Journal 1

Number Systems – Decimal, Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal The article talks about four different number systems. Base 10 (Decimal) Numbers 0-9; Base 2 (Binary) Numbers 0 & 1; Base 8 (Octal) Numbers 0-7; Base 16 (Hexadecimal) Numbers 0-9 & letters A-F

Since the binary number system is based on zeros and ones each position is worth times more than the previous (hence the name base 2). In base 8 you can only use numbers 0-7 so 1010 is 12 in base 8 (octal). Zero is arguably one of the most important numbers because of its place holding power. This article was very helpful in helping me understand how different number systems like binary and hexadecimal work. I recommend anyone who wants to learn about these number systems to give this article a read. It really simplified the material and now I can safely say I understand the basic rules of these number systems. Hexadecimal Notation A single hex digit can be represented by 4 binary digits. 0-9 is the same as base 10, 10 is A, 11 is B, 12 is C, 13 is D, 14 is E, 15 is F! 0X & 0x both represent the use of hexadecimal numbers. You can write hexadecimal numbers in either lower case or uppercase (1b is the same as 1B) 0x3C to Base 10. Break up 3 and C, write down the binary value for each, then combine the values and find decimal value! • 3=0011b • C=1210=1100b • 00111100b=4+8+16+32=6010 To convert binary to hexadecimal spilt the binary digit into 4’s. • 00110110b • 0011=3 0110=6 • =36h Reading this article really helped me to understand how to convert from and to hexadecimal. The reading was very easy to understand and was very concise which I enjoyed. I suggest people to read this article if they are having trouble understanding how hexadecimal works.

Signed and Unsigned Numbers Binary numbers are vital in the world of computers for storing and processing information. Word is the amount of data a computer can process in a single go. The most important bit is the left-most, as you go to the right, they are slightly less significant. The rightmost bit is the least important. Most computers nowadays are 64-bit, a big improvement from the 32-bit systems. Unsigned encoding is every number between 0 & 232-1. Computers use two’s complement encoding to represent negative values. If the leftmost bit (aka sign bit) is 1 the value is negative and if the sign bit is 0 the value is positive. • 1101 (Binary) = 1310 Using two’s complement encoding the value is -3

1. (-1 X 23)+(1 X 22)+(0 X 21)+(1 X 20)= -8+4+0+1=-3 To convert an unsigned number to a number with more bits just add 0s to the left of the number. This is called zero extension 16-bit – 0000 0000 0000 1100 To get this 16-bit number converted to 32-bit you simply just add 0s (16 times in this case) until you have 32 digits 32-bit – 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1100 When you need to extend two’s complement number you use sign extension. • 810=0000 0000 0000 10002
2. Flip all zeros to ones and all ones to zeros. • 1111 1111 1111 01112
3. Add 12 to above • -810= 1111 1111 1111 10002 (Two’s complement number)
4. Copy sign bit 16 times the leftmost number, (1 in this case) • 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111 10002 While I was reading this article, I was super confused about some of the content. However, after reading it over a few times and after writing this section of the journal I feel like I have a good grasp on the content. I always wondered what they meant by 32-bit or 64-bit systems, I knew that most systems are moving towards 64-bit, but I had no idea what that meant, but now I do! I also learned that for negative values you use Two’s complement encoding.

Binary Numbers and Base Systems as Fast as Possible This video re-explained the basic concepts of base 10 and base 2. He also stated that the reason why base 10 is the most common is that humans have 10 fingers. Alphanumeric is when a number system uses both numbers and letters such as the hexadecimal number system. He also discussed how URL shorteners work.

Journal 2

Chapter 3 from A+ Textbook The processor (CPU) plays a big part in the power of the computer. Intel and AMD are the major CPU manufacturers for PCs/laptops. Processors speed are measured in gigahertz (GHz) which a measurement of cycles per second. Buses move the data both inside and outside the CPU. Internal data buses travel zeros and ones within the CPU while external data buses travel the zeros and ones to devices in the real world such as a printer or mouse! The bigger the bus is the better the computer performance. Pipelines breaks the CPUs tasks into smaller tasks allowing for each step to be finished quicker. While the chapter does portray pipelines as a benefit with no downsides there are some scenarios where pipelining may be ineffective. For example, if you have four steps to complete but you break it down into seven smaller steps each step will be completed quicker however it does make the process more complex. It could make simple processes very complex. Cache is the fastest type of memory. A CPU works best when data is continuously flowing into it. If information is not in the cache, the CPU looks for the data in the motherboard RAM, if its not in the RAM the information is found in the hard drive which is the slowest memory type. There are 3 types of cache: L1 cache Integrated into processor, L2 cache In processor packaging, not apart of CPU (on-die cache), L3 cache In CPU housing (on-die) or on motherboard

System performance depends on all computer parts providing efficient system performance (cache control, HD space, CPU speed, OS, hardware, etc) I would benefit from increasing the amount of cache/RAM my computer has because I play a lot of games. For gaming it is very important to have fast access to memory so you can react and interact with the game with no delays. While disk storage is cheaper it is slower and can cause some issues while playing. The motherboard creates a clock signal which looks like a sine wave. This clock signal controls the transfer of zeros and ones to and from the CPU. This graphic shows what a clock signal looks like. The dotted lines show a single clock cycle. In every single cycle data is sent four times! Graphics processing unit better know as GPUs is another vital part of a computer. GPUs are needed when playing graphically intensive games such as GTA5 or just for a better video performance overall! Most AMD and Intel CPUs have integrated GPUs (iGPU) which work for basic computer functions as surfing the web but not so well if you plan on playing graphic intense games. You never want your CPU to overheat so its important to have good cooling! Heat sinks paired with fans are the most common way to keep your CPU temperatures low. Heat sinks are simply a metal block which is attached to the CPU and it absorbs the heat from the CPU where the fan attached to the heat sink blows the heat away! Thermal paste is also applied between the heat sink and CPU because thermal paste disperses the heat equally so no one part of the CPU overheats. Other ways of cooling include liquid cooling, vapor cooling, heat pipes and passive cooling! There are also other chips on the motherboard that work with the CPU that are called a chipset. You cannot see them because they are soldered into the motherboard and covered with a heat sink. The sections that I read from this chapter were super interesting. After reading this chapter it made it so clear how far technology has come in 40 years. We went from a processor that had a 16-bit word size to CPUs with register sizes of 128 bit. The Intel 8088 had a speed of 4.77 MHz. Nowadays processors can run at speeds close to 5GHz which is over a 100,000x improvement! Its so impressive and it really made we wonder where will be in 30 years from now?

Journal 3

Chapter 6 from A++ Textbook Memory Overview There are two main types of memory, RAM (random-access memory) and ROM (read-only memory). ROM cannot be changed, the data stays when power is removed and is found on adapters. RAM can be changed, data goes away when power is removed, found on adapters and motherboards. RAM also stores parts of OS and holds running applications. There is two types of RAM, dynamic (DRAM) and static (SRAM) also known as cache memory. DRAM is cheaper and slower compared to SRAM. The information inside DRAM also leaks out eventually so it must be rewritten to the memory chip via the refresh process. Memory is one of the most crucial parts of a motherboard. Planning a Memory Installation You need to know what memory is supported by your motherboard, which features are supported, how much memory is needed, what memory modules you need and prices. SDRAM provides very fast burst memory access and synchronizes with CPU clock signal to speed up memory access. DDR can send twice as much data compared to SDRAM because data is moved on both sides of clock signal. DDR2 uses 240-pin DIMMs, DDR3 uses 240-pin DIMMs, more efficient compared to DDR2 and supports multicore processor-based systems! DDR4 uses 2888-pin DIMMs, operates at a lower voltage and faster compared to DDR3. If the memory is followed by a L it means it uses a lower voltage. The chipset is one of give electronic chips on the motherboard. A heat spreader is the metal surrounding the RAM which helps to dissipate heat away from the memory. All DDR RAM is the same size so its hard for a common person to distinguish between them. Parity is when a chip checks for data errors, non-parity means the chip doesn’t check for errors. Error correcting code is an alterative to parity which uses an algorithm to verify data. Unbuffed memory is used in low & medium end computers. Buffered memory is used in high end computers. Memory technology is always changing and evolving! Windows Disk Caching Virtual memory is using hard drive space as RAM which allows OS to run and manage large applications. It is dynamic so it only takes up however much memory is needed. A paging file is a block of HD space that applications use like RAM. I think my PC should use a smaller page file because I usually don’t run many applications at the same time. Typically the most applications I have open at once is around seven or so. I also have 16GB of RAM so I think having a smaller page file would be no issue for me and it would free up some space on my hard drive! Monitoring Memory Usage In Windows You can see your computer’s memory usage in the performance tab in the task manager.

Flash Memory Flash memory is a type of solid-state memory that holds data even when PC is off. Flash memory is used as a replacement for BIOS chip it stores OS and instructions. USB flash drives can store up to 256GB, inexpensive and easy to use

Memory Management Intro/Basic Memory Management Its important that memory is nonvolatile meaning it doesn’t lose its contents if the PC is off. The memory management modules of the OS keep track of free and allocated memory locations and making memory available for new requests. They do this with partitioning, virtual memory and segmentation. There are two types of partitioning which is the process of diving the memory into sections which allow for multitasking. The first is fixed partitioning where the memory is broken into parts to which a process is assigned. Variable partitioning allows for partition size to be changed after creation which fixed doesn’t allow! Paging is when physical memory is divided in equal size page frames and programs are divided into equal sized pages. If the program is too big only part of the program is loaded in the memory. I have had issues with a program using excessive amount of memory which resulted in my PC slowing down and causing my game to lag. I found that chrome was taking up an excessive amount of memory by looking in task manager, so I went into my chrome and disabled all my extensions and turned off chrome background apps. I also went into the intel settings and set the game I was playing to priority. Luckily those steps fixed the issue I was having and my FPS was no longer terrible! Memory Management Requirements There are five requirements for memory management, relocation, protection, sharing, contiguous organization and noncontiguous organization. Every process should be protected, and these protection mechanisms should be flexible to allow multiple processes to access the same area of memory. contiguous organization puts programs into sequential modules where noncontiguous puts them into varying locations based on supply and demand. Segmentation Memory segmentation is the most common way to protect memory. Program memory is broken down into segments typically Code, Data and Stack. A program makes a request and it must include what it wants to do, which segment it needs to operate in and an offset designating the memory location to modify. If these needs are not met a hardware exception occurs.

Process Management Intro/ The Concept of Process CPUs are also response for processes which are programs in execution. A process is the unit of work in a system. The concept of process has many definitions the main one being a process is defined as an executing program. A process is the activity where the program is the set of instructions. OS keeps track of all process and allocates resources for them. There are five statuses of a process, executing, waiting, blocked, suspended and ready. Threads allow for programs to be split up into logical separate pieces and have them run independently of one another. Threads are effective because they allow OS to know what each program needs to do beforehand. Process Scheduling Scheduling is a fundamental operating system function. Scheduling is a set of polices and mechanisms supported by the OS that controls the order in which work is finished. The main objective is to increase CPU utilization and increase throughput which is amount of work completed in a certain time period. Scheduling should improve system performance by minimizing overhead, enforcing priorities, being predictable and balancing resources use!

Journal 4

Data can be storage on both physical devices (HD, SSD, flash drives, etc.) and in the cloud! The cloud allows you to store your data on storage devices available via the internet. Companies who provide cloud storage charge for the storage. Some companies offer a small amount of free storage and an option to pay for additional space. Storing data in the cloud has became very easy but its important to remember the cloud is just a bunch of physical storage in a remote location. I have used cloud storage in the past specifically DropBox and Apple iCloud. I prefer local storage because I find it much easier to access. I do find cloud storage very helpful though because I know I have all my photos, schoolwork etc backed up. If I lose my phone or computer, I still have access to all the information thanks to the cloud! Hard drives are a common storage device found inside a computer case or attached externally. There are two common form factors for hard drives. Desktops and small servers typically use 3.5-inch drives, but they can also use the not-so-popular 5.25-inch drives. Laptops use a 2.5-inch drives. The cooling fan on the hard drive has a filter which protects the fan from dust particles. A hard drive can also be attached externally via a USB, eSATA, eSATAp, or IEEE 1394. Magnetic hard drives have platters which are hard metal surfaces that hold data on each side and has two read/write heads! The read/write heads float on a cushion of air to avoid touching the platter surface because of this data is written by using electromagnetism. The platter has magnetic particles that can be changed by a charge applied to the read/write heads. This allows the write head to place ones and zeros onto the hard drive! If a read/write head touches the platter a head crash occurs which can damage the platter or the read/write head or data corruption. Magnetic hard drives have two motors, one turns the platters and the other moves the read/write heads. The speed at which the hard drives spins is measured in RPMs. The faster the RPM the faster the transfer rate which also increases the price of the hard drive! Mean time between failures (MTBF) is the average number of hours before a drive is likely to fail. Hard drives don’t last forever so its important to back up your data! The arched circles inside a hard drive are called tracks which are numbered starting from the outermost to the inner most. A cylinder is all corresponding tracks. For example, all the tracks 1s make up cylinder 1! Tracks are broken into even smaller pieces called sectors which usually store 512 bytes. SSDs use DRAM or flash memory to store and fetch data meaning there are no moving parts! SSDs typically use nonvolatile flash memory, which is very reliable, quiet, secure, fast, doesn’t run too hot and provides longevity. The downsides of SSDs are that to write data a SSD might have to perform an erase operation or move data to another block for re-writing. For example, if you have an SSD with a 128 kB erase block and you need 7 kB to be written the erase block must erase 128 kB before the 7 kB can be written! This process does slow an SSD down a bit but it still is faster compared to a hard drive. Wear leveling is a technique that uses all memory blocks evenly when erasing and writing data instead of using the same blocks repeatedly. SSDs use NAND structure where 1-bit indicates no data is stored and 0-bit indicates there is data! NAND retains data even when the device is powered off. SSDs are more expensive than HDs and each memory block has a finite number of reads and writes meaning they don’t last forever! Hybrid SSDs are a mixture between mechanical drives and flash memory. They offer lower price per byte as there is some flash memory, but the majority is mechanical which gives plenty of storage space. Flash cache module is a new technology that requires software which predicts where data is going to be used and puts data on an SSD separate from the mechanical hard drive. The set of rules that governs communication with the hard drive is called an interface. There are two main hard drive interfaces; Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) and Small Computer System Interface (SCSI). IDE is typically found in home and office computers while SCSI is commonly found in storage networks. There are other interfaces such as PATA but PATA only supports two devices where IDE and SCSI allow multiple devices to attach to the same bus. Both IDE and SCSI interface have serial architecture available which is a point-to-point bus where each device has a single connection back to the controller. It allows for more devices to attach because of the easy configuration and scalability. SATA drives are used with laptops and PCs and SAS drives are usually used in servers. A NAS serial architecture stores data for multiple servers/computers which runs 24/7 with optimized performance so they are expensive. A cluster is the tiniest amount of space saved for a single file and is made up a specific number of sectors. As the partition size increases so does the cluster size. For example, a partition size of 1.5 GB would have a cluster size of 32 Kb and 64 sectors! The number of sectors per track varies from hard drive to hard drive. Redundant array of independent disks (RAID) allows us to read and write from multiple HDs which provides us with larger storage, better performance, and fault tolerance. Fault tolerance is the ability to continue functioning after a hardware/software failure. RAID can be set up through windows software, flash cache modules and HDs. There are many different levels of RAID, but the ones found in Windows are 0,1 and 5. RAID 0 or “disk striping” increases system performance by placing blocks of data in other drives, RAID 0 does not provide fault tolerance though! RAID 1 or “mirroring” protects against HD failure by writing the same data on multiple drives with slightly degraded write performance. RAID 01 is when a striped set of disks are mirrored but it requires 4+ HDs with an even number of disks and it provides fault tolerance but slight degradation when writing. RAID 10 is when a mirrored set of disks are striped, and it also requires 4+ HDS with an even number of disks. RAID 5 needs 3 or more HDs and is a disk striping with parity where blocks of data are placed in alternate drives with a parity block so if a driver fails it can rebuild from the other drives. RAID drives are also hot swappable! I have never encountered RAID in the past. Based on what I learned about the different levels of RAID I found RAID 1 to be my favorite. RAID 1 protects against HD failure with the only downside being a slightly slower write performance. I think you gain a lot with minimal downsides!

Storage Methods Contiguous allocation is what a basic file system uses to place logical file blocks onto physical medium. The file maximum size is determined when the file is created, and the size cannot be changed. Contiguous allocation tracks the starting block and total number of blocks. Linked-list allocation is where blocks are allocated randomly, and file blocks are chained together in linked listed. An advantage of this storage method is that files can change size with incremental allocation of blocks. Linked-list is not recommend because it is unreliable since a missing pointer can lead to loss of data. Segment-based allocation uses a segment table to allocate multiple regions of contiguous blocks. The file header points to a table of begin and end block pairs. This storage method allows for the flexibility to break the allocation into multiple contiguous disk regions, reducing disk seek time. The downside is as the disk becomes fragmented the allocation needs a bigger table to locate blocks. Indexed allocation uses an index to track the file block locations. The user chooses the maximum file size and the file system allocates a file header with an array of pointer large enough to to point all file blocks. It provides fast disk location, but file blocks can be scattered all over the disk. As the size of a file increases the file system needs to reallocate the index array and copy entries. Multilevel indexed allocation is utilized by Linux where certain index entries point to index blocks as opposed to data blocks. Its optimal for both small and large files. Inverted allocation allocates a disk block by hashing the file block content to a disk block location.

Secondary Storage Management Main memory is too small to store all programs and data forever and main memory is volatile meaning it losses its content when powered off. Secondary storage job is to hold large amount of data permanently. Disks are made up of platters which are divided into tracks. Tracks are further split into small sectors. The OS is responsible for using hardware efficiently with disk drives its job is to make sure there is a fast access time and disk bandwidth. Access time is calculated by three movements; the seek time, the time taken to move the read/write head into place, latency time, the time taken for the disk to spin around and transfer time which is the time taken to perform data transfer between disk and main memory. Free space list is tracked by the disk manager. Bit map is the first way that the free space list can be implemented. Ones indicate data is there and zeros show the space is free. The next way is linked list where a pointer is kept on the first free block. The final way is free sequence where a pointer is kept on the first free block of each sequence and records the number of blocks in the sequence. Contiguous allocation, chained allocation and indexed allocation are explained again which was already covered in the above readings. For a single disk there will be a number of I/O requests which needs to be scheduled. There are many ways to do this. First come first serve, shortest seek time where the request with the minimum seek time from the current head position is chosen. C-look is when the arm only goes as far as the last request in each direction and then it reverses direction without going all the way to the end of the disk!

Journal 5

Creating Evaluating Analyzing Applying Understanding Remembering Bloom’s taxonomy is a classification of how people normally progress through the learning process. There are six steps in Bloom’s taxonomy. Most people start at remembering then understanding and so forth until you are at the point of creation. Computers are needed for a plethora of reasons, depending on what the user needs the computer for the system will be designed differently. A grandmother will not need the same PC as a 13-year-old gamer! Below are the important components of a computer based on the main purpose of the computer. Computer System Design Important Components Graphic/CAD/CAM Workstations Multicore CPU, SSD, High-end GPU, large HDs, Max system RAM Gaming PCs Multicore CPU, High-end GPU, High definition sound card, High-end cooling, SSD, large amount of RAM Audio/Video Editing Workstations Specialized GPU with max video RAM, Specialized audio card, Very fast/large HDs, Multicore CPU, dual monitors, large amount of RAM Network-Attached Storage Devices (NAS)- single box that contains multiple HDs used for storing photos, movies etc. Can also be a row of HDs which provide storage for multiple servers and users in RAID array Media streaming, File streaming, Gigabit NIC, RAID array, multiple HDs, Multiple SSDs Virtualization Workstations- a workstation that has atleast one OS in its own virtual machine that is separate from host OS Max CPU cores, Max RAM, fast/large HDs, SSDs Thin Client Workstations- desktop that runs applications from server Minimum requirements for OS, Network connectivity, only used for basic applications Standard Thick Client Workstations- all in one computer Minimum requirements for OS, desktop applications Home Servers- computer used to store data Multiple HDs in RAID array, multiple CPUs/ cores, 8GB or more RAM Industrial Computers- computer used for specific trade Recommended hardware requirements based on applications used Mobile Computers (laptop/tablet) Sufficient RAM

Some companies may request their computer designs to be green so it’s important to build computers with energy conservation in mind! The EPEAT rating system was designed to identify products that have a green design. There is also ENERGY STAR which rates products on energy efficiency meaning the product must have low energy requirements, low-power modes, and efficient power supplies. The motherboard, chipset and CPU are all directly related to each other so its important you make sure the parts are compatible with each other before buying! A site like pcpartpicker.com is great for helping with compatibility. Processor technology length is measured in nanometers (1x10-9). Typically, the smaller a processor is the cooler it will run. With lower heat, some components can run faster. The type of motherboard you choose to use dictates the type of memory supported, the maximum amount of memory and maximum memory speed. The most important design consideration for memory is to take advantage of dual/triple/quad channeling whenever possible. Also consider the chipset, CPU size, motherboard socket size, CPU cooling, RAM & number/type of pots when dealing with the motherboard! The storage subsystem consists of magnetic or flash technologies for internal or external HDs, flash storage or optical drives. The table below helps with storage device options. Feature Design considerations Internal connectivity SATA or M.2 Internal power Molex or SATA power connector Internal physical size 1.8, 2.5, 3.5, or 5.25 inches, with an available expansion slot in the case External connectivity USB, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), eSATA, or eSATAp port NIC External power Either external power cord or power provided by the USB, IEEE 1394, or eSATAp port Storage technology Magnetic (hard drive or optical drive); SATA 1.5, 3, or 6 Gb/s (SATA1, SATA2, or SATA3), M.2, flash memory (SSD, flash drives, and flash media), or hybrid (magnetic and SSD) Special storage Multiple drives, if RAID is used NAS to share storage with other computers Storage device speed 5400, 5900, 7200, 10000, or 15000 RPM for magnetic drives Transfer rate for SSDs Input/output operations per second (IOPS) for both magnetic drives and SSDs, which is a measurement that takes into account sequential reads/writes as well as random reads/writes Optical drive capability Read only or read & write Optical drive technology Red-violet and/or blue lasers Drive buffers Both HDs and optical drives can have buffers which increase data transfer speed External considerations What other devices share the port?

When your computer is not working properly the goal is to return the computer to the state it was in before issues arised. Troubleshooting can be very challenging so technicians must use reasoning and take logical steps to get to the bottom of the problem. Each case is different but logical troubleshooting can be broken into six steps. Step 1- Identify the problem Step 2- Establish a theory of probable cause Step 3- Test the theory to determine cause Step 4- Establish a plan of action to fix the issue and implement a solution Step 5- Verify system functionality Step 6- Document findings, outcomes, and actions The three most important components if I was building a computer for myself would be the CPU, GPU and RAM. If I was building a computer for another family member such as my father I would just make sure it had plenty of storage, network connectivity and basic components as it would only be used to browse the web and run non-intensive applications. Today I had to “troubleshoot” because I was trying to set up a virtual machine using VirtualBox but I was getting an error saying the VM was created using virtual acceleration but the host PC doesn’t have virtual acceleration on. I fixed the issue by going to “recovery” in windows settings then by clicking “restart now”. Then I pressed troubleshoot and clicked on UEFI Firmware Settings after that. Next, I entered by BIOS by clicking F2 during the bootup and entered advance mode by clicking F7. Finally, I found “CPU Configuration” and ticked the Virtualization Technology box. This fixed my issue and I no longer had any issues using VirtualBox! I did not follow the steps the book recommended and I don’t think following the steps would have helped any better because I googled the issue I was having and followed the guide to fix it.

Journal 6

The Microsoft Management Console (mmc) contains tools that maintain a computer called snap-ins. You can open the mmc by searching for mmc in the Windows search box. There are three main types of tool categories, System Tools, Storage and Services/Applications. Each tool category can be expanded to find other useful tools such as Disk Management under the Storage section or the Performance Monitor under System Tools. The Computer Management console is the mother lode of technical tools for an IT technician. The console allows administrators to manage shared folders/drives, start and stop services, look at performance logs, see system alerts and troubleshoot hardware. A service is a Windows process that provides a specific function to the computer. You can see all the services installed on your computer by searching for “services” in the Windows search box and opening the services application. You can double click on any service to see its properties where you can start, stop, pause, or resume a service. Also, while in the properties window if you click on the “recovery” tab you can determine what happens when a service fails from the first to third time. After a computer boots and completes the power on self-test, the computers next step is looking for an operating system. Windows OS can be loaded by numerous boot methods. The boot order is controlled by a setting within the BIOS which determines which one the OS looks for first. Boot Method Examples Internal hard drive partition on internal fixed disk HDD, SSD, M.2 SSD Optical disc CD, DVD, Blu-ray disc External hard drive USB or eSATA drive Network boot (PXE boot) System boots from an image shared on network from a server

The system volume is the active drive partition that has files needed to load the OS. The boot volume is the partition where the OS files are located. Both volumes can be on the same partition. The system files are the files the OS needs to boot the computer. Windows goes through four phases to start. The first phase is preboot which is a process controlled by the BIOS where the computer finds and allows an OS to run. The second phase is Windows boot manager followed by the Windows operation system loader which loads drives needed by the Windows kernel. The final phase is Windows OS kernel where more drives are loaded, services run and finally the logon screen appears. Microsoft uses %systemroot% to represent the boot partition, partition and folder that contain the majority of the Windows files. %systemdrive% represents the root directory. The Recovery Console can be accessed numerous ways the easiest being pressing F8 while the computer is booting. There are six different tools in the Recovery Console each outlined below:

Tool Description System Restore Returns system to a previous time System Image Recovery Restores contents of HD from backup media such as another HD Startup Repair Analyzes computer and tries to fix and missing or damaged system files or BCD files Command Prompt Allows execution of any command line program Startup Settings Brings you to the startup settings window Go back to the Previous Build Downgrade back to original OS that was upgraded to Windows 10

I have had to use the Recovery Console to boot my computer before. My experience was pretty good, and it was very helpful in fixing my computer. I used the “Startup Repair” and let the computer work its magic and once it was done analyzing and repairing the system files my computer booted without issue. System Restore can return the system to an operable state. It can do this by taking a snapshot (restore point) image of the registry and backing up certain dynamic system files. Windows 7 & 8 automatically take snapshots weekly and whenever a system updates occurs. In Windows 10 System Restore is disabled by default and can be turned on within the control panel. System Restore is the number one tool for fixing issues with the OS and registry. Windows uses shadow copy technology which employs a block level image instead of monitoring creating files for changes. If Windows fails to boot correctly you can use Windows Advanced Boot Options to troubleshoot. There are many tools to troubleshoot and the most common are Safe Mode, Last Known Good Config, and rebooting. Last Known Good Config is used when a new change was made which resulted in the system not booting properly. Safe Mode uses a minimum set of drivers/services to boot allowing you an easier troubleshoot. The system configuration utility is used to troubleshoot Windows startup problems by disabling specific startup programs/services. To access this utility, press the windows key + R and type msconfig. There are five different tabs within the system config utility; general, boot, services, startup and tools. The general tab has three main options: normal startup, diagnostic startup and selective startup. Diagnostic startup is used when creating a clean environment for troubleshooting and selective startup allows you to pick which startup options to load. The boot tab allows you to modify Windows boot environment such as changing the number of processors and maximum memory used during your system boot. The services tab allows you to disable or enable services during boot. The startup tab allows you to disable or enable Window applications from automatically starting when booting. The tools tab allows you to launch Windows utilities such as Task Manager or System Restore. Task manager is a utility which displays applications currently loaded in the memory, processes currently running, processor usage and memory details. To open Task Manager simply search “task manager” into the Windows search box. Task manager is very useful for stopping applications that have stopped responding. It is also very helpful for seeing how many resources are being used by specific programs or overall. If an application has a green lead beside it, it means the application is suspended. There are seven tabs in the task manager: Processes, Performance, App history, Startup, Users, Details and Services. Task manager is very useful for ending applications which are not responding and for monitoring the performance of your CPU, GPU and memory. I use task manager all the time to end games that are no longer responding, and I also use it to monitor my CPU and GPU loads.

System Utilities A utility program is a type of system software that allows a user to perform maintenance tasks on the computer, its devices or its programs. There are many utility programs which are covered in this reading. File manager is a utility that performs file management functions such as displaying a list of files on a storage medium, organizing files in folders, copying, renaming, deleting, or moving files. Search utility attempts to locate a file on a computer based on specified criteria such as a keyword, date of modification, date of creation, size or location of a file. Image viewer allows users to display, copy and print contents of a graphical file. Disk cleanup searches for and removes unnecessary files such as downloaded program files, temporary files, or deleted files. An uninstaller removes a program from the system files. Disk defrag reorganizes files and unused space on a HD so they OS can access data quicker by reorganizing files, so they are stored in contiguous sectors. A backup utility allows users to back up selected files or entire HD to another storage device such as another HD or USB. Screen savers, personal firewalls, antiviruses, file compressions and media players are also file managers.