Computer Hardware
From USB connectors to motherboards, the HowStuffWorks Computer Hardware Channel will help you find explanations, reviews, videos and prices for the parts you need.
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Computers send data through parallel ports, serial ports, or network connections. How does a computer's parallel port work? And how can I design things to attach to a parallel port?
When you type a Web site address into your browser, Web servers are doing the work of getting you the page you request. Put our servers to use right here . . .
You can find Universal Serial Bus connectors on just about every PC made today. But when it was introduced, USB was leaps and bounds ahead of the technologies it replaced. What makes this standard so useful?
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Caching increases the speed at which your computer pulls data from memory. Do you know how it speeds things up? How can a little cache go a really, really long way?
By Guy Provost
Ethernet is one of the most common computer-networking components, and the standardization of this technology has created some of the easiest ways to connect a few computers with or without wires.
By Nick Pidgeon
Nearly every desktop computer uses one or more hard-disk drives. Your hard disk holds all of the information available on your computer. Take a look inside this incredibly precise storage mechanism.
The microprocessor determines the processing power available for any application you run -- without it, there IS no computer. Learn all about this amazing, ever-shrinking technology that makes your computer compute.