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This article describes how to convert FAT disks to NTFS. See the Terms sidebar for definitions of FAT, FAT32 and NTFS. Before you decide which file system to use, you should understand the benefits and limitations of each of them.

Changing a volume’s existing file system can be time–consuming, so choose the file system that best suits your long–term needs. If you decide to use a different file system, you must back up your data and then reformat the volume using the new file system. However, you can convert a FAT or FAT32 volume to an NTFS volume without formatting the volume, though it is still a good idea to back up your data before you convert.

Note Some older programs may not run on an NTFS volume, so you should research the current requirements for your software before converting.
Choosing Between NTFS, FAT, and FAT32

You can choose between three file systems for disk partitions on a computer running Windows XP: NTFS, FAT, and FAT32. NTFS is the recommended file system because it’s is more powerful than FAT or FAT32, and includes features required for hosting Active Directory as well as other important security features. You can use features such as Active Directory and domain–based security only by choosing NTFS as your file system.
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Converting to NTFS Using the Setup Program

The Setup program makes it easy to convert your partition to the new version of NTFS, even if it used FAT or FAT32 before. This kind of conversion keeps your files intact (unlike formatting a partition).

Setup begins by checking the existing file system. If it is NTFS, conversion is not necessary. If it is FAT or FAT32, Setup gives you the choice of converting to NTFS. If you don’t need to keep your files intact and you have a FAT or FAT32 partition, it is recommended that you format the partition with NTFS rather than converting from FAT or FAT32. (Formatting a partition erases all data on the partition and allows you to start fresh with a clean drive.) However, it is still advantageous to use NTFS, regardless of whether the partition was formatted with NTFS or converted.
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Converting to NTFS Using Convert.exe

A partition can also be converted after Setup by using Convert.exe. For more information about Convert.exe, after completing Setup, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then press ENTER. In the command window, type help convert, and then press ENTER.

It is easy to convert partitions to NTFS. The Setup program makes conversion easy, whether your partitions used FAT, FAT32, or the older version of NTFS. This kind of conversion keeps your files intact (unlike formatting a partition.
To find out more information about Convert.exe

1. After completing Setup, click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then press ENTER.
2. In the command window, type help convert and then press ENTER. Information about converting FAT volumes to NTFS is made available as shown below.
Converting FAT volumes to NTFS

To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt

1. Open Command Prompt. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format. You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

Important Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data, including programs and personal files, on the partition.
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Related Links

* Windows 2000 Resource Kit

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Terms

File Allocation Table (FAT)
A file system used by MS-DOS and other Windows-based operating systems to organize and manage files. The file allocation table (FAT) is a data structure that Windows creates when you format a volume by using the FAT or FAT32 file systems. Windows stores information about each file in the FAT so that it can retrieve the file later.

FAT32
A derivative of the file allocation table (FAT) file system. FAT32 supports smaller cluster sizes and larger volumes than FAT, which results in more efficient space allocation on FAT32 volumes.

NTFS File System
An advanced file system that provides performance, security, reliability, and advanced features that are not found in any version of FAT. For example, NTFS guarantees volume consistency by using standard transaction logging and recovery techniques. If a system fails, NTFS uses its log file and checkpoint information to restore the consistency of the file system. In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, NTFS also provides advanced features such as file and folder permissions, encryption, disk quotas, and compression.
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Many of the letters that I have received are questions concerning lost data files. Once data is lost, it is difficult to recover. Having a good backup provides you with an important safety net.

Why You Need a Backup

The hard disk is the main storage medium in personal computers. Unfortunately, hard disks do sometimes fail, or in computer lingo, crash. When a hard disk crashes, all of your data is in jeopardy. Sometimes information can be retrieved after a crash, but it is usually an aggravating, time-consuming procedure that may end in despair.

To backup your files simply means copying files to a second medium as a precaution in case the first medium fails. The medium used to make the copy can be any of a number of different storage choices including floppy disks, hard disks, Zip disks, CDs, or tapes.

Backup a Few Quick Files

The floppy disk is a dying medium. Some computers like the iMac don’t even come with a floppy disk. Yet, right now more than 90% of personal computers still have a floppy drive, and it is an easy way to backup a single file or a small set of files. Any important file can be copied to a floppy disk for backup purposes. If you happen to be working on an important document, you can quickly insert a floppy disk and copy the document to the floppy to ensure that loss of power, hard disk crash, or another unexpected calamity won’t leave you unprepared.

Programs with Built-in Backups

Some programs, such as Quicken, have an icon that you can click or a menu choice to backup your data files. You will often have the choice of saving the files to a floppy disk or other medium that you have available. This type of backup only makes a copy of your data. It will not make a copy of the program itself. These built-in backups are very useful, especially for financial and other important files.

Backup Medium

The first thing that you must decide is what kind of medium to use to backup your data. While the good old floppy disk is adequate for copying a few files, floppies do not hold much data. Even if you backup individual files as you use them, it is good to occasionally backup all of your files. If you do a complete backup of your hard disk, you will be able to reconstruct the entire disk and/or restore any individual program or file.

A complete backup requires a medium that can handle a large amount of data. The tape drive is the tried-and-true backup medium, but it is slow and cumbersome to use. Recordable and/or rewritable CD-ROM drives, which have recently become affordable, are now one of the best backup mediums. Recordable CD-ROMs can only write a CD once. Rewritable CD-ROMs can write a CD, erase it, and rewrite on it again. Most writable CD-ROM devices come with software that helps you backup your data.

Online Backup Services

Another option currently available is an online data backup, like Connected Online Backup. These subscription-based backup services allow you to schedule backups whenever you like. All you have to do is choose what you want to backup and how often and leave your computer on. Your computer will connect at whatever time you choose and backup your files to the Web service’s computers. A monthly fee is charged based on the amount of data you want to backup. Obviously, you will want to make sure that the company you use for this kind of service is very good. You are putting your data in their hands, so make sure that they are using secure servers and encrypting (coding) the data so that your data cannot be accessed by anyone else.

What to Backup

Your hard drive holds three things: the operating system, applications or programs, and data. The operating system is Windows or the Mac operating system. Although you may lose some settings that may have been customized, in general the operating system can be restored from the original CD that came with your computer. Your programs, again, minus some settings can also be restored from their original CDs. Your data includes all of the files and documents that you create, the e-mail that you send and receive, the favorites and/or bookmarks that you use in your browser, your Internet settings, and all of the photos, graphics, and other files stored on your computer.

Don’t underestimate the importance of your data. I had a client who lost all the information in her family tree because she hadn’t backed up the file. She didn’t think that it was a very important file until she realized she had been working on her family history for three years. It will probably take her that long to reconstruct the information.

Obviously, there are many important things to backup. Unfortunately, Windows does not make this easy. Window 95/98 keeps all of your documents in a folder called My Documents, but your Internet settings, favorites, and other important data is scattered throughout the Windows directory. (Microsoft groups all of these files together in Windows 2000, but since Win 2000 is made for businesses, most home users cannot take advantage of this feature.) To make matters worse, many programs don’t use the My Document folder, so even documents files that you create may be spread about your hard disk. If you can find all your documents and settings, you can back them up individually, but the easiest way to be sure that you copy them all is to do a complete backup of your hard disk.

Tips for Backing Up:

1. Test your backups. Make sure that the tape or disk actually contains the files you think they do. Test your backup by trying to restore a file or two.
2. Rotate your medium. Keep four or five disks, tapes, or sets of disks or tapes for your backups. Rotate them, using them in succession each time you backup.
3. Remember that a disk or tape can wear out after many uses. After a few months or a year, (depending on how much you use it) you might want to replace the disks or tapes that you are using with new ones.
4. Proper labeling is also an important part of backing up. Be sure to label your tape or disk with the date and contents.
5. Keep all of your program disks together so you can find them when you need them.
6. If you backup only your data, you’ll have to reinstall all your applications in the case of a hard disk crash. If you have a Zip, Jaz, or CD-R/RW drive, create a disk to hold all the files, patches, updates, and other things you download. This will make reinstalling your applications much easier.
7. Keep your backups in a safe place. If you consider your data extremely important, you should keep a copy offsite, in a safe deposit box, or another location protected from theft or fire. When you make two sets of backup data and keep an extra set in another location, you minimize the chance of data loss.

Backing up your data makes good sense. It’s like buying an insurance policy. You hope you will never need it, but when disaster strikes, that backup will be your most appreciated forethought.

The mouse is our direct contact with the computing world. This tactile connection gives us the ability to point to, select, and move items on the computer screen. To select items on your monitor’s screen, all you have to do is point and click your mouse. It does not take long until clicking becomes second nature to you, but clicking is more involved than just pressing down on the mouse button. Let’s take a look at the right way to click as well as the different functions tied to clicking.

Clicking

First, rest the heel of your hand on the desktop or table in front of the mouse. Put your hand over the mouse and hold it on one side with the thumb and on the other side with the ring and little finger. Now use your thumb and fingers to move the tip of the arrow onto the on-screen item you would like to select.

Watch for the arrow to become a pointing finger. Hold the mouse still. Now lightly click the mouse button with your index finger. If your mouse has more than one button, click the left mouse button. The lighter you click, the better clicking works. Let’s take a look at some clicking terminology.

Click

Click means to press and release the left mouse button.

Double-click

Double-click is to press twice in quick succession and release the left mouse button. Do not take your finger off the left mouse button while clicking. If you are having trouble double-clicking, you are probably moving the mouse slightly between the clicks. The mouse must stay still between mouse clicks. Double-clicking is clicking something twice in very quick succession. At first, many people have difficulty double-clicking because they do not click fast enough.

Right-click

Right-click means to press and release the right mouse button. Be adventurous; right-click on everything. You really can’t do any damage with the right mouse button in Windows because it’s designed to show only a context menu (a list of options appropriate for the selected object). One of the options is usually Properties, which gives you access to lots of settings and information.

Dragging

To drag your mouse, place the pointer over an object on your screen. Next press and hold down the left mouse button. While you are holding the button down, move the mouse to reposition the object on the screen. When the object that you moved is in the location of your choice, release the button.

Scroll Bars

A good place to practice your dragging skill is on the scroll bars. Sometimes the entire window is too long to fit on the computer screen. If that is the case, you will see a scroll bar running up and down the right hand side of your screen. The scroll bar is a bar that has arrows on either end with a small box in between those arrows. Click on the small box and, while holding down your left mouse button, drag the box towards the bottom of the screen to see additional areas of the screen. You can drag the box on the scroll bar up or down at any time. To accomplish the same task, you can also click on the up and down arrows on the top or bottom of the scroll bar; this moves the scroll box up or down one line at a time. If you are scrolling up or down several screens, dragging the scroll box is a much faster way of moving than clicking the up and down arrows one line at a time.

Vertical movement on your computer screen is accomplished by using either the up and down arrows or the drag box on the scroll bar found on the right side of your screen.

There is another scroll bar for horizontal movement. If a window is too wide to be fully visible, you may also see a scroll bar on the bottom of the screen that will allow you to scroll both from right to left and from left to right.

Mouse Practice

Practice up; you will be a pro in no time. Clicking becomes second nature to computer users in the shortest time. Once you have clicking down pat, it is time for some fun. Want to measure your finger speed? How about a Fastest Finger Challenge? Click that little mouse here to visit the Mouse Clicking Championship Site. Find out how you rate against others; see how many times you can click your mouse button in ten seconds. The Master level is eighty times in ten seconds. Can you beat that?

It is a comfortable feeling to have that mouse under your hand and know you are using the right tool to communicate with the computer. A special thanks to Douglas Engelbart who invented the mouse in the 1960’s to help people interact with the computer. Can you imagine the computing world without our good friend, the mouse?

Do you have a good anti-virus program? Do you keep it updated regularly? If not, your computer is bound to contract a virus of some type. Even if you do keep up with healthy computer habits, it is sometimes still possible (unlikely, but possible) for a virus to attack your computer.

Is It Really A Virus?

You may suspect that your computer has a virus, but how can you really tell? Viruses often cause erratic behavior. Smiley faces may pop up, the screen may turn blank, the computer may crash, or it may constantly reboot. The trigger that activates the virus can be almost anything. For instance, the virus can be activated the minute it is installed. Or it may start its dirty work the next time you start your computer. In some cases, a virus can reside inside your computer in an inactive state, waiting for a certain event (like a certain date) to happen.

From the moment the virus infiltrated your computer to the time that it made itself known to you, you could have innocently spread the virus to others. A very disconcerting sign that you have a virus is when friends call or e-mail to let you know you have sent them a virus-infested e-mail.

A Scan Is Necessary

So you suspect your computer has a virus. How can you find out for sure? You scan your system for viruses with a software program. If you already own an antivirus program and your computer is operable, you can start your antivirus program and initiate a scan of your entire computer. However, chances are if you contracted a virus, the virus definitions that your program is using are out-of-date. So first, visit the Web site of your antivirus manufacturer and update your antivirus software by downloading the latest definitions. (For more information on how to do this, see my tutorial entitled How To Update Your AntiVirus Software.)

If you don’t have antivirus software, you can purchase it online or you can use Panda Software’s free ActiveScan. This software will scan your computer and report any infections.

Use Your Antivirus Manufacturer’s Web Site

If the virus scan finds an infection, it will give you the name of the virus or viruses that you have contracted. If your computer is contaminated, you need to take immediate action. Depending on the severity of the virus, the health of your computer, as well as the security of your computer data, may be at risk. Look up the virus at one of the antivirus manufacturer’s Web sites. Symantec, McAfee, and, Panda Software are all informative sites. Sometimes the manufacturers will have a software program that you can download for the removal of the virus. Removal instruction may be offered as well. Viruses vary in severity. Some are easy to eliminate and repair. Others can be very nasty, and repairing their damage could involve some complex reprogramming. If you are lucky you may be able to remove the virus yourself. If, however, you have contracted an invasive virus, don’t hesitate to leave the work to a local computer professional.

Spyware Acts Like a Virus

Recently a new type of vicious programming has started to invade computers around the world. Spyware (sometimes called Adware) is uninvited software that is transferred to your computer without your explicit knowledge. It often piggybacks on software that you download from the Internet. Spyware causes erratic behavior in a computer that is very similar to the behavior caused by viruses. Often spyware is characterized by unusual windows popping up on your computer, but your computer can be infected by spyware even if there are no annoying pop ups. If your virus scan shows no viruses, but your computer is still acting weirdly, you should suspect spyware. Use a free spyware detection program like Ad-aware or SpyBot Search & Destroy to find and eliminate spyware. Read my Scary Spyware article for more information on Spyware.

Develop Healthy Computer Habits

Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Be sure you have a good antivirus program installed on your computer and update it regularly. You will also want to make sure that your Internet browser and operating system have had all the necessary security patches applied. Prevention is the name of the virus game, and you do need to make friends with a good antivirus program. My earlier tutorials will fill you in on details about What a Computer Virus Is, How to Update your Antivirus Software and How To Update Windows.

Don’t forget to download a good spyware prevention program, as well. A recent Earthlink report showed an average of 28 spyware programs on each of the computers they scanned. Spyware and viruses can both be dangerous and can cause computer users a lot of aggravation. So be careful out there and be sure to keep your computer free from both viruses and spyware.

Do you remember a few years back when everyone was talking about a paperless society? It was a nice thought, but it never became a reality. In fact, if you look at our world today, we are as reliant as ever on paper documents. Perhaps there is still a paperless haven in our future, but, in the meantime, the printer has become a constant companion to the computer.

Early printers were slow, produced questionable quality output, and were expensive. Just a few short years ago, you couldn’t buy an inkjet printer for under $500. Ah, progress! And this time evolution has moved in the consumer’s favor. Today a printer does not have to be a major investment. The market offers great products that produce quality output at affordable prices. Printer manufacturers are responding to a huge consumer appetite for less expensive printers - both inkjet printers and laser printers. Entry-level inkjet printers start about $49.99, but I have seen them for as little as $30.00. Recently, the price has dropped substantially on laser printers as well. Lexmark and other printer manufacturers have come out with laser printers costing around $200. Hewlett Packard’s Laser Jet 1012 has a retail price of $199 and pumps out and amazing15 pages per minute.

Making Your Choice

Lower end printers are a great buy, so go for it. But to be happy at the end of the day, you will need to do a little research. Here are some pointers on buying a printer. One special note: be sure to check out the cost of consumables, especially when dealing with inkjet printers. Printer manufacturers are making up for profits missed on the cheap printers by a hefty mark up on ink cartridges and printer paper. Color ink cartridges and glossy photo paper can set you back substantially. When buying a printer, it used to be you needed to focus on how fast a printer could print and what quality it could produce. Today’s printer shoppers should be checking out the operating costs as well as the printer’s capabilities and the purchase price.

When choosing a printer, the first thing that you should do is to determine your printer needs. Consider both the quality and the quantity of the documents that you will print. If all you print is a weekly list of your investments and occasionally send a letter to Aunt Suzie, then you may only need an inexpensive black inkjet printer. If you want to print out photographs of the children or grandchildren, you will want to look at a higher-end color inkjet printer or a special photo printer. If you anticipate printing dozens or hundreds of pages a day, then you may be looking at a laser printer.

Inkjet Printers

Today, the two most common types of printers are the inkjet and the laser. Each uses a different type of technology. The inkjet printer works by squirting small dots of ink onto a sheet of paper. Color inkjet printers can produce simple documents with just a splash of color or a full-sized reproduction of a color photograph. The black text output of a good quality inkjet printer is almost as good as the output from a laser printer. It is certainly good enough for most everyday home and small business applications.

Inkjet printers can cost from $30 to over $500. As the price increases, so do the print quality and the speed. Obviously, an inkjet without color capabilities will cost less than one with this feature.

Photo Printers

Some inkjet printers are labeled “photo printers”. These will have special types of ink, special ink cartridges, and unique features for printing photos. Many photo printers can print “borderless photos” with no white border on the outside. This is a special feature that is not usually included in regular ink jet printers. Some of the newer photo printers also have a small LCD screen and slots for memory cards. You simply remove the memory card from your camera, insert it into the printer, view the photos on the LCD screen, and print the photos of your choice. If you purchase a photo printer with these advanced features make sure that the printer will accept the type of memory card that you use in your camera.

Laser Printers

The technology used in a laser printer is similar to that of a photocopier. The image is drawn with an electrical charge on a drum inside the printer. An electronic charge attracts particles of toner in the pattern that was drawn by the laser. A drum then rolls across the paper, and the electrical charge causes the toner to jump from the drum to the paper. The images that are formed by the lasers can be quite detailed resulting in an excellent print quality.

Laser printers are designed to handle a larger load than inkjet printers. They tend to have a higher paper capacity, which means that they hold more paper. The actual amount of printing that the machine can handle is called the duty cycle and is usually stated in so many copies per month. For example, a monthly duty cycle of 5,000 means that the printer can handle a volume of 5,000 sheets in a month’s time. If you anticipate printing a lot, you will need to purchase a printer with a duty cycle that is high enough for your needs. So if you will be printing a large number of documents, a laser printer will be your choice.

Print Quality

Print quality is generally quoted in the printer specifications as the resolution, which is stated as dpi or dots-per-inch. The more dots per inch of paper, the better the quality of the printed output. Just a few short years ago, we were all using 300×300 dpi, even for important business documents. Now inexpensive inkjets boast print qualities as high as 1200×1200 dpi.

The dpi will give you an idea of the quality of the output. However, you will find that each printer manufacturer has its own method of improving the print quality. Hewlett Packard uses technologies called PhotoRET, ColorSmart, and RealLife Imaging. Epson uses systems that they market as PerfectPictureTM Imaging, Micro PiezoTM inkket technology, and AcuPhoto HalftoningTM. If you want to do a little research, it can be fascinating to investigate all of these different technologies to determine which one(s) you like best. However, if you just want to buy a good printer without spending hours reading about print technologies, let your eyes be the judge. Many stores have demonstration units where you can see the output from the different printers.

When you look at printer output, look first at the clarity of the text printout. Look closely to make sure the characters don’t look jagged. Check out the lightness or darkness of the printout and make sure the characters look clean and crisp. For color prints, look for good contrast and vivid colors. Make sure that the colors don’t bleed into each other and be sure to look for clear, clean lines where black lines meet the colored areas. See if you can view the output on various types of paper. While some printers do better on expensive photographic paper, others excel at printing on plain paper.

Speed

Most printer speeds are measured in ppm or pages per minute. There is usually a different speed listed for printing in color. For example, black text may print at a speed of 12 ppm while color may print at a speed of 10 ppm. Speed may be important to you, or it may not. If you want instant results without a wait, look for a faster printer. If you’re on a tight budget, look for a printer with the best color reproduction and don’t worry about its speed.

Cost of Operation

When you use a printer, the cost of consumables should be considered in addition to the initial cost of the printer. Inkjet printers use ink cartridges, while laser printers user toner cartridges and drums. The cost of ink cartridges can be surprisingly high. I recently found an Apollo printer that could be purchased with rebates for $30. However, the ink cartridges cost $30 each.

The least expensive printer may be the most expensive to operate. Some printers may themselves be inexpensive, but hefty ink or toner cartridge prices can make them more expensive in the long run. It is easy to check the price of toner or ink cartridges before you purchase the printer; however, it can be difficult to judge the yield that you will get from one cartridge. Some printer manufacturers like Hewlett Packard and Epson give the technical specifications for page yield per cartridge; others give some indication of yields. However, some printer cartridge manufacturers give no specs of this type, leaving the purchaser in the dark as to the actual cost of operation. Many manufacturers offer good information about how long a print cartridge will last. This information is usually found under the product specifications for each printer. I was disappointed to find that Hewlett Packard did not give a per page cost. Epson, however, was more detailed in their information and included data on both the black and color ink cartridge life for each of their printers. They gave details regarding the number of pages to expect from a cartridge. This is very important information, since each printer uses a specific type of ink cartridge. Although most of these cartridges cost between $25 and $40, they hold different amounts of ink.

Connection

Most PCs have a parallel port that can be used to hook up a printer. Newer PCs and Macs have USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports that can also be used to hook up a printer. Many printers today will allow you to use either of these ports. If you have the choice, the USB connection will be easier to set up and faster to use. If the printer is USB 2.0 and you have USB 2.0 ports on your computer, the communication between the computer and the printer will be very speedy. If the printer is USB 2.0 and your older computer has USB 1.1 ports, the printer will still work fine, it will simply communicate with the computer at a slower speed.

Warranty

As usual when purchasing computer-related equipment, it is important to check out the length of the warranty and the strength of the technical support team. You may also want to see if the printer manufacturer has a toll-free telephone number and check on their support hours.

Software

Many printers today come with additional software. You should make your printer selection based on the print quality, speed, and other printer features. However, be aware that some of the additional software may provide a compelling reason to purchase. The software should not be the basis of your decision on a printer; consider it a bonus. But check out the software as well, judging it on its stand-alone merit. Often the software is geared specifically to either the home user or the office user. Whether you are getting software for making T-shirt transfers or printing business cards, it should fill a real need for your home or your office.

A Great Time to Buy

Again, go for it if you are considering one of today’s attractively priced printers. But take the time to do your arithmetic. You don’t want the money you saved on the purchase price of the printer to be gobbled up by the cost of the paper and print cartridges.

Perhaps many of you are currently in the market to purchase a new computer. I am also, and it’s been years since I thought seriously about this type of purchase. Computer technology has advanced since the last time I had to think about components, so when I read through ads these days I’m confronted with an alphabet soup of new brands and terms. Scratching my head, I sat down to get educated on which components would be important for creating the best computer configuration for me.

Laptops are very popular right now. They’re sleek and compact and perfect for someone whose office or desk space is limited. They can also be convenient, storing easily in a drawer for quick use at the kitchen table or while you’re lounging in front of the television. Their size and convenience have made them a necessity for those who travel often. But laptops lack the comfort of a large, ergonomically-adjusted keyboard and monitor and are limited on the number of ports available for connecting extra devices like webcams, printers and scanners. For these reasons, I decided to purchase a new desktop computer.

My next decision was determining the best Central Processing Unit (CPU) for my needs. The CPU is like the engine “under the hood.” Dual core is the buzz these days. A dual core is basically two processors that share the workload. You can continue surfing the Internet or working on a document while downloading digital pictures or completing a virus scan in background without having the activity of one operation impact the other. A dual core CPU has many advantages over a single CPU and is worth the expense.

Since this will be a Vista machine my attention turned to memory or RAM (Random Access Memory). When my old desktop computer was new, 512MB was more than a sufficient amount of RAM, but after years of operating system service-packs upgrades, not to mention the installation of newer and bigger software applications, 512MB did become sluggish. For Vista, 1GB of memory is the minimum recommended, but I’m going to anticipate that over the next several years 1GB will also slow down. With my new computer purchase, I decided to at least double-up to 2 GB, but may even go for 3GB of memory to ensure optimum operability for the long run.

My digital camera is always busy, and I download lots of music for my MP3 player, so storage is important and I will want to pay attention to the size of my hard drive. The typical desktop computer sold today comes with 80 to 100 gigabyte hard drives. If you own an external hard drive for backup and storage, 100 GB of storage may be sufficent. However, if video editing or downloading DVDs is an important activity for you, you may want to consider a 320GB hard drive or larger.

Now the specifications get a bit tricky with the notorious “alphabet soup” for read/write CD/DVD drives. I’ve learned that there are only two choices. If you want full flexibility to read from and write to (the latter is also referred to as “burn”) DVDs or CDs, or to record then later retrieve or play back data, photos or music you stored on CDs, you need a DVD +/- RW drive. The other viable choice is a CD-RW/DVD-ROM (Read-Only Memory) combo which allows you to do all but burn to DVDs. If you select just a CD-RW, CD-ROM or DVD-ROM you will be restricting your options for storing and playing back data and media.

As for monitors, I decided that it was time to move away from the bulky CRT and upgrade to a flat panel display. The prices have come down and there are many choices in monitor size. Unless you’re a heavy-duty gamer, the graphic card in most new desktop computers should be adequate.

When you consider buying a new desktop computer, think of it as an investment that should serve your needs for many years. Be willing to pay a bit more for a brand with a consistent reputation for reliability and good service. Like buying a vehicle, you should “kick the tires,” read reviews, and ask to see a demonstration of the sort of computer you considering. Don’t be bashful about talking to others, especially the sales people at electronic stores. The more you know, the more confident you’ll be with your decisions — and the more satisfied you’ll be with your purchase.

A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to provide their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation.

Hosting reliability and uptime
Multiple racks of servers, and how a datacenter commonly looks.
Multiple racks of servers, and how a datacenter commonly looks.

Hosting uptime refers to the percentage of time the host is accessible via the internet. Many providers state that they aim for a 99.9% uptime, but there may be server restarts and planned (or unplanned) maintenance in any hosting environment.

A common claim from the popular hosting providers is ‘99% or 99.9% server uptime’ but this often refers only to a server being powered on and doesn’t account for network downtime. Real downtime can potentially be larger than the percentage guaranteed by the provider. Many providers tie uptime and accessibility into their own service level agreement (SLA). SLAs sometimes include refunds or reduced costs if performance goals are not met.

Obtaining hosting

Web hosting is often provided as part of a general Internet access plan; there are many free and paid providers offering these services.

A customer needs to evaluate the requirements of the application to choose what kind of hosting to use. Such considerations include database server software, scripting software, and operating system. Most hosting providers provide Linux-based web hosting which offers a wide range of different software. A typical configuration for a Linux server is the LAMP platform: Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python. The webhosting client may want to have other services, such as email for their business domain, databases or multi-media services for streaming media. A customer may also choose Windows for its hosting platform. The customer still can choose from PHP, Perl, and Python but may also use ASP .Net or Classic ASP.

Web hosting packages often include a Web Content Management System, so the end-user doesn’t have to worry about the more technical aspects. These Web Content Management systems are great for the average user, but for those who want more control over their website design, this feature can sometimes be a nuisance rather than a feature.

One may also search the Internet to find active webhosting message boards that may provide feedback on what type of webhosting company may suit his/her needs.