Reasons for upgrading hardware and software are usually insufficient performance or insufficient functionality of the equipment you have at your disposal. It should be pointed out that the criteria and recommendations for software upgrading partly differ from criteria for upgrading of hardware equipment.

Software upgrading (of the operating system or applications) is recommended in general. However, the following should be taken into consideration:

• If the functionality provided by the new version of software is not imperative, are the costs of upgrading in accordance with its usefulness?
• Does the existing configuration (of hardware and operating system) satisfy the increased demands which the new software version might impose?

If the answers to these questions are negative, the upgrading is not recommendable.

In general hardware upgrading is not recommendable without detailed analysis. The reasons for that are, among others, the following:

• System performance (even if it is only related to a specific function, such as graphic program speed) does not depend on just one component of the system, but on several of them, as well as their mutual compatibility. Upgrading just one component (in the aforementioned example it could be a new and faster graphic card) would therefore in most cases not result in the expected performance improvement.
• Taking into consideration that reaching the desired performance increase usually includes upgrading of several components, the price of upgrading often comes close to the price of a new computer. Buying a new computer is definitely a better choice than upgrading the old one.
• It often happens that new components are not compatible with old components (e.g. some new graphic cards do not function on older mother boards), so attempts at unskilled upgrading may end in a dysfunctional computer.

Please note ... If you are planning to upgrade a larger number of systems (regardless of the type of upgrading), it is best to implement the planned upgrading on one computer first, and only after a successful testing of the new configuration, acquire parts for the upgrading of the remaining systems. Sometimes it is possible to arrange with the equipment supplier to borrow different components for the purpose of testing and selection.

However, there are exceptions, such as memory or disk system upgrading in cases when a computer lacks these resources (and especially if apart from that the computer satisfies your needs). With such upgrading, the following should be taken into consideration:

• Are the new components compatible with the system which is being upgraded? E.g. if your computer supports only 'regular' SDRAM memory, newer and faster DDR SDRAM memory will not work in it.
• Is there available space for upgrading? E.g. if all the available memory slots are already taken, any upgrading will require replacement of the existing memory modules and building in new modules with greater capacity.
• Does the planned upgrading suit the actual needs?

Other obvious example of hardware upgrading which is recommendable is upgrading the computer with components the computer does not yet have and that are necessary to satisfy the needs of the users. For example, building in of PCI card with USB ports into older computers which do not have USB ports, if that computer needs to be connected to a USB device (such as a scanner, printer or web camera) or building in a CD-ROM into a computer that does not have one.

If you have any additional questions or you feel that we can advise you in relation to upgrading your systems, feel free to contact us. We would be glad to help you.