UPGRADING & REPAIRING PCS

By LINDA JOHNSON

PROCESSOR FEATURES SMM (POWER MANAGEMENT) SUPERSCALAR EXECUTION MMX TECHNOLOGY 3DNOW!, ENHANCED 3DNOW!, AND PROFESSIONAL 3DNOW! DYNAMIC EXECUTION DUAL INDEPENDENT BUS ARCHITECTURE HYPER-THREADING TECHNOLOGY PROCESSOR MANUFACTURING PROCESSOR REMARKING PGA CHIP PACKAGING SINGLE EDGE CONTACT AND SINGLE EDGE PROCESSOR PACKAGING PROCESSOR SOCKET AND SLOT TYPES ZERO INSERTION FORCE SOCKET SOCKET 7 (AND SUPER7) SOCKET 370 (PGA-370) SOCKET A (SOCKET 462) PROCESSOR SLOTS CPU OPERATING VOLTAGES HEAT AND COOLING PROBLEMS HEATSINKS ACTIVE HEATSINKS INSTALLING A HEATSINK MATH COPROCESSORS (FLOATING-POINT UNITS) PROCESSOR BUGS PROCESSOR UPDATE FEATURE PROCESSOR CODENAMES INTEL-COMPATIBLE PROCESSORS (AMD AND CYRIX) AMD PROCESSORS CYRIX CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 DEVELOPMENT OF THE PC COMPUTER HISTORY—BEFORE PERSONAL COMPUTERS TIMELINE MECHANICAL CALCULATORS THE FIRST MECHANICAL COMPUTER ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS MODERN COMPUTERS FROM TUBES TO TRANSISTORS INTEGRATED CIRCUITS THE FIRST MICROPROCESSOR HISTORY OF THE PC BIRTH OF THE PERSONAL COMPUTER THE IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER THE PC INDUSTRY MORE THAN 20 YEARS LATER 2 PC COMPONENTS, FEATURES, AND SYSTEM DESIGN WHAT IS A PC? WHO CONTROLS PC SOFTWARE? WHO CONTROLS PC HARDWARE? PC DESIGN GUIDES SYSTEM TYPES SYSTEM COMPONENTS 3 MICROPROCESSOR TYPES AND SPECIFICATIONS PRE-PC MICROPROCESSOR HISTORY MICROPROCESSORS FROM 1971 TO THE PRESENT PROCESSOR SPECIFICATIONS DATA I/O BUS ADDRESS BUS INTERNAL REGISTERS (INTERNAL DATA BUS) PROCESSOR MODES PROCESSOR SPEED RATINGS PROCESSOR SPEEDS AND MARKINGS VERSUS MOTHERBOARD SPEED CYRIX PROCESSOR SPEEDS AMD PROCESSOR SPEEDS OVERCLOCKING CACHE MEMORY HOW CACHE WORKS LEVEL 2 CACHE CYRIX/IBM 6X86 (M1) AND 6X86MX (MII) INTEL PENTIUM 4 (SEVENTH-GENERATION) PROCESSORS MEMORY REQUIREMENTS POWER SUPPLY ISSUES EIGHTH-GENERATION (64-BIT REGISTER) PROCESSORS INTEL ITANIUM AND ITANIUM AMD ATHLON AMD OPTERON PROCESSOR UPGRADES OVERDRIVE PROCESSORS PROCESSOR BENCHMARKS PROCESSOR TROUBLESHOOTING TECHNIQUES 4 MOTHERBOARDS AND BUSES MOTHERBOARD FORM FACTORS PC AND XT FULL-SIZE AT BABY-AT LPX ATX MICRO-ATX FLEX-ATX ITX AND MINI-ITX NLX WTX PROPRIETARY DESIGNS BACKPLANE SYSTEMS MOTHERBOARD COMPONENTS PROCESSOR SOCKETS/SLOTS CHIPSETS CHIPSET EVOLUTION INTEL CHIPSETS AMD ATHLON/DURON CHIPSETS NORTH/SOUTH BRIDGE ARCHITECTURE HUB ARCHITECTURE INTEL’S EARLY 386/486 CHIPSETS FIFTH-GENERATION (P5 PENTIUM CLASS) CHIPSETS INTEL 430LX (MERCURY) INTEL 430NX (NEPTUNE) INTEL 430FX (TRITON) INTEL 430HX (TRITON II) INTEL 430VX (TRITON III) INTEL 430TX THIRD-PARTY (NON-INTEL) P5 PENTIUM CLASS CHIPSETS SIXTH-GENERATION (P6 PENTIUM PRO/II/III CLASS) CHIPSETS INTEL 450KX/GX (ORION WORKSTATION/SERVER) P1 (086) FIRST-GENERATION PROCESSORS 8088 AND 8086 PROCESSORS 80186 AND 80188 PROCESSORS 8087 COPROCESSOR P2 (286) SECOND-GENERATION PROCESSORS 286 PROCESSORS 80287 COPROCESSOR P3 (386) THIRD-GENERATION PROCESSORS 386 PROCESSORS 386DX PROCESSORS 386SX PROCESSORS 386SL PROCESSORS 80387 COPROCESSOR P4 (486) FOURTH-GENERATION PROCESSORS 486 PROCESSORS 486DX PROCESSORS 486SL 486SX 487SX DX2/OVERDRIVE AND DX4 PROCESSORS SYSTEMS AMD 486 (5X86) CYRIX/TI P5 (586) FIFTH-GENERATION PROCESSORS PENTIUM PROCESSORS FIRST-GENERATION PENTIUM PROCESSOR SECOND-GENERATION PENTIUM PROCESSOR PENTIUM-MMX PROCESSORS PENTIUM DEFECTS TESTING FOR THE FPU BUG POWER MANAGEMENT BUGS PENTIUM PROCESSOR MODELS AND STEPPINGS INTEL P6 (686) SIXTH-GENERATION PROCESSORS DUAL INDEPENDENT BUS OTHER SIXTH-GENERATION IMPROVEMENTS PENTIUM PRO PROCESSORS PENTIUM II PROCESSORS CELERON PENTIUM III PENTIUM II/III XEON OTHER SIXTH-GENERATION PROCESSORS AMD-K6 SERIES AMD ATHLON, DURON, AND ATHLON XP AMD DURON AMD ATHLON XP ATHLON MP INTEL 440FX (NATOMA) INTEL 440LX INTEL 440EX INTEL 440BX INTEL 440GX INTEL 450NX INTEL 815 FAMILY INTEL 820 AND 820E INTEL THIRD-PARTY (NON-INTEL) P6-CLASS CHIPSETS SEVENTH-GENERATION (PENTIUM 4) CHIPSETS INTEL 850 FAMILY INTEL 845 FAMILY INTEL 865 FAMILY INTEL 875P THIRD-PARTY PENTIUM 4 CHIPSETS HIGH-SPEED NORTH-SOUTH BRIDGE CONNECTIONS SIS CHIPSETS FOR PENTIUM ALI CORPORATION CHIPSETS FOR PENTIUM ATI CHIPSETS FOR PENTIUM VIA CHIPSETS FOR PENTIUM ATHLON/DURON/ATHLON XP CHIPSETS AMD CHIPSETS FOR ATHLON/DURON PROCESSORS VIA CHIPSETS FOR ATHLON, DURON, AND ATHLON XP SILICON INTEGRATED SYSTEMS CHIPSETS FOR AMD ATHLON/DURON PROCESSORS ALIMAGIK1 FOR AMD ATHLON/DURON SYSTEMS NVIDIA NFORCE CHIPSETS FOR ATHLON/DURON/ATHLON XP ATI RADEON IGP CHIPSETS FOR ATHLON/DURON/ATHLON XP INTEL WORKSTATION CHIPSETS FOR PENTIUM 4 AND XEON CHIPSETS FOR ATHLON SUPER I/O CHIPS MOTHERBOARD CMOS RAM ADDRESSES MOTHERBOARD INTERFACE CONNECTORS SYSTEM BUS TYPES, FUNCTIONS, AND FEATURES THE PROCESSOR BUS (FRONT-SIDE BUS) THE MEMORY BUS THE NEED FOR EXPANSION SLOTS TYPES OF I/O BUSES THE ISA BUS THE MICRO CHANNEL BUS THE EISA BUS LOCAL BUSES VESA LOCAL BUS THE PCI BUS PCI EXPRESS ACCELERATED GRAPHICS PORT SYSTEM RESOURCES INTERRUPTS DMA CHANNELS I/O PORT ADDRESSES RESOLVING RESOURCE CONFLICTS RESOLVING CONFLICTS MANUALLY USING A SYSTEM-CONFIGURATION TEMPLATE HEADING OFF PROBLEMS: SPECIAL BOARDS PLUG-AND-PLAY SYSTEMS MOTHERBOARD SELECTION CRITERIA (KNOWING WHAT TO LOOK FOR) DOCUMENTATION USING CORRECT SPEED-RATED PARTS 5 BIOS BIOS BASICS BIOS HARDWARE/SOFTWARE MOTHERBOARD BIOS ROM HARDWARE ROM SHADOWING ROM CHIP TYPES ROM BIOS MANUFACTURERS UPGRADING THE BIOS WHERE TO GET YOUR BIOS UPDATE DETERMINING YOUR BIOS VERSION BACKING UP YOUR BIOS’S CMOS SETTINGS REPLACING A BIOS ROM YEAR 2000 BIOS ISSUES CMOS SETTING SPECIFICATIONS RUNNING OR ACCESSING THE CMOS SETUP PROGRAM BIOS SETUP MENUS MAINTENANCE MENU MAIN MENU ADVANCED MENU SECURITY MENU POWER MENU BOOT MENU (BOOT SEQUENCE, ORDER) EXIT MENU ADDITIONAL BIOS SETUP FEATURES PLUG AND PLAY BIOS PNP DEVICE IDS ACPI INITIALIZING A PNP DEVICE BIOS ERROR MESSAGES GENERAL BIOS BOOT TEXT ERROR MESSAGES ROM BIOS MESSAGES INDICATING BOOT FAILURE (NO VALID MBR FOUND) 6 MEMORY MEMORY BASICS ROM DRAM CACHE MEMORY: SRAM RAM TYPES FAST PAGE MODE DRAM EXTENDED DATA OUT RAM SDRAM DDR SDRAM DDR2 SDRAM RDRAM MEMORY MODULES SIMMS, DIMMS, AND RIMMS SIMM PINOUTS DIMM PINOUTS DDR DIMM PINOUTS DDR2 DIMM PINOUTS RIMM PINOUTS PHYSICAL RAM CAPACITY AND ORGANIZATION MEMORY BANKS MEMORY MODULE SPEED GOLD VERSUS TIN PARITY AND ECC INSTALLING RAM UPGRADES UPGRADE OPTIONS AND STRATEGIES SELECTING AND INSTALLING MEMORY TROUBLESHOOTING MEMORY MEMORY DEFECT ISOLATION PROCEDURES THE SYSTEM LOGICAL MEMORY LAYOUT CONVENTIONAL (BASE) MEMORY UPPER MEMORY AREA EXTENDED MEMORY PREVENTING ROM BIOS MEMORY CONFLICTS AND OVERLAP TOTAL INSTALLED MEMORY VERSUS TOTAL USABLE MEMORY ADAPTER MEMORY CONFIGURATION AND OPTIMIZATION 7 THE ATA/IDE INTERFACE AN OVERVIEW OF THE IDE INTERFACE PRECURSORS TO IDE IDE ORIGINS IDE VARIATIONS ORIGINS OF ATA ATA STANDARDS ATA-1 (AT ATTACHMENT INTERFACE FOR DISK DRIVES) ATA-2 (AT ATTACHMENT INTERFACE WITH EXTENSIONS-2) ATA-3 (AT ATTACHMENT INTERFACE-3) ATA/ATAPI-4 (AT ATTACHMENT WITH PACKET INTERFACE EXTENSION-4) ATA/ATAPI-5 (AT ATTACHMENT WITH PACKET INTERFACE-5) ATA/ATAPI-6 (AT ATTACHMENT WITH PACKET INTERFACE-6) ATA/ATAPI-7 (AT ATTACHMENT WITH PACKET INTERFACE-7) ATA FEATURES ATA I/O CONNECTOR ATA I/O CABLE ATA SIGNALS DUAL-DRIVE CONFIGURATIONS ATA COMMANDS ATA UPGRADES SECONDARY ATA CHANNEL DRIVE CAPACITY LIMITATIONS FASTER DATA TRANSFER DMA TRANSFER MODES ATA PACKET INTERFACE SERIAL ATA ATA RAID 8 THE SCSI INTERFACE SMALL COMPUTER SYSTEM INTERFACE ANSI SCSI STANDARDS SPI OR ULTRA SCSI SPI-2 OR ULTRA2 SCSI SPI-3 OR ULTRA3 SCSI (ULTRA160) SPI-4 OR ULTRA4 SCSI (ULTRA320) SPI-5 OR ULTRA5 SCSI (ULTRA640) RAID ARRAYS FIBRE CHANNEL SCSI ISCSI SCSI CABLES AND CONNECTORS SCSI CABLE AND CONNECTOR PINOUTS SINGLE-ENDED SCSI CABLES AND CONNECTORS HIGH VOLTAGE DIFFERENTIAL SCSI SIGNALS EXPANDERS TERMINATION SCSI DRIVE CONFIGURATION START ON COMMAND (DELAYED START) SCSI PARITY TERMINATOR POWER SCSI SYNCHRONOUS NEGOTIATION PLUG AND PLAY SCSI SCSI CONFIGURATION TROUBLESHOOTING SCSI VERSUS ATA (IDE) SCSI HARD DISK EVOLUTION AND CONSTRUCTION PERFORMANCE SCSI VERSUS ATA: ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS RECOMMENDED SCSI HOST ADAPTERS, CABLES, AND TERMINATORS 9 MAGNETIC STORAGE PRINCIPLES MAGNETIC STORAGE HISTORY OF MAGNETIC STORAGE HOW MAGNETIC FIELDS ARE USED TO STORE DATA READ/WRITE HEAD DESIGNS FERRITE METAL-IN-GAP THIN FILM MAGNETO-RESISTIVE HEADS GIANT MAGNETO-RESISTIVE HEADS PERPENDICULAR HEAD SLIDERS DATA ENCODING SCHEMES FM ENCODING MFM ENCODING RLL ENCODING ENCODING SCHEME COMPARISONS PARTIAL-RESPONSE, MAXIMUM-LIKELIHOOD DECODERS CAPACITY MEASUREMENTS AREAL DENSITY INCREASING AREAL DENSITY WITH PIXIE DUST 10 HARD DISK STORAGE DEFINITION OF A HARD DISK HARD DRIVE ADVANCEMENTS HARD DISK DRIVE OPERATION THE ULTIMATE HARD DISK DRIVE ANALOGY TRACKS AND SECTORS DISK FORMATTING BASIC HARD DISK DRIVE COMPONENTS HARD DISK PLATTERS (DISKS) RECORDING MEDIA READ/WRITE HEADS HEAD ACTUATOR MECHANISMS AIR FILTERS HARD DISK TEMPERATURE ACCLIMATION SPINDLE MOTORS LOGIC BOARDS CABLES AND CONNECTORS CONFIGURATION ITEMS THE FACEPLATE OR BEZEL HARD DISK FEATURES CAPACITY RELIABILITY COST 11 FLOPPY DISK STORAGE HISTORY OF THE FLOPPY FLOPPY DRIVE INTERFACES DRIVE COMPONENTS THE HEAD ACTUATOR THE SPINDLE MOTOR CIRCUIT BOARDS THE CONTROLLER THE FACEPLATE CONNECTORS THE FLOPPY DISK CONTROLLER CABLE DISK PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND OPERATION HOW THE OPERATING SYSTEM USES A DISK CYLINDERS CLUSTERS OR ALLOCATION UNITS DISK CHANGE TYPES OF FLOPPY DISK DRIVES 1 44MB 3 1/2'' DRIVES OTHER FLOPPY DRIVE TYPES ANALYZING 3 1/2'' FLOPPY DISK CONSTRUCTION FLOPPY DISK MEDIA TYPES AND SPECIFICATIONS CARING FOR AND HANDLING FLOPPY DISKS AND DRIVES AIRPORT X-RAY MACHINES AND METAL DETECTORS DRIVE INSTALLATION PROCEDURES TROUBLESHOOTING FLOPPY DRIVES 12 HIGH-CAPACITY REMOVABLE STORAGE THE ROLE OF REMOVABLE-MEDIA DRIVES EXTRA STORAGE BACKING UP YOUR DATA COMPARING DISK, TAPE, AND FLASH MEMORY TECHNOLOGIES MAGNETIC DISK MEDIA MAGNETIC TAPE MEDIA FLASH MEMORY MEDIA INTERFACES FOR REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES OVERVIEW OF REMOVABLE MAGNETIC STORAGE DEVICES IOMEGA ZIP HARD-DISK-SIZE REMOVABLE-MEDIA DRIVES “ORPHAN” REMOVABLE-MEDIA DRIVES MAGNETO-OPTICAL DRIVES MAGNETO-OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY COMPARING MO TO “PURE” MAGNETIC MEDIA KEY FACTORS IN SELECTING A REMOVABLE DRIVE FLASH MEMORY DEVICES HOW FLASH MEMORY WORKS TYPES OF FLASH MEMORY DEVICES MOVING DATA IN FLASH MEMORY DEVICES TO YOUR COMPUTER MICRODRIVE TECHNOLOGY TAPE DRIVES HARD-DISK-BASED ALTERNATIVES TO TAPE BACKUP DISADVANTAGES OF TAPE BACKUP DRIVES ADVANTAGES TO TAPE BACKUP DRIVES COMMON TAPE BACKUP STANDARDS COMPARING TAPE BACKUP TECHNOLOGIES CHOOSING A TAPE BACKUP DRIVE TAPE DRIVE INSTALLATION TAPE DRIVE BACKUP SOFTWARE TAPE DRIVE TROUBLESHOOTING TAPE RETENSIONING 13 OPTICAL STORAGE OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY CD-BASED OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY CDS: A BRIEF HISTORY CD-ROM CONSTRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY CARING FOR OPTICAL MEDIA DVD DVD HISTORY DVD CONSTRUCTION AND TECHNOLOGY DVD TRACKS AND SECTORS HANDLING ERRORS DVD CAPACITY (SIDES AND LAYERS) DATA ENCODING ON THE DISC BLU-RAY DISC OPTICAL DISC FORMATS COMPACT DISC AND DRIVE FORMATS CD-ROM FILE SYSTEMS DVD FORMATS AND STANDARDS DVD COPY PROTECTION CD/DVD READ-ONLY DRIVES AND SPECIFICATIONS PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS INTERFACE LOADING MECHANISM OTHER DRIVE FEATURES WRITABLE CDS CD-R CD-RW MULTIREAD SPECIFICATIONS HOW TO RELIABLY RECORD CDS RECORDING SOFTWARE CREATING MUSIC CDS RECORDABLE DVD STANDARDS DVD-RAM DVD-R DVD-RW DVD+RW MULTIFORMAT REWRITABLE DRIVES CD/DVD DRIVE AND SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND SUPPORT BOOTING FROM A FLOPPY DISK WITH CD/DVD DRIVE SUPPORT BOOTABLE CDS AND DVDS—EL TORITO REMOVABLE DRIVE LETTER ASSIGNMENTS CREATING A RESCUE CD MAKING A BOOTABLE CD/DVD FOR EMERGENCIES TROUBLESHOOTING OPTICAL DRIVES FAILURE READING A CD/DVD FAILURE TO READ CD-R, CD-RW DISCS IN CD- ROM OR DVD DRIVE FAILURE TO READ A REWRITABLE DVD IN DVD- ROM DRIVE OR PLAYER FAILURE TO CREATE A WRITABLE DVD FAILURE WRITING TO CD-RW OR DVD-RW 1X MEDIA ATAPI CD-ROM OR DVD DRIVE RUNS SLOWLY POOR RESULTS OR SLOW PERFORMANCE WHEN WRITING TO CD-R MEDIA TROUBLE READING CD-RW DISCS ON CD-ROM TROUBLE READING CD-R DISCS ON DVD DRIVE TROUBLE MAKING BOOTABLE CDS UPDATING THE FIRMWARE IN A CD-RW OR REWRITABLE DVD DRIVE 14 PHYSICAL DRIVE INSTALLATION AND CONFIGURATION INSTALLING ALL TYPES OF DRIVES HARD DISK INSTALLATION PROCEDURES DRIVE CONFIGURATION HOST ADAPTER CONFIGURATION PHYSICAL INSTALLATION SYSTEM CONFIGURATION FORMATTING LOW-LEVEL FORMATTING DRIVE PARTITIONING HIGH-LEVEL (OPERATING SYSTEM) FORMATTING FDISK AND FORMAT LIMITATIONS REPLACING AN EXISTING DRIVE DRIVE MIGRATION FOR MS-DOS USERS DRIVE MIGRATION FOR WINDOWS 9X/ME USERS INTERFACING TO DISK DRIVES HARD DISK DRIVE TROUBLESHOOTING AND REPAIR TESTING A DRIVE INSTALLING AN OPTICAL DRIVE AVOIDING CONFLICT: GET YOUR CARDS IN ORDER EXTERNAL (SCSI) DRIVE HOOKUP INTERNAL DRIVE INSTALLATION RIBBON CABLE AND CARD EDGE CONNECTOR SCSI CHAINS: INTERNAL, EXTERNAL, OR BOTH FLOPPY DRIVE INSTALLATION PROCEDURES 15 VIDEO HARDWARE VIDEO DISPLAY TECHNOLOGIES HOW CRT DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY WORKS DVI—DIGITAL SIGNALS FOR CRT MONITORS LCD PANELS VIDEO ADAPTER TYPES MONITOR SELECTION CRITERIA THE RIGHT SIZE RESOLUTION DOT PITCH (CRTS) IMAGE BRIGHTNESS AND CONTRAST (LCD PANELS) INTERLACED VERSUS NONINTERLACED ENERGY AND SAFETY FREQUENCIES CONTROLS ENVIRONMENT TESTING A DISPLAY MAINTAINING YOUR MONITOR VIDEO DISPLAY ADAPTERS OBSOLETE DISPLAY ADAPTERS CURRENT DISPLAY ADAPTERS SUPER VGA VESA SVGA STANDARDS INTEGRATED VIDEO/MOTHERBOARD CHIPSETS VIDEO ADAPTER COMPONENTS IDENTIFYING THE VIDEO AND SYSTEM CHIPSETS VIDEO RAM THE DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER THE BUS THE VIDEO DRIVER MULTIPLE MONITORS 3D GRAPHICS ACCELERATORS HOW 3D ACCELERATORS WORK COMMON 3D TECHNIQUES ADVANCED 3D TECHNIQUES APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACES 3D CHIPSETS UPGRADING OR REPLACING YOUR VIDEO CARD TV TUNER AND VIDEO CAPTURE UPGRADES WARRANTY AND SUPPORT COMPARING VIDEO CARDS WITH THE SAME CHIPSET VIDEO CARDS FOR MULTIMEDIA VIDEO FEATURE CONNECTORS VIDEO OUTPUT DEVICES VIDEO CAPTURE DEVICES DESKTOP VIDEO BOARDS ADAPTER AND DISPLAY TROUBLESHOOTING TROUBLESHOOTING MONITORS TROUBLESHOOTING VIDEO CARDS AND DRIVERS 16 AUDIO HARDWARE EARLY PC AUDIO ADAPTERS LIMITATIONS OF SOUND BLASTER PRO COMPATIBILITY DIRECTX AND AUDIO ADAPTERS PC MULTIMEDIA HISTORY SUGGESTED MULTIMEDIA MINIMUMS AUDIO ADAPTER FEATURES BASIC CONNECTORS CONNECTORS FOR ADVANCED FEATURES VOLUME CONTROL MIDI SUPPORT FEATURES DATA COMPRESSION MULTIPURPOSE DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSORS SOUND DRIVERS CHOOSING THE BEST AUDIO ADAPTER FOR YOUR NEEDS GAMING DVD MOVIES ON YOUR DESKTOP VOICE DICTATION AND CONTROL SOUND PRODUCERS PLAYING AND CREATING DIGITIZED SOUND FILES AUDIO ADAPTER CONCEPTS AND TERMS THE NATURE OF SOUND EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF YOUR AUDIO ADAPTER SAMPLING WHO’S WHO IN AUDIO CHIPSET MAKERS WHO MAKE THEIR OWN AUDIO ADAPTERS MAJOR SOUND CHIP MAKERS MOTHERBOARD CHIPSETS WITH INTEGRATED AUDIO AOPEN TUBESOUND 3D AUDIO POSITIONAL AUDIO 3D AUDIO PROCESSING DIRECTX SUPPORT ISSUES INSTALLING THE SOUND CARD CONNECTING PC SPEAKERS AND COMPLETING THE INSTALLATION USING YOUR STEREO INSTEAD OF SPEAKERS TROUBLESHOOTING SOUND CARD PROBLEMS HARDWARE (RESOURCE) CONFLICTS OTHER SOUND CARD PROBLEMS SPEAKERS THEATER AND SURROUND SOUND CONSIDERATIONS MICROPHONES 17 I/O INTERFACES FROM SERIAL AND PARALLEL TO IEEE-1394 AND USB INTRODUCTION TO INPUT/OUTPUT PORTS USB AND IEEE-1394 (I LINK OR FIREWIRE) WHY SERIAL? UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS USB CONNECTORS COMPARING IEEE-1394 AND USB STANDARD SERIAL AND PARALLEL PORTS SERIAL PORTS TYPICAL LOCATIONS FOR SERIAL PORTS UARTS HIGH-SPEED SERIAL PORT CARDS ONBOARD SERIAL PORTS SERIAL PORT CONFIGURATION TESTING SERIAL PORTS PARALLEL PORTS IEEE-1284 PARALLEL PORT STANDARD UPGRADING TO EPP/ECP PARALLEL PORTS PARALLEL PORT CONFIGURATION LINKING SYSTEMS WITH SERIAL OR PARALLEL PORTS PARALLEL-TO-SCSI CONVERTERS TESTING PARALLEL PORTS 18 INPUT DEVICES KEYBOARDS ENHANCED 101-KEY (OR 102-KEY) KEYBOARD 104-KEY (WINDOWS 9X/ME/2000/XP) KEYBOARD USB KEYBOARDS NOTEBOOK COMPUTER KEYBOARDS NUM LOCK KEYBOARD TECHNOLOGY KEYSWITCH DESIGN THE KEYBOARD INTERFACE TYPEMATIC FUNCTIONS KEYBOARD KEY NUMBERS AND SCAN CODES INTERNATIONAL KEYBOARD LAYOUTS KEYBOARD/MOUSE INTERFACE CONNECTORS KEYBOARDS WITH SPECIAL FEATURES KEYBOARD TROUBLESHOOTING AND REPAIR KEYBOARD DISASSEMBLY CLEANING A KEYBOARD KEYBOARD RECOMMENDATIONS POINTING DEVICES BALL-TYPE MICE OPTICAL MICE POINTING DEVICE INTERFACE TYPES MOUSE TROUBLESHOOTING SCROLL WHEELS TRACKPOINT II/III/IV MOUSE AND POINTING STICK ALTERNATIVES TRACKBALLS 3M’S ERGONOMIC MOUSE INPUT DEVICES FOR GAMING ANALOG JOYSTICKS AND THE GAME PORT USB PORTS FOR GAMING COMPATIBILITY CONCERNS PROGRAMMABLE GAME CONTROLLERS CHOOSING THE BEST GAME CONTROLLER WIRELESS INPUT DEVICES HOW WIRELESS INPUT DEVICES WORK WIRELESS POINTING DEVICE ISSUES TROUBLESHOOTING WIRELESS INPUT DEVICES 19 INTERNET CONNECTIVITY RELATING INTERNET AND LAN CONNECTIVITY COMPARING BROADBAND AND ANALOG MODEM INTERNET ACCESS BROADBAND INTERNET ACCESS TYPES HIGH SPEED = LESS FREEDOM CABLE MODEMS AND CATV NETWORKS CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET WITH A “CABLE MODEM” THE CABLE MODEM AND THE CATV NETWORK CATV BANDWIDTH CATV PERFORMANCE CATV INTERNET CONNECTION SECURITY DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE HOW DSL WORKS WHO CAN USE DSL—AND WHO CAN’T MAJOR TYPES OF DSL DSL PRICING DSL SECURITY ISSUES TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH DSL FIXED-BASE WIRELESS BROADBAND INTERNET CONNECTIVITY VIA SATELLITE WITH DIRECWAY OR STARBAND DIRECWAY STARBAND INTEGRATED SERVICES DIGITAL NETWORK HOW STANDARD ISDN WORKS ACQUIRING ISDN SERVICE ISDN HARDWARE COMPARING HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS HAVING A BACKUP PLAN IN CASE OF SERVICE INTERRUPTIONS LEASED LINES T-1 AND T-3 CONNECTIONS COMPARING CONVENTIONAL HIGH-SPEED SERVICES SECURING YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION ASYNCHRONOUS (ANALOG) MODEMS MODEM STANDARDS BITS AND BAUD RATES MODULATION STANDARDS ERROR-CORRECTION PROTOCOLS DATA-COMPRESSION STANDARDS PROPRIETARY STANDARDS 56KBPS MODEMS 56KBPS LIMITATIONS EARLY 56KBPS STANDARDS FAX MODEM STANDARDS ANALOG MODEM RECOMMENDATIONS SHARING YOUR INTERNET CONNECTION COMPARING GATEWAYS, PROXY SERVERS, AND ROUTERS MICROSOFT INTERNET CONNECTION SHARING ROUTERS FOR INTERNET SHARING INTERNET TROUBLESHOOTING DIAGNOSING PROBLEMS WITH A SHARED INTERNET CONNECTION DIAGNOSING CONNECTION PROBLEMS WITH SIGNAL LIGHTS ANALOG MODEM FAILS TO DIAL COMPUTER LOCKS UP AFTER INSTALLING OR USING INTERNAL MODEM, TERMINAL ADAPTER, OR NETWORK CARD COMPUTER CAN’T DETECT EXTERNAL MODEM USING YOUR MODEM SOUND TO DIAGNOSE YOUR MODEM 20 LOCAL AREA NETWORKING FOCUS OF THIS CHAPTER DEFINING A NETWORK TYPES OF NETWORKS REQUIREMENTS FOR A NETWORK CLIENT/SERVER VERSUS PEER NETWORKS CLIENT/SERVER NETWORKS PEER-TO-PEER NETWORK COMPARING CLIENT/SERVER AND PEER-TO-PEER NETWORKS NETWORK PROTOCOLS OVERVIEW ETHERNET HARDWARE ELEMENTS OF YOUR NETWORK NETWORK INTERFACE CARDS NETWORK CABLES NETWORK TOPOLOGIES HUBS AND SWITCHES FOR ETHERNET NETWORKS NETWORK CABLE INSTALLATIONS SELECTING THE PROPER CABLE BUILDING YOUR OWN TWISTED-PAIR CABLES WIRELESS NETWORK STANDARDS WI-FI—A STANDARD UPON A STANDARD 802 11 NETWORK HARDWARE BLUETOOTH WIRELESS NETWORK LOGICAL TOPOLOGIES NETWORK PROTOCOLS IP AND TCP/IP IPX NETBEUI OTHER HOME NETWORKING SOLUTIONS HOMEPNA POWERLINE NETWORKING HOME NETWORKING COMPARED TO ETHERNET UTP SOLUTIONS PUTTING YOUR NETWORK TOGETHER NETWORK ADAPTER CABLES AND CONNECTIONS BETWEEN COMPUTERS HUB/SWITCH/ACCESS POINT GATEWAYS FOR NON-ETHERNET NETWORKS RECORDING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR NETWORK INSTALLING NETWORKING SOFTWARE TIPS AND TRICKS INSTALLATION SHARING RESOURCES SETTING UP SECURITY SHARING INTERNET CONNECTIONS DIRECT CABLE CONNECTIONS TROUBLESHOOTING A NETWORK NETWORK SOFTWARE SETUP NETWORKS IN USE TCP/IP 21 POWER SUPPLY AND CHASSIS/CASE CONSIDERING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE POWER SUPPLY PRIMARY FUNCTION AND OPERATION POSITIVE DC VOLTAGES NEGATIVE DC VOLTAGES THE POWER_GOOD SIGNAL POWER SUPPLY FORM FACTORS PC/XT STYLE AT/DESK STYLE AT/TOWER STYLE BABY-AT STYLE LPX STYLE ATX STYLE NLX STYLE SFX STYLE MOTHERBOARD POWER CONNECTORS AT POWER SUPPLY CONNECTORS ATX MAIN POWER CONNECTOR ATX AUXILIARY POWER CONNECTOR ATX12V CONNECTOR DELL PROPRIETARY (NONSTANDARD) ATX DESIGN POWER SWITCH CONNECTORS PERIPHERAL POWER CONNECTORS PERIPHERAL AND FLOPPY DRIVE POWER CONNECTORS PHYSICAL CONNECTOR PART NUMBERS POWER SUPPLY SPECIFICATIONS POWER SUPPLY LOADING POWER SUPPLY RATINGS OTHER POWER SUPPLY SPECIFICATIONS POWER FACTOR CORRECTION POWER SUPPLY SAFETY CERTIFICATIONS POWER-USE CALCULATIONS POWER CYCLING POWER MANAGEMENT ENERGY STAR SYSTEMS ADVANCED POWER MANAGEMENT ADVANCED CONFIGURATION AND POWER INTERFACE POWER SUPPLY TROUBLESHOOTING OVERLOADED POWER SUPPLIES INADEQUATE COOLING USING DIGITAL MULTIMETERS SPECIALIZED TEST EQUIPMENT REPAIRING THE POWER SUPPLY OBTAINING REPLACEMENT UNITS DECIDING ON A POWER SUPPLY SOURCES FOR REPLACEMENT POWER SUPPLIES CHASSIS/CASE CUSTOM CASES POWER-PROTECTION SYSTEMS SURGE SUPPRESSORS (PROTECTORS) PHONE LINE SURGE PROTECTORS LINE CONDITIONERS BACKUP POWER RTC/NVRAM (CMOS RAM) BATTERIES 22 BUILDING OR UPGRADING SYSTEMS CASE AND POWER SUPPLY PROCESSOR MOTHERBOARD FLOPPY DISK AND REMOVABLE DRIVES HARD DISK DRIVES OPTICAL DRIVES INPUT DEVICES VIDEO CARD AND DISPLAY AUDIO HARDWARE ACCESSORIES HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE RESOURCES SYSTEM ASSEMBLY AND DISASSEMBLY ASSEMBLY PREPARATION MOTHERBOARD INSTALLATION INSTALLING THE CPU AND HEATSINK INSTALLING MEMORY MODULES MOUNTING THE NEW MOTHERBOARD IN THE CASE CONNECTING THE POWER SUPPLY CONNECTING I/O AND OTHER CABLES TO THE MOTHERBOARD INSTALLING THE DRIVES REMOVING THE EXISTING VIDEO CARD (IF PRESENT) INSTALLING THE NEW VIDEO CARD AND DRIVER SOFTWARE INSTALLING ADDITIONAL EXPANSION CARDS REPLACING THE COVER AND CONNECTING EXTERNAL CABLES RUNNING THE MOTHERBOARD BIOS SETUP PROGRAM (CMOS SETUP) TROUBLESHOOTING NEW INSTALLATIONS INSTALLING THE OPERATING SYSTEM PARTITIONING THE DRIVE WITH DOS AND WINDOWS 9X AND ME FORMATTING THE DRIVE WITH DOS AND WINDOWS 9X AND ME PREPARING THE HARD DRIVE WITH WINDOWS 2000/XP LOADING THE CD-ROM DRIVER INSTALLING IMPORTANT DRIVERS DISASSEMBLY/UPGRADING PREPARATION 23 PC DIAGNOSTICS, TESTING, AND MAINTENANCE PC DIAGNOSTICS DIAGNOSTICS SOFTWARE THE POWER ON SELF TEST HARDWARE DIAGNOSTICS GENERAL-PURPOSE DIAGNOSTICS PROGRAMS OPERATING SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS THE HARDWARE BOOT PROCESS THE BOOT PROCESS: OPERATING SYSTEM INDEPENDENT THE DOS BOOT PROCESS THE WINDOWS 9X/ME BOOT PROCESS WINDOWS NT/2000/XP STARTUP PC MAINTENANCE TOOLS HAND TOOLS A WORD ABOUT HARDWARE SOLDERING AND DESOLDERING TOOLS TEST EQUIPMENT SPECIAL TOOLS FOR THE ENTHUSIAST PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE ACTIVE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES PASSIVE PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES TROUBLESHOOTING TIPS AND TECHNIQUES BASIC TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDELINES MODERN PCS—MORE COMPLICATED AND MORE RELIABLE INDUSTRY-STANDARD REPLACEABLE COMPONENTS REINSTALL OR REPLACE? TROUBLESHOOTING BY REPLACING PARTS TROUBLESHOOTING BY THE BOOTSTRAP APPROACH PROBLEMS DURING THE POST HARDWARE PROBLEMS AFTER BOOTING PROBLEMS RUNNING SOFTWARE PROBLEMS WITH ADAPTER CARDS TOP TROUBLESHOOTING PROBLEMS WHEN I POWER THE SYSTEM ON, I SEE THE POWER LED LIGHT AND HEAR THE FANS SPIN, BUT NOTHING ELSE EVER HAPPENS THE SYSTEM BEEPS WHEN I TURN IT ON, BUT THERE IS NOTHING ON THE SCREEN I SEE A STOP OR STOP ERROR IN WINDOWS NT/2000/XP I SEE FATAL EXCEPTION ERRORS IN WINDOWS 95/98/ME THE SYSTEM WON’T SHUT DOWN IN WINDOWS THE POWER BUTTON WON’T TURN OFF THE SYSTEM THE MODEM DOESN’T WORK THE KEYBOARD DOESN’T WORK I CAN’T HEAR ANY SOUND FROM THE SPEAKERS THE MONITOR APPEARS COMPLETELY GARBLED OR UNREADABLE THE IMAGE ON THE DISPLAY IS DISTORTED (BENT), SHAKING, OR WAVERING I PURCHASED AN UPGRADED AGP VIDEO CARD, AND IT WON’T FIT IN THE SLOT I INSTALLED AN UPGRADED PROCESSOR, BUT IT WON’T WORK THE SYSTEM RUNS FINE FOR A FEW MINUTES BUT THEN FREEZES OR LOCKS UP I AM EXPERIENCING INTERMITTENT PROBLEMS WITH THE HARD DRIVE(S) THE SYSTEM WON’T BOOT UP; IT SAYS MISSING OPERATING SYSTEM ON THE SCREEN THE SYSTEM IS EXPERIENCING INTERMITTENT MEMORY ERRORS THE SYSTEM LOCKS UP FREQUENTLY AND SOME- TIMES REBOOTS ON ITS OWN I INSTALLED A 60GB DRIVE IN MY SYSTEM, BUT IT IS RECOGNIZING ONLY 8 4GB MY CD-ROM/DVD DRIVE DOESN’T WORK MY USB PORT OR DEVICE DOESN’T WORK I INSTALLED AN ADDITIONAL MEMORY MODULE, BUT THE SYSTEM DOESN’T RECOGNIZE IT I INSTALLED A NEW DRIVE, BUT IT DOESN’T WORK AND THE DRIVE LED REMAINS LIT WHILE I WAS UPDATING MY BIOS, THE SYSTEM FROZE AND NOW THE SYSTEM IS DEAD! I INSTALLED A NEW MOTHERBOARD IN AN OLDER DELL SYSTEM, AND NOTHING WORKS I INSTALLED A PCI VIDEO CARD IN AN OLDER SYS- TEM WITH PCI SLOTS, AND IT DOESN’T WORK 24 FILE SYSTEMS AND DATA RECOVERY FILE SYSTEMS FILE ALLOCATION TABLE NTFS DISK AND FILE SYSTEM STRUCTURES MASTER BOOT RECORD PRIMARY AND EXTENDED FAT PARTITIONS VOLUME BOOT RECORDS ROOT DIRECTORY FILE ALLOCATION TABLES CLUSTERS (ALLOCATION UNITS) THE DATA AREA DIAGNOSTIC READ-AND-WRITE CYLINDER VFAT AND LONG FILENAMES FAT32 CLUSTER SIZES FAT MIRRORING CREATING FAT32 PARTITIONS FAT FILE SYSTEM ERRORS LOST CLUSTERS CROSS-LINKED FILES INVALID FILES OR DIRECTORIES FAT ERRORS FAT FILE SYSTEM UTILITIES THE RECOVER COMMAND SCANDISK DISK DEFRAGMENTATION THIRD-PARTY PROGRAMS NEW TECHNOLOGY FILE SYSTEM NTFS ARCHITECTURE NTFS 5 (NTFS 2000) NTFS COMPATIBILITY CREATING NTFS DRIVES NTFS TOOLS HIGH PERFORMANCE FILE SYSTEM DATA RECOVERY THE WINDOWS RECYCLE BIN AND FILE DELETION RECOVERING FILES THAT ARE NOT IN THE RECYCLE BIN RETRIEVING DATA FROM PARTITIONED AND FORMATTED DRIVES USING THE NORTON DISK EDITOR DAT