How Macs Work, Millennium Edition

Malestrom Ron Illustrated by Timothy Edward Downs ® 8011 East 96th Street Indianapolis, IN 462411 VI TABU OF CONTENTS Introduction Xli Part 1: Boot..Up Process 2 Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Hardware 10 Chapter 2 How a Disk Boot Wakes Up Your PC 22 Chapter 3 How an Operating System Controls Hardware 28 Part 2: Microchips 38 Part 4: Data Storage 132 Chapter 9 How a Computer's Long-Term Memory 140 Works Chapter 10 How Disk Drives Save Information Chapter 11 How the Little Things Make Disk Driv Faster and Store More Chapter 12 How PCs Use Light k't:>tYl""rnht~r Data 170 Chapter 13 How Removable Storage Works Chapter 4 How Transistors Manipulate Data 44 Chapter 5 How a Microprocessor Works Part 5: Input/Output Devices 52 Chapter 14 How Energy Turns into Data Part 3: How Software Works 72 152 Chapter 15 How Computer Ports Work 208 Chapter 6 How Programming Languages Work 86 Chapter 16 How a Computer Display Works 21 8 Chapter 7 How Windows Works 96 Chapter 17 How Data Gets into Your PC 228 Chapter 18 How Scanners Capture Images and Words 238 Chapter 8 How Software Applications Do Your Work 106 Chapter 1 How Porta Chapter 20 How Digital C puters 6 4 TABU OF CONTENTS VII Part 6: Games and Multimedia Part 8: How Printers 262 Chapter 21 How Multimedia Sound Works 268 Chapter 32 How Black-and-White Printing'vVorks 402 Chapter 22 How Multimedia Video Works 280 Chapter 33 How Color Printing Works 412 Index 425 Chapter 23 How Games Put You in the Action 286 Part 7: How the Internet Works 304 Chapter 24 cal Area Networks Work H 31 2 25 s Connect to the Internet 322 pter 26 ow Wireless Sets PCs Free 332 Chapter 27 How the Internet Moves Data 340 Chapter 28 How We Reach Each Other Through the Net 346 Chapter 29 How Internet Video and Audio Work 356 Chapter 30 How the World Wide Web Is A-Changing 362 Chapter 31 How Internet Security Fights Off PC Invaders 376 Work 396 Introduction IIAny sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. II -Arthur C. Clarke have their magic wands-powerful, potentially dangerous tools with a lives of their own. Witches have their familiars-creatures disguised as household beasts that could, if they choose, wreak the witches' havoc. Mystics have their golems-beings built of wood and tin brought to life to do their masters' bidding. We have our personal computers. PCs, too, are powerful creations that often seem to have a life of their own. Usually, they respond to a wave of a mouse or a spoken incantation by performing tasks we couldn't imagine doing ourselves without some sort of preternatural help. But even as computers successfully carry out our commands, it's often difficult to quell the feeling that there's some wizardry at work here. And then there are the times when our PCs, like malevolent spir