Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
CHAPTER 1
Binary is the format that the computer “understands,” not a programming language or a human
language. All instructions between hardware and software in a computer are reduced to a simple
3. What are the two main input devices and two main output devices?
The two main input devices are the keyboard and the mouse. The two main output devices are the
A method for the CPU to communicate with the device, software to instruct and control the
Eight
An expansion slot on a motherboard is used for an expansion card, which enables a device that is
Possible answers: memory bus, host bus, front side bus, external bus
12. What are the two basic types of cables found inside a computer case and what are their
basic functions?
A data cable used for passing data between devices and a power cable used to supply power to a
device.
13. List three types of ports that are often found coming directly off the motherboard to be
Possible answers: serial port, parallel port, USB port, network port, FireWire or 1394 port, mouse
port, keyboard port, S/PDIF port, sound port, wireless LAN antenna port
The S/PDIF port connects to an external home theater audio system, providing digital output and
SIMMs (single inline memory modules), DIMMs (dual inline memory modules), RIMMs
memory is permanent and holds memory even when electricity is turned off.
17. Of the two types of storage in a system, which type is generally faster and holds data and
instructions while the data is being processed? Which type of storage is generally slower,
18. What technology standard provides for up to four devices on a system, including the hard
drive as one of those devices? What are two common industry names loosely used to
ATA (AT attachment), also called EIDE (enhanced integrated drive electronics) or IDE
19. What is the size of the data path on most system buses today?
64 bits
20. What is the measurement of frequency of a system bus and CPU? Which is faster, the
Frequency is generally measured in Hz, MHz, or GHz. The CPU is faster than the system bus.
21. Name four types of buses that are likely to be on a motherboard today.
Possible answers: PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect), AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port),
22. A power supply receives 120 volts of ___ power from a wall outlet and converts it to 3.3,
AC, DC
23. ROM BIOS or firmware chips that can be upgraded without replacing the chips are called
________.
Flash ROM
stored in ______.
CMOS RAM
Some possible answers: CD drive, hard drive, floppy drive, DVD drive, Zip drive
26. A hertz is ________ cycle per second; a megahertz is ________ cycles per second, and a
27. An AGP slot is normally used for a(n) _______ expansion card.
Video
28. How many sizes of PCI Express slots are currently manufactured for personal computers?
Four
29. Name the three purposes the motherboard ROM BIOS serves.
The BIOS is used to manage simple devices (system BIOS), to start the computer (startup BIOS),
CMOS RAM is powered by a trickle of electricity from a small battery located on the
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. When selecting secondary storage devices for a new desktop PC, which is more important, a
A CD-ROM drive is more important, because most software today is distributed on CD.
2. Based on what you have learned in this chapter, when working on a Word document, why is it
important to save your work often? Explain your answer using the two terms, primary storage
It is important because data is temporarily stored in RAM or primary storage, which is volatile. If
the power is lost, all data in primary storage is lost. In order to secure the data, it must be copied
from primary storage to secondary storage, such as a hard drive or floppy disk, which is
3. Most buses are 16, 32, 64, or 128 bits wide. Why do you think these bus widths are multiples
of eight?
Because everything in a computer is stored and processed in binary, and 1 byte equals 8 bits
4. Why would it be difficult to install four hard drives, one CD-ROM drive, and one DVD drive
These types of drives are normally EIDE devices, and most low-end systems can only hold four
EIDE devices. Also, most computer cases do not have enough bays to hold this many drives.
5. In this chapter, a light bulb is used to demonstrate the binary concept used for computer storage
and communication. Give another example in everyday life to explain this binary concept.
Get creative.
Possible answer: A water hydrant is either on or off. It is difficult to measure the amount of water
coming out of the hydrant, but not difficult to decide if the water is off or on.
6. If the CMOS battery inside your computer system died, when you first turn on your system, will
you expect the system to boot up normally to the operating system level? What information do
you think the system would not have available for a successful boot?
No, the system will not boot normally because the configuration information would not be
available. This information includes the type of hard drive and floppy drive installed and the boot
sequence.
7. Why is it more accurate to describe the CPU and motherboard bus using the term frequency
It is more accurate to describe the CPU and motherboard with the term frequency than speed
because the term speed implies there is a continuous motion or flow of data, whereas frequency
suggests a digital or binary flow of data. Frequency is more accurate because computer
Chapter 2
It manages hardware; runs applications; provides an interface for users; and stores, retrieves, and
manipulates files.
Mac OS
3. Which operating system was developed by Microsoft using core components of OS/2 and
Windows NT
4. What is the next Microsoft operating system for desktop computers to be released in 2007?
Windows Vista
5. Which operating system often used for server applications is a scaled-down version of
Unix?
Linux
Users did not feel it was a significant upgrade from Windows 98.
Windows XP
8. What are three possible interfaces an OS provides to the user? Briefly explain the functions
of each.
Command-Driven – The user types in commands to tell the OS what operations to perform. This
type of interface is like that of DOS commands and is often preferred by computer techs who
Menu-Driven – The OS allows the user to choose from a list of options in order to perform any
given operation.
Icon-Driven – Also known as GUI, the OS allows a user to choose from icons or pictures on the
screen in order to perform any given operation. Most operating systems today offer both a menu-
FAT
11. Real mode operates using a(n) ___-bit data path, and protected mode uses a(n) ____-bit
data path.
16, 32
12. Which Microsoft operating system(s) support 16-bit device drivers or 32-bit device
drivers?
13. Real mode allows programs direct access to ____, but protected mode does not.
14. List three types of information that are kept in the Windows registry.
15. List four ways to launch an application from the Windows desktop.
• By clicking Start, pointing to Programs, and selecting the program from a list of installed
software
16. Give two situations in which Windows keystroke shortcuts might be useful.
Keyboard shortcuts are sometimes faster for experienced typists, and they are useful when the
17. How do you access the Display Properties window? What are two settings you can change
Display applet in Control Panel to access Display Properties. From this window, you can change
the background, screen saver, color scheme, icon settings, color range, screen resolution, screen
18. What Windows 2000/XP and Windows 9x utility allows you to update the device driver
for a device?
Device Manager
19. Users and applications depend on what to relate to all hardware components?
20. Every operating system has two main internal components. The ________ relates to the
user and to applications and provides a command, menu, or icon interface, whereas, the
Shell, kernel
21. What command can you enter in the Run dialog box to launch Device Manager?
Devmgmt.msc
22. Applets in the Control Panel are stored as program files with what file extension?
.cpl
23. What Windows 2000/XP tool can you use to view the number of partitions used by a hard
drive?
Disk Management
24. What command can you enter in the Run dialog box to launch the Windows 2000/XP
Msinfo32.exe
25. Which Windows operating system(s) allow more than one user to be logged on
27. What command can you enter in the Run dialog box of Windows 2000/XP to launch the
Diskmgmt.msc
28. A floppy drive is divided into tracks, which are divided into sectors. How large is each
sector?
512 bytes
29. What is the name of the file used by Windows 2000/XP to hold data and instructions in
virtual memory?
Pagefile.sys
30. Which of the two OS core components includes the Windows desktop? Which of the two
Shell, kernel
32. What type of data is contained in files that have an .ini or .inf file extension?
These file extensions generally relate to initialization files. This file, along with a registry,
application settings.
Right-click on the device and select Uninstall from the shortcut menu.
34. What is the Windows keyboard shortcut to move from one loaded application to another?
To display the Start menu from the Windows desktop? To close the active application
window? To shutdown Windows when no applications are loaded?
THINKING CRITICALLY
By a device driver
3. If your printer is giving you trouble, what is the best way to obtain an update for the device
driver?
Download the latest driver from the device manufacturer’s Web site.
4. What Windows tool can you use to know how much RAM is installed on your system?
16-bit Windows software is considered to be legacy software because it is software written for
Windows 3.x and data is accessed at 16 bits at a time; whereas computers running Windows 95 or
later OSs use 32-bit or 64-bit programs written to be able to access 32 or 64 bits of data at a time.
Chapter 3
A hard boot usually involves restarting the computer by pressing the on/off switch. A soft boot is
performed from the operating system, such as by pressing the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Del or
3. What memory address is always assigned to the first instruction in the ROM BIOS startup
program?
FFFF0h
4. How does startup BIOS communicate errors during POST if video is not yet available?
Beep codes
5. Name the program that is needed to locate the beginning of the OS on a drive.
Ntldr
8. How many startup disks are needed to boot Windows 2000 from a floppy disk?
Four
9. When troubleshooting a failed boot, if you don’t see any lights or hear any noises, what
10. When booting your computer and you see a blank screen, but hear a single beep, what can
POST
11. When booting your computer and you see a blank screen, but hear a single beep, what
12. Using the rule “trade good for suspected bad,” describe how to easily troubleshoot a video
problem.
Exchange the suspected bad monitor for one you know is good. If that does not help, try
13. Give five possible questions that should be asked of a user who is experiencing computer
problems.
• Possible answers:
Keep a log of when the problems appear and exactly what error messages occur.
15. Using Windows, list the steps to print a screen that shows an error message.
• In Windows, the Print Screen key copies the displayed screen to the Clipboard.
• Launch the Paint software accessory program and paste the contents of the Clipboard into the
document. You might need to use the Zoom Out command on the document first. You can
then print the document with the displayed screen, using Paint. You can also paste the
Word.
16. What preventive maintenance measures need to be done inside the case at least once a year?
• Make sure air vents are clear.
• Use compressed air to blow the dust out of the case, or use a vacuum to clean vents, power
17. List at least three tasks you should complete before moving or shipping a computer.
• Remove any floppy disks, tape cartridges, or CDs from the drives.
• Coil all external cords and secure them with twist ties or rubber bands.
• Pack all components in their original boxes or in similar boxes with sufficient packing
material.
18. How do you properly dispose of a battery pack from a notebook computer? A broken
Battery pack from notebook computer: Return to original dealer or take to a recycling center.
Broken monitor: Check with local county or environmental officials for laws about disposal. Take
to recycling center if available. In all cases, discharge monitor before disposing of it.
19. If you are unsure how to properly dispose of a can of contact cleaner, how can you find
20. What two tools can be used to remove dust from inside a computer case?
21. What are three types of ribbon cables you might find inside a PC?
40-conductor IDE cable, 80-conductor IDE cable, 34-pin floppy drive cable
22. Why is it important to not rock an expansion card from side to side as you remove it from
its slot?
23. What type of expansion card can have a retention mechanism at the bottom of the card to
A video card
24. Name three tools that you can use to protect a system against ESD as you work on it.
25. If you suspect that a USB port is faulty, what tool can you use to test the port?
Loop-back plug
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. As a help-desk technician, list some good detective questions to ask if the user calls to
What is the nature of the problem? Does the problem occur before or after the boot? Does an
error message display? Does the system hang at certain times? Start from a cold boot and do
whatever you must do to cause the problem to occur. What are the specific steps you took to
2. Starting with the easiest procedures, list five things to check if your PC does not boot.
• Make sure everything is plugged in and all cable connections are solid.
• Boot into Safe Mode and eliminate customized configuration in the OS.
• Disconnect the network card, CD-ROM drive, mouse, and maybe even the hard drive.
3. Someone calls saying he has attempted to install a modem, but the modem does not work.
• Can you see the modem listed in Device Manager with no errors?
4. If a PC boots first to the hard drive before checking the floppy disk for an OS, how do you
change this boot sequence so that it first looks on the floppy disk for an OS?
Chapter 4
3. Hot wires in home wiring are normally colored ____ and ground wires in computers are
Black, black
4. What is the difference between a transformer and a rectifier? Which are found in a PC
power supply?
A rectifier is a device that converts alternating current to direct current. A transformer is a device
that changes the ratio of current to voltage. A computer power supply functions as both.
5. What are the five voltages produced by an ATX or BTX power supply?
24 pins
8. When taking a computer apart, why is it important to not stack boards on top of each
other?
9. Describe the purpose of the ground line in a house circuit. What is the electrical symbol
for ground?
The electricity on the hot line is seeking the path of least resistance, which is usually through
some device that controls its current flow as it moves to the neutral line that goes back to the
power source. Sometimes there is an easier path than through any controlling device, and the
electricity follows that path, causing a short. This sudden increase in the flow of electricity can
harm a person or a piece of equipment. The ground line keeps the uncontrolled flow of electricity
The symbol for ground is a vertical line with three horizontal lines underneath it, as shown in
Figure 4-5.
The transistor
11. Why is a power supply dangerous even after the power is disconnected?
Capacitors inside a PC power supply create the even flow of current needed by the PC.
Capacitors maintain their charge long after current is no longer present, which is why the inside
The symbol for a diode is a vertical and horizontal line with an arrow head at the point of
With the radio on, you can hear the static produced by EMI. Try putting the radio next to several
14. What is an unintended, high-current, closed connection between two points in a circuit
called?
15. Which form factor uses a riser card on the edge of the motherboard?
NLX
16. List four types of computer case form factors. What is the most popular type of form
Possible answers: AT, ATX, BTX, LPX, NLX, and backplane form factors. The most popular is
ATX.
17. List three advantages an ATX system has over a Baby AT system.
It makes it easier to add and remove components, provides greater support for I/O devices, and
lowers costs.
18. List four computer symptoms that indicate a faulty power supply.
• The PC sometimes halts during booting. After several tries, it boots successfully.
• Error codes or beep codes occur during booting, but the errors come and go.
• The computer stops or hangs for no reason. Sometimes it might even reboot itself.
19. According to ACPI standards, the S1 mode causes what two devices to stop using power?
Hard drive and monitor
Hibernation
21. What power management standard is older than ACPI and has mostly been replaced by
ACPI?
APM
22. How can you easily tell if a computer is designed to comply with Green Standards?
See whether it displays the green Energy Star logo onscreen when the PC is booting.
23. What unit of measure is used to describe the amount of work a surge suppressor can do
Joule
It is important so you can tell when the surge suppressor is no longer providing protection against
a power surge.
25. What are the two main types of uninterruptible power supplies?
26. How does a smart UPS differ from one that is not smart?
A smart UPS can be controlled by software from a computer to allow additional functionality.
27. If you are asked to identify the form factor of a motherboard, what are two criteria you
Look for how the expansion slots are oriented in reference to the CPU and look for the type of
28. What are three motherboard form factors that can be used with a compact case?
29. What is one thing you can regularly do to prevent a computer system from overheating?
BTX
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. How much power is consumed by a load drawing 5 A with 120 V across it?
600 watts
2. You suspect that a power supply is faulty, but you use a multimeter to measure its voltage
output and find it to be acceptable. Why is it still possible that the power supply may be
faulty?
IT is because problems with power supplies are intermittent (they can come and go).
3. Someone asks you for help with a computer that hangs at odd times. You turn it on and
work for about 15 minutes, and then the computer freezes and powers down. What do
you do first?
• Turn the PC back on, go into CMOS setup, and check the temperature reading.
• Turn the PC back on, go into CMOS setup, and check the temperature reading.
4. When working on a computer, which of the following best protects against ESD? Why?
• Always touch the computer case before touching a circuit board inside the case.
Chapter 5
The Celeron is appropriate for use in low-end multimedia PCs to reduce total cost.
4. Which is more powerful, the current Celeron or the current Xeon processor?
Xeon
AMD
6. Why did the competitors of the Intel Pentium II choose to stay with Socket 7 rather than
In a PGA (pin grid array) socket, pins are aligned in uniform rows around the socket. In an SPGA
(staggered pin grid array) socket, the pins are staggered over the socket to squeeze more pins into
a smaller space.
9. Name a processor that requires dual voltage. How are the two voltages used?
Pentium MMX, Cyrix M2, and AMD K6 processors all use dual voltage. These processors use
one voltage for external operations and another for internal operations.
11. What are the four speeds of the most popular motherboards currently available on the
13. Beginning with the Intel i800 chip sets, what are the two main chips of the chip set
called?
14. What is the name for the bus that connects L2 cache to the processor inside the Pentium
II processor housing?
32
16. What is the data path size of the Front Side Bus of the Pentium family of processors?
64
17. If a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition uses two ALU units inside the processor housing, how
19. Explain the difference between the locations of discrete L2 cache and Advanced Transfer
Cache.
Discrete L2 cache is stored on a separate die inside the processor housing. Advanced Transfer
EPIC
21. Which group of Intel processors uses a 32-bit word size and a 64-bit word size?
Xeon
22. Which Windows personal computing operating system(s) support Intel Hyper-Threading
Technology?
Windows XP
24. What processor manufacturer once targeted the desktop processor market, but is now
VIA
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. When overclocking a system, what two problems are most likely to occur?
Itanium?
The software does not need to be rewritten, but it does need to be recompiled by the software
compiler (such as the COBOL or Visual Basic compiler) so that the software relates to the OS
Extreme Edition with HT. Now users complain to you that Windows hangs a lot and
The first thing you do is (c) Check CMOS setup to verify that hyper-threading is disabled. It’s
Chapter 6
1. What are three main categories of form factors used for motherboards?
Two
3. On the Enhanced ATX motherboard that supports PCI Express, how many pins does the
24
4. What are the names of the two power connectors used on the AT motherboard form
factors?
P8 and P9
5. What is the name of the one power connector on the ATX motherboard form factor?
P1
6. How many pins does the regular ATX power connector to the motherboard have? How
many pins does the Enhanced ATX power connector to the motherboard have?
20, 24
7. What are the three versions of the BTX form factor for motherboards?
RAM cache, system bus with expansion slots, jumpers and DIP switches, ports that are directly
9. What are two data bus widths used by the conventional PCI bus?
32 bits, 64 bits
10. When people speak of bus size, to what are they specifically referring?
The width of the data path on the bus, which can be 8, 16, 32, 64, or more bits.
11. What are the four speeds of the most popular motherboards currently available on the
12. Name the three most popular manufacturers of system BIOS programs.
AMI BIOS, Award BIOS, Compaq, Dell, IBM, Micro Firmware (BIOS upgrades), Phoenix
13. Which is faster, a PCI Express x16 bus or the latest AGP bus?
PCI Express x16 is about 4 times faster than the latest AGP bus
To add new features made available by the BIOS manufacturer or to attempt to solve problems
15. What is the easiest way to obtain the latest software to upgrade BIOS?
16. When examining a PCI expansion card, how can you tell what voltage(s) the card can
use?
The notches on the card connector are keyed to voltage requirements. A single notch near the
back plate of the card is keyed to 3.3V. A notch near the end of the card indicates a 5V card and
notches in both positions indicate a universal card that can use either a 5V or 3.3V PCI slot.
17. What are the four categories of cargo that are carried over a bus?
Electrical power, control signals, memory addresses, and data
18. What bus is expected to replace AGP to support the video card in a system?
PCI Express
19. What is the name of the BIOS program that edits the values in CMOS RAM?
CMOS setup
20. Describe how you can access the CMOS setup program.
By pressing certain keys (depending on the specific computer and CMOS program) during the
boot process
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. Why does a motherboard sometimes support more than one system bus speed?
It is because not all devices to which the buses are connected transmit data at the same speed. The
3. When you turn off a computer at night, it loses the date, and you must reenter it each
Possible answers:
• Because changing setup using jumpers or switches requires opening the computer case, and
• Because there are many more settings on today’s newer motherboards that would require too
b. Disable the modem port and install a modem card in an expansion slot.
All the above solutions might be possible. The least expensive and simplest solution is b. Disable
6. A computer freezes at odd times. At first you suspect the power supply or overheating,
but you have eliminated overheating and replaced the power supply without solving the
c. Reinstall Windows.
e.Flash BIOS
Chapter 7
1. Name two ways that a SIMM and a DIMM are alike. Name two ways they are different.
Both are rated by their speed and the amount of memory they hold, both store DRAM, and both
have used EDO and FPM in the past. SIMMs hold smaller amounts of memory (from 256K to 16
MB) than DIMMs (8 MB to 1 GB). SIMMs have a single connected pin on the edge connector
and DIMMs have individual pins or connectors on each side of the edge connector. SIMMs must
RIMM?
For DIMM, 168, 184, or 240; for SIMM, 30 or 72; for RIMM, 184 or 232
A RIMM is more expensive, because Rambus holds the patent on the RIMM technology and
One
5. What prevents a DDR DIMM from being installed in a DDR2 DIMM slot on a
motherboard?
6. What component must be installed in every empty memory slot on a motherboard using
Rambus technology?
C-RIMM
8. Looking at an SDRAM DIMM, how can you know for certain the voltage needed by the
module?
Four
Two
upgrade.
• Check that you have the right memory modules supported by your motherboard.
• Check that you have installed the right module size, as stated in the motherboard
documentation. Verify each module that was already installed or newly installed.
• Remove and reinstall the module. Make sure it is seated in the socket at the same height as
other modules.
• Remove the newly installed memory and check whether the error message disappears. Try
the memory in different sockets. Try installing the new memory without the old installed. If
the new memory works without the old, then the problem is that the modules are not
compatible.
• Clean the module edge connectors with a soft cloth or contact cleaner. Blow or vacuum dust
• Try flashing your BIOS. Perhaps BIOS is having problems with the new memory, which can
A general protection fault or other memory error or the system freezes or hangs.
14. List at least four things you can do if you receive memory errors during normal operation
Possible answers:
3. Are the memory modules properly seated? Remove and reinstall each one. For a DIMM
5. Replace memory modules one at a time. For example, if the system only recognizes six out of
eight megabytes of RAM, swap the last two SIMM modules. Did the amount of recognized
RAM change? You might be able to solve the problem just by reseating the modules.
6. Sometimes a problem can result from a bad socket or a broken trace (a fine-printed wire or
circuit) on the motherboard. If so, you might have to replace the entire motherboard.
7. The problem might be with the OS or applications. Download the latest patch for the software
8. If you have just installed new hardware, the hardware device might be giving an error, which
>>0137:BFF9z5d0” or similar text probably indicates a memory error. Test, reseat, or replace
RAM.
15. If your motherboard calls for 60-ns memory, can you substitute 70-ns memory? Why or
why not?
The smaller the number, the faster the memory. You should not use memory slower than the
16. When buying memory, what can you look for that might indicate that the memory is
remanufactured?
If the date stamps on the chip are more than one year old, the memory is probably used.
17. Which memory module standard (RIMM or DIMM) is an open standard? Which standard
is a copyrighted standard?
DIMM, RIMM
32, 64
19. What are the two current data path sizes of RIMMs?
16, 32
Data is processed twice in one clock beat, doubling the speed of regular SDRAM
21. When a DIMM has chips on both sides of the module, do the pins on one side of the
module work independently or dependent to pins on the other side of the module?
23. You are looking to purchase two DIMMs running at 400 MHz. You find DIMMs
PC3200
24. You need to find out how much RAM is installed in a system. What command do you
enter in the Run dialog box to launch the System Information utility?
Msinfo32
25. Although ECC memory costs more than non-ECC memory, why would you choose to
use it?
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. If your motherboard supports DIMM memory, will RIMM memory still work on the
board?
No, you can only use the type of memory module the board is designed to support.
2. If your motherboard supports ECC SDRAM memory, can you substitute SDRAM
memory that does not support ECC? If your motherboard supports buffered SDRAM
shown disabled in CMOS. You cannot use unbuffered SDRAM on a motherboard that supports
buffered memory, because the notches on buffered DIMMs are in different positions than for
unbuffered DIMMs.
3. You have just upgraded memory on a computer from 64 MB to 128 MB by adding one
DIMM. When you first turn on the PC, the memory count shows only 64 MB. Which of
the following is most likely the source of the problem? What can you do to fix it?
a. Windows is giving an error because it likely became corrupted while the PC was
disassembled.
The new DIMM is not properly seated. Turn off the PC and reseat the DIMM. Check that the
DIMM is standing in the slot at the same height of the other DIMMs installed.
4. Your motherboard supports dual channeling and you currently have two slots used in
Channel A on the board. You want to install an additional 512MB of RAM. Will your
system run faster if you install two 256 MB DIMMs or one 512 MB DIMM? Explain
your answer.
The system will run faster if you install two DIMMs because dual channeling can be used if both
Channel B slots are filled. Dual channeling is faster than single channeling.
Chapter 8
Possible answers: IDE/ATA, ATA-2, Fast ATA, Parallel ATA, EIDE, ATA-3, ATA/ATAPI-4,
Ultra ATA, Fast ATA-2, Ultra DMA, DMA/33, ATA/ATAPI-5, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra DMA/66,
ATA/ATAPI-6, Ultra ATA/100, Ultra DMA/100, ATA/ATAPI-7, Ultra ATA/133, Serial ATA
2. What are the two data transfer modes used by hard drives?
3. What are the two types of parallel ATA data cables used with hard drives?
4. What is the name of the ATA standard that uses a serial data cable?
Serial ATA
5. What are the two most popular spindle speeds measured in RPMs currently used for hard
drives?
6. How does serial ATA help keep a computer case cool better than parallel ATA?
Because serial ATA cables are thinner, they do not hinder air flow as much as wider parallel ATA
cables.
7. If a hard drive has three platters, how many heads does it have?
Six
8. Given that there are 512 bytes per sector, calculate the hard drive storage for the
1,056,964,608 bytes
9. What are three modes that system BIOS can use to relate to hard drives?
LBA mode
11. What is the ATA standard that changed the number of bits used to address data on a hard
drive?
ATA/ATAPI-6
12. How does block mode give faster access to a hard drive? How can you disable block
mode?
Block mode enables multiple transfers of data on a single software interrupt. You can disable
13. When installing a hard drive and a CD-ROM drive on the same IDE channel, which do
The hard drive is the master and the CD-ROM is the slave.
14. What are three ATA hard drive interface standards that do not use a 40-conductor hard
drive cable?
DMA
16. When two drives are connected to the same data cable connected to an IDE channel, how
One drive is marked as master either by a jumper or DIP switch settings on the devices or by
17. If a motherboard has two parallel ATA connections, how many EIDE devices can the
system support?
Four
18. If a hard drive is too small to physically fit snugly into the drive bay, what can you do?
Use a universal bay kit to fit the drive securely into the bay.
19. How can you tell which side of a hard drive’s data cable connects to pin 1 on the drive?
You can tell by looking at the edge color on the data cable. Pin 1 should be closest to the power
connection.
20. If your BIOS does not support a large-capacity drive that you want to install, what five
Use software that interfaces between the older BIOS and the large-capacity drive.
Use a controller card that provides the BIOS to substitute for system BIOS.
21. Which ATA standard allows for serial ATA and Serial Attached SCSI to coexist in the
same system?
AATA/ATAPI-7
22. What is the name of the power connector used with floppy drives?
A Berg connector
34
24. What was the underlying cause that prevented hard drives from breaking the 137-GB size
The number of bits the OS and hard drive controller used to pass addresses to data on the drive
25. Why does a serial ATA drive sometimes have two power connectors on the drive?
It sometimes has two power connectors to accommodate two different types of power connectors
26. What is the name of the expansion card in a SCSI system that controls the SCSI bus?
27. Why is it not necessary to inform CMOS setup about the installation of a new hard drive?
28. Which has a faster interface to the system, an external serial ATA hard drive or an
29. On a floppy disk, how many bits are used for each entry in the FAT?
12
30. How can you tell if your motherboard chip set supports Ultra DMA mode?
By looking in CMOS setup or the motherboard documentation
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. You install a hard drive and then turn on the PC for the first time. You access CMOS
setup and see that the drive is not recognized. Which of the following do you do next?
a. Turn off the PC, open the case, and verify that memory modules on the
b. Turn off the PC, open the case, and verify that the data cable and power cable
are connected correctly and jumpers on the drive are set correctly.
d. Reboot the PC and enter CMOS setup again to see if it now recognizes the
drive.
2. Every motherboard built today that includes serial ATA connectors has at least one
parallel ATA connector on the board. What is the most important reason this parallel
ATA is present?
a. The hard drive used for booting the OS must use a parallel ATA connector.
b. The IDE controller will not work without at least one parallel ATA connector.
c. It is so the board can accommodate older hard drives using the parallel ATA connector.
d. The parallel ATA connector is needed for EIDE drives such as a CD or DVD drive
c. It is so the board can accommodate older hard drives using the parallel ATA connector.
d. The parallel ATA connector is needed for EIDE drives such as a CD or DVD drive.
3. You want to set up your desktop system to have a total hard drive space of 150 GB, but
your system does not support drives larger than 120 GB. Which of the following do you
do?
a. Buy a new motherboard that will support drives larger than 120 GB.
b. Use two hard drives in your system that together total 150 GB.
d. Use a special IDE controller card that will support a 150-GB drive.
Use two hard drives in your system that together total 150 GB. It would be an unnecessarily
expensive solution to purchase the hardware to support drives larger than 137 GB.
Chapter 9
Poor cable connections, accumulated magnetic fields, electrical noise, vertical scan frequency
2. Describe what to do if you have just spilled soda pop on your keyboard.
Replace the keyboard. You might be able to salvage the keyboard by thoroughly rinsing it in
running water.
3. Explain how to check that chips on a video card are properly seated in their sockets.
Remove the card from the expansion slot and then use a screwdriver to press down firmly on each
4. When troubleshooting problems with a monitor in Windows XP, why would you enter
Safe Mode?
Press F8 during startup to display the startup menu. Then use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode
Because an external modem has the added cost of an external case, power source, and data cable
8. By definition, what system resources does COM1 use? COM2? COM3? COM4?
640 x 480
50 feet
It refers to Reference Standard 232 revision c. This is the standard for the serial port, which is
13. What is the name of a barcode reader that is a gun-type reader that can be handheld and is
CCD scanner
A keyboard wedge is used so that a keyboard and barcode reader can share a keyboard port.
15. What is the name of the technology within the chipset that controls the speed of serial
ports?
UART
16. Why might you choose to use ECP mode for your parallel port rather than EPP mode?
17. When might you need to disable ECP mode for a parallel port?
If you are having problems with resource conflicts
19. What Windows OSs support USB? Include the OS version numbers where that
information is important.
Windows 95 OSR 2.1 was the first Microsoft OS to support USB, although Windows 98 offers
much improved USB support. In addition to Windows 95 with the USB update and Windows 98,
Windows 2000 and Windows XP support USB, but Windows NT does not.
Five meters
22. What are two other names for FireWire? What is the highest data throughput approved
for FireWire?
23. When selecting a motherboard, why would you prefer to use PCI Express for the video
24. What is the most important disadvantage of using biometric devices to authenticate a
25. What criteria affect how much video RAM is needed for a video card to hold one frame
buffer?
Screen resolution, color depth, and enhancements to color information (alpha blending)
26. Give three examples of monitor screen sizes. How are monitor screen sizes measured?
There are 14-, 15-, 17-, and 21-inch screen sizes. Screen size describes the diagonal length of the
screen surface.
27. What are two advantages of setting an LCD monitor to run in its native resolution?
28. What type of CRT monitor can offer a variety of refresh rates?
Multiscan
29. How many pins are used in the IEEE 1394 connector that supports the IEEE 1394b
standard?
Nine
30. How many keyed notches does an AGP universal slot have?
None
If it is designed for safe and comfortable interaction between human beings and machines
32. How many pins are there on a DIN connector and a PS/2 connector for a keyboard?
Five pins on a DIN connector; six pins on the smaller PS/2 connector
33. What three colors are used to build all colors on a color monitor screen?
34. Which gives better image quality, a .25-mm dot pitch monitor or a .28-mm dot pitch
monitor? Why?
A .25 does because the smaller the pitch, the sharper the image.
35. If a mouse begins to be difficult to operate, what simple thing can you do to help?
Remove the cover to the mouse ball and the mouse ball itself, and clean the rollers with a cotton
Thinking Critically
1. You plug a new scanner into a USB port on your Windows XP system. When you first
2. You install the software bundled with your digital camera to download pictures from
your camera to your system using a serial port. Next you plug up the camera to the port
using a serial cable and turn on your camera. You attempt to use the software to
download pictures, but the software does not recognize the camera is present. What do
you do next?
a. Return the camera and purchase one that uses a USB port for downloading.
c. Access CMOS setup and verify that the serial port is enabled.
d. Use Device Manager to verify that the OS recognizes the serial port.
Follow the troubleshooting rule: Do the simple things first. Therefore, the first thing to do is to
use Device Manager to verify that the OS recognizes the serial port.
3. You turn on your Windows 2000 computer and see the system display POST messages.
Then the screen turns blue with no text. Which of the following items could be the source
of the problem?
b. The monitor
c. Windows
Windows could be the problem, but not the other three items.
Chapter 10
1. What must be true before MMX, SSE, SSE2, and 3DNow! technology can improve
The applications and hardware devices must be designed to use the technology.
The drive can read a disc that has been created in multiple sessions rather than having been
With an EIDE interface, sharing an IDE connection, a cable, or both with a hard drive. These
For portable drives, with an external port (such as a USB, FireWire, or SCSI port) on your PC
The bright, bottom side (not the side with the label)
5. If a CD drive and a hard drive are sharing the same data cable in a computer system, what
type of connection is the CD drive using? Which of the two drives should be set to
The CD drive is using an EIDE connection. The hard drive should be set to master and the CD
drive to slave.
6. What unit of measure is used to express the sampling rate of a sound card?
Hertz (Hz)
7. Why must sound and video input into a PC be converted from analog to digital?
Analog data is smooth and continuous, whereas digital data, such as the binary data used in
computers, has distinct gradations. The process of producing digital data by measuring data at a
44,100 Hz
256
10. What would be a quick, short test to see if a sound card was successfully installed?
11. In a system that uses a CD drive, the audio wire connects the _____ to the _____.
Re-tensioning fast-forwards and rewinds the tape to eliminate any loose spots. Some backup
A Microdrive
14. How is the direction of data flow different for data transfers for MP3 players and digital
cameras?
MP3 files are downloaded from the PC to the MP3 player, in contrast to a digital camera, for
15. What is the significance of Sound Blaster compatibility for a sound card?
A Sound Blaster-compatible card can understand the commands sent to it that have been written
16. When using a single speaker, which port on a sound card is used to send sound out?
The front speaker port, which is generally the center port and is often green
17. What is the difference between MPEG, JPEG, and MP3? Explain for what each one is
used.
MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) is a standard for data compression for motion pictures,
video, and audio. JPEG is a standard for data compression for photographs and graphics. MP3 is
a popular version of MPEG that is used for data compression for audio.
18. Name at least four features you should look for when buying a video capture card.
• A FireWire interface
19. When connecting cords to the rear of a sound card and the card has a blue, red, yellow,
and black port, which port is most likely to be used for the microphone?
Red port
20. In the question above, which port is likely to be used for sound input from a DVD player
Blue port
21. What are the three ways that data on a DVD can be decoded?
22. What is the most popular way an internal DVD drive interfaces with a motherboard?
EIDE connection
23. What is the difference between CD, CD-R, and CD-RW drives?
A CD-ROM is read-only. A CD-R is recordable once. A CD-RW is rewriteable, meaning that you
24. Rank these storage methods in order of their storage capacity: DVD, floppy disk, CD,
tape.
25. How many unique speakers can Surround Sound 7.1 support?
Up to 8 speakers
26. Which type of flash memory device is typically used on a Sony digital camera?
Memory Stick
27. What is currently the most popular memory device used in digital camera?
28. Of the flash memory device used in digital cameras, which uses the latest technology and
xD-Picture Card
29. Current DVD recordable drives for personal computers can write only 8.5 GB of data on
a DVD. How many layers and how many sides or surfaces of the disc are used for the
data?
30. Which version of RAID is supported by Windows XP? Does this RAID version provide
fault tolerance?
RAID 0 (striped), No
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. You have just installed a new sound card and its drivers and connected the speakers and
amplifier. You insert a music CD into the drive to test the drive. Windows Media Player
launches and says it is playing the CD, but you don’t hear music. What do you do first?
Do the simple thing first: Check the volume controls on the speaker amplifier.
2. You have just upgraded your computer from Windows 98 to Windows XP. Now your
system has no sound. What are the first two things you do?
a. Check Device Manager to see if the sound card is recognized and has no errors.
d. Identify your sound card by opening the case and looking on the card for
e. Identify your sound card by finding the documentation and driver CD that came
f. Download Windows XP drivers for the sound card from the sound card
Check Device Manager to see if the sound card is recognized and has no errors. Then identify
your sound card by finding the documentation and driver CD that came with the card.
3. You have just installed a new DVD drive and its drivers, but the drive does not work.
You check the power and data cables and feel comfortable that the hardware installation
is correct. You then decide to reload the device drivers. What is the first thing you do?
a. Open the Control Panel and launch the Add New Hardware Wizard.
c. Remove the data cable from the DVD drive so Windows will no longer recognize the drive
Disk duplexing requires writing the same data twice and requires an extra controller. Disk
striping with parity only writes the data once and requires only one controller. Although the parity
information in disk striping with parity does take up some space, it does not take up as much
space as the duplicate data in disk duplexing. Therefore, disk duplexing is more expensive.
RAID 0 does not provide fault tolerance because a single logical drive is spread over two or more
physical hard drives. If one fails, the data cannot be recovered from the others. RAID 0 is
Chapter 11
Windows XP Professional
So that the notebook doesn’t power down part way through the installation due to a low battery
3. When you are trying to determine if your Windows 2000 computer can support Windows
XP, list the steps to know how much RAM is currently installed.
Right-click the My Computer icon and select Properties from the menu. Click the General tab.
Two
6. How much free space on a partition does Windows XP require for installation? How
1.5 GB, 2 GB
7. How much memory is required to install Windows XP? How much is recommended to
8. How long do you have to activate Windows XP? What happens if you don’t?
You have up to 30 days after installation to activate Windows XP, after which the system will
refuse to boot.
Microsoft Office XP
10. What is the path for the report file created when you run the Windows XP Readiness
Analyzer?
C:\Windows\compat.txt
11. What is the difference between joining a workgroup and joining a domain?
In a workgroup, each user account is set up on the local computer independent of other accounts
on other PCs, and there is no centralized control of resources. In a domain, user accounts and
12. What layer of Windows 2000/XP is most responsible for interacting with hardware?
easily to different hardware platforms and increases OS integrity by providing more control over
14. What are the two modes of the Windows 2000/XP architecture?
User mode
16. What is the name of the folder on the Windows 2000/XP CD where the installation files
are stored?
\i386
17. Before you install Windows 2000/XP, how can you determine if the OS supports all the
The best way is to search the Microsoft Web site. Or check manufacturer web sites for Windows
2000/XP drivers.
18. What is one reason to use a clean install rather than an upgrade when migrating from
Their registries are not compatible. You do not get the benefit of a fresh start.
FAT16, FAT32
20. What is the file system that is common to DOS, Windows 9x, Windows NT, Windows
FAT16
21. Windows 2000 assumes a BIOS manufactured after what date is a good BIOS?
January 1, 1999
22. Which of the two Windows 2000 setup programs is a 32-bit program? A 16-bit program?
Winnt32.exe, Winnt.exe
23. Windows XP is installed using a system partition and a boot partition. Which of these
network controlled?
network controlled?
In a domain, access to an individual workstation can be controlled from the centralized domain
server.
26. What is required before Windows 2000/XP can provide full power management
functionality?
27. Name three manufacturers responsible for the initial development of ACPI.
28. If you are installing Windows 2000 on a new hard drive and your system cannot boot
Create a set of Windows 2000 setup disks on another computer to boot the PC and begin the
installation.
29. If you install Windows 2000 on an 8-GB hard drive, use a single partition for the drive,
and choose not to use the NTFS file system, what file system will Windows 2000
automatically use?
FAT32
30. What is the command to create a set of Windows 2000 boot disks?
Makeboot
31. If your BIOS is not ACPI-compliant, what should you do before you install Windows
2000?
appropriate?
NTFS
33. Can you perform an upgrade of Windows 2000 from a remote computer on the network?
You cannot perform an upgrade of Windows 2000 from a remote computer, because to perform
an upgrade, you must begin the installation while you are in the current OS.
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. You are planning an upgrade from Windows 98 to Windows XP. Your system uses a
modem card that you don’t find listed on the Microsoft Windows XP list of compatible
b. Check the Web site of the modem manufacturer for a Windows XP driver.
Although any of the listed options will work, the best next step is to check the Web site of the
2. You have just installed Windows XP and now attempt to install your favorite game that
worked fine under Windows 98. When you attempt the installation, you get an error.
a. Purchase a new version of your game, one that is compatible with Windows XP.
The best choice is to download any service packs or patches to Windows XP. These fixes might
3. If you find out that one of your applications is not supported by Windows XP and you
still want to use XP, what can you do to solve this incompatibility problem?
Upgrade the application or install XP as a dual boot so the application can still work under the old
OS.
4. Is it possible to install Windows XP on a system that does not have a CD-ROM drive or
Yes, it is possible to install Windows XP on a system that already has an OS installed and is
connected to a network. You can copy files on the Windows CD to the PC’s hard drive from
across the network and then run the Setup program from the hard drive.
Chapter 12
Indicates the Windows 2000/XP folder on the boot partition, usually C:\Windows or C:\Winnt
2. What is the normal path and the filename of the Windows 2000/XP virtual memory file?
C:\pagefile.sys
3. In what folder does Windows 2000 store a backup of the registry when backing up the
system state?
D:\Support\Tools\Setup.exe (substituting the drive letter of the CD-ROM drive for D in the
5. What type of user account must you be using to install a hardware device that is using
6. What Windows utility can you use to help you decide if the system needs more RAM?
Task Manager
7. What tool can you use to create a console containing Device Manager and Event Viewer?
.msc
Event Viewer, System Information, Device Manager, Disk Management, Disk Defragmenter,
Services Console
Sfc.exe
• Press the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys simultaneously. If the Windows Security window opens,
click the Task Manager button.
• Right-click a blank area on the taskbar and select Task Manager from the shortcut menu.
12. List the steps used to end an application when it refuses to respond to keystrokes or the
mouse action.
Open Task Manager, select the application, and click the End Task button at the bottom of the
14. In what folder do you put a console file that you want displayed when you are logged on
15. Before clearing the Event Viewer log, explain how you can save the log for later viewing.
In Event Viewer, execute one of the two commands to clear the log. Before clearing the log,
16. By default, Windows 2000/XP makes the paging file how large compared to the amount
of RAM installed?
17. What Windows utility lists all the applications set to load at Windows startup?
18. What Windows utility can you use to list all the currently running applications?
Task Manager
19. In what folder does Windows File Protection store an extra copy of system files?
C:\Windows\System32\Dllcache
20. What SFC command sets the system to scan system files at the next reboot?
sfc /scanonce
21. What SFC command sets the system to scan system files at every reboot?
sfc /scanboot
22. What two files are used to build the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT key of the registry?
23. What two files are used to build the HKEY_USERS key of the registry?
Regedit.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
26. In what folder do you install a program so that it starts up each time any user logs onto
the system?
27. Looking at a program filename and file extension, how can you tell if the program is a
The file extension .msc indicates a snap-in and the file extension .exe indicates a command-line
program.
28. Which Windows registry subtree gets its information from the four registry files, Sam,
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
29. In Windows 2000/XP, a file that contains part of the Windows registry is called a(n)
______.
Hive
30. To which registry key does the HKEY_CURRENT_USER key point for information?
HKEY_USERS
31. What two components are created when you back up a system using the Automated
A backup of the entire volume on which Windows is installed and an ASR floppy disk
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. You installed a hardware device that does not work. Then you updated the device drivers.
Now Windows gives an error when it first starts up. What do you do first?
Try the least drastic task first: Use Driver Rollback to undo the driver update.
2. You need to install a customized console on 10 computers. What is the best way to do
that?
a. When installing the console on the first computer, write down each step to make it easier to
b. Create the console on one computer and copy the .mmc file to the other nine.
c. Create the console on one computer and copy the .msc file to the other nine.
d. Create the console on one computer and copy the .msc file to the other nine.
d. Create the console on one computer and copy the .msc file to the other nine.
3. Can an application or device driver specify if it will use physical memory or the swap file
memory, but instead uses the VMM to interface between the application or driver and the
physical or virtual memory that it controls. This enables the OS to exercise more control over
4. You are attempting to upload images from your digital camera to your Windows XP
system using a USB connection, but you get errors. Select the appropriate task or tasks to
Chapter 13
1. What are the two basic differences between the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard and
The User State Migration Tool (USMT) tool is a command-line tool and the Files and Settings
The USMT is designed to be used on a domain and the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard is
4. How are a roaming profile and a mandatory profile the same? How are they different?
A roaming profile and a mandatory profile are the same in that they follow users from one
computer to another in a workgroup. They are different in that a user can change a roaming
profile that applies only to this one user, but a mandatory profile is the same for a group of users
5. What are two important criteria that make for a good password?
The password is not easy to guess and it contains numbers, letters, and non-alphanumeric
characters.
6. What can a user do to keep from having the administrator reset a forgotten password?
Create a forgotten password floppy disk that can be used if the password is forgotten.
Administrator
you use?
Computer configuration
9. What do you implement to control how much disk space a user can take up?
Disk quotas
10. What is the difference between a cross-linked cluster and a lost cluster? What can cause
them?
More than one file points to a cross-linked cluster, and no file in the FAT or MFT points to lost
clusters. Both can occur when the mapping in the FAT or MFT becomes corrupted.
11. What Windows 2000/XP utility program checks for cross-linked and lost clusters?
Chkdsk.exe
12. What file system is necessary to use if a volume is to be compressed under Windows
2000?
NTFS
13. What is the difference between an incremental backup and a differential backup?
An incremental backup backs up only files that have changed or have been created since the last
backup, whether that backup was full or incremental. A differential backup backs up all files
since the last full backup, regardless of whether other differential backups have been made since.
Another difference is that incremental backups mark files as having been backed up, and
14. What must you do before you can use the Windows Backup utility on a Windows XP
15. Why should you create a disaster recovery plan? What type of information would you
include in it?
A disaster recovery plan can help you determine the impact of a disaster, when the last backup
was made, and how to recover from the disaster. Include information on backup schedules, how
to perform recovery procedures, and the name, type, date, time, and contents of the last backup.
16. List three third-party utility programs used to support hard drives.
17. When Windows XP is first installed, what two built-in user accounts are also installed?
18. If you want to log onto a Windows XP system using the administrator account, what keys
Ctrl-Alt-Del
19. How do you change the way a user can log onto Windows XP?
From Control Panel, open the User Accounts applet. Click Change the way users log on or off.
Make your selections and then click Apply Options to close the dialog box.
Del or Erase
21. What command is used to create a subdirectory? To change the current directory? To
remove a subdirectory?
MD, CD, RD
22. The ______ command displays or changes the read-only, archive, system, and hidden
characteristics of files.
Attrib
23. What is the command to check drive C for errors, repair these file system errors, and
Chkdsk C: /R
24. What is the command to move data on drive C so that all clusters of a file are in
Defrag C:
25. What is the command to format drive D, using the NTFS file system?
Format D: /FS:NTFS
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. Your Windows XP system locks up occasionally. What are some probable causes and
solutions? Note: This question combines skills learned in this and other chapters.
a. The hard drive has errors. Run ____ to correct file system errors.
b. An application might not be compatible with Windows XP. To find out if you
have applications installed that are not certified by Microsoft for Windows XP,
d. The system might have a virus. To eliminate that possibility, use __________.
Chkdsk
Sigverig
Anti-virus software
2. You have an important FoxPro database stored on your hard drive. The drive has been
giving bad sector errors for several weeks. You kept meaning to back up the data, but
have not gotten around to it. Now you attempt to access the database and FoxPro tells
you it cannot open the file. What do you try first? Second? Third?
a. Reenter all the data and promise yourself you’ll be more faithful about backups.
d. Change the file extension of the database file to .txt and tell FoxPro to attempt to open
Use Chkdsk to repair the drive. If this does not work, change the file extension of the database
file to .txt and tell FoxPro to attempt to open the file as an ASCII text file. If this does not work,
then try to use SpinRite software to recover the file. If that does not work, then reenter the data.
3. A virus has attacked your hard drive and now when you start up Windows, instead of
seeing a Windows desktop, the system freezes and you see a blue screen of death (an
error message on a blue background). You have extremely important document files on
the drive that you cannot afford to loose. What do you do first?
a. Try a data recovery service even though it is very expensive.b. Remove the hard drive from
Since recovering the data is certainly the top priority, you do not want to do anything to risk
doing further damage to this data. The choice that is least likely to affect the data is to remove the
hard drive from this computer case and install it in another computer. Then boot into Windows
and try copying the data from the bad hard drive to the good drive.
Chapter 14
1. In the Windows 2000/XP boot process, what file reads and loads the boot menu?
Ntldr
Indicates the Windows 2000/XP folder on the boot partition, usually C:\Windows
4. Under what circumstances would you use the Enable VGA Mode option on the
When the video setting has problems that prevent you from seeing well enough to fix it
5. What key do you press to display the Advanced Options menu during startup?
F8
6. When you look at a Windows desktop, how can you tell if the system has been booted
7. What is the purpose of Safe Mode with networking under the Advanced Options menu?
This mode is used when there is a problem with the boot process that requires access to the
network to solve, or when the Windows 2000/XP installation files are loaded from the network
8. What is the name of the log file that Windows 2000/XP uses when booting in Safe
Mode?
Ntbtlog.txt
9. List the steps to load the Recovery Console when using the four Windows 2000 rescue
disks.
Insert the first of the four setup disks and restart the PC. You are directed to insert each of the
Type R to select the “To repair a Windows 2000 installation” option. The Windows 2000 Repair
The Windows 2000 Recovery Console window opens. The Recovery Console looked at the hard
drive and determined that only a single Windows 2000 installation was on the drive installed in
the C:\Winnt folder. (The Winnt folder might be on a different drive on your machine.) Press 1
Enter the Administrator password and press Enter. If you do not know the password, you cannot
You now have a command prompt. You can use a limited group of DOS-like commands at this
10. Which Windows 2000/XP folder contains one subfolder for every user account?
11. What two subfolders in the C:\Windows\system32 folder contain files needed for
Windows startup?
12. What Recovery Console command is used to extract a file from a .cab file?
Expand
13. Which option on the Windows XP Advanced Options menu is not available on the
14. Which Recovery Console command can be used to examine the partitions on a hard drive
for errors?
Diskpart
15. On the Windows setup CD, what type of file uses an underscore as the last character in
A compressed file
16. Under what circumstances is the Administrator password not required when launching
If the registry is so corrupted that it cannot read the Administrator password in order to validate it,
you are not asked for the password, but you are limited as to what you can do in the Recovery
Console.
17. What is the purpose of the Systemroot command under the Recovery Console?
Sets the current directory to the directory where Windows 2000/XP is installed
18. Under the Recovery Console, what is the command to rewrite the Master Boot Program?
Fixmbr
19. What is the command to install the Recovery Console on the boot loader menu?
winnt32 /cmdcons
20. Before you can perform the Windows 2000 Emergency Repair Process, what disk must
The ERD (Emergency Repair Disk), which contains enough data to restore the system to the state
21. When would you use System File Checker? What is the command to execute it?
The SFC is used to verify that the system is using correct versions of all protected system files.
The command to execute it is Sfc or Sfc.exe. Use it when you suspect the system has corrupted
system files.
Sfc.exe
23. What is the name of two utility programs that allows you to view the contents of the
Boot.ini file?
24. What is the Windows XP recovery tool that is similar to the Windows 2000 Emergency
Repair Process?
25. Place these tools in the order in which you should try them when troubleshooting the boot
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. Your Windows XP system boots to a blue screen and no desktop. What do you do first?
2. You tried to use the Automated System Recovery to restore a failed Windows XP system.
The process failed with errors, but there is a very important data file on the hard drive
that you need to recover. The hard drive is using the NTFS file system. What do you do?
a. Most likely the file is toast. The ASR process probably destroyed the file if it was
d. Boot to the Advanced Options menu and use Safe Mode to recover the file.
a. Most likely the file is toast. The ASR process probably destroyed the file if it were not already
destroyed. The ASR process completely erases everything on drive C. Always recover data first
3. When you start Windows XP, you see an error message about a service that has failed to
start and then the system locks up. You think this service is related to a critical Windows
b. Select the Last Known Good Configuration on the Advanced Options menu.
b. Select the Last Known Good Configuration on the Advanced Options menu.
4. While cleaning up the Windows XP startup process, you discover a program in this
this program is not one that an administrator or other user placed there. What is your next
step?
a. Delete the program file and move on to the next step in cleaning up startup.
c. Assume the file is malicious, delete the file, and run antivirus software.
5. Which statement(s) are true about the Windows 2000/XP boot disk?
a. The boot disk can be used to boot the system to the Windows 2000/XP desktop
b. The boot disk can be used to boot to the desktop even when the C:\Windows folder
is corrupted.
c. The boot disk can be used in place of the boot files in the root directory of the
active partition.
d. The boot disk can be used to boot to the desktop even when the partition table is
corrupted.
a, c
Chapter 15
1. What three OS files are necessary to boot to MS-DOS mode? What is the function of
each? What additional two files are not required but are used if they are present?
Io.sys (contains the basic I/O software for real mode), Msdos.sys (contains parameters and
switches that affect the way the OS boots), and Command.com (contains more code to manage
I/O, programs for internal OS commands such as Copy and Dir, and a short program that looks
for the Autoexec.bat file). Autoexec.bat and Config.sys are not required but are used if they are
present.
By clicking Start, then Run, and entering command.com at the prompt, or by clicking Start,
Command.com
6. What are the two wildcard characters that can be used in command lines?
* and ?
7. What is the /S switch used for with the Format command? The /V switch?
The /S switch is used to include the Io.sys, Msdos.sys, and Command.com files on a disk to make
it bootable. The /V switch allows you to enter a volume label only once when formatting several
disks.
8. What is the name of the single directory created when a floppy disk or logical drive is
first formatted?
Del or Erase
11. What command is used to create a subdirectory? To change the current directory? To
remove a subdirectory?
characteristics of files.
Attrib
A hidden file is a file not displayed in the directory list. Io.sys is an example of a hidden file.
14. What is the command to copy Myfile.dat from the root directory of drive A to the \Data
folder on drive C?
15. What is the command to delete all files in the A:\data folder that begin with the letter A
Del A:\data\A*.txt
16. What is the command to make the file Myfile.txt a hidden system file?
Attrib +h +S Myfile.txt
17. What is the command to copy all data and subfolders from the A:\data folder to the
C:\data folder?
18. What is the purpose of the Ebd.cab file on the Windows 98 startup disk?
The Ebd.cab file contains compressed utility programs such as Chkdsk.exe, Debug.exe, and
19. What applet in the Windows 98 Control Panel is used to create a startup disk?
Add/Remove Programs
20. List the steps to add a shortcut to your Windows desktop to access a command prompt
window.
Locate the program file (Command.com ) in Windows Explorer and, while holding down the Ctrl
key, drag the icon to your desktop. Another way to create the shortcut is to click Start, point to
Programs, Accessories, and Command Prompt. Right-click Command Prompt and select Create
21. At a command prompt, how must you type long filenames that contain spaces?
22. When using a real-mode command prompt, how will DOS display the filename
Mydocument.doc?
Mydocum~.doc
23. What is the batch file used by Windows 98 to control the boot process?
Autoexec.bat
24. What command used on a startup disk can you use to demonstrate the master boot record
is healthy but does not validate the file system on the drive?
Fdisk/status
25. If you suspect Io.sys or Msdos.sys is missing on the hard drive, what command can you
Sys C:
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. If a PC boots first to the hard drive before checking the floppy disk for an OS, how do
you change this boot sequence so that it first looks on the floppy disk for an OS?
2. A PC continues to reboot. You try to solve the problem by booting from a Windows 98
startup disk. You boot to the A prompt and look on the hard drive. You discover an
unwanted command in the Autoexec.bat file on the hard drive. Explain the source of the
The Restart command causes the system to reboot. Use the Edit command to remove the Restart
The Copy command copies a single file or group of files. The Xcopy command also copies files
or groups of files but is more powerful than the Copy command and offers more parameters, such
as the parameter to copy an entire directory (/D), to overwrite existing files without prompting
The Chkdsk and Scandisk commands both find and repair file errors, but the Chkdsk command is
mostly outdated by the Scandisk command, which is more thorough and provides more options.
Unlike Chkdsk, Scandisk does a surface scan and checks for potentially bad sectors.
5. You need to make 10 duplicates of one floppy disk. Describe how to do this using two
Possible answers:
a. You can use Windows Explorer to copy the files on the floppy disk to a folder on the hard
b. Using a command prompt window, use the Copy command to copy files on the floppy disk to
a folder on the hard drive, and then use the Copy command to copy the contents of this folder
to 10 floppy disks.
Chapter 16
32-bit drivers
3. What is the function of the Autorun.inf file included on the Windows 9x/Me installation
CD and gives locations for other readme files. Setup.exe begins installation of the OS.
4. List at least five things you need to do to prepare your hard drive for an upgrade
• Delete all folders on the hard drive used for the OS or applications.
• Run ScanDisk.
• If you are upgrading from Windows 3.x, save configuration files so that you can backtrack
to it if necessary.
• Convert TSRs that might give problems to remarks by typing REM at the beginning of the
• If you are upgrading from Windows 95 to Windows 98, create a Windows 95 rescue disk
• Decide if you want to use FAT16 or FAT32 for your file system.
• If you are installing Windows on a compressed drive, be aware that the registry can reside
on any compressed drive, but the swap file can reside on a compressed drive only if it is
back up the data and then uncompress the drive. You can later compress it using Windows
98 DriveSpace.
5. What are the four types of installations that you can choose during setup of Windows
9x/Me?
Setuplog.txt is used by Windows to determine how far it got into the installation when it is
recovering from a crash. Detlog.txt keeps a record of hardware detected. Detcrash.log is a binary
file used by Windows to help recover from a crash caused by a hardware problem.
7. What type of disk should you always create when prompted to do so during Windows
Always create the emergency startup disk when prompted to do so because it can help you
8. What is the Windows keyboard shortcut to display the startup menu while Windows is
F8 or Ctrl, Shift + F8
9. When installing hardware under Windows 9x/Me, how do you indicate that you want to
To use a Windows driver, select hardware from a list of devices. To use a manufacturer-provided
10. Use the _____ applet in the Control Panel when installing 32-bit software designed for
Windows 9x/Me. Use the _____ option on the Start menu when installing older 16-bit
software.
11. What is a comment line? How is a comment line noted within a file?
12. Explain the purpose of the System Configuration Utility. How would you use it in
troubleshooting?
The System Configuration Utility is used to limit what components load during the boot process.
14. The Windows 98/95 registry is contained in two files, _____ and _____. The Windows
15. Which version of Windows includes the Registry Checker? How often does this utility
Windows 98/Me includes the Registry Checker, which backs up the registry each day.
16. Explain the difference between the Regedit and Scanreg utilities.
The Regedit utility is used to edit the registry, and the Scanreg utility backs up, verifies, and
17. Name the files that Sysedit automatically displays for editing. Give a short description of
each.
• Config.sys and Autoexec.bat—Text files that can contain settings for environmental
commands and variables to load drivers and TSRs. Windows 9x does not need these two files
18. List the five phases of the Windows 9x/Me boot process and give a short description of
each.
• Loading of the OS, in which BIOS turns control over to Io.sys, which checks configuration
files
• Loading of static, real-mode VxDs, in which Io.sys relinquishes control to the VMM
• Switchover to protected mode and configuration of PnP, in which Vmm.vxd loads the
Configuration Manager, which is responsible for configuring legacy and PnP devices
• Loading of remaining components, in which Vmm.vxd loads the kernel, GUI, and user
Windows 9x includes Setver.exe for backward compatibility. This program “asks” a DOS
application what version of DOS it expects to use and presents DOS components to that
application as if they were all from the same version of DOS, as the DOS application expects.
20. What Msdos.sys entry can be used to backtrack from a Windows 9x/Me installation to
the underlying version of DOS? What happens when this entry is set to =0? To =1?
The BootGUI=0 entry in Msdos.sys boots the system to a command prompt, and BootGUI=1
21. What command do you enter in the Run dialog box to load Registry Checker under
Windows?
Scanregw.exe or Scanregw
22. List the options on the Windows 9x/Me startup menu and give a short description of
each. Which option appears for Windows 95 but not for Windows 98, and why? Which
option appears for Windows 95/98, but not for Windows Me?
BootGUI=0. Either way, the commands in Autoexec.bat and Config.sys will be executed.
• Logged (Bootlog.txt)—It is the same as the Normal option except that Windows 9x tracks the
load and startup activities and logs them to the Bootlog.txt file.
• Safe Mode—It starts Windows 9x with a minimum default configuration to give you an
Mode. This option is available with Windows 95 but not with Windows 98/Me, which
automatically includes support for networks when you boot into Safe Mode.
• Command prompt only—It executes the contents of Autoexec.bat and Config.sys but does
• Safe Mode command prompt only—It boots to a command prompt, but does not execute the
• Previous version of MS-DOS—It loads a previous version of DOS if one is present. This
23. Which startup menu options execute Autoexec.bat and Config.sys? Which do not?
Safe Mode, Safe Mode with network support, and Safe Mode command prompt only do not
execute Autoexec.bat and Config.sys. All the other options do execute the commands in these
files.
24. What Windows utility allows you to control what drivers are loaded during Windows
startup?
25. _____ is a Windows utility that can record detailed information about the system, errors
that occur, and the programs that caused them in a log file.
Dr. Watson
26. What parts of the Windows load does Safe Mode not execute?
Safe Mode does not execute entries in the registry, Config.sys, Autoexec.bat, and the [boot] and
27. Name two ways to end an application that is hung without rebooting the PC.
One way is to press Ctrl+Alt+Del, select the program in the Close Program dialog box, and click
End Task. You can also end an application from Task Manager, which you access by typing
28. After using the Windows 98 startup menu to boot the system to a command prompt, what
Win
29. What is the name of the third file Windows Me added to store the registry that was not
Classes.dat
30. What function key do you press during bootup to start Windows 98 in Safe Mode?
F5
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. An application loads at startup. List the steps you would take to stop an application
folder.
• Look for and delete an entry in the Load= or Run= line in Win.ini. Use Sysedit to edit the
file.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Delete
2. Place these tools in the order you would use them when troubleshooting the Windows
9x/Me boot process: emergency startup disk, Safe Mode, error messages, and the
command prompt.
boot. You remove the device and try to reboot, but Windows 98 still locks up. Which
tools do you use to solve the problem and what do you do with them? (Note: You might
• Device Manager
• Scanreg
• Registry Checker
Because you cannot get to the Windows desktop, you cannot use Device Manager to uninstall the
device. Therefore, you must return the registry to its condition before the installation attempt. For
Windows 98, use the startup disk to boot the system and then use Scanreg to restore the registry.
Chapter 17
1. Name three types of Ethernet. What transmission speed does each support?
10-Mbps Ethernet (10 Mbps), Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps), and Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps)
4. What is broadcasting? Name a network connection device that uses it and one that does
not.
Broadcasting occurs when a device sends packets to every device to which it is connected,
regardless of the packet’s destination. Hubs use broadcasting, and switches do not.
5. What IEEE standards describe Ethernet? What IEEE standards describe wireless LAN?
Ethernet: 802.3
7. What connecting device do you use for a small LAN? Two or more connected networks?
For a small network, a switch is best. To connect two or more networks, a router is required.
An IP address is a series of four numbers, each no larger than 255, separated by periods. A MAC
address is expressed as six pairs of hex numbers separated by dashes. A MAC address cannot
change, but an IP address can change on a computer; a MAC address is like a local address; and
4.3 billion
10. How many networks and addresses are available for Class A IP addresses? Class B?
Class C?
11. Why are Class D and E addresses not available to individuals and companies?
Class D addresses are used for multicasting, and Class E addresses are reserved for research.
12. Which octets are used for the network address and for host addresses in Class A? Class
B? Class C?
Class A: N.H.H.H
Class B: N.N.H.H
Class C: N.N.N.H
Class C
15. Describe the difference between public and private IP addresses. If a network is using
private IP addresses, how can the computers on that network access the Internet?
Public IP addresses are available for use on the Internet. Private IP addresses are used on private
intranets that are isolated from the Internet. Networks that use private IP addresses can access the
Internet through a proxy server, which substitutes its IP address for the address of the device
16. Why is it unlikely that you will find the IP address 192.168.250.10 on the Internet?
Because this address is in one of the IP address ranges that RFC 1918 recommends be reserved
17. Which Windows operating system does not automatically include the NetBEUI protocol?
Windows XP
18. What are the two ways an IP address can be assigned to a PC? What is one advantage of
each?
IP addresses can be assigned through static addressing (in which IP addresses are permanently
assigned to workstations) or dynamic addressing (in which IP addresses are assigned for the
current session only). An advantage of static IP addressing is that it does not require a DHCP
server. An advantage of dynamic IP addressing is that fewer IP addresses than the total number of
19. For what are the Ping, Ipconfig, and Winipcfg utilities used?
The Ipconfig (on Windows 2000/XP) and Winipcfg (on Windows 9x) commands are used to
display a machine’s IP address and the MAC address of its NIC. The Ping command is used to
20. Of IPX/SPX, TCP/IP, and NetBEUI, which is routable and which is not?
IPX/SPX and TCP/IP are routable, and NetBEUI is not.
21. Place the following bandwidth technologies in the order of their highest speed, from
slowest to fastest: SDSL, ISDN, regular telephone lines, cable modem, Gigabit Ethernet,
ATM.
Regular telephone lines, ISDN, SDSL, cable modem, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet
22. When using DSL to connect to the Internet, the data transmission shares the cabling with
Telephone
24. Which is more expensive, UTP CAT5e cabling or STP CAT5e cabling?
STP CAT5e
25. What is the most common type connector used with coaxial cable on a ThinNet Ethernet
network?
BNC
26. If you wanted to upgrade your 100BaseT Ethernet network so that it will run about 10
Gigabit Ethernet
27. A network uses a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0 and has a computer on the network with
No, the first three octets must match and they do not.
28. What networking protocol was first used by Novell NetWare and is not supported on the
Internet?
IPX/SPX
29. If you were going to connect two PCs together in a simple network using the network
A crossover cable
30. When using a cable modem to connect to the Internet, the data transmission shares the
Television
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. You have just installed a network adapter and have booted up the system, installing the
drivers. You open My Network Places on a remote computer and don’t see the computer
on which you just installed the NIC. What is the first thing you check?
2. You work in the Accounting Department and have been using a network drive to post
Excel spreadsheets to your workgroup as you complete them. When you attempt to save a
spreadsheet to the drive, you see the error message, “You do not have access to the folder
‘J:\’. See your administrator for access to this folder.” What should you do first? Second?
a. Ask your network administrator to give you permission to access the folder.
b. Check My Network Places to verify that you can connect to the network.
b. Check My Network Places to verify that you can connect to the network.
employees. The static IP address of the server is 192.168.45.200. Employees will open
their Web browser and enter personnel.mycompany.com in the URL address box to
browse this Web site. What steps do you take so that each computer in the company can
192.168.45.200 personnel.mycompany.com
4. Linda has been assigned the job of connecting five computers to a network. The room
holding the five computers has three network ports that connect to a switch in an
electrical closet down the hallway. Linda decides to install a second switch in the room.
The new switch has four network ports. She uses a crossover cable to connect one of the
four ports on the switch to a wall jack. Now she has five ports available (two wall jacks
and three switch ports). While installing and configuring the NICs in the five computers,
she discovers that the PCs connected to the two wall jacks work fine, but the three
connected to the switch refuse to communicate with the network. What could be wrong
Try connecting one of the non-working computers to a wall jack. If that works, then the problem
is the switch or the cable connecting the switch to the wall jack. Try using a patch cable for the
connection.
Chapter 18
1. Explain how a single physical computer can be a Web server and an email server at the
same time.
Server functions can be controlled by software, and a single physical computer can be running
more than one type of server software simultaneously. Programs on client PCs access the
different servers running on the same machine through the use of port numbers assigned to the
2. What Windows XP component can be used to share an Internet connection with other
3. What protocol is commonly used to manage the connection between a broadband modem
and a PC when the connection requires a username and password and is not always up?
PPPoE
4. Give the service and protocol for the following ports: port 21, port 25, port 80, and port
110.
Port 21 is used for FTP (using FTP); port 25 is used for sending e-mail (using SMTP); port 80 is
used for Web browsers and the World Wide Web (using HTTP); and port 110 is used for
5. Which protocol used by Web browsers and Web servers is responsible for guaranteeing
delivery? For breaking data into packets? For decrypting and decompressing data as
necessary?
connectionless protocol such as UDP sends data without establishing a session first, and without
7. What TCP/IP utility would you use to display the route taken over the Internet by a
Tracert
8. What utility would you use to display information about the name space kept by a DNS
NSLookup
9. Explain the functions of the following TCP/IP utilities: NSLookup, Winipcfg, Ipconfig,
NSLookup—Requests information about domain name resolutions from the DNS server’s zone
data
Microsoft SNMP Agent—Provides system management for networks; allows a system manager
10. What is the full command line to use Ipconfig to release the current IP address?
IPconfig /release
11. What utility new to Windows XP can be used to display a NIC’s MAC address?
Getmac
12. Place these stages of creating a dial-up networking connection in Windows 9x/Me in the
installing the Dial-up Networking feature, and entering configuration information for
your ISP.
Install the Dial-up Networking feature, verify installation of the dial-up adapter, create a
13. Explain at least four things you can try if you cannot make a connection to the Internet
Check the user ID, password, and dial-up networking icon for errors.
Try dialing the number manually from a phone, or try another number.
Print out and compare the Modemlog or PPPlog text files for the unsuccessful connection attempt
Verify that all components are installed, and try removing and then reinstalling them.
http://www.companyabc.com/Reports/december2004.doc
HTTP is the protocol, www is the host name, companyabc.com is the name of the network,
www.companyabc.com is the fully qualified domain name, Reports is the folder where the
requested file is located, and december2001.doc is the name of the requested file.
15. Give the type of organization that would use the following top-level domains: .mil, .net,
.mil—Military
.net—Internet provider or network
.air—Aviation industry
.com—Commercial institution
.org—Nonprofit organization
.gov—Government institution
16. What are three things you can do to improve slow browser performance?
Delete temporary Internet files, clear the history of recently visited Web sites, and reduce the
number of days that IE keeps pages in history. You can also suppress downloading images, and
17. What protocol is used for sending email? For receiving it?
SMTP or SMTP AUTH is used for sending e-mail. POP or IMAP is used for receiving it.
FTP (file transfer protocol) is used to transfer files over a network. The two computers involved
in the transfer do not have to be using the same operating system. FTP can be initiated from a
3389
20. Explain the difference when a user sees http:// in a browser address box and when the
Https indicates the data passed from the user to the Web site will be encrypted. Http data is not
encrypted.
21. Internet Explorer is the most popular browser. What is one security reason a user might
22. When an ISP gives a user the two mail server addresses, smtp.myISP.net and
pop.myISP.net, which address should be used for incoming mail and which should be
23. When using a cable modem to connect to the Internet, the data transmission shares the
Television
BYE
25. Does it matter which TV jack in your house should be used by your cable modem? Why
or why not?
Yes. Use the TV jack that comes directly from the street service so no splitter inside your house
26. What two methods can an ISP use to assign your computer or router an IP address?
28. What device is required so that you can connect a regular telephone to a VoIP network?
29. Why is it necessary for your home or office computer to have a static IP address if it is to
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. You are trying to connect to the Internet using a Windows XP dial-up connection. You
installed a modem card and tested it, so you know it works. Next you create a dial-up
connection icon in the Network Connections window. Then you double-click the icon
and the Connect dialog box opens. You click Dial to make the connection. An error
message displays saying, “There was no dial tone.” What is the first thing you do?
b. Check with the ISP to verify that you have the correct phone number, user name, and
password.
2. You connect to the Internet using a cable modem. When you open your browser and try
to access a Web site, you get the error, “The Web page you requested is not available
offline. To view this page, click Connect.” What might be the problem(s) and what do
you do?
a. The browser has been set to work offline. On the File menu, verify that Work Offline is not
checked.
b. The cable modem service is down. In the Network Connections window, right-click the LAN
modem.
Correct answers are a or b. Internet Connection Firewall does not interfere with your using a
browser on your PC, and the cable modem is not an installed device on a PC.
3. This question combines skills learned in this and previous chapters. You have set up a
small LAN in your home with two Windows XP PCs connected to the Internet using a
DSL connection. You have a DSL router box connected to the DSL line and to a small
hub. Your two PCs connect to the hub. You have enabled Internet Connection Firewall
on the LAN connection on both PCs, and you can browse the Internet from either PC.
However, you discover that each PC cannot use the resources on the other PC. What is
b. The NICs in each PC are not working. Try replacing one NIC and then the next.
c. The LAN connections in the Network Connections window are not working. Delete the
The correct answer is d. The first three answers imply the network is down, but the network is
working because you can browse the Internet from both PCs. If Internet Connection Firewall is
used on computers connected to a LAN, others on the LAN cannot access resources on this PC.
Check the DSL router software for a firewall that can be enabled there. Most routers have an
Chapter 19
REVIEWING THE BASICS
1. What encryption protocol does Windows XP use when sending an account name and
Kerberos
2. Which policy in Group Policy must be enabled before you can monitor failed attempts at
Audit policy
3. Define and explain the differences between viruses, worms, logic bombs, and Trojans.
A virus is a program that can replicate by attaching itself to another program. A worm can spread
copies of itself throughout a network without a host program. A Trojan horse, like a worm, does
not need a host program to work; it substitutes itself for, and pretends to be, a legitimate program.
A logic bomb is dormant code added to software and triggered by a predetermined event.
Viruses can hide in the boot sector, in a file, in a macro within a file, or in a combination of the
Use a firewall.
6. What is the best way to determine if an e-mail message warning about a virus is a hoax?
No. On a floppy disk, a boot sector virus hides in the boot program of the boot sector.
8. Which feature must you disable in the Folders Options applet of Control Panel before you
can control which user group or user has access to a shared file or folder?
9. What is the most likely way that a virus will get access to your computer?
Because malware is less likely to be running in the background to prevent AV software from
detecting it
12. Which Windows tool do you use to view a recorded log of network activity?
Event Viewer
13. What registry key keeps information about services that run when a computer is booted
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot
14. What does AV software look for to determine that a program or a process is a virus?
A virus signature
15. What Windows tool can you use to solve a problem of an error message displayed at
Msconfig
16. What folder is used by Windows to hold System Restore restore points?
17. How can you delete all restore points and clean up the restore points data storage area?
18. What two methods does anti-rootkit software use to detect a rootkit?
• The software looks for running processes that do not match up with the underlying program
filename.
• The software compares files, registry entries, and processes provided by the OS to the lists it
generates from the raw data. If the two lists differ, a rootkit is suspected.
20. What is the major disadvantage of using an AV software installation CD to install the AV
The software on the CD will not contain the latest virus signatures and other software updates;
therefore, the AV software will not catch new viruses. For best results, after the AV software is
21. Why does having Windows display known file extensions help prevent a system from
It helps prevent a system from being infected because users are less likely to be deceived that a
file is actually a program or script, rather than a graphics file, some other innocent file type, or
URL.
Spyware looks for information about you to pass to a Web site. Adware is displaying annoying
ads on your PC. One is stealing information; the other is giving information.
24. For what is the Windows Scripting Host utility used, and what is the command line to
execute it?
The Windows Scripting Host utility uses Windows commands to execute scripts that
programmers have written using a scripting language such as VBScript or Jscript. To run the
It is considered a security risk because it allows a Web page to execute code (which may be
26. What must you do before you can use the Windows Backup utility on a Windows XP
Firefox by Mozilla
28. Name two e-mail clients other than Outlook or Outlook Express by Microsoft.
29. What are five file extensions that might be used for scripts?
30. Why might someone see better security when using a browser other than Internet
Explorer?
It is because authors of malware attack IE more than other products, IE allows Web pages to run
ActiveX code, and IE is closely integrated with—and may provide access to—core components
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. A virus has attacked your hard drive and now when you start up Windows, instead of
seeing a Windows desktop, the system freezes and you see a "blue screen of death" (an
error message on a blue background). You have extremely important document files on
the drive that you cannot afford to lose. What do you do first?
b. Remove the hard drive from the computer case and install it in another computer.
Because recovering the data is certainly the top priority, you do not want to do anything to risk
doing further damage to this data. The choice that is least likely to affect the data is to remove the
hard drive from this computer case and install it in another computer. Then boot into Windows
and try copying the data from the bad hard drive to the good drive.
2. Just after you reboot after running AV software, an error message is displayed that
contains a reference to a strange DLL file that is missing. What do you do first?
b. Run Msconfig and look for startup entries that are launching the DLL.
c. Run Regedit and look for keys that refer to the DLL.
Either run Msconfig and look for startup entries that are launching the DLL or search the Internet
3. Suppose a user has encrypted important data files and now is no longer working for your
Log on as an administrator and decrypt the files, either by changing the properties of the folder
Chapter 20
1. Why are notebooks usually more expensive than PCs with comparable power and
features?
Notebooks cost more than desktop PCs with similar features. They use thin LCD panels instead
of CRT monitors for display, compact hard drives that can withstand movement even during
operation, and small memory modules and CPUs that require less voltage than regular
components. In general, it costs more to make similar components that take up less space and
72-pin SO-DIMMs, 144-pin SO-DIMMs, 200-pin DDR SO-DIMMs, 200-pin DDR2 SO-DIMMs
3. List three types of batteries that might be used on notebooks.
5. What component that is part of the LCD panel assembly might be responsible for the
Type I cards can be up to 3.3-mm thick and are primarily used for adding RAM to a notebook
PC. Type III cards can be up to 10.5-mm thick, which is large enough to accommodate a portable
disk drive.
7. What term refers to a PC card you can remove and replace without powering off?
Hot-swappable
9. What is the small cord sometimes found on the end of a PC card called?
A dongle or a pigtail
10. What applet in the Windows 2000 Control Panel do you use to stop a PC card before
11. How do you solve the problem when a Windows XP notebook hangs after a PC card has
12. What type of memory module used in notebooks has 160 pins?
SO-RIMM
13. List 10 devices that a notebook manufacturer might consider to be field replaceable units.
Possible answers: memory, hard drive, LCD panel, CPU, motherboard, keyboard, PC card socket
assembly, CD-ROM drive, floppy drive, sound card, pointing devices, AC adapter, battery pack,
and DC controller
It is because some warranties are void if you make certain changes to the system, such as
17. What are the two most popular operating systems currently used by PDAs?
18. What is the difference between a port replicator and a docking station?
A port replicator only provides ports for convenience when a notebook is sitting on a desk. A
docking station provides the same function as a port replication plus some secondary storage
19. Which notebook component is most likely to be the easiest to replace, the hard drive or
20. What are the three types of Mini PCI cards? How many pins does each type card have?
They are Type I, II, and III. Type I and II cards have a 100-pin connector and Type III cards have
a 124-pin connector.
21. What is the purpose of the Multilink Channel Aggregation feature of Windows?
To allow you to use two modems and two phone lines to effectively double the data throughput
rate
22. If you need to replace a hard drive in a notebook, why is it best not to use a
It is because the notebook needs a customized installation of Windows. Use the Windows
23. How is the best way to identify a notebook so that you can find the right documentation
Look for the model and serial number of the notebook stamped on the bottom.
24. If you need to install an external peripheral to take the place of a failed internal
25. List the ways that a PDA can connect to a PC to synchronize with it.
A PDA can synchronize with a PC through the USB or serial port or using a wireless connection.
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. Your friend has a Windows 98 notebook computer and has purchased Windows XP and
installed it as an upgrade on his notebook. He calls to tell you about the upgrade and says
that he cannot connect to the Internet. His notebook has an embedded modem that he uses
b. Using another computer, download and install the Windows XP modem drivers from the
c. Search the CDs that come with the notebook for Windows XP modem drivers and install
them.
The problem is that he has not installed Windows XP drivers for the on-board modem. Locating
the right drivers on the notebook manufacturer’s Web site might be a chore if he has problems
identifying the modem. The notebook’s drivers CD for Windows 98 is unlikely to contain XP
drivers. The best choice is to attempt to use the Web site of the notebook manufacturer to identify
2. A friend asks you for help in determining the best product to buy: a notebook, tablet PC,
or PDA. She is a paralegal and spends a lot of time at the courthouse researching real
estate titles. She wants a device to take notes with as she works. List three questions you
Possible answers:
Chapter 21
1. Cleaning. The drum is cleaned of any residual toner and electrical charge.
3. Writing. A laser beam discharges the high charge down to a lower charge, but only in
4. Developing. Toner is placed onto the drum where the charge has been reduced.
5. Transferring. A strong electrical charge draws the toner off the drum onto the paper. This
2. Which document exhibits better quality, one printed with 600 dpi or one printed with
1200 dpi exhibits better quality. The more dots there are per inch there, the more detail you can
USB
5. What are two possible settings in CMOS for parallel port mode?
ECP or bidirectional
6. During the laser printing process, what determines when the toner sticks to the drum and
During the writing phase, the uniform high charge is discharged only in the places where toner is
If an inkjet printer does not have a black ink cartridge, then it combines all colors of ink to
produce a dull black. Having a separate cartridge for black ink means that it prints a true black
and, more importantly, does not use the more expensive colored ink. You can replace the black
It is the ability to mix different colors of ink to create a new color that then makes a single dot.
9. What should you do if an inkjet printer prints with missing dots or lines on the page?
Clean the inkjet nozzles (manually for older inkjet printers or automatically for newer ones).
Lower the printer resolution and the print quality, add more memory to the printer, add more
12. When a laser printer is short on memory, what is a possible symptom of this problem?
Printing is slow, an error occurs, or a portion of the page does not print.
13. What two Windows components are used to share resources on a network and access
14. How do you share a local printer with others in the workgroup?
Open the Printers window. Right-click the printer you want to share and select Sharing from the
shortcut menu.
15. What are two ways to install a printer that is being shared by another computer on the
network?
You can perform the installation using the Printers window and the Add Printer Wizard, or you
can locate the printer in My Network Places or Network Neighborhood, right-click the printer,
17. When you are isolating a printer problem, what are the four major possible sources of the
problem?
18. How can you eliminate the printer as the source of a printing problem?
• Can an application other than the current program use the printer?
• Is the printer using the correct driver? Does the driver need updating? Is the driver
correctly installed?
• Can you move the printer to another computer and print from it? Will another printer work
on this computer?
19. How can you be sure that a printer cable is not the source of a printer problem?
• Remove the switch box in older systems that use one to share a printer.
• Try printing using the same printer and printer cable, but a different PC.
• Enter CMOS setup of the PC and check how the parallel port is configured. Try setting the
port to bidirectional.
20. Why is it important not to remove ink cartridges from an inkjet printer and leave the
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. A Windows XP computer has a locally installed printer that you must make available to
eight other Windows XP computers on the network. What is the best way to do this?
a. Use the Add Printer icon in the Printers window for each of the eight PCs.
b. Use My Network Places to install the printer on each of the eight PCs.
c. Use the printer manufacturer’s setup program from the printer’s CD on each of the eight
PCs.
d. Install the printer on each of the eight PCs while sitting at the host PC. Use My Network
b. Use My Network Places to install the printer on each of the eight PCs.
2. You are not able to print a Word document on a Windows XP computer to a network
printer. The network printer is connected directly to the network, but when you look at
the Printers and Faxes window, you see the name of the printer as \\SMITHWIN2K\HP
LaserJet 8100. In the following list, select the possible sources of the problem.
3. You are not able to print a test page from your Windows 2000 PC to your local HP
DeskJet printer. Which of the following are possible causes of the problem?
Chapter 22
Bench technician
3. Assume that you are a customer who wants to have a PC repaired. List five main
Possible answers:
Positive and helpful attitude, own the problem, be dependable, be customer-focused, be credible,
maintain integrity and honesty, know the law with respect to your work, act professionally,
4. What is one thing you should do when you receive a phone call requesting on-site
Ask questions to identify the problem and ask the caller to check and try some simple things
5. You make an appointment to do an on-site repair, but you are detained and find out that
Call the customer and explain the situation. Agree on a new time of arrival.
6. When you arrive for an on-site service call, how important is your greeting? What would
The first impression is very important as it sets the tone for the entire visit.
Possible first greeting: “Good morning, my name is xxx. Are you Mr. Xxxx?”
7. When making an on-site service call, what should you do before making any changes to
Ask the user to describe the problem in detail. Then ask permission to service the computer.
8. What should you do after finishing your PC repair?
Verify everything is working. Then ask the customer to do the same. Fill out the paperwork.
9. What is a good strategy to follow if a conflict arises between you and your customer?
Stay professional. Allow the customer to vent. Listen carefully. Do what you can to solve the
10. If you are about to make an on-site service call to a large financial organization, is it
No, you are expected to dress professionally and appropriately for the environment.
11. You have exhausted your knowledge of a problem and it still is not solved. Before you
12. If you need to make a phone call while on a customer’s site and your cell phone is not
13. When someone calls your help desk, what is the first thing you should do?
Identify the person and determine they are authorized to receive your help.
14. List the items of information you would want to record at the beginning of a help-desk
call.
Contact information
16. Describe what you should do when a customer complains to you about a product or
Take notes and send the information to the right person in your organization.
17. What are some things you can do to make your work at a help desk easier?
Use a telephone headset. Have all available resources handy. Keep notes as you work. Follow
It shows your employer and your customers that you are qualified for the job. It opens up new
19. Examine the EULA of some software installed on your PC. Is it legal for you to have it
THINKING CRITICALLY
1. You own a small PC repair company and a customer comes to you with a PC that will not
boot. After investigating, you discover the hard drive has crashed. What should you do
first?
a. Install a hard drive the same size and speed as the original.
b. Ask the customer’s advice about the size drive to install, but select a drive the
c. Ask the customer’s advice about the size and speed of the new drive to install.
d. If the customer looks like he can afford it, install the largest and fastest drive the
c. Ask the customer’s advice about the size and speed of the new drive to install.
2. You have repaired a broken LCD panel in a notebook computer. However, when you
disassembled the notebook, you bent the hinge on the notebook lid so that it now does not
latch solidly. When the customer receives the notebook, he notices the bent hinge and
a. Explain to the customer you are sorry but you did the best you could.b. Listen
carefully to the customer and do not get defensive. c. Ask the customer what he
First b, then c