For many computer users, their PC is a complete mystery. Once their machine boots up, everything just "magically" works".

One doesn't need to be a hardware or software engineer to browse the web or to type up an essay.

This is one of the main reasons why the computer has become so prevalent in the homes of multitudes of users the world over; because the home computer has become a "black box"--one doesn't need to know the internal workings to operate such a thing--that has simplified the computer for the masses, seven-year olds to the elderly are surfing the web and sending email.

While computing has become easier and easier as time passes, the public is becoming more and more nonplussed over their PC's internal components. When it comes time to upgrade a component--more RAM, larger hard drive, more powerful graphics card--most users don't have the first clue where to start.

The super-easy computer approach the industry is taking is making the home PC more mysterious. Sure, you can call the Geek Squad and pay them for an upgrade that you could have taken care of with half of what they charge.

Before you can upgrade your PC, you need to know what sort of upgrades your current computer can handle. Need a new graphics card? Does your motherboard take an AGP or PEG video card? Want more hard drive space?

Do you get a SATA or Ultra ATA 100 drive? SiSoftware's Sandra can help make you more knowledgeable about your PC.

Sandra is a great application that can query your computer, collecting various bits and pieces of information about your PC's internals. Once you've installed Sandra, you'll find that its interface is intuitive and easy to use.

Computer Overview

The Computer Overview menu under the Hardware tab displays some very interesting information about your PC.

Quick information pertaining to your video system, storage devices, CPU and others can be viewed here. Scroll through the menu and check out the Processor view.

Have you ever wondered what type of CPU you have and its clock speed? The Processor menu will let you know if you have an Intel or AMD CPU and its clock speed in megahertz or gigahertz.

If you've a CPU that has more than one core, the "Cores per Processor" item will tell you just how many your processor has.

Motherboard Information

Select on the Hardware tab on Sandra's tabbed interface; then select the Mainboard icon. Wait a few seconds while Sandra gathers the relevant information about your PC's motherboard.

A window will pop up featuring a whole wealth of details. Scroll through the menu and take a look around. Suppose you want to upgrade your computer's memory, deciding to acquire another 512 megabyte or 1 gig module.

But how much more memory can your PC handle? Scroll down to the System Memory Controller menu and checkout the Maximum Installable Memory item. You can save yourself a major hassle if you know that your PC can't handle any more memory.

Also of interest in the Mainboard section is the Chipset menu. This displays the types of busses your Mainboard supports.

This is important if you want to upgrade your graphics card, as you can determine whether you should get a PCI Express, AGP or an old-school PCI video card.

Other Types of Information

Sandra not only gives you a full overview of your PC's hardware, but it can also display various software oriented aspects of your computer. Select the Software tab and behold all the software icons.

The Operating System is certainly interesting. In addition to listing myriad information about your version of XP or whatever Windows OS you're running, the Default Key Application menu will determine the default programs for your web browsing, email, media player and suchlike.

For example, my Default Key Application menu shows Firefox for my default browser and Thunderbird for email.

SiSoftware's Sandra can be used for educational use, but you can also purchase a professional version that contains more features and options.

But I've found that the basic version does everything I need. There is also a Benchmark tab so that you can determine the speed and efficiency of your memory bandwidth and latency, network bandwidth, processor arithmetic and others.

If you've ever been curious about a lot of the undocumented information about your PC, give Sandra a try today.  

Download Sandra Lite Free Diagnostics software

Sandra Lite

Major Jane Raymond USAFA

MER/IT

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