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What is a printer?

A printer is an output device that produces text and graphics on paper Printer - A device that prints text or illustrations on paper. There are many different types of printers. In terms of the technology utilized, printers fall into the following categories:
Dot matrix: A type of impact printer that produces characters and illustrations by striking pins against an ink ribbon to print closely spaced dots in the appropriate shape. Dot-matrix printers are relatively expensive and do not produce high-quality output. However, they can print to multi-page forms (that is, carbon copies), something laser and ink-jet printers cannot do.

Dot Matrix Printer Manufacturers include Epson, Okidata and Brother

Dot-matrix printers vary in 3 important characteristics:

Speed: Given in characters per second (cps), the speed can vary from about 50 to over 500 cps. Most dot-matrix printers offer different speeds depending on the quality of print desired. Print quality: Determined by the number of pins (the mechanisms that print the dots), it can vary from 9, 18 or 24pins. The best dot-matrix printers (24 pins) can produce near letter-quality type, although you can still see a difference if you look closely. Ink: Dot Matrix Printer use ribbon for ink In addition to these characteristics, you should also consider the noise factor. Compared to laser and ink-jet printers, dot-matrix printers are notorious for making a lot of noise. Ink-jet: A type of printer that works by spraying ionized ink at a sheet of paper. Magnetized plates in the ink's path direct the ink onto the paper in the desired shapes. Ink-jet printers are capable of producing high quality print approaching that produced by laser printers. A typical ink-jet printer provides a resolution of 600 dots per inch, although some newer models offer higher resolutions.

Ink Jet Printer Manufacturers include Canon, Epson, HP and Lexmark

Speed: Given in Pages per Minute (PPM) the higher the PPM the more pages they can print. Most ink-jet printers offer different speeds depending on the quality of print desired. Print quality: Determined by the DPI Dot Per Inch Example 2440 x 1220 DPI (Vertical and Horizontal DPI) The higher the DPI the better in terms of print quality.

Ink: Ink-Jet Printers use Ink Cartridges (hidden cost) In general, the price of ink-jet printers is lower than that of laser printers. However, they are also considerably slower. Another drawback of ink-jet printers is that they require a special type of ink that is apt to smudge on inexpensive copier paper. Because ink-jet printers require smaller mechanical parts than laser printers, they are especially popular as portable printers. In addition, color ink-jet printers provide an inexpensive way to print fullcolor documents.

Laser: A type of printer that utilizes a laser beam to produce an image on a drum. The light of the laser alters the electrical charge on the drum wherever it hits. The drum is then rolled through a reservoir of toner, which is picked up by the charged portions of the drum. Finally, the toner is transferred to the paper through a combination of heat and pressure. This is also the way copy machines work.

Laser Printer Manufacturers include HP, Lexmark, Xerox

Speed: Given in Pages per Minute (PPM) the higher the PPM the more pages they can print. Most ink-jet printers offer different speeds depending on the quality of print desired. Print quality: Determined by the DPI Dot Per Inch Example 4880 x 2440 DPI (Vertical and Horizontal DPI) Ink: Laser Printers use Toner Cartridges Laser Printer Parts Toner Cartridge Components EP Photosensitive Drum Erase Lamp Primary Corona Wire Toner Transfer Corona Fuser Power Supplies Turning Gears Motherboard Ozone Filter Sensors Switches Because an entire page is transmitted to a drum before the toner is applied, laser printers are sometimes called page printers. There are two other types of page printers that fall under the category of laser printers even though they do not use lasers at all. One uses an array of LEDs to

expose the drum, and the other uses LCD's. Once the drum is charged, however, they both operate like a real laser printer.

One of the chief characteristics of laser printers is their resolution -- how many dots per inch (dpi) they lay down. The available resolutions range from 300 dpi at the low end to 1,200 dpi at the high end. By comparison, offset printing usually prints at 1,200 or 2,400 dpi. Some laser printers achieve higher resolutions with special techniques known generally as resolution enhancement. In addition to the standard monochrome laser printer, which uses a single toner, there also exist color laser printers that use four toners to print in full color. Color laser printers tend to be about five to ten times as expensive as their monochrome siblings. Laser printers produce very high-quality print and are capable of printing an almost unlimited variety of fonts. Most laser printers come with a basic set of fonts, called internal or resident fonts, but you can add additional fonts in one of two ways: Font cartridges: Laser printers have slots in which you can insert font cartridges, ROM boards on which fonts have been recorded. The advantage of font cartridges is that they use none of the printer's memory. Soft fonts: All laser printers come with a certain amount of RAM memory, and you can usually increase the amount of memory by adding memory boards in the printer's expansion slots. You can then copy fonts from a disk to the printer's RAM. This is called downloading fonts. A font that has been downloaded is often referred to as a soft font, to distinguish it from the hard fonts available on font cartridges. The more RAM a printer has, the more fonts that can be downloaded at one time. In addition to text, laser printers are very adept at printing graphics. However, you need significant amounts of memory in the printer to print high-resolution graphics. To print a full-page graphic at 300 dpi, for example, you need at least 1 MB (megabyte) of printer RAM. For a 600-dpi graphic, you need at least 4 MB RAM. Because laser printers are no impact printers, they are much quieter than dot matrix. They are also relatively fast, although not as fast as some dot-matrix printers. The speed of laser printers ranges from about 4 to 20 pages of text per minute (ppm). A typical rate of 6 ppm is equivalent to about 40 characters per second (cps). Laser printers are controlled through page description languages (PDL's). There are two de facto standards for PDL's: PCL: Hewlett-Packard (HP) was one of the pioneers of laser printers and has developed a Printer Control Language (PCL) to control output. There are several versions of PCL, so a printer may be compatible with one but not another. In addition, many printers that claim compatibility cannot accept HP font cartridges. PostScript: This is the de facto standard for Apple Macintosh printers and for all desktop publishing systems. Most software can print using either of this PDL's. PostScript tends to be a bit more expensive, but it has some features that PCL lacks and it is the standard for desktop publishing. Some printers support both PCL and PostScript.

The 6 steps laser printing process

NOTE * easy way to remember this is CLEAN CARS WILL DRIVE TO FAST

1. Cleaning The Photosensitive drum is cleaned before it can take on a new image 2. Conditioning or Charging To make the drum receptive to new images, it must be charged. The EP drum is given a negative charge by the primary corona wire around -600 and -1000 volts 3. Writing - A laser beam is use to write to the EP drum causing dots on the drum to lose some of the negative charge and become relatively positive charge 4. Developing - A toner is transferred from the toner cylinder to the EP drum by attracting the area of the drum that has a Relative positive charge 5. Transferring - The transfer corona wire puts a highly positive charge on the paper once the paper has a positive charge the negatively charge toner particle leaps from the drum into the paper 6. Fusing - The compression roller and fusing roller press and melts the toner into the paper the fuser gets very hot Other Types of Printers Photo Printer Is a type of printer use for printing photographs. Dye-Sublimation Printer Is a type of printer which employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye to a medium such as a plastic card, printer paper or poster paper. Thermal Printer- Is a type of printer that produces a printed image by selectively heating coated thermo chromic paper, or thermal paper as it is commonly known, when the paper passes over the thermal print head. The coating turns black in the areas where it is heated which then produce an image. All-in-One Printer - A printer than can also do scanning, fax and make copies Plotter - A large device use to print large posters and documents

Printers can also be categorized based on the print method or print technology. The most popular ones are inkjet printer*, *laser printer*, *dot-matrix printer and *thermal printer*. Among these, only dot-matrix printer is impact printer and the others are non-impact printers.

Some printers are named because they are designed for specific functions, such as photo printers*, *portable printers and all-in-one / *multifunction printers*. Photo printers and portable printers usually use inkjet print method whereas multifunction printers may use inkjet or laser print method.

Inkjet printers and laser printers are the most popular printer types for home and business use. Dot matrix printer was popular in 70's and 80's but has been gradually replaced by inkjet printers for home use. However, they are still being used to print multi-part forms and carbon copies for some businesses. The use of thermal printers is limited to ATM, cash registers and point-of-sales terminals. Some label printers and portable printers also use thermal printing.

Due to the popularity of digital camera, laptop and SoHo office (small office / home office), the demand for photo printers, portable printers and multifunction printers has also increased substantially in recent years.

h1. Inkjet Printers Inkjet printers are non-impact printers which print text and images by spraying tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper. They are the most popular printers for home use. Currently, most inkjet printers use either thermal inkjet or piezoelectric inkjet technology. Thermal inkjet printer uses heating element to heat liquid ink to form vapor bubble, which forces the ink droplets onto the paper through the nozzle. Most inkjet manufacturers use this technology in consumer inkjet printers. Piezoelectric inkjet technology is used on all Epson printers and industrial inkjet printers. Instead of using heating element, these printers use a piezoelectric crystal in each nozzle. The piezoelectric crystal changes shape and size based on the electric current received, and forces tiny droplets of ink onto the paper from the nozzle.

Thermal inkjet printers use aqueous ink which is a mixture of water, glycol and dyes. These inks are inexpensive but they can only be used on paper or specially coated materials. Piezoelectric inkjet printers allow the use of a wider range of inks, such as solvent inks, UVcurable inks, dye sublimation inks, and can print text and graphics on different uncoated materials.

The inkjet head design is also divided into two main groups: fixed-head and disposable head. Fixed-head is built into the printer and should last for the whole life of the printer. It produces more accurate output than cheap disposable head. The ink cartridges for fixed head printers

are also cheaper as the print head does not need to be replaced. However, if the head is damaged, the entire printer has to be replaced.

Disposable head is included in replacement ink cartridge. It is replaced each time an ink cartridge runs out of ink. This increases the cost of ink cartridges and also limits the use of high quality print head in these cartridges. However, a damaged print head is not a problem as one can easily replace it with a new ink cartridge.

Some printer manufacturers use disposable ink and disposable print head separately. The print head can last much longer than cheap disposable head and is suitable for high volume printing. However, it can also be replaced easily if the head is clogged or damaged.

Although inkjet printers are generally used in home and small businesses, some manufacturers, such as Hewlett Packard, have produced high end inkjet printers for industrial use. These professional inkjet printers are usually used to print advertising graphics or technical drawings.

Advantages of inkjet printers:

1) Low cost

2) High quality of output, capable of printing fine and smooth details

3) Capable of printing in vivid color, good for printing pictures

4) Easy to use

5) Reasonably fast

6) Quieter than dot matrix printer

7) No warm up time

Disadvantages of inkjet printers:

1) Print head is less durable, prone to clogging and damage

2) Expensive replacement ink cartridges

3) Not good for high volume printing

4) Printing speed is not as fast as laser printers

5) Ink bleeding, ink carried sideways causing blurred effects on some papers

6) Aqueous ink is sensitive to water, even a small drop of water can cause blurring

7) Cannot use highlighter marker on inkjet printouts

Many consumer inkjet printers are selling at very low price (under $100) these days. It is the printer manufacturer's marketing strategy to reduce the price of the printers but dramatically mark up the price of replacement cartridges. However, consumers still have the options to buy cheap compatible and remanufactured inkjet cartridges or ink refill kits to cut down printing cost.

h1. Laser Printers Laser printers are non-impact printers which can print text and images in high speed and high quality resolution, ranging from 600 to 1200 dpi. Unlike inkjet printers, laser printer use toner (black or colored powder) instead of liquid inks. A laser printer consists of these major components: drum cartridge, rotating mirror, toner cartridge and roller. The drum cartridge rotates as the paper is fed through. The mirror deflects laser beam across the surface of the drum. Laser beam creates charge that causes the toner to stick to the drum. As the drum rotates and presses on paper, toner is transferred from the drum to paper, creating images. Rollers then use heat and pressure to fuse toner to paper. Colored laser printers add colored toner in three additional passes.

Advantages of laser printers:

1) High resolution

2) High print speed

3) No smearing

4) Low cost per page (compared to inkjet printers)

5) Printout is not sensitive to water

6) Good for high volume printing

Disadvantages of laser printers:

1) More expensive than inkjet printers

2) Except for high end machines, laser printers are less capable of printing vivid colors and high quality images such as photos.

3) The cost of toner replacement and drum replacement is high

4) Bulkier than inkjet printers

5) Warm up time needed

h2. Dot-matrix printer Dot-matrix printer is an impact printer that produces text and graphics when tiny wire pins on the print head strike the ink ribbon. The print head runs back and forth on the paper like a typewriter. When the ink ribbon presses on the paper, it creates dots that form text and images. Higher number of pins means that the printer prints more dots per character, thus resulting in higher print quality.

Dot-matrix printers were very popular and the most common type of printer for personal computer in 70's to 80's. However, their use was gradually replaced by inkjet printers in 90's. As of today, dot matrix printers are only used in some point-of-sales terminals, or businesses where printing of carbon copy multi-part forms or data logging are needed.

Advantages of dot matrix printer:

1) Can print on multi-part forms or carbon copies

2) Low printing cost per page

3) Can be used on continuous form paper, useful for data logging

4) Reliable, durable

Disadvantages of dot matrix printer:

1) Noisy

2) Limited print quality

3) Low printing speed

4) Limited color printing

h2. Thermal printers Thermal printers use two types of printing technologies: direct thermal and thermal transfer printing. Traditional thermal printers use direct thermal method by pushing electrically heated pins against heat-sensitive paper (thermal paper). The coating on the thermal paper turns black in the areas where it is heated, producing characters or images. Direct thermal printers have no ink, toner or ribbon. These printers are durable, easy to use and cost less to print than other printers. However, the thermal paper is sensitive to heat, light, water, and abrasion and the text and images may fade over time. In thermal transfer printing, a thermal print head applies heat to a heat-sensitive ribbon, which melts ink onto paper and a wide range of materials to form text and images. The printouts can be extremely durable and can be stored over long period of time.

Thermal printers are often used in cash registers, ATM and point-of-sales terminals. Direct thermal printing was used in some older fax machines before the 21^st^ century. However, these old models are now replaced by new machines which use laser and inkjet printing. Thermal printing is still considered as the best technology for bar code printing because it produces accurate, high quality images with exact bar widths. Some portable printers and most label printers still use thermal printing method.

Thermal printer is not the same as thermal inkjet printer. The latter uses inkjet print technology by heating liquid ink to form vapor bubble, which forces the ink droplet onto the paper from the nozzle.

h1. Specialty Printers h2. Photo printer Photo printers are color printers that produce photo lab quality pictures on photo paper. They can also be used to print documents. These printers have a very high number of nozzles and can print very fine droplets for improved image quality. Some photo printers also have media card readers. They can print 4" x 6" photos directly from the media card of digital cameras without a computer in between.

Theoretically, most inkjet printers and high end laser printers are capable of printing high quality pictures. Sometimes, these printers are marketed as "photo printers". However, a dedicated photo printer is designed to print photos effectively and economically. Apart from a higher number of nozzles and very fine droplets, these printers also use additional cartridges, such as photo cyan, light magenta and light black. These additional color cartridges allow the printing of more vivid and realistic photos and the result is better than ordinary inkjet and laser printers.

h2. Portable printer Portable printers are small, lightweight inkjet or thermal printers that allow computer users to print from laptop computers when traveling. They are easy to carry, convenient to use but generally more expensive than normal inkjet printers due to the compact design. Their printing speed is also lower than normal printers. Some portable printers are designed to print photos immediately from digital cameras and are known as portable photo printers. h2. MultiFunction / All-in-One Printers Multifunction printer (MFP) is also known as all-inone printer or multifunction device (MFD). It is a machine that includes several functionalities including printer, scanner, copier and fax. Multifunction printer is very popular in SoHo (small office / home office) offices. It can use either inkjet or laser print method. Some multifunction printers also have media card readers, allowing printing of pictures directly from digital cameras without using a computer.

Advantages of multifunction printers:

1) Low cost - it is often cheaper to buy a multifunction printer than individual components (fax machine, scanner, printer, copier) separately

2) Take up less room

Disadvantages of multifunction printers:

1) If one component is broken, the entire machine has to be replaced

2) Failure in any component will affect other functions

3) The print quality and speed may be lower than some stand alone components We summarized all the differences between impact printer and non-impact printer regarding to their features. 1. Descriptions : Impact printer - Produces text and images when tiny wire pins on print head strike the ink ribbon by physically contacting the paper Non-impact printer - Produces text and graphics on paper without actually striking the paper 2. Types : Impact printer - Dot-matrix printer Non-impact printer - Inkjet printer, laser printer and thermal printer 3. Speed : Impact printer - Low printing speed Non-impact printer - Reasonably fast 4. Quality : Impact printer - Print quality lower in some types Non-impact printer - High quality of output, capable of printing fine and smooth details 5. Letter quality : Impact printer - Produce near letter quality (NLQ) print only, which is just suitable for printing mailing labels, envelopes, or invoices Non-impact printer - Letter-quality printouts 6. Consumption : Impact printer - Not commonly used today Non-impact printer - Most commonly used printer today 7. Tools : Impact printer - Uses ink ribbon Non-impact printer - Uses ink spray or toner powder

8. Cost : Impact printer - Less expensive Non-impact printer - More expensive 9. Durability : Impact printer - Reliable, durable (lasting for a long time) Non-impact printer - Print head is less durable, inclined towards to clogging and damage 10. Sound effects : Impact printer - Generally noisy because of the striking activity Non-impact printer - Generally much quieter than impact printers because there is no striking mechanism 11. Image clarity : Impact printer - Poor graphics or none at all Non-impact printer - Can handle graphics and often a wider variety of fonts than impact printers 12. Multipart forms : Impact printer - Ideal for printing multipart forms because they can easily print through many layers of paper Non-impact printer - Cannot print multipart forms 13. Color output : Impact printer - Limited color printing Non-impact printer - Capable of printing in strong clear color, good for printing pictures
This step-by-step article describes how to use the Disk Management snap-in to configure dynamic disks.

Dynamic Disks and Volumes Dynamic disk storage supports volume-oriented disks. You create the following volume types only on dynamic disks:

New simple volumes. Volumes that span multiple disks (spanned volumes and striped volumes). Volumes that are fault-tolerant (mirrored volumes and RAID-5 volumes).

Volumes on dynamic disks are called dynamic volumes. Dynamic disks can support up to 2,000 dynamic volumes per disk (although the recommended number of volumes is 32 or less per disk). Local access to dynamic volumes (and to the data that the dynamic volumes contain) is limited to Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP Professional-based computers. You cannot

create dynamic volumes on (or access dynamic volumes from) a Windows XP Professional-based computer that has one or more of the following operating systems running:

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and earlier Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition and earlier MS-DOS

You can create dynamic disks by using the Convert to Dynamic Disk command in Disk Management to convert a basic disk.

Using Disk Management To start Disk Management: 1. Log on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. 2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 3. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. In the console tree, click Disk Management. NOTE: You can also click Start, point to Run, type diskmgmt.msc, and then click OK. In Disk Management, the computer's disks and volumes are displayed in a graphical view and in a list view. By default, the local computer's disks are displayed; however, if you have the required permissions, you can perform this process on remote computer. To customize the view of the disks and the volumes in the upper and the lower panes of the window, click View, point to Top or to Bottom, and then click the view that you want. NOTE: It is recommended that you perform a full backup of disk contents before you make any changes to disks, volumes, or partitions.

How to Create a Simple Volume or a Spanned Volume To create a simple volume or a spanned volume: 1. In Disk Management, perform one of the following steps:

To create a simple volume, right-click unallocated space on the dynamic disk on which you want to create the simple volume, and then click New Volume. -or-

To create a spanned volume, right-click unallocated space on one of the dynamic disks on which you want to create the spanned volume, and then click New Volume.

2. In the New Volume Wizard, click Next. 3. Click the type of volume you want to create (Simple volume or Spanned volume), and then click Next. 4. Click the disk (or disks) in which you want to create the volume by performing one of the following steps:
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If you are creating a simple volume, verify that the disks in which you want to create a simple volume are listed in the Selected dynamic disks box. -or-

If you are creating a spanned volume, under All available dynamic disks, click to select the disks that you want, and then click Add. Verify that the disks in which you want to create a spanned volume are listed in the Selected dynamic disks box.

5. In the Size box, specify the size that you want for the volume, and then Next. 6. Assign a drive letter or drive path, and then click Next. 7. Specify the formatting options that you want by performing one of the following steps:
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If you do not want to format the partition, click Do not format this partition, and then click Next. -or-

If you want to format the partition, click Format this partition with the following settings, perform the following steps in the Format dialog box, and then click Next: 1. Type a name for the volume in the Volume label box. NOTE: This is an optional step. 2. Click the file system that you want in the File system box. You can also change the disk allocation unit size, specify whether you want

to perform a quick format, or enable file and folder compression on NTFSformatted volumes. 8. Confirm that the options that you selected are correct, and then click Finish. The volume is created and appears in the appropriate dynamic disk or disks in Disk Management.

How to Extend a Simple or Spanned Volume To increase the size of a simple volume or a spanned volume after you create it, you can extend it by adding unallocated free space on the same (or another) dynamic disk. To extend a simple volume or a spanned volume: 1. In Disk Management, right-click the simple or spanned volume to be extended, and then click Extend Volume. 2. In the Extend Volume Wizard, click Next. 3. On the Select Disks page, do the following:
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Click to select the disk (or disks) onto which the volume will be extended, and then click Add. Verify that the disk or disks onto which you want to extend the volume are listed in the Selected dynamic disks box. -and-

In the Size box, specify the amount of unallocated disk space that you want to add, and then Next.

4. Confirm that the options that you selected are correct, and then click Finish. The volume is extended and appears in the appropriate dynamic disk or disks in the Disk Management window. NOTE:

You can only extend NTFS volumes, or volumes that are not yet formatted with a file system. A volume can be extended only if there is enough available disk space. If you upgraded from Windows 2000 to Windows XP, you can extend simple and spanned volumes only if the volume is created on a dynamic disk in Windows XP. Simple or spanned volumes that result from a basic to dynamic disk conversion in Windows 2000 cannot be extended.

You cannot extend the system or boot volume.

How to Format a Dynamic Volume To format a dynamic volume, follow these steps: 1. In Disk Management, right-click the dynamic volume that you want to format (or reformat), and then click Format. 2. In the Format dialog box, do the following:
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Type a name for the volume in the Volume label box. Click the file system that you want to use in the File system box. If you want, you can also change the disk allocation unit size, specify whether you want to perform a quick format, or enable file and folder compression on NTFS volumes.

Click OK. 3. Click OK when you are prompted to format the volume. The format process now starts.

How to View the Properties of a Dynamic Volume To view the properties of a dynamic volume, follow these steps: 1. In Disk Management, right-click the dynamic volume that you want, and then click Properties. 2. Click the appropriate tab to view the property that you want. How to Delete a Dynamic Volume To delete a dynamic volume: 1. In Disk Management, right-click the dynamic volume that you want to delete, and then click Delete Volume. 2. Click Yes when you are prompted to delete the volume. IMPORTANT NOTE:

When you delete a volume, all data on the volume is deleted in addition to the volume itself. You cannot delete the system volume, boot volume, or any volume that contains the active paging (swap) file.

Troubleshooting Disk Management displays status descriptions in graphical view and under the Status column in list view in the Disk Management snap-in to inform you of the current status of the disk or the volume. Use these status descriptions to help you detect and to troubleshoot disk and volume failures. The following is a partial list of disk and volume status descriptions:

Online This is the normal disk status when the disk is accessible and functioning correctly.

Healthy This is the normal volume status when the volume is accessible and functioning correctly.

Online (Errors) The disk may display this status if input/output (I/O) errors are detected on it. To resolve this issue, right-click the disk, and then click Reactivate Disk to return the disk to the online status.

Offline or Missing The disk may display this status if it is inaccessible. This may occur if the disk is corrupted or if it is temporarily unavailable. To troubleshoot this issue: 1. Repair any disk, controller, or connection problems. 2. Verify that the physical disk is turned on and that it is correctly attached to the computer. 3. Right-click the disk, and then click Reactivate Disk to return the disk to the online status.

For a complete list of disk and volume status descriptions, and troubleshooting procedures, see Disk Management Help: In Disk Management or in Computer Management, click Help on the Action menu Before you change a basic disk to a dynamic disk, note these items:

You must have at least 1 megabyte (MB) of free space on any master boot record (MBR) disk that you want to convert. This space is automatically reserved when the partition or volume is created in Microsoft Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional. However, it may not be available on partitions or volumes that are created in other operating systems.

When you convert to a dynamic disk, the existing partitions or logical drives on the basic disk are converted to simple volumes on the dynamic disk. After you convert to a dynamic disk, the dynamic volumes cannot be changed back to partitions. You must first delete all dynamic volumes on the disk, and then convert the dynamic disk back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, you must first back up or move the data to another volume. After you convert to a dynamic disk, local access to the dynamic disk is limited to Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000. If your disk contains multiple installations of Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000, do not convert to a dynamic disk. The conversion operation removes partition entries for all partitions on the disk with the exception of the system and boot volumes for the current operating system. Dynamic disks are not supported on portable computers or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

Before you change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, note that all existing volumes must be deleted from the disk before you can convert it back to a basic disk. If you want to keep your data, back up the data, or move your data to another volume.

How to Convert a Basic Disk to a Dynamic Disk To convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk: 1. Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. 2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 3. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. 4. In the left pane, click Disk Management. 5. In the lower-right pane, right-click the basic disk that you want to convert, and then click Convert to Dynamic Disk. NOTE:You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title on the left side of the Details pane. For example, right-click Disk 0. 6. Select the check box that is next to the disk that you want to convert (if it is not already selected), and then click OK. 7. Click Details if you want to view the list of volumes in the disk. 8. Click Convert.

9. Click Yes when you are prompted to convert, and then click OK. How to Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk To change a dynamic disk back to a basic disk: 1. Back up all the data on all the volumes on the disk you want to convert to a basic disk. 2. Log on as Administrator or as a member of the Administrators group. 3. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 4. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management. 5. In the left pane, click Disk Management. 6. Right-click a volume on the dynamic disk that you want to change to a basic disk, and then click Delete Volume. 7. Click Yes when you are prompted to delete the volume. 8. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each volume on the dynamic disk. 9. After you have deleted all the volumes on the dynamic disk, right-click the dynamic disk that you want to change to a basic disk, and then click Convert to Basic Disk. NOTE:You must right-click the gray area that contains the disk title on the left side of the Details pane. For example, right-click Disk 1.

Storage types and partition styles Windows XP Professional and offer two types of disk storage: basic disk and dynamic disk. Basic disks A basic disk is a physical disk that contains primary partitions, extended partitions, or logical drives. You can perform the following tasks only on a basic disk: Create and delete primary and extended partitions Create and delete logical drives within an extended partition. Format a partition and mark it as active Check disk properties, such as capacity, available free space, and current status. View volume and partition properties such as size, drive letter assignment, label, type, and file system.

Establish drive letter assignments for volumes or partitions, optical storage devices (for example CD-ROM), and removable drives. Establish disk sharing and security arrangements for volumes and partitions formatted with NTFS. Convert a basic disk to dynamic. For more information about converting a disk from basic to dynamic, see Converting a basic disk to dynamic For more information about basic disks and volumes, see Basic disks and volumes Top of page Dynamic disks Dynamic disks provide features that basic disks do not, such as the ability to create volumes that span multiple disks (spanned and striped volumes), and the ability to create fault-tolerant volumes (mirrored and RAID-5 volumes). All volumes on dynamic disks are known as dynamic volumes. You can perform the following tasks only on a dynamic disk: Create and delete simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, and RAID-5 volumes. Extend a simple or spanned volume. Remove a mirror from a mirrored volume or split the volume into two volumes. Repair mirrored or RAID-5 volumes. Reactivate a missing or offline disk. Check disk properties, such as capacity, available free space, and current status. View volume and partition properties such as size, drive letter assignment, label, type, and file system. Establish drive letter assignments for volumes or partitions, optical storage devices (for example CD-ROM), and removable drives. Establish disk sharing and security arrangements for volumes and partitions formatted with NTFS. Change a dynamic disk to basic. For more information about dynamic disks and volumes, see Dynamic disks and volumes Top of page Partition styles Partition style refers to the method that Windows XP and use to organize partitions on the disk. All x86-based computers use the partition style known as master boot record (MBR) MBR contains a partition table that describes where the partitions are located on the disk. Because MBR is the only

partition style available on x86-based computers, you do not need to choose this style; it is used automatically. Itanium-based computers running Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, Whistler Advanced Server for Intel Itanium systems, or Whistler Datacenter Server for Intel Itanium systems use a new partition style called GUID partition table (GPT) There are some differences between GPT and MBR partition styles, but most disk-related tasks are unchanged. Basic disks and dynamic disks work the same way as in Windows 2000, and these storage types are available on disks that use either partition style. For more information about GPT disks, see GUID partition table (GPT) Computers running Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, Whistler Advanced Server for Intel Itanium systems, or Whistler Datacenter Server for Intel Itanium systems require a GPT disk that contains an Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) System partition and the files necessary to start the computer. You can also install MBR disks on Itanium-based systems, but you cannot start a system from them. For more information about EFI and EFI System partitions, see Extensible Firmware Interface In order to more easily differentiate between disks that use the MBR and GPT partition styles, Disk Management labels disks that use the master boot record partition style as MBR disks, while disks that use the GUID partition table partition style are labeled GPT disks. The following table depicts storage types and partition styles in Windows XP and : Operating system Basic volumes Storage types Dynamic simple, spanned, and stripped volumes X X X X X X X X X X X X X Partition styles Dynamic mirrored and RAID-5 volumes

Windows XP Home Edition Windows XP Professional Whistler Whistler Advanced Server Whistler Server Windows XP 64-Bit Edition Whistler Advanced Server for Intel Itanium systems Whistler Datacenter Server for Intel Itanium systems

Inerrupt:
When a Process is executed by the CPU and when a user Request for another Process then this will create disturbance for the Running Process. This is also called as the Interrupt. Interrupts can be generated by User, Some Error Conditions and also by Softwares and the hardwares. But CPU will handle all the Interrupts very carefully because when Interrupts are generated then the CPU must handle all the Interrupts Very carefully means the CPU will also Provides Response to the Various Interrupts those are generated. So that When an interrupt has Occurred then the CPU will handle by using the Fetch, decode and Execute Operations. Types of Interrupts Generally there are three types o Interrupts those are Occurred For Example

1) Internal Interrupt 2) Software Interrupt. 3) External Interrupt.

The External Interrupt occurs when any Input and Output Device request for any Operation and the CPU will Execute that instructions first For Example When a Program is executed and when we move the Mouse on the Screen then the CPU will handle this External interrupt first and after that he will resume with his Operation. The Internal Interrupts are those which are occurred due to Some Problem in the Execution For Example When a user performing any Operation which contains any Error and which contains any type of Error. So that Internal Interrupts are those which are occurred by the Some Operations or by Some Instructions and the Operations those are not Possible but a user is trying for that Operation. And The Software Interrupts are those which are made some call to the System for Example while we are Processing Some Instructions and when we wants to Execute one more Application Programs

An interrupt is a signal from a device attached to a computer or from a program within the computer that causes the main program that operates the computer (the operating system ) to stop and figure out what to do next. Almost all personal (or larger) computers today are interrupt-driven - that is,

they start down the list of computer instruction s in one program (perhaps an application such as a word processor) and keep running the instructions until either (A) they can't go any further or (B) an interrupt signal is sensed. After the interrupt signal is sensed, the computer either resumes running the program it was running or begins running another program. Basically, a single computer can perform only one computer instruction at a time. But, because it can be interrupted, it can take turns in which programs or sets of instructions that it performs. This is known as multitasking . It allows the user to do a number of different things at the same time. The computer simply takes turns managing the programs that the user effectively starts. Of course, the computer operates at speeds that make it seem as though all of the user's tasks are being performed at the same time. (The computer's operating system is good at using little pauses in operations and user think time to work on other programs.) An operating system usually has some code that is called an interrupt handler . The interrupt handler prioritizes the interrupts and saves them in a queue if more than one is waiting to be handled. The operating system has another little program, sometimes called a scheduler , that figures out which program to give control to next. In general, there are hardware interrupts and software interrupts. A hardware interrupt occurs, for example, when an I/O operation is completed such as reading some data into the computer from a tape drive. A software interrupt occurs when an application program terminates or requests certain services from the operating system. In a personal computer, a hardware interrupt request ( IRQ ) has a value associated with it that associates it with a particular device

Q. Discuss and Differentiate Hardware and Micro-programmed control unit? Hardware Control Unit There are two major types of control organization: hardwired control and microprogrammed control. In the hardwired organization, the control logic is implemented with gates, flip-flops, decoders, and other digital circuits. It has the advantage that it can be optimized to produce a fast mode of operation. In the microprogrammed organization, the control information is stored in a control memory. The control memory is programmed to initiate the required sequence of microoperations. A hardwired control, as the name implies, requires changes in the wiring among the various components if the design has to be modified or changed. In the microprogrammed control, any required changes or modifications can be done by updating the microprogram in control memory. The block diagram of the control unit is shown in Fig. 5-6. It consists of two decoders, a sequence counter, and a number of control logic gates. An instruction read from memory is placed in the instruction register (IR). The position of this register in the common bus system is indicated in Fig. 54. The instruction register is shown again in Fig. 5-6, where it is divided into three parts: the I bit, the operation code, and bits 0 through 11. The operation code in bits 12 through 14 are decoded with a 3 x 8 decoder. The eight outputs of the decoder are designated by the symbols D0 through D7. The

subscripted decimal number is equivalent to the binary value of the corresponding operation code. Bit 15 of the instruction is transferred to a flip-flop designated by the symbol I. Bits 0 through 11 are applied to the control logic gates. The 4-bit sequence counter can count in binary from 0 through 15. The outputs of the counter are decoded into 16 timing signals T0 through T15. Micro Programed Control Unit The control memory is assumed to be a ROM, within which all control information is permanently stored. The control memory address register specifies the address of the microinstruction, and d the control data register holds the microinstruction read from memory. The microinstruction contains a control word that specifies one or more micro-operations for the data processor. Once these operations are executed, the control must determine the next address. The location of the next microinstruction may be the one next in sequence, or it may be located somewhere else in the control memory. For this reason it is necessary to use some bits of the present microinstruction to control the generation of the address of the next microinstruction. The next address may also be a function of external input conditions. While the microoperations are being executed, the next address is computed in the next address generator circuit and then transferred into the control address register to read the next microinstruction. Thus a microinstruction contains bits for initiating microoperations in the data processor part and bits that determine the address sequence for the control memory. The next address generator is sometimes called a microprogram sequencer, as it determines the address sequence that is read from control memory. The address of the next microinstruction can be specified in several ways, depending on the sequencer inputs. Typical functions of a microprogram sequencer are incrementing the control address register by one, loading into the control address register an address from control memory, transferring an external address, or loading an initial address to start the control operations. The control data register holds the present microinstruction while the next address is computed and read from memory. The data register is some-times called a pipeline register. It allows the execution of the microoperations specified by the control word simultaneously with the generation of the next microinstruction. This configuration requires a two-phase clock, with one clock applied to the address register and the other to the data register. The system can operate without the control data register by applying a single-phase clock to the address register. The control word and next-address information are taken directly from the control memory. It must be realized that a ROM operates as a combinational circuit, with the address value as the input and the corresponding word as the output. The content of the specified word in ROM remains in the output wires as long as its address value remains in the address register. No read signal is needed as in a random-access memory. Each clock pulse will execute the microoperations specified by the control word and also transfer a new address to the control address register. In the example that follows we assume a single-phase clock and therefore we do not use a control data register. In this way the address register is the only component in the control system that receives clock pulses. The other two components: the sequencer and the control memory are combinational circuits and do not need a clock.

The main advantage of the microprogrammed control is the fact that once the hardware configuration is established, there should be no need for further hardware or wiring changes. If we want to establish a different control sequence for the system, all we need to do is specify a different set of microinstructions for control memory. The hardware configuration should not be changed for different operations; the only thing that must be changed is the microprogram residing in control memory 1:Pipelining is an implementation technique where multiple instructions are overlapped in execution. The computer pipeline is divided in stages. 2:Each stage completes a part of an instruction in parallel. The stages are connected one to the next to form a pipe - instructions enter at one end, progress through the stages, and exit at the other end

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