Most computer operating systems are designed to interface automatically with a USB drive and detect its data, so there’s usually no need to configure a USB device. But if your Windows OS doesn’t have “plug and play” capabilities or there’s a problem with your USB device, you may have to configure the drive manually. You can quickly set up the drive by taking advantage of the options in your OS’s device manager....

Digital cable brings the best available picture and sound into the living room. Most digital programming services are now transmitted in high definition, so HDTVs can take full advantage of the sharper image resolution and digital Surround Sound audio. The industry standard for connecting digital components, including a cable box and home theater receiver, is a High Definition Media Interface (HDMI) cable.The cable has six-sided plugs on both ends with 19 steel pins for transmitting high-definition video and digital audio....

One of the best ways that you can ensure you can get the best possible sound with movies recorded on your Sony Handycam is by using an external microphone. Although the built-in microphones on Sony Handycams are sensitive and can even handle Surround Sound, higher-end external mics are specially built for picking up sounds, such as conversation, from a distance away. Connecting an external mic to your Sony Handycam will differ depending on the model of mic that you have....

Apple’s iPod Touch is an excellent alternative to the iPhone for those who don’t need the extra functionality of a phone and 3G data. Connecting to the Internet on the iPod Touch while on the road may seem impossible without a local Wi-Fi connection. If you have another smartphone with the ability to tether wirelessly, however, it’s not. It may take a few minutes to configure correctly, but it’s well worth the effort....

Updated February 10, 2017 Apple Pro Speakers Turn your iMac around so that the back is facing you. On the bottom panel of the iMac you will see a wide variety of inputs, including Apple’s “Pro” speaker jack (which will be towards the left side of the unit). Connect the audio cable that runs off of your Apple Pro Speakers to the Apple Pro Speaker input jack on your iMac....

Wireless computing offers the freedom to get your work done away from the desk or office. Additionally, using wireless technology with gaming devices and Blu-ray players increases installation placement and flexibility of those devices. However you may not have a Wi-Fi adapter on your machine, or your internal adapter doesn’t have enough oomph to get the signal where you need it to be. Wirelessly connecting your outdoor Wi-Fi antenna to your computer greatly enhances range and connectivity to the Internet and your network....

MP4 files are a type of computer video file. It is a common video file format used by portable media players, including the Apple iPod and iPhone devices. If you have a video file you want to play on your portable media player, you will need to convert it from whatever format it is currently in to MP4. To do this, you cannot simply change the file extension–that will damage the file....

Microsoft’s WAV proprietary audio format is widely used because it is common throughout the PC world and will play on almost any media player. So if you want to be compatible with PCs as well as Macs, it’s easier to have all your audio formats (such as MP3 and AIFF) converted over to WAV. Tips Warnings Writer Bio

The MP3 audio format is the near-universal standard when it comes to digital audio. However, sometimes you are presented with a situation where you cannot play MP3 files. The MPG format is a good alternative to the MP3 format if you are in a situation where you cannot play normal audio files. The MPG format is a standard video format, but it can also be used to play back audio....

Updated February 10, 2017 Download and install QuickTime Player. Agree to the licensing terms and open. Click “File” then “Open File…” to locate your MP4 in the finder window. Select and open in QuickTime (it will open in its own player window). Click “File” then select “Export…” to bring up the “Save Exported File As…” menu. Select “Sound to AIFF” or “Sound to Wave” in the “Export:” menu bar. Click “Save” to begin the conversion process....

Many people have old home movies or other videos lying around on VHS tapes. As time goes on, the quality of the video and audio on the tapes will degrade, because they employ magnetic storage techniques that are susceptible to degradation from repeated use and from outside magnetic sources. It can be quite easy, however, to convert these videos into digital files on your computer. As digital files, the quality of the video will remain the same as when it was originally copied into the digital format....

You may have ripped or downloaded a variety of MP3 files onto your computer. Numerous software programs can be used to open these MP3 files, including Apple iTunes. Because an MP3 file will play in iTunes, these files can also be copied onto any Apple iPod. Before you can put one of these MP3 files onto your iPod, you must first manually add that file to your computer’s iTunes library....

As you visit websites and install programs on your computer, a copy of each website you visit and temporary setup files are stored on your computer’s hard drive. These files consume a large amount of space and can slow down your computer’s performance. To remove these unnecessary files, you don’t have to buy a third-party application. The Windows operating system includes a utility, Disk Cleanup, for cleaning up your hard drive....

Most chat-room providers typically require an email address in order to create a chat room. However, if you do not want to sign up for a service, or you don’t want to use an email address, there are several chat services that will still let you create a chat room. You can use then use these services to set up communication with other people, just as you would with a regular chat room....

If you are planning on creating a web page, whether it will be used for business or as a personal site, you might decide that you want to add a photo gallery to one of the pages. In the case of a business, a photo gallery can show jobs you have done or products you sell. For a personal website, a gallery can be used to show who you are, your interests and how you have changed over the years....

Creating a video banner for a website is a quick process, even for novice web designers. A software tool such as Adobe Flash or Premiere Pro is excellent for this task, but you can also use free automated services. For example, “BannerSketch” is a free online utility which allows you to create banners of different sizes with multiple frames. Banners are then exported to an image, such as an animated graphics interchange format file (....

You have an Excel spreadsheet with lines of data about your network. You would like to represent this information visually using a Visio network diagram without having to recreate the information. As daunting as this task may sound, it is possible to create a detailed network diagram in Visio using data contained in an Excel spreadsheet. The trick lies in importing the data using Microsoft Excel Worksheet as the data source and linking the imported data elements to shapes in Visio....

The touchpad of a laptop is a very convenient and useful navigation tool. However, certain people, especially typists, may become annoyed by the touchpad because it redirects the cursor to another part of the screen at the slightest touch. If you have a mouse, then you might not find a need for using the touchpad and disable it as well. No matter your situation, you can disable the touchpad in a few simple steps....

If you are not a fan of the Toshiba Tecra’s touchpad, you can disable it by using the function keys on the keyboard. Some users find that they may inadvertently touch the touchpad while typing if they rest their palms. That small action could lead to time-consuming errors, which matters when you run your own business. When the touchpad is disabled, you can use a mouse or the arrow keys to navigate on your computer’s screen....

Samsung’s Galaxy Note tablet line includes a special multi-window mode that enables you to run two apps on the screen at the same time. The Galaxy line’s split-screen, multi-tasking feature is exclusive to the Samsung brand as of November 2013 and integrated into the TouchWiz user interface. Samsung touts the split-screen mode as a selling feature for its Android tablets and phones. Writer Bio