It is easy to upgrade your own PC most of the time if you have the time, and inclination to do a little learning. One of the things that is the most difficult is knowing exactly what is in your computer so you can know what to buy for it. For example, if you have 512mb of memory, we suggest upgrading to 1gb (1024mb) or 2 gigabytes (2048mb). This will allow you to keep more applications open, reduce hard drive access, and run photo editing applications in a more smooth fashion. Steve Gee of Java Heuristics pointed us to SiSoftware Sandra.

Head to download.com and download the free version of Sandra. If you don't have a way to unzip the zip file then now is a great time to go get 7zip. Once you have the software downloaded then unzip it, and run the executable file, and go through the installation script using all of the defaults.

Once you have Sandra installed, go to the hardware tab, and double click on "Computer Overview, which is the first icon on the screen in the top left corner. It might take five to ten minutes, however you will get a report on exactly what is in your computer, and at the bottom of the report you will get a few tips on increasing performance.

Also to find out details about hardware the user can just double click on the item in the list when it comes up, and is given the option to save or print the detail out so they can take it down to the PC enthusiast shop, or over to a discounter such as newegg.com