Here are 4 alerts that will let you know your drive is about fail.

1. Long Boot time: If your drive is taking longer than normal to boot up is usually working harder because a lot of stuff needs to be initialized and it could also be trying to compensate for read/write failures.
2. Temperature:  All drives get warm, but if your drive is running unusually hot compared to previous usage that is normally a sign that the drive is failing. Overheating usually occurs when the main fan or fans fail which allows the temperature to build up.
3. Check Your LEDs:  If you drive LED is no longer lighting up it could be that the drive has failed.
4. CHKDSK shows bad sector:  When running your CHKDSK OR similar disk test utilities and bad sectors are showing up this could mean your drive is failing even if the bad sectors are increasing at a very slow rate.

Always keep redundant backups, because Spinning Disk Hard Drives have moving parts there is always a chance of hard failure. Data recovery can be very expensive and not 100% guaranteed. If you notice any of the above mentioned issues, make sure you backup your data and contact the manufacturer.

Some of the hottest topics from around the web, compiled into one handy post. Check out our favorite articles of the week and let us know what you think!

Visa to Launch Digital Wallet This Fall

Over One-Third Smartphone Owners Use Apps Before Getting Up

Dirt, Voices Recharge Mobile Phones

This Day in Tech…May 27, 1937: A Bridge Over the Gate? Are You Crazy?

Google Bursts onto Mobile-Payments Scene with ‘Wallet,’ ‘Offers’

E-readers vs. Tablets: Why They’re Two Different Beasts

App of the Day: Hound for iPhone, Android and iPad

Instant Messaging, or IM for short, is a type of direct text based communication that allows real time conversations between 2 or more people. This is accomplished with the use of a network connected PC or other mobile device, such as a smart phone, and some type of software client. All instant messaging services are designed for real time communications via a network, but some of the more advanced messaging services have also added more enhanced services, such as VOIP or Video Conferencing features. I reviewed 3 of the most popular “single protocol” clients, along with one of the more popular “multi protocol” clients and have listed some of their features.

Yahoo! Messenger 10
http://messenger.yahoo.com

This “single protocol” IM client is designed to be used by anyone with a Yahoo! based e-mail address (@yahoo.com, ymail.com, rocketmail.com).  Below is a list of some of the main features of Yahoo! Messenger 10:

• Easily find or invite friends from other services to come chat with you
• Now you can chat with high quality full-screen video.
• Make free PC-to-PC calls and PC-to-phone calls for as low as 1¢ a minute (plus free voicemail!)
• Send text messages (SMS) to friends’ mobile phones for free*
• Instant message with one friend, or conference in a bunch
• Show your style with emoticons, Avatars, audibles and IMVironments
• Use the built-in media player to watch web videos and view photos with friends

Yahoo! Messenger is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, and has support for both standard mobile phones, and also has an iPhone/iPod Touch app available. Yahoo! is currently only offering Beta support for Mac users.

Windows Live Messenger 2011
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-messenger?os=other

Most PC users are familiar with Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN Messenger) in some form or another, since it has been shipping pre-installed with Windows PC’s for years. This “single protocol” IM client is designed to be used by anyone with a Microsoft based e-mail address (@hotmail.com, live.com). Again, you can find a list of some of this client’s main features below, along with differences between the newer Vista and 7 versions, and the older XP version.

For a full feature list, click the following link: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-messenger-compare

Windows Messenger 2011 is only compatible with Windows Vista, Windows 7 and includes app versions for mobile phones, including Windows Phone, Blackberry, iPhone and Android based smart phones.

Google Talk
http://www.google.com/talk/

This “single protocol” IM client is designed to be used by anyone with a Google based e-mail address (@gmail.com). Here is a list of some main features for this client:

Text chat

• Instant messages: share quick thoughts in real time
• Status updates: see if friends are around and what they are up to
• File transfer: instantly send and receive files, pictures, and more

Voice chat

• Free long distance: make PC-to-PC calls to people anywhere in the world
• Audio conferencing: talk to multiple people at once
• Gmail integration: chat with your friends on Gmail

Google also offers a video chat plug-in that allows you to make voice and video calls within Gmail, iGoogle, and Google’s orkut social network. It is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7 and Mac OS X 10.4 or later.

Digsby
http://www.digsby.com/

This “multi protocol” IM client is much different than that one’s listed above, since it is designed to allow you access to multiple IM services from one interface. Here are some of the most common features available in this client:

Instant Messaging

Email

Social Networking

Personalize

Other

We could go on and on about the features each client offers, but to be honest, the features for each service are so similar that it comes down to personal preference. I really like the voice and video call features of Google Talk, but I much prefer the interface and e-mail features of Digsby.

Also, there are many other single and multi protocol IM clients available online for you to choose from. For a more complete list, check out the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messaging_clients

Want to add more bang to your computer try upgrading your memory.  There are many types of memory for computers. Before you just buy a memory module you need to begin by checking your system’s user manual and identify the type of RAM your Motherboard requires.  If you do not have your manual, check with your manufacture’s website.  If you know the manufacture family and model # you can use our memory finder to help find the appropriate memory.

Before making your purchase, consider the following:

Maximum Module Capacity: Find out what the max capacity is for your system.  This can be found in your manual or on your memory manufactures website.  We also list this information on our website.

Memory Banks: Make sure you know how many banks or slots that you have available for upgrade and they capacity for each slot.  For example if your computer max is a total of 2GB and you only have two slots then you are able to install 1GB in each slot.

Memory Speed: SDRAM, DDR SDRAM AND RDRAMM are rated to match or exceed the PC’s front side bus speed.  (This is the speed at which data moves between the CPU and RAM.  Example:  if your system comes with PC66 SDRAM and You want to install PC100 that should not be problem as long as your Computer’s Front side bus supports the higher rate. Also keep in mind if you mix different speeds of ram. Example: You already have PC2700 installed in your computer but you want to purchase PC3200. The PC3200 would clock down and run at PC 2700.

By keeping these things in mind it can make purchasing your ram easier and faster.

Compact Flash cards are small storage devices that can be used in various applications such as Digital Cameras, Digital Video Recorders, card readers, and as bootable devices. In this article we will explore the differences between “fixed disk” cards and removable media cards.

Removable media Mode: Once inserted into your computer the CF card will read as Removable Disk (Below left picture) and you can safely remove the card by simply right clicking and selecting ‘eject’. This type of CF mode is common when using the card as portable storage and it can be easily moved from device to device.

Fixed Disk Mode: Once inserted in your computer the CF card will read as ‘Local Disk’ (above right picture) and you can safely remove the card by selecting ‘safely remove hardware’ and stopping the drive like you would an external hard drive. The use of ‘fixed disk mode’ is to use the CF card as permanent data storage. You can create fixed partitions, install Operating Systems and set it up as a bootable device.