From USB connectors to motherboards , the HowStuffWorks Computer Hardware Channel will assist you find explanation , revue , videos and prices for the parts you need .

Topics to Explore :

Why Is My Computer So Slow? 5 Reasons and How to Fix Them

Should You Shut Down Your Computer Every Night?

What’s the Difference Between Restarting and Shutting Down My Computer?

How Parallel Ports Work

What is the main difference between FireWire and USB?

How to Overclock Your CPU

Is Moore’s Law outdated?

What is computing power?

How to Wipe a Computer’s Hard Drive

How to Fix the Black Screen of Death

Should I move my hard disk to the cloud?

How Secure Digital Memory Cards Work

Computer Memory Pictures

What is virtual memory?

What are the three types of VPN?

What do you need to build a private WiFi network?

What Does a Server Do?

What Is a UPS? How an Uninterruptible Power Supply Works

How to Cool Down Laptop: 5 Easy Ways to Prevent Overheating

How To Know When Your Computer’s CMOS Battery Is Dead

What is the world’s fastest supercomputer used for?

Set Your Computer for Energy Savings

Is the desktop computer going the way of the dodo bird?

How to Force Quit on a Mac

Steve Jobs: Life in Pictures

Are Macs more expensive than comparable PCs?

How the Kindle Paperwhite Works

How the Kindle Fire Works

Nook vs. Kindle Fire

10 iPad Apps for Teaching Kids to Read

How Server Virtualization Works

What Is a PC ?

Why Is My Computer So Slow? 5 Reasons and How to Fix Them

Learn More

It ’s a foundational constituent of gadget unity , but you would n’t be the first person to beg the question , " What is a UPS ? "

ByHowStuffWorks.com Contributors

The parallel larboard is still an disused way to connect a printing machine to a PC . Learn how parallel port operate and how they issue forth about .

Should You Shut Down Your Computer Every Night?

By Jeff Tyson

Your data processor is working slower than molasses , but why ? We look at five of the most plebeian reasons and how to fix them , with the avail of expert .

ByDave Roos

What’s the Difference Between Restarting and Shutting Down My Computer?

In an earlier meter , people routinely close down their computers at Nox , and some folks still do . But is this necessary ?

ByMuriel Vega

Before you deal or give away an previous computing equipment , you ask to wipe the files from the hard drive . But delete data takes more than just drag and dropping it to the trash bin .

How Parallel Ports Work

ByTalon Homer

Do n’t allow the spinning bicycle of death winnings !

ByJeremy Glass

PCI Express Image Gallery

Overclocking a processor allows it to go at higher than factory speed , but it also can lead to reliability issues if you do n’t do it safely . So how do you do it , and does it void your computer ’s warranty ?

In the Windows operating system , closing and re-start both can be used to turn off your microcomputer . But they do n’t do it on the button the same way . Which one should you use and when ?

ByPatrick J. Kiger

What is the main difference between FireWire and USB?

You ’re typing along on your laptop when , all of a sudden , your computer fades to black . What ’s do your black screen and how do you cook it ?

ByChris Pollette

The sometime saying give-up the ghost something like this : That burnished new computer you just grease one’s palms is obsolete the moment you take it out of the box . Well , there might be some true statement to it . Our modern electronics might actually be built to break .

How to Overclock Your CPU

ByBeth Brindle

Amazon has publish several Kindle models , but the Paperwhite is designed to completely change the atomic number 99 - reader experience . How well does it come through , and are any challengers stepping up to the home ?

ByBernadette Johnson

Is Moore’s Law outdated?

Touch - CRT screen interface are everywhere – most smartphones and tablets use them today . See interesting facts and nontextual matter on how touch screens work .

supercomputer are subject of some serious computation , so it ’s not surprising that they ’re used for serious purposes . In 2012 , a young wizard claimed the top slur of fastest electronic computer . What was it ?

As manufacturer struggle to chance novel mode to wad transistors on computer chips , it would seem that Gordon Moore ’s famous prediction will one Clarence Day fizzle out out . Should we withdraw Moore ’s Law ?

What is computing power?

ByJonathan Strickland

Cloud computing is no longer the wave of the future – it ’s the waving of now ! So is it clip to go ahead and move the capacity of your figurer ’s operose crusade online , or are some thing better off stay home ?

People are n’t always familiar with the role drivers make for in their computing experience because this software is often update automatically . But if you do need to update them yourself , we ’ve got some tips for you .

How to Wipe a Computer’s Hard Drive

Most myths have a bit of the true in them - which may be why most people conceive that power down and resume a reckoner run to tire and tear . So , what ’s the truth behind the myth ?

There ’s no worse tactual sensation than lost data as a deadline feeler , or a booklet of digital photos that are lost forever and ca n’t be interchange . With just a little day-after-day maintenance , you could serve your betting odds of avoiding such tragedies .

ByJacob Clifton

How to Fix the Black Screen of Death

In the early years of home calculation , buying a simple machine was a huge investment funds . Many manakin sank , but these 10 discontinue sales track record and render many of us our first glance at the digital humankind . Did your favorite computing gadget make the track ?

ByWesley Fenlon

Computers run our modern lives , but how many of us actually know how these everyday machines are made ? We ’ll take a peek at the part and processes that make the digital tools we ca n’t live without .

Should I move my hard disk to the cloud?

ByNathan Chandler

Today , sleek , lightweight nomadic calculation gadget grace the palms and lap of many modern computer users . But back in the ' 70s , " portable calculator " had a very dissimilar meaning .

ByShanna Freeman

How Secure Digital Memory Cards Work

Hard drive are getter bigger and bigger , capacity - wise . But do you really need terabytes ' worth of space ? We ’ll excogitate optimum hard drive size in this article .

ByKate Kershner

Does the name Sequoia ring a bell with you ? How about Mira , or Tianhe-2 ? If you ’re not up on the in style supercomputer tidings , those words may intend nothing , but they ’re major players when it occur to petaflops .

Computer Memory Pictures

ByWesley Fenlon&Bernadette Johnson

We know your digital life is important to you - all those apps , data file , photos , and medicine . But here ’s the 50 - million - dollar sign question : Is a solid - country drive ( SSD ) or a strong disk driveway ( HDD ) the correct engineering for the line ? What is an SSD , exactly ? register on to find out !

ByWilliam Harris

What is virtual memory?

Supercomputers are the whiz kids of the computing world - they ’re the quick , most hefty machines around . Find out what they ’re used for - and what makes them so " super " - in this article .

What are the three types of VPN?

What do you need to build a private WiFi network?

What Does a Server Do?

What Is a UPS? How an Uninterruptible Power Supply Works

How to Cool Down Laptop: 5 Easy Ways to Prevent Overheating

How To Know When Your Computer’s CMOS Battery Is Dead

What is the world’s fastest supercomputer used for?

Set Your Computer for Energy Savings

Is the desktop computer going the way of the dodo bird?

How to Force Quit on a Mac

Steve Jobs: Life in Pictures

Are Macs more expensive than comparable PCs?

How the Kindle Paperwhite Works

How the Kindle Fire Works

Nook vs. Kindle Fire

What Is a UPS? How an Uninterruptible Power Supply Works

How Parallel Ports Work

Why Is My Computer So Slow? 5 Reasons and How to Fix Them

Should You Shut Down Your Computer Every Night?

How to Wipe a Computer’s Hard Drive

How to Force Quit on a Mac

How to Overclock Your CPU

What’s the Difference Between Restarting and Shutting Down My Computer?

How to Fix the Black Screen of Death

Is your computer built to break?

How the Kindle Paperwhite Works

Touch Screens

What is the world’s fastest supercomputer used for?

Is Moore’s Law outdated?

Should I move my hard disk to the cloud?

How do I update the drivers on my computer?

Does powering down your computer wear it down?

5 Everyday Things You Can Do to Keep Your Computer Healthy

10 Most Popular Computers in History

How Are Computers Made?

What was the first portable computer?

How big a hard drive do I need?

Top 10 Supercomputers

What Is an SSD and How Does It Work?

What are supercomputers currently used for?