Computer Buying Guide

Aspire has been aiming it’s cases at the more budget conscious computer user. Althought its cases are not the cheapest, they are designed with the case modder in mind. And more recently their cases have improved dramatically, making them even more desirable.

Apire Computer Cases and Aspire Mini Cases are the bread and butter of their range and provide choices for those looking for replacements for their desktop cases and those looking for smaller box-style cases.

There are a few cases in the Aspire Computer Cases range.

Aspire X-Plorer

The X-plorer is the cheapest in the field of Aspire computer cases. The case is only slightly cheaper than the other Aspire PC cases. It’s looks are a little less in your face than those of the slightly more expensive X-cruiser. It offers many of the same features, but does not come with as many ports at the front of the case.

It does not come with many instructions so can be very hard to deal with if you have never changed your computer’s case. This is a pity as this price range is actually aimed at those who want to get a cool case but have no need to dish out over a hundred bucks for a top of the range one.

Overall the X-plorer looks good and will function fine. It does have the cool lights inside if you like that kind of thing. It’s looks are more plain than the X-cruiser, which with it’s large dials has a more select audience. The looks are good and the others features are fine, which is enough for a case for an average upgrade.

Aspire X-Cruiser (Silver)

The X-cruiser series offer a very unique computer case that has many appealing features and a truly unusual look.

The most noticable thing about the case are the 3 large dials on the front which measure sound input strength, temperature and fan speed. The sound level is not useful as it is adjusted via a dial to keep the little needle ticking. The other two work fine and give you a visual indicator that things are working or if there is trouble on the way.

The front door of the case opens to reveal the CD and DVD drives as well as the floppy drive. Two 80mm fan ports located in the front cover serve to push air through the case, keeping it cool. It does not come with fans there though.

Overall build quality is good and the addition of a removable motherboard tray will be a bonus for those who like to remove and change parts often.

Aspire X-Navigator

The X-navigator is the most expensive in the range from Aspire, probably because they come with a power supply included. This is a pity as it means that consumers cannot choose their own power supplies, which is one of the bonuses of the X-cruiser, which doesn’t come with one.

Very similar to the X-cruiser it offers many similar features that it has too. The case has all the same glowing parts as the other ones do. The appeal of the case is probably more wide ranging than that of the X-cruiser, as it offers a more bland front panel which actually comes in a range of colors. The case itself actually comes with more than one color front panel, which you can change.

The accompanying power supply is actually not bad either. There have not been any terrible reports fo them burning out or stopping working which is a plus. It provides a stable power supply at least as good as it claims.

It also comes in this cool silver color for those who don’t like the blue so much.

Aspire X-Qpack Micro ATX Tower

Aspire mini cases are actually extremely appealing. With their clear side panels and good looks they make a good choice for those who are wanting to buy a cube styled mini case.

CPU and hard drive temperatures can be read via a blue backlit LCD panel on the front of the case. It has two thermistors that run to the CPU and hard drive inside the case. They measure the temperatures quite accurately and are a good extra as temperatures inside small cases can rise very quickly.

The case includes two fans. A small 60mm fan up front and a very large 120mm fan at the back. These two together provide enough cooling for the system, keeping it at workable temperatures.

The removable motherboard tray makes installation of your motherboard into this computer dead simple. With the close, compact invironment inside the computer, installation without this feature could become and absolute nightmare, with much lost skin.

Aspire computer cases have come a long way. The Aspire mini cases give you a good alternative upgrade option. You can check them out and their features at the Aspire Computer Cases Website.

To reformat hard drive is fairly simple, you just need to bear a few things in mind. I would use reformat to refer to formatting a drive that has had things, data, put on it. You would sometimes want to do this when everything starts to run a little slow. A reformat starts everything fresh.

You need make sure that when you reformat hard drive that you save all your important data. This is the process in Windows 2000.

First step is to save all the data and make sure that you have all the programs you use now ready to reinstall.

Make sure to backup all your personal information. This is the most important, as information that you have created cannot be recovered. I usually have a seperate directory for my files, but if you use Windows they are often in the “My Documents” folder. Copy these to a CD, DVD or elsewhere. Save your Internet browser shortcuts and bookmarks, as well as your email clients settings.

Next, make sure that you have all the disks you will need for the programs you want. If you are formatting a drive other than the drive with Windows or your operating system, skip this step.

If the program comes from a CD then make sure you have that CD on hand. If your Windows needs boot disks, make sure to create them before formatting.

Start >> Settings >> Control Panel >> Add/Remove Programs

Note the programs you see in there. Do you still need them all? Check you have disks or setup files for all of them.

You can see in Windows Explorer that I have seperate partitions for different things, which eases backup up my data.

Next, to back up your settings from Internet Explorer.

To back up your favorites from Internet Explorer.

Open Internet Explorer and click: File >> Import and Export…

Welcome screen.

Select “Export Favorites” and “Export Cookies”.

Select “Favorites” to back up all your bookmarks.

Choose where you would like to save the results.

Click on “Finish” to complete the process.

Now, safe in the knowledge that all your important things have been saved, you can proceed to format your hard drive.

If you are doing a fresh install of Windows and reformatting everything skip to Page 5.

If the drive you are formatting is not the drive with Windows you can format from within Windows.

Click on: Start >> Settings >> Control Panel >> Administrative Tools >> Computer Management >>Disk Management

Right click on the drive you want to make a partition on and select “Create Partition”. It will guide you through all the things you need to do to make a partition and format it.

Just create a primary partition.

Choose the maximum space if you want just one partition, less if you want to make another one later.

Choose a drive letter, or accept the default that the computer will give you.

Choose the file system. Windows needs NTFS, but you could also use FAT32. I would just go for NTFS, unless you have a reason for need a FAT32 drive, like maybe if you share data with a Linux installation on the computer.

Review the details.

Wait for a while as the computer goes through the process of formatting. (Could be a very long time on big drives)

Wait for it to finish, then all is done.

If you have just formatted your Windows drive you will need to reformat and reinstall Windows.

If the drive has Windows on it then you will need to format at startup.

Insert the boot disk or bootable CD in the drive.

Restart the computer.

Follow the instructions on screen.

First screen

Insert the startup disks one by one. Windows XP only needs the startup disks if your computer cannot boot from CDROM.

Press “Enter” to continue.

You now get the choice to make a partition. A partition splits your physical hard drive into more than one drive. The computer will “see” each partition as a different drive. I like to do this to give my data it’s own drive for convenient backup. If you are unsure, just create one large one, the full size of the disk.

Next, is to choose the partition to install on and reformat it.

Once that’s done you will see a list of the partitions you have made. Press “Enter” for the one you want to install Windows on.

You have to choose NTFS for the Windows install.

Watch it format. This can take a while.

It then copies the Windows files to the hard drive.

Take out the floppy disk and reboot.

When it’s done, it will continue with the Windows installation.

Once Windows is all installed you need to reintall all your programs and put your internet bookmarks back.