Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Updating your drivers and software sometimes can significantly improve the speed of your PC and software, as well as fixing old bugs or adding new functionality. Unfortunately, many manufacturers don’t build into their applications an auto-update process, so the only way to do this is manually.

I get around this by keeping a bookmarks folder on my PC where I store links to the sites for all my software and hardware. Then every month or so, I spend 30 mins upgrading all my software and drivers. This is a good habit to get into to keep your machine running smoothly and to stop problems happening further on down the line.

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Tags: computer, drivers, hardware, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

RadarSync is a free application that will search your PC and in under 2 minutes will tell you about any new drivers and software updates that are available. I haven’t used this service yet, but I have bookmarked it for future reference as it could be quite useful.

Radarsync is extremely tiny at only 300kb which is good. There are two service levels available. The free service provides a report of what updates are available,

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Tags: drivers, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Well, as expected, I ran into some problems today, the first being driver-related (no surprise there). I have the Microtek Scanmaker 4900. Have they come out with Vista-compatible drivers yet? No sirree Bob. Not only that, but Vista does allow you to install the XP drivers. It’s just that once they are installed, they don’t work. Vista simply does not see the scanner. So you then have to uninstall it (well, you don’t have to, but there’s no point in having them installed).

Vista is so smart that it tells you what does and doesn’t work, right? So why didn’t it say that these would not work? It told me that the Creative drivers would not work and they did, and it didn’t tell me that the Microtek drivers wouldn’t work and they didn’t.

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Tags: drivers, vista, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

IT professionals already know the importance of maintaining system integrity and thus, performance. Reliability isn’t just gained through good looks and prayer, however. Many of these negative issues stem from a single source: disk fragmentation. The following are suggested steps and know-how to help you maintain your own PC without seeking help from the acolytes of the help desk.

The Common Tragedies of Disk Fragmentation
Crashes. System hangs/freezing. Slow Boot times. Boot failures. Slow back up times. File corruption. Data loss. Disk fragmentation can even cause program errors, cache issues, and complete hard drive failures. The absolute first step to maintaining a healthy drive is storing your related files near each other on the drive. Try and keep them in chronological order, too. Even small amounts of fragmentation amongst often-used files can cause complete chaos.

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Tags: buy, computer, drivers, hardware

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

The Vista era has officially begun. The question is, has the world changed? Not yet, although I think it’s inevitable that it will.

I’ve been using the shipping version of Vista for about three months, and although I’m impressed overall, it’s still full of nagging annoyances. The wireless networking, for example, seems to work haphazardly, and driver support is still inadequate. Take 3D graphics drivers, for example. nVidia can’t seem to get its act together with a stable driver release, and AMD’s ATI division isn’t doing much better.

I downloaded ATI’s Vista update, called Catalyst 7.1, and it gave my sleek, new 22-inch View-Sonic widescreen LCD monitor a case of iridescent chicken pox. Dialing the driver down to 16-bit color solved the problem but produced a less-than-breathtaking image. So I reverted all the way back to Microsoft’s Vista driver for my ATI card. My image isn’t speedy, but at least it’s clean.

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Tags: computer, drivers, hardware, software, vista, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Windows Vista includes a new hard drive encryption feature called BitLocker Drive Encryption. BitLocker can be a very useful security feature for businesses and home users that have sensitive and confidential information stored on their computer. Unfortunately, BitLocker Drive Encryption by default requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM Chip) version 1.2 or later installed in your computer. A lot of the computers and laptops on the market do not come with TPM chips installed since they are typically only found in premium model business computers. If you have Windows Vista Business, Ultimate or Enterprise but do not have a TPM chip, you can still use BitLocker Drive Encryption.

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Tags: drivers, vista, windows

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

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Tags: drivers, hardware, software, vista

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

ARLINGTON, Va.–Simply booting up a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop can tell people sniffing wireless network traffic a lot about your computer and about you. Soon after a computer powers up, it starts looking for wireless networks and network services. Even if the wireless hardware is then shut-off, a snoop may already have caught interesting data.

Much more information can be plucked out of the air if the computer is connected to an access point, in particular an access point without security. “You’re leaking all kinds of information that an attacker can use,” David Maynor, chief technology officer at Errata Security, said Thursday in a presentation at the Black Hat DC event here. “If the government was taking this information from you, people would be up in arms. Yet you’re leaking this voluntarily using your laptop at the airport.”

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Tags: drivers, internet, web, wi-fi

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Power uses go to great lengths to tweak their systems in order to experience improved performance but I’m here to tell you that all the registry tweaks and killing unnecessary services won’t beat fitting a 10,000 RPM drive and loading your OS onto it.

I’m a huge fan of fitting as much RAM into your PC as you can afford (up to the 4GB limit if you are running 32-bit Windows) but once your maxed out on RAM it can be tricky to find effective ways to boost performance.

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Tags: drivers, hardware, vista, windows, xp

Originally published at PC Tips Box. Please leave any comments there.

Vista will automatically defragment your drive for you. However, many people like to defragment right before they install a new program or move large amounts of data. Here is how to defrag on demand.

1. Click Start Orb
2. Click Control Panel
3. Select Control Panel Home
4. Select System and Maintenance
5. Select Defragment your hard drive under Administrative Tools
6. You may need to confirm the UAC
7. Click the Defragment Now button

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Tags: drivers, vista, windows