Students may take courses individually, or may pursue a two year Associate Degree by completing the remaining program requirements (see college catalog for complete details). The three courses that constitute the central "Core" of the program are ENT 184, 284, and 286. Descriptions of these courses are given below as well as links to the respective course webpages for more detail.

ENT 184: PC Hardware - this 36-hour course covers basic PC hardware concepts, basic fault isolation procedures, instruction on the DOS/Windows95 boot sequence, instruction on hardware installation/upgrading procedures, basic troubleshooting procedures, basic networking concepts and network troubleshooting procedures, and basic software installation procedures. Lab sections include PC assembly and disassembly exercises, PC component identification exercises, a review of CMOS setup program procedures, and upgrade component installations. Two one-hour tests are included in the course; lecture and lab attendance are graded. You must complete this course before enrolling in either ENT 284 or ENT 286.

ENT 284: PC Repair - this 90 hour course (45 hours lecture, 45 hours lab) covers the following topics:
Identify major components and sub-systems of an IBM-class microcomputer by visual examination alone; understand what takes place with the computer's hardware when the computer operates in a normal fashion; use diagnostic and evaluation software (such as Checkit or Norton Utilities) to analyze or trouble-shoot an operating or faulty PC; assemble and disassemble an IBM-class PC with a view towards upgrading PCs by motherboard replacement, and substitution of major components; setup, install and configure motherboards, hard disks, floppy disk drives, video cards, parallel/serial port devices, and network cards (including setting IRQ jumpers and/or running setup software); install and use network software and other kinds of data communications software (such as Novell Netware and Procomm); accurately trouble-shoot most typical kinds of hardware failures in an IBM-class PC when presented with a faulty PC.

Identify the components needed to convert a PC into a "Multimedia PC", and understand how CD-ROM, sound card, and Multimedia technology works;Iientify and understand the hardware layout of a Macintosh computer, and gain a general knowledge of the Mac OS; understand how dot-matrix, ink-jet and laser printers work, and how to trouble-shoot, repair and maintain them; understand basic techniques of asking customers about their computer problems, and how to handle customer questions concerning their computer; develope a computer repair kit that contains the right software, hardware, tools and spare parts needed to do any repair work.

Gain a broad understanding of what a Local Area Network is; understand the major types of Local Area Networks, specifically ethernet, Arcnet, and token ring topologies; understand the processes that take place at both a hardware and software level when one logs in and interacts with a network through an end-user PC; understand how to install a network card in a PC; understand how to install Novell Netware on an end-user PC; understand how to log into a Novell network, and use several of the utilities found in Netware (SYSCON, PCONSOLE, FILER, SALVAGE, RIGHTS, WHOAMI, etc)

    Prepare you to take and pass the core portion of the A+ PC Hardware Repair Technician Certification examination; information will be provided on preparation resources for the DOS/Windows portion of the A+ Certification examination.You must complete ENT 284 before enrolling in ENT 286.
 
 

ENT 286: Advanced PC Configuration and Repair - This course will enable you to do the following things:
Trouble-shoot BIOS setup programs, including the standard and advanced setup options, PNP/PCI setup issues, integrated peripherals, auto detection features, wait states, and custom configurations;

Trouble-shoot operating system installation problems, including issues with LBA mode and EZDrive software, hard disk and memory problems, and lockups; trouble-shoot video problems, including issues with bad/incorrect video drivers, wrong resolution settings, selecting the wrong monitor type, and getting into safe mode; trouble-shoot hard disk problems, including file corruption in Win95, file naming problems in Win95, bad sectors and Win95's Scandisk, fatal 0E exceptions, and viruses;

Trouble-shoot RAM-related problems, including unreliable XMS / page fault errors, RAM timing, mixing SIMMs with DIMMs, and fatal 0E errors;

Trouble-shoot application software-related problems, including bad install programs, service packs and patches, conflicting DLL file versions, 16-bit vs. 32-bit DLLs, and user error; trouble-shoot user-imposed problems, such as powering down Win95, deleting directories, not running uninstallers, deleting icons, running multiple operating systems, and viruses; and Trouble-shoot registry problems using the Win95 registry editor