But I dont know where to start. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The title pretty much says it all I want to know how computers work from hardware to programming.
Honestly I would start in the mid nineties/when you were a child. Most people into computers start young, it just depends on what type of application you plan on to determine what skillset you want to hone first and thus what you want to study first.
^ This. I started using a computer when I was about 10. I started building my own when I was about 16 and have used them in my working life ever since. I've read up stuff and researched when I've not known something and picked up all my knowledge that way. After 14 years of picking things up I consider myself a fairly advanced user, but I have nothing on the guys that have a formal education in them. Learning computers is a slow process. As GreyMatterTripp says, you should decide what you want to know how to do and then focus on that. e.g. web-design, programming, hardware (building/repairing computers), etc. It is a good idea to have at least an understanding of other areas as well though. For software, a good set of applications to start with is Microsoft Office. They contain features that are common across many different applications and are relatively easy to learn. If you want to get into building your own, pick up a few cheap second hand PC's (or get them given), choose the best components from each and build yourself a single PC out of them. My first own PC (as opposed to the house PC) was a constantly evolving project, built out of old parts with the occasional component I bought to upgrade it.
Lol Ive been using computers for as long as I remember and I know how to used microsoft office and all those programs but what I really want to know is about its hardware. Like whats ram and why is it so important I know the higher the better with everything but i dont know what it all means. I want to start with what makes the computer and then once I have what its made of id like to learn about programming and web design, etc..
buy a computers for dummies book. As for learning about hardware, it all depends on what you really are going for. What is your end goal? Do you want to know enough to know what's going on, do you want to be able to repair them, do you want to know how to keep them secure? All of these are different levels of knowledge and take different amounts of time to learn. Just use google and search for a term you've heard but didn't know what it was, that will almost always lead you to some web site with all sorts of information about whatever it is your looking for. this makes me chuckle, mainly because at best that means something like 10 or 15 years? I know people that have been playing with computers before they had monitors and they still are learning things about computers. It will be a lot less stress in your life if you try and pick a specific area to start at. Like what makes up a CPU.
Saying you want to learn about computers is the equivalent of saying you want to learn about cars. Which car? What aspect? Mechanical? Body? Electrical? You want to become an IT? decided first, then the web if your friend. MIT along with many universities offer huge resources and courses online for free. List of Online Archives for Free Unabridged Books Online
I browse newegg comments and tomshardware forums to figure some stuff out... You will actually figure out what all of those numbers mean in pretty short order. You can even use this place as a resource, the guys in Silicon (v)Alley are pretty helpful.
Get yourself a VIC-20, Then a Commodore 64, Then when you mastered these two high tech machines, You'll be ready to take on the IBM - XT
yep, started at 8 years old... at 10, built a two player tank video game using logic chips as hardcoded 'firmware'...was very simple, like pong, not many lines (no HD mode...) Start with learning how logic chips work, functions, then move to software basics. Once you understand logic and machine code, learn DOS, LINUX/UNIX command line. Once you have command line administration covered, learn to use the gui's. shouldn't take too long to learn the basics...4-8 years...then move to the advanced stuff....kidding, after a couple years, some people start to delve into hacking/cracking hardware and software to hone their skills.
oh the memories of my first home brew z80 processor 'super computer'... was my first link to arpanet...
I LOVE DOS/LINUX, WINDOWS 3.11, I remember paying $1,200 for a 20 MEG (Thats right..... megabyte) 5.25" Hard Drive, It was like a cinder block. I still keep a machine on my network with DOS and Windows 3.11 Just for the memories too
Apologies. I didn't mean to sound patronizing. You said novice, but that could mean anywhere from never having used a computer to fairly computer literate. I thought I'd cover all bases in my reply. As I said, get hold of a few old PC's and cannibalize them into one. Take notes/photos of what you are disconnecting from where while you are working. With a little advice from online resources it's actually not that hard. It's very difficult to break anything in there, most cables only fit into the places they should fit, and for anything you're not sure about, look up the spec sheet for the motherboard you're using and go from there.
Its cool dude lol. Yea being a college student today a computer is a must. But I hear about guys on sites like 4chan and digital gangster which I dont think is really the same anymore and I admire how they can hack things really without thinking. So I figure in order to get to that level of skill you need to start at rock bottom. Would a site like howstuffworks be a good place to start?
I would run a distro of GNU/Linux and get familiar with the terminal commands moving files, getting permissions, etc. then start learning about logic, and how both software and hardware operate, then learn a language like java (or start with writing programs from terminal that is pretty easy and gives you an idea how code works). If you need some resources PM me I have some ebooks I could send your way a lot on unix/apple gear it is some cool stuff man have you found a tutorial on writing a "Hello World" program yet get a free IDE and look for some of the free tuts out there a lot of them start off with real basic info like how everything works from the ram chip to the keyboard then they go into all the fun stuff like variable arrays and what not, good luck and make sure to have fun!
i posted a video in another thread. look the video up on youtube its called "read a book" sorry i had to, on a more serious note dont bother trying to get the information for free, save up some money, head down to the local university, go into the bookstore, look up the name of the book you want based on their classes (you cant buy it there if your not a student, but now you know what books to buy and what order to read them) then go to amazon
why don't you start with telling us what you know now and what your goal is. If it's hacking then sure learning how logic chips work and machine code would be useful, if you just want to be able to write your own software you can skip all that crap and just start learning languages. Most "hacker" sites will tell you to learn; java, pearl, C/C++/C#. Java and any version of C will give you enough knowledge of how most languages work that you can pick up others along the way. As for learning assembly, it all depends on what chip you are working with, each one has different instructions that they use, some repeat them some add more. The starting point and what you want to do are the important things though. To get the skill you are talking about you just need to do the stuff, it's not really about starting at the bottom as there's no set way to learn it all. Some it works better if they know how the code is working and then learn how the machine does it, others are the reverse. If your a college student, the cheapest and best way is to go audit some CS and EE classes. It will be interesting and the teachers will help out a ton (usually).Also, google is your friend but it will take some work to find the good sites.