...Share this About.com About Tech PC Support . . . Troubleshooting Guides Symptoms How To Fix a Computer That Turns On But Displays Nothing What To Do When Your Computer Starts but The Screen is Black By Tim Fisher PC Support Expert Share this PC Support Categories Troubleshooting Guides How-To's & Tutorials Getting Support Software Tools Hardware Tools Command Line Reference Parts of a Computer Cleaning & Cooling File Extensions Things You Didn't Know About... Computer Terms Other Resources Fix a Problem With Your Computer Maintaining Your Computer Tips & Tricks Updated Articles and Resources Free Email Newsletter Let About.com send you the latest from our PC Support Expert. You can opt-out at any time. Please refer to our privacy policy for contact information. Photo of a Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24-Inch LED Monitor - © Dell, Inc. Dell UltraSharp U2412M 24-Inch LED Monitor. © Dell, Inc. The most common way that a computer "won't turn on" is when the PC actually does power on but doesn't display anything on the monitor. You see lights on the computer case, probably hear fans running from inside, and may even hear sounds, but nothing at all shows up on your screen. There are several possible reasons why your monitor isn't displaying information so it's very important that you step through an ordered process like the one I've outlined here. ...
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...IT320 Unit 5 HW 1. When a router is first powered on, it completes a four-step initialization process: 1. Preforming a power-on self test (POST) 2. Loading a bootstrap program 3. Loading an IOS 4. Loading a configuration file The last three of these steps require the router to copy the files into RAM. Normally, most routers load an IOS image that is stored in flash memory and an initial configuration stored in NVRAM. 2. Routers use the following logic, in order, to attempt to load an IOS: 1. Load a limited-function IOS if the configuration register’s last hex digit is set to 0 or 1. 2. Load an IOS based on the configuration of boot system commands in the startup-configuration file. 3. Load the first file in flash as the IOS. 4. Use TFTP broadcasts to find a TFTP server and download an IOS from that server. 5. Load a limited-function IOS from ROM. In Step 1, the configuration register is a16-bit number that Cisco routers store in a hidden area of NVRAM. It can be set in a couple of ways and can be seen using the show version command. The most commonly used way to set its value is to use the config-register global configuration command. Routers use the 4 low-order bits of the configuration register as the boot field, which tells the router what to do in the first of the preceding five decision steps. If the value of the field is set to 0, the router loads the ROMMON (ROM Monitor), which is used for password recovery. If the value is set to1, the router loads...
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...Knowledge Assessment Matching 1. Remote Desktop E. Based on the former Terminal Services 2. System image backup J. Saves data to a VHD file 3. BranchCache A. Conserves WAN bandwidth 4. Distributed cache mode B. Files cached on each client 5. Volume shadow copies H. Previous versions 6. Incremental backup D. Files changed since the last backup job 7. Windows RE I. Accessible from a Window 7 installation disk 8. Hosted cache mode C. Files cached on a central server 9. Windows Remote Management G. Executes PowerShell commands on remote computers 10. System restore point F. Configuration settings and registry information Multiple Choice 1. Which of the following service priority guidelines are not accurate? D. Departmental issues should be rated according to the function of the department. A problem with a computer belonging to a department that is critical to the organization, such as order entry or a customer service call center, should take precedence over a problem with a computer belonging to a department that can better tolerate a period of down time, such as research and development. 2. Place these troubleshooting steps in the correct order, using the procedure described in this lesson as your guide. B, D, C, A. B: Establishing the symptoms is the first step in troubleshooting any problem to determine exactly what is going wrong. D: Select the most probable cause. Once...
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...BitLocker Drive Encryption Overview 73 out of 98 rated this helpful - Rate this topic Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista BitLocker Drive Encryption is a data protection feature available Windows Server 2008 R2 and in some editions of Windows 7. Having BitLocker integrated with the operating system addresses the threats of data theft or exposure from lost, stolen, or inappropriately decommissioned computers. Data on a lost or stolen computer is vulnerable to unauthorized access, either by running a software-attack tool against it or by transferring the computer's hard disk to a different computer. BitLocker helps mitigate unauthorized data access by enhancing file and system protections. BitLocker also helps render data inaccessible when BitLocker-protected computers are decommissioned or recycled. BitLocker provides the most protection when used with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 1.2. The TPM is a hardware component installed in many newer computers by the computer manufacturers. It works with BitLocker to help protect user data and to ensure that a computer has not been tampered with while the system was offline. On computers that do not have a TPM version 1.2, you can still use BitLocker to encrypt the Windows operating system drive. However, this implementation will require the user to insert a USB startup key to start the computer or resume from hibernation, and it does not provide the pre-startup system integrity verification...
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...Introduction To sum of the differences between ROM RAM BIOS and Post I will simply define the basis of each component while defining what they do. ROM is short for (Read-only Memory) Memory which data is prerecorded on a computer. ROM is simply data that cannot be eliminated even when the computer is off. When working in ROM it is difficult or nearly impossible to change. BIOS is short for the acronym (Basic Input Output System) it is a program which stores detailed information and enable the computer to boot. In addition a ROM chip located on the motherboard, it lets you access the basic setup and ensures that the BIOS will readily be available and will not de damaged by disk failures. RAM is (Random Access Memory) Memory that can be access randomly memory that can be access without touching preceding bytes. RAM is the typical memory found in most computers or printers. In addition, RAM is a volatile memory that requires power to keep information accessible. If power is lost, then memory can be lost. Lastly Post is the self-test which is activated by Bios. The post is designed to run checks on the motherboard. It necessary to use ROM for the BIOS because the ROM retains information on the computer even while shut down whereas RAM does not. Whenever a computer is being use the information is being stored on the RAM if the is ever a power shortage or the computer lose power the information is lost. RAM does not store memory when there is no power. POST beep codes make...
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...Motherboard Answer the following questions 5 April 2015 Tanweer Haroon DeJong May The major components of the motherboard are as follows: memory and their slots which is the computer’s memory (RAM) and is one of the most important parts of the system board. The number of chips depends on the type of computer and its capacity. Expansion cards are a typical component of non-integrated system boards a graphic card is a perfect example, but this can be integrated into the motherboard. CPU and slots is the central processing unit and it’s a highly prolific part of the computer and is located on the right of a motherboard and can be identified as a result of the heat sink or cooling fan directly on it. BIOS chip directs the CPU with respect to how it relates with other parts of the computer. Its basic input and output system chip or integrated circuit is fixed on the board and is easily identifiable. CMOS battery, the complementary metal oxide semiconductor is a small battery on the system board that powers the CMOS memory. Power supply and connectors is the electrical unit of the system and if it’s bad the system will not work. Keyboard connector are located on the motherboard and there are two main types. The AT has a round connecting interface into the motherboard and the PS/2 connector is rectangular in shape and smaller. Modern motherboards come with both. Mouse connector its connecting port is located on the motherboard and its interface is usually round. Floppy...
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...Fall BIOS – Instructor: Mrs. Nicholas – NT1110 – 1 May 2014 Lavon Hawkins BIOS SUMMARY Lavon Hawkins BIOS SUMMARY BIOS BIOS: The BIOS is software which is stored on the motherboard. It tells the computer how to perform a number of basic functions such as booting and keyboard control. It is also used to identify and configure the hardware in a computer such as hard drive, floppy drive, optical drive, CPU, memory and so on. CMOS: The complementary metal oxide semiconductor is the type of semiconductor chip on the motherboard which stores the system information and computer settings such as date, time, hard drive settings, boot sequence, parallel part settings, on-base audio and video etc. Firmware: Firmware is a combination of software and hardware. Computer chips that have data or programs recorded on them are firmware. POST: The POST or power on self-test is a test the computer does when it first boots up. It’s to verify all the hardware is working. If all checks out it usually gives a single beep. If not a beep code could come up. Beep Code: A beep code is an audible code which is generated during the POST (Power On Self Test) when the BIOS has an issue but has not made it all the way up the boot sequence that it can give you the error as a message on the monitor BIOS update: Updating the BIOS can fix or enhance aspects of a computers performance. Or it may provide support for newly installed hardware. 1 Flash BIOS update: A BIOS chip...
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...products that are new and cheaper than the ones that came before. This way a company is able to take a product that is already out on the market and take it apart piece by piece and see how it works so they can rebuild it cheaper and more efficiently. One famous example of reverse engineering is in the mid-1980s Phoenix Technologies Ltd wanted to produce a BIOS for PCs that would be compatible with the IBM PCs proprietary BIOS. To protect themselves from any charges of illegally copying their BIOS they used what is called a clean room. With the clean room approach there are two teams; one that studies the BIOS that they are trying to recreate and they come up with a detailed report of what it is exactly the BIOS does without using any of the code or anything that will link their description to that particular BIOS. Then this description is given to another team that has not looked at the code of the BIOS they are recreating and they build whole new BIOS off those instructions. This way even if some of the code is the same it will not be a copy right infringement since the second team who actually wrote the code and built the BIOS...
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...on a motherboard? Why can these busses not be replaced with a single bus? • With 64-bit busses available, why should 32-bit busses be provided as well? The motherboard of a computer is also known as the System Board. The circuit board is the platform on which all the hardware of the computer is connected. It is said to be the most important part of the computer. The expansion cards, and slots, BIOS chip, CMOS battery, jumpers and DIP switches, heat sink, PCI, Power connector, on board disk drive connectors, memory slots, keyboard connectors, Peripheral ports and connectors are all the things that one may find on the motherboard. The expansion cards are a typical part of nonintegrated system board. An example of this is a graphic card. Memory slots are one of the most important part of the system board. The number of memory chips on a motherboard depends on the type of CPU and its capacity. The slots are usually white and black and close in proximity to one another. The BIOS chip is also a very important part of the system board. It directs the CPU to other parts of the computer. BIOS and its manufacturers name are usually written on the chip. The CMOS battery or (complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) is a small battery on the system...
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...that starts the “chain reaction” which ends with the entire operating system being loaded is known as the boot loader (or bootstrap loader). The term creatively came from early designiners imagining that before a computer “runs” it must have it’s “boots strapped”. The boot loader’s only job is to load other software for the operating system to start. Often, multiple-stage boot loaders are used, in which several small programs of increasing complexity sequentially summon one after the other, until the last of them loads the operating system. Boot Devices The boot device is the device from which the operating system is loaded. A modern PC BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) supports booting from various devices. These include the local hard disk drive, optical drive, floppy drive, a network interface card, and a USB device. Typically, the BIOS will allow the user to configure a boot order. If the boot order is set to: 1. CD Drive 2. Hard Disk Drive 3....
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...Ransomware Discuss the threat When infected restricts you to access to a computer system. This will become more refined in its targets and methods. Experts predict that the variants of ransomware that hurt the security software that are installed within a computer may particularly target the endpoints which sign up with cloud-based storage solutions like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and many more. On detecting the endpoint, ransomware will exploit the stored personal credentials of the logged-in user and will even infect the cloud storage that is backed up. McAfee has warned that ransomware attackers will try out as many ways possible to shell out ransom payments from their victims. Degree of damage The most advanced and most damaging ransomware in the wild at the moment, specifically targeting U.S. businesses and individuals. It's a $70 million per year criminal enterprise. Its magnitude is now confirmed by law enforcement. Some quick math shows $18,145 in costs per victim, caused by network mitigation, network countermeasures, loss of productivity, legal fees, IT services, and/or the purchase of credit monitoring services for employees or customers. As you can see, the total costs of a ransomware infection goes well above just the ransom fee itself, which is usually around $500 but can go up to $10,000. What it attacked Ransomware is a type of malware that infects a computer and restricts a user’s access to the infected computer. This type of malware...
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...Summary A malicious program that secretly integrates itself into program or data files. It spreads by integrating itself into more files each time the host program is run. Disinfection & Removal Automatic Disinfection Allow F-Secure Anti-Virus to disinfect the relevant files. For more general information on disinfection, please see Removal Instructions. Technical Details The CIH virus was first located in Taiwan in early June 1998. After that, it has been confirmed to be in the wild worldwide. It has been among the ten most common viruses for several months. CIH has been spreading very quickly as it has been distributed through pirated software. History It seems that at least four underground pirate software groups got infected with the CIH virus during summer 1998. They inadvertently spread the virus globally in new pirated softwares they released through their own channels. These releases include some new games which will spread world-wide very quickly. There's also a persistent rumor about a 'PWA-cracked copy' of Windows 98 which would be infected by the CIH virus but F-Secure has been unable to confirm this. Later on, CIH was distributed by accident from several commercial sources, such as: • Origin Systems website where a download related to the popular Wing Commander game was infected • At least three European PC gaming magazines shipped magazines where the cover CD-ROM was infected - one of them even included a note inside advising users to disinfect their...
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...about a millionth of an amp of electrical current. This efficiency allows it to store configuration data for a long time (maybe years). In this paper I will explain how CMOS memory change over the years, if CMOS memory increased, decreased, or stayed the same, and if CMOS still utilizes RAM, requiring a battery on the motherboard. CMOS really hasn’t changed very much from what I could find on the internet… Mainly the speeds have increased and the noise has been reduced it also went from analog to digital. Originally, the IBM PC only used of a small portion of CMOS memory and the balance of the 64 bytes were left undefined. Once other manufacturers cloned the AT form factor it wasn’t long that other areas of the CMOS was used by various BIOS manufacturers for such user-selectable options as memory wait states, memory type, initial boot drive selection, boot-up clock speed, hard drive interface type, green options, shadow RAM options, cache options, and password protection of the CMOS contents. It still uses a small battery incase there is a power outage and still uses volatile RAM. The size of the CMOS memory has also pretty much stayed the same because there is no need to increase the size. There was never any need to store more than 512 bytes in the memory as it holds the absolute basic boot settings for the system. The typical size is still 512 bytes currently. All it comes down to is “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”, so it’s been that way since almost the very beginning...
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...BASIC INPUT OUTPUT SYSTEM [BIOS] Seminar Presented by Milind Chile - 2591 Dipti Borkar - 2778 Freddy Gandhi - 2787 Raghav Shreyas Murthi - 2804 Introduction The BIOS, short for BASIC INPUT OUTPUT SYSTEM is a set of built-in software routines that give a PC its personality. Although, less than 32 kilobytes of code, the BIOS controls many of the most important functions of the PC: how it interprets keystrokes (Ctrl + Alt + Delete), how it puts characters on the screen, and how and at what speed it communicates through its ports. The BIOS also determines the compatibility of the computer and its flexibility in use. Although all BIOSs have the same function; all are not the same. The BIOS governs the inner complexities arising out of the odd mixing of hardware and software. It acts as a link between the material hardware of the PC and its circuits, and the transcendent realm of software ideas and instructions. More than a link, the BIOS is both hardware and software. Like software, the BIOS is a set of instructions to the computer’s microprocessor. Like hardware, however, these instructions are not evanescent; rather they are coded into the hard, worldly silicon of PROM, EPROM chips. Due to the twilight state of programs like the BIOS, existing in the netherworld between hardware and software, such PROM-based programs are often termed firmware. The personality comes from the firmware code. This code determines how the computer will carry out the basic functions needed to make...
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...Video Summary BIOS One of the most common uses of Flash memory is for the basic input/out put system of you computer, commonly known as the BIOS. The BIOS makes sure all other chips, hard drives, ports and CPU function together. BIOS is the first program that is activated during the boot, running on ROM, ready only memory. Start up BIOS activates the POST bootstrap loader which runs POST. POST checks the basic system hardware testing memory and assigning system resources. Startup BIOS also check the CMOS, comparing them to the hardware found during POST. CMOS setting are stored in the RAM ( Random Access Memory) and are not permanent as BIOS setting are and can be changed by the user. BOIS and CMOS are different they are stored on different chips. BIOS are stored in ROM and CMOS are stored in RAM. BIOS are permanent, while CMOS are volatile, it can be erased if the power goes off. BIOS cannot be edited by users. CMOS can be edited by users, configuration can be saved. CMOS setting are not lost because of the CMOS battery, providing power during shutdown. Preserves CMOS configuration stored in RAM. If the battery dies the symptoms would be low battery= slow clock, dead battery which means checksum error during boot. The system will reboot once you clear the checksum error. After POST is complete and the CMOS are checked, the BIOS check the MBR (Master Boot Record), which is located on the first sector on the hard drive. MBR finds the activate partition and loads the 1st...
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