Review Questions on

Computer Basics
1999 Charles Abzug
1. Distinguish between and define (see glossary in Maxfield and Browns Bebop Bytes Back for the
definition of terms not found in Andrews A Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC):
a. Hardware (H!)
b. "oftware ("!)
#. $irmware ($!)
d. !etware (!!)
e. %a&orware (%!)
'. Be able to define or des#ribe:
a. () de*i#e
b. () #ontroller
#. &eri&heral de*i#e
d. serial and &arallel &orts (ex&lain the differen#e)
e. ada&ter #ard+ ex&ansion #ard+ interfa#e #ard
f. *ideo ada&ter+ *ideo #ard
g. &ixel
h. ,eyboard
i. mouse
-. &rinter
,. B()"
l. de*i#e dri*er
m. systemboard+ motherboard
n. *ideo #able
o. dri*e #able
&. ribbon #able
.. ex&ansion slot (("A+ /("A+ M0A+ %1 bus+ 20(+ lo#al bus3 what does ea#h of the a#ronyms
stand for4)
r. 5($ so#,et (what does 65($7 stand for4)
s. "(MM (what does 6"(MM7 stand for4)
t. system realtime #lo#,
u. -um&er
*. #hi&set
w. #a#he memory
x. &ower su&&ly #able
2age 1 of 18
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y. ;AM and ;)M
<. 02=+ mi#ro&ro#essor
aa. #o&ro#essor
bb. &rimary storage and se#ondary storage (gi*e exam&les of ea#h+ and ,now whi#h is whi#h)
##. *olatile *s. non*olatile memory (,now whi#h is whi#h)
dd. 0M)" #onfiguration #hi&
ee. tra#es
ff. bus
gg. &ower su&&ly
>. Be able to identify all of the items shown in $igures 1?'+ 1?>+ 1?@+ and 1?A in Andrews A Guide to
Managing and Maintaining Your PC.
@. !hat are the &rin#i&al fun#tions of an )&erating "ystem4
A. Distinguish between+ and gi*e exam&les of the use of:
a. a #ommand?dri*en interfa#e
b. a menu?dri*en interfa#e
#. a B=(
C. Define:
a. Multitas,ing
b. Multithreading
#. )&erating en*ironment (e.g.+ a B=( en*ironment3 a single? or multitas,ing en*ironment)
D. )2E()FA1: Fame se*en o&erating systems that are #ommonly used in des,to& #om&uters+ and
des#ribe the ad*antages and disad*antages of ea#h.
9. !hat are the &rin#i&al o&erations that o##ur when an (BM?#om&atible 2ersonal 0om&uter (20)
boots u&4
:. (n what ways #an #onfiguration information be re&resented on a #om&uter4
18. Be able to identify all of the #om&onents in Andrews A Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your
PC, $igure '?A.
2age ' of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
11. !hat #om&uter resour#e assignments are sub-e#t to the &ossibility of #onfli#t4
1'. How many (;H numbers does a single de*i#e need4
1>. How many DMA #hannels does a single de*i#e need4
1@. /x&lain the differen#e between B()" and a de*i#e dri*er.
1A. =nderstand and be able to ex&lain how an interru&t wor,s (refer to Andrews A Guide to Managing
and Maintaining Your PC, $igure '?1A). (F)E/: a mu#h more detailed #o*erage of interru&ts will
be gi*en in Maxfield and Browns Bebop Bytes Back)
1C. !hat features and #hara#teristi#s of the 20 are determined by the "ystemboard:
1D. How many &ins are there in a memory module+ and what is the width of the data &ath4
19. !hat are the two &rin#i&al ty&es or le*els of #a#he memory+ and how big are they ty&i#ally4
1:. Define a bus:
'8. 1ist the four ,inds of ele#tri#al lines that may exist in a bus+ and gi*e the dire#tionality of ea#h:
'1. !hat are the #riti#al #hara#teristi#s of a bus4
''. Be able to identify ea#h of the bus #onne#tors in Andrews A Guide to Managing and Maintaining
Your PC, $ig. >?1A.
'>. Be able to identify the #riti#al #hara#teristi#s of the buses ty&i#ally found in 20s: ("A+ M0A+ /("A+
%1+ 20(+ and 2entium2entium (( lo#al bus
2age > of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
'@. !ith regard to a >?1'7 High?Density flo&&y dis,ette:
(a) How many tra#,s are there on ea#h side of the dis,ette+ and how many tra#,s total4
(b) How many se#tors &er tra#,4
(#) How many Bytes &er se#tor4
(d) 0al#ulate the exa#t storage #a&a#ity of su#h a dis,ette in Bytes (show your #al#ulation3
memori<ation is not #alled for).
(e) How ra&idly does the dis,ette rotate while it is being read from or written to4
(f) !hat is the si<e of a single #luster on this dis,ette4
(g) !hat is the si<e of a $ile Allo#ation =nit for this dis,ette4
'A. !here is the Master Boot ;e#ord lo#ated on a flo&&y dis,ette+ i.e.+ whi#h tra#, number(s)+ whi#h
se#tor number(s)+ to& or bottom of dis, (D)" or any *ariant of M"?!indows)4 Also+ des#ribe in
words where this is lo#ated.
'C. !hat is a fragmented file4
'D. Des#ribe;e#ogni<e how the $ile Allo#ation Eable ($AE) for a D)"?#om&atible dis,ette
(D)"!indows?:A!indows?FE) is organi<ed.
2age @ of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
Answers to Selected Questions:
'. Be able to define or des#ribe:
a. () de*i#e
b. () #ontroller
#. &eri&heral de*i#e
d. serial and &arallel &orts (ex&lain the differen#e)
e. ada&ter #ard+ ex&ansion #ard+ interfa#e #ard
f. *ideo ada&ter+ *ideo #ard
g. &ixel
h. ,eyboard
i. mouse
-. &rinter
,. B()"
l. de*i#e dri*er
m. systemboard+ motherboard
n. *ideo #able
o. dri*e #able
&. ribbon #able
.. ex&ansion slot (("A+ /("A+ M0A+ %1 bus+ 20(+ lo#al bus3 what does ea#h of the a#ronyms
stand for4)
r. 5($ so#,et (what does 65($7 stand for4)
s. "(MM (what does 6"(MM7 stand for4)
t. system realtime #lo#,
u. -um&er
*. #hi&set
w. #a#he memory
x. &ower su&&ly #able
y. ;AM and ;)M
<. 02=+ mi#ro&ro#essor
aa. #o&ro#essor
bb. &rimary storage and se#ondary storage (gi*e exam&les of ea#h+ and ,now whi#h is whi#h)
##. *olatile *s. non*olatile memory (,now whi#h is whi#h)
dd. 0M)" #onfiguration #hi&
ee. tra#es
ff. bus
gg. &ower su&&ly
Ans!ers"
/xam&les of &rimary storage: ;AM and ;)M
/xam&les of se#ondary storage: hard dis,+ flo&&y dis,+ ta&e #assette+ 0D?;)M
2age A of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
@. !hat are the &rin#i&al fun#tions of an )&erating "ystem4
Ans!er" (F)E/: Ehis issue is examined here from the limited &ers&e#ti*e of Andrews A
Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC. Iou #an ex&e#t this issue to be addressed
in far more detail in an )&erating "ystems #ourse.)
a. management of B()" and de*i#e dri*ers+ and in general of the interfa#e between hardware
and a&&li#ations software
b. management of files on se#ondary storage
#. management of ;AM
d. diagnosis of software and hardware &roblems+ and generationdis&lay of error messages
e. utility fun#tions (e.g.+ formatting of dis,s3 deletion+ #o&ying+ and mo*ing of files3
maintenan#e of the settings for system date and time)
f. networ,ing and #ommuni#ations ser*i#es
D. )2E()FA1: Fame se*en o&erating systems that are #ommonly used in des,to& #om&uters+ and
des#ribe the ad*antages and disad*antages of ea#h.
Ans!er"
a. Mi#rosofts M"?D)"+ (BMs 20?D)"+ and Fo*ells D;?D)" (these three are #onsidered as
one+ be#ause of their basi# similarity3 see Eable 1?' in Andrews A Guide to Managing and
Maintaining Your PC)
b. Mi#rosofts !indows >.x with D)" (Eable 1?> in Andrews A Guide to Managing and
Maintaining Your PC)
#. Mi#rosofts !indows?:A (Eable 1?@ in Andrews A Guide to Managing and Maintaining
Your PC)
d. Mi#rosofts !indows?FE (Eable 1?A in Andrews A Guide to Managing and Maintaining
Your PC)
e. (BMs )"' !ar& (Eable 1?C in Andrews A Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC)
f. A&&les Ma# )" (Eable 1?D in Andrews A Guide to Managing and Maintaining Your PC)
g. *arious fla*ors of =F(J+ su#h as "0) =F(J+ B"D+ 1(F=J+ et#. (all #onsidered as one+
be#ause of their #on#e&tual similarity3 see Eable 1?9 in Andrews A Guide to Managing and
Maintaining Your PC)
9. !hat are the &rin#i&al o&erations that o##ur when an (BM?#om&atible 2ersonal 0om&uter (20)
boots u&4
Ans!er"
a. ;)M?B()" "tartu& 2rogram does 2)"E+ then reads #onfiguration and setu& information.
2age C of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
b. ;)M?B()" "tartu& 2rogram reads #onfiguration and setu& information+ #he#,s the
hardware(02=+ *ideo #ard and other ada&ter #ards+ *arious dis, dri*es and other
&eri&herals)+ and assigns memory addresses and other system resour#es to ea#h.
#. ;)M?B()" startu& &rogram finds the )&erating "ystem and starts loading it.
d. )" ta,es o*er+ finishes #onfiguring the system and tests it.
e. )" #om&letes loading itself+ in#luding the installation of de*i#e dri*ers for flo&&y dis,
dri*es+ hard dis, dri*es+ 0D?;)M+ mouse+ s#anners+ and other &eri&heral de*i#es.
f. )" sets u& MM( (HM(4) and gi*es #ontrol to the user.
:. (n what ways #an #onfiguration information be re&resented on a #om&uter4
Ans!er"
a. D(2 swit#h settings (what does 6D(27 stand for4)
b. -um&er settings
#. 0M)" setu& or #onfiguration #hi& with on?board long?term battery &ower
d. $lash ;)M (//2;)M)
11. !hat #om&uter resour#e assignments are sub-e#t to the &ossibility of #onfli#t4
Ans!er"
a. (;H number (what does 6(;H7 stand for4)
b. memory address allo#ations:
K ;)M?B()"
K de*i#e dri*ers
K () addresses
#. DMA #hannels (what does 6DMA7 stand for4)
1'. How many (;H numbers does a single de*i#e need4
Ans!er" De&ending on the de*i#e+ it #ould be either <ero+ one+ or more than one.
1>. How many DMA #hannels does a single de*i#e need4
Ans!er" De&ending on the de*i#e+ it #ould be either <ero or one.
2age D of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
1C. !hat features and #hara#teristi#s of the 20 are determined by the "ystemboard:
Ans!er"
a. 02=: ty&e+ and &ossible s&eeds
b. su&&orting #hi&set and its #a&abilities
#. 1' #a#he memory (";AM): ty&e and si<e
d. ty&es of buses &resent+ and number of ex&ansion slots for ada&ter #ards for ea#h bus:
(i) old 2020?JE("A
(ii) 20?AEnewer ("A
(iii) M0A
(i*) /("A
(*) %1B (%/"A 1o#al Bus)
(*i) 2(0
(*ii) AB2
(*iii) *arious &ro&rietary and lo#al?bus slots
e. Memory (D;AM):
(i) &arity or non?&arity
(ii) ty&e: $2M+ /D)+ "D;AM
(iii) "(MM" andor D(MM": and width of lo#al bus
(i*) maximum amount of memory usable on the system
(*) &ermissible memory in#rements+ and #onditions (e.g.+ one module #an be
added+ or must add two modules at a time)
f. &orts and #onne#tors: serial (0)M)+ &arallel (12E)+ ,eyboard+ mouse
g. fa#ilities for #onne#ting dis, dri*es and other &eri&herals: (D/ and "0"( #ontrollers
h. integrated *ideo on systemboard4
i. si<e of #ase
1D. How many &ins are there in a memory module+ and what is the width of the data &ath4
Ans!er"
(a) "(MM ("ingle (n?1ine Memory Modul#): either >8 or D>&ins+ with 1C? or >'?bit data &aths
(b) D(MM (Dual (n?1ine Memory Modul#): 1C9 &ins+ with a C@?bit data &ath
19. !hat are the two &rin#i&al ty&es or le*els of #a#he memory+ and how big are they ty&i#ally4
Ans!er"
(a) 1e*el 1 (11)+ &rimary+ or internal #a#he: 1,+B ',B+ @,B+ 1A,B+ >',B
(b) 1e*el ' (1')+ se#ondary+ or external #a#he: 1'9,B+ 'AC,B+ A1',B+ 1 MB
2age 9 of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
1:. Define a bus:
Ans!er" A bus is both:
(a) a set of fun#tionally related ele#tri#al #ommuni#ations lines intended for the #on*eyane of
information between different #om&onents of a #om&uter3 and
(b) a set of rules go*erning how the ele#tri#al lines are to be used: in#luding &hysi#al and
ele#troni#s standards+ as well as a #ommuni#ations &roto#ol
'8. 1ist the four ,inds of ele#tri#al lines that may exist in a bus+ and gi*e the dire#tionality of ea#h:
Ans!er"
(a) /le#tri#al &ower lines (&ower bus): unidire#tional
(b) Data lines (data bus): bidire#tional
(#) Address lines (address bus): #an be either uni? or bidire#tional
(d) 0ontrol lines (#ontrol bus): #an be either uni? or bidire#tional
'1. !hat are the #riti#al #hara#teristi#s of a bus4
Ans!er"
(a) Bus width: L of data lines
(b) Bus address s&a#e: L of address lines
(#) Bus ty&e: mastersla*e or bus?master
(d) Bus s&eed in MH<: re#i&ro#al of bus time
(e) Bus through&ut in MBse# (or Mbitsse#): widthMs&eed9 (N MBse#) or widthMs&eed
(NMbitsse#)
'>. Be able to identify the #riti#al #hara#teristi#s of the buses ty&i#ally found in 20s: ("A+ M0A+ /("A+
%1+ 20(+ and 2entium2entium (( lo#al bus
Ans!er"
(a) ("A: 9 or 1C bits bus width+ 9.>> MH< bus s&eed+ 9.>> or 1C.CC (nominally 9 or 1C) MBse#
bus through&ut
(b) M0A: >' bits bus width+ 9.>> to 18 MH< bus s&eed+ >> or @8 MBse# bus through&ut
(#) /("A: >' bits bus width+ 9.>> MH< bus s&eed+ >> MBse# bus through&ut
(d) %1: >' bits bus width+ >> MH< bus s&eed+ 1>' MBse# bus through&ut
(e) 20(: >' or C@ bits bus width+ >> or C8?CC MH< bus s&eed+ 1>''C@A'9 MBse# bus
through&ut
(f) 2entium2entium (( lo#al bus: >' or C@ bits bus width+ CC MH< bus s&eed+ 'C@A'9 MBse#
bus through&ut
2age : of 18
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CS-511: Review Questions on Computer Basics
'@. !ith regard to a >?1'7 High?Density flo&&y dis,ette:
(a) How many tra#,s are there on ea#h side of the dis,ette+ and how many tra#,s total4
(b) How many se#tors &er tra#,4
(#) How many Bytes &er se#tor4
(d) 0al#ulate the exa#t storage #a&a#ity of su#h a dis,ette in Bytes (show your #al#ulation3
memori<ation is not #alled for).
(e) How ra&idly does the dis,ette rotate while it is being read from or written to4
(f) !hat is the si<e of a single #luster on this dis,ette4
(g) !hat is the si<e of a $ile Allo#ation =nit for this dis,ette4
Ans!ers"
(a) 98 tra#,sside M ' sides N 1C8 tra#,s total
(b) 19 se#torstra#,
(#) A1' Bytesse#tor
(d) 1C8 tra#,s M 19 se#torstra#, M A1' Bytesse#tor N 1+@D@+AC8 Bytes total
(e) >C8 ;2M
(f) 0luster si<e N one se#tor N A1' Bytes
(g) Ehe $ile Allo#ation =nit is the same as a #luster+ whi#h in this #ase has a si<e of A1' Bytes
'A. !here is the Master Boot ;e#ord lo#ated on a flo&&y dis,ette+ i.e.+ whi#h tra#, number(s)+ whi#h
se#tor number(s)+ to& or bottom of dis, (D)" or any *ariant of M"?!indows)4 Also+ des#ribe in
words where this is lo#ated.
Ans!er" Era#, 8+ se#tor 1 on bottom of dis, (outermost tra#, on bottom of dis,).
'D. Des#ribe;e#ogni<e how the $ile Allo#ation Eable ($AE) for a D)"?#om&atible dis,ette
(D)"!indows?:A!indows?FE) is organi<ed.
Ans!er" "ee Andrews $igure @?@ and a##om&anying text on &age 1@9.
2age 18 of 18
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