+

Theory
Notes on

COMPUTER HARDWARE
MAINTENANCE
[As per the Revised Curriculum (Revision 2010) of Unitech
Group for the Advanced Electronics division]

UNITECH GROUP
H.O.: Bakery Junction, Trivandrum. Phone : 0471 2333194
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Maintenance

 Copyright 2004 reserved with the publishers.

This book in full or parts thereof including cover design or its

translation must not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any
means (electronic, photocopying, recording or other wise) except review or
criticism without the prior written permission of the publishers, and is
intended for Private circulation only.

First Edition 1996

Second Edition 1998

Third Edition 2000

Fourth Edition 2002

Fifth Edition 2004

Sixth Edition 2007

Seventh Edition 2010

Published by : Director, Unitech Group.

Typeset by

: Academic Section, UCSD.

Printed at

: Achanya Offset Printers, Trivandrum.

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PREFACE

This note is arranged as prescribed in the curriculum of the subject name

COMPUTER HARDWARE MAINTENANCE in the ADVANCED ELECTRONICS
DIVISION of UNITECH GROUP. With the day-to-day development in Electronics,
this book can be made as reference for the beginners. The contents include
Fundamentals of computers, Hardware, software, and chip level servicing. It is
hoped that the students and teachers concerned with this branch will find this book
useful.
-Author

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CONTENTS
SL.
NO.

TOPIC

Introduction

Generation and Classification of Computers

Block Diagram Of computer

11

Input / Output Devices

13

Memory Systems

16

BIOS and its functions

22

Secondary Storage Devices

26

SMPS

30

Motherboard And its Classifications

33

10

Block Diagram of Motherboard

35

11

Chipset

36

12

Microprocessors

39

13

Control Signals in motherboard

50

14

Interconnection Structures

51

15

Motherboard Ports and Expansion Slots

56

16

Computer Virus and Antivirus

62

17

Software

65

18

Operating system

19

DOS Commands

20

LINUX

21

Trouble Shooting

22
23

PAGE
NO.

68
79

References

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83

Introduction
Simply computer is an electronic machine that helps us to solve problems.
The problems that can be solved with the aid of Computer are wide varied. They
can be problems relating to industry, medicine, education, scientific research, law,
social sciences, arts etc. In fact a computer can solve any problem that can be
solved through step-by-step procedure.
A computer can be defined as an electronic device, which is capable to
hold, retrieve & manipulate information to get the desired output. Computer will
soon play a significant role in the daily functioning of every individual of our
society. In the beginning the computers were very large and costly, so they were
accessible and affordable only to the large corporations, big universities and
government agencies. Advances in semiconductor technology and development
of micro-chips has given rise to such a level of miniaturization, that computing
power of a room sized computer of earlier days is now available on a desk top
computers affordable even to a common individual. These two factors have played
important role in the development of the personal computer (PC), which has
completely invaded our day-to-day life.
A computer is basically a tool to assist man in performing various tasks.
But it differs from other types of tools and machines; the same computer can
perform i.e. many different types of jobs. E.g. computers are used in offices, may
be for word processing or administrative works or accounts; factories - production
planning; education institutions; banking institutions; publishing house; arts and
animation

studios;

advertising

agencies;

architects;

airlines

and

railway

reservations; military and police; doctors and hospitals, The ability to do different
jobs on the same machine distinguishes computers from other machines.

The Evolution of Computers

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Computers were invented as a result of mans search for fast and accurate
calculating devices. The earliest device that qualifies as the digital computer is the
ABACUS. This device permits the user to represent numbers by the positions of
beads on a rack.
In the 19th century Charles Babbage (father of modern digital computer),
Professor at the Cambridge University invented the Differential Engine and the
Analytical Engine the principle of which has been the fundamentals of modern
digital computers.

COMPUTER GENERATION
After the II World war rapid developments took place in the growth of
computer in five distinct phases known as the Computer Generation.
First Generation (1942-1955)
The first generation computers were the voluminous computers with large
frame. ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was the first all
electronic computer.
It was developed at MOORE School of the University of Pennsylvania in
USA by a team led by Professors J.P. Eckert and J.W. Mauchley.

It was

developed as a result of military need.

The computer of this generation used 18,000 vacuum tubes and took up
the wall space of 20 x 40 sq. ft room.
The main disadvantages were
(1) Slow operating speed and restricted computing capabilities,
(2) High power consumption and short life span,
(3) Huge space requirement and
(4) Limited programming capabilities.
Second Generation (1955-1964)
In this generation the computers used the solid-state devices known as
Transistors (Transfer Resistors) in the place of vacuum tubes (valves). These
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transistors were smaller in size. Use of transistors reduced the size of computers,
increased its speed and also minimized power consumption.
Third Generation (1964-1975)
The third generation computers were introduced in the year 1964. During
this period transistors were replaced by the Integrated Circuits (I.C.s). Each of
these I.C.s consisted of number of circuits consisting of transistors and capacitors
fabricated in a single chip of silicon. With the introduction of I.C.s computers
processing speed as well as its storing capabilities improved.
Fourth Generation (1975 Onwards)
Initially, I.C.s contained only 10 to 20 components. Which were named
Small Scale Integrator (S.S.I.). Later hundreds of components was integrated into
one chip which was called Medium Scale Integration (M.S.I.).

Later it was

possible to integrate over 30,000 components into one chip called Large Scale
Integration (L.S.I.).
In this fourth generation we have Microprocessors as the brain of
computers. We are now in the Fourth Generation of Computers.
Fifth Generation (Yet To Come)
Scientists are now at work on the fifth generation of computers, which is not
yet a reality. They aim to bring out machines with genuine I.Q., the ability to
reason logically and with real knowledge of the world.

Classification of computers
Generally computers are classified as: Microcomputers, Minicomputers,
Mainframes and Super computers. With the development in technology, the
distinction between all the computers is becoming blurred.
Microcomputers
A Microcomputers Central Processing Unit (CPU) is a microprocessor. The
first microcomputers were built around 8-bit microprocessor chips. (That is, the

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chip can retrieve instructions/data from storage, manipulate, and process an 8-bit
data at a time or that the chip has a built in 8-bit data transfer path.). Nowadays
there are microcomputers with 32-bit or higher microprocessor chips.
Minicomputers
Initial minicomputers were built around 8 and 12 bit machines. But by
1970s almost all the mini computers were 16 bit machines. With the advancement
in technology, the speed, memory size and other characteristics developed. The
minicomputer was more powerful machine, which could be used in variety of
applications and could support business applications along with scientific
applications. The minicomputer was used as a multi-user system, which can be
used by various users at the same time.
Mainframe computers
Mainframe computers are generally 32-bit machines or on the higher side.
These are suited for big organizations to manage high volume applications.
Mainframes are also used as central host computers in distributed system.
Supercomputers
These are amongst the fastest machines in terms of processing speed and
use multiprocessing techniques where a number of processors are used to solve a
CPU
problem. These are mainly used for weather forecasting, remote sensing, image
processing, etc.

Input Unit

Main Memory

Output Unit

ALU

Control Unit

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF COMPUTER

Secondary
Memory
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Data Flow
Control Flow

PERIPHERAL DEVICES
Input Devices
These are the devices, using which user enters the data and the program into
computers storage. Most commonly used input devices are Mouse, Keyboard, and
Scanner etc.

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KEYBOARD
Keyboard is a standard input device.

Various types of keyboards are

available that can be attached to the IBM PC/XT/AT. The 84/101 keys keyboard
contains English letters, ten special function characters (F1 to F10), three special
keys (Ctrl, shift, Alt.), three shift lock keys (Caps lock, Num lock and scroll lock)
and several cursor or numeric keypad keys. The keyboard cable is approximately
6 ft. long and coiled like a telephone cable. It is connected to the keyboard at one
end and to a 5 pin DIN connector at the other end.

The notch in the DIN

connector ensures that the keyboard can be connected only in one direction.
There are two types of keyboards. 84 keys keyboard (PC/XT) & 101/104 Keys key
board (PC/AT).
The types of key switches used are:
1. Capacitive switches
2. Hall effect switches
3. Carbon contact

Pin
No.

Description

Description

Keyboard
Clock

Keyboard Data

Keyboard
Data

N/C

1. Key board clock

N/C

Ground

2. Key board data

Ground

+5V DC

3. Key board reset

+5 V DC

Keyboard
Clock

N/C

4. Hard contact.
Key board signals are:

4. Ground

10

Pin
No.

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XT/AT Switch
Some keyboards have a switch on the rear side viz. Which one can select

MOUSE
It is a digitizing device capable of sensing the position of every desired
point.. The cursor on the monitor follows the movement of the mouse.

PIN ASSIGNMENTS FOR SERIAL MOUSE

DB-9F 9
PIN

DB-25F
25 PIN

WIRE NAME

SHELL

PROTECTIVE
GROUND

RECEIVE DATA

TRANSMIT DATA

7
8
6
5

4
5
6
7

RTS
CTS
DSR
SIGNAL GROUND

20

DTR

DETAILS

SERIAL DATA FROM

HOST TO MOUSE
DATA FROM MOUSE
TO HOST
REQUEST TO SEND
CLEAR TO SEND
DATA SET READY

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DATA TERMINAL
READY

11

PIN ASSIGNMENTS FOR PS/2 MOUSE

PIN
1
2
3
4
5
6
SHIELD

WIRE NAME
DATA
RESERVED
GROUND
+5V SUPPLY
CLK
RESERVED
CHASIS

There are three types of mouses:

1. Mechanical Mouse
2. Opto Mechanical Mouse
3. Optical Mouse
1. Mechanical Mouse
In mechanical mouse, a small, round ball in the bottom touches the mouse
pad. When the mouse is moved, the ball rotates. There are two flywheels inside
the mouse touching the ball there by sensing the horizontal and vertical
movements. Since the flywheels are connected to a resistive element forming a
mesh of fine black cross hairs, as when the mouse is moved, a ball translates the
mouse movements into electrical signals. The mechanical mouse is simple and
cheaper but needs routine maintenance like cleaning. Also the wear and tear
makes it dead soon.
2. Opto Mechanical Mouse
In opto mechanical mouse, the ball and light sensitive semiconductors are
used for generating electrical signals. There is no wire mesh unlike the mechanical
mouse. Instead there are two rollers placed at right angles to each other and
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touching the ball. At the end of each roller there is a slotted wheel formed by
perforating the edges of the wheels with tiny holes. On one side of the holes there
is an LED and the other side a photodiode or a phototransistor is present to
function as a photo sensor. When the mouse is moved, the ball rotates and the
rollers rotate the slotted wheels. The light emitted by the LED is alternatively
blocked and allowed because of the slots. Accordingly the photo sensor generates
a series of pulses. The opto mechanical mouse has longer life and better reliability.
But it needs periodic cleaning to remove dust and dirt.

Fig: working of opto mechanical mouse

3. Optical mouse:
In optical mouse, there is no ball or rollers. A special mouse pad with a grid
is used. The mouse movement is tracked by LEDs and Light-sensitive transistors.
Though expensive, an optical mouse is desirable because of its better accuracy
and higher reliability. There are no moving parts and practically no maintenances
is needed.
A mouse has two or three buttons. The function of each button is defined by
the software. When a button is pressed, the mouse transmits a signal that is
interpreted by the mouse driver. The action taken by a system depends on the
operating system and application program. There are 3 gestures associated with
mouse: Single click, Double click and Drag.
.

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SCANNER
So we have looked at two most common input
devices, key board and mouse, key board is most
suited for entering and editing textual data, Mouse is
best suited as pointing devices in Graphical User
Interface such as MS Windows and for freehand
drawing jobs

But, if you have some existing photograph and you want to transfer it in to the
computer, then none of the above input devices are useful for this purpose, you
need another input device called Scanner for this.

Scanners are the best choice for transferring existing graphical images such as
photograph, logo etc. in to the computer. Using a scanner one can quickly and
easily bring existing images in to the computer.

Once these images are scanned and brought in to the computer one can include
them in to documents, print them or edit them with some image editing software
such as Photoshop, Corel Photo Paint etc.

Scanners are also useful for OCR (Optical Character Recognition) work.
Using OCR software one can scan existing text documents in to the computer and
then convert them in to a format that the word processing software such as MSWord can edit. It is also useful with the fax cards. As the fax cards do not have any
facility to get existing documents in to the computer, one can use the scanner to
scan and get the documents in to the computer for faxing them

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OUTPUT DEVICES
These are the devices, using which user get the output from the computers, in the
form of hard copy and Soft copy. The output form the Monitor is called Hard copy
and the output form the Printer is called Soft copy. The output devices are Monitor,
Printer, and Speaker etc.

MONITORS
The main display unit in computer is the monitor. Now CRT monitors, LCD
monitors are available with different screen sizes.14, 15, 17 etc.Screen
size is commonly measured diagonally.

Monitors are connected to CPU by means of a 15 pin D-connector called VGA

(Video Graphic Array) connector. It also have a power cable to get 230v/110v
supply power.
USER CONTROLS ON MONITORS

Power switch
Brightness control
Contrast control
Vertical hold
Horizontal hold
Focus
Vertical size
Horizontal shift

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Vertical linearity
Vertical phase
Monitors are also available with touch screen technology, Plasma screen
etc.

PRINTERS
Printers are the most commonly used output devices to produce printouts of
results, programs and data. In impact printers electromechanical mechanisms are
employed to cause hammers or pins to strike against a ribbon and the paper to
print the text.

A non-impact printer does not employ mechanical print head to

strike against ribbon.

They use thermal chemical, electrostatic, or ink jet

technology for printing the text.

The printers are classified into the following three types.

1. Dot matrix printer

2. Inkjet printer
3. LASER printer
DOT-MATRIX PRINTERS: Characters are formed using a number of dots.
head contains a matrix of dots, which are driven by solenoids.

Print
To

print a character, selected dots, which are required to form the

desired character hit the ribbon against paper. Dot matrix printers
contain 9,14,18 or 24 printing dots in the print head. The print
speed of dot matrix printers ranges up to 600cps.

Dot matrix

printers can operate at two or three speeds. 80 column and 132

column printers are available in the market.

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An Epson MX-80
INKJET PRINTERS: These printers use a Non Impact approach to produce a
character. It is quiet in operation as it is a non-impact printer. Ink-jet
printers use a variety of approaches to print a character. In one of
the approaches a voltage causes a piezo electric crystal to send a
pressure wave through an ink chamber. When the pressure
reaches the tip of the nozzle, it forces a drop of ink to move straight
to the paper. The print head employ multiple nozzles just as
multiple pins in a dot matrix print head.

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LASER PRINTERS

These are non-impact page printers. Two types of Laser printers are
available. Post script & Non-post script. These are printer languages used to make
characters.

Post script is from Adobe Inc. and non post script is from HP.

Characters are developed using mathematical equations in post script and using 0
& 1 in non post script, and is stored in a ROM.

PARTS OF A LASER PRINTER

Control circuit - CPU (Motorola 68000/68010) + RAM (512 KB) + ROM

Power supply - 1000V, + 40V, + 12V & + 5V

Laser or Scanner Unit

Coronas

Toner unit

Fuser Unit
1000V power supply is used to charge the paper, 40V for motors and + 12V

for external interface.

LASER / SCANNER UNIT
Lasing diode + Stationary mirror + a drum. The property of normal light is
that the beams are scattered in every direction whereas laser beam are parallel
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beam of light with high intensity. This section consists of diodes & mirrors. The
laser beam is produced by the lasing diode and then split into two beams. These
are given to a rotating scanning mirror. This rotating beam is given to the rotating
drum. It is a metallic drum made of Aluminum.
CORONAS
It is a metallic container with a thin metallic wire, which has high melting
point. One end of this wire is connected to an electrode and the other end is
terminator. A high voltage of 1000V is applied to this electrode. Two different
coronas are used in Laser printers. They are Charger & Transfer. The charger
corona is placed above the drum and it charges the drum. The transfer corona is
on the paper path to charge the paper.
TONER & DRUM ASSEMBLY
The toner is a powder, which is a mixture of carbon, iron and plastic. This
toner is placed in a separate container with an outlet, which comes in contact with
the drum. Some printers like HP having disposable toner called toner cartridge.
PAPER TRANSPORT MECHANISM
This has a tray, which can hold around 200 sheets. A paper pickup roller
and a paper feed roller. These are used to feed the paper into the printer.
FUSER ASSEMBLY
Its function is to melt the plastic in the toner and press the image into the
paper surface. This assembly consists of a pressure roller and a heating lamp to
heat the toner around 200 degree Celsius.
Working of laser printer
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The text or images are down loaded from the computer to the printer
memory through the parallel ports. The control circuitry in the printer converts it
into full lines. These lines are converted again into dot information and send to the
scanning unit for writing image into the drum. Then the paper is inserted between
the drum and coronas. The image from the drum is transferred to the paper when
the paper is attached to the lower section. The remaining toner is removed from
the drum by cleaning pads and fresh charge is placed on the drum for next image.
The paper is then fed to the fuser assembly, which will melt the toner and press it
to the paper through pressure roller.

Printer Controls
The following discussion summarizes the most common button controls
available for printer systems.

On-line:- The on-line button switch connects and disconnects the printer
from the computer system. When in on-line mode (often indicated by the
on-line light being lit), the printer is connected to the computer system and
able to receive information from it. When the printer is off-line (indicated by
the on-line light being out), the printer is disconnected from the computer
system and ignores any information received.

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Form-feed: -This button switch, when pressed, advances the paper from its
current location to the top of the next page. The new position is established
as the top of form (beginning of a new page). On printers, which support
single sheet paper, this prints a single page of paper.

Line-feed: - This button switch, when pressed, advances the paper by a

single line. Holding the button switch down advances multiple lines. This
button is not present on some printers, which use single sheet paper
instead of continuous form paper

Audio output devices are

Speakers - a device that converts analog audio signals into the equivalent
air vibrations in order to make audible sound.
Headset - a device similar in functionality to computer speakers used
mainly to not disturb others nearby.

SPEAKERS
Speaker is also an output device. It is used for hearing sound. It has a
power connector for 230v/110v supply AC. Motherboards Audio line-out (lime
colour) provides signal to the speaker. Advanced sound cards will give better
experience of sound with 5.1, 7.1 sound systems.

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

CPU is the brain of the computer. The performance of the microcomputer is
closed tied to the architectural features of micro processor. A central processing
unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital
computer capable of executing a program. It interprets computer program
instructions and processes data. CPUs provide the fundamental digital computer
trait of programmability, and are one of the necessary components found in
computers of any era, along with primary storage and input/output facilities. A CPU

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that is manufactured as a single integrated circuit is usually known as a

microprocessor.
The phrase "Central Processing Unit" is a description of a certain class of logic
machines that can execute computer programs. This broad definition can easily be
applied to many early computers that existed long before the term "CPU" ever
came into widespread usage
The IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured
in very small spaces (on the order of millimeters). Both the miniaturization and
standardization of CPUs have increased the presence of these digital devices in
modern life far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines.
Modern microprocessors appear in everything from automobiles to cell phones to
children's toys
CPU consists of
1) Arithmetic and Logic Unit
2) Control Unit
3) Registers
4) Buses
1) ALU (ARITHMETIC & LOGIC UNIT):- of a computer system is the place where
the actual execution of the instruction takes place. Almost all values are designed
to perform the following Arithmetic operations. They are =, <, >, #, +, -, x, /. It will
also perform logical operations based on AND, OR, NOT GATE.
2) CONTROL UNIT: - A control unit is able to maintain order and direct the
operations of the entire system. It manages and co-ordinates the entire computer
system with the help of internal general purpose registers and special purpose
registers.
3) REGISTERS:

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Program Counter: It is a register, which keeps track of the next instruction to be

executed. Before a program is executed, the starting address i.e. the location of
the first instruction must be stored in the PC. As the instruction is executed, the PC
is updated, so that it always contains the address of the next instruction, which is
to be executed.
Memory Address Register: It is used to hold the address of the memory location
to or from which data is to be transferred for fetching the instructions. As the
operating speeds of the CPU and the memory differ, the MAR will hold the address
till it is accepted by the memory.
Memory Buffer Register: It contains the data to be written into or read out of the
addressed location. Like MAR, MBR also compensates for the difference in
operating speeds of the CPU and memory.
Instruction Register: It is used to hold the instructions during their execution. The
instruction to be executed is fetched from memory to MBR and then to IR. The
instruction decoder decodes the contents of the IR. The output of the IR decoder is
given to the control unit, to generate the required control signals for execution.
Accumulator: It is one of the main registers of the ALU. It is used when the ALU is
performing arithmetic operations. While performing an arithmetic operation, one of
the operands is stored in the Accumulator and the second operand comes from
the memory location. The result is then stored in the accumulator.
4) BUSES
Bus is a group of wires or a group of signal lines between control unit, ALU
and registers. There are three types of buses namely
1) Address bus (unidirectional-to address the devices),
2) Data bus (bi directional-to place data) and
3) Control bus (to send control signals to devices)
Memory Concepts
Memory is an essential part of the computer to store information. There are
two types of memory used for storage in a system.

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1) The Memory that is directly accessible by the microprocessor is called the main
memory or the primary memory. It includes RAM and ROM. In the earlier
computers, core memory was used as the primary memory. Where in both
program and data were stored. In modern computer semiconductor memory is
used as primary memory
2) External Storage devices or mass storage devices, which are used for storing
large resumes of information and programs, are called Secondary Memory.
It includes Hard disks, CD ROM,DVD ROM, Floppy disks and Flash memories
( pen or Thumb drives) etc.

Primary Memory

Read Only Memory

Read / Write Memory (RAM)

(ROM)
ROM

SRAM (Static RAM)

DRAM (Dynamic RAM)

PROM
UVEPROM

MM
EPROM
SDRAM

DDRAM

EEPROM
Flash ROM

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MEMORY SYSTEM
Memory in a computer system is required for storage and subsequent
retrieval of instruction and data. A computer system uses variety of devices for
storing these instructions and data, which are required for its operations.
Volatile and non-volatile memories: The memory, which loses its contents when
the power source is removed, is known as volatile memory. The memory, which
holds the contents even when the power source is removed, is known as nonvolatile memory.

Memory system consists of three groups of memories.

Internal Processor Memories

Primary or Main Memory
Secondary Memory

Internal Processor Memories: These are small sets of high-speed memories,

which are internal to a processor and are used as temporary locations where
actual processing is done.
Primary Memory or Main Memory: It is a large memory, which is fast but not as
fast as internal processor memory. This memory is accessed directly by the
processor. It is mainly based on integrated circuits.
Secondary Memory: It is much larger in size than the main memory but slower
than main memory. Secondary memories cannot be accessed directly by a
processor. First the information is transferred to main memory and then the
information can be accessed as the information of main memory. It normally stores
system programs and data files as a secondary storage in devices like FDD, HDD
etc.
Another kind of memory, which is popularly used in computers today, is
called cache memory. It is logically placed between the internal registers and

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main memory. It stores some of the content of the main memory, which is currently
in use.
Cache memory is sometimes described in levels of closeness and
accessibility to the microprocessor. An L1 cache is on the same chip as the
microprocessor. (For example, the PowerPC 601 processor has a 32 kilobyte
level-1 cache built into its chip.) L2 is usually a separate static RAM (SRAM) chip.
When the processor needs to execute an instruction, it looks first in its own data
registers. If the needed data isn't there, it goes to the L1 cache and then to the L2
cache. If the data isn't in any cache, the CPU calls out to the main RAM. It might
not even be there, in which case the system has to retrieve it from the disk.
Intel Corp.'s Pentium III processor has 32KB of L1 cache on the processor
chip and either 256KB of L2 on-chip or 512KB of L2 off-chip. The L2 cache on the
CPU chip can be accessed four times faster than if it were on a separate chip.
Indeed, Intel will introduce Level 3 (L3) cache in its 64-bit server
processors, called Itanium. The 2MB or 4MB cache will connect to the processor
over a bus that runs as fast as the processor - 800 MHz.
ACCESS MODES
A memory is considered to consist of various memory locations. The
information from these locations can be accessed in the following ways.
Random Access: In this mode any memory location can be accessed in any
order in the same amount of time. Semiconductor memories, which generally
constitute main memory uses this method.
Sequential access: In this method, the locations can be accessed in pre-defined
sequences only. Magnetic tape uses this type of access. Here different locations
are accessed in different amount of time.
Direct access: In this case the information is accessed neither randomly nor in
sequence but something in between. A separate read/write head exist for a track
and on a track the information can be accessed serially. Magnetic disks use this
semi-random mode of operation.
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RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY

Main memory is a Random Access Memory. The main memory can be both
read and written into, therefore, is called read-write memory. The access time is
constant and independent of the location accessed.
There are two main categories of semiconductor RAMs: Static and
Dynamic. Larger chips are normally constructed as dynamic RAMs because the
dynamic RAM require less number of transistors than static RAM and hence can
be packed more densely on a single chip. Hence dynamic RAM can achieve
higher storage density. Dynamic RAMs tend to lose their charge with time and
needs periodic refreshing.
SIMM (Single Inline Memory Module)
It is a memory module in which a number of chips soldered on to a small
expansion board. The edge connector of this board is plugged into a special
SIMM socket on the motherboard. This is available in 30 pin (16bit) & 72 pin (32
bit) SIMM modules. These most common capacities are 256 KB, 1 MB, 2 MB, 4
MB, 16 MB & 32 MB.
DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module)
These are 168pin memory modules for 64-bit memory. The DIMM size can
be 8 MB, 16 MB & 32 MB.
TYPES OF RAM

SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic RAM)

SDRAM provides a pipeline burst mode that enables a second access to
begin before current operation is complete. This continuous access offers
effective access speeds and provides higher data transfer rates.

RDRAM (RAMBUS DRAM)

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27

RAMBUS Inc developed a new memory architecture called RAMBUS

channel, in which a CPU or other controller is used as master device and
the RDRAM is used as the slave device. Then data can be sent back and
forth through the RAMBUS channel.
DDR RAM

DDR SDRAM uses a new 184-pin DIMM format, which is physically

incompatible with the traditional 168-pin DIMMs that have been the
standard in the industry for the last 5 years.

DDR RAM
Single Sided

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DDRMaintenance
RAM Double Sided

READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM):

ROMs are the memories on which it is not possible to write data when they
are on-line to the computer. They can only be read. The ROMs can be used in
storing system programs and subroutines. ROMs are non-volatile in nature.
PROM: Programmable ROMs can be written only once. This is also a non-volatile
memory. The writing process in PROM can be performed electrically by the
supplier or customer. Special equipment is needed to perform this writing
operation.
EPROM: Erasable PROMs can be read and written electrically. Writing in EPROM
requires erasure of complete storage cells by exposing the chip to ultra violet light.
EEPROM: Electrically Erasable ROM can be written without erasing the previous
contents. This can be updated easily.
In general ROMs are considered slower than RAMs.
BASIC INPUT OUTPUT SYSTEM (BIOS)
BIOS are a set of programs stored inside an EPROM and put into the
motherboard. It is known as firmware also. The main job of these programs is to
provide a set of standard routines to take care of input/output from different input,
output and storage devices connected to the computer.
keystroke, display something on the

It is used to read a

screen, read/write of the serial and parallel

port, read/write to and from the floppy and hard disk.

Generally BIOS contains POST, Boot Strap loader, I/O drives for I/O
operation and Basic Interpreter.

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1) POST (Power on Self Test): It is a series of simple programs designed to test

and find faults in different hardware components and circuits. It tests the
processor, programmable ICs like timer, interrupt controller etc. If the tests were
successful the POST loads operating system from the disk.
2) BOOT STRAP LOADER:
The next part of the BIOS after the POST routine contains a program called
bootstrap loader. It is the job of this part of the BIOS to load the
operating system from the floppy disk or hard disk into the
computers main memory. Unless the operating system is copied to
the main memory the user cannot use the computer.
BIOS have some programs, which user can modify. It is known as set up program
(or Programmable Option Select (POS)). This set up information is stored in
CMOS RAM, which has a battery back up.
What is the BIOS?
The BIOS is a piece of software that is permanently stored in a chip on the
motherboard. When you first turn on a computer, the BIOS program is initiated. It
performs a hardware check and makes sure that certain crucial pieces of
hardware are present and functioning properly. For example, it makes sure there is
a video card, a CPU, memory, and a power supply providing proper voltages. If
there is a problem, it will inform you via beep codes. If everything is fine, it will
display a startup screen, the first thing you see on your monitor. It then proceeds
to do a memory check, discover other hardware, configure devices as needed,
identify the boot drive, and then hand over control to the boot sector on the boot
drive, which launches the operating system.
What does "flashing the BIOS" mean?
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This BIOS software is in some regards like other software. There are newer
versions available that contain updates, enhanced, features, new features, and
bug fixes. It is possible to install newer BIOS versions and upgrade, but the
process is different from upgrading regular software that's installed on your
computer. The BIOS software is not stored on the hard drive, but in a chip on the
motherboard. To erase the software on the chip and program it with a newer
software version you need to use a special program called a flash utility, and the
process of performing the upgrade is called flashing the BIOS.

Why would you need to flash the BIOS?

The most popular reasons that cause people to flash the BIOS are...

Support for newer processors - The BIOS allows the motherboard to accept
processors up to a certain speed. Since you got the computer, the top
speed of the processor type your computer accepts has increased. You
decide to replace your processor with a faster one, but the BIOS does not
recognize it or does not have the right settings. Upgrading the BIOS can
resolve this problem.

Support for bigger hard drives - The BIOS allows the motherboard to accept
hard drives up to a certain size. Since you got the computer, the maximum
size for hard drives has increased. You decide to install a newer and bigger
hard drive, but the BIOS does not recognize it or only recognizes part of the
drive. Upgrading the BIOS can resolve this problem.

Bug fixes - The BIOS contains certain features and options, but one of them
does not function properly or not at all. Since you got the computer, the
manufacturer has recognized and corrected the problem with a new BIOS
version. Upgrading the BIOS can resolve this problem.

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The hazards of BIOS flashing

As described earlier, the BIOS is a crucial component of your computer
since it is always the first program that runs when you turn the machine on. If the
BIOS does not run, the machine cannot boot. Therefore it is very important that a
BIOS upgrade is performed properly. If it fails, it can permanently ruin the BIOS,
resulting in your computer becoming a door stop. Common reasons for BIOS
flashes gone bad are power failure during the flashing process, and flashing the
BIOS with an incorrect BIOS version. Because of these dangers you do not flash a
BIOS just for shits and giggles, but only if there is a very good reason.
How to fix a ruined BIOS chip?
If a flash has gone horribly wrong and the computer fails to boot altogether, the
only solution is to replace the BIOS chip on the motherboard with a new one that
contains a healthy and correct BIOS. To obtain a new BIOS chip, contact your
motherboard manufacturer and give them the model of your motherboard. For a
relatively small price ($10-15 plus shipping) they may mail you a new BIOS chip.
To install the new chip, you open up the computer after taking appropriate antistatic precautions, identify the BIOS chip on the motherboard with help of the
manual, carefully pull the old chip out of its socket, and insert the new chip in its
place. Be sure to carefully follow the manufacturer's installation instructions.
However, be aware of the fact that some manufacturers will not sell individual
BIOS chips, and some older motherboards have non-replicable BIOS chips. In
those two cases you will be forced to replace your motherboard, which is
expensive and somewhat of a hassle.
While BIOS flashing requires some care and preparation, it is a relatively simple
process if done right. Let's go over the steps of properly flashing a BIOS using a
real-world example, the motherboard BIOS in my test machine.
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Note: Please keep in mind that the following steps are an example to help you
understand how the process works. However, your motherboard and BIOS version
are most likely different from mine and you will have to adjust your steps,
download files, and command line switches accordingly. Please exercise caution
when flashing your BIOS and stop and ask for help if you are not certain.
Reboot your machine and press the appropriate key to enter your BIOS. Typical
keys to access the BIOS are (by manufacturer):
AMI - F1, Del, Ctrl-S
AST - Ctrl-Alt-Esc
Award - F1, F2, Del, Ctrl-Alt-Enter
Compaq - F10
Phoenix - F2, Ctrl-Alt-Esc, Ctrl-Alt-R, Ctrl-Alt-Ins, Ctrl-Alt-Q, Ctrl-Alt-F1, Ctrl-Alt-+,
Ctrl-Alt-IBM - PS1 Ctrl-Alt-I

SECONDARY STORAGE
Secondary storage devices are used to store the data and programs
permanently for future use. A disk, like a cassette tape, is a reusable storage
device that holds information, such as programs and data in files. The amount of
space on a disk is measured in bytes. The information stored on a disk is not
deleted when you turn off your computer. (It is deleted on RAM).
There are two kinds of disk drives Hard disk drive and Floppy disk drive. A
hard disk drive contains a non-removable disk that is built into your system. You
can store large amount of information on hard disk in one place, instead of storing
it on many floppy disks. A floppy disk drive holds a removable floppy disk, which
has less storage capacity than a hard disk. The read /write process is very fast on
the hard disk drive than on a floppy disk drive.

Each disk drive has a letter

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assigned to it so you can tell your system where to find instructions, data or
informations. Normally the floppy disk drives are called A drive or B drive while
the hard disk is called C drive. Floppy disk can be carried any where by the user,
while the hard disk is fixed and cannot be removed by the user.

HARD DISK

The hard disk is made up of a stack of rugged aluminum disks coated on

both sides with magnetic material and enclosed along with its set of heads and
other hardware into a hermetically sealed container. Here also the disks in the
stack are divided into concentric tracks and tracks are divided into sectors of 512
bytes each.
Space allotted on the floppy disk or hard disk for the storage of data is in
the form of clusters (group of sectors). On floppy one cluster is made up of 2
sectors i.e. 1024 bytes while on hard disk one cluster is made up of 4 sectors i.e.
2048 Bytes. As the data is stored cluster wise on floppy one data file takes
34

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minimum of 1024 Bytes of space while on hard disk it takes minimum of 2048
bytes of space.
On a standard DSDD (Double Sided Double Density) floppy disk there are
80 tracks ( 40 tracks on each side with density 48 T.P.I.) divided into 9 sectors, so
the total capacity is 2 sides x 40 tracks x 9 sectors x 512 bytes = 360 Kilobytes.
While on a D.S.H.D. (Double Sided High Density) floppy disk there are 160 tracks
(80 tracks on each side with Density 96 TPI) divided into 15 sectors, so the total
capacity is 2 sides x 80 tracks x I5 sectors x 512 bytes = 1.2 Mega Bytes.
Bits & Bytes
The binary digits are called as Bits. A BIT represents either 0 or 1. A
character is coded using combination of 8 Bits. When eight bits are combined
together, it is known as a BYTE. It is equivalent of one character. A character or
number is represented by one byte.
eg : Using ASCII code capital letter A is represented in computers as 01000001.
8 bit

=1 byte

1024 bytes

=1 kilobyte

1024 kilobytes

=1 megabyte

1024 megabytes

=1 gigabyte

COMPACT DISKS (CDs)

CDs are made of thin plastic material with a radius of around 2.3. Datas
are stored by passing a laser beam over its surface. According to the data pits
would be made or not made. Datas are read by the presence and absence of pits.
A CD has a capacity of around 600 MB to 700 MB

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SWITCHED MODE POWER SUPPLY (SMPS)

The basic SMPS consists of:
1.

A bridge rectifier, which rectifies AC into pulsating DC.

2.

A switching element (Transistor/MOSFET), which operates in saturation and

cut off mode. Hence the name SMPS.

3.

Pulse width modulation (PWM) which compares the sampled output with fixed
reference and it adjusts the pulse width of the switching element to get fixed
output.

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF SMPS

AC

LINE
FILTER

BRIDGE
RECTIFIER

SWITCH

RECTIFIER
& FILTER

SMT

+12V

STARTER

-12V

PWM

+5V
Vref

-5V
GND

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OSCILLATOR
Maintenance

PGS

FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION OF SMPS: A switching power supply creates a

feedback loop which senses the output voltage provided to a load, then switches
the ac primary (or secondary) voltage on or off (as needed) to maintain steady
levels at the output. AC line voltage entering the supply is immediately converted
to pulsating dc, and then filtered to provide a primary dc voltage.
On start-up, the switching transistor is turned on and off at a high frequency
(usually 20 kHz to 40 kHz), and a long duty cycle. The switching transistor acts as
a chopper, which breaks up this primary dc to form chopped dc, which can now be
used as the primary signal for a step-down transformer. The duty cycle of chopped
dc will affect the ac voltage level generated on the transformers secondary. A long
duty cycle means a larger output voltage (for heavy loads) and a short duty cycle
means lower output voltage (for light loads). Duty cycle itself refers to the amount
of time that a signal is on, compared to its overall cycle. The sensing/switching
circuit continuously adjusts the duty cycle.
Secondary voltage is re-rectified and re-filtered to form a secondary dc
voltage that is actually applied to the load. Output voltage is sensed by the
sensing/switching circuit, which constantly adjusts the chopped dc duty cycle. As
load increases on the secondary circuit (more current is drawn by the load), output
voltage tends to drop. A sensing circuit detects this voltage drop and increases the
switching duty cycle. In turn, the duty cycle for chopped dc increases, this
increases the voltage produced by the secondary winding. Output voltage climbs
back up again to its desired value. The output voltage is regulated.
The reverse will happen as load decreases on the secondary circuit (less current
is drawn by the load). A smaller load will tend to make output voltage climb. Again,
the same actions happen in an unregulated supply. The sensing/switching circuit
detects this increase in voltage and reduces the switching duty cycle. As a result,
the duty cycle for chopped dc decreases and transformer secondary voltage

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decreases. Output voltage drops back to its desired value. The output voltage
remains regulated
Two Types of SMPS
AT (Advanced Technology) --12 Pin
ATX (Advanced Technology Extended) -- 20 Pin / 24 Pin

AT Connector

Red

+5 v

Black

Ground

Red

+5 v

Black

Ground

Red

+5 v

Blue
Yellow

-12 v
+12 v

Red

+5 v

White
Black
Black

-5 v
Ground

Orange

Ground

ATX Connector

38

+5 v

+5 v
+5 v

+12 v
+5 v

Yellow

Red

Voilet

Red

-5 v

+5 v
Gnd
+5 v

Grey

White

Gnd

Black

Black

Gnd

Red

Black

Gnd

Black

+5 v
Gnd
+3.3 v
+3.3 v

Red

Black
Green

Gnd

Power
On
Hardware
Black
Black Computer
Gnd
Maintenance
Orange Blue
-12 v
Orange Orange
+3.3 v

OUT PUT VOLTAGES

+5 Volt supply: This is the basic supply voltage for nearly all electronic
components. Motors now some times use the 5 volt supply, but usually only
in the smaller drives , such are the 2.5-inch and some 3.5-inch drives. The
+5 volt supply wires should always be red in any standard PC system.

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

-12Volts Supply: It is not used by motherboard logic and routed to pin B7 of

the ISA bus slots. Although this voltage can be used by any add on card
plugged in to the ISA bus slots, usually only the serial port driver receiver
circuits rise it for converting TTL signal rather they use +/-5V. Thus, it may
happen that in a modern pc the -12V is left unused.

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

+3.3 Volt Supply: This supply voltage does not appear of the original XT-AT
or Mini- XT compatible power supplies. Starting with the ATX design in 1995
any system with ATX compatible power supplies include a 3.3-volt supply line
from the power supply to the motherboard. Most CPUs and DRAM use

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3.3volts, as well as some PCI adapter cards. All high sped PCI adapter cards
to use 3.3 volts for all communications with the PCI Bus.

+5VB: (+5 V , Standby mode): The +5VSB line is a +5 volt supply line that
is active any time the AC power input is a active regardless of whether the
system is turned on the purpose of their supply line is to power standby
circuitry ,such as the PS-ON circuit the wake-on-LAN and remote-ring-on
circuitry.
MOTHERBOARDS
The motherboard is the large circuit board inside the computer's case. It's
sometimes called the system board, the logic board, the baseboard, or less
commonly, the planar board. Everything connected to the computer system, plugs
either directly or indirectly into the motherboard.
The CPU, or Central Processing Unit, referred to as the 'brain' of a
computer. The CPU is placed on the motherboard, and if it can be called the brain
of the computer then the motherboard is truly the central nervous system.
The motherboard contains the CPU, the BIOS ROM chip (Basic Input /
Output System), and the CMOS Setup information. It has expansion slots for
installing different adapter cards like the video card, sound card, Network Interface
Card, Modem etc.
This circuit board provides a connector for the keyboard as well as housing
of the keyboard controller chip. It has RAM slots for the system's Random Access
Memory (SIMMs or DIMMs), and provides the system's chipset, controllers, and
underlying circuitry (BUS system) to tie everything together.
The motherboard, more or less, in a computer, it defines the computer type,
upgradeability, and expansion capability.

TYPES OF MOTHERBOARDS
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Non-Integrated Motherboards
Non-Integrated Motherboards have assemblies such as the I/O Port
connectors (serial and parallel ports), hard drive connectors or paddleboards,
floppy controllers and connectors, joystick connections etc. installed as expansion
boards. This takes up one or more of the motherboard's expansion slots and
reduces the amount of free space inside the computer's case. Hence, the
individual motherboard is relatively cheap to produce but, because of the cost of
manufacturing, testing, and installing the expansion boards separately, there's an
added cost to the computer system.
However, if something should go wrong with the individual assemblies, such
as a bent or broken pin in a connector, or a defective controller chip etc., replacing
the individual expansion card at a relatively minor cost can cure the problem.
Most of the older motherboards were Non-Integrated. Some of the later
system boards began to integrate some of these assemblies right onto the circuit
board.
Integrated Motherboards
Integrated Motherboards have assemblies that are otherwise installed as
expansion boards, integrated or built right onto the board. The serial and parallel
ports, the IDE and floppy drive, and joystick all connect directly to the
motherboard. This is now standard on any latest model 486 and above. It tends to
free up some space inside the case and allows for better accessibility and airflow.
The systems are cheaper to produce because there's less material
involved, less installation, and testing can all be done at the same time. They are
more expensive to repair because, if the problem is with a controller failure or
broken pin, it means a new motherboard should be needed (and, of course,
because of the added assemblies, the motherboard can be more expensive than
its non-integrated counterpart).

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However, these particular integrated assemblies are generally fairly stable

and although problems can occur, they tend to be fairly rare.
All in all, the integrated motherboard tends to be a good thing as opposed
to the 'Embedded Motherboard'.
Embedded Motherboards
Cost and affordability is a concern for any manufacturer. Make the product
more affordable, and more people will buy it, creating a larger market and
increased sales. This is actually the whole idea behind integrated motherboards,
and that's all an embedded motherboard is, an integrated board.
The difference between the two is a matter of expansion, upgradeability and
configuration. In an effort to reduce the cost (and size) of a computer system even
more, manufacturers began integrating (or embedding) technologies such as
video, sound, networking and modems right onto the system board. This
dramatically increases the cost of the main board, but reduces the cost of the
overall system for the reasons we've discussed earlier.
In the upgrade of sound or video technology, modem quits working or the
sound card gives out and needs a new (expensive) motherboard. But the
manufacturer says that an upgrade or bypass a particular feature by installing an
adapter card and disabling the embedded device (sometimes). Well, this is where
a few problems tend to crop up.
Some devices are disabled as soon as another device is installed (such as
a video card in an AGP slot). Others have to be disabled through software setup
programs, or by system's CMOS setup, or by setting jumpers on the motherboard
itself, or both (and remember, some can't be upgraded, bypassed or disabled at
all).
A lot of embedded system boards can be very picky about the model and
manufacturer of the device.

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Embedded systems definitely have a niche in today's marketplace. Laptop

and Notebook computers are becoming smaller and lighter, and yet more like fullfeatured desktops. A few tradeoffs are not only tolerated, but also expected.
FORM FACTORS
Form factors define the size, shape, and screw placement on a
motherboard. It's usually the technological advancements that have been achieved
that allow for these changes so the form factors also define the technology to
some extent.
It's important to understand that none of these standards have to be
adhered to (other than maybe spacing between expansion slots). So, if a certain
manufacturer decides to build a system board with different screw placement or
different dimensions than the standard, it's perfectly acceptable.
This board then becomes proprietary and can only be replaced by ordering
through the original company. However, if the motherboard adheres to one of the
form factors, and decides to upgrade the motherboard at a future date, or have to
replace it for any reason, then only thing is to buy another motherboard that
follows that standard.

Block diagram of motherboard

MICRO PROCESSOR

AGP
VGA

GMCH
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(NORTH BRIDGE)
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CLOCK

RAM 1
RAM 2

43

BIOS

Audio
Codec

ICH
(SOUTH BRIDGE)

IDE 0
IDE 1

RTC
PS/2 Keyboard

P
C
I
1

SIO

FDD

LPT

COM 1

Chipset

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P
C
I
2

P
C
I
3

P
C
I
3

It is a collection of several intelligence controllers and programmable

chips. Use of chipset simplifies the motherboard design. INTEL, AMD, SIS, OPTI,
VIA, ACI are some of the pioneers in chipset.
The structure of modern chipset is based on North Bridge and south
bridge. The bridges are routers; route data traffic from one bus to another.
North Bridge
North Bridge is also called GMCH (Graphic & Memory Control Hub).
If handles the heavy traffic.Display adaptors such as AGP, VGA are controlled by
North Bridge. Main memory RAM is controlled by GMCH. Commonly GMCH is
located nearer to microprocessors.
In modern motherboard North Bridge has a heat sink to reduce heat
introducing on it. Any faults related to memory and display may be caused by
North Bridge.
South Bridge
It is also called ICH (Integrated Control Hub). It handles Varity of narrow
routes. ICH controls BIOS, ROMS, RTC, IDE devices such as HDD, CD drive etc.
Add on cards, in PCI & ISA slots, Audio codes etc.
SIO (Super Input Output)
SIO controls I\P, O/P devices such as ps/2 keyboard & mouse, LPT,
comport or serial port, floppy disk drives etc.
Super I/O controller functions
It is a single chip that much like the system chip, performs many
functions that used to take several pieces of hardware in the part. The SIO chip is
responsible for controlling the lower speed peripherals, found in every PC. Since
these devices have been mostly standards they are virtually the same on every PC
and it is easier IO integrate these in to a common chip instead of way about them
for each motherboard design.
The major functions of super IO chips are

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i.

Serial port control

ii.

Parallel port control

iii.

Floppy disk drive control

iv.

Keyboard & Mouse Control

DUMB and SMART CHIP

The support chips in the motherboard are two types. Dumb and
smart chips. This classification is not based on the importance of the function done
by the chip. A dumb chip may be performing a move important function than a
small chip. The dumb chip has no intelligence it behave according to the inputs
does not have memory to store control or command information. Troubleshooting
dumb chip related problems are easier and more straight forward.
Smart chip has intelligence. Though the function is fixed. Its behavior
could be different under different circumstances. It has memory to store the control
or command information. Hence a smart chip is a programmable chip. The
troubleshooting a smart chip related problem is complete and need deep analysis.

Microprocessor: Keeping pace with electronics, as more and more components

were fabricated on a single chip, fewer chips were needed to construct a single
processor. Intel Corporation in 1971 achieved the breakthrough of putting all the
components of a processor in a single chip. This single chip processor is known as
microprocessor. The Intel 4004 was the first microprocessor. Motorola is another
manufacturer in this area. Some of the popular microprocessors are:

Intel 8088,80286,80386,80486 and Pentium (different models)

Motorola 68000, 68020, 68030 etc.

MICROPROCESSORS
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A brief discussion about different Microprocessors:

1. 8088/8086: 8088 was the first CPU used in the IBM PC computers. It works on
4.77/8/10 MHz clock speed and it has 8-bit external data bus. The internal
data bus is 16 bit and so the name 16 bit CPU. 8088 comes in 40 pins DIP
(Dual In line Package). It uses 20 bit address lines and which can access 1 MB
(Mega byte) of memory locations. 8086 has both internal and external 16-bit
data path. It gives 20% speed as high as 8088. Because its external data bus
is 16 bit.
2. 80286: 286 chip was the first used with the IBM PC - AT (Advanced
Technology) computers. It has both internal and external 16 bit data bus and
have 24 bit address by using which it can access 16 MB of physical memory.
3. 80386: It is a 32-bit processor, which was made especially for the high-speed
operations. There are many 386 chips in the market, some of them are:

386 DX - It has 32-bit internal and external data bus.

This is

available in 132-pin package and the clock speed is of 16 to 33 MHz.

It has 32-bit address bus, which allows it to address upto 4 GB (Giga
Bytes) of physical memory.

386 SX - It is 16-bit external bus version of the 386 DX processor.

The address bus is 24 bit, which address only 16 MB of physical
memory.

4. 80486:80486 DX - The important thing about this chip is that it has a built-in
math co-processor and a 8 KB of internal cache memory. These two
improvements has made the 486 CPU very fast compared to the 386
processor. Like 386 DX, the 486 DX chip also has both internal and external
32-bit data bus and 32 bit address bus, which can address 4 GB of physical
memory. Most of the 486 motherboards provide additional 256 KB of external
cache memory. This chip is available in the speed range from 20 MHz to 50
MHz.

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80486 SX - The difference between 486 DX and 486 SX is that in 486 SX

processor, Intel has switched off the math co-processor part of the 486 DX
CPU. Internally there is no difference between a 486 SX and 486 DX
processor. Afterwards this same chip with co-processor switched ON is sold
as 80487 SX processor. This is not a co-processor; instead it is a fully
functional 486 DX processor with one extra pin.

80486 DX2 - These are called "clock - doubled processors. The reason is
that a 66 MHz DX2 processor works internally at the clock speed of 66
MHz, but communicates with the external world at the clock speed of 33
MHz.

80486 DX3 - It is a clock tripled version of 486 chip and is called "blue
thunder" or 486 DX3. A 25 MHz clock tripled 486 DX3 will work at 75 MHz
internally.

80486 DX4 - This DX4 version of the 486 processor works internally four
times the speed than the speed at which it work externally. A 25 MHz 486
DX4 will work at 100 MHz internally, whereas it will communicate with the
external devices at the 25 MHz clock speed.

5. PENTIUM:This processor has external 64-bit data bus but internally it is 32 bit.
The address bus is 36 bit and can access 4 GB of physical memory. The
Pentium processor has twin data pipe line, which feeds two instructions
together to the processor. This ability is called `Super-scalar Architecture and
the use

of

this architecture is called "Multi-threading". Pentium has two

internal cache, one for data and the other for program instructions.
PENTIUM PRO
Pentium pro is designed for server applications. It runs at speeds
around 250 MHz in a 32-bit operating system. Its dynamic execution property
uses random processing to get output in least time.
PENTIUM MMX
This version of Pentium adds three new features:
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1. It includes 57 new instructions for better audio, video and graphics.

2. It uses Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) technology, which enables
one instruction to give instruction to several pieces of data.
3. Cache size is doubled to 32 KB.
PENTIUM II
Relea
sed

1997

Speed

233MHz to 400MHz

L1 cache

32KB

Layout

SEC

(Single

Edge

Contact)

INTEL FAMILY OF PROCESSORS

8080

DATA
ADDRE
YEAR
BUS
SS BUS
(In bits) (In bits)
1974
8
8

6000

8086

1978

16

20

5 to10

29000

8088

1979

20

4.77

29000

80286

1982

16

24

8 to12

34000

80386DX

1985

32

32

16 to 33

275000

80386SX

1988

32

24

16 to 20

275000

486DX

1989

32

32

25 to 50

1.2million

486SX

1991

32

32

16 to 33

1.185 million

487SX

1991

32

32

16 to 33

1.2 million

486DX2

1991

32

32

33 to 66

2million

CHIP

SPEED
(In MHz)

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No. OF
TRANSISTOR

49

486DX4

1992

32

32

75 to 100

2.5 million

Pentium

1993

32

32

60 to 166

3.3 million

Pentium pro

1995

64

32

150 to 200

5.5 million

Pentium II

1997

64

64

233 to 300

7.5 million

1998

64

64

400 to 600

7.5 million

Celeron

1999

64

64

400
1700

to

7.5 million

Pentium III

1999

64

64

350
1200

to

Pentium
xenon

1999

64

64

350
1000

to 9.5 million

Pentium 4

2000

64

64

From 1400 221 million

Intel Xeon

2001

64

64

From 1400

Pentium
xeon

II

III

9.5 million

Arithmetic processors: This is a special type of processor meant for doing

only arithmetic operations. Though this is physically separate, it will be utilized by
the CPU to execute a class of arithmetic instructions. In the absence of arithmetic
processor, these instructions may be executed using software.
If an arithmetic processor is treated as one of the I/O or peripheral unit, it is
termed as peripheral processor.
If the arithmetic processor has register and instruction set, which can be
considered extension of the CPU registers and instruction, it is called Coprocessor. Co-processor unlike peripheral processors, are tailor made of a
particular family of CPUs. Normally each CPU is designed to have a co-processor
interface.

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Instruction set: An instruction set is a collection of all the instructions a CPU can
execute. A CPUs processing power is measured in Million Instructions Per
Second (MIPS).
Different Control Signals of Microprocessor
1. Memory Read: Output signal from the microprocessor; indicates that the
microprocessor wants to read from the memory.
2. Memory Write: Output signal from the microprocessor; indicates that the
microprocessor wants to write into the memory.
3. I/0 Read: O/P signal from the microprocessor; indicates that the
microprocessor wants to read the data from an input devices.
4. I/0 Write: Output signal the microprocessor; indicates that the
microprocessor wants to send data to an output device.
5. Interrupt: This is an input signal to the microprocessor from the interrupt
controller.
6. INTR: When any interrupt is given to processor it goes to interrupt controller
then this interrupt logic given an INTR signal to microprocessor, the
microprocessor gives an interrupt acknowledgement signal or INTA. Then
interrupt signal give to microprocessor.
7. INTA(Interrupt Acknowledgement): This is an output signal from the
microprocessor, sent in response to the interrupt signal.
8. Reset: This is an input signal to the microprocessor. This is generates by
the Hardware under two conditions.
1) When the computer power is switched on
2) When manual reset is performed by the Operator.
9. Ready: This is input signal to the microprocessor. This signal synchronizes
the microprocessor with the memory (or I/O devices) so that slower
memories (or I/O devices) can be interfaced to the microprocessor.
10. Clock: This is an input signal to the microprocessor. The frequency of this
signal decides the operating speed of the microprocessor. Each

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microprocessor will have a maximum operating speed. If the clock

frequency exceeds this speed, the microprocessor will malfunction.

INTERCONNECTION STRUCTURES
A computer consists of three basic components.

CPU

Memory and

Input/output components
To exchange data among these three components, we need to have an

interconnection structure, which allows transfer of information among all these.

Different forms of data transfer are:

From memory to CPU

From CPU to memory

From input/output device to CPU

From CPU to input/output device

From input/output device to memory

From memory to input/output device

Bus interconnection
A Bus is a set of connections between to or more components/devices,

which are designed to transfer data from a specific source to destination. It is a

shared media of information transfer.
A computer system contains several numbers of buses, which provide
pathways among several devices. A shared bus that connects CPU, memory and
input/output is called a system bus.
A system bus consists of number of lines. They are broadly categorized in
to three functional groups

52

Data lines or Data Bus

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Address lines or Address Bus

Control lines or Control Bus

The data bus provides a path for moving data between the system

modules. The number of lines in a data bus is called the width of data bus. A data
bus width limits the maximum number of bits, which can be transferred
simultaneously between two modules.
The address bus is used to designate the source of data for data bus.
For reading or writing any information on to memory CPU need to specify the
address of a particular location. The address bus supplies this address. The
width of the address bus specifies the maximum memory supported by a
system. The control bus is used for transmission of commands and timing
signals between the system modules. Some of the controls signals are for: bus
request, bus grant, providing
clock signals, providing reset
signals, reading/writing to I/O
devices or memory etc.
EXPANSION BUS
The expansion bus is the
backbone of the computer system.
To add any device to the system,
other

than

motherboard,

what
we

is

on

need

the
the

expansion bus. These are long thin

connectors on the motherboard on
which one can connect many expansion cards such as
display card floppy drive/hard drive controller card, sound
card, network card etc. The expansion bus can be divided
into the following categories.

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ISA Bus: ISA stands for Industry Standard Architecture.

These are black

coloured expansion slots with 62 pins. This bus was originally designed to transfer
8 megabits per second (Mbps). This had 8-bit path, which was compatible to 8085,
and 8088 CPUs. When 80286 was released there became a need for 16-bit cards.
ISA was modified to allow 8-bit or 16 bit adapters.
EISA Bus: Extended Industry Standard Architecture. It is a 32-bit bus.

This

supports the ISA. It has a height double that of ISA. The edge connector of the
EISA adaptor is longer than the connector on the ISA connector. EISA runs at
8Mhz and can transmit 32 bit at a time. This supports 32-bit 80386 processor.
EISA cards are configured using software. The manufacturers of the card usually
provide a software utility for this purpose.
MCA: IBM introduced Micro Channel Architecture. It supports 32-bit processors. It
operates at 10 MHZ and the data transfer rate is 16 Mbps or 32 Mbps. It is
configured using software.
VESA BUS: Local bus is designed to communication devices with CPU at the
speed CPU capable of. One such bus is the VESA Local Bus or VLBUS. VESA
stands for Video Electronics Standard Association. It could transfer 32-bits of
information at a time and ran at a speed of 40 MHz. It was originally designed for
Video cards. It was later used for hard drive controllers and network cards. VESA
bus had problems with bus speeds in excess of 40 MHz.
PCI: PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect or Interface. It offers 32
bit or 64 bit path and it can support up to 10 devices and operates with a speed
of 60 to 66 MHz. Most new PCI cards are software configurable and usually
support the new Plug and Play standard to automatically configure the card.
PCMCIA: It stands for Personal Computer Memory Card International Association.
It is a new type of bus mainly used for notebook and laptop computers.

MOTHERBOARD PORTS
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Most external devices are attached to the motherboard through ports.

1. Serial port: Get a motherboard with two serial port is usually for a serial
mouse, and another serial port is typically for an external modem. If your
motherboard does not offer serial port, you can add serial port by installing a multiIO card in to an available expansion slot.
2. Parallel port: If you plan to use a parallel port (or other parallel port devices
such as a CD drive), at least one parallel port will be necessity. Virtually all
motherboards provide one parallel port.
3. Keyboard port: The keyboard port may be soldered directly to the motherboard
itself, or there may be a cable header from the motherboard to a keyboard
connector at the case. Modern motherboard includes a built in PS/2 keyboard port.
4. Mouse port : Although you can easily install a serial mouse on an existing
serial port , you may choose to get a motherboard with a built in PS/2 mouse port.
This frees up the second serial port for other uses (such as a serial printer)
5. USB port: While a USB port is not required, it is standard equipment on most
new motherboards. The USB port offers a fast and convenient means of
connecting several USB devices without even having turn off the pc.
6. MIDI or Game port : A 15 pin connector on the sound board. This is the MIDI
port if you have a MIDI instrument you can connect it to the soundboard and
compose your own music; you can switch the MIDI port to serve as a standard
joystick port. You can enable or disable the game port through a jumper on the
soundboard.

Expansion slots
Motherboard alone rarely offers all the features that you need for your
computer. You can easily add other devices to the motherboard by plugging them
in to expansion slots (or bus slots). There are five different architecture to be
familiar, with ISA, PCI, PCI Express, AGP, USB, and AMR.
PCI Express
PCI Express is a computer expansion card interface format. It was
designed as a much faster interface to replace PCI, PCI-X, and AGP interfaces for
computer expansion cards and graphics cards. It is created in the year2004 by
Intel

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PCI Express is officially abbreviated to PCI-E or PCIe.

Note: The abbreviation "PCI-X" refers to a previous standard (PCI Extended) and
should never be used to refer to PCI Express.
PCI Express slots come in different lengths, which are referred to as in numbers of
x-es, where the number is from geometric progression. Currently there are 1x, 2x,
4x, 8x, and 16x, similar to AGP, which came in 1x, 2x and 4x versions.
PCI EXPRESS

PCI Express slots (from top to bottom: x4, x16, x1 and x16), compared to a
traditional 32-bit PCI slot (bottom), as seen on DFI's LanParty nF4 Ultra-D
AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
The Accelerated Graphics Port is a high-speed point-to-point channel for
attaching a graphics card to a computer's motherboard, primarily to assist in the
acceleration of 3D computer graphics. AGP is often referred to as a 'bus', however
this is a misnomer - a single AGP controller is only capable of controlling a single
device. This is the main reason that almost all mainboards have only a single AGP
slot, although motherboards have been built with multiple independent AGP slots.
AGP is currently being phased out in favor of PCI Express.

An AGP slot (maroon, although the color is usually brown) and two PCI slots
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USB
The universal serial bus (USB) is a well established architecture that
allows you to add devices outside of the PC. The devices can also be installed and
removed while the system in running (called hot swapping). Many modern
motherboards will offer two or four USB ports.
AMR
The audio/modem riser, also known as an AMR slot, is an expansion slot
found on the motherboards of some Pentium III, Pentium 4, and Athlon personal
computers. It was designed by Intel to interface with chipsets and provide analog
functionality, such as sound cards and modems, on an expansion card. Physically,
it has two rows of 23 pins, making 46 pins total. Three drawbacks of AMR are that
it eliminates one PCI slot, it is not plug_and_play, and it does not allow for
hardware accelerated cards (only software-based).

ADD-ON CARDS
The ADD-ON cards are used to add other
external features to the computer. The commonly used add on cards are
1. Network card (NIC)
2. Sound card
3. Display Card
4. TV Tuner card
NETWORK CARD
A network card, network adapter or NIC (network interface card) is a piece of
computer hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a computer
network.A network card typically has a twisted pair, BNC socket where the network
cable is connected, and a few LEDs to inform the user of whether the network is
active, and whether or not there is data being transmitted on it. The Network Cards
are typically available in 10/100/1000 Mbit/s(Mbit/s). This means they can support
a transfer rate of 10 or 100 or 1000 Megabits per second

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Common Manufacturers:

3Com
D-Link
Novell
Intel
Realtek

SOUND CARD
A sound card (also known as an audio card) is a computer expansion card that
can input and output sound under control of computer programs. Typical uses of
sound cards include providing the audio component for multimedia applications
such as music composition, editing video or audio, presentation/education, and
entertainment (games). Many computers have sound capabilities built in, while
others require these expansion cards if audio capability is desired.

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A typical sound card includes a sound chip, usually featuring a digital-to-analog

converter, that converts recorded or generated digital waveforms of sound into an
analog format. This signal is led to a (typically 1/8-inch earphone-type) connector
where an amplifier, headphones, or similar sound destination can be plugged in.
More advanced designs usually include more than one sound chip to separate
duties between digital sound production and synthesized sounds (usually for realtime generation of music and sound effects utilizing little data and CPU time).

Color

Pink

Function

Analog microphone input.

Light blue Analog line level input.

Lime
green

Analog line level output for the main stereo signal (front speakers or
headphones).

Black

Analog line level output for rear speakers.

Silver

Analog line level output for side speakers.

Orange

S/PDIF digital output (sometimes used as an analog line output for a

center speaker and subwoofer instead)

DISPLAY CARD

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Connects to:
Motherboard via one of
PCI
AGP
PCI Express

o
o
o

A video card, (also referred to as a graphics accelerator card, display adapter,

graphics card, and numerous other terms), is an item of personal computer
hardware whose function is to generate and output images to a display.
The term is usually used to refer to a separate, dedicated expansion card that is
plugged into a slot on the computer's motherboard, as opposed to a graphics
controller integrated into the motherboard chipset.
Some video cards offer added functionalities, such as video capture, TV tuner
adapter, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 decoding or even FireWire, mouse, light pen or
joystick connectors.
TYPES OF DISPLAY CARDS

Monochrome Display Adaptor (MDA)

Colour Graphics Adaptor (CGA)
Hercules Graphics Adaptor (HGA)
Enhanced Graphics Adaptor (EGA)
Video Graphic Array (VGA)

In MDA, CGA, EGA and their related monitors - all use digital signal to
create images on the screen. The problem with this method of interface is that
you cannot vary the hue or intensity of a colour without increasing the number of
signal lines to each gun.
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VGA (Video Graphics Array)

VGA offers 640*480*16 screen mode that is the base line for Windows Safe
Mode displays. The use of analog signals allows VGA to produce a palette of 16
colors from 262144 colors
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)

RED
GREEN
BLUE
GROUND
GROUND
RED GROUND
GREEN GROUND
BLUE GROUND
N/A
GROUND
GROUND
N/A
HSYNC
VSYNC
N/A

COMPUTER SOFTWARE :
Computer software consisting of programs, enables a computer to
perform specific tasks, as opposed to its physical components ( hardware)
which can only do the tasks they are mechanically designed for. The term
includes application software such as word processors which perform
productive tasks for users, system software such as operating systems,
which interface with hardware to run the necessary services for userinterfaces and applications, and middleware which controls and co-ordinates
distributed systems.

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Relationship to computer hardware

Computer software is so called in contrast to computer hardware, which
encompasses the physical interconnections and devices required to store
and execute (or run) the software. In computers, software is loaded into RAM
and executed in the central processing unit. At the lowest level, software
consists of a machine language specific to an individual processor. A
machine language consists of groups of binary values signifying processor
instructions (object code), which change the state of the computer from its
preceding state. Software is an ordered sequence of instructions for
changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular sequence. It is
usually written in high-level programming languages that are easier and
more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than machine
language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine
language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly
language, essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language
using a natural language alphabet. Assembly language must be assembled
into object code via an assembler.
Computer software is all computer programs. The concept of reading
different sequences of instructions into the memory of a device to control
computations was invented by Charles Babbage as part of his difference
engine.
Types of software
Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major
classes: system software, programming software and application software,
although the distinction is arbitrary, and often blurred.

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System software helps run the computer hardware and computer

system. It includes operating systems, device drivers, diagnostic tools,
servers, windowing systems, utilities and more. The purpose of
systems software is to insulate the applications programmer as much
as possible from the details of the particular computer complex being
used, especially memory and other hardware features, and such
accessory devices as communications, printers, readers, displays,
keyboards, etc.

Programming software usually provides tools to assist a programmer

in

writing

computer

programs

and

software

using

different

programming languages in a more convenient way. The tools include

text editors, compilers, interpreters, linkers, debuggers, and so on. An
Integrated development environment (IDE) merges those tools into a
software bundle, and a programmer may not need to type multiple
commands for compiling, interpreter, debugging, tracing, and etc.,
because the IDE usually has an advanced graphical user interface, or
GUI.
E.g. C++, Java, VB, Cobol, Fortran etc.

Application software allows end users to accomplish one or more

specific (non-computer related) tasks. Typical applications include
industrial automation, business software, educational software,
medical software, databases, and computer games. Businesses are
probably the biggest users of application software, but almost every
field of human activity now uses some form of application software. It
is used to automate all sorts of functions.

System Software

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63

System software, also known as a system package, is a set of one or more

programs, designed to control the operation of a computer system. These
programs do not solve specific problems. They are general programs written to
assist humans in the use of computer system by performing tasks such as
controlling al the operations, required to move data into an out of a computer and
all the steps in executing an application program. In general system packages
support the running of other software communicate with peripheral devices;
support the development of other types of software, and monitor the use of various
hardware resources (memory, peripherals, CPU etc.). Thos system software
makes the operation of the computer system more effective and efficient. The
programs included in system software are called systems programs and the
person who prepares systems software is referred to as a system programmer. It
can be further classified into two categories.
1. Operating System

2. Language Processors.

System software is a collection of programs that directly control the

computers internal operations and also that help ordinary users to make use of a
computer effectively and efficiently.
1(A). Operating System
There are many resources in a computer system like CPU
time, memory space, files, 1/0 devices etc. The operating system controls these
resources and allocates them to the users or their programs as and when
necessary. The operating system, which acts as an interface between the user and
the hardware, is a set of programs that control, and co-ordinate the operations of a
computer and help to make efficient use of its resources.

Main functions of Operating System

The main functions performed by most operating systems of today
are as follows.
1. Process Management
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2. Memory Management
3. File Management
4. Security Management
5. Command Interpretation
Operating system is mainly classified into two :
1. Command Line Environment (DOS)
2. Graphical Environment (Windows, LINUX etc.)
Disk Operating System (DOS)
File: A file is a primary unit of storage on the computer. It is a collection of information
defined by the user.
Directories: A directory is a special file, which lists a group of files. Storing groups of files
in different directories make files easier to find. The directory you are in is called current
directory. A directory within a directory is called sub directory.
Root directory is the starting point from which all other directories branch out. The
root directory does not have any name. It is represented by a back slash (\).
Drive: A drive is always represented by drive letter. A floppy drive is drive A. If there is a
second drive it is B. Hard disk drive starts from drive C. Depending upon the number of
hard disk and CD Drives present, it is designated from C to Z.

DOS Commands
There are two types of DOS commands, Internal and External
Internal commands execute immediately because they are built into DOS. Therefore,
once DOS is loaded, you do not need the DOS diskette in a drive to use their commands.
Some of the Internal commands are: CLS, DATE, PROMPT, COPY, DEL, MD, REN,
TIME, CD, DIR, PATH, RD, TYPE etc.
External commands are on disks as program files. They must be read from the disk
before they are executed. This means that the disk containing the command must be in a
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drive. Some of the external commands are: FDISK, MORE, ATTRIB, FORMAT, LABEL,
PRINT, XCOPY, DISKCOPY etc.
THE PROMPT: A prompt is simply a message inviting you to enter some command.
Whenever you see the DOS prompt, you may enter a line of input. Since this input
instructs DOS to perform some action, it is called a command.

MS DOS Commands
The copy con or Edit command
Used to create a file
copy con <>File name
^Z to save and exit
OR
Edit <> File name
The del command
To delete a file
del <> File name
The md command
To create a directory
md <>directory name
The rd command
To remove a directory
rd <>directory name
To remove a directory, the directory must be empty. And it can be removed from its
parent directory only.
The cd command
To go to a different directory
cd <> directory name (including path)
The dir command
To list the contents of a directory
dir
To list the contents page by page
dir/p
To list the contents column by column
dir/w
The copy command
To Copy a file
copy <> source file <> destination
The move command
To move a file
move <> source file <> destination
The ren command
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To rename a File
ren <> old name < > new name.
The attrib command
To change the attributes of a file
attrib <> file name <> attribute.
The more Command
The MORE command is used to pause vertical scrolling
on the display screen after each screen. An indication that more
text is to be displayed is given by the messageMORE that
appears on the last line of the screen. You can press any key to
display the next screen of information.
However, if you want the scrolling to stop wherever you
want it to, CTRL-S is the only choice.
The type command
The command displays the contents of standard text (ASCII) files
on your screen. The general form of the TYPE command is
type filename
The contents of the file are displayed on the screen. Scrolling of the text takes
place till the last line of the file is displayed followed by the DOS prompt if it contains more
than one screen of data.
The prompt command
A novice computer user may not understand that a C indicates that the computer
the entire path that leads some instruction you may wish to display a prompt that
says Enter a command.
Special characters used soon after the dollar ($) sign are listed
$

Displays $ (the dollar sign)

Displays | (the vertical bar)

Displays the system date

The Escape character (^D)

Displays (the greater than symbol)

Displays (the less than sign)

Displays the default drive letter

Displays the default drive and directory pathname

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67

Displays = (the equal to sign)

Displays DOS version number

Displays the system time

The date command

This command is used to Display the date with an option to change it.
The time command
This command displays time and allows user to change the time if required.
The diskcopy command
This command makes an exact copy of one
removable disk (the source disk) on another (target disk).
The form of the diskcopy command is
diskcopy A: B:
A: is the disk drive containing the source disk (the disk that has to be copied)
B: is the disk drive containing the target disk (the disk to
which the copy is transferred)

BATCH FILES
A batch file is one that contains a set of DOS commands.
All batch files must have the extension .BAT and they can
contain valid DOS commands (internal or external)
A batch file is an executable file. Just typing its primary
name at the DOS prompt and pressing the Enter key can
execute it.

The commands contained in it are acted upon

automatically one line at a time in the order entered.

The AUTOEXEC.BAT file
If

batch

file

is

given

the

special

filename

AUTOEXEC.BAT, it is executed automatically when you first

start your computer.
The cls command

It is used to clear the screen

The format command

The command makes a disk usable. It creates magnetic
tracks and sector that are readable by DOS. It checks the
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diskette for bad spots, builds a directory to hold information and

optionally be written on it, and optionally, copies the DOS
system files onto diskette.
It follows the syntax: format [drive]
NOTE: FORMAT should be used only when you are going to use a new diskette for the
first time or when your diskette has some defective areas.
The XCOPY command
This command is used to selectively copy files from one disk to another, or thise
files that have been created or modified since the last backup.
The general from of the XCOPY command is
XCOPY <source disk> <target disk> <\path\filename<option>
Without any options XCOPY functions just like the COPY command.
The options and their effect on the XCOPY command:
/D Copies all files that are of the same date or later than a specified date.
/E Creates subdirectories on the target disk even if the
new subdirectories are created when none of the files in those
subdirectories satisfy the selection criteria specified by other
options.
/P Prompts you to enter either Y or N before copying each file.
/S

Copies files from the source disk that lie within all

lower level subdirectories of the active directory. XCOPY

searches through the directory tree. This option does not create
new directory paths on the target disk unless the /E option is
also used.

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI)

GUIs are systems that allow creation and manipulation of user interfaces
employing windows, menus, icons, dialog boxes, mouse and keyboard.

Terms used commonly with GUIs:

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Pointing device: It allows users to point at different parts of the screen. Pointing devices
can be used to invoke a command from a list of commands presented in a menu. They
can be also used to manipulate objects on the screen by:

Selecting objects on the screen

Moving objects around the screen

Merging several objects into another object

Bit mapped displays: It is made up of tiny dots called pixels that are independently
addressable and much finer resolutions than character displays. It has the advantage of
graphic manipulation.
Windows: When a section is split up into several independent regions, each one is called
a window. Several applications can display results simultaneously. The user can switch
from one window to another.
Menus: A menu displays a list of commands within an application
Dialog boxes: Dialog boxes are used to collect information from the user or to present
information to the user. Dialog boxes are also used to indicate error messages in the form
of alert boxes.
Icons: Icons are used to provide a symbolic representation of any system/user-defined
object such as file or folder.
Some of the GUI operating systems:

Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
2003, Macintosh Toolbox, Linux, etc

COMPUTER VIRUS
A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a
computer without permission or knowledge of the user. The original may
modify the copies or the copies may modify themselves, as occurs in a
metamorphic virus. A virus can only spread from one computer to another
when its host is taken to the uninfected computer, for instance by a user
sending it over a network or carrying it on a removable medium such as a
floppy disk, CD, USB drive or by the Internet. Additionally, viruses can
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spread to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file

system that is accessed by another computer. Viruses are sometimes
confused with computer worms and Trojan horses. A worm, however, can
spread itself to other computers without needing to be transferred as part of
a host. A Trojan horse is a file that appears harmless until executed. In
contrast to viruses, Trojan horses do not insert their code into other
computer files. Many personal computers are now connected to the Internet
and to local-area networks, facilitating their spread. Today's viruses may also
take advantage of network services such as the World Wide Web, e-mail,
and file sharing systems to spread, blurring the line between viruses and
worms. Furthermore, some sources use an alternative terminology in which a
virus is any form of self-replicating malware.
The term comes from the term virus in biology. A computer virus reproduces
by making (possibly modified) copies of itself in the computer's memory,
storage, or over a network. This is similar to the way a biological virus works.
Some viruses are programmed to damage the computer by damaging
programs, deleting files, or reformatting the hard disk. Others are not
designed to do any damage, but simply replicate themselves and perhaps
make their presence known by presenting text, video, or audio messages.
Even these benign viruses can create problems for the computer user. They
typically take up computer memory used by legitimate programs. As a result,
they often cause erratic behavior and can result in system crashes. In
addition, many viruses are bug-ridden, and these bugs may lead to system
crashes and data loss.
Antivirus software consists of computer programs that attempt to
identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses and other malicious software
(malware).

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Antivirus software typically uses two different techniques to accomplish this:

Examining (scanning) files to look for known viruses matching

definitions in a virus dictionary

Identifying suspicious behavior from any computer program which

might indicate infection. Such analysis may include data captures, port
monitoring and other methods.

Most commercial antivirus software uses both of these approaches, with an

emphasis on the virus dictionary approach.
Usually, the term antivirus has also been used for benign computer viruses
that spread and combated malicious viruses. This was common on the
Amiga computer platform.2
In the virus dictionary approach, when the antivirus software looks at a file, it
refers to a dictionary of known viruses that the authors of the antivirus
software have identified. If a piece of code in the file matches any virus
identified in the dictionary, then the antivirus software can take one of the
following actions:
1. attempt to repair the file by removing the virus itself from the file
2. quarantine the file (such that the file remains inaccessible to other
programs and its virus can no longer spread)
3. delete the infected file

LINUX An Introduction
History - UNIX

In order to understand the popularity of Linux, we need to travel back in

time, about 30 years ago...Imagine computers as big as houses, even stadiums.
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While the sizes of those computers posed substantial problems, there was one
thing that made this even worse: every computer had a different operating system.
Software was always customized to serve a specific purpose, and software for one
given system didn't run on another system. Being able to work with one system
didn't automatically mean that you could work with another.
It was difficult, both for the users and the system administrators. Computers
were extremely expensive then, and sacrifices had to be made even after the
original purchase just to get the users to understand how they worked. The total
cost of IT was enormous. Technologically the world was not quite that advanced,
so they had to live with the size for another decade. In 1969, a team of developers
in the Bell Labs laboratories started working on a solution for the software
problem, to address these compatibility issues. They developed a new operating
system, which was:
1. Simple and elegant.
2. Written in the C programming language instead of in assembly code.
3. Able to recycle code.
The Bell Labs developers named their project "UNIX." The code recycling features
were very important. Until then, all commercially available computer systems were written
in a code specifically developed for one system. UNIX on the other hand needed only a
small piece of that special code, which is now commonly named the kernel. This kernel is
the only piece of code that needs to be adapted for every specific system and forms the
base of the UNIX system. The operating system and all other functions were built around
this kernel and written in a higher programming language, C.
This language was especially developed for creating the UNIX system. Using this
new technique, it was much easier to develop an operating system that could run on many
different types of hardware. The software vendors were quick to adapt, since they could
sell ten times more software almost effortlessly. Weird new situations came in existence:
imagine for instance computers from different vendors communicating in the same
network, or users working on different systems without the need for extra education to use

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another computer. UNIX did a great deal to help users become compatible with different
systems.
Throughout the next couple of decades the development of UNIX continued. More
things became possible to do and more hardware and software vendors added support
for UNIX to their products. UNIX was initially found only in very large environments with
mainframes and minicomputers (note that a PC is a "micro" computer). You had to work at
a university, for the government or for large financial corporations in order to get your
hands on a UNIX system. But smaller computers were being developed, and by the end of
the 80's, many people had home computers. By that time, there were several versions of
UNIX available for the PC architecture, but none of them were truly free.

Open Source
The idea behind Open Source software is rather simple: when programmers can
read, distribute and change code, the code will mature. People can adapt it, fix it, debug it,
and they can do it at a speed that dwarfs the performance of software developers at
conventional companies. This software will be more flexible and of a better quality than
software that has been developed using the conventional channels, because more people
have tested it in more different conditions than the closed software developer ever can.
The Open Source initiative started to make this clear to the commercial world, and very
slowly, commercial vendors are starting to see the point. While lots of academics and
technical people have already been convinced for 20 years now that this is the way to go,
commercial vendors needed applications like the Internet to make them realize they can
profit from Open Source. Now Linux has grown past the stage where it was almost
exclusively an academic system, useful only to a handful of people with a technical
background. Now Linux provides more than the operating system: there is an entire
infrastructure supporting the chain of effort of creating an operating system, of making and
testing programs for it, of bringing everything to the users, of supplying maintenance,
updates and support and customizations, etcetera. Today, Linux is ready to accept the
challenge of a fast-changing world.
Properties of Linux
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 Linux is free:- As in free beer, they say. If you want to spend absolutely nothing,
you don't even have to pay the price of a CD. Linux can be downloaded in its
entirety from the Internet completely for free. No registration fees, no costs per
user, free updates, and freely available source code in case you want to change
the behavior of your system. Most of all, Linux is free as in free speech: The
license commonly used is the GNU Public License (GPL). The license says that
anybody who may want to do so, has the right to change Linux and eventually to
redistribute a changed version, on the one condition that the code is still available
after redistribution. In practice, you are free to grab a kernel image, for instance to
add support for tele-transportation machines or time travel and sell your new code,
as long as your customers can still have a copy of that code.
Linux is portable to any hardware platform:- A vendor who wants to sell a new
type of computer and who doesn't know what kind of OS his new machine will run
(say the CPU in your car or washing machine), can take a Linux kernel and make
it work on his hardware, because documentation related to this activity is freely
available. Linux was made to keep on running: As with UNIX, a Linux system
expects to run without rebooting all the time. That is why a lot of tasks are being
executed at night or scheduled automatically for other calm moments, resulting in
higher availability during busier periods and a more balanced use of the hardware.
This property allows for Linux to be applicable also in environments where people
don't have the time or the possibility to control their systems night and day.
Linux is secure and versatile:- The security model used in Linux is based on the
UNIX idea of security, which is known to be robust and of proven quality. But Linux
is not only fit for use as a fort against enemy attacks from the Internet: it will adapt
equally to other situations, utilizing the same high standards for security. Your
development machine or control station will be as secure as your firewall.
Linux is scalable:- From a Palmtop with 2 MB of memory to a petabyte storage
cluster with hundreds of nodes: add or remove the appropriate packages and
Linux fits all. You don't need a supercomputer anymore, because you can use
Linux to do big things using the building blocks provided with the system. If you
want to do little things, such as making an operating system for an embedded
processor or just recycling your old 486, Linux will do that as well.

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 The Linux OS and Linux applications have very short debug-times :- Because
Linux has been developed and tested by thousands of people, both errors and
people to fix them are found very quickly. It often happens that there are only a
couple of hours between discovery and fixing of a bug.
Linux distributions.
RedHat Linux
SuSE Linux
Mandrake Linux
Knoppix: an operating system that runs from your CD-ROM, you don't need to
install anything.
Ubuntu Linux
Downloadable ISO-images can be obtained from LinuxISO.org. The main
distributions can be purchased in any decent computer shop.
Working with LINUX
In order to work on a Linux system directly, you will need to provide a user name
and password. You always need to authenticate to the system. Most PC-based Linux
systems have two basic modes for a system to run in: either quick and sober in text
console mode, which looks like DOS with mouse, multitasking and multi-user features, or
in graphical console mode, which looks better but eats more system resources.
Graphical mode
This is the default nowadays on most desktop computers. You know you will
connect to the system using graphical mode when you are first asked for your user name,
and then, in a new window, to type your password. To log in, make sure the mouse pointer
is in the login window, provide your user name and password to the system and click OK
or press Enter.
Text mode
You know you're in text mode when the whole screen is black, showing (in most
cases white) characters. A text mode login screen typically shows some information about
the machine you are working on, the name of the machine and a prompt waiting for you to
log in:
RedHat Linux Release 8.0 (Psyche)
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blast login: _
The login is different from a graphical login, in that you have to hit the Enter key
after providing your user name, because there are no buttons on the screen that you can
click with the mouse. Then you should type your password, followed by another Enter.
You won't see any indication that you are entering something, not even an asterisk, and
you won't see the cursor move. But this is normal on Linux and is done for security
reasons.
When the system has accepted you as a valid user, you may get some more
information, called the message of the day, which can be anything. Additionally, it is
popular on UNIX systems to display a fortune cookie, which contains some general wise
or unwise (this is up to you) thoughts. After that, you will be given a shell, indicated with
the same prompt that you would get in graphical mode.

Quickstart commands in Linux

Command
ls

Meaning
Displays a list of files in the current working directory, like the dir
command in DOS

cd directory

change directories

passwd

change the password for the current user

file filename

display file type of file with name filename

cat textfile

throws content of textfile on the screen

pwd

display present working directory

exit or logout

leave this session

man command

read man pages on command

info command

read Info pages on command

apropos string

search the whatis database for strings

DOS versus Linux commands

The table below lists MS-DOS commands with their Linux counterparts. Keep in
mind that Linux commands usually have a number of options. Read the Info or man pages
on the command to find out more.

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DOS commands

Linux command

<command> /?
cd
chdir

man <command>
cd
pwd

cls

clear

copy
date
del
dir
echo
edit
exit
fc
find
format
mem
mkdir
more
move
ren
time

cp
date
rm
ls
echo
vi (or other editor)
exit
diff
grep
mke2fs or mformat
free
mkdir
more or even less
mv
mv
date

Linux alternatives for windows applications

SL
Windows Software
No
1 3D Studio Max

2 ACDSee

3 Adobe Acrobat Reader

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Linux Equivalent/Alternative
K-3D ( http://www.k-3d.org/ )
Wings 3D ( http://www.wings3d.com/ )
Art of Illusion ( http://www.artofillusion.org/ )
Blender ( http://www.blender.org/ )
KuickShow ( http://kuickshow.sourceforge.net/ )
ShowImg ( http://www.jalix.org/projects/showimg/ )
Gwenview ( http://gwenview.sourceforge.net/ )
GQview ( http://gqview.sourceforge.net/ )
Eye of GNOME ( http://www.gnome.org/projects/eog/ )
okular ( http://kpdf.kde.org/okular/ )
Xpdf ( http://www.foolabs.com/xpdf/ )
Evince ( http://www.gnome.org/projects/evince/ )
ePDFView ( http://trac.emma-soft.com/epdfview/ )
KPDF ( http://kpdf.kde.org/ )

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4 Adobe Audition

Audacity ( http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ )

5 Adobe Illustrator

Skencil ( http://www.skencil.org/ )
Inkscape ( http://www.inkscape.org/ )
Karbon14 ( http://www.koffice.org/karbon/ )
Xara Xtreme for Linux ( http://www.xaraxtreme.org/ )

6 Adobe PageMaker

Scribus ( http://www.scribus.net/ )

10

F-Spot ( http://f-spot.org/Main_Page )
Adobe PhotoAlbum
KPhotoAlbum ( http://www.kphotoalbum.org/ )
digiKam ( http://www.digikam.org/ )
CinePaint ( http://www.cinepaint.org/ )
Adobe Photoshop
Krita ( http://www.koffice.org/krita/ )
GIMP ( http://www.gimp.org/ )
PiTiVi ( http://www.pitivi.org/wiki/Main_Page )
LiVES ( http://lives.sourceforge.net/ )
Kino ( http://www.kinodv.org/ )
Adobe Premier
Cinelerra ( http://cvs.cinelerra.org/ )
kdenlive ( http://kdenlive.sourceforge.net/ )
Jahshaka ( http://www.jahshaka.org/ )
Epiphany ( http://www.gnome.org/projects/epiphany/ )
Opera ( http://www.opera.com/download/ )
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Firefox ( http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ )
Konqueror ( http://www.konqueror.org/ )

11

Microsoft
HyperTerminal

12

Microsoft Internet
Explorer

13 Microsoft Money

14 Microsoft Office
15 Microsoft OneNote

minicom ( http://alioth.debian.org/projects/minicom/ )
GtkTerm ( http://freshmeat.net/projects/gtkterm/ )
Epiphany ( http://www.gnome.org/projects/epiphany/ )
Opera ( http://www.opera.com/download/ )
Firefox ( http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ )
Konqueror ( http://www.konqueror.org/ )
KMyMoney ( http://kmymoney2.sourceforge.net/ )
GNUcash ( http://www.gnucash.org/)
Gnofin ( http://gnofin.sourceforge.net/ )
Grisbi ( http://www.grisbi.org/ )
GNOME Office ( http://www.gnome.org/gnome-office/ )
KOffice ( http://www.koffice.org/ )
OpenOffice ( http://www.openoffice.org/ )
BasKet ( http://basket.kde.org/ )

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16

Microsoft Outlook
(Express)

17 Microsoft Powerpoint

18 Microsoft Project

19 Microsoft Visio

20

Microsoft Windows
Media Center

21 Microsoft Word

22 mIRC

23 Mp3tag

24 MSN messenger

Thunderbird ( http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/ )
Evolution ( http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution/ )
Open Office Impress (
http://www.openoffice.org/product/impress.html )
KPresenter ( http://www.koffice.org/kpresenter/ )
KPlato ( http://www.koffice.org/kplato/ )
OpenProj ( http://openproj.org/openproj )
GanttProject ( http://ganttproject.sourceforge.net/ )
Planner ( http://live.gnome.org/Planner )
TaskJuggler ( http://www.taskjuggler.org/ )
Dia ( http://www.gnome.org/projects/dia/ )
Kivio ( http://www.koffice.org/kivio/ )
Freevo ( http://freevo.sourceforge.net/ )
Elisa Media Center ( http://www.fluendo.com/elisa/ )
MythTV ( http://www.mythtv.org/ )
LinuxMCE ( http://www.linuxmce.com/ )
Open Office Writer (
http://www.openoffice.org/product/writer.html )
AbiWord ( http://www.abisource.com/ )
Kword ( http://www.koffice.org/kword/ )
Konversation ( http://konversation.kde.org/ )
KVIrc ( http://www.kvirc.net/ )
BitchX ( http://www.bitchx.org/ )
Xchat ( http://www.xchat.org/ )
ChatZilla! ( http://chatzilla.hacksrus.com/ )
irssi ( http://www.irssi.org/ )
Pidgin ( http://pidgin.im/ )
Kid3 ( http://kid3.sourceforge.net/ )
Pinkytagger ( http://pinkytagger.sourceforge.net/ )
EasyTAG ( http://easytag.sourceforge.net/ )
Cowbell ( http://more-cowbell.org/ )
Audio Tag Tool ( http://pwp.netcabo.pt/paol/tagtool/ )
Mercury Messenger ( http://www.mercury.to/ )
Kopete ( http://kopete.kde.org/ )
aMSN ( http://amsn-project.net/ )
Pidgin ( http://pidgin.im/ )

25 Mudbox

SharpConstruct ( http://sharp3d.sourceforge.net/ )

26 Nero Burning Rom

X-CD-Roast ( http://www.xcdroast.org/ )
Brasero ( http://perso.orange.fr/bonfire/index.htm )

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GnomeBaker ( http://gnomebaker.sourceforge.net/ )
Graveman! ( http://graveman.tuxfamily.org/ )
K3b ( http://www.k3b.org/ )

REFERENCES

1. IBM PCand clones by B. GovindaRajalu

2. PC Hardware and maintenance by Bigellow.
3. Microprocessors and interfacing by Hall
4. Web Sites related to computer hardware

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