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Computer Hardware
Computer hardware is a general term used to refer to all the physical parts of a computer. Internal hardware devices include hard drives and motherboards, while external hardware devices include monitors, mice, keyboards, and printers.
11,849 Questions
What are two CPU manufacturers?
- IBM
- Freescale
- Intel
- AMD
- Rockwell-Collins
- Texas Instruments
- Analog Devices (Digital Signal Processors)
- Nvidia
The original "IBM and the 7 dwarfs" of the 1960s were:
- IBM
- Univac
- Honeywell
- Burroughs
- Control Data Corporation
- NCR
- RCA
- General Electric
How does the format command prepare a disk for use?
Formatting a hard drive can/will do a few different things depending on the type of formatting you do, and what you are formatting. Floppy drives and hard drives are formatted differently.
Simple semi-technical answer
Formatting clears the FAT tables so the drive appears empty to anything using it. This way all files are effectively erased at once. Formatting may also actually clear every bit on the hard drive and re-write it with a zero. This takes much longer however.
Long non-technical Answer
For the sake of simplification, imagine your hard drive as a book. Initially, a book is just a bunch of pieces of blank paper glued together. Lets say it's 100 pages. You're going to use this book to make paintings on each page. You'll need page numbers and a table of contents so you can find each painting quickly. You also leave a little box on the bottom to title each painting, that way if you draw a duck, and the title says it's a bird, you'll know something is wrong, and disregard the painting.
So now you have page numbers, a table of contents, and a title. Those things all take up space. So you had 100 pages, now you only have 95 pages worth of free space.
A low level format will erase everything from every page of your book, so every page is as blank as the day it was made. It will then create an empty table of contents, make sure each page of the book isn't damaged, put page numbers down, and make a box on each page for the title. Usually, this level of housecleaning isn't needed. A high level format is much easier.
A high level format, or "quick format" as it's called in windows, will just erase the table of contents. All the paintings are still there, but as far as the table of contents shows, any page in the book can be used. Now you can write in the table of contents that page 12 has a bird, then you can turn to page 12, paint a bird over whatever painting was there before, and write "beautiful white bird, at sunset" in the title.
If you do a high level format, remember that your drawings aren't gone, they simply aren't labled. It is possible to take a high level formatted drive, and recreate the table of contents by looking at each page, and figuring out what's drawn. That is assumeing your drawing hasn't already been drawn over of course.
I hope my oversimplification helps. There are some terms that you may have heard:
FAT: File Allocation Table. This is the table of contents. There are two of these, they're identical so if one gets messed up, you can look at the other one to figure out what's missing.
Checksum or CRC: This is what I refer to as the "title" of each painting. Harddrives use these to make sure that the data written to the platter is read back correctly.
Sector: This is sort of like a page number. They are a predefined size, say 512 bytes. If you have a file that's only 100 bytes big, the harddrive will put that file into one sector, and the other 412 bytes will be empty. If you have a file that is 1000 bytes long, it will use two sectors (or pages) to store everything.
NTFS or FAT32: This refers to how the data is structured on the drive. You could very losely compre this to what language the description is written in. German, French, etc. === === Note that, while a low level format will make the disk unreadable to the average user, sophisticated and expensive techniques exist that can read even overwritten data on a magnetic medium disk. The DOD (US Department of Defense) disk blanking protocol required 6 passes of rewrite before they considered a disk cleaned. The first pass would typically be to set all the bits on -- so 111111. The second pass would be 000000. Third would be 010101. Fourth would be 101010. Fifth and six would be the same as passes one and two. As DOD requires this, we can safely assume that lesser methods of disk erasure are not secure. In the cases of really sensitive data, even massive degaussing is considered questionable. What works better is to remove the magnetic/ferric coating from the disk. Acids that etch metal and particularly iron work well for this, although the process is dangerous, and of course destroys the equipment.
3 factors to consider when choosing memory?
Standard (DDR, DDR2, DDR3 as it must be the same as your motherboard)
Speed (800, 1066, 1333 again must match the motherboard for optimization, can't exceed it)
Size/capacity (GBS, # of sticks)
A printer is an output device... UNLESS it's an 'all-in-one' in which case it's an input device too !
What was the first computer proccessing power?
Could you describe me about what the first proccessing of computer when we turn on the button first? Best regards, Sarim
List four types of computer case form factors?
ATX (most commonly used today), BTX, LPX, NLX, backplane systems, and the outdated AT
form factor
pages 143-150 of A+ Guide to Managing & Maintaining Your PC, Sixth Edition by Jean Andrews
~pattyvonne
There are the four types of computers.
Microcomputers (personal computer)
Minicomputer(mid range computer)
Mainframe computers.
supercomputers.
Does the distance between the two computers matter How does it affect the network?
The distance between two operating computers have no effect on each other. Unlike many electronic devices, computers towers themselves do not emit enough electro magnetic interference to cause harm to anything surrounding it. CRT monitors, however, can affect each other. When turning on a CRT that is closely positioned to another monitor, the second one will shake and flicker until the first one is fully on. This is only temporary because of its EMI. LCD monitors do not have this affect, nor are affected.
Concerning the network - there are no affects of cross talk between two computers that may harm information on the network lines.
In SDRAM what is rising and falling edges?
In SDRAM, rising and falling edges are the opposite edges of a memory module through which data can be transferred. SDRAMs that are designed this way are called DDR (double data rate) SDRAMs.
Can XP compatible peripherals run on windows 98?
Sometimes, yes. Being compatible with XP doesn't make the device incompatible with Windows 98.
* USB keyboards and mice work fine. * Most older sound cards (say before 2004) should work fine. Some RealTek integrated chipsets may still work. * Ethernet cards should work. * Wireless-G cards should work. I am unaware of any "N" cards that support Windows 98. * Older video cards (before 2004) should work. Very few new ones do. * USB Flash drives and external hard drives work if you install a driver in Windows 98. Drives over 127 GB will give you problems. Windows 98 cannot read NTFS-formatted drives without extra software.
* 56k modems should work. * Bluetooth is extremely iffy on Windows 98; don't invest any money in a dongle if you aren't sure it will work. * Most new USB printers do not work. * The Nintendo wireless adapter for the DS does not work. * SATA drives do not work unless the BIOS is switched to legacy mode. * Windows 98 cannot read HD-DVD / Blu-Ray discs. The drives will still work fine for reading DVDs and CDs.
Should fastest RAM be placed in the slot closest to processor or memory controller?
If you have a mix of RAM devices with different speed capabilities on a motherboard, the memory bus will work on speed of the slowest memory. Then it does not matter which slot you put which memory.
- Neeraj Sharma
What is the name of a port of Brazil?
Santos Port (Porto de Santos) is the biggest and the most important port in Brazil. It's located about 80 quilometers from São Paulo city.
What piece of hardware IDE cables connect?
IDE cables in computers are used to connect Hard Disk Drives and CD/DVD Drives to the motherboard.
- Neeraj Sharma
Modem is used to connect one or more devices. It is also used to connect internet.the full form of modem is modulator demodulator.
What are the types of resistor?
There are many types of Resistors , which can be classified in many ways.
The fundamental classification is based on the Power Handling Rating , which breaks up into Power Resistors & Low power resistors.
Power Resistors can handle large Powers & Currents. These are generally made
of High Resistance alloys like Nichrome , which are used in heaters , toasters etc. Some types of small power resistors are also used in electronic circuits which handle large currents like in power supplies etc. Infact the incandescent lamp is a special form of power resistor.
Low power resistors are usually used in electronic circuitry , which again have different power capacity ratings usually less than 1watt to small surface mounted devices which are rated for few tenths of milliwatts.
Another important classification is based on the stability of the resistor material & hence its ohmic values. Such resistors are used for precision applications like measuring circuits , meters etc.
Then there are specialised forms of clasification depending on application e.g
Positive & Negative Temeprature coefficient resistors ( Thermistors ) are used for temperature sensing , Voltage Dependent resistors are used in protection circuitry, High Voltage resistors are used where requires for high voltage
( kilovolts ) electronic circuitry like X Ray , Laser & Electrostatic Power supplies.
What are parts that work together in a computer are called the computer?
While it is possible to have a computer without one or more of these items, most computers have these, as well as others
The above is a VERY good answer because Rashean29 is smart enough to know that many 'extra' items are not needed for a computer to be a true computer. The question is actually 40+ years old and was asked of me in an engineering class back in 1968. Back then it was 'What are the 5 parts of a computer.'
Technically s computer does NOT need storage, aka a hard drive or a floppy etc to be a computer. It also only needs 1 input device and 1 output device to be 'functional.' Most computers today have multiples in each of those categories.
It needs:
CPU (for processing commands)
Input (from a keyboard, or a floppy, a hard drive etc to input both commands and data)
Output ( to a monitor, a printer, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards etc)
Memory ( the place an actual program and or data that the CPU uses MUST reside)
The 5th item I alluded to is the Arithmetic Processor. The CPU proocesses the commands while the Arithmetic Processor manipulates the data to add, subtract, multiply and divide. In today's computers (post-1985) the CPU and the Arithmetic Processor are on the same chip. Previously, for those who remember the Z80 and the 8080 processors, for more "computing power" you could install an Aritmetic Processor to upgrade the PC and give the built-in arithemtic processor more capability.
HOW DO WE DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN an input device and office data entry device?
An input device is any device that enables feeding of information into a computer, including office data entry devices. An office data entry device is one that is purely used for keying in data into a computer e.g. a mouse and a keyboard.
What does EMC means electronics and frequency related?
EMC stands for Electro Magnetic Compatibility
renju
Is a trackball an input or output?
I'm pretty sure it's an input. The computer registers the input of the rotation of the ball, than the mouse on the screen moves, that being the output.
How do you add com2 to the connection ports?
If your system only has one COM: port, you will have to physically add in a card or USB-RS232 serial adapter, and follow the installation instructions.
If your system has 2 COM: ports, make sure that in the CMOS (BIOS) settings, that the port isn't disabled or assigned as an InfraRed port.
Also, make sure that you physically have the connectors at the back of the unit available. Many motherboards offer COM2: only as an option, and it requires an optional (not included) cable that hooks to the motherboard.
What is the worst Trojan Horse virus to date?
vundo B is a bad Trojan, but trojans are created all the time and there is no way of knowing what is the worst, a question would be what is the worst most popular Trojan on the net to date.
An RF modulator is a device that converts video and/or audio into radio waves for use with a television set. In the 1980's, many computers were produced which could be attached to an existing television set. If you were not using a separate monitor, then you'd need an RF modulator to convert the signals of the computer to work with a television. Nowadays, with the new television sets, such converters are no longer necessary, since most televisions now have some of the most common computer connectors and can attach directly using the correct cables.
What indicates a bad memory stick?
If your PC fails to boot, or displays a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death), occasionally this is caused by a faulty stick of ram.
One thing you could do to test the ram, is to download a program called memtest. Have a look at this website, for more details
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/
Hope this helps
be safe
Cadishead Computers
AnswerI'm the one who asked the question. Just to clarify - I'd like to understand how I might know when one of my RAM memory sticks on my Dell PC might be deteriorating or has gone bad. Thank you. AnswerI'm the one who asked the question. Just to clarify - I'd like to understand how I might know when one of my RAM memory sticks on my Dell PC might be deteriorating or has gone bad. Thank you.Answer
There is as far as im aware, no physical way of telling if a ram stick is going bad, apart from the issues, i stated above.
The simplest way of telling, is to download the program memtest, this will physically test the ram sticks, and let you know if it is deteriorating.
Sorry I cant be of more use to you at this time.
Be safe
Cadishead Computers
