Tuesday, 16 December 2014

Week 14

Tuesday - Working in the IT industry - Continued on with Section 12 of customizing software made a form using word, Customizing Software - started on the Core skills task 3 i will be doing it on Top 10 Tanks of WWII with the search being on how many kills each type of tank got in the war or how thick the armor was  , WORKING WITH OTHERS -  , Numeracy - did some more o-gives graphs and the assessment.

Thursday - Communication in the IT industry - carried on with the Core skills Assessment pack looked at  information on different websites about the Tanks , Website Development - started the Week 14 Challenge, we were put into groups I was put with Rory and Shaun we almost have the challenge done, Kerry said she would allow everyone in the class to have a hour when we come back after the holidays  , Tutorial - Updated my blogger Diary.

Thursday, 11 December 2014

Overview of the Photostory for Installing computer hardware Assessment 7.3

Installing the hardware Components

This is were all the Photo story's I have made are located, included in the Videos are How to prepare a computer system for a hardware installation, how to install hardware components, how to configure any software associated with the upgrades, how to test the computer system and some functionality Issues and some solutions.

The Video shows:

Installing a Graphics Card - AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB DDR3 VTX 3D
Installing a Network Card - TL-WN951N  Wireless PCI Adapter 300 Mbps
Installing Memory - 512MB of RAM
Some Functionality Issues and some solutions that you may run into when installing these Hardware components 

Reasons for Upgrading

Graphics Card -

The reason for upgrading the graphics card is so the computer can have more power to be able to run new more graphically intense software and it might be used to improve the computer for gaming so the games run better and can be run in higher settings

Network Card - 

The reason to install a network card is to be able to connect the computer wirelessly to
 networks within range of the network card it also gets rid of the need for a Ethernet Cable

RAM - 

The reasons for installing more RAM is to speed up the computer's performance and to make sure the computer can handle more programs being opened at once without slowing down the computer





 Practical Work Logs:

Graphics Card



Workstation No/ID:
Type and Serial No:  BB-BX00445
Hardware Details:     Intel (R) Celeron (R) CPU G1820 @ 2.70GHz





Task

Task description:
Installing a Graphics Card
AMD Radeon HD 6450 1GB DDR 3VTX 3D





Description of any faults or error messages encountered (if none write N/A)


N/A





Solution to task and/or faults encountered
Describe the settings, commands used and actions taken
Made sure everything was there (toolbox ,anti-static  equipment, the graphics card)
Checked cables for any damage
Switched on the computer
Did checks like DXDIAG
Checked the system properties to see if the graphics card were installed
None installed
Turned off the computer
Switched off the plugs
Pulled out the plugs
Unplugged the cables
Opened the casing
Removed the blank that was blocking access to the graphics card
Installed graphics card
Made sure it was fit securely
Screwed the card in place
Put the casing back then put the screws back on
 Checked cables for any damage
Plugged the cables back in to the computer
Power back on
Booted up machine
Put in the install drivers disk for the graphics card
Installed the graphics card


























Testing

Describe all final testing procedures carried out and their results.

Checked DXDIAG in display the graphics card was there
System proprieties display saw the graphics card was installed
Checked the screen resolution
Screen resolution could be changed
All the tests were ok

Comments

Comment on any further information








Safety

Comment on any further information

Safety procedures were followed

Anti- Static Wrist band/ Mat




I certify that safe working practices were correctly observed


Candidate signature:


Date:

Assessor signature:


Date:

Please attach all diagrams and printouts to this form

Network Card 



Workstation No/ID:
Type and Serial No: NEC   A08314
Hardware Details:
Intel Celeron (R) CPU 2.80 GHz   
2.79GHz
248MB of RAM

Task

Task description:

Installing a Network Card
TL-WN951N
Serial Number : F81A674Da543

Description of any faults or error messages encountered (if none write N/A)

N/A





Solution to task and/or faults encountered
Describe the settings, commands used and actions taken

Made sure everything was there (toolbox ,anti-static equipment, the Network Card)
Checked cables for any damage
Switched on the computer
Did checks like DXDIAG
Checked the system properties to see if the Network Card was installed
None installed
Turned off the computer
Switched off the plugs
Pulled out the plugs
Unplugged the cables
Opened the casing
Removed the blank that was blocking access to the Network Card
Installed Network Card
Made sure it was fit securely
Screwed the card in place
Put the casing back then put the screws back on
 Checked cables for any damage
Plugged the cables back in to the computer
Power back on
Booted up machine
Put in the install drivers disk for the network card
Installed the Network Card using the menu buttons on the install wizard








Testing

Describe all final testing procedures carried out and their results.


System Proprieties then went to hardware then went to device manager 
The new network card was under the network adapter tab
Opened up the configuration utility and seen all the new networks
All new networks showed up
All tests were fine




Comments

Comment on any further information








Safety

Comment on any further information

Anti-static wrist strap / Mat





I certify that safe working practices were correctly observed


Candidate signature:


Date:

Assessor signature:


Date:

Please attach all diagrams and printouts to this form


RAM Card


Workstation No/ID:
Type and Serial No: NEC   A08314
Hardware Details:
Intel Celeron (R) CPU 2.80 GHz   
2.79GHz
248MB of RAM

Task

Task description:

Installing More RAM  
(512MB of RAM)

Description of any faults or error messages encountered (if none write N/A)

N/A




Solution to task and/or faults encountered
Describe the settings, commands used and actions taken


Made sure everything was there (toolbox ,anti-static  equipment, the RAM Card)
Checked cables for any damage
Switched on the computer
Did checks like DXDIAG and checked system properties
Took note of RAM in computer (248MB of RAM)
Turned off the computer
Switched off the plugs
Pulled out the plugs
Unplugged the cables
Opened the casing
Unscrewed the inner screw that were holding the Disk Drive on the front
Installed RAM CARD in the Slot
Made sure it was fit securely
Put the disk dive abck on then screwed it back in place
Put the front case on it
Put the casing back then put the screws back on
 Checked cables for any damage
Plugged the cables back in to the computer
Power back on
Booted up machine
Did checks like DXDIAG and checked system properties
Took note of New RAM (After install 760MB of RAM) 




























Testing

Describe all final testing procedures carried out and their results.

Did the DXDIAG check before and after install 
Checked system properties before and after install

RAM Installed first time
All tests good





Comments

Comment on any further information






Safety

Comment on any further information


Anti-Static Band/Mat






I certify that safe working practices were correctly observed


Candidate signature:


Date:

Assessor signature:


Date:


Please attach all diagrams and printouts to this form


Storyboard for Assessment 7.3


Installing Graphics Card
  • First make sure you have a tool kit with the correct tools, anti-static equipment and the hardware component you are going to install.
  • Check the cables are not damaged
  • Log on to the computer then click start menu then run then type in DXDIAG to bring up the Direct X diagnostic tool
  • Under display at the top there will be a lot of N/A’s that will mean that no graphics card is installed
  • After this check shut down your computer
  • Switch off the mains then take out the plugs
  • Now take out all the cables from the back of the computer
  • Before opening the case make sure you have the Anti-static wrist strap on
  • Take off the screws from the back of the case make sure it is the correct side
  • Remove the side panel
  • The graphics card will go in the PCI-e slot which is the long thin slot and also make sure to remove the blank from the back of the case
  • Now open up the box the graphics card came in and check the card for damage make sure to wear the anti-static wrist strap when handling components
  • Slot the graphics card into the PCI-e slot and make sure it is secured and properly connected and screw down the graphics card to keep it in place
  • Now put the side panel back on the case then screw it back on
  • Make sure to plug the cables in to the right slot making sure that the VGA cable (Blue cable) is connected to the graphics cards VGA slot,  instead of the motherboards because it will have  be disabled the motherboards integrated graphics
  • Put the plug back into the sockets then turn on the mains
  • Start up the computer a windows wizard will pop up you can cancel it
  • Now put in the disk that came in the box with the graphics card this is the driver install disk
  • When the disk loads up it will take you to the website then it will give you the options to select what Operating system you have for your computer, we had XP so I clicked on Windows XP
  • After that another pop up will appear click run
  • Then it will ask you to select a language after that click next
  • Now it will bring up a screen with two options click install
  • Then it brings up a screen with two more options click on express
  • Then it will want to create a folder to store all the data on click yes
  • Now it will start to install all the data on to your computer
  • Now the install is finished you can view a log of what was installed after clicking finish it will want to reboot the computer click yes so it can fully complete the install
  • After the reboot click on start menu then click on run then type in DXDIAG again then click on display at the top,  now all of the N/A’s from earlier have been changed to the details of the graphics card
  • Now check system properties by right clicking on my computer then click of properties then click on hardware at the top then click on device manager to bring up what components are installed or connected to your computer and look for display adapters then click the cross beside it to get the drop-down list and now you will see the Graphics card that you installed.



Installing a Network Card
  • Make sure you prepare by getting everything ready before you begin make sure you have a tool box with the right tools in it, make sure  you have anti-static equipment and make sure you have the component you are going to install,
  • Make sure the cables are not damaged
  • Now switch on the computer once at desktop we will check device manager to get to it first click start then right click on my computer then click on properties then in system properties click on hardware at the top then click on device manager
  • Once in device manager find network adapter in the list then click the cross to the side of it to get the drop-down list it will show that no network card is installed now shut down the computer
  • Turn off the mains then pull out the plugs
  • Take out all the cables from the back of the computer now put on the anti-static wrist strap then open up the case by unscrewing the screws and lifting off the panel
  • Inside there will be the PCI slots there are white on in this computer but they may be a different colour on yours, now unscrew the blank from the back to open up a space for the network card so you can put on the antennas later
  • Now check the network card has no damage and make sure to wear the anti-static wrist strap
  • Make sure the network card is slotted in and secured by screwing it in to place
  • Now close the case by putting the panel back on then screwing it back on
  • Put the cables back into place and screw on the three antennas make sure they are secured and pointing in different directions
  • Now put the plugs back in and switch on the mains
  • Now start up the computer when it gets to desktop put the disk that came with the network card in to the disk drive
  • Now it will bring up the install window make sure you select the right card from the choices the one I installed was long with three antennas now click install drivers and utility
  • Now it will began the install click next to proceed
  • Now there will be choices between installing only the drives or the drivers and a configuration utility select the second option click next
  • It will want to make a folder to put all the data into click next
  • It will now start to install the drivers and the utility
  • After that finishes it will automatically bring up the configuration utility this will allow you to switch to different networks
  • Now click finish, it will have placed a shortcut of the configuration utility on to the desktop if you need to access it in the future it will be there
  • Now check device manager again under network adapters there will be the network card installed



Installing RAM Card
  • Make sure you prepare by getting everything ready before you begin make sure you have a tool box with the right tools in it, make sure  you have anti-static equipment and make sure you have the component you are going to install in this case it is the RAM
  • Make sure the cables are not damaged
  • Now start up the computer then check system properties first by click on start mane then right clicking my computer then clicking properties the checking how much RAM is installed in this case we have 248MB of RAM already in the computer we will be adding 512MB of RAM
  • Turn off the mains then pull out the plugs
  • Take out all the cables from the back of the computer now put on the anti-static wrist strap then open up the case by unscrewing the screws and lifting off the panel
  • Now inside the computer the RAM slots are underneath the disk drive so we will have to move the disk drive to get the RAM card into the slot
  • So to move the disk drive we first have to clip off the front case then unscrew the screws holding the drive in place then finally pull forward a bit just enough to get the RAM card in the slot
  • Now the disk drive is moved this gives us more space to install the new RAM card first check the RAM for damage now slot the RAM in to the open slot and push it down till the sides catches clip ion to place
  • The RAM is now secured and locked down
  • Now we have to put the disk drive back on and then screw it back on to secure it then we have to put the front cover back on and make sure it is clipped on then put the panel back on the case and screw it down to secure it in place
  • Now put the cables back in to place in the back of the computer
  • Now put in the plugs and turn on the mains
  • Now switch on the machine when it gets to desktop click start menu, then right click my computer then click on properties then see that the RAM is now 760MB



Now I will tell you about some Functionality Issues and some solutions
  • The graphics card will disable the integrated graphics of the motherboard so you will have to make sure that the VGA cable is connect to the graphics card and not the motherboard otherwise it will not work
  • Make sure the PCI or the PCI – e slot is the right slot for the component because the Graphics card slots into the PCI – e slot and the network card Slots into the PCI slot
  • Make sure that the antennas are screwed on to the network card at the back of the computer otherwise no networks will be picked up
  • Make sure there is enough space in the expansion slots for a new component
  • Make sure the RAM slots is the right slot because on some motherboards the slots might be different colours like two blue and two black so you have to make sure the RAM card goes in to the Two blue or Two Black First or it will not work
  • Make sure the RAM is compatible with the motherboard or it either not be able to fit or it will not work when the computer is switched on

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Week 13

Tuesday - Working in the IT Industry, first started off by doing the hour of code then continued on the Assessments , Customizing software,finished the assessments and submitted them and handed in the cover sheets for Assessment 2 in working in the IT industry and Assessment 1 for computer systems  WORKING WITH OTHERS , Numeracy continued on the graphs and started on the cumulative frequency graphs.

Thursday - Started out by doing section 12 in customizing software, then after that I did some more of Assessment 7.4 for Installing computer hardware and also made the blogger page for installing computer hardware Assessment 7.3, Website Development - did some more of the WYSIWYG stuff i don't get it :( ,  Tutorial - finished off the Assessment 7.3 for installing computer hardware and made the blogger were all the videos are, and updated the Blogger

Friday - Communication - showed the Job interview questions to Steve James , Installing computer hardware - carried on with Assessment 7.3 and Assessment 7.4 finished 7.4 just have to submit it and almost finished 7.3,

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

Week 12

Tuesday - Working in the IT industry, Continued the Systems Analyst assessment, WORKING WITH OTHERS, did the smoking awareness day for the Project, Numeracy was doing a activity about bar graphs

Thursday - Communication in the IT industry, continued on the system analyst assessment I finished the booklet, Website Development, {was at the prince's trust Award Ceremony},  Tutorial, {was at the prince's trust Award Ceremony}

Friday -Communication - e-mailed Steve James the Assessment 7.1 for the Int 2 in the writing, Computer Systems - continued on the Earl's ices assessment, sent e-mail for task 4, finished pricing everything for task 3,  Installing Computer Hardware - continued on with Assessments 7.3 & 7.4

Thursday, 27 November 2014

Week 11

Thursday - in Working in the IT industry started a assessment on system analysts,
in website development , started on the other type of coding using the buttons instead of typing it in then had to do a quiz i got 10/10 :),      In Tutorial , Updated the Blogger then looked at the My World of Work website

Friday - in  WORKING WITH OTHERS the group were going to put laminated posters up in the smoking shelter but the posters had not been laminated so I was told to come back at lunch time to get the posters from quality after they had been laminated ,    in Computer Systems I continued with the Assessment about Earl's Ices got to task 4 ,     in Installing computer hardware installed a network card and new RAM then wrote a log about it

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Week 10

Tuesday - did some Excel Macros in the customizing software and also did the task on page 165 in the textbooks, learned how to work the presentation on the smart board for Thursday, in WORKING WITH OTHERS, I went to marketing to ask them about presentation boards, did some INT 2 Numeracy on the blog,

Thursday - in communication in the it industry I did my presentation and listened to everyone else presentation, in Website development i finished off the all the HTML tasks then started making a text website about the Video Games that I like, in Tutorial updated blog got results back for assessment 1 passed both parts

Friday - In WORKING WITH OTHERS the group will be putting up posters for the smoking awareness project, in Computer System I continued on with the Assessment, in Installing computer hardware we started a new assessment and a part of that was to install a graphics card, network card, and new RAM, i installed the Graphics card

Tuesday, 11 November 2014

Week 9

Tuesday - started by learning how to create  macros for word and then doing some questions for the macro exercise, in WORKING WITH OTHERS went to get the posters printed in marketing for the project, in Numeracy went to the learning zone because chief was at a meeting

Thursday -in Communication in the IT industry creating Excel Templates with the formulas, in Website Development started on the W3Schools HTML tutorials to help me with the HTML coding, in Tutorial I updated the Blogger for the weekly diary

Friday - in WORKING WITH OTHERS went down to marketing to see about putting posters up for the project around the college, in Computer systems I started the first assessment, in Installing computer hardware Duncan went over Product registration and Documentation then did some practical which was installing a network card with Barry and Craig then Duncan showed a group of people how to install a Graphics Card and then uninstalling the drivers

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Week 8

Tuesday - communication in the IT Industry,finished and submitted section 6,7 for Customizing Software - Customizing Software - continued with the section 6-7  - Working with others made the poster for the project      - Numeracy - did some imperial to metric conversion


Thursday - Communication in the IT Industry, continued with section 7 and went on to section 8 also made word templates submitted assessment 1 and handed in all of the documentation needed- website development   continued with the website development finishing off the 27 tasks of HTML and CSS on the macs - tutorial - made sure Blogger was up to date and also added the cables to the self build then submitted it and also the OS Comparison between Windows 7 and Android


Friday -COMMUNICATION got the date for the project from Barry it is the 2nd of December and confirmed it with quality office also went to  marketing to talk about the posters and getting our project on to the colleges Facebook and the learnnet - Computer Systems, finished off the price comparison finished he OS comparison then Isobel told me how touchscreens work then finished the Harry Singh section 4 and submitted it - Installing computer Hardware -  did the Test utility activity also got a practical lesson on how to install a network card and RAM in to a computer

Thursday, 30 October 2014

Week 7

Tuesday - communication in the IT Industry, did more of the presentation assessment finished it, - Customizing Software went to the learning zone, - WORKING WITH OTHERS had another talk about the project , - Numeracy did some graphs worksheet and charts

Thursday - working in the it industry - did more of the tasks from yesterday finished making the Logo and cover sheet and submitted them - tutorial, finishing off  sections 7 KidsGamers tasks - Website development, started doing the  HTML Tasks I did 1 - 14 then i started making my own webpage using Dreamweaver - Tutorial with Beverly Did some work from earlier

Friday -Communication - went to quality to check the dates for the project and also went to see the graphic design students to get ideas for the posters, computer systems - finished off the Price compassion task and moved on to the OS difference, android and  windows 7 and seen what windows 8 looks like, installing computer hardware - looked at motherboards and RAM then did a quiz about computer hardware

Tuesday, 7 October 2014

Week 6

Tuesday - first I started trying to finish the assessment almost finished it I completed the PowerPoint but still have to refine the notes a bit more, worked more on the presentation almost done ,in working with others me, Barry, Craig  got into a group and discussed the awareness project, did 3 assessment questions for numeracy

Thursday - used the virtual machines in the morning had to install open office then  had to do a task with open office customizing and finding out what the application do like open office writer is like Microsoft work then submitted the task ,then in tutorial Robert Burns came in to talk abut the wheel thing and people in the class answered the questions I did not have any thing to say then answered some questions on the internet i put nothing, in website development I completed task 1,2,3  on the sheet , now tutorial wrote in blogger to keep it up to date.

Friday - communication - started doing more of the working with others and I learned how to keep minutes I have been made the writer for the group and also made sure everyone in the group had a role to do also printed off a copy of the minutes and gave a copy to Barry and Craig - computer systems/hardware stared by finding out how hard drives and CD's/DVDs work then moved on to some practical which was installing RAM in to a computer also checked the beep code when the RAM is not installed correctly the finished the price comparison task between the two computers- Installing computer hardware- finished off  assessment 7.2 and submitted it and handed in the cover sheet for the assessment with it signed and dated 10/10/14, did some more work on the presentation for communication in the IT industry

Thursday, 2 October 2014

Week 5

Tuesday - started assessment for communication in the industry, started to get ideas for working with others (awareness ideas), did some worksheets for simple and compound interest and looked at a formula on how to do the compound interest

Thursday - started out by finishing off the power point presentation then writing out the notes for the presentation finished writing notes for presentation, website development did some storyboard design then moved on to some tasks about website interactivity, tutorial learned about plagiarism

Friday - started the group work for working with others in communication,     then did some practical work by opening a computer then removed the fan, heat-sink, CPU then put them back in then submitted a support log on learnnet then started on a price comparison activity done part one on to part two,     in installing computer hardware I started on the new assessment 7.2 which is a power point on potential risk when installing hardware

Thursday, 25 September 2014

User Instructions Task 2

How to use magnifier for XP virtual Machine

First open up the magnifier program in the control panel accessibility’s option
Magnifier is a program that can help a visually impaired user by magnifying an area that the cursor is moving over

There are also options that can be turned off and on like invert colours and follow keyboard focus that will make the magnifier snap over a word document that you are writing and follow the text
There is also an option for the level of magnification to be changed from 1 to 9

·         1 has the least magnification
·         9 has the most magnification


The magnifier can be moved around the screen by the user by clicking and dragging it somewhere else on the screen 

User Instructions Task 1



Week 4

Tuesday - Installed the virtual PC onto my external hard drive, finished the discussion on the impacts of IT, Did a spreadsheet about sweets to test knowledge about spreadsheet formula, then in numeracy did first assessment question on Standard Deviation then did a worksheet about percentages.

Thursday -  Did tasks on learn net about control panel and control - accessibility, also finished and posted in blogger the images for  the Writing user instructions one & two , handed in the first assessment for website development finished the first assessment and handed it in today 25/9/14 , will move on to making a storyboard for the website next week in class


Friday - Started in communication by making sure my CV was finished,  
in computer systems I learned about processors and memory and storage devices , in installing computer hardware i started doing some health and safety activity then made a presentation about ElectroStatic Discharge then made a poster about risks and precautions activity

Thursday, 18 September 2014

Week 3

week 3- Tuesday-  we did in  Section 6 of learnent Demonstrating characteristics wrote about skills that employers want in an employee in numeracy I did standard deviation

Thursday- finished Specialist communication channels,  then did group work about the impact of IT, then had the first assessment in website development, made sure diary was up to date in tutorial

Friday - first started by finishing my CV with help from Steve James, did some research in to motherboards,


Disadvantages of IT to Communities (local and/or global)


  • local shops can't compete online with a larger shop (can't give the same online discounts)

The issues for people without access to modern computing facilities

  • Need to go to somewhere that has internet access like a library 

The threats that use of IT might introduce


  • people trying to steal personal data 
  • cyber bullying

Advantages of IT to Communities (local and/or global)


  • local businesses can put there business online 

Disadvantages of IT to Individuals

can get personal data stolen

Advantages of IT to Individuals


  • It can make communicating with people easier
  • makes shopping easier
  • can check bank online
  • can book holidays


Thursday, 11 September 2014

First Week

In the first week I did some word processing tasks called Pizza menu and Activity 2 and Activity 3
also did some spreadsheet used stuff like Auto sum  and power point to make sure everyone in the class could use them 

Set up this blog to make this diary and to make sure I can remember what happened during the week


Second Week 11/09/2014

11/09/2014 Thursday

Communication in the IT industry -  started today by listening to everyone's presentations also had to give my presentation which was about myself

Website Development - I had to do the tasks that Kerry had giving the class last week I completed Task 1, Task 2, Task 3, and a Extension Assignment I

Started Writing this diary today

Week 2 -Friday-  fist made CV in communication with Steve James also got our first assessment for installing computer hardware assessment 7.1