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computerhope.com

How to learn more about computers

Computer Hope

12-15 minutes

Updated: 06/06/2021 by

This page is for anyone interested in learning more about their

computer or not sure where to begin. Because the computer is a
complex machine, we've designed this page to be a quick
reference and a complete overview of everything dealing with
computers. From this page, you'll find links to pages that go
more in-depth about each subject.

Tip

If you only need a quick overview of the computer in general,

see our computer definition.

What makes the computer work?

Transistors

The computer contains millions of transistors, which are the

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primary building block of all microchips, including your CPU

(central processing unit).

When placed in different configurations, transistors form logic

gates, which can combine into arrays called half adders that also
combine into full adders. It is what creates the machine
language your computer uses to communicate and deal with
Boolean logic.

Machine language

All computers and electronic devices communicate in binary,

several 0's and 1's or Off and On electrical signals. All software
written on your computer is created in a high-level programming
language that humans can understand. When complete, the
program is compiled to a low-level machine language that
computers understand.

ASCII codes

Each binary 0 or 1 is considered a bit, and each number, letter,

or other character is made up of eight bits (one byte). A common

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method for storing and editing text is done with ASCII codes,
which is one byte of binary. For example, the lowercase letter "a"
has an ASCII code decimal value of 97 or 01100001 in binary.

• How does a computer convert text into binary or 0's and 1's?

Unicode

ASCII only supports 256 characters, which is not enough

characters for many languages and to represent all of the
symbols used with computers. To help solve this problem,
Unicode was created. The 16-bit version of Unicode for example
has enough space for over one million characters.

Memory

Computer memory is any physical device capable of storing

information temporarily. For example, the computer memory
RAM (random-access memory) is a volatile memory used to
store running applications. When the computer is turned off, all
data in the memory is lost.

Storage

Because computers cannot be on all the time, they need to store

information. A non-volatile type of memory like a hard drive is
what stores information even when the computer is turned off.
Information stored on the computer is stored as a file; a file is a
document, movie, photo, music, or other file types. All of these
files are stored in a storage device.

Tip

It's very common for new computer users to confuse memory

and storage. However, these are two different types of memory.
Your computer always has less memory than storage.

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Over the evolution of computers there were different media

types and technologies used to store data. Below is a listing of
some of these storage devices from oldest to newest.

• Punch card

• Punch tape

• Hard drive

• Tape drive

• Floppy diskette

• Zip disk

• CD

• DVD

• Blu-ray disc

• Flash jump drive

• SSD

• NAS

• Cloud Storage

Tip

See our storage device page for complete information about

storage devices.

Memory and storage capacity

All memory and storage have a total capacity that's written using
abbreviations like KB (kilobyte), MB (megabyte), GB (gigabyte),
and TB (terabyte). See the following link for a complete
understanding of all values.

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• How much is 1 byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, etc.?

Cache

Another faster type of memory is called cache. Cache memory

is a smaller portion of memory kept on or near the CPU to store
recently accessed portions of memory. When the CPU needs
information, if it's in the cache it's loaded from cache almost
immediately instead of having to wait for the slower RAM.

ROM

Another type of memory, ROM (read-only memory), is a memory

chip with data that can only be read. Most computers today have
a PROM (programmable read-only memory), which is still read-
only but can be re-programmed if needed through a firmware
update.

• What is the difference between ROM and RAM?

Input and output

Humans use input devices, such as a keyboard and a mouse, to

interact with a computer. Computers can also receive input from
sensors. The computer processes that inputted data and then
sends the modified or new information to an output device, such
as a monitor. The printer is another output device that can
produce a hard copy of documents and pictures stored on the

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computer. The process of inputting and outputting information is

called input/output, or the I/O process.

• What is the difference between an input and output device?

• How to use a computer keyboard.

• How to use a computer mouse.

Hardware and software

Software is instructions and code installed into the computer,

like the Internet browser you're using to view this page.
Hardware is a physical device you can touch, like the monitor or
screen you're using to read this page.

• What are the differences between hardware and software?

Computer hardware

CPU

The CPU (central processing unit) or processor handles all

instructions it receives from hardware and software running on
the computer. In the CPU, there are two primary components.

1. ALU (arithmetic logic unit) - performs mathematical, logical, and

decision operations.

2. CU (control unit) - directs all the processors operations.

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Motherboard

The motherboard is the largest circuit board in the computer

case that holds and connects everything together. Without the
motherboard, components like your processor and memory
could not communicate with each other. Below is an example of
a desktop computer motherboard.

Expansion cards

An expansion card is a card added to the computer to give it

additional capabilities. A video card, modem, network card, and
sound card are all examples of expansion cards. Each
expansion card can have a different type of connector (e.g.,
AGP, PCI, PCIe) to communicate with the motherboard.

For some laptops, additional cards are added into the PC Card

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slot.

Computers may also have onboard devices, such as onboard

sound and network capabilities built onto the motherboard.

Drives

A computer has one or more drives. Almost all computers have

a hard drive but may also have a disc drive and connect other
removable drives like flash drives.

Peripherals

Computer peripherals are hardware that's not required by the

computer and are connected to a computer after it's purchased.
Peripherals give the computer additional abilities. For example, a
printer is a good example of a peripheral. Today, most
peripherals are connected to a computer using USB; however,
over the evolution of the computer, there were many different
connections.

• What is the difference between a connector, jack, plug, and

port?

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Computer software

Operating system

Every computer must have an operating system for software to

communicate with the hardware and user. For example, most
IBM-compatible computers run the Microsoft Windows operating
system and can also run operating systems like Linux. Apple
computers only run macOS.

Today, most users use a GUI (graphical user interface)

operating system like Windows because of its ease of use.
However, in the past, there were only command line operating
systems, which require users to type instructions for every
action. Although GUI is the most common user interface, many
people still use the command line today, especially when
connecting to a computer remotely.

Programs

A computer would work fine with only an operating system.

However, most users want to do more with their computer.
Programs (applications) can be installed that allow a user to do
almost anything. For example, a word processor could be
installed to write letters, and a spreadsheet could keep track of
expenses.

Tip

For a full list of computer programs and their categories, see our
programs page.

Files

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The operating system, programs, and its data is stored as a file.

Each file type has different abilities and is identified on a PC
using file extensions. When a computer file is opened, the
computer looks at the file type and performs an action or runs
the program associated with that file type. For example, a .exe
file is an executable file that runs a program, and a .txt file is a
text file that may open in Notepad.

Files are stored on drives and organized by storing related files

in folders. These folders and files are browsed using a file
manager such as file explorer. To make it easier to find and
access programs on the computer, shortcuts are created with
icons of the program. These shortcuts can be placed anywhere
on the computer, including the desktop and Taskbar.

• What are the most common file types and file extensions?

Programming

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All software running on a computer was created using a

programming language by a computer programmer.
Programming allows a person or company to design custom
programs or instruct a computer to do almost anything
imaginable.

• How to create a computer program.

Networks and the Internet

Network

A computer network allows a computer to communicate (talk)

with other computers. There are two primary types of networks:
a LAN (local area network) like a home network and a WAN
(wide area network) like the Internet.

Computers communicate using a NIC (network interface card)

or wirelessly with Wi-Fi that connects a computer to a router or a
switch that connects to a router.

• Differences between a network hub, switch, and router.

To communicate with the router and other computers and

network devices, a protocol is used by all devices. For example,
the TCP/IP protocol is a good example of a network protocol.

Internet

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The Internet is a world-wide network that connects billions of

computers and other networking devices. The WWW (World
Wide Web) on the Internet is explored using a browser to
browse different websites created using HTML. From the
Internet, you can find anything with search engines, download
software, send e-mail, connect with social networking, watch
movies, and much more.

• What is the difference between the Internet and World Wide

Web?

• What is the difference between Internet, intranet, and extranet?

Familiarize yourself with the computer jargon

It would be impossible to know every computer-related term.

However, familiarizing yourself with the top computer-related
terms is another great way to learn more about computers.

• What are the most important computer terms I should know?

• Computer Hope glossary of over 15,000 computer-related terms.

• Full list of computer acronyms.

• Today's computer word of the day.

• Random computer word.

Computer history

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The history of computers and how they have progressed over

the years is another great way to get a better understanding of
computers. We've listed several thousand key events in our
computer history section and list hundreds of computer pioneers
who have made the computer industry what it is today.

• When was the first computer invented?

How to keep up-to-date on computers

Computers and their hardware and related software are

constantly evolving. Try to keep as up-to-date as possible by
reading computer-related news, blogs, RSS feeds, newsletters,
forums, and following computer people on social networking
sites, like Twitter.

• Our RSS feeds and e-mail feeds

• Computer-related news sites

• Computer Hope forum

Computer quiz

Ready to test yourself, your computer skills, and learn more

about computers at the same time? Take the Computer Hope
quiz, which contains hundreds of computer-related questions.
After each question is answered, a brief description of the

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answer is given, and additional information and related links.

When completed, you get a complete overview of what
categories you may need to improve and learn more about with
links to where you can find that information.

Where else to learn about computers

Free college courses

Many big colleges and universities have posted free online

courses that anyone can watch, covering a wide range of
computer-related topics. Watching these online can give you a
similar education to what you may get by going to school.

• Watch free online lectures.

Online free books

There are hundreds of thousands of online computer books and

computer-related e-books to download. See the eBook definition
for a full listing of places to find books online for free and legally.

• What computer books would you recommend reading?

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