CompTIA A+ Certification Study Guide, Ninth Edition (Exams 220-901 & 220-902)

Chapter 1

Operational Procedures

CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVES

   902: 5.1   Given a scenario, use appropriate safety procedures

   902: 5.2   Given a scenario with potential environmental impacts, apply the appropriate controls

   902: 5.3   Summarize the process of addressing prohibited content/activity, and explain privacy, licensing, and policy concepts

   902: 5.4   Demonstrate proper communication techniques and professionalism

     Two-Minute Drill

Q&A Self Test

Operational procedures for IT professionals cover many activities. They include on-the-job safety, procedures for minimizing environmental impact, policies and procedures for dealing with prohibited content and/or prohibited activity, communication skills, and workplace professionalism. Your technical skills with computers, networks, and operating systems may be excellent, but if you do not follow proper operational procedures, you may put your job and career at risk.

CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVE

   902: 5.1   Given a scenario, use appropriate safety procedures

The A+ candidate must prove knowledge of appropriate safety procedures and how to participate in a safe work environment in which each person handles equipment safely to protect the equipment and prevent injury to people.

Workplace Safety and Safe Equipment Handling

Safety is everyone’s job, even in an organization in which designated employees are assigned direct responsibility for safety compliance and implementation. Everyone in an organization must play an active role in maintaining a safe work environment, which includes having an awareness of, and acting to remove, common safety hazards, such as spilled liquids, floor clutter, electrical dangers, and atmospheric hazards. You must be proactive to avoid accidents that can harm people and equipment. Safe equipment handling begins with using the appropriate tools; taking care when moving equipment; protecting yourself and equipment from electrostatic discharge; avoiding damage to transmission links and data from electromagnetic interference; and taking appropriate precautions when working with power supplies, displays, and printers.

Cable Management

One often-overlooked hazard is the jumble of cables connecting the various pieces of equipment in an office. If someone trips on the cables, they may injure themselves and/or damage equipment. Therefore, control the chaos, even if you need to use cable management products to eliminate such clutter and hazards. You’ll find a wide selection of cable management products on the Internet. The simplest are cable ties—either Velcro straps or plastic zip ties—that allow you to tie cables together to keep them out of the way, or cable sleeves that you use to enclose a group of cables. More sophisticated products include cable raceways (see Figure 1-1) that you can attach to furniture or walls to conceal a bundle of cables, cable trays for containing cabling within ceilings, and patch panels that network engineers use to manage the power and network cables in utility closets or server rooms.

FIGURE 1-1    A cable raceway mounted on a desk with the cover of the near section removed

Using Appropriate Tools

The typical computer technician’s toolkit is not extensive; we will discuss what it should include in Chapter 3. For now, just know that such a hardware toolkit will include various types and sizes of screwdrivers, a parts grabber, a flashlight, extra screws, and some other handy items.

Use appropriate tools to avoid damage to computer components and possible personal injury—and be meticulous about using each tool only for its intended purposes. For instance, attempting to use a flat-bladed screwdriver on a Phillips head screw can damage both the screw and the screwdriver, and it does not work very well. Worse yet, using a tool that does not fit properly may cause it to slip and damage a component such as the motherboard, or perhaps even injure yourself. Figure 1-2 shows several screwdrivers designed for specific types of screw heads.

FIGURE 1-2    Notice the differences in the blades of the four screwdrivers on the left—each only works with a specific screw head. The nut driver on the right works on one size of hex nut.

Do not carry loose objects like screwdrivers in shirt pockets or hip pockets because they can fall into computers and other equipment when you lean over or stab you if you sit down.

In Chapter 11, we describe methods for maintaining and cleaning computer components, and one of the tools described there is a vacuum. If you use a vacuum around open computer equipment, be sure to power down, disconnect the component, and avoid touching any power supplies with your hands or the vacuum. Further, if the vacuum does not have a filter, be sure to wear a filter mask, such as the inexpensive ones you can buy at a hardware store or pharmacy, especially when cleaning up toner. Using a vacuum can generate static, so, if available, use an antistatic vacuum—one that has a conductive path to ground to protect against causing electrostatic discharge damage to a computer during use.

If you choose to use canned compressed air to clean dust out of components, follow the instructions in Chapter 11, and wear a mask and be sure to aim the nozzle away from you to avoid blowing particles in your face.

Fire Safety

Any workplace can experience a fire, and if a fire should start, your first concern is safety for yourself and others. If you are untrained and/or are uncertain about the fuels involved in a fire, it is better to escape a fire, trigger a fire alarm, and close doors behind you than to fight a fire. The following discussion will not fully prepare you to fight a fire, but it will educate you and make you aware of the dangers and the need for proper training.

The typical workplace has a variety of potential fire sources and fuels. Look around areas such as the break room, offices, work cubicles, the wiring closet, server room, and computer workbench and imagine how a fire could start and what would fuel the fire. When working around computers, one potential fire source is a faulty computer or peripheral power supply that can result in an electrical fire. The wiring in the wall, as well as in any equipment or appliance, could develop a short, resulting in heat that could ignite the material within the equipment and spread to nearby fuels, such as paper, solvents, furniture, and more. You need to extinguish these various types by using the appropriate fire extinguisher; they come in several classes based on the fuel feeding the fire. Clearly, it is best to extinguish a fire at the source before multiple fuels are involved. Following is a description of the most common fire extinguisher classes:

Keep at least one fire extinguisher of the appropriate class or classes handy by your desk or workbench, in the wiring closet, the server room, and other locations. In some locations, you may have air-pressurized water (APW) fire extinguishers. Only use these on fires involving ordinary combustibles (see Class A in the previous list).

Be sure you know what class of fire extinguisher to use for each type of fire.

Some fire extinguishers contain dry chemicals, which leave a residue that reduces the chance of the fire reigniting, and some dry chemical extinguishers are rated for more than one class, which is very handy for a multiple-fuel fire. For instance, a BC extinguisher can be used on Class B or Class C fires, but be aware that it will leave a residue that must be cleaned immediately because it is corrosive. An ABC fire extinguisher is rated for all three fire types, but it leaves a sticky residue that can damage computers and electrical appliances.

Some Class B and C extinguishers contain carbon dioxide (CO2), a nonflammable gas. One advantage of a CO2 extinguisher is that it does not leave a residue, but because a CO2 extinguisher relies on high pressure, it may shoot out bits of dry ice. Never use a CO2 extinguisher on a Class A fire, because it may not smother the fire enough to fully extinguish it.

Using the wrong type of fire extinguisher on a fire can spread the fire, and using water on an electrical fire could electrocute you.

Another nonflammable gas sometimes used in Class B and C fire extinguishers is halon, with nitrogen as a propellant. Halon fire extinguishers area ideal for electronic equipment because they leave no residue; in addition, halon extinguishers are also effective on Class A fires. However, halon was classified as an ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) under the Clean Air Act, and production of halon ceased in 1994. There are no federal or state regulations prohibiting the buying, selling, or use of halon extinguishers, but once the existing supply of halon has been depleted, no more will be created.

Lifting and Moving Equipment

In the United States, lifting is the number one cause of back injuries. Therefore, when lifting and moving computer equipment or any objects, take the time to do it safely, protecting yourself and the equipment, as described here.

Protecting Yourself

It is easy to injure your back when moving equipment. Therefore, the weight of what you lift and how you lift it are important factors, which means that every instance of lifting and moving is different.

Lifting Weight Limits  Ironically, as far as laws and regulations go, there are no clear limits on what an employee can lift, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has no standards written for many specific workplace lifting situations. This is because the actual circumstances differ widely, and the weight is just one consideration. Lifting hazards are very broadly addressed under the General Duty Clause of the OSH Act, specifically Section 5(a)(1). It states:

Each employer—shall furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) publishes a lifting equation so that employers can evaluate the lifting tasks for employees and establish a recommended weight limit. This is a rather complicated equation requiring considerable effort to gather information about each situation. Then, when you factor in all the human variables of every lifting situation, you understand the difficulty of attempting to calculate a maximum lifting weight.

Government agencies and other organizations have created calculators to help employees establish guidelines for lifting. One such calculator by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) is available online at https://www.bwc.ohio.gov. Figure 1-3 shows this calculator. This one is rather simple, requiring just a few pieces of information. When we selected lower back disorder, with a shoulder level lift, a horizontal reach of 12 inches, and a 30-degree trunk-twisting angle during the lift, the results box showed that lifting up to 20 pounds with the presented criteria resulted in a low risk level. It also showed that lifting between 20 and 25 pounds resulted in a moderate risk level. Exercise 1-1 will help you research lifting guidelines.

FIGURE 1-3    A lifting guideline tool published by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation

EXERCISE 1-1

Research Lifting Guidelines

It is important to protect yourself from injury while lifting, so take some time to research the guidelines:

1. Use your favorite Internet search engine to search on the keywords workplace safety lifting guide. Search through the results to find a guide that will help you with your own situation.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation site is one possible resource, as shown in Figure 1-3. We accessed the lifting guide shown in Figure 1-3 at https://www.bwc.ohio.gov/employer/programs/safety/liftguide/liftguide.asp, but because sites tend to change their organization periodically, that link may not work for you. If it doesn’t, go to their home page at https://www.bwc.ohio.gov. In the search box on this page enter lifting guidelines. You will need to poke around in the results until you locate the lifting guide. We found it by selecting the result labeled OhioBWC—Employer (Safety Services)—Ergonomics, and on the resulting page we selected Lifting guidelines from the list of related links.

2. When you find a guide that allows you to enter criteria for a lift, such as that at the Ohio BWC site, make up a scenario, enter the data, and see the results it calculates.

Tips for Safe Lifting and Moving  The best protection is common sense and very careful lifting. So, when lifting a heavy object, protect your back by following these tips:

   Plan the move and clear the path before beginning.

   Move as close to the item as possible.

   Check the weight of the equipment to see if you need assistance in lifting and moving it.

   Keep your back straight and vertical to the floor.

   Keep your head up and look straight ahead.

   Do not stoop, but bend your knees.

   Carry the item close to your body.

   Tighten abdominal muscles to help your back.

   Use slow, smooth movements, and do not twist your back while lifting.

   Don’t try to carry heavy items farther than a few feet without the aid of a utility cart, such as the one shown in Figure 1-4.

FIGURE 1-4    A utility cart is handy for moving computer equipment.

Watch Out for Sharp Edges   Whenever handling computer components, be very careful of the sharp edges on sheet metal computer cases and in some peripherals. It is very easy to cut yourself on these. Similarly, the backs of many circuit boards contain very sharp wire ends that can cause puncture wounds. Work gloves offer protection, even if they are a bit awkward to use while handling delicate computer equipment. If you cannot wear gloves, be very cautious, checking each surface before positioning your hands.

Protecting the Equipment

While personal safety is paramount, you are also responsible for protecting the equipment you handle. Therefore, power down each piece of equipment and disconnect it from power outlets before moving it—even when moving it from one side of a desk to another. This includes laptops! Yes, they are portable devices, but if a computer has a conventional hard disk drive (HDD), moving it around while it is actively running can harm the hard drive.

Do not just flip the power switch, but select Power | Shut Down from the Windows Start menu or Start screen in Windows 8 or later (or Start | Shut Down in Windows Vista or Windows 7). After the computer turns off, unplug the power cord. You may question always unplugging a device before moving it—even from one side of a desk to another, but we have seen too many instances in which a connected power cord caused personal injury or damage to other things. You simply are not in complete control of a device when it is still tethered to the wall.

Be very careful when moving displays. They can be fragile, and you must take care not to drop a display or put any pressure on the front of it.

Other devices require special handling when moving them. If you are unsure of the proper way to move a computer or peripheral, check out the documentation. For instance, in order to protect fragile components, a scanner may have a transportation lock that you must engage before moving it.

Hot Components

When you open up a computer or printer, be very careful to not touch hot components or let anything else touch them because some components, such as a CPU heat sink and a laser printer’s fuser, remain hot enough to burn you for several minutes after powering them down. Cautiously check for hot components by holding your hand near, but not on, computer components before you touch them.

Electrical Safety

Both high voltage and low voltage can be dangerous, so be sure to follow precautions when working around high- and low-voltage devices, and avoid contact with them.

Desktop PC power supplies and CRT monitors are high-voltage equipment. Never open them, and never wear an antistatic strap while working with either of these components.

High Voltage

Leave servicing high-voltage peripherals such as CRT monitors, laser printers, and power supplies to technicians trained in that area. Even when unplugged for an extended period, such devices can store enough voltage to cause severe injury or death from electrical shock. Never use an electrostatic discharge (ESD) wristband or other antistatic equipment (discussed later in this chapter) when working with high-voltage devices.

Low Voltage

Although high voltage is obviously dangerous, low voltage, under certain circumstances, can also cause serious injury or death. People have died from electrical injuries involving as little as 50 volts! Many variables determine the amount of damage electric shock can cause to a victim. These include (but are not limited to) the body’s resistance or lack of resistance to the current, the path of the current through the body, and how long the body is in contact with the electrical current.

Remember that both high voltage and low voltage can cause serious injuries and even death. Lack of external burns on a person who has had an electric shock does not necessarily mean that the injury is minor.

If the skin offers little electrical resistance (if it is wet, for instance), it may appear undamaged, although internal organs might be damaged. If the skin, due to dryness, thickness, or a combination of characteristics, offers greater resistance, it may burn badly but internal organs may not be damaged.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

One of the most prevalent threats to a computer component is electrostatic discharge (ESD), also known as static electricity, or simply, static. Static is all around us, especially when both the humidity and the temperature are low. When putting on a jacket makes the hair on your arm stand up, you are encountering static electricity. When you slide your feet across a carpet and then touch a person, a doorknob, or a light switch and feel a jolt, you are experiencing a static discharge.

The Dangers of ESD

ESD happens when two objects of uneven electrical charge encounter one another. Electricity always travels from an area of higher charge to an area of lower charge, and the static shock that you feel is the result of electrons jumping from your skin to the other object. The same process can occur within a computer. If your body has a high electric potential, electrons will transfer to the first computer component that you touch.

Electrostatic discharge can cause irreparable damage to your computer’s components and peripherals. Typical ESD discharges range from 600 to 25,000 volts, although at tiny amperages. Most computer components can safely withstand voltages of ±12 volts, so damage to computer components can occur at as little as 30 volts—a charge you will not even detect because, under the right conditions, your body can withstand 25,000 volts.

Do not count on the body’s ability to withstand 25,000 volts. This ability depends on the right circumstances. Learn more about this in the next section.

These very low-voltage static charges, or hidden ESD, can come from many sources, including dust buildup inside a computer. Dust and other foreign particles can hold an electric charge that slowly bleeds into nearby components. This hidden ESD can cause serious problems because you will have no hint of trouble until damage has occurred and the component malfunctions. This damage is very difficult to pinpoint.

ESD can cause the immediate, catastrophic malfunction of a device, or it can cause a gradually worsening problem in a device—a process called degradation. As unlikely as it might seem, degradation damage can be more costly in lost work time and in troubleshooting and repair time than catastrophic damage. When a device suffers catastrophic damage, typically the result is immediate and obvious, so you will know to replace it right away. Degradation, on the other hand, can cause a component to malfunction sporadically, sometimes working and sometimes not. This makes pinpointing the cause harder, and the problem will persist for a longer period and be more disruptive to the user and to the support professional.

Additionally, a total failure of one component will typically not affect the usability of other components. However, degradation can cause a component to fail in ways that also result in the failure of other components.

Most static discharges are well above 600 volts, but it takes a charge of only about 30 volts to weaken or destroy a computer component.

Protection from ESD Damage and Injury

There are many ways to prevent ESD from damaging computer equipment. First, low humidity contributes to ESD; therefore, when possible, keep computer equipment in a room in which the humidity is between 50 and 80 percent. Avoid cold and dry (below 50 percent humidity) conditions, as that creates the ideal environment for ESD to occur. But do not allow the humidity to rise above 80 percent, or condensation could form on the equipment and cause it to short out.

To prevent damage to the system, you must equalize the electrical charge between your body and the components inside your computer. Touching a grounded portion of your computer’s chassis will work to some extent (which CompTIA A+ 902 exam objective 5.1 calls self-grounding), but for complete safety, use an ESD wrist strap with a ground wire attached to the computer frame. See Figure 1-5 showing an ESD wrist strap with an alligator clip for attaching the ground wire to a grounded object. This will drain static charges from your body to ground. If a static charge has built up in the computer equipment, it will also bleed from the computer through your body to ground. This is true of any electrical flow; therefore, you must never use an antistatic strap attached to your body when working around high-voltage devices.

FIGURE 1-5    An ESD wrist strap with grounding wire and alligator clip

Remember that the ideal humidity range for a room containing computer equipment is between 50 and 80 percent.

Avoid severe electric shock caused by misuse of an ESD device. Never use one of these devices in a manner that puts your body between a power source and ground, such as when working around high-voltage devices.

Many computer assembly and repair shops use an ESD mat that discharges static when you stand on it. Similarly, an ESD mat on the bench table is a safe place to put expansion cards or other internal components that you have removed from the computer. An ESD mat looks like a vinyl placemat, but it has a wire lead and (usually) an alligator clip to connect it to ground.

Before you pick up a loose computer component, if you are not wearing or touching an antistatic device, discharge any static electricity on your body by touching something metal, such as a table leg or chair. Equipment placed on the mat will discharge static through it. All of these ESD devices usually have cables that you must attach to a grounded metal object. Some have a single prong that you insert into the ground socket in a regular self-grounding wall outlet. In the United States and Canada, the ground socket is the single round socket offset from the two slender blade sockets. Other cables on ESD wrist or ankle straps or on ESD mats may use alligator clips for making this attachment. Components like memory sticks and adapter cards may come in antistatic packaging, often an antistatic bag, and you should store used components in antistatic bags if their original packaging is not available. Do not remove the item from the packaging or bag until you are prepared to install it, and never place it on top of its antistatic packaging, since the outside does not offer any protection.

An antistatic bag provides no protection when used like a potholder to handle components. (Yes, we’ve seen people doing this.) There’s no protection provided on the outside of the bag. ESD protection occurs only when the component is inside the bag. That’s because the bag functions as a Faraday cage. (Google that if needed.)

In addition to the ESD/antistatic products mentioned in this section, there are others, including gloves, finger cots, labels, cleaners, bins, meters, and spray. Exercise 1-2 will lead you through the process of protecting your workspace and computer from ESD damage using some of these products.

EXERCISE 1-2

ESD-Proofing Your Workspace

Whether your workspace is a cubicle or desk at which you do minor repairs, or a computer workbench where you do more extensive service on computers and peripherals, follow these simple steps to ESD-proof your workspace:

1. Maintain the room’s humidity between 50 percent and 80 percent.

2. Spray your clothing and the work area with antistatic spray. Never spray directly on the computer, its components, printers, or scanners.

3. Place an ESD mat on the workspace and attach its alligator clip to something stationary and metal, such as the leg of a table.

4. Remove all jewelry, including rings.

5. Put an ESD strap around your wrist, and attach the other end to a stationary metal object (if it has an alligator clip) or plug it into a wall outlet’s ground socket (only if the grounding strap has an outlet prong).

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI)

Another problem related to electricity is electromagnetic interference (EMI), which is the disruption of signal transmission caused by the radiation of electrical and magnetic fields. Equipment such as electric motors, high-voltage transformers, electrical panels, and fluorescent lights are sources of EMI. The EMI from these devices can temporarily interfere with the functioning of some types of computer equipment, such as older CRT monitors. EMI interference can cause a CRT to have a jittery or distorted picture, but removing the source of the interference, or moving the monitor, will cause the picture to return to normal. The biggest problem with EMI is that it can disturb the transmission of data over copper wires, such as network cables.

Putting magnetic business cards and refrigerator magnets on a computer is highly risky. Remember, a traditional hard drive’s read/write head is actually a tiny electromagnet that writes magnetic information on a magnetic surface, so erasing data by putting a magnet near it is easy. Keep magnets away from computers!

Do not be confused by the similarity in the names: ESD can damage or destroy hardware, whereas EMI usually causes temporary problems and is more dangerous to data than to hardware. Similarly, devices such as cordless phones and microwave ovens can cause radio frequency interference (RFI), described in Chapter 16, and can disrupt network communications.

Working Safely with Power Supplies

The power stored in the capacitors in a computer’s high-voltage power supply is enough to cause injury or death. Simply turning off the power switch is not enough. Even when turned off, the power supply in a computer or printer can provide electricity, and most motherboards continue to have power applied—a technology called soft power that we describe in Chapter 5. To be safe, unplug the power supply and never wear an ESD wrist strap when replacing or handling a power supply. Also, never open a power supply.

Some technicians leave the power supply plugged in while they work on the computer to allow static to bleed away from the computer into the wall outlet’s ground wire. However, we do not recommend this; safer methods are available for removing static, such as placing the computer on an ESD mat. If a question comes up about this on the CompTIA A+ exam, the correct answer is to always unplug before servicing a PC.

Display Devices

Although flat-panel displays have replaced CRT monitors, there are still a few CRTs still out in the field. Remember—like power supplies, CRT monitors are high-voltage equipment and can store a harmful electrical charge, even when unplugged. Never open a CRT case, and never wear a wrist strap when handling a CRT. You do not want to provide a path to ground through your body for this charge.

Printers

Printers have many moving parts, so you need to follow several basic safety procedures whenever you work with or around a printer. Do not allow long hair, clothing, jewelry, or other objects near the moving parts of a printer, because of the danger of their being entangled in the moving parts, including feed or exit rollers. In particular, a necktie or scarf itself may build up a static charge that it can pass to the component if it touches it. When wearing a tie or scarf, make sure you either tuck it into your shirt or use some kind of clip or tie tack. Figure 1-6 shows an open printer and the cartridge assembly, which rapidly moves back and forth when operating.

FIGURE 1-6    Keep loose clothing and jewelry away from open printers.

Furthermore, do not try to operate a printer with the cover off. The cartridge in an inkjet printer, and the print head in a dot matrix printer, move rapidly back and forth across the page, and getting your hands or other objects caught is possible, damaging both you and the printer. The laser beam in a laser printer can cause eye damage. Most printers do not work when their covers are open anyway.

The fusing assembly and the power supply pose the two biggest dangers associated with working with a laser printer. Avoid touching the fusing roller in a laser printer because it can be hot enough to burn. Power down a laser printer and allow it to cool off before opening it. Laser printers also use both high-voltage and low-voltage/high-current power supplies. Make sure you power off and unplug the laser printer before opening it. See Figure 1-7.

FIGURE 1-7    A laser printer with the toner cartridge removed, showing the potentially very hot fusing area deep in the back

Compressed Air

You can use compressed air to clean dirt and dust out of computers, as described in Chapter 11. When using canned compressed air to blow dust out of computers and peripherals, take care to keep the can upright while spraying and avoid tilting or turning the can upside down because the liquid gas that forces the air out may spill and cause freeze burns on your skin and/or damage components. Never use compressed air from an air compressor because the pressure is too high and it can damage delicate components.

Additionally, when you use compressed air to clean anything, you should wear eye protection, such as safety goggles, and even an air filter mask to keep from inhaling dust and getting airborne particles in your eyes. Figure 1-8 shows these items, ready to use.

FIGURE 1-8    A can of compressed air, eye protection, and a filter mask

CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVE

   902: 5.2   Given a scenario with potential environmental impacts, apply the appropriate controls

The A+ candidate must prove knowledge of the dangers posed by inappropriate disposal of computer equipment and chemical solvents that contain materials hazardous to the environment. Similarly, the A+ exams will test your knowledge of how to discover proper disposal methods in your community.

Environmental Concerns for IT Professionals

As an IT professional, you will be concerned with the environment of the workplace and its effect on the health of people and equipment. Earlier, we detailed the issues of safety in the workplace, which is just one part of addressing your workplace environment. Next, we will look at protecting people and equipment from the airborne particles generated by manufacturing or computer equipment, and then we will examine proper disposal of computer waste without causing a negative impact on the environment.

Working in a Harsh Environment

Computers and peripherals, as well as the people who use and support them, often operate in harsh work environments that can negatively affect both the equipment and the people. These workplaces can be too hot, too cold, dusty, dirty, and noisy. Further, some worksites do not have the reliable, consistent power computers require. Now we’ll look at measures you can take to protect people and equipment from problematic work environments.

Protection from Dust, Debris, and Other Airborne Particles

When cleaning computer equipment with compressed air or a vacuum, you might stir up a cloud of dust, debris, or other particles that you don’t want in your lungs. For example, toner (which is a blend of iron and plastic powder) can be hazardous to breathe in. The dust and debris that build up inside a PC case can also cause coughing and breathing difficulties if inhaled.

When cleaning dusty items with compressed air or a vacuum, wear an air filter mask and safety goggles to keep all that dust and debris out of your eyes, nose, and mouth. In addition, when using a vacuum to clean up spilled toner, make sure it is a model designed for electronics use, not a regular household vacuum. That’s because the electronics vacuum has a finer filter on it; on a standard vacuum, the particles can pass right through the air filter and circulate out into the air you breathe.

Providing the Proper Environment for Equipment

Extremes of heat, humidity, and airborne particles are damaging to computers and peripherals. To find the actual temperature and humidity extremes listed in the user or technical manual for a PC or component, look under Operating Environment. A recommended operating environment is in the range of 50 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (10 to 32 degrees Centigrade) with relative humidity between 50 and 80 percent. A rough guideline: if you are not comfortable, the PC is not either.

Therefore, the best operating environment for computers is a climate-controlled room with a filtration system to control these three enemies of electronics. However, since this is not always possible, consider an appropriate enclosure or case that will provide better ventilation and filtration.

Providing Good Power

Matching power requirements for equipment with power distribution is important. Therefore, ensure a power supply in a computer can handle the requirements of the components it supplies. Learn more in the discussion of power supplies, electrical terminology, and power requirements for PC components in Chapter 5, and learn about power requirements for laptops in Chapter 7.

When you consider a proper environment for computer equipment, you must also think of the power it receives. Therefore, you should never plug critical equipment into a wall outlet without some provision to protect it from the vagaries of the power grid. While sags in power below the 115V U.S. standards can cause your computer to reboot or power off, a power surge can do significant damage. A power surge is a brief, potentially damaging increase in the amount of electrical power. A simple power strip offers no protection because it is nothing more than an extension cord with several power outlets. At a minimum, use a surge suppressor to protect all computer equipment, including modems and phone and cable lines.

Surge Suppressor   At first glance, a surge suppressor (also called a surge protector) may look like an ordinary power strip, but it protects equipment from power surges. Your PC’s power supply will also do this for small power fluctuations above the 115V U.S. standard, but it will eventually fail if it is the first line of defense. Therefore, plug your PC into a surge suppressor that has a protection rating of more than 800 joules. (A joule is a unit of energy.) Look for a surge suppressor that carries the Underwriters Laboratories label showing that it complies with UL standard 1449; this is the least expensive power protection device.

To distinguish a surge suppressor from a simple power strip, look for the UL label showing a protection rating of more than 800 joules.

Beyond Surge Suppressors   Do not just buy the minimum; buy the best power protection you can afford, which should include protection from power fluctuations, brownouts, and blackouts. Power fluctuations involve all sorts of inconsistencies in the delivery of electrical power—both too much (surges) and too little. A brownout is a period during which heavy demand or other problems cause a reduced flow of power, which can cause computers to behave erratically and suddenly power off. A blackout is a complete loss of power. The duration of a brownout or blackout depends on the cause and the ability of responsible parties, such as electrical utilities, to correct the problem. Blackouts can last hours or days, and your first concern related to a brownout or blackout is to have enough time to safely save your data and shut down your computer. The most common device that protects from power brownouts and blackouts while giving you time for these tasks is an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). A UPS will also normally protect from power surges. A UPS is more expensive than a simple surge suppressor, but UPS prices have come down as more manufacturers have introduced consumer-level versions of these devices, such as the one shown in Figure 1-9. Notice the ports labeled Battery Backup and Surge Protection at the top and the ports labeled Surge Protection on the bottom. Plug your computer and display into the Battery Backup ports and they will be doubly protected. Plug less critical equipment into the second type of port to protect it from surges only, not from power outages.

FIGURE 1-9    This type of UPS contains a battery backup that provides battery power for a limited period in the event of a power outage.

In order to select a UPS, first determine the power requirements in watts for each device you will connect to the UPS and add them up. Then decide how much time you would require to save your data when main power fails.

A computer or other device plugged into a UPS battery backup port is truly isolated from line power because during normal operation, the device runs directly off the battery through an inverter, which takes the direct current (DC) power stored in the battery and converts it to 110V, 60-cycle alternating current (AC) power. The battery is continually charging from line power, and when it loses line power, the battery continues to power the computer for a short period. The time the battery can power the computer is limited and varies by the capacity of the battery in the UPS and by how much power the computer draws. Unless line power comes back on quickly, you probably have a window of just minutes to save your data and to power down the computer. For this reason, a UPS device usually includes a data cable and software. Once the software is installed and the UPS senses a power outage, the software warns you to shut down. If no one is at the keyboard to respond, it will automatically save open data files, shut down the operating system, and power down the computer before the UPS itself runs out of battery power. A UPS is more expensive than a surge suppressor, but it gives excellent power protection.

In a real disaster, power can be off for days or weeks. If you work with mission-critical systems in certain industries, like banking and hospitals, the organization should have backup power generators that can kick in and provide power. Propane or diesel usually powers such generators.

Disposing of Computing Waste

Lead, mercury (including the mercury in laptop backlights), cadmium, chromium, brominated flame retardants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)—what do they all have in common? They are toxic to the environment and to humans if mishandled. They are widely used in electronics, including computers, printers, and monitors, so you must dispose of or recycle these items in the proper manner. You should never discard them directly into the trash where they will end up in landfills and potentially pollute the ground water.

In addition, electronics contain plastic, steel, aluminum, and precious metals—all of which are recoverable and recyclable. Provide containers in which to collect these components for proper sorting and disposal. Check with local agencies to ensure that you comply with local government regulations concerning disposal of all computer waste materials.

Manufacturers’ Recycling Programs

Some computer companies, such as Dell and Hewlett-Packard (HP), and other electronics companies such as Nokia, are using more environmentally friendly components and working to recycle components from discarded computers. In fact, there is a relationship between these two activities. The more a manufacturer is involved in recycling the wastes from its products, the more changes that company makes to use more eco-friendly material. If companies don’t use environmentally hazardous materials in electronic components in the first place, then the environment is in less danger. Manufacturers are a long way from eliminating hazardous materials from electronics, however, so we need to continue recycling for both hazardous and nonrenewable materials, such as gold, copper, and aluminum. In spite of efforts by several manufacturers to help users recycle computer components, estimates are that only 10 to 15 percent of electronics are recycled.

Batteries

Many batteries contain environmentally hazardous materials, such as lithium, mercury, or nickel and cadmium, so you cannot just put them in the trash where they will end up in a landfill. Many communities have special recycling depots that accept batteries so they do not introduce harmful elements into the environment; they may also periodically conduct hazardous material pickups in which you can hand over toxic materials, such as batteries and paint, for proper disposal.

Never store computer batteries for extended periods, and never leave batteries in equipment being stored for extended periods because battery casings are notorious for corroding, allowing the chemicals inside to leak or explode out. Leaking or exploding chemicals can cause a large mess within the equipment, destroy nearby components, and cause skin burns if you touch them.

Laser Printer Toner Cartridges

Laser printer toner cartridges contain the toner, which is the print medium for laser printers, and they often contain other components important to the printing process, such as the photosensitive drum. Toner is the medium for laser printers and is normally available packaged within a toner cartridge. The toner consists of very fine particles of clay combined with pigment and resin. Although the chemical makeup of laser toner may not be harmful, the super-fine powder of laser toner poses a hazard to your lungs. For this reason, be careful when cleaning up toner residue, using a damp cloth for any residue outside the printer, and a filtered vacuum (antistatic, if possible) when cleaning up spilled toner inside a printer that has been powered down and unplugged from a power source.

When working with laser printers and handling toner cartridges, avoid breathing in the toner powder.

The cartridges for many laser printers also contain the cylindrical photosensitive drum, the cleaning blade, and other components that are also considered consumables, because you normally replace the entire cartridge together with its contents once the toner is gone. Therefore, you will need to dispose of many toner cartridges over the life of a laser printer.

Laser printer toner cartridges also provide a potential environmental hazard due in part to their large numbers and the space they can take up in a landfill. For this reason, you should not simply throw them away. Fortunately, most toner cartridges have reusable components. That is, many companies will buy back used toner cartridges, refill and recondition them (if necessary), and then resell them. Figure 1-10 shows a laser toner cartridge removed from a printer. Learn more about the laser printing process in Chapter 21.

FIGURE 1-10    A laser printer toner cartridge

Ink Cartridges

The most common color printers found in homes and offices are inkjet printers that use wet ink that comes in cartridges. These cartridges are reusable, or you can recycle them for the plastic and other materials they contain. A large number of organizations accept used inkjet cartridges for recycling. Some, such as retailers, have collection containers for printer cartridges and other computer waste, and will give you credit toward new or recharged cartridges. Some organizations apply the profit from recycling the cartridges to some worthy cause. We use special preaddressed envelopers we received from a charity. Once we have enough to fill the envelope, we mail it in. It is easy to do this and it helps the environment as well as a charity of your choice. Do this with used cartridges, as well as those unused cartridges we often are left with after a printer fails and we discard it. Figure 1-11 shows print cartridges and a mailer for sending them in to a recycling center.

FIGURE 1-11    Used inkjet cartridges ready for recycling

Display Devices

Because CRTs are obsolete, you will probably encounter some that you’ll need to dispose of. CRT displays contain lead, which is toxic to the environment, but it is also a useful recyclable metal. Therefore, never throw CRTs in trash destined for a landfill. Always search for ways to recycle a CRT.

Flat-panel displays, including those in laptop computers, use fluorescent lamps that contain toxic material, so these displays, too, must be recycled. Call your local waste disposal organization and arrange to drop monitors off at its site. Many communities advertise locations and hours for these recycling services.

Chemical Solvents and Cans

All chemical solvents are potentially hazardous to the environment, so you must dispose of them properly. If you are unsure of the proper handling or disposal procedures for a chemical, look for its material safety data sheet (MSDS). An MSDS is a standardized document that contains general information, ingredients, and fire and explosion warnings, as well as health, disposal, and safe transportation information about a particular product. Any manufacturer that sells a potentially hazardous product must issue an MSDS for it.

If an MSDS did not come with a particular chemical, contact the manufacturer or search for it on the Internet. A number of websites contain large lists of MSDSs. There have been some major changes in these websites. Therefore, if you wish to find an MSDS on a particular product or type of product, use a search engine with appropriate keywords, including MSDS and terms associated with the product.

Be sure you know the purpose of an MSDS and how to obtain one.

Many communities collect solvents and paints and make them available for recycling. Residents can go to the recycling center and obtain the solvents or paints for free or at a reduced cost. Those solvents and paints deemed unsafe for recycling are disposed of properly. Look for a hazardous material pickup or depot in your area.

Similarly, empty cans, including aerosol cans, should be disposed of in an appropriate manner. Contact your local waste disposal company for the proper handling and disposal of empty cans that once held solvents or other toxic materials. They may be as dangerous as their previous contents. Exercise 1-3 can help you get started researching the recycling options in your area.

EXERCISE 1-3

Researching Recycling Centers

Research the recycling options in your community.

1. First, use the local phone book and look under the local government listings for recycling. List the center nearest your home here:_______________.

2. Call the center and determine if it accepts the following items: computer monitors, chemicals, empty paint and solvent cans, circuit boards, old computers, or batteries.

3. Find out the days and times when the center accepts these items for recycling and list them here:_______________.

4. Ask if the center has private home pick-up service for recycling, and ask how to arrange it.

5. Ask if the center has a business pick-up service for recycling, and ask how to arrange it.

CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVE

   902: 5.3   Summarize the process of addressing prohibited content/activity, and explain privacy, licensing, and policy concepts

The A+ exam will test your knowledge of the general concepts surrounding prohibited content in the workplace and how you, as an IT professional, should handle the discovery of prohibited activity.

Dealing with Prohibited Content and Prohibited Activities

Access to the Internet gives you access to the world with all its imperfections. Similarly, access to a corporate network gives you access to all types of content owned and managed by the corporation. As an IT professional, you need to be aware of issues related to the types of content available on the Internet, and, on a smaller scale, on a corporate network and local computers. In the following sections, we will discuss prohibited content and activities, and the government agencies and institutions that define and combat them. Then we will look at what you need to know about how you should respond on the job to discovery of prohibited content or activities.

Defining Prohibited Content and Behavior

Prohibited content is any content that an organization or government deems is harmful to the institution in general and to all persons or a class of persons for which it is responsible. An example of a class of persons is children, who can be harmed by content deemed pornographic or violent. In the case of an organization, the persons for whom this content is defined may be their employees, customers, or members. For a government, it covers their citizens and anyone who enters the country or, in the case of the Internet, communicates over the Internet. Content may also be prohibited in certain situations because it exposes the company to potential legal liability or gives away trade secrets or demographic information that a competitor could exploit.

As an IT professional, it is not usually your job to define what content should be prohibited in a particular environment; your job is to help enforce the guidelines or regulations that your employer provides by identifying, documenting, and reporting violations.

Policies Concerning Prohibited Content and Behavior

While governments have laws concerning prohibited content and behavior, most organizations have, or should have, documents defining how laws and the corporations’ rules apply to employees and what they must do to comply. These may fall under a set of organizational policies and procedures, security policies, or both. Such policies vary by organization, but should cover certain areas and define prohibited behavior.

Acceptable-Use Policy

An acceptable-use policy is a security policy that defines what actions can be taken on data and computing resources, including—but not limited to—storing, accessing, deleting, disseminating, and sharing of that data through computers and networks. Such policy must comply with all applicable laws as well as the policies and rules of the organization. An acceptable-use policy normally defines how acceptable use is managed, ownership of data, what acceptable use is for various types of data and computing resources, and what incidental use of computing resources (e-mail, Internet access, fax machines, printers, copiers, etc.) is allowed for employees for personal use. We’ll discuss some of the topics you should expect to find in an acceptable-use policy.

In defining how acceptable use is managed, the policy will define who is responsible for defining and maintaining this policy, who is responsible for training and educating employees about the acceptable-use policy, who is responsible for establishing a formal review cycle for the acceptable-use policy, and the initiatives that result from it.

Further, the acceptable-use policy will define an incident-report policy describing to whom employees should report any prohibited activity, what proof is needed to substantiate the claim, and what methods should be used to make a report.

An acceptable-use policy should define classes of data, depending on the type of organization. Confidential data is often organized into categories, such as patient medical data, patient/customer financial data, product data, research data, and many others.

An acceptable-use policy usually defines ownership of all data created and stored on the organization’s computer systems as belonging to the organization. It also will state that, as part of managing acceptable use, designated employees have the right to monitor and/or log all employee use of such data and may access all such data stored at any time without employee knowledge.

An acceptable-use policy will also define the behavior of employees expected as part of acceptable use. This is usually a long list of requirements as well as prohibited behaviors. For instance, it will require that employees report any indication of a problem with computer security to the appropriate support staff. This includes unusual system behavior that could indicate a security threat. Employees are also required to report incidents of possible misuse or violation of the policy through the processes defined in the acceptable-use policy and to the appropriate staff. Other stipulations of an acceptable-use policy will prohibit users from sharing their user accounts (network, e-mail, and others) and related passwords, personal identification numbers (PINs), smart cards and similar security tokens, and other means of accessing accounts. Some organizations define a separate e-mail policy for employees, while others may combine these policies to include all user accounts.

Remember that your first response to prohibited behavior should be to identify the behavior, report through proper channels, and preserve the data (logs, etc.) or devices containing evidence of the prohibited behavior.

If incidental use of the organization’s computer resources is allowed, the policy will define that use and most certainly will stipulate that the use must not result in any direct cost, legal action against, or embarrassment to the organization. Further, the acceptable use must not interfere with normal performance of the employee’s job.

Educating Employees on Policies and Procedures

Organizations use a range of methods to educate employees on policies and procedures. These include documents, such as an employee handbook, which may serve as an introduction to policies and procedures, as well as a reference. A new employee may have to sign a receipt and acknowledgement document stating that they received the handbook and have read and understand the content.

Ongoing training is also important for educating employees about policies and procedures, especially in an organization, such as a hospital or clinic, which comes under strict laws concerning patients’ confidentiality. Further, an organization may require that employees sign confidentiality and nondisclosure documents.

Additionally, some organizations will post signs reminding employees of required behavior, as well as informing customers/patients of their part in preserving their confidential data. For instance, we are all familiar with the signs in pharmacies requesting that clients line up an adequate distance from the pharmacy window to give others privacy while discussing and purchasing prescriptions.

Responding to the Discovery of Prohibited Content and/or Behavior

So, what should you do when you become aware of prohibited behavior? Perhaps you discover confidential patient information displayed on the screen of an unattended PC against company policy, or you find evidence of a coworker’s access to a known pornographic website on their work PC. The answer is, It all depends. Let’s look at the three components of a first response to the two scenarios presented here.

Once you have clearly identified prohibited behavior, your first response will depend on the actual behavior as well as the company’s policies and procedures. The following sections explain the procedures to follow when identifying and reporting prohibited behavior.

Identify the Problem

Identify the problem by asking yourself if it is truly a case of inappropriate behavior. In the case of the unattended PC with confidential patient information, this is inappropriate behavior, but you may need to determine if any harm has been done, and how you react also depends on the urgency of the situation and if harm has actually been done. Are unauthorized persons within viewing range of the computer screen? If so, then do whatever you can to change the screen content to hide such information. Is the responsible employee nearby? If so, then call it to that person’s attention and have it corrected. Once you have identified that inappropriate behavior has occurred, you need to comply with company policies and procedures to determine if you are required to report the problem.

Report Through Proper Channels

In the case of finding clear evidence of or upon witnessing a coworker’s access to prohibited content, you are required as an IT professional to report the incident through proper channels as defined in the organization’s policies and procedures documents.

Document Your Findings

Accusing someone of breaking a law or violating company policies can have serious consequences and you should not take it lightly. Therefore, you will need to document your observations that resulted in the accusation. This may require that you write a few simple statements or it may require that you fill out forms. Whatever the case, when documenting any prohibited behavior, be sure to avoid expressing personal opinion and conjecture. Simply state what you observed.

Maintain Chain of Custody

Because such reporting can result in consequences to the employee, as an IT professional you will need to preserve and track evidence of the improper or even illegal behavior and present it to the proper person. It must be clear who has had access to the evidence, even digital evidence. This record of who has access or possession of evidence is called the chain of custody, and you will need to follow the procedures described in the policies and procedures documents. Someone—maybe you—must be responsible for tracking the evidence and documenting the entire process.

Data/Device Preservation

Take steps to carefully preserve any data or device involved in the use of prohibited content; that includes capturing data that proves prohibited behavior. The steps you take will depend on the location of this data and/or device. If the data was stored on a local PC, you may need to remove the PC and store it in a secure location. If the incriminating data is stored on a network server, you may need to find a way to protect the data and leave it unaltered on the server, at the same time ensuring that no unauthorized person has access to it.

CERTIFICATION OBJECTIVE

   902: 5.4   Demonstrate proper communication techniques and professionalism

CompTIA requires an A+ candidate to demonstrate knowledge of appropriate interpersonal communication skills and professionalism in the workplace. Real communication between people consists of both the verbal and nonverbal behavior that results in exchanging thoughts, messages, or information. Not only must you say the right words, but your body language must convey the same message as your words. Professionalism includes your behavior in all interactions, as well as how you treat property belonging to your employer and customers.

Professionalism and Proper Communication

You show professionalism on the job in the way you dress and behave, as well as in how you communicate with customers and colleagues. In this section, we’ll explore the intertwined topics of professionalism and proper communication. In short, it isn’t just what you say—it’s how you say it and what you do while you are saying it.

Professionalism

Professionalism is a set of behaviors that each of us should use whether we are being observed or not. Many professions have a formal code of ethics that defines professionalism framed in the context of that profession. In this section, we will explore a general definition of professionalism for an IT worker, as it applies to behavior in dealing with others and in the treatment of property.

Professional Dress and Good Hygiene

Although not explicitly listed