Did you know that after you open an app on your iPad, or iPhone pressing the home button does not quit or close the app? Yes the app stays running in the background until you close it. You may have several, or even all of your apps running in the background, and this can reduce your battery run time and make you have to charge your iPad, or iPhone more frequently. Watch this tutorial and learn how to close your apps on your iPad or iPhone.

 

Computer Networking Explained

 

In order for you to connect your computer to the internet you need to use an Internet Service Provider or ISP. This company provides you with the equipment needed to connect a computer to the internet for a monthly fee. Every ISP will provide you with a modem for at least one computer to connect to the internet. They may provide you with other equipment as well, depending on what services you purchase through them.

 

If you want to connect more then one computer to the internet, you are going to need a router. Some ISP’s will provide you with a Modem, that has a router, and wireless router built in at no extra charge. There are many types of routers and they have a variety of services that they can perform. They will all route internet traffic to more then one computer, however they are not all created equal.

 

Some routers have wireless capabilities that let you connect wireless computers, tablets, smartphones, and other wireless devices to the internet. These types of routers are usually called, “Wireless Routers”. For most people a wireless Modem/ gateway with a wireless router built in is enough to connect several computers to the internet. Your ISP may provide you with this all in one Modem/ Gateway/ Router combo, and will set it up for you at installation. However this may not suit your particular needs, especially if you are a business, small office, or you have a medium, to large home. A router directs network traffic, and is used to segment large networks. In most large office environments you will most likely need more then one router.

 

If you own a large home and you are having wireless connection problems such as poor signal range, you most likely are in need of a range extender. Most medium to large homes and businesses benefit from wireless range extenders. A range extender increases the wireless signal range. There are also several types of range extenders some can also act as an access point that can provide wireless internet to remote areas of your computer network.

 

To connect to the internet your computer needs an address just like a house address. This is also commonly known as your “IP address”, and your ISP provides this address for you. If you want to connect more then one computer or device a router is needed to assign additional IP addresses to the devices, and computers on your network.

 

A router can also have advanced capabilities such as port forwarding which can be used to connect one or more devices, or computers on your network through the internet to another computer outside your local computer network. For example this is useful for connecting to remote file servers from more then one office. Port forwarding is necessary if you want to connect devices such as a gaming console, or security camera system to the internet for various purposes such as remote camera viewing.

 

Not all routers provide port forwarding, and you need to check the technical specifications of your router to see if yours does. Otherwise you need to purchase a different router with the services you need, and in most cases you can bridge two routers together. Port forwarding can get really tricky very quickly and is not easy to set up. This is a function that is usually best left to experienced technicians and your ISP may be able to help you set this up.

 

A switch is a network device that allows more computers to be added to a network by extending the physical ports of a router. It does not assign IP addresses to other computers on your network. It passes along the IP addresses that the router assigns your computers, or devices, and also helps manage network traffic in conjunction with the router. It also provides physical ports for other computers, and devices on your network to connect to the internet, that the router usually doesn’t have.  All large-scale networks require the use of many switches.

 

Wireless networking myths. There are many types of range extenders, and wireless access points on the market today. Most of them require the use of a cable such as a Cat5 network cable to extend your wireless network. You may have been told, that you can purchase a range extender, also known as a repeater, and this will eliminate the need for network cabling. While there are some wireless repeaters that will extend a wireless network to one area within signal range, that is all most of them can do period. There are some on the market that claim you can daisy chain multiple range extenders together without using wires across a large area. Although these devices do exist they are not usually the type that you can buy in most retail stores.

 

There are ways to extend wireless networks across long distances without cabling them together, however they are usually expensive, and are large towers, or antennas that require a solid knowledge of wireless networking to make them work reliably. Unfortunately there will usually be some type cables involved with this type of equipment and it may be quite noticeable.

 

In most home or business environments, you will need to install Cat5, Cat5e, Cat 6, and / or COAX network cables and network drops. This is the best solution to extend any computer network locally. When done right, you will only notice a wall jack in the area needed and cables should not be stapled along baseboards and exposed.

 

In Summary:

 

• A modem, or gateway is a device that lets you connect to the internet.

• A router is a device that lets multiple computers, or devices connect to the internet.

• A switch helps connect multiple, computers or devices to a router.

• A wireless access point helps wireless devices connect to the internet by extending the wireless routers range.

 

 

When it comes to computer networking there are many books you can read, and all kinds of classes that you can take to understand it in greater detail. I hope that I have given you a better understanding of the basics of computer networking, and the basic functions of various network equipment. I also hope that you may also understand what you may need to connect several computers to the internet, or to each other.

Properly Shutting Down a Macintosh Computer, and Shutting Down a Windows 8 Computer

I have come across a fair number of people that hold down the power button on their computer to shut it down. When I ask people why they do it that way, I’ve been told everything from, ” I always do it this way,” to “The tech support guy at so and so told me to do it this way.” This is not a good way to shut down a computer at all. If someone has taught you this as the proper way to turn it off, please read this article and learn how to do it the right way.

In case of a system freeze, and when all else fails you can hold down the power button to force shut down your PC, or Macintosh computer. I do not recommend doing this as a normal means of shutting down your computer. Doing it this way will corrupt your operating system especially when it is done frequently.

When people are unfamiliar with an operating system, because of changes from a previous version, or are not familiar with a computer at all there may be a temptation to just push the power button, because that’s how you turned it on to begin with, so whats wrong with turning it off the same way?

The operating system, Windows, Mac OSX, and others have a shut down function listed in a menu for you to use. This is how you should always shut down your computer. I will explain how to shut down Macintosh computers, and how to do it for people using Windows 8. Many people are confused by the changes that were made from windows 7 and previous editions of Windows to Windows 8, even some Windows veterans.

Before you ever hold down the power button to shut down any computer there are steps you can try first to resolve system freezes, program freezes and crashes on Windows and Macintosh computers.

Such as:

• If your computer freezes you can bring up the task manager in Windows (2000 through Windows 8) by holding down three keys simultaneously on your keyboard. These keys are: ctrl + alt + del. This brings up the task manager Windows which will allow you to force quit applications in Windows.

• On a Mac you hold down the following 3 keys: option + command ( or APPLE key on older Mac’s) +esc. this will bring up a window that will allow you to force quit applications on a Mac.

* If this doesn’t work on either system then your computer is “locked up” now hold down the power button until the computer completely powers off. ( This is also a sign that something may seriously be wrong with your computer, and the Operating System, may be seriously corrupted.)

If it is not your computer, pressing the power key may just put the computer to sleep as someone may have set it up to do this. You will know if it is asleep usually by a flashing, or pulsing power LED light somewhere by the power button, or on the front of the computer. Don’t unplug the computer until you know it’s off. IF IT’S ASLEEP IT’S NOT OFF!!!! This means that your computer is still running. Pulling the power cord when a computer is asleep may damage, and corrupt the data on your computer. On almost every computer if you hold the power key down for 5- 10 second it will fully power off, at least it should.

If all of the above steps do not work, and your computer remains locked up, your last resort is to pull the power cord from the socket. You probably should at this point take your computer in for service.

Shutting down a computer the right way:

Windows 8

• From your desktop move your mouse to the lower left hand corner of your screen to bring up the start menu, and left click on the box that appears.

• This will take you to the “start menu”. From here move your mouse to the upper right hand corner of the start menu where you see your “User name” and left click it. You will now see a pop up window option. Select ” sign out”.

• This will take you to a splash screen picture that is usually the space needle in Seattle (by default).

• Click anywhere on the image to go to the “Log on screen”. Here you will see a list of User accounts or one single username depending on how many people have accounts on your computer. This is also the screen you use to “shut down” or “restart” your Windows 8 Computer.

• On the Logon screen move your mouse to the lower right corner and click on the “on/ off symbol” ( it looks like an 0 with an I in the middle of it)
• Select “restart” or “shut down” from here to safely and properly shut down your Windows 8 Computer.

Macintosh OSX (Mac OSX 10.x.x)

• Move your mouse to the APPLE symbol at the upper left hand corner of the desktop menu.

• Click on the APPLE symbol, and select “shut down” or “restart” from the drop down menu.

• You should get a pop up window saying, “Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now?” click continue to shut it down, or it will do it in 1 minute automatically.

If either of these steps do not work to shut down your computer you may have a problem with the operating system on your Macintosh or Windows PC, or worse. Go back and follow the previous steps on force quitting applications before you decide to hold the power button down to shut off your computer. If the problem persists after a restart frequently, or every time, you need to service your computer to see whats wrong with it.

Windows XP was a good operating system, but I would like to remind anyone using it that Microsoft will end support for it April 8, 2014. There will be no more updates, patches, security fixes or the like after that date. Migrating to Windows 7 or 8 is recommended for all Windows XP users, especially businesses.  More information about Windows XP end of support can be found by clicking the link http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/products/lifecycle

When you buy an iPhone from Apple you get two color choices to choose from, White or Black. Just because your only two options from Apple are White or Black, doesn’t mean that you can’t choose Pink, or Orange, or Blue. If you dropped your iPhone and you need the screen repaired this is the perfect time to make that change. You can upgrade the frame from standard aluminum to black or even gold. You can change the color of the front, and back to a variety of colors, and patterns including your favorite sports team, and so much more. You really have many more choices then you think. So if you’d like to customize your phone, and give it that personal touch, give us a call, we would be happy to customize it for you. You’ll never get it mixed up with someone else’s iPhone ever again. call us (818) 590-9995 for more information.