38 Cool way to rescue a hard drive

When you keep getting an error message that your hard disk drive has failed or has an error reading, you do not necessarily need to break the bank to retrieve lost data.

First, try the deep freeze trick. Strange but true.

Remove the hard disk drive from the system and put it in a Ziploc bag, the kind meant for freezer use. To minimise condensation, chuck in some dessicant - those tiny packets of small beads like the kind often found in bottles of vitamins and other supplements - and wrap the drive in paper towel or something absorbent.

Seal the bag securely and put the hard drive into the freezer for four to five hours.

Set up your system so that it is ready to go as soon as the frozen hard drive is plugged in.

Before you try to reboot, ensure that you have enough backup storage available to quickly copy or back up the data.

This method shakes the system awake and may recover "lost" files.

39 Rate your PC

You may have just bought the coolest looking laptop in the world but it is what is inside that really matters.

Question is: How do you compare the performance of one machine against another when there are so many different components within a PC?

If you are on Windows Vista or Windows 7, use the built-in Windows Experience Index to rate your PC.

The program scans the PC's innards - processor, RAM, graphics card and hard disk - and gives a score to each of these parts. Within these parts, there are five sub-scores: one for each of the parts except for the graphics card, which has two.

The software then tallies the points for the sub-scores and assigns the final number based on the lowest of the five sub-scores.

On Vista, the scores range from 1.0 to 5.9 but on Windows 7, this goes up to 7.9.

Here is how to run the index scan: Go to Start, then Computer. On the row of tabs at the top of the screen, click on System Properties. You will now see a page that details the different parts of your system.

Look for the index score. If there is no score, it means you need to run a scan to get the score. If you want even more granular benchmarks, you can try PC Vantage and 3DMark Vantage (both have free basic versions) at www.futuremark.com.

40 Do away with the bird's nest

Before you start building that computer, think about how you will wire up.

Many first-timers end up with a PC that works but is a bird's nest of wires inside.

The problem goes beyond looks. A cluttered interior restricts airflow, creating a hot zone inside your PC that will resist the fastest fan.

By tidying up your wires, you make your case look good and also allow cool air to flow through it. This means your components run cooler.

Before installing the components, work out where to hide the cables.

Nowadays, casings often come with holes in the motherboard tray for running cables at the back of a chassis instead of over the components. Every case can be tidied up.

Get advice at www.xtremesystems.org, a hub for hardcore builders, or head to www.million-dollar-pc.com for ideas from the best-looking DIY PCs.

41 Clear the clutter

If it has been months since you dumped your temporary files or cleared your Recycle Bin, this clutter can slow your system.

Use Disk Cleanup, a utility included with Windows Vista and Windows 7, to perform some spring cleaning. It can be executed by a command line with pre-configured settings.

Open a Command Line by pressing the Windows + R keys on your keyboard. Type in "CMD", then press OK.

When prompted, type in "cleanmgr /sageset:1" and hit Enter.

When the dialogue box appears, check what needs clearing: Temporary Internet Files; Recycle Bin; Temporary Files.

Then click OK. Windows will set a registry key to remember these settings. To invoke Disk Cleanup, issue the command "cleanmgr /sagerun:1".

42 Condition your laptop battery

If your laptop is always plugged into the power socket, you will need to condition the battery every two to three weeks to maintain its capacity.

To do this, unplug the charger and let the battery drain completely and the machine go into sleep mode before recharging it again.

43 Virtual machines

They are no mirage. They let you run multiple operating systems on your PC.

VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org), an open source virtualisation software, lets you install Linux on Windows, and Windows and Linux on Mac OS X. You can also use it to run Windows XP applications in Windows 7 if XP Mode does not work for you.

44 Say good riddance forever

Hitting delete and emptying your Recycle Bin does not get rid of files completely.

If this is how you cleared the files on your computer before selling it or trading it in, you could be in for a nasty surprise.

The next user can easily access your hard drive and restore all your files, including those containing personal and financial information, identity details and passwords.

There is an underground economy prepared to pay handsomely for such data.

The good news is that there are many products, some of them free, available to make sure your dumped data stays out of criminal hands.

Windows users can look to Eraser at http://eraser.heidi.ie (Mac users already have Secure Empty Trash from OS 10.3 version). If you are private to the point of paranoia, check out Permanent Eraser: http://www.edenwaith.com/products/permanent%20eraser/.

45 Hook them up

You do not need to transfer images from the digital camera to a computer and then use a projector to beam those images onto a big screen.

Pair your digital camera with a projector instead.

Use the cable that has the camera connecter at one end and an RCA video connector at the other end to hook the devices up.

Now, you are set to view your photos on the big screen.

46 Cinema in bed

If you have a pico projector, let the pocket-sized, battery-operated gizmo turn you into a lounge lizard.

Turn on the machine, point it to the ceiling and watch your favourite movies in bed.

Bliss.

47 Beating the blues

That dreaded Blue Screen of Death that causes everything to freeze can be avoided. It just takes planning and patience.

The blue screen usually signals hardware failure. It could also be that you are using incompatible device drivers. Or simply that your system components are overstressed.

Keeping your system clean is one way to avoid the blues.

Here is a rule: Remove any dust or build-up of dirt and grime. They make the fans work too hard to cool your computer. Heat kills hardware, so make sure your system runs as coolly as possible.

If the problem is a faulty or incompatible driver, use System Restore to return to before you installed that driver.

48 Taming the USB

So you plug in a perfectly functional USB device and it does not show up on your PC.

This could be due to a conflict of the drive letters that your PC assigns to USB devices.

Unplug the USB, disconnect any one of your network drives and then re-insert the USB device.

If this solves the problem, you can stop it from happening again by assigning drive letters manually. This will prevent Windows from assigning conflicting drive letters to the device.

Simply click Start, right-click My Computer and select Manage from the drop-down list. A Computer Management window will open. Go to Disk Management under Storage and find the USB device that was assigned the conflicting drive letter, right-click and select Change Drive Letter and Paths, then click the Change button and select a drive letter that does not conflict with other drives.

49 The essential tool

A good strong screwdriver is a must for anyone wanting to build his own PC.

Unless you have an expensive case with fancy bolt-down catches to keep your graphics card or hard disk in place, you will need that low-tech tool to help you secure your components to the chassis.

It should have a stem of decent thickness and a comfortable handle large enough to make it easy to screw down or release a hard drive.

Using a cheap thin tool wastes effort because it provides inadequate leverage.

50 Don't let mother down

Make sure you keep the motherboard from warping.

Over-enthusiastic newbies who build their own PCs often over-tighten the heatsink mounted over the CPU, in an attempt to improve contact between the two, so that heat dissipates faster.

But this may lead to a warped motherboard, especially if you use a heavy aftermarket heatsink instead of the one that comes with your chip.

The heatsink's weight, coupled with extreme pressure applied over it, ends up bearing down on the fragile motherboard and can damage it over time.

Check for warping by inspecting it from the side. If there is a problem, ease up on the mounting.

51 Give it a test run

Want to put together a PC? Test with a barebones setup first. If you have not already done it at the shop, boot up your PC with the bare minimum of components plugged in.

Position your CPU on the motherboard, slot in the RAM and graphics cards (if you are not using an integrated graphics chip on the motherboard) and power up. Do not forget to hook up the power supply unit to the motherboard.

Next, look up the cluster of front panel connectors on your motherboard and locate the two pins used to power on your PC (check your manual).

Touch both pins with a screwdriver. This should jumpstart the PC. Check that the CPU fan is spinning and that the monitor connected to your graphics card is showing the right amount of memory.

If everything checks out, shut down and install the rest of the components.

52 Ready, set, troubleshoot

If your barebones system has trouble booting up, try the usual suspects.

Some motherboards have LED panels that highlight the problem, such as the lack of a memory module. Others beep several times to hint at the problem.

If the PC does power on but quits almost immediately, check that your CPU fan is linked to the correct connector. This precaution ensures the CPU does not overheat.

If the PC lets out a loud sharp shriek, check that the graphics card has been connected to the power supply.

But what if nothing happens?

You will need to make sure nothing is shorting the motherboard, for instance, that the bottom of the board is not in contact with a metal surface on the chassis.

Also, check that your CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) setting on the motherboard is set to normal (instead of "reset" or "clear").

If that does not work, remount the CPU.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

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