COMPUTER HARDWARE SERVICING NC II

Module by: Michelle Angela M. Moleta, MIT(CAR), PCO Assessor, CHS Assessor

The COMPUTER HARDWARE SERVICING NC II Qualification consists of

competencies that must possess to enable to diagnose and troubleshoot problems in
personal computer systems, software, replace parts and get the system back to normal
operation.

A person who has achieved this Qualification is competent to be:

• Computer Service Technician
• Computer Repairman

This Qualification is packaged from the competency map of the Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) Industry as shown in Annex A.

The units of competency comprising this qualification include the following:

Code BASIC COMPETENCIES

500311105 Participate in workplace communication
500311106 Work in a team environment
500311107 Practice career professionalism
500311108 Practice occupational health and safety procedures

CODE COMMON COMPETENCIES

ICT315202 Apply quality standards
ICT311201 Perform computer
operations
ELC311201 Perform mensuration and calculation
ELC311202 Prepare and interpret technical drawing
ELC724201 Use hand tools
Terminate and connect electrical wiring and electronic
ELC724202
circuits

CODE CORE COMPETENCIES

ELC724318 Install computer systems and networks
ELC724319 Diagnose and troubleshoot computer systems
ELC724320 Configure computer systems and networks
ELC724321 Maintain computer systems and networks

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 Module 1-Introduction
What is a Computer?
It is an electronic device capable of performing its prescribed operations.

The four basic categories of computers are:

1. Microcomputer (PC) - a small desktop or laptop. Referred to as a typical desktop
personal computer (PC).
2. Minicomputers - Mid-size computers, non-portable types. They often appear as
mainframes. They are gradually disappearing from the marketplace.
3. Mainframe Computers - These are large computers, often occupying a large
room. They are generally used by banks, universities, and some government
functions such as IRS, etc.
4. Supercomputers - The most powerful computers. They are very fast, and have
extremely high storage capacity, probably in the terrabyte range. Used in
research, weather forecasting, modeling/simulations, etc.

Microcomputer (PC)
• PC (Personal Computer) is the most common category of computers. This
would include your home PCs and most of your business class PCs
• Workstations is a breed of computer which is a high performance version
of the PC
• Laptops are portable computers (also referred to as notebooks)
• Servers is a machine developed to allow for file or print serving, application
hosting, or some other task usually involving many simultaneous connections

SYSTEM - is a collection of elements or parts that work together as a unit to solve a

specific problem

Three Basic Components of a Computer System:

HARDWARE - are the physical devices of a computer,
- it is composed of the mechanical and electronic components that make
up the computer system.

Functional Parts of the Hardware:

• Input Unit
o Allows the user to communicate with the computer
o Used to Enter data and instructions

Keyboard, touch screen, Digital Camera, Pointing Device (Mouse, Trackball,

Trackpoint, Touchpad, Joystick, light Pen) , Scanning Device (Image Scanner, Bar
Code Reader, optical Mark Reader, Magnetic Stripes Reader)

• Central Processing Unit

o Also known as the CPU
o Carries out all instructions

Microprocessor – is the center of the modern computer, it is an integrated circuit

or microchip that contains the entire CPU of a computer
• Output Unit
o Enables the computer to present information to the user
o Translates the results of computer processing into a form that one can use
or work with, like a printout or a picture displayed on the computer’s screen

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 Monitor, Video Adapter, Printer, Speaker

• Storage Unit
o Used to hold or store large volumes of data temporarily or permanently on a
magnetic or optical disks

Primary Memory, Secondary Memory (Floppy Disk, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM,

Memory Stick)

SOFTWARE - the programs that run the computer

Program - is a set of instructions that tells the computer what to do in order to generate
the desired output

1. Programming Language Software

 An artificial language used to define the step-by-step instructions that can
be processed and executed by the computer
 Used to create system and application programs
2. System Software
 Refers to the Operating System and utility programs that manage computer
resources
 Controls the standard activities or operations inside the computer and
directs the computer how to operate its hardware resources
3. Application Software
 Are programs used to solve specific processing problems
 Are used in order to be productive and efficient in doing the work in school,
in the office and in any business or personal transactions

PEOPLEWARE - are the ones who develop the system, they are the personnel involved
in the computer system
1. Technical Users
The ones who design and implement or carry out the system
• Systems Analyst
• Computer Programmers
• Systems Engineers
• Application Developers
• Computer Technicians

2. Users or End-Users
Are the primary operators of the computer and are the ones who enter the data
into the computer
• Data encoders
• Computer operators
• Computer hobbyists
• Application users

PC Connections
A typical computer connects to the world around it in three different ways:
• Input / Output
• Ports
 Parallel - This port is commonly used to connect a printer
 Serial - This port is typically used to connect an external modem.

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  Universal Serial Bus (USB) - Quickly becoming the most popular
external connection, USB ports offer power and versatility and are incredibly
easy to use.
• Internet / Network
 Modem (from modulator-demodulator) - This is the standard method
of connecting to the Internet; it modulates an analog carrier signal to encode
digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the
transmitted information.
 Local area network (LAN) card - This is used by many computers to
connect to each other
 Cable modem - This type of modem uses the cable TV system in
your home to connect to the Internet
 Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) modem - This is a high-speed
connection that works over a standard telephone line.

The MOST common components in a Personal Computer (PC) are:

• Motherboard
This is the main circuit board that all of the other internal components connect
to. The CPU and memory are usually on the motherboard. Other systems may
be found directly on the motherboard or connected to it through a secondary
connection

• Power supply
An electrical transformer regulates the electricity used by the computer.

Pin Wire Color Signal

1 Yellow +12v
2 Black Ground
3 Black Ground
4 Red +5v
• Storage Devices
This is a hardware device designed to store information
Two types of Storage Device:
 Primary Memory - also known as main memory, are responsible for
holding instructions and data to provide the rapid access to central
processing unit
 SecondaryMemory
External Memory - Stores data externally using a device/medium

• CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The BRAIN of a Computer System

• RAM (Random Access Memory)

is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs,
and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the
computer's processor.

• Expansion Slots
This is located inside a computer on the motherboard or riser board that allows
additional boards to be connected to it
Common Types
 AGP – Short for Accelerated Graphics Port, an advanced port
designed for Video cards and 3D accelerators
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  ISA – Short for Industry Standard Architecture, ISA is a standard of
computer bus
 PCI – Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI was
originally developed by Intel as an expansion to the ISA bus

• Expansion Card
This is a printed circuit board that can be inserted into an expansion slot of
a computer motherboard to add additional functionality to a computer
system

 Sound card - This is used by the computer to record and play audio
by converting analog sound into digital information and back again.
 Graphics card - This translates image data from the computer into a
format that can be displayed by the monitor.
 Local area network (LAN) card - This is used by many computers to
connect to each other (also known as the Network Adapter or
Network Interface Card)
 SCSI - Pronounced "scuzzy," the small computer system interface
is a method of adding additional devices, such as hard drives or
scanners, to the computer.

• Cache Memory

• BIOS
provides a definition of the system for booting

• CMOS

• Keyboard
the most common input device composed of alphanumeric keys used to
input data/commands
Common Types:
 PS1
 PS2
 USB
 Wireless

• Monitor
the most common output device, all output that can be seen through the
monitor is called a “soft copy”

• "CHIPSET"
It controls most of the capabilities such as type of memory, I/O, etc.

• Operating System
This is the basic software that allows the user to interface with the
computer.

• Application Software
Are programs used in order to be productive and efficient in doing the work
in school, in the office and in any business or personal transactions

• Person to operate it.

The Peopleware

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Other motherboard components that also serves specific functions:
BUS - connects all the components of the computer and provides a path from
device/controller to the next component.
Expansion Slots - Memory Slots - provides receptacles for adding additional
memory chips (SIMMs, DIMMs, or other types of memory).
ZIF Socket - provides a location to insert the heart of the computer - the CPU.
USB Port - some newer machines will have a port for the Universal Serial Bus
(USB) connection.
FAN – A computer fan can be any fan inside a computer case used for cooling
purposes, and may refer to fans that draw cooler air into the case from the outside,
expel warm air from inside, or move air across a heat sink to cool a particular
component.
CABLE (Data Cable) – (called ata cables or serial or SCSI) simply transfer data
from one device to the motherboard inside or even to another device hooked up to
the same cable.
Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) Controller - This is the primary interface for the
hard drive, CD-ROM and floppy disk drive.

PC: The Absolute Basics

• computers operate using electrical current to represent "states" in the computer
• characters, numbers, and symbols are represented by a number of binary bits

How is a computer instruction executed?

Fetch Cycle - gets the next instruction

1 to be executed into a register.
Fetch Decode Cycle - break down the
instruction to see what to do.
Execute Cycle - do the thing the
3 2 instruction is supposed to do.
Execute Decode

Conversion Units
1 byte = 8 bits
1 kilobyte (K / Kb) = 1,024 bytes
1 megabyte (M / MB) = 1,048,576 bytes
1 gigabyte (G / GB) = 1,073,741,824 bytes
1 terabyte (T / TB) = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
1 petabyte (P / PB)= 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
1 exabyte (E / EB) = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes

Safety Tips
Electrical safety
1.) To prevent electrical shock hazard, disconnect the power cable from the
electrical outlet before relocating the system.
2.) When adding or removing devices to or from the system, ensure that the
power cables for the devices are unplugged before the signal cables are connected.
If possible, disconnect all power cables from the existing system before you add a
device.
3.) Before connecting or removing signal cables from the motherboard, ensure
that all power cables are unplugged.

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 4.) Seek professional assistance before using an adapter or extension cord.
These devices could interrupt the grounding circuit.
5.) Make sure that your power supply is set to the correct voltage in your area.
If you are not sure about the voltage of the electrical outlet you are using, contact
your local power company.
6.) If the power supply is broken, do not try to fix it by yourself. Contact a
qualified service technician or your retailer.

Operation safety
1.) Before installing the motherboard and adding devices on it, carefully read all
the manuals that came with the package.
2.) Before using the product, make sure all cables are correctly connected and
the power cables are not damaged. If you detect any damage, contact your dealer
immediately.
3.) To avoid short circuits, keep paper clips, screws, and staples away from
connectors, slots, sockets and circuitry.
4.) Avoid dust, humidity, and temperature extremes. Do not place the product in
any area where it may become wet.
5.) Place the product on a stable surface.
6.) If you encounter technical problems with the product, contact a qualified
service technician or your retailer.

The Computer Cabling

Basic operations
• Power cord plugged in.
(If plugged into a power strip, turn it on. Includes peripherals.)
• Cables to peripherals secure.
• Power on peripherals.
• Power on the system.
• Observe the system for proper operation.
Note:
For items in or attached to a system to work properly they must be securely
connected. Be sure to carefully connect the cables and power cord.

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