The videos are intended to teach anyone how to setup a SSD or SSD RAID array in their computer.  SSD or Solid State Drives are much faster than hard drives and greatly improve your experience using your computer.  Using a RAID setup with SSDs can improve speed even more.

• Lesson 1 - SSD and RAID Basics
• Lesson 2 - Other Features of SSDs and RAID
• Lesson 3 - SATA and RAID Configuration
• Lesson 4 - Finding Drivers and Installing Windows
• Lesson 5 - Installing Drivers, disabling Defrag and backing up your C Drive

These videos are available for immediate online viewing by members of the site.  You can join here.  The same videos will be available on DVD for purchase by the end of July.

 

We've got most of the video shot with Lesson 3 through 5 close to being finished.  Lesson 1 and 2 are similar in format to the Internal Component video lessons from the Home PC Builder 2011 videos.  They are pure information.  We're planning to have all 5 videos on the site and available for members to watch by the end of July. It will take about week after that to get them on DVD.  

We just ordered two Kingston SSDs.  We're going to make a set of videos showing how to configure RAID 0 or 1, install Windows 7 onto the array and show some tips for getting the most performance.  RAID 5 won't be possible with just two drives but we can still tell the steps for setting up the area.  We'll also show a few different configuration utilities.  The steps are the same but the look is different in various utilities.  In RAID 1 or 5 if a drive fails there is a procedure to replace the drive and have the RAID array recover or reconstruct the missing data.  We will show this as well.

The more reviews a product on Amazon.com has the higher it appears in searches.  We need your reviews!  If you have watched the 2011 videos on the site or on DVD you can give your opinion.  

Here is the link to the 2011 DVD on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Home-Builder-2011-Michael-Cooper/dp/B004VBUGLC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1302803172&sr=8-2

As always your help is greatly appreciated.  If there is something you don't like about the videos or there are ways you think they could be better please include that as well.  Glowing reviews are great but people will lend more weight to reviews that have a few critical things to say.  Don't worry we can handle it.

 

Just wanted to keep you in the loop about what is going on with the videos.  

Lesson 3 covers buying and installing a memory upgrade into a desktop computer.

Lesson 4 shows adding memory to another desktop computer and a laptop computer.  

Lesson 3's audio is recorded and about half the video is done.  Lesson 4's video is about 3/4th done and I'm finalizing the script before recording the audio.

The memory upgrade for the computer in Lesson 3 will be delivered on Monday.  In the mean time we're working on shooting and editing together the remaining video for Lesson 4.  

First let me say that I am sorry this has taken so long.  We wanted to have the DVDs ready to ship two months ago.   The good news is that the extra time taken has resulted in the best DVD we have made so far.  The information on the DVD is up to date, complete and will make building a computer very easy. 

Everything is recorded with the exception of the Socket 1156 and AM3 sections of Installation Lesson 2.  Right now we're working on editing together Lesson 7 and 8 of the Internal Component Lessons.  All of the other Component Lessons are finished.  Next we will edit together the new Windows 7 installation and drivers installation videos.  We're dropping the Windows XP videos from the DVD and will put them online for free.  We will then record and edit together the Socket 1156 and AM3 video which shouldn't take more than a few days.

I'm confident the videos will be online in a few weeks and we will allow a pre-purchase of the DVDs which will be ready to ship a few weeks after that. 

Cleaning your Computer Inside and Out

We were about to start working on the Core i7 overclocking videos and noticed our Core i7 system was covered in dust inside and out.  Several questions have been asked about cleaning a computer over the years so it was the perfect time to make a video on the subject.  This video will be online only and will not appear on a DVD.  The same goes for the overclocking videos we will be making over the next few months.  Maybe if we get a bunch of new videos together we can make a DVD of them but plan on getting them online only for the near future.

With the cleaning video done we are now hard at work on the Core i7 overclocking videos.  They should be available by the end of the month.

We added the Home Network Builder videos to the site.  We released them last summer at www.homenetworkbuilder.com  They show how to set up a secure wireless home network. 

We've added the videos here at Home PC Builder.com as a free gift to all current members of the site and for new customers. 

If you buy the Home PC Builder 2009 DVD you will receive the Home Network Builder DVD for free.  If you pay for online access to the Home PC Builder 2009 video you can also watch the Home Network Builder videos, right here, for free.

I'm very proud of the Home Network Builder videos. We took the same care in making them as with the Home PC Builder videos.  Several hundred people have watched the networking videos already and we receive thank you emails on a daily basis.   Your feedback, good or bad, is much appreciated.  Your experiences and opinions help us make the videos and the site better, so keep it coming.