Blog 5 – IT Essentials -- Processors

Blog 5 Week 5

Assignment: In your own words explain the following terms:

Word size: This is the number of bits that a processor can process at one time. I read that a word is the same size as the computer's data bus. This is so that a word can be moved in a single operation from RAM to registers and to the processor. If a computer's architecture is an eight-bit byte, the word will be some multiple of eight bits.

Over-clocking is when the processor frequency (or system clock) or RAM is set to a faster speed than the manufacture recommends. This increases the computer's performance. However, over-clocking can overheat a processor and can make peripherals and or programs fail.

A data path is a portion of the system bus that transports data INTO the processor.

SRAM: This is static random access memory that is very fast and used for memory cache. It temporally holds data and programs for the central processing unit. It only holds it memory while there is power, when the computer is turned off, the SRAM empties it memory.

Windows SteadyState Disk and System Protection

Undo your worries with Windows Disk Protection

Windows Disk Protection keeps everything on the Windows disk partition from being permanently changed by users. This means every change made during a user session can easily be undone and the computer returned to its original state.

URL: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx

Create a consistent experience on a shared computer, the goal is to create a consistent, uniform environment for all users. They should not be able to modify or corrupt the system. However, activities performed during a user session cause many changes to the operating system partition. Program files are created, modified, and deleted. The operating system also updates system information as part of its normal operation.

Windows Disk Protection clears all changes to the operating system partition whenever you restart the computer.
How Windows Disk Protection works

When disk protection is turned on, it creates a cache file to retain all the modifications to the operating system or program directories. Histories, saved files, and logs are all stored in the cache file which is created on the system partition. At intervals you designate, Windows SteadyState deletes the contents of the cache and restores the system to the state in which disk protection was first turned on.
Set it and forget it

Choose the disk protection level that fits how your computer is used and whether or not your users need to save data for a specific length of time.

For example, if your shared computers are used by different people every day, you can set SteadyState to remove all changes at every restart. This is a good choice in a library or an Internet café.

You can also choose to retain changes for a specified period of time. This is a good option if you have the same users every day for a limited duration, such as a school term or an ongoing computer lab project.

However you choose to use Windows Disk Protection, you can rest easy knowing that a clean return to its original state is available.

About Bonjour for Windows

Bonjour for Windows 1.0.5


About Bonjour
Bonjour, also known as zero-configuration networking, enables automatic discovery of computers, devices, and services on IP networks. Bonjour uses industry standard IP protocols to allow devices to automatically discover each other without the need to enter IP addresses or configure DNS servers.

System requirements
Bonjour requires Windows 2000/2003, Windows XP or Windows Vista. Make sure you have the latest Service Pack installed for your computer using Windows Update.

Users running 64-bit versions of Windows XP or Windows Vista can download a compatible version of Bonjour for Windows 1.0.5 here.

Bonjour is a networking protocol that sends and receives network packets on UDP port 5353. If you have a "personal firewall" enabled, you will need to ensure that UDP port 5353 is open for Bonjour to work correctly. Certain firewalls will only partially block Bonjour packets, so if you experience intermittent behavior, check the firewall settings and verify that Bonjour is listed as an exception and is allowed to receive incoming packets. Bonjour will configure the Windows firewall appropriately during installation on Windows XP Service Pack 2 and above.

Installing Bonjour
Double-click the Bonjour installer and follow the onscreen instructions.

When installing over a previous version of Bonjour for Windows, please remove any existing instances of Bonjour for Windows through the "Add or Remove Programs" Control Panel before installing Bonjour for Windows 1.0.5.

If Java is not present at the time of installation and you decide to install Java at a later date, you will need to do a Repair install of Bonjour for Windows in order to get the proper Java Bonjour libraries. To do a Repair install, go to the "Add or Remove Programs" Control Panel, select Bonjour from the list and click "Change/Remove". Then choose "Repair" and follow the onscreen instructions.

What's included
Bonjour for Windows includes a plugin to discover advertised HTTP servers using Internet Explorer. Click the Bonjour icon in the Internet Explorer toolbar to enable Bonjour browsing. If you have Bonjour devices on your local network with embedded HTTP (Web) servers, they will appear in the list.

The Bonjour Printer Wizard is also included and allows Windows computers to print to Bonjour networked printers, including USB shared printers connected to the AirPort Extreme and AirPort Express Base Stations. Since Apple first launched Bonjour in 2002, every major maker of network printers has adopted Bonjour. With the Bonjour Printer Wizard, computers using Windows can also experience the benefits of effortlessly discovering and printing to these Bonjour printers.

Known Issues
A small number of Virtual Private Network (VPN) clients interfere with Bonjour. If you find that you can no longer discover network services or print to Bonjour shared printers, try logging out of VPN.

More information
Bonjour is commonly installed by third-party software to provide zero-configuration networking capabilities to various applications. If your version of Bonjour does not include the IE plugin or Printer Wizard mentioned above, and you would like these features, you can download the complete Bonjour for Windows package from Apple's web site by visiting
http://www.apple.com/bonjour/

For more information about developing products that use Bonjour, and to download the SDK, please visit:
http://developer.apple.com/bonjour

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this site:
Apple Security Updates

To provide feedback, please visit:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/bonjour.html

© 2008 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, and AirPort are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

URL: http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/bonjourforwindows.html

Blog 4 – CIT 114b – IT Essentials

Blog 4 Week 4 Assignment:

Choose 5 terms to describe from page 176 "Key Terms".

1) Form factor refers to the size of the motherboard. The motherboard, the power supply and the computer case must all match. The motherboard has posts that must fit into holes in the case. Both the case and the motherboard have holes that must line up to secure the motherboard. The power supply has to have the correct connectors in order to connect to the motherboard. There are four main form factors, ATX, MicroATX, BTX, and NLX. The ATX is the most popular and comes in three sizes, ATX, miniATX, and flexATX. The MicroATX is a low end board that only has one expansion slot and uses less power. The BTX is the newest form factor and it supports serial ATA, USB 2.0, and PCI Express slots. It has improved air flow and fans, and it does a better job of reducing heat inside the case. The NLX has a smaller motherboard that has a slot on the side that holds a daughter board, or riser card. The daughter board has the expansion slots and connections for the floppy drive and the hard drive. Another type of motherboard with a riser is called an LPX form factor. This motherboard has the connector for the daughter board in the center. Here is a great website (http://www.formfactors.org/formfactor.asp)

2) Electro-Static Discharge, or ESD, can damage or destroy computer components. Much like the shock you receive when rubbing your feet on the carpet and touching something metal, ESD can occur when working in your computer and will cause components you touch to no longer work properly. ESD can occur without the user feeling a shock and will occur while working on the inside of the computer or handling an expansion card. Always touch the bare metal of the computer case, or the metal box of the power supply, before reaching inside to touch any component. An antistatic wristband connected to the computer case, or an antistatic desk, or an antistatic desk mat are good ways to keep your computer components safe. There are also anti-ESD gloves you can wear while working inside the case.

3) Soft switch refers to the ability of the operating system (software = soft switch) to turn off the power to the computer after the user starts the shutdown procedure. If the motherboard (available on ATX and BTX form factors) and the operating system support soft switch, a normal shut down can be achieved when a user pushes the power button on the front of the case. This same feature allows the computer to be turned on with keystrokes. The computer can also be set to "wake on LAN". Soft power is another name for soft switch.

4) Power conditioners protect against power spikes as well as regulating or "conditioning" power during a brownout. Temporary voltage reductions are called brownouts or sags, and temporary voltage surges are called spikes or swells. A surge protector or a power conditioner is essentially a voltage regulator. To find out what size power condition you need multiply the amperage of each component by 120 volts. If the monitor needs 1.9 amps, this equals 228 watts. Then add up all the watts for all the equipment you have and this will tell you how big the surge protector needs to be.

5) Transformers are very important for electrical devices; they change the ratio of current and voltage. The voltage coming into your building is 110 to 120 volts of alternating current. The computer only needs 12, 5, or 3.3 volts of direct current for its components. Therefore, the transformer has to change the AC to DC power and step the voltage from 120 volts to 12 volts. In order for the transformer to convert 120 volt AC current to 12 volts, the electricity passes through two sets of copper wire coils, with an iron core in the center. The 120 volts comes in on the primary coil. Then a second coil of larger wire reduces the voltage. If the primary and secondary coils have the same number of turns, the primary and secondary voltage will be the same. However, if the secondary coil has half as many turns as the primary coil, then the voltage in the second coil will be half that of the voltage in the primary coil. To drop from 120 volts to 12 volts, the primary coil has to have ten times more coils of wire than the secondary coil. The second half of the process is to change AC to DC. This is achieved by wrapping two (or four) diodes together. The diodes act as a rectifier, which only allows part of the AC current to get through the diodes, turning the AC current into DC current. Another piece of this process is the capacitor, which collects and stores the "excess" electricity. This stored electricity is what allows the capacitor to retain a lethal charge even after the computer is unplugged. This charge must be eliminated before working nearby. To discharge a capacitor you must provide a path between the positive and negative terminals of the capacitor. The suggested method is to use a resister with a jumper and alligator clips to connect the terminals of the capacitor. (This is only the opinion of an IT student—do not try any of this without consulting professional help)

Just an interesting P.S. for anyone who has the time to read about Legacy BIOS for Windows 95 and 2000. Microsoft has an archived article entitled "APM Theory of Operation for Windows" at this website: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/w2apm.mspx

Fuse wire from Scotland

Referencing Discussion 2 posted on Angel

This is what I used when changing fuses in Scotland. You cut off about a three-inch piece and wind it around the two posts in the electrical box.

Very nerve wracking !!

Blog 3 -- CIT 114b -- IT Essentials

Blog 3 Week 3 Assignment

Page 136-137 Selected Questions "Reviewing the Basics"

1) What is the difference between a hard boot and a soft boot?

a) A hard boot is when you turn the power off abruptly, either by turning off the power, unplugging the machine, or using the restart button. A soft boot is when you use the operating system to power down and turn off the computer.

3) What memory address is always assigned to the first instruction in the ROM BIOS startup program? a) FFFF0h is the memory address that is always assigned to the first instruction. This instructions tells the processor to run POST.

5) Name the program that is needed to locate the beginning of the OS on a drive.

a) The master boot program is needed to locate the beginning of the operating systems on the hard drive.

6) List three types of information contained in a hard dives's partition table.

a) How many partitions the drive has.

b) Which partition contains the drive used for booting, or the active partition.

c) Where each partition begins and end and how the drive is divided into one or more logical drives.

10) When booting your computer and you see a blank screen, but hear a single beep, what can you assume worked with no errors?

a) You can assume that the POST (Power-On Self-Test) process completed successfully.

11) When booting your computer and you see a blank screen, but hear a single beep, what component should you check first?

a) You should begin troubleshooting the video system.

13) Give five possible questions that should be asked of a user who is experiencing computer problems.

a) When did the problem start?

b) Can you describe the problem, can you reproduce the problem?

c) Did you make any changes to the system, new hardware, or new software.

d) Did you move the computer recently?

e) Has someone else used your computer recently?

18) How do you properly dispose of:

a) A battery pack form a notebook computer? Return these batteries to the dealer or take them to a recycling center, they are considered hazardous waste.

b) A broken monitor? These should be discharged and taken to a recycling center. Check with local county websites for regulations and disposal sites.

c) A toner cartridge from a laser printer? These cartridges can be recycled by manufactures and dealers. Some companies offer postage paid envelopes for recycling printer and toner cartridges.

24) Name three tools that you can use to protect a system against ESD as you work on it.

a) You can use a ground bracelet, a ground mat, or antistatic gloves. The book suggests using a ground bracelet with a ground mat. If you do not have this equipment be sure to touch the computer case or the power supply before you touch anything else.

How to help prevent ESD

The best method of preventing ESD is to use an ESD wrist strap and/or use a grounding mat or table.

Zero Potential - Most importantly, make sure you and the computer are at Zero Potential by continuously touching an un-painted metal surface of the chassis or the computer power supply case.

Standing - It is also very important that you are standing at all times when working on the computer. Setting on a chair can generated more electrostatic. This static electricity between clothes and a "seat or chair" is what can blow up gasoline fumes at a gas station.

Cords - Make sure everything is removed from the back of the computer (power cord, mouse, keyboard, etc).

Clothes - Make sure not to wear any clothing that conducts a lot of Electrical Charge, such as a wool sweater.

Weather - Electrical storms can increase the ESD risk; try not to work on a computer during an electrical storm. Our weather in Nevada makes static electricity because of the dry air and the constant wind. I spray a mixture of fabric softener (which has anti-static properties) and water on my furniture and my carpet.

Accessories - To help reduce ESD and help prevent other problem, it is also a good idea to remove all jewelry. I did not know that jewelry would add to the ESD problem.

This information came from the textbook and www.computerhope.com/esd.htm

Blog 2 – CIT 114b – IT Essentials

Blog 2 Week 2 Assignment

Page 32 # 1 – 8 "Real Problems, Real Solutions"

Reading a Technical ad for a computer system.

1) What is the system bus called?

A. FSB which means front side bus.

1a) What two system bus frequencies are offered?

A. Both a 533 MHz and a 800 MHz FSB bus are offered.

2) In the ad, what do you think P4 means?

A. It stands for a Pentium 4 processor made by Intel.

3) What are the four choices of frequencies for the processor?

A. They are 2.66 GHz, 2.93 GHZ, 3.0 GHz, and 3.2 GHz.

4) What is the brand of processor?

A. They are all Intel processors, two are Celerons, and two are Pentium 4's.

5) How much RAM is on the motherboard?

A. The computer comes with 512 MB RAM.

5a)What is the cost of doubling that amount of RAM?

A. $50 gets one more stick of 512 MB of RAM.

6) What type of expansion slot is used for the video card?

A. It is using a 16x PCI Express slot.

7) What terms describe the hard drive in the system? T

A. he computer comes with a 80 Gigabit Serial ATA hard drive.

8) List the terms in the ad that you do not understand.

I don't know what the 330, 340, 530, and 540 mean after the socket number.

I know that 775 is the number of pins the socket has on the motherboard.

ASUS P5DG1-VM is a mother board, but I don't know what 915P right after that means.

I don't know what the *1M* means in (1M/800FSB).

Regarding the hard drive: ATA150, 8M buffer, and ATA100 UIDE are unknown terms.

**Interesting little fact follows**

ATX is the motherboard "form". Here is a list of motherboard forms:

http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=PC+motherboards&i=48951,00.asp

I think that about covers what I don't know about the add.

Page 83 "Thinking Critically". 1-5

1) Is a mouse more likely to be controlled by a device driver or by the system BIOS?

A. A mouse is more likely to be controlled by a device driver.

2) Name one device that is likely to be controlled by system BIO?

A. A keyboard is likely to be controlled by the system BIOS.

3) If your printer is giving you trouble, what is the best way to obtain an update for the device driver?

A. Open the properties dialog box by right clicking on the printer in the device Manager. From this window you can update the driver for the printer.

4) What Windows tool can you use to know how much RAM is installed on your system?

A. The System Properties window will tell you how much RAM is installed in your computer.

5) Why is 16-bit Windows software considered legacy software?

A. Because Microsoft does not support it or sell licenses for it.

How a Processor is Made

According to Intel, making a processor involves more than 300 steps. Check it out at:

http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/backgrnd/making_a_chip.htm?iid=tech_man+made

Thinking about

I am thinking about adding a separate Blog for computer issues.
I think it may be easier for everyone, especially my professor.