MARKING SCHEME FOR RIS 258

SECTION A

QUESTION ONE

(i)ATX
(ii) Control unit – Instructs the rest of the computer system on how to
follow a program instructions.
Arithmetic/Logic Unit (ALU) – The ALU performs both arithmetic and
logical operations.
(iii) Boot files
– File management files
– Utility files

QUESTION TWO

(i) Scandisk, Defrag, CHKDSK /, REGEDIT.

(ii) Address bus, Control bus, Data bus.

QUESTION THREE

(i) Available desktop space

Form factor (describes the general layout of the computer case )

(ii) AT power supplies

ATX power supplies

(iii) Slot type and socket type

QUESTION FOUR

(i) File and folder management

– Management of applications

– Support for built-in utility programs

 – Access control to computer hardware (The operating system can
either access the hardware through the BIOS or through the device
drivers )

(ii)Supervisor Password
User Password

SECTION B.

QUESTION FIVE

(a) The main goal of any preventive maintenance program is to preempt problems
before they happen.

(b) Periodic cleaning of the keyboard will prolong the lifespan and prevent
malfunction.

The keys on a keyboard can be removed and get cleaned by proper liquid.

(c)Warm booting – Performed whenever the PC is restarted or reset with the

power still on.

Cold booting – Starts whenever the PC power switch is turned on.

(d) When is the best time to prevent problems from happening?

Why is this maintenance being done now?

How is this system to be maintained?

 QUESTION SIX

(a)

(b) The power supply fan helps prevent the computer components from
overheating by maintaining airflow in the case.

A heat sink is made of a material that absorbs generated heat. It is designed

to disperse the heat away from the CPU

Computer cases made of aluminum create a much cooler environment for

the installed components.

Liquid cooled cases new. They introduce water as a cooling agent. Liquid
cooling units fit most cases that have a place to mount a back exhaust fan.

c) The instructions and data in the ROM chip that control the boot process and the
computer hardware are known as the basic input/output system (BIOS),
sometimes called firmware.
The ROM chip that contains the firmware is called the ROM BIOS chip.

QUESTION SEVEN

a) To clean a toner mess, use the right vacuum cleaner.

Unplug the unit before cleaning it due to the high amounts of voltage within
the laser printer

b) Monitors, Keyboard/mouse

Modular expansion cards

Most microprocessors

Power supply

RAM (such as DIMMs, SIMMs, RIMMs, and so on)

Floppy and fixed disk drives

Motherboard

(c) -Turn off the power on the computer.

-Remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard.

-Short the negative and positive connections (terminals) of the battery

location on the motherboard

-Replace the CMOS battery in its original position on the motherboard.

 -Turn the power on (reboot) the system.

QUESTION EIGHT
(a) These are ways to manage files and programs to improve performance:
– Manage applications
– Manage files and folders
- Back up the work
( b) - SRAM is relatively more expensive, but it is fast and holds data when the
power is turned off for a brief period of time. This is useful in such circumstances
as an unexpected loss of power. It is used for cache memory.
- DRAM is inexpensive and somewhat slow, and requires an uninterrupted
power supply to maintain the data. DRAM stores data in tiny capacitor that
must be refreshed to maintain the data. Once the power is turned off, the
data is lost.
(c) There are two BIOS exit options:
1. Save and Exit Setup
2. Exit Without Saving Setup
(d) On CPU
(e) The main drawback to the floppy diskette is that it only holds 1.44 MB of
information, although most PCs still have a floppy drive.

QUESTION NINE
 a) This allows users to place multiple print jobs into a queue and print
them in the background instead of waiting for each one to finish.
b) There are three major system bus types that can be identified based on
the type of information they carry.
(i)address bus (a uni-directional pathway for data flow)
(ii)data bus (a bi-directional pathway for data flow)
(iii)control bus (carries the control and timing signals needed to
coordinate the activities of the entire computer)

c) (i) A grounding wrist strap provides a place for the static to go before
it attacks a sensitive computer component

(ii) To clean a toner mess, use the right vacuum cleaner.

Unplug the unit before cleaning it due to the high amounts of voltage
within the laser printer