Internal Hard Drive

Hard drive, comes in two sizes for personal computers:

the 2.5" size is used for laptop computers and the 3.5" size is used for desktops.
A magnetic hard drive has one, two, or more platters, or disks, that stack together and spin in
unison inside a sealed metal housing that contains firmware to control reading and writing data
to the drive and to communicate with the motherboard. The top and bottom of each disk have
a read/write head that moves across the disk surface as all the disks rotate on a spindle
the parts inside the case of the magnetic hard drive are; Actuator, Drive spindle, Platters or
disks, Read-write head. read/write heads are controlled by an actuator, which moves the
read/write heads across the disk surfaces in unison. The disk surfaces are covered with a
magnetic medium that can hold data as magnetized spots. The spindle rotates at 5400, 7200,
10,000, or 15,000 RPM. The faster the spindle, the better performing the drive. Data is
organized on a magnetic hard drive in concentric circles, called tracks. Each track is divided into
segments called sectors. Older hard drives used sectors that contained 512 bytes. Most current
hard drives use 4096-byte sectors. With transfer speeds of up to 6 gigabits per second in the
transfer of data.

External hard drive:

An external hard drive can be one that connected by an external bay. The caseing of the
external bay is a shell that house the SATA connection. The bay converts the SATA to USB.
Inside the bay is a solid state drive (SSD), also called a solid state device (SSD), is called solid
state because it has no moving parts. The drives are built using nonvolatile memory, which is
similar to that used for USB flash drives. Recall this type of memory does not lose its data even
after the power is turned off. In an SSD drive, flash memory is stored on EEPROM (Electronically
Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) chips inside the drive housing. The chips contain
grids of rows and columns with two transistors at each intersection that hold a zero or one bit.
One of these transistors is called a floating gate and accepts the zero or one state according to a
logic test called NAND (stands for “Not AND”). Therefore, the memory in an SSD is called NAND
flash memory. EEPROM chips are limited as to the number of times transistors can be
reprogrammed. Therefore, the lifespan of an SSD drive is based on the number of write
operations to the drive. (The number of read operations does not affect the lifespan.) For
normal desktop or laptop computers, an SSD is rated to last for over 200 years. For high-use
servers, the lifespan of an SSD is considerably shorter. With the drive having no moving parts
transfer speeds are much faster than 6 gigabits per second.
USB Pen drive:

USB flash drives currently range in size from 128 MB to 256 GB and higher they go by many
names, including a flash pen drive, jump drive, thumb drive, and key drive. Flash drives might
work at USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 speed and use the FAT (for small-capacity drives) or exFAT file
system. Windows 7/Vista/XP has embedded drivers to support flash drives. To use one, simply
insert the device in a USB port. It then shows in Windows Explorer as a drive with an assigned
letter

Optical media:

CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs use similar laser technologies. Tiny lands and pits on the sur-face
of a disc represent bits, which a laser beam can read. This is why they are called optical storage
technologies. CD (compact disc) drives use the CDFS (Compact Disc File System) or the UDF
(Universal Disk Format) file system, while DVD (digital versatile disc or digital video disc)
drives and Blu-ray Disc (BD) drives use the newer UDF file system. Blu-ray drives are backward
compatible with DVD and CD technologies, and DVD drives are backward compatible with CD
technologies. Depending on the drive features, an optical
drive might be able to read and write to BDs, DVDs, and CDs. An internal optical drive can
interface with the motherboard by way of an IDE or SATA connection. An external drive might
use an eSATA, FireWire, or USB port.
BD double-side, dual layer can hold 50 GB

DVD rewriteable.
Also known as an erasable, recordable drive or a write-
many disc. The speeds in an ad for an optical drive indicate the maximum
speed supported when burning this type of disc, for example, DVD-RW 6X.

DVD-RW DL disc or drive,

a.k.a. DL DVD drive
DVD rewriteable, dual layers.
Doubles disc storage capacity to 8.5 GB.

DVD recordable.
Similar to but faster than DVD-R. Discs hold about 4.7 GB
of data.

DVD+R DL disc or drive

DVD recordable, dual layers.
Doubles disc storage to 8.5 GB on one surface.
Flash memory cards:

Memory cards might be used in digital cameras, tablets, cell phones, MP3 players, digital
camcorders, and other portable devices, and most laptops have memory card slots. The SD
Association ([Link]) is responsible for standards used by the
Secure Digital (SD) cards. The three standards used by SD cards are 1.x (regular SD), 2.x (SD High
Capacity or SDHC), and 3.x (SD eXtended Capacity or SDXC). In addition, these cards come in
three physical sizes. SDHC and SDXC slots are backward compatible with earlier standards for
SD cards. However, you cannot use an SDHC card in an SD slot, and you cannot use an SDXC
card in an SDHC slot or SD slot. Only use SDXC cards in SDXC slots.
SD and SDHC cards use the FAT file system, and SDXC cards use the exFAT file system.
Windows 7/Vista supports both file systems, so you should be able to install an SD, SDHC, or
SDXC card in an SD slot on a Windows 7/Vista laptop with no problems (assuming the slot
supports the SDHC or SDXC card you are using). Windows XP can use the exFAT file system only
when exFAT drivers are installed.

Hardware components:

The spine of the computer is the motherboard, otherwise known as the system board and
mainboard. This is the printed circuit board (PCB)—a conductive series of pathways lami-nated
to a nonconductive substrate—that lines the bottom of the computer and is often of a uniform
color, such as olive, brown, or blue. It is the most important component in the computer
because it connects all the other components together. All other components are attached to
this circuit board. On the system board, you will find the central processing unit (CPU),
underlying circuitry, expansion slots, video components, random access memory (RAM) slots,
and a variety of other chips.

The cable type

The Advanced Technology Extended (ATX) motherboard was developed by Intel in the mid-
1990s to improve upon the classic AT-style motherboard architecture that had ruled the PC
world for many years. The ATX motherboard has the processor and memory slots at right
angles to the expansion cards. This arrangement puts the processor and memory in line with
the fan output of the power supply, allowing the processor to run cooler. And because those
components are not in line with the expansion cards, you can install full-length expansion cards
—adapters that extend the full length of the inside of a standard computer case—in an ATX
motherboard machine. ATX (and its derivatives) are the primary motherboards in use today.
Standard ATX motherboards measure 12x9.6 (305 x244 mm).

Many of the following components can be found on a typical motherboard:

Chipsets

Expansion slots and buses

Memory slots and external cache

CPUs and their sockets

Power connectors

Onboard disk drive connectors

Keyboard connectors

Integrated peripheral ports and headers

BIOS/firmware

CMOS battery

Jumpers and DIP switches

Front-panel connectors

Serial ATA (SATA), Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE 1394/FireWire, and Peripheral Component
Interconnect Express (PCIe) are all connectors and some cable that connect to the
motherboard.

Chipsets
A chipset is a collection of chips or circuits that perform interface and peripheral functions for
the processor. This collection of chips is usually the circuitry that provides interfaces for
memory, expansion cards, and onboard peripherals and generally dictates how a motherboard
will communicate with the installed peripherals.
Chipsets are usually given a name and model number by the original manufacturer. Typically,
the manufacturer and model also tell you that your particular chipset has a certain set of
features (for example, type of RAM supported, type and brand of onboard video, and so on).
Chipsets can be made up of one or several integrated circuit chips. Intel-based motherboards,
for example, typically use two chips. To know for sure, you must check the manufacturer’s
documentation, especially because today’s chipset chips are frequently obscured by cooling
mechanisms, sometimes hindering visual brand and model identification. The functions of
chipsets can be divided into two major functional groups, called Northbridge and Southbridge.
Let’s take a brief look at these groups and the functions they perform.

If you look at the motherboard in your computer, you will more than likely see one of
the main types of expansion slots used in computers today:
NN
PCI
NN
AGP
PCIe
NN
PCI-X
NN
CNR

PCI expansion buses operate at 33 or 66MHz over a 32-bit (4-byte) channel, resulting
in data rates of 133 and 266MBps, respectively, with 133MBps being the most common,
server architectures excluded. PCI is a shared-bus topology, however, so mixing 33 and
66MHz adapters in a 66MHz system will slow all adapters to 33MHz. Older servers might
have featured 64-bit PCI slots as well, which double the 32-bit data rates. See the sidebar
in this chapter titled “Arriving at the Exact Answer” for help with understanding the math
involved in frequencies and bit rates.

Memory Slots and Cache

Memory or random access memory (RAM) slots are the next most notable slots on a
motherboard. These slots are for the modules that hold memory chips that make up
primary memory that is used to store currently used data and instructions for the CPU.
Many and varied types of memory are available for PCs today
Metal pins in the bottom make contact with the metallic pins on each memory module. Small
metal or plastic tabs on each side of the slot keep the memory module securely in its slot.

Central Processing Unit and Processor Socket

The “brain” of any computer is the central processing unit (
CPU
). There’s no computer
without a CPU. There are many different types of processors for computers—so many,
in fact, that you will learn about them later in this chapter in the section “Identifying
Purposes and Characteristics of Processors.”
Typically, in today’s computers, the processor is the easiest component to identify on
the motherboard. It is usually the component that has either a fan or a heat sink (usually
both) attached to it (as shown in Figure
1
.9). These devices are used to draw away and
disperse the heat a processor generates. This is done because heat is the enemy of micro
-
electronics. Theoretically, a Pentium (or higher) processor generates enough heat that
without the heat sink it would permanently damage itself and the motherboard in a matter
of hours or even minutes.
CPU sockets are almost as varied as the processors they hold. Sockets are basically flat
and have several columns and rows of holes or pins arranged in a square, as shown in
Figure
1
.10. The top socket is known as Socket A or Socket 462, made for earlier AMD
processors such as the Athlon, and has holes to receive the pins on the CPU. This is known
as a pin grid array (PGA) arrangement for a CPU socket. The holes and pins are in a row/
column orientation, an array of pins. The bottom socket is known as Socket T or Socket
LGA 775
, and there are spring-loaded pins in the socket and a grid of lands on the CPU.
The land grid array (
LGA
) is a newer technology that places the delicate pins (yet more
sturdy than those on chips) on the cheaper motherboard instead of on the more expensive
CPU, opposite to the way the aging PGA does. The device with the pins has to be replaced
if the pins become too damaged to function. The PGA and LGA are mentioned again later
in this chapter in the section “Identifying Purposes and Characteristics of Processors.”

BIOS and POST

Aside from the processor, the most important chip on the motherboard is the Basic Input/
Output System (
BIOS
) chip, also referred to as the ROM BIOS chip. This special memory
chip contains the BIOS system software that boots the system and allows the operating
system to interact with certain hardware in the computer in lieu of requiring a more com-
plex device driver to do so. The BIOS chip is easily identified: If you have a brand-name
computer, this chip might have on it the name of the manufacturer and usually the word
BIOS
. For clones, the chip usually has a sticker or printing on it from one of the major
BIOS manufacturers (AMI, Phoenix/Award, Winbond, and so on). On later motherboards,
the BIOS might be difficult to identify or even be integrated into the Southbridge, but the
functionality remains, regardless of how it’s implemented.
Operating System

An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software
resources and provides common services for computer programs. The operating system is a
component of the system software in a computer system. With Windows having the must user
friendly interface making it easier to use for any user.

DOS /dɒs/, short for disk operating system, is an acronym for several computer operating
systems that were operated by using the command line. Which is un-friendly to users, the user
would have to be an expert to easily maneuve. MS-DOS dominated the IBM PC compatible
market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 including the partially MS-DOS-based
Microsoft Windows (95, 98, and Millennium Edition).

The basic version of Windows 8, suitable for most users, works with touch screen devices as
well as with traditional keyboard-and-mouse systems. A version called Windows RT supports
the ARM processor architecture. Another version, Windows 8 Pro, is aimed at business and
technical professionals who desire encryption, virtualization, PC management and domain
connectivity.

Anti-virus software

Anti-virus software is a program or set of programs that are designed to prevent, search for,
detect, and remove software viruses, and other malicious software like worms, trojans, adware,
and more.

These tools are critical for users to have installed and up-to-date because a computer without
anti-virus software installed will be infected within minutes of connecting to the internet. The
bombardment is constant, with anti-virus companies update their detection tools constantly to
deal with the more than 60,000 new pieces of malware created daily. One recommended anti-
virus would be AVG.

There are several different companies that build and offer anti-virus software and what each
offers can vary but all perform some basic functions:

 Scan specific files or directories for any malware or known malicious patterns
 Allow you to schedule scans to automatically run for you
 Allow you to initiate a scan of a specific file or of your computer, or of a CD or flash drive
at any time.
 Remove any malicious code detected –sometimes you will be notified of an infection
and asked if you want to clean the file, other programs will automatically do this behind
the scenes.
  Show you the ‘health’ of your computer

Disk Clean-up

Disk Cleanup ([Link]) is a computer maintenance utility included in Microsoft

Windows designed to free up disk space on a computer's hard drive. The utility first
searches and analyzes the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, and then
removes the unnecessary files.

In the maintenance of file systems, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount
of fragmentation. It does this by physically organizing the contents of the mass storage
device used to store files into the smallest number of contiguous regions (fragments).

Disk formatting is the process of preparing a data storage device such as a hard disk drive,
solid-state drive, floppy disk or USB flash drive for initial use. In some cases, the formatting
operation may also create one or more new file systems. The first part of the formatting
process that performs basic medium preparation is often referred to as "low-level
formatting".[1] Partitioning is the common term for the second part of the process, making
the data storage device visible to an operating system.[1] The third part of the process,
usually termed "high-level formatting" most often refers to the process of generating a new
file system.[1] In some operating systems all or parts of these three processes can be
combined or repeated at different levels[NB 1] and the term "format" is understood to mean
an operation in which a new disk medium is fully prepared to store files.

Firewalls

Firewalls are used to protect both home and corporate networks. A typical firewall program or
hardware device filters all information coming through the Internet to your network or
computer system. There are several types of firewall techniques that will prevent potentially
harmful information from getting through:

Packet Filter

Looks at each packet entering or leaving the network and accepts or rejects it based on user-
defined rules. Packet filtering is fairly effective and transparent to users, but it is difficult to
configure. In addition, it is susceptible to IP spoofing.

Application Gateway
Applies security mechanisms to specific applications, such as FTP and Telnet servers. This is very
effective, but can impose a performance degradation.

Circuit-level Gateway

Applies security mechanisms when a TCP or UDP connection is established. Once the
connection has been made, packets can flow between the hosts without further checking.

Proxy Server

Intercepts all messages entering and leaving the network. The proxy server effectively hides the
true network addresses.

In practice, many firewalls use two or more of these techniques in concert. A firewall is
considered a first line of defense in protecting private information. For greater security, data
can be encrypted.

Desktop Specifications

Processor (CPU): Intel Core i5-4xxx

Operating Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 (free via Dreamspark. Restrictions
System: may apply.)

Memory: 4 GB RAM
Storage: 500 GB internal hard drive
Sustainability EPEAT Silver rating (preferably EPEAT Gold)
CD-ROM: DVD +/- RW
Monitor/Display: 21.5 " LCD monitor
Other: Dual-band WiFi-certified 802.11 a/b/g/n - compliant adapter

General Maximum Specifications

 Windows Vista Certification

Windows Vista Capable

 Recommended Use

corporate business, small business

  Product Form Factor

Micro tower

 Built-in Devices

speaker

 Embedded Security

Trusted Platform Module (TPM 1.2) Security Chip

 Manufacturer

HP

Processor / Chipset

 CPU

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 / 1.86 GHz

 Number of Cores

Dual-Core

 64-bit Computing

Yes

 Data Bus Speed

1066 MHz

 Chipset Type

Intel Q965 Express

 Processor Socket

LGA775 Socket
Cache Memory

 Installed Size

L2 cache - 2 MB

 Cache Per Processor

2 MB

Memory

 Max Supported Size

4 GB

 Form Factor

DIMM 240-pin

Storage

 Interface Type

Serial ATA-300

 Type

none

 Read Speed

48x (CD) / 16x (DVD)

 Write Speed

48x (CD) / 16x (DVD±R) / 4x (DVD-R DL) / 8x (DVD+R DL)

 Rewrite Speed

32x (CD) / 6x (DVD-RW) / 8x (DVD+RW)

RAM

 Installed Size

1 GB / 4 GB (max)

 Memory Speed

667 MHz

 Memory Specification Compliance

PC2-5300

 Configuration Features

1 x 1 GB

Audio & Video

 Memory Allocation Technology

Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0

Hard Drive

 Capacity

1 x 250 GB

 Interface Type

SATA 3Gb/s

 Spindle Speed

7200 rpm

Storage Controller

 Type

1 x SATA - integrated
  Interface Type

Serial ATA-300

 Channel Qty

Processor

 Installed Qty

 Max Supported Qty

Optical Storage

 Disc Labeling Technology

LightScribe Technology

Monitor

 Monitor Type

None.

Networking

 Data Link Protocol

Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet

 Remote Management Protocol

DMI 2.0

 Form Factor

integrated
  Compliant Standards

IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.1p, IEEE 802.2, IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3ab, IEEE 802.3u

 Features

Wake on LAN (WoL)

Miscellaneous

 Features

Power Factor Correction (PFC), USB port control, administrator password, parallel port
I/O control, power-on password, security lock slot (cable lock sold separately), serial
port I/O control

 Windows Vista Certification

Windows Vista Capable

 Compliant Standards

ACPI

Graphics Controller

 Form Factor

integrated

 Graphics Processor

Intel GMA 3000 Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0

 Video Interfaces

VGA

Dimensions & Weight

 Width

6.9 in
  Depth

16.5 in

 Height

14.4 in

Audio Output

 Form Factor

integrated

 Sound Output Mode

stereo

 Max Sampling Rate

192 Hz

 Compliant Standards

High Definition Audio

Expansion / Connectivity

 Bays

2 (total) / 1 (free) x external 5.25" x 1/2H

2 external 3.5" x 1/3H
2 (total) / 1 (free) x internal 3.5" x 1/3H

Mouse

 Technology

optical

 Interface

PS/2
  Features

scroll

Physical Characteristics

 Form Factor

micro tower

 Weight

24.03 lbs

Power

 Type

power supply

 Min Operating Temperature

50 °F

 Max Operating Temperature

95 °F

Operating System / Software

 OS Provided: Type

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

 OS Provided

Microsoft Windows XP Professional

 Type

Altiris Deployment Solution, HP Backup and Recovery Manager, Norton AntiVirus (60
days of live updates)
The maximum Specifications should be the best and most likely to carry out all that is
needed. Even outside of the Specifications to meet the need and even more for the
benefit of all users.