it-workshop pdf material

7/29/2019 it-workshop PDF Material

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KAKINDA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY

I YEAR

IT WorkshopNotes by

S.David Paul (KIET)


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1. The Motherboard

Form factors:

ATX

microATX

Connects to:

Microprocessors via

sockets Main memory via Slots Peripherals via one of

o External ports

o Internal cables

Common Manufacturers:

ASUS

Foxconn Intel

What is Mother Board?

The main circuit board of a microcomputer. The motherboard contains the connectors for

attaching additional boards. Typically, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass

storage interfaces, serial and parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required tocontrol standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive.

Collectively, all these chips that reside on the motherboard are known as the motherboard's

chipset.

Fig .1.3

Notes by David (KIET)
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Fig 1.4 Top View of Mother Board Fig 1.5 Rear View

Components of a Motherboard

The motherboard contains many connections for all type of components. Motherboards containexpansion slots such as the ISA, PCI, AGP and DIMM sockets. It also contains external

connections for your onboard sound card, USB ports, Serial and Parallel ports, PS/2 ports for

your keyboard and mouse as well as network and Firewire connections.

Types of Slots ?

The Motherboard has connectors on it to allow you to add additional controllers to themotherboard. These were anticipated to be things like display boards, disk controllers, I/O cards,

and others. To facilitate this the Motherboard is configured with connectors. The first ones of

these were known as ISA bus. These connectors allowed the motherboard to be expanded byadding circuit boards to the motherboard.

ISA (Industry Standard Adapter) - These are the long black slots. They are the oldest and slowest

of the bunch. They support 8 and 16 bit cards (usually stuff like sound cards and modems). You

usually won't even find these on newer computers.

PCI (Peripheral Connect Interface) - These are the current "standard" expansion slot. Theysupport 32 bit cards, transfer data quickly, and take up less space on the motherboard. Usually

white in color.



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AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port ) - This is a newer type of slot and it's designed for video cards.

It bypasses the slower PCI & ISA slots and provides better / faster 3D video.

PS/2 connector

The color-coded PS/2 connection ports (purple for keyboards and green for mice)

The PS/2 connector is used for connecting somekeyboards and mice to a PC compatiblecomputer system. Its name comes from the IBM Personal System/2 series ofpersonal computers,

with which it was introduced in 1987. The PS/2 mouse connector generally replaced the older

DE-9RS-232 "serial mouse" connector, while the keyboard connector replaced the larger 5-pin

DIN used in theIBM PC/AT design.

VGA Connector

A VGAconnector as it is commonly known (other names include RGB connector, D-sub 15,

mini sub D15 and mini D15) is a three-row 15 pin

Pin 1 RED Red video

Pin 2 GREEN Green video

Pin 3 BLUE Blue video

Pin 4 N/C Not connected

Pin 5 GND Ground

Pin 6 RED_RTN Red return

Pin 7 GREEN_RTN Green return

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Pin 8 BLUE_RTN Blue return

Pin 9 +5 V +5 V DC

Pin 10 GND Ground

Pin 11 N/C Not connected

Pin 12 SDA IC data

Pin 13 HSync Horizontal sync

Pin 14 VSync Vertical sync

Pin 15 SCL IC clock

The common 15-pin VGA connector found on most video cards, computer monitors, and other

devices, is almost universally called "HD-15". HD stands for "high-density", which distinguishes

it from connectors having the same form factor but only 2 rows of pins. However, this connectoris often incorrectly referred to as a DB-15 or HDB-15.[citation needed]

"VGA connectors" and their associated cabling are always used solely to carry analog

componentRGBHV (red - green - blue - horizontal sync - vertical sync) video signals along with

DDC2 digital clock and data.

Where size is a constraint (such as laptops) a mini-VGAport can sometimes be found in place ofthe full-sized VGA connector.

3.7. Ports

The PC contains a number of input/outputs known as ports. Basically a port is a communication

device which formats data according to a protocol. We are going to look at hardware interfacespresent in the PC. We will only discuss the protocols as they affect the hardware.

3.7.1. Serial Ports

One of the early interfaces between computers was theSerial Port . This is a method of moving

data one bit at a time over a wire. The serial port chip uses a protocol known as RS-232whichdefines the order and timing of the bits on the communication line.

The serial port is an Asynchronous port which transmits one bit of data at a time, usually

connecting to the UART Chip. Serial Ports are commonly found on the majority of PC

Compatible computers. Usually referred to as a DB9 or DB25 connection both of which adhereto the RS-232c interface standard and defined in ISO 2110 and ISO 4902. DB9 Serial

connections are now commonly found on modern PC's where DB25 is commonly found on

older computers.

The serial port is not used as much any more as many of it's functions have been taken over bythe USB port. In the past this port was used for Terminals, Mice, Modems, and some Printers.

3.7.3. Parallel Ports

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IEEE 1284

The Parallel Port has typically been used as a printer interface. This port uses a 25 pin connector

and sends data 8 bits at a time. In the past this port has been used for some Tape drives.

TYPES OF PARALLEL PORTS

Unidirectional - 4-bit standard port which by factory default did not have the

capability of transferring data both ways.

Bi-directional - 8-bit standard port which was released with the introductionof the PS/2 port in 1987 by IBM and are still found in computers today. The

Bi-directional port is cable of sending 8-bits input and output. Today on

multifunction printers this port can be referred to as a bi-directional,

Centronics, PS/2 type or standard port.

EPP - The Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP) was developed in 1991 by Intel,

Xircom and Zenith Data Systems and operates close to ISA bus speed and

can achieve transfer rates up to 1 to 2MB/sec of data.

EPP version 1.7 released in 1992 and later adapted into the IEEE 1284

standard. All additional features are adapted into the IEEE standard.

EPP version 1.9 never existed.

ECP - The Enhanced Capabilities Port (ECP) was developed by Microsoft

and Hewlett-Packard and announced in 1992 is an additional enhanced

Parallel port. Unfortunately with ECP it requires an additional DMA channelwhich can cause resource conflicts.

3.7.2. USB

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The serial interface which was previously handled by the serial port, is now being taken over by

the USB port. One distinct advantage of USB over serial is that multiple devices can talk to the

USB port as the same time, while serial can only deal with one device at a time.

USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a new external busdeveloped by Intel, Compaq, DEC, IBM, Microsoft, NEC

and Northern Telcom and released to the public in 1996

with the Intel 430HX Triton II Mother Board. USB has thecapability of transferring 12 Mbps, supporting up to 127

devices and only utilizing one IRQ. For PC computers to

take advantage of USB the user must be running Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98 or

Windows 2000. Linux users also have the capability of running USB with the propersupport drivers installed. To determine if your computer supports USB on the back,

front or sides of the computer look for a small connector with the following symbol.

USB cables are hot swappable which allows users to connect and disconnect thecable while the computer is on without any physical damage to the cable.

USB 1.0

USB 1.0: Released in January 1996.

Specified data rates of1.5 Mbit/s (Low-Speed) and 12 Mbit/s (Full-Speed). Did notanticipate or pass-through monitors. Few such devices actually made it to market.

USB 1.1: Released in September 1998.

Fixed problems identified in 1.0, mostly relating to hubs. Earliest revision to be widelyadopted.

USB 2.0

USB 2.0: Released in April 2000.

Added higher maximum speed of480 Mbit/s (now called Hi-Speed). Furthermodifications to the USB specification have been done via Engineering Change Notices

(ECN). The most important of these ECNs are included into the USB 2.0 specification

package available from

USB 3.0

USB 3.0 (Future version): On September 18, 2007, Pat Gelsingerdemonstrated USB 3.0at the fall Intel Developer Forum. USB 3.0 is targeted at ten times the current bandwidth,

roughly 4.8 Gbit/s, utilizing a parallel optical cable. The USB 3.0 specification is plannedto be released in the first half of 2008, commercial products are expected to arrive in2009 or 2010.[20]

USB signalling

USB supports three data rates:

A Low Speed (1.1, 2.0) rate of 1.5 Mbit/s (187kB/s) that is mostly used for Human

Interface Devices (HID) such as keyboards, mice, and joysticks.

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A Full Speed (1.1, 2.0) rate of 12 Mbit/s (1.5MB/s). Full Speed was the fastest rate

before the USB 2.0 specification and many devices fall back to Full Speed. Full Speed

devices divide the USB bandwidth between them in a first-come first-served basis and itis not uncommon to run out of bandwidth with several isochronous devices. All USB

Hubs support Full Speed.

A Hi-Speed (2.0) rate of 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s).

Experimental data rate:

A Super-Speed (3.0) rate of 4.8 Gbit/s (600 MB/s). The USB 3.0 specification will bereleased by Intel and its partners in mid 2008 according to early reports from CNETnews.

According to Intel, bus speeds will be 10 times faster than USB 2.0 due to the inclusion of a

fiber optic link that works with traditionalcopperconnectors.Products using the 3.0 specification are likely to arrive in 2009 or

2010.

2.4. ROM

Long term storage on the motherboard is accomplishedusing ROM (Read Only Memory). These are typically the

chips used to store the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) for the CPU. In many

embedded system the only program storage is ROM.

Here is a picture of a microcontroler chip which has a build in EPROM so you can seewhat I am talking about.EProm showing window The second type of ROM on today's

motherboards is the EEPROM, (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only

Memory), also known as the Flash Memory. This allows you to erase and reprogram the

memory. I would imagine some of you have a flash bios in your computer.

2.5. BIOS

While we are discussing ROM, we should discuss theBIOS . When the CPU is first turned on, or

reset, it needs some way to find it's first instruction. So the CPU manufactures decided that the

first instruction would be hard coded. So the CPU goes to a specific location, loads the data, andexecutes this data. The first data is normally a jump into the initial BIOS code. This is also what

happens when you press the reset button, if you have one.

The BIOS itself instructs the computer on what hardware is available on the system and

usually runs the POST (Power On Self Test) to see that the motherboard is OK. Once thePOST is done, the user can go into the bios setup to specify the hardware, or the system

loads the basic drivers for the installed hardware.

2.6. Clock

The Motherboard contains 2 clocks. The first clock is theClock Signal. The clock signal is bestthought of as the drum beat for the computer. The rising and falling edges of the signal trigger

different operations on the motherboard.

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2.8. Jumpers

Many motherboards contain jumpers to allow modifications tosome parameters. Many motherboards will accommodate more

than one speed for the CPU. So there is a jumper to select which

clock speed you want for your CPU.

I will not go into the jumpers since they are specific to the board in

question. Be careful not to change any of the jumpers unless youknow what you are doing. Often if you change a jumper it will cause your computer to stop

working.

2.9. Control Chips

There are today many more chips on the motherboard today than

originally planned for. Today it is not uncommon to find a Video

controller, hard disc controller, floppy disk controller, serial

interface, parallel interface, USB interface, as well as mouse andkeyboard interface chips. Since I intend to discuss these chips as

though they were add on boards or peripherals, I will skip themfor now.

Ethernet Port

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An eight-wire connectorused commonly to connectcomputersonto alocal-area networks (LAN),

especially Ethernets. RJ-45 connectors look similar to the ubiquitous RJ-11 connectors used for

connecting telephone equipment, but they are somewhat wider.

What is a Motherboard Chipset?

A motherboard chipset controls all

the data that flows through the datachannels (buses) of the motherboard.

The primary function of the

motherboard chipset is to direct this

data to the correct area's of themotherboard, and therefore the

correct components.

2.1. CPU

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A Central Processing Unit (CPU), or sometimes just processor, is a description of a certain class

of logic machines that can execute computer programs. This broad definition can easily be

applied to many early computers that existed long before the term "CPU" ever came into

widespread usage. However, the term itself and its initialism have been in use in the computer

industry at least since the early 1960s (Weik 1961). The form, design and implementation of

CPUs have changed dramatically since the earliest examples, but their fundamental operation

has remained much the same.

Connects to:

Motherboardvia one of

SocketIntegration

DIP

Others

Architectures:

PowerPC

x86

x64

Common Manufacturers:

Intel

AMD

The CPU consists of a number of sub parts. These include the ALU, the Process Registers, the

CPU Cache, and the Memory Management Unit. This is not a complete list of all the sub parts ofthe CPU, there are whole books on that subject, along with jobs at Intel.

Here is a reasonable drawing of what a CPU does and how it works.

CPU Block Diagram

Another name for Instructions is opcode. The

opcode is the basic unit of control in the CPU.

When a CPU is designed, the opcodes are definedand usually hard coded into the CPU. These

opcodes define what the CPU does.

Some of you are probably familiar with assembly

code, also known as assembly language. Assemblycode is the human readable version ofmachine

language . For those of you who are not familiar

with machine code, let me see if I can make it

understandable.

A computer is a series of registers and logic gates.

In the computer everything is stored as ON and

OFF, commonly referred to as 1 and 0. This is easyto visualize if you think of a light switch, the light is

either ON or it is OFF.


Figure 8
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So now that we understand how binary arithmetic is done you might have guessed, that this

operation is performed by the ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit).

Besides the ALU we have Registers which work as temporary storage locations for the ALU.

Another part of the CPU you hear about often is theCPU cache. The cache is a method forkeeping the ALU busy by prefetching instructions and data before it is needed by the ALU.

2.3. RAM

RAM (Random Access Memory) is the

interface between the larger but slower storagedevices and the CPU. RAM is sometimes

referred to as scratch pad memory since it's

contents disappear when the power is turned

off. RAM is best viewed as a very large set ofmail boxes. Each of the RAM chips has two set

of information pins, data and address.

The Data pins of the RAM chip are used toread and write the contents. These pins provide

access to the values stored in the chip at a given

address.

SDRAM means synchronous dynamic random access memory which is a type ofsolid statecomputer memory.

DDR SDRAM

While the access latency of DRAM is fundamentally limited by the DRAM array, DRAM has

very high potential bandwidth because each internal read is actually a row of many thousands ofbits. To make more of this bandwidth available to users, a Double Data Rate interface wasdeveloped. This uses the same commands, accepted once per cycle, but reads or writes two

words of data per clock cycle. Some minor changes to the SDR interface timing were made in

hindsight, and the supply voltage was reduced from 3.3 to 2.5 V.

DDR2 SDRAM

DDR2 SDRAM is very similar to DDR SDRAM, but doubles the minimum read or write unit

again, to 4 consecutive words. The bus protocol was also simplified to allow higher speed

operation. (In particular, the "burst terminate" command is deleted.) This allows the bus speed of

the SDRAM to be doubled without increasing the speed of internal RAM operations; instead,internal operations are performed in units 4 times as wide as SDRAM. Also, an extra bank

address pin (BA2) was added to allow 8 banks on large RAM chips.

DDR3 SDRAM

DDR3 continues the trend, doubling the minimum read or write unit to 8 consecutive words.This allows another doubling of bandwidth and external bus speed without having to change the

speed of internal operations, just the width.


Figure 9
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5. Storage Devices

Hard disks, sometimes also called hard drives, are storage

devices for the computer. Unlike the computer's memory, harddrives are not within the circuitry of the computer and are not

on the motherboard itself. There is at least one hard diskwithin every single modern desktop computer! They are used

to store large amounts of information. The data stored in ahard disk will not be erased when the computer is turned off, like the data stored in the

computer's random-access memory (RAM). When the central processing unit of a computer

needs to use information stored on the hard disk, the data will be copied from the hard disk to thecomputer's RAM. This is so a computer can permanently store large amounts of information and

operate at fast speeds at the same time!

A hard disk is generally accessed over one of a number of bus types, including ATA

(IDE, EIDE), Serial ATA, SCSI, SAS, FireWire (aka IEEE 1394), USB, and Fibre

Channel.

ATA drives have typically had no problems with interleave or data rate, due to their

controller design, but many early models were incompatible with each other and

couldn't run in a master/slave setup (two drives on the same cable). This was mostlyremedied by the mid-1990s, when ATA's specification was standardized and the

details begun to be cleaned up, but still causes problems occasionally (especially with

CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives, and when mixing Ultra DMA and non-UDMAdevices).

Serial ATA does away with master/slave setups entirely, placing each drive on its own

channel (with its own set of I/O ports) instead.

FireWire/IEEE 1394 and USB(1.0/2.0) hard disks are external units containinggenerally ATA or SCSI drives with ports on the back allowing without requiring

additional ports on the computer itself very simple and effective expansion and

mobility. Most FireWire/IEEE 1394 models are able to daisy-chain in order to

continue adding peripherals

SCSI originally had just one speed, 5 MHz (for a maximum data rate of 5 megabytes

per second), but later this was increased dramatically. The SCSI bus speed had no

bearing on the drive's internal speed because of buffering between the SCSI bus and

the drive's internal data bus; however, many early drives had very small buffers, andthus had to be reformatted to a different interleave (just like ST-506 drives) when used

on slow computers, such as early IBM PC compatibles and Apple Macintoshes..

Head Disk Assembly (HAD):

The head disk assembly is the aluminum

case in which the hard drive is contained. It

is a chamber that holds all of a hard disk's

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components. In the inside, you can find platters, a spindle motor, heads, and a head actuator,

while on the outside there is a logic board.

.

Hard disk drives range in size, but are usually 5.25 inches or 3.5 inches. This size usuallydepends on the size of the platters in the disk.

Platters:

Platters are rigid disks where the information is actually stored. Most hard disk drives have at

least two platters. The size of the platter determines how much information the hard disk canstore. When the hard disk is operating, a platter can make up to 7,200 revolutions per minute.

Originally, platters were made out of an aluminum material, but now there are new platters that

are made out of a mixture of glass and cement. Glass platters are thinner than aluminum ones,

and they can also resist heat better.

Platters are all coated with a magnetic oxide material. This mixture is the reason why some

platters may seem to have an orange-y color. These are the materials responsible for allowingthe platters to record and store data.

Data is stored on the platters in a pattern of tracks and sectors. Tracks are concentric circles, like

a bulls eye, while sectors are similar to pizza slices. Each sector contains a certain number ofbytes.

Read/Write Heads:

The read/write heads are mechanisms that allow the hard disk to read and write information and

data. There is one head on every side of a platter. The heads are rested on the platter when the

disk is not in use, but when the hard disk is in use, the spinning of the platters cause the heads tolift slightly up, making them seem as if they are floating in the air. However, the heads lift up so

little that even a particle of dust lying in the space they lift up would cause a problem!

Head Actuators:

Head actuators are devices to which the read/write heads are attached. They are responsible for

moving the heads around on the platters to different tracks and sectors.

There are two different types of head actuators. First, there is the stepper motor actuator. There

are stop positions on the read/write heads, and the stepper motor actuators have motors that

move from one stop position to another. Unfortunately, it is very slow.

The second kind of head actuators is the servo motor actuators. These are found in almost all

modern hard disks. They use a special form of thebinary system to position the read/write head

over the right portion of the platter

Spindle Motors:

Spindle motors are the devices that spin the platters. They can spin these disks at a set rate,

ranging anywhere from 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM! Some spindle motors are located in a positionNotes by David (KIET)
http://library.thinkquest.org/C0115420/Cyber-club%20800x600/How%20it%20works/Binary%20System.htmhttp://library.thinkquest.org/C0115420/Cyber-club%20800x600/How%20it%20works/Binary%20System.htmhttp://library.thinkquest.org/C0115420/Cyber-club%20800x600/How%20it%20works/Binary%20System.htm


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below the head disk assembly, while others are built into the hub of the platters. The modern

ones are usually all built into the hub because this takes up less space and thus allows for more

platters to be built in. More platters equal more storage space!

Logic Board:

The logic board is located blow the HDA. It consists of a bunch of chips that control the spindle

motors and the head actuators and that also translates data so that it is usable by the rest of thecomputer.

5.3. CD-Rom

The CD-Rom is similar to the audio CD. The use of the CD has revolutionized data distributionon the PC due to it's size and cost.

There are three common types of CDs, those pressed, those burned, and those burned and erased.

Here is a discussion of how the CD-R works.

Inside View of CD ROM

A CD-R (Compact Disk Recordable) is a special type of CD which is coated

with a photosensitive organic dye which allows a user to record information

to a special type of cd for backup and duplication purposes. Once the CD-R

disk is placed within the computer the recording process begins the laserheats and the dye reveals the areas to diffuse light just as a regular CD would.

The CD-R drive does not actually create pits on the CD instead the burnercreates reflective sections on the CD causing the computers CD-ROM laser

to interpret it as a pit. Because of this method of creating a CD, CD-R drives

are only capable of recording to the CD once. This unfortunately means if

you encounter errors or do not complete the recording process the CD maybecome useless.



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The DVD drive connects to the same cables as the hard disk drive. Here is what the inside of a

DVD drives looks like.

Internal view of a DVD Drive

3. Input Devices

Keyboard layout

A Personal Computer is designed for user input. But to talk to the computer we need one or more

input devices. Lets do a survey of the common, and less common input devices for the PC.

3.2. Mouse

The second most common input device is the Computer Mouse. The mouse is a 2 dimensionalpointing device, as can be see below.

As the ball moves, it rotates the wheels, which interrupt

the light from the LED to the photo transistor. Thiscreates our familiar ON and OFF sequence. The mouse

is a relative device, meaning that it only indicates

movement by sending pulses, either positive or negative.



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An absolute device would be a light pen which gives position and movement to the OS. The

mouse communicates with the PC via a 3 byte serial interface.

3.3. Trackball

It appears that the venerable wheeled mouse is in danger

of extinction. The now-preferred device for pointing and

clicking is the optical mouse.

Developed by Agilent Technologies and introduced to the

world in late 1999, the optical mouse actually uses a tiny

camera to take 1,500 pictures every second. Able to work

on almost any surface, the mouse has a small, red light-

emitting diode (LED) that bounces light off that surface

onto a complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor(CMOS)

sensor. The CMOS sensor sends each image to a digital signal processor (DSP) for analysis.The DSP, operating at 18 MIPS (million instructions per second), is able to detect patterns in the

images and see how those patterns have moved since the previous image. Based on the change in

patterns over a sequence of images, the DSP determines how far the mouse has moved and sendsthe corresponding coordinates to the computer. The computer moves the cursor on the screen

based on the coordinates received from the mouse. This happens hundreds of times each second,

making the cursor appear to move very smoothly.

In this photo, you can see the LED on the bottom ofthe mouse.

Optical mice have several benefits over wheeled mice:

No moving parts means less wear and a lower chance of failure.

There's no way for dirt to get inside the mouse and interfere with the tracking sensors.

Increased tracking resolution means smoother response.

They don't require a special surface, such as a mouse pad.

3.5. Graphics Tablet

Another input device, often used by artists, is the Graphics Tablet. This device consists of a grid

of wires which are activated by pressure from the stylus. These devices are used to create

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electronic free hand drawings. I have read that a number of cartoon strips are now being

produced electronically using graphics tablets.

If you want to have fun, and you have access to a graphics tablet, try using Gimp with a graphics

tablet. It is a trip being able to draw free hand on a computer screen.

3.6. Touch Screen

A close relative of the graphics tablet is the Touch Screen.

These have taken on a much broader use with the current crop

of PDAs. The touch screen has been used for inputs to manydedicated devices. The technology consists of a grid again and

the stylus is the finger for dedicated terminals. Or a grid and a

stylus for small screens as seen on a PDA.

One of the things that makes the touch screen so useful is theability to redefine an area. Since the input is happening on top of a display, the definition of the

touch can change depending on previous inputs. With dedicated terminals this is a real advantage

since it means you can use a menu tree to arrive at a selection. Or with something like a PDA,you can use the same input surface for many different applications.

4. Output Devices

4.1. CRT

For many people a PC display still means a CRT. The Cathode Ray Tube has been a reliable

display device for computers from early on. Today, many new computers are coming with LCD

displays instead of the CRTs.

Lets look at how the CRT works to have a better understanding of the technology.

Cathod Ray Tube Diagram

The tube, basically consists ofan electron gun, cathode, which

shoots electrons at the screen,

anode. The stream of electrons

is first focused and then bentusing electromagnets to deflect

the electrons toward different

parts of the screen. At thescreen, the stream of electrons

strikes a phosphor which glows.

The intensity of the glow isdetermined by the number of

electrons striking each dot. If

we are discussing a color CRT,



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we are talking about three guns, one for each primary color. Due to the small size of the

phosphor dots our eye blends the three color dots into a single colored pixel.

Here in the US the older CRTs refreshed at 30 frames per second, using an interlaced pattern.

Newer CRTs though, use a non-interlaced pattern and so they can refresh at 60 times per second,or higher.

4.2. LCD

As more and more people turn desktop computers to laptop computer, there is a move from the

CRT display to the LCD display.

Some people prefer the LCD since it is lighter and slimmer. I tend to still prefer the CRT to theLCD, because of the sharpness and it's ability to deal with moving images. But it seems I am in

the minority these days.

Lets take a look at how the LCD display works.

Liquid Cristal Display

Explained

A simple black - or - white

LCD display works by eitherallowing daylight to be

reflected back out at the

viewer or preventing it fromdoing so - in which case the

viewer sees a black area. The

liquid crystal is the part of thesystem that either preventslight from passing through it or

not.

The crystal is placed between

two polarising filters that are atright angles to each other and

together block light. When

there is no electric current applied to the crystal, it twists light by 90o, which allows the light topass through the second polariser and be reflected

back. But when the voltage is applied, the crystalmolecules align themselves, and light cannot passthrough the polariser: the segment turns black.

Selective application of voltage to electrode

segments creates the digits we see.



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A thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) is a variant ofliquid crystal display(LCD)

which uses thin film transistor (TFT) technology to improve image quality. TFT LCD is one type

ofactive matrixLCD, though it is usually synonymous with LCD. It is used in televisions,flat

panel displaysandprojectors.

Computer power supply unit (PSU) is the device that converts the input

AC voltage to the DC voltages needed by the personal computer. Since

the introduction of IBM PC/XT there have been about a dozen of

different PC types (such as AT, Baby AT, LPX, ATX, BTX, SFX, PS3, WTX,

TFX, LFX, CFX, EPS) that differ by their structure, form factors,

connectors and volt/amp ratings. Output rating of a modern computer

power supply is ranging anywhere from 185 W to two kilowatt. PSU

over 400W are used mainly for Extreme Gaming & Media Entertainment

PC, SLI support, as well as servers and industrial PCs.

Today's standard desktop PC PSU produces the following DC outputs:+5V, +3.3V, +12V1, +12V2, -12V and standby 5V. Additional "point of load" DC-DC converters step down

12V to the CPU core voltage and other low voltages needed for motherboard components. All outputs

should have a separate current limit to meet 240VA safety requirements of EN 60950, although in

practice 12V rails usually have a combined current limit. To support PCI Express requirements in the new

systems the old 2x10 main power connector has been replaced by a 2x12 connector. An extra cable with

2x2 power connector is used for the second 12V rail that supports the processor's voltage regulator.

There are also peripheral, floppy drive, and serial ATA connectors. The PSUs for high-end discrete

graphics cards have an additional 2x3 or 2x4 connector to supply extra power to graphics card that

require more than 75 Watts of total power. Older motherboards also used an aux power connector for

5V and 3.3V rails.

Inside SMPS

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24-pin ATX power supply connector

(20-pin omits the last 4: 11, 12, 23 and 24)

Color Signal Pin Pin Signal Color

+3.3 V 1 13 +3.3 V sense

+3.3 V 2 14 12 V

Ground 3 15 Ground

+5 V 4 16 Power on

Ground 5 17 Ground

+5 V 6 18 Ground

Ground 7 19 Ground

Power good 8 20 5 V (optional)

+5 V standby 9 21 +5 V

+12 V 10 22 +5 V

+12 V 11 23 +5 V

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+3.3 V 12 24 Ground

5.4. HD DVD

HD DVD Blu-ray Disc

Media type: High-densityoptical disc High-density optical disc

Encoding: VC-1,H.264, andMPEG-2 MPEG-2,MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), and VC-1

Capacity:

15 GB (single layer)

30 GB (dual layer)

51 GB (triple layer)

[1]

25 GB (single layer), 50 GB (dual layer)

Read mechanism: 1x@36 Mbit/s& 2x@72 Mbit/s 1x@36 Mbit/s & 2x@72 Mbit/s

Developed by: DVD Forum Blu-ray Disc Association

Usage:Data storage, includinghigh-definition video

Data storage, High-definition video andPlayStation 3 Games

HD DVD or High-Definition DVD is a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of

data and high-definition video

5.4. Blu-ray Disc

Blu-ray Disc is a high-density optical disc format for the storage of digital information,

includinghigh-definition video.

.6. Memory Card

Today Flash Memory , has largely taken the place of the Floppy Disk. This is good and bad, the

memory stick has a shorter life for writing to than the floppy drive. The plus side is that it is

larger and faster than the floppy disk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_formathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VC-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VC-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDDVD#_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabit_per_secondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabit_per_secondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabit_per_secondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Forumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Associationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_mediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Blu-ray_Disc.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:HD-DVD.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_formathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VC-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VC-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDDVD#_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabytehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabit_per_secondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megabit_per_secondhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_Forumhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc_Associationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_mediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_videohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_dischttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_video


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I am using the term memory card to include a number of different devices and technologies.

These include Smart Media,Secure Digital, Multimedia Card ,Memory Stick,CompactFlash ,

andUSB Flash Memory .

The ideas is that all these technologiesare designed to plug into the computer

and transfer data.

5.6. Pen Drive

USB flash drives areNAND-type flashmemorydata storage devices integrated

with a USB (universal serial bus)

connector. They are typically small,lightweight, removable and rewritable.

(USB Memory cardreaders are also

available, whereby rather than beingbuilt-in, the memory is a removable

flash memory card housed in what is

otherwise a regular USB flash drive, as

described below.)

USB flash drives offer potential

advantages over other portable storage

devices, particularly the floppy disk.

They are more compact, faster, holdmore data, are more reliable due to their

lack of moving parts, and have a moredurable design. Additionally, it hasbecome increasingly common for

computers to ship without floppy disk

drives. USB ports, on the other hand,appear on almost every current

mainstream PC and laptop. These types

of drives use the USB mass storagestandard, supported natively by modern

operating systems such as Windows,

Mac OS X, Linux, and otherUnix-like

systems.

With nothing being mechanically driven

in a flash drive, the name is somewhat of

a misnomer. It is called a "drive" because it appears to the computer operating system (and the

user) in a manner identical to a mechanical disk drive, and is accessed in the same way.

A flash drive consists of a smallprinted circuit board typically in a plastic or metal casing and

more recently in rubber casings to increase their robustness. This makes the drive sturdy enough

to be carried about in a pocket, for example as a key fob, or on a lanyard. Only the USB


Internals of a typical flash drive

(Saitek brand USB1.1 pictured)

1 USB connector

2 USB mass storage controller device

3 Test points

4 Flash memory chip

5 Crystal oscillator

6 LED

7 Write-protect switch

8 Space for second flash memory chip
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connector protrudes, and it is typically protected either by a removable cap or by retracting into

the body of the drive. Most flash drives use a standard type-A USB connection allowing them to

be connected directly to a port on a personal computer.

To access the data stored in a flash drive, the drive must be connected to a computer, either byplugging it into a USB host controller built into the computer, or into a USB hub. Flash drives

are active only when plugged into a USB connection and draw all necessary power from the

supply provided by that connection. However, some flash drives, especially high-speed drives,may require more power than the limited amount provided by a bus-powered USB hub, such as

those built into some computer keyboards or monitors. These drives will not work unless

plugged directly into a host controller (i.e., the ports found on the computer itself) or a self-

powered hub.

PC Architecture

http://en.wikipedia.org

howstuffworks.com

www. computer helpatoz.comwww.pc computer notes.com/

www.techtutorials.info

All-in-one A+

PC Hardware Book (4th Edition ...

The Indispensable PC Hardware Book

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hubhttp://www.karbosguide.com/books/pcarchitecture/start.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/http://www.computerhelpatoz.com/http://www.pccomputernotes.com/http://www.techtutorials.info/http://www.amazon.com/Indispensable-PC-Hardware-Book-4th/dp/0201596164http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hubhttp://www.karbosguide.com/books/pcarchitecture/start.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/http://www.computerhelpatoz.com/http://www.pccomputernotes.com/http://www.techtutorials.info/http://www.amazon.com/Indispensable-PC-Hardware-Book-4th/dp/0201596164


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Week 2 Task 2 : Every student should disassemble and assemble the PC back to working condition. Lab

instructors should verify the work and follow it up with a Viva. Also students need to go through the

video which shows the process of assembling a PC. A video would be given as part of the course content.

Here is a brief summary of the steps to assemble a system.

Prepare the computer case

Open case

Mount base screws

Open expansion slots

Prepare and mount the motherboard

Mount CPU and CPU cooler

Mount memory modules

Mount motherboard onto case

Connect power supply

Mount the drives

Mount floppy drive

Mount hard drive

Mount CD ROM drive

Connect the drives and motherboard

Connect floppy drive

Connect hard drive

Connect CD ROM drive

Mount video and other add-on cards

Mount video card

Mount sound card

Mount FAX/data modem

Testing and getting ready for operating system

Power-on for the first time

Clock speed and memory counting

Change BIOS

How to build a PC

A step-by-step guide to enthusiast system assembly

The best thing about being a PC enthusiastbeyond, of course, the never ending joy of servingas the personal support technician for friends and familyis being able to assemble a system

from the ground up with the perfect mix of components for a given budget. That mix of

components will vary depending on your needs, but with today's market so rich with high-



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performance hardware at affordable prices, it's easy to spec a custom system that will blow the

doors off pre-built boxes from major PC vendors.

For those who lack the expertise to pick the best available components, we compileregular

system guides outlining our recommendations at various price points. These guides are a greatstarting point for seasoned PC hobbyists contemplating a new build, but they're an invaluable

resource for less savvy users seeking guidance as they step into the enthusiast realm.

Users new to building systems from scratch need more than just a shopping list, though. There's

an art to assembling a rig from bare components. Building a PC can be a daunting taskfor a newbie who has never put a system together before. For those folks, we've crafted

a step-by-step guide covering the basics of system assembly. Keep reading as we show

you how to build a PC from scratch.

Getting startedBefore diving into assembly, you'll want to gather a few supplies and find a large, clean work

area that preferably isn't teeming with static electricity. As far as tools are concerned, you

shouldn't need more than a Philips head screwdriver; one that holds screws in place with a

magnetic tip is ideal. We'll also be using rubbing alcohol, Q-Tips, and zip ties. Everything elsethat you need should be included with the various components you've gathered to put into the

system. Yes, you'll need those components, too.

Prior to removing any of the components from their packaging, you'll want to take the precautionof grounding yourself by touching a large, metal object like a table base, filing cabinet, or your

PC's casewhatever's nearbyin order to discharge any static electricity you may be carrying

with you. Static electricity can be harmful to PC components. Some folks prefer to use an anti-static wristband in order to keep themselves grounded.

Assembling the core

The CPU lies at the core of the modernPC, making it an appropriate place tostart our build. For this first step, you'll

of course want the processor, and also

your system-to-be's motherboard.

This particular assembly guide featuresan Intel processor with a LGA775

socket, so certain steps won't be

applicable to systems using AMDprocessors based on Socket AM2. Socket AM2 isn't hard to figure out, though; processor

installation instructions typically come bundled with both the processor and the motherboard.

After laying the motherboard out on a clean work surface, remove the plastic cover that shieldsthe LGA775 socket's pins from harm. Be careful not to bend or otherwise disturb these pins

they need to line up just right with contact points on the base of the CPU.

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With the plastic guard removed, you'll easily be able to unclip the lever that holds the socket's

CPU retention mechanism in place. Flip this retention bracket back on its hinges to expose the

socket in full.

Modern CPUs are keyed to ensure that they can only be inserted into a socket one way, just like

a puzzle piece, so you should have no problem dropping your processor into the socket. LGA775processors, for example, have little indents along opposing edges that line up with protrusions in

the socket. If your CPU struggles to slide smoothly into the socket, chances are you've got it

oriented the wrong way.

Once the processor is sitting

comfortably in the socket, flip the

retention bracket back down and usethe lever to clamp it into place. Thissecures the CPU to the motherboard.

When the posts are lined up, depress

the black plastic tabs one by one to

lock the heatsink into place. You

should hear an audible click as each

post locks into place.

Since the area around a modernmotherboard's CPU socket is oftencrowded with tall capacitors, heatsinks, and elaborate heatpipe arrays, I find it's best to depress

the retention post that's least accessible first. The post directly opposite that one should be next,

followed by the remaining two in whichever order you desire.



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After locking the heatsink into place,

plug its fan into the appropriate header on

the motherboard. The CPU fan header is

usually right next to the socket, but if you

can't find it, your motherboard manual

should have a map highlighting its

location.

Note whether the heatsink you're usingfeatures a fan with a three- or four-pin

header. That information will come in

handy when we jump into the BIOS to configure fan speed control, since some motherboards

can't auto-detect fan types.

Memory installation

Since it's a lot harder to work on a motherboard when it's sitting inside a case, we might as well

install the memory before we slip the mobo into our enclosure. These days, most systems run

their memory in dual-channel configurations using pairs of memory modules. Motherboards aretypically equipped with four DIMM slots, two of which correspond to each memory channel, so

you'll want to check your motherboard's manual to determine which slots correspond to which

memory channel. Be sure to install at least one memory module per channel.

Once you've figured out which slots to populate, sliding memory modules into place is a snap.

Like processors, modules are keyed so they only fit into DIMM slots one way. Orient yourmodules accordingly, and apply even pressure along their top edge to seat them into the DIMM

slots. If the module rocks back and forth as if on a central pivot point, you've got it turned around

the wrong way.

If you're running fancy-pants memory modules with ginormous heat spreaders, like thosepictured above, you may run into clearance issues with larger aftermarket processor heatsinks.



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Unless the heatsink's orientation can be changed to provide additional clearance for the DIMM

slots, you'll have to settle for lower profile memory modules or a less extravagant CPU cooler.

When memorymodules are seated

correctly, retentiontabs located at the

ends of the DIMMslots should swing up

into their upright and

locked position,ready for take-off. If

these tabs aren't

completely locked,you should be able to

flick them into place

easily with yourfinger.

Preparing the enclosure

We're done with the motherboard for the moment, and must now prepare the enclosure for its

arrival. Time to break out the screwdriver, folks.

The first thing we need to dois remove the enclosure's side

panels. With some cases, only

the left panel needs to be

removed or even can beremoved. However, if your

enclosure has removable

panels on both sides, werecommend taking both off.

The additional access will

come in handy when we cleanup wiring within the case.

Most modern enclosures hold their side

panels in place with thumbscrews or

mechanical latches, so you probably won'teven need a screwdriver to remove them.

And if you need instructions on how to use

a screwdriver, well, perhaps assembling asystem from scratch is a little ambitious.

Removing the case panels gives us access to

the enclosure's internalsmost importantly,

the panel on which the motherboard willset. The motherboard doesn't rest directly



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on the metal panel, though; that would create all sorts of short circuits. Instead, the motherboard

sits atop a series of posts that separate it from the case.

Motherboard posts should come bundled with your case, and they can be screwed directly into

the motherboard tray with your bare hands. Making sure they're tight.

When screwing posts into the motherboard, be sure that they line up with the board's mounting

holes; posts that don't line up can make contact with solder points on the underside of the board,creating short circuits. We recommend using at least six mounting posts for a standard ATX

motherboard, but to be on the safe side, you might as well use as many as there are mountingholes on your board.

Once the posts are in place, fish the

I/O shield out of your motherboard

box. Most cases already come with ageneric I/O shield, but chances are it

won't line up properly with your

motherboard's port cluster. If your

case has a generic shield, pop it outand toss it. The I/O shield that comes

with your motherboard should easilysnap into place.

Before moving on, we're going to

save ourselves some hassle by bending back the metal tabs on the inside of the I/O shield. In the

picture above, these tabs can be seen above the PS/2, Ethernet, and Firewire ports. Bending thesetabs back will ensure that they don't catch on the motherboard ports when we slide it into the

system.

We're now all set up to install the motherboard into the case, but before doing that, it's worthfilling in a few otherComponents that will be easier

to install in anr otherwise

empty enclosure.

r

First among these is our

system's hard drive. These

days, it seems every case

manufacturer mounts harddrives slightly differently, but

the enclosure we've busted out

today takes a simple approach.Hard drives slide neatly into internal 3.5" bayswith the drive ports facing out, of courseand

are held in place by screws. Depending on your enclosure, you may need to secure the drive with

screws on both sides; it's a good thing we removed the right-side case panel.

Which internal drive bay ends up housing the system's hard drive is up to you, but I prefer tohave drives sitting in lower rather than higher bays. Heat rises, and we might as well put the



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drive in the coolest part of the case that we can. If you're running a system with multiple hard

drives, try not to stack them in bays directly on top of one another. If possible, leave an empty

bay between drives to allow air to flow freely between them.

Next up is our system'soptical drive. This goes in

one of our enclosure's

external 5.25" bays, and intraditional cases, it's held in

place by screws. Of course,

these screws are slightly

different from the ones thathold the hard drive in place

you know, because it

would be entirely tooconvenient for the same

screw type to be used

throughout. All the screws

you need should come withthe case, and as a rule, ones

with finer threads are usedto secure optical drives and

the motherboard, those with coarser threads and small heads secure hard drives, and those with

coarse threads and large heads are reserved for case panels and expansion cards.

If you're going to be running a single optical drive, check to make sure that its jumper is set toMaster or Single Drive. This should be the drive's default position, and you don't need to change

it unless you plan on running a

second optical drive off the same

cable. Drives with SATAinterfaces are a little more

convenient, since they don't have

these jumpers and won't need tobe configured in this way.

You'll notice that we're installing

the optical drive in the case's

highest 5.25" drive bay. Opticaldrives aren't used frequently, so

we're not so concerned with

whether they're in the coolestpossible bay. Instead, I like to

mount optical drives as high as possible in tower enclosures to make them easier to reach when

the case is sitting on the floor.

In goes the motherboardWith the case prepped and drives installed, it's time for our populated motherboard to join the

mix.



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Standard enclosures are usually a little tight, so it's easier if you insert the motherboard at an

angle, port-side first. Line up the port cluster with corresponding holes in the I/O shield and

gently set the board down on the mounting posts you screwed into the case earlier. If themotherboard is positioned correctly, its mounting holes should line up exactly with the posts

below.

From here, you'll want to screw themotherboard into place using screws

provided with the case. When tightened,

the screws should be snug, but there's noreason to really torque on them.

Next, we tackle the case's front-panelconnectors for the power and reset

switches, power and hard drive activity lights, and the PC speaker. Each motherboard lays theseconnectors out in a slightly different fashion, so you'll have to consult the manual to determine

which connectors plug in where. For hard drive and power LEDs, colored wires should beplugged into the positive pins on the

motherboard.

It'sridiculous that the industry hasn'tagreed to a standard for front-panel

connectors that would eliminate the

need to connect a mess of wires

individually, but this is the system

we're stuck with. Be sure to plug in thefront-panel connectors now, because

things only get more crowded inside theenclosure from here.

While we're connecting front-

panel hardware, it's worth

tackling expansion ports. Most

enclosures now come with front-

mounted USB ports that hook

into headers located on themotherboard. Depending on your

case, these front-mounted USB

ports may be tied to a series of

wires that have to be connected

individually, or they may

connect with consolidated blocks that can be plugged in all at once. Obviously, the latter is much

easier to deal with. If your case's front-panel USB ports are attached to individual wires, you'll

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/12098http://techreport.com/discussions.x/12098http://techreport.com/discussions.x/12098


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need to consult your motherboard manual for a diagram illustrating how those wires should be

connected to pins on the motherboard.

We've only addressed USB headers here, but the same applies for front panel Firewire, eSATA,

and even audio ports. The wires for each front-panel connector should be clearly labeled, eitheron the wires themselves or in the manual that comes with your case. Your motherboard's manual

should have full pin diagrams for all its onboard headers that illustrate how these leads should be

connected, as well.

Expansion cards join the partyThere are only a few pieces we need to put into place to complete our build, and next up, we

have expansion cards. Most systems will require at least one expansion cardgraphics, of

coursebut some folks may also have a discrete audio card, TV tuner, or other auxiliary

hardware to complement their motherboards' integrated peripherals.

Before installing expansion cards, we

need to make some room for them in the case's back plate panel. Our screwdriver comes out

again, this time to remove back plates corresponding to the slots in which we intend to install our

expansion cards. Keep in mind that for most double-wide graphics cards, you'll need to remove

two PCI back platesone across from the expansion slot and a second back plate immediately to

the left.

To seat an expansion card, place it into an appropriate expansion slot and apply even pressure along the

top edge of the card until it slides into place. When properly installed, the card's back plate should line

up flush with the enclosure. Now use the same screws that held the case's empty back plates in place to

secure the expansion card to the case.

The expansion card installation

process is the same whether you'reputting in a graphics card, audio

card, or any sort of other peripheral.

Just make sure that you're using the

correct type of slot, be it PCI, PCI

Express, or with older systems, AGP.

Like most PC components, cards are

keyed only to fit into a slot one way, so you shouldn't have a problem.



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You'll note that in the picture above, we're installing the system's sound card in the lowest

expansion slot. At the very least, you should avoid putting expansion cards right next to your

graphics carddoing so can impede airflow to the graphics cooler. I tend to put other expansioncards into the lowest slots to give the graphics cooler as much room to breathe as possible.

Cabling begins

With the exception of the power

supply, which we'll tackle in amoment, we now have all the

hardware installed in our case.

Cabling comes next.

If your case has three-pin powerconnectors for its cooling fans,

you can plug them directly into

the motherboard. With some

boards, this will even get you temperature-based fan speed control. The motherboard manualshould map out all onboard fan header locations.

Cases that use fans with four-pin molex power connectors can't be hooked into the motherboard.

Instead, these fans need to be plugged directly into the power supply, which we'll install in just asecond.

First, we have a couple of other

cables to connect, starting with the

one for our optical drive. Dependingon the drive, this cable with either be

of the IDE or Serial ATA variety.The cable itself should come withyour motherboard, and like most PC

connectors, it's keyed such that it can

only be attached the right way.

Next, connect the hard drive with a Serial

ATA cable from your motherboard box.

The L-shaped connector only works oneway, so you should be able to figure it

out.

SATA cables are much thinner and more flexible than IDE ribbons, making it easier to keep

cabling out of the way of other components. We'll tidy things up a little later, so don't worryabout being too neat just yet.



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Power, please

The last piece of the puzzle to fall into place is our system's power supply.

Depending on your case, the

PSU may slide in from the backor from the side, and you may or

may not have to attach a

mounting bracket before it'sinstalled. PSUs feature an

asymmetrical screw pattern at

the rear to ensure that they're

installed in the correctorientation. Line up the screw

holes in the power supply with

those on the case's rear panelbefore sliding the PSU into

place.

Once the PSU is installed, toss themess of wires connected to it over

the side of the case. This will makerunning power cables to our

components much easier, and we

won't need to use all of the PSU's

leads anyway.

If you're running a power supply

with modular cables, you only need

to connect as many cables as needed

for the hardware in your system. It'susually easier to connect these cables

before dropping the power supply

into the system, if only because the area around the PSU can get a little tight in some cases,making it more difficult to plug them in later.

With the power supply securely

affixed inside the case, it's time to start

our plug fest. First, attach the 24-pinprimary power connector to the

motherboard. Some PSU primary

power connectors can be configuredfor both 20- and 24-pin motherboards,

so make sure you're using the correct

setup.

Next, plug the auxiliary 12V connectorinto the motherboard. Depending on

your PSU and motherboard, this will

either be a four- or eight-pin connector. We've had a few readers mistake their PSU's four-pinfloppy connector for the 12V plug, so you'll want to make sure you have the right one. The 12V



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plug is a chunky connector that looks like a smaller version of the primary 24-pin plug with

fewer pins. As has been the case throughout this build, all connectors should be keyed to fit only

one way.

Most modern graphics cards need alittle extra juice, so we'll plug them in

next. Graphics cards typically use six-

pin PCI Express power connectors,although some recent high-end models

require eight-pin power.

If your power supply doesn't have the

right connectors for your graphicscard, check the bundle of cables that

came with the graphics card. Power

adapters are typically included withretail graphics cards for those running

older PSUs that lack PCIe power plugs.

With our graphics cards hooked up,

we turn our attention to hard drivepower. Serial ATA drives have their

own type of power connector,

another L-shaped plug that can onlybe inserted one way.

Some Serial ATA hard drives also

have a standard four-pin molex

power connector. You can use this

connector in lieu of the SATA powerconnector, if you wish. However,

don't plug in both; that can damage

the drive.

Finally, we plug in our optical drive using

a standard four-pin molex plug. SATA

optical drives may use a SATA powerconnector. Now would be the time to plug

in any four-pin case fans, as well.



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Cleaning time By now, the inside of your case probably looks like a tangled mess of wires, some

of which are likely still hanging over the edge. The mess not only looks bad, but it can also

impede airflow around important system components. We should really tidy the mess up with alittle help from a fistful of zip ties.

First, gather any unused power

supply leads into a neat bundle and

zip tie them together. This bundlecan be stuffed out of the way into

your case's empty 5.25" drive bays.

Empty 5.25" drive bays make a good

dumping ground for excess cablingbecause they generally don't have

venting or fans that might otherwise

be obscured by a clump of wires.

With excess power supply leads out of the way, we can turn our attention to the cables we're

actually using. There are a number of ways to deal with these, depending on just how clean you

want the inside of your case to look. Wewon't go overboard here, but it's worthtaking the time to remove any slack in the

cables and carefully route them along the

case's internal structure. Most cases haveloops or cutouts that can serve as anchor

points for zip ties, making it much easier

to snake cables out of the way.

Your case's internals don't have to be immaculate when you're finished, but you shouldn't have

cables impeding airflow around any components or case fans, or around case vents. Cleaning upinternal cabling also makes it easier to work on the system later on, either to swap out



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components or add new ones when your brand-new system becomes hopelessly out of date after

just a few short months.

We're finished with the hardware now, so you can put the case panels back on, stand the case up,

and start connecting peripherals like your monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Now would be a goodtime to plug in the power cord, as well, and to make sure that the power supply is switched to its

on position. Hit the case's power switch, and the system should spring to life.

This is the BIOS setup for Award BIOS v6.00PG. If you have a different version of the Award

BIOS their would be a lot of similarities. If your BIOS is AMI or Phoenix then the commonBIOS features would have some similarities. Whatever BIOS you have, this setup guide should

give you an idea about how to setup a BIOS. Please note that setting up BIOS incorrectly could

cause system malfunction, therefore it is recommended that you also follow the BIOS guideprovided on your motherboard manual.

Softmenu III

Softmenu III is where you can setup up the CPU without setting jumpers on the motherboard.

You can setup the CPU simply by selecting the speed i.e. Pentium III 750 from the list. Thisensures that the CPU bus, multiplier, voltage etc, is correctly set for that particular CPU.However you can manually setup each feature if required. Once you have finished with thesetup press ESC to return the previous menu.

Softmenu III Setup PC Health Status

Standard CMOS Features Load Fail-Safe Defaults

Advanced BIOS Features Load Optimized Defaults

Advanced Chipset Features Set Password

Integrated Peripherals Save & Exit Setup

Power Management Setup Exit Without Saving

PnP/PCI Configurations

Standard CMOS Features

Here you can setup the basic BIOS features such as date, time, type of floppy etc. Usethe arrow keys to move around and press enter to select the required option. You can

specify what IDE devices you have such as Hard drive, CD-ROM, ZIP drive etc. Theeasiest way to setup the IDE devices is by leaving it set to auto. This allows the BIOS todetect the devices automatically so you don't have to do it manually. At the bottom, it

http://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#softmenuhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#pc_healthhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#standard_cmoshttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#fail_safehttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#advanced_bioshttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#optimizedhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#advanced_chipsethttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#set_passwordhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#iphttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#with_savinghttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#pmhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#without_savinghttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#pnp_pcihttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#softmenuhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#pc_healthhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#standard_cmoshttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#fail_safehttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#advanced_bioshttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#optimizedhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#advanced_chipsethttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#set_passwordhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#iphttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#with_savinghttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#pmhttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#without_savinghttp://www.buildeasypc.com/sw/bios_setup.htm#pnp_pci


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also displays the total memory in your system.

Advanced BIOS Features

As you can see from figure 3,there are numerous advance

settings which you can select ifrequired. For most casesleaving the default settingshould be adequate. As youcan see the first boot device isset to floppy. This ensures thatthe floppy disk is read firstwhen the system boots, andtherefore can boot fromwindows boot disk. The

second boot device is the Hard disk and third is set to LS120. If you want to boot from a

bootable CD then you can set the third boot device to CD/DVD-ROM.

Advanced Chipset Features

Here you can setup the contents ofthe chipset buffers. It is closelyrelated to the hardware and istherefore recommended that youleave the default setting unless youknow what you are doing. Havingan incorrect setting can make your

system unstable. If you know thatyour SDRAM can handle CAS 2,then making changes can speedup the memory timing. If you have128MB SDRAM then the maximumamount of memory the AGP card

can use is 128MB.

Integrated Peripherals



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This menu allows you to change the various I/O devices such as IDE controllers, serialports, parallel port, keyboard etc. You can make changes as necessary

.

Power Management Setup

The power management allowsyou to setup various powersaving features, when the PC isin standby or suspend mode.

PnP/PCI Configurations

This menu allows you to configureyour PCI slots. You can assignIRQ's for various PCI slots. It isrecommended that you leave thedefault settings as it can get a bitcomplicated messing around withIRQ's



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PC Health Status

This menu displays thecurrent CPU temperature,the fan speeds, voltagesetc. You can set the warningtemperature which will

trigger an alarm if the CPUexceeds the specifiedtemperature.

Load Fail-Safe Defaults

If you made changes to the BIOS and your system becomes unstable as a result, youcan change it back to default. However if you made many changes and don't knowwhich one is causing the problem, your best bet is to choose the option "Load Fail SafeMode Defaults" from the BIOS menu. This uses a minimal performance setting, but thesystem would run in a stable way. From the dialog box

Choose "Y" followed by enter to load Fail-Safe Defaults.

Load Optimized Defaults

Like the Fail-Safe mode above, this option loads the BIOS default settings, but runs thesystem at optimal performance. From the dialog box Choose "Y" followed by enter toload Optimized Defaults.



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Set Password

To password protect your BIOS you can specify a password. Make sure you don't forgetthe password or you can not access the BIOS. The only way you can access the BIOSis by resetting it using the reset jumper on the motherboard.

Save and Exit Setup

To save any changes you made to the BIOS you must choose this option. From thedialog box choose "Y".

Exit without Saving

If you don't want to save changes made to the BIOS, choose "N" from the dialog box.

Task 3 : Every student should individually install MS windows on the personal

computer. Lab instructor should verify the installation and follow it up with a Viva.



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How Do I Install Windows XP

Installing/Re-installing Windows XP is a relatively straightforwardprocess providing you have everything you need to hand. There isnothing worse than being asked by the operating system set upapplication for a specific driver and having to hunt a for

it-workshop pdf material

Documents