Broadband

[TERRY RYAN]

thinking about going onto broadband

How do I find out about


1, How much memory (ram) my P.C has
2, What processer it has in it
3, If my two USB ports are being used can I buy an extension
so I have have the use of more USB ports ????????????

 

[richie]

Go to control panel and choose settings it will tell you how much memory you have and basic info on the processor. If you are running XP basically you can forget doing the check your PC is good enough.

For USB if you only have two maybe its an older machine or you forgot to look on the back where there might be more (excuse me if this is obvious)

USB hub type things exist and cost tuppence (well not quite)

Cheers Richie

 

[cookie]

1. right click My Computer then left click properties. RAM is shown on General tab.

2. above also shows processor sometimes, but not always. info also appears fleetingly on startup in the BIOS info, this can be paused at the appropriate point with Pause button.

might be easier to download belarc advisor which will tell you all about your PC.

3. you can buy a USB hub for a few quid that will give you more ports.

If you are running XP basically you can forget doing the check your PC is good enough.

very true, in fact almost any PC is good enough

 

[wessie]

My laptop only has 2 USB ports. When using it as a desktop, which is most of the time, I use an optical mouse and have a USB WiFi adapter.

I bought a 4 port USB hub for about £12 so that I do not need to swap wires to use my printer. The WiFi adapter does not like the hub so that has to be plugged directly into the laptop. The mouse and printer work fine through the hub. I have 2 further USB ports in the hub for other bits & bobs should the need arise.

 

[Fanum]

The WiFi adapter does not like the hub so that has to be plugged directly into the laptop.

Is the hub powered or unpowered???

I got a belkin one that has it's own power supply.....some of the cheaper ones don't and can't provide enough power to run several devices.

ALso, Terry, if you wanted to stay tidy, there are things that will slot into a spare Hard drive slot in your machine (if you have a spare ) and plug intoa card slot inside, so you get 4 or more new USB2 poerts on the front facia rather than having trailing wires all over like i have with the hub

 

[wessie]

Is the hub powered or unpowered???

It's powered.

Netgear adapter utility reports a speed drop to 2Mbps instead of 11Mbps.

When just using the mouse & printer I do not need the hub power supply turned on as the current supplied by the laptop port is sufficient.