KIIT POLYTECHNIC

Lecture Note

On

Computer Hardware & Maintenance

Prepared by

Amalendu Kumar Pradhan, Lecturer

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

Email- amalendufcs@kp.kiit.ac.in
 CONTENTS

SL No. TOPICS PAGE

UNIT-1
1 1-4
Computer Center Management
UNIT-2
2 5-10
Site Preparation & Installation
UNIT-3
3 11-27
Mother Board and Components
UNIT-4
4 28-47
Memory and I/O Devices
UNIT-5
5 48-55
Display, Power supply and BIOS
UNIT-6
6 56-74
Maintenance and Trouble Shooting
UNIT-7
7 75-84
Networking Devices and their Interfaces
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UNIT-1
Need of management in a computer centre

To run an organisation efficiently and perfectly management is highly essential. To manage an

organisation the following factors are responsible.

1. Coordination between user, organisation and resources: in management system there

is a HR department that is responsible for managing staffs and resources of an
organisation. The HR department decides various job assignments for various employees
as per their experience and expertise and also this department is responsible for
managing various resources of an organisation effectively.

2. Maximum uses of resources: In a computer organisation computer is the main resource

of that organisation so the computer must be utilise efficiently, properly and perfectly
so that a single computer can be handle by multiple users by adopting shift wise duty
policy.

3. Maintenance of resources: To run an organisation perfectly, every resources must be

maintained properly. Without maintenance the resources can be damaged. So all the
resources can be maintained by appointing a consultant or a technical person.

4. Distribution of raw material: In every computer organisation the raw materials like
hardware and software should be properly distributed to each user in 1:1 proportionate.

5. Times slot for each user: Time slot must be maintained by the HR department for the
better utilisation of man power.

6. Assignment of Task: Staffs doesn’t have all type of knowledge. So it is the duty of HR
department to recognise each and every staff and assign duties as per their expertise.

7. Discipline: It is a very important factor for any organisation so discipline must be maintain
among staffs without having discipline no organisation can perform better tasks.

Types of job carried out in a computer centre

The following types of jobs carried in a computer centre.

1. Education training: in this type of training various software developments,

programming language and Hardware & networking training can be provided to various
candidates by the expert professionals. This is also known as skill development
programme. After completion of this training a candidate can handle a computer
properly and perfectly and also he or she can develop various types of software using
various types of computer languages.

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2. Accounting: a computer can help preparing accounting statement, balance sheet and
day to day financial activities by using special kind of accounting packages like tally or
MSEXCEL.

3. DTP work: DTP stands for desktop publication. In this type of job user can type or draft
a letter, prepare a presentation, prepare or edit a document using various word
processing software like page maker, MS word, note pad, etc.

4. Scientific purpose: a computer can be used for any kind of scientific purpose like arrow
space programme, nuclear programme, any kind of technical and defence research
purpose etc.

5. Industrial purpose: a computer can be used in any kind of industry to perform various
kinds of tasks like managing men power, managing raw material, managing and
controlling production line, managing all financial activities etc.

6. Data communication: Now days a computer can be the main resource for data
communication. Without having a computer data communication may not be easy task.
Using computer information can be shared among users through internet.

7. Business purpose: A computer is very helpful in business purpose. By the help of a

computer all types of business work can be carried out very easily. So computer is widely
used in business purpose.

Duties and responsibilities of various persons

In a computer centre so many people are there to perform various tasks given by various
departments. These persons are:

1. Marketing group: This group is responsible for creating awareness of computer among
people. For creating this awareness they are preparing catalogue, circulating catalogue
among people, motivating people and waiting for a response from the people. They are
always in contact with the persons who are interested for computer training.

2. Finance group: This group is responsible for entire financial transaction of the
organisation. This group is responsible for project costing and estimation. This group is
also responsible for preparing balance sheet and day to day financial transaction of the
organisation.

3. Internal training group: This group is responsible for planning and conducting various
training programmes for professionals within the organisation and also outside the
organisation so that the professional can keep them up to date as well as the
organisation will also be up to dated.

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4. Software group: The software group provides software solution to the professionals of
the organisation. This group is also keep track records of software updates and latest
software available in the market.

5. Hardware consultancy group: This group is responsible for entire hardware problem of
the organisation. The staffs of this group maintaining and repairing all the hardware
devices like computer, printer, server etc. This group is also responsible for updating and
upgrading of hardware.

6. Programme operation group: This group is responsible for conducting training classes
for the clients (those who are taking computer training). During this training class the
programmers are writing programmes, explaining the logics behind the programme and
handle any types of errors during programme.

Hierarchy of position of managers

There are mainly three levels of managerial group in an organisation. These groups are:

1. Upper level management: The upper level managers are responsible for long term
strategy, setting targets and objectives for the lower level manager. They are only
answerable to the board of directors or governing body. They are responsible for their
respective department.

2. Middle level management: The middle level managers are responsible for short term
planning. They are interface between upper level and lower level managers. They are
getting long term decisions from upper level managers and plan accordingly to
implement these decisions at lower levels. They are managing the organisation by taking
the help of management information system.

3. Lower level management: The lower level managers are performing the actual task of
the organisation. They don’t have the decision making capacity. They always doing their
duties as directed by the middle level managers. They are always answerable to their
immediate authority i.e. middle level manager.

Need of training for staff

Due to rapid development of computer technology it is highly essential to train up employees

for handling the latest hardware and software. Through training a staff can get new ideas as well
as new technologies. Training is always help to keep an employee up-to-date of any
organisation.

1. Need of training for upper level: The need of training for upper level management are
as follows:
• To study about latest generation of computer concept in terms of hardware and
software.

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• To have an idea in design, development and implementation of computer based

system.
• To get knowledge in operation research technique.
• To get knowledge in latest programming languages and software.

2. Need of training of middle level: The need of training for middle level management are
as follows:
• To get an idea about recent generation of computer, MIS(management
information system)
• To get an expose in the area of updated software and hardware technology

3. Need for training for lower level : The need of training for the lower level management
are:
• To develop knowledge on hardware, software and latest technique in computer
based information system
• To expose himself/herself in the area of recent computer technology.

Various computers make and installations in India

For Hardware:

1. HCL (Hindustan Computer Limited), 2. ZENITH Computer Limited, 3. PCS (Patni Computers),
4. Wipro InfoTech.

For Software (INDIAN MNCs):

1. Infosys, 2. Tech Mahindra, 3.TCS, 4.Wipro Software

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UNIT-2
Site Selection
During the site preparation for a computer/server room, it is important to understand the infrastructure
and the physical environment in which the lab will operate. The following information must be required
before setting of a computer Lab.
➢ Weight and dimensions of the computer equipment.
➢ Electrical requirements of the computer equipment.
➢ Total heat generation and cooling requirements of the computer equipment.
➢ Types of signal and cables to be used.
The followings points must be considered during selection of a site for a computer Lab:

1. The computer room should be located away from the exterior walls of the building to avoid the
heat gain from windows and exterior wall surfaces.

2. In case, exterior windows are unavoidable than all the windows should be shades with double-
or triple-glazed UV protective material to prevent from direct sunlight entering into the
computer room.

3. The floor should be sufficient weight tolerance capability for installing computer equipment.

4. Uniform room air distribution system should be installed in the computer room.

5. To avoid dust the site should be located away from heavy industries and areas with polluted air.

6. The computer room should not be on top floor, ground floor or in the basement of the building
to avoid solar heat or water flood.

7. The computer room should be away from dangerous goods storage, heavy mechanical unit,
excessive vibrations and high fire and water risk areas.

8. To eliminate the effect of electromagnetic interference, the computer room should be located
away from generator room, the radar or telecommunication control rooms etc.

9. There should be minimum access by general public and irrelevant personnel to the computer
room.

Layout of a Computer LAB

While setting up of a computer lab the following factors should be consider. These factors are:
1. Fitting out Requirements: All materials to be used in the computer room should be non-
flammable, fire proof, and non-dust material. Any other materials that are not serving the
computer room should be removed.

2. Internal Partitions: Partitions inside the computer room may be built to the headroom height
for sufficient air circulation. Half-glazed partition is recommended for inside the computer room
and double-glassed partitions may be considered for printer area due to noise reduction.

3. Wall Finishing: Internal walls must to be finished smoothly with liquid paint or wall papers. Light
colour can enhance the illumination of the computer room.

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4. False Ceiling: It is highly essential to cover the roof of the computer lab with false ceiling material
like plaster of Paris because it reduces and maintains the room temperature of the computer
room. It also used for fixing of various electrical fittings. The ceiling plate is preferred to be of
easy remove and install type for the access of utilities in the ceiling. It also provides smartness
and artistic effect to the computer room.

5. Windows: All the windows of a computer room should be shared with double or triple glazed UV
materials to avoid direct sunlight.

6. Main Entrance Door: The main entrance door should be minimum 5 feet wide with double-leaf
steel door having a 2-hour fireproof rating and secure bolted hinge is recommended. An auto
door closer must be fitted in the door so that it will protect the AC and reduces the entry
of dust inside.

7. Emergency Exit: The emergency exit requires an outward opening and self- closing steel door. It
is also equipped with 2-hour fireproof rating and secure bolted hinge as the main entrance.
8. Normal Lighting: Evenly distributed lighting system is recommended for the computer room. It
is necessary to align the lights in such a way so that shadows can be minimized.
9. Emergency Lighting: The lighting inside computer room should be connected to essential power
supply and 50% of them should be supported by battery. The battery supported lights may be
located at the ceiling area, main control panel area and passages leading to the main entrance
and emergency exit.

10. Air Conditioning: Computer equipment are operated in an environment of controlled

temperature and relative humidity. So the air conditioning system is highly essential to maintain
the required room temperature and the humidity automatically. The operating range of
temperature and relative humidity of computer equipment are usually 200 c +_ 30 c.

11. False Flooring: False flooring is designed and developed to provide the following facilities inside
the computer room. These are:

1. A cold air distribution system can be installed for circulation of chilled air.
2. Tracks or channels are installed for various data cabling.
3. A copper cable can be lay down for grounding for various equipment.
4. Various utility pipes can be lay down for water circulation.

12. Dust Proofing: This is another important factor to be considered while designing the computer
Lab. Because dust particles create lots of problem in the computer. If a dust particle comes
between read write head than the hard disk may not read and write data properly or it may
damage the hard disk permanently. So to avoid dust particle the following precaution measures
should be taken.

1. Number of door and windows of the computer lab should be minimized.

2. The lab should be Air Conditioned properly.
3. The floor should be covered with anti-dust carpet.
4. Shoes and other footwear should not be allowed inside the lab.

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Power Supply
Computer and other equipment require a clean and dedicated power source using various power
conditioning devices like CVT, UPS, Isolation Circuit etc. Different type of computer equipment requires
different type of power supply. The following power supply specification should be taken care during the
installation of a computer lab.

ENP

DISTRIBUTION
ISLLATION
STABILISE SWITCH
CIRCUIT
R

1. Capacity or Load: Sufficient power load or capacity should be provided to the computer lab
so that each and every computer gets required power supply and it will also help future
expansion of the computer lab.

2. Voltage Standard: The computer lab must be equipped with 3-phase power supply so that
simultaneously we can run both the lab and the AC. The minimum voltage level for 3-Phase
is 380 volt and for single phase it is 230 volts.

3. Grounding: A separate insulated copper grounding wire is highly essential for a computer
lab to protect the computer and other equipment from the EMI and other damages due to
high voltages.

Power Supply Problems

There are several types of power problems occurring inside the computer room. These problems are:
1. Line Noise: A small variation in the voltage level delivered to the computer is known as line noise.
If the computer and other devices shearing the power supply with other EMI (Electro Magnetic
Interference) Producing devices like Power generator, Washing Machine, Electric Water heater,
Mechanical Machines than the line noise can be a serious problem for a computer. It may also
damage the computer permanently

2. Surge: It is the sudden increase of voltage from standard voltage level to a higher voltage level
and the high voltage can continue more than 3 Nano second is known as surge. The normal
voltage level is 230 but due to surge it may increase to 1000 volt or even higher level. Due to
Surge the computer may damage partially or permanently.

3. Lightning: Lightning can deliver a charge of millions of volts that can be a great chance of damage
of any kind of electrical and electronic devices instead of using various power conditioning
devices like CVT, UPS and surge protector. So to avoid the damage due lightning the computer
room must be proper grounding facility.

4. Brownout: Sudden drop in the voltage level from a standard voltage level to a lower voltage level
and immediately come back to its normal voltage level is known as Brownout. It may damage
computer and other components of a computer.

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5. Blackout: The total failure of power supply is known as blackout. If the power goes out during
switch off mode of computer than there is no problem. But if the power goes out while
performing any task in the computer than there is a chance of damage of the computer and
components of computer.

Power Conditioning Devices

To provide safe guard and protect the computer from any kind of power problem we have to use various
types of power conditioning devices. These devices are:
CVT
Constant voltage transformer (CVT) is a device that is used for protecting sensitive computing and
electronic devices from surges, sags and brownouts in the mains supply. CVT is also suitable for protecting
sensitive loads against direct lightning strikes on power lines. It is also known as Ferro resonant
transformer.

Working Principle
• Constant voltage transformer uses the unique principle of Ferro resonance, which is the periodic
interchange of energy between a capacitor and an inductor.
• This type of transformer uses a tank circuit composed of a high-voltage resonant winding and a
capacitor to produce a nearly constant average output voltage with a varying input current or
varying load.
• The circuit has a primary winding on one side with a magnet force and the tuned circuit coil and
secondary on the other side.
• The regulation is due to magnetic saturation in the section around the secondary.
Uses & Applications
Constant voltage transformer has many common uses
& applications in various fields. Some of its common
application includes:

• Protecting sensitive loads from direct lighting

strikes on power lines.

• Riding out momentary breaks in the mains.

• Protect electrical and electronics equipment

Circuit Isolation or Isolation Circuit

It is a dedicated circuit and is protecting the most sensitive

equipment from local noise and surge conditions. The Isolation
Circuit can be protected a computer from voltage surges. In a
number of situations, Isolation Circuit is enough to resolve the
power problems.
• Isolation transformers use two sets of inductors coupled
to a common magnetic core.
• These inductors are separated with magnetic shielding
in specially shielded transformers.

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• This shielding reduces or eliminates normal mode electrical noise by transferring it back to the
ground system.
• The neutral and ground wires are bonded together on the output side of an isolation transformer
to eliminate noise

UPS
➢ UPS stands for Uninterrupted Power Supply. It is a device that allows our computer to keep
running for at least a short time when the primary power source is lost. It also provides protection
from power surges.
➢ A UPS contains a battery that starts when the device senses a loss of power from the primary
source.
➢ When power surges occur, a UPS stops the surge so that it doesn't damage the computer.
➢ UPS usually provide protection against power surges, brownouts and line noise as well.

The UPS consists of three main components:

1. Rectifier: It receives AC power from main line than it converts the AC power supply into DC and
provides the DC supply to the battery. The batter stores the DC voltages. Power failure only
affects the battery charging process only because the battery is being charged by the rectifier.

2. Battery: It Stores the power for the use of the computer. When the power source is interrupted,
immediately the battery provides the power supply to the computer.

3. Inverter: It converts the battery DC power into AC power for the use of computer and other
equipment. The inverter provides continuous power supply to the computer just after the
battery provides uninterrupted power to the inverter.

Offline UPS / Standby UPS:

In offline UPS, the AC power supply is the
primary power source.

If a drop in current or voltage is detected by

the UPS, it switches over to the backup
battery automatically.

When AC power is restored, the UPS switches

back. The switchover time should not be
more than about 25 milliseconds which is the
tolerance limit of a typical computer power
unit.

If the power failure is longer than the tolerance limit than the computer will shut down. This is the least
expensive variety of uninterruptible power supplies and is used for the home user only.
Online UPS:
It converts AC power supply to DC and then converts the DC power supply back to AC and provides the
power supply to the connected equipment. An additional benefit of this technology is that the system
remains in the same operating mode.

In an online UPS, the batteries are always connected to the inverter, so that no power transfer switches
are necessary.

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When power loss occurs, the rectifier simply drops out of the circuit and the batteries provide the steady
and unchanged power supply.

When power is restored, the rectifier resumes and starts charging the batteries, though the charging
current may be limited to prevent the high-power rectifier from overheating the batteries and boiling off
the electrolyte.

Line Interactive UPS:

In this type of UPS, there is an inverter that plays a dual role of charging the battery when mains supply is
present as well as regulating the output voltage and working as a normal inverter in absence of mains
supply.

This type of UPS is able to tolerate continuous under voltage brownouts and overvoltage surges without
consuming the limited reserve battery power. It instead compensates by automatically selecting different
power taps on the autotransformer.

Surge Suppressor
• It is least expensive and most basic form of power protective device. It is also known as Spike
Board.
• It consists of PVC or plastic block with multiple power outlets where computer and other devices
can be connected.
• It receives AC power supply from the main supply and delivers the required voltage to connecting
devices.
• It has power absorbing components to absorb high voltage like surge.
• It is used to prevent electronic devices from surge.

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UNIT-3

The Motherboard
Introduction
A motherboard is a printed circuit board or main circuit board in a personal computer and it
contains all the sub systems and I/O ports like central processing unit (CPU), expansion slots,
systems buses, memory modules, smaller circuit boards and peripheral devices.

Form Factors
The geometrical dimension and
arrangement of all components of
mother board is known as form
factor of that mother board. In
other words, the “shapes and
sizes” of a motherboard is known
as form factors. Motherboard
comes in a variety of shapes and
sizes. The various form factors
are:

AT Type:
• AT type motherboard was the
most common motherboard
up to 1995 and was used
primarily with the 386 and
486 PCs. The dimension of Full
AT is 12 / 13.8".

• A unique characteristic of this form factor is that CPUs and memory modules (SIMMs and
DIMMs) were inserted directly into the motherboard.

ATX Type:
• ATX type represents the “modern era” of motherboards. The ATX type replaced the AT type
form factors and is found commonly in most computers today. ATX type dimension is 12
inches wide and 9.6 inches deep. It was designed to connect various components easily.

• The ATX was available with the Intel Pentium Pro and Pentium II processors and also it was
available with Pentium IV.

LPX Type:
• This type of form factor is designed for a small type of computer with the performance of a
full-sized computer. The size of LPX type is 9 inches in wide and 11 to 13 inches in deep.

• Due to the small size of the motherboard the expansion slots cannot be located directly on
the motherboard. There is a riser card plugs into the motherboard and provides the
additional slots for expansion cards.

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NLX Type:

o The NLX type is also known as the “next generation LPX”. It has the dimension of 8 to 9
inches wide and 10 to 13.6 inches deep

o The NLX solves the heating issues by providing better cooling facility as compared to LPX
type. So, it supports more modern CPU.

Architecture of Mother Board & Block Diagram

Components of Mother Board

The various important components of a Mother Board are as follows:

1. Processor socket/slot

The processor socket/slot locks the central processing unit (CPU) into its place and
preventing the CPU from moving or being damaged. It also establishes the connection
between the CPU and board so that data can be transferred to the CPU for processing.

Different models and types of computers require different types of CPU sockets, as not all
CPUs are compatible with every kind of socket. The various socket types are:

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PGA Socket

A pin grid array (PGA) socket is

usually a square package made
up of a number of holes in an
array. The CPU itself has the pins
that insert into the socket. The
arrangement of pins on the CPU
must correspond to the slots on
the socket; if not, the CPU will not
connect properly to the board. To secure a CPU into a PGA socket, you have to press down
until spring contacts lock it -- however, if you do not line up the pins properly, you may bend
or damage them.

ZIF Socket

A zero insertion force (ZIF) socket is an

extension of a PGA socket, with pins
on the CPU. With a ZIF socket, you
don’t have to press down on the CPU
to lock it in place. Instead, you simply
place the CPU into the socket, then
lock it in using a lever or slider on the
side of the socket. This results in less
risk of you damaging the CPU when
you try to insert or remove it from the
socket.

LGA Socket

A land grid array (LGA) socket is essentially the

opposite of a PGA socket. Instead of having the pins
connected to the CPU, they’re connected to the
socket itself while the CPU has slots with
connectors. To lock a CPU into an LGA socket, you
have to line up the pins and apply a small amount of
pressure. LGA sockets are less fragile overall than PGA sockets, and you can also solder down
the package using surface mount technology.

BGA Socket

A ball grid array (BGA) is another variant on the

PGA socket -- but instead of pins, a BGA socket has
copper pads which that are soldered to the
package. This means that you do not have to worry
about damaging any of several hundred pins, especially as pin-chip
architecture designs CPUs with pins closer and closer together. This also means there's less
distance for data to travel, so there's less of a chance that the signals will distort.

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Memory Socket

A memory slot, memory socket, or RAM slot is what allows RAM (Random Access Memory) to
be inserted into the computer. Most motherboards have two to four memory slots, which
determine the type of RAM used with the computer. The most common types of RAMS
are SDRAM and DDR for desktop computers and SODIMM for laptop computers, each having
various types and speeds.

When buying a new computer or motherboard, pay close attention to the types of RAMS
the memory slots can accept. It is also important to note how many available memory
slots are available in your computer. It is not necessary for a computer to have all
memory slots occupied. If all slots are full and you want to upgrade the computer
memory, you need to remove some or all of the existing memory.

RAM SLOTS

Cache Memory:
The speed of CPU is extremely high compared to the main memory. Therefore, the performance
of CPU decreases due to the slow speed of main memory. To reduce this mismatch in operating
speed, a small memory chip is attached between CPU and Main memory whose access time is
very close to the processing speed of CPU. It is called CACHE memory. CACHE memories are
accessed much faster than conventional RAM. It is used to store programs or data currently
being executed or temporary data frequently used by the CPU.

Advantages: The advantages of cache memory are as follows −

• Cache memory is faster than main memory.

• It consumes less access time as compared to main memory.
• It stores the program that can be executed within a short period of time.
• It stores data for temporary use.

Disadvantages: The disadvantages of cache memory are as follows −

• Cache memory has limited capacity.

• It is very expensive.

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Chip Set

A chipset is a group of interdependent motherboard chips or integrated circuits that control the
flow of data and instructions between the central processing unit (CPU) or microprocessor and
external devices. A chipset controls external buses, memory cache and some peripherals.A
chipset includes the circuit board layout/functionality and circuit mechanisms. Varieties include
microprocessors and modem card chipsets. In addition, a CPU has several different chipsets that
vary according to architecture. A chipset has two sections – Southbridge and Northbridge – with
specific sets of functions that communicate between the CPU and external devices.

The Southbridge which is not directly connected

to the CPU, is also known as the input/output
controller hub. Southbridge handles the
motherboard's slower connections, including
input/output (I/O) devices and computer
peripherals like expansion slots and hard disk
drives.

The Northbridge connects the Southbridge to the

CPU and is commonly known as the memory
controller hub. The Northbridge handles a
computer's faster interaction requirements and
controls communication between the CPU, RAM,
ROM, the basic input/output system (BIOS), the
accelerated graphics port (AGP) and the
Southbridge chip. The Northbridge links I/O signals
directly to the CPU. The CPU uses the Northbridge frequency as a baseline for determining its
operating frequency.

BIOS

BIOS stands for Basic Input

Output System. It is a computer
program that is stored in a ROM
and used by the CPU to perform
start-up procedures when the
computer is turned on.Before
loading the operating system, the
BIOS provides the basic device
drivers (Type of software used for
running a hardware) for all the
hardware components of the PC's
motherboard, including the
keyboard, mouse, monitor and
hard disk. After start-up, the BIOS
manages data flow between the
OS and the peripherals.

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Functions of BIOS

• CMOS Setup: CMOS known as complementary metal oxide semiconductor where the detail
system information stored in a small amount of space located in the ROM and that can be altered
as per the system requirement and the BIOS uses this information to modify or supplement its
default programming as per the requirement.

• POST (power on self-test): The POST checks computer’s processor, memory, chipset, video
adapter, disk controllers, disk drives, keyboard, and other crucial components.

• Setup: The system configuration and setup program is usually a menu-driven program
activated by pressing a special key during the POST, and it enables the user to configure the
motherboard and chipset settings along with the date and time, passwords, disk drives, and
other basic system settings. It can be used to control the power-management settings and
boot-drive sequence from the BIOS Setup and it can also be used to configure CPU time and
clock settings.

• Bootstrap loader: It is also known as bootstrapping or boot loader. A bootstrap loader is a

program that resides in the computers ROM that automatically executed by the processor when
the computer is turned on. The bootstrap loader reads the hard disk’s boot sector to continue
the process of loading the computers operating system.

• BOOTP: It is also known as Bootstrap Protocol is a TCP/IP protocol used by a diskless workstation
to obtain its IP address and other network information such as server address and default
gateway. During start-up, the client station sends a BOOTP request in a UDP packet to the BOOTP
server. After receiving the request the server sends the required information i.e. an IP address
to the workstation.

• BIOS (basic input/output system): This refers to the collection of actual drivers used to act as
a basic interface between the operating system and the hardware when the system is booted
and running. When running DOS or Windows in safe mode, we are running almost exclusively
on ROM-based BIOS drivers because no drivers are loaded from the operating system.

Clock Generator
A clock generator is a type of circuit
that produces a continuous,
synchronized electrical signal for
timing purposes in a wide variety of
devices. Because many high-end
electronic equipment require that
electrical signals and mechanical
devices work together in an efficient
manner, clock generators are often a
necessary component in many devices
in order to ensure that all other
components work harmoniously.

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Working Principle of Clock Generators

Clock generators are generally made of a quartz or ceramic piezo-electric circuit board that
includes an oscillator and an amplifier. As the piezo-electric material responds to changes in
pressure, the oscillator produces a constant wave that repeats itself, such as a square wave,
in order to synchronize external events. The amplifier receives and inverses this signal,
passes it along to the output, and returns a portion of the signal back to the oscillator.

Applications of Clock Generator

Clock generators are used in computers to manage memory cards, peripheral devices, CPUs,
ports, etc. In fact, computer experts often reset clock generators in order to control these
devices’ speed and performance. Clock generators are also used in telecommunication
systems, digital switching systems, and many mechanical devices.

RTC
A real-time clock (RTC) is a battery-powered clock that is included in a microchip in a
computer motherboard. This microchip is usually separate from the microprocessor and
other chips and is often referred to simply as "the CMOS" (complementary metal-oxide
semiconductor). A small memory on this microchip stores system description or setup
values - including current time values stored by the real-time clock. The time values are for
the year, month, date, hours, minutes, and seconds. When the computer is turned on, the
Basic Input-Output Operating System (BIOS) that is stored in the computer's read-only
memory (ROM) microchip reads the current time from the memory in the chip with the real-
time clock.

I/O Controller
I/O controllers are a series of microchips which help in the communication of data between
the central processing unit and the motherboard. The main purpose of this system is to help
in the interaction of peripheral devices with the control units (CUs). Put simply, the I/O
controller helps in the connection and control of various peripheral devices, which are input
and output devices. It is usually installed on the motherboard of a computer. I/O controllers
are also known as channel I/O, DMA controllers, peripheral processors or I/O processors.

The I/O controllers are usually preinstalled on the motherboard of the computer. However,
these devices can only accommodate certain common devices. Some unique devices may
have a separate I/O controller. Such devices have to be connected to the computer using
expansion slots

Power Connector
A power supply unit (or PSU) converts mains AC to low-voltage regulated DC power for the
internal components of a computer. Modern personal computers universally use switched-
mode power supplies. Some power supplies have a manual switch for selecting input voltage,
while others automatically adapt to the mains voltage. Mainly there are two types of power
connector can be used to provide power supply to the Mother Board and these are as follows:

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AT Power Supply Connectors

Industry standard PC, XT, AT, Baby-AT, and LPX
motherboards all use the same type of main
power supply connectors. These supplies feature
two main power connectors (P8 and P9), each
with 6 pins that attach the power supply to the
motherboard. All standard PC power supplies that
use the P8 and P9 connectors have them installed
end to end so that the two black wires (ground
connections) on both power cables are next to
each other. Some power supplies have them
labelled as P1/P2 instead.
ATX Main Power Connector

ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) is a motherboard and power supply configuration

specification developed by Intel in 1995 to improve on previous standards like the AT design. It
was the first major change in desktop computer. Now ATX is the most common motherboard
design. An ATX power supply is typically controlled by an electronic switch connected to the
power button on the computer case and allows the computer to be turned off by
the operating system. In addition, many ATX power supplies have an equivalent-function
manual switch on the back that also ensures no power is being sent to the components.
When the switch on the power supply is turned off, however, the computer cannot be
turned on with the front power button.

ATX type connector

Key Board Connector

Keyboard cables may utilize any one of a variety of connector types. As you type on the
keyboard, the chip in the keyboard examines the matrix and decides what data to send into
the PC. It preserves these figures in its memory buffer then sends the information. The various
connector types are:

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5 – Pin DIN Connector: The 5-pin DIN connector was the first
predominant non- registered keyboard cable connector. This
connector can be known as an AT connector.

6-PIN Mini DIN Connector: The 6-pin mini-DIN connector is a replacement for
the 5-Pin layout. This keyboard connector is bigger and can be usually
purple-colored to distinguish it from the same mouse connector. This sort
of connector is generally known as a PS/2 connector and can also be called
for its IBM system which has popularized it. This format is commonly
utilized in desktop computers. It is used to perform the serial data transfer
between peripherals of the PC to the laptop.

USB CONNECTOR: USB is one of the keyboard cable connector

types. This tiny rectangular connector gives a significant
upgrade within the DIN connector form factor. USB connectors
are hot-swappable,

Mouse connector

A mouse connector is a dedicated socket or interface on the computer for connecting a

mouse. Since the invention of the first personal computer by IBM back in 1981,
different types of mouse connectors have been developed.

Bus Mouse:

The first type of mouse was connected to the PC by the use of a bus, so it was actually
being referred to as the bus mouse. It was used in the early days of the IBM-
compatible personal computers.

Serial Mouse:

The serial mouse was connected to the computer via the serial port.
A serial port is a physical communication interface through which
information is transferred in and out of the computer bit by bit. The
serial port is a D-type 9 pin male port (DB9M) at the back of the
motherboard. Its corresponding connector must then be a female connector for them to mate
correctly. The serial mouse is obsolete.
PS/2 Mouse:

The PS/2 mouse is connected to the PS/2 port (green in colour). The PS/2
mouse connector is a 6-pin mini-din connector designed in 1987. It
superseded the serial connectors. Its name is derived from the IBM's
personal systems/2 series of personal computers, which were introduced
in 1987. This PS/2 mouse port first featured in these PS/2 systems and
continued being used in newer designs even after the PS/2 systems were no longer in
production. The colour code for the PS/2 port for most computers is usually green.

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Jumpers

Jumpers allow the computer to close an electrical circuit,

allowing the electricity to flow on a circuit board and perform a
function. Jumpers consist of small pins that can be covered with
a small plastic box (jumper block). Jumpers manually configure
computer peripherals, such as the motherboard, hard
drives, modems, sound cards, and other components. For
example, if your motherboard supported intrusion detection, a
jumper can be set to enable or disable this feature.

USB (Universal Serial Bus)

Universal Serial Bus is a new connector which is introduced in
1995 to replace the Serial and Parallel ports. It is based on serial
type architecture. However, it is much faster than standard
serial ports.

USB standard supports a wide range of devices like scanners,

keyboards, mice, joysticks, printers, modems and External
storage devices like PEN Drive, DVD or CD Drive.

USB is completely hot-swappable that means we can connect or disconnect any device when
the computer is running. Computer can recognize the device as soon as it plugged in, and the
user can use of the device immediately. There are two types of USB connectors:

Type A: This type of connectors is generally used for less bandwidth intensive devices
like keyboard, mouse, webcam, etc. and shape is rectangular.

Type B: This type of connectors is generally used for high-speed devices like external
hard disks, etc. and shape is square.

VGA Port:
VGA stands for Video Graphics Array. It is used to connect
a monitor to a PC. It has three rows with 15 pins. It is also
called RGB connector (red, green, blue).
NIC:

NIC stands for Network Interface Card. It has RJ-45 female port
with 8 numbers of pin. It is also known as LAN or Ethernet port. It
is commonly used for connecting the computer to a network.

Audio Port:

There are three ports in audio plugs. They are:

• Line-in: It is used for both audio in and out

• Line-out: It is used for audio out only
• Microphone: It is used for inserting audio into PC

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Cooling fan:
It is used to lower the temperature of the CPU. It is mounted on an aluminum block called heat
shrink. There are several other cooling fans are available in the computer case to maintain the
temperature of a computer inside the case.
CMOS Battery:

All personal computers require a small battery on the system board

that provides power to the Complementary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor (CMOS) chip, even while the computer is turned off.

This chip contains information about the system configuration like

hard disk type, floppy drive types, date and time, and the order in
which the computer will look for bootable dis. The CMOS battery
allows the CMOS to preserve these settings.

Floppy Drive Interface:

By using this interface, a floppy drive can be connected through a 34-pin ribbon cable. It
controls the data flow between a floppy and the computer. It has 34pins.

IDE Port:

IDE stands for integrated device electronics. This port is available in the motherboard for the
communication between IDE devices and the Motherboard through a 40-pin ribbon cable. IDE
controller is responsible for controlling the IDE devices.

Serial Port:

Serial ports are also known as COM port or RS-232. The term serial means data can be send bit
by bit using a single cable. Serial ports are generally built into the mother board, and can be used
to connect exterior devices like external modem, serial mouse, etc. Serial connector has
generally 9 or 25 pins and looks like “D” shaped. It is also called DB9 and DB25 connectors
respectively.

Parallel Port:

Parallel port looks like same as DB25 female connector but it is transmitting data of
eight bits at a time as compared to serial port. The parallel ports on personal
computers can be used to send 8 bits (one octet) simultaneously via 8 wires. Parallel
port supports printer and other devices like Zip drives and scanners etc.

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Expansion Slots of Motherboard

Expansion slots:

Expansion slots are usually interfaces to communicate between physical devices with
motherboard. All the motherboard has one or more system expansion Slots that are used to
expand the computer capabilities. The slots are like ISA, EISA, PCI, VESA etc. are placed near to
the back panel of the mother board.

ISA: Stands for "Industry Standard Architecture." The ISA bus was developed in 1981. ISA is a
type of bus used in PCs for adding expansion cards like video card, network card, or an extra
serial port. The 8-bit version of ISA uses 62 pin connection and supports clock speeds of 8 and
33 MHz and the 16-bit ISA uses 98 pins and supports the same clock speeds. Later it was replaced
by PCI bus, which offered a better performance.

EISA Bus: The EISA bus stands for Extended Industry Standard Architecture. It was developed in
1988 by a group of companies (AST, Compaq, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Olivetti, Tandy,
Wyse and Zenith) in order to compete with the MCA (Micro Channel Architecture) bus that was
developed by IBM.

VESA Local Bus or VL- Bus: In 1992, the VESA local bus (VLB) was developed by the VESA (Video
Electronics Standard Association) in order to provide a local bus dedicated to graphics systems.
The VLB or VL-bus is a hardware interface on the computer's motherboard that is attached to
an expansion slot. Extra graphics capabilities can be added by connecting a video expansion card
to the VLB slot. The interface supports 32-bit data flow at up to 50 MHz

A standard VESA

PCI Bus: Stands for "Peripheral Component Interconnect." It is a hardware bus designed by Intel
around 1992 and is used in both PCs and Macs. It is an intermediate bus located between the
processor bus (Northbridge) and the I/O bus (Southbridge). Most add-on cards such as SCSI, Fire
wire, and USB controllers use a PCI connection. Some graphics cards also use PCI slot, but most
new graphics cards connect to the AGP slot. The PCI interface exists in 32 bits with a 124-pin
connector or in 64 bits with a 188-pin connector. There are also two signaling voltage levels i.e.,
3.3V for laptop computers and 5V for desktop computers.

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AGP:

Stands for "Accelerated Graphics Port." AGP is a type of expansion slot designed for graphics
purpose only. It was developed in 1996 as an alternative to the PCI standard. AGP interface
provides a dedicated bus for graphics data. AGP slots are built into a computer's motherboard
and have a similar form factor to PCI slots. AGP can be used only in desktop pc as it requires an
expansion slot.

AGP 1.5-volt connector:

AGP 3.3-volt connector:

Universal AGP connector:

Processor

CPU alternately referred to as a processor, central processor,

or microprocessor, the CPU (pronounced sea-pea-you) is
the central processing unit of the computer. A computer's CPU
handles all instructions it receives
from hardware and software running on the computer.

The CPU was first developed at Intel with the help of Ted Hoff and
others in the early 1970s. The first processor released by Intel was
the 4004 processor

Function of CPU

The CPU's main function is to take

input from a peripheral (keyboard,
mouse, printer, etc.) or computer
program, and interpret what it needs.
The CPU then either outputs
information to your monitor or
performs the peripheral's requested
task.

Components of the CPU

In the CPU, there are two primary components.

1. ALU (arithmetic logic unit) - performs mathematical, logical, and decision operations.
2. CU (control unit) - directs all the processors operations.

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Core2 Duo Processor: The Intel Core 2 Duo processor is a 64-bit dual
core processor. This means two processor cores work inside a Core 2
Duo in parallel. The Core 2 Duo, which was introduced on July 27 2006,
is the direct successor of the Core Duo. Each core is based on the
Pentium M micro architecture. Compared with the old Net burst
architecture of the Pentium 4.

Key Features

• 64-bit support
• Dual core processor with shared level 2 cache
• Execute Disable Bit
• Partially Intel Virtualization Technology (VT)
• Socket M (starting from Santa Rosa socket P)
• 291 million transistors

The Intel Core 2 Duo uses the x86 instruction set, which was introduced in 1978 with the
8086/8088 processor. Furthermore, it supports the multimedia extension MMX, SSE2, SSE3 and
SSE4.

Quad Core Processor: A quad-core processor is a multiprocessor architecture that is designed

to provide faster processing power. It is a successor to the dual-
core processor, which has two processor cores. Quad-core
processors integrate two dual-core processors within a single
processor. The two separate dual cores communicate with each
other using processor cache. A quad-core processor can execute
multiple instructions simultaneously, meaning that each core can
be dedicated for separate instruction. Although quad-core
processors increase the processing performance of a computer by
a significant margin, system speed also depends on other
computing components to deliver overall computing
performance.

Intel I series Processor

i3 Processor: The Core i3 is a dual-core computer processor, available

for use in both desktop and laptop computers. It is one of three types
of processors in the "i" series (also called the Intel Core family of
processors). The Core i3 processor is available in multiple speeds,
ranging from 1.30 GHz up to 3.50 GHz, and features either 3 MB or 4
MB of cache. It utilizes either the LGA 1150 or LGA 1155 socket on
a motherboard. Core i3 processors are most often found as dual-core, having two cores.
However, a select few high-end Core i3 processors are quad-core, featuring four cores. The most
common type of RAM used with Core i3 processor is DDR3 1333 or DDR3 1600.

Power usage varies for the Core i3 processors:

• Slower speeds (1.30 GHz to 1.80 GHz) use 11.5 W, 15 W or 25 W of power
• Medium speeds (2.00 GHz to 2.50 GHz) use 28 W, 35 W or 37 W of power
• Faster speeds (2.90 GHz to 3.50 GHz) use 35 W, 37 W or 54 W of power

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i5 Processor: The Core i5 is a computer processor, available as dual-

core or quad-core. It can be used in both desktop and laptop
computers, and is one of four types of processors in the "i" (Intel Core
family) series. The first i5 processor was released in
September 2009 and new generations of the i5 continue to be released
(2020). The Core i5 processor is available in multiple speeds, ranging
from 1.90 GHz up to 3.80 GHz, and it features 3 MB, 4 MB or 6 MB
of cache. It utilizes either the LGA 1150 or LGA 1155 socket on
a motherboard. Core i5 processors are most often found as quad-core, having four cores.
However, a select few high-end Core i5 processors feature six cores. The most common type
of RAM used with a Core i5 processor is DDR3 1333 or DDR3 1600. However, higher performance
RAM can be used as well if it's supported by the motherboard.

Power usage varies for the Core i5 processors:

• Slower speeds (1.90 GHz to 2.30 GHz) use 11.5 W of power

• Medium speeds (2.60 GHz to 3.10 GHz) use 15 W, 25 W, 28 W or 37 W of power
• Faster speeds (3.20 GHz to 3.80 GHz) use 35 W, 37 W, 45 W, 47 W, 65 W or 84 W of
power

i7 Processor: Intel Core i7 is a line of Intel CPUs which span eight

generations of Intel chipsets. They feature either four or six cores, with
frequencies between 2.6 and 3.7 GHz. The first i7 processors were
released in November 2008 and new generations of the i7 continue to
be released (2020). The i7 processor is marketed primarily to gaming
enthusiasts, and digital artists such as filmmakers and animators. In
June 2018, Intel announced a limited edition i7 processor, the i7-8086K.
It is the first Intel processor to reach speeds of 5 GHz without using Intel Turbo Boost technology.

AMD A10 series : AMD is known as Advanced Micro Devices, is a

computer company best known for its computer processors. The AMD
A10 is a mobile quad-core processor based on the Trinity architecture.
The processing unit is manufactured in 32nm SOI and integrates a 2.3
GHz CPU (up to 3.2 GHz w/ Turbo Core) with a relatively fast Radeon
HD 7660G GPU alongside a dual-channel memory controller, video
encoders and a Northbridge.

XEON Processor : The Xeon is a high-end Intel processor for

enterprise servers and workstations that runs on compatible
Xeon motherboards. Xeon processors use a Slot 2 form factor and
are available in the speed starting at 400 MHz It was released in
June 2004 and all Intel Xeon processors are 64-bit processors. It has
some advanced features such as support for ECC memory,
higher core counts, support for larger amounts of RAM, larger cache
memory and extra provision for enterprise-grade reliability.

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CMOS Setup

Step 1- Press the default key as per the specification i.e., DEL key, F2 or any other key during the start
of boot up process.

Step 2- Load setup defaults.

Step 3 - Enter the current Date and Time.

Step 4 - Change the boot sequence. This is simply an order that the computer will look for an
operating system to boot. Usually the sequence is CD/DVD Rom, then Floppy (if the drive is installed),
then the Hard Drive.

Step 5- Check the CPU settings. The default value should be correct. If these values are not adjusting
than refer the user’s manual of CPU and mother board.

Step 6- Check the settings of RAM. Usually, these settings are written on the RAM stick. If not check
the manufacturer’s website and the user’s manual. Even some RAM voltages are different these days
so this step is very important.

Step 7- Adjust plug and play settings by just changing the value of plug and play O/S to yes.

Step 8- Enable the controller if any USB device is used or planning to use. Just by enabling 2.0 support
and legacy support to make sure all your USB devices work at their maximum.

Step 9- If the motherboard supports than the user may silent the computer as possible as by enabling
“Silent fans”. This will slow down the computer fans when the cooling is not needed.

Step 10- Save the changes and exit.

Post Sequence
Power-on self-test (POST) is also known as pre-boot sequence. The POST is a built-in diagnostic
program that checks all the hardware to ensure that everything is present and functioning
properly before the BIOS begins the actual boot. It later continues with additional tests like
memory test. Since the BIOS takes over the POST right after the video card testing, so the user
will not have enough time to read the displayed information.

POST Sequence:
1. Display some basic information about the video card like its brand, video BIOS version and
video memory available.

2. Display the BIOS version and copyright notice in upper middle screen.

3. Display memory count and also it will produce a sound if the sound is enabled in CMOS
setup.

4. If the computer has a PCI bus, then the POST will attempt to initialize the card and will
display the card's name.

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5. Once the POST has succeeded and the BIOS is ready to call the operating system a table
will appear on the screen containing the fallowing items:

• Main Processor: The type of CPU identified by the BIOS. Usually Cx386DX,
Cx486DX, P120, etc...

• Floppy Drive: it displays the floppy drive type and the drive letter i.e., A.

• Display Type: It will show the type brand name of display which is used in the
computer.

• Base Memory Size: It will show the base memory capacity in KB and also it will
show the number of memories is used in the pc.

• Ext. Memory Size: it will display the extended memory size in KB.

• Hard Disk Type (primary): It will show HDD type i.e., master or slave, drive letter
i.e., C, HDD serial number and HDD brand Name.

• Hard Disk Type (Secondary): It will show HDD type i.e. master or slave, drive letter
i.e. D, HDD serial number and HDD brand Name.

• Serial Port(s): It will show the hex numbers of computer’s COM ports i.e., 3F8 and
2F8 for COM1

• Parallel Port(s): The hex number of computer’s LTP ports i.e. 378 for LPT1.

• Cache memory information: Right under the table, BIOS usually displays the size
of cache memory. Common sizes are 64KB, 128KB or 256KB.

• PCI cards information. If the computer system supports PCI cards, then it will show
a table containing a list of PCI cards, as well as its PCI port number (0 to 3 or A to
D) and the manufacturer's number.

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UNIT-4

MEMORY AND I/O DEVICES

MEMORY

Memory is the most essential element of a computing system because without it computer can’t
perform simple tasks. Memories are made up of registers. Each register in the memory is one
storage location. Storage location is also called as memory location. Memory locations are
identified using Address. The total number of bit a memory can store is its capacity.

A storage element is called a Cell. Each register is made up of storage element in which one bit
of data is stored. The data in a memory are stored and retrieved by the process
called writing and reading respectively.

The memory of a computer is classified in the two

categories primary and secondary memory. Primary memory is the main memory of the
computer where the currently processing data resides. The secondary memory of the computer
is auxiliary memory where the data that has to be stored for a long time or permanently, is kept.

Computer memory is of two basic type – Primary memory (RAM and ROM) and Secondary
memory (hard drive, CD, Floppy Drive etc.). Random Access Memory (RAM) is primary-volatile
memory and Read Only Memory (ROM) is primary-non-volatile memory.

Primary Memory
Primary memory, also known as the main memory, is the area in a computer which stores data
and information for fast access. It’s a memory which is used to store frequently used programs
which can be directly accessed by the processing unit for further processing. It’s a volatile
memory meaning the data is stored temporarily and is liable to change or lose in case of power
failure. In simple terms, data is intact as long as the computer is running and the moment it’s
off, data is lost.

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Primary Memory Types

RAM: Stands for Random Access Memory. It is volatile in nature. When the computer is
switched off, all the data form the storage location are deleted. It stores data as long as the
power supply is there. RAM is composed of a series of chips which allow for temporary data
storage only. There are basically two types of RAM

1. DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

2. SRAM (static RAM)

DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

DRAM stands for Dynamic RAM, and it is the most common type of RAM used in computers. The
oldest type is known as single data rate (SDR) DRAM, but newer computers use faster dual data
rate (DDR) DRAM. DDR comes in several versions including DDR2 , DDR3, and DDR4, which offer
better performance and are more energy efficient than DDR. Each DRAM memory cell is made
up of a transistor and a capacitor within an integrated circuit, and a data bit is stored in the
capacitor.

The types of DRAM packages

• Single In-Line Memory Module (SIMM)
SIMM modules were widely used from the late 1980s to 1990s, and are now obsolete. They
typically had 32-bit data bus and were available in two physical types—30- and 72-pin.

• Dual In-Line Memory Module (DIMM)

Current memory modules come in DIMMs. "Dual in-line" refers to pins on both sides of the
modules. A DIMM originally had a 168-pin connector supporting 64-bit data bus, which is
twice the data width of SIMMs. The wider bus means that more data can pass through a
DIMM, translating to faster overall performance. Latest DIMMs based on fourth-generation
double data rate (DDR4) SDRAM have 288-pin connectors for increased data throughput.

Common types of DRAMS

1. Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) “synchronizes” the memory speed with CPU clock speed so
that the memory controller knows the exact clock cycle when the requested data will be
ready. This allows the CPU to perform more instructions at a given time. Typical SDRAM
transfers data at speeds up to 133 MHz

2. Rambus DRAM (RDRAM) takes its name after the company that made it, Rambus. It was
popular in the early 2000s and was mainly used for video game devices and graphics cards,
with transfer speeds up to 1 GHz.

3. Double Data Rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM) is a type of synchronous memory that nearly
doubles the bandwidth of a single data rate (SDR) SDRAM running at the same clock
frequency by employing a method called "double pumping," which allows transfer of data
on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal without any increase in clock
frequency.

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4. DDR1 SDRAM has been succeeded by DDR2, DDR3, and most recently, DDR4 SDRAM.
Although operating on the same principles, the modules are not backward-compatible. Each
generation delivers higher transfer rates and faster performance. The latest DDR4 modules,
for example, feature fast transfer rates at 2133/2400/2666and even 3200 MT/s.

SRAM (static RAM)

SRAM stands for Static RAM, and it is a particular type of RAM which is faster than DRAM, but
more expensive and bulker, having six transistors in each cell. For those reasons SRAM is
generally only used as a data cache within a CPU itself or as RAM in very high-end server systems.
A small SRAM cache of the most imminently-needed data can result in significant speed
improvements in a system

ROM

ROM stands for read-only memory. It is non-volatile, which means it can retain data even
without power. It is used mainly to start or boot up a computer. Once the operating system is
loaded, the computer uses RAM, which stands for random-access memory, which temporarily
stores data while the central processing unit (CPU) is executing other tasks. With more RAM on
the computer, the less the CPU has to read data from the external or secondary memory (storage
device), allowing the computer to run faster. RAM is fast but it is volatile, which means it will
not retain data if there is no power. It is therefore important to save data to the storage device
before the system is turned off.

Types of ROM

ROM is available in several different types, including PROM, EPROM, and EEPROM.

1. PROM (Programmable read-only memory) – It can be programmed by user. Once

programmed, the data and instructions in it cannot be changed.

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2. EPROM (Erasable Programmable read only memory) – It can be reprogrammed. To

erase data from it, expose it to ultra violet light. To reprogram it, erase all the previous
data.

3. EEPROM (Electrically erasable programmable read only memory) – The data can be
erased by applying electric field, no need of ultra violet light. We can erase only portions
of the chip.

Secondary Memory
Secondary memory is an auxiliary memory of the computer. The data that has to
be permanently stored is kept in secondary memory. The CPU cannot directly access the data in
secondary memory. The data has to be initially copied to primary memory then only it can be
processed by CPU. Hence, accessing data from secondary memory is slower. The secondary
memory can be accessed using the input-output channel.

The secondary memory is non-volatile in nature, which means that the content of the secondary
memory exist even if the power is switched off. Secondary memory refers to all external storage
devices that are capable of storing high volumes of data such as hard drives, floppy disks,
magnetic tapes, USB flash drives, CDs, DVDs, etc. It’s generally slower than primary memory but
can store substantial amount of data, in the range of gigabytes to terabytes.

Uses of Secondary Media:

• Permanent Storage: Primary Memory (RAM) is volatile, i.e., it loses all information when
the electricity is turned off, so in order to secure the data permanently in the device,
Secondary storage devices are needed.

• Portability: Storage medium, like the CDs, flash drives can be used to transfer the data
from one device to another.

Secondary Memory Types

1. Magnetic storage media:

Magnetic media is coated with a magnetic layer which is magnetized in clockwise or
anticlockwise directions. When the disk moves, the head interprets the data stored at a
specific location in binary 1s and 0s at reading. Examples: hard disks, floppy disks and
magnetic tapes.

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• Floppy Disk: A floppy disk is a flexible disk with a magnetic coating on it. It is packaged
inside a protective plastic envelope. These are one of the oldest types of portable storage
devices that could store up to 1.44 MB of data but now they are not used due to very less
memory storage.

• Hard disk: A hard disk consists of one or more circular disks called platters which are
mounted on a common spindle. Each surface of a platter is coated with a magnetic
material. Both surfaces of each disk are capable of storing data except the top and bottom
disk where only the inner surface is used. The information is recorded on the surface of
the rotating disk by magnetic read/write heads. These heads are joined to a common arm
known as access arm.

2. Optical storage media:

In optical storage media information is stored and read using a laser beam. The data is stored
as a spiral pattern of pits and ridges denoting binary 0 and binary 1.
Examples: CDs and DVDs

• Compact Disk: A Compact Disc drive (CDD) is a device that a computer uses to read data
that is encoded digitally on a compact disc (CD). A CD drive can be installed inside a
computer’s compartment, provided with an opening for easier disc tray access or it can
be used by a peripheral device connected to one of the ports provided in the computer
system. A compact disk or CD can store approximately 650 to 700 megabytes of data. A
computer should possess a CD Drive to read the CDs.

• DVD: It stands for Digital Versatile Disk or Digital Video Disk. It looks just like a CD and
use a similar technology as that of the CDs but allows tracks to be spaced closely enough
to store data that is more than six times the CD’s capacity. It is a significant advancement
in portable storage technology. A DVD holds 4.7 GB to 17 GB of data.

• Blue Ray Disk: This is the latest optical storage media to store high-definition audio and
video. It is similar to a CD or DVD but can store up to 27 GB of data on a single layer disk
and up to 54 GB of data on a dual layer disk. While CDs or DVDs use red laser beam, the
blue ray disk uses a blue laser to read/write data on a disk.

3. Solid State Memories:

Solid-state storage devices are based on electronic circuits with no moving parts like the reels of tape,
spinning discs etc. Solid-state storage devices use special memories called flash memory to store data.
Solid state drive (or flash memory) is used mainly in digital cameras, pen drives or USB flash drives.

• Pen Drives:
Pen Drives or Thumb drives or Flash drives are the recently emerged portable storage media. It is an
EEPROM based flash memory which can be repeatedly erased and written using electric signals. This
memory is accompanied with a USB connector which enables the pen drive to connect to the
computer. They have a capacity smaller than a hard disk but greater than a CD.

• Flash:
Flash memory is non-volatile computer memory for persistent storage and data transfers between
PCs and digital devices. Flash’s high-speed programmable memory performs fast random I/O
operations.

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Difference between Primary memory and Secondary memory

SL PRIMARY MEMORY SECONDARY MEMORY
NO
1 Primary memory is temporary. Secondary memory is permanent.

2 Primary memory is directly accessible by Secondary memory is not directly accessible by

Processor/CPU. the. CPU
3 Nature of Parts of Primary memory varies, It’s always Non-volatile in nature.
RAM- volatile in nature. ROM- Non-
4 volatile.
Primary memory devices are more Secondary memory devices are less expensive
expensive than secondary storage devices. when compared to primary memory devices
5 The memory devices used for primary The secondary memory devices are magnetic
memory are semiconductor memories. and optical memories.
6 Primary memory is also known as Main Secondary memory is also known as External
memory or Internal memory. memory or Auxiliary memory
7 Examples: RAM, ROM, Cache memory, Examples: Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, Magnetic
PROM, EPROM, Registers, etc. Tapes, etc.

Memory Speed: Memory Speed is the amount of time that it takes RAM to receive a
request from the processor and then read or write data. Generally, the faster the RAM, the
faster the processing speed.
Access time: Access time in a computer memory is the time required to both locate and retrieve the
data. Memory access time is how long it takes for a character in memory to be transferred to or from
the CPU.

Hard disk
Hard disk was invented in the 1950s. It was originally called "fixed disks" or "Winchesters" (a
code name used for a popular IBM product). Hard Disk is the main storage media device used to
store data permanently in the computer. A hard disk consists of one or more circular disks called
platters which are mounted on a common spindle. Each surface of a platter is coated with a
magnetic material. Both surfaces of each disk are capable of storing data except the top and
bottom disk where only the inner surface is used. The information is recorded on the surface of
the rotating disk by magnetic read/write heads. These heads are joined to a common arm known
as access arm.

Types of HDD

1. SCSI Type: Stands for Small Computer System Interface, SCSI, pronounced as "Scuzzy", is
the second most commonly used interface for disk drives and was introduced in 1982. SCSI
is a standard for parallel interfaces that transfers information at a rate of eight bits per
second and faster, which is faster than the average parallel interface.

2. ATA/IDE Type: IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) is more commonly known as ATA (AT
Attachment) and is a standard interface for IBM compatible hard drives. IDE and its updated
successor is known as Enhanced IDE (EIDE) and are the most common drive interfaces found
in IBM compatible computers today. IDE cables can be distinguished by their wide 40-pin
connector.

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PATA: Stands for Parallel ATA. Originally AT Attachment is an interface standard for the
connection of storage devices such as hard disks, floppy drives, and optical disc drives in
computers.

SATA: Stands for serial ATA. SATA drives reach up to 10,000 RPM. If you want Serial ATA, you
will either need to purchase a motherboard that supports it, or purchase a PCI card that will
allow you to connect your hard drive.

Basic Hard Disk Drive Components

DISK Platters: One or more aluminium, glass, or

ceramic disk that is coated in a magnetic media and is
located within a hard disk drive to permanently store all
your computer's data. When the computer is turned on,
these platters will begin to rotate at so many rotations
per minute (RPM). This rate varies depending upon the
model of hard drive you have; an example of how fast
a hard drive may spin is 7200 RPM. As the disk platters
are rotating, the read/write head accesses information
on one of the platters. To help store and retrieve the
data from the platter, data is stored in tracks, sectors and cylinders on each platter.

Head Actuators: The head actuator, which contains a voice-coil

motor, called rotary coil motor or servos, to actuate the head
movement, and an electromagnetic coil that can move a magnet
very rapidly move the arms. As current flows through the coil, a
magnetic field is generated that opposes the permanent
magnet. This force of opposition causes a deflection that is
directly proportional to the amount of driving current greater
current signals result in greater opposition and greater
deflection. The head movement is generally based on the
position of head i.e., centered on the exact track, otherwise, aerodynamics disturbance, that is,
thermal effects in the platters, variation in voice coil driver signals checked and adjusted in real
time to ensure that desired tracks are followed exactly.

Read/Write Heads: Read-write heads for each side of each platter are mounted on arms that
move them towards the central spindle or towards the edge. These heads are connected, or
ganged, on a single movement mechanism. The heads, therefore, move across the platters in
unison. When the drive is at rest, the heads are forced into direct contact with the platters by
spring tension, but when the drive is spinning at full speed, air pressure develops below the
heads and lifts them off the surface of the platter. On a drive spinning at full speed, the distance
between the heads and the platter can be anywhere from 0.5 µ-inches to 5 µ-inches or more in
a modern drive.

Spindle motor: The spindle motor, also sometimes called the spindle shaft, is responsible for
turning the hard disk platters, allowing the hard drive to operate. The spindle motor is sort of a
"work horse" of the hard disk. It's not flashy, but it must provide stable, reliable and consistent
turning power for thousands of hours of often continuous use, to allow the hard disk to function
properly.

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Logic Board: All hard disk drives have one or more logic boards mounted on them. The logic
boards contain the electronics that control the drive’s spindle and head actuator systems and
present data to the controller in some agreed-upon form. On ATA drives, the boards include the
controller itself, whereas SCSI drives include the controller and the SCSI bus adapter circuit. The
logic board has its own processor and memory and perform its function independently.

Working Principle of HDD

• Magnetic platters that hold

binary information
• A central spindle that lets the
platters spin at rapid rates
• Electromagnets known as read-
write heads
• Read-write arms that move the
read-write heads across the
platter surfaces
• Small spindles that permit the
motion of the read-write arms
• Actuators, such as stepper
motors or voice coils, that move the read-write arms accurately
• Bottom-mounted control circuit boards that regulate data transmission
• External plug connectors that let users hook their drives up to computers

Some important terms of HDD

Tracks: The tracks are the thin concentric
circular strips on a platters surface of a hard
disk which comprise the magnetic medium to
which data is written by the read/write heads.
These magnetic strips form a circle and are
two-dimensional. At least one head is
required to read a single track. All information
stored on the hard disk is recorded in tracks.

Sectors: A disk track is too large to manage

data effectively as a single storage unit. So,
the tracks are subdivided. Each subdivision of
a track is called sector, which is the smallest
storage unit on a hard drive. These sectors
represent arc-shaped pieces of the track. Typically, a sector will hold 512 bytes of information.

Cylinder: A cylinder is any set of all of tracks of equal diameter in a hard disk drive (HDD). It can
be visualized as a single, imaginary, circle that cuts through all of the platters (and both sides of
each platter) in the drive. All data found on the same track of different platters (i.e. above and
below one another), as this forms a "cylinder" of data.

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Zone Bit Recording (ZBR): In the past, a hard disk drive had the same number of sectors on each
of its tracks. Zone Bit Recording (ZBR) is a method to increase the available hard disk drive space
by increasing the number of sectors per track. This enables outer tracks to have more sectors
than inner tracks.

Areal Density: It is the measurement of the overall efficiency of a magnetic storage device. The
grater the areal density, the more data the drive can store in the same amount of space. Using
this technology, the manufacturers have increased both the number of bits stored in a single
track and the number of tracks that can fit on a platter surface. The combination of these two
factors is the drive’s areal density.

Capacity: Amount of data which can be stored on a hard drive.

Transfer rate: Quantity of data which can be read or written from the disk per unit of time. It is
expressed in bits per second.
Rotational speed: The speed at which the platters turn, expressed in rotations per minute (rpm
for short). Hard drive speeds are on the order of 7200 to 15000 rpm. The faster a drive rotates,
the higher its transfer rate. On the other hand, a hard drive which rotates quickly tends to be
louder and heats up more easily.
Latency (also called rotational delay): The length of time that passes between the moment
when the disk finds the track and the moment it finds the data.
Average access time: Average amount of time it takes the read head to find the right track and
access the data. In other words, it represents the average length of time it takes the disk to
provide data after having received the order to do so. It must be as short as possible.
DRIVE BAY: It is a System unit space reserved for the installation of any drive inside the system unit.

File System

A file system is a process that manages how and where data on a storage disk, typically a hard
disk drive (HDD), is stored, accessed and managed. It is a logical disk component that manages
a disk's internal operations as it relates to a computer and is abstract to a human user.
Commonly used file systems include File Allocation Table 32 (FAT 32), New Technology File
System (NTFS).

FAT16: This file system is referred for DOS. The file management in FAT16 operating system is
not so flexible. The FAT16 cluster management is less comparable to other file systems.

FAT32: It is referred by all the DOS-based OS (Win95 to Win2003Server). This file system
provides better file management and clustering than FAT16 file system. The easier interaction
with flexible memory swapping option is available with FAT32 file system. FAT32 never provides
the server administration part because of poor cluster management.

NTFS: It’s known as ‘New Technology File System’. It is specifically generated for the network
administration management that’s known as ‘Server’. The advantage of this file system is known
as ‘Auto-clustering’ i.e., the disk defragmentation takes place automatically. The advantage is
the database is highly secured.

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Partitioning and formatting of hard disk

Partitioning the drive is the process of dividing the physical drive space into pieces called
‘partitions or logic volumes. Partitions are electronic, logical divisions of a hard drive that provide
tremendous flexibility in hard drive organization. Partitions are one of the major disk structures
that define how the disk is laid out. In fact, one must partition a drive even if he is only putting
all of the space into a single volume. Partitioning is important because partition size and type
will have an important impact on both performance and disk space efficiency.

There are several file systems in service today, but operating systems like DOS and Windows
9x/ME continue to use the file allocation table (FAT) system. The main criticism of FAT is that
sectors are grouped and assigned as ‘clusters’ and this can be wasteful of drive space. One of
the newly created partitions will be assigned as the boot partition, and a master boot record
(MBR) containing special boot code and a partition table will be written to the first sector. FDISK
is the DOS/Windows utility used for drive partitioning.

The master boot record (MBR) is information that is normally stored in the first sector of the
hard drive. This information is simply a small data structure that identifies where an operating
system is located on the drive so that the OS can be loaded into the system’s memory (RAM) at
boot time. The MBR contains two elements; executable code and a ‘partition table’, which
identifies each partition residing on the hard drive. The MBR executable code begins the boot
process by looking up the partition table to determine what partition holds the operating
system. It then loads the boot sector of the partition containing the OS into RAM, and transfers
the execution of the ‘program’ to the partition boot sector. The partition boot sector then
finishes loading the operating system files into RAM.

Formatting

Even after partitioning, an operating system cannot store files on a drive. A series of data
structures must be written to the drive. A volume boot sector (VBS), two copies of the ‘file
allocation table (FAT) “, and a root directory are written to each logical partition. High-level
formatting also checks and locks out bad sectors so that they will not be used during normal
operation. FORMAT is the DOS utility used for high-level formatting. It is interesting to note that
the FORMAT utility will perform both low-level and high-level formatting for a floppy disk, but
not for a hard drive.

Optical Disk Drives

Optical disk drive works on the principle of optics. The optical disk drive is used to read and write
digital data on compact disks (CD), Digital versatile disc (DVD) and blue ray disks. This is one
device that can be used as both input (read data in) and output device (writes data out). It is
connected to motherboard via IDE (ATA), SCSI, S-ATA, Firewire, or USB interface. Its DATA
WRITING OR BURNING speed rate is 1x, 4x, 8x, 12x, 24x, 48x, 52x. The various types of optical
drive are:

CD-ROM: Stands for Compact Disc Read Only Memory. Users can read data from the CD but
cannot burn/write their information on CD

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CD-WRITER: Users can read and write data to and from the CD

DVD-ROM: Users can only read data from the CD and DVD

DVD-WRITER: Users can read and write data from both CD and DVD

Technology used
A laser beam is used to read or write data on optical media disks. To read or write CDs, DVDs or
blue rays, laser beams of different wavelengths are used. There are three components involved
in reading the data. The laser beam itself, a lens that guides this laser beam and a photo-diode
that will receive the light reflected from the optical disc. The same lens can be used to read/write
CDs or DVDs but a different lens is used to read blue-ray discs As far as the rotational mechanism
is concerned, the optical discs maintain constant angular velocity (CAV). The optical drive
consists of two motors. A brush-less DC motor which is used to rotate or spin the optical disc
and a stepper motor that is used to move the lens in a linear motion.
Speed of optical drives
All the CD/DVD writers or Blu-Ray drives are marked with 4x, 16x or 32x. These are the speed
capacities of optical drives. Typically, 16x means the optical drive can work at 16 times the speed
of the base speed. CD, DVD, and Blue-ray, all have different base speeds as mentioned in the
table below

External drives

Memory Stick

Memory Stick is a type of flash memory developed by Sony. It is used to store data for digital
cameras, camcorders, and other kinds of electronics.

Memory Stick cards are available in two versions: Memory Stick PRO and Memory Stick PRO
Duo. Memory Stick PRO cards are 50mm long by 21.5mm wide and are 2.8mm thick. Memory
Stick PRO Duo cards are 31mm long by 20mm wide and are only 1.6mm thick. High-speed
versions of Memory Stick media support data transfer rates up to 80Mbps, or 10 MB/sec, which
is fast enough to record high-quality digital video.

The data on the memory stick is stored in a digital format. The solid-state chip inside the card's
plastic cover contains many tiny electrical circuits. When the card is not in use, the circuits retain
their charges without any additional power. When a card is placed in an activated device, such
as a camera or a cellphone, a small electrical current from the device moves electrons in the
flash memory chip. The digital patterns stored on the chip correlate to the data stored there.
Data is erased when a slightly higher voltage is applied to the circuit. This allows for rewriting
data in the card again.

USB flash drive

A USB flash drive is a device used for data storage that includes a flash memory and an integrated
Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. Most USB flash drives are removable and rewritable.
Physically, they are small, durable and reliable. The larger their storage space, the faster they
tend to operate. USB flash drives are mechanically very robust because there are no moving
parts.

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The main components of the USB flash drive are:

• Standard USB plug. This provides connects the flash drive to a device.
• USB mass storage controller. This is a microcontroller for the USB. It has a small
amount of RAM and ROM.
• NAND flash memory chip. The data is stored in this component
• Crystal oscillator. The data output is controlled by this component.

SSD

SSD stand for Solid State Drive. It is a storage medium that

uses non-volatile memory to hold and access data. Unlike a hard
drive, an SSD has no moving parts, which gives it advantages, such
as faster access time, noiseless operation, higher reliability, and
lower power consumption. The picture shows an example of an
SSD. Internal SSDs connect to a computer like a hard drive, using
standard IDE or SATA connections. SSD uses semiconductor chips,
not magnetic media for storing data.

SSDs have traditionally used the SATA connection, which has a

theoretical maximum transfer rate of 750 MB per second. Newer generations of SSDs connect
to the motherboard's PCIe connection, offering speeds of up to 1.5 GB per second. The PCIe
M.2 connection standard, introduced in 2014, offers a maximum real-world throughput of
approximately 4 GB/s.

How Solid State Drive (SSD) Works

Solid State Drive (SSD) memory chips are often compared to RAM (Random Access Memory).
However, unlike the RAM, the files are saved on the NAND flash grid which can store anywhere
between 256KB to 4 MB. The store device has the exact route to the file destination, which gives
the controller instant access to the address of the required file as and when the request is made.
In order to prevent volatility, the devices are designed with the Floating Gate Transistors (FGRs)
to hold electrical charge.

Working Principle of a Solid-State Drive (SSD)

SSD uses three main types of memories which is, Single Level Cell (SLC), Multi-Level Cell (MLC)
and Triple Level Cell (TLC). SLC being the fastest and the most durable are the most expensive
form of SSD. MLC are slower in the write speed whereas the TLC can hold 3 bits of data in the
cell.

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SLC, MLC and TLC Memory of SSD

Types of Solid State Drive (SSD)

SSDs can be classified by different form
factors such as the type of connections.
Some are listed below:

• SATA III: The connection works with

the final evolution of an older
option which works with both the
Solid State Drives and the Hard Disk Drives. This is a smaller driver and a bare circuit.
These are used in smaller capacity usually found in notebooks or laptops.

• PCIe: Peripheral Component

Interconnect Express option
connects directly to the
motherboard for a direct flow
of data which in turn supports
the SSD writing speeds to
around 1GB per second. As
the interface, the SSDs use the PCI-E slot which makes limits the speed of the PCI-E slot.

• M.2 SSD: These are similar to mSATA with the concept of having a bare circuit board.
The difference compared to the other SSD is that within the M.2 form factor there are
a variety of different width and length combinations which brings in more flexibility in
its usage. These types of SSDs are typically used for mobile solutions such as ultra-books
or tablets.

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• NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express): NVMe are the versatile PCIe connections which
are easier to upgrade and generally faster. It’s a communication interface which defines
a command set.

Advantages of Solid-State Drive (SSD)

• Durability – Being more rugged and heavy duty, a SSD covers a very high number of
drive cycles.
• Speed – The speed accessed by the SSD is 35 to 100 micro-seconds, which is 100 times
the performance of HDDs. SSD can improve the online presence when it comes to
hosting a website. This is due to the faster website loading speed and stable and efficient
data storage.
• Availability in the Market – SSDs are available in various physical and memory sizes.
• Low Power Consumption – Compared to the HDD, a SSD consumes less power since
they don’t have any moving parts.

Disadvantages of Solid State Drive (SSD)

• Cost – SSDs are more expensive than the HDD even after having similar storage capacity.
• Data Recovery – The data can be completely destroyed and cannot be recovered if
one of the memory flash is destroyed.
• Storage – SSD faces a major problem regarding the storage. The data can be written
on empty blocks. However, when the blocks get filled, overwriting becomes an issue.
Reading the data is not affected by this. To avoid this issue, one has to transfer the data
into another memory drive and erase the SSD to reload the data.

Key Board

A computer keyboard is one of the primary input devices used with a computer. Similar to
a typewriter, a keyboard is composed of buttons that create letters, numbers, and symbols, as
well as other functions.

The keyboard's design comes from the original typewriter keyboards, which arranged letters
and numbers in a way that prevented the type-bars from getting jammed when typing quickly.

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This keyboard layout is known as the QWERTY design, which gets its name from the first six
letters across in the upper-left-hand corner of the keyboard.

While the design of computer keyboards may have come from typewriters, today's keyboards
have many other keys as well. Modifier keys, such as Control, Alt/Option, and Command (Mac)
or the Windows key (Windows) can be used in conjunction with other keys as "shortcuts" to
perform certain operations.

Most of today's computer keyboards

also have a row of function keys (F1
through F16) along the top of the
keyboard, arrow keys arranged in an
upside-down T, and a numeric keypad
on the right-hand side. Some
keyboards have even more buttons, allowing you to change the system volume, eject a CD, or
open programs such as your e-mail or Web browser.

How it works

Whenever a key is pressed, a specific signal

is transmitted to the computer. The
keyboard uses a crossbar network to identify
every key based on its row and column

When a key is pressed, an electrical contact

is formed between the row and column. The electric signals are transmitted to a microcontroller,
which sends a code to the computer describing the character which corresponds to that key.

In computing, a keyboard controller is a device that interfaces a keyboard to a computer. Its

main function is to inform the computer when a key is pressed or released. When data from the
keyboard arrives, the controller raises an interrupt (a keyboard interrupt) to allow the CPU to
handle the input.

Key Board connector

There are three types of connectors for connecting the keyboard to motherboard. The interfaces
are mounted on the back panel of the motherboard. They are 5-PIN DIN, 6-PIN MINI DIN or PS/2
and USB

5-PIN DIN is the oldest keyboard connector. It was used in AT and baby AT type motherboard.
The mother board has female connector and the key board has the male connector.

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PIN 1: Used for Keyboard Clock

PIN 2: used for Keyboard data
PIN 3: Unused
PIN 4: Ground
PIN 5: +5v Power

6-PIN MINI DIN is also known as PS/2 connector. This is used in ATX, LPX and NLX motherboards.
Pointing devices like Mouse can also connect to it. So all the motherboards have two number of
PS/2 port. One is for Keyboard and the other is for Mouse.

PIN 1: Key Board Data

PIN 2: Unused
PIN 3: Ground
PIN 4: +5V Power
PIN 5: Keyboard clock
PIN 6: Unused

USB type is newly developed interface where we can connect the keyboard. All the latest
motherboards have this type of facility. To run a USB Keyboard the BIOS must support it.
Otherwise, it will work in graphical mode only and it cannot run in DOS mode. This means the
BIOS must have facility to enable the option of “USB Keyboard”.

A wireless keyboard can be connected using RF technology with the help of two parts, a
transmitter and a receiver. The radio transmitter is inside the wireless keyboard. The radio
receiver plugs into a keyboard port or USB port. Bluetooth is another technology that is being
widely used by wireless keyboards. These devices connect and communicate to their parent device
via the Bluetooth protocol.

Key Bouncing

Mechanical switches are used as keys in most of the keyboards. When a key is pressed the key
contact the circuit and bounce back upward and then settle down only after a small time delay
(about 20ms). Even though a key is activated once, it will triggered several times. This problem
is called Key Bouncing.

Mouse Interfaces

To transmit their input, typical cabled mice use a thin electrical cord terminating in a standard
connector, such as RS-232C, PS/2, ADB or USB. Cordless mice instead transmit data via infrared
radiation or radio (including Bluetooth), although many such cordless interfaces are themselves
connected through the aforementioned wired serial buses.
Mouse use in DOS applications became more common after the introduction of the Microsoft
mouse, largely because Microsoft provided an open standard for communication between
applications and mouse driver software.

Serial interface and protocol

Standard PC mice once used the RS-232C serial port via a D-subminiature connector, which
provided power to run the mouse’s circuits as well as data on mouse movements.

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PS/2 interface and protocol

With the arrival of the IBM PS/2 personal-computer series in 1987, IBM introduced the PS/2
interface for mice and keyboards, which other manufacturers rapidly adopted. The most
visible change was the use of a round 6-pin mini-DIN, in lieu of the former 5-pin connector.

USB
The industry-standard USB (Universal Serial Bus) protocol and its connector have become
widely used for mice; it’s currently among the most popular types.

Cordless or wireless
Cordless or wireless mice transmit data via infrared radiation or radio (including Bluetooth).
The receiver is connected to the computer through a serial or USB port, or can be built in (as is
sometimes the case with Bluetooth). Modern non-Bluetooth wireless mice use USB receivers.

Printers

A printer is an output device that prints

paper documents. This includes text
documents, images, or a combination of
both. The printed output produced by a
printer is called a hard copy, which is the
physical version of an electronic
document. World's first computer printer
was a 19th-century mechanically driven
apparatus invented by Charles Babbage.
There are two types of printers. Major types
of printer Printers can be divided into two
main groups, impact printer and non- impact
printer.

Impact printer: Impact printer produces text

and images when tiny wire pins on print
head strike the ink ribbon by physically
contacting the paper.

Non-Impact printer: non-impact printer

produces text and graphics on paper without
actually striking the paper.

Daisy-Wheel Printers
In order to get the quality of type found on typewriters, a daisy-wheel impact printer can be
used. It is called daisy-wheel printer because the print mechanism looks like a daisy; at the end
of each “Petal” is a fully formed character which produces solid-line print. A hammer strikes a
“petal” containing a character against the ribbon, and the character prints on the paper. Its
speed is slow typically 25-55 characters per second.

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Drum Printer
A drum printer consists of a solid, cylindrical drum that has raised characters in bands on its
surface. The number of print positions across the drum equals the number available on the page.
This number typically ranges from 80-132 print positions. The drum rotates at a rapid speed. For
each possible print position there is a print hammer located behind the paper. These hammers
strike the paper, along the ink ribbon, against the proper character on the drum as it passes.
One revolution of the drum is required to print each line. This means that all characters on the
line are not printed at exactly the same time, but the time required to print the entire line is fast
enough to call them line printers. Typical speeds of drum printers are in the range of 300 to 2000
lines per minute.

Dot-Matrix Printers
The dot-matrix printer uses print heads containing from 9 to 24 pins. These pins produce
patterns of dots on the paper to form the individual characters. The 24-pin dot-matrix printer
produces more dots that a 9-pin dot-matrix printer, which results in much better quality and
clearer characters. The general rule is: the more pins, the clearer the letters on the paper. The
pins strike the ribbon individually as the print mechanism moves across the entire print line in
both directions, i-e, from left to right, then right to left, and so on. The user can produce a color
output with a dot-matrix printer (the user will change the black ribbon with a ribbon that has
color stripes). Dot-matrix printers are inexpensive and typically print at speeds of 100-600
characters per second.

Ink-Jet Printers
Ink-jet printers work in the same fashion as dot-matrix printers in the form images or characters
with little dots. However, the dots are formed by tiny droplets of ink. Ink-jet printers form
characters on paper by spraying ink from tiny nozzles through an electrical field that arranges
the charged ink particles into characters at the rate of approximately 250 characters per second.
The ink is absorbed into the paper and dries instantly. Various colors of ink can also be used.

Laser Printer
It is a type of printer that utilizes a laser beam to produce an image on a drum. The light of the
laser alters the electrical charge on the drum wherever it hits. The drum is then rolled through
a reservoir of toner, which is picked up by the charged portions of the drum. Finally, the toner
is transferred to the paper through a combination of heat and pressure. The available
resolutions range from 300 dpi at the low end to 1,200 dpi at the high end. In addition to text,
laser printers are very adept at printing graphics, so you need significant amounts of memory in
the printer to print high-resolution graphics.

General troubleshoot printer issues

• Printer does not have power supply

• Data & power cables not connected properly
• Printer error (orange or blinking light)
• No paper or paper jam
• Inkjet printer ink related issues
• Printer self-tests process

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Scanner

A scanner is an input device that scans documents such as photographs and pages of text. When
a document is scanned, it is converted into a digital format. This creates an electronic version of
the document that can be viewed and edited on a computer. Most scanners are flatbed devices,
which means they have a flat scanning surface. This is ideal for photographs, magazines, and
various documents. Most flatbed scanners have a cover that lifts up so that books and other
bulky objects can also be scanned. Another type of scanner is a sheet-fed scanner, which can
only accept paper documents. While sheet-fed scanners cannot scan books, some models
include an automatic document feeder, or ADF, which allows multiple pages to be scanned in
sequence.

Scanners work in conjunction with computer software programs, which import data from the
scanner. Most scanners include basic scanning software that allows the user to configure,
initiate, and import scans. Scanning plug-ins can also be installed, which allow various software
programs to import scanned images directly. Scanners come in many shapes and sizes.

The various scanner types are:

Flatbed Scanners: Flatbed scanners are the scanners that most people are familiar with. These
scanners sit on your desk with a flip-up top that reveals the scanning glass when open. They
come in a couple of different sizes for standard paper or up to legal sized and beyond. You may
also find all-in-one models that include a scanner and a printer, minimizing the amount of desk
space required. Flatbed scanners are excellent for scanning newspaper articles, books, and even
DVD cases for those who wish to digitize their movie library.

Sheet fed Scanners: Sheet fed scanners are ideal if you need to scan large volumes of
documents. They are a bit smaller than standard flatbed scanners making them great if you are
working with limited space. Most sheeted scanners have a lower image resolution than flatbeds,
but for documents this is not a major concern. The big advantage here is the ability to scan
several documents at a time rather than have to manually change pages after each scan.
Documents can be loaded into a feeder tray and the machine will pull in one page at a time for
scanning, much like a photocopier.

Photo Scanners: Photo scanners are exactly what they sound like and are best suited for you if
you need to digitize a large volume of photographs and negatives. They can be considerably
more expensive that all-purpose scanners, but the difference in quality and resolution. Photo
scanners usually come with their own specialized photo editing software and also adapters that
allow you to work with negatives and slides.

Portable Scanners: Portable scanners are tiny little handheld devices or small tabletop devices
that allow you to scan anything, anywhere, any time. Some are no bigger than an ink pen, while
higher quality portable scanners will be a bit larger. Most portable scanners will not give as high
of a resolution as a flatbed scanner.

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Film and Slide Scanners: For high quality scans of 35mm film, negatives or slides you will
probably be happiest with a higher end photo scanner. But there are small slide
scanners available specifically for bulk scanning of film products. The image quality won’t be as
good

General scanner troubleshooting

• Verify cables connected properly to the back of the scanner

• Ensure that the scanner is getting power
• Verify the parallel port of scanner functioning properly
• Update the drivers

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UNIT-5
Display
The display device is an output device used to represent the information in the form of visual
form may be text and graphics. Display systems are mostly called a video monitor or Video
display unit (VDU). The display unit is classified into various categories. These as follows:

1. Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)

2. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
3. Light Emitting Diode (LED)
4. Plasma Display
5. Thin-film Transistor (TFT)
Pixels: The term that comes from the words PEL (picture element). A pixel is the smallest
portion of an image or display that a computer is capable of printing or displaying.

Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)

Here, CRT stands for Cathode ray
tube. It is a technology which is
used in traditional computer
monitor and television. Cathode
ray tube is a particular type of
vacuum tube that displays images
when an electron beam collides on
the radiant surface.

In the CRT are three electron guns. These are Red, Green, and Blue. Each of these guns streams
a steady flow of electrons, left to right, for each line of your monitor. As the electrons hit the
phosphors on the CRT, the phosphor will glow certain intensities.
Liquid crystal display (LCD)
LCD is a flat display technology used in laptops, cell phones, calculators, digital cameras, and flat
screen displays. The LCD is made of two sheets of a flexible polarizing material and a layer of
liquid crystal solution between the two. An LCD is available as an active-matrix, dual-scan,
or passive-matrix display and are most common with laptop. An LCD does not refresh like
a CRT monitor. Instead, a picture is created by sending electricity through liquid crystals which
untwist at the rate of electricity applied, creating 64 shades.
A passive-matrix display, is an LCD with a row of transistors running horizontally (x-axis) and
vertically (y-axis). The number of transistors defined by the LCD manufacturer. Unfortunately,
if one of these transistors were to fail, you would receive a solid black line going vertical or
horizontal.

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An active-matrix display is an LCD (liquid crystal display) introduced with the IBM ThinkPad in
1992. With Active-matrix displays, each pixel is controlled by one to four transistors that make
the screen brighter and more colorful than passive-matrix displays. Active-matrix displays also
update the screen faster than passive-matrix displays and are capable of being viewed at a
greater viewing angle.
Light Emitting Diode (LED)
LED is a semiconductor that illuminates when an electrical charge passes through it. LEDs are
commonly green, amber, or red, but they can be now available in various colors.
A LED display is a flat panel display that uses an array of light-emitting diodes as pixels for a video
display. Currently, a large number of electronic devices, both small and large, use LED display as
a screen and as an interaction medium between the user and the system. Modern electronic
devices such as mobile phones, TVs, tablets, computer monitors, laptops screens, etc., use a LED
display to display their output.
Plasma Display
A plasma display is a computer video display in which each pixel on the screen is illuminated by
a tiny bit of plasma or charged gas, somewhat like a tiny neon light. Plasma displays are thinner
than cathode ray tube (CRT) displays and brighter than liquid crystal displays (LCD). Each plate
contains a conductive print; one is horizontal, and the other is vertical. These displays ranged
from 42 to 60-inches
Thin-film transistor (TFT)
A thin-film-transistor liquid-crystal display (TFT LCD) is a variant of a liquid-crystal display (LCD)
that uses thin-film-transistor (TFT) technology to improve image qualities such as addressability
and contrast. A TFT LCD is an active-matrix LCD. The TFT technology provides the
best resolution of all the flat-panel techniques, but it is also the most expensive. TFT screens are
sometimes called active-matrix LCDs.
The benefit of thin-film transistor technology is the separate, tiny transistor for each pixel on
the display. Because each transistor is so small, the amount of charge needed to control it is also
small. This allows the screen to refresh very quickly, as the image is re-painted or refreshed
several times per second.

Graphics card
A graphics card is a type of display adapter or video card installed within most computing devices
to display graphical data with high clarity, colour, definition and overall appearance. A graphics
card provides high-quality visual display by processing and executing graphical data using
advanced graphical techniques, features and functions.
A graphics card is also known as a graphics adapter, graphics controller, and graphics accelerator
card or graphics board. It includes a dedicated graphical processing unit (GPU) and a dedicated
RAM that help it to process graphical data quickly. Like most processors, a graphics card also has
a dedicated heat sink to keep the heat out of the GPU.
Moreover, a graphics card includes various expansion ports such as AGP, HDMI etc. A graphics
card can be integrated within the motherboard or be added on as an extension card.

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The graphics card performs its task using four main components:

• A motherboard connection for data and power

• A processor to decide what to do with each pixel on the screen
• Memory to hold information about each pixel and to temporarily store completed
pictures
• A monitor connection so you can see the final result

SMPS - Switch Mode Power Supply

The term SMPS is defined as when the power supply is

involved with the switching regulator to change the
electrical power from one form to another form with
required characteristics is called SMPS. This power
supply is used to achieve regulated DC output voltage
from the DC input voltage (or) unregulated AC. SMPS
is a complex circuit such as other power supplies, it
provides the supply from a source to the loads. SMPS
is very important for different appliances which
consume power and also for making electronic projects.

Working Principle of SMPS

A switching regulator does the regulation in the switch mode power supply. A series switching
element switches the current supply to a smoothing capacitor turn ON and OFF. The voltage on
the smoothing capacitor controls the time when the series element is switched. The constant
switching of the capacitor keeps the voltage at the necessary level.

AC power first flows through the fuses & a line filter, then it is resolved by a full wave bridge
rectifier. The voltage which is resolved is next used to the PFC (power factor correction) pre-
regulator followed by the downstream DC to DC converter. Most of the computers and small
machines utilize IEC (International Electro Technical Commission) style i/p connector. As for o/p
connectors and pinouts, excluding for some industries like PC & compact PCI. In general, they
are not consistent and are left up to the manufacturer.

Input rectifier stage

In this stage the AC input is convert into the DC. This is called RECTIFICATION. A SMPS with a DC
input does not require this stage.

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In computer ATX power supply (SMPS), the rectifier circuit can be configured in such a way that
it can double the voltage level by the addition of a switch operated either manually or
automatically. This feature permits operation from power sources that are normally at 115 V or
at 230 V. The rectifier produces an unregulated DC voltage which is then sent to a large filter or
capacitor.
Inverter stage
The inverter stage converts DC, whether directly from the input or from the rectifier stage to AC
by running it through a power oscillator, whose output transformer is very small at a frequency
of tens or hundreds of kilohertz

Oscillators convert direct current (DC) from a power supply to an alternating current (AC) signal. They are
widely used in many electronic devices ranging from simplest clock generators to digital instruments (like
calculators) and complex computers and peripherals

Voltage converter and output rectifier

If the output is required to be isolated from the input, as is usually the case in mains power
supplies, the inverted AC is used to drive the primary winding of a high-frequency transformer.
This converts the voltage up or down to the required output level on its secondary winding.
The output transformer serves this purpose.
If a DC output is required, the AC output from the transformer is rectified. For output voltages
above ten volts or so, ordinary silicon diodes are
commonly used. For lower voltages, Schottky
diodes are commonly used as the rectifier
elements. The rectified output is then smoothed
by a filter consisting of inductors and capacitors.
The Schottky diode (named after the German
physicist Walter H. Schottky), also known as Schottky barrier
diode or hot-carrier diode, is a semiconductor diode formed
by the junction of a semiconductor with a metal. It has a
low forward voltage drop and a very fast switching action .

Regulation or Controller
A feedback circuit monitors the output voltage and compares it with a reference voltage.
Depending on design and safety requirements, the controller may contain an isolation
mechanism to isolate it from the DC output.

Output Voltages of SMPS

+5 Volt Supply: This is the basic supply voltage for nearly all electronic components. The +5-volt
supply wires should always be red in any standard PC system.

+12-volt Supply: the main function of the +12V power is to run disk drive motors as well as the
higher output processor voltage requirements in some of the newer boards. +12V supply is used
by any cooling fans in the system.

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-12Volt Supply: This voltage can be used by any add-on card plugged into the ISA bus slots,
usually only the serial port driver/receiver circuits use it for converting TTL signals. In a modern
PC the -12V is left unused.

-5Volt Supply: It is directly rounded to the ISA bus pin B5 for use by add on cables. In earlier
floppy drive controller cards; the analog data separator circuit used-5V.

+3.3 Volt Supply: It is used in the ATX type SMPS to provide 3.3-volt supply to the motherboard.
Most CPUs and DRAM use 3.3 volts, and some PCI adapter cards are also used 3.3 volt. All high-
speed PCI adapter cards to use 3.3 volts for all communications with the PCI Bus.

+3.3 Sense: it is used to sense the actual voltage of the 3.3-volt supply after it has reached the
motherboard, which allows the power supply to actively adjust the 303 volt output to
compensate for line losses between the power supply and the motherboard.

Power Good: The Power Good signal is also known as Power OK signal. Its purpose is to ensure
that the computer is functioning properly with the power supply and the computer can continue
to operate normally. If the Power-Good signal is not present at start-up, the CPU will not start
function. If a Power-Good signal goes down during operation, the CPU will shut down. The
Power-Good signal prevents the computer from attempting to operate on improper voltages
and damaging itself. Once this signal is received from the supply, the motherboard can begin its
POST and boot process.

SMPS advantages

• High efficiency:
• Compact:
• Flexible technology:

SMPS Disadvantages

• Noise
• External components
• Expert design required
• Costs

Types of BIOS (Basic Input Output System)

There are two different types of BIOS –

UEFI – The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), like BIOS (Basic Input Output System)
is a firmware that runs when the computer is booted. It initializes the hardware and loads the
operating system into the memory. However, being the more modern solution and overcoming
various limitations of BIOS, UEFI is all set to replace the former.

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Advantages of UEFI over BIOS

• Size Limitations: The UEFI firmware can boot from drives of 2.2 TB or larger with
the upper limit of 9.4 zettabytes, which is roughly 3 times the size of the total
information present on the Internet.

• Speed and performance: UEFI can run in 32-bit or 64-bit mode and has more
addressable address space than BIOS, which means your boot process is faster.

• More User-Friendly Interface: Since UEFI can run in 32-bit and 64-bit mode, it
provides better configuration for graphics.

• Security: UEFI also provides the feature of Secure Boot. It allows only authentic
drivers and services to load at boot time, to make sure that no malware can be
loaded at computer startup.

Legacy BIOS – Older motherboards have legacy firmware on the BIOS to turn the PC. Although
it governs how the CPU and the components communicate, like UEFI, Legacy BIOS has other
limitations. It can’t identify drives bigger than 2.1 TB, and their setup programs have text-only
menus.

Limitations of BIOS

• BIOS can boot from drives of less than 2 TB. 3+ TB drives are now standard, and a system
with a BIOS can’t boot from them.

• BIOS runs in 16-bit processor mode, and has only 1 MB space to execute.

• It can’t initialize multiple hardware devices at once, thus leading to slow booting process.

Difference between the Booting Process with UEFI and BIOS

• Booting Process with BIOS: When BIOS begins its execution, it first goes for the Power-
On Self-Test (POST), which ensures that the hardware devices are functioning correctly.
After that, it checks for the Master Boot Record in the first sector of the selected boot
device. From the MBR, the location of the Boot-Loader is retrieved, which, after being
loaded by BIOS into the computer’s RAM, loads the operating system into the main
memory.

• Booting Process with UEFI: Unlike BIOS, UEFI doesn’t look for the MBR in the first sector
of the Boot Device. It maintains a list of valid boot volumes called EFI Service Partitions.
During the POST procedure the UEFI firmware scans all of the bootable storage devices
that are connected to the system for a valid GUID Partition Table (GPT), which is an
improvement over MBR. Unlike the MBR, GPT doesn’t contain a Boot-Loader. The
firmware itself scans the GPT to find an EFI Service Partition to boot from, and directly
loads the OS from the right partition. If it fails to find one, it goes back the BIOS-type
Booting process called ‘Legacy Boot’.

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The EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) system partition or ESP is a partition on a data storage
device (usually a hard disk drive or solid-state drive) that is used by computers adhering to
the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).

POST Operation & Troubleshooting (Hardware)

The POST (power on self-test) is a set of procedures that a computer runs through each time it
is turned on. It ensures that all of the system's hardware is working properly before trying to
load the operating system. If the computer does not pass POST, it will not boot. If your computer
experiencing POST errors when you boot your computer, the following steps may help you fix
the problem.

Remove new hardware:

If any new hardware was recently added to the computer, remove that hardware to make sure
that it is not creating the problem. If the computer functioning after removing the new
hardware, than either the new hardware is not compatible with that computer, system setting
needs to be changed, or the new hardware is a defective one.

Identify beep code:

If you are receiving a sequence of beeps, see the beep code page for a listing of different beep
codes and their explanation. You can also check your motherboard or computer documentation
for information on the beep codes. These beep codes are meant to help identify which computer
component is failing or bad. If your beep code is not listed, continue troubleshooting.

Check all cables

Verify all the cables are securely connected to the computer and that there are no loose cables
by firmly pressing in each cable.
• All disk drives should have a data cable and power cable connected to them.
• Your power supply should have at least one cable going to the motherboard. Many
motherboards may also have additional cables connected to them to supply power to
the fans.

Disconnect all expansion cards

If the irregular POST problem is still not resolved than, disconnect the riser board or expansion
cards. If this fixes the problem or allows the computer to POST, connect one card at a time until
you determine which card is causing the problem.

Disconnect all drives

If you cannot diagnose the problem by the beep code (or you do not hear a beep code), power
off the computer. Then, disconnect any IDE, SATA, SCSI, or other data cables from
the motherboard. When they are disconnected, try booting the computer again. If this resolves
your irregular POST or generates error messages, reconnect each device until you determine
which device or cable is causing the issue. In some situations, it can also be a loose cable
connection that causes the issue.

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Remove the RAM

If you continue to experience the same problem with all the above hardware removed, remove
the RAM from the motherboard and turn on the computer. If the computer has a different beep
code or was not beeping but is now, turn off your computer and try the suggestions below. Make
sure to turn off the computer before adding and removing the memory and then turning it back
on to see if the suggestion resolves the issue.
1. Re-insert the memory into the same slot.
2. If you have more than one stick of memory, remove all but one stick of memory and
try rotating through each stick.
3. Try one stick of memory in each slot.
If you can get the computer to boot with one or more of the sticks of memory installed, you are
likely dealing with some bad memory. Try to identify which stick of memory is bad and replace
it.
If you can get the memory to work in one slot but not another slot, the motherboard is likely
defective. You can either workaround the issue by running the memory in a different slot that
does work or replace the motherboard.

Disconnect and reconnect the CPU

For users who're more comfortable working inside their computer, reseat the CPU by removing
it and re-inserting it into the socket. You should also apply a fresh layer of thermal
compound between the CPU and the heat sink.

Bad Motherboard, CPU, RAM, or Power supply

If, after trying all of the above recommendations you still have an issue, you likely have a
bad motherboard, power supply, CPU, or RAM stick. The next step would be either to replace
these components or have the computer serviced.

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UNIT-6
Assembly of Desktop Computers

1. Planning Your Computer: This is a key factor that effects the selection of a computer. Before
buying any computers, you'll need to know what you plan on using the computer for.

2. Components need to buy: Processor, Motherboard, RAM, Hard Drive or SSD, Power, Case,
Graphics Card (optional), Cooling system

3. Ground yourself: Use an antistatic wrist-strap cable to prevent electrostatic discharge (ESD)
which can be deadly to computer electronics. Alternatively, touch a large metal body like a
radiator to discharge yourself.

4. Open the case: Unscrew the side panel (or slide it toward the back of the case) to do so.

5. Install the power supply. Some cases come with the power supply already installed, while
others will require you to purchase the power supply separately and install it yourself. Make
sure that the power supply is installed in the correct orientation, and that nothing is blocking
the power supply's fan

6. Connect the CPU to the Mother Board: Attach the processor to the motherboard by finding
the processor port on the motherboard's surface. An indicator on CPU and motherboard will
show you the correct orientation. Apply thermal paste to the processor if necessary and attach
the heat sink with cooler on top of the CPU.

7. Connect RAM: Attach the RAM to the motherboard by finding the RAM slots and inserting
the RAM appropriately (they should only fit one way).

8. Install the motherboard: Once the standoffs are installed, place the motherboard in the case
and push it up against the back plate. All of the back ports should fit into the holes in the I/O
back plate. Use the screws provided to secure the motherboard to the standoffs through the
shielded screw holes on the motherboard.

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9. Plug in the case connectors: These are likely to be located on the motherboard near the front
of the case. The order in which these are connected will depend on manufacturer. So, the
Mother Board manual must be followed while connecting these ports. Make sure that you
connect the USB ports, the Power and Reset switches, the LED power and hard drive lights, and
the audio cable.

10 Install your hard drive: Remove any front panels on the case. Insert the hard drive into its
slot (usually near the middle of the case from inside only). Tighten any screws needed to hold
the drive-in place. Plug the hard drive's SATA/PATA cable into the SATA/PATA (IDE PORT) port
on the motherboard.

11. Connect the power supply to any necessary components. Make sure that Power Supply
must be connected to Motherboard, Hard drive or SSD, Optical drive and other components if
necessary.

12. Finish your computer assembly: Once you've placed and connected the various internal
components for your computer and connected various cables including power supply and data
cable, the installation is finished and close the cover of the case and tighten the screw properly.

13. Provide Power Supply: Connect one end of a power supply cable to SMPS and the other end
is plug into a wall outlet power supply and switch on the computer.

14. Connect Display Unit: Connect a LCD or a CRT monitor to the computer using a VGA cable
and provide power supply to the monitor.

15. Connect Key Board and Mic: Connect Key Board and Mice to the computer properly using
back panel ports and also connect other I/O devices if necessary.

If everything is connected properly than the computer will start functioning properly without
any problem.

Configuring Laptops and Power settings

When purchasing a laptop directly from a manufacturer, such as Dell, Lenovo or HP, you often
have the option to configure your system with your choice of CPU, screen, memory, storage and
other key components. Here's a summarized version of our laptop buying guide that breaks
down all the different components.

CPU:
When it comes down to choose a CPU, you should choose a CPU for the best balance of
performance and price and the best one is CORE i5. For budget laptops, a Core i3 chip will
provide remarkably better performance than a Pentium or Celeron.

RAM:
It has been already tested that a 8GB of RAM has a good multitasking and high productivity
facility. More the RAM size greater the performance of the laptop. Hardcore multitaskers and
gamers will benefit from 16GB.

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Storage:
If possible, a solid-state drive (SSD) is preferred rather than a hard drive, because the SSD offers
a much faster, more responsive system. If you don't need to keep a lot of media files or PC games
on your storage drive, you can use a 256GB SSD, rather than a more-expensive 512GB model.

Screen:
A full 66 percent of consumer laptops come with low-resolution screens, most of which are 1366
x 768 pixels. At that resolution, you'll have to do a ton of scrolling and window switching,
because you can't fit much text on the display at once and can't stack full windows side by side.
So, the display screen should not be less than 1920 x 1080 (1080p) resolution for HD
performance.

Battery:
The battery type of a laptop is a great issue. Other than the business model most of the laptop
comes with low power battery type. If the battery power is more the laptop will function more
hours compare to low power battery.

Wi-Fi Card:
In a laptop Wi-Fi is highly essential. Now all the laptops have 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which is the current
standard of Wi-Fi. If a card is labelled as 2x2, it has two antennas, each of which can carry its
own data stream. On a standard 802.11ac network, a 2x2 card can transfer at a rate of up to 867
Mbps, while a 1x1 card tops out at 433 Mbps.

Windows Version:
Some companies will give you a choice of Windows 10 Home or Pro when you're configuring
your laptop. While Windows 10 Pro offers extra features such as remote desktop, BitLocker
encryption and group policy manager. Most of these extras are useful only for a large businesses
with IT departments. So, Pro is not worth with an extra cost of Rs.10000 or more.

4G Cards:
A few laptops allow you to get a built-in, 4G LTE card so you can stay connected on the road.
However, you'll have to pay extra cost more than Rs.20000/- + data usage charges extra. If you
rely on your laptop for business, having built-in 4G is a nice convenience, but it's probably
cheaper to just use your phone as a hotspot and connect to it.

Speakers:
Laptops have the built-in speakers and those speakers are at the right and the left side of the
laptop. One can easily find them on the laptop. The speaker quality varies in some laptops and
normally, they are the same.

I/O Ports
A Laptop must have a standard Keyboard, USB-3-0, Bluetooth VER.5 or higher, Audio and Mic
Combo Port, HDMI, USB-C Port, Card reader Port and RJ45 port (optional)

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Power settings in Laptop

In a Laptop It is essential that, manage the power properly for a better performance. Windows
operating systems provides many options to manage the laptop's power settings.

Power options can be set to a pre-configured Windows settings, or customize the settings
according to user’s need. Depending on the operating system, the choices may be: Hibernate,
Sleep or various custom settings.

Hibernate: Windows XP provides the Hibernate setting, but this option is missing from Windows
Vista and Windows 7. Users complained of numerous computer “freezes” and problems with
Hibernate; frequently, Windows had difficulty starting up after being in the Hibernate mode.
Instead, Vista and 7 offer the Sleep setting, which is much like Hibernate but is more reliable.

Sleep: The Sleep setting enables the computer to save all the work into the computer's RAM.
When the computer wakes from Sleep, the work session is restored. It is not necessary to restart
the computer and reopen all the programs after rousing the computer from Sleep mode.
Window has given the ability to choose when you want your computer to go into Sleep mode,
or you can set it to the default Windows settings.

Custom Settings: The best power settings for laptops provide a balance between providing
sufficient power for energy and prevent the laptop from overheating. The laptop's display uses
a huge amount of battery power, so turning down the brightness of the screen is the best choice
in saving power. There are other ways to save energy and to keep the laptop a little cooler when
idle, such as when the laptop goes into Sleep mode or shuts down after the hard drive is idle.
Windows allows you to modify your power settings to configure a power plan that best suits to
your laptop. The options for customizing the Windows power plan are found in “Power Options”
in the “Control Panel.”

The default “power saver” feature of Windows power settings is a good basic plan. However,
you may want to experiment with these settings; for example, the default custom setting for the
display on battery power is 50 percent brightness. This may be too dark for you. You can adjust
the brightness, but doing so will use more battery power. Alternatively, you can set Windows to
reduce hard drive idle time: for example, configure the hard drive into Sleep mode if the
computer is idle for longer than 10 minutes.

The best power settings balance energy use and productivity. When on battery, configure the
laptop power to reduce display brightness and to go into Sleep mode when idle. For best results,
it is advised to shut off the display after idle for 15 to 20 minutes, and shut off or set Sleep mode
for the hard drive after idle time reaches 20 to 30 minutes.

Laptop Components

Adapter: It is a power supply unit for electronic devices. Also called an "AC adapter" or
"charger," power adapters plug into a wall outlet and convert AC voltage to a DC voltage.
Computers use multiple DC voltages, and the power adapter is the external part of the power
supply for a laptop.

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Battery: It is used to provide power backup in order to operate laptop when AC mains power is
not available. The common laptop battery voltages are 10.8V, 11.1V or 14.8V. All the laptop
batteries are rechargeable. The common laptop battery types include lithium ion (i.e. Li-ion),
nickel cadmium (i.e. NiCad) and nickel metal hydride (i.e. NiMH). Out of these Li-ion is being
most commonly found in latest laptops. They are made using various combination of cells like 3
cells or 4 cells etc.

RAM types: RAM is the short form of Random Access Memory. It is the type of memory which
can be accessed randomly. It is temporary memory which stores data and Laptop uses SO-DIMM
(small outline dual in-line memory module. SO-DIMMs are a smaller alternative to a DIMM,
being roughly half the size of regular DIMMs.) DDR SDRAM types which are double data rate
synchronous dynamic random-access memory (RAM) class of memory ICs. The common types
of SDRAM include DDR1, DDR2, DDR3 and DDR4.

CPU types: Laptop processors are different from the desktop counterparts because the laptop
processor must have to run the laptop when the laptop is not plugged into an outlet. So it
consumes limited amount of power.

Most laptop users don't need high-end processors to run productivity software, but for PC
gaming and video editing, you'll need a powerful CPU in addition to sufficient RAM and a
dedicated video card. The less power the laptop uses, the longer the system can run on the
battery. Various processors are:

• AMD A8-7100 and Higher

• AMD A9-9410 and Higher
• AMD E1-7010 and Higher
• AMD E2-7110 and Higher
• AMD E2-9010 and Higher
• Intel Core i3-6100U and Higher
• Intel Core i3-7100U and Higher
• Intel Core i5-6200U and higher
• Intel Core i7-6500U and Higher
• Intel Core i7-6700HQ and Higher
• Intel Core i7-7500U and Higher

Laptop Motherboard & block diagram:

A laptop motherboard is the primary
printed circuit board (PCB) inside the
laptop that contains the components
that make the computer work.

Significantly the Laptop mother boards

are thinner and smaller than a desktop.
With a smaller motherboard, the
components must be closer together. A
poorly designed motherboard could
cause problems with heat build-up or
interference between components.

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Laptop motherboards also might have an odd shape or several notches, allowing them to fit
inside the thin laptop case, along with other necessary components.

The laptop motherboard might not have any expansion slots, while a desktop board might have
five or more. Rather than using expansion slots and expansion cards for items like sound cards or
networking, a laptop motherboard would include those components directly on the
motherboard, and they're called integrated components.

Laptop Keyboard:
A typical laptop
keyboard layout has
typewriter keys, shift keys,
function keys, and cursor
control keys. These include
Shift, Alt, Ctrl, and the special
Windows keys Win and
Context. The Win key appears
in the bottom row between
the Fn and Alt keys; the
Context key appears between
Alt and Ctrl.

The below figure illustrates a typical laptop keyboard layout, where all the common keys found
on the whopping desktop keyboard have been miniaturized to laptop size. The design intends
to let you type without the risk of fire from your fingers rubbing together.
• Alphanumeric, or “typewriter,” keys: These are the basic typing keys, each of which is
labeled with a character (a letter, number, or punctuation symbol). When you’re typing
on the computer, pressing a key produces its character on the screen.

• Shift keys: The keyboard sports various shift keys used either alone or in combination
with other keys. These include Shift, Alt, Ctrl, and the special Windows keys Win and
Context. The Win key appears in the bottom row between the Fn and Alt keys; the
Context key appears between Alt and Ctrl.

• Function keys: These keys are labeled F1 through F12 and are found on the top row of
the keyboard, right above the number keys.

• Cursor-control keys: These keys can be anywhere around the keyboard, although in this
example, they’re on the top and bottom right. They include the four directional arrow
keys, usually found in an inverted T pattern, as well as the Insert (or Ins), Delete (or Del),
Home, End, PgUp (or Page Up), and PgDn (or Page Down) keys.

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Windows 10 Installation steps

Step 1: Go to the BIOS SETUP. Open BOOT option and choose DVD as 1st boot option, choose
USB drive as 2nd boot option than HDD/SDD as 3rd boot option. Save your BIOS SETUP and logout
from the BIOS setting.

Step 2: Insert the original windows 1o DVD into DVD drive.

Step 3: It will ask you press any key to boot from DVD. Press any key within 15 second after
showing the message. Now the computer will start booting from DVD.

Step 4: This is the first screen of Windows 10 you will see, where you choose the OS’ language,
time and currency format, and input method.

Step 5: When you reach the installer screen, select “Install Now” and follow the instructions to
install Windows 10 on your PC.

Step 6: The setup takes a couple of seconds to start and asks you to enter the product key for
Windows 10. Type it and press Next. If you are reinstalling Windows 10, click or tap that you do
not have a product key, and your copy is automatically activated later. You can also clean install
Windows 10 without providing the key, if you click or tap on "I don't have a product key."

Step 7: You are shown the license terms. Read them if you wish and have the time. Then, check
the box for "I accept the license terms" and press Next.

Step 8: You are asked for the type of installation you want to perform. To make a clean install of
Windows 10, click or tap "Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)." Otherwise,
choose Upgrade, and read the instructions from this guide instead

Step 9: You are asked to select where you want to install Windows. Choose the drive or partition
that you want to use for Windows 10 and press Next. If you need to configure your partitions in
a specific way, do not hesitate to use the tools available for creating new partitions, deleting old
ones, formatting, and so on, before clicking Next.

Step 10: The setup takes some minutes to copy all the required files and then installs the
Windows 10 operating system. It also installs updates, if it detects that it can connect to the
internet.

Step 11: Once the installation is done, the Windows 10 setup automatically reboots, at least
once, to run the first-time configuration scripts. Wait for the process to finish. If you see the
prompt below, you can skip the waiting by pressing Restart now.

Step 12: While you wait, Windows 10 shows you the status of its "Getting ready" activities,
letting you follow the progress.

Windows 10 install process tells you that the operating system is Getting ready

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Customization of Windows 10 installation (setup steps)

Step 13: After the reboots are finished, Windows 10 asks you to choose the region where you
live. Select it from the list, and then click or tap Yes. Always you have to choose India.

Step 14: You are asked to confirm the keyboard layout that you want to use. Choose the
keyboard you prefer, and press Yes.

Step 15: If you do not want to use a Microsoft account, you can install Windows 10 without it.
When the Windows 10 installation asks you about it, choose to create and use an offline
account on your PC. It's also known as a local user account (or non-Microsoft account). To do
that, click or tap on the "Offline account" link at the bottom left of the sign-in screen.

Step 16: Enter the password that you want to use for your offline account and press Next.

Step 17: For offline accounts, Windows 10 asks you to answer three security questions. Choose
the questions you prefer, enter their answers, and press Next.

Step 18: On the next step, you're asked about your privacy settings. On the "Choose privacy
settings for your device" screen, select whether you want to enable or disable features
like Location, Diagnostic data, Find my device, Online speech recognition, Inking & typing,
Tailored experiences, and Advertising ID. We recommend that you carefully read what each of
these options does and turn on only those you feel comfortable with. Press Accept when you
are done.

Step 19: Windows 10 takes a while to prepare your computer or device, your apps, and all your
settings.

Step 20: Finally you will get Windows 10 DESKTOP SCREEN on the monitor

Maintenance
The computer is a machine having electrical and electromechanical peripherals. For a longer life
of the computer, it needs maintenance periodically. Basically, there are three types of
maintenance.
Preventive Maintenance:
• Preventive maintenance (PM) is a series of maintenance carried out to prevent system
problems. It can be done as a precautionary measure to avoid any problem in future.

• Preventive maintenance includes PC components such as, mouse, keyboard, drives, and
monitor to ensure smooth functioning of a PC.

• Preventive maintenance can be carried out as per the manufacture’s guide line using
appropriate cleaning materials. Some common problems those must be taken care as a
Preventive maintenance are:

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• Dust Proofing: Dust may damage HDD, FDD, RAM and other components of a computer. So,
precaution should be taken by cleaning the room and other equipment regularly.

• High temperature: It causes data loss, intermittent problem and early failure of electronic
components. Precaution should be taken by providing sufficient cooling and air circulation.

• Electrical Noise: It causes break down of the various circuit and signals. Precaution should
be taken by shielding cables, using isolation circuit etc.

• Magnetic fields: Affects data recorded in a floppy disk. Precaution should be taken by
keeping the PC from Audio speaker and TV.

• Power Fluctuations: Causes unreliable operation and damage of electronic components.

Precaution should be taken by using CVT, Surge suppressor, isolation circuit etc.

• Improper handling: Corruption of disk & data, damage of key switch of key board.
Precaution should be taken by handling the computer properly and safely.

Preventive maintenance provides the following benefits:

• It saves by reducing the possibility of a sudden breakdown of the PC and the other
associated components.
• It saves time as troubleshooting the components and their repair procedures take
more time as compared to preventive maintenance procedures.
• It safeguards the data by protecting Hard Disk drive.
• It improves performance and life of the computer and other components

Corrective Maintenance:
• Corrective maintenance is a type of system maintenance which is performed after a fault or
problem appears in a system. Corrective maintenance process is used for diagnosing and
fixing existing problems.

• Corrective maintenance may require repairing parts or even replacing them with new ones.
Computer technicians are specifically trained to carry out the corrective maintenance
process.

• The diagnostic process can include a physical inspection of a system, the use of a diagnostic
computer to evaluate the system, interviews with system users, and a number of other
steps.

• After diagnosis the next step is repair or replacement of damaged components or software.

Online Maintenance:
• In Online computer Maintenance process a user will get help to repair the computer through
online process like Telephonic call or through Internet.

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• Hardware breakdown problem can be solved quickly through the online service & support
center of the manufacturer.

• Most of the software problem can be solved through online maintenance process by
updating various software and operating system security patches.

• If the system is running slow than the online support site can run a lot of tests on our system
to diagnose the problem and solve the problems by installing some update patches.

Now a day this is the most popular way to get the support. It saves time and money. Few exam-
ples of the online Computer repair are:
• They can schedule the online scan of the system as per the user’s requirement.
• They can update the system patch level online so the system keeps running smoothly.
• They can keep watching on the hardware status logs so it can be repaired in case of
need.
• They can keep the track of the performance of the computer.
• They can keep the record of the system security and clean the unwanted files and
defends the virus attacks.
• The online computer repair is the future of the computer support.

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting in a computer is an intelligent and sophisticated process. A wide variety of
computers are available in the market. So before troubleshooting it is highly recommended
that user’s manual should be carefully fallowed. Successful troubleshooting depends on the
fallowing factors. They are:
Problem solving approach, Techniques applied in troubleshooting, Tools and test equipment
used, Diagnostic support in the PC.
A fault in a computer system affects the normal operation of the computer. The following are
some computer faults that usually we are facing.
1. A program has given a wrong result
2. A program is looping continuously.
3. The CPU not working properly.
4. There is a junk display in the monitor.
5. The printer starts printing suddenly without any print command.
6. The Floppy disk drive or CD-Drive always remains selected.
7. The hard disk drive not reading.

Nature of Faults
Computer faults can be broadly divided into two types. They are as follows.
1. Permanent fault:
If the computer misbehaves consistently than we can say it is a permanent fault. For
example, any number of times the program run, the results or the symptoms are
same.

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2. Intermittent fault:
If the computer’s behavior is not consistence than the problem is known as intermittent
problem. In this type of problem, the computer will suddenly starts malfunctioning.
After a certain time, it recovers from the fault automatically and again starts functioning
properly.

Types of faults
Generally, there are two types of computer fault. They are:
1. Hardware fault:
A hardware fault can occur at any time due to electronic problem, mechanical problem,
environmental problem and media problem. All type of hardware problem may be both
solid and intermittent problem. It is easy to find a solid problem but it is very difficult to
find an intermittent problem.

2. Software fault:
The software problem may occur in a computer like some programs may not work
properly or it may work for certain type of data. These problems are happening because
of the software is not proven, tested and debugged properly.

Diagnostic programs and Tools:

Diagnostic Program:
• The diagnostic program is a special type program which is provided by the manufacturer.
This program is designed to verify the various functions of computer hardware.

• A hardware problem can be detected by running these programs. To identify an intermittent

problem, it is necessary to run the diagnostic program multiple times. It also helps to identify
the problem of both hardware and software.
The various Diagnostic programs are:

• Microsoft Diagnostics: Better known as "MSD.EXE", this is a small DOS utility that takes
a brief inventory of the contents of the PC and shows the result in a text-based format.

• Microsoft Scandisk and Norton Disk Doctor: These programs are used to check for hard
disk problems. This includes file system corruption and hard disk read errors. They
should be used when hard disk problems are suspected.

• Norton Diagnostics: This utility is meant to go beyond the System Information program
and actually perform tests on the hardware to identify problems. It includes tests of the
processor and motherboard and system memory, and will identify some types of
resource conflicts.

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Various tools:
There are two types of troubleshooting tools:
1. Nodal Testers
2. System Testers
The nodal testers are simple conventional test equipment used to probe in and around the faulty
circuit. These testers include logic probe, logic pulsar, current tracer and oscilloscope.

Logic probe: Logic probe is a hand-held low-cost test equipment through which ninety percent
of the fault can be diagnosed. It is used to find out the logic state of any node in a circuit including
steady states and pulses.

Logic pulsar: The logic pulsar is a hand-held tool used to inject pulses at the input of a logic gate.
The user can use a single pulse or a stream of pulses at different frequencies.

Current tracer: It is a hand-held tool which detects current flow in electronic circuits. It is useful
shorted components, track shorts, solder bridges, etc.

Oscilloscope: An oscilloscope helps to reserve all most any problem in a PC. This tool includes
three levels of testing. They are:
1. To test logic levels.
2. To measure signal characteristics such as frequency, pulse width, raise and fall time,
noise, etc.
3. To measure the timing relationship between two or more signals.

System testers: The system tester is a sophisticated test tool which is used to isolate the faulty
sub system quickly. The system testers include emulators, functional testers, logic analyzer, etc.

Fault elimination process:

Fault finding is a technique. Sometimes even simple problems cannot be traced in a reasonable
amount of time. A service engineer should learn the techniques of trouble shooting and fault-
finding techniques. Some of the common elimination steps are:
1. Check the AC input voltage. The voltage must be within the specification of the
computer.
2. The voltage difference between the ground and neutral should be less than 6v.
3. Check the DC output voltage of the SMPS.
4. Check whether all cables are installed properly.
5. Check for loose contact in any connectors.
6. Check whether the cooling fan inside the SMPS is working.

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7. Check dust sensitive areas like FDD, optical drive, etc.

8. Inspect for any broken components like resistors, capacitors, IC pins, etc.
9. Check whether any key on the keyboard is stock permanently.
10. Check the address bus, data bus and control bus signals and rule out whether any signal
is stuck at 1 or 0.

Systematic Troubleshooting:
Troubleshooting depends on the ability and experience of a hardware engineer. The duration of
down time of a computer reflects the capability and performance of a hardware engineer. There
are two types of troubleshooting.
1. Ad hoc troubleshooting: It is a type of troubleshooting where an engineer can solve the
problem for a short period without doing any proper and systematic diagnosis. In this
process though the fault can be eliminated but it may happen again and again. So this
type of troubleshooting does not help an engineer always.

2. Systematic troubleshooting: It is the process of troubleshooting in a systematic way.

Though it is taking more time as compared to ad hoc troubleshooting, it is reliable and
very helpful for a hardware engineer. The systematic troubleshooting can be carried out
in the following steps. These steps are:

• Symptoms observation: The first step in troubleshooting of a computer is

observing all the symptoms caused by the fault. Any problem of a computer can
be diagnosed if the symptoms are studied carefully without missing any point.
This technique is highly essential for multiple problems of a computer because
due to multiple faults it is impossible to locate exact fault. So, a hardware
engineer must have a systematic approach to the problem and starts the
troubleshooting with patience and careful observation of the symptoms.

• Symptoms analysis: The second and most important step in troubleshooting is

systematic analysis of symptoms of a computer. Careful analysis of symptoms
will give clue to the fault location process. For multiple symptoms the engineer
should try to correlate various symptoms to identify the exact problem. By
analyzing the symptoms properly, a hardware engineer can get the clue and
several steps can be skipped during fault location. Hence in this way the
performance and ability of a hardware engineer can be improved.

• Fault Diagnosis: Fault diagnosis is highly sophisticated and scientific process. To

diagnosis a fault an engineer should have inelegant, presence of mind and
detective skill. During diagnosis a fault an engineer should apply multi-
dimensional views like:

o Architecture: Before diagnosis an engineer should know the

architecture of that computer. So many problems can be detected by
analyzing the behavior of the computer including both hardware and
software (both system & application software).

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o Organization: Two computers having same architecture need not have

the same organization. So, before diagnosis a fault the hardware
engineer should know the organizational aspect like physical
arrangement of various subsystems of that computer. It will help a lot
to diagnosis a fault.

o Engineering Layout: Certain problems are caused simple by physical

layout of faults like faulty cable, loose connection, open wire etc. So to
handle these problems an engineer should thoroughly analyze the
physical aspects of circuit diagram, board layout diagram, cable signals
list, jumper setting etc. of that computer.

o Environment: various problems can cause due to environmental

condition like high temperature, dust, voltage fluctuations, electrical
interference, magnetic field, humidity etc. These problems create very
confusing symptoms. So, while diagnosis problem environmental
effects should be considered.
Fault Rectification:
Fault rectification consists of some simple steps if the problem is diagnosed and the fault is
traced properly. The various steps involved in fault rectification are:
1. Replacing a defective IC or other components.
2. Replacing a defective PCB.
3. Cleaning the connectors.
4. Cleaning the R / W head.
5. Soldering a broken wire or connection.
6. Formatting hard disk drive.
7. Isolating electrical loads.
8. Controlling temperature.
If the fault systems still remain even after doing fault rectification as per the diagnosis then there
is more than one defective component or the defective component not pointed out exactly. If
the problem is not solved than the diagnosis process should be fallowed again.
Logic diagram
It is a flow chart of hardware circuits or program logic. Detailed logic diagrams show all logic
functions of the equipment. In addition, they also include such information as socket locations,
pin numbers, and test points to help in troubleshooting. The detailed logic diagram for a
complete unit may consist of many separate sheets.
Firmware
Firmware is usually defined as a type of program that runs within an electronic device. Firmware
is not categorized either as hardware or software, but a mix of both. The reason firmware is
considered a combination of both categories is that firmware employs an executable program
(.exe) and includes an integrated piece of the electronic device. Firmware is a combination of
software and hardware. Data stored in ROMs, PROMs and EPROMs are firmware.

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Up gradation of system

A system upgrade typically involves adding new hardware or updating software to increase the
functionality of a system. However, system upgrades also have many less-known benefits such
as an increase in the lifespan and better efficiency of computer equipment.

Effective systems upgrades involve making coordinated and consistent improvements.

Hardware upgrades involve changes like swapping your hard drive for a Solid State Drive to boost
performance or upgrading your RAM to improve running efficiency of your system.
Here are five hardware updates that can help you evade system hang-ups:

1. RAM – You can update to 4GB or 8GB ram in under $50.

2. Hard drive – You can switch a traditional hard drive for a solid-state drive for better
performance.

3. Video card – If you’re a gamer or animation artist, you may want to invest in purchasing a
video card or graphics card for improved visuals.

4. Processor – You could also replace your Central Processing Unit and opt for one with a
more advanced processor.

5. Monitor – You could either replace your monitor for one with a better and bigger display
or add monitors to your existing one for easy multitasking.

Software upgrades and software updates

Software updates or upgrades are successful only when your systems are compatible with
them. The difference between a software update and a software upgrade is like the difference
between servicing your old bike and buying a new one.
Software update

A software update is also referred to as a software patch and is a free downloadable app that
fixes shortcomings in the existing version of your software. Software updates are typically
created to address security issues or small bugs that exist within a system. The most common
type of software update is one that protects your operating system from weaknesses that
hackers or viruses are exploiting.

Software upgrade

A software upgrade is a completely new version of a software that includes significant changes
that can enhance your current version. Sometimes, you need to buy the new version of a
software upgrade to access it. Other times, software companies offer new versions to users of
old software versions for free. Typically, when the latter occurs, you have to be registered with
the software company to access the upgrade. That’s why it’s important for you to ensure that
all systems on which you have software installed are registered with the software company.

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Virus concepts

VIRUS stands for “Vital Information Resources Under Siege”. A computer virus is a malicious
software program loaded onto a user’s computer without the user’s knowledge and performs
malicious actions. The term 'computer virus' was first formally defined by Fred Cohen in 1983.
Computer viruses never occur naturally. They are always induced by people.

In more technical terms, a computer virus is a type of malicious code or program written to alter
the way a computer operates and is designed to spread from one computer to another. A virus
operates by inserting or attaching itself to a legitimate program or document that supports
macros in order to execute its code. In the process, a virus has the potential to cause unexpected
or damaging effects, such as harming the system software by corrupting or destroying data.

How does a computer virus attack?

Once a virus has successfully attached to a program, file, or document, the virus will lie dormant
until circumstances cause the computer or device to execute its code. In order for a virus to
infect your computer, you have to run the infected program, which in turn causes the virus code
to be executed.

This means that a virus can remain dormant on your computer, without showing major signs or
symptoms. However, once the virus infects your computer, the virus can infect other computers
on the same network.

How do computer viruses spread?

In a constantly connected world, you can deal a computer virus in many ways. Viruses can be
spread through email and text message attachments, Internet file downloads, and social media
scam links. Your mobile devices and smartphones can become infected with mobile viruses
through shady app downloads. Viruses can hide disguised as attachments of socially shareable
content such as funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files.

What are the signs of a computer virus?

A computer virus attack can produce a variety of symptoms. Here are some of them:
• Frequent pop-up windows. Pop-ups might encourage you to visit unusual sites. Or they
might prod you to download antivirus or other software programs.

• Changes to your homepage. Your usual homepage may change to another website, for
instance. Plus, you may be unable to reset it.

• Mass emails being sent from your email account. A criminal may take control of your
account or send emails in your name from another infected computer.

• Frequent crashes. A virus can inflict major damage on your hard drive. This may cause
your device to freeze or crash. It may also prevent your device from coming back on.

• Unusually slow computer performance. A sudden change of processing speed could

signal that your computer has a virus.

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• Unknown programs that start up when you turn on your computer. You may become
aware of the unfamiliar program when you start your computer. Or you might notice it
by checking your computer’s list of active applications.

• Unusual activities like password changes. This could prevent you from logging into your
computer.

What are the different types of computer viruses?

1. Boot sector virus: This type of virus can take control when you start — or boot —
your computer. One way it can spread is by plugging an infected USB drive into your
computer.

2. Web scripting virus: This type of virus exploits the code of web browsers and web
pages. If you access such a web page, the virus can infect your computer.

3. Browser hijacker: This type of virus “hijacks” certain web browser functions, and you
may be automatically directed to an unintended website.

4. Resident virus: This is a general term for any virus that inserts itself in a computer
system’s memory. A resident virus can execute anytime when an operating system
loads.

5. Direct action virus: This type of virus comes into action when you execute a file
containing a virus. Otherwise, it remains dormant.

6. Polymorphic virus: A polymorphic virus changes its code each time an infected file
is executed. It does this to evade antivirus programs.

7. File infector virus: This common virus inserts malicious code into executable files —
files used to perform certain functions or operations on a system.

8. Multipartite virus: This kind of virus infects and spreads in multiple ways. It can
infect both program files and system sectors.

9. Macro virus: Macro viruses are written in the same macro language used for
software applications. Such viruses spread when you open an infected document,
often through email attachments.

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How to remove computer viruses

You can take two approaches to removing a computer virus. One is the manual do-it-yourself
approach. The other is by enlisting the help of a reputable antivirus program.

1. Want to do it yourself? There can be a lot of variables when it comes to removing a

computer virus. This process usually begins by doing a web search. You may be asked to
perform a long list of steps. You’ll need time and probably some expertise to complete
the process.

2. If you prefer a simpler approach, you can usually remove a computer virus by using an
antivirus software program. For instance, Norton Antivirus or Quick Heal or any other
Antivirus can remove many infections that are on your computer. These Antivirus
products can also help protect you from future threats.

Antivirus

Antivirus software is a vital component of your overall online and computer security strategy in
its protection against data and security breaches along with other threats. Antivirus software is
a program or set of programs that are designed to prevent, search for, detect, and remove
software viruses, and other malicious software like worms, trojans, adware, and more.

What Does Antivirus Software Do?

Antivirus software provides protection against these types of threats by performing key tasks:
• Pinpointing specific files for the detection of malicious software
• Scheduling automatic scans
• Scanning either one file or your entire computer at your discretion
• Deleting malicious codes and software
• Confirming the safety of your computer and other devices

What are the different types of antivirus protection?

Several types of antivirus programs have evolved over the years. When setting up your umbrella
of protection, it’s important to understand the more common antivirus programs available.

Malware signature antivirus: Malware, or malicious software, installs viruses and spyware on
your computer or device without your knowledge. Malware can steal your login information,
use your computer to send spam, crash your computer system, and essentially give
cybercriminals access to your devices and the information stored on them, and even the ability
to monitor and control your online activity.

System monitoring antivirus: This is where system monitoring antivirus software comes into
play. This antivirus protection can monitor software and computer systems for behaviour that
is suspect or different of the user. For instance, alerts are created when a user connects to
unfamiliar sites or attempts to access a large number of files, or when there’s a significant
increase in data usage.

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Machine learning antivirus: Another form of protection can be machine learning techniques,
which monitor “normal” computer or network behaviours. The machine learning antivirus
software is able to limit activities by programs or computers if they look suspicious.

More specifically, machine learning detection implements algorithms to facilitate malware

detection that is broader in scope. This type of antivirus protection is beneficial because it works
with other antivirus applications to provide multiple layers of protection.

Some Antivirus Names:

Norton Antivirus: Norton antivirus from Symantec is one of the most popular antiviruses that
are used all over the world. Many corporates placed their trust in this popular security software.
This is a patented antivirus that protects your PC from any kind of online and offline threats. This
antivirus offers social networking protection and 24/7 support.

McAfee Antivirus: It offers antivirus security for home usage, home offices and also large
organizations. The company offers a range of security technology including Data Centre Security,
Database Security, Endpoint Protection, Mobile Security and much more. It delivers proactive
and proven solutions and services in order to keep your systems safe and secure.

TrendMicro Antivirus: You can secure your home PC as well as your business data by using the
TrendMicro antivirus. This antivirus is smart, simple and secure that fits all your security
requirements. This antivirus offers smart protection for your PC and is simple to use. It also
offers mobile security and it does not slow down the processing of your machine.

Avira Antivirus: Avira offers free and paid antivirus software ranges for both Mac and PC. The
software maker uses the same award-winning technology for building both free and premium
antivirus software. The antivirus helps you keep your PC malware-free. The antivirus is light yet
powerful and simple and easy to use.

Kaspersky Antivirus: This popular antivirus software offers security against computer viruses,
Trojans, spyware, rootkits and many others. The best part is this antivirus does not undermine
the performance of your PC. Your PC will respond as fast it used to before installation of
Kaspersky antivirus. The heuristic scanner rapidly reacts to the new and emerging threats as
well.

AVG Antivirus: The AVG antivirus is available for your PC, Mac, Tablet and also mobile. Their
award-winning antivirus software is a must-have for any kind of device that you want to protect.
The best part is it is a free antivirus and offers the range of service that equals any paid antivirus
software.

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UNIT-7
Definition of network:

A network is a collection of computers, servers, mainframes, network devices, peripherals, or

other devices connected to one another to allow the sharing of data. An example of a network
is the Internet, which connects millions of people all over the world. Basically, network is of two
types:
1. Wire

2. Wireless

Network topologies and

A network topology is the physical and logical arrangement of nodes and connections in a
network. Nodes usually include devices such as switches, routers and software with switch and
router features. Network topologies are often represented as a graph.

Types of networks

Public network: A public network is a network to which anyone can connect. The best example
of such a network is the Internet.

Private network: A private network is any network to which access is restricted. A

corporate network or a network in a school are examples of private networks.

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Types of Computer Network

A LAN (local area network) is a group of computers and network devices connected together,
usually within the same building.

A MAN (metropolitan area network) is a larger network that usually spans several buildings in
the same city or town.

A WAN (wide area network), in comparison to a MAN, is not restricted to a geographical

location, although it might be confined within the bounds of a state or country. A WAN connects
several LANs, and may be limited to an enterprise (a corporation or an organization) or
accessible to the public. The technology is high speed and relatively expensive. The Internet is
an example of a worldwide public WAN.

NIC
Network interface card, the NIC is
also referred to as an Ethernet
card and network adapter. A NIC is a
computer expansion card for
connecting to a network (e.g., home
network or Internet) using
an Ethernet cable with an RJ-
45 connector. Due to the popularity
and low cost of the Ethernet
standard, nearly all new computers
have a network interface build
directly into the motherboard.

Network cards can communicate with each other over the same network using a
network switch, or if two computers are directly connected. When computers need to connect
to a different network (e.g., the Internet), they must be use a router to route the
network packets to the correct network.

In a desktop computer, the network card is most often located near the USB ports on the back
if it is an onboard version. If it is a separate network card (not onboard), it usually is located at
the back of the computer, near the bottom, taking up a PCI slot.

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In a laptop, the network card is integrated into the motherboard. The network port where you
plug in a network cable is often located on the side on the laptop, or it may be located on the
back. If you cannot find a network port on your laptop, it may only have a wireless network. You
can purchase a network card for laptops, which is installed into a PC card slot on the side of the
laptop, if available.

Network interconnecting devices

HUB

Hub is a kind of device that creates a computer

network by connecting multiple computers in a
LAN. It has multiple RJ-45 female ports that
connect each computer by using twisted pair
cable and RJ-45 male connector. The Hub
receives data packets from the sender and sends
these packets to every other port because it is a
Physical layer device. So, it has no way to keep
track of, which computer is connected to which port. Hub support protocols for ARCNET,
Ethernet, FDDI, Local Talk (Apple), Token Ring and Wireless LAN communication. All incoming
lines to a Hub must work at the same speed. Generally, it is used in star topology.

Types of HUBS:
There are three main types of hubs: 1) Passive hub, 2) Active hub and 3) Intelligent hub.

Passive HUBS:
Passive hubs are not providing any additional feature except for working just as an interface
between the users in the network. A passive hub simply receives signal on input port and
broadcast that signal on the output port without even rectifying it. These types of hubs do not
help in rectifying/enhancing the signals during data transmission in the network. If there is any
fault in the network it is very difficult to get any help from the passive hubs.

Active Hubs:
Active hub is a type of hub that involves actively in data communication within the network. In
a network active hub receives the signal (data) from the input port and stores it for sometimes
before forwarding it. This feature allows the hub to monitor the data before forward. Some
active hub comes with a feature that rectifies the data/signal before forwarding it in the
network. Active hubs help in troubleshooting at certain level. Active hubs are more expensive
than passive hubs as they provide additional features.

Intelligent Hubs:
An intelligent hub provides all the features of a passive and an active hub; it also provides some
features, which help in managing the network resources effectively and efficiently. Intelligent
hub helps in improving the performance of the network. An intelligent hub can decide which
packet goes in which output line, this helps in controlling and minimizing data traffic in the
network. It results the improved performance of the network. An intelligent hub itself finds out
the problem in the network, diagnoses it and tries to rectify it before hamper the performance
of the network. Intelligent hubs provide feature that helps in determining the exact cause and
exact place of the fault.

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Intelligent hub also helps in managing the data communication within the network. It recognizes
the slower devices automatically and helps them to transmit the data with their own speed, and
during this time the hub manages the traffic within the network effectively.

SWITCH

A network switch is an
integral part of any local
area network and is
responsible for providing
connectivity between
various network segments,
along with the control of
data traffic within the
terminals. A network switch
is a device that provides a
switching function in a data
communications network.
Switching involves
transferring information, such as digital data packets or frames, among the users of the network.

A switch primarily operates on the layer 2 or data link layer of an OSI model, but it may also
operate over layer 3. There are switches which operate over multiple levels and perform all the
functions of a router. Modern network switches provide full duplex, uninterrupted
communication between all terminals on a local area network. Modern switches operate using
the SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) that allows for remote monitoring of the
data traffic on a network. A switch is keeping the track of the MAC address of attached users to
each of its ports and route the signals accordingly to the exact receiving port. Ethernet Network
Switches can have bandwidths of 10, 100, 1000 megabits per second.

Methods of Switching
Local Area Network (LAN) Switches support different Switching Methods. Important Switching
Methods are store and forward and cut-through. Switching Methods determine how a switch
receives, processes, and forwards a Layer 2 frame.

Store and Forward Switching

In Store and forward switching, Switch copies each complete frame into the switch memory and
computes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) for errors. If a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) error
is found, the frame is dropped and if there is no Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) error, the switch
forwards the frame to the destination device. Store and forward switching can cause delay in
switching since Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is calculated for each frame.

Cut-through Switching
In cut-through switching method, the switch copies destination MAC address (first 6 bytes of the
frame) of the frame before making a switching decision and decides the outgoing switch port. It
starts to forward the frame as soon as it reads the destination MAC address and outgoing switch
port. In this method the switch reduces delay in transmission but a problem is that the switch
may forward a bad frame.

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Unmanaged Switch
An unmanaged switch provides very basic network management tools and provides the most
basic features, which includes bandwidth allocation to ports and directing data traffic within the
connected computers. It is a low-cost Ethernet switch with no interface or SNMP based
communication. It is not monitoring the network traffic. These are rack mounted switches with
LED indicators to check connectivity. It cannot be configured or customized according to the
requirements of the organization.

Managed Switch
Managed switches are far superior to unmanaged switches. It has the capacity monitor the data
traffic over the network using SNMP. These switches are designed to handle data traffic over a
large network. It comes with an advanced software and hardware capabilities that enables
bandwidth control and provides the administrator to control the network traffic with block or
access to certain parts of the network through the creation of virtual LANs. Error detection and
handling is made simpler with a managed switch due to centralized control and monitoring. This
type of switches is used in a very large network where the system administrator needs to control
the bandwidth allotment, needs VLAN and monitoring bandwidth usage using SNMP

ROUTER

Router is a physical device that

connects multiple wired or wireless
networks together irrespective of
different protocols. A router runs
software that allows the device to move
data from one network to another.
Router operates at the network layer of
OSI Model i.e., layer-3. Router accepts
packets from connected network and
passes them to another connected
network. If the router is not the
member of a network where the
receiving node is connected then the
router sends the data packet to the next
router which is directly connected to it.
A router can also allow networks that
could not normally communicate with each other to exchange data. In other words, a router can
connect two different networks. Various routing protocols are used for routing data packets
from one network to another network are: -

• Routing Information Protocol (RIP)

• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
• Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS)
• Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP)
• Enhanced Internal Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)
• Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

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Types of routers

Core router
Core routers are generally used by service providers (i.e., AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone) or cloud
providers (i.e., Google, Amazon, Microsoft). They provide maximum bandwidth to connect
additional routers or switches. Most small businesses will not need core routers. But very large
enterprises that have many employees working in various buildings or locations may use core
routers as part of their network architecture.

Edge router
An edge router, also called a gateway router or just "gateway" for short, is a network's
outermost point of connection with external networks, including the Internet. Edge routers are
optimized for bandwidth and designed to connect to other routers to distribute data to end
users. Edge routers don’t usually offer Wi-Fi or the ability to manage local networks fully. They
typically have only Ethernet ports—an input to connect to the Internet and several outputs to
connect additional routers.

Distribution router
A distribution router, or interior router, receives data from the edge router (or gateway) via a
wired connection and sends it on to end users, typically via Wi-Fi, though the router usually also
includes physical (Ethernet) connections for connecting users or additional routers.

Wireless router
Wireless routers, or residential gateways, combine the functions of edge routers and
distribution routers. These are commonplace routers for home networks and Internet access.
Most service providers provide full-featured wireless routers as standard equipment. But even
if you have the option to use an ISP’s wireless router in your small business, you may want to
use a business-level router to take advantage of better wireless performance, more connectivity
controls, and security.

Virtual router
Virtual routers are pieces of software that allow some router functions to be virtualized in the
cloud and delivered as a service. These routers are ideal for large businesses with complex
network needs. They offer flexibility, easy scalability, and a lower entry cost. Another benefit of
virtual routers is reduced management of local network Hardwar.

Types of Network cable

Network cable acts like a medium through which information travels from one network device
to the other. The type of cable selected for a network depends on the network’s size, topology,
and procedure. The various types of network cables act as the backbone of the network
infrastructure. Below are the different types of network cables:

Coaxial Cables

The first type of network cables is the coaxial cables. These network cables were most commonly
used for connecting television sets with the antennas. It is designed in such a way that it transmits
high-frequency signals.

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Although coaxial cabling is difficult to install, it is highly resistant to signal interference. In

addition, it can support greater cable lengths between network devices than twisted pair cable.
The two types of coaxial cabling are thick coaxial and thin coaxial.

This cable contains a conductor, insulator, braiding, and sheath. The sheath covers the braiding,
braiding covers the insulation, and the insulation covers the conductor.

Sheath: This is the outer layer of the

coaxial cable. It protects the cable from
physical damage.

Braided shield: This shield protects signals

from external interference and noise. This
shield is built from the same metal that is
used to build the core.

Insulation: Insulation protects the core. It

also keeps the core separate from the braided-shield. Since both the core and the braided-shield
use the same metal, without this layer, they will touch each other and create a short-circuit in
the wire.

Conductor: The conductor carries electromagnetic signals. Based on conductor a coaxial cable
can be categorized into two types; single-core coaxial cable and multi-core coaxial cable.

A single-core coaxial cable uses a single central metal (usually copper) conductor, while a multi-
core coaxial cable uses multiple thin strands of metal wires. The following image shows both
types of cable.

Twisted Pair Cables

The twisted-pair cable was primarily developed for computer networks. This cable is also known
as Ethernet cable. Almost all modern LAN computer networks use this cable. This cable consists
of color-coded pairs of insulated copper wires. Every two wires are twisted around each other
to form pair. Usually, there are four pairs. Each pair has one solid color and one stripped color
wire. Solid colors are blue, brown, green and orange. In stripped color, the solid color is mixed
with the white color. Based on how pairs are stripped in the plastic sheath, there are two types
of twisted-pair cable; UTP and STP. In the UTP (Unshielded twisted-pair) cable, all pairs are
wrapped in a single plastic sheath. In the STP (Shielded twisted-pair) cable, each pair is wrapped
with an additional metal shield, then all pairs are wrapped in a single outer plastic sheath.

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Similarities and differences between STP and UTP cables

• Both STP and UTP can transmit data at 10Mbps, 100Mbps, 1Gbps, and 10Gbps.
• Since the STP cable contains more materials, it is more expensive than the UTP cable.
• Both cables use the same RJ-45 (registered jack) modular connectors.
• The STP provides more noise and EMI resistant than the UTP cable.
• The maximum segment length for both cables is 100 meters or 328 feet.
• Both cables can accommodate a maximum of 1024 nodes in each segment.

The following image shows both types of twisted-pair cable.

Fiber optic cable

This cable consists of core, cladding, buffer, and jacket. The core is made from the thin strands
of glass or plastic that can carry data over the long distance. The core is wrapped in the cladding;
the cladding is wrapped in the buffer, and the buffer is wrapped in the jacket.

• Core carries the data signals in the form of the light.

• Cladding reflects light back to the core.
• Buffer protects the light from leaking.
• The jacket protects the cable from physical damage.

Fiber optic cable is completely immune to EMI and RFI. This cable can transmit data over a long
distance at the highest speed. It can transmit data up to 40 kilometers at the speed of 100Gbps.
Fiber optic uses light to send data. It reflects light from one endpoint to another. Based on how
many beams of light are transmitted at a given time, there are two types of fiber optical cable;
SMF and MMF.

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SMF (Single-mode fiber) optical cable

This cable carries only a single beam of light. This is more reliable and supports much higher
bandwidth and longer distances than the MMF cable. This cable uses a laser as the light source
and transmits 1300 or 1550 nano-meter wavelengths of light.

MMF (multi-mode fiber) optical cable

This cable carries multiple beams of light. Because of multiple beams, this cable carries much
more data than the SMF cable. This cable is used in shorter distances. This cable uses an LED as
the light source and transmits 850 or 1300 nano-meter wavelengths of light.

Connectors

RJ-45 (Registered Jack)

The acronym for Registered Jack-45 is RJ-45. The RJ-45

connector is an eight-wire connector that is commonly used
to connect computers to a local area network (LAN),
particularly Ethernet LANs. Although they are slightly larger
than the more commonly used RJ-11 connectors, RJ-45s can
be used to connect some types of telephone equipment.

F-Type

The F connector is a type of RF connector commonly used for

cable and satellite television. It uses the centre wire of the
coaxial cable as the pin of the male connector. The male
connector body is typically crimped onto the exposed outer
braid. Female connectors have a 3/8-32 thread. Most male
connectors have a matching threaded connecting ring, though
push-on versions are also available.

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ST (Straight Tip) and SC (Subscriber Connector or Standard Connector)

Fibber network segments always require two fibber

cables: one for transmitting data, and one for
receiving. Each end of a fibber cable is fitted with a
plug that can be inserted into a network adapter,
hub, or switch. In the North America, most cables use
a square SC connector (Subscriber Connector or
Standard Connector) that slides and locks into place
when inserted into a node or connected to another
fibber cable, Europeans use a round ST connector
(Straight Tip) instead.

Fibber LC (Local Connector)

These connectors are used for single-mode and multimode fibber-optic cables. FC connectors
offer extremely precise positioning of the fibber-optic cable with respect to the transmitter's
optical source emitter and the receiver's optical detector. FC connectors feature a position
locatable notch and a threaded receptacle

FC connector

The FC connector is a fiber-optic connector with a threaded body, which was designed for use
in high-vibration environments. It is commonly used with both single-mode optical fiber and
polarization-maintaining optical fiber.

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