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Copyright

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Tell Us What You Think!

Introduction

The Glass Box

Inside the PC: A Closer Look at Components

Inside the Black Boxes Inside the Glass Box

Appendixes

Glossary

Index

Applied Sciences

Artificial Intelligence

Business

Certification

Computer Science

Databases

Desktop Applications

Desktop Publishing

E-Commerce

Enterprise Computing

Graphics

Hardware

Human-Computer Interaction

Internet/Online

IT Management

Markup Languages

Multimedia

Networking

Operating Systems

Programming

Security

Software Engineering

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Copyright

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Tell Us What You Think!

Introduction

My Approach

About This Book

Part I: The Glass Box

Chapter 1. The Desktop PC

The Three Main Parts

The System Unit

The Display

Input Devices

Inside the PC

Chapter 2. Portable PCs

From Luggables to Laptops and Beyond

Hardware That Is Almost Unique to Mobile PCs

Lessons Learned from Portable PCs

Extending Your Battery's Life

Summary

Chapter 3. PDAs and Handheld PCs

Put a PC in Your Pocket

Ancient History

The PalmPilot

Linux By the HandfulAgenda

Windows-Centered Devices

Comparisons

Chapter 4. Understanding Bits and Bytes

What Are Information and Data?

How Bits and Bytes Cast a Hex on ASCII

Reducing Bits, Bytes, and Real Life

Summary and Looking Ahead

Part II: Inside the PC: A Closer Look at Components

Chapter 5. A First Look at Motherboards and Processors

Safe System Unit

A Platform to Build Upon: The Motherboard

Understanding PC Processors

Major and Minor Improvements

Summary

Chapter 6. Video and Monitors

It's Just No Good if You Can't Get the Information Out

Basic Characteristics of Video

How Images Are Painted on the Screen (Overview)

Getting the Colors Right

How to Talk to a Video Display

Understanding Display Technologies

Summary

Chapter 7. Disks and PC Data Storage

Traditional PC Disk Drives

The Origin of IDE, EIDE, ATA, ATAPI, and More

The Really Good Bus with the Really Bad Name (SCSI)

Mixing IDE and SCSI Disk Drives

Summary

Chapter 8. Removable Storage

Variations on the Theme of PC Storage

The Multiple Dimensions of PC Storage Technologies

Peter's Principle:

Removable Optical PC Data Storage Devices

Magneto-Optical PC Data Storage Devices

Electronic PC Data Storage Devices

Summary

Chapter 9. Serial Ports

Talking Through a Tiny Pipe: Serial Ports

A Series of Serial Ports

IEEE 1394 FireWire

What if You Need Lots of Serial Ports?

Summary

Chapter 10. Parallel Ports

The Faster Path

"Printer" Ports Aren't Just for Printers

Printer Ports Aren't Even for Printers Anymore

Summary

Chapter 11. Networking - Wired and Wireless

What Is Networking?

Why Network?

Types of Networks

The Parts of a Network

Ethernet - The Everywhere Network

Alternative Small Networks

Wireless Networking

Summary

Chapter 12. Modems and Broadband

Reaching Out

"Yodeling

Cable Modems

Keeping It Purely Digital

Which Way Should You Go?

Summary

Chapter 13. Input Devices

The Keyboard Is

Alternatives to Typing: Voice Recognition

The Point Is Pointing (Mousing Around)

Some Other PC Input Devices

Summary

Chapter 14. Printers

The Purpose and Power of PC Printers

Page Description Languages

Printing Technologies

Getting the Color (Almost) Right

Summary

Part III: Inside the Black Boxes Inside the Glass Box

Chapter 15. Motherboard Magic

Processor Architecture

The

The Architecture That Goes Around the CPU

Interrupts: The Driving Force

What Is a DMA Channel?

Keeping Up with the Clock

System Buses: ISA, PCI and AGP

Measuring Performance via Benchmarks

Summary

Chapter 16. Kick Starting - The Boot Process

What Is the BIOS?

CMOS and Other Programs

POST (Power-On Self-Test)

Device Drivers and Firmware

BIOS Fault Tolerance

How Your PC Wakes Up and Prepares Itself for Work

Speeding Up Your PC's Boot Process

Common BIOS Tuning Options

CMOS Security

The Current BIOS Industry

Summary

Chapter 17. Understanding PC Memory

The CPU's Essential Playground

Various Flavors of RAM

Various Flavors of ROM and NVRAM

Addressing Memory: Intel's Segments

Not All Memory Is Equal

Your PC's Memory Needs Managing

Understanding Windows Memory Use

Memory Management Software

So How Much RAM Do You Need, Really?

Summary

Chapter 18. Storage: How Does Data Get There?

Hard Disks

Hard Disks are Different from Floppies

Making Sense out of Chaos

RAID SystemsSense and Sensibility

Optical Discs

Learning About File Formats

Data Compression

Summary

Chapter 19. Advanced Networking

Layers in the Network Strategy

The NIC Needs a NOS

TCP/IP: The Internet's Babelfish

What Is the Internet?

Assuring a Quality of Service - Tomorrow's Internet

Summary

Chapter 20. Video Acceleration

Vector Versus Bitmapped Images: Rasterizing and Rendering

How PCs Create Compelling Visual Images

The RAMDAC

More About AGP: Is it Really Faster?

The World of 3D

Summary

Chapter 21. Inside Tomorrow's PC

A Changed World

Sure Bets

Your Own Glass Box

Part IV: Appendixes

Appendix A. Operating Systems: The Middleman Between You and Your PC

What Is an Operating System and Why Do You Need One?

DOS Is Dead! Long Live Windows!

Understanding Your Choices for Your PC's Operating System

Summary

Appendix B. Understanding How Humans Instruct PCs

Harnessing the PC's Power to Help Mere Humans

Dividing Up the Work

How Not to Keep On Reinventing the Wheel

Helping Ordinary People

Summary

Glossary