Learn Practical Skills At Home

Your comprehensive lessons are clear and well-organized; easy to follow, yet challenging and engaging at the same time. Each lesson begins with an introductory note from your instructor, plus a preview outlining the subject matter and study objectives.

Next comes the reading assignment from your beautifully illustrated textbook, lesson book or supplemental references. Hands on exercises and practical tutorials help you check and review the key concepts you’ve learned. Then, turn in your open-book exam for the lesson, whenever YOU are ready.

As you progress through The Professional PC Service & Repair Program, you’ll receive these special bonuses. They are all yours to keep, included with your tuition at no additional cost.

• PC tools: You’ll receive tweezers, an extractor, a three-prong parts remover, a parts tube, two nut-drivers, and five specialty screwdrivers: all in a handsome, zippered, leatherette case. You’ll also receive a digital multimeter to assist you in repairs.

Enroll online or call 1-800-535-1613 to speak with an Admission Advisor!

Meet Your Instructor

David T. Ronan is the course author and technical advisor of The Professional PC Service & Repair Program. Dave has been involved with PC's since their introduction in 1980, including many years on IBM’s technical staff. He has also created and taught many technical training courses for home study.

He, along with our staff of caring, courteous career educators, will give you careful guidance through your studies. If you have questions or need help along the way, just write, call, fax, or E-mail us 24 hours a day. We'll give you prompt, personal assistance.

What You’ll Learn Lesson By Lesson in this Course

Lesson 1: A+ CERTIFICATION AND THE VISIBLE PC. What is A+ Certification? CompTIA; other certifications; structure and content of the A+ Certification exam; strategies for passing the A+ exam; how the PC works: input, processing, output, storage and the art of the PC technician; tools of the trade; anti-static tools; the CPU, RAM, motherboard, case, power supply, floppy drive, hard drive and CD-ROM drive; DB, DIN, Centronics, RJ, BNC, audio, USB and FireWire connectors; sound, network and video cards; PC peripherals.

Lesson 2: PC MICROPROCESSORS. CPU core components and installation; memory storage; RAM; address bus; Pentium CPUs; AMD CPUs; Intel Pentium 4; specialty processors: Intel Xeon, 64-bit and mobile processors; inserting a slot 1/slot A CPU and a PGA-type CPU; testing; cooling; overclocking.

Lesson 3: RAMS, BIOS and CMOS. Organizing DRAM; DIPPs; 30-pin SIPPs; 30-pin and 72-pin SIMMs; SIMM sticks and parity; access speed; DIMM; EDO; SDRAM; PC100/133 standards; ECC; double pumping; RDRAM; DDR SDRAM; dual-channel architecture; double-sided SIMMs/DIMMs; installing and troubleshooting RAM; the function of BIOS; CMOS setup utilities; BIOS and device drivers; power-on self test (POST); beep codes; text errors; POST cards; the boot process; boot configuration.

Lesson 4: EXPANSION BUS AND MOTHERBOARDS. Structure and function of the expansion bus; I/O addresses; interrupt requests; direct memory access; memory addresses; modern expansion bus; installing and troubleshootig expansion cards and assigning resources; device drivers; verify; PCI-X and PCI-Express; installing, troubleshooting and upgrading motherboards; chipset varieties.

Lesson 5: POWER SUPPLIES; FLOPPY DRIVES. Understanding electricity; AC and DC; cooking; when power supplies die; fuses and fire; server systems and the EPS12V standard; Active PFC; formatting floppies; types of disks; inserting ribbon cables; determining drive letters; connectors; power; CMOS; floppy drive maintenance an troubleshooting; other CMOS options; radial misalignment; USB floppy drives.

Lesson 6: PC HARD DRIVES. How hard drives work: data encoding, moving the arms and geometry; parallel ATA and serial ATA; BIOS support: configuring CMOS and installing drives; troubleshooting, partitioning and formatting hard drives; maintaining and troubleshooting hard drives.

Lesson 7: WINDOWS AND COMMAND-LINE INTERFACES. Operating system traits; communicating with hardware; creating a user interface; accessing and supporting programs; organizing and manipulating programs and data; tech utilities; OS folders; Windows 95, 98, 98 SE, and Me differences; Windows NT, XP and 2000; the boot process; deciphering the command line interface; syntax and switches; DIR command; directories.

Lesson 8: INSTALLING AND MAINTAINING WINDOWS. Pre- and post-installation tasks; installing and upgrading Windows 9x/Me, Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional; troubleshooting installation problems; maintaining and optimizing Windows 9x/Me; troubleshooting.

Lesson 9: CD, DVD MEDIA AND VIDEO. How CD-ROMs work; DVD media; installing DVD and CD media drives; troubleshooting; CRT monitors; LCD displays; the video card; installing and configuring video software; troubleshooting video.

Lesson 10: SCSI AND SOUND. SCSI chains; SCSI IDs; termination; SCSI -1; SCSI-2; Se, HVD and LVD SCSI; SCSI-3; last notes on termination; bus mastering; SCSI cables and connectors; SCSI performance; power and connectivity; boot firmware; memory chips; storage; I/O; device drivers; costs vs. benefits of SCSI.

Lesson 11: PORTABLE PCS AND PRINTERS. Desktop replacements and extenders; PDAs; PC cards; limited function and general purpose ports; modular laptops; batteries; power management; cleaning; heat; Centrino technology; ExpressCard installing and troubleshooting inkjet, impact, thermal, dye-sublimation and laser printers; printer language and connectivity; the laser printing process.

Lesson 12: NETWORKING AND THE INTERNET. Packets/frames and NICs; Ethernet; token ring; parallel/serial; network operating systems; installing a NIC; configuring a network client, simple protocols; and TCP/IP; sharing and security; installing and configuring a wireless network; network troubleshooting; reproducing the problem; isolating symptom; make the fix and test; MikeÕs four-layer model; Bluetooth; connecting to the Internet via dial-up, DSL, cable, LAN, wireless, satellite and Internet connection sharing; e-mail; newsgroups; File Transfer Protocol, Telnet; terminal emulation; browser hassles; spyware.