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Recycling Your Old Computers for a Greener World

In a personal level finding ways for computer parts that has no toxic substance in it is also part of recycling. Take for instance the keyboard or mouse; we can use these two things to redecorate our house. Best of all we do nit to spend a lot of money just to use these two things for decoration. By just not throwing these parts then you already save a lot time and money for just recycling them.

In a more boarder scope many cities, towns and townships are now thinking or have implemented computer recycling as well as TV recycling methods to protect the environment and avoid possible soil contamination. Because computers contain many parts that could release toxins into the soil, city governments are seeking alternative ways to dispose of your old computers as well as all your old electronic equipment. This eventually will become a normal practice as more city governments become aware of the potential danger of dumping computers and all electronic products into a landfill. Many groups are also spreading the word about computer recycling and want to find better ways to dispose of the equipment.

What is Computer Recycling?

Computer recycling or electronic recycling is the recycling or reuse of computers or other electronic devices. It includes both finding another use for materials (such as donation to charity), and having systems dismantled, in a manner that allows for the safe extraction of the constituent materials for reuse in other products.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The issue of recycling computers and other electronics has become a hot computer topic and will continue to be addressed by conservatives and government officials in order to protect the land. Because the monitors as well as televisions have gases and other toxins that if placed in landfill sites could sooner or later release these gases into the atmosphere as well. This is a concern for all who have the ozone and air quality in mind. The gases inside a monitor need to be released safely as you do with a refrigerator or air-conditioner. Without proper release, the air can become filled with these toxic gases.

Image via Wikipedia

When recycling computers, monitors and any printers, people need to take the equipment to a place that is accredited for safely disposing of the equipment in a safe and proper way rather than dumping the equipment in a pile somewhere and hope for the best. It is vital that everyone disposes of their computer equipment properly and take it to a participating recyclers in the area. You may have to pay a small fee to drop off your old electronic equipment, but you will also be spending the money wisely to protect the environment.

One of the issues surrounding computer disposal is the already thousands if not millions of computers, printers and monitors as well as other electronics that are already in landfills all over the world. Many people express concern about ways to clean up landfill sites that already have the electronics dumped there, but the cost would be in the millions to do such a huge project of this sort. Besides the fact that electronics that have been in landfills for some time now have probably already done what harm they could do already.

Image via Wikipedia

Printers just need the ink cartridges and toner cartridges removed before dismantling them. Many stores such as Office Max and other retail electronic stores have barrels for disposing of your old cartridges. Many ink and toner manufactures that sell to stores, supply pre-paid envelopes for sending the old cartridges back for recycling. These practices have been around for quite a while now. This has cut down on ink cartridges and toner cartridges from being pull in landfills. If everyone would learn to recycle computer and electronic equipment, then it will save millions of dollars for future clean up of these landfill sites.

Recycling old computers to save the environment is necessary and everyone has a responsibility to abide by this practice to protect and preserve land and air quality. With the newer computer systems becoming available for an affordable price and the way technology changes daily, people are going to need new computers and other electronic equipment to keep up with the changing world. Recycling is needed to accommodate all the old equipment that will double if not triple over the next few years.

How about you personally any suggestion on how to go about recycling or reusing your old computers and their peripherals?

Computer 101: The Importance of System Restore in Windows.

First for those who are not familiar with System Restore here is a description of what it does in Windows based system. The function of System Restore is to restore your computer's system files to an earlier point in time. What does this means; it means every time that we used the computer an automatic system configuration image is created on that particular day. Also if we install new software in the computer most of the time the computer activates the system restore function before the new software is installed. Sometimes, the installation of a program or a driver can cause an unexpected change to your computer or cause Windows to behave unpredictably. Usually, uninstalling the program or driver corrects the problem. If uninstalling doesn't fix the problem, you can try restoring your computer's system to an earlier date when everything worked correctly. Furthermore it's a way to undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e‑mail, documents, or photos.

System Restore works by using the restore points to return your system files and settings to an earlier point in time without affecting personal files. Restore points are created automatically every week, and just before significant system events, such as the installation of a program or device driver. You can also create a restore point manually. System Restore automatically recommends the most recent restore point created before a significant change, such as installing a program. You can also choose from a list of restore points. Try using restore points created just before the date and time you started noticing problems. The descriptions of the restore points that are created automatically correspond with the name of an event, such as Windows Update installing an update. System Restore returns your computer to the state that it was in before the restore point that you chose. 

There are three methods you can use to access the system restore functionality. 

You can access the System Restore Wizard through the Start menu. To access the System Restore Wizard, click Start, point to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click System Restore. 

 You can access System Restore through Control Panel. To open the System Restore Wizard, click Start, Control Panel and double-click System. Click the System Restore tab and click More information about System Restore. Help and Support, click Performance and Maintenance, click Using System Restore to undo changes, then click Run the System Restore Wizard. 

You can access System Restore through Help and Support. To access the System Restore Wizard, click Start, and then click Help and Support. Click Performance and Maintenance; click Using System Restore to undo changes, then click Run the System Restore Wizard.

The more system restore points we have in our computer the better, because the more option the computer has in correcting windows error by using system restore the better. The system restore is a very important tool in fixing problems encountered by windows based system after installing a new program or a new driver for a particular hardware. By restoring the computer system configuration to an earlier state without affecting your personal files and documents to fix the windows abnormal behavior we have a tool that is very easy to use and very effective in solving software related error. System Restore uses a feature called system protection to regularly create and save restore points on your computer. These restore points contain information about registry settings and other system information that Windows uses. You can also create restore points manually.

Where do you find the System Restore tool? There are several ways on how to locate the system restore tool. The first is to go to the Start Menu and right click on the My computer and from the full down menu click on the Properties Tab, after clicking on the properties the system information will appear. On the Upper-Left hand side of the System information under the control panel home, click on the system protection. After clicking on the system protection the system properties dialog box will appear. There are five tabs on the system properties please locate the system protection tab. To start or create a system restore point manually just click the create button and then read and follow all the instruction to create system restore point manually.

System image backups stored on hard disks can also be used for System Restore, just like the restore points created by system protection. Even though system image backups contain your system files and personal data, your data files will not be affected by System Restore. System Restore isn't intended for backing up personal files, so it cannot help you recover a personal file that has been deleted or damaged. You should regularly back up your personal files and important data using a backup program. Another way of starting the system restore point manually is by opening the control panel and clicking the system icon to open the control panel and clicking the system protection. So if ever you find that your computer behaves abnormally after installing a program or update existing driver and removal of the newly installed program does not solve the problem then that is the time to use the tool called system restore.

I would like to hear you thought about system restore?

Computer 101: Hiding the Mouse Properties in the Control Panel

Before we begin the solution to this require in-depth knowledge of the registry or the policy editor of Windows Based system. The purpose of this method is to give network administrator and /or computer technician who are handling computers in not so controlled environment like internet cafes, public network and others who might need it. Sometimes it is better if some feature of the Windows OS is not reachable by person who have no idea what they are doing, they think changing a few color here and there is a showcase of how good they are at manipulating this windows feature. Let say you are working on an internet cafe where the computer is not very secure, the person using it can sometime do things which they think is good for them, but keep forgetting that it may be bad for the next person who is going to use them.

An example of this is our topic for today the mouse, yes that faithful old pointing device we called the mouse, which is very helpful in every way possible. It would be very difficult for anyone to use the present system of computer programs without the help of the mouse. This is where the problem begins since it is very easy to manipulate the mouse properties, just go the control panel and look for the mouse properties and double click to get an in-depth look at the basic and advanced of a mouse. We can change its color and appearance; the mouse can have tail while we drag across the screen and a whole lot more. Now if every person renting a computer on the internet cafe would do this change the mouse according to his liking, and then we would have a problem here. While this seems okay for some but it irritate most us, to most of us changing the appearance of the mouse to a running horse is a distractions from the things that we do while were on the computer. If you own the computer and you are the only who uses you computer then by any means go ahead and do what you like with it. But not in an environment where it is for public use with pay of course.

To solve the problem we just need to hide the mouse in the control panel so that no one will able to change the appearance and behavior of the mouse from its regular setting. Please watch the video below on how to proceed with the hiding of the mouse properties in the control panel of windows based system.

To summarize the video above, from the start menu click the RUN command and type gpedit.msc then press enter. The group policy editor will appear then click the user configuration then the Administrative Template then the Control Panel then select and double click the Hide Specified Control Panel Applets then got to the setting tab and select the enabled option and then click show then a dialog box will appear. From here click the ADD button and an input box will appear then type the name of the control panel applets that you want to hide, in this case type mouse then click the all the okay button and apply button until you are back at the group policy window. Close the group policy windows and refresh your screen several times. Now to check if the mouse properties has disappeared from the control panel, open the control panel and look for it, if we cannot see it then we will not be able to change it. The mouse properties should be hiding or nowhere to be seen on the control panel.

 

Computer 101: Parts on the Outside Part-2

Now the CPU or the Central Processing Unit or System Unit contains the main inside hardware parts of the computer. Let see there the motherboard, the memory module(s), the CPU chip, the hard drive, DVD RW drive, the Power Supply Unit, the cooling fan and heat sink on top of the CPU. Lets see did i miss anything, well the motherboard contains all the connecting point of all the hardware devices mentioned above. Ah h theres the graphics card or video card, the sound card for high end users and the network or LAN card optional for others.

Inside a typical CPU

Today's motherboard comes with a built-in S/V/L, wait what an S/V/L. It stand for Sound, Video. and LAN. The only thing missing if your purchasing a new motherboard is the CPU and it cooling system and the memory module which is sold separately. But if your purchasing a whole computer set then that not applicable. Okay lets focus on the motherboard that is found inside every computer. The motherboard is where it all connects. The monitor using its cable is plug into the video card port which is connected or built-in the motherboard. The same is true for the mouse and keyboard, they connects via the PS2 or USB port which is usually built-in into the motherboard. The same is true to all external devices that we can connects to the computer, your Web cam, Mic, Speaker system, your smartphone, printer, scanner, external drive and a host of other devices. The most common port used in interconnection for today devices is the USB port. Your supposed to just plug it in and let it connect to your computer.

USB, LAN, PS2, MIC and Speaker port

Okay where suppose to blog about the external parts not the inside parts, but i thought i should give you a sneak preview of my nest post. Back to the external parts. The CPU Case is also important not just for appearance but also for the cooling system it can provide to your CPU unit. You should know where are those FAN located so would not be able to block them when placing your computer on tight spot. Also it should be strong enough to handle the daily grind that it would experience. The air should be able to get in and out of your CPU Case with the aid of those cooling fan properly positioned in your case design. The CPU is where all the work is done, the input, processing and output is done all in there. Make sure to also check on your CPU regularly so that dust build up and other stuff like small insects should not make your CPU there permanent abode. It should be check regularly, lets say weekly to maintain it in top form.

Related articles

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• VIA offers $89 processor and motherboard combo for custom HTPCs (engadget.com)
• Picking the parts for a future-proof PC (guardian.co.uk)
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Computer 101: Parts on the Outside Part-1

Hello I hope your day is going fine, hope your in good health. Okay we will start on a blog series that will tackle on the computer hardware parts on the outside and on the inside. a lot of people who uses computer for almost everything don't have the time to know what's on the outside and what is on the inside of this very important machine.First of all i assume everyone knows what a computer look's like. Lately it has taken on a lot of very different shape and sizes and function but on this series of blog we will focus on the Desktop Computer, the first computer which was tailored made for offices, leisure spot, activity center and many more and of course your own home sweet home. Still remember your first computer, what was the specification of that? how big is the Monitor. What was the speed of the processor, how large was the hard drive and the memory. What was the color. How did you feel when your parents bought you your first computer. I'm sure you have a lot of memories regarding that time.

To start with the computer is made up several key component during it early years. They are the Monitor, Central Processing Unit, the keyboard, the mouse (pointing device) and also we have the printer. This was the basic parts ohhh I almost forgot, the speaker and microphone. The Monitor is your basic output devices, this is where we see what we are doing. The monitor is our windows to the uses and function of the computer. From CRT technology to thin LCD upto LED and HD technology monitor of today.The main basic difference of the monitor today than its ancestor is the size, another is the power consumption. Your old CRT monitor eats a lot of power when in use. But todays, LCD and LED screen eats smaller electricity even on if left open for a long time. Another big savings for the LCD/LED screen is the space the old CRT uses. Just imagine a 19" inch Desktop CRT of even bigger and compare it to the space needed for the LCD/LED screen.

Keyboard

Numeric Keypad

Now let's go to the keyboard, there not much difference from the keyboard of the old days to the keyboard of today.It's basically the same design from the old model up to the new and latest model. There may be a few enhancement here and there, soft keys, hand rest to name a few enhancement. But still it is the same keyboard even if the wireless model and folding keyboard. The keyboard is the main input devices that is attached to the computer. It's like a type writer without the loud sounds. This is what we used to type documents and fill-out electronic forms online. This is also were we controlled our computer if it hangs, we pressed three keys to restart it. To access CMOS setup content and menu we press certain during the boot-up process. If your want to view process on your computer under windows we press certain key combination. For editing of document we also access the keyboard, especially for the people who uses the shortcut method of accessing all the function of the word processing software. The most ordinary keyboard will not function properly if water or liquid is poured into it. Buy some high-end type have built in protection for this kind of substance if accidentally spill into it.

Mouse with a lighted Scroll Wheel

Next is the Mouse or you pointing device. Just like the keyboard the mouse has changed little ever since it was introduced in it's early days. From mouse with balls used for arrow movement to the infrared and scroll mouse of today. Basically it's the same design even the wireless one. There are also other type of pointing device used in computer, the track ball which has the ball on the upside not under. all mouse are still susceptible to the wear and there of the parts inside it just like the keyboard. If a key is used more often than the other chances are that key will be the first to be depressed.

Infrared Mouse tracker

The nest item is the CPU or the Central Processing Unit, or the System Unit. It's be called by a lot of names. But we been referring to the same thing when it come to the computer. Well its better to talk about it on my next post. I'll be adding a couple of picture here as soon as i can.