Chapter 6 Thinking Critically 1-4

• Why does a motherboard sometimes support more than one system bus speed? One of the reasons is for "backward compatibility" with older expansion cards, programs, etc.
• Why don't all buses on a motherboard operate at the same speed? I think because different components of a computer run at different speeds and synchronizations with the processor, the system bus needs to be able to handle these differences.
  
• When you turn off a computer at night, it loses the date, and you must reenter it each morning. What is the problem and how do you solve it? Your battery that supplies power to the CMOS RAM is either disconnected or has failed. You need to make sure the battery is fully set to its connectors or replace the battery if it has failed.
  
• Why do you think the trend is to store configuration information on a motherboard in CMOS setup rather than by using jumpers or switches? Setting up the old jumpers and/or switches left too much room for human error, it was also inconvenient to get into your computer case to change the settings if needed, especially for things like power settings etc.