PC Ward

PC Ward

If you are worried about protecting your children from the dangers of the Internet, or concerned about your employees using company time for other things than work, or wondering what your spouse or mate is doing online, PC-ward will provide you with everything you need to know.

Watch your children or mate chatting on AOL, ICQ, YAHOO, IRC or *any* chat program, including videoconferencing programs, and see the chat (and video) both ways.

See if your employees are working or slacking off. What kind of e-mail they are sending and receiving? Are they spending more time in business applications, or games? Are they spending valuable company time doing their online shopping? Surfing inappropriate web sites?

Is your mate engaged in cyber-play or having an online affair that you want to know about?

PC-ward records everything on the computer as you see it. There is virtually no learning curve – you can have it up and running within minutes!

PC-ward will record everything done and used on your computer. Just a few examples of what PC-ward will record:â?¢ Every program opened, and what it was used forâ?¢ Every Web Site visited including facebook

â?¢ Text Chat Conversations in *any* chat program, including AOL – you will see both sent and received messages

â?¢ Videoconferencing sessions (both video and text – sent and received)

â?¢ Keystrokes Typed Locally – whether in chat, e-mail, a word processor, a text file – anything at all!

â?¢ Live Streaming Video as well as and pre-recorded video movies

â?¢ E-mails Sent & Viewed – including Web-based E-mail.

may capture all the headlines, but on a practical level, the real story is that PCs aren’t cheap. In the last couple of years, it’s been particularly difficult to swing a whole new PC due to supply chain issues. Fortunately, there’s no reason to rush out and spend hundreds on a fresh system if your computer’s starting to feel pokey.Investing small amounts in key new PC hardware can keep your computer running strong for years to come. These upgrades—most costing well under $100—breathe new life into slow machines. You just have to be strategic and make sure you’re putting your money in the best place for your particular system.Editor’s note: This article was last updated December 28, 2021 with current hardware and pricing information.This upgrade is incredibly affordable these days, too. Prices have plummeted over the years, sending higher-capacity drives well under $100. You can pick up options like the Samsung 870 EVO (currently $70 for 500GB on Amazon) and the SK Hynix S31 ($53 for 500GB on Amazon), with 1TB drives skirting right around the $100 mark. If you’re on a tight budget, you can always dip down to a 240GB SSD and use it as a boot drive alongside your current hard drive. Our guide to the best SSDs can help you find other top options.A word of warning about SSDs, and all the hardware discussed in this article: You can often find lower prices if you sift through Amazon or Newegg for no-name or lesser-known brands. But you’re gambling on reliability and support when you move away from established PC hardware makers. Stick with name-brand gear unless you absolutely, positively can’t afford it.If your computer’s having trouble running multiple tasks simultaneously, low memory is a likely culprit. Two gigabytes of RAM is the absolute minimum modern Windows systems need to run smoothly, and even PCs with 4GB of memory can start to feel slow if you’re running several programs, keep a dozen Chrome tabs open, or game with some background processes still running.Like SSDs, memory is affordable these days–it’s been thankfully unaffected so far by supply issues. Expect to pay about $50 for 8GB of DDR4-3200 RAM (2x4GB) and $70 for 16GB for desktop PCs. Stick to reliable brands like Kingston, G.Skill, and Corsair, even if you’re tempted to save pennies by going with a no-name company. For laptops with expandable memory slots, a 4GB SO-DIMM of DDR4-3200 is about $25, while 8GB runs about $40.Be sure to get the right type of memory for your PC: RAM comes in all sorts of different packages. The easiest way to tell what type of RAM resides in your PC is to download the free, superb CPU-Z software, then open the Memory tab and look for the “type” option. Our guide tAMD’s AM4 motherboards have powered AMD’s Ryzen CPUs since early 2017. Since many prebuilt AMD systems sport modest processors, upgrading to a modern CPU can give your PC a shot in the arm. If you’ve already got an AM4 system, you can pop in a newer processor. How much newer is dependent on the chipset of your motherboard, though, so you’ll need to first make sure the new chip is compatible. Before you buy, fire up CPU-Z and search for the “Chipset” entry in the main Mainboard tab to see your mobo’s info. Our guide to the best gaming CPUs can help you find a Ryzen chip that’s worth your money.Intel switches out its motherboards and socket types much more often, and its chips tend to be much more expensive. Replacing Intel chips aren’t really an affordable upgrade in most cases.You spend most of your time interacting with your computer’s input and output devices, so it’s definitely worth investing in decent peripherals if you spend considerable time at your PC.Start with your monitor. If you’re still using a lower-resolution display or (shudder) a fat CRT display, embracing a high-definition 1080p monitor will provide a huge step up in usability. It won’t break the bank either: You can buy a 1080p HP with a 21.5-inch IPS screen for just $130 on Amazon (and often around $100 during sales). IPS screens provide a much more vibrant image than the twisted-nematic panels found in most budget monitors.Alternatively, if you’re a gamer with a Radeon graphics card, consider buying a monitor that supports AMD’s FreeSync technology. (Nvidia GeForce cards also support select FreeSync monitors.) FreeSync synchronizes the refresh rate of your graphics card and display to eliminate stutter and screen tearing in games. While monitors with Nvidia’s competing G-Sync technology fetch steep price premiums, FreeSync adds minimal cost to a display. A 22-inch 1080p FreeSync display by ViewSonic costs just $170 on Amazon, for example.No PC is complete without a monitor, and there’s never been more choice. For gaming, home or the office, PC monitors have evolved to specifically cater to the needs of every type of computer user.You’ll find PC monitors in a range of sizes and equipped with a variety of resolutions. Our range features monitors that utilise the latest technology to enhance the computing experience for everyone, from graphic designers to movie buffs. The most popular LCD monitors use In-Plane Switching – or IPS – as these deliver better colour accuracy and consistency than rival technologies, and their viewing angles are great for colour-sensitive content like TV shows, films and photos. The most affordable monitors have Full-HD resolution, delivering 1920 x 1080p graphics. These monitors offer up striking graphics without putting too much strain on graphics cards. You’ll also find 2560 x 1440p monitors, and Ultra or Quad-HD 4k resolution at the top end.4k delivers massive improvements over 1080p as it’s made from over 8 million pixels, while a 1080p screen uses 2 million. If you’ve got a solid graphics card, a 4k PC monitor isn’t your only option. More powerful graphics cards also have what it takes to handle the largest widescreen monitors.Modern monitors are all of the LED flatscreen variety, and you can choose from a range of screen sizes and styles, from 18.5” to 34” widescreens for superior gaming and movie viewing. Smaller screens are ideal for cramped spaces or for dual monitor or multi-screen set ups. Curved PC monitors offer a more immersive viewing experience, touch screens are great if you sit closer to your display, and many of the latest monitors are wall mountable to save you valuable surface space in the home or office.