Course: Computer Basics (DCSA 1201)

Lab 01:
a) To identify external ports and interfacing of PC.
Answer: Some external ports and interfacing of PC given in below

What is a Port?
 A port is a physical docking point using which an external device can be connected to the computer.
 Can also be programmatic docking point through which information flows from a program to computer or
over the internet?

Characteristics
A port has the following characteristics:
 External devices are connected to a computer using cables and ports.
 Ports are slots on the motherboard into which a cable of external device is plugged in.
 Examples of external devices attached via ports are mouse, keyboard, monitor, microphone, speakers etc.

Following are few important types of ports:

Serial Port
 Used for external modems and older computer mouse
 Two versions: 9 pin, 25 pin models
 Data travels at 115 kilobits per second

Parallel Port
 Used for scanners and printers
 Also called printer port
 25 pin model
 Also known as IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port

PS/2 Port
 Used for old computer keyboard and mouse
 Also called mouse port
 Most of the old computers provide two PS/2 port, each for mouse and keyboard
 Also known as IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port
Universal Serial Bus (or USB) Port
 It can connect all kinds of external USB devices such as external hard disk, printer, scanner, mouse,
keyboard etc.
 It was introduced in 1997.
 Most of the computers provide two USB ports as minimum.
 Data travels at 12 megabits per seconds
 USB compliant devices can get power from a USB port

VGA Port
 Connects monitor to a computer's video card.
 Have 15 holes.
 Similar to serial port connector but serial port connector has pins, it has holes.

Power Connector
 Three-pronged plug
 Connects to the computer's power cable that plugs into a power bar or wall socket

Firewire Port
 Transfers large amount of data at very fast speed.
 Connects camcorders and video equipments to the computer
 Data travels at 400 to 800 megabits per seconds
 Invented by Apple
 Three variants : 4-Pin FireWire 400 connector, 6-Pin FireWire 400 connector and 9-Pin FireWire 800
connector

Modem Port
 Connects a PC's modem to the telephone network

Ethernet Port
 Connects to a network and high speed Internet.
 Connect network cable to a computer.
 This port resides on an Ethernet Card.
 Data travels at 10 megabits to 1000 megabits per seconds depending upon the network bandwidth.

Game Port
 Connect a joystick to a PC
 Now replaced by USB.

Digital Video Interface, DVI port

 Connects Flat panel LCD monitor to the computer's high end video graphic cards.
 Very popular among video card manufacturers.

Sockets
 Connect microphone, speakers to sound card of the computer

b) To make comparative study of motherboards.

Answer: Motherboard Comparative study.
A mother board (sometimes alternatively known as the Main board (abbreviation), MB system board, logic
board is a printed circuit board(PCB) found in many modern computers which holds many of the crucial
components of the system, such as the central processing unit (CPU) and memory, and provides connectors
for other peripherals. Motherboard specifically refers to a PCB with expansion capability. The term main
board is applied to devices with a single board and no additional expansions or capability. In modern terms
this would include controlling boards in televisions, washing machines and other embedded systems. The
 motherboard serves to connect all of the parts of a computer together. The CPU, memory, hard drives, optical
drives, card, sound and other ports and expansion cards all connect to the motherboard directly or via cables.
The Motherboard can be thought of as the “Back Bone” of the Computer.

Important Motherboard Facts:

Motherboards, cases and power supplies all indifferent sizes called form factors. All three must be compatible
to work properly together. Motherboards vary greatly in respect to the types of components they support. For
example, each motherboard supports a single type of CPU and a short list of memory types. Additionally,
some video cards, hard drives and other peripherals may not be compatible. The motherboard manufacturer
should provide clear guidance on component compatibilities

c) To install devices.
Answer: First of all, you need download the latest drivers file. If it is an executive file, you can install it by
simply double clicking the file. If it is a zip file and you cannot find an installer in the archive, you can install
the driver by following instruments below:

1. Go to Control Panel and open Device Manager.

2. Find the device that you are trying to install a driver
3. Right click the device and select properties.
4. Select Driver tab, then click the Update Driver button.
5. Choose Browse my computer for driver software.
6. Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer
7. Browse for them.
8. Info driver file.
9. Open and Next.
10. The driver will be installed.

d) To study various cards used in a system viz. display card, LAN card etc.
  Display Card  LAN Card
A video card connects to the motherboard of a computer The LAN Card provides a direct interface to your
system and generates output images to display. Video cards Ethernet 10Base-TLAN or other types of LANS
are also referred to as graphics cards. Video cards include through commercially available bridges. It makes
a processing unit, memory, a cooling mechanism and the IDS a network addressable device and
connections to a display device. supports TCP/IP connections to PCs and other
network devices. The LAN Card also leverages
the open, standards-based utilities of the LAN,
including Simplified Network Management
Protocol (SNMP), Trivial File Transfer Protocol
(TFTP), Telnet and Ping, to manage the
functionality of the device.

e) To remove study and replace of a hard disk.

What is a hard disk drive?
A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive or fixed disk [b] is a data storage device used for
storing and retrieving digital information using one or more rigid ("hard") rapidly rotating disks (platters)
coated with magnetic material. To replace a hard drive, you'll need to backup any data you want to keep,
uninstall the old hard drive, install the new hard drive, and then restore the backed up data.
Here's a bit more on the three required steps:
Backing up the data you want to keep is the most important step in this process! The hard drive isn't the
valuable thing - it's the priceless files you've created and collected over the years.
Backing up could mean something as simple as copying files you want over to a large flash drive or other
storage you're not using. Better yet, if you're not backing up regularly already, use this as an opportunity
to start with a cloud backup service so you never even run the chance of losing a file again.
Uninstalling the existing hard drive is easy. Make sure your computer is turned off and then disconnect
the hard drive and physically remove it.
The details here depend on the type of computer you have but in general, this means removing data and
power cables or sliding the hard drive out from the bay that it's installed into.

f) To remove, study and replace CD-ROM.

Answer:

CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer
for data storage and music playback, the 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips
adapted the format to hold any form of binary data. CD-ROMs are popularly used to distribute computer
software, including games and multimedia applications, though any data can be stored (up to the capacity
limit of a disc). Some CDs hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a
CD player, while data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer (such as ISO 9660
format PC CD-ROMs). These are called enhanced CDs. Although many people use lowercase letters in
this acronym, proper presentation is in all capital letters with a hyphen between CD and ROM. It was also
suggested by some, especially soon after the technology was first released, that CD-ROM was an
acronym for "Compact Disc read-only-media", or that it was a more "correct" definition. This was not the
intention of the original team who developed the CD-ROM, and common acceptance of the "memory"
 definition is now almost universal. This is probably in no small part due to the widespread use of other
"ROM" acronyms such as Flash-ROMs and EEPROMs where "memory" is usually the correct term.

Lab 02:
a) Windows Operation System study.
Answer: Some windows operating system in below by chart.

Operating System Configurations Installing and Upgrading Client Managing Applications

Systems
Configure Control Panel options. Identify Windows operating system Understand application installations.
Configure desktop settings. editions. Understand user account control (UAC).
Understand native applications and Identify upgrade paths. Remove malicious software.
tools. Understand installation types. Understand services.
Understand mobility. Understand virtualized clients. Understand application virtualization.
Understand remote management and
assistance.
Managing Files and Folders Managing Devices Understanding Operating System
Maintenance
Understand file systems. Connect devices. Understand backup and recovery
Understand file and print sharing. Understand storage. methods.
Understand encryption. Understand printing devices. Understand maintenance tools.
Understand libraries. Understand system devices. Understand updates.

b) Use of tools in Windows

Answer: Some of tools used in windrow

Provides system administrators and advanced users with a flexible

Microsoft Management Windows NT 4.0
interface through which they may configure and monitor the
Console Option Pack
system
Built-in benchmarking tool that analyzes the different subsystems
(graphics, memory, etc.), and uses the results to allow for
Windows System
comparison to other Windows Vista systems, and for software Windows Vista
Assessment Tool
optimizations. It rates the computer's performance using the
Windows Experience Index.
Allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed
System Restore Windows ME
apps, etc., to a previous state in the event of a system failure
Helps diagnose and recover from serious errors which may prevent
Windows Recovery
Windows from booting successfully, or restore the computer to a Windows Vista
Environment
previous state using System Restore or a backup image
Disk Defragmenter Rearranges files stored on a hard disk to occupy contiguous storage Windows
(Windows) locations in order to optimize computer performance 95, Windows 2000
Lets administrators and users view the event logs on a local or
Event Viewer Windows NT 3.1
remote machine
Resource
Lets administrators view current system reliability and
Monitor (Reliability and Windows Vista
performance trends over time
Performance Monitor)
Windows NT
Logical volume manager developed by Microsoft in conjunction
Logical Disk Manager 4.0 (Separate
with Veritas Software
Tool), Windows 2000
Registry Editor Allows users to browse and edit the Windows registry Windows 3.1
Microsoft
Task Scheduler Allows users to script tasks for running during scheduled intervals
Plus! for Windows 95
c) Handling tools of control panel.

Answer:

The Control Panel is a section of Microsoft Windows that enables a user to change various computer hardware
and software features. Settings for the mouse, display, sound, network, and keyboard represent just a few
examples of what may be modified in the Control Panel. Below are some examples of how the Control Panel
appeared in Windows.

Evolution of the Windows Control Panel

Microsoft Windows 7 Control Panel

Microsoft Windows XP Control Panel Microsoft Windows 98 Control Panel