Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs

CompTIA A+® Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCsTroubleshooting PCs
Mike Meyers’
Troubleshooting PCs
Mike Meyers
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BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs, Fourth Edition / Meyers / 591-X / Front Matter
About the Author
Mike Meyers, lovingly called the “AlphaGeek” by those who know him, is the industry’s leading authority on CompTIA A+ certification. He is the president and co-founder of Total Seminars, LLC, a provider of PC and network repair seminars, books, videos, and courseware for thousands of organizations throughout the world. Mike has been involved in the computer and network repair industry since 1977 as a technician, instructor, author, consultant, and speaker.
Author of numerous popular PC books and videos, including the best- selling CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Mike is also the series editor for the highly successful Mike Meyers’ Certification Passport series, the Mike Meyers’ Computer Skills series, and the Mike Meyers’ Guide to series, all published by McGraw-Hill.
As well as writing, Mike has personally taught (and continues to teach) thousands of students, including U.S. senators, U.S. Supreme Court justices, the United Nations, every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, most branches of the Department of Justice, hundreds of corporate clients, academic students at every level, prisoners, and pensioners.
E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: Mike Meyers (Houston, TX) Twitter/Skype/most instant messaging clients: desweds Web forums: www.totalsem.com/forums
About the Editor in Chief Scott Jernigan wields a mighty red pen as Editor in Chief for Total Semi- nars. With a Master of Arts degree in Medieval History, Scott feels as much at home in the musty archives of London as he does in the warm CRT glow of Total Seminars’ Houston headquarters. After fleeing a purely academic life, he dove headfirst into IT, working as an instructor, editor, and writer.
Scott has written, edited, and contributed to dozens of books on computer literacy, hardware, operating systems, networking, and certification, including Computer Literacy—Your Ticket to IC3 Certification, and co-author- ing with Mike Meyers the All-in-One CompTIA Strata® IT Fundamentals Exam Guide.
Scott has taught computer classes all over the United States, including stints at the United Nations in New York and the FBI Academy in Quantico. Practicing what he preaches, Scott is a CompTIA A+ and Comp- TIA Network+ certified technician, a Microsoft Certified Professional, a Microsoft Office User Specialist, and Certiport Internet and Computing Core Certified.
About the Technical Editor Chris Crayton (CompTIA A+, CompTIA Network+, MCSE) is an author, editor, technical consultant, and trainer. Mr. Crayton has worked as a computer and networking instructor at Keiser University, as network admin- istrator for Protocol, an eCRM company, and as a computer and network
/ Mike Meyers’ CompTIA Network+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting Networks, Third Edition / Meyers / 911-1 / Front Matter
specialist at Eastman Kodak. Mr. Crayton has authored several print and online books on PC Repair, CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+, and Micro- soft Windows. Mr. Crayton has served as technical editor on numerous professional technical titles for leading publishing companies, including the CompTIA A+ All-in-One Exam Guide, the CompTIA A+ Certification Study Guide, and the Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Certification Passport.
Peer Reviewers Thank you to the reviewers, past and present, who contributed insight- ful reviews, criticisms, and helpful suggestions that continue to shape this textbook.
Donat Forrest Broward County Community College Pembroke Pines, FL
Brian Ives Finger Lakes Community College Canadaigua, NY
Farbod Karimi Heald College San Francisco, CA
Tamie Knaebel Jefferson Community College Louisville, KY
Keith Lyons Cuyahoga Community College Parma, OH
Winston Maddox Mercer County Community College West Windsor, NJ
Rajiv Malkan Montgomery College Conroe, Texas
Scott Sweitzer Indiana Business College Indianapolis, IN
Randall Stratton DeVry University Irving, TX
Thomas Trevethan CPI College of Technology Virginia Beach, VA
vii
Acknowledgments
Scott Jernigan, my Editor in Chief at Total Seminars and boon companion on many an evening, worked his usual magic again pulling together this lat- est edition. My thanks, amigo!
My acquisitions editor, Tim Green, and his trusty assistant, Stephanie Evans, had this book schedule dialed in from day one and never let up. I mean, never let up. Better still, they browbeat me into working with their incessantly chirpy voices. I long for the mean Tim of old who just yelled at me.
Chris Crayton, my technical editor, did a great job once again. Thank you for helping make this book happen.
Aaron Verber stepped up in a big way for this edition, with stellar editing, writing, and research. You did a great job with every chapter thrown at you (and managed to pull together the lab manual at the same time). Let’s do this again!
Michael Smyer devoted his superb skills in photography and tech to making this book the best edition ever. He kept me on my toes on the tech and helped greatly with the research. Excellent work, Michael.
Ford Pierson, my in-house editor and illustrator, worked very hard to upgrade the line art in this book, including turning man in the box into Mini Me, a touch that displays his wit, cleverness, and complete lack of fear. Great job, Ford.
Scott Strubberg, Doug Jones, and Dave Rush, instructors at Total Semi- nars, were my sounding boards and research partners for this book, helping me turn the complicated into the understandable on many subjects. Thank you all very much!
On the McGraw-Hill side, the crew once again demonstrated why McGraw-Hill is the best in show as a publisher. With excellent work and even better attitude, this book came together smoothly.
Molly Sharp, my project manager, went from putting together the lat- est editions of my CompTIA Network+ books to working with me on the CompTIA A+ books, which proved at least one thing: she’s a glutton for punishment, keeping everything on track through two huge projects in a row, with me and my staff doing our best to add chaos. The simple joy of working with you, Molly, means I’m already looking forward to the next project with you!
My editorial supervisor, Jody McKenzie, once again helped me stay focused on all the pieces, with a gentle nudge or a quiet jab when I would forget some essential piece. It was wonderful to work with you again.
To the copy editor, page proofer, layout folks, and indexer—Bill McManus, Paul Tyler, Dina Quan, Tom Sharp, and Jack Lewis—superb work in every facet. Thank you for being the best.
To the delightful
both amazing and enlightening. Given the
choice, I greatly prefer the red hair.
—Mike Meyers
/ Mike Meyers’ CompTIA Network+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting Networks, Third Edition / Meyers / 911-1 / fm blind folio ix
Key Terms, identified in red, point out important vocabulary and definitions that you need to know.
Tech Tip sidebars provide inside information from experienced IT professionals.
Try This! exercises apply core skills in a new setting.
Engaging and Motivational— Using a conversational style and proven instructional approach, the author explains technical concepts in a clear, interesting way using real-world examples.
Makes Learning Fun!— Rich, colorful text and enhanced illustrations bring technical subjects to life.
just plug the device in and go! Because portable PCs don’t have a desktop’s multiple internal expansion capabilities, USB, FireWire, and eSATA are three of the more popular methods for attaching peripherals to laptops (see Figure 21.17).
Port Replicators A port replicator plugs into a single port on the portable computer—often a USB port but sometimes a proprietary port—and offers common PC ports, such as serial, parallel, USB, network, and PS/2. By plugging the port replicator into your notebook computer, you can instantly connect the computer to nonportable components such as a printer, scanner, monitor, or a full-sized keyboard. Port replicators are typically used at home or in the office with the nonportable equipment already connected. Figure 21.18 shows a Dell Inspiron laptop connected to a port replicator.
The computer can access any devices attached to the port replicator; you don’t need
784 Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs
BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs / Mike Meyers / 380-8 / Chapter 21
• Figure 21.17 Devices attached to USB on a portable PC
Cross Check USB, FireWire, and eSATA
You explored USB and FireWire back in Chapter 3, “Visible PC,” and Chapter 18, “Input/Output.” You learned about eSATA in Chapter 11, “Hard Drive Technologies.” What kind of connectors do eSATA, USB, and FireWire use? What are the cable length limitations? How many devices can each technology support?
Tech Tip
USB and Handheld Computing Devices Almost all PDAs and other handheld devices—such as iPod music players—connect to PCs through USB ports. Most come with a USB cable that has a standard connector on one end and a proprietary connector on the other. Don’t lose the cable!
• Figure 21.18 Port replicator for a Dell portable computer
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every desk? Why not just use the extra capacity on the data network for your phone calls? That’s ex- actly what VoIP does for you. VoIP works with every type of high-speed Internet connection, from DSL to cable to satellite.
VoIP doesn’t refer to a single protocol but rather to a collection of protocols that make phone calls over the data network possible. Venders such as Skype and Vonage offer popular VoIP solu-
tions, and many corporations use VoIP for their internal phone networks. A key to remember when installing and troubleshooting VoIP is that low network latency is more important than high network speed. Latency is the amount of time a packet takes to get to its destination and is measured in milliseconds. The higher the latency, the more problems, such as noticeable delays during your VoIP call.
Terminal Emulation In Microsoft networking, we primarily share folders and printers. At times it would be convenient to be transported in front of another computer—to feel as if your hands were actually on its keyboard. This is called terminal emulation. Terminal emulation is old stuff; Telnet is one of the oldest TCP/ IP applications, but the introduction of graphical user interfaces cost it much of its popularity. Today when techs talk about terminal emulation, they are usually referring to graphical terminal emulation programs.
Like so many other Windows applications, graphical terminal emulation originally came from third-party companies and was eventu- ally absorbed into the Windows operating system. Although many third-party emulators are available, one of the most popular is the Uni- versity of Cambridge’s VNC. VNC is free and totally cross-platform, enabling you to run and control a Windows system remotely from your Macintosh system, for example. Figure 25.45 shows VNC in action.
954 Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs
Try This! Checking Latency with PING
Latency is the bane of any VoIP call because of all the problems it causes if it is too high. A quick way to check your current latency is to use the ever-handy PING, so try this!
1. Run PING on some known source, such as www.microsoft.com or www.totalsem.com.
2. When the PING finishes, take note of the average round-trip time at the bottom of the screen. This is your current latency to that site.
• Figure 25.45 VNC in action
All terminal emulation programs require separate server and client programs.
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AbouT ThIs book
Proven Learning Method Keeps You on Track Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs is structured to give you comprehensive knowledge of computer skills and technologies. The textbook’s active learning methodology guides you beyond mere recall and, through thought-provoking activities, labs, and sidebars, helps you develop critical-thinking, diagnostic, and communication skills.
Information technology (IT) offers many career paths, leading to occupations in such fields as PC repair, network administration, telecommunications, Web development, graphic design, and desktop support. To become competent in any IT field, however, you
need certain basic computer skills. Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs builds a foundation for success in the IT field by introducing you to fundamental technology concepts and giving you essential computer skills.
Important Technology skills
Cross Check questions develop reasoning skills: ask, compare, contrast, and explain.
This pedagogically rich book is designed to make learning easy and enjoyable and to help you develop the skills and critical-thinking abilities that will enable you to adapt to different job situations and troubleshoot problems.
Mike Meyers’ proven ability to explain concepts in a clear, direct, even humorous way makes these books interesting, motivational, and fun.
Effective Learning Tools
Proven Learning Method Keeps You on Track Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs is structured to give you comprehensive knowledge of computer skills and technologies. The textbook’s active learning methodology guides you beyond mere recall and, through thought-provoking activities, labs, and sidebars, helps you develop critical-thinking, diagnostic, and communication skills.
BaseTech
Key Term Quiz Use the Key Terms list to complete the sentences that follow. Not all terms will be used.
1. Supply power to the floppy drive by using the _______________ from the power supply.
2. The electric company provides _______________ power that the power supply converts to _______________ for use by the computer components.
3. If the _______________ are left off the expansion slots, the computer may overheat.
4. An ATX form factor power supply attaches to the motherboard with a _______________ connector and supplies 5 V to the motherboard at all times.
5. Be sure your surge suppressor has a _______________ rating of at least 800.
6. The measurement unit for the amount of electrons flowing past a certain point on a wire is _______________.
7. The _______________ provides the basic cooling for the PC.
8. Be sure the _______________ rating for your power supply is greater than the minimum required by all devices in the computer.
9. The ability to split voltage supplies into separate _______________ ensures that no device will hog all of the available power.
10. A spare part that a tech typically carries to replace a failed component in the field is called a(n) _______________.
Multiple-Choice Quiz 1. Which of the following ATX12V features was
introduced as part of the EPS12V standard?
A. The P4 motherboard power connector
B. Voltage rails
D. Soft power
2. Which kind of fire extinguisher should you use for computer equipment?
A. Class A
B. Class B
C. Class C
D. Class D
3. Under what conditions should a PC technician work inside the power supply?
A. Only when it is unplugged.
B. Only when the technician is wearing an anti- static wrist strap.
C. Anytime, because the power supply only has low-energy DC electricity that will not hurt the technician.
D. Never, because the power supply has capacitors that hold electrical charges that may harm the technician.
4. What should you check first if a computer will not start and the fan in the power supply will not turn?
A. Check the voltages coming out of the power supply.
B. Check the motherboard power connector.
C. Check the power coming into the power supply.
D. Check the power switch.
5. When you test voltage with a multimeter, you can assume the outlet or connector is functioning properly if the reading is within a certain percentage of the expected number. What is that maximum percentage by which the reading can vary?
A. 5 percent
B. 10 percent
C. 20 percent
D. 25 percent
6. What voltage does an ATX12V P4 connector provide for motherboards?
A. 3.3 V
C. 5 V
D. 12 V
Chapter 10: Power Supplies 321
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Preparing to Install Once you’re comfortable that your new CPU will work with your motherboard, get back to that motherboard book and see if you must adjust any tiny jumpers or switches for your CPU. These jumpers might adjust the motherboard speed, the multiplier, or the voltage. Take your time, read the motherboard book, and set those jumpers or switches properly. Locate the fan power connector, usually called the CPU fan, as shown in Figure 5.63.
Most CPUs use some form of mounting bracket for the CPU cooler. Some of these brackets require mounting un- derneath the motherboard, which means removing the motherboard from the system case.
If you’re removing an old CPU, you’ll need to take off the old CPU cooler. Removing CPU coolers scares me more than any other physical act I do on a PC. Many (not all) CPU fans use a metal clamp on both sides of the socket. These clamps usually require you to pry them off to re- move them, using a flat-head screwdriver (Figure 5.64). You need a lot of forceusually far more than you think you should use, so take your time to pry that old fan off. Don’t let the screwdriver slip; you could damage some fragile components on the motherboard, rendering the motherboard inoperable.
Chapter 5: Microprocessors 163
• Figure 5.63 Fan connection
Many motherboards have no jumpers or switches.
Before attempting to do any- thing inside the system unit, make sure you have adequate ESD protection. Make sure the power is off and the system is unplugged.
• Figure 5.64 Removing an old fan
Using a new fan when you replace a CPU is a good ideaeven if the old fan works with your new CPU. Fans get old and die too.
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Each chapter includes Learning objectives that set measurable goals for chapter-by-chapter progress Try This! , Cross Check, and Tech Tip sidebars that encourage you to practice and apply concepts in real- world settings Notes , Tips, and Warnings that guide you through difficult areas Exam-driven organization that divides chapters into Historical/Conceptual, 801, 802, and Beyond A+ sections, making it easy to focus study time on the core and specialization areas of the exams
Plenty of full-color photographs and illustrations that provide clear, up-close pictures of the technology, making difficult concepts easy to visualize and understand Highlighted Key Terms , Key Terms lists, and Chapter Summaries that provide you with an easy way to review important concepts and vocabulary Challenging End-of-Chapter Quizzes that include vocabulary-building exercises, multiple-choice questions, essay questions, and on-the-job lab projects
Chapter Review sections provide concept summaries, key terms lists, and lots of questions and projects.
Offers Practical Experience— Tutorials and lab assignments develop essential hands-on skills and put concepts in real-world contexts.
Robust Learning Tools— Summaries, key terms lists, quizzes, essay questions, and lab projects help you practice skills and measure progress.
Notes,Tips, and Warnings create a road map for success.
Full-color photographs help you identify and recognize key PC components.
x
/ Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs, Fourth Edition / Meyers / 591-X / Front Matter
Contents at a Glance
CoNTENTs AT A GLANCE
Chapter 2 Operational Procedures 20
Chapter 3 The Visible PC 40
Chapter 4 Visible Windows 64
Chapter 5 Visible Networks 124
Chapter 6 Microprocessors 156
Chapter 7 RAM 198
Chapter 8 BIOS 228
Chapter 9 Motherboards 260
Chapter 11 Hard Drive Technologies 330
Chapter 12 Implementing Hard Drives 374
Chapter 13 Removable Media 428
Chapter 14 Installing and Upgrading Windows 466
Chapter 15 Windows Under the Hood 518
Chapter 16 NTFS, Users, and Groups 554
Chapter 17 Maintaining and Optimizing Windows 596
Chapter 18 Working with the Command-Line Interface 642
xi Contents at a Glance
Chapter 19 Troubleshooting Windows 680
Chapter 20 Input Devices 730
Chapter 21 Video 764
Chapter 23 Wireless Networking 870
Chapter 24 The Internet 900
Chapter 25 Multimedia 952
Chapter 28 Printers 1058
Chapter 30 Virtualization 1152
Chapter 32 The Complete PC Tech 1198
Appendix A Mapping to the CompTIA A+ Objectives 1218
Appendix B About the Download 1246
Glossary 1249
Index 1287
xii
Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi CompTIA Approved Quality Curriculum. . . .xxiii Instructor and Student Web Site . . . . . . . . .xxix
Chapter 1 The Path of the PC Tech 1 The Importance of Skill in Managing and
Troubleshooting PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Importance of CompTIA A+ Certification . . 2
What Is CompTIA A+ Certification? . . . . . . 2 Who Is CompTIA? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Path to Other Certifications . . . . . . . . 3
How Do I Become CompTIA A+ Certified?. . . . 4 What’s the Deal with “No More Lifetime
Certification”? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Basic Exam Structure. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 How Do I Take the Exams? . . . . . . . . . . . 8 How Much Does the Exam Cost? . . . . . . . . 9 How to Pass the CompTIA A+ Exams . . . . . 9
Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Chapter 1 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 2 Operational Procedures 20 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Professional Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The Traits of a Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Assertive Communication. . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Respectful Communication . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Eliciting Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Expectations and Follow-up. . . . . . . . . . . 28
Safety and Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) . . . . . . . . . 29 Anti-static Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). . . . . . . 31 Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) . . . . . . . 32 Physical Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Tools of the Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Chapter 2 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 3 The Visible PC 40 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 How the PC Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Output. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Storage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Art of the PC Technician . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 The Complete PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
External Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Devices and Their Connectors . . . . . . . . . 48
Inside the System Unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 RAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Floppy Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Optical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Know Your Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Chapter 3 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 4 Visible Windows 64 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 A Brief History of Microsoft Windows . . . . . . 65
Early Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Modern Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Windows 7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Enter 64-bit Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
The Windows Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Hot Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Operating System Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 System Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 Program and Personal Document Folders . . . 95
Tech Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Right-Click . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
CoNTENTs
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Device Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 System Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Microsoft Management Console . . . . . . . 110 Administrative Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Action Center (Unique to Windows 7) . . . . 115
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Windows 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Windows Embedded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Chapter 4 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Frames and NICs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 Introducing Ethernet . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Network Protocols, LANs, and WANs . . . . . 134 A Short History of the War of the Network
Protocols and Why TCP/IP Won . . . . . 135 LANs, Routing, and WANs . . . . . . . . . . 136
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Network Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Workgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Domains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Homegroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Chapter 5 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Chapter 6 Microprocessors 156 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 CPU Core Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
The Man in the Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Back to the External Data Bus . . . . . . . . 163
Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 Memory and RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Address Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 Modern CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Manufacturers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Selecting a CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 Installation Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Troubleshooting CPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 Intel Atom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Chapter 6 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Chapter 7 RAM 198 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Understanding DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Organizing DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 Practical DRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 DRAM Sticks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Consumer RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 Types of RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
SDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 RDRAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 DDR SDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 DDR2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207 DDR3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 RAM Variations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Working with RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211 Do You Need More RAM? . . . . . . . . . . 211 Getting the Right RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . 215 Installing DIMMs and RIMMs. . . . . . . . 217 Installing SO-DIMMs in Laptops . . . . . . 219
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Troubleshooting RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Testing RAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Chapter 7 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Chapter 8 BIOS 228 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 We Need to Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Talking to the Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 BIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 CMOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Modify CMOS: The Setup Program . . . . . 236 A Quick Tour Through a Typical CMOS
Setup Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Option ROM and Device Drivers . . . . . . . . 244
Option ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 Device Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245 BIOS, BIOS, Everywhere! . . . . . . . . . . 246
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246 Power-On Self Test (POST) . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Before and During the Video Test: The Beep Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Text Errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
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POST Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 The Boot Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Care and Feeding of BIOS and CMOS . . . . . . 249 Losing CMOS Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Flashing ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 UEFI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 Chapter 8 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Chapter 9 Motherboards 260 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 How Motherboards Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Form Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Chipset. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Motherboard Components. . . . . . . . . . . 270
Expansion Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271 Structure and Function of the
Expansion Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 PCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274 AGP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 PCI-X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Mini-PCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 PCI Express . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Installing Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . 277 Troubleshooting Expansion Cards . . . . . . 283
Upgrading and Installing Motherboards . . . . 285 Choosing the Motherboard and Case . . . . . 285 Installing the Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . 288
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Troubleshooting Motherboards . . . . . . . . . 290
Symptoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290 Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Chapter 9 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Supplying AC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Supplying DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Installing and Maintaining Power Supplies. . . 316 Installing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316 Cooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320 Troubleshooting Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . 320
No Motherboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321 When Power Supplies Die Slowly . . . . . . 321 Fuses and Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 It Glows!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 Modular Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . 323 Temperature and Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . 323
Chapter 10 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Chapter 11 Hard Drive Technologies 330 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 How Hard Drives Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Platter-Based Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . 331 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Solid-State Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336 Parallel and Serial ATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
ATA-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 ATA-2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 ATA-3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 ATA-4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 INT13 Extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343 ATA-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 ATA-6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344 ATA-7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
SCSI: Still Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 SCSI Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 SCSI IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350 Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Protecting Data with RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . 351 RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354 Implementing RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355 Hardware Versus Software . . . . . . . . . . 355 Personal RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 The Future Is RAID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Installing Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Choosing Your Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358 Jumpers and Cabling on PATA Drives . . . . 358 Cabling SATA Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360 Connecting Solid-State Drives . . . . . . . . 360 Connecting SCSI Drives . . . . . . . . . . . 361
BIOS Support: Configuring CMOS and Installing Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Configuring Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . 362 Autodetection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362 Boot Order. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 Enabling AHCI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 Troubleshooting Hard Drive Installation . . . . 365 Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Hybrid Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366 Chapter 11 Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
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Chapter 12 Implementing Hard Drives 374 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 Hard Drive Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Master Boot Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 Dynamic Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 GUID Partition Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 Other Partition Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 When to Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380 Partition Naming Problems . . . . . . . . . . 381
Hard Drive Formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382 File Systems in Windows . . . . . . . . . . . 383 FAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 FAT32 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388 NTFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389 FAT64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
The Partitioning and Formatting Process . . . . 391 Bootable Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 Partitioning and Formatting with the
Installation Disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 Disk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398 Formatting a Partition . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Maintaining and Troubleshooting Hard Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
Maintenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410 Troubleshooting Hard Drive
Implementation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414 Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Third-Party Partition Tools . . . . . . . . . . 419 Chapter 12 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Chapter 13 Removable Media 428 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429 Floppy Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Floppy Drive Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Installing Floppy Drives . . . . . . . . . . . 430 Flash Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
USB Thumb Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 Flash Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434
Optical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 CD-Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437 DVD-Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443 Blu-ray Disc-Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445 Installing Optical Drives . . . . . . . . . . . 447
Troubleshooting Removable Media . . . . . . . 453 Floppy Drive Maintenance and
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454 Troubleshooting Optical Drives and Discs . . 454
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 Color Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 BDXL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Chapter 13 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
Chapter 14 Installing and Upgrading Windows 466 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467 Preparing for Installation or Upgrade . . . . . . 467
Identify Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . 467 Verify Hardware and Software
Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468 Decide What Type of Installation to
Perform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470 Determine How to Back Up and Restore
Existing Data, If Necessary . . . . . . . . 472 Select an Installation Method . . . . . . . . . 472 Determine How to Partition the Hard Drive
and What File System to Use . . . . . . . 472 Determine Your Computer’s
Network Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 Decide on Your Computer’s Language and
Locale Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 Plan for Post-Installation Tasks . . . . . . . . 473
The Installation and Upgrade Process . . . . . . 473 Installing or Upgrading to Windows XP
Professional. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474 Installing or Upgrading to
Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 476 Installing or Upgrading to Windows 7 . . . . 478 Upgrading Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479 The Windows XP Clean Installation
Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480 The Windows Vista/7 Clean Installation
Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485 Automating the Installation. . . . . . . . . . 492 Installing Windows over a Network . . . . . 500
Troubleshooting Installation Problems . . . . . 501 Text Mode Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 501 Graphical Mode Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . 502 Lockups During Installation . . . . . . . . . 503
Post-Installation Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 Patches, Service Packs, and Updates . . . . . 504 Upgrading Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504 Restoring User Data Files (If Applicable). . . 504 Migrating and Retiring . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 No Installation Is Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . 512
Chapter 14 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513
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Chapter 15 Windows Under the Hood 518 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
Accessing the Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 Registry Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 Talkin’ Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522 Manual Registry Edits . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 Command-line Registry Editing Tools . . . . 524
The Boot Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 524 The Windows XP Boot Process . . . . . . . . 525 The Windows Vista/7 Boot Process . . . . . . 528
Processes and Services and Threads, Oh My! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Task Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530 Performance Console . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539 Performance Tools in Windows Vista and
Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542 Tools for Programmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
Component Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546 Data Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Chapter 15 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 549
Chapter 16 NTFS, Users, and Groups 554 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555 Authentication with Users and Groups . . . . . 555
Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558 Simple Tools for Managing Users . . . . . . . 559 Advanced User Management . . . . . . . . . 567
Authorization Through NTFS . . . . . . . . . . 569 NTFS Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569 Permission Propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . 572 Techs and Permissions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 573
Sharing a Windows PC Securely . . . . . . . . . 574 Sharing in Windows XP . . . . . . . . . . . 574 Sharing in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . 576 Sharing in Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . 577 Locating Shared Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . 578 Administrative Shares. . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 Protecting Data with Encryption . . . . . . . 579
User Account Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 UAC in Windows Vista . . . . . . . . . . . . 582 UAC in Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 588
Chapter 16 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590
Windows 596 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597 Maintaining Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597
Windows Patch Management . . . . . . . . . 597 Managing Temporary Files with
Disk Cleanup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603 Registry Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604 Error-Checking and Disk
Defragmentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605 Scheduling Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . 606 System Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 609 System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Optimizing Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 Installing and Removing Software . . . . . . 611 Installing/Optimizing a Device . . . . . . . . 615 Performance Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619 Hardware Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
Preparing Windows for Problems . . . . . . . . 622 Backing Up Personal Data . . . . . . . . . . 622 System Restore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
Chapter 17 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636
Chapter 18 Working with the Command-Line Interface 642 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644 Deciphering the Command-line Interface. . . . 644
Accessing the Command Line . . . . . . . . . 647 The Command Prompt . . . . . . . . . . . . 648 Filenames and File Formats . . . . . . . . . . 648 Drives and Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 650
Mastering Fundamental Commands . . . . . . 651 Structure: Syntax and Switches. . . . . . . . 652 Viewing Directory Contents:
The dir Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652 Changing Directory Focus:
The cd Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654 Moving Between Drives. . . . . . . . . . . . 655 Making Directories: The md Command. . . . 655 Removing Directories: The rd command . . . 656 Running a Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
Working with Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658 Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 659 Wildcards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661 Renaming Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 662 Deleting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 Copying and Moving Files . . . . . . . . . . 663 And Even More Tools, Utilities, and
Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 667
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Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 Using Special Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 The compact and cipher Commands. . . . . . 670 PowerShell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672
Chapter 18 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674
Chapter 19 Troubleshooting Windows 680 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681 Failure to Boot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681
Failure to Boot: Hardware or Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 682
Failure to Boot: Windows XP . . . . . . . . . 682 Failure to Boot: Windows Vista and
Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 687 Failure to Load the GUI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700
Device Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701 Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701 Advanced Startup Options . . . . . . . . . . 702 Troubleshooting Tools in the GUI . . . . . . . 706 Troubleshooting Tools in Windows Vista
and Windows 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 713 Application Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716
Application Installation Problems . . . . . . 717 Problems with Uninstalling. . . . . . . . . . 718 Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 719 Missing File or Incorrect File Version . . . . 721 Crashing Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722 Volume Shadow Copy Service and
System Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722 Chapter 19 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
Chapter 20 Input Devices 730 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731 Supporting Common Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . 731
Serial Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 731 USB Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 732 FireWire Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 738 General Port Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
Standard Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741 Keyboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741 Mice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743 Scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744 Biometric Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748 Bar Code Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749 Touch Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749 KVM Switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750 Gamepads and Joysticks . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 Digitizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 752
Multimedia Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
Chapter 20 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758
CRT Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 766
LCD Monitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769 Projectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 776 Plasma Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778 Common Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 778 Power Conservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 781
Display Adapters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782 Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782 Motherboard Connection . . . . . . . . . . . 786 Graphics Processor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788 Video Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789 Integrated GPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790 Connector Types and Associated Cables . . . 790
Installing and Configuring Video . . . . . . . . 793 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 794 Working with Drivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 802 3-D Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 803
Troubleshooting Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808 Troubleshooting Video Cards/Drivers . . . . . 809 Troubleshooting Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . 810 Troubleshooting Playback . . . . . . . . . . . 813
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814 DLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814
Chapter 21 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815
Chapter 22 Local Area Networking 822 801/802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823 Beyond Basic Ethernet Cabling. . . . . . . . . . 823
Alternative Connections . . . . . . . . . . . 823 Network Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825 Structured Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 827
TCP/IP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835 Network Addressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835 IPv6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
Installing and Configuring a Wired Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850
Installing a NIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 850 Configuring a Network Client . . . . . . . . 852 Sharing and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . 853
Troubleshooting Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . 859
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Contents
Chapter 22 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 864
Wireless Networking Software . . . . . . . . 872 Wireless Network Modes . . . . . . . . . . . 874 Wireless Networking Security . . . . . . . . 874 Speed and Range Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . 877
Wireless Networking Standards . . . . . . . . . 877 IEEE 802.11-Based Wireless Networking . . . 878 Other Wireless Standards . . . . . . . . . . . 880
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882 Installing and Configuring Wireless
Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882 Wi-Fi Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 882 Bluetooth Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . 889 Cellular Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . 889
Troubleshooting Wi-Fi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 891 Hardware Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . 891 Software Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . 892 Connectivity Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . 892 Configuration Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . 893
Chapter 23 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894
Chapter 24 The Internet 900 Historical/Conceptual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901 How the Internet Works. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901
Internet Tiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901 TCP/IP—The Common Language of the
Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 902 Internet Service Providers. . . . . . . . . . . 903 Connection Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904
801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904 Connecting to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . 904
Dial-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905 DSL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911 Cable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911 LAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912 802.11 Wireless . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912 Fiber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912 Cellular . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913 Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 914 Connection to the Internet . . . . . . . . . . 914 Windows Internet Connection Sharing . . . . 918
Internet Application Protocols . . . . . . . . . . 919 The World Wide Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . 921 E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925 File Transfer Protocol (FTP) . . . . . . . . . 928 Telnet and SSH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929 SFTP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930 Voice over IP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930 Remote Desktop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931 Virtual Private Networks . . . . . . . . . . . 934 Support Applications (Internet Utilities) . . . 936
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937 Internet Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 937
No Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938 Limited Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 938 Local Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 939 Slow Transfer Speeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . 940
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941 Online Gaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941 Chat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 942 File Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943
Chapter 24 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 945
How Sound Works in a PC . . . . . . . . . . 953 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 958
Getting the Right Sound Hardware . . . . . . 958 Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 961 Microphones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 964 MIDI-enabled Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . 965 Installing Sound in a Windows System. . . . 966 Troubleshooting Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . 970
Video Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972 Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 972 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973 Troubleshooting Video Capture and
Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975 TV Tuners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978
Tuner Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 978 Tuner Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979 Tuner Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . 980
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980 Sound Card Benchmarking . . . . . . . . . . 980
Chapter 25 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981
Chapter 26 Portable Computing 986 801/802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987 Portable Computing Devices . . . . . . . . . . . 987
xix Contents
Input Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 987 Display Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 989 Desktop Replacements. . . . . . . . . . . . . 990 Netbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991 Ultrabooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992 Tablet PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992
Expanding Portable Computers . . . . . . . . . 996 Single-Function Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . 996 Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 998 Portable-Specific Expansion Slots. . . . . . . 999 Storage Card Slots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001 General-Purpose Ports . . . . . . . . . . . 1001
Managing and Maintaining Portable Computers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003
Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003 Power Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005 Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1012 Heat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1012 Protecting the Machine . . . . . . . . . . . 1012
Upgrading and Repairing Laptop Computers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015
Disassembly Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015 Standard Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1017 Hardware Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . 1020
Troubleshooting Portable Computers . . . . . 1024 Laptop Won’t Power On . . . . . . . . . . 1024 Screen Doesn’t Come On Properly . . . . . 1024 Wireless Doesn’t Work or Works
Intermittently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1025 Input Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1025
Chapter 26 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027
Chapter 27 Mobile Devices 1034 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035 Features and Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035
Mobile Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1035 Adding Apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1040 Enhancing Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . 1043
Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 Network Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . 1046 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1047 Bluetooth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1048 E-Mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1048 Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1050
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051 Preventing Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1051 Dealing with Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1052 Recovering from Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . 1053
Chapter 27 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1054
Chapter 28 Printers 1058 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059 Printer Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059
Impact Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059 Inkjet Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059 Dye-Sublimation Printers. . . . . . . . . . 1062 Thermal Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063 Laser Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063 Solid Ink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067 Printer Languages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067 Printer Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . 1069
The Laser Printing Process . . . . . . . . . . . 1071 Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1071 Charging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073 Exposing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073 Developing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1073 Transferring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1074 Fusing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1074 Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1074
Installing a Printer in Windows . . . . . . . . 1074 Setting Up Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1075 Optimizing Print Performance . . . . . . . 1079
802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1080 Troubleshooting Printers . . . . . . . . . . . . 1080
General Troubleshooting Issues . . . . . . . 1080 Troubleshooting Impact Printers . . . . . . 1083 Troubleshooting Thermal Printers . . . . . 1084 Troubleshooting Inkjet Printers . . . . . . . 1084 Troubleshooting Laser Printers . . . . . . . 1086
Beyond A+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1090 Multifunction Peripherals. . . . . . . . . . 1090
Chapter 28 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1091
Chapter 29 Securing Computers 1100 801/802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1101 Analyzing Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1101
Unauthorized Access . . . . . . . . . . . . .1101 Social Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1102 Data Destruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1103 Administrative Access . . . . . . . . . . . .1104 System Crash/Hardware Failure . . . . . . .1104 Physical Theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1104 Malware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1105 Environmental Threats . . . . . . . . . . . .1105
Security Concepts and Technologies. . . . . . .1107 Access Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1107 Data Classification and Compliance . . . . .1116 Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1116
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Contents
Malicious Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1119 Malware Signs and Symptoms . . . . . . . .1125 Malware Prevention and Recovery . . . . . .1126 Firewalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1133 Authentication and Encryption . . . . . . . .1141 Wireless Issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1144
Chapter 29 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1146
Meet the Hypervisor. . . . . . . . . . . . . .1155 Emulation Versus Virtualization . . . . . . .1156 Sample Virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . .1157
Why Do We Virtualize? . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1160 Power Saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1161 Hardware Consolidation . . . . . . . . . . .1161 System Recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1161 System Duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1161 Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1162
Virtualization in Modern Networks . . . . . . .1162 Virtual Machine Managers . . . . . . . . . .1163 Hypervisors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1166
Chapter 30 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1167
Chapter 31 The Right PC for You 1170 801 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1171 Building Your First PC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1171
Evaluating Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1172 Thick Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1173
Workstation PCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1175 Thin Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1176 Virtualization Workstations. . . . . . . . . .1176 Media Workstations . . . . . . . . . . . . .1176
Specialized Consumer PCs . . . . . . . . . . . .1179 Building a Home Server PC . . . . . . . . .1179 Setting Up a Home Theater PC . . . . . . . .1182 Gaming PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1188
Chapter 31 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1193
Chapter 32 The Complete PC Tech 1198 802 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1199 How Computers Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1199 Troubleshooting Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1205
Identify the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1206 Establish a Theory of Probable Cause
(Question the Obvious) . . . . . . . . . 1207 Test the Theory to Determine Cause . . . . 1208 Verify and Prevent . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1209 Document Findings, Actions, and
Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1210 Tech Toolkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1211
Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1211 Field Replaceable Units (FRUs). . . . . . . 1212
Chapter 32 Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1213
Objectives 1218 222-801 Exam Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . 1218 220-802 Exam Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . 1231
Appendix B About the Download 1246 Media Center Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . 1246
Playing Mike Meyers’ Introduction Video 1246 Viewing the CompTIA A+ Exam Objectives 1246
Downloading the Total Tester . . . . . . . . . 1247 Installing and Running Total Tester . . . . 1247 About Total Tester 1247 Mike Meyers’ Video Training Download 1247
Mike’s Cool Tools Download . . . . . . . . . . 1247 Technical Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1248
Glossary 1249
Index 1287
xxi Preface
I started writing computer books for the simple reason that no one wrote the kind of books I wanted to read. The books were either too simple (Chapter 1, “Using Your Mouse”) or too complex (Chapter 1, “TTL Logic and Transis- tors”), and none of them provided a motivation for me to learn the information. I believed that there were geeky readers just like me who wanted to know why they needed to know the information in a computer book.
Good books motivate readers to learn what they are reading. If a book discusses binary arithmetic but doesn’t explain why I need to learn it, for example, that’s not a good book. Tell me that understanding binary makes it easier to understand how a CPU works or why a megabyte is different from a million bytes—then I get excited, no matter how geeky the topic. If I don’t have a good motivation to do something, then I’m simply not going to do it (which explains why I haven’t jumped out of an airplane!).
In this book, I teach you why you need to understand the technology that runs almost every modern business. You’ll learn to build and fix computers, exploring every nook and cranny, and master the art of the PC tech. In the process, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to pass the CompTIA A+ certification exams.
Enjoy, my fellow geek.
CompTIA APProvEd QuALITy CurrICuLuM
It Pays to Get Certified
In a digital world, digital literacy is an essential survival skill. Certification proves you have the knowledge and skill to solve business problems in vir- tually any business environment. Certifications are highly valued credentials that qualify you for jobs, increased compensation, and promotion.
BaseTech
xxiv
CompTIA Approved Quality Curriculum
Advances Your Career The CompTIA A+ credential —provides foundation-level knowledge and skills necessary for a career in PC repair and support.
Starting Salary —CompTIA A+ Certified individuals can earn as much as $65,000 per year.
Career Pathway —CompTIA A+ is a building block for other CompTIA certifications such as Network+, Security+ and vendor specific technologies.
More than 850,000 —individuals worldwide are CompTIA A+ certified.
Mandated/Recommended by organizations worldwide —such as Cisco and HP and Ricoh, the U.S. State Department, and U.S. government contractors such as EDS, General Dynamics, and Northrop Grumman.
Some of the primary benefits individuals report from becoming
CompTIA A+ certified are:
CompTIA Career Pathway
CompTIA offers a number of credentials that form a foundation for your career in technology and that allow you to pursue specific areas of con- centration. Depending on the path you choose to take, CompTIA certifications help you build upon your skills and knowledge, supporting learning throughout your entire career.
xxv CompTIA Approved Quality Curriculum
Steps to Getting Certified and
Staying Certified Review exam objectives.1. Review the certification objectives to make sure you know what is covered in the exam: www.comptia.org/certifications/testprep/examobjectives.aspx
Practice for the exam.2. After you have studied for the certification, take a free assessment and sample test to get an idea what type of questions might be on the exam: www.comptia.org/certifications/testprep/practicetests.aspx
Purchase an exam voucher.3. Purchase your exam voucher on the CompTIA Marketplace, which is located at: www.comptiastore.com
Take the test!4. Select a certification exam provider and schedule a time to take your exam. You can find exam providers at the following link: www.comptia.org/certifications/testprep/testingcenters.aspx
Stay Certified!5. Continuing education is required. Effective January 1, 2011, CompTIA A+ certifications are valid for three years from the date of certification. There are a number of ways the certification can be renewed. For more information go to: http://certification .comptia.org/getCertified/steps_to_certification/stayCertified.aspx
Join the Professional Community
The free online IT Pro Community provides valuable content to students and professionals. Join the IT Pro Community:
http://itpro.comptia.org
Career assessments
Salary trends
Forums on networking, security, computing, and cutting-edge
technologies
Current information on cutting edge technologies
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Content Seal of Quality
This courseware bears the seal of CompTIA Approved Quality Content. This seal signifies this content covers 100 percent of the exam objectives and implements important instructional design principles. CompTIA rec- ommends multiple learning tools to help increase coverage of the learning objectives.
APPRO V E D Q U A L I T Y C O N T EN
Why CompTIA?
Global recognition —CompTIA is recognized globally as the leading IT nonprofit trade association and has enormous credibility. Plus, CompTIA’s certifications are vendor-neutral and offer proof of foundational knowledge that translates across technologies.
Valued by hiring managers —Hiring managers value CompTIA certification because it is vendor- and technology-independent validation of your technical skills.
Recommended or required by government and businesses —Many government organizations and corporations (for example, Dell, Sharp, Ricoh, the U.S. Department of Defense, and many more) either recommend or require technical staff to be CompTIA certified.
Three CompTIA certifications ranked in the top 10 —In a study by DICE of 17,000 technology professionals, certifications helped command higher salaries at all experience levels.
How to Obtain More Information
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Instructor and Student Web Site
INsTruCTor ANd sTudENT WEb sITE
For instructor and student resources, please visit:
www.MHAplusOLC4e.com
Students will find the chapter quizzes from the end of each chapter, and teachers can access instructor support materials.
Additional Resources for Teachers
McGraw-Hill Connect, a web-based learning platform, connects instructors with their support materials and students with chapter assessments. The Connect Online Learning Center provides resources for teachers in a format that follows the organization of the textbook.
This site includes the following:
Answer keys to the end-of-chapter activities in the textbook
Answer keys to the Mike Meyers’ Lab Manual activities (Lab
Manual available separately)
Access to test bank files and software that allows you to generate
a wide array of paper- or network-based tests, and that features automatic grading. The test bank includes:
Hundreds of practice questions and a wide variety of question
types categorized by exam objective, enabling you to customize each test to maximize student progress
Blackboard cartridges and other formats may also be available
upon request; contact your sales representative
Engaging PowerPoint slides on the lecture topics that include full-
color artwork from the book
Instructor’s Manual that contains learning objectives, classroom
preparation notes, instructor tips, and a lecture outline for each chapter
Please contact your McGraw-Hill sales representative for details.
1 chapter
/ Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs, Fourth Edition / Meyers / 591-X / Chapter 1
Computers have taken over the world, or at least many professions.
Everywhere you turn, a quick dig beneath the surface sawdust of
construction, the grease of auto mechanics, and the hum of medical technology
reveals one or more personal computers (PCs) working away, doing essential
jobs. Because the PC evolved from novelty item to essential science tool to
everyday object in a short period of time, there’s a huge demand for a workforce
that can build, maintain, troubleshoot, and repair PCs.
In this chapter, you will learn how to
Explain the importance
Explain the importance of
throw out a window.”
The Path of the PC Tech
BaseTech / Mike Meyers’ CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs, Fourth Edition / Meyers / 591-X / Chapter 1
Chapter 1: The Path of the PC Tech 1
The Importance of Skill in
Managing and Troubleshooting PCs The people who work with computers, often lumped into a single group known as the Information Technology (IT) workforce, do an amazingly varied number of jobs. These include diverse pursuits such as designing hardware, writing computer programs, and creating networks (groups of computers connected together to share data or programs). IT people built the Internet and maintain the millions of computers that keep it running.
But for all this IT diversity, it’s the computer technicians (or PC techs, as those of us in the field call each other) who make up the core of the IT workforce. Without us techs, none of the other stuff would work, so none of the other jobs could exist. Getting workers with skill in building, maintaining, troubleshooting, and fixing PCs is essential for the success of every modern business. We need more PC techs. We need you!
In the early days of the personal computer, anyone who used a PC had to have skills as a PC tech. The PC was new, buggy, and prone to problems. If you owned a PC back then, you didn’t want to rely on others to fix your PC when the inevitable problems arose. Today’s PCs are much more robust and have fewer problems, so using one no longer requires having PC tech skills, but they’re also much more complex machines. Today’s IT industry, therefore, needs specialized workers who know how to make the machines run well and fix them when they break for the millions of users who lack PC tech skills.
Every profession requires specialized skills. For the most part, if you want to get or keep a job that requires those specialized skills, you need some type of certification or license. If you want a job fixing automobiles in the United States, for example, you get the Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification. If you want to perform companies’ financial audits in the United Kingdom, you get your Chartered Accountant certification.
Nearly every profession has some criteria that you must meet to show your competence and ability to perform at a certain level. Although the way this works varies widely from one profession to another, all of them will at some point make you take an exam or series of exams. Passing these exams proves that you have the necessary skills to work at a certain level in your profession

Documents

Mike Meyers' CompTIA A+ Guide to Managing and Troubleshooting PCs