CNSA 107: PC Hardware and Support Fundamentals     (3 Credits)

Almost anyone can be trained to repair a PC, but to be good at PC maintenance students need to understand the internal operation of PC hardware and software components. In order to fully comprehend internal PC operation, students must first have a fundamental understanding of electricity and the numbering system that is used internally by all computers.

 

The language of computers is said to be “1’s and 0’s”—binary numbers. Inside of a computer, these binary numbers are represented using voltage levels. Computers are electronic devices and require electrical power to operate. For this reason, the course begins with an overview of electricity. The terms voltage, current, resistance and power are defined and explored. Ohm’s Law is introduced and used by the student to calculate current flows and voltage drops. Digital MultiMeters are used in the lab by each student to measure voltage, check for electrical continuity and to verify Ohm’s Law. After the electrical portion of the course is complete, students are drilled on binary and hexadecimal numbering systems and also on units of measurement such as megabyte and gigabyte.

 

The primary portion of this course is to provide the student with an understanding of the internal operation of modern PC systems. Critical topics include the fundamental hardware elements of a PC system—the CPU, data bases, instruction cycles, memory, magnetic and optical storage, BIOS, video, I/O systems and more. Included in this course is instruction on how to build, upgrade and troubleshoot personal computers. Students will build a working PC system from scratch in the lab. This course can be used as preparation for the industry certification exam COMPTIA A+ though it is not an official exam preparation course.

 

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