Looking Under the Hood

Repairing & Upgrading Your PC
by Robert Bruce Thompson & Barbara Fritchman Thompson
O’Reilly Press
ISBN: 0-596-00866-X
429 Pages
US $34.99 CAN$48.99
http://www.oreilly.com

Don’t know a PCI slot from an AGP? You’re not alone. I’d been thinking about replacing or upgrading my PC. It’s not that I don’t like my refurbished Dell. It’s configured just the way I like it. I rarely experience a lock-up and it’s pretty perky where most of my applications are concerned. But, I do have a couple of graphics and video editing programs that hesitate now and then. I just want a little more oomph in the RAM department.

Repairing & Upgrading Your PC seemed like the perfect solution to my immediate problem and a great resource for the unknown headaches always lurking around the corner. At $34.99, the book costs less than I would pay for labor to install a new part and I would gain the knowledge and confidence to be able to upgrade and fix things myself!

The sixteen chapters span a wide variety of concerns any PC user may encounter. The first chapter addresses the big question ‘Upgrade or Repair’. Next are the basic rules for working on PC hardware. Then follows system maintenance, perhaps better titled Preventing a Major PC Disaster. This chapter discusses many topics overlooked by the home user, but vital to prolonging the life of your machine: cleaning the hardware inside the case, backing up data, securing your system, reducing system startup services, hard drive housekeeping and updating the operating system.

The chapter on motherboards provides great illustrations of what they look like and a complete tour of the various slots and components. The subtitle, ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Motherboards’ is no exaggeration. Any part added to a computer must be compatible with the motherboard or you can easily bring the whole system to a mysterious halt, or worse. The chapter covering Processors, also referred to as the CPU or central processing unit, did a nice job of explaining the processor types, both Intel and AMD. With all the 64-bit processing hype, I had questions. The authors did a nice job of answering them and more.

And now Chapter 6: Understanding Memory. Here I found the information I was looking for concerning upgrading the RAM in my PC from 512 MB to 1 GIG (or more). The sections cover the different types of RAM on the market, memory performance, motherboard compatibility, and how to choose and install memory. It was quite an education. Most of the chapters end with a section on troubleshooting. Troubleshooting memory installation and operation contains a wealth of information I hope I never have to use. I will definitely visit the recommended web sites for checking motherboard compatibility issues, download the memory check program Memtest86, and keep a Knoppix (linux) CD handy just in case I do run into problems. Basically, I just need to know what motherboard I have in the box and how many slots there are, where they are located and what type of memory I can use. The authors advise that brand matters and recommend modules from either Crucial Technology or Kingston Technologies. I know too many people who have purchased and installed discount priced modules that were dead or failed shortly after installation. And, I shall re-read the pages on actually installing the DIMMs (Dual In-line Memory Modules) into the motherboard slots.

There are an additional 218 pages detailing everything you’ll want to know when dealing with a variety of hardware challenges. The remaining chapter titles are Hard Disk Drives, Optical Drives, External and Removable Storage Devices, Video Adapters, Displays, Audio, Input Devices, Wireless Networking, Cases and Power Supplies, and Power Protection.

In Summary:
Reading through this book has provided me with the training to be able to pop the hood on my Windows PC with confidence. I’ve already removed the dust and cat hair from inside the box and installed a USB2/firewire card and the software drivers for the board. (I did back up my hard drive first, just in case.)

Repairing & Upgrading Your PC is an excellent desktop reference. The chapters are self-contained, making it easy to find all the information you need for your topic of interest/crisis. The illustrations are pertinent and easy to decipher. And, there is plenty of side-bar information. The layout of the pages has enough white space and contrast to keep the eyes comfortable. And, there is often outside margin space available for your notes. All in all, the authors did an exceptional job of making PC maintenance accessible to anyone interested in becoming a self-sufficient PC user.

MyMac.com Rating: 4.5 out 5