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Post links to really easy to follow pc building guides please.

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Spanko

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2002
Location
Bay Area
I need one or two or three for a friend who is JUST about ready to put together a pc. But this is a guy who i think hasnever even taken the side panel off his pc. He is in need of a new computer desperatley, but doesnt have a lot of cash. I found this one so far

http://www.gamespot.com/gshw/stories/flat/0,12880,2842650,00.html

Anymore would help me and him out a lot, since i dont live near him and cant help him in person...
 
I had help when I built my first new PC, and thank goodness. :p

I suggest he find a friend with the know-how and watch the friend do it... I've found it's easier to do it for someone than to 'explain' how (gets too frustrating too fast). When issues arise that's usually when experience takes over (troubleshooting). But you can't troubleshoot what you don't understand (yet) ;) Almost all my PC builds require some level of troubleshooting ability, even if it's just to get the power led for the case to work...

They may need to start with replacing a PCI card, building a PC isn't tough once you've done it half a dozen times, but at the risk/expense of time (and depending on the "whoopsie", hardware). Bring them on gradually, throwing them to the wolves would frustrate them to no-end.

I don't want to sound discouraging, but it's like learning anything else in life -- knowledge is the key... with no knowledge, he'll need hands-on training. In order to train you need a trainer. Text books tell you how, trainers show you.
 
If he's never even taken the side of the case off before, I'd go out of my way to discourage him from trying a build by himself until he gets a bit more experience. No online guide is going to contain all the info necessary. As Pinky mentions, his problems will most likely arise in the troubleshooting area(unless he gets extremely lucky first time out.)
 
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