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86 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What two devices help dissipate heat in modern CPUs?
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heat sink
fan |
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What purpose do the following devices inside the case serve?
~Motherboard ~Hard drive ~Power supply ~Circuit board |
Motherboard - contains cpu, memory, other components
Hard drive - used for permanenet storage Power supply - supply electricity Circuit board - used by cpu to communicate with other devices |
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What is the difference between serial ports and parallel ports? What kind of devices is USB used for?
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serial - bit by bit
parallel - several bits at the same time, universal serial bus |
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For what is CMOS chip used? When and why does it sometimes need a battery?
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RAM, used to store start up programs. Needs a battery because it is volatile memory and needs power to retain its information.
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What is flux reversal?
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A pattern of magnetic fields on memory.
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How many channels for EIDE devices can a consumer grad PC have, and how many devices per channel do they have?
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Two and two.
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Describe how decreasing the size of clusters and or sectors can increase the amount of available space on a personal computer hard disk drive.
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The smaller the cluster, the more efficiently space is used. If a file is smaller than a single cluster or large enough to take up more than one cluster then the extra space in the cluster is wasted.
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Name and briefly describe the four major components of hard drive geometry.
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cylinders - platters or memory used to store info
heads - saves the data on the disk sectors - defined areas on the platters tracks - the lines of space on the platter |
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Name four reasons why a computer may have multiple partitions.
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smaller file sizes
reduce fragmentation easy backup multiple os's cashing using more hdd than your bios can handle |
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What does NTFS stand for in relation to the Windows 2000 operating system?
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New
Technology File System |
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How many versions of Windows 2000 are there?
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Four
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Define what an operating system is.
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An operating system provides a user interface for users and applications and manages the contact between software and hardware.
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What do each of the following stand for?
SIMM DIMM RIMM |
SIMM - single inline memory module
DIMM - double inline memory module RIMM - rambus inline memory module |
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Which type of RAM is the most common?
SIMM DIMM RIMM |
DIMM
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DOS
User interface Tasking (single, multiple) Backwards Compatibility Home or Professional Security 16/32 bit applications Networking 2 advantages 2 disadvantages |
DOS
interface - command tasking - single compatibility - none Home or pro - home security - none 16/32 bit - 16 bit networking - none adv - small, simple dis - no interface, no security |
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Windows 3x
User interface Tasking (single, multiple) Backwards Compatibility Home or Professional Security 16/32 bit applications Networking 2 advantages 2 disadvantages |
Interface - menu and icon
Tasking - single Compatible - yes Home or Pro - home security - some bit - 16 bit networking - none adv - interface, updgraded DOS dis - locks up, little security |
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Windows 9x
User interface Tasking (single, multiple) Backwards Compatibility Home or Professional Security 16/32 bit applications Networking 2 advantages 2 disadvantages |
menu + icon
coop multitasking compatible - yes home use security better than 3x 16 bit networking adv - better useability, multitasking dis - many security patches, ME upggrade not substantial |
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Windows NT
User interface Tasking (single, multiple) Backwards Compatibility Home or Professional Security 16/32 bit applications Networking 2 advantages 2 disadvantages |
menu + icon
preemptive multitasking not based on dos, not back compatible pro good security 16 + 32 bit good networking adv - not based on DOS, newer tech dis - only for pro, not back comp. |
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Windows 2000
User interface Tasking (single, multiple) Backwards Compatibility Home or Professional Security 16/32 bit applications Networking 2 advantages 2 disadvantages |
menu + icon
preemptive multitasking back compat w/ NT both home and pro good security, esp. pro 16 + 32 bit good networking adv - personal and pro use, four versions dis - 2CPU use, patches |
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WindowsXP
User interface Tasking (single, multiple) Backwards Compatibility Home or Professional Security 16/32 bit applications Networking 2 advantages 2 disadvantages |
menu + icon
preemptive multitasking back compat w/ NT + 2000 home + pro very good security 16 + 32 bit good networking adv - updated security, new interface dis - complicated OS, 2CPUs process |
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Unix
User interface Tasking (single, multiple) Backwards Compatibility Home or Professional Security 16/32 bit applications Networking 2 advantages 2 disadvantages |
command
singletasking back compat pro good security 32 bit apps networking adv - good for web pages, free avail source code dis - many apps not compat, takes training |
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What does the system clock do?
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keeps the beat for motherboard activities
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What three things does the chip set control?
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memory cache
external buses some peripherals |
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What determines the data path size?
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determined by width of bus dta path, or number of parallel wires in bus data path
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What determines the number of memory addresses?
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determined by number of traces, or wires, on the bus that are used for memory addresses.
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What is memory cache?
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Small amount of RAM that is faster than rest of RAM; does not need refreshing; can hold data as long as power is available.
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What is the difference between primary and secondary cache?
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primary - internal or level 1 cache. included on chip itself
secondary - external or level 2 cache. outside the cpu. |
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What is RISC?
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Reduced Instruction Set Computing
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Give two advantages to using RISC
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small number of operating instructions to perform
are much faster when few complex calculations are required ideal for video or telecommunications applications easier and cheaper to manufacture |
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What does GMCH stand for? what does it do?
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Graphics Memory Control Hub? Controls display and memory.
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What does ICH stand for? What does it do?
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I/O control hub
Controls everything that the GMHC doesn't |
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What is Falsh ROM and what does it allow you to do?
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Flash ROM (erasable programmable read-only memory or EEPROM) allows you to upgrade system BIOS without having to replace ROM chip.
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What is the difference between DRAM and SRAM in how they function?
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DRAM - dynamic ram. holds data for a very short time. slower, must be refreshed often.
SRAM - holds data until power is turned off |
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Name two advantages and one disadvantage of a tape drive?
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advantages: inexpensive and convenient, large capacity, several types and formats
disadvantages: sequential access |
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Name two common storage devices used today.
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CD
DVD Tape Removable disk |
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What is EPROM?
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Erasable programmable rom
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What is EEPROM?
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electronically erasable programmable rom or flash rom
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What is the difference between EPROM and EEPROM?
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EPROM is erased with ultraviolet light so that the chip can be reprogrammed. EEPROM is erased electronically.
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What does ''refresh'' mean?
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the data must be rewritten to the chip
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What is synnchronous SRAM?
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requires a clock signal to manage or synchronize its control signal
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What is burst RAM?
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Data is sent in a 2-step process; first the data address and then a series of data transmissions
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What is pipelined burst SRAM?
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Use more clock cycles per transferthan does burst SRAM without pipelining, but is less expensive.
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What is Asynchronous SRAM?
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It does not work in step with the CPU clock which makes it unable to process much data in one request and results in overall slower memory access.
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What is SDRAM?
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synchronous DRAM runs in sync with the system clock and is rated by clock speed.
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What is DDR SDRAM?
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Double-data rate SDRAM is a faster version of SDRAM that runs at 200 MHz
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What is RDRAM?
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Rambus DRAM uses a faster system bus but only 16 bit data path.
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What does parity do?
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Parity is an error checking procedure.
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What are DIP switches used for?
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Store setup data on a motherboard
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What are the ten main components on a motherboard?
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CPU + chip set
system clock ROM BIOS CMOS configuration chip + its battery RAM RAM cache System bus with expansion slots jumpers and DIP switches Ports on the board Power supply connections |
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Name ten attributes used to rate CPUs
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Speed in MHz
efficiency of code # of transistors # of registers word size special functionality data path size max number of memory addresses size of internal cache multiprocessing abilities |
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When a device on a computer needs to get the attention of the CPU,it uses what method
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configured in priority order, to tell the CPU of its need to communicate.,IRQ interrupt request line
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Define and describe the relationship between ROM, BIOS, and CMOS?
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CMOS remembers system info like how memory is allocated
ROM holds programs that cannot be erased BIOS is firmware that controls much of the comps I/O functions |
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The operating system on a computer controls what four things on a computer?
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Manages hardware
runs applications provides user interface stores, retrieves and manipulates files |
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What are the three categories of PC software?
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BIOS and device drivers
OS Application software |
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Name and describe the three categories of BIOS
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System BIOS - programs to control I/O devices
Startup BIOS - programs that control the startup of the computer CMOS setup - programs to change the information stored in CMOS |
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Describe how the IRQ works.
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Line on a bus that a device uses to alert the CPU that it needs servicing, also called hardware interrupts.
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Describe how I/O addresses work.
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Numbers the CPU can use to access hardware devices in the same way it uses memory addresses to access physical memory. Also called port addresses or ports.
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Describe how memory addresses work.
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Hexadecimal numbers, written in segment/offset form. assigned to RAM and ROM so that the CPU can access both
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Describe how a DMA channell works
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Provides shortcuts for a device to send data directly to memory and bypass the CPU
A chip on the motherboard contains DMA logic and manages the process. |
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What is shadowing ROM?
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Process of copying programs from ROM to RAM for execution.
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What is the difference between a hard boot and a soft boot?
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Hard boot - cold boot - involves initially turning on power with on/off switch.
Soft boot - warm boot - uses OS to reboot, faster than a hard boot. |
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Describe the six functions performed in the boot process.
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Startup BIOS
Setup info Hardware assigned system resources Startup BIOS finds the OS Hardware devices are matched with the BIOS and their device drivers Application software |
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Name and describe the two main components of an operating system.
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Shell - relates to the user and to applications. provides a command, menu, or icon interface.
Kernel - interacts with hardware |
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What is a thread?
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Each process that a CPU is aware of
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What are the three types of interfaces?
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Command driven
Menu driven Icon driven |
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What is single-tasking?
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What OS used single-tasking?,CPU or OS can run only one program at a time. Used by DOS
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Name and describe the two types of multitasking?
What is the difference between the two? |
Cooperative - not true multitasking. The CPU is still only aware of one program at a time.
Preemptive - CPU aware of 2 threads but only one is active. Each thread is alotted an amount of time. |
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Preemptive - CPU aware of 2 threads
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but only one is active. Each thread is alotted an amount of time.
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Describe how a hardware interrupt works.
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HW sends IRQ to CPU, the request is processed by a request handler or interrupt handler.
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Describe how a software interrupt works.
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initiated by software sending an interrupt (INT) to the CPU.
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Describe what the CMOS setup chip contains and what its responsibilities are.
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Holds setup information about the computer. Responsible for remembering the current data and time, which hard and floppy drives are present, and how serial + parallel ports are configured
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Application software depends on a particular OS to do what three things?
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Provide access to hardware resources
Manage its data in memory and in secondary storage Perform other background tasks |
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What are the seven steps in loading and initializing software applications?
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OS receives command to load
OS finds program file OS loads program file OS hands control to program Program requests memory addresses Program initializes Turns to user |
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What is a boot disk?
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A floppy that has enough software on it to load an OS
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What is a rescue disk?
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A bootable disk that has some utility programs on it to troubleshoot a failed hard drive
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What is a command prompt?
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a tool used to receive a suggestion from the user in text form
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Name two different ways you can access a command prompt.
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Start, program, MS-DOS prompt
Start, run, enter command.com in the run dialog box Start, shutdown, restart in MS-DOS mode (win 95/98) Create MS-DOS startup disk Hold down Ctrl or F8 while booting |
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What are the three areas of the memory map and what is the range of memory addresses for each?
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Conventional - first 640K of memory addresses
Upper memory - memory addresses from 640K up to 1024K Extended memory - memory above 1024K ~high memory area: first 64K of extended memory |
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What determines the number of memory addresses a CPU can assign to physical memory?
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Determined by number of memory address lines available on memory bus.
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What is memory mapping and when does it occur?
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Assigning addresses to RAM and ROM occurs during booting
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What is Himem.sys?
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device driver for all memory above 640K, manages memory as a device
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What is a cluster?
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A cluster is a file allocation unit, how data is logically organized.
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What four things does the format command create?
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Tracks and sectors
Boot record Two copies of the FAT Root directory |
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What is the boot record?
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First sector on the disk
Contains basic information about how the disk is organized |
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List three different times when you would partition a hard drive.
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First installation of new hard drive
Existing hard drive giving errors Suspect that a virus has attached the drive Want to wipe the hard drive clean and install a new OS |
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What is a batch file?
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When you have a list of OS commands that you want to execute several times
Store the list of commands in a batch file (.bat extension) on disk and then execute the batch file at each PC. |