| | Copyright |
| | Dedication |
| | Foreword |
| | Preface |
| | | Audience |
| | | Organization |
| | | Conventions |
| | | We'd Like to Hear from You |
| | | Acknowledgments |
|
| | Chapter 1. Fundamentals |
| | | Section 1.1. PCs Defined |
| | | Section 1.2. PC Components and Technologies |
| | | Section 1.3. System Resources |
| | | Section 1.4. Building or Buying a PC |
| | | Section 1.5. Upgrading a PC |
| | | Section 1.6. Smart Buying Practices |
| | | Section 1.7. Things to Do with Old PCs |
|
| | Chapter 2. Working on PCs |
| | | Section 2.1. Rules to Upgrade By |
| | | Section 2.2. Tools |
| | | Section 2.3. General Procedures |
|
| | Chapter 3. Motherboards |
| | | Section 3.1. Motherboard Characteristics |
| | | Section 3.2. Choosing a Motherboard |
| | | Section 3.3. Installing a Motherboard |
| | | Section 3.4. Upgrading the System BIOS |
| | | Section 3.5. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 4. Processors |
| | | Section 4.1. Processor Design |
| | | Section 4.2. Intel Processors |
| | | Section 4.3. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processors |
| | | Section 4.4. Choosing a Processor |
| | | Section 4.5. Installing a Processor |
| | | Section 4.6. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 5. Memory |
| | | Section 5.1. Understanding Memory |
| | | Section 5.2. Memory Access Methods |
| | | Section 5.3. Memory Packaging |
| | | Section 5.4. How Much Memory Is Enough? |
| | | Section 5.5. Memory Selection Guidelines |
| | | Section 5.6. Installing Memory |
| | | Section 5.7. Troubleshooting Memory Installation and Operation |
| | | Section 5.8. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 6. Floppy Disk Drives |
| | | Section 6.1. Diskette Types and Formats |
| | | Section 6.2. Drive Types |
| | | Section 6.3. FDD Interface and Cabling |
| | | Section 6.4. Installing a Floppy Disk Drive |
| | | Section 6.5. Working with FDDs |
| | | Section 6.6. Working with Obsolete Diskette Formats |
| | | Section 6.7. Salvaging Diskette Data |
| | | Section 6.8. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 7. High-Capacity Floppy Disk Drives |
| | | Section 7.1. High-Capacity FDD Types |
| | | Section 7.2. Choosing a High-Capacity Floppy Disk Drive |
| | | Section 7.3. Using an ATAPI Zip or SuperDisk Drive as the Boot Device |
| | | Section 7.4. Drive Letter Assignment Problems |
| | | Section 7.5. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 8. Removable Hard Disk Drives |
| | | Section 8.1. Uses for Removable Hard Disk Drives |
| | | Section 8.2. Cartridge-Based Removable Hard Disk Drives |
| | | Section 8.3. Frame/Carrier-Based Removable Hard Disk Drives |
| | | Section 8.4. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 9. Tape Drives |
| | | Section 9.1. Choosing a Tape Drive |
| | | Section 9.2. Installing and Configuring a Tape Drive |
| | | Section 9.3. Care and Feeding of a Tape Drive |
| | | Section 9.4. Troubleshooting Tape Drive Problems |
| | | Section 9.5. The Dirty Little Secret of Long Filenames |
| | | Section 9.6. Developing a Backup Strategy |
| | | Section 9.7. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 10. CD-ROM Drives |
| | | Section 10.1. Compact Disc Fundamentals |
| | | Section 10.2. CD-ROM Drive Performance |
| | | Section 10.3. Choosing a CD-ROM Drive |
| | | Section 10.4. Installing and Configuring a CD-ROM Drive |
| | | Section 10.5. Cleaning a CD-ROM Drive |
| | | Section 10.6. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 11. CD-R and CD-RW Drives |
| | | Section 11.1. CD Writers and Media |
| | | Section 11.2. Writable CD Formats |
| | | Section 11.3. CD Recording Methods |
| | | Section 11.4. BURN-Proof Technology |
| | | Section 11.5. Choosing a CD Writer |
| | | Section 11.6. CD Writer Software |
| | | Section 11.7. Installing and Configuring a CD Writer |
| | | Section 11.8. Updating CD Writer Firmware |
| | | Section 11.9. Media Issues |
| | | Section 11.10. Burning CDs |
| | | Section 11.11. Special Problems and Applications |
| | | Section 11.12. Writable CD Troubleshooting |
| | | Section 11.13. Additional CD-R(W) Source Material |
| | | Section 11.14. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 12. DVD Drives |
| | | Section 12.1. DVD-ROM |
| | | Section 12.2. DVD Writable and Rewritable |
| | | Section 12.3. Installing and Configuring a DVD Drive |
| | | Section 12.4. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 13. Hard Disk Interfaces |
| | | Section 13.1. IDE |
| | | Section 13.2. SCSI |
| | | Section 13.3. ATA Versus SCSI |
| | | Section 13.4. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 14. Hard Disk Drives |
| | | Section 14.1. How Hard Disks Work |
| | | Section 14.2. Choosing a Hard Disk |
| | | Section 14.3. Installing an ATA Hard Disk |
| | | Section 14.4. Installing a SCSI Hard Disk |
| | | Section 14.5. Preparing a Hard Disk for Use |
| | | Section 14.6. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 15. Video Adapters |
| | | Section 15.1. Video Adapter Characteristics |
| | | Section 15.2. Choosing a Video Adapter |
| | | Section 15.3. Installing a Video Adapter |
| | | Section 15.4. Configuring Video Under Windows 98/Me/2000/XP |
| | | Section 15.5. Configuring Video Under Windows NT 4 |
| | | Section 15.6. Troubleshooting Video Adapter Problems |
| | | Section 15.7. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 16. Displays |
| | | Section 16.1. CRT Monitors |
| | | Section 16.2. Flat-Panel Displays |
| | | Section 16.3. Installing and Configuring a Display |
| | | Section 16.4. Troubleshooting Display Problems |
| | | Section 16.5. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 17. Sound Adapters |
| | | Section 17.1. PC Audio Types |
| | | Section 17.2. MIDI Synthesis Methods |
| | | Section 17.3. Downloadable Sounds |
| | | Section 17.4. Sound Card Components |
| | | Section 17.5. Sound Card Characteristics |
| | | Section 17.6. Choosing a Sound Card |
| | | Section 17.7. Installing a Sound Card |
| | | Section 17.8. Troubleshooting Sound Card Problems |
| | | Section 17.9. MP3 |
| | | Section 17.10. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 18. Speakers and Headphones |
| | | Section 18.1. Speaker and Headphone Characteristics |
| | | Section 18.2. Choosing Speakers and Headphones |
| | | Section 18.3. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 19. Keyboards |
| | | Section 19.1. Keyboard Switch Types |
| | | Section 19.2. Keyboard Styles |
| | | Section 19.3. Keyboard Interfaces |
| | | Section 19.4. Choosing a Keyboard |
| | | Section 19.5. Configuring a Keyboard |
| | | Section 19.6. Cleaning a Keyboard |
| | | Section 19.7. Troubleshooting and Repairing Keyboards |
| | | Section 19.8. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 20. Mice and Trackballs |
| | | Section 20.1. Mice Versus Trackballs |
| | | Section 20.2. Mouse Characteristics |
| | | Section 20.3. Choosing a Mouse |
| | | Section 20.4. Configuring a Mouse or Trackball |
| | | Section 20.5. Cleaning a Mouse |
| | | Section 20.6. Troubleshooting a Mouse |
| | | Section 20.7. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 21. Game Controllers |
| | | Section 21.1. Game Controller Characteristics |
| | | Section 21.2. Gameport Interface |
| | | Section 21.3. Choosing a Game Controller |
| | | Section 21.4. Installing a Game Controller |
| | | Section 21.5. Troubleshooting Game Controllers |
| | | Section 21.6. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 22. Serial Communications |
| | | Section 22.1. Serial Communications Overview |
| | | Section 22.2. Serial Ports |
| | | Section 22.3. Serial Cables |
| | | Section 22.4. Installing and Configuring Serial Port Hardware |
| | | Section 22.5. Troubleshooting Serial Port Problems |
| | | Section 22.6. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 23. Parallel Communications |
| | | Section 23.1. Mapping Parallel Ports to LPTs |
| | | Section 23.2. Parallel Port Types |
| | | Section 23.3. Configuring Parallel Port Hardware |
| | | Section 23.4. Parallel Connectors and Cables |
| | | Section 23.5. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 24. USB Communications |
| | | Section 24.1. USB Characteristics |
| | | Section 24.2. USB Host Controller Interfaces |
| | | Section 24.3. Configuring USB |
| | | Section 24.4. Troubleshooting USB |
| | | Section 24.5. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 25. Cases |
| | | Section 25.1. Case Characteristics |
| | | Section 25.2. Choosing a Case |
| | | Section 25.3. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 26. Power Supplies |
| | | Section 26.1. Power Supply Characteristics |
| | | Section 26.2. Volts, Amps, Watts, and Regulation |
| | | Section 26.3. Power Connectors |
| | | Section 26.4. Choosing a Power Supply |
| | | Section 26.5. Installing a Power Supply |
| | | Section 26.6. Troubleshooting Power Supplies |
| | | Section 26.7. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 27. Backup Power Supplies |
| | | Section 27.1. What BPSes Protect Against |
| | | Section 27.2. BPS Types |
| | | Section 27.3. BPS Characteristics |
| | | Section 27.4. Choosing a BPS |
| | | Section 27.5. Our Picks |
|
| | Chapter 28. Building a PC |
| | | Section 28.1. Step 1: Prepare the Case |
| | | Section 28.2. Step 2: Configure the Motherboard |
| | | Section 28.3. Step 3: Install the Processor |
| | | Section 28.4. Step 4: Install the Memory |
| | | Section 28.5. Step 5: Prepare Drives for Installation |
| | | Section 28.6. Step 6: Install the Floppy Disk Drive |
| | | Section 28.7. Step 7: Install Other Drives |
| | | Section 28.8. Step 8: Install the Motherboard |
| | | Section 28.9. Step 9: Connect Cables to the Motherboard |
| | | Section 28.10. Step 10: Install Expansion Cards |
| | | Section 28.11. Step 11: Perform the "Smoke Test" |
| | | Section 28.12. Step 12: Install Software |
| | | Section 28.13. Step 13: Finishing Touches |
|
| | Colophon |
| | Index |