Computer Hardware and Software Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The software is Diagram Designer.

Diagram Designer is a free vector graphics editor for drawing flowcharts, UML class diagrams, illustrations and slide shows, with a library of ready-made shapes and connectors.

The other three are for different jobs. Falco Icon Studio is an icon editor for designing small program icons. Ashampoo Photo Optimizer automatically improves digital photos. Mobile Video for iPod converts video files to play on Apple's iPod. None of them is meant for flowcharts.

Answer: C

The system software is the Operating System.

System software manages the computer itself and provides a platform for other programs. The operating system controls the hardware, memory, files and processes; device drivers, utilities and language translators are also system software.

MS Word, Photoshop and VLC Player are application software: each is a program a user runs to do a particular task (writing documents, editing images, playing media), and each needs the operating system underneath it.

Answer: D

The one that is not an editor is Spider.

MS Word is a word processor, and Notepad and WordPad are the plain-text and simple rich-text editors supplied with Windows. All three are used to create and edit documents.

Spider is not a text editor; on Windows the name is best known from the Spider Solitaire card game. So it is the odd one out.

Answer: B

The primary memory is RAM.

Primary (main) memory is the memory the processor reads and writes directly while running programs. RAM is the main example; it is fast but loses its contents when the power is switched off.

Hard disks, USB drives and DVDs are secondary storage: they keep data permanently, but the processor must first load it into RAM.

Answer: C

The item that is not hardware is Linux.

Linux is an operating system, that is, software: a set of programs that manages the computer's hardware and runs applications.

A ROM chip, a hard disk and a motherboard are physical parts of the computer, so they are hardware.

Answer: C

Processor speed is measured in Hertz.

A processor's clock speed is the number of clock cycles per second, measured in hertz, in practice megahertz (MHz) or gigahertz (GHz); a 3 GHz processor runs three billion cycles each second.

Bits and bytes measure data and memory, and pixels measure display resolution.

Clock speed is only one measure of performance; the number of cores and the work done per cycle also matter.

Answer: D

Correct answer: The area where all of the processing takes place

The CPU fetches and executes the instructions, which is what processing means. Driving the monitor is the video card's work and regulating power the supply's.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Their protective sleeves

A 5¼ inch diskette has an open media window, so the sleeve is what keeps dust and fingerprints off the recording surface.

Answer: D

Correct answer: 25 pin female parallel connector

On the PC the printer port is a 25-pin female parallel connector; the printer end of the cable is the 36-pin Centronics connector.

Answer: A

Correct answer: Config.sys

BUFFERS is a device and memory setting read by DOS as it loads, so it belongs in CONFIG.SYS. AUTOEXEC.BAT runs afterwards, once the system is already configured.