promoting computer literacy and education in ... -...

The President’s Platform by Harold Nixon, President CCCGC

See us on the Web www.cccgc.net

August 2013 Char lotte Bytes

May Computer Drawing 2

50/50 Winner 2

Door Prize Winners 2

New Members 3

July Program Highlights 3

What is Ripping 4

Classes & Events Calendar 5

Speed Up Browser 6

Officers & Board Directors 7

Maximize Laptop Battery 7

Speed Up Browser Cont. 8

What Firewalls Do 9

Firewalls Continued 10

Library-ms Error 11

Library-ms Error 12

Surge Protectors 13

Speed Up Browser Concl. 14

Surge Protectors Concl. 14

Laptop Battery Cont. 15

Laptop Battery Concl. 16

Inside this issue:

Official Publication of the Charlotte County Computer Group Corp.

PROMOTING COMPUTER LITERACY AND EDUCATION IN CHARLOTTE COUNTY

The Next General

Meeting of CCCGC

will be August 6,

2013

VOL. XXV

No. VIII

We are entering our phase 2 of our office remodel expansion project.

The Recycle Program and our Backroom operation are swapping

space in order to improve the appearance of our Office .

The construction effort has been contracted to the Wallis—Mudd Re-

model Firm and should be finished by the end of August.

Stop in on meeting night and see the progress as the plan comes to-

gether.

I’m looking forward to seeing you at the monthly meeting on August

6th.

Harold

Charlotte County Computer Group

2280 Aaron Street Port Charlotte, FL 33952

Phone: 941-295-7672 941-625-4175 x244

E-mail: [email protected]

Computer Drawing

50/50 Winner

Char lotte Bytes

The winner this month is Dolores Garvis. As you can tell by the smile on her face she has good ideas on how to spend the mon-ey.

Door Prize Winners

Left to Right

Doug DeCamp

Lieda Boyko

Dick Evans

Deni Wise

Joanne Sullivan

RICHARD DRISCOLL was the winner of the

computer. Wow! It didn't take long for Richard

to get up and verify he was the winner of this

smart looking computer system.

July Program High-Lights

The Executive Board and Members of CCCGC welcome each of you to the group. We’re Here To Help. Mem-bership Has Its Privileges. If you have any questions, concerns or need computer help, please contact us at the office. We will endeavor to help you any way we can.

WELCOME New Members

Christopher Gover Tom Jack Deborah Triantafel Luca Navarro

Heather A Turnbull Susan Wright-Hoots Stanley Oleckna William P Weintraub

Robin Bros Donna Whalen

We had Richard (Dick) Evans entertained us. His website is rwevans.com or you can go to cccgc.info on our home page on the right hand side click and on Dick Evans website. You will see CCCGC website on the left hand side. Dick’s website will have notes or reports of all his classes as well as tonight’s meeting. We are going to learn how to take pic-tures of slides on your digital camera and put them on your computer. In order to get your pictures from the camera to the com-puter, you can attach the camera with the cord to the com-puter, or use a USB adaptor. Newer desktops and laptops have SD ports. You can unload the pictures into the com-puter and keep the pictures on the SD card as storage if you want. Over the years, the SD cards have become so cheap, it is good storage instead of burning on CD's or transferring to a flash drive. IPhones, cell phones are all different procedures to get the pictures to the computer. Once you have the pictures on the computer, you can crop and clean up them up even those taken from a web page like facebook. For a picture on facebook, you right click and save image then copy into your computer as a download and give it new name. Now the fun begins. You can now crop the picture, flip the picture, remove red eye and do other editing functions. You can then “save” the picture or “save as” and rename it. That way you can practice and decide what you like. You can always make a large picture smaller but you can't make a small one larger. Then take the picture(s) from your computer and put them on a flash drive or even on a SD card and take it to Walgreens for printing if you want. Again, for more ideas, get the handout from this meeting on cccgc.info, Dick Evans website, left hand side and go to CCCGC training notes. Thank you to Dick Evans for en-tertaining us.

Lydia

RIP has existed way before the RIAA (Recording Industry Associa on of America) had anything to say about it.

A RIP, as used today in the (Prin ng) industry, is really an acronym for Raster Image Processor. According to its func-

on, a raster image processor interprets an incoming PostScript language program, cre-

ates a display list that indicates how this program will be displayed on a page, and then

creates rasters (or pixels) of the display list in the designated colors at the selected reso-

lu on for the ul mate imaging process.

Ripping a CD is a method in which an original is converted to digital as a copy method. Predominantly, from an analog original to a digital copy.

This method was adapted when analog CD music recordings were copied to a digital for-mat such as wav, aiff or mp3. For the lack of other terminology, the same acronym was used for this. So, the act of RIPing a CD means to take an analog recording and store it as a copy in digital format (usually in lesser quality than the original)...As a rule, digital will ALWAYS be lower quality than analog.

Charlotte County Computer Group

Information: (941) 295-7672

(941) 625-4175 x244

Official publication of the Charlotte County

Computer Group Corporation

2280 Aaron Street

Port Charlotte, FL 33952

www.cccgc.info

www.cccgc.net

Charlotte Bytes

What is Ripping

Classes & Events Calendar

For more information go to www.cccgc.info

View/download Bytes

Please be sure to

register online for classes

1 Back To Basics 2 32 to 4 PM

Dick Evans

4 5 6 General Meeting 7 Maintenance 8 Back To Basics 9 107:15 PM 2 to 4 PM 2 to 4 PMClasses Ron Wallis Dick Evans5:00PM6:00 PM

11 12 Easeus Backup 13 14 15 Back To Basics16 172 to 4 PM 2 to 4 PM

Yvette Pilch Dick Evans

18 19 20 21 Windows 8 22 23 242 to 4 PMRon Wallis

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

NOTICE Notes:

OFFICE HOURS: 10:00 AM-2:00 PMAll Non Meeting Night Classes will be held in MONDAY -FRIDAY

Our New CCCGC Office. Please sign up for classes ONLINE:http://www.cccgc.info

August 2013 CCCGC Events CalendarSunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Charlotte Bytes

What Can You Do To Speed Up Your Browser? April 8, 2013 By Joel Lee

If you’re like me and you spend a huge portion of your day browsing the web (whether it’s for research, leisure, or just sheer boredom) then you understand how frustrating it is to have a slow, bloated brows-er that seems to be on its last leg. While some of that slowness can stem from issues unrelated to the browser, like ISP and computer hardware, there are some steps on how to speed up browser speeds.

I should make a note here that if you’re expecting a drastic, mind-blowing speed increase, you won’t find it in this article. Switching to a faster ISP package and upgrading your computer hardware (in particular, RAM) will offer the biggest boosts. The following tips can and will make your browsing experience somewhat sleeker, but don’t expect a “zero to hero” transformation.

Keep Fewer Tabs Open

My first encounter with tabbed browsing was with Firebird (an earlier incarnation of Firefox), though I’m pretty young so there may have been tabbed browsing before then. But here’s my point: tabbed browsing has been around for a long time and many of us, myself included, have started taking them for granted.

My first encounter with tabbed browsing was with Firebird (an earlier incarnation of Firefox), though I’m pretty young so there may have been tabbed browsing before then. But here’s my point: tabbed browsing has been around for a long time and many of us, myself included, have started taking them for granted.

When people are over my place and happen to see my browser, they inevi-tably remark at how many tabs I have open. Maybe you’re like that, too. I do it out of convenience

and I wouldn’t have it any other way. When I’m browsing and I come across something that seems interesting, I’ll open it in a new tab to browse later. If there’s a page that I want to save but it isn’t important enough to bookmark, I’ll keep it open in a tab, too.

But here’s the downside to convenience: each tab hogs up a bit of RAM and when you have too many tabs open your computer will be bogged down. It doesn’t matter which browser you’re using; sure, some browsers may be more efficient with their RAM usage, but ALL browsers will take up more resources with each new tab. God forbid some of those tabs are Flash-based, because those take up even more RAM!

If you’re a tab addict like me, channel that energy in other ways. Use bookmarks if you need to save items. If you want to mark an interesting article for later reading, use an extension like Instapaper or Read Later Fast.

Use Fewer Extensions and Addons

One of the biggest reasons why users will choose one browser over another is the plugin selection. Firefox calls them “addons,” Chrome calls them “extensions,” and other browsers will use other terms. But they all accomplish the same thing: extensibility and customization for your browser according to your needs.

See us on the Web

www.cccgc.net

PROMOTING COMPUTER LITERACY AND EDUCATION IN CHARLOTTE

The Charlotte County

Computer Group Corp.

Is a non-profit 501(c)3 organiza-

tion as classified by the Internal

Revenue Service.

Donations, gifts, bequests, lega-

cies, devices and transfers are deductible under federal laws.

Officers and Board of

Directors for 2013

President: Harold Nixon

Vice President: Lydia Rist

Secretary: A. Yvette Pilch

Treasurer: James Bridges

Director: John Hegard

Director: Larry Hurley

Director: Jonas Louis

Director: Frank Messina

Director: Ron Wallis

We’re on the Web www.cccgc.net

Five surefire ways to maximize your laptop's battery life

You adore your laptop. It lets you get down to business wherever you happen to be—airport lounge, coffee shop, your home office. It’s the key to your competitive edge.

That is, until its battery croaks. Just as you’re putting the final details on your Pow-erPoint presentation. At the airport. Two hours before takeoff. And with no pow-er outlet in sight. At that instant, you begin to wonder why you ever bought the ever-lovin’ boat anchor in the first place.

But love will bloom anew as soon as you recharge. Avoid the heartache, however temporary: Follow these five tips for maximizing your laptop’s run time.

Never miss an opportunity to plug your laptop into an AC outlet to top off its battery.

1. Plug in whenever possible

One surefire way to ensure that your laptop is always ready for action is to plug it into an AC outlet whenever possible. Keeping the machine fully charged makes it far more likely that you will always have the juice you need to complete your work. Purchase at least one extra AC adapter, so you’ll always have one in your office and one in your laptop bag for travel. If you work at home frequently, consider buying a third adapter to leave there.

A common misconception about laptops is that leaving the system plugged into AC power continuously will overcharge or shorten the life of its battery. Given that the lithium cells used in modern laptops will either catch fire or explode if overcharged, this is obviously not true. Lithium ion batteries stop charging once they reach full capacity, and keeping the battery charged reduces wear and tear on the power source, lengthening its useful life span. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036479/keep-your-laptop-battery-healthy-use-it-sparingly.html

2. Adjust the screen brightness

Modern displays with LED backlights are a major improvement over the CCFL (cold cath-ode fluorescent tube) backlit displays of yesteryear, in terms of both picture quality and power efficiency. Still, a laptop’s display claims a significant percentage of the power that the system consumes. As such, keeping the screen backlight low can increase your laptop’s run time noticeably. You should also take care in choosing where you work: A low back-light setting will be far more comfortable in a café with soft lighting than in a brightly lit room.

Continued on page 15


You adore your laptop. It lets you get down to business wherever you happen to be—airport lounge, coffee shop, your home office. It’s the key to your competitive edge.

That is, until its battery croaks. Just as you’re putting the final details on your PowerPoint presentation. At the airport. Two hours before takeoff. And with no power outlet in sight. At that instant, you begin to wonder why you ever bought the ever-lovin’ boat anchor in the first place.

But love will bloom anew as soon as you recharge. Avoid the heartache, however temporary: Follow these five tips for maximizing your laptop’s run time.

Never miss an opportunity to plug your laptop into an AC outlet to top off its battery.

1. Plug in whenever possible

One surefire way to ensure that your laptop is always ready for action is to plug it into an AC outlet whenever possible. Keeping the machine fully charged makes it far more likely that you will always have the juice you need to complete your work. Purchase at least one extra AC adapter, so you’ll always have one in your office and one in your laptop bag for travel. If you work at home frequently, consider buying a third adapter to leave there.

A common misconception about laptops is that leaving the system plugged into AC power continuously will overcharge or shorten the life of its battery. Given that the lithium cells used in modern laptops will either catch fire or explode if overcharged, this is obviously not true. Lithium ion batteries stop charging once they reach full capacity, and keeping the battery charged reduces wear and tear on the power source, lengthening its useful life span. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036479/keep-your-laptop-battery-healthy-use-it-sparingly.html

2. Adjust the screen brightness

Modern displays with LED backlights are a major improvement over the CCFL (cold cath-ode fluorescent tube) backlit displays of yesteryear, in terms of both picture quality and power efficiency. Still, a laptop’s display claims a significant percentage of the power that the system consumes. As such, keeping the screen backlight low can increase your laptop’s run time noticeably. You should also take care in choosing where you work: A low back-light setting will be far more comfortable in a café with soft lighting than in a brightly lit room.


PC World

What Can You Do To Speed Up Your Browser?

Continued from page 6

It’s no secret that many users have dozens and dozens of plugins installed. You’ve got plugins that spruce up the tab bar, improve readability, and block pesky ads. But just like tabs (explained above), each active plugin ends up using a little more CPU and RAM on your computer, which can result in some big performance hits.

The quickest way to solve this problem is uninstalling every browser plugin that you don’t absolutely need. This is a subjective decision that you need to make. Do you really need that weather plugin? How about that plugin that changes your tab colors? If your browser is slowing down, try disabling as many unnecessary plugins as you can.

Delete Cache and Browsing History

In some ways, your browser is like a car: it needs routine mainte-nance. Imagine if you never took your car in for an oil change or inspection. It may run well for a long time, but eventually there will be a buildup of gunk and goo and nothing will run at maximum capacity. Similarly, you need to clean your browser’s cache and history every once in a while.

“But wait, isn’t the cache meant to speed up browsing?” Yes. Browsers will save certain pages and images locally so that the next time you visit that site, it can load them instantly without having to download them again. However, as your cache increases in size, the browser spends more time digging through those im-

ages and pages in order to find the right ones. Caches are most efficient when they aren’t filled with too much data.

In Firefox, you can go to Options and look under the Privacy tab where you can delete recent history, cookies, cache, and other things. In Chrome, open the Wrench and navigate to Settings, look at the Advanced settings for “Clear Browsing Data” to wipe out history, cookies, cache, etc. You can do the same in other browsers by looking in their preference settings.

Change Your DNS Servers

I recently wrote an article on DNS servers and how they impact your Internet speeds. In essence, the Internet relies on a network of DNS servers which are used to translate certain URLs (like www.makeuseof.com) into IP addresses. Your DNS servers deter-mine which route your Internet connection takes, which can result in slow speeds if the routing is poor (a simplified explanation, but enough to understand why DNS is im-portant).

Conclusion on Page 14

Char lotte Bytes

HTG Explains: What Firewalls Actually Do

You’ve probably heard that firewalls are an important security protection, but do you know why that is? Many people don’t, if references to firewalls in TV shows, movies, and other forms of popular media are any indication.

A firewall sits between a computer (or local network) and anoth-er network (such as the Internet), controlling the incoming and outgoing network traffic. Without a firewall, anything goes. With a firewall, the firewall’s rules determine which traffic is al-lowed through and which isn’t.

Why Computers Include Firewalls

Most people now use routers at home so they can share their Internet connection between multiple devices. Howev-er, there was a time when many people plugged their com-puter’s Ethernet cable directly into their cable or DSL mo-dem, connecting the computer directly to the Internet. A computer connected directly to the Internet has a publicly addressable IP – in other words, anyone on the Internet can reach it. Any network services you have running on your computer – like the services that come with Windows for file and printer sharing, remote desktop, and other features – would be accessible to other computers on the Internet.

The original release of Windows XP didn’t contain a firewall. The combination of having services designed for local net-works, no firewall, and computers connected directly to the Internet led to many Windows XP computers becoming infected within minutes of being connected directly to the Internet.

The Windows Firewall was introduced in Windows XP Service Pack 2, and it finally enabled a firewall by default in Windows. Those network services were isolated from the Internet. Rather than accepting all incoming connections, a firewalled system drops all incoming connections unless it’s specifically configured to allow these incoming connections.

This prevents people on the Internet from connecting to local net-work services on your computer. It also controls access to network services from other computers on your local network. That’s why you’re asked what type of network it is when you connect to one in Windows. If you connect to a Home network, the firewall will allow access to these services. If you connect to a Public network, the firewall will deny access.


Char lotte Bytes

Charlotte Bytes

HTG Explains: What Firewalls Actually Do Continued from page 10

Even if a network service itself is configured not to allow connections from the Internet, it’s possible that the service itself has a security flaw and a specially crafted request could allow an attacker to run arbitrary code on your com-puter. A firewall prevents this by getting in the way, pre-venting incoming connections from even reaching these potentially vulnerable services.

More Firewall Functions

Firewalls sit between a network (such as the Internet) and the computer (or local network) the firewall is protecting. A firewall’s main security purpose for home users is block-ing unsolicited incoming network traffic, but firewalls can do much more than that. Because a firewall is sitting be-tween these two networks, it can analyze all traffic reach-ing or leaving the network and decide what to do with it. For example, a firewall could also be configured to block certain types of outgoing traffic or it could log suspicious traffic (or all traffic).

A firewall could have a variety of rules that allow and deny certain types of traffic. For example, it could only allow connections to a server from a specific IP address, drop-ping all connection requests from elsewhere for security.

Firewalls can be anything from a piece of software running on your laptop (like the firewall included with Windows) to dedicated hardware in a corporate network. Such cor-porate firewalls could analyze outgoing traffic to ensure no malware was communicating through the network, moni-tor employee’s network use, and filter traffic — for exam-ple, a firewall could be configured to only allow web browsing traffic through the firewall, blocking access to other types of applications.

If you’re like most people, you have a router at home. Your router actu-ally functions as a sort of hardware firewall due to its NAT (network

address translation) feature, preventing unsolicited incoming traffic from reaching your computers and other devices behind your router.

Image Credit: Firewall Diagram from Wikimedia Commons, ChrisDag on Flickr

Library-ms Is No Longer Working In Windows 7/8 Error

June 8, 2013 by admin

Libraries, one of the hundreds of features introduced with Windows 7, make it easier to search, find, and organize your files. With Libraries, you can easily organize files scattered across multiple drives and networks with ease. In simple words, a library helps you see your files in one place, no matter where they are located.

Both Windows 7 and Windows 8 ship with four libraries and let users add new libraries. Even though Libraries work flawlessly, sometimes, when you try to open up a library or when you try to a add file or folder to a library, you might get “Documents.library-ms is no longer working. This library can be safely deleted from your computer. Folders that have been included will not be affected” error.

If you’re experiencing the same error, you have no option but to delete one or more libraries and then creating it again. As you

might know, deleting a library won’t delete files or folders from their original location. However, you will need to add all files

and folders to the particular library all over again after creating the new library.

That is, for instance, if you have deleted Pictures library, then you will need to add all those pictures and folders containing pho-

tos to the newly created Pictures library all over again.

Creating and deleting a library is fairly simple in Windows 7 and Windows 8, but if you’re not sure how to do that, simply follow

the given instructions:

Continued on Page 12

Official Publication of the Charlotte County Computer Group Corp.

PROMOTING COMPUTER LITERACY AND EDUCATION IN CHARLOTTE COUNTY

Into Windows: Fix

Char lotte Bytes

Library-ms Is No Longer Working In Windows 7/8 Error

Conclusion from page 11

Step 1: Open up Windows Explorer or File Explorer.

Step 2: In the left-pane of the window, right-click on the li-brary name that isn’t working, and click Delete button to de-lete it. Click Yes button when you see the confirmation dialog

Step 3: Next, in the left-pane, right-click on Libraries icon,

click New, select Library, and finally type a name for your new

library to create a new library.

Step 4: Lastly, add all your favorite files and folders that

you would like to see in the new library by right-clicking on them, clicking Include in library option and then selecting your newly

created library. That’s it!

INTO WINDOWSINTO WINDOWSINTO WINDOWS

Char lotte Bytes

Protect Your Gadgets: Why You Need a Surge Protector

Do you have your PC, televi- sion, or other expensive electronics plugged directly into a power outlet? You shouldn’t. You should plug your gadgets into a surge protector, which isn’t necessarily the same thing as a power strip.

Sure, we all might forget about surge protection be-cause everything seems to be going fine, but it only takes one power surge or spike and your expensive electronics could become useless.

Power Surges and Spikes

Voltage-spike Electrical sockets are supposed to provide a consistent volt-age of electricity, and devices you plug into your power outlets depend on this. In some cases, a power spike can occur when the voltage suddenly increases. This can often be caused by lightning strikes, power outages, or malfunctions in the grid the power company is responsible for. A spike is a short increase in voltage, while a surge is one that lasts more than a few seconds. Surges are usually caused by problems with the electrical grid.

Whatever the cause, a sudden increase in current can damage electronics that are drawing power from the surging or spiking outlet. It could even render them completely inoperable, the increase in current having damaged them beyond repair.

How Surge Protectors Help

Standard electrical outlets don’t have any protection against power surges and spikes. Surge protectors are generally made and sold in the form of power strips, although you can also buy single-outlet surge protectors that sit against the socket and provide a single, protected outlet. You can also pick up travel surge protectors, which are small, offer fewer outlets, and will fit in a lap-top bag.

Surge protectors use a variety of different methods to do this, but they generally boil down to a system that diverts energy over the safe threshold to a protective component in the surge protector itself. The surge protector ensures that only the normal, safe amount of electricity passes through to your devices.

Power Strips Aren’t Necessarily Surge Protectors

Some people are confused about this and call every power bar a “surge protector,” but this isn’t true. The cheapest power strips are often not surge protectors and only pro-vide additional power outlets for you. When using a power strip for your expensive electronics, be sure its specifications say it has a surge protector. Next, you’ll see a type of power bar that probably isn’t a surge protector


Char lotte Bytes

Conclusion from page 8 What Can You Do To Speed Up Your Browser?

Fortunately, there’s a tool that I recently discovered called DNS Jumper which easily changes your computer’s DNS settings to

what you want. It’s portable (no installation), easy to learn, and has an internal database of different DNS services, including

Google Public DNS and OpenDNS. If you don’t know which one to use, you can use the “Fastest DNS” option and DNS Jumper

will select the fastest one for you.

If you don’t want to use DNS Jumper or if you’re on a system that doesn’t support it, then you can use a program like Name-Bench to optimize your DNS settings. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Conclusion

Web browsers may seem simple at first glance, but there’s a lot of technology under the hood that keeps the web browsing ex-perience as smooth as it is. Like any other machine, if you don’t keep your browser well-oiled and clean, it’ll start to hang and sputter and slow down your system. Keep the above tips in mind and your browser won’t feel as laggy as it normally does.

Have any other tips, tricks, programs, or plugins that might help with how to speed up browser loads? Please share them with us in the comments! We all know how frustrating it can be to have a languid browser and we’d all benefit from more suggestions.

Image Credit: Browser Via Shu erstock

Protect Your Gadgets: Why You Need a Surge Protector Conclusion from page 13

You should also consider sticking with a surge protector from a reputable company. The cheapest surge protector from an obscure manufacturer may not provide much protection when it’s actually needed. Reputable surge protectors will also offer warranties, promising to replace any electronics connected to the surge protector if a surge occurs and they become dam-

aged. Look for this before you buy a surge protector.

How Often Do You Need to Replace a Surge Protector?

Surge protectors don’t last forever. The components they use to divert energy can wear down as a result of power surges. This means that your surge protector’s life depends on how frequently power surges occur in your area. A surge protector can only absorb a limited amount of additional power.

Some surge protectors have lights that go off (or on) to let you know when they can no longer provide any protection, while some of the more expensive surge protectors may even have an audible alarm that goes off to let you know of this. Keep an eye on your surge protector and replace it when the surge protector asks you to.

Surge protectors are easy to forget about when everything seems to be going fine, and they would be completely useless in a per-fect world where the electrical system never malfunctioned. However, surge protectors are a fairly inexpensive and important way of protecting your expensive gadgets. You probably want a power strip for your gadgets, anyway — so you might as well get a surge protector that provides one.

Image Credit: John Fowler on Flickr, Wikipedia, Kris Krug on Flickr, Joel Penner on Flickr, Martin Dufort on Flickr

Char lotte Bytes

PC World

Continued from page 7

Another way to reduce the power the display consumes is to tweak the automatic backlight controls in Windows. Open Control Panel, choose Hardware and Sound > Pow-er Options, and click Change plan settings for the active power plan. Choosing an aggressive timeout of 1 to 3 minutes under the ‘Dim the display’ and ‘Turn off the dis-play’ options while the machine is operating on battery power will eke out more battery life by dimming or switching off the screen after the specified amount of inac-tivity. You can also click the Change advanced power set-tings option to set the level of brightness when the laptop is in the dimmed state.

3. Track down errant apps

One culprit often responsible for draining the battery ahead of its time is the presence of errant software appli-

cations that suck up dispro-portionate processor cy-cles. Unnecessary utilities running in the background, or an app that is hanging, can also cause this effect. Web browsers are particu-larly prone to the latter problem, due to the multi-ple plug-ins, rendering en-gines, and scripting engines embedded within them.

Use the tabs in Windows Task Manager to identify and kill errant programs that are sucking up battery life unnecessarily.

Modern CPUs save power by dynamically scaling back their clock speed to the minimum possible, but they can do so only when apps aren’t active. If you fail to deal with rogue apps, they will not only drain battery power—they might also slow down your entire system. One clue to the existence of an errant app is if your laptop fan frequently kicks into high gear when the machine should be idle.

Resolving the problem is relatively straightforward: Press the Ctrl-Alt-Delete key combination, launch Windows Task Manag-er, and use it to identify processes that are showing unexplained high utilization. If a program won’t exit normally, terminate the offending process by right-clicking it and selecting Kill Process. For Web browsers, shutting off all instances usually works. Should all else fail, perform a system restart.

Continued on Page 16

Char lotte Bytes

Conclusion from page 15


4. Disable intensive background apps

Errant apps aside, applications that make intensive use of the processor or network should remain closed when your laptop isn’t plugged in. Peer-to-peer software such as BitTorrent clients and computationally intensive applications such as distributed-computing projects (Folding@Home, for example) are out. You can also confirm that Windows Update and other software up-daters are not attempting to download large software patches.

Disabling automatic Windows Update functions outright is too draconian (particularly if you forget to reinstate the feature later), but periodically check-ing on your network usage for unex-plained spikes will allow you to identify and stop large file transfers before they gobble up precious minutes of battery life.

5. Disable unneeded devices

You can disable unneeded hardware devices or ports to squeeze out a few more minutes of power, although this option isn’t possible with every laptop. Start by disabling unneeded wireless capabilities, such as built-in data modems and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios (many laptops have hardware switches for this purpose).

The optical-disc drive is another power guzzler that can drain batteries fast, so don’t leave a DVD or Blu-ray disc in the drive if you don’t need it. Finally, many laptops these days come with backlit keyboards; these are great when you’re in a dark environment, but you can save precious power by doing without the feature when your laptop is running on battery power.

PC World