The ”World Wide Web”  is a remarkable piece of work, but it is ”open access” to anyone who has a computer connected to it. To avoid the disappointment of your new PC malfunctioning shortly after you “get online” please observe the guidelines below.
Remember - without proper protection as you look around the Internet, as you look at websites - the websites you are looking at could be watching you!

“How to stop Spam Email”

The notes below contain some tips on how to prevent your Email inbox from filling up with endless “Junk” Email.

Scams:

There are many Internet scams, and the rule: “If it sounds too good to be true - it probably is” should always be applied. Think about it - In your day to day life, how likely is it that some Nigerian chap is going to really deposit 1 million dollars (or pounds) into your bank account? Unrealistic I think!

Or how unrealistic is it, that someone wants to give you £3000.00 for your Ebay item that you have for sale, then only asks you to return the balance to him - again - I don’t think so - do you . . . . .!

A friend of mine fell for a lottery scam - he phoned me - very excited & he had already phoned the scammer using the phone number in the email to give him some personal details. Amazing, this was someone who should have known better!

The other scams come from someone pretending to be a bank or building society, asking for your details to update the “records” A lot of these “SPOOF” emails will also be about your Ebay account details & they come from all over the world. Often the grammar or spelling is incorrect, which makes them even more pointless. It is a numbers game - send out thousands of these spoof emails & a small percentage of people will be taken in. If the scammer only gets 1 person out of 1000 to part with money - they win - the emails they send are automated & free!

If you receive an Email saying that you have won the lottery - ask yourself  “did I enter a lottery online?”

The spammers & scammers are clever, the way the emails are sent often allows them through “spam” filters. There are effective “anti-spam” programs available like “Mailwasher” which will help filter out some of the rubbish. “Mailwasher Pro” is a program that once installed on your PC, intercepts & filters your incoming email. A “blacklist” is built up which will automatically sop the junk from getting through to your email inbox. It is not 100 percent effective, but I find that it works very well & I receive few “spam” emails.

 Protection Tips:

Rule #1:

The first thing not to do, is type into the Internet Explorer toolbar “free” (before anything you want to look at), many Internet newcomers do this, without a firewall and without antivirus protection. You will find yourself often immediately in an area of the Internet which will often try to compromise the security of your PC. Not surprisingly, often porn sites & hacker’s sites have links to each other! The hacker’s sites offer free passwords to porn sites to lure you into their clutches. Also, avoid websites with the offers of: “no credit card required” - “free sign-up” - “instant access” Once you have the required online protection, correctly set up, you will be very surprised to see what happens when you go to the front page of some of these “free - no credit card required” website. Unfortunately most protection software of this type needs configuring & setting up correctly to be effective at all.

Rule #2:

Never type in your email address when asked for it in order to enter a website that you want to look at. All that will happen is that usually you will start to get “spam” (junk) email which will soon spiral out of control. If you must type in your email address into websites to access “free” stuff, then open a “hotmail” account to receive the spam. If you are on a website that asks you to download anything in order to connect to it - do not do this! - sometimes the only way to get rid of the popup is to press “control - alt - delete” together & select “end task” to quit Internet Explorer!

Rule #3:

Never give your personal details over the web or in email. ie: credit card numbers, home phone numbers or personal home address information. If you are buying an item over the net, make sure that you read a bit about the service before typing in the numbers & hitting “submit”. When you are “surfing the web”on your PC, as you look at various websites, they can also easily look at you as well! If you do not have the required security level setup on your PC, you are vulnerable to all sorts of problems such as the items outlined below:

The Dangers of Un-Subscribing to Unsolicited Email (Spam)

NEVER UNSUBSCRIBE
If the email (Electronic Mail) is not from a legitimate organization that you have had prior communication with, then following the removal instructions included in the spam email usually just gets you even more spam. By using the removal instructions, you have verified that you received the spam and read it. That makes your email address even more valuable to the spammer, who will just send it straight out to more spammers - and you will just get even more junk in the future. It can get so bad that the only way out is to change your email address completely, or revert back to a carrier pigeon! Normally, we recommend that you never reply to spam email, or trust any of the information in the spam unless you really know what information you can and cannot trust. For instance, if you get a spam from someone , you should not reply to them, nor should you report the spam to the email’s abuse administrator (Usually, most of the information in the header of the spam is “forged.” Just as you can put any return address on a normal paper letter, spammers can put any return address they want on their email. Usually, the return address belongs to someone the spammer wants to annoy with a bunch of erroneous complaints.

Web Bugs, Spyware, Popups & Cookies:
These are small items deposited in your PC, allowing information to be sent out from your PC to other sites while you are online. Some are harmless usage tracking packages, some are more malicious. Spyware can send out all manner of information about you to whoever the spyware reports back to.Even some “respectable” sites send out usage tracking collectors to allow them to see how & where their websites are being viewed. Popups are annoying to say the least, as you view a site constant pages pop up all over the place, “Google” has a free “Popup Blocker” available as a free toolbar download from the “Google” site. From this toolbar, you are able to choose which sites you wish to receive “popups” from. Some websites need to have a popup facility in order for them to work, online webmail is a good example. Most “popups” are just annoying!

Hackers:
There are a lot of strange people out there! They are very clever people too, an average “hacker” is more than capable of getting right inside your PC while you surf on the web, stealing all your private files, or even deleting your hard drive! They can plant really nasty, malicious programs on your computer, like - Viruses & Trojan Horses (programs designed to execute at a pre detemined future time) or other remote access programs. Microsoft are constantly updating the way Windows works to fight against this problem. It is a good idea to visit the “Microsoft Critical Update Site” regularly to keep your system updated! This is a slow laborious process if you only have a 56k analogue modem, but if you get “Broadband” ………….

“ADSL - Broadband is connected all of the time. This is a great way to use the internet. A standard 512 connection is very fast indeed, relative to a 56k modem - approximately 10 times faster! Unfortunately, because it is “ON” all the time, your PC is more prone to attack. A standard ADSL modem that you get with your “Broadband” package is not very secure. The addition of a “Firewall Router” is highly recommended. There are many of these on the market, some routers connect tou your existing ADSL modem, some have their own ADSL modem built in.

Tip:
Internet Explorer versions allow a website to read the files on a users local system. To prevent this, open Internet Explorer, then go to “Tools” - “Internet Options” - “Security” - select “Custom Level” then set “Active Scripting” or “Navigate sub-frames across different domains” to “Prompt” or “Disable”. The problem with tightening your Internet security too much, is that messages asking you what to do next pop up everytime you access websites, so a compromise has to be made somewhere. It is pretty safe to put a link to microsoft in the trusted sites section of Internet Explorer, at least you will be able to run the “Windows Update”without having any problems.

A” firewall” is a filter between the internet & your PC. It can be user configured to use various security levels & options.

A “hardware firewall” is the kind built into your firewall router, a “software firewall” is a program that you run on your PC.
Think of a hardware firewall as a transformer with a primary & secondary winding. The “primary” faces the internet, the “secondary” is your own PC or internal network.

“McAfee” or “Norton” has a software firewall, antivirus & internet security all in the one package, I use it as well as my hardware firewall.

If you are buying a colour photocopier there are a number of price options you need to consider.

Most copiers are sold with a service contract which is geared to “price per copy” If you are printing brochures and price lists with illustrations on them this could be a benefit if the copy cost is low but if you are mainly using it for letters or invoices or documents with very little print you could be well out of pocket.

To give you some idea, a Ricoh or Canon copier has a copy toner/cost of less than one pence per copy when printing standard documents but if you are mainly printing brochures the cost would be very much higher. To most users it would be a mixed bag but do consider the mix.

Ask what the service contract includes beyond your manufacturers guarantee. Also ask how long the seller would be prepared to service the copier, and would there be a more than inflationary price increase. You also need to know what would be the scenario after the service contract is ended.

Advice for Computers unlimited:

Simply ask yourself : “If my computer stopped working tomorrow  - would it be a problem to me?”

In reality, if your computer stops working and displays a message on the screen - ”Cannot read from Drive C”- or similar, then all your precious data could be gone forever, your favourite family photographs, your inland revenue or business accounts, database, email address book, email history, even saved joke emails will all be gone forever!

If the loss of this data is a problem to you, then you do have a big problem. There are specialist companies that offer to retrieve your data from damaged hard disk drives, but this is expensive & not always guaranteed to work.

A Personal Computer (PC) is a very sophisticated electronic box of tricks. In general they are amazingly reliable, but on occasion they go wrong with a vengeance!

Power problems with the mains supply can occasionally cause  every part of the computer to cease functioning. Thunderstorms are responsible for many major computer failures. Computer power supplies need a constant mains input in order to work correctly. A sudden drop in power or worse - a mains surge can badly damage the delicate electronics within your PC.

The other reason to backup is in case of fire or theft at the computer’s location.

The answer, and under the heading of “Disaster Recovery” is a reliable data backup device.

Backup devices range from “USB memory sticks” for the smaller data backup, to large capacity tape drives for a larger amount of data to be backed up. Even a USB external hard disk drive is a good idea, but bear in mind that they are delicate if you propose to take it home every evening. If you drop it on the floor, it may not work!

Microsoft Windows has a built-in utility under “programs- accessories - system tools” called “Backup”. This program allows you to select which files you require to back up & also allows an automatic schedule to be set so that the  PC will back itself up every evening at a user pre-set time. (The PC needs to be left switched on of course!)

If you wish to backup your office data, the best way to do it, is to have backup media for each day of the week & each day, take a copy home with you. If the building burns down, or your computers are stolen, then you still have your valuable data. It will take a little time to get up & running again, but that is better than having nothing at all.

Check out our comp-unlimited website for top quality backup media at great prices

Printer Ribbons for Dot Matrix PrintersIt may seem old fashioned but the most cost effective way of printing documents would be a dot matrix printer which would use continuous paper.It’s a bit noisy and perhaps slower than an ink jet printer or a laser printer but you can read what is printed, and the cost of a ribbon would be just a few pounds.If you should require multiple  copies of the same document it could be quicker, depending on the speed of the printer itself.The main use today would be for the printing of multi-part invoices or payslips. For example you could print a Sage or Iris security payslip which consists of an employers copy and a pay-slip in its  own envelope in a fraction of the time it would take to produce a laser payslip fold it into shape then put it into an envelope to hand to the employee.The added advantage is security as the only persons able to view the information would be the wages clerk and the employeeThe principle of a dot matrix printer is impact printing so that the image using carbonized paper goes through to the next sheet. Most Epson, Panasonic, Oki and Tally printers are capable of printing between 4 and six sheets at a time

This short PC tutorial is intended for inexperienced computer users, so therefore uses a minimum of “Techno-Speak” - PC stands for “Personal Computer”.

There are many different computer systems available, which to the new user, seem very confusing. we’ve all heard the term “user friendly”, and most modern computer systems are.

Buy your system from a reputable dealer, with a full service backup if required. all that seems cheap is often a poor quality system, and your frustration with it will soon become apparent - be very careful! Buy what you need for your application - it is pointless buying an “all singing and dancing - “Rolls Royce” system”, if all you want to do is a bit of letter writing & Internet browsing!

If you are a game player, then a fast system, with a fast graphics card is very desirable. If your funds are low, buy a system with the latest motherboard type, and expand the system later. Remember, the faster the Central Processor Unit, then generally, the faster the computer is, but the hard disk drive needs to be fast as well.

Hardware:

PC computers are usually of modular construction, (built from several seperate units screwed together), so you need to be able to ask for the system to be built for your needs.

Software:

Software allows interaction with the hardware. it would not be a lot of use if the user could not communicate with the PC and actually make it do something! Early “DOS” operating system software (disk operating system) seems very primitive now when set against powerful current software like “Microsoft Windows” This operating system will usually come pre-installed on your computer, but always check with the vendor! Microsoft Windows uses a “graphical user interface” (GUI) & is the most popular computer operating system software in the world. there are other very good operating systems available for PC, but as a beginner, “Microsoft Windows” is the one you will be using.

There are many different versions of this operating system. In 2008, “Windows XP” or “Vista” are the usual choice for home PC users. once you have an operating system installed on your PC, then other application software ie: word processor programs, graphics programs & almost any other current software can run from within this operating system, also referred to as a “platform”.

PC Components in Detail:

The Case:

This is the box that holds all the seperate components of the system. Cases come complete with the main power supply. Cases come in all shapes and sizes, to suit specific applications. Towers are vertical, desktops are horizontal. If you intend to add more hardware to your system over a period, you should preferably buy a midi tower, because the physical size allows plenty of room for more expansion cards, plus there is more cooling air inside to circulate. A mini tower is ok for a basic system, but does not allow for excessive expansion. A desktop unit has as much room as a mini tower and saves space, as the monitor can sit on top of it. If you anticipate large scale add ons, get a maxi tower if you have the room!

I would recommend the midi tower case. As mentioned above, the case also comes complete with the power supply for the internal circuitry.

The Motherboard:

The motherboard is really the main bit! it fits inside the case, it is the heart of the computer itself. there are a variety to choose from, and they are designed to hold different kinds of central processor units ( CPU ) A modern motherboard will be a Pentium “ATX” type. “Intel” “Pentium” processors are leading the way to ever increasing speed of operation. Motherboard design changes very frequently, and it is difficult to keep up with the pace of technology in this area.

The CPU:

This is the true heart of the system, …. the Microprocessor. this unit handles all the data within the computer. the final speed of your system is mainly down to this very small amazing item, which just sits in a socket on the motherboard, complete with its own cooling fan, and processes all the information coming in and out of the PC.

The Graphics Card:

This allows information to be sent to the monitor so that it can be seen on screen. Often video support is built onto the motherboard, but I prefer the option of a separate card. Usually a fast video board of up to 32 megabytes is more than sufficient for general use, but there are many accelerated video cards available for specialist graphics applications, and they soon get much more expensive!

The Monitor:

This is the TV set part of the system. it is also known as a VDU (Visual Display Unit) Modern monitors are far better than they used to be, so that now, the “picture” quality is of a higher resolution and therefore much “sharper” than ever before. They come in various screen sizes.

Floppy Disk Drives:

These oddly titled items are used for the transfer of information between computers. Although these days they are being phased out as the information storage on a “Memory Stick” is far in excess of the old floppy disk system. The Floppy Disk Drive is accessible at the front of the computer. they are designed to hold a removable “Floppy Disk”, which is basically a disk of magnetic tape (like a cassette) in a square plastic case. the disk drive can read and write information to the disk, which can then be taken out and stored, or transferred to another computer.

The Hard Disk Drive:

This is a very necessary item to have in a computer. a “Hard Disk” drive (HDD) does not have a removable disk like a “Floppy” Disk drive, instead the hard disk is fitted internally, and revolves constantly whenever the computer is switched on. the “Hard” Disk acts as a large capacity storage & retrieval system. Information can be written and retrieved at will to the “Hard Drive”. It is simply a storeroom. Information can be copied between “Hard Disk Drive” , “Memory Stick” or even from “Floppy” disk drives. All of the information from a “Memory Stick” or “Floppy Disk Drive” can be copied to a Hard Disk Drive, but not vice-versa, because the “HDD” is of a much higher capacity than a “Memory Stick” or “Floppy” Drive.

A “Memory Stick” can usually hold 4 gigabytes of information, but a 1.44 megabyte “Floppy Disk” can hold just under one and a half megabytes of information,. The main “Hard Disk Drive” can hold many more gigabytes of information. Most modern hard disk drives have a very fast information transfer rate and come in a variety of sizes and types. The faster that the CPU & memory can get their information from the hard disk drive, then the faster the PC works.

The DVD/CDROM Drive:

The CDROM or DVDROM drive (compact disk or DVD read only memory) is a “read only” version of a hard disk drive. a CDROM has a storage capacity much higher than a floppy disk. As software develops & data capacity requirements get higher & higher, a CDROM is an essential part of your PC system. “CDRW” Writer/Rewriter drives are also available to allow data to be written to a CDROM disk. DVD drives (Digital Versatile Disks) are popular & are also available as DVD readers or DVD reader/writers. DVD allows for even greater data storage capacity than on a CDROM.

The Internal RAM Memory:

Referred to as “RAM” (random access memory”).

People often confuse hard disk capacity & memory!

For instance, a typical system specification including: “160 gigabyte hard disk drive (HDD) & 512 megabytes of RAM” mean that the PC system has a total storage capacity of 160 megabytes for storing files & programs + a memory capacity (to actually run the programs) of 512 megabytes. when you click the mouse over a program icon to run the program the hard disk drive delivers the required information from the hard disk to the computer’s memory chips. It is much faster for the CPU to then process information in “RAM”. If you don’t have enough “RAM” in your PC, “Microsoft Windows” will use the hard disk drive as “Virtual Memory” & the whole system runs slower, as it takes more time for the program to process it’s information.

The Mouse:

A “Mouse” is simply a device for pointing at items on the screen. it is a multi-function device, as you can point at an item, click the buttons and make the item do something useful. it is called a “Mouse” as it has a tail (the wire). Most people find them easy to use, but sometimes a little practise is necessary to make the pointer go where you want it to go ! A good way to practise is to use the Windows “Paint” program & try to write your name legibly in “freehand” mode! They are either of the “Rolling Ball” type of construction, or more frequently they are optical devices.

The Keyboard:

The keyboard is the “Alpha-Numeric Interface” very necessary for typing letters and numbers on the computer, also there are extra keys called “function” and “cursor” keys, to allow various things to happen when running programs.

The Sound Card:

These are usually built into the motherboards now. There are various specialist cards available for the sole purpose of making music via a sequencer, or digital recording software. These are not to be confused with the PC’s internal soundcard, as they have different specialised functions.

The Printer:

There really is a vast choice in Printers these days, between Laser, Inkjet or Dot Matrix types. For Mono (black) printing, standard laser printers are the best & cheapest to run. Inkjet printers are also good, as they can print in colour. Modern Laser printers can also print in colour, but are more expensive to initially purchase. Dot Matrix printers are mostly used in business to create “carbon copies” of invoices, as this type of printers works using pins hitting an ink ribbon & transferring the ink to the paper via pressure, by using this method, enough pressure is applied to allow carbon paper or special coatings to be used so that other sheets of paper underneath get copied also. An added advantage is that they can use “tractor feed” for continuous paper feed (noisy, not as good quality as Lasers or Inkjets, but cheap to run). You may consider a colour printer if graphics are you main application. Quality of printer largely depends on your budget!

All the above components, when fitted together, make what used to be called an IBM (International Business Machines) compatible …… Personal Computer.

A bit of useless information:

In the Stanley Kubrick film “2001″, the ship’s onboard computer that malfunctioned was called a “HAL 9000″

“H - A - L” is one letter below “I - B - M”

Arthur C. Clarke who wrote the book “2001 - a Space Odyssey”, when he was interviewed about it, insists that this was a pure coincidence!

Jet-Tec CartridgesJet-Tec ink cartridges are manufactured and re-manufactured in the UK by a company who respects the environment unlike many others on sale through the internet or supermarkets.Unlike many manufacturers such as HP, Epson, Canon, Lexmark or Dell, Jet-tec actually take advantage of the size of the cartridge by merely filling it. In some cases this could be 3 -4 times that of the original and in addition cheaperThe cost per copy is drastically reduced but to the environment it is also beneficial If these manufacturers were to fill the cartridges in the first place imagine waste being reduced by 50% or more as they would not need to produce millions of un-necessary productAt Computers Unlimited we retail Jet-Tec cartridges and are proud to be doing our bit to save the planet. Are you doing yours

Which printer to buy?

Firstly look at what you want to use it for. If you like to print in colour, but never print large runs, then desktop inkjet printers are the way to go. All the popular inkjet printer manufacturers ie: HP, EPSON, CANON, BROTHER, LEXMARK etc offer a range of excellent value for money printers. The disadvantages of using inkjet printers is the cost per page. Using the excellent range of “Jettec” compatible ink cartridges, the cost per page comes down, as the compatible cartridges are a good bit cheaper than the manufacturer’s own printer cartridges. The logic behind the high cost of genuine printer ink cartridges is that the printers are initially very cheap to buy, so the manufacturer makes the printer cartriges more expensive to compensate for the cost of the printer in the first place.

Here are the most popular printer types:

HP laser printers, HP laserjet printers, Brother laser printers, Samsung laser printers, Canon laser printers, Epson laser printers, All these laser printers use replaceable toner cartridges.

Epson inkjet printers, HP inkjet printers, HP deskjet printers, Canon inkjet printers, Lexmark inkjet printers. These printers use replaceable ink cartridges.

From an end-user point of view, all you want is cheap printing. If you do high volume colour printing, then a colour laser printer is the way to go. The colour toner cartridges are expensive, but outlast inkjet pinter cartridges & therefore they work out cheaper from a cost per page point of view. If all you do is black ink printing, then a standard monochrome laser printer is what you need. Laser printer toner cartridges last a long time when used in a normal domestic or small office environment.

Paper jams are common on most laser printers. Because Laser printers use heat to fuse the toner from the toner cartridge onto the paper,  they seem to foul up more than inkjet printers in this respect. Type of paper is important, if you experience frequent paper jams, try changing the brand or quality of paper. Paper jams are also common when the paper drawer is almost empty & the printer picks up more than one sheet of paper.

If you find that you have a paper jam, usually the warning light will be flashing & the printer will not accept any further print jobs.

 Here are a few tips:

It is important to remove all jammed pieces of paper with extreme care.
Pulling at sheets may cause pieces of the paper to tear and stay in the printer, causing further jams. Paper is very abrasive and incorrectly removing paper that is in contact with the process unit or drum may damage its surface.
Once the error is cleared, the printer should automatically warm up and resume printing. It may reprint the jammed page, but this will depend on where the jam occurred.
If  jams occur frequently, try cleaning the printer and changing the paper as it may have become damp.  The rule when removing paper jams from laser printers, is to be firm but not rough with the device. Pull the paper out slowly & carefully without snatching it which will cause the paper to tear. It is not the end of the world if you cannot get all the paper out, but in extreme cases further dismantling of the laser printer may be required. Never lose your temper & damage the printer. If the paper jams occur often, there is always a reason for it . try changing the type of paper that you use first & see what happens from there.

Owning and using a Laser printer has many benefits, they are generally much more economic to use and the printed page is permanent, as the laser printer toner is actually melted into the paper fibres so is therefore fully waterproof & will not fade over time unlike the printing obtained from many inkjet printers. Colour laser printers are also available that have all the benefits of the monochrome laser printers, and they print permanent full colour images.

The main components of a basic laser printer are:

The laser printer drum unit.

The laser printer toner cartridge.

The laser printer fuser unit.

When you send a document to the laser printer, the image is first tranferred to a rotating drum electrostatically. The drum receives a high voltage electrical charge in the shape of the image to be printed, this attracts the laser toner from the laser toner cartridge, to the laser printer drum unit. The electrical charge is such that it is in the exact shape of the text or picture that is to be printed - a very clever gadget!

The paper is then picked up & wrapped around the drum, which deposits the laser toner onto the paper as a perfect high resolution image. Laser toner is a plastic powder, so before the process is finished & you receive your printed page from the laser printer, the paper than passes through a heater unit or Fuser. The heat produced by the fuser melts the toner into the paper. That is why the pages are warm to the touch when they come out of the printer. Laser printers function in the same way as a photocopier.

Laser printers have to warm up first, so they initially seem slow, but when they start printing, the page output rate is very fast relative to inkjet printers.

The laser printer toner cartridge is a disposable item & can be easiliy replaced when empty. The main drum unit & fuser unit are also a replaceable item, but need infrequent attention during normal usage. It is worth checking on the prices of Laser printer toner cartridges on this website, as it will help you make a decision regarding the running costs and economy of use.

The Brother GL100 label printer is a very useful &  compact device. It is ideal for printing labels for many applications. The Brother GL100 labeller is essential for the organised horticulturalist the design allows it to sit comfortably in your hand while printing out durable labels for plant sticks, pots and other garden items c/w 8 metres water proof tape. This is slim line labelling machine uses the shortcut function for quick, easy operation.

Select the large size for eye-catching labels and also comes with a wide selection of print styles and a bonus built in font. The TZ tapes are fadeproof, waterproof, uv and chemical resistant which means that the labels are ideal for the gardening environment. Numerous other uses for inside the home ideal for labelling Childrens’ books, toy boxes, lunch boxes, herb and spice labelling, computer cable labels.

Altogether a great product with a variety of uses.