Personal Computer Fundamentals
Connecting a PC
In this lesson, you will learn:
There are a few cables that you may run into, especially if your work area is moved and you are expected to reconnect everything. In addition to providing extra outlets, the device protects the equipment from electrical surges. The surges are measured in nanoseconds, and happen so fast that a human cannot detect them. A surge protector looks like this:
Because surges do major damage to computers every day, the surge protector is cheap insurance. They can be purchased at any store that sells electrical items for about twenty dollars.
The modern PC is usually transported as several different units. The main Units: The CPU and Monitor. With Macintosh computers they can be together in one unit. THe Peripheral units, or peripherals are: Keyboard, Mouse, Printer and/or USB Cables, Speaker, Microphone, External Tape and USB devices, including hard disk storage etc.
Here is a picture of the typical computer and where all of the main cables go.
To assemble the PC, connect the keyboard and mouse, as well as the monitor, the printer and the speakers into the main system unit. This sounds complicated but actually the biggest cables only plug into the computer one way, so you can't make a mistake. Just make sure they are plugged all the way in!
However, it is very easy to plug the minor components such as the mouse and keyboard into the wrong holes. It is also possible to plug the speaker into the microphone jack and the telephone cord into the wrong hole in the modem.
The only thing that will happen by plugging in the minor cables into the wrong place is that the thing that the cable goes to will not work. Once you have the keyboard and the mouse plugged into the right place, and the main power cables and the monitor cable plugged in, the computer will run just fine. The other cables are for the "extras" that come with the computer.
| Monitor cables have 15 pin connectors and only fit into one hole on the back of the computer. The ends are similar in appearance to regular Printer Cables. |  |
| Printers can plug into the computer with a bigger 26-pin Printer cable, and it too will only plug into one hole in the back of the computer. The other type of printer cable is the USB port (either one if there are two) and will only fit that style of hole. | |
| Speaker/sound cards have three holes for different cords. The green plug from the speakers goes into the green hole on the computer or the hole called 'Speaker'. If it is plugged into the wrong hole it will not hurt anything, but there will be no sound. |  |
| The Red plug is for a microphone, and goes in the red hole on the computer or the hole called 'Microphone'. Again, plugging it into the wrong hole will not hurt anything, but the microphone will not work. |  |
| The Black hole is called 'Auxiliary' and is used for other computers or modems to plug into the sound card from outside of the computer. Plugging a microphone into this hole will make it sound distant or scratchy. | |
| Telephone cords have a small 4-pin jack, and the hole in the modem is called 'Line' meaning that the cord goes from this 'Line' hole to the wall. The other hole is called 'Phone' and goes to the phone or the answering machine. Plugging them in backward will probably make no difference. Network Cables look identical except they are bigger, having 8 pins. They will only plug into one place.</ |  |
| The Mouse plug is called PS/2 if it is small and goes into a hole called Mouse or has a mouse symbol on it. The new mice have green ends and go into the green hole. The older mice use larger 9 pinconnectors and look just like the Monitor cable. The difference is that the mouse only has 9 pins and goes into COM or COM1 |  |
| The Keyboard plug is called PS/2 if it is small and AT if it is large. It goes into a hole called Keyboard or has a Keyboard symbol on it. The new Keyboards have purple ends and go into the purple hole. The older keyboards will only plug into one hole, and if there is no AT (Large) size hole in the computer, there are adaptors that will allow you to plug into the newer PS/2 style keyboard hole. | |
| USB is a new type of cable. It is used for connecting printers and I-Pods, cameras and other hand held devices. The cable plugs into the computer on one end and the device on the other. The computer end is the wide flat end. The other end may be different depending on the device. A printer type USB cable is shown in the picture. |  |
| Firewire is another new type of cable. It is used for connecting faster devices and "high end" equipment like expensive cameras, studio equipment, graphics and software that needs speed connections to work properly. The cable plugs into the computer on one end and the device on the other. The computer end is the wide flat end with an angled tip as seen in the picture. The other end may be different depending on the device.A Firewire cable is shown in the picture. |  |