Basic Computer Hardware and Troubleshooting

Basic Computer Hardware and
Troubleshooting
What is a Computer?
computer is an electronic device that

manipulates information, or data. It has the
ability to store, retrieve, and process data.
Hardware Vs Software
Hardware is any part of your computer that has a
physical structure, such as the keyboard or mouse. It
also includes all of the computer's internal parts,
which you can see in the image below.
Software is any set of instructions that tells the hardware what to
do and how to do it. Examples of software include web browsers,
games, and word processors. Below, you can see an image of
Microsoft PowerPoint, which is used to create presentations.
A typical desktop computer consists of a
computer system unit, a keyboard, a mouse,
and a monitor.
System Unit is the enclosure for all the other main
interior components of a computer. It is also called
the computer case, computer chassis, or computer
tower.
What’s Inside the box or System
Unit
Motherboard is the computer's main circuit board. It's a thin
plate that holds the CPU, memory, connectors for the hard drive
and optical drives, expansion cards to control the video and audio,
and connections to your computer's ports (such as USB ports).
Parts of Motherboard
central processing unit (CPU), also called a processor, is located
inside the computer case on the motherboard. It is sometimes
called the brain of the computer, and its job is to carry out
commands. Whenever you press a key, click the mouse, or start an
application, you're sending instructions to the CPU.
Memory
RAM (random access memory) is your system's short-term memory.
Whenever your computer performs calculations, it temporarily stores
the data in the RAM until it is needed.
This short-term memory disappears when the computer is turned off.
Read-only memory, or ROM, is a form of data
storage in computers and other electronic devices
that can not be easily altered or reprogrammed.
hard drive is where your software, documents, and
other files are stored. The hard drive is long-term
storage, which means the data is still saved even if you
turn the computer off or unplug it.
power supply unit in a computer converts the power
from the wall outlet to the type of power needed by
the computer. It sends power through cables to the
motherboard and other components.
Power Supply Connectors
The 20/24 ATX pin It allows you turn on the motherboard: early
models had a 20-pin configuration, whilst the current standard is
now 24. Note that it still comes as a block of 20 pins, to which you
can add a block of 4 pins. This is to ensure compatibility with older
motherboards and their 20-pin connectors.
The "ATX P4" This connector, called P4-ATX (ATX 12V or as), was
introduced by Intel for Pentium 4 (hence the name): it plugs into the
motherboard and exclusively powers the processor. Today, most
motherboards possess 4 to 8 pins dedicated to powering up the
CPU. The latest standards for power supply make use of an 8-pin
connector (sometimes called EPS 12V), made up of 2 x 4-pin blocks,
again to ensure compatibility with old motherboards and the classic
ATX P4.
The MOLEX The most classic. Still very present in every PC,
it is sometimes used directly on the motherboard (MSI)
and is used to connect the hard disk and other drives.
Some graphics cards may require this connector too.
The SATA connector Modern power supply
must have at least 4 of these, to power up
drives at the SATA standard.
The “PCI Express” Modern graphics cards need more
power. They need to power themselves directly from the
power block. This is the role of this connector. Originally a
6-pin configuration and now available in 8-pin.
Expansion Cards
The video card is responsible for what you see on the monitor. Most
computers have a GPU (graphics processing unit) built into the
motherboard instead of having a separate video card. If you like
playing graphics-intensive games, you can add a faster video card to
one of the expansion slots to get better performance.
The sound card—also called an audio card—is responsible
for what you hear in the speakers or headphones. Most
motherboards have integrated sound, but you can upgrade
to a dedicated sound card for higher-quality sound.
The network card allows your computer to communicate over a
network and access the Internet. It can either connect with an
Ethernet cable or through a wireless connection (often called Wi-Fi).
Many motherboards have built-in network connections, and a
network card can also be added to an expansion slot.
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed optical compact disc which contains
data. The name is an acronym which stands for "Compact Disc
Read-Only Memory". Computers can read CD-ROMs, but
cannot write to CD-ROMs which are not writable or erasable.
CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) is the term
usually used to describe the small amount of memory on a
computer motherboard that stores the BIOS settings. Some of
these BIOS settings include the system time and date as well as
hardware settings.
A heat sink is an electronic device that incorporates either a fan or
a peltier device to keep a hot component such as a processor cool.
There are two heat sink types: active and passive. Active heat sinks
utilize the power supply and are usually a fan type or some other
peltier cooling device.
Different Computer Cables
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) IDE cables were
used to connect storage devices to a motherboard. If
you’ve ever opened up a an old hard drive then you
likely know what an IDE connector looks like.
SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) Newer
hard drives will likely use SATA ports over IDE ports. In fact,
SATA was designed to succeed IDE, and it has. Compared
to IDE, SATA provides higher data transfer speeds.
VGA (Video Graphics Array) VGA connection
cable was the standard cable used to connect
a computer to a monitor.
DVI (Digital Visual Interface) The DVI connection
became the successor to VGA as technology
moved away from analog towards digital.
HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) HDMI
sends both video and audio signals together. The
signals are digital only; thus, HDMI is only compatible
with newer devices.
USB (Universal Serial Bus)
From left to right: micro USB, mini USB, type B standard
USB, and type A standard USB (both female and male).
FireWire The purpose of FireWire is similar to that of
USB: high speed data transfer for computer
peripherals. High bandwidth devices, like printers and
scanners, will benefit from FireWire.
Ethernet cables are used to set up local area
networks. In most cases, they’re used to
connect routers to modems and computers.

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