User talk:Tex/scratch page

cliff here: 1st thing i would do is move any repetition into its own paragraph/section. like "how to recycle that MoBo". repeating the text not only makes for a longer read, but can actually make the reader expect that the instructions are, or should be, different each time. aaaand i just got interrupted by i'll add more soon.

overall, i wish i had had this when i started: i got it all verbal, from i forget how many people, took forever to figure out which part of who said what to follow/ignore,...

i would move the "dell" test b4 the "sata" test - don't care if dells have sata.

humor: tricky in an instruction manual, can be confusing, can even cause reader to stop taking the whole thing seriously. Manuals that use humor successfully use an icon/emoticon or some-such to "flag" the humor.

Thermal Grease: why too much is a bad thing = excellent! way too many people leave off the full reason why to do or not do a thing. & i've heard almost as many definitions of too much as i've heard geeks talk about it. this is excellent.

"install the heatsink": i thought we *had* to use the 4-pin power when present, else the fan wouldn't spin? not a correction, this - a question for teacher.

"install memory": we used to just put a stick of 256 or 512 in each slot, not clear what we gain from trying to keep track of which slot we have & haven't tested? again, not a correction, this - a question for teacher.

"install power connectors": a question for teacher - will the CMOS chip reset if there is power to the board? i thought from my Build days that we had to unplug the puter from the power to clear this? Or does this step belong just b3fore "power up the mobo"?

"bios choices" & "but first": seems to say move memory stick(s) when MoBo is running? is it now safe to move memory sticks without powering down? another question for teacher.

Let me see if I can answer a majority of these questions successfully. I'll try to preface my remarks with *** . Hope wiki doesn't mung it up too much.

cliff here: 1st thing i would do is move any repetition into its own paragraph/section. like "how to recycle that MoBo". repeating the text not only makes for a longer read, but can actually make the reader expect that the instructions are, or should be, different each time. aaaand i just got interrupted by i'll add more soon. *** I will implement this suggestion ***

overall, i wish i had had this when i started: i got it all verbal, from i forget how many people, took forever to figure out which part of who said what to follow/ignore,... *** I feel your pain... ***

i would move the "dell" test b4 the "sata" test - don't care if dells have sata. *** Excellent suggestion. Makes more sense. ***

humor: tricky in an instruction manual, can be confusing, can even cause reader to stop taking the whole thing seriously. Manuals that use humor successfully use an icon/emoticon or some-such to "flag" the humor. *** I agree. The attempt was to jog the reader to useful wakefulness. I find humor is usually easier to accept than a slap on the back of the head. Reference the '...For Dummies' series of books. Extremely successful. I'll revisit the humor sections and see if I can't 'flag' them somehow... ***

Thermal Grease: why too much is a bad thing = excellent! way too many people leave off the full reason why to do or not do a thing. & i've heard almost as many definitions of too much as i've heard geeks talk about it. this is excellent. *** Thank you... I bow to the higher authority ***

"install the heatsink": i thought we *had* to use the 4-pin power when present, else the fan wouldn't spin? not a correction, this - a question for teacher. *** No, 3 pin fans work quite well. The 4th pin in a 4-pin fan is for speed control. The guide post on 4-pin connectors is really there in case you use a 3-pin fan so you can't put the fan connector on the wrong posts. 3-pin fans on a 4-pin connector post run at full speed all the time. ***

"install memory": we used to just put a stick of 256 or 512 in each slot, not clear what we gain from trying to keep track of which slot we have & haven't tested? again, not a correction, this - a question for teacher. *** Using one stick and moving it each boot cuts down on setup time. Would probably be better if I used 2 sticks. Makes it easier to tell which, if any, memory slots are bad. Personal pref, actually. I could just as well use one for each slot, but then, I'd have to keep track of those memory sticks in my tool kit. ***

"install power connectors": a question for teacher - will the CMOS chip reset if there is power to the board? i thought from my Build days that we had to unplug the puter from the power to clear this? Or does this step belong just b3fore "power up the mobo"? *** I do this all the time. Unplugging is a bit of over-kill. The CMOS will reset WITH the power connector attached. I usually, sometimes, not all the time, occasionally, always do this. I move the jumper to the reset/clear position for about 10 seconds, then back to the normal position. Never had it fail to clear on ANY board. Old wife's tale... ***

"bios choices" & "but first": seems to say move memory stick(s) when MoBo is running? is it now safe to move memory sticks without powering down? another question for teacher. *** I'll revisit that section to make sure there is no confusion. Power most certainly should be off. ***

• • • Sorry for the use of the asterisks. I wish there was a way to change the font color so it wouldn't be so difficult to pick out my responses. Blame it on my use of Windows for 25 years... ***