Hardware Interview Questions and Answers

Answer - 11 : - Firewire is a high-speed digital interface that comes in two varieties - 1394a (or just 1394) and 1394b. The 1394a standard (Firewire 400) supports data transfer rates up to 400 Mbps and uses a 6-pin connection. The 1394b standard (Firewire 800) can transfer data up to 800 Mbps and uses a 9-pin connection. An 6-pin to 9-pin adapter can be used to plug a 1394a cable into a 1394b port, but the speed will be limited to 400 Mbps.

Answer - 12 : - The Airport Extreme and Airport Express Base Stations both have a built-in USB port that allows you to connect a printer. Whatever printer you decide to connect to an Airport Base Station will be available to all computers connected to the Base Station. In order to print to an Airport printer, you first need to make sure your computer is connected to the wireless router (the base station) either wirelessly, or directly with an Ethernet cable. If you are using a Mac, you can simply select the Base Station from the drop-down menu by clicking the Airport icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Windows should allow you to choose the Base Station if you click the wireless network icon in the systray, located in the lower-right part of the screen. The second thing you need to do is make sure the printer drivers for the printer are installed on the computer. Your computer will not recognize the wireless printer if you have not installed the correct drivers. You should be able to use the disc(s) that came with the printer or download the drivers from the manufacturer's website. After installing the drivers, you may need to restart your computer. Once you've installed the printer drivers and established a network connection with the Airport Base Station, you should be able to print to the wireless printer. Just select "Print..." in whatever program you want to print from and then choose the printer from the list in the dialog box that pops up. The computer should recognize the printer as if it was connected directly to the machine. Once you click "Print," the file will get sent to the Base Station and the printer connected to it will print the document.

Answer - 13 : - Parity memory modules have an extra chip on them to check for errors. Therefore, non-parity memory should have an even number of chips on the module and parity memory should have an odd number. Typically, there will be 8 chips on a non-ECC module and 9 chips on an ECC module. However, some parity SIMMs can have 12, 18, 24 or 36 chips. Therefore, a sure-fire way to determine of a memory module is parity or non-parity is to divide the number of chips on the module by three. If the number is evenly divisible by 3, it is a parity, or ECC module. If the number of chips is not divisible by three, the module is non-parity, or non-ECC.

Answer - 14 : - ECC (Error Correcting Code) memory is parity memory and non-ECC memory is non-parity. Parity memory has an extra chip on the module that checks for errors in the transfer of information to and from the memory. So if a memory module has an odd number of chips, it is parity RAM. Many motherboards support both ECC and non-ECC memory. Some sources say you can even mix the two types of RAM and the ECC RAM will work as non-ECC memory. However, most memory companies do not support mixing the two types, so try it at your own risk. Since most motherboards will accept ECC memory, it often depends on if your computer's BIOS supports it. You may have to check your computer's manual to find the answer. If you have a choice, non-ECC memory is typically cheaper than ECC memory and works slightly faster. So when in doubt, use non-ECC memory.

Answer - 15 : - A computer peripheral, or peripheral device, is an external object that provides input and output for the computer. Some common input devices include: keyboard mouse joystick pen tablet MIDI keyboard scanner digital camera video camera microphone Some common output devices include: monitor projector TV screen printer plotter speakers There are also devices that function as both input and output devices, such as: external hard drives media card readers digital camcorders digital mixers MIDI equipment While these are some of the more common peripherals, there are many other kinds as well. Just remember that any external device that provides input to the computer or receives output from the computer is considered a peripheral.

Answer - 16 : - Knowing how much RAM, or memory, your computer has is important because it determines what programs you can run on your machine. The more RAM you have, the more memory-intensive programs you can run. It also allows you to run more programs at one time. Having "excess" RAM is even beneficial, as it helps your computer avoid bottlenecks when processing large amounts of data. If you are using Windows, you can find out how much RAM you have by right-clicking the My Computer icon and selecting "Properties..." This will open the System Properties window and you can view the amount of physical memory installed under the General tab. You can find out how much memory your computer is currently using by right-clicking anywhere in the open space of the Taskbar and selecting "Task Manager." Then click the Performance tab of the window that opens and you will be able to view your memory usage. If you are using Mac OS X, you can see you much RAM is installed in your computer by choosing "About This Mac" from the Apple menu. This is located in the far upper left-hand corner of the screen. To find out how much memory is being used, open the Activity Monitor program, located in the Utilities folder (within the Applications folder). Then click the System Memory button near the bottom of the window to see how much memory your system is currently using.

Answer - 17 : - The answer to this question depends on if you have a desktop or a laptop computer. If you have a desktop, you need at least one available PCI slot. This expansion slot is located on the back of your computer and and is usually covered by a metal plate that you must remove before installing a PCI card. You can install a USB 2.0 PCI card into this slot, which will give your computer USB 2.0 connectivity. Most USB 2.0 cards have several USB ports on them, so you can connect multiple USB devices to the card. If you have a laptop, your computer will need to have a PCMCIA slot. (It is also called a PC card slot, which is much easier to say.) The slot is typically located on the side of the computer and is a little over five centimeters wide. It should be covered by a protective flap that will push in when you press on it. You can install a USB 2.0 PC card into this slot, which will give your computer one or more USB 2.0 connections. As long as your operating system supports USB 2.0, you can install a USB 2.0 card whether or not your computer already has USB 1.1. Note that connecting a USB 2.0 hub or USB 2.0 device to a USB 1.1 port will cause the device to run at the slower USB 1.1 speed. Since USB 2.0 is 30-40 times faster than USB 1.1, it may be worth the upgrade.  

Answer - 18 : - It may surprise you to learn that most companies don't make the modems that go into their computers. Instead, companies such as Dell use modems from other manufacturers who specialize in making modems. Therefore, a modem you buy from Wal-Mart should work just as well as one you buy from Dell. However, you should check the system requirements of the modem you are interested in to make sure your computer supports it. It is most important to check the required operating system since the drivers need to be compatible with the OS. If the software drivers don't work with your operating system, your computer may not be able to recognize the modem.

Answer - 19 : - Physical memory is how much RAM you have installed in your computer. For example, if you have two 512 MB memory chips in your machine, you have a total of 1 GB of physical memory. This memory is what your computer uses to load the operating system as well as individual programs and files. Available memory refers to how much RAM is not already being used by the computer. Because loading the operating system takes up memory, your available memory drops right after your computer boots up. You can reduce how much memory the operating system uses by uninstalling system files or extensions that are often installed by utility programs. Each time you open a program, it is loaded into your computer's memory, and therefore reduces your available memory. Large programs such as Adobe Photoshop and 3D action games take up more memory than simple programs like text editors or spreadsheet programs. If you need more available memory to open a large program, you should first quit other programs that are running. The best way to increase available memory is to add more RAM, or physical memory, to your computer. Before doing this, make sure your computer has open memory slots. Some utility programs claim to "double your RAM," but they often slow down your computer signficantly in the process. Adding more physical memory to your computer gives your applications more breathing room and therefore should help your computer run faster.

Answer - 20 : - Memory and disk space are perhaps the most widely-confused terms in the computing world. To truly comprehend how your computer works, you must first understand what memory and disk space are. The hard disk, sometimes called the "hard drive," which is actually the mechanism that holds the hard disk, is a spindle of magnetic discs that can hold several gigabytes of data. Therefore, disk space refers to how much space you have available on your hard disk for storing files. When you save a document or install a new program, it gets stored on your hard disk. The more files you download, install, or save on your hard disk, the more full it becomes. Memory, on the other hand is not the same as disk space! Memory refers to the random access memory (RAM) inside your computer. These are small chips that hold several memory modules side by side. Your computer uses memory (RAM) to store actively running programs on the computer, including the operating system. For example, the operating system's interface and other processes get loaded into memory when the computer boots up. When you open a program like Microsoft Word, it gets loaded into the computer's memory as well. When you quit the program, the memory space is freed up for other programs. RAM can be accessed several hundred times faster than a hard drive, which is why active programs must be loaded into the RAM from the hard drive. Because most data on the hard disk does not need to get loaded into the system memory at one time, computers typically have much more hard disk space than memory. For example, a computer may come with a 200 GB hard drive, and only 1 GB of RAM. So if your computer tells you that you don't have enough space to install a program, you will need delete files from your hard disk that you don't need or buy an additional hard drive. If your computer says there is not enough memory to run a certain program, you will need to upgrade your memory by buying more RAM. Knowing the difference between these two types of hardware can save you precious time and money.