Computer Repair Don Shappelle Adam Blaisse

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Computing 101 Source:

Binary Numbers Base of two (0 or 1) A single digit is a bit, can be 1 or 0. 1= on, true & 0 = off, false to decimal: Source:

Hexadecimal Numbers Base of 16, easily translates to binary (base 2) 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F Not case sensitive (D is same as d) Source:

Kilo, Mega, Giga & Tera KB = about one thousand bytes (2 10 ) MB = about one thousand KB or a million bytes (2 20 ) GB = about one thousand MB or a billion bytes (2 30 ) TB = about one thousand GB or a trillion bytes (2 40 ) NOTE: 2 10 is actually 1,024, so 1KB is really 1,024 bytes

Hardware Motherboard & BIOS CPU, Power & Cooling Memory Storage Devices

Inside Your Old Computer Source:

Inside Your New Computer Source:

Motherboard Printed Circuit Board (PCB) with expansion capability Holds many crucial components, like CPU & Memory Descriptive Motherboard component diagram available at:

Motherboard Most common is Advanced Technology Extended Motherboard (ATX), since 1995 Descriptive Motherboard component diagram available at:

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Cooling Fan: attached to the heat sink to increase the airflow Heat Sink: piece of metal that draws heat from the CPU and dissipates it Thermal Paste: fills microscopic gaps between CPU and heat sink, aids in drawing heat from CPU

BIOS Basic Input/Output System Built Into PC First Software Run When Powered On Press F2 for System Setup (Example) Stored on a Chip that was originally Read Only Can be rewritten, updated (called Flashing) Source:

CPU Central Processing Unit (THE BRAIN!) Most of Processing, key factor in performance Primary Manufacturers: Intel (85%) & Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Choose a CPU compatible with Motherboard Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) processors are used in tablets and mobile devices, no fans, run with less power. (not usually replaced)

32 bit vs 64-bit A 64-bit CPU is required to run a 64-bit operating system. A 64-bit operating system is required for 64- bit applications. A 64-bit CPU will also run 32-bit software. Note: 32-bit Machines MAX OUT at ~3.5GB RAM

CPU Cores & More A core is a fully functioning processor With Multiple cores, tasks can be divided among them, making it faster to process Examples (Intel-based): P4 HT, Pentium D, Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 Complete List of Processors: Note: Hyper Threading allows a CPU to process two threads (groups of instructions) at a time, simulating two physical CPUs.

Random Access Memory (RAM) Short-term storage of applications or data Allows processor to access and use information NOT THE SAME AS A HARD DRIVE, which is used to store long-term data VOLATILE – data is lost when power is lost.

RAM-related definitions Dynamic RAM (DRAM) Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) Static RAM (SRAM) Double Data Rate (DDR) SDRAM DDR2 DDR3 DD4 Dual in-line memory module (DIMM) Small outline dual in-line memory module (SODIMM) Single, Dual and Triple Channel Single-Sided, Double Sided Parity Error Correction Code (ECC)

Storage Devices Hard Drives Solid State Drives Connection Types Floppy Disk Drives Optical / Combo Drives & Burners

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Primary long-term storage device Non-volatile Uses spinning platters (up to 15k RPM) covered with ferromagnetic material. Data is written by magnetizing that material.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Physical components: Platters. Hard drives have multiple spinning platters, and each platter can be written to on both sides. Read/write head. A hard drive will have one read/write head for each platter side. Actuator. The actuator controls the movement of the arm. Actuator arm and axis. The actuator arm is moved back and forth by pivoting around the actuator axis. This positions the read/write head on different areas of the platter.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) Logical components: Tracks. Each platter is logically divided into multiple tracks, which are circular areas on the disk. When the head is positioned over a track, it can read or write data on the track as the platter spins. Sectors. Tracks are logically separated into track sectors. A sector can be between 512 bytes and 2 KB in size. Clusters. A cluster is a group of multiple sectors. Clusters are also known as allocation units and are the smallest element of a drive to which an operating system can write.

Solid State Drives (SSDs) Have no moving components Use only electronics to store/retrieve data Commonly seen in USB Flash Drives, Tablets Faster Transfer Rates (as fast as 500MB/s)

Connection Types IDE SATA eSATA SAS Source:

Floppy Disk Drive Drive Letters A and B Can hold up to 1.44 MB Old version 5.25 New version 3.5 Rarely Used Now

Optical Drives (Disc, not Disk)

Types and Speeds R (Recordable). A recordable disc can have data written to it once. It is sometimes referred to as write once read many (WORM) and is used for backups and archives. It is possible to write the data in multiple sessions, but after an area is written on the disc, it cannot be rewritten. The R applies to CDs (as in CD-R), DVDs (as in DVD-R), and Blu-Ray discs (as in BD-R). RW (Rewritable). A rewritable disc can be rewritten many times. The RW applies to CDs (as in CD-RW) and DVDs (as in DVD-RW). RE (Recordable Erasable). Blu-Ray discs use RE (as in BD-RE) to indicate that the disc is rewritable. Speeds: CD: 150 KBps DVD: 1.39 MBps Blu-Ray: 4.5 MBps So, a 16X DVD-writer can write at 1.39MBps*16, or approximately 20MBps

Optical Disc Extraction Tool (ODET)

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