The Check Engine Light - How to Reset and Turn Off the Check Engine Light

It used to be easy to reset and turn off the check engine light. For vehicles manufactured and sold prior to 1996, there are a few cheap and easy fixes. One popular fix is to disconnect the negative terminal on the battery and turn on the headlights for ten to fifteen minutes. Draining the power in the car's capacitor will also reset the Computer and turn off the check engine light.

The Check Engine Light - How to Reset and Turn Off the Check Engine Light

The Check Engine Light - How to Reset and Turn Off the Check Engine Light

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The Check Engine Light - How to Reset and Turn Off the Check Engine Light

The Check Engine Light - How to Reset and Turn Off the Check Engine Light

This may be popular but it's not really a good idea. For one thing, it will clear the presets on your car radio, clock and anti-theft devices. It will also clear the performance memory from the car's Computer, which it will have to "re-learn" over the next forty or so driving trips. You will suffer both poorer driving performance and lose gas mileage while it does so.

A similar cheap and easy fix is to find and pull the fuse to the ECU (Engine Control Unit). This has the same disadvanTAGes as disconnecting the battery.

A better idea - especially for cars sold in the U.S. from 1996 to the present - is to read the owner's manual. In some cases the manual will tell you how to reset the check engine light, usually through a series of prescribed pedal pressing and button pushing and so on.

Most often, however, the manual will give you the sage advice to take your vehicle to an authorized dealer.

You can take your car to the dealer where they will check its computer for trouble codes and reset the check engine light. On some occasions it may be a minor problem such as a loose gas cap, though it certainly could be something more serious. In any case taking your vehicle to the dealer for a check engine light will not be cheap.

Another way to turn off the check engine light is to simply wait it out. If the trouble that caused it to turn on in the first place is not persistent and goes away, the check engine light should go out after several driving trips. If the light stays on, however, the trouble is still with your vehicle and should be checked.

One of the best ideas is to invest in a diagnostic tool or scanner. Such a tool connects easily to your car's computer through an input under the dash near your knee. The scanner retrieves the computer's trouble codes that help diagnose the problem. It will also reset and turn off the check engine light without clearing everything else in your car's computer.

Another nice thing about the better scanners is their ability to indicate your vehicle's state emissions status - whether you are likely to pass or fail the emissions test.

Once you you have turned off the check engine light, it is a good idea to drive your vehicle for a good fifteen minutes or so - and at highway speeds if possible. If the light comes back on, it may mean a real problem that should be checked by an ASE-certified technician.

To learn more about saving time and money with a diagnostic scanner, click on the link below.

The Check Engine Light - How to Reset and Turn Off the Check Engine Light

Mini Scanner

The days of lugging a large scale, flatbed scanning on business trips and family vacations are over! New small scanners perform just as the bigger models with less bulk and more efficiency, and are wonderful for the portability they allow.

Mini Scanner

Mini Scanner

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Mini Scanner

Mini Scanner

These tiny, often hand-held scanners are compact and light weight, which allow travel with ease since it can be carried and stored with minimal hassle. Often, the scanner can scan different types of media and files, making the copying and saving of business cards acquired or travel docuMents needed a breeze for the businessman on the go. Keep track of travel expenses, contacts made, and important docuMents obtained all while working on location. They are also good for photographs, making it easy to scan travel pictures right away while still on vacation! While they cannot scan larger scale docuMents (typical maximum size is around four by six inches), they allow ease of use and portability when away from home or the office.

They are also easier to use than many larger models since they are designed for quick use on the go. Most are completely portable, eliminating the need to find an outlet to Plug it in. This means they can truly be used wherever you are in the world at any moMent!

There are many brands to choose from, and it is necessary to do all research before purchasing a mini scanner. Look for the specifications you personally require and make a decision based on which models include these, as well as user ratings, to assure you end up with the right one for your needs. Prices start around fifty Dollars and can go as high as thousands depending on the type of scanning capabilities needed.

One of the most popular models is the Pandigital PANSCNO1 PhotoLink Mini Scanner, retailing at around sixty Dollars. It is a narrow feed through model (six inches in length and only one and a half in width), meaning that the document loads and is fed through an opening in the middle of the scanner. This particular model can scan images as large as four by six inches, and includes a six in one card reader and will take images right from the scanner and transfer them to any memory card. The most important feature of this product appears to be the ease with which it performs.

Smaller, portable scanners appear to be the way to go for scanning needs on the go!

Mini Scanner

How to Print Money With Your Scanner

OK, scanners don't technically print. You aren't technically getting the most out of your scanner right now, so I guess you will have to forgive me. Think about it, what do you actually do with your scanner?

How to Print Money With Your Scanner

How to Print Money With Your Scanner

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How to Print Money With Your Scanner

How to Print Money With Your Scanner

I will give you 10-1 odds it's just a one-trick pony for you. You use it to capture images, don't you? You've captured Fluffy at the local dog park, Jimmy's picture with great-aunt whatshername, the trip to Sea World in '81. What if there's more? What if you could harness the power of your scanner to save you huge amounts of time and money at home and work?

You can, because I've done it. In fact, last week, I saved my company 200 hours of labor. Even paying minimum wage(which we weren't), that brings the total saved to over 00. At first glance, this figure doesn't line up with basic math. x 200 = 00, not 00. How did I do it? The answer lies in economic theory, and a really old technology.

Opportunity cost is a basic economic theory which calculates not only how much the visible costs are, but what it costs you not to do something else. The most common illustration is a college education. If you pay ,000 a year in visible costs, the cost of not working a full time Job could be running you ,000 in hidden costs. Thus, the total cost of a college education is actually ,000 a year. The same goes for saving money. Not would you save your company 00 in visible costs, by impleMenting the strategy I did, you may have made them an additional 00 by using that time in a more productive manner. Now, you can see why I call it printing money.

The technology I used to get these results is called OCR or Optical Character Recognition. OCR is not a new at all. The first patent for the technology was filed back in the '20s In fact, it has been around in machine form since 1955. The US Postal Service has been using it since the '60's. Essentially, it converts printed text or writing on a page into digital form. That was the extent of the technology's abilities for a great deal of it's lifespan. The field has seen some great strides since then, including automatically formatting email adDresses into hyperlinks, duplicating exact replicas of page structure(including columns and breaks), and PDF support.

Maybe you don't see how this could benefit you. Okay, I'll run you through a few scenarios, and show you how you'd save that time and money:

Uses for a Business:

Invoices sent as pictures: I cannot stand it when someone sends me a bill of lading or a packing list, and I can't select the text. Just run one of these images through OCR software, and you automagically have text you can copy, paste, or otherwise manipulate for another docuMent. The Trade Show Directory: Have you ever gone to a trade show, and received that massive directory of attendees? Maybe you wanted to get their names and adDresses into your mailing system, or you just want their email adDresses for your contact list. What if I told you that you could scan and digitize that 1200 page docuMent in as little as 3 hours? At our company we did. We now have a digital directory of all suppliers and buyers in our industry, for the enTire continent of North America, and we did it in just 3 hours. That Old Rolodex: Ah, yes. The trusty Rolodex. You may have replaced yours with an email contact list, or maybe you still keep it closely by your side, in case a natural disaster strikes. You can put 6-8 of these cards on the scanner at the time. In a little while, you will have a fireproof version of your contact list. You could even sync it to your email contacts. Business Cards: These things are the hardest in the world to keep up with. They are easy to lose, and they make a mess on your desk. OCR is able to accurately recognize the itty-bitty type, and turn it into something legible and usable. You can throw 8-10 on your scanner at any given time, and go to town.

There are a ton of other uses for business, but I can't go through all of them here. Let's turn our eyes toward uses for school and home.

Uses for School and Home:

The Book Report: Don't you dislike typing in long passages for book reports? I know I do. A quick run through the scanner, and you'll have a ready-made quote to plunk down in the middle of your paper Lost Papers: How many times have you printed out a paper, and accidentally deleted the original on your hard drive? Once again, run it through, and you will have an editable copy in minutes. Contracts and Legal Documents: OCR makes it easy to modify a buyer or seller's agreement before sending it back to your realtor or lawyer, even if has just been sent as an image or hard copy. Digitize your signature: This is not technically an OCR feature, but I will throw it in as a freebie: Put your signature on a white sheet of paper using black ink. Scan the paper. Using GIMP or Photoshop, remove the white background. Save as a .png to preserve the transparency. The next time you need to sign a document you are typing, insert this image into OpenOffice or MS Word. Email the doc, knowing you never had to waste the paper to print it.

Are you convinced now? If so, let me tell you what you will need to make sure you can convert your text:

You need a TWAIN compliant scanner. Most scanners released within the past 8 years or so follow this specification. Unless your scanner is really ancient, you shouldn't have a problem with this OCR Software: Most of the time, the software is installed along with the drivers for your scanner, and is completely free. Manufacturer versions are not often as full-featured as If you want a cheap solution, and are willing to settle for 97% or so accuracy vs. 99% percent, you can go with a free, open source option like GOCR. While I am not usually a big fan of commercial software, I will pay for a great package. If you are looking for software for your company, I recommend Omnipage Pro. You can pay 500 bucks for their current version, or pick up an earlier release for on eBay like I did. It's easy to use, and super Fast. While not necessary, I highly recommend a scanner with an automatic document feeder, or ADF. This will make scanning large books a breeze, along with freeing you to do other things while the software does it's magic. I would also recommend a larger amount of RAM, as images can be quite memory intensive. The less time the application spends accessing your hard drive, the Faster the processing will go.

Now that I've given you some ways to save time and money, go invent some ways to do even more. If you find a way to print money, do me a favor, and make an anonymous deposit to my account.

How to Print Money With Your Scanner