By Adam K Smith

We have all seen the futuristic and bulky earpieces sported by many cell phone users. Bluetooth is what enables these users to enjoy hands-free functionality, but how does it actually work? Bluetooth is a wirelessly technology that gives mobile devices the ability to interact over short distances via radio signals. The power of Bluetooth isn’t limited to cell phone usage. The technology also works with computers and a wide range of peripheral devices. Some of the most common types of Bluetooth-enabled hardware include PDAs, printers and GPS devices.

Integrating Bluetooth with Your Computing

The best thing about Bluetooth is that it allows you to integrate various devices implemented with the technology. However, if want to use a Bluetooth-enabled device, such as a PDA on your PC, your computer must be equipped to handle the Bluetooth signal. More of the newer computers offer built-in support for the technology with Bluetooth adapters. If the network adapter isn’t installed on your computer, you could integrate the Bluetooth devices with a dongle. A dongle is a small device that connects to the USB port and delivers the Bluetooth signal to your computer.

Installing the Appropriate Drivers

A special network adapter allows your computer to accept the Bluetooth reception. In order for your computer to recognize the hardware, you will need to install the appropriate device drivers. Whether you are using a network card or dongle, both devices should come included with an installation CD that contains the device drivers you need. Keep in mind that you will have to install the device drivers for each piece of Bluetooth hardware you want to use on your computer. Thus aside from the PDA, for example, you would also need the installation disc for your Bluetooth-enabled printer.

Troubleshooting Problematic Bluetooth Drivers

Just like all computer hardware, there may come a time when your Bluetooth devices endure problems or stop working entirely. This could happen for a number of reasons. Perhaps after installing a new Bluetooth device, the installation overwrites the drivers for an existing device.

Perhaps you uninstalled an application that removed critical files one of your other devices need. Other instances that could ruin your device drivers would be a system crash, an unexpected shutdown or failed hard drive. If you find that your Bluetooth devices are not working properly, the device drivers probably need to be updated.

While you can attempt to reinstall the device drivers from the installation CD, you may want to get the files directly from the manufacturer. This is especially true if the manufacturer has made improvements to enhance functionality.

There are two ways you can check for updates: visit the manufacturer’s website online or perform an automatic search through Windows. To search from the operating system, open the “Control Panel” and select “Device Manager.” Navigate the page, find your Bluetooth device, double-click it, and then lick the “Driver” tab. Next, click “Update Driver” and choose the option that performs an automatic search. If updates are found, simply follow the instructions and install the device drivers.

Tip: If you are using a Bluetooth printer, you must open the Control Panel and select “Printers.” From this window, right-click on your printer, select “Properties,” click the “Advanced” tab, select “New Driver” and follow the prompts for installing the appropriate driver.

Adam K Smith is an eminent author on Device Drivers for all types of Computers. Safely Update All Your Drivers and Fix Your Drivers Problem Instantly.

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How to Build an Antivirus Firewall
By Robert Bass

If you have ever had a serious malware or virus infection on your Windows computer, you know the problems it can cause. Compromised security, damage to your programs and files, unpredictable browser behavior, etc.

Probably one of your disappointments was that the antivirus or anti-malware software you were using did not protect your computer from the infection.

In this series of short articles we will show you how to build an antivirus firewall which is designed to protect your computer from trojan virus, malware, adware, and spyware infections. The level of protection for your computer will be far higher than anything you have used before. Once you complete all of the steps we show you in the articles, your computer will be fully immunized and protected from viruses and malware with a firewall that runs five levels deep. It will be almost impossible for a trojan, virus or malware infection to take hold on your computer.

It doesn’t take much time to build the firewall, and the nice thing is, it doesn’t have to be expensive. You don’t have to be a computer genius, either. The easy-to-use software we will tell you about will do it all for you.

Building the firewall consists of five steps:

1. Using an effective antivirus program. When we say “effective” we mean a program that has tested from 98% to 99% effective at finding and eliminating known virus threats. Objective testing for antivirus software is done by websites like AV Comparatives.

2. Combining the antivirus program with a good anti-malware program, like the ones that are recommended by Spyware Warrior Many of the anti-malware programs now come with an antivirus engine or database, which makes them extremely effective when combined with a primary antivirus program, and the best thing is, they are completely compatible. This means that when you combine the right programs you get virtually double the protection of a single software program.

3. Using an effective firewall, configured correctly. The Windows firewall is perfectly adequate, provided the settings are correct. (Don’t allow exceptions) A third-party firewall can also be used.

4. Building a bullet proof web browser. The one we recommend is Firefox, with ad-ons like AdBlock Plus, Web Of Trust (WOT), and perhaps a script blocker.

5. Last, but certainly not least, is the development of an effective hosts file in the Windows System 32 folder and the addition of a good restricted sites list and blocked activeX controls list to protect internet explorer. Once again, you won’t have to do much here, the software will do it all for you. The entire process is easy..

The place to begin is with the correct combination of antivirus and anti-malware software. It is important to combine the software carefully, as a bad combination can do more harm than good and possibly damage your system.

In our next article we will look at the next step: choosing your software carefully.
Author: Robert Bass
Robert Bass, Owner, Bass Computers, Oakland, Florida
http://antivirus-software.tech.officelive.com/default.aspx

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Anti Spyware Anti Virus Protection Software Review
By Donald Chambers

Would you like to download anti spyware anti virus protection software from the Internet? They are readily available for immediate download online and are the best tools for finding and getting rid of viruses and spyware on a computer today. With so many virus and spyware protection software available on the web, how do you know which one is the best for you to download?

1. What is Anti Spyware Anti Virus Protection Software, and How Are They Made?

These specialized programs are carefully developed by the best Internet threats detection and prevention companies in the world. These companies analyze the risks factors on the web every day and develop new software to deal with new threats constantly.

By downloading antispyware and antivirus protection programs, any PC user can get immediate protection against the latest threats on the Internet. A majority of Internet users are aware that they need such software today, although there are still quite a handful who do not understand or do not feel the need to download such programs.

2. Do You Really Need to Download Anti Spyware Anti Virus Protection Software?

Our web technology is growing better and faster every day, but unfortunately this is also creating more threats and risks on cyberspace. Viruses and other forms of malware like spyware are able to spread more quickly and can avoid detection easily. Every PC user should download antispyware antivirus software to protect themselves against this growing threat.

3. What Are Some Features of a Good Piece of Anti Spyware Anti Virus Protection Software?

The software that I use is able to detect and find every error in my system, scan my emails and incoming files and also conduct regular scheduled scans so I can forget about when was the last time I scanned my computer system.

Are you looking for Anti Spyware Anti Virus Protection software? Don’t do it yet, because the author has found many bad spyware and virus cleaning software on the web. Read the author’s review of the Top 5 Spyware & Virus Removal Software on the market now at http://www.review-best.com/spyware-virus-removal-software.htm first!

Learn to completely get rid of all the spyware and viruses on your computer in less than 5 minutes with a FREE PC Scan!

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Using Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP For Application Deployment
By Christopher Pace

Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP can all be used to produce software which runs on a web server, and thus eliminates the need for client software installations on a local computer. What this means is that the server contains both the database front end, the database back end, and the client front end all in one package. Upgrades to software based on Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) can be done with very little time involved at all, since all of the necessary software will only have to be installed one time, on one computer. In addition, LAMP software could very easily be made available to individuals who are outside of a main office. These workers would simply have to connect to a company’s VPN to run the intended software.

This tutorial will cover LAMP installation on a stand alone server, which will be able to run software designed for a LAMP environment. This tutorial will also cover basic MySQL syntax, so that a server administrator can troubleshoot issues within a particular application. This tutorial already assumes that a working installation of Linux is available, and that networking is already setup on the working installation of Linux. For the sake of this tutorial, all of the LAMP components will be installed from source code when needed, and from binary packages when appropriate. This tutorial should be applicable across all distributions of Linux. The first step is to successfully install Apache.

Apache Installation and Configuration

Apache can be downloaded from apache.org. In this example, Apache version 1.3.31 is used. First, create a directory on the root of your file system called src.

mkdir /src

Next, move the Apache software to the /src directory, and extract it.

mv apache_1.3.31.tar.gz /src
tar -xvzf apache_1.3.31.tar.gz

Once Apache is extracted to the /src/apache_1.3.31 directory (version numbering will probably differ), change to that directory, and configure the Apache HTTP server.

cd apache_1.3.31
./configure –prefix=/usr/local/apache –enable-module=so
make
make install

You will definitely need the Gnu C Compiler installed (GCC), and Gnu Make (make) in order to install Apache. This compilation of Apache will take quite some time, the configure options that were passed to Apache tell the configuration script to install Apache to the /usr/local/apache directory, and to enable module support within Apache. Module support will later be used to load PHP from. Once Apache is installed, the main configuration file should be copied to /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf. You can then test the web server by issuing a start command to the Apache control script, apachectl:

/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl start

You should now be able to view the default Apache page at the server’s ip address, or domain name if applicable. Since Apache is fully up and running, MySQL will be installed next.

MySQL Installation

MySQL can be either installed by source, or by binary packages. Since there is no need for customization to MySQL, MySQL can be safely installed from binary packages for this step. If you are using Red Hat Linux, the RPMS you will need to download include mysql-version, mysql-server-version, and mysql-client-version. You will also need to satisfy any dependencies requested by these packages. If you run Debian, you simply will need to enter one command:

apt-get install mysql-server

Apt-get will then fetch the required dependencies, and install them. Once MySQL is installed, you should first create a password, and a test database. This can be accomplished by:

mysql -u root -p
mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR root@localhost=PASSWORD(’desired password’);
mysql> create database mydb;
mysql> quit

Once you have created a test database, and assigned a password to the root user, you are ready to install and configure PHP to use MySQL.

PHP Installation and Configuration

PHP will need to be installed from source code, which may be downloaded from www.php.net. The latest version as of this writing is 4.3.7. Move and extract PHP to the same directory used before, /src:

mv php-4.3.7.tar.gz /src
cd /src
tar -xvzf php-4.3.7.tar.gz
cd php-4.3.7
./configure –with-mysql –with-apxs=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs
make
make install

Once PHP is installed, the configuration file for PHP will need to be copied to the /usr/local/lib directory, and PHP will need to be enabled within Apache. You can safely substitute the vi command below with whatever your favorite text editor is.

cp php.ini-dist /usr/local/lib/php.ini
vi /usr/local/apache/conf/httpd.conf

Create the following lines, in the respective sections of httpd.conf (the proper locations will be under the [main] configuration, and generally don’t matter where they are located, but for simplicity, you should place them in the sections which are populated by similar directives).

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php
AddType application/x-httpd-php-source .phps
LoadModule php4_module libexec/libphp4.so

You will also want to modify the DirectoryIndex value to:

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

Which will allow Apache to fetch the default index.php file when a directory is called which contains a file called index.php. Apache will now need to be restarted, via the apachectl script.

/usr/local/apache/bin/apachectl restart

Next, create a file under the default document directory (default is /usr/local/apache/htdocs) called index.php, and insert the following text into it.

Next, view the root directory of your web server, and if everything is working as it should, you should see the text PHP4 Test. Finally, you can copy and setup your favorite LAMP software on the server! In the next section I will cover basic MySQL syntax, and how to backup/restore the database.

MySQL Maintenance

MySQL is a very powerful database server, as well as very fast. The basic syntax for SQL is relevant here, so if you already know basic SQL syntax, you may skip this section. The most important commands to run via MySQL is to backup and restore the database.

mysqldump -u root -p mydb > mydb.sql

To restore the MySQL database, you simply redirect the backup file to the database input.

mysql -u root -p mydb

Basic MySQL syntax is basically standard SQL syntax, there are no real differences between standard SQL syntax, and MySQL syntax. Thus, the following command within MySQL will create a blank table:

CREATE TABLE test (a char(30), b char(30));

This table now has two rows, a and b. In addition, these two rows now have a limitation of 30 characters per value. To delete this table, we will now:

DROP TABLE test;

Or, to insert data into this table, we will use the following command:

INSERT INTO TABLE test VALUES (test,test2);

Which will populate the table test with values of row one being test for a, and test2 for b.

Christopher J. Pace
Freelance Linux Consultant

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Reduced Prices For Laptops - Your Very Own Notebook Computer is Waiting
By Jeremy Lakota

Now that reduced prices for laptop computers are becoming increasingly common, upgrading your desktop computer to a portable notebook computer is fully within reach. Just a couple years ago, the idea of getting a laptop computer for the reduced price of around five hundred dollars was just absurd. Today, though, prices well below one thousand dollars are extremely common for great laptop computers. Curling up on the couch with your next computer is now more than just a fantasy!

Sure, you can always spend multiple thousands of dollars on any computer, whether a laptop or desktop, and get the very latest technology, the biggest hard drive, and the absolute-widest screen, but many times you just don’t need all of those fancy options. The middle-of-the-road options are usually more than sufficient for today’s computer user. Reduced price laptops and notebooks all make it affordable to do common-computer tasks portably. Things like surfing the internet, writing, sending emails, playing games. Even watching movies.

The reduced prices of today’s laptops were simply unheard of only until recently. Even if you last went into a computer store just six months ago, the recent drop in prices have made just about every system even more affordable. These days it can be hard to find a system that costs more than one thousand dollars. It is truly amazing how much the average price of a laptop computer has dropped. Reduced prices for notebook computers are now standard.

How much you can really save when buying a laptop computer depends on where you buy it. To get the most reduced price for a notebook computer, buying online through a major internet retailer is the best way to get the lowest price and also the largest selection. Because internet-only retailers like Amazon don’t have to pay for the business overhead of having a brick-and-mortar location, they can pass on those savings to their customers through price. That is one of the reasons that shopping through the internet has become so popular over the last decade. Naturally, it is extremely convenient, too. Are you ready to get a great laptop computer? Put your feet up, and click here to start looking for the perfect Reduced Price Laptop.

http://www.ifoyer.com — Portal to the Popular Internet. Always free. No pop ups, or internet annoyances. Get there online in style from the top level of the web!

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