Dissecting Your Computer

Before you can troubleshoot your computer, you need to understand what a computer is and how it's put together. A computer (or PC, for personal computer) is not a single unit, but is instead a collection of hardware subsystems including

  • Video

  • Storage

  • Input devices

  • Printers and other output devices

  • Audio

  • Networking

  • Processor

  • Memory

  • Power

  • Motherboard

Whenever a computer stops working, you can trace it back to the failure of one or more of these subsystems (the device and its cables). What controls the subsystems?

These subsystems are controlled by two types of software:

  • A system BIOS (basic input/output system) chip on the motherboard (an example of “software on a chip,” or firmware)

  • The operating system and its device drivers (files ...

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