The Complete Idiot's Guide to Upgrading and Repairing PCs (5th Edition) (Complete Idiot's Guides)

523 Pages·2002·4.36 MB·English

by  Jennifer Fulton

Upgrading and
Repairing PCs
Fifth Edition
by Jennifer Fulton
A Pearson Education Company
To my husband Scott—my friend, my love, my rock.
Copyright © 2002 by Alpha Books
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys-
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assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for
damages resulting from the use of information contained herein. For information, ad-
dress Alpha Books, 201 West 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN 46290.
THE COMPLETE IDIOT’S GUIDE TO and Design are registered trademarks of Pearson
Education, Inc.
International Standard Book Number: 0-02-864239-2
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001095865
04 03 02 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Interpretation of the printing code: The rightmost number of the first series of num-
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numbers is the number of the book’s printing. For example, a printing code of 02-1
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Printed in the United States of America
Note: This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to
provide helpful and informative material on the subject matter covered. It is sold with
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The author and publisher specifically disclaim any responsibility for any liability, loss,
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Publisher
Marie Butler-Knight
Product Manager
Phil Kitchel
Managing Editor
Jennifer Chisholm
Acquisitions Editor
Eric Heagy
Development Editor
Nancy D. Warner
Production Editor
Billy Fields
Copy Editor
Daryl Kessler
Rachel Lopez
Illustrator
Jody Schaeffer
Cover Designers
Mike Freeland
Kevin Spear
Book Designers
Scott Cook and Amy Adams of DesignLab
Indexer
Ginny Bess
Layout/Proofreading
Svetlana Dominguez
Timothy Osborn
Contents at a Glance
First Quarter: Assessing Whether Upgrading Is
Really Necessary 1
1 Making the Call: When, Why, and Whether You
Should Upgrade 3
Find out when you should upgrade, or when you can get
by with a simple repair.
2 Now, Let’s Find Out What Kind of Computer You Have 15
Discover what your PC has, without tearing it apart.
3 What It Takes to Upgrade Each Part of Your Computer 27
Get to know your PC, and what upgrades are possible
with your particular configuration.
4 What You Need to Know Before You Open Your PC 53
Protecting yourself from disaster.
Second Quarter: Preventative Maintenance and
Other Ways to Avoid Upgrading 71
5 Fixing the Most Common Problems 73
Try this easy stuff before you attempt major surgery.
6 Cleaning Windows 111
These simple steps can help Windows run faster.
7 “Repairing” the Hard Disk Instead of Replacing It 125
Tuning up your hard disk and repairing simple problems.
Third Quarter: Taking Everything Apart 133
8 The Easiest Things to Upgrade 135
Even your grandmother could perform these upgrades!
9 Accelerating Your PC with a New CPU 165
Giving your PC a better brain (CPU).
10 Replacing the Motherboard and Its Parts 193
M is for the many things it gave me …
11 Memorize This! Upgrading Memory 235
Why increasing RAM helps your programs run better.
12 Face the Interface 253
To be able to plug things in, you gotta know which plug
does what.
13 The Online Line 277
Yes, there’s a world outside of your desktop.
14 I Can See Clearly Now: Upgrading Your Video 309
Taking advantage of modern video capabilities.
15 Sensational Stereophonic Sound 321
Jumping into the multimedia arena.
16 Hands-On Hard Disk Replacement 331
Adding a new hard disk gives you more room for software.
17 Replacing a Floppy Drive 353
What to do when the floppy drive stops floppin’.
18 Adding an Optical Drive 361
Wanna play the latest movies and CDs … and make your
own discs too?
19 Powering Up the Power Supply 381
After you upgrade everything else, you may need to turn
up the juice!
20 Cooling and Ventilating Your System 393
Air could be your PC’s most valuable resource.
21 Classier Chassis: Consider a New System Case 407
Better ventilation, easier maintenance, and possibly
reduced downtime.
22 Installing and Maintaining a Home Network 419
More than one PC? Have them share resources!
Fourth Quarter: Putting Everything Back Together 437
23 Making Your Computer Boot Up Again 439
Even the most expertly assembled PCs sometimes fail to
boot right after reassembly.
24 Getting Windows to Recognize Your New Toys 461
After you add a new component, come here to configure it.
Index 475
Contents
First Quarter: Assessing Whether Upgrading
Is Really Necessary 1
1 Making the Call: When, Why, and
Whether You Should Upgrade 3
Assessing What You Really Want from Your PC ..................4
You Should Upgrade If You Can Make a Great System............4
You Should Upgrade a PC to Keep It Alive ............................4
You Shouldn’t Upgrade If It Costs More Money ......................5
You Shouldn’t Upgrade If It Launches a Cascade....................5
You Shouldn’t Upgrade Just to Own the Best or Fastest ..........6
You Shouldn’t Upgrade to Compensate for Depreciation ........6
What Should You Upgrade? ..................................................7
How Fast Is Fast Enough? ....................................................7
How Fast Is Fast? ................................................................7
How Fast Is Slow? ................................................................8
What Can You Upgrade? ......................................................9
Repairs That Enable You to Avoid Upgrades......................10
Is Your Old Computer Worth Fixing or Upgrading? ........11
Nonobvious Factors That Render Your PC
Nonupgradeable................................................................12
Why Upgrading a Notebook PC Might Not Be Doable ....13
2 Now, Let’s Find Out What Kind of
Computer You Have 15
What You Can Tell by Looking at the Outside..................16
What Your BIOS Can Tell You Before You Look Inside ....17
Matching Your Computer to Your Operating
System’s Requirements......................................................20
Moving On Up (or Down) to Windows 98 SE ......................21
Building the Computer That Runs Windows 98 SE ..............23
Other Upgrading Concerns ..................................................24
3 What It Takes to Upgrade Each Part of
Your Computer 27
Parts Is Parts ........................................................................27
The Motherboard Makes the Right Connections ..............29
What Does a Motherboard Do? ..........................................30
Why Upgrade the Motherboard? ..........................................31
Why Not Upgrade the Motherboard? ..................................31
The Brain of Your PC: The CPU ........................................32
The Limits to Upgrading Your CPU, in Brief ........................33
Judging When to Make a CPU Investment ..........................33
How Speed Plays a Factor in Your Computer’s …
Uh, Speed..........................................................................34
Why Upgrade the CPU? ......................................................35
Why Not Upgrade the CPU? ..............................................36
Basic Functions Are in the System BIOS ............................37
Why Upgrade the BIOS?......................................................38
Why Not Upgrade the BIOS? ..............................................39
The PC’s Think Tank: RAM ................................................39
The Different Types of RAM ................................................40
The Differences in RAM on the Inside..................................42
So How Much Memory Do I Need? ......................................43
How Do I Tell How Much Memory I Have?..........................43
Why Upgrade Memory? ......................................................43
Why Not Upgrade Memory?................................................44
Can I Upgrade Memory?......................................................44
Save It for the Hard Disk ....................................................46
Partitioning and Formatting Your Hard Disk........................47
Why Upgrade the Hard Disk?..............................................48
Why Not Upgrade the Hard Disk? ......................................48
Your PC’s Video System ......................................................49
So What’s VGA? ................................................................50
What’s This About “Acceleration”? ....................................51
Why Upgrade the Video? ....................................................51
Why Not Upgrade the Video? ............................................52
4 What You Need to Know Before You
Open Your PC 53
Creating an Emergency Diskette ........................................54
Emergency Diskette for Windows 95....................................54
Emergency Diskette for Windows 98 and Windows Me........55
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Upgrading and Repairing PCs, Fifth Edition
Be Certain You Can Boot with Your Optical Disc Drive ........56
Backing Up the Backup of Your System Registry ..................57
This Is Only a Test … Be-e-e-e-e-e-ep ..................................59
Making Your Configuration Files Load the Right Drivers ......60
The Ins and Outs of Using Your Emergency Diskette ............62
Now Back Up Your Data ....................................................63
Putting Your Toolkit Together ............................................64
Avoiding Frying Yourself on Your PC ................................66
The Twelve Steps to Success ................................................66
Second Quarter: Preventative
Maintenance and Other Ways to
Avoid Upgrading 71
5 Fixing the Most Common Problems 73
General Hardware Dilemmas..............................................73
When Your PC Won’t Start ................................................74
When Your PC’s Locked Up ................................................76
Keyboard Calamities ..........................................................78
When the Keyboard Goes Beep! Beep! Beep! ........................78
Little Lost Keyboard ............................................................78
Spilled Coffee and Other Common Disasters........................79
When You Can’t Tell What the Keys Are For ......................80
The Case of So-Called “Internet Keyboards” ........................80
When the Mouse Becomes a Rat........................................81
Taking Care of Your Mechanical Mouse ..............................81
Infrared Devices: Not Entirely Cordless ............................84
Plugging In Your Cordless Devices........................................84
Get Accustomed to Resyncing ..............................................85
When Your Printer Makes You Feel Powerless ..................85
Make Sure Your Printer Is Configured Properly ....................86
My Printer Doesn’t Print! ....................................................87
My Printer Keeps Jamming! ................................................87
I’m Having Trouble Printing Envelopes and Labels!..............87
Nt Bng Abl to Rd Yr Prntot ................................................88
When Your Printout Is Only Half There ..............................88
Cleaning Your Inkjet Print Cartridge ....................................89
Cleaning Your Laser Printer Toner Cartridge ........................90
When Your Printout Is Nearly Gone ....................................90
Whether to Add More Memory to Your Laser Printer ............91
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Contents
Monitoring Your Monitor Troubles....................................91
What Could Possibly Go Wrong with a
Solid-State Device? ............................................................92
Magnetism and Other Magic Tricks ....................................93
Convening the New Panel....................................................93
Power Management, or the Lack Thereof..............................94
Altered States, or the Difference Between “On”
and “Really On” ..............................................................95
Fixing a Drive That’s Floppin’ ............................................97
The PC Won’t Read My Diskette! ........................................97
Other Diskette Hassles ........................................................98
Optical Drives and Sonic Discrepancies ............................99
I Can’t Hear My CD! ..........................................................99
How an Optical Drive Head Gets Dirty..............................102
Writable Optical Drives ....................................................102
Deciphering DVD Spaghetti ..............................................104
Playing and Working at the Same Time: How It’s Done ....105
When Your Modem’s on the Fritz ....................................106
What to Do When You’re Not Sure What the
Problem Is ......................................................................107
When All Else Fails … ....................................................109
6 Cleaning Windows 111
Crud Windows Leaves on Your Disk ................................112
Avoiding Crashes ..............................................................116
Attitude Adjustments........................................................117
Cleaning Up the Registry ..................................................117
Streamlining Your Startup..................................................118
Keeping Your Programs Installed ....................................119
7 “Repairing” the Hard Disk Instead of
Replacing It 125
What to Do When Your Hard Disk Plays
Hide and Seek ................................................................126
Checking the Hard Disk for Problems ............................127
Reorganizing the Hard Disk ............................................129
Converting from FAT16 to FAT32 ....................................130
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