How to Check if Your Computer Can Have a Wifi Card Colorado

Steps

1. TURN THE PC OFF, yes i'm serious...
2. Open your computer-case. Note that opening your case may void waranty. If you still have waranty or you are uncertain your waranty has voided allready check this first. If you do not want to void waranty read the tips and then skip to the bottom part of this guide.
3. If You are certain you will not void the waranty when opening the computer, or you just don 't care wether or not you void it or not.
4. Next you need to check wether or not you have the required slot open. There are like 6 diffrent slots you can come across. usualy the types are listed somewhere near the slots. The slots are the plastic bar-like looking things on the motherboard. The slots you want are PCI slots. Usualy they have a beige color tough they may varry a bit. They will always be close to the back of your computer and always facing the same direction. If any of them is free this means you can install a Wifi card.
5. If you do not want to void waranty read the tips first then continue to read the guide.
6. Once you found out the type of motherboard you have look for images or specifications of the motherboard. Now you will be able to see if you have the needed PCI slot.
7. Anyway now you know how many pc slots you have from the image or motherboard specs, now you need to count how many cards there actualy are installed, this can be fairly easy done ny counting the ammount of horizontal lines wich have ports at the back of your computer if your computer is a tower (standing up straight rather then laying on his side).
8. There is ofcource a chance the slots are taken, in this case u might want to remove one of the cards to make room for the wifi card. Note that removing one of the cards may cause sound to stop working or even the monitor or other needed stuff. Do not remove any of the cards before knowing what they do.
9. If all else fails go to a local IT-shop or the closest IT-person you can find.

Tips

• All the folowing tips relate to finding out the type of your motherboard.
• First of all when starting up your computer you see alot of diffrent things. You might see a splash screen with the name of the producer of the motherboard and maybe even a type of the motherboard.
• If you have a PC bought from DELL or a company that sells pre-formatted computers like dell wich all have a diffrent type, you can try googleling the type of the computer and search for motherboard specifications.
• You can try to use various hardware listing tools to find out specifications about your computer. Remember google is your friend. You want to specificly look wat kind of chipset you have and what socket you have. Also the maker of the motherboard will come in handy.
• If all else fails go to the store where you bought the computer or contact someone with Computer-knowledge, or considder voiding your waranty by opending the computer.

Warnings

• Opening your computer case voids the waranty in most cases.
• Durning these steps its possible you dammage your hardware when not being cautious. Make sure the PC is off, or even better deplugged, if you choose to open it up. Wires can be touched as long as they are isolated, its best you do not touch anything else. Try not to be staticly charged (always keep one hand on the case (if its from metal) or any other metal object). Work on a steady surface. Do not use magnetic screwdrivers etc to poke arround. Just open the case, look for what you need and close it up again.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Check if Your Computer Can Have a Wifi Card. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.