Name: 
 

Chapter 2: How Hardware and Software Work Together



True/False
Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false.
 

 1. 

Hardware is considered the "intelligence" of the computer system.
 

 2. 

All system resources are dependent on certain lines on a bus on the motherboard.
 

 3. 

A device may connect to more than one bus on the motherboard.
 

 4. 

COM1 and COM2 are preconfigured assignments that can be made to parallel devices.
 

 5. 

Memory addresses are assigned, for the most part, during the boot process.
 

 6. 

A hard boot is more stressful on your machine than a soft boot.
 

 7. 

During POST, before the CPU has checked the video system, errors encountered up to this point are communicated by beeps.
 

 8. 

If a hard drive has two logical drives, it has two partition tables.
 

 9. 

A hidden file can be accessed only by an administrator.
 

 10. 

Command-line comments are case-sensitive.
 

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 

 11. 

After startup, the OS works with ____ to provide instructions to the hardware to perform tasks.
a.
system BIOS
c.
startup BIOS
b.
device drivers
d.
Both A and B.
 

 12. 

The BIOS is hard-coded into the ____ chip.
a.
CPU
c.
RAM BIOS
b.
ROM BIOS
d.
startup BIOS
 

 13. 

Which of the following is NOT a category of BIOS programs?
a.
system BIOS
c.
device BIOS
b.
startup BIOS
d.
CMOS setup
 

 14. 

A ____ is a description of how each pin on a bus, connection, plug, slot, or socket is used.
a.
partition table
c.
swap file
b.
pinout
d.
vector table
 

 15. 

The "S" in ISA stands for ____.
a.
Security
c.
Standard
b.
Supported
d.
Slot
 

 16. 

The first system bus had only ____ lines for data.
a.
four
c.
six
b.
eight
d.
sixteen
 

 17. 

Which pf the following lines is NOT required to manage a DMA channel?
a.
DRQ
c.
DACK
b.
DGROUND
d.
None of the above.
 

 18. 

The 16-bit ISA slot allows for ____ DMA channels.
a.
four
c.
thirty-two
b.
eight
d.
sixteen
 

 19. 

The "E" in EISA stands for ____.
a.
Extended
c.
Extra
b.
Expandable
d.
Expanding
 

 20. 

It is common practice today for a line to perform several functions, called ____.
a.
multiplexing
c.
multiprocessing
b.
interrupting
d.
vectoring
 

 21. 

The first PCs had only one bus, the ____ bus.
a.
system
c.
BIOS
b.
startup
d.
CMOS
 

 22. 

Many processes that the CPU carries out are initiated by interrupts, and are said to be ____.
a.
interrupt-based
c.
interrupt-initiated
b.
interrupt-driven
d.
interrupt-polled
 

 23. 

COM1 uses IRQ ____.
a.
1
c.
3
b.
4
d.
5
 

 24. 

The floppy drive controller uses IRQ ____.
a.
1
c.
6
b.
0
d.
5
 

 25. 

Memory addresses are most often displayed on the screen as ____.
a.
decimal numbers in dot notation
b.
hexadecimal numbers in segment/offset form
c.
binary numbers in dotted form
d.
None of the above.
 

 26. 

The CPU has a fixed number of memory addresses available to it, determined by ____.
a.
the CPU
c.
the number of DMA channels
b.
the bus it is using
d.
Both A and B.
 

 27. 

In Windows 9x, hex numbers in ____ memory begin with A through F.
a.
conventional
c.
upper
b.
extended
d.
base
 

 28. 

The process of copying programs from ROM to RAM for execution is called ____.
a.
executing ROM
c.
shadowing ROM
b.
shadow ROM
d.
ROM duplication
 

 29. 

In Windows 9x, memory addresses from 0 to 640K are called ____ memory.
a.
secondary
c.
standard
b.
upper
d.
base
 

 30. 

In Windows 9x, hex numbers in ____ memory are in the range of 0 to A0000.
a.
upper
c.
conventional
b.
extended
d.
lower
 

 31. 

The I/O address range for the printer parallel port LPT1 is ____.
a.
0060-006F
c.
01F0-01F7
b.
00A0-00AF
d.
0378-037F
 

 32. 

The I/O address range for COM1 is ____.
a.
0060-006F
c.
0040-005F
b.
03F0-03F7
d.
03F8-03FF
 

 33. 

Which of the following devices is NOT designed to use DMA channels?
a.
mouse
c.
sound card
b.
floppy drive
d.
tape drive
 

 34. 

In a 16-bit ISA bus, DMA channel ____ is not available for I/O use.
a.
0
c.
3
b.
4
d.
6
 

 35. 

When you turn on the power to a PC, the CPU begins the process by initializing itself and then turning to the ____ for instructions.
a.
CMOS
c.
ROM BIOS
b.
CMOS RAM
d.
system BIOS
 

 36. 

The ____ performs POST.
a.
CMOS
c.
ROM BIOS
b.
CMOS RAM
d.
system BIOS
 

 37. 

Which of the following statements is false?
a.
POST checks RAM by writing and reading data.
b.
POST checks to see if a monitor is present and working.
c.
POST checks and verifies the video controller card.
d.
None of the above.
 

 38. 

The ____ is NOT included in the MBR.
a.
partition table
c.
OS boot record
b.
master boot program
d.
Both B and C.
 

 39. 

In Windows 9x, ____ begins the process of loading the OS into memory.
a.
Autoexec.bat
c.
Io.sys
b.
Config.exe
d.
Ntldr
 

 40. 

In Windows NT/2000/XP, ____ begins the process of loading the OS into memory.
a.
Autoexec.bat
c.
Io.sys
b.
Config.exe
d.
Ntldr
 

 41. 

The partition used for booting is called the ____ partition.
a.
primary
c.
default
b.
boot
d.
active
 

 42. 

The ____ file is a text file containing some parameters and switches that can be set to affect the way the OS boots.
a.
Msdos.sys
c.
Autoexec.bat
b.
Config.sys
d.
Io.sys
 

 43. 

The ____ file contains commands that start with Files= and Buffers=.
a.
Msdos.sys
c.
Autoexec.bat
b.
Config.sys
d.
Io.sys
 

 44. 

____ causes the system to reboot.
a.
Restart.com
c.
Initialize.exe
b.
Reboot.exe
d.
Boot.com
 

Matching
 
 
Match each correct item with the statement below.
a.
device driver
g.
I/O address
b.
BIOS
h.
IRQ
c.
system BIOS
i.
memory address
d.
startup BIOS
j.
DMA channel
e.
CMOS setup
k.
buffer
f.
system resource
 

 45. 

Programs to control the booting of a computer.
 

 46. 

A tool used by either hardware or software to communicate with each other.
 

 47. 

A line of a motherboard bus that a hardware device can use to signal the CPU that the device needs attention.
 

 48. 

Programs to control I/O devices.
 

 49. 

A number assigned to a hardware device that software uses to send a command to a device.
 

 50. 

A small program stored on the hard drive that tells the computer how to communicate with an input/output device.
 

 51. 

Can be thought of as a shortcut for data moving to/from the device and memory.
 

 52. 

A number that is assigned to physical memory located either in RAM or ROM chips.
 

 53. 

A temporary holding area for files.
 



 
Check Your Work     Reset Help