Posts Tagged ‘News-Technology’

Setting Up Shared Printers for a Home Network

A terrific side effect of installing a computer network in your home is the ability to share a printer. Households without networks face some difficulties when it comes to printing. Network-deficient households have to rely on some less-than-perfect solutions.

If you want all the computers on your network to be able to access a single printer, you have to set up the Windows printer-sharing feature. Then you have to set up the printer for sharing. You perform these tasks at the computer to which the printer is connected.

The most difficult part of setting up network printing is deciding which computer gets the printer. Here are some common guidelines you can follow:

    * Location. If you have room for a table at one computer location (and storage space for paper), that’s the computer to choose.

    * Usage patterns. If one computer on the network is used far more often than any other computer, that’s the computer to select.

Some households have more than one printer. You may have a black-and-white printer as well as a color printer. When you enable printer sharing, each user can choose a printer every time he or she wants to print.

You can attach two printers to one computer if that’s more convenient, as long as the computer has sufficient ports. If one printer uses the printer port, and the other printer connects to the USB port, just plug them in. If both printers use printer ports, you can add a second printer port to the computer (it’s expensive). If both printers use USB connections, you probably have a second (or third or fourth) USB port. If you don’t have any empty USB ports, you can buy a USB hub (which adds ports).
Enabling printer sharing

The first thing you have to do is tell Windows that the printer attached to the computer should be shared with other users on the network. If you didn’t set up printer sharing when you originally set up your network, follow these steps to accomplish this simple task:

1. Open the Properties dialog box for your network connection in Control Panel.

In Windows 98 and Windows Me, choose Start –> Settings –> Control Panel and then double-click the Network icon. (Alternatively, right-click Network Neighborhood and choose Properties.)

In Windows 2000, choose Start –> Settings –> Network and Dialup Connections. Then right-click the Local Area Connection icon and choose Properties.

In Windows XP, choose Start –> Control Panel and click Network and Internet Connections. Click Network Connections, right-click the Local Area Connection icon, and choose Properties.

The Local Area Connection Properties dialog box opens.

2. Enable file and printer sharing.

In Windows 98 and Windows Me, click the File and Print Sharing button and click the I Want to Be Able to Allow Others to Print to My Printer(s) check box to put a check mark in the check box. Then click OK twice. You must restart the computer to put the new settings into effect.

In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, click the File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks check box to put a check mark in the check box. Then click OK. You do not have to restart the computer.
Sharing a printer

Naturally, household members who are using the other computer(s) on your network want to print, too. Follow these steps to share the printer with others on the network:

1. Open the Printers folder.

An icon for the printer you installed on this computer is in the folder window.

2. Right-click the icon for the printer you want to share and choose Sharing from the shortcut menu that appears.

The printer’s Properties dialog box opens and the Sharing tab appears in the foreground.

3. Select the option to share the printer.

The wording of this option differs, depending on the version of Windows.

4. Type a name for the printer in the Share Name text box.

You can accept the name that Windows automatically enters, which is usually a shortened form of the printer model name. Or, you can use a name of your own choice.

5. In Windows 98 and Windows Me, optionally type a description in the Comment text box.

Large companies with large networks and lots of printers use the Comments text box to help users identify the printers, such as “Den printer” or “Color printer.” Users see the comment text only if they select the Details view in Network Neighborhood or My Network Places when they double-click the icon for the computer that is directly connected to the printer.

6. In Windows 98 and Windows Me, optionally enter a password for the printer.

If you choose to require a password, users who don’t have the password won’t be able to use the printer. Use the Security tab of the printer’s Properties dialog box to set permissions, but usually the default permissions are fine – everyone can use the printer and manage their print jobs.

7. Click OK.

You are returned to the Printers folder, and your printer icon has a hand under it, indicating that this printer is a shared resource. This computer is now a print server.

Source :: http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/setting-up-shared-printers-for-a-home-network/153491

Adding Wireless to Your Older Laptop

Almost every new laptop now includes a wireless transceiver built in to the motherboard or attached to it through a special port in the case. However, if your older laptop doesn’t include wireless facilities, you can easily upgrade and update.
Holding the card

Check the instruction manual or consult the manufacturer’s telephone support service or Web site to see if your laptop has a built-in compartment for holding a small wireless card. The good news is that this compartment (if your laptop has one) gives you a neat solution to upgrading your computer. The bad news comes in two parts:

    * The wireless card is almost certainly a proprietary part, meaning that you have to purchase the manufacturer’s card at whatever price the manufacturer sets.

    * Some manufacturers don’t encourage users to install cards in this special slot themselves. The manufacturer may have some concern that an improperly installed or poorly shielded card can interfere with other devices that use radio frequencies.

On the transceiving end

You can purchase a PC Card wireless transceiver, if you want to. These devices, which you can get from a number of competing manufacturers, are plug-and-play upgrades to a laptop.

Here are some of the disadvantages of using a PC Card for wireless:

    * Your laptop may have only one or two PC Card slots available, and you may want to use those slots for other things.

To counter this problem, some manufacturers combine a wireless transceiver with a network interface card (NIC) adapter, which lets your computer connect to either a wireless network or a wired Ethernet by using this one card.

    * PC Card wireless transceivers usually include a small antenna that projects from the side of the laptop; you may find the nub of an antenna an unattractive nuisance which you may easily break off, destroying the card or even the PC Card slot itself.

If you plan to use a PC Card wireless adapter, get into the habit of removing the card every time you turn off the machine, before you put the laptop away in its case. You may also want to find a small carrying case for the adapter – a box about the size of a deck of playing cards should fit the bill.
Buddying up to USB

To expand a laptop for wireless capabilities, you can add a device that connects to the USB port. Like PC Card devices, the USB-port approach is a plug-and-play solution. Most USB wireless adapters are about 2 inches long, about two-thirds the size of a tube of lip balm.

Like PC Cards, you can get USB wireless adapters from a number of manufacturers, which helps keep prices down and features improving over time. And although USB devices do project from the side of the laptop (actually sticking out a bit more than PC Cards), they’re less likely to damage the computer if you accidentally dislodge them somehow; the USB port is close to the edge of the case. You still may want to remove and store the little wireless devices when you put the laptop away in a case, though.

You can install USB devices directly in the port on the laptop, or you can attach them to a hub that connects by wire to the computer. Adding a hub lets you use multiple USB devices.

Source : http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/adding-wireless-to-your-older-laptop/153158

Conserving Your Laptop’s Power

You can do certain things to help your laptop’s battery last a bit longer. On the short list, you have computer components that consume a lot of power:

• The hard drive

• The CD/DVD drive

• The floppy drive (if you have one)

• The modem

• The network interface

• The display

Each of the above devices consumes power when you use it. Obviously, by not using those devices or by rationing their use, you can save a modicum of power.

For example, by setting a lower resolution and fewer colors on the display, you cause the computer to use less video resources (though this technique saves only a minor amount of power). For more savings, consider not using the CD/DVD drive, which requires real power to keep it spinning (such as when you’re watching a DVD movie).

But you can really take control by setting various timeouts in the Power Options Properties dialog box, Power Schemes tab, as you can see in Figure 1. Here, you can disable or timeout certain laptop features and help extend battery life in a dramatic way.

readmore ::http://tech.yahoo.com/gd/conserving-your-laptop-s-power/153162;_ylt=Atvjqry2R5vba5id7GI35HoFLZA5