Table of Contents | PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition



•	Table of Contents
•	Index
•	Reviews
•	Reader Reviews
•	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

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