Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Answers to Review Questions
1.
A. A modifi er key is one that does nothing when pressed by itself but causes another key to
produce a different value when held down as it is pressed.
2.
B. The Fn key is found on notebook computers. It's an alternative version of the Ctrl key;
when combined with some other key press(es), it performs some special command, usually
hardware-related.
3.
A. A PS/2 connector, which is an older connector for keyboards and mice, is small and round.
4.
D. Bluetooth and RF are two technologies that are sometimes used for wireless mice, but
they have no relationship to how an optical mouse measures movement. A rolling ball is
used in a mechanical mouse. An LED is used in an optical mouse.
5.
B. A pen-shaped stylus is used to interact with the screen on a pen computing device. It is
not an actual pen, because it does not have ink in it.
6.
D. ASCII coding assigns a unique 7-digit or 8-digit binary number to each character.
RTF is a word-processing fi le format. TXT is a text fi le format. GB is an abbreviation for
gigabytes.
7.
A. Hard disks store hundreds of gigabytes (GB). A very old hard disk might store 500 MB.
500 TB is larger than today's hard disks would store. 500 KB is a very small amount—less
than one fl oppy disk's worth of data.
8.
D. USB is the interface used for most external devices, including hard disk drives. PS/2
is an older style connector for keyboards and mice. PATA and SATA are connectors for
internal hard disk drives.
9.
B. The speed of the platters' spinning is measured in revolutions per minute, or RPM.
Megabytes are a measure of storage space. Milliseconds are a measurement of time.
10.
C. SATA is Serial ATA, a serial technology. Both Parallel ATA and Small Computer System
Interface are parallel.
11.
A. Parallel ATA uses a 40-wire cable. SATA uses a thin cable (not a ribbon cable). SCSI
uses a 50-wire or 68-wire ribbon cable. USB uses a thin cable (not a ribbon cable).
12.
A. The drive's CHS values are determined by its low-level formatting, which is done at the
factory where the drive is manufactured.
13.
C. The Disk Management utility, accessible from the Computer Management window,
enables you to check and change partition information for a drive.
14.
B. Right-click a drive and click Share to open the drive's Properties dialog box and display
the Share tab. From there you can choose to share the drive (or folder).
15.
B. A CD can hold 650, 800, or 900 MB of data, depending on the type.
