Online Resources for Hardware Support

1. The Green Electronic Guide
2. Hardware Components
3. Preventive Maintenance
4. Troubleshooting Tips
5. Adding and Removing Devices
6. Peripherals and Drivers
7. Vendors

This Green Electronics Guide (2006) ranks leading mobile and PC manufacturers on their global policies and practice on eliminating harmful chemicals and on taking responsibility for their products once they are discarded by consumers. Companies are ranked solely on information that is publicly available. The best companies are listed first (the higher the score, the better they are)

1. 7 = Nokia - Good but room for improvement on amounts recycled.
2. 7 = Dell - Points lost for not yet having models without the worst chemicals. Strong support for takeback.
3. 5.7 = Hewlett Packard - Timelines only to provide plan for toxics phase out.
4. Good on amounts recycled.
5. 5.3 = Sony Ericsson - Some models without some of the worst chemicals, but bad on precautionary principle and take back.
6. 5 = Samsung - Points for toxic phase out but not good on take back and recycling.
7. 4.7 = Sony - Some models without the worst chemicals, but bad on precautionary principle and take back.
8. 4.3 = LGE - Points for toxic phase out date but bad on take back.
9. 3.3 = Panasonic - Only good on chemicals management.
10. 3 = Toshiba - Some models without the worst chemicals, but no timelines for elimination and poor on takeback.
11. 3 = Fujitsu-Siemens - Points for some models free of worst chemicals, but poor on takeback.
12. 2.7 = Apple - Low scores on almost all criteria.
13. 2.3 = Acer - Should do better on all criteria.
14. 1.7 = Motorola - Points for chemicals management. Recently broke clean up promise.
15. 1.3 = Lenovo - The lowest score of all companies.

For more information on how each company was scored

Hardware Components - What is this thing?

CPU - Central Processing Unit or The Engine!
How fast can you go? That depends on the size or speed of your CPU. Typical terms you might see include: Celeron Processor, Pentium I, II or III, or in the case of a Macintosh G3 or G4. Megahertz describes the horsepower of the engine or CPU. A 1000 MHZ engine is roughly twice as fast as a 500 MHZ engine.

RAM - Random Access Memory - DIPS, SIMMS or DIMMS.
The computers main memory source for running programs and performing tasks. More RAM is better than faster RAM. The particular type of RAM has changed with the evolution of the computer.

Hard drive - The physical storage area or Filing Cabinet in a computer.
The larger the hard drive is the greater number and size of the programs and files you can store on your system. Now measured in Gigabytes.

Floppy Drive, CD's or DVD's - File storage media
Floppy's are not really floppy anymore. They are removable disks which you can use to transfer files from one computer to another or store files. CD's can store 640 MB of data and a Floppy can store 128 MB of data. DVD's are usually used for multimedia storage of video files.

Video Cards, Sound Cards, Modems - Add on components
These devices are added to a slot on the motherboard of the computer to provide support for certain functions. If you want to play music on your computer you need to have a sound card. If you want to dial out to the internet on your phone line you need a modem.

Mouse and Keyboard - Allow you to interface with your software and hardware. There are several new types of mouses (mice) available now including some which do not require a mousepad and some which do not require a cable connection to the computer. An Optical mouse is a great choice for graphic artists or those who require very precise movement. Keyboards come in several configurations and some are programmable for bar code entry or the Dvorak typing method. Hand and wrist stress can be lessened by using a "broken" keyboard designed to support the wrist area.

Peripherals - Any device you attach to the computer through a port.
This includes speakers, cameras, printers, scanners, CDRW's and DVRW's or tape drives. Typically any peripheral requires a driver (software) to be installed and configured in order for it to operate properly. Device drivers are one of the most common causes of software problems on your computer.
see Peripherals and Drivers below.

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Preventative Maintenance - Stay Cool! Keep It Clean.

Environmental factors can significantly shorten your life and the life of your computer.

Heat - Unless a CPU can dissipate heat effectively it will eventually die. Ensure that you have the back of your tower clear of debris and dust. Do not run the computer next to your electric baseboard heater. Always listen for the sound of your fan starting up. If your fan goes the heat buildup will almost certainly seize up the hard drive or cause your chips to warp in their little sockets. Direct sunlight over a prolonged period can have the same effect.

Dust - Dead skin, tiny sand granules, dust mites, and smoke do not enhance the ability of electronic components to operate. They coat the entire circuit board causing heat buildup. Worse yet is the damage done to your fan intake and the power supply. Some estimates state that the life of a computer owned by a smoker is shortened by 40%. Have a technician clean out your computer with compressed air at least once a year. You may void your warranty if you remove the manufacturers seal yourself.

Magnetism - Yes, magnets, either the fridge kind or the sticky note holding kind, can permanently damage data stored on hard disks or floppies. Do not put a magnet on your computer or anywhere near your floppy disks.

Stray Electromagnetism - Electric can openers, cooling fans, electric razors, electric pencil sharpeners, cordless telephones, and nearby radio sources can all cause crosstalk or RFI interference to your computer. Remove all of these from the area around your workstation.

ESD - Scuffing across a shag rug in January can build up 50,000 volts of static electricity. Dry air can improve that performance. The next metal object you touch will ground you out. Avoid submitting your computer to electrostatic discharge.

Power Surges, Spikes and Noise - Clean, reliable power is not as easy to come by as you might think. Every time your lights either go out or brighten you are experiencing a fluctuating power supply. Your computer reacts very badly to such misuse and over time the circuits can be damaged to such an extent it will not work at all. A surge protector is a must for ever system. The bad news is, lightning will toast any surge protector if it travels down the line. Even if the surge bar light is on after an outage it may still be damaged and may not be doing its job. Use a surge protector which carries a guarantee and back up your files and programs weekly.

Coke and Coffee (but only with sugar in it). Your keyboard will never be quite the same after a bath with one of the above. The sugar acts as a resister and glues the keys to the pads quite effectively. Do not drink and drive - or if you do, keep away from the keyboard.

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Troubleshooting Tips - What happened? It just died.

Plug it in! Plug it in!
What software have I installed recently?
What are the exact error messages I get?
What environmental factors may be affecting my computer?

Sudden death - Do you have children? A cat, dog, ferret or do you wiggle your feet when you work? Well, who doesn't? and the most common problem with a suddenly dead computer is the simplest. Someone or something has caused the cables or connectors to loosen. Check all connections by removing the cable and reinserting it into its place. Make certain the power bar is on and plugged in to a live socket. Then try again to boot up the system. Check the connections is step one for all troubleshooting endeavors.

Sticky, skippy mouse - First check all connections, restart the computer and then open up the mouse and remove the gunk from between the wheels with alcohol and a cotton swab. If it still does not work ask yourself have you recently installed any peripherals which may be interfering with the mouse? If so, uninstall that software and reboot.

Modem quits working - Any lightning storms lately? Yes, it can travel down a phone line and fry a modem. Mostly though, they just get buggy and show random errors during use. Sometimes they connect sometimes they don't. Have a technician clean the connectors on an internal modem with a white eraser and reinstall your modem software. If that doesn't improve things be sure to check with your dial up internet service provider as they may have installed new software that is causing connection problems for some modems.

Monitor flicker or colour shifts - Check for environmental factors as discussed above. If you have a program which will degauss the monitor use it. Try a different resolution on your display options and note any and all error messages on your computer. And first of all check the connections and the power source for the monitor.

Peripherals and Drivers - Get the latest version! Try Driver Guide online.

The major cause of problems when using new peripherals comes from installing the wrong driver or an outdated version of the driver.

Think about it...The software shipped with your new printer or scanner may be as much as a year old by the time you buy it. So, look carefully at the version you have been given and download a newer one if it is available from the vendor's support site.

Adding and Removing Devices - Links From Microsoft

Index vendors If you are looking for a vendor, try the Guide to Computer Vendors. It has links to over 1000 hardware and software vendors.

Elsewhere on this site
Pertinent Federal (Canadian) & Provincial (BC) Regulations
Organic Dairy Farming in Canada
Farm Equipment
Marketing Your Product
Organic Prices (fruit and vegetables)
Small Scale Food Processing
Pest Management
Soil (Canada, USA) and Water (BC, Alberta) Testing Labs & Services

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