So, a great day has come true, and a computer has appeared in your apartment. It doesn’t matter how it appeared (bought or assembled by components): the main thing is that now it is. Perhaps you bought it for fun, perhaps for office work, or maybe you don’t know why yet. But here's the problem: on the hard drive, except for MS-DOS, nothing is installed (as an option - an unformatted hard drive). And you need to set up the system, and most importantly - you want to figure it out, you want to do everything yourself, but there is not enough experience. A familiar picture. I started with this myself.
So that the computer does not seem to you a UFO with aliens living inside, let's figure it out together and try to set up the computer on our own, install the operating system on it ourselves. As you already understood, this article is mostly addressed to beginners in the computer world. Experienced users who know how to properly configure the system can safely skip it and read the newspaper further. I, armed with personal experience, will try to help novice users in the difficult task of setting up a computer. So, let's go, fasten your seat belts and prepare your head for an abundance of information :)! So that an experienced reader does not fool me in letters with the words “why was it necessary to write this, I already know”, we confine ourselves to the assumption that you saw the computer for the first time with all the ensuing consequences. To the best of my ability, I will try to state everything in an accessible way, without overloading you, dear reader, with abstruse terms and phrases.
Where does a computer start? Of course, from computer hardware. What parts does the average home user's computer consist of? First of all, this is the heart of the system - the system unit (typical for all PC-compatible computers), monitor (display information on the screen), keyboard (text input, etc.), mouse (positioning device; cursor control and choice in the menu of the operating system), possibly a printer (output of graphic and text information on paper) and a scanner (conversion of graphic and text information into electronic form). In addition to the above devices, a PC (personal computer) may also include others (an external modem, etc.), but we will not focus on this, but rather move on to a cursory examination of the structure of the computer system unit. What does it consist of? The first is the case itself with the power supply. The thicker its iron and the more powerful the power supply, the better your case (this is without going into details). Second, third, etc.: motherboard (the largest of all boards), video card (used to display images on the monitor; contains a video processor and video memory - there may not be a video card (video card) if one is built into the motherboard); processor with cooler (cooler = heatsink + fan); RAM (narrow long cards, the capacity of which is measured in megabytes: the more it is in your computer, the better); also, perhaps, a modem (Internet access), sound (it is clear why) and network (for connecting to other computers) cards (all of them can be integrated into your motherboard). In addition, the case must have a hard drive (hard drive) and optionally a 1.44 floppy drive, CD or DVD drive. As a rule, all components of the system unit and the computer as a whole are connected through connectors and cables (cables). That, in fact, is all. What is what, and how it looks, you can figure it out in more detail on your own or ask friends or acquaintances.
The next question is: how does it all work? The scheme of the computer is simple. Any computer works only with mathematical quantities and digital information through simple calculations. The main calculations are handled by the processor. This is a very complex microcircuit capable of performing mathematical operations with large amounts of data at high speed (the latter is determined by flops and depends on the frequency at which the processor operates). These volumes, available for processing at any time, are stored in the computer's RAM (the latter is characterized by a high read/write speed). They come there, in turn, from information storage devices (hard drives, optical drives, etc.). The speed of these drives is much lower than the speed of RAM, but a lot of digital information can be placed in them. The processed (calculated) information is output through an intermediary device (video card, audio card) to the information output device (monitor screen, audio system), from where a person perceives it with the help of the senses. This is how the computer processes programs and various applications. The processing environment is the operating system. Without going into details, that's all (in fact, everything is much more complicated, but, unfortunately, dear reader, the newspaper is not rubber :)).
We briefly figured out the hardware of the computer, now let's proceed to the second step - directly setting up the computer. Who said “hang the operating system”? Didn't guess! The first step in setting up the assembled computer is a competent BIOS setup. What is a BIOS? BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. The literal translation from English is something like this: the basic input / output system, which the BIOS actually is. The BIOS includes an initiation program needed to start loading the OS (operating system), and the actual drivers of a standard set of devices. They allow any OS with any installed software (programs) to freely access computer hardware using the same algorithm. The main task of the BIOS is to make the operation of the operating system as close as possible to the computer hardware. In contrast to the BIOS, the task of any operating system is to stay away from low-level resource allocation, i.e. low-level commands for accessing computer hardware. The BIOS in a computer is stored in a special microcircuit - flash memory - a type of programmable ROM. The speed of access to such memory is much lower than to operational memory, therefore, most often, when the computer is turned on and booted, the contents of the BIOS from flash memory are rewritten into random access memory (RAM is the main storage device). However, modern operating systems are very advanced in terms of compatibility and, after starting their boot, disable low-level BIOS drivers, replacing them with their own (because they work in protected mode). Simpler operating systems, such as MS-DOS, communicate with the computer through BIOS drivers. In addition, a special POST (Power On Self Test) program is programmed into the BIOS of modern computers. It starts working immediately after turning on the computer and has the task of polling all the hardware in your computer. The purpose of this procedure is to determine the presence of this or that equipment and the normal operation of the latter. If a malfunction occurs or critical equipment is missing (hard drive, etc.), the program displays a text message, beeps through the system speaker (sometimes even reports in a human voice if it is recorded in flash memory). Have you ever seen a literal gibberish at the beginning of the boot of any computer (counting RAM, etc.)? So, this is the procedure for passing POST by a computer. And if everything is in order, then the BIOS transfers the download to the files that initiate the OS boot.
Among other things, the BIOS includes low-level computer settings. The BIOS has a special menu that will help us further configure the operation of the system unit. However, I will warn you in advance: illiterate experimentation with BIOS settings can lead to incorrect computer operation up to the impossibility of booting it. Therefore, just in case, find a jumper on your motherboard that resets the BIOS settings in case of failures or incorrect settings. It is usually referred to as “Clear CMOS”. To reset, you will need to remove this jumper for a while, rearrange it to the adjacent pin as shown in the instructions for your motherboard, and then return it to its place (however, do not do this unnecessarily, because all settings will return to default values). To the above, it should be added that the modem and the video card also have their similarity to the BIOS.
So, how do we get into the BIOS? Most motherboards have the ability to enter the BIOS by long pressing the Delete key on the keyboard (some by pressing F1) at the time of booting the computer. Turn on the computer (monitor and system unit) and at the moment when it starts recalculating its precious RAM, press Delete and do not release until you see the BIOS blue screen with basic settings (more precisely, groups of settings). Here is a sample BIOS content for your computer: Standard CMOS Features, Advanced BIOS Features, Advanced Chipset Features, Integrated Peripherials, Power Management Setup, PnP/PCI Configurations, PC Health Status, Power BIOS Features, Set Supervisor Password, Set User Password, Save & Exit Setup, Exit Without Saving. The settings group menu may look different depending on the specific instance of your computer's motherboard. Since it is impossible to describe the BIOS settings of all motherboards, I will limit myself to an example of the “motherboard” in my computer (EPoX KRA2I based on the KT 600 chipset). I hope this information will please many novice users. To save space in the newspaper, I will be brief: first - the name of the settings groups section, then - the settings themselves with a detailed explanation and installation recommendations. Use the arrow keys to navigate through the settings menu, Enter/Enter to enter a specific group, and Exit/Esc to exit the group to the main menu. To select the values of a particular setting, also use the Enter and Exit keys. To save the changes made to the BIOS settings and exit the BIOS, you need to go to the main menu and select Save & Exit Setup (this does not need to be done after changing each setting - change everything you need, and only then ...) or press F10. To exit the BIOS without saving changes, select the Exit Without Saving option from the main menu. So, let's start in order.
Standard CMOS Features (standard BIOS settings). Here you can see the configuration of your computer:
— Date (mm:dd:yy) — current date (day, month, year).
- Time (hh:mm:ss) - current time (hour, minute, second).
- Drive A - as a rule, this is a floppy drive (1.44 MB) that works with hard plastic diskettes, or an old disk drive designed to work with floppy disks.
- Drive B - similar to the previous menu item (only one channel for floppy devices can accommodate two drives).
- Video - the mode supported by the video card installed in your computer. Most often it is EGA/VGA.
- Halt On (stop at ...) - this function is used to determine when the BIOS will stop the system from booting if an error occurs. We expose here All, But Keyboard.
- Extended Memory - the size of your computer's RAM in KB.
- IDE Primary Master - a device connected to the IDE controller on the motherboard (usually a hard drive, CD-ROM, etc.). You can connect two devices to one IDE bus and specify them as master and slave. In general, there are usually two IDE ports in computers - therefore, in total, up to four devices can be connected. Moreover, one of the IDE ports is usually called Primary (first), and the other - Secondary (second). The master/slave settings are set using special jumpers on hard drives or optical drives. The BIOS is remarkably good at recognizing these settings. Usually on any hard drive it is always written and drawn how to set the Master or Slave mode (look carefully at the paper sticker on the drive, and you will understand everything yourself). In this particular case, this will be our first master drive in the computer. Usually opposite the inscription "IDE Primary Master" will be the name of the drive, recognized by the BIOS.
- IDE Primary Slave - by analogy with the previous one, the first slave IDE channel (on the contrary - the name of the connected drive).
- IDE Secondary Master - the second leading IDE channel.
- IDE Secondary Slave - the second slave IDE channel.
The next section is Advanced BIOS Features. Sometimes this section is called differently - BIOS Features Setup. It contains a fairly large number of settings for a variety of content. This section can be very different for different motherboards. Here and in the future, our reader will have to remember two expressions: Enabled and Disabled. The first means “perhaps, allow”, the second - respectively “prohibit, impossible”. These tuning choices are suitable for any parameter and will be seen frequently in the following. - Virus Warning (warning about virus infection). This setting will help when a special type of program invades your computer - viruses (malware). If a virus tries to change the contents of the boot sectors of the operating system on the hard drive (there is such a group of viruses), then this can lead to very sad consequences. This feature will help to deal with such uninvited guests. It is disabled by default. If it is activated (enabled), then no one will be able to change the boot loader of the operating system. We advise you to enable this BIOS feature after the operating system is fully installed and configured.
- CPU Internal Cache (setting the internal memory cache of the processor of the first level L1). The processor has a small amount of cache memory of the first and second levels (to keep in memory the information that it operates in a given period of time). Typically, the L1 cache is much smaller in memory than the L2 cache. This setting must always be enabled. Otherwise, your computer's processor performance will drop drastically. The feature is enabled by default.
- CPU External Cache (the setting of the external memory cache of the L2 processor (or second-level cache) is also enabled by default. This function, like the one described above, must always be activated (enabled), otherwise it will be the same as described above.
- CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking (checking for errors in the processor cache memory of the second level) - it is advisable to always keep this function enabled It definitely won't get worse, but the processor performance will decrease slightly, although stability will increase. The setting is enabled by default.
- Quick Power On Self Test (accelerated POST). By activating this setting, you will speed up the loading of the operating system. This will happen due to the shortening of the POST stages by the computer or the absence of some points in its process. By default, the function is enabled - leave it as it is and enjoy the high download speed.
- First Boot Device (first (master) boot device) - here we are prompted to select the master OS boot device from: floppy drive, CD-ROM drive, hard drive, ZIP drive, USB-compatible device, network. In addition, there is a useful option to disable downloading at all (disable), which is useful when you go on vacation or a business trip, and leave the computer at home with cheerful friends and relatives who regularly read the “Practical Guide to Computer Jokes” section in our newspaper :). By default, the installations usually have a floppy drive, and this is not accidental, since it is from it that we will install the operating system, and in case of failure of an already installed OS, it is always possible to perform an emergency boot from a simple 1.44 MB floppy disk. My advice is: choose a floppy drive from the list before the operating system is fully installed, and after installation, select the Hard Drive item (hard drive). This will speed up the boot time of an already installed operating system by ignoring the floppy drive poll.
- Second Boot Device (slave (second) boot device) - the choice of devices from the list is similar. Here, only Hard Disk (hard disk) should definitely be in the settings. Usually, when booting, if the system does not find the boot sector in the first boot device (in our case, the floppy drive), it automatically looks for them on the second (slave). So, the download will start from the hard drive. It's also in the default settings.
- Boot Other Device (boot from another device). If the computer's BIOS does not find the boot sectors on the two devices selected above, then it will look for the bootloader on other devices connected to the computer (for example, booting from a SCSI device; booting from a server, etc.). By default, the function is activated, but personally I have never downloaded from such devices. Therefore, here you are free to dispose of the settings of your choice.
- Swap floppy Drive (swapping floppy disks in places). If you want to change disk A: to B: and vice versa, you have the cards in hand.
- Boot Up NumLock Status (enable when booting Num Lock). - There are two options here: ON (enable) and OFF (disable). You simply choose whether to include the numbered part of the keyboard (the one on the right) when the operating system boots. The feature is enabled by default. - Boot Sequence (boot devices) - this function can be used instead of the Boot Device setting. Specify here which disks are bootable for the operating system, and in what order. By default, these will be drives A: and C:.
- Security Option (protection function) - this BIOS setting will help you restrict access to your operating system and OS installation (System function) or only to OS installation (Setup function). If you select the System function, the operating system will not boot and access to the OS installation will be denied unless the correct password is entered. In the second case, if you select the System setting option, the operating system will always boot, but access to the OS installation will be denied unless the correct password is entered. Personally, I have not yet been recruited into the CIA, so constantly entering a password to enter the system bothers me (we set Setup). If you have many close “well-wishers”, then it is important to use the System.
- Video BIOS Shadow (copy video BIOS to RAM) - this feature allows the operating system to automatically copy the BIOS of the video card to the RAM of your computer. This will increase the performance of the operating system and computer in games and other graphical applications under DOS, but most likely will not affect the performance in Windows applications. We set the configuration option enabled, which is the default.
In addition, in this section of the BIOS settings there is one small subsection - Hard Disk Boot Priority (hard drive boot priority), which allows you to set the operating system boot priority of the hard drives installed in the computer. This will help if you have multiple hard drives with multiple operating systems installed. By assigning a priority, you can allow the boot of one OS from several present. The higher the hard disk is in the table, the higher its priority (the highest for device number 1). - Gate A20 Option (management of the way the A20 address bus is turned on) - the parameter allows you to access memory for 1 megabyte. This parameter is best set to Fast.
The rest of the settings that are present in this BIOS section (for example, APIC Mode, etc.) are of little interest to us, and therefore I suggest leaving them with the default values set by the motherboard manufacturer.
I repeat once again that some BIOS settings of your motherboard may differ from those described above both in name and in number. Today we briefly reviewed the general structure of the computer, its functioning, and in some detail - the first two sections of the BIOS settings. Next time we will continue to configure the BIOS of the motherboard, then we will move on to installing the operating system and fine-tuning it.
Continued in the next issues of MDForum.
Instruction
When installing the operating system, it is recommended to divide the hard disk into partitions. In the case of Windows Seven, this can be done using standard tools. When the window for selecting disks for installing the OS opens, delete existing partitions by clicking the “ ” button. After that, create at least two new partitions. One of them is for installing the OS. Its size should be approximately 50 GB. The size and file system of other partitions can be any. Don't create too many partitions unless you have a specific goal in mind.
After installing the operating system, you need to start optimizing it. Open the properties of the local drive containing the operating system. At the very bottom of "General", find the item "Allow content to be indexed ..." and disable it. Repeat this operation for all other sections.
Take care of the design of the worker. Choose your favorite theme and screensaver. Adjust the size of the shortcuts and the Quick Access Toolbar. You can use various applications that allow you to create additional quick access areas for files. Remember that you don't want to use number of visual effects for unless your performance is too high.
Install Advanced System Care. This is necessary for quick setup and optimization of the system. Run the program and select "Windows Cleanup". Activate all four items and click "Scan". Click "Repair" to fix the found problems.
To get the most out of your PC, you need to know how to tune your PC for maximum performance and what programs to install. This will save a lot of time in the future and make work not only more comfortable, but also increase efficiency. This is done in
When tuning your computer, pay attention to performance first. It depends on . If, along with the launch of the operating system, too many programs are launched, then even the “super PC” will start to slow down. You can find out how to prevent this by clicking on the link above. The next step in setting up your computer is security. It is very important, especially if you make money on the Internet. Remember! Even with the best antivirus, you will not have complete (100%) security. Attackers are always one step ahead of antivirus software developers. Pay special attention to keys and payment systems. There are cases when even with "web money" large sums of money were stolen. There is one good way to protect yourself from this. When setting up your computer, create another one - (you can have at least a hundred of them), just launch the payment system on it and do nothing else after the operation (use it only for depositing and withdrawing money).
How to set up a computer: programs
Computer programs not only need to be able to configure correctly, but also to have the right amount of them. Of course, much depends on what functions are assigned to it (PC), although there are some that everyone should have. I make sure to install the following: Revo Uninstaller Pro, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Recuva, Skype, dmaster, Format Factory, Photoshop, Oracle VM VirtualBox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Word 2010, STDUtility, WinRAR. Of course, this is not all, I have several times more of them, but these not only do a lot of work, but also help in setting up the computer. Also, a lot depends on how many people work at one computer. If you are only one, then you can safely turn it off on the “login”, do not set a password. It should be noted that computer programs not only need to be able to configure, but also to use. Beginners first need to learn what this or that word from. If something is not clear, just write the word in the search engine and you will definitely find the answer. Only after studying "computer" words, you can proceed to the study of Internet expressions (layout, scripts, html, Php ...). This amount of information cannot be mastered in a day, it will take months, but regular classes allow you to acquire this knowledge on your own (without teachers, I know from experience). Also, do not forget that almost all have free counterparts (usually some functions are disabled in them) are no worse, and some are even better. What else to look for when setting up a computer? I would recommend finding on the Internet and downloading (write in the Yandex or Google search engine) the free book "Poleznie soveti dlja Windows 7". I do not give links here, because it is constantly being reprinted (improved), and at the time when you read it, it will most likely be out of date. And it's easier to visit our website here there is always something to read. Do not forget that many different programs have been created to perform one specific job. Some people like one thing, others like another. Which ones to use, experiment. There are many paid "creatures" offered on the network that promise to quickly find all the shortcomings of your PC and tune your computer to the highest performance.I would not recommend using them, for the reason that the operating system (especially windows 7) is set up perfectly by default. I usually only disable some features and never resort to external software configuration. In conclusion, I would like to mention such a computer function as . It does not apply to tuning, but it affects performance very much. In general, the principle is simple, as everywhere, moving from small to large peaks can be reached, the same goes for computer settings.
That's all. Thanks for reading the article. I hope it was helpful to you.
Computer setup begins with BIOS optimization - a subsystem stored on the motherboard and responsible for the interaction of the operating system (OS) with the computer hardware. It is important that this subsystem is updated in a timely manner. Incorrect introduction of subsystem parameters can lead not only to a malfunction of the computer, but also completely disable it.
OS installation and optimization
The installation of the OS and programs is accompanied by the formation of numerous temporary files, which, after installation, do not carry any benefit, but simply occupy computer memory. Computer settings necessarily includes cleaning the operating system and registry from these junk files.
Our experts will help you optimize Windows and set up your Internet connection. This work requires accuracy, since during the setup process you have to disable and enable a number of options, that is, perform work that only a professional or a very competent user can figure out. Any mistake may result in you having to reinstall the operating system. The same applies to setting up an internet connection. There are many effective and ineffective antivirus programs on the Internet that are designed to protect computer files from damage. A person who undertakes to set up a computer must understand the specifics of these programs, as well as firewalls.
In order to organize the location of files on your hard drive and, accordingly, speed up your computer, you should perform the so-called defragmentation. There are also a number of special programs for this.
The specialists of our company will promptly respond to your call, computer setup professionally, qualitatively and inexpensively within the shortest time.
Viruses exploit vulnerabilities in the operating system. Keep your OS up to date to protect yourself from threats.
Turn on automatic Windows updates:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8
- Windows 7
- Windows XP
Click Start → Settings. On the tab Windows Update click link Extra options. Listed Choose how to install the update click item Automatic (recommended).
Start → → system and safety → → Important updates. Select an item from the list.
Click Start → Control Panel (browse by category) → system and safety → Enable or disable automatic updates → Important updates. Select an item from the list Install updates automatically (recommended).
Click Start → Control Panel → Security Center → Automatic update→ Automatically.
Note. The higher the operating system version, the more secure it is. For example, Windows 7 is more secure than Windows XP.
Download the latest version of the browser
Most browsers (for example, Yandex.Browser, Mozilla Firefox) are updated automatically. If for some reason this does not happen, download the latest version on the official website and install it.
Install an antivirus
Turn on the firewall
The firewall checks the data exchanged between the computer and the Internet and blocks suspicious connections. It additionally protects the operating system from viruses.
Enable firewall:
- Windows 10
- Windows 8
- Windows 7
- Windows XP
Right click button Start → Control Panel (browse by category) → system and safety→ Windows Firewall →
Right click button Start → Control Panel (browse by category) → system and safety→ Windows Firewall → Turn Windows Firewall on or off(in the left menu of the page). Turn on the firewall for all networks - domain, private and public.
Start → Control Panel (browse by category) → system and safety→ Windows Firewall → Turn Windows Firewall on or off(in the left menu of the page). Turn on the firewall for all networks - domain, private and public.
Fraudsters often hack into accounts by sorting through options from such lists.
Change your passwords at least once every three months.
Choose legal software
Download programs only from official sites. Do not use cracked versions. By running them, you risk security: attackers inject viruses into the installation files of such programs.
Back up valuable data
Malicious programs corrupt data, encrypt hard drives and offer to unlock them for money. To pay means to finance the development of new, even more sophisticated viruses. Make backup copies of information on other media. Suitable CD, DVD, external drives, flash drives, cloud services.
