Owning a desktop PC can be a rewarding experience that is long-lasting. Many PC users do not know how to perform their own hardware upgrades and repairs. Users can increase the lifespan and performance of their desktop PC with simple hardware upgrades. It requires a small amount of knowledge to be capable of upgrading many of the key components inside of a computer. A large portion of users are scared of opening a PC to perform a repair or upgrade. Computer upgrades are usually very simple, and there is very little to be scared of. Research and knowledge are the keys to any PC upgrade or repair. Some safety measures must be followed, but most PC upgrades are little more complex than plugging a household appliance into the wall. Hardware documentation and the internet are the best ways to gather information on a particular computer and will determine what hardware can be used. The basics of this guide can be used to install or replace video cards, sound cards, modems, and RAM. The guide will outline the process for installing additional RAM into a desktop computer.
RAM stands for random access memory, and it is also referred to as volatile memory. Volatile memory loses data when the power is turned off. An example of non-volatile memory is a computer hard drive. Because the hard drive retains data even after a shutdown, it is considered non-volatile. Every program and application executed on a computer is loaded into and out of RAM. Windows runs many processes that consume a sizeable amount of RAM. The more RAM inside of a computer, the faster it will download files, run software, install applications, boot up, shutdown, and more. Many aging computers become young again with additional RAM added to the system. Modern RAM is usua...
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... may be seen showing “new hardware found” in the lower right corner of the screen upon the initial restart.
In summary, gather information first from outside the computer and obtain an ESD wrist strap. Secondly, gather information from inside the computer about its current configuration, and buy hardware upgrades accordingly. Finally perform the upgrade, and verify the installation.
This guide can be applied to installing a video card, sound card and many other types of PC expansions. For these other upgrades, hardware drivers must be installed. A simple internet search for the drivers is all that is required. Possessing the ability to upgrade and repair a computer can save time, money and reduce stress. Most upgrades are very simple to complete with a small amount of product research. There should be very little fear of performing these upgrades for most users.
Andrews, J. (2010). A+ guide to managing and maintaining your PC (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
This memory is assists in allowing the computer to simultaneously read and write data at the same time. Simply put, RAM is the most common form of memory that is utilized by computers as well as other devices. There are specific types of RAM that include dynamic random access memory and static random access memory, or DRAM and SRAM respectively. These two RAM are very different in terms of how they allow data to be read and written. Dynamic random access memory is often considered the most frequent type found in computers. Static random access memory is also found in computer, and is usually referred to as the faster of the two types due to the fact that refreshing of this form of memory is not needed whereas with dynamic random access memory it is. The term RAM is often used to describe what the computer uses to function. It is the main memory or primary memory whereby all processes and software run. Since it is random access memory, it is only available at the time a certain process is needed and is not stored anywhere on the computer specifically (2007). This is what makes random access memory often confusing to understand particular since computers also have what is known as read only
Before you start you will need to check if u need all of your pieces together and parts. Then you need to check if you have the right size case for your mother board. The find a bare floor to work on its the best place. Then download latest drivers for your pc so you cannot
Document the Scene: Including photos of the computer and physical attributes have to be documented.
Well, Before anything else, here is a few names of components that need to be known to not be completely lost. The CPU(Central Processing Unit) (It processes everything from basic instructions to complex functions.) (Techterms.com). The Hard drive (the location of all the computer’s folders, files, and information, saved magnetically so even if turned off it’ll all stay saved). The RAM (Random Access Memory) (The more RAM your computer has, the more data can be loaded from the hard drive into the RAM, which can effectively speed up your computer.)(Techterms.com), The OS (Operating System) (just what it sounds like, this is the system that works the computer, as in Windows, Linux, and Apple OS.) The Graphics card (helps the CPU by processing the graphics portion of what the CPU has to process). The Disk Drive( this is the CD,DVD, or Blu-Ray driver that is installed to use CD’s DVD’s and or Blu-Ray disks.) The last major term to know is the Motherboard ...
Desktop computers were commonly used since the late 90’s. The increasing number of applications on desktop computers allowed us to do all kinds of different activities like games, music, video, document editing and so on. In comparison with laptop computers, desktop computers have more stable performance, greater capacities, and throughout history, they have proven themselves more reliable to handle every job they have been assigned.
It also If your Bios ever needs to be updated the first thing you should do is check with your PC manufacture’s website and see if they have the latest bios for your particular PC. When doing this also make sure you download the right BIOS for your PC model and download the exe file and install it. On older PC’s updating your bios may require you to do it differently such as having to put it on a CD and boot from it to install the latest update. Usually a BIOS update can help your computer run more smoothly and fix a lot of problems that you may have ran into in the past such as compatibility issues with software and your PC’s boot speed. Lots of the times when you get a new PC you might need to update your bios because it they usually come with a lot of bugs that need to be patched. On Mac computers they do not have a traditional Bios like a windows one may have, instead they have a boot firmware that like to call “Open Firmware”. Just like BIOS, Open Firmware also is accessible on the initial startup of the mac and it also provides you were the options for technical diagnostics and the ability to debug your computer. In order for you to access Open Firmware on your mac you when you first start it up you should hold down “option,” “command,” “0” and
The next step is putting the computer together. First you will need to put the
The motherboard is the main circuit board of a microcomputer. The motherboard contains the connectors for attaching additional boards. Typically, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive. Collectively, all these chips that reside on the motherboard are known as the motherboard's chipset. On most PCs, it is possible to add memory chips directly to the motherboard. You may also be able to upgrade to a faster CP by replacing the CPU chip. To add additional core features, you may need to replace the motherboard entirely. (Glossary)
Computers are one of the most popular kinds of electronic devices in the world today. Whether kid or adult, male or female, everyone wants to learn how to operate the computer. People use computers for different purposes such as typing papers, creating websites, making presentations, browsing on the internet, playing games, etc. In fact, many people are still confused about choosing what kind of computer they want to buy. In the world today, there are two types of computers: notebook/laptop and desktop. They both are actually very different in several ways. In this paper, I will compare the size, connectivity, power, and price of notebook and desktop computers. I can make these comparisons because I have both a notebook and a desktop computer in my apartment.
“IntelliMirror” feature: the ability to automatically restore uninstalled drivers, deleted DLL’s, and other user settings, even if the user’s machine is replaced with a different one.
When an executable file is loaded into memory, it is called a process. A process is an instance of a program in executing. It contains its current activity, such as its program code and also the contents of the processor’s register. It generally includes the process stack, which contain temporary data, and a data section, which global variables. During runtime, it may include a heap, or dynamically allocated memory. In contrast with a program, a process is “an active entity, with a program counter specifying the next instruction to execute and a set of associated resources” (Operating System Concept 106). A process is a program that executes a single instance of a thread. Multiple threads can exist which allows more than one task to perform at a time. Multithreaded processes may share resources such as code, data, and file section. They do not share resources such as registers and stack.
RAM is used for memory caching, which means when the computer’s in operation, programs use this hardware for quick access and has memory saved temporarily for applications that’s deleted once the computer’s powered down. A CPU is what performs the large part of information processing in the computer, this tells what each part should be doing and it also proccesses requests; whether it be to turn on a cooling fan or to accept information to provide processing for words. It’s very important that the CPU is cooled well as it generates a lot of thermal energy. This heat is dissipated using a CPU cooler which often consists of a heatsink and fan. Newer technology is using liquid cooling and a radiator, which is a quiet solution to keep the CPU cool. The GPU is what processes graphics to create a display. Some graphics cards are powerful enough to provide viewing in multiple displays. A higher performance graphics card requires direct connection to the power supply as the motherboard can’t keep up with the power consumption of the card. Graphics cards can be combined to work together to process graphics. A cable linking
Graphic cards, also called graphics accelerators, can speed up both 2D and 3D graphics rendering. Some programs rely so heavily on the video card, that they will not run if a supported video card is not installed.