Whats an MMORPG ? its a massivley multiplayer online role playing game on a computer which at present my other half seems to be spending a lot of time on!!

He plays this game called EVE online, its an online game in which you interact with other people, some of whom can be any where around the world. EVE is a space based game in a persistent virtual universe, which carries on going even when you log off. The game involves flying various spaceships, fighting, trading, mining building in its simplest form. At its most complex it involves conquering regions of space, diplomatic negotiations and an economic trading model akin to the real world.

All I know is that he can be on it for hours at a time but i guess as far as hobbies go its better than going down the pub every night with his mates! Now i wonder if there is one that involves shopping and shoes for me !

A while back I noticed that my computer was starting to slow up a bit, I also noticed that the SPAM emails had started to increase in frequency more than the usual daily torrent.

This is usually down to spyware, which are essentially little programs or cookies that sit on your computer and pass information about you and your surfing habits back to websites or 3rd parties on the Internet. They  usually get on your computer through websites you visit or any programmes or applications you may download. The best way to get rid of them is to install a free programme of which there are a few on the Internet, this will then scan your computer a remove any of these unwanted annoyances. Two great programmes out there are spy-bot search and destroy and ad aware, both free. Windows also has a free built in programme called windows defender, as do most anti virus programmes, however I would recommend one of the stand alone free programmes.

So how do you deal with SPAM, well hear are some top tips that I use.

• Use an email client that has a built in SPAM filter, this should automatically place any unwanted emails in a separate folder
• There are a number of specific add-ons to filter spam that you can purchase, some free, some not
• Most anti virus software has built in spam filters
• Be careful who you give your email address to! this simple step is the most effective, have a web based email address that you use when filling in forms or purchasing goods etc and a separate one for friends and family and important sites etc. SPAM is usually sent from firms  that have  obtained your email after it has been sold on for marketing purposes.

1) Find a decent case, aim for a clean environment

2) Before you fit your motherboard check that everything will together as you want it to, it will save problems later !

3)Take care when fitting your CPU, it will only fit into the socket one way!

4)When fitting the memory line it up carefully, when in place lock it with the white connectors, next connect the IDE cables.  Use one channel IDE 1 for hard drives and one for optical drives.

5)If your using more than one optical drive you will need to set their status, one to master and one to slave using the jumper settings on the drives.

6) To connect the power supply, push it into place ensuring the locking clip connects.

7) The gfx card should just fir in to the pci slot, some may need connecting up to the power supply and if fitting two don’t forget the SLI bridge.

With your drives in there selective bays you need to supply power to then using a molex connector that runs from the power supply.

9) Attach the monitor using the respective cable.

10) Select boot form CD in the bios and insert your operating system CD, you will then be prompted to activate windows/vista. Wait until all your hardware drivers are set up before you do this.

Hey presto your up and running.

Turn it on and off again – yes I know this sounds a bit too easy but often does work when you see that blue screen of death or the computer freezes!

Are the cables connected correctly! Is the power on?

If all the above does not work then the main culprits tends to be a hardware problem such the graphics card, the memory, motherboard or the chip is fried.  Viruses are not that common despite what the software vendors would have you believe and are not often the cause of a computer failure, if you have an up to date virus software and you do not download or open any un-trusted files then you should be okay.

Hardware problems can often be rectified by a simple process of elimination which ill go into more depth at a later date, major software problems can often be rectified by using system restore, running a spy ware/virus scan, uninstalling any recent software that may be causing the conflict or as a last resort re-installing the operating system, again Ill go into more depth another time.

There is always your local PC repair shop, if you take this route than make sure you receive any parts that have been replaced!