How Computers Work

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 A computer is an electronic piece of equipment. It runs programs called software that give the computer instructions and tell it what to do. A computer can create and modify data. Computers also store data electronically for later use. Computers can be used at work to create, store and retrieve data. They can also be used for gaming. A video game console is just a computer that is designed for one specific task; to play games. Cars have computers that tell various components in your car what to do as well as monitor those components for failure. Smart phones are just small handheld mobile computers. As you can see computers come in many shapes and sizes and can perform many various tasks. 

Some examples of the different kinds of computers are:

Personal Computer: This is what most of us think of when we think of a computer. This consists of a box which holds the data and does the processing. It has an external monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Laptop Computer: The laptop is just a portable version of the personal computer. The monitor, keyboard and mouse are all built into the same box that holds the data and does the processing. It folds up and is lightweight and portable.

Server: These may look like a desktop PC in some cases, but they can also be much larger. They contain much more memory, disk space and processing power than a personal computer. Computer workstations on a network connect to servers to save and store data in a central location. Many workstation computers may connect to the server to save and retrieve data from one location where many people can access the same shared data.

Tablet: These are very small, thin lightweight computers. They usually are not as powerful as a personal computer or laptop but are extra portable. They usually do not have a keyboard or mouse. Instead they have a touch screen. 

Smart Phone: This is much like a tablet but even smaller. These devices can also be used to make phone calls, send text messages, take pictures and run small lightweight applications known as apps 

Thin Client: A thin client may look like a small PC, but these devices do very little processing on their own. These devices connect to a server on startup and all of the processing is done on the server. These are not like the other computers on the list because all of the others can do their own processing. A thin client does not even function without a server since it has very little memory, or disk space and cannot do much on its own. 

 Computer hardware is all of the physical components that make up a computer. There is internal and external hardware. The external hardware consists of a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. These are the components that are used to input data into the computer and tell the computer what you want it to do. The monitor displays data, programs, images, pictures, video or any other content the user requests from the computer. The keyboard is used to type commands using letters and numbers. It can also be used to input data into applications. On computers with operating systems that run a "Graphical User Interface" or (GUI), like Windows or Apple computers, you need a mouse as well as a keyboard. The mouse moves the pointer around on the screen and is used to open applications by pointing to them and clicking on an icon on the monitors screen. Some commands such as start, logon, logoff and shutdown are also made into visible elements that you can click on.

On the back of a computer there are many various inputs. Some of these are for connecting your mouse, keyboard and monitor. The power port is where your power cable connected to the power supply located inside the computer. There will also be many other ports on the back of a computer. There will probably be an Ethernet port for connecting a wire that connects the computer to the local network and the internet. There will be ports for audio devices. There will also be Universal Serial Bus or USB ports for connecting external devices such as cameras, storage devices, printers and many others types of devices.

The components inside your computer are where all of the real action happens. This is where your data is stored, where the computer processes the information given by the users input and performs the tasks it is instructed to perform. Inside your computer are many various parts connected by wires and fastened to other boards. To many people it just looks like a big complicated mess, but each component plays an important role. Here is a list of components and what they do.

Motherboard: This is the main system board that ever other device in the computer connects to. This board has many little electronic circuits that carry signals and information to and from each of the other components in the system. It also has many expansion slots for adding extra devices to your computer.

Processor: The processor or Central Processing Unit also known as a CPU is the main chip that carries out all of the tasks sent to the computer.

Heatsink: A processor gets very hot. If it gets too hot it can be damaged and the computer can crash or shut down. To carry heat away from the processor your computer case will have many cooling fans inside, but directly on top of the processor is the heatsink. This is the reason you will not be able to locate the processor on your motherboard, because it is a small chip underneath this giant heatsink. You will see this in the photos below. The heatsink is  a non moving device that has many metal fins. It draws the heat away from the processor and into the fins. A fan blows on the fins to cool them. Other fans in the computer pull heat out of the back of the computer. All of these work together to cool your processor and the internal hardare in your computer.

Hard Drive: This is where all of your operating system, software and files are all kept inside your computer. Hard drives come and many sizes. The more data you intend to store on your computer, the larger the hard drive you will need. This storage is your long term storage where files are saved.

RAM: RAM stands for Random Access Memory. This is the short term temporary memory inside your computer. It comes in small thin chips that fasten to slots in the motherboard.  

Power Supply: This is the device that gives power to all of the components inside the computer. There is a plug on the outside of the computer that connects to a power cable that you plug into a wall. On the inside this power supply has many smaller wires that connect to the motherboard and many other components 

Not all computers are put together exactly the same way, but they all have very similar parts and components. You will learn more about the parts and components in a more advanced computer hardware or CompTIA A+ course. The image to your left and the image below both show what a computer looks like with it's cover off. You can clearly see all of the components assembled together. 

Computers also have software built into the system board as well as some components called firmware. This firmware give the hardware special instructions as to how the hardware should interact with other devices or software. There is also a program called a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System that is used to adjust settings such as the system clock, hardware settings, security settings, RAM configuration, boot device order and hard drive configurations. The CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is where all of the settings are stored and uses a battery to save the setting even when the power to the computer is disconnected. Without the CMOS and the CMOS battery, you would need to re-configure the BIOS every time the computer starts. These things are normally pre configured from the manufacturer and most users never have to configure these. These settings are really only to be configured by advanced users or computer service technicians.