Is your computer running slow? Fed up with your PC always freezing up and crashing? Learn the top 10 most common causes and how to fix them.
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Recent Updates
Driver Review: AMD Catalyst Release Notes
AMD Driver Release
In this post we'll talk about some of the latest posting of AMD's software suite, AMD Catalyst 11.9. According to AMD, this particular software suite updates the display driver and the the Control Center, along with the AMD Vision Engine Control Center. Because AMD has updates this driver to provide enhanced levels of power, performance, and reliability we can all rejoice! I should also mention that this is a unified driver from AMD.
For those of you who are technically oriented, the new release contains the following: AMD display driver version 8.892 HydraVision for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 Southbridge/IXP Driver AMD Catalyst Control Center version 8.892 / AMD Vision Engine Control Center version 8.892.
For those of you who just want the upgrade, it might be helpful to know that these can be downloaded independently of each other. However, for better stability and performance AMD recommends that both components be updated from the same AMD Catalyst release.
The AMD Catalyst Control Center / AMD Vision Engine Control Center requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework SP1 be installed for Windows XP and Windows Vista. So make sure to head over to microsoft and get your operating system updated. Without service pack 1 installed, the AMD driver will not launch properly and the you can expect t see error messages.
When installing the AMD Catalyst driver for Windows operating system, you must be logged on as Administrator or have Administrator rights to complete the installation of the driver. This, of course, is true for almost every driver out there so it's always a good idea to run your machine in administrative mode.
AMD is announcing that with their Eyefinity technology, the new drivers will give gamers better display resolutions. Keep in mind that as your pixel count grows, the graphics horsepower required to drive the display will increase dramatically. So depending on the game and system configuration that you are running, you may notice a small amount of texture corruption. Some users have even complained about reduced frame rates when running games in multi-monitor Eyefinity mode, I personally have not seen this though.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Windows Driver Model (WDM) drivers are no longer bundled in the AMD Catalyst software suite. The WDM drivers install bundle can be downloaded through the AMD web site, or you can get it from Microsoft.
AMD Mobility Product Family Compatibility
Mobility is a notebook graphics driver with limited support for individual system features. If you plan to use this driver with Windows Vista or Windows 7, you may have some trouble. Some of AMD's testers had negative experiences with the mobility product lines. The good news is that AMD has included Installation Verification Software that will prevent driver download on certain notebook products. So if your machine is prone to have problems the driver will not install. This is to protect against the installing new drivers that may disable features or functionality by your core system manufacturer. AMD also recommends that if you experience unwanted bugs or problems occur while using your new Catalyst Mobility, then you should revert back to your previous driver. You can also use the driver provided by your system vendor for your specific platform. For most of you this is Microsoft.
Again for the tech nerds out there, here are the release notes giving you a list of the resolved Issues for Windows 7. A lot of these are game-specific issues so if you are not experiencing them consider yourself lucky.
Problems Solved:
Scaling options are now correctly displayed when connecting a Digital monitor to the Display port on some video cards.
Video corruption is no longer observed while playing full screen HD WMV format files using PowerDVD with Windows Aero Mode turned off.
Flashing pixel corruption is no longer experienced while playing F1 2010 and Dirt 2
The Windows Event Log no longer reports unwanted Distributed DCOM errors.
Negative Crossfire Scaling is no longer occasionally observed while playing EarthSim 2
Blank video playback is no longer observed when hardware accelerations is enabled in VLC 1.1.10
Dawn of War II – Retribution no longer exhibits a black screen when alt-tabbing in and out of the game
Random display corruption is no longer observed when playing WMV format files using Windows Media Player
City of Heroes no longer experiences stuttering after excessive use if in-game Anti-Aliasing slider
Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System:
The screen no longer goes black on when the Aero Desktop is enabled on some Radeon products.
Lost Planet 2 no longer randomly crashes when running the benchmark
Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System:
Enemy Territory no longer displays random screen corruption
Cyberlink PowerDVD no longer hangs when attempting to play a BluRay disc.
More fixes include reapairs for these known issues that Windows 7 operating system users were having.
Random screen tearing observed while playing Portal 2
Random corruption may be experienced while playing Enemy Territory
Choppy playback may be experienced during playback of interlaced DVD content in full screen mode using PowerDVD 11
The last note that AMD offered users is that Windows Aero options may not be available after installing the driver, so do not install it if you plan to use Windows Aero, with Vista.
Trouble connecting graphics card? No video on HDTV?
In this article we're going to talk about HDTV divers and give you a guide that should help you get your HDTV video operating effectively. We'll start by troubleshooting some issues that can prevent the video from working when using a direct connection to the computer’s graphics card through an HDMI cable.
The problem?
Are you having trouble linking your computer to your HDTV? If you are attempting to play video from your computer and watch it on your HDTV then this article may help you, especially if you are attempting to link the two devices through a direct connection. The main symptom of this problem is that there is no signal to your HDTV, and you can't see a video connection.
The solution:
First we will try to help you rule out some common factors that can cause the issue. If the quality of your HDMI cable is poor, or the HDMI cable is damaged, then you may see a reduction in the quality of the video signal. This issue can also cause the signal to not transmit properly. Here are some tips to help with this.
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Connect your HDTV directly to your computer
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Use the shortest HDMI cable length possible
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Use the latest HDMI cable version available to ensure compatibility for the highest output quality supported by the HDTV and graphics card
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Try a different HDMI cable (if you have one) to rule out whether the HDMI cable is the source of the problem
Some HDTV devices use video cards that require your computer to be directly connected to the TV. For example, you might need to connect your PC's HDMI input to the TV's HDMI input. This type of connection will allow the highest quality video between the two device. However not all PC's have HDMI inputs so if there is not one available on your PC, then you may need to use an adapter, a VGA, or a DVI cable. Check the HDTV's manual for any settings that may need to be configured to specifically allow a connection to be made from your PC. Sometimes for HDMI input to work properly a few settings have to be changed.
It's okay if your HDTV does not have a specific PC-HDMI port with a clear label, you still might be able to transmit the signal to the HDTV. If the first port you try does not work try connecting the computer to another HDMI input on the HDTV that is already working. If you have a cable box connected that is working properly you can try to use that port. This will help you determine if the input on the TV is bad, or if more settings need to be changes. Do the same thing on your computers side of things, that is try connecting the HDTV to another HDMI input on the computer to determine if the input on the computer is bad.
A lof of times these problems are caused by a defective graphics card, or bad graphics card drivers that do not support such operations. If you have an old driver it can prevent the desired HDMI audio device from working correctly. Try to connect another HDMI capable device to the HDTV using the same cable and input to rule out any issues with the HDTV. If the issue still persists you might need to install new drivers on your computer, or HDTV.
Try downloading our driver detective tool here:http://www.apache.com/drivers/free-scan/
You can run a scan to see if your PC has driver errors. If your HDTV is equipped to make the connection and your HDMI cords are working properly then this might find what is causing the problem.
Is Your Social Footprint Safe & Secure?
Gigya is a new technology for managing data that provides businesses with complete access to your social profile, granting that you allow them to do so. Until now, businesses trying to access reliable sets of data have run into obstacles such as outdated registration information. Now your business can collect and store data from sites like Facebook, they have the ability to send targeted email marketing campaigns and product recommendations, which some people think is great, but still there are others who are less apt to encourage business to advertise to them.
So how does all this work. Well, Gigya's Identity Management Platform captures your social data, which consists of your social profile and everything in it. Keep in mind that you must authorize a site to access this information before they can see it. This type of thing can generally happen when you authenticate a login with your social identities, either through registration or login. This type of authorization allows occurs through interacting with social plugins on the site or on Facebook.
As with all of Gigya's technology, the Identity Management Platform works along side their existing suite of social products including, which makes this even more powerful. It might be the only data management solution available that provides complete insight into user demographics, interests, preferences and behaviors.
By integrating with Gigya's suite of social plugins, businesses can target advertisements and offers to you with an unprecedented level of relevance. For example, using Gigya's Identity Management Platform, companies can obtain a list of users who are college graduates, like traveling, and are planning a wedding. How can they do this? All of that information is linked to your Facebook profile, so everything that you put in your profile is available to them.
When you think about it all this social data yields an incredible opportunity for business trying to reach you. Of course that downside to all this is that some less scrupulous business might try to use these tools to influence their customers, and control consumer behavior. For me, all of this is just something to keep in mind every time I allow someone to see my social profile, I simply ask myself if I trust the source I'm giving it to, and if the answer is no, then that's, that, NO INFO.
What do you guys think? Is this a great tool to help you find things that would interest you, save money, and save you time, or something else?
For more info on how to protect your info and to see what exactly is being collected, you can go to: http://info.gigya.com/identity-management.html
Art Made Better by the Web?
A new way to discover art that you'll love
Art.sy is a spin off of "The Art Genome Project" which is an ongoing study of the traits that connect great works of art. Art.sy evaluates artworks with more than 500 defining characteristics. Like what? Well they use some generic traits like subject matter, and some more formal and technical defining qualities like brush stroke style and "weight".
At this point you might have a few questions, I know I did the first time I heard about what these guys were up to, so let's talk about who is doing this and why? Art.sy is led by a computer science engineer who happens to have a passion for fine art, and a former art executive. Right now they have not released anything to the public, but you can get in on what they're up to by sending them a private request.
I REPRESENT A GALLERY, MUSEUM, OR PRIVATE COLLECTION. HOW CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS?You can write to them at:partners@art.sy. Just give them your name, phone number, and a little more information about who you are and why you're interested. If you belong to an organization or institution it would be a good idea to include that information as well.
WHAT KIND OF ART?Right now, the guys are planning to have an expansive and dynamic inventory of art from leading galleries, as well as from some of the lesser know collectors. The team hopes that this will allow for the greatest international presence and reach. Art.sy also plans to feature work housed in major museums, artists’ estates, and private foundations from across the globe. You can read more about the project here: http://art.sy/
Send Files With Kicksend
Even Easier File Sharing?
File-sharing these days is much more difficult and complicated than it needs to be, well, that's at least what the guys who started Kicksend think. They believe that people are finding it confusing to easily share files. They think that file sharing online would be a lot better if people didn't have to compromise or jump through hoops. Their mission is to make sharing and receiving files extremely simple and effortless for even novice computer users. So I've tried to anticipate some of the question you might have, and provided the answers for you as well.
What happens to my files after I send them?
Kicksend will store your file on a secure storage server for about 2 weeks. They will also send notification emails to all the people you are sharing the file with. Those people will get links to the file, and they don't have to signup for anything to download the file you sent. However if they have the Kicksend desktop app, the file will be automatically downloaded to their computer, so you might want to get a bunch of friends and join together.
Do people have to signup to download the files I send them?
The one word answer to this one is nope. People do not need to signup in order to receive files. Kicksend will send out an email to each person that you send files to, along with links to download the file directly. However, if they choose to signup, on their own free will of course, then the process does get a bit easier, but it is not required.
Does anyone else get to see the files I send?
No, the files you send are considered to be your property so no one else, except the person you are choosing to send it to, will get access to your information. Kicksend does not have people looking at the info, they just deliver it to the people you specify.
How is this different from all the other file storage companies?
This works better as delivery service, where other storage companies provide, well, storage. These guys will temporarily house your files to make it easy for others to access, but they don't store them or upload them permanently.
The guys from Kicksend also point out that from a ease-of-use perspective, you don't have to worry about synchronizing folders or setting permissions. They thought that this stuff might confuse the people you're sending files to so they did away with it.
Is there a size limit?
As of right now they only support sending files smaller than 150MB. Sorry huge file people :-(
How much storage space do I get for free?
Since your files are only held for a maximum of two weeks and then delete them from their servers, the guys at Kicksend have not officially set a limit to the amount you can use them. My kind of guys! You can check them out here: http://kicksend.com/
