in or on

[silviali]

Which preposition should be used, in or on?

1. I found that a piece of new software had been installed in / on the computer.

2. A new piece of software was found in/ on the computer.

[Fazzu]

1. in
2. on

Guess I am correct.

[zoobinshid]

Well what if we use hardware instead of software does that make any difference?

[Fazzu]

No I think.

[Tdol]

I'd use 'on' for both.

[zoobinshid]

You mean for both sentences(number 1&2) or software and hardware?

[Casiopea]

Here's my 2 cents:

1a. software had been installed in(side) the computer (drives or files).
1b. software had been installed on the computer (drives or desktop).

1c. hardware had been installed in(side) the computer (itself).
1d. hardware had been installed on the computer; i.e., a camera.
1e. hardware (files; i.e., software) were installed in/on the computer.

2a. software was found in(side) the computer (drives or files).
2b. software was found on the computer (drives/files).

2c. hardware was found in(side) the computer (itself).
2d. hardware was found on the computer; i.e., a camera
2e. hardware (files) were found in/on the computer (drives or files).

[Tdol]

You mean for both sentences(number 1&2) or software and hardware?

1 & 2

I'd use 'on' for anything like files, software, anything digital. With hardware, I'd still use 'on' most of the time and would use 'in' if I were thinking of the physical location only.