目次

Introduction...xii Part 1: Boot-Up Process...2 Chapter 1 Getting toKnow the Hardware...10 Chapter 2 How Circuits Juggle Data...20 Chapter 3How a PC Comes Alive...30 Chapter 4 How an Operating System ControlsHardware...36 Part 2: How Microchips are the PC's Brain...46 Chapter 5 HowTransistors Manipulate Data...52 Chapter 6 How a Microprocessor Works...62Part 3: How Software Works...80 Chapter 7 How Programming LanguagesWork...94 Chapter 8 How Windows Works...104 Chapter 9 How SoftwareApplications Do Your Work...118 Part 4: Data Storage...146 Chapter 10 How aComputer's Long-Term Memory Works...154 Chapter 11 How Disk Drives SaveInformation...166 Chapter 12 How Little Things Make Drives Faster andBigger...176 Chapter 13 How PCs Use Light to Remember Data...184 Part 5:Input/Output Devices...194 Chapter 14 How Data Gets Into Your PC...202Chapter 15 How Scanners Capture Words and Images...212 Chapter 16 HowComputers Use Power...220 Chapter 17 How Serial Ports Triumph...228 Chapter18 How a Computer Display Works...242 Chapter 19 How Digital PhotographyWorks...252 Part 6: Games and Multimedia...260 Chapter 20 How MultimediaSound Works...266 Chapter 21 How Multimedia Video Works...278 Chapter 22How Game Hardware Puts You In the Action...286 Chapter 23 How Games Create3D Worlds...296 Part 7: How the Internet Works...306 Chapter 24 How LocalArea Networks Work...314 Chapter 25 How PCs Connect to the Internet...324Chapter 26 How the Internet Moves Data...332 Chapter 27 How We Reach EachOther Through the Net...338 Chapter 28 How Wireless Sets PCs Free...350Chapter 29 How the Net Provides Video and Audio on Demand...360 Chapter 30How the World Wide Web Works...366 Chapter 31 How Internet Security FightsOff PC Invaders...378 Part 8: How Printers Work...398 Chapter 32 HowBlack-and-White Printing Works...404 Chapter 33 How Color PrintingWorks...414 Index...426