How To Defrag Your Computer Easily

Defragmentation is the process which helps the user to reduce the disintegration of the files on the user's computer hard drive, a computers performance can be severely hampered if the hard drive connected to the computer gets fragmented. The user defragments their computer in order to reorganize their files in sequences so that the computer system runs faster. As all files gets arranged and placed in sequence and even files which acquires small places get stored in one place which allows the user to use more space.
If the files saved on the computer are unevenly spread out on the hard drive, it can cause the computer to take longer period of time to search or retrieve these files as compared to searching for files that are stored in a sequence and arranged properly. This method helps the user to search for a file instantly.This method of defraying definitely improves the performance of your computer.
Defragmenting your computers drive is a simple procedure that can be carried out by users at home and does not need much of technical knowledge. During the defragmentation process the computer automatically sorts out the files as per their usage and frequency of retrieval and stores these files accordingly, this not only helps make the computer faster, but also helps open up more space on the computers disks.
You can follow this simple procedure to defragment your computer running a windows operating system:
Uninstall programs or delete unwanted files which are unwanted and are taking up valuable disk space. This will make free space to store data that is required and relevant on the computer. This step also helps in arranging the files in proper order.
Check that all the programs which are not required are closed. This will make sure that your computer is not busy or that no program is running in the back ground which will slow down the speed of defragmentation process.
Make sure that all the programs which are automatically set to run at a particular time should be cancelled. Always make sure that you should run one program at a time for better effects.
See that temporary files are deleted so that you free up more disk space. To clean the files from the disk you the run the cleanmgr program in the windows.
Once you have completed these tasks, it is now time to defragment your computer. To defrag your computer, click on the start tab, select a program named dfrg.msc. Click on this program and then select the drive you wish to defrag i.e. C: drive which is default drive and then click on the defragment button.This would start the defragment process for your computer and arrange all your files in a proper manner.
Once you have defragmented your computer hard drive, you would be able to see immediate results in terms of improved speed. It would take lesser time for you to access your files as well as retrieve them. It is advised to defrag your computer regularly as well as run the cleanmgr program to ensure that your computer hard drive does not fragment and reduce the speed of your computer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6801124

What Is "Customer Service?"

At Pizza Hut I was taught to take orders. Someone wanted a pizza with mushrooms and pepperoni? I delivered one... and quickly, while it was still hot. I couldn't wait for my first customer to receive their pizza before going on to the next though, so I also learned to multi-task. I needed ALL of my customers to be happy if I wanted to earn my tips. Also, if I provided bad service, people would remember and ask for a different server next time.
At K-Mart, I learned to sell. Once upon a time, when Best Buy wasn't around, people bought TVs and VCRs and stereos at K-Mart. I was on commission and quickly learned that the more I sold, the more I made. I became positively eager to help anyone that happened by. I learned to talk to my customers and understand what their needs were so I could help them purchase the right thing. If I sold them too much they would bring it back and be unhappy. If I sold them something too cheap they would be unhappy with the quality. It was my responsibility to ensure they left with the right product and ensure they realized all of the value it had to provide.
So, that's Pizza Hut and K-Mart. But what do fast pizza and a discount department store have to offer an IT Professional?
Long-term customers are more profitable than short-term customers.
Good customer service is really that easy. If you keep that one idea in mind all the rest will follow! So how do you create long-term customers? Don't over think it, it's simple:

1. Be genuinely interested in their success... yours will follow naturally.
2. Don't give them any reason to go somewhere else.

Is that it? Really? Yes. If you can put your customer's success, happiness, and profitability ahead of your own and really help them achieve their goals their company will grow and require more and more of your products and services. Don't go for the quick buck! It just doesn't pay off. When customers know that you enabled their success or helped them make more money or made their lives easier, they will think of you next time and look for you to do the same over and over again. When you take them for a quick buck they WILL realize it sooner or later and they'll never be back. That's part 1.
Part 2: Don't mess it up! Once you have a good thing going with a customer, don't give them any reason to look elsewhere. Make sure you have the products and services they want when they want them. Know them well enough so that nobody else can provide the same value that you do. And, don't ever, EVER, take them for granted. It's as easy to lose a customer due to inattention as it is through competition.
I built a successful IT consulting business over the course of 7 years using the two rules above. I built long-term customers that came back month after month and year after year. They didn't use my services just because they had before; they came back because we had a relationship that they valued. It wasn't quite personal but it wasn't just business either. I really enjoyed working with them and helping them achieve their goals. Both they and I knew that if they were successful they would require more of my help and I could ride their coat tails all the way to the bank. Our goals were aligned and as long as I did my job and didn't mess it up I had guaranteed happy customers for as long as I wanted them.
I wasn't always perfect, and I became complacent and took a couple customers for granted. I lost them. It was, perhaps, the most painful lesson I learned during that 7 years and I learned it VERY quickly. I built processes and procedures to ensure that even when customers were at a maintenance level for a long time I continued to actively add value to their business. I learned to not mess it up.
So, it turns out that Pizza Hut and K-Mart really do have something to teach us about customer service in IT after all. How did you learn customer service? What does it mean to you?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6798484

How To Defrag Your Computer Easily

Defragmentation is the process which helps the user to reduce the disintegration of the files on the user's computer hard drive, a computers performance can be severely hampered if the hard drive connected to the computer gets fragmented. The user defragments their computer in order to reorganize their files in sequences so that the computer system runs faster. As all files gets arranged and placed in sequence and even files which acquires small places get stored in one place which allows the user to use more space.
If the files saved on the computer are unevenly spread out on the hard drive, it can cause the computer to take longer period of time to search or retrieve these files as compared to searching for files that are stored in a sequence and arranged properly. This method helps the user to search for a file instantly.This method of defraying definitely improves the performance of your computer.
Defragmenting your computers drive is a simple procedure that can be carried out by users at home and does not need much of technical knowledge. During the defragmentation process the computer automatically sorts out the files as per their usage and frequency of retrieval and stores these files accordingly, this not only helps make the computer faster, but also helps open up more space on the computers disks.
You can follow this simple procedure to defragment your computer running a windows operating system:
Uninstall programs or delete unwanted files which are unwanted and are taking up valuable disk space. This will make free space to store data that is required and relevant on the computer. This step also helps in arranging the files in proper order.
Check that all the programs which are not required are closed. This will make sure that your computer is not busy or that no program is running in the back ground which will slow down the speed of defragmentation process.
Make sure that all the programs which are automatically set to run at a particular time should be cancelled. Always make sure that you should run one program at a time for better effects.
See that temporary files are deleted so that you free up more disk space. To clean the files from the disk you the run the cleanmgr program in the windows.
Once you have completed these tasks, it is now time to defragment your computer. To defrag your computer, click on the start tab, select a program named dfrg.msc. Click on this program and then select the drive you wish to defrag i.e. C: drive which is default drive and then click on the defragment button.This would start the defragment process for your computer and arrange all your files in a proper manner.
Once you have defragmented your computer hard drive, you would be able to see immediate results in terms of improved speed. It would take lesser time for you to access your files as well as retrieve them. It is advised to defrag your computer regularly as well as run the cleanmgr program to ensure that your computer hard drive does not fragment and reduce the speed of your computer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6801124

Choosing The Right Computer For The Right Reasons

A computer is still a large investment for many people, so when buying one you need to make sure that you are buying one for the right reasons.
It is all too easy to make the wrong purchase and spend far more than you need on a computer that has features that you will never use. Indeed it is very easy to go in to a computer superstore and be swayed by a nice looking PC that looks great, but is not what you really need. It is also easy to get persuaded to buy the wrong computer hardware by a sharp salesman.
So before you even venture in to the store then you will need to decide what you are going to be using your computer for. If you will be mainly using it for office work such as word and excel documents, and general Internet browsing, then there is absolutely no need to buy a full multi-media PC, as you will simply be spending money on features that you do not need.
Or you may decide that you want to use your computer for playing online games, or watching videos, or downloading and listening to music on, in which case then a full multi-media solution will be the one to opt for.
You need to make sure you are certain of what you will be using it for as if you want to use it for a lot of multi-media, but buy a low specification computer, then you may waste your money and end up buying another computer instead.
Likewise you may rarely need to use a computer at home but may need one that you can take away on business or holiday. In which case then you would be better off with a laptop computer. A word of caution though, do not buy a laptop just for home use as you will find it not only very limiting, but you will pay far more for a laptop for a lesser specified machine compared to a desktop computer.
Also when buying a laptop be aware that many of the lower cost ones come with lots of "Free" software that is in reality only "Free" for the first couple of months, and after that you will have to pay extra to continue using the software. The cost of such software can often add several hundred pounds on to the purchase in the longer run.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6805232

How Do LCD TV's Differ From Flat Screen TV's?

LCD TV's and flat screen TVs are fast becoming the television of choice for consumers looking for quality televisions. Both flat screen TVs and LCD televisions are getting quite a lot of attention which can make it difficult to understand the difference between each one and which TV is the best for an individual. To help make your TV choice, below is a guide on how LCD TV's differ from flat screen TV's.
An LCD TV is a flat panel television that uses Liquid Crystal Display technology that you will find in computer monitors, cell phones, etc. LCD panels are thin and require less power to operate. LCD panels consist of 2 layers of a glass-type material which are polarized and "glued" together. One of the layers of the glass-type materials has been coated with a specific type of polymer that holds the individual liquid crystals. Electric current will travel through the individual crystals which permits the crystals to block or pass light to produce the images you see. LCD crystals do not produce their own light therefore they use an external light source such as a LED or fluorescent bulb for the image to be produced. For an LCD TV to create an image the LCD chip pixels must be 'backlit'.
The images on an LCD TV are not "scanned" by an electron beam. Instead, the pixels of an LCD TV are quickly turned on and off which will all depend on the needs of the image. When the pixels are turned off, they do not permit the backlight through, and when turned on, they permit the backlight through. There is not any radiation emitted from the screen. LCD TV's can be hung on a wall or placed on small stand or other furniture piece. These TVs are a popular choice for TV and home theater viewing.
Flat screen TVs integrate stunning designs and advanced technologies that provides consumers with a true cinematic experience. A flat screen TV creates the ultimate TV viewing experience. Flat screen TVs includes LEDs, LCDs and plasma. No matter where you are sitting you will have a perfect view. Plasma TVs provide sharp details, bold colors, sharp details, and incredible clarity. Flat screens have fully flat front surfaces and include numerous electronic visual display technologies. They are very lightweight and thin and have video displays that use cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Plasmas provide excellent contrast and black level performance and have wider viewing angles than the LCD. They are a good choice if you want to watch sports or play video games as they provide good viewing of natural motion with fast action.
If you need a screen smaller than 42" that is ultra-thin, LCD is the best choice. LCD displays are better suited for rightly lit rooms so they are a good choice if you do a lot of daytime viewing in a room with windows. LCD TVs are usually more energy efficient than plasma models with the same screen size. Plasma delivers an exceptional picture and provides crisp, brilliant HD performance. Your choice will depend on your budget and television viewing preferences.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6805640

Social Engineering, Email Harvesting

Social engineering is commonly understood to mean the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While it is similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victims.
I am going to talk about a skim used by spammers to harvest for legitimate email address from your contact list. There are plenty of ways used to harvest emails, but the one I am focusing on is "Email forwarding"
Normally when you create an email account, you will start building contact list, containing email addresses of your friends, relatives, co-workers, etc. Over time, you will have a substantial number of contacts in your contact book.
Email forwarding
"Forward" is a very handy function available in almost all email clients, this allows one to pass over the email to some other recipient. But something to note is; the forwarded mail includes the email address of the original sender and any other forwarded addresses of the same instance.
Email harvesting scenario
Say you are a GoodGuy with your email and 50 contacts on your mail account. The BadGuy sends you a mail with a very emotional religious message, or a very nice joke, or an irresistible offer to something that you are likely to fall for, and guilt's you into forwarding to at least 10 friends including the BadGuy. And you end up doing that, with good faith. Now 10 friends from your contact will receive your humbled mail message, with the instructions to do the same, "forward to at least 10 friends". At the same time the BadGuy receives a copy of any forward from the recursive senders.
Simply put, if you forward the mail to 10 contacts, and they do the same in good faith and the third circle does the same. "Roughly something like this happens"
1 + 10^1 + 10^2 + 10^3 approximately 1000 email contacts will have been harvested in just three circles, now this will keep growing depending on the number of forwards to the amount of contacts forwarded to. And then you and your friends start receiving some commercial mails from services that you never even visited or heard of. And you wonder how on earth they did they get my email. Well, you gave it to them; you actually helped them get even some of your friend's emails.
This is the effect of social engineering, the mail will play with your psychological consciousness, and you will think you are doing a good thing to respond; in return you are falling for somebodies social engineering scam.
Solution
There is no software to fight social engineering attacks, because it is you that you will end up giving up information, or executing some processes, or allowing some application to do something on your private sensitive information. The important thing is to build awareness, change the culture of the way we operate and disclose sensitive information.
To avoid becoming a victim of a social engineering attack:

• Be suspicious of unsolicited contacted from individuals seeking internal organizational data or personal information.
• Do not provide personal information or passwords over email or on the phone.
• Do not provide information about your organization.
• Pay attention to website URLs that use a variation in spelling or a different domain (e.g.,.com vs..net).
• Verify a request's authenticity by contacting the company directly.
• Install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls, and email filters.

If you think you are a victim of a social engineering attack:

• Report the incident immediately.
• Contact your financial institution and monitor your account activity.
• Immediately change all of your passwords.
• Report the attack to the police, and file a report with the authority.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6800836