data are carried to the module for each clock
cycle. DDR2 RAM also consumes less power than DDR RAM. DDR2 speeds
range between 400 MHz (DDR2-400) and 800 MHz (DDR2-800). DDR2-400
transfers 3,200 MB s

1
. DDR2-800 transfers 6,400 MB s

1
.DDR3RAM
is twice as fast as DDR2 RAM, at least in theory. DDR3 RAM is more power-
efficient than DDR2 RAM. DDR3 speeds range between 800 MHz (DDR3-800)
and 1,600 MHz (DDR3-1600). DDR3-800 transfers 6,400 MB s

1
;DDR3-1600
transfers 12,800 MB s

1
.
As processors increased in performance, the addressable memory space also
increased as the chips evolved from 8-bit to 64-bit. Bytes of data readily
8
B.A. Megrey and E. Moksness
accessible to the processor are identified by a memory address, which by
convention starts at zero and ranges to the upper limit addressable by the pro-
cessor. A 32-bit processor typically uses memory addresses that are 32 bits wide.
The 32-bit wide address allows the processor to address 2
32
bytes (B) of memory,
which is exactly 4,294,967,296 B, or 4 GB. Desktop machines with a gigabyte of
memory are common, and boxes configured with 4 GB of physical memory are
easily available. While 4 GB may seem like a lot of memory, many scientific
databases have indices that are larger. A 64-bit wide address theoretically allows
18 million terabytes of addressable memory (1.8 10
19
B). Realistically 64-bit
systems will typically access approximately 64 GB of memory in the next 5 years.
1.2.2 Hard Disks and Other Storage Media
Improvements in hard disk storage, since our last edition, have advanced as well.
One of the most amazing things about hard disks is that they both change and
don’t change more than most other components. The basic design of today’s
hard disks is not very different from the original 5¼’’ 10 MB hard disk that was
installed in the first IBM PC/XTs in the early 1980s. However, in terms of
capacity, storage, reliability and other characteristics, hard drives have substan-
tially improved, perhaps more than any other PC component behind the CPU.
Seagate, a major hard drive manufacturer, estimates that drive capacity increases
by roughly 60% per year (Source: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/
0,100,0000085,2067661,00.htm, accessed 12 January 2008).
Some of the trends in various important hard disk characteristics (Source:
http://www.PCGuide.com, accessed 12 January 2008) are described below. The
areal density of data on hard disk platters continues to increase at an amazing
rate even exceeding some of the optimistic predictions of a few years ago.
Densities are now approaching 100 Gbits in

2
, and modern disks are now packing
as much as 75 GB of data onto a single 3.5 in platter (Source: http://www.
fujitsu.com/downloads/MAG/vol42-1/paper08.pdf, accessed 12 January 2008).
Hard disk capacity continues to not only increase, but increase at an accelerat-
ing rate. The rate of technology development, measured in data areal density
growth is about twice that of Moore’s law for semiconductor transistor
density (Source: http://www.tomcoughlin.com/Techpapers/head&medium.pdf,
accessed 12 January 2008).
The trend towards larger and larger capacity drives will continue for both
desktops and laptops. We have progressed from 10 MB in 1981 to well over
10 GB in 2000. Multiple terabyte (1,000 GB) drives are already available. Today
the standard for most off the shelf laptops is around 120–160 GB. There is also a
move to faster and faster spindle speeds. Since increasing the spindle speed
improves both random-access and sequential performance, this is likely to
continue. Once the domain of high-end SCSI drives (Small Computer System
Interface), 7,200 RPM spindles are now standard on mainstream desktop and
1 Past, Present and Future Trends in the Use of Computers
9
notebook hard drives, and a 10,000 and 15,000 RPM models are beginning to
appear. The trend in size or form factor is downward: to smaller and smaller
drives. 5.25 in drives have now all but disappeared from the mainstream PC
market, with 3.5 in drives dominating the desktop and server segment. In the
mobile world, 2.5 in drives are the standard with smaller sizes becoming more
prevalent. IBM in 1999 announced its
Microdrive
which is a tiny 1 GB or device
only an inch in diameter and less than 0.25 in thick. It can hold the equivalent of
700 floppy disks in a package as small as 24.2 mm in diameter. Desktop and
server drives have transitioned to the 2.5 in form factor as well, where they are
used widely in network devices such as storage hubs and routers, blade servers,
small form factor network servers and RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpen-
sive Disks) subsystems. Small 2.5 in form factor (i.e. ‘‘portable’’) high perfor-
mance hard disks, with capacities around 250 GB, and using the USB 2.0
interface are becoming common and easily affordable. The primary reasons
for this ‘‘shrinking trend’’ include the enhanced rigidity of smaller platters.
Reduction in platter mass enables faster spin speeds and improved reliability
due to enhanced ease of manufacturing. Both positioning and transfer perfor-
mance factors are improving. The speed with which data can be pulled from the
disk is increasing more rapidly than positioning performance is improving,
suggesting that over the next few years addressing seek time and latency will
be the areas of greatest attention to hard disk engineers. The reliability of hard
disks is improving slowly as manufacturers refine their processes and add new
reliability-enhancing features, but this characteristic is not changing nearly as
rapidly as the others above. One reason is that the technology is constantly
changing, and the performance envelope is constantly being pushed; it’s much
harder to improve the reliability of a product when it is changing rapidly.
Once the province of high-end servers, the use of multiple disk arrays
(RAIDs) to improve performance and reliability is becoming increasingly
common, and multiple hard disks configured as an array are now frequently
seen in consumer desktop machines. Finally, the interface used to deliver data
from a hard disk has improved as well. Despite the introduction to the PC world
of new interfaces such as IEEE-1394 (FireWire) and USB (universal serial bus)
the mainstream interfaces in the PC world are the same as they were through the
1990s: IDE/ATA/SATA and SCSI. These interfaces are all going through
improvements. A new external SATA interface (eSATA) is capable of transfer
rates of 1.5–3.0 Gbits s

1
. USB transfers data at 480 Mbits s

1
and Firewire is
available in 400 and 800 Mbits s

1
. USB 3.0 has been announced and it will
offer speeds up to 4.8 Gbits s

1
. Firewire will also improve to increases in the
range of 3.2 Gbits s

1
. The interfaces will continue to create new and improved
standards with higher data transfer rates to match the increase in performance
of the hard disks themselves.
In summary, since 1996, faster spindle speeds, smaller form factors, multiple
double-sided platters coated with higher density magnetic coatings, and
improved recording and data interface technologies, have substantially
increased hard disk storage and performance. At the same time, the price per unit of storage has decreased.

Longmont Boulder Computer Repair Data Recovery -Video

Longmont Boulder Computer Repair Data Recovery PC service Virus removal.

https://www.computer-physicians.com/ in Longmont, Boulder, Erie, Denver, Colorado. Onsite at your location – we come to you! Onsite, in-shop or remote help.  Video about Computer Physicians:

 

Longmont Boulder Computer Repair PC service Virus removal, Data Recovery https://www.computer-physicians.com/ in Longmont, Boulder, Erie, Denver, Colorado.  Onsite at your location – we come to you! Onsite, in-shop or remote help.

(more…)

Longmont/Boulder Computer Repair service & sales

Longmont Colorado Computer Repair with Computer Physicians

Computer Physicians provides high quality low cost computer repair, training, help, data recovery  on PC Windows and some Mac apple computers in Boulder Denver and Longmont, CO, and worldwide via the internet.

Here is a good article about computer topics questions and answers

COMPUTER REPAIR Questions and
Answers

Original link to the article is here:
1. What is a computer?
2. What are the different functions of a computer?
3. Draw the hierarchical classification of the computer.
4. How a minicomputer different from a mainframe?
5. What is Super computer?
6. Differentiate Input and Output device.
7. What is a storage device? What is the common
classification?
8. What do you mean by a processing device? What are the
various types of processing devices?
9. Differentiates Serial and Parallel port.
10. What is an interface?
11. What is a microprocessor?
12. What are the factors affecting the speed of the
microprocessor?
13. What are the differences between Multitasking and
Multiprocessing?
Multitasking- Enables the processor to do multiple programs
simultaneously by fast switching through the programs. Here
doesn’t have the involvement of multiple processors.
Multiprocessing- Enables the processor to do multiple
programs simultaneously by the use of multiple processors.
14. What the difference between FSB and BSB?
Front Side Bus. Another name for the system bus. The Front
Side Bus connects the CPU to main memory. A microprocessor
bus that connects the CPU to a Level 2 cache is called Back
Side Bus. Typically, a backside bus runs at a faster clock speed
than the Front Side Bus.

15. What is packaging a microprocessor? What are the
different packaging available?
Packaging is the process of connecting a microprocessor with a
computers motherboard. The types of microprocessor
packaging are;
a. PGA
b. SPGA
c. SECC
d. LGA

16. What is LGA ?
An LGA socket is the connection point for a central processing
unit (CPU. to fit into a motherboard. The LGA stands for Land
Grid Array.

17. What is CISC and RISC?
Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC. and Complex
Instruction Set Computer (CISC. are two philosophies by
which computer chips are designed. RISC became a popular
technology buzzword in the 1990s, and many processors used
in the enterprise business segment were RISC-based.

18. What is Intel Pentium?
The Intel Pentium is a series of microprocessors first
developed by the Intel Corporation. These types of processors
have been found in many personal computers since 1993.

19. Any difference between Pentium III and IV.
There have been a number of Pentium processor lines starting
with the base Pentium in 1993.The of the recent Pentium
entries are Pentium III and Pentium 4.
a. In a Pentium III processor, the bus speed is generally 133
MHz (although there were a few with 100 MHz). The lowest
bus speed on a Pentium IV is 400 MHz, and there are versions
with much higher speeds (topping at 1066 MHz for the
“extreme edition”).
b. The Pentium 4s are smaller than the Pentium IIIs
c. Pentium III processors had (for the most part. about 512 KB
of cache. Pentium 4 processors, on the other hand, start at 512
KB.

20. What are the differences between Intel Celeron and
Pentium family of Processors?
Celeron
According to Build Gaming Computers, Celeron processors are
the low-end processor intended for standard home computer
use. SciNet reports the best Celeron processor has an L2 Cache
of 128kb, a clock speed limit of about 2.0 GHz and runs at a
core voltage of 1.75V. These are useful numbers for
comparison.

Pentium
The top Pentium processor is the Pentium 4 Prescott. CPU
Scorecard reports it has an L2 cache of 1MB (1024kb), a
potential 3.0 GHz clock speed and runs at about 1.4V. The
lowest performing Pentium 4 processor, the Willamette, has

an L2 cache of 256kb, a potential 2.0 GHz clock speed and
runs at about 1.7V.

21. What is Hyper Threading? What is the use of it?
A thread of execution, or simply a “thread,” is one series of
instructions sent to the CPU. Hyper-threading is a technology
developed to help make better use of spare processing cycles.
Hyper-threaded processors have a duplicate set of registers,
small spaces of high-speed memory storage used to hold the
data that is currently needed to execute a thread. When a CPU
core is delayed, waiting for data to be retrieved from another
place in memory, it can use these duplicate registers to spend
the spare computation cycles executing a different thread. The
second set of registers will be pre-loaded with the data needed
to execute the second thread, so the CPU core can begin work
immediately

22. What is Intel Atom processor?
The Intel Atom family of processors are extremely small
central processing units (CPU. found mostly in ultraportable
devices, such as netbooks, cell phones and tablet PCs,
according to Intel. While small and light on energy use, Atom
processors can handle the most common tasks, such as email
and instant messaging.

23. What is Nehalem Architecture?
Nehalem is Intel’s new microprocessor architecture The Core
i7 chips were the first processors ever produced using an
architecture called Nehalem.

24. Which is a heavy-duty Microprocessor of Intel?
Intel Xeon.

25. Which is the processor suitable from Intel family of
processors for Server and Workstation?
Intel Xeon.

26. What is full name of AMD?

Advanced Micro Devices.

27. What are the latest Processor of Intel and AMD?
For intel it is Intel Core i7 and AMD Opteron 6200 Series
processor.

28. Write socket LGA 775 is apt for which type of Intel
Processors?
The top of the line for the LGA775 series CPU socket was the
Core 2 processor series, with the Core 2 Duo E8600, Core 2
Extreme QX9770 and Core 2 Quad Q9650 being the three top
performers

29. Socket 939 is developed by AMD. It supports a maximum
of how many bits of computing? What are the the different
processors of AMD is suitable for this socket?
AMD Athlon 64, AMD Athlon 64FX and AMD Athlon 64 X2.

30. Which type of socket is needed to connect a dual core
processor of Intel?
Socket LGA 775.

31. What is Heat Sink? What is its use? If it is not in the system
what will happen?
A heat sink is a component used to lower the temperature of a
device.It is most commonly there on the microprocessor. If it
is not properly fixed the system, the system will shutdown
automatically to prevent further damage to the processor.

32. A CPU fan should be placed in system. Why?
To make the system cool and more functioning.

33. What is Upgrading a microprocessor? Why we have to do
it?

34. Upgrading a microprocessor is just physically replacing a
processor with a new one. Before doing so we have to make
sure that the processor we want to use for your upgrade is
physically compatible with the socket on your computer’s
motherboard. We also have to make sure that the motherboard
has the internal logic to support the processor.

35. What are the causes of overheating of microprocessor?
a. Processor fan may not be properly connected.
b. Heat sink may be not contacted with the processor.
c. Jumpers may be configured to over clock the CPU.
d. Voltage supply incompatible

36. No Display. What is the problem?
a. CPU fan problem
b. Heat sink related issue
c. Power related issues
d. Improper Jumper settings

37. What is the use of Conventional memory in the system?
The size of conventional memory is 640KB. It is also called
DOS memory or Base memory. This memory is used by some
small programs like Word star, Lotus etc…DOS cannot use
more than 640KB.

38. What is main memory in a computer?
The main memory in a computer is called Random Access
Memory. It is also known as RAM. This is the part of the
computer that stores operating system software, software
applications and other information for the central processing
unit (CPU. to have fast and direct access when needed to
perform tasks.

39. What is Cache memory? What is the advantage if a
processor with more cache memory you are using?
Cache memory is the memory area between RAM and
Processor. If cache memory increases the speed of the system
will also improved.

40. What are the different types of RAM?
SRAM, DRAM, VRAM, SGRAM, DDR-SDRAM etc….

41. Differentiate SRAM and DRAM.
SRAM
Static RAM stores each bit of data on six metal oxide

semiconductor field effect transistors, or MOSFETs. SRAM is
used in devices that require the fastest possible data access
without requiring a high capacity. Some examples are CPU
caches and buses, hard drive and router buffers and printers.
DRAM
Dynamic RAM stores data using a paired transistor and
capacitor for each bit of data. Capacitors constantly leak
electricity, which requires the memory controller to refresh the
DRAM several times a second to maintain the data.

42. What are the different DRAM types?
FPMDRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, RDRAM, DDR-SDRAM

43. What is the difference between DDR-I and DDR-II?
DDR2 is the successor to DDR RAM. DDR 2 incorporates
several technological upgrades to computer system memory,
as well as an enhanced data rate.DDR 2 is capable of achieving
twice the data transfer rate of DDR-I memory because of its
higher clock speed. It operates at a lower voltage than DDR-I
as well: 1.8 volts instead of 2.5.

44. Which is the latest DDR version? Which processor of Intel
will support it?
The latest DDR version is DDR-III. Intel’s all latest processors
such as Core i3,i5 and i7 will support it.

45. What are VRAM and SGRAM?
VRAM is Video Random Access Memory. Video adapter or
video system uses VRAM. VRAM is dual ported. It is costly.
But SGRAM is not dual ported and not costly. It is a less
expensive approach to graphics functions. Most commonly all
low cost graphics cards are using it.

46. What is SODIMM memory module?
Small outline dual in-line memory module (SODIMM or
SO-DIMM. is a type of random access memory (RAM). It is a
smaller version of a dual in-line memory module (DIMM).It is
the type of the memory module can be used in laptop.

47. Which is the memory packaging suitable for a sub-note
book system?

Micro DIMM

48. What is ECC/EPP?
EPP/ECP (Enhanced Parallel Port/Enhanced Capability Port.
is a standard signaling method for bi-directional parallel
communication between a computer and peripheral devices
that offers the potential for much higher rates of data transfer
than the original parallel signaling methods. EPP is for
non-printer peripherals. ECP is for printers and scanners.
EPP/ECP is part of IEEE Standard 1284.

49. What is over clocking?
Over clocking is the process of forcing a computer component
to run at a higher clock rate.

50. What is memory bank?
Sets of physical memory modules is referred to as memory
banks. A memory bank serves as a repository for data, allowing
data to be easily entered and retrieved.
51. What we need to consider before connecting a memory to
the system?
a. Capacity of the RAM required
b. Check if installed memory is supported by motherboard and
processor
c. Form factor of the RAM
d. Type of RAM needed
e. Warranty of the RAM
52. What is Upgrading the memory?
Adding a memory module to the existing bank on the available
slot or replacing the previous one with the increased memory
size is also called upgrading memory. This will surely increase
the performance of the computer.
53. What is BIOS beep code? What it does mean?
BIOS beep codes are the signs of different issues of the
computer. The beep code may vary depends on the

manufacture of BIOS. For example in case of Award BIOS the
beep code will be,
1 long beep- shows memory problem
1 long beep and 2 short beeps- failure of DRAM parity
1 log beep and 3 short beeps- signifies Video error
Continuous beep- signifies failure in memory or Video
memory.
54. What are Solid State Drive means?
A solid-state drive (SSD), sometimes called a solid-state disk
or electronic disk, is a data storage device that uses solid-state
memory to store data. SSDs use microchips which retain data
in non-volatile memory chips and contain no moving parts.
Compared to electromechanical HDDs, SSDs are typically less
susceptible to physical shock, are silent, have lower access time
and latency, but are more expensive per gigabyte (GB).
55. What is RDRAM?
Short for RAMBUS DRAM, a type of memory (DRAM.
developed by Rambus, Inc.
56. What is SIMM? Is it is using now?
Acronym for Single In line Memory Module, a small circuit
board that can hold a group of memory chips. Typically,
SIMMs hold up to eight (on Macintoshes. or nine (on PCs.
RAM chips. On PCs, the ninth chip is often used for parity
error checking. Unlike memory chips, SIMMs are measured in
bytes rather than bits.
Now a days this memory module is not used.
57. Why do we call motherboard a motherboard?
Motherboard is the basic integrated board of the computer on
which all other components are connected. So that usually we
call motherboard a “motherboard”.
58. What is motherboard? What are the different types of it?
Motherboard is the basic integrated board of the computer on
which all other components are connected. This is classified

mainly into three Desktop, Laptop and Server motherboard.
59. What is the difference between integrated and
non-integrated motherboard?
In integrated motherboard all of the external ports will be
present. But in case of non-integrated motherboard only some
important ports will be available instead of all. The
non-integrated motherboard is an old type of motherboard
which now a day’s not commonly available.
60. How a server motherboard different from a desktop?
A server motherboard is different from a desktop in features
and performance. The number of processor support, RAM
slots ,Expansion card slots etc…are more. For example the
Intel® Server Board S5000PSL has the performance and
features for growing businesses demand. It provides excellent
data protection, and advanced data management. It support
64-bit Multi-Core Intel® Xeon® processor. Eight fully
buffered 533/667 MHz DIMMs. Up to six SATA 3Gb/s ports.
61. What is form factor of motherboard?
The form factor of a motherboard determines the
specifications for its general shape and size. It also specifies
what type of case and power supply will be supported, the
placement of mounting holes, and the physical layout and
organization of the board. Form factor is especially important
if you build your own computer systems and need to ensure
that you purchase the correct case and components.
62. What is ATX? How it is different from AT? Which is using
now?
AT is a short for advanced technology, the AT is an IBM PC
model introduced in 1984. It includes an Intel 80286
microprocessor, a 1.2MB floppy drive, and an 84-key AT
keyboard. The ATX form factor specified changes to the
motherboard, along with the case and power supply. Some of
the design specification improvements of the ATX form factor
included a single 20-pin connector for the power supply, a

power supply to blow air into the case instead of out for better
air flow, less overlap between the motherboard and drive bays,
and integrated I/O Port connectors soldered directly onto the
motherboard. The ATX form factor was an overall better
design for upgrading.
63. What is the need of expansion slot in motherboard?
Alternatively referred to as an expansion port, an expansion
slot is a slot located inside a computer on the motherboard or
riser board that allows additional boards to be connected to it.
64. What is PCI slot? How is different from PCI Express
(PCI-E)?
Short for PERIPHERAL COMPONENT INTERCONNECT, a
local bus standard developed by Intel Corporation. PCI
Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express),
officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a computer expansion card
standard designed to replace the older PCI, PCI-X, and AGP
bus standards.
65. What is AGP slot? What is its use?
The Accelerated Graphics Port (often shortened to AGP. is a
high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to
a computer’s motherboard, primarily to assist in the
acceleration of 3D computer graphics. Since 2004 AGP has
been progressively phased out in favor of PCI Express (PCIe).
66. What is jumper? What is the need?
A metal bridge that closes an electrical circuit. Typically, a
jumper consists of a plastic plug that fits over a pair of
protruding pins. Jumpers are sometimes used to configure
expansion boards. By placing a jumper plug over a different set
of pins, you can change a board’s parameters.
67. What CMOS and CMOS battery?
Short for complementary metal oxide semiconductor.
Pronounced see-moss. The CMOS chip holds the date, time,
and system setup parameters. This chip is powered by a 3Volt

CMOS battery.
68. What is chipset?
A number of integrated circuits designed to perform one or
more related functions. This is one of the processing device in
a computer.
69. Explain any three Intel chipset?
a. Intel P55 Express Chipset.-Desktop PC platforms based on
the Intel® P55 Express Chipset combined with the Intel®
Core™ i7-800 series processors and Intel® Core™ i5-700
series processors create intelligent performance for faster
multi-tasking, digital media creation and gaming.
b. Intel HD55 Express Chipset- a new architecture designed to
deliver quality, performance, and industry-leading I/O
technologies on platforms powered by the Intel® Core™
i7-800, Intel® Core™ i5, and Intel® Core™ i3 processors.
c. Intel E7500 Chipset- a volume chipset supports
dual-processor (DP. server systems optimized for the Intel®
Xeon® processor.
70. Which is the chipset needed for Intel Core i7 and Core i5
processors?
Intel Core i7 900-series uses x58 chip set and Core i7
800-series and Core i5 processors runs on P55 chipset.
71. Which is the socket used by Intel Core i7 and i5 processors?
Intel Core i7 900-series uses LGA1366 socket and Core i5
CPUs–all three run on Intel’s latest P55 chipset and LGA1156
socket.
72. What are the motherboard manufacturing companies?
Intel, Gigabyte, ASUS, Mercury, HP, Acer, Biostar, Compaq,
Digital, IBM, AMI.
73. Before upgrading/replacing a motherboard what you need
to consider?
a. Power Connectors
b. Memory Support
c. Hard Disk Support
d. System Case
74. Can you upgrade motherboard?

Yes
75. One system is not starting, but the fan is working. What is
the problem?
76. What is Intel LGA 1155 Socket?
LGA 1155, also called Socket H2, is an Intel microprocessor
compatible socket which supports Intel Sandy Bridge and the
up-coming Ivy Bridge microprocessors.LGA 1155 is designed
as a replacement for the LGA 1156 (known as Socket H).
77. What is power supply unit?
A power supply unit (PSU. supplies direct current (DC. power
to the other components in a computer. It converts generalpurpose
alternating current (AC. electric power from the
mains to low-voltage (for a desktop computer: 12 V, 5 V, 5VSB,
3V3, -5 V, and -12 V. DC power for the internal components of
the computer.
78. What are the different types of Form Factors of Power
Supply?
AT , ATX, Flex ATX, Micro ATX etc…
79. What is NLX?
NLX (New Low Profile Extended. was a form factor proposed
by Intel and developed jointly with IBM, DEC.
80. What is Switching Mode Power Supply?
A switched-mode power supply (switching-mode power
supply, SMPS, or simply switcher. is an electronic power
supply that incorporates a switching regulator in order to be
highly efficient in the conversion of electrical power. Like other
types of power supplies, an SMPS transfer power from a
source like the electrical power grid to a load (e.g., a personal
computer. while converting voltage and current
characteristics. An SMPS is usually employed to efficiently
provide a regulated output voltage, typically at a level different
from the input voltage.
81. What is the use of Molex Power connector?
Molex is a four pin power connector found in SMPS. It is used
to supply power to HDD, CD Drive, DVD Drive etc…
82. What is Berg (mini Molex. connector is used to….

To provide power to Floppy Disk Drive.
83. What are the different color cables found in Molex
connector? What is the Power of it.
-12V –Blue, -5V –White, 0V –Black, +3.3V –Orange, +5V
–Red, +12V –Yellow.
84. What are the methods used in a system for cooling?
a. Large System Case
b. Arrangement of Internal Components
c. Keeping the System Clean.
d. Proper Working of the System Case Fan.
85. Power supply fan is not working and it emits a lot of sound.
What will the probable cause?
Most of the time this issue arises due to lots of dust is
accumulated on the fan motor.
86. What is the capacity of a Floppy Disk?
1.44MB
87. Which is the medium used in a floppy for storing data?
Magnetic Media.
88. What is write protected notch in a floppy? What is its use?
This is a switch used to eliminate the accidental deletion of
data from the floppy.
89. How many tracts and sectors found in a normal floppy
dick?
80 tracks and 18 sectors.
90. Which is the file system of a floppy disk?
FAT
91. How can you format a floppy? What is happening if you do
so?
Insert the floppy to the system and open my computer. There
we can find the icon. Just right click and select format option.

Otherwise we can use format command . Formatting a floppy
will creates sectors and tracks on the floppy.
92. System is not showing floppy disk drive icon in
Mycomputer.What will the probable cause?
The device is not detected or disabled.
93. I have inserted a new floppy disk into my drive. The data
can be read. But not able to make modifications. Why?
The disk may be in write protected mode.
94. What is HDD? What are the different types available in the
market now?
A hard disk drive (HDD; also hard drive or hard disk. is a
non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage
device. It is the secondary storage media. There are different
types of hard disk, based on the the intefaces they used we can
classify them as IDE, SATA, SCSI etc…
95. What is SATA?
Serial ATA (SATA or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment.
is a computer bus interface for connecting host bus adapters to
mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical
drives. Serial ATA was designed to replace the older parallel
ATA (PATA. standard (often called by the old name IDE),
offering several advantages over the older interface: reduced
cable size and cost (7 conductors instead of 40), native hot
swapping, faster data transfer through higher signalling rates,
and more efficient transfer through an (optional. I/O queuing
protocol.
96. In Speed how SATA is different from IDE?
SATA- Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA. is high
speed serial interface designed to replace IDE and EIDE drive
standard SATA has a seven pin connector. SATA transfer
speed of data up to 600 MB per second. Now a day use SATA.
IDE- Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE. it has a 40/80 pins

connector. IDE transfer speed of data up to 100/133 MB per
second few time ago mostly use IDE.
97. What is eSATA?
External Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or eSATA is
an external interface for SATA technologies. eSATA cables are
narrow and can be up to 6.56 feet (2 meters. in length. eSATA
requires its own power connector. It is still an excellent choice
for external disk storage.
98. What is SCSI? Is the SCSI Hard Disk is needed for a home
purpose?
SCSI is Small Computer System Interface , is a type of
interface used for computer components such as hard drives,
optical drives, scanners and tape drives. SCSI is a faster, more
robust technology than IDE amd SATA, and has traditionally
been utilized in servers. Aside from speed, another great
advantage over IDE and SATA is that the SCSI card can
connect 15 or more devices in a daisy chain. The controller
assigns each device its own SCSI ID, allowing for great
flexibility towards expanding any system. It is more costly. It is
not needed for a home purpose.
99. Is there is USB HDD? If yes what is the speed?
Yes. If your HDD is based on USB 3.0 it can offer a maximum
transmission speed of up to 5 Gbit/s (640 MB/s), which is over
10 times faster than USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/s, or 60 MB/s).
100. What is IEEE 1394 Interface?
The IEEE 1394 interface is a serial bus interface standard for
high-speed communications. The interface is also known by
the brand names of FireWire (Apple), i.LINK (Sony), and Lynx
(Texas Instruments). IEEE 1394 replaced parallel SCSI in
many applications, because of lower implementation costs and
a simplified, more adaptable cabling system. The original
release of IEEE 1394-1995 specified what is now known as
FireWire 400. It can transfer data between devices at 100,
200, or 400 Mbit/s.

Original link to the article is here:

 

Help for seniors and handicapped people who have problems accessing their Computer, Tablets, Smart Phones in Longmont, CO

Computer Physicians of Longmont Provides help with teaching, training, tutoring on how to use the computer, smart phone, tablet, and programming accessibility methods to more easily use the devices. For seniors and handicapped people who have problems accessing the computer system.

1. Making the page, fonts, letters, and words bigger to make it easier to read. Adjusting the size of the screen. Configuring the back light, brightness, contrast of the screen. Adding an onscreen magnifying glass to the screen so that they can adjust the screen as large or small as they want.

2. Configuring and adjusting the touch sensitivity of touch screens to more easily use the touch screens.

3. Programming and configuring voice recognition to control the computer by just your voice and to write email, letters by using your voice only.

4. Many seniors and handicapped people cannot move the mouse and double click the mouse buttons effectively because of shaking hands. Steve at Computer Physicians will either customize the mouse to make it easier to use or eliminate the need to use the mouse and using other ways to control the computer.

5. Program and configure the computer/tablet/smart phone for hearing impaired people.

6. Program and configure the computer/tablet/smart phone for people with mobility problems.

7. There are many other program and configuring issues that could also be done to help people with all types of physical limitations.

8. Setting up and teaching how to use the computer/tablet/smart phone to provide video conferencing, send pictures, etc. to keep in touch with loved ones.

9. Using the computer/tablet/smart phone to use as a telephone to call anyone in the world and talk as long as you like for free.