Halka Ramailo

How to Fix Windows Update Errors

Software Recommendations For your PC or Laptop

Operating System:

• Windows: Microsoft Windows 7, or Windows 8 Professional (Home Editions may be acceptable if you'll be keeping your computer at home. ) We suggest using 64-bit versions as opposed to 32-bit versions where feasible. Key issues to consider: 1) Older (often 16-bit) software may require the 32-bit O/S. 2) Newer software versions being released now and in the future may require a 64-bit O/S.
• Mac: Mac OS X 10.7 or 10.8 (Lion, Mountain Lion)
• Linux: RedHat Enterprise Linux 5 or newer, or other currently supported variants, such as CentOS-5.
• For all operating systems, you should regularly apply the most recent security patches.
• 

Productivity Software:

• Win/Mac: Microsoft's Office suite - Office 2010 (Windows), Office 2013 (Windows), Office 2011 (MacOS), is widely used.
  Office 2003 will be phased out by April, 2014. 
  Note: Word Perfect is an acceptable alternative within some departments, but MS-Word is the preferred document format for sharing documents between departments. Some units have reported positive experiences with the OpenOffice.org suite.

Email:

• All: Webmail, UCI Gmail
• Windows: Thunderbird, Microsoft Outlook 2010, Outlook 2013, Outlook Express
  Macintosh: Mail (included with O/S), Thunderbird, or Outlook 2011
• Many departments utilize centralized Email; please check with your Computer Support Coordinator

Internet Tools:

• Win/Mac:
• Browsers: Mozilla Firefox 23.01 or later, Safari 5.x, Internet Explorer 9.x (with latest patches) or later, Chrome 29.x.
  Supported Web Browsers 
• Telnet: puTTY, SecureCRT SSH Tectia, dataComet
• File Transfers: WinSCP, dataComet (Mac), sftp (bundled with Linux). The use of standard, unencrypted FTP is discouraged for security reasons.

File Exchange Format:

• Text: ASCII, MS-Word (.doc) , RTF 
• Graphics: TIFF, GIF, JPEG, PNG image formats 
• Video: MPEG, QuickTime 
• Mail: MIME
• Archives: BinHex, Stuffit (Mac); ZIP, Auto-extract (PC) 

WANT TO BUY NEW LAPTOP WITH GOOD CONFIGURATION ?

CPU

Core i5 or i7

Memory

4GB or More

Disk

500 GB or more

Optical

DVD±RW - some lightweight laptops & tablets do not have an optical drive.

 Screen

15 inch or more

Network

10/100/1000 Base T and wireless Ethernet (802.11b/g/n)

Graphics Processor

Dual-monitor support is increasingly desirable.

Port

All laptops should have at least two USB 2.0 ports easily accessible. IEEE 1394, sometimes known as FireWire or i.Link, is another type of port that may be useful.

Operating System  

Windows 7 or 8 Enterprise, Windows 7 or 8 Professional, and Windows 7 Ultimate are the recommended editions of Windows 

PARTS NEEDED TO BUILD A COMPUTER

1. Motherboard for either an Intel or AMD processor
ATX or Micro-ATX form

                           
                                       
2. Processor for either Intel or AMD motherboard-(ases is all up to preference if your building an extreme gaming system with multiple video cards you will want one with good cooling (2 120mm fans at least) other than that its looks and price that are the determining factor.)
                                                       

3. Memory for motherboard (Do the same thing unless you are going to do some serious over clocking pretty much any memory will work good brands include Kingston, Crucial, Patriot, PNY, Corsair. The amount of memory will also depend on what the primary purpose of the computer will be usually 2 gigs is sufficient. If you plan on installing more than 3 gigs or more you will need a 64 bit operating system.)
                                                   

4. Case to hold the motherboard CPU and Memory
Full tower, Mid-tower, or Micro
                             

5. Power supply if the case does not include one-(Power supplies are an important part of the system and depending on the number of drives and the type of video card in the system you will want a good 400-500 watt power supply. Maybe more if you're going with a dual video SLI setup. Good brands include Cooler master, Antec, Thermaltake, and Rosewill.)
                                                   

6. DVD RW Drive
                                                         

7.Hard disk drive (AKA HDD)-        you will want to decide on SATA (a little more expensive but faster) or IDE. Top two and most recommended brands include Western Digital (AKA WD), and Seagate.
                                                        

8. Video card if your motherboard does not have integrated video or you plan on playing games.------it depends on what your building the computer to do. Playing games MMORPG (Mass Multi Online Role Playing Games [Everquest]), FPS (first person shooter [Crysis]) I recommend Nvidia cards. If you just going online and playing browser games (yahoo games) integrated video will work.
          

9. CPU Cooler AKA heatsink. if its not included with the processor (Retail box units include the cooler)-For a CPU cooler the unit included in a retail box is more than adequate for normal operating systems. If you are going to overclock or you purchased a OEM processor you may want to look at an aftermarket unit. Recommended units are MSI/Watercool Hydrogen (liquid cooling), Zalman Reserator, Coolermaster Hyper TX2.
                        

10. Thermal compound for between the CPU and heat sink.
                                    

11. Operating system Normally Windows either XP,Vista, 7 or 8. 64 bit or 32 bit. There are also several versions of Linux to consider
                             

12. Monitor
                                  

13. Keyboard and mouse
                                      



Depending on your budget and brand loyalty Intel is currently top performer in the CPU category so an Intel Core 4 or higher would be a good choice. AMD processors while slightly slower are MUCH cheaper. Motherboards I usually look for price and options I want and then manufacture. Stay away from low-priced, lower end motherboards. They can be a headache. 


Source: Online