This site is 100% ad supported. Please add an exception to adblock for this site.

Review Questions A+ Chpt 1-6

Terms

undefined, object
copy deck
1. Why is all data stored in a computer in binary form?
Binary is the format that the computer “understands,” not a programming language or a human language. All instructions between hardware and software in a computer are reduced to a simple yes or no, a state of on or off.
2. What are the four primary functions of hardware?
Input, processing, output, and storage
3. What three things do electronic hardware devices need in order to function?
A method for the CPU to communicate with the device, software to instruct and control the device, and electricity to power the device
4. How many bits are in a byte?
Eight
5. What is the purpose of an expansion slot on a motherboard?
An expansion slot on a motherboard is used for an expansion card, which enables a device that is not on the motherboard to communicate with the CPU.
6. Which component on the motherboard is used primarily for processing?
The CPU (central processing unit)
7. Name three CPU manufacturers
Intel, AMD, Cyrix
8. What technology is most often used to manufacture microchips?
CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor)
9. What is the largest circuit board inside a computer case?
The motherboard
10. What are two other names for the system bus?
Memory bus, host bus, front side bus, external bus
11. What are two other names for the motherboard?
Main board, system board
12. List three types of ports that are often found coming directly off the motherboard to be used by external devices.
Serial port, parallel port, USB port
13. List three kinds of memory chips
SIMMs (single inline memory modules), DIMMs (dual inline memory modules), RIMMs (Rambus inline memory modules)
14. What is the difference in volatile and nonvolatile memory?
Volatile memory is temporary and needs a constant electrical charge to hold data. Nonvolatile memory is permanent and holds memory even when electricity is turned off
15. What technology provides for up to four devices on a system including the hard drive as one of those devices?
EIDE (enhanced integrated device electronics)
16. How many floppy drives can connect to one floppy drive cable inside a computer case?
2
17. What is the size of the data path on most system buses today?
64 bits
18. What is the measurement of frequency of a system bus and CPU? Which is faster, the system bus or the CPU?
Frequency is generally measured in Hz or MHz. The CPU is faster than the system bus
19. Name four types of buses that are likely to be on a motherboard today.
PCI (peripheral component interconnect), AGP (accelerated graphics port), ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), system bus
20. What type of expansion slot do older and slower devices use?
ISA slot
21. What is the easiest way to identify the purpose of a particular expansion card?
Identify the port on the back of the card
22. ROM BIOS chips that can be upgraded without replacing the chips are called ________.
Flash ROM
23. Name three devices that might connect to a USB port on a computer.
Possible answers: Mouse, printer, scanner, connection to a digital camera or camcorder
24. List three ways that configuration information can be stored on a motherboard.
Through ROM, physical switches, or the CMOS configuration chip
25. What is the purpose of the battery on the motherboard
To power CMOS RAM that holds the boardÂ’s configuration information
1. List three well-known OSs
DOS, Windows 9x (95, 98, Me), Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, OS/2, Linux, UNIX, Mac OS
2. Which operating system is only used on Apple Macintosh computers?
MAC OS
3. What is the latest Microsoft operating system for desktop computers?
Windows XP
4. Which operating system often used for server applications is a scaled-down version of UNIX?
Linux
5. List four system resources that software uses to manage hardware
IRQ numbers, memory addresses, I/O addresses, and DMA channels
6. What is the IRQ of the system timer?
Zero
7. What IRQ does COM2 use?
Three
8. Which DMA channel is used to cascade into the lower four DMA channels?
Four
9. Name one way BIOS and device drivers are the same. Name one way they are different.
Both are written to interface with specific hardware devices. BIOS is permanently stored on microchips, and device drivers are stored on the hard drive and then accessed as needed.
10. Memory above 1024K is called _____.
Extended memory
11. What Windows 9x utility allows you to see the IRQ assignments made to devices?
Device Manager
12. Name one system resource that a video card most likely will not need.
IRQ
13. Where in memory are 32-bit device drivers stored?
In extended memory
14. Is a mouse more likely to be controlled by a device driver or by system BIOS?
By a device driver
15. Name one device that is likely to be controlled by system BIOS
Keyboard, floppy disk drive
16. How is a hardware interrupt initiated?
A hardware interrupt is initiated by a hardware device sending an IRQ to the CPU.
17. If memory addresses are used by the CPU to access memory, then what are I/O addresses used for?
The CPU uses I/O addresses to access hardware devices. Devices “listen” for their I/O addresses on the address bus and respond to only those requests for information that carry their I/O addresses.
18. What is the I/O address range for the keyboard?
0060-006F
19. Why are DMA channels not as popular as they once were with high-speed devices?
Because their design makes them slower than newer methods of sending data directly to memory
20. Name a device that uses polling in order to be serviced by the CPU.
A joystick
21. What is the name of the memory extender program used by DOS and Windows 9x?
Himem.sys
22. Real mode operates using a ___-bit data path, and protected mode uses a ____-bit data path.
16, 32
23. Which Microsoft operating system is composed of some 16-bit code and some 32-bit code?
Windows 9x
24. Real mode allows programs direct access to ____, but protected mode does not.
Hardware devices including memory
25. When a 32-bit OS provides an environment for a 16-bit application, the application is running in ___ mode.
Virtual real mode
26. When an OS uses part of a hard drive to act like memory, what is the file on the hard drive called that is used for this virtual memory?
Swap file, or page file
27. List three text files that Windows 9x supports for loading device drivers in order to remain backward compatible with DOS and Windows 3.x.
Config.sys, autoexec.bat, and system.ini
28. List three types of information that are kept in the Windows registry.
OS configuration data, user settings, application settings
29. Using Device Manager, what do you look for to indicate that a device driver is likely to be 16-bit software?
An exclamation point, which indicates that there is a problem with a device driver, often because it is a 16-bit driver
30. Device drivers loaded from Config.sys run in ____ mode.
Real
31. Device drivers loaded from Autoexec.bat run in _____ mode.
Real
32. Device drivers loaded from the Windows registry run in ____ mode.
Protected
List four ways an application can be launched from the Windows desktop.
· By double-clicking a shortcut icon on the desktop
· By clicking Start, pointing to Programs, and selecting the program from a list of installed software
· By using the Run command from the Start menu
· Double-clicking a filename in My Computer or Windows Explorer
1. What is the difference between a hard boot and a soft boot?
A hard boot usually involves restarting the computer by pressing the on/off switch. A soft boot is performed from the operating system, such as by pressing the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del or by choosing a Restart option from the Shut Down dialog box.
2. What three keys can you press to perform a soft boot when using DOS?
CTRL-ALT-DEL
3. What are the four main parts of the boot process?
· BIOS checks hardware through POST.
· ROM BIOS program searches for and loads an OS.
· The OS configures the system and completes its own loading.
· The user executes applications software.
4. Which Windows operating system does not support Plug and Play?
Windows NT
5. Which Windows operating systems supporting Plug and Play do not make use of Plug and Play information presented to the OS by startup BIOS?
Windows 2000, Windows XP
6. What is the memory address always assigned to the first instruction in the ROM BIOS startup program?
FFFF0h
7. How does startup BIOS communicate errors during POST if video is not yet available?
Beep codes
8. Name the program that is needed to locate the beginning of the OS on a drive.
The MBR (master boot record)
9. List three types of information contained in a hard driveÂ’s partition table.
· How many partitions are present
· Where each partition begins and ends
· Which partition is the active partition
10. Give one example of a file system that can be used on a hard drive
Possible answers: FAT 16, FAT 32, NTFS
11. What three OS files are necessary to boot to MS-DOS mode? What is the function of each? What additional two files are not required but are used if they are present?
Io.sys (contains the basic I/O software for real mode), msdos.sys (contains parameters and switches that affect the way the OS boots), and command.com (contains more code to manage I/O, programs for internal OS commands such as Copy and Dir, and a short program
that looks for the Autoexec.bat file). Autoexec.bat and Config.sys are not required but are used if they are present.
12. Name at least three program files that are included in the Ebd.cab file.
Attrib.exe, chkdsk.exe, debug.exe, edit.com, extract.exe, format.com, mscdex.exe, scandisk.exe, scandisk.ini, sys.com
13. Why is it important not to edit Autoexec.bat with word-processing software such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect?
Because word processing programs place control characters in their documents that prevent the OS from interpreting the autoexec.bat file correctly
14. Give two ways to access a command prompt from Windows 9x
By clicking Start, Run and entering command.com at the prompt or by clicking Start, Programs, MS-DOS prompt
15. What is the /S switch used for with the Format command? the /V switch? the /F:size switch?
The /S switch is used to include the Io.sys, Msdos.sys, and Command.com files on a disk to make it bootable. The /V switch allows you to enter a volume label only once when formatting several disks. The /F:size switch specifies the size of a floppy disk.
16. What is the name of the single directory created when a floppy disk or logical drive is first formatted?
The root directory
17. Name the Windows 98 command that is used to partition a hard drive.
The Fdisk command is used to partition a hard drive.
18. The ____ command changes the operating system name assigned to a hard drive, and the ____command erases files or groups of files.
Label, Del or Erase
19. What command line would you use to list files that can be undeleted without actually undeleting them?
Undelete /List
20. Explain the difference between the Diskcopy command, the Copy command, and the Xcopy command.
The Diskcopy command makes an exact copy of one floppy disk to another disk of the same size and type. The Copy command copies a single file or group of files. The Xcopy command also copies files or groups of files but is more powerful than the Copy command and offers more options, such as the option to copy an entire directory (/D), to overwrite existing files without prompting (/Y), or to keep copying even when there is an error (/C).
21. What command is used to create a subdirectory? to change the current directory? to remove a subdirectory?
Mkdir, Chdir, Rmdir
22. The ______ command displays or changes the read-only, archive, system, and hidden characteristics of files.
Attrib
23. What command is used to list where the OS should look to find executable program files?
Path
24. Explain the difference between the Chkdsk and Scandisk commands.
The Chkdsk and Scandisk commands both find and repair file errors, but the Chkdsk command is mostly outdated by the Scandisk command, which is more thorough and provides more options. Unlike Chkdsk, Scandisk does a surface scan and checks for potentially bad sectors.
25. What is a hidden file? Name a Windows 9x file that is hidden.
A hidden file is a file not displayed in the directory list. Io.sys is an example of a hidden file.
26. The ______ Console in Windows 2000 can be used to execute commands when troubleshooting a failed system.
Recovery
27. What is the purpose of the Ebd.cab file on the Windows 98 startup disk?
The Ebd.cab file contains compressed utility programs such as Chkdsk.exe, Debug.exe, and Edit.com for use on the system.
28. What icon in the Windows 98 Control Panel is used to create a startup disk?
Add/Remove Programs
29. What is the purpose of the Oakcdrom.sys file on the Windows 98 startup disk?
Driver file for a CD-ROM drive
30. List the steps to add a shortcut to your Windows desktop to access a command prompt window.
Locate the program file (Command.com or Cmd.exe) in Windows Explorer and, while holding down the Ctrl key, drag the icon to your desktop. Another way to create the shortcut is to click Start, point to Programs, Accessories, and Command Prompt. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Create Shortcut from the shortcut menu.
31. At a command prompt, how must you type long filenames that contain spaces?
Enclose the file name in double quotes
32. When using a real-mode command prompt, how will DOS display the filename Mydocument.doc?
Mydocum~.doc
33. If a PC boots first to the hard drive before checking the floppy disk for an OS, how do you change this boot sequence so that it first looks on the floppy disk for an OS?
Make the change in CMOS setup
1. Describe three similarities a closed-circuit water system has with a closed-circuit electrical system.
· Water flows down because of the law of gravity; electricity flows from negative to positive because of like charges repelling each other.
· Both water and electrons seek a place of rest.
· A water pump produces water pressure; a battery produces electrical pressure in a system.
· Both systems have an element, such as a water wheel in the water system or a light bulb in the electrical system, which harnesses force and converts it to energy.
2. Volts are a measure of what characteristic of electricity?
The potential difference in charge on either side of a device in an electrical system
3. What is the normal voltage of house electricity in the U.S.?
110 volts to 120 volts
4. Why must an ammeter be installed in line with the circuit in order to measure amps?
So that electrons will flow through the ammeter
5. Which of the three must be measured with the power off, volts, amps, or ohms? Why?
Ohms must be measured with the power off because ohms is a measure of resistance to electricity and does not require the electricity to be present in order for this resistance of electricity to be measured. Amps and volts are measures of electricity, which must be present in order for the measurement to take place.
6. Describe the relationship between volts, amps, and ohms in a circuit
Voltage and current have a direct relationship. This means that when voltage increases, current increases. Resistance has an inverse relationship with voltage and current. This means that as resistance increases, either current or voltage decreases. As resistance decreases, either current or voltage increases. This last statement is known as OhmÂ’s Law. A similar statement defines the relationship among the units of measure: volts, amps, and ohms. One volt drives a current of one amp through a resistance of one ohm.
7. What are the five voltages produced by an ATX power supply?
+5, -5, +12, -12, and +3.3
8. What are the four voltages produced by an AT power supply?
+5, -5, +12, and -12
9. How much power does a load drawing 15A with 120V across it consume?
600 watts
10. What is the difference between a transformer and a rectifier? Which are found in a PC power supply?
A rectifier is a device that converts alternating current to direct current. A transformer is a device that changes the ratio of current to voltage. A computer power supply functions as both.
11. Describe the purpose of the ground line in a house circuit. Show the electrical symbol for ground.
The electricity on the hot line is seeking the path of least resistance, which is usually through some device that controls its current flow as it moves to the neutral line that goes back to the power source. Sometimes there is an easier path than through any controlling device, and the electricity follows that path, causing a short. This sudden increase in the flow of electricity can damage a person or a piece of equipment. The ground line keeps the uncontrolled flow of electricity from continuing indefinitely.
(The symbol for ground is a vertical line with three horizontal lines underneath it as shown on Page 130.)
12. What is the basic electronic building block of an integrated circuit?
The transistor
13. Why is a power supply dangerous even after the power is disconnected?
Capacitors inside a PC power supply create the even flow of current needed by the PC. Capacitors maintain their charge long after current is no longer present, which is why the inside of a power supply can be dangerous even when power is disconnected.
14. What is the symbol for a diode?
The symbol for a diode is a vertical and horizontal line with an arrow head at the point of intersection of the two lines. See Page 91.
15. What is a simple way to detect EMI?
On an inexpensive AM radio, turn the tuning dial away from a station into a low-frequency range. With the radio on, you can hear the static produced by EMI. Try putting the radio next to several electronic devices to detect the EMI they emit.
16. What is an unintended, high-current, closed connection between two points in a circuit called?
A short, or short circuit
17. What DVM setting do you use to determine if a fuse is good?
The continuity setting
18. What DVM voltage range do you use to measure house current voltage, 110 V or 120 V? Why?
To measure the voltage of house current, if you expect the voltage to be 115 volts, set the voltage range from 0 to somewhere between 120 and 130 volts. You want the high end of the range to be slightly higher than the expected voltage. Most meters do not allow a very large voltage or current into the meter when the range is set low to protect the meter.
19. With the PC power turned on, if you have set a DVM to measure voltage and place one probe on a ground lead of a hard drive power connection and the other probe on the computer case, what will be the voltage reading?
Zero
20. Which form factor uses a riser card on the edge of the motherboard?
LPX
21. List five types of computer cases. What is the most popular type of computer case for PCs today?
This question could have been better worded! If you take it to mean the computer caseÂ’s form factor, then the answer is the AT, ATX, LPX, NLX, and backplane form factors. If you take the question to mean the size of the computer case, then the answer is mini-tower, midsize tower, full-size tower, desktop and slimline desktop cases.
22. List three advantages an ATX system has over a baby AT system
Makes it easier to add and remove components, provides greater support for I/O devices, and lowers costs
23. List four computer symptoms that indicate a faulty power supply.
· The PC sometimes halts during booting. After several tries, it boots successfully.
· Error codes or beep codes occur during booting, but the errors come and go.
· The computer stops or hangs for no reason. Sometimes it might even reboot itself.
· Memory errors appear intermittently.
· Data is written incorrectly to the hard drive.
· The keyboard stops working at odd times.
· The motherboard fails or is damaged.
· The power supply overheats and becomes hot to the touch.
24. If you measure the voltage of a power supply and find it to be within acceptable ranges, why is it still possible that the power supply may be faulty?
Because problems with power supplies are intermittent (they can come and go)
25. How much power can a device use in sleep mode if it complies with Green Standards?
No more than 30 watts
26. Name one thing that can be set in CMOS that pertains to power management.
Green timer on the motherboard, doze time, standby time, suspend time, hard drive standby time
27. How can you easily tell if a computer is designed to comply with Green Standards?
See whether it displays the green Energy Star logo onscreen when the PC is booting
28. Name two surge suppressor specifications.
Shunt type that absorbs the surge and a series type that blocks the surge from flowing. Some suppressors use a combination of these two types.
29. What measurement in ohms will a multimeter show for a good fuse?
Zero
30. What are the two main types of uninterruptible power supplies?
Standby and inline
31. How does an intelligent UPS differ from one that is not intelligent?
An intelligent UPS can be controlled by software from a computer to allow additional functionality.
32. If you are asked to identify the form factor of a motherboard, what are two criteria you can use to help you identify the board?
Look for how the expansion slots are oriented in reference to the CPU and look for the type of power connector the board is using.
33. What are three motherboard form factors that can be used with a compact case?
NLX, LPX, or mini-LPX
1. What are the four most popular types of motherboard form factors?
AT, Baby AT, ATX, Mini ATX
2. How many power cords connect to a Baby AT motherboard?
Two
3. Name 10 components that are contained on a motherboard.
CPU, chip set, system clock, ROM BIOS, CMOS configuration chip, CMOS battery, RAM, RAM cache, system bus with expansion slots, jumpers and DIP switches, ports that are directly on the board, power supply connections
4. If a motherboard has a slot 1, what CPU(s) is it designed to support?
Pentium II and later Pentiums
5. Why would you want both ISA and PCI expansion slots on a motherboard?
With the speeds of different hardware components evolving at different rates, a single speed for all components is no longer practical.
6. When people speak of bus size, what are they specifically referring to?
The width of the data path on the bus which can be 8, 16, 32, 64 or more bits.
7. What characteristics of the motherboard architecture determine the amount of memory that a CPU can address?
The number of traces, or wires, on the bus that are used for memory addresses
8. What was the first Intel CPU to contain external cache?
Pentium Pro
9. If you know the system bus speed, how can you determine the CPU speed?
The memory bus X the multiplier = the CPU speed. You can use jumpers on the motherboard to set the memory bus speed or bus clock. The jumpers set the multiplier, which then determines the CPU speed or processor speed.
10. When is it appropriate to use a Celeron rather than a Pentium II in a computer system?
The Celeron is appropriate for use in low-end multimedia 9x PCs.
11. Which is more powerful, the Celeron or the Xeon processor?
Xeon
12. What are the two major competitors of Intel in the CPU market?
Cyrix and AMD
13. Why did the competitors of the Intel Pentium II choose to stay with Socket 7 rather than use Slot 1 for their competing processors?
Because Intel patented Slot 1
14. What must software developers do to take advantage of a 64-bit processor such as the Itanium?
The software does not need to be rewritten, but it does need to be recompiled by the software compiler (such as the COBOL or Visual Basic compiler) so that the software relates to the OS using 64-bit access rather than the older 32-bit access.
15. What component inside a computer case keeps a CPU cool?
CPU fan and heat sink
16. Describe the difference between a PGA socket and an SPGA socket.
In a PGA (pin grid array) socket, pins are aligned in uniform rows around the socket. In an SPGA (staggered pin grid array) socket, the pins are staggered over the socket to squeeze more pins into a smaller space.
Name a CPU that requires dual voltage. How are the two voltages used?
Pentium MMX, Cyrix M2, and AMD K6 CPUs all use dual voltage. These CPUs use one voltage for external operations and another for internal operations.
Name a CPU that uses Socket A.
AMD Athlon and AMD Duron
What are the speeds of the most popular motherboards currently available on the market?
100, 133, 200, and 400 MHz
Name three manufacturers of motherboard chip sets.
Intel, Cyrix, SiS, Ali Inc., Standard Microsystems Corp., United Microelectronics Corp., VIA Technology Inc. combined with AMD Inc, VLSI Technology Inc
Name the three most popular manufacturers of system BIOS programs
AMI BIOS, Award BIOS, Compaq, Dell, IBM, Micro Firmware (BIOS upgrades), Phoenix BIOS, Unicore (BIOS upgrades)
22. What is one reason to flash BIOS?
In order to add new hardware that is not supported by your current BIOS such as a large hard drive
23. What is the easiest way to obtain the latest software to upgrade BIOS?
Go to the Web site of the BIOS or motherboard manufacturer
24. What is the name for the bus that connects L2 cache to the CPU inside the Pentium II processor housing?
back side bus, or cache bus
25. Why is it best to install drives into a computer case before you install the motherboard?
Because when installing the drives, you might accidentally drop them and you donÂ’t want to drop them on the motherboard already installed
26. Why don't all buses on a motherboard operate at the same speed?
Because not all devices to which the buses are connected transmit data at the same speed. The speeds of different hardware components are evolving at different rates.
27. What are the four categories of cargo that are carried over a bus?
Electrical power, control signals, memory addresses, and data
28. What is the speed or frequency of the 16-bit ISA bus? the PCI bus?
For the 16-bit ISA bus, the speed is 8.77 MHz. For the PCI bus, the speed is the memory bus speed divided by 2 (or, for faster boards, divided by 3)
29. Describe how you can access the CMOS setup program.
By pressing certain keys (depends on the specific computer and CMOS program) during the boot process
30. What advantage does a USB port have over serial ports?
Devices that connect to a USB port are generally easier to configure than devices that connect to a serial port.
1. Name two ways that a SIMM and a DIMM are alike. Name two ways they are different.
Both are rated by their speed and the amount of memory they hold, both store DRAM, and both have used EDO and FPM in the past. SIMMs hold smaller amounts of memory (from 256K to 16 MB) than DIMMs (8 MB to 1 GB) and have fewer pins.
2. What are the two possible numbers of pins on a DIMM? on a SIMM? on a RIMM?
DIMM—168 or 184, SIMM – 30 or 72, RIMM—184 or 232
3. Which is likely to be more expensive, a 512 MB DIMM or a 512 MB RIMM? Why?
A RIMM because Rambus holds the patent on the RIMM technology and royalties must be paid by the module manufacturer.
4. How many notches are on a DDR SDRAM module?
One
5. How does a memory cache speed up computer processing?
By providing more space to hold data and instructions as they are processed, speeding up access time to main memory
6. Explain how L1 cache, L2 cache, and L3 cache differ.
L1 cache is located on the CPU die. L2 cache is located either inside the CPU housing or, in older systems, on the motherboard. L3 cache is located on the motherboard when there is L2 cache in the CPU housing.
7. What types of memory can you use for a 100-MHz motherboard?
SDRAM and SDRAM II
8. If your motherboard supports FPM memory, will EDO memory still work on the board?
Yes. If your motherboard supports FPM memory, you can substitute EDO memory, but it will not increase system performance.
9. Looking at a SDRAM DIMM, how can you know for certain the voltage needed by the module?
Look at the notch on the right side of the module.
10. How many 30-pin SIMMs are installed in one bank?
Four
11. How many 72-pin SIMMs are installed in one bank?
Two
12. What are two current speeds of RIMMs?
800 MHz and 1066 MHz
13. List at least four things you can do if you receive memory errors during a memory upgrade.
Possible answers are:
· Check that you have the right memory modules supported by your motherboard.
· Check that you have installed the right size modules as stated in the motherboard documentation. Verify each module that was already installed or newly installed.
· Remove and reinstall the module. Make sure it is seated in the socket at the same height as other modules.
· Remove the newly installed memory and check if the error message disappears. Try the memory in different sockets. Try installing the new memory without the old installed. If the new memory works without the old, then the problem is the modules are not compatible.
· Clean the module edge connectors with a soft cloth or contact cleaner. Blow or vacuum dust from the memory sockets.
· Try flashing your BIOS. Perhaps BIOS is having problems with the new memory which can be solved by a BIOS upgrade.
14. What might be a symptom in Windows of unreliable memory on a motherboard?
A general protection fault or other memory error
15. List at least four things you can do if you receive memory errors during normal operation when you have not recently upgraded memory.
Possible answers:
· Run a current version of anti-virus software to check for viruses.
· Run diagnostic software such as PC-Technician to test memory.
· Are the memory modules properly seated? Remove and reinstall each one. For a DIMM module, try a different memory slot.
· Look for bent pins or chips installed the wrong way on cache memory.
· Replace memory modules one at a time. For example, if the system only recognizes six out of eight megabytes of RAM, swap the last two SIMM modules. Did the amount of recognized RAM change? You might be able to solve the problem just by reseating the modules.
· Sometimes a problem can result from a bad socket or a broken trace (a fine printed wire or circuit) on the motherboard. If so, you might have to replace the entire motherboard.
· The problem might be with the OS or applications. Download the latest patch for the software from the manufacturer’s Web site.
· If you have just installed new hardware, the hardware device might be giving an error, which is interpreted by the OS as a memory error. Try uninstalling the new hardware.
· A Windows error that occurs randomly and contains this or similar text, “exception fault 0E at >>0137:BFF9z5d0,” probably indicates a memory error. Test, reseat, or replace RAM.
16. If your motherboard supports ECC SDRAM memory, can you substitute SDRAM memory that does not support ECC? If your motherboard supports buffered SDRAM memory, can you substitute unbuffered SDRAM modules?
You can substitute non-ECC memory on an ECC board, and the error-checking feature will be shown disabled in CMOS. You cannot use unbuffered SDRAM on a motherboard that supports buffered memory as evidenced by the fact that the notches on buffered DIMMs are in different positions on the DIMM than for unbuffered DIMMs.
17. If your motherboard calls for 60-ns memory, can you substitute 70-ns memory? Why, or why not?
The smaller the number, the faster the memory. You should not use memory slower than the recommended memory speed.
18. When buying memory, what can you look for that might indicate that the memory is remanufactured?
If the date stamps on the chip are more than a year old, the memory is probably used.
19. What are the two major categories of static RAM memory?
Internal cache and external cache
20. How did FPM improve earlier memory modes? What improvements did EDO make over FPM?
FPM improved on the earlier memory types by sending the row address just once for many accesses to memory near that row. Earlier memory types required a complete row and column address for each memory access. EDO eliminated the 10-ns delay that was required with FPM.
21. When might there not be any SRAM on a motherboard?
When all SRAM is contained inside the CPU housing
22. What are the three types of memory that Windows 9x manages? What are the memory address ranges for each?
Conventional memory - Memory below 640K
Upper memory – 640K to 1 MB
Extended memory – Above 1 MB
23. What is the hexadecimal address range for upper memory?
A0000 – FFFFF
24. Name the two utilities that Windows uses to manage memory above 640K. Give a brief description of each.
Himem.sys – A memory extender, manages memory above 1 MB
EMM386.exe – Allows drivers and other programs to be loaded into upper memory
25. What is the DOS=HIGH,UMB command used for? Explain both parts of the command.
DOS=HIGH – Loads part of DOS into the high memory area
DOS=UMB – Creates upper memory blocks

Deck Info

179

permalink