Ok you have a high-speed internet connection and you want to share it with other computers in your house. First you will have to obtain a router for ease of setup and configuration I recommend Linksys BEFSR41 EtherFast Cable/DSL Router w/4-Port Switch for wired connections and Linksys Wireless-G 802.11g Broadband Wireless Router for wireless connections.

     

The manufacturer provides a fantastic program with the router to set up your network. If you follow the procedures that they outline then you should be up and running multiple computers online in no time. If you have difficulties connecting these then you can call your internet service provider or the Linksys help line or drop me a comment with your problem and I will do my best to walk you through the issue.
For local file and printer sharing then there are a few more steps to take. First you have to turn on file and printer sharing. This is accomplished by right clicking on the local area connection and placing a check mark in front of the file sharing line. Second you will need to set up a workgroup for your home network. To do this right click on the my computer icon and select the properties then select the computer name tab. Click the change button on the page, Make sure that you have a name in the computer name and add a name to the workgroup name other than MSHOME like INMYHOUSE . Click ok to allow your computer to restart. Follow the same procedures on the other computer. Once both computers are restarted then open my computer and right click on the drive or folder that you want to share and select sharing and security. Select a name for your share or leave the default there and click apply. You will need to use this procedure on both computers if you want to have access to both computers from either computer. To share a printer then open the control panel and click on printers right click on the printer that you want to share and then select sharing and security. Select a name for your share or leave the default there and click apply. You should now be able to access the information from either computer by clicking on my network places.

The motherboard is the core of the computer.  This is where you attach the central processing unit, the memory and all other peripherals required to run a computer.  When I search for a motherboard for a basic computing system I try to get the most bang for a buck that I can.  I start out by going to one of my favorite search sites for computer parts such as Shop @ Geeks.com - Great Deals Every Day!  and searching for motherboards.  I apply a filter for AMD or INTEL based chips per customer preference.  There is a difference in the connection to the motherboard for these different CPU’s and this difference will affect later choices so be sure to apply this filter.  For basic computing either CPU chip family will work well for your configuration.  For advanced users a more detailed look at how they will use the computer is involved as both have strong points in certain areas.  Then I sort the motherboards by price.  I then see where the break point is.  This is where the prices take a dramatic jump in price.  I then compare the 3-4 motherboards below that point.  I am looking for the additions to the motherboard that make it that much easier to configure such as:

• on-board sound
• on-board video
• on-board LAN
• SATA and IDE connectors
• extra USB connectors
• Fire wire connectors
• additional video AGP slot

There are 2 points of view about all these components built in.  One says that you should avoid them and the other says to use them.  I personally recommend them for low to moderate computer users as it will save on the overall cost and configuration of the computer.  For upper end computer users such as gaming computers I recommend staying far away from built in video and sound cards or you will have to change your motherboard with each new game they put out. 

You probably noticed that many cases on the market today come with their own power supply.  For most uses these power supplies will be adequate.  For gamers, power users, and server applications these usually do not provide the power necessary for the applications that they will use.  When looking at the power supplies there are several factors to look at:

• wattage
• size (very important as some sizes may not fit in the case you have selected)
• shape (also important when attaching to a case)
• noise rating (yes some of them can sound like a plane landing)
• form factor (20 pin and 24 pin for connection to the motherboard most new models come with the 24 pin)

For basic computer configurations I recommend a power supply of at least 300w as they will support the devices that you will use in every day computing.  For power users I would recommend a power supply of at least 450w.  And for gamers I would recommend a power supply of not less than 500w.  While these seem like very small jumps in power the price difference can be staggering the highest price for a pc power supply at this post was $579.00 for a 1000w gaming power supply and the lowest price was $11.99 for a 300w basic power supply.   For servers you need to find dual redundant hot swappable power supplies so you can change it while your computer is running if necessary.