PC Systems, Installation and Maintenance This page intentionally left blank PC Systems, Installation and Maintenance SECOND EDITION Robert Beales Newnes An imprint of Elsevier Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP 200 Wheeler Road, Burlington, MA 01803 First published 1999 Second edition 2004 Copyright © 2004, Robert Beales. All rights reserved The right of Robert Beales to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1T 4LP. Applications for the copyright holder’s written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publisher. Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier’s Science and Technology Rights Department in Oxford, UK: phone: ( 44) (0) 1865 843830; fax: ( 44) (0) 1865 853333; e-mail:
[email protected] You may also complete your request on-line via the Elsevier homepage (http://www.elsevier.com), by selecting ‘Customer Support’ and then ‘Obtaining Permissions’. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress ISBN 0 7506 6074 0 For information on all Newnes publications visit our website at www.newnespress.com Typeset by Charon Tec Pvt. Ltd, Chennai, India. Printed and bound in Great Britain. Contents Preface ix PART 1 PC HARDWARE TECHNOLOGY 1 1 The PC defined Introduction to digital computers Making use of computers Five stage computer model CPU Computer types The IBM-PC (a mini-history of its development) The PC system Self-assessment questions 3 4 7 9 12 15 18 22 22 2 The system unit The system-unit PSU Motherboard form factors The motherboard – a closer look The chipset CPU Real-time clock The system (BIOS) ROM RAM Cache memory Serial data transmission The Centronics parallel port standard The system buses Personal Computer Memory Card International Association bus Univeral Serial Bus (USB) Interrupts Direct Memory Access (DMA) The OS Floppy-disk drives Hard disks Compact disc drives Digital versatile disc Magneto-optical technology Self-assessment questions 23 24 26 30 35 38 43 58 59 60 66 67 74 77 80 80 83 86 87 89 96 117 124 127 128 vi Contents 3 Peripherals Input peripherals Output peripherals Printer types and characteristics Paper feed methods Printer input output and control Character sets Installing and testing a printer in windows Scanners Modems Digital cameras Video and sound systems VDU types and characteristics Monochrome CRT monitor system Colour CRT monitor system Picture elements Additive colour mixing Types of video signal Video cards Direct X Installation and adjustment Fault finding using standard colour bars Flat panel displays Glossary of terms used on modern graphics cards Sound cards The keyboard The mouse Self-assessment questions 131 132 135 137 148 150 151 152 162 169 193 199 199 204 206 208 209 210 213 217 218 228 231 234 235 238 241 243 4 Networks Communication fundamentals Modulation methods Co