Computer Geek

OK! So I’m No Super Computer Geek…

OK so I’m no super computer geek or anything. But I do like building my own computers. I find I can save on the over all cost this way.  Now with that said, I want you to know that I look at the cost and what I need in a computer.  When you do this or buy a system from a computer store, you need to have a good Idea of what you want your computer to do for you. If you are doing a gaming computer then you need to pay attention to the memory and graphic board to get the most out of your system. But if you are just looking for an office computer to do word processing or check book balancing, then you  don’t need such a high end system. So if you are inclined and want to build your own, start with a list of needs.  For example:

1. What is my need ( Gaming, word processing, home Internet use, video editing and so on)
2. How much do I wish to spend (Really-what’s the limit )
3. Do I need a complete system including Printer and Monitor or just the CPU (now if you have a good Monitor and Printer, consider just replacing the CPU or upgrading the old one with a new Motherboard Bundle).  Don’t get wrapped up in all the latest and greatest super this and that’s, Sometime it’s just to sell the parts or you have to have this type to get the full benefits of the board and that drive and yada yada yada.
4. Make a list of needs and wants and do your investigating.

I did a rebuild about three years ago on the very computer I’m using to write to this page. I do allot of Video for web and TV as well as photo shop Dream weaver and still balance my check book too. In total I put it all together with a Mother board Bundle w/ AMD 64 Processor 2.0, on-board Network, Modem, from Tiger direct.  I paid 89.00, 49.99 for the CPU case, 59.99 for a 160 GIG ata Hard drive and 1gig of ram for 39.00 So roughly I spent 250.00 for a new computer three years ago. Of course I had the parts from the old computer that I used to finish out the system - my Video editing card, monitor, printer.

So if you’re looking for a gift this season, start here.  I have linked many of the products I believe are the best deal. I’m not a super computer geek but I do love building my own computers. I find that I can get more for less. I have shopped at Tiger Direct more then any other computer store they have super deals and they are fast and safe.

My Computer is Running Slow What Can I Do ?

I get asked this a-lot, So what can you do to make that computer run like it was new?  First think you want to do is make sure you have not stored so much stuff on your hard drive that its full. A full hard drive can slow your system down simple because the search time has increased to find the programs needed to open a particular user software. IF that’s the case then eliminate some of the stuff you don’t need on your computer.

Pictures and video: Can take up most of the hard drive, look at putting your pictures on a CD Rom. Files that are not important to you Should be saved on a CD rom or removed. If they are files that are not sensitive in nature you could make use of Google’s online document storage it’s free and very handy. Just go to google.com and sign up for an account.  The more you keep your hard drive in good order the better your computer will run.

Anti Virus software: do you have Anti Virus software? and is it up to date?  This is very important if your anti virus software is out of date then you may have viruses that are slowing down your computer and may damage your hard drive. Make sure your virus software is up to date and running. Many Virus software only update for a year and then you must pay for the updates yearly. If that is not cost affective for you then take a look at my Open Source Page for information on what to do for a free Anti Software program.

Memory: is your operating system using to much memory many computers sold were price reasonable because there hard ware was at the recommended minimum requirement for the operating system installed. Windows 98 required a minimum of 64 Mb Windows Millennium was 128Mb and windows xp was 256Mb, Most computers sold 3-5 years ago had only 256mb or 512mb memory windows xp SP3 and vista require a minimum of 512mb So increase your memory. Finding memory for your computer is not complicated at all and relatively easy to install. What you want to know is what kind of memory does you computer have, there are several types on the market to day and range from memory for older computers to the latest type used in the new system to-date. To find out what you need consult your user manual if that does not help you. You can go to the manufacture and click on there support page. Many of the manufactures have a consumer help area that well identify you computer type and hardware needs by plugging in your product model, type or service number. Once you have the information for the type of memory you need you can return here I have listed Memory links Here to help you find what you need.

This link well take you to Tiger Direct’s Catalog of memory. I shop Tiger all the time and like there prices and service  Link to Tiger

Use A Registry Cleaner: using a good Registry Clean software program is a very good Idea along with a malware spyware removal program. Over time your

Change your Hard Drive: Yeah that can help upgrading to a new hard drive can make a big improvement. What you want to look for is a hard drive that runs at 7200 RPMs at any size you wish to use. Now some older computers will only recognize 2 GB as a maximum drive space so you would have a lot of drive partitions on a 500gb drive (But today that would be a rare thing you would have to be running an old windows 98 system, If that’s your case then it will take a little more care in what you use)