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How to Connect Your Laptop to a Router

Very often, a device called a router sits between the DSL or cable modem and your laptop or the rest of the network. The router (rhymes with chowder) is designed to provide an interface between the Internet [more…]

How to Set up a WiFi Router to Use with Your Laptop

In general, the process of installing a WiFi device to use with your laptop begins by connecting the router to the same computer that is attached to your broadband modem [more…]

How to Disable the Infrared Port on Your Laptop

According to computer security experts, some mysterious software out there can tunnel into your laptop via the infrared (IR) port. To stop this from happening, you can disable your laptop’s infrared port [more…]

How to Add a Cooling Pad to Your Laptop

The ideal accessory for any laptop is the laptop cooling pad. This is a device, similar to the one shown here, on which your laptop sits. [more…]

How to Open Your PC’s Console Case

It's rare for anyone to open the PC's console these days, especially with new PCs. Don’t open the console just to casually poke around. About the only time you must open the console is when performing [more…]

The Types of PC Expansion Slots

You can expand your PC internally by adding additional circuitry boards. Those boards, or expansion cards, plug directly into expansion slots on the motherboard [more…]

Basic PC Hardware

Your PC is made up over pieces of hardware. Although you’ve probably seen all of this hardware before, you need to know which computer hardware piece is which and what the proper hardware terms are: [more…]

The Ports on a Laptop

Ports are the expandability options found on a laptop. Laptop ports consist of connectors, holes, and plug-in-type things you use to add features and attach cables to your laptop, which increases its potential [more…]

The Back of Your Computer Console

The console’s backside is its busy side. On the back of a computer console, you find various connectors for the many other devices in your computer system: the console’s back also has a place to plug in [more…]

How to Connect a USB Printer to Your Laptop

Because most laptops lack a printer port, USB printers are the way to go. You can connect your USB printer by following a few easy steps: [more…]

Find Out How Much Memory Your PC Has

To determine how much memory (also known as RAM) is in your computer, open the System window. To open the System window and view your memory, press Win+Break on your keyboard. See the following figure. [more…]

Configure a Router

Configure your router to make your network complete. You need to configure the router so that it can communicate with your network components. Fortunately, the configuration steps are rather straightforward [more…]

Your Computer’s Audio Connections

Computer audio involves both output and input connections. No matter how sophisticated your PC's sound system, audio connections — both input and output — are made by plugging things into the appropriate [more…]

How to Connect Your Monitor to Your PC

Before you connect your monitor to your PC, you need to decide where you want to position the monitor. Set the monitor atop your desk, generally back away from where you sit, to accommodate room for the [more…]

How to Identify Your PC’s Microprocessor

It’s not easy to confirm that your PC has the microprocessor you bought. Even if you crack open the case, the microprocessor hides behind the little fan hat that it wears — and the microprocessor chip [more…]

How to Calibrate Inkjet Printer Cartridges

Calibration refers to the proper alignment of the inkjet cartridge nozzles to the paper and each other; without a properly calibrated printer, your print quality degrades. You’ll want to calibrate your [more…]

How to Identify the Different Ends of a USB Cable

USB cables have two ends, and each end can be different. On one end of the cable is the A connector. The other end, most likely, has the B connector.

The A connector is rectangular. It's what plugs into [more…]

The Basic PC Keyboard Layout

PC keyboards are anything but standard. Customized keyboards, with special buttons and features, seem to be the rule, not the exception. Still, the basic PC keyboard layout has 104 keys common to all PC [more…]

Change Keyboard Settings on Your PC

Your keyboard is the primary input device for your PC. Knowing how to control the keyboard or change keyboard settings is critical to operating your computer. [more…]

The Basic Parts of a PC

Understanding the basic parts and components of your PC makes you more prepared to use it. The following figure shows a typical desktop computer system and its components. [more…]

USB Flash Drives for Your PC

The USB flash drive is a unique kind of PC storage toy. The keychain-size flash drive needs no batteries and has no moving parts! Instead, the USB flash drive uses the same method that digital cameras [more…]

Some Useful PC Keyboard Keys

Your computer keyboard is a virtual playground of buttons — some famous keys, some familiar keys, and some mysterious keys. Here's a list of some of the most important keyboard keys [more…]

How to Set the Date and Time on Your PC

Your computer is secretly a timepiece, offering you the date and time. Windows itself displays the date and time, which you can set yourself, manually. To set the date and time on your PC: [more…]

How to Use a USB Hub on Your Laptop

A USB hub is really nothing more than a gizmo with extra USB ports on it. You plug the hub into your laptop's USB port. Then you can plug anywhere from two to four to eight USB devices into the hub. [more…]

The Different Types of PC Chipsets

The types of PC chipsets, the graphics processing unit (GPU) “brains” that power 3D video cards, out there don’t really have many differences. Although chipset makers want you to believe theirs are superior [more…]

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