How to Get New Computer Upgrades

Is your computer getting slow? Are you running out of room on your hard drive? Would you like a more powerful computer? Do you want a faster, better computer without having to spend all the money on a new computer? Then you should consider systematically upgrading your computer a piece at a time.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paperwork that came with your computer
• Access to free diagnostic software

Upgrading Your Computer

1. Determine what you want. Why do you want new upgrades? Is it because your computer is too slow? If so, when exactly is it having slowness issues, all the time or just when running very powerful programs? If it’s all the time, you may just want more memory. If it has trouble running new and powerful applications or games, you may want a better or faster processor. Are you running out of space for music? You may want to buy an additional hard drive.

2. Find out what you have. You can’t really do anything to get your new computer upgrades until you know what you have and what your computer can handle. Look at the paperwork that came with your computer to determine which hardware you have. If you have trouble finding out about your computer’s hardware, you can download free diagnostic software that will check your system for you and tell you what you have.

3. Once you know exactly what you have, you can research the capabilities of your equipment to determine what you can buy. If your motherboard only has the ability to handle 1 gigabyte of memory and you already have 1 gigabyte, you will need to upgrade your motherboard before you can get more memory.

4. Find out what you need. You know what you have and what you can add, but you need to find out exactly what you need. For instance, if your going to upgrade your memory, find out how much memory is suggested for the largest and most powerful application you plan on using. Then plan on getting more than what is suggested, to be ready for the next application that comes out.

5. Find the best place to buy your upgrades. You can buy off the Internet, in computer stores or at computer shows. Find the place that has the best prices, return policy, warranty and that is convenient for you. When buying computer upgrades it is very important that you can return something easily if it doesn’t work or if it doesn’t work with your computer.

6. Decide if upgrading is best. If all of your upgrades cost a lot of money, at some point it may be cheaper to buy a whole new computer. However, if you have very specific needs, you may not be able to find a new computer to fit your needs. In this case you may need to spend more for upgrades to get what you really need.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask a computer geek for help.
• If you're installing your own upgrades, be careful of static electricity.
• Never open your power supply.