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Ask yourself some questions while you shop. If you wanted to change the processor for a faster one, could you? How about the video card? Can you add more memory? There should be nothing in your system, including the motherboard, that you can’t replace with industry standard parts. This way, if something does break, you are free to shop for the best deal on a replacement part. You won’t be stuck having to buy $120 floppy drives from Compaq when a normal drive costs $40. Yes, this actually happened.

Okay, so far we have a normal case, with industry standard components in it and some room to grow. Do you want your system to be trouble free? Do you want it to run fast and stay that way for a long time? If so, pay close attention to this next step. You need to do sort of a pseudo-inventory of the major components. See if you can get the brand name of the processor, video card, sound card, speakers, TNdem and monitor. There’s nothing technical about it. You simply ask the sales person to provide you with the information. Most will be glad to do so. If they can’t provide the information for you, run!

All computer makers are looking for ways to cut costs. It is an extremely competitive market with very small profit margins. This makes manufacturers resort to using parts that are cheaper and lower quality. This is the reason most people have problems with their systems. Buying good, brand-name components is the key to a reliable PC.

In case you haven’t noticed, I feel pretty strongly about this. If you are using Windows 95, it becomes even more important. The big companies spend millions on research and development trying to add reliability and performance to their products. They generally have very good warranties to back their products and they have people dedicated to maintaining their drivers, etc.

Since there are hundreds of thousands of people using the more popular hardware, you can bet the manufacturers are quick to hear about any flaws and resolve them. But perhaps the best argument for buying popular brands is that every piece of software you use (especially Windows 95) will automatically recognize your hardware and configure itself accordingly. This will most definitely, without question, save you many hours of setup time and headaches.

Let me illustrate this point with some of my own experiences. On my own system, when I install Windows 95, without my intervening at all, it comes up and tells me that I have a Diamond Stealth 64 VRAM video card, Intel EtherExpress 16 network card, Creative Labs Soundblaster 16, and a Cardinal MVP288I modem. After I agree, it automatically installs all the right drivers for each. It even recognizes the Adaptec SCSI controller (for connecting a CD ROM, scanner, etc.) on the Soundblaster by name and installs proper drivers for it too.

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