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There is the only one-time expense in hardware. You can run different software programs on the same hardware. The software is required because it acts as an interface between the hardware and the user. You can say that hardware is the soul of the computer while the software is the heart of the computer. Both complement each other. These were the basics of hardware and software in a computer. Nov 01, 2008 Best Answer: System Software have direct control and access to your computer hardware, and memory locations. They perform I/O operations on various memory locations, and control the hardware, to make the application software do a task. Operating systems, are the main examples for system software. Nov 13, 2018 All software utilizes at least one hardware device to operate. For example, a video game, which is software, uses the computer processor (CPU), memory (RAM), hard drive, and video card to run. Word processing software uses the computer processor, memory.
When you're trying to solve a problem with a computer or any piece of technology for that matter, the first thing you should try to do is determine if the problem is with the hardware or with the software.
This section will take a look at hardware/software and the different types of computers. You will learn the differences between hardware and software, as well as examples of each. You will also see different types of computers including their uses, advantages and disadvantages. Let me tell you in a very simple way. Hardware is any physical component of Computer that you can touch and feel,that is hardware. For example, Keyboard, Mouse, Monitor/LCD etc. Software is any component of computer that you can not touch or feel. While the operating system, Games and Internet browsers are examples of software. In other words: Hardware = computers or peripherals that are part of the computer. Software = computer applications that are loaded on a computer. While hardware and software are often associated only with computers, software currently runs on mobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and others.
How you make that determination depends on the problem you're experiencing, but it often involves ruling out one or the other via testing.
Regardless of how you get to that answer, there is often much confusion when it comes to hardware vs. software. It gets even more confusing when firmware is brought into the mix.
Here's more on how each of these 'wares' differs, something you need to know if you plan on doing even the simplest of troubleshooting on any of your myriad of tech devices:
Hardware Is Physical: It's 'Real,' Sometimes Breaks, and Eventually Wears Out
Hardware is 'real stuff' that you can see with your eyes and touch with your fingers.
Unfortunately, being a physical item, you can also sometimes smell it as it dies a fiery death, or hear as it physically decays in its last motions.
Since hardware is part of the 'real' world, it all eventually wears out. Being a physical thing, it's also possible to break it, drown it, overheat it, and otherwise expose it to the elements.
Here are some examples of hardware:
- Laptop
- Desktop computer
- Printer
While a smartphone is a piece of hardware, it also contains software and firmware (more on those below). Hardware devices are also comprised of other hardware devices; a tablet or computer, for example, contain individual components like a motherboard, a processor, memory sticks, and more.
While it's not always this easy, using one of your five senses (except taste... please don't taste any part of your computer system) is often your best way to tell if the hardware is the cause of a problem. Is it smoking? Is it cracked? Is it missing a piece? If so, the hardware is probably the source of the problem.
As sensitive as we've made hardware out to be in what you've just read, one great thing about hardware is that it can usually be easily swapped out. The software you lose may be irreplaceable, but most hardware is 'dumb' — the replacement often being as valuable as the original.
See this list of computer hardware devices for more on some of the common parts of a computer system and what they're used for.
Software Is Virtual: It Can Be Copied, Changed, and Destroyed
Software is everything about your computer that isn't hardware.
Here are some examples of software:
- Operating systems like Windows 10 or iOS
Since software is information and not a physical thing, there are few barriers to it existing. For example, one physical hard drive might take two pounds of materials to create, meaning 3,000 hard drives would take 6,000 lbs of materials. One software program, on the other hand, can be duplicated 3,000 or 300,000 times, over as many devices, but be taking up essentially no more physical resources.
Software exists to interact with you, the hardware you're using, and with hardware that exists elsewhere. For example, a photo sharing software program on your PC or phone works with you and your hardware to take a photo and then communicates with servers and other devices on the internet to show that photo on your friend's devices.
Software is also extremely flexible, allowing it to be continuously updated and modified. While you certainly wouldn't expect your wireless router to 'grow' another antenna or your smartphone to get a bigger screen as it charged on your nightstand, expect your software to regularly gain features and grow in size as its updated.
Another great thing about software is its potential to last indefinitely. So long as the software is copied to newer hardware before the current device fails, the information itself could exist as long as the universe does. Equally amazing is that software can be destroyed. If there are no copies, and the software is deleted, it's gone forever. You can't run to the store and pick up a replacement for information that never existed anywhere else.
Troubleshooting a software problem is usually more complex than working through a hardware one. Hardware issues are often times straightforward — something is broken or not and may need to be replaced. The steps required to solve a software problem depend on what information you're given about the issue, what other software is running, what hardware that software is running on, etc.
Examples Of Hardware
Most software issues start with an error message or another indication. It's here that you should start your troubleshooting process. Search for the error or symptom online and find a good troubleshooting guide that will work you through the problem.
Firmware Is Virtual: It's Software Specifically Designed for a Piece of Hardware
While not as common a term as 'hardware' or 'software,' 'firmware' is everywhere — on your smartphone, your PC's motherboard, even your TV remote control.
Firmware is just a special kind of software that serves a very narrow purpose for a piece of hardware. While you might install and uninstall software on your computer or smartphone on a regular basis, you might only rarely, if ever, update the firmware on a device and you'd probably only do so if asked to by the manufacturer, probably to fix a problem.
What About Wetware?
Wetware refers to life — you, me, dogs, cats, cows, trees — and is usually only used in reference to the technology related 'wares' we've been talking about, like hardware and software.
This term wetware is still used most often in science fiction but it's becoming an increasingly popular phrase, especially as human-machine interface technology progresses.