Building a PC For Dummies®

Contents

Introduction

Foolish Assumptions

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Stuff you type

Menu commands

Display messages

Extra credit

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: "Can I Really Do This?"

Part II: Building Your PC

Part III: Adding the Fun Stuff

Part IV: Adding the Advanced Stuff

Part V: The Part of Tens

Part VI: Appendixes

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: "Can I Really Do This?"

Chapter 1: What's in a Computer, Anyway?

Anyone Can Assemble a PC

Building a better mousetrap (or computer)

The primary, A-number-one, all-important, absolutely necessary, required rule

The other primary, A-number-one, all-important, absolutely necessary, required rule

PCs Are Built with Standard Parts

Understanding Your Computer's Components

The metal mansion

The big kahuna

The eye candy

The places for plugs

The data warehouse

The bells and whistles

Connecting Your Computer Components

Chapter 2: "What Type of PC Should I Build?"

Interrogating Yourself on Your Computer Needs

Answering Your Computer-Needs Questions

Design 1: The bare-bones economy class

Design 2: The Cunningham standard edition

Design 3: The Wayne Manor Batcomputer

Getting Your Hands on the Special Stuff

Drafting, graphics, and pretty pictures

Home-office and small-business stuff

Mozart's musical computer

The ultimate bad-guy blasting box

Picking Up the Parts

Everybody's a critic

I live for mail order

Ordering parts online

Scavenging can be fun!

What's the deal with used parts?

Part II: Building Your PC

Chapter 3: Building the Foundation: Your Case and Motherboard

A Case Is Not Just a Box

Pizza-box case

Desktop case

Tower case

Feed me . . . feed me . . . feed me . . .

Keeping your computer cool

Buttons, lights, and other foolishness

How about those slots?

Your Best Friend Is Your Motherboard

Motherboard sizes

Motherboard features

Grab Your Screwdriver and Install That Motherboard

I Laugh at Pesky Wires!

Pumping power to your motherboard

Flashing lights, clicking switches, and a beeper to boot

Chapter 4: A Bag of Chips: Adding RAM and Your CPU

FYI about CPUs

Celeron, Duron, and Cyrix III processors

Pentium III and Athlon processors

The future

Your Monster Needs a Brain

Installing a Slot 1 CPU

Installing a Socket A CPU

Installing a Socket 7 or Socket 370 CPU

Add RAM Until the Mixture Thickens

Time to Meet Your Bus

Fire That Puppy Up!

Chapter 5: The Three PC Senses: Your Ports, Mouse, and Keyboard

Pursuing Your Port Preferences

Of Keyboards, Mice, and Men (And Women)

The mouse has mutated

The key to keyboards

Installing a Port Adapter Card

Connecting Built-In Ports

Connecting Your Keyboard and Pointing Thing

Installing a keyboard

Installing a mouse (or other pointing thing)

Check It Once, and Check It Twice!

Chapter 6: Images 'R Us: Adding Video and Your Monitor

I'm Okay, You're a Video Card

Full speed ahead!

"Will 3D video transform my entire existence?"

Thanks for the memory

Look out! Aliens from the planet MPEG!

"What else do I need from a video adapter?"

Staking Out Your Visual Territory

"Should I toss my 14-inch monitor?"

Dot pitch: Sounds like a cartoon character

Feeling refreshed?

Interlacing has nothing to do with sneakers

What else makes a great monitor?

Installing a Video Adapter Card

Connecting a Built-In Video Port

Connecting Your Monitor

"Hey, I Can Finally (Kind of) Boot!"

Chapter 7: Make Room! Your Hard Drive and Other Storage Devices

"Be Vewy Quiet . . . I'm Hunting for Hawd Dwives!"

Today's technology twosome

More stuff about hard drives

The Ancient Floppy Still Lives -- and Why

Why aren't floppies trendy anymore?

Selecting a floppy drive

Don't Forget Your Controller Card

Selecting a Tape Drive

Hey, You Just Removed Your Media!

The Zip drive: The floppy with muscle

The Jaz drive: The technoid's storage weapon

The Orb has landed

Connecting Your Drive Controller Card

Installing Your EIDE Hard Drive

Installing Your 31?2-inch Floppy Disk Drive

Installing Your Internal Tape Backup Drive

Configuring Your Hard Drive and Testing Everything

Setting up your PC and configuring your hard drive

Formatting your hard drive

Part III: Adding the Fun Stuff

Chapter 8: Putting the Spin on CD-ROM and DVD

Discovering the Details about CD-ROM

Name your interface

The great CD-ROM speed myth

The battle of the drives: Internal versus external

If you can't play just one CD-ROM at a time. . . .

Will that be caddy or tray?

Other CD-ROM features to covet

What You Need to Know about DVD

"Do I need DVD for my computer?"

The whole decoder thing explained

What You Need to Know about CD Recorders

Why record my own CDs?

What's the deal with rewritable CDs?

Caring for Your CDs

Don't even consider doing these things

All you ever need to know about cleaning CDs

Installing Your IDE CD-ROM or DVD Drive

Hooking Up an External SCSI CD-ROM Drive or CD Recorder

Loading Drivers and Testing Everything

Chapter 9: Let Your PC Rock!

Sorting Out Sound Card Basics

Recognizing common breeds of sound cards

Don't forget the software part!

Riding the wavetable

"Why do I need 3D for my ears?"

"Send help -- I'm surrounded by sound!"

MP3 fanatics, pay attention!

"Do I need MIDI ports?"

Uhh . . . Is This Mike On?

Speaking of Speakers

The Subwoofer: Big Dog of Computer Speakers

Installing Your Sound Card

Connecting Your Speakers

Configuring Software and Testing Your Sound Card

Adding a Microphone

Installing a Subwoofer

Chapter 10: Modems and the Call of the Internet

A Modem Primer for Real People

The whole speed thing explained

Behind-the-scenes stuff: Modem standards

"Do I Need a High-Speed Serial Port?"

Will That Be a Card or a Case?

Time to Face the Fax

The good and the bad on fax modems

More good fax facts

Let Your Modem Speak!

Installing an Internal Modem

Connecting an External Serial Modem

Connecting an External USB Modem

Installing Software and Testing Your Modem

Part IV: Adding the Advanced Stuff

Chapter 11: Attack of the SCSI Monster

"Do I Really Need SCSI?"

Figuring Out SCSI (Or, "It Sounds So Simple!")

More about SCSI ID numbers

More about SCSI terminators

External SCSI (or, putting it out in the open)

Your SCSI Shopping List

Installing Your SCSI Card

Adding an Internal SCSI Device

Connecting an External SCSI Device

Installing Software and Testing Your SCSI Adapter

Troubleshooting Your SCSI Devices

Chapter 12: So You Want to Add a LAN?

Adding the Network Advantage

Deciding Which Network Architecture Is Best for You

Comparing client-server and peer-to-peer networks

Comparing network configurations

Selecting a network operating system

Collecting What You Need for a LANtastic Network

More stuff about network interface cards

More stuff about cables and connections

There Are Always Exceptions!

Use your telephone wiring

Use your AC wiring

Use your USB port

Installing Your Network Interface Card

Connecting a Coaxial Cable

Connecting a Twisted Pair Cable

Installing LANtastic

Chapter 13: Life in the Fast Lane -- with ISDN

Figuring Out Whether You Need ISDN

How does ISDN work, anyway?

I thought BRI was a kind of cheese!

PRI is short for pricey

Comparing ISDN to Other Communications Technology

Determining What Hardware You Need

Figuring Out Those Connection Charges

Locating an Internet Service Provider

How busy is your ISP?

Do I need a dedicated Internet connection?

Installing Your Internal ISDN Adapter Card

Creating an Internet Connection in Windows 98

Chapter 14: Input and Output: Scanners, Cameras, Video Capture, and Printers

The Wide, Wonderful World of Scanners

Recognizing scanners in the wild

Diving into color depth

Please pass the image

Resolving the right resolution

Scanners and . . . Mark Twain?

Digital Camera Details

Digital Video Capture: Its Time Has Come

One Word: Printers, Printers, Printers!

Will that be laser or inkjet?

Advantages of inkjet printers

Advantages of laser printers

Installing a Scanner, Capture Device, or Printer with a Parallel Port Interface

Installing a Scanner, Capture Device, or Printer with a USB Connection

Chapter 15: Other Power-User Play Toys

Live, Via Satellite: The Internet!

What comes with an Internet satellite system?

How expensive is a satellite Internet connection?

Okay, it's neat, but. . . .

Reading a Pesky Macintosh Disk

Conversing with Quake

Even People Like You and Me Need Internet Security

Hey, I Can Get TV and FM Radio on My PC!

Store Digital Data the Old-Fashioned Way -- On Paper

Backing Up to the Web

Will You Move the Joystick, or Will It Move You?

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 16: Ten Reasons Not to Buy a Retail PC

It Just Plain Costs Less to Build Your Own PC!

Recycle Used and Scavenged Hardware

Avoid the Monster Myth

Encourage Freedom of Choice!

What Do You Learn When You Buy a Retail PC?

"Ship My Computer Cross-Country? Forget It!"

Bundled Software Costs Extra

Avoid the Computer Sales Experience

Select the Brands You Prefer

Get the Full Warranty for Each Part

Chapter 17: Ten Tools and Tasks for a Power User's PC

Forget Your Mouse

Guard That Power Supply!

Back Up, Back Up, Back Up

Diagnostics Software to the Rescue

Stick Your Keyboard in a Drawer!

Stop the Spread of Viruses

Organize Your Software

Use the Power of Your Voice

Everyone Needs a Good Image Editor

Keep It Clean!

Chapter 18: Ten Important Assembly Tips

Read the Instructions First! (Rule Number One)

Build the Perfect Workspace

Keep Track of UTOs (Unidentified Tiny Objects)

Make Sure That You Have Everything You Need

Yell for Help If Necessary

Use a Magnetic Screwdriver

Start Your Own Parts Box

Take Your Time: The Zen of Assembly

Don't Cover Up Too Quickly

The Cable Rule: Check and Double Check

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Speed Up Your PC

Defragment Your Hard Drive

Get SCSI (Speed Demons Love SCSI)

Install More RAM

Crank Up the CPU Steam

Keep Your Backgrounds Plain

Install a Fast CD-ROM

Remove Resident Programs

Accelerate Windows with Your Video Card

Use a Native File System

Don't Forget that Turbo Button!

Chapter 20: Ten Things to Avoid Like the Plague

It's "Refurbished" for a Reason

Looking for an Antique? Buy a Pentium CPU

Never Depend on Floppies

Help Stamp Out Unnecessary Passwords!

Honor Thy Friend's Copyright

Your PC Is Not a Kindergarten

Don't Jump on the Pirate Ship

Keep Out of Monitors and Power Supplies

Don't Lease a PC for the Long Haul

Keep Track of Version Numbers

Part VI: Appendixes

Appendix A: Choosing Your Operating System

Become Your Own Consultant!

"But, Wait -- I Collect Operating Systems!"

DOS: The Old Workhorse Lives On

OS/2: The Original 32-Bit Wonder

Windows 95: Thanks for the Memories

Windows 98: The King of the Hill

Windows Me: The Windows of Tomorrow

Windows NT and Windows 2000: Microsoft's First String

Linux: It's Not Just for Technonerds!

Before You Install Your Operating System
Appendix B: Glossary

Index

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