January 20, 2009
Happy New Year! Welcome to this edition of The Computer Builder. In this issue, we'll be talking about the good ol' power supply unit in your PC. We also take a look at how to boost the speed of the Start Menu in Windows Vista.
Term Of The Week
The Power Supply Unit - The power supply unit in the computer, also known as the PSU, is the heart of your PC. It supplies power to the components in your computer so it must have enough wattage. I've seen many computer builds fail simply because their power supplies are inadequate. Some power supplies come pre-installed in cases, while others are available as standalone units. Besides the power rating, there is increasing focus on modular cabling and power efficiency in the newer PSUs in the market today.
Tip Of The Week
One of the problems with the Vista user interface is that it can be sluggish on lower end systems. Here's a tip to help you boost the speed of the start menu.Try doing this: - Open the 'Start' menu, type 'regedit' and hit Enter. - Find the node 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop' in the registry. Double click on the 'MenuShowDelay' value and change its value to something like 150.
That should increase the speed of your Start Menu.
Featured Articles
A list of essential tools you should have when working on a PC
A list of important tools you should have around when building or working on a PC.
Learn how to install a motherboard
This article shows you how to install a motherboard, which forms the core of your computer system.
Learn 5 ways of saving and protecting your hard drive
A guide to saving and protecting the data on your hard drive, which is one of the most important components in a PC.
Learn how to install a primary hard drive
Learn the steps for installing a primary hard drive in your computer.
A guide to the computer's BIOS
Confused by the computer BIOS? This little handy guide will tell you all about it and how it works.
For more articles, be sure to visit Build-Your-Own-Computers.com.