Build Your Own Multimedia PC: A complete guide to renovating and constructing personal computers.

If you want to put together a PC, improve one you've already got, or particularly if you want to upgrade to a Multimedia PC, you need good advice from an expert. Thank goodness for Ian Sinclair. This book covers the construction of a PC, either form scratch or following the more common path of upgrading a low-cost machine, and it covers all grades of machine up to Multimedia level. It will also serve as a useful reference text for users of all machines that can be described as generic.


The book is designed to be used by newcomers and experienced users alike, either in computing or electronics. This book is also intended as a reference for anyone who is updating a machine, either a minor update such as replacing a disk drive, or a major update such as replacing a motherboard. Since the effects of construction and upgrading cannot be judged without the essential software, the essentials of using MS-DOS and Windows, including Windows 95, are also included, along with a chapter on printers and other connections. Chapters 1-12 show how to upgrade to a 386 system from older hardware. New to this multimedia PC edition are the tools of the new computer millenium. Chapter 13 deals with the new world of 486, Pentium and higher, and covers the use of Windows 95. This includes motherboards, processor upgrades, and the bewildering array of sockets, buses, memory chips, graphics cards, interfaces, CD-ROM drives, self-installing hardware, Plug'n'Play and modems that convert your box in the corner into a window on the Cyberworld. Chapter 14 discusses the implications of the new operating system standard: Windows 95 in comparison to Windows 3.1. * New multimedia edition of 'Build Your Own PC' * For 386 upwards

Ian Sinclair was born in 1932 in Tayport, Fife, and graduated from the University of St. Andrews in 1956. In that year, he joined the English Electric Valve Co. in Chelmsford, Essex, to work on the design of specialised cathode-ray tubes, and later on small transmitting valves and TV transmitting tubes. In 1966, he became an assistant lecturer at Hornchurch Technical College, and in 1967 joined the staff of Braintree College of F.E. as a lecturer. His first book, "Understanding Electronic Components" was published in 1972, and he has been writing ever since, particularly for the novice in Electronics or Computing. The interest in computing arose after seeing a Tandy TRS80 in San Francisco in 1977, and of his 204 published books, about half have been on computing topics, starting with a guide to Microsoft Basic on the TRS80 in 1979. He left teaching in 1984 to concentrate entirely on writing, and has also gained experience in computer typesetting, particularly for mathematical texts. He has recently visited Seattle to see Microsoft at work, and to remind them that he has been using Microsoft products longer than most Microsoft employees can remember. Ian Sinclair is the author of the following Made Simple books: Lotus 1-2-3- (2.4 DOS version) MS-DOS (up to version 6.22) PagePlus for Windows 3.1 Hard drives He is also the author of many other books published under our Newnes imprint.Visit Ian's website at http://website.lineone.net/~ian_sinclair