6-1
Preparing to upgrade
To upgrade your computer’s hardware, you can add or 
replace cards, drives, or system board components. If you 
take the time to evaluate your new hardware and plan your 
hardware changes, you can reduce the effort required to 
make the changes.
For instance, the type of hardware you plan to add or 
replace determines whether you begin with your computer 
turned on or off.
As you prepare to add or replace hardware in your system 
unit, follow the instructions in these sections:
“Evaluating your new hardware” on page 6-1
 “Planning your hardware changes” on page 6-3
 “Resolving resource conflicts” on page 6-3
 “Opening the system unit” on page 6-4
“Looking inside the system unit” on page 6-6
Evaluating your new hardware
The documentation that came with your new hardware 
should contain information about required settings and the 
instructions on how to install the hardware. Study the 
documentation carefully.
If the documentation refers you to information about your 
computer’s I/O addresses, system interrupt requests (IRQs), 
or DMA channel assignments, see “Appendix A: 
Specification tables”.
v65xahb.book : chap-6.fm  Page 1  Friday, January 16, 1998  4:27 PM