1. How to Take Apart a Compaq By: Erick Webster, Kyle Marshall, John Davidson, Spencer Grimes, Josh Sullivan, Nick Belfiore

2. Taking off The Cover of the Tower Our cover was already removed. If it was not then we simply would have unscrewed the screws and slid it off. The cover is used to keep everything that’s in it, in and everything that’s out, like dust, out.

3. Riser To take this out you need to unplug all of the connecting cords Then you can just slide it up and out of the tower. Part of the motherboard, which is just a different design than most computers.

4. Motherboard Unplug all of the connecting cords first. The motherboard will then slide out of the tower through the open side. This is comparable to real estate, because everything is built on or in the motherboard.

5. PCI Socket The sockets are used for adding components to the motherboard. These are built into the motherboard, as extra plugs for other components.

6. SCSI Cables Unplug from all they are connected to. They are used as wires inside the computer to transfer electricity.

7. CD Drive Unscrew the connecting screws and unplug all cords that are connected to it. This drive is used to allow the computer to use CD-ROM’s, games, Software.

8. Floppy Drive You first unscrew any screws that are attached to it. Followed by unplugging any cords that are connected. Then you can just slide it out. This isn’t used as much anymore but when it was, it was used so you could insert a portable saving device into your computer.

9. Hard Drive Unscrew all screws connected to it. Unplug all connected cables. This is used to save everything on the computer to if you want to permanently save it, to where you can turn off your computer and it will stay.

10. Back-Up Battery This is a lithium battery, to power the computer, in case something goes wrong with the power source. This battery just attaches onto the motherboard.

11. Capacitors These do not detach from the motherboard. They are used for storing electrical current in the computer.

12. Audio Ports These are sockets located in the back of the tower. They are sockets for speakers or headphones of some types.

13. Ethernet Port This is in the back of the tower. It is a plug in that an ethernet cord plugs into to give the computer the internet.

14. USB Ports These are built in to the computer so you can upload components to your motherboard.

15. DIMM You can detach these from the motherboard by unclipping them and pulling them out. RAM that connects into the motherboard and holds memory for the computer.

16. Mouse and Keyboard Port Ports that you can plug the mouse and keyboard of the computer into. They are located in the back of the tower.

17. Chipset This is the connection between the processor and the tower. Located directly on the surface of the motherboard.

18. Cooling Fan To take this out of the tower, you can simply unscrew all the screws that connect it to the tower, along with any additional cords. This is located next to the processor. It is used in order to prevent the processor from overheating.

19. Memory Sockets Attached to the motherboard. This is where the DIMM plugs into.

20. Processor To take it out, you must take out the cooling fan and then unscrew all the connecting screws. This is the brain of the computer. It is located on the motherboard and under the cooling fan.