Lab Exercise 205: Disassembling and Reassembling the System Unit and Identifying Internal Components in Software

Drawer EAN / UCC - 13 in Software Lab Exercise 205: Disassembling and Reassembling the System Unit and Identifying Internal Components

cables and connectors have built-in keying to prevent this from happening Make sure that the cables are properly connected when you ve nished Now look at where the ribbon cables connect to the motherboard Make note of the proper cable orientation Practice disconnecting and reconnecting the cables at the motherboard Do you have any problems if you try to plug these cables in backwards When you feel you have practiced enough, remove the cables and place them safely away from the computer on your work surface Now would be a great time to make a drawing or take a photograph of the de-cluttered system unit interior Step 10 Most modern systems have a set of small wire and cable runs connecting front panel indicator lights (primarily the power-on and hard drive activity LEDs) and front panel USB ports to the motherboard (see Figure 2-11) Look for these individual wire connections (often collectively called case wires), which are usually grouped together near one corner of the motherboard Make careful note of where each tiny connector plugs in a photo would be incredibly helpful here and then disconnect them all and tuck the wires out of the way Step 11 Now that all of the wires and cables are removed, you should have plenty of room to nish up the disassembly You re now going to remove all the drives Drives are usually the most cumbersome to remove due to the drive cages or frames where they re mounted (see Figure 2-12) Depending on the mounting the manufacturer has used, removing a drive may be as simple as pulling out a sliding mechanism or as complicated as opening up the other side of the system case, removing all the decorative plastic facing, and removing a handful of screws Remove the oppy drive, CD-ROM drive, DVD media drive (if present), and the hard drive(s), and set them on your work surface Step 12 Look in your PC and nd the random access memory (RAM) modules RAM comes in thin, wafer-like modules, about three to ve inches long by one inch wide A row of metal contacts running along one of the long edges plugs into a matching socket, three to ve inches in length,

FIGURE 2-12 Typical drive con guration in a PC tower system case; note the cages or frames used for mounting the various drives

located on the motherboard Look for a long wafer standing on its edge; often you ll nd two or more RAM modules lined up in a row How many RAM modules do you have __________________________________ Do you have Dual Inline Memory Modules (DIMMs) or Single Inline Memory Modules (SIMMs) ________________________________________________________________ Making sure to follow proper anti-static procedures, remove the SIMMs or DIMMs from their slots and place them in an anti-static bag for safekeeping Step 13 Look in your PC and see if you can locate the central processing unit (CPU) Running CPUs generate a fair amount of heat, so they need their own dedicated cooling mechanisms Because of this, when you search the motherboard trying to nd the CPU, you ll generally nd it hidden under a fan/heat sink unit Carefully remove the fan/heat sink unit from the CPU

Make sure that you fully understand how to remove your particular model of CPU fan before you try it!

Lab Exercise 205: Disassembling and Reassembling the System Unit and Identifying Internal Components

If you were able to remove the fan, make a note of the type of CPU chip you have: __________________________________________________________________ If you re in a computer lab with multiple systems, examine a number of different CPU chips Note where each CPU is located on the motherboard Making sure to follow proper anti-static procedures, lift the lever of the Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket, remove the CPU, and place it in an anti-static bag for safekeeping Step 14 See if you can locate any jumpers or DIP switches on your motherboard Resist the temptation to play with them at this point just make a note of what you nd In particular, look for the identifying labels on the motherboard Step 15 Making sure to follow proper anti-static procedures, remove the screws that secure the motherboard to the chassis or frame of the system case Place the motherboard in a properly sized anti-static bag and put it aside Congratulations! You have just successfully disassembled your rst PC! Step 16 You have explored and removed nearly all the components of a typical PC system unit To nish this lab exercise, see if you can identify all of the components in Figure 2-13