SpeedStep

A feature available with Intel Pentium III, Pentium III-Mobile, Pentium 4-Mobile, and later Intel mobile processors that allows a user to control features of the processor through software that lower its speed. By reducing the overall speed of the processor it helps conserve power and reduce the heat produced by the processor, which saves on battery life.
If you're looking for software or drivers relating to SpeedStep for your computer running versions of Microsoft Windows 2000 or earlier you must contact the computer manufacturer. Intel does not provide any software for this feature.

SLA

Short for Sealed Lead Acid, SLA most economical for larger power applications where weight is of lesser concern.

SBD

Short for Smart Battery Data, SBD is a technology spearheaded by Intel and Duracell that incorporates an IC into a laptop computer battery pack that reports important information about the battery such as battery capacity, health, temperature, etc. to the SMBus.

PowerNow!

A feature available with AMD's K6-2+, K6-III+, mobile Athlon, Turion 64, and later AMD mobile processors that allows a user to control features of the processor through software that lower its speed. By reducing the overall speed of the processor it helps conserve power and reduce the heat produced by the processor, which saves on battery life.

Power

1. Term used to describe the type of electricity the computer or other electronic devices use.
2. When describing a computer in general, power is used to describe the computer's capabilities, such as how fast it is.
3. Command used with some versions of Windows that allows you to conserve power with portable computers. See our power command page for additional information about this command.

NiMH

Short for Nickel-Metal Hydride and also abbreviated as Ni-MH, NiMH is a rechargeable battery used primarily in portable computers.
Research of the NiMH system started in the seventies as a means for hydrogen storage for a Nickel Hydrogen battery. The metal hydride alloys were unstable in the cell environment and the desired performance characteristics could not be achieved. As a result, the development of the NiMH slowed down. New hydride alloys were developed in the 1980's that were stable enough for use in a cell. Since the late eighties, the NiMH has steadily improved, mainly in terms of energy density. Design engineers have indicated that the NiMH has a potential of yet higher energy densities.

Issues and information on NiMH batteries.

Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries provide incremental improvements in capacity over the NICAD at the expense of reduced cycle life and lower load current.

Distinct advantages of today's NiMH batteries are:

30% more capacity over a standard NICAD.
Less prone to memory than the NICAD. Periodic exercise cycles need to be done less often.
Fewer toxic metals. The NiMH is currently labeled "environmentally friendly."

Negative attributes of today's NiMH batteries are:

Number of cycles: The NiMH is rated for only 500 charge/discharge cycles. Shallow rather than deep discharge cycles are preferred. The battery's longevity is directly related to the depth of discharge.

Fast charge: The NiMH generates considerably more heat during charge and requires a more complex algorithm for full-charge detection than the NICAD if temperature sensing is not available. (Most NiMH batteries are equipped with internal temperature sensing to assist full-charge detection). In addition, the NiMH cannot accept as fast a charge as the NICAD; its charge time is typically double that of the NICAD. The trickle charge must be controlled more carefully than on the NICAD.

Discharge current: The recommended discharge current of the NiMH is considerably less than that of the NICAD. For best results, manufacturers recommend a load current of 0.2C to 0.5C (one-fifth to one-half of the rated capacity, see 3.1 C-Rate). This shortcoming may not be critical if the required load current is low. For applications requiring high power or a pulsed load, such as on GSM digital cellular phones, portable transceivers and power tools, the more rugged NICAD is the recommended choice.

Self-discharge: Both NiMH and NICAD are affected by reasonably high self-discharge. The NICAD loses about 10% of its capacity within the first 24 hours, after which the self-discharge settles to about 10% per month. The self-discharge of the NiMH is one-and-a-half to two times higher than that of the NICAD. Selecting hydride materials that improve hydrogen bonding to reduce self-discharge typically also decrease the battery capacity.

Capacity: The NiMH delivers about 30% more capacity than a NICAD of the same size. The comparison is made with the standard, rather than new ultra-high capacity NICAD. Some ultra-high capacity NICAD cells provide a capacity level approaching that of the NiMH. (Ultra-high-capacity NICAD batteries cannot provide as high a load current as standard NICAD batteries. They are also less durable in terms of cycle-count but are longer lasting than NiMH batteries).

 

Nicad

Trademarked name for a Nickel-Cadmium battery owned by SAFT America Inc. Nicad is a rechargeable battery, made mostly of of nickel and cadmium. A primary problem with nickel-cadmium batteries was that they needed to be completely drained of power before they could be recharged.
Known as a memory loss or memory effect, if the battery was not completely drained, once the battery reaches its last low level, the battery would go dead, assuming that no power was left.

Issues and information on Nicad batteries.

Nicad Batteries are a well known and understood; the Nicad is used where long life, high discharge rate and economical price are important.

Battery manufacturers recommend to slow charge a new Nicad battery for 24-hours before use. This initial trickle charge helps to redistribute the electrolyte to remedy dry spots on the separator that may appear when the electrolyte gravitates to the bottom of the cell during long storage. A slow charge also helps to bring all the individual cells within a battery pack up to an equal charge level because each cell may have self-discharged to different capacity levels during storage

Distinct advantages of today's Nicad batteries are:

Delivers high current output; relatively tolerant of overcharging; withstands up to 500 charging cycles.

Negative attributes of today's Nicad batteries are:

Mature technology with little tolerant of overcharging; withstands room for improvement; cadmium is environmentally troublesome; noticeable memory effect.

 

How do I know the type of laptop battery I have?

There are several different types and sizes of laptop batteries. To determine what type of laptop battery you have, remove the battery from the computer and look at the bottom or top of the battery. 

As can be seen in the picture to the right this Dell battery shows that it's a Li-ion battery, has a model number of Li-ion II, rating of 10.8V, 4050mAH, Part number, and a charging current of 2.5A.

Common types of laptop batteries are: Li-ion, NiMH, and Ni-Cad

Third-party utility

If your battery is not labeled or you're unable to read the information on the battery consider using a third-party utility that's capable of giving you detailed battery information. For example, BatteryCare is a free software utility capable of doing this.

mAH

Short for milliamp hour, mAH is a batteries total capacity. The larger this number is the more charge it's capable of holding. For example,

Li-polymer

Short for Lithium Polymer, Li-polymer is a battery technology that is a lower cost version of the Li-ion that first started being used in 1996.

Li-ion

Short for Lithium-ion, Li-ion is a fragile technology requiring protector circuit, the Li-ion is used where very high energy density is needed and cost is secondary. Li-ion batters are generally more expensive but have never experienced memory issues that have affected other battery technologies.
Pioneering work for the lithium battery began in 1912 by G. N. Lewis but it was not until the early 1970's that the first non-rechargeable lithium batteries became commercially available. Attempts to develop rechargeable lithium batteries followed in the eighties, but failed due to safety concerns.
Lithium is the lightest of all metals, has the greatest electrochemical potential, and provides the largest energy content. Rechargeable batteries using lithium metal as an electrode are capable of providing both high voltage and excellent capacity, resulting in an extraordinary energy density.

After much research during the eighties, it was found that occasional shorts from lithium dendrites could cause thermal run-away. The cell temperature quickly approaches the melting temperature of lithium, which results in violent reactions. A large quantity of rechargeable lithium batteries sent to Japan had to be recalled in 1991 after a battery in a cellular phone exploded and inflicted burns to a man's face.
Because of the inherent instability of lithium metal, especially during charging, research shifted to a non-metallic lithium battery using lithium ions from chemicals such as Lithium-Cobalt Dioxide (LiCoO₂ ). Although slightly lower in energy density than with lithium metal, the Li-ion is safe, provided certain precautions are met when charging and discharging. In 1991, Sony commercialized the Li-ion and is presently the largest supplier of this type of battery.

Smart battery

Also known as an intelligent battery, a smart battery is a portable computer battery that has the ability of keeping the computer up-to-date with its power status and other specific battery characteristics.

ExpressCharge

Dell laptop battery feature that allows a battery to typically have greater than 80% charge after about an hour of charging and fully charge in about 2 hours with the system off. This technology allows a laptop to have a faster charge when compared with other laptops.

DFMC

Short for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell, DFMC is a battery from Toshiba that utilizes concentrated methanol to power a device

Coin cell battery

Also known as a button cell or watch battery, a coin cell battery is a battery contained on the computers motherboard that allows it to retain important system settings and remember what the time and date is while the computer is off. The picture to the right is an example of a coin cell battery used in many computers looks like.

How to replace the CMOS battery:-

Cause:

Like any battery the computer CMOS battery can fail or lose its charge.

Solution:

If your computer is losing its time or date settings, or you are receiving a message CMOS Read Error, CMOS checksum error, or CMOS Battery Failure, first attempt to leave the computer on for 24 hours. In some cases this can charge the battery and resolve your issue. This often resolves CMOS battery related issues when a computer has been left off for several months. If this does not resolve your issue follow the below steps.

Locate your CMOS battery

When inside your computer make sure you're aware of ESD and all it's potential dangers.

Open the computer case and find the battery on the computer motherboard, verify that it will be accessible and that it can be removed. Most computers today use a coin cell CMOS battery as shown in the image to the right.

 If you are unable to locate your CMOS battery you will need to refer to your motherboard or computer documentation and/or contact your computer manufacturer for additional assistance in locating it.

Obtain battery information

Unfortunately, most manufacturers will not list the exact type and model of your CMOS battery; therefore, once you have located the battery, write down all information about the battery (Voltage, chemistry, wiring, and packaging). If possible, remove the battery and take it to the location you plan on purchasing a new battery from. The part number for this battery for most computers is CR2032.

Additional buying information can be found on our battery buying tips page.

Removing the battery

When inside your computer make sure you're aware of ESD and all it's potential dangers.

If you're computer is using a coin cell battery similar to the above example picture. Removing the battery is relatively simple. Simply use your fingers to grab on the edge of the battery and pull it up and out of the container holding it. Some motherboards have a clip holding the battery down. If your computer has this clip you may need to use one had to move the clip up and the other hand to pull the battery out.

Unfortunately, not all CMOS batteries are removable; some manufactures will only allow a replacement battery to be added. If you're not using a coin cell battery and are not able to determine how to remove it refer to your motherboard or computer documentation and/or contact your computer manufacturer for additional assistance in removing the battery or how to insert a new replacement battery.

Users with computers that do not have removable batteries only options to install a new battery will most likely also need to set a jumper when adding the new battery into their computer.

Insert the new battery

Once you have purchased a new battery, remove the old battery (as instructed above) and replace it with the new battery.

Enter CMOS values

Once the battery is replaced turn on the computer and resetting the CMOS values to the defaults. After the values have all been entered make sure to save the settings before exiting. Many CMOS setups allow you to press a key (such as F10) to save values and exit all in one action.

If after following all the above steps you continue to experience the same error when your computer starts and/or your computer is still unable to keep the stored values it's likely that you're experiencing a more serious issues. Most likely causes are bad power supply or bad motherboard.

 

Battery slice

Thin battery attached to the bottom of some laptop computers to increase the overall battery life, sometimes up to 10-hours. The battery slice is the same horizontal and vertical diameter of the bottom of the laptop, once attached it slightly increases the overall height and weight of the laptop. To help prevent the laptop from overheating there is a small gap between the laptop and the battery slice to keep proper air flow. Dell, Hewlett Packard, and Toshiba are just a few of the laptop manufacturers who have battery slices available for some of their models.

Battery backup

Hardware device used to supply power to computers and peripherals for a short time if the power happens to be low or removed. The battery backup allows the computer to shutdown safely or continue to run if the power is off shortly. In the picture to the right, is an example of a battery backup from APC

.
Businesses often use large battery backups to safely shutdown servers if power goes out or keep the servers powered if the power is out for a few seconds. These types of backups are essential if your server is running critical software such as a customer database.

Battery

A battery is a hardware component that supplies power to a device, enabling that device to work without a power cord. Batteries are often capable of powering a laptop computer for several hours depending on how much power it requires. Today, many high-end devices such as computer laptops and cell phones use rechargeable batteries that allow a user to recharge the battery once depleted of energy. In the picture to the right, is an example of what a laptop battery may look like when removed from the laptop.
Types of computer batteries
There are three types of computer batteries found on a computer. First, is the backup battery, which is commonly referred to as the CMOS battery. This battery is what holds your computer's settings, such as the time and date. This allows the computer to remember basic computer settings without having to entering those settings each time the computer starts.
Next, the bridge battery is only found in portable computers as a temporary backup for the main battery. This allows the user to remove the main battery and replace it with a good battery without having to turn off the computer.
Finally, the main battery as explained in the first paragraph is also only used with portable computers as an alternate source of energy for when the computer is not connected to a standard wall outlet.
Battery technologies
There are several different types of battery technologies that allow a battery to work. Below is a listing of some of the major types you're most likely to encounter.

• LI-ION (Lithium Ion)
• Li-polymer (Lithium Polymer)
• NICAD (Nickel-Cadmium)
• NIMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride)

Free anti-virus

Keep your computer safe and do it freely. Today, with the wide variety of free anti-virus programs there is no need to pay for an anti-virus scanner. Save yourself some money and uninstall the anti-virus program you're using and install one of the below free programs, which are just as good and wont expire on you.

• Free AVG
• Free Avast

Concerned about the safety of web pages you or others are visiting on your computer? Consider installing the free browser add-on WOT (Web of Trust), when installed this free add-on will display a large warning across the window of any web page that has been poorly rated, contains adware, been known to fraudulently charge visitors, contains malware, and/or is otherwise unsafe. This add-on can be downloaded from their web page.

Windows Vista

Quickly see past problems encountered by Windows Vista and any solutions to those problems by clicking start and typing problem reports and solutions and press enter. In addition to finding solutions to problems this will also allow you to see a complete history of problems reported on the computer. See our Problem Reports and Solutions definition for an example of this screen and related links.

How to change my browser's home page.

Users may wish to change their browser's default home page to an alternate page that they visit more frequently.

• If your browser home page is getting automatically changed each time you open your browser

Answer:

Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Click the Tools menu and Internet Options
3. In the general tab, type the URL of the web page that you want to be your home page or if you are currently on the page you wish to be set as your home page, click the Use Current button.
4. Click Ok.
5. The next time you open your browser it should open the page you entered.

Mozilla / Netscape

Note: Mozilla Firefox users skip to below Mozilla Firefox steps.

1. Open Mozilla / Netscape
2. Click the Edit menu and Preferences
3. Type the URL of the web page you want to be your home page in the Hope Page location field.
4. Click Ok.
5. The next time you open your browser it should open the page you entered.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox
2. Click the Tools menu and Options
3. Under General and Home Page, type the URL of the web page you want to be your home page.
4. Click Ok.
5. The next time you open your browser it should open the page you entered.

Opera

1. Open Opera
2. Click the File menu and Preferences
3. Select Start with home page and type the URL of the web page you want to be your home page.
4. Click Ok.
5. The next time you open your browser it should open the page you entered.

iGoogle

Set your default homepage to iGoogle. A fantastic service from Google that enables users to have all relevant information they're interested in on their home page. Customizing this page you can set such settings as displaying your local weather, stocks, news, Facebook page, Twitter page, RSS feeds from your most popular pages, movies, and much more all on one page. To access this feature follow the below steps.

1. Open the main Google page.
2. In the top right portion of the Windows click the iGoogle link. Note: This link will not be visible unless you're logged into Google.
3. Once you've customized your own personalized iGoogle page simply set your home page as the iGoogle link or if you like the service but don't want it as your home page bookmark it. 

Firefox tabs

Have all your favorite pages open in tabs each time you open the browser by following the below steps.

1. Open Firefox and all the tabs you wish to have open each time you open the browser.
2. Click Tools and then Options.
3. Within Options click the Main option and then click the "Use Current Pages" button, this will separate each URL with a pipe and will then open each of these tabs each time you open the browser.
4. Click Ok and the next time you open your browser each tab should also open.

Free information through the phone

Each time you dial 411 for information you phone bill is automatically charged. Instead of using this service use Google's 411 service: 1-800-GOOG-411 to look up an address or phone number and have Google text you the information or forward you to the number. Other services such as ChaCha: 1-800-2CHACHA allow you to ask any question imaginable and have the answer texted back to you for free. Finally, Free 411: 1-800-FREE-411 and Tellme: 1-800-555-8355 are other free services that provide methods of getting free information as well as things such as the latest news, stock quotes, movies, etc.

New years resolution e-mail

Setting new goals this year for New Years? Why not compose an e-mail to be sent to you at the first of 2011 using futureme.org. Not only is it fun way to see how well you did on your goals.

Top 10 keyboard shortcuts everyone should know

Using keyboard shortcuts can often cut the time it takes to do something on a computer in half. Below are our top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone memorize and use.
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert

Copy the highlighted text or selected item.

Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert

Paste the text or object that's in the clipboard.

Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y

Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would re-do the undo.

Ctrl + F

Open the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current page.

Alt + Tab or Alt + Esc

Quickly switch between open programs.

F1

Open help for the program you're in.

Ctrl + P

Print what's currently being viewed in programs such as Microsoft Word or your Internet browser.

Ctrl + Left arrow / Right arrow

Move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you wanted to highlight one word at a time you can hold down Ctrl + Alt and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word.

Ctrl + Home / End

Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a document.

Page Up / Space bar and Page Down

Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet pressing the space bar will also move the page down one page at a time.

Top 10 Facebook tips

Hide users, games, polls, etc.

It quickly gets annoying seeing some users posts, game invites, polls, etc. Hovering your mouse to the right of the post and clicking the Hide button as shown below can hide any post. Once this button is pressed you'll be prompted with the option to hide that user or in the case of a Facebook application the option to hide that application from ever showing up on your profile.

To unhide someone or unblock an application click the Edit Options link in the bottom right corner of the news feed as shown below.

Greasemonkey and FB Purity

Although Facebook does not allow the ability to hide friends getting new friends messages, friends becoming fans of something, and some application messages they can still be hidden with browser add-ons. If you're running Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari we suggest installing the Facebook Purity add-on.

Update your privacy settings

Click Account in the top right corner of the Facebook window and then click Privacy settings to adjust who is capable of seeing what on your Facebook profile. We highly recommend going through all the privacy settings to verify your privacy is properly protected.

Anything that is not set to friends only or friends of friends can be seen by anyone searching on the Internet. Below is a few things we recommend for most users.

1. Under Search in Privacy settings uncheck Public Search Results. This will prevent users from finding your account and profile picture in search results such as Google
2. Under Application settings, make sure you're only allowing applications you want to have access to your information. Applications that you grant rights to can have access to your Facebook profile information.

Use the Facebook top bar for navigation

Knowing how to properly navigate is vital if you want to get the most out of Facebook. Below is a brief description of each of the available options in the top bar as shown above.

 Home (facebook logo) - Clicking this logo will take you to your wall (News Feed) that shows all friends recent posts.

Friend requests - If any friend requests are waiting to be approved this icon will show a notification of how many friends are waiting for approval. This icon can also be clicked when you want to view any friend recommendations or search for friends on Facebook.

Messages - This section allows you to send and receive private messages between one or more people you're friends with.

Notifications - Any time a friend or Facebook application creates a new post you'll be notified in this section. Clicking this icon will show all recent notifications. If you wish to change what is capable of sending you notifications including any Facebook applications or games click the See All Notifications link at the bottom and check or uncheck what you want to be notified on.

Search - Finally, the search box in Facebook can be a powerful tool that can be used to quickly find any current friends or people on Facebook. In addition searching for terms such as a company name, product, sports team, music band, etc. will find fan pages and groups that can be joined.

Modify your account notifications

Keep your e-mail and/or your cell phone clean by updating or eliminate Facebook notifications or keep more up-to-date by adding new notifications. Facebook notifications can be added and removed by clicking Account link in the top right corner, then Account Settings, and then clicking the Notifications tab.

Top News and Most Recent

By default Facebook will display your wall postings in the News format, which means it only displays posts it believes are most relevant to you. These results are based on your past interaction with your friends. If you want to see every post made by all your friends that are not hidden click the Most recent link in the upper right section of your news feed as shown in the above picture example.

If you want to adjust who shows up manually click the Edit Options in the bottom right corner of your news feed.

View High School work friends

If you've added your High School and/or previous Work locations to your profile, quickly see all classmates and co-workers on Facebook by clicking the link in your Info tab under your profile.

Quickly change profile picture

Your profile picture can be quickly changed to any other picture by visiting your profile, hovering the mouse over your current profile picture, and clicking the Change Picture link that appears in the top right corner of the picture.

Don't post private information on friend's walls on in comments

When you make a post on a friend's wall or in any of their comments realize that any of their friends are going to be able to see that post. If you wish for something to remain only between you and a friend send them a Facebook message instead.

Suggestions and random friend invites

As you get more friends on Facebook it will begin making friend, groups, and fan suggestions. These are suggestions made by Facebook and not your friends. Unless these are something you're interested in they can be ignored.

This same rule can be applied to people who may want to be your friend that you don't know. If you don't know someone don't accept his or her friend invite. Once someone becomes your friend they'll have access to any information your friends are capable of seeing.

Tag your Facebook friends in your photos

Always make sure to tag any of your Facebook friends that are in pictures you upload. However, never tag someone who is not in the picture. When someone is tagged in a photo that picture is automatically added to that persons profile and is a great way to share pictures with all friends.

Internet browsers:-

If you've visited a web page in the past but forgot to bookmark it when you were there, that page can be quickly and easily found by searching your browser history. To search your Internet browsers history press CTRL + H or Open Apple + H to open the browsers history. Once in the browser history window type a keyword that you remember about the page. For example, searching for computer would find Computer Hope and any other computer related pages you've recently visited.

Windows 7 and spring cleaning tips
Windows 7 tip

Quickly and easily create a Microsoft Windows 7 repair disc that can be used in the event your computer encounters errors and is not able to boot. To do this click Start and in the search line type system repair and in the Start menu click the Create a System Repair Disc shortcut to start the process of creating the disc.

Spring cleaning time

Did you know that your computer keyboard and mouse could be one of the most germ-infected items in your house, often having more bacteria than your toilet seat on it. If you haven't cleaned your computer recently start spring right with cleaning your computer and its components. See our computer cleaning help page for additional help and information with cleaning your computer.

Compress and uncompress files online

Compress and uncompress computer files easily through your Internet browser using services such as WobZIP and ezyZip.
WobZIP is a great free online tool that allows you to upload a compressed file such as a .ZIP, .RAR, .CAB, .ISO, and many more file types to a server and then download the contents of those files to your computer. Or take the contents of another compressed file and compress them into a .ZIP file, which can be opened with almost every computer. Visit the WobZIP page to start uncompressing files.
EzyZip is an online tool that uses a Java applet to easily compress any files into a .ZIP file and uncompress any files in a .ZIP file. Visit the EzyZip web page to start compressing and uncompressing files now or bookmark the page for later.

How do I extract or uncompress a compressed file?

Before extracting the data from the compressed file you must first determine the type of compressed file. Commonly, this is performed on IBM compatible computers by the file extension. Commonly, the vast majority of compressed files are .ZIP, .RAR, TAR.GZ, and .TGZ files. Below are some examples of what some of the different compressed icons look like in Microsoft Windows.

  

Once the type of compressed file has been determined, a user can then use the appropriate program. For example, if the compressed file is a ZIP file, a user could use WinZip, Pkzip, or any other Compression utility to extract the contents of the file. If the compressed file is RAR, a user could use WinRAR to extract the files. Each of these utilities can be downloadedrecommended download section. If you are using Microsoft Windows XP, your computer should already be cable of extracting the contents of ZIP files.

Once a compression program has been installed on the computer, a user should be able to extract the contents from the compressed file. Below are some basic steps on how you can extract files.
Note: Windows XP users should not need to download a third-party compression utility unless they wish to.

MS-DOS users

MS-DOS users will need to extract the files using the command line. We recommend users use the pkzip and pkunzip utilities to compress and uncompress their files. Additional help and information about how files can be extracted from the command line can be found on our PKZIP and PKUNZIP page.

Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP users

In Microsoft Windows, locate the compressed file and right-click the file. This should open a menu that gives you the options to 'Extract' or Extract all' the file. Click one of these options to extract the file. This should open a program with additional options such as the location to where you wish to extract the files to.

WARNING: When extracting the files, pay close attention to where you are extracting the files. Extracting the files to the incorrect location such as the desktop can cause a lot of havoc.

• If you are attempting to extract the file from an e-mail, you may need to save the file to an alternate location such as a folder on your hard disk drive before it can be extracted.
• If after extracting the files you need help installing the software program

Linux / Unix users

Unlike many other operating systems, almost all variants of Linux and Unix come pre-installed with some form of command capable of compressing and uncompressing files. Linux and Unix users are likely to be dealing with file extensions such as .TAR, TGZ, .Z or .TAR.GZ. See the below Linux and Unix command pages for additional information about the commands used to create compressed files and to uncompress files.

gunzip
pack
tar
uncompress
zcat

 

Watch free online lectures

Today, there are hundreds of free online lectures available in almost any conceivable topic. Visit Academic Earth to find a large collection of free online lectures and courses, many of them from the top Colleges in the world.

Create a presentation slide show online

Using online tools such as 280 Slides to make your own presentation slide show, without having to install any programs or buy expensive solutions like Microsoft Power Point. Visit the 280 Slides web page to begin creating your own slide show online. Below is a picture of a basic overview of what this program looks like.

See all color codes used by any web page

Using the Red Alt I Like Your Colors page you can find all color codes used by any web page on the Internet. For example, as you can see in the picture to the right, all of the color codes used on Computer Hope are shown in an easy to read format. This is a great tool for any web developer or weblogger that happens to stumble across a page they think looks visibly appealing and want to know the colors they use.

• See our HTML color codes page for a full listing of color codes and additional information about using them in your web page.

Use HTML color picker to find your HTML color code

Below is an HTML color code picker script that resembles the Adobe Photoshop color picker. Using this online tool you can select the color you want to use in your web page or blog. Your browser must have JavaScript enabled in order to use this tool, if enabled use the middle multi-color scroll bar to scroll up or down to the color you want. If you want to select the shade of color, click the shade you want in the large shade box. Finally, the color code will appear in the bottom-right corner # box. If you want to keep that color, click the text boxes below the color picker and then select the color and then click the alternate box to begin with a new color.

 

R H
G S
B V

#

 

# ____
# ____

The above HTML color code picker is using code from the YUI Color Picker script.

• See our HTML color codes page for a full listing of color codes and additional information about using them in your web page.

Edit and view web page properties with Firebug

Quickly edit or view the properties of any web page by using the Firefox browser plug-in Firebug or the bookmarklet version of Firebug for other browsers. This free tool is an absolute must for anyone who develops websites or blogs. Below is a quick overview of this plug-in and an example of just a few of the many powerful features it provides.
Quickly view the HTML and CSS source of any element

When Firebug is open, clicking the element preview button, as shown in the picture to the right, will allow you to easily see the properties of any element on the web page you are looking at. This makes finding and looking at the HTML and CSS of anything on a web page as easy as two or three clicks.

In addition to the above suggestion after Firebug has been installed you can also right-click on any element on a web page and choose the "Inspect Element" option.

Modify HTML or CSS elements within Firebug and see immediate results

When viewing the HTML or CSS source code within Firebug you can click any element and change or add to that element and immediately see those changes. For example, if you were wanting to adjust the color of your links you could modify the HTML or CSS code through Firebug and see what it looks like on the page without uploading or reloading.

Analyze the page speed load time

In addition to the above mentioned features, Google has released Page Speed, a Firebug plug-in that has the capability of testing how fast a web page loads and gives you a easy to read overview of things that can be fixed or may be slowing down the web page.

View overview of all elements on a page

In Firebug, under the Net tab and under All, you can quickly view all elements on a web page and additional details about each of those elements. For example, you can quickly identify the size of each of the files loaded, domain loaded from, header information, and much more.

                                                       Get Firebug

Compare the differences between two text files

Quickly and easily compare the differences between two groups of text using the online tool Diff Checker. Simply copy and paste the text you wish to compare into the two boxes and click the Compare button. Using Quick Diff you can quickly identify missing text, differences in capitalization, punctuation, etc. online without having to download any programs.
                                                 Quick Diff Checker

Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks

Below is a listing of our top 10 favorite Twitter tips and tricks. These tips will help make your Twitter experience more enjoyable and can help increase your followers.
Customize

• Change your profile picture. Use a picture of yourself to make it seem more personalized if this is your personal Twitter account.
• Utilize as much of the 160-character limit Twitter BIO space allows. Include keywords your followers or potential followers may be searching for.
• Create your own background image. However, do not make the image too much like an ad or sales pitch. The background image must be less than 800k and we recommend a size of 1600x1200 for a large image or smaller if you plan on tiling the image or just having it on the left-hand side. Finally, keep in mind that smaller resolutions and monitor sizes will hide much of the background.

Third-party tools

Take advantage of the hundreds of different third-party online tools and services that enhance your Twitter experience. Below are a few of our favorites.

• TwitPic - Take advantage of TwitPic to post pictures on your tweets. If you want to post pictures while away from the computer, use the Twitterific app.
• Qwitter - Great service that sends an e-mail any time someone unsubscribes from your Twitter profile and mentions a possible Twitter post you made that may have caused them to leave.
• Manageflitter - Fantastic site for managing your followers and getting an easy to read overview of people not following you back, quiet users, and inactive users.
• SocialOomph - Another great service with a collection of free Twitter tools including the ability to schedule when a tweets gets posted.
• Tweetbeat - An excellent site that takes the trending topics on Twitter and gives you a clearer explanation of present and past trending topics.
• Twitter Fan Wiki Apps - Finally, this wiki has a listing of several hundred different Twitter applications and tools for users wanting more.

Use Twitter search

Take full advantage of the Twitter search tool. Below are just a few tips that can help improve your search capabilities on Twitter.

• Search for your website or blog URL and see if others are mentioning your page.
• Search for anything near you by adding near:"city state". For example, typing near:"Salt lake city Utah" club would return current tweets that have happened in Salt Lake City, Utah with the keyword club in them.
• Find people who you may enjoy following by searching for keywords that interested you.
• If you do not want tweets with links add ? -filter:links at the end of your search query.
• Need more options, use the Advanced Twitter search.
• Any time you get excellent results click the "Save this search" button to save that search. These searches can then be found under "Saved Searches" on the right-hand part of your profile on the old Twitter interface or under the "Searches" tab next to your timeline on the new Twitter interface.

Followers

• Engage followers.
• Do not follow too many people. No one is going to follow someone who is following thousands of people but only has 10 followers.
• Retweet interesting posts.
• Retweet and participate in conversations with people with a lot of followers.
• Realize it is impossible for anyone to read every tweet.
• When first joining do not follow hundreds of people, doing this may mark you as a bot.

Create useful and interesting tweets

• Try making all your tweets informative, useful, or funny.
• Do not post mundane posts, e.g. eating a bowl of cereal.
• Add hastags to your tweets. For example, if your tweet is about computers, consider adding #computer in the tweet.
• Tweet frequently. No one is going to follow someone they do not know who has not tweeted in months. Try at the very least to tweet a few times a week or daily if you can manage.
• Do not whine or complain. Everyone will unfollow anyone who constantly whines or complains.
• Try making your valuable tweets during the times people will most likely see them.
• Keep some space available in your tweet in case someone retweets your post.
• Use special characters in your tweets.

Know the lingo

Know the Twitter lingo, these are just a few examples: @reply, Direct Message (DM), Follower, Hashtag, Retweet (RT), Trending Topics, and Tweet. See the Twitter description for a full listing of Twitter terms and Lingo and related terms.

Follow the masters

Following a few of the masters of Twitter and Social Networking will give you an understanding of how to tweet better, posts to RT, and inspiration for tweets of your own. Below are the top ten Twitters we recommend following.

@GuyKawasaki
@Scobleizer
@jeffbullas
@briansolis
@tonyrobbins
@kevinrose
@timoreilly
@donttrythis
@zappos
@brainpicker

• Twitaholic - A full listing of the top users on Twitter based off Followers. This is a terrific service to find and follow the top users and possibly incorporate some of the ideas they are doing on their account.

Many of the first few hundred people are celebrities on Twitaholic, if they do not interest you skip the first page.
Create and use lists

Twitter lists are an excellent method of filtering filter through the people you follow. To create a list, click the Lists link and then Create a list. After creating a list visit the persons profile page you wish to add and click the list icon, as shown in the picture to the right. 

Go Mobile

Apple iPhones, Blackberry phones, Android phones, Windows phone 7 phones, and most of the other smart phones have Twitter applications. Take full advantage of these applications. For users who do not have smart phones Twitter also has extensive support for SMS, which can send tweets over a text message.

Advertise

• Mention your Twitter page as many places as you can, e.g. your business card, e-mail signatures, web page, blog, Facebook, etc.
• Create a tweet button or at least your Twitter name on your pages, similar to the below examples.

HOW CAN I Create your own custom Google search?

If you have ever wanted to search a select few of your favorite websites, use the Google custom search to create your own search engine. Using this free service allows you to specify what sites to search or exclude from the results. For example, Computer Hope created a Windows system processes and services custom search that searches a few dozen of the best places to find information about files and Windows system processes. Using this custom search, we can quickly see the exact results when looking up a file such as "atapi.sys", without having to hunt through the millions of forum posts that contain this file.
Google allows you to make as many custom searches as you want and even gives you the code to implement a custom search on your own page. Using Google Custom search would also allow you to setup a custom search that searches your own web page, blog, or twitter account.
                                                           Create custom Google search

Linux variants

Introduction
Variants
Comparisons
Unix information and commands

INTRODUCTION
Developed by Linus Torvalds and further elaborated by a number of developers throughout the world Linux (lee'nuhks/ or /li'nuks/,_not_/li:'nuhks) is a freely available multitasking and multi-user operating system. From the outset, Linux was placed under General Public License (GPL). The system can be distributed, used and expanded free of charge. In this way, developers have access to all the source codes, thus being able to integrate new functions easily or to find and eliminate programming bugs quickly. Thereby drivers for new adapters (SCSI controller, graphics cards, etc.) can be integrated very rapidly.
Linux may be obtained in two different ways. All the necessary components can be downloaded free of charge from the Internet. This means that an individual operating system can be assembled for almost nothing. An alternative is to use a so-called Distribution, offered by various companies and including a wide range of applications and installation programs that significantly simplify the installation of Linux.
Presently, Linux is successfully being used by several millions of users worldwide. The composition of user groups varies from private users, training companies, universities, research centers right through to commercial users and companies, who view Linux as a real alternative to other operating systems.

VARIANTS

Caldera Linux
Corel Linux
Debian Linux
Kondara Linux
Red Hat LinuxMandrake Linux
Slackware Linux
SuSE Linux
Turbolinux
Vector Linux

*Also see our Unix Variants

COMPARISONS

Linux vs. Microsoft Windows NT

Pro: Linux and Linux variants are considerably less expensive to run. Most versions of Linux are free and those that are not are generally very affordable. Especially when looking at the Microsoft Windows NT with multiple licenses.

Pro: Issues are generally resolved more quickly then Windows NT with open source code.

Con: Overall Windows NT has a larger availability of software and drivers. However, because of the popularity of Linux software developers and hardware manufactures are also releasing software support and drivers for their devices.

Con: Windows NT software is generally compatible with other versions of Windows / Windows NT.

Con: Overall Windows NT is generally easier then Linux and has a wider audience familiar with the functionality and control of it.

Note: There are various studies done by different companies that show the performance differences and stability of Linux vs. Microsoft Windows NT. Because of the differences between all of these reports, Computer Hope does not list pro's or con's with performance and/or stability on either Linux or Windows NT.

Linux vs. Unix

Pro: Linux has a larger availability of software and drivers then most versions of Unix. Variants of Unix such as SUN Solaris may have about the same or more availability of software and drivers then some versions of Linux.

Pro: Linux issues and bugs generally are always fixed extremely fast and will likely be fixed before an issue in Unix is fixed.

Pro: Linux is available for free or for a small cost. Most versions of Unix or Variants of Unix can be very expensive. It is important to note that versions of SUN Solaris are available for free for end-users.

Con: Many versions of Unix are a project of a centralized company and all issues, information and support are maintained at one central location.

Con: Many versions of Unix allow for very large scalability and maintain reliability.

Note: There are various studies done by different companies that show the performance differences and stability of Linux vs. Unix / Unix variants. Because of the differences between all of these reports, Computer Hope does not list pro's or con's with performance and/or stability on either Linux or Unix.

XFX

MOTHERBOARD SUPPORT:	(888) 874-6372
VIDEO CARD SUPPORT:	(800) 880-3225
FAX:
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.xfxforce.com
FTP SITE:
SUPPORT E-MAIL:	support@xfxforce.com
ADDRESS:
COMPANY INFORMATION:	A division of PINE, XFX was founded in 1989 and is a manufacturer of computer motherboards and video cards.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Tyan

USA PHONE:	(510) 651-8868
USA SUPPORT PHONE:	(510) 440-8808
USA FAX:	(510) 651-7688
EUROPE PHONE:	49 8136 939530
EUROPE SUPPORT:	49 8136 939548
EUROPE FAX:	49 8136 939544
CHINA PHONE:	+86 010-62555015
CHINA SUPPORT:	+86 010-82618204
TAIWAN PHONE:	011 886 2 8751 2200
TAIWAN FAX:	011 886 2 8751 2211
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.tyan.com/
FTP SITE:
SUPPORT E-MAIL:	techsupport@tyan.com
ADDRESS:	Tyan Computer USA 3288 Laurelview Court, Fremont, CA 94538 United States Tyan Computer GmbH Cyclo Str. 45 85229 Markt Indersdorf, Germany Tyan Computer China Room. 1412, Satellite Building No.A63 Zhi Chun Road. HaiDian District. Beijing, China. Post Code: 100080 Tyan Computer Taiwan headquarters 8th Floor, No. 187 Tiding Blvd., Sec. 2,  Nei-Hu Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C.
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1989, Tyan is a manufacturer of computer motherboards, video cards, and other computer products.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Supermicro

PHONE:	(408) 503-8000
ALTERNATE PHONE:
FAX:	(408) 503-8008
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.supermicro.com
FTP SITE:
SUPPORT E-MAIL:	support@supermicro.com
ADDRESS:	Super Micro Computer, Inc. 980 Rock Ave. San Jose, CA 95131, USA Super Micro Computer, B.V. Het Sterrenbeeld 28, 5215 ML, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1993, Supermicro is a manufacturer of computer motherboards, redundant power supplies, 4U rackmount servers, and various other computer equipment and solutions.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Soyo

PHONE:	No longer available
ALTERNATE PHONE:	No longer available
FAX:	No longer available
WEB SITE:	No longer available
FTP SITE:	No longer available
SUPPORT E-MAIL:	No longer available
ADDRESS:	No longer available
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1999, Soyo is a computer company who manufacturers computer motherboards, cases, and other computer peripherals. In 2004 the company announced that it would no longer make motherboards and changed its name to Hao Teng Technology.
STOCK SYMBOL:	No longer available

Soltek

PHONE:	No longer available
FAX:	No longer available
WEB SITE:	No longer available
FTP SITE:	No longer available
SUPPORT E-MAIL:	No longer available
ADDRESS:	No longer available
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1996, Soltek Computer Inc, is a computer motherboard manufacturer. Unfortunately this company is no longer in buisness.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Shuttle

UNITED STATES PHONE:	(626) 820-9000
UNITED STATES FAX:	(626) 820-5060
TAIWAN  PHONE:	886-2-8792-6168
TAIWAN FAX:	886-2-8792-6268
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.shuttle.com http://us.shuttle.com/
FTP SITE:
SALES E-MAIL:	sales@us.shuttle.com
SUPPORT E-MAIL:	Click here
ADDRESS:	Shuttle INC. NO. 30, Lane 76, Rei Kuang Rd. Nei-Hu Dist., Taipei, Taiwan Shuttle Computer Group 17068 Evergreen Place City of Industry, CA 91745
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1983, Shuttle Inc. is a manufacturer of computer motherboards.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

SBS Technologies

MAIN PHONE NUMBER:    (800) SBS-1553
ALT PHONE NUMBER:   
FAX:    (505) 875-0400
BBS:   
WEB SITE:    http://www.sbs.com
FTP SITE:   
E-MAIL ADDRESS:    info@sbs.com
ADDRESS:    SBS Technologies, Inc.:
2400 Louisiana Boulevard, NE,
AFC Building 5-600
Albuquerque, NM 87110
COMPANY INFORMATION:    Founded in 1986 is the manufacturer of bus interconnection solutions.
STOCK SYMBOL:    None or unknown

SBS BIT 3 - Now owned by GE Fanuc

MAIN PHONE NUMBER:	(651) 905-4700
ALT PHONE NUMBER:
FAX:	(651) 905-4701
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.sbs.com
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:
ADDRESS:	SBS Bit 3 Operations 1284 Corporate Center Drive St. Paul, MN 55121-1245
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1979, SBS Bit 3 is one of the main manufactures of the computer bus. Bit 3 became a part of SBS Technologies, Inc. in November of 1996 and changed its name to SBS Bit 3. However, SBS Bit 3 continues to be its own subsidiary of SBS.  In June of 2006, SBS was acquired by GE Fanuc Embedded Systems.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

California Office: (510) 226-7333 Miami Office: (510) 463-9897 ALT PHONE NUMBER: FAX: (510) 226-7350 TDD: BBS: WEB SITE: http://www.pcchips.com.tw/ http://www.pcchipsusa.com http://www.ecs.com.tw FTP SITE: E-MAIL ADDRESS: support@pchipsusa.com ADDRESS: PCCHIPS 45411 Research Ave, Fremont, CA 94539 COMPANY INFORMATION: Incorporated in 1994, PC Chips is the manufacturer of computer motherboards, sound cards, video cards, and other computer peripherals. STOCK SYMBOL: None or unknown

UNITED STATES PHONE:    (909) 594-0597
UNITED STATES FAX:    (909) 594-9771
CANADA PHONE:    (905) 513-1228
HONG KONG PHONE:    (852) 2690 4680
GERMAN PHONE:    +49 8734 939013
UK PHONE:    44 1793 423830
TDD:   
BBS:   
WEB SITE:    http://www.sapphiretech.com/
FTP SITE:   
E-MAIL:    tech@althonmicro.com
ADDRESS:    North American Support & Service Center
280-290 S Paseo Tesoro
Walnut CA. 91789, USA
COMPANY INFORMATION:    Manufacturer of computer video cards and motherboards.
STOCK SYMBOL:    None or unknown

PC CHIPS

California Office:	(510) 226-7333
Miami Office:	(510) 463-9897
ALT PHONE NUMBER:
FAX:	(510) 226-7350
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.pcchips.com.tw/ http://www.pcchipsusa.com http://www.ecs.com.tw
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	support@pchipsusa.com
ADDRESS:	PCCHIPS 45411 Research Ave, Fremont, CA 94539
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Incorporated in 1994, PC Chips is the manufacturer of computer motherboards, sound cards, video cards, and other computer peripherals.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

MSI

SALES PHONE:	(732) 417 0072
TECHNICAL SUPPORT PHONE:	(626) 581 3001
FAX:	(626) 581 7721
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.msicomputer.com http://www.msi.com.tw
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	sales@msicomputer.com marketing@msicomputer.com
ADDRESS:	MSI America Headquarters 901 Canada Court City of Industry, CA 91748
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1986, MSI specializes in designing and manufacturing computer motherboards.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Matsonic

SUPPORT PHONE:	No longer available
ALTERNATE PHONE:	No longer available
FAX:	No longer available
TDD:	No longer available
BBS:	No longer available
WEB SITE:	No longer available
FTP SITE:	No longer available
E-MAIL:	No longer available
ADDRESS:	No longer available
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1995, Matsonic is a manufacturer of computer motherboards and other computer equipment. As of July 20, 2007 their website has been offline.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown	July 20, 2007 - Company website goes offline.

Leadtek

PHONE:	(510) 490-8076
ALTERNATE PHONE:
FAX:	(510) 490-7759
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.leadtek.com/
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL:	leadtek@leadtek.com
ADDRESS:	Leadtek Research Inc. 46732 LakeView Blvd. Fremont, CA 94538, USA
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1986, Leadtek Research, Inc is a manufacturer of computer motherboards, video cards, video telephony, surveillance, GPS, and other products.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Iwill

UNITED STATES PHONE:	No longer available
TAIWAN PHONE:	No longer available
WEB SITE:	No longer available
FTP SITE:	No longer available
E-MAIL:	No longer available
ADDRESS:	No longer available
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1989, Iwill was a manufacturer of SCSI solutions, motherboards, RAID, and other computer hardware. As of September 2007 the companies website went offline.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Gigabyte

USA SALES:	(626) 854-9338
ALT PHONE NUMBER:	Listing of all other available phone numbers based off country can be found here.
USA FAX:	(626) 854-9339
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://tw2005.giga-byte.com/ http://www.giga-byte.com
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	Click here
ADDRESS:	Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. No.6, Bau Chiang Road, Hsin-Tien, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan, R.O.C.
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1986, Gigabyte is the manufacturer of computer motherboards, network solutions, video cards, and other computer peripherals.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

GENERAL STANDARDS

MAIN PHONE NUMBER:    (256) 880-8787
ALT PHONE NUMBER:    (800) 653-9970
FAX:    (256) 880-8788
BBS:   
WEB SITE:    http://www.generalstandards.com
FTP SITE:   
E-MAIL ADDRESS:    techsupport@generalstandards.com
sales@generalstandards.com
ADDRESS:    8302A Whitesburg Drive
Huntsville, AL 35802
COMPANY INFORMATION:    Manufacturer of I/O boards, cables, and software.
STOCK SYMBOL:    None or unknown

Gemlight

PHONE:	No longer available
FAX:	No longer available
WEB SITE:	No longer available
FTP SITE:	No longer available
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	No longer available
ADDRESS:	No longer available
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Established in 1981, Gemlight is the manufacturer of computer motherboards, power supplies, monitors, and notebooks. As of 2001 the companies website has been offline and the company is believed to be out of buisness.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

FIC

PHONE:	(510) 252-7777
ALT PHONE NUMBER:
FAX:	(510) 252-8895
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.fic.com.tw/
FTP SITE:
SUPPORT E-MAIL ADDRESS:	sales@fica.com
SALES E-MAIL ADDRESS:	mktg@fica.com
MARKETING E-MAIL ADDRESS:	Click Here
ADDRESS:	FIC of America 1045 Mission Court Fremont, CA 94539
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1980, FIC is a manufacturer of computer motherboards, video cards, computer cases, and other computer accessories.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

EPOX

SALES:	No US phone number available
ALT PHONE NUMBER:
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.epox.com
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	support@epox.com
ADDRESS:	531 East Jamie Ave La Habra, CA 90631
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in February 1995, EPoX as a manufacturer of computer motherboards and computer accessories.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Elitegroup Computer Systems (E.C.S)

PHONE:	(510) 226-7333
ALT PHONE NUMBER:
FAX:	(510) 226-7350
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.ecsusa.com
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	support@ecsusa.com
ADDRESS:	Elitegroup Computer Systems, Inc. 45401 Research Avenue Fremont, CA 94539
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Founded in 1987, Elitegroup is a manufacturer of computer motherboards, video cards, and other computer peripherals.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

DFI

SALES:	(510) 623-5010 DFI is a motherboard OEM provider and does not provide support to End Users. If you have an issue with your Motherboard please refer to their web page, contact the manufacturer of the computer or the motherboard reseller.
ALT PHONE NUMBER:
FAX:	(510) 623-5020
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.dfi.com http://www.dfi.com.tw
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	Click Here
ADDRESS:	DFI (San Jose), Inc. 47923 Warm Springs Blvd. Fremont, CA 94539, U.S.A.
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Established in 1981, DFI is a manufacturer of computer motherboards and video cards.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown

Chaintech

US PHONE:    (510) 656-3648
US TECHNICAL SUPPORT:    (510) 656-3607
PHONE:    +886-2-2268-9998
ALTERNATE PHONE:   
FAX:    (510) 656-2297
TDD:   
BBS:   
WEB SITE:    http://www.chaintechusa.com
http://www.chaintech.com.tw
FTP SITE:   
E-MAIL:    Click here
ADDRESS:    Chaintech
No7-1, Chung Shin Rd.
Tu Cheng, Taipei Hsien, Taiwan

Chaintech
4427 Enterprise Street
Fremont, CA 94538 USA
COMPANY INFORMATION:    Founded in November 1986, Chaintech is a manufacturer of computer motherboards, video cards, and other computer accessories.
STOCK SYMBOL:    None or unknown

Biostar

PHONE:	(626) 581-1055
ALT PHONE NUMBER:	(305) 477-4977
FAX:	(626) 581-1030
LATIN AMERICA PHONE:	(305) 477-4977
TAIWAN PHONE:	866-2-2218-0150
CHINA PHONE:	86-0755-83662426
GERMANY PHONE:	49-2162-816010
TDD:
BBS:
WEB SITE:	http://www.biostar-usa.com http://www.biostar.com.tw
FTP SITE:
E-MAIL ADDRESS:	sales@biostar-usa.com support@biostar-usa.com service@biostar-usa.com
ADDRESS:	BMA INDUSTRIAL INC. 9460 Telstar Ave. Unit 5, Elmonte, California 91731, U.S.A.
COMPANY INFORMATION:	Established in 1986, BIOSTAR is a manufacturer of computer motherboards.
STOCK SYMBOL:	None or unknown