Computer hardware consists of the internal components of a computer, including the computer case, central processing unit, chip sets, keyboard, monitor, mouse, optical drive, hard diskettes and other hard drives. The computer hardware also includes the operating system and drivers that are needed to communicate with software programs. Computer hardware must be arranged in a specific manner so that the devices can be accessed easily by the operating system. After the hardware is installed, the computer is ready to function. There are three hardware components that must be synchronized in order for a computer to run efficiently.
CD ROM drives are among the most common hardware components found in computers. The CD ROM drive enables the users to read and write data to removable media such as CDs, floppy disks, and tapes. DVD ROM drives are also another common hardware component. The DVD ROM drive allows the users to read and write data from DVD media such as tapes, CDs, and DVDs. SCSI (isterio) SCSI cards are another type of common hardware device.
Central processing unit or CPU is the most important part of the computer system. The CPU performs basic operations like loading programs and commands into the memory and executing them. The central processing unit also consists of input and output peripherals such as keyboard, display, printer, audio input and output devices, scanners, disk drives and graphics processor.
Keyboard and mouse are input devices that are necessary to perform tasks. An operating system consists of various applications that run on the CPU. In a typical computer, the operating system software and hardware are combined. The software portion is referred to as applications. Software consists of programming languages used to control the various tasks in the computer. When a computer would complete a task, an instruction to finish the task is then written to the CPU.
The operating system is programmed to start up tasks that the user inputs. The user may, for instance, start the operating system by clicking the power button on the front panel. A keyboard is used to input text and to control the various tasks in the computer. A monitor displays the computer environment. A scanner converts the images that are captured by the camera into digital data and a printer loads the data into the printer.
Output devices refers to devices such as printers, scanners and output ports. A printer connects the input and output devices to the computer. When a printer fails, the PC needs to boot up from the DVD or CD in order to execute commands. Output ports output digital signals to the monitor and speakers.
