Ask the DOS Doctor

It is these items most frequently replaced with newer faster and more powerful versions.The difficulty facing the user is what do you replace? Getting a quote from one dealer and trying to compare it with another dealer is not a game many are qualified or experienced enough to play.
If they were they would do the job themselves.

The major traps are;

What is the quality (manufacturer) of the components you will be supplied with? By this I mean chasing around comparing "Chipset" quotes is very much a hit and miss game. Certainly an Intel Celeron processor of the same speed is 100% comparable from one dealer to another however comparing, for example, a NVIDIA MX 440 64mB chipset VGA card with another without knowing the actual manufacturer of the card is a waste of time. The difference in quality of other components on the card, website support, circuit design and layout reflects the difference in price.

A 40gB High Speed (7200 RPM) Hard Disk Drive from one manufacturer is not necessarily directly comparable with another brand from a different manufacturer. Do you know what the warranty is of the Hard Disk Drive and do you know why one maybe less expensive? Some Hard Drive brands have suffered (in my opinion) greater failure rates than others.

A Computer case and power supply is certainly not the same between one supplier and another. Many times a 300 watt Power Supply is only 300 watts in label only.

So who do I trust?.

Think local in the first instance. Why travel for two hours across town and back to save $50?. Is there a Computer dealer who has been local for at least three years?. These dealers can use exactly the same components as the bigger dealers further away. Getting a recommendation from a friend or colleague may be OK however your requirements and budget may be different from theirs.

Do not take too much notice of the "self appointed experts" who write articles for newspapers and some magazines as many times they are talking exotic Hardware well beyond the range of product YOU actually require. NO Computer you purchase or upgrade will probably be able to be upgraded again after about three or four years as the technology moves on so fast. Purchase or upgrade for your needs today and at the entry level of component unless you have very special requirements.

Avoid the al-cheapo upgrade as this certainly will have all on-board components (OK if you understand the limitations) but more importantly this may include re-using your old Hard Disk Drive and Video card which will cripple the increase in system performance.

Take little notice of extra low prices quoted in some newspaper articles by the "experts" as these are typically from a couple of dealers whose profit margin is only a few percent and so cannot give you any support if you need it in the future. Also many of the ultra low profit margin type dealers may have very little of what they advertise in stock so making purchase a protracted transaction.

A good Computer Dealer will spent time with you and give you a range of options clearly spelling out the reasons for the price differences between one system (upgrade path) and another. They will give a good warranty on their workmanship and upgrade the software where necessary.



		How to successfully Upgrade


...	How and when to upgrade is a question facing all Computer users at some time. Remembering just how much money the system cost when you purchased it only a few years ago and now it seems too slow to handle almost anything. The desire to get some more life out of the system leads most uses to consider an upgrade, but what is an upgrade? An upgrade is the replacing of certain items to increase the performance of the Computer.. *Hardware:* The major components of a Computer and certainly the ones the user sees are Hardware items such as Monitor, Computer Case, Speakers, Printer, Scanner etc. Inside the Computer Case are the items normally selected for an upgrade. Items such as Hard Disk Drive, Processor (CPU), RAM (Random Access Memory), Hard Disk Drive, VGA (Video Processor) It is these items most frequently replaced with newer faster and more powerful versions.The difficulty facing the user is what do you replace? Getting a quote from one dealer and trying to compare it with another dealer is not a game many are qualified or experienced enough to play. If they were they would do the job themselves. The major traps are; What is the quality (manufacturer) of the components you will be supplied with? By this I mean chasing around comparing "Chipset" quotes is very much a hit and miss game. Certainly an Intel Celeron processor of the same speed is 100% comparable from one dealer to another however comparing, for example, a NVIDIA MX 440 64mB chipset VGA card with another without knowing the actual manufacturer of the card is a waste of time. The difference in quality of other components on the card, website support, circuit design and layout reflects the difference in price. A 40gB High Speed (7200 RPM) Hard Disk Drive from one manufacturer is not necessarily directly comparable with another brand from a different manufacturer. Do you know what the warranty is of the Hard Disk Drive and do you know why one maybe less expensive? Some Hard Drive brands have suffered (in my opinion) greater failure rates than others. A Computer case and power supply is certainly not the same between one supplier and another. Many times a 300 watt Power Supply is only 300 watts in label only. So who do I trust?. Think local in the first instance. Why travel for two hours across town and back to save $50?. Is there a Computer dealer who has been local for at least three years?. These dealers can use exactly the same components as the bigger dealers further away. Getting a recommendation from a friend or colleague may be OK however your requirements and budget may be different from theirs. Do not take too much notice of the "self appointed experts" who write articles for newspapers and some magazines as many times they are talking exotic Hardware well beyond the range of product YOU actually require. NO Computer you purchase or upgrade will probably be able to be upgraded again after about three or four years as the technology moves on so fast. Purchase or upgrade for your needs today and at the entry level of component unless you have very special requirements. Avoid the al-cheapo upgrade as this certainly will have all on-board components (OK if you understand the limitations) but more importantly this may include re-using your old Hard Disk Drive and Video card which will cripple the increase in system performance. Take little notice of extra low prices quoted in some newspaper articles by the "experts" as these are typically from a couple of dealers whose profit margin is only a few percent and so cannot give you any support if you need it in the future. Also many of the ultra low profit margin type dealers may have very little of what they advertise in stock so making purchase a protracted transaction. A good Computer Dealer will spent time with you and give you a range of options clearly spelling out the reasons for the price differences between one system (upgrade path) and another. They will give a good warranty on their workmanship and upgrade the software where necessary. *Software:* Following on from a Hardware upgrade is a software upgrade necessary for the correct functioning of your Operating System (Windows 98 or ME etc) with your new Hardware specifically the Motherboard Chipset and new Video Card. This is without doubt the most overlooked area of upgrading. Please do not join the "Mob" (including some journalists) in blaming Microsoft for all your Computer Software problems. There is no such thing as a bad Operating system. There are however users who install wrong applications software, wrong driver software, delete files they should not, fail to keep virus software up to date etc. The Microsoft Windows Operating System's use information stored in the registry to control the interaction of the various devices that go to make up your Computer. The settings are stored in a major key found in the following section. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / ENUM (you use the program "Regedit" to access the registry) The entries stored here may be viewed using the "Device Manager" When you upgrade your motherboard you want these entries to be correct with only the details of your new devices and not leftovers from your original setup. Deleting the above key will delete all reference to any devices installed on your Computer and Windows will discover then afresh. The correct procedure is: Using "Regedit" locate and delete the ENUM key.(Note if you use the device manager after this stage it will show NO devices installed). Via "Control Panel" use the "Add Hardware" Wizard to locate some basic devices. Do not "Reboot" when asked. Use the CD ROM that accompanied your new Motherboard and install the Chipset Drivers (sometimes called a 4 in 1 patch). You will then be asked for a series of "Reboots" Be sure to have all driver software on hand for any special devices you may have installed such as extra PCI cards, Internal Modems, SCSCI Cards, Sound cards etc. You will possibly also need your Operating System CD ROM When finally completed the device manager should have no "unknown devices" and no device entries showing a yellow circle with a black exclamation mark. (The later indicates the device is not working correctly) NOTE : As a side issue the configuration information for installation of your particular devices is normally stored in the folder, Windows\inf\others. Should you have a problem with the installation of a device then you can delete this information and reboot the Computer. Windows will then detect again the device and as it cannot find any data relating to the device in the above folder will prompt you for the CD ROM or diskette that came with the device. (The correct file to delete may be ascertained by looking at the file names and finally checking (with Notepad) the details on the first few lines).