Order the following Microsoft OSs according to the date they were first sold (oldest newest):

Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8

Windows 7 Home basic-is a stripped down edition of the OS designed to complement the limited role of for ex. Netbook. Lacks many advanced networking, media, and graphics capabilities of other versions of windows. Focused for easy Internet Access.

Windows 7 Home Premium-Is the most basic and most widely used edition. Includes a lot of media functionality and some advanced network functions.

Windows 7 Professional-adds support by joining domains, as well as support for powerful features like Windows XP mode, remote Desktop Connection.

Windows 7 Enterprise-Includes extra features designed for large businesses, such as enhanced network searches, increased application security, and data protection using Bit Locker.

Windows 7 Ultimate-Everything that Window’s has to offer, also an advanced networking, backup, and security tools.

What functions/tasks do the following OS utilities perform? 

Disk defragmenter: is the process of consolidating fragmented data on a volume (such as a hard disk or a storage device) so it will work more efficiently.

      Disk cleanup: Helps free up space on your hard disk for files that you can safely delete. You can choose to delete some or all of the files.

      Error-checking: is the process aimed at ensuring and improving data retrieval reliability is absolutely critical for processing, record keeping, and ecommerce

What are popular hard drive rotational speeds?  How are they measured?

How do PATA and SATA hard drives differ?  What is eSATA?

PATA-Sends data in parallel, on a 40 or 80-wire data cable.

SATA-send data in serial, using only one wire for data transfers. Making it faster.

      eSATA- External SATA extends the SATA bus at full speed to external devices. Uses connectors similar to internal SATA, but they’re keyed differently so you can’t mistake one for the other

What is the Master File Table (MFT)?  Where is it stored on a hard drive?

A file contained in the NFTS file system also called MFT.The space reserved by the NTFS file system for the MFT in each volume is called the MFT zone in the hard drive.

What is the master boot record (MRB)?  Where is the MRB physically stored on a hard drive?       

Master boot record is a tiny bit of code that takes control of the boot process from the system BIOS. The Master Boot Record (MBR) is stored at the beginning of your hard drive (in the first 512 bytes.)

Describe the following RAID functions: mirroring, duplexing, striping and parity.

Mirroring is the reading and writing of data at the same time to two drivers for fault tolerance purposes, considered RAID level 1 and also called drive mirroring. Duplexing similar to mirroring in that data is written to and read from two physical drives, for fault tolerance. Separate controllers are used for each drive, both for additional fault tolerance and for additional speed. Considered RAID level 1, also called disk duplexing or drive duplexing. Striping requires at least two drives, it does not provide redundancy to data, if any one drive fails, all data is lost, considered RAID 0.                                                                                                              Parity information is a computed set of values that can be used to recalculate missing data. Current parity values are accurate to 1 in 2 billion. If you have lost a single data disk and still have the rest of the data disks, as well as the parity disk, you can rebuild the missing data disk using the parity information. Considered RAID 3-6

How do you designate the drive boot sequence (e.g., CD then C: then A:)?

By getting into the bios and looking for a 'boot order' or 'boot priority' menu and you can set the appropriate drive to be top of the list.

How does the computer “know” which of three-installed SATA hard drives is the master (or boot drive)?                                                                                                                                        

Usually, the BIOS will attempt to boot from each drive in order, and the one on the top of the list is the master. 

What can you do with a password reset disk?  How do you create it?  When do you use it? 

If you lose your password and an administrator resets it, you might not gave access to all of the files you had access to before, especially if they were encrypted. When you reset a password with a password-reset disk, you can log on with the new password and still have access to previously encrypted files. To create one you need a usb flash drive, and go to the option in the tasks list to create a password reset disk on windows vista and windows 7.

What is the purpose for System Restore?  Can you use System Restore to return data files to previous states

The purpose is to restore your computer to the previous configuration u had or choose. Whenever a software is installed then the computer automatically creates restore points and these will help in restoring the previous configuration before encountering problems. System restore doesn’t affect personal files such as emails, documents, pr photos so it cant help you restore a deleted file. If you have backup of your files, you can restore the files from a backup.

What is a bench mark test?  Why perform bench mark tests on computer hardware and software systems?

It is a test using a benchmark to evaluate a computers systems performance.     We perform benchmark test on hardware systems to access performance characteristics. So by running these type of tests, can determine the workload and performance of the hardware. Software benchmarks run against compilers or database management systems. Tets suits are a type of system intended to assess the correctness of software.

Clean installation involves installing the OS onto a n empty hard drive or completely replacing an existing installation. Upgrade installation means installing an OS on top of an earlier installed version, inheriting all previous hardware and software settings.

      End user license agreement Is a contract between the licensor and the purchaser, establishing the purchasers right to use the software.

Maximum Data speeds

        USB 3.0-5 Gigabits per second or 5640 megabits per second

        USB 2.0-480 megabits per second

        USB 3.0 is backwards compatible; you can identify it by the blue inner receptacle.

Shut down computer first, if your using a wired desktop keyboard unplug it.

        Tilt he keyboard upside down and shake it to remove any loose debris or use a can of compressed air to spray in between the keys. Clean the keys gently with rubbing alcohol with a cotton swab or a piece of cloth around the keys and surface.

        If sugared drinks are spilled onto the keyboard it is best to disconnect it or dry it off with a towel as soon as possible. The keys can be easily removed with a butter knife or flat head screwdriver for easier access to the internal part of the keyboard. The removing of keys can also be used when trying to remove a foreign object inside the keyboard keys. With most of the keys remove thoroughly blow out this area with compressed air or wipe with a cloth with alcohol to ensure it’s fully clean.

Describe these digital camera digital video camera terms: 

Optical zoom: on a digital camera optical zoom is a true zoom feature. It allows you to zoom in or out on the subject in the LCD or viewfinder. Changes the magnification of images with the actual optical glass before the images reach the imaging sensor. Allowing for better photo quality than digital zoom.

Digital zoom: is used to make the image seem closer up. Works the same as cropping and enlarging a photo in a graphic program. This type of zoom will result in a loss of quality and image resolution because the image is simply being enlarged without any extra details or pixels being added. Due to the quality of photos taken when using the digital zoom function; these photos may not be ofgood enough quality to print images larger than 4x6.

Frame rate: is the frequency (rate) at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames.

Megapixel: means one million pixels. Referred to the size of an image, usually in reference to a photo. The resolution of digital cameras and camera phones is often measured in megapixels. Since pixels are usually square and form a grid, a 1-megapixel camera will produce image roughly 1200 pixels wide by 900 pixels high.

Encrypting the files so that it will be unreadable to an unauthorized viewer.

        Using Bitlocker is encrypt the entire hard drive so no one can even use the system other than the authorized user.

        Use authentication to determine who can or should access the files, and once accessed, what the user can do with it.

How do you avoid damage to electronic parts in a PC due to electrostatic potential? 

      The secret to avoiding ESD is to keep you and the parts of the PC you touch at the same electrical potential, otherwise known as grounding yourself to the PC. You can accomplish this by connecting yourself to the PC via a handy little device called an anti-static wrist strap. This simple device consists of a wire that connects on one end to an alligator clip and on the other end to a small metal plate that secures to your wrist with an elastic strap. You snap the alligator clip onto any handy metal part of the PC and place the wrist strap on either wrist.

What does it mean when a system has Ethernet or video “onboard?”

     It has an Ethernet or Video (network cable) port and not a separate video card. It’s built into the PC.

   What functions do the following CPU features perform: register, external bus, address bus, pipelining, cache, process and thread?

      Register: register is one of a small set of data holding places that are part of a computer processor. A register may hold a computer instruction, a storage address, or any kind of data (such as a bit sequence or individual characters)

      External Bus: An external bus is a type of data bus that enables external devices and components to connect with a computer. It enables connecting devices, carrying data and other control information, but is only restricted to be used external to the computer system.

      Address Bus: A collection of wires connecting the CPU with main memory that is used to identify particular locations (addresses) in main memory.

      Pipelining: Pipelining is an implementation technique where multiple instructions are overlapped in execution. The computer pipeline is divided in stages. Each stage completes a part of an instruction in parallel.

      Cache: cache holds copies of recently accessed data such as a web page and pictures on web pages. It keeps this data ready to "swap" onto your screen within fractions of a second.

      Process: In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being executed. It contains the program code and its current activity. Depending on the operating system (OS), a process may be made up of multiple threads of execution that execute instructions concurrently

      Thread: From the program's point-of-view, a thread is the information needed to serve one individual user or a particular service request. If multiple users are using the program or concurrent requests from other programs occur, a thread is created and maintained for each of them.

.   What is clock speed and how is it measured? What is the systems crystal?

      The maximum number of clock cycles that a CPU can handle in a given period of time is referred to as its clock speed. The clock speed is the fastest speed at which a CPU can operate, determined by the CPU manufacturer in MHZ.

            The system crystal determines the speed at which a CPU and the rest of the PC operate. The system crystal is usually a quartz oscillator, very similar to the one in a wrist-watch, soldered to the motherboard

Describe the purpose for jumpers, thermal compound and CPU fans.

The CPU handles complex coding causing it to heat up and they don’t tolerate heat well, so every CPU used a heat sink and a fan to wick heat 

What are the machine code execution cycle steps?  How many processor cycles does it take to execute the simplest machine code command?  

•  Its take 1 processor cycle to execute simplest machine code command (not sure if that’s right).

RAM terms:  SDRAM, DDR2, DDR3, dual channel, latency, parity

•  Parity RAM was the earliest form of error-detecting RAM; stored an extra bit (called parity bit) to verify data.

When would you “spec” a computer with ECC DRAM?  Why?

ECC DRAM is RAM that uses special chips to detect and fix memory errors. You would only spec a computer if you are dealing with high-end servers where data integrity is crucial and you need a motherboard with an MCC design to use ECC and those are expensive.

How much RAM should you install if you install Windows 7 on a computer? Where did you find this information?

It depends on the bits of the OS. 32bit windows can only support up to 4 GB of RAM. 64-bits systems can support up to 16 exabytes of RAM

What is an ATX form factor?

ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) is a combination of standards for computer system power supplies and chassis dimensions. It was developed as a replacement for the once-common AT form factor.

What do the electrical current acronyms DC and AC stand for?  What are characteristics of each?  Which type of current do chips and motors in a computer use?  What are the most common voltages used in modern desktop computers?

DC: Direct Current- electrons flow in one direction around a continuous circuit. Electronic devices (chips/motors) use DC power.

AC: Alternating Current- the flow of electrons alternates direction back and forth in a circuit. Power companies supply AC power because AC travels long distances.

Most common voltages used by desktop computers: 5.0, 12.0 (motors), and 3.3 V

When is it time to replace a power supply?  What are the symptoms of an intermittent power supply failure? 

If and when you experience continuously occurring errors of any sort you should check the power supply. Most of the time this is the solution. Other symptoms can vary from starting up error codes to pc running fine then locks up for no reason.