take care of your computer part 5 -- how to work on your own pc
TRANSCRIPT
How To Take Care of Your Computer
for Little or No Money
Ted Whittemore
The Working Computers Blog & Kinnelon Computers
www.kinneloncomputers.com
6 Part Series
Part 5 – How to Work on Your Own PC – Buying and Replacing Hardware, Adding Memory – Where to Buy the Parts - Who and How in Fixing Your Machine if It’s Broken - Clean Your Computer, Before the Dust Kills It – Question and Answer Session
Who is Ted Whittemore?
• Owner of Working Computers and the Working Computers Blog
• Has worked in computer services industry since 1987 building, servicing, and selling computer systems, software and maintenance
What’s the Plan for today?
• Talk About Buying and Replacing PC Hardware• Where to Get What You Need• How to Add Memory, Replace a Power Supply …• How to Clean a PC – a Dirty PC can Fail or Die• How to Hire Someone to Fix a PC, What to Pay• Answer questions and solve problems
*All of the subjects covered are also in articles in the Working Computers Blog, @ www.kinneloncomputers.com
Before We Deal With These Issues
• Feel free to ask specific questions about the topic we are covering
• Please save general questions for the end
I Don’t Want to Do Work on MY PCWhy Should I learn This Stuff?
• Knowledge is Power –
• At Least You Will Know What the Job Is
• You May Decide That an Easy Job IS Worth Doing Yourself
• Lose the Fear of Opening Up the Box
• You Will Have a Better Idea of What You Are Hiring Someone Else to Do …
I Do Want to Work on My PC –What Can I Do Without Killing
Myself or My Computer?
• You Can Replace Basic Parts that are Easily Removed and Replaced
• You Can Upgrade Parts – Video Cards, RAM, etc.
• You Can Clean It
• Always Disconnect the Power Cord!!!
Where Can I Buy PC Parts?How Do I Know What to Buy?
1. The 2 Best Places are Newegg and Amazon.
2. Both have a great selection.
3. Always look at Newegg first – it’s organized better
4. Both have user reviews of the product – discount the nutcases.
5. Use the Reviews to Help You Decide, as well as Price and Product Info
Buying a PC Partfor example, a Blu-Ray Drive
1. Start with Newegg – go to BR Drives
2. Determine the Drive You Like
3. Copy the Model # to the Clipboard
4. Go to the Amazon Site – Paste Model #
5. Compare Price and Availability
6. Choose
Newegg
Copy Model # to Clipboard
Enter Model # in Amazon Search
Amazon Newegg Comparison
• Roughly Comparable in this case
• Amazon has no tax and can offer free delivery $100
• Newegg has a cheaper price that does not include NJ sales tax, or delivery $90
• Choose based on your preference
We Break Here to Do a Hands-On Demo of Optical Drive Replacement, and Look at the Other Parts of a PC, the Power Supply, the
Drives, the Expansion Cards, Memory, Fans, Cables, etc.
We Will Also Demonstrate Proper Cleaning of both a Laptop and Desktop PC
Inside a Modern PC
Case
Motherboard
CPU
Fans
Heatsink
RAM
Opt. Drive
Hard Drive
Video Card
Other Exp. Cards
Cables
What Have We Learned about Desktop PC Construction???
• Desktop PCs are Modular
• They are made up of mix-and-match pieces that can be interchanged – within limits
• Replacing a dead component is easy
• Upgrading is a little harder but doable – more expertise about compatibility is required
What Can the Average User Replace?
Easily:
Optical Drives
Fans
Cables
Memory
Power Supplies
Some Difficulty:
Hard Drives
Video Cards
Don’t Do It!
CPUs
CPUs are delicate, & require a special application of thermal paste, and a careful mating with a heat-sink and fan assembly that needs to be done by a pro
Boot Hard Drives require OS installation and/or re-installation of the OS
Video Cards require Driver Installation and rebooting as well as Display Resolution Adjustment
Principles of Cleaning Your PC
1. Work Outside if Possible
2. Use a Hairdryer or a Vacuum Cleaner with the hose reversed
3. Remove clutter from inside the PC
4. Blow from the Center of the Case towards the Outside
5. Blow out unused Expansion and Memory Slots
6. Blow out the Power Supply from both openings
7. Blow out intake and exhaust filters and openings
• Your Choices Run to:• Local Shops and the Techs Work There• Or, National Chains, i.e., Geek Squad, etc.
• Which is Better???• That’s the Problem – Neither is Better.• The Work Done is Only as Good as the
Service Person Doing It
So You Want Somebody Else to Work on Your Computer
How Do I Know if the Computer Person is Good?
1. That’s the Sad Part – You Don’t
2. With the Chains You are Essentially Trusting that They Have Automated the Process to Take Competence and Intelligence Out of It – It’s All Programmed
3. With a Local Store, You Either Know Who Is Working On Your Machine or You Don’t and If You Don’t You Are Playing Russian Roulette.
4. What Do They Charge???
5. There are Different Prices for Different Services, but at the End of the Day, Prices Run About $100 per Hour with the National Chains for On-Site Work
How Do I Make Sure I Get the Work I Pay For?
1. Understanding Your Computer and Its Construction Puts You in Charge of Its Repair
2. You Determine What You Think Is Wrong
3. You Discuss the Specifics of the Repair with the Service Person
4. You Agree on the Extent and Limits of the Work
5. You Get an Estimate for the Agreed Upon Work
Summary
• Do Not be Afraid to Open the Computer
• You Now Have a Basic Idea about How to Replace or Upgrade Components
• You Should Check Out and Compare Prices for PC Hardware on Newegg, Amazon, and also Mwave.
• Read the User Reviews
• Clean Your PC
Where to Find More About this Subject
• This Presentation and all links will be up on the Working Computers Blog shortly – you do not need to take notes if you don’t want to.
• These Topics and a lot more are covered on the Working Computers site, along with links to software and sites for easy downloading.
• Remember, it’s all at www.kinneloncomputers.com
June 14th Thursday 7PM Next Talk
• Dis-Infecting a PC Taken Over by a Wild, Live Virus – RealTime Demo
• Backup Software – Installing, Configuring, Scheduling and Testing Microsoft Backup (Free with Your OS), and Free Disk Mirroring (Cloning) Software – Live Demo
• As Always – Ask Your Questions/Open Mike
Questions??
Please Assess Seminar
• There are Assessment Sheets for this talk available on the table, and I should have already handed them out – Please take a moment to tell us what you think and give us any suggestions you may have.
• Thanks!
Contact Information
• Ted Whittemore
– Working Computers in Kinnelon, NJ– http://www.KinnelonComputers.com – 973-838-2368– [email protected]