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Q: What is dual-channel memory, and how would it benefit me? Q: Is it best to buy an MP3 player that uses flash memory or a hard disk? Q: Many programs seem to support Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). Why would I want to use it? What is dual-channel memory, and how would it benefit me? A: One of the potentional perfomace bottlenecks in Pc is how data can be shuttled back and forth between your processor and your computer's RAM. This speed is determined by the memory controller. In older PCs, most memory controllers were single channel. As processors got faster, however, this single channel was unable to feed data from the RAM to the processor fast enough, often leaving the processor with nothing to do. This meant that even a computer with a fast processor could appear sluggish. This problem was solved by adding a second channel and equipping memory controllers to deal with it, Dual-channel memory means that there are two parallel channels transferring data between the processor and the RAM simultaneously. Memory slots on your motherboard are devoted to a specific channel. A typical motherboard has four memory slots: two for each memory channel. To use both channels, you need to have memory installed in both channels. Your PC will need two memory sticks, with one connected to each channel. Motherboards are usually color-coded to help you install memory: just install your memory in slots of the same color to use both memory channels. To take advantage of both memory slots, you need a matching pair of DDR or DDR2 memory sticks with the same technical specifications; two 512 Mb DDR400 modules, for example. Computers operate more slowly if memory is not installed in matched pairs, and a few may not function at all. A: Phishing (also known as phising) is the practice whereby a fraudster who is pretending to be from a legitimate organisation, sends misleading emails requesting personal and financial details from unsuspecting people. If the information is supplied to the fraudster, identity theft (where the fraudster pretends to be the account holder) usually occurs and money may be transferred away into the fraudsters account or used directly to make online purchases. Phishing is predominately associated with spam , whereby thousands of messages are sent out at once in the hope that a few people will be caught and supply their financial and personal details to the fraudster. Computer viruses and spyware can also aid in spreading personal details throughout the Internet.Phishing was first identified in hacker circles in 1996 and became a major issue in auction sites such as eBay and payment gateways such as PayPal . In recent years, phishing has become more sophisticated and many financial institutions (including banks) clients are falling victim to the fraudulent practice. A: Download is a measure of how fast your connection delivers content to your computer or local area network. With many web pages and basic email programs, you will have difficulty noticing the difference between say a 1.5MB download and a 3.0MB download. However, for large files or a connection used by a large number of people a 1.5MB difference in download speed can be the difference between a quality broadband experience and a frustrating one. A: Upload is the measure of how fast content is delivered from your computer or local area network to others on the Internet. To achieve optimal delivery their download speed must be at least as fast as your upload speed. This is very important for applications like VoIP, email, on-line gaming and other interactive programs. Upload speed is even more important if you are operating an email, web or file server at your location. Many broadband providers, especially cable and phone companies, see broadband as another broadcast medium ("one to many") and don't tailor their connections for optimal upload speeds ("many to many"). The bottom line is that it's important not to underestimate the importance of upload speeds, especially if you are a "contributor" of data to the rest of the Internet. Is it best to buy an MP3 player that uses flash memory or a hard disk? A:lt depends on your budget and how you intend to use the player. Generally, flash memory is used by cheaper products. It's compact and has no moving parts, so an MP3 player that uses it doesn't need a powerful battery and can be very small.Flash memory is unaffected by everyday shocks, so it's the right choice if you're going to jog or work out while using your MP3 player. However, it currently costs more per megabyte than a hard disk, so flash-based players tend to have less storage.The 4GB iPod nano is the highest-capacity example we know of and it costs over £ 170 including VAT. Hard disk MP3 players use one of two disk types. Full-sized players, such as Toshiba's Gigabeat in our Hotlist opposite, have 1.8" notebook hard disks with between 20GB and 60GB of storage. Smaller players such as the Zen MicroPhoto reviewed on the right use a 1" disk. Disk-based players require bigger batteries. Hard disks don't perform well in a bumpy environment and can be permanently damaged by a violent shock. They offer more storage for your money, though, so they're ideal if you have a large music collection. My ageing notebook seems to spend a lot of time accessing the hard disk when i use new applications, which is slowing everything down, is there any easy way to speed it up again? A:lt sounds as though your notebook is running out of memory. The hard disk access is caused by Windows using virtual memory. The best way to sort out this problem is to install more memory in your notebook. First check how much RAM your notebook has at present. Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. At the bottom of the window that opens, you'll see how much RAM you have. Ideally you want around 512MB of RAM for Windows XP, or 128MB for older versions of Windows. But you'll need more than this to undertake tough tasks such as video editing.The figure reported may be reduced due to memory allocated to the graphics chipset. A notebook with 512MB of RAM but with 64MB allocated to graphics will report 448MB of RAM. This is fine for a 512MB notebook, but a 256MB one will suffer from such a loss of resources. Many programs seem to support Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). Why would I want to use it? A:If you save a file in a program's native file format, such as .doc for Microsoft Word, other people can view that file only if they have the same version of that application. Even then, there's no guarantee they'll see exactly the same layout you saw. What's more, an application that's available for the PC may not be available for the Mac, so you can't share the files with Mac users. |
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