XP Essential Computer Concepts 1 Course Objectives

XP Essential Computer Concepts 1

Course Objectives XP At the end of the course, you will understand: • The components of a computer system • The different types of computers • Personal computer hardware and its functions • Peripheral devices • Hardware and software used to establish a network connection • Internet, e-mail, and World Wide Web • System software • Popular application software • Data sharing among different application software Essential Computer Concepts 2

What is a Computer? XP A computer is a device that : • Accepts input • Processes data • Stores data • Produces output • A computer executes machine instructions. Essential Computer Concepts 3

How a Computer Works XP The data you type into the computer is called input. The result of the computer processing your input is called output. Essential Computer Concepts 4

What is a Computer? XP A Computer System is made up of: • Hardware—the physical components (physical body of a human being) • Software—the programs or lists of instructions (mind, thought of a human being, issuing instructions to control the hardware to work properly) • Peripherals (optional, not the core)—the additional components Essential Computer Concepts 5

How a Computer Works XP The hardware, software, and you work together to complete tasks. Essential Computer Concepts 6

XP What is a Computer? Architecture or configuration is the design of the computer. As in, what does the computer consist of? Specification is the technical detail about each component. As in, how big is the monitor? Essential Computer Concepts 7

Types of Computers XP The categories of computers are: • Personal or microcomputers – Desktop – Notebook, Laptop, Table PC • Hand-help or PDAs • Mainframes • Supercomputers Essential Computer Concepts 8

Types of Computers XP Personal computers are used for general computing tasks and fit the needs of most users Essential Computer Concepts 9

Types of Computers XP Hand-held computers fit in the palm of your hand run on batteries. Essential Computer Concepts 10

XP Types of Computers Mainframes are used by companies to provide centralized storage, processing, and management for large amounts of data. Essential Computer Concepts 11

Types of Computers XP Supercomputers are the largest and fastest of computers, and can process an enormous volume of data. Essential Computer Concepts 12

Computer Hardware XP Computer hardware includes: • • • CPU (processor, microprocessor) Memory Storage devices and media Input devices Output devices Communication devices Essential Computer Concepts 13

Processing Hardware XP • The two most important components of personal computers hardware CPU (the microprocessor) and memory. (Together they can be compared to the brain of a human being. ) • These two factors directly affect the computer’s price and performance. Essential Computer Concepts 14

The Microprocessor XP • The microprocessor is a silicon chip designed to manipulate data. • Its speed is determined by: – Clock speed – Word size – Cache size Essential Computer Concepts 15

Computer Hardware XP • The most important computer function is data processing. • Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the processing hardware responsible for executing instructions to process data. Essential Computer Concepts 16

Memory XP Computer memory is a set of storage locations on the motherboard. There are four types of memory: • Random access memory (RAM) • Virtual memory • Read-only memory • Complementary metal oxide semiconductor memory (CMOS) Essential Computer Concepts 17

Memory XP RAM is temporary memory that is constantly changing while the computer is on. Virtual memory is extra memory that simulates RAM if more is needed. Essential Computer Concepts 18

Memory XP Read-only memory (ROM) is the permanent storage location for a set of instructions the computer uses. CMOS memory is semi-permanent information about where essential software is stored. Essential Computer Concepts 19

XP Processing Hardware • Computers interpret every signal as “on” or “off. ” • 1 (“on”) and 0 (“off”) are referred to as bits. • Eight bits is a byte. Each byte represents a unique character. For example ‘A’ usually consumes 1 byte. Essential Computer Concepts 20

Data Representation XP Storage and memory capacity is the amount of data the storage device can handle. • Kilobyte (KB) is about one thousand bytes • Megabyte (MB) is about one million bytes • Gigabyte (GB) is about one billion bytes Essential Computer Concepts 21

XP Storage Devices A storage device receives data from RAM and writes it on a storage medium. Later, it can be read and sent back to RAM. Essential Computer Concepts 22

Storage Devices XP Data is stored as files. Executable files tell computers how to perform specific tasks. Data files are created by the user, usually with software. Essential Computer Concepts 23

Storage Devices XP Files are kept on storage devices. There are: Magnetic storage devices and Optical storage devices. Essential Computer Concepts 24

Storage Devices Some common magnetic storage devices are: • • XP A floppy disk Floppy disks Hard disk drives Tape drives Zip drives Essential Computer Concepts 25

Storage Devices XP Some common optical storage devices are: • • CD-ROM drives DVD drives CD-RW drives Essential Computer Concepts 26

XP Storage Devices CD-ROMs are for “read-only” access. CD-R drives allow you to record data on a CD-R disk. CD-RW drives allow you to write data on a CD-RW disk and access and modify data. Essential Computer Concepts 27

Computer Hardware XP Some input devices are: • • • Keyboard Mouse Wireless pointer Touch pad Track point Cordless mouse Essential Computer Concepts 28

XP Computer Hardware Output devices are: Monitors and Printers are common output devices. CRT monitors and LCD (or flat panel display) monitors are two types of monitors. Essential Computer Concepts 29

Computer Hardware XP Factors that influence a monitor’s quality are: • Screen Size • Resolution • Dot Pitch Essential Computer Concepts 30

Types of Printers include: XP • Laser • Ink-jet • Dot Matrix Essential Computer Concepts 31

Other media devices XP • Media devices are generally related to storage, input and output functionalities. • Multimedia devices are peripheral devices that include text, graphics, sound, animation, and video. • Speakers and sound cards are common multimedia output devices Essential Computer Concepts 32

Data Communications XP Data Communications is the transmission of text, numeric, voice, or video data from one computer to another. Essential Computer Concepts 33

Data Bus XP The data bus is the communication between microprocessor, RAM, and the peripherals. Essential Computer Concepts 34

Data Bus XP Computer expansion ports Essential Computer Concepts 35

XP Data Bus USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports replace numerous connectors with one plug and port combination. The device you install must have a USB connector. Essential Computer Concepts 36

Networks XP A network connects one computer to other computers and peripherals. In a local area network (LAN), computers and peripherals are close to each other. Essential Computer Concepts 37

XP Networks A client/server network is a network with a file server. A file server acts as the central storage location. A network without a file server is a peerto-peer network. All of the computers are equal. Essential Computer Concepts 38

Networks Essential Computer Concepts XP 39

XP Networks Each computer that is part of the network must have a network interface card and network software. Then it becomes a workstation. Any device connected to the network is called a node. Essential Computer Concepts 40

Telecommunications XP Telecommunications is communicating over a telephone. In the telecommunications process, the modem converts digital signals to analog signals at the sending site and a second modem converts them back at the receiving site. For example, if you dialup to the Internet from your home, it is a kind of telecommuncation. Essential Computer Concepts 41

Telecommunications Essential Computer Concepts XP 42

XP The Internet is the world’s largest network. E-mail and the World Wide Web are two benefits of the Internet. Essential Computer Concepts 43

XP The Internet A hyperlink is a place on a Web page allowing you to connect to a particular file. http: //www. course. com/newperspectives Essential Computer Concepts 44

The Internet XP A Web browser is the communications software that allows you to navigate the WWW. Essential Computer Concepts 45

XP Computer Software is the instructions and data that direct the computer to accomplish the task. It can refer to a single program or a package. Essential Computer Concepts 46

Software XP Software bridges the human beings’ world and machines’ world. Two levels – Operating system software – Application software Essential Computer Concepts 47

XP System Software System software helps the computer carry out it s basic operating tasks. Application software helps the user carry out a variety of tasks. Essential Computer Concepts 48

System Software XP The operating system controls the I/O or input/output, the flow of data from microprocessor to memory to peripherals. The operating system makes multitasking possible. Essential Computer Concepts 49

XP • If you have a computer, then you must have heard of operating systems, since you are actually interacting with them everyday. Essential Computer Concepts 50

XP • Any desktop or laptop PC that you buy normally comes pre-loaded Windows XP or its variants. • Macintosh computers come pre-loaded with its proprietary operating system – MAC OS X. • Many corporate mainframe servers use the Linux or UNIX operating systems. Essential Computer Concepts 51

XP • The operating system (OS) is the first thing loaded into a computer’s main memory to be run by CPU and is the most important program that runs on a computer. • The "OS" performs basic tasks such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers. • It provides a stable, consistent way for applications to deal with the hardware without having to know all the details of the hardware. Essential Computer Concepts 52

XP Functionalities of Operating System Essential Computer Concepts 53

Application software XP • Built upon system software, application oriented. – – Office 2003 suite (What we will learn!) Photoshop, photo processing software Winzip, a tool which can compress your file. Too many to list Essential Computer Concepts 54

XP Office 2003 Application Software Enables you to perform specific tasks. Office 2003 suite software includes: – – – Document production software Spreadsheet software Database management software Graphics and presentation software Personal web page development • An earlier version of Office 2003 is Office XP Essential Computer Concepts 55

XP Application Software Document production software includes word processing, desktop publishing, and Web authoring software that assist you in writing and formatting documents. Essential Computer Concepts 56

Application Software XP It often has grammar and spell-checking, thesaurus, search and replace, and template features. Essential Computer Concepts 57

Application Software XP With spreadsheet software, you can create formulas that perform calculations. Spreadsheet software creates worksheets with columns and rows. The intersection of a column and row is a cell. Essential Computer Concepts 58

XP Application Software Database management software creates structured databases to contain information. Graphics and presentation software allow you to create illustrations, diagrams, and charts to be presented or transmitted. Most allow you to include graphics. Essential Computer Concepts 59

Application Software XP Multimedia authoring software allows you to record digital sound files, video files, and animations that can be included in presentations and other documents. Essential Computer Concepts 60

XP Application Software Integration Object linking and embedding (OLE) is the ability to use data from another file, called the source. This integration between applications has become an important skill in business. Essential Computer Concepts 61