Adding USB 2.0 by Meryl K. Evans
The process of adding USB 2.0 ports took no time and the backup system is mighty fast. If you add USB 2.0 ports with a PCI port card, then you'll still have your USB 1.1 ports, so whatever is plugged into those can stay. Rob Foster from the UK sent me a port PCI USB card since he had a few extras. ... The card came with four USB ports, one of which holds the backup system. ... When turning on this little feller, it found the new card right away and worked. ... This one didn't - so be sure to check this out before attempting to put the card in.

Multi-Monitor Madness by Nathan Kartchner
In today’s multitasking computing world, it’s not unusual to see people constantly switching from window to window trying to transfer data form one program to the other. I myself have gotten fairly adept at the Alt-Tab window-switching hotkey sequence. ... As far as we can tell, this only works so long as the chipsets are the same and each card uses a different type of slot (i.e., an ATi PCI card and an ATi AGP card.) Conceivably you could use two two-port cards, giving you a total of four monitors.

Adding Serial Ports to a Computer with Only USB Ports by Preston Wily
So you bought a new computer but you don't have serial ports? It's surprisingly common these days - you find an awesome machine that does everything you want it to do, but then you get home and find out that amongst the lightning-fast processor and terabyte hard drive, you're missing something -... Add a true serial port with a USB adapter You can use a USB to Serial Adapter to easily and quickly add a serial port to your laptop. ... The nice thing about the adapter is that you can use multiple adapters on one machine (using a hub or an add-on card) and dynamically set the COM assignment.

Setting Up Your PC for Dual-monitors: It's Easier Than You Think by Preston Wily
The traditional view of a "PC" If you ask just about anybody what their idea of a "PC system" is they will probably list a tower, a keyboard, a mouse and a monitor. While it is true that these are the essential elements of using a personal computer, it is becoming more and more popular to use... VGA For some reason most dual-port video cards have one VGA port and one DVI port. ... Be sure to uninstall your old card first Whether you choose to use an AGP video card or PCI, you should definitely remove your existing video card first (and disable any software related to the old monitor).

Affordable Multi-Monitor Solutions by Nathan Kartchner
Benefits of Multiple Monitors There has been much ado as of late about the benefits of increased desktop space. Multiple studies have shown that more computer desktop space equals faster work, greater productivity, and increased employee satisfaction. ... Technology for the Everyman With plummeting monitor and multi-port video card prices, the possibility of having multiple monitors for your computer is no longer a rich man’s fantasy. ... Two Ports are Better Than One Your first option is to purchase a multi-port video card that supports multiple monitors.

Building Computers: A Short History Lesson by Michael Quarles
In only a few years, the task of building your own computer has gone through remarkable changes, almost entirely for the good. It’s less complicated, and far less prone to the devilish sort of problems presented by certain steps in the process. One of the most notable improvements has to do with... You had to have a sound card, modem, network card, capture card, in short, a card for about everything you wanted to do. ... Your video card could be upgraded by adding RAM chips to the card itself! ... You had to have either an IDE or SCSI I/O card as controller for the hard drive, floppy, and...

Capture Video Into Your Computer by Gary Hendricks
You've shot that wonderful video of your daughter's birthday. Now, how can you get it into the computer to do some snazzy editing and perhaps produce a VCD or two? If the video is on that MiniDV or Hi8 tape, how can you possibly move it out of there into the computer? ... It outputs the converted digital video via a USB cable into your computer's USB port. ... A Firewire cable runs from your camcorder DV output port to your computer's DV input port. ... If you want to find out what factors to consider when purchasing a quality Firewire card, you can check out my article on choosing the...

Sound Card Buyer's Guide by Julien David
Do You Need a Sound Card? If you want to buy a sound card, you should ask yourself whether you really need one. The motherboards of today come equipped with great on-board sound. Some motherboards even have support for 5.1 surround sound and come with a range of audio optical ports. ... On the other hand, there are two good reasons why you would want to buy a sound card: Producing : If you're producing music you'll need a high quality sound card for the very best sound quality. ... This means you can hook up to 5 speakers to your sound card for a great 3D sound experience.

DVR Cards by Max Bellamy
A DVR card looks quite similar to the common computer video card in many PCs. However, when it comes to functioning, there are a lot of differences between them. DVR cards come with software that can be used to display and record information from multiple cameras at the same time. ... Once installed inside a computer, the card becomes active and is instantly recognized by the machine thanks to the accompanying software. ... Once properly installed, this card allows the user to digitally record signals on to his hard drive and then view it instantaneously.

Iggy Discovers The 17 In 1 Card Reader by Iggy Quazi
Over the past couple of years, just about every gadget I have bought, needs some kind of memory card, or rather a differnt type of memory card to the one I already own! This means that I have a draw full of different card readers, docking stations, cables and adapters to allow me to hook these... A good idea, except for the fact that I have several different types of Memory Card as well as a multitude of different card readers, so in effect I'm no better off - instead of plugging in lots of different devices to my USB hub, I'm now hooking up lots of different card readers to my USB hub.