Anatomy of a Hard Drive
A hard drive contains a spinning metal disk. The surfaces of the disk have a magnetizable coating. An actuator arm with a read/write head on its end is passed over the surface of the spinning disk. More ...
SD (Secure Digital) Memory Card Basics
SD cards come in a variety of sizes, storage capacities, and transfer speeds. This makes it confusing for users to choose the correct memory card for their products. This article touches on the SD technologies to help you get the correct SD memory card. More ...
Understanding PC Data Buses
Physically, a data bus is the connection between the CPU and other devices on the PCs motherboard. A data connection can be serial or parallel. The data bus used in first-generation PCs used 8-bit architecture. PCI Express uses switched serial connections. More ...
Motherboard Basics
A motherboard, also known as a main board, is the primary circuit board inside of a computer, and is where the central processing unit (CPU), memory, expansion slots, drives, and other peripheral devices are connected. More ...
How Hard Disks Work
A hard disk drive consists of several main components. The first is one or more thin disks that spin at anything from 3650 to 15000 RPM. The second major component is the head assembly which consists of record/playback heads mounted on arms which pivot so that the heads can be placed over any of the tracks. More ...
Building Your Own PC! - The Motherboard is the Core of the PC
The single most important piece of hardware that you will buy is the motherboard - the very core of your PC. If you buy a PC from a shop, chances are you'll never think about or even see the motherboard; but when you build a system from scratch, it must be your primary consideration. Everything else follows from here. More ...
Power and Your PC
The power coming into a computer is the most critical component, and it may be one of the most overlooked. It is just taken for granted that it will always be there and working properly. More ...
How a laser Printer Works
Laser printers work by using a laser beam to transfer an image to an electrically charged, photo-sensitive drum. The charge on the drum attracts toner ink, which is transferred to the paper. The primary steps in the laser printing process are listed below. More ...
Basic Computer Thermodynamics
Picture the CPU of a computer cooking away because the designer wants to push too much power through a small piece of silicon. If we don't take away that heat as fast as it's created, that CPU will fry! More ...
The Computers Back Connector Panel
So although the computer's back panel appears to be a complicated mess, each connector has a specific shape, number and pins, and polarity key that allows only the proper cable to be plugged in. If you get a nice comfortable feeling like your not smashing pins when you plug a cable in, then you can feel secure that nothing will blow up. More ...
How Does the CPU Cache Work?
CPU's however use a 2 level cache system. The principles are the same. The level 1 cache is the fastest and smallest memory, level 2 cache is larger and slightly slower but still smaller and faster than the main memory. More ...
Wireless USB
USB requires peripherals to be connected to the PC with cables. Some PC users feel they can be more productive if they could get rid of those cables. This has resulted in the introduction of several short range wireless connection technologies. More ...
The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)
SCSI is complicated to configure and troubleshoot with incompatibility between devices being a common problem. To setup a SCSI system, you need to know which SCSI standard the devices support. The host adapter must match the devices. More ...
Windows Registry Basics
The Windows Registry is a database that stores information about the system, including; installed hardware and its configuration, device drivers, network settings, installed applications and their configuration, and the configuration of each user's desktop. To maintain your own computer, you will need to become familiar with the Registry. More ...
