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.