Upgrading Continued
With computers that are five years or newer, the video card and sound card may be what they call 'onboard.' This means they are built right onto the main board, so if you want to upgrade the sound or video cards you may have to disable the onboard sound and video card.Every computer has what's called the 'BIOS'. BIOS stands for "Basic Input/Output System." Most people don't need to ever tinker with the BIOS on a computer, but it can be helpful to know what it is.
The BIOS is a program pre-installed on Windows-based computers that the computer uses to start up. The CPU accesses the BIOS even before the operating system is loaded. The BIOS then checks all your hardware connections and locates all your devices. If everything is OK, the BIOS loads the operating system into the computer's memory and finishes the startup process.
You can access the BIOS when you first turn the computer on, you will see a black screen or at the manufacturers start-up screen. At the bottom you'll see a message stating press the Del, F1 or the F10 key to enter setup.
Be careful when you're in
the BIOS setup area! If you change the wrong setting you could cause
unnecessary errors on re-boot.
When you enter the BIOS setup you need to look for 'Integrated Peripherals'.
Select it then look for 'onboard sound' or 'onboard video'. Next to those you'll
see, enable or may say disable. To change it you highlight it and press the
plus key by your numbers keypad on your keyboard. If you're adding a video
or sound card you need to make sure you disable those settings. When you buy
a sound or video card the box will come with software on a CD disk. Always
be sure to read the installation instructions that come with the hardware.
Memory is the easiest to upgrade, but you need to make sure you have the right type. There are several types, so check with the manufacturer of your computer. You can do this either online or give them a call with your computer's model number in hand.
Locating and removing the memory is easy. There are long small slots with two tabs at each end on the mainboard. Just push those tabs down and the memory chips will pop out. To install them there are two small notches on the memory chip so they can only be installed one way. Make sure they are lined up in the slots and then push them into place. The tabs will snap into place if everything is lined up correctly.
That's it for memory, there's
nothing else to set. When you restart your computer the new memory
will be recognized and you'll notice the difference.
