Removing the Case |
To look at the inside of your computer, you must first remove the outer casing.
First unplug everything from the back. Then remove the 4 or more screws on the back that hold the case on. There are lots of other screws visible, so be careful to get just the ones that hold the case together. You'll likely need a Phillips-head screwdriver for this. That's the kind with the X-shaped tip. Put the screws where you can find them again when you're done and where you won't step or kneel on one. They do hurt!
[Some cases do not have screws. The side panels slide and then lift
off. It can be hard to tell what slides which way.]
Once the screws are out, the case should slide off. Some cases need to be lifted up in the back a little so you can pull a lip loose at the front edge.
Now you can look around inside.
 Ground yourself by touching something metal like the power supply or metal parts of the case before touching ANYTHING inside the computer. Static electricity kills computer parts!!!
Some people wear a special wristband to discharge static as they work on computers.
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Access Slots
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The access slots are openings in the back of the computer to allow devices to connect. The peripheral cards have a metal tongue which fits into the opening and contains the connectors. The tongue is held in place with a screw at the top.
 If the top of the tongue doesn't lie flat on top of the screw hole, the peripheral card is not all the way down in the slot.
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Extra Bays |
In the example diagram the tower has extra bays, or places to put drives and other devices.
When selecting a computer, be sure the case has an extra bay for that future device you don't know about yet.
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Hard Drive
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The hard drive is entirely internal. The only thing you can see on the outside is a LED light that lights up when the hard drive is in use. On the inside you can't see much more.
The hard drive is a rectangle about the size of a medium paperback book. It's about the same size as the 3½" floppy drive.
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There are two connectors on the back end - one for a set of colored wires to the power supply and one for a 40-pin ribbon cable to the motherboard or to a controller card.
Connecting things backwards inside a computer is sometimes possible, even though good design would shape the parts so that they'll only fit one way. But just because it's possible, doesn't mean it's not damaging to the devices connected. So be careful. If the connector has a pin marked as "1" (you may need a strong light to see), it is important that you plug the cable in the right way!
There are also some pins which can be joined together with a jumper. This is a little piece that slides over two pins at the same time. Placing a jumper over pins closes the circuit, changing the path of the electricity. Different combinations of open and closed jumpers are used depending on whether you have just one hard drive or more than one. You need the manual for the hard drive to know for sure how to set the jumpers.
Keep all manuals until you get rid of that piece of hardware. If you trade or sell it, be kind and send the documents, too. It can be hard to get replacements.
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Motherboard
 | The layout of the motherboard was illustrated in the lesson on Processing.
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Peripheral Cards
| A peripheral is a device that connects to the motherboard and includes such things as a monitor, mouse, keyboard, modem, scanner, digital camera, and printer. Many of these devices attach to a expansion card (also called a controller card, adapter card, interface card, expansion board) which is connected to the motherboard via a expansion slot, or socket. Recall from the lesson on Processing the diagram and picture of a motherboard.
Inserting and removing these cards can be tricky at times. If a new card doesn't seem to work, be very sure that it is inserted all the way. If the motherboard flexes too much while you are pushing the card into the slot, you may break it or the card. In many cases you can place a flat book like a phone book under the computer case to block the flexing enough for you to get the card inserted.
The bottom edge of a peripheral card may have a gap or two. Be careful to line these up with the corresponding spots in the socket before applying pressure to insert the card.
When selecting a computer, be sure that there are unused slots for peripherals. You may need to add one that you haven't thought of yet.
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Power Supply | The power supply converts the electricity from the wall outlet into the flavor that the computer can digest. While all power supplies look pretty much alike, they are not all alike in what they put out. |
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It is critical that the power supply provide exactly the right kind of power or the motherboard will be fried! Be careful when you are replacing the power supply or motherboard that they match. |
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Notice the sets of colored wires coming out of the power supply. One or two of the wider connectors must be connected to the motherboard. Other connectors power your hard drive, floppy drive, and CD-ROM drive. A peripheral device must get power either from a wall outlet or from the computer. In the latter case the peripheral's card would have a connection to the power supply.
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Removable
Media Drives |
The diagram shows 3 different kinds of removable media drives, that is, drives for which you insert and remove the object that contains the data. Floppy drives were the first such drive invented. CD-ROM drives are now standard equipment on most new systems. Tape drives are used mostly for backing up data in large quantity.
All of these drives must be connected to the power supply and to the motherboard. You can imagine how crowded it gets inside the computer case with all of these cables running around. Indeed you can run out of physical space and connections for the devices that you want. Sometimes it just won't all fit!
External devices that connect to the parallel or USB port come in handy when there is no more room inside the case. To switch between devices all you have to do is switch the connection. That's much easier than having to dig around inside the computer case to physically switch out a device!! You don't even have to shut down the computer to switch USB devices. No wonder they are so popular!
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~~ 1 Cor. 10:31 ...whatever you do, do it all for the
glory of God. ~~
