PRINCE GEORGE'S
COMMUNITY COLLEGE:
FACULTY WEBSITE FOR
WILLIAM A. (BILL) LLOYD 
Contact
Information:
Campus Office Telephone
Number : 301/322-0057
Office Hours:
Variable; Contact me for an appointment. My office is in
Lanham Hall, room L-210.
ENT 284 meets Monday 6:00 - 9:00 for lecture in Lanham Hall, room
L-210A.
ENT 284 lab sections are held Wednesdays 6:00 - 9:00 in Lanham Hall,
room L-214.
ENT 286 meets Saturdays 10:00AM -- 4:00PM for lecture and lab in Lanham
Hall, room L-210A.
DPR 320 meets Friday nights, 6:00 - 9:00PM in Lanham Hall, room L-210A.
DPR 396 classes are held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, 6:30
- 9:30PM, in room T-7.
DPR 397 classses are held Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings,
6:30 - 9:30PM, in room T-7.
E-mail Address: LLOYDWA@pgcc.edu
Classes Taught in the
Spring 2005 Semester : ENT 286, A+ Operating Systems Review Session, DPR 320,
DPR 396 / 397
Note: The course
notes are available the first day of class; cash or check payments are
acceptable (no credit cards).
Availability of
Courses
Click here to view the current availability of courses at PG Community
College for the Spring 2005 semester. The
courses are listed in alphabetical order ... browse down to the ENT
section
to find the ENT 184, ENT 188, ENT 284 and ENT 286 course listings.
The information that
follows on this page describes the PC Hardware and Repair courses that
I have developed that are offered currently at Prince George's
Community College. Several instructors are using the curriculum I
have developed, and we meet regularly to discuss ways to standardize
and improve the curriculum. Feel free to contact me
if you have questions concerning any of the classes listed below.
COURSE
WEB SITES AND DOWNLOAD AREAS
The areas listed below
will provide additional resources for students currently enrolled in
ENT 184 (PC Hardware), ENT 284 (PC Repair), ENT 188 / DPR 303 (Build
Your Own PC), ENT 286 (Advanced PC Configuration and Troubleshooting),
and also the Continuing Education A+ Certification course (DPR 396 /
397). Please feel free to visit any of the sites listed below,
and let me know of
any ideas you may have for improving these sites .
The Computing
Technology Industry
Association (CompTIA) has a web site that explains about the A+
certification
program;
click here to visit the CompTIA web site, located at www.comptia.org ...
Many of the files on
these course sites, as well as the copies of the course curriculums
listed below on this page, are provided for you in Adobe Acrobat
format. You will need to have this free reader "plug-in" program
installed on your PC in order to view these files.
Click here
to download the Adobe Acrobat reader install program ; once the
program is downloaded to your PC, launch the program by
double-clicking on it. It will then install the Adobe Acrobat
reader
onto your PC.
Click here to
visit the DPR 320 (Repair & Maintenance of PCs) web site.
Click
here to visit the ENT 184 (PC Hardware) web site.
Click here to
visit the ENT 188 / DPR 303 (Build Your Own PC) web site.
Click
here to visit the ENT 284 (PC Repair) web site.
Click
here to visit the ENT 286 (Advanced PC Configuration &
Troubleshooting) web site.
Click here
to visit the Continuing Education A+ Certification course web site.
COURSE
OFFERINGS IN PC HARDWARE AND REPAIR
AT PRINCE GEORGE'S
COMMUNITY COLLEGE, SPONSORED BY
RESEARCH TECHNOLOGY
ASSOCIATES, INC.
Courses
Offered
through Prince George's Community College
Continuing Education
Classes
DPR 320: Repair and
Maintenance of Personal Computers - this 12-hour course (9 hours
lecture, 3 hours lab) covers basic PC hardware concepts, basic fault
isolation procedures, instruction on the DOS/Windows95 boot sequence,
instruction on hardware installation/upgrading procedures, and basic
software installation procedures. Lab sections include PC
assembly and disassembly exercises, and basic component identification
exercises.
Click
here to view the DPR 320 Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
DPR 303: Build Your
Own PC - this 15-hour course (6 hours lecture, 9 hours lab) covers
how to build your own PC, how and where to purchase components,
observing the building of a PC in class, reviewing static and
electrical safety procedures, and then spending 9 hours actually
building the PCs in lab. Lab sections include exercises in PC
assembly, operating system and software installation, and configuration
of PC components (i.e., video card, sound card, modem).
Click
here to view the DPR 303 Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
DPR 342:
Introduction to
Local Area Networks - this 12-hour lecture class covers basic
networking concepts, basic network card installation procedures, basic
network client software installation procedures, and a review of major
Novell Netware server and client utility programs (i.e., NWADMIN,
PCONSOLE, etc.). Discussion is also given on how to purchase and
design a network from scratch.
Click
here to view the DPR 342 Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
Credit
Engineering Classes
ENT 184: PC Hardware
- this 36-hour course (24 hours lecture, 12 hours lab) 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.
Click
here to view the ENT 184 Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
ENT 188: PC Assembly
and Configuration (Build Your Own PC) - this 15-hour course (6
hours lecture, 9 hours lab) covers how to build your own PC, how and
where to purchase components, observing the building of a PC in class,
reviewing static and electrical safety procedures, and then spending 9
hours actually building the PCs in lab. Lab sections include
exercises in PC assembly, operating system and software installation,
and configuration of PC components (i.e., video card, sound card,
modem).
Click
here to view the ENT 188 Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
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.
- Identify 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.
- Developing 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.
Click
here to view the ENT 284 Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
A+ Operating Systems
Examination Review Session - this class covers the following topics
in the Operating Systems certification exam (and other important
topics):
- Understanding .INI
files
- Using the Control
Panel
- Configuring Printers
- Installing Windows
Applications
- Understanding
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT
- Using Windows
configuration tools like MSCONFIG, WINIPCFG and SYSEDIT
- Tips when
re-installing Windows
- Using FDISK and
FORMAT
- Using SCANDISK and
DEFRAG
- Installing video
(and other device) drivers in Windows
- Installing and
configuring network devices and software
- Installing browsers
and configuring TCP/IP
- Understanding the
Windows Registry
- Using the Device
Manager to reconfigure device resources
- Review session
covering all test questions
Click
here to view the course notes in Adobe .PDF format.
The four courses listed
above (ENT 184, ENT 188, ENT 284, and the A+ DOS/Windows Review), will
fully prepare the student to take and pass the Core Hardware and
DOS/Windows portions of the A+ certification examination.
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 issues, file naming problems,
bad sectors and Windows 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 Windows, deleting
directories, not running uninstallers, deleting icons, running multiple
operating systems, and viruses;
- Installing network
operating system software for servers, such as Novell Netware and
Windows 2000 Advanced Server;
- Trouble-shooting
network connection issues for end-user PCs and routers;
- Using Ghost and
Ghost Enterprise Edition to manage desktop software configuration; and
- Trouble-shoot
registry problems using the Windows registry editor.
These types of problems
will be demonstrated and resolved in class, using overhead display
projectors. Different types of PCs, different BIOS chipsets, and
different operating systems will be used in the class. Extensive
lab sessions are included in the course.
Click
here to view the course notes in Adobe .PDF format.
Courses
Offered
by Research Technology Associates at Various Locations
PC Maintenance and
Repair - this 18-hour course (12 hours lecture, 6 hours lab) covers
basic PC hardware concepts, basic fault isolation procedures,
instruction on the
DOS/Windows95 boot sequence, instruction on hardware
installation/upgrading procedures, and basic software installation
procedures. Lab sections include PC assembly and disassembly
exercises, and basic component identification exercises. Lab
sections are also provided to allow students to upgrade and/or
trouble-shoot their own computers.
Click
here to view the Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
Build Your Own PC
-
this 18-hour course (9 hours lecture, 9 hours lab) covers how to build
your
own PC, how and where to purchase components, observing the building of
a
PC in class, reviewing static and electrical safety procedures, and
then
actually building your own PC in the lab. The lab section
includes exercises
in PC assembly, operating system and software installation, and
configuration
of PC components (i.e., video card, sound card, modem).
Click
here to view the Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
Introduction to
Local Area
Networks - this 12-hour lecture class covers basic networking
concepts, basic network card installation procedures, basic network
client software installation procedures, and a review of major Novell
Netware server and client utility programs (i.e., NWADMIN, PCONSOLE,
etc.). Discussion is also given on how to purchase and design a
network from scratch.
Click
here to view the Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
How Did You Do That!?
- A 15-hour course that helps new PC users learn to do basic computing
tasks, such as the following:
- Starting up the
computer
- Connecting your
keyboard/monitor/mouse/printer correctly
- Understanding what
is happening when your PC powers up
- Deciphering PC error
messages
- Formatting floppy
disks
- Copying / deleting
files
- Installing new
software
- Uninstalling software
- Finding something on
the Internet
- Sending e-mail
- Single and double
clicking
- Using a word
processor
- Fixing / checking
your printer
- Using multimedia
features on your PC
This course is intended
for new or inexperienced PC users; lab time is provided, and personal
assistants will be available to assist students during the lab portion
of the class.
Click
here to view the Course Notes in Adobe .PDF format.
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 issues, file naming problems,
bad sectors and Windows 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;
- Installing network
operating system software for servers, such as Novell Netware and
Windows 2000 Advanced Server;
- Trouble-shooting
network connection issues for end-user PCs and routers;
- Using Ghost and
Ghost Enterprise Edition to manage desktop software configuration; and
- Trouble-shoot
registry problems using the Windows registry editor.
These types of problems
will be demonstrated and resolved in class, using overhead display
projectors. Different types of PCs, different BIOS chipsets, and
different operating systems will be used in the class. Extensive
lab sessions are included in the course.
Click
here to view the course notes in Adobe .PDF format.
If you
have questions about the courses offered by Research Technology
Associates, or if you would like to register for one of these classes,
or if you would like to have one of these courses taught at your
facility, please contact Bill or Joyce Lloyd on 301/372-2889.
You can write to us at:
Research Technology
Associates
12221 Van Brady Road
Upper Marlboro, MD
20772-7924
301/372-2889
E-mail address: LLOYDWA@pgcc.edu
Here's
how to get more information about Research Technology Associates:
Take me to the Research Technology
Associates (RTA) Web Site ...
What is the mission
statement of RTA?
What kinds of classes
do you offer?
When (and where) are
the next classes going to be held?
How can I obtain
information about RTA's curricular materials in PC Hardware and Repair?
How can I donate
equipment to RTA?
How can I obtain
refurbished computer equipment from RTA?
How can I volunteer my
time and talents to RTA?
How can I get in touch
with the RTA Support Center?
Links
to Various Internet Sites at Prince George's Community College:
PGCC Home Page
Academic Computer Center
We hope
that you find this web site informational and helpful. If you
have any questions about the site,
click here to send a
message to the RTA webmaster.
Copyright, 2005, RTA,
Inc. All rights reserved.
