What’s the difference between a slow computer and a slow internet connection?

I am sorry I have to mention this topic but it is my pet hate. I often get calls for computer help, mostly from my friends and family as I do not have a computer repair business any longer. When they ring me I get straight to question time and steer the conversation the way I want it to go. Unfortunately when you ask someone about their computer problem, they all like to ramble on and tell the life story of the computer. The reason I have to “cut to the chase” is because people think that having a slow internet connection means that they have a slow computer. Well it does not!

You can have a bad internet connection that can make it look like you actually have a computer problem and it is deceiving. It is best to sort out where the problem is so you can fix it. For example if it was an internet connection problem you would ring your Internet Service provider. If you had a computer problem you would need a computer techie to help you. These are completely different areas.

Here are some obvious signs that your internet connection is slow and not your computer:

• You are opening programs and your computer opens them asap, but when you open your email program and something is wrong.
• You are browsing the internet and and you cannot get a page to load. You cannot get from one page to the other without a serious delay or error.
• You open your Internet browser and you get a message saying “this page could not be displayed”.

Signs of having a problem with your computer:

• You try to run a program and it does not work like it usually does.
• When you open my computer the icons take along time to load or do not load at all.
• Error messages keep popping up and you are not on the internet.

How to confirm that it is a slow internet connection and not a slow computer?

1. Close down your internet browser and all other programs. Go to the start menu and open my computer. If it opens normally that is a good sign.
2. Try opening some other programs like Word or Excel, something that does not rely on the internet. If they open up fast enough that’s a good sign.
3. After doing all this and not finding a problem, open your internet browser and try to browse the internet.

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Computer Tips – Increase your virtual memory size

A computer system has two forms of memory, one is the RAM- random access memory and the other is the Virtual memory. Mostly all applications make use of RAM as a first option; the virtual memory is used only when there is not enough RAM available. When there is not enough virtual memory allocated for your operating system to use you will see an error message stating that there is not enough virtual memory to complete the task.

What is virtual memory?

Virtual memory is the space your computer uses when it’s short of RAM (Random Access Memory), which is the memory used when running programs like Microsoft Office Word or Microsoft Office PowerPoint.

Increase the amount of virtual memory your computer is allocated?

1. Go to the  Start menu in the left corner.
2. Choose Control Panel from the menu. Switch to classic view.
3. T hen double click on the System icon.
4. In the left sidebar, click Advanced system settings link. You might be prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
5. Go to the Advanced tab. See the screen shot below.

6. Under the heading Performance, click Settings. See above screen shot.
7. Click the Advanced tab, and then, under Virtual memory, click Change. See screen shot below.

8. Uncheck the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives check box.
9. In the Drive [Volume Label] column, click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change. Select it by making it blue.
10. Click Custom size, type a new size in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size (MB)box, click Set, and then click OK.

If your problem remains after increasing the virtual memory, the next step is to see if you have enough RAM installed. Of course if there is not enough RAM, your computer cannot run smoothly. It will struggle through tasks, especially shut down and start up.

You might think your Ram is ok however it might be damaged or might have become dislodged from its slot on the motherboard. therefore you will need to check how much RAM Windows is using and recognizing.

Find out how much RAM you have in your computer

1. On the Start menu, click Control Panel, then click System.
2. Under System, next to Installed memory (RAM), you can see the amount of RAM your computer has.

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How to connect your computer to a Bluetooth device such as a mobile phone using the add Bluetooth device wizard

Before opening the the Bluetooth device wizard, you will need to enable the Bluetooth device that you want your computer to connect to. If it is a mobile phone you will have to enter the settings menu on your phone to enable your Bluetooth mobile phones signal to be found or discoverable.
If your are connecting a computer Bluetooth mouse or keyboard, make sure there are batteries in the device, then switch it on or press the connect button.

How to connect to a mobile phone, mouse, or keyboard, with the Add Bluetooth device wizard:
The first thing you need is a Bluetooth adapter either in-built or added onto your computer (most new laptops have a Bluetooth adapter in-built)
Then you must make sure that your device is available to find (DISCOVERABLE) or is on.

1. Open the add Bluetooth device wizard either by double clicking on the icon in the taskbar notification area, or by going to the control panel and double clicking on the Bluetooth icon.
2. When the Bluetooth devices window appears, go to the devices tab
3. Press on the Add button to start the add Bluetooth device wizard
4. When the wizard opens tick the box that says my Bluetooth device is set up and ready to be found.

1. In the screenshot above I would click on ME 2 which is a new device.  Notice that the other devices say Already connected underneath them.
2. Then press next.
3. Now you can choose to enter a pass key or let the computer choose one for you.
4. If your Bluetooth device has a manufacturers pass key then enter it in.
5. If you choose to let the computer get a pass key, you will have to enter this into the device you want to connect.

Notes:

• If there is a manufacturer’s pass key or a pass key you have set it is best to use this as it saves time.
• The device you want to connect to must be in range to connect to.

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How to enable or disable the show Bluetooth icon in the notification area

Having the Bluetooth icon in the taskbar notification area enables you to access the Bluetooth settings quickly. This is only possible if you have in built Bluetooth adapter or an add on adapter installed on your computer or laptop. Then all you have to do is double click on the icon in the taskbar. Then the Bluetooth devices window will appear. Here you can enable or disable your computer from connecting to Bluetooth devices such as mobile phones or even your travel mouse

Here’s how to enable or disable the show Bluetooth icon in the notification area

1. Go to the start menu in the bottom left corner
2. Choose Control panel from the menu
3. Choose to view the control panel in classic view (in the left pane)
4. Double click on the Bluetooth icon
5. Go to the options tab at the top
6. Then put a tick in the box next to Show Bluetooth icon in notification area

The Bluetooth icon in the notification area allows you to see what Bluetooth devices that are installed or enabled on your computer.

Notes related to the Bluetooth icon:

• You can also right click in the empty space in the taskbar and in the notification area you can press on customize. This will allow you to set each icon to hide if inactive or show if active.
• This article can also apply to Windows XP if you have a Bluetooth adapter installed on your computer or laptop but the settings may not appear the same.

The Bluetooth icon in the notification area allows you to see what Bluetooth devices that are installed or enabled on your computer.

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How to send a file from your computer to a Bluetooth enabled device

Now days there are Bluetooth devices such as mobile phones and PDA’s that accept files from your computer. Therefore you can send files from your computer to such devices if they are a Bluetooth enabled device and within range.

For example if you wanted to send a music file to your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone, here’s how:

• Find the file that you want to send from your computer
• Right click on the file
• A menu will appear, choose send to

• Then choose Bluetooth device(See screenshot below)
• The Bluetooth file transfer wizard will appear

• Press on browse to find a Bluetooth device that you want to send the file to
• Then press next to send the file to the Bluetooth device

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Where is your Bluetooth exchange folder to view your received Bluetooth files

When someone sends you a file through a Bluetooth device it usually gets saved to the Bluetooth exchange folder. By default the Bluetooth exchange folder is located in the Documents folder on your computer.

Here’s how to get to your Bluetooth exchange folder:

1. Go to the start menu in the bottom left corner
2. Choose your user name and thendocuments or just click straight on the documents link
3. Your Bluetooth exchange folder will be there in the documents folder

When a file has been sent to your Bluetooth exchange folder from another Bluetooth device, there will be a balloon popup in the taskbar notification area.

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What is Bluetooth

No matter the commercial in recent years, it seems every product claims to be bluetooth enabled. The other day I think I heard about a loaf of bread even having bluetooth access. The question begs to be asked; exactly what is bluetooth? To many people, its sounds like something you’d get from kissing a smurf.

Bluetooth was named after King Harold Bluetooth who united Denmark, Norway, & Sweden. The bluetooth technology is a personal area network that unifies your electronic devises. Ericcson developed the technology so that a laptop, cell phone, and camera could all be connected within a small radius. The range of the network can be between 30 and 100 ft. The infrared rays also travel through walls so it doesn’t work like a TV remote where you need a fairway of clean paths just to switch the channel. Devices that are bluetooth ready prove to be a nice safety addition for hands free cell phone use while driving. Information can be shared between users within a small network. So the answer to what is bluetooth could be listed as a small personal network used for safety, communication, and device interaction.

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Computer will not wake up from power saving mode sleep

When you are on your computer and walk away from it for a few minutes, on returning, it appears your computer has gone into power saving mode. In other words it has gone to sleep. This is all fine, providing you can now wake your computer from this deep power saving sleep.

Too many computer users move the mouse, tap on the keyboard, and even turn the monitor on and off, to try and wake the sleeping computer.

This Automatic Power saving mode is a great feature when it works like it was supposed to. However when you are right in the middle of writing an important document you have been working on for over two hours and haven’t had the chance to save yet, the Automatic Power saving mode can be sheer disaster.

You walk away to get a cup of coffee and come back to a blank and non responding computer. If you cannot wake the computer from this power saving sleep, than your all your hard work will be lost.

Why won’t the mouse and keyboard wake up the computer from the power saving sleep?

To use a mouse or the keyboard to wake up a computer from power saving mode, sometimes you need to enable this feature. Hopefully this is the answer to your problem because this is the easiest problem to solve.

These steps are the first to try and if this doesn’t solve your problem I will give you some extra things to try.

1. Go to the start menu.
2. Right click on My computer and choose properties from the menu that pops up.
3. System properties will open. In Windows Vista click on Advanced Settings in the right menu.
4. In both Windows XP and Vista you can go to the hardware tab.
5. Click on the Device Manager button.
6. Find your mouse in the devices list. To open sections click on the + sign next to the word. Click on the device to make it blue.
7. Then right click on it and choose properties from the menu. See the screenshot below.

1. When your mouse properties open go to the Power Management tab.
2. Put a tick in the box next to Allow this device to wake the computer.
3. Press OK. See the Screenshot below.

Extra steps to take when your computer will not wake up?

• Disable power saving mode altogether.
• Check to see if your computer has an overheating problem. If it does it will not restart until it is cooled down.
• Download all Windows Updates.
• Make sure your computer doesn’t have a under rated power supply.
• Check your hardware. Graphics cards and motherboards are common culprits for this problem.
• Clean the motherboard and other inside components of dirt and dust. Dirt causes static and static damages the board. Please see How to open a computer case safelyand How to clean inside your computer safely

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