Chambers - Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies

DO-IT-YOURSELF

Build Your Own PC For Dummies

by Mark L. Chambers

Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies

Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty : The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Website may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002.

For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport .

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008940688

ISBN: 978-0-470-19611-3

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Author

Mark L. Chambers has been an author, a computer consultant, a BBS sysop, a programmer, and a hardware technician for more than 20 years pushing computers and their uses far beyond normal performance limits for decades now. His first love affair with a computer peripheral blossomed in 1984 when he bought his lightning-fast 300bps modem for his Atari 400. Now he spends entirely too much time on the Internet and drinks far too much caffeine-laden soda.

With a degree in journalism and creative writing from Louisiana State University, Mark took the logical career choice: programming computers. However, after five years as a COBOL programmer for a hospital system, he decided there must be a better way to earn a living, and he became the Documentation Manager for Datastorm Technologies, a well-known communications software developer. Somewhere in between writing software manuals, Mark began writing computer how-to books. His first book, Running a Perfect BBS , was published in 1994 and after a short decade or so of fun (disguised as hard work), Mark is one of the most productive and best-selling technology authors on the planet.

Along with writing several books a year and editing whatever his publishers throw at him, Mark has also branched out into Web-based education, designing and teaching a number of online classes called WebClinics for Hewlett-Packard.

His favorite pastimes include collecting gargoyles, watching St. Louis Cardinals baseball, playing his three pinball machines and the latest computer games, supercharging computers, and rendering 3-D flights of fancy with TrueSpace and during all that, he listens to just about every type of music imaginable. Marks worldwide Internet radio station, MLC Radio (at www.mlcbooks.com ), plays only CD-quality classics from 1970 to 1979, including everything from Rush to Billy Joel to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Marks rapidly expanding list of books includes MacBook For Dummies; iMac For Dummies ; Mac OS X Leopard All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies; Scanners For Dummies ; CD & DVD Recording For Dummies ; PCs All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies ; Mac OS X Tiger: Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks; Microsoft Office v. X Power Users Guide; BURN IT! Creating Your Own Great DVDs and CDs; The Hewlett-Packard Official Printer Handbook; The Hewlett-Packard Official Recordable CD Handbook; The Hewlett-Packard Official Digital Photography Handbook; Computer Gamers Bible; Recordable CD Bible; Teach Yourself the iMac Visually; Running a Perfect BBS; Official Netscape Guide to Web Animation; and the Windows 98 Troubleshooting and Optimizing Little Black Book .

His books have been translated into 14 languages so far his favorites are German, Polish, Dutch, and French. Although he cant read them, he enjoys the pictures a great deal.

Mark welcomes all comments about his books. You can reach him at mark@mlcbooks.com , or visit MLC Books Online, his Web site, at www.mlcbooks.com .

Dedication

This book is posthumously dedicated to my friend and teacher, LSU journalism professor Jim Featherston. Jim taught me everything I need to know now I can put ideas to paper.

Authors Acknowledgments

I find that writing the acknowledgments is always the easiest part of any book because theres never a shortage of material. I always have a big group to praise.

First, a well-earned round of thanks to my knowledgeable technical editor, Jim Kelly, who checked every word for accuracy (while enduring every bad joke and pun).

As with every book Ive written, Id like to thank my wife, Anne, and my children, Erin, Chelsea, and Rose, for their support and love and for letting me follow my dream!

Finally, I send my heartfelt appreciation to the hard-working editors at Wiley Publishing, Inc., who were responsible for the launch and completion of this new Do-It-Yourself edition it takes a ton of work to produce a completely new edition, and they did an incredible job. Thanks are due to my project editor, Mark Enochs, my copy editor, Teresa Artman, and my acquisitions editor, Bob Woerner. Theyre talented, dedicated people, and I count myself very lucky that I had their assistance for this project and many to come, I hope!