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Quiz about The Real Computer History Quiz
Quiz about The Real Computer History Quiz

The Real Computer History Quiz


There are lots of PC experts out there today. Not too many of them have knowledge that extends back to the early days of the PC. How good are you at early PC history?

A multiple-choice quiz by brownknows. Estimated time: 6 mins.
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Author
brownknows
Time
6 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
14,916
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Very Difficult
Avg Score
6 / 15
Plays
6485
Last 3 plays: Guest 73 (8/15), matthewpokemon (9/15), Guest 24 (8/15).
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Question 1 of 15
1. The original IBM PC had two identical connectors (in addition to others) on the back panel. One was the keyboard connector. What was the other one? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. IBM DOS 1.0 had two utilities that later integrated directly into the functionality of DOS. What were they? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. DOS 2.0 introduced an important concept to PCs. What was it? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. Name the cheap, simple way one could upgrade the original PCs and clones to get more speed.

Answer: (It was a direct replacement for the CPU and made by NEC)
Question 5 of 15
5. What type of hard disk interface was used in the original PC-XT? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. How many slots were in the original IBM PC? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. The next generation after the PC and XT was the IBM PC-AT. This computer sported an 80286 processor, 20 meg hard disk (later increased to 30 megs), High density 5.25' floppy drives, and an expanded system bus (16 bit cards!). What was the clock speed of the original configuration of this system? Hint


Question 8 of 15
8. What was/were the first personal computer(s) from IBM to include a 3.5" floppy drive? Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. Why would one change the interleave on their hard drive? Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. Microsoft Windows version 1.0 required what processor as part of its minimum system requirements? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. How many banks of DIP switches were on the original PC motherboard? Hint


Question 12 of 15
12. What was the command used to start the text editor included in DOS 1.x and 2.x? Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. What processor was used in the IBM PC-Jr? Hint


Question 14 of 15
14. Which is NOT a graphics card standard from the IBM personal computer line? Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. What was the name of the first laptop from IBM? Hint



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Most Recent Scores
Mar 16 2024 : Guest 73: 8/15
Mar 10 2024 : matthewpokemon: 9/15
Mar 06 2024 : Guest 24: 8/15
Feb 01 2024 : comark2000: 4/15

Score Distribution

quiz
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The original IBM PC had two identical connectors (in addition to others) on the back panel. One was the keyboard connector. What was the other one?

Answer: Cassette Tape IO

The original PC (model 5150) was the only model that had this connector. The only jumper on the motherboard was used to configure this connector for line-level or MIC-level input.
2. IBM DOS 1.0 had two utilities that later integrated directly into the functionality of DOS. What were they?

Answer: DATE.COM and TIME.COM

DATE.COM and TIME.COM were replaced in DOS 1.1 by the internal DATE and TIME commands. REN, COPY and DEL were always internal commands.
3. DOS 2.0 introduced an important concept to PCs. What was it?

Answer: Subdirectories

The PC-XT gave us expanded storage using a 10-meg hard disk. To make use of all that space, a new version of DOS (2.0) was developed to take advantage of subdirectories.
4. Name the cheap, simple way one could upgrade the original PCs and clones to get more speed.

Answer: V20

The upgrade consisted of a NEC V20 chip which replaced the original 8088 chip. On a stock IBM PC, this yielded 70 percent more speed. (If you remember the Norton SI.EXE utility, the original PC scored a 1.0 on the benchmark. A PC with the NEC V20 chip scored a 1.7.)
5. What type of hard disk interface was used in the original PC-XT?

Answer: ST-506

The had drive controller was a full-size card (13 inches long!) and took up an 8-bit slot right next to the separate floppy controller card. (Yes, the floppy drive controller was a separate card!)
6. How many slots were in the original IBM PC?

Answer: 5

The original PC had 5 slots. One was used by the floppy controller and a second was used by the display adapter. The PC-XT was enhanced to include 8 slots.
7. The next generation after the PC and XT was the IBM PC-AT. This computer sported an 80286 processor, 20 meg hard disk (later increased to 30 megs), High density 5.25' floppy drives, and an expanded system bus (16 bit cards!). What was the clock speed of the original configuration of this system?

Answer: 6 MHZ

Later AT's were boosted to 8 MHZ and a 30 meg hard disk. Some people discovered that the clock crystal could be swapped to a higher speed. (an early form of overclocking)
8. What was/were the first personal computer(s) from IBM to include a 3.5" floppy drive?

Answer: PS2 Model 30 and Model 50

The Model 30 used the ISA bus and had a 720K floppy drive, the Model 50 used the MCA bus and had a 1.44M floppy drive.
9. Why would one change the interleave on their hard drive?

Answer: To increase speed

Due to slow interfaces, most hard drives required multiple revolutions of the disk to read an entire track of data. Manufacturers were usually very conservative by setting the interleave high. Utilities like SpinRite would test your drive and controller combination to determine the best interleave, and change it accordingly.
10. Microsoft Windows version 1.0 required what processor as part of its minimum system requirements?

Answer: 8088

The original version of Windows was release on 11-20-85 with a suggested retail price of {$99.}
11. How many banks of DIP switches were on the original PC motherboard?

Answer: 2

The PC had two banks of switches. The PC-XT had one bank.
12. What was the command used to start the text editor included in DOS 1.x and 2.x?

Answer: EDLIN

Edlin was a kludgy utility that had a lot of arcane commands.
13. What processor was used in the IBM PC-Jr?

Answer: 8088

The 'Jr was nicknamed the Peanut.
14. Which is NOT a graphics card standard from the IBM personal computer line?

Answer: AGP

PGA stood for Professional Graphics Adapter (IBM didn't sell many of these). MCGA was a subset of VGA introduced on the low-end PS2's.
15. What was the name of the first laptop from IBM?

Answer: Convertible

The Convertible was very primitive, and used clumsy sidecars that attached to the back of the unit for expansion. The PC-Portable was suitcase shaped machine that used a PC-XT motherboard and an ugly amber display.
Source: Author brownknows

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