Some motherboards
require more expensive varieties (and some even demand certain
brands), so do your research before you buy.
That simply leaves one thing to think about: quantity. In short, get as much
memory as you can afford. Like everything else, though, there is a point of
diminishing returns. 1 GB (1,024 MB) is probably the lowest amount you
should tolerate on a Windows Vista system.
Lastly, memory comes in individual modules, which are inserted into slots on
your motherboard. The higher the capacity of each module, the fewer you??™ll
need??”the fewer modules you use, the more slots you??™ll leave open for a
future upgrade. Sometimes, however, lower-capacity modules can be a better
deal (costing fewer dollars per megabyte).
328 | Chapter 6: Troubleshooting
Don??™t Overlook the Power Supply
Every time I encounter a problem that seems to have no reasonable explanation
(on a desktop PC, that is), the culprit has been the power supply. I??™m
beginning to think it??™s a conspiracy.
Say, all of a sudden, one of your storage devices (hard disk, tape drive, etc.)
starts malfunctioning, either sporadically or completely. You try removing
and reinstalling the drivers (if any), you replace all the cables, and you take
out all the other devices. You may even completely replace the device with a
brand-new one??”and it still doesn??™t work. Odds are your power supply
needs to be replaced.
Your computer??™s power supply runs all of your internal devices, as well as
some of your external ones (i.
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