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Table of Contents
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Index
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Reviews
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Reader Reviews
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Errata
PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 2nd Edition
By
Barbara Fritchman Thompson
,
Robert Bruce Thompson
Publisher
: O'Reilly
Pub Date
: June 2002
ISBN
: 0-596-00353-6
Pages
: 804
Slots
: 1
Copyright
Dedication
Foreword
Preface
Audience
Organization
Conventions
We'd Like to Hear from You
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. Fundamentals
Section 1.1. PCs Defined
Section 1.2. PC Components and Technologies
Section 1.3. System Resources
Section 1.4. Building or Buying a PC
Section 1.5. Upgrading a PC
Section 1.6. Smart Buying Practices
Section 1.7. Things to Do with Old PCs
Chapter 2. Working on PCs
Section 2.1. Rules to Upgrade By
Section 2.2. Tools
Section 2.3. General Procedures
Chapter 3. Motherboards
Section 3.1. Motherboard Characteristics
Section 3.2. Choosing a Motherboard
Section 3.3. Installing a Motherboard
Section 3.4. Upgrading the System BIOS
Section 3.5. Our Picks
Chapter 4. Processors
Section 4.1. Processor Design
Section 4.2. Intel Processors
Section 4.3. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processors
Section 4.4. Choosing a Processor
Section 4.5. Installing a Processor
Section 4.6. Our Picks
Chapter 5. Memory
Section 5.1. Understanding Memory
Section 5.2. Memory Access Methods
Section 5.3. Memory Packaging
Section 5.4. How Much Memory Is Enough?
Section 5.5. Memory Selection Guidelines
Section 5.6. Installing Memory
Section 5.7. Troubleshooting Memory Installation and Operation
Section 5.8. Our Picks
Chapter 6. Floppy Disk Drives
Section 6.1. Diskette Types and Formats
Section 6.2. Drive Types
Section 6.3. FDD Interface and Cabling
Section 6.4. Installing a Floppy Disk Drive
Section 6.5. Working with FDDs
Section 6.6. Working with Obsolete Diskette Formats
Section 6.7. Salvaging Diskette Data
Section 6.8. Our Picks
Chapter 7. High-Capacity Floppy Disk Drives
Section 7.1. High-Capacity FDD Types
Section 7.2. Choosing a High-Capacity Floppy Disk Drive
Section 7.3. Using an ATAPI Zip or SuperDisk Drive as the Boot Device
Section 7.4. Drive Letter Assignment Problems
Section 7.5. Our Picks
Chapter 8. Removable Hard Disk Drives
Section 8.1. Uses for Removable Hard Disk Drives
Section 8.2. Cartridge-Based Removable Hard Disk Drives
Section 8.3. Frame/Carrier-Based Removable Hard Disk Drives
Section 8.4. Our Picks
Chapter 9. Tape Drives
Section 9.1. Choosing a Tape Drive
Section 9.2. Installing and Configuring a Tape Drive
Section 9.3. Care and Feeding of a Tape Drive
Section 9.4. Troubleshooting Tape Drive Problems
Section 9.5. The Dirty Little Secret of Long Filenames
Section 9.6. Developing a Backup Strategy
Section 9.7. Our Picks
Chapter 10. CD-ROM Drives
Section 10.1. Compact Disc Fundamentals
Section 10.2. CD-ROM Drive Performance
Section 10.3. Choosing a CD-ROM Drive
Section 10.4. Installing and Configuring a CD-ROM Drive
Section 10.5. Cleaning a CD-ROM Drive
Section 10.6. Our Picks
Chapter 11. CD-R and CD-RW Drives
Section 11.1. CD Writers and Media
Section 11.2. Writable CD Formats
Section 11.3. CD Recording Methods
Section 11.4. BURN-Proof Technology
Section 11.5. Choosing a CD Writer
Section 11.6. CD Writer Software
Section 11.7. Installing and Configuring a CD Writer
Section 11.8. Updating CD Writer Firmware
Section 11.9. Media Issues
Section 11.10. Burning CDs
Section 11.11. Special Problems and Applications
Section 11.12. Writable CD Troubleshooting
Section 11.13. Additional CD-R(W) Source Material
Section 11.14. Our Picks
Chapter 12. DVD Drives
Section 12.1. DVD-ROM
Section 12.2. DVD Writable and Rewritable
Section 12.3. Installing and Configuring a DVD Drive
Section 12.4. Our Picks
Chapter 13. Hard Disk Interfaces
Section 13.1. IDE
Section 13.2. SCSI
Section 13.3. ATA Versus SCSI
Section 13.4. Our Picks
Chapter 14. Hard Disk Drives
Section 14.1. How Hard Disks Work
Section 14.2. Choosing a Hard Disk
Section 14.3. Installing an ATA Hard Disk
Section 14.4. Installing a SCSI Hard Disk
Section 14.5. Preparing a Hard Disk for Use
Section 14.6. Our Picks
Chapter 15. Video Adapters
Section 15.1. Video Adapter Characteristics
Section 15.2. Choosing a Video Adapter
Section 15.3. Installing a Video Adapter
Section 15.4. Configuring Video Under Windows 98/Me/2000/XP
Section 15.5. Configuring Video Under Windows NT 4
Section 15.6. Troubleshooting Video Adapter Problems
Section 15.7. Our Picks
Chapter 16. Displays
Section 16.1. CRT Monitors
Section 16.2. Flat-Panel Displays
Section 16.3. Installing and Configuring a Display
Section 16.4. Troubleshooting Display Problems
Section 16.5. Our Picks
Chapter 17. Sound Adapters
Section 17.1. PC Audio Types
Section 17.2. MIDI Synthesis Methods
Section 17.3. Downloadable Sounds
Section 17.4. Sound Card Components
Section 17.5. Sound Card Characteristics
Section 17.6. Choosing a Sound Card
Section 17.7. Installing a Sound Card
Section 17.8. Troubleshooting Sound Card Problems
Section 17.9. MP3
Section 17.10. Our Picks
Chapter 18. Speakers and Headphones
Section 18.1. Speaker and Headphone Characteristics
Section 18.2. Choosing Speakers and Headphones
Section 18.3. Our Picks
Chapter 19. Keyboards
Section 19.1. Keyboard Switch Types
Section 19.2. Keyboard Styles
Section 19.3. Keyboard Interfaces
Section 19.4. Choosing a Keyboard
Section 19.5. Configuring a Keyboard
Section 19.6. Cleaning a Keyboard
Section 19.7. Troubleshooting and Repairing Keyboards
Section 19.8. Our Picks
Chapter 20. Mice and Trackballs
Section 20.1. Mice Versus Trackballs
Section 20.2. Mouse Characteristics
Section 20.3. Choosing a Mouse
Section 20.4. Configuring a Mouse or Trackball
Section 20.5. Cleaning a Mouse
Section 20.6. Troubleshooting a Mouse
Section 20.7. Our Picks
Chapter 21. Game Controllers
Section 21.1. Game Controller Characteristics
Section 21.2. Gameport Interface
Section 21.3. Choosing a Game Controller
Section 21.4. Installing a Game Controller
Section 21.5. Troubleshooting Game Controllers
Section 21.6. Our Picks
Chapter 22. Serial Communications
Section 22.1. Serial Communications Overview
Section 22.2. Serial Ports
Section 22.3. Serial Cables
Section 22.4. Installing and Configuring Serial Port Hardware
Section 22.5. Troubleshooting Serial Port Problems
Section 22.6. Our Picks
Chapter 23. Parallel Communications
Section 23.1. Mapping Parallel Ports to LPTs
Section 23.2. Parallel Port Types
Section 23.3. Configuring Parallel Port Hardware
Section 23.4. Parallel Connectors and Cables
Section 23.5. Our Picks
Chapter 24. USB Communications
Section 24.1. USB Characteristics
Section 24.2. USB Host Controller Interfaces
Section 24.3. Configuring USB
Section 24.4. Troubleshooting USB
Section 24.5. Our Picks
Chapter 25. Cases
Section 25.1. Case Characteristics
Section 25.2. Choosing a Case
Section 25.3. Our Picks
Chapter 26. Power Supplies
Section 26.1. Power Supply Characteristics
Section 26.2. Volts, Amps, Watts, and Regulation
Section 26.3. Power Connectors
Section 26.4. Choosing a Power Supply
Section 26.5. Installing a Power Supply
Section 26.6. Troubleshooting Power Supplies
Section 26.7. Our Picks
Chapter 27. Backup Power Supplies
Section 27.1. What BPSes Protect Against
Section 27.2. BPS Types
Section 27.3. BPS Characteristics
Section 27.4. Choosing a BPS
Section 27.5. Our Picks
Chapter 28. Building a PC
Section 28.1. Step 1: Prepare the Case
Section 28.2. Step 2: Configure the Motherboard
Section 28.3. Step 3: Install the Processor
Section 28.4. Step 4: Install the Memory
Section 28.5. Step 5: Prepare Drives for Installation
Section 28.6. Step 6: Install the Floppy Disk Drive
Section 28.7. Step 7: Install Other Drives
Section 28.8. Step 8: Install the Motherboard
Section 28.9. Step 9: Connect Cables to the Motherboard
Section 28.10. Step 10: Install Expansion Cards
Section 28.11. Step 11: Perform the "Smoke Test"
Section 28.12. Step 12: Install Software
Section 28.13. Step 13: Finishing Touches
Colophon
Index
