Basic Computer Parts

Computer systems include hardware, software, and firmware. Hardware is something you can touch and feel—the physical computer and the parts inside the computer are examples of hard- ware. The monitor, keyboard, and mouse are hardware components. Software interacts with the hardware. Windows, Linux, OS X, Microsoft Office, Solitaire, Google Chrome, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and WordPerfect are examples of software.

Without software that allows the hardware to accomplish something, a computer is nothing more than a doorstop. Every computer needs an important piece of software called an operating system, which coordinates the interaction between hardware and software applications. The operating system also handles the interaction between a user and the computer. Examples of operating systems include DOS, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, OS X, and various types of Unix, such as Red Hat and Mandrake.

A device driver is a special piece of software designed to enable a hardware component. The device driver enables the operating system to recognize, control, and use the hardware compo- nent. Device drivers are hardware and operating system specific. For example, a printer requires a specific device driver when connected to a computer loaded with Windows 98. The same printer requires a different device driver when using Windows XP. Each piece of installed hardware requires a device driver for the operating system being used. Figure 1.1 shows how hardware and software must work together.

USB Port

USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. A USB port allows up to 127 devices to transmit at speeds up to 5Gbps (5 billion bits per second) with version 3.0. Compare these speeds to parallel port transfers of 1Mbps (1 million bits per second). Devices that can connect to the USB port include printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, joysticks, CD drives, DVD drives, tape drives, floppy drives, flight yokes, cameras, modems, speakers, telephones, video phones, data gloves, and digitizers. In order for the computer to use the USB port, it must have a Pentium or higher CPU; an oper- ating system that supports USB, such as Windows 9x or higher, Apple OS X, or *nix (any flavor of Unix) and a chipset that acts as a host controller. Additional ports can sometimes be found on the front of computer cases. Figure 1.12 shows a close-up view of two USB ports. Figure 1.13 is a photograph of computer USB ports.

USoft Skills—Phone Skills

Technicians must frequently use the phone in the normal course of business. This includes speaking with customers who call in, those who you must call, and vendors and technical sup- port staff. Many technicians’ full-time job involves communication via the telephone. Phone communication is different from in-person communication because on the phone you have only your words and voice intonation to convey concepts, professionalism, and techni- cal assistance. When dealing with someone in person, you can use some of the following tech- niques that are not allowed during normal phone conversations: ● Gesture to emphasize points ● Draw a graphic to illustrate a concept ● Perform steps needed for troubleshooting faster because you can do them rather than step someone through them ● Show empathy easier with your body language, actions, and voice When dealing with someone on the phone, the following pointers can help. Some of the tips apply to everyday technical support as well: ● Identify yourself clearly and pleasantly ● Avoid a condescending tone ● Be patient and speak slowly when giving directions ● Use active listening skills (covered in Chapter 2); avoid doing other tasks when on a call with someone ● Avoid using acronyms and technical jargon ● Avoid being accusatory or threatening ● If the customer is irate, try to calm him down and help him; however, if he continues to be belligerent, turn the call over to your supervisor ● Escalate the problem if it is beyond your skill level; do not waste the customer’s time ● Do not leave people on hold for extended periods without checking back with them and updating them ● Speak clearly and loud enough to be heard easily ● Avoid having a headset microphone pulled away so it is hard to hear you; if you are asked to repeat something, speak louder or adjust the microphone or handset ● Avoid eating, drinking, or chewing gum when on the phone. Good interpersonal skills are more important when on the phone than with face-to-face interactions. Before getting on the phone, take a deep breath and check your attitude. Every cus- tomer deserves your best game no matter what type of day you have had or what type of customer you have previously spoken to. The rest of the chapter is devoted to questions and exercises to help with all hard drive con- cepts. Good luck with them!

Refilling Cartridges, Reinking Ribbons, and Recycling Cartridges

Much controversy exists when it comes to reinking dot matrix printer ribbons, refilling ink jet cartridges, or buying remanufactured laser cartridges. Many people who are concerned about the environment recycle their cartridges. Even if a company or an individual user decides not to pur- chase remanufactured products, some send their old empty cartridges to companies that do the remanufacturing. Refilling ink cartridges significantly lowers the printing costs. If you refill the ink cartridges, add new ink before the old cartridge runs completely dry. If refilling ink cartridges, be sure the refill ink emulates the manufac- turer’s ink. Some ink refill companies use inferior ink that, over time, has a corrosive effect on the cartridge housing. A leaky cartridge or one that bursts causing ink to get into the printer is nothing but trouble. Some ink refill companies have an exchange system. The old ink cartridges are placed into a sealed plastic bag and returned to the company where they are remanufactured. In return, the company ships a remanufactured cartridge filled with ink. If the empty ink cartridge sent to the company does not fit its standards criteria, the cartridge is thrown away. Some states have dis- posal requirements for ink jet cartridges. When it comes to laser cartridge remanufacturing, the most important components are the drum and the wiper blade that cleans the drum. Many laser cartridge remanufacturers use the same parts over and over again. A quality refill company will disassemble the cartridge and inspect each part. When the drum and wiper blade are worn, they are replaced with new parts. Some states have disposal requirements for laser printer cartridges. Reinking a dot matrix printer ribbon is not a good idea. It can cause a mess and the ink is sometimes an inferior quality that causes deterioration of the printhead over time. Because dot matrix printer ribbons are so inexpensive, you should just replace them.

Print Drivers

How an application outputs to a printer is determined by the operating system used. A print driver is a small piece of software specifically written for a particular printer. The print driver enables the printer’s specific features and allows an application to communicate with the printer. Windows applications use a single print driver—one written for the specific printer. Printers must accept as much data as possible from the computer, process that data, output it, communicate to the computer the need for more data, accept more data, and repeat the process. With Windows, a print spooler is used. A print spooler, or print manager, is a software program that intercepts the printer’s request to print. Instead of going directly to the printer, the data goes to the hard drive. The spooler then controls the data from the hard drive going to the printer. Some printers come with their own print manager that replaces the one included with Windows. The print spooler transmission retry option is the number of seconds the print manager waits before giving up on trying to send the printer more data. If the document contains multi- ple fonts, font sizes, or graphics, the transmission retry settings may need to be changed. For Windows, use the Printers control panel, right-click the specific printer, and select Properties. Note that the tab used to select options for transmission retry may vary between printer manufacturers.

Printer Installation

A printer is one of the easiest devices to install. Always refer to the printer documentation for exact installation and configuration specifics. The following steps explain how to install a printer that attaches to a USB port: 1. Take the printer out of its box and remove the shipping materials. The number one cause of new printers not working properly is that all the shipping safeguards are not removed properly. 2. Connect the power cord from the printer to the wall outlet, surge protector, or UPS out- let. Note that most UPS units are not rated high enough for a laser printer to be con- nected to it. 3. Load paper and ribbon/ink/cartridge into the printer according to manufacturer’s instructions. Most ink jet printers have a calibration routine that should be utilized as part of the installation routine. 4. Turn on the printer and verify that the power light is on. 5. Install the print driver by following the manufacturer’s instructions for the particular operating system being used. 6. Attach the USB cable from the printer to the computer. Note that this cable might not be provided with the printer. 7. Configure options and default settings. 8. Perform a test print to verify communication between the computer and printer. Most ink jet printers have a calibration process that must be performed before normal printing. This calibra- tion procedure is also performed when an ink cartridge is replaced. 9. Train the user on printer operation and leave all printer documentation with the customer.

Aurther

Cheryl A. Schmidt

Downlaod Book