From spreadsheets to desktop publishing, there are a myriad of IT applications being used by every single company in existence today. Our increasing reliance on computers to get the job done quickly and efficiently has led to great advances in the world of business - advances that may not have been as easy a few short years ago.

But while computers are intended to make life easier when it comes to business solutions, the truth of that statement largely depends on what IT applications you use. You can have the most powerful computers in existence working for your business, but if the applications running on them don't meet up to your expectations you will still have problems on a day to day basis.

It's often the case that the IT applications a company started out with are outgrown by the people working there. Job descriptions change, the workload changes - often increasing way beyond its original size - and the company develops over time.

Unfortunately the IT applications being used don't change as often, and this can lead to a gap between the resources available and the resources that are actually needed.

If you think this may be a problem in your company, you need to ask yourself how easy the IT applications are to use on a day to day basis. Do you constantly struggle to complete jobs and make the best use of the computer programs you have at your disposal? Do you find yourself longing for better resources? Are you forever researching the possibility of finding a better set of IT applications for your needs?

If you can answer yes to the above questions then it might be time to take a long hard look at the IT applications your company is using. It may simply be that further training is needed to get the most out of them and learn new ways of using the same applications. On the other hand the business may have outgrown that particular application and the time may be right to replace it with a newer and better one.

Whatever the solution is for your business, make sure you evaluate the situation fully before jumping in and changing things. It may simply be that you need to increase your knowledge to make the IT applications easier to use.

The last thing you want to do is be connected to the Internet or for that matter, networked into another computer that is Internet accessible without any form of computer security in place. You need to safeguard your computer at all costs to avoid spyware, adware, malware, spamming, viruses, worms trojans and 100's of other things and terminology that deliver havoc to your computer's operating system. The purpose, intent, directive, mission, modes' operandi (whatever you want to call it) of operating system disruption is multifarious in nature. It could be criminal intent, malicious, prank, spying, diversionary, bridging, dominating, altering and (once again) a thousand other tactics. The bottom line is if you don't value your computer's operability you'll be a victim of actionable intent that could result in the loss of a perfectly good computer, your identity, financial data, privacy or all the above and more.

You took the time to learn how to use your computer and hopefully along the way you also learned not only how to keep it optimized but you and it safe as well. If you think problems only happen to everyone else, you are living in a vacuum! Your computer is an IP address that has nothing to do with your face, character or honest disposition. Your computer is electronic in nature and it depends upon you to keep you both functional and secure. Yes, the computer is brilliant but the one thing that sets you aside from the high speed logic of your computer is that at this point in time; you have the additional intelligence it has not and that is - common sense. With this in mind, that makes you the doctor and the computer a patient needing care, concern and nurturing.

So doctor, here are some sure signs the patient (your computer) is suffering and needs a good quality course of care. Another words it's infected with a virus, worm, malware, etc. etc.

1. You computer is running significantly slower, taking much longer to display webpage, takes forever to open a program, application or save a file.

2. You type in a specific URL address and end up somewhere else or, you do nothing and a webpage not requested suddenly appears as if perhaps a hacker has preselected your browsers' destination.

3. Random error messages (iexplorer has to be closed, DLL error, System 32, svchost, Kewrnel 32, etc.) begin to appear. Strange Windows warnings such as such as Info, Error or Question Boxes appear asking yes/no questions or solicit you to hit an OK Button.

4. Your browser homepage suddenly changes (different wallpaper, displays another picture from your computer data files or a picture you've never seen before), inverts, flips upside down, blinks, changes colors, lettering appears in reverse, or the monitor turns itself on and off etc.

5. You notice new icons appearing at the bottom of your screen, perhaps new items you know you didn't add suddenly appear on your favorites menu, there have been additional toolbars added to your browser or, your taskbar disappears completely.

6. A mass of popup advertising begins to appear even though the browser is not open or you get popups on pages your are familiar with and know do not normally display a pop over, pop under or exit pop up.

7. Your computer keyboard functions incorrectly - keys don't work, clicking on a link does nothing, tab key is dysfunctional, you can't use the Ctrl+Alt+Del function to end some task or any given program or process.

8. Your computer mouse seems to go haywire ' it begins leaving trails, the pointer disappears from the computer screen, the right and left mouse buttons reverser their functions, the mouse moves across the screen by itself.

9. The sound volume on your computer changes levels indiscriminately; your speakers start or stop working by themselves as if intentionally being turned on and off.

10. The computer powers down/ shuts itself off or restarts itself frequently. It crashes often for no foreseeable reason. The computer reboots itself.

11. The time and date of the computer changes by itself at times other then the automatic semi-annual time changes. (Spring forward/Fall back).

12. Your Windows" Start Button disappears and remains hidden from your ability to find it or you see unclear dialog boxes and/or menus.

13. Your account passwords are changed or someone else seems have access to areas once privy only to you or - you are suddenly denied access to an account or multiple accounts. Indication of a Keylogger Spyware (that record everything you type on a keyboard) resulting in purchases you may have never made, privacy invasions, identity theft, financial turmoil, unauthorized bank and credit card use or activations.

14. You notice indicator lights on the computer tower flashing or blinking when you are not on or using the computer. Indicates a hacker is using program files or accessing the Internet via your computer when it is felt you are sleeping or away from the computer or home.

15. The computer plays recordings of the sounds picked up in your computer room overheard by your computer's microphone. Your Webcam can be hijacked and used to spy on activity within the room it's located in.

16. When you reboot your computer a message reflects that there are other people connected or programs in operation you were not using.

17. Other people can read your private ICQ, IRC, AIM or Yahoo pager messages and other Chat Room instruments.

18. Your computer starts carrying on a conversation with you via text messaging, the computer begins reading the contents off your computer clipboard or, a chat box appears forcing you to carry on a conversation with some stranger.

19. Your CD-Rom Drawer(s) open and close by themselves. Disk drives and disks fail to open or operate properly. Disks are not accessible. Programs load or unload themselves or, the programs/applications do not operate properly.

20. Documents or messages print on you printer without your request, the printer stops functioning for no mechanical reason.

21. Not receiving automatic Anti-Virus or Firewall updates indicate your software is turned off, expired or has been modified.

This list in not an all inclusive listing of warning signs of a computer security problem and it wouldn't be fair if I didn't also acknowledge that some of the problems could also be a result of computer mechanical problems. A computer shutting itself off involuntarily could also be the direct result of a tower fan or a video cooler being inoperative or tower vents dust clogged per some examples. It is however a fairly realistic indication that computer security is a necessity.

Anyone who has ever owned a laptop computer knows that it can sometimes take quite a long time for a laptop to charge the battery. One of the ways around this problem is to get your hands on an external laptop battery charger, which can really help to speed up the process, and can be used to charge a second to battery, always a good idea when you are a heavy user of the computer. This article will look at a few considerations that need to be borne in mind when buying this extremely useful laptop accessory.

The first thing to remember is that choosing a charger needs to be done with great care, since at the very least you may end up with a charger which does not charge your battery properly, or could even cause damage to the battery itself, and you could be left with no power at all for your laptop. In the least worst case you could end up with a battery that is only partially charged, which means your notebook might run out of power after just an hour or so of operation, which could cause you a lot of trouble if it happens in an opportune moment.

In the worst case scenario you could end up with a battery charger causing a lot of damage to the battery itself, which means you have to then go out and buy a completely new battery pack, which of course can be very expensive.

One of the most common mistakes is to buy a charger which is not a suitable for the type of battery itself, usually a charger that is too small to take the battery. There are some types which can charge different sizes, but these are usually only supplied by manufacturers to charge the various sizes of battery for their complete laptop range. They are not usually available for different models. It is usually better to find a universal type of charger, possibly with a docking system.

An external battery charger can be a real boon, but, as you can see, you really do need to take a lot of care when you're choosing one because the wrong choice could leave you with practically no battery at all.

A lot of People ask "what is the Difference between CD duplication and CD replication?"

CD Duplication is the Process where your master CD is loaded into a tower with a hard drive. Once the content is loaded into the hard drive, the tower is then loaded with blank CD-R's and the content is burned onto the blank CD-R's at a 16x burn speed which is the standard burn speed for the best CD duplication results. Depending on how long the master is, that determines how long it will take to burn a copy. After all of the CDs are burned the tower is reloaded and started over again until you have reached the amount of copies needed for the project. This process is just like how you would burn a CD on your home computer but at a much larger scale.
Pros:

* Much faster turn time because this can all be done in-house. Turn time depends on how many towers and how many CD's per tower your duplication company has.
* You can duplicate whatever quantity you want.
* If there is a change in your project you just need to start duplicating the new CD rather than create a whole new glass stamper.

Cons:

* It is generally more expensive to go with duplication over replication.
* CD will play in most CD players but there are a few CD drives that have trouble reading a duplicated disc.

CD Replication is a process of which a glass master or stamper is created of your original CD-R and the glass master is used to press the information or music onto the CD. In about a half of a second the content is literally pressed onto the disc. This method is called a pressed CD or the industry standard. There is not usually a quality difference; however, CD replication has a higher yield ratio or playability in more decks then a burned or a duplicated CD. The CD's you would buy in a store are always replicated. Most plants have a 1,000 CD replication minimum for them to set up a CD line to run your CD's and it is recommend that the company you use should be ISO certified and Phillips Licensed to insure the best quality in the industry. You may pay a little more for this but it is worth it in the long run to make sure the company you are using will be around for a while and not be shut down due to non-compliance with Phillips. CD replication also has a longer turn time then CD Duplication Due to the length of creating your master and the higher volume of CD's the plant produces. CD replication projects typically ship in 8- 10 business days where as with Duplication the CD's usually ship in 3-5 business days.