The Examinations

Placing out of Computer System Fundamentals requires that you pass two examinations with scores of 85% or better. The first is a written examination and if you pass that you will be given a practical examination which must also be passed with a score of 85% or better.

Written Examination – You will be given 3 hours for the written examination and it will consist of 100 – 200 multiple choice, true/false, or matching questions. You may use one 8 X 11 double sided handwritten crib sheet in the written exam. Please bring pencils to the exam as you will record your answers on an opscan sheet which requires you to use a number two pencil.  The subjects covered on the exam include but are not limited to:

• PC hardware components and standards that apply
• Operating system and hardware interaction
• Storage systems and how they work
• Magnetism and basic electricity
• Electrical and mechanical signaling
• Video components and how they work
• Digital and analog data encoding
• Removable media and how it works
• Printer technology and how it works
• Input devices and how they work
• Hardware and software upgrades– assessing the requirements and selecting the solution

Practical Examination – Upon successful completion of the written exam you will be given the opportunity to take a practical examination in the projects lab. The practical examination is a demonstration of your hands-on skills and is a closed book exam. You will be expected to demonstrate your ability to:

• Identify PC components
• Build a PC from components
• Analyze performance constraints caused by memory and   use RAM drives to improve performance
• Modify video settings based on given requirements
• Configure printers
• Configure serial connections
• Install and configure Windows XP and Red Hat Linux in a stand alone environment and in a dual boot environment
• Install and configure an Ethernet adapter both manually and via DHCP on both a Windows platform and a Red Hat Linux platform
• Conversion of Wave/MP3  files