GUIDE WHEN BUYING A COMPUTER

1.       Know what you want BEFORE you go looking or buying. Many people get convinced they need a more expensive or "powerful" computer, when in fact they do not. People who do word processing for a living do not need a Pentium based computer necessarily; an 80486DX-based PC will do just fine when buying new, and in fact an 80386-based PC will really do just as well. DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT THE COMPUTER FOR BEFORE YOU BUY IT! Let your software choices and intended uses of the PC drive your purchasing choices, not what some salesman says. If necessary, bring a knowledgeable person along who can help to sort out the truth from the noise.

2.       Comparison shop the area stores: DON'T buy on impulse. Write down what you want to buy, be as specific as you can. Compare the prices of several dealers in the paper; call the companies if necessary and have them give you a price quote.

Many will even fax you a price quote. If you like a system and it's $40 more than a    competitor's price, see if they will match the price - many will do this. Take at least 2 weeks to go through this process.

3.       Get ALL promises for service & support IN WRITING before buying the PC. Verbal agreements between you and the salesman are never binding in a court of law, if things should get to that point. Therefore, get any warranties, service agreements, and support agreements IN WRITING before you buy your PC. Speak to a supervisor or manager if necessary, but don't accept any verbal agreements as binding commitments.

4.       Test the computer before it leaves the store or house.

Nothing is more frustrating to the new computer owner than to find that the 150Mhz Pentium system will only run at 90 Mhz, or that your 3.5" floppy drive doesn't work, or that your monitor has squiggly lines all over it when you leave it on for more than 10 minutes. The store should have already tested the computer before you pick it up, but this isn't always the case. It only takes 5-10 minutes to assemble the system and test everything; insist on doing this.

Use a diagnostic program like Checkit or Norton Utilities to evaluate the operation of your computer. If something's not right, insist that they fix it BEFORE it leaves the store. Use the same rules when buying a used computer from someone's home: run diagnostic software on it BEFORE you fork over the cash.

5.       Insist on getting some menu software installed on your PC, and have someone properly configure your application software BEFORE you venture into the PC world. The main reason new PC owners get so frustrated is that they have no easy way to get in and out of their new programs. MS-DOS is not an easy operating system for the novice to use.

Therefore, make sure that you get some kind of menu software (Automenu, Direct Access, Windows, etc.) installed and properly set up on your PC before you start using all of your new software. Have the store or some well-trained PC maintenance person set up the programs on your hard disk as well as the menu program you choose. By doing this, you will be able to use your programs immediately, without having to struggle with DOS.

6.       Never buy from the guy in New Jersey - ALWAYS BUY FROM LOCAL, REPUTABLE SOURCES. The guy in New Jersey is probably a reputable dealer, and probably sells quality parts. BUT, if your part breaks during the warranty period, where do YOU have to go (or mail the part) to get a replacement ... Always buy from local retailers that are reputable, that sell name-brand equipment, that give warranties, and that have a good name in the local industry.

Above all, CAVEAT EMPTOR (Let the buyer beware!).

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR REPAIRING COMPUTERS

Kindly follow below ten rules when repairing or trouble-shooting a computer:

1.       Gather together your toolkit and any necessary documentation for that specific computer. It is a good for you to look at the technical specifications and system disassembly guidelines.

2.       Check for power FIRST, before doing anything else. 10 - 15 percent of all trouble calls are for nothing more than a popped circuit breaker or a loose plug. Check these things BEFORE doing anything else.

3.       Check your external connections to the computer. Specifically, check the mouse, keyboard, monitor, modem and/or printer cables, making sure that all are secure and in the right sockets.

4.       If the computer is still malfunctioning, go ahead then and open the case. Check to see that all of the cards are fully pressed down into the bus connections, that any socketed chips are fully pressed into their sockets, and that all cable connections are fully attached. Make sure that the drive cables are attached so that the colored stripe on the cable is positioned next to pin 1 on the connector.

5.  Clean any dust or foreign material out of the case while it is open. Dust can cause overheating problems and electrical shorts. Sometimes, insects will nest inside the case as well. All of this needs to be cleaned out before you close up the case. Use compressed air and non-conductive materials to clean out the inside of the case. Take precautions to avoid inhaling excess dust, and consider using protective eyeware if necessary.

6.   Try to boot the computer to the hard drive, or to a bootable floppy disk if necessary. Sometimes the hard disk will become corrupted by a user, or by a virus. If you can't access the hard drive directly, have a bootable floppy disk available. This bootable floppy disk should have a copy of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files on it, as well as any drivers necessary for devices like your sound card, CD-ROM drive, and  mouse. Have a good disk diagnostic program available (SCANDISK, Norton Utilities), and a good virus checking program as well. If your data is severely damaged, you may need to wipe the disk and reload the data from original or backup disks.

7.       Check the CMOS setup program, and correct any configuration problems. If the information in CMOS RAM about your PC's configuration has been changed, or if the battery has died, your computer will not boot correctly, or it will not recognize certain components. Keep a copy of your setup program information handy, so that if something changes, you can correct the problem. Replacement CMOS batteries are about $15.00, and are readily available. Such batteries should last about 2-3 years.

8.     Look for unwelcome changes. Someone may have turned the brightness down on a monitor, or the LAN staff may have changed your PC's configuration without your knowledge (or approval), or an installation program may have corrupted something in your software. Look for recent changes in your system's operation. You may need to run an uninstaller program to remedy software-related problems.

9.       Isolate the problem to one piece of hardware, or one software package. The problem you are encountering may occur only in one software package, which means the problem has a very limited scope. If the problem occurs in all programs, then it's a systemic problem. Refer to software and operating system manuals as needed, and have the original software disks available, in case a driver needs to be reloaded. If the system just won't fire up, remove all nonessential components, and see if you can cause the problem to re-appear by re-installing components one-at-a-time.

 This process is usually quite helpful in trouble-shooting even the most stubborn problems.

10.    When all else fails, read the manual. There may be something unique about your   computer that requires special attention as directed by the manufacturer.

If, after trying all of these things, the computer still does not work, kindly take it to the nearest computer shop

DEFINITIONS OF BASIC COMPUTER COMPONENTS

To start with, I will like to describe basic parts of the computer system

MOTHERBOARD:     The main board of computer; the central processor unit (CPU) is on the     motherboard; all adapter cards are plug into the motherboard; it is the largest single board in computer. There are several types of CPU chips found on motherboards

POWER SUPPLY:            Provides electrical power to motherboard, disk drives, and occasionally to the monitor also. It has a fan on it to cool the computer.

VIDEO CARD:           Adapter card that sends video signals to the monitor; 4 main kinds of video cards:

Hercules: Monochrome & high-res graphics (now obsolete)

CGA: Color & low-res graphics (now obsolete)

EGA: More colors and high-res graphics (now obsolete)

VGA: Lots of colors and very-high-res graphics

(VGA and Super VGA are compatible)

HARD DISK:          Stores large quantities of data for use at a later time. Uses a HARD DISK CONTROLLER to connect hard disk to motherboard.

MFM and RLL drives: Typically have separate controllers and hard disks. RLL controllers can store up to 30% more data on the same disk than MFM controllers. Uses 34-pin AND 20-pin cables to transmit data.

IDE Drives: Have hard disk controller and hard disk in ONE unit; slightly more difficult to install additional hard disks to IDE systems. Uses 40-pin ribbon cable to transmit data.

SCSI drives: Uses separate controllers, like MFM & RLL drives, but can transfer data at a much faster rate. SCSI drives are also more expensive. Uses 50-pin or 68-pin cable to transmit data.

FLOPPY DISK DRIVE:   Stores smaller quantities of data than a hard disk. Uses a FLOPPY DISK ONTROLLER to connect drive to motherboard. 4 main floppy drive types:

5 1/4" 360K: Stores 362,496 bytes of data (double density)

5 1/4" 1.2M: Stores 1,213,952 bytes of data (high density)

3 1/2" 720K: Stores 720,112 bytes of data (double density)

3 1/2" 1.4M: Stores 1,457,664 bytes of data (high density)

PARALLEL PORT:           Connects printer to computer; sends 8 bits of data (1 byte) at a time.

SERIAL PORT:                Connects serial devices (mouse, modem, plotter, digitizer) to computer; sends 1 bit of data at a time.

RAM:                            Random Access Memory; this is the workspace or desktop of your computer.

EMS CARD:                  Expanded Memory card; adds extra RAM memory to computers that have no more expansion capacity on the motherboard.

NETWORK INTERFACE:  Connects your computer to a network of other card 

MS-DOS (OR PC-DOS): The Disk Operating System; controls all of the disk drives as related to the   computer.

APPLICATIONS:            Any programs you use in the DOS environment (Lotus, WordPerfect, etc.)

NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM:            Like DOS, but allows the computer and you to use  software on the network hard drives.

CD-ROM DRIVE:           Reads data from Compact Discs (CDs); up to 688MB of data can be stored on 1 CD; READ-ONLY technology - generally, you can't write to a Compact Disc.

SOUND CARD:              Provides stereo sound from your PC, through EXTERNAL speakers.