| Introduction |
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1 | (1) |
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1 | (3) |
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It just plain costs less to build your own PC! |
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1 | (1) |
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Exercise your freedom of choice! |
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2 | (1) |
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Enjoy the learning experience |
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2 | (1) |
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Spare yourself the shipping and repair hassles |
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2 | (1) |
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Dodge bundled software costs and get what you want |
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3 | (1) |
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Avoid the computer sales experience |
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3 | (1) |
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Select the brands that you prefer |
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3 | (1) |
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4 | (1) |
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Conventions Used in This Book |
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4 | (1) |
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5 | (1) |
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5 | (1) |
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How This Book Is Organized |
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6 | (1) |
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Preparations and Planning |
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6 | (1) |
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6 | (1) |
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6 | (1) |
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7 | (1) |
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7 | (1) |
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Appendixes: About the DVD and the PC Builder's Glossary |
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7 | (1) |
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7 | (1) |
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8 | (1) |
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Part I: Preparations and Planning |
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9 | (30) |
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A Screwdriver Is All You Need |
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11 | (12) |
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12 | (3) |
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Building a better computer |
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12 | (2) |
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The primary, number-one, all-important, absolutely necessary, required rule |
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14 | (1) |
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The other primary, number-one, all-important, absolutely necessary, required rule |
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15 | (1) |
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PCs Are Built with Standard Parts |
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15 | (1) |
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Introducing the Major Parts |
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15 | (5) |
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15 | (2) |
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17 | (1) |
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18 | (1) |
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18 | (1) |
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19 | (1) |
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20 | (1) |
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Connecting Your Computer Components |
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20 | (3) |
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What Type of PC Should I Build? |
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23 | (16) |
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Interrogating Yourself on Your Computer Needs |
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23 | (2) |
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Answering Your Computer-Needs Questions |
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25 | (3) |
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Design 1: The Jack Benny economy class |
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25 | (1) |
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Design 2: The Cunningham family edition |
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26 | (1) |
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Design 3: The Wayne Manor Batcomputer |
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27 | (1) |
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Getting Your Hands on the Special Stuff |
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28 | (4) |
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Drafting, graphics, and pretty pictures |
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29 | (1) |
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Home-office and small-business stuff |
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30 | (1) |
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Mozart's musical computer |
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30 | (1) |
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The ultimate bad-guy blasting box |
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31 | (1) |
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32 | (4) |
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Researching before you buy |
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32 | (1) |
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33 | (1) |
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34 | (2) |
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Choosing an Operating System |
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36 | (1) |
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37 | (2) |
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Part II: Assembling the Basics |
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39 | (112) |
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Building the Foundation: The Case and Motherboard |
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41 | (20) |
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41 | (5) |
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Space-saver cases: Pizza box and shoe box |
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42 | (2) |
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44 | (1) |
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45 | (1) |
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Other Case Considerations |
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46 | (2) |
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Feeding power to your computer |
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46 | (1) |
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Keeping your computer cool |
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46 | (1) |
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Buttons, lights, and other foolishness |
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47 | (1) |
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Your Motherboard Is Your Best Friend |
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48 | (3) |
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48 | (1) |
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49 | (2) |
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51 | (10) |
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52 | (2) |
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Installing Your Motherboard |
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54 | (3) |
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Connecting the Power Supply |
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57 | (1) |
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Connecting Lights, Switches, and the Speaker |
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58 | (3) |
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A Bag of Chips: Adding RAM and a CPU |
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61 | (16) |
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62 | (3) |
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Family PC choices: Intel Celeron and AMD Sempron processors |
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63 | (1) |
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The Cunningham model: Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD Athlon 64 X2 processors |
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64 | (1) |
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Power user: Intel Core 2 Quad and AMD Phenom series processors |
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64 | (1) |
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65 | (1) |
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66 | (11) |
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67 | (3) |
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Installing Your Fan and Heatsink |
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70 | (2) |
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72 | (2) |
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74 | (3) |
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Installing Your Ports, Mouse, and Keyboard |
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77 | (16) |
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Pursuing Your Port Preferences |
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77 | (5) |
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82 | (3) |
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82 | (1) |
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83 | (2) |
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Check It Once, and Check It Twice! |
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85 | (1) |
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85 | (8) |
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Installing a Port Adapter Card |
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86 | (3) |
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Connecting Built-In Ports |
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89 | (2) |
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91 | (1) |
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Installing a Non-USB Mouse (Or Other Pointing Thing) |
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92 | (1) |
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93 | (22) |
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93 | (7) |
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Full speed ahead with accelerated graphics |
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94 | (1) |
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Will 3-D video transform my entire existence? |
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95 | (1) |
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95 | (2) |
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What's the bill, and what else do I need? |
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97 | (3) |
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Hey, I Can Get TV on My PC! |
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100 | (1) |
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Time to Meet Your Bus Slots |
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101 | (1) |
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Staking Out Your Visual Territory |
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102 | (3) |
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Deciphering monitor sizes and shapes (and choosing the one for you) |
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102 | (1) |
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What else makes a great monitor? |
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103 | (2) |
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105 | (10) |
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Installing Your Video Card |
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106 | (3) |
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Installing Your TV Tuner Card |
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109 | (3) |
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112 | (2) |
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114 | (1) |
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Installing Your Hard Drive and Other Storage Devices |
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115 | (20) |
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Choosing Betwixt Hard Drive Technologies |
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116 | (4) |
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Enhanced IDE (EIDE) hard drives |
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116 | (1) |
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117 | (1) |
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Comparing EIDE and SATA hard drives |
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118 | (1) |
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More stuff about hard drives |
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119 | (1) |
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The Ancient Floppy Still Lives |
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120 | (1) |
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Don't Forget Your Controller Card |
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120 | (1) |
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Hey, You Just Removed Your Media! |
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121 | (1) |
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Do you really need removable storage, or are you just fascinated by toys? |
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121 | (1) |
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The Flash drive: Small but spacious |
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122 | (1) |
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122 | (1) |
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122 | (13) |
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Connecting Your Drive Controller |
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123 | (2) |
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Installing an EIDE Hard Drive |
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125 | (3) |
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Installing a SATA Hard Drive |
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128 | (1) |
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Installing Your 3 1/2-inch Floppy Disk Drive |
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129 | (3) |
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Configuring Your PC and Hard Drive |
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132 | (2) |
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Formatting Your Hard Drive |
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134 | (1) |
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Choosing and Installing an Operating System |
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135 | (16) |
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Become Your Own Consultant! |
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135 | (2) |
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The Straight Talk on Vista |
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137 | (1) |
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Linux: It's Not Just for Techno-nerds! |
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138 | (2) |
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Before You Install Your Operating System |
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140 | (2) |
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Even People Like You and Me Need Internet Security |
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142 | (9) |
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143 | (4) |
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147 | (4) |
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Part III: Adding the Fun Stuff |
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151 | (56) |
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Installing an Optical Drive |
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153 | (16) |
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Discovering the Details about DVD and Blu-Ray |
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153 | (2) |
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What You Need to Know about Optical Recorders |
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155 | (4) |
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The great disc speed myth |
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156 | (1) |
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Other read-only disc drive features to covet |
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157 | (2) |
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What You Need to Know about DVD and Blu-ray |
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159 | (1) |
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Choosing an Internal or an External DVD Drive |
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160 | (2) |
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160 | (1) |
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161 | (1) |
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162 | (7) |
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Installing an EIDE Optical Drive |
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163 | (4) |
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167 | (2) |
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169 | (18) |
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Sorting Out Sound Card Basics |
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169 | (4) |
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169 | (1) |
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170 | (1) |
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Don't forget the software part! |
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170 | (2) |
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Why do I need 3-D for my ears? |
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172 | (1) |
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''Send help! I'm surrounded by sound!'' |
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172 | (1) |
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MP3 fanatics, pay attention! |
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173 | (1) |
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Uhh Is This Microphone On? |
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173 | (2) |
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175 | (2) |
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The Subwoofer: Big Dog of Computer Speakers |
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177 | (1) |
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177 | (10) |
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Installing Your Sound Card |
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178 | (3) |
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181 | (2) |
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Testing Your Sound System |
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183 | (2) |
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185 | (2) |
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Modems and the Call of Broadband |
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187 | (20) |
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Figuring Out Whether You Need Broadband |
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188 | (3) |
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Figuring Out Those Connection Charges |
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191 | (1) |
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Locating an Internet Service Provider |
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192 | (1) |
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A Modem Primer for Real People |
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193 | (1) |
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The whole speed thing explained |
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193 | (1) |
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Will That Be a Card or a Case? |
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194 | (1) |
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195 | (1) |
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Why Share Your Internet Connection? |
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196 | (1) |
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197 | (10) |
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197 | (1) |
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198 | (2) |
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Installing an Internal Modem |
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200 | (2) |
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Installing an External USB Modem |
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202 | (2) |
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Sharing an Internet Connection through Software |
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204 | (2) |
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Sharing an Internet Connection through Hardware |
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206 | (1) |
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Part IV: Advanced PC Options |
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207 | (42) |
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So You Want to Add a LAN? |
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209 | (14) |
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Adding the Network Advantage |
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209 | (2) |
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210 | (1) |
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210 | (1) |
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210 | (1) |
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210 | (1) |
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211 | (2) |
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Comparing client-server and peer-to-peer networks |
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211 | (2) |
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Collecting What You Need for an Ethernet Network |
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213 | (2) |
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More stuff about network interface cards |
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214 | (1) |
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More stuff about cables and connections |
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214 | (1) |
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There Are Always Exceptions! |
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215 | (8) |
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Use your telephone wiring |
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215 | (1) |
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216 | (1) |
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216 | (1) |
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216 | (2) |
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Installing Your Network Interface Card |
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218 | (2) |
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220 | (3) |
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Input and Output: Scanners, Cameras, and Printers |
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223 | (12) |
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The Wide, Wonderful World of Scanners |
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223 | (1) |
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Recognizing scanners in the wild |
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224 | (3) |
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226 | (1) |
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Resolving the right resolution |
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227 | (1) |
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227 | (2) |
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One Word: Printers, Printers, Printers! |
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229 | (6) |
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Will that be laser or inkjet? |
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230 | (1) |
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Advantages of inkjet printers |
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230 | (1) |
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Advantages of laser printers |
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231 | (1) |
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Installing a Scanner or Printer with a USB Connection |
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232 | (3) |
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235 | (14) |
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Exotic Video Card Stuff Explained |
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235 | (3) |
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235 | (1) |
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236 | (1) |
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236 | (2) |
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Running multiple cards with SLI |
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238 | (1) |
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You Gotta Have Fans and Heatsinks |
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238 | (3) |
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241 | (1) |
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242 | (2) |
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244 | (1) |
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Will You Move the Joystick, or Will It Move You? |
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245 | (4) |
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Configuring SLI for Multiple Video Cards |
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247 | (2) |
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249 | (26) |
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Ten Tools and Tasks for a Power User's PC |
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251 | (6) |
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251 | (1) |
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252 | (1) |
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Back Up, Back Up, Back Up |
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253 | (1) |
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Diagnostics Software to the Rescue |
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253 | (1) |
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Stick Your Keyboard in a Drawer! |
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254 | (1) |
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Stop the Spread of Viruses |
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254 | (1) |
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255 | (1) |
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Use the Power of Your Voice |
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255 | (1) |
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Everyone Needs a Good Image Editor |
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256 | (1) |
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256 | (1) |
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Ten Important Assembly Tips |
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257 | (6) |
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Read the Instructions First! (Rule Number One) |
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257 | (1) |
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Build the Perfect Workspace |
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257 | (2) |
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Keep Track of UTOs (Unidentified Tiny Objects) |
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259 | (1) |
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Make Sure That You Have Everything You Need |
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259 | (1) |
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Yell for Help If Necessary |
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259 | (1) |
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Use a Magnetic Screwdriver |
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260 | (1) |
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260 | (1) |
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Take Your Time: The Zen of Assembly |
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261 | (1) |
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Don't Cover Up Too Quickly |
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261 | (1) |
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The Cable Rule: Check and Double-Check |
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261 | (2) |
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Ten Ways to Maintain Your PC |
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263 | (6) |
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Defragment Your Hard Drive |
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263 | (1) |
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Get Connected with the Speediest Data Transfers |
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264 | (1) |
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Keep Your Backgrounds Plain |
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264 | (1) |
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264 | (2) |
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Keep Your Drivers Updated |
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266 | (1) |
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266 | (1) |
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Check Your Drives for Errors |
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266 | (1) |
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267 | (1) |
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Maintain Your System Registry |
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268 | (1) |
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268 | (1) |
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Ten PC Pitfalls to Avoid Like the Plague |
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269 | (6) |
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It's ''Refurbished'' for a Reason |
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269 | (1) |
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Looking for an Antique? Buy a Pentium 4 CPU |
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270 | (1) |
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270 | (1) |
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Help Stamp Out Unnecessary Passwords! |
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271 | (1) |
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Honor Thy Neighbor's Copyright |
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271 | (1) |
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Your PC Is Not a Kindergarten |
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272 | (1) |
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Don't Jump on the Pirate Ship |
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272 | (1) |
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Keep Your Mitts Away from Monitors and Power Supplies |
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272 | (1) |
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Don't Lease a PC for the Long Haul |
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273 | (1) |
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Avoid Older Versions of PC Software |
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273 | (2) |
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275 | (14) |
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Appendix A: About the DVD |
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277 | (2) |
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277 | (1) |
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277 | (1) |
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What You'll Find on the DVD |
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278 | (1) |
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278 | (1) |
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278 | (1) |
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Appendix B: The PC Builder's Glossary |
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279 | (10) |
| Index |
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289 | |
Lisainfo e-raamatute kohta