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Upgrading and Repairing Your PC By Jim McCarter with Brian McCarter
IN THIS BOOK ■
Deciding if you should upgrade or repair your PC
■
Upgrading your PC’s memory
■
Updating your system software
■
Solving printer problems
■
Reinforce what you learn with CliffsNotes Review
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Find more upgrading and repairing information in CliffsNotes Resource Center and online at www.cliffsnotes.com
IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. An International Data Group Company Foster City, CA • Chicago, IL • Indianapolis, IN • New York, NY
About the Author Jim McCarter is an Information Technology Consultant for his Greenfield, Indiana, based consulting firm.
Publisher’s Acknowledgments Editorial Project Editor: Nicole Haims Acquisitions Editor: Steven Hayes Copy Editors: Jerelind Charles, Tonya Maddox Technical Editor: James Marcum Production Indexer: York Production Services, Inc. Proofreader: York Production Services, Inc. IDG Books Indianapolis Production Department
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Table of Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Why Do You Need This Book? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Don’t Miss Our Web Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Chapter 1: Taking Care of Your PC’s Needs Up Front . . . . . . . . . .3 Deciding to Upgrade, Repair, or Replace Your PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Figuring Out Your Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 An Ounce of Prevention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Protecting your computer from power surges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Making sure you have clean power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Protecting your computer from heat and sunlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Keeping Your Hard Disk Happy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Defragmenting your hard disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Checking for errors with ScanDisk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 Scanning for viruses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Chapter 2: Adding to and Adjusting Your Computer’s Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Adding a Mouse, a Trackball, or a Touchpad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Upgrading Your Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Chapter 3: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Modems . . . . . . . .22 Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Gathering your tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Playing the safety game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Removing a stubborn computer cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Understanding the Different Types of Modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Internal and external modems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Standard (56K) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 ISDN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 DSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Troubleshooting Modem Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Installing a New Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
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Chapter 4: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Adapters . . . . . . . .33 Understanding the Different Kinds of Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Video adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Sound adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Knowing which type of adapter to use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Troubleshooting with Your Sound or Video Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Installing a New Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 Chapter 5: Expanding Your Computer’s Memory . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Understanding the Different Types of Computer Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 Knowing How Speed and Size Affect RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Determining How Much Memory Your PC Has . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Memory Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Installing More Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 Chapter 6: Fiddling with Your Computer’s Drives . . . . . . . . . . .51 Understanding Your Computer’s Storage Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Floppy drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Hard drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 CD-ROM drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 CD-R and CD-RW drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 DVD-ROM drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 DVD-RAM drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Zip drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Tape backup drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Removing and Replacing Your Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 Installing a CD-ROM Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57 Installing a Tape Backup Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59 Installing a Zip Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Chapter 7: Modernizing Your Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63 Changing Your Computer’s System Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 Replacing a Dead Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 Upgrading the BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 Using software to upgrade your BIOS: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Upgrading the BIOS the old-fashioned way . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 Upgrading the CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
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Chapter 8: Monitors and Scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Maintaining Your Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73 Adjusting your monitor’s display settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74 Adjusting your monitor’s colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76 When Your Monitor Needs to Be Replaced . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Deciding on a new monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78 Replacing your monitor with a new one . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 Adding a Digital Scanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82 Chapter 9: Updating Your System Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 Updating Application Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 Knowing when to upgrade any type of software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85 Installing application software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87 Removing (uninstalling) application software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90 Updating Operating System Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Upgrading to Windows 95 and 98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 Upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95 Chapter 10: Priming Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Selecting a New Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .96 Impact printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Inkjet printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Laser printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97 Which type of printer should you choose? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98 Connecting a Printer to Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99 Adding and Removing a Printer Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101 Fixing Common Printer Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 If your printer won’t print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104 If your printer won’t stop printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105 CliffsNotes Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108 Q&A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108 Scenarios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110 Consider This . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Practice Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112 CliffsNotes Resource Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Magazines & Other Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115 Send Us Your Favorite Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
INTRODUCTION Every PC eventually becomes less than state-of-the-art. Sometimes simply replacing the parts that don’t measure up is more cost-effective than buying a new system. This book helps you troubleshoot problems, decide whether to upgrade, and choose and install new accessories.
Why Do You Need This Book? Can you answer yes to any of these questions? ■
Do you need to learn how to upgrade and repair your PC fast?
■
No time to read a 500-page repair and upgrading manual?
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Are you considering adding new hardware, software, or RAM?
If so, then CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC is for you!
How to Use This Book You’re the boss here. You decide if you want to read the book from cover to cover. You can choose to read chapters as you need them because I organized the book to help you troubleshoot your PC’s problems one at a time. Flip through the book until you find the information you need or use the Index and Table of Contents to find areas of particular interest to you. The short introduction at the
2
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC beginning of every chapter tells you if it has the information you need today; check out the Resource Center for more information and the Review section to test your knowledge. To find important information quickly, look for the icons described below, which are strategically placed in the text: If you see a Remember icon, make a mental note of this text.
If you see a Tip icon, you know that you’ve run across a helpful hint.
The Warning icon alerts you to something that could be dangerous, requires special caution, or should be avoided.
Don’t Miss Our Web Site Keep up with the changing world of personal computing by visiting the CliffsNotes Web site, www.cliffsnotes.com. Here’s what you find there: ■
Interactive tools that are fun and informative
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Additional resources to help you continue your learning
At www.cliffsnotes.com, you can register for CliffsNotes Daily, which offers you newsletters on a variety of topics that arrive every business day in your e-mail. See you at www.cliffsnotes.com!
CHAPTER 1
TAKING CARE OF YOUR PC’S NEEDS UP FRONT I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Knowing when not to do it yourself
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Calculating the cost of upgrading
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Performing preventative maintenance
Maybe you’ve had your computer for a while now and you’re beginning to notice that it’s getting a little gray around the edges. Or maybe your computer isn’t very old and you want to protect your investment. In this chapter, I show you how to decide when to add the new components your computer lacks and when to bite the bullet and buy a new computer. I also give you some basic advice for extending the life of your computer by doing preventative maintenance. None of the information I give you in this chapter requires a Mechanical Engineering degree, but I do tell you some of the basic tools you need for any additional upgrades or repairs you may make. For important safety information, see Chapter 3.
Deciding to Upgrade, Repair, or Replace Your PC The bad news is that your computer is either broken or doesn’t have the features and components that you’ve come to need, but the good news is that the toughest aspect of fixing computers is deciding whether to repair or upgrade at all.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Sometimes replacing the old beast with a newer model just makes the most sense. You should repair or upgrade your system if one or more of the following examples is oh-too familiar to you: ■
You want to run some new software, but your current computer configuration doesn’t support this software.
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You don’t have enough memory or hard disk space to run new software that you’ve installed.
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Your hard disk has failed, but the other components are in good working order. Buying an inexpensive hard drive probably makes more sense than shelling-out for a whole new system.
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Your computer seems to take forever to perform daily tasks, but the investment of a new computer simply isn’t in the cards.
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Some part or other on your computer has stopped working. Perhaps your mouse has lost its zip or your floppy drive refuses to read diskettes.
Of course, sometimes upgrading doesn’t pay. Don’t perform an upgrade today if ■
A computer store runs a special, offering free installation of components that you buy.
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It’s 10:00 p.m. on a Tuesday and you need to have that budget forecast for the boss by 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
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Your computer is a 486 or older. You may end up spending more to upgrade these older machines than to buy a new one. Consider purchasing a new computer.
Chapter 1: Taking Care of Your PC’s Needs Up Front
5
■
A part of your computer fails while still under warranty. If your computer is under warranty, you can have it fixed free of charge by the manufacturer.
■
A part of your computer fails and you’ve been looking for an excuse to buy a new system.
If your computer has a problem that’s covered by a warranty and you attempt to upgrade or repair the computer yourself, you could void the warranty. This means that if something goes wrong at any time (during or after you tinker with the PC), the manufacturer can refuse to honor the warranty. Read your warranty documents carefully so that you understand specifically what is covered and don’t hesitate to call the manufacturer if you have any questions.
Figuring Out Your Costs Before you make a final decision about whether you should upgrade, repair, or replace your computer, figure out your costs. If you are going to perform the repair or upgrade yourself, the cost will be the price of the components and parts, so be sure to shop around to find the best prices possible. If you have access to the Internet, you can quickly compare prices from a variety of vendors by using a shopping guide such as PriceScan (www.pricescan.com). If you are going to have the upgrade or repair done by a professional, be sure to obtain a firm price quote. With hourly service fees ranging from $50 to $70 or more, service fees can end up costing more than the components themselves. Make sure that you deal with a reputable shop with trained service technicians who are authorized by the manufacturer of your computer.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC If you are going to upgrade or repair several components at one time, add up the cost of the components and service fees, if any. Then consider the cost of buying a new computer. As of this writing, new, name-brand computers range in price from $500 to $2,500. The most important thing you can do for your computer is narrow down the possible causes for your computer’s disgruntled behavior. Look for warning signs that your computer may have a problem that needs to be fixed and think about the actions you want the computer to perform in the future so that you’re not suddenly hit with the notion that you have a report to do and a PC that has quit on you. You can do a lot to give your PC plenty of TLC so that you can stave off some of the problems that come with a computer’s old age.
An Ounce of Prevention . . . You can do some things to improve your computer’s performance that don’t require you to take the computer apart. Here are some pointers for making sure that your computer system stays happy and healthy. You may never avoid upgrading or performing repairs, but following these easy tasks can definitely extend your PC’s life.
Protecting your computer from power surges Obviously, your computer needs electrical power to run. The power company obligingly sends the power you need (if you pay the bill), but sometimes you can get too much of a good thing. Every now and then the power company sends just a
Chapter 1: Taking Care of Your PC’s Needs Up Front
7
little too much juice down the line. This doesn’t harm most electronics that you plug into a wall outlet, but surges can be deadly to your computer. You can protect your computer from power surges by plugging your computer into a surge suppressor. Don’t confuse a power strip with a surge suppressor. They may look alike, but a standard power strip won’t protect your computer from power surges. Also, surge suppressors do wear out over time. Spend a couple of extra dollars to buy a surge suppressor with an indicator that tells you if the surge suppression is working. If the box doesn’t actually say “Surge Suppressor,” it is probably just a power strip.
Making sure you have clean power If you have the opposite problem — drops in power instead of surges — you may want to consider buying an uninterruptible power supply. An uninterruptible power supply or UPS makes sure that your computer receives just the right amount of power, no more, no less. For example, if the voltage drops, or you experience a power outage, your computer resets or turns off, meaning that you lose any unsaved work and possibly damage your files. The UPS, as shown in Figure 1-1, prevents these problems because the UPS supplies power from a built-in battery. The battery probably won’t last long enough to run your computer until the power comes back on, but it does provide enough power for you to shut down the computer in an orderly manner.
Protecting your computer from heat and sunlight Computers don’t have very many moving parts, and computer components rarely suffer from mechanical failure. The computer’s biggest enemy is heat build-up.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Figure 1-1:
A generic UPS.
The easiest way to keep your computer from burning out is to make sure that your computer has adequate ventilation. Here are some easy tips: ■
Don’t place boxes or other items in front of the computer’s vents.
■
Make an effort to keep dust out of your computer. You can take the cover off and blow any dust from the computers innards using a can of compressed air that you can buy at an office supply or computer store.
■
Avoid placing your computer in direct sunlight. Sunlight can make the monitor difficult to read, and it can heat up the computer. Remember, cooler is better.
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Keeping Your Hard Disk Happy When I talk about keeping your system clean, I’m not talking about keeping the cat hair off the keyboard (although that is important, too). I’m talking about keeping the hard disk clean and healthy. If you are running Windows 95 or later, you have some built-in tools that you can use to help maintain your computer. If you are running MS-DOS or an older version of Microsoft Windows, you also have some hard disk maintenance utilities available to you, but they are beyond the scope of this book. You may want to grab a copy of DOS For Dummies, 3rd Edition, by Dan Gookin or Windows 3.11 For Dummies, 4th Edition, by Andy Rathbone. Both titles are published by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
Defragmenting your hard disk After you put a file on your hard disk, your computer dumps the file in the first available spot. If that spot isn’t large enough to hold the entire file, the system splits the file up into pieces, sticking the pieces wherever they will fit. This becomes a real issue if you want to access those files. Your computer has to look all over the hard disk to pick up and assemble those scattered pieces, which takes a while. You can clean up all those pieces and put them back together by defragmenting (or, if you really know the lingo, defragging) your hard disk. When you defrag, your computer picks up all those loose pieces and puts them in the same area on your hard disk. To access the Disk Defragmenter program from Windows 95 or later: 1. Click Start➪Programs➪Accessories. 2. Select System Tools➪Disk Defragmenter. The Select
Drive dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 1-2.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Figure 1-2:
The Select Drive dialog box.
3. If the hard disk that you want to defragment isn’t the C
drive, select the drive from the drop-down list. 4. Click OK to start defragmenting the disk. Figure 1-3
shows the defragmenting progress. Figure 1-3:
The Defragmenting dialog box.
The Disk Defragmenter program shows you a status bar, which tells you the percentage of the disk that has been defragmented. After it reaches 100 percent, you’re finished. Defragment your drives when you know that you won’t be using the computer for at least a couple of hours.
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Checking for errors with ScanDisk You can use a tool called ScanDisk to check your drive for logical and physical errors. ScanDisk automatically repairs most of the errors that it finds. Run ScanDisk if you get a message telling that you have a problem with your disk. You can also run ScanDisk as preventativeive medicine. Running ScanDisk on a regular schedule helps make sure that your computer doesn’t accidentally place a file into a defective area of the disk where the file can become damaged, making you lose data. To run ScanDisk 1. Click the Start button and go to Programs➪Accessories. 2. Select System Tools➪ScanDisk. Figure 1-4 shows the
ScanDisk dialog box in action. Figure 1-4:
The ScanDisk dialog box.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 3. In the ScanDisk dialog box select the drive that you want
to check by clicking it. 4. Pick the type of test that you want to run by clicking
either Standard or Thorough. The Standard scan checks for corrupt files, while the Thorough test checks for both corrupt files and physical problems on the disk. If you are having disk troubles, try the Standard scan first. If that doesn’t fix your problem you can try the Thorough test. 5. Make sure to check mark the Automatically Fix Errors
check box. 6. Click the Start button to begin scanning the disk. After
ScanDisk is finished checking your disk, a report presents ScanDisk’s results. See Figure 1-5. Figure 1-5:
The ScanDisk results.
7. After you read the report, close it, and then exit the Scan-
Disk program by clicking the Close button. Personally, I don’t waste my time checking floppy disks because they are so inexpensive that if they give me trouble I have no problem tossing them.
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Scanning for viruses The good news is that you can’t catch the flu from your computer. The bad news is that your computer can catch a virus from another computer. A nasty virus can cause you to lose data or damage your computer. Now that can make you feel sick. A virus is a malicious, unauthorized computer program that is capable of replicating itself. While most viruses don’t cause any real harm to your computer, some can delete files or even format your entire hard drive. This can be very bad news, especially if you don’t have a current backup of your files. Even if you do have a good backup, the time and work it takes you to recover from a virus can be significant. Some common symptoms of a virus-infected computer are ■
Applications behaving erratically
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A system that slows down for no apparent reason
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Frequent system crashes
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Unexplained file size increases
With over 45,000 known viruses in existence, your chances of encountering one sooner or later are pretty high. If you have access to the Internet you can find lots of information about viruses at www.teamanti-virus.org. What should you do if you suspect that your computer is infected with a virus? If you don’t have virus-scanning software, you definitely need to buy some. A couple of the more popular packages are McAfee VirusScan, found at www.mcafee.com, and Norton Anti-Virus, which is at www.symantec.com/avcenter/index.html.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Most antivirus software manufacturers offer periodic updates for a small fee. New viruses crop up all the time. Make sure that you update your virus scanning software at least every six months. Virus scanning software offers many different features depending on the software that you buy. Your software should ■
Automatically scan floppy disks after you access files from them
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Automatically scan your system periodically in the background
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Scan files downloaded from the Internet
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Scan files attached to e-mail that you receive
Scan your system for viruses on a regular basis. If your software doesn’t automatically scan your hard disk when you turn the computer on, remember to run the virus scanning software manually. I recommend scanning your system at least once a day — more often if you frequently exchange files with others.
CHAPTER 2
ADDING TO AND ADJUSTING YOUR COMPUTER’S ACCESSORIES I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Adding a mouse, trackball, or touchpad
■
Adding a new keyboard
If your computer’s essential components aren’t working the way you’d like them to — your mouse doesn’t seem to be able to keep up with you or your keyboard is goofed up — you may discover that instead of replacing your computer entirely, all you need are the right accessories. This chapter can help you add some of those bells and whistles to your system. I know that adjusting some of these components sounds like neither a bell nor a whistle, but you may find the information helpful anyway.
Adding a Mouse, a Trackball, or a Touchpad Your mouse probably takes more abuse than just about any other part of your computer. After your mouse finally gives up the ghost, just go to your favorite computer store and buy a mouse of the same type. Prices can vary widely for a mouse — anywhere from about $5 to over $50. Before you spend that money, make sure that the mouse is truly dead.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Sometimes it is just a matter of the mouse cord coming loose from the back of the computer. Other times you just need to remove the ball from the underbelly of the mouse and clean out the cat hair. My experience has been that the mice on the bottom rung of the ladder don’t work very well or last very long. There are three options available to you if you’re interested in replacing your machine’s pointing device. You can buy a ■
Traditional mouse, which is about the size of the palm of your hand. You roll the mouse around at your computer’s side to move your pointer and use the two control buttons to make choices on-screen.
■
Trackball, which is essentially an upside down mouse. The trackball device remains stationary while you manipulate the ball to move the cursor on the screen. Trackballs, like mice, can come with either a serial or PS/2 type connector. Trackballs have two buttons, just like a mouse.
■
A touchpad, which is a device with a square of pressuresensitive material and two buttons. You slide you finger around on the pad to move the cursor on the screen. You most commonly find touchpads on laptop computers, but they are also available for desktop computers. (See Figure 2-1.)
Trackballs and touchpads tend to cost a bit more than mere mice. Some computer stores put these items on display so that you can try them out before you buy. If your computer store doesn’t, ask to try the model in which you’re interested. I have tried trackballs and touchpads, and I definitely prefer to use a mouse. I even plug a mouse into my laptop despite the fact that it has a built-in touchpad. Go with what feels best to you.
Chapter 2: Adding to and Adjusting Your Computer’s Accessories Figure 2-1:
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A trackball and touchpad.
Before you replace your pointing device, you need to know which of the two basic varieties of plugs your current mouse has, PS/2 or Serial type. Keep the following in mind: ■
Serial mouse plugs are trapezoidal in shape and have a bunch of little pins (Nine, to be exact, as shown in Figure 2-2.) They plug in to your computer through a serial port (or socket) that’s shaped like the letter D.
■
PS/2 mouse plugs are easy to spot because they are small and round and they plug into a circular mouse port.
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If you’re replacing one of the above with another just like it, buy a device with the same kind of connector (serial or PS/2).
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If you have a mouse port buy a pointer with a PS/2 type connector.
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If you have only a serial connector on the back of your computer, get a serial type.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Figure 2-2:
Serial ports on the back of your computer. Serial port 1 (9 hole, female)
Serial port 2 (25 hole, female)
Be careful not to plug the new mouse into the keyboard port — it won’t cause any damage, but your mouse won’t work either. Most computers have a little mouse symbol next to the mouse port so that you can easily identify it. Here’s how to add or replace a mouse, trackball, or touchpad: 1. Turn off your computer to avoid damaging it when
you plug the pointer in. Get in the habit of turning off your computer whenever you connect or disconnect components. 2. Plug the pointer’s connector into the mouse port or serial
port on the back of the computer. 3. Turn the computer on.
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If you are replacing a mouse, trackball, or touchpad with the same type of device, the new device will work fine with no further action on your part unless you’ve plugged it into the incorrect port. If you’re replacing a pointing device with another, different type of device (for example, you’re replacing a mouse with a trackball or a trackball with a mouse) and the new device doesn’t work, you may have to install some software for it. You know instantly that you need to install software because the software comes with the package. Just locate and run the device’s installation program and follow the directions. You will probably have to reboot your computer after running the installation program before the device will work.
Upgrading Your Keyboard If you don’t already have a keyboard, it’s a safe bet that you aren’t using your computer. However, the keyboard you do have may have sticky keys or may be causing your wrists pain when you type. If so, you may want to upgrade to a new keyboard. Keyboards come with either a large, round, AT style connector (for older computers) or a small, round, PS/2 style connector (for newer computers). When you shop for a replacement keyboard, make sure that you buy one with the same type of connector as your current keyboard. While most keyboards are the standard rectangular type, many new computers come with Windows 95 compatible keyboards, which have a couple of extra keys:
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC ■
The Windows key opens the Windows Start menu just as if you had clicked the Start Menu button with your mouse.
■
The other key opens the Context menu for the currently selected object just as if you had right-clicked the object.
Don’t feel like you have to buy a Windows compatible keyboard. These keyboards provide no extra advantage — I hardly ever use either of these keys and feel no worse for it. Not long ago, Microsoft made a foray into the hardware world and introduced the Microsoft Natural Keyboard. This keyboard, with its swoopy lines and Windows keys, is supposed to be more comfortable and make you less susceptible to repetitive stress injuries. The keyboard is split down the middle and curved to better accommodate the angle of your arms and includes built-in wrist rests. Today, most keyboard manufacturers offer keyboards similar to the Microsoft Natural Keyboard. These types of keyboards are often referred to as ergonomic because they are designed for ease-of-use. Some keyboards have built-in trackballs and even stereo speakers. New “Internet ready” keyboards have programmable keys that can automatically dial your connection to the Internet, launch your web browser or e-mail software. But expect to pay a premium for these keyboards. Be sure to try out any keyboard before you buy it. Each keyboard has a different feel. On some keyboards you have to press firmly to type. On others you barely have to touch the keys. Find one that is comfortable for you. Here is how to install a new keyboard: 1. Turn off your computer to avoid damaging it. 2. Unplug the old keyboard.
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3. Plug in the new keyboard. Be sure that you don’t plug
the keyboard into the mouse port by mistake. It won’t cause any damage, but the keyboard won’t work either. 4. Turn the computer on.
If you are replacing your keyboard with the same type of keyboard, you are finished. If you are installing a new type of keyboard — one that has additional functionality — proceed to Step 5 to run the keyboard’s installation program. 5. Put the keyboard’s floppy disk or CD into the drive and
run the installation program. You may need to restart your computer before you can use the new keyboard.
CHAPTER 3
UPGRADING AND TROUBLESHOOTING MODEMS I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Gathering tools and resources
■
Understanding modems
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Troubleshooting modems
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Understanding adapter cards
■
Troubleshooting sound and graphics cards
In this chapter, I show you how to handle any kind of modem malfunction and I give you the latest word on the high-tech alternatives to the modems you may be used to. I also walk you through the process of installing the hardware devices you need to get your modem running.
Before You Begin Before you can make these additions to your computer, read the information in this section very carefully. Your computer has several slots — the exact number varies with different computer models — that can accept this new hardware. The collection of slots is known as the computer’s expansion bus. The hardware devices that you install in the slots are known as expansion cards — they expand the capabilities of your computer. Expansion cards are often called
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adapter cards, or simply, adapters. This chapter explains what you need to know — and the tools you need — to install these expansion cards.
Gathering your tools You are going to need some tools. But you don’t need to rush out to Sears and buy the 400-piece Craftsman Master Mechanic set. A standard (slot head) screwdriver and a Phillips (cross head) screwdriver usually do the trick. If you have a Compaq computer, a Torx (you know, that funny starshaped screw head that you only find on old Macintosh and Compaq computers) driver set comes in very handy, as well. If you plan on working on computers often, you may consider purchasing a computer toolkit. These are readily available just about anywhere computers are sold and they cost around $15 to $20 dollars. You can buy more expensive toolkits, but you will never use most of the tools in them.
Playing the safety game Most people probably think of the danger of electrocution when they consider making repairs or upgrades. If you unplug the computer before taking the cover off, you run very little risk of zapping yourself. Computers have a lot of wires and sharp edges — just about every time I reach my chubby little hands into a computer, I end up with a scratch that invariably gets infected. While you need to be careful as you poke around inside your computer, the biggest risk you face is damaging your computer (and the component you’re installing) by making a mistake.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Removing a stubborn computer cover Some computer covers require you to get out the screwdriver and remove a bunch of screws, which is fine — but you need to be careful not to remove the screws that hold the power supply in place. On some systems, especially tower configurations, removing these screws can cause the power supply to fall into the computer and damage some of the internal components. If you have any doubts about how to remove your computer’s cover, be sure to check your system documentation.
Understanding the Different Types of Modems The number one reason new computer purchasers want a new computer is so that they can connect to the Internet. Most new computers either come with a modem as standard equipment or offer a modem as an option. If you don’t have a modem, or if your modem isn’t working, this section discusses the differences between types of modems, as well as offering troubleshooting tips and installation information. If you’re not familiar with the term, a modem is a device that allows your computer to connect to the Internet (and to other computers) over telephone lines. The modem’s job is to translate digital information from your computer into a continuous wave form that your telephone’s POTS — Plain Old Telephone System — can transmit. The modem attached to the computer on the other end of the telephone line translates the continuous wave form signal back into digital form.
Internal and external modems Several different types of modem services are available, but no matter which type of modem you choose, you have to attach the modem either internally or externally.
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Here are some pros and cons about internal modems: ■
Pros: Internal modems plug into a slot in your computer’s expansion bus, which means that you won’t be tripping over any power cord. Also, they don’t take up valuable desktop real estate, and you never have to dust them.
■
Cons: You have to match the internal modem to your computer’s expansion bus type. Internal modems are more difficult to install because you have to remove the cover from your computer. You also can’t use an internal modem interchangeably between two or more computers.
If you are unsure about which type of internal modem to buy, consult your computer’s documentation or contact your computer’s manufacturer. If you have a laptop or notebook computer, you can still use an internal modem. Just be sure to buy a PCMCIA card modem. Here are some pros and cons about external modems: ■
Pros: External modems are easy to install and move from one computer to another. They also have cool lights on the front that let you know what the modem is up to.
■
Cons: External modems have their own power cord and a data cable, which connects to your computer’s serial port or Universal Serial Bus Port (USB). Make sure that you have a place to plug it in and don’t forget to keep the cord in a place where you won’t trip over it. External modems tend to cost a few dollars more, too.
Your modem choice isn’t quite as simple as deciding between internal and external models. Because the demand to get connected to the Internet is so high, the technology has
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC advanced by leaps and bounds. You have a ton of options that can fit your need for a speedy connection, as well as your pocketbook. You are likely to encounter several different types of modems. Some of them aren’t really modems at all, but I tell you about that shortly.
Standard (56K) The most common type of modem in use today is the standard 56K modem. Early versions of 56K modems used one of two competing standards: X2 or Kflex. These two standards were not compatible and eventually gave way to the V.90 (pronounced vee-dot-ninety) standard. You don’t need to worry about what these different standards mean — they just represent differing methods of connecting computers. Try not to be surprised when your shiny new 56K modem connects at somewhat less than 56K. The 56K modems are still the fastest modems that you can plug into your telephone line without having the telephone company install special equipment. 56K modems are available in both internal and external models. If you are buying a modem to connect to the Internet, check with your ISP to find out what type of modem they support. If you are installing a standard modem for the first time, don’t forget that you still have to pay for your Internet service.
ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network, or ISDN, is integrated because it supports simultaneous voice and data and is digital because, well, it’s digital. The phone company uses alldigital lines and equipment to provide you with the service. ISDN can provide a connection as fast as 128K, which is
Chapter 3: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Modems
27
twice the speed of a 56K modem. But ISDN is not currently available everywhere. Check with your telephone company for availability and pricing. ISDN connections require special ISDN modems, and you still need to pay for an ISP.
DSL Strictly speaking, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service doesn’t provide a modem connection at all, but is a digital device that connects your computer to the phone company’s network. Currently, (DSL) service is even more limited than that of ISDN, but that will improve over time. DSL provides normal voice service with simultaneous Internet access at high speeds using a new technology that runs over standard phone lines. Current DSL technology requires you to be within three miles of your telephone company’s central office. Most DSL connections require external modems. DSL service is fast but expensive, ranging from about $90 to $300 per month for service. In addition to the monthly service fees, expect to pay $150 or more for installation. Contact your telephone company for availability in your area.
Cable Cable modems aren’t really modems at all. They are network devices that connect your network, usually consisting of your computer with an Ethernet card, to the cable television company’s network. The device uses the same cable that brings television programming into your home to bring you access to the Internet. Of course, just because you have cable television doesn’t mean that you can get cable modem access to the Internet. Check with your local cable company for more information, and remember that the speed of your connection may vary depending on the number of other cable modem users in your neighborhood. Most cable modem service requires an external modem.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Cable modem Internet access costs anywhere from $40 per month and up. In addition, you must purchase a cable modem (about $300) and an Ethernet card (about $50). Installation usually costs $150 or more. When you research the cable modem Internet access available from your local cable company, you will find that the technology comes in two flavors: half-duplex and full-duplex. Half-duplex service uses the cable modem to download information from the Internet and a regular modem and phone line to upload information to the Internet. Full-duplex service uses the cable modem for both downloading and uploading information, freeing up your telephone line for those important calls from the President. Your cable service provider determines whether you have full-duplex or halfduplex service. You don’t have any say in the matter. In my opinion, cable modem access offers the best combination of price and performance.
Satellite Talk about high tech! You can connect to the Internet using a satellite dish. Hughes Network Systems allows you to download information from the Internet using a small satellite dish at speeds up to 400K. You still need an additional modem and telephone line to upload information. The satellite dish and receiver cost about $200. Service from Hughes Network Systems starts at about $20 per month for 25 hours of connection time. Satellite access is available anywhere that you have a clear line of sight to the southern sky. Which kind of modem you choose is pretty much a matter of personal preference. Just don’t buy a USB modem if you are using Windows NT 4.0, even if your computer has a USB port. Windows NT 4.0 doesn’t support USB devices.
Chapter 3: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Modems
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Troubleshooting Modem Problems Here are some things to check if your modem doesn’t work the way you expect it to: ■
Check all the cables. Make sure the telephone cord is plugged into the phone jack on the wall and the line jack on the modem.
■
For external modems, ensure that the serial or USB cable is securely connected to both the modem and the computer. Also, make sure that the modem has power and is turned on.
■
Verify that the phone line is working. Plug a telephone into the line and dial a number.
■
Try using a different telephone cord. The one you are using may be damaged even if you can’t tell by looking at it.
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Be sure that you are dialing the correct number. If you are calling the wrong number, having a perfectly working modem won’t do you any good.
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Disable call waiting by dialing *70 before the number. Don’t worry. As soon as you disconnect, call waiting is once again activated.
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Make sure that no one picks up an extension phone while your modem is in use.
Installing a New Modem If you can’t get your modem to do what it should be doing, or if your PC doesn’t have a modem and you want one, all the information you need about installing one is right here.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Installing a new modem involves two separate procedures: ■
First, you must physically install the internal modem or connect the external modem.
■
Second, you have to introduce the modem to Windows by installing the appropriate software.
To install an internal modem 1. Turn off and unplug your computer. 2. Remove your computer’s cover. 3. Remove the cover from the expansion slot where you
intend to install the modem. 4. Insert the modem into the expansion slot. 5. Replace the computer’s cover. 6. Attach the telephone cord from the telephone jack to the
line port on the modem. 7. Plug in and turn on the computer.
To install an external serial port modem 1. Turn off your computer. 2. Connect the serial cable to the modem and to the serial
port on the back of the computer. Some inexpensive modems have the serial cable permanently attached to the back of the modem. 3. Connect the phone cord from the phone jack on the wall
to the line jack on the modem. 4. Connect the modem’s power cord. 5. Turn on the modem and computer.
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To install an external USB port modem: 1. Plug in the modem’s power cord and turn on the
modem. 2. Connect the USB cable to the modem. 3. Connect the other end of the USB cable to the USB port
on the computer. Most computers have the USB port located on the back of the computer, but a few have the USB port located on the front. After you have installed and/or connected your modem, you have to tell Windows what you have done: 1. Click Start➪Settings➪Control Panel. The Control Panel
comes to the screen. 2. Double-click the Add New Hardware icon to start the
Add New Hardware wizard. The first screen of the Add New Hardware wizard informs you that you should close all programs before continuing. 3. Save your work, close any open programs, and click
Next. The Add New Hardware wizard informs you that it will search for new devices. 4. Click Next. 5. Windows displays a list of new devices that it found.
Click the name of the device that you just installed and then click Next. 6. Click the Finish button and Windows sets up your new
modem. You will probably have to restart your computer after it is finished.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 7. If you didn’t see your modem listed, select the No, the device isn’t in the list radio button and click
Next. Windows offers to search for new hardware that isn’t Plug and Play. 8. Make sure the Yes (Recommended) radio button is
selected and click Next. Then click Next again to begin the search. 9. If Windows finds the new modem, you are finished. If
it doesn’t find it, Windows tells you so and instructs you to click Next to manually install the device. Click Next. 10. The Add New Hardware wizard displays a list of hardware types for you to choose from. Select Modem and
click Next. 11. Select the manufacturer and model of your modem and
click Next. 12. Click Next again to install the software for your modem. 13. If your manufacturer or model is not listed, click the
Have Disk button. 14. Insert the floppy or CD-ROM that came with your
modem. If you inserted a floppy, click OK to install the software. If you inserted a CD-ROM, you must type the name of the CD-ROM drive (usually D:) and click OK. Be prepared to restart your system after Windows finishes installing the software for your modem.
CHAPTER 4
UPGRADING AND TROUBLESHOOTING ADAPTERS I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Understanding adapter cards
■
Troubleshooting adapter cards
■
Troubleshooting sound and graphics cards
In this chapter, I tell you all about the adapters you can add to jazz up your computer and teach you how to figure out which type of adapter you should use. I also show you how to fix any problems you may have with a sound or graphics adapter, as well as how to install a new adapter card to your PC. If you want to know how to install or troubleshoot your modem, see Chapter 3. Also see Chapter 3 for important information you need before you make any additions to your computer.
Understanding the Different Kinds of Adapters All adapters are not created equal. Adapters come in various shapes and sizes with varying features and functions. This section helps you sort them out.
34
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Adapters are often called adapter cards, or just plain cards. Some short, mean people even refer to them as expansion cards. These terms are all referring to the same thing: a piece of hardware that plugs into the computer’s innards and adds to the computer’s capabilities.
Video adapters Video adapters take the 0s and 1s that your computer likes to sling around and translate them into text and pictures that can be displayed on your monitor. Most computers come with either a built-in video adapter — a set of computer chips soldered onto the motherboard — or a video adapter installed in one of the computer’s expansion bus slots. (See Figure 4-1.) Prices for video adapters start at about $50. Figure 4-1:
A generic video adapter card.
Sound adapters Most computers built in the last few years include a sound card, which allows your computer to play sounds and music. You also need a pair of speakers to plug into the sound card, as shown in Figure 4-2. If your computer didn’t come with a sound card or if your computer has a sound problem, you can add a new sound card. You can purchase a bottom-ofthe-barrel sound card for as little as $10.
Chapter 4: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Adapters Figure 4-2:
35
A generic sound card and speakers.
Knowing which type of adapter to use Before you buy a video adapter or sound adapter, make sure that the card will work with your computer by matching the card to the type of connector that your computer has. You need to have one of these three types of connectors in order to add a graphics or sound adapter to your computer: ■
If you bought your computer in the last couple of years, the computer probably has a mixture of Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus connectors and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus connectors. You can use these connectors for both sound and graphics cards.
■
Some new computers have a special graphics card port called an Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) slot. This connector only accepts an AGP video card.
36
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC ■
If you have an older computer, it may not have a PCI or AGP connector. You will probably have to install an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) type video or sound card.
Sounds cards are available with either ISA or PCI type connectors. Make sure that you buy the correct type for your computer. If you are unsure of the type of sound card that you need, check your computer’s documentation. If that doesn’t provide the information you need, you may have to contact the computer’s manufacturer. If you are unsure about this connector business, check your computer’s documentation.
Troubleshooting with Your Sound or Video Adapter Here are some things to check if your sound adapter isn’t working the way you expect it to: ■
Check all the cables. Make sure the speaker cables are plugged into the proper port on the back of the sound adapter.
■
Turn up the volume on the speakers if they have an external volume control. Also, turn up the volume with the on-screen control located in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
■
Double-click the volume control in the lower-right corner of your screen and drag CD volume slider up. If your sound adapter won’t play your music CDs but otherwise seems to function, you probably have the CD volume turned down.
■
If none of these solutions solves your problem, reinstall the software that came with the sound adapter.
Chapter 4: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Adapters
37
Here are some things to check if your video adapter isn’t working as you expect it to: ■
Make sure that the monitor cable is securely attached to the video adapter. A loose cable can cause distorted video.
■
Try adjusting the brightness and contrast controls on the monitor.
■
Check the settings in the Display Properties dialog box. You may have set the display incorrectly.
■
Reinstall the software that came with the video adapter.
Installing a New Adapter As soon as you have the correct new video or sound card, you can install it. If your computer already has a video adapter or sound adapter built in to the motherboard, you have to disable the old adapter before installing the new one. Refer to the documentation that came with your computer for instructions on disabling the built-in adapter. To install a new video or sound adapter: 1. Turn off the computer. Disconnect the monitor from the
back of the computer. Unplug the power cable and remove the computer’s cover. 2. Find and remove the old video or sound adapter. Remove
the retaining screw that holds the adapter card in place and gently pull it from the slot. 3. If the adapter card that you are installing is the same type
as the one you just removed, insert it into the same connector. Otherwise, find an empty connector that matches the connector tabs on your new adapter card and remove the retaining screw and slot cover. Insert the adapter card into the slot.
38
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 4. Install the retaining screw to secure the adapter card to
the computer’s case. 5. Replace the computer’s cover and plug in the computer’s
power cord. 6. Connect the monitor’s signal cable to the connector on
the video adapter. 7. Turn on the monitor and the computer.
With a little luck, Windows recognizes the new adapter card and sets the card up for you. If Windows doesn’t, you need to properly introduce your new adapter card to Windows: 1. Click Start➪Settings➪Control Panel. The Control Panel
comes to the screen. 2. Double-click the Add New Hardware icon to start the
Add New Hardware Wizard. 3. The first screen of the Add New Hardware wizard
informs you that you should close all programs before continuing. Save your work and close any open programs. 4. Click Next. The Add New Hardware wizard politely
informs you that it will search for new devices. 5. Click Next. 6. Windows displays a list of new devices that it finds. Click
the name of the device that you just installed and then click Next. 7. Click the Finish button. Windows sets up your new
adapter card. You will probably have to restart your computer after it is finished. 8. If you didn’t see your video or sound adapter card listed under Devices, select the No, the device isn’t in the list radio button and click Next.
Chapter 4: Upgrading and Troubleshooting Adapters
39
9. Windows offers to search for new hardware that isn’t Plug-and-Play-compatible. Make sure the Yes (Recommended) radio button is selected and click Next.
Click Next again to begin the search. If Windows finds the new video or sound adapter card, you are finished. 10. If it doesn’t find the card, Windows tells you so and
instructs you to click Next to manually install the device. Click Next. 11. The Add New Hardware wizard displays a list of hardware
types for you to choose from, as shown in Figure 4-3. Figure 4-3:
Types of hardware to install.
12. Select Display Adapters and click Next. 13. Select the manufacturer and model of your new video
adapter card and click Next, as shown in Figure 4-4.
40
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Figure 4-4:
The manufacturers and models lists.
14. Click Next again to install the software for your new
video adapter card. 15. If your manufacturer or model is not listed, click the
Have Disk button. 16. Insert the floppy or CD-ROM that came with your
video adapter card. If you insert a disk, click OK to install the software. If you insert a CD-ROM, you must type the name of the CD-ROM drive (usually D:) and click OK. 17. Be prepared to restart your system after Windows fin-
ishes installing the software for your video adapter card.
CHAPTER 5
EXPANDING YOUR COMPUTER’S MEMORY I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Understanding memory types
■
Figuring out how much memory you have
■
Memory requirements
■
Installing memory
Your computer needs memory to get its work done. Think of memory as you would your desk. On your desk you lay all the paperwork you’re working on. As you know (especially if you have a lot of paperwork), the bigger the desk, the more stuff you can put on it. Same with your computer — the more memory (Random Access Memory, or RAM) you install in your computer, the more room you have to run programs and save your work. Three factors affect the amount of RAM that your computer needs: ■
Your operating system. If your operating system takes a lot of memory to run, you may need more RAM to keep it running optimally.
■
The type of programs you run. If you run programs that take up a lot of memory (like graphics programs), you may need more RAM.
■
The number of programs you run simultaneously. If you expect your computer to run several different programs at a time, you may need more RAM.
42
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Having a lot of RAM can give you a number of benefits: ■
You can do more. You can run multiple programs, even programs that are large and complicated, at the same time.
■
You can help your computer run faster, because the more room the computer has to work, the less time it wastes shuffling information between RAM (which is very fast) and your hard disk, which is relatively slow compared to RAM.
Understanding the Different Types of Computer Memory Memory comes in various shapes and sizes. When you go to the computer store, you might hear the word DRAM, which is short for Dynamic Random Access Memory, the most common type of RAM used in desktop computers. DRAM comes in two varieties: ■
SIMMs, or Single Inline Memory Modules. A SIMM is a computer card that generally has RAM chips soldered to one side of it. You put it in your computer to increase your RAM. Older computers use SIMMs.
■
DIMMs, or Dual Inline Memory Modules. A DIMM is a computer card that has RAM chips soldered to both sides of it. DIMMs have a higher capacity to hold RAM than SIMMs and are found in newer computers.
If you have an older computer, it probably uses 30-pin SIMMs, while newer computers, like Pentiums, use a 72pin configuration. Pin configuration is simply the number of pins on the SIMM needed to connect the SIMM to your PC’s motherboard. Figure 5-1 shows you a SIMM.
Chapter 5: Expanding Your Computer’s Memory Figure 5-1:
43
Older computers have RAM installed on SIMMs.
Typical SIMM
If you have the newest and fastest Pentium II and Pentium III computers, your PC uses Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory, otherwise known as SDRAM. SDRAM is configured with 168-pin DIMMs.
Knowing How Speed and Size Affect RAM When you think about RAM, you must also consider the speed of your computer’s memory chips. The older your computer, the slower your RAM. RAM speed in older computers is measured in nanoseconds (ns) and in newer computers is measured in megahertz (MHz). Just to put things in perspective, a nanosecond is one billionth of a second. Megahertz refers to millions of cycles per second. Table 5-1 shows you the RAM speeds you find in various computers.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Table 5-1:
RAM Configuration, Speed, and Upgrading
Computer
# of Pins
Speed
How to Upgrade
386
30- or 72-pin SIMMs
70 – 80 ns
Slow RAM; install 30-pin SIMMs in banks of four; install 72-pin SIMMs individually
486
30- or 72-pin SIMMs
60 – 70 ns
Slow RAM; install 30-pin SIMMs in banks of four; install 72-pin SIMMs individually
Pentium
72-pin SIMMs or 168-pin DIMMs
50 – 70 ns
Faster RAM; install SIMMs in matched pairs; DIMMs can be installed individually
100 MHz
Very fast RAM; DIMMs can be installed individually
Pentium II/III 168-pin SDRAM
Your computer may run erratically or refuse to function if you install memory that is too slow or too fast. If you put newer, faster memory in an older computer that is designed to use slower memory, the memory may work, but I don’t recommend it because the older computer isn’t capable of taking advantage of the new memory’s full potential — you will have paid more money for the memory you can’t really use. The converse is also true. If you put slow memory in a fast computer, it may work, but it will slow down the computer. Don’t mix and match the speed of the memory chips. Your computer probably won’t like that very much. Instead, match the correct memory speed to your computer’s current memory speed.
Chapter 5: Expanding Your Computer’s Memory
45
Determining How Much Memory Your PC Has If you’re wondering how much memory your computer has, the answer is simple: probably not enough. Your computer should have a minimum of 32 to 64 megabytes of RAM. A megabyte is approximately a million bytes. A byte is the basic unit of storage measurement in the computer world. Storing a single letter of the alphabet requires one byte of RAM. One of the easiest ways to find out how much RAM your computer has is to turn on the computer and watch it count its memory. After you turn on the computer, you will see a rapidly changing number in the top-left corner of the screen. After this number stops changing, you have the amount of RAM installed in your computer. Another way to discover the amount of RAM in your computer is to ask Windows. Right-click the My Computer icon on the Windows Desktop and choose Properties. You see the amount of installed RAM listed on the General tab of the System Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 5-2. Click the Cancel button to close the System Properties dialog box.
Memory Requirements The amount of memory that you should have installed in your computer depends on several factors: ■
The operating system you are running
■
The types of programs that you run
■
The number of programs that you want to run simultaneously
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Figure 5-2:
The System Properties dialog box.
Table 5-2 shows you the minimum amount of RAM required to run your PC effectively. Table 5-2: Memory Requirements for Optimum Use If You’re Running
You Need
You’re Better Off With
Windows 95
8MB of RAM to run basic applications
A minimum of 12MB – 16MB of RAM to run applications effectively
Chapter 5: Expanding Your Computer’s Memory
47
If You’re Running
You Need
You’re Better Off With
Windows 98
16MB – 32MB of RAM to run basic applications
48MB – 64MB of RAM if you want to run your web browser while working on spreadsheets or word processing documents
Windows 2000 32MB to 64MB of RAM to run basic applications
An additional 64MB of RAM if you run memory-intensive applications such as photo editing or multimedia presentations
Installing More Memory Make sure that you buy the correct type of memory for your computer. If you have any doubt about the type of memory (discussed in the section in this chapter called “Knowing how speed and size affect RAM”) that you need to buy, remove one of the old memory chips and take it with you to the computer store. If the friendly folks at your computer store can’t tell you what type of memory you need to buy from that sample, you are probably shopping at the wrong computer store. Don’t get upset when you find out that you need to take out your old memory before you can install the new memory. If your computer has 16MB of RAM installed and you want to upgrade to 32MB of RAM, you may have to buy 32MB, not just an additional 16MB. You may have to add more memory than you think you need if your computer currently has a 4MB SIMM installed in each of its four memory slots. You have to remove the 4MB SIMMs and replace them with four 8MB SIMMs.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Before you decide to install new memory in your computer, consider having it installed by a professional. Some computer stores offer free installation. If you decide to do it yourself, see Chapter 3 for important safety information. Memory chips are very sensitive to static electricity. Before you install memory in your computer, consider spending a couple of dollars on a grounding strap. You don’t have to shell out big bucks for one — unless you plan on getting into the memory installation business. You should be able to buy a disposable grounding strap for a dollar or two from the store where you purchase the memory. If you don’t use a grounding strap, the static electricity from your body or from shuffling on the carpet can ruin your PC’s new memory. If you decide that you really do want to install the memory yourself, follow these steps: 1. Turn off and unplug the computer. 2. Remove the computer’s cover. You may have to refer to
your computer’s documentation for this. 3. If necessary, remove the old memory. You usually have
to pry the metal or plastic tabs from both ends of the memory card. Pay attention to the way the old memory card was installed. 4. Plug in the new memory. Be careful to plug the mem-
ory cards correctly. The memory cards are notched at one end. Gently place the memory card into the slot at an angle and slowly stand the card up until it clicks into place. 5. Replace the computer’s cover. 6. Plug the computer in and turn it on. Your computer should
recognize the new memory. If the computer doesn’t, you need to run the computer’s BIOS setup program. You run
Chapter 5: Expanding Your Computer’s Memory
49
the BIOS setup program by pressing Del or F2 during the POST (Power On Self Test) that is performed after you turn the computer on. If you aren’t sure how to start your computer’s BIOS setup program, refer to your system documentation or check out Chapter 7. Not sure which of those whatsits are the memory cards? They usually hang out in pairs or groups of fours: ■
30-pin SIMMs are about 3 1⁄2 inches long by about 3 ⁄4 inch high and have 8 or 9 memory chips attached to them.
■
72-pin SIMMs are about 4 1⁄4 inches long by about 1 inch high and have 8 or 9 memory chips attached to them.
■
168-pin DIMMs are about 5 1⁄3 inches long by about 1 inch high and have 9 memory chips attached to each side.
Most computers have either four or eight memory card slots. These slots may be divided into pairs or groups of four called banks. When you install memory, you have to fill in an entire bank. Your computer has two memory banks if there are four memory card slots divided into pairs. You have to completely fill a memory bank or leave the memory bank empty. You cannot install one memory card in memory bank A and one memory card in memory bank B. Likewise, you cannot install memory cards of differing capacities in the same memory bank. You can, however, install memory cards of differing capacities in different memory banks. Figure 5-3 shows you what SIMM slots look like. If you have any questions about how many banks and slots your PC has, refer to your system documentation.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC SIMM slots filled with SIMMs.
SI SI M 8 M SI 7 SI M 6 M SI 5 SI M 4 M SI 3 SI M 2 M 1
Figure 5-3:
CHAPTER 6
FIDDLING WITH YOUR COMPUTER’S DRIVES I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Understanding different drive types
■
Replacing a hard drive
■
Installing a CD-ROM drive
■
Adding a Zip drive
Computers can have a variety of storage devices. Some are faster than others; some have a greater capacity to store files than others. No matter what type of storage device your computer has, all storage devices have one thing in common: Your storage drive doesn’t lose its contents when you turn off the computer — well, hardly ever.
Understanding Your Computer’s Storage Drives No matter what types of drives your computer has, all drives function in essentially the same way. Drives store your words and pictures in bunches of 0s and 1s. Unlike RAM, discussed in Chapter 5, the information that you store on your computer’s drives doesn’t disappear into the ether after you turn off the computer. The information remains stored on your drive until you choose to delete it. This section takes a brief look at the various types of storage drives.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Floppy drive The floppy drive is the oldest and slowest of the drives found on today’s computers. The floppy drive uses a 3 1⁄2-inch removable disk that can hold up to 1.44MB of information. In the ancient days of computing, computers had 5 1⁄4 -inch floppy drives that held even less information — up to 1.2MB. If you have a problem with a floppy drive, most of the time the problem is that the disk is defective, but the drive itself is fine. If your floppy drive does go on the blink, you can buy a replacement for about $25. Floppy drives are handy for storing and exchanging small files.
Hard drive The hard drive is a non-removable device hidden away in your computer’s nether regions. Hard drives are very fast and can store thousands of times more information than floppy disks can. The smallest hard drives available today hold about 3.2GB of information and cost about $125. The largest hard drives can store 50GB of information and cost about $1,500. Hard drives are the main storage devices for personal computers. They hold your operating system and application programs, as well as your data. Hard drives store information permanently, unlike RAM, which is erased each time you turn the computer off.
CD-ROM drive CD-ROM drives — or Compact Disc Read-Only Memory drives — are read-only devices. Read-only means that the CD-ROM drive can read information that has been placed on a CD-ROM, but the drive cannot change or delete the information. In other words, you can’t save information onto a typical CD-ROM, but you can use your CD-ROM drive to read a lot of information (about 650MB-worth), which is handy. The CDs look just like the CD-ROMs that you play
Chapter 6: Fiddling with Your Computer’s Drives
53
in your stereo’s CD player. In fact, most computer CD-ROM drives are capable of playing music CD-ROMs. You can buy a CD-ROM drive for as little as $50, but take a look at the following paragraph before you do. Most new computer programs are sold on CD-ROMs.
CD-R and CD-RW drives CD-R (or CD Recordable drives) and CD-RW (or CD ReWriteable drives) can not only read CD-ROMs like their simpler CD-ROM drive cousins, but these two drives can also write information to special CDs. CD-R drives can write to a CD only one time. After that, the CD effectively becomes a CD-ROM, meaning that the information on it is read-only and can’t be modified. CD-R drives are available starting at about $200. Also, you can’t record to just any CD-ROM. You have to buy special CDs labeled CD-R. On the other hand, CD-RW drives can write to a CD many times over, just as floppy disks can be used again and again. CD-RW drives are available starting at about $300. CD-RW drives can read from both regular CDs as well as CD-Rs, but require special CD-RW discs for actual rewriting. CD-R drives are great for making permanent copies of large amounts of information. Once created, they can’t be overwritten. CD-RW drives are handy for making copies of large amounts of information that changes frequently. A CD-RW disc can be overwritten up to 1,000 times.
DVD-ROM drive The DVD-ROM (or Digital Versatile Disk Read-Only Memory) is the newest type of compact disk drive available. It can hold up to 5.2GB of information on a disc that looks just like a CD-ROM, but isn’t. DVD-ROM drives can also read
54
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC regular CD-ROMs. The most popular use of DVD-ROM drives is watching full-length feature movies. DVDROM drives are available for as little as $100.
DVD-RAM drive This is the rewriteable version of the DVD-ROM drive. Like its read-only sibling, the DVD-RAM drive can hold up to 5.2GB of information. DVD-RAM drive prices start at about $500.
Zip drive Zip disks look like floppy disks on steroids. Zip disks come in two different capacities: 100MB and 250MB. The 250MB model is capable of reading from and writing to 100MB Zip disks. You can buy internal or external Zip drives. The external models usually connect to your computer’s parallel printer port, but USB (Universal Serial Bus) and SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) models are available. Many computer manufacturers offer internal Zip drives as an option. Prices for Zip drives start at about $100. Zip drives are popular for exchanging large amounts of information.
Tape backup drive As the name implies, tape backup drives are useful for making backup copies of your computer files. Tape backup drives come in various sizes and capacities, from a low end of a couple of hundred megabytes to a high end of up to 70GB. Prices range from about $100 for low-capacity tape backup drive to thousands of dollars for the high-capacity systems.
Chapter 6: Fiddling with Your Computer’s Drives
55
Removing and Replacing Your Hard Drive When you need to replace your computer’s hard drive, don’t forget that you should already have a backup of the information on your old hard drive. If you are replacing a drive because you need more capacity, be sure to make a backup copy of all the files on the drive. A tape backup unit provides the easiest and fastest method of backing up your hard drive. If you don’t have a tape backup unit, you might consider backing up to a CD-RW, to a Zip drive, or to some other removable media drive. Backup to floppy only as a last resort. Floppy drives are slow and don’t hold much information. You need a lot of floppies to back up your hard disk. If you must back up your hard drive to floppy disk, consider backing up only your data files. You can install your operating system and application programs from the original disks. This saves you a lot of time. If you are replacing a drive that has failed, you already know that it’s too late to worry about creating a backup. To replace your computer’s hard drive, follow these steps: 1. Turn the computer off and unplug it. 2. Remove the computer’s cover. You may need to refer to
your documentation for this step. 3. Unplug the old hard drive’s ribbon and power cables.
The ribbon cable is the flat gray cable with the black connector. The power cable is the cable with the four colored wires. 4. Remove the mounting screws that hold the drive in
place. Some computers have, instead of screws, little tabs that you have to press in order to release the drive.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 5. Remove the drive from the computer. Most hard drives
slide out the front of the computer. Others drives slide out toward the back of the computer. Still other drives just lift out. 6. Insert the new hard drive in the computer. If your drive
uses mounting rails, make sure you install them. You may have to remove the rails from the old drive if your new drive didn’t come with rails. 7. Connect the data cable to the hard drive. Most drives
have a notched connector so that you can’t accidentally plug the data connector in upside down. If your drive doesn’t have this notched connector, make sure that the side of the data cable with the red stripe matches up to the side of the connector marked with a 1. 8. Connect the power cable to the hard drive. You can’t go
wrong fitting the power cable because you can fit the cable in one way only. 9. Secure the drive with the mounting screws. 10. Replace the computer’s cover. Be sure not to pinch the
drive cables as you put the cover back on. 11. Plug in the computer and turn it on.
Well, you’ve done the hard part. Now you have to make sure that your computer and the new hard drive are properly acquainted. In most cases, you simply place the installation disk that came with your new hard drive into the floppy drive and turn on the computer. The installation program makes the introductions for you and tells your computer’s CMOS chip (a little computer chip that keeps track of the various components installed in your computer) the type and capacity of the drive you just installed. The program also partitions the drive so that you can format the new drive with the operating system of your choice.
Chapter 6: Fiddling with Your Computer’s Drives
57
After the drive’s installation program finishes, you can install your operating system. The operating system is almost certainly some version or other of Microsoft Windows. Place the Windows boot disk in the floppy drive and restart the computer. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the operating system.
Installing a CD-ROM Drive If you don’t have a CD-ROM drive, or if your original CD-ROM drive has failed you, you can purchase and install either an internal or external CD-ROM drive to your PC. External drives usually plug into the computer’s parallel printer port, but some newer models plug into the USB port. Installing an external CD-ROM drive is a snap — just follow these directions: 1. Turn off the computer and unplug it. 2. Unplug the printer cable, if necessary, from the back of
the computer. 3. Plug one end of the CD-ROM’s cable into the printer
port on the back of the computer. Plug the other end of the cable into the CD-ROM drive. 4. Plug the printer cable into the printer pass-through port
on the CD-ROM drive. 5. Plug in the CD-ROM drive’s power cable and turn it on. 6. Plug in the computer and turn it on. 7. Run the installation program that came with the
CD-ROM drive.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC If you are installing a USB external CD-ROM drive, you don’t have to shut off the computer. Just plug in the CD-ROM drive and turn it on. Then connect the USB cable to the CD-ROM drive and to the computer. The computer recognizes the fact that a new USB device has been connected and prompts you for the installation disk. Installing an internal CD-ROM drive is a little more complicated than installing an external CD-ROM drive, but not greatly so: 1. Turn off the computer and unplug it. 2. Remove the computer’s cover. 3. Slide the CD-ROM drive into an empty drive bay. On
some systems you must remove a piece of plastic that covers the empty drive bay. The empty drive bay is the slot at the front of the computer just a little bigger than the CD-ROM drive. If you are unsure where to install the CD-ROM drive, check your computer’s documentation. 4. Connect the floppy controller cable to the CD-ROM
drive. This cable looks just like the hard drive cable but is narrower. 5. Connect a power cable to the CD-ROM drive. 6. Secure the CD-ROM drive in the drive bay with screws. 7. Replace the computer’s cover. Be sure not to snag the
cover on any cables. 8. Plug the computer in and turn it on. Windows recog-
nizes the new CD-ROM drive and prompts you for the installation disk that came with the drive. If Windows doesn’t prompt you, put the installation disk in the floppy drive and run the installation program.
Chapter 6: Fiddling with Your Computer’s Drives
59
Installing a Tape Backup Unit Tape backup units are great devices for making copies of important information. If something happens to the original files on your hard disk — the drive may fail or the files may be inadvertently erased — you can restore the files from the copy you stored on tape. Installing a tape backup unit is very similar to installing a hard disk or CD-ROM drive. If you have a USB drive, just plug it in and feed the computer the installation disk when asked for it. Follow these steps to install an external parallel printer port tape backup unit: 1. Turn off the computer and unplug it. 2. Unplug the printer cable, if necessary, from the back of
the computer. 3. Plug one end of the tape backup unit’s cable into the
printer port on the back of the computer. Plug the other end of the cable into the tape backup unit. 4. Plug the printer cable into the printer pass-through port
on the tape backup unit. 5. Plug in the tape backup unit’s power cable and turn it on. 6. Plug in the computer and turn it on. Run the installa-
tion program that came with the tape backup unit. Installing an internal tape backup unit is very similar to installing an internal CD-ROM drive: 1. Turn off the computer and unplug it. 2. Remove the computer’s cover.
60
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 3. Slide the tape backup unit into an empty drive bay. On
some systems you must remove a piece of plastic that covers the empty drive bay. 4. Connect the floppy controller cable to the tape backup
unit. This cable looks just like the hard drive cable but is narrower. Make sure that the red stripe on the cable matches up with pin 1 on the connector. 5. Connect a power cable to the tape backup unit. 6. Secure the tape backup unit in the drive bay with screws. 7. Replace the computer’s cover. Be sure not to snag the
cover on any cables. 8. Plug the computer in and turn it on. Windows recog-
nizes the new tape backup unit and prompts you to feed it the installation disk that came with the drive. If Windows doesn’t prompt you for the installation disk, put the installation disk in the floppy drive and run the installation program.
Installing a Zip Drive If you have a lot of information (up to 250MB) that you want to back up or move from one computer to another, a Zip drive can be a very useful tool. Most Zip drives are external and connect to either the parallel printer port or the USB port. Figure 6-1 shows you an external Zip drive. To install the USB version, just plug in the Zip drive’s power cord and connect the USB cable to both the Zip drive and the computer. The computer recognizes that a USB device has been connected and prompts for the installation disk. Insert the disk and follow the on-screen prompts.
Chapter 6: Fiddling with Your Computer’s Drives Figure 6-1:
61
A Zip drive can back up and compress your information quickly.
Follow these steps to install an external Zip drive with the parallel printer port version: 1. Turn off the computer and unplug it. 2. Unplug the printer cable, if necessary, from the back of
the computer. 3. Plug one end of the Zip drive’s cable into the printer port
on the back of the computer. Plug the other end of the cable into the Zip drive. 4. Plug the printer cable into the printer pass-through port
on the Zip drive. 5. Plug in the Zip drive’s power cable and turn it on. 6. Plug in the computer and turn it on. 7. Run the installation program that came with the Zip
drive. Follow these steps to install an internal Zip drive: 1. Turn off the computer and unplug it. 2. Remove the computer’s cover.
62
CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 3. Slide the Zip drive into an empty drive bay. On some
systems you must remove a piece of plastic that covers the empty drive bay. 4. Connect the floppy controller cable to the Zip drive.
This cable looks just like the hard drive cable but is narrower. Make sure that the red stripe on the cable matches up with pin 1 on the connector. 5. Connect a power cable to the Zip. 6. Secure the Zip drive in the drive bay with screws. 7. Replace the computer’s cover. Be sure not to snag the
cover on any cables. 8. Plug the computer in and turn it on. Windows may rec-
ognize the new Zip drive and prompt for the installation disk that came with the drive. If it doesn’t, put the installation disk in the floppy drive and run the installation program.
CHAPTER 7
MODERNIZING YOUR MOTHERBOARD I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Changing system settings
■
Upgrading the BIOS
■
Replacing a dead battery
■
Upgrading the CPU
Your computer’s motherboard holds all the important components that make your computer run, including the SIMM sockets (discussed in Chapter 5) that hold the PC’s Random Access Memory. These items are also on the motherboard: ■
The BIOS, or Basic Input Output System, which houses — among other things — your computer’s system settings.
■
The CPU, or Central Processing Unit, otherwise known as the brain of any computer system.
Figure 7-1 shows a motherboard for a 386 PC. If your motherboard is older than a 486, the CPU may not be able to keep up with any new programs that you add. The most cost-effective solution may be to replace the entire motherboard. See “Upgrading the CPU,” in this chapter, for more information.
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Figure 7-1:
If you have 386 motherboard, you should replace it. Keyboard port
8-bit slots
16-bit slots
Math coprocessor
CPU
BIOS chips SIMM sockets
Changing Your Computer’s System Settings If you add or remove hardware from your computer, you must tell your computer what changes you have made. To change the settings stored in your computer’s CMOS chip (the chip that monitors all of your computer’s activities), you must access your system’s BIOS (the group of chips that sets up your system’s programs and makes sure that they run). How you start the setup program depends on the make and model of your computer. When you first turn on your computer, look for a message telling you how to start the setup program. You may see a message such as Press F2 to enter Setup or Press Del Setup
Some computers have you press Ctrl+Alt+Esc, Ctrl+Alt+Ins, Ctrl+Alt+Enter, or F1 to enter the setup program. If none of these methods brings the setup screen to life, you need to hit
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the books. Look in your computer’s manual for more information on your PC’s BIOS setup. As soon as you get into the setup program, here are some of the features that you need to set: ■
Date: To tell your computer what day it is.
■
Boot Sequence: To tell your computer where to find the operating system. On most systems, you want to set this to Floppy and then to Hard Disk. If your computer is capable of booting from the CD-ROM drive, set this drive last so that your computer won’t try to boot from the CD-ROM drive if you leave a CD in the drive.
■
Diskette Drives: To tell the computer what type of floppy disk drives it has.
■
Hard Disk: To tell the computer what type and size hard disk is installed. Usually the type is 47, but check the documentation for the hard disk.
■
Memory: To tell the computer how much memory it has.
■
Time: To tell the computer what time it is.
■
Video Card: On some systems, you have to tell the computer what type of video card is installed. If you install a video card in a computer that has a built-in video card, you have to tell the computer which card to use.
Replacing a Dead Battery Your computer has a special chip called the CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) that stores all the important information about the your PC’s RAM, hard drives
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC and floppy drives, and anything else installed in your system. In order to remember all this stuff, especially when the computer is turned off, the CMOS needs a source of electrical power. That is where the battery comes in. If the battery goes dead — most batteries last for three or more years — the CMOS loses all its settings. After you turn off the computer, the CMOS forgets how much memory the computer has, what type of drives, and so on. Follow these steps to locate the battery on your system board: Your computer’s battery may look like a circular, flat disc — sort of like an overgrown watch battery. Or it may look more oblong (as shown in Figure 7-2), like two AA batteries wrapped together in plastic.
Figure 7-2:
One of the types of batteries that your computer may have.
1. Turn off the computer and unplug it. 2. Remove the computer’s cover. 3. Locate the battery on the motherboard. 4. Remove the existing battery by gently prying the retain-
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ing clips apart. If your computer has AA-type batteries, disconnect the cable from the motherboard. Note the connector where you disconnected the cable. 5. Install the new battery. If your computer uses one of the
watch-type batteries, install the battery with the plus sign up. If your computer uses the AA-type battery, connect the cable to the motherboard. 6. Replace the computer cover. 7. Plug in and turn on the computer.
After you install the battery and turn the computer on, don’t be surprised that the computer suffers from amnesia. The CMOS won’t remember the date and time, or what kind of hardware it has until you run the BIOS setup program. See the section earlier in this chapter for information on running the setup.
Upgrading the BIOS Who is this BIOS guy and why would you need to upgrade him? The BIOS is a set of computer chips that provide the basic instructions necessary for your computer to function, including the following: ■
The BIOS allows your computer to boot, or start up.
■
This system is also responsible for performing the computer’s Power On Self-Test, or POST, which checks to make sure that your computer’s hardware components are functioning.
■
Probably the most important function of the BIOS is that it acts as the interface between your computer’s operating system (for example, Windows 95) and its hardware (for example, your printer).
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC You may need to upgrade your computer’s BIOS so that it can communicate with new hardware devices that weren’t available when the BIOS was created. For example, if your BIOS is older, it may not be able to cope with dates beyond December 31, 1999 because of the so-called Y2K bug.
Using software to upgrade your BIOS: Most computers have a flash BIOS. A flash BIOS is simply a set of BIOS chips that can be upgraded by running a software program. You can usually get the software you need to complete the upgrade from the manufacturer of the computer. If you don’t have any luck getting the software from the computer manufacturer, try going directly to the BIOS manufacturer — almost certainly AMI (www.ami.com) or Award (www.award.com).
Upgrading the BIOS the old-fashioned way If you have an older BIOS that you can’t upgrade with software, you are going to have to roll up your sleeves and get under the hood of your computer and perform the upgrade manually. You need some tools to upgrade the BIOS the old-fashioned way, but don’t worry, the work isn’t difficult. Check Chapter 3 for some safety tips, and have these tools ready: ■
A screwdriver to remove your computer’s cover.
■
A chip puller to remove the old BIOS chips. If you have a computer toolkit, you probably already have a chip puller, which is the tool that resembles a pair of tweezers.
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If you don’t have a computer toolkit, you can buy a basic set for about $20. You can also use a small screwdriver to gently remove the old BIOS chips. ■
Of course, you also need new BIOS chips. You can purchase these from your computer’s manufacturer or from a BIOS manufacturer such as AMI or Award.
To upgrade your BIOS and manually replace BIOS chips: 1. Turn off your computer, unplug it, and remove its cover. 2. Locate the BIOS chips on the motherboard. The BIOS
is probably contained on a single chip with the word BIOS printed on it. The BIOS may consist of up to five chips, labeled BIOS-1 through BIOS-5. 3. Make a note of the location and orientation of the BIOS
chips so you can install the new chips in the same way. 4. Gently pry out the old BIOS chips, as shown in
Figure 7-3. Figure 7-3:
Use a scewdriver to gently pry old chips out of the sockets.
5. Carefully insert the new BIOS chips in the vacated chip
sockets. Be sure not to bend the pins on the BIOS chips. 6. Replace the computer’s cover. 7. Plug in the computer and turn it on. The computer dis-
plays the new BIOS version on start-up.
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Upgrading the CPU The CPU, or Central Processing Unit (shown in Figure 7-4), is your computer’s brain. CPUs must be made of very hardy stuff, because the CPU is one of the least likely components in your computer to fail. In fact, your CPU is more likely to outlive its usefulness than it is to die on you. Figure 7-4:
The CPU is your PC’s brain.
68 pin package (80286 microprocessor)
But a day may come when you find some shiny new program that you just have to have, but you realize that your aging computer’s CPU isn’t up to the task. Should you ditch that faithful computer for a newer, fancier model? Maybe. But if your computer is otherwise healthy, has lots of RAM and hard disk space, you may consider replacing the PC’s central processor instead. Currently, if your computer has a 486 or newer CPU, you can probably install a faster processor. I say “probably” because some older computers have a CPU that is permanently attached to the motherboard. These CPUs cannot be easily removed and are not good candidates for an upgrade.
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If you have any questions about the CPU of a specific computer model, be sure to check with the vendor selling the processor upgrade, or consult the following list. Three of the best sources for processor upgrades are Intel, Kingston Technologies, and Evergreen Technologies. They provide processor upgrades for a wide variety of computer systems. Here’s a list of the types of PC processors that you can upgrade: ■
486 system: You can upgrade the system to the equivalent of a Pentium 75 MHz by installing an AMD 5x86 133 MHz. This chip costs about $100.
■
Pentium 75 MHz or faster system: You have several choices for upgrading. Intel makes an Overdrive processor for Pentium 75 MHz based systems that upgrades them to Pentium 150 MHz. Evergreen Technologies makes a 200 MHz processor upgrade for these systems. Kingston Technologies has an upgrade for systems based on Pentium 75 MHz or faster processors that uses an Intel Pentium 233 MHz processor.
■
Pentium 90, 120, or 150 MHz system: You can upgrade to the Intel Pentium Overdrive 180 MHz processor. Or you can install the Evergreen Technologies 200 MHz processor upgrade or the Kingston Technologies Pentium 233 MHz processor upgrade.
■
Pentium 100 MHz or 133 MHz system: You can install the Intel Pentium Overdrive 166 MHz or 200 MHz processor upgrade. Or you can install the Evergreen Technologies 200 MHz processor upgrade or Kingston Technologies Pentium 233 MHz processor upgrade.
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Pentium 166 MHz system: You can upgrade to the Intel 200 MHz Pentium Overdrive processor. Or you can install the Evergreen Technologies 200 MHz processor upgrade or the Kingston Technologies Pentium 233 MHz processor upgrade.
■
An AMD or Pentium CPU running at 166 MHz or faster: You have the option of upgrading to Kingston Technologies’ new TurboChip 366. This TurboChip 366 is an AMD K6-2 processor running at 366 MHz. (AMD is the chief rival of Intel in the CPU market).
Be sure before attempting to install a new processor to your computer that you check with the processor’s manufacturer to make sure that the new processor will work in your system.
CHAPTER 8
MONITORS AND SCANNERS I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Maintaining your monitor
■
Choosing and installing a new monitor
■
Installing a scanner
Your monitor is your computer’s window. Do you spend all your time in front of the computer staring at the keyboard? No! Well, maybe if you type as poorly as I do. You spend the great majority of your computer time looking at the monitor, so keeping you monitor properly adjusted pays. Of course, having a finely tuned monitor is no fun if you don’t have anything pretty to see on it. A digital scanner is a great, inexpensive tool for getting pictures into your computer without having to spend hundreds of dollars on a digital camera.
Maintaining Your Monitor Several monitor problems can easily be solved with the right adjustments. The hardest part is making the correct diagnosis. You can make several small changes to your display without spending a ton of money or buying any extras, but if you do discover that your monitor is shot, I show you how to replace it in the next section.
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Adjusting your monitor’s display settings If you have a small computer screen, you may be surprised to learn that you can change the amount of information that your screen displays. No, you can’t make the screen bigger — without replacing it, that is. But you can make everything on the screen a bit smaller so that you can fit more on-screen. All you have to do is adjust the monitor’s resolution. Resolution is the term for the number of dots of color (called pixels) that your monitor displays. Resolution is displayed in the following format: 640-x-480. The first number refers to number of pixels displayed horizontally across the screen and the second refers to the number of pixels displayed vertically down the screen. The higher the numbers, the more information is displayed on your computer screen. The more information displayed on your computer screen, the smaller the information has to be. Refer to Table 8-1 to see how resolution affects your computer’s display. Table 8-1
Monitor Resolutions
Number of Pixels
Relative Size of Readability Information
640-x-480
Large
Less information, but easy on the eyes
800-x-600
Medium
A compromise between amount of information and size
1024- x-768
Small
More information, but can be tough on the eyes
1600-x-1200
Tiny
Only suitable for 19-inch or larger screens
How attractive a resolution looks on your computer depends a lot on the size of your screen. Unless you have eagle eyes, any setting higher than the ones listed in Table 8-2 are too small to read comfortably.
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Screen Size and Resolution Settings
Screen Size
Resolution Setting
14-inch
640-x-480
15-inch
800-x-600
17-inch
1024-x-768
To change your screen’s resolution: 1. Right-click (click with your right mouse button) any
blank area of the desktop and select Properties from the context menu that appears. 2. Click the Settings tab from the Display Properties dia-
log box. 3. In the Screen Area box, drag the slider control to the left
or right to decrease or increase the resolution, respectively. (Refer to Figure 8-1.) 4. Click OK. 5. After you see a dialog box informing you that you must
restart your computer, close any open applications that you have running and click Yes. Your computer restarts with the new resolution setting. Depending on your video adapter card, you may have the option of changing the settings without restarting. If you see an option labeled Apply Setting without Restarting, you can select it to change your display setting without having to shutdown and restart the computer. The larger your monitor is, the greater the resolution you can display without the items on-screen being too small to see easily.
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Figure 8-1:
Use this dialog box to adjust colors and resolution.
Adjusting your monitor’s colors In addition to the resolution, you can adjust the number of colors that the screen displays. The number of colors ranges from 16 to over 4 billion (yes, billion) depending on your video card and monitor. So if your computer’s reds aren’t so red and its blues aren’t so blue, try making some minor adjustments before you replace it. The greater the resolution and the more colors you display, the more video memory is required.
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To change the number of colors that your screen can display: 1. Right-click any blank area of the desktop and select
Properties from the menu that appears. 2. In the Display Properties dialog box that appears, as
shown in Figure 8-1, click the Settings tab. 3. Select the number of colors to display from the Colors
drop-down list (refer to Figure 8-1) and then click OK. (Remember, the colors that you can see on your computer depend on your video card and monitor; Table 8-3 shows you how many colors you get with each option.) Unless you are working on photo-realistic images, the 16-bit setting works just fine 4. If you see a dialog box, such as the one shown in Fig-
ure 8-2, informing you that you must restart your computer, close any open applications that you have running and click Yes. Your computer restarts with the new color setting. Figure 8-2:
The System Settings Change dialog box.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Table 8-3
Number of Color Options
Setting
Number of Colors
16-bit
65,000
24-bit
16 million
32-bit
4 billion
When Your Monitor Needs to Be Replaced Maybe your monitor is too small and your colors look terrible, or perhaps it clashes with your office décor. If you decide to replace your monitor for any reason, you have a lot of choices on what kind of monitor you should get. The good news is that the technology is great, and your colors and graphics will look good. Also, getting rid of your old monitor and replacing it with a new one is one of the simplest upgrades you can do.
Deciding on a new monitor If you’re thinking about buying a new computer monitor, you have the following choices: ■
A traditional CRT monitor runs about $125 for the cheapest 14-inch models to thousands of dollars for 21inch and larger models.
■
A newer flat panel LCD screen. LCD monitors start off at about $1,000 for a 15-inch model and go up from there.
■
A short-depth or short-neck monitor. Recently introduced, this type of monitor works just like a CRT monitor, but it takes up less desk space. Expect to pay a premium for this feature.
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You may as well buy the best-looking monitor you can afford because every time you use the computer you have to stare at it. LCD technology is improving all the time, and these screens are becoming popular — despite their hefty price tags — because they provide crisp, clear, and distortion free images while taking up very little desktop real estate. LCD screens also consume less than half the energy of their CRT counterparts.
Replacing your monitor with a new one Your old monitor has passed on to a better place, and you’ve just purchased your new one. Here’s how to get the old one disconnected and install the new one. To disconnect an old monitor: 1. Turn off your computer and monitor. 2. Unplug the power cord and disconnect the monitor cable
from the back of the computer. 3. Remove the old monitor from your work area. (You can
take the old monitor to a computer equipment recycler.) To install a new monitor, make sure your computer is off and then do the following: 1. Place the new monitor where the old one has been. 2. Connect the new monitor’s signal cable to the video
port on the back of the computer, using the 15-pin D-connector shown in Figure 8-3. 3. Plug in the monitor’s power cord.
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Figure 8-3:
A 15-pin D-connector plug.
4. Turn on the monitor and computer.
If your new monitor comes with any special features, make sure that you install the software. Follow these steps to install the new monitor’s software to introduce the monitor to Windows: 1. Right-click any blank area of the desktop and choose
Properties from the context menu and click the Settings tab. 2. Click the Advanced button in the bottom right corner
of the Display Properties dialog box. 3. From the dialog box that appears, click the Monitor tab,
as shown in Figure 8-4, and then click the Change button 4. Select the manufacturer of your monitor from the Man-
ufacturers list of the Select Device dialog box, as shown in Figure 8-5. 5. Select the model of your monitor from the Models list. 6. Click the Close button. 7. Click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box.
Chapter 8: Monitors and Scanners Figure 8-4:
The Monitor tab.
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Figure 8-5:
The Select Device dialog box.
Adding a Digital Scanner A scanner, as shown in Figure 8-6, is a device that captures images of pictures, documents, or any fairly flat object — and saves those images in electronic format. Additionally, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software is available to convert images of text documents into editable text files. Most scanners built for use at home connect to your computer’s printer port. You can also make sure that your scanner has a printer pass-through port, which allows you to connect both the scanner and your printer at the same time. Some new scanners connect to your computer’s Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. USB ports can support up to 127 devices, whereas your parallel port can support only one or two. USB ports can transfer information at a faster rate than parallel ports. If your computer has a USB port, consider buying one of these devices.
Chapter 8: Monitors and Scanners Figure 8-6:
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A digital scanner.
Here is how to connect your new parallel scanner: 1. Turn off the computer. 2. If you have a printer, turn it off and disconnect the
printer cable from the back of the computer. 3. Connect the scanner’s data cable to the back of the scan-
ner and to the printer port on the computer. 4. Plug in the scanner’s power cable. 5. Plug the printer into the scanner’s printer pass-through
port, which allows you to print to your printer without having to disconnect the scanner and reconnect the printer. 6. Turn on the printer, scanner, and computer. 7. Install your scanner’s software.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC You have to refer to the scanner’s documentation for specific instructions on installing the software. Most scanners include software to tell the computer how to communicate with the scanner as well as some software for manipulating the scanned images. Be prepared to restart your computer after installing the software. Installing a USB scanner is a bit more straightforward — no need to turn off the computer or disconnect the printer. Connect the USB cable to the scanner and to the computer’s USB port and install the software that comes with the scanner.
CHAPTER 9
UPDATING YOUR SYSTEM SOFTWARE I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Knowing when to upgrade your software
■
Removing applications
■
Installing applications
■
Upgrading Windows
Software companies are continually updating their products. Some software is updated once and even twice a year. Other companies may update their software products as often as every month. This chapter helps you decide whether or not you should install those upgrades.
Updating Application Software Software manufacturers seem always to have new versions of their programs waiting in the wings. Sometimes you’re barely used to the current version when the company that makes the software comes out with a new and improved version. Should you stick with your current version? Or bite the bullet and purchase the upgrade?
Knowing when to upgrade any type of software If you are the type of person who must have the latest and best of everything and the cost isn’t an issue, go ahead and upgrade your applications. (I have a brother like that.) Most
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC of us, however, either don’t have the money to spend on every new version of software that comes along, or we have better ways to spend the money. To me, software is kind of like a car. I tend to keep a car and drive the wheels off of it. When the car wears out, I buy a new one. I know software doesn’t really wear out, but it does have a useful life span, and when that life span comes to an end, the software is less useful and more of a nuisance. Take these tips from someone in the know so that you can determine when to upgrade: ■
Upgrade your software when the current version no longer does the things that you need it to do. If the new version of the software has some new feature that you need or that you think will make life a little easier, then buy the upgrade.
■
Another scenario that may prompt you to upgrade your application software is when people that you work with and exchange files with decide to upgrade. If you don’t upgrade your application software to the same version as everyone else’s, you may not be able to share your data files with others.
Some good news about upgrading your software is that while the upgrades are almost never free, they are usually offered at a substantial discount for users of the current version of the software. And some software upgrades are even free. Sometimes, a software manufacturer may discover a flaw in the software. Occasionally the software manufacturer ignores these flaws, or bugs. But usually the company offers a fix for the bugs free of charge. In most cases you can download these fixes — sometimes referred to as patches or program updates — from the software manufacturer’s Web site.
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Smaller companies may require you to call to request the fix be placed on a diskette or a CD-ROM and be sent to you by mail. I recommend that you install these free updates. One way to avoid some of the hassles of having to install updates to your software is to wait six months or so after the new software is released before you purchase it. This allows time for the manufacturer to identify and fix some of the bugs that always seem to crop up.
Installing application software Before you can use that shiny new version of your favorite software package, you must first install it. Be sure to read the installation instructions that come with the new software. Some software upgrades require that you uninstall the current version before installing the new version of the software, while others may insist that you install the upgrade over the current version. The next section covers uninstalling software. If you are using Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows 2000, installing new software is very straightforward. Simply place the CD in the CD-ROM drive and wait a few seconds. On many systems the installation program will start automatically. If it doesn’t, you can follow these basic steps to install just about any software package: 1. Click Start➪Settings➪Control Panel. The Control Panel
leaps to the screen, as shown in Figure 9-1.
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Figure 9-1:
The Control Panel with the Add/Remove Programs icon highlighted.
2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon to reveal
the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, shown in Figure 9-2. 3. Click the Install button. The Install Program From
Floppy Disk or CD-ROM window appears and instructs you to insert the software application’s first installation floppy disk or CD-ROM into the disk or CD-ROM drive. Then click Next. 4. Windows scurries off to check your floppy and
CD-ROM drives for a program named setup or install. After Windows finds the program, it displays the name and drive location of the installation program in the Run Installation Program window, shown in Figure 9-3. Click the Finish button to start installing the program. If it seems odd to you that you click the Finish button to start installing your program, join the club. After your new program’s installation program appears, follow the on-screen instructions to set up the program.
Chapter 9: Updating Your System Software Figure 9-2:
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The Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box.
If you are running MS-DOS or Windows 3.11, pick up a copy of DOS For Dummies, 3rd Edition, by Dan Gookin, or Windows 3.11 For Dummies, 4th Edition, by Andy Rathbone. Both are published by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc.
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Figure 9-3:
The Run Installation Program dialog box.
Removing (uninstalling) application software Before you install that new software application upgrade, removing the current version of the program is usually a good idea. Be careful, however, that the software application that you are installing doesn’t require the existence of the current version. Check the installation instructions that come with your software application to see if you should remove the current version. Follow these instructions to remove software applications from systems running Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows 2000: 1. Click Start➪Settings➪Control Panel. The Control Panel
leaps to the screen. (Refer to Figure 9-1.)
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2. Double-click the Add/Remove Programs icon to reveal
the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box. (Refer to Figure 9-2.) 3. Click the name of the software application that you want
to remove and then click the Add/Remove button. If your software application doesn’t show up in the list, consult the application’s documentation for removal instructions. In most cases you see the Confirm File Deletion dialog box asking if you really want to remove the software application in question. Click Yes to remove the software application. See the uninstaller dialog box shown in Figure 9-4. Figure 9-4:
The Micrografx Uninstaller dialog box.
4. Some software applications — especially the big, expen-
sive ones — may pop up their own installation program. Look for a button labeled Remove or Uninstall and click it. Check out Figure 9-5 for an example of the Remove feature of Microsoft Office 2000. 5. After you are finished removing the software application,
click OK.
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Figure 9-5:
Add or Remove Features for Microsoft Office 2000.
Updating Operating System Software If you aren’t currently running Windows 95 or later, it is probably time to upgrade unless you never share files with anyone else, and you’re perfectly content with all your current applications. Windows 95 is very user-friendly compared to DOS and Windows 3.x. Also, if you don’t have at least Windows 95 on your system and you decide to install a new program, you’ll have to upgrade anyway.
Upgrading to Windows 95 and 98 Unless you inherited a copy of Windows 95 from dearly departed Uncle Cosmo, don’t bother upgrading to Windows 95. I recommend that you consider upgrading to Windows 98. Windows 98 is easier, faster, and more stable to use than Windows 95, and it’s less likely to crash just before you save that PowerPoint presentation you spent seven hours preparing.
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If you are upgrading to Windows 98 from Windows 95, chances are that your computer is already up to the task. If you are upgrading from Windows 3.x, you may need to update your hardware in order to be able to run Windows 98. If I haven’t talked you out of upgrading to Windows 95 or Windows 98 by now, Table 9-1 shows you what you need to perform the upgrade. If you have the hardware that you need, performing the installation is a snap. If you don’t have the minimum hardware requirements to upgrade, do a little research to find out what the upgrades will cost and compare your numbers with the price of a new computer. You may find that it makes more sense to buy a new computer with Windows 98 already installed than to upgrade. Table 9-1: Upgrading to Windows 95 or 98 You want to Upgrade your
For Windows 95 and 98 you must have
Explanation
See
Operating system
MS DOS 3.31 or Windows 3.x
Windows 95 and 98 charge $100 more if you don’t meet this minimum. You have no choice — unless you want to buy a new PC
Chapter 1
Processor
386 DX for Windows 95; 486 at 66 MHz or higher for Windows 98
A Pentium processor is best
Chapter 6
Hard Drive
45 MB
Bare minimum. Don’t upgrade unless you have 100 – 200 MB hard drive space
Chapter 5
Continued
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Table 9-1: Upgrading to Windows 95 or 98 (continued) You want to Upgrade your
For Windows 95 and 98 you must have
Explanation
See
Random Access Memory
4 MB RAM
Bare minimum. 16+ MB RAM for Windows 95 and 32+ MB for Windows 98 is better
Chapter 5
Alternative Disk Drive
CD-ROM drive
Windows 95 and 98 installation takes forever on floppy diskettes
Chapter 6
Adapter
VGA card
You need some fun toys, don’t you?
Chapter 4
Monitor
19-inch
Everything looks even better on an LCD or a 19-inch CRT
Chapter 8
Mouse (or other pointing device)
You need one
Not having one defeats the purpose of the whole point and click thing
Chapter 2
Keyboard
You need one
You can’t function without a keyboard
Chapter 2
To install Windows 95 or 98: 1. Put the CD in the CD-ROM drive. The setup program
probably starts automatically. If it doesn’t, you have to start the setup program manually.
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2. In Windows 3.x, select File➪Run, type d:\setup (if your
CD-ROM drive uses a letter other than D, substitute that letter for your drive) and click OK. 3. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the upgrade.
If you are upgrading from Windows 95 or 98 from another Microsoft Windows operating system, double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop, double-click the icon for your CD-ROM drive, and find and double-click the Setup icon. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the upgrade.
Upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional Windows 2000 is the replacement for Windows NT 4.0. Just like Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 comes in two flavors, Professional and Server. Unless you’re upgrading a network of servers, you want the Professional version. Here is what you need to get up and running with Windows 2000 Professional: ■
166 MHz Pentium processor: I have found that Windows 2000 runs well on a Pentium II 300 MHz or faster.
■
32MB RAM: More is better when it comes to memory.
■
VGA card and color monitor: A standard monitor works fine, but all the better if you want to upgrade to a big screen.
■
2GB hard drive with at least 650MB available: Just as with memory, more is better.
■
4X or faster CD-ROM drive. This is no longer a choice!
■
Mouse and keyboard. Pretty basic stuff.
CHAPTER 10
PRIMING YOUR PRINTER I N T H I S C HAPT E R ■
Choosing a printer
■
Connecting a printer
■
Installing printer software
■
Troubleshooting printers
No doubt about it: The much-touted paperless office is nowhere in sight. The Internet is now a very popular means of sharing information, but there seems to be no replacement for the convenience of the printed page. Of course, you’ll need a printer to create those printed pages. This chapter helps you select and install the printer that’s right for you and provides troubleshooting information for when you encounter printing difficulties.
Selecting a New Printer You can purchase one of any number of types of printers, each with different features, depending on your printing needs. But before you run out and buy a printer, you need to understand the types of printers that are available and their uses. The three basic printer types are impact, inkjet, and laser.
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Impact printers Impact printers create an image on the paper by striking a ribbon with a set of wires, similar to the way a typewriter’s keys hit paper. The most common type of impact printer is the dot-matrix printer. Dot-matrix printers are most useful for printing multipart and continuous-feed forms (those pages that are attached with perforations) and are also capable of printing rudimentary graphics, though they do so slowly and noisily.
Inkjet printers Inkjet technology is the newest printer technology. Inkjet printers create text and graphics by spraying ink onto the paper. The speed of inkjet printers ranges from a low of about 2 pages per minute to a high of about 12 pages per minute. Most inkjet printers available today are capable of printing in color. Some models can produce photo-realistic output using special ink cartridges and paper. The inkjet printer is the most common type of printer for home computer users, and they can be purchased for as low as $80. Of course, you can buy more expensive models.
Laser printers Laser printers use the same technology that copy machines use to deliver the highest quality and fastest output of the various printer types. The slowest laser printers can print about 4 pages per minute, and the fastest, most expensive models can print up to about 40 pages per minute. These printers excel at printing both text and graphics.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Most laser printers are monochrome printers — they print in black and shades of gray, but color laser printers are available. Prices for the least expensive color laser printers start at about $1,200. If you only need to print the occasional color document, consider a laser for your everyday printing and purchase an inexpensive color inkjet printer for color output. Because of their high price tag, laser printers were once used mainly by businesses with offices and networks that can benefit by being shared by many users. Today you can purchase a laser printer for home use for as little as $250.
Which type of printer should you choose? If you’re stumped on what kind of printer you should purchase for your upgrade, think about the types of documents you print (or would like to print) on a daily basis. Use this price range format, along with Table 10-1, to make an educated choice on which kind of printer is best for you: ■
$
Fairly inexpensive
■
$$
Moderately inexpensive
■
$$$
Fairly expensive
■
$$$$
Expensive
■
$$$$$
Very expensive
Table 10-1: Choosing a Printer Activity
Print Volume
Price Range
Printer Choice
Printing lists and continuous forms
low
$$
dot matrix
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Activity
Print Volume
Price Range
Printer Choice
Printing lists and continuous forms without color
moderatehigh
$$-$$$
monochrome laser
Printing text and color graphics
moderatehigh
$-$$
inkjet
Printing good quality graphics
lowmoderate
$-$$
inkjet
Printing text documents only
high
$$$-$$$$
monochrome laser
Printing color and text documents
high
$$$$
monochrome laser and inkjet
Printing highest quality color graphics along with text
moderatehigh
$$$$$
color laser printer
I use a monochrome laser printer for most of my text printing, but I also have an inexpensive inkjet printer that I use when I need to print in color.
Connecting a Printer to Your Computer Back in the Dark Ages of personal computing, connecting printers to the computer’s serial port was common. Today, printers almost invariably connect to the computer’s parallel printer port. The parallel printer port is the 25-pin D-shaped connector on the back of your computer. However, some new printers connect to the computer’s USB.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Connecting the printer to the computer is pretty simple. For printers that have a parallel port follow these steps: If you have a scanner connected to the computer’s parallel port, plug the printer cable into the scanner’s pass-through printer port. A pass-through port is simply a printer port on the back of the scanner. You can plug the printer into the scanner and plug the scanner into the back of the computer. This lets you use both your scanner and printer without having to disconnect/reconnect cables. If your scanner doesn’t have a pass-through printer port, you must disconnect your scanner before connecting your printer. 1. Turn off the computer and existing printer if you have
one. 2. Disconnect the printer cable from the back of the com-
puter and remove the existing printer. 3. Connect the new printer’s cable to the printer port on
the back of the computer and the centronics printer port on the back of the printer. The centronics printer port found on the back of the printer is about the same size as the printer port on the back of the computer, but instead of having 25 holes, it has little gold teeth that look sort of like a zipper. 4. Plug in the printer’s power cable. 5. Turn on the printer and computer.
After you connect the printer and turn on the printer and computer, you must tell Windows about your new printer. Refer to the next section on adding and removing printer drivers. Installing a USB printer is easier yet. No need to turn off the computer — just connect the USB cable to the printer and to the computer’s USB port. Windows usually recognizes the
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printer and attempts to install the software for the printer automatically. If Windows can’t install the software automatically, you need to install it yourself. Refer to the next section on adding and removing printer drivers. If you already have devices connected to all your USB ports — many computers have two USB ports — you can purchase a USB hub that lets you connect additional USB devices.
Adding and Removing a Printer Driver Before you can use a printer that you connect to your computer, the printer and computer must be properly introduced. You accomplish this feat by installing a bit of software, known as a printer driver, that tells Windows how to control the printer. Make sure that you have handy your Windows installation CD-ROM, along with any other disks or CD-ROMs that came with your printer. Follow these steps to install a new printer driver: 1. Click Start➪Settings➪Printers. The Printers window
appears. 2. Double-click the Add Printer icon to fire up the Add
Printer Wizard. 3. Click Next. The Add Printer Wizard wants to know if
the printer is attached to your computer or some other computer on the network. Select the Local printer option and click Next.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 4. You tell Windows what kind of printer you have by
selecting the manufacturer and model of your printer from the Manufacturers and Printers lists, then clicking Next. (See Figure 10-1.) Figure 10-1:
The Manufacturers and Printers lists.
5. Windows asks where the printer is connected. Make sure that you select the LPT1: port option, as shown in Fig-
ure 10-2, and click Next. 6. Accept the suggested name for your printer or type a new
name as shown in Figure 10-3. Click the Yes option to set the printer as the default and click Next. Setting the printer as the default printer lets Windows know that this is the printer you will always print to unless you tell it otherwise.
Chapter 10: Priming Your Printer Figure 10-2:
Choosing the port for your printer.
Figure 10-3:
Giving your printer a name.
103
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 7. Accept the default option to print a test page and click
Finish. 8. Windows may ask for your Windows CD-ROM. If so,
insert your Windows CD-ROM and click OK. 9. Windows installs the printer driver and prints a test page.
If the test page prints properly click Yes in the dialog box that appears. That’s it — you’re finished! If the test page doesn’t print as expected, click No to start the Print Troubleshooter. Printer problems are discussed in the next section.
Fixing Common Printer Problems If you have a printer, sooner or later you will have some type of printer problem. These problems generally fall into two categories: ■
The printer doesn’t print anything
■
The printer prints nonsensical garbage
If your printer won’t print If you see an error window, such as the one in Figure 10-4, or if you the printer just plain refuses to print anything Figure 10-4: The printer error window. ■
Make sure that the printer is plugged in and turned on.
■
Check the connections between the printer and the computer. Some times they work loose just enough to prevent the computer from talking to the printer.
■
Many printers have an Online button. Press it to make sure the button’s on.
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■
Check to see if the printer has paper. If the printer has paper, but still won’t print, the printer may be jammed. Open the cover and remove any paper stuck inside.
■
Make sure that you have told your application the correct printer to print to. If you are on a network, you may be merrily printing away to a printer in another location.
If your printer won’t stop printing Occasionally, printers have just the opposite problem. They print plenty, but everything that comes out looks like hieroglyphics. Here are some things to try: ■
Verify that you have selected the correct brand of printer in your applications Print dialog box. If you tell your program that you have a Stoneprinter III if you really have a PaperEater Deluxe connected to your computer, the program won’t know how to communicate with printer.
■
Try printing from another program, such as WordPad. If that works, you probably have a problem with your software. Check your printer setup in the software that won’t print. You may have to dig out your software documentation for this one.
If these hints don’t solve your problem, you can try the Windows troubleshooter for help. Here is how to fire up the printer troubleshooter in Windows 95: 1. Click Start➪Help. 2. Click the Index tab. 3. Type printer problems and press Enter.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC 4. The print troubleshooter jumps into action and guides
you through the process of diagnosing and fixing printer problems. Here is how to get started with the Print Troubleshooter in Windows 98: 1. Click Start➪Help. 2. Click the Contents tab. 3. On the Contents tab, click Troubleshooting. The Trou-
bleshooting topic expands. 4. Click Windows 98 Troubleshooters. The Windows 98
Troubleshooters topic expands even more. 5. Click the word Print. The Windows 98 Print Trou-
bleshooter comes to life in the right side of the window. (See Figure 10-5.) Have the Print Troubleshooter guide you through the process of fixing your printing woes.
Chapter 10: Priming Your Printer Figure 10-5:
Specific printing problem options.
107
CLIFFSNOTES REVIEW Use this CliffsNotes Review to practice what you’ve learned and to build your confidence in doing the job right the first time. After you work through the review questions, the problem-solving exercises, and the practice projects, you’re well on your way to achieving your goal of knowing how and when to upgrade or repair your PC.
Q&A 1. UPS stands for a. UnPlugged System. b. Uninterruptible Power Supply. c. Unstable Power Source. 2. What is the benefit of defragmenting your hard drive?
________________________________________________ 3. The ScanDisk program a. Checks your drives for errors and automatically fixes them. b. Scans pictures that you can save to a disk. c. Erases all the information on you drives. 4. What is the result of increasing your monitor’s resolution?
________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 5. LCD monitors are desirable because they a. Use less space and electricity. b. Cost less than CRT monitors. c. Don’t require a video adapter.
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6. USB stands for a. Uninterruptible Supply Bus. b. Upstream Source Byte. c. Universal Serial Bus. 7. What is the primary reason you should buy a modem for
your PC? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 8. A cable modem a. Lets you watch TV on your PC. b. Provides the fastest Internet access using your cable TV
system. c. Connects two or more PCs using a special cable. 9. The newest and most popular standard for 56K modems is a. X2 b. Kflex c. V.90 10. ISP stands for a. Internet Service Provider. b. Internal System Processor. c. Intermediate Storage Point. 11. What three things affect the amount of memory your PC needs?
________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
12. SIMM stands for a. Single Inline Memory Module. b. System Integrated Memory Module. c. Sealed Internal Math Module. 13. What device should you use to avoid static electricity damage
to your PC? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ 14. What type of printer provides the fastest, highest quality
output? ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ Answers: (1) b. (2) It improves hard disk performance. (3) a. (4) You can fit more information on screen. (5) a. (6) c. (7) To connect to the Internet. (8) b. (9) c. (10) a. (11) Your operating system, the type of programs you run, the number of programs you run simultaneously. (12) a. (13) A grounding strap. (14) Laser printer.
Scenarios 1. Your PC performs just fine when you are using your spreadsheet
program, but everything slows down if you try to run both the spreadsheet program and the word processing program. You should __________________________________________ ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________. 2. You have a great monitor, but everything on-screen is just a lit-
tle too small to see comfortably. You should _____________ ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________.
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3. Lately, you notice that your PC has been taking longer and
longer to load your favorite programs. You should _________ ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________. 4. Your trusty desktop publishing package has all the features and
ease of use that you could desire. However, everyone you do business with has upgraded to the latest version of the software from Software Central. You should ____________________ ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________. 5. You PC is old and slow, and it doesn’t have much memory or
available hard disk space. It doesn’t have a sound card or CD-ROM drive. You should _________________________ ________________________________________________ _______________________________________________. Answers: (1) Check your PC’s RAM to see if it needs to be upgraded. (2) Change your display settings to decrease the resolution. (3) Run Disk Defragmenter. (4) Consider upgrading your software. (5) Keep using it as long as it serves your purposes, but when you need a change, buy a newer model — don’t upgrade.
Consider This ■
Did you know that most PC manufacturers maintain Web sites that provide customer and technical support? Check your PC documentation for the address of the company’s Web site.
■
Did you know prices for PC components can vary widely? Be sure to browse several sources before spending your money.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC
Practice Project 1. Run your Disk Defragmenter program to defragment your hard
disk. 2. Run your ScanDisk program to find and fix hard disk errors. 3. Change your PC’s display properties to display a screen area of
800-x-600. If your system is already set for 800-x-600, change it to 640-x-480.
CLIFFSNOTES RESOURCE CENTER The learning doesn’t need to stop here. CliffsNotes Resource Center shows you the best of the best — links to the best information in print and online about upgrading and repairing PCs. And don’t think that this is all we’ve prepared for you; we’ve put all kinds of pertinent information at www.cliffsnotes.com. Look for all the terrific resources at your favorite bookstore or local library and on the Internet. When you’re online, make your first stop www.cliffs notes.com, where you find more incredibly useful information about upgrading and reparing PCs.
Books This CliffsNotes book is one of many great books about upgrading and repairing PCs published by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. If you want some great next-step books, check out these other publications: Upgrading & Fixing PCs For Dummies(r), 4th Edition, by Andy Rathbone, helps you save money by showing you how to fix what’s broken and install all kinds of new hardware. This book guides you through the troubleshooting process so that you can discover why your computer is misbehaving. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. $19.99. PCs For Dummies(r), 7th Edition, by Dan Gookin, explains the mysteries of the personal computer in no-nonsense, plain-English terminology. This is a great book for firsttime computer users. Find quick answers to computer problems or get advice on installing new hardware. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. $19.99.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Fix Your Own PC, 5th Edition, by Corey Sandler, shows you how to maintain your personal computer, from diagnosing problems to performing upgrades. This book covers processors, memory upgrades, connections, hard drives, removable media, multimedia, peripherals, and much more. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. $29.99. PC Upgrade and Repair Simplified, by Ruth Maran, provides a step-by-step guide to computer maintenance and repair. The helpful illustrations and troubleshooting tips help you keep your computer in top shape. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. $24.99. Troubleshooting Your PC, 4th Edition, by Jim Aspinwall and Mike Todd, is the tool you need to help diagnose and fix whatever ails your computer. This book also includes a CD-ROM with troubleshooting utilities. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. $39.99. Building a PC For Dummies, by Mark Chambers, takes you beyond fixing and repairing computers and shows you how to build a custom computer suited to your needs. This book includes a CD-ROM that contains tools and utilities to help you get the most out of your computer. IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. $24.99. It’s easy to find books published by IDG Books Worldwide, Inc. You find them in your favorite bookstores (on the Internet and at a store near you). We also have three Web sites that you can use to read about all the books we publish: ■
www.cliffsnotes.com
■
www.dummies.com
■
www.idgbooks.com
CliffsNotes Resource Center
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Internet Check out these Web sites for more information about upgrading and repairing PCs and more: Hardware Central, www.hardwarecentral.com, provides information about anything and everything hardware related. This site includes product reviews, discussion groups, and tutorials. Hardware Usenet Group, news:comp.hardware, provides a forum for computer users to post and respond to computer hardware questions. Ask Jeeves, www.ask.com. Have a question about computers — or anything else, for that matter? Just ask Jeeves. Type your questions in plain English. TipWorld, www.tipworld.com. Sign up to receive daily tips on a variety of computer subjects direct to your e-mail’s inbox. Next time you’re on the Internet, don’t forget to drop by www.cliffsnotes.com. We created an online Resource Center that you can use today, tomorrow, and beyond.
Magazines & Other Media In addition to the books and Web sites mentioned here, you have several choices of periodicals that you may want to check out: PC World Magazine is a monthly publication that provides great information for both the novice and experienced computer user. It has product reviews and information on developing technologies as well as troubleshooting tips for both hardware and software.
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CliffsNotes Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Byte Magazine is also a monthly publication that focuses on the needs of personal computer users. The Kim Kommando Radio Show is a daily broadcast talk show. Listeners can call in and discuss computer issues and request answers to problems they are having. Visit Kim’s Web site at www.kimkommand.com for the show’s schedule and a list of stations that carry the show.
Send Us Your Favorite Tips In your quest for learning, have you ever experienced that sublime moment when you figure out a trick that saves time or trouble? Perhaps you realized you were taking ten steps to accomplish something that could take two. Or you found a little-known workaround that gets great results. If you’ve discovered a useful tip that helped you upgrade and repair your PC more effectively, and you’d like to share it, the CliffsNotes staff would love to hear from you. Go to our Web site at www.cliffsnotes.com and click the Talk to Us button. If we select your tip, we may publish it as part of CliffsNotes Daily, our exciting, free e-mail newsletter. To find out more or to subscribe to a newsletter, go to www.cliffsnotes.com on the Web.
Index
A adapters installing new, 37, 38, 39, 40 problems with, troubleshooting, 36 adapters, types of, 33, 35, 36 sound, 34, 35, 37 video, 34, 36, 37 Add New Hardware icon, 31 Add New Hardware wizard, 31, 32, 38 Add Printer Wizard, 101 Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box, 88, 91 AGP (Advanced Graphics Port) slots, 35 AMD, 71, 72 Ask Jeeves, 115
B batteries, 66 BIOS basic description of, 63 flash, 68 setup program, 49 understanding, 67, 68 upgrades, 67, 68, 69 books, recommended, 113 boot sequence, 65
C cable modems. See modems, types of cables, 29, 36, 100 CD-R drives, 53 CD-RW drives, 53 CD-ROM drives, 57, 58 clean power, 7 CliffsNotes Daily, 116 CliffsNotes Resource Center, 113
117
CliffsNotes Web site, 2 CliffsNotes Web site XE , 116 CMOS chip, 56, 64 color settings, 76 Colors drop-down list, 77 Compaq, 23 Confirm File Deletion dialog box, 91 Contents tab, 106 Context menu, 20 continous feed forms, 97 Control Panel, 31, 38, 87, 90 covers, removing, 24 CPU (Central Processing Unit), 63, 70, 72 crashes, 13
D Defragmenting dialog box, 10 Desktop, 45 DIMMs (Dual Inline Memory Modules), 42, 43, 49 Disk Defragmenter, 9 Display Properties dialog box, 37, 75, 80 dot matrix printers, 97, 98 DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), 42 drivers, 101, 102 DSL. See modems, types of DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), 27 DVD-RAM drives, 54 DVD-ROM drives, 53
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E e-mail, 14, 20, 115, 116 Evergreen Technologies, 71, 72
F Finish button, 38 flash BIOS, 68 floppy controller cable, 58 floppy disks, 14, 21, 52, 65 floppy drives, 52
G General tab, 45
H hard disks basic description of, 52 checking, for errors, 11, 12 defragmenting, 9, 10 maintaining, 9, 10, 11, 12 removing/replacing, 55, 56 scanning for viruses, 13, 14 understanding, 51, 54 Hardware Central Web site, 115 Hardware Usenet Group, 115 Have Disk button, 32, 40 Hughes Network Systems, 28
I impact printers, 97 Index tab, 105 inkjet printers, 97, 99 Internet, connecting to the, 24 ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) bus, 35, 36 ISDN. See modems, types of
K
keyboards ergonomic, 20 ports for, 18, 19 upgrading, 19 keyboards, installing, 20 Kim Kommando radio show, 116 Kingston Technologies, 72
L laser printers, 97 LCD screens, 78 LPT ports, 102
M Macintosh, 23 McAfee VirusScan, 13 megahertz (MHz), 43 memory how speed and size affect, 43, 44 installing more, 47, 49, 50 quantity of, determining, 45, 46 requirements, 4, 41, 42, 46, 95 types of, 42, 43 Micrografx Uninstaller dialog box, 91 Microsoft Natural Keyboard. See keyboards, ergonomic modems external, 24, 25, 29 installing new, 29, 30, 31, 32 internal, 24, 25 tools for, 22 troubleshooting, 29 types of, 24, 25
Index modems, types of cable, 27, 28 DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), 27 ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), 26 satellite, 28 standard (56K), 26 Monitor tab, 80 monitors display settings for, 74, 75 maintaining, 73, 74, 76, 77 replacing, 78, 79, 80 monochrome laser printers, 99 monochrome printers, 98 motherboard items on, 63, 64 replacing a dead battery on, 66 system settings and, 64 upgrading the BIOS on, 67, 69 upgrading the CPU on, 70, 72 mouse adding, 16, 18 ports, 17 My Computer, 45, 95
N nanoseconds, 43 newsgroups, 115 Norton Anti-Virus, 13
O Office 2000 (Microsoft), 91 Online button, 104
P pass-through ports, 100 patches, 86
119
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, 35, 36 PCMCIA cards, 25 Pentium processors, 44, 71, 95 pixels, 74 Plug-and-Play, 39 POST (Power On Self Test), 49, 67 power surges, 6 PowerPoint (Microsoft), 92 preventative maintenance, 6, 8 Print dialog box, 105 Print Troubleshooter, 106 printers connecting, 100 drivers for, 101, 103, 104 ports for, 59, 61 problems with, fixing, 104, 105, 106 selecting new, 96, 98 Printers window, 101
R radio shows, 116 RAM (random-access memory). See memory Remember icon, 2 repairs cost of, 5 deciding to make, 4 resolution, 74 Resource Center, CliffsNotes, 113, 114, 115, 116 Review, CliffsNotes, 108, 109, 110, 112
S safety, maintaining your, 23 satellites. See modems, types of: satellite ScanDisk, 11, 12
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ScanDisk dialog box, 11 scanners adding, 82, 84 ports for, 83, 84 Screen Area box, 75 SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface), 54 SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory), 43, 44 Select Drive dialog box, 9 serial ports, 17, 30 Settings tab, 75, 77 Setup icon, 95 SIMMs (Single Inline Memory Modules), 42, 43, 44, 47, 49 software installing, 87, 88 knowing when to upgrade, 85, 86, 87 operating system, 93, 94, 95 requirements for upgrading, 93 uninstalling, 90 sound adapters, 36. See adapters, types of Start menu, 20 Start Menu button, 20 static electricity, 48 System Properties dialog box, 45
T tape backup drives, 54, 59 telephone cords, 29 Tip icon, 2 TipWorld Web site, 115 tools, 23
touchpads, 15, 16 adding, 18 trackballs, 15, 16 adding, 18 TurboChip, 72
U upgrades basic description of, 3, 5 cost of, 5 USB (Universal Serial Bus), 28, 30, 54, 60, 99
V video adapters, 65. See adapters, types of viruses, 13, 14 volume control, 36
W Warning icon, 2 warranties, 5 Web sites, 2, 86, 111, 114, 115 Windows 2000 (Microsoft), 47 Windows 2000 Professional (Microsoft), 95 Windows 95 (Microsoft), 87, 92 Windows 98 (Microsoft), 87, 92 Windows key, 20 Windows NT (Microsoft), 95 WordPad, 105
Y Y2K bug, 68
Z Zip drives, 54, 61
Computers and Software Confused by computers? Struggling with software? Let CliffsNotes get you up to speed on the fundamentals — quickly and easily. Titles include: Balancing Your Checkbook with Quicken Buying Your First PC Creating a Dynamite PowerPoint® 2000 Presentation Making Windows 98 Work for You Setting up a Windows 98 Home Network Upgrading and Repairing Your PC Using Your First PC Using Your First iMac Writing Your First Computer Program ®
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