Articles about computer hardware
I enjoy tinkering with old computers and recently rebuilt a Pentium 4 machine on a quality Intel motherboard, D865GBF, with 2GB of memory. However, the 30GB IDE drive was beginning to fail, so I swapped it for a larger SATA drive which meant a new […]
How To Install Windows Directly From Your Hard Drive Read More »
Following a Tweet from a respected security source suggesting the release of a Windows 12, a number of tech sites started reporting the coming of Windows 12 as a distinct possibility. However, the original Tweet was subsequently taken down by the author with an apology
Reports Of A Windows 12 – True Or Not? Read More »
I’ve been reading Jim Canfield’s terrific Purchasing Your 2022 Computer series of articles with interest but noticed some confusion in readers’ comments regarding the amount of RAM required. Posing the question “how much RAM is enough” is akin to asking “how long is a piece
How Much RAM Is Enough? Read More »
Buying That 2022 Computer The premise of this series was to hopefully make it easier for anyone looking to buy a new PC. Because the process is usually made difficult with all of the variables presented, in the example below, I am only going to
Purchasing That 2022 Computer – Final Installment Read More »
The newest evolution in RAM has recently been released to the public. Like any new electronic component release, the prices will stay high for a while but for an initial release, they are more affordable than I would have guessed. With memory manufacturers like Crucial
DDR5 SDRAM And My Dream Read More »
I thought it might be an interesting exercise to pit an NVMe drive against a Solid State Drive (SSD) to see just how much difference there is between the two in terms of speed. In the blue corner, we have an Intel Optane NVMe and
Benchmark: NVMe Drive vs SSD Read More »
Everything You Need To Know About Storage Solid State Drives (SSD) have been one of the biggest improvements to computer performance in recent years. Unlike traditional analog HDDs that have spinning disks, SSDs have no moving parts, they are faster and more reliable. So why
Purchasing Your 2022 Computer – Storage Read More »
A Computer’s Memory Isn’t What It Used To Be RAM (Random Access Memory) has come a long way since the home computer was released. My first computer had 4K of memory. My current computer has 32GB of ram. Laid out in numbers, that’s 4 000,
Purchasing Your 2022 Computer – Memory Read More »
My sister had an HP Media Center Laptop at one time that had the ability to handle two hard drives. Most laptops don’t come with that option but you can still add a second hard drive by buying a special hard drive caddy that lets
How To Install A Second Hard Drive In A Laptop Read More »
Inside A CPU There are several types of CPUs available for today’s computers. The most common are Intel’s from Celeron, to the Core Series i3 or i7. AMD’s Ryzen series are similar in type and function to Intel’s Core Series. One common factor you should
Purchasing Your 2022 Computer – The CPU – Part 2 Read More »
The last couple of days my Gateway desktop has been acting up. The screen freezes and then the fan starts getting noisier. So when I managed to reboot it, I went to the Event Manager and clicked on Administrative Events. And behold the long list
Gateway Desktop Freezing Up, Rebooting, BSOD Read More »
Does the door on your Optical Drive stick? After pressing the “Open Door” button on an optical drive, the green light will go on and then nothing. On some drives, it will only happen occasionally. Fortunately, there is an easy fix for both problems on
CD/DVD Door Won’t Open Read More »
What Processor Should I Buy? It is important to plan when purchasing a new computer. Make sure that the components will not be outdated in a few years. That is important with components that are not easily switched out. If you plan for future improvements,
Purchasing Your 2022 Computer – CPUs Read More »
I recently came across an article on a tech site with the title “Do more CPU cores mean better performance?” which, after a fairly lengthy explanation, came to the conclusion… yes, more CPU cores mean better performance. It’s one of those “no sh*t Sherlock” moments
CPU Cores versus Threads Explained Read More »
