CAUTION: nothing you can touch inside your computer will hurt you BUT you can ruin electronics by touching exposed, uninsulated parts. When handling exposed electronic parts, ALWAYS touch the metal case with your fingers and/or tools before touching electronic components - this discharges static electricity that builds up on your body, clothing and tools. Touching the case makes you and the components equal in polarity. The static charge that builds up on you by simply walking across your floor or sitting on a chair can amount to thousands of volts. To you, this amounts to only a small, harmless spark; to sensitive electronic parts it is a huge circuit destroying jolt.
CAUTION: handle hard drives with extreme care. They will operate in any position: flat, vertical, sideways BUT they won't take any abuse such as dropping, severe handling, sharp blows, etc. You've seen TV accounts of people going to jail for "shaken baby syndrome" when a baby has been mishandled and brain damage results? You won't go to jail for mishandling your hard drive but like a baby's brain, hard drives can't survive much abuse either. Handle with care. Hold drives by their sides to avoid touching the open circuit board on the bottom of the drive.
I know someone whose computer sat on the floor beside his desk. He was holding his keyboard above it with one hand while typing slowly with the other hand. The keyboard slipped out of his hand and dropped a couple of feet onto the computer. Result? He lost all his data and I installed a new hard drive for him. Hard drives are fragile.
There are many brands of Personal Computers and many kinds of add-on's but all of these 'brands' and 'kinds' have a lot in common. Think of it this way: if an operating system such as Linux or Windows and most software will run on almost any PC, then almost all PC's must have
a lot in common.
Yes, they do. So the basic hardware fundamentals for one PC are also the basic fundamentals
for most any PC. That's not saying that the millions of PC parts out there don't have differences;
there are many differences. But the basics are common. Learn the basics and you can work out the differences as you encounter them - all the knowledge and help you need is available on the Internet and in any bookstore (this does not apply to laptops and other portables - see the next page for details).
I'm writing these few pages to add to the myriad of pages already written by others, for my friends who want to know more about their computer but don't know where to start.
Don't think that opening your computer case is equal to opening the case of other electric/electronic appliances. Your TV can kill - even after the power is unplugged the capacitors hold enough power to zap you. Some small appliances that don't use transformers have one side of the AC input line connected to a metal frame - that is a hazard to you if you open the case. If someone has replaced a polarized AC power plug on your appliance and connected the wires backwards the appliance becomes a hazard.
Dangers such as these exist in one part of your computer - the power supply itself which is always in its own sealed metal box which takes some dedicated effort to open. You can remove it from the computer without danger to you but leave it sealed. If it goes bad, buy another one. They are cheap enough and replacing it is easy enough.
The wires coming out of the power supply to the computer are only 3, 5 and 12 volts DC.
INSIDE YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER
WARNING: OPEN YOUR COMPUTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. All electronics have differences so all possibilities cannot be communicated in a writing such as this; also you may void warranties by opening a case or attempting repairs yourself: read your warranties first. The author of these pages assumes no liability for your use of, or the correctness of the information contained herein.
A brief look at your components.
