How to configure a Network Router

A lot of people find it difficult to configure their router; router configuration is easy and can be done in just ten minutes.
When you have purchased a wireless router, you will see a device that has one or two antennas sticking up from the rear. The router will have a few lights on it, which may indicate power or activity when lit. The back of the router has connections to the WAN (the modem will plug into here) and LAN ports that give you the ability to plug into any nearby computers with a Cat5 Ethernet cable.

Setup Process

You will need to use a patch cable to initially login to the router. Using a web browser, such as IE, type http://192.168.1.1 and hit enter. Hopefully you'll get a login screen for the router. If not, you may need to try the address 192.168.0.1.
Your router will be shipped with a default login, which you will need to change immediately. Refer to your documentation for that login. If you do not have documentation, try admin as the login and password.

Configuring DHCP

One of the initial setup parameters is whether to enable DHCP. DHCP allows the router to handle the IP address for all of the network components on your LAN. For instance, when a PC boots to the router the first time, it will look for a DHCP server, and your router will reply. The router will assign an IP address and lease that unique IP to that computer for a specific amount of time. Each PC on the network will do the same. Since the router knows unique information about each computer, it will not assign the same IP to another machine.

Configuring SSID

Important, and often overlooked, the SSID must be set to match the workgroup name of all of your PCs on the LAN. Otherwise, you will not be able to connect to other machines or the Internet. Set the router's SSID to whatever you want, then go around to each PC and change its Workgroup (or often referred to as Network Name) by right-clicking My Computer, then Properties, then Computer Name. Then click Network ID and then the Change button. Under the Workgroup section, type in the same name you did for the router's SSID.

Finally, when you reboot the machine, you will see activity on the router, and then be able to access the Internet and other networking resources.

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How to recover you data when computer refuse to boot

A lot of times we have been victims of data lose in one way or the other. Hard disk failure is an inevitable event that must happen one day, because of this it is therefore important that we know what to do even if we hav backed up, but what of the most recent job you just did that you have not backed up? Are you going to lose that one?.
When your computer suddenly refuses to boot there are some steps that you can take to retrieve your files.

1. Get an External Case


Once your computer refuse to boot the most reliable means of retrieving your data is to get a Hard disk external case that you can connect to another computer using a USB cable. This method gives you access to your files before calling a pro.

2. Use a LiveCD

Don’t have access to a second computer for doing as you please? This method will be ideal, then. You’ll need to get temporary access to a computer with Internet and a DVD burner. Download a Linux LiveCD, Small Linux is the smallest, but also has issues mounting hard drives. The most simple for an average computer user would be Puppy Linux. It has a larger file size, but should recognize your drive.
Burn the Live CD ISO to a CD and insert it into your computer (the one with the crashed hard drive). Restart the computer and when it the computer logo appears, press F2 (or whatever key for your system) to enter BIOS. Change the boot sequence to CD first, Save and then Exit.

The Live CD will start, simply follow the directions on the screen–don’t worry, nothing is being done to your hard drive. The OS will start, and you should see your hard drive mounted on the desktop–something like “60GB”, etc. Plug in a second drive and copy and paste the folders over.

3. Data Recovery Software

if these two options sound confusing or difficult, you can get a data recovery software for just few $ and use it to recover your files. There are a lot of such software’s on the net some you can use their trial version to get your files.

5. Call a Professional

If you fell is very difficult for you, simply take your hard drive a professional that will be able to retrieve your document, it may be costly but it’s worth it except the files is not very important.

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How to troubleshoot a Hard Drive

For now there are two type of Hard drive used in computers. The Hard drive in your system may be an IDE or a SATA. IDE is the older variety, with the long, flat ribbon cable connector. SATA drives began appearing a couple of years ago. Gone is the flat ribbon cable. In its place is a thick serial cable.

Your hard drive have jumper on the rear. For the IDE HDD the jumper cap is used to indicate which drive is either the master, slave. You can also configure the IDE to use the ribbon cable as the basis for selecting which is master and which is slave this is call the cable select.

New hard disk installation

If you just bought a new hard drive and you want to install it first if its and IDE hard disk change the jumper cap to master, slave or cable select as you wish. Master is used when you have may be a CD-ROM drive and you are using one ribbon cable, slave is used when you have two IDE hard disk in one computer and you want the other hard disk to be master may be because you want to back up your files then you can put the jumper cap of the new hard disk on the slave pins. Cable select is use when you want the hard disk to be seen according to which part of the ribbon cable is connected to it. If it’s a SATA hard disk, don’t worry about setting the jumper just use its cable and connect it properly.

Old hard disk troubleshooting

Check your power cable
Sometimes a power cable is not properly connected. Make sure that the power cable you are using is good and change the current Molex power cable and use another one to power it

Configure the BIOS
You have to make sure that the hard disk is properly connected and the jumper cap is also properly placed, secondly check the BIOS. You will need to tap a certain key to enter the BIOS settings. This is normally the ESC, F1, F2, F10 or Delete key and is usually indicated on the very first screen when booting the PC. Once in the BIOS make sure the drive shows up in the appropriate place. If the hard disk is the master try detecting it and change the boot sequence to the master as the first boot device, and make sure it is set to Auto Detect the drive.

Check your IDE cable
Sometimes the IDE cable is not properly connected. Get another IDE cable and use it to connect the drives and make sure that it is properly connected.

Check if the drive is spinning
If the hard drive is not spinning, then it may not be getting power. You may need to listen real close to hear it spin, or touch the side with your finger to feel any vibration. If the drive is not spinning, test the power dongle with a multimeter, or try a different power connector. A power supply will often have several Molex connectors not being used. If the hard drive still does not spin up, the drive may be dead.
Sometimes may be something is just wrong with your computer that you can figure, so you have to try the hard disk in another computer before finalizing that its bad.

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How to Troubleshoot a Motherboard

Troubleshooting is a set of procedures that entails using your mental tools to dictate and rectify a fault on the computer system. The motherboard is the one component that connects to every other component on the system. For that reason it’s also one of the hardest to troubleshoot.

Check the power supply

When trying to diagnose a bad motherboard that will not power up, you must first check the power supply. Use a tester to test the voltage of current supplied to the computer. If the power supply and power pack checks out okay make sure you are plugging the computer directly into a working outlet.
Check your ram
The next step to take is to check and make sure that the ram is ok. To do this note that the motherboard comes with two ram banks (slots).insert the ram into the first bank (slot). It is normally labeled bank 0 and bank 1 or bank 1 and bank 2. Whichever way just make sure that it is occupying the first slot. Power your computer, if it does not come up.

Use isolation method

Remove any add-on card. Like network card, sound etc including any IDE device connected to the board like hard disk, CD-ROM drives and any external device like printer, scanner etc. after isolating these components power the motherboard. If it comes up then connect the devices one after the other.

Look For Physical Defects on the Motherboard

Common problems with motherboards are leaking capacitors. Capacitors help regulate voltage and when they fail, they will often budge and leak. Capacitors look like tiny soda cans and there are often several on a motherboard. If you do not see any bad capacitors, lift the computer and give it a gentle shake. Listen for any screws that may have come loose and work their way between the motherboard and case. This can cause a short that prevents the computer from booting.

Check your CMOS battery

If the motherboard still does not come up, the next step is to check the CMOS battery. The CMOS battery is suppose to read 3 volts, if it reads 2.5 it’s still ok, but if reads less than 2.5 volts then the battery needs to be replace. Change the battery with a new one. Then check the CMOS jumper. If it is in pin 2 and 3 that means it is disabled, correct it to pin 1 and 2. If you have done that power computer. If it does not come up.

Check your processor

Finally check if your processor is good. To do this, uninstall the cooling fan and heat sink but leave only the processor connected. Power your computer, it should come up by now.

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How to Backup Your Computer Data

Routinely backing up our important data is something we should all do. Unfortunately, we don't realize this until we're scrambling to recover data on a hard drive that has just gone south. Family photos, MP3s, that spreadsheet you've been doing for work--all gone. You can avoid this traumatic experience by using the backup utility that comes with Windows. This article outlines a few simple techniques you can use to make sure your computer data is safe.

Storage locations

Get a CD burner and occasionally drag and drop your files onto a disk using the software that came with the device (Usually something like Roxio Easy CD Creator or Nero). A flaw in this technique is that you will inevitably forget to do this, and before you realize it, it's been a year since your last backup.
If you're determined to use this method, we suggest weekly backups as well as monthly backups, where you physically remove the backed up data from your home or office and store it at another location. A house fire or other disaster could destroy both your PC and your backup sitting beside it on the desk. So you'll increase your odds if you keep a monthly copy in a safe deposit box, at work, or at a family member's home.

Windows Backup

Windows has a backup program ready to go on your system. Navigate to START, PROGRAMS, ACCESSORIES, then SYSTEM TOOLS and you'll find the backup utility. While older versions of this utility will differ slightly from XP Professional's, you'll be able to follow the Wizard when backing up.
You can backup the entire system, which isn't a great idea. Windows and other programs can be reinstalled. So you're probably better off keeping your data in a centralized location, such as your My Documents folder. You can add folders within that directory by opening My Documents and right-clicking an empty space. Name the new folders whatever you want and organize your data. Then use the Windows backup utility to create a backup of your data. Put this file on another hard drive, burn it to disk, or copy it over to another computer on your network.
Also, take a moment to schedule backups. The Windows backup utility will give you a chance to schedule backups automatically. This is normally located under the advanced tab at the end of the backup process. Take a moment to set this up.

Use online storage

If you're having a problem with finding media to backup to, take advantage of free Yahoo Mail, Google Gmail accounts and other free email providers. You can get up to 2 Gigabytes of storage space on these accounts. What does this mean? You can email yourself attachments containing data. So you essentially have an invisible hard drive Out There on the Internet. This is great for temporary or redundant storage, but do not rely on it for the long term.

External disk

Another way to back up your document is to get an external hard disk and always back up to this disk at least once every week

Finally

No matter how you backup, make sure you never rely on a single source. Rotate your backups out of the home, Email them to yourself or place them on a separate partition on your hard drive. Take advantage of the backup utility in Windows and use the scheduler feature to automate things. Be proactive with your data, and you will be better off when your system fails....and it will fail eventually.

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How to share a dial-up internet connection

Do you have a dialup internet on your computer at home or in your office and you want to share it with other computers in your home or office?
In this article I will be sharing with you how to share a dial up internet connection over LAN.
If you are using more than two computers then you need a network switch else you just need to terminate one end of the cable using the standard method and the other end crossed method.
A dial up can come through a USB cable or a network cable. If your dial up comes with a USB cable then you just have to use your onboard network card. If it comes with a network cable, you have to get an add-on network card, one card will be for the internet and the other card will be connected to the network switch.

On the computer with the internet open my network connections, right click on your dial up network and click properties. on the property window, check allow other network users to connect through this computer’s internet connection. Also, check establish a dial up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the internet. But the third unchecked box is a choice you either check it is you trust the people you are sharing with or leave it unchecked. Click ok.
Open control panel click network setup wizard, click next on the first screen you see on the second screen select the second option (this computer connects to the internet through a residential gateway or through another computer on my network), click next the computer description can be blank but you have to enter a computer name for that computer alone (e.g children’s pc, manager, son etc) and click next. For the work group you have to enter a name that is the name of the your network and the name will be used in any other computer that wants to be part of your network. you can use family if this is your house network or your company name if it’s your office network. Then Click next on the next screen select turn on file and printer sharing click next to see the preview your settings lastly click next to setup the network this process will take a little while. Once that is done select just finish the wizard and next, connect the other computers to the network switch.
On the other workstations simply use the network setup wizard to add the computer to the network and remember that the work group name must be the same for them to see themselves.
note that if you are using more than two computers, you have to get a network switch and connect the source out cable to the network switch and connect all the other work stations to the network switch.

for questions and observation send a mail to solutionprovider2000@gmail.com and for more on how to repairs your computer and networking solution visit online-computer-repairs.blogspot.com

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