Sarah Griffis

Computers are complex, however, and this can lead to headaches when trying to upgrade. Nothing is more frustrating than finding out that you have a compatibility issue while you’re in the process of installing new hardware. Let’s review 4 potential trouble spots you should check before digging into your desktop’s intern

2. The cable length will affect your choice too, as IDE cables are usually quite short. If the CD-ROM is far from the hard drives, you will need one cable for the hard drives, and another going to the CD-

IDE was a significant limiting factor in older PCs. Though modern machines will often include a single IDE connection for the sake of backwards compatibility, most machines from the IDE era of computing were equipped with two IDE sockets - each connection being referred to as an IDE "channel". On each channel, you could add up to 2 IDE devices - so that meant a maximum of 4 hard drives and/or CD-ROM dri

However, as some readers pointed out, the process of adding an IDE drive is significantly more difficult than a SATA drive, so in the interests of completeness and for those of you with old PCs, here is a complete tutorial for how to add a second IDE dr

If you want applications and games to run smoothly, you’ll need to provide enough RAM for them. With a shortage of RAM, games will be unable to use large amounts of data, thereby causing lag and visual deficie

With the arrival of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, houses across the globe get a nice cleaning to rid them of dirt and clutter that has accumulated over the past year. Dust and junk also settle on our computer. Whether your troubleshooting PC builds|https://Pcbuildinsight.com/ is suffering from a clocked up fan or an overloaded hard drive, it is time to give it a thorough spring cleaning. With the following checklist this will be a bre

Operating systems generally are not a limitation when you are upgrading hardware, which is why the topic shows up last in this article. This doesn’t mean they are never an issue. It’s possible that you may find yourself with a hardware upgrade that is physically compatible with your system in every way but still doesn’t w

Everything inside a computer must connect to the motherboard for it to function. Most motherboards have a significant number of connectors for installing new hardware, but the number is finite, and can be filled to capacity more quickly than you’d th

Now, select the "Tun on Windows File and Printer Sharing" option and click "Next." Make sure the info is right and click "Next" again. On the following screen select "Just finished;" and then click "Next" and "Finish

Since I only have a single IDE CD-ROM and single hard disk to show you today (as well as only a single physical IDE connector on my motherboard), I've opted to make the hard disk as Master and the CD-Drive as sl

Now that you have a shared home server directory set up you need to be able to start sharing your files! To do so, simply go to your other computer(s) that you wish to access these files at and click on "Start" and then right-click on "My Computer" and select "Map Network Drive." Now, click "Browse" and select the name of the home server and click the "+" beside it to expand the options and click the folder that we just crea

Almost all of us geeks have at least one or two old computers hanging around the house, in a corner, in a basement, attic, etc. Most of the time these, possibly, useful computers go to waste and eventually sit in that same corner, basement, or attic for years until being wastefully thrown away out of necessity. Fortunately, this does not have to be the case for all past acquaintan

IDE and S-ATA are used to connect hard drives and CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drives. If you want to reuse old parts from a previous computer, you should check the connections you’re going to need. In an open scenario, focus on the faster S-ATA connectors. The production of IDE apparel is already dwindling and will soon come to a full s

Cleaning a modern LCD screen isn't the same as cleaning an old-fashioned CRT monitor. That is because CRTs are covered with glass, while LCD displays have a softer plastic-based surface. To clean your LCD without damaging it, you need a lint-free cloth, distilled water (for dust) or isopropyl alcohol or white vinegar (for oily stains) and a bottle, ideally an atomizer. Spray your cloth with water or a 1:1 isopropyl alcohol : water mixture. Then carefully wipe the screen with the damp cl

You’ll hardly find a motherboard without a built-in network card these days, and rightly so, because nearly every computer is intended to connect to the internet. The sound card is often a bit less evident. True, you’ll find sound functionality in all motherboards, but if you keep your eyes open, you can have a built-in, 5.1 surround system for just a few extra bucks. Unless you’re going to use a headphone, you’ll need this if you’re serious about gam