Assembling a computer
In the following you will first take a computer to pieces and then put it back together to a functioning computer.
Unfortunately, the demonstration computer will never really work but it demonstrates the principles of assembling
a computer well enough.
Taking a computer to pieces
- Disconnet the devices from the main frame.
- Open the cover of the computer.
- Ground yourself.
- Disconnect the cable to the CD-ROM drive from the sound card.
- Disconnect all cards from the expantion slots.
- Disconnect the IDE cable and the power cables from the hard disk and the CD-ROM drive.
- Disconnect the flat cable and the power cable of the floppy disk drive.
- Take the CD-ROM drive , hard disk and the floppy disk drive out of the box.
- Disconnect the power cable of the CPU fan.
- Disconnect the cables of the serial- and parallel ports from the mother board. You don't have to unplug the
cables from the box as there is no suitable tools.
- Disconnect the power cable of the mother board.
- Disconnect the other cables from the mother board. Try to memorize which cable belongs where.
When assembling the computer you can check the manual of the mother board.
- Take out the mother board. The whole side of the box where the mother board is attached comes out. Do not take
the mother board off the side, only see how it is attached.
- Take the memory modules off the mother board.
- Take out the CPU and see how it was placed on the mother board!
Assembling the computer
And now you are to put the computer back together. You can use chapter 2 on the handout and the manual
of the mother board as help.
- First set the CPU onto the mother board. Do not use violence! Be careful and be sure the CPU is on the
right way.
- Put the memory modules on the mother board. Do you remember what you should take into account when adding
memory?
- Normally the mother board is attached to the box with plastic pins and a few screws. Now that the mother board
is already attached on one side of the box just close it.
- Connect the power cables of the mother board. Do it right! Black cables side by side!
- Connect the other cables from the box to the mother board (hard disk light, reset, loudspeaker).
- Connect the parallel- and serial cables.
- Put the floppy disk drive, hard drive and CD-ROM drive back. Connect their cables to the mother board
and the power supply. Also connect the sound card cable to the CD-ROM drive.
- Put the display controller back.
- Put the sound card back. Connect the cable from the CD-ROM drive to the card.
- Put the network card back.
- Do not bother to test whether the computer works :) The parts used for demonstration are broken.
- The next group will take the computer to pieces. Thank you.