Good basic computer hardware course?

Hi.
I am going to buy a new computer, and since I don't buy anything over $100 without knowing as much as I can about it, I have been forced to learn things. I have found some pretty good sites that have alot of hardware explanations, but learning one thing leads to needing to learn another, it seems, and I am getting info from all over and maybe trying to cram in too much. For example, learning about the speeds a new computer should have led me to the clock which led to front side bus, to motherboard, registers, instruction sets, on and on. I am now wondering thru things I think may have to do with programming, and my next thing is how do they talk to the machine on its most basic level, which isn't the course I currently need. I need some order to all this, perhaps a basic course on how the hardware parts of computers work, cpu, bios, registers, motherboard, ram, etc ad infinitum. Does anyone know of a good course that might be accessible online. Right now just want to know how the thing works, then can maybe later take something about the software, and basic programming? I am an older person, only have had a computer 5 years, was totally ignorant when I got it, so am not conversant with it like the young people today who grow up with it.
Thanks,
Sheena

 

Thank you Tim.
A site I found that I liked was on http://en.kioskea.net/contents/pc/processeur.php3. I believe it is French based but you pick the language and when I went to it it just came up in easily readable normal English. Also about.com's 'desktop buyers guide is big help in knowing what to look for and also educates you about the various components as it goes along.
However, I was looking for an actual COURSE. What would such a course be classified as? I wanted something that I could get an actual credit for in some form. If I am going to do this I may as well get something for it, a minor certification thing, something like that?
Sheena

 

Following on from TimW's suggestion, do a Search on Basic Computer Hardware Course and you'll get lots of links.

One I spotted was:

http://www.pccomputernotes.com/

Search on Basic Computer Course and you'll get lots of links, to both Hardware and Software courses..

Bazza