What is a Hard Disk Drive?

A Hard Disk Drive (HDD) is a device used by modern computers to permanently store information. The Hard Disk Drive is arguable the most essential part of a computer system in that all the information that is permanently stored is contained within its enclosure, including your computer’s Operating System (OS). Thanks to Hard Disk Drives, long gone are the days when you would have had to keep all your programs and documents stored on removable media such as Floppy Disks or CD-ROMs.

Originally invented in the mid 1950’s and made commercially available in 1956 by International Business Machines (IBM). Called RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control), the first Hard Disk Drives contained as much as 50 platters which were 24 inches in diameter and were computers in their own right albeit with a single purpose – to store data. The entire unit which housed the hard drive was the approximate size of two large refrigerators placed side by side. In the 50 or so years since their invention, Hard Disk Drives have steadily and aggressively far out paced Moore’s law. Which stipulates that memory in computers will increase by 100% approximately every 18 months. Hard Disk Drives on the other hand have increased capacity in the same period by approximately 130%, an increase of 100% every nine months in many cases. Such capacity increases are being threatened, however. I

n the years since the first Hard Disk Drive very little has changed apart from logical steps in technology such as the increased speed or improved interfaces, the basic technology has changed very little. There have been no technological leaps, as it were, for Hard Disk Drives beyond their increased miniaturisation. Apart from miniaturisation and recording media improvements the Hard Disk Drive as a device is almost identical technologically speaking, to the very first, the RAMAC.Hard Disk Drives use a similar technology as is employed in audio and video cassettes. Such audio and video cassettes use a magnetic ribbon wound around a two wheels to store data. To access a particular portion of the data contained on the magnetic ribbon, the device must wind the tape such that the beginning of the section containing the data is underneath the device that reads the data (the magnetic read/write head). This process is called sequential data retrieval because in the process of accessing the particular data, the device must sequentially read each piece of data until the data it’s looking for is found. This process is very time consuming and contributes to wear.

Hard Disks on the other hand use a circular disk-shaped platter upon which the magnetically sensitive compound is laid. Such platters are similar in concept to a Compact Disk (CD) in that the data they hold can be accessed randomly, that the recordable media is in a circular (disk) shape, and that the data is sectioned off into tracks and sectors. Data on a Hard Disk Drive can be accessed randomly because the recordable medium of Hard Disk Drives uses these separated tracks and sectors. By separating the data in such a way, it can be positioned at random intervals of the disk, depending upon the space requirements.

Anywhere from one to seven recordable platters are contained within a modern Hard Disk Drive’s metallic enclosure. Hard Disk Drive platters are perfectly circular disks made from either an aluminium alloy or a more recently a glass ceramic substrate which is a ceramic disk suspended in a glass outer shell. Onto the surfaces of a disk’s platter is laid a thin layer of a magnetically sensitive coating called the recording medium, in modern drives the mixture is a complex amalgam of different materials such as cobalt chromium platinum boron (CoCrPtB) and other such rare metals.

How does a Hard Disk Drive store data?

All information located on a computer is expressed as a series of ones and zeros (1/0), as binary digits (bits). Taking advantage of the nature of magnetic particles, that they can be polarised to magnetic north or south and that their magnetic poles can be alternated or switched when a sufficient magnetic field of the correct polarity is applied, Hard Disk Drives can store the very same sequence of bits onto a disk by polarising the required magnetic particles on the recording medium such that they represent the data being stored. Hard Disk Drives are sectioned off such that they contain both intersecting tracks and sectors. The purpose of which is to provide a logical data structure, to provide a way to distinguish between areas of data. Within each track there are a number of sectors. It is within these sectors of the Hard Disk which data is stored.

The platter of a Hard Disk Drive is coated with a magnetically sensitive coating comprised primarily of magnetically charged particles or filings which as a whole may be called the recording medium. These particulates can be magnetically aligned such that they represent binary digits, by inducing an electromagnetic field upon them via a devices read/write head. The recording media contains many billions of microscopic particles which when viewed extremely close resemble miniature metal filings. When a Hard Disk Drive records data onto the medium it takes many hundreds (usually anywhere from 500 to 100) of these magnetically sensitive particles to store a single binary digit. The increased reduction of the amount of particles required to record data is highly limited by the precision of the read/write head (the miniature device that reads and records data onto the recording medium) because the magnetic field which is used by the drive’s read/write head to read and/or record (write) data is such that it already tentatively borders nearby data.

Should it be shrunk much further in an attempt to increase precision, the likelihood of data corruption would increase vastly. Research by various parties has been on-going to find a workable solution to recording data onto much fewer or even single particles for some time now. A hard drive may record data onto the Hard Disk Drive by applying a sufficient magnetic field to the section of the recording medium (which is suspended upon the Hard Disks platter) such that the data (a series of ones and/or zeros which correspond to the information being stored) is recorded onto the medium by aligning the specified particles to the desired magnetic pole (north or south). In doing so, any previous data which was present is therefore destroyed.

Perpendicular verses Longitudinal

Ever since the late 1980’s and early 1990’s magnetic media drive manufacturers have been researching the feasibility of switching from longitudinal to perpendicular recording techniques. The advantage is clearly one of capacity: when longitudinal magnetic particles are packed together, they take up much more space than if they were to stand upright, if they stood perpendicular to the platter. More than merely a matter of initial capacity gain, perpendicular recording technology avoids a problem which has been well known in the field for many years: the super-paramagnetic effect (SPE), which affects magnetically charged particles of such small size as that used in Hard Disk Drives. “The super-paramagnetic effect is a phenomenon observed in very fine particles, where the energy required to change the direction of the magnetic moment of a particle is comparable to the ambient thermal energy” (source: Wikipedia.org).Many theories have cropped up over the years as to what density magnetic particles (described by a disks areal density) may achieve before becoming subject to SPE. At present it is suggested that anything from 100Gbit/inch2 to 150Gbit/inch2 is the physical limitation for longitudinal Hard Disk Drives, although perpendicular media solutions have been made as high as 230Gbit/inch2.

In the layering of the magnetic particulates atop a magnetic suspension layer and orienting the particles perpendicular to the platter, the recording medium can pack many more magnetically sensitive particles together in the same space than previously possible whilst keeping SPE at bay. Perpendicular recording technology does not however preclude SPE from limiting capacity in the future, more than anything perpendicular recording technology can been described as a way to give manufacturers breathing room to develop more permanent technological solutions such as holographic lithography or a multilayered recording medium. Traditional recording media manufacture consists of the spreading of recording material over a disk platter via a centrifugal force induced by spinning the platter whilst the recording material is placed atop its surface. The centrifugal force would spread the recording material across the surface, evenly spreading it in all directions. Perpendicular recording media manufacture on the other hand requires a much different technique.

The exact manufacturing process of perpendicular recording media is unsurprisingly a closely guarded secret, especially considering its recent arrival on the marketplace. From patents filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it can be taken that the predominant technique involves the laminating of magnetic and non-magnetically charged metals such as chromium, cobalt, platinum and alloys of similar; sandwiching unique layers to affect the desired result – a recording medium such that the magnetic particles are aligned perpendicular to the platter. In US patent number 6387483, filed by the NEC Corporation of Tokyo; it describes the technique as follows:The perpendicular magnetic recording medium of the embodiment is formed by laminating a Cr film, a soft magnetic under layer film, and a perpendicular magnetizing film on a substrate in this order. (Source: USPTO no. 6387483)

In longitudinal media manufacture too, laminating multiple supportive metals is achieved; in perpendicular media however, the difference is the magnetizing film as described above. Whereas traditional lamination ordinarily serves only to prevent wear and noise (both electro-mechanical and audible noise), in perpendicular media manufacture it would appear that at least some of the lamination process is used to magnetize the magnetic media particles to a perpendicular orientation. Precisely how the reorientation of magnetic media particulate is accomplished is not easy to determine, most probably because the technology is so new that such details are sketchy at best and obscure or guarded at worst. This fact is not at all surprising concerning a new technology such as perpendicular magnetic media development.

The future of storage technology

Perpendicular magnetic media technology as discussed earlier is merely a temporary solution, to find more permanent solutions we must look to much more advanced technologies. One such technology is patterned magnetic media. The process of patterned magnetic media aims to make singular magnetic particulates the object of recording bits, you will remember that current technologies requires approximately 500 to 1000 magnetic particles to store a single bit. The object of patterned media is to cut this dramatically down to a single particle per bit. Advantages of such a technology are such as reduced statistical noise associated with granular media and more increased areal density (as much as 64Gbit/inch2).

Patterned magnetic media aims to prevent the SPE barrier, or at least further decrement its effect through the use of so-called mesas and valleys. The technique uses the creation of barriers between magnetic particles, thereby avoiding the SPE complication which affects closely packed particles. Holographic Storage (a.k.a. Holographic Lithography) too is a technology that aims to increase storage capacity which is also under heavy research, and claims to be a much more permanent solution. Unlike Patterned Magnetic Media, Holographic Storage is a revolutionary step away from magnetic media and previous optoelectronic technologies.

Hard Disk Drives will always be subject to inertia and centrifugal force induced by the moving parts of the drives mechanical components (platter, read/write head), Holographic Storage has no such issues; the holographic process uses lasers in replacement of the read/write head of a Hard Disk Drive and the media itself requires no momentum (unlike the platters in Hard Disk Drives).

Such holographic storage is far from realisation, in fact it is postulated by some that it may be as much as ten years before the technology can be made into a workable solution. In direct symmetry to early memory research, research on Holographic Storage technologies seems to have banded into two camps: one of super fast data retrieval and extraordinarily high capacity storage; no doubt there will be extremely profitable markets for both.

Sean Nicholls is an undergraduate at the National College of Ireland where he is working on a Bsc.H in Software Systems. With almost six years experience of Computer Programming, Sean has extensive knowlege of computers and computer-related technology.

For further reading visit Sean’s blog at http://www.seannicholls.com/

The Cost of Ink

This is my third article on the subject you can read my others on my web site www.caveatemptorus.com or at www.ezinearticles.com.

I believe in free enterprise and all that but some things are beyond the pale. Ever since the advent of the inkjet printer I think we’ve been getting ripped off

A set of OEM cartridges for the average printer cost just less than $75.00 a set of refilled units on eBay go for close to $50.00. I think that’s outrageous.

It’s often cheaper to buy a new printer than it is to buy a set of cartridges, which I frequently do.

. Originally the printer manufacturers practically gave away printers; in fact a lot of them did so through promotions and rebates.

Their strategy was to sell the printers at low prices and make their money on the cartridge replacements, so they inflated the prices of the ink, This had a tendency to back fire, as they created a bootleg industry, that they are now having to compete with.

There are refilled cartridges, refill kits, so called compatible cartridges or imitations, Some of these are legitimate , and of good quality, some are not. Then there are the counterfeits with OEM labels, which some unwitting people are paying full price for. This practice is particularly reprehensible.

All of this might have been avoided had the manufacturers chosen to sell their printers and replacement cartridges at reasonable prices. I firmly believe that had the makers had set reasonable prices for the printers both they and the consumers would have been better off.

The sad part is that it is we the consumers that suffer. We not only have to live with high prices but inferior quality and considerable inconvenience.

When we use anything other than OEM products, we face warranty problems. Some of the refilled cartridges are of such poor quality they not only don’t work, they leak and can damage your printer. Some, but not all of the compatible cartridges are nearly as bad. If you have a problem printing and you’re using aftermarket ink the manufacturers won’t even give you technical support. I recently had to buy a set of OEMS to prove my printer was defective.

All so called standard cartridges are only partially filled with ink. You have to buy high yield or extended use cartridges to get full ones. Originally when you bought a new printer you received standard cartridges, which was fine, you at least got decent yields from them.

Now they’ve come with another bit of trickery. This one isn’t new but previously they only used it on promotional printers at rock bottom prices. Now I’m informed by a reliable dealer that all new printers are now coming through with sample cartridges. Sample cartridges don’t have much ink in them so you’re faced with premature replacement.

I recently bought a low-priced printer on eBay. It was from a leading computer manufacturer. The seller did have the cartridge numbers in his ad. He may not even been aware that they were samples. I found out when I unpacked it. So if you’re buying a printer don’t assume that it’s equipped with standard cartridges, check to be sure of what you are buying.

You don’t have to be careful only on eBay, regular dealers are selling printers with sample cartridges also. They don’t advertise it. You have to ask them to find out. Again "Let the buyers beware."

There is really no good solution to this problem Refilling is a hassle. It’s not always successful, and it can lead to damage to your printer. I think if you top off your cartridges while thy stills have a lot of ink in them and you’re careful not to over fill them it may work.

Printing in draft mode and black and white when you don’t need color will conserve ink. I used to print a lot of material that I’d read in the den; now I just read it on my monitor.

Shopping for bargain printers that cost less than the cartridge is still viable but the sample cartridge situation has complicated that scheme.

We can’t ask our congressmen to help, they’re going to be too busy fighting off the people hat want us to give the internet to the UN.

Written by: George W. cannata Author and Publisher of the web site: http://www.caveatemptorus.com

You may copy or reprint this article so long as you do not alter it in any way and that you include all links and give full credit to the author and publisher.

In a few short years since the launch of the first 4Mb flash memory card, the number of flash memory cards available for digital cameras and other devices has exploded with a number of different formats and speeds of memory card. It’s no wonder the average person is totally baffled by this plethora of memory cards.

Not only are there different shapes (the format) and sizes such as Secure Digital (SD) Compact Flash, Memory Stick etc, but also different speed ratings.

Memory card speed is the card’s performance with regard to how quickly data can be transferred to or from it. The card speed is often stated in ‘Times’ ratings i.e. 12X, 40X etc (just as the speed of recordable CD’s and DVD’s is measured), and sometimes more specifically in megabytes per second (Mb/s). By today’s measure, sub 20X represents a standard speed, 20X to 40X is mid-high speed and over 40X is high speed. The chart below shows the relationship between the two figures.

8X = 1.2 Mb/sec
12X = 1.8 Mb/sec
20X = 3.0 Mb/sec
25X = 3.8 Mb/sec
30X = 4.5 Mb/sec
40X = 6.0 Mb/sec
60X = 9.0 Mb/sec
66X = 10.0 Mb/sec
80X = 12.0 Mb/sec
90X = 15.0 Mb/sec
133X = 20.0 Mb/sec

Why do we need different or higher speeds cards?
This is mainly due to the advancement of our digital devices, especially digital cameras, camcorders and music devices. As manufacturers develop higher and higher spec devices (i.e. higher resolution cameras and more intense multi-media functions), they are creating increasingly larger amounts information to store pictures, movies, music and so on. This in turn takes longer to record onto the memory card. For example if you have ever used a high megapixel camera with a standard speed card you may have noticed the time lag between pressing the shutter button and being able to take the next picture. This lag or delay, in most cases is caused by a slow write speed, similarly copying your photos to your PC could take time too and is caused by a slow read speed.

So who really needs high-speed memory cards?
Professional photographers and enthusiasts using professional grade cameras such as digital SLR’s should use high-speed memory cards of at least 40X speed. If you own a camera with a megapixel rate above three million pixels, you will certainly benefit from a card with a higher speed rating. If you’re like most of us using a compact camera under 3 million pixels, you’ll get great performance from standard cards with 12X or more.

Those using digital camcorders and devices recording MP3 music or video will also benefit from higher speed cards. It used to be the case where very few people would actually benefit from very high-speed cards, typically only professionals who used expensive, specialized products benefited, but it’s fast becoming a requirement on many of the latest PDA’s, Cameras, phones and other mobile devices to make use of the extra speed made available by high speed cards.

People using high speed memory cards with equipment that has been on the market a while may not notice any difference in performance, but this has more to do with the limitations of the device than the flash card itself. This is because not only does your memory card have a maximum speed rating, but your camera or mobile phone will also have its own speed rating. When these products are combined, they’ll work at the "slowest common denominator" e.g. if you use a 12X flash card in a camera with a designed for a maximum of 8X speed, you’ll be transferring data at the slower 8X speed.

You should always check the capacity of your device before splashing out on mega fast cards, but determining the speed compatibility of your device can be tricky. Most manuals just don’t tell you what speed of flash card you should use, now that would be far too easy, but they do tell you to buy their brand, which isn’t much help! So a general rule of thumb, if your camera is less than three megapixels the speed rating of the flash card doesn’t matter much. Most modern cameras have the ability to support far higher speeds than the cards available to purchase today, therefore, if speed is of importance, go for a faster card. Most mobile phones, PDA’s and Satellite Navigators are fine with standard speed cards although some newer models will benefit from higher speed cards but not generally over 60X speed.

The internet is a good resource to find out about your device, but in our experience the device retailer and forums are not always the best source of information, you would be better to seek information from the manufacture’s website or from dependable review sites.

If you are in any doubt about the card you require or even desire, you can always call us at Mouse2house.co.uk on 0845 257 2088 and we will do our best to guide you in the right direction.

Article by Iggy Quazi director of Ecommerce business Mouse2House based in Essex, England stocking a wide range of digital imaging devices. For more info see http://www.mouse2house.co.uk for the latest digital media products. For Flash Memory Cards visit http://www.mouse2house.co.uk/index.php?CatURN=637.

As home computers become more advanced, and our uses for them become more complex, the need for higher performance and capacity hard drives increases. It is now possible to choose hard drives with vastly different capacities and rotational speeds, making things more confusing for the consumer.

Thankfully for consumers the hard drive market is extremely competitive and the price at which a high capacity hard drive can be bought is quite astounding. Now that broadband internet is common place, with more and more people downloading music and movies, the need for high specification hard drives has never been greater.

When choosing a new hard drive it is important to consider What you use your computer for. Those who just use their home pc for basic requirements such as word processing and surfing the internet will not need to spend as much on their hard drive as someone who may use music applications or lots of games. When buying a hard drive also try and anticipate any future requirements also.

Lets consider the following hard drive specifications:

1)Capacity

2)Rotational speed

3)Buffer size and transfer rates

In terms of capacity, hard drives can range from 30 - 300 GB. 40 GB hard drives are fairly standard these days. If all you will be using your PC for is to run a few basic software applications and games then this will provide you with plenty of space. But as most people these days are generally also using their home computer to store lots of music, videos and photos, I would strongly recomend buying something between 60 - 120 GB capacity. With hard drives being relatively cheap these days it is better to buy something that will continue to provide storage in the future, than go for a smaller option now and have to upgrade sooner.

The second factor we really need to consider is the rotational speed of the hard drives. This has become a big selling point for manufacturers. The speed is measured in revolutions per minute and you will find figures such as 5400RPM, 7200RPM, 10000RPM, 15000RPM quoted by the hard drive manufacturers. Hard drives work by reading information from rotating magnetic platters as they rotate, hence the faster the rotating speed, the quicker the information is read. There is a down side to faster rotating speeds though, and that is wear and tear. The faster a hard drive spins the quicker it will wear out and it will also be more vulnerable to crashes. Rotational speed is really important, so if your going to be using your PC for music or gaming then you need to buy a 7200RPM drive. If its just for basic usage then a 5400RPM drive will suffice. Again as the price difference between 7200RPM and 540RPM drives is minimal, you may consider opting for the faster speed as this will not need upgrading as soon.

The buffer size and transfer rates will not be of importance to many people, and only need to be considerd by people building dedicated games machines or for high end music applications. The buffer is used as a temporary store for data and the larger the buffer size the better your pc will operate. It is possible to buy hard drives with a buffer size of 8MB. Its best to buy a drive with as large a buffer as you can afford. The same is true for transfer rates, buy the drive with the highest transfer rate that you can afford.

This buyers guide should have covered all the points you need to consider when purchasing your new hard drive, but if you want more information then plenty is avaiable on the internet. For further information please visit our site.

Steve Jones has worked with computers all his life and is now using his knowledge to write articles for http://www.officialharddrive.com.

Do you remember the last time you used the FDD drive of your computer, and for what? Chance is if you have used it then it would be for some emergency booting of the computer, or for recovery of your broken OS. Meaning you would have not used it for data transfer using this medium.

Currently this magnetic medium is fast getting replaced by the “flash Rom” drives that we also know by Pen Drive or USB Drive. This new medium is killing the old magnetic medium for its reliability, speed and ever growing capacity.

Historically the secondary storage is always in the realm of change. Technology and needs are always pushing the medium smaller, faster, more reliable, secure and of expanding capacity. Just like some 10 years back the 5.25” dives were replaced by this 3.5” drives for smaller size and larger capacity.

History

History of secondary storage is quiet interesting, as it has seen the use of papers to silicon to optical medium. With each generation it gets better, faster and smaller is size and always increasing the storage capacity.

Paper Punch Card
Paper Punch cards used initially as the first external storage device. It used paper card/roll with holes as data. Meaning a hole was zero, and no hole was one. Programmers used to punch the card for providing input. Card printers were there to punch the output for storage.

Floppy Drive (8”)
Once the magnetic media started to be used for storage, paper media was quickly made obsolete. Magnetic disks of round shape emerged as the standard for secondary storage device. It became very popular as it was more robust and handy than the paper roll, and could store more data.

Floppy Drive (5.25”)
Further advancement in the material and magnetic technology provided better density and provided much higher storage capacity in smaller area. Now the disks also started to become double sided providing even more data storage area in the same size disks.

Floppy Drive (3.5”)
This media peaked with the 3.5” FDD that was small and sturdy enough to be carred in the jeans pocket. Its case also provided cover even for the area that is used for reading, resulting in more protection from dust and humidity even when the floppy was not in any cover.

Zip Drive
This drive released in 1994 by a company called Iomega was capable of holding 100MB of data. This also uses the magnetic coating like the regular floppy disks, but of higher quality and of superior technology. Due to this it needs specialized drives for reading and writing on this media. This made it a good backup drive (like tape drives), but not good for using it on any machine. Currently generation of Zip Disks can hold upto 250MB of data.

Flash Drive (USB Drive)
Also known as Pen Drive is the next revolution in secondary portable storage device. Initially emerged with couple of MB storage capacity, it quickly gained attraction due to its solid state rugged construction and its capability of being used on any computer equipped with USB port. Initially it needed a specific driver to be installed on the earlier OS in order to be used, but later, due to its universally open standard and rise in use of the USB port, its support was provided natively in the OS. (Windows/Macintosh/Linux supports it natively out of the box).

So now virtually nothing more is needed for this drive to work if you have a computer with a standard USB port. Though the manufacturers are also providing additional features to the hardware like encryption, but these features generally requires additional software/driver to be installed in order to be used. And since there is not much standard for these features yet it is mostly device specific and is largely ignored for its lack of compatibility.

This standardization of protocol has lead to not only popularity of the USB flash drives, but has also provided a common way for other media to act as drive via this protocol. So now there are storage products making use of this standard to become USB drives (also called USB Mass Storage). Example includes:
- USB Hard Disk Drives
- Zip Drive with USB interface
- digital camera acting as an USB drive for accessing the photographs directly on any computer
- PDAs like Palm that already connect to the computer using USB acts as a USB drive for accessing the data stored in its memory and SD/MMC Card
- Mp3 players that doubles as USB drive!!

The list of applications are getting bigger and bigger, ultimately making this drive a very popular and successful.

Currently 1 GB USB flash drives are available, and bigger drives are on the horizon.

Portable USB HDD
As mentioned above this medium is also getting popular and is popular mainly for higher speed and capacity than what is currently provided by the USB flash drive. On the flip side it is still fragile (as having moving element) and bulkier than the flash drive.

Holographic Drives
Last but not the least is this future product. This is the media of the future that uses technology that is still in its infancy - holography. Though holography and holograms are not new and was discovered in the late 1940s, but its application for data storage is something very new. A company called InPhase Technologies is one of the forerunners in this field that has prototyped disks that can hold 200GB to 1.6TB of data. This technology uses lasers for reading and writing the data.

Why FDD is dying
Using this 1.44MB floppy disk drive was always bit unreliable. We can all recall the "Sector 0 Bad" error, and myriad number of utilities supporting various recovery and advanced modifications like:
- One marking sectors bad (NDD - Norton Disk Doctor and its surface scan (ultimately acquired by Symantec and is part of its Norton Utilities Toolset right now).
- Another very popular utility was to create another zero sector if the actual one was gone bad.

So what is remaining in the way of death of this magnetic medium? Only time!

As of now few features still needs the magnetic floppy disk drive, like for booting for the first time, or for upgrading BIOS of the motherboard etc. This is due to it’s (FDDs) easy of programming at the lower level and more importantly for its inbuilt support in the BIOS program. So as soon as the modern BIOS start supporting the USB drives (motherboards have now started to come with this support) the floppy days are numbered.

Current Support of USB Devices by the Motherboard/BIOS
The current motherboards and BIOS have started the support of USB drive as boot device. Meaning you can have your whole operating system on this device, or simply use it as the bootable floppy (imaging carrying your whole work including the programs and applications on a small keychain). Depending on the mode of usage resources are available on the Internet for configuring your USB drive. Please checkout the links provided below where it provides tips and tricks of doing so.

Speaking of easy of use of using this feature, the problem lies with the (Windows) OS right now that does not support making the USB drive bootable. It does allow you to format the USB drive and choose the file system format, but Make Booteble option is not present at all. Never mind as there are lot of tools and utilities available (for all popular OS) that supports making it bootable, though you will have to struggle a bit.

Future
As you see there is very little need of Floppy Disks for any use/operation and is getting replaced fast by the USB drives. Already major computer vendors have made FDD as optional feature. Now the time has come of the USB flash drive over the demise of the FDD.

Visit author’s site for more information about the author as well as get access to more articles on various topics. http://www.akhilesh.in.

Computer noise is normal … somewhat. Then there is the dreaded silence of death …

You see, there are several moving parts inside of your desktop computer. These parts are going to make noise, so that part is normal. Your computer has at least two fans, one on the CPU (central processing unit, or the brain of the computer) and the other on the power supply unit. An option third fan is sometimes located in the middle of the back of the case, directing airflow directly onto the CPU area, or venting the case itself. All of these fans will make noise.

In addition, your hard drive is comprised of small platters with magnetic read/write heads located in between the platters; a sort of sandwich if you will. Under normal operation, the hard drive is relatively silent, but as it gets older and it’s mechanisms get more worn, it will generate some sound when accessing the drive. This is a good indication that you need to start shopping for another hard drive … and don’t forget to regularly back-up the contents of the drive while you’re at it!

Two more things that generate noise on your computer are your CD-ROM (and DVD-ROM) drives and your floppy drive (if you still have one!). These devices spin your media at phenomenal rotation rates, and generate heat as well as noise. However, these devices have a noise that you should become fairly familiar with. Any noise that appears abnormal from these devices probably indicates a problem with the device. For example, a grinding noise in the floppy drive may indicate a bad floppy disk, or a bad drive. CD-ROM is the same way … a drive that has to be repeatedly opened and closed before it will access a CD could indicate a problem with the CD or the drive. In both cases, a careful examination of the media will help eliminate the media and point to the drive itself as the source of the problem. A good question to ask when encountering this type of issue is if the disk will work in another computer. If so, the problem is most likely your drive.

However, none of the things discussed so far describe the two most ominous sounds that can come from your computer: the whining grind of bearings going out, and complete silence. For the first issue, when the bearings in any of your fans start to go out, it starts to whine and grind. It will sound exactly like any other fan bearings that you might have heard go out … from an air conditioner unit to a box fan … the fan bearings all sound the same when they start to fail. At first this noise will be intermitten … but after a while it will become severe and nonstop. At this point it is imperative that you purchase a fan to replace the one that is going out. Why? Because what comes next can be very destructive …

Complete silence. No fan sounds. No grinding. Worst case scenario: it’s the CPU fan gone bad, and every second you use your computer you are burning up the CPU chip. Most computers today are designed to turn themselves off once the temperature on the CPU reaches a certain level … before damage takes place. However, this safety feature doesn’t always prevent damage from occurring. After you get the fan fixed, you can experience random shut-downs and system errors that are directly related to a previous overheating incident. So, it is best not to run your computer at all during times when overheating may be an issue.

So the bottom line? Get to know your computer! Some noise is normal … but excessive noise from any component on the computer usually indicates excessive wear and tear, not to mention possible emminent failure. So be alert and aware of what your computer sounds like now, … before it has any problems.

Michael Arcand is a CompTIA A+ Certified computer technician and entrepreneur specializing in computer tips and tricks for home users. His latest venture is online at http://www.techsupporthelpdesk.com, providing cost-effective tech support for home and small business users.

Wireless networks in schools is not a new thing but it’s rare to see the wireless network used to it’s full potential.

Technology with out wires gives the teacher the ability to bring the technology to the student instead of the whole class going to a computer lab.

Wireless mobile laptop labs can be used for many purposes:

• Wireless Streaming Video • Research • Report Writing • Teacher Guided Instruction • Report writing • Typing 

What ever a student can do in a wired lab they can do with a wireless laptop mobile lab.

What are the features of a wireless mobile laptop lab:

1. Wireless Laptops - Laptops for schools should meet the following specs. First they need to have at least 512 mb of memory. Anything less will cause educational software to crawl. The laptop should weight about six pounds, a heavy laptop is about eight pounds plus and a light laptop is about 4lbs. The ultra light laptops are over $2,000 each and too expensive for schools. So six pound laptops are easy enough for schools to carry around. Now some people will tell me I’m wrong but school laptops don’t need cd-roms or DVD -roms. Why you ask? It’s because they will be the first thing to break and all software will run off the hard drive. The case needs to be a slim case so students can have proper hand placement when typing. Bluetooth devices are becoming all the rage so built in Bluetooth will be something to think about also. Hard drive size should only be about 30gig because nobody is going to download music or large media files.

2. Mobile Laptop Carts - They need to be easily moved, easy enough to take out and put in the laptops, and have a built in power strip for charging. Laptop carts can hold any where from 6 to 30 laptops at once. I recommend using laptop carts of 15 or smaller and spreading them through out the school.

3. Access points and printers - If you school can not afford permanent wireless access points have a wireless access point mounted on the card and plug it into a network port when needed. Also the cart can have a printer on it if needed, but I recommend network printers not desktops.

Studies have shown that students who use laptops in classrooms are more focused and have an easier time typing. Wireless networks free students from their desktops and frees them from having to go a computer lab to work with technology.

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If you are planning to purchase a notebook computer, then there are seven key questions that you will need to ask yourself. Doing this will enable you to arrive at the kind of quality notebook that best suits your purposes and current budget.

1 - How portable, how powerful?

The issue of size and weight will determine how easily you will be able to carry around your notebook computer. After all, one of the reasons why you may have decided to purchase a notebook computer in the first place, is most probably based on the issue of portability. You will need to strike a balance based on your needs and requirements between ultra-portables and desktop replacements. The former offer very small-sized and light weight computers but will often sacrifice a number of items in achieving this. For instance they will tend to get rid of optical drives, among other items that may be important to you. With desktop replacements they will usually tend to be heavy and bulky making them a little difficult to carry around.

2 - What should be the processor speed and type?

The processor speed will contribute heavily to how fast you will be able to accomplish tasks on your notebook computer. If your notebook is meant to be mainly a web browser, with word processing and maybe a DVD player, then any processor that has a speed of 1 GHz or more should work. However if you have in mind a desktop replacement then you will need a high-end processor of 1.6 GHz or higher.

Secondly the type of processor is an important consideration too. Processors based on Centrino technology consume less power and yield improved battery lifetime.

3 - What Screen size, what resolution?

It is important to check the resolution of the screen on the notebook you are purchasing. Everybody would like a larger screen but some large screens have such a high resolution that it is counterproductive and makes the reading of standard fonts difficult. You will also have to remember that the larger the screen the heavier and more difficult to carry your laptop computer will be.

4 - Should the notebook have a convincing optical drive?

In laptops nowadays, the choice of optical drives is important. Laptops have these days been turned into portable DVD players with the DVD-ROM or CD-RW/DVD combo drive. They can even be plugged into a home theater system. The problem is that many ultra-portable laptops quite often lack an internal optical drive to save on space.

5 - Do you require redundant ways to access the Internet?

Ability to connect to the Internet is a key feature. You should be careful to look for systems that include a built-in 56 Kbps modem and Fast Ethernet. If you wish, you can go further and look for a computer with an integrated 802.11 b/g wireless adapter because locations with hotspots for connectivity are rapidly and constantly growing.

6 - How long would you be away from the mains on average?

A portable computer with less than two hours of computing time on a single charge is a big waste. You should look to get a system with at least 3-4 hours of battery life.

7 - What Warranty options should you be looking at?

Because laptops are moved around a lot, they are much more likely to break down. Many people make this mistake with laptops because we hardly follow up on the warranty for PCs. Remember that laptops are different because they take much more abuse on the go. So you should ensure that you get at least a one year warranty from the manufacturer.

Sabir Rizvi is a seasoned IT professional who writes for Notebooks Guide, an informative guide for laptop buyers. Visit the website to read more of his articles and reviews at http://notebooks.alwaiz-arts.com.

I know you know what a LAN (Local Area network) is and a WLAN (Wireless Local Area network) but do you know what a WPAN is…..?

A WPAN is a personal area network which uses Bluetooth technology to connect everything from cell phones and ear pieces to key boards and desktops.

When most people think of wireless they will think about Wifi hot spots or wireless routers. Bluetooth acts like wireless wire connecting components over ashort distant.

One of the biggest booms of Bluetooth technology is Bluetooth enabled phones that give you the ability to connect to your computer wirelessly or to your Bluetooth ear piece in you car. Other quick examples of Bluetooth networking is wireless keyboards and mice.

Bluetooth travels at 1mbps and has a max distance of about 5-10 meters. 1mbps does not seem very fast but it is three times faster that a serial port.

WPAN’s (Wireless Personal area networks) are all around you and they will become more and more common. Desktop computers with Bluetooth enabled keyboards and mice combined with a cell phone that syncs your data.

A new use of PAN’s is in the hospital industry where Bluetooth technology is helping doctors monitor patients. Bluetooth gives the hospital staff more freedom to treat a patient when not having to trip on or untangle wires.

Because blue tooth enabled devices can communicate with each other life saving equipment will be able to more effectively monitor changes in a patients condition.

The military is also experimenting with Bluetooth devices and PAN networking in creating smart suits for the battle field. A soldier armed with a blue tooth enabled SAT Phone, Bluetooth head set and Bluetooth laptop, can communicate with anyone in the world. The most important thing is that the soldier won’t have a million wires to connect and get in his way during battle.

As Bluetooth technology gains popularity the issue of security will have to be addressed. Virus writers have already made cell phone proof of concept viruses and have actually infected a few phones.

Bluetooth does have many built in features which help protect a user from being hacked. First is distance, unlike WI-FI Bluetooth travel only at most 10 meters. Next, Bluetooth uses frequency hopping and 128 encryption can be enabled. Other features of Bluetooth are built in PIN numbers to verify who they are communicating with and block other devices from connecting. More and more devices will become Bluetooth enabled such and your car radios and home appliances. Bluetooth enabled cars and appliances will be able to connect to your home network or cell phone and notify you when they need repairs or to give you status updates.

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"There is something hard and difficult about finding the right printer cartridges for your specific needs. The good news is that you do not have to worry about where you can purchase them. You don’t have to hope that the office supply store down the street or in your local mall will actually be carrying them. You will find the printer cartridges that you need right here on the web.

In order to know which printer cartridges you need for your fax machine, your printer, your copier…you need to know several things. For most computer printers, you will be able to find out just what you need in the way of printer cartridges when they are ready to run out. A message will pop up and telling you so. In fact, it may even tell you what type you need to purchase. But, if not, you can find this out by referring to your owner’s manual.

What if you no longer have that owner’s manual though? Many people mistakenly can’t find it or they have thrown it away. There is no problem in this though as long as you know what type of printer you have as well as what model number it is. This information is usually provided on the printer simply because they know you will lose it!

When it comes time to making the purchase on your printer cartridges, all you need to do is to use the web to help you find it. You will find a wide range of products available and you may even be able to find some discounted printer cartridges out there as well. In fact there are some excellent opportunities for saving money on the printer cartridges that you need on the internet. You can find these by simply researching a few of the better websites that sell them. This is great news to all of you out there that hate spending money on those hard to find printer cartridges! "

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