Simple Computer Tune-up: Speed Up Your PC- P41 potx

Add a Surge Protector Did you know it is dangerous to plug your computer or other gadg-ets directly into an electrical outlet?. Plug your new surge protector into an available electrical

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INSTALLING PERIPHERALS

Half the fun of using a computer comes from its

accessories (usually referred to as “peripher-als”) such as printers, scanners, and digital cameras In case you decided to upgrade your PC after using CA’s PC Pitstop Optimize, this chapter is here to explain how to install and set up common peripherals and provides fixes for problems you might run into

Use Newer Gadgets

on Older PCs

To make a modern peripheral work on an outdated version of Windows such as 98 or ME, you need to install small pieces of software called “drivers” that tell Windows how to interact with the device Usually all peripherals come with an installation CD-ROM con-taining the proper drivers, but if you have lost this CD

or never received it (which often happens when you buy a used peripheral from a place like eBay), you will need to download the drivers

1. Open your web browser and visit the manu-facturer’s website

2. Find the section of the site either labeled Support or Downloads, and search for infor-mation about drivers

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3. You probably will need to know the make and model of your product (so you may need to look on its exterior for that information)

4. Find the drivers that are designed to work with your ver-sion of Windows Usually, the downloads will come in the form of an executable program If so, download the exe-cutable to a folder on your computer that you can easily locate

5. Double-click the executable to begin the installation of the drivers

6. Try connecting your product again

Add a Surge Protector

Did you know it is dangerous to plug your computer or other gadg-ets directly into an electrical outlet? A thunderstorm or power surge can send intense bursts of electricity racing through the power lines

in your home or office These bursts can travel into your computer and fry it — or even worse, they can cause your computer to catch fire, which in turn could ignite the rest of your building To prevent this from happening, use a device known as a surge protector

Note

Not all surge protectors provide the same protection Generally, the more expensive one is, the better protection it offers

1. Properly shut down your PC and other equipment

2. Unplug your PC and related equipment from the power strip or electrical outlet to which they are currently con-nected

3. Plug your new surge protector into an available electrical outlet

4. Plug your PC and other equipment into the outlets on the surge protector (see Figure 14-1)

5. Most surge protectors have an On/Off switch Make sure this switch is set to the On position (which usually causes a light to turn on)

6. Turn on your computer and peripherals and use them as you normally would

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Figure 14-1: Plugging into a surge protector

Add a Battery Backup

A battery backup (also known as an uninterruptible power supply) is

a device that not only serves as a surge protector, but also has a large battery that provides emergency electricity during a power outage or brown-out Originally, battery backups were designed only to provide

a few minutes of power — just enough to save your open computer files and safely shut down your computer — but modern ones can often supply an hour or more

1. Properly shut down your PC and other equipment

2. Unplug your PC and related equipment from the power strip or electrical outlet to which they are currently con-nected

3. Plug your new battery backup into an available electrical outlet

4. Plug your PC and other equipment into the battery backup’s outlets Keep in mind that most battery backups have only a few outlets that connect to the backup system, while the others are just regular or surge-protected outlets

5. Nearly every battery backup has an On/Off switch Make sure this switch is set to the On position (which usually causes a light to turn on)

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Add a USB Hub

If you have a lot of USB devices to connect to your computer but not enough USB ports, you can add more by installing a USB hub Basically a hub is a small box that plugs into a single USB port on your computer On the hub are usually between two and six USB ports Instead of reaching around the back of your computer to plug

in a USB device such as a digital camera, you can simply plug that device directly into the hub Here’s how to install a hub:

Note

If your computer supports high-speed USB 2.0 devices, be sure to buy

a hub that also handles USB 2.0

1. Most USB hubs have a USB cable built into them If that is the case with your hub, connect the cable to an available USB port on your computer If your hub has a detachable USB cable, plug one end into the hub and the other end into an available USB port on your computer

2. Most USB hubs do not have a separate power cord, because they receive electricity through the USB cable

However, if your hub has a separate power cord, connect the appropriate end into the hub and the other end into an electrical outlet

3. Plug your USB devices into the hub (see Figure 14-2)

Figure 14-2: Example of a USB hub

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