Computer Upgrade - DVD-ROM Required for Microsoft's Vista by Michael Quarles
Microsoft’s Vista is so large the company was forced to issue it on DVD. There are a generation of computers that have at least the minimum necessary processor and system memory, but were sent from the factory with a CD burner. People owning these machines will have to upgrade to a CD/DVD, or... For instance, if the old drive had the jumper set to “slave”, the new one should be set to “slave” as well. ... It will be plugged in with its white wire turned toward the center of the unit. ... Start with the sound cable, because it is the hardest to reach.

Combating Your Ancient Video Card by Pamela Stevens
You hooked up your new monitor and can’t wait to see how your game looks on the new screen, only to see pausing and skips. Before you rush it back to the store for a refund, the jerky animation you see could be your aged video card (graphics card) or outdated drivers. ... Although most games have a certain amount of flexibility; since manufacturers know that not all gamers can afford to upgrade their video card every six months. ... Some hard–core gamers will not even wait two years before updating to a new card.

How to Buy Computer Memory by Gary Hendricks
How do you know when to buy more memory for your computer? Or how much memory you'll need? If you can afford it, you should always buy as much memory as you can, since it boosts system performance. But not all of us need 1 GB of RAM - most home users need only about 512 MB of RAM. ... When Your Hard Disk Starts 'Chugging' In general, you can tell whether you should be buying more memory by listening to your hard drive. ... Yes, by listening to your hard drive. ... If it makes a long drawn 'chugging' noise whenever you copy or edit large files, you can be sure you need a memory upgrade.

Buying A Computer vs Building Your Own by Jared Strop
First of all, pre-built computers come with some parts you don’t want or need as well as useless software. On the other hand, building a computer lets you decide exactly what to put in it and what to install on your computer. That helps out by freeing the hard drive, but sometimes computer... The warranties by Dell or Gateway aren’t free and they will charge you even more if you want it for 2-4 years and during that time, you can not upgrade your computer yourself or else you’ll void the warranty.

I-RAM, M-RAM: Good Bye to Hard Drives? by Marcelo Reyes
A couple of weeks ago, one of my lab associates made a comment about the advantages of the I-RAM and its speed with respect to the hard drive. What is an I-RAM? I asked. Simple. They are a bank of DDR memories that are used as a hard drive. They are powered through a PCI port and use a SATA... RAM memories are still expensive and generally not as big as a hard drive. ... Bottom line, an I-RAM emulates a SATA hard drive. ... Well, considering that we had to upgrade one of the computers in our lab, we recently purchased and I-RAM to run the first tests.

5 Tips to Avoid Needing Laptop Data Recovery by Jason Perry
With the costs of laptops coming down and performance going up, it has become more viable for companies to equip their employees with laptops--for those who travel, work from home, or for those who just prefer them to full size computers. Individual users, from college students to self employed... Buy an External USB Hard Drive Use an external USB hard drive to do a complete back-up of your system. ... Most people don't consider what they can do to protect their data should their laptop gets lost, stolen, or just have a bad hard drive that fails or corrupts the data on the disk.

Buying the Best Gaming Laptop by Julien David
If you're in the market for a new gaming laptop there are some certain things you should look out for. This article will explain the various factors you should consider when buying the best laptop for your gaming needs. Processor The processor inside your laptop will have a lot of influence on... The size of your laptop’s hard drive may not be that much of a concern because you can always get an external hard drive later on and store all your files on there without clogging up your laptop’s hard drive.

Should You Upgrade to an XBox 360 by Colette Ianieri
The XBox 360 is going to be one of the most sought after gifts of this upcoming holiday season. However many people want to know is it worth upgrading now, or should you wait, here are some factors you may want to consider. The base price for and XBox 360 is $300, the most common accessories are... While some of these options depend on your gaming style and preferences the hard drive is the one option we recommend you get right away. ... The hard drive allows you to save games to play back later and install updates that make many older games compatible on the new platform.

Hard Drive Selection by J A Carpunky
Perhaps the biggest mistake people make when building their computer(s) is to underestimate the importance of the hard disk drive (HDD). In our modern society, bigger is synonymous with better, so when you go to buy a hard drive you look at how "big" it is, its data capacity. ... To increase speed substantially more you can set up a RAID, which is a network of hard drives which (in RAID0 mode) share portions of the same data, such that accessing data takes 1/n time (n = number of hard drives attached) compared to 1 hard drive.

Power Supply Tips by Peter Stewart
The power supply keeps things in your computer running smoothly. When they run well, you won't even think about them, but when things go wrong, it can become very annoying. The power supply doesn't just run the power to the different parts of the computer. ... Bear in mind that you might have to upgrade the power supply when installing those new, really cool graphics cards. ... Hard drives use some power too, but no more than 10W each, optical drives even less. ... 500W will more than suffice for even the most demanding system with 2 graphics cards, but it needs to be a reputable brand.