Upgrading Your Home PC
Contents
1. 2 A CHAPTER 1 Read Me First f you ve ever installed a computer program you ve probably seen one or more little paper slips saying Read me first or No read me first which contain details you should know before installing the program such as If you do not have a Ph D in computer science please acquire one before proceeding Many programs also place text files onto your hard drive with names like README 1ST and NOREADME 1ST to provide similarly vital information that you are likely to read for the first time two years later Well this is your Read Me First chapter and we even went to the expense of binding it with the rest of the book This chapter contains information you re likely to need in several of the following chapters Before you launch into this book s detailed procedures take a look here for a few tips on tools PC cover removal and PC anatomy Even those of you who ve already per formed one or more PC surgeries may enjoy a quick review and for those of you who wouldnt know a motherboard from a cheese board this chapter is de rigueur As I describe specific procedures in the chapters that follow I ll describe and include pictures of any specific hardware relevant to the procedure This chapter will simply serve to suggest some appropriate tools lay down some basic ground rules for handling electronic devices and help you get your bearings when you dive under your computer s cover for the first time Tool2. Poe RR e veia A WAD den 103 Head Alignment n und e E Ese poe de ine SA andae OR ps 104 Installing a Laser Printers 4c ou ya w l lan Ras RU QAW n di2 yen Rte RP 4 4 4 105 Printer Hardware geared bcc dress OR beoe non PE rapina M_ aa 105 Configuring a Printer lt es qup eked oda al al al aaa Dad Edd 108 X N Contents Maintaining Your Printer is ose k eg eo ye ck e d r yh RR Gi 109 Cleaning phd Aa Pee I LAUR eber 110 o usa an e i MM ERAN EX RE ewe Po e pues Bos 112 PAP OW a ecu audes taa eden de ts na hehe duda ated ied dues ced daa 114 Ozone Filtersa de e boe e aus ex Repo RR A ek id NS ne 114 Chapter 6 Displays cure i Io x x CR ACH SCRI kK KK kk KK KK KK KK KK kK kk kk CR RE RE CAN 115 Intro io Displays sees ed ae eso ee xdi ala Getter ga sed 116 Viewable Arc a waz kk AK hay a b fictae me deep ERR eb pA tad 117 D ccm 118 Image Quality a 4 reser abe peste edes d 4kab a Re 2 alite gos tbs 119 Adyustability e cte aste a mm deg B axe Re M BBMMMDEE Dk m 120 Speed Jk a ya Ha w bal ban dl n k A 2 m 121 Options eos sco me W a W DE a My dk Rok a pug ee Ra peace aea 121 Wartanty oss ssec e n W Eee esed e esa dede HEURE RI EE e 122 Upgrading a Video Adapter i lt lt c i 4 RR a Soe kan Wa eed a Eve 122 Disabling Motherboard Video ses a 3 0 bs us 123 Adding a Video Card isi pace Sue a EROR k s XAKA 2 S pri auia 123 Add
3. Upgrading Your Home PC Glenn Weadock SYBEX Upgrading Your Home PC This page intentionally left blank Upgrading Your Home PC Glenn Weadock Photography by Emily Sherrill Weadock MY C SYBEX San Francisco Paris Dusseldorf Soest London Associate Publisher Richard J Staron Acquisitions and Developmental Editor Ellen L Dendy Editors Linda Orlando Kari Brooks Production Editor Kylie Johnston Technical Editor James Kelly Book Designer Maureen Forys Happenstance Type O Rama Electronic Publishing Specialist Maureen Forys Happenstance Type O Rama Proofreaders Emily Hsuan Dave Nash Nancy Riddiough Indexer Lynnzee Elze Cover Designer Dan Ziegler Design Cover Photographer PhotoDisc Copyright 2001 SYBEX Inc 1151 Marina Village Parkway Alameda CA 94501 World rights reserved No part of this publication may be stored in a retrieval system transmitted or reproduced in any way including but not limited to photocopy photograph magnetic or other record without the prior agreement and written permission of the publisher Library of Congress Card Number 2001093081 ISBN 0 7821 2960 9 SYBEX and the SYBEX logo are trademarks of SYBEX Inc in the USA and other countries TRADEMARKS SYBEX has attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer The author and publisher have made their best e
4. when their bodies had built up a static charge Iry not to work on carpeted floors if you have to then work barefoot don t work in a wool sweater wear an antistatic wrist strap frequently ground yourself by touching the PC s metallic chassis or power supply box humidify the work area keep components in their antistatic bags until you re ready to install them and try to get the job done in one sitting so you don t have to get up and walk someplace and then sit back down having built up a big static charge Doff your jewelry Remove your rings wristwatches bracelets necklaces and so forth they can scratch circuit boards and also get caught in tight places You can leave toe nose and navel rings in place unless you plan on doing things with your PC that I don t want to hear about Don t force a fit Whether you re inserting a circuit board or connecting a plug into a socket line the devices up first and then make your connection Pay attention to any keys raised plastic areas that ensure you can only connect something one way Ribbon cables often have one end wire painted red or black that end should match up with the pin 1 designation on the circuit board connector Opening a PC s Cover A 7 e Remove with care When disconnecting a device if reasonable force won t release it look for a plug latch or lock that you may need to press twist release When removing a circuit board from a slot rock it from side to side alo
5. Phillips screw drivers for your PC toolkit For the Phillips head screwdrivers get sizes 0 1 and 2 e Ifyou have a Compaq PC you ll also need a set of Torx screwdrivers which you can buy either at a PC store or at an auto parts dealer Torx screwdrivers are used for adjusting American car headlights Sizes T 10 and T 15 are the ones you re likely to need e Finally you may want to have a set of jeweler s screwdrivers on hand especially if you plan on working on your notebook computer Like everything else on portable PCs the screws are smaller than usual Slot Phillips Torx Jeweler s Figure 1 1 Screwdrivers WARNING Many screwdrivers nowadays come magnetized for ease of retrieving lost screws Make sure you never work on a PC with a magnetic screwdriver When in doubt test the tool on a small screw CHAPTER 1 Read Me First A nut driver the quarter inch variety is the only one you need This tool is nothing more than a socket wrench without the wrench You can sometimes use a nut driver to remove a screw that you can t get a good grip on with a screwdriver for example because the slot has been stripped Flashlights see Figure 1 2 are a big help especially with today s cram everything into the smallest possible space home PCs I like to have two kinds on hand the big square kind with a handle that use the US 10 lantern batteries are great for placing over the work area and the little flexible arm pinpoint kind a
6. completely off see Figure 1 10 You may need to pull the sheet metal apart just a little at the bottom in order to clear the chassis Do this operation slowly so you don t bang any internal circuit boards or cables with the edge of the cover Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly but here are two tips First be very careful when sliding that cover back into place so that you don t catch and tear any floating ribbon cables Figure 1 11 shows a PC admittedly not the greatest design in which the cover has damaged an exposed disk drive controller cable A bit of electrical tape can mend a small abrasion but if you notice severed wires a new cable is in order Second take care that you ve placed the bottom edges of the cover right where they need to be before you slide it into place Many covers use a sort of tongue and groove construction and the tongue of the PC s sheet metal needs to fit into the groove of the covers edge in order to get a good tight fit Clues that the cover is misaligned one edge looks tighter than the other or the cover screws dont seem to fit right Take the cover off and try it again 10 N CHAPTER 1 Read Me First Cover screw Cover screw Cover latch Figure 1 8 Cover latches Power supply screws Cover screw Figure 1 9 Sliding a cover most of the way off Figure 1 10 Lifting a cover all the way off Opening a PC s Cover a 11 12 N CHAPTER 1 Read Me First F
7. 00 149 Installing a Wireless Network iw lt 4 eR Rem rue ee ee a rant 159 Contents A xi Chapter 8 Power conio si Ou es bs cee a RR RR a a aia la E leda a M w RE a a 167 Intro to P W l cs n d a eek a berg e A W 2a0 n A ra a 168 Upgrading or Replacing a Power Supply lt i sorsi ka ka a kk aar esee 169 Adding a Connector 4 va A a 0 ra pi AWA A 170 Replacing the Entire Power Supply w kl a a kw kk l WW kak Alk W kai 170 Replacing the Fan Only i xi ku a k kal nala e nex k kla oe Q E alal kla tak S 180 Addinga Battery Backup Unite c ax x sna ck el kalan al babk e es ee 183 What Kitid s a w wa te be d Le Eee i eect nA 184 How Big a sm ca Ga dk n QURANE dun A e Se Ron Wr och a DE ee Per ee E 184 Installing the Battery Backup Unit lt sk ss sa sal8 klan ck l Plak k eee 185 Notebook Power Issues x esie oke redet k Bia i ko a e Pd A 188 Care and Feeding of Extra Batteries 0 00 188 On the Go Chargers sd 44 axk sated lee tid gee Pe d Eo e 2 di 189 Voltage Conversion Kiss 3 as lt ku den xala a uter ae wee o wu Gow ae 189 Chapter 9 Of Mice and Multimedia 00 cee eee eee eee 191 Initio to Input DEVICES is seis ae acess a hebes xe qoe doe a deter wager re aC e obe deus 192 Mice Trackballs and Joysticks 52k Mh wek A lk kek Wak D4 4 Va
8. 4 Dial Up Modems ii a eek eoe end PUE OR eoo X go H p A ied 65 ISDIN susce des soda Gay dl Ka a A a 440de G o Hr ARE eae hehe 67 DSL i vs whew kad ox EE qot hs alee ee eh eek Se AR RARE dean d 68 Cable Modems 4 e Lad dain ao 0 dt nh Vee wah ade 68 Dial Up Modem Se tiips x lt xan ahl dene a Ea Pee Ae Rea Ga S REESE 69 Installing an External Modem sa al bn n k 40 ee 69 Installing an Internal Modem cissed eripiat anea XR W l kak y EY al 74 Installing a DSL Router s s 4 orar k a l Rx eR eae Ped PER 75 Considering the Wireless Web lt 2 a 44 ad reeter 2er a Wi eee 82 Satellite puch ases Xway edad n buh AW et Kak wr ted 2 4 e eg eens 83 Wireless Local Loops sy wa Rec te W E k Qa ERN n ed ERES 84 Chapter 5 Printers cousi ca eviews is wees xor x la Re R lel ka d ATH RR jk ah 85 IO PS oue ete Re e MIM a a a BORRAR DMJDJME 86 A CD 91 Parallel voir t t RE RR A poten e etas eae ee das 92 USB Universal Serial Busje s isa nun lees 94 Serial cias N DD sco mu e hace Re ies 94 lu 25 6044 6 T n Reh eatin ae Gel eae dji eee d 96 NetWork asco sta aom p eR a os Bees don ee eee Qus ae ae a gs 97 Setting up an Inkjet Printer Su xus ck ba a k Q ee RR Ry 4 9 99 Printer Hardwate 22 caro d ekl h ea e Min a apa Pe del erue ee 99 Printer GERA sre oa ie A20 2144 d n be A Zek l
9. FireWire Configuration Rules 2 20 wa a ak ka 40 eee 263 e OOO TEE a a aa a A GR 264 Single and Dual Channel Controllers eee esee 266 Setting the Controllers SCSI ID eee 267 Device TIUS 5 lt 0 43 cte EP a ode na fs 268 Setting Terminations 3 2 net eae pere x aly ERE Vorst RR te oe Gr 270 Other SCSI Settings s ex 430 2 GRE Te RET e Rd HE Ed depen 272 Notebook Bus Uper des yak wl Ree Re ra dev k d kw aa tex US 272 Other BUSES ses in aa d wad y 4 RR RO EE da ce ERU 6 Su Rege ea San 273 Chapter 12 References and Resources 2 2 kk kk kk kk kk kk kk kk kk kk 275 Internet References and Resources 276 WebSites sad eec ie Rec oa ale Racked acie den ROS ERU e Rut d e geh 276 NEWSSTOUPS secs ee Rte wi av e RR Re Ea pA UR Sa Ea DP EE ES 279 Print References and Resources 2 282 Magazines ees e 44 a bb l 2 BL e RE UR A EUR na ce TRUE ea Us 282 BOOKS o qase S ERR E ducta edes AL Re mmmmmmmmm 283 E TEO 285 Introduction f I were writing a doctoral thesis about why people love to improve their cars houses and computers l d probably explore the hypothesis that by making the things around us better we are projecting a desire to make ourselves better I d also ponder the notion that improving something is an act of creation only slightly subordinate to building that something in the first place and therefore simultaneously a r
10. eber Shandwick Worldwide Shannon Lyman of Lexmark Courtney Maloney of Kodak Andy Marken of Marken Communications Bradley Morse of D Link John Paulsen of Seagate Ed Rebello of Adaptec Will Reeb of Wacom Emily Strickland of Lexmark John Swinimer of ATI David Szabados of Seagate Richard Townhill of Adobe and David Welsh of Everglide Finally I thank my wife Emily for all her help during this book s creation Contents at a Glance MN AAA xiii Chapter 1 Read Me First 1 2 22 00 eee KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK k 1 Chapter 2 Memory 00 220 kk kK kk KK KK KK KK KK KK KK kk kk kk k 15 Chapter 3 Storage ccc cago deseen en kk KK KK KK KK KK KK KK kk kK kk kk kk kk kk kk 37 Chapter 4 Communications kk kk KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK kk ee 63 Chapter 5 Pilsner ss a a INN 85 Chapter 6 Displays ve Se x kk kK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK kk k 115 Chapter 7 NOWOIKING 2525005 kk kk kk kk kK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK k 143 Chapter 8 Power a a 167 Chapter 9 Of Mice and Multimedia KK RR RR RR RR KS 191 Chapter 10 BIOS and CPU 00 kK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK kk 223 Chapter 11 Buses qon e KK KK KK KK KK kk kk ke 249 Chapter 12 References and Resources 002 KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK 275 n x29 bbt eMe I Rr TN RON EE 285 Contents yev ERE xiii Chapter 1 Read Me First iu eae she hg Ee kK KK kK KK KK KK AMADA 1 T
11. ejection of our mortality and an affirmation of our power to control our environment Lucky for you I m not writing such a thesis so I can simply state that upgrading PCs is fun and youre going to have a good time with this book You re going to make your PC better faster stronger more convenient more capable and more interesting And youre going to save money in the process because at least up to a point upgrading a PC is a lot less expensive than replacing it For all the talk about planned obsolescence in this industry it s remarkable how long you can extend the lives of old computers with targeted upgrades Come over to my office in Golden Colorado and I ll show you a PC that s eight years old but that s running Windows 2000 Server on my company network I ll also show you the PC I used to write this book a tiny home com puter I bought three years ago for 500 or so and that I have hot rodded to the point that it bears almost no resemblance to its original self Of course you can upgrade new machines as well as old ones In fact given the current lam entable trend of manufacturers offering home and small office PCs with marginal modem dis play and disk subsystems you may well enjoy big performance jumps when bringing those subsystems up to a higher standard And of course you may want to upgrade a PC to run the lat est version of Windows which is always more piggish of resources like memory CPU power disk space and dis
12. ew paragraphs ago to avoid magnetic screwdrivers Figure 1 4 A retrieval spider CHAPTER 1 Read Me First Working with Electronic Devices With a few exceptions such as monitors most external electronic devices such as keyboards mice and cartridge disk drives don t need special handling A commitment from you not to drop them onto a hard floor and not to spill beverages into them is usually all that s needed Even devices that we traditionally think of as fragile such as cameras are really very rugged 1 dropped my digital camera more than once during the course of taking this book s photographs and it didn t miss a pixel When you start working with internal electronic devices however the rules change Circuit boards memory modules processors and the like require different handling precautions Here they are in brief Don t touch the shiny parts especially the metallic connectors on the edge of a cir cuit card The oil on your fingers leaves a corrosive residue that can interfere with good clean connections Handle devices by their edges preferably the edges that dont have metallic connectors Don t stack circuit boards They can scratch each other Watch out for static Even the pros have a tough time with static electricity I still remember the motherboard roundup in a popular PC magazine in which the reviewers fried nearly half of the units they were supposed to test by inadvertently touching them
13. fforts to prepare this book and the content is based upon final release software whenever possible Portions of the manuscript may be based upon pre release versions supplied by software manufacturer s The author and the publisher make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents herein and accept no liability of any kind including but not limited to performance merchantability fitness for any particular purpose or any losses or damages of any kind caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly from this book Manufactured in the United States of America 10987654321 To Emily Carina and Cecily who like gadgets as much as I do Acknowledgments d like to thank the people at Sybex who I found to be professional friendly patient and dedicated in alphabetical order Ellen Dendy Kylie Johnston Dick Staron Rodnay Zaks and everybody else who worked on this book but whose name I didn t get to know Thanks go to my cheerful and excellent editors Kari Brooks Jim Kelly and Linda Orlando Special thanks go to my literary agent Mike Snell who put me in touch with Sybex in the first place I also thank the many managers and public relations people who helped me with the book s research including Duane Brozek of Viewsonic Chris Bull of Logitech Pedro Cabezuelo of Benchmark Porter Novelli Katy Doherty of Hewlett Packard Bruce Friedrichs of Logitech Katriina Laine of W
14. h k A kula dk REUS E eR UO 27 Removing a Memory Module ci xwaya esee Kulu m ee Dd Chapter 35 Storage 2 2 nl em 0 ede 37 Intro to Storage 4 lt 54 a DC en eee ee eWeek ea ee 3 25916 OB Hard DEVS eoa Aks JA A055 104 09 4 tes Vouk pde eb bg d P E e e oed bio dar 38 Cartridge Dives use a suda aw WW K Ee ER Rer IDE RE XU e EV ERA d r 4 Optical Drives i nn Akh a kal pitte Wk a hide eo ru edere ee 41 Tape Drives Wan dues a RP EROR S VU Pape et b n Oude Ay V qd WU Es 42 Addine n IDE Driven ss S n 2 puer epe bee ak Eee Cea es 43 Contents A ix Upgrading from IDE to SCSI 4 4 4 8 xil a bava nak k na ac em l n ha dal 3al qu d 51 Adding a Zap or Jaz DINE i an ere rat d TR co He idee tee e e n Rd 53 Internal Drives 5m ded od o Bia RARUS sb a basan eie E dv Kara Popule PLUR e 53 External Drives MI TT 53 Adding GD R RW Dive bo 2 a na Ak ka kal a ab wala a lek kh eros gs 54 An Upgrade Example coses WE a dala dea E a x ee k Pega 55 External vs Internal Drives ji lt wa sa ka es 58 Disc Media i swed eee Bie ats Aon dob r nd ge Oa de na RD an lay dv tte d 59 Addi a Tape Dives is s ode oe or ed 3 a ela l a lll ayak dades 60 Maintaining Your Storage Devices eee en 61 Chapter 4 e Communications 000 20 kk kk kk kK kk kk kk kk kk kk kk kk 63 Intro t Communications 4 vios cea sob he RW OA l xad Es i 4 6
15. hat hold the cover on look a lot like the screws that hold the power supply in place The power supply screws are typically a bit more interior than the cover screws which live on the perimeter see Figure 1 7 TIP Some PCs don t have cover screws instead they have tabs or latches holding the cover in place Still other designs use knurled knobs instead of screws or latches 8 N CHAPTER 1 Read Me First Keyboard cable Mouse cable USB cable Power cable Parallel printer cable Speaker cable Modem cable Video cable Figure 1 5 A PC s back panel dressed 4 Remove the cover screws Place them somewhere convenient where they won t roll away such as an inverted jar lid 5 Undo any latches that may secure the cover in place even with the screws off Figure 1 8 shows two different types of latches that you may see You may also have to unlock a cover lock especially if your computer is a business model 6 Slide the cover most of the way off see Figure 1 9 The way most PCs work you slide the cover about 80 or 90 percent of the way off and the cover stops sliding If you have a PC where the cover just slides all the way off you can skip step 7 Opening a PC s Cover AL 9 Keyboard port Mouse port PS 2 style USB port Power jack Parallel printer port Speaker port Modem port RJ 11 style Video port DB15 style Figure 1 6 A PC s bach panel undressed 7 Lift the cover straight up and
16. his book is as helpful for small business users as it is for home users As you flip through these pages you ll notice that the book has a lot of photographs but no line drawings The goal is to show you the way this stuff looks in real life The photographer and I shot every one of the photos you see in this book while going through every one of the upgrades that the book discusses So this book is a little like those automobile manuals that advertise that they re based on a complete tear down and rebuild You always wonder if the car they tore down and rebuilt actually ran after the authors reconstructed it Well I can report that all our computers are working fine You ll also notice that some of the upgrades this book discusses are inside the PC and some are outside Connecting a digital camera to a computer and installing the supporting software necessary to communicate with that device qualifies as an upgrade just as much as adding mem ory inside the box The book doesnt cover every possible device you might connect to your PC but it does cover some of the more popular peripheral add ons As to the book s organization most chapters start out with an introduction to the particular technology followed by some specific step by step procedures using typical hardware The intro ductions serve a dual purpose They explain the basics and simultaneously provide a miniature buyers guide with lots of purchasing tips So if you haven t already boug
17. ht the hardware you re considering for a given upgrade read the chapter about that hardware before you start shopping If you ve already made your purchase that s fine too because the chapters are full of tips for get ting the most out of your hardware and avoiding problems during the upgrade Now for a few quick caveats Although the step by step procedures are representative of how you d usually perform a certain upgrade you should always go by the detailed documenta tion you get with your new hardware if such documentation is available If you find a conflict between my recommended procedure and what your manual says go by the manual It s obvi ously impossible for any author to anticipate every possible wrinkle in an upgrade procedure My goal is to show you how you d typically execute the upgrade but it s up to you to verify that the steps will work for your specific hardware The second caveat is to take sensible safety precautions Turn devices off before opening them up Don t work on a PC with the power cord still attached to the wall outlet Read Chapter 1 Read Me First to get familiar with the tools you ll use Heed warnings in the text about the risks of certain procedures Also use anti static wrist straps where suggested You want to protect yourself but you want to protect the hardware you re installing too Third while upgrades are fun educational and potentially economical if you re thinking about replacing a PC s
18. igure 1 11 Cable damage from cover removal Gross Internal Anatomy The interior of a PC can vary quite a bit from one unit to the next but all PCs contain the fol lowing major components Motherboard a k a system board hosting the CPU memory and various other inte grated circuits Expansion slots usually all you see are PCI slots nowadays they re short and beige but your PC may also have one or more ISA slots which are longer and black for older hardware Adapters add on boards that fit into the expansion slots Power supply usually a silver colored metal box with a yellow label Internal disk drives including usually one diskette drive one or more hard drives a CD ROM drive and sometimes a Zip drive Power cables groups of brightly colored wires ending in white connectors that plug into internal disk drives Gross Internal Anatomy a 13 e Signal cables typically flat gray ribbon cables that carry data between the mother board or adapters and internal disk drives Rather than describe these components in detail Figures 1 12 and 1 13 show two fairly typi cal PC designs the mini tower and the tower with labels for most of the major internal organs Again the documentation for your particular computer is likely to have a more relevant and detailed photo or drawing so you should use that if you have it If you have a notebook com puter you re really going to have to depend on the manufacturer s documenta
19. ing Memory to a Video Card 00 0002 127 VERA on iod te Rebate Ue PP VEU ee E redes epe ds 129 WRAM iya a d na ad ERES dg ved doce dre a e 129 SGRAM s 2 lt eden Nel eu E ENEN dnd egere que d ee qnd pus 130 DDR ic cuve a e x di ERA 130 Setting Up Your Monitor 533258 5 obe rapia ger ET y e TE SG ex n kr 130 Resolution i gt ax ste Ree Se 2ya Gee a T eO EG Peer E Sn 130 Color Depth cues pga a anon ee d ere sedes ee SR dee E 131 Refresh Bate ias Haw 34 4 w k p RES ee e der ded dn d n een 132 Third Party Calibration Utilities y eee 133 Installing Multiple Monitors c ii 135 Installing a Flat Panel Monitor 000 aka r rdd rir Wi ah Q l 48 136 Maintaming Your Monitors lt sz 2 4e den QA San Ker d y Wege Seque ES 141 Chapter 7 Networking lk uk kk kk kk kk KK kK KK KK KK KK 6l 143 Intro to Networking s 3 i n be w ES l d r n R en bog dus eel qt 144 Physical Connections 4 s erste AE a n Ret dom s Wy a ode e ass d n 144 Signaling Method eritar e cud nn k hk Ge oak don Qe W N cides dd 147 Networle Protocol sla x paa PARA ng a 147 Network Architecture sobra tage x nak RA Qal an aa eR e As cee Wik 148 Network Softwate cesser M2Mp p N MB px p2xxppepppaapappppppoaan 149 Installing Wired Network 2000
20. k speed than the previous versions of Windows I should note here that 95 of this books content is useful even if you don t run Windows this is essentially a hardware book and you ll find it handy even if you run Linux Solaris OS 2 DOS or some other operating system Now admittedly I spend a lot of time upgrading computers because it helps me learn about new products that I have to write about or advise my consulting clients about I also have fun taking an old slow machine and making it into an old fast machine You on the other hand may be interested in upgrading your PC for purely practical and prosaic reasons You may need your computer to do something it doesn t do right now or you may just need it to work faster and you don t want to spend a lot of time or get a Ph D in computer science to get it done Happily whether you re a gadget freak like me or somebody who couldn care less about computer hardware you should find this book useful It doesn t spend a lot of time discussing the history of computing It doesnt tell you in any great detail about how the underlying technology works in theory The focus of this book is to give you a friendly helpful guide to accomplishing the xiv A Introduction most common types of upgrades that people tend to perform with their PCs in as few pages as possible The title of this book contains the words home PC but dont let that put you off if you re working in a small office Most of t
21. na 192 Keyboards j a ye ue al l iceman doe ded Red ee oth bed ode ad d 195 Upgrade Input Devices x 2A uk dik wa A AWA kul AW E WR i be a 197 Installing a Cordless Mouse xana ku d eee 197 Installing a Pressure Sensitive Tablet 000 tE rA KEEA E ES 202 Intro to Multim dia x vay tr Ra pb RR EPI Re eee ee E d ner 4 204 44 eer DERI a ER De aR PR a e Pd Eo Re A 204 MOtOB 224 esa deg e eb bdo bd Rx RARE paca Pedo qb A wad 205 MUSIC y sasaaa Bee A Haw Oke A eae ree dee uq ay sole Ed 206 Sound Investmentss cca lt C ne ro bECHESTPCERGAXRERPESA GAME ened 206 Add Speakers ceca pea todo eene PEU RR Eq eee hee ee ne 206 Connect a MIDI Keyboard i as Adobe RE Re 4444 eas 210 Sulls and Movies i sa ru xb UI RE C UE dex a 4044a 214 Using a Digital Camera sese esee IR bua thee Eee 9e ee Pee 214 Using an External Capture Device s al a ak a a ka l 2 a w la W l aka 216 Buying Webcam seed Gua bsavd ak pere eg desee Pee nk dalal 220 Chapter 10 BIOS and CPU 2 2 kk kk KK KK KK RR KK KK KK kk kk kk kk 223 BIOS Overview cue carnosa A d gs e E Og POE EA XU gee e EE gd UP AA 224 Updating the BIOS zan a ada vln a a XA ed h la 225 How to Tell What BIOS You Have ee 225 How to Get the Latest Version of Your BIOS i k y xala ak xl kal l rurasa 226 Power Backup is Essential oo ae dee
22. ng its length while pulling up and dont grab the chips to get leverage e Keep things clean Dust is the enemy of electronics It interferes with connections and traps heat Wipe or blow dust away from the components you plan to work on before you start work You don t need a can of compressed air just inhale deeply shut your eyes and blow Wash your hands Wipe the table clean e Always power down Dont ever connect the PC to AC power when the cover is off Opening a PC s Cover When I started working with computers a couple of decades ago opening the cover was very simple You looked at the back of the PC located the five screws that held the cover on removed them and slid the cover forward and off Today we have PC covers held in place by screws knobs snaps and tabs some designs are more complex than Victorian era undergarments How ever the general technique for getting inside a PC hasn t changed greatly Here are the usual steps for removing a PC s cover TIP If you have your computer s user manual it will contain a description that is both more detailed and more model specific than what follows 1 Turn the computer off 2 Disconnect everything from the PC s back panel keyboard and mouse connectors video connector power cord modem cable network cable and so forth see Figures 1 5 and 1 6 3 Locate the cover screws These are usually Phillips head screws at the back of the PC Be careful though the screws t
23. ools for Upgrader ses 4 22W k er mee ya u dee bee a A 2 Working with Electronic Devices 2 eee 6 Opening a POS oyet 4a a ro to porer ti eri b w l a da Wk l k Q 7 Gross Internal Anatomy ooo 12 Chapter 2 gt MEMORY 2 asa xa kk kalana aa RR rh Rm RIDE aa koa RATE a 15 Intro to Memory sorori agia ib eR Rm ROA le a ac Qe 16 Determining Memory Capacity ss ss siss es s he v Rc y y 46 a 19 How Much Do You Have ss llis 19 How Much Can You Add pe pi parra nn Wn xd eR RR Re RR RH 19 How Much Do You Need 1 e 20 Determining Memory Type and Speed a lt l k kl a r al k l na lk lak ese 21 FEM Fast Page Mod i sla n lokala kall ah sd ade III I 21 EDO Extended Data Out kk kk kk KK KI KIRI KIRI KI KI KIRI KIR KI KIRI KI es 21 BEDO Burst Extended Data Out KK KIRI KI KI KIRI RI KI KIRI RIK KIRI KI KIRI KI KI KK 22 SDRAM Synchronous Dynamic RAM occ 22 RDRAM Rambus Dynamic RAM Jk kk kk kk KK KK KK KK KI KI KK KI KI KK KK KK KK 22 DDR Dual Data Rate BAM kk sees 23 SRAM Statice RAM als kas a ak Se lae kd kak Aw A ta ek dde ee la es a 23 Memory Module Package Types sers lt a eee 24 SIMM Single Inline Memory Module cu kak kk a kl ess 24 DIMM Dual Inline Memory Module 0 0 0 0 KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK KK 25 RIMM Rambus Inline Memory Module ile 26 Adding a Memory Module 2 a k l k
24. re great for shedding light into tight corners You can also hold the small kind in your teeth if you have to Needle nose pliers see Figure 1 3 come in handy for fishing loose screws out of tight spots and for straightening bent connector pins Wire cutters also in Figure 1 3 aren t often necessary for cutting wires but they are useful for cutting the annoying ties that sometimes come with a new device s packaging Electrical tape isn t really a tool but it should be in your PC toolkit because it s great for patching friction worn areas on gray ribbon cables and for covering up connectors you want to make sure you don t use Flexible Lantern Figure 1 2 Flashlights Tools for Upgraders ZA 5 Wire cutters Needle nose pliers Figure 1 3 Pliers and cutters e Wire ties also aren t really tools but they are wonderfully useful both inside and outside the PC s enclosure These plastic ribbons have one pointy ribbed end that fits into a hole in the other end when you snug up the loop it stays tight e A jar lid or small paper cup is great for holding screws e A dental mirror is handy for situations when you need a circuit board model number or chip label or other printed information and the component is situated exactly wrong for you to see that information e A retrieval tool or spider see Figure 1 4 is great for fishing out those tiny screws that we all drop from time to time especially because I advised you a f
25. s a k le bs b UR RA 226 Performing the Update lt i os 2 n la ALL dee la ll a ak e E e ERR Gr oan 228 xii N Contents CPU Overviews xao ic 4 4 5 yes RR n he Apes dos te tee OO da i ee dR 229 Replacing a GPU e px ur wa o 40A b e AS Ween ea RE ERE he ae 232 Replacing a CPU with a ZIF Socket ls wal kl kax wa h k kl A lk walk kala Wi 234 The Other Kind Fork Required kk kk kK KK KK KK e 240 Replacing Slot Cartridge CPUs 00 0 242 Addine GP iaa JM JJj a a a DET AA MZ ZMIMMIJi A MMNMNIE E 246 Adding a CPU to a Bare Bones Motherboard KK KK KK KK KK 246 Filling Out a Dual CPU System Windows NT 2000 XP sss 247 Chapter 11 Buses sk rsen atr A kl kk a d lk ak ka al ah x RR RE e ak 249 Intro to Buses cusa K k dl l e a Ee ewe hee eee Qad h REX ES 250 Reasons to Upgrade gt a u n 2k Hal repre eH RAS SERERE NE n 250 heasons to Add a s d d Qad d led ede dude rp eda b hee tau 251 lup 252 Installing a USB Host Adapters y erise s n d a Ere oth ERNEA 256 Installing a USB Hubs iu iesus e pP esp ERA E CR MERI e ea 259 USB Configuration Rules 43 2 ce bln r 40 i EE APEE de dba 260 Measuring USB Power Draw csse b Ra eh RE 260 Exe Wires iuis dessen d exte poA ee doe Reg pA ee hep auditus d 262 Installing FireWire za sien 64 44 gees Boe ep e a Rr RADO nos gut 262
26. s for Upgraders Whether you re working on cars fission reactors or PCs having the right tools makes all the dif ference Don attempt any of the procedures in this book if you don t have the tools I mention at the start of each procedure You ll end up stripping screws scratching circuit boards and gener ally upgrading your PC right into the trash can Thankfully the tools you ll need for the jobs I describe in this book are mostly common household ones screwdrivers flashlights sledge hammers etc However most of you wont have a dental mirror or Torx screwdriver in your collection so picking up a few specialized items like these can make the difference between fun and frustration TIP I have yet to see a PC toolkit that has all the items on my list or that doesn t include at least a couple of tools that you ll never need Also tools that come in kits marketed for computer use tend to bend break or corrode after about five minutes of use My advice is to get the individual tools from your local hardware store and make your own hit Tools for Upgraders 4L 3 The following descriptive list should help you fill out your PC upgrade toolkit I ll start with the common items and work my way toward the more obscure ones e Screwdrivers are the most common tools you ll use see Figure 1 1 However you may need some smaller ones than those you use around the house e recommend you get two or three different sizes of both slot and
27. tion because the interior layouts of these portable units vary even more than those of non portable PCs CPU Motherboard Power cables Internal disk drives Power supply Memory Adapters Expansion Signal slots cables Figure 1 12 Inside a typical mini tower PC 14 AL CHAPTER 1 Read Me First Power supply lll Memory p AH CPU Motherboard T Adapters Figure 1 13 Inside a typical tower PC 1 Power cables Internal disk drives Signal cables Expansion slots Chapter Memory
28. video card modem processor disk controller and disk drive you should Introduction L XV ask yourself if you wouldn t be better off buying a new system Heck the bundled software alone in a new system can save you considerable dollars Also if your PC is really old you have to won der if what you ll end up with is a turbocharged Yugo If you have a 486 PC or a Pentium one you should think hard about simply replacing it rather than upgrading it Some of the procedures in this book will void your warranty with extreme prejudice So if your computer is still under warranty you may want to make an anonymous phone call to your hardware vendor and ask if installing a memory module or whatever yourself would disqualify your machine for warranty repair l ve never seen a case where a vendor has refused warranty service for an upgraded PC unless the defective part was actually installed by the user or dam aged by something else the user did but you should consider that it could happen and some ven dors are more understanding about these things than others Finally This book contains opinions gasp I don t pretend to be neutral about different technologies companies procedures or products some stuff I like some I dont The opinions in this book are informed ones and I try to identify when I m editorializing so you can accept or reject those opinions based on your own experience and judgment This page intentionally left blank
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