Blog 10 – CIT 114b – Favorite Registry Key

How can I possibly pick ONE favorite registry key out of hundreds? I have worked in the registry doing lots of “fixes” to keep people from changing important home pages, to making a computer not save any documents when it logs off. I have disabled a lot of software in the registry and “hacked” some viruses out of the registry. Being so familiar with the registry makes it very difficult to pick a favorite.
After saying all that, I will pick as my favorite
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Main.
Here you can set the default home page, the default search page, make IE open in a maximized screen all the time, and set a few other values if needed. These settings can be helpful if you don't want your home page changed. We did it in the library to make sure our home page showed up when you opened IE.
Back in the day.............see 2005MCJ178 blog for my old computers, we didn't have a registry key data base, we only had Autoexec.bat and Config.sys files.

Windows 7 Beta

Windows 7 made its first official public appearance yesterday at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference 2008. For the first time, Microsoft made an API-complete, pre-beta version of Windows 7 operating system widely available to attendees and press. The company had previously made some information available (and rumors have abounded), but this is the first true hands-on look for analysts and developers. Though there are similarities with Vista, the new OS includes major new user interface updates, and promises to work much better with third-party hardware and software than Vista did at its launch. In all, it's an impressive debut, though one that will probably see significant changes before its release late next year.

Build 6801 of the prerelease software was distributed to attendees, and key features Windows 7 designers hope to make part of our daily computing lives include HomeGroup—simplified home networking for sharing media files and printers; Device Stage—a single page giving access to all the capabilities of a device such as a phone, MP3 player, printer, or camera; and Windows Touch, for mouse-free PC interaction on touch-sensitive screens. The press was also shown a later build (6933) containing user interface updates, such as a redesigned and more powerful Taskbar.

Steven Sinofsky, senior vice president for Windows and Windows Live Engineering Group and Mike Nash, who's responsible for Windows Product Management, made the point that all software and hardware that works with Windows Vista will work with Windows 7, as driver support remains the same. Furthermore, the kernel version number will stay at 6.1, which should help avoid some problems with older software not updated to work with a new major version number.
By by Michael Muchmore (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2333407,00.asp)

See a news story here:
http://news.cnet.com/2009-1025_3-6246989.html?tag=smallCarouselArea.0

Blog 9 – CIT 114b – Chapter 10

Blog 9 – CIT 114b – Chapter 10
Choose 5 terms to describe, in detail, from pages 489-490 "Key Terms".

1) A solid state device is one that has no moving parts. Solid state devices store data on memory chips instead of magnetic media or optical media. The memory chips use non-volatile memory, so they do not lose the data when they are unplugged from the computer. Solid state devices are able to withstand physical abuse better than other types of storage media. Another advantage of solid state devices is that accessing the data is relative fast. Examples of solid state devices are flash drives, and memory cards for cameras.

2) Streaming audio is when audio is downloaded from the Internet without saving the file on your local computer first. The audio stream is only buffered for a few seconds before you hear it on the speakers. This enables a person to listen to live broadcasts on their computer. Web classes, seminars, and meetings can be conducted in this way.

3) Streaming SIMD Extension is technology that allows a CPU to process multimedia data better. SIMD stands for “single instruction, multiple data”. According to the text book, this process allows the CPU to receive one instruction and use it on several pieces of data instead of getting the same instruction with every piece of data. This makes the CPU more efficient.

4) CDFS stands for Compact Disc File System which is used for storing and accessing data on a compact disc. There are several CDFS formats as well as the UDF (Universal Disk Format) file system which DVD drives use. A file system is the method by which computers keep track of the files stored on hard drives or other storage media. File systems keep track of any file that is saved, where it is located logically on the storage media, the name of the file, and the type of file. File systems have changed over time as new technology emerges. CDFS is based on the ISO 9660 Standard; however it allows long and double-byte filenames. Apparently the CDFS file system appears similar to a FAT file system to some applications.
Here is a good website that explains UDF,
http://www.diskinternals.com/glossary/udf.html
Here is a good explanation of ISO 9660 which CDFS is based on,
http://www.diskinternals.com/glossary/iso9660.html

5) RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks and it is a backup strategy to prevent the loss of important data. There are several different options for RAID. The simplest RAID is a spanned volume, if a drive fails, the data is lost. RAID 0 writes data to two or more drives evenly, if one drive fails, only part of the data is lost. RAID 1 makes a copy of the data on two drives and compares the data. If one drive fails, the data survives on the other drive. RAID 5 uses several drives to store duplicated data so that is one of the drives fails, the data can be rebuilt on a new drive. There are many ways to configure RAID and the RAID drives can be controlled by a software program or by a piece of hardware called a RAID controller.

Blog 8 – IT Essentials - Floppy Drives

1) What is the price of an internal floppy drive?
A. They start at $7.50 and go up to $30, depending on the brand and options.
Some internal floppy drives have card readers with them.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1187054&CatId=287

2) What kind of connection do external floppy disk drives use?
A. Usually external floppy drives use USB connectors; however there are a few floppy drives out there with specialized connectors such as the Toshiba floppy drive.
http://www.connectworld.net/ccc/DB19FS-db19-connectors.html

3) What is the price of an external floppy drive?
A. They average between $20 and $35, depending on the brand.

4) Why do you think external drives cost more than internal drives?
A. Because they have extra parts, a case, an extra controller,
and a USB, or other connector with a cable.

5) What are the advantages of external drives?
A. They can be used with several machines as needed and they are easy to replace.

6) What are the advantages of internal drives?
A. Internal drives don't take up any extra space.
And they have a constant address path.

High-Speed Serial ATA Ports

Just something interesting I found.
Add Two High-Speed Serial ATA Ports To Your Notebook
The 2-Port Serial ATA PC Card by Cables To Go brings cutting edge technology to your notebook. The Serial ATA PC Card adds two high-speed Serial ATA interface ports, each supporting first generation Serial ATA data rates of 1.5Gbs. This PC Card enables you to transfer data between your notebook and Serial ATA devices such as hard disk drives, floppy disk drives, CD-ROM, CD-RW, and DVD-ROM drives at high-speed transfer rates of 1,500Mbps.

My Desktop Solution (Just FYI)

At one time I had to use my cellular phone company as an Internet Service Provider. At that time, about 3 years ago, they only had pcmcia laptop cards. I purchased this and put it in my desktop and I was connected.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815166013

Blog 7 – IT Essentials - Upgrading Memory

Week 7 Assignment Critical thinking problems 1-4 page 298-299

1) If your motherboard supports DIMM memory, will RIMM memory still work on the board?

A. A motherboard that supports RIMM requires that all the memory slots are filled, if not with memory modules, then with continuity modules. Whereas, DIMM modules can be added one at a time and the slots can be empty.

2) If your motherboard supports ECC SDRAM memory, can you substitute SDRAM memory that does not support ECC? If your motherboard supports buffered SDRAM memory, can you substitute un-buffered SDRAM modules?

A. Typically you should use whatever the motherboard supports. However, a rule of thumb to follow is not to mix your memory modules; they should all be buffered, or un-buffered; parity checking or non-parity checking. The motherboard documentations should tell you which modules are supported.

3) You have upgraded memory on a computer from 64 MB to 128 MB by adding one DIMM. When you first turn on the PC, the memory count shows only 64 MB. Which of the following is most likely the source of the problem? What can you do to fix it?

A. Since you only replaced one module with one more module, the module is possibly defective. First, you should reseat the memory module, then check to see if you can tell the BIOS how much memory is installed. You can also check your memory at www.memtest86.com. If the computer continues to see only 64 MB, the memory module is faulty.

4) Your motherboard supports dual channeling and you currently have two slots used in Channel A on the board. You want to install an additional 512 MB of RAM. Will your system run faster if you install two 256 MB DIMM's or one 512 DIMM.

A. If you expect the best performance out of your dual channel memory, you should install even amounts of memory in the slots. So two 256 MB of DIMM would make the computer run faster than just one 512 MB DIMM.

Blog 6 – IT Essentials – Motherboards

Blog 6 Week 6

Assignment: -- Thinking Critically -- page 267 -- problems 1-4:

1) Why does a motherboard sometimes support more than one system bus speed?

A. A manufacturer could save a lot of money by making a motherboard with more than one bus speed. Also if the owner wants to upgrade their processor, the bus speed would be available. And a choice of bus speeds allows for backward compatibility if needed.

2) Why don't all buses on a motherboard operate at the same speed?

A. The book says that there are four or five buses on modern motherboards, all running at different speeds. Buses carry four things, electricity, control signals, memory addresses, and data. Not everything needs to travel at the same speed. For instance, the video card needs to run fast, so it is connected to the fast side of the system bus, where as the expansion card are connected to the back, or slower part, of the bus.

3) When you turn off a compute at night, it loses the date, and you must reenter it each morning. What is the problem and how do you solve it?

A. The reason a computer loses the date and time is because the system battery on the motherboard is weak or dead. The solution is to replace the system battery.

4) Why do you think the trend is to store configuration information on a motherboard in CMOS setup rather than using jumpers or switches?

A. According to the book, it is easier to change the CMOS settings than it is to open the computer case to change a jumper or a dip switch. I think that there are also more configuration options when using CMOS settings.