Computer Beginner Guide

Chances are you’re reading this because you just bought a new computer, are thinking about buying a new computer, or maybe even had someone give you his old computer. (Nothing wrong with high-tech hand-me-downs!) At this point you might not be totally sure what it is you’ve gotten yourself into. Just what is this mess of boxes and cables, and what can you—or should you—do with it? This tutorial serves as an introduction to the entire concept of personal computers in general—what they do, how they work, that sort of thing—and computer hardware in particular. It’s a good place to start if you’re not that familiar with computers, or want a brief refresher course in what all those pieces and parts are, and what they do. Of course, if you want to skip the background and get right to using your computer, that’s okay, too. What Computer Can—and Can’t—Do What good is a personal computer, anyway? Everybody has one, you know. (Including you, now!) In fact, it’s possible you bought

Increasing the bus frequency and the internal and external clock frequency of the processor can raise the performance of a computer. As mentioned earlier, the best and the simplest method of increasing the performance of the system is to raise the bus frequency. However, this can only be done if the specific motherboard model allows it. If it does not, you must be content with only increasing the clock frequency of the processor. The internal processor frequency is derived using the multiplier of the external frequency. Note that the internal processor frequency is the rate at which the processor executes operations. External frequency is the rate of the host-bus (FSB, SB, CPU Bus), that is, the speed at which the chipset, the cache memory, and the RAM operate. Other components of the computer, device controllers for example, operate at the frequency of the buses that connect them to the system, for instance, through the PCI and AGP buses. For PCI buses, the operating rat

The general performance of the computer can be significantly increased by setting overclocked methods for some of its subsystems that will impose an increase in their operating speed. One of these subsystems is the processor, which plays the leading role in processing data and managing the other subsystems of the computer. By raising the processor operating frequency and/or the frontside bus frequency (which determines the processor operating frequency), you will be able to considerably improve the overall computer performance. The other subsystems, such as the video adapters and storage subsystem, often undergo a similar process. This method of increasing the operating speed is called “ overclocking ”. This is the widely used and generally accepted term, used in computer-related literature and on the Internet. You should note that along with increasing the frequency you must often also increase the voltage to those components subject to overclocking. In no case can the

Tuning and optimizing hardware and software is often related to the analysis and setting of a number of parameters. The problem of estimating the effectiveness of certain parameters and their values often arises. Also, it is necessary to evaluate the efficiency of the procedures selected when setting up the computer's hardware and software. Because the total number of parameters that should be taken into account is quite large, it's especially hard to analyze the influence that these parameters have as a whole, since they often depend one on another. Notice also that sometimes these parameters are mutually exclusive. Incorrect decisions made in the process of installing, optimizing, and especially upgrading hardware and software not only prevent you from getting the full advantage from your computer's functionality, but are also often accompanied by additional and unnecessary financial losses. In such cases, objective criteria that simplify the decision-making

The BIOS is responsible for the proper operation of the entire computer system. The overall stability and reliability of the computer system as well as its performance in various modes depends on BIOS's functionality, the quality of its code, and its efficiency. The motherboard manufacturers are constantly improving the BIOS code in cooperation with BIOS developers. As a result, new, improved BIOS versions are constantly being released, not only for newly created motherboards, but also for the older ones. Improved BIOS versions are mainly intended for use with newly released components, taking into account particular features of their architecture. Updating the BIOS version often allows you to compensate for the drawbacks of legacy devices used in the computer system. The architecture of modern motherboards uses electrically programmed flash memory chips for storing BIOS. These new generation ROM chips, so-called Flash ROMs, can be reprogrammed an infinite number of t

In the traditional PC architecture that uses the command system of Intel processors, the first megabyte of RAM has a special function. It's no wonder that the first 640 KB of RAM within that first megabyte (which is the only part of memory available for certain types of programs) is known as the conventional (or basic) memory. Part of this memory area is used by system programs; application programs take up the rest. Often, these programs are sensitive to the conventional memory concerns. For example, certain application programs require no less than 600 KB of conventional memory to run. If the amount of available conventional memory is insufficient, such programs will not run, and a message will appear informing you that there is not enough conventional memory. As a matter of fact, this will happen even in a system with a large amount of RAM that exceeds that program's requirements. In the case we are considering, however, this large amount of available RAM is pr

The functional capabilities and performance of the video system are determined by the parameters of the monitor, the video adapter, and the software used. Adjusting the monitor using its built-in equipment will generally change the linear dimensions, the distortion compensation of the displayed image, and color, brightness, and contrast correction, etc. Usually, adjusting the monitor has no impact on the general performance of the video system. Modern video adapters, as a rule, don't have built-in set-up equipment. Normally, their elements never change during operation, except for, maybe, upgrading the video memory and, for certain models of video adapters, the use of a special daughterboard. However, the video subsystem performance — the speed of processing video information and displaying it on the monitor — and often certain functional capabilities, depend on the settings specified in BIOS Setup — CMOS Setup. Furthermore, overall performance of the

Usage of the specialized tools intended for dynamic compression of the information stored on the PC's hard drives enables you to use the available disk space more efficiently. In many cases, this allows you to solve the problem of storage space shortage without purchasing additional equipment. Practically all PC users, even beginners, know very well that a PC's resources tend over time to become insufficient to be able to work comfortably, even in cases when they seem to be excessive at first. You are always short on resources! Sooner or later, everyone will encounter this problem. Obviously, the level of initial redundancy of PC resources and the rate at which they become insufficient depend on initial conditions, such as the cost of purchasing the PC, the complexity level of the problems being solved, and the user's experience and competence. Despite the fact that financial investments in your desktop or mobile computer can

One of the ways of increasing the hard drive capacity is selecting optimal cluster size . All information stored on the hard drive is presented in the form of files. Disk space for storing these files, in turn, is allocated in so-called clusters . Clusters comprise a number of sectors of a predetermined size. The size of a cluster usually ranges from 2 to 32 KB. The size of each cluster depends on the disk partition size. Every file, depending on its length, takes up one or more clusters. Even if the size of the file is less than that of the cluster, that file will nonetheless take up the entire cluster. For instance, when cluster size is 32 KB, a bat-file of a few dozen bytes will take up all 32 KB of disk space. We can estimate that, on average, every file takes up about half of its last cluster. The remainder of the cluster cannot be assigned for another file. Consequently, on the disk there will be a good number of clusters whose sp

Ordering the files is an effective method of increasing the speed of the hard drive. As you use your computer, you are constantly saving, deleting, and editing files, thus changing their size. The repetition of these actions causes a good number of files to become fragmented and scattered arbitrarily around the disk. This process of file fragmentation takes place because new files that you save on the hard drive are physically stored using the free space created by the deletion of other files. Also, the files often become fragmented as you edit them, thus increasing their size. While accessing files that are stored in fragments throughout the hard drive, the read/write head of the hard drive must mechanically shift and reposition itself many times. This takes up a significantly longer amount of time than finding and reading an unfragmented (contiguous) file. The operation of the hard drive is often complicated by electronic or mechanical

ROM BIOS from, say, Award, has an embedded setup program, which allows you to change the basic configuration of the system. This information is permanently stored in CMOS RAM, so its contents will not be lost after turning the PC off. You can enter the Setup mode by pressing a certain key or combination of keys when you restart or reboot the computer. Usually the key is used for this purpose. The system configuration is modified by setting the values of the appropriate parameters in BIOS Setup and then saving them in CMOS RAM. This procedure is known as BIOS Setup . Most often, the overall performance of the entire computer system depends on the BIOS settings. In many cases, changing parameters in BIOS Setup provides a real possibility of significant improvement of the computer performance. This is particularly true for the parameters that deal with memory. Generally, default settings ensure the stable operation of the entire system.