Instructions
1. View the front, back and sides of the computer and note the location of the different connectors installed on the computer.
2. Note that a male connector with a metal "D"-shaped shield protruding from the computer chassis, 9 or 25 pins inside the connector and a screw hole or nut on each side of the connector are serial communication connectors used by the operating system as "COM" ports.
3. View the oval-shaped connectors with a plastic bar inside that feature four pins. Connectors with this appearance are Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectors.
4. Inspect the 25-pin "D"-shaped female socket connector that protrudes from the computer chassis. Note this type of connector is a parallel printer port connector, which is not included with most current computers.
5. View the round female connector with six pin holes and a rectangular hole in the middle of the connector socket is a PS/2 connector. PS/2 connectors are usually used for PS/2 mouse and keyboard peripherals. Green PS/2 connectors are designated for use with a PS/2 mouse and purple PS/2 connectors are designated for use with a PS/2 keyboard.
6. Inspect the "D"-shaped female connector with 15 holes and screw holes or nuts on each side of the connector. Note that connectors with this configuration are Video Graphics Array (VGA) connectors used to supply an external computer monitor display with video signals.
7. View the "D"-shaped black rubber male connector with three prongs inside the connector socket. This type of connector is attached to the computer power supply and used to connect the computer to a standard wall power socket.
8. Inspect the square connector with four wires or pins inside the connector and note it resembles the phone connector typically installed in a wall. This type of connector is used by the computer modem to connect to an external phone line or phone wall socket for dial-up networking.
10. View the square connector that appears similar to the modem connector, except that it has eight pins or wires inside the connector socket. Note that connectors with this appearance are Ethernet networking connectors to which Ethernet network cables are connected to enable network connectivity.
11. Identify the four-pin metal socket connector shaped like a square with a point or triangle shape at one end. Note that connectors of this type are FireWire or IEEE 1394 connectors that support high-speed serial communications usually for external storage and webcam communications.
12. Inspect the "D"-shaped multi-pin female connector that has a combination of standard pins and also wide flat pins and holes or screws on each side of the connector. Connectors with the appearance stated above are Digital Video Interface (DVI) connectors and are used to supply digital video signals to an external digital video monitor.
13. View the five-sided "D"-shaped male connector that has a single plastic protrusion in the middle of the connector socket. This High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connector is designed to deliver audio and high-definition video signals from the computer to external monitors and TVs.