Buy PC Hardware in a Nutshell by Barbara Fritchman Thompson
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Home > Computing and Information Technology > Computer hardware > Personal computers > PC Hardware in a Nutshell
PC Hardware in a Nutshell

PC Hardware in a Nutshell


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



Out of Stock


Notify me when this book is in stock
X
About the Book

This text offers information, including how-to advice for specific components, ample reference material, and a comprehensive case study on building a PC. It is intended for anyone who buys, builds, upgrades, or repairs PCs in a corporate, small business, or home setting. In addition to coverage of the fundamentals and general tips about working on PCs, this book includes chapters focusing on motherboards, processors, memory, floppies, hard drives, optical drives, tape devices, video devices, input devices, audio components, communications, power supplies, and maintenance. Special emphasis is given to upgrading and troubleshooting existing equipment. Also included: detailed information about the latest motherboards and chipsets from AMD, Intel, SiS, and VIA; extensive coverage of the Pentium 4 and the latest AMD processors, including the Athlon XP/MP; details about new hard drive standards, including the latest SCSI standards, ATA/133; Serial ATA, and the new 48-bit "Big Drive" ATA interface; extended coverage of DVD drives, including DVD-RAM, DVD-R/RW, and DVD+R/RW; details about flat panel displays, including how to choose one (and why you might not want to); new chapters on serial communications, parallel communications, and USB communications (including USB 2.0); and enhanced troubleshooting coverage.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Preface 1. Fundamentals PCs Defined PC Components and Technologies System Resources Building or Buying a PC Upgrading a PC Smart Buying Practices Things to Do with Old PCs 2. Working on PCs Rules to Upgrade By Tools General Procedures 3. Motherboards Motherboard Characteristics Choosing a Motherboard Installing a Motherboard Upgrading the System BIOS Our Picks 4. Processors Processor Design Intel Processors Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Processors Choosing a Processor Installing a Processor Our Picks 5. Memory Understanding Memory Memory Access Methods Memory Packaging How Much Memory Is Enough? Memory Selection Guidelines Installing Memory Troubleshooting Memory Installation and Operation Our Picks 6. Floppy Disk Drives Diskette Types and Formats Drive Types FDD Interface and Cabling Installing a Floppy Disk Drive Working with FDDs Working with Obsolete Diskette Formats Salvaging Diskette Data Our Picks 7. High-Capacity Floppy Disk Drives High-Capacity FDD Types Choosing a High-Capacity Floppy Disk Drive Using an ATAPI Zip or SuperDisk Drive as the Boot Device Drive Letter Assignment Problems Our Picks 8. Removable Hard Disk Drives Uses for Removable Hard Disk Drives Cartridge-Based Removable Hard Disk Drives Frame/Carrier-Based Removable Hard Disk Drives Our Picks 9. Tape Drives Choosing a Tape Drive Installing and Configuring a Tape Drive Care and Feeding of a Tape Drive Troubleshooting Tape Drive Problems The Dirty Little Secret of Long Filenames Developing a Backup Strategy Our Picks 10. CD-ROM Drives Compact Disc Fundamentals CD-ROM Drive Performance Choosing a CD-ROM Drive Installing and Configuring a CD-ROM Drive Cleaning a CD-ROM Drive Our Picks 11. CD-R and CD-RW Drives CD Writers and Media Writable CD Formats CD Recording Methods BURN-Proof Technology Choosing a CD Writer CD Writer Software Installing and Configuring a CD Writer Updating CD Writer Firmware Media Issues Burning CDs Special Problems and Applications Writable CD Troubleshooting Additional CD-R(W) Source Material Our Picks 12. DVD Drives DVD-ROM DVD Writable and Rewritable Installing and Configuring a DVD Drive Our Picks 13. Hard Disk Interfaces IDE SCSI ATA Versus SCSI Our Picks 14. Hard Disk Drives How Hard Disks Work Choosing a Hard Disk Installing an ATA Hard Disk Installing a SCSI Hard Disk Preparing a Hard Disk for Use Our Picks 15. Video Adapters Video Adapter Characteristics Choosing a Video Adapter Installing a Video Adapter Configuring Video Under Windows 98/Me/2000/XP Configuring Video Under Windows NT 4 Troubleshooting Video Adapter Problems Our Picks 16. Displays CRT Monitors Flat-Panel Displays Installing and Configuring a Display Troubleshooting Display Problems Our Picks 17. Sound Adapters PC Audio Types MIDI Synthesis Methods Downloadable Sounds Sound Card Components Sound Card Characteristics Choosing a Sound Card Installing a Sound Card Troubleshooting Sound Card Problems MP3 Our Picks 18. Speakers and Headphones Speaker and Headphone Characteristics Choosing Speakers and Headphones Our Picks 19. Keyboards Keyboard Switch Types Keyboard Styles Keyboard Interfaces Choosing a Keyboard Configuring a Keyboard Cleaning a Keyboard Troubleshooting and Repairing Keyboards Our Picks 20. Mice and Trackballs Mice Versus Trackballs Mouse Characteristics Choosing a Mouse Configuring a Mouse or Trackball Cleaning a Mouse Troubleshooting a Mouse Our Picks 21. Game Controllers Game Controller Characteristics Gameport Interface Choosing a Game Controller Installing a Game Controller Troubleshooting Game Controllers Our Picks 22. Serial Communications Serial Communications Overview Serial Ports Serial Cables Installing and Configuring Serial Port Hardware Troubleshooting Serial Port Problems Our Picks 23. Parallel Communications Mapping Parallel Ports to LPTs Parallel Port Types Configuring Parallel Port Hardware Parallel Connectors and Cables Our Picks 24. USB Communications USB Characteristics USB Host Controller Interfaces Configuring USB Troubleshooting USB Our Picks 25. Cases Case Characteristics Choosing a Case Our Picks 26. Power Supplies Power Supply Characteristics Volts, Amps, Watts, and Regulation Power Connectors Choosing a Power Supply Installing a Power Supply Troubleshooting Power Supplies Our Picks 27. Backup Power Supplies What BPSes Protect Against BPS Types BPS Characteristics Choosing a BPS Our Picks 28. Building a PC Step 1: Prepare the Case Step 2: Configure the Motherboard Step 3: Install the Processor Step 4: Install the Memory Step 5: Prepare Drives for Installation Step 6: Install the Floppy Disk Drive Step 7: Install Other Drives Step 8: Install the Motherboard Step 9: Connect Cables to the Motherboard Step 10: Install Expansion Cards Step 11: Perform the "Smoke Test" Step 12: Install Software Step 13: Finishing Touches Index

About the Author :
Barbara Fritchman Thompson is the vice president and senior researcher for Triad Technology Group, Inc. She has a master's in library science from George Peabody College, and worked for twenty years as a librarian before starting her own research consulting practice. She currently works at home, writing books and reviewing web sites for Library Journal and Electronic Resources Review. She is a Winston-Salem native, and lives with her husband Bob and their three Border Collie dogs, Kerry, Duncan, and Malcolm. With 25 years of industry experience, Bob Thompson was one of the first Novell Master CNEs, and has been immersed in Windows NT Server 4.0 since it was in alpha. Bob has written or contributed to several computer networking books, including Special Edition Using Windows NT Server 4; Special Edition Using Microsoft BackOffice; Windows Magazine Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Internet and Networking Handbook; and Upgrading and Repairing Networks, all for Que Corporation. Bob is the president of Triad Technology Group, Inc., a Winston-Salem, NC, network consulting practice.


Best Sellers


Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9780596003531
  • Publisher: O'Reilly Media
  • Publisher Imprint: O'Reilly Media
  • Edition: Revised edition
  • Language: English
  • Weight: 948 gr
  • ISBN-10: 0596003536
  • Publisher Date: 09 Jul 2002
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Height: 232 mm
  • Returnable: N
  • Width: 178 mm


Similar Products

Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
PC Hardware in a Nutshell
O'Reilly Media -
PC Hardware in a Nutshell
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

PC Hardware in a Nutshell

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    Fresh on the Shelf


    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!