Quick tip: How to use Safe Mode for a Windows/Mac-based computer.

Hello all!  This will be a fairly short blog, and I may start posting these more often.  As an avid computer user, I find interesting and neat tricks that users can use in case of certain scenarios.  If a computer doesn't work as intended, most people end up either asking their friends or calling technical support for help.  I frequently get questions asking, "how do you do this?", "what happens if [insert situation here]?", and "will I get a virus from this?"  That's where I come in.

Today's topic involves the situation where your computer just doesn't work as intended.  Maybe there's some weird error message popping up that says that you're lame, but if you buy our software, you'll be the coolest kid on the block.  Maybe your computer has decided that it doesn't like your taste of music and as a result, it just stops wanting to work.  Or maybe your computer really hates you.  Who knows? For the situations that are relatively plausible, however, there's (almost) always a way to save your computer from problems.

Windows and Mac both have an option to boot into a mode called "Safe Mode."  For the most part, this disables services from automatically running at startup so that only the necessary, core processes are only running.  To run this:

For a Windows-based machine, boot up your computer and continually press/hold F8.  You'll get to a menu that looks something like this:

Windows 7's Advanced Boot Options 

If your computer isn't booting up correctly on startup, you can try one of two things.  I would first try using "Last Known Good Configuration," which (as you can tell by the option) boots your computer based on the last configuration that worked successfully.  In the event that this doesn't work, you can try "Repair Your Computer." This runs diagnostic tests on your RAM, checks your system files for any corruption, and helps restore your system files to factory defaults if some system files somehow have disappeared.  

If your computer does boot successfully, but you get slow-down issues/bugs to fix, then consider running it in "Safe Mode." As mentioned above, only the core processes will run.  This is particularly useful if you have any form of malware, be it spyware, adware, viruses, trojan horses, etc. Run a scanner in safe mode to thoroughly clean up problems.

The process is similar for a Mac-based computer.  Boot up your computer and hold down the Shift key once your hear the startup sound.  You can release it once you see the Apple logo and progress indicator as shown below:

Once you see the progress indicator, you can release the Shift key.

Once you get into safe mode, you can diagnose your computer the same way you would with a Windows-based computer.  While you don't get a plethora of options, the core services still run so you can fix any problems you might find at startup.

That does it for this blog! Post your comments/questions below! As always, be sure to subscribe for more techie news!

Until next time,

Corey

How to save plenty of money on HDMI cables!

Hey guys.  In this generation that we are living in, things are becoming more "high-def." Starting off with 6-channel, gray-scaled televisions, to the analog color television, and now with flat-screen digital televisions, we expect to receive sharper and more vivid images coming from the screen.  With resolutions, contrast ratios, and framerates gradually increasing, technology demands more powerful wiring to transmit data from peripherals, such as your DVD/Blu-Ray player, or your game consoles.  Meet the HDMI cable.

so simple, yet so powerful!

This little wire can transmit both audio and video at a typical rate of 2 Gbps (think about sending about a quarter of a movie to your computer in a second [a typical movie in DVD format is about 8 Gigabytes]), and a high speed rate of 10.2 Gbps (smaller wires).  These wires are powerful, but a plethora of manufacturers sell them at high prices for even the shortest wires.  Take a look: 

Best Buy sells a 6.6 foot cable for almost $40. Monster brand.

Fry's Electronics sells a 6 foot cable for almost $25. Belkin brand.

Walmart sells a 4 meter (approx. 13.12 feet) cable for $20. TreQue brand.

I got fooled by this a while back when buying an HDMI cable; that is, my parents had bought me a Monster brand HDMI cable from Walmart (sold for about $35!).  However, take a look at this:

Amazon sells a 2 meter (approx 6.6 feet) cable for $2.84. DVI Gear brand.

Isn't that astonishing? It even shows the list price being about $40, and yet the price is cut down 93%! I find that incredible.  This is by far the number one selling HDMI cable on Amazon, and if you need one, I strongly recommend this.  All HDMI cables are virtually the same...brand does not matter.  Some companies (such as Monster) claim faster speeds and better picture quality, but the differences in how the cable is made are subtle, and not even noticeable.

So, next time you need a hi-def cable...buy it off of Amazon cheap! :)

That's all for now. I'll post another blog revolving around my Green Machine eventually!

Corey