Tutorial for building a Bart PE CD made by Runtime Software at http://www.runtime.org

Notebooks run on a singular battery from (usually) an external AC/DC adapter. It charges the battery and in the meanwhile supplies power to the laptop too. Numerous `notebooks` have a 3 volt back-up cell to supply power during power failures and when in places where there is no steady power supply. Notebooks, as personal computers are worthy and capable of doing the same work as of desktop computers. But they are less powerful than their desktop counterparts at the same price. This is because of the fact that most parts used in desktop computers are miniaturized to fit into the slim notebook version of the machine.

Notebooks usually have LCD (liquid crystal displays) and they use separate memory modules for their RAM. Notebooks usually have a touchpad (or trackpad) for a mouse and an in-built keyboard. But external installments of these can also be attached if the user wants to do so.

The first commercially available laptop (the name notebook was not feasible at that time as they were much bigger than the versions available now) was the Osborne I in 1981. Though it was much heavier and had only a tiny CRT monitor, yet it had a revolutionary effect on the business and industrial sectors. The idea of taking back work to home was given a full new meaning. A better installment of the laptop or the `notebook` came in 1983. Compaq Portable was the first tech-product of Compaq and was a notebook version of the then hugely popular IBM Personal Computer. It became a hit as it was more IBM-compatible than portable from its predecessors!

But the first notebook was arguably the GRiD Compass 1101, released in 1982 by Bill Moggridge. The `clamshell` design, or the `notebook` design, where the LCD monitor remains shut against the keypad, was introduced. It was enclosed in a magnesium case, and could run on batteries. The first commercially successful notebooks were from the SupersPort series from Zenith Data Systems (ZDS), which competed with several other companies such as IBM, Toshiba, Compaq and others to notch up a deal with the U.S. Air Force for a contract of supplying 200,000 notebooks in 1987. This made the laptop popular and penetrative to the business and affordable price ranges to the common consumers.

Even though the notebook might seem a powerful and mobile genius of this age, it has its fallacies too. The major ones may be listed below.

Standardizing and weaker parts:

Parts of the notebook are miniaturized parts of desktop computers themselves and hence are weaker in comparison. The miniaturization process also takes a toll on the prices of the notebooks, which are generally higher priced than their desktop counterparts. Also, notebooks count a lot on steady power supply, even though supposed to be mobile, for a decent performance. Though, today technology has improved this negative facet of notebooks.

Durability Issues:

The portability, make, integrated composite structure and design of the notebooks make them more liable to shock, wear and physical damage than desktop computers. And the worst part is that the purchase value of a new LCD screen or motherboard, if damaged, is more than the whole purchasing value of the notebook itself!

Performance Issues:

Desktop computers are generally high performing machines when compared to notebooks of the same price range. This even though is being abolished slowly by improving cutting edge technology, this will not hold true. As energy and portability are prioritized goals for a notebook than absolute performance.

All in all, notebooks are the rage of the new generation today. And slowly but surely, the era of desktop computers is fading into oblivion.

The first way to make a perfect copy of your hard drive, quickly and seamlessly, is to use good hard drive image software. A great example of this type of software is True Image from Acronis, which is complete imaging software that helps anyone make a perfect image of their hard drive and save it anywhere, even the hard drive if they want to. Of course there are also many other types of software on the market, and all are just as unique too. Just be sure to choose a good one, because if you don’t, it could end up being the biggest mistake you ever made on your computer.

If you are a little more technically inclined, and have some knowledge of installing computer parts, then you could always use the RAID method. RAID, which stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks, requires you to install another new hard drive and can be used to make a perfect mirror image of your current hard drive, which will always be up to date by the second. There are many different levels to RAID, but if you were using it for hard drive backup purposes, you would use level 1. Level one is called disk mirroring or duplexing, and this level will write data to both hard drives simultaneously, so when something happens to one there will always be the other one to fall back on.

The final way to make a copy of your hard drive is to backup everything individually yourself. This is of course the hardest and most time consuming strategy, but is preferred by some experts, because you can choose what to save. If you do use this method, you need to make sure you back up your registry files, system files and other important files and folders that you have. You might also want to save your entire software program folders, as they might contain important data related to the program that you want to definitely save. If you are using Windows XP, there is a backup utility that you can use for free, located in your “System tools” folder. Go there by clicking “Start” on your bottom toolbar, then go to “All Programs”, and then “Accessories”. You should now see a folder labeled “System tools” and once that is open, click on the “Backup” program.

Now that you have gotten some ideas on how to create a perfect backup of your hard drive, you should know where to save that backup. There is always the option to save your hard drive image backup on the hard drive itself, but most likely this will not work for everyone because of space limitations. Also, if the hard drive should be literally destroyed by a fire, tornado or some other act of nature, then the backup would be destroyed with it. That is why I recommend backups, especially hard drive images, be stored on a DVD-R, external hard drive or a device like a Zip drive. Then just be sure to backup once every week, or month, and store the backup in a secure location. Now you have a perfect copy of ALL of your data, and it is secure from this dangerous world.

First, right-click on the desktop-> go to new -> ’shortcut’

then in the box type in: “shutdown -s -t 0” (Without the quotation marks.). Proceed to name it whatever you want.

Now you have an icon that can either be put in the quick launch bar or desktop. Click on it and it will automatically shut down the computer.

Most users notice their system slowing down after a few months of usage. The first step most users take is to call a local computer repair company. They do not realize they could have avoided this expensive service.

Not only are these problems bad for your computer. They can also be extremely bad for you as well. You see these programs running on your system without your knowledge; have been installed by YOU, to steal your personal information. Yes you read that right; you installed them. In this case ignorance is definitely not bliss.

So if your system is running sluggishly I am going to show you how to fix this. But first I want to teach you about these viruses’ threats so you can avoid them in the future.

Malware

Malware is software installed on your system without your informed consent. It can be used to spread viruses, send out spam, or to cause harm to your computer’s hardware.

Spyware

Spyware is software that is installed on your system without your informed consent. Its basic purpose is to spy on your activities and gather information about you. This could include your name, age, date of birth, ss#, or something as simple as what sites you visit.

Adware

Adware or ad supported software is software that display ads while it’s running. It may not seem harmful, but this type of software generally sends back information to the software creators, that you may not want them to know.

Viruses

A Virus is software that can replicate itself on your computer, and spread to other computers in varius ways. A virus’s main goal is to harm your computer’s data, (AKA) any file on your computer.

Other harmful threats:

There are still other threats to your computer. However, if you follow my suggestions below you will not have to worry about them.

Protect yourself.

Software you should NOT use…

Browsers & Email clients
Microsoft’s IE (Internet Explorer) & Outlook Express
Microsoft has tied it browser to tightly with it’s operating system. This will allow software to be installed on your system without your knowledge. If you do insist on using this browser, do not install any activex objects.

There are alternatives to IE, that in my opinion are much better anyway.
Firefox
Opera
Safari (works on windows too!)

Here is a short list of alternative email clients
Gmail
Thunderbird
The Bat!

File Sharing software.

Software like LimeWire, BearShare and Kazaa allow you to share music, books, videos and apps. Unfortunately viruses and the such have been written to target such software sharing networks. If you insist on using a file sharing network try emule. It’s open source and safer than others.

Things you shouldn’t do….

With Email
Open email attachments from people you do not know or do not trust. This is one of the easiest ways to get a virus. Even simple picture files can contain a virus.

You should also set your email client so that it does not open attachments automatically to display them online.

Also opening email with inline photos (photos displayed with in an email) can verify your email account to spammers that send out spam to random accounts. The result is you’ll end up with more spam. Make sure you set your email client not to open any images so you can decide whether to view them.

Replying to junk email should not be done as well. In most cases the reply to unsubscribe, or click here to unsubscribe is but a cruel trick to again to verify your email address is real. Or even worse; to set you up with spyware, adware or the like.

Do not give to much information about yourself.
You would never give out your social security number or credit card number to a stranger would you? You shouldn’t and the same is true with the internet, even more so. Few website need your social security number. In fact the the only time you should give it up is when dealing with the IRS, a reputable financial intuition or… well… no nobody else.

A few things you should do

Research.
Before you give any information about yourself to any person or intently online do a little research on Google. Find out if they are who they really say they are.

If you find software you would like to try, make sure you do the same research on Google. If the search turns up nothing about spyware or adware then download it and scan it with antivirus software before you do more with it.

If you just have to open an attachment, make sure you scan it with your antivirus software first, even if it just a picture.

Software you should install and use.
Don’t worry, all the software I will suggest to you will be free. So for the first time ever money is no object….

Antivirus - Software that scans your system’s files and memory to find viruses and other nefarious types of software. It will then, in most cases destroys, cleans, purges or quarantines the infected file. Stopping the viruses in their tracks.

Here’s a short list of free antivirus software.
AVG Free Edition
Avast
Clamwin

Spyware scanners are software that scans your system for known spyware. When found it will remove it them.

Here’s a short list of free spyware removal software:
Spyware Blaster
Spybot
AVG Anti-Spyware

Adware Scanners

Adware scanners will search for software that contain adware, and present a list for your review. But be if there is software that you like to use on the list simply instruct the software not to remove it. Also note that some spyware , and virus software will remove adware too.

Here’s the short list:
Ad-aware
Spyware Blaster

Firewalls are software that monitors the packets traveling to your computer to the internet. They are good at keeping hackers out of your system. A good firewall will also detect packets leaving your computer as well. This is good if you don’t want a particular piece of software to send information out to the internet.

Here’s the short list Firewalls:
ZoneAlarm
Comodo

One last note on firewalls; there is no freeware firewalls for MS Windows Vista 64bit at this time. That should change soon, hopefully.

Identity Theft

The internet is not a safe place. It’s filled with all kinds of threats to you and your computer. But identity theft has got to be the worst. No matter how careful you are, you can still become a victim of this heinous crime. I would suggest everyone use a credit monitoring service. This is the only way to truly protect you and your assets from identity theft.

I’m sure there is something I’ve missed so if you have any questions, or anything to add please leave your comments below.