How Computers Work

A computer is a multi purpose tool that is built around a microprocessor. A computer has many different parts including memory, hard disk, and modem. It can be used to perform many tasks from simple typing to complex running of equipment. For home use most people use their computer to write letter, send email, surf the web, and play games.

When you say technology the first thing that most people think of is the PC computer. Yet almost every aspect of our modern lives is tied to a computerized system of some sort. From the appliances in our homes, to our television sets, cellular, phones, and cars. The future of the computerized world is both exciting and intimidating. As rapidly as computers have changed over the last couple of decades is certain to be nothing compared to what the future holds.

So how does a computer work. Typically when you want to use your computer to press the on button on your computer and monitor. Quickly you see the bios software message display as it tests all the onboard systems. This is called the power on self test process. You will see the amount of memory, you drive information, and video information and the speed of your computer appear during this test.

The bios has a very important role in the operation of your computer. As it runs the self test it also determines what video card you have and if it is functioning, it checks to see if you have just done a warm or cold boot and continues the boot process accordingly.

If it is a cold boot the bios then goes out to check how much ram you have, and it confirms that it is capable of reading and writing. If checks that your keyboard, mouse, modem, and other equipment are responding correctly. When it finds an error it tells you by supplying a group of short beeps. It may also provide a message on your monitor. If there are no problems it continues its boot process

It then goes looking for any special drivers you might have installed. Once it finds these it looks for your storage devices and the sequence in which these devices are booted. Storage devices include your floppy drive, hard drives, CD readers, CD burners, and DVD readers.

Once it has communicated with all the hardware devices and the correct driver it loads the operating system and then turns control of the computer over to the operating system. These days the most common operating system is Windows XP.

Now you can begin to use your computer to write letters, answer email, surf the web, or any other tasks. As you use your computer the bios is in constant communication with your operating system making sure you have enough memory to run the application, ensuring all hardware devices like your keyboard or mouse are operating correctly. This is a seamless process that you do not even realize is occurring.

The processor management takes over managing the handling of your data which is broken down into chunks and then prioritized by the CPU. The memory management controls the use of Ram and the flow of data into and out of RAM. The device management keeps all the connected devices running optimally. The storage management directs where the data will be stored on your storage devices. The application and use interface communicates what you are doing into the language the computer can understand. Think of it as your personal translator. Your computer’s a pretty busy piece of equipment.

You open up your word processor and type a letter, then you save it. During this process the operating system, mouse, and keyboard all must communicate. Then the operating system acknowledges that the word processor is in use and determines the type of data to be stored temporarily in RAM. As each instruction is sent to the word processor by you via the keyboard, the word processor systematically sends it to the operating system that then sends it to the CPU while simultaneously instructions are being sent back in the reverse order. When you save your letter the word processor sends a command to the operating system which then gives you a box to type your file name in. Once you’ve chosen your file name and where you want to send it the information is recalled from RAM and saved permanently to the storage device.

If you stop and think about it, how computers work is actually quite amazing. The process that is required to occur without you even being aware of it is instantaneous and efficient, and consistently repeated for every task we ask of our computer. So the next time your computer has a bit of a brain freeze or melt down, rather than cursing it perhaps we should acknowledge the importance of its work.

Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory. This means that as a publisher you may reprint the articles that are included in our site, as long as the article is unedited and the author box is included with it's live hyperlinks.