Age of Empire iii Cheat Codes

 

Age of Empires III Cheat Codes

Cheat codes

Hit the ENTER key and key in the code

Cheat	Effect
X marks the spot	Reveals map (fog of war still there)
Medium Rare Please	Gives 10,000 food
Give me liberty or give me coin	Gives 10,000 coin
Nova & Orion	Gives 10,000 XP
A recent study indicated that 100% of herdables are obese	Fattens all animals on map
Speed always wins	Turns on 100x gather/build rates
Sooo Good	Turn on “Musketeer’ed!” when you get killed by Musketeers
Ya gotta make do with what ya got	Spawns the Mediocre Bombard at your Home City gather point
	Gives 10,000 wood
this is too hard	Win in singleplayer
tuck tuck tuck	Spawns a big red monster truck that can run over anything
Shiver me Timpers!	Destroys all the enemy boats on the map
Where's that axe?	George Crushington
	Get 10,000 Wood

Age of Empires III Secrets

• 
  

  Unlimited Resources

  Use a text editor to edit the "proto.xml" file in the "data" directory in the game folder. Note: You may first need to uncheck the "Read Only" attribute of that file's properties in Windows Explorer. Search for the text "CrateOf". You will find CrateofFood, CrateofCoin, CrateofWood, CrateofFoodLarge, CrafteofCoinLarge, and CrateofWoodLarge. For all these entries, find the tag "InitialResourceCount" and change the count to whatever desired. For example, the normal crates each have "100.000" of the resources. You can change the "100" to "99999.000", etc.
  
• 
  

  Easy Leveling in Single Player

  Open the sp_yourcityname_homecity.xml file in the My Documents\My Games\Age of Empires 3\Savegame (dont forget to make a back up first) folder, search for .
  You will see something like this xx, put in 99 for the xx, save the file, go into the game and play a skirmish. Now you are level 99 !
  
  
• 
  

  Unlimited Unlock Points in Single player

  Open the sp_yourcityname_homecity.xml file located in \My Documents\My Games\Age of Empires 3\Savegame (dont forget to make a backup of this file) find this line .
  The line should look like this xx, where x is the number of skillpoints you currently have. Change the xx to a high number such as 999, save the file and start Age of Empires 3. Go into a skirmish game, go to manage your city and you will now have 999 unlock points to unlock various things for your city.
  
  
• 
  

  Access Hidden Units in Editor

  There are several secret units that don't, at the moment of this writing, have a code to access them during games. Despite this, they can still be accessed in the editor through a simple process. First, place a unit on the map, then select the "Replace Unit" command under "Objects." In the drop down menu, select Fluffy, Flying Purple Tapir, Learicorn, George Crushington, Lazerbear, or Monster Truck A and then click replace unit.
  

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks Hints & Cheats

Unlock Sub-zero and Scorpion.

Enter these codes on the main menu screen. PAL version only.

Cheat	Effect
Hold L2 press: square, down, up, L1, L1, up, square release L2	Unlock Sub-Zero
Hold L2 press: square, up, L1, R1, left, right, square release L2	Unlock Scorpion

Unlock Mortal Kombat II Arcade

*Does not work for the PAL version of the game.* Enter this code while on the main menu screen. You should hear a sound if you entered it correctly.

Cheat	Effect
Hold the L2 Button down and press Square, Up, Down, Right, Left, R2 and Square	Unlocks Mortal Kombat II Arcade in the Kontent section

MK: Shaolin Monks Unlockables

Unlock Mortal Kombat II (Arcade Game)

Note: This does not work in the PAL version of the game

Unlockable	How to Unlock
Mortal Kombat II (Arcade)	Complete all 5 Smoke Missions

Unlockable Characters

Unlockable	How to Unlock
Scorpion in Story Mode	Beat the game with Liu Kang
Subzero for single player mode and co op mode	Beat the game once with kung lao

Unlockable Characters For Versus Mode

Finding Secret Orbs will sometimes net you a new character for versus mode.

Unlockable	How to Unlock
Johnny Cage	Second Level. Right after the first "Test Your Might" event, Cage's orb is directly above in a small roofed area.

Unlockable Reptile

Living Forest. Go to the section after the Brotherhood Of Shadow. Long Jump across the gap with the tiny waterfall. Go through the door. Now, get the Clay Statues to come to life. Destroy their shield. You only need 1 of them. Now, get one of them over near the Giant Stone Cloumn on the other side of the stream. It's the stone column right near where you entered. Throw the Clay Statue into it! It should come crashing down. Now, return to where the little waterfall was. There is no longer a waterfall. Just a Koin that contains Reptile.

Unlock Johnny Cage

In the wu-shi academy where everything is burning. Go to the very right of the gate and jump onto the roof of the house. Run to the right and jump. If you did it correctly, you will be on a new platform with a boulder blocking your way.

Unlock Baraka

In the soul tomb portal, got to the area where you have to wall climb. You will see 2 paths. One leads left, the other right. The right path has a statue. Use fist of ruin and break it. Keep going and use the long jump ability across the gap and you will get him.

Unlock Kitana

In the MK2 arena level (right before the portal with the two statues in front of it) in the evil monastery, you will see many pillars. Jump on one of them which is half broken and then double jump onto the roof. You will find the secret there.

Unlock Sub-Zero and Scorpion

Unlock Sub-Zero
After taking the boat ride across blood lake, his VS. icon is in back of the lion looking statue to your left (facing the big door), just run along the wall and when you get to the end double jump and its yours.

Unlock Scorpion
In foundry follow the pathway downstairs to the left of the save station. Two archers will bust through the wall. Throw one at the wall to the left of the door way and it will bust open revealing a secret room full of lava and a ying yang on a ledge. Grab one of the archers and throw them in the lava. Then double jump off the guards back to claim the Scorpion ying yang for VS.

Rescue Kabal and get his Hookswords

In the Wastelands, there are two doors that are covered with human bodies. One leads to the Elemental Warriors, the other is an area where Shokan warriors are throwing boulders at you. Go though the second door. Simply avoid the boulders and climb the ladders until you reach the top. There you will find Kabal inside a cage. Once he is freed, he will leave his hookswords as a sign of gratitude.

Vs. Levels

Unlockable	How to Unlock
Deadpool	Use the ko-op switch in Reptiles Lair
Living Forest	Use the ko-op switch in Reptiles Lair

How to unlock the arena between the Dead Pool and The Living Forest.

To get the Kombat Tombs you must go to the entrance of the Soul Tombs, when you get there go into the room nearest the statue, you must throw 3 enemies into the 3 Iron Maidens (the spike walls that slam shut) and The Kombat Tomb Koin will appear

Unlockable	How to Unlock
Kombat Tomb Arena (Vs. Mode)	Throw 3 Enemies into the 3 Iron Madiens in the Soul Tombs

Survival Mode

To access Survival Mode, you must be at the Foundry Stage. While holding the forged axe, walk back to the main chamber where you first found the save point. Walk down the corridor to the back and break away the wall on the left-hand side. Jump into the pool of lava in this room, then go back to the main chamber. Walk the path to the right of the save point and destroy the right-hand barrel at the end of the corridor. From here, go back to the main chamber, walk up the stairs to your left and move towards the barrels you see in the area. Be careful to only break the one on the right-hand side. Go back, but instead of going down the stairs again, keep hard to the right. There's a niche with two more barrels. Break the one on the right. Go back to the left and down the hall with the spike crushers falling overhead. When you past them, break the barrel closest to the right-hand wall. Return to the niche to break its last barrel, then back to break the remaining barrel just over the stairs. Survival Mode is the Boss Rush Mode of Shaolin Monks.

MK: Shaolin Monks Secrets

• Easy 1000 Exp Points!

  First obtain the combo ranking of "Toasty". Then immediately press the start button. The words "Toasty 1000" should appear in the middle of the screen and you will be awarded 1000 exp points. The best thing about this trick is, it works every time.

• Fight Ermac, Kano, and Mileena!

  To fight Ermac, you need the Fist of Ruin and Swing Ability. Go to Wu Shi Academy and go to the first area of it. Once you're there, look for the big red bridge. Before this, there is a split path. Take the one going over a chasm of spikes. On the other side is an evil Priest statue. Break it and head into the new area. Once you're there, jump onto the area to the left. Use swing to get to higher ground, then interact with the statue. The doors on the other side of the bridge in this area will open, and you will see the Warrior Shrine.

  Go to the Warrior Shrine, and examine the statue on the left three times to fight...Ermac!

  Near the end of the game, right before you fight the final three bosses, talk to Kitana three or four times. Destroy the guards that come into the room, then go through the new door to find...Kano!

  In the first area of the Living Forest, use the swing ability on the two big branches that can be found above you as you head for the save structure. Swing over to higher ground, then climb up the ladder. You will be in a new area. Head to the other end of this treetop area to fight...Mileena!

MK: Shaolin Monks Glitches

Invisible gameplay

*spoilers*

After Goro dies and Kung lao argues with Kang, wait until Kang is hit and morphs back into Shang Tsung. At the point that Tsung is green from being half-morphed, skip that cut-scene and when it returns to normal game-play, your character will be invisible and only his shadow on the ground will be visible

AdSense

AdSense is an ad serving application run by Google Inc. Website owners can enroll in this program to enable text, image, and video advertisements on their websites. These advertisements are administered by Google and generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression basis. Google beta tested a cost-per-action service, but discontinued it in October 2008 in favor of a DoubleClick offering (also owned by Google).^[2]

Overview

Google uses its Internet search technology to serve advertisements based on website content, the user's geographical location, and other factors. Those wanting to advertise with Google's targeted advertisement system may enroll through AdWords. AdSense has become a popular method of placing advertising on a website because the advertisements are less intrusive than most banners, and the content of the advertisements is often relevant to the website.

The use of proxy is allowed but if you use a proxy to enter your adsense account your account will be disabled. It has been seen lately that you can use proxies for logins, but sign up must be from a real computer. Proxies like hidemyass, armyproxy, schoolproxy, etc., can be used after signup.

Many websites use AdSense to monetize their content. AdSense has been particularly important for delivering advertising revenue to small websites that do not have the resources for developing advertising sales programs and sales people. To fill a website with advertisements that are relevant to the topics discussed, webmasters implement a brief script on the websites' pages. Websites that are content-rich have been very successful with this advertising program, as noted in a number of publisher case studies on the AdSense website.

Some webmasters invest significant effort into maximizing their own AdSense income. They do this in three ways:^{[citation needed]}

1. They use a wide range of traffic-generating techniques, including but not limited to online advertising.
2. They build valuable content on their websites that attracts AdSense advertisements, which pay out the most when they are clicked.
3. They use text content on their websites that encourages visitors to click on advertisements. Note that Google prohibits webmasters from using phrases like "Click on my AdSense ads" to increase click rates. The phrases accepted are "Sponsored Links" and "Advertisements".

The source of all AdSense income is the AdWords program, which in turn has a complex pricing model based on a Vickrey second price auction. AdSense commands an advertiser to submit a sealed bid (i.e., a bid not observable by competitors). Additionally, for any given click received, advertisers only pay one bid increment above the second-highest bid.

History

Oingo, Inc., a privately held company located in Los Angeles, was started in 1998 by Gilad Elbaz and Adam Weissman. Oingo developed a proprietary search algorithm that was based on word meanings and built upon an underlying lexicon called WordNet, which was developed over the previous 15 years by researchers at Princeton University, led by George Miller.^[3]

Oingo changed its name to Applied Semantics (company) in 2001,^[4] which was later acquired by Google in April 2003 for US$102 million.^[5]

In 2009, Google AdSense announced that it would now be offering new features, including the ability to "enable multiple networks to display ads".

Types

AdSense for Feeds

In May 2005, Google announced a limited-participation beta version of AdSense for Feeds, a version of AdSense that runs on RSS and Atom feeds that have more than 100 active subscribers. According to the Official Google Blog, "advertisers have their ads placed in the most appropriate feed articles; publishers are paid for their original content; readers see relevant advertising—and in the long run, more quality feeds to choose from."^[6]

AdSense for Feeds works by inserting images into a feed. When the image is displayed by a RSS reader or Web browser, Google writes the advertising content into the image that it returns. The advertisement content is chosen based on the content of the feed surrounding the image. When the user clicks the image, he or she is redirected to the advertiser's website in the same way as regular AdSense advertisements.

AdSense for Feeds remained in its beta state until August 15, 2008, when it became available to all AdSense users.

AdSense for search

A companion to the regular AdSense program, AdSense for search, allows website owners to place Google search boxes on their websites. When a user searches the Internet or the website with the search box, Google shares any advertising revenue it makes from those searches with the website owner. However the publisher is paid only if the advertisements on the page are clicked: AdSense does not pay publishers for mere searches.

AdSense for mobile content

AdSense for mobile content allows publishers to generate earnings from their mobile websites using targeted Google advertisements. Just like AdSense for content, Google matches advertisements to the content of a website — in this case, a mobile website.

AdSense for domains

Adsense for domains allows advertisements to be placed on domain names that have not been developed. This offers domain name owners a way to monetize domain names that are otherwise dormant. Adsense for domains is currently being offered to some users, with plans to make it available to all in stages.

On December 12, 2008, TechCrunch reported that AdSense for Domains is available for all US publishers.^[7]

AdSense for video

AdSense for video allows publishers with video content to generate revenue using ad placements from Google's extensive Advertising network including popular Youtube videos.^[8]

XHTML compatibility

As of September 2007, the HTML code for the AdSense search box does not validate as XHTML, and does not follow modern principles of website design because of its use of

• non-standard end tags, such as and ,
• the attribute checked rather than checked="checked",
• presentational attributes other than id, class, or style — for example, bgcolor and align,
• a table structure for purely presentational (i.e., non-tabular) purposes,¹ and
• the font tag.²

1: using a table structure for unintended purposes is strongly discouraged by the W3C,^[9] but nevertheless does not cause a document to fail validation — there is currently no algorithmic method of determining whether a table is used "correctly" (for displaying tabular data or for displaying elements, that get proportionally wider or narrower when browser window resizes in width without active client side scripting).
2: the font tag is deprecated but does not fail validation in any XHTML standard^{[citation needed]}.

Additionally, the AdSense advertisement units use the JavaScript method document.write(), which does not work correctly when rendered with the application/xhtml+xml MIME type. The units also use the iframeXHTML 1.0 Strict or XHTML 1.0 TransitionalDOCTYPEs. HTML tag, which is not validated correctly with the

The terms of the AdSense program forbid its affiliates from modifying the code, thus preventing these participants from having valid XHTML websites.

However, a workaround has been found by creating a separate HTML webpage containing only the AdSense advertisement units, and then importing this page into an XHTML webpage with an object tag.^[10] This workaround appears to be accepted by Google.^[11]

How AdSense works

• The webmaster inserts the AdSense JavaScript code into a webpage.
• Each time this page is visited, the JavaScript code uses inlined JSON to display content fetched from Google's servers.
• For contextual advertisements, Google's servers use a cache of the page to determine a set of high-value keywords. If keywords have been cached already, advertisements are served for those keywords based on the AdWords bidding system. (More details are described in the AdSense patent.)
• For site-targeted advertisements, the advertiser chooses the page(s) on which to display advertisements, and pays based on cost per mille (CPM), or the price advertisers choose to pay for every thousand advertisements displayed.^[12][13]
• For referrals, Google adds money to the advertiser's account when visitors either download the referred software or subscribe to the referred service.^[14] The referral program was retired in August 2008.^[15]
• Search advertisements are added to the list of results after the visitor performs a search.
• Because the JavaScript is sent to the Web browser when the page is requested, it is possible for other website owners to copy the JavaScript code into their own webpages. To protect against this type of fraud, AdSense customers can specify the pages on which advertisements should be shown. AdSense then ignores clicks from pages other than those specified.

Abuse

Some webmasters create websites tailored to lure searchers from Google and other engines onto their AdSense website to make money from clicks. These "zombie" websites often contain nothing but a large amount of interconnected, automated content (e.g., a directory with content from the Open Directory Project, or scraper websites relying on RSS feeds for content). Possibly the most popular form of such "AdSense farms" are splogsWikipedia, to attract visitors. These and related approaches are considered to be search engine spam and can be reported to Google. ^{[citation needed]} (spam blogs), which are centered around known high-paying keywords. Many of these websites use content from other websites, such as

A Made for AdSense (MFA) website or webpage has little or no content, but is filled with advertisements so that users have no choice but to click on advertisements. Such pages were tolerated in the past, but due to complaints, Google now disables such accounts.

There have also been reports of Trojan horses engineered to produce counterfeit Google advertisements that are formatted looking like legitimate ones. The Trojan uploads itself onto an unsuspecting user's computer through a webpage and then replaces the original advertisements with its own set of malicious advertisements.^[16]

Criticism

Due to alleged concerns about click fraud, Google AdSense has been criticized by some search engine optimization firms as a large source of what Google calls "invalid clicks", in which one company clicks on a rival's search engine advertisements to drive up the other company's costs.^[17]

To help prevent click fraud, AdSense publishers can choose from a number of click-tracking programs.^{[citation needed]} These programs display detailed information about the visitors who click on the AdSense advertisements. Publishers can use this to determine whether or not they have been a victim of click fraud. There are a number of commercial tracking scripts available for purchase.

The payment terms for webmasters have also been justly criticized.^[18] Google withholds payment until an account reaches US$100,^[19] but many micro content providers ^{[citation needed]} require a long time—years in some cases—to build up this much AdSense revenue. However, Google will pay all earned revenue greater than US$10 when an AdSense account is closed.

Many website owners complain that their AdSense accounts have been disabled just before they were supposed to receive their first paycheck from Google. Google claims accounts have been disabled due to click fraud or forbidden content, but have offered no proof of this. ^{[citation needed]} Attempts to appeal against Google decisions are directed to non-monitored mailboxes and do not receive replies.

Google came under fire when the official Google AdSense Blog showcased the French video website Imineo.com. This website violated Google's AdSense Program Policies by displaying AdSense alongside sexually explicit material. Typically, websites displaying AdSense have been banned from showing such content.^[20] Some sites have been banned for distributing copyrighted material even when they hold the copyright themselves or are authorized by the copyright holder to distribute the material.^[21]

It has been reported that using both AdSense and AdWords may cause a website to pay Google a commission when the website advertises itself.^[22]

In some cases, AdSense displays inappropriate or offensive ads. For example, in a news story about a terrorist attack in India, an advert was generated for a (presumably non-existent) educational qualification in terrorism.^[23]

GTA: LCS Cheat Codes

The following cheats for Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories on the PlayStation 2 are entered during game play. Cheats for other popular Grand Theft Auto games can be found on the Top Grand Theft Auto Cheats page.

Aggressive Drivers
Cheat code: Square, Square, R1, X, X, L1, Circle, Circle

All Green Lights
Cheat code: Triangle, Triangle, R1, Square, Square, L1, X, X

All Vehicles Chrome Plated
Cheat code: Triangle, R1, L1, Down, Down, R1, R1, Triangle

Black Cars
Cheat code: Circle, Circle, R1, Triangle, Triangle, L1, Square, Square

Bobble Head World
Cheat code: Down, Down, Down, Circle, Circle, X, L1, R1

Calls Closest Ped To Come Hop In Your Vehicle
Cheat code: X, Square, Down, X, Square, Up, R1, R1

Cars Drive On Water
Cheat code: Circle, X, Down, Circle, X, Up, L1, L1

Change Bike Tire Size
Cheat code: Circle, Right, X, Up, Right, X, L1, Square

Clear Weather
Cheat code: Up, Down, Circle, Up, Down, Square, L1, R1

Commit Suicide
Cheat code: L1, Down, Left, R1, X, Circle, Up, Triangle

Destroy All Cars
Cheat code: L1, L1, Left, L1, L1, Right, X, Square

Display Game Credits
Cheat code: L1, R1, L1, R1, Up, Down, L1, R1

Faster Clock
Cheat code: L1, L1, Left, L1, L1, Right, Circle, X

Faster Gameplay
Cheat code: R1, R1, L1, R1, R1, L1, Down, X

Foggy Weather
Cheat code: Up, Down, Triangle, Up, Down, X, L1, R1

Full Armor (Blue Bar)
Cheat code: L1, R1, Circle, L1, R1, X, L1, R1

Full Health (Red Bar)
Cheat code: L1, R1, X, L1, R1, Square, L1, R1

Have People Follow You
Cheat code: Down, Down, Down, Triangle, Triangle, Circle, L1, R1

Money Cheat ($250,000)
Cheat code: L1, R1, Triangle, L1, R1, Circle, L1, R1

Never Wanted
Cheat code: L1, L1, Triangle, R1, R1, X, Square, Circle

Overcast Weather
Cheat code: Up, Down, X, Up, Down, Triangle, L1, R1

Peds Attack You
Cheat code: L1, L1, R1, L1, L1, R1, Up, Triangle

Peds Have Weapons
Cheat code: R1, R1, L1, R1, R1, L1, Right, Circle

Peds Riot
Cheat code: L1, L1, R1, L1, L1, R1, Left, Square

Perfect Traction
Cheat code: L1, Up, Left, R1, Triangle, Circle, Down, X

Rainy Weather
Cheat code: Up, Down, Square, Up, Down, Circle, L1, R1

Raise Media Attention
Cheat code: L1, Up, Right, R1, Triangle, Square, Down, X

Raise Wanted Level
Cheat code: L1, R1, Square, L1, R1, Triangle, L1, R1

Random Ped Outfit
Cheat code: L1, L1, Left, L1, L1, Right, Square, Triangle

Slower Gameplay
Cheat code: R1, Triangle, X, R1, Square, Circle, Left, Right

Spawn Rhino
Cheat code: L1, L1, Left, L1, L1, Right, Triangle, Circle

Spawn Trashmaster
Cheat code: Triangle, Circle, Down, Triangle, Circle, Up, L1, L1

Sunny Weather
Cheat code: L1, L1, Circle, R1, R1, Square, Triangle, X

Upside Down Gameplay
Cheat code: Down, Down, Down, X, X, Square, R1, L1

Upside Down Gameplay 2
Cheat code: X, X, X, Down, Down, Right, L1, R1

Upside Up
Cheat code: Triangle, Triangle, Triangle, Up, Up, Right, L, R

Weapon Set 1
Cheat code: Up, Square, Square, Down, Left, Square, Square, Right

Weapon Set 2
Cheat code: Up, Circle, Circle, Down, Left, Circle, Circle, Right

Weapon Set 3
Cheat code: Up, X, X, Down, Left, X, X, Right

White Cars
Cheat code: X, X, R1, Circle, Circle, L1, Triangle, Triangle

Personal computer hardware

A personal computer is made up of multiple physical components of computer hardware, upon which can be installed an operating system and a multitude of software to perform the operator's desired functions.

Hardware of a modern Personal Computer.
1. Monitor
2. Motherboard
7. Optical disc drive
9. Keyboard
10. Mouse

Inside a custom-built computer: the power supply at the bottom has its own cooling zone.

Though a PC comes in many different forms, a typical personal computer consists of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop), containing components such as a motherboard.

Components

Motherboard

Main article: Motherboard

The motherboard is the main component inside the case. It is a large rectangular board with integrated circuitry that connects the rest of the parts of the computer including the CPU, the RAM, the disk drives (CD, DVD, hard disk, or any others) as well as any peripherals connected via the ports or the expansion slots.

Components directly attached to the motherboard include:

• The central processing unit (CPU) performs most of the calculations which enable a computer to function, and is sometimes referred to as the "brain" of the computer. It is usually cooled by a heat sink and fan.
• The chip set mediates communication between the CPU and the other components of the system, including main memory.
• RAM (Random Access Memory) stores all running processes (applications) and the current running OS.
• The BIOS includes boot firmware and power management. The Basic Input Output System tasks are handled by operating system drivers.
• Internal Buses connect the CPU to various internal components and to expansion cards for graphics and sound.
  • Current
    • The north bridge memory controller, for RAM and PCI Express
      • PCI Express, for expansion cards such as graphics and physics processors, and high-end network interfaces
    • PCI, for other expansion cards
    • SATA, for disk drives
  • Obsolete
    • ATA (superseded by SATA)
    • AGP (superseded by PCI Express)
    • VLB VESA Local Bus (superseded by AGP)
    • ISA (expansion card slot format obsolete in PCs, but still used in industrial computers)
• External Bus Controllers support ports for external peripherals. These ports may be controlled directly by the south bridge I/O controller or based on expansion cards attached to the motherboard through the PCI bus.
  • USB
  • FireWire
  • eSATA
  • SCSI

Power supply

Main article: Power supply unit (computer)

A power supply unit (PSU) is the component that supplies power to the other components in a computer. More specifically, a power supply unit is typically designed to convert general-purpose alternating current (AC) electric power from the mains (100-127V in North America, parts of South America, Japan, and Taiwan; 220-240V in most of the rest of the world) to usable low-voltage DC power for the internal components of the computer. Some power supplies have a switch to change between 230 V and 115 V. Other models have automatic sensors that switch input voltage automatically, or are able to accept any voltage between those limits. It converts high voltage into low voltage.

Power supply units often used in computers are SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply). The SMPS provides +12, -12, +5, -5 and 3.* DC Volts for operation. When using the SMPS, it results in uninterrupted output within a wide range of input AC voltages. SMPS makes the power supply unit compact, rigid and reliable. The SMPS will switch over until it gets a negative loop from the computer's motherboard when switching ON the CPU. First, the SMPS converts the input AC voltage into corresponding DC voltage, which is then applied to a switching circuit at very high frequency. This high frequency (AC) is fed to a step down transformer with different tapings for various voltages required to run a computer. These AC voltages are then rectified and filtered. Finally, we get pure DC voltage of different levels.The power supply he si main of motherbord and then current motherbord for fan, process and SMPS of name hard wire of smps wire and power managment of process fan and other devisec of power supply

Video display controller

Main article: Graphics card

Produces the output for the computer monitor. This will either be built into the motherboard or attached in its own separate slot (PCI, PCI-E, PCI-E 2.0, or AGP), in the form of a graphics card.

Removable media devices

Main article: Computer storage

• CD (compact disc) - the most common type of removable media, suitable for music and data.
  • CD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a CD.
  • CD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a CD.
• DVD (digital versatile disc) - a popular type of removable media that is the same dimensions as a CD but stores up to 12 times as much information. It is the most common way of transferring digital video, and is popular for data storage.
  • DVD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a DVD.
  • DVD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a DVD.
  • DVD-RAM Drive - a device used for rapid writing and reading of data from a special type of DVD.
• Blu-ray Disc - a high-density optical disc format for data and high-definition video. Can store 70 times as much information as a CD.
  • BD-ROM Drive - a device used for reading data from a Blu-ray disc.
  • BD Writer - a device used for both reading and writing data to and from a Blu-ray disc.
• HD DVD - a discontinued competitor to the Blu-ray format.
• Floppy disk - an outdated storage device consisting of a thin disk of a flexible magnetic storage medium. Used today mainly for loading RAID drivers.
• Iomega Zip drive - an outdated medium-capacity removable disk storage system, first introduced by Iomega in 1994.
• USB flash drive - a flash memory data storage device integrated with a USB interface, typically small, lightweight, removable, and rewritable. Capacities vary, from hundreds of megabytes (in the same ballpark as CDs) to tens of gigabytes (surpassing, at great expense, Blu-ray discs).
• Tape drive - a device that reads and writes data on a magnetic tape, used for long term storage and backups.

Secondary storage

Hardware that keeps data inside the computer for later use and remains persistent even when the computer has no power.

• Hard disk - for medium-term storage of data.
• Solid-state drive - a device similar to hard disk, but containing no moving parts and stores data in a digital format.
• RAID array controller - a device to manage several internal or external hard disks and optionally some peripherals in order to achieve performance or reliability improvement in what is called a RAID array.

Sound card

Main article: Sound card

Enables the computer to output sound to audio devices, as well as accept input from a microphone. Most modern computers have sound cards built-in to the motherboard, though it is common for a user to install a separate sound card as an upgrade. Most sound cards, either built-in or added, have surround sound capabilities.

Other peripherals

Main article: Peripheral

In addition, hardware devices can include external components of a computer system. The following are either standard or very common.

Wheel Mouse

Includes various input and output devices, usually external to the computer system.

Input

Main article: Input device

• Text input devices
  • Keyboard - a device to input text and characters by depressing buttons (referred to as keys), similar to a typewriter. The most common English-language key layout is the QWERTY layout.
• Pointing devices
  • Mouse - a pointing device that detects two dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface.
    • Optical Mouse - a newer technology that uses Light to track the surface under the mouse to determine the motion to be translated into cursor movements on the screen.
  • Trackball - a pointing device consisting of an exposed protruding ball housed in a socket that detects rotation about two axes.
  • Touchscreen

• Gaming devices
  • Joystick - a general control device that consists of a handheld stick that pivots around one end, to detect angles in two or three dimensions.
  • Gamepad - a general handheld game controller that relies on the digits (especially thumbs) to provide input.
  • Game controller - a specific type of controller specialized for certain gaming purposes.
• Image, Video input devices
  • Image scanner - a device that provides input by analyzing images, printed text, handwriting, or an object.
  • Webcam - a low resolution video camera used to provide visual input that can be easily transferred over the internet.
• Audio input devices
  • Microphone - an acoustic sensor that provides input by converting sound into electrical signals.

CD-ROM

CD-ROM (pronounced /ˌsiːˌdiːˈrɒm/, an acronym of "compact disc read-only memory") is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback, the 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data.^[1]

CD-ROMs are popularly used to distribute computer software, including games and multimedia applications, though any data can be stored (up to the capacity limit of a disc). Some CDs hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer (such as ISO 9660 format PC CD-ROMs). These are called enhanced CDs.

Although many people use lowercase letters in this acronym, proper presentation is in all capital letters with a hyphen between CD and ROM. It was also suggested by some,^[who?] especially soon after the technology was first released, that CD-ROM was an acronym for "Compact Disc read-only-media", or that it was a more "correct" definition. This was not the intention of the original team who developed the CD-ROM, and common acceptance of the "memory" definition is now almost universal. This is probably in no small part due to the widespread use of other "ROM" acronyms such as Flash-ROMs and EEPROMs where "memory" is usually the correct term.^{[citation needed]}

At the time of the technology's introduction it had more capacity than computer hard drives common at the time. The reverse is now true, with hard drives far exceeding CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray, though some experimental descendants of it such as HVDs may have more space and faster data rates than today's biggest hard drive.

Media

Main article: Compact Disc

CD-ROM discs are identical in appearance to audio CDs, and data are stored and retrieved in a very similar manner (only differing from audio CDs in the standards used to store the data). Discs are made from a 1.2 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic, with a thin layer of aluminium to make a reflective surface. The most common size of CD-ROM disc is 120 mm in diameter, though the smaller Mini CD standard with an 80 mm diameter, as well as numerous non-standard sizes and shapes (e.g., business card-sized media) are also available. Data is stored on the disc as a series of microscopic indentations. A laser is shown onto the reflective surface of the disc to read the pattern of pits and lands ("pits", with the gaps between them referred to as "lands"). Because the depth of the pits is approximately one-quarter to one-sixth of the wavelength of the laser light used to read the disc, the reflected beam's phase is shifted in relation to the incoming beam, causing destructive interference and reducing the reflected beam's intensity. This pattern of changing intensity of the reflected beam is converted into binary data.

Standard

There are several formats used for data stored on compact discs, known collectively as the Rainbow Books. These include the original Red Book standards for CD audio, White Book and Yellow Book CD-ROM. The ECMA-130 standard, which gives a thorough description of the physics and physical layer of the CD-ROM, inclusive of cross-interleaved Reed-Solomon coding (CIRC) and eight-to-fourteen modulation (EFM), can be downloaded from ECMA.^[2]

ISO 9660 defines the standard file system of a CD-ROM, although it is due to be replaced by ISO 13490CD-R and multi-session). UDF extends ISO 13346 (which was designed for non-sequential write-once and re-writeable discs such as CD-R and CD-RW) to support read-only and re-writeable media and was first adopted for DVD. The bootable CD specification, to make a CD emulate a hard disk or floppy, is called El Torito. (which also supports

CD-ROM drives are rated with a speed factor relative to music CDs (1× or 1-speed which gives a data transfer rate of 150 KiB/s). 12× drives were common beginning in early 1997. Above 12× speed, there are problems with vibration and heat. Constant angular velocity (CAV) drives give speeds up to 30× at the outer edge of the disc with the same rotational speed as a standard constant linear velocity (CLV) 12×, or 32× with a slight increase. However due to the nature of CAV (linear speed at the inner edge is still only 12×, increasing smoothly in-between) the actual throughput increase is less than 30/12 - in fact, roughly 20× average for a completely full disc, and even less for a partially filled one.

Problems with vibration, owing to e.g. limits on achievable symmetry and strength in mass produced media, mean that CDROM drive speeds have not massively increased since the late 90s. Over 10 years later, commonly available drives vary between 24× (slimline and portable units, 10× spin speed) and 52× (typically CD- and read-only units, 21× spin speed), all using CAV to achieve their claimed "max" speeds, with 32× through 48× most common. Even so, these speeds can cause poor reading (drive error correction having become very sophisticated in response) and even shattering of poorly made or physically damaged media, with small cracks rapidly growing into catastrophic breakages when centripetally stressed at 10,000 - 13,000rpm (i.e. 40-52× CAV). High rotational speeds also produce undesirable noise from disc vibration, rushing air and the spindle motor itself. Thankfully, most 21st century drives allow forced low speed modes (by use of small utility programs) for the sake of safety, accurate reading or silence, and will automatically fall back if a large number of sequential read errors and retries are encountered.

Other methods of improving read speed were trialled such as using multiple pickup heads, increasing throughput up to 72× with a 10× spin speed, but along with other technologies like 90~99 minute recordable media and "double density" recorders, their utility was nullified by the introduction of consumer DVDROM drives capable of consistent 36× CDROM speeds (4× DVD) or higher. Additionally, with a 700mb CDROM fully readable in under 2½ minutes at 52× CAV, increases in actual data transfer rate are decreasingly influential on overall effective drive speed when taken into consideration with other factors such as loading/unloading, media recognition, spin up/down and random seek times, making for much decreased returns on development investment. A similar stratification effect has since been seen in DVD development where maximum speed has stabilised at 16× CAV (with exceptional cases between 18× and 22×) and capacity at 4.3 and 8.5GiB (single and dual layer), with higher speed and capacity needs instead being catered to by Blu-Ray drives.

CD-ROM format

A CD-ROM sector contains 2,352 bytes, divided into 98 24-byte frames. Unlike a music CD, a CD-ROM cannot rely on error concealment by interpolation, and therefore requires a higher reliability of the retrieved data. In order to achieve improved error correction and detection, a CD-ROM has a third layer of Reed–Solomon error correction.^[3] A Mode-1 CD-ROM, which has the full three layers of error correction data, contains a net 2,048 bytes of the available 2,352 per sector. In a Mode-2 CD-ROM, which is mostly used for video files, there are 2,336 user-available bytes per sector. The net byte rate of a Mode-1 CD-ROM, based on comparison to CDDA audio standards, is 44100 Hz × 16 bits/sample × 2 channels × 2,048 / 2,352 /8 = 153.6 kB/s = 150 KiB/s. The playing time is 74 minutes, or 4,440 seconds, so that the net capacity of a Mode-1 CD-ROM is 682 MB or, equivalently, 650 MiB.

A 1× speed CD drive reads 75 consecutive sectors per second.

CD sector contents

• A standard 74 min. CD contains 333,000 blocks or sectors.
• Each sector is 2,352 bytes, and contains 2,048 bytes of PC (mode 1) data, 2,336 bytes of PSX/VCD (mode 2) data, or 2,352 bytes of audio.
• The difference between sector size and data content are the header information and the error-correcting codes, that are big for data (high precision required), small for VCD (standard for video) and none for audio.
• If extracting the disc in raw format (standard for creating images) always extract 2,352 bytes per sector, not 2,048/2,336/2,352 bytes depending on data type (basically, extracting the whole sector). This fact has two main consequences:
  • Recording data CDs at very high speed (40×) can be done without losing information. However, as audio CDs do not contain a third layer of error-correcting codes, recording these at high speed may result in more unrecoverable errors or 'clicks' in the audio.
  • On a 74 minute CD, one can fit larger images using raw mode, up to 333,000 × 2,352 = 783,216,000 bytes (~747 MiB). This is the upper limit for raw images created on a 74 min or ~650 MiB Red Book CD. The 14.8% increase is due to the discarding of error correction data
  • The sync pattern for Mode 1 CDs is 0xff00ffffffffffffffff00ff^[4]
• An image size is always a multiple of 2,352 bytes (the size of a block) when extracting in raw mode.^[5]

Layout type	← 2,352 byte block →
CD digital audio:	2,352 Digital audio
CD-ROM (mode 1):	12 Sync.	4 Sector id.	2,048 Data	4 Error detection	8 Zero	276 Error correction
CD-ROM (mode 2):	12 Sync.	4 Sector id.	2,336 Data

Manufacture

Main article: Compact Disc manufacturing

Pre-pressed CD-ROMs are mass-produced by a process of stamping where a glass master disc is created and used to make "stampers", which are in turn used to manufacture multiple copies of the final disc with the pits already present. Recordable (CD-R) and rewritable (CD-RW) discs are manufactured by a similar method, but the data are recorded on them by a laser changing the properties of a dye or phase transition material in a process that is often referred to as "burning".

Capacity

A CD-ROM can easily store the entirety of an English encyclopedia's words and images, plus audio & video clips

CD-ROM capacities are normally expressed with binary prefixes, subtracting the space used for error correction data. A standard 120 mm, 700 MB CD-ROM can actually hold about 737 MB (703 MiB) of data with error correction (or 847 MB total). In comparison, a single-layer DVD-ROM can hold 4.7 GB of error-protected data, more than 6 CD-ROMs.

Capacities of Compact Disc types (90 and 99 minute discs are not standard)

Type	Sectors	Data max. size		Audio max. size	Time
		(MB)	Approx. (MiB)	(MB)	(min)
8 cm	94,500	193.536	184.570	222.264	21
	283,500	580.608	553.711	666.792	63
650 MB	333,000	681.984	650.391	783.216	74
700 MB	360,000	737.280	703.125	846.720	80
800 MB	405,000	829.440	791.016	952.560	90
900 MB	445,500	912.384	870.117	1,047.816	99
Note: megabyte (MB) and minute (min) values are exact; MiB values are approximate.

CD-ROM drives

Further information: Optical disc drive

An old 4× CD-ROM Drive.

CD-ROM discs are read using CD-ROM drives. A CD-ROM drive may be connected to the computer via an IDE (ATA), SCSI, S-ATA, Firewire, or USB interface or a proprietary interface, such as the Panasonic CD interface. Virtually all modern CD-ROM drives can also play audio CDs as well as Video CDs and other data standards when used in conjunction with the right software.

CD-ROM drive can sometimes be a misnomer for newer drives that are capable for reading and burning DVDs, the CD's successor which is now the standard optical disc drive.

Laser & optics

CD-ROM drives employ a near-infrared 780 nm laser diode. The laser beam is directed onto the disc via an opto-electronic tracking module, which then detects whether the beam has been reflected or scattered.

Transfer rates

If a CD-ROM is read at the same rotational speed as an audio CD, the data transfer rate is 150 KiB/s, commonly referred to as "1×". At this data rate, the track moves along under the laser spot at about 1.2 m/s. To maintain this linear velocity as the optical head moves to different positions, the angular velocity is varied from 500 rpm at the inner edge to 200 rpm at the outer edge. By increasing the speed at which the disc is spun, data can be transferred at greater rates. For example, a CD-ROM drive that can read at 8× speed spins the disc at 1600 to 4000 rpm, giving a linear velocity of 9.6 m/s and a transfer rate of 1200 KiB/s. Above 12× speed most drives read at Constant angular velocity (CAV, constant rpm) so that the motor is not made to change from one speed to another as the head seeks from place to place on the disc. In CAV mode the "×" number denotes the transfer rate at the outer edge of the disc, where it is a maximum. 20× was thought to be the maximum speed due to mechanical constraints until Samsung Electronics introduced the SCR-3230, a 32x CD-ROM drive which uses a ball bearing system to balance the spinning disc in the drive to reduce vibration and noise. As of 2004, the fastest transfer rate commonly available is about 52× or 10,400 rpm and 7.62 MiB/s. Higher spin speeds are limited by the strength of the polycarbonate plastic of which the discs are made. At 52×, the linear velocity of the outermost part of the disk is around 65 m/s. However, improvements can still be obtained by the use of multiple laser pickups as demonstrated by the Kenwood TrueX 72× which uses seven laser beams and a rotation speed of approximately 10×.

CD-Recordable drives are often sold with three different speed ratings, one speed for write-once operations, one for re-write operations, and one for read-only operations. The speeds are typically listed in that order; i.e. a 12×/10×/32× CD drive can, CPU and media permitting, write to CD-R discs at 12× speed (1.76 MiB/s), write to CD-RW discs at 10× speed (1.46 MiB/s), and read from CD discs at 32× speed (4.69 MiB/s).

The 1× speed rating for CD-ROM (150 KiB/s) is different than the 1× speed rating for DVDs (1.32 MiB/s).

A view of a CD-ROM drive's disassembled laser system.

The movement of the laser enables reading at any position of the CD.

The laser system of a CD Drive.

Common data transfer speeds for CD-ROM drives

Transfer speed	KiB/s	Mbit/s	RPM
1×	150	1.23	200-500
2×	300	2.46	400-1,000
4×	600	4.92	800-2,000
8×	1,200	9.83	1,600-4,000
10×	1,500	12.3	2,000-5,000
12×	1,800	14.7	2,400-6,000
20×	1,200-3,000	up to 24.6	4,000 (CAV)
32×	1,920-4,800	up to 39.3	4,800 (CAV)
36×	2,160-5,400	up to 44.2	7,200 (CAV)
40×	2,400-6,000	up to 49.2	8,000 (CAV)
48×	2,880-7,200	up to 59.0	9,600 (CAV)
52×	3,120-7,800	up to 63.9	10,400 (CAV)
56×	3,360-8,400	up to 68.8	11,200 (CAV)
72×	6,750-10,800	up to 88.5	2,000 (multi-beam)

Copyright issues

Main article: CD/DVD copy protection

There has been a move by the recording industry to make audio CDs (CDDAs, Red Book CDs) unplayable on computer CD-ROM drives, to prevent the copying of music. This is done by intentionally introducing errors onto the disc that the embedded circuits on most stand-alone audio players can automatically compensate for, but which may confuse CD-ROM drives. Consumer rights advocates are as of October 2001 pushing to require warning labels on compact discs that do not conform to the official Compact Disc Digital Audio standard (often called the Red Book) to inform consumers which discs do not permit full fair use of their content.

In 2005, Sony BMG Music Entertainment was criticised when a copy protection mechanism known as Extended Copy Protection (XCP) used on some of their audio CDs automatically and surreptitiously installed copy-prevention software on computers (see 2005 Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal). Such discs are not legally allowed to be called CDs or Compact Discs because they break the Red Book standard governing CDs, and Amazon.com for example describes them as "copy protected discs" rather than "compact discs" or "CDs".

Software distributors, and in particular distributors of computer games, often make use of various copy protection schemes to prevent software running from any media besides the original CD-ROMs. This differs somewhat from audio CD protection in that it is usually implemented in both the media and the software itself. The CD-ROM itself may contain "weak" sectors to make copying the disc more difficult, and additional data that may be difficult or impossible to copy to a CD-R or disc image, but which the software checks for each time it is run to ensure an original disc and not an unauthorized copy is present in the computer's CD-ROM drive.

Manufacturers of CD writers (CD-R or CD-RW) are encouraged by the music industry to ensure that every drive they produce has a unique identifier, which will be encoded by the drive on every disc that it records: the RID or Recorder Identification Code.^[6] This is a counterpart to the SID—the Source Identification Code, an eight character code beginning with "IFPI" that is usually stamped on discs produced by CD recording plants.