Laptop Computers

A laptop is a personal computer which is portable. It may also be known as a notebook. The typical laptop will range in weight from 1 to 3 kilograms, and will generally have an internal battery as well as a power adapter. While most laptops are portable, few can currently match the power of the most expensive desktops, though this will likely change as technology continues to advance. The word laptop was first introduced in 1983, and was used to refer to the Gavilan SC.

Despite the name, most laptops should not be placed in your lap if it is not covered, because they can get hot, and can even burn skin that is held against it for extended periods of time. The typical laptop can be powered by one battery, and the power adapter can power the battery when it is plugged into a wall outlet. A laptop can perform many of the same tasks as a PC, but they tend to be limited. They will have the same internal devices which are seen in desktops, but they will be much smaller in size. Most laptops will have a screen which uses a liquid crystal display.

Most manufacturers have designed their laptops to work with a keyboard and mouse, and they will also have a touch pad that can be used to move around the cursor on the screen. Laptops come in three varieties, and these are based on the size. An ultraportable laptop will generally weigh less than 1.7 kilograms, while a thin and light laptop will weigh up to 2.8 kilograms, and a medium sized laptop will weigh up to 3.5 kilograms. The idea for the laptop existed prior to the invention of the personal computer, and was first conceived during the 1970s. The very first laptop was the Osborne 1, and it was released in 1981.

While the Osborne 1 was massive in comparison to contemporary laptops, it was revolutionary for its time, because it allowed people to carry their data with them, and the computer didn't have to be left in a single location. However, the Osborne 1 was so large that it was not possible to run it on a battery. Most laptops today now use lithium ion batteries. While laptops have a few advantages over their desktop counterparts, they have some disadvantages as well. Unlike desktops, they are limited in their ability to be upgraded. As of this writing, their is no form factor for laptops, and the costs and technical issues involved with making them easy to upgrade aren't feasible.

The only parts of most laptops that can easily be upgraded are the hard drive and RAM. In addition to this, laptops are expensive to repair if they are damaged, and they are also easy to steal due to their small size. Stolen laptops are a common cause for identity theft. While the use of the USB port has allowed laptops to be upgraded to some degree, it will typically reduce their portability. Historically, the performance of laptops has always been low when they were compared to desktops in the same price range.

Windows Registry

With so many computer users online in the current day and age, it is inevitable that PC problems will be encountered by mostof them from time to time.

A lot of these problems are easily avoided, but that's easy to say for someone with technical knowledge and experience, and not so easy for a huge number of users who just want their machines to run as reliably and hassle free as possible.

A great number of people do not even know where to begin when it comes to keeping their PC running as sweetly as the day it was first plugged in, and over a period of time they start  to notice the length of time it takes to boot up in the mornings, and that it seems reluctant to carry out tasks that once upon a time it simply sailed through. By the time they start to notice this degradation in performance, the workings of their machine have beome horribly clogged with internet and software "garbage" that the machine has been accumulating every day for months on end.

There are a variety of reasons for this, but this article aims to deal with just one of them - the Windows Registry - so long an area excluded to all but the techno geeks among us, with dire warnings of the dangers of editing your registry!

This was fair, because an inexperienced user running rampant with their delete key in the registry minefield would certainly spell danger for the unfortunate copy of Windows on their machine. Nowadays, things have become a lot easier....

It is quite simple now for people to look after their Windows Registry and this is fortunate indeed, because with high speed internet connections allowing people to download and install a whole host of applications and files, it does not take long for the registry to become horribly clogged with extraneous bits and pieces, all of which will slowly but surely degrade performance of your operating system.

If you don't like the idea of delving around and trying to understand the workings of this mysterious area of Windows, there are plenty of affordable software solutions on the market today - see the foot of this article for a couple of suggestions. Many will offer free trial periods, and will demonstrate in an easy to understand format, just how bad things have become! If you haven't checked your registry in a while, or maybe even never, you should serioulsy consider doing so. You will probably be very happy with the results of a thorough clean up, all at the push of a button and without risking the ruination of your valuable Windows operating system.

Just like anti virus, anti spyware/adware programs, a good registry leaner should be high on your shopping list. When I've shown people the results of a registry scan after just one week of internet use, they are extremely surprised by the large number of conflicts thrown up - often into  the hundreds!

In conclusion, keep your registry clean, and if your other system maintenance tasks are kept up to  date, you and your  PC will be far happier in your partnership for a long time to come.