by Andy Rathbone
Keep Your PC Upgraded, Not Outdated . Includes 16 Pages of Color Photos!
Prepare a PC for Windows Vista or Hardcore Gaming!
 |
| Upgrading & Fixing PCs For Dummies 7th Edition |
Andy Rathbone started geeking around with computers in 1985 when he
bought a boxy CP/M Kaypro 2X with lime-green letters. Like other budding
nerds, he soon began playing with null-modem adapters, dialing up computer
bulletin boards, and working part-time at RadioShack.
In between playing computer games, he served as editor of the Daily Aztec
newspaper at San Diego State University. After graduating with a comparative
literature degree, he went to work for a bizarre underground coffee-table
magazine that sort of disappeared.
Andy began combining his two main interests, words and computers, by
selling articles to a local computer magazine. During the next few years, he
started ghostwriting computer books for more-famous computer authors,
as well as writing several hundred articles about computers for technoid
publications like Supercomputing Review, CompuServe Magazine, ID Systems, DataPro, and Shareware.
In 1992, Andy and DOS For Dummies author/legend Dan Gookin teamed up
to write PCs For Dummies. Andy subsequently wrote the award-winning
Windows For Dummies series, TiVo For Dummies, and many other For Dummies books.
Today, he has more than 15 million copies of his books in print, which have
been translated into more than 30 languages.
Andy lives with his most-excellent wife, Tina, and their cat in Southern
California. Feel free to drop by his Web site at www.andyrathbone.com.
Author’s Acknowledgments
Thanks to Jean Rogers, Matt Wagner, Heidi Unger, Andy Hollandbeck,
Lee Musick, and Steve Hayes.
Introduction
You’re no dummy; we both know that. But something about computers
often makes you feel like a dummy. And that’s perfectly understandable.
Unlike today’s kids, you probably didn’t grow up with a computer in your
kindergarten class, living room, or on the palm of your hand. With this book,
you’ll no longer feel helpless when you’re faced with a computer that refuses
to work the way it should.
This book doesn’t help you replace your computer’s motherboard or build a
PC from scratch using custom-selected parts. Plenty of more advanced titles
out there can help you with those chores.
No, this book helps you with the types of upgrade and repair tasks that you’re
most likely to encounter today: Upgrading an older PC to run Windows Vista,
for instance, and making sure that everything works correctly. Adding a larger
hard drive. Upgrading that video card to satisfy the needs of Windows Vista
or a new computer game. Making sure your PC’s firewall is turned on and
working correctly. Turning on the security option for your wireless network.
Simply put, this book discusses the most common upgrading and repair
problems facing computer users today. It explains what to buy, where to plug
it in, and how to make sure that your computer knows what to do with it.
What’s New in This Edition?
Welcome to Upgrading & Fixing PCs For Dummies, rejuvenated for its seventh
edition, and celebrating more than a decade in print. Aimed at people who
want to upgrade to Windows Vista or spice up their computers to take advantage
of today’s latest technology, this book contains several helpful new
chapters and updated sections:
You’ll find a full-color 16-page insert with photos depicting exactly how
you’re supposed to remove your PC’s case, install a card, connect a new
hard drive, and perform other operations described in this book.
This book includes an updated visual Appendix that explains how to use
all the ports on your computer and add any ports you might need.
Chapter 17 includes a network installation guide that helps you configure
a network with both wired and wireless devices.
Chapter 20 provides details on installing or upgrading to Windows
Vista — even onto a newly installed hard drive.
Computer parts need drivers — special software that helps Windows
understand how to talk with them. Without a proper driver, Windows
Vista probably won’t know how to talk to some parts of your computer.
Chapter 19 contains everything you need to know about how Vista treats
drivers: When you need them, where to find them, and how to install them successfully.
Windows Vista’s Home Premium edition lets you record TV shows onto
your PC for later viewing or burning to DVD. The catch? Your PC needs
a TV tuner, a device I explain how to buy and install in Chapter 12.
DVD burners are the rage today, and I’ve explained their odd format
terminology and incompatibilities in Chapter 15.
Plus, this edition continues to include the information that hundreds of thousands
of people have relied on for 14 years: information about upgrading and
fixing video cards, hard drives, CD/DVD drives, memory chips, monitors,
modems, printers, scanners, hard drives, and other popular computer parts.
How This Book Is Organized
This book has six major parts. Each part is divided into several chapters. And
each chapter covers a major topic, which is divided into specific sections.
The point? Well, this book’s indexer sorted all the information with an extrafine-
tooth flea comb, making it easy for you to find the exact section you want
when you want it. Plus, everything’s cross-referenced. If you need more information
about a subject, you can figure out exactly which chapter to head for.
Here are the parts and what they contain.
Part I: Boring, Basic Repairs
You find the boring, basic stuff in here. If you read the first chapter, for
instance, you discover all those boring programs you can set up to make
your computer repair itself. The other chapters cover those day-to-day parts
that must be replaced: keyboards, mice, monitors, and printers. Yawn.
Part II: Beefing Up Your PC for Windows
Vista, Games, and Video
Microsoft’s latest version of Windows, Vista, will soon march onto most of
the world’s PCs. This part of the book explains how to make sure your PC’s
ready when Vista arrives. It explains how to find out whether your current PC
can run Vista, what parts need to be replaced, and how to add Vista essentials,
such as better graphics, more memory, and a larger power supply.
By the way, upgrading your PC for the graphics-intensive Vista also makes it a
prime PC for playing the latest computer games.
Part III: Teaching an Old PC New Tricks
Flip here quickly for the fun stuff. Rather than focusing on the boring,
necessary repairs and upgrades, this part of the book explains the luxuries.
You can transform your PC into a home theater, for example, by upgrading its
sound, speakers, and adding a TV tuner. Another chapter explains how to
transform your camcorder footage into an edited movie, stored on an easily
viewed DVD. No DVD burner yet? Another chapter explains how to choose
and install a DVD burner to take advantage of Vista’s new DVD-burning programs.
Part IV: Communications
Computers running Windows Vista don’t like to be alone. This part of the
book shows how to hook your computer up to the Internet with a dialup or
broadband modem. Because many households now sport two or more computers,
a chapter in this part explains how to create a home or small office
network, enabling all your computers to share the same Internet connection.
If you’re worried about hackers breaking into your computer, head to this
part to make sure Windows Vista’s firewall works as it should.
Part V: Introducing Parts to Windows
If anybody’s a dummy here, it’s your computer. Even after you’ve stuck a new
part in its craw, your computer often doesn’t realize that the part is there.
If Windows refuses to deal politely with the newly installed device, check
out the chapter on finding and installing the right driver to make Windows
behave. Turn to this part also when you’re ready to upgrade to Windows
Vista or install it onto a brand new hard drive.
Part VI: The Part of Tens
Some information just drifts away when it’s buried deep within a chapter —
or even within a long paragraph. That’s why these tidbits are stacked up in
lists of ten (give or take a few items). Here, you find the cheap fixes you
should try first, a list of handy upgrade tools, and other fun factoids.
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Product details
Price
|
|
|---|---|
File Size
| 18,750 KB |
Pages
|
428 p |
File Type
|
PDF format |
ISBN
| 978-0-470-12102-3 |
Copyright
| 2007 by Wiley Publishing, Inc |
Contents at a Glance
Introduction
Part I: Boring, Basic Repairs
Chapter 1: Start Here First
Chapter 2: Keyboards, Mice, and Joysticks
Chapter 3: Replacing the Monitor, Adding a Second One, or Connecting to a TV...35
Chapter 4: Choosing a New Printer
Chapter 5: Moving from the Old PC to the New One
Part II: Beefing Up Your PC for Windows Vista,
Games, and Video
Chapter 6: Discovering How Well Your PC Will Run Windows Vista
Chapter 7: Beefing Up Your PC’s Video
Chapter 8: Adding More Memory
Chapter 9: Adding Storage with a Hard Drive
Chapter 10: Replacing the Power Supply or Laptop Battery
Part III: Teaching an Old PC New Tricks
Chapter 11: Fine-Tuning Your PC’s Sound
Chapter 12: Turning Your TV into a Home Theater with Vista’s Media Center
Chapter 13: Making Movies
Chapter 14: Adding a Scanner
Chapter 15: Adding a CD or DVD Drive
Part IV: Communications
Chapter 16: Replacing a Modem
Chapter 17: Linking PCs with a Network
Chapter 18: Filtering Out Evil with Firewalls
Part V: Introducing Parts to Windows
Chapter 19: Hiring the Right Driver for Windows
Chapter 20: Installing or Upgrading to Windows Vista
Chapter 21: Troubleshooting and Fixing Windows
Chapter 22: Finding Help Online
Part VI: The Part of Tens
Chapter 23: Ten Cheap Fixes to Try First
Chapter 24: Ten Handy Upgrade Tools
Chapter 25: (Nearly) Ten Upgrade Do’s and Donuts
Appendix: The Rathbone Reference of Fine Ports
Index
Table of Contents
Introduction.......
What’s New in This Edition? .............
Where to Start ........
Read These Parts ................
Don’t Read These Parts.....
How This Book Is Organized...........
Part I: Boring, Basic Repairs .......
Part II: Beefing Up Your PC for Windows Vista, Games, and Video...
Part III: Teaching an Old PC New Tricks ..............
Part IV: Communications...........................
Part V: Introducing Parts to Windows ...
Part VI: The Part of Tens .......
Icons Used in This Book.....
Where to Go From Here.............
Part I: Boring, Basic Repairs..........................................7
Chapter 1: Start Here First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Determining When to Upgrade.....................................................................10
Determining When You Shouldn’t Upgrade ................................................11
Finding Out What Parts Your Computer Has..............................................11
Locating your version of Windows, CPU, and RAM .........................12
Identifying the parts inside your computer......................................14
Please! Before You Do Anything Else! ..........................................................15
Turning On Windows Update..............................................................15
Making sure System Restore is working............................................16
Chapter 2: Keyboards, Mice, and Joysticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Updating Your Keyboard...............................................................................19
Understanding keyboard buzzwords.................................................19
Installing a new keyboard....................................................................21
Fixing keyboard problems...................................................................24
Making Way for a New Mouse.......................................................................26
Understanding mouse buzzwords......................................................27
Installing or replacing a USB or PS/2 mouse.....................................28
Fixing mouse problems........................................................................30
Upgrading Joysticks and Game Controllers................................................31
Understanding game controller buzzwords......................................32
Installing a game controller.................................................................33
Fixing game controller problems........................................................33
Chapter 3: Replacing the Monitor, Adding a Second One,
or Connecting to a TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Understanding Monitor Buzzwords.............................................................36
Monitor buzzwords ..............................................................................36
The plugs and ports .............................................................................39
Installing One or Two Monitors to a PC or Laptop ....................................40
Watching Your PC on a TV ............................................................................42
Fixing Your Monitor .......................................................................................42
Fixing a monitor that doesn’t turn on................................................43
Checking a monitor that makes weird noises...................................43
Chapter 4: Choosing a New Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Understanding Printer Buzzwords...............................................................45
Commonly encountered printer breeds............................................46
Awkward printer terms........................................................................48
Installing a Printer..........................................................................................50
Fixing Common Printer Problems................................................................53
Fixing a printer that doesn’t print anything......................................54
Playing the replacement ink cartridge guilt game ...........................55
Installing a new toner or ink cartridge ..............................................56
Fixing printing smears and blotches..................................................58
Choosing the right paper ....................................................................60
Keeping the print from running off the page ....................................61
Fixing paper jams .................................................................................61
Keeping your printer happy................................................................62
Chapter 5: Moving from the Old PC to the New One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Understanding File Transfer Buzzwords.....................................................63
Preparing to Move into Your New PC ..........................................................65
Choosing how to transfer your old information...............................65
Installing your old PC’s programs onto your new PC......................66
Transferring Information between Two PCs
with Windows Easy Transfer.....................................................................67
Part II: Beefing Up Your PC for Windows Vista,
Games, and Video..............................................75
Chapter 6: Discovering How Well Your PC Will Run Windows Vista 77
Understanding Vista’s Hardware Requirements ........................................77
Running Vista’s Upgrade Advisor ................................................................78
Understanding Parts That Need Upgrading................................................82
TV tuner card/TV output.....................................................................82
CPU (Central Processing Unit)............................................................83
DVD or DVD R/W (Digital Video Disk Read/Write) ...........................83
RAM (Random Access Memory) ........................................................83
Graphics adapter..................................................................................84
Hard drive..............................................................................................84
Choosing the Right Parts from the Right Place..........................................85
Choosing the right brand and model.................................................85
Buying locally versus buying online ..................................................86
Chapter 7: Beefing Up Your PC’s Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
Understanding Video Buzzwords.................................................................87
Discovering What Video Circuitry Is inside Your PC.................................88
Onboard video ......................................................................................90
Video cards ...........................................................................................91
Installing a new video card..................................................................94
Troubleshooting a Card That Doesn’t Work ...............................................97
General troubleshooting tips ..............................................................97
Dealing with a card that just doesn’t seem to fit..............................97
Chapter 8: Adding More Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Understanding Memory Buzzwords ............................................................99
The main types of memory ...............................................................100
Deciphering memory advertisements and packaging...................103
Deciding What Memory to Buy ..................................................................104
Installing memory chips ....................................................................107
Dealing with failing memory .............................................................110
Chapter 9: Adding Storage with a Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Understanding Hard Drive Buzzwords......................................................111
Vista technologies ..............................................................................112
Drive types ..........................................................................................112
Speed and space.................................................................................113
Hard drive hardware, mechanics, and connections ......................114
Knowing Your Hard Drive Upgrade Options.............................................115
Replacing a Dead Internal Hard Drive .......................................................117
Installing an External Hard Drive ...............................................................119
Adding a Second Internal Hard Drive ........................................................121
Adding extra storage to your computer
with a second hard drive ...............................................................122
Installing Windows on a new hard drive .........................................126
Partitioning and Formatting a Drive in Windows.....................................126
Dealing with a Broken Hard Drive..............................................................131
Windows doesn’t recognize my hard drive’s full size....................132
Defragmenting the hard drive...........................................................133
Checking for disk errors ....................................................................135
Backing Up Your Hard Drive .......................................................................136
Chapter 10: Replacing the Power Supply or Laptop Battery . . . . . . .137
Understanding Power Supply Buzzwords.................................................137
Installing a New Power Supply ...................................................................140
Replacing Your Laptop’s Battery ...............................................................144
Quieting Your Power Supply.......................................................................145
Whining power supplies: Replace ’em.............................................145
Diagnosing the source of a whining noise.......................................145
Part III: Teaching an Old PC New Tricks .....................147
Chapter 11: Fine-Tuning Your PC’s Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Understanding Sound Card Buzzwords.....................................................149
Upgrading Your PC’s or Laptop’s Sound ...................................................154
Installing a new sound card ..............................................................154
Installing a sound box........................................................................156
Connecting Your PC’s Sound to a Home Stereo .......................................159
Healing a Sick Sound Card ..........................................................................160
Fixing Windows sound settings ........................................................161
Diagnosing and fixing hardware problems......................................165
Chapter 12: Turning Your TV into a Home Theater
with Vista’s Media Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167
Identifying the Cables and Connectors on Your TV Tuner and TV .......168
Installing a TV Tuner ...................................................................................169
Connecting Your TV Signal to Your PC......................................................171
Connecting Your PC’s Video to a TV..........................................................172
Connecting Your PC’s Surround Sound
to a Multispeaker Home Stereo ..............................................................175
Connecting Your PC’s Sound to a TV.........................................................177
Chapter 13: Making Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179
Understanding Camcorder Buzzwords .....................................................179
Capturing Sound and Video from Digital Camcorders ............................181
Upgrading a PC for Video Editing...............................................................182
A fast computer ..................................................................................182
Two fast hard drives ..........................................................................183
Video-editing software.......................................................................185
Chapter 14: Adding a Scanner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187
Understanding Scanner Buzzwords...........................................................187
Installing a Scanner......................................................................................190
Dealing with a Scanner That Doesn’t Work...............................................191
Scanning with Windows’ Built-in Software................................................192
Choosing the right scanning resolution ..........................................195
Dealing with scans that look awful...................................................197
Chapter 15: Adding a CD or DVD Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
Understanding CD and DVD Buzzwords ...................................................199
Flavors of CDs and CD drives ...........................................................200
Flavors of DVDs and DVD drives ......................................................201
Buzzwords in advertising ..................................................................202
Installing an External CD or DVD Drive .....................................................203
Installing an Internal CD or DVD Drive ......................................................204
Dealing with a CD or DVD Drive That Doesn’t Work................................208
Dealing with a burner that doesn’t burn discs...............................208
Understanding MP3 and DVD decoders (MPEG)............................209
Buying the right blank discs for your CD or DVD drive ................210
Part IV: Communications ..........................................211
Chapter 16: Replacing a Modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213
Understanding the Various Types of Internet Services...........................213
Dialup or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) ..............................214
Cable modems ....................................................................................214
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)............................................................215
Installing or Replacing a Modem................................................................216
Replacing your internal dialup modem ...........................................216
Installing an external dialup modem ...............................................218
Replacing a cable modem .................................................................219
Troubleshooting Modem Problems ...........................................................221
Windows Vista can’t find my dialup modem!..................................221
Setting up your Internet account with Internet Explorer..............223
Sending and receiving faxes with a modem....................................228
Dealing with a modem that inappropriately disconnects.............229
Chapter 17: Linking PCs with a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Understanding Network Buzzwords..........................................................232
Choosing Between a Wired or Wireless Network.....................................233
Understanding wireless (Wi-Fi) home networks ............................234
Understanding wired home networks .............................................236
Creating a Wired and Wireless Computer Network .................................239
Buying parts for your network .........................................................240
Installing wired or wireless network adapters ...............................240
Connecting Wirelessly .................................................................................244
Setting up a wireless router ..............................................................244
Setting up Windows Vista to connect to a wireless network........245
Connecting to and Sharing Files with Other PCs on Your Network.......249
Sharing a Printer on the Network ..............................................................251
Dealing with a Network That Isn’t Networking.........................................252
Fixing problems with wired networks .............................................252
Fixing problems with wireless networks .........................................253
Chapter 18: Filtering Out Evil with Firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255
Understanding Firewall Buzzwords ...........................................................256
Turning On (or Off) Windows Vista’s Firewall..........................................257
Letting a Program Poke through Windows Vista’s Firewall ....................259
Manually Configuring a Firewall’s Ports....................................................262
Part V: Introducing Parts to Windows .........................265
Chapter 19: Hiring the Right Driver for Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .267
Understanding Driver Buzzwords..............................................................268
Installing (or Reinstalling) a Driver............................................................270
Dealing with a Driver That Won’t Drive.....................................................271
Running a part’s bundled software ..................................................272
Running the Add Hardware Wizard..................................................273
Finding a new driver ..........................................................................276
Using the Device Manager to fix driver problems..........................279
Chapter 20: Installing or Upgrading to Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . .287
Understanding Windows Vista Buzzwords...............................................287
Preparing to Install Windows Vista............................................................289
Choosing the right version of Windows Vista ................................289
Choosing between a clean install or an upgrade ...........................291
Installing Windows Vista .............................................................................292
Upgrading to Windows Vista ......................................................................292
Doing a Clean Install of Windows Vista .....................................................297
Chapter 21: Troubleshooting and Fixing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .301
Handling Windows Vista’s Incompatibilities ............................................302
Understanding incompatibility buzzwords.....................................302
Finding out what’s compatible .........................................................303
Fixing problem programs with Vista’s Program
Compatibility Wizard......................................................................304
Stopping Unwanted Programs from Running When Windows Starts....308
Finding Information about Your PC’s Performance with Task Manager....310
Using System Restore ..................................................................................311
Using Remote Assistance............................................................................312
Cleaning Out Your Hard Drive with Disk Cleanup....................................316
Tidying Up Your Hard Drive with Disk Defragmenter..............................317
Viewing Advanced System Information.....................................................317
Avoiding Virus and Worm Attacks .............................................................319
Use Windows Update often ...............................................................319
Install and use antivirus software ....................................................320
Never open e-mail with unexpected attachments..........................321
Scan downloaded software for viruses before using it .................321
Use a firewall.......................................................................................322
Don’t forward hoaxes ........................................................................322
Repairing virus damage.....................................................................323
Chapter 22: Finding Help Online . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .325
Understanding Internet Buzzwords...........................................................325
Finding Help through Search Engines .......................................................326
Searching Google for specific information......................................326
Mastering the art of pinpoint Google searching.............................328
Checking the Manufacturer’s Support Web Site.......................................330
Microsoft Knowledge Base................................................................330
Serial number and service tag Web sites ........................................331
Manufacturer’s Web sites in other countries..................................332
Community Support Web Sites...................................................................332
Tom’s Hardware Guide.......................................................................332
Acronym Finder ..................................................................................333
Wikipedia.............................................................................................333
Legacy, relic, and cult Web sites.......................................................333
Part VI: The Part of Tens ............................................335
Chapter 23: Ten Cheap Fixes to Try First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337
Plug It In.........................................................................................................337
Turn Off the Computer, Wait 30 Seconds, and Turn It On.......................338
Install a New Driver......................................................................................339
Google the Error Message...........................................................................339
Find and Remove Spyware..........................................................................339
Avoid Viruses by Not Opening Unexpected Attachments ......................340
Run System Restore.....................................................................................341
Check for Overheating.................................................................................341
Install a New Power Supply.........................................................................342
Run Check Disk.............................................................................................342
Chapter 24: Ten Handy Upgrade Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345
Using the Manual and Online Sources.......................................................345
The First Tools to Grab ...............................................................................346
Turning Household Items into Tools .........................................................347
Magnetized Screwdrivers and Dust Blowers ............................................348
Your Windows Vista DVD or Windows XP CD ..........................................349
Chapter 25: (Nearly) Ten Upgrade Do’s and Donuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351
Do Upgrade One Thing at a Time...............................................................351
Do Make a Restore Point before Every Upgrade......................................352
Do Watch Out for Static Electricity............................................................352
Do Hang On to Your Old Boxes, Manuals, Warranties, and Receipts ....352
Don’t Force Parts Together.........................................................................353
Don’t Bend Cards .........................................................................................354
Don’t Rush Yourself .....................................................................................354
Don’t Open Up Monitors or Power Supplies ............................................354
Appendix: The Rathbone Reference of Fine Ports..........355
USB (Universal Serial Bus)..........................................................................356
IEEE 1394 (Also Known as FireWire or Sony i.LINK)................................358
Standard VGA Video Port............................................................................359
Flat-Panel LCD Video Port (DVI).................................................................360
Analog Video.................................................................................................361
Ethernet (RJ-45)............................................................................................362
Telephone (RJ-11) ........................................................................................362
Stereo Sound.................................................................................................363
Coaxial Cable ................................................................................................364
RCA (Composite)..........................................................................................364
S-Video...........................................................................................................365
Optical/Toslink .............................................................................................365
The Legacy Devices .....................................................................................366
PS/2 mouse and keyboard.................................................................366
Serial connectors................................................................................367
Parallel (printer) connectors ............................................................367
Index........................................................................369
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