Thursday, September 23, 2010

CTS-120 Project 9-1

Installing a Device

For project 9-1 I had to install a DVD Drive into the computer I'm building. n

I used an orange serial cable to plug the DVD Drive into the motherboard.


I pushed the DVD drive into the case through the front, and screwed it in.



Then I got the right adapter to get power to the DVD Drive, and plugged it into the motherboard and whatnot.



And then I had a DVD Drive in. w00t.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

CTS-120 Project 8-6

Installing a Hard Drive

For this lab I had to install a power supply, as well as 2 hard drives.

Here is a picture of the power supply after being installed.



Here is a picture of the 2 hard drives. They are both Seagate 30gb drives.


Here is a picture of the hard drives installed and the power supply connected to the drives and the motherboard.


w00t.


Thursday, September 16, 2010

CTS-120 Project 6-1

Recognizing Processors


1.) What motherboard is installed?
Biostar Viotech 3100+

2.) What processor is installed?
There isn't an processor installed yet (I'm doing this project on the computer we are building in class, so we haven't been able to get the processors in yet)

3.) What socket is the processor using?
Well.. there isnt a processor in yet... (I will update this post when we get to putting the processor in)

4.) Describe the cooler assembly. Does it contain a heat sink and fan?
It contains 2 heat sinks, and there we will be installing a fan.

CTS-120 Project 5-1

Examining the Motherboard in Detail

1.) Look at the back of your computer. Without opening the case, list the ports that you believe come directly from the motherboard.


Mouse/Keyboard inputs, COM Port, Printer Port, VGA port, USB Ports, LAN port, Line In/Line Out/Mic in.


2.) Remove the cover of the case, which you learned to do in Chapter 4. List the different expansion cards in the expansion slots. Was your guess correct about which ports come from the motherboard?


The two expansion slots on this motherboard are the PCI-Express x16 Slot and the regular PCI Slot

My guess was correct about the first question. wOOt.


4.) Draw a Diagram of the motherboard and label these parts:
Processor, RAM, CMOS Battery, Expansion slots, each port coming directly from motherboard, power supply connections, SATA or IDE Drive connectors, and floppy drive connector.




6.) What is the brand and model of the motherboard?
Biostar Viotech 3100+


7.) Locate the manufacturers website. If you can find the motherboard manual on the site, download it.





CTS-120 Project 7-3

Planning and Pricing Memory


1.) What is the maximum amount of memory the banks on your motherboard can accomodate?
2GB
(2 1gb sticks)

2.) What type of memory does the board support?
DDR2 DIMM

3.) How many modules are installed, and how much memory does each hold?
Only one, and it is a 1Gb Stick.

It would cost $22.99 to buy another 1gb stick of ram that matches the one already installed.



Tuesday, September 14, 2010

For project 4-1 We had to take a computer completely apart, and then put it all back together.
At first I took the RAM out, then started taking the IDE connectors out, then the Cd ROM.

The RAM was easy to take out, I just hit the little switches on both sides and it pops right out
The IDE Connectors were a little stubborn sometimes but they just pulled right out
The CD-ROM drive just slid right out when I hold down the green tabs.


After taking the CD-ROM Drive, IDE Connectors, and the RAM out, I took the Hard Drive out, as well as the floppy drive.

The Hard Drive came out the same way that the CD player did. It just slid out while holding the green tabs, and the Floppy Drive did the same thing. So this part was pretty easy



I then unplugged the power to the motherboard and processor, and took the power supply out
The the power cables coming from the power suply going into the motherboard were pretty easy to pull out, they just came out, it took a bit of effort, but they came right out


After taking the power supply out, I then took the fan out, and eventually the motherboard. Once I had the motherboard out there was nothing left in the case.
The power supply was held in by 2 screws, and the fan came off just from hitting this little switch.



After the computer was totally emptied out, class was over.. The next class I put it all back together, in the reverse order that I took it apart. After about.. 30 minutes I had it all back together.




so yeah! it was a fun project to do, it was the first time I've ever taken a computer completely apart, and put it back together.

CTS-120 Project 3-1

CTS-120

Project 3-1

Dave Mathis

1.) In the role of desk-side support to users, what do you think is your strongest social skill that would help you succeed in this role?

Probably my ability to be patient, kind and have a sense of humor.

2.) What is likely to be your greatest interpersonal weakness that might present a challenge to you in this role?

My randomly timed inability to pay full attention.

3.) What is one change you might consider making that will help you to improve on this weakness?

Take some kind of medication for my Attention Deficit Disorder, ha.

4.) In the role of phone support at the help desk, what part of that job would you enjoy the most? What part would give you the greatest challenge?

-I would enjoy being able to help someone troubleshoot their problems, It would really only be enjoyable if the person listened well, and followed directions and there wasn’t any problems. Other than that I can’t see it as being very enjoyable at all.

-The part that would give me the greatest challenge would probably be keeping hope that I can actually help them with the problem, depending on how bad the problem is.

5.) When making on-site calls to corporate branches, what part of this job would you enjoy the most? What interpersonal skills, if any, would you need to develop so that you could do your best in this role?

Well, I would enjoy because odds are if I’m calling a corporate branch, I wouldn’t need to worry about it being someone I can’t understand, or someone that doesn’t have a single clue as to what they’re asking of me.

Interpersonal skills to develop, would probably have to be to watch my language. I can have quite the sailors mouth sometime.

Friday, September 3, 2010

CTS-120 Project 2-2

So for this lab we had to download Fresh Diagnostic, a program that basically does the same thing as System Information. It downloaded really fast, and it was only around 2 mb. Didn't try to install a bunch of crap on my system when I downloaded it, which is kinda uncommon, ha.



As for those questions we're supposed to do...

Which utility is easier to use and why?
I would say System Information was easier to use, simply because it doesnt seem to be as in depth as Fresh Diagnose. All the different buttons and lists are a bit overwhelming.

Which utility give more information about your system?
Fresh Diagnose by far.

What is one advantage that System information has over Fresh Diagnose?
System Information is a default program on all machines, so you don't have to go download it.

What is one advantage that Fresh Diagnose has over System information?
Plain and simple, it does a LOT more. You can even look at installed programs, and it gives a very detailed description of each program.

Which utility do you prefer and why?
Fresh Diagnose, I never even really used System Information, and now that I've checked out Fresh Diagnose, I'll actually keep it on my pc lol!

CTS-120 Cleaning Lab

I think I successfully cleaned that computer pretty well. Brad told us to take breaks because the can got cold, and I *the idiot I can be* just did it anyway, and I burned (or froze..) my finger. Ha.

But here is a picture of me cleaning

PC was cleaned, finger was frozen, everything was alright.

CTS-120 Project 2-1

Project 2-1
Dave Mathis



OS Name = OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1 Build 6001


Processor = Processor AMD Athlon Dual-Core QL-64, 2100 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)














BIOS Version/Date = BIOS Version/Date Hewlett-Packard F.3E, 6/23/2009

Adapter RAM = Adapter RAM 256.00 MB (268,435,456 bytes)















Parallel Port = This last question I'm doing for my laptop. And apparently I dont have a paralell port driver, because nothing is listed..



I know this is kind of late, and I'm not trying to make excuses, but this hurricane really screwed up my week.

CTS-120 Project 1-1

1. Microphone – Not used very often, My laptops sound card is trash anyway. It’d be nice to have a Line In Port though..

2. Headphones – Used quite often.

3. AC Adapter Port – Used very often

4. VGA Input – Not used very often

5. Ethernet Port – Never been used, usually just get wireless.

6. ??? – I think it’s some other kind of display output. But it’s just.. it’s not a button, or a jack, or an input, it looks as though there is a cap over whatever it is, but I can’t seem to get the cap off.

7. USB Port – Used very often for connecting storage devices/alternate input devices

8. SD-MS Card Reader – Used quite often, I use an SD Card for a couple of things.

9. CD-DVD Reader/Writer – Used somewhat often, but not very much.

10. USB Port

11. 56k Modem – Never been used.

12. K-Lock – Not totally sure what this is, but I’ve never used it.