Hardware Servicing Training Course

Computer Fundamentals
What is Computer?

An Electronic device that stores, retrieves, and processes data, and can be programmed with
instructions

A Machine that does three things: Accepts input, processes it according to prescribed rules, and
produces the results as output.

A computer is composed of Hardware and Software, and can exist in a variety of sizes and
configurations.

Three Elements of Computer

Hardware

The Physical equipment of a computer system, including the central processing unit, data-storage
devices, terminals and printers.

Software

Written coded commands that tell a computer what tasks to perform. For example, Word, PhotoShop,
Picture Easy, and PhotoDeluxe are software programs.

Peopleware

It refers to the computer user

Two primary software categories

Operating System

It is responsible for controlling the allocation and usage of hardware resources such as memory, central
processing unit (CPU) time, disk space, and peripheral devices. In general it runs the computer system.

Application Software

It is a computer programs designed to help people perform a certain type of work.

Operating System
An operating system (OS) is a software program that manages the hardware and software resources of a
computer.
The OS performs basic tasks, such as:
controlling and allocating memory
prioritizing the processing of instructions
controlling input and output devices
facilitating networking
managing files.
Operating System
Linux
MacOS
MS-DOS
UNIX

 Windows 3.x
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows ME
Windows 2000/server
Windows XP/2003 server
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Basic Operation of Computer
Input

Information entered into a computer for processing, as from a keyboard or from file stored on a disk
drive.

Process

To manipulate data with a program

Output

The results of processing, whether sent to the screen or printer, stored on disk as a file, or sent to
another computer in a network.

PC Fundamentals

Parts of The Personal Computer

External MODEM

System Unit

Monitor

Scanner
CD ROM Drive
Floppy Disk Drive
Mouse

Keyboard

PC Fundamentals

Other PC peripherals

AVR

Printe
r

PC External Sound Systems

Hardware Functions
System Unit
- The case that houses the processor, motherboard, internal hard- and floppy disks, power supply, and the
expansion bus.
Monitor
- A peripheral device with a screen for the visual display of information.
Mouse
- a computer pointing device used to select and point on a computer screen.
Floppy Disk Drive
- A drive that reads from or writes to separate diskettes which the user inserts. Information is stored on the
diskettes themselves, not on the drive.
CD ROM Drive
- A piece of hardware attached to a computer which allows it to read or play a Compact Disk.
Scanner
- A device that reads a printed page and converts it into a graphics image for the computer.
Printer
- A device that puts computer data onto paper.
External MODEM
- A piece of hardware that lets a computer talk to another computer over a phone line.
Automatic Voltage Regulator
- A device that regulates the amount of voltage needed for a certain device to function well.

 PC external Sound Systems

- A system of speakers and woofers to make an output of sound from the computers activity.
Internal PC Hardware
Motherboard
- The main circuit board inside a computer, which contains the central processing unit, the bus, memory
sockets, expansion slots, and other components.
Memory Modules
- A piece of circuit board that contains Memory chips for storing/retrieving data randomly.
Video Card
- An adapter card used to manage the display on the monitor.
Ethernet Card
- An expansion card that is used to communicate with the other computers
Internal MODEM
- A piece of hardware that lets a computer talk to another computer over a phone line connected directly to
the motherboard.

Parts of the Motherboard

ROM Chip
AGP Slot
Expansion
slots
FDD Socket

ATX Power
Connector
Microprocessor
socket

Northbridge

Southbridge
chipset
System Panel
Connector
IDE Socket
Motherboard Parts

Memory slots
CMOS Battery

 ROM chip
- The chip or IC which contains and stores critical programs such as the program that boots the computer and
BIOS.
AGP Slot
- Accelerated Graphics Port supports 1.5 V
- Slot refers to a unit of space in a motherboard that supports AGP cards and it yields a throughput rate of 266
MBps.
Expansion Slot (PCI or ISA)
- A socket on the motherboard that accepts an expansion card.
* PCI Peripheral Component Interconnect is a high-speed connection for devices including modems, sound
cards, LAN cards etc. It can run at clock speeds of 33 or 66 MHz. At 32 bits and 33 MHz, it yields a throughput rate of
133 MBps.
FDD Connector/Socket
- A socket for Floppy Disk Drive cable connector or interface.
Southbridge
- is the chip that controls all of the computers I/O functions, such as USB, audio, serial, the system BIOS, the
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) bus, the interrupt controller and the IDE (Integrated Device Electronics)
channels. In other words, all of the functions of a processor except memory, PCI and AGP. They do not normally come
with a heat sink.
Northbridge
- A Chip that connects to a CPU to memory, the PCI bus, Level 2 cache and AGP activities. The Northbridge
chips communicate with the CPU through the FSB.
System Panel Connector
- This connector accommodates several front panel functions

a. System Power LED

b. HDD Activity
c. ATX Power Switch
d. Reset Switch
IDE Connector Socket (Intelligent Drive Electronics or Integrated Drive Electronics)
- A socket for IDE Cable connector/interface
ATX Power Connector Socket
- A socket for the ATX Power Supply Cable Connector
Microprocessor Socket
- is the connector that interfaces between a computer's motherboard and the processor itself. Most CPU
sockets and processors in use today are built around the pin grid array (PGA) architecture, in which the pins on the
underside of the processor are inserted into the socket, usually with zero insertion force (ZIF) to aid installation.
PGA - A feature of a CPU socket whereby the pins are aligned in uniform rows around the socket.
Memory Slots
- A space for place the memory modules
CMOS Battery
- CMOS & Clock Backup batteries perform the same function in desktop and laptop computers: when the
computer is turned off, the battery maintains the time and date, thus insuring their accuracy when the system is
once again restarted. More importantly, the battery saves the computers BIOS setup configuration, which allows the
system to efficiently reboot once it is restarted.

Rear Panel
I/O

Mouse
USB interface
Firewire interface

port p/s 2
Keyboard
port
Com port
Serial port

Parallel port
printer

Blue line in
Pink mic
Lime line out

LAN port

PC Rear Panel

The Back of the system unit

 Power input

It is where you plug the PCs electrical power cord.

Keyboard port

It is where you plug only the keyboard

Mouse port

It is where you plug only the mouse

USB port

Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports are general-purpose connectors found on newer PCs.

Serial port

This 9-pin connector is one of the oldest and most universal ports found in PC.

Parallel port

The 25-pin parallel is intended for connecting printers.

Video port

This unique three-row, 15-pin connector is where the monitor connects to the system

Audio port

These are used to connect speakers, microphones, and other audio devices

Game port

This 15-pin connector can be used for joystick

Modem port

It enables your computer to communicate with other computers via a telephone line.

 Network interface

It connects your PC to other PCs in a Local Area Network

How PC works?

BIOS

 BIOS

- stands for Basic Input/Output System or Basic Integrated Operating System. BIOS refers to the software code run
by a computer when first powered on. The primary function of BIOS is to prepare the machine so other software
programs stored on various media (such as hard drives, floppies, and CDs) can:
load,
execute,
control of the computer.
- This process is known as booting up.

PC direction of data
flow
In the diagram, the arrows indicate the
direction of data flow.
Some data flows in one direction only.
In some cases it flows in both
directions.

In the diagram, the arrows indicate the direction of data flow.

Some data flows in one direction only.
In some cases it flows in both directions.

 Primary PC Hardware Block Diagram Components in the PC shown above:

Mother board PC components:
CPU, Math Co-processor, StaticRAM cache, DynamicRAM, Video RAM, BIOS ROM, PCI Bridge
Peripherals: Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, EISA Hard Drive, Floppy Disk, CD ROM, printer, scanner, USB drive
Northbridge - Connects CPU with DRAM, S-RAM cache, video RAM and Southbridge

Southbridge - Connects peripherals to the Northbridge chip

SRAM and DRAM

Static RAM

Static RAM can store only about one-fourth as much data as a dynamic RAM chip, but static RAM does
not require refreshing and is usually much faster than Dynamic RAM

Dynamic RAM

DRAM store information in IC that contain capacitors. Because capacitors lose their charge over time,
DRAM boards must include logic to refresh (recharge) the DRAM continuously. While a DRAM is being
refreshed, it cannot be read by the processor; if the processor must read the RAM while it is being
refreshed, one or more wait states occur.

BUSES
Bus is a set of hardware lines wires- used for data transfer among the components of a computer system.
A bus is essentially a shared highway that connects different parts of the system including the
microprocessor, disk-drive controller, memory and input/output ports and enables them to transfer
information.

EISA Bus (Extended Industry Standard Architecture)

SCSI/IDE Bus (Small Computer System Interface) / (Integrated Device Electronics)

PCI Bus (Peripheral Component Interconnect)

USB Bus (Universal Serial Bus)