Learning more

Minibiker · 28 May 2016 at 21:52

Hi all

This may be in the wrong section but wasnt sure of anywhere to put it...

Basically i want to know if there is a section on the forum or if there is books out there which will teach me more about computer parts and also be abit like a haynes manual to help me...

Just want to be able to help others in the future and the more i learn the better ill be.... And the smarter ill look

mickyflinn · 28 May 2016 at 22:23

Micro mart is a good magazine but you can learn a lot of stuff on youtube or just googling what you need to know.

Minibiker · 28 May 2016 at 22:26

I wil have a look at that magazine, Just would really love to have more knowledge

Robzere31 · 28 May 2016 at 22:37

Reading books, googling & theory is all very well but in my opinion practical first hand experience cannot be beaten.

Build yourself a few machines & you'll learn more in your mistakes, screw ups & general balls ups than talking & reading about how you should build the ultimate machine.

Zefan · 28 May 2016 at 22:38

Honestly, aside from just spending time building your own PC and googling/reading forums for a while, the best way would be to follow the objectives of the latest CompTIA A+ certification exams. Video tutorials from Professor Messer can be found on YouTube that cover all of it for free.

Yes it is extremely general, and parts of it are really laid out for preparing someone to work as an IT technician, but having this broad knowledge base will mean you can then be free to dive deeper in to the things you choose to, while being mindful of where it all lies in the bigger picture.

Either way, it's important to get hands on. Even quite old, cheap equipment will be helpful.

MrMD · 28 May 2016 at 22:45

Honestly,just reading threads in the forums here you will pick up a lot of knowledge

mickyflinn · 28 May 2016 at 22:46

Practical experience is essential if you have or can get an old computer then take it apart, put it back together see if it works.

ExRayTed · 28 May 2016 at 22:47

Build it. Break it somehow. Gain 1 'clue'

5 x 'clues' = 1 'inkling'

5 x 'inklings' = 1 'idea'

5 x 'ideas' and you're ready to give advice here

Minibiker · 29 May 2016 at 10:23

Wow thanks for all the answers, I have an old Desktop pc not in use so will fiddle with that, Also i feel i have learnt a fair bit over the last few months whilst building my own Gaming PC, i will also watch some videos and purchase some magazines, so bit of everything really

Cern · 29 May 2016 at 12:23

Minibiker said:
Wow thanks for all the answers, I have an old Desktop pc not in use so will fiddle with that, Also i feel i have learnt a fair bit over the last few months whilst building my own Gaming PC, i will also watch some videos and purchase some magazines, so bit of everything really

Having an old desktop PC you can mess around with really helps. Strip it down, taking notes as you go, and then see if you can put it all back together again. With any PC built in the last 10-15 years you can't go too far wrong because most sockets are designed so you can't plug the wrong thing into them or the wrong way round. Have the motherboard's manual to hand (if you no longer have this you can usually download a PDF from the manufacturers web site).

The only thing I probably wouldn't touch, at least on the first run through, is the heatsink and fan. Reason being, if you remove this then you'll need to reapply some thermal compound, which means cleaning all the old compound off. It's not too daunting, but might be a bit much when you're learning.

Other than that, magazines, Google and YouTube as others have said.