Asus’s P5E3 Deluxe Wi-Fi-AP@n is compliant with 802.11n,
ensuring a speedy connection between the onboard wireless
adapter and your router.Wonderfully Wireless
Hey Doc, I’m looking to build
a desktop computer for home
use. I want to go as wireless as
possible—wireless keyboard
and mouse, wireless headset,
etc. The only thing that should
be plugged in to my computer
is, of course, the power sup-
ply. Do you know of any Intel
Core 2 Duo chipset–based
motherboards that feature
built-in Wi-Fi for smooth
wireless home computing?
—CastlevaniaxxThe Doctor thinks you should
try your luck with an Asus
motherboard. The company
has been marketing boards
with onboard wireless for a few
years now. The P5E3 Deluxe
Wi-Fi-AP@n, P5E3 Premium/
Wi-Fi-AP@n, and P5K-E series
all include some form of wire-
less integration that lets the
boards act as access points or
clients. Of course, integrated
wireless isn’t the only option.
You could simply pick up a PCI
or USB Wi-Fi adapter for $50
and slap it into your existing
motherboard. Ta da—wireless!Add RAM, Lose Display
My computer has an Intel
Core 2 Duo E6550 2.33GHz
CPU, an Nvidia nForce 680i
SLI mobo, a Sapphire Radeon
X1950 videocard, and
Windows XP. Since install-
ing a new stick of RAM, the
screen remains black when
the computer is turned on.
The monitor turns on, but the
screen remains black. I tried
reinserting the graphics card,
but there was no change. Ialso tried changing the moni-
tor and the cable, but the
result was still the same. Is
there something wrong with
the graphics card?
—Heegu YeaThe details of your dilemma
are a little fuzzy, but the
Doctor is going to work on
the assumption that your rig
was completely fine up until
the point you added RAM to
the motherboard. To diagnose
the problem, first remove the
newly added RAM—but only
after you have powered down
the PSU and fully discharged
the machine.
Why? Well, the PSU is
built out of big fat capacitors
that store an amazing amount
of energy. You should never
remove or add a component
to a PC while the PSU is still
plugged in; you should make
sure the PSU is completelyfree of any charge as well.
You can accomplish this by
unplugging the power supply
and hitting the power button
on the front of your rig.
If the system does not
post with the new RAM
removed, power down again
and check your power cables.
The Doctor has seen it happen
plenty of times. You’re muck-ing around inside of your rig,
installing parts, and you acci-
dentally bump a cord. Did you
knock the 24-pin main power
connector out of place? Could
you have possibly bumped
any other modules loose? The
Doc thinks you should reseatyour RAM, as well as the 12V
auxiliary power connector
near the CPU. If you get
things running with the new
RAM removed, it doesn’t
necessarily mean the module
is bad. It could be the RAM
slot. Try the new stick in
another slot—one that has
held working RAM, prefera-
bly—making sure it is firmly
seated before you write the
module off completely.Disappearing Drive
I built an Intel-based system
that’s running on a Gigabyte
945P-S3 motherboard. I’m
chugging on three SATA hard
drives—a 120GB, 250GB,
and 500GB. The processor is
a Core 2 Duo E6300 running
at 1.86GHz, along with 4GB
of 667MHz memory and a
GeForce 5800 Ultra Extreme
512MB graphics card.
So what’s my problem?
The system runs OK with
64-bit Vista Ultimate SP1,
but I have a problem with
the 500GB drive disappear-
ing. It doesn’t show up in anyof the installed diagnostic
programs, Windows disk
management, or anywhere
else. If I swap the power
supply connector around,
the drive will show up for a
while, but then it disappears
again. (The power supply isThis month the Doctor tackles...
Antivirus Protection
Display Woes
Antivirus Protection
Display Woes
Antivirus Protection
Going Wireless
MOST TIMES A REBOOT
SHOWS THE DISK IN THE
BIOS AS “BZBZBZBZ...”
WHAT’S GOING ON?DOCTOR^
IMPROVING YOUR PC EXPERIENCE ONE STEP AT A TIME68 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| JUL 08 | http://www.maximumpc.com