ASUS today announced the launch of the ASUS Cine5 PC speaker which provides accurate 5-channel surround sound in personalized spaces such as study rooms. With its all-in-one design, the Cine5 delivers realistic and dynamic surround sound to satisfy consummate gamers and personal entertainment users. To deliver exceptionally full sound from a compact form factor, ASUS drew on its expertise in high-performance audio cards during the development.

The Cine5 is the first PC speaker in the world to offer leading surround sound presence with the new “EmbracingSound Theatre HD” technology. This patented technology leverages on a discrete 5-channel output to deliver full audio surround, which users can experience whenever they are directly in front of the speaker. In a First Player Shooter game, the Cine5 provides precise sound location that improves shooting accuracy and heightens gaming thrills. The Cine5 also revives 5-channel audio from any down-mixed 2-channel source—for a high-fidelity, multi-channel sound during PC gaming or movie sessions.

When data is lost on a hard drive, it can result in two scenarios: 1) the operating system is fine, hard disk is still accessible, but files are missing 2) the computer doesn’t boot up and weird noises are heard from the hard disk. Now let us see step by step procedure to tackle both the scenarios.

To tackle scenario 1:

a) Don’t write anything to the hard disk after the data loss. This is because whenever you delete the files from the hard drive, the OS does not delete the information permanently. It shows you that there are more free spaces but they are still occupied by the deleted information. You will not be able to see it, but data recovery software will.

b) If you have taken the backups of all the important information, check the backups and restore them to retrieve the lost information. If you have not taken the backup, follow the data recovery steps as mentioned in the steps below. It is always good to take back-up of important information on a regular basis.

c) Never install the data recovery software in the drive where the data loss has occurred. The reason is that if you install on the same drive, you might overwrite the lost data.

d) In order to be safe, always switch off the computer after the data loss. All the operations of the OS depend on the reads and writes with the hard drive and this may result in overwriting the lost data.

e) Remove the hard disk from the computer and connect a new hard drive. After you have installed an OS in the new hard drive you can connect the old hard disk to the computer as a secondary drive and access it without writing anything to it. If you prefer not to install an OS then you run a Linux live CD instead. You can also do this by putting your hard disk into a USB hard drive enclosure. Then connect it to the computer via USB to access the files.

f) If the data loss has happened due to a virus attack, make sure you have installed an anti-virus software on the second computer where you will be performing the data recovery.

g) There are several free data recovery softwares available on the internet, select the appropriate one and recover your data.

To tackle scenario 2:

Whenever there is hard disk failure, it is impossible to access the hard drive. One of the most common reasons is head crashes. The head is responsible for reading the disk’s magnetic surface. But a hardware failure means it grinds against the metal surface and makes the reads impossible. If you have a hard drive failure follow the steps below:

a) Switch off the computer and don’t try to start it again as this can result in further damage to the hard drive

b) Keep the hard disk secure, for instance if the hard drive failed due to the external problem like flood, preserve it in water and don’t try to dry it by your own.

c) Whenever the physical error occurs, we cannot fix it. So contact a good data recovery company and identify which components need to be replaced.

d) Most of the data recovery companies will not charge anything if they are not able to recover the data. They may give and estimation time for analyzing the hard drive. Use a wrapping material while handing over the hard drive. Also use foam to prevent the sudden movements and to secure the hard disk inside. Hopefully they will be able to fix the physical errors and recover your data.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards today is pleased to launch the latest addition to its selection of value graphics cards. The GIGABYTE GV-R545SC-1GI and GV-R545OC-512I are built on the highly anticipated ATI RadeonTM HD 5450 GPU ­­­­­­­─ respectively utilizing DDR3 memory architecture and are able to deliver best-in-class performance with new clock speeds and provide break-through power efficiency management for tomorrow’s demanding applications. The GIGABYTE GV-R545SC-1GI and GV-R545OC-512I are designed to give user stunning high definition entertainment from the PC, whether Blu-ray/ HD DVD discs or other HD sources. Get an amazing entertainment experience with DirectX 11 and Windows 7.

Using a router is a common way to connect to the internet. It is favoured by most ISP’s who supply a free router with most broadband internet packages. Most routers have built-in hardware firewall which operates separately from Windows firewall.

Many people use RealVNC, UltraVNC, TightVNC to access their PC remotely. However most find it difficult to setup correctly and are unable to connect to their PC. This article will show you exactly what to do. The router i am using is Netgear DG834G however most Netgear router’s have similar control panel so the steps below should be similar on Netgear DG834GT, DG834N and other Netgear models. If you are using a different brand router then the port forwarding steps will be different, but the port setting 5900 will be the same.

Step 1. Download and install any version of VNC.

Step 2. Logon to your Netgear Router control panel. The defult control panel ip address for Netgear router is 192.168.0.1. So type this ip address on your browser’s address bar as shown:

http://192.168.0.1

The router will request the user id and password.

The default user id is: admin

The default password is: password

Now you will have access to the control panel. On the left side of the control panel you will have all the options listed.

Step 3. Click on Services and choose Add custom services. Fill in the box exactly as shown below.

Step 4: Click Apply. This will create a service called VNC with the port 5900 as shown:

Step 5: Click on Firewall Rules and click Add under the Inbound Services. Choose all the options shown on the image below. Please note that the Send to Lan Server ip address will be different on your computer. You need to choose a fixed ip address for your computer as its most likely set to dynamic ip address which changes all the time. If you don’t know how to do this on your operating system then read the following articles:

How to install and configure a network card in Windows 7 and Windows Vista

How to install and configure a network card inWindows XP

Once you fixed your ip address please type it in the box and click Apply.

Step 6: Your firewall rules will now be applied and you will get a page similar to below:

Finally click on Apply at the bottom of the page and the firewall rules will take effect.

You should now be able to connect to your PC using VNC. If you are still having trouble connecting then it could be because of Windows firewall. In this case you need the to add the VNC exeptions to Windows firewall as well. To do so read the following guide:

Add VNC to Windows XP Firewall Exceptions.

Are you having trouble connecting to your Windows XP computer remotely via VNC? The common mistake most people make or fail to realise is that you must add the correct VNC port to Windows XP firewall exceptions. As Windows XP comes with a built-in “Internet Connection Firewall” any ports or applications that are not added to the firewall exceptions will be blocked.

To create an exception for VNC follow these instructions :

1. Click Start -> Control Panel -> Windows Firewall.
2. Click the exceptions tab
3. Click Add port. Name the port VNC, Choose Port number 5900, make sure you select TCP and click OK.
4. The VNC rule you created will now be listed under the firewall exceptions window with a tick to indicate that it is selected. Now click on OK to complete.

You should now be able to connect to your PC using VNC. If you are still having trouble connecting then it could be because you are using a router that has built in hardware firewall. In this case you need the to add the exceptions to the router as well. To do so read the following guide:

Port forwarding for VNC on Netgear DG834G/GT/N Router

If you want to add your computer to a network or a network device like a router then you need to install or configure your network card. Every new computer and motherboard you buy nowadays has a built in network port known as RJ45 socket. If you have an older computer or a motherboard that does not have a built in RJ45 socket then your only option is to add a PCI or USB network card if you wish to connect to a network. For this guide i will assume that you do not have a network card installed. If you already have a network card then you can skip step 1 to 3.

Step 1: Install a network card. This could be PCI card or USB network card adaptor.

If you are installing a PCI card you need to open your computer case and push the PCI network card into an empty PCI slot. It is quite simple and straight forward. If you are using a USB network adaptor you simply need to plug it into an empty USB port.

PCI Network card :	USB Network Adaptor:

Step 2: Install the device driver for the network card. Windows will detect that you have installed a new hardware. In most cases it will install the drivers automatically. If not, you need to install the drivers manually from the CD  supplied with the network card. I am using Windows 7 operating system to demonstrate each step. If you are using Windows Vista the steps will be very similar. If you are using Windows XP it will be slightly different so follow this guide instead.

Step 3: After the drivers have been installed successfully you can see a network card listed under windows device manager. To go to the device manager click Start -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> Device Manager.

You will see a network card listed under the device manager similar to the image below:

Step 4: Go to network sharing center by clicking Start -> Control panel -> Network and Internet -> Network and Sharing Center. As you can see from the image below the computer name tiger is connected to a network and has access to the Internet. This indicates that our network card is installed correctly and managed to get connection to our network. In this case it is connected to a ADSL router.

Step 5: Check your local area connections by clicking  on change adaptor settings link on the left side of Network and Sharing center. You will get an icon similar to below:

Step 6: Double click on Local Area Connection icon which will display your LAN status. It shows the network connection duration, the speed of the connection, number of bytes sent  and received etc.

Step 7: Click Details to see the  Network connection details. You will see some very import connection details. Inside the red highlighted area you will see DHCP Enable is set to Yes and your IP Address listed. DHCP means (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). Basically its a feature built into most Routers or server operating systems which automatically assigns an IP address to the client computer. In our case the Router is the DHCP server and our computer is the client. Please note the dynamic IP address assigned by a DHCP server is random and can change next time you reboot your computer or the router.

Step 8: Close the Network connection details. Click Properties -> (on Network area connections status) -> Internet protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4) -> Properties. As you can see everything is set to automatic. This means the DHCP server assigns everything automatically as mentioned above.

Step 9: If you have many computers on a network i.e. your Desktop PC, Your Laptop, and your PS3 console its a good idea to fix the IP Address for each device. This is called static IP address. By fixing the IP address you can easily identify each computer on the network. This is what i will do below. I will choose my IP address as 192.168.0.100. The subnet mask will be automatically set to 255.255.255.0.  Default gateway is 192.168.0.1. The gateway IP address is normally the IP address of your router. Preferred DNS server is also the IP Address of your router, although you can use other DNS server like Open DNS IP address.

Step 10: You can now check if the static settings have taken effect by clicking on Details on Local Area connection status as you have done on Step 6. Finally you will see all the settings that you have made in the previous step has taken effect. You will notice that the DHCP enable is set to No, as we have set each value manually.

That’s it, you have managed to install and configure your network device successfully. You have also learned how to use dynamic and static IP Address to connect to a network.

If you want to add your computer to a network or a network device like a router then you need to install or configure your network card. Every new computer and motherboard you buy nowadays has a built in network port known as RJ45 socket. If you have an older computer or a motherboard that does not have a built in RJ45 socket then your only option is to add a PCI or USB network card if you wish to connect to a network. For this guide i will assume that you do not have a network card installed. If you already have a network card then you can skip step 1 to 3.

Step 1: Install a network card. This could be PCI card or USB network card adaptor.

If you are installing a PCI card you need to open your computer case and push the PCI network card into an empty PCI slot. It is quite simple and straight forward. If you are using a USB network adaptor you simply need to plug it into an empty USB port.

PCI Network card :	USB Network Adaptor:

Step 2: Install the device driver for the network card. Windows will detect that you have installed a new hardware. In most cases it will install the drivers automatically. If not, you need to install the drivers manually from the CD supplied with the network card. I am using Windows XP operating system to demonstrate each step. If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7 then you need to follow this guide.

Step 3: After the drivers have been installed successfully you can see a network card listed under windows device manager. To go to the device manager click Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Hardware tab -> Device Manager.

You will see a network card listed under the device manager similar to the image below:

Step 4: Go to network connections by clicking Start -> My network places -> View network connections. You will get an icon similar to below:

Step 5: Double click on Local Area Connection icon which will display your LAN status. It shows the network connection duration, the speed of the connection, number of bytes sent and received etc.

Step 6: Click on the Support tab to see the Local Area connection status. You will see some very important connection details. You will see the Address type is assigned by DHCP followed by the IP address of the computer.  DHCP means (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). Basically its a feature built into most Routers or server operating systems which automatically assigns an IP address to the client computer. In our case the Router is the DHCP server and our computer is the client. Please note the dynamic IP address assigned by a DHCP server is random and can change next time you reboot your computer or the router.

Step 7: Click on the general tab -> Properties -> Internet protocol (TCP/IP) -> Properties.  As you can see the IP address and DNS server address is set to obtain IP address automatically. This means the DHCP server assigns everything automatically as mentioned above.

Step 8: If you have many computers on a network i.e. your Desktop PC, Your Laptop, and your PS3 console its a good idea to fix the IP Address for each device. This is called static IP address. By fixing the IP address you can easily identify each computer on the network. This is what i will do below. I will choose my IP address as 192.168.2.100. The subnet mask will be automatically set to 255.255.255.0. Default gateway is 192.168.2.1. The gateway IP address is normally the IP address of your router. Preferred DNS server is also the IP Address of your router, although you can use other DNS servers like Open DNS IP address.

Step 9: You can now check if the static settings have taken effect by clicking on Support tab on Local Area connection status as you have done on Step 5. Finally you will see all the setting that you have made in the previous step has taken effect. You will notice that the Address type is now set to Manually configured.

That’s it, you have managed to install and configure your network device successfully. You have also learned how to use dynamic and static IP address to connect to a network.

[Taipei-Taiwan] World renowned manufacturer of graphic card and mainboard, MSI releases R5670-PMD1G graphics card today to fulfill mainstream players’ thirst for performance. With ATi RadeonTM HD 5670 standard technical specifications, including DirectX 11 and ATi Eyefinity technology, MSI R5670-PMD1G adopts unique designs, like GPU voltage adjustment, next-generation DisplayPort output and military class components. Hence, MSI R5670-PMD1G can fine-tune its performance and have better extensibility so that it is mainstream players’ best choice for high C/P value.

INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, Las Vegas, Jan. 7, 2010 – Intel Corporation introduced its all new 2010 Intel® Core™ family of processors today, delivering unprecedented integration and smart performance, including Intel® Turbo Boost Technology¹ for laptops, desktops and embedded devices.

The introduction of new Intel® Core™ i7, i5 and i3 chips coincides with the arrival of Intel’s groundbreaking new 32 nanometer (nm) manufacturing process – which for the first time in the company’s history – will be used to immediately produce and deliver processors and features at a variety of price points, and integrate high-definition graphics inside the processor. This unprecedented ramp and innovation reflects Intel’s $7 billion investment announced early last year in the midst of a major global economic recession.

The ASUS P6X58D Premium is the First Officially Recognized USB 3.0-enabled Motherboard

Taipei, Taiwan, January 11, 2009 – The ASUS P6X58D Premium motherboard is the first motherboard officially certified by the USB Implementation Forum (USB-IF) to support USB 3.0 technology. Based on its superior design and performance, the P6X58D Premium was officially recognized for achieving USB 3.0 or SuperSpeed USB compliance on January 5, 2010. This makes it the first in the industry to receive USB 3.0 certification. With its upgraded data transfer technology, the P6X58D Premium delivers up to 10 times faster data transfers compared to USB 2.0-based motherboards. USB 3.0 is expected to improve the transfer of rich media content and large files from the latest, technologically advanced digital devices. The P6X58D Premium is built on the Intel® X58 chipset and the Intel® LGA 1366 socket. It also supports the upcoming 32nm 6-Core CPU.

Supporting Uncompromising USB 3.0 Performance on a Full Range of Motherboards

ASUS has introduced USB 3.0 technology to its line of motherboards equipped with the Intel® LGA 1366, Intel® LGA 1156, and AMD AM3 sockets. A Unique PCIe X4 Bridge Chip available in some motherboards such as the ASUS P7P55D Series and the U3S6 PCIe expansion card unleashes USB 3.0 performance and supports new SATA 6Gb/s data throughput. This specially-designed onboard IC eliminates transmission bottlenecks, delivering up to 50%* better performance and thus making it possible to transfer a 20GB HD movie or a 4MB song in less than 70 seconds or 0.01 seconds respectively.