1. always try installing latest drivers / bios / windows update
Why?
Because new drivers and bios and windows updates ALWAYS fix stuffs
2. system cannot boot/funny beeping sound/no display
reseat video card (make sure the gold connectors below sit flush into the slot of the motherboard)
reseat rams (the clips on both side must go in fully) - USUALLY THE MAIN REASON
reseat cpu and heatsink
check whether motherboard is being shorted by any metal
3. not stable/crash/stuttering/always blue screen of death/mysterious restarts
try 1. and 2. first.
up voltages of ram (usually called vdimm/vram) and northbridge (yea even unoverclocked systems sometimes need that extra bump to be stable)
if overclocked, save your settings first and then set everything back to stock and see the errors come out again - if yes means bad overclock
reduce ram timings/divider
to test memory/cpu stability, run intelburntest (IntelBurnTest v2.3 download from Guru3D.com) - if it lasts 5 minutes on full burn its probably ok
4. OHOH why my cpu/video card so "hot"
There has been a lot of misinformation around mainly due to outdated knowledge (the thresholds of older cpus/gpus last time were lower) . These are the acceptable temperatures of modern day stuff:
Idle - anything below 60s degree celcius (i'm serious)
load (gaming) - anything below 80 degree celcius
load (intelburntest/furmark/every core 100%) - anything below 90 degree celcius
anybody who tells you otherwise is still living in the AMD Althon/Geforce 2 MX era.
"Wouldn't a hotter cpu mean die faster" - not really unless you mean you want it to last 100 years. only overclocked extreme voltages will cause electron migration (aka something really nasty) and a fast death
5. why my internet so slow/game ping so laggy or spikey
follow step 1
scan your computer for maalware/spyware/adware (i find this one the most effective - Malwarebytes.org)
have you secured your wireless network against unauthorized access/cheapskate neighbours leeching your bandwidth?
are you running BT/p2p applications (TVU, sopcast,... also counts), if yes reduce upload speed if possible to 10kB/s.
follow my other guide (for xp): http://forums.vr-zone.com/networking...n-xp-only.html
you live in a congested neighbourhood. get another isp
6. Whats the best AV to use? Do I need a software firewall?
Antivirus - http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/ (its free, made by the same people who made your operating system, is light on resources, and havent misfired yet - I am a "ahem" heavy user)
Software Firewall (zone alarm and all that) - not quite neccessary if you are behind NAT/internet gateway (for nubs: your computer not plugged directly to the modem). usually it is a resource hog and more often than not cripples legitimate applications
