Introduction
This article looks at the issues surrounding printing digital photos and other graphics using an ink printer. It is aimed at users who may not have a lot of technical expertise but who can, with a little help from articles like this, get the best from their equipment.

It is written in New Zealand, for NZers, and while the information may be useful in other countries, it is not intended for use outside New Zealand.

Benchmark your performance
When you buy a new ink printer print some photos using the complimentary paper supplied by the manufacturer. This gives you a benchmark of the performance of your printer and when you use different inks, paper or software you have the original standard of performance to compare against.

Maintain your printer
Look after your printer. Keep it clean and cover it when not in use. Use it regularly. The ink is the lubricant that helps maintain the print heads in good condition so regular use is beneficial. Have it professionally cleaned and serviced, at least annually, more often if you use it heavily. Following these few simple steps will prolong the life of your printer and enhance the quality of your prints.

Troubleshoot methodically
If you’re not happy with your printed page then troubleshoot the problem using the following method:-

1.Print a nozzle test to see that all nozzles are firing. You will find the nozzle test in the printer software under a heading such as “maintenance”, “service”, “utilities” etc.

2.If all nozzles are not firing then run the print head cleaning utility and print another nozzle test to see if cleaning has made a difference.

At this point if you are using Print Head Cartridges put new ink cartridges in the printer. If you are using Non Print Head Cartridges then carry on. If you are not sure about your ink cartridges see the article “Printer Ink – Choosing the right cartridges for your needs”.

3.Repeat the above two steps until you get a good nozzle test. If you don’t get a good test after repeating these two steps at least six times seek help from a qualified printer servicing company.

Warning – cleaning print heads uses ink so you may run low on ink before you get a good result. And a good result is not guaranteed – the print head may have failed.

4.Having either got a good nozzle test, or having changed your print head cartridges, and you are still not happy – what else has changed?

* Are you using the printer manufacturer’s software to print your photos? Other software, perhaps supplied free with photo paper or over the internet, may be easier to use but may not get the best out of the printer.

* Does your printer need servicing? Despite all the care you have taken printers do get dirty and ink or dust in the wrong place can have some surprising effects, particularly in photographs.

* Have you changed the paper you use? Some photo papers and some inks can be incompatible.

* Have you changed the ink you use? Some inks and papers can be incompatible and some inks can react chemically with other inks.

Provided you buy your printer ink and paper from a reputable company they should help you to work through these issues to your satisfaction. Our experience at Second Image is that these problems are generally solved before, or by, the printer servicing step.

Alternative ink and paper
If you are doing a lot of photo printing you will find that the cost of original ink and the paper can be quite high.

Alternatives are available and, provided you buy from a trustworthy source, will generally give you good results. If you have done the benchmark exercise suggested earlier you can now compare results.

See the associated article “Printer Ink- Choosing the right cartridges for your needs” for a guide to buying compatible ink cartridges, refilled ink cartridges and ink refill kits. There is nothing wrong with using these alternatives provided you first do your homework and deal with a reputable supplier.

Some papers are incompatible with some inks. This incompatibility can occur between the original manufacturers as well as between original and third party products. The best thing to do is to find a mix of ink and paper that gives you the results you are happy with and stick to that.

Such an approach may mean that you need to experiment with different papers and inks. Remember the golden rule – only change one thing at a time, ink or paper, never both while you are testing, and only use the software supplied by the manufacturer with the printer. When you are happy with your ink and paper combination you can play with different software.

If you follow these simple steps you should have a lot of fun and get great results.

Technology has a funny habit of solving one problem but then highlighting another. A typical example of this is the emergence of virtual operating systems, that is an OS that runs on top of another OS. While there are many advantages to many computer users in running these configurations they all rely the humble hard disk , and as fragmentation occurs, this can lead to instability and potentially data loss.

If you are fortunate enough to have very deep pockets then you may be using SSD’s or solid state drives. These still remain expensive and are out of the reach of most users who still have to rely (although getting much faster) on the slowest and some would say the most vulnerable technology in your computer- the hard drive. Hard drive fragmentation can cause problems with virtual machines and in some cases even data loss.

Hard disk fragmentation occurs when files are split in to multiple chunks as they are slotted into spare space on the hard drive. If you are running a solitary OS chances are you have already noticed considerable slow down in your system since purchase. Just imagine two or more OS’s running causing the same file fragmentation! Pretty soon your system could come to a grinding halt.

Fragmentation is the scourge of modern computers as most people fail to conduct even the most basic maintenance on their computers. The situation just get worse over time and some people have even been known to purchase a new system even though there is nothing wrong with the old. On servers and raid arrays fragmentation is far more serious as it slows down business applications and reduces productivity. In very bad instances data recovery is the only method of saving the data.

Each operating system will have it’s own method of dealing with file fragmentation (or not as the case may be). Whilst Mac OS X will automatically defragment a file under the size of 20mb, windows pays scant regard to how badly files are fragmented. Other systems use a variety of different methods to combat the problem.

Defragmentation utilities can take care of this problem, however, running them practically ties up the machine until completion, slowing the machine to a crawl. So what can be done to remove this issue? There are a number of possibilities that can be tried.

Fortunately we are not left to the operating systems alone as there are a number of third party defragmentation applications that are far superior to the inbuilt OS tools. These can be scheduled to run when system usage is very low for example whilst the system is idle or the screen saver is running. As you go defragmentation is my personal choice.

Use separate hard disks for your Virtual Machine software. While this may appear to fly in the face of VM’s in the first place, having a robust and business capable solution is in most cases the driving factor. Some astute companies will even have a dedicated hard disk array solely for the purpose of running VM software if there is a business case for it.

Ensuring your systems are working in tip top condition is vital to maintaining a productive IT infrastructure. For more great computing tips visit the IT Support Fareham , or click here for hard drive repair information and raid data recovery advice.

You want a faster computer that runs more programs better than the one you are working with now, but you can’t cough up the cash for a brand new system. There is virtue in making do with what you have and repairing and reusing instead of throwing away and buying new, especially in today’s tough economy.

You are savvy enough to know how you can benefit from upgrading your RAM online. You will experience less start-up time, faster program load times, and multiple programs will smoother at one time. So, you also know you can save money and time by purchasing your RAM memory upgrade online.

Fortunately, much of the homework has already been done for you, and it has never been easier to find exactly the memory upgrade you need at the best possible price. Buying RAM online cuts out the middleman and saves you the money that would normally flow into his pocket. It also saves you hours of wasted time driving all over the place looking in multiple stores for exactly what you need.

You can find a very wide selection of memory upgrades online including a 512mb memory upgrade for acer altos g900 series, or 512 MB upgrades for the Abit VT6X4, Abit VH6, and Abit VA6, or a 512 MB memory upgrade for Acer Alto R510. There are far too many possiblities to list in a single short article, but you know what to do. Just browse through the possiblities and buy what you need cheaply and securely.

You can get free shipping of memory upgrades if you spend at least $40. If you need 5 or more units, you can get special volume pricing and save even more money per unit. If you need help deciding exactly what to buy, that is also available with Silicon Mountain Memory’s Memory Matchmaker. If you buy through the online Memory Matchmaker and pay with a credit card you are automatically covered by a TotalProtection Package that gurarantees OEM quality, 100% compatibility, and a visible performance boost.