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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.

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
6526

Last 3 plays: workisboring (14/15), ZWOZZE (5/15), bernie73 (5/15).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

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

Audio Output

Monochrome Video

Mouse

Cassette Tape IO

NEXT>

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

MD.COM and RD.COM

DATE.COM and TIME.COM

REN.COM and COPY.COM

REN.COM and DEL.COM

NEXT>

Question 3 of 15

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

Internet

Subdirectories

Mouse

Windows

NEXT>

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)

NEXT>

Question 5 of 15

5. What type of hard disk interface was used in the original PC-XT? Hint

RLL

IDE

ST-506

SCSI

NEXT>

Question 6 of 15

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

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

8 MHZ

6 MHZ

33 MHZ

16 MHZ

NEXT>

Question 8 of 15

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

PC and PC-XT

Deskpro

PC-AT

PS2 Model 30 and Model 50

NEXT>

Question 9 of 15

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

To run Windows NT

To increase capacity

To increase speed

To partition into multiple drive letters

NEXT>

Question 10 of 15

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

80286

68020

80386

8088

NEXT>

Question 11 of 15

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

NEXT>

Question 12 of 15

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

WORDPAD

EDIT

EDLIN

NOTEPAD

NEXT>

Question 13 of 15

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

8086

NEC V20

80286

8088

NEXT>

Question 14 of 15

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

PGA

CGA

EGA

AGP

NEXT>

Question 15 of 15

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

Convertible

Lapbook

PC-Portable

PC-SX

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Most Recent Scores

Oct 06 2024 : workisboring: 14/15
Oct 06 2024 : ZWOZZE: 5/15
Oct 06 2024 : bernie73: 5/15
Oct 06 2024 : Xanadont: 5/15
Oct 06 2024 : CmdrK: 10/15
Oct 06 2024 : LauraMcC: 4/15
Oct 06 2024 : Luckycharm60: 15/15
Oct 06 2024 : wjames: 10/15
Oct 06 2024 : GoodwinPD: 15/15

Score Distribution

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.

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

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor CellarDoor before going online.
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