In this installation guide on how to build home media servers, I am using an old, reinstalled version of Windows XP SP3 with a 1TB Hitachi hard disk drive. (Note: This should work equally well on Windows Vista with User Account Control (UAC) off and an Administrator account set up on the serv

How hard is it to get a decent gaming PC without breaking the bank? If you go out and buy yourself a pre-assembled name-brand computer, chances are, it won't be powerful enough to be a viable gaming computer, or you'll spend a lot more than you would prefer. Essentially, neither of these two possibilities are ideal, and it seems like you have no other options. Maybe if you put it in a little labor into building your own computer, you might be able to find a middle ground where you get decent gaming performance at the right pr

A desktop computer consists of various components, each of which needs power. The power supply is responsible for managing and distributing power. It needs to have the right plugs and it needs to be able to handle the overall power demand of your desktop at l

Overall power draw can sometimes be an issue, as well. Video cards are the primary troublemaker. Be sure to check the power requirements specified by the manufacturer before buying a new video card. If your current supply is below the requirements you should upgrade it before installing new hardw

The buttons are self explanatory. To launch this full screen just go to your menu and choose full screen. You now have a dedicated Juke Box from an old computer. Good job! And if it's fast enough you can watch music videos and look at lyrics as w

Always check how a new piece of hardware will connect to your motherboard. The most common connections are SATA (for hard drives and optical drives) and PCI Express (for video cards, sound cards and network adapters), but there are oth

Once open, locate the drive bays. These are usually at the front of the case below the large optical drive bays. The bays themselves are usually just metal brackets with screw holes, though some more expensive cases will custom "tool-less" mounting system. If your case has such a system you may need to refer to it for mounting instructi

You will obviously save money if you don’t buy a solid state drive . They offer a huge performance boost, however, so I think it’d be silly for me to recommend skipping one entirely. It’s a worthwhile upgr

Kingston HyperX Blu 8GB 1333Mhz DDR3 DIMM memory : This set of RAM was the best that I could find that were in line with the motherboard's specifications. Kingston is a good brand, and the attachments on both sides of each module of RAM helps dissipate heat. The price also wasn't

If everything went well, your computer should be starting now! If not, don't worry. Just check each component to ensure that you did everything correctly. Make sure that you look at any appropriate manuals or other instruction pamphlets of each component for highly detailed instructions on installat

I have a ton of old machines with Windows 2000 and Windows XP on them. Some of them aren't even that old or slow. I see plenty of Pentium 4 machines in the bunch so I want to repurpose one of them as a music jukebox. A jukebox is something I grew up with in our pool hall and recreation rooms. The newer ones have CD's in them and the older ones played records. Ours is going to play MP3's. Are you excited to build your music jukebox? I

Start by browsing on over to here and then hit the download link on the left hand side. You will need to download both files. The support files as well as the application. The support files will install the framework for the application. Install the MSI from the first download and then extract the files from the second download somewhere you will be able to find t

Making the move to upgrade your PC is exciting for any geek. There’s almost always something bigger or faster available – if only you spend another fifty bucks. This can lead to a slow budget creep that sneaks up to you and then, BAM! You’re spending a lot more than wan

Since we now have your home server connected to your home network we need to actually start allowing for the storing and sharing on files on the network. To do this, find a directory, for example, C:\ and then create a new folder called whatever you like. Now, right-click on the folder and click "Network Sharing and Security". When the Security and Sharing window loads, select "Share this Folder on the Network" and "Allow Network User to Change My Fil

Everything inside a computer must connect to the motherboard for it to function. Most motherboards have a significant number of connectors for installing new hardware, but the number is finite, and can be filled to capacity more quickly than you can find out more’d th

Navigate to your music directory that has been setup as we said above. Then hit add path . After that you will need to click on Update Album List . It will do its thing and bring in your music. Click exit when you are done. But note that if your tracks do not start with numbers you will need to do t