Basic PC Anatomy Inkjet Printers
There are two main inkjet technologies, thermal and piezo-electric. Thermal technology uses silicon wafer heating elements, Epson uses a proprietary piezo electric technology. More ...
The Universal Serial Bus
In 1996 the Universal Serial Bus (USB) was developed to replace the serial and parallel ports. Today, the USB port is used to connect scanners, digital cameras, and external storage devices like CD-RW drives. More ...
ABC's Of DVD Drive Abbreviations
The number of different formats available in DVD drives can be confusing to anyone. A few of the common formats are DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM ,DVD+R DL and DVD±RW. In This article we take a look at the more common formats of DVD drives in order to shed some light on all the choices available. More ...
All About Your Computer's BIOS
Are you confused by the computer BIOS? The BIOS is a fundamental component of any PC and if you really want to get into the guys of a computer, it?s good through understanding what BIOS Is all about. More ...
Hard Drives - ATA versus SATA
with data rates hitting the 133MB / sec mark the parallel ATA standard is maxing out, thus industry leaders got together and came up with a new standard known as Serial ATA (SATA). More ...
Understanding the Software Layers of a Computer
You select File | Print in the menu and the printer comes to life, feeding out a copy of your document on paper. It seems like a simple process, but in reality your request passed through many layers of software before reaching your printer. More ...
The Hard Disk Drive vs. The Solid State Disk
Much has been written about solid state disks (SSDs) becoming the next big thing1 in the IT industry. But as to whether or not we have enough knowledge of how it will revolutionize the industry is a different question. How much do we really know about SSDs? More ...
The RS-232 Serial Port
The RS-232 serial port was used to connect a mouse, modem, and/or printer. The RS-232 serial port is now totally obsolete. I would be very surprised if you ever run into a PC with an RS-232 serial port except possibly in a third-world country. However, I'll briefly describe the it in this article because you may run into a question about it in the CompTIA A+ Certification Exam. More ...
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Chipsets
Although most people think the microprocessor is the most important part on a computer's motherboard, the 'chipset' is equally important. With the introduction of the Athlon processor, AMD gained the technilogical lead. AMD processors and chipsets have always held the advantage in value. More ...
How is Data Written, Stored On, and Erased From Hard Disks?
Inside your hard disk is a stack of one or more optically perfect platters where data is stored magnetically. When the drive is originally formatted, it is laid out in a pattern of concentric circles (cylinders) and wedges (sectors). More ...
Introduction to Operating Systems
An operating system is software that acts as an intermediary between a computer user and the computer's applications and hardware. An operating system can be viewed as a resource allocator. Resources might be CPU time, memory space, file storage space, and input/output (I/O) devices. More ...
Motherboard Form Factors
The "form factor" of a motherboard defines its dimensions. Make sure that the computer case that you purchase can accommodate the motherboard. It is also wise to select a motherboard with a commonly available form factor in case you need to replace it. Article updated with more information. More ...
Understanding Computer Memory
Understanding computer memory is important because your computer's memory is where the action is. Sure your computer's central processing unit (CPU) may be the computer's brain, but what good is a brain without memory? More ...
Understanding The Speed Of New Pci Express Data Bus
PCIe is intended to be used as a local interconnect only. As it is based on the existing PCI system, cards, and systems can be adapted to PCI Express without any change in software. The higher speeds on PCIe allow it to replace almost all existing buses. More ...
