Lab: Upgrade Hardware In Your Computer Objectives Upgrade hardware in your computer What to do You must open up your computer before you do any of these tasks. Make sure you are working on a computer that your teacher has allowed you to mess with. Make sure your teacher has also allowed you to work with additional parts you may use. You may need a screw driver to open up your computer and also replace some components inside. The following 4 sections of home you would upgrade parts in each category. You are not necessarily going to be upgrading the same parts that they cover, but it is generally the same procedure. Optical Drive We are going to be upgrading the optical drive from a DVD-ROM drive (left) to a DVD-RW drive (right). Locate the optical drive inside your computer that you want to upgrade. Remove the power and data cable from the back of the drive. Take out the optical drive from its bay. This may require you to take out some screws on the side of the bay depending on what kind of computer you have. You will have to push out the optical drive from inside the computer so that it pops out through the front face plate (as shown below). Take the optical drive you want to put in your computer through the front face plate the same way the other one came out. Lock the drive into place (might require putting in screws you had to take out for the otherdrive). Attach the power cord and data cable to the new drive. Hard Drive We are going to be replacing a 120GB hard drive (right) with a 160GB hard drive (left). Locate the hard drive inside your computer that you want to upgrade. Remove the power cord and data cable from the drive. Remove the hard drive out of the back of the bay. This may require you to take out some screws on the side of the bay. Insert the new hard drive into the bay the same way you removed the other hard drive. Lock the new hard drive into the bay. This may require you to put back some screws you would have had to taken out to remove the other drive. Attach the power cord and data cable to the new drive. Memory We are going to add a second 512MB memory stick (right) to an existing 512MB memory stick (left) to give us 1GB of memory for the computer. NOTE: This only works if you have a memory card slot available for the second stick. This covers taking out the original stick first and putting it back in just to show you how to properly remove a stick of memory. Locate the the spot on the motherboard where your memory is held. Flip the 2 white tabs on either end of the memory stick down to unlock the memory stick. Carefully remove the original stick of memory from its slot. Flip open the other 2 white tabs on the second slot. Carefully put both memory sticks into the 2 slots. The white tabs should snap back into the locked position, but if they don’t make sure you push them up into the locked position. Expansion Card While expansion cards are actually covered in the peripherals lesson, this lab covers installing an expansion card because it goes along with upgrading the other components inside your computer. These instructions can be used for installing all different kinds of expansion cards. We are going to be installing a sound card. Locate an open slot to add your expansion card Remove the blank plate that covers the opening on the back of your computer. This may require you take a screw that keeps the plate attached to the case out. Carefully place the expansion card into slot on the motherboard. Make sure that the ports on the card align with the hole in the back of the computer. Attach any screw you might have had to taken out. The outside of your computer should look something like the picture on the right. Lab: Locate Hardware In Your Computer Objectives Locate hardware in your computer What to do Now that you know about all the different types of hardware in your computer you should be able to locate all the main components in your own computer. Your going to need to make sure you figure out with your teacher what computers you can actually open up before you start messing around with some. Once you’ve got the right computer open you should use a digital camera to take pictures of all the different devices you could locate. You don’t necessarily need to have a different picture for each device but the devices need to be clear enough on the pictures so that you could circle it in with a graphics program. You can also take out the devices to take pictures of them if you wat. Once you’ve taken the pictures and circled the devices with a graphics program, post them in your website or in a slide show of some sort. History Of The Internet Worksheet: Define Key Terms Worksheet: Define Key Terms What to do Define the following terms: Internet Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) J.C.R. Licklider Lawrence Roberts Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) TCP Protocols NSFNET World Wide Web Tim Berners-Lee ICANN Keyboard A computer keyboard is one of the primary input devices used with a computer that looks similar to those found on electric typewriters, but with some additional keys. The modern keyboard is based on the typewriter, a typing device that was first developed and patented in 1868 by Christopher Sholes. Keyboards allow you to input letters, numbers, and other symbols into a computer that often function as commands. The following image shows a Saitek keyboard with indicators pointing to each of the major key sections of a keyboard including the control keys, function keys, LED indicators, wrist pad, arrow keys, and keypad.

How to use a computer keyboard A computer keyboard is an input device used with all types of computers. Newer devices like a smartphone and tablet even still use an on-screen keyboard. This page is designed to help new computer users become more familiar and efficient with their keyboard. For new users, we suggest reading through all of the below sections and doing all of the practices. If you are familiar with the keyboard but want to be more efficient click on any of the links below to jump to the section. Connecting the keyboard Familiarizing yourself with the keyboard Overview of each section of the keyboard Start typing and how to position hands Correcting errors Deleting text one letter and one word at a time Using the arrow keys to move around Upper case, lower case, and all caps Getting to the beginning and end of a line Highlighting text using the keyboard Copy and paste text using the keyboard Using the 10-key Keyboard shortcuts Additional practice sentences Connecting the keyboard Before you can begin to use the keyboard, it must be properly connected to the computer and working. If you have a new computer and need help connecting the keyboard or the keyboard is not working see our steps on connecting and installing a keyboard. Familiarizing yourself with the keyboard Below is an overview of a Desktop computer keyboard. In this picture, we point to each of the major portions of the keyboard that are explained in further detail in the overview. Computer keyboard overview Overview of each section of the keyboard Alphanumeric keyboard The alphanumeric keyboard is the primary portion of the keyboard that contains letters, numbers, punctuation, and some of the symbol keys. Today, most users use a QWERTY style keyboards, as shown in the below illustration. You can tell if you are using a QWERTY keyboard by looking at the first six letters to see if they spell "QWERTY." Qwerty keyboard layout See the link below for a full listing of each key and symbol and their functions. A listing of keyboard keys and their explanations. Function keys The function keys or F1 through F12 or F19 keys are used in programs as shortcut keys to performed frequently performed tasks. For example, the F1 key is the key to open the online help for most programs. Listing of F1 through F12 keys and what do they do? On some keyboards, the function keys may be used to activate additional functions on a computer. Used in combination with the Fn key, the function keys can activate other functions, like changing screen brightness, accessing media controls, or turning off the computer. Keyboard control keysControl and toggle keys The control keys or toggle keys give the user additional control over text manipulation and cursor placement. They may also be used as shortcut keys in many programs. See our control keys definition for additional information and examples. Tip: Control keys and Ctrl keys are different. Keypad Although not available on all computer keyboards, especially laptops; the keypad gives the user a quick access to numbers and math functions such as plus, divide, times, and subtract. See the keypad definition for further information, pictures, and related links. Wrist pad In our example picture, the Saitek keyboard has a wrist pad intended to help support the user's wrists. Although many keyboards do not include a wrist pad, hundreds of different options can be purchased at a computer store or online. Warning: Experts debate the need for wrist pads and many Ergonomic experts argue a wrist pad may be more stressful and may help cause carpal tunnel. Keyboard arrow keysArrow keys The arrow keys are four directional keys that allow you to move the cursor or change a highlighted selection. See our arrow keys page for further information. Special keys or media keys on a multimedia keyboard Multimedia keyboards have additional buttons not found on a traditional keyboard. See our special keys page for further information. Start typing and how to position hands Before typing make sure your hands are in the proper position on the home row keys and that as you type each finger is pressing the correct key. Below is a picture to help illustrate where each finger should be positioned as well as the home row keys. Your left-hand fingers should be positioned over A, S, D, and F keys and your right-hand should be positioned over the J, K, L, and ; keys. Also, each color helps illustrate what fingers are responsible for what key.