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Peter Norton's New Inside the PC PDF

640 Pages·2002·5.5 MB·English
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Peter Norton's® New Inside the PC By Peter Norton, Scott H. A. Clark Publisher: Sams Publishing Pub Date: April 12, 2002 ISBN: 0-672-32289-7 Pages: 640 Slots: 1 Copyright Acknowledgments About the Author Tell Us What You Think! Introduction My Approach About This Book Part I. The Glass Box Chapter 1. The Desktop PC The Three Main Parts The System Unit The Display Input Devices Inside the PC Chapter 2. Portable PCs From Luggables to Laptops and Beyond Hardware That Is Almost Unique to Mobile PCs Lessons Learned from Portable PCs Extending Your Battery's Life Summary Chapter 3. PDAs and Handheld PCs Put a PC in Your Pocket Ancient History The PalmPilot Linux By the Handful—Agenda Windows-Centered Devices Comparisons Chapter 4. Understanding Bits and Bytes What Are Information and Data? How Bits and Bytes Cast a Hex on ASCII Reducing Bits, Bytes, and Real Life Summary and Looking Ahead Part II. Inside the PC: A Closer Look at Components Chapter 5. A First Look at Motherboards and Processors Safe System Unit "Surgery" A Platform to Build Upon: The Motherboard Understanding PC Processors Major and Minor Improvements Summary Chapter 6. Video and Monitors It's Just No Good if You Can't Get the Information Out Basic Characteristics of Video How Images Are Painted on the Screen (Overview) Getting the Colors Right How to Talk to a Video Display Understanding Display Technologies Summary Chapter 7. Disks and PC Data Storage Traditional PC Disk Drives The Origin of IDE, EIDE, ATA, ATAPI, and More The Really Good Bus with the Really Bad Name (SCSI) Mixing IDE and SCSI Disk Drives Summary Chapter 8. Removable Storage Variations on the Theme of PC Storage The Multiple Dimensions of PC Storage Technologies Removable Magnetic PC Data Storage Devices Removable Optical PC Data Storage Devices Magneto-Optical PC Data Storage Devices Electronic PC Data Storage Devices Summary Chapter 9. Serial Ports Talking Through a Tiny Pipe: Serial Ports A Series of Serial Ports IEEE 1394 FireWire What if You Need Lots of Serial Ports? Summary Chapter 10. Parallel Ports The Faster Path "Printer" Ports Aren't Just for Printers Printer Ports Aren't Even for Printers Anymore Summary Chapter 11. Networking—Wired and Wireless What Is Networking? Why Network? Types of Networks The Parts of a Network Ethernet—The Everywhere Network Alternative Small Networks Wireless Networking Summary Chapter 12. Modems and Broadband Reaching Out "Yodeling" PCs Cable Modems Keeping It Purely Digital Which Way Should You Go? Summary Chapter 13. Input Devices The Keyboard Is "Key" Alternatives to Typing: Voice Recognition The Point Is Pointing (Mousing Around) Some Other PC Input Devices Summary Chapter 14. Printers The Purpose and Power of PC Printers Page Description Languages Printing Technologies Getting the Color (Almost) Right Summary Part III. Inside the Black Boxes Inside the Glass Box Chapter 15. Motherboard Magic Processor Architecture The "Intel-Compatible" Chips The Architecture That Goes Around the CPU Interrupts: The Driving Force What Is a DMA Channel? Keeping Up with the Clock System Buses: ISA, PCI and AGP Measuring Performance via Benchmarks Summary Chapter 16. Kick Starting—The Boot Process What Is the BIOS? CMOS and Other Programs POST (Power-On Self-Test) Device Drivers and Firmware BIOS Fault Tolerance How Your PC Wakes Up and Prepares Itself for Work Speeding Up Your PC's Boot Process Common BIOS Tuning Options CMOS Security The Current BIOS Industry Summary Chapter 17. Understanding PC Memory The CPU's Essential Playground Various Flavors of RAM Various Flavors of ROM and NVRAM Addressing Memory: Intel's Segments Not All Memory Is Equal Your PC's Memory Needs Managing Understanding Windows Memory Use Memory Management Software So How Much RAM Do You Need, Really? Summary Chapter 18. Storage: How Does Data Get There? Hard Disks Hard Disks are Different from Floppies Making Sense out of Chaos RAID Systems—Sense and Sensibility Optical Discs Learning About File Formats Data Compression Summary Chapter 19. Advanced Networking Layers in the Network Strategy The NIC Needs a NOS TCP/IP: The Internet's Babelfish What Is the Internet? Assuring a Quality of Service—Tomorrow's Internet Summary Chapter 20. Video Acceleration Vector Versus Bitmapped Images: Rasterizing and Rendering How PCs Create Compelling Visual Images The RAMDAC More About AGP: Is it Really Faster? The World of 3D Summary Chapter 21. Inside Tomorrow's PC A Changed World Sure Bets Your Own Glass Box Part IV. Appendixes Appendix A. Operating Systems: The Middleman Between You and Your PC What Is an Operating System and Why Do You Need One? DOS Is Dead! Long Live Windows! Understanding Your Choices for Your PC's Operating System Summary Appendix B. Understanding How Humans Instruct PCs Harnessing the PC's Power to Help Mere Humans Dividing Up the Work How Not to Keep On Reinventing the Wheel Helping Ordinary People "Program" Their PCs Easily Summary Glossary Index Copyright Copyright ©2002 by Sams Publishing FIRST EDITION All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2001093561 Printed in the United States of America First Printing: March 2002 04 03 02 4 3 2 1 Trademarks All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Warning and Disclaimer Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an "as is" basis. The author and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book. Credits Associate Publisher Michael Stephens Acquisitions Editor Kim Spilker Development Editor Steve Rowe Managing Editor Charlotte Clapp Project Editor Matt Purcell Copy Editor Kezia Endsley Indexer Tina Trettin Proofreader Andrea Dugan Technical Editor John Gosney Team Coordinator Lynne Williams Interior Designer Gary Adair Cover Designer Aren Howell Page Layout Rebecca Harmon Dedication Dedication For My Parents, Whose Love Has Never Faltered.

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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.