Welcome to DIY Tech Blog's Computer Basics Page.  The purpose of this page is to provide the beginner with the very basics of how computers work and how they are created. WARNING - This page is written for the absolute beginner; More advanced readers should visit the pages listed in our menu to the left of this page. Terms used in the lesson may not be familiar yet, so you can refer to our Defenitions Page for an explanation. We also have a page dedicated to those ever annoying acronyms. Click this link to visit our Acronyms Page.

Is this thing on?

I know, it sounds a little funny, but I have worked with computers for a long time and to troubleshoot effectively you must start with the basics. Electronics need elecricity to work, so it is always a good idea to ensure that the device is plugged in. Every good technician will have a quick checklist of basic items in their head, that they go through every time they try to fix something. And with that you have Lesson #1: Do not ignore the obvious. Followed closely by Lesson #2: Do not assume anything.

Computers are the ultimate logical device. They work when everything that has been set in place, functions as it is expected to function. By now, you might be saying to yourself, "Is this guy kidding me?" Well... I am trying to inject a little humor into the subject, but essentially No, I'm not kidding. What I'm trying to convey is that you must ensure that, what you beleive to be true, is in fact true. Let's use a real life example to bring the point home. Once while trying to troubleshoot a VCR, a friend grabbed a pre-recorded videotape. Popped the tape in the VCR, pressed play and expected to see a picture on the TV. He got "snow" instead of a show and then spent an hour or so trying to figure out what was wrong. It turned out that the tape he used had recorded incorrectly and had actullay recorded "snow". The VCR was fine, but the tape had no picture. What he assumed to be true (the tape had recorded a show), was not true.

What are computers made of?

Now that we are in the proper frame of mind, we can get into the meat of our topic. At the very basic level, computer parts can be broken down into two categories, hardware and software. Motherboards, harddrives, video cards and thing of that nature are called hardware. Operating systems, programs and applications are called software. Essentially if you plug it in, it's hardware. If you download it, it's software.

Let's start with hardware, since the hardware needs to be in place for the software to work. Most computers require a few basic hardware components in order to work properly. Here is a list of the parts a computer needs: