Another important thing to do when upgrading your processor is to discover what CPUs are compatible with your motherboard. In order to know what is the fastest CPU you can install, you will need to know what is the maximum FSB (Front Side Bus) clock rate and the CPU socket supported by your motherboard. Remember that you can only replace your CPU with another CPU that uses the same socket. Otherwise it would be better to think about buying a whole new motherboard, which sometimes requires the replacement of some other components, like memory or videocard (if your new motherboard has different slots). This happens most often when you switch to a new platform (e.g. if your new motherboard uses DDR3 memory you will not be able to install your old DDR2, because these two types require different memory slots. A good way to find information about your motherboard is to check the user manual or visit the manufacturer”s website. Here you can find information about how to find the exact model and revision or your motherboard.

Once you have determined, that an upgrade is necessary, the next step is to decide whether or not it’s cost effective to do so. In order to find out what options are available for your system you need to determine what type of CPU you have. For this purpose you can use programs such as CPU-Z, which can give you detailed information about the processor installed on your system. According to some experts, your upgrade would be worthwhile if you switch to a CPU that’s at least 40-50 % faster than your current processor.

Now that you know what processor you need, there are some factors you should be aware of before purchasing  your new processor. Note that CPUs usually come in retail or OEM (original equipment manufacturer) packages. The difference between them is that Retail package includes CPU with detailed installation instructions and cooling module (heatsink / fan), unlike the OEM package that includes only the CPU itself.

There is one more component, that is essential for the normal operation of any computer system. It is the Thermal grease (also called thermal compound or thermal paste). It improves the efficiency of a cooling  module by conducting heat generated by the CPU to the heatsink. Most CPUs usually come with a thermal grease already pre-applied by the manufacturer (see the bottom of your heatsink). However, if no thermal grease came with your CPU, you will need to buy a tube from any computer store.

Now you can start upgrading your CPU. Procedure is relatively simple and I think it would take you no more than 20-30 minutes, but there are some safety rules to be followed. As an example here is a short guide describing how to install Intel processor using LGA775. socket.

Instructions.

For this guide I will use DVD writer LG GSA-H55N, but I think the disassembly process would be similar to many other models.

1. Important: The first and the most important thing to do before you start is to take care of your own safety,  so be sure to turn off the computer and unplug the power cord from the outlet.

2. Open the computer’s case according to the user’s manual provided by manufacturer.

3. Remove data and power cables going into the back of the optical drive.

4. Now remove four screws securing drive to the sides of the drive bay, and slide it out of the computer.

Now comes the tricky part. You’ve probably seen that the optical drive case consists of two metal parts, but in order to separate them, you must remove the front panel of the device. This can be easily done by opening the disc tray. For this purpose I’m using an external power adapter, but you can use one of the power cables of your computer’s power supply unit. In such a case you must be very careful!

5. To open disc tray simply connect the power cable and press the Eject button.

6. Unlock two clips, fixing the front panel.

7. Remove four screws marked on the picture.

8. Remove the lid and gently lift up the mechanics.

Now you can clean the lens of your optical drive with a cotton swab, slightly moistened with alcohol.

You can find the model and version of the motherboard with programs like CPU-Z, Everest or PC Wizard. For example: to see information about the motherboard in CPU-Z just start the program and click the Motherboard tab.

If you can’t find any application that can do the job or you don’t have access to the Internet to download it, the next thing that you can do is to open the computer’s case and to look for the model near the PCI slots, AGP slot, PCI-express slot or between the processor and the RAM slot, as it is shown in the picture below.

Be sure to check the documentation that comes with your computer or you may lose your warranty. In case if you can’t open your computer you can see the model name at the computer startup. Use the key “Pause Break” on your keyboard (when you see the first BIOS POST screen) to stop loading the system and see what is the model. With newer motherboards that can be quite difficult because they pass through the Welcome screen very quickly, even before the monitor is started, so to try to press the key (immediately after the start) without waiting for displaying a picture and wait. If you fail the first time try again.

If you are replacing your primary hard drive you will need to reinstall Windows. If you don’t want to reinstall Windows  you have to clone  the contents of your current  hard drive to your new one using some specific programs like  EASEUS Disk Copy , HDclone , PC Inspector , Acronis True Image , Norton ghost. If you are  installing a new hard drive just for storage, you don’t have to change anything to the configuration of your current hard drive.

What hard drive do you need ?

When choosing your new hard drive you have to know what interface uses your motherboard to connects to hard drives. The most commonly used interfaces for connection between the hard drive and the motherboard are two:

1. IDE. (integrated drive electronics , ATA or PATA, used  for older hard drives and optical drives). This interface is still used quite often,  but it has recently been replaced by his successor SATA. Its main advantage is the lower price.

2. SATA. ( Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or Serial ATA . SATA is a ‘wire replacement’ of  the older ATA  standard. It’s mechanism for optimizing the controller commands in order to accelerate the operations of data processing makes it faster than ATA. This standard is  using a new type of cables for connecting  hard drives. Disks with Serial ATA interface are clearly preferable  because of the thin wires, and the better performance. It is important to note that each disk can be connected to its own port, which eliminates the nightmare of “master-slave” configuration with jumpers, typical of ATA drives. In other words, SATA drives are easier to install.

Here you can see the differences between them.

Most new motherboards support both IDE and SATA interface but before buying a new hard drive I suggest you to read your motherboard manual in order to find out what interfaces are supported.

How to install the hard drive.

1.There are several rules you must follow when working with computer hardware:

• Turn off the power supply of your computer (there is a little switch on the back side of the power supply unit ). You can also unplug the power cable.
• Note that most of the computer components are very sensitive to static electricity.An electric discharge may cause malfunctioning of some electronic parts.

• Make sure to ground yourself before touching any component by using grounding strap or touch a metal faucet  pipe from time to time, or even your computer’s case.

2.Now you can open the computer’s case.

3.Locate the drive bay where the new  hard drive will  be installed. In most cases the drive bay is located at the front of the PC.

4. Jumper settings (only for IDE drives). It is easier to do these settings before mounting the hard drive in the bay.

What are jumpers and what are they used for?

Most motherboards have 1 or 2 build-in IDE channels. Each channel supports up to 2 drives. The primary drive on a channel is called Master, and the secondary is called Slave. The IDE channels are also  called  Primary and Secondary.Usually the Primary Master is the hard drive that the system boots from. Most of the motherboards have 2 IDE  connectors (one for each  IDE channel). As you can see the IDE cable has two connectors which means that two devices can share a single cable.

For proper functioning of each of the two devices connected to one channel, they must be configured as Master and Slave. This can be done by changnig the position of the jumpers.

If your hard drive will be the only device on the IDE channel or if it will share that channel with a CD or DVD drive  then set the jumper to master.

If the new hard drive will be added to  a channel with another hard drive already installed, then maybe the other drive is the boot drive and is  set to master. The boot drive may also be set to Cable select which is option for automatic configuration. In this case it’s better to set your boot drive as Master and the new drive as Slave.

Most manufacturers print the  jumper settings  on the chassis of the drive which makes their  setting  simple. Different hard drives have different jumper settings, so make sure to read your hard drive  manual for more information.

Note: You can not have two Master or two Slave drives on the same IDE channel. It means that if  you connect two hard drives  to one IDE channel one of them must be Master and the other one must be  Slave. Otherwise your system won’t boot.

SATA hard drives also have jumpers, but their purpose is not the same as  their IDE analogs and should be left with the default  settings.

5. Find an empty slot and mount the hard drive. If you have another drive mounted in the bay it’s a good idea to leave an empty space between the drives in order to provide better cooling.

6. Fix the drive to the chasis with screws  (they are four, two on each side).

7. Connect the power supply and the data cables.

If your power supply unit does not have a SATA power  connector you may need  power adapter like this on the picture below.

8. Check all connections and make sure all devices are  set correctly.

9. Replace the computer cover and plug in your power cable.

10. Turn the computer on.

If the installation is successful, when you start the computer your new hard drive will be detected by the BIOS and the next step, that you  should take before you start using the disk is to enter the Windows Disk Manager, create one or more partitions and format them.

What are the reasons for bad memory?

1.Overheating. The heat is one of the reasons why we may have a faulty RAM.It can be produced either by some of  the components located near the RAM memory or by the RAM itself.That’s why I recommend you to use memory heat spreaders. They can be also a good protection against mechanical damage. Another reason for overheating may be the overclocking, so be careful when playing with voltages.

2.Physical damage. It may be caused by improper placement of memory in the slot, as well as by bending or dropping to the floor.

3.Electrostatic shock. Static electricity is one of the possible reasons for the failure of memory. It’s recommended to
touch your computer’s case,every time before you touch the memory sticks. Thus avoid Electro static discharge (ESD). An electric shock or poor power supplies can seriously damage your RAM memory.

4.Sometimes a bad memory stick just leaves the factory and can end up in your machine.

Common symptoms of bad memory.

Your computer freezes suddenly and the only way to get it back to normal working is the restart. This could be also an issue with the operating system. You can easily determine if this is a problem with the memory, by checking to see if you can still move the mouse  on the screen, when the freeze occurs.
The mouse cursor would be still movable if the freezes are caused by problems with the software.

Blue Screen Errors during normal operation of the system e.g. surfing in the Internet, working with documents or chatting with friends.

Blue Screen Errors during Software installations or installation of Windows XP or Windows 2000. These symptoms almost always lead to problems in the  memory.

Freezes or crashes during  intensive work with the system e.g. playing 3D games, watching movies with high resolution or working with powerful graphic editors like Photoshop.

You are unable to restart your system because it doesn’t boot normally and the only result is black screen and continuous beeps. That makes testing the memory with diagnostic software impossible.

In case you notice one of these signs, the best you can do before replacing the RAM with another stick is to make sure, that such a replacement is  indeed necessary. It can be done by running any of  the programs listed below.

There are quite a few methods to test  faulty RAMs , but I will discuss only the  best and most used ones.

Memtest86+

Memtest is one of the most popular programs for testing of RAM memory. It comes in three different ways. First is a bootable ISO, second is a bootable binary and third is an installable package for creating a bootable floppy. The program has the ability to detect all current CPUs and chipsets like SiS, VIA, nVidia, Intel. Another interesting option provided by the authors is displaying of some useful settings for the most popular chipsets. The current version of memtest86+ will display the FSB & Memory frequency, PAT status, memory timings, ECC status and the number of memory channels.

To use Memtest86+, download the bootable ISO CD version and burn it  to a CD using a CD-burning program ( like Nero or Easy CD Creator ) or download the floppy version, then  unzip it and run the executable to create a bootable floppy disk. You have also the opportunity to create a bootable USB key.

When restart your computer with either the CD or floppy disk in the drive, it will boot  from that disk  and  the test of the RAM will begin automatically. System information will be shown on the left side of the screen  and on the right  you will see a progress bar showing the status of the process. However,I think more important is the bottom side of the screen where you can see information about the errors, of course if there are any detected.

DocMemory PC RAM Diagnostic

DocMemory Diagnostic is another  PC Memory diagnostic tool designed to capture all possible memory failures in PC.  The software is a user friendly and is distributed completely  for free. The only thing you need in order to download the program  is online registration on the author’s site.

When you download the software and start the installation program it will automatically create a self-booting diagnostic diskette. Simply insert this diskette into the floppy and reboot your PC to begin testing your system memory.This program supports all type of memory such as EDO, Fast Page Mode, SDRAM, DDR and Rambus DIMM and SODIM.

Windows Memory Diagnostic

Another option for RAM testing is  Windows Memory Diagnostic, which is offered by Microsoft. You can test all types of RAM that run on x86-based systems with the Intel  (Pentium or Celeron )   or AMD ( K6, Athlon,or Duron)  microprocessors. To use Windows Memory Diagnostic, your computer must have either a 3.5-inch floppy drive or CD-ROM drive.

Download the Windows Memory Diagnostic executable file, mtinst.exe and start it. Now you have 2 options. First is to create startup floppy disk, the second is to save a bootable CD image to your hard disk and then burn it to a CD using  CD burning program like Nero or Easy CD Creator. When you are ready, restart your computer and boot from the disk on which you installed Windows Memory Diagnostic (either the floppy or CD-ROM drive). After loading, a memory test  begins and continues to run , unless you pause or exit Windows Memory Diagnostic.

Note: Windows Memory Diagnostic is limited to testing only the first 4 gigabytes (GB) of RAM. If you have more than 4 GB of RAM, the remaining RAM after the first 4 GB will not be tested by Windows Memory Diagnostic. In such case leave only first 4gb RAM in the system, test it,  then swap it with the remaining RAM and repeat the test.

What to do if you have bad RAM?

First you have to determine which one is causing the problem.

If the test software has encountered errors in the RAM, you can try to move the RAM stick to another slot on your motherboard, as there is a possibility that the problem could be a bad contact between the slot and the RAM. Test  the RAM stick in each slot. In case you have multiple memory stick on your system, remove all except one stick  and just repeat the above procedure for each of them.

If neither of the above methods resolve the problem, it  may be other than bad memory. Try to test your RAMs on another working  system, accepting the same type of RAM, bacause it is also possible your problem to be in the motherboard.

As you probably know, processors are very sensitive to static electricity. An electrostatic discharge may cause malfunction of  your CPU. That’s why I recommend you to ground yourself before touching RAM, by using grounding strap or touch a metal faucet  pipe, or even your computer’s case.

Installing the CPU.

First you have to locate the CPU socket on the motherboard. Then press the lever with your thumb and move it to the left until it is released from the retention tab.

Lift the load lever in the direction of the arrow to a 135 degrees angle. Lift the load plate with your thumb and  then push the PnP cap from the load plate window to remove it. Position the CPU over the socket, making sure that the socket alignment keys  should fit into the CPU notches. Close the load plate , then push the load lever until it snaps into the retention tab.

Note : The CPU fits in only one correct orientation. DO NOT force the CPU into the socket to prevent bending the connectors on the socket and damaging the CPU!

Installing the CPU heatsink and fan

Note that The Intel  processors require a specially designed heatsink and fan assembly to ensure optimum thermal condition and performance. If you purchased a separate CPU heatsink and fan assembly, make sure that a Thermal Interface Material is properly applied to the CPU heatsink or CPU
before you install the heatsink and fan assembly.

To install the CPU heatsink and fan follow the steps below:

Place the heatsink on top of the installed CPU, making sure that the four fasteners match the holes on the motherboard. Make sure each fastener is oriented into the correct locking orientation,with the arrow pointing away from the heatsink  and  the narrow groove directed outward.

Push down two fasteners at a time in a diagonal sequence to secure the heatsink and fan assembly in place. Each fastener must snap  into the corresponding hole. When the fan and heatsink assembly is in place, connect the CPU fan cable to the connector on the motherboard labeled CPU_FAN.

Let’s see the steps that we must pass through.

1. Wireless USB adapter   (probably the easiest option) This adapter requires a free usb port.

2. Wireless PC Card (also known as PCMCIA cards). Most of the old  laptops  have such (PCMCIA) slot.

Note: In the newer laptops PC Card interface is replaced by Express card interface so if you planning to buy wireless card note that the ExpressCard interface is not compatible with PCMCIA devices. I recommend you to check your laptop manual and to see what types of cards are supported.

3. Wireless Mini PCI card. This is the most convenient way for using Wi-Fi because  whole device is located inside the laptop and there is no risk of damage to the card when transporting (not like USB and PC Card devices which have parts of them  standing outside the  laptop ). Note that as the PC Card standard is replaced by Express card  in some  newer laptops Mini PCI standard is also replaced by Mini PCI Express .

Note: Mini PCI cards and Mini PCI Express cards are not interchangeable so be careful when  shopping. Also before buying such card ensure that there are antenna cables near the Mini PCI slot because these cards are sold without antenna cables and if they are missing your card will be useless.

After I saw the differences between cards and slots I  bought an Intel Pro 2200 Mini PCI card.

The procedure for installing the card and drivers takes less than 10 minutes. On Latitude C610 the Mini PCI slot is located near the two memory slots.     Just remove the metal cover located on the underside  which is  attached to the case by three small screws.

Place the card in slot at an angle of about 45 degrees and carefully press it down until the metal clips are locked.

Don’t forget to connect the antenna cables because without them you will have a bad signal.

Almost every laptop has a removable cover on its underside.Read your laptop’s manual if you can’t locate it.The memory slots are placed under this cover.Remove it and see if there is an empty slot for the new memory.If you don’t have a free slot available, then you will have to remove one or both  of  the existing modules. Before starting the upgrade see  your laptop manual to find out what type of RAM is supported.

The most commonly used types of RAMs are listed below.

SDRAM PC 100/133

pin count – 144

operating voltage – 3.3v

————————————————————————————————

DDR RAM

pin count – 200

operating voltage – 2.6v

————————————————————————————————

DDR 2 RAM

pin coumt – 200

operating voltage  – 1.8v

———————————————————————————————–

DDR3 RAM

pin count – 204

operating voltage – 1.5v

———————————————————————————————–

The 200-pin SO-DIMMs  (DDR and DDR2)  are almost indistinguishable so be careful when you buy such RAMs. The only difference between them is  location of  the notch. If the notch is located further outboard, it indicates the DDR class of memory. When the notch is located nearer the center of the board, it indicates DDR2. These two types of memory are not interchangeable, and the different notch locations prevent incorrect installation.

For the average Windows XP user 1GB of RAM should be enough. But users who simultaneously run lots of  applications, or anyone regularly working with digital video or other power graphics software, will want at least 2GB. Also if you’re planning to upgrade your PC to Windows Vista, I recommend at least 2GB of RAM for better performance.

There are many kinds of RAMs including DDR, DDR2, and DDR3 which are most used. Newer technologies offer faster performance, but most motherboards accept only one type of RAM. There are also other types of RAMs  like FPM , EDO and SDR SDRAM but they are almost not in use because are very old.

Let’s see the types of  DDR RAMs.

DDR

data transfer range – 200–400 MHz

supply voltage – 2.5V

184 pins

DDR2

data transfer range – 400–800 MHz

supply voltage – 1.8V

240 pins

DDR3

data transfer range – 800–1600 MHz

supply voltage – 1.5V

240 pins

DDR 3  DIMMs  have 240 pins, the same number as DDR 2, and are the same size, but are electrically incompatible and have a different key notch location.

Before starting the RAM memory upgrade check  your motherboard manual to find out what type of RAM modules you need and how they have to be installed. More information about the different types of RAMs can be found here.

How to install it?

1. Unplug your PC and open its case. Never work inside a computer without unplugging the power cord.

2. RAM is very sensitive to static electricity. Ground yourself before touching RAM by using grounding strap or touch a metal faucet  pipe, or even your computer’s case.

3. At each end of the RAM slot you will find a plastic clips. Press these clips down gently to eject RAM from the slot or to get the slot ready to receive new RAM.

4. Line up the notch at the bottom of the memory stick with the corresponding bump in the memory socket. Press down the RAM stick carefully. If you meet significant resistance and the little clips at the ends do not start to move up, turn the stick around and try again. The clips at either end should rise and lock.

5. Reassemble your PC, power it up. If you hear a series of beeps, and the computer doesn’t boot,then you have a problem. Maybe  you have the wrong RAM, or it is not mounted well. Repeat each of the above steps to be sure that everything is ok. You may also try again the original RAM. If it works then you should change your new RAM.

If after the upgrade your PC boots normaly check the task manager to make sure your system recognizes all the new RAM and enjoy its performance    .