A+ Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC / Jean Andrews

Content
Chapter one
How computers work
Hardware
Hardware used for input and output
Hardware inside the computer case
Components used primarily for processing
Software
Three types of software and what they do


Chapter two How software and hardware work together
The boot, or startup, process
How software manages hardware resources
Protecting Data, Software and Hardware
etc.

Chapter three The system board
Types of system boards
The CPU and chip set
Relating CPU attributes to bus architecture
The earlier intel CPUs
ROM BIOS
RAM (Random Access Memory)
etc.

Chapter four Understanding and managing memory
Physical memory
ROM on the system board
RAM on the system board
How DOS and windows 9x view memory



Chapter five Floppy drives
Introduction to how data is physical stored on a disk
How data is physically stored on a disk
The formatting process
Using DOS to manage a floppy disk
Exchanging and supporting Floppy Drive


Chapter six Introduction to hard drives
Hard drive technology
IDE technology
Enhanced IDE (EIDE) drives
SCSI technology
How Hard Drive is Logically Organized to hold Data
Operating system commands to manage a hard drive
Optimizing a Hard drive
etc.

Chapter seven Hardware drive installation and support
Installing a hardware drive
Physical of IDE or SCSI hard drivers
Installing an IDE hard drives
Informing setup of the new hard drive
etc.

Chapter Eight Troubleshooting fundamentals
Troubleshooting, perspectives
Protect your self, the hardware and the software
Troubleshooting Hard drives and data recovery
Bootable rescue disk
How to Isolate Computer problems and device a Course of action
etc.

Chapter Nine Supporting 1/0 devices
Basic principles of peripheral installations
A review of a system resources
Hardware devices
Devices drivers
Using portsand expansion slots for Add-on Device
SCSI Devices
etc.

Chapter ten Multimedia technology
The right tools for the job
Bits and still bits
Multimedia on a PC
Multimedia fundamentals
Devices supporting multimedia
etc

Chapter Eleven
Electricity and power supply
Introduction to basic electricity
Voltage Amps
The relationship between voltage and current
Ohms
Measuring the voltage of a power supply
etc.

Chapter Twelve Supporting window 3.x and windows 9.x
Supporting windows 3.x
Loading and running windows 3.x
Windows 3.x initialization and application information
Windows 3.x installations
Supporting Windows 9X
etc.

Chapter thirteen Understanding and supprot windows NT workstation
Windows NT vs windows 9X
Features NT
Choosing between windows 9x and windows NT.
Upgrading from windows 9x to windows NT
The Windows NT environment and architecture
etc.

Chapter Fourteen Purchasing a PC or building your own.
Selecting a personal computer to meet your needs
Preparing to build your own PC
Getting ready for assembly: selecting parts
Getting ready for assembly: final preparations
Preparing to build your own PC
etc.

Chapter Fifteen Communication over phone lines
Communication layers
All about modems
How modems are rated
Modem features
Computer hardware to modem communication
Communication software
Troubleshooting guideline
etc.

Chapter Sixteen Networking fundamentals and the internet
An overview of networking
The OSI layer network model
Network architectures
Ethernet
Token ring
Networking Hardware
etc.

Chapter Seventeen Printers and notebook computers
Printers
How printers work
Supporting printers
Sharing printers over a network
Notebook Computers
etc

Chapter Eighteen
Viruses, disaster recovery, and maintenance plan that works
Preventive maintenance
A preventive maintenance plan
When moving equipment
Disposing of used equipment
Viruses and other Computer Infestations
etc

Chapter Nineteen The professional PC technician
What customers want: beyond technical know how
Support calls providing good services
Planning for good services
Making a service call
Record keeping and information tool
Professional Organisations and Certifications

Includes index