Daniel Kwasi Kpeglo's Blog

I have no special talent. I am passionately curious.- Albert Einstein.  Introduction. Are you considering getting a new laptop or desktop computer for your workstation, home, or office to enhance productivity? Are you also trying to get one for your wards since the new school season is in session? Do you know what you are looking for based on what the laptop or desktop can accomplish? There are certain distinct features that every laptop or desktop buyer needs to consider when purchasing one. These features which we term "Specifications" in the IT world can be grouped under these main headings. I will be sharing some ideas on a broader scope as to how you can choose a laptop or Desktop computer based on its specifications, its intended usage, and most importantly your budget . 1. Display/Monitor size : A monitor (Screen, used in Laptops) is an output device that displays text, images, video, and other information that is being entered and processed by the computer. One may ar...

                                         An image of a Laptop.                                   An image of a desktop computer. Introduction In the first five (V) episodes of our "Troubleshooting a Computer" series, we learned how to deal with the repair of personal computers using the sound it makes from booting, how to deal with a freezing screen, and even dealt with a case study where we saw how to repair a laptop when its screen flicks (take your time to read through the series). You can clearly see that in all these series, our sole focus is on the hardware component of the PC (The writer is a repair technician.) In this blog, we are going to deal with the " Dos and Don'ts " of owning a personal computer.  Personal computers like any electrical gadgets need to...

                                                                  An opened laptop undergoing repairs.  Introduction.  In our previous episodes of how to troubleshoot a Personal Computer (PC) , we focused on Computers with a System Unit. This unit houses the primary devices that perform operations to make the Personal Computer work perfectly.  In this blog, we are going to focus our attention on dealing with a personal computer in the form of a laptop.  Laptops are "easy-to-carry" computers that perform the same functions just as desktop computers. It houses all its hardware in a compact form such that the monitor/screen is attached to the System Unit (do not confuse this with an all-in-one computer). The sizes of these hardware components as compared to the ones in the SU ar...

An image of a computer screen/Monitor.  Your Computer Screen freezes . Imagine you get to the office or your workstation and you try to press the "power on" button on your System Unit (SU) and you are waiting patiently for the Operating System to load. You wait for some time and you notice that it is taking longer than the usual load-time. Eventually, the home screen does not load and you get a screen just like that displayed in the image above. This situation really impedes productivity and delays your progress on any project you are actively involved in. Imagine you also have deadlines to submit your work. What is your next plan of action? This series is to give you the confidence to deal with these issues before you get any PC technician involved. Do not forget that we are dealing with a PC in the form of a Tower or a desktop. Restarting the PC and booting in Safe mode. Firstly, you hit the Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys (for a windows-installed-OS-system) simultaneously to reboo...

Your Computer won't turn on but make beeping sounds .   In our previous blog, we discussed how a computer "lifts" itself from its bootstraps by undergoing a diagnostic test before it comes on after pressing the "power on" button. This diagnostic test involves ensuring all resources are in the right place to aid the booting process. Booting was later defined as loading the Operating system into the PC's RAM (Random Access Memory).  Just imagine this scenario, "you have a desktop computer or a tower and all cables are securely in place and have been connected to their appropriate place/sockets on the motherboard and desktop case". You press the "power on" button on the desktop/tower and nothing happens. You only see the monitor's power-on-light and also the desktop light but no operating system is loaded onto the monitor screen and you hear a beeping sound. Your guess is as good as mine.  We first have to check whether the RAM (there ar...

 Introduction. Growing up in a community full of footballing potentials, the only thing I was destined to become was to be a footballer. I loved playing football. I loved sitting among friends to discuss football players, leagues, and even local players who deserved to be the best among them all. We had Del Piero, Riquelme, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Rivaldo, "the great" Zizou, and a lot more brilliant players from different countries. Within the African continent, we had Kalusha Bwalya, Jayjay Okocha, Nwanko Kanu, Tony Yebaoh, Roger Miller, Patrick Mboma, Samuel Eto, and a lot more. I could sacrifice my Saturday morning and afternoon classes for football. It was a sport I needed no time to exercise, I needed no time to go for some sprints to build strength, it just came naturally to me. I was so good that my friends would just come to my house even though my dad had that "strict" demeanor, to call me out to go play some matches. They needed their "star player" and...

Introduction (This is the first in the series of Troubleshooting a PC) An image of an open laptop. The personal computer (PC) is part of our daily activities. Without it, performing simple tasks such as sending emails, scheduling meetings, writing theses and assignments, and even coding will not be possible. To perform all these simple tasks, one has to "boot" the PC. Booting is a process of the PC lifting itself from its bootstraps (this is the exact definition my hardware technician teacher gave me when I was learning the art of PC repair). What are bootstraps, and what exactly is "booting"? He further explained that "booting" is just starting/putting the PC on by pressing the "power on" button. He said there are two (2) types, namely the "hard boot" (pressing the power-on button) and the "soft boot"—by pressing the Ctrl, Alt, and Del keys, you have the option to restart the PC. Booting, in PC terms, is when the PC loads an ...