A+ Exam Cram Book

	Introduction	xiii
	Self-Assessment	xxi
Chapter 1	A+ Certification Exams	1
	The Test Site	2
	Test Layout and Design	3
	Take Your Test Seriously	4
	Question-Handling Strategies	5
	Additional Resources	7
Chapter 2	Motherboards	9
	System Boards: A Brief History	10
	Components of the Motherboard	12
	Slots and Sockets	17
	Power Supply	20
	Expansion Bus Architecture	21
	Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)	23
	Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)	25
	PC Card (PCMCIA)	30
	Practice Questions	31
	Need to Know More?	34
Chapter 3	Processors	35
	Central Processing Unit (CPU)	36
	Processor Families	38
	L-1 and L-2 Caches	45
	Pentium Processors	45
	AMD Processors	51
	Practice Questions	53
	Need to Know More?	56
Chapter 4	Memory	57
	Conceptual Overview	58
	Read-Only Memory (ROM)	59
	A RAM Game	62
	Cache Memory	64
	Memory Pages	66
	Types of RAM	67
	Packaging Modules	72
	Memory Diagnostics--Parity	75
	Practice Questions	79
	Need to Know More?	82
Chapter 5	Peripherals: Input Devices	83
	Interrupt Requests (IRQs)	84
	Direct Memory Access (DMA) Channels	87
	IRQs, DMA, and I/O Ports	88
	Basic Electronics	93
	Keyboards	96
	Mice and Trackballs	97
	Modems	99
	Scanners	101
	Practice Questions	105
	Need to Know More?	109
Chapter 6	Peripherals: Storage Devices	111
	Floppy Disks	112
	Floppy Drive Components	113
	Floppy Drive Configuration	116
	Controllers	117
	Fixed Disks/Hard Drives	118
	Hard Drive Controllers	121
	ATA Interface	121
	Hard Drive Configuration	127
	Removable Media and Drives	128
	Flash Memory	129
	Optical Storage	131
	Practice Questions	136
	Need to Know More?	139
Chapter 7	Peripherals: Output Devices	141
	Transient vs. Final Output	142
	Video Displays	143
	Standard VGA	145
	SVGA and UVGA	146
	Screen Size	147
	Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)	152
	Printers	156
	Dot Matrix	159
	Printer Problems	160
	Fonts	163
	Laser Printers	166
	Paper Feed Process	173
	Practice Questions	175
	Need to Know More?	178
Chapter 8	Networking	179
	Chaining Devices	180
	SCSI Interface	181
	Universal Serial Bus (USB)	183
	Plug and Play (PnP)	187
	IEEE 1394	188
	Networking Overview	189
	Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)	190
	Token Ring (IEEE 802.5)	193
	Bridges and Routers	194
	The Internet	197
	Practice Questions	201
	Need to Know More?	204
Chapter 9	Cables and Connectors	205
	Basic I/O Interfaces	206
	Parallel (LPT) Ports: 8 Bits Across	208
	Serial (COM) Ports: 1 Bit after Another	210
	Network Cables and Connectors	212
	Practice Questions	217
	Need to Know More?	220
Chapter 10	DOS	221
	Operating Systems	222
	DOS	223
	The Command Interpreter	228
	COMMAND.COM	232
	The Environment	234
	Logical Formatting and Partitions: FDISK	238
	FORMAT.COM	243
	File Systems	245
	File Management	249
	DEFRAG.EXE	254
	File Names	256
	DOS Commands	259
	The Path	261
	The DIR Command: File Searches	263
	Operating Systems vs. Shells	267
	Batch Files	270
	Practice Questions	274
	Need to Know More?	278
Chapter 11	Booting, Windows 3.11, and Memory	279
	Booting and System Files	280
	The CONFIG.SYS File	285
	MSDOS.SYS	289
	Beep Codes	290
	The Bootable Disk	291
	Windows	294
	Starting 16-Bit Windows	304
	WIN.COM	307
	Windows 3.x Core Files	309
	Initialization (INI) Files	310
	PROGMAN.INI	313
	Memory	315
	HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE	324
	Virtual Device Drivers (VxDs)	331
	An Example CONFIG.SYS File	333
	Practice Questions	338
	Need to Know More?	342
Chapter 12	Windows 95, 98, and ME	343
	Supplemental Releases	345
	FAT32	346
	Windows 9x vs. Windows 3.x	347
	The Registry	350
	REGEDIT.EXE	356
	Installing Windows 95, 98, and ME	358
	Installation Phases	359
	Installation Log Files	364
	Starting Windows 9x	366
	Start Sequence	369
	Final Steps to Loading Windows 9x	370
	Loading Device Drivers	371
	Useful Extra Utilities	373
	Startup Menu (F8) and Safe Mode	374
	The Installable File System (IFS) Manager	378
	Reports and Utilities	383
	Windows 98	385
	Windows ME	391
	Practice Questions	393
	Need to Know More?	396
Chapter 13	Windows NT and Windows 2000	397
	Multitasking	398
	The Origins of Windows NT	398
	NT Versions 3.1 and 4.0	399
	Version Convergence	400
	The Interface	401
	NT Workstation and NT Server	405
	The NT Registry	405
	NT Networking	406
	User Accounts	411
	Starting Windows NT	415
	NT File System (NTFS)	417
	NT Disk Administration	418
	Troubleshooting Tools	423
	NT Error Messages	426
	Windows 2000	428
	Active Directory	432
	Windows 2000 Diagnostics and Troubleshooting	434
	Practice Questions	441
	Need to Know More?	444
Chapter 14	Troubleshooting	445
	Boot Problems	446
	Hardware Problems	448
	Startup Problems	450
	Diagnostics Tools	451
	Connectivity Problems	456
	Viruses	459
	Practice Questions	462
	Need to Know More?	465
Chapter 15	Sample Test	467
Chapter 16	Answer Key	489
	Glossary	507
	Index	521