A+ Certification study material

http://proquestcombo.safaribooksonline.com/book/certification/aplus/9780132682862

Flashcards
http://www.flashcardmachine.com/machine/?read_only=1676807&p=6qi3

isopropyl alcohol to clean display

When it comes to cleaning displays, be careful; liquid can possibly get between the bezel and the screen; when it infiltrates the display assembly, bad things can happen! To avoid this, conservatively spray the cleaner on to a soft, clean, lint-free cloth first; then carefully clean the display with the cloth. Many manufacturers of displays recommend using isopropyl alcohol diluted with water; basically no more than 50 percent of the solution should be alcohol; the rest should be water. Isopropyl alcohol can be found in most supermarkets and drug stores; the higher the purity level the better, for example 90 percent purity is acceptable; it will say this directly on the bottle. Again, use the solution conservatively, apply it to the cloth first, and try not to get any on the plastic bezel, apply to the screen only. It usually isn’t necessary to clean the screen very often; once every 3 to 6 months is fine unless you work in a very dirty environment. Instead of cleaning the screen, you can also try removing the dust (which can affect visibility) with a soft lint-free cloth or a canister of compressed air. This might help as an added step before cleaning the screen to avoid streaking. There are also various spray cleaners available at electronics stores and online; some of them are simply expensive isopropyl alcohol/water solutions! But personally, for over a decade I have simply mixed my own isopropyl/water solution for use on LCDs, CRTs, laptop LCDs, handheld computers, PDAs, and cell phones, and have never had a problem.

video card

SLI and TV Tuner/Capture Cards

Gamers are always looking to push the envelope when it comes to video performance. It’s possible to take video to the next level by incorporating a technology known as Scan Line Interleave (SLI). This is when a computer has two (or more) identical video cards that work together for greater performance and higher resolution. The SLI compatible cards are bridged together to essentially work as one unit. The GTX 260 video card mentioned previously supports SLI, as shown in Figure 12.4. It is important to have a compatible motherboard and ample cooling when attempting this type of configuration. Currently this is done with two or more PCI Express video cards and is most commonly found in gaming rigs.

Home entertainment enthusiasts often have a computer hooked up to their home theater. If this is the case, they probably install a TV tuner card. These cards can accept the signal from a cable or satellite provider and then send it back out to the TV or other devices in the home theater. Most TV tuners also act as capture cards, meaning that they can capture the signal and record TV programs. The purpose of all this is to record shows onto the computer and basically use the computer as a digital video recorder (DVR), among other things. By using Window Media Center, which is built-in to Windows Vista and comes as a separate edition for Windows XP, users can control their TV experience. TV tuner cards are available with PCI Express, PCI, ExpressCard (for laptops), and USB interfaces.

Cloning Acronis

Disk image: Windows can also be installed by cloning the entire disk
image of another installation. This can be done by using programs like
Acronis True Image or Norton Ghost. When cloning a disk image, both
computers need to be identical, or as close to identical as possible. The
hard disk of the target for a cloned installation must be at least as large
as the original system. To avoid Security Identifier (SID) conflicts, use

Reference:  http://www.davidlprowse.com/
http://www.safaribooksonline.com/
http://library.devry.edu/

Operating System install / upgrade tool kit/ checklist

You might also opt to make use of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning
(MAP) toolkit, one of Microsoft’s Solution Accelerators. This kit takes inven-
tory of most currently deployed Microsoft operating systems and server soft-
ware, analyzes the inventory, and gives in-depth reports on the assessment and
analysis of those OSes and software. It is designed to simplify the planning
process for IT infrastructures with multiple platform scenarios. The kit can be
downloaded from the followinglink: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx.

Diagnostics

For computers without an installed operating system, consider using self-
booting diagnostic programs like the following:
.PC Diagnostic tools: http://www.pc-diagnostics.com/.#1-TuffTEST:http://www.tufftest.com/.PC Check:http://www.eurosoft-uk.com/
You might also opt to make use of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning
(MAP) toolkit, one of Microsoft’s Solution Accelerators. This kit takes inven-
tory of most currently deployed Microsoft operating systems and server soft-
ware, analyzes the inventory, and gives in-depth reports on the assessment and

Windows Logo product list

Windows Logo’d Products List:
http://winqual.microsoft.com/HCL/Default.aspx?m=7.