Desktop Technology
Resources
What are desktop technology
resources? They consist of your computer and its many parts. You might ask, "How do the parts of my computer
work together?". In this self paced tutorial we will
try to explain to you what the essential parts of a computer are
and how they work together to perform your daily job functions.
Parts of a computer and their basic functions:
- CPU - The processor is
the brain of a computer. It has a special set of
instructions built in to allow it to control the other parts
of the computer. It also is used to perform
calculations.
- Memory - The memory can be thought of in the same manner as your own
memory. When a program runs it is temporarily
stored memory. This provides faster access to the CPU for the
program. The more memory available in a machine
the more programs you can run at once.
- Motherboard/Mainboard - A motherboard is the skeleton or backbone of a computer.
It connects all the parts of the
computer together.
- Floppy Disk Drive - A common form of storage
- Hard Drive - A hard drive stores all your
programs, files and other data. Most
hard drives today store many gigabytes of data.
- CD-ROM - Pronounced see-dee-rom, abbreviation
of Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory. A type of optical disk
capable of storing large amounts of data -- up to 1GB,
although the most common size is 650MB (megabytes). A single
CD-ROM has the storage capacity of 700 floppy disks; enough
memory to store about 300,000 text pages.
- Video Adapter - A board that plugs into a computer to give it display capabilities. The display
capabilities of a computer, however, depend on both the
logical circuitry (provided in the video adapter) and the
display monitor. A monochrome monitor, for example, cannot
display colors no matter how powerful the video adapter.
- Network Card (NIC) - Often abbreviated as NIC,
an expansion board inserted into a computer for connection to a network. Most NICs are designed for a
particular type of network, protocol, and media, although some
can serve multiple networks.
- Sound Card - A device that is used to
play sounds from your computer. Most computers today have
sound cards.
- Modem - A device used to connect one computer to another
through a phone line.
- Printer - Physically
outputs data from the computer to a paper medium.
There are several types of printers including inkjet, laser
and dot-matrix. The most common for home and desktop use
is the inkjet printer.
- Scanner - A device used
to scan photos or documents into a computer. This device
has become very popular as the internet has allowed people to share photos and documents with
friends
and family.
- Keyboard and Mouse - These devices are the
most common and in a way the most important. The
keyboard is used to input data into the computer and also to
manipulate data that is already available in the
computer. The mouse allows a user to more easily
navigate through Windows and other applications with a point
and click interface.
For more
information you can visit:
http://www.acmehowto.com/howto/pc/overview/componentsoverview.htm
For more information on how the parts of a computer work, visit
the following:
http://www.acmehowto.com/howto/pc/howitworks.htm
What do I look for when I want to purchase hardware or software
for my PC? The first thing to consider when purchasing
anything for your computer is "What am I going to do with
this?". You need to consider the hardware
specifications. You also need to know what Operating
System is supported. This is especially true when buying
software.
The hardware specifications for software can often be found on the
side or bottom of the software packaging. If you are
purchasing from the web, you should look for the software
vendor's website and find the specifications.
Now that we have looked at parts of a computer let's learn how to
better use our computer.
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