How Computers Work (9th edition)

Table of Contents
......Page 7
Abouth the Author
......Page 9
Introduction
......Page 13
Before You Begin
......Page 14
Part 1: Boot-Up Process......Page 17
How Computers Used to Work......Page 19
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 22
1  Getting to Know the Hardware......Page 24
Inside the Personal Computer......Page 26
How Notebook PCs Come Together......Page 28
How Tablet PCs Set You Free......Page 30
How Tablet PCs Read Your Handwriting......Page 32
2  How Circuits Juggle Data......Page 34
How Circuit Boards Work......Page 36
How the Motherboard Brings It All Together......Page 38
How the North and South Bridge Move Traffic......Page 40
How PCl-Express Breaks the Bus Barrier......Page 42
3  How a PC Comes Alive......Page 44
How the Power-On Self-Test Gets Your PC Started......Page 46
How a Disk Boot Wakes Up Your PC......Page 48
4  How an Operating System Controls Hardware......Page 50
How Hardware and Software Work Together......Page 52
How Hardware Tells the CPU What to Do......Page 54
How Plug and Play Works......Page 56
How the Registry Knows It All......Page 58
Part 2: How Microchips are the PC's Brain......Page 61
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 64
5  How Transistors Manipulate Data......Page 66
Writing Data to RAM......Page 70
Reading Data from RAM......Page 72
6  How a Microprocessor Works......Page 76
How the Processor Uses Registers......Page 80
How a Computer Performs Addition......Page 82
How a Microprocessor Moves Data......Page 84
How Multi-core Processors Work......Page 86
How Overclocking Multiplies Time......Page 88
How a PC Keeps Its Cool......Page 90
How Advanced Cooling Solutions Refrigerate Your PC......Page 92
Part 3: How Software Works......Page 95
Software of the Second Millennium......Page 97
Killer Software......Page 100
Power to the Software......Page 103
Operating Systems and Other Software......Page 104
The Devolution of the OS......Page 105
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 107
7  How Programming Languages Work......Page 108
Software Construction......Page 110
The Flow of a Program......Page 112
How Software Interpreters Work......Page 114
How a Compiler Creates Software......Page 116
8  How Windows Works......Page 118
How Windows XP Controls Programs Gone Wild......Page 120
How Windows Shares Program Code......Page 122
How Windows Shares Data on the Clipboard......Page 124
How Vista Creates New Vistas......Page 126
How the Aero Interface Sees All......Page 128
How ClearType Divides and Conquers the Jaggies......Page 129
How Vista Protects Your PC with Decoys Under Windows......Page 130
9  How Software Applications Do Your Work......Page 132
Database Managers......Page 134
Spreadsheet Software......Page 135
VVord Processors......Page 136
Graphics Software......Page 137
How a Database Organizes Information......Page 138
How a Database Stores Records......Page 140
How Databases Make Connections......Page 142
How Spreadsheets Solve Formulas......Page 144
How Bitmaps Save Artwork......Page 146
How Art is Squeezed to Save Space......Page 148
How Vector Graphics Change Shape......Page 150
How Software Uses Numbers to  Correct Photos......Page 152
How Photo Editors Restore Old Pictures......Page 154
How the Digital Darkroom Pokes Fun at You......Page 156
How Word Processors Format Text......Page 158
Part 4: Data Storage......Page 161
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 165
10 How a Compuler's Long-Term Memory Works......Page 168
How Electromagnetism Reacts with Matter......Page 170
How a Drive Writes and Reads Bits on a Disk......Page 172
How a Drive Maps a Disk's Surface......Page 174
How a PC Saves a File to Disk......Page 176
How a PC Retrieves a File from a Disk......Page 178
11 How Disk Drives Save Information......Page 180
How a Floppy Drive Stores a Little......Page 182
How a Hard Drive Stores a Lot......Page 184
How a Mirrored Drive Array Protects Files......Page 186
How a Striped Drive Array Boosls Performance......Page 188
12 How Little Things Make Drives Faster and Bigger......Page 190
How Small Changes in Drives Get Big Results......Page 192
How File Compression Makes Files Smaller......Page 194
How Disk Defragmentation Works......Page 196
13 How PCs Use Lighl to Remember Dala......Page 198
How a CD-ROM Drive Works......Page 200
How a Recordable CD-ROM (CD-R) Works......Page 202
How DVDs Play the Blues......Page 206
Part 5: Input/Output Devices......Page 209
Human-Computer and Real World Interaction......Page 212
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 214
14 How Data Gets Into Your PC......Page 216
The Keyboard and Scan Codes......Page 218
How Mice Obey Your Every Gesture......Page 220
How a Touchpad Works......Page 222
How a Pointing Stick Works......Page 223
How Speech Recognition Works......Page 224
15 How Scanners Capture Words
and Images......Page 226
How Computers See......Page 228
How a Flatbed Scanner Works......Page 230
How Optical Character Recognition Works......Page 232
16 How Compulers Use Power......Page 234
How the Power Supply Works......Page 236
How a UPS Keeps Your Computer Going......Page 238
How Surge Protectors Work......Page 240
17 How Serial Porls Triumph......Page 242
Analog and Digital Converters......Page 244
How Bandwidth Moves Your Data......Page 246
How a Parallel Port Works......Page 248
How a Serial Port Works......Page 250
How the Universal Serial Bus (USB) Works......Page 252
How Serial ATA Overtakes EIDE......Page 254
18 How a Computer Display Works......Page 256
How a CRT Paints the Screen......Page 258
How an LCD Screen Works......Page 260
How Plasma Displays Glow......Page 262
How Digital Light Processing Works......Page 264
19 How Digital Photography Works......Page 266
How Digital Cameras Capture Light......Page 268
How Autofocus Lenses Work......Page 270
How Auto Exposure Works......Page 272
Part 6: Games and Multimedia......Page 275
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 279
20 How Multimedia Sound Works......Page 280
How Sound Cards Work......Page 282
How MIDI and FM Synthesis Work......Page 284
How Digital Sound Tricks Your Ear......Page 286
How 3D Audio Works......Page 288
How iPods Dish Out Media To Go......Page 290
21 How Multimedia Video Works......Page 292
How the Digital Camcorder Captures Future Memories......Page 294
How a Digital Camera Squeezes Video Down to Size......Page 296
22 How Game Hardware Puts You In the Action......Page 300
How Video Cards Break the Game Barrier......Page 302
How a Joystick Puts You at the Controls......Page 304
How Game Controllers Put Play at Your Fingertips......Page 308
23 How Games Creale 3D Worlds......Page 310
How Computers Plot a 3D World......Page 312
How 3D Graphics Get Dressed......Page 314
How Shaders Conlrol the World......Page 316
Part 7: How the Internet Works......Page 321
The Little Net That Grew......Page 323
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 325
24 How Local Area Networks Work......Page 328
How Packets Divvy Up Data......Page 330
How Networks Are Laid Out......Page 332
How Network Nodes Connect......Page 334
How Phone and Power Lines Bring LANs Home......Page 336
25 How PCs Connect to the Internet......Page 338
How a Dial-up Modem Calls the Internet......Page 340
How DSL Turbocharges a Phone Line......Page 342
How Cable Modems Bring the Internet to Your PC......Page 344
26 How the Internet Moves Data......Page 346
How Networks Talk with Each Other......Page 348
How Information Travels the Internet......Page 350
27 How We Reach Each Other Through the Net......Page 352
How Internet File Sharing Works......Page 354
How BitTorrents Spread the Wealth......Page 356
How Email Replaces Snail Mail......Page 358
How Chat Rooms Throw a Party......Page 360
How Instant Messaging Lets You Pass Notes......Page 362
28 How Wireless Sets PCs Free......Page 364
How Wi-Fi Spreads the Net Everywhere......Page 366
How Cell Phones Make a Call......Page 368
29 How the Net Provides Video and Audio on Demand......Page 374
How a PC Plays Streaming Audio......Page 376
How a PC Displays Streaming Video......Page 378
30 How the World Wide Web Works......Page 380
How a Web Browser Opens Web Pages......Page 382
How a Web Browser Displays Pages......Page 384
How Google Knows Everything......Page 388
31 How Internet Security Fights Off PC Invaders......Page 392
How Computer Hackers Break Into Your PC......Page 394
How Spyware Reports Everything You Do......Page 396
How Internet Firewalls Keep Out Hackers......Page 398
How Computer Viruses Invade Your Computer......Page 400
How Viruses Travel in Your Email......Page 402
How Antivirus Software Fights Back......Page 404
How Spammers Find You......Page 406
How Antispam Software Sniffs Out Phony Email......Page 408
How Prime Numbers Protect Prime Secrets......Page 410
Part 8: How Printers Work......Page 413
KEY CONCEPTS......Page 417
32 How Black-and-White Printing Works......Page 418
How Printers Make Cookie-Cutter Text......Page 420
How Outline-Fonts Work......Page 422
How the First Printers Created Text......Page 424
How a Laser Printer Works......Page 426
33 How Color Printing Works......Page 428
How Printed Colors are Created......Page 430
How a Color Ink-jet Printer Works......Page 432
How a Photo Printer Works......Page 434
How a Color Laser Printer Works......Page 436
How a Solid-Ink Color Printer Works......Page 438
A......Page 440
B......Page 441
C......Page 442
D......Page 445
E......Page 447
F......Page 448
G......Page 449
H......Page 450
I......Page 451
J - L......Page 452
M......Page 453
N......Page 454
O - P......Page 455
Q- R......Page 459
S......Page 460
T......Page 463
U - V......Page 464
W......Page 465
X-Y-Z......Page 466