More info abt some HW/SW

[geegoo!]

hay,
im starting to learn about computer hardware/software lately.. but there a few questions that i have on mind...

1.where do I cahnge the BIOS settings on my computer? and when would I need to do that?
2. i have a CD-RW DvD , and hard disk.. what is the best confiuration for them in the primary and secondary drives?
3- Ive read about CMOS a bit.. but dont really get what it is .. can anybody explain to me, in simple vocab, what it is ?
4-I would be grateful.. if someone told me where i can find good (free) programming tutorials on the net for ( VC++, Java , HTML).

Note: i dont know if thats helpful to answer my questions .. but my processor is Pentium 4 Intel, and i have 128MB for RAM and my OS is Win XP..
Thanx

[p3-450]

1)
Usually to access the BIOS you have to press a key or a combination, this usually could be the DEL, F1, F2 keys. When you boot up your pc, on the very first screen that is displayed it should tell you what key to press. You should really only need to access the BIOS if you want to change you boot device order, or overclocking.

2)
What i would have is the Hard drive as the Primary master, the CD-RW as the Seconday Master and the DVD as the Secondary Slave

3)
CMOS is the the battery that hold the data for the BIOS.

4)
).A Google search found these results.

Hope this help:)

[geegoo!]

Thanks alot..
I have another question it's not related to the HW but hope i get some answer
..
how can i change a file type? for example, if i have a PDF file how can i convert it to a DOC file? or the opposite?
do i just change its extension..?
thanks

[p3-450]

You cannot just change the extension, that wont work. You need a PDF converter, i havnt found any freeware though

http://www.thebeatlesforever.com/processtext/abcpdf.html

[DMR]

CMOSis the the battery that hold the data for the BIOS.

Not quite.

CMOS itself is a special memory chip on your motherboard (it is not part of your RAM) which stores certain system configuration information used by the BIOS. CMOS stands for Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor, which is the name of the particular type of transistor circuitry that the CMOS chip is constructed of.

When people refer to the CMOS battery, they're talking about a battery on the motherboard which supplies a very small trickle charge to the CMOS memory chip so that the information in the memory gets retained even when the computer is unplugged for prolonged periods of time.

CMOS batteries have a pretty long lifetime (years), but they do eventually need to be replaced. The classic sign that your CMOS battery has died is that the computer suddenly stops keeping the correct date/time through reboots or extended periods of being powered off.

[geegoo!]

CMOS batteries have a pretty long lifetime (years), but they do eventually need to be replaced. The classic sign that your CMOS battery has died is that the computer suddenly stops keeping the correct date/time through reboots or extended periods of being powered off.

Other than the time/date being uncorrect, is there any other way.. like for example error messages that would indicate that the CMOS battery is dying?
Thanks,

[DMR]

You wont get any messages from Windows, and you may or may not see any messages from the BIOS at bootup.

If the computer is an older model, refuses to keep the date/time settings, and you know the battery has never been changed, you should probably just replace it. The batteries are cheap, and it's usually pretty easy to change them out.