"Generally, putting together a system is a fairly straightforward and painless process. The key is to do a little preparation before you start opening boxes and plugging in devices. To make your assembly go smoothly, you'll need to have some things on hand before you start. And preparing the area in which you'll be setting up your system helps quite a bit as well.
Things You'll Need Checklist
You may not need everything on this list, depending on the type of system you're assembling and where you'll be setting it up, but odds are that you'll need most of them. They are items you probably have handy, but one or two things on the list might have to be pick up before you start unpacking your PC.
- Flashlight - You may not realize it, but it's dark under your
desk. When installing a tower chassis on the floor, you usually
wind up trying to plug cables into the back of the chassis one-
handed while lying on the floor. A flashlight can make this chore
a bit easier.
- Screwdrivers - If you get a tools-free case, you may not need a
screwdriver to pop open the chassis, but it's a good bet you'll
need one at some point. As long as you're gathering up tools, get
both a flathead screwdriver (the slotted-blade type) and a
Phillips head screwdriver (the crosshead type).
- Manila Folder - Every invoice, packing slip, and loose sheet of
paper goes here. Also, your original shopping list, your notes,
and anything related to your purchase of this computer system goes
into the folder.
- Notebook - A plain 79-cent spiral-bound 8 1/2- by 11-inch college
ruled notebook is all you need (well maybe a pen too). This is
going to become your System Journal, in which you'll record
anything that happens during setup and configuration of your
system (both here and in Chapter 5). This notebook will stay with
your system from here on out; every glitch and crash gets recorded
here, as we'll discuss later in this book. By keeping a record of
what's going on with your system, you can see patterns in its
behavior. These patterns can clue you in to potential problems
that may be developing.
- Surge Suppressors - This includes the power strips used to plug in
the external modem, the speakers, your desk lamp, the fan on your
desk, the radio, the coffee warmer, and so on. In other words, all
the electrical flotsam and jetsam that seems to collect in your
office will be plugged in here. The computer and monitor also
require the protection afforded by a surge suppressor, although
more and more people are opting to go with an uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) for these two key components a trend we
heartily agree with.
- Cable Ties - It's amazing, but have you noticed that computers
displayed on TV and in magazine ads don't seem to need cables to
connect them to anything? Our computers always have a dozen or so
cables snaking every which way. And it seems that cables come in
only two sizes: too long and way too short. It's an unwritten rule
(a corollary of Butler's Law of Assembly, naturally) that when you
replace a cable that is too short, the replacement cable will
invariably be too long. So stock up on some cable ties (either the
nice nylon ones you can buy at your local computer supply store or
even the plain plastic-coated twist-tie variety that come with
large trash bags). This way, you can coil the excess cable footage
and tie it off, preferably somewhere where the coil won't hinder
you from vacuuming up the enormous dust bunnies that will
invariably collect on coil.
- Largish Plastic Box - This may be the single most important thing your new system needs. This box should be about double the size of a large shoe box. We favor the Rubbermaid brand of plastic containers, about 12 inches wide and 16 inches long and 8 inches deep. Into this box goes every disk, manual, CD-ROM, and license, and any other leftover parts, screws, cables, twist ties in short, the works! This box is used only for things related to the computer you are currently assembling. What we're trying to get across here is that everything goes in the box. Call it your "New computer Emergency catchAll Trunk," or NEAT for short. If you set up another computer, you get another separate NEAT box for that system. Label this box with the name of the computer or its brand and model number.
There are a number of miscellaneous things you may want to consider as well. If a printer is part of your assembly project, find out whether it comes with a toner cartridge (most do, but you should check anyway). Make sure that you have some paper to test your printer. Having a music CD on hand lets you test your CD-ROM drive's music-playing capability, as well as your speakers. You'll also want some blank 1.44MB floppy disks on hand for creating emergency startup disks and labels for same. This covers nearly everything you'll need for installing a preconfigured PC, new from the factory.
Bright Idea A lot of the gizmos you want to plug into your power strip have huge bricklike power blocks built into the end of the power cord. This is bad because traditional strips have their receptacles aligned so that the brick covers the maximum number of plugs, thereby rendering two or three adjacent plugs useless. The hot tip is to get power strips that have the receptacles rotated 90 degrees, or get a couple of very short three-prong extension cords and plug the brick into the extension cord and the cord into the power strip."
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0789717972/tnpcnewsletter/
