Vishwa Shankar - Reflection
What did you learn from this assignment?
During the deconstruction of the computer, I learned about the different parts that
we went through in the slideshow. I’m more of a kinesthetic learner, so looking at it
in-person definitely helps me solidify the idea of different components that make up a
computer. Physically holding the parts really helped me get a better picture of how the
hardware system in a computer works. I always wondered how different parts were
connected in a computer. In the process of deconstructing my computer, I learned that
special wires and ports connect different parts. For example, I learned that the HDD is
connected to the optical drive for storing information and data. I had a guess about this,
but when I saw the different wires connecting the two parts, it made it clearer in my
head. Rebooting was something I’ve seen my parents do, but doing it for the first time
definitely is harder. However, now I know how to reboot my own computer if needed to.
What problems did you come across during this assignment?
Opening up a PC and rebuilding was definitely a new experience for me.
However, I did run into some problems during this assignment. First of all, I struggled
with some of the screws to open the motherboard and cooling unit since they were
[Link], rebuilding the PC took me less time, since I already knew where all
the parts belonged and had pictures of where the wires were supposed to be. Then I
ran into a problem with my RAM. When I opened up my PC, the RAM was disconnected
and it didn't fit my PC, which meant I had to find the right one. Finding the right RAM
was so hard because I didn’t know which one would fit perfectly. Rebooting my PC was
probably the hardest part, because I’ve never done that before. I think I got into a reboot
loop once, which I was ignorant of.
How did you resolve the issues that you experienced?
Unscrewing and rescrewing the motherboard and heatsink was an annoying
process, but practicing everyday helped me get the right form of unscrewing it. I also
found that I didn’t have to use a hexagon to unscrew, I could've also used a flathead,
which made it a lot faster. The problem with finding the right RAM is that it’s a trial and
error process, so I had to be patient. I also needed to make sure my computer got a
DIMM RAM to work. It took me a half a period, but I ended up finding the RAM that
clicked perfectly with my RAM port. Rebooting a computer was completely new for me. I
even got into a reboot loop once. At the time I didn’t know what that was, but I re-read
the instructions and figured out that I just needed to unplug the USB after the reboot to
stop it from looping.