60 Minute Upgrades

Get new PC power in an hour--or less--with these speed boosters, storage add-ons, and more. Plus: Tune-up tips to keep your system going strong.

Upgrades of yesteryear usually involved an afternoon of complicated work. These days, with a little planning and research, the process can go quickly and smoothly. We added a DVD burner to our old 700-MHz Pentium III Dell PC in just 30 minutes. Installing a new CPU took only 25 minutes.

For less than the cost of a new PC, you can have a machine that's like new. Each of our upgrades costs under $300, and many are less than $200. The benefits of upgrading are considerable: A higher-capacity hard drive lets you store big databases and shorten boot times. More RAM improves your productivity by helping you jump quickly between spreadsheets and presentations. A faster processor allows you to run the latest video editing programs. The newest graphics board and sound system enhance your DVD experience, and a wireless network enables you to share a broadband connection.

We can't promise that a particular upgrade will work for everyone. And when it comes to hardware installation, nobody's perfect. We made lots of the same boneheaded mistakes anyone might--and we'll tell you how to avoid them.

Regular maintenance is essential, too. Our PC Tune-Up Calendar will get your old system running in tip-top shape, improving its speed and reliability.

Maximum Storage: Gigabytes Are Cheap

When did your 25GB hard drive run out of room? After you digitized your LP collection? Or when your office desktop evolved into an editing console for training videos? Whatever the reason may be, that once-capacious drive is ready for a "No Vacancy" sign.

The solution is to get a 100GB or larger hard drive. Like some other PC technologies, disk storage is an overachiever, and its cost per gigabyte continues to march southward. At press time, we could fairly easily find 160GB hard drives priced at about $1 per gigabyte. If you're pinched for room, now is the perfect time to triple or quadruple your storage at minimal cost.

Rather than replacing your existing hard drive, consider installing a second, larger disk and keeping the original for additional storage or for backup. (If you plan to maintain more than two parallel ATA hard drives on your PC, you'll probably have to add another drive controller. Your system will support a second drive if you attach it to the second connector on your drive's data cable.) Your PC will likely boot and load programs faster with the new hard drive because (all things being equal) newer drives perform better. Aside from other improvements, most of today's mainstream hard drives operate at 7200 rpm, compared with the 5400-rpm mainstream drives of the recent past.

Most hard-drive vendors--including Maxtor, Seagate, and Western Digital--provide a software utility for imaging the contents of the original disk onto the new one--as long as you buy one of the company's hard-drive kits. A bare drive usually costs less, but you'll have to purchase a separate utility, such as PowerQuest's $70 Drive Image, to get this job done. You'll also have to make do with scanty documentation or limited step-by-step instructions.

To permit transfers between drives, both disks must be installed simultaneously. Your computer must have a spare 3.5-inch drive bay. If you have only a 5.25-inch drive bay available--usually intended for an optical drive--you can purchase a 3.5-inch mounting kit at a computer store for $5 to $10. (For a few hints on installing a drive with such a kit, see Step-By-Step.)

If your system is at least two years old, check with your PC or motherboard maker to see if your PC supports 137GB or bigger drives; many do not. You may need to update the BIOS, download an operating system service pack and/or a utility from the drive vendor's site, or use a controller card that enables your PC to recognize the larger drive. Since our new drive, the $150 Western Digital Caviar 120GB, was smaller than 137GB, we didn't have to deal with this issue.

To install our Dell Dimension's second hard drive, we opened its case and used an available 3.5-inch drive bay. If possible, secure the drive with four screws; you may have to remove a drive cage or take off the back side of your case (check your system manual).

We installed a conventional parallel ATA hard drive, which uses a traditional flat ribbon cable to carry its data. If you buy one of the newer Serial ATA hard drives, you'll be using a much slimmer (and neater) cable. Keep in mind that to use the SATA drive you must have a very new motherboard that supports SATA, or you must buy and install a PCI SATA drive controller. (Again, see this month's Step-By-Step for more information.)

Installing a hard drive can be tricky, particularly if you use a parallel ATA cable, which has connectors for two drives. Install the master drive to the connector at the far end of the ribbon; attach the secondary (or slave) drive to the connector that's close to the middle of the cable. Connect the opposite end of the cable to the ATA interface on the motherboard or controller card. Make sure that you've properly set your jumper settings for master and slave on the appropriate hard drive (check your documentation). A Serial ATA cable connects only one device, and it is free of master/slave issues.

Most of today's PCs support the Cable Select system, in which the parallel ATA cable automatically determines the drives' master/slave configuration. To use this feature, you must set the jumpers on both the master and the slave drives to the Cable Select position. Your drive manuals should show you how to do this.

The IDE interface card in our PC had a spare IDE slot, but we used the master/slave configuration above and left the extra slot free for a future upgrade. After closing the system case and rebooting, we ran the Western Digital setup CD, including a utility that transferred the contents of our original hard drive to the new 120GB disk. We noticed slight performance improvements, such as faster boot times, and of course we could store several humongous files (including a 20GB movie) with plenty of room to spare.

Hard Drive Problem Solvers

Problem: All of this master/slave business confuses me.

Solution: You'll find master/slave jumper diagrams, even for older hard drives, on most hard-drive manufacturers' Web sites. And your new drive kit will include a diagram in its documentation. Once you've imaged your original hard drive, you'll have to switch the cable and jumper positions to establish the newer, faster drive as the boot drive. You can use the Cable Select position on both hard drives if your PC supports it. But in our experience, the master/slave settings are more likely to work in most systems.

Problem: My PC won't recognize the new 160GB drive.

Solution: Check with your computer or motherboard manufacturer to see if your PC supports drives larger than 137GB. If it doesn't you may have to update the BIOS, download an OS service pack and/or a utility from the drive vendor's site, or use a special controller card.

Maximum Storage: Burn Movies, Burn Files

The latest internal DVD burners sell for less than $300 and support the two most popular formats:-R/RW and +R/RW. That price and the ability of rewritable DVD media to store up to 4.7GB of data on a single side are sure to appeal to archive aficionados who are dissatisfied with the CD's maximum standard capacity of 700MB. Though numerous competing DVD recording standards persist, the latest drives support multiple formats, so you don't have to choose at the checkout line.

A multiformat drive may cost up to $100 more than a single-format model, but the greater flexibility is worth the extra money. (For some choices, see Top 10 DVD Drives.) Don't overlook the venerable DVD-RAM format, which is favored for backups and archiving because of its much higher rating for rewrites and its stronger error correction. LG and Iomega offer drives that include DVD-RAM support.

Granted, many users don't need a DVD writer--not yet, anyway. If all you want to do is create CDs occasionally for your car stereo, stick with a CD burner, which is less expensive and faster than a DVD writer for this task. And if you use a high-capacity storage device such as a tape or Jaz drive to make backups, a DVD writer might seem redundant.

On the other hand, if you want to encode and write large video files to disc for playback on DVD players, a multiple-format rewritable DVD drive makes sense. According to Intellikey Labs, an independent DVD testing facility, write-once DVD+R-formatted discs have the highest compatibility with living-room DVD players, followed by write-once DVD-R. This is due to the superior reflective qualities of these discs. Rewritable discs (+RW and-RW) will work with fewer players than their write-once siblings. DVD-RAM is the least-compatible format with consumer DVD players, but most recent DVD-RAM drives also write to the highly compatible DVD-R format.

Before buying a DVD writer, make sure your system is brawny enough to handle the drive. Our PC started with a 1.4-GHz Celeron CPU, 512MB of SDRAM, and a roomy 120GB hard drive--a good starting point for video recording, which is a demanding chore for the processor, memory, and storage systems. If you want a DVD writer solely to handle data backups, though, you'll be fine with a less powerful system. Because we expect to work entirely with DVD+R/RW media, we chose the $250 HP DVD Writer DVD300i, an internal drive with impressive 4X DVD+R and 2.4X DVD+RW speeds.

The drive came with a 7-minute CD-ROM video, which we watched before installing the DVD writer, per HP's instructions. The video addresses some important installation issues, such as how to reset the master/slave pins on the back of the drive. The setup program also inspects your machine for system incompatibilities. For instance, it determined that we would have to replace our computer's existing CD-ROM drive with the new DVD300i (instead of keeping both) because "an available position was not found on either the primary or secondary [IDE] controller." In other words, the only way to free up a position on the controller was to remove the CD-ROM drive.

The installation went smoothly. We disconnected the power, audio, and data cables from the CD-ROM drive, and unscrewed it from the drive bay. We then installed the new DVD300i (making sure that all four screws were firmly attached) reconnected the cables, closed the case, and rebooted the system.

A hassle-free upgrade? Not quite. The DVD300i's installation program launched automatically and requested the setup CD-ROM, which we had left in the old drive now sitting on our kitchen table. Fortunately this turned out to be a minor oversight; a tiny hole on the front of most internal optical drives is designed for just this kind of situation. We straightened a paper clip, inserted the wire in the hole, and gave it a firm push. Presto! The CD-ROM drive tray released, and we retrieved the CD without further ado. (In the absence of a paper clip, we'd have had to attach a power connector long enough to let us push the button and eject the disc.)

DVD Burner Problem Solvers

Problem: My drive controller doesn't have room for another device.

Solution: Consider replacing your old CD-ROM drive with a new rewritable DVD drive that can also play audio CDs and run CD-ROM-based software. DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW drives can burn CDs for you, too--though not as quickly as a new CD writer can.

Problem: I installed the new DVD writer, but my PC won't recognize it.

Solution: Make sure that the cables are properly attached and that the master/slave jumpers on the back of the drive are set correctly.

Speed Boosters: A Faster Brain

The need for speed is most evident with CPU-intensive tasks such as encryption, video editing, and gaming. Your 500-MHz Pentium III system may sprint like a greyhound when running applications such as Microsoft Word and Outlook, but it will hobble along when paired with Adobe's Premiere Pro, which the vendor recommends running on a 3.06-GHz Pentium 4 for optimum performance.

A CPU upgrade isn't simply a matter of swapping an old processor for a new one. The physical installation may take minutes, but the real work comes before you pop open the computer case. To ensure that you buy the right chip for your system, research is essential. Do you need a 423- or a 478-pin package? A ZIF socket or Slot 1? What's the frontside bus speed? Is a BIOS upgrade required? Your PC manual--or some online searching, if necessary--should provide this data.

When picking a CPU, you must consider two things: sockets and motherboards.

Sockets are an issue because different Pentium 4 chips have different numbers of pins. You can't upgrade from a 1.3-GHz Pentium 4 chip, which uses a 423-pin socket, to a 3-GHz P4, which uses the larger 478-pin size. But you can upgrade from a 1.3-GHz P4 to a 2-GHz P4.

If your computer can't handle a truly speedy processor, consider upgrading the entire motherboard. The Web sites for both AMD and Intel have information on upgrading a motherboard. Make sure that the other system components, including the hard-disk controller, the graphics card, and the memory, not only are compatible with the system's motherboard but are your best choices. It makes little sense to match the latest motherboard, CPU, and memory with a near-obsolete graphics board.

Thanks to PC vendors' support sites and to search engines like Google, processor information is easy to find. Take our PC, a Dell Dimension XPS T700r, for instance. A search of the model name at Dell's site revealed technical data, including three key facts: The Dimension's PIII processor is affixed to a Slot 1 card that sits perpendicular to the motherboard; the maximum supported processor speed is 1200 MHz; and our machine has a 100-MHz frontside bus, which is the conduit between main memory and the CPU. (You'll need the slot and bus information to find the correct processor for your PC.)

If you bought a generic PC from an independent retailer, check the motherboard manual or the motherboard maker's Web site to determine the best upgrade. This is important when a CPU maker uses the same socket type for its entire processor line. Though it's tempting to assume that a chip that fits is the right upgrade, this isn't always so. In most PCs, the processor sits in a socket on the motherboard. AMD's Athlon and Duron chips, for example, all use a 462-pin socket. But if your motherboard has a 266-MHz frontside bus, it isn't compatible with the latest Athlon 3200 chip, which requires a 400-MHz bus. AMD's site has a motherboard search tool that finds the best CPU for your PC. Similarly, at Intel provides a large amount of technical data on its chips.

For information on where to buy a new CPU, we visited Google, PCWorld.com's ProductFinder, and Price Watch, and typed "Pentium III upgrades" in each site's search field. For our PIII-700, we chose PowerLeap's PL-iP3/T, a $150 Slot 1 card with a 1.4-GHz Celeron processor that had twice the clock speed of our original CPU while remaining compatible with our PC's 100-MHz system bus. (Online shopping is convenient, but alternatively you can visit computer stores that sell processor kits.)

Before installing a new processor, upgrade your computer's BIOS (basic input/output system). If you don't, your PC may not recognize the new chip. System and motherboard manufacturers routinely tweak BIOS instructions to fix glitches and accommodate newer components.

We found the latest BIOS for our PC at Dell's support site, which also provided instructions on how to update or "flash" the BIOS. The process involved copying a few files to a floppy disk, and then using the floppy to reboot the system. (If your system isn't from a major vendor, you may have to get the BIOS upgrade from your motherboard maker's site.)

The CPU is a fairly simple component to upgrade. If you have a Socket A motherboard, your PC probably uses a ZIF (zero insertion force) socket on its motherboard, with an adjacent lever. You merely lift the lever, remove the old processor, orient and insert the new CPU, and return the lever to its locked position.

CPUs aren't always easy to locate on the motherboard, however, as some are hidden under power supplies or other components. Our computer's CPU was located on a Slot 1 card and hidden under a plastic cover that also encased the system fan. We grounded ourselves with an antistatic wrist strap, removed the plastic cover, and replaced the Pentium III module with the PowerLeap PL-iP3/T card. (The Slot 1 card does not have a ZIF socket.) The PowerLeap card has an attached fan, so we didn't reinstall the plastic cover. After connecting the PL-iP3/T's power cable (to operate the fan), we closed the case and rebooted successfully.

The benefits were faster overall performance and the ability to run advanced graphics apps designed for 1-GHz CPUs.

CPU Problem Solvers

Problem: I can't find my old CPU.

Solution: It might be hidden under other system components or under a plastic cover, either of which you must remove before you can upgrade the chip.

Problem: My PC doesn't recognize the new CPU I just installed.

Solution: Update the BIOS. Download the BIOS update from your PC vendor's or motherboard maker's site, and follow the vendor's instructions.

Problem: I'm not sure whether the new CPU's cooling fan is working.

Solution: If the new processor includes a cooling fan, make sure that you connect the fan's power cable before you turn the power on. If the fan isn't spinning when you power on, turn off the PC right away and check the power connections. Running the PC without a working fan for the new processor could damage your CPU.

Speed Boosters: More Memory, More Programs

Insufficient memory can slow a PC to a crawl. Task switching between open applications becomes a finger-tapping exercise in frustration. Graphics take forever to load. And always audible in the background is the mechanical grumble of an overworked hard disk, churning to temporarily store data that won't fit in RAM.

How much RAM is not enough? That depends on the OS and apps you run. Microsoft says 128MB is a good baseline for Windows XP, but anyone who has used the OS knows that 256MB is the real-world minimum for satisfactory performance. If you run digital video or 3D games, memory requirements skyrocket. For example, Adobe recommends 1GB or more of RAM to run Premiere Pro.

The good news is that RAM is inexpensive and upgrades are easy to perform. But homework is crucial to a successful upgrade. Which memory technology do you need--SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, or RDRAM? What about megahertz? By using an online research tool such as Kingston Technology's Memory Search or Crucial Technology's Memory Selector, you can find answers to these questions. Simply choose the name of your computer from a drop-down menu on either site (or enter the motherboard manufacturer's name on Kingston's site), plus the model name (for example, Dell Dimension XPS T700r) from a follow-up menu, and you'll see a list of compatible memory modules for your machine. (If you can't find your system there, check your PC or motherboard manual.) These tools also identify the maximum amount of RAM your motherboard can handle, which is critical if you want to add the most memory you can.

All Pentium III, many Celeron, and some first-generation Athlon and Pentium 4 systems use Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM). Most Athlon and P4 and many Celeron PCs use Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM), which increases the frequency bandwidth of SDRAM to improve memory speed. Some P4 systems use RDRAM (aka Rambus memory), a pricey, less popular technology. RDRAM offers performance boosts over conventional SDRAM, too.

If you try to install RAM of the wrong size--for example, a DDR module in a motherboard built for SDRAM--it won't fit or the computer won't recognize it. Our Dell XPS T700r used SDRAM, and Kingston's $100 256MB module fit snugly in one of two open memory slots.

Our upgrade was quick and painless. We grounded ourselves with an antistatic wrist strap, removed the system's cover, brushed aside some cables to locate the memory sockets on the motherboard, and inserted the 256MB module in a free slot.

The module needed a strong push to fit snugly; a PC won't recognize RAM that isn't fitted correctly. (When the memory is properly situated, the clips that hold it in place will snap into position.) We then reattached the power cable, closed the case, and rebooted the PC--completing the entire process in 5 minutes. Our RAM total tripled from 128MB to 384MB. The primary benefit was faster overall performance, particularly when jumping between several open applications.

RAM Problem Solvers

Problem: I don't know which memory type my PC uses.

Solution: Go to a RAM vendor's Web site (such as Kingston.com or Crucial.com) and find the name of your PC (or motherboard, on the Kingston site). It's the fastest way to ascertain the right memory modules for your system.

Problem: The memory modules are blocked by messy wires.

Solution: Disconnect the wires to install the memory, and reconnect them afterward.

Problem: My PC doesn't recognize the new memory.

Solution: Turn off the PC, open the case, and examine the modules. Are they seated correctly, with clasps firmly in position? Extract them and reinsert them to make sure that the clips click into place--signaling that they are firmly seated. Don't be afraid to use a little muscle--but not too much. Memory modules are delicate and can bend or break easily.

Audio/Visual Power: 3D Dazzlers

The 3D graphics and cinematic effects of Half-Life 2 thrill you--or at least they did when you tried the game out on a 2-GHz machine at the computer store. But on your system, the action is slow and choppy. Buyer's remorse sets in, and suddenly you're ready to return the game to the store. Equally aggravating: Your computer won't play DVD movies, and you're inclined to throw the whole thing into the trash.

Upgrade your graphics card instead. According to conventional wisdom, it doesn't make sense to upgrade your PC's graphics if the system is more than two or three years old. That's good advice if you covet a $400 graphics card that costs more than your computer is worth. But many of today's cards deliver dazzling 3D effects and fast performance for far less money. The ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB and the NVidia GeForce FX 5200 128MB, for example, cost about $90 each and can perform sophisticated visual tricks such as anistropic filtering to render sharp, detailed 3D textures. Unless you're avid about playing games at very high resolutions, you don't really need to spend big bucks for a top-of-the-line graphics board.

Many desktop PCs today use integrated graphics, which means that the CPU and its chip set handle the graphics functions, with some of the system memory used as graphics RAM. A more sophisticated approach involves combining a dedicated graphics processor with a specified amount of system RAM. This integrated approach produces perfectly acceptable results for mainstream business applications (such as e-mail and word processing), but today's demanding games need a stand-alone AGP (advanced graphics port) graphics card for best performance.

Since our test PC had an AGP slot, which provides a direct path from the graphics card to system memory, we avoided the potential bottlenecks of the multipurpose PCI bus. Most PCs built during the past several years have an AGP slot on the motherboard. The exceptions are low-end Celeron PCs with integrated graphics, where the motherboard maker leaves out the AGP connector to cut costs.

Upgrading the graphics board was a tricky project. AGP cards and slots are not all alike. A 2X AGP system, for instance, transmits data at up to 533 megabytes per second. A 4X system offers 1.07-GBps performance, and 8X AGP promises 2.1 GBps. The easiest way to determine your system's AGP specification is to contact the PC or motherboard manufacturer. This step is crucial if you have a Pentium III or older PC, since many of these carry a 2X AGP slot. For a breakdown of AGP specs, see Newegg.com.

For our upgrade, we installed NVidia's GeForce FX 5200, which works with 2X, 4X, and 8X slots. Our first step was to remove the existing graphics drivers by way of the Add/Remove Programs utility in Control Panel. Next we replaced the old graphics card with the GeForce FX 5200.

We rebooted, loaded the driver, and completed the graphics card upgrade in 29 minutes. The most immediate benefit is being able to watch DVD movies on our aging computer, which refused to perform this task with its old graphics card.

Graphics Problem Solvers

Problem: I don't know what type of AGP card I need.

Solution: Check your PC manual for the type of AGP slot on your motherboard. A 4X or 8X card will not fit a 2X slot.

Problem: My PC doesn't have an AGP slot.

Solution: You can still upgrade the system with a PCI graphics card, if you have an open slot. Even though the PCI bus is slower than AGP, it's better than integrated graphics.

Problem: I can't reset the resolution refresh rate with my new graphics card.

Solution: Make sure you have uninstalled the old graphics driver and properly installed the new card's driver.

Audio/Visual Power: An Audible Feast

Integrated audio is a checklist item on practically every motherboard made today. So why upgrade the sound system when you're already enjoying CD-caliber playback? Because audiophiles, multimedia developers, musicians, and gung-ho gamers want the best sound, which is possible only with a high-end sound card and speakers.

Motherboard-based audio does an adequate job of playing music and basic sound effects in games. But to get a breathtaking audio experience, you'll have to upgrade. Take 16-bit versus 24-bit sound, for instance. CD audio is 16-bit, while DVD is up to 24-bit. You've probably seen the term bit depth when looking at graphics cards: The higher the bit depth, the greater the palette of colors, and that translates into brighter, sharper, more-realistic images. Audio works in much the same way. Musicians prefer 24-bit recording, which captures more data and creates higher-fidelity audio with greater clarity. Playback is important, too: DVD audio content supports up to 24-bit audio, which sounds better when reproduced on a 24-bit sound card.

Today's sophisticated sound cards perform other tricks that integrated audio can't match. For example, high-end cards like Creative's $250 Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX offers 6.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Digital EX Decoding. The Dolby 6.1 specification provides a rear center channel not found in the more common 5.1 spec, which supplies a front center channel only. The extra channel means enhanced realism for gamers, including the ability to hear villains and monsters approaching from directly behind the player. Of course, you'll need to have a good surround-sound speaker system to appreciate this feature.

Before installing a new sound card, you must eliminate all traces of its predecessor. Carefully remove your existing sound card, or--if your PC has integrated audio--enter your system's setup program to disable the audio. (Check your system manual for details on entering setup. Typically you press Del or another key as your system boots up.) If the current sound card came with software utilities, uninstall them via the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel.

We upgraded our old computer's audio system to Creative's Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX sound card and the Creative Inspire 6.1 6600, a $130 6.1 speaker system. After opening the computer case and properly grounding ourselves, we removed the old card (a Yamaha XG 64) from its PCI slot. Then we inserted the Sound Blaster card, which takes up another slot cover because its joystick/MIDI port arrives on a separate bracket. Some cases come with an extra slot cover for just this purpose, but we had to forfeit a second PCI slot on our old PC to complete the installation. If you don't have two available PCI slots, shop for an audio card that requires only one.

Bundled with the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX is an external box that connects to the sound card via an included cable. The box has a jack for headphones plus digital and analog input ports for recording music, and it was a breeze to install thanks to the detailed setup poster. We then booted the PC and installed the application software. The installation proceeded without a hitch.

The Creative Inspire 6.1 6600 speaker set was a bigger challenge to install, particularly since it consists of six 5.5-inch-tall satellite speakers and a subwoofer slightly larger than two stacked shoeboxes. That translates into a lot of wires--from the subwoofer to each speaker, and from the PC to the subwoofer. The setup diagram was helpful, but trial and error was the modus operandi (to fix inaudible channels, mostly) until all the connections worked properly.

The results of our 43-minute upgrade: Glorious sound with crisp highs and thunderous bass. Note, however, that if you intend to experiment with speaker placement to achieve the best possible sound, the setup time may be longer.

Speaker Setup

Setting up a six-speaker and subwoofer system reflects personal preference. One scenario puts three speakers around the computer, three behind it, and the subwoofer under the desk.

Vendors usually provide helpful setup diagrams like this one.

Audio Problem Solvers

Problem: My PC won't recognize the new sound card.

Solution: Did you go into your system's setup program and disable its integrated audio? You'll have to do this to eliminate the possibility of conflicts with your new sound card. In addition, confirm that your new audio drivers are installed in Windows.

Problem: The sound card I want requires two open PCI slots to use all of its features, but my system has only one.

Solution: Try removing a card that your system no longer uses. For instance, if your computer has a USB or ethernet connection to broadband, you may discover that an unused 56-kbps modem is gathering dust in a PCI slot.

Wireless Made Easy: Look, Ma, No Wires

Wireless networking was once a novelty for most business and home users, but that's changing rapidly as the necessary equipment drops in price and becomes easier to install. Before you go wireless, however, do some research. There are several flavors of the popular Wi-Fi wireless standard, each of which offers something a little different--speedier performance, a higher transmission frequency, or longer range.

The 802.11a standard specifies data transmission speeds of up to 54 megabits per second and operates in the vicinity of 5 GHz, thereby avoiding interference from household appliances (such as microwave ovens and cordless phones) that use the 2.4-GHz frequency. These data rates are theoretical maximums; real-world performance is roughly half the rated throughput, according to Lianne Caetano, NetGear product manager.

The 802.11b standard (used in hot spots) has a slower specified data rate of 11 mbps but a longer rated transmission range of approximately 300 feet (versus 200 feet for 802.11a). (A few manufacturers, including D-Link, offer so-called 802.11b+ products, with rated speeds of up to 22 mbps.) The newest standard is 802.11g, which offers the best of both worlds: a 54-mbps theoretical data rate and a 300-foot transmission range under optimum conditions. Both 802.11b and 802.11g transmit at 2.4 GHz.

For small-business and home users, the 802.11g standard is the best option. A few caveats: If your network has any combination of 11b, 11b+, and 11g devices, the nodes will communicate at the slower 11-mbps speed. Also, both 11b and 11g are incompatible with 11a. In office settings, wired ethernet networks still rule, because they cost less and transmit data up to 90 times faster (up to 1 gigabit per second) than wireless (11 to 54 mbps). And ethernet networks don't encounter the radio interference problems that plague some wireless LANs.

Before you begin installing your wireless network, look up some basic data about your broadband account. If you have a DSL connection, check to see whether you have a static or a dynamic IP account and whether you use Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet (PPPoE). You may also need to know your assigned IP address (if you have a static IP address) or your log-in and password (if you have a PPPoE account). Check the configuration instructions for your router so you have an idea of the information you'll require. It's much easier to get it now than during setup, when you may not have Web access.

In our upgrade, we plugged one ethernet cable from our DSL modem into the WAN port in the back of NetGear's WGR614 Cable/DSL router, and then we connected another ethernet cable to a port on the router and our main PC. (Alternatively, you can configure the router using a Wi-Fi??A?A?enabled PC.)

On the desktop, we called up our browser and entered the IP address of the router's configuration interface (provided by the vendor). Armed with the basic information about our DSL account, we connected to the Internet relatively easily.

Next, we installed NetGear's WG511 Wireless PC Card in a Compaq Evo notebook. This process involved installing the driver, rebooting the PC, and inserting the LAN card in the Evo's PC Card slot.

The notebook LAN card automatically detected the router, and we could surf wirelessly. But at this point, the setup was basically unsecured: Anyone driving by with a Wi-Fi-enabled notebook could use our Internet connection and (conceivably) see our private files.

Wireless Encryption Protocol, the original security system for 802.11 networks, has been supplanted by the more bulletproof Wi-Fi Protected Access. If your equipment does not come with WPA, check the vendor's site for free firmware upgrades. Encryption may slow your network, but it also makes your setup much less attractive to interlopers.

Whether you use WEP or WPA, your vendor should provide detailed setup instructions, including how to set network passkeys. We also recommend that you change the default name (SSID) of your network. Make sure that your network and security settings are the same on all of your wireless network adapters.

Jeff Bertolucci is a freelance writer based in Southern California.

Network Problem Solvers

Problem: My router can't connect to the Internet.

Solution: Check the network settings provided by your ISP against the configuration of your router. Remember that if you have a PPPoE connection, you'll have to enter the username and password for your DSL account into your browser's configuration.

Problem: My notebook can't connect to my wireless network.

Solution: If you're using Wireless Encryption Protocol security, make certain that you've entered the correct network key.

Problem: My 802.11g PC Card doesn't transmit at the speed it's supposed to.

Solution: If you have an 802.11b card in your network, it will drop your entire network to the slower 11b speed. Consider upgrading to an all-11g network for faster connections.

PC Tune-Up Calendar

Making upgrades to your hardware is only half the battle when it comes to having a faster machine. Maintenance is essential, too. It isn't fun, but consider the alternatives. Don't floss your teeth? Hello, gum disease. PC tune-ups work in much the same way. Ignore your computer, and you'll suffer the misery of system slowdowns, lost files, and malfunctioning components. Here are the periodic tune-ups we recommend.

Daily

Virus Scanning: Viruses, worms, and Trojan horses roam the Net, intent on destroying your data. For less than $50, programs such as McAfee VirusScan, Symantec Norton AntiVirus, and Trend Micro's PC-cillin operate in the background and do a fine job of keeping your system free of malicious code. Always upgrade to the next version of your antivirus program when it becomes available: Engine upgrades are critical to stopping the latest viral threats.

Backup: A rewritable DVD drive is ideal for daily, automatic backups. DVD's large capacity makes it a worthy backup buddy for behemoth hard drives, and its thin discs are easy to store. Backup tools such as Dantz's $85 Retrospect Professional, LIUtilities' $50 WinBackup, and Stomp's $79 BackUp MyPC support DVD burners. (They also back up to second hard drives.) An exception is the basic backup utility included with Windows XP (see Figure 1).

Weekly

Automatic Hard-Drive Scanning for Viruses: Enable your real-time antivirus protection and allow your program to check for virus signature updates as often as possible. But real-time protection is a slimmed-down measure in comparison with a comprehensive drive scan. Schedule a scan once a week to catch any viruses that may have slipped through. Programs such as Norton Antivirus 2003 will help you set up a schedule (for example, when your PC will be on but not in use).

Windows Update: This Internet tool--run it by clicking Start, All Programs, near the top of the menu--enables Microsoft to scan your PC and recommend updated drivers, system files, security applets, and other updates. To choose the files you want to download, mark the appropriate check boxes; then ignore the rest.

Monthly

Disk Cleanup: This Windows utility removes temporary Internet files, clears the Recycle Bin, and dumps other disk trash. Find it at Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools. Disk Cleanup (Figure 2) is useful for smaller (20GB to 40GB) hard drives that are running low on free space.

Scheduled Tasks: With this Windows tool you can automate housekeeping chores such as Backup and Disk Cleanup. The Scheduled Task Wizard makes it easy to run maintenance utilities daily, weekly, or monthly--or even at boot time. Once a month, you should review your scheduled tasks to see if they're still appropriate. For instance, it doesn't make sense to set Disk Cleanup for the first of the month at 7 a.m. if your PC is turned off at that time.

Quarterly

Disk Defragmenter: Located on Windows' System Tools submenu--and willfully ignored by many users--Defrag can maintain optimum hard-disk performance and stability by putting each file's sectors in the proper sequence, permitting more-efficient access. One caveat: Be sure to keep at least 15 percent of your disk space free so that Disk Defragmenter (and your system) can perform at maximum efficiency.

Yearly

PC Cleaning: Carefully remove dust from inside your PC. Use a soft brush attachment on a home vacuum or a minivacuum. Use canned compressed air (with the straw) to clear dust in tight spots. But don't blast air into floppy, CD-ROM, or other removable-media drives; the heads and other internal components are easier to damage than you might think. Special tools (like those from Discwasher) are available for cleaning optical drives.