Absolute Beginner's Guide to A+ Certification

Hardware Overview

Hardware is the physical part of computing. From disk drives to printer cables, from speakers to printers, hardware is the part of computing you can pick up, move around, open, and close. Although hardware might represent the glamorous side of computing (whose computer is faster, has a larger hard disk, more memory, and so on), it can do nothing without software and firmware to provide instructions. Hardware failures can take place because of loose connections, electrical or physical damage, or incompatible devices.