This is a question we're asked often on Computer Hope so we thought we'd create this document to help give a starting place for those interested in learning more about their computer.
Quick basics
- Machine language - All computers and electronic devices communicate in binary, which is a series of 0's and 1's or Off and On signals.
- Input / Output - A computer works with a human by him or her inputting data using an input device such as a keyboard and then having the data on the computer being displayed on an output device such as a monitor.
- Operating system - Every computer must have an operating system in order to allow the software to communicate with the hardware. For example, Microsoft Windows is considered an operating system.
- Computer memory - Not to be confused with disk storage, the computer memory is volatile memory and is used to store currently running applications. When the computer is turned off all data within the memory is lost.
- Computer disk storage - Also considered a memory, but a non-volatile memory, hard disk drive storage is what stores your information even when the computer is turned off.
- ROM - Yet another type of memory, read-only memory (ROM) is a memory chip that has data that can only be read. Most computers today have a programmable read only memory (PROM), which is still read-only but can be re-programmed if needed.
- Memory capacity - All memory has total capacities, usually written using abbreviations such as KB, MB, GB, and TB.
- Expansion cards - An expansion card is a card that can be added to the computer to give it additional capabilities. A video card, modem, and sound card are all examples of expansion cards.
Computer Overview
Getting a good complete overview of the computer hardware components is always a good first step in learning more about computers. We suggest first starting with reading our computer dictionary definition. From this page you'll be able to learn more about each of the components in the computer, get linked to each of the connections and their names on the back of the computer, as well as a full explanation of each of the internal components of a computer.
How does a computer work?
Knowing how the computer works after you press the power button is also an excellent way to learn more about your computer.
Computer software is what you, as a computer user will interact with the most. For example, the Internet browser you're reading this page on is considered a software application and it's being run on an operating system, which is also considered software. Learning all there is to know about a software program can be tricky since there are billions of different programs available for the computer today. When wanting to learn more about a software program or find a program capable of doing a task such as editing a picture we suggest searching for that question.
Computer history
Knowing the history of computers and how they've progressed over the years is another great way get a better understanding of computers. We've listed several thousand key events on our history section.
Keep informed
Computers and everything associated with them are constantly evolving, try to keep up-to-date as possible by reading news relating to computers, reading computer related blogs, subscribing to RSS feeds and newsletters, participating in computer forums, and following computer people on social networking sites like Twitter.
- Our RSS feeds and e-mail feeds
- Computer related news sites
- Computer Hope forum
Computer quiz
Ready to test yourself and learn more at the same time. Take the Computer Hope quiz, which contains hundreds of questions in different computer categories.
Online free books
There are hundreds of thousands of online computer books and computer related e-books that can be downloaded. See our eBook dictionary definition for a full listing of places to find books online for free and legally.
No comments:
Post a Comment