| Introduction | |
| Do You Need This Book? | |
| How This Book Is Organized | |
| Conventions Used in This Book | |
| The Lay of the Land | |
| Deciding to Upgrade | |
| An Upgradable Appliance | |
| The Cost of Upgrading | |
| Total Upgrade Costs | |
| Determining the Correct Upgrade | |
| Buying Upgrade Components | |
| Mail Order on the Internet | |
| Brick-and-Mortar Superstores | |
| Local System Integrator | |
| Auction, Swap Meet, or Person-to-Person | |
| Preparing for an Upgrade | |
| Finding Out What's Inside | |
| Using Our Excel Workbook to Inventory Your | |
| PC Inventory Form: General Information | |
| PC Inventory Form: Column Headings | |
| SiSoft Sandra: A System Analysis Tool | |
| Current Components | |
| PC Model | |
| Case | |
| CPU | |
| Processor Socket/Slot | |
| L1 Cache | |
| L2 Cache | |
| System Bus (MHz) | |
| Motherboard | |
| Chipset | |
| BIOS | |
| BIOS Plug and Play | |
| RAM | |
| Hard Drive #1 and Hard Drive | |
| Floppy Drive | |
| SCSI Controller | |
| SCSI BIOS | |
| PCI Bus | |
| CD-ROM Drive | |
| CD-R/CD-RW Drive | |
| DVD Drive | |
| Zip Drive | |
| Tape Drive | |
| Other Removable Media Drive | |
| Modem | |
| Monitor | |
| Video Card | |
| Sound Card | |
| Speakers | |
| Keyboard | |
| Mouse | |
| Network Interface Card | |
| Printer | |
| Scanner | |
| Operating System | |
| Slots 1-8 | |
| PC Card Slots 1-2 | |
| IDE Bus | |
| Manufacturer Information | |
| Finding Manufacturers | |
| Tracking Upgrades Automatically | |
| Free IRQs | |
| Available Peripheral Slots | |
| Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) | |
| Extended ISA (EISA) | |
| i.Link/FireWire (IEEE-1394) | |
| ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) | |
| Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) | |
| PC Card | |
| PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) | |
| Universal Serial Bus (USB) | |
| VESA Local Bus | |
| An Upgrade Checklist | |
| Online Shopping Tips | |
| Things You Need | |
| A Proper Work Area | |
| Moving the Computer | |
| Clearing the Clutter | |
| Importance of Good Lighting and Ventilation | |
| Disconnecting the | |
| Cleaning the | |
| Note, Map, and Label | |
| Mapping the Layout | |
| Noting All Connections | |
| Writing Down the Steps | |
| Working Inside the System Case | |
| No Jewelry | |
| Keep Track of Parts | |
| No Food or Drinks | |
| No Fast Moves | |
| Static Electricity and What to Do About | |
| Required Tools | |
| The System Journal | |
| Screwdrivers | |
| Nutdrivers | |
| Flashlight | |
| Cable Ties | |
| PC Toolkits | |
| Splitters and Converters | |
| Tools Checklist | |
| Breaking Down Your Computer.II. THE CORE UPGRADES | |
| Upgrading the BIOS | |
| Reasons to Upgrade | |
| What Is It I'm Upgrading Exactly? And Why Do I Upgrade It?Your Current BIOS | |
| Help, I've Got a Clone Motherboard | |
| Manufacturer and Version Number | |
| Record All Current CMOS Settings | |
| Performing the BIOS Upgrade | |
| Peripheral Card BIOS Upgrades | |
| Step by Step-BIOS Chip | |
| Step by Step-Flash | |
| Inherent Risks in BIOS Upgrades | |
| RAM | |
| Memory Upgrade Payoff | |
| Motherboard Form Factor | |
| Memory Speed Ratings | |
| Types of Memory | |
| SRAM | |
| EDO RAM | |
| SDRAM | |
| DDR SDRAM | |
| RDRAM | |
| SLDRAM | |
| Adding Memory Modules | |
| On the Mixing of Metals | |
| Where to Get Memory | |
| Installing Memory Modules | |
| CPU and Motherboard Upgrades | |
| Preliminary Upgrade Checklist | |
| Caveats and Admonishments | |
| What You're Getting Into | |
| Just the CPU or the Whole Motherboard? Is Upgrade the Right Decision?Motherboard Design Decisions | |
| Form Factors. Options on Board | |
| CPU Sockets and Slots | |
| The Mammoth Motherboard Upgrade Checklist | |
| Upgrading the CPU Checklist | |
| Pre-Motherboard Upgrade Checklist | |
| Motherboard Upgrade Checklist | |
| Making the Upgraded System Operational | |
| Restarting the Computer | |
| Restarting the Windows Operating System | |
| Upgrading the Hard Disk | |
| SCSI Versus EIDE | |
| EIDE | |
| EIDE Controller | |
| IDE Cable | |
| Get the Jump on Jumpers | |
| SCSI Drives | |
| SCSI Adapter Card | |
| SCSI ID Settings | |
| Daisy-Chaining SCSI Devices | |
| External Hard Drives (USB/FireWire) | |
| USB External Drives | |
| FireWire External Drives | |
| Installing an Internal Hard Drive | |
| Handling Tips for Any Drive | |
| Mounting Brackets and Screws | |
| Ribbon Cables and Pin | |
| Power Connection Cylinders, Heads, Sectors, and Mode | |
| Hard Drive Installation Checklist | |
| FDISK and Formatting the New Drive | |
| Partition Tricks | |
| Moving into a New Drive | |
| Cloning the Original Information | |
| Drive Cloning | |
| Floppy Drive Replacements | |
| Upgrading an Internet Connection | |
| Dial-Up Connections | |
| High-Speed Connections | |
| Cable | |
| Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) | |
| DirecPC | |
| Order an | |
| Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved. |
