www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,109379,pg,2,00.asp
It's Watts You Need How many watts does your system use? Some PCs are power-hungry beasts, especially if you've added a second hard drive, a CD-RW drive, more memory, or other extra hardware to your system's original configuration. To calculate your computer's wattage needs, add up the individual wattage requirements for all its components, including the motherboard, expansion cards, optical drives, and hard drives.
FIGURE 2 lists the typical wattage values for common PC components. Once you have a total for your PC, add a 30 percent safety factor--multiply your calculated wattage by 13 Make certain the UPS you buy is capable of providing this level of power to your system for a minimum of 6 or 7 minutes. And while you're calculating wattages, confirm that your PC's power supply is capable of providing sufficient wattage to your PC. With luck, the power supply's wattage rating is indicated on the back of your PC.
Note that many power supplies include their maximum wattage in their names, such as the pictured PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 ATX-PFC, which is rated to 510 watts. An overwhelmed power supply may not be able to keep adequate current flowing to your PC's components, and that can mean error messages, strange behavior, or even system shutdowns. But instead of those obvious signs of trouble, an overworked power supply may just pump extra heat into your PC, speeding up the system's aging process and pushing your PC's components to an early demise. If you suspect your power supply may be about to give up the ghost, replace it.
PC Power and Cooling is a good source for quality power supplies. Here are common power-problem warning signs: A dead PC: You flip the power switch and get nothing--no fan noise, no hard disk noise, and no image. If your PC is plugged in and the wall socket is live, you probably need a new power supply. No fan noise: If your power supply's fan stops, check for obstructions like dust or paper. If it won't start, replace your power supply immediately. The smell of smoke: If a burning odor is coming from your system, there's a good chance it's your power supply. If the cause isn't obvious, shut the PC down, wait several minutes, and then restart. Noisy hard disk but no picture: If this happens when your PC isn't in a power-saving mode, electricity may be reaching the hard disk but not the motherboard. Check inside your case to see if the power connector attached to the motherboard is loose. Otherwise, you may need a new power supply--or a new motherboard.
Maintenance/Management, Tips It's Watts You Need How many watts does your system use? Some PCs are power-hungry beasts, especially if you've added a second hard drive, a CD-RW drive, more memory, or other extra hardware to your system's original configuration. To calculate your computer's wattage needs, add up the individual wattage requirements for all its components, including the motherboard, expansion cards, optical drives, and hard drives.
FIGURE 2 lists the typical wattage values for common PC components. Once you have a total for your PC, add a 30 percent safety factor--multiply your calculated wattage by 13 Make certain the UPS you buy is capable of providing this level of power to your system for a minimum of 6 or 7 minutes. And while you're calculating wattages, confirm that your PC's power supply is capable of providing sufficient wattage to your PC. With luck, the power supply's wattage rating is indicated on the back of your PC.
Note that many power supplies include their maximum wattage in their names, such as the pictured PC Power and Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 ATX-PFC, which is rated to 510 watts. An overwhelmed power supply may not be able to keep adequate current flowing to your PC's components, and that can mean error messages, strange behavior, or even system shutdowns. But instead of those obvious signs of trouble, an overworked power supply may just pump extra heat into your PC, speeding up the system's aging process and pushing your PC's components to an early demise. If you suspect your power supply may be about to give up the ghost, replace it.
PC Power and Cooling is a good source for quality power supplies. Here are common power-problem warning signs: A dead PC: You flip the power switch and get nothing--no fan noise, no hard disk noise, and no image. If your PC is plugged in and the wall socket is live, you probably need a new power supply. No fan noise: If your power supply's fan stops, check for obstructions like dust or paper. If it won't start, replace your power supply immediately. The smell of smoke: If a burning odor is coming from your system, there's a good chance it's your power supply. If the cause isn't obvious, shut the PC down, wait several minutes, and then restart. Noisy hard disk but no picture: If this happens when your PC isn't in a power-saving mode, electricity may be reaching the hard disk but not the motherboard. Check inside your case to see if the power connector attached to the motherboard is loose. Otherwise, you may need a new power supply--or a new motherboard.
I just bought a new CD-RW drive, and I've found that my original CD-ROM drive won't read some of the CD-R and all of the CD-RW discs I've burned. Ian Moore, Pensacola, Florida This isn't a problem with your settings; CD-RW discs reflect only a fraction of the light that standard CD-ROM or CD-R discs reflect, and all but the latest CD-ROM drives lack the sensitivity to accurately read them. Chances are, your current CD-ROM drive isn't up to the task. And unfortunately, neither are most people's CD-ROM drives, so don't count on using CD-RW discs as a means of passing data to others unless they too have a CD-RW drive. CD-R discs are easier to read than CD-RW discs, and many CD-ROM drives can read them easily. CD-R discs are still far more delicate than your garden-variety CD-ROM disc. Rough handling and excessive exposure to heat or sunlight can quickly render a CD-R disc useless, whether blank or filled with data. Some CD-ROM drives work better with certain brands of CD-R media. It used to be that discs made with a gold reflective coating (but not necessarily with a gold color) were of higher quality than discs using other reflective coatings, but this is no longer the case. There's no surefire way to determine what brand of CD-R will work with a given CD-ROM drive. You'll usually have fewer problems reading recorded optical media with a CD-ROM drive made by a first-tier vendor such as Plextor or Hitachi. Check with the manufacturer of your CD-ROM drive or system for a recommended brand of CD-R media. In the end, however, finding what works best with your CD-ROM drive is a matter of trial and error, so don't buy a giant spindle of blank media until you've run a few test burns.
Maintenance/Management, Tips Keep System Files Handy If you're lucky, you'll never need to use your Windows CD-ROM. But if you ever have to add or reinstall hardware, or replace a corrupted system file, that disc is essential--and if you don't have it handy, you can end up wasting lots of time. cab files (compressed Windows files) from your Windows CD to a folder on your hard drive. Then in the future, when Windows asks you for the Windows CD, just point it to that folder.
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