Hardware

Updated: 08/03/2018 by Computer Hope

Abbreviated as HW, Hardware is best described as any physical component of a computer system that contains a circuit board, ICs, or other electronics. A perfect example of hardware is the screen on which you are viewing this page. Whether it be a computer monitor, tablet or smartphone; it's hardware.

Without any hardware, your computer would not exist, and software could not be used. The picture is a Logitech webcam, an example of an external hardware peripheral. This hardware device allows users to take videos or pictures and transmit them over the Internet.

• External hardware examples
• Internal hardware examples
• What is the most common hardware included with a computer?
• What are hardware upgrades?
• Where can I buy computer hardware?
• Related hardware pages.
• Computer hardware help and support.

External hardware examples

Below is a list of external hardware or hardware that is found outside of your computer that may be found with a computer.

• Flat-panel, Monitor, and LCD
• Gamepad
• Joystick
• Keyboard
• Microphone
• Mouse
• Printer
• Projector
• Scanner
• Speakers
• USB thumb drive

Internal hardware examples

Below is a list of internal hardware or hardware that is found inside your computer and may be found in a computer.

• Processor (CPU)
• Drive (e.g., Blu-ray, CD-ROM, DVD, floppy drive, hard drive, and SSD)
• Fan (heat sink)
• Modem
• Motherboard
• Network card
• Power supply
• RAM
• Sound card
• Video card

What is the most common hardware included with a computer?

Below is a list of the most common hardware you'd likely find inside the computer or connected to the computer with the typical computer today (desktop computer or laptop).

• Processor (CPU)
• One or more fans and heat sink
• Motherboard that most likely has an integrated video card, sound card, and network card.
• For most desktop computers (especially gaming computers), a separate video card is used.
• RAM
• Hard drive
• Power supply
• Cables that connect internal components and external peripherals.
• Keyboard
• Mouse or touchpad with a laptop.
• Flat-panel, Monitor, or TV for desktop computers and LCD as part of a laptop.

What are hardware upgrades?

A hardware upgrade is any new hardware better than that which it replaced or additional hardware that improves performance. A good example of a common hardware upgrade is a RAM upgrade, where the user increases the computer's total memory. Another good example is a video card upgrade, which is the act of removing an old video card and replacing it with a newer, more powerful model.

• How to install and add hardware to the computer.
• After adding new hardware, the computer does not work.
• How do I remove hardware from the computer?
• How to dispose of computer hardware.

Where can I buy computer hardware?

There many locations to buy computer hardware today. Many local computer retail store and repair shops have hardware available in stock that can be purchased immediately. However, for more options and typically lower prices, it is generally better to buy hardware online.

• Full list of places to buy computers and computer hardware.
• Computer and computer hardware buying tips.

Activity 3 Imformative Topic

How to fix the Windows blue screen errors

Updated: 05/21/2018 by Computer Hope

Part V.) Software issues

Before fixing a Microsoft Windows blue screen or blue screen of death error (BSoD), you must first identify what error it is, as there are multiple types of blue screen errors.
Part II.) Provide Solutions:

Tip: If you are experiencing a completely blue or light blue screen with no text or error message, your computer may have a bad video card or monitor, resulting in only seeing a blue screen. If possible, attempt to check if your video card is having issues or your monitor is bad.
Part VI) Hardware issues

Note: If you are getting a blue screen and then your computer immediately reboots without being able to read the text in the blue screen, follow the steps below. If you are unable to get into Windows to perform the steps below, boot the computer into Safe Mode. If you are unable to boot into Safe Mode, you may have corrupt Windows system files, a defective memory chip or a defective hard drive. You should run hardware diagnostic tests to determine if the memory or hard drive is causing the blue screen errors.

Part III.) Advantages

1. From the Desktop or in the Windows Start Menu, right-click on My Computer or Computer.
2. Click the Properties option.
3. In the System Properties window, click the Advanced tab or the Advanced system settings link.
4. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery section.
5. In the Startup and Recovery window, uncheck the Automatically restart check box.
6. Click OK.

Part IV.) Dis-advantages

Blue screen errors

Windows NT, 2000, XP, Vista, and later versions of Windows have a blue screen error that is similar to the example shown below. These error messages often contain more detailed information and will contain information that can be searched for and found. If you're not getting a blue screen error that looks like the example below, skip to the next Fatal exception section.

Note: If you are getting a solid blue screen with no white text, you are not encountering a BSoD. It's likely a problem with your video card, monitor, or other hardware. Follow the no display on monitor troubleshooting steps to diagnose this problem.

1. Identify the blue screen by locating a line containing all capital letters with underscores instead of spaces, such as the above example, BAD_POOL_HEADER. Write this information down. If you do not see anything written in all caps with underscores like this, skip this step.
2. Get either the STOP: error message at the top of the error, or in the "Technical Information:" portion of the error. For example, in the above error, it is STOP: 0x00000019, write the first portion of this error message down.
3. Finally, if technical information is shown, write down the file and the address.

Once you have the above information, you can start troubleshooting the issue. Below are common blue screen errors and links to pages that contain the troubleshooting steps for some of these errors.

Note: If your error is not listed in the below section, search for the error you wrote down.

Part VII) Site References

• BAD_POOL_HEADER
• DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
• INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
• IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
• KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
• NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
• PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
• STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH
• THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
• UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
• UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR

Fatal exceptions

Many of the blue screen error messages you'll encounter with earlier versions of Windows will be fatal exception error messages or Fatal 0E messages. If your blue screen message starts out with A fatal exception 0E ... or An exception ..., you are encountering this error. For these blue screen errors, follow the fatal exception error troubleshooting steps.

Additional information

• See our BSOD and error definitions for further information and related links.
• Microsoft Windows help and support.

Activity 1 Input device

An input device is any hardware device that sends data to a computer, allowing you to interact with and control it. The picture shows a Logitechtrackball mouse, which is an example of an input device.

Lines of different widths and sizes representing data, that when read determine what the scanned object is. Barcodes are often used to help organize and index information or prices about an object. Barcodes used by the U.S. postal service that helps speed the delivery of mail is another perfect example of how a barcode could be used. The picture is an example of what a barcode of an address.

Following are some of the important output devices used in a computer.

• Monitors
• Graphic Plotter
• Printer

Monitors

Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the main output device of a computer. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the image depends upon the number of pixels.

There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors.

• Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT)
• Flat-Panel Display

Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor

The CRT display is made up of small picture elements called pixels. The smaller the pixels, the better the image clarity or resolution. It takes more than one illuminated pixel to form a whole character, such as the letter ‘e’ in the word help.

A finite number of characters can be displayed on a screen at once. The screen can be divided into a series of character boxes - fixed location on the screen where a standard character can be placed. Most screens are capable of displaying 80 characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically.

There are some disadvantages of CRT −

• Large in Size
• High power consumption

Flat-Panel Display Monitor

The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume, weight and power requirement in comparison to the CRT. You can hang them on walls or wear them on your wrists. Current uses of flat-panel displays include calculators, video games, monitors, laptop computer, and graphics display.

The flat-panel display is divided into two categories −

• Emissive Displays − Emissive displays are devices that convert electrical energy into light. For example, plasma panel and LED (Light-Emitting Diodes).
• Non-Emissive Displays − Non-emissive displays use optical effects to convert sunlight or light from some other source into graphics patterns. For example, LCD (Liquid-Crystal Device).

Printers

Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper.

There are two types of printers −

• Impact Printers
• Non-Impact Printers

Impact Printers

Impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then pressed on the paper.

Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following −

• Very low consumable costs
• Very noisy
• Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
• There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image

These printers are of two types −

• Character printers
• Line printers

Character Printers

Character printers are the printers which print one character at a time.

These are further divided into two types:

• Dot Matrix Printer(DMP)
• Daisy Wheel

Dot Matrix Printer

In the market, one of the most popular printers is Dot Matrix Printer. These printers are popular because of their ease of printing and economical price. Each character printed is in the form of pattern of dots and head consists of a Matrix of Pins of size (5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which come out to form a character which is why it is called Dot Matrix Printer.

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