Wiley Fix Your Own Computer For Seniors For Dummies
Contents
1. Figure 1 7 is an essential piece of hardware that allows your PC to communi cate with the Internet or with other computers on a local network It can be either built in or external The appearance features and speed of your modem depend on what kind of service you use to connect Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster 18 to the Internet or local network dial up or digital subscriber line DSL service from the phone com pany or broadband cable from a cable television provider You can find some maintenance and repair tips in Chapter 9 Lights show connection status Figure 1 7 w Router A router does what its name says routes information from your computer across a network and out to the Internet If you have only a single computer connected to the Internet you don t need a router you simply plug your computer directly into the modem If you want to connect more than one computer to the Internet however you need a router to serve as a data traffic cop Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See Routers come in many flavors Some are stand alone units others are built into a wireless access point that lets your various computers connect wirelessly to the router and from there to the Internet Figure 1 8 shows a modern high speed wireless router Wireless router Figure 1 8 Put It on Paper Printers wu Inkjet Inkjet printers use one or more cartridges filled with ink that literally spr2. Ethernet switch see Figure 1 11 contains multiple Ethernet ports that connect multiple devices computers printers wireless access points and so on to a network Hub Each USB port can connect directly to a single device or can be shared with multiple pieces of elec tronics by means of a hub which is a bit like the power strip you may have behind your home enter tainment system A USB hub looks and functions much like an Ethernet switch A cable plugged into a USB port on the PC connects it with the hub which has two four or sometimes more connectors for USB cables Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See Status lights show connections and network activity Ethernet ports attach devices to a network LENMEP LD GIOS OOL OF Figure 1 11 23 Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster Protect Vour PC Surge Protectors and UPS Devices 24 gt Th Surge protector If a jolt of high voltage gets into your computer s motherboard see Chapter 2 your computer is to use the technical jargon fried That s why every computer as well as any other expensive piece of electronic equipment in your home or office should have a surge protector between its plug and the wall outlet This device contains electrical components that can in most circumstances chop off any sudden spurts of high voltage In the worst situations such as a lightning strike or a serious malfunction in an electrica
3. Getting to Know the Parts Vou Can See Y wouldn t want a surgeon to operate without knowing the pertinent parts of the human body especially if you re the patient By the same token you really shouldn t do sur gery on your PC if you don t know what its components are and what they do Fortunately hardware is more modular and less costly today than it was in the good ole days so most of the repairs or enhancements you want to make aren t necessarily difficult or highly technical You just need to understand some basics about your computer s anatomy and you should be good to go Another reason to know these basics Whether or not you ever need to make repairs under standing computer physiology should help you get more use out of your PC and make your experience with it less frustrating IRapter Get ready to w Make a Point Mice and Other Pointing Devices 06 10 m Stay on Key Keyboards and Other Input Devices 12 wa See Clearly Now Monitors 13 wa Get the Picture and Sound Cameras Speakers and Microphones 0 c000008 16 gt Go Online Modems and RGUIGES create nr tant Meee 17 w Put It on Paper Printers 19 w Connect the Parts Ports and Hubs 4c2 ss ee 21 um Protect Your PC Surge Protectors and UPS DEVES soosssasoocsooassocasne 24 Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster This chapter isn t the Gray s Anatomy of computers f
4. are more expensive than LCD models but they last Given a choice I d get an LED display LED displays longer use less energy and run a lot cooler Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster Get the Picture and Sound Cameras Speakers and Microphones 16 Th Th gt Speakers Laptop computers generally have little speakers built into their cases desktop machines offer connectors for external audio equipment For more information about these connectors see Connect the Parts Ports and Hubs later in this chapter To get the best sound from your computer you should use speakers that have their own amplifier Microphone A computer s microphone usually built in allows you to chime in with your own nar ration or participate in online conference calls For some users a microphone can serve as a replacement for or an enhancement to a keyboard as a way to enter text and commands Video camera Video cameras for computers called Webcams are both small some have a lens the size of the hole in a Cheerio and inexpensive so they re built into most laptops today If you need to add an external Webcam to a desktop PC you can buy one for 25 to 75 Figure 1 6 shows a typical display mounted Webcam from Logitech Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See This 1 3 megapixel camera can mount on top of your display Figure 1 6 Go Online Modems and Routers w Modem A modem see
5. ay images or text onto paper Whether the printed information is text or photographs it consists of tiny dots of ink placed very close together The advantages of inkjet printers are size and cost both small You can buy 19 Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster 20 gt Th a serviceable inkjet printer for less than 50 The disadvantages include relatively slow speed and high ink costs A high resolution color printer the type you may use to print photographs may use four or more ink cartridges and depending on the amount of printing you do the cost of maintaining an inkjet printer can be fairly high If you re willing to spend more for a high end inkjet printer you can get printing speeds of 20 pages per minute or faster for black and white and 10 to 30 seconds per page for color In addition you can get better picture quality than with a consumer grade laser printer Laser Laser printers generally cost more than inkjet printers but they can be faster and operating costs are lower A laser printer uses a laser beam to draw characters or images on an electrostatically charged drum which attracts a very fine powder called toner and deposits the resulting image onto a piece of paper Finally the paper is passed through a hot fuser roller that melts the image onto the paper making it permanent All in one For home or small business use consider an all in one printer see Figure 1 9 These devices incorpo
6. e because it doesn t require much desk space and is also easier on the wrist and shoulder than a mouse is w Touchpad Many PCs feature a touchpad which is a matchbook size touch sensitive screen on a laptop or a stand alone device that plugs into a desktop computer You move the pointer onscreen by push ing your finger along the touchpad 11 Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster Spin this ball to move the mouse pointer Figure 1 2 Stay on Key Keyboards and Other Input Devices Keyboard The keyboard see Figure 1 3 is the one part of a computer that most of us have dealt with for nearly all of our lives Remember the typewriter Its odd QWERTY layout for the keys is pretty much unchanged Like mice keyboards come in two fla vors wired and wireless I discuss keyboards in more detail in Chapter 13 Tablet A tablet is a flat device an active touch screen like that on a GPS receiver or an automated teller machine or a metal or plastic pad that allows you to interact with the computer in a way that resembles using a paper tablet or notebook Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See Although tablet input devices have been around for a long time they re still used mostly in high end graphics stations and by folks who need to input precision drawing or graphics data If however you need to input variable data and just like the concept of using a penlike stylus to inte
7. l line a surge pro tector sacrifices itself like a bodyguard Its internal parts melt to break the electrical circuit With luck this process happens so fast that the electrical surge won t get into the power supply or beyond Uninterruptible power supply UPS If you want the highest level of protection from a power outage consider adding a UPS device see Figure 1 12 to your collection of equipment This device is essen tially a large battery with a bit of electronics to con trol its actions Your computer plugs into the UPS and draws its power from the battery the UPS plugs into a wall socket using the electrical current to keep topping off the battery If the power goes off briefly or drops below ordinary levels momentarily you should be able to keep on working without an interruption In the case of an extended power outage your com puter should be able to use the battery long enough to allow you to save any open files and conduct an orderly shutdown Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See Computer and other devices plug here Input goes to wall plug Telephone line and cable connect here Figure 1 12 power your computer and its display for a reasonable Be sure to buy a UPS with a battery large enough to period such as 10 or 15 minutes 25 Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster 26
8. or that you need a more in depth book such as my Fix Your Own PC Wiley Publishing Think of the chapter as being a form of CliffsNotes just enough to start with and check out the cross referenced chapters for more details Make a Point Mice and Other Pointing Devices 10 A pointing device allows you to move a pointer onscreen to work directly with the elements you find there Your PC may have some combination of the following w Mouse This device gives your computer a hand in a metaphorical sort of way It s one of the most intui tive elements of a computer easy to grasp and to use See Chapter 13 for more on mice You may have either of two kinds e Wired The most common pointing device is the basic mouse see Figure 1 1 which is about the size of a deck of cards Its two buttons and long tail connection wire make it look vaguely mouselike Some mice have three buttons or a small scroll wheel on top e Wireless A wireless mouse has no tail instead it communicates with the computer via radio frequency or infrared waves You need to keep a wireless mouse fed powered with batteries w Trackball Some users prefer a trackball see Figure 1 2 which is essentially an upside down mouse You move the pointer onscreen by spinning the ball Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See Left mouse button Scroll wheel Right mouse button Figure 1 1 The trackball is my preferred pointing devic
9. ract with your PC a tablet may be for you Special computer function keys Familiar typewriter style keys Figure 1 3 See Clearly Now Monitors In this book for simplicity s sake I use the terms monitor and display interchangeably in most descriptions and cover them interchangeably in Chapter 8 Technically though the two devices are different 13 Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster w Monitor A monitor is a high resolution television display based on a cathode ray tube CRT Because of the size of the CRT it tends to be large and heavy A modern PC can support two monitors to provide more workspace and to help you separate tasks see Figure 1 4 CRT monitor Dual monitors provide more workspace Figure 1 4 A working monitor can be used with most comput ers If you buy a new machine or need to replace a failed monitor however you ll probably have to switch to a display 14 Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See us Display A display see Figure 1 5 uses a flat liquid crystal diode LCD system to show characters and graphics Displays which arrived with the first lap tops are thinner and lighter than monitors use less electrical power generate less heat and may be sharper for tired eyes The newest displays use light emitting diodes LED instead of an LCD system LCD and LED displays are thinner and lighter than CRT monitors Figure 1 5
10. rate a fax machine digital scanner and usually inkjet printer in a single package Prices are reasonable and the device combination saves desk space For the greatest flexibility look for a unit that uses a sheet feeder so that you can scan a stack of pages or send multiple fax pages automatically Chapter 1 Getting to Know the Parts You Can See Control panel lets you print with or without a computer EPSON Artisan 810 Scanner copier tray Figure 1 9 Connect the Parts Ports and Hubs w USB Universal Serial Bus ports These simple rectangular connectors see Figure 1 10 are nearly ubiquitous on modern PCs and laptops because they can be used to link nearly any type of device A computer may offer a bank of four or six ports which look like tiny pizza ovens 21 Part A Computer Is Not a Toaster 22 USB ports Figure 1 10 m m m The various versions of USB are downwardly compat ible with older hardware so a USB 2 0 port and cable should work with a device designed for USB 1 0 although they will exchange information at the slower speed of the older equipment When USB 3 0 is available in late 2009 or 2010 it will work with devices designed for USB 1 0 and 2 0 at their origi nal speeds Ethernet port An Ethernet cable plugged into this port attaches the computer to a local area network or high speed modem For more on this port see Chapter 2 Ethernet switch An
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