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Digital Bridge Technology Academy Basic Hardware Skills Curriculum: Computer Hardware & Operating Systems
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Basic Computer Hardware &
Operating Systems Contents Introduction Page 2 PC Hardware Basics Pre-Assessment Page 3 Section One: Hardware Identification Page 4 Section Two: Building a Computer Page 16
Section Three: Installing a Microsoft Windows Operating System Page 36
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Scanner
Loudspeakers
Now that we have reviewed the parts that we have worked with and have actually created
a working computer, let’s take the next step: REPAIRS!
When something goes wrong with our computer, how do we fix it? First, we have
to determine (decide) what has actually happened. Sometimes it is obvious, such as
smoke and flames (yikes!), but more often it is very subtle and difficult to see.
Sometimes the problem seems to be impossible to solve, or even to understand.
In most cases however, we can both diagnose and correct most problems with the typical
PC.
The most important resource you can have at your disposal when you are trying to
troubleshoot a problem with your PC is: experience. Since we are just starting, we will
have to use something else.
What we will use in this class is the experience of the instructor, reference
materials, and good ole’ hands-on experience. ARE YOU READY?
Many problems with PCs that appear to be very serious are in fact are not. It isn't
always possible to tell at the beginning how serious a problem is just by its outward
symptoms.
For example, there are some problems that can make it seem that your hard disk
has appeared to be crashed and all of its data lost. Sometimes real crashes do happen, but
there are other problems that can cause a disk to appear crashed when really the problem
is simple and can be fixed in a matter of a few minutes.
Don't Jump to the Solution Before You Understand the Problem!
If you have at your disposal someone who knows about
PCs, say a pal or a family member, have them take a look at a
difficult problem. Even if you are great at troubleshooting,
there will be the occasional problem that for one reason or
another, you just won't be able to crack. Sometimes another
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person who can look at a problem from a fresh perspective (who hasn't been staring at the
same thing for days) will be able to set you on the right path to fixing the problem.
DON'T BE AFRAID OF ASKING FOR HELP! There is no shame in needing
assistance, and it can be an excellent way to learn.
Before you take a screwdriver to your PC, make sure that it is not under warranty. If it is
less than a year old, chances are it is still covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. If
you attempt repairs yourself, you may well void the warranty.
LET THE MANUFACUTER CORRECT THE PROBLEM! That is what
you have paid for.
Ok, so you have determined that there is a problem and that the PC is no longer under
warranty. What do you do next? Let’s start with some basic procedures (actions).
Double-Check Any Recent Changes
Ask yourself: when did the problem I am experiencing first start? If you have just
made any change to your system, and are now having a problem with your PC that was
not present before the change, the chances are probably 99% that the change is the cause
of the problem. This is true even if the problem seems to have absolutely nothing to do
with what you changed. If you hunt around, eventually you will find something that links
the problem to the change. While it is possible for something to coincidentally stop
working at the same time that you make a change, the odds are greatly against this ever
happening to you.
1. KIS – Keep It Simple
A strict rule to keep in mind when troubleshooting PC system problems is that if
there are too many unknowns, it is impossible to determine which one is causing the
problem. If you have many possible causes for some difficulty with your system, it can
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be extremely difficult to narrow down the cause to any one of them. For example, if you
are using a (1) just-installed hard disk with an (2) unfamiliar shareware file utility
running on an operating system you just (3) upgraded last week, and now your system
has problems, how on earth are you ever going to know what is causing them?
In order to have a fighting chance at figuring out what is going on, you must
simplify things as much as possible so it becomes much more obvious (clear) what is
responsible for the problem. This means reducing the number of variables (things that
could be causing the problem) to whatever extent as possible. One important way of
doing this is undoing or double-checking any changes made to the system.
Here are some other items you may want to consider:
Power Management: Power management is a great idea in theory but in
many ways is just "not ready for prime time". Power management routines
can cause symptoms that appear to be hardware malfunctions, such as screens
that turn off unexpectedly or hard disks that spin down. They also can cause
crashes of software that doesn't know how to deal with them. If you want to
use power management, turning it off until the problem is resolved is wise.
Over-Clocked Hardware and Aggressive BIOS Settings: If you insist on
doing it, don't be surprised if you have system problems! Scale things back
until you can figure out what the problem is. Similarly, if you are "pushing
the envelope" in trying to squeeze maximum performance by tuning your
BIOS memory timings and other settings very aggressively, try resetting them
to more conservative values when troubleshooting.
Excessive Connections: If the PC is on a network or is connected to a large
number or variety of peripheral devices, you may want to try to disconnect
those and see if there is any impact on the problem.
Use the Process of Elimination
Virtually all problems with PCs involve more than one component. The difficulty
is usually in figuring out which component is responsible for the problem. Using the
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process of elimination, however, you can usually narrow the problem down rather
quickly by making small logical changes and observing the impact on the problem. Your
objective (goal) is to isolate the cause of the problem so you can correct it.
The key is to make only one change at a time and then see if the problem goes
away; if it does, then whatever you changed is likely responsible for the. If you make
more than one change at a time, you cannot readily discern (tell the difference) which
change was responsible for fixing the problem.
You will want to first check the most probable sources of the problem, and also
the things that are easiest to change. For example, if you are having a problem with your
disk drive being recognized, it's a lot easier and cheaper to explore things like double-
checking jumpers and connections or replacing the interface cable, than it is to try
replacing the drive itself. That is something you'd only do after you had eliminated all
the other possibilities.
Do One Upgrade or Assembly Step At a Time
Changes made to the system are the most frequent cause of problems; this is the
nature of change. Much the way many problems can be diagnosed by using the process
of elimination through making single changes to the system, you can avoid or detect
problems with upgrades or new installations by going "one step at a time" in your
changes as well. New system installations or major upgrades often can have problems
that are very difficult to diagnose simply because there are so many changes being
performed at the same time.
When you build a new PC you will probably be assembling a large number of
components that have never been used or tested before. Try to go as slowly as possible
when assembling the machine. For example, when assembling a new PC from scratch, it
is always best to first make sure the basic system is working, with the only expansion
card in the system the video card. Add the sound card, network card and other devices
one at a time if possible. Similarly, do not try to do major software or operating system
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upgrades at the same time that you make hardware changes. Doing this can make it very
difficult for you to troubleshoot any system problems.
If you do make multiple changes at once, try retracing your steps. Undo the
changes you have made one at a time and see if you can identify the change that caused
the problem that way.
Write Things Down
Whenever you find a piece of evidence, or you figure out something about the
current situation your PC is in, document it. Keeping a history of what you discover and
what your symptoms are will help you not only with this problem but also with any future
difficulties. A logbook of some sort is always good idea.
Use Diagnostic Tools
If you own diagnostic hardware and/or software tools, they can be useful in
pinpointing some kinds of problems. If you feel that you are having a problem that can
be detected by a tool, or you feel that running a diagnostic utility (program) may shed
more light on what's happening, then make use of the tool to help guide your analysis of
the problem.
Diagnostic Software
Power-On Self Test (POST): This isn't a separate diagnostic utility; it is
in fact built into your system BIOS and it runs every time you start up
your PC automatically. It is often the best indicator of system problems;
make sure you pay attention to its audio and video messages. Don't
disable its error-reporting functions unless you really need to.
MEM.EXE: This simple utility, built into recent versions of DOS and
also Windows 95, provides you with details about your memory
configuration, as well as what is currently using your memory.
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Microsoft Diagnostics: Better known as "MSD.EXE", this is a small
DOS utility that takes a brief inventory of the contents of your PC and
shows them to you in a text-based format. This is very useful for seeing
what disks are in the system, how much memory is installed, and also for
checking system resource usage such as LPT ports and IRQs. It will show
you what type of BIOS you are using and also what UART chip you have
in your serial ports. MSD.EXE is included in later versions of DOS.
Device Manager: This is the most useful tool for identifying system
configuration and resource usage information under Windows. To access
it, open the Control Panel and select the "System" icon. Then select the
"Device Manager" tab. You will see a graphical "tree" structure showing
you all of your PC hardware. If you select "Properties" while "Computer"
(the top-level item) is selected, you will be able to see all the IRQs, DMA
channels and I/O addresses in use in your PC; very useful for resolving
resource conflicts! The same "Properties" button, pressed after selecting a
specific hardware device, will show you driver information, resource
settings for the hardware item chosen, and much more.
Norton System Information: This utility is similar to the Microsoft
Diagnostics, only more detailed in its later versions. SI shows a great deal
of information about what is in the PC, going well beyond what MSD
gives you, but really is still an information utility as opposed to a true
diagnostic. This program is part of Symantec's Norton Utilities.
Microsoft Scandisk and Norton Disk Doctor: These programs are used
to check for hard disk problems. This includes file system corruption and
hard disk read errors. They should be used when hard disk problems are
suspected.
Norton Diagnostics: This utility is meant to go beyond the System
Information program and actually perform tests on the hardware to
identify problems. It includes tests of the processor and motherboard and
system memory, and will identify some types of resource conflicts. In
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reality it is still quite limited in terms of the numbers of problems it will
find.
Diagnostic Hardware
While not as commonly used as diagnostic software, there are available several
pieces of hardware that can be very helpful in troubleshooting some specific hardware
problems. These units are not nearly as popular because they are usually more expensive
and are used for specific types of problems, making them less used than the general
software utilities.
If you are a serious homebuilder or troubleshooter, you may want to consider one
or more of the following:
Multimeter/Ohmmeter An ohmmeter is a device that measures electrical resistance. A multimeter can
measure resistance, voltage and current. Electricians, electronics designers and repair
people use these devices. They have come down greatly in price and simple ones can be
had inexpensively (while top-end ones are still quite a bit of money). A simple ohmmeter
is useful primarily for checking for short circuits or open circuits (broken connections,
damaged cables, etc.). Multimeters can be used for more extensive electronics testing.
Test Bed Some experienced PC repair people keep around an older system that they can use
as a test bed for components. It can be very useful to be able to test an unknown device
with other components that are known to work, to cut down on the guesswork.
The PC Tool Kit As with most things, tool kits range widely in size, quality and price. At the low
end are $5 kits that are barely any better than the screwdriver and pocketknife. At the
high end are kits costing over $100 that include everything but the kitchen sink; these are
overkill for most people. Most people can do just fine with a toolkit costing between $15
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and $50. These are often available pre-assembled into carrying cases, sold at most
general computer stores.
Here are the items recommended you should have in your toolkit; note that some
of these don't generally come in pre-assembled toolkits so you will want to add them
yourself to the carrying case.
A Good Screwdriver: You want a good screwdriver with magnetic,
interchangeable bits and a comfortable handle. At a minimum you should
have two different sizes each of Phillips and flat bits. If you've never used
a magnetic screwdriver before, you'll wonder how you ever did without
one once you do; the magnetic tip will prevent screws falling into the PC,
and will let you get access to drives mounted deep in your system case.
Additional Screwdrivers: An additional Philips screwdriver and an
additional flat blade screwdriver, for when you misplace the good one
(actually, it's sometimes useful to have two screwdrivers anyway).
Needle-Nose Pliers: These are useful for grasping small items and for
removing and replacing jumpers on circuit boards.
Wire Snips: A pair of wire snips for cutting wire and stripping insulation.
Some kits include wire strippers for the latter purpose.
A Small Flashlight: Very useful. The insides of PC boxes are quite dark
and there are lots of very small things you will need to see, such as the
"pin 1" marking on a connector for example.
Tweezers: Or even better, a part retriever. A retriever is like a tiny set of
retractable claws with a spring-loaded handle. Useful stuff.
A Roll of Black Electrical Tape: They never include this in the kits but
they should. Used for wrapping wire ends and insulating components.
A Can of Compressed Air: Very handy for cleaning things hands-free
and without using any hazardous liquids.
A Soft, Lint-Free Cloth: For cleaning the monitor and other
components.
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A 3/16" Nut Driver: In fact, tool kits often come with several different
sizes of nut drivers (using exchangeable bits), but 3/16" is the really
important one, because this is the size of nut most commonly used on PCs.
These hexagonal nuts are used as mounting hardware for motherboards
and serial and parallel ports. A necessity for anyone who builds their own
PCs - if you don't have one you'll be attaching port connectors using a pair
of poor-fitting pliers.
Vice Grips: These are incredibly neat tools that have all sorts of uses.
Torx Screwdrivers or Bits: These are the star-shaped screwdriver heads
that are used to make equipment "tamper-proof". You need these drivers
if you want to, well, "tamper".
An ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) Wrist Strap: This is more of a safety
device than a tool; it is used to greatly reduce the chances of static damage
to components.
A Knife: A cutting blade or utility knife of some sort.
It is a good idea to accumulate a stockpile of spare parts if you are going to be doing
work on PCs:
Screws: A "big old bag o' screws" of all shapes and sizes that comes in
handy when working on various machines.
Expansion Card Inserts: Save the metal inserts that come out of the
back of the case when you put a modem or other card into the PC, as you
may need them again later on.
Drive Faceplates: Similarly, save the plastic faceplates that you remove
from the front of cases so you can replace them later if needed.
Mounting Kits: These sometimes come with retail hard disks and allow
you to put a 3.5" drive into a 5.25" bay. Useful when your case has more
free 5.25" bays than 3.5" ones.
Cables: Save any power, IDE, floppy, CD-ROM, or other cables that you
accumulate in case you need them later on.
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Keyboard, Mouse, 3.5" Floppy Drive: Keep an extra one of each of
these components around to aid in troubleshooting problems by swapping.
(Actually, keeping an extra of every major component in the PC is helpful,
but the three listed are here because they are cheap. Most people can't
afford to keep an extra hard disk lying around as a spare.)
These are the very basics in troubleshooting and repair of computer systems. As
you become more experienced, you will find that most of this information will be second-
hand knowledge. It only seems daunting (difficult) because it is new. Before you know
it, you will be an “old hand” at doing these things.
Discussion Questions: 1) What is KIS and what does it mean with regard to basic computer repair?
2) True or False. Use a process of elimination to narrow down the problems in a PC.
3) True or False. It’s best to make multiple changes to a PC during an upgrade process.
4) Name some diagnostic software that may help you repair a PC.
5) What is a Multimeter? What is an Ohmmeter?
6) Name some items we recommend you keep in a PC toolkit.
7) Name some spare parts that you might keep available for working on PCs.
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Acronym Index and Glossary
AC (Alternating Current) Type of electrical current typically found in a wall outlet. A computer is plugged into alternating current. A power supply then changes the alternating current into direct current (DC) so that the computer can use the current properly. AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) AGP is expansion bus technology designed especially for the throughput demands of video and 3-D graphics. AGP slots are reserved for video controller cards. AT (Advanced Technology) A motherboard form factor first introduced in 1984 and still in use in many homes and businesses. ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) Introduced in 1996, ATX is the modern-day motherboard form factor. BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) A program with detailed start-up instructions for a PC that is usually stored in ROM on the motherboard. CD-RW (Compact Disk, Read Write) CD format that not only reads standard CD-ROM disks but can also write to CD-R disks and re-write to CD-RW media. CLI (Command Line Interface) Text based computer interface. Usually, A CLI prompt is a blinking cursor waiting for user input. MS DOS provides a Command Line Interface. CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) A computer chip found on a motherboard that stores the BIOS information for a PC. CPU (Central Processing Unit) The main motherboard chip – the “brains” of a PC - designed to run a group of instructions, or instruction set. CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) The picture tube a computer monitor is built from. DC (Direct Current) Type of electrical current used by a PC. The power supply converts AC into DC.
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DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) A DIMM is a type of RAM module. DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) DRAM is the most common type of computer memory. DOS (Disk Operating System) A single user, single-tasking operating system that prompts a user with a CLI to execute commands. EIDE (Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics) EIDE allows for two IDE controller channels that can each support two devices. EIDE is an extension of IDE. ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) Transfer of an electrical current from an electrically charged object to a conductive object. FAT (File Allocation Table) A method of organizing the contents of media storage devices, such as the contents of hard disk drives. GUI (Graphical User Interface) This is the interface used by MS Windows. Icons, pictures, and menus are used to activate and use programs. A GUI prompts a user to “point and click”. Hz (Hertz) A unit of speed commonly used to measure the speed of a CPU. One Hertz means one cycle per second. One Megahertz, or MHz, is 1 million cycles per second. IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) Standard data interface used by hard disk drives for a PC. IRQ (Interrupt Request) Hardware devices use IRQ lines to request time from the CPU to perform a task. For example, an interrupt request is generated every time someone uses a key on a keyboard. ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) ISA is an expansion bus technology that dates back to the original IBM PC. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) LCD is flat-screen computer display technology that uses liquid crystals and electricity to create images. LED (Light Emitting Diode) Tiny light displays usually found on the faceplate of a PC.
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MBR (Master Boot Record) This refers to the first sector on the bootable partition of a hard disk drive or other disk media. MMX (Multi-Media Extensions) Technology that adds additional instruction sets to a CPU chip to optimize operations that are commonly used to process multimedia data. Modem (MOdulator DEModulator) A modem turns digital signals into analog signals and usually is used to send data over telephone lines. A modem can also turn received analog signals back to into a digital format. NIC (Network Interface Card) A NIC is a device (on a PC it is usually an expansion card) that enables a PC to connect to a cable of some form of computer network, usually a LAN (Local Area Network). NTFS (New Technology File System) This is a file allocation system first available with the Windows NT operating system and subsequently used to develop Windows 2000. PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) PCI is a popular expansion bus technology. PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card Industry Association) Term usually associated with credit card size expansion cards used by laptop computers. PGA (Pin Grid Array) Connection pins on a CPU designed to fit into a PGA ZIF slot built into a motherboard. PnP (Plug and Play) PnP refers to a standard that is supposed to allow the automatic configuration of hardware components and peripheral devices to a PC. POST (Power on Self-Test) A series of tests run by a system BIOS that examine the essential hardware of a PC. RAM (Random Access Memory) A PC uses RAM to hold running data. RDRAM (Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory) This is a type of DRAM. RGB (Red, Green & Blue) CRT monitors use red, green, and blue light to produce the entire color spectrum.
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ROM (Read Only Memory) Memory that permanently stores data; this data cannot be erased. RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) Measurement of the speed of a disk as it revolves around a spindle. The term generally applies to hard drive speed and CD-media drives. SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) A data pathway used by devices such as hard disk drives, CD-Media drives, scanners, and sometimes printers. This interface allows the connection of up to seven devices. SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) DRAM chip with an efficient data pathway that reduces the need to send interrupt requests to the CPU. SEC (Single Edge Connector) The SEC is a processor slot design. CPUs are connected to a motherboard in a vertical fashion using single edge connection technology referred to as Slot design technology. SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module) A SIMM is a type of RAM module. SRAM (Synchronous Random Access Memory) SRAM is a fast type of RAM. UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) A device that contains a battery and provides backup power to a PC during a loss of main power or when power levels drop to low levels. UPS backup power only last for a short time depending on the size of the UPS battery. USB (Universal Serial Bus) USB is expansion bus technology that transfers data much faster than serial and parallel connections. USB also allows you to connect and disconnect, or “hot swap”, peripheral devices without having to configure and restart a PC. VGA (Video Graphics Array) The minimum, PC monitor video display standard that provides 16 colors at a resolution of 640x480. VRAM (Video Random Access Memory) Video RAM updates video output to reflect every change in the screen display. VRAM is crucial to the operation of a PC. This memory is faster and more expensive than standard DRAM.
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WRAM (Windows Random Access Memory) RAM commonly used in graphics cards on a PC. This memory is similar to VRAM, but faster. WRAM provides a PC advanced support for video. ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) Motherboard socket designed to accept a PGA CPU chip. Through the use of a lever, a ZIF socket allows a PGA chip to be installed on a motherboard without having to apply pressure to the chip during the insertion.
Bit/Byte Chart 1 Bit = 1 Bit (value of 1 or 0) Byte = 8 bits Kilobit = 1,024 bits Kilobyte = 1,024 bytes Megabit = 1,048,576 bits Megabyte = 1,048,576 bytes Gigabit = 1,073,741,824 bits Gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes