There are a number of ways you can increase the amount of conventional memory available to you. Conventional memory is that first 640 KB of memory which all programs hog for. Since it is in such demand, keeping it optimized and available is important. Many of these actions involve making changes to the CONFIG.SYS file. Remember, you want to keep a backup of the...

Video subsystem performance plays a large role in overall system performance. Obviously, anyone who takes the performance of their machine seriously is also going to devote some attention to their video card. One important thing to note is that your PC’s video performance is heavily tied in with the other hardware in your system. For example, if you bought...

All computers share the same basic architecture, whether it be a multi-million dollar mainframe or a Palm Pilot. All have memory, an I/O system, and arithmetic/logic unit, and a control unit. This type of architecture is named Von Neumann architecture after the ...

When shopping for a video card, there is no doubt that a prime feature bragged about the card is how much memory it has and what kind. But, what does that mean? And how does the type and amount of memory effect the performance of the video on your system? Well, read on… Simply put, a video card relies on its memory to draw a picture. Different cards offer...

With advances in technology coming so fast, the need to have an upgradable PC is absolute. Every sucessive software release calls for faster and faster hardware. Quake III needs much more power than Quake ever did. Windows 95 could run smoothly on a 486DX4/100Mhz with 16MB of RAM, whilc Windows 2000 truges along on a Pentium 200MHz and 64MB of RAM. This...

A computer can be built out of any bi-stable device. What I mean by this is that the elements of the computer must have two stable positions. These two stable states are ON and OFF, and represent 0 and 1. The basic building block of most computers today is the transistor. A common comparison used for ...

Bottom line…most systems could run a lot better than they do. This most likely includes yours. When you build a new PC or especially buy one, it is often loaded down with space hogging applications that you don’t need. These applications waste hard disk space,...

Attempt to isolate the problem This is an exercise in thinking like a computer. Take whatever problem you have and try to pin it down or rule out possibilities. If you are having problems with a component, begin by ruling out everything related to it. If there are any vias on the line, remove them. For example, if you are having printer problems but the printer...

First of all, this page is based pretty much on Windows 3.x. The reason being that most of these problems were solved with the release of Windows 95. Given that, 3.x users may first want to consider upgrading to Windows 95. Of course, there are other considerations for this decision, such as computing power, but if you have a ...

Of course there are ways to improve performance by playing with the hardware settings, but there are also ways of tweaking the operating system. The OS is very tightly knitted with the hardware’s performance. Tweaking it really helps. I’m gonna keep this short and sweet. Every subject has a whole world of details that I could...

There are a number of BIOS settings in your system which affect the overall performance of the machine. When these are tweaked correctly, performance can increase quite a bit. Lets look at these.Set Optimal Bus speed Settings. This is first because its most important. The bus speed of the system directly affects how fast it is...

Many people cram their PC’s so full of gadgets that they find that they are simply out of room or have used all the resources available. So, making optimal use of the resources makes a lot of sense. One of the easiest ways to do this is to use a PS/2 mouse instead of a serial mouse. A serial mouse is used through a serial port on...

You buy a brand new drive that seems so large that there aren’t enough programs to fill it up! Given one year, you’ll be trying to find ways to save space. Its a constant war to try to keep your hard drive space available, especially when you surf the net regularly. Even if you don’t add any software to the system, your...

A good, valid system disk is invaluable in the event of an emergency. Taking a few minutes to create a good one is a good idea.A system disk is a diskette with Windows system files and necessary setup files. Its purpose is to be able to boot your system in the event that the hard drive fails to do so. It is also used to setup a hard drive. By sticking the...

It is known by anyone with a PC that a sound card is a must-have. There is hardly a PC without one anywhere. Today, with sound cards being so affordable, it is a piece of cake to turn your PC into a high-fidelity sound system. And, with even common business software using sound now, a sound card is a requirement for most software. Like most everything in the PC...