The DVD+R format is more expensive and less compatible. The +R format is a marketing practice, not an indication of quality. DVD burns are done with a very low mill watt laser beam that heats the dye layer of the DVD to produce pits.

When it comes to buying blank DVD’s, cheaper is not better. Verbatim is generally considered the best but Pioneer, Sony, TDK and Maxell also make good DVD media.

If you can’t read a DVD please check to see that your DVD player reads the format the disk was recorded with. In general, if you are trying to copy a copy of a copyrighted DVD it won’t happen.

It is safe to use a permanent marker to write on DVD’s but write on the outer edge. DVD’s are written from the hub outward and the data to be able to read the DVD is stored closest to the disk hub, do not damage this area. Also, when the DVD becomes warped, the data stored at the outer edge is the hardest to read.

Store disks in a protected sleeve or case as the dye layer used to record the DVD is subject to fade from sun, UV or florescent light, also heat, solvent and adhesive from labels will cause deterioration.

The DVD is probably the safest way to archive data as its life span is between 30 – 100 years depending on how and where it is stored. Always handle a DVD by the outer edges and mark the DVD with the format (DVD-R, +R, -R/W +R/W etc) so that future generations can decipher it. It will be many moons (if ever) before Blu-Ray over takes DVD as the best way to archive data.

The next causality is the power supply. They fail because hard drives, CD drives, fans and the motherboard all use the 12V line of your power supply. If this line doesn’t have a high enough amp rating, the computer will have an unstable running environment, the hard drive and motherboard could be damaged. Always make sure the power supply 12 volt line has at least an 18 amp rating for light systems with just the back case fan, one hard drive and one or two optical drives.

Always turn off your computer when you expect not to use it any more that day. Only the monitor stays on in sleep mode. This conserves energy and doubles the life span of your PC. All-in-one computers and flat screen monitors should always be turned off.

Many of the low end power supplies sold today are built on the old design where the 5 volt line was the primary source of power, Pentium three and below. Once Pentium four was introduced, the 12 volt line became the primary source of power.

Remember, computers use DC power (direct current) not AC (alternating current). The computer power supply converts your house 115v AC to DC. If your AC is not 115v, not properly grounded or has the wrong polarity, your power supply will be damaged over time causing damage to itself your motherboard, ram or hard drive. Buy a $5.00 outlet tester or a $100.00 Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) to check and protect your computer from house power problems.

The third most replaced computer part is the motherboard and this is primarily caused by faulty power or failed or loose chipset fans. The chipset is a set of silicon micro devices that among other things controls communications between the processor (CPU) (another silicon device) and external devices.

Let me first say that computer companies don’t make computers. They assemble them from parts that other companies make; companies like Intel, AMD, Western Digital, Seagate, ATI, NVIDIA etc.

So it is a computer company’s choice, configuration and matching of these parts that determines whether their computer is stable, fast or long lasting. You get what you pay for but in some cases you’re paying extra for the label as with Apple or for everyone else it’s the trendy stylized enclosure. A computer will work without a case. You could build one into any piece of furniture.

The average customer relies on what TV computer ads tell them. The ads talk about the size of hard drives but not the drive’s ram cache or spin rate. They talk about CPU speed but not cache. And of course they never talk about the power supply or upgradeability issues.

Stay away from Intel Celeron or AMD Duron processors. They are gutless. They don’t have enough cache and they are cheap. A typical low-end PC has only two slots for ram. The video is onboard with no slot to upgrade and the hard drive has a one year warranty verses the three year standard. Don’t plan on adding any additional hardware to these computers, the power supply can’t take the hit for long. And don’t purposely replace your desktop PC with a laptop. Laptops were designed for what they were designed for… mobility, not speed, not power and certainly not 3D gaming.

Compared to the past, in today’s world most all computer hardware is plenty fast. So in the general sense it is not the speed – potentially, you have speed – its stability; matching the right hardware with the right operating system and applications that makes the difference. A brand new year 2000 computer ran fast but not with today’s software.

For instance, Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 require a very fast desktop PC to run fast. Installing this software onto an older PC is a bad idea. But I use Vista on my desktop with only 1 GB ram and it runs fast. The difference is that my PC was made by me with a proper video card, hard drive and CPU. A typical laptop would require twice as much ram and still not be fast enough because laptops don’t have adequate cooling. Laptops are not built for speed. Speed produces heat.

Think of a laptop as an old PC with slow hard drive, throttled down CPU and basic video. It will do what it was designed for but that might not be what you want it to do. My desktop video card alone is half the size of a Netbook.

Also remember that not all applications are created equal. You can significantly slow down your computer with the wrong programs or combination thereof.

If you have an infection and you tell someone to check out your latest uploads to MySpace or Facebook then you run the risk of infecting your friend’s computer. Your address book can also be stolen and your friends could start to get more spam. The longer you do nothing or what amounts to nothing to clean your computer the more the infection spreads. Your computer will become slow and non responsive until it doesn’t boot anymore. You can become the victim of Identity theft or key-loggers, the process of monitoring your key strokes and stealing your logon information etc.

Clean machines need to get monthly Windows updates, daily Virus, Spyware/Malware updates and need to be scanned on a regular basis. Changing surfing habits and avoiding dubious download habits will also go along way in keeping your computer safe and running fast.