What is a computer?

The term computer is used to describe a device made up of electronic and

electro mechanical components. The computer itself cannot perform any task
and is referred to as hardware.
A computer system consists of three elements.
1. Hardware
2. Software
3. People
Hardware : The physical components which you can see, touch and feel in
the computer system are called hardware Eg monitor, keyboard, mouse
etc.
Software : Software is used to describe the instructions that tells the com-
puter how to perform a task. Software is categorized
1) System softwares ( eg . operating systems, compilers, editors etc)
2) Application softwares ( MS-word, excel, accounting packages etc)
People : People who operate the computer and also create computer soft-
ware instructions.
1.1.2 Computer hardware
Basic components in a computer system are central processing unit (CPU),
memory, the input device and output device.
2 ComputerHardware
Computer systems – Micros, Minis and Mainframes.
Micro computer : Micro computer is also called as personal computer or PC.
It has a processor based on a single silicon chip. Personal computers come in
three different physical sizes, pocket pc’s, lap pc’s and desktop pc’s. Pocket
pc’s and lap pc’s belong to portable category. Microcomputer is used in small
businesses.
Ex : IBM compatible or IBM clone and Apple Macintosh systems.
Multiuser microcomputers. Until recently microcomputers were personal
computers for individual use only. But now days several microcomputers can
be networked together for simultaneous used by several people.
Mini computers: Mini computer is simply a small mainframe computer. It is a
reduced version of mainframe. Attached printers are not so fast. So it has less
storage capacity less processing speed of that of mainframe computers. They
are usually used by small businesses. For example research groups, engineer-
ing firms, colleges etc. use mini computers.
Mainframe computers: A mainframe computer is a large expensive machine
whose processing speed is very high and has large amount of secondary stor-
age and fast printers. A large mainframe computer may be used to meet the
data processing requirements of the entire organization.
Examples: airline booking systems, Railway booking systems , weather fore-
cast etc.
1.1.3 System types
We can classify systems into the following categories :
8-bit, example : 8085 microprocessor
16-bit, example : 8086, 286, 386 processor
32-bit , example : 486
64-bit, example : Pentium - II
This gives us two basic system types or classes of hardware.
8-bit ( PC/XT) class systems
16/32/64 (AT) class systems

4 Computer Hardware
1.1.4 System components
Component needed to assemble a basic modern PC system.
Motherboard
Processor
Memory (Primary)
Hard disk
CD-ROM
Floppy Drive
Keyboard
Mouse
Monitor
Power Supply
Cabinet
Motherboard : motherboard is the important component of the computer as
everything else is connected to it. And it controls everything in the system.
Motherboard are available in several different shapes.
Motherboard usually contain the following individual components.
Fig 1.1.4 Motherboard

1) Processor1) Processor slot

2) Processor voltage regulators
3) Motherboard chipset
4) Level 2 cache
5) Memory SIMM or DIMM sockets
6) Bus slots
7) ROM BIOS
8) Clock / CMOS battery
9) Super I/O chips
Processor
Fig 1.1.5 Processor Chips
The processor is often thought as the engine of the computer. Then the proces-
sor reads the commands from the memory and then executes them. the proces-
sor is one of the most
expensive parts of the computers and is also one of the smallest parts.
Primary Memory
Fig 1.1.6 Memory Chips
Memory : Is used to hold programs and data during execution.
Primary memory is often called as RAM(Random Access Memory). It holds
all the programs and data the processor is using at a given time. RAM is volatile
because its contents are erased when power is switched off.
The other type of system memory is ROM(Read only Memory)which is perma-
nent because it contents are not erased even when power is switched off. It is
usually used to load an operating system.
Chapter 1 5
Name : Identifying components and their use

6 Computer Hardware
Hard disk drive
Fig 1.1.7 Hard Disk Drive
A hard drive consists of spinning platters made up of aluminum or ceramic that
is coated with magnetic media. The platters come in various sizes. The hard
drive with many different storage capacities can be created depending upon the
density, size and number of platters.
This is also called as Secondary memory. There can be several programs in the
system, which cannot be stored in RAM, so we need a very huge non-volatile
memory, which can be used for storing all the programs, and data when the
system is not in use are called as Hard disks.
CD-ROM drive
Fig 1.1.8 CDROM Drive
CD-ROM stands for compact disk read only memory. It consists of small disks
similar to the gramophone records to hold digital information. As the name ap-
plies they are read only medium. With the advancement in technology writable
CD’s are also available.
Floppy Disk Drive
Fig 1.1.9 Floppy Disk Drive
Floppy disks are the slowest and the smallest form of secondary storage. They
provide a simple way to carry information from one place to another, and backup
small amount of files. In modern days floppy drive component is not as impor-
tant as it was years ago. All PC’s made in the last 10 years use a standard 3 ½
inch, 1.44 MB capacity floppy drive.
Chapter 1 7
Name : Identifying components and their use
Keyboard
Fig 1.1.10 Keyboard
The keyboard is the main input device for most computers. It is used to input
text or enter commands into the PC. Nowadays keyboards with additional fea-
tures are available like multimedia keyboard, wireless keyboard.
Mouse
Fig 1.1.11 Mouse
With the invention of graphical user interface mouse is used to input information
into the computer. Users simply point and click to enter information. The main
advantage of mouse over keyboard is simplicity. And there are many operations
that are much easier to perform with a mouse then a keyboard.
Monitor
Fig 1.1.12 Monitor
The monitor is the specialized high-resolution screen similar to a television. The
video card sends the contents of its video memory to the monitor at a rate of 60
or more time per second. The actual display screen is made up or red, green and
blue dots that are illuminated by electron beam from behind. The video card
DAC chip controls the movement of the electron beam, which then controls
what dots are turned on and how bright they are. Which then determines the
picture you see on the screen.8 Computer Hardware
Power supply
Fig 1.1.13 Power Supply(SMPS)
SMPS(Switch Mode Power Supply): The power supply supplies power to
every single part in the PC. The main function of the power supply is to convert
the 230 V AC into 3.3 V, 5 V and 12 V DC power that the system requires for
the operations.
In addition to supplying power to run the system, the power supply also ensures
that the system does not run unless the power supplied is sufficient to operate
the system properly. The power supply completes internal checks and tests
before allowing the system to start. If the tests are successful, the power supply
sends a special signal to the motherboard called Power_Good. If this signal is
not present continuously, the computer does not run. Therefore, when the AC
voltage dips and the power supply becomes stressed or overheated, the
Power_Good signal goes down and forces a system reset or complete shut-
down.
Cabinet
Fig 1.1.14 Cabinet
The box or outer shell that houses most of the computers. The cabinet actually
performs several important functions for your PC including protection to the
system components, directing cooling airflow, and allowing installation of and
access to the system components. The cabinet often includes a matching power
supply and must also be designed with shape of the motherboard and other
system components in mind.

Mother Board

Chapter -1 17
Name : Motherboard
Motherboard development consists largely of isolating performance-critical com-
ponents from slower ones. As higher speed devices become available, they are
linked by faster buses - and the lower-speed buses are relegated to supporting
roles. In the late 1990s there was also trend towards putting peripherals de-
signed as integrated chips directly onto the motherboard. Initially this was con-
fined to audio and video chips - obviating the need for separate sound or graph-
ics adapter cards - but in time the peripherals integrated in this way became
more diverse and included items such as SCSI, LAN and even RAID control-
lers. While there are cost benefits to this approach the biggest downside is the
restriction of future upgrade options.
2.1.2 Motherboard Form Factors
Early PCs used the AT form factor and 12in wide motherboards. The sheer
size of an AT motherboard caused problems for upgrading PCs and did not
allow use of the increasingly popular slimline desktop cases. These problems
were largely addressed by the smaller version of the full AT form factor, the
Baby AT, introduced in 1989. Whilst
this remains a common form factor, there have been several improvements since.
All designs are open standards and as such don’t require certification. A conse-
quence is that there can be some quite wide variation in design detail between
different manufacturers’ motherboards
There are several common form factors used for PC motherboards. The form
factors refer to the physical dimensions and size of the board, and dictates what
type case is motherboard will fit into. The PC motherboard form factors gener-
ally available include the following.
Baby – AT NLX
LPX Backplane systems
ATX Proprietary designs
BAT(Baby –AT)
The Baby AT (BAT) format reduced the dimensions of the motherboard to a
typical 9in wide by 10in long, and BAT motherboards are generally characterised
by their shape, an AT-style keyboard connector soldered to the board and se-
rial and parallel port connectors which are attached using cables between the
physical ports mounted on the system case and corresponding connectors lo-
cated on the motherboard.

18 Computer Hardware
With the BAT design the processor socket is lo-
cated at the front of the motherboard, and full-
length expansion cards are intended to extend
over it. This means that removing the processor
requires the removal of some or all expansion
cards first. Problems were exacerbated by the
increasing speeds of Pentium-class processors.
Fig 2.1.3 Baby –AT Motherboard
System cooling relied on the AT power supply blowing air out of the chassis
enclosure and, due to the distance between the power supply and the CPU, an
additional chassis fan or active heatsink became a necessity to maintain good
airflow across the CPU. AT power supplies only provide 12V and 5V outputs
to the motherboard, requiring additional regulators on the motherboard if 3.3V
components (PCI cards or CPUs) are used. Sometimes a second heatsink was
also required on these voltage regulators and together the various additional heat
dissipation components caused serious obstruction for expansion slots.
Some BAT designs allow the use of either AT or ATX power supplies, and
some ATX cases might allow the use of a Baby-AT motherboard.
ATX
The Intel Advanced/ML motherboard, launched in 1996, was designed to solve
these issues and marked the beginning of a new era in motherboard design. Its
size and layout are completely different to the BAT format, following a new
scheme known as ATX. The dimensions of a standard ATX board are 12in wide
by 9.6in long; the mini ATX variant is typically of the order 11.2in by 8.2in.
The ATX design gets round the problem by moving the
CPU socket and the voltage regulator to the right-hand
side of the expansion bus. Room is made for the CPU
by making the card slightly wider, and shrinking or inte-
grating components such as the Flash BIOS, I/O logic
and keyboard controller. This means the board need
only be half as deep as a full size Baby AT, and
Fig 2.1.5 ATX Motherboard
there’s no obstruction whatsoever to the six expansion slots (two ISA, one
ISA/PCI, three PCI).
Chapter -1 19
Name : Motherboard
The ATX uses a new specification of power supply that can be powered on
or off by a signal from the motherboard. This allows notebook-style power
management and software-controlled shutdown and power-up. A 3.3V out-
put is also provided directly from the power supply. Accessibility of the pro-
cessor and memory modules is improved dramatically, and relocation of the
peripheral connectors allows shorter cables to be used. This also helps re-
duce electromagnetic interference. The ATX power supply has a side vent
that blows air from the outside directly across the processor and memory
modules, allowing passive heatsinks to be used in most cases, thereby reduc-
ing system noise.
Mini-ATX is simply a smaller version of a full-sized ATX board. On both
designs, parallel, serial, PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports are located on a
double-height I/O shield at the rear. Being soldered directly onto the board
generally means no need for cable interconnects to the on-board I/O ports. A
consequence of this, however, is that the ATX needs a newly designed case,
with correctly positioned cut-outs for the ports, and neither ATX no Mini-
ATX boards can be used in AT-style cases.
NLX
Intel’s NLX design, introduced in 1997, is an improvement on the LPX
design for low-profile systems, with an emphasis on ease of maintenance.
The NLX format is smaller, typically 8.8in wide by 13in long, so well suited
for low-profile desktop cases.
All expansion slots, power cables and
peripheral connectors are located on an
edge-mounted riser card, allowing simple
removal of the main motherboard, which is
mounted on rails in the chassis. It uses a full-
width I/O shield to allow for different
combinations of rear-panel I/O. The design
allows for use of an
Fig 2.1.6 NLX Motherboard
AGP card, but the slot must be on the motherboard, which reduces the
ease of maintenance when such a card is implemented.
AGP card, but the slot must be on the motherboard, which reduces the
ease of maintenance when such a card is implemented.
Proprietary designs motherboards that are not one of the standard form
factors such as Fullsized –AT, Baby- AT, ATX or NLX are called as
proprietary.

.1.3 Motherboard components

A conventional motherboard comprises of various components such as
• Expansion slots
• CPU(Main Processor)
• Coprocessor
• Memory
• BIOS and
• Support circuits of chipset for interrupt, DMA etc.
Expansion Slots
What is expansion slot?
The expansion slots are long thin connectors on the motherboard, near the backside
of the computer. Various expansion cards are connected to the motherboards
through data, address and control lines/buses on these slots.
One can connect various expansion cards such as display card, hard drive con-
troller, sound card, network card, modem card etc. on these slots.
When an adapter card is connected to the expansion slot, it is actually con-
nected to the data, address and control bus on the motherboard.
What is a Bus?
A bus is an electronic path on which signals are sent from one part of the
computer to another.
These buses are categorizes according to the number of BINARY DIGITS
(bits) that thety can transfer at a time.
• If the data bus is 8 bit wide then it can transfer 8 bits of information at
a time and called an 8 bit bus.
• On a 8 bit data bus transferring 16 bit data requires two data transfers
CPU (Main Processor)
The main component of any motherboard is the main processor chip which
controls all the inner functions of the system. The CENTRAL PROCESSING
UNIT(CPU) functions as the brain of every PC.
It is usually inserted into the socket and is not soldered onto the motherboard
as many other chips are normally done, this makes its replacement, in case of
any problem, very easy.
Some of the common CPU chips are inter 8088,8086,80286,80386,80486,
Pentium, Pentium MMX, Pentium –II, Pentium III, Pentium – IV etc.

3.1.2 Bootstrap loader

Definition: A routine that finds the operating system and loads or boots it. If an
operating system is found it is loaded and given control of your computer
This program doesn’t have the full functionality of an operating system, but is
tailor-made specifically so that it is capable of loading enough other software for
the operating system to start. Often, multiple-stage boot loaders are used, in
which several small programs summon each other, until the last of them loads the
operating system. The name bootstrap loader comes from the image of one
pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps
This program doesn’t have the full functionality of an operating system, but is
tailor-made specifically so that it is capable of loading enough other software for
the operating system to start. Often, multiple-stage boot loaders are used, in
which several small programs call upon each other, until the last of them loads
the operating system.
Boot loaders may face peculiar constraints, especially in size; for instance, on
the IBM PC and compatibles, the first stage of boot loaders is always 512 bytes
in length and ends with the AA55h value (which the BIOS looks at to ensure that
it is a proper boot loader).
Second-stage boot loader
The small program is most often not itself an operating system, but only a sec-
ond-stage boot loader, such as NTLDR, LILO or GRUB. It will then be able to
load the operating system proper, and finally transfer execution to it. The system
will initialize itself, and may load device drivers and other programs that are
needed for the normal operation of the OS.
3.1.3 Booting
In computing, booting is a bootstrapping process that starts operating systems
when the user turns on a computer system. A boot sequence is the set of
operations the computer performs when it is switched on which load an
operating system.
In modern PC machines the way a computer boots is roughly:
1. A BIOS (basic I/O system), stored in ROM, contains
the program that checks the disk drives for a MBR
(master boot record).
2. The program found at the MBR is the boot loader which is specific to
the OS being booted.
3. The boot loader finds the OS and prepares the hardware
(memory, disk, etc.) for starting the OS.
4. The OS finishes initializing itself then starts optional services and
device drivers before the machine begins to respond to normal input.
In the case of a network boot, where a machine may be diskless, the sequence is
essentially the same, but the BIOS is in the ROM of a network card which fetches
the boot loader program from the network.
The boot process is considered complete when the computer is ready to interact
with the user or the operating system is capable of running ordinary applications.
Typical modern PCs boot in about a minute (of which about 15 seconds are
taken by the preliminary boot loaders, and the rest by the one loading the oper-
ating system), while large servers may take several minutes to boot and to start
all services - to ensure high availability, they bring up some services before oth-
ers.
Most embedded systems must boot almost instantly — for instance, waiting a
minute for the television to come up is not acceptable. Therefore they have their
whole operating system in ROM or flash memory, so it can be executed directly.
Summary:
1. BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System.
2. BIOS has four components.
3. The steps for the system to start is called booting sequence.
4. Bootstrap loader is a program, which pulls part of the operating
system from hard disk.
5. Bootstrap loader is multistaged.
6. BIOS includes low level routines which can directly talk to hardware.

For example we have Windows 9x device manager from the system

control panel, you see list of types of devices found in the system. Expanding
each type displays the actual hardware installed in the computer. Each entry has
a properties dialogue box that enables you to configure the device, view the
hardware resources that it is using, and update its driver.
Fig 4.2.1 Device Manager
Windows 9x System/Performance Monitor
The windows 9x system monitor and the windows NT system monitor
performes the same function. Both programs track specific elements of a system
performance and display them in graphical format.
Unit IV Chapter -2 61
Name : Troubleshooting through software
Fig 4.2.4 Microsoft System Information
After market diagnostic software: There are a number of manufacturers making
general-purpose diagnostic software for PCs. This type of software is often
bundled with other system maintenance and repair utilities to form a general PC
software tool kit.
For example
AMIDiag(AMI) American Megatrends, Inc: is one of the largest
manufacturers of PC ROM BIOS software today. The AMI BIOS is found on
many PCs, and has numerous features and enhancements which are not found
on the simpler ROM version. AMIDiag is an extensive reporting and diagnostics
functions support virtually all hardware found in PCs today.
Checkit Pro. Offers an excellent suite of testing capabilities, including tests of
the system CPU; conventional, extended and expanded memory; hard and floppy
drives; and video adapter and monitor.
Norton Utilities Diagnostics: This comes with Norton Utilities, which is an
essential collection of system data safeguarding, troubleshooting, testing, and
Chapter -2 63
Name : Troubleshooting through software

Unit - IV
Sound & Video Card Troubleshooting
Sound card trouble shooting
I. Making sure that you have a card and drivers for the installation
• First, be sure that you have a sound card installed on your system and have speakers or
headphones connected to it.
• The sound card is usually a card in the back of your machine, although some newer
machines have them installed on the motherboard.
• Check that the wire from your speakers or headphones is connected to the "Speaker Out"
or " Spk Out" slot on the back of you machine.
Once you have checked these connections and you know that you have a sound card and
headphones or speakers, follow this guide:
Check that you have the drivers for the card installed:
1. In Windows 95/98/NT, go to "Start" - > "Settings" - >
"Control Panel" and double click the "Multimedia" icon.
This should bring up the "Multimedia Properties" box
2. On the Audio tab, you should see two areas: Playback and
Recording. If these are greyed out and have "None" listed
under preferred device for these sections, then your
sound card drivers have not been installed
3. If you have a device listed here, such as "AWE64 Wave
Out" or "Sound Blaster 16" then your drivers are installed.
Make sure to check the "Show volume control on the
taskbar" option
By completing this module you will be able to understand and learn about the trouble
shooting of Sound and Video card in the system.
If you do not have drivers installed.
1. Consult your sound card documentation or follow this basic
guide on how to install drivers for your sound card.
2. You will need the disk or CDROM that was given to you
along with your sound card initially
3. Switch to the "Devices" tab of the Multimedia Properties box
4. Click "Add."
5. Choose "Unlisted or Updated Driver" and
click "OK."
6. Enter the path to the disk or CDROM that came with the Sound Card and hit "OK."
7. Select your card and click "OK"
8. Your machine may need to reboot
II. Checking Sound Levels and Speaker Volume
Once you know you have a card and drivers installed,
● check the volume and make sure it is at an audible level.