COMPUTER BASICS Page 2 - Hardware A modern PC is a relatively simple looking device when you take the cover off. One large printed circuit board, with some cables connecting to a few others things, and a few more curcuit boards possibly plugged into it. But there is more going on than meets the eye. Hardware can be divided into the following main components. Motherboard That main circuit board, this is what all of the other parts connect to. It does not do much by itself, but ties everything else together, and includes some important parts built in to it.               A typical computer motherboard Processor A large integrated circuit chip on a motherboard, this is what does all of the PC's thinking. Simply put, a faster processor (also called the Central Processing Unit, or CPU) means just that, a faster computer. These are removable and upgradeable, within some limitations. Mostly made by Intel or AMD. Memory If the processor is what does the thinking, then memory is where it actually happens. The more memory, the more things your computer can think about at one time, and the faster it will run. Hard Drive A PC's hard drive is the permanent storage facility. It holds all of your operating system and program files (see below) and all of the data files that you create or save. The larger the drive, the more it can hold.                         A common computer Hard Drive, this one from Western Digital company CD/DVD and Floppy drives CD or DVD and floppy drives (so called because they were at one time soft and "floppy") are both input and output devices, in that you can read files from them, whether data or program files, or you can save files onto them. Mouse, Keyboard and Monitor Fairly obvious, these devices are used change your information through clicking and typing, or view it on the monitor screen. Hardware: tying it all together. A good analogy for PC hardware is the office desk. The filing cabinet is your hard drive. When you want to work on something, you get it out of the filing cabinet, and put it on your desktop. The top of your desk is your PC's memory, your workspace in other words. If you have a small desk, meaning not very much memory, every time you want to work on something else, you have to put the first item back into your filing cabinet. In computer terms, returning something to the hard drive is a very slow process. But if you have a lot of memory, it's like have a very large desk, so you don't have to file it, you just move it off to one side. This process is very fast for a computer to do. This is why extra memory makes your PC faster. Where do the processor, motherboard, mouse and so on fit it? In our office desk analogy, these items are all part of you, the operator. Your brain is the processor, your hands with pen and paper are the mouse and keyboard. What do you do with pen and paper? You create, modify and view information, exactly as you do with a PC.