Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A Basic Guide to the Internet
The Internet is a computer network made up of thousands of networks worldwide. No one knows exactly how many computers are connected to the Internet. It is certain, however, that these number in the millions.
No one is in charge of the Internet. There are organizations which develop technical aspects of this network and set standards for creating applications on it, but no governing body is in control. The Internet backbone, through which Internet traffic flows, is owned by private companies.
All computers on the Internet communicate with one another using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol suite, abbreviated to TCP/IP. Computers on the Internet use a client/server architecture. This means that the remote server machine provides files and services to the user's local client machine. Software can be installed on a client computer to take advantage of the latest access technology.
An Internet user has access to a wide variety of services: electronic mail, file transfer, vast information resources, interest group membership, interactive collaboration, multimedia displays, real-time broadcasting, shopping opportunities, breaking news, and much more.
The Internet consists primarily of a variety of access protocols. Many of these protocols feature programs that allow users to search for and retrieve material made available by the protocol.
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COMPONENTS OF THE INTERNET
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WORLD WIDE WEB
The World Wide Web (abbreviated as the Web or WWW) is a system of Internet servers that supports hypertext to access several Internet protocols on a single interface. Almost every protocol type available on the Internet is accessible on the Web. This includes e-mail, FTP, Telnet, and Usenet News. In addition to these, the World Wide Web has its own protocol: HyperText Transfer Protocol, or HTTP. These protocols will be explained later in this document.
The World Wide Web provides a single interface for accessing all these protocols. This creates a convenient and user-friendly environment. It is no longer necessary to be conversant in these protocols within separate, command-level environments. The Web gathers together these protocols into a single system. Because of this feature, and because of the Web's ability to work with multimedia and advanced programming languages, the Web is the fastest-growing component of the Internet.
The operation of the Web relies primarily on hypertext as its means of information retrieval. HyperText is a document containing words that connect to other documents. These words are called links and are selectable by the user. A single hypertext document can contain links to many documents. In the context of the Web, words or graphics may serve as links to other documents, images, video, and sound. Links may or may not follow a logical path, as each connection is programmed by the creator of the source document. Overall, the Web contains a complex virtual web of connections among a vast number of documents, graphics, videos, and sounds.
Producing hypertext for the Web is accomplished by creating documents with a language called HyperText Markup Language, or HTML. With HTML, tags are placed within the text to accomplish document formatting, visual features such as font size, italics and bold, and the creation of hypertext links. Graphics and multimedia may also be incorporated into an HTML document. HTML is an evolving language, with new tags being added as each upgrade of the language is developed and released. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), led by Web founder Tim Berners-Lee, coordinates the efforts of standardizing HTML. The W3C now calls the language XHTML and considers it to be an application of the XML language standard.
The World Wide Web consists of files, called pages or home pages, containing links to documents and resources throughout the Internet.
The Web provides a vast array of experiences including multimedia presentations, real-time collaboration, interactive pages, radio and television broadcasts, and the automatic "push" of information to a client computer. Programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Visual Basic, Cold Fusion and XML are extending the capabilities of the Web. A growing amount of information on the Web is served dynamically from content stored in databases. The Web is therefore not a fixed entity, but one that is in a constant state of development and flux.
For more complete information about the World Wide Web, see Understanding The World Wide Web.
Electronic mail, or e-mail, allows computer users locally and worldwide to exchange messages. Each user of e-mail has a mailbox address to which messages are sent. Messages sent through e-mail can arrive within a matter of seconds.
A powerful aspect of e-mail is the option to send electronic files to a person's e-mail address. Non-ASCII files, known as binary files, may be attached to e-mail messages. These files are referred to as MIME attachments.MIME stands for Multimedia Internet Mail Extension, and was developed to help e-mail software handle a variety of file types. For example, a document created in Microsoft Word can be attached to an e-mail message and retrieved by the recipient with the appropriate e-mail program. Many e-mail programs, including Eudora, Netscape Messenger, and Microsoft Outlook, offer the ability to read files written in HTML, which is itself a MIME type.
TELNET
Telnet is a program that allows you to log into computers on the Internet and use online databases, library catalogs, chat services, and more. There are no graphics in Telnet sessions, just text. To Telnet to a computer, you must know its address. This can consist of words (locis.loc.gov) or numbers (140.147.254.3). Some services require you to connect to a specific port on the remote computer. In this case, type the port number after the Internet address. Example: telnet nri.reston.va.us 185.
Telnet is available on the World Wide Web. Probably the most common Web-based resources available through Telnet have been library catalogs, though most catalogs have since migrated to the Web. A link to a Telnet resource may look like any other link, but it will launch a Telnet session to make the connection. A Telnet program must be installed on your local computer and configured to your Web browser in order to work.
With the increasing popularity of the Web, Telnet has become less frequently used as a means of access to information on the Internet.
FTP
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. This is both a program and the method used to transfer files between computers. Anonymous FTP is an option that allows users to transfer files from thousands of host computers on the Internet to their personal computer account. FTP sites contain books, articles, software, games, images, sounds, multimedia, course work, data sets, and more.
If your computer is directly connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, you can use one of several PC software programs, such as WS_FTP for Windows, to conduct a file transfer.
FTP transfers can be performed on the World Wide Web without the need for special software. In this case, the Web browser will suffice. Whenever you download software from a Web site to your local machine, you are using FTP. You can also retrieve FTP files via search engines such as FtpFind, located at /http://www.ftpfind.com/. This option is easiest because you do not need to know FTP program commands.
E-MAIL DISCUSSION GROUPS
One of the benefits of the Internet is the opportunity it offers to people worldwide to communicate via e-mail. The Internet is home to a large community of individuals who carry out active discussions organized around topic-oriented forums distributed by e-mail. These are administered by software programs. Probably the most common program is the listserv.
A great variety of topics are covered by listservs, many of them academic in nature. When you subscribe to a listserv, messages from other subscribers are automatically sent to your electronic mailbox. You subscribe to a listserv by sending an e-mail message to a computer program called a listserver. Listservers are located on computer networks throughout the world. This program handles subscription information and distributes messages to and from subscribers. You must have a e-mail account to participate in a listserv discussion group. Visit Tile.net at /http://tile.net/ to see an example of a site that offers a searchablecollection of e-mail discussion groups.
Majordomo and Listproc are two other programs that administer e-mail discussion groups. The commands for subscribing to and managing your list memberships are similar to those of listserv.
USENET NEWS
Usenet News is a global electronic bulletin board system in which millions of computer users exchange information on a vast range of topics. The major difference between Usenet News and e-mail discussion groups is the fact that Usenet messages are stored on central computers, and users must connect to these computers to read or download the messages posted to these groups. This is distinct from e-mail distribution, in which messages arrive in the electronic mailboxes of each list member.
Usenet itself is a set of machines that exchanges messages, or articles, from Usenet discussion forums, called newsgroups. Usenet administrators control their own sites, and decide which (if any) newsgroups to sponsor and which remote newsgroups to allow into the system.
There are thousands of Usenet newsgroups in existence. While many are academic in nature, numerous newsgroups are organized around recreational topics. Much serious computer-related work takes place in Usenet discussions. A small number of e-mail discussion groups also exist as Usenet newsgroups.
The Usenet newsfeed can be read by a variety of newsreader software programs. For example, the Netscape suite comes with a newsreader program called Messenger. Newsreaders are also available as standalone products.
FAQ, RFC, FYI
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. These are periodic postings to Usenet newsgroups that contain a wealth of information related to the topic of the newsgroup. Many FAQs are quite extensive. FAQs are available by subscribing to individual Usenet newsgroups. A Web-based collection of FAQ resources has been collected by The Internet FAQ Consortium and is available at /http://www.faqs.org/.
RFC stands for Request for Comments. These are documents created by and distributed to the Internet community to help define the nuts and bolts of the Internet. They contain both technical specifications and general information.
FYI stands for For Your Information. These notes are a subset of RFCs and contain information of interest to new Internet users.
Links to indexes of all three of these information resources are available on the University Libraries Web site at /http://library.albany.edu/reference/faqs.html.
CHAT & INSTANT MESSENGING
Chat programs allow users on the Internet to communicate with each other by typing in real time. They are sometimes included as a feature of a Web site, where users can log into the "chat room" to exchange comments and information about the topics addressed on the site. Chat may take other, more wide-ranging forms. For example, America Online is well known for sponsoring a number of topical chat rooms.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a service through which participants can communicate to each other on hundreds of channels. These channels are usually based on specific topics. While many topics are frivolous, substantive conversations are also taking place. To access IRC, you must use an IRC software program.
A variation of chat is the phenomenon of instant messenging. With instant messenging, a user on the Web can contact another user currently logged in and type a conversation. Most famous is America Online's Instant Messenger. ICQ, MSN and Yahoo are other commonly-used chat programs.
Other types of real-time communication are addressed in the tutorial Understanding the World Wide Web.
MUD/MUSH/MOO/MUCK/DUM/MUSE
MUD stands for Multi User Dimension. MUDs, and their variations listed above, are multi-user virtual reality games based on simulated worlds. Traditionally text based, graphical MUDs now exist. There are MUDs of all kinds on the Internet, and many can be joined free of charge. For more information, read one of the FAQs devoted to MUDs available at the FAQ site at
Monday, January 11, 2010
10 reasons why PCs crash U must Know
Fatal error: the system has become unstable or is busy," it says. "Enter to return to Windows or press Control-Alt-Delete to restart your computer. If you do this you will lose any unsaved information in all open applications."
You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?
1 Hardware conflict
The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.
For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.
If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.
Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.
Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.
Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).
When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.
To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.
2 Bad Ram
Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.
But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.
One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.
Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.
EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.
3 BIOS settings
Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.
Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.
A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.
Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).
4 Hard disk drives
After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to
* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter
This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.
The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).
Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.
Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.
Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to
* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk
Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.
5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors
Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.
These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings
Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.
If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager
Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.
If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.
The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.
Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics
Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).
Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.
6 Viruses
Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs
Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.
A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.
An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).
7 Printers
The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.
Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.
If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.
8 Software
A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.
The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.
Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org
Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.
Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.
Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.
Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.
9 Overheating
Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.
One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com
CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.
10 Power supply problems
With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.
If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.
It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.
You have just been struck by the Blue Screen of Death. Anyone who uses Mcft Windows will be familiar with this. What can you do? More importantly, how can you prevent it happening?
1 Hardware conflict
The number one reason why Windows crashes is hardware conflict. Each hardware device communicates to other devices through an interrupt request channel (IRQ). These are supposed to be unique for each device.
For example, a printer usually connects internally on IRQ 7. The keyboard usually uses IRQ 1 and the floppy disk drive IRQ 6. Each device will try to hog a single IRQ for itself.
If there are a lot of devices, or if they are not installed properly, two of them may end up sharing the same IRQ number. When the user tries to use both devices at the same time, a crash can happen. The way to check if your computer has a hardware conflict is through the following route:
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager.
Often if a device has a problem a yellow '!' appears next to its description in the Device Manager. Highlight Computer (in the Device Manager) and press Properties to see the IRQ numbers used by your computer. If the IRQ number appears twice, two devices may be using it.
Sometimes a device might share an IRQ with something described as 'IRQ holder for PCI steering'. This can be ignored. The best way to fix this problem is to remove the problem device and reinstall it.
Sometimes you may have to find more recent drivers on the internet to make the device function properly. A good resource is www.driverguide.com. If the device is a soundcard, or a modem, it can often be fixed by moving it to a different slot on the motherboard (be careful about opening your computer, as you may void the warranty).
When working inside a computer you should switch it off, unplug the mains lead and touch an unpainted metal surface to discharge any static electricity.
To be fair to Mcft, the problem with IRQ numbers is not of its making. It is a legacy problem going back to the first PC designs using the IBM 8086 chip. Initially there were only eight IRQs. Today there are 16 IRQs in a PC. It is easy to run out of them. There are plans to increase the number of IRQs in future designs.
2 Bad Ram
Ram (random-access memory) problems might bring on the blue screen of death with a message saying Fatal Exception Error. A fatal error indicates a serious hardware problem. Sometimes it may mean a part is damaged and will need replacing.
But a fatal error caused by Ram might be caused by a mismatch of chips. For example, mixing 70-nanosecond (70ns) Ram with 60ns Ram will usually force the computer to run all the Ram at the slower speed. This will often crash the machine if the Ram is overworked.
One way around this problem is to enter the BIOS settings and increase the wait state of the Ram. This can make it more stable. Another way to troubleshoot a suspected Ram problem is to rearrange the Ram chips on the motherboard, or take some of them out. Then try to repeat the circumstances that caused the crash. When handling Ram try not to touch the gold connections, as they can be easily damaged.
Parity error messages also refer to Ram. Modern Ram chips are either parity (ECC) or non parity (non-ECC). It is best not to mix the two types, as this can be a cause of trouble.
EMM386 error messages refer to memory problems but may not be connected to bad Ram. This may be due to free memory problems often linked to old Dos-based programmes.
3 BIOS settings
Every motherboard is supplied with a range of chipset settings that are decided in the factory. A common way to access these settings is to press the F2 or delete button during the first few seconds of a boot-up.
Once inside the BIOS, great care should be taken. It is a good idea to write down on a piece of paper all the settings that appear on the screen. That way, if you change something and the computer becomes more unstable, you will know what settings to revert to.
A common BIOS error concerns the CAS latency. This refers to the Ram. Older EDO (extended data out) Ram has a CAS latency of 3. Newer SDRam has a CAS latency of 2. Setting the wrong figure can cause the Ram to lock up and freeze the computer's display.
Mcft Windows is better at allocating IRQ numbers than any BIOS. If possible set the IRQ numbers to Auto in the BIOS. This will allow Windows to allocate the IRQ numbers (make sure the BIOS setting for Plug and Play OS is switched to 'yes' to allow Windows to do this.).
4 Hard disk drives
After a few weeks, the information on a hard disk drive starts to become piecemeal or fragmented. It is a good idea to defragment the hard disk every week or so, to prevent the disk from causing a screen freeze. Go to
* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-Disk Defragmenter
This will start the procedure. You will be unable to write data to the hard drive (to save it) while the disk is defragmenting, so it is a good idea to schedule the procedure for a period of inactivity using the Task Scheduler.
The Task Scheduler should be one of the small icons on the bottom right of the Windows opening page (the desktop).
Some lockups and screen freezes caused by hard disk problems can be solved by reducing the read-ahead optimisation. This can be adjusted by going to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System Icon-Performance-File System-Hard Disk.
Hard disks will slow down and crash if they are too full. Do some housekeeping on your hard drive every few months and free some space on it. Open the Windows folder on the C drive and find the Temporary Internet Files folder. Deleting the contents (not the folder) can free a lot of space.
Empty the Recycle Bin every week to free more space. Hard disk drives should be scanned every week for errors or bad sectors. Go to
* Start-Programs-Accessories-System Tools-ScanDisk
Otherwise assign the Task Scheduler to perform this operation at night when the computer is not in use.
5 Fatal OE exceptions and VXD errors
Fatal OE exception errors and VXD errors are often caused by video card problems.
These can often be resolved easily by reducing the resolution of the video display. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Display-Settings
Here you should slide the screen area bar to the left. Take a look at the colour settings on the left of that window. For most desktops, high colour 16-bit depth is adequate.
If the screen freezes or you experience system lockups it might be due to the video card. Make sure it does not have a hardware conflict. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Device Manager
Here, select the + beside Display Adapter. A line of text describing your video card should appear. Select it (make it blue) and press properties. Then select Resources and select each line in the window. Look for a message that says No Conflicts.
If you have video card hardware conflict, you will see it here. Be careful at this point and make a note of everything you do in case you make things worse.
The way to resolve a hardware conflict is to uncheck the Use Automatic Settings box and hit the Change Settings button. You are searching for a setting that will display a No Conflicts message.
Another useful way to resolve video problems is to go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics
Here you should move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the left. As ever, the most common cause of problems relating to graphics cards is old or faulty drivers (a driver is a small piece of software used by a computer to communicate with a device).
Look up your video card's manufacturer on the internet and search for the most recent drivers for it.
6 Viruses
Often the first sign of a virus infection is instability. Some viruses erase the boot sector of a hard drive, making it impossible to start. This is why it is a good idea to create a Windows start-up disk. Go to
* Start-Settings-Control Panel-Add/Remove Programs
Here, look for the Start Up Disk tab. Virus protection requires constant vigilance.
A virus scanner requires a list of virus signatures in order to be able to identify viruses. These signatures are stored in a DAT file. DAT files should be updated weekly from the website of your antivirus software manufacturer.
An excellent antivirus programme is McAfee VirusScan by Network Associates ( www.nai.com). Another is Norton AntiVirus 2000, made by Symantec ( www.symantec.com).
7 Printers
The action of sending a document to print creates a bigger file, often called a postscript file.
Printers have only a small amount of memory, called a buffer. This can be easily overloaded. Printing a document also uses a considerable amount of CPU power. This will also slow down the computer's performance.
If the printer is trying to print unusual characters, these might not be recognised, and can crash the computer. Sometimes printers will not recover from a crash because of confusion in the buffer. A good way to clear the buffer is to unplug the printer for ten seconds. Booting up from a powerless state, also called a cold boot, will restore the printer's default settings and you may be able to carry on.
8 Software
A common cause of computer crash is faulty or badly-installed software. Often the problem can be cured by uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it. Use Norton Uninstall or Uninstall Shield to remove an application from your system properly. This will also remove references to the programme in the System Registry and leaves the way clear for a completely fresh copy.
The System Registry can be corrupted by old references to obsolete software that you thought was uninstalled. Use Reg Cleaner by Jouni Vuorio to clean up the System Registry and remove obsolete entries. It works on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE (Second Edition), Windows Millennium Edition (ME), NT4 and Windows 2000.
Read the instructions and use it carefully so you don't do permanent damage to the Registry. If the Registry is damaged you will have to reinstall your operating system. Reg Cleaner can be obtained from www.jv16.org
Often a Windows problem can be resolved by entering Safe Mode. This can be done during start-up. When you see the message "Starting Windows" press F4. This should take you into Safe Mode.
Safe Mode loads a minimum of drivers. It allows you to find and fix problems that prevent Windows from loading properly.
Sometimes installing Windows is difficult because of unsuitable BIOS settings. If you keep getting SUWIN error messages (Windows setup) during the Windows installation, then try entering the BIOS and disabling the CPU internal cache. Try to disable the Level 2 (L2) cache if that doesn't work.
Remember to restore all the BIOS settings back to their former settings following installation.
9 Overheating
Central processing units (CPUs) are usually equipped with fans to keep them cool. If the fan fails or if the CPU gets old it may start to overheat and generate a particular kind of error called a kernel error. This is a common problem in chips that have been overclocked to operate at higher speeds than they are supposed to.
One remedy is to get a bigger better fan and install it on top of the CPU. Specialist cooling fans/heatsinks are available from www.computernerd.com or www.coolit.com
CPU problems can often be fixed by disabling the CPU internal cache in the BIOS. This will make the machine run more slowly, but it should also be more stable.
10 Power supply problems
With all the new construction going on around the country the steady supply of electricity has become disrupted. A power surge or spike can crash a computer as easily as a power cut.
If this has become a nuisance for you then consider buying a uninterrupted power supply (UPS). This will give you a clean power supply when there is electricity, and it will give you a few minutes to perform a controlled shutdown in case of a power cut.
It is a good investment if your data are critical, because a power cut will cause any unsaved data to be lost.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
The Top 35 Torrent Sites of 2009
As of January 5, 2010, several torrent search engines have distinguished themselves. This list is compiled from reader suggestions, and is updated every several days. This list is the long version of the Top 5 list. You are welcome to submit your own suggestions to be included in this torrent sites list.
This list is in radom order. Special thanks to the About.com readers who email us regularly to keep this list current.
Antivirus Warning for P2P Downloaders: before you use any download site or P2P network, make sure you install a reliable antivirus like Avira. While most P2P users are honest, there are vandals who will abuse P2P file sharing as a way to propogate viruses.
Related: How to speed up your Bit Torrent download speeds
This list is in radom order. Special thanks to the About.com readers who email us regularly to keep this list current.
Antivirus Warning for P2P Downloaders: before you use any download site or P2P network, make sure you install a reliable antivirus like Avira. While most P2P users are honest, there are vandals who will abuse P2P file sharing as a way to propogate viruses.
Related: How to speed up your Bit Torrent download speeds
- Demonoid.com is back online! After legal conflicts in April of 2008, they have reestablished themselves outside of the USA. Demonoid is still a private community, and members are held liable for any leeching that their invited friends do in this community. If you are lucky enough to get a Demonoid membership, invite your friends carefully, lest you lose your own membership.
- Alive Torrents Alive Torrents is a relatively new site. It focuses on torrents that have distinguished themselves as having a solid swarm base and an active readership.
- Flixflux: a United Kingdom torrent site that is very popular with European downloaders
- Torrent Root: a metasearch engine, Torrent Root will pore through other search engines on your behalf, and display the results in a slick tabbed interface for your easy browsing. WARNING: the Torrent Root web page has recently been infected by scareware and phishing viruses. The webmasters seem to have purged the infection, but fair warning: with any P2P browsing, protect yourself by installing a reliable antivirus like Avira.
- Torrentportal.com
- Isohunt.com Currently in a legal dispute with the Canadian Recording Industry Association, Isohunt is a longtime favorite of P2P users. The community at Isohunt also helps police abuse within their network, and reader comments and votes help to identify those torrents which should be avoided.
- Entertane: An obscure-but-good metasearch engine. Pore through eight other torrent sites quickly by using Entertane.com
- The Pirate Bay
April 18, 2009: the Stockholm district court has sentenced the four Pirate Bay founders to a year in prison, and over $USD 3.5 million in fines. This is as punishment for violating their country's copyright laws. More on this shocking court ruling here...
- Torrentbox.com FYI: like Isohunt, Torrentbox is being sued by the MPAA as of February 28, 2006. The days for this fine search engine may be numbered.
- Torrentreactor.to (Torrentreactor has made a comeback from a hijacking and an uncooperative hosting service. They have moved to a different server setup and a Tonga country domain outside the USA.)
- BiteNova (formerly known as "Bi-Torrents", BiteNova is a free Torrent site with a spartan look and fast searching format.)
- Zoozle.org: a competent German search engine for finding specific files, cracks, and serials.
- Torrentscan.com (a "meta-search" engine, which is a search engine that searches other search engines)
- Vertor: this torrent service claims to filter out bad torrents, viruses, DRM locks, passwords, and fakes. Many readers are pleased with Vertor, and thus far their service has been exemplary. Definitely give Vertor a try.
- Torrent2crazy: this newer torrent site has a clean and uncluttered interface. It doesn't offer the user feedback system of Isohunt, but the torrent database is solid.
- H33T: Don't let the plain site design fool you: this newer torrent site has gotten very positive reviews from About.com readers.
- YouTorrent.com Still in beta testing format, this new torrent site claims to be the largest legal torrent search engine today. Accordingly, the result sets are much smaller than the "pirate" counterparts, but definitely try this site for yourself.
- yourBittorrent: a newer service, yourBittorrent has a clean and simple design and fast searching. Keep your eye on this site.
- Thunderbytes: As of July 2009, Thunderbytes is a family-friendly site with content that is good for kids and parents.
- Torrentengine.co.cc: a very spartan-looking torrent engine, with very fast results and and icons that denote verified sources.
- Torrentz.com (special thanks to reader, Jonathan R., for this link)
- BTbot.com (this site has been intimidated into listing fewer and fewer current torrents. The administrator was likely spooked by the recent wave of lawsuits against Isohunt and Pirate Bay)
- bittorrent.com (the official Torrent website by Bram Cohen, the designer of the Python BitTorrent format.)
- Fenopy (formerly Bitoogle.com) (the 'original' bittorrent search engine, which has now morphed into a metasearch engine. The results from your Bitoogle searches will point to various other torrent search sites. This site has been redirected recently.)
- Bitsoup Bitsoup is a growing favorite amongst P2P downloaders.
- Scrapetorrent.com is another torrent meta-search engine that is gaining popularity.
- Plentyoftorrents: this is a kind of launchpad search engine that offers choices where you want to search.
- Meganova.org which has been rebranded as "Seed Peer"
- FullDLS.com
- Torrentmatrix.com
- Mininova.org Mininova is the successor to Suprnova, one of the original big torrent databases of the Web.
- Torrents.to
- Special mention: Gpirate.com (A newer torrent search engine that several readers are very fond of.)
- Special mention: TuxDistro.com (For legal linux torrents and virtual machines.)
- Special mention: Commonbits.com (This new beta search site is dedicated to media on progressive political content: audio, video, photos, reports, transcripts and other files. This is a place for activists to share their message, and for people to learn about other political choices. Unfortunately, the owners have had to move the site because of legal/financial pressures. We hope to see it back soon.)
How to secure your Vista PC in 10 easy steps
While Windows Vista may be Microsoft Corp.'s most secure operating system ever, it's far from completely secure. In its fresh-from-the-box configuration, Vista still leaves a chance for your personal data to leak out to the Web through Windows Firewall or for some nefarious bot to tweak your browser settings without your knowledge.
But by making a few judicious changes using the security tools within Windows Vista -- and in some cases by adding a few pieces of free software -- you can lock down your operating system like a pro.
1. Use Windows Security Center as a starting point
For a quick overview of your security settings, the Windows Security Center is where you'll find the status of your system firewall, auto update, malware protection and other security settings. Click Start, Control Panel, Security Center, or you can simply click the shield icon in the task tray. If you see any red or yellow, you are not fully protected.
For example, if you have not yet installed an antivirus product on your machine, or if your current antivirus product is out of date, the malware section of the Security Center should be yellow. Windows does not offer a built-in antivirus utility, so you'll want to install your own. For free antivirus, I recommend AVG Anti-Virus 8.
2. Use Windows Defender as a diagnostic tool
The malware section of Windows Vista also protects against spyware using Windows Defender. The antispyware protection in your antivirus program usually trumps the protection Microsoft provides, but there are several good reasons to keep Windows Defender enabled. One is that every antispyware program uses a different definition of what is and is not spyware, so redundant protection can actually offer some benefit.
Another reason to keep Windows Defender enabled: diagnostics. Click Tools, and choose Software Explorer from the resulting pane. You can display lists of applications from several categories such as Currently Running Programs, Network Connected Programs and Winsock Service Providers, but Start-up Programs is perhaps the most useful. Click on any name in the left window, and full details will appear in the right pane. By highlighting, you can remove, disable or enable any of the programs listed.
3. Disable the start-up menu
Windows Vista keeps track of all the documents and programs you launch in the start-up menu. This can be convenient for some users, but it can also compromise your privacy if you share a computer within an office or household. Fortunately, Windows Vista provides an easy way to tweak this setting. To protect your privacy, follow these steps:
* Right-click on the task bar and select "Properties."
* Click on the Start Menu tab.
* Uncheck "Store and display a list of recently opened files."
* Uncheck "Store and display a list of recently opened programs."
* Click "OK."
4. Get two-way firewall protection
No desktop should be without a personal firewall, but even if the Security Center says you're protected, you may not be. The Windows Firewall within Vista blocks all incoming traffic that might be malicious or suspicious -- and that's good. But outbound protection is not enabled by default. That's a dangerous situation if some new malicious software finds its way onto your PC.
Microsoft did include the tools for Windows Vista to have a true two-way firewall, but finding the setting is a little complicated. (Hint: Don't go looking the Windows Firewall settings dialog box.
To get two-way firewall protection in Windows Vista, do the following:
* Click on the Start button; in the search space, type "wf.msc" and press Enter.
* Click on the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security icon. This management interface displays the inbound and outbound rules.
* Click on Windows Firewalls Properties. You should now see a dialog box with several tabs.
* For each profile -- Domain, Private and Public -- change the setting to Block, and then click OK.
Even if you do this tweak, I recommend adding a more robust third-party firewall. I suggest either Comodo Firewall Pro or ZoneAlarm, both of which are free and fare very well in independent firewall testing.
5. Lock out unwanted guests
If you share your computer with others -- and even if you don't -- Windows Vista includes a neat way to keep unwanted guests from guessing your systems administrator password. When you set up users and declare one user as administrator with full privileges, Windows Vista allows outsiders unlimited guesses at the password you chose. Here's how to limit the guesses.
* Click Start, then type "Local Security Policy."
* Click Account Lockout Policy.
* Choose Account Lockout Threshold.
* At the prompt, enter the number of invalid log-ins you'll accept (say, three).
* Click OK and close.
6. Now audit your attackers
With the Account Lockout policy in place, you can now enable auditing to see any account attacks. To turn on auditing for failed log-on events, do the following:
* Click the Start button, type "secpol.msc," and click the secpol icon.
* Click on Local Policies and then Audit Policy.
* Right-click on "Audit account log-on events policy," and select Properties.
* Check the Failure box, and click OK.
* Right-click on "Audit log-on events policy" and select Properties.
* Check the Failure box and click OK.
* Close the Local Security Policy window.
You can then use the Event Viewer (by running eventvwr.msc) to view the logs under Windows Logs and Security.
7. Secure your Internet Explorer settings
The Windows Security Center will also report whether your Internet Explorer 7 (or IE 8) security settings are at their recommended levels. If the screen shows this section as red, you can adjust the settings within the browser itself.
* Within Internet Explorer, click Tools in the menu bar.
* From the drop-down menu, click Internet Options.
* Choose the Security tab.
* Within the Security tab, click Custom Level.
Here you'll see a window with all the security options for the browser. If any are below the recommended level (if, say, some malware reconfigured your browser settings), these options will be highlighted in red.
To change an individual setting, click the appropriate radio button. To reset them all, use the button near the bottom of the tab. You can also change the overall security setting for Internet Explorer from the default Medium-High setting to the recommended High or Medium, if you wish. Click OK to save and close.
8. Use OpenDNS
Domain Name System (DNS) servers act as a phone book. When you type "pcworld.com" in the address bar, for instance, your browser sends that common-name request to your Internet service provider's DNS servers to be converted into a series of numbers, or an IP address.
Lately, DNS servers have come under attack, with criminals seeking to redirect common DNS preferences to servers that they control. One way to stop such abuse is to use OpenDNS.
Go to Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet, and then click Network and Sharing Center. Under the tasks listed on the left, click Manage Network Connections. In the Manage Network Connections window, do the following:
* Right-click on the icon representing your network card.
* Click Properties.
* Click Internet Protocol Version 4.
* Click the Properties button.
* Select the Use the following DNS server addresses radio button.
* Type in a primary address of 208.67.222.222.
* Type in a secondary address of 208.67.220.220.
* Click OK.
9. Live with User Account Control
One area where some people might want to see the Windows Security Center turn red is User Account Control (UAC), perhaps the most controversial security feature within Windows Vista. Designed to keep rogue remote software from automatically installing (among other things), UAC has a tendency to thwart legitimate software installations by interrupting the process several times with useless messages.
In Windows 7, you'll be able to set UAC to the level you want. Until then, you do have some options. One is to disable UAC. I would caution against that, since UAC is meant to warn you of potential danger.
Instead, install TweakUAC, a free utility that enables you to turn UAC on or off as well as provides an intermediate "quiet" mode that keeps UAC on but suppresses administration-elevation prompts. With TweakUAC in quiet mode, UAC will appear to be off to those running as administrator accounts, while people with standard user accounts will still be prompted.
10. Check your work
Now that you've tweaked Windows Vista, you can keep tabs on your system's security with the System Health Report. This diagnostic tool takes input from the Performance and Reliability Monitor and turns it into an information-packed report that can spotlight potential security problems.
* Open Control Panel.
* Click System.
* In the Tasks list, click Performance (near the bottom).
* In the resulting Tasks list, click Advanced tools (near the top).
* Click the last item on the resulting list -- "Generate a system health report."
The report will list any missing drivers that might be causing error codes, tell you whether your antivirus protection is installed and declare whether UAC is turned on. You may want to run this report once a month just to make sure everything's still good.
But by making a few judicious changes using the security tools within Windows Vista -- and in some cases by adding a few pieces of free software -- you can lock down your operating system like a pro.
1. Use Windows Security Center as a starting point
For a quick overview of your security settings, the Windows Security Center is where you'll find the status of your system firewall, auto update, malware protection and other security settings. Click Start, Control Panel, Security Center, or you can simply click the shield icon in the task tray. If you see any red or yellow, you are not fully protected.
For example, if you have not yet installed an antivirus product on your machine, or if your current antivirus product is out of date, the malware section of the Security Center should be yellow. Windows does not offer a built-in antivirus utility, so you'll want to install your own. For free antivirus, I recommend AVG Anti-Virus 8.
2. Use Windows Defender as a diagnostic tool
The malware section of Windows Vista also protects against spyware using Windows Defender. The antispyware protection in your antivirus program usually trumps the protection Microsoft provides, but there are several good reasons to keep Windows Defender enabled. One is that every antispyware program uses a different definition of what is and is not spyware, so redundant protection can actually offer some benefit.
Another reason to keep Windows Defender enabled: diagnostics. Click Tools, and choose Software Explorer from the resulting pane. You can display lists of applications from several categories such as Currently Running Programs, Network Connected Programs and Winsock Service Providers, but Start-up Programs is perhaps the most useful. Click on any name in the left window, and full details will appear in the right pane. By highlighting, you can remove, disable or enable any of the programs listed.
3. Disable the start-up menu
Windows Vista keeps track of all the documents and programs you launch in the start-up menu. This can be convenient for some users, but it can also compromise your privacy if you share a computer within an office or household. Fortunately, Windows Vista provides an easy way to tweak this setting. To protect your privacy, follow these steps:
* Right-click on the task bar and select "Properties."
* Click on the Start Menu tab.
* Uncheck "Store and display a list of recently opened files."
* Uncheck "Store and display a list of recently opened programs."
* Click "OK."
4. Get two-way firewall protection
No desktop should be without a personal firewall, but even if the Security Center says you're protected, you may not be. The Windows Firewall within Vista blocks all incoming traffic that might be malicious or suspicious -- and that's good. But outbound protection is not enabled by default. That's a dangerous situation if some new malicious software finds its way onto your PC.
Microsoft did include the tools for Windows Vista to have a true two-way firewall, but finding the setting is a little complicated. (Hint: Don't go looking the Windows Firewall settings dialog box.
To get two-way firewall protection in Windows Vista, do the following:
* Click on the Start button; in the search space, type "wf.msc" and press Enter.
* Click on the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security icon. This management interface displays the inbound and outbound rules.
* Click on Windows Firewalls Properties. You should now see a dialog box with several tabs.
* For each profile -- Domain, Private and Public -- change the setting to Block, and then click OK.
Even if you do this tweak, I recommend adding a more robust third-party firewall. I suggest either Comodo Firewall Pro or ZoneAlarm, both of which are free and fare very well in independent firewall testing.
5. Lock out unwanted guests
If you share your computer with others -- and even if you don't -- Windows Vista includes a neat way to keep unwanted guests from guessing your systems administrator password. When you set up users and declare one user as administrator with full privileges, Windows Vista allows outsiders unlimited guesses at the password you chose. Here's how to limit the guesses.
* Click Start, then type "Local Security Policy."
* Click Account Lockout Policy.
* Choose Account Lockout Threshold.
* At the prompt, enter the number of invalid log-ins you'll accept (say, three).
* Click OK and close.
6. Now audit your attackers
With the Account Lockout policy in place, you can now enable auditing to see any account attacks. To turn on auditing for failed log-on events, do the following:
* Click the Start button, type "secpol.msc," and click the secpol icon.
* Click on Local Policies and then Audit Policy.
* Right-click on "Audit account log-on events policy," and select Properties.
* Check the Failure box, and click OK.
* Right-click on "Audit log-on events policy" and select Properties.
* Check the Failure box and click OK.
* Close the Local Security Policy window.
You can then use the Event Viewer (by running eventvwr.msc) to view the logs under Windows Logs and Security.
7. Secure your Internet Explorer settings
The Windows Security Center will also report whether your Internet Explorer 7 (or IE 8) security settings are at their recommended levels. If the screen shows this section as red, you can adjust the settings within the browser itself.
* Within Internet Explorer, click Tools in the menu bar.
* From the drop-down menu, click Internet Options.
* Choose the Security tab.
* Within the Security tab, click Custom Level.
Here you'll see a window with all the security options for the browser. If any are below the recommended level (if, say, some malware reconfigured your browser settings), these options will be highlighted in red.
To change an individual setting, click the appropriate radio button. To reset them all, use the button near the bottom of the tab. You can also change the overall security setting for Internet Explorer from the default Medium-High setting to the recommended High or Medium, if you wish. Click OK to save and close.
8. Use OpenDNS
Domain Name System (DNS) servers act as a phone book. When you type "pcworld.com" in the address bar, for instance, your browser sends that common-name request to your Internet service provider's DNS servers to be converted into a series of numbers, or an IP address.
Lately, DNS servers have come under attack, with criminals seeking to redirect common DNS preferences to servers that they control. One way to stop such abuse is to use OpenDNS.
Go to Start, Control Panel, Network and Internet, and then click Network and Sharing Center. Under the tasks listed on the left, click Manage Network Connections. In the Manage Network Connections window, do the following:
* Right-click on the icon representing your network card.
* Click Properties.
* Click Internet Protocol Version 4.
* Click the Properties button.
* Select the Use the following DNS server addresses radio button.
* Type in a primary address of 208.67.222.222.
* Type in a secondary address of 208.67.220.220.
* Click OK.
9. Live with User Account Control
One area where some people might want to see the Windows Security Center turn red is User Account Control (UAC), perhaps the most controversial security feature within Windows Vista. Designed to keep rogue remote software from automatically installing (among other things), UAC has a tendency to thwart legitimate software installations by interrupting the process several times with useless messages.
In Windows 7, you'll be able to set UAC to the level you want. Until then, you do have some options. One is to disable UAC. I would caution against that, since UAC is meant to warn you of potential danger.
Instead, install TweakUAC, a free utility that enables you to turn UAC on or off as well as provides an intermediate "quiet" mode that keeps UAC on but suppresses administration-elevation prompts. With TweakUAC in quiet mode, UAC will appear to be off to those running as administrator accounts, while people with standard user accounts will still be prompted.
10. Check your work
Now that you've tweaked Windows Vista, you can keep tabs on your system's security with the System Health Report. This diagnostic tool takes input from the Performance and Reliability Monitor and turns it into an information-packed report that can spotlight potential security problems.
* Open Control Panel.
* Click System.
* In the Tasks list, click Performance (near the bottom).
* In the resulting Tasks list, click Advanced tools (near the top).
* Click the last item on the resulting list -- "Generate a system health report."
The report will list any missing drivers that might be causing error codes, tell you whether your antivirus protection is installed and declare whether UAC is turned on. You may want to run this report once a month just to make sure everything's still good.
10 ways to speed up torrent speed ·
P2P file sharing is one of the widely used applications now days. The Torrent search engine is the utility which is excessively used in this context. As the young generation says “impatience is the new world”, means the generation can’t afford anything too slow, same is the case with torrent download. But there are some tips which can really help to improve your download speed. Let’s have a quick glance at these tips.
1. Choose your ISP wisely
The basic rule is that the maximum Torrent download speed that you can get can’t cross the upper limit of the bandwidth provided by your ISP. Usually ISP’s specify the upload and download maximum for the connections. So it is always better to have an ISP who provides better Download and Upload limits for an affordable price.
2. Choose the right BitTorrent client
Always choose the latest versions among the available BitTorrent clients. mTorrent, Vuze etc are some of these latest versions available now. The latest versions are equipped with provisions for obtaining the highest download speed and an overall smooth downloading experience.
3. Check the seeds and peers
A peer is a computer which participates in the P2P sharing either for downloading or uploading. A seed is a computer who has got a complete copy of the file and is sharing that file in the network. A leech is a computer who doesn’t have a complete copy of the file, and is downloading the file at the moment. A leech becomes a seed when it completes the download and shares it over the network. It is always advisable to choose the files with more number of seeds and less no of leeches. That means the file with the highest seed to leech ratio.
4. Altering the firewall configuration
By default the firewalls block all the BitTorrent connections coming through. This can adversely affect the downloading speed. So you must make sure that your firewall is configured in such a way that it allows the BitTorrent connections through it. This can be done by checking the box ‘Add Windows Firewall Exception” in the firewall settings following the path options/preferences/connection. For ease some users may disable the firewall, but it is strongly advised that you shouldn’t disable your firewall that it will open your computer to serious threats.(www.AmazingIT.blogspot.com)
5. Limiting your upload rate
A peer to peer sharing is all about simultaneous upload and download. So every BitTorrent clients must upload some data at the same they are downloading some other data through torrent. For obtaining a high download speed you should vary your upload speed accordingly. Usually the upload maximum by the ISP is very much less than the download maximum. It is only 50Kbps for a 2Mbps connection. For fast downloading you can set your uploading speed to 80% of your maximum uploading speed. You must vary the speed as the download progresses for an efficient downloading. Keep the uploading limit maximum in the beginning and then slightly decrease it as the download progresses. In mTorrent the upload limit can be set from the option Global Upload Rate.
6. Selecting a different port
The default port for the BitTorrent file sharing is one between 6881 and 6999. As BitTorrent sharing involves high bandwidth usage the ISP’s usually throttle traffic on these ports. So you can increase the downloading speed by selecting some port above 10000. Usually mTorrent randomly assign the port as the application starts. So set a specific port with a number above 10000, by disabling the Randomize port checkbox.
7. Increasing the number of Maximum Half Open TCP Connections
Usually the maximum no of half open TCP connections in Windows XP with SP2 is set as 10 for blocking the virus multiplication. But torrent needs more. To facilitate this a patch TCPIP.sys is available. Through this patch you can set the maximum no of open TCP connections. Set it to any number between 50 and 100.
8. Protocol encryption
Some ISP’s constrict the bandwidth for P2P sharing. Protocol encryption can be used to override this restriction. Check the Allow incoming legacy connections box and make the outgoing Encryption as Disabled for getting maximum speed on Torrent downloads. Between non-encryption is not advisable as it may lead to some encrypted client to be left as undiscovered.
9. Connections and bandwidth
The BitTorrent client you are using will allow you to enter values for Global maximum no of connections: It is the maximum no of connections BitTorrent client can make for any P2P sharing. Setting this no to a very high value will take up useless bandwidth, and to a very low value will miss out some peers. For a 256kbps connection you can set this number to 130. Maximum no of connected peers per torrent: Set this no to one which is closer to the no of available peers for the file. No of upload slots per torrent: It gives the maximum no of peers to which the BitTorrent client uploads at a time. Since a low settings may affect the download set it to a moderate low value.
10. Miscellaneous
Disable the individual files for download along with a particular file, if we don’t want them at the beginning of download. Be familiar with your BitTorrent client settings from the users manual or web.
1. Choose your ISP wisely
The basic rule is that the maximum Torrent download speed that you can get can’t cross the upper limit of the bandwidth provided by your ISP. Usually ISP’s specify the upload and download maximum for the connections. So it is always better to have an ISP who provides better Download and Upload limits for an affordable price.
2. Choose the right BitTorrent client
Always choose the latest versions among the available BitTorrent clients. mTorrent, Vuze etc are some of these latest versions available now. The latest versions are equipped with provisions for obtaining the highest download speed and an overall smooth downloading experience.
3. Check the seeds and peers
A peer is a computer which participates in the P2P sharing either for downloading or uploading. A seed is a computer who has got a complete copy of the file and is sharing that file in the network. A leech is a computer who doesn’t have a complete copy of the file, and is downloading the file at the moment. A leech becomes a seed when it completes the download and shares it over the network. It is always advisable to choose the files with more number of seeds and less no of leeches. That means the file with the highest seed to leech ratio.
4. Altering the firewall configuration
By default the firewalls block all the BitTorrent connections coming through. This can adversely affect the downloading speed. So you must make sure that your firewall is configured in such a way that it allows the BitTorrent connections through it. This can be done by checking the box ‘Add Windows Firewall Exception” in the firewall settings following the path options/preferences/connection. For ease some users may disable the firewall, but it is strongly advised that you shouldn’t disable your firewall that it will open your computer to serious threats.(www.AmazingIT.blogspot.com)
5. Limiting your upload rate
A peer to peer sharing is all about simultaneous upload and download. So every BitTorrent clients must upload some data at the same they are downloading some other data through torrent. For obtaining a high download speed you should vary your upload speed accordingly. Usually the upload maximum by the ISP is very much less than the download maximum. It is only 50Kbps for a 2Mbps connection. For fast downloading you can set your uploading speed to 80% of your maximum uploading speed. You must vary the speed as the download progresses for an efficient downloading. Keep the uploading limit maximum in the beginning and then slightly decrease it as the download progresses. In mTorrent the upload limit can be set from the option Global Upload Rate.
6. Selecting a different port
The default port for the BitTorrent file sharing is one between 6881 and 6999. As BitTorrent sharing involves high bandwidth usage the ISP’s usually throttle traffic on these ports. So you can increase the downloading speed by selecting some port above 10000. Usually mTorrent randomly assign the port as the application starts. So set a specific port with a number above 10000, by disabling the Randomize port checkbox.
7. Increasing the number of Maximum Half Open TCP Connections
Usually the maximum no of half open TCP connections in Windows XP with SP2 is set as 10 for blocking the virus multiplication. But torrent needs more. To facilitate this a patch TCPIP.sys is available. Through this patch you can set the maximum no of open TCP connections. Set it to any number between 50 and 100.
8. Protocol encryption
Some ISP’s constrict the bandwidth for P2P sharing. Protocol encryption can be used to override this restriction. Check the Allow incoming legacy connections box and make the outgoing Encryption as Disabled for getting maximum speed on Torrent downloads. Between non-encryption is not advisable as it may lead to some encrypted client to be left as undiscovered.
9. Connections and bandwidth
The BitTorrent client you are using will allow you to enter values for Global maximum no of connections: It is the maximum no of connections BitTorrent client can make for any P2P sharing. Setting this no to a very high value will take up useless bandwidth, and to a very low value will miss out some peers. For a 256kbps connection you can set this number to 130. Maximum no of connected peers per torrent: Set this no to one which is closer to the no of available peers for the file. No of upload slots per torrent: It gives the maximum no of peers to which the BitTorrent client uploads at a time. Since a low settings may affect the download set it to a moderate low value.
10. Miscellaneous
Disable the individual files for download along with a particular file, if we don’t want them at the beginning of download. Be familiar with your BitTorrent client settings from the users manual or web.
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