UNIT – I

COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE SERVICING

Introduction
Computers have become an important part of our everyday lives.

Computer Hardware Servicing refers to the fixing and maintaining a computer's physical
components and its peripherals, including fans, hard drives, keyboards, and printers.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PROCEDURES FOR COMPUTER HARDWARE

SERVICING

OHS or Occupational Health and Safety refers to the laws, regulations, practices, and
programs aimed at ensuring the health, safety, and welfare of all working people.

Safety means protecting yourself and others form possible danger and injury. To
prevent this, follow the safety rules in the shop. When everyone obeys the rules, the working
shop is a much safer place in which to work than your home.

1. Do not work alone so that there's someone who can take care of you in case of
emergency.
2. Always power off the computer and unplug the computer before working on it.
3. Take away any liquid near your working area to avoid getting electrocuted or
accidentally damaging computer parts.
4. Be careful with tools that may cause short circuit.
5. Always ground or discharge yourself before touching any part of the computer.
6. Do not use excessive force if things don't quite slip into place.
7. Clean the area before and after using it to maintain sanitation and prevent
accidents.
8. Hold the components on the edges and do not touch the Integrated Circuit (IC)
parts.
9. Always wear personal protective equipment (PPE) in accordance with the
organization's OHS procedures and practices.
10. Make sure that the pins are properly aligned when connecting a cable connector.
11. Contingency measures during workplace accidents, fire and other emergencies
are recognized.
12. Use brush, compressed air or blower in cleaning the computer system.
Computer Hardware Assembling
One of the basic skills you need to acquire when it comes to computer hardware
servicing is to assemble a personal computer independently or simply set up a PC.
Step by Step Computer Assembly

Step 1. Prepare your workplace

1. Take Inventory:
Take an inventory of your parts before you start. If you don't have everything you
need, don't start assembling your computer. Start the step-by - step process once you're
ready to do everything you need.

Figure1. Take inventory of the Different Computer Parts

2. Make Space, Make Time:
Building a PC takes up space-a table for a dining room.
3. Prepare Grounding Protection:
Use a low-cost antistatic wrist strap. It's a perfect preventive measure if you don't
have an alternative to working on a carpet..

Figure 2. Wearing the Anti- static Wrist Strap Correctly

4. Have the Drivers Ready:

If you have another internet connected PC, download the new drivers for each
device that you will be downloading from the vendors' websites.
Step 2. Prepare the Motherboard
1. Great care should be taken during motherboard deployment.

Figure 3. Motherboard in an Antistatic Bag

Step 3. Install the CPU

1. Use the unlocking mechanism to open the CPU socket which is
usually a lever.
2. Carefully line up the pins and place the chip in its socket; it will fit
only when oriented the proper way. An arrow or a missing pin on
one corner of the chip will show you how to line things up.
3. Align Triangular CPU and socket key marks as shown in Figure 4.
4. Lower the lever to lock the CPU into place.

Step 4. Install the CPU Heat Sink

1. Follow the instructions of the supplier to mount the heat sink and the fan which will cool
the processor. If you purchased an OEM CPU and a separate heat sink, you can need to
spread a thin layer of thermal grease that came over the processor with the heat sink to
ensure proper heat transfer (some heat sinks come with this already applied grease).
 Figure 5. Install CPU Heat Sink

3. Attach the clip holding the heat sink in place bearing in mind that a fair
amount of force may be required.
4. Plug the power connector for the CPU fan into the appropriate motherboard socket.
Step 5. Install Memory (RAM Modules)
To mount the memory modules, insert them into the correct sockets (Figure 6) and
press firmly but uniformly down until the clips on both sides of the socket pop up.

Figure 6. Install RAM Memory

Step 6. Place the motherboard into the case

1. Some PC cases are provided with a removable motherboard tray. If yours does,
remove and pull out of the case the screws holding it in place (Figure 7).

Figure 7. Remove Motherboard Tray

 2. Note the holes pattern in your motherboard (Figure 8) and screw brass standoffs in
the right position in the motherboard tray or in the PC case (ALWAYS consult the manual
and follow their letter instructions).

Figure 8. Screw Brass Standoffs into the Motherboard

3. Test the socket configuration on the motherboard and confirm that the ports on the
back panel of your motherboard suit the holes on the Input / Output ( I / O) shield of your
case mounted

4. Place the motherboard carefully over the brass standoffs (Figure 9), line up all the
holes and use the screws that accompanied the case to fasten the motherboard down.

Figure 9. Case’s I /O Shield Figure 10. Mount the Motherboard

Step 7. Connect the Power Supply

Having the appropriate connections is necessary for efficient assembly of your PC
device.
1. First, plug your motherboard 's large ATX power connector (Figure 11) from your
power supply into the corresponding port. Look for information on figure X.
2. Locate the smaller, square power connector for the processor (Figure 12) (you can't
miss it-it’s the one that sprouts the yellow and black wires) and add it to the board. Note:
Typically, the connector 's near the processor. As always, refer to the exact locations in your
motherboard 's manual.
3. Using your user manual on the motherboard to check out the list of front panel
connectors.

Figure 11. Large ATX Connector

Figure 12. Connect the ATX Power

 Figure 13. Square Processor Power Connector in
the Motherboard

4. Connect each of the tiny leads to the appropriate pin on your motherboard, from the
power and reset switches, the hard disk operation lights, the Laptop speaker and any front
panel USB and FireWire ports. Useful for handling small parts are the needle-nose pliers.

Step 8. Install Graphics / Video Cards

1. Begin by removing the backplane cover from the AGP or PCI Express X16 slot (the metal
piece where the monitor connector will emerge).
2. Install the graphics board in that slot, and then secure the card with a screw.

1. 2.

Step 9. Install Internal Drives

1. Make any adjustments required to the jumpers on the drives before installing them
in the case. It is easy to set up a two-drive network (one or two SATA (Serial ATA- is the
normal hardware interface for connecting hard drives and CD / DVD drives to a computer)
hard drives, plus one optical parallel ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) drive,.
2. Use the included screws to attach your drives to the rails or cage, and slide them into
the case.
3. Upon installation of the drives, connect power and data cables to each.. A similar but
narrower cable is used on floppy drives;

Figure 14. Attach your devices

Figure 15. Attach Power Connector

Step 10. Install the Add- in Cards

1. You must select a free PCI slot for each add-in card.
2. To allow access from the rear of the case, remove its backplane cover.
3. Place the card carefully above the slot, then press firmly down to seat the card (Figure
16).
4. Secure the card with use of a crew.
 Figure 16. Add in cards

References
Computer Assembling Tools
It is critical to have a toolkit which should contain all the required tools to complete
hardware assembly. You will learn which tools to have available for various types of jobs as
you gain experience. Hardware tools are divided into the following four categories:

• Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) tools

• Hand tools
• Cleaning tools
• Diagnostic tools

Electro-Static Discharge (ESD) Tools

Static electricity is easily produced by friction on carpets, flooring tiles, clothes, hair,
fabric, and so on.

Anti-static wrist strap – Used to prevent ESD damage to

computer equipment.

Anti-static mat – Used to stand on or place hardware on to prevent static electricity

from building up.

Hand Tools
A hand tool is a device which uses only hands to perform work on a material or a
physical structure.
Table 1. Hand Tools
Tool Description

Flat Head Screwdriver – Used for loosening or straining of slotted

screws.
 Philips Head Screwdriver – For loosening or tightening of
crosshead screws.

Torx Screwdriver - Used for loosening or tightening screws that

have a star-like.

Hex Driver – Often called a nut driver.

Needle-Nose Pliers – Designed for holding small parts.

Wire Cutter – Used in stripping and cutting wires.

Tweezers – Used for manipulating small parts.

Part Retriever – Used to retrieve parts that are too small to fit your
hand from a spot.

Flashlight – Used for lighting up places you cannot see well.

Cleaning Tools
When servicing or repairing computers, it is important to have the correct cleaning
equipment.
Table 2. Cleaning Tools
Tools Description
 Lint-free Cloth – Used for cleaning components of various
computers without scratching or leaving debris.

Tools Description
Compressed Air – Used to clear dust and debris from
different machine pieces,

Cable Ties – Used for neatly bundling cables in and out of a

computer.

Parts Organizer – Used for carrying screws, jumpers,

fasteners and other small parts and stopping them from
mixing together.

Diagnostic Tools
For each new generation of hardware and operating system upgrades computers are
easier to use and more robust, but that doesn't mean they are problem-free.

Table 3. Diagnostic Tools

Tools Description

Multimeter – Used to check circuit integrity and electricity

efficiency within device components.

Loopback Adapter – Used to examine the computer port

performance.
Operating System and Drivers for Peripherals Devices
Operating System (OS) is a collection of software that manages computer hardware
resources and provides common services for computer programs.
The operating system has far greater responsibilities and powers with respect to
large systems. It's like a traffic cop — it makes sure there's no conflict between various
systems and users running at the same time.
Types of Operating System
Operating systems are usually pre-loaded onto any computer you purchase. Modern
operating systems are using a graphical user interface, or GUI (pronounce as gooey). A GUI
allows you to use your mouse to select icons, buttons and menus, and with a combination of
graphics and text.
Microsoft Windows
In the mid-1980s Microsoft developed the
Windows operating system. Several different
versions of Windows have been available, but
the current ones are Windows 10 (released in
2015), Windows 8 (2012), Windows 7 (2009),
and Windows Vista (2007).

macOS
The macOS (formerly called OS X) is a line of
Apple-created operating systems. It
comes preloaded on all Macintosh, or Macs
computers. They include Mojave (released in
2018), High Sierra (2017), and Sierra (2016).

Linux
Linux
(pronounced LINN-ux) is a family of open-source
operating systems which means anybody around the
world can modify and distribute them.

Peripheral devices Protocols

Every peripheral has its own computer code.
Which has its own rules which dictate how data
values are transmitted between the device and the
computer.
Drivers
The OS uses programs called device drivers to manage connections with peripherals.
A device driver:
• handles the translation of
requests between a device and the
computer
• defines where a process must put outgoing
data before it can be sent, and where
incoming messages will be stored when
they are received
• wakes up the device when it is needed and
put it back to sleep when it is not
File systems
The OS organizes files on the storage drive.
In order to retrieve data from a file, the computer needs to know:
• which storage device it is held on
• where it is stored on the device
• how files are organized on the device
• how much data is in it
• the protocol needed to communicate with it
A file system 's function is to provide a uniform way for programs to store and retrieve
data.

File management
The OS manages how the files are organized into details. This allows the user's
browsing of files using applications such as the Windows File Explorer or Mac OS X Finder.

Utilities
The OS uses so called utility
applications that allow the user to
manage the computer.

Maintenance utilities These

include:
• Backup - This allows the
computer to be restored to a previous state that is saved as backup.
• Disk cleaner - The storage drive is divided into many clusters. The content table
serves as a book of addresses, keeping a record of each file and the clusters used to
store that file.
• Disk defragmentation - Defragmentation involves the rearrangement of information
on a disk so that files appear in continuous cluster sequences
• Formatting - For compatibility with an OS, the hard drives need to be formatted.
Security utilities These include:
• User Accounts - permits the user to allocate specific users and protects personal
files and programs from unauthorized access.
• Encryption - can encrypt data once it is stored, or whenever it is transmitted over a
network.
• Anti-Virus Software - detects and blocks viruses.
• Firewall - can be used to filter between trusted and untrusted networks and prevent
programs from communicating through the use of ports.

Installation of Application Software

The software installation process depends on the operating system, as well as the
application you are downloading.