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Hardware Haven ~~by Hal Cardona, PC Sleuth System RequirementsHello
again! Judging from your comments, it seems that last months column
seems to have been a little too geeky for many of you. I'll try not
to do that to you again. As always if you have any comments, please
e-mail me at abcomputers This
month's column is about those cryptic boxes on the side or bottom of
software and hardware boxes. System requirements are the minimum
recommendations for Hardware or Software. For
software they often include *
CPU type and/or speed *
Amount of RAM installed *
Free Hard Drive space needed *
Video and Sound capabilities *
Operating System
For
hardware they often include the above plus: *
Type of Expansion slot needed *
Type of free External Port *
Type of free Internal Port *
Free IRQ(s)
Why
should I care about System Requirements? System
Requirements are important to you because they let you know whether or not
your purchase will work with your computer. If you have ever
purchased something for your PC that didn't work, chances are your PC
didn't meet the minimum system requirements for the item. This can
be especially frustrating with software because many vendors will not let you
return an opened box for a refund. What
do I need to know? *
Processor type and speed *
Amount of RAM installed *
Operating system *
Free Hard Drive Space *
CD or DVD Drive *
Video Card *
Sound Card *
Available Slots and their type (ISA, PCI or AGP) *
Available IRQ *
Internal drive bays available *
Internal connectors available *
External connectors available How
can I check My System? To
accurately check System Requirements, you need to know your systems
capabilities. There are several different ways to check: *
Check your system's documentation *
Check with your hardware vendor *
Use a third party utility *
Check your system manually Checking
your system's documentation Often
your system vendor will include the details of your system on an invoice
or bill of sale. You may also find your system's details on a
sticker that came on the front of the system. Checking
with your hardware vendor Some
major brands also offer a way to find out what hardware was included in
your system via the internet. I do this for people that buy PCs from me;
you can see an example
here.
You may need to call your system vendor to find out what hardware came
with your system. Third
party utilities There
are quite a few software utilities that can help you identify your system
components. Here are some examples: *
One of my favorites is Belarc Advisor; it is a free download and is
available
here.
*
Another free one is SiSoft's Sandra. Sandra does a good job of identifying
your hardware components, and it also includes tips to help you optimize
your system. Sandra is available
here.
*
If you have Norton Utilities installed (it is part of Norton SystemWorks)
then you can use their system information utility, just right click on my
computer and choose System information.
Checking
your System manually Checking
your system manually can be easy to do if things go right. * First reboot your computer and read the boot-up screens from the BIOS. If things go too fast you can press the Pause/Break key on the keyboard (press Enter or Escape to continue booting). From the first boot-up screen you should be able to read the processor type and speed and the amount of memory installed. Unfortunately a lot of major manufactures hide this information with a custom logo boot-up screen.
* After your computer boots, Right Click on My Computer and select Properties, this screen will let you know the amount of installed RAM, Processor type and Operating System.
* Now click on the tab for Device Manager (in Windows 2000 or XP click on the Hardware Tab and then the Device Manager button). The device manager is Windows' repository for the hardware installed in your system. You can find out the details for a specific device by clicking on the plus sign next to each category. Device Manager in Windows 9X:
Device Manager in Windows 2000:
*
How you check for IRQ usage varies by Operating System. o
To check your IRQ usage in Windows 9.X highlight Computer at the top of
the Device Manager and then click on Properties. On the View
Resources tab, make sure the radio button for Interrupt Request (IRQ) is
pushed.
o
To check you IRQ usage in Windows 2000 or XP drop down the view menu in
the Device Manager and select Resources by Type, click on the plus sign
next to Interrupt Request (IRQ).
*
IRQs are important for hardware devices; they are how the CPU contacts a
device on the PCI, ISA or AGP bus. Often Video and Sound cards require
their own IRQ. In most Windows systems you are limited to a total of
16 IRQs (0 - 15). Some Windows 2000 and XP systems that are PCI 2.2
compliant allow the use of additional virtual IRQs. Well behaved PCI
devices can share an IRQ, ISA devices can not share IRQs. *
Close the Device Manager and Double Click on My Computer. Now right click
on each Hard Drive and choose properties, the Free Space number is the
amount of space available on your hard drive.
*
To check on your Video and Sound card capabilities, Press Start then Run
and type in dxdiag and then Press Enter, starting the DirectX Diagnostics
tool. From DirectX Diagnostic tool, you can learn about your video
and sound cards by clicking on the appropriate tabs.
*
To check for free slots, you will have to remove the cover from your PC
and look inside. The long black slots are ISA slots (newer PCs may
not have any). The shorter white slots are PCI slots. The
Brown slots that are the same length as the PCI slots and usually at the
top of the motherboard are AGP slots.
*
To check for free internal connectors again you need to have your PC open.
If you need an IDE or EIDE connector, those are the fat gray ribbon cables
that connect to your hard drive and CD drive. Just look at the
cables for an empty connector. Each cable can handle a maximum of 2
devices. Make sure that you aren't looking at the floppy cable, the
connectors and ribbon types are different. Floppy drive cables and
connectors are smaller than those for hard drives
*
To check for a free drive bay, again the cover needs to be off your
computer. Look inside and you will see your CD or DVD ROM drive, it
is in a 5 1/4 "bay, look around and find your Floppy drive, it is in
a 3 1/2" bay. Now take look around for empty drive bays, those
are available for expansion. It is possible to use a 3 1/2"
device in a 5 1/4" bay with an adapter kit. If the device you
want to add needs to accessed from outside the system (like a Zip or CD
drive) then the bay you want to use must have a removable cover.
*
External ports are very easy to check for. Just look at the back of
your computer for the appropriate port. Some external port types are: o
Serial Port - Male D shaped connectors with 9 or 25 pins. o
Parallel Port - Female D Shaped connector with 25 Pins. o
VGA - Female D Shaped connector with 15 Pins. o
PS/2 - Round 6 wire connectors, they are specific to either Keyboard or
Mouse. o
AT Keyboard connector - Round port about the size of a cigar o
USB - Rectangular Jack o
Firewire - Elongated D shaped 6 wire jack o
RJ11 - Standard 4 wire telephone jack o
RJ45 or Ethernet - Looks like a fat (8 wire) modular telephone jack.
Caveats If
you are considering an Operating System change or upgrade, like moving to
Linux or upgrading to Windows XP, you need to compare your hardware with
the HCL (Hardware Compatibility List) for that OS. The best place to
find this list is on the vendor's website. Microsoft has even
created an Upgrade Advisor for Windows XP which is available
here.
In general an OS upgrade or switch requires that you check every piece of
Hardware and Software on your system. Summary Hopefully you found this useful. I know there is a lot of information here (I
even left out SCSI!) but there are quite a few things to consider when you
are going to buy an upgrade for your computer. I recommend that you
create a list of what your computer has from the list above at "What
do I need to know?", and take it with you when go shopping.
Let
me know what you think. E-mail me at abcomputer Hal
Cardona
Hal Cardona, PC Sleuth, serves as tech support and/or offsite Sys Admin for over 200 clients around the US. He designs, builds, and troubleshoots networks and builds custom computer systems. |
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