The first step is to save internal data to an external storage device.
Shut down the computer, unplug it from the wall, and press the power button to completely drain the power that the computer is still holding inside.
Put the computer on your workstation and keep cups or plastic bags to keep the screws you remove organized. You don't want to lose screws, and if you use a screw that's too long it can puncture the hard drive housing.
Open the computer case. Computer cases can open in several different ways. With this particular computer, I had to remove both sides of the case.
It is advised to draw a diagram showing what goes where to refer to when putting the computer back together. Record the color of the wires and their positions on the pin.
Remove the cables.
7. Remove the expansion cards from the motherboard.
Place the components you have removed so far in a static shielding bag.
8. Remove the power supply by unscrewing it from the rear of the tower.
9. You can now carefully remove the motherboard. Since it and the processor are the most expensive components, you want to go ahead and get them out of the case, and out of harms way.
10. The last components that need to be removed are the drives.
The computer case is completely gutted at this point.
11. To reassemble the computer, follow the previous ten steps backwards, keeping a few points in mind;
replace the components in this order; power supply, drives, motherboard and expansion cards
connect data cables to the drives before sliding the them into the bays
double check all of the connections before replacing the cover
plug in the keyboard, monitor, and mouse after the computer is completely reassembled.
turn it on and test it before you consider the job done
*Someone please help me with my formatting problem. The post is not being displayed the way I formatted it when I composed it.
1. Q. In the role of desk-side support to users, what do you think is your strongest social skills that would help you succeed in this role?
A. I believe I have several strong social skills that would help me succeed including (but not limited to) a positive tone of voice, large vocabulary, I make eye contact and energetic facial expressions and body movements. I'm hygienic and dress appropriately for the environment. When I am working, I actually have the ability to listen without interrupting! I can speak properly and politely (even when I'm telling someone off). Even when I'm not feeling confident, I can still convey confidence.
2.Q. What is likely to be your greatest interpersonal weakness that might present a challenge to you in this role?
A. My greatest interpersonal weakness would most likely be my sarcasm. I'm not used to having to watch my mouth. Sarcastic comments just blurt out of my mouth as if I had Torrets Syndrome. I don't have patience for extremely uneducated individuals. You have to go to school until the age of sixteen for a reason!
3. Q. What is one change you might consider making that will help you improve on this weakness?
A. I could improve this weakness by using more comprehensive language when I know I'm dealing with an uneducated customer. Being more descriptive and slowing down the conversation will help me relate with the customer better. De-stress activities could also help me keep my cool when I get frustrated.
4. Q. In the role of phone support at a help desk, what part of the job would you enjoy the most? What part would give you the greatest challenge?
A. If I worked as a phone support technician at a help desk, the part that I would enjoy the most would be how extremely hard it would be to screw anything up. It's something robots can do...I'm sure I couldn't mess it up too bad. The greatest challenge for me would be the boredom of having to sit at a desk all day with out any face to face interaction or the ability to socialize with my coworkers to break up the monotony.
5. Q. When making on-site calls to corporate branches, what part of this job would you enjoy the most? What interpersonal skills, if any, would you need to develop so that you could do your best in this role?
A. The part of the on-site call I would enjoy the most would be the driving in between calls. I like to drive. I don't think on-site technicians require as many interpersonal skills as remote jobs, because the customer is going to be happy that someone finally showed up to fix their problem. As long as the technician is on time and fixes the problem, most customers don't care about the techs appearance or use of eye contact. It would be beneficial for me to build up a tolerance for rude customers so that I could do the best in this role.
Many freeware diagnostic utilities can be downloaded from the Internet and can be used to examine, troubleshoot, and benchmark a system. I went to the CNET website http://www.download.com/ and searched for Fresh Diagnose. I downloaded the utility and saved it to the Downloads folder on my hard drive. I installed the software, creating a shortcut to the program on my desktop in the process. I ran the Fresh Diagnose program and browsed through the menus. The program gave me the same answers that the System Information utility gave me:
a. The OS this computer uses is Microsoft Windows XP Professional
b. The computer has a Pentium 4 2.40 GHz speed CPU
c. The BIOS manufacturer is Dell Computer Corporation and the version is A03
d. There is 64.00 MB of video RAM available to the video adapter card. To obtain this information, go to Components in System Information and select Display.
e. The name of the driver file that manages the parallel port is paraport.sys. The driver file that manages the USB ports is usbehci.sys.
As I compare the two utilities, my opinion is that:
a. Neither utility was easier to use than the other. They are both organized in similar ways only with different design layouts. I don't think either utility is very comprehensive for the average PC user.
b. I'm pretty sure that all the information that was available to me using the System Information utility was also available using Fresh Diagnose (and vice versa).
c. The System Information utility used more images which may be beneficial to visual learners, while Fresh Diagnose was more text based.
d. Fresh Diagnose on the other hand showed a better representation of the organization hierarchy than the System Information
d. Fresh Diagnose shows a better representation of the hierarchy organization in which information is located.
e. After experimenting with both utilities in the lab as well as my personal laptop, I can't say that I prefer either utility over the other. Some information about my personal PC was extremely hard to find, and if I did need to locate that hard to find information again, I will just Google the fastest way to access the information depending on what OS I am working with. I'm going to have to play around with the utilities more in my free time to really conclude what the best way to find out information about your PC is.
I used the System Information utility to gather information about the computer I use in the lab. In the Run box, I typed Msinfo32.exe and pressed Enter. The dialog box as seen below appears.
a. The OS this computer uses is Microsoft Windows XP Professional
b. The computer has a Pentium 4 2.40 GHz speed CPU
c. The BIOS manufacturer is Dell Computer Corporation and the version is A03
d. There is 64.00 MB of video RAM available to the video adapter card. To obtain this information, go to Components in System Information and select Display.
e. The name of the driver file that manages the parallel port is paraport.sys. The driver file that manages the USB ports is usbehci.sys.
This is not the super sweet, pimped out diagram I made in Microsoft Office Word that I was unable to post to my blog. I tried everything to post it. I even downloaded file converter software that was unsuccessful. So here is a diagram that I drew up in paint. It isn't pretty, but it meets the requirements of the assignment.
