This is the first part of the hands-on hardware preparation for students whose goal is to develop an understanding of operating systems to maintain and manage a personal computer. The course prepares students to understand the terminology and technically support ports, motherboards, microprocessors, memory, interrupt requests, basic power needs, chips, cables, troubleshooting and Internet resource discovery both to find information and help in troubleshooting devices.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:

Identify the components of a typical microcomputer system.
Demonstrate a knowledge of components such as ports, motherboards, microprocessors, memory, interrupt requests, basic power needs, chips, and cables.
Troubleshoot the above devices using various techniques including Internet resources.
Discuss error messages and their meanings.
Install and support operating systems.
Analyze conflicts and problems in both the hardware and software environment.