OT--Trufflette:
It's scary the first time you take the cover off your box, but once you understand how it works, it's pretty easy. I had a "crash" course on computer guts when, after returning from a trip out of state, I turned my computer on and the hard drive just wouldn't work. Gateway never could figure out what made it go bad (I was using two anti-virus programs), sent me another one, sent out a technician who couldn't get it to work and told me I had a bad a: (floppy drive). I've got a Pentium 120 that I was looking to upgrade at year end anyway, so I bought a 6.4 gig WD hard drive, a 56K modem, 64 more megs of memory, and a Pentium overdrive. By the time the Gateway replacement hard and floppy drives arrived and the on-site techs got out here (after having inexplicably cancelled an appointment), I had the old a: drive working (it wasn't bad; the first technician somehow corrupted its cable), the two new hard drives installed and set up properly (after upgrading my BIOS and formating the 6.4--the 1.6 from Gateway came configured), the additional memory installed (now got 80!), and the new modem installed. The Pentium Overdrive came from the mail order place with bent pins (I won't say which place) and I'm still waiting for the replacement.
Oh yeah, I forgot the best part: I installed the IDE ATAPI Zip as well!!! The whole experience led to my post to you and Reseller earlier this month on the wisdom of working with a local computer reseller....
All of this is a long way of saying that in a relatively short period of time I have learned that computer guts plug in and plug out and that you can do it. Prior to this experience, I was scared to death of what was inside the box. Heck, I'm ready now to install the SCSI card for when the Jaz insiders drop to under $200 new!
Another suggestion: if you go to a local computer storefront operation (as opposed to some place like BestBuy, CompUSA, or Computer City, you might pay $5 more for the additional parallel port, but they'll tell you/show you what you need to do. Most of the places I've gone into have old boxes opened up with the guts exposed.
Good luck, hope this helps.... |
