Firstly, I purchased all the parts from the website that I used for references. When choosing the parts, I made sure not to spend the whole budget on the system, so that I can perform future upgrades. The parts arrived several days later. Once the computer system was assembled, it started normally. I then configured the hardware components from the BIOS. Everything went according to plan: I changed the system time and configured the boot settings, so that the operating system can be installed from a CD. While configuring the BIOS, tests were also performed to see whether the hardware is installed properly. The hard drive was visible, which means it was recognized, the CPU section showed the same characteristics as expected and the temperatures were normal. The RAM was also recognized and all fans were working as they were supposed to.
After making sure that everything was in order, I installed Windows 7. I then installed the newest drivers for all the hardware components. Since I am left handed, I decided to switch the two mouse buttons. I then configured the sleep and display shutdown settings from the power options. After that, I adjusted the screen resolution and created a new desktop theme. I adjusted the font size at 125% and added Bulgarian as an additional system language. I also decided to install ESET SmartSecurity, so that the computer won’t get infected by viruses. I then updated its database and scheduled an automatic full system scan for 10:00 AM every Friday. I did this because this way I can be sure that the system is regularly scanned. This eliminates the risk of me forgetting to perform it manually, which will expose the system to malware. After configuring ESET SmartSecurity, I formatted the hard drive. Although Windows 7 formatted it during the installation, I decided that I need a second partition, on which to store all my important information. This is why I allocated most of the HDD space on it. I left the other partition for the operating system. I also installed CCleaner and configured it, so that it would clean only the files that I wanted it to.
Although the system was performing very well, I decided to do some final checks just to be sure that there are no problems. I ran CheckDisk to scan the hard drive for errors. As expected, there were no damaged sectors and everything was in order. I then ran a memory test, which also showed no negative results. Another proof that the RAM was performing well was the fact that there were no blue screens, indicating memory problems. The last test that I did was a Graphics card test. Since I wasn’t allowed to play games at work, I downloaded 3D Mark and ran it. After I got the test results, I compared it with results on their website for the same system configuration. I wanted to see whether the components are performing normally, as they should. The results were pretty close, which meant that the video card had passed the test.
Although at first the computer system is performing well, it will definitely lose performance over time. A way to slow down this process is to perform regular maintenance. This includes cleaning the registry keys, defragmenting the Windows registry and defragmenting the hard drive. Although the antivirus is automated, making sure that it’s working well is very important to ensure the stability of the system. Junk file and duplicate file cleaners may also be used to free up some disk space and remove unnecessary files. If the computer starts performing poorly even after maintenance, it’s best to reinstall the operating system.
After some time, the system requirements of most software programs will go up. Even if the system is regularly cleaned and optimized, and the operating system is reinstalled, the computer will not be able to keep up with them. The best way to proceed in this case will be to upgrade some of the computer system components with newer ones. Replacing the whole system will not be appropriate, because it requires much more of money. Although overclocking is an alternative, I think that it shouldn’t be done to company computers. It voids the warranty of the hardware and may cause component failure and instead of saving, the company will have to spend more money.
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