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Ch 1-12 net big book
Chapters 1-12 PC class big book-troubleshooting pc's
Question | Answer |
---|---|
What can cause damage to components through the discharge of static electricity? | ESD |
Which connector type has a slight D-shape? | DB |
Which connector type is most commonly used in the back of a PC? | Centronics |
RJ-11 jacks are almost exclusively used for ____. | Modems |
How many devices can be supported by USB on a computer? | 127 |
Which of the following has developed and sponsors A+ Certification? | CompTIA |
What company, or companies, administers actual CompTIA A+ testing? | Prometric |
How many tests must you complete to become A+ certified? | 2 |
What test must be passed for any of the certifications? | Essentials |
How many A+ certification tracks exist? | 3 |
How many clock cycles does the CPU require to act on a command? | At least 2 |
One billion cycles per second is equivalent to ____. | 1 gigahertz |
How many bits make up a byte? | 8 |
Four bits make up a ____. | nibble |
64 bits make up a ____. | Quad word |
Which of the following stores the data that the CPU actively uses? | RAM |
1 megabyte is equivalent to ____ bytes | 1,048,576 |
Which of the following is equivalent to 1024 bytes? | 1 Kilobyte |
The CPU uses a series of actions to complete a task. What is this series of actions called? | Pipeline |
Which of the following terms is used to define the first cache that the CPU uses? | L1 Cache |
What kind of RAM is cache typically made of? | SRAM |
What is used to hold a CPU? | ZIF |
What cache was historically on the motherboard, but now often comes on the CPU? | L2 |
CPUs typically run faster than the clock. What do they use to do this? | Multipliers |
What is a common voltage for CPUs? | 3.3 volts |
What is used to provide the proper voltage to a CPU? | Voltage regulator module (VRM) |
Which CPU of AMD is a direct competitor of Intel's Celeron? | Duron |
Many of today?s processors are measured by the process. What is a valid term for the process? | 85 nanometer |
Which socket is used in AMD Athlon XP CPUs? | Socket A |
What is a benefit of a smaller process? | Cooler |
What is the width of the frontside bus of an Intel Itanium CPU? | 128 bit |
What is the width of the physical address of an Intel Itanium CPU? | 44 bits |
Which is the housing for the Intel Itanium CPU? | PGA |
Which CPU package does the AMD Opteron use? | Micro PGA |
What is the practical limit for modern CPU clock speeds? | 4 GHz |
Because CPU makers can't make the processors run much quicker, they are instead doing what? | Combining multiple CPUs on a single chip |
In the Pentium D, what does the D stand for? | Dual, as in two |
If the number of wires in a CPU's address bus is 20, what is the maximum amount of RAM the CPU can handle? | 220 |
In SDRAM, what does the S represent? | Synchronous |
Where are programs stored when they NOT running? | Harddrive |
When the user loads a program, where is it copied before it is run? | RAM |
What unit is used to measure the capacity of RAM? | Byte |
Which of the following is a mass storage device? | RAM |
SDRAM comes on a stick known as a ____ on most modern PCs. | DIMM |
What do most laptops use instead of a DIMM? | SO-DIMM |
A DIMM in any one of the DIMM slots is referred to as ____. | A Bank |
What was the width in bits of the original 8088 processor's frontside bus? | 8 |
Most 8088 machine language commands need ____ byte(s). | 1 |
Which of the following DIMMs is used in laptops? | 144-pin SO-DIMM |
Which RAM is tied to the system clock? | SDRAM |
Modern CPUs since the Pentium have a data bus that is ____ bits wide. | 64 |
What is RDRAM also known as? | RIMM |
What type of computer uses the 68-pin micro-DIMM and 144-pin SO-DIMM? | Laptop |
DDR SDRAM for laptops comes in ____. | 172-pin micro-DIMMs |
What type of RAM can handle speeds of up to 1066 MHz? | RDRAM |
What kind of RAM did RAMBUS, Inc develop? | RIMM |
AMD?s answer to RDRAM was ____. | DDR-SDRAM |
All unused RIMM slots on a RDRAM motherboard should have a device called a ____ installed on them. | CRIMM |
DDR SDRAM for desktops comes in ____. | 184-pin DIMMs |
What does excessive disk thrashing indicate? | Insufficient RAM |
If Windows generates parity errors with the same addresses, the ____ is probably at fault. | RAM |
The RAM count on a PC is based on units of ____ bytes. | 1024 |
What are DIMMs and RIMMs? | RAM sticks |
What is the DDR speed rating of DDR400 RAM? | It has a clock speed of 200 MHz |
SDRAM uses the ____ speed. | clockspeed |
The user has to install RIMMs in pairs as the ____ chip employs dual-channel architecture. | RDRAM |
RAM with a PC rating of PC1600 has a clock speed of..... | 200 MHz |
RAM with a DDR2 PC speed rating of PC2-3200 has a core RAM clock speed of | 100 MHz |
The panic button inside the PC is called ____. | NMI |
Which of the following handles the interconnection between most of the devices and the CPU? | Southbridge |
Which of the following is a special database that holds key information about your system including the device drivers? | Registry |
Where does the motherboard store the keyboard controller support program? | ROM chip |
How many MB of programs do system ROM chips store? | 2 |
Which of the following components is read-only? | ROM |
Which chip acts as a clock to keep the current date and the time? | CMOS |
Which chip is used to store information that describes specific device parameters? | CMOS |
How can you easily clear the CMOS, including clearing the password? | Unplug the PC and remove the CMOS battery; unplug the pc and short the CMOS jumper. |
From where can the boot option be selected? | Advanced BIOS Features |
Which chip contains the system BIOS and can hold data permanently, even without electricity? | Flash ROM |
Which chip can be reprogrammed to update its contents? | Flash ROM |
Where does a SCSI host adapter store its BIOS? | Option ROM |
Where do modern PCs store CMOS settings? | Flash ROM |
What's a method of clearing the CMOS password? | Remove a jumper on the motherboard |
What is POST? | power-on self test |
The computer is beeping constantly after you have booted it. What's a likely problem? | RAM |
Does POST check the modem? | No, it checks memory, CPU, and video |
What is used to change or remove device drivers in Windows? | Device Manager |
Where should you look to interpret different beep codes? | BIOS manufacturer |
Where is POST located? | System ROM |
Most modern systems have only a single beep code to indicate something is wrong. What is it? | one long beep and three short beeps |
Which is the first electrical component to ?wake up? when a computer is turned on? | CPU |
What are programs stored on ROM chips called? | Firmware |
Upgrading the BIOS is also known as ________. | Flashing |
When does the CMOS password appear? | At power on |
Several lines at the end of POST are used to find the operating system. What is this called? | Bootstrap Loader |
What does a computer use to permanently store programs and data when it is turned off? | harddrive |
Making the address bus accessible to any device enables the device to have access to ____. | RAM or memory |
The 8088 processor with an 8-bit external data bus runs at a speed of ____ MHz. | 4.77 |
The AT bus is also known as the ____ bus. | 16-bit ISA |
The I/O address, containing the patterns of ones and zeroes, is written using the ____ numbering system. | hexadecimal |
The CPU sends an I/O address using the first 16 address bus wires after turning on the ____ wire. | IO/MEM |
What does the hexadecimal value 0 indicates? | A wires off |
Where do expansion cards plug into? | Bus slots |
Where can you check to ensure particular software works with your version of Windows? | Windows Marketplace |
The CPU stops its current processing and deals with an interrupting device when the ____ wire is charged. | INT |
The ____ handles data manipulation and uses I/O addresses to communicate with devices. | CPU |
Direct memory access (DMA) enables the system to run background applications without interfering with the ____. | CPU |
Where should you check to ensure you have the correct drivers for a device? | Manufacturer's website |
When installing an expansion card, what should you be careful of? | ESD Damage |
Classic DMA is used on most systems only by the ____. | Floppy Drive |
Connectors on PCI cards can get dull from oxidation. How should they be cleaned? | Contact cleaning solution |
What should be installed first, the USB device or the USB driver? | USB driver |
What should be installed first, the FireWire device or the FireWire driver? | Firewire driver |
Name two places that will allow you to uninstall a device in Windows XP? | Add or Remove Programs and Device Manager |
Devices that use the ____ bus are self-configuring. | PCI |
Which slot provides support for graphically intense computer games? | AGP |
Configuration of resources being used by devices is done through ____ in modern systems. | Plug and Play |
It is possible to check assigned resources using ____. | Device Manager |
Which error symbol do you get which indicates a disabled device error? | red X |
Successful installation of a compatible driver is indicated by _____ symbol in Windows XP. | the absence of a red X |
When installing a modem into a PCI slot, what should be installed first, the hardware or the driver? | The device |
____ is the smallest motherboard version in the ATX standard. | FlexATX |
____ is a variant of the microATX created by Intel. | FlexATX |
Some____ chips on a motherboard handle the infrared connection. | Super I/O |
Intel-based motherboards use the term ____ hub instead of Northbridge. | Memory controller |
____ are the lights that have positive and negative sides. | LED's |
The function of each LED wire is usually printed on the ____. | Connector |
Electrical surges and ESD can cause ____ failure. | Component |
A(n) ____ symptom is the most difficult symptom to diagnose. | RAM |
A brand new system failing due to manufacturing defects and any system failing due to a shock of electrostatic discharge is often called a ____ failure. | Burn in |
What type of failure results in the PC failing to boot? | Catastrophic failure |
The ____ type of motherboard has a large keyboard and a split P8/P9 style of power socket. | AT |
The main problem with form factors such as LPX and NLX was their ____. | Inflexability |
The only dedicated connector on an AT motherboard is the ____ plug. | Keyboard |
____ makes the chipset for AMD Athlon 64 processors. | NVIDIA |
The _______ determines the type of processor and RAM required for a motherboard. | chipset |
Popular motherboard manufacturers include all of the following EXCEPT ____. | Northbridge |
What type of failure usually happens within the first 30 days of use? | Burn in failure |
ATX motherboards use a feature called ____ that allows software to turn the power on and off. | soft power |
The LPX and NLX form factors provided an insertion slot for the ____ card. | riser |
Shorter wires can easily handle double or quadruple the ____ speed of the motherboard. | clock |
Many motherboards use a simple connector called a ____ to make some physical ports accessible from the front of the case. | dongle |
What determines the type of case a motherboard needs and provides maximum expansion slot limit? | form factor |
What provides support to USB and FireWire on computers? | The Motherboard |
The motherboard mounts to the case via small connectors called ____. | standouts |
What unit is used to measure voltage? | volt |
What is the unit of measuring current? | ampere |
Which of the following units is used to measure resistance? | Ohm |
What type of voltage does a PC use? | DC |
In an IEC-320 plug, which wire carries electrical voltage? | hot |
Which of the following wires carries no voltage? | nuetral |
A surge suppressor should be rated at a minimum of ____ joules | 800 |
Power supplies come with a standard ____ for the motherboard and interior devices. | connector |
The P1 connector from the power supply is plugged into the ____ socket. | P1 |
Which connector is the most common type of connector used for devices that require 5 V or 12 V of power? | Molex |
The 3.5-inch floppy drive uses the ____ connector. | mini |
Power supplies are rated in ____. | watts |
What type of power connector is L-shaped? | SATA |
A coworker is taking a computer overseas and asks you what concerns he should have. What do you tell him? | Make sure he switches the power supply to 230AC. |
The standard modern power supply provides ____ volts of power. | 3.3, 5, and 12 |
What uses the soft power feature? | ATX |
Which power supply never turns off? | ATX |
Molex connectors are used for ____ power. | peripheral |
Most case fans have standard ____ connectors that are easy to plug in. | Molex |
Expansion bays must be covered by the ____ to maintain proper airflow inside the case. | slot cover |
The ____ power supply has a 24-pin main motherboard that resembles a 20-pin P1 connector. | EPS12 V |
Which industry group came up with a non-ATX standard motherboard and power supply called EPS12 V? | Server System Infrastructure |
A(n) ____ power supply converts energy efficiently. | Active PFC |
What should be the outputs of the hot, neutral, and ground wires when tested with a multimeter? | 115 V, 0 V, 0 V |
How is DC voltage represented on multimeters? | V with a solid line above a dashed line |
A PC doesn't work. What should you check first? | Ensure AC plug is plugged in |
Power supplies are protected from spikes of AC current with the use of a ____. (3 things) | fuse, surge suppressor, and UPS |
What UL rating should you look for on a surge suppressor? | UL1449 |
How many watts of power does a typical hard drive in a PC require? | 15 |
How many watts of power does an Athlon64X2 CPU require at peak performance? | 110 |
The notches in the Molex connector that guides installation are called ____. | chamfers |
Which is the latest ATX power supply standard? | ATX12V 2.0 |
What class of fire extinguisher should be used on an electrical fire? | Class C |
What is the amount of amps and volts needed by a particular device to function called? | Wattage |
____ stores data in a unique pattern of 1s and 0s. | RLL |
Each platter requires ____ heads. | Two |
A ____ is a circle where data is stored on a drive. | Track |
Which of the following hard drive geometry values is no longer relevant in today's PCs? | Write Precomp |
Which interface requires a ribbon cable and a built-in controller on the drive itself? | ATA |
How many drives can be supported with ATA-2 (sometimes called EIDE)? | FOUR |
Modern PATA drives use a ____ connector for power. | Molex |
The ____ interface enables non-hard drive devices to connect to the PC via the ATA controllers. | ATAPI |
How many wires does the SATA interface have? | Seven |
How many pins does an EIDE (ATA) drive have? | 40 |
How many ATA devices can be connected to most modern PCs? | Four |
Which of the following does NOT require jumper settings? PATA, ATA, SATA, OR AT | SATA |
The drive technology that supports only a single device per controller channel is known as _____. | SATA |
What is a series of SCSI devices working together through a host adapter called? | SCSI chain |
The SCSI host adapter uses the ____ to differentiate between devices. | SCSI ID |
What's the minimum number of drives needed for RAID 5? | 3 |
A system with ____ extension can handle drives up to 137 GB. | INT13 |
The ____ standard has an enhanced block mode that enables drives to transfer up to 65,536 sectors in one chunk. | ATA/ATAPI-6 |
Since any SCSI device might be on the end of a chain, most manufacturers build SCSI devices that can ____. | self terminate |
Internal SCSI devices connect to the host adapter with a ____-pin ribbon cable. | 68 |
The host adapter is also referred to as a ____. | SCSI Controller |
An ATA/100 can transfer data at ____ MBps. | 100 |
ATA/66, ATA/100, and ATA/133 require a ____ cable. | 80-wire |
What is the process of spreading data across multiple drives? | disk striping |
How many levels of RAID exist? | Seven |
Disk mirroring is also known as _____. | RAID 1 |
Which RAID level was never implemented? | RAID 2 |
Which RAID levels combined dedicated data drives with dedicated parity drives? | RAID 3 AND RAID 4 |
Which operating system has built-in software for RAID 5? | Windows Server 2003 |
The mirroring technique in which each drive has its own controller is called ____. | Drive duplexing |
SCSI ID numbers can range from 0 to ____. | 15 |
What can happen if you reverse a SCSI cable during installation? | You can seriously damage the drive |
Windows XP can create partitions using the ____ disk. | Basic |
The ____ takes control of the boot process from the system BIOS. | MBR |
How many partitions can be active at any given point in time? | One |
All basic hard drive partition tables support up to ____ bootable partitions. | Four |
The ____ stores the location of the operating system boot files. | Volume boot sector |
The operating system is stored in a(n) ____ partition. | Primary |
Which of the following is the default primary partition for Windows NT/XP/2000? | C: |
A PC can boot to both Windows XP and Linux. What is this called? | Dual Boot |
How many extended partitions can be created in a hard drive? | One |
In Windows, each ____ is assigned a drive letter from C: to Z:. | Partition |
Which file format is best suited for a Windows NT/2000/XP operating system? | NTFS |
Which file system will not support a partition size of up to 2.1 GB? | FAT16 |
What tool can you use to find additional space on your hard drive? | Disk Cleanup |
What tool in Windows 2000/XP is used to partition and format a drive? | Disk Management |
A ____ volume is similar to a primary partition, but it is not a primary partition. | Simple |
A ____ volume spreads out blocks of each file across multiple disks. | Striped |
An entire physical drive can be added to another drive as a folder by creating a ____. | Mount Point |
What?s the largest size of a new FAT32 partition in Windows XP? | 32GB |
A ____ is the base storage area for hard drives in the FAT format. | Sector |
Each sector in a hard disk can store up to ____ bytes of data. | 512 |
The FAT in floppy drives is ____ bits. | 12 |
What code indicates that a sector in the hard drive is bad? | FFF7 |
Which of the following cluster codes indicates the end of file in a FAT16 system? | FFFF |
How many bits are used to describe each cluster in FAT32? | 32 |
Which of the following uses a master file table? | NTFS |
The ____ is an upgraded version of NTFS file system used by Windows 2000/XP. | NTFS5 |
Which file system enables a user to adjust the cluster size? | NTFS |
What type of problem does the error message "?No BOOT Device?" indicate? | Connectivity |
What tool can be used to verify a hard disk on Windows XP? | Error checking tool |
A(n) ____ is a drive that functions like a folder on another drive. | mount point |
What is the storage capacity of the present day 3�-inch floppy disk? | 1.44 MB |
What is the device that is used to read a floppy disk? | floppy drive |
The key preventative maintenance performed on floppy drives is____. | Cleaning |
What will happen if the floppy drive cable is installed backward when installing a floppy drive? | LED will come on and stay on |
What is the speed of USB 2.0? | 480 Mbps |
Which of the following would prove more damaging to a CD-RW? | Scratching the top of a disc |
CD-ROMs store data using ____ burned into a glass master CD-ROM with a powerful laser. | microchip pits |
CD-ROM drives use a ____ and mirrors to read the data off a CD-ROM. | Laser |
All modern CD-R drives allow you to burn additional data onto a CD-R disc until the disc is full. What are these called? | multisession drives |
What kind of memory do USB drives use? | Flash ROM |
What is the floppy drive format most commonly used today? | 3�-inch floppy drive |
An 8�4�32� CD-RW drive reads at a speed of ____. | 32� |
If you have only floppy drive, what should it be called? | A: |
While booting, most PCs will first look for an operating system in the ____ drive. | A: |
If the floppy drive is installed on the middle connector, which drive letter is it assigned? | B: |
How much data can the highest capacity version of a DVD store? | 25GB |
Most floppy cables have only the connectors for _____-inch drives. | 3 |
After installing the floppy drive, the next step is to configure the ____ settings. | CMOS |
DVD-ROM is the DVD-equivalent of the standard ____ data format. | CD ROM |
Which of the following is a group of compression standards for both audio and video? | Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) |
Which option is used to inform the PC not to check the floppy disk, during the POST? | Boot Up Floppy Seek |
ATAPI CD-ROMS have regular ____ PATA (IDE) connectors and master/slave jumpers. | 40-Pin |
In Windows 2000, a user must edit the ____ to turn off the AutoPlay option. | Registry |
Which of the following is a complete copy of a CD that can be burned to another CD to make a duplicate? | ISO file |
Which wire on the floppy drive cable is called the Drive Change Signal? | 34th |
What can be used to read different USB cards? | Card reader |
What is USB flash memory typically known as? | Thumb drive |
Discs burned in ____ systems can be read by almost all CD- and DVD-media drives. | Windows XP |
CD-R disks use ____ as part of the burning process. | light |
Conventionally, if there is only one floppy drive, which drive letter should it be assigned? | A: |
The inability of the source device to keep up with the burner is known as _____. | Buffer underrun |
Which program can be used from within the Windows GUI to start an upgrade to Windows 2000 or XP? | WINNT32.exe |
A Windows XP home computer can play the role of a(n) ____ computer on a network. | Standalone |
Which setting enables you to adjust settings for the display of date, time, math separators, and currency symbols? | Locale |
What program is used to check hardware and software compatibility? | Winnt32 /checkupgradeonly |
A(n) ____ is a fix for a single problem within an operating system. | patch |
When combined together, accumulated patches are called ____. | updates |
The recommended amount of memory for a Windows XP computer is ____ MB of RAM. | 256 |
What online tool can be used to check your hardware and software and report compatibility issues for an upgrade to Windows XP? | Upgrade Advisor |
Which installation is popular for re-creating standard configurations? | image |
During what phase of an installation can you partition the hard disk? | Text mode |
Users will always be prompted for an installation directory during a(n) __________ installation. | clean |
After installing Windows XP, the system must be activated within ____ days or the system will go into a limited use mode. | 30 |
The minimum memory requirement for a Windows 2000 Professional computer is ____ MB. | 64 |
Which card is recommended for a Windows 2000 Professional computer that will connect to a network? | Modern NIC |
What is the ultimate authority that identifies whether hardware components are compatible with the operating system. | Windows Marketplace |
You can upgrade directly to Windows 2000 from all of the following operating systems except which one? | Windows ME |
Third-party disk compression applications are ______ in Windows XP. | not supported |
Installing an operating system onto a hard drive with no previous OS installed is known as a(n)_____. | Clean install |
The minimum size of the boot partition for Windows 2000 should be at least ____ GB. | 2 |
The recommended hard disk space for a Windows XP computer is ____ GB. | 4 |
For a Windows XP computer, a video card must support Direct X8 with at least ____ resolution. | 800x600 |
What is the first process that runs on the Windows XP installation CD? | Upgrade Advisor |
Which log file tracks the complete installation process, registry updates, and reboots of a Windows XP machine? | SETUPLOG.TXT |
Which log file tracks each piece of hardware as it is installed on Windows XP? | SETUPAPI.LOG |
A(n) ____ is a combination of fixes. | Service pack |
When using cloned images, a problem is that all the images have the same SID. What tool can be used to make each new cloned image have a unique SID? | Sysprep |
During a(n) ____ installation, the new operating system can be installed into a different subdirectory on a different drive, leaving the old operating system intact and usable. | multiboot |
What is the Windows installation option that inherits all previous settings, hardware, and applications? | Upgrade |
Which installation option is usually initiated by accessing a shared network directory? | Scripted |
Expansion cards plug into_______ | Expansion slots |
RAM is measured in __________ | megabytes or gigabytes |
Expansion cards plug into_______ | Expansion slots |
RAM is measured in __________ | megabytes or gigabytes |
ATA and SCSI are two common types of ______drives. | IDE (integrated drive electronics) |
USB devices are _________, meaning you can remove them while power is still on. | hot-swappable |
A mouse typically uses a ___________ connector. | USB port or mini din |
Groups of connected computers used for sharing information are also known as | Networks |
CD ROM and DVD drives are actually _______ type drives and connect with a ribbon cable. | PATA |
The two ATA standards in use today are _______ and ________. | PATA, SATA |
A DVI connector is used for ____________. | Video cards |
The _________ numbering system is used to describe the state of a wire at any given moment. | Binary |
The temporary storage areas of a CPU are called ____________. | Registers |
The memory closest to the CPU is called _________. | L1 Cache |
Forcing a system to run faster than the speed it's designed for is called ______________ | overclocking |
The connection between the CPU, MCC, and the RAM is called the ______________ | frontside bus |
If a device wants to get the CPU's attention, it lights the interrupt wires with a special pattern of ones and zeroes. These ones and zeroes are known as ____________. | IRQ's - Interrupt requests |
Newer systems use a type of DMA called _________, which doesn't require a DMA controller. | Bus Mastering |
All the data transfer and commands flow through the ___________wires embedded in the motherboard. | trace |
The __________ defines the type of the processor and RAM required for the motherboard. | chipset |
Most modern chipsets are composed of two primary chips: the _______________ and the _________________. | Northbridge/southbridge |
The form factor of the _______ motherboard replaced the rear panel with all the necessary ports built in. | ATX |
The pressure of electorns in a wire is called __________. | Voltage |
_________ current allows electrons to flow in one direction around continuous circuits. | DC |