Computer Hardware and Software Questions and Answers

Answer: A

Correct answer: serial ports

RS-232 defines the voltages, signals and connectors of the asynchronous serial port.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Operating system

An operating system is system software: it manages the hardware and provides the services that other programs depend on. The other three are application software, written to perform a task for the user and running on top of the operating system. System software divides into several kinds. The operating system manages processes, memory, files and devices. Device drivers translate between the operating system and particular hardware. Utilities perform maintenance - disk defragmentation, backup, antivirus, compression. Language translators convert source code into machine code, and comprise compilers, interpreters and assemblers. Firmware such as the BIOS sits below them all. The distinction is one of purpose rather than of importance: system software exists to make the machine usable, application software to make it useful. A user interacts directly with applications and only indirectly with the system software beneath them.

Answer: B

Correct answer: Software stored permanently on a hardware device to control it

Firmware is software written into a hardware device to control it - permanent enough to be part of the device, but still code rather than circuitry. Hence the name, standing between hardware and software. The BIOS or UEFI on a motherboard is the familiar example, but firmware is present in almost everything: hard disks, SSDs, printers, routers, cameras, keyboards and washing machines all run their own. It was originally stored in ROM and unchangeable. Modern devices use flash memory instead, so firmware can be updated - which is what makes a router able to receive a security patch, and what makes a failed update capable of rendering a device useless, since the code that would let it recover is the code being replaced. The distinction from an operating system is one of level: firmware initialises and controls one device, while an operating system manages the whole machine and the software running on it.

Answer: B

Correct answer: 2f8

The standard serial addresses are COM1 at 3F8, COM2 at 2F8, COM3 at 3E8 and COM4 at 2E8.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Ohms

Resistance is measured in ohms. Volts measure potential difference, amperes current and watts power.

Answer: D

Correct answer: no power to the primary corona

The primary corona lays the uniform negative charge that the laser then discharges selectively. Without it the drum is uncharged everywhere, so toner is attracted over the whole surface and the page comes out black.

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: C

Correct answer: All of the above

The strap protects the components from the technician's static charge, and its built-in resistor protects the technician by limiting any current that could pass to earth through the body.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Print head pins

The pins must run dry: oil on them collects paper dust and jams them, and they are cooled by airflow that a lubricant would impede. The platen, pulley and bearings are the parts that do need lubrication.

Answer: D

Correct answer: Incorrect CMOS settings

The BIOS reads the drive's geometry and mode from CMOS, so wrong settings there make a perfectly good disk unreadable and produce a fixed disk error. Bad RAM and a slow processor give quite different symptoms.