PC Hardware A Beginner Guide 1st Edition by Ron Gilster ISBN 9780072194401 0072194405

PART I The Basics

CHAPTER 1 The Personal Computer

A BRIEF LOOK AT THE EVOLUTION OF COMPUTERS

INTEL VERSUS APPLE

AN OVERVIEW OF SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS

IN THIS BOOK …

CHAPTER 2 Basic PC Concepts and Terminology

AN INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL LOGIC

THE HEXADECIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM

ELECTRICITY AND THE PC

A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE ELECTRONICS OF THE PC

PART II Internal Components

CHAPTER 3 Microprocessors

AN INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL LOGIC

SEMICONDUCTORS

THE TRANSISTOR

THE MICROPROCESSOR

CHAPTER 4 Motherboards

MOTHERBOARD DESIGNS

MOTHERBOARD FORM FACTORS

THE COMPONENTS OF THE MOTHERBOARD

UPGRADING A MOTHERBOARD

CHAPTER 5 Chipsets and Controllers

INTRODUCTION TO CHIPSETS

CONTROLLER CHIPS

CHIPSETS

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

CHAPTER 6 The BIOS and the Boot Process

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BIOS

BOOTING THE COMPUTER

ROMS, PROMS, AND EPROMS: BIOS CHIPS

THE BIOS CONFIGURATION

BIOS UPDATES AND FLASH BIOS

CHAPTER 7 Computer Memory

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ROM

CMOS

RAM

LOGICAL MEMORY CONFIGURATION

DEALING WITH MEMORY ERRORS

INSTALLING MEMORY MODULES IN A PC

CHAPTER 8 Cache Memory

CACHE ON THE PC

INSTALLING A CACHE MODULE

CHAPTER 9 Hard Disks and Floppy Disks

HARD DISK DRIVES

INTERFACES

DATA ORGANIZATION

HARD DISK PERFORMANCE

FORMATTING THE DISK

DISK SPACE REQUIREMENTS

FLOPPY DISK DRIVES

CHAPTER 10 CD-ROMs and DVDs

THE TECHNOLOGY OF THE CD AND CD-ROM

DIGITAL VERSATILE/VIDEO DISC (DVD)

CHAPTER 11 Expansion Cards

USING EXPANSION CARDS

EXPANSION BUSES

EXPANSION CARDS

EXPANSION CARD OPERATION

WORKING WITH EXPANSION CARDS

CHAPTER 12 Video Cards

HOW A VIDEO CARD WORKS

VIDEO CARD STANDARDS

VIDEO CARD COMPONENTS

3D GRAPHICS

INSTALLING A VIDEO CARD

TROUBLESHOOTING THE VIDEO CARD

TROUBLESHOOTING VIDEO PROBLEMS

UPGRADING THE RAM ON A VIDEO CARD

CHAPTER 13 System Resources

INTERRUPT REQUEST (IRQ)

I/O ADDRESSES

MEMORY ADDRESSES

DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS (DMA)

RESOLVING RESOURCE CONFLICTS

CHAPTER 14 Power Supply and Electrical Issues

UNDERSTANDING ELECTRICITY

ELEMENTARY ELECTRONICS

STATIC ELECTRICITY AND ESD

THE POWER SUPPLY

ELECTRICAL POWER ISSUES

PART III External Components

CHAPTER 15 The System Case

THE CASE FOR THE CASE

SYSTEM CASE STYLES

SYSTEM CASE FEATURES

CHAPTER 16 Monitors and Displays

CRTs VERSUS FLAT-PANELS

THE CATHODE RAY TUBE (CRT)

FLAT-PANEL DISPLAYS

INTEGRATED PC AND MONITORS

PEN-BASED SYSTEMS

MONITOR POWER

MONITOR MAINTENANCE

MONITOR SAFETY

CHAPTER 17 Printers

PRINTER TYPES AND TECHNOLOGIES

DOT MATRIX PRINTERS

INKJET PRINTERS

LASER PRINTERS

LED PRINTERS

THERMAL PRINTERS

CONNECTING THE PRINTER TO THE PC

PRINTER SAFEGUARDS

SETTING UP A PRINTER IN WINDOWS

CHAPTER 18 Keyboards, Mice, and Pointing Devices

KEYBOARDS

THE MOUSE

CHAPTER 19 Ports and Connectors

CONNECTORS ON THE MOTHERBOARD

EXTERNAL PORTS AND CONNECTORS

CHARACTER DATA

SERIAL AND PARALLEL DATA

FULL, HALF, AND SINGLE MODES

SERIAL PORTS AND CONNECTORS

CABLING THE CONNECTION

PARALLEL PORTS

THE USB INTERFACE

THE FIREWIRE INTERFACE

THE FIREWIRE INTERFACE

WIRELESS PORTS

PS/2 AND DIN CONNECTORS

VIDEO INTERFACES

SCSI INTERFACE

CHAPTER 20 Networks and Communications

NETWORK BASICS

SERVERS

CABLING

BACKBONES AND SEGMENTS

NETWORKING DEVICES

NETWORK TOPOLOGIES

NETWORK ADDRESSING

CONFIGURING A PC FOR NETWORK CONNECTION

DIALING UP A NETWORK

DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINES (DSL)

CABLE MODEMS

ISDN TERMINAL ADAPTERS

WIRELESS NETWORKING

CHAPTER 21 Audio/Visual Devices

SOUND ON THE PC

SOUND CAPTURE AND PLAYBACK

CD-ROM AND DVD INTERFACES

INSTALLING A SOUND CARD

VIDEO AND GRAPHIC FILES

IMAGE CAPTURE

PART IV System Care and Troubleshooting

CHAPTER 22 PC Care and Maintenance

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE OF A PC

CHAPTER 23 Electrical Power Issues

POWER LINE PROBLEMS

PROTECTING AGAINST POWER PROBLEMS

SAVING THE PLANET

DC POWER

CHAPTER 24 Troubleshooting PC Hardware

POWER SOURCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

LEARNING FROM THE PAST

TROUBLESHOOTING FRMS

Index