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Your car’s PCM controls many aspects of the car, including the emissions control, transmission, spark plug firing, and engine idle. An issue with any of the above-mentioned functions can indicate a malfunctioning PCM; keep in mind, however, that this could also indicate an isolated problem within a car component independent of the PCM. To confirm whether the PCM itself is malfunctioning, the trouble codes stored in the PCM must be checked and analyzed, which will show whether the PCM must be replaced or if there is an isolated problem involving a car part....

There are eight versions of the original Microsoft Xbox console, each of which have different power supplies and USB capabilities. Due to the uniform plastic casing surrounding the Xbox, the difference between versions is not available from a simple glance, and opening the system’s casing to make the judgment based on the type of hardware installed will void your system’s warranty and risks permanent device damage. Fortunately, you can safely determine your Xbox version without opening the console by analyzing the system’s serial number....

Your home’s electrical panel is the place where all of the electricity is distributed throughout your home. If you are having issues with an electric receptacle somewhere in your house and cannot find the problem, it’s possible something has gone awry in the electrical panel. With some care, you can easily check to ensure your panel box is properly functioning. Warnings Writer Bio

Updated August 23, 2017 GSM Phones If your phone uses a SIM card, it operates on a GSM network. Service can be transferred from one phone to another by removing the SIM card from the active phone and inserting it into the new phone. The SIM card slot is accessible on most phones by removing the battery cover and battery. When you insert the SIM card, the gold contacts should be facing down....

Newer electronic items such as iPhones and iPads have replaced older-model iPods for many. But iPod Classics and similar MP3 players still can play movies in MP4 format the same way newer models can. IPod Classics have smaller screens, but their basic programming remains the same. So long as you have iTunes software on your computer and it is registered with your iPod Classic, you easily can transfer MP4 movies....

Important files such as business documents, memos and sales orders can be transferred to the SD card on your Samsung Galaxy device. The device offers the ability to enable mass storage capabilities, which allows for the quick transfer or copying of files. When you connect your Galaxy device to your computer to complete a transfer, the original file remains on the computer while a copy is saved to your device....

Updated July 21, 2017 The first thing you want to do is connect your iPod to your computer via the white USB cable. Warning: If iTunes opens and asks you if you would like to sync up your iPod, click “No.” After your iPod is connected, open My Computer, or just Computer from the start menu and look for the iPod drive. It should be in the (F:) drive. You will see the iPod logo in the listing of disk drives....

The vast majority of URL addresses are relatively safe to browse and pose no threat to the average computer user. However, there are many URLs that pose a threat to a number of computer users. Schools and corporate networks use web filtering software to block unsavory or unproductive URLs, while anti-virus software blocks URLs that serve as a conduit for viruses and malware. Unfortunately, errors can block ordinary URLs that don’t pose a security threat....

Updated July 21, 2017 Unplug or switch off other devices that are connected to your computer, such as a mouse or printer, before you troubleshoot. Having multiple devices connected to your computer can interfere with the Bluetooth keyboard. Check for any physical damage to the keyboard, such as small particles spilled between the keys. You can clean the inside of the keyboard by carefully unscrewing the face and using a soft, dry cloth to wipe the underside of the keys....

Dell Latitude laptops were designed with traveling business owners in mind. These durable laptops are equipped with a strong antenna to catch even the weakest Wi-Fi signals in offices, hotels and airports, but the feature is useless if you don’t know how to turn it on. Dell provides Latitude users with three different ways to turn on the wireless antenna. You can use the wireless switch, keyboard or utility to enable and disable the Wi-Fi antenna....

Yahoo Mail has a dedicated image filtration tool designed to stop images in emails from loading automatically when you open them. While this tool is handy for stopping spam, it can also block legitimate images. Visit the security settings section of your Yahoo Mail account to turn off the image blocker. Tips Writer Bio

With the introduction of Windows XP, Microsoft made it simple to compress a hard drive to give the user extra storage space. But compression has the drawback of being somewhat unreliable and slow. Uncompressing a hard drive is a simple process and only requires a few clicks to complete. Once the procedure is complete, you can choose individual files and folders to compress for added storage on the drive. Tips

The Kindle is a very user friendly device. While you shouldn’t encounter many problems with it, the unexpected sometimes happens. Fortunately, troubleshooting the Kindle is straightforward and easy for most issues. You should be able to have an unresponsive Kindle back to normal within minutes. Tips Warnings Writer Bio

The third-generation iPod was released in 2004 and was an upgrade to the previous generation iPods, as the click wheel was replaced with a touch wheel. Firmware updates for the iPod are downloaded from the iTunes application, and require an active Internet connection to download the software update. In order to prevent data loss, do not disconnect the iPod’s docking cable from the iPod during the upgrade process, according to Apple....

Some photographers use external light meters (outside the camera) to determine exposure. Correct exposure is the combination of aperture and shutter speed for a given ISO that retains as much detail as possible in both the dark and light areas of an image. A lux meter is an external light meter that was not designed for photography and so does not compute aperture and shutter speed for a given ISO....

Virgin Mobile is a mobile services provider of prepaid wireless voice, broadband data and messaging services. Because no contract is required, users can quit their plans at any time. If you have an old phone that you would like to use again, do so by activating the phone through the Virgin Mobile website. Writer Bio

The entire point of using headphones on a laptop computer is so the audio does not play out of the built in speakers. If the audio does play out of the laptop speakers it completely defeats the purpose of wearing the headphones. However, the process to cut off the laptop speakers only takes a few seconds to complete and is a rather straight forward task.

Updated July 21, 2017 Access the calendar on your computer if you use AOL as your browser. Use Calendar.aol from the homepage with any other Internet browser. Log into your account and click on my calendar. Click the “Month”, “Week” or “Day” tab to navigate around the days and months of the year. Hit the right arrow to go to future dates and the left arrow to review past dates....

Like many other modern notebooks, Sony VAIO laptops include an integrated webcam on the top edge of the LCD screen. You can use this camera to record videos of yourself, take still snapshots and engage in video-chat conversations on instant messaging services such as GTalk, Skype, Yahoo Messenger and Windows Live Messenger. The Motion Eye webcam is ready to use for recording videos and taking pictures right out of the box using the included WebCam Companion application....

The Empia USB is a device driver that is used with the EZ Capture USB cable and can be used to turn most digital cameras into a webcam. The device driver is necessary so that your PC will recognize the EZ Capture device and communicate with your digital camera. This will allow you to do video chats online without having to buy another gadget. Writer Bio