Your computer comes in a case. At one time most cases were horizontal, i.e. they were wider than they were tall. These were called desktop cases, because frequently they sat on the top of a desk, with the monitor sitting on top of them. Today most computer cases are taller than they are wide, and are called towers. They may be mini-towers, which are approximately as tall as the monitor, and may sit on the desktop beside the monitor, or they may be much taller, full-height towers, that frequently are placed on the floor beside the desk, and the floppy disk drives at the top of the full-height tower is about at the correct level for someone sitting at the desk to easily insert a floppy disk in it.
You may see a place for a key, either a standard key, like for your car or your house, only smaller, or it may be a round key like on a soft drink machine. Most people don't bother with this key switch, they just leave it on and remove the key, but it is intended for an office situation, in which a person can leave the computer turned on, but turn the switch, which turns the keyboard off, so that no one can use they keyboard until the owner returns.
You probably will also see two push buttons, perhaps labeled Turbo and Reset. Turbo is a switch which lets the computer run at top speed, or at a slower speed; the purpose of running the computer slower than it normally runs is to accomodate some games which run too fast at top speeds -- imagine a Flight Simulator program in which the airplane flys at several times normal speed. Reset is a button that restarts the computer, just like if you turned it off and back on, but which does not subject your computer to the electrical jolt that turning it off and on does.
You will also see a couple of lights, one that is on any time the computer is turned on, and another that flickers on whenever the hard disk is being accessed.
| There are also a bunch of connectors with 9, 15, or 25 pins; the number of pins are important, as is whether you see a bunch of pins sticking out at you (this is called a male connector) | |
| or a flat surface with a bunch of round holes with recessed pins (this is called a female connector). | |
If your modem is external it will have a 25 pin female connector on it, and you will need a cable with either a 25 pin male plug on one end and a 25 pin female plug on the other, or one with a 25 pin male plug on one end and a 9 pin female plug on the other to connect the modem, and which cable you need depends on which type of serial connector you have on the back of your computer.
Your parallel port, which needs to be connected to your printer, will be a 25 pin female connector. The cable that goes to your printer will have a 25 pin male plug on one end, and whatever is required for the printer at the other end -- frequently that is a special connector called a Centronics connector.
The connector that goes to your monitor will be a 15 pin female connector, and you should have a cable from the monitor that has a 15 pin male plug on it.
There are two sizes of floppy disk, 5-1/4" and 3-1/2". 5-1/4" disks come in two types, low density or 360kb which have a dark brown disk inside of a plastic sleeve, and normally have a small ring around the center hole, and high density or 1.2mb which have an almost black disk inside of a plastic sleeve, and usually do not have the rings around the center hole. With either style of disk there is a notch on the side; if that notch is open the disk can be written on, and if a piece of black tape covers the notch the disk is write protected, i.e. it can be read but not written. In either case the floppy disk is inserted into the computer with the side having an eliptical hole cut in the plastic sleeve going into the comupter first. Usually when the disk is inserted in the computer you twist a lever that blocks removal of the disk until it is twisted back.
3-1/2" disks come in two types, low density or 720kb disks, and high density or 1.44mb disks. Both have a metal sliding piece on one end, which is the end that goes into the computer first. If you are holding the disk about to insert the metal end into the computer, if there is a hole on the right side it is a 1.44mb disk, and if there is not a hole, it is a 720kb disk. There is a hole on the other side, with a sliding piece of plastic that can unblock the hole, and make the disk write protected (you can read it but not write on it) or not-write protected (hold blocked).
Note that write protection is just the opposite between 5-1/4 and 3-1/2 disks. Blocked hole (notch) means a 5-1/4 disk is write protected, but a 3-1/2 disk is not write protected. Clear hole (notch) means that a 5-1/4 disk is not write protected, but a 3-1/2 disk is write protected.
Both 5-1/4 disks and 3-1/2 disks are sensitive to electromagnetic fields (so don't use a refrigerator magnet to hold one to a metal surface). Don't use a push pin to stick one to a bulletin board either. And keep both types off the dash board of a car with the windows rolled up in the summer -- they don't go into the computer very well when they are curled by the extreme heat. And, oh yes, one other thing. If you only have a 3-1/2" drive, and someone sends you a 5-1/4 floppy disk, take it to a friend and ask them to copy it to 3-1/2 for you. Don't fold the disk or cut it with scissors to put it in the 3-1/2" drive.
There are two types of modems, internal modems, and external modems. The advantage of an internal modem is that it is usually $10 or $20 less expensive than the same thing in an external modem, plus it does not require a separate cable to connect it to the computer, and the desk space for the separate external modem. The disadvantage of an internal modem is that it is harder to install, both because it requires taking the top off the computer, and because one must find a Com Port that the computer does not currently have, plus an interrup number (IRQ) that the computer is not currently using, so that you can set the internal modem up to use that port and IRQ. If the IRQ is not already being used by a sound card, the way most people install an internal modem is to use Com 3 and IRQ 5. If you already have a sound card installed in your computer, and you want to install an internal modem, the best way is to completely uninstall the sound card, install the internal modem and get it working, and then reinstall the sound card.An external modem costs more, and requires a cable to connect it to the computer, but it is easier to install because you just look at the back of the computer to find an unused serial port (male connector, either 9 pin or 25 pin). This is particularly true if you are adding a modem to a system that already has an operational sound card. Another advantage of an external modem is that it has lights on it that you can learn to interpret, that will tell you whether you are connected to another modem or not, whether you are sending or receiving data, etc.
My personal recommendation is to use an internal modem on a laptop or other portable computer, because you have fewer things to have to carry with you, but to use an external modem on a computer that will stay in the same place most of the time.
Many of the larger programs are now being released on CD-Roms, so many buyers are selecting computers with a CD-Rom drive, or adding one to an existing computer. If one is going to also be adding a sound card and speakers, I recommend buying a complete package containing a CD-Rom and a Sound Card with a built-in controller for the CD Rom, because you know they were engineered to work together. If you do not need a Sound Card, then you need to determine what type of controller you use for your hard disk (usually it will be IDE, but it may be SCSI), and buy the CD-Rom that can be driven by the same controller.There are two styles of CD Roms, those that use a special caddy (which costs about $5) but which protects the CD-Rom much better, or those that do not require a caddy, but just eject a piece of plastic with a hole in it for you to put the CD Rom on, and then push a button to get the computer to pull it back into the computer. (And no, that piece of plastic with the hole in it is not meant to hold your coffee cup).
When handling a CD Rom, especially one that does not use a caddy, be very careful when taking the CD from its jewel case (or whatever else it comes in), and putting it in the computer, and when taking it out and putting it back in its case. Try to avoid getting fingerprints on te surface of the CD, especially the side that does not have the printing on it. The least little smudge can make the CD rom drive fail to properly read the CD.
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