Datasheet

Identifying Motherboards 15
In order to play movies, a DVD drive must have MPEG-decoding capability. This is
usually accomplished via an expansion board, but it may be built into the video card
or sound card, or it may be a software decoder. If DVD data discs will play but movies
won’t, suspect a problem with the MPEG decoding.
If a CD-RW, DVD, or Blu-ray drive works normally as a regular CD-ROM drive but
doesn’t perform its special capability (doesn’t read DVD discs, or doesn’t write to blank
CDs), perhaps software needs to be installed to work with it. For example, with CD-RW
drives, unless you’re using an operating system such as Windows XP that supports CD
writing, you must install CD-writing software in order to write to CDs.
There are also a few quick fixes you can try: cleaning the disc and examining it for
scratches are the easiest. If there are scratches, you can occasionally repair them using scratch
repair that is available at most office supply sites. You should also clean the drive regularly
using a commercial cleaning disc, available as well at most office supply stores.
Exam Essential
Know the various types of storage devices. Even though it is difficult to locate a PC today
with a floppy drive, you must still be familiar with their capabilities and limitations as you
prepare for this exam. You must also know the basics of hard drives, optical drives, and
removable storage.
Identifying Motherboards
This objective is a complex one, for it requires you to not only know the various types of
motherboards, but also be able to recognize their features. Therefore, this objective requires
a great deal of memorization for you to pass the exam.
Critical Information
This second objective is focused on motherboards, and requires you to know that the
mother board is the backbone of a computer. The components of the motherboard provide
basic services needed for the machine to operate and provide a platform for devices such as
the processor, memory, disk drives, and expansion devices. For this objective, you should
study the types of motherboards, their ports and memory, the types of CPU sockets, and
the types of expansion slots. The spine of the computer is the system board, or mother-
board. This component is made of green or brown fiberglass and is placed in the bottom or
side of the case. It’s the most important component in the computer because it connects all
the other components of a PC together. Figure 1.4 shows a typical PC system board, as seen
from above. On the system board you’ll find the CPU, underlying circuitry, expansion slots,
video components, RAM slots, and a variety of other chips.
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