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Upgrade 101 - Preparation and Precautions
Tools
The only tools you'll ever need are a small slotted screwdriver and a Phillips screwdriver (or one of those neat multiheaded screw drivers with replaceable heads), either a long pair of tweezers or small needle nosed plyers to pick up dropped parts, and, if you have almost anything manufactured by Compaq, a Torx driver for the special screws the company uses for reasons no one has ever satisfactorily explained. You will want some consistent way of dealing with static (see below). If you also have a nut driver, you may find it comes in handy, too, but this is not a requirement. Of course you can pay $20 to $50 for a nice leather case of computer tools that you mostly won't use. A friend of mine who does this for a living simply uses one of his wife's discarded curler bags to carry the tools and the odd spare screw. The most important tool(s) of all – the manual(s)
You don't have a manual or it isn't very detailed? Oh, my. Put it on the list of things to look for when you buy your next system. Seriously consider having a vendor do all the complicated installations for you. On second thought, don't just consider it; do it. Even if you do have the proper manual(s), this may be the point where you take a deep breath and decide you'd be better off to pack the whole thing into the trunk of the car and head for the store where you bought the computer or the component you want to install in it. Perhaps you can persuade (or pay for) the store's technician to install it for you. It takes time and may cost extra money, but perhaps, if you ask nicely, the technician will let you watch so you can see what to do next time! Why? To put it as frankly as possible, some of the rumours you've heard about the difficulty of adding or replacing components is justified. Things don't always work the first time. Even with "Plug and Play" components (which some critics of the PC design deservedly call Plug and Pray), other equipment or software in the system may conflict with what you want to do. We'll try as much as possible in this series to provide advance warnings and troubleshooting tips and solutions - but there will be instances where we'll be unable to predict all of the problems you may face. The advantage of having your new component installed for you is that making it work without clobbering something else or screwing up some software application you have becomes the store's problem, not yours. The work should also carry at least a minimal guarantee in case something goes wrong later. Another alternative is to ask around. Sooner or later someone will tell you where your local PC computer user group meets. Check a local computer publication. Ask the salespeople at local computer stores. If you still come up blank, ask your local library; user groups often meet there. Go to a meeting. Throw yourself on the mercy of those assembled. Someone will offer to help (then quietly ask the others whether the Good Samaritan has ever helped anyone before and whether the PC in question survived the process). But don't give up the idea of doing it yourself too soon. It takes care and just a little courage, but it can be done. Just think of how proud you'll be. Remember, successfully installing new hardware automatically gives you bragging rights. Nag, nag, nag...there are a few more things to bear in mind before we start:- There isn't a whole lot of power inside your computer. The power supply's job is to take the 110/120 volt alternating current coming from the wall and turn it into direct current with the fairly low voltage required by most components in your system. Nevertheless, if you pour water or coffee into the system while it's still plugged in you will get a nasty surprise. Don't. - Static electricity will harm your computer's components. It may be fun to rub your socks on the carpet, reach out and touch someone, see the tiny blue spark and hear the snap followed by the shriek. But if you do the same thing to your motherboard you'll be turning it into a candidate for a high-tech wall hanging (looks good turned 45 degrees with an oak frame and hunter green mat). See the sidebar: Zap. - Most computer components fit together without screws, using friction and pressure instead. Circuit boards fit into slots on the motherboard, plugs from the power supply connect to devices, memory SIMMs and DIMMs fit into their slots, cables of various kinds ending in oddly shaped connectors attach to other connectors and so on. Sometimes they're a tight fit, but what's needed here is care, not force. If you find you have to really lean on something to get it to fit, chances are that it's upside down or backwards. Back off, go for a walk, try it the other way around (better yet, check the manual again). CMOS and more naggingBefore you turn your computer off and approach it with a twinkle in your eye, a feral grin on your face and a screwdriver clenched in your fist, you'll want to take a couple of precautions to protect the contents of both your CMOS and your hard drives. CMOS? There is a special bit of memory in the computer called the complementary metal oxide semiconductor or CMOS. Some of the information in the CMOS comes from tables of data stored in the system's BIOS (basic in/out system). Some of it was entered manually by the vendor who assembled your system. Depending upon the age of the system and what type of hard drives it has, the CMOS contents could include:
All of the information in the CMOS is vital to your system. If you erase it by accident, you'll be left with a computer that won't work properly until the data is restored. (Quick - do you know where your manual is?) The information in both your BIOS and CMOS is machine specific. You can't call the BIOS programmers at Award Software, American Megatrends International (AMI), Phoenix Technologies, or a handful of others, to find out what information should be in the CMOS. Most of them won't talk to you. Even though they developed the basic software, the programming was altered by the system manufacturer later and may have been altered again by the assembler. Even if your friend Sally has a system that looks identical to yours, the contents of her system's CMOS may be completely different. (Damn! Where's that manual???) You want to see your CMOS settings before you do anything that risks changing them and despite utility software that promises to make a copy of it for you, you'll also want to either check 'em against the manual or write them down yourself. Make sure the CMOS contents match the suggestions in your manual. If there are differences, note them. If you have no manual, write the settings down so that, should something go wrong, you can restore them later. There are some software utilities, such as the "create emergency disk" routine in Norton Utilities, as well as various shareware programs, that can read and store the CMOS contents to disk. If you have this software, use it, then print the file out before you open your system. Why? Because, if your CMOS goes bye-bye, you may not be able to start enough of the system to read the file on disk (a computer gotcha!). If you don't have this utility software (and most folks don't), check your manual to see what procedure to use to get to the onboard setup routine for your system. Often, observation is all that's required here. There has probably been a message on screen, each time you start your computer or when you reboot, at some point early in the startup process, telling you to "press DEL for setup" (AMI, Award, Dell and Phoenix BIOS systems), or "press CTRL-ALT-ESC for setup" (AST systems) or "Press and hold F10 for setup" (many Compaq systems). If you miss this message, try holding down a key (such as the spacebar) on the keyboard when the system is doing its POST (power on self test - the time when the lights on the keyboard flash). You may be able to confuse the machine into thinking the keyboard is broken. It should then offer its setup routine as an alternative. If these commands don't fit your computer and you don't have its manual, try to contact the original manufacturer. If you have an Internet account, try the format www.<companyname>.com or use one of the Internet search engines, such as Yahoo. Whatever way you gain access to the setup, you'll likely be greeted by a menu offering one or more pages of things you can tinker with. Attempting to access the choices will usually result in doom-laden warnings about dire consequences if you continue. Unless you know exactly what you're doing (in which case you don't need these articles), these are good warnings to heed. Nevertheless, if you don't change anything while examining the CMOS contents, you can't hurt anything. While the setup routine is running, some systems will allow you to print each page simply by pressing the "Print Scrn" button on your keyboard (AMI does, for example). However, many won't. You'll have to write down everything you see on all the screens. Put your notes in a safe place. Now, you're almost ready to pry your system open. But before you reach once again for that screwdriver, think about the last time you backed up the contents of your hard drive(s)? Never? Then this is a good time to do so. If the answer is "recently" and you know you won't lose anything serious if something goes terribly wrong, then you are definitely almost ready to proceed. So when do I get to open it up, already?!! When we've dealt with the topic of static, of course. Zap - Static electricity and what it eatsIt may be a rollicking bit of good fun to shuffle across the carpet, sneak up behind a loved one, and make contact. See the spark, hear the scream, let the chasing that finally devolves into a pillow fight begin. You may have picked up and delivered around 10,000 volts of static in the process. But even if you don't shuffle, if you simply walk normally through a room or stroke your cat, then touch one of your computer's components, you may reduce it to merely raw material for curious jewellery. You may not even see the spark, but the screams you hear may be your own when you discover that your new memory module doesn't work or your new processor (or motherboard, or sound controller, or graphics controller, or hard drive) is now toast. There are three ways to do guard against static damage to your system.
2) Before you start - and as you work - repeatedly touch a grounded metal object. Alternatively, keep your loved one in the room to touch occasionally. This will give both of you a warm feeling of camaraderie as well as curing your static problem. However, if your beloved is the one with the static buildup, then you and your computer will still be in trouble. You've got a friendly cat that likes to rub up against your leg? Get a wrist strap.
While you work inside the system, touch the power supply's case from time to time or the computer's metal chassis. If the system is still plugged in, the static will discharge via the ground pin on the A/C plug. I suppose there could be a short to the case itself, which may give you a nasty surprise, but this is so unlikely that this method of getting rid of static is recommended in several manuals I've seen - including the ones Apple ships with some of its Power Macintosh products, such as the one at left or above or wherever your browser put it in relation to this text... No, you're not ready to open the case yet, but we're darn close. read on Mapping External connectorsIf you can move the system unit to where you'll be working on it without unplugging the various things attached via cables to the back of it (such as the mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer), do so. Especially if you've never done this before, and particularly if the setup manual that came with the system has gone to join the ghosts of your ancestors, get more paper and start making notes. Draw a rough picture of the back of the computer. Study which cables go to what devices and note them on your diagram. If you have some tape or address labels you can write on, note which cable ended where on the computer and label the cable and port connector before you disconnect them. Trust me; a couple of moments spent here will save you time and possibly tears later. We'll run diagrams of the cable and port connectors in the article on installing external peripherals later this month (there will be a link here when it's ready). Until then, do the best you can with your own sketch for now. If you have a system that came with the cables and connectors clearly labelled or colour coded, you're ahead of the game. Buy your next computer from the same company. See Part 6 (after November 4, 1999) for pictures Now you're ready to open it up. At last, Igor, we get to perform surgery . ..This part can be fun and it may even be straightforward. It's time to get the case cover off. In the majority of systems, the cover is all one piece and is held to the system chassis by five small screws (one at the top, in the middle and two on each side). Once the screws are removed, the case cover lifts off (sometimes you have to slide it to the rear slightly, first). In some other systems, more often in tower designs - and particularly where the manufacturer has anticipated that you'll want to gain access easily - the sides snap off after removing one or two screws. You may have to slide them slightly to the rear, too. Others (such as some Compaq Deskpros and IBM Aptivas I've examined) require locks to be unlocked, have cute little buttons hidden on the front of the unit that have to be pushed, or little handles that have to be pulled before you can wrest the cover from the chassis. If you don't have the manual, if you've looked everywhere and you still can't plumb the secret, call the vendor before reaching for an axe or go for a walk and let your spouse - or better yet, your kids - figure it out. Once you have the case cover or side(s) removed, put it where you won't trip over it. (Ask me why I mention this - go ahead I'll answer as soon as my shins heal.) Sit for a while and have a good look inside your system. You've earned it. If this is your first time, you may even want to call family members over to have a look (but if Uncle Fred is into the sauce again and spills things when he is, you may want to leave him out). |
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Back to Upgrade 101 Contents page
You
won't need a lab coat, soldering iron or oscilloscope to add
parts to a modern computer. They're designed to come apart
reasonably easily, the components are all modular and either
snap, slide or click into place.
There
is one more "tool" you'll need before you start.
Tear your place apart until you find the manual(s) that
should have come with your system. Even if you purchased the
computer from a name-brand supplier, you should have
received instructions showing how to open the case, as well
as documentation on the system's motherboard and other
internal components. If you're lucky, you'll find detailed
instructions demonstrating how to add or replace memory
modules (single inline memory modules, SIMMs, or dual inline
memory modules, DIMMs), circuit boards (for video or sound
or a modem) and hard drives, floppy drives, CD-ROM drives,
tape drives, or anything else in the cabinet.
3)
This one always draws letters. Turn the computer and monitor
off, but don't unplug the main system unit. Keep in mind
that computers are not like your stereo or TV - there's no
high voltage inside the system case, external to the power
supply itself (but note that this does not apply to the
monitor - and there's nothing in there you can fix anyway -
so leave it alone).