Q: I have heard it is possible to run my computer faster by changing the settings on the motherboard. Is this safe?

A: This is a process called overclocking.

The mother-board is set to run at a faster speed than the rating on the processor (the bit that does all the work) and thus make the whole machine run faster. There is little doubt that many people overclock their computers with success but you do need to know what you are doing.

The key problem is heat. When a processor is manufactured, it is specified to run at a relatively low temperature at a given speed. Intel is well known within the industry for playing it safe and allowing a good margin for error (incidentally, if you have an AMD chip do not try to overclock, as it is almost certainly running at its maximum tolerance already).

Overclocking has allowed enterprising computer owners to push the envelope and get that little bit extra out of their processors. However, it is not without its risks and can result in permanent damage or, more likely, a shortening of the operational life of your processor.

If you would like to learn more about overclocking, go to:

www.overclocking.co.uk
Q: I have noticed, after about ten minutes, my monitor appears to turn itself off and the power light start blinking on the monitor. Why is this?

A: This is due to you having power saving settings set up in the display properties.

Since a monitor can use large amounts of electricity, many newer monitors support power saving features that become active when the computer has had no mouse or keyboard activity for a specified period of time.

You can view, and change, these settings by right clicking on your Windows Desktop, selecting Properties and clicking on the Screen Saver tab. You should see a settings button in the Energy Saving features section.

Q: Can you explain to me how I can create a shortcut to the system calculator and put it on my desktop?

A: A shortcut is a link to a programme that you can use as a fast way to open the item.

To create a shortcut, simply right click on the desired item (in this case, calc.exe in the Windows folder) and select Create Shortcut from the menu.

This will create a shortcut (distinguished by a small curved arrow in the bottom left- hand corner of the icon and, in this case, with the name Shortcut to Calc.exe).

You can then cut and paste this on to your desktop or drag it from its current location to the desktop.