First of all, let’s talk about fragmentation. Fragmentation occurs when the file system can’t allocate enough contiguous space to store a complete file as a unit, so it divides the file in small parts and allocate them in small gaps between other files.

Why fragmentation is bad for me as user?

Imagine that you are your computer hard drive, and you get a request to access a file, but this file is not all in one place, it’s divided and stored in 4 different drawers, and now imagine that these 4 drawers are located in 4 different rooms; in order for you to retrieve the file, you have to go to the first room, and search in the first drawer for the first part of the file, then proceed to the second, third and fourth room respectively. You will loose a lot of time, and you will be deteriorated sooner than having the file not fragmented and located in just one place. Your computer access files and data all the time, if information is fragmented, you computer will be slower and will be deteriorated sooner.

Difference between a fragmented and a defragmented hard drive

What can I do to avoid fragmentation related problems?

We recommend to perform a “file defragmentation” to prevent this kind of problems.

How can I perform a file defragmentation?

Go to your start menu, and search for Defragmenter. This will show you the Disk Defragmenter, select it and press the defragment button to begin defragmentation.

Defragmentation is a process that takes more than 15 minutes, depending on the status of your hard drive. Just be patient, you are helping your computer to perform better.

How often should i do this task?

It depends on how many files you have on your hard drive as well as how heavily your pc is used, for daily used computers, it is recommended to do a disk defragmentation it least 3 times a year, ideal situation is to be done once a month.

We welcome your comments and questions regarding this article.

Upcoming Post: How to AUTOMATE simple maintenance tasks that your computer can do by itslef !!!

This started early last year, the news and other media covered this issue, but lately i’m seeing more fraud calls targeting residential pc owners.

This is how it goes, you will recieve a call with an 8** number telling you that this call is from MICROSOFT, and they have a lot of error messages lately from your computer and if you dont let them fix it for you, your computer will be exposed for hackers and all kind of scary stuff.

Once they get you scared enough, they move on to step 2, asking you to give them access to your computer, by disabling few security feature in your system, click here and click there, just until they manage to gain access to your computer, and run their programs to steal all your passwords, financial sites access, identity information, …. etc, oh and yeah, they will leave these programs running in your computer to register any new passwords and send it to them.

People, be aware of this.

First, MICROSOFT will never call you (they are too busy counting their fortune) if you need Microsoft you call them. second, giving remote access to your computer is serious business, never give access to your computer unless you know that other end and have done business with them in the past.

Why no one can stop this scam? well, catching a bad guy overseas in a different country takes some time, in the mean time, educate yourself and people around you against these attempts.

What can i do to make sure I’m receiving a legit call? simple, ask the caller for their name, phone number and the company they are calling from, make sure you write it down, (in most cases this is where the bad guy gets scared and hangs up the call), if they give you a number, tell them that you will hang up and call them on the number they gave you ( do it, don’t just say it)

What should i do if i got scammed? well, First, call your Trusted IT Tech. to clean your PC and remove any link or return access from your computer. Second, call your bank, credit card issuer and inform them that you have been a victim of an Internet fraud. Third, Change ALL (i repeat, ALL) your passwords, staring from emails, and ending with your online banking passwords, don’t forget facebook password.

please remember that I’m not a security specialist, i’m simply sharing my thoughts and the thoughts of other people who actually received these calls and their experiences. adding your thoughts and comments will be appreciated as well.

until the next post, wishing you all safe surfing and happy Internet browsing.

This is a constant debate that i often fall into with friends who uses Iphone, some of this think that i should do a commercial for android

 For the average user really NO Difference, both phones make calls and do MOST of the tasks same way, BUT there are few differences that made even my dad go with an android phone, lets see some of these that really matter to most of us

More phone customization choices for Android:
I’m not talking here about the phone theme, background or colors but also about the start up screens, start up launchers and even keyboards and phone dialers, when it comes to how you want to use your phone, Android have more choices for personalization.

More choices for phone hardware:
When it comes to IPhone, its one and only one (take it or leave kinda deal), vs Android is an operating system that come installed on many different brands of phones from different manufacturers, so you have more choices of what you want in your phone as well as how much you want to pay for it.

Dont have to buy a phone every time a new operating system released:
Every time apple releases a new IOS, you know this means that you need a new phone to get the new bells and whistles, this is NOT the case for Android, most android phone manufacturers, simply release an update for the new AOS which you can simply install it on your phone and its new again.

There is only one IPhone Flavor:
Because Iphone operating system is owned by Apple, there is no way anybody can modify the functions or add new ones without breaking your agreement with apple. now with Android, being the FREE, OPEN SOURCE operating system released to the public, anybody with some programming background can FULLY modify a complete AOS and install it on their phones or share it with other, there is a huge android developers community that makes perfectly working Android AOS that you can download for FREE and install on your phone without breaking any rules.

You dont need to jailbreak Android phones:
In order to install apps from your SD memory card or any apps outside the app market, you have to jailbreak Iphone which means you have to be an outcast, no warranty, no support,  nothing,  simply because you are thinking of installing competitive apps to what THEY CHOSE to put on THIER phones, on the other hand with Android phones is a chekmark added in the settings window is really all it takes to allow apps to be installed from your SD (off Market)

More apps on the Android app market:
Yes, its official now, and i should add, most of them are free apps, more than paid ones. as well as Android app market is OPEN for COMPETITORS, just because Android comes with its own browser, doesn’t mean they have to Ban other competitors from adding their apps to the market, I wish this was the case for Apple app market.

And finally, SIRI :
Apple made a big deal (and a whole new phone)  just because they came up with an app that Android had since day one, seriously, on android phones we have the native voice search functions and voice dialer that comes with any phone, not to mention, similar to SIRI, on the android market app there are many ( my girl is Jeanie, because she is FREE)

so next time you are out there shopping for a new phone, remember this,
Turn OFF the Iphone commercial running in your head and look for a phone where you can pay less and get more.

In our modern life today, as much as we have luxury we have risks as well, everything comes with its own tax tag, one of these things are the computers we use everyday and everywhere.

any doctor would tell you that the first enemy to your eye is not the sun but its your own computer monitor, we tend to stick so close to our monitors, focusing on the screen without blinking for long minutes, which causes a whole lot of damage we are all aware of but either we don’t care or we don’t know what to do to prevent.

just like there are SCREEN SAVERS, nowadays we have EYE SAVERS, they are programs set to interrupt your staring at the monitor and  remind to look somewhere else and BLINK a little.

there are so many of them free and paid, with different bells and whistles. but what you need really is the basic purpose of these programs which is to remind you to excersice and moist your eyes.

my pick for the day is a FREEWARE Eye Defender Defender (yes its free) from eterlab.com . works like a charm with easy installation and different settings, running every time you turn on your computer.

so hurry up and download it from the link below, unless you really think you look sexy wearing glasses.

Eye Defender, eterlab.com

It is a fact that computers are major part of our daily life, so we need to stop for a moment and think what really fits our life style and make it easier, often I get asked this question by customers when I tell them that they need a new computer to replace the old or damaged  pc they have right now.

well, the answer is different from person to another depending on the situation and the customer needs, but I thought I list down the the pros and cons of owning a pc versus a laptop hoping this might help you decide what to buy in your next purchase.

its true,  a laptop these days is as powerful and efficient as a desktop, besides its lighter and more portable so we can carry it around the house or even outside, not to mention they are getting cheaper and cheaper every day.
BUT, we need to consider that they get outdated faster than desktops, and you cant upgrade most components as similar to a desktop. Same rule applies to repairs, not all laptop repairs can be done locally as we do for our desktops, sometime you end up sending your laptop to the manufacturer for few days to handle repairs.
When it comes to security and privacy, we have to realize that laptop portability is a blessing and a curse at the same time because its too light and easy to be misplaced or stolen.

There you have it, now the decision  is yours, so choose wisely and best of luck. What I usually do to help customers make their mind, is ask them WHAT DO YOU NEED IT FOR?, ask yourself the same question and this will help you decide what to pick.

Don’t worry, its very solid.

Many of you have heard the term “information Cloud” but not everybody knows what it means. simply have your much needed information on the internet in a place where you can access it AND use it from ANYWHERE.

with the advancements in computer technology we are relying more and more on the internet for everything in our daily life, so why not in our business. to setup an information cloud for your business, the cost is very close to NOTHING.

In the old days it used to cost an arm and a leg to start a business, especially when it comes to buying software, and then upgrading them EVERY year, these days all you need is a computer and internet access, to reach to your cloud, most of the internet Giants offer some free services, if not all the services like what Google Does, Yahoo and Hotmail.

For the experienced IT, the most favorite is Google for few reasons actually, you can get everything they offer for free, you can customize EVERY single app of the cloud to work and look the way you want it, and on top of what Google already offer, you get a huge Google app market for third party service providers where you can integrate their services into your Google account.

Ok, lets start,

Email account
first, as soon as you go to get a Google account you will be assigned an email address that you can use as an essential communication tool in your business.
emails inbox can be accessed in more than a way, traditionally and untraditionally, it can even be liked to your smart phone where you can read and respond to your emails on the road.

Calendar
Google Calendar is another must have in your business, you can simply send a meeting request to a client email or accept one directly in your calendar, and the same applies here, its accessible by your smart phone.
for Smartechno IT members, we all love our Smartechno Calendar ( powered by Google) where you can share your calendar with other members to add appointments for you when you are on the road.

Documents
Again, all you need is an internet access to reach in to your document section to Create (.doc) letters that are 100% compatible with MS word where you can send it by email to clients, same thing with Excel sheets, power point presentations and PDF files, the Docs section has a large template library to speed up your work.
You can even upload documents that you previously created on your computer and continue editing them in the Docs section. as well as share them with other cloud members where you can all colaborate on the same document at the same time, so when you add a number to that excel sheet you associate can see the change instantly in real time.

Google Talk
similar to MSN or Yahoo Messenger, Google talk comes ready for Chat, this is a very nice tool where me and the rest of the team use it as a replacement for SMS services so we don’t end up with huge Cellphone bill.

Google Voice
Every business needs a phone, with Google voice you get a full Phone system, where calls can follow you where ever you are, you can use it to call out and send SMS as well, unfortunately, only US numbers are available at this time, last I heard Canadian numbers are coming soon.

The conclusion here is to setup a very effective business environment with the lowest budget possible, where you can use it for years and make sure it grows with you.
and if you have a guy like me on your side, you can setup your own domain name, with your own email addresses and still be able to use Google Apps, this way you have the look and feel of a corporate.

this great office package used to be known as open office which still exist as well. Libre office comes to the battle field ready to compete with MS office with full compatibility features even to the latest versions of MS Office XML Documents (docx files), where you can create or open files with MS office 2003 and up formats such as Excel sheets, Word and Power Point Presentations.
Another handy feature i found is the ability to save your documents in PDF format, directly from the software window.

because its an open source software (FREE), there is a huge community to provide, modules and add-on’s to increase the efficiency and usability, and yes most of these add-ons are free as well.

this can be the new best friend to student  and parent, saving a good chunk of money buying software for schools.

to download go to www.libreoffice.org