Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all maintain our own computers? It would save a lot of headaches for that terrible moment when the hard drive crashes and one is left staring sadly at their monitor. But maintaining your own computer isn’t really all that difficult although the PC is a complex machine. To start you must know the basic parts of the PC.

The Motherboard - This is one of the most important parts of the PC. It brings all the other components together.

The CPU – This is the ‘brain’ of the computer and therefore, another very important component.

The Computer Case – This is the housing for all the other components, the largest being the motherboard.

Computer Memory – Computer memory is also called RAM (Random Access Memory.) This is where your computer stores all the information in it’s ‘brain.’

The Monitor – The monitor shows you what you’re computers doing. Monitors come in all sizes and forms these days.

Hard Drives and Floppy Drives – A hard drive stores all of your computers data. They are prone to failure so it’s important to have a reliable one. Floppy drives are important for reading 5.5” diskettes. These are quickly becoming obsolete with the new data storage solutions available today.

CD-Rom Drives – This is what is used to install virtually all software packages. Computers now come equipped with it.

The Video Card – Displays images on your computer.

The Keyboard and Mouse – Because of the importance of these two components, everybody already knows what they are. They allow you to communicate with your PC.