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Why it's a good idea to own a USB-to-SATA adapter The USB-to-IDE/SATA adapter the most indispensable tool in my PC repair kit. Just this weekend, it once again proved itself worthy of that title. In a nutshell, the adapter allows you to connect an internal hard drive to your PC-externally. What would an internal drive be doing outside your desktop or laptop? Funny you should ask. About a week ago, my media-center PC starting displaying this message during boot-up: "Hard drive failure imminent." And you know what? It was. In short order, the machine wouldn't boot at all. Long story short, I had to replace the drive, reinstall Windows, etc. But I wondered if I could salvage any/all of my recorded TV shows. To find out, I connected the old, non-booting drive (now "naked" outside the system) to a USB port via my adapter. Huzzah! The machine was able to read the drive and copy over the recordings. Except for the hassles (and expense) of actually replacing the drive, no harm done. There's another reason to keep one of these adapters on hand, and that's if you're planning to upgrade to a solid-state drive (SSD). Unless you buy a kit that comes with an adapter, you'll need one so you can image (i.e. clone) your existing drive to the new SSD. Then you'll remove the old drive, install the new one, and presto, you're back in business. (Much faster business: SSDs rock.) Unless you have a pretty old desktop or laptop, you can skip buying a USB-to-IDE/SATA adapter and just go for USB-to-SATA. At the same time, I recommend one that supports USB 3.0. You may not need it now, but it's a good bet your next PC will have USB 3.0 ports -- and that'll make for much faster copying between drives. Trust me: When the time comes that you need to upgrade or replace a hard drive, you'll be glad to have a USB-to-SATA adapter on hand. By-The Xpert Crew @ http://techvedic.com

Good news to all Android and PC users. You can now run your favourite Android OS apps on your Windows PC. BlueStacks is a software for Windows that allows you run apps developed for Android OS on your Windows computer with instant switch between Android and Windows, without rebooting the PC.

Learn common PC hardware terms If you haven't shopped for a computer for a while, the following list of terms used for common PC features and functionality can help you make sure you get everything you need in your new PC.

"Building a PC sounds daunting, but it's actually pretty straightforward. Still, a few key details can trip up even seasoned geeks who are not being mindful. This handy-dandy guide can help you avoid the most common PC building mistakes-and their associated frustrations. "

Scanning your system is a necessary task. But, there are other tasks which are necessary while scanning your PC. This Techvedic tutorial outlines the privacy policy related with scan, what to do if Windows running on your PC can't complete the scan as well as additional information to keep up PC health.

If you've ever built your own PC, you know it can be a rewarding and cost-saving experience. But unless you're really fluent in pin counts and socket shapes, remembering which pieces go where requires a lot of Googling. Reddit user Proteon shared a fantastic image that itemizes all the ports, connectors, sockets, cards, slots and cables you'll need to identify when piecing your baby together. The valuable resource quickly reached the front page of /r/pics, and Redditor zeug666 pointed out in the comments that the poster was created by deviantART user Sonic840. There's a larger and more up-to-date version on his profile which we present to you here.

Are you still using the same plastic keyboard that came with your PC? Then it's time to go for a change. Just go through this tutorial and choose an apt keyboard for your PC.

Make your PC more productive by updating your USB ports with an external dock or you can go or speedier storage. This tutorial is going to help you for enhancing the performance of your PC.

It is important to safeguard your PC against malicious software. You need to resist dodgy downloads, suspicious pop-up and ads.

"PCjs is an IBM PC simulator written entirely in JavaScript. The configuration below specifies a clock speed of 4.77Mhz, with 64Kb of RAM and a monochrome display, using the original IBM PC Model 5150 ROM BIOS and MDA font ROM. For greater control, there's a configuration with a Control Panel and the PCjs Debugger."

A PC Pro reader was left startled after a customer support company rang his grandfather to tell him there was a virus on his PC, and then tried to charge him £185 to remove it.

Here's one of those sad facts of life that you just can't avoid: Like cars, clothing, and people, batteries wear out. You can't stop this process, but with proper care you can slow it down. What wears down a battery? Charging and discharging. Obviously, you can't avoid either of those acts entirely (although if you could, you wouldn't have to worry about wearing out your battery). The trick, of course, is to do as little charging and discharging as possible. And one way to avoid charging and discharging is to remove the battery when you don't need it. Ideally, you would remove the battery (with the laptop shut down, of course) before plugging in the AC adapter and working at your desk. Then, before you take your PC on the road, you would shut it down, insert the battery, and let it charge for a few hours. In reality, that's not always practical. Shutting down and rebooting your PC every time you go from portable to deskbound quickly becomes a nuisance. Worse, you have to remember to recharge before leaving home. A more practical solution would be to shut down the laptop and remove the battery when you expect it will stay plugged in for a week or more. And don't intentionally discharge the battery before removing it. After all, the whole point is to charge and recharge as little as possible. Some of the charge will be lost while the battery sits unused, so it's still a good idea to recharge it before taking it on the road--even though that requires some planning ahead of time. By-The Xpert Crew @ http://techvedic.com https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=140300136155835&set=o.172245722918618&type=1&theater

As a Windows user, you love to install new software or games? Well, everyone does. But, have you suffered from the problems like PC slow down or random error messages while installing such stuff. These error messages are sometimes due to a missing or corrupt system. Also, incorrect Registry value can be another reason. Here we are to resolve the issue. With the help of this tutorial, you can become aware about the built-in feature of Windows 8 which can help you to reinstall or repair Windows quickly.

The CuBox Pro: for $160, a tiny, open PC with 2GB of RAM http://t.co/rkKW3EYS via @zite

"Almost all of us that have used Windows PCs have experienced the Blue Screen of Death, that error-message filled screen that halts the PC and is so unhelpful. Well, here's an amazing infographic we've put together that explains all about these wondrous error screens, from facts about Windows BSoDs, to famous BSoDs in history, to what the error messages mean."

Turn Your Windows PC Into An AirPlay Receiver To Stream Songs From iPhone, iPad And iPod touch

PC that can be used as tablet-

Think 100 times before taking help from local PC repair shop, if you once had sensitive files

Speed up Windows XP is one of the most googled phrase on the Web. Obviously, computers are meant for speeding up work, hence, there is no chance to stay with a slow PC.

The release of Windows 8.1 is going to overpower Windows 8 very soon. The fundamental problem faced by every user with Windows 8 is that the modern interface of the Start screen works best on a Tablet instead on a PC. Also, there are other problems related to screen is available with Windows 8. Thus, the entry of Windows 8.1 overcomes the problems of Windows 8. Here in this tutorial, let's discuss about Windows 8.1.