UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2018/2019
EXAMINATION FOR THE DIPLOMA IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
DIT304 PRINCIPLES OF COMPUTER SUPPORT&MAINTENANCE
DATE: APRIL, 2019 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer QUESTION ONE and any other TWO Questions.
QUESTION ONE: 30 MARKS (COMPULSORY)
a) Briefly describe how you would maintain the following computer hardware components;
(5 Marks)
i) Processor.
ii) Circuit boards.
iii) Keyboard.
iv) System unit.
v) Motherboard.
b) Differentiate between L1 and L2 cache. (2 Marks)
c) List and explain the FOUR sections of a computer that are affected by viruses.
(4Marks)
d) Provide a description of the following concepts; (5 Marks)
i) CMOS.
ii) POST.
iii) BOOT.
iv) BOOT Disk.
v) ESD.
e) Briefly explain what transpires during Power On Self-Test (POST) at phase one of the PC
Boot process. (5Marks)
f) Explain how the following improve the central processing unit performance.
i) Data bus width
ii) Address bus width
iii) Cache memory size.
iv) Register size. (4 Marks)
g) Explain FOUR improvements of the ATX motherboard over the AT motherboard
(4 Marks)
h) Differentiate between D.C. and A.C. current (1 Mark)
QUESTION TWO (20 MARKS)
i) Your personal laptop suddenly starts freezing or hanging at odd times, you troubleshoot and
manage to fix the problem. But before long a blue screen error occurs and an endless reboot loop
begins;
a)
Discuss the three possible causes of the laptop system hanging or freezing at odd times.
(6 Marks)
b)
Discuss how you could solve the endless reboot problem using the Advanced Boot
Options screen. (9 Marks)
ii) Discuss the following in regard to computer hardware preventive maintenance. (4 Marks)
a) Ventilation
b) Dirt and dust
iii) What is the main purpose of Random-Access Memory? (1 Mark)
`
QUESTION THREE (20 MARKS)
As a help-desk technician you are supposed to have very good detective skills, list some good
questions you would ask for the following scenarios;
a) Someone calls saying he has attempted to install a new monitor, but the monitor does not
work. (6 Marks)
b) A user calls to say, “My PC won’t boot.” (5 Marks)
c) Explain the following terms (4 Marks)
i. System clock speed
ii. Internal data path
iii. External data path
iv. Memory cache
d) KCA University requires a customized computer system to handle student registration.
The university approached you to assemble a custom computer for them;
i)
Describe the functions of any three major components needed to assemble the computer for
the university. (3 Marks)
e) What are the different types of displays that can be used on a computer? (2 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR (20 MARKS)
a)
Describe a remedy for the following computer symptoms; (6 Marks)
i. The PC appears “dead” – no lights, no spinning drive, or fan.
ii. The PC appears dead except you hear a whine coming from the power supply.
iii. You smell burnt parts or odours.
b) Discuss partition in regards to a hard disk, then distinguish between a primary and an
extended partition. (6 Marks)
c) Describe three types of ports that are often found coming directly off the motherboard to
be used by external devices. (6 Marks)
d) Differentiate between L1 and L2 cache. (2 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE (20 MARKS)
a) Discuss between disk compressor and disk defragmenter utilities as used in
computers. (4 Marks)
b) Computer technicians experience several challenges when carrying out routine
mantaince. Outline four challenges they could experience. (4 Marks)
c) Explain the function of each of the following keys during Power On Self-Test
(POST) process in computer system.
i) Esc
ii) F10 (2Marks)
d) A technician wishes to boot a computer using a CD-ROM that contains a limited
operating system and diagnostic utilities. Where would the technician set the boot
order for the PC. (3Marks)
e) A technician has installed a new sound card in a PC but it is not operation
correctly, explain how the technician will investigate the cause. (4Marks)
f) A technician is planning to convert a file system from FAT32 to NTFS. What step
should be taken before doing the conversion. (3Marks)
