Breath new life into your PC

[Chudo]

RAM and hard drive updates are a snap

There are two upgrades that can breathe new life into an old PC and not break your bank account: more RAM and a new hard drive.

Fortunately, both are easy for a casual home user to do.

RAM is the memory your computer uses to store information when it's thinking about something. Different types of computers require different kinds of RAM chips, but fortunately, the exact specifications you need are typically described in your owner's manual or on the computer manufacturer's Web site. Virtually every computer store, catalog and Web site sell RAM units but few print catalogs will list prices. That's because RAM is a commodity, and the prices change from day to day depending on supply and demand.

If you aren't already loaded with RAM, it's the improvement that will give you the most computing speed bang for your buck. Expect to pay $50 to $300 for a basic upgrade.

Use Web sites like Shopper (www.shopper.com), Yahoo (http://shopping.yahoo.com), eBay (www.ebay.com) and Amazon (www.amazon.com) to find the best prices.

Once you've received the memory, installing it is a snap -- literally. Just pop open the computer case, identify the only slots inside where the RAM will fit and follow your computer's user manual instructions for snapping them in.

There's no software to run or settings to fix. You're done.

Hard drive space is where your computer stores things for the long term. The easiest way to add on when you run out of hard drive space is simply to add a second drive.

Hard drives come in internal and external models. External models are easier to install -- you just plug them in -- but they tend to be slower. If you buy one, I'd advise buying only a firewire (IEEE 1394) model, making sure your computer has that type of plug.

Adding an internal drive is not difficult. Again, pop open the case. Look at the instructions for the new drive.

You'll slide it into a spare drive bay. Screw it in, plug it into the ribbon cable that plugs into the back of your existing hard drive and attach a spare multi-colored power cable that's already inside your machine.

When you reboot, your computer should know the drive is there. At this point, you'll probably use software from the hard drive manufacturer to complete the process of setting up the drive.

If not, the instructions will walk you through the process of making sure the drive is identified and formatted. After that, you'll use it just like you do your current hard drive.

Expect to pay $80-$500 for a new hard drive.

Contact HEATHER NEWMAN at 313-223-3336 or newman@freepress.com.

[Gregz]

For new systems: The motherboard is by far the most important part of a PC get so always get the best one you can buy.

[Somniferous]

Dear Mr. Chudo-Yudo-Ryba-Kit,

You mean to say that $800 for a simple PC upgrade will not break my bank account?

There's a guy at Ukraine.com, djphat, who spent that much on a whole computer! Well, the fact that he never got his computer, because he sent the money overseas to a complete stranger in a Ukrainian city of Odessa (famous for its jokes and jokers)who had bidden a very attractive price for a full-functional PC, is another story.

Well... that loss did prove a financial disaster for djphat, although he lives in US where people enjoy much higher incomes than in Russia.