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Day Nine

Daniel Berry

 

BUS ARCHITECTURE

Answers

 

What bus architecture is the fastest?

a) MCA

b) ISA

c) VESA Local Bus

*d) PCI

 

Which is both a 16 and 32 bit bus?

a) ISA

*b) EISA

c) PCI

d) PowerPC

 

IBM's Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) specifies which type of the following bit access widths?

a) 8 bit & 16 bit

b) 16 bit & 24 bit

*c) 16 bit & 32 bit

d) 32 bit & 64 bit

 

Which type of system board is the MOST likely candidate for processor upgrading if you want maximum performance and future compatibility?

a) ML

*b) PCI

c) ISA

d) EISA

 

Which modern bus would have a video adapter installed on it?

a) ISA

b) EISA

c) PCI

*d) AGP

 

 

 

Quantifying Memory

 

This lesson will go into the different terms and different types of memory on your computer.  We will also learn how to optimize your RAM

Memory

 

Displaying available memory

Upon the system boot-up, you may press the Delete key to display the BIOS setup.  Under the “Main” tab, there should be a line called “Installed memory.”  This line will display all of the memory installed on your system.

 

You can use either the Microsoft Diagnostic (MSD) utility or the MS- DOS 6.2 MEM command to display information about available memory on a DOS machine.  MSD generates extensive reports about memory use and the drivers installed in memory.

 

Using the MSD command on DOS systems.  If your system is pre-win95, then this dos prompt command will work. You may use the memory options to investigate memory.

 

Using the MEM command on DOS and windows systems.  To key in this older command, go to the DOS prompt by clicking “Start,” “Programs,” and then the “MS-DOS Prompt” Icon.  Once you are in the DOS environment, key in “MEM” and a table will be generated on your screen to show you information about your memory as seen here…

When you key in…

The result is…

MEM

Displays the amounts of free and utilized memory that DOS sees on your system.

MEM/DEBUG/PAGE

List programs and drivers in memory by address, name, size, and type.

MEM/CLASSIFY/PAGE

Lists the programs and drivers loaded in both conventional and upper memory.

 

 

Using System properties icon to display memory in a Windows system.

To do this, one way is to right-click the “My computer” Icon found within your desktop and selecting “properties” as seen here…

 

 

You should then see the “System Properties” window pop up.

 

 

Types of memory

Conventional (the first 640K of memory)

Upper (Upper Memory Blocks take up the space just above 640KB and take up384 KB)

Extended (This is the system memory above the first 1 MB.)

High (This memory is just above the first 1024 KB of the system memory. It is a small 64 KB portion)

 

Optimizing memory

 

Optimizing memory means maximizing the amount of conventional memory available on your PC.  Here are some tips:

 

Avoid loading unnecessary device drivers.

 

Do not install a mouse driver if the system is using Windows, this is because Windows installs its own mouse driver.

 

Do not load TSR (Terminate-and-Stay-Resident) programs unless you must. 

 

Move device drivers and programs into the Upper Memory Blocks (UMBs).  This will work in 386 and newer systems.

 

Use both the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat to load device drivers.  DEVICEHIGH, found in the Config.sys file, and LOADSHIGH, found in Autoexec.bat file, load drivers into upper memory.

 

When Optimizing memory by moving data to the UMBs, remember the following:

 

Make backup copies of the Config.sys and Autoexec.bat files before making the changes.

 

Use the MEM/C/P command to determine how much memory the device drivers require.

 

Move items to the UMBs starting with the largest first, unless sequencing is important in those drivers.

 

Add one item at a time to the UMBs, then reboot. Run MEM/C/P to determine whether the items successfully loaded and to determine how much upper Memory remains.

   

Break

ROLL

 

Group Projects

 

Optimizing the system memory on your project machines.

 

Team troubleshooting projects

 

0.  Boot-up the systems

1.  At the DOS Prompt, key in VER, press enter, and write down or record the PC’s response.

2.  Now key in mem/c/p and press enter.

  1. How much conventional memory is available? Write this information down.
  2. Type this …  COPY CONFIG.SYS CONFIG.OLD   … at the root directory of DOS ( c:\ ) and then press enter.
  3. Modify the config.sys by keying in … EDIT CONFIG.SYS … press enter.
  4. Once inside the config.sys, ADD THESE LINES OR MODIFY THEM as follows:

 

DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS

DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE RAM

FILES=30

BUFFERS=24

DOS=HIGH,UMB

DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS

DEVICEHIGH=C:\DOS\SETVER.EXE

 

  1. Now exit the edit program by pressing F3 and saving your work.
  2. Re-boot.
  3. Type MEM/C/P at the DOS Prompt.  Now how much conventional memory is available?
  4. Now key in … EDIT AUTOEXEC.BAT … press enter.
  5. Once inside the file, ADD THESE LINES OR MODIFY THEM as follows:

 

PROPMT $D$P$G

PATH C:\;C:\DOS

SET TEMP=C:\

LOADHIGH DOSKEY

CLS

 

  1. save your work as before.
  2. Re-boot.
  3. Type MEM/C/P at the DOS Prompt.  Now how much conventional memory is available now?
  4. Restore the config.sys and autoexec.bat files as follows:

 

Type DEL CONFIG.SYS  then press enter.

Type RENAME CONFIG.OLD CONFIG.SYS then press enter

Repeat these steps for the autoexec.bat file.

 

 

For DOS systems, you may also use the command, “MEMMAKER” to optimize your system’s memory.