Tech For Tanzania Weblog

Justifications for a computer upgrade.

mattosler — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:48:34 +0000

Software

When upgrading a computer, the following things must be taken into consideration:

1. Is your system capable of running it?
2. Is it necessary to your system?
3. What benefits will it bring?
4. Cost?
5. Easy to install?
6. Will anything else need to be modified or brought? in order for this to work?

Common upgrades, which are necessary are things like Antivirus protection, firewalls, etc. These need to be updated and upgraded to the latest versions whenever possible. This is to keep on top of maintenance tasks. Things like the upgrading of a design package, are not as necessary, as it will not benefit the system itself.

Vital upgrades include Microsoft Service Pack 2 for Windows XP. This is a vital upgrade, as without it, your computer will be very vulnerable to attacks, computer crashes, and a less stable operating system. By upgrading, these issues are resolved.

Hardware

When upgrading hardware, you have to take into account:

1. Is it supported by your motherboard?
2. Is it compatible with your operating system?
3. Do RAM upgrades need to be installed in a pair system?
4. Do you have the necessary drivers?
5. Have you got all the right connections?
6. Is it beneficial?
7. Will it work with other settings or cause a conflict?
8. Cost to benefit ratio?

If these can be answered with a yes, then it is likely to be worth the upgrade, as it will boost the speed, and capabilities of your computer. If it is not necessary, it can be sometimes best not to upgrade, as it may cause unwanted side effects. It has to be taken into consideration if you have all the necessary back ups of data, if replacing a hardrive, and if you have all the licenses for registered programs, so you do not have to repurchase lost software. Often, it is more beneficial to upgrade than to not upgrade due to increased stability, performance, power and capabilities.

Installing A Drive.

mattosler — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:45:55 +0000

· Connect anti static band
· Disconnect power supply from computer
· Unscrew screws from computer case
· Remove computer case
· Disconnect Power, IDE cable, and Sound from DVD drive
· Unscew screws holding DVD drive in place
· Slide out drive
· Slide in new drive
· Reconnect screws holding drive in place
· Reconnect Power, IDE cable, and Sound into DVD drive
· Slide back on PC case
· Screw case back on
· Reconnect power supply
· Take off anti static band
· Reboot computer
· System should automatically find new drive, if not:
· Open Control Panel
· Open System
· Open Device Manager
· Select the Drive which has a yellow error sign next to it
· Double click
· Click locate driver
· Allow it to search Microsoft, this will allow it to find a generic driver.

System Utilities Explained.

mattosler — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:40:52 +0000

System Utility	Use	Purpose
Backup	To Backup files, onto removable media or to another drive.	The purpose of this, is so that important files, documents, programs, and system settings can be transferred to another location for backup purposes incase of loss of original data. Used a lot in large corporations where backups can be taken daily and transferred off site for added security. Recommended for individuals, for personal documents.
Disk Cleanup	Used to delete unused files, icons, and programs.	Disk cleanup goes through your system, collecting data on unused programs, icons, and files based on activity. It then finds how much free space it can save by either deleting files (like in recycle bin) or by compressing unused files.
Transfer Wizard	Used to transfer files between computers.	This is used to transfer files between computers, it is an easy to use wizard which lets you select which information to transfer, this includes program settings, defaults, files and folders, registered programs, to a separate computer or networked drive. It can also be used as another form of backup.
Scheduled Tasks	Used to schedule tasks like automatic updates.	This can be used to schedule tasks such as updates, the automatic turn on and shutdown of your computer, the transfer of files, the automatic deletion of files, etc. Used mainly to update and maintain computers when they are not used by employees etc, to save production loss.
Security Center	Used to manage Inbuilt virus protection and firewall.	Allows you to configure and manage the inbuilt virus protection, firewalls, and system updates.
System Restore	Used to restore your system to an earlier restore point.	This utility allows you to restore to old restore points if something happens to go wrong. These restore points can be set to happen regularly or not at all. It is recommended to create a restore point every week or month, for a household, so everything can be changed back with little loss, if a program malfunctions etc. However system restore points can often take up a fair amount of hard disk space.
Disk Defragmentor	Used to free up space, and speed up computer.	Defragmenting your hard drive will help your system as it moves all files which are in an unsorted area of your harddrive and in different sectors/layers, to the same area on the drive. This helps because it allows quicker reading, as all files will then be in the same sectors as required rather than spread out. The main reason they get seperated is with the deletion of files.

How and why, two choices, explained.

mattosler — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:39:50 +0000

Firewall

A firewall is either a software or hardware device, which can either allow, deny, or proxy data through a network, depending on varying trust levels. It is designed to prevent unauthorised intrusion into a network. Also, it can prevent the spreading of malicious or damaging files spreading on the network, by denying access to sources it deems unsafe. Firewalls only allow ports used by legitimate programs to accept data, if another program, which is deemed unsafe, tries to access through another port, access will be denied. Firewalls unless configured properly can be deemed worthless, as they may not prevent access to the areas, which are most vulnerable.

Anti Virus Software

Antivirus software is designed to detect, and either repair, delete, or quarantine harmful files on your computer, such as a Trojan. It scans the behaviour of suspicious files against its Virus dictionary, and if any of the actions match, it is highlighted as a cause for concern, for the owner to decide what action to take. For this reason, it is highly recommend keeping your Antivirus software up to date, as there are new viruses found every day. Nowadays, hackers are finding ways around this system by creating Virus’s, which have a guise to cover themselves from any detection. Always try and buy the recognised top brands of software, like Norton, since these are most up to date, and the most effective.

Effects and uses of software utilities.

mattosler — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:35:16 +0000

Antivirus

Antivirus packages are used to find and detect any unwanted files on your computer, this is undertaken to stop people accessing your computer and placing malicious files onto the computer. By doing this, it benefits your computer by preventing damage which is not wanted, and making sure all your files are clean from infection and alteration, as if one file is altered, it can affect opening of related files, and work can be lost.

System Scan

By scheduling a full system scan, you can ensure that your system catches any unwanted files and operations on your computer before they can cause any harm. This benefits the system because it allows the computer to stay on top of the issues which it may face.

Service Packs

If you install service pack 2 (a large file consisting of updates and new features) onto windows XP, it will benefit your system because SP2 fixes a lot of security and integrity issues in the XP operating system. This is a benefit as it allows a lot smoother running of your computer, more device drivers and better compatibility, and bug fixes in the Internet Exporer web browser.

CD Rom drives

Replacing the CD ROM with a CD Rewriter will benefit your system as it will alow you to burn and easily transfer files. Also it will allow you to read CD’s which may not have a closed sessions written on to them, as is what happens with a lot of rewritable cds.

Defragmenting hardrives

Defragmenting your hard drive will help your system as it moves all files which are in an unsorted area of your harddrive and in different sectors/layers, to the same area on the drive. This helps because it allows quicker reading, as all files will then be in the same sectors as required rather than spread out. The main reason they get seperated is with the deletion of files.

Formatting drives

Formatting a second drive on your system can benefit the system by having a clean, empty drive for the storage and accessibilty of files. By formatting a drive, it increases the ability to store and access files. As some ma yhave been left behind prior to formatting, which take un unnecessary space.

Firewall

Installing ZoneAlarm firewall software will benefit your system by preventing access attemps to your system, before an unwanted site accesses your computer and causes damage, or a virus is placed onto your computer, the firewall should prevent this.

Creating folders

Creating folders on your computer is a benefit for organisation of files, and allows the user to easily find these files, without trawling through hundreds of files.

Deleting files

Deleting files on your computer is a benefit as this destroys duplicates, unwanted files, and files which may not be required anymore. By doing this, space is freed up and the harddrive, and files are then easier to find, if they are only kept on this system if you require them.

Backing up

Backing up can help your system as it creates a restore point, incase of any infortune, and, guarantees no files are lost which you had before that date, so if a file is accidently deleted, it can be restored with ease.