Most of the desktop computers we are using today are equipped with the following hardware:

1. A monitor images that are on its screen
2. The Motherboard, it is the computer's most basic component. It has electrical components, connectors, and sockets mounted on it. Lines of metal on its surface connect components to one another. Cables from other components and expansion and adapter cards are attached to the connectors. Integrated circuits or chips are plugged into its sockets.
3. The disk drive controller card links the computer's internal components to external devices such as a mouse and a printer.
4. A display adapter, or video card links the information in your computer's memory to the monitor so it can be displayed on the screen.
5. Expansion slots are connectors, into which expansion, or adapter, cards can be plugged, allowing you to add components.
6. Read-only memory, or ROM chips are programmed to tell your computer what to do when you turn it on.
7. Support chips help the CPU manage the workings of a computer
8. Free RAM slots, they can be used for a later upgrade of memory.
9. The most important chip in the computer's central processing unit or CPU, is the microprocessor. It carries out the instructions of any program in your computer.
10. A CD-Rom disk stores enormous amounts of information.
11. RAM chip slots allow you to add chips to expand your computer's memory.
12. Random-access memory or RAM chips are programmed to follow instructions and remember information you put into the computer while you are using it. Unless saved, this data is lost when the computer is turned off translates electrical signals sent from the CPU into words.
13. A hard-disk is used for data storage.
14. A floppy disk is slipped in and out of a slot in a disk drive. It holds information that a CPU can retrieve and use.
15. A mouse is an input device whose motions direct an arrow on the screen to move text and pictures to different areas of the screen.
16. A keyboard is one way to input information into a computer. An electronic circuit under the keys turns a keystroke into an electrical signal that the CPU decodes and stores in memory. When a key is pressed its letter, number, or symbol also appears on the monitor.
17. The printer translates electrical signals sent from the CPU into words or images that are then printed out on paper.
18. A modem performs input and output functions. It converts sound signals carried by a telephone line into a form that can be understood by a computer and vice versa. It also enables computers in different locations to communicate with one another.