QuickBytes: CompTIA A+ 901 Section 1: Hardware. By Todd Hendrickson

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2 QuickBytes: CompTIA A+ 901 Section 1: Hardware By Todd Hendrickson

3 Foreword The purpose of this book is to give you the knowledge to fulfill the objectives of the CompTIA A+ 901 exam. I ve tried to remove as much fluff as possible and just focus on the knowledge and solutions. I base my writing on two thinks, William Strunk s Elements of Style, where you omit needless words, and the summer where I was 16. My uncle had me working a beer tent at his softball field and during the night we heard a large group of men in the cornfield saying they were going to rob us. My uncle quickly taught me how to drive a car, how to turn it on, get it in gear and speed down the road. I ve become a slightly better driver since then but I believe in the solution based approach, get from A to B and get it done. Enjoy, good luck with your exam

4 Outcomes 1. Given a scenario, configure settings and use BIOS/UEFI tools on a PC 2. Explain the importance of motherboard components, their purpose and properties 3. Compare and contrast various RAM types and their features 4. Install and configure PC expansion cards 5. Install and configure storage devices and use appropriate media 6. Install various types of CPUs and apply the appropriate cooling methods 7. Compare and contrast various PC connection interfaces, their characteristics and purpose 8. Install a power supply based on given specifications 9. Given a scenario, select the appropriate components needed for a custom PC configuration to meet customer specifications or needs 10. Compare and contrast types of display devices and their features 11. Identify common PC connector types and associated cables 12. Install and configure common peripheral devices 13. Install SOHO multifunction device/printers and configure appropriate settings Compare and contrast differences between the various print technologies and the associated imaging process Given a scenario, perform appropriate printer maintenance

5 -1- Given a scenario, configure settings and use BIOS/EFI tools on a PC 1.1Firmware upgrades/flash Bios Firmware is the software that controls the hardware, how it functions and how it interacts with other components of a device. Most electronics have some form of firmware and as the manufacturer updates the hardware programming or updates for security fixes, they often release new firmware, along with an installation package. It is important to know your hardware firmware version and check the manufacturer website on occasion to see if there are any updates available. The BIOS of the computer, officially called the Basic Input Output System, is a type of firmware that is embedded in motherboards and is activated when a computer is turned on to do its Power On Self-Test, or POST. There are two kinds of BIOS, legacy and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, or UEFI. UEFI BIOS allows for more advanced features like booting from larger storage areas, a pre-boot environment, supports booting from removable media, and can have more graphical user interfaces. Eventually UEFI will be the gold standard. Upgrading the BIOS (also called flashing) is simply a firmware upgrade, to take advantage of new CPU architectures or other features. Flashing the BIOS, is easy on EUFI models, you simply download the software and can usually run it off of a USB key, whereas with legacy BIOS you need to know your version number (msinfo32 form the run box) and then your motherboard model, go to each manufacturers website and download the utilities, burn them to CD or put them on floppy (shudder) and then boot from the BIOS into these

6 utilities. If for some reason there is a power loss during a legacy BIOS flash, the machine will become corrupted and you may need to remove the CMOS chip to reset it to default, and even that may now work. 1.2BIOS Component Information RAM: The BIOS will be able to tell you the type of RAM, how much RAM is installed and the speed of the RAM. Some versions can tell you how many memory banks you have on your motherboard (that s the next chapter). Hard Drives: BIOS will give the manufacturer name, size of the hard drive, the speed of the drive, and depending on the type of hard drive it may give information about hard drive controllers (for RAID, Chapter 5) Optical Drives: Called optical drives because of the laser eye inside it, these read CD s, DVD s and Blu-Ray. BIOS contains manufacturer information and firmware version. CPU: Like everything else, it contains the manufacturer information, speed and number of cores. 1.3BIOS configurations In addition to having all of the relevant information about hardware manufacturers, the BIOS will let you configure that hardware to alternate configurations. To access BIOS most motherboard manufacturers set the key to Delete or F2, so when you turn the computer on, before it does anything, start pressing one of these buttons, or alternate if you are unsure. If neither works, check the motherboard website or watch the booting screen for instructions on how to get to the BIOS. Boot Sequence: The BIOS controls the boot sequence. You can change it to

7 boot from removable media, different hard drives, CD s and DVD s and other options. Enable/Disable Devices: From the BIOS menu you can enable and disable things like the optical drive, USB drives and implement other security features. Date/Time: The BIOS is where you can set the date and time. One symptom of bad BIOS is when your date and time keep going out of sync. Clocking: For CPUs that have overclocking or variable clocking abilities, the BIOS is where you make the changes. Virtualization support: If you are going to be using virtual machines on your computer, enable virtualization support in the BIOS. It will allow for the virtual machines to use the hardware properly. BIOS Security: We cover security in depth in the Security + Certification Quickbyte, however in the BIOS you can set passwords to prevent users from making changes. You can also encrypt your hard drives using TPM, or Trusted Platform Module. Essentially it is the cryptographic key generator to encrypt your hard drive. Though it sounds secure, there are better ways to protect your hard drive. You also install LoJack software in the BIOS, which is antitheft software. Lastly, you can access secure boot from the BIOS. Secure boot uses a process of signature matching to make sure that the booting process is coming from a legitimate source, like a Windows signature, instead of a virus or ransomware. 1.4Built In Diagnostics BIOS also includes the ability to diagnose the built in systems. These include: Start Test: Use this when the PC doesn t boot properly Memory Test: This tests the RAM for errors.

8 Battery Test: If the battery is taking too long to charge, or won t hold a full charge, this test can validate concerns. Hard Drive Test: Tests for damaged sectors and areas in the hard drive. If the hard drive seems slow or makes strange noises, this test can see if the root cause is a physical problem. 1.5Monitoring The BIOS is very useful as a monitoring tool. It can monitor temperature, fan speeds, computer voltage, CPU clock and BUS speeds, and also provides event logging for access and intrusion attempts. Some BIOS can be set to activate an alarm whenever one of the variables passes a certain threshold. Summary: The BIOS is the firmware that controls the basic computer hardware and has a variety of options to configure the computer on a very core level. You can access it prior to your operating system loading through a specific key combination. There are two types of BIOS, legacy and UEFI, which is becoming the more common BIOS type. BIOS can be reset by removing the CMOS chip. You can do a lot of damage by changing settings in BIOS so be careful.

9 -2- Explain the importance of motherboard components, their purpose and properties The motherboard is the core piece of the computer. All other components attach to the motherboard and it can be considered the hardware platform that your computer runs on. 2.1 Motherboard sizes Motherboards come in multiple sizes, and fit into specific case designs. The sizes are: ATX: Advanced Technology extended is the most common type of motherboard and came out of the necessity of improving Baby-AT motherboards. It offers more Input and Output options, and better power supply mounting. Micro-ATX: This motherboard is a shrunken version of ATX, and came about because of consumer trend towards smaller towers and smaller power supplies. Mini-ITX: Smaller still then the ATX models, this motherboard is designed for even smaller computers with Solid State Drives and low power needs. ITX: Information Technology extended, another form factor for small and micro sized computers. Also has nano-itx and pico-itx form factors for motherboards 2.2 Expansion Slots Motherboards have a number of expansion slots that expand the ability of a computer, allowing it to do things it wasn t originally designed for. Types of

10 expansion slots are: PCI: Stands for Peripheral Component Interface, allows for the installation of a variety of devices like sound cards, some older video cards and network cards. PCI-X: Peripheral Component Interface extended, is essentially a faster version of PCI, going as fast as 533 MHz, allowing for faster communication to and from the computer. Useful for gaming and graphic intensive software. AGP: Accelerated Graphics Port, specifically designed to transfer video to and from the PC at a high rate of speed. Smaller than the PCI interface and components are not compatible with each other. PCIe: Peripheral Component Interface Express is even faster than PCI-X and AGP technologies. minipci: PCI for laptops. Most laptops had integrated components on them, this allowed for a variety of components to be installed that were improved versions of the motherboard hardware. minipcie: This took over from minipci and was faster and more mobile friendly. 2.3 RAM Slots RAM is covered more in depth in the next chapter but on most consumer motherboards there are two RAM slots. Higher end boards sometimes have 4, and server and workstation motherboards can have up to 8. RAM is like Lego, and only fits one way for installing. On either side of RAM slots are two clips. Simply push them back, slide the RAM in the right way and push down until it clicks. 2.4 CPU Sockets

11 A CPU socket is like an electrical socket or light socket. The CPU socket is where you plug in or connect your CPU chip. Each socket type corresponds to a type of CPU chip, and they don t fit any other way. Intel uses the LGA socket standard and can be anywhere from LGA 775 for very, very old intel based computers, up to the most current versions of LGA 1151 and AMD uses alphabetical slot names like AM, F and FM, the higher letters representing faster speeds. Often found with cpus and sockets, is the term ZIF or Zero Insertion Force, a reference to the fact that if the chip is installed properly, it requires little to no force to secure it onto the motherboard. 2.5 Chipsets PC Chipsets are divided into Northbridge and Southbridge. Both are on the same motherboard but have different responsibilities. Think of them like traffic controllers. The Northbridge chipset is responsible for directing memory and graphics and is also called the graphics and memory controller hub. The Southbridge chipset manages PCI hardware, USB, Hard Drives, external peripherals, Ethernet, and audio devices. Southbridge is also called the I/O controller hub, or Input Output controller hub. Chipsets continue to evolve and are often found integrated into the CPU s themselves. 2.6 CMOS Battery Complementary Metal Oxide-Semiconductor or CMOS is a process that creates CMOS batteries. These batteries keep the configuration changes made

12 to the BIOS and synchronize the PC time. If it dies, the time will change and the settings for the hardware in the BIOS could be wiped. They generally last about a decade and can be purchased at almost any electronics store. The code for the battery is CR Power connections and types Without power, it s all for not. Most modern power supplies come with the following connectors: ATX 20/24: The 24 pin configuration is the most common connection now but 20 pin still sometimes appears on motherboards that you are replacing power supplies for. Thankfully this pin configuration can be split into a 20 pin and a 4 pin. P4 ATX: This is an 8 pin adapter that splits into 4 pins each. Molex: Older hard drives sometimes have Molex connectors; it contains 4 recessed tubes that the connectors slide into SATA: Serial ATA, the more modern connector, flat black adapter with an L shaped connector PCI Express: 6-8 pin adapter specifically for powering the graphic cards of modern computers. 2.8 Fan Connectors Fans provide circulation and cooling to the computer. To connect to the power source they generally use a three or four pin Molex connector. Make sure you know what your fan uses before you buy a power source. 2.9 Front/Top Panel connectors The front of a PC is often lit with a variety of buttons. This includes power, optical drive lights, and front side connectors like USB and audio. The

13 connectors for these are motherboard specific and if you look closely with a magnifying glass, it clearly labels USB and drive lights BUS Speeds This isn t referring to any type of Keanu Reeves movie. This refers specifically to the Front Side Bus speed, or FSB. The Front Side Bus is the connection between the CPU and the Northbridge Controller. The faster the FSB speed, the faster instructions can be processed and the faster the computer will run tasks Reset Button On the motherboard is also a connector for the reset button. Depending on your computer case, it will come with a reset button and cable attached. Make sure you put it in the right place, as often a cruel IT trick is to disable the reset by unplugging it, or swapping the reset with the power. Same goes for the power button; it also has a connector on the motherboard.

14 -3- Compare and contrast various RAM types and their features RAM is the component that handles volatile or non-permanent data. Unlike a hard drive, when you restart your computer, the information that was stored in RAM is lost to all but the best forensic investigators. 3.1 Types RAM has different types, with a variety of speeds and form factors. Here are the key terms: DDR: Double Data Rate. Comes in DDR-200 and PC Clock speed is 100 MHz, and can transfer data at a limit of 1.6 GB/s. DDR2: 2 nd generation of DDR RAM. Comes in DDR and PC Clock speed is 200 MHz, and can transfer at a limit of 6.4 GB/s. DDR3: 3 rd generation of DDR RAM. It comes in DDR and PC varieties. Clock speed is still 200 MHz but its bus speed is 800, twice as fast as DDR2. DDR4: 4 th generation with two flavors. The 300 MHz clock speed comes as DDR and PC , with a limit of 19.2 GB/s for transfer. The 400 MHz variety has DDR and PC types, with a limit of 25.6 GB/s. Note: The DDR variety is 32 bit while the PC Variety is 64 bit. SODIMM: Small Outline Dual In-Line Memory Module. Essentially its laptop RAM or ultra-small form factor computers like NUCs. Like DDR it has different clock speeds and different pin interfaces. The pin type of the RAM needs to match the pin type of the memory module on the motherboard in order

15 to fit. DIMM: Dual In-Line Memory Module, this is the predecessor to DDR RAM. It had memory on both sides of the stick. Parity and Non Parity: Parity RAM is ram with extra bits on it, such as an 8 bit chip, actually has 9 bits. Bits and Bytes will come later on. Anyways, parity is another way of saying error checker. Parity RAM checks for errors in the data in the RAM. Non Parity does not. Non Parity is less expensive. ECC and Non ECC: same as Parity, it checks for errors. Non ECC is less expensive. RAM Channels: Think of a channel like a stream of water. There are now 4 types of memory channels, aptly named: Single, Double, Triple, and Quad channel. The number of channels increases the speed and amount that can be transferred along the FSB from the memory to the Northbridge. Faster processors like i7 support quad channel memory, however the motherboard memory slot must also support quad channel, or whatever relevant channel you have. Buffered and Unbuffered RAM: Memory works in cycles of sending and receiving information. Memory is volatile and is subject to errors. Buffered RAM put an extra cycle between the RAM process and the CPU. This gives stability to the computer. Unbuffered is more volatile, however it s also cheaper and the RAM of choice for gamers. 3.2 RAM Compatibility RAM will only fit a certain way into your motherboard, that s the first tip. Most RAM is backwards compatible, so DDR2 will fit in a DDR slot, but DDR2 will not fit in DDR3 slots. And, if you put higher RAM in a lower slot, it will run at the lower speed, negating the advantage of the faster RAM.

16 And sometimes RAM just doesn t work. Some motherboards are color coded with 2 separate colors for the RAM module, which means you need to install in pairs. So if there are 2 blue and 2 yellow, you install in the blue slots, and when those are filled, then you use the other slots.

17 -4- Install and configure PC expansion cards When you buy your PC or build it for the DIYer, it comes with a build configuration. When you want to expand the computers capabilities you add expansion cards. Your motherboard has a number of slots for sliding the cards into, but you are limited by the number of slots, as well as your power draw. Here are the most common ones. 4.1 Sound Cards This expands the sound capabilities of the motherboard. The integrated sound is a basic device and when attached to speakers will give basic sound. Audio cards can expand to Dolby and surround sound, and some have special inputs for even greater enhancements. Most connect with a PCI connection. Some major manufacturers are Creative, Asus, Diamond, Via, and Razer. 4.2 Video Cards This almost deserves an entire book because a video card is a major component upgrade for a PC. The recent models connect with PCIe, and often require their own power supply so make sure you have an attachment on your power supply. It s a common mistake to buy a video card without realizing the power draw it will take and having a dead computer until you replace the power supply. Video cards slide right into the slot, as long as they have the right connector on the motherboard. More powerful video cards have their own dedicated RAM on board, offering better graphics processing for gamers and other power users. The onboard video for motherboards works for general office users but is the first are to upgrade for better performance of video. The major manufacturers are Nvidia, Asus, Sapphire, ATI, and Foxxcon.

18 4.3 Network Cards Really, the only reason to upgrade your network card is to take advantage of Gigabit Internet. Most motherboards have 1 Gigabit components installed but if you are lucky enough, you can purchase a 10 Gigabit card to connect to a 10G network. 4.4 USB Cards In the event that you don t have enough USB ports on your computer, you can simply add a USB card. Most are now USB 3.0 which transfers extremely fast, and are cost effective for adding extra slots. Or you can buy a USB hub, but the card has a faster connection to the motherboard. 4.5 Firewire cards Firewire isn t as common now, and is used for transferring videos from cameras. Because videos are usually huge, firewire was built to work with that speed. 4.6 Thunderbolt cards You need this type of card to connect to Thunderbolt devices. No other reason to have them, and they are expensive. 4.7 Storage cards Usually if you are implementing RAID based storage is when you would install a RAID card. 4.8 Modem cards For specific applications there is still a use for modems. 56K modems are the standard and need to connect with a phone line to the wall. US Robotics is still the major manufacturer.

19 4.9 Wireless/Cellular Cards You can add wireless capability to your computer with a wireless card. Some have a network interface with them as well, as well as having a pair of antennas. Make sure that won t affect where your computer can sit. A cellular card I haven t really ever encountered one. It s another type of card but don t spend a lot of gray matter on it TV Tuner Cards Imagine getting cable on your computer. That is essentially what this is; it has a coaxial attachment for plugging in analog cable, and HDMI for HDMI inputs. Some TV Tuner cards have capture capabilities, turning your computer into a big PVR. Major manufacturers include Aver, Algato, C2G and IOGear Video Capture Cards This card lets you take analog video, say from your old Disney VHS s, and converts them to a digital format for saving on your PC, which is not something I would do. I don t condone it as it skirts the issues of piracy, although you are allowed to make backups of your tapes because they will eventually wear out Riser Cards Think of these as expansion cards for expansion cards. When you run out of space on the motherboard, you can buy a riser card which adds more ports. It also changes the orientation of your cards in your case to take advantage of space.

20 -5- Install and configure storage devices and use appropriate media Data is stored in a variety of formats. Some are more stable and secure, and some are large and complex. Here are the most common. 5.1 Optical Drives CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray are the optical drive media. Each one has an R, -RW, or RE format, meaning they can be recorded onto for R, rewritten over with RW, and RE which is specific to Blu-Ray. CD-ROM/CD-RW: Maximum capacity is 650MB - 700MB for the regular CD-ROM. Same with CD-RW DVD-ROM/DVD-RW/DVD-RW DL: Maximum capacity is 4.37 GB, unless it s the DL which stands for Dual Layer, in that case the capacity is doubled. Blu-Ray: Maximum capacity is 25 GB BD-R: Maximum capacity is 25 GB for single layer, 50 GB for dual layer, 100 GB for triple layer, and 128 GB for quad layer. BD-RE: Maximum capacity is the same as BD-R but you can erase and rewrite on this kind of disc. 5.2 Magnetic Hard Disk Drives Yes, the hard drive in your computer has a magnet on it, and is a series of platters filled with iron filings that will change shape as you store date. It s kind of cool, and not surprisingly, if you run a powerful magnet over a standard hard drive, you will destroy it. They run at various rpm s or revolutions per minute. The standards are 5400, 7200, and 10,000 rpm. The faster the rpm, the faster the hard drive, and the more expensive in general. Also, the faster it

21 spins, the warmer the hard drives can get. 5.3 Hot Swappable Drives With regular hard drives, if it fails, you need to turn off the computer and put in a new hard drive. Hot swappable drives can be replaced while the computer is ON. This usually occurs in a server, and there is more than one drive running a RAID array so that the data is copied over and none is lost when the drive dies. When a new drive is inserted, RAID will copy the data over to the new drive. 5.4 Solid state/flash drives Hard drives without fans or moving parts are called solid state drive, or SSD. They use flash memory rather than iron filings. There are a variety of types. Compact flash, Secure Digital or SD, MicroSD, minisd, and xd are most commonly found in digital cameras and smartphones. They range from a few MB s up to 512 GB. The micro and mini are designed for smaller cameras and smartphones while the SD and compact flash are designed for larger cameras. SSD or solid state drive is the hard drive technology quickly replacing magnetic disks. Since there are no moving parts it is very hard to damage and is faster in response time. The downside is that it is very susceptible to electric shock. They are also more expensive. Hybrid drives are a mix of magnetic and SSD. It stores the most commonly accessed files in the SSD portion while the rest is magnetic. These are very uncommon and expensive. Lastly there is emmc, or embedded Multimedia controller. This of it as a cross between a solid state drive and an SD card, and it is found on less expensive devices manufactured by 3 rd parties.

22 5.5 RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks, RAID is still the defacto standard for server hard drives and any applications that require stability and redundancy. There are four types of RAID protocol, or levels. RAID 0: You need a minimum of 2 drives. RAID 0 is also called disk striping. When data is being written, its broken up into chunks and then stored. It s very fast and is used in high end workstations, gaming, and rendering engines. It has no redundancy and is not the best solution to server applications that need high availability. RAID 1: Also known as mirroring. This writes the exact same data to two or more drives. It s slower than RAID 0 but provides data redundancy. The downside is that your drive is cut in half for storage size, so two 1 TB drives actually becomes 1 TB. RAID 5: Similar to RAID 0, needs 3 disks. RAID 5 is striping with parity, or error checking. Slightly slower on recovery but has some redundancy for 1 drive failure. RAID 10: This level needs 4 drives, it offers striping of mirrors, in other words it does full duplicates of data on two drives and then breaks those up into chunks on two other drives. Fully redundant, and fast. Also an increase in expense. There are also RAID 50, 60 and 100, which are combinations of RAID 5+0, 6+0 (double parity), and RAID Each level of RAID is more expensive then the predecessor. Also note, most RAID drives above 0 are hot swappable. 5.6 Tape Drives

23 Some businesses like extra work and prefer to put their data on tape drives. This is generally seen for archival data, like in financial institutions. The last time I checked, the capacity of a single tape was 6 GB. They are cheap and durable, which is why they are still popular. 5.7 Media Capacities Read through the previous notes, it s all in there.

24 -6- Install various types of CPUs and apply the appropriate cooling methods 6.1 Socket Types There are two socket types, Intel and AMD. Intel has sockets with LGA in front and are 775(T), 1150(H3), 1155(H2), 1156(H), 1366(B), and 2011(R). The LGA stands for Land Grid Array, and the number is the number of pins on the CPU. The letter beside each number is the alphabetical socket name. AMD sockets are AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+. The differences are pin count, which is surprisingly lower the higher you go, as well as the memory compatibility. The higher levels support higher DDR RAM types. To install these CPUs, it s a matter of lining them up and inserting them. Most chips have an arrow on the chip and an arrow on the motherboard. Make sure they are lined up. 6.2 CPU Characteristics CPUs are defined by a number of characteristics. Speeds: Measured in hertz, specifically mega and gigahertz, or MHz and GHz. Modern processers are in GHz and process billions of cycles per second. That s the speed measurement. This is only one part of the equation for performance. Cores: CPUs can have multiple cores, where all of the instructions are processed. The more cores you have the more powerful the CPU. It can handle multiple instructions or become like a death star laser and hone all of its computing might on one set of instructions.

25 Cache Memory: This is memory stored on the CPU, and can vary from level 1 to 3, each level can store more. The cache memory stores the most frequently used data or instructions that the CPU works with. Hyper threading: This is a software attempt to act like more than one core. Virtualization Support: Allows the CPU to be properly utilized by virtual machine software, for when there are virtual machines on the PC. Architecture: Comes in 32 bit and 64 bit architecture. 64 bit has more memory capability and is therefore theoretically faster, that being said, all of your hardware and software need to be compatible or it s like a 2 lane wooden bridge on a 10 lane highway. There will be a bottleneck. Integrated GPU: Graphical Processing Unit, this is essentially an integrated graphics card on your chip. It s probably ok for the most basic of users but for anyone who needs graphics; they will want a separate video card. Disable Execute Bit: I had never heard of this before but it s basically a security guard for your Intel chips. It can say what areas of CPU an application can access and what it can t. 6.3 Cooling Because of all of the processing and intensive use, CPU chips get very, very hot. You need a cooling solution to prevent a complete meltdown of the chip into a gooey mess. These are some of the cooling methods. Heat Sink: This is a metal object with many little fins that conduct and dissipate the heat. The heat sink attaches to the CPU by a layer of thermal paste, which like the name implies is a paste that can conduct heat. Fans: Seems pretty easy. You can attach multiple fans inside a case to bring stronger airflow through the case. There are fanless cases out there that operate

26 just like a heat sync but usually have copper tubes running to the case and out to help with conduction. Liquid Based: It seems like a bad idea to circulate liquid through your computer but it is a very effective, though somewhat costly way to do it. Essentially there is a looping circuit of tubes that attach to the heat sync. The tube also run through a super cooled aluminum rig that cools the liquid as it passes through. It s essentially like the car radiator for your car, but for your computer. -7- Compare and contrast various PC connection interfaces, their characteristics and purpose There are a lot of connection points between the computer and its peripherals. There are physical and wireless. Here are the ones you should know. 7.1 Physical Connections There are a few ways to connect to a computer. There is: USB: Comes in three versions 1.1, 2 and 3. The real difference is the speed that they transfer at. USB 1.1 transfers at 12 Mbps, 2 transfers at 480 Mbps, and USB 3 transfers at 4.8 Gbps, so they increase by 100x each time. You need to have a matching speed USB port on the computer, and they are backwards compatible, meaning USB 3 can connect to USB 2 but will only run at USB 2 speeds. You cannot connect a USB 1 device to a USB 2 interface. USB also connects a few ways; Type A, B, mini and micro.

27 Firewire: There is firewire 400 and 800. Used for connecting video devices to Macs and special firewire ports on a PC. SATA: Serial SATA connectors for internal peripherals. SATA comes as SATA 1, 2, 3 and esata. Video Connectors: VGA, or Video Graphics Array HDMI: High Definition Multimedia Interface, way better resolution and transfers audio DVI: Digital Visual Interface, better resolution than VGA, found in place of VGA on most modern monitors

28 Audio Connectors: Comes as Analog and Digital/Optical. RJ45 This is the type of cable for your network. RJ11- Phone cable Thunderbolt: USB type C connection for thunderbolt devices. 7.2 Wireless Connections There are a number of wireless technologies that your computer uses. These are their standards. Bluetooth: Connects to devices using UHF frequencies and is good at about 10 meters. Your phone and car and home theater sound bars generally use this. RF: Radio Frequency, generally used by wireless peripherals like wireless mice and keyboards. Most devices are in the 300 MHz range which is good to about 10 feet. IR: Infra-Red, similar to RF in that it operates on a frequency. Mostly you see this in optical mice at very high frequencies so that you need to be in contact with the table to make it work. There are also IR laser keyboards that broadcast the keys onto any flat surface. They are cool. NFC: Near Field Communications, its wireless that only requires two devices to be within 4 cm of each other to connect and pair up. This is both an advantage and security risk.

29 -8- Install a power supply based on given specifications This section could talk about all the different connectors a power supply has but you already should know that. What you need to know is wattage. The more peripherals you have internally, the more power you will need, and you don t want to be caught short. To determine power usage, add up the wattage of all your internal components. If it exceeds or nears the capacity of the power supply, you will need to upgrade it. Power supplies need to be matched to the case type, so ATX, mini ATX, etc. The connectors on the power supply usually have a few SATA, a Molex or two, some 4 and 8 pins for onboard devices, and some have connectors for video cards. They will also generally have the 20/24 connection, for powering your main board. Voltage wise, power supplies have +3, + and 5, and + and -12. There are power supply testers available that you plug the power supply into that will tell you where the bad line is for a power supply. That is kind of irrelevant because the time it would take you to replace a power line is a lot less than just getting a new one. Lastly, my experience in troubleshooting has given me some special insight. On the back of power supplies is a switch for 120V and 240V, in case you happen to be in a different country. If you build a machine or just find that your school computer lab computer isn t turning on, check that switch, it s often set to the wrong one.

30 -9- Given a scenario, select the appropriate components for a custom PC configuration to meet customer specification needs. Tech people love to build computers; it s like old cars for us. Most of us use PCpartpicker.com too, great site for compatibility of products and pricing. Here are the CompTIA scenarios and what I think is the relevant builds. Graphic/CAM/CAD workstation: - Multi Core high end CPU, i5 or i7, Video card with at least 2-4 GB of RAM, and 32 GB of DDR3-DD4 RAM, and a Solid State Drive Audio/video editing workstation: - Multi Core processor, GB of DDR RAM, you definitely need a dedicated and specialized audio card with a lot of inputs, and a Solid State Drive. Dual monitors so a dedicated video card too. Virtualization workstation: - As much RAM as possible, whatever the motherboard can support, as well as a CPU with multi cores and virtualization support. An i7 chip is great for virtualization. This is where a hybrid drive would be good for maximum space and performance. Gaming PC: - Multi Core CPU, again an i7 or FM3 from AMD, a dedicated video card with as much onboard RAM as you can afford, a high end audio card, and a liquid cooling system for the intense heat you will generate. 16 GB of RAM should be more than enough because you are investing in a higher end card. Solid State Drives are the best for this build too.

31 Home Theater PC: - Sound card with surround sound and digital inputs and outputs, a video card with HDMI outputs, a TV tuner card and a Solid State Drive, as well as a large magnetic drive for storage. Smaller case sizes would be good as well so that you can put the pc somewhere inconspicuous. Thick Client: - This is just your basic office computer. Decent RAM, 8GB would be fine, and a hard drive of GB would be enough. Ensure the motherboard has enough inputs for dual monitors. Thin clients: - Don t build one of these; they are a waste of time. Home Server PC: - Used for file sharing and streaming, but it has fallen out of favor in all but the most hardcore circles. This is like the server equivalent of the home theater PC, with RAID drives instead of normal drives and network cards on steroids.

32 -10- Compare and contrast types of display devices and their features Display technology is changing rapidly, and every Consumer Electronics Show they come out with something new and more bizarre, like a waterfall TV. There are still some universal terms to know for displays Display Types I mention CRT or cathode ray tube, because like a cockroach they refuse to die! CRT s have an actual tube that displays color against a thick piece of glass. It has a built in capacitor that if you touch, you die quite literally it will discharge a massive bolt of electricity and you will be no longer part of the living crowd. If you see a CRT, smash it or recycle it as soon as you can. LCD: Liquid Crystal Display, and it actually is liquid crystals, millions of tiny crystals that move according to whatever platform the LCD is using. That is usually Twisted Nematic (TN) or In Plane Switching (IPS). In twisted nematic, the crystals actually twist to allow light through, and untwist as needed. In plan switching aligns the crystals to a specific visual plane. Most monitors these days use IPS. Plasma: Quality wise, plasma is amazing, and uses scintillators to light the plasma. The downside is cost and size, you need a minimum size of 32 inches, which is why you see very few plasma monitors on consumer and business desktops. Also, did I mention money? I did, and I mentioned it twice because they are expensive. Projectors: The best way to experience a movie is in your own home on your wall using a projector! There is a huge variety of projector on the market today, rear projection, 3D, interactive. For the most part they have the same

33 specs. All have lenses, some are fixed and some have zoom capabilities. All projectors use a lamp some of which are an actual bulb, and some that are lasers. There is also contrast ratio and native resolution to factor in; the contrast ratio is the measure of color, and the higher the ratio, the better the color depth. The native resolution is how it displays when attached to a PC or device, the higher the native resolution, the better the image. There are also Pico projectors, which are tiny hand held projectors for travel and just general amusement. I once hooked up my iphone to a Pico projector in the washroom so I could play Bejeweled on the stall door! There are some terms that apply to all display devices. Here are their definitions and explanations: Refresh/Frame Rates: This is the rate at which the screen redraws itself. You can sometimes see a line move from the bottom to the top of your display, causing a tiny bit of distortion. That means the refresh rate is too low. It should be around 75 Hz. Resolution: Measured as #x# like 1024x768. The higher the resolution, the sharper the image. Resolution can be limited by your display adapter, so if you have an ultra-expensive monitor, and a VGA cord attached to it, you aren t using the full power of the display. Native Resolution: Another way of saying default resolution. It s good to buy displays whose native resolution matches the cable, such as HDMI monitors or projectors with native resolutions of 1920x1080. Brightness/Lumens: Same things, both are brightness. This is usually referenced when talking about projectors. The higher the lumens, the easier it is to see in daylight, and if you are going a further distance or having to project a large image, more lumens are better. That being said, if you buy a 10,000

34 lumen projector for your bedroom, you may end up blinding yourself from the intensity. Analog vs digital: Analog is a continuous signal, digital isn t. Digital uses less power and is cheaper in the long run. Privacy/antiglare filters: People put these pieces of tinted plastic over their screen to prevent the bleed out effect of LCD monitors, some of which you can view at awkward angles. Straight on, the privacy and anti-glare filters work well, and at an angle you can only see darkness. Multiple Displays: Life is easier with two monitors, three is pushing the envelope, and 4 you would need special video card or a software KVM switch and a second computer. You can access the monitors under the properties menu of Windows and play around with location and what each screen displays. Aspect Ratios: This is the ration of width to height. The common ratios are 4:3, 16:10, and 16:9. So to read that, you now know why monitors are wider than they are taller.

35 -11- Identify common PC connector types and associated cables. There are a number of common connectors that computers use. Some you know like SATA and USB. Here are some of the others you need to know for the exam. DVI-D/DVI-I/DVI-A: DVI-D sends a digital signal to the monitor, while DVI- I sends digital and analog. DVI-A send a high quality analog signal, but not digital. If you are wondering why your cable doesn t fit into the DVI port, check to make sure the ends match. DisplayPort: Works very similar to HDMI and can send audio and video very quickly. It s good to have a video card that has both ports. There is also minidp which you find a lot on Macs, and Windows tablets, like the Surface Pro. These need an adapter to connect to a display. RCA: from the Radio Corporation of America, these are often called the red, yellow, and white cables, and offer a way to connect to the audio and video via component cables, or cables that are segmented by usage. HD15: 15 pin display cable, often called VGA BNC: This is a coaxial connector for coaxial network components. It stands for the Bayonet Neill Concelman minidin-6: Also called PS/2, used for older keyboards and mice The rest have been covered up to this point or are self-explanatory.

36 -12- Install and configure common peripheral devices This section focuses on how to plug things in. There are Input Devices, Output Devices, and Input/output devices. Input Devices are things like keyboards, microphones, joysticks, etc. the only ones of not are digitizers, which are essential keyboards, and biometric devices. Biometric devices are things like fingerprint readers and optical scanners. These devices associate a password to the biological object for security protection, which is cool and creepy. Output devices are things like monitors, speakers and printers. With both types of devices, always go to the manufacturer website and download the latest drivers and install them, for whatever devices you are installing. Dual devices that do input and output are interesting beasts. Touchscreens are monitors with pressure sensitive glass and USB built in. Very neat, but you need to buy a cleaning cloth and always be cleaning. KVM switches are a different tool altogether. This is a piece of hardware or software that allows the sharing of hardware resources, as an example you can hook one keyboard and mouse up to multiple monitors and computers. This works great in a lab where you have multiple computers and want avoid multiple keyboards all over the place. That s about it, make sure the ends match and plug them in, after you ve downloaded the latest drivers.

37 -13- Install SOHO MFC and configure appropriate setting/compare and contrast differences between the various print technologies and the associated imaging process/given a scenario, perform appropriate printer maintenance I ve bunched these outcomes altogether because they all involve printing in one form or another. I will compare the printing types, and then move onto configuration and then maintenance. Laser: Laser printing works like this, your file that you are printing is traced onto the paper with a laser, that drawing becomes statically charged, and then it passes to the image through toner. The toner is attracted to the page and then is passed through the fuser which heats up the ink and permanently adheres it to the page. Some of the components you need to be aware of are: Imaging Drum: this transfers the toner to the paper Fuser Assembly: usually a heated pressure roller, the paper passes through it to heat up and melt to the page. Transfer Belt: For high quality laser printer, a transfer belt is used to offer precise placement of toner Transfer Roller: transfers the ink to the paper Pickup Rollers: passes the paper properly through the printer Duplexing Assembly: This setup allows for two sided printing The imaging process is the entire process of the printer and involves charging different components of the printing assembly with positive and negative

38 charges via corona wires. It s not really relevant to know most of it unless you work for Canon. All you need to know is that the drum and toner can be replaced, anything else and it s more cost effective to get a new printer. Also, don t stick your hand or bread in the printer while it s printing. Inkjet printers are still very popular, and cost effective to buy. In fact, it s almost more cost effective to buy a new printer rather than pay for ink! Inkjet printers work through a print head the precisely places a dot of ink for every pixel it is printing. It s called inkjet because the ink is sprayed through jets. Thermal printers need special heat resistant paper or material. Thermal printers are often used for fashion but you see them all the time without realizing it, in credit card and point of sale receipts. It uses a waxy paper as the medium. Impact printing: Historically called dot matrix printing, it uses sheets of paper with carbon copy and slams print heads into it to create an impact that pushes the ink into the paper. It uses a ribbon cartridge and they can only be purchased from a small wise man living near the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Not really but they are incredibly hard to find. Installing printers is somewhat self-explanatory. Like any device, ensure you download and install the latest drivers from the website. Printers can connect via USB, wireless, or even networked via Ethernet. The big push is cloud based printing allowing you to print from any device, anywhere in the world. Shared printing resources are one of the biggest draws of client server networked environments, which we cover in the next few books. Troubleshooting printers is frustrating; I once had a printer that no matter what I did, it always printed in Russian. The components of laser and inkjet are easy to replace, you just slide out the old ink or toner, and slide in the new one, after you remove all of the plastic tags. It also is a good idea to schedule routine

39 maintenance and run cleaning sheets through the printers to pick up excess toner and ink. You also need to recalibrate your printer on occasion as humidity and moisture as well as use, can make the heads move off center. Humidity is a killer to printers, causes the paper to curl. Also, pets, they love to sit on printers because they warm up fast. Unfortunately the pet hair clogs the jets. And that s it for hardware. Next on the list is Networking. Talk to you next time!