Eugene's observations

Vista has a neat way of selecting multiple files. As you doubtless know, in all versions of Windows you can select a range of files by selecting the first, holding down Shift, then selecting a second. Alternatively you can make a non-contiguous selection by holding down Control and picking individual files. Both these methods require careful mousing - if you click on a file having let go of Control or Shift you lose the entire selection. Vista has a setting in Folder and Search Options, View to 'Use check boxes to select items'. If you enable this, then when you hover over a file or folder a checkbox will appear beside it. Click on the box and that file will be selected without having to hold down any other key. You can keep adding to the selection by clicking on other checkboxes - don't click on the filenames or, as per previous versions, you'll lose the selection.

Broadband connections problems ? You need to get a Woosh test mate. Your ISP can initiate this using their account with the wholesale provider (normally BT). It measures the quality of signal you are receiving using several quantitative metrics as follows.

• Line Length.
  How far you are from the exchange. This is related to the length of the wire rather than the straight line distance from the exchange.
  
• Line Loss
  Loss is measured by comparing the power level of the signal sent from one end of the line with that received at the other end. The difference between these levels is expressed in Decibels (dB). Your line must have a signal loss (noise) of less than 45dB between the master socket and the telephone exchange.
  
• Capacitance
  Capacitance acts as a filter, allowing certain frequencies to pass and blocking others. In the case of telephone wires, which were not designed for ADSL use, a high capacitance level can prevent the frequencies used by ADSL from being transmitted properly. For a pass it need to be less than 180nF, but ideally it should be less than 160nF (nano-farods).
  
• APTS
  This test uses special software on the engineers hardware to talk to the DSLAM and measure the attenuation across the actual line.
  
• Attentuation Test
  This looks at the quality of the line across the DSL frequency range and measures how much of the signal reaches your house. The further you are away from the exchange the higher your attenuation figure will be as the signal loss increases. A downstream attenuation of less than 42 dB is needed for a fast connection.
• Signal to Noise Ratio
  This is the difference between the level of the signal being received and the natural noise level on the line. Here, the higher the figure the better. Noise on your line is caused by many things. Some examples are other wires in the cable running alongside your wires, interference from power cables, radio signals, higher than normal resistance joints in the telephone wires and damp in the wires or cables. The downstream SNR Margin should be at least 10 dB to get ADSL, anything less than this will see frequent disconnections and other problems. Maxdsl works slightly differently and your router will try to sync at the highest speed it can whilst maintaining a safe SNR Margin.

Many ADSL modem/routers will display the equivalent of the woosh test metrics, but these can be inaccurate. Some can be as much as 20dB off, though the majority are within 2-3dB. For those with very long lines, the Signal to Noise ratio (Noise Margin) becomes critical, ideally a figure above 6dB is needed for most ADSL kit to function.

When I worked in large organisations where computers failing meant the loss of lots of money, I used to protect the computers (and my job) by duplicating anything that the computer system depended on. So there were multiple power supplies, system disks, backups...

At home where PCs are not so critical there are some cheap options that it is wise and cheap to take before a problem arises.

• Have a second browser such as Firefox.
• Maintain a dialup modem and server account for when your broadband fails.
• Make sure you know how to access your e-mail from a web browser rather than Outlook Express.
• Take backup copies of any file that you would not want to loose (music, photos, letters etc.)
• If you would really be lost without a computer, why not have a second one ready to be pressed into action.
• Multiple disks arranged as a RAID array can protect from single disk failure.

I have just put down the phone on a long time client whom I have not seen for over a year since I repaired his PC. Without getting my advice first, he has bought a new PC and wireless kit from the local store. He spent a lot of time configuring the PC and has slipped up necessitating a recovery of his system. But he has put his photos on the PC, and by following the manufacturers recovery instructions has lost all the photos ! Also, his new WiFi does not work in his house.

I can help this fellow a bit but his photos are irretrievably lost I'm afraid. It will end up costing him much much more than would be the case had he just dropped me an e-mail outlining his plans or requirements before buying anything.

Throughout my career (that's over 24 years) I have seen countless examples of people making a decision without taking advice first, then having to call the likes of me in to make the best job of what is available. Invariably this costs far more than a consultancy at the planning stage would (generously assuming any planning is actually undertaken).

So before switching broadband suppliers, buying a piece of equipment or making other radical changes, seek advice. For existing clients this is usually free.

I'm thinking that many people would rather have their laptop PC switch off when they click the first button on the Go/Start button rather than Sleep. In 'sleep' mode the current state of windows is preserved in memory (unlike hibernate mode where it is saved to disk). So if power is lost, your Windows system crashes and is potentially corrupted (as open files are not flushed from volatile memory).

To change the default behaviour visit the Control Panel and select
Power Options
Change plan settings
Change advanced power settings
Power buttons and lid
Start menu power button
Click 'sleep' and change to reflect your preference.

I feel I should record my thoughts on having just delivered to my client the first water cooled computer I have built.

My first comment with the benefit of hindsight is 'don't do it Malcolm'. The reasons are that the total cost of parts that were used on this project for water cooling were £290. I may have been able to shave a little off this by shopping around more, but this is still more than the cost of upgrading the hardware to faster specifications. And no account is taken of the extra time cost of adding water cooling and overclocking.

Another reason water cooling is espoused is noise reduction. Well, unless you are having the pump and radiator fans ducted to another room, my experience is that high quality air cooling is no more noisy.

Further, the coolant needs to be replaced at least annually and checked quarterly. Servicing regular computers is something I advise, but those who don't do it (99% of the population) are not seriously disadvantaged. This is not the case with water flowing around your electrical components.

Having said that, if water cooling is wanted take advise from the experts before proceeding. My biggest change next time would be to buy a different chassis - one with space for the extra components. Also, after using a water circuit to cool the CPU and GPU the choice has to be made of whether to use air or a second water circuit to cool the chipset, RAM and HDD.

Possible places to do some research before you start the project are:
http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=91
http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/forumdisplay.php?f=181
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=70

You will need good tools for measuring voltages, temperatures, fan and pump speeds and don't trust a single measurement. I found I had to get the latest beta version of SpeedFan to avoid sub-zero temperature readings !

I'm switching my phone line rental and call provider today. PlusNet have won me over having compared their prices with the main competition. In a nutshell, £9.99 a month gives you line rental and evening and weekend calls to 01 and 02 numbers. The package i will be going for though is the £15 one that adds anytime calls to 01 and 02 numbers and 300 minutes of international calls.

Table of comparisons

For more details of their phone service you may wish to visit https://portal.plus.net/support/home_phone/info/general_guide.shtml
Full terms and tariff are available at http://portal.plus.net/support/home_phone/info

Link: http://www.1computercare.co.uk/newsletters.htm

I have been asked to leave a pointer to last year's newsletters as there are still some useful bits therein.

http://www.1computercare.co.uk/newsletters.htm

There was a time when I would survey the market each time a client asked this question. Now though I find PlusNet's offerings so much better than the competition I invariably recommend them.

There are a couple of alternatives worthy of mention though:

For speed demons, Be Unlimited at £18 a month will deliver up to 24Mbps. Note, your line length and quality must be suitable or the quality and hence, speed will drop off. They have 24 hour support but there is a 3 month minimum contract period.

"Free" services. There are two common such services:

TalkTalk. To get the "free" broadband you have to sign up to the Talk3 package for 18 months ! If they are offering the best phone package for you anyway, then you may be interested in the terms of their broadband service, but check out comments on the web about their customer service.

Sky. To qualify for the "free" broadband service you have to have signed up to their satellite TV service for a minimum of £15 a month. The broadband is limited to 2Mbps and if they choose to change their pricing structure in the 12 months you are committed, you are in a quandary.

The best debunking of the "free" myth is at Free broadband – so where’s the catch?

Link: http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/suites/FX101635841033.aspx

Check out a comparison table at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/suites/FX101635841033.aspx

If you do NOT use PlusNet, Metronet or Force9 as your Internet Service Provider (ISP) please skip the next two paragraphs.

PlusNet Group are currently offering £30 off your broadband subscription fees for the next 6 months if you are willing to commit to staying with them for the next 12 months. To take advantage of this reduction of £5 per month over the next six months you must opt in before 9th December. To do so either record your wish directly with them or reply to this and I will take care of it for you.

As an existing PlusNet customer you are entitled to have your phone line rental supplied by them at £9.99 a month including all evening and weekend calls to UK landlines. For £15 they will also include all daytime calls to UK landlines and 300 minutes of international calls. For more details visit http://www.plus.net/support/home_phone/info/

---------------------------------------
If you are satisfied with your current ISP read no further. If you would like me to evaluate your broadband usage and suggest whether a better offer is available, please let me know. The current market prices are £9.99 for low use lines to £14.99 for heavy use. New Ofcom rules make switching providers easy and some ISPs offer 30 day trial periods and 90 day money back guarantees if you are not satisfied with a new service.