Learn Computer Hardware in an easy way!

Learn

Computer Hardware
In an Easy Way!
1st Edition

Data Provider:
Zubair Ahmed
(Director)
Oracas (Pvt.) Ltd. PAKISTAN
www.oracas.com

Compiled and written by:

Zain ul Abideen
(Director)
M-TECH PAKISTAN
www.wahteenz.8k.com

A joint effort of M-TECH PAKISTAN and Oracas (Pvt.) Ltd. PAKISTAN

Can be downloaded from www.wahteenz.8k.com

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Learn Computer Hardware in an easy way!

Chapter #1

Basic Things to Know

Computer is divided into three main parts:
• Input Devices
• Output Devices
• CPU

Data
Any thing we want to store in computer is stored in the form of “Data”. Means any
thing stored in computer is called “Data”.

For Example:-
Any song, movie or wallpaper stored in computer is included in data.

Storage Devices
Devices used to store data are called “Storage Devices”.

For example:-
USB Flash Drive, Hard disk, Floppy drive, CD, Memory Cards are storage devices.

Memory
The capacity of computer to store any data is called its “Memory”. There are two
types of memory:-
• RAM
• ROM

RAM
RAM is the abbreviation of “Random Access Memory”. This is the kind of memory
which stores data in computer till the computer is switched on. As soon as the power
is off, the data will be vanished e.g. RAM in your computer.

ROM
ROM is the abbreviation of “Read-only Memory”. This is the kind of memory which
can be read but can not be written, edited or updated e.g. CD-ROM, BIOS, EP ROM
etc.

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Memory Units
The smallest unit of memory is “Bit”.
4 Bit = 1 Nibble
8 Bit = 1 Byte
1024 Byte = 1 KB (Kilo-Byte)
1024 KB = 1 MB (Mega-Byte)
1024 MB = 1 GB (Giga-Byte)
1024 GB = 1 TB (Tera-Byte)

Note:
• “Kb” stands for “Kilo bit”
• “KB” stands for “Kilo Byte”
If the alphabet “B” is in capital writing like “B”, then it stands for “Byte”. On the
contrary if it is in small alphabet like “b” then it stands for “Bit”.

Types of Digital Computers

There are following types of digital computers:-
• Desktop Computers
• Laptop Computers/ Note Book Computers
• Palmtop Computer/ PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)
• Net-book Computers

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Chapter #2

Introduction to Computer Hardware

In this chapter we will discuss all the hardware components of a computer.

C.P.U
A C.P.U consist of following hardware components
• Casing
• Power Supply
• Main/ Mother Board
• Processor
• RAM
• FDD (Floppy Disk Drive)
• Optical Devices
• CD-ROM
• CD-Writer
• DVD-ROM
• Combo Drive
• Super Drive
• Built-In Devices
• Board’s External Ports
• Interface/External Cards
• Fax Modem Card
• Graphics Card
• Sound Card
• LAN Card

Casing
The external body which is visible to a user is called “Casing” or “Computer Case”.

Power Supply
There are three types of power supply.
1. AT (Advanced Technology)
2. ATX (Advanced Technology Extended)
3. ATX-HT (ATX Hyper Technology)

1. AT (Advanced Technology)
In this kind of power supply, Power Button of computer is used to switch it off. The
connector of such kind of power supply consists of two parts. To attach it with
mother board, both parts are joined and it is attached keeping the face of black
cables, inside.

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2. ATX (Advanced Technology Extended)

This is a modern type of power supply. In this kind of power supply when the
window is shut down, the computer is automatically switched off.

3. ATX-HT (ATX Hyper Technology)

This is the most modern type of power supply. In this kind of power supply, there are
two extra connectors available along with power connectors.

Mother/ Main Board

This is the most important part of a computer. It consists of BIOS (Basic Input Output
System). There are various places available on a mother board to insert different
devices like Graphics card and sound card etc. These places are known as “Slots”.
Following are different types of slots:-
• ISA Slot (Industrial Standard Architect)
• PCI Slot (Peripheral Component Inter Connect)
• AGP Slot (Accelerated Graphic Adapter)
• PCI-E Slot (PCI-Express)

Note:
Last two slots are for graphics card.

Processor
In computer, processor is known as the brain of computer.
Pentium 1 (133 MHz – 233 MHz) 32 Bit (x86)
Pentium 2 (233 MHz – 450 MHz) 32 Bit (x86)
Pentium 3 (450 MHz – 1.3 GHz {1300 MHz}) 32 Bit (x86)
Pentium 4 (1.3 GHz – 3.4 GHz) 32 Bit (x86)
Pentium D Dual-Core (1.6 GHz – 3.0 GHz) 64 Bit (x64)
Core 2 Dou (1.6 GHz – 2.4 GHz) 64 Bit (x64)
Core 2 Quad (2.0 GHz – 2.4 GHz) 64 Bit (x64)

Note:
MHz stands for Mega Hertz.
GHz stands for Giga Hertz.
Speed of processor is measured in MHz.

On the basis of structure, there are three different types of processor.

• Pin Processor
• Slot 1 Processor
• LGA Processor

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RAM
In computer, RAM acts as a temporary memory. There are following types of RAM:-
• SD-RAM (100 MHz – 133 MHz)
• DDR (266 MHz – 400 MHz)
• DDR-2 (400 MHz – 667 MHz)

FDD (Floppy Disk Drive)

FDD is the abbreviation of Floppy Disk Drive. This is now an old device and was used
before the common use of USB Flash Drive. Now-a-days its use is near about
finished.

Optical Devices
Following are optical devices:-
• CD-ROM
• CD-Writer
• DVD-ROM
• Combo Drive
• Super Drive

CD-Rom
This device is used to play Compact Disk (CD)

CD-Writer
This device can play Compact Disk (CD) as well as write data on a CD-R and CD-RW.

DVD-ROM
This device can play a Digital Video Drive (DVD) and as well as Compact Disk (CD).

Combo drive
This device can play a CD and DVD as well as can write CD-R, CD-RW.

Super Drive
This drive is able to play CD and DVD and can also write CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R and
DVD-RW

Note 1:
CD = Compact Disk
CD-R = Compact Disk
CD-RW = Compact Disk Re-Writeable
DVD = Digital Video Drive
DVD-R = Digital Video Drive
DVD-RW = Digital Video Drive Re-Writeable

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Learn Computer Hardware in an easy way!

Reading and writing speed of all mentioned above optical devices may vary from
1x-52x. Higher the value of “x”, higher will be the reading or writing speed of
respective optical device.

Note 2:
IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) is a connector which is used to connect hard disk
and optical devices with the mother board.

Built-In Devices
There are several devices which are already fitted in a mother board. Those devices
are called Built-In devices.

For Example:-
Various mother boards consist of built-in Graphics card, Sound card or LAN card.

Note:
If any mother board does not consist of built-in graphic card, sound card or LAN card,
then these are to be fixed externally on their respective ports.

Board’s External Ports

The ports given at the back of mother board are called external ports. There are
following ports found normally on a mother board.
• PS/2 Port
• AT Port (Mouse AT)
• Serial Port
• USB Port (Universal Serial Bus Port)
• VGA Port (Video Graphic Array Port)
• LPT Port (Local Port)
• LAN Port (Local Area Network)
• Sound Port
• Power Connector

Interface/External Cards
If a mother board does not consist of built-in graphic, sound or LAN card or the built-
in devices become defective, then to solve this problem respective card is purchased
and fixed into the respective slot on the board.
Following are normally used external cards:-
• Fax-Modem Card
• Graphics Card
• Sound Card
• LAN Card

Fax-Modem Card
Fax-Modem Card is used to connect computer to internet via Telephone line. The
speed of Fax-Modem starts from 33Kbps and ends at 56Kbps. Kbps stands for Kilo-bit
per second.

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Graphics Card
Graphics Card is used to display graphics in computer. What ever we see on a
monitor screen is possible because of a graphics card. A monitor is connected to this
card. It is also known as VGA or SVGA card. It has following types:-
• AGP Card
• PCI-Express Card
• 3D-Card
There are different slots to connect these cards e.g. PCI-Express slot, AGP slot etc.

Sound Card
Sound card is used to receive sound output from the computer.

LAN Card
LAN Card is the abbreviation of “Local Area Network Card”. It is also known as
“Ethernet” and “Network Interface Card”. With the help of LAN card a computer can
be connected to other computers. Besides it a printer can also be shared wit other
computers.
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Learn Computer Hardware in an easy way!

Chapter #3

Hardware Installation
In this chapter you will get to know how to a computer is assembled.

Basic things to know

LED = Light Emitting Diode

USB = Universal Serial Bus

= Power sign
= On sign

= Off sign

= Hard disk load indicator

= Network Indicator
BIOS Entrance Key = F1, F2, F10/ Del Key

Quick Boot Key = F12

Safe Mode Key = F8

Restart Key = Ctrl + Alt + Del

Hard Disk Jumper Setting

There might be two setting for a Hard Disk. Either it is primary (Master) or Secondary
(Slave).

The first set of pins from IDE side which is like “:” is used for Master and the second
is used for slave. This setting is used both for optical devices like CD-ROM and as well
as Hard disk.

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Identification of Ports and Major Components of Mother Board

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Learn Computer Hardware in an easy way!

Procedure to fix a Processor and Cooling Fan

1st 2nd

3rd 4th

5th 6th

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7th

8th

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Learn Computer Hardware in an easy way!

Chapter #4

BIOS Setup
BIOS is the abbreviation of Basic input output system. Means this is the basic input
output system of a computer. This is placed on mother board like a micro-chip. It has
its own control system through which settings of a computer can be changed. It has
its own memory which ranges from 512KB to 2MB. The reason for why such a small
memory is allocated to it is that this memory is only used to store settings. It has its
own battery which is called “BIOS battery”. Till the battery is getting voltage it keeps
on charging itself and stores settings. And when the computer is switched off even
then it has the potential to store the setting. The life of this battery is 3 years. By
word “settings” we mean the following settings:-
• Date & Time setting
• Hard Disk/ CD-Device type detection setting
• Boot sequence setting
• Internal Device Control setting
• Security & Password setting
In every computer the way to enter BIOS setup miht differs. These ways differ
on the choice of the mother board manufacturer. To enter the BIOS setup, F1,
F10/ Del, or F2 Keys are pressed continuously when the computer is switched on.
Following companies use following keys:-
IBM = F1
Compaq = F10
Dell = F2, Del
Intel = F2, Del
Other Companies = F2, Del
If the computer’s BIOS password is forgot then to decode it, BIOS Battery is put out
of the mother board and the computer is switched on.
In BIOS setup, “Enable” means “On” and “Disable” means “Off”. To change settings
in BIOS ±،Space bar and arrow keys (↑↓) are used.

Using BIOS Setup

In BIOS, first of all hard disk and CD-ROM is detected.
“Boot sequence” or “Boot Options” or “Boot Priority” options consist of the order in
which computer is booted. A computer can be booted with the help of following
devices:-
• CD-ROM/ DVD-Rom
• Hard Disk Drive
• Floppy Disk Drive
• USB-Flash Drive
The best booting order is as follows:-
1st Boot Device = CD-ROM/ DVD-ROM
2nd Boot Device = Hard Disk Drive
rd
3 Boot Device = USB-Flash Drive

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Learn Computer Hardware in an easy way!

In such kind of Booting Sequence/ Booting Order, a computer first of all checks CD-
Drive, for a bootable CD. If it is successful in finding a bootable CD then it will boot
from CD. If the CD is not bootable the computer will move to next option i.e. Hard
Disk. If you don’t want to boot from a CD, then put the CD out of the CD-ROM. The
computer by automatically not finding any CD will move to the next option i.e. Hard
Disk and will start the operating system.

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