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How to Create a System Restore point in Windows 7

In a standard install of Windows 7, you should find that System Restore is turned on by default, creating restore points automatically on a regular basis.  But in case you want to manually create a System Restore point, perhaps just after a virus cleanup or before installing a new program, here’s how to do it.

There are a lot of different routes to the System Restore point creation screen in Windows 7, but this is the way I create a System Restore point.

Click on the Start button and then right click on Computer. Select Properties from the context menu that pops up and the System window will open.  This window displays a lot of basic information about your computer and the version of Microsoft Windows that has been installed on it. Continue reading

Finding drivers for unknown devices

After installing and setting up a fresh copy of Windows, there are times when you check the Device Manager and you see the little yellow exclamation point meaning a driver hasn’t been installed for a device.

If the driver isn’t on a driver disk, and maybe you don’t have a copy of the driver because your original hard disk was broken – what do you do? The device just shows up as unknown modem, or unknown media device or something similar.

What you can do is check the properties of the device, find out its signature and look it up on a great little website www.PCIDatabase.com. Continue reading

Getting the best out of your laptop battery

In our repair shop, customers often ask about their laptop batteries and how to get the best performance out of them. A lot of people don’t realise that the laptop battery, much like the battery in any other device, is a consumable item. After a couple of years it will not hold charge for as long as it used to, or maybe it just won’t charge at all.

There will come a point in time where the laptop battery should really be replaced, and your local laptop repair shop will be able to advise and supply a replacement when the time comes.

In the meantime, there are a few tips and tricks listed here that you can employ to get the best out of your laptop battery and to prolong its useful life. Continue reading

Perform a Clean Boot using the MSCONFIG utility

A Clean Boot is a method of starting Microsoft Windows in Normal Mode (as opposed to Safe Mode) with the minimum of drivers, startup programs and services.

A Clean Boot is one method that can be used in diagnosing Windows startup problems, especially in cases where there is a software conflict or driver problem.

Note: If Windows will not boot into Normal Mode, this Clean Boot procedure can be performed in Safe Mode, as an aid to getting the computer working again in Normal Mode. Continue reading

How and Where to buy Computer Memory (RAM)

No matter what you use your laptop or desktop computer for, it can usually benefit from additional memory. The more RAM you have in your computer, the easier it is to have multiple applications running at once, meaning your computer does not have to use the pagefile on your hard disk as much, so your computer runs faster and smoother.

So once you have decided to upgrade your RAM, your next decisions are,

– How much RAM do I get?

– What type of RAM do I get?

– Where do I get good quality memory from? Continue reading

Laptops need Air!

Laptop ventilation is extremely important to the health and well being of your laptop.

Ever think your laptop is heating up too much? Do you, like most others, use your laptop on your knee? If so, the laptop is likely not getting essential laptop ventilation. This can lead to expensive hardware problems for the laptop and even health problems for you.

Q. Why does a laptop get hot?

A. Laptops are precision pieces of equipment. Just imagine that a bunch of very clever engineers had to design a way of cramming all the equipment of a desktop PC into the tiny space of a laptop body. When the laptop is on, the CPU is generating heat, just like your desktop PC. The difference is that the removal of this heat has to be handled differently. Continue reading