DirectX is an application developed by Microsoft, which helps the user enjoy multimedia aiming specifically at the gaming audience. The aspect that its interface capitalizes on is the quality of the video rendered by this application making it possible for the users to view sharp and detailed images. Graphics is one area in which the gaming industry thrives on and it shouldn’t come as a surprise because many of Microsoft’s games take full advantage of the DirectX application thereby giving the gamers an experience they’ll never forget.

DirectX is a successor of many products developed by Microsoft, namely, Direct3D, DirectMusic, DirectDraw, DirectSound, etc. Soon, Microsoft stuck with the name DirectX and on the similar platform went on to launch the ever popular gaming console, the Xbox. This simply points out that the “X” stuck on Microsoft’s brigade even as of now and that’s all because of the DirectX. Apart from providing the ultimate gaming experience to the gaming enthusiasts, DirectX is also used for graphic design by many professionals in the multimedia industry. The DirectX application uses two Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), i.e., DirectDraw which is used for 2D graphics. Although using this tool may seem to be “not so popular”, there are some games out there that still use this interface and are doing pretty well too. Then of course there is the Direct3D interface, which obviously is used for drawing 3D graphics.

Now how can we talk about DirectX without mentioning what Microsoft has finally pulled out of its hat? We’re talking about the latest update to the DirectX application, i.e., DirectX 10. However, the catch in this version is that it won’t work in the earlier versions of Windows. But at the same time, the update also comes with the feature of backward compatibility, which means that the DirectX for the Windows Vista comes with other editions of DirectX like Direct3D 9, Direct3D 9Ex, Direct3D 10 and of course the much awaited Direct3D 10.1 which specializes in higher quality images.

No Comments »

On the World Wide Web, you will find a wide variety of Defragmentation Programs, all claiming to be the best in business. Some will promise you faster speeds whereas others will claim to increase the storage capacity of your hard drive. To top it all, most of them will ask you to shell out top-dollars for using their Defragmentation programs. Apart from these paid defrag programs, you will also come across many freewares and sharewares, all in the same boat obviously because they usually do nothing more than promise you the moon.

So, which is the most appropriate Defragmentation program that I should opt for? Well, personally I would recommend that you look no further than the Disk Defragmenter that already comes installed along with Windows Operating System. I say this because most of the so called Defragmentation programs available on the Internet do nothing more than link you to the Disk Defragmenter that is already available in Windows. So, if you pay up for a defrag program, it would simply mean that you are paying for a something that is nothing more than a mere shortcut. Not many users are aware of this and this is why these companies are making hay while the sun shines.

As for most freewares and sharewares, the basic issue is again the same, i.e. they too just link you to the Disk defragmenter in Windows. With freewares, there is also the problem of computer security because you can never tell whether the software you are downloading is really a utility or just a store house of malicious software codes such as viruses, Trojans, worms, spywares, etc. Most freeware and shareware defrag programs are thus a complete waste of time and effort and should be avoided.

The most cost-effective and safe is the Windows Disk Defragmenter and for home users, it has always been the best choice. For using the Windows Defragmentation program, you just have to click on Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. I would recommend that you start right away obviously because defragging is a long drawn process and is not something that can be completed in seconds.

No Comments »

“Error 1612. The installation source for this product is not available”

This is an error which you may receive when you try to install duplicate copies of standalone Microsoft products. The main affected applications are as follows:

• Microsoft Access
• Microsoft FrontPage
• Microsoft Publisher

The error usually occurs, but isn’t restricted to - the 2002 versions of the products. You will typically receive the error when trying to install SP1 of Microsoft Office XP. It stems from having more than one copy of the designated programs installed on the system. This sounds like a silly thing to be suffering from, but when you consider how Microsoft loves to sell its programs in bundles, it isn’t such a rare issue after all.

Thankfully, Microsoft has released a fix which deals with the clash and cleans up your system files. The fix is known as the Microsoft Windows Installer CleanUp Utility.

To download this small utility, you will need to go to the Microsoft website. There’s plenty of information and support to get you up and running, and the application is easy to use.

Once you’ve installed the utility, go to Start. Click across to Programs and locate Windows Install Clean Up.

You will see a list of all the Microsoft programs that you have installed on the operating system. Click on each of the programs, check the box and click Remove.

Each program comes with a slightly different removal procedure, but none of them should be too complicated to follow. Pay attention to the instructions and complete the uninstall process. Finally press exit to close the utility.

Assuming that you received the error while attempting to install Microsoft Office XP SP1, you should now be able to complete that particular setup. Once Office has been updated, you can safely track back and reinstall the standalone applications which were causing the 1612 error.

There are some instances where you may be receiving the 1612 error WITHOUT the mentioned programs being installed on the system. While they might not be present in the operational sense, some uninstalled software can leave behind files and registry entries which later cause problems.

This is a natural problem for PCs which have been used for months on end without a regular system clean-up. Have you noticed how the performance begins to drop, even after you’ve uninstalled all of the extra programs to leave yourself with the default configuration?

This is because most uninstall procedures leave behind traces of files, and unnecessary entries to the Windows registry. While they might not cause too many noticeable errors, it’s possible that such traces could lead to a 1612 error when you don’t actually have the Microsoft programs installed at the current time.

To get around this issue, we would suggest that you run two cleaning utilities. The first being a standard Windows cleaner, to get rid of loose odds and ends. The second being a more detailed Windows registry utility. Ridding the registry of redundant files will clear up a lot of errors and performance related issues, including, you guessed it, the 1612 error.

Get a Free Online Diagnostic Scan with RegCure PC Optimizer (Download Takes 2 Mins)

No Comments »

Perhaps the easiest way to keep your computer updated and secure is to turn on the automatic updates feature in your Windows operating system. Alternatively you can visit the Microsoft Update website that will offer the same updates that are generally installed using the autoupdate feature. When you visit this website, it will automatically perform a scan of your computer system to determine what updates you should have. It will then display a list of these updates for you from which you can select which ones you would like to download and install on your computer.In Windows Vista operating system, the updates that you receive can be managed using the control panel feature for Windows Update. In Windows XP and 2000 this can also be found in a tab called Automatic Updates. The most reliable and quickest way to receive updates for your Windows operating system is to enable the automatic updates feature so that important updates are automatically downloaded and installed for you. If this feature is not already turned on, the Microsoft Update website will give you the option of activating it when you sign up on their site.

Using the Microsoft Update website as well as the automatic updating feature on your computer system is a great way to keep your computer protected from security threats. Other important things in the battle for security are to use a firewall and maintain an up to date antivirus and antispyware program.

Alternatively, there is an AutoUpdate program that is available for users of Linux operating system. This program is a Perl script that can be used to automatically download and upgrade various rpms from different servers or websites. This is extremely helpful for administrators of servers with customized Red Hat distributions in keeping all of the clients up to date. The autoupdate program is not specifically written for Red Hat however, so it should work for other versions of the Linux operating system as well.

Like many different programs that have been written and developed by programmers for the Linux operating systems, AutoUpdate is free to download and use. If you are a programmer yourself, you are also free to modify the code used for AutoUpdate as long as the terms of the General Public License are followed. For more information about the General Public License you can visit the website of the Free Software Foundation. Alternately, the AutoUpdate program can be redistributed under the terms of the Pearl Artistic License.

Of course as with most Linux applications, the AutoUpdate program also is distributed without any warranty or tech support that you would get with a commercially available program.

So, to sum things up, you will need to keep your software and operating system updated if you want to prevent security threats and keep things running smoothly. Of course, with the large number of updates that are offered for various programs, the easiest way to do this is to use the autoupdate feature of operating systems and applications that you may have installed on your computer system.

Get a Free Online Diagnostic Scan with RegCure PC Optimizer (Download 2 Mins)

No Comments »