Repairing and Upgrading Your PC

General Procedures

With the hand tools and utilities described in the preceding sections, you have everything you need to upgrade or repair a PC except for the new components. Before you start, take a few minutes to read through the following sections, which describe the common procedures and general knowledge you need to work on PCs. These sections describe the common tasks involved in working on a PC—things like opening the case, setting jumpers, manipulating cables, and adding or removing expansion cards. Instructions for specific tasks like replacing a motherboard, disk drive, or power supply are given in the relevant chapter.

Wallets Aren't Just for Money Anymore

The best way we've found to organize and protect CDs and DVDs is to lose the jewel cases and store them—or, better still, copies of them—in one of those zippered vinyl or Cordura disc wallets you can buy for a few dollars at Wal-Mart or Best Buy. These wallets use plastic or Tyvek sleeves to protect the discs, hold from half a dozen to several dozen discs, and make it easy to find the one you want. If the disc has a serial number or activation key on the original jewel case, make sure to record it on the CD, using a soft permanent marker on the label side. It's also a good idea to record the serial number or initialization (init) key on the disc sleeve or a small card so that the number is accessible when the disc is already in the drive.

We stock one of these wallets with essential discs—Windows and Linux distribution ...