A+ Technical Questions - Please Help! :)

Appletax · January 2016

A+ Questions

RAM

Faster RAM (in MHz) than the base speed (e.g. PC3-6400) is always an overclock of the system bus using a multiplier? My Intel Core i7-4770K supports 1600MHz RAM, but my RAM is overclocked to 2400MHz…how does the RAM overclock itself?

“DIMM varieties delivered 64-bit-wide data to match the 64-bit data bus of every CPU since the Pentium”
- But the Pentium is not x64? And x64 OSs weren’t even available back then?

When given the RAM’s internal frequency, how can I determine the speed of the external data bus, and vice versa?

How can DDR3 RAM send eight 64-bit words/instructions to the CPU when the bus itself is 64-bits? DDR3 sends 8x what the bus can handle?

CPU

An x86-x64 processor that has a 32-bit core (not a true x64 processor), can process 64-bit instructions, but can it compute 64 bits internally at one time even though the core is only 32-bits?

Only higher end CPUs for workstations and servers have a true 64-bit core?

Motherboard

Are there motherboards with a 64-bit CPU and a 64-bit address bus, but only a 32-bit external data bus? The CPU could talk to over 4GB of RAM, but couldn’t process 64-bits of data at a time? If a mobo has a 64-bit address bus, does it also have to have a 64-bit external data bus?

To process 64-bits from RAM at once time, does a system need a 64-bit CPU, address bus, FSB, MMC and system bus?

How do you know when to use either a Molex-style or SATA-style power connector to provide additional wattage to a PCIe card (talking about the Molex or SATA power connectors embedded on the mobo that provide extra power to PCIe cards)?

Would you ever buy a motherboard that has a faster Front Side Bus than what the CPU requires?

My high-end motherboard (Asus Max VI Formula) does not have a Trusted Platform Module, which seems odd. What types of mobo come with TPMs? Can a TPM be installed as an aftermarket part?

USB hubs extend the number of USB devices that can connect to the system. Intel’s new Z170 chipset supports 10 USB 3.0 devices. Does that mean that 10 devices can connect in total or just 10 via motherboard USB connections?

Windows

If Windows 7 is my default OS and I’m dual booting with Windows 10, does the system automatically remove the Win 7 partition active status and give it to the Windows 10 partition when I try to boot to Windows 10? The Windows 10 partition needs to be set to active so it can be booted?

With BitLocker in use, can an admin use the Take Ownership permission to gain access to the user’s files and folders when the user is logged into the computer?

“Multi-booting requires that the file systems of the OSs must be common amongst the OSs.”
- Does dual booting with Windows 7 and Linux Mint, for example, work because they both support NTFS and the file system used by Linux Mint?
- Would I not be able to dual boot Windows 98 and Windows 10 because ’98 does not support NTFS?

“Dual boot allows one OS to use the programs on another OS, which means you just need one installation of a program.”
- How is this possible if you want to use an old XP program and Windows 10? Even if you were dual booting two copies of XP, wouldn’t that still not work do to programs embedding themselves into the Registry?

Windows XP can be installed in a separate folder from an existing older copy of Windows, enabling you to put two OSs on the same partition. There’s no problem running different editions of Windows XP on a single partition. You can simply install them in different folders.
- Why is that? It seems like a very strange concept.

Does NTFS use the Master File Table with GPT to keep track of data? If I’m using GPT, NTFS would still need the MFT to keep track of the Windows files?

Windows XP’s Windows Catalog is said by Mike Meyers to be on the installation disc. Wasn’t it a web site that acted as a compatibility center?
- Do the web sites follow this order? Windows Catalog (XP) > Windows Logo’d Products List (Vista) > Windows 7 Compatibility Center > Windows 8? > Windows Compatibility Center (Windows 10)
- What if I want to check compatibility for a pre-Windows 10 OS? Are their compatibility sites completely gone?
- Is the Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) used solely by the installation disc? What’s the difference between it and the compatibility web site?

Is SysPrep meant to be used when systems using a single image have different HALs? Do we only want to use it on systems that are extremely similar?

Is the Master Boot Record the boot record itself, or is it just a program inside the boot record?
GPT replaces the MBR, so is the GPT considered to be a boot record, too? It can read the Master File Table like the MBR?

Hard Drives

Is this true: ATA includes ATA-4 and higher so IDE and EIDI are not ATA?

Do dynamic disks never use an MBR or GPT? They use their disk management database instead?

Dynamic disks are limited to 16TB partitions/volumes and basic disks are limited to 2TB partitions – how does my 3TB basic disk have one partition?

Deleted data can be recovered from HDDs if the data has not been overwritten. Is this also true for SSDs?
- To destroy data on SSDs, do we low-level format (zero write) the drive or will that damage it?

Optical Drives

Buffer underrun is caused by the buffer not being fed data faster enough from the source to send to the destination (e.g. Optical Disk Burner). Having a larger buffer size is supposed to make buffer underruns less likely to occur.
- How can an ODD’s buffer not get fed fast enough when a modern HDD is way faster than an ODD’s write speed?
- Does buffer underrun typically occur on slow PCs?

Plantwiz · January 2016

Nope. Try again.

No one has the time to answer something like this...if you lurked around a bit or read through any old posts, you would see this place is somewhat like a family, but each member needs to pull their weight. Most of the answers you seek will be found with a tiny bit of experience of actually using the hardware, the rest with a little bit of google searching and common sense.

Pickup a text such as a Meyers All in One book and after you spend some hours with actual study, if you are still confused on something, ask one question, maybe two within the same genre of concept and the members will assist.

However, blanket, cut-and-paste, fill in my homework style does not work here.

Experienced members, please do not blindly jump on this thread and comment. This was left here for the OP to read, but no drama is necessary. Thanks, but this new member needs to put forth a bit of effort.

Justin- · January 2016

I don't see how anyone can 'help' you, unless they give you advice to pick up the A+ textbook and put in the effort to figure out the solutions to these questions. Us giving you the answers will not help you at all.

Plantwiz · January 2016

Justin, (and all existing experienced members)

Read my comments.

PLEASE DO NOT respond here, nor continue to tell the OP they need to study. Typically, I would have just removed this thread as it shows signs of someone who is not serious. Please do not feed this thread.

A+ Technical Questions - Please Help! :)

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