Improvements that can be made to a computer system, costs and benefits (D2)

In order to improve your computers performance adding additional components or replacing existing ones can greatly boost the computers output speeds. This can be done by using hardware or Software an example of each would be to introduce a new graphics card this is hardware or installing improved, newer versions or drivers for your hardware this is known as Software.

CPU

It is difficult to change or upgrade your CPU as there are limited types and only a particular type fits into certain systems. Because of this disadvantage it is best to spend more money on buying a system that has a fast speed CPU to start with.

There are plenty of reasons for doing this one of these is with a greater speed of CPU your computer can handle more calculation per second and handle a great amount of information. Due to the increased speed with high performance computers you can also render images to a higher standard as your computer will figure out the pixel placing quicker.

CPUs can cost a lot of money it is possibly a better idea to just buy a new system whole as the increased CPU will also bring its own Upgraded hardware and software that the new system has to offer, for the new CPU you’re looking at around £140-160 for a decent spec. the system would be around 400-500 but in the long run you’re going to gain a lot better experience.

Graphics card

Installing a graphics card into one of your available PCI slots will improve your computers graphics output greatly, this piece of hardware relieves the RAM of it the job needed to render Graphics, and adds more detail and higher quality images.

Due to the relief of the RAM you will also experience better performance because it won’t be taken up doing other jobs. The costs of a new Graphics card 1gig+ dedicated RAM is recommended, is around £30-50, however it is definitely worth the upgrade.

RAM

The RAM of your computer can determine the overall speed and performance of the computer and comes in hand with the CPU really, without a decent RAM A fast CPU would be useless and visa versa. Benefits of upgrading your RAM are widely noticeable, your system will start up quicker, the programs will be able to run faster, and will also allow for hefty software packages to install without crashing.

There are a few different types of RAM which you must remember when you’re buying a new Stick for instance if your computer uses DDR3 and you’re currently running at 2gig RAM you can double this buy buying one new stick, no need to throw away the old one, this will cost you no more than £15-25, this will allow your computer to run at double the speed it is currently.

Hard drive

Another improvement to make could be to upgrade the hard drive. The hard drives main purpose is to store the systems operating system and any files you save on your computer. This will allow you to store more Media files etc. more programs and software.

-          Music

-          Videos

-          Images

-          Videogames

When you’re old hard drive reaches its limit, you can upgrade to a new hard drive, and these are cheap considering what they offer. A 2TB hard drive allows you to store tonnes more media files and/or important work documents for only £55-150.

In conclusion

It is certainly worth upgrading your system in specific areas, the costs can be high but you will definitely notice a difference In the performance of your system. You can often Double the speed your computer runs at with under £100.

Upgrading the Hard drive, Graphics card and RAM are advised but the CPU is best left and upgraded with each purchase of a new computer.

How the configurations in P6 made the system more appropriate for a specific purpose

When setting up your system It is important to set it up in order to best cater to the specified needs of yours customers or client. Some other ways you can do this are as follows.

Left and right click mouse buttons

Some clients may be left handed which could mean they prefer their computer to be configured with the left and right clicks on the opposite because they use their mouse on the opposite side. Similarly if your client is disabled and is only able to use their left hand rather than their right you can configure the computer to help them.

Changing screen resolution

If the user has impaired sight or difficulty reading it would be a good idea to change the resolution of the screen to something larger to help them. When you change the screen resolution this increases the size of the images on the screen to a higher pixel size. However depending on your computers monitor size you will need to adapt the resolution to best suit it to get the best out of the experience and performance.

Changing computer themes

If your client has difficulty with visibility you can change your computers themes to high contrasting colours to help with sight. Also if your client is colour blind you can assemble the computer using colours which they can see easier. This is done to further increase the experience for the client.

Power saving settings

If your client is after a high performance you will be stretched when choosing your power settings however it is rare that your client will need a huge amount of power. You can easily set up the power settings to a low, power preserving state. This will increase overall battery life or power usage.

Setting up the system

Setting the left and right click functions to fit the needs of the client. (P6)

Some clients may be left handed which could mean they prefer their computer to be configured with the left and right clicks on the opposite because they use their mouse on the opposite side.

Step 1 Open Control panel from the start menu shown in figure 1.

Step 2 Select “printer and other hardware”. And inside this menu select “Mouse”

Step 3 in the new window that opens under the “button configuration” section Click “Switch primary and secondary buttons this means the click buttons have been switched around, once you have clicked this your buttons automatically switch so to unclick it use the mouse as if it were the other way around.

Changing screen resolution to suit the specification provided by client.

If the user has impaired sight or difficulty reading it would be a good idea to change the resolution of the screen to something larger to help them.

 

Step 1 Open control panel and select “appearances and themes”

Step 2 Select “Change computer’s theme” or “Display” this will bring up the “display Properties” from here you can change the Screen resolution settings by opening the last tab, Settings shown in fig 6.

Changing the theme of the computer to meet the requirements from you client.

If your client has difficulty with visibility you can change your computers themes to high contrasting colours to help with sight. Below are the steps taken to do this:

Step 1 Go to control panel and select the “appearances and themes” option.

Step 2 Once again as with before, open either “change themes” or “display settings” this will open a window which give you a number of tabs, Select the appropriate tab “themes”.

Step 3 there is a drop down menu located just beneath the Tab buttons and this should say “windows XP” as windows XP is the default theme upon clicking the drop down you can change it to a number of other variations.

Undertaking routine maintenance on a standalone computer system. (P8)

Backup media files

It is important to backup your files in case anything happens to compromise security and privacy of your data. This can be done very simply, and I will explain exactly how on the Windows XP Operating system.

Step 1 Click the Start menu and hover over the “all programs” button, now scroll along and up to the “Accessories” menu > “System tools” > “Backup” this will open the Backup wizard.

Step 2 The wizard will explain what it does, click next the wizard will then ask you what you would like to do, select “backup files and settings”.

Step 3 Now the wizard will ask you what it is you want to backup media is generally located in the Documents so select “Documents” from these options

Step 4 now you will be asked where you would like to backup the files to, depending on the size of your data, it is probably best to backup to an external hard drive or set of CDs.

Step 5 Now that you have made all of your settings for the backup, make sure they are correct and Click “Finish” this will start the backup. When it is finished you will be notified.

Disc De-fragmentation

It is important to de-fragment the computers hard drive because when files are saved they are saved in a random place on the hard drive for instance, one file could in a folder could be saved on the most inside part of the hard drive and another file next to it could be on the outside of the disk meaning if you access the both your hard drive is having to move a lot more than necessary to access them both, if you are accessing different files and different times it could cause your hard drive to slow down, what the defragmenter does is place them all next to each other with no gaps, meaning it’s less likely to put strain on your hard drive. Doing this is quite simple however it may take a long time if you have a full hard drive.

go to the start menu and hover over “All programs” > Accessories > System tools > Click Disk De-fragment this will cause the disk de-fragment to run, it will ask which drive you want to de-fragment and all you have to do is click “start” shown in the picture.

Deleting Temporary files

There are numerous reasons why deleting your temporary files is a good idea. For example your Folder can get very large, if you want to access it on windows XP search for “C:\WINDOWS\Temp”. Here is a way to delete the temporary files:

Step 1 Click the start menu and hover over all programs > accessories > system tools > Click on Disk Clean-up. The program will run and ask which of the Drives you wish to clean-up; default will be your main drive with the OS on it. Click ok.

Step 2 the picture shows the menu you will be given in a small window; make sure nothing else is ticked other than “Temporary Files” then proceed (clicking ok). The systems will then ask whether you are sure, click yes.