Faster Smarter PCs

xiii PART I: PRESENTING YOUR COMPUTER Once you understand how a PC is put together and how it functions, you ll be able to tell whether your computer meets your needs. This part of the book gives a brief history of the PC and discusses the hardware components that make up a PC. CHAPTER 1: The Personal Computer 3 Not Your Father s Computer 3 What Business Do You Have With a Computer? 4 Writing a Few Standards 5 I Like How You Operate 6 The PC: A Team Effort 7 It s All About You: The User Interface 8 Looking Behind to Look Ahead 10 CHAPTER 2: The Sum of Its Parts 13 Balanced Integration 13 The Parts Inside Your PC 14 The Motherboard: Backbone for the Bare Bones 14 Brains: The CPU 17 Storage Devices 20 Adapter Cards 22 The Parts Outside Your PC 23 The Keyboard 23 The Mouse 24 PART II: WHAT MAKES A PC? Now that you are familiar with what makes a PC a PC, it s time to delve deeper into the box. This part of the book explores such important subjects as monitors, hard and floppy disks, the difference between memory and storage, the PC s visual and audio components, and networking hardware and software. CHAPTER 3: Working with Memory 29 What Is Memory? 29 How a PC Uses Memory 30 Bits and Bytes 30 Memory Types for Every Need 32 How Much Memory Is Enough? 38 Windows XP Memory Management 40 Virtual Memory 41 Selecting a Hard Disk 42 CHAPTER 4: Results You Can See 45 Monitors: A Window on the PC 45 How Monitors Work 46 Feature Differentiation 55 Resolution: Dot s What It s About! 56 Color Deep as the Ocean 58 Video Adapters: What They Are, What They Do 61 Feature That! 63 CHAPTER 5: Saving What s Important 67 Storage vs. Memory 67 Hard Disks: Magnetic Storage for Everyone 70 How They Work 71 Feature Primer 73 Optical Discs 75 How CDs and DVDs Work 76 Rewritable and Recordable Discs 78 CHAPTER 6: Increasing the Volume 83 Speaking of Digital 84 The Trouble with Digital 85 How Digital Sound Works 86 What s a Sound Card? 91 Digital Audio 92 MIDI 94 Quality Concerns and Compression 96 Lossy Compression Is Key 97 Windows Media Player 99 Ripping CDs and a Replacement for MP3 103 CHAPTER 7: From Your Vision to Your Product 107 Your Vision: Introducing Digital Imaging 107 Digital Revolution 108 Digital Cameras 108 How Digital Photography Works 108 How Digital Images Are Stored 112 Digital Video: A Special Case 115 Scanners 118 Interpolated Scanner Resolution 119 Scanner Color Depth 120 Printing Your Vision, Producing Your Product 122 Basic Printer Types 122 CHAPTER 8: Reaching Out 129 Modems and Telephone Connections 129 How Modems Work: And What s a Modem, Anyway? 129 DSL and High-Speed Modems, Which Aren t Modems 132 Windows XP and Modems 136 Connecting to a Connection: Ports 144 Parallel and Serial: But Mostly Parallel 144 Serial Ports: A Little Bit at a Time 145 CHAPTER 9: Works Well with Others 151 Networking Hardware and Protocols 151 Wired Fast Ethernet 152 Wireless Networks 153 Popular Protocols 154 Introducing Microsoft Networking for Windows XP 156 The Network Setup Wizard 157 The New Connection Wizard 157 Sharing Resources 158 Internet Connection Sharing 158 File and Device Sharing 159 PART III: PRESENTING YOUR OS: WINDOWS XP Hardware is only half the story of what makes up a PC. The other half is software in particular, the operating system, which functions continuously behind the scenes of your PC. This part describes the Microsoft Windows XP operating system and how you can customize it so it can work faster and smarter for you. CHAPTER 10: Between You and Your PC 165 What the Operating System Is And What It Does 165 System Tasks 167 User Interface 168 Windows XP Manages Devices 170 What Are Hardware Resources? 172 The Power of the Windows XP GUI 175 Benefits of the Windows API 176 CHAPTER 11: Your Personal Personal Computer 179 Customizing Windows XP 179 The Start Menu: Access to Work 180 Personalizing the Appearance of Windows 187 Personalizing a PC for Several People 191 Tailoring Windows to Your Personal Needs 193 Personalizing Accessibility 193 Personalizing Regional Options 194 CHAPTER 12: (Disk) Integrity Is Important 197 Windows XP File Systems 197 FAT32 199 NTFS 200 File System Maintenance: Best Practices 202 Disk Defragmenter 203 Check Disk 203 CHAPTER 13: Performance Perfection 207 What Affects PC Performance? 207 Running Processes 209 Memory Issues 213 Disk Issues 214 CHAPTER 14: Watching Your PC with the Device Manager 219 The Device Manager Manages Devices 219 Managing the Manager 222 Discovering the Device Manager 222 Understanding the Device Manager Icons 224 Reviewing Device Settings 226 Disabling or Enabling a Device 227 Hardware Profiles 228 PART IV: NO TIME FOR TROUBLES Although PCs work well most of the time, things do go wrong sometimes, and you have to be prepared. This part of the book focuses on the most common problems and issues you ll encounter, including resolving hardware conflicts and protecting your computer from unauthorized access from outsiders via the Internet. CHAPTER 15: Everybody Needs a Little Help and Support 235 Get Help: It s Simple When You Know How 236 Getting Help 236 Searching Help 240 Using Troubleshooters 241 Remote Assistance 243 A Little Help from Your Friends 243 Microsoft Assisted Support 244 Calling a Complete Stranger 245 CHAPTER 16: The Good and Bad of Adding Peripherals 249 Understanding Plug and Play 250 Almost Everything You Need to Know About Drivers 252 When New Hardware Doesn t Work 256 Diagnosing Simple Hardware Problems 257 Device Driver Rollback 260 Your BIOS 261 CHAPTER 17: Safe at Home and Abroad 263 Basic Hardware Security 263 The Three P s: Profiles, Passwords, and Permissions 265 Profiles 265 Passwords 266 Permissions 271 Protecting Your Computer from Outsiders 279 Network Security 279 Internet Security 280 INDEX 291