How to Prevent a Laptop From Overheating

Every laptop begins to overheat at one time or another if it's maintenance is not done regularly. Have you ever tried to put your hands next to laptop's fan vents?
Tried to feel the temperature on the flip side of laptop? If its hot like surface of the sun than probably your laptop is overheating. Overheating usually occurs when you don't do regular laptop maintenance. Overheating of laptop is not good, it can cause internal hardware failure and permanent damage. A sure sign that your laptop or notebook gets very hot is when it's cooling fan is always running at it's maximum speed. Because of this, your laptop's performance gets reduced as the CPU cuts back the clock rate to evade heat pressure and sometimes gets shut down without any notifications. To avoid overheating of laptop and thereby to improve it's performance follow below mentioned easy suggestions.

Avoid Doing Too Many Multiple Tasks at One Instant

Laptop's cooling fan speed increases depending on the temperature of CPU which is directly linked to the number of task it performs at one time. Less number of tasks = Less CPU usage = Low CPU temperature = Low fan speed = High performance, less heating, no random shutdowns.

Try If Any Software Helps

If you can't explore the system settings, you can download any free software tools like RightMark CPU Clock Utility through which you can control and reduce the brightness of laptop's screen or reduce the CPU clock speed. In most OS, undervolting or underclocking is done in the BIOS (Basic Input/Output system).

Unplug The system When Battery gets Fully Charged

Don't be lazy and unplug the system whenever battery is fully charged, leaving the system plugged to an electric supply for long time even after the battery has charged up fully will result into heating up your system unnecessarily. Doing this will not only avoid unnecessary heating of system but will also increase battery's life. Plug-in again when battery power becomes low. If you wish to keep it plugged all the time while your laptop is ON, you could remove the battery and plug-in back to electric supply. Now your laptop is solely working on power supply like computer, this will protect and increase battery life.

Clear Cooling Fan's Area

Make sure that there is no blockage or obstacle near the cooling fan's vent. If you find any blockage, immediately remove it. Cooling fan does the job of cooling CPU, internal components inside by sucking fresh air and blowing hot air out, if fan's enclosing area is blocked then hot air would be reflected and get trapped inside which will heat up the system and may also cause damage to hard disk, internal components.

Clean Cooling Fan From Inside

If you haven't cleaned or done the maintenance of laptop for a long time, there is a possibility of vents being accumulated by layers of dust and debris. Due to dust, less amount of air leaves/enters inside thus consuming more time and power to cool down components. Unscrew the case by reading laptop's manual or visiting their site to find out how to access,clean parts. Before you begin, shut down your laptop, unplug the electric supply, remove battery, ground yourself. To clean fan make use of a cotton swab dipped in a drop of cleaning spirit, compressed air, vacuum cleaner, brushes, wet cloth and to prevent damage to the fan, do not let fan revolve in wrong direction.

Avoid Using Laptop on Bed

Using laptop on bed or blanket or pillows will block air vents underneath thereby heat gets build up inside slowly slowly. It will also cause the cooling fan's to suck the dust and debris which lies in the bed. To avoid this, you can use laptop by tilting it or placing small piece cloth/paper rolled underneath thus providing breathing space. You can also use laptop-holder.

Shut Down Before Bagging Laptop

Closing down directly or putting laptop on stand-by mode will still allow processor to work actively and produce heat. If you bag your laptop in such mode, it'll result into overheating of your laptop as well as bag, as there will be no circulation of fresh air inside bag. Always shut down your laptop before bagging.

Avoid Placing Laptop in Hot Weather Conditions And Direct Sunlight

Even though your laptop doesn't overheats repeatedly and regularly, hot weather surroundings will contribute heat and will cause problems from overheating your laptop to damaging hard disk, battery and much more. Always keep laptop in cooler environment like in the shade.

Make Use of Laptop Cooler or Separate Cooling Fan

Separate cooling fan and laptop coolers is to be used when your laptop needs additional cooling. It is important to choose the right cooler, for which you'll have to understand the flow of air from your laptop. If your laptop suck-in air from bottom, choose a cooler which blows air into the laptop. A cooler which sucks air away will not add to laptop cooling and relatively cause a more rapid overheating.

Place your Laptop on Flat-Hard Surface or Lap Desk

Make use of lap desk or flat-hard surface when placing your

laptop on uneven surface like thighs, bed or blanket or pillows. When placed on uneven surfaces, cooling reduces, heat builds up, temperature of bottom surface increases thereby transferring heat to your legs. Using lap desk or something as simple as tray as laptop-holder will create enough breathing space to prevent laptop from overheating.

If you have any more suggestions to provide, please feel free.

13 Best Android Tips to Improve Device Performance

Read: How to Play Same Music File on Multiple Android iOS Devices at Once

The Performance and touch response of android smartphone will slow down as time passes with its usage. It's the OS which is causing lag in every task, which is supposed to be lighter and quicker but as you stuff gizmo with bunch of irrelevant and unnecessary documents, media collections, and apps offering not ample roam for OS to breathe resulting device suffocation. Its akin squeezing an individual with tons of work despite of not capable to handle at once.

 Why device slows down?

1. Stuffed with tons of apps
2. Device and external storage becomes (nearly) jam-packed
3. Numerous background processes (apps)
4. Unnecessary illogical changes made in device settings.
5. Heavy theme on home screen.
6. Installing unnecessary heavy widgets.

Below are few tips shared which are verified to increase performance considerably:
Read: 11 Key Features any New Smartphone Must Have
Read: How to Turn Android Phone Camera into Webcam for Laptop via IP Webcam

1. Listen to phone

Every android phone has some limitations which you need to observe, understand and accept. For instance, assuming 1GB game will work uninterruptedly on tablets or smartphones having 1.5GB or beyond RAM. Device bogs down when fraught with lot of hefty, resource-starving apps and packed storage thereby degrading your performance. Figure out the root cause and remove it from device.

2. High speed flash drive

Transfer and saving speed of data in internal/external memory card should be as fastest as possible. For instance, capturing and saving instant images from camera or transmitting media archives, docs from PC or notebook and such read/write activities are done extremely fast by class 10, pro, ultra, evo series flash drives in ascending order compared to lower class drives. Needless to say: high speed equals better performance.

3. Upgrade apps

App developers update their software frequently after receiving feedback from users. Makers fix bugs, enhance features, compatibility and include new options in their newer version to enrich users experience. You don't have to repeatedly check for updates merely enable auto-update option app will automatically install updates whenever available.

4. Prevent live wallpapers

Live wall papers might be fascinating you but how often. In the end gadget suffers from rapid battery drain, unnecessary RAM usage, and slower performance. Use them when not many apps are installed, no lag experienced.

5. Upgrade to the latest OS

Updating to the newest firmware is paramount than other tweaks. Every OS or app ought to be maintained up-to-date if you want consistent impressive performance, and inter-connectivity with upcoming features, apps and devices. Nowadays most applications are compatible with android 4.0 or above OS gizmos.

Read: How to Browse Internet Safely on Mobile or Tablet to Protect your privacy

Read: How to Save Wet Mobile Phone or Tablet 

6. Uninstall needless apps

In android smartphone or tablet any app once installed occupies some storage and runs in background always consuming needless RAM. Any benefits in keeping apps which are barely utilized? Remove unneeded softwares but preserve its apk file within device (for future requirement) which will free-up some space and decrease the burden on processor. To improve performance reduce number of apps running in background either by uninstalling or disabling them. Install lightweight software which need less storage space and RAM compared to other available apps. Install apps, transfer media files in external drive and keep internal storage free as possible.

7. Disable useless apps

Disabling (through settings>application manager) is entirely different from uninstalling applications. Disabling is like maintaining app inactive in background which can be enabled later instantly. This will lessen the burden on processor thereby enhancing performance, touch response. It doesn't vacate storage as file stays installed within device but restricted from entering into it, to use enable again.

8. Reduce animation scale 

Animation scale is the density of animation effect while you switch from one task to another and by default is set to 1. To visualize the transformation jump to settings>> developer options>>Transition animation scale and choose any superior scale say 10x. Now switch between home screen, other options, tabs, apps to visualize the fade in-out effect. The slow motion might fascinate you but it consumes lot of time to reach destination, reduce to 0.5x or turn off. This will save time, battery, improve performance, quick touch response. Do the same with window animation scale which is above transition scale.

9. Have fewer widgets

Widgets are constantly working in background you cannot disable them like apps. Folks use widgets to get weather conditions, swiftly accessing WiFi, GPS, and app shortcuts, fancy home screen. Instead of stuffing device with decorative widgets install which are indeed helpful. Widgets are prime reason for sluggish touch response to avoid as much as you can.

Read: How to Prevent your Mobile Phone from Freezing and Hanging

Read: 5 Future Tablets with Special Unique Features

10. Turn off synchronizing feature

Sync feature is the best one for linking your online accounts with smartphone or tablet (contacts). But linking all accounts is not desirable. Sync accounts based on urgencies, for instance (office) mails, bank (app) notifications, LinkedIn and other accounts whose instant updates are imperative to you, productivity related. Whereas sync Facebook, Twitter, Viber accounts which if accessed anytime manually won't affect your day's efficiency. Why to unnecessarily sync such accounts which reduces smartphone performance, work rate because after every certain interval it will check for updates in account draining power rapidly too. The more account you sync, that many processes run in background affecting current ongoing operation.

11. Use RAM booster

Kill background processes manually or through external app like Clean Master or task killer when you're about to run a heavy app, multitasking. Preset settings to repeatedly kill needless processes, apps in background based on priorities. Clean ad junk, cache data with cache cleaner app.

12. Reset settings

Apart from above tweaks try factory rest because you might have altered couple of settings as per convenience with time. Also, after prolong use stuffs get messy inside device thus factory reset will bring it to clean state and default settings. Afore performing this function it is recommended to backup all vital data. This will definitely boost performance to some extent.
Read: How to Clean Your Computer/Laptop Keyboard for free
Read: How to Clean and Fix Scratches on CD & DVD

13. Root the device (Not recommended)

Above are some tips which anyone can perform, however the person having comprehensive technical knowledge of android working and settings can try to root the smartphone which is highly risky and not recommended. Device warranty will get invalid if you root completely, nevertheless unroot it to reinstate warranty.

If you have some more tips which can boost android performance kindly share in comment section.
Read: How to Adjust Size of Images on Blogger other than Default Options
Read: How to Change/Add Custom Favicon onto Blog on Blogger

How to Change or Add Custom Favicon Onto Your Blog on Blogger

Favicon is indeed a tiny 16px X 16px size picture/icon which you can find next to any websites URL in browser address bar. Usually, it's a websites logo. You can add your own fancy favicon to get visitors attention. If you want to upload/add your own custom favicon, whether it's static or animated picture, it should be of square size and less than 100KB. It can be of .png or .gif or .jpg or .ico format. If you don't have such square and less than 100KB icon, you can search web, where you can find different websites offering free services to create favicon for your blog/website. Creating and adding of favicon is very easy and can be done in few minutes

To Add a Static Favicon Follow These Steps :-

Step 1 :- Go to www.favicongenerator.org and upload your favorite image of which you want to create a favicon. ( Image size should be more than or equal to 16px X 16px ) 

Step 2 :- Write your blog title as scrolling text and press Generate Favicon button

Step 3 :- Right Click on favicon.ico Image and select Save Image As to save icon on your computer.

Step 4 :- Log In to your blogger account > Go to Layout > Click Edit Favicon.

Step 5 :- Browse and upload your icon, done, you have added your own custom favicon successfully.

To Add a Animated Favicon Follow These Steps :-

Step 1 and Step 2 are same as above
Step 3 :- Right Click on animated favicon.gif  Image and  select Save Image As to save animated icon on your computer.

Step 4 :- Go to your Google+ account and upload that animated icon and share it publicly.


Step 5 :- Check " Posts" shared by you and select post in which you have shared your animated icon.

Step 6 :- Right click on that animated icon and select " Copy Image Location " and paste it in other Tab/Window.

Step 7 :- Go to Template > Edit HTML.

Step 8 :- Find " <b:skin> ".
Just above it paste these code -

<link href= ' YOUR LINK ' rel= ' icon ' type='image/gif '/>

Step 9 :- Replace YOUR LINK with the link which you had opened/pasted in other tab. Save your template and job is done. Now view your blog to see new animated favicon in action.

If you still don't see your new favicon, clear browser's cache and again view your blog, you can see now.

Browse Internet on Mobile or Tablet Smartly to Protect your Privacy

Few decades ago, mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs) were luxury items with limited functions which everyone could not afford it. Now, almost every adult and teenager have them and use them to keep calenders and phone directory, play games, media files, send emails, browse internet, exchange messages and sometimes phone calls too. These email and web browsing features are feasible because many cell phones and PDAs are equipped with wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth which permit them to connect with other similar devices and the internet. But unfortunately, these wireless technologies make these devices vulnerable to the same kind of threats which computers, laptops face, such as malware and data theft. Nowadays, folks use smartphones to browse the web for downloading apps, shopping online, social networking and so because of which mobile devices suffer increasingly from malware, although device manufactures continue to release patches to fix privacy and security gaps. Yo must be meticulous to protect your privacy when surfing the internet from a mobile or tablet. Many websites ask you to enter personal information to recognize oneself, but there are ways for people to record this data secretly and use them without your consent and maybe against you. It is essential for you to protect your personal details like mobile number, credit card number and other sensitive info from getting stealth and keep them private. Below are few essential ways which can help you to achieve complete privacy -

Downloading Unknown Apps

While surfing the internet from mobile you may visit a webpage that triggers the automatic download of virus-infected apps. In many cases, such infected webpages encourage you to open the downloaded app to actually infect your smartphone with spyware, malware, which may send your personal data like phone contacts, messages and so. Cyber crooks may use malvertizing to publicize fun apps like gaming, social or antivirus apps which need internet to run them an direct you to app store which may be fake or virus-infected to install them. Once you reach to their desired  website, what you download is actually malware. It's needless to say that mysterious app stores are not the best place to get apps from.

Visiting Unkown Websites? Go for https

It's always advisable to download, shop or do anything online from known websites which are secure. But even if you come across an unknown website, make sure it is genuine & providing you downloads from 'https://' servers which are certified, legal and secure. If any website asks your personal information like credit card number, mobile number or any sensitive information, check the beginning of it's web address in address bar, it it is secure it should be 'https://'. During online transactions make sure there is lock icon somewhere at the bottom or top corner because cyber crooks can spoof the 'https://'. Lock icon indicates the information shared between parties is encrypted, clicking on it a dialog box appears which has security  details like digital identity certificate, encrypted coding, sharing of information, storing of cookies on your device and others.

Avoid Clicking Unknown Links

Usually spam messages contains suspicious links in them. Don't click on such unknown links if you don't trust the source, clicking on them may redirect you to some other malicious website or trigger some download which can be malware or can steal personal details from mobile phone without warning you. Nowadays, shortened links or URLs are used to make bigger URLs compact. Visit only those URLs which you trust.

Unsafe links can be any of these links -

• Malicious links - clicking on it, redirects you to websites developed be cyber crooks which are infected with viruses. Any file downloaded from those website will harm your gizmo & fill it with malwares.
• Compromised links - This are links to legitimate and reputable sites which cyber crooks have ruptured and placed either malicious code or ads on their site.
• Phishing links - Generally sent by email on behalf of winning lottery, claiming your prize and asks you to provide personal details like name, address, phone number, bank account number or sometimes link may redirect you to cyber crooks website that asks you for personal data to log in.

You may find this links in your browser search results or spam emails. Sometimes, you might find them in your Facebook timeline, tweets from unknown person. Be vary, although, installing a antivirus software can be very much useful.

Lock your Gizmo when not in use

Most folks have habits to keep their user names, email id and password stores in the mobile phone browsers like opera, safari, bolt, blazer & others to give you one click access to your various web accounts like Gmail, YouTube, Facebook, e-banking. It is recommended to turn internet connectivity off and lock the phone when not in use. The locks vary in complexity from alphanumeric codes to even face recognition in some high-end mobile phones. Android users can install APP-LOCK app from Google play store to lock the device while others can find the similar app or at least start up by Turing ON the auto-locking feature on your gizmo. If feasible, lock the browser with password. This will keep your personal information safe and secure when your gizmo is in unsafe hands or stolen.

Avoid Spammy Apps

You may come across suspicious links or URLs, may be in spam emails, social media accounts or when you visit unknown website in search of apps which might contain virus, malware, avoid clicking & downloading them. Most mobile phones have an app store or play store for downloading apps, productivity utilities which are genuine. Before purchasing or downloading any new app from anywhere, do your research, look for ratings, popularity, demo version. An application from unknown developer or website can be fake or modified one by cyber crooks which might collect details like contacts, messages on your phone and use them to attack you. 

Cautious while Sharing Photos

If you are sharing your daily life on social networking, make sure you have locked down your privacy settings. Sharing personal photos publicly means you rub the risk of exposing yourself to entire world. Moreover, if you're moving too fast and not paying attention to photos shared, you may share the wrong photo from your tablet, revealing something that was meant to be private. Be safe & keep too-private photos in separate folder. Be meticulous in what to share & what not as your online reputation is dynamic.

Avoid Geo-Location Tools

Whenever you post anything on any social networking site you may be sharing you current location too, if you have enabled geo tagging or location tool. It can be worse if you're sharing it publicily. Every time you login or post anything means you are telling the world preciously where you're present & on filp side, exactly where you are absent. As thieves get more tech savvy, there is a possibility that that location sharing could lead to home burglary, if you share that you are not at home for few days. The matter of cyber stalking is also a concern, especially when kids are concerned.

Read Privacy Policy

Registering or doing business with a web site like online shopping, social networking, play store or any multimedia sharing sites just based on its features, secure connections, free offeres is not enough. Equally imperative is its web security. What do they do with your private data? Do they share your personal details like phone number, address, email id and so with third parties? Do they have prominent policy? If yes, what's written? Just calling it a privacy policy doesn't provide guarantee that it will protect you completely. Read it patiently for yourself. If you're satisfied with it, go ahead otherwise leave it. Even when you install apps on your gizmo and open an account, it has privacy policy. Apps like Facebook, whatsapp, hike, line are among few of them which accesses contact directory on your device, don't believe? Have a look at their policy

Few more tips to browse the web smartly -

• Avoid internet browsing through unknown and public Wi-Fi  networks. Cyber criminals can attack mobile or tablets by creating phony Wi-Fi hotspots.
• On your home Wi-Fi network enable encryption.
• Think twice before adding your phone number on unknown websites, cyber crooks can use certain software to accumulate them from websites and target those numbers.
• If you come across any suspicious link or a winning prize mail, don't click on it, it contains phishing links or may redirect you to website which doesn't exist, thereby stealing your personal details.
• Keep all applications, operating systems on your tablet or mobile phone up-to-date.
• Research a bit before installing an app. Do not install an app which requires permissions beyond what usually an app requires, it could be some virus like Trojan horse.

How to Save a Wet Mobile Phone or Tablet

So you have just dropped your gizmo in a puddle of water may be in swimming pool, fish tank or getting caught in a hefty shower and you are worried that it may be damaged or completely dead. But don't panic, you can still rescue your gizmo if you act quick.

First & Foremost - Turn it off & Disassemble it

Be quick to remove gizmo from puddle of water and TURN IT OFF immediately without wasting a second. Now, you have stopped the power supply, so further damage to gizmo cannot be done. If you wish to dip it into water again then you can, it won't cause damage anymore till power supply is NOT resumed. Dismantle any add-on like battery, Sim card,  memory card, cords. If feasible, try to unscrew entire body parts for quick and perfect drying.

Time to Dry

Its time to dry the circuit board, wires, buttons and processors inside which can be achieved by various ways like -

1. Silica gel packets - Usually silica gel packets are found in brand new products like bags, shoes and also in food, grocery items. You can also buy them separately from stores for few dollars. Place your wet mobile phone or tablet with lots of silica gel packets in a box or plastic bag. Silica gel is a drying agent which is specially used to absorb moisture effectively. Leave it for 2 to 3 days to achieve efficient drying.

2. Using uncooked rice - Alternately, bury the wet tablet or parts in a big bag/bowl of uncooked rice such that it covers all sides of gizmo by at-least an inch or so and leave it for 1 to 2 days. Rice will soak up almost all the moisture like silica over-nite.

3. Blow air to Dry - Air is obviously helpful to dry out things perfectly, but that doesn't mean you should leave the wet mobile phone under the fan in an open room, instead, hold the wet gizmo in front of the air conditioner's vent for few minutes. Also, it is not recommended to use a hair dryer because hot or unrefined air isn't good for any wet gizmo, it may damage the circuit board. But if you don't have any other option at that very moment other than using a hair dryer, keep the settings low and hold your wet mobile phone enough far away from dryer.

 4. Oven - Other way to dry out moisture from internal components of gizmo is by keeping your wet mobile phone in oven in a oven tray but setting the oven to its lowest setting. 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit temperature won't cause any damage to gizmo, but you'll have to keep on trying this method many times to achieve complete dryness.

 

5. Alcohol - If above solutions doesn't work then try this extreme alcohol solution. Dip the switched off device into a bowl or glass of PURE alcohol. Alcohol will take place of water & entire water will drain out. When the device is taken out, the alcohol will evaporate leaving your device dry.

Conclusion

All of these techniques relies on chance and a bit of luck. The most imperative part is to act quick in removing the gizmo from puddle of water and switching it off before water hits & causes any major damage to circuit board. Even if you revive your device there are possibilities of water-contact parts getting corroded over time, so after few months or so your gizmo may slow down, face circuit problem, therefore its desirable to service your gizmo at least once. After trying out this techniques when you feel it has dried completely, wait for few hours. Check whether your gizmos- slots, components are clean & dried. Turn on the device, if your phone doesn't starts, remove the battery & head to your nearest service center. And don't lie to service-man when asked about phone getting wet because many smartphones have a water indicator which tells the technician it had a bath or swim.

For example iPhone 5S's water indicator changes color from white to red when it gets wet.  The best option is to keep your gizmo in a secure place where it is improbable to be exposed to any water damage.