WWW.ETSACADEMY.

NET

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Diploma in System Engineering

A + (Hardware Plus)
Topics Covered:

Installation, configuration and upgrading Hardware components

Identify physical parts
Motherboard

Firmware
Power supply
Storage devices
Memory (physical vs. cache)
Portable storage devices
Network cards and network cables
Printers
Identify IRQ, I/O and DMA settings
Legacy devices
Identify port types
Serial
Parallel
Infrared
Wireless
SCSI
RAID (0,1,5)

Diagnosing and troubleshooting

Hardware vs. software problems

Troubleshooting techniques
Tools of the trade
Cooling systems
Adapters
Portable systems

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Preventive maintenance

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Cleaning compounds
Non-static vacuums
Ventilation
Hard drive maintenance (defrag)
UPS (uninterruptible power supply)

Motherboard/processors/memory

Popular CPU chips

Voltage
AT/ATX power supply
Speeds
Cache (LI, LII, LIII)
Memory types (FPM, EDO, RAMBUS, SIMM, DIMM)
USB, AMR, CNR
CMOS settings
Plug-and-play BIOS

Printers

Printer types (laser, ink jet, dot matrix)

Interface types (serial, parallel, USB, SCSI, IEEE1394)
Local vs. network printing
Troubleshooting
Error codes

OS fundamentals
Differences between the major versions of MS Windows (9x, NT,

2000, XP)
Operating system components (registry, virtual memory, file systems)
System interfaces (command line vs. graphical user interface)
Identify major system files and their purpose
Disk partitions and configuring (primary vs. extended partitions)

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Preventive maintenance

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Cleaning compounds
Non-static vacuums
Ventilation
Hard drive maintenance (defrag)
UPS (uninterruptible power supply)

Motherboard/processors/memory

Popular CPU chips

Voltage
AT/ATX power supply
Speeds
Cache (LI, LII, LIII)
Memory types (FPM, EDO, RAMBUS, SIMM, DIMM)
USB, AMR, CNR
CMOS settings
Plug-and-play BIOS

Printers

Printer types (laser, ink jet, dot matrix)

Interface types (serial, parallel, USB, SCSI, IEEE1394)
Local vs. network printing
Troubleshooting
Error codes

OS fundamentals
Differences between the major versions of MS Windows (9x, NT,

2000, XP)
Operating system components (registry, virtual memory, file systems)
System interfaces (command line vs. graphical user interface)
Identify major system files and their purpose
Disk partitions and configuring (primary vs. extended partitions)

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Preventive maintenance

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Cleaning compounds
Non-static vacuums
Ventilation
Hard drive maintenance (defrag)
UPS (uninterruptible power supply)

Motherboard/processors/memory

Popular CPU chips

Voltage
AT/ATX power supply
Speeds
Cache (LI, LII, LIII)
Memory types (FPM, EDO, RAMBUS, SIMM, DIMM)
USB, AMR, CNR
CMOS settings
Plug-and-play BIOS

Printers

Printer types (laser, ink jet, dot matrix)

Interface types (serial, parallel, USB, SCSI, IEEE1394)
Local vs. network printing
Troubleshooting
Error codes

OS fundamentals
Differences between the major versions of MS Windows (9x, NT,

2000, XP)
Operating system components (registry, virtual memory, file systems)
System interfaces (command line vs. graphical user interface)
Identify major system files and their purpose
Disk partitions and configuring (primary vs. extended partitions)

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File systems and sizes (FAT 16, FAT 32, NTFS4/5)

Directory structures (navigating and creating)
Files (naming, attributes, tools, encryption, permissions)
Disk management tools
System management tools
File management tools

Installation, configuration and upgrading

Identify procedures involved with installing and upgrading operating
systems
Hardware compatibility
Minimum requirements
Installation types (local vs. network)
Starting installation
Partitioning the hard drive
Use the correct setup utility (setup vs. winnt vs. winnt32)
Driver configuration (default and upgraded drivers)
Troubleshooting installation errors

Diagnosing and Troubleshooting in OS

Identify error messages and error codes

Boot failures
Startup errors
System.ini and Win.ini files
Utilities (Dr. Watson, boot disk, event viewer)

Boot disk
Startup modes (safe mode, safe mode with command prompt, last
known good configuration)
Device manager
Recovery CD
Troubleshoot printing problems (windows print spooler)
Windows NT, 2000, XP, Win 7 and Win 8 BSOD (Blue Screen of
Death)
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