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Easy Projects Project 1, “Max Out Your Memory and Turbo-Charge It with ReadyBoost,” shows you how to increase the amount of RAM in your PC to the max—and then add an extra kick by using

PROJECTS

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About the Author

Guy Hart-Davis is the author of more than 40 computer books, including CNET

Do-It-Yourself iPod Projects, How to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Word 2007 , and How

to Do Everything with Microsoft Office Excel 2007

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This book is dedicated to my parents.

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Contents

Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xiii

Part 1 Easy Project 1 Max Out Your Memory and Turbo-Charge It with ReadyBoost 1

Project 2 Get the Fastest Possible Internet Connection 15

Project 3 Turn Your PC into a Free Phone 23

Project 4 Turn Your PC into a Video Phone 34

Part 1I Intermediate Project 5 Turn Your PC into a Media Center 45

Project 6 Learn to Work with Your PC’s BIOS 53

Project 7 Replace Your Hard Disk—or Add Another Hard Disk 65

Project 8 Set Up a Multimonitor Monster 79

Project 9 Build a Wired Network in Your Home 90

Project 10 Recover from Windows Disasters with Knoppix 105

Project 11 Modify Your PC’s Case 117

Project 12 Use Your PC as Your Home Theater 123

Project 13 Share Your Household’s Music and Movies Easily and Effectively 131

Project 14 Turn Your PC into a Recording Studio 147

For more information about this title, click here

Project 15 Record Music on Your PC 163

Project 16 Back Up and Restore Your Computer 176

Project 17 Create a Wireless Network 184

Project 18 Create an Ad Hoc Wireless Network 195

Project 19 Digitize Your Paper Documents 202

Part III Advanced Project 20 Seal Your Private Data in an Uncrackable Virtual Locker 213

Project 21 Stream TV to Your PC or Handheld Device Anywhere 226

Project 22 Silence Your PC or Build an Ultra-Quiet PC 239

Project 23 Run Other Operating Systems on Top of Windows 254

Project 24 Install Another Operating System Alongside Windows 266

Index 275 viii Contents

The days of tinkering with our cars are largely over, but we wouldn’t have time

anyway—the PC takes up our tinker time now! Instead of shade-tree ics, we are now a nation of computer upgraders Beefing up hard drives, RAM, and video cards has replaced carburetor tweaks and oil changes (And we’re a less greasy nation for it!)

mechan-McGraw-Hill and CNET have compiled the most asked-for upgrades in this very clear set of projects This may be one of the most essential titles in our series because it’s still a tricky world inside your PC case and, unlike working on a ’69 Ford, you can’t just figure out PC upgrades by looking at the parts

Some of this book’s projects are classic hardware jobs, like drive and memory grades or dual-monitor setups Others are more software oriented, like setting up your

up-PC as an IP phone or a living-room media center And some projects are almost more

of a user upgrade—the project on good practices and technology for backups fits that category!

You may also want to enjoy the hottest project in PCs today: virtualization The idea of running more than one operating system on a single computer has been catch-ing on in a big way Macs and PCs now run on the same CPUs, Linux operating sys-tems are desktop-friendly, and a certain détente has been reached that admits some operating systems are just better at some tasks than others Now the question, “Mac, Linux, or PC?” can often be answered, “Yes.”

One thing hasn’t changed and that’s the sharp metal edges inside your PC’s case!

So put on some gloves, open your machine, thumb ahead in this book, and get ready

to create a new PC out of your old one We promise, your nails will still be clean when you’re done

Brian Cooley CNET Editor-at-Large

ix

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Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank the following people for their help with this book:

Roger Stewart for developing the book and making it happen

Carly Stapleton for handling the acquisitions end of the book

Jennifer Kettell for reviewing the manuscript for technical accuracy and tributing many helpful suggestions

con-Bill McManus for editing the manuscript

Vasundhara Sawhney, Jean Bodeaux, and Janet Walden for coordinating the production of the book

International Typesetting and Composition for laying out the pages

WordCo Indexing Services for writing the index

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Introduction

PCs are amazing Every year, they become faster and their capabilities increase—

yet the prices keep coming down These days, most PCs come so loaded with features that many people never come to grips with some of the most useful ones.This book shows you how to make the most of your PC’s built-in features, from telephony to television, from networking to unbreakable encryption—and how to go far beyond them by adding further hardware and software to your PC

What Does This Book Cover?

This book contains three sections of projects Roughly speaking, the early projects are easy, and the later projects are harder

Some of the early projects are general and form a good basis for the other projects For example, the first two projects—increasing your PC’s memory, and getting the fast-est possible affordable Internet connection—are ones you may want to tackle before progressing to the other projects But if your PC is already fully loaded and hooked

up to a blazingly fast Internet connection, you’ll already be set to dive into the other projects

Most of the projects are independent, so you can tackle the projects that interest you in any order However, some of the projects depend on other projects For exam-ple, Project 14 shows you how to set up your PC for recording live audio (such as music you play), and Project 15 shows you how to perform the recording So if you want to work through Project 15, you’ll normally want to work through Project 14 first

Here’s a breakdown of the projects

Easy Projects

Project 1, “Max Out Your Memory and Turbo-Charge It with ReadyBoost,” shows you how to increase the amount of RAM in your PC to the max—and then add an extra kick by using Windows Vista rather than Windows XP, add an extra kick by using the ReadyBoost feature For most PCs, memory is the least expensive and most effective way of making Windows run faster, so unless your PC is already stuffed to the gills with memory, you’ll probably want to start here

Project 2, “Get the Fastest Possible Internet Connection,” explains your various options for Internet connections—depending on where you live and on how friendly your local utility companies choose to be If you’ve already got the fastest Internet

connection available, skip this project Otherwise, upgrade your Internet connection, and you’ll upgrade your entire computing experience.

Project 3, “Turn Your PC into a Free Phone,” demonstrates how to install the Skype software and use it to make free phone calls (you’ll need a headset, or speakers and

a microphone) You’ll find Skype easy to use and an easy way to save money on phone bills

Project 4, “Turn Your PC into a Video Phone,” shows you how to use Windows Live Messenger to make video calls on your PC As you’d imagine, you need a video camera and a broadband Internet connection to make calls Whoever you’re calling needs the same

Intermediate Projects

Project 5, “Turn Your PC into a Media Center,” explains how to add a TV tuner to your

PC so that you can use the Windows Media Center program included with Windows Vista Home Premium Edition and Windows Vista Ultimate Edition

Project 6, “Learn to Work with Your PC’s BIOS,” gets you started making changes

to the Basic Input/Output System that makes your PC tick The project walks you through booting your PC from the optical drive (as you’ll need to do for some of the other projects) and applying a BIOS password to protect your PC The essentials you learn in this project will enable you to make other BIOS changes when you need to.Project 7, “Replace Your Hard Disk—or Add Another Hard Disk,” covers the ways in which you can increase the amount of hard disk space on your PC If your

PC can contain only a single disk drive (as is the case with most laptops), you will need to replace the drive and install the operating system But if your PC can contain multiple hard drives, you can simply add one or more extra drives to supplement your existing drive

Project 8, “Set Up a Multimonitor Monster,” shows you how to increase the amount of screen real estate you have available for work or play Almost any PC—laptop or desktop—can run two monitors out of the box But if you need even more space to spread out your documents, read this project’s advice for ways to connect the maximum possible number of monitors

Project 9, “Build a Wired Network in Your Home,” explains how to choose working materials and tools, and then build a cabled network that connects all your PCs so that you can share data, devices, and your Internet connection Building a wired network throughout a home can be a major undertaking—but you will reap the benefits of the network for years

net-Project 10, “Recover from Windows Disasters with Knoppix,” teaches you to use the “live” Linux distribution called Knoppix to fix problems that prevent your PC from booting Windows successfully “Live” means that Knoppix boots and runs from your PC’s optical drive, which gives you a platform to attack problems on the hard drive that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to reach once problems have arisen.Project 11, “Modify Your PC’s Case,” gets you acquainted with the tools you need

if you’re planning to cut, gouge, or otherwise alter your PC’s case This project gives you two examples of case-mod tasks, one practical and the other esthetic

xiv Introduction

Introduction xv

Project 12, “Use Your PC as Your Home Theater,” shows you how to connect a Media Center PC to a TV or projector so that you can enjoy your media files on a wider screen, with others, or both

Project 13, “Share Your Household’s Music and Movies Easily and Effectively,” explains the best ways of sharing music and movies among the PCs in your house-hold You’ll learn how to share files via Windows Media Player and via iTunes—and even how to set up a media server for your household

Project 14, “Turn Your PC into a Recording Studio,” shows you how to set up your PC as a recording studio for your home You’ll learn how to prepare a room for recording and how to install and configure the software you need This project works with Project 15, so you’ll probably want to go through the two in turn

Project 15, “Record Music on Your PC,” carries on from Project 14 Now that you’ve set up your PC as a recording studio, it’s time to start recording audio This project shows you essential recording maneuvers, from laying down tracks to mix-ing them together and exporting a finished file, and gives you tips about achieving a polished and pleasing result

Project 16, “Back Up and Restore Your Computer,” shows you how to use the über-backup features included in Windows Vista Business Edition and Windows Vista Ultimate Edition to create a backup of either a full drive or your PC’s entire contents so that you can restore everything at once if things go wrong

Project 17, “Create a Wireless Network,” teaches you how to set up a wireless network based around an access point—the kind of wireless network you’ll want

to create for long-term use You’ll learn about the various competing standards for wireless networks, choose suitable equipment for your needs, and then set up the network

Project 18, “Create an Ad Hoc Wireless Network,” shows you how to set up a computer-to-computer wireless network that you can use to share files, devices, or your Internet connection temporarily If your PCs already have wireless network adapters built in, you’re all ready to set up a network; if not, you’ll need to add a wireless network adapter before you can begin

Project 19, “Digitize Your Paper Documents,” suggests strategies for getting rid of the heaps of paper that threaten to derail even the most determined digital lifestyle You’ll need a scanner to scan your documents, and perhaps a shredder to dispose se-curely of those you no longer want Beyond that, you’ll need a system for managing your documents so that you can easily locate the ones you need This project provides approaches that work for light numbers of documents, moderate numbers of docu-ments, and stacks-of-boxes-full quantities

Advanced Projects

Project 20, “Seal Your Private Data in an Uncrackable Virtual Locker,” explains how to use the encryption features built into Windows Vista Ultimate Edition to protect your important files against intrusion—even if someone else manages to get direct access

to your PC’s hard drive This project also steers you toward free encryption software you can use with versions of Windows that don’t have built-in encryption