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Beginners Guides: Fundamentals of Upgrading a PC
Beginners Guides: Fundamentals of Upgrading a PC - PCSTATS
Once you have got the idea of upgrading into your head, the next step is to figure out how to go about it.
Filed under: Beginners Guides Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: PCSTATS Mar 13 2005   M. Dowler  
Home > Reviews > Beginners Guides > PCSTATS

Inside the BIOS

The first step is to go the 'standard CMOS' setup screen and note again the IDE devices that are attached to your computer. If you have the option, you can also go to 'auto-detect IDE settings' which will enumerate all hard drives and optical drives for you.

Following this, there are a couple of other areas that may be of interest: 'CPU PnP setup' may contain details of the processor type and speed. 'Chipset setup' may contain details about the speed of your AGP (video) slot.

Exit without saving.

Getting information from the operating system

In most Windows operating systems, there are two useful locations for collecting information about your system, the 'my computer' properties screen, and the Device Manager. To get to the 'my computer' properties screen, simply right-click the 'my computer' icon (on the desktop in 9x/ME/2000 and the start menu in XP) and hit 'properties.

In the above example, (Windows XP), you can see we have the amount of installed memory, and the type and speed of the CPU. WindowsXP is rather more helpful in this respect than most other versions of Windows, but all of them should give you at least a reliable account of the amount of memory you have installed.

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Contents of Article: PCSTATS
 Pg 1.  Beginners Guides: Fundamentals of Upgrading a PC
 Pg 2.  Using Diagnostic Software
 Pg 3.  Using the POST Screen
 Pg 4.  — Inside the BIOS
 Pg 5.  Opening the Case
 Pg 6.  Power Issues
 Pg 7.  Upgrading Memory
 Pg 8.  Installing a new hard drive
 Pg 9.  HDD's Continued
 Pg 10.  Installing a new optical (CD) drive
 Pg 11.  Upgrading the CPU
 Pg 12.  Finishing with an Upgrade

 
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