When you think trash, you surely don’t think about your old, trusty personal computer. But that’s exactly what will become of it when you make the inevitable move toward your next laptop or desktop. And, yes, buying a new computer is inevitable, considering the pace at which computer technology zips along. Just think-about a handful of years ago, a fast microprocessor for a laptop was at 233 MHz. Now you’re looking at about at least 2 GHz! That’s Giga, with a G.

So eventually, you will want a computer that can handle the latest software, the latest games, and the latest interactive Web sites, and then you’ll have to throw away your old computer, right? Wrong. Try selling your used computer instead. Throwing out your computer is one of the worst things you can do. For one, your computer may be useful for someone out there, even if just for scraps.

Trashed computers and other digital equipment also make up one of the fastest growing, and most dangerous, new trash “categories” out there in your neighborhood landfill. On one hand, computers are generally bulky and made of plastic and other materials that won’t be breaking down in a landfill for the next few million years. What’s more, other materials in your old computer are highly toxic to the environment, like mercury, lead and cadmium. They’re so toxic that their actually name in the waste-management field is “toxics.”

You don’t have to be a techie or a scientist to understand the danger in that-nor the benefits of selling your computer. On the Internet, there are a vast number of auction and classifieds sites, some better than others, where you can “download” you computer to a worthy buyer.

Before you boot up your replacement laptop or high-performance PC, however, be sure you read and compute the following tips. These tips will help you avoid the crashes and shutdowns that befall the computer seller who doesn’t do his homework first.

Hold onto all of the operating system and software manuals that came with your old computer. This will add value to your sale, not to mention it will make you a trusted seller for offering up these helpful books to the buyer.

Erase all personal information from the hard drive. And we’re not just talking about simply putting stuff in the “trash bin.” It’s extremely important to purge all data from your computer’s memory repository, even from invisible backup files on the hard drive. If you’re not sure how to do this, ask your IT expert at work or a techie friend for advice. You don’t want the next user to have access to your bank accounts, old e-mails, and other private info, do you?

Uninstall any application from the hard drive that you’d like to use on your next computer, keeping the installation disk and the software serial number for yourself. When it comes to software, the manufacturers made sure that you never really own software, you license it. So you don’t get free reign to keep software on multiple computers. You only get one license, so you need to bring your licensed version with you to your new computer.

Do your homework on your computer’s worth. Just like you would for a car, check around at other classifieds and auction sites to see what other people are selling your make and model for.

Be sure you want to truly get rid of old faithful. You may be able to repair your old laptop rather than buy a new $2,000 Centrino model. Or you may be able to add RAM memory and a new hard drive to your four-year-old desktop rather than invest in a new $3,000 multimedia masterpiece. In other words, do a thorough cost-analysis of what it would take to rebuild your old computer, versus what it would cost to sell it and buy a new one. And check your heart too. You might be surprised just how attached you are to your old faithful.

Once you go through these steps, you are prepared to make your move and sell, sell, sell. And then, of course, you’ll be ready to start on a whole new list of steps-for buying a new computer. But that’s a topic for another article!

Author Bio

Donald Lee is the public relations manager for Buysellcommunity.com. Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services. Buy, Sell and trade: auto, computers, household items, real estate, pets and much more. For global and localized classifieds, please visit
http://www.buysellcommunity.com – Free Buy & Sell Classifieds Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

Making your own computer from scratch is not only fun to do but cheaper as well. You can get to choose the parts you want to use on your PC. This gives you the control in balancing the price and the quality of your newly assembled PC.

Before we show you the steps, here are the necessary parts of the computer that you need to buy:

• Processor Cooler
• Motherboard memory
• Graphics Card
• Hard Drive
• CD or DVD Writer
• Floppy Drive
• Sound Card
• Computer Case
• Power Supply
• Monitor
• Keyboard
• Mouse

Steps in making your own PC:

Step 1

The computer case includes motherboard spacers and screws. This helps set the motherboard in the case. Mount the spacers into the corners and to the proper side holes. It should match up with the holes in your motherboard.

If the motherboard has different jack arrangements from the case’s I/O (input/output) shield, use the shield that comes with the motherboard. Mount it from the inside of the case.

Now, to install the processor, raise the lever on the side of the CPU (processor) socket. The CPU’s pins are made in a way that it is possible to put the CPU into the socket only one way. Therefore, if you are doing it right, it should easily fit.

Hold the processor down and close to the lever. Before installing the CPU cooler, put thermal compound onto the top of the CPU (on core).

Step 2

Mount the processor cooler on top of the processor. Press down lightly. Clip the heat sink to the processor socket. Attach the CPU cooler’s fan power to the motherboard’s fan header. It is usually labeled “CPU FAN 1″.

Plug in the memory module to the long sockets called DIMM’s. Unlock both tabs and push the memory straight down. The clips on the slot’s sides should close. Carefully push the motherboard against the I/O shield. Put in and tighten the motherboard screws. Do not force it.

The brown slot nearest to the processor is the AGP slot meant for the video card. Insert the video card evenly in the slot provided. Screw the card into place. Make sure that your AGP video card is placed properly.

At the corner of the motherboard, you can see two rows of pins. Connect case leads to the pins. These leads are usually labeled. Read your motherboard manual. See which label goes to which set of pins.

Step 3

Now we mount the floppy drive, CD/DVD drive and the hard drive. The motherboard usually has 2 IDE channels, each supporting 2 devices. If you install 2 IDE devices on the same cable, you will have the main to be the “master” and the other to be the “slave”.

This is the same procedure for CD/DVD drives. Look for an HDD and CD drive manual for the correct jumper settings. You should do these before you screw drives into place.

Connect hard drives to a channel different from the CD drives. Floppy controller has a socket shorter than the IDE controllers.

Make sure the side of the IDE cable that has a red colored stripe lines up with pin1.

Lastly, plug in the main ATX power cable and connect all drives with the power supply. If you have more case coolers, you may also connect them.

Now, connect your monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers to the back of the case. Put in the power cable to the power supply unit. Double-check proper installation before the first boot.

You can now show your friends your first assembled computer.

Author Bio

The author of this article has been building PCs for 5 years and contributes to Computer hardware upgrade.Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

Many people want to have some kind of spy equipment for better home security. However, besides wireless spy cameras, VCR or DVR systems, there is also special software used to control those surveillance gadgets.

Large companies use professional security systems along with already built in (embedded digital video recorder or PC based DVR soft) spy camera control software. But what about smaller guys? Do you also have to spend thousands of dollars for professional spy security system and software to feel safe and secure in your house? And the answer is not necessarily.

Webcam for Spying Purposes

You have the ability to use your webcam (connected to your PC) as a surveillance tool. And to control it, all you need is inexpensive webcam surveillance software. As a matter of fact, such software allows you to connect more than one camera. It can display as much as 16 webcam views on your computer screen.

Moreover, webcam surveillance software even allows you to detect motion and start capturing an event within milliseconds. This means that you don’t have to keep your webcam surveillance software turned on all the time in order to secure the area. By using motion detection webcams, you can also save your computer’s HDD (hard drive) space.

You know, video takes a lot of hard drive space. Non stop recording for 24 hours can cost you 1GB of HDD space a day. Well, it depends on the chosen image quality. Lower quality images will require less bandwidth. Also, if you set lower FPS (frames per second), then you’ll save even more HDD space.

But if you have a large HDD (like 160GB or more), then there’s nothing to worry about.

What to Look for in Webcam Surveillance Software?

Before you decide to order webcam surveillance software, there are a couple of things to consider. Let’s take a look at some of the features of webcam software that you should seriously consider, ok.

• Audio Capturing – Does your webcam surveillance software have audio capturing option? If not, then you should consider that carefully. If you want to record a conversation, it’s crucial.
• Compressed Files – Does your webcam software compress video files? If not, then the space of your HDD might fill up quickly. Try to search for software that compresses the video without losing its quality.
• Remote Access – This is very important. If you leave your webcam to record the area, you should have the ability to access your webcam’s view via internet connection. This is very neat function that is absolutely must in webcam software.
• Motion Detection – We’ve already mentioned that. Motion detection is also extremely important. You don’t want to record the area when nothing’s going on, right. So make sure that motion sensing is enabled in your software.
• Alert Options – Does the webcam surveillance software have an alert option? Some webcam software alert when they detect something. They can alert via email or even dial a phone number. You should seek for this feature, because it’s very neat.
• Multiple Webcams – Can your surveillance software record a live view from multiple web cameras? 2, 4 or 16? If you want to connect more than one camera to your PC, then multiple webcam support is absolutely must in the software you choose.
• Stealth Mode – Does the webcam software run in stealth mode? Stealth mode means that nobody can see if the software is running or not. Not even if they Press “Ctr+Alt+Del” and look at Windows Task Manager!

Look for webcam surveillance software that allows you to do all or at least most of the functions mentioned above. If your software isn’t capable of detecting motion, doesn’t have alert option, doesn’t have audio recording options, then search for a better solution.

In Conclusion

Webcam software (for spying or home protection purposes) combined with a few inexpensive webcams, can definitely serve as a basic home security system. You can put your webcams in the most important places and have your PC to record each camera’s view. And if motion sensors detect something unusual, they can alert you via email or phone.

However, if you’re really looking for quality and all-in-one solution for professional home protection, then a more powerful DVR security system with multiple spy cameras could be your best shot. Such systems cost over thousand dollars, but they’re ideal for quality home or office protection.

Author Bio

Dan Crane offer free tips and article about spy cameras, bug detectors, security systems or body worn cams. If you’d like to find out more information about webcam surveillance software used to control nanny cams, then check out Vedosoft website.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content