Hard Drives

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  • 1/101 Questions

    SCSI supports simultaneous internal and external chains.

    • True
    • False
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About This Quiz

Explore the fundamentals of hard drives, including error troubleshooting, partitioning, and the significance of the boot sector in system startup.

Hard Drives - Quiz

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  • 2. 

    Main PATA hard drives are customarily installed on the

    • Primary IDE channel

    • Secondary IDE channel

    • Neither channel

    Correct Answer
    A. Primary IDE channel
    Explanation
    Although hard drives may be installed on either channel, the preferred practice is to place main boot drives as the master on the primary channel. Supplemental hard drives are usually installed as slaves on the primary channel. And, if room is available, as master/slaves on the secondary channel.

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  • 3. 

    Drives in a SCSI RAID are hot swapable

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. True
    Explanation
    SCSI RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) drives are designed to be hot swappable, meaning that they can be replaced or added to a system without shutting down the system or disrupting its operation. This feature allows for easy maintenance and expansion of the storage system without any downtime. Therefore, the statement that drives in a SCSI RAID are hot swappable is true.

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  • 4. 

    CHS stands for

    • Capacity, Headroom, Sectors

    • Cylinders, Heads, Sectors per Track

    Correct Answer
    A. Cylinders, Heads, Sectors per Track
    Explanation
    CHS stands for Cylinders, Heads, Sectors per Track. This acronym is commonly used in the context of computer hard drives to describe the physical layout of data storage. Cylinders refer to the concentric tracks on the hard drive, heads are the read/write mechanisms that access the data, and sectors per track represent the subdivisions of each track where data is stored. Understanding CHS is essential for managing and optimizing hard drive storage and data retrieval processes.

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  • 5. 

    Where is the boot sector located on a basic disk?

    • First sector

    • Second sector

    • Last sector

    • In the cache

    • The file allocation table

    Correct Answer
    A. First sector
    Explanation
    The boot sector is located in the first sector of a basic disk. This sector, also known as the Master Boot Record (MBR), contains important information about the disk's partition layout and the boot loader program. When a computer starts up, the BIOS or UEFI firmware reads the boot sector from the first sector of the disk and transfers control to the boot loader, which then loads the operating system.

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  • 6. 

    RAID can only be implemented in SCSI, not ATA.

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. False
    Explanation
    ATA RAID controllers are available on the market.

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  • 7. 

    Division of a hard disk into separate areas of data is called __________.

    • Clustering

    • Formatting

    • Sectioning

    • Fragmenting

    • Partitioning

    Correct Answer
    A. Partitioning
    Explanation
    Partitioning divides a physical hard disk into separate smaller areas (partitions) which are independent of one another. Each partition comprises a group of cylinders, and because partitions are independent, each one may support its own distinct file system.

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  • 8. 

    You can install a PATA drive on a SATA cable because SATA is backward compatible with PATA.

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. True
    Explanation
    PATA devices may be connected to SATA controllers by placing a "SATA bridge" in between the device and controller.

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  • 9. 

    ATA-1 supports up to ____ drives

    • 2

    • 3

    • 4

    • 6

    • 8

    Correct Answer
    A. 2
    Explanation
    ATA-1 is a standard for connecting storage devices to computers. It supports up to 2 drives, meaning that it can connect and communicate with a maximum of 2 storage drives simultaneously.

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  • 10. 

    PATA connectors have

    • 25 pins

    • 36 pins

    • 40 pins

    • 50 pins

    • 68 pins

    Correct Answer
    A. 40 pins
    Explanation
    PATA connectors have 40 pins. PATA (Parallel ATA) is an interface used to connect storage devices such as hard drives and optical drives to a computer's motherboard. The 40-pin PATA connector is used for IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) devices, which were commonly used before the introduction of SATA (Serial ATA) technology. The 40 pins in the PATA connector include data pins, ground pins, and power pins, allowing for the transfer of data and power between the storage device and the motherboard.

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  • 11. 

    You're installing two drives on the same PATA interface cable. If you want to use cable select, the jumpers for the drive at the end of the cable should be set to

    • Master

    • Slave

    • Cable select

    • Single

    Correct Answer
    A. Cable select
    Explanation
    When using cable select, the jumpers for the drive at the end of the cable should be set to "Cable select". Cable select is a feature that allows the computer to automatically determine the master and slave drives based on their physical position on the cable. By setting the jumpers to "Cable select" on the drive at the end of the cable, it will be recognized as the master drive, while the drive connected in the middle will be recognized as the slave drive. This simplifies the installation process and eliminates the need to manually set the master and slave jumpers.

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  • 12. 

    Molex connectors have ___ pins

    • 2

    • 3

    • 4

    • 5

    • 6

    Correct Answer
    A. 4
    Explanation
    Molex connectors have 4 pins.

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  • 13. 

    Sectors are typically

    • 1.2 megabytes

    • 256 kilobytes

    • 512 bytes

    • 512 kilobytes

    • 1024 bytes

    Correct Answer
    A. 512 bytes
    Explanation
    Minus any error correction bits, sectors typically contain 512 bytes.

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  • 14. 

    You're installing two drives on the same PATA interface cable. If you want to use cable select, the jumpers for the drive at the middle of the cable should be set to

    • Master

    • Slave

    • Cable select

    • Single

    Correct Answer
    A. Cable select
    Explanation
    When using cable select, the jumpers for the drive at the middle of the cable should be set to "Cable select". Cable select is a feature that allows the computer to automatically determine the master and slave drives based on their physical position on the cable. By setting the jumpers to cable select for the drive at the middle of the cable, it ensures that the computer will correctly identify and assign the master and slave roles to the drives.

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  • 15. 

    Hard drives detect and correct errors by using

    • ECC

    • BCD

    • CCD

    • ECD

    • TLC

    Correct Answer
    A. ECC
    Explanation
    ECC (Error Correcting Code) is an extra series of bits within a sector which are used to perform Reed-Solomon coding. ECC enables the drive electronics to detect and recover any missing or incorrect bits resulting from defects in the recording medium.

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  • 16. 

    SCSI devices must be terminated

    • At the ends of the chain only

    • In the middle of the chain only

    • At all points along the chain

    • At the host adapter

    Correct Answer
    A. At the ends of the chain only
    Explanation
    Termination should be done only at the ends of the chain. Most SCSI devices have termination built into them and can be enabled or disabled by a switch or jumper setting. Some devices can sense when they are the end of a chain and terminate themselves automatically.

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  • 17. 

    RAID 5 will restore a failed drive in its array by using

    • A recovery boot CD

    • Defragmenting

    • Distributed parity data

    • NT Backup

    • Mirroring

    Correct Answer
    A. Distributed parity data
    Explanation
    Parity data is special error-correction data that prevents unrecoverable data loss when a drive in the array fails. It bears a mathematical XOR relationship to the data being protected, and allows the RAID to reconstruct missing data by performing an XOR operation on the surviving data. The result of the operation is the missing data. RAID 5 stripes this parity data across the array to provide a good balance of performance and safety, making it the most popular RAID configuration today.

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  • 18. 

    Partition tables on basic disks are limited to a maximum of ____ partitions.

    • 2

    • 3

    • 4

    • 64

    • Unlimited

    Correct Answer
    A. 4
    Explanation
    Partition tables on basic disks are limited to a maximum of 4 partitions. This means that on a basic disk, you can create up to 4 separate partitions to divide the disk space. Once you reach the maximum limit of 4 partitions, you will not be able to create any more partitions on that disk.

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  • 19. 

    How many read/write heads are there per platter?

    • 1

    • 2

    • 3

    • 4

    Correct Answer
    A. 2
    Explanation
    Each platter has two read/write heads. One for each side of the platter.

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  • 20. 

    PC hard drive air filters should be replaced periodically to prevent head damage

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. False
    Explanation
    PC hard drives are sealed units. Their filters are designed to last for the life of the drive and cannot be changed.

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  • 21. 

    Parallel ATA cables have a maximum length of

    • 3 yards

    • 18 inches

    • 2.2 feet

    • 1 meter

    • 32 inches

    Correct Answer
    A. 18 inches
    Explanation
    Parallel ATA cables, also known as IDE cables, are used to connect storage devices such as hard drives and optical drives to the motherboard of a computer. These cables have a maximum length of 18 inches. This limitation is due to the fact that longer cables can cause signal degradation and data loss, affecting the performance and reliability of the connected devices. Therefore, it is recommended to use shorter cables to ensure optimal functioning of the system.

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  • 22. 

    A hard drive must have a minimum of __________ in order to install an operating system.

    • 8 megabytes of cache

    • One extended partition

    • 4200 RPM

    • One partition

    • One master boot record

    Correct Answer
    A. One partition
    Explanation
    In order to install an operating system, a hard drive must have at least one partition. A partition is a logical division of the hard drive that allows the operating system to organize and manage data effectively. Without a partition, the operating system would not have a designated space to be installed on the hard drive. Therefore, having at least one partition is necessary for the installation of an operating system.

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  • 23. 

    On a basic disk, the first sector of the hard drive is called

    • The first partition

    • Cylinder 0

    • The boot sector

    • The partition table

    • The stripe

    Correct Answer
    A. The boot sector
    Explanation
    The first sector of a hard drive is called the boot sector. This sector contains the initial code that is executed when the computer starts up, known as the boot code. The boot sector also contains information about the file system and the partition table, which helps the computer locate and access the operating system. Therefore, the boot sector plays a crucial role in the booting process of a computer.

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  • 24. 

    SCSI-2 ID's are assigned from

    • 0 through 15

    • 0 through 16

    • 0 through 32

    • 1 through 15

    • 1 through 36

    Correct Answer
    A. 0 through 15
    Explanation
    SCSI-2 ID's are assigned from 0 through 15. This means that in a SCSI-2 system, each device can be assigned a unique ID ranging from 0 to 15. This allows for a maximum of 16 devices to be connected to the SCSI bus.

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  • 25. 

    Cable select on PATA drives requires

    • ATA/133

    • A special cable that supports cable select.

    • Higher voltage

    • A standard 40-pin ide cable

    Correct Answer
    A. A special cable that supports cable select.
    Explanation
    Cable select on PATA drives requires a special cable that supports cable select. This is because cable select mode allows the drives to determine their own master/slave configuration based on their position on the cable. A regular 40-pin IDE cable does not have the necessary wiring to support this feature. Therefore, a special cable is required to enable cable select mode on PATA drives.

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  • 26. 

    CD-ROM drives and tape drives are customarily installed on the

    • Primary IDE channel

    • Secondary IDE channel

    • Neither channel

    Correct Answer
    A. Secondary IDE channel
    Explanation
    CD-ROM drives and tape drives are customarily installed on the Secondary IDE channel because the Primary IDE channel is typically reserved for the primary hard drive. The Secondary IDE channel allows for additional devices to be connected, such as CD-ROM drives and tape drives, providing more flexibility in the system configuration. This setup allows for efficient data transfer and organization between the primary hard drive and the secondary devices.

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  • 27. 

    RLL stands for

    Correct Answer
    Run Length Limited
    run length limited
    Run length limited
    Explanation
    RLL stands for "Run Length Limited," which refers to a coding scheme used in data storage and transmission. This scheme limits the maximum number of consecutive identical symbols that can be encoded, reducing the likelihood of errors caused by long runs of the same symbol. The answer options provided are all variations of the same term, with different capitalizations, but they all convey the same meaning.

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  • 28. 

    ATA/133 runs at a throughput of

    • 133 kbps

    • 133 Mbps

    • 133 MBps

    • 133 kBps

    • 13.3 baud

    Correct Answer
    A. 133 MBps
    Explanation
    ATA/133 supports speeds up to 133 MBps (megabytes per second). When abbreviating, "bytes" is capitalized - "bits" is not.

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  • 29. 

    PC hard drives are typically sealed air-tight to prevent contamination

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. False
    Explanation
    Although air recirculates within the sealed housing as the platters spin, they are not completely air-tight. There is a filtered breather vent that equalizes air pressure between the interior and exterior of the drive. The vent is designed for pressure equalization only - not circulation.

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  • 30. 

    On ATA-5 cables, black connectors are connected to ___________

    • Master drives

    • Slave drives

    • SCSI drives

    • SATA drives

    • The controller

    Correct Answer
    A. Master drives
    Explanation
    Black connectors are located at the end of the EIDE ribbon cable, which is where master drives should be connected.

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  • 31. 

    On ATA-5 cables, blue connectors are connected to ___________

    • Master drives

    • Slave drives

    • SCSI drives

    • SATA drives

    • The controller

    Correct Answer
    A. The controller
    Explanation
    The blue end of the cable plugs into either the motherboard or the drive controller card.

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  • 32. 

    Each device in a SCSI chain requires

    • A terminator

    • A master/slave jumper setting

    • A unique SCSI ID

    • Matching SCSI ID's

    Correct Answer
    A. A unique SCSI ID
    Explanation
    In a SCSI chain, each device needs to have a unique SCSI ID. This is necessary to establish proper communication and prevent conflicts between devices. The SCSI ID is used to identify and address each device on the chain. Without a unique SCSI ID, the devices may not be able to function correctly or may interfere with each other's operations. Therefore, it is essential for each device to have its own distinct SCSI ID in a SCSI chain.

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  • 33. 

    Partitions must be carefully planned ahead of time, because once Windows setup creates the partitions, they cannot be resized later.

    • True

    • False

    Correct Answer
    A. False
    Explanation
    You may resize partitions at any time by using commercial utilities such as Partition Magic or free open source utilities like GParted.

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  • 34. 

    IDE drives feature built-in _________.

    • Serial connectors

    • Controllers

    • Termination

    • Power supplies

    Correct Answer
    A. Controllers
    Explanation
    The controller (or drive electronics) on an IDE drive is built into the drive itself instead of requiring a separate controller card.

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  • 35. 

    SATA drives are

    • Daisy chained

    • Hot pluggable

    • Either master or slave

    • Terminated

    Correct Answer
    A. Hot pluggable
    Explanation
    SATA technology enables hot plugging and eliminates the concept of "master/slave". Devices are directly connected to the controller (one device per line), so they do not share cables like PATA. This also eliminates the daisy chaining and termination of older standards like SCSI.

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  • 36. 

    Molex connectors provide

    • Power to internal PATA hard drives

    • Power to internal SATA hard drives

    • Data to internal PATA hard drives

    • Data to eSATA hard drives

    Correct Answer
    A. Power to internal PATA hard drives
    Explanation
    Molex connectors are used to provide power to internal PATA hard drives. These connectors are commonly found in older computer systems and are used to deliver the necessary power supply to the hard drive for it to function properly. SATA connectors, on the other hand, are used for data transfer between the hard drive and the motherboard. Therefore, the correct answer is that Molex connectors provide power to internal PATA hard drives.

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  • 37. 

    In Windows 2000 and XP, what does the term "dynamic disk" denote?

    • A resizeable partition

    • A constantly changing partition

    • An advanced partitioning scheme proprietary to Microsoft

    • A drive containing multiple MBR's

    • A drive with more than one installation of Windows

    Correct Answer
    A. An advanced partitioning scheme proprietary to Microsoft
    Explanation
    The term "dynamic disk" in Windows 2000 and XP refers to an advanced partitioning scheme proprietary to Microsoft. This means that it is a specialized disk configuration that allows for features such as software-based RAID, spanning volumes, and fault tolerance. It provides more flexibility and functionality compared to basic disks, which have limitations on the number of partitions and lack advanced features.

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  • 38. 

    An internal SATA power connector has ____ conductors.

    • 4

    • 7

    • 15

    • 25

    • 50

    Correct Answer
    A. 15
    Explanation
    An internal SATA power connector has 15 conductors.

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  • 39. 

    LBA utilizes ________ to support increased drive sizes

    • CHS

    • Zoned Bit Recording

    • Sector translation

    • ATAPI

    • RAM

    Correct Answer
    A. Sector translation
    Explanation
    Sector translation is utilized by LBA (Logical Block Addressing) to support increased drive sizes. LBA is a method used by hard drives to organize and address data. It allows the operating system to access data on the hard drive using logical block addresses instead of the traditional CHS (Cylinder, Head, Sector) addressing scheme. Sector translation is the process of converting logical block addresses to physical addresses on the hard drive, enabling larger drive sizes to be supported.

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  • 40. 

    PRML stands for

    Correct Answer
    Partial Response Maximum Likelihood
    partial response maximum likelihood
    Partial Response, Maxmimum Likelihood
    partial response, maximum likelihood
    Partial response maximum likelihood
    Explanation
    PRML stands for "Partial Response Maximum Likelihood". It is an advanced form of RLL that allows for longer run lengths.

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  • 41. 

    The CHS specification of a hard drive is known as the ________ of the drive.

    • Electrical rating

    • MTBF

    • Sector count

    • Geometry

    • Data format

    Correct Answer
    A. Geometry
    Explanation
    The CHS specification of a hard drive refers to the Cylinder-Head-Sector addressing scheme, which is used to determine the physical location of data on the drive. This addressing scheme is based on the geometry of the drive, including the number of cylinders, heads, and sectors. Therefore, the correct answer is "Geometry."

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  • 42. 

    The ATA-2 standard introduced what is popularly known as

    • "Big Drive"

    • EIDE

    • ATA/66

    • SCSI-2

    • SATA

    Correct Answer
    A. EIDE
    Explanation
    EIDE (enhanced IDE) consists of the set of improvements and new features offered by the ATA-2 standard. The term "EIDE" is not an official ATA committee designation, but is a marketing term introduced and popularized by drive manufacturers. It is common to hear the terms "ATA-2", "ATA", "IDE", and "EIDE" being used interchangeably in the computer industry.

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  • 43. 

    Hard drives access RAM directly via

    • DMA

    • PIO

    • RLL

    • LBA

    • ECC

    Correct Answer
    A. DMA
    Explanation
    DMA stands for Direct Memory Access. It is a method used by hard drives to access RAM directly without involving the CPU. DMA allows data to be transferred between RAM and the hard drive without the CPU's constant involvement, reducing the burden on the CPU and improving overall system performance. This method enables faster and more efficient data transfers between the hard drive and RAM, making it the correct answer in this context.

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  • 44. 

    In a modern hard drive, the number of sectors on the innermost track is _______ the number of sectors on the outermost track.

    • Greater than

    • Less than

    • Equal to

    Correct Answer
    A. Less than
    Explanation
    Early hard drives used simple radial "pie slices" as sector divisions. Thus, every track on the platter would contain the same number of sectors. To increase efficiency, modern hard drives now record data such that tracks near the outer edge of the platter contain more sectors than the innermost tracks. This scheme is called "zoned bit recording" or "ZBR".

    With ZBR, the platter is not sliced radially. Instead, it is concentrically divided into groups of contiguous tracks called "zones". The tracks within a particular zone have the same number of sectors. As these zones radiate outward, the sector counts increase.

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  • 45. 

    LBA stands for ___________.

    Correct Answer
    Logical Block Addressing
    Explanation
    LBA stands for Logical Block Addressing. This is a method used in computer storage devices to address individual blocks of data. Instead of using the traditional cylinder-head-sector (CHS) addressing scheme, LBA provides a simpler and more efficient way to access data on a disk. Each block of data is assigned a unique logical block address, allowing the operating system to easily locate and retrieve the required information. LBA is widely used in modern storage technologies such as hard disk drives and solid-state drives.

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  • 46. 

    ATA-2 supports up to ______ drives

    • 2

    • 3

    • 4

    • 6

    • 8

    Correct Answer
    A. 4
    Explanation
    Unlike it's predecessor ATA-1, which supported only two drives, ATA-2 adds a second IDE channel to provide up to four drives (two per channel).

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  • 47. 

    The original AT BIOS limited drives to

    • 80 MB

    • 504 MB

    • 1 GB

    • 234 MB

    • 2 TB

    Correct Answer
    A. 504 MB
    Explanation
    The original AT BIOS limited drives to 504 MB. This means that the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) in the original AT (Advanced Technology) computers had a maximum capacity limit of 504 MB for hard drives. This limitation was likely due to the technology and storage capabilities available at the time the AT BIOS was developed.

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  • 48. 

    ATA/66 cables have

    • 40 wires

    • 60 wires

    • 80 wires

    • 120 wires

    • 7 wires

    Correct Answer
    A. 80 wires
    Explanation
    ATA/66 cables have the same number of pins as older 40-pin IDE cables, but require twice the number of wires to support the higher throughput (80 wires with 40 pins on each connector).

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  • 49. 

    Pin 1 on PATA and SCSI cables may be easily identified by

    • A notch

    • A sticker

    • A thicker wire

    • A colored stripe

    • The hard drive owner's manual

    Correct Answer
    A. A colored stripe
    Explanation
    Pin 1 on PATA and SCSI cables may be easily identified by a colored stripe. This colored stripe is typically found on one side of the cable and helps to ensure that the cable is connected correctly. By aligning the colored stripe with Pin 1 on the device and the motherboard or controller, users can avoid any potential issues or damage that may occur from an incorrect connection. The colored stripe serves as a visual indicator for proper alignment and is a common feature on PATA and SCSI cables.

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  • Current Version
  • Mar 22, 2023
    Quiz Edited by
    ProProfs Editorial Team
  • Jun 04, 2009
    Quiz Created by
    Ace808

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