Nowadays, there are many computer users interested in becoming better informed about the computers that they use every day. It is very important to be aware of the components included within a computer and the functions carried out by these components within the computer system. This type of knowledge can help us work easier with our computers and also to be able to overcome certain problems that might be encountered while working with our PCs. This is because the necessary knowledge about our computers will make it much easier for us to be able to follow certain troubleshooting steps that might help us overcome these problems. If we are not well informed we will not be able to follow these steps properly and this will make it impossible for us to solve these problems ourselves and in exchange we will have to waste more time in asking for further assistance from someone who might posses the necessary knowledge for overcoming the problems.

A very important type of data related to our computer which should become familiar to all of us is represented by the categories of computer hardware included within them. This is because by being able to categorize our computer hardware components it will be much easier for us to learn important information about the way in which their functions influence the performance of the computer system by considering these functions in a logical order according to the category in which these computer hardware components are being included. Computer hardware components have been categorized in many ways.

In order to be able to understand the way in which categories of computer hardware components have been established it is also important to become aware of what the terms of computers and computer hardware actually refer to. In this respect, it is important for the users to know that computers are electronic types of devices which are programmed so that they might perform certain types of tasks being required by their users. According to these tasks there are being established certain categories of computer hardware components. These components need to function properly so that the computer system might be able to operate. Computer hardware components are considered to be those components included within computers that can actually be seen and touched. In this way, hardware is somehow considered as the opposite of software, which refers to programs and instructions being installed on hardware components. Both hardware and software are important computer parts because both of these two types of components influence the way in which the computer system operates and the way in which a certain user can work with it.



One possible way in which categories of computer hardware can be established is by considering the main functions of the components being included within these categories. In this respect, one possible way of categorizing these hardware components includes five categories as it follows: the input category, the output category of components, the one including communication hardware components, processing category and the one including storage devices. All of these categories include important hardware components which have specific functions which influence the way in which any computer system operates. It is important for all of the hardware components to be well performing ones in order to enable the computer to function properly and in this way to be very useful for the users to work with.



The first category of computer hardware consists of components such as the keyboard, the touch screen, the microphone, the game controller, the video camera, the mouse and other ones which can be considered to have similar functions to these input devices having been named. When discussing about the second category of computer hardware having been considered it is important to mention examples such as the monitor, the video type of adapters, the plotters, the speakers, the printers and others. They are important to be mentioned because they are also very important in determining the performance of the computer system. Two examples of hardware components which can be considered to be communication devices are the modem and the network interface cards. The microprocessor and the memory devices such as the Basic Input Output System, the main memory and the cache type of memory are considered to be included within the fourth category of computer hardware which includes processing components. The last category presented but not the least important one is represented by the storage devices. Such devices are considered to be the hard drives, the DVD drives, the CD-ROM drives, the removable types of media drives and the floppy disk drives.



All of the components being included within these five categories of computer hardware present specific functions which are very important because they widely influence the performance of the computer system and in this way the way in which users can work with their computers. This is because a good computer helps users work much easier and with better results while a computer which presents certain problems will force users to waste time in order to overcome these problems before being able to continue working with their computers and this will mean waste of time and money. Being aware of the computer hardware components being included within our computers and of the necessity to always run computer hardware performance tests in order to check whether these components are functioning properly or not will help us avoid encountering these problems and will very much ease the way in which we can use our computers.



All of the hardware components, as well as the software ones are important t be analyzed by the users interested in learning more about their computers. If we were to mention some of the functions that these components have and which are very important for the way in which the computer works we might analyze for example the central processing unit which is included within the category of processing computer hardware devices. It is considered to be very important and some users have even considered it to be the actual brain of the computer. This is because two of its main functions are considered to be the processing of the necessary instructions provided by computer programs and the fact that it deals with the important functions of the computer system. The central processing unit is only one example of hardware component which is vital for the computer system because it enables it to operate. There are many others which also have essential functions within the computer.

These five categories of computer hardware that have been presented are very important and should be included within any discussion on computer hardware because they might prove to be very useful for the users to be aware of.