图解计算机工作原理：深入浅出第四版

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"《How Computers Work》第四版是由Ron White撰写并由Timothy Edward Downs、Sarah Ishida和Stephen Adams绘制插图的英文PDF图书，详细解释了计算机的工作原理。本书由Macmillan Computer Publishing在美国出版，版权归属1998年的Que Corporation。" 《How Computers Work》是一本深入浅出的计算机原理图书，旨在帮助读者理解计算机内部是如何运作的。第四版可能包含了最新的技术更新和改进，以适应快速发展的信息技术领域。作者Ron White是一名在计算机科学领域有深厚知识的专家，他通过清晰的解释和生动的插图，将复杂的计算机概念转化为易于理解的内容。该书的编辑团队包括执行编辑Angela Wethington、收购编辑Renee Wilmeth、开发编辑Renee Wilmeth和Heather E. Talbot、项目经理Heather E. Talbot、复制编辑Heather E. Talbot，以及一系列的技术插画师和技术设计人员，确保了内容的准确性和视觉吸引力。书中涵盖了多个关键主题，如： 1. 计算机硬件基础：CPU（中央处理器）如何处理指令，内存（RAM）的作用，以及输入/输出设备（如键盘、鼠标和显示器）如何与系统交互。 2. 存储系统：硬盘驱动器、固态驱动器的工作原理，以及临时存储和长期存储的区别。 3. 操作系统：如何管理计算机资源，提供用户界面，并协调硬件和软件之间的通信。 4. 网络和互联网：数据传输的基本原理，TCP/IP协议的工作方式，以及如何通过互联网连接到全球的信息网络。 5. 数据表示和编码：二进制、ASCII码和Unicode的角色，以及图像和音频的数字化过程。 6. 软件开发：编程语言的种类，编译器和解释器的区别，以及软件开发的生命周期。 7. 安全和隐私：病毒、恶意软件的威胁，以及保护个人数据的方法。通过这本书，读者可以了解到计算机不仅仅是完成任务的工具，它们是一个复杂而精密的系统，由许多相互协作的部分组成。无论是对计算机感兴趣的一般读者，还是希望深化专业知识的IT专业人士，都能从中受益匪浅。书中涉及的商标和服务名称仅用于编辑目的，不构成对这些公司的任何背书或推荐。

KEY CONCEPTS

BIOS (basic input/output system) A collection of software codes built into a PC that handle some

of the fundamental tasks of sending data from one part of the computer to another.

boot or boot-up The process that takes place when a PC is turned on and it performs the routines

necessary to get all the components functioning properly and then to load the operating system. The

term comes from the concept of lifting yourself by your bootstraps.

clock A microchip that regulates the timing and speed of all the computer’s functions. The chip in-

cludes a crystal that vibrates at a certain frequency when electricity is applied to it. The shortest

length of time in which a computer can perform some operation is one clock, that is, one vibration of

the clock chip. The speed of clocks—and therefore computers—is expressed in megahertz (MHz).

One megahertz is 1 million cycles, or vibrations, per second. Thus a PC may be described as having a

200 or 300MHz processor, which means that the processor has been designed to work with a clock

chip running at that speed.

CMOS An abbreviation for complementary metal-oxide semiconductor—a term that describes how

a CMOS microchip is manufactured. Powered by a small battery, the CMOS chip retains crucial infor-

mation about what hardware a PC comprises even when power is turned off.

CPU An abbreviation for central processing unit, it means the microprocessor—also, processor—

which is a microchip that processes the information and the code (instructions) used by a computer.

The “brains” of a computer.

POST An acronym for Power-On Self-Test, a procedure the computer goes through when booting

to verify that the basic components of a PC are functioning.

ROM and RAM Acronyms for read-only memory and random access memory. ROM is memory

chips or data stored on disks that can be read by the computer’s processor. The PC cannot write new

data to those chips or disk drives. RAM is memory or disks that can be both read and written to.

(Random access memory is really a misnomer because even ROM can be accessed randomly. The

term originally was used to distinguish RAM from data and software that was stored on magnetic

tape, and which could be accessed only sequentially. That is, to get to the last chunk of data or code

on a tape, a computer must read through all the information contained on the tape until it ﬁnds the

location where it stored the data or code it is looking for. In contrast, a computer can jump directly to

any information stored in random locations in RAM chips or on disk.)

system ﬁles Small disk ﬁles containing software code that are the ﬁrst ﬁles a computer reads from

disk when it is booted. On DOS and Windows systems, the ﬁles are named IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS

and are hidden so that ordinarily you cannot see them in a listing of ﬁles on a disk. The system ﬁles

contain the information needed, following the initial hardware boot, to load the rest of an operating

system. In DOS, one other system ﬁle is COMMAND.COM, which contains the operating system’s

basic functions, such as displaying a list of ﬁles (directory). A boot disk must contain all three ﬁles for

a PC to start up. System ﬁles may also include CONFIG.SYS, which makes some initial settings of

hardware, and AUTOEXEC.BAT, a collection of commands that are executed when all other boot

functions are through. In Windows 95 and 98, the Registry—consisting of the two hidden ﬁles,

USER.DAT and SYSTEM.DAT—is also necessary for Windows to run and may be considered a sys-

tem ﬁle.

OV E RV I E W

WHEN

you hit your PC’s On swi tch, nothing mu ch seems to happen for several secon d s .

Actu a lly, your com p uter is going thro u gh a com p l ex set of opera ti ons to make su re all its com-

pon ents are working properly and to warn you if som ething is amiss. This opera ti on is the ﬁrs t

s tep in an even more com p l i c a ted process call ed the b o ot - u p, or simply, the b oot.

The term comes from the idea of lifting yourself up by your own bootstraps. In a PC, boot-

strapping is necessary because the PC must have some way of bringing all its components to life

long enough to load an operating system. The operating system then takes on more complicated

tasks that the boot code alone can’t manage, such as making the PC’s hardware interact with soft-

ware.

But before your PC can even attempt to load an operating system, it has to make sure that all

the hardware components are running and that the CPU (central processing unit) and memory

are functioning properly. This is the job of the power-on self-test, or POST.

The POST is the ﬁrst task your PC performs wh en you tu rn it on, and it’s your ﬁrst warning of

tro u b le with any of the components. When the POST detects an error from the display, memory,

keyboard, or other basic components, it produces an error warning in the form of a message on

your display and—in case your display is part of the problem—in the form of a series of beeps.

Usually n ei t h er the beeps nor the on s c reen message is spec i ﬁc en o u gh to tell you ex act ly what is

wron g. All they ’ re inten ded to do is to point you in the gen eral directi on of the com pon ent that has

a probl em .

A single beep combined with a display of the normal DOS prompt means that all components

have passed the POST. But any other combination of short beeps and long beeps usually means

trouble. Even no beep at all indicates a problem.

If no error message appears or beeps occur, however, that doesn’t mean all the hardware com-

ponents of your system are functioning as they should. The POST is capable of detecting only the

most general types of errors. It can tell if a hard drive that’s supposed to be installed isn’t there,

but it can’t tell if there is trouble with the drive’s formatting.

All in all, the POST does not appear to be extremely helpful. That’s because most PCs func-

tion so reliably that only occasionally something triggers a POST alarm. The POST’s beneﬁts are

subtle but fundamental. Without it, you could never be sure of the PC’s ability to carry out its

tasks accurately and reliably.

H ow the Powe r - O n

S e l f - Test Wo r k s

PA R T 1 B O OT-UP PRO C E S S

The POST tests the memory contained on the display

adapter and the video signals that control the display. It

then makes the adapter’s BIOS code a part of the system’s

overall BIOS and memory conﬁguration. It’s at this point

that you’ll ﬁrst see something appear on your PC’s monitor.

The CPU also checks the system’s timer, or clock, which is

responsible for pacing signals to make sure all the PC’s op-

erations function in a synchronized, orderly fashion.

The CPU uses the address to ﬁnd and invoke the ROM BIOS

boot program, which in turn invokes a series of system checks.

The CPU ﬁrst checks itself and the POST program by reading

code loaded into various locations and checking it against

identical records stored permanently in the BIOS chip set.

The POST runs a series of tests to ensure that the

RAM chips are functioning properly. The tests write

data to each chip, then read it and compare what

they read with the data sent to the chips in the ﬁrst

place. On some PCs at this point, you’ll see on the

monitor a running account of the amount of mem-

ory that’s been checked.

The CPU sends signals over the system bus—the circuits that

connect all the components with each other—to make sure

that they are all functioning.

When you turn on your PC, a process called the P O ST ( p o w e r-on self-

t e s t ) begins with an electrical signal following a permanently pro-

grammed path to the CPU, or microprocessor. There, the electrical

signal clears leftover data from the chip’s internal memory registers.

The signal also resets a CPU register called the program counter t o

a speciﬁc number. In the case of ATs and later computers, the hexa-

decimal number is F000. The number in the program counter tells

the CPU the address of the next instruction that needs pro c e s s i n g .

In this case, the address is the beginning of a boot program stored

p e rmanently at the address F000 in a set of read-only memory (ROM)

chips that contain the PC’s basic input/output system (BIOS).

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