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COMPUTER
Chapter – 1. Computer
Section 1: Hardware System
Subsection 1. System Unit
1.1 Motherboard
1.1. a Integrated Component
1.1. b CPU with Heat Sink
1.1. c Expansion Cards
1.2 Power Supply
1.3 Memory
1.3. a RAM
1.3. b Secondary(mass) Storage
1.3. c Removable Media Storage
Subsection 2. Peripheral Unit

2.1 Input Devices
2.1. a Keyboard
2.1. b Mouse
2.1. c Scanner
2.1. d Trackball
2.1. e Joystick
2.1. f Graphic Tablets
2.2 Output Devices

2.1. a Monitor
2.1. b Speaker
Section 2: Computer Languages & Software System
Section 3: Network and Communication System
Section 4: Computer Security & Errors
Chapter – 2. Computer Terminologies
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Chapter -1.
COMPUTER
A computer is a programmable machine with a set of electronic circuits that allow for data to be manipulated in binary
form, i.e. in bits. The actual machinery -- wires, transistors, circuits and all the material elements are called hardware;
the instructions and data (program parts) are called software.
Integrated Circuit- A transistor (the contraction of transfer resistor) is an electronic semi-conductor component that
is capable of modifying current passing through it. A MOS (metal oxide silicone) transistor is the most common type of
transistor used to design integrated circuits.
MOS transistors are made of slices of silicone (called wafers), which once combined, can make logic circuits,
that, when combined, form processors. These slices of silicone are cut into rectangular elements to form a "circuit".
Circuits are then placed in cases with input-output connectors and the sum of these parts makes an "integrated
circuit"(chip or microchip).
Moore's Law, penned in 1965 by Gordon E. Moore, cofounder of Intel, predicted that processor performance (by
extension of the number of transistors integrated in the silicone) would double every twelve months. This law was
revised in 1975, bringing the number of months to 18.
History
Father of computing – Charles Babbage is considered to be the father of computing after his invention and concept
of the Analytical Engine in 1837. The Analytical Engine contained an Arithmetic Logic Unit(ALU), basic flow control, and
integrated memory and is the first general-purpose computer concept.
Alan Mathison Turing- Developed the Turing Machine in 1936 & Credited as the founder of computer science.
Since 1966, the Turing Award has been given annually by the Association for Computing Machinery to a person for
technical contributions to the computing community. It is widely considered to be the computing world's highest
honour, equivalent to the Nobel Prize.
John Vincent Atanasoff- Inventor of the first digital computer, the Atanasoff–Berry Computer(ABC) in 1937.
Father of the computer- Konrad Zuse considered as the father of the computer for his development of the Z1, Z2,
Z3, and Z4, the first programmable (modern) computers. He also wrote the first algorithmic programming language
called 'Plankalkül' in 1946.
The first PC (IBM compatible) computer- On April 7, 1953 IBM publicly introduced the 701, its first electric
computer and first mass produced computer. Later IBM introduced its first personal computer called the IBM PC
(code named as the Acorn) in 1981.
The first mass-market PC- In 1968, Hewlett Packard began marketing the first mass-marketed PC, the HP 9100A.
The first microprocessor- Intel introduces the first microprocessor, the Intel 4004 on November 15, 1971.
Father of the personal computer-Henry Edward Roberts coined the term "personal computer" and is considered to
be the father of personal computers after he release Altair 8800, the PC, on December 19, 1974.

Computers can be generally classified by size and power as follows:
u
Personal computers, including Desktop computers, made up of a case which houses a motherboard
and allows users to connect multiple peripheral devices such as the screen. Laptop Computers, made
of a case with a fold-out screen, a keyboard, and many onboard devices.
u
Workstation: A powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a personal computer, but it has a
more powerful microprocessor and a higher-quality monitor.
u
Tablet PCs, made of a case which integrates a touch-screen and a certain number of onboard
devices.
u
Media centres, which represent a hardware platform, intended to be used in living rooms for running
hifi elements (such as a hifi sound system, television set, DVD player, etc.)
u
Personal Digital Assistants (called PDAs, or handhelds), sometimes known as organisers or electronic
datebooks, are pocket computers with features for personal organisation. Today, almost all PDAs are
smartphones.
u
Minicomputer : A multi-user computer capable of supporting from 10 to hundreds of users
simultaneously.
u
Mainframe : A powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many hundreds or thousands of
users simultaneously. . Mainframes are used by large companies to carry out heavy computing
operations are large volumes of data processing. Mainframes are normally used in centralised
architectures, in which they are the heart.
u
Supercomputer: An extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of millions of instructions per
second.
Components of a Computer System

1) Hardware System
2) Computer Languages & Software System
3) Network and Communication System
　　　　　　　　 Section 1
Hardware System
System Unit Peripheral
Memory Unit
Motherboard Power Supply
RAM Removable Media Storage
- Floppy Drive Input
Expansion Cards - Tape Drive - Keyboard
Integrated Components - Video card - CD Drive - Mouse
CPU - Sound Card -DVD Drive - Scanner
with - Modem - Blue -ray Disc Drive - Trackball
Chipset BIOS CMOS Heat Sink - Network Card - Lomega Zip Drive - Joystick
BUS & -TV Tuner Card - USB Flash Drive - Graphic Tablets
Expansion Interfaces - Game Pad/Controller - Touchscreen Secondary
(mass)Storage - Microphone
- Hard Disk Drive - Webcam
Output

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Subsection 1. The system unit
　Case that contains electronic components of the computer used to process data. It is also known as the chassis.
1.1 Motherboard- The primary component of a computer is the motherboard (the system board, the backplane, or
the "mainboard"). This is the main board which is used to connect all of the computer's essential components & made
up of a few integrated circuits and many electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, etc. All these components
are fused to the board and are linked by circuit board connections and by a large number of connectors.
Features & Components of Motherboard:-
The form factor of motherboards is normally used to refer to the motherboard's geometry, dimensions, arrangement,
and electrical requirements. In order to build motherboards which can be used in different brands of cases, a few
standards have been developed: AT – Advanced Technology, ATX – Advanced Technology Extended, Mini-ATX &
Micro-ATX – Smaller footprint of ATX , BTX format (Balanced Technology extended), ITX format (Information
Technology extended) etc.
1.1. a Integrated components

The motherboard includes some on-board components, meaning that they are integrated into its printed circuitry:
1) The chipset, a circuit which controls the majority of resources (including the bus interface with the processor, cache
memory and random-access memory, expansion cards, etc. 2) The CMOS clock and battery, 3) The BIOS, 4)The Bus &
Expansion Interfaces
A chipset is the component which routes data between the computer's buses
& Devices, so that all the components which make up the computer can
communicate with each other. The chipset originally was made up of a large
number of electronic chips, hence the name. The chipset is part of the
motherboard's logic system and is usually made of two parts:
The NorthBridge (also called the memory controller) is in charge of controlling
transfers between the processor and the RAM, which is way it is located
physically near the processor. It is sometimes called the GMCH, for Graphic and
Memory Controller Hub.
The SouthBridge (also called the input/output controller or expansion
controller) handles communications between peripheral devices. It is also
called the ICH (I/O Controller Hub). The southbridge is slower than the
northbridge, and information from the CPU has to go through the
northbridge before reaching the southbridge.
These two "bridges" connect the CPU to other parts of the computer.
CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) or Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM) - It is an on-board

semiconductor chip powered by a CMOS battery that stores information such as the system time and date and the
system hardware settings for the computer. The standard lifetime of a CMOS battery is around 10 Years. In Apple
Macintosh computers it is known as PRAM ( Parameter RAM. one can enter the CMOS settings by pressing one of the
five keys (F1, F2, DEL, ESC, F10) during the boot.
The real time clock (RTC) is made from a crystal which, as it vibrates, gives off pulses (called timer ticks) in order to keep
the system elements running on the same time (signal synchronisation). The CMOS is kept powered by a battery (a
button battery)located on the motherboard, which keeps the RTC on even when the computer is turned off.
The BIOS (Basic Input/Output System, ROM BIOS, or System BIOS) is the built-in software on a chip (Firmware) located
on al mother boards that contain instructions and setup for how your system should boot and how it operates. It is the
basic program used as an interface between the operating system and the motherboard.

The BIOS includes instructions on how to load basic computer hardware and includes a test referred to as a POST (Power
On Self Test) that helps verify the computer meets requirements to boot up properly. If the computer does not pass the
POST, you will receive a combination of beeps indicating what is malfunctioning within the computer.
In most PCs, the BIOS has 4 main functions as mentioned below.
1. POST - Test the computer hardware and make no errors exist before loading the operating system.
2. Bootstrap Loader - Locate the operating system. If a capable operating system is located, the BIOS will pass
control to it.
3. BIOS drivers - Low level drivers that give the computer basic operational control over your computer's
hardware.
4. BIOS or CMOS Setup - Configuration program that allows you to configure hardware settings including
system settings such as computer passwords, time, and date.
It is partly loaded in ROM (read-only memory, which cannot be modified & will not be damaged by disk failures), so it
uses data contained within the CMOS to find out what the system's hardware configuration is and partly in EPROM
(electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, hence the term Flashing to indicate the action to change the
EEPROM). BIOS flashing therefore means updating the BIOS via software, i.e., replacing the old BIOS version using a
program.
What is the difference between BIOS and CMOS? They are two different components of a computer, but they do
work together to make the computer function properly.
1. The BIOS, a ROM chip, on the motherboard contains a special program that helps the computer processor
interact and control the other components in the computer. These other components include disc drives, video
cards, sound cards, network cards, floppy drives, USB ports, hard drives, and others. Without the BIOS, the CPU
would not know how to interact or interface with the computer components, and the computer would not be able
to function.
The CMOS, a RAM chip, which stores information about the computer components, as well as various settings for
those components and other variables. However, unlike normal volatile RAM chips, CMOS chip is powered by a
battery which keeps the CMOS chip running all the time.
2. The BIOS program on the BIOS chip reads information from the CMOS chip when the computer is starting up,
during the boot up process. You may notice on the initial start up screen, called the POST screen, an option is
available to enter the BIOS Or CMOS. When you enter this setup area, you are actually entering the CMOS setup,
not the BIOS setup. The BIOS chip and program cannot be updated directly by a user. The only way to update the
BIOS is using a BIOS flash program called a BIOS update, which updates the BIOS to a different version. These
updates usually are provided by either the motherboard manufacturer or the computer manufacturer.
The CMOS setup lets you change the time and date and settings for how devices are loaded at
start up, like hard drives, CD and DVD drives and floppy drives. The CMOS setup lets you enable and disable various
hardware devices, including USB ports, the onboard video card and sound card (if present), parallel and serial ports,
and other devices.
Firmware— Manufactured with permanently written data, instructions, or information. ROM or BIOS chips, used
to store the instructions a computer needs during start-up, are called firmware.
BUS
A bus or "data highway" in computing, is a set of physical & data connections (cables, printed circuits, etc.) which
can be shared by multiple hardware components in order to communicate with one another. It can either parallel
or serial.
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Often, a serial bus can actually be operated at higher overall data rates than a parallel bus, despite having
fewer electrical connections, because a serial bus inherently has no timing skew or crosstalk.
Properties
1) Bus Size or Bus Width - A bus is characterised by the amount of information that can be transmitted at once.
This amount is expressed in bits. The term "width" is used to refer to the number of bits that a bus can transmit at
once. The bus size or width actually indicates the number of wires in the bus. For example, a 32-bit bus has 32 wires
or connectors in parallel that transmit 32 bits at a time It would be considered "32-bits wide."
2) The bus speed is also defined by its frequency (expressed in Hertz), the number of data packets sent or received per
second. Each time that data is sent or received is called a cycle.
3)The transfer speed of a bus is the amount of data which it can transport per unit of time. Transfer speed a bus =
Width * frequency.
6
A bus with a width of 16 bits and a frequency of 133 MHz, therefore, has a transfer speed equal to: 2128*10 bit/s
(bits per second) or 266 MB/s (megabytes per second). (Word size is the number of bits processor can interpret
and execute at a given time.)
Subassemblies- In reality, each bus is generally constituted of 50 to 100 distinct physical lines, divided into three
subassemblies:
? The address bus (sometimes called the memory bus) transports memory addresses which the processor
wants to access in order to read or write data. It is a unidirectional bus.
? The data bus transfers instructions coming from or going to the processor. It is a bidirectional bus.
? The control bus (or command bus) transports orders and synchonisation signals coming from the control
unit and travelling to all other hardware components. It is a bidirectional bus, as it also transmits response
signals from the hardware.
Primary Buses- There are generally two buses within a computer: the internal bus & the expansion bus).
Front Side Bus, FSB is also known as the Processor Bus, Memory Bus, or System Bus and connects the CPU with the
main memory, Video Card and Chipset. The FSB is now another important consideration when looking at purchasing a
computer Mother board or a new computer. The FSB speed can be set either using the system BIOS or with jumpers
located on the computer motherboard.
BSB, the back-side bus is a computer bus that connects the CPU to the External Cache(L2 or L3 Cache) . The
back-side bus is a part of the CPU and has a speed that is dependent on the speed of the processor.
(Jumpers allow the computer to close an electrical circuit, allowing the electricity to flow throughout
certain sections of the circuit board. Jumpers consist of a set of small pins that can be covered with a small plastic
box (jumper block). Jumpers are used to configure the settings for computer peripherals such as the motherboard,
hard drives, modems, sound cards, and various other components. For example, if your motherboard supported
instruction detection, a jumper can be set to enable or disable this feature.)
Expansion buses (or input/output buses or peripheral buses) It is mainly used to add expansion cards & new external
devices using expansion slots. It also allows various motherboard components (USB, serial, and parallel ports, cards
inserted in PCI connectors, hard drives, CD-ROM and CD-RW drives, etc.) to communicate with one another.
Different types of standard internal buses:-

1. ISA bus (Industry Standard Architecture) that appeared in 1981. It was progressively replaced by the PCI bus.
2. MCA bus (Micro Channel Architecture) is an improved proprietary bus designed by IBM in 1987.
3. EISA bus (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) was developed in 1988 by a consortium of companies (AST,
Compaq, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Olivetti, Tandy, Wyse and Zenith) in order to compete with the MCA.
4. local buses - interact directly with system bus, or front side bus (FSB)
In 1992, the VESA local bus (VLB) was developed by the VESA (Video Electronics Standard Association under the aegis of
the company NEC) in order to offer a local bus dedicated to graphics systems. It was quickly replaced by the PCI bus.
The PCI bus (Peripheral Component Interconnect) was developed by Intel on 22 June 1992. Contrary to the VLB bus, it is
not so much a traditional local bus but rather an intermediate bus located between the processor bus (Northbridge)
and the I/O bus (Southbridge). At least 3 or 4 PCI connectors are generally present on motherboards and can generally
be recognized by their standardized white colour. The PCI interface exists in 32 bits with a 124-pin connector, or in 64
bits with a 188-pin connector. Revision 2.0 of the PCI-X bus supports 66, 100, 133, 266 and 533 MHz frequencies and
allows throughputs of 4.27 Gb/s on 64 bits.
The AGP bus ( Accelerated Graphics Port) was released in May 1997 & is directly linked to the processor's FSB (Front Side
Bus) and uses the same frequency, for increased bandwidth. The AGP interface was developed specifically to connect
with the video card, by opening a direct memory access (DMA) channel to the graphics board, bypassing the input-
output controller. Cards which employ this graphics bus theoretically require less on-board memory; because they can
directly access graphical data (such as textures) stored in central memory. AGP Pro 8x offers speeds of 2 GB/s. Recent
motherboards are built with a general AGP connector which can be identified by its brown colour.
The PCI Express bus (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express, written PCI-E or 3GIO for "Third Generation I/O"), is
an interconnect bus that allows you to add expansion boards to a computer. The PCI Express bus was developed in July
2002. Contrary to the PCI bus, which runs in parallel interface, the PCI Express bus runs in Serial interface, which allows
it to reach a bandwidth that is much higher than that PCI bus.
The PCI Express bus comes in several versions (1X, 2X, 4X, 8X, 12X, 16X and 32X), which provide throughputs of
between 250 Mb/s and 8 Gb/s, or close to 4 times the peak throughput of AGP 8X ports. One of the interesting
characteristics of the PCI Express bus is that it is
hot pluggable, i.e. it can be plugged in or unplugged without turning off or restarting the machine. PCI Express
connectors can be recognized thanks to their small size and dark grey colour.
The PCI Express standard is also intended to replace PC Card technology with "PCI Express Mini Card" connectors. What
is more, contrary to PCI connectors which can only be used for to make internal connections, the PCI Express standard
can be used to connect external peripherals by using cables. Despite that fact, it is not in competition with USB or Fire
Wire ports.
Slots On Motherboard-
Expansion Slots- Expansion slots are compartments into which expansion (adapter) cards can be inserted. These are
cards which give the computer new features or increased performance. There are several types of slots:
1. ISA slots (Industry Standard Architecture): All recent computers today no longer included the ISA slots and
instead are using more PCI and AGP slots.
2. Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA- The EISA bus provided 32-bit slots and is no longer found in
computers today.
3. VLB slots (Vesa Local Bus): Bus formerly used for installing graphics cards.
4. PCI slot (Peripheral Component InterConnect): used for connecting PCI cards (Network card, SCSI, Sound card,
Video card), which are much faster than ISA cards and run on 32 bits
5. AGP slot (Accelerated Graphic Port): A fast port for a graphics card.
6. PCI express slot (Peripheral Component InterConnect Express): Faster bus architecture than AGP and PCI

buses. Used for Video card
7. AMR slot (Audio Modem Riser): This type of slot is used for connecting mini-cards to PCs which are built for it.
Input-output ports (Connector) or input-output interface ( I/O interface)

Through cable it connects external or peripheral devices to system unit & available in one of two genders:
male and female. The motherboard has a certain number of input/output sockets found on the rear panel.
Most motherboards have the following connectors:

1. Serial ports (also called RS-232)
- used for connecting old peripherals.
- represent the first interfaces to allow computers to exchange information with the "outside world". The term
serial refers to data sent via a single wire: Serial ports transmit one bit of data at a time ie. The bits are sent one
after the other & two-way serial ports therefore need two wires for communication.
- Serial communication takes place asynchronously, meaning that no synchronisation signal (or clock) is
required: the data may be sent at random intervals.
- Serial ports are generally built into the mother board & have 9 or 25 pins (DB9 and DB25 connectors
respectively)
2. Parallel Ports-
- mainly for connecting old printers; It is a standard Type is a DB-25 female connector.
- Parallel data transmission involves sending data simultaneously on several channels (wires). It can transmit 8
bits of data at one time (one octet) simultaneously via 8 wires and use the IEEE 1284 standard.
- The ECP (Enhanced Capabilities Port), developed by Hewlett Packard and Microsoft with Plug and Play
feature
- Parallel ports, like serial ports, are built into the mother board.
3. USB (Universal Serial Bus) is as its name suggests, based on serial type architecture. However, it is an input-output
interface much faster than standard serial ports. Serial architecture was used for this type of port for two main reasons:
Serial architecture gives the user a much higher clock rate than a parallel interface because a parallel
interface does not support too high frequencies due to problems related to electro-magnetic
disturbances between the different wires (in a high speed architecture, bits circulating on each wire arrive with lag,
causing errors);
serial cables are much cheaper than parallel cables.It is used for connecting more recent peripherals.
The USB 1.0 standard offers 12 Mb/s in high speed mode. The USB 2.0 standard makes it possible to obtain speeds
which can reach 480 Mbit/s. There are two types of USB connectors: type A, rectangular in shape and generally
used for less bandwidth intensive devices (keyboard, mouse, webcam, etc.); type B, square in shape and mainly
used for high speed devices (external hard disks, etc.). Since the address is coded over 7 bits, 128 devices (2^7) can
simultaneously be connected to a port of this type. In reality, it is advisable to reduce this number to 127 because
the 0 address is a reserved address. USB ports support Hot plug and play.4. RJ45 connector (called LAN or ethernet
port) used for connecting the computer to a network. It corresponds to a network card integrated into the

motherboard; Standard Ethernet port can transmit up to 10 Mbps, Fast Ethernet can transmit up to 100 Mbps,
and Gigabit Ethernet can transmit up to 1000 Mbps
5. Video Ports and Connectors- A video port connects a monitor cable to a computer. This connector interfaces with
the built-in graphics card. Type Of Video Ports and Connectors
• Video Graphics Array (VGA) (called SUB-D15) – VGA has a 3-row 15-pin female connector and provides
analog output to a monitor.
• Digital Visual Interface (DVI) – DVI has a 24-pin female connector or a 29-pin female connector and
provides a compressed digital output to a monitor. DVI-I provides both analog and digital signals. DVI-D
provides digital signals only.
• High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMi) – HDMi has a 19-pin connector and provides digital video
and digital audio signals.
• S-Video – S-Video has a 4-pin connector and provides analog video signals.
• Component/RGB – RGB has three shielded cables (red, green, blue) with RCA jacks and provides analog
video signals.
6. Audio plugs (Line-In, Line-Out and microphone), for connecting sound speakers or a hi-fi system, as well as a
microphone. This connector interfaces with the built-in sound card;
Line In (Blue) – Connects to an external source, such as a stereo system
Microphone (Pink) – Connects to a microphone
Line Out (Green)– Connects to speakers or headphones
MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface or joystick) port is a standard for digitally representing and
transmitting sounds. The quality of MIDI sounds depends upon that device's capability. MIDI port allows musical
instrument devices to be connected to the computer, such as a MIDI keyboard or a synthesizer.
7. PS/2 port connects a keyboard or a mouse to a computer. The PS/2 port is a 6-pin mini-DIN female connector.
The connectors for the keyboard and mouse are often colored differently.
Other Interfaces
The IEEE 1394 bus - The company Apple gave it the commercial name "FireWire", which is how it is most commonly
known. Sony also gave it commercial name, i.Link. Texas Instruments preferred to call it Lynx. It is a port that allows you
to connect peripherals (particularly digital cameras) at a very high bandwidth (upto 3.2 Gb/s). There are expansion
boards (generally in PCI or PC Card/ PCMCIA format) that allow you to equip a computer with FireWire connectors.
The ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) standard is a standard interface that allows you to connect storage
peripherals to PC computers. This standard is better known by the commercial term IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics)
or Enhanced IDE (EIDE or E-IDE).
The ATA standard was originally intended for connecting hard drives, however an extension called ATAPI (ATA
Packet Interface) was developed in order to be able to interface other storage peripherals (CD-ROM drives, DVD-
ROM drives, etc.) on an ATA interface.
The ATA standard allows you to connect storage peripherals directly with the motherboard thanks to a ribbon cable,
which is generally made up of 40 parallel wires and three connectors (usually a blue connector for the motherboard and
a black connector and a grey connector for the two storage peripherals).
It facilitates DMA (Direct Memory Access) which allows computers to free up the processor by allowing each of the
peripherals to directly access the memory.
The Serial ATA standard (S-ATA or SATA) is a standard bus allowing high-speed storage peripherals to be connected to PC
computers. The cable used by the Serial ATA is a round cable containing 7 wires and with an 8mm connector on the end.

The supply connector contains 15 pins. Moreover, the Serial ATA standard allows for Hot Plugging.
eSATA (External SATA) - used to connect external hard disk with the computer.
The SCSI standard (Small Computer System Interface) is an interface used to connect several different types of
peripherals to a computer via an expansion card, known as the SCSI adaptor or SCSI controller mounted on PCI slot.
The PC Card bus was developed in 1989 by the PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International
Association) consortium. PCMCIA cards are hardware interfaces that are slightly bigger than a standard credit card
that enable additional functionality for laptop computers and other portable devices. Eg. SMC EZ Card 10/100
wireless network card, which enables a laptop computer or other portable device to connect to a wireless network.
Processor socket - It is a Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) socket, designed by Intel and allows the processor to be inserted
without applying any pressure, and when lowered, it holds the processor in place.
The processor or Microprocessor or Core (CPU, for Central Processing Unit) is the computer's brain that receives
instructions and messages and sends out instructions to other hardware. It allows the processing of numeric data,
meaning information entered in binary form, and the execution of instructions stored in memory.
The Functional Units of CPU:
1. A control unit links the incoming data, decodes it, and sends it to the execution unit.
2. An execution unit (or processing unit) that accomplishes tasks assigned to it by the control unit. The
execution unit contains:
- The arithmetical and logic unit (written ALU). The ALU performs basic arithmetical calculations and
logic functions;
- The Floating Point Unit, FPU is a function included in all computer processors today that allow
processors to perform math floating point notations, increasing the speed and capability of a processor.
3. A bus management unit (or input-output unit) that manages the flow of incoming and outgoing information and
that interfaces with system RAM;
The Structural Units of CPU - The control unit, ALU & registers are collectively known as a CPU. Common CPU
manufacturers include Intel and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
A control unit is circuitry that directs and coordinates all operations within the computer's processor by directing
the input and output of a computer system. It reads and interprets (decodes) the program instructions,
transforming them into a series of control signals which activate other parts of the computer. The control unit is
basically circuitry inside the CPU, controlling the operations inside the CPU and "directing traffic" in a sense.
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU) is a digital circuit that performs arithmetic and logical operations. The ALU is a
fundamental building block of the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer. Mathematician John Von Neumann
proposed the ALU concept in 1945. An ALU receives data from input registers, an external Control unit then tells the
ALU what operation to perform on that data, and then the ALU stores its result into an output register. The Control
unit is responsible for moving the processed data between these registers, ALU and memory.
　Registers- When the processor executes instructions, data is temporarily stored in small, local memory locations
of 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits called registers. It stores address from where instruction was fetched, Stores instruction
while it is being decoded, Stores data while ALU computes it, & Stores results of calculation while it is being
stored. They are not part of any of the system memory, but are instead additional temporary high-speed storage
area on the CPU. This makes registers very fast for the CPU to use. The registers are controlled by the control unit
and are used to hold and transfer instructions. Registers are like Post-It notes.
Depending on the type of processor, the overall number of registers can vary from about ten to many hundreds.

The main registers are:
- the accumulator register (ACC), which stores the results of arithmetic and logical operations;
- the status register (PSW, Processor Status Word), which holds system status indicators (carry digits,
overflow, etc.);
- the instruction register (RI), which contains the current instruction being processed;
- the ordinal counter (OC or PC for Program Counter), which contains the address of the next instruction to
process;
- the buffer register, which temporarily stores data from the memory.
Cache memory (also called buffer memory) is local memory that reduces waiting or latency time for information stored
in the RAM (Random Access Memory). Levels of cache memory:
1. Level one cache memory (L1 Cache or primary cache, or internal cache) is directly integrated into the
processor and is the fastest and most expensive cache in the computer. The L1 cache stores the most critical files that
need to be executed and is the first thing the processor looks when performing an instruction.
2. Level two cache memory (L2 Cache) is located on the processor chip or on motherboard where L3 cache
is not present. It can be accessed more rapidly than the RAM, but less rapidly than the level one cache.
3. Level three cache memory (L3 Cache) is located on the motherboard. It has slower access than L1 & L2
Cache.
Secondary cache or external cache - Cache stored outside the CPU on the motherboard, it is commonly L2 cache or
L3 cache.
Hard drive can be used as a cache for an even slower medium like Internet. When it comes to data retrieval, your
internet connection is the slowest link in your computer system.
RAM (computer's amin or core or memory) has slower access than processor registers, L1, L2, & L3 Cache. That is
why the Cache memory is important to temporarily store the primary data to be processed. L1 supplies the L2
memory, which in turn supplies the L3 memory. The L3 memory talks with the RAM, which talks to interfaces hard
drive and other storage devices to transfer information.
CPU Operation- The processor (called CPU, for Central Processing Unit) is an electronic circuit that operates at the
speed of an internal clock (System Clock) thanks to a quartz crystal that, when subjected to an electrical current, send
pulses or ticks, called "peaks", which control timing of all computer operations by setting operating pace of
components of system unit.
The diagram below gives a simplified representation of the

elements that make up the processor (the physical layout of
the elements is different than their actual layout):
Clock rate or speed (or FSB clock rate) is the speed at which the microprocessor executes instruction. It corresponds to
the number of pulses or cycle per second (frequency), written in Hertz (Hz). The faster the clocks rate, the faster the
CPU, or the faster it can execute instructions. Clock Speeds are usually determined in MHZ, 1 MHz representing 1
million cycles per second, or in GHZ, 1 GHz representing 1 thousand million cycles per second. Most clock speeds are in
the gigahertz (GHz) range. The clock period is the time between successive cycles.
Clock cycle -It is the distance between two pulses of an oscillator. A single clock cycle toggles between a logical zero
and a logical one state. The shorter clock cycle results in higher number of pulses per second which is responsible
for the higher processor speed.
A measure called CPI (Cycles Per Instruction) gives a representation of the average number of clock cycles required
for a microprocessor to execute an instruction. Computer processors can execute one or more instructions per
clock cycle, depending on the type of processor. A microprocessor's power can thus be characterized by the
number of instructions executed per second.
MIPS (millions of instructions per second) is the unit used and corresponds to the processor frequency divided by
the CPI.
Multiplier (CPU multiplier or clock ratio or clock multiplier or CPU Core Ratio) is the speed ratio between the CPU
and the FSB. For example, a CPU with a multiplier of 20 and an external clock of 133 MHz will have a CPU speed of
2.66GHz.
The CPU Instruction Cycle (Machine cycle)- Four operations of the CPU comprise a machine cycle. Step 1 Fetch
instruction – To obtain program instruction or data item from memory. Step 2 Decode or Interpret instruction –
Control unit Translate instruction into commands. Step 3 Execute (ALU)- Carry out command. Step 4 Increment
Instruction pointer (Store)- Write result to memory. The speed of the instruction cycle is controlled by the CPU's
clock. Speed of the Processor depends on Architecture of CPU(number of Core), clock speed, cache, Front Side
Bus.
Word size: the number of bytes the CPU can process at once. It depends on the number of registers in the CPU, &
on the size of the data bus.
Access time- Amount of time it takes processor to read data from memory. Measured in nanoseconds (ns), one
billionth of a second.
Frequency scaling or processor throttling is a feature that allows a computer's CPU to lower its frequency for a
time, in order to prevent overheating or to save power. Lowering the frequency during idle times (when the
computer is not being used) helps to conserve power, which is quite useful when dealing with laptops or other
portable computers. Overclocking is a method of setting a computer to perform faster than its advertised speed by
setting or changing jumpers, dip switches, CMOS or BIOS settings, CPU multiplier and the motherboard's front-side
bus (FSB) clock rate, firmware updates, or using software utilities. Overclocking allows users to get a performance
boost and is commonly performed on CPUs or Video cards.
Underclocking, also known as downclocking, is the practice of modifying a synchronous circuit's timing settings to
run at a lower clock rate than it was specified to operate at. Usually, underclocking is used to reduce a computer's
power consumption and heat emission, sometimes also to increase the system's stability and compatibility.
Processing is an act the computer processor performs when it receives information. Processing is also used to
describe a process of a software program manipulating or extracting data from data being received or data within a
stored file. The processing capacity is the number of operations a processor can perform in a set amount of time.
Batch processing - Technique of processing data that occur in one large group instead of individually. It is usually
done to help conserve system resources and allow for any modifications before being processed.

Parallel processing (Multiprocessing) is the method of evenly distributing computer processes between two or more
computer processors. This requires a computer with two or more processors installed and enabled, an operating
system capable of supporting two or more processors, and software programs capable of evenly distributing processes
between the computer processors.
Pipelining is technology that improves instruction execution speed by putting the steps into parallel, i.e. all the five
steps of execution going on simultaneously working on instructions coming one after the another. The goal of the
pipeline is to perform each step in parallel with the preceding and following steps.
Execution phases of an instruction for a processor with a 5-step "classic" pipeline are as follows:
1) FETCH: (retrieves the instruction from the cache; 2) DECODE: decodes the instruction and looks for operands (register
or immediate values); 3) EXECUTE: performs the instruction 4) MEMORY: accesses the memory, and writes data or
retrieves data from it; 5) WRITE BACK (retire): records the calculated value in a register.
Because the order of the steps is invariable, it is possible to create specialized circuits in the processor for each one.
Hyper Threading (HT) - It allows the processor to work more efficiently by processing two sets of instructions (thread),
referred to as SMT (Simultaneous Multi Threading), at the same time, making it look like two logical processors with
one physical processor.
A thread is a portion of a program that is executed in conjunction with the main program that performs another task. A
program is capable of having multiple threads open at once and will either terminate or suspend the thread when the
thread's task is complete or the program is closed.
Superscaling consists of placing multiple processing units in parallel in order to process multiple instructions per cycle.
A superscalar CPU can execute more than one instruction per clock cycle. A superscalar processor will be faster
than a scalar processor rated at the same megahertz.
Core- A standard processor has one core. Single core processors only process one instruction at a time (they do use
pipelines internally).
A virtual core is a CPU where there is a virtual separation between two areas of the processor, so that they can
each take on some of the processing of the computer, but will not interfere with the other area. As opposed to
physical cores, which has something that physically separates the cores, virtual cores do not have physical
separation.
Dual processors- Computer that has two physically separate processors that work together. It is important to note
that not all operating systems and software programs support dual processors. Microsoft Windows XP & onward
OSes do support dual processors.
A multi-core processor is composed of two or more independent cores, each capable of processing individual
instructions. Multiple cores can be used to run two programs side by side and, when an intensive program is
running, (AV Scan, Video conversion, CD ripping etc.) you can utilize another core to run your browser to check your
email etc. Programs such as graphic software, games etc. can run multiple instructions at the same time and deliver
faster, smoother results.
A dual-core processor is the generic name given to a CPU with two processors or "execution cores" in the same
integrated circuit. Each processor has its own cache and controller. They can perform operations up to twice as fast
as a single processor can. The Intel Core Duo, the AMD X2, and the dual-core PowerPC G5 are all examples of CPUs
that use dual-core technologies.
Core 2 - series of processors manufactured by Intel. Core 2 Duo & the X2 series is the second line of dual core processors
from Intel & AMD respectively. The Centrino Duo or the Core Duo is Intel's first dual-core processor developed for
mobile computers and first released on January 5, 2006. It is better in performance against Athlon X2 or Intel Pentium

dual core. Core 2 Quad is Intel processor with four cores. Core2Duo is better in performance than Dual core processor.
Quad-core CPUs have four processing cores. These cores act as separate processors, but reside in a single chip. Each
processor on a multi-core chip generally runs at a slower clock speed, but increases overall performance.
Intel Core i3/i5/i7- i is for Intel; An i3 processor has two cores; An i5 processor has two or four cores (depending on the
model you have); An i7 processor has two, four, or six cores (depending on the model you have)
Sandy Bridge is the codename for Intel's's second-generation Intel Core processor family. Sandy Bridge processors are
distinguished from previous-generation Intel processors by featuring all cores – including graphics – on a single chip,
being manufactured using Intel 32nm(nanometer) die shrink fabrication process technology, and featuring Intel Turbo
Boost 2.0 for increased performance on an as-needed basis.
Intel Sandy Bridge processors debuted in early 2011, and the company has since released a wide spectrum of i3, i5 and
i7 Sandy Bridge processors for laptop, desktop, workstation and server computers. The codename for the successor
(third gen) to Sandy Bridge is Ivy Bridge, which is expected to be released in 2012. Ivy Bridge will utilize a 22nm die
shrink process and is expected to offer improved performance over Sandy Bridge in the range of 20 percent - 30
percent.
CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) architecture means hardwiring the processor with complex instructions that
are difficult to create using basic instructions. Because CISC-based processors can only process one instruction at a
time, the processing time is a function of the size of the instruction.
RISC- Processors with RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) technology do not have hardwired, advanced functions.
Programs must therefore be translated into simple instructions which complicates development and/or requires a
more powerful processor. Such architecture has a reduced production cost compared to CISC processors. In addition,
instructions, simple in nature, are executed in just one clock cycle, which speeds up program execution when compared
to CISC processors. Finally, these processors can handle multiple instructions simultaneously by processing them in
parallel.
It is arguably the fastest and most efficient microprocessor technology available today. The RISC architecture is an
improvement upon the CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computing) architecture used in the original Intel Pentium
chips. Motorola's PowerPC chips (such as the G4 in Power Macs) are the most widely used RISC-based chips. Intel has
slowly been integrating RISC technology into its chips, but they still are mostly CISC-based.
Scalar Processor Architecture, SPARC is a microprocessor architecture originally developed by Sun Microsystems in
1987 that includes a scalar processor. The SPARC processor is a RISC processor commonly found in Sun computers;
however, it is available for a wide variety of computers.
Coprocessor- A special purpose processor that helps the CPU perform special operations such as math operations,
encryption, and computer graphics. eg. numeric coprocessor or a floating-point coprocessor, the math coprocessor
1.1.b CPU Cooling: Since the processor releases heat, it is necessary to dissipate it, to keep the circuits from melting.
This is why it is generally mounted atop a heat sink (sometimes called a cooler or radiator), which is made of a metal
which conducts heat well (copper or aluminium) in order to increase the microprocessor's heat transfer surface. The
heat sink includes a base in contact with the processor and fins in order to increase the heat transfer surface. The unit
also includes a fan which vents hot air from the case and let fresh air come in from outside.
There are two heat sinks types: active and passive. Active heat sinks (HSF, which is short for heatsink and fan)
utilize power and are usually a fan type or some other peltier cooling device. Passive heat sinks are 100% reliable, as
they have no mechanical components. Passive heat sinks are made of an aluminium-finned radiator that dissipates
heat through convection.
Heat pipe—smaller device for notebook computers, Liquid cooling—uses a continuous flow of fluids to transfer heat
away.

1.1.c EXPANSION or ADAPTER CARD (add-on card, internal card, interface adapter) are components that are
connected directly to the motherboard using an expansion connector giving the computer new input-output functions.
These cards are essential interface between Processor & external devices (peripherals). Without these cards external
device cannot be recognized by the Processor.
The main types of expansion cards are: graphic cards eg. NVIDIA, ATI (Array Technologies Incorporated); sound cards;
network cards; Interface card(ATA, Bluetooth, EIDE, IDE, Parallel, RISC, SCSI, Serial and USB); Modem; MPEG Decoder;
Video capture card (Connects a video camera); Video Card (Connects a monitor); Disc Controller(Connects disk
drive); HDTV Tuner(Allows viewing of HDTV broadcasts on the monitor); TV Tuner(TV Tuner)
A graphics card (graphics adapter, video card or graphics accelerator) is a computer component which converts digital
data into a graphical form which can be displayed on a monitor.
AGP In-line Memory Module, AIMM is also known as the Graphics Performance Accelerator and is an expansion card,
designed to be inserted into the AGP slot on a motherboard to allow for additional dedicated memory for graphics
processing.
A video card's main components are:
1. A Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) is a single chip processor located on the video card that handles the processing for
2D or 3D graphics. By having a separate processor on the video card, the computer CPU can handle all other important
tasks.
2. video memory is to store images processed by the GPU before they are displayed by the monitor. The term frame
buffer is generally used to refer to the part of the video memory which stores images before they are shown onscreen.
3. The RAMDAC (random access memory digital-analog converter) is used for converting digital images stored in the
frame buffer as analog signals to send to the monitor. The RAMDAC's frequency determines the refresh rate (number of
images per second, expressed in Hertz - Hz) that the graphics card can support.
4. The video BIOS contains the graphics card's settings, in particular the graphics modes that the adapter supports.
5. The interface: This is a kind of bus used to connect the graphics card to the motherboard. The AGP or PCI Express bus.
6. The connections:
VGA Interface DVI S -Video
The sound card (Sound board or audio card) is an expansion card or integrated circuit that provides a computer
with the ability to produce sounds that can be heard by the user either over speakers or headphones.
The main components of a sound card are:
1. The specialised processor, called the DSP (digital signal processor), which does all the digital audio processing (echo,
reverb, vibrato chorus, tremelo, 3D effects, etc.);
2. The digital to analog converter, or DAC for short, which converts the computer's audio data into an analog signal for
being sent to a sound system (such as speakers or an amplifier);
3. The analog to digital converter, or ADC for short, which converts an analog input signal into digital data which a
computer can process;
4. External input/output connectors:
a) On or two standard 3.5 mm line-out jacks, normally light green in colour;
b) A line-in jack;
c) A microphone input (sometimes called Mic), usually a pink-coloured 3.5 mm jack;

d) An SPDIF digital output (Sony Philips Digital Interface) is an output line which sends digitised audio data to a
digital amplifier using a coaxial cable with RCA connectors at the ends.
e) A MIDI connector, usually gold-coloured, which is used for connecting musical instruments, and can serve
as a game port for plugging in a controller (like a joystick or gamepad).
5. Internal input/output connectors:
a) A CD-ROM/DVD-ROM connector, with a black socket, which is used to connect the sound card into a CD-
ROM's analog audio output using a CD Audio cable;
b) Auxiliary inputs (AUX-In), with white sockets, used for connecting internal audio sources such as a TV tuner
card;
c) Telephone answering device connectors (TAD), which have a green connector
　MODIO is the modem over audio technology that provides full-featured data communications simultaneously with
the audio functions of the PCs sound device.
A network card (Ethernet card or Network Adapter or Network Interface Card, or NIC) is an expansion card that enables
a computer to connect to a network such as a home network or the Internet using an Ethernet cable with a RJ-45
connector.
To prepare data to be sent the network card uses a transceiver, which transforms parallel data into serial data. A
network card is the physical interface between the computer and cable. It converts the data sent by the computer into a
form which can be used by the network cable, transfers that data to another computer and controls the dataflow
between the computer and cable. It also translates the data coming from the cable into bytes so that the computer's
CPU can read it.
Modem- Short for MODulator/DEModulator, the first Modem was first released by
AT&T in 1960 when it introduced its dataphone. The Modem is a hardware device
that enables a computer to send and receive information over telephone lines.
Computers operate digitally using binary languages (a series of zeros and ones), but
Telephone lines are analogue. The digital signals pass from one value to another.
There is no middle or half-way point. It is "All or Nothing" (one or zero). On the other
hand, analogue signals do not move "in steps", but rather continuously. The Modem
is responsible for converting the digital data used by your computer into an analog
signal used on phone lines and then converting it back once received on the other
end. Modems are referred to as an asynchronous device, meaning that the device
transmits data in an intermittent stream of small packets.
Below are the three available versions of a computer Modem that can be used in computers.
Internal modem that connects to a PCI slot inside a newer desktop computer or ISA slot on an older computer.
External modem is located within a box and is hooked up externally to the computer, usually the Serial Ports or
USB port.
Removable modem that is used with older laptops PCMCIA slot and is removed when you need the PCMCIA slot
for another device, but are not planning on using the modem.
Broadband Modem is also used to refer to the hardware device that connects a computer or router to a broadband
network. For example, a Cable Modem and DSL Modem are two examples of these types of Modems.
A modem's transmission speed is generally expressed in bauds, in tribute to Emile Baudot (11 September 1845 - 28
March 1903), a famous French engineer who worked in the area of telecommunications. This unit of transmission
speed characterizes the frequency of (de)modulation, i.e. the number of times the modem makes the signal change
status per second.

1.2 Electrical Power Supply- A power supply unit (PSU) supplies direct current (DC) power to the other components in
a computer. The power supply converts Alternating Current (AC) from the power grid (220 or 110 volts) into a Direct
Current (DC) of 5 volts for the computer components and 12 volts for some internal peripherals (drives, CD-ROM drives,
etc.). The power supply is generally between 200 and 450 Watts. Most modern desktop computer power supplies
conform to the ATX form factor.
Uninterruptible power supply, also uninterruptible power source, UPS or battery/flywheel backup, is an electrical
apparatus whose primary role of any UPS is to provide short-term power when the input power source fails. Other
functions:-.Voltage Surge control, voltage Sag control, Spikes, defined as a brief high voltage excursion control, Noise
control, defined as a high frequency transient or oscillation, usually injected into the line by nearby equipment,
Frequency stabilization, Harmonic distortion control.
1.3 MEMORY
Memory – The term "memory" applies to any electronic component capable of temporarily storing data. It consists of
one or more chips on motherboard or other circuit board. Each byte stored in unique location called an address,
similar to seats in a concert hall. There are two main categories of memories:
1. Internal memory (also called main or core or primary memory) that temporarily memorises data while programs
are running. Internal memory corresponds to what we call random access memory (RAM).
2. Auxiliary memory (also called physical or secondary or external memory) that stores information over the long term,
including after the computer is turned off. Auxiliary memory corresponds to magnetic storage devices such as the hard-
drives, optical storage devices such as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, as well as read-only memories.
Types of Memories-
1. Random access memory (RAM) - It is the system's main memory, i.e. it is a space that allows you to temporarily store
data when a program is running. RAM is volatile, meaning that it only stores data as long as it supplied with electricity.
2. Read-only memory, called ROM, is a type of memory that allows you to keep the information contained on it even
when the memory is no longer receiving electricity (non-volatile). Basically, this type of memory only has read-only
access.
3. Flash memory is a compromise between RAM-type memories and ROM memories. Flash memory possesses the
non-volatility of ROM memories while providing both read and write access. However, the access times of flash
memories are longer than the access times of RAM.
Classification Based on Volatility & Access
Non-volatile memory - Will retain the stored information even if it is not constantly supplied with electric power. It
includes magnetic disks like hard disks and floppy disks ; optical disks such as CDs (Compact Disc), CDROMs, DVDs
(Digital Visual Display); and Magnetic tapes.
Volatile Memory - Requires constant power to maintain the stored information. It includes RAM.
Random access - Any location in storage can be accessed at any moment in approximately the same amount of time.
Such characteristic is well suited for primary and secondary storage. It includes magnetic disks like hard disks and floppy
disks; optical disks such as CDs (Compact Disc), CDROMs, DVDs(Digital Visual Display); and RAM Sequential access - The
accessing of pieces of information will be in a serial order, one after the other. Such characteristic is typical of off-line
storage. Eg Magnetic tape
Magnetic storage uses different patterns of magnetization on a magnetically coated surface to store information.
Magnetic storage is non-volatile. Eg. Magnetic disk:- Floppy disk, used for off-line storage; Hard disk drive, used for
secondary storage; Magnetic tape data storage, used for tertiary and off-line storage
Other Types-
Virtual memory is a method of using the computer hard drive to provide extra memory (RAM) for the computer.
Segments of memory are stored on the hard drive known as pages. When a segment of memory is requested that is not

in memory it is moved from the virtual memory to an actual memory address. It allows a computer to run more
programs at the same time. Virtual memory is slower than RAM.
Technical characteristics- The main characteristics of a memory are:

Capacity, representing the global volume of information (in bits) that the
l
memory can store
Access time, corresponding to the time interval between the read/write
l
request and the availability of the data
Cycle time, representing the minimum time interval between two
l
successive accesses
lThroughput, which defines the volume of information exchanged per unit
of time, expressed in bits per second
lNon-volatility, which characterises the ability of a memory to store data
when it is not being supplied with electricity
Primary storage is a storage location that holds memory for short periods
of times while the computer running. For example, computer RAM and
Cache are both examples of a primary storage device. This storage is the
fastest memory in your computer and is used to store data while it's being
used. For example, when you open a program data is moved from the
secondary storage into the primary storage. It is also known as Dynamic
storage.
1.3.a Random access memory (RAM) - It is the system's main memory, i.e. it is a space that allows you to temporarily
store data when a program is running. RAM is volatile, meaning that it only stores data as long as it supplied with
electricity.
Types of RAM
1. DRAM memories (Dynamic Random Access Module) are most common, inexpensive but must be re-energized or
refreshed constantly. They are used essentially for the computer's main memory.
2. SRAM memories (Static Random Access Module), Faster and more reliable but costlier than DRAM chips. SRAM
memories are used in particular for the processor's cache memory. Do not have to be re-energized as often as DRAM.
RAM module formats

They exist in the form of memory modules that can be plugged into the mother board. There are generally three types
of RAM module:
1. Modules in SIMM format (Single Inline Memory Module): these are printed circuit boards with one side equipped
with memory chips. It existed till first pentiums
2. Modules in DIMM format (Dual Inline Memory Module) are 64-bit memories. DIMM modules have memory chips on
both sides of the printed circuit board and also have 84 connectors on each side, giving them a total of 168 pins.
3. Modules in RIMM format (Rambus Inline Memory Module, also called RD-RAM or DRD-RAM) are 64-bit memories
developed by Rambus. They have 184 pins. Given their high transfer speed, RIMM modules have a thermal film which is
supposed to improve heat transfer.
The DRAM (Dynamic RAM) is the most common type of memory at the start of this millennium. This is a memory whose
transistors are arranged in a matrix in rows and columns. A transistor, coupled with a capacitor, gives information on a
bit. Since 1 octet contains 8 bits, a DRAM memory module of 256 Mo will thus contain 256 * 2^10 * 2^10 = 256 * 1024 *

1024 = 268,435,456 octets = 268,435,456 * 8 = 2,147,483,648 bits = 2,147,483,648 transistors. A module of 256 Mo
thus has a capacity of 268,435,456 octets, or 268 Mo! These memories have access times of 60 ns.
The SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM), introduced in 1997, allows synchronised reading of data with the mother-board bus.
The SDRAM is thus able to operate with frequency up to 150 Mhz, allowing it to achieve access times of around 10 ns.
A The DR-SDRAM (Direct Rambus DRAM) is a type of memory that lets you transfer data to a 16-bit bus at frequency of
800Mhz, giving it a bandwidth of 1.6 Go/s. As with the SDRAM, this type of memory is synchronised with the bus clock
to enhance data exchange.
The DDR-SDRAM (Double Data Rate SDRAM) is a memory, based on the SDRAM technology, which doubles the
transfer rate of the SDRAM using the same frequency. Today, the DDR technology is found on high end video cards and
computer memory such as DDR-SDRAM.
DDR2 (or DDR-II) is the second generation of DDR memory. DDR2 is capable of operating at greater speeds of 400 MHz
and higher (twice as high as those of the DDR with the same external frequency), offers a greater bandwidth potential,
operates at a lower power consumption, and generates less heat.
QDR (Quadruple Data Rate or quad-pumped) It is basically DDR2 memory having two separate channels for reading and
writing, so that it is able to send or receive twice as much data as the DDR.
chips are nearly 30% more efficient in power usage than its predecessor DDR2. DDR3 SDRAM is the most current type of
memory used in the majority of computers systems around the world.
How do program instructions transfer in and out of RAM?

Step 1. When you start the computer, certain operating system files are loaded into RAM from the hard disk. The
operating system displays the user interface on the screen.
Step 2. When you start a any Application or Program or Web browser, the program's instructions are loaded into RAM
from the hard disk. The Web browser window is displayed on the screen.
Step 3. When you quit a program, such as the Web browser, its program instructions are removed from RAM. The Web
browser is no longer displayed on the screen.
The speed of the chipset and busses controls how quickly RAM can communicate with other parts of the computer. A
fast processor with slow RAM is going nowhere. The general rule of thumb is the more RAM the computer has, the
better.
How much RAM does an application require?- Depends on the types of software you plan to use. For optimal
performance, you need more than minimum specifications.
Read-only memory (ROM) or non-volatile memory There is a type of memory that stores data without electrical
current & not erased when the system is switched off.
This type of memory also lets you stored the data needed to start up (booting) the computer. Different ROM-type
memories contain these essential start-up data, i.e.:
?The BIOS is a programme for controlling the system's main input-output interfaces.
?The bootstrap loader: a programme for loading (random access) memory into the operating system and launching it.
? The CMOS Setup is the screen displayed when the computer starts up and which is used to amend the system
parameters.
?The Power-On Self Test (POST), a programme that runs automatically when the system is booted, thus allowing the
system to be tested (this is why the system "counts" the RAM at start-up).
Given that ROM are much slower than RAM memories (access time for a ROM is around 150 ns whereas for SDRAM it is
around 10 ns), the instructions given in the ROM are sometimes copied to the RAM at start-up; this is known as
shadowing, though is usually referred to as shadow memory).
Types of ROM
PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory)- These memories are chips comprising thousands of fuses (or diodes) that
can be "burnt" using a device called a " ROM programmer". The fuses thus burnt correspond to 0 and the others to 1.
EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) memories are PROMs that can be deleted using ultra-violet
rays.
EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Read Only Memory memories are also erasable PROMs, but unlike EPROMs, they can
be erased by a simple electric current.
Flash memory is a kind of semiconductor-based, non-volatile, rewritable computer memory.
　It is primarily used in memory cards, USB flash drives, MP3 players portable media player with USB port and soli-state
drives for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products. What's more, this kind of
memory has no moving parts, which makes it very shock-resistant. Flash drives have many names — jump drives,
thumb drives, pen drives, and USB keychain drives.
"Card reader" is the generic term for an input device that reads flash memory cards. It can be a standalone device that
connects to a computer via USB or it may be integrated into a computer, printer, or multifunction device. In fact, most
multifunction printer/scanner/copiers now have built-in card readers.
Types of Memory or flash Cards- There are many competing, incompatible memory card formats, almost one for every
manufacturer.
? Compact Flash (CF)- is a kind of memory card created in 1994 by the company SanDisk. Compact Flash is made up of a
memory controller and a flash memory chip.
? Secure Digital (SD) Card is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable
devices.
? Memory Stick
? Smart Media - now outdated, it is a flash memory card standard owned by Toshiba, with capacities ranging from 2 MB
to 128 MB.
? MMC (MultimediaCard)- is a flash memory card standard, Unveiled in 1997 by SanDisk and Siemens AG. It has been
superseded by the Secure Digital (SD) card, but can still be used in most devices that support SD cards.
? xD picture card- is a flash memory card format, used mainly in older digital cameras. xD stands for Extreme Digital.
1.3. b Secondary memory (or secondary storage) or Modern mass storage devices is the slowest and cheapest form of
memory. It cannot be processed directly by the CPU. It must first be copied into primary storage (also known as RAM).
Secondary memory devices include magnetic disks like hard disks.
Disk drive - A machine that reads data from and writes data onto a disk. A disk drive rotates the disk very fast and has
one or more heads that read and write data. Disk drives can be either internal (housed within the computer) or external
(housed in a separate box that connects to the computer).
Magnetic Drive -
The hard drive is the component which is used to permanently store data, which is connected to the motherboard
using a hard drive controller which acts as an interface between the processor and the hard drive. External hard drives
are connected to the computer using USB connector, as opposed to internal hard drives which are plugged directly
into the motherboard on Serial ATA slots.
A hard disk drive (HDD) design consists of a motor-driven spindle that holds flat circular rotating disks called platters,
which rotates in a counter-clockwise direction & onto which the data are recorded. The platters are made from a non-
magnetic material, usually aluminium alloy or glass, and are coated with a shallow layer of magnetic material with an
outer layer of carbon for protection. The platters are spun at speeds varying from 3,000 RPM in energy-efficient

portable devices, to 15,000 RPM for high performance servers. They are magnetically read and written using read
heads located on both sides of the platters. These heads are electromagnets which raise and lower themselves in order
to read or write data.
The heads start writing data from the edge of the disk (track 0), then move onward towards the centre. The data is
organised in concentric circles called "tracks", which are created by low-level formatting.
The tracks are separated into areas (between two radii) called sectors, containing data (generally at least 512 octets per
sector). Finally, the term clusters (also called allocation units) refers to minimum area that a file can take up on the hard
drive. An operating system uses blocks, which are in fact groups of sectors (between 1 and 16 sectors). A small file may
occupy multiple sectors (a cluster).
The term cylinder refers to all data found on the same

track of different platters (i.e. above and below one
another), as this forms a "cylinder" of data.
A solid-state drive (SSD) (also referred to as a "solid-state disk" or "electronic disk") is a data storage device that uses
integrated circuit assemblies as memory to store data persistently. SSDs do not employ any moving mechanical
components, which distinguishes them from traditional magnetic disks such as hard disk drives (HDDs) or floppy disks
& that is why SSDs are typically less susceptible to physical shock. They are silent and have lower access time and
latency, but more expensive per unit of storage.
SSD components include either DRAM or EEPROM memory boards, a memory bus board, a CPU, and a battery card.
Because they contain their own CPUs to manage data storage, they are a lot faster than conventional rotating hard disks
; therefore, they produce highest possible I/O rates. SSDs are most effective for server applications and server systems,
where I/O response time is crucial.
1.3. c REMOVABLE MEDIA STORAGE

These are also a type of Secondary Storage Device, for example, floppy disks; optical disks such as CDs (Compact Disc),
CDROMs, DVDs (Digital Versatile Disc) and Magnetic tapes.
Optical disks: Unlike floppy and hard disks, which use electromagnetism to encode data, optical disk systems use a laser
to read and write data. Optical disks have very large storage capacity, but they are not as fast as hard disks.
The Compact Disc (CD) was invented by Sony and Philips in 1981. A CD is an optical disc 12cm in diameter and 1.2mm
thick (its thickness may vary from 1.1 to 1.5 mm) for storing digital information 650 to 700 MB of computer data
(equivalent to 300,000 typed pages) or 74 minutes of audio data. A circular hole 15mm in diameter is used to centre it
on the CD player's surface. A CD-ROM drive's reading velocity originally corresponded to the speed of an audio CD
player, a rate of 150 kB/s. This speed was then adopted as a reference point and termed 1x.
Optical Disk Drive, the typical optical disc, stores information in deformities on the surface of a circular disc. The
deformities may be permanent (read only media ), formed once (write once media) or reversible (recordable or
read/write (RW) media).The read head is made of a laser (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation)
which emits a beam of Monochromatic light. CD players use an infrared laser (with a wavelength of 780 nm).
Pits are the term for the depressions in the groove, and lands are the spaces between them. A CD is built from a plastic

(polycarbonate) substrate, a fine, reflective metallic film which is then covered with an anti-UV acrylic finish, creating a
protective surface for data. The reflective layer contains tiny bumps. When the laser passes over the polycarbonate
substrate, light is reflected off the reflective surface (The encoding material), but when the laser reaches a bump,
information gets encoded. This information is stored in 22188 tracks engraved in grooves (though it's actually just one
track spiralling inward).
Blank CDs (CD-R), by contrast, have an additional layer (located between the substrate and metallic layer) made of a
dye (Blue-coloured cyanine or Light-green-coloured pthalocyanine or Dark-blue-coloured azo) which can be marked
(or "burned") by a high-powered laser (10 times as powerful as the one used for reading them). It is the dye layer which
either absorbs or reflects the beam of light emitted by the laser.
Multisession: Unlike Monosession writing, this one lets a CD be written to several times, by creating a 14MB-long table
of contents (TOC) de 14Mo for each session.
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc) - A single-layer, single-sided DVD can store 4.7 GB of data. There is a
two-layer standard that doubles the single-sided capacity to 8.5 GB. These disks can also be double-sided, ramping up
the maximum storage on a single disc to 17 GB.
DVD+R or DVD-R - Stands for "Digital Versatile Disc Recordable." Differences between the 'dash' and the 'plus' format -
One example is that the DVD+R style Address In Pregroove (ADIP) system of tracking and speed control is less
susceptible to interference and error, which makes the ADIP system more accurate at higher speeds than the Land Pre
Pit (LPP) system used by DVD-R. DVD+R discs must be formatted before being recorded by a compatible DVD video
recorder. DVD-R do not have to be formatted before being recorded by a compatible DVD video recorder. The DVD+R
format is not quite as common as the DVD-R format.
Drives that can read both DVD+R and DVD-R discs are often referred to as DVD/R drives.
DVD+RW or DVD-RW: Stands for "Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable."
DVD-RAM stands for "Digital Versatile Disc - Random Access Memory." It is one of three rewriteable DVD formats, along
with DVD+RW and DVD-RW.
Mini DVD is a DVD disc having 8 cm in diameter instead of normal 12 cm.
　
Blu-ray Disc ( BD) is a High density optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The disc
diameter is 12 cm and disc thickness 1.2 mm plastic optical disc, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25
GB (23.31GiB) per layer, with dual layer discs (50 GB) being the norm for feature-length video discs. Triple layer discs
(100 GB) and quadruple layers (128 GB) are available for BD-XL Blu-ray re-writer drives. The name Blu-ray Disc refers to
the blue laser used to read the disc, which allows information to be stored at a greater density than is possible with the
longer-wavelength red laser used for DVDs. Blu-ray Disc was developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association..
The Zip drive is a medium-capacity removable disk storage system that was introduced by lomega in late 1994.
Originally, Zip disks launched with capacities of 100 MB, but later versions increased this to first 250 MB and then 750
MB. However it was never popular enough to replace the 3.5-inch floppy disk nor could ever match the storage size

available on rewritable CDs and later rewritable DVDs. USB flash drives ultimately proved to be the better rewritable
storage medium among the general public due to common availability of USB ports built into most models of personal
computer.
MEMORY MEASUREMENT
The memory is measured by number of bytes available for storage.
Binary System is a two-digit (Base-2) numerical system, which computers use to store data and compute functions. The
reason computers use the binary system is because digital switches inside the computer can only be set to either on or
off, which are represented by a 1 or 0. Though the binary system consists of only ones and zeros, the two digits can be
used to represent anything.
A byte is Eight bits grouped together as a unit. It provides enough different combinations of 0s and 1s to represent 256
individual characters like Numbers, Uppercase and lowercase letters, Punctuation marks, & Other. One bit is either 0 or
1 & the Smallest unit of measurement of memory. Each RAM location has an address and holds one byte of data (eight
bits).
Binary Digit Electronic Charge Electronic How do computers represent data? Most computers are digital. Recognize
(BIT) State only two discrete states: on or off, Use a binary system (Number system) to
1 + On recognize two states with two unique digits: 1 and 0, called bits (short for
0 - Off binary digits)
Since, 1Byte = 8bits; so the number of combinations with 8bits of 1Byte = 28 =256. (because of binary system the base
will always be 2 & index will vary). The unit prefixes like kilo- denote powers of 1024 in the measure of memory
n
capacities, the 1024 progression (for n = 1, 2, …) is as follows:
Normal (IEC)Unit Binary or Digital Unit (This is to avoid the ambiguity associated with
the size of normal units)
10 1
Kilobyte =10^3 or 1,000 bytes Kibibyte (KB) = 2 = 1024 = 1024 byte
20 2
Megabyte = 10^6 (106) or 1,000,000 bytes Mebibyte (MB) = 2 = 1024 = 1,048,576 byte
9 30 3
Gigabyte = 10^9 (10 )or 1,000,000,000 bytes Gibibyte (GB) = 2 = 1024 = 1,073,741,824 byte
12 40 4
Terabyte= 10^12 (10 )or 1,000,000,000,000 bytes Tebibyte(TB) = 2 = 1024 = 1,099,511,627,776 byte
Pentabyte = 10^15 (1015) or 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes Pebibyte (PB) = 2 = 10245 = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
50
Exabyte= 10^18 (1018)or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes Exbibyte (EB) = 260 = 10246 = 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes
Zetabyte= 10^21 (1021)or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Zebibyte (ZB) = 270 = 10247 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
bytes
24 80 8
Yottabyte= 10^24 ((10 ))or Yobibyte (YB) = 2 = 1024 = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes bytes
Kilobits is written as Kb; whereas Kilobyte is written as KB. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a
non-profit, non-governmental international standards organization that prepares and publishes International
Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology".
Bit (Binary Digit)

The smallest unit of information which can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1. The term was first used in 1946 by John
Tukey.
Start bit – In asynchronous communications, the bit that signals the receiver that data is coming. Every byte of data is
preceded by a start bit and followed by a stop bit. Bit flip - Switching a bit from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0.
Computers are sometimes classified by the number of bits they can process at one time or by the number of bits they
use to represent addresses. For example;
1. 32-bit computers - Refers to the number of bits that can be processed or transmitted in parallel, or the number of bits
used for single element in a data format. The term is often applied to the following:

Microprocessor: indicates the width of the registers. A 32-bit microprocessor can process data and memory addresses
that are represented by 32 bits. Whereas larger registers make a computer faster, using more bits for addresses enables
a machine to support larger programs.
Bus : indicates the number of wires in the bus. A 32-bit bus transmits 32 bits in parallel.
Operating System: refers primarily to the number of bits used to represent memory addresses.
2. 64-bit therefore refers to a processor with registers that store 64-bit numbers. A generalization would be to suggest
that 64-bit architecture would double the amount of data a CPU can process per clock cycle. Users would note a
performance increase because a 64-bit CPU can handle more memory and larger files. One of the most attractive
features of 64-bit processors is the amount of memory the system can support. 64-bit architecture will allow systems to
address up to 1 terabyte (1TB = 1000 GB) of memory. In today's 32-bit desktop systems, you can have up to 4GB of RAM
(provided your motherboard that can handle that much RAM) which is split between the applications and the
operating system (OS).
Bit map
A representation, consisting of rows and columns of dots, of a graphics image in computer memory. The value of each
dot is stored in one or more bits of data. Graphics are also often described by the number of bits used to represent
each dot. A 1-bit image is monochrome; an 8-bit image supports 256 (28) colors or grayscales; and a 24- or 32-bit
graphic supports true colour. In a 32 bit computer graphics 24 bits are used for color and the remaining 8 bits are used
for control information.
Resolution (The density of the dots) - determines how sharply the image both on screen and in print is represented.
This is often expressed in dots per inch (dpi). The DPI measures how many dots fit into a linear inch. Therefore, the
higher the DPI, the more detail can be shown in an image. Since a 600 dpi printer can print 600 dots both horizontally
and vertically per inch, it actually prints 360,000 (600 x 600) dots per square inch. To display a bit-mapped image on a
monitor or to print it on a printer, the computer translates the bit map into pixels (for display screens) or ink dots (for
printers). Optical scanners and fax machines work by transforming text or pictures on paper into bit maps.
A dot matrix is a 2D matrix of dots that can represent images, symbols, or characters. They are used for electronic
displays, such as computer monitors and LED screens, as well as printed output.
The more dots that are used, the more clear and accurate the image representation will be. For example, a 16x16 dot
matrix can represent the letter "S" more accurately than a 8x8 matrix. Bitmap images on a computer screen are also dot
matrixes, since they are made up of a rectangular grid of pixels.
Dot Pitch
This is the distance between two dots in millimeters used to determine how sharp the display of a monitor is. The
smaller the number, the finer the picture. Most CRT monitors will have a dot pitch between .25 and .28. The difference
between a "dot" (as in dot pitch) and a pixel is that a pixel is mapped onto the dots on the screen. So pixels are typically
larger than the "dots" on the actual screen.
PIXEL (Picture Element) - The screen is divided up into a matrix of thousands or even millions of pixels.
Each pixel can only be one color at a time. However, since they are so small, pixels often blend together to form various
shades and blends of colors. The number of colors each pixel can be is determined by the number of bits used to
represent it. For example, 8-bit color allows for 2 to the power 8th, or 256 colors to be displayed.
A megapixel is one million pixels. It is commonly used to describe the resolution of digital cameras. The higher the
megapixel number, the more detail the camera can capture. A camera's megapixel number is calculated by multiplying
the number of vertical pixels by the number of horizontal pixels captured by the camera's sensor. For example, the

original Canon Digital Rebel captures 2048 vertical by 3072 horizontal pixels, for a total of 6,291,456 pixels (2048 x
3072). Therefore, it is estimated to be a 6.3 megapixel camera.
PPI- Stands for "Pixels Per Inch." The higher the DPI, the greater the detail of the printed image. However, even if a
photo is printed with a high DPI, the detail represented in the photo can only be as high as the PPI.
PPI measures the number of pixels per line per inch in a digital photo. This number is directly related to the number of
megapixels a digital camera can capture. For example, 6.3 megapixel camera captures 2048 vertical by 3072 horizontal
pixels. Therefore, when printing a 4x6 image, the PPI would be 3072 px. / 6 in. = 512 PPI. However, if you were to print a
large 20x30 poster image from a 6.3 megapixel image, the PPI would be 3072 px. / 30 in. = 102.4 PPI. A good rule of
thumb is to keep your PPI above 300 so your prints will look nice and clear.
Three popular coding systems to represent data- 1. ASCII—American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a
character-encoding scheme originally based on the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers,
communications equipment, and other devices that use text. Most modern character-encoding schemes are based on
ASCII, though they support many additional characters. Each letter or symbol is assigned to a number from 0 to 127. For
example, in the 8-bit ASCII code, a lowercase "a" is represented by the bit string 01100001. ASCII was the most
commonly used character encoding on the World Wide Web until December 2007, when it was surpassed by UTF-8.
2. EBCDIC—Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code – In computing and electronic systems, it is a digital
encoding method for numbers using decimal notation, with each decimal digit represented by its own binary sequence.
Although BCD is not as widely used as in the past, decimal fixed-point and floating point formats are still important and
continue to be used in financial, commercial, and industrial computing, where subtle conversion and rounding errors
that are inherent to floating point binary representations cannot be tolerated.
3. Unicode- It is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text
expressed in most of the world's writing systems. Developed in conjunction with the Universal Character set standard
and published in book form as The Unicode Standard, the latest version of Unicode consists of a repertoire of more
than 110,000 characters covering 100 scripts, a set of code charts for visual reference, an encoding methodology and
set of standard character encodings, an enumeration of character properties such as upper and lower case, a set of
reference data computer files, and a number of related items, such as character properties, rules for normalisation,
decomposition, collation, rendering, and bidirectional display order (for the correct display of text containing both
right-to-left scripts, such as Arabic and Hebrew, and left-to-right scripts). As of 2012, the most recent version is Unicode
6.1.
Unicode's success at unifying character sets has led to its widespread and predominant use in the internationalisation
and localisation of computer software. The standard has been implemented in many recent technologies, including
XML, the JAVA programming language, the Microsoft . NET Framework, and modern operating systems.
Unicode can be implemented by different character encodings. The most commonly used encodings are UTF-8, UTF-16
and the now-obsolete UCS(Universal Character Set)-2. UTF-8 uses one byte for any ASCII characters, which have the
same code values in both UTF-8 and ASCII encoding, and up to four bytes for other characters. UTF-8(UCS
Transformation Format—8-bit) is a variable –width encoding that can represent every character in the Unicode
character set. It was designed for bakward compatability with ASCII and to avoid the complications of endianness and
byte order marks in UTF-16 and UTF-32.How is a letter converted to binary form and back? - Step 1. The user presses
the capital letter T (SHIFT+T key) on the keyboard. Step 2. An electronic signal for the capital letter T is sent to the
system unit. Step 3. The system unit converts the scan code for the capital letter T to its ASCII binary code (01010100)
and stores it in memory for processing. Step 4. After processing, the binary code for the capital letter T is converted to
an image, and displayed on the output device.

Subsection 2 Peripheral Unit
2.1 Input Devices
2.1. a KEYBOARD
The keyboard is the primary portion of the keyboard that contains all alphanumeric and symbol keys. It is an essential
input device for a computer, as it is what lets us enter commands.
Qwerty keyboard - The term "QWERTY" (after the first six letter keys on the keyboard) refers to the type of keyboard
which is used with nearly all computers in the English-speaking world. The Qwerty keyboard was designed in 1868 in
Milwaukee by Christopher Latham Sholes, who placed the keys corresponding to the most commonly used letter pairs
at opposite ends of the keyboard, in order to prevent the typewriter hammers of the time from becoming jammed with
one another.
Dvorak keyboard - In 1936, August Dvorak (a professor at the University of Washington) created a keyboard whose
keys were arranged solely with efficiency in mind. The Dvorak keyboard placed all the vowels of the alphabet and the
five most common consonants on the central row so they could be easily accessed, while also evenly dividing the work
between the left and right hands. What's more, the most frequent letters of the alphabet were placed at the centre of
the keyboard.
Extended Keyboards- The new IBM-compatible computers launched in 1986 came with 102-key keyboards. The 104 or
105-key Microsoft Windows-Compatible Keyboards has defined three new keys, which are used for shortcuts to certain
Windows features.
　
Alphanumeric Keys -- letters and numbers, Punctuation keys -- comma, period, semicolon, and so on. Special keys –
function keys, control keys, arrow keys, Caps Lock key etc.
The Function keys or F1 through F12 keys are used in programs as shortcut keys to performed frequently performed
tasks. For example, the F1 key is the key to open the online help for most programs. These are special keys on the
keyboard that have different meanings depending on which program is running.
Control keys are a section of keys on your keyboard that enable additional control over a document and the computer.
Print Screen, Scroll Lock, Pause, Break, Insert, Home, Page Up, Delete, End and Page down are all examples of control
keys.
Control key- A key on PC keyboards labelled Ctrl. You use the Control key in the same way that you use the Shift key --
keeping it pressed down while pressing another character. The result is a control key combination, which can have
different meanings depending on which program is running. On Macintoshes, the Control key is called an Apple key or
Command key.
Arrow keys are four directional arrow keys that allow the user to move their cursor and position on a page. Most
computer keyboards contain four arrow keys for moving the cursor or insertion point right, left, up, or down. When
combined with the Shift, Function, Control or Alt keys (on PCs), the arrow keys can have different meanings. For
example, pressing Shift +Up-arrow might move the cursor or pointer up an entire page. The exact manner in which the
arrow keys function depends on which program is running. The arrow keys are also called cursor control keys.
A toggle key is used to alternate the input mode of a group of keys on a keyboard. Some examples include Caps Lock,
Insert, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock. Caps Lock is the most commonly used toggle key, and capitalizes (uppercase) all letter
input when turned on, but has no effect on other keys. The Insert key toggles the text entry mode between insert
(which inserts characters) and overtype (which overwrites characters). Num Lock makes sure numbers are input from
the numeric keypad and Scroll Lock allows the arrow keys to scroll through the contents of a window.
Sticky keys- Microsoft Windows accessibility feature that will cause keys to stick making it easier to do keyboard
shortcuts by not having to hold multiple keys at once. For example, instead of having to press CTRL + ALT + DEL all at
once a user could press CTRL, then ALT, and then DEL to perform the same function. This feature can be enabled or
disabled through the Accessibility Options or Ease of Access Center in the Windows Control Panel.
Filter keys - Microsoft Windows accessibility feature that allows the computer to ignore brief and repeated keystrokes
that may be caused by slow or inaccurate finger movements.
The Filter keys feature can be enabled and disabled through the Accessibility Options or Ease of Access Center in the
Windows Contol Panel.
Modifier keys are often used in conjunction with other keys to perform computer keyboard shortcuts. For example, in
many text editor programs pressing the Ctrl + A will select all text. On an IBM compatible computer, the Alt, Ctrl, and
shift keys are modifier keys. On the Apple Macintosh computer, the Control, option, and Shift keys are modifier keys.
Function (Fn) keyboard key is found on laptop computers and used to perform special functions on the laptop such as
turning up the brightness or contrast, switching video modes, or printing the screen. the laptop has a color coded Fn key
and matching colors on the keys with symbols representing what the keys do. In this example, pressing and holding
down the Fn key and pressing the up or down arrows would increase or decrease the brightness.
Home row keys - Term used to describe the row of keys on the computer keyboard your fingers rest on when not typing.
For example, on the standard QWERTY United States keyboard, the home row keys for your left hand are A, S, D, and F
and your right hand are J, K, l, and ; with the thumbs resting on the space bar.
Home key - Key on the keyboard usually above the end key on the IBM compatible keyboard. This key is often used to
return the user to the beginning of the line or the beginning of a document. Using a key combination such as pressing
the Shift key and the Home key together would highlight the text from the cursor position to the beginning of the line.
End key - A key found on keyboards usually below the home key that moves the cursor to the end of the line, paragraph,
page, screen, cell, or document depending on the program and where your cursor is currently positioned. Using a key
combination such as pressing the Shift key and the End key together would highlight the text from the cursor to the end
of the line.
Shift key- A key on computer keyboards that gives the other keys an alternate meaning. When combined with
alphabetic keys, the Shift key causes the system to output a capital letter. The Shift key can also be combined with other
keys to produce program -dependent results. The shift key allows you to highlight text. For example, holding down the
shift key while using the right or left arrow keys will highlight the text to the left or right. If you hold down shift while
pressing the down arrow keys, you will highlight one line at a time in that direction.
Finally, you can use the Shift key in combination with the other above recommendations. For example, pressing and
holding Shift and CTRL and using the arrows will highlight a word at a time, or holding down Shift and pressing the End
key will highlight from the current cursor position to the end of the document.
Enter key- A key that moves the cursor (or insertion point) to the beginning of the next line, or returns control to
whatever program is currently running. After a program requests information from you(by displaying a prompt), it will
usually not respond to your input until you have pressed the Enter or Return key. This allows you to correct typing
mistakes or to reconsider your entry before it is too late. In many applications, pressing the Enter key moves the cursor
to the next field. In graphical user interface, pressing Enter activates the currently selected button or option.

Tab - this key can be used to move forward through options in a dialog box, Ctrl + Shift + Tab can be used to move
backward through the options. Ctrl + Tab allows movement from one open window to the next in an application with
more than one open window. Alt + Tab displays a list of open application windows. keeping Alt depressed and selecting
Tab Cycles through the list. releasing select the highlighted application windows.
Window Key- on either side of the spacebar, outside the Alt key, is a key with the Windows logo. Holding the Windows
key down and pressing another key will initiate quite a few actions. Eg. Only Windows key displays the Start Menu;
Windows key + D minimizes all windows and shows the Desktop.
Alt- Located on either side of the spacebar. Holding the Alt key down and pressing another key will initiate various
actions. Eg. Alt + F4 closes the current active window. If there is no active window this opens the Shut Down dialog box.
Application Key has an image of a mouse pointer ( ) on a menu between the Alt and Ctrl keys to the right of your Space
Bar. Depressing this key will display the selected items shortcut window. This is the menu that is displayed by right-
clicking.
Space Bar- Insert a space between words. It is suggested that you utilize Tabs (or other formatting commands) to put
between elements. Pressing the Space Bar while viewing a web page in Internet Explorer will scroll the page
downwards. Shift + Space Bar will scroll the page upwards.
Backspace - While working with text, use this key to delete characters to the left of the insertion point.
Delete- While working with text, use this key to delete characters to the right of the insertion point
Page Up - In a browser window use the Page Up key to move up one full screen on a web page. This key can also be used
to delete selected files. If you use the keyboard combination Shift + Delete the item is permanently deleted, bypassing
the Recycle Bin.
Page Down- In a Browser window use Page Down key to move down one full screen on a web page. Up Arrow - Navigate
in a document to the line above. Hold the Ctrl key down as you press this key to move to the beginning of the second line
above. Down Arrow - Navigate in a document to the line below. Hold the Ctrl key down as you press this key to move to
the beginning of the second line below. Right Arrow - Navigate in a document one character to the right. Hold the Ctrl
key down as you press this key to move one word to the right. Left Arrow - Navigate in a document one character to the
left. Hold the Ctrl key down as you press this key to move one word to the left.
Hotkey (shortcut or accelerator key) is a key or combination of keys used together. For example, Alt + F on a Microsoft
Windows computer drops down the file menu. The hotkey is represented by a letter that is underlined.
A programmable function key is a single computer keyboard key capable of being programmed to perform a specific
task. For example, a key on the keyboard may be programmed to open your e-mail client. Programmable keys are found
on keyboards with additional keys or buttons not commonly found on most keyboards. These specialty keyboards
require extra software that enables these keys to be programmed.
MouseKeys - Microsoft Windows accessibility feature that allows a user to control their mouse movement using the
numeric pad on their keyboard. The MouseKeys feature can be enabled and disabled through the Accessibility Options
or Ease of Access Center in the Windows Control Panel.
Keystroke logger, a keylogger is a software program or hardware device that is used to monitor and log each of the keys
a user types into a computer keyboard. The user who installed the program or hardware device can then view all keys
typed in by any computer user.
The W, S, A, and D keys on the computer keyboard used in place of the arrow keys in computer games. When using the
WASD keys the W key is used as the up arrow, A as the left arrow, S as the down arrow, and the D as the right arrow key.
White space - Sections of a document that are unused.
Whack (wack) can be used to describe either a forward or backward slash, although is commonly used to describe the
forward slash in a URL.
Screen dump, snapshot, or screen capture, a screen shot or screenshot is an image that is created from a software
program or the operating system. Once a screenshot has been captured it can be saved as an image file such as a GIF or
JPEG, manipulated, or printed.
Number pad, the numeric keypad is a 17-key keypad usually found on the far right side of a typical IBM 101 / 2-key
keyboard.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, which is also known as RSI or Repetitive Strain Injury, is the swelling of small blood vessels,
pressure increases on the nerve and disrupts its functioning causing numbness, pain, and a loss of manual dexterity.
With computers, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome may occur as a user does repetitive motions on their keyboard or mouse.
Common methods of preventing this injury include purchasing a Natural Style ergonomic keyboard, taking breaks, and
doing wrist exercises.
Keyboards are generally plugged into the rear of the CPU, on the motherboard, using a purple
PS/2 connector:
How it works- Whenever a key is pressed, a specific signal is transmitted to the
computer. The keyboard uses a crossbar network to identify every key based on its
row and column. When a key is pressed, an electrical contact is formed between
the row and column. The electric signals are transmitted to a microcontroller,
which sends a code (binary-coded decimal (BCD), American Standard Code for
Information Interchange (ASCII) or Unicode) to the computer describing the
character which corresponds to that key.
2.1. b MOUSE
The mouse is a pointing device used to move a cursor on the screen and allowing objects to be selected, moved and
manipulated using the buttons. The consistent action of pressing (clicking) on a button in order to carry out an action is
called a "click". The first mouse was invented and developed by Douglas Carle Engelbart of the Stanford Research
Institute (SRI).
It functions by detecting two-dimensional (X-Y Position Indicator) motion relative to its supporting surface. It allows an
individual to control a pointer in a graphical user interface(GUI). A computer mouse most commonly has two buttons
and a scroll wheel, which can also act as a third button.
Mouse Connector- The mouse is generally plugged in to the back of the central processing unit, into the motherboard,
with a green PS/2 connector. Some mice, with advanced functionalities sometimes have a USB connector.
Types of mice- classified according to the positioning technology on the one hand and the data transmission to the
central processing unit on the other.
1. Mechanical mice, comprises of a ball upon which two rollers turn. These rollers each comprise of a notched disc
which turns between a photodiode and LED (Light Emitting Diode) allowing the light to pass through in sequence.
When the light passes through, the photodiode sends a bit (1), when it meets an obstacle, the photodiode sends a zero
bit (0). Using this information, the computer knows the position of the cursor and even its speed.;
2. Optical-mechanical mice, where the operation is similar to that of mechanical mice, except the movement of the
ball is detected by optic sensors.
3. Optical mice operate through visual analysis of the surface on which it moves. So, an optical mouse is comprised of
an LED or Laser source, an image acquisition system (IAS) and a digital signal processor (DSP).
The LED is responsible for shining on the surface so as to enable the IAS to get an image of the surface. The DSP, through
analysing the microscopic characteristics of the surface determines the horizontal and vertical movement. A Laser
mouse is an optical mouse that uses coherent (Laser) light.
Cordless or wireless mice - Cordless is the ability to operate a device without any wires. Although cordless devices
requires no wires, they do require some device to broadcast a signal; for example, a Bluetooth mouse may require a
USB Bluetooth transceiver to send and receive signals from the mouse. In addition to this, all wireless hardware devices
require batteries.

Types of cordless mice, depending on the technology used:
1. Infrared mouse (IR) these mice are used with an infrared receiver connected to the computer. The range of this type
of device is a few metres at most with direct line of sight in the same way as a television remote.
2. Hertzian mouse: The range of this type of device is around ten metres at most, not necessarily with direct line of sight
to the computer.
3. Bluetooth mouse: these mice are used with a Bluetooth receiver connected to the computer. The range of this type
of device is the same as the propriety hertzian technologies.
A mouse pad is a flat cloth or plastic object that is commonly rectangular and gives an optical-mechanical mouse more
traction and an optical mouse an easier to read surface. When referring to a laptop computer mouse, it is referred to as
a touchpad, not a mouse pad.
Wrist cushion or wrist pad, a wrist rest is an ergonomic padding or device designed to help provide comfort and to
avoid wrist injuries when working on a computer keyboard or mouse.
Mouse sensitivity is the speed of a mouse pointer and how fast it moves on the screen.
Tracking speed - The rate a mouse (or other input device) pointer travels across a computer screen. The tracking speed
often can be adjusted relative of how fast you move the mouse.
Glidepoint, pressure sensitive tablet, or trackpad, a touchpad is an input device found on the majority of portable
computers, that allow you to move the mouse cursor without the need of an external mouse.
Wheel mouse or a scroll mouse, the IntelliMouse is a mouse developed by Microsoft in 1996 that has a Mouse Wheel
between the left and right mouse buttons that enables the user to scroll up and down using the wheel instead of having
to use the vertical scroll bar. In addition to being able to scroll, these mice also have the ability to use the wheel as a
button by pressing down on the wheel. An example of how this button could be used is users who are using Mozilla
Firefox can use the middle-button (wheel) to open a link in a a tab.
This mouse has become a standard mouse used with all new computers. "IntelliMouse" is a Microsoft Trademark.
Another popular manufacturer of these mice is Logitech.
JMouse or J Mouse, a J-Mouse is a mouse solution used with older portable computers that utilized the "J" key on the
keyboard and commonly had two separate buttons for the left and right-click below the space bar.
Style pointer or nub, TrackPoint is a mouse solution used with portable computers that was first introduced by IBM in
1992 and is a small isometric joystick that resembles a pencil's eraser head and is located between the "G", "H" and "B"
keys on the keyboard. This technology enables a user to keep their hands on the keyboard and still be able to control the
mouse. The left and right buttons for this mouse are commonly located below the space bar.
The mouse cursor, or mouse arrow, or mouse pointer is often shaped like an arrow or a small hand with the index
finger pointing towards the top of the display device. When referring to the mouse, cursor is used to describe the object
used to point, click, drag, and drop items on a GUI operating system.
Text Cursor or caret is a visual representation on the screen that allows the user to specify where they want the text to
be placed. Commonly, this cursor is a vertical flashing line (shaped similar to the capital letter "I") more commonly
known as an i-cursor or I-beam pointer.
Click- A term used to describe the action of pressing a mouse button (usually the left mouse button if the mouse has
two buttons). Depending on the computer you're using or the software program you are in will change the action
performed when clicking the mouse button.
Below are the general ways to click a computer mouse and the actions they perform.
1. Single-click (pressing and releasing the mouse button) performs an action, if you clicked on a button, icon, or
other object. In MS Windows, it opens a drop-down-menu, select an icon or other object, or perform an action
such as clicking the ok button.
2. Click and drag (pressing and holding the mouse button and moving the mouse while you continue to hold the

mouse button) is often used to highlight or select text or more than one object.
3. Double-click (pressing the button two times fast) executes a program or opens a file.
4. Right-click (pressing the alternate mouse button, often the right one) will perform a special action. For
example, in Microsoft windows, right-clicking the mouse button will often bring up a menu with
additional options for whatever was clicked.
5. Middle-click (pressing the middle button on a three-button mouse or using the mouse wheel as a button) will
perform any pre-programmed option setup through the mouse settings or a function setup through the
program For example, a browser that supports tabbed browsing can use the middle-button to open a link in a
new tab.
Drag- A term used to describe when an object or text is selected and then moved to an alternate location.
Drag-and-drop - process of clicking an object or highlighted text and dragging it to another location. For example, a
user may highlight a word in a text document click and drag-and-drop that word elsewhere in the document. Holding
down the Ctrl key while dragging and dropping text or another object will copy the object or text to a new location.
Point-and-click is the action of moving the mouse to a specific location and clicking an object to perform a specific task.
Shift Clicking- A method of highlighting text by holding down the shift key and clicking at the end of the text you wish to
highlight.
Mouse chording is the capability of performing actions when multiple mouse buttons are held down, much like a
chorded keyboard. One of the most popular applications of mouse chording, called rocker navigation, is found in Opera
and in mouse gesture extensions of Mozilla Firefox. For example: Holding the left button and clicking right moves
forward in browser's history.
Rollover (mouseover) refers to a button created by a web developer or web designer, found within a web page, used to
provide interactivity between the user and the page itself. The term rollover in this regard originates from the visual
process of "rolling the mouse cursor over the button" causing the button to react (usually visually, by replacing the
button's source image with another image), and sometimes resulting in a change in the web page itself.
2.1. c SCANNER
A scanner is an acquisition peripheral for scanning documents, i.e. converting a paper document to a digital image.
There are generally three types of scanner:
1. Flat scanners let you scan a document by placing it flat against a glass panel. This is the most common type of scanner.
2. Hand scanners must be moved manually in successive sections over the document in order to scan the whole
document. Card scanner is a small scanner capable of scanning business cards.
3. Sheet-fed scanners feed the document through a lighted slot in order to scan them, similar to fax machines.
A scanner is generally characterised by the following elements:
1. Resolution: expressed in dots per inch (referred to as dpi), the resolution defines the fineness of the scan. The order
of magnitude of the resolution is around 1200 per 2400 dpi. It is important to distinguish the optical resolution, which is
the actual resolution of the scanner, from the interpolated resolution. Interpolation is a technique involving defining
intermediate pixels from among actual pixels, by calculating the mean of the colours of neighbouring pixels.
2. The format of the document: depending on their size, scanners are able to accommodate documents of different
sizes, generally A4 (21 x 29.7 cm), or more rarely A3 (29.7 x 42 cm).
3. Acquisition speed: expressed in pages per minute (ppm), the acquisition speed represents the scanner's ability to
pick up a large number of pages per minute.
4. Interface: commonly used interfaces or connectors are FireWire & USB 2.0.
The operating principle for a scanner is as follows:

? The scanner moves over the document line by line
? Each line is broken down into "basic dots" which correspond to pixels.

?A captor analyses the colour of each pixel
?The colour of each pixel is broken down into 3 components (red, green, blue)
?Each colour component is measured and represented by a value. For 8-bit quantification, each component will
have a value between 0 and 225 inclusive.
A flat scanner has a motor-driven lighted slot which scans the document line by line under a transparent glass panel on
which the document is placed, with the scanning side face down.
The high-intensity light emitted is reflected by the document and converges towards a series of captors via a system of
lenses and mirrors. The captors convert the light intensities received into electrical signals, which are in turn converted
into digital data by an analogue-digital converter.
There are two categories of captors:
1. CMOS captors (Complementary Metal Oxide Semi-conductor), or Complementary MOS). This type of device uses
an LED ramp (Light Emitting Diode) for lighting the document.
2. CCD captors (Charge-coupled devices). Scanners using CCD technology are often thicker as they use a cold neon
lamp.
Optical Character Recognition or Optical Character Reader, OCR is the process where images of letters can be entered
into the computer as data using a scanner or other hardware device. OCR is currently the best method of digitizing
typed pages of text. Some computer fax applications also use OCR to transform incoming faxes from graphics files into
word processing documents. It allows a scanned image of text to be converted into editable text with reasonable
accuracy.
Applications Programming Interfaces ("API")- SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) is a free/open source API for accessing
scanners. TWAIN (Technology Without An Interesting Name) is used by most scanners. TWAIN is a standard software
protocol and applications programming interface (API) that regulates communication between software applications
and imaging devices such as scanners and digital cameras.
2.1. d Trackball- An input device that looks like an upside-down mouse. The onscreen pointer is moved by the
trackball with a thumb or finger. A trackball requires less arm and wrist motion that a regular mouse takes and
therefore is often less stressful for the user to use, helping to prevent RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury or Carpal Tunnel
Syndrome).
2.1. e A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the
device it is controlling. Joysticks are often used to control video games, principal flight control in the cockpit of
many aircraft, particularly military fast jets, either as a center stick or side-stick.
2.1. f A graphics tablet (or digitizer, digitizing tablet, graphics pad, drawing tablet) is a computer input device that
allows one to hand-draw images and graphics, similar to the way one draws images with a pencil and paper. These
tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten signatures. The first electronic handwriting tablet was the
Telautograph, patented by Elisha Gray in 1888.
2.2 Output Devices

2.2. a MONITOR
Monitor - Alternatively referred to as a video display terminal (VDT) and video display unit (VDU). The monitor
comprises the display device, circuitry, and an enclosure.
There are generally said to be two families of monitors:
1. Cathode-ray tube monitors (CRT), which are used with most desktop computers. They are heavy and voluminous,

and use a great deal of electricity.
2. Flat-screen monitors (FPDs for Flat panel displays) are used with most laptop computers, personal digital assistants
(PDAs), and digital cameras, as well as an increasing number of desktop computers. These monitors are thinner (hence
the name), light, and are less power-consuming & emits less electromagnetic radiation.
The most common specifications for monitors are:
?
Definition: the number of pixels that the screen can display. This number is usually between 640x480 (640
pixels long, 480 pixels wide) and 2048x1536.
?
The size: This is calculated by measuring the screen's diagonal, and is expressed in inches.
?
The dot pitch: This is the distance between two phosphors; the smaller it is, the more precise the image is.
A dot pitch equal to or less than 0.25 mm is comfortable to use, while monitors with a dot pitch equal to or
greater than 0.28 mm should be avoided.
?
The resolution: measured in DPI, for Dots Per Inch. A resolution of 72 dpi means that one pixel is 1"/72
(one inch divided by 72) or 0.353 mm, which corresponds to one pica (a typographical unit).
?
The refresh rate: This represents the number of times the image is refreshed each second. Also called the
vertical scan rate, it is expressed in Hertz. The higher this value is, the better the visual comfort (the image
does not appear to flicker), so it must be much higher than 67 Hz (any lower than that, and the image
appears to "blink"). Most people do not notice the flicker effect at 70 Hz or higher, so a value equal to or
greater than 75 Hz is generally suitable.
?
Response time: Defined by international standard ISO 13406-2, this corresponds to the amount of time
needed to switch a pixel from white to black and back again. Response time (expressed in milliseconds)
should be as low as possible (pragmatically, lower than 25 ms).
Luminance: Expressed in candelas per square metre (Cd/m2), this is used to define the screen's
?
2
"brightness" The order of magnitude for luminance is about 250 cd/m .
Display mode- 1) VGA (Video Graphics Array) or MCGA (Multi-Colour Graphics Array). The VGA quickly became
the baseline display mode for Pcs.
2) QUXGA mode (Ultra eXtended Graphics Array) uses a resolution of 32000 x 2400 with 16 million colours.
The Colour Monitor- For colour monitors, three electron beams (coming from three different cathodes) each strike a
point with a specific colour: red, green, and blue (RGB). Three points of colour are called a triad (or dot trio). Blue
phosphors use zinc sulfide, while green ones use zinc sulfide and cadmium sulfide. The red ones are hard to create, and
are made from a mixture of yttrium and europium, or gadolinium oxide.
Most monitors (computer screens) use cathode ray tubes (or CRT for short), which are glass
vacuum tubes into which an electron gun emits a flow of electrons guided by an electrical
field towards a screen covered in small phosphorescent elements.
The electron gun is made up of a cathode, a negatively charged metallic electrode, and one
or more anodes (positively charged electrodes). The cathode emits the electrons attracted
by the anode. The anode acts as an accelerator and concentrator for the electrons, forming a
flow of electrons aimed at the screen. A magnetic field guides the electrons from left to right
and from top to bottom. The screen is covered with a fine layer of phosphorescent elements,
called phosphors, which emit light by excitation when electrons strike them, creating a lit-up
dot called a pixel.
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is based on a screen made up of two grooved transparent parallel plates, oriented at 90° to
one another; the space between them holds a thin layer of liquid containing certain molecules (liquid crystals) which
change direction when they are exposed to electrical current. By locally controlling the orientation of the crystals, it is

possible to make pixels. The most common technology for this kind of display is TFT (Thin Film Transistor), which can
control every pixel using three transistors (which correspond to the 3 RGB colours).
In LED & organic light-emitting diode (OLED) monitors light is provided by Light Emitting Diodes.
Plasma technology (PDP, Plasma Display Panel) is based on emitting light by exciting gases. The gas used in plasma
screens is a mixture of argon (90%) and xenon (10%). Gas is contained within cells, each one corresponding to a
pixel that corresponds to a row electrode and column electrode, which excite the gas within the cell.
2.2. b PRINTER
An external hardware device responsible for taking computer data and generating a hard copy of that data.
Characteristics
1. Print speed: expressed in pages per minute (ppm), print speed represents the printer's ability to print a large
number of pages per minute.
2. Resolution: expressed in dots per inch (abbreviated as dpi), resolution means the sharpness of printed text.
3. Warm-up time: A printer cannot print when it is "cold". A certain temperature must be reached for the
printer to run optimally.
4. Onboard memory: the quantity of memory that allows the printer to store print jobs. The higher the amount
of memory, the longer the printer queue can be.
5. Paper format: generally in A4 format or less frequently A3.
6. Paper feed: the method of loading paper into the printer, characterising the way in which blank paper is
stored. The main paper feed modes are:
The feed tray, which uses an internal paper feed source.
The sheet feeder is a manual feed method that allows you to insert sheets of paper in small quantities (of
about 100).
7. Cartridges: Separate ink cartridges are on the whole cheaper because often one colour is used more than
multicoloured cartridges. The smaller the drop of ink, the lower the printing cost will be and the better the
image quality will be.
8. Interface: how the printer is connected to the computer. The main interfaces are: USB, Parallel, Network
(networking allows several computers to share one printer) & WiFi.
Types
1. Daisy wheel printers are based on typewriters. These printers are obsolete because they are extremely noisy and
very slow.
2. The dot-matrix printer (sometimes called a matrix printer or an impact printer) allows you to print documents on
paper thanks to the "back and forth" motion of a carriage housing a print head. The head is made up of tiny metal pins,
driven by electromagnets, which strike a carbon ribbon called an "inked ribbon", located between the head and the
paper.
Dot matrix printers were first introduced by Centronics in 1970. Today dot matrix printers are used very rarely like for
printing bus or railway tickets because of the low quality print outs when compared to ink jet printers or other later
printer technologies.
3. The inkjet printer technology was originally invented by Canon. It is based on the principle that a heated fluid
produces bubbles or droplets. Today's printer heads are made up of several nozzles (up to 256). Each nozzle produces a
tiny bubble that ejects an extremely fine droplet.
This is the most popular printer for home computer users. The ink is stored in disposable ink cartridges, often a
separate cartridge is used for each of the major colors. These colors are usually Black, Red/Magenta, Green/Cyan,

and Yellow (CYMK). Although inkjet printers themselves are often relatively inexpensive, the ink cartridges used in
the printers can increase the overall cost of the printer.
4. The laser printer produce quality print-outs inexpensively at a high print speed. First developed at Xerox PARC by
Gary Starkweather and released in 1971, a laser printer is a printer that utilizes laser technology to print images on
the paper.
A laser printer is mainly made up of an elecrostatically charge photosensitive drum that attracts the ink in order to make
a shape that will be deposited on the sheet of paper.
5. LED (Light Emitting Diode) Printer- LED printers were developed by Casio and are printers capable of printing at the
same or close to the same quality as most laser printers. It utilizes a LED panel that recreates the image on a negatively
charged drum. This technology lacks moving parts, which translates into less-expensive and more solid and reliable
printers.
6. a) A thermal impact printer or electrothermal printer is a printer that uses heated pins to "burn" images onto heat-
sensitive paper. These printers are commonly used in calculators and fax machines.
b) A thermal printer, thermal transfer printer, or thermal wax-transfer printer is a high quality printer invented by Jack
Kilby that commonly utilizes a thermal wax ribbon that melts a colored wax onto the paper creating near photo-realistic
images.
7. A plotter is a computer hardware device similar to a printer that uses a pen, pencil, marker or other writing tool to
make a design. Often these printers are used in schematics, CAD, and other print jobs.
Print spooler – A software program responsible for managing all print jobs currently being sent to the computer printer
or print server. The print spooler program may allow a user to delete a print job being processed or otherwise manage
the print jobs currently waiting to be printed.
Print Server- Computer or standalone device responsible for managing one or more printers on a network.
Print quality - The quality of the hard copy produced by a computer printer. With standard printers, dot matrix is
commonly the lowest quality printer, ink jet printers are commonly average quality, and laser printers are
commonly the best quality.
Print buffer - A location in the computer memory or the printer memory that holds data that has been sent to the
computer printer to print, but cannot print because of another print job or because of another page being printed
of the same job. The print buffer allows the computer to continue operating even if the printer is still printing.
PostScript - A page descriptive language developed by Adobe systems that is used with computer printers to define
how to print a page properly. Today, PostScript has become a standard method of printing in desktop publishing.
Pica - Unit of measure that is 1/6th of an inch. Pica is commonly used in computer printing.
Photolithography - Printing that develops a photomask that can be used to generate a printed image or sketch on
another surface. Photolithography is used to create integrated circuits by shining light through the photomask onto a
light-sensitive surface causing the surface to react and generate a layout of the printed image on that surface.
Offset printing is a method of printing that is commonly used to produce books, magazines, newspapers, and other
print jobs that need large quantities of prints developed quickly and professionally. Offset printing requires that the
image or text be burned onto a metal plate that is placed around a cylinder. With this type of printing, the sections of the
metal plate that do not contain text or images are coated with a substance that prevents ink from being attached to
these portions of the page. Large sections of paper are then moved through a series of rollers including the roller with
the metal plate coated with ink producing a portion of or the final print.
Non-Impact Printer, a NIP is a printer that prints without making contact with the paper. For example, laser printer and
ink jet printers are both good examples of a non-impact printer.
An impact printer is a printer that prints by making physical contact with the page. Daisy wheel and dot matrix printers
are examples of impact printers.
A graphic printer is any printer capable of printing graphics, these are the most common and popular printers today.
Good examples of these printers are inkjet and laser printers.

Text printer or ASCII printer or a dumb printer is a printer that is only capable of printing plain text and has no other
capabilities such as fonts, color, graphics, etc.
LPI, Lines Per Inch in printing is the number of lines that appears within a vertical inch.
Collate is a term used to describe how printed material is organized. For example, if you had a document that was five
pages long and was printing multiple copies with collate enabled it prints pages 1,2,3,4 and 5 in that order and then
repeat. However, if collate was disabled and you were printing three copies of those same five pages it would print
pages in this order: 111, 222, 333, 444, and then 555.
Section 2. COMPUTER LANGUAGES & SOFTWARE SYSTEM

A computer program is a series of commands that are executed by the computer.
However, the computer is only capable of processing binary (machine code), i.e. a
series of 0s and 1s. Therefore we require a programming language to be able to write
commands that the computer can execute, but in a legible manner, i.e. commands that
are understood by humans.
PROGRAMMING - Is a creation of a set of commands or instruction which directs a
computer in carrying out a task.
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate
instructions to a machine (computer). Programming languages can be used to create
programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms
precisely. A programming language is very strict: EACH instruction corresponds to ONE
processor action.
Languages that computers use to communicate with each other, have nothing to do
with programming languages, they are referred to as communication protocols, these
are two very different concepts.
Generation of Programming Languages
Low Level PL (provides little or no abstraction from computer microprocessor) High Level PL (more abstract, easier to use, & more
portable across
Platform)
1 GL (Machine Language) 2 GL (Assembly Language)

Binary or Machine Code Object Code 4 GL (Non-Procedural or Problem
Convert alphabet & decimal oriented Language) Source Code
Numbers into Binary code 3 GL (Procedural Language) Eg SQL, NOMAD, FOCUS
Source Code
5 GL (Visual Programming or
Eg PASCAL, FORTRAN, Natural Language)
BASIC, COBOL, C, C++ Source Code
Eg Prolog, Murcury
An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of functions allowing the programmer to access an application's
services through the use of a programming language. Thanks to APIs, a developer does not need to worry about how a
remote application works, nor how the application was put together to be able to use it in a program.
Similarly, if we take the analogy of a car, the driver does not need to know the mechanics of how the engine works to be
able to drive the car. All the driver has access to is the interface which is composed of the steering wheel, pedals

(accelerator, clutch, break), controls (indicators, headlights, speedometer), switches (hazard lights, fog lights, horn,
etc.). This is somewhat similar to the interface presented to the programmer.
Types of Codes or Languages

Machine code or machine language is a system of impartible instructions executed directly by a computer's central
processing unit (CPU). Machine code may be regarded as an extremely hardware-dependent programming language or
as the lowest-level representation of a compiled and/or assembled computer program. While it is possible to write
programs in machine code, because of the tedious difficulty in managing CPU resources, it is rarely done today, except
for situations that require the most extreme optimization. Almost all executable programs are written in higher-level
languages, and translated to executable machine code by a compiler and linker. Machine code is sometimes called
native code when referring to platform-dependent parts of language features or libraries.
Programs in interpreted languages are not represented by machine code; however, their interpreter (which may be
seen as a processor executing the higher-level program) often is.
Object code (Assembly languages or Symbolic Language), or sometimes object module, is what a computer compiler
produces. In a general sense object code is a sequence of statements or instructions in a computer language, usually a
machine code language (i.e., 1's and 0's) or an intermediate language such as RTL.
Source code These programs include anywhere from a few lines to millions of lines of text, called source code. Source
code, often referred to as simply the "source" of a program, contains variable declarations, instructions, functions,
loops, and other statements that tell the program how to function.
Short programs called scripts can be run directly from the source code using a scripting engine, such as a VBScript or
PHP (Hypertext Preprocessor) engine.
High-level languages: Third-generation programming language,(3GL)- It has strong abstraction from the details of the
computer. In comparison to low-level languages, it may use natural language elements, be easier to use, or be more
portable across platforms. Eg.
BASIC (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code ;Programming for educational purposes), Mathematica
(Mathematical calculations), MATLAB (Mathematical calculations), PHP (Dynamic website development), Prolog
(Artificial intelligence), Perl (Processing character strings), ADA (Real-time), Pascal (imperative and procedural
programming language developed by Nikaus Writh and based on the ALGOL (short for ALGOrithmic Language)
programming language, named in honor of the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal; Education),
Fortran (derived from IBM Mathematical Formula Translating System ;Calculation), COBOL (Common Business-
Oriented Language;Management), C (general-purpose language developed by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone
Laboratories for use with the Unix Operating Sysytem; System programming), C++ (System object programming), LISP
(Artificial intelligence), Java (developed by James Gosling at Sun Micro systems which is now a subsidiary of Oracle
Corporation;Internet oriented programming), Python, SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis)
is a general-purpose open source analog electronic circuit simulator. It is a powerful program that is used in integrated
circuit and board-level design to check the integrity of circuit designs and to predict circuit behavior.
Fourth-generation languages (usually abbreviated 4GL). 4GLs are far removed from machine languages and represent the
class of computer languages closest to human languages eg. Fox Pro, SQL (Structured Query Language), MAPPER, SQR, Sculptor
4GL, Cold Fusion etc.
Conversion of Languages - Translation of Source code into machine code (in binary) by a compiler.
? Generally speaking, the program is a simple text file (written using a word processor or a text editor), this is called the
source file). The source file contains lines of program called source code. Once the source file has been completed it must
be compiled. Compilation takes place in two stages:

? The compiler transforms the source code into object code, and saves it in an object file.
? The compiler then makes a call to a Assembler & link editor (or linker or binder) which enables it to embed
all additional elements (functions or libraries)that are referenced in the program into the final file but
which are not stored in the source file.
Then an executable file is created which contains all items required for the program to run on its own (in
Microsoft Windows or MS-DOS this file will have the extension .exe).
Translators-
1. Compiler – A program that translates source code into object code. The compiler derives its name from the way it
works, looking at the entire piece of source code and collecting and reorganizing the instructions. Eg C++, PASCAL,
COBOL.
Compilers require some time before an executable program emerges. However, programs produced by compilers run
much faster than the same programs executed by an interpreter.
2. Interpreter- Used to interpret & execute Program direct from its source without compiling it first. Eg BASIC, LOGO,
SMALLTALK.
3. Assembler- a program that translates programs from object code to machine code. Eg MACRO-80, Microsoft MASM
4. Linker (Also called link editor and binder) is a program that combines object code or modules to form an executable
program thereby producing machine code, The final step in producing an executable program. . In addition to
combining modules, a linker also replaces symbolic addresses with real addresses. Therefore, you may need to link a
program even if it contains only one module.
5. Loader- An operating system utility that copies programs from a storage device to main memory, where they can be
executed. In addition to copying a program into main memory, the loader can also replace virtual addresses with
physical addresses.
A scripting language or script language is a programming language that supports the writing of scripts, which are
programs written for a a software environment taht automate the execution of of tasks which could alternatively be
executed one-by-one by a human operator. Environments that can be automated through scripting include software
applications, web pages within a web browser, the shells of operating systems, and several general purpose and
domain-specific languages such as those for embedded.
Scripts can be written and executed "on-the-fly", without explicit compile and link steps & usually interpreted from
source code or bytecode. Scripting languages came about largely because of the development of the Internet as a
communications tool. Javascript, ASP, JSP, PHP, Per, Tcl, the Adobe products Adobe Flash(ActionScrit) and Adobe
Acrobat (for scripting PDF files) and Python are examples of scripting languages.
JavaScript- a scripting language developed by Netscape to enable Web authors to design interactive sites. Although it
shares many of the features and structures of the full Java language, it was developed independently. Javascript can
interact with HTML source, enabling Web authors to spice up their sites with dynamic content.
Mark-up language
- It is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea
and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors,

traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts. An annotation is a note that is made while
reading any form of text.
- Markup languages are designed for the processing, definition and presentation of text. The language specifies
code for formatting, both the layout and style, within a text file. The code used to specify the formatting are
called tags.
- A well-known example of a markup language in widespread use today is HyperText Markup Language(HTML),
one of the document formats of the World Wide Web.
- XHTML (Extensible HyperText Markup Language)
UIML (User Interface Markup Language) is an XML language for defining user interfaces on computers. It is an
extension of XML that promotes the creation of Web pages that can be viewed on any kind of interface device, from PC
monitors to smart phones to PDAs
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a meta markup language that is now widely used. XML was developed by the
World Wide Web. Consortium, in a committee created and chaired by Jon Bosak.
SOFTWARE SYSTEM
Software is a collection of instructions that enables a user to interact with the computer or have the computer perform
specific tasks for them. Without any software the computer would be useless.
Software
System Software Programming Software Application Software

Operating System (OS) Compiler, Debugger, Interpreter, Productivity or Business Software
Utility Programs Assembler, Linker, Text editor Graphic or Multimedia Software
Device Driver Programs Home/Personal/Educational Software
Servers Communication Software
Window System
Users
Application Software
Operating Software
Hardware
Software
- Software is the instructions and its data, stored in electronic form, that tell the computer how to do a task.
Software is a computer program.
- Types 1) Commercial Software 2) Shareware is software that you can try before you buy it. you can use the
software for a certain amount of time for free but if you want to continue using it, you must pay a registration
fee, 3) Freeware is software that costs nothing & it may be freely copied and distributed; 4) Open Source
Software, provided for use, modification ,and redistribution; 5) Public-domain software, freeware with no
Copyright restrictions
System software helps the computer carry out its tasks. e.g. draw the GUI, print, manage files. It controls the
operations of the computer and its devices & serves as the interface between the user, the application software, and
the computer's hardware.
Types of System software
1) Operating system (OS) It is a software program that enables the computer hardware to communicate and operate
with the computer application software. Without a computer operating system, a computer hardware and software

programs would be useless. E.g. Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, DOS, Linux, Android, iOS & Unix
Components of OS- The operating system comprises a set of software packages that can be used to manage
interactions with the hardware. The following elements are generally included in this set of software:
? The kernel, which represents the operating system's basic functions such as management of memory,
processes, files, main inputs/outputs and communication functionalities.
? The shell, allowing communication with the operating system via a control language, letting the user control
the peripherals without knowing the characteristics of the hardware used, management of physical addresses, etc.
? The file system, allowing files to be recorded in a tree structure.
Operating systems can be classified as follows:

1. Multi-user : Allows two or more users to run programs at the same time. Some operating systems permit hundreds or
even thousands of concurrent users.
2. Multitasking or Multiprogramming is processing multiple tasks at one time or allowing more than one program to
run concurrently. A computer's CPU can handle many processes at one time with complete accuracy.
3. Multi-threaded Systems- An operating system is known as multi-threaded when several "tasks" (also known as
processes) may be run at the same time. The applications or programs consist of a sequence of instructions known as
"threads". These threads will be alternately active, on standby, suspended or destroyed, according to the priority
accorded to them or may be run simultaneously. Multithreading is similar to multitasking, but enables the processing
of multiple threads at one time, rather than multiple programs. Since threads are smaller, more basic instructions than
processes, multithreading may occur within processes. By incorporating multithreading, programs can perform
multiple operations at once. For example, a multithreaded operating system may run several background tasks, such as
logging file changes, indexing data, and managing windows at the same time. Web browsers that support
multithreading can have multiple windows open with JavaScript and Flash animations running simultaneously.
4. Multi-processor systems - Multi-processing is a technique that involves operating several processors in parallel to
obtain a higher calculation power than that obtained using a high-end processor or to increase the availability of the
system (in the event of processor breakdown).
5. Embedded systems are operating systems designed to operate on small machines, such as PDAs (personal digital
assistants) or autonomous electronic devices (spatial probes, robot, on-board vehicle computer, etc.) with reduced
autonomy. Thus an essential feature of embedded systems is their advanced energy management and ability to
operate with limited resources. The main "general use" embedded systems for PDAs are as follows: a) PalmOS; b)
Windows CE / Windows Mobile / Window Smartphone; toys, cars.
6) Real time systems, used mainly in industry, are systems designed to operate in a time-constrained environment. It
must be able to properly process information received at clearly-defined intervals (regular or otherwise). Here are
some examples of real time operating systems: OS-9;RTLinux (RealTime Linux); QNX, VxWorks.
Microsoft Windows is the most commonly found and used operating system, with about 90% of the market share.
Microsoft entered the marketplace in August 1981 by releasing version 1.0 of the operating system Microsoft DOS (MS-
DOS), a 16-bit command-line operating system.DOS stands for Disk Operating System. This is the first Microsoft OS &
now part of Windows. The newest version is Microsoft Windows 7 & 8 (PC and IBM compatible operating system) and
Windows Server 2008 R2 for servers.
Apple MacOS - The only Apple computer operating system. Mac OS is the latest version of the Mac OS operating system
for Macintosh computer. It is an operating system based on UNIX with GUI developed by Apple Computers. iOS -
Operating system used with the Apple iPhone.
OS/2 is a computer operating system, developed by IBM. The name stands for Operating System/2. OS/2 is no longer
marketed by IBM. Currently, Serenity Systems sells OS/2 under the brand name eComStatio.

The Unix system is a free, multi-user, multi tasking operating system which means that it allows a single or
multiprocessor computer to simultaneously execute several programs by one or several users. Furthermore, it is highly
portable, which means that it is possible to implement a Unix system on almost all hardware platforms. Currently, Unix
systems have a strong foothold in professional and university environments thanks to their stability, their increased
level of security and observance of standards, notably in terms of networks.
It is widely used in workstations & servers. The first "Unix" system was developed by Ken Thompson in the Bell AT&T
laboratories at Murray Hill in New Jersey in the United States from 1965 & was very important in the development of
the Internet. The first UNIX clone which worked on a PC was Minix, written by Andrew Tanenbaum, a minimal
operating system which could be used on a PC. There are now many versions of UNIX, made by different companies,
universities, & individuals e.g. Linux, FreeBSD, Knoppix.
Linux - A free Unix-type operating system, originally created by Linus Torvalds with the assistance of developers around
the world. A mixed GUI and command line interface.
Ubuntu Linux - A popular variant of LINUX used with PC and IBM compatible computers.
Google Chrome OS - Chrome is an operating system based on the Linux kernel and designed by Google.
Google Android - operating system used with Android compatible phones.
Servers OSes- Three popular server OSes are Microsoft Windows NT Server, Windows Server 2008, Novell
NetWare , Linux, solaris and UNIX are also used as server OSes.
Haiku – An open source operating system (OS) for personal computing that was inspired by the Be Operating System
(BeOS). The Haiku operating system offers a custom kernel design, a database-like file system (OpenBFS) with support
for indexed metadata, and it is fully threaded design for great efficiency with multi-core CPUs.
Server is used to refer to one of the following:
- A computer program running to serve the needs or requests of other programs (referred to in this context as
“clients”) which may or may not be running on the same computer.
- A physical computer dedicated to running one or more such services, to serve the needs of programs running
on other computers on the same network.
- a software/hardware system (i.e. a software service running on a dedicated computer) such as a database
server, file server, mail server or print server.
- 2) Utility program- A type of system software that performs a specific task; Usually related to managing a
computer, its devices, or its programs. Rather than providing user-oriented or output-oriented functionality,
utility software usually focuses on how the computer infrastructure (including the computer hardware,
operating system, application software and data storage) operates.
? Disk storage utilities
? Disk fragmenters can detect computer files whose contents are broken across several locations on the hard disk,
and move the fragments to one location to increase efficiency.
? Disk checkers can scan the contents of a hard disk to find files or areas that are corrupted in some way, or were not
correctly saved, and eliminate them for a more efficiently operating hard drive.
? Disk cleaners can find files that are unnecessary to computer operation, or take up considerable amounts of space.
Disk cleaner helps the user to decide what to delete when their hard disk is full.
? Disk Space Aanalyzers for the visualization of disk space usage by getting the size for each folder (including sub
folders) & files in folder or drive. showing the distribution of the used space.
? Disk Partitions can divide an individual drive into multiple logical drives, each with its own file system which can be
mounted by the operating system and treated as an individual drive.
? Backup utilities can make a copy of all information stored on a disk, and restore either the entire disk (e.g. in an
event of disk failure) or selected files (e.g. in an event of accidental deletion).
? Disk Compression utilities can transparently compress/uncompress the contents of a disk, increasing the capacity
of the disk.

File Managers provide a convenient method of performing routine data management tasks, such as deleting,
?
renaming, cataloging, uncataloging, moving, copying, merging, generating and modifying data sets.
Archive utilities output a stream or a single file when provided with a directory or a set of files. Archive utilities,
?
unlike archive suites, usually do not include compression or encryption capabilities. Some archive utilities may
even have a separate un-archive utility for the reverse operation.
System Profilers provide detailed information about the software installed and hardware attached to the computer.
?
System monitors for monitoring resources and performance in a computer system.
?
Anti virus utilities scan for computer viruses.
?
Hex editors directly modify the text or data of a file. These files could be data or an actual program.
?
Data Compression utilities output a shorter stream or a smaller file when provided with a stream or file.
?
Cryptographic utilities encrypt and decrypt streams and files.
?
Registry Cleaners clean and optimize the Window registry by removing old registry keys that are no longer in use.
?
Network utilities analyze the computer's network connectivity, configure network settings, check data transfer or
?
log events.
Screensavers were desired to prevent phosphor burn-in on CRT and plasma computer monitors by blanking the
?
screen or filling it with moving images or patterns when the computer is not in use. Contemporary screensavers are
used primarily for entertainment or security.
3) Device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a
hardware device. Drivers may interface with: printers, video adapters, network cards, sound cards, sound cards,
local buses of various sorts — in particular, for bus mastering on modern systems, low-bandwidth I/O buses of
various sorts (for pointing devices such as mice, keyboards, USB, etc.), computer storage devices such as hard disk,
CD-ROM and floppy disk buses (ATA, SATA, SCSI) etc.
Application software helps the user carry out his tasks e.g. word processing, games, business. It is a set of tools for
completing a specific type of job.
Productivity software-
- Increases effectiveness/efficiency of routine clerical work. e.g. typing, calculation, charting, record handling,
presentation and scheduling etc.
- Including software for Word processing, Spreadsheet, Accounting, Database, Presentation, Desktop
publishing etc.
Graphic and multimedia software
- Creating/editing multimedia elements e.g. graphics, animation, sound and video
- Including software for computer-aided design, desktop publishing, vector/bitmap graphic editing,
audio/video editing, multimedia authoring, Web page authoring etc.
Home, Personal and Educational Software
- Software for home users includes eg. home design, tax preparation, entertainment etc.
- Software for personal use includes personal finance, legal, personal information manager etc.
- Software for educational use includes CAI (computer-aided instruction), CAL (computer-aided learning), clip
art/image gallery and encyclopedia etc.
Communication software - Enable people to communicate and share information with others Including, e-mail, Web
browsers, chat rooms, newsgroups, instant messaging , FTP programs etc.

COMPUTER DATABASE & FILE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Computer data is information processed or stored by a computer. This information may be in the form of text
documents, images, audio clips, software programs, or other types of data. Computer data may be processed by the
computer's CPU and is stored in files and which in turn stored in folders on the computer's hard disk.
At its most rudimentary level, computer data is a bunch of ones and zeros, known as binary data. Because all computer
data is in binary format, it can be created, processed, saved, and stored digitally. This allows data to be transferred from
one computer to another using a network connection or various media devices.
A file is an object on a computer that stores data, information, settings, or commands that are used with a computer
program. In a graphical user interface (GUI) such as Microsoft Windows, files are shown as unique icons that relate to
the program that opens the file. For example, in the picture to the right, is an example of the icon associated with Adobe
Acrobat PDF files. Double-clicking this icon in Windows would open that file in Adobe Acrobat or the PDF reader
installed on the computer.
There are millions of files used with computers today and are identified either by the file extension of the file or the data
contained in the file. For example, the file msntb.dll is a DLL file used on a Microsoft Windows computer and an example
of a computer file. Dynamic Link Library, DLL is a file used with Microsoft Windows, Windows software programs, and
Windows drivers.
File type is a label designated to a file used to distinguish what program opens that file. For example, a text file or .txt file
would be opened with a program such as Microsoft Word. A file's type can be determined by viewing the file's icon or
by reading the file extension. An extension to a name of a file that helps identify the file in operating systems such as
Microsoft Windows. In Microsoft Windows, the file extension is often three characters long, for example, the file
myfile.txt has an extension of .txt, which is a text file. However, a file extension can also be one, two, four, or more
characters long.
File Name- The complete title of a file and extension. For example, readme.txt is a complete or full file name. A file
name may also only describe the first portion of the file, for example, using our same example, readme is the name of
the file and .txt is the extension of the file. The filename is metadata about a file; a string used to uniquely identify a file
stored on the file system.
Components of a filename: base name of the file; type (format or extension) – indicates the content type of the file
(e.g., .txt, .exe, .COM, etc.); directory (or path) – directory tree (e.g. /usr/bin, \TEMP, [USR.LIB.SRC], etc.); version –
revision or generation number of the file. Pictures include JPEGs, GIFs ("Graphics Interchange Format"), BMPs
("bitmap"), .png (Portable Network Graphics), a bitmap image file format) and layered image files, such as Photoshop
documents (PSDs). Audio files include MP3s ("MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3."), AACs, WAVs, AIFs ("Audio Interchange File
Format."), and several others. Video files can be encoded in MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), MOV, WMV, or DV
formats, just to name a few.
The file format is the structure of a file that is best viewed with the program it was designed for. For example, a
Microsoft Word .DOC file format is best viewed in Microsoft Word. It describes the way data is stored in a file. It defines
the data structure (how the data is organized in the file) as well the type of data that the file contains.
File system is a method of organizing and retrieving files from a storage medium such as a hard drive. File systems
usually consist of files separated into groups called directories. Directories can contain files or additional directories.
Most file systems make use of an underlying data storage device that offers access to an array of fixed-size physical
sectors, generally a power of 2 in size (512 bytes or 1, 2, or 4 KiB are most common). The file system is responsible for
organizing these sectors into files and directories. Most file systems address data in fixed-sized units called “clusters” or
“blocks” which contain a certain number of disk sectors (usually 1-64). This is the smallest amount of disk space that can
be allocated to hold a file.
File attributes are settings associated with computer files that grant or deny certain rights to how a user or the
operating system can access that file. For example, IBM compatible computers running MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows

have capabilities of having read (Only allows a file to be read, but nothing can be written to the file), archive (Tells
Windows Backup to backup the file), and hidden attributes.
Compressed File- Any file that contains one or more files or directory that is smaller than their original file size. These
files make downloading faster easier and allows more data to be stored on a removable media. Common compressed
file extensions are .ZIP, .RAR, .ARJ, .TAR.GZ and .TGZ.
File conversion is the process of converting a file into another type. For example, transferring a file used in Microsoft
Word to Corel WordPerfect.
Folder- Just like real world folders, folders on your hard drive store files. Folders can also store other folders, which may
store more files or other folders, and so on. While folders can store several gigabytes of data, folders themselves hardly
take up any space on the hard drive. This is because the folders are really just pointers to files and other folders, telling
the computer where they are located. The compilation of folders on your hard drive make up the "directory structure,"
or overall organization of your hard drive.
A directory (folder, directory, catalog, or drawer) is another name for a folder. Files on your hard disk are organized into
various folders, or directories, so that it is easier to keep track of them. Directories are found in hierarchical file system
such as DOS, OS/2, Unix, etc. Directories can have sub-directories and sub-sub-directories many levels down. The
directory immediately below the current directory is called the child directory. The directory immediately above the
current one is called the parent directory. The top of the directory structure is called the root directory. home
directory is the directory or folder commonly given to a user on a network or Unix or Linux variant operating system.
This directory is where the user stores all of his or her personal information and files as well as log in scripts and user
information. For users more familiar with Microsoft Windows, this directory is similar to the My Documents folder.
Working directory or the current directory is the directory or folder that is currently open.
Under DOS and Windows, the root directory is a back slash (\).A folder contained inside another folder is called a
subfolder or subdirectory or child Directory.
A database contains data stored in a structured format. It includes one or more tables, which each contain multiple
fields. Each field is assigned a specific data type, such as a string or integer. These fields include data for each record that
is entered into the database. A record is a row in a table that contains information about a given person, product, or
event; A field is a column in a table that contains a specific piece of information within a record. Records and fields in a
table are described by the table structure; Query is a question used to retrieve data. Hierarchy of data- File (Table) –
Fields – Records– Character (one byte)
DBMS- Stands for "Database Management System." It is a database program that uses a standard method of
cataloging, retrieving, and running queries on data. The DBMS manages incoming data, organizes it, and provides ways
for the data to be modified or extracted by users or other programs.
Some DBMS examples include MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft Access, SQL Server, FileMaker, Oracle, RDBMS, dBASE,
Clipper, and FoxPro.
COMPUTER INTERFACES & WINDOW

An Hardware interface on a computer to which you can connect a device like ports & slots.
User (Software) interface - It allows a person to interact with the computer. The two most common forms of a user
interface have historically been the Command-line interface, where computer commands are typed out line-by-line,
and the Graphical user interface (GUI), where a visual environment (most commonly with windows, buttons, and icons)
is present.
Graphical user interface (GUI)- that use windows, icons, and pop-up menus that allows users to interact with electronic
devices with images rather than text commands. GUIs, such as Microsoft Windows and the one used by the Apple
Macintosh, feature the following basic components:

Pointer : A symbol that appears on the display screen and that you move to select objects and commands.
Pointing Device : A device, such as a mouse or trackball, that enables you to select objects on the display screen.
Icons : Small pictures that represent commands, files or windows.
Desktop: The area on the display screen where icons are grouped is often referred to as the desktop.
Windows: It is a visual area containing some kind of user interface. It usually has a rectangular shape that can overlap
with the area of other windows. It displays the output of and may allow input to one or more processes.
Menus : It is a list of options or commands presented to an operator by a computer or communication system.
WIMP stands for: window, icon, menu, pointing device”, denoting a style of interaction using these elements.
Buttons: Graphical elements that you can activate to cause a specific action to take place
Widget toolkit, widget library, or GUI toolkit is a set of widgets for use in designing applications with graphical user
interfaces (GUIs). The toolkit itself is a piece of software which is usually built on the top of an operating system,
windowing system or window manager and provides programs with an application programming interface (API),
allowing them to make use of widgets.
ScreenTip or ToolTip- A graphical user interface (GUI) feature in which a small text box appears when a mouse pointer is
hovered over an icon or button. The pop-up window will provide details that explain the icon's or button's function. In
some instances, though, the ScreenTip will display only the item's name. When the mouse is moved away from the icon
or button, the ScreenTip will disappear from view.
DESKTOP
On-screen work area that can display graphical elements Icons, Buttons, Windows, Menus, Links, Dialog boxes
Menu contains commands you can select. A command is an instruction that causes a computer program to perform a
specific action. A submenu is a menu that displays when you point to a command on a previous menu.
Start Menu Command Program Submenu Command Accessories Submenu
Start Button (or Apple menu) allows users to access their computer programs or configure Microsoft Windows easily.
? Program or Dock displays a list of the programs that are installed through Windows and available to use
? Documents displays a list of the last 15 documents used allowing the user to open them directly from this menu
? Settings displays system components, such as printers, control panel and taskbar
? Find/Search has search abilities to find files, folders and phrases in documents on your computer
? Help displays help topics broken up into contents, index and find components
? Run allows you to start a program from a command line
? Shut down shuts down the computer, restarts the computer or logs you off a network
? Favorites and Active Desktop is an option available to Windows
Menu bar is a graphical list of menus commonly located beneath the title bar of a window that lists various menus
that can be selected.
The Menu bar on an Apple computer is a thin bar found at the top of the Apple Mac OS that allows access to each
section of the Mac OS as well as any program that is active.
Title bar- Bar located along the top of a window or a dialog box that displays the name of the window or software program being
used. Features- 1. Click and hold down the mouse button on the title bar to move the window around when not maximized. 2.
Double-clicking the title bar will maximize the window or set the window into window mode allowing it to be moved around your
screen. 3. Windows 7 introduced several new advancements that also allows you to click and drag the title bar to any edge of any of
the screens to make a window in that portion of the screen.
Tool bar- Row of boxes, often at the top of an application window that control various functions of the software. The boxes often
contain images that correspond with the function they control. A floating toolbar is a toolbar that can be moved anywhere on the
screen, unlike the traditional toolbar that is fixed at the top of the screen.
Minimize is an action available in all GUI operating systems that allow a user to hide a window, but keep the application running and
accessible. In Microsoft Windows, the minimize button is represented by an underscore in the top-right corner of the window. To
minimize only the current window press Alt + Space bar. Once the window properties is displayed press N to minimize the window.
Microsoft Windows users with a Windows keyboard can press the Windows key + M shortcut key to minimize all open windows. To
undo the minimize all open windows, press Shift + Windows Key + M. Windows 7 users can also use the Windows key + arrow
down to resize and then minimize a window.
Maximize (resize or zoom) allows a user to enlarge a window to its maximum size, commonly the full display area of the monitor or
screen. To maximize the current window press Alt + Space bar. Once the window properties is displayed press X to maximize the
window. Windows 7 users can also use the Windows key + up down to resize and then maximize a window.
Close is the action performed to terminate a portion of a program or the complete program. In Microsoft Windows operating
systems and many other operating systems and software programs, the close button with a "X" is located in the top right corner of
the window.
Taskbar (Dock in Apple computers) located at the bottom of the screen that allows the user to locate and launch programs through
the Start button, see any program that is currently open, display the time or date, items running in the background through the
Systray, and with subsequent versions of the Windows operating system, the Quick Launch.
The Live Taskbar Preview is a feature first introduced in Windows Vista that allows the user to hover their mouse over the open
programs in the Taskbar and see a thumbnail view of the program. Windows 7 made this feature better and allows the user to view
the thumbnail full screen.
Thumbnails - A smaller version of a much larger image that is used to help conserve screen space and help enable a user to view
multiple images at once. Thumbnails are also commonly used on the Internet as they help the web page viewer see an image
without having to download the full image unless they wish to. This helps save bandwidth for the owner of a web page and helps
speed up viewing time for the visitor.
The notification area (Systray, shell notification area, and the taskbar status area) is located on the right portion of the Taskbar
next to the time that display programs running in the background.
Quick Launch is a section of the Microsoft Taskbar that enables a user the ability to launch their programs. It is commonly located to
the right of the Start button and the left of any windows that are currently open. With the introduction of Windows 7 Microsoft has
migrated open programs and the Quick Launch into the same bar and re-named the feature to Pin.
PIN- A term first introduced in Windows 7 that describes permanently placing an icon shortcut of a program on your Taskbar or
Start Menu. This is done by either right-clicking the icon for the program and clicking Pin to Taskbar or Start Menu, or clicking and
dragging the icon to the taskbar until is looks like the picture to the right. With this new ability the need for the Quick Launch first
introduced with Windows 98 is no longer needed.

Task- A term used to describe a software program or section of a program that is running in a multitasking environment.
Tasks are used to help the user and computer identify between each of the programs running on the computer. -
Microsoft Windows users can view current running tasks using a software utility, Task manager. Linux and Unix users
can view top running tasks using the top command.
End Task - A feature in the Microsoft Windows Task Manager under the Applications tab that allows the user to close
any responding or not responding program without having to restart Windows.
Scrollbars – A vertical or horizontal bar commonly located on the far right or bottom of a window that allows a user to
move the window viewing area up, down, left, or right.
Status (progress) bar- The bottom portion of Internet browsers and other program windows that displays the current
status of the web page or window currently being viewed.
Address bar (also location bar or URL bar) is a feature in a web browser that either shows the current URL or accepts a
typed URL that the user wishes to go to. Most address bars offer a list of suggestions while the address is being typed in.
Toolbar- displays icon menu of main options
Infobar is a widget used by Microsoft Internet Explorer, MOZILLA Firefox, Google Chrome and other programs to display
non-critical information to a user. It usually appears as a temporary extension of an existing toolbar, and may contain
buttons or icons to allow the user to react to the event described in the infobar.
Active program or active window - The window in front of all other open windows, on a Graphical user interface (GUI).
For example, the Internet browser window you are using to read this web page. An inactive window is any window that
is not being used or in the background of the active window.
Cascade - Option in Microsoft Windows that organize all open windows to be visible and accessible. When cascading
windows they will be arranged from the top left corner of your screen to the bottom right.
Multiple Document Interface, MDI is a Mirosoft software program interface that allows a program to have multiple
windows contained within the main window. This makes sharing data and viewing data between other windows easier
because there is no longer a need to switch between windows.
Tile or tile windows or tiling is a method of arranging open windows so none overlap and all are visible unless there are
too many windows.
Windoid - Small window located over the top of other windows that offers easy access to commonly used options. For
example, a software paint program may have a windoid with such options as a paint brush, paint bucket, pencil, eraser,
etc...
Split Screen- A software program (eg. Winsplit Revolution) or feature that enables a user to split their window or
screen horizontally or vertically. This enables the user to view multiple sections of the same document or multiple files
at once.
Pull-down menu or drop box or drop down menu is a menu that appears when clicking on a button or text selection.
For example, many programs will have a "File" drop down menu at the top left of their screen. Clicking on the "File" text
generates a new menu with additional options.
Spin box- a form field that enables users to select a value from a menu without increasing or decreasing the available
size of the input box. Text box- a field or section of a page that enables a user to enter text. Text boxes are often used on
the Internet for pages that require input from a user.
Section 3. NETWORKING, COMMUNICATION & INTERNET

A computer network is a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels.
Networking is Implementing tools and tasks for linking computers.
A computer network can serve several distinct purposes: 1. Sharing resources (files, applications or hardware, an
Internet connection, etc.); 2. Communication between people (email, live discussions, etc.); 3. Communication
between processes (such as between industrial computers); 4. Guaranteeing full access to information for a specified
group of people (networked databases); 5. Multiplayer video games

The term groupware is generally used to refer to tools that let multiple people work over a network. For example, email
and group scheduling can be used to communicate more quickly and efficiently.
The different types of networks generally have the following points in common:
? Servers: computers which provided shared resources to users, by means of a network server.
? Clients: computers which access the shared resources provided by a network server.
? Connection medium: how the computers are linked together.
? Shared data: Files that can be accessed on the network servers
? Printers and other shared peripherals: files, printers, or other elements employed by the network's users
? Miscellaneous resources: other resources provided by the server
There are usually said to be two types of networks: Peer-to-Peer networks, & Networks organized around servers
(Client/Server)
Network Topology- The physical arrangement — that is, the spatial configuration of the network — is called the
physical topology. The different kinds of topology are:
1. Bus topology- The simplest network in which, all computers are linked to the same transmission line by using a cable,
usually coaxial. The word "bus" refers to the physical line that joins all the machines on the network. It is highly
vulnerable, since if one of the connections is defective, the whole network is affected.
2. Star topology- the network computers are linked to a piece of hardware called a hub. This is a box which contains a
certain number of sockets into which cables coming out of the computers can be plugged. Unlike bus topology,
networks which use star topology are much less vulnerable, as one of the connections can easily be removed by
disconnecting it from the hub, without paralysing the rest of the network.
3. Ring topology- They are actually linked to a distributor (called a MAU, Multistation Access Unit) which manages
communication between the computers linked to it, by giving each of them time to "speak."
4. Tree topology- A network that is based upon the physical hierarchical topology must have at least three levels in the
hierarchy of the tree, since a network with a central 'root' node and only one hierarchical level below it would exhibit
the physical topology of a star.
5. Mesh topology- The value of fully meshed networks is proportional to the exponent of the number of subscribers,
assuming that communicating groups of any two endpoints, up to and including all the endpoints, is approximated by
Reed's Law. The number of connections in a Fully connected mesh = n(n - 1) / 2.
6. Hybrid networks use a combination of any two or more topologies in such a way that the resulting network does not
exhibit one of the standard topologies (e.g., bus, star, ring, etc.). Two common examples for Hybrid network are: star
ring network and star bus network
7. Daisy chain- Except for star-based networks, the easiest way to add more computers into a network is by daisy-
chaining, or connecting each computer in series to the next. A daisy-chained network can take two basic forms: linear
and ring.
The logical topology, as opposed to the physical topology, refers to way that data travels along communication lines.
The most common logical topologies are Ethernet, Token Ring and FDDI.
Different types of (private) networks - Private networks are networks that belong to a single organisation. There are
usually said to be three categories of networks:
LAN (local area network)- It's a group of computers which all belong to the same organisation, and which are linked
within a small geographic area using a network, and often the same technology (the most widespread being Ethernet).
A local area network is a network in its simplest form. Data transfer speeds over a local area network can reach up to 10
Mbps (such as for an Ethernet network) and 1 Gbps (as with FDDI or Gigabit Ethernet). A local area network can reach as
many as 100, or even 1000, users.
MAN (metropolitan area network)- connect multiple geographically nearby LANs to one another (over an area of up to
a few dozen kilometres) at high speeds. Thus, a MAN lets two remote nodes communicate as if they were part of the
same local area network. A MAN is made from switches or routers connected to one another with high-speed links
(usually fibre optic cables).

WAN (wide area network or extended network) connects multiple LANs to one another over great geographic
distances. The speed available on a WAN varies depending on the cost of the connections (which increases with
distance) and may be low. WANs operate using routers, which can "choose" the most appropriate path for data to take
to reach a network node. The most well-known WAN is the Internet.
There are other types of networks: TANs (Tiny Area Network), which are the same as LANs but smaller (2 to 3 machines), and CANs
(Campus Area Networks), which are the same as MANs (with bandwidth limited between each of the network's LANs). A personal
area network (PAN) is a computer network used for communication among computer and different information technological
devices close to one person. A home area network (HAN) is a residential LAN which is used for communication between digital
devices typically deployed in the home, usually a small number of personal computers and accessories, such as printers and mobile
computing devices.
Virtual Private Network (VPN) - As most businesses aren't able to link two remote local area networks with a dedicated line
("Leased" lines), it is sometimes necessary to use the Internet as a transmission medium. A good compromise involves using the
Internet as a transmission medium with a tunneling protocol, which means that the data is encapsulated before being sent in an
encrypted manner. The term Virtual Private Network is used to refer to the network artificially created in this way. This network is
said to be virtual because it links two "physical" networks (local area networks) using an unreliable connection (the Internet), and
private because only computers which belong to a local area network on one end of the VPN or the other can "see" the data.
A virtual private network relies on a protocol called a tunneling protocol; that is, a protocol that encrypts the data which runs from
one end of the VPN to the other.
Interconnection Equipments- When the networks use different protocols, you need to convert the protocol before sending the
frames. For this reason, interconnection equipments are required. The primary hardware set up in local area networks is:
1. A repeater is a simple device for refreshing a signal between two network nodes, in order to extend the range of a network.
2. A hub is an element of hardware for centralising network traffic coming from multiple hosts, and to propagate the signal. The hub
has a certain number of ports (upto 32). Its only goal is to recover binary data coming into a port and send it to all the other ports. As
with a repeater, a hub operates on layer 1 of the OSI model, which is why it is sometimes called a multiport repeater. If you want to
connect multiple machines to your Internet connection, a hub is not enough. You'll either need to have a router or a switch, or to
leave the computer connected directly as a gateway.
3. A bridge is a hardware device for linking two networks (segments) that work with the same protocol. Unlike a repeater, which
works at the physical level, a bridge works at the logic level (on layer 2 in the OSI model), which means that it can filter frames so that
it only lets past data whose destination address corresponds to a machine located on the other side of the bridge.
The bridge is used to segment a network, holding back the frames intended for the local area network while transmitting those
meant for other networks. This reduces traffic (and especially collisions) on all networks, and increases the level of privacy, as
information intended for one network cannot be listened on the other end.
4. A switch is a multi-port bridge, meaning that it is an active element working on layer 2 of the OSI model.
The switch analyses the frames coming in on its entry ports and filters the data in order to focus solely on the right ports (this is
called switching and is used in switched networks). As a result, the switch can act as both a port when filtering and as a hub when
handling connections. The switch uses a filtering/switching mechanism that redirects data flow to the most suitable machines,
based on certain elements found in the data packets. The first Ethernet switch was introduced by Kalpana in 1990. Multilayer
switches process data at the network layer (Layer 3) and above
5. An application gateway is a hardware/software system for connecting two networks together, in order to serve as an interface
between different network protocols. When a remote user contacts the gateway, it examines his/her request; if that request
corresponds to the rules that the network administrator has set, the gateway creates a link between the two networks. The
information, therefore, is not directly transmitted; rather, it is translated in order to ensure continuity between the two protocols.
This system offers additional security, as all information is carefully inspected (which may cause a delay) and is sometimes recorded
in an event log.
6. A router is a hardware device for connecting computer networks to one another, used for handling the routing of data packets
between two networks, or to determine the path that a data packet shall take. When a user enters a URL, the Web client

(the browser) queries the domain name server, which shows it the IP address of the desired machine. The workstation
sends the request to the nearest router, i.e. to the default gateway on the network it is located on. This router
determines the next machine to which the data will be forwarded, in such a way as to choose the best pathway possible.
It also allows you to use several computers on a single Internet connection from your ISP. With a router, all the
computers in your home can connect to the Internet and all you pay for is one account with an Internet Service Provider
and one IP address. Additionally, cable, DSL, and satellite users can use a router as a hardware firewall.
Ethernet (also known as IEEE 802.3 standard) is a data transmission standard for local area networks based on the
following principle: All machines on an Ethernet network are connected to the same communication line,
made up of cylindrical cables. All the computers on an Ethernet network are connected to the same transmission line,
and communication is carried out using a protocol called CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect
which means that it is a multiple access protocol with carrier monitoring (Carrier Sense) and collision detection).
With this protocol any machine is authorised to transmit over the line at any time and with no concept of priority
between machines. Systems communicating over Ethernet divide a stream of data into individual packets called
frames. Each frame contains source and destination addresses and error-checking data so that damaged data can be
detected and re-transmitted.
Switched Ethernet- The physical topology remains a star, but is organised around a switch. The switch uses a filtering
and switching mechanism very similar to that used by gateways where these techniques have been used for a long time.
It inspects the source and destination addresses of messages, draws up a table which then allows it to know which
machine is connected on which port of the switch (in general this process is done by self-learning, i.e. automatically, but
the switch manager can carry out additional adjustments). Knowing the recipient port, the switch will only transmit the
message on the appropriate port, the other ports remaining free for other transmissions which can be carried out
simultaneously. The result is that each exchange can be carried out at nominal speed (greater division of the
bandwidth), without collisions, with a noticeable increase in the network bandwidth as a result (also at nominal speed).
Gigabit Ethernet through Multimode fibre optic can transmits data at 1000 Mb/s.
Token ring is a network access technology based on the principle of communicating in turn, i.e. each computer on the
network has the opportunity to communicate in turn. It is a token (a data packet), circulating in a loop from one
computer to another, which determines which computer has the right to transmit information.
When a computer has the token it can transmit for a determined length of time, after which the token is passed to the
next computer.
LAN FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) technology is network access technology over fibre optic type lines. It is in
fact a pair of rings (one is called "primary", the other which makes it possible to capture errors from the first, is called
"secondary") FDDI is a token ring network with detection and correction of errors (it is here where the secondary ring
becomes important).
The token circulates between the machines at a very high speed. If it does not arrive after a certain time frame, the
machine considers that there has been an error on the network. FDDI topology closely resembles that of a token ring
with the small difference that a computer making up part of an FDDI network can also be connected to a MAU hub from
a second network. Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) provides a 100 Mbit/s optical standard for data transmission
in a local area network that can extend in range up to 200 kilometers (124 miles).
A proxy server is a machine which acts as an intermediary between the
computers of a local area network (sometimes using protocols other than
TCP/IP) and the Internet. Whenever a user connects to the Internet using
a client application configured to use a proxy server, the application will
first connect to the proxy server and give it its request. The proxy server
then connects to the server which the client application wants to connect
to and sends that server the request. Next, the server gives its reply to
the proxy, which then finally sends it to the application client
DATA TRANSMISSION

The purpose of a network is to transmit information from one computer to another.
Data representation can be divided into two categories:
? Digital representation: which means that the information is encoded as a set of binary values, in other words a
sequence of 0s and 1s
? Analogue representation: which means that the data will be represented by the variation in a continuous physical
quantity Requirements- 1. transmission line, also called transmission channel or channel (Wire media or Aerial
media or Optical media), 2. encoding of the transmission signals, 3. Multiplexing or Simultaneous data
transmission, 4. communication protocol - A protocol also allows: Initiation of communications; Data exchange;
Error detection; A "courteous" end of communications.
The bandwidth of a transmission channel is the frequency interval over which the signal does not experience
line loss greater than a certain value. A telephone line, for example, has a bandwidth of between 300 and 3400 Hertz
approximately for an attenuation rate of 3 dB (decibel) of sound waves. The capacity of a channel is the amount of
information (in bits) that can be transmitted on the channel in 1 second.
Analogue data transmission consists of sending information over a physical transmission medium in the form
of a wave. Data is transmitted via a carrier wave, a simple wave whose only purpose is to transport data by
modification of one of its characteristics (amplitude, frequency or phase), and for this reason analogue
transmission is generally called carrier wave modulation transmission.
The role of the modem is:
?When transmitting: to convert digital data (a sequence of 0s and 1s) into analogue signals (continuous variation of a
physical phenomenon). This process is called modulation.
?When receiving: convert the analogue signal into digital data. This process is called demodulation.
In fact, the word modem is an acronym for Modulator/Demodulator...
Several physical data-transmission media are available to connect together the various devices on a network. One
possibility is to use cables. There are many types of cables, but the most common are: Coaxial cable, Double twisted
pair, Optical fibre.
COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL
Communication protocol is a standard method or a collection of rules and procedures to be observed for issuing and
receiving data over a network between computing systems and in telecommunications. The protocols in
communications are homologous to programming languages in computations. Multiprotocol network are network
using more than one protocol.
On the Internet, the protocols used belong to a suite of protocols, or a collection of linked protocols. This suite
of protocols is called TCP/IP. Among others, it contains the following protocols: HTTP, FTP, ARP, ICMP, IP, TCP, UDP, SMTP,
Telnet, NNTP.
Generally protocols are classed in two categories depending on the level of data monitoring required:
?Connection oriented protocols: These protocols operate data transmission monitoring during a communication
established between two machines. In such a schema, the recipient machine sends delivery acknowledgements
during communication, so the originator machine is responsible for the validity of data that it sends. Data is
therefore sent in the form of data flow. TCP is a connection oriented protocol
?Connectionless protocols: This is a communication method in which the originator machine sends data without
warning the recipient machine, and the recipient machine receives the data without sending a delivery notification
to the originator. Data is therefore sent in the form of blocks (datagrams). UDPis a connectionless protocol

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a suite of protocols. TCP/IP represents all communication
rules for the internet and is based on the IP addressing notion, i.e. the idea of providing an IP address for each machine
on the network so as to be able to route data packets. It is designed to respond to a certain number of criteria, including:
? Splitting messages into packets;
? ? Use of an address system;
? ? Routing data over the network;
? ? Error detection in data transmissions.
TCP/IP is a Layer Model- So as to be able to apply the TCP/IP model to any machine, i.e. independently of the operating
system, the TCP/IP system of protocols has been broken down into several modules each carrying out a specific task.
The term layer is used to reflect the fact that the data which travels over the network crosses several protocol levels. So,
data (information packets) which circulates over the network is processed successively by each layer, which adds an
item of information (called a header) then sends it to the next layer. The TCP/IP model is very close to the OSI model.
OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) - It is also a Layer Model established by ISO(International Organization for
Standardisation) in order to implement a communications standard between computers on a network, that is the rules
which manage communications between computers, so that different manufacturers can develop compatible
(software or hardware) products (as long as they strictly observe the OSI model).
The aim of a system in layers is to separate the problem into different parts (the layers) depending on their
level of abstraction. Each layer of the model communicates with an adjacent level (above or below it). Each layer
therefore uses the services of the lower layers and supplies them to that of the upper layer. The OSI model is a
model which comprises of 7 layers, while the TCP/IP model only has 4.
Layers- OSI Model TCP/IP

Application layer provides the interface with applications. It is Application layer: incorporates standard network applications
therefore the closest level to the users, managed directly by the (Telnet, SMTP, FTP, ...). The data packet is called a message at this
software level.
Presentation layer defines the format of data handled by the
application layer (its representation and potentially its
compression and encryption) independently of the system
Session layer defines the opening and destruction of Transport layer: provides the routing data, along with the
communication sessions between networked machines mechanisms making it possible to know the status of the
Transport layer is in charge of data transport, its division into transmission. The message is then encapsulated in the form of
packets and management of potential transmission errors a segment in the Transport layer.
Network layer makes it possible to manage addressing and routing Internet layer: responsible for supplying the data packet
of data, i.e. their path via the network (datagram). Once the segment is encapsulated in the Internet
Data link layer defines the interface with the network interface layer it takes the name of datagram.
card and the sharing of the transmission media.
Physical layer defines the way in which data is physically Network Interface or Access (first) layer: specifies the form
converted into digital signals on the communication media (frame) in which data must be routed whichever type of network
(electric pulses, light modulation, etc.) is used.
The network access layer is the first layer of the TCP/IP stack, contains all specifications relating to the transmission
of data & offers the ability to access any physical network.
It deals with the following concepts: Routing data over the connection, Coordination of the data transmission
(synchronisation), Data format, Signal conversion (analogue/digital), Error detection on arrival
The Internet layer is the "most important" layer (they are all important in their way) because it is this which defines the
datagrams and manages the IP addressing notions. It enables the routing of datagrams (data packets) to remote
machines along with the management of their division and assembly upon receipt. The Internet layer contains 5
protocols:

?
The IP protocol - It is one of the most important Internet protocols because it allows the development and transport of
IP datagrams (data packets), without however ensuring their "delivery". In reality, IP protocol processes IP
datagrams independently from each other by defining their representation, routing and forwarding. Datagrams are
encapsulated data, i.e. data to which headers are added relating to information about their transport (such as the
destination IP address). IP routing is an integral part of the Internet layer of the TCP/IP suite. Routing consists of
providing the routing for an IP datagram across a network by taking the shortest path. This role is conducted by
machines called routers, i.e. machines linked (linking) by at least two networks.
?
The ARP protocol - The ARP protocol plays a key role among Internet layer protocols relating to TCP/IP, since it enables
the physical address of a network interface card (48 bit identification number) corresponding to an Logical address
(IP address) to be known. That is why it is called Address Resolution Protocol.
?
The ICMP protocol - Internet Control Message Protocol is a protocol which makes it possible to manage information
relating to errors on networked machines. Considering the few controls that IP protocol carries out, it not only
allows errors to be corrected but also informs the protocols of neighboring layers of these errors. So, ICMP protocol
is used by all routers, who use it to indicate an error (called a Delivery Problem).
?The RARP protocol - RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) is much less used. It is a type of reverse directory of
logical and physical addresses. In reality, the RARP protocol is essentially used for work stations without hard disks
that want to know their physical address..
?
The IGMP protocol - The Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) is a communications protocol used by hosts
and adjacent routers on IP networks to establish multicast group memberships. IGMP is an integral part of the IP
multicast specification. IGMP can be used for online streaming video and gaming, and allows more efficient use of
resources when supporting these types of applications. IGMP is used on IPv4 networks. Multicast management on
IPv6 networks is handled by Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD) which uses ICMPv6 messaging in contrast to IGMP's
bare IP encapsulation. IP multicast is a method of sending Internet Protocol (IP) datagrams to a group of interested
receivers in a single transmission.
The first three protocols are the most important protocols for this layer.The transport layer contains two protocols
enabling two applications to exchange data independently of the type of network taken (i.e. independently of the
lower layers), these are the following two protocols:
? TCP (Transmission Control Protocol), a connection oriented protocol which provides error detection. It enables two
machines which are communicating to control the status of the transmission. It makes it possible, at application
level, to manage data coming from (or going to) the lower layer of the model (i.e. the P protocol). It enables the data
flow to be monitored so as to avoid network saturation & also makes it possible to multiplex data (sharing of data)
? UDP(User Datagram Protocol), a connection oriented protocol where error detection is outdated. The application
layer is located at the top of the TCP/IP protocol layers. This one contains the network applications which make it
possible to communicate using the lower layers. The software in this layer therefore communicates using one of the
two protocols of the layer below (the transport layer), i.e. TCP or UDP.
There are different types of applications for this layer: File and print management services (transfer), Network
connection services, Remote connection services, Various Internet utilities
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) allows transfer of files (web pages written in
HTML, HyperText Mark-Up Language) format) between a browser (the client) and a
Web server located using a character string called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
Version 1.0 of the protocol (the most used) now allows the transfer of messages with
headers describing the content of the message by using MIME type (Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions) coding. The MIME type is a standard that was proposed by
the Bell Communications laboratories in 1991 to broaden the possibilities of email,
involving insertion of documents (images, sounds and text) into a message.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) protocol defines the way in which data must be transferred over a TCP/IP network. It falls
within a client-server model, i.e. one machine sends orders (the client) and the other awaits requests to carry out
actions (the server). The aim of FTP protocol is to: 1. allow file sharing between remote machines; 2. allow
independence between client and server machine system files; 3. enable efficient data transfer
The SMTP protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is the standard protocol enabling mail to be transferred from one
server to another by point to point connection. The mail is sent directly to the recipient's mail server. SMTP protocol
works using text commands sent to the SMTP server. Each command sent by the client is followed by a response from
the SMTP server comprising of a number and a descriptive message.
The POP protocol (Post Office Protocol) as its name indicates makes it possible to go and collect the email on a remote
server (POP server). It is necessary for people not permanently connected to the Internet so that they can consult
emails received offline. Just like with the SMTP protocol, the POP protocol (POP2 and POP3) works using text
commands sent to the POP server. Each of these commands sent by the client comprises a key word, possibly
accompanied by one or several arguments and is followed by a response from the POP server comprising of a number
and a descriptive message.
The IMAP protocol (Internet Message Access Protocol) is an alternative protocol to that of POP3 but offering many
more possibilities: allows several simultaneous accesses to be managed; makes it possible to manage several inboxes;
provides more criteria which can be used to sort emails
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an “Internet-standard protocol for managing devices on IP
networks." Devices that typically support SNMP include routers, switches, servers, workstations, printers, modem
racks, and more.
IEEE- Stands for the "Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers." This is a non-profit organization that develops, defines,
and reviews electronics and computer science standards. Though it is a U.S. based organization, standards developed by the
IEEE often become International standards. Some examples of commonly-used products standardized by the organization are
the IEEE 1284 interface (a.k.a. Parallel Port), which many printers use, and the IEEE 1394 interface (a.k.a. Firewire), which is a
super-fast connection for digital video cameras, hard drives, and other peripherals.
ISO- Stands for "International Organization for Standardization." The ISO is important to the computer industry, since
the organization standardizes many of the technologies used by your computer hardware and software. For example,
the ISO 9660 standard defines a file system used by CD-ROM media. CDs formatted using this standard can be used on
any operating system that supports the ISO 9660 standard, including Windows, Mac, and Unix systems. The ISO is
similar to the IEEE, but performs a much broader range of standardizations.
RFCs (Request For Comments) are a collection of documents which are referred to by the Internet community and
which describe, specify and assist in the implementation, standardisation and discussion of the majority of norms,
standards, technologies and protocols related to the Internet and networks in general. The TCP/IP protocol suite
represents a collection of norms drawn up by an organisation called the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force). This
organisation officially publishes their reports in the form of requests, available to all, making it possible to clarify a great
number of subjects relating to TCP/IP.
In reality, anyone can write a RFC and submit it to the IETF by sending it to the coordinator: rfc.editor@rfc.editor.org. If it
is accepted, it will appear after having been appraised by the coordinators. RFC1543, entitled instructions to RFC
authors, explains how to compose an RFC.
ICANN - Stands for "Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers." The ICANN is an non-profit corporation
that is responsible for allocating IP addresses and managing the domain name system. ICANN allocates blocks of IP
addresses to companies, educational institutions, and Internet service providers (ISP). These organizations then
allocate IP addresses to computers that use their Internet connections. While the ICANN is a US-based organization, it is
also a global Internet community.

Addressing in TCP/IP-
IP Address- Also known as an "IP number" or simply an "IP," this is a code made up of numbers separated by three dots
that identifies a particular computer on the Internet. Every computer, whether it be a Web server or the computer
you're using right now, requires an IP address to connect to the Internet. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP), will assign
you an IP address. A domain name is the text version of an IP address; A DNS server translates the domain name into its
associated IP address
IPv4(IP version 4) is the fourth revision of the Internet Protocol and is the most common version used today. It uses 32-
bit addresses, which are formatted as "111.111.111.111." Each section may contain a number from 0 to 255 (For
example "66.72.98.236" ie. four groups of octets (8-bit bytes) that are separated by periods), which provides a total of
4,294,967,296 (2^32) possible addresses.
Since each computer connected to the Internet must have a unique IP address, 4.3 billion IP addresses is not enough to
cover the worldwide requirement for unique IPs (nice planning guys). Therefore, IPv6, which supports 128-bit IP
addresses, is currently being developed to replace IPv4.
IPv6, also called IPng (or IP Next Generation), is the next planned version of the IP address system. IPv6 uses 128-bit
addresses, which increases the number of possible addresses by an exponential amount. For example, IPv4 allows
4,294,967,296 addresses to be used (2^32). IPv6 allows for over
340,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 IP addresses. That should be enough to last awhile.
Because IPv6 allows for substantially more IP addresses than IPv4, the addresses themselves are more complex. They
are typically written in this format: hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh:hhhh
Each "hhhh" section consists of a four-digit hexadecimal number, which means each digit can be from 0 to 9 and from A
to F. An example IPv6 address may look like this:
F704:0000:0000:0000:3458:79A2:D08B:4320
DNS (Domain Name System)- DNS) was developed in November 1983 by Paul Mockapetris . The Internet, is really
based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service or Server must translate the name
into the corresponding IP address. This correlation between the IP addresses and the associated domain name is called
domain name resolution (or address resolution). For example, the domain name www.example.com might translate to
198.105.232.4.
This system offers: an hierarchical namespace allowing the uniqueness of a name to be guaranteed in a tree structure,
like Unix file systems (In UNIX systems any element is represented in the form of a file. All files are architectured around
a single tree structure where the base, called the root, is written "/"); a system of distribution servers enabling
namespace to be made available; a client system making it possible to "resolve" domain names, i.e. interrogate the
servers to find out the IP address corresponding to a name.
Namespace in DNS- The structure of the DNS system relies on a tree structure where the higher level domains (called
TLD, forTop Level Domains) are defined, attached to a root node represented by a dot. Each node of the tree is called a
domain name. Each node has a label with a maximum length of 63 characters. All domain names therefore make up an
inverse tree where each node is separated from the following node by a dot ("."). The end of a branch is called the host,
and corresponds to a machine or entity on the network. The host name given to it must be unique in the respective
domain, or if the need arises in the sub-domain. For example a domain's web server generally bears the name www.
The word "domain" formally corresponds to the suffix of a domain name, i.e. the tree structure's collection of node
labels, with the exception of the host. The absolute name relating to all the node labels of a tree structure, separated by
dots, and finished by a final dot is called the FQDN address (Fully Qualified Domain Name). The maximum depth of the
tree structure is 127 levels and the maximum length of a FQDN name is 255 characters. The FQDN address makes it
possible to uniquely locate a machine on the network of networks. So,www(Host).commentcamarche(Domain).
net(TLD). is an FQDN address.

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a universal naming format used to indicate a resource on the Internet. It was
created in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee and the URI working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force. A URL is the
address of a specific Web site or file on the Internet. It cannot have spaces or certain other characters and uses forward
slashes to denote different directories. Eg. http://www.cnet.com/. It is a printable ASCII character string which breaks
down into five parts:
1. The name of the protocol (the scheme name): i.e. in a way the language used to communicate over the network. The
most widely used protocol is the HTTP protocol. As you can see, not all URLs begin with "http" (varies with kind of
resource it is addressing). Here is a list of the different resource prefixes: http - a hypertext directory or document (such
as a Web page), ftp- a directory of files or an actual file available to download, gopher - a gopher document or menu,
telnet, to connect to a remote terminal, news – a newsgroup, WAIS - a database or document on a Wide Area
Information Search database, file - a file located on your hard drive or some other local drive
2. Login and password: enables the access parameters for a secure server to be specified. This option is unadvisable
because the password is visible in the URL
3. The name of the server: This is a domain name for the computer hosting the requested resource. It is worth noting
that it is possible to use the server's IP address which conversely makes the URL less readable.
4. The number of the port: this is a number related to a service allowing the server to know what type of resource is
requested. The default port related to the protocol is port 80. So, when the Web service of the server is associated to
port number 80, the port number is optional
5. The access path to the resource: This last part allows the server to know where the resource is located, i.e. generally
the site (directory) and the name of the file requested. For programs such as Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts,
there are a query string, and an optional fragment identifier. The query string contains data to be passed to software
running on the server. The fragment identifier, if present, specifies a part or a position within the overall resource or
document.
A URL therefore has the following structure:
Protocol Password (optional) Server name Port (optional if 80) Path
http:// user:password@ www.commentcamarche.net. :80 /glossair/glossair.php3
URI- Stands for "Uniform Resource Identifier." URI may refer to all or part a URL. For example, Apple's iMac Design URL
is http://www.apple.com/imac/design.html. The URI of this resource may be defined as just "design.html" or
"/imac/design.html." The complete URL would be referred to as an absolute URI.
INTERNET
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks to share information globally. Protocols were
developed to allow all these networks to communicate and form the network of networks, little by little forming a giant
spiders “web” then making the largest network containing all the networks which they called the Internet. There are
different protocols on the internet (languages between computers) which enable different things to be done: IRC: live
chat; HTTP: look at web pages; FTP: transfer files; and many other things
Each of them is assigned a number (the port) which is sent during communication (transmission is carried out by small
packets of information). It is therefore possible to know which program each small packet relates to: HTTP packets
arrive on port 80 and are transmitted to the internet browser from which the page was requested; IRC packets arrive on
port 6667 (or another generally located around 7000) and are transmitted to an IRC client.
There are 5 things that are necessary to "get on the net" with a full graphic interface (picture, sounds, animation, etc...).
? A Telephone line
? A computer - preferably with a fast processor and lots of memory (64 Mb or more)
STRATAGEM
Strategise, Succeed
The network
? interface card is the part of the computer which makes it possible to connect to a network via
specially provided lines for sending digital information & a modem (for high speed data transmission).
? An ISP & IP address - An Internet Service Provider is a service or company that provides access to the Internet.
Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers by providing IP address or
Domain Name.
? Browser Software - often installed with your operating system or can be downloaded off the Internet
Types of Internet Connections
1. Analog (up to 56k) - Also called dial-up, it is both economical and slow. Using a modem connected to your PC, users
connect to the Internet when the computer dials a phone number (which is provided by your ISP) and connects to the
network. Dial-up is an analog connection because data is sent over an analog, public telephone network. The modem
converts received analog data to digital and vice versa. Because dial-up access uses normal telephone lines the quality
of the connection is not always good and data rates are limited. Typical Dial-up connection speeds range from 2400 bps
to 56 Kbps.
Analog data is actually more accurate than digital data. However, digital data can can be manipulated easier and
preserved better than analog data.
2. Broadband- This refers to high-speed data transmission in which a single cable can carry a large amount of data at
once. The most common types of Internet broadband connections are cable modems (which use the same connection
as cable TV) and DSL modems (which use your existing phone line) which can support data transfer speeds over 100
times faster than dial-up modems.
DSL (Digital Subscriber line) is also called an always on connection because it uses existing 2-wire copper telephone line
connected to the premise and will not tie up your phone as a dial-up connection does. There is no need to dial-in to your
ISP as DSL is always on. The two main categories of DSL for home subscribers are called ADSL (Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line) and SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line).
The public switched telephone network (PSTN) is the worldwide telephone system.
CDMA- Stands for "Code Division Multiple Access." TDMA is "Time Division Multiple Access." GSM is Global system of
Mobile.
ISDN- Integrated services digital network (ISDN) is an international communications standard for sending voice, video,
and data over digital telephone lines or normal telephone wires. Typical ISDN speeds range from 64 Kbps to 128 Kbps.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a switching technique for telecommunication networks which unlike with
Ethernet, token ring, and FDDI, allows simultaneous transfer of data and voice over the same line. It uses asynchronous
time-division multiplexing and it encodes data into small, fixed-sized cells with a length of 53 bytes (5 bytes for the
header and 48 bytes of data) and including identifiers allowing the Quality of Service(QOS) to be known among other
things. This differs from networks such as the Internet or Ethernet LANs that use variable sized packets or frames. ATM
uses a connection-oriented model in which a virtual circuit must be established between two endpoints before the
actual data exchange begins. ATM is a core protocol used over the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).
ATM was developed with CNET. Unlike synchronous networks (like telephone networks) where data is transmitted in a
synchronous manner, i.e. the bandwidth is shared (multiplexed) between users according to temporal unbundling, an
ATM network transfers data in an asynchronous manner, which means it transmits it when it can. Whereas synchronous
networks do not transmit anything when a user has nothing to transmit, the ATM network will use these blanks to
transmit other data, guaranteeing better bandwidth!
ATM thus makes it possible to transfer data at a speed going from 25 Mbps to more than 622 Mbps (reach more than 2
Gbps over fibre optic).

Modem - Short for modulator-demodulator. Modems are measured by the speed that the information is transferred.
The measuring tool is called the baud rate. The amount of data that can travel over a communications channel
sometimes is called the bandwidth. Broadband media transmit multiple signals simultaneously. Bandwidth refers to
how much data you can send through a network or modem connection. It is usually measured in bits per second, or
"bps." A wireless modem uses the cell phone network to connect to the Internet wirelessly from a notebook computer,
a smart phone, or other mobile device.
Wireless Internet Connections (Wi-Fi, Wireless Fidelity)-Wireless Internet, or wireless broadband is one of the newest
Internet connection types. Instead of using telephone or cable networks for your Internet connection, you use radio
frequency bands.
SSID- Short for service set identifier, a 32- character unique identifier attached to the header of packets sent over a
wireless local area network (WLAN) that acts as a password when a mobile device tries to connect to the BSS (Base
station subsystem) in mobile telephone networks). The SSID differentiates one WLAN from another, so all access points
and all devices attempting to connect to a specific WLAN must use the same SSID. An SSID is also referred to as a
network name because essentially it is a name that identifies a wireless network.
WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) also known as “IEEE 802.16," is a broadband wireless
access (BWA) standard similar to Wi-Fi. However, unlike Wi-Fi, which only has a range of several hundred feet, a WiMAX
signal can be broadcast up to 30 miles. Therefore, WiMAX can be used to provide Internet access to large areas, such as
corporate buildings or entire cities, with a single wireless station.
It is designed to provide 30 to 40 megabit-per-second data rates, with the 2011 update providing up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed
stations.
Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) –It is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless
network.
Bluetooth defines how two Bluetooth devices use short range radio waves to transmit data wirelessly. Bluetooth
technology was originally developed by Ericsson in 1994. It is a wireless personal area network technology (WPAN), a
low-range wireless network technology used for linking devices to one another without a hard-wired connection.
Unlike the IrDatechnology (which uses an infrared connection), Bluetooth devices do not need a direct line of sight to
communicate, which makes them more flexible in use and allows room-to-room communication in small spaces.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is a technology that uses radio waves to transfer data from an electronic tag,
called RFID tag or label, attached to an object, through a reader for the purpose of identifying and tracking the object.
A web browser is a software application installed on user's computer that helps users to access Web pages on the
World Wide Web by sending requests to web servers. It interprets HTML code including text, images, hypertext links,
JavaScript, and Java applets & displays a nicely formatted page. Some of the more popular browsers are Google
Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Mosaic was the first browser. Some other browser are
Opera, Safari, Netscape etc. Before graphic browsers Lynx was the most popular browser and is still available for text
browsing.
The "Web", short for "World Wide Web" (which gives us the acronym www), is the name for one of the ways that the
Internet lets people browse documents connected by hypertext links. The concept of the Web was perfected at CERN
(Centre Européen de Recherche Nucléaire) in 1991 by a group of researchers which included Tim-Berners Lee, the
creator of the hyperlink, who is today considered the father of the Web.
Berners-Lee linked the hypertext to the Internet. His book is Weaving The Web. He developed three essential
technologies: 1) the Universal Document Identifier (UDI), later known as URL and URI; 2) the publishing language
HTML; 3)HTTP.
The principle of the Web is based on using hyperlinks to navigate between documents (called "web pages") with a
program called a browser & the process is known as Surfing the Web. A web page is a simple text file written in a
markup language (called HTML) that encodes the layout of the document, graphical elements, and links to other
documents, all with the help of tags.

Besides the links which connect formatted documents to one another, the web uses the HTTP protocol to link
documents hosted on distant computers (called web servers, as opposed to the client represented by the browser). On
the Internet, documents are identified with a unique address, called a URL, which can be used to locate any resource on
the Internet, no matter which server may be hosting it.
A website (also called an Internet site or a home page in the case of a personal site) is a group of HTML files that are
stored on a hosting computer which is permanently connected to the Internet (a web server).
A website is normally built around a central page, called a "welcome page" or Home page, which offers links to a group
of other pages hosted on the same server, and sometimes "external" links, which lead to pages hosted by another
server.
A URL looks something like this: http:// www.commentcamarche.net/www/www-intro.php3
http:// indicates that we want browse the web using the HTTP protocol, the default protocol for browsing the Web.
www.commentcamarche.net corresponds to the address of the server that hosts the web pages. /www/www-
intro.php3 indicates where the document is located on the machine. In this case, it is the file www-intro.php3 situé
located in the directory www.
A search engine (sometimes called a Searchbot) is a tool (software installed on web server) which indexes Web pages so
that they can be retrieved by entering keywords into a search form. After request is sent to the search engine, it returns
a list of links to pages. A "metasearch engine" is a search tool which works by using the results of several other search
engines.
HTML (HyperText Mark-Up Language) is what is known as a "mark-up language" whose role is to prepare written
documents using formatting tags. The tags indicate how the document is presented and how it links to other
documents. HTML is also used for reading documents on the Internet from different computers, thanks to the HTTP
protocol, which allows users to remotely access documents stored at a specific address on the network, called a URL. It
is important to understand that HTML is a standard, composed of recommendations published by an international
consortium: the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). HTML is not a programming language. Rather, it is used for
describing the layout and format of content, written in the form of simple text.
Hypertext links or hyperlinks (anchors) are HTML elements that, when clicked on, enable readers to visit a new
address. Hyperlinked text is underlined by default. Hyperlinks are what connect web pages to one another. A hyperlink
points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. A hyperlink has an anchor, which is the location
within a document from which the hyperlink can be followed; the document containing a hyperlink is known as its
source document. The target of a hyperlink is the document, or location within a document, to which the hyperlink
leads. Users can activate and follow the link when its anchor is shown, usually by touching or clicking on the anchor with
a pointing device.
Hypertext is the underlying concept defining the structure of the World Wide Web and a flexible format to share
information over the Internet. Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references
(hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or key press sequence.
Hypertext is text with hyperlinks.
Electronic mail (also known as email or e-mail) is one of the most commonly used services on the Internet, allowing
people to send messages to one or more recipients. Email was invented by Ray Tomlinson in 1972. Email addresses
(both for senders and recipients) are two strings separated by the character "@" (the "at sign"): user@domain. The
right-hand part describes the domain name involved, and the left-hand part refers to the user who belongs to that
domain.
An email address can be up to 255 characters long and can include the following characters:
? Lowercase letters from a to z;
? Digits
? The characters ".","_" and "-" (full stop, underscore, and hyphen)

Email addresses are made up of...
? the account name (often the users first initial and then the last name (sometimes only 8 characters)
? then the @ symbol
? then the name of the user's ISP
? the last 3 characters describe the type of service for the top level domain (TLD) name. For example .com stand
for commercial site, .mil - U.S. military, .gov - U.S. government, .net - network, etc...
? when an address has 2 characters it is a geographical top level domain (gTLD). For example .ca - is a site
registered in Canada, .au - is a site registered in Australia, .tv - is a site registered in Tuvla, .in - is a site registered
in India
? new TLDs are occasionally added including; .biz, .info, .name, .asia, .mobi
One of the services provided by your ISP is to provide a storage area or mailbox to collect email in.
ASCII is a standard across all computer types which makes e-mail universal. Today many modern email programs allow
HTML (hypertext markup language) to be included in email messages which allow you to format your email messages
with font sizes, bold, centre and such.
Email Attachments- An attachment is a computer file or files place inside an email message.
To attach a document to an email message drag the file attachment to the body of the message and drop it. An
attachment can also be added by choosing File Attachment from the menu. Most modern email programs place a
button on the Toolbar usually in the shape of a paper clip that you can click. A dialog box will open that allows you to
browse and select the file that you want to attach. You can attach more than one file to a single email message. Don't
move the original document until the message has been sent.
e-mail program or webmail - There are two primary ways of checking your e-mail – using an e-mail program like
Microsoft Outlook or with a Web-based interface called webmail. When you check or send e-mail via the Web, you are
using webmail. Most free e-mail services, such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo! Mail offer webmail interfaces that allow
you to send, receive, and organize your e-mail on the Web.
Newsgroups are discussion groups that are going on all the time. You can write a message and post it to a newsgroup &
get a reply to the message. FAQ is a collection of frequently asked questions that have been posted many times to a
newsgroup.
An email client, email reader, or more formally mail user agent (MUA), is a computer program used to manage a user's
email.
E-mail spam, also known as junk e-mail or Unrequested or unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE). The opposite of "spam,"
email which one wants, is called "ham,". Spam is also a medium for fraudsters to scam users into entering personal
information on fake Web sites using e-mails forged to look like they are from banks or other organizations, such as
PayPal. (E-mail Spoofing). Most ISPs provide software (spam filters) that will filter out the worst of this email.
E-mail spoofing or Phishing is e-mail activity in which the sender address and other parts of the e-mail header are
altered to appear as though the e-mail originated from a different source. Because core SMTP doesn't provide any
authentication, it is easy to impersonate and forge emails. It is a way of attempting to acquire sensitive information
such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic
communication. This is similar to Fishing, where the fisherman puts a bait at the hook, thus, pretending to be a genuine
food for fish. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail spoofing or instant messaging.
Bounced or Returned E-mail- When you send an e-mail message to another person, the mail server processes the
message and delivers it to the appropriate user's mailbox. For example, if you send a message to "mrman@mail.com,"
the mail.com server looks for a user named "mrman" to deliver the message to. If the user does not exist, the mail

server may bounce the message back to the sender, saying "Sorry, that user does not exist." These messages often
come from "Mail Delivery Subsystem" and have a subject line that reads "Returned mail: see transcript for details."
e-mail bankruptcy - If your inbox become submerged underneath an endless pile of e-mail in your inbox, the only way
out may be to declare e-mail bankruptcy. Similar to a financial bankruptcy, e-mail bankruptcy involves writing off the
losses and starting over. The most tactful way of declaring e-mail bankruptcy is to paste all the e-mail addresses from
the messages you have not responded to into a single message. Then send a message explaining that you have fallen
too far behind on your e-mail and apologize for not responding.
Bcc- Stands for "Blind Carbon Copy." When you send an e-mail to only one person, you type the recipient's address in
the "To:" field. When you send a message to more than one person, you have the option to enter addresses in the "Cc:"
and "Bcc:" fields. "Cc" stands for "Carbon Copy," while "Bcc" stands for "Blind Carbon Copy."
A carbon copy, or "Cc'd" message is an e-mail that is copied to one or more recipients. Both the main recipient (whose
address is in the "To:" field) and the Cc'd recipients can see all the addresses the message was sent to. When a message
is blind carbon copied, neither the main recipient nor the Bcc'd recipients can see the addresses in the "Bcc:" field. Blind
carbon copying is a useful way to let others see an e-mail you sent without the main recipient knowing.
ICS- Stands for "Internet Connection Sharing." ICS allows multiple computers to connect to the Internet using the same
Internet connection and IP address. For example, several computers in a household can connect to same cable or DSL
modem using a router.
ICS can also be done using software. Windows 98 and later, as well as Mac OS X, support Internet connection sharing.
This allows one system's network settings to be modified, turning the computer into a gateway. Other computers on
the same network can then use that computer's Internet connection.
ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) - It is a feature that protects computers connected to the Internet from unauthorized
access. When ICF is enabled, Windows keeps a log of incoming requests from other systems on the Internet. If the
request is something the user has requested, & if the request is unsolicited and is not recognized by the system, the
transmission will be dropped. This helps prevent intrusion by hackers or malicious software such as spyware.
Internet Relay Chat (irc) allows users to participate in real-time discussions with other users through the Internet. A
user logs on to an irc site and then types messages and replies to others messages as they are written.
Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct text-based communication between two or more people
usingpersonal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. IM falls under the umbrella term online chat.
ICT is short for "Information and Communication Technologies." It is similar to IT (Information Technology), but focuses
more on telecommunications mediums, such as the Internet, cell phone networks, and satellite technology.
ICQ is an instant messaging computer program, which was first developed and popularized by the Israeli company
Mirabilis, then bought by America Online, and since April 2010 owned by Mail.ru Group. The name ICQ is a homophone
for the phrase "I seek you". This is an adaptation of the Morse code callout “CQ”, which means "calling any station". It is
similar to other instant messaging programs, but is based on chat rooms rather than direct person-to-person
messaging.
Web applications - a broad range of new applications make it possible for users to run programs directly in a Web
browser.
The Web host stores all the pages of your website and makes them available to computers connected to the Internet.
Most websites you see on the Web are accessed from a "shared host," which is a single computer that can host several
hundred Web sites.
Pop-up ads or pop-ups are a form of online advertising on the World Wide Web intended to attract web traffic or
capture email addresses. Pop-ups are generally new web browser windows to display advertisements. The pop-up

window containing an advertisement is usually generated by JavaScript. Opera was the first major browser to
incorporate tools to block pop-up ads. Most modern browsers come with pop-up blocking tools.
Cookies are messages that a Web server transmits to a Web browser so that the Web server can keep track of the user's
activity on a specific Web site. The browser in turn stores the cookie information on the hard drive so when the browser
is closed and reopened at a later date the cookie information is still available.
- Cookies do not act maliciously on computer systems. They are merely text files that can be deleted at any time -
they are not plugins nor are they programs. Cookies cannot be used to spread viruses and they cannot access
your hard drive. This does not mean that cookies are not relevant to a user's privacy and anonymity on the
Internet.
- Cookies cannot read your hard drive to find out information about you; however, any personal information
that you give to a Web site, including credit card information, will most likely be stored in a cookie unless you
have turned off the cookie feature in your browser.
- In computer terminology, a cookie is data sent to your computer by a Web server that records your actions on
a certain Web site. It's a lot like a preference file for a typical computer program. When you visit the site after
being sent the cookie, the site will load certain pages according to the information stored in the cookie. For
example, some sites can remember information like your user name and password, so you don't have to re-
enter it each time you visit the site. Cookies are what allow you to have personalized web sites like "My Excite"
or "My Yahoo," where you can customize what is displayed on the page. While cookies have many benefits,
some people don't like to have their information recorded by Web sites that they visit. For this reason, most
Web browsers have an option to accept or deny cookies. Personally, I like cookies -- I think they taste great too.
Adware is free software displays an online advertisement in a banner or pop-up window. An adware remover is a
program that detects and deletes adware.
IVR (Interactive Voice Response) is a telephony technology that can read a combination of touch tone and voice input. It
gives users the ability to access a database of information via phone. A typical IVR system has several menus of
prerecorded options that the caller can choose from. For example, a bank may have an IVR system that allows members
to call in and check their balance or recent transactions.
Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, VoIP) is one of a family of internet technologies, communication protocols,
and transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol
(IP) networks, such as the Internet. Internet telephony refers to communications services—Voice, fax, SMS, and/or
voice-messaging applications—that are transported via the Internet, rather than the public switched telephone
network (PSTN). Of all the software VoIP tools that exist, Skype is probably the most easily identifiable.
An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses
usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name.
Kiosk - An information kiosk (or information booth) dispenses free information in the form of maps, pamphlets, and
other literature, and/or advice offered by an attendant. An electronic kiosk (or computer kiosk or interactive kiosk) is a
computer terminal featuring specialized hardware and software designed within a public exhibit that provides access
to information and applications for communication, commerce, entertainment, and education.
Ecommerce
Electronic Transactions on the Internet are becoming common place. Books, software and even groceries can be
bought and sold with the click of a button (and a credit card). The biggest problem with doing business over the Internet
is the lack of common standards around security.
In order to send confidential information on an open system like Internet you must be sure that your private
information can not be intercepted along the way. The most common method is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). If

information from a secure connection is intercepted it will be encrypted making it useless to persons with malicious
intent. Another model is the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET). This model requires that the customer download and
install a wallet into which they enter their password protected credit card information..
The SET "wallet" model requires that the customer obtain a Digital Certificate from a Certified Authority (CA) which
they then use to perform the transaction.
Scripts & Macros
Used for everything from customizing and automating repetitious tasks making your computer experience more
efficient.
Macro has two computer-related definitions.
1. A Keyboard Shortcut - The term "macro" is often used synonymously with “keyboard shortcut”. Keyboard shortcuts
are key combinations that perform commands, such as saving a file, closing a window, or copying and pasting data.
2. A Small Program - A macro can also be a small program, or script, that automates common tasks. These scripts are
usually run within programs and can often be created by the user. For example, a user might record a macro for
Microsoft Word that inserts his entire address when he presses a custom key combination. You can use macros to help
you write letters, create memos, or build reports.
A computer script is a list of commands that are executed by a certain program or scripting engine. Script files are
usually just text documents that contain instructions written in a certain scripting language. Scripts may be used to
automate processes on a local computer or to generate Web pages on the Web. One common script that users often
use are Wizards or scripts that install new software. On the Internet there are a number of script languages including
JavaScript, Perl, VBScript, PHP and many others, which are often run on Web servers to generate dynamic Web page
content.
A batch file is a type of script that contains a list of commands. These commands are executed in sequence and can be
used to automate processes. The most common of batch file is the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The CONFIG.SYS file controls
how your computer's hardware is configure each time you restart it.
Anchor
An anchor, hyperlink or link contains at least one attribute, the most common being a Hypertext Reference (HREF). The
HREF contains the address and/or path to another document.
Section 4 COMPUTER SECURITY & ERRORS
Risk in terms of security is generally characterised by the The threat represents the type of action that is likely to be of harm,
following equation: whereas vulnerability (sometimes called flaws or breaches) represents
the level of exposure to threats in a particular context. Finally, the
countermeasure is all of the actions implemented to prevent the threat.
IT security generally is comprised of five main goals:

1. Confidentiality consists in making information unintelligible to individuals other than those involved in the operation.
2. Verifying data integrity consists in determining if the data were changed during transmission (accidentially or intentionally).
3. The goal of availability is to guarantee access to a service or resources.
4. The non-repudiation of information is the guarantee that none of the parties involved can deny an operation at a later date.
5. Authentication consists in confirming a user's identity, i.e. guaranteeing for each party that their partners are truly who they
think they are. An access control (e.g. an encrypted password) grants access to resources only to authorised individuals.
Need for a global approach-
Making users aware of security problems
?

Logical security, i.e. security at the data level, notably company data, applications and even operating systems
?
Telecommunications security: network technologies, company servers, access networks, etc.
?
Physical security, or the security of material infrastructures: secure rooms, places open to the public, company
?
common areas, employee workstations, etc.
Intrusion tests (pen tests) consist in testing an information system's protection methods by subjecting the system to a
real situation. Two methods are generally used:
? The black box method that consists of trying to infiltrate the network without any knowledge of the system in order
to perform a realistic situation
? The white box method that consists of trying to infiltrate the system equipped with knowledge of the entire system
in order to test the limits of the network's security
An Attack or Hacking is the exploitation of a flaw in a computing system (operating system), software program or user
system) for purposes that are not known by the system operator and that are generally harmful. The term "hacker" is
often used to refer to a computer pirate.
Categories of risks:
1. Physical access: this is a case where the attacker has access to the premises, and maybe even to the machines
2. Communication interception: Session hijacking; Identity spoofing; Re-routing or alteration of messages
3. Denials of service: these are attacks aiming to disrupt the proper functioning of a service. Denials of service are
usually broken down as follows: Exploitation of TCP/IP protocol weaknesses; Exploitation of server software
vulnerabilities
4. Intrusions:
? Port scanning
? Elevation of privilege: this type of attack involves exploiting vulnerability in an application by sending a specific
request, not planned by its designer, generating abnormal behaviour that sometimes leads to system access with
application rights. Buffer overflow attacks use this principle.
? Malicious attacks (viruses, worms and Trojan horses)
5. Social engineering: In the majority of cases the weakest link is the user himself! It is often the user who, out of
ignorance or by dupery, will open a flaw in the system by giving information (password for example) to the hacker or by
opening an attachment.
6. Trapdoors: these are backdoors hidden in a software program giving future access to its designer.
Moreover, there are a certain number of devices(firewalls, intrusion detection systems, antiviruses) that make it
possible to add an additional security level.
Bounce attacks When launching an attack, the hacker is always conscious of the risk of getting caught, which is why
hackers generally privilege bounce attacks (as opposed to direct attacks), which involve attacking a machine via
another machine so as to hide traces that could lead back to the said hacker (such as his/her IP address) and with the
goal of using the machine's resources as a bounce.
With the development of wireless networks, this type of scenario could become more and more common since
wireless networks are not very secure and hackers located nearby can use them to launch attacks!
Password:- When connecting to a computer system, you usually have to enter a log in or username and a password to access it.
This login/password pair thus forms the key for obtaining access to the system.
The term "brute force cracking" is used to refer to the cracking of a password by testing all possible passwords. A variety of tools are
available for all operating systems that make it possible to carry out this sort of operation. An alternative to this solution is to carry
out a "dictionary attack". In reality, users usually choose passwords that mean something. With this type of attack, such a password
can be cracked in just a few minutes. The last attack of this type, called a "hybrid attack", specifically targets passwords made of a
traditional word followed by a letter or a number (such as "marshal6"). It combines brute force cracking with the dictionary attack.

There are also methods that make it possible for a hacker to obtain user passwords:
1. Keyloggers are software programs that, when installed on the user's workstation, make it possible to log keystrokes made by the
user. 2. Social engineering(by impersonating a network administrator) 3. Spying (observing the papers around the user's screen or
under his keyboard) is the oldest method used.
Choosing the Password- A password with 4 numbers corresponds to 10,000 possibilities (104). It is better to use a password with 4
letters, for which there are 456,972 possibilities (264). Following the same logic, a password that combines numbers and letters, or
one that also uses uppercase letters and special characters, will be even harder to crack. You are advised to have several passwords
for each category of use, depending on the confidentiality of the secret it protects.
A "denial-of-service attack" (abbreviated DoS) is a type of attack that aims to make an organization's services or resources
unavailable for an indefinite amount of time. Most denial-of-service attacks exploit flaws related to the implementation of a TCP/IP
model protocol.
The so-called "smurf" technique is based on the use of broadcast servers to paralyze a network. A broadcast server is a server
capable of duplicating a message and sending it to all machines present on the same network. The attacking machine sends a ping
request (ping is a tool that exploits the ICMP protocol, making it possible to test connections on a network by sending a packet and
waiting for the response) to one or more broadcast servers while falsifying the source IP address (the address the server is
supposed to respond to in theory) and providing the IP address of a target machine.
The principle of ping of death simply involves creating an IP datagram whose total size exceeds the maximum authorized size
(65,536 bytes). When such a packet is sent to a system with a vulnerable TCP/IP stack, it will cause the system to crash.
"IP address spoofing"(impersonating the IP address) is a technique that involves replacing the IP address of an IP packet's sender
with another machine's IP address. The IP address spoofing technique can enable a pirate to send packets on a network without
having them be intercepted by the packet filtering system (firewall).
A "vulnerability scanner" (sometimes called a "network analyzer") is a utility program that makes it possible to perform a security
audit on a network by scanning for open ports on a given machine or an entire network. The scanning process uses probes
(requests) that make it possible to determine the services that are running on a remote host.
"Buffer overflow" (buffer overrun) attacks are designed to trigger arbitrary code execution by a program by sending it more data
than it is supposed to receive. The instructions and data of a running program are temporarily stored adjacently in memory in a
region called a buffer or stack. The data located after the buffer contain a return address (called an instruction pointer) that lets the
program continue its run-time. If the size of the data is greater than the size of the buffer, the return address is overwritten and the
program will read an invalid memory address generating a segmentation fault in the application.
The term "spam" is used to describe the sending of bulk e-mails (often advertisements) to recipients who have not solicited them
and whose addresses have generally been found on the internet. The word "spam" comes from the name of the lunch meat sold by
the company Hormel Foods. People who send bulk advertising e-mails are called "spammers". Spam's primary goal is to advertise at
the lowest price via 'junk mail" or "excessive multi-posting" (EMP).
You are advised to delete the message. Antispam software (Filter mails): Client antispam systems, Server antispam systems. Do
not pass on messages (jokes, etc.), avoid publishing your e-mail address on forums or websites, replace your e-mail address with
an image (not detectable by address harvesters), Create one or more "disposable addresses".
E-mail bombing involves sending several thousand identical messages to an electronic mailbox in order to overflow it.
A "scam" is a fraudulent practice of African origin that involves extorting funds from internet users by enticing them with a sum of
money and promising them a share of it.
Phishing (contraction of the words "fishing" and "phreaking", referring to the hacking of telephone lines), is a fraudulent technique
used by hackers to retrieve information (usually bank account information) from internet users. Phishing is a “social engineering”
technique, that is, it involves exploiting not a computer flaw but rather a "human flaw" by duping internet users with an e-mail that
looks like it comes from a trustworthy company, typically a bank or a business site.
Malware - Short for "malicious software," malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions
on a computer system. In Spanish, "mal" is a prefix that means "bad," making the term "badware". Common examples of malware
include viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and spyware.
A computer virus is a small computer program found within the body of another program which, when run, loads itself into the
memory and carries out the instructions programmed by its author. The definition of a virus may be: Any computer program which

can infect another computer program by seriously changing it, and which can reproduce itself. The real name for viruses is self-
propagating code. Almost all viruses are attached to an executable file, which means the virus may exist on your computer but it
actually cannot infect your computer unless you run or open the malicious program. It is important to note that a virus cannot be
spread without a human action, (such as running an infected program) to keep it going.
Memory-resident viruses (also called TSR for Terminate and Stay Resident) load in the computer's RAM in order to infect
executable files opened by the user. Non-resident viruses, once run, infect programs found on the hard drive.
These malicious little programs can create files, move files, erase files, consume your computer's memory, and cause your
computer not to function correctly. A antivirus program is software which can detect the presence of a virus on a computer and, to
the best of its abilities, remove the virus. Eradicating a virus is the term used for cleaning out a computer. Eg. Norton AntiVirus,
McAfee, VirusScan, Virex etc.
Detecting a Virus- Viruses reproduce by infecting "host applications," meaning that they copy a portion of executable code into an
existing program. So to ensure that they work as planned, viruses are programmed to not infect the same file multiple times. To do
so, they include a series of bytes in the infected application, to check if has already been infected: This is called a virus signature.
Antivirus programs rely on this signature, which is unique to each virus, in order to detect them. This method is called signature
scanning, the oldest method used by antivirus software. That way, when an executable file's characteristics change, the antivirus
program warns the machine's user.
A computer worm is a self-reproducing program which can travel over networks using networking mechanisms, without requiring
any software or hardware support (such as a hard drive, a host program, a file, etc.) to spread; a worm is therefore a network virus.
It is a type of virus that replicates itself, but does not alter any files on your machine. However, worms can still cause havoc by
multiplying so many times that they take up all your computer's available memory or hard disk space. If a worm consumes your
memory, your computer will run very slowly and possibly even crash.
Unlike viruses and Trojan horses, worms can replicate themselves and travel between systems without any human action.
Due to the copying nature of a worm and its capability to travel across networks the end result in most cases is that the worm
consumes too much system memory (or network bandwidth), causing Web servers, network servers and individual computers to
stop responding.
It is simple to protect yourself from infection by a worm. The best method is to avoid blindly opening files which are sent to you as
attachments.
A Trojan horse is a computer program which carries out malicious operations without the user's knowledge. The name "Trojan
horse" comes from a legend told in the Iliad (by the writer Homer) about the siege of the city of Troy by the Greeks..
Trojan horse (in the world of computing) is a hidden program which secretly runs commands, and usually opens up access to the
computer running it by opening a backdoor possibly allowing confidential or personal information to be compromised. A Trojan
horse may, for example: steal passwords; copy sensitive date; carry out any other harmful operations.
As a Trojan horse is usually (and increasingly) intended to open a port on your machine so that a hacker can gain control of it (such as
by stealing personal data stored on the hard drive), the hacker's goal is to first infect your machine by making you open an infected
file containing the Trojan and then to access your machine through the opened port. However, to be able to infiltrate your machine,
the hacker normally has to know its IP address.
Unlike viruses and worms, Trojans do not reproduce by infecting other files nor do they self-replicate. Installing a firewall (a
program which filters data entering and leaving your machine) is enough to protect you from this kind of intrusion. For Windows
systems, there are two free high-performance firewalls: Zone larm, Tiny Personal Firewall. Program that detects and deletes them
is known as an anti-Trojan. One example is The Cleaner.
Spyware refers to program which gather information on the user of the computer & sent gathered informations to the software's
publisher so Internet users can be profiled. Data gathered this way may be: URLs of websites visited, search terms entered into
search engines, an analysis of online purchases, payment information (credit/debit cards), or personal information. This enables
the creators of such software to make their programs profitable by selling the statistical data, allowing them to distribute their
software for free.
What's more, besides divulging personal information, spyware may also cause various other nuisances: consuming RAM, using disk
space, taking up processor cycles, crashing other applications, hurting usability (for example, displaying targeted pop-up ads based
on the data collected). Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse .

There is anti-spyware software (Ad-ware by Lavasoft.de, & Spybot, Search) for detecting and deleting files, processes and registry
entries created by spyware. What's more, installing a personal firewall can both detect spyware and prevent them from accessing
the Internet (and therefore from sending the data collected).
"Logic bombs" are pieces of program code which trigger at a predetermined moment, which may be when a particular date is
reached, when a certain command is run, or any other system event.
A hoax is an email which disseminates misinformation and encourages the recipient to send this false report to his or her friends,
relatives, or colleagues. Any information received by email which does not include a hyperlink to a website attesting to its
accuracy should be considered invalid!
Browser hijacker- Using a browser hijacker the person responsible for the spyware can deliver pop-up ads, reset the browser
homepage, or direct the browser to Web sites the victim would not normally visit.
Slimeware - A slang term used to describe software that interferes with the user experience by changing key settings in order to
gain profit. A type of adware.
Crimeware - A type of malicious software that is designed to commit crimes on the Internet. Crimeware may be a virus, spyware or
other deceptive piece of software that can be used to commit identity theft and fraud.
How to Protect Computers

1. Network Security- stay informed, know your operating system, reduce network access (firewall), reduce the number of entry
points (ports), define an internal security policy (passwords, activation of executables), & deploy security utilities (logging).
2. System Security- Firewall is a system that protects a computer or a computer network against intrusions coming from a third-
party network (generally the Internet). A firewall is a system that filters data packets that are exchanged over the network.
Therefore, it is a filtering gateway.
Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both. A router is a good example of a
hardware device that has a built-in firewall. The system firewall is a software system, often supported by dedicated network
hardware, forming an intermediary between the local network (or the local computer) and one or more external networks. A
network firewall only allows authorized traffic from the Internet to flow in and out of the network.
A firewall system contains a set of predefined rules that allow the system to: Authorise the connection (allow), Block the connection
(deny), & Reject the connection request without informing the issuer (drop). The term personal firewall is used to describe the case
where the protected area is limited to the computer on which the firewall is installed.
3. Data Security- RAID technology (acronym for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, or sometimes Redundant Array of
Independent Disks) allows user to form one storage unit from several hard drives. The created unit (called a cluster) is therefore
highly fault-tolerant (high-availability) or has a higher I/O capacity. The distribution of data on several hard drives allows for
increased data security and more reliable associated services. This is achieved by combining multiple disk drive components into a
logical unit, where data is distributed across the drives in one of several ways called "RAID levels"; this concept is an example of
storage virtualisation and was first defined by David A. Patterson, Garth A. Gibson and Randy Katz at the University of California,
Berkeley in 1987 as Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks. RAID is now used as an umbrella term for computer data storage
schemes that can divide and replicate data among multiple physical disk drives. The physical disks are said to be in a
RAID array, which is accessed by the operating system as one single disk.
A disk array controller is a device which manages the physical disk drives and presents them to the computer as logic
units. It almost always implements hardware RAID, thus it is sometimes referred to as RAID controller. It also often
provides additional disk cache.
4. Electrical security - An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a device that protects electronic equipment from
power uncertainties.
5. Miscellaneous- a) Updating of OS and Applications. Updates are really important for several reasons: firstly, they
solve problems with the software (Debugging). Secondly, if its more serious stuff, like your operating system or
communications software like your e-mail, then it can solve security holes in the software. Lastly, for software which
needs regular updates, i.e. once a week, like antivirus software. The reason that the cycle of updates is so short is
because no virus is the same and the way it attacks that system can be different.
b) A virus removal tool is a small executable file for cleaning a machine which has been infected by a particular virus.

Each removal tool is therefore uniquely capable of eradicating a particular kind of virus, or a particular version of a virus.
Eg. AutoUpder (Symantec), BadTrans.A (Symantec).
c) Authentication is the act of confirming the truth of an attribute of a datum or entity. Authentication is the process of
verifying a claim made by a subject that it should be allowed to act on behalf of a given principal (person, computer,
process, etc.). Authorization, on the other hand, involves verifying that an authenticated subject has permission to
perform certain operations or access specific resources. Authentication, therefore, must precede authorization.
Access authorization restricts access to a computer to group of users through the use of authentication systems such as
passwords, identification cards, and, more recently, smart cards and biometric systems.
d) Anti-virus software consists of computer programs that attempt to identify, thwart and eliminate computer viruses
and other malicious software (malware) eg. McAfee, Norton, AVG, Avast etc
e) Backups are a way of securing information. A backup is a copy of one or more files created as an alternate in case the
original data is lost or becomes unusable. They are another copy of all the important computer files kept in another
location. These files are kept on hard disks, external storage device, such as an external hard drive, flash memory
device, or even another computer, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, DVDs and tapes. Many programs are available for both Mac and
Windows that provide automatic backups and system restore capabilities. Backup is the most important computer
term you should know.
f) The word cryptography is a generic term that describes all techniques that make it possible to encrypt messages, or
to make them unintelligible without specific action. The associated verb is to encrypt.
Cryptology is essentially based on arithmetics. In the case of a text, it involves transforming the letters that make up the
message into a series of numbers (in the form of bits in computing, and then performing calculations on these numbers
to modify them to make them incomprehensible. The result of this modification (the encrypted message) is called
ciphertext as opposed to the initial message, called plaintext; & make sure the recipient will be able to decrypt them.
The act of coding a message to make it secret is called encryption. The reverse method, which involves tracing the
original message, is called decryption.
g) Honey pots are computers that are either intentionally or unintentionally left vulnerable to attack by crackers. They
can be used to catch crackers or fix vulnerabilities.
h)Intrusion-detection systems can scan a network for people that are on the network but who should not be there or
are doing things that they should not be doing, for example trying a lot of passwords to gain access to the network.
i)Pinging The ping application can be used by potential crackers to find if an IP address is reachable. If a cracker finds a
computer, they can try a port scan to detect and attack services on that computer.
ERROR or BUG
Term used to describe any issue that arises unexpectedly causing the program not to function properly or to close.
Access denied error is commonly caused by improper access rights, this error can also be caused by a hardware error. A
critical error is a serious error that makes it impossible for the current program or operating system that's running to
continue. This error will cause the computer to freeze to reboot. A drop in is a read/write error that is encountered
when incorrectly detecting a non-existent data signal. A drop out is a term used to describe a read/write error that
occurs when losing contact of the host. Fatal OE or fatal exception is a software error that is caused when a software
program attempts to access an illegal instruction, invalid data, or other code or doesn't have the proper privilege level.
File not found is an error message encountered when the file being accessed is no longer present or is corrupt and
cannot be read. Guru Meditation - A black screen with red text error message on early Amiga computers that occurs
when a critical flaw is encountered on the computer. For users familiar with Microsoft Windows, you can think of this
error message like the Blue Screen of Death or BSOD. A hard error is an error or issue that occurs because of a physical
hardware issue with the computer. Hardware conflict - An error that occurs when a hardware device in the computer
conflicts with other hardware devices IRQs, I/O ports or DMA. Today, hardware conflicts are avoided by using Plug n
Play(PnP) which manages each of the hardware devices installed in the computer for the user. An overflow error is an

error caused when the capacity of a device is exceeded. Page fault is An interruption that occurs when a software
program attempts to access an invalid page in memory in Microsoft Windows. It is caused by a software issue or
confliction, driver issue, or a hardware related issue.
A run-time error is detected after or during the execution of a program, whereas a compile-time error is detected by
the compiler before the program is ever executed. It means, while I was running I had a problem I could not resolve.
There are multiple reasons why you will see a runtime error, the following are just a few examples. Poor Programming,
Aging or damaged hardware - To a large degree software depends upon the workability of peripherals in your
computer. Malicious Virus or Ad Ware - These programs run in the back ground undetected and can cause a mountain
of damage.
System errors – A software malfunction that causes the operating system to function no longer. These are commonly
fatal and may require a hardware device to be repaired or replaced.
Time-out - When referring to data communications, it refers to a disconnect that occurs because no data is being
communicated. Many ISPs will set a time-out to occur if no data is being communicated after a set period of time. This is
commonly performed to help keep phone lines available.
Exploit is a program or set of instructions designed to take advantage of a vunerability in a program. Flaws can be a
security risk in a software program, cause the program to crash, or cause other issues. To resolve flaws, the software
developer release updates or patches that updates the code and corrects the issue. Glitch is an issue with a program
caused by a mistake in the programming.
Thrashing is a situation where large amounts of computer resources are used to do a minimal amount of work, with the
system in a continual state of resource contention. Resource contention is a conflict over access to a shared resource
such as random access memory, disk storage, cache memory, internal busses or external network devices. Usually
thrashing refers to two or more processes accessing a shared resource repeatedly such that serious system
performance degradation occurs because the system is spending a disproportionate amount of time just accessing the
shared resource.
To resolve thrashing due to excessive paging, a user can do any of the following.
1. Increase the amount of RAM in the computer (generally the best long-term solution).
2. Decrease the number of programs being run on the computer.
3. Replace programs that are memory-heavy with equivalents that use less memory.
Hang or freeze occurs when either a single computer program, or the whole system ceases to respond to inputs. The
mouse cursor may also be stuck in a form indicating that it is waiting for some operation to complete, such as an
hourglass or a spinning wait cursor. Almost always, the only way to recover from a system freeze is to reboot the
machine, usually by power cycling with an on/off or reset button. In the Windows 7 and Windows Vista operating
systems, hangs almost always precedes a Blue Screen of Death or are a sign to the user that one is on its way. A hang
differs from a crash, in which a program exits abnormally or the operating system shuts down.
A crash (or system crash) is a condition where a computer or a program, either an application or part of the operating
system, ceases to function properly, often exiting after encountering errors. This is different from a hang or freeze
where the application or OS continues to run without obvious response to input.
Software aging or software ageing refers to progressive performance degradation or a sudden hang/crash of a
software system due to exhaustion of operating system resources, fragmentation and accumulation of errors. A
proactive fault management method to deal with the software aging phenomenon is software rejuvenation. However,
the simplest way to emulate software rejuvenation is to reboot the system or restart the aging application. Memory
leaks are a potential cause or contributing factor in software aging, as they can exhaust available system memory.

Fixing Errors In Programs-
1. Debugging - Removal of Errors (“bugs”) in computer programs are known as Debugging. In the computer world, a bug
is an error in a software program. Debugger is a special program used to find & fix errors (bugs) in other programs.
Today, computer software bugs are fixed by running software patches and resolvable hardware bugs are fixed with
firmware updates or replacement of hardware components.
2. A patch is a piece of software code that can be applied after the software program has been installed to correct an
issue with that program. Most software programs may have several patches released after the initial release and
commonly update the version of the program when successfully installed. In the case of operating systems and
computer server software, patches have the particularly important role of fixing security holes.
Software patches can be found through the software developer's website or third-party contact page.
3. Porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing
environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed (e.g. different CPU, operating system, or
third party library).
4. Quilt (“patches” or "patch sets") is a software utility for managing a series of changes to the source code of any
computer program. In doing so, quilt makes it easier for other programmers to test and evaluate the different changes
before they are permanently inserted into the source code. It's heavily used, for example, by the maintainers of the
Linux kernel.
5. A hotfix is a term often used by a manufacturer or developer to describe a vital fix or correction in software. What
makes a hotfix different than a patch is that they are created specifically for a customer's need and not distributed to
the public. Hotfixes are for mission critical systems that are not functioning properly or released as a way for a
developer to test a fix before adding it to an update for the general public.
6. Update - Software file that contains updated information and various fixes that resolves issues that have been
located by the software developer to help prevent those errors from occurring in the future. Because these updates fix
problems with the program, they are often offered to the user for free. When upgrading a software program you will
almost always have to purchase the upgrade. With software, an upgrade allows a user to get the latest version of a
software program at a discounted price and not have to purchase the full product.
7. Service Pack : A service pack is a tested, cumulative set of all hotfixes, security updates, critical updates, and updates.
Service packs may also contain additional fixes for problems that are found internally since the release of the product
and a limited number of customer-requested design changes or features. Microsoft service packs are available for
download and are accompanied by a Microsoft Knowledge Base article.
Update Rollup : An update rollup is a tested, cumulative set of hotfixes, security updates, critical updates, and updates
that are packaged together for easy deployment. Microsoft update rollups are available for customers to download and
are accompanied by a Microsoft Knowledge Base article.

Chapter 2
COMPUTER TERMINOLOGIES
Defragmentation is a term used to describe the process of reorganizing a hard drive's data to help increase the
proficiency of accessing the data. Hard drives that are severely fragmented will take longer to acess the data because it
is spread across the drive and not located in a central area. An example of a utility that organizes the disk drive is
Microsoft's defrag utility. Another great defrag utility is Diskeeper by Diskeeper.
Disk compression, a disk optimizer is a software program designed to organize data or compress data allowing the disk
drive to contain the maximum amount of information as possible. A good example of a disk compression software
program is a Microsoft Windows utility known as double space & defrag.
Disk duplexing is a method of how information is written to the hard drive. With disk duplexing, when information is
needed to be written to a hard drive, instead of only one disk drive, it is copied to both drives, on different disk
controllers.
Disk partitioning is the act of dividing a hard disk drive into multiple logical storage units referred to as partitions, to
treat one physical disk drive as if it were multiple disks. Partitions are also termed “slices”. Partitions help enable users
to divide a computer hard drive into different drives or into different portions for multiple operating systems to run on
the same drive.
Disk formatting is the process for preparing a hard disk drive or flexible disk for its use by an operating system (OS). It
involves rewriting the directory structure, or file system, of a disk. All disks must be formatted using a supported file
system in order to work with a computer. While the formatting process technically does not erase the files on the disk, it
does make them inaccessible, since they are no longer part of the directory structure. Therefore, make sure you don't
format or reformat a disk that contains important data.
Virtual disk or disc or disk emulator, a virtual drive is a non-existing drive that does not physically exist in the computer.
For example, a common use of a virtual drive is to make a virtual CD or DVD drive from a directory or ISO image of a disc
and be able to play games without inserting the CD or DVD. Microsoft Windows users can use the MS-DOS subset
command to create a virtual drive. SlySoft is also the developer of Virtual CloneDrive, a free software program to create
clones of a CD or DVD.
Pagination - Process of taking a complete document and breaking that document into separate pages for printing or
viewing. In a word processor pagination is automatically created by creating new pages, to create a new page a page
break is inserted into the document.
System restore or Restore is a term used to describe the process of reverting a computer back to its original
configuration or an earlier copy. The term used to describe the process of recovering lost or old data from a backup. It is
also a feature introduced with Microsoft Windows XP and also found with Vista, 7, and later version that creates
automatic backups also known as restore points each time a restore point is scheduled, manual restore points that are
created by the user, and restore points created when a system setting changes.
Recover is a term used to describe the process of stabilizing or taking a computer or electronic device back to a point
when it was stable, or is used to describe the process of restoring a file that has been deleted.
Recovery partition or hidden partition is partitions that allow a user to restore their computer back to how it was when
it was first purchased, without using a CD or DVD. Hidden partitions are accessed either through Windows using a pre-
installed application that came with the computer or by pressing a key combination as the computer boots up. Eg. F11 -
Access Lenovo hidden recovery partition. F10 - Access Sony hidden restore partition.
Rollback is a term used to describe the process of returning a computer back to a state that it was working properly. It
describes the process of returning a hardware product or software program back to an earlier version after
encountering issues with a later version.

Direct Memory Access, DMA is the transferring of data from one storage device to memory to another device without
using the CPU. Because DMA is freeing up the usage of the processor, DMA tends to be faster than PIO mode. PIO, or
Programmed Input/Output, is a method of transferring data from a device to another device, utilizing the computer
processor and not the memory or DMA. Because PIO modes utilize the computer processor, using PIO is slower than
DMA.
Address (direct address, machine address, real address, or absolute address )- With computer data storage, an
address is the location pointing to where data can be accessed. With computer networks, an address refers to a
network IP address or other unique network identification. On the Internet, an address is a synonym for a web address.
It is an exact memory address. When referring to computer memory, the base address is a memory starting point that
address that references all other memory addresses.
Leak (Memory leak)- A term used to describe a software issue that causes the computer or hardware device to lose
resources or information that are no longer in use. It may be caused by a Bug or improper handling.
It results in degradation of performance on the computer or hardware device. Microsoft Windows users can identify
memory leaks by opening the Windows Task Manager. A leak can be temporarily resolved by closing and restarting the
program, causing the memory leak or rebooting the computer or hardware device. To permanently resolve a leak a
patch for the program would need to be downloaded and installed, if available
Interrupt is an asynchronous signal indicating the need for attention or a synchronous event in software indicating the
need for a change in execution. Interrupts are a commonly used technique for computer multitasking, especially in
real-time computing.
Crossplatform- Software that can run on multiple types of computer systems. For example, the graphics program
Adobe Photoshop and the word processor Microsoft Word are both available for the Windows and Macintosh
operating systems. Therefore, Photoshop and Word are considered to be crossplatform applications.
Multiplatform- If a software program is developed for mulitple operating systems, it is considered to be
"multiplatform." Since Microsoft Word runs on both the Windows and Macintosh platform, it is a mutliplatform
application. In the consumer gaming market, mutliplatform games run on more than one gaming machine.
An integrated development environment (IDE) (also known as integrated design environment or integrated
debugging environment) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for
software development. An IDE normally consists of: a source code editor; a compiler and/or an interpreter; build
automation tools; a debugger.
Program profiling, software profiling or simply profiling, a form of dynamic program analysis (as opposed to static code
analysis), is the investigation of a program's behaviour using information gathered as the program executes. The usual
purpose of this analysis is to determine which sections of a program to optimize - to increase its overall speed, decrease
its memory requirement or sometimes both.
Default- This term is used to describe a preset value for some option in a computer program. It is the value used when a
setting has not been specified by the user. For example, the default font setting in Netscape Communicator is "Times."
Desktop publishing involves the combination of typesetting (choosing fonts and the text layout), graphic design, page
layout (how it all fits on the page), and printing the document (books, magazines, newspapers, flyers, pamphlets etc). In
order to desktop publish, all you need is a computer, monitor, printer, and software that can create a printable
document. Desktop publishers use programs like Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Word and QuarkXpress
to create page layouts for documents they want to print.
Clip art- A collection of drawings, diagrams, and photographs that you can insert into documents
Clipboard - A temporary storage location used for cut, copy, and paste
Font- A name assigned to a specific design of text characters.

Software suite- A collection of individual applications sold as a single package; You install the entire collection of
applications at once. It has two major advantages: ease of use & low cost. Eg. MS Office Suite
Word processing software (MS Word)
? Allows users to create and manipulate documents that contain text and graphics
? One of the most widely used types of application software
? Word wrap- Software automatically positions text at the beginning of the next line when it extends beyond the right
page margin
? Specify margins- The portion of the page outside the main body of text
? Scrolling- Process of moving different portions of the document on the screen into view
? spelling checker- Reviews the spelling of individual words, sections of a document, or the entire document
? editing- process of making changes to a document's existing content
? formatting- changing the appearance of a document
? creating- developing the document by entering text or numbers, inserting graphical images, and performing other
tasks using an input device
? saving- process of copying a document from memory to a storage medium such as a floppy disk or hard disk
? printing- process of sending a file to a printer to generate output on a medium such as paper
? Header - Text that appears at the top of each page; Footer- Text that appears at the bottom of each page; May
include Page numbers, Company names, Report titles, Dates
Spreadsheet software
? Allows you to organize data in rows and columns & Performs calculations on this data
? Rows and columns collectively called a worksheet
? Data is organized vertically into columns identified by letters & horizontally into rows identified by numbers
? A cell is the intersection of a column and row identified by the column letter and row number ex. A19
? Charting- Allows you to display spreadsheet data in a chart that shows the relationship of data in graphical form
What can a cell of spreadsheet software contain?
- Label - Text that identifies the data and helps organize the worksheet
- Formula- Performs calculations on the data in the worksheet and displays the resulting value in a cell
- Function- A predefined formula that performs common calculations
Presentation graphics software- Allows you to create documents called presentations; Sometimes called a slide show
eg MS PPT. The slide sorter view is used to help organize the presentation; You can view small versions of all the slides.
Personal information manager (PIM)- A software application that includes an appointment calendar, address book,
notepad, and other features which Helps to organize personal information.
Adobe- Produces award-winning software used to create and deliver the majority of Web images today. The Products
include Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, LiveMotion, PageMill, Streamline, Adobe Reader, and PageMaker
Multimedia authoring software- Also called authorware; It allows you to combine text, graphics, audio, video, and
animation into an interactive presentation. Multimedia presentations often are interactive computer-based
presentations or Web-based presentations designed to facilitate learning and elicit direct student participation
Software facilitating communication-
? E-mail, Web browsers, Chat rooms, Newsgroups, Instant messaging, Groupware
? Videoconference- A meeting between two or more geographically separated people who use a network or the
Internet to transmit audio and video data; Home users can make a video telephone call where both parties see
each other as they talk
Booting- The process of starting or restarting a computer is called booting or bootstrapping. Cold boot - Turning on a
computer that has been powered off completely . Warm boot - Using the operating system to restart a computer. A
boot drive is the drive from which your computer starts.

An operating system includes various shut down options. Sleep mode saves any open documents and programs to
RAM, turns off all unneeded functions, and then places the computer in a low-power state. Hibernate saves any open
documents and programs to a hard disk before removing power from the computer.
Hibernate- If you are not going to use your computer for a few hours, it is a good idea to put it to sleep (also known as
standby mode) to save power. If you are not going to use the computer for more than a day, it is usually best to turn it off.
However, some Windows computer offer an option that combines the benefits of sleep mode and powering down the
computer, called "Hibernate."
When you select Hibernate, the computer saves the current state of the system from the computer's RAM to the hard
disk, then shuts down. When the computer is restarted, instead of going through the typical boot sequence, the
previously saved state is automatically loaded into the RAM.
A computer processor is described as idle when it is not being used by any program. Programs which make use of CPU
Idle Time mean that they run at a low priority so as not to impact programs that run at normal priority.
Modes
CPUs with this capability use at least two modes: protected mode and supervisor mode. The supervisor mode is used by
the operating system's kernel for low level tasks that need unrestricted access to hardware, such as controlling how
memory is written and erased, and communication with devices like graphics cards. Protected mode, in contrast, is
used for almost everything else.
In protected mode, programs may have access to a more limited set of the CPU's instructions. A user program may leave
protected mode only by triggering an interrupt, causing control to be passed back to the kernel. In this way the
operating system can maintain exclusive control over things like access to hardware and memory.
Safe mode is a diagnostic mode of a computer operating system (OS). It can also refer to a mode of operation by
application software. Safe mode is intended to fix most, if not all problems within an operating system. It is also widely
used for removing Rogue security software..
Data loss is an error condition in information systems in which information is destroyed by failures or neglect in storage,
transmission, or processing. Information systems implement backup and disaster recovery equipment and processes
to prevent data loss or restore lost data.
Ripper - A software program that "grabs" digital audio from a compact disc and transfers it to a computer's hard drive.
The process is known as Ripcording (simultaneous recording and ripping of an audio signal). The integrity of the data is
preserved because the signal does not pass through the computer's sound card and does not need to be converted to
an analog format. The digital-to-digital transfer creates a WAV file (Waveform Audio File Format, WAVE, or more
commonly known as WAV due to its filename extension) that can then be converted into an MP3 file. To rip is to move
the data from the compact disc to the hard drive.
Haptic - Of or relating to the sensation of touch. From the Greek haptesthai, to touch.
Haptics is the science of applying tactile sensation to human interaction with computers. A haptic device is one that
involves physical contact between the computer and the user, usually through an input/output device, such as a
joystick or data gloves, that senses the body's movements. By using haptic devices, the user can not only feed
information to the computer but can receive information from the computer in the form of a felt sensation on some
part of the body. This is referred to as a haptic interface.
Data glove - A glove equipped with sensors that sense the movements of the hand and interfaces those movements
with a computer. Data gloves are commonly used in virual reality environments where the user sees an image of the
data glove and can manipulate the movements of the virtual environment using the glove.
Flip-flop or latch is a Integrated circuit that has two stable states and can be used to store state information. By sending
a signal to the flip-flop, the state can be changed. In sequential logic, it is the basic element of storage. Flip-flops are
used in a number of electronics, including computers and communications equipment. The first flip-flop was built in
1918 by William Eccles and F.W. Jordan, called the Eccles-Jordan trigger circuit. The common term "trigger circuit" or
"multivibrator" was used to describe the earlier flip-flops, which were two-state circuits. While basic in design, there

were multiple varieties of these flip-flops: astable multivibrator, monostable multivibrator and bistable multivibrator.
The latter variety was typical known as a flip-flop.
A buffer contains data that is stored for a short amount of time, typically in the computer's memory (RAM) or Cache or
Register, for example in a printer spooler or in online videostreaming. The purpose of a buffer is to hold data right before
it is used. For example, when you download an audio or video file from the Internet, it may load the first 20% of it into a
buffer and then begin to play. While the clip plays back, the computer continually downloads the rest of the clip and
stores it in the buffer. Because the clip is being played from the buffer, not directly from the Internet, there is less of a
chance that the audio or video will stall or skip when there is network congestion.
Data streaming or Buffering, commonly seen in the forms of audio and video streaming, is when a multimedia file can
be played back without being completely downloaded first. With a fast Internet connection, you can actually stream
live audio or video to your computer.
Spooling refers to the process of placing data in a temporary working area for another program to process. The most
common use is in writing files on a magnetic tape or disk and entering them in the work queue for another process. A
spool is a temporary storage area within the computer's RAM that contains input or output data.
The most common type of spool is a print spool, which stores print jobs that are sent to a printer.
Kerning refers to adjusting the space between characters, especially by placing two characters closer together than
normal. Kerning makes certain combinations of letters, such as WA, MW, TA, and VA, look better.
A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and
displaying data from, a computer or a computing system. Generally, a terminal is a combination of keyboard and display
screen. Terminals are sometimes divided into three classes based on how much processing power they contain:
? intelligent terminal: a stand-alone device that contains main memory and a CPU.
? smart terminal: contains some processing power, but not as much as an intelligent terminal.
? dumb terminal: has no processing capabilities. It relies entirely on the computer's processor.
Dialog box- A special window a program displays to provide information, present available options, or request a
response
Web 2.0- Web sites that offer Web-based software; Provide users with a means to share and/or store personal
information through Web-based software
Application service provider (ASP)- Third party organization that manages and distributes software and services on the
Web; Allows companies to outsource information technology (IT) needs
Wizard- An automated assistant that helps you complete a task; Asks you questions and then automatically performs
actions based on your answer
Jukebox - A device that stores numerous CD-ROMs and uses a mechanical arm, carousel or other device to bring the
disk to an optical station for reading and writing. Some of the larger jukeboxes hold as many as 500 disks and have
multiple readers and drives to allow a network of users to simultaneously access data.
iTunes is an audio playback program developed by Apple Computer. You can use iTunes to import songs from CDs as
well as other audio files from your hard drive. The program can also download songs (for a small fee) from the iTunes
Music Store.
The iPod is a portable music player developed by Apple Computer. Though it is an Apple product, the iPod can be used
with both Macs and PCs. The iTunes software, also created by Apple, is used to organize and transfer songs and playlists
to the iPod.
Apple's iPhone is a smartphone that functions as a mobile phone, an iPod, and can run third-party apps. It runs the iOS,
which is an operating system developed by Apple specifically for portable devices.
The iPad is a lightweight tablet PC developed b Apple. It looks similar to an iPhone, but has a much larger touchscreen
display.

A digital signature is a block of data that can be attached to documents such as PDFs, word processing files, and e-mail
messages. It contains a unique code that verifies a person's identity. Many programs allow users to "digitally sign"
documents, which appends a digital signature to the file.
Dongle- term has two widely different definitions:
1. A security key. This is a little hardware device that plugs into the serial or USB port of a computer. Its purpose is to
ensure that only authorized users can use certain software applications.
2. A laptop Ethernet card adapter. This is a little connector that attaches to a PC card in a laptop on one end, and to an
Ethernet cable on the other end. Since most PC (or PCMCIA) network interface cards are too small to connect directly to
a standard RJ-45 Ethernet cable, they need this little adapter that connects the card to the cable.
DVR- Stands for "Digital Video Recorder." A DVR is basically a VCR that uses a hard drive instead of video tapes. It can be
used to record, save, and play back television programs. Unlike a VCR, however, a DVR can also pause live TV by
recording the current show in real time. The user can choose to fast forward (often during commercials) to return to live
television. Most satellite and cable TV companies offer a DVR as an option with their digital television packages.
DVI- Stands for "Digital Video Interface." DVI is a video connection standard created by the Digital Display Working
Group (DDWG). Most DVI ports support both analog and digital displays. If the display is analog, the DVI connection
converts the analog signal to an digital signal. If the display is digital, no conversion is necessary.
A zip file (.zip) is a "zipped" or compressed file. For example, when you download a file, if the filename looks like this:
"filename.zip," you are downloading a zipped file. "Zipping" a file involves compressing one or more items into a
smaller archive. A zipped file takes up less hard drive space and takes less time to transfer to another computer. This is
why most Windows files that you find on the Internet are compressed.
Widgets are small programs designed for the Mac OS X Dashboard. Some widgets included with Mac OS X include a
dictionary, calendar, weather forecast, and stock list widget. Several thousand other dashboard widgets are available
from third-party developers.
A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made
possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of
the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is the Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can
edit. The term "wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase, "wiki wiki," which means "super fast."
WORM can also mean "Write Once, Read Many." It is an optical storage technology that allows a disc to be written only
once but read an unlimited number of times.
WPA- Stands for "Wi-Fi Protected Access." WPA is a security protocol designed to create secure wireless(Wi-Fi)
networks. It is similar to the WEP protocol, but offers improvements in the way it handles security keys and the way
users are authorized. Stands for "Wired Equivalent Privacy." WEP is a security protocol for Wi-Fi networks. Since
wireless networks transmit data over radio waves, it is easy to intercept data or "eavesdrop" on wireless data
transmissions. The goal of WEP is to make wireless networks as secure as wired networks, such as those connected by
Ethernet cables.
WYSIWYG - Stands for "What You See Is What You Get," and is pronounced "wihzeewig." WYSIWYG refers to software
that accurately represents the final output during the development phase. For example, a desktop publishing program
such as Photoshop is a WYSIWYG graphics program because it can display images on the screen the same way they will
look when printed on paper. Word processing programs like Microsoft Word and Apple Pages are both WYSIWYG
editors.
Upload- While downloading is receiving a file from another computer, uploading is the exact opposite. It is sending a
file from your computer to another system.
Telnet- This is a program that allows you log in to a Unix computer via a text-based interface. If you have an account on a
Telnet server, you can access certain resources on the system such your home directory, your e-mail account, FTP files,
etc.

A torrent is a file sent via the BitTorrent protocol. It can be just about any type of file, such as a movie, song, game, or
application. During the transmission, the file is incomplete and therefore is referred to as a torrent. Torrents are
different from regular downloads in that they are usually downloaded from more than one server at a time. The
BitTorrent protocol uses multiple computers to transfer a single file, thereby reducing the bandwidth required by each
server.
Toslink is a type of digital audio connection developed by Toshiba Corporation. It uses a fiber optic cable to transmit an
audio signal in the form of pulses of light. A single Toslink cable can be used to carry a mono, stereo, or even a surround
audio signal.
Toslink is similar to the Sony/Philips Digital Interfance, known as S/PDIF. It provides the same digital audio data as
S/PDIF, but uses a light beam instead of an electrical current to send the data. Toslink connections are most commonly
found on high-end home theater receivers, MiniDisc players, and professional audio equipment, as well as Power Mac
G5 computers.
Troubleshooting is the process or identifying and fixing problems. Computer troubleshooting may involve hardware or
software and can sometimes involve both at the same time.
Virtualization allows a single computer to run multiple operating system. For example, using virtualization software, a
Mac OS X computer can run Windows and a Windows computer can run Linux. Virtualization software allows multiple
operating systems to run at the same time and even interact with each other. When an additional operating system (OS)
is running on top of the main OS through virtualization, it is called a virtual machine.
Samba is an open-source software implementation of the SMB (Server Message Block) networking protocol used by
Windows computers. Samba allows other computer platforms, such as Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, IBM System 390, and
OpenVMS to interact with Windows computers on the same network. This includes sharing files and using shared
devices such as printers connected to other computers within the local network.
Because SMB was developed only for Windows, without Samba, other computer platforms would be isolated from
Windows machines, even if they were part of the same network. Fortunately, Samba helps different types of computers
work together as if they were all based on the same platform.
SMB- Stands for "Server Message Block." SMB is a network protocol used by Windows-based computers that allows
systems within the same network to share files.
SEO- Stands for "Search Engine Optimization." SEO involves a number of adjustments to the HTML of individual Web
pages to achieve a high search engine ranking.
Shell- In the computer science world, however, a shell is a software program that interprets commands from the user so
that the operating system can understand them and perform the appropriate functions. The shell is a command-line
interface, which means it is soley text-based. Shells are most commonly associated with Unix.
Skin- This strange term refers to the appearance of a program's interface. By changing the skin of a program, you can
make the interface look completely different, but usually still have all the same functions. It is similar to a "Theme" you
may use to customize the appearance of your computer's desktop. Skins have become particularly popular for MP3
players.
SMART- Stands for "Self-Monitoring Analysis And Reporting Technology." It is used to protect and prevent errors in
hard drives. The SMART technology basically monitors and analyzes hard drives (hence the name), then checks the
health of your hard drive and lets you know if there are any problems. The main purpose of SMART is to keep your hard
drive running smoothly and prevent it from crashing.
SMS- Stands for "Short Message Service." SMS is used to send text messages to mobile phones. The messages can
typically be up to 160 characters in length, though some services use 5-bit mode, which supports 224 characters.
A spider is a software program that travels the Web (hence the name "spider"), locating and indexing websites for
search engines. All the major search engines, such as Google and Yahoo!, use spiders to build and update their indexes.
These programs constantly browse the Web, traveling from one hyperlink to another.

SQL- Stands for "Structured Query Language," and can be pronounced as either "sequel" or "S-Q-L." It is a query
language used for accessing and modifying information in a database. Some common SQL commands include "insert,"
"update," and "delete." The language was first created by IBM in 1975 and was called SEQUEL for "Structured English
Query Language."
The Recycle Bin in used by Windows computers to store deleted items. It temporarily stores files and folders before
they are permanently deleted. The Recycle Bin window allows you to delete items individually or restore them to their
original location. If you want to permanently remove all items in the Recycle Bin, select "Empty the Recycle Bin" in the
left sidebar of the window.
The Trash is used by Macintosh computers to store deleted items. It serves as a safety net, which provides an extra step
before items are permanently deleted from the computer.
Refresh is a command that reloads the contents of a window or web page with the most current data. Since refreshing a
window reloads it with new information, the terms "refresh" and "reload" are often used synonymously.
Registry- This is a database used by Microsoft Windows to store configuration information about the software installed
on a computer. This information includes things like the desktop background, program settings, and file extension
associations.
A primary key is a unique identifier for a database record. When a table is created, one of the fields is typically assigned
as the primary key. While the primary key is often a number, it may also be a text field or other data type. For example, if
a database contains definitions of computer terms, it would make sense that each term is only listed once in the
database. By defining the "Term" field as the primary key, it would ensure that no term is listed more than once in the
database.
PPP- Stands for "Point to Point Protocol." It is the Internet standard for dial-up modem connections. PPP is a set of rules
that defines how your modem exchanges packets of data with other systems on the Internet. If you connect to your ISP
with a dial-up modem, you are most likely using PPP.
PPPoE is short for "Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet" and is pronounced "P-P-P-oh-E." It is a protocol commonly
used by DSL providers for establishing a PPP connection over an Ethernet network. In order to configure a PPPoE
connection, you typically need to enter username and password, as well as a service name, which is provided by your
ISP.
PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is included in the standard Office suite along with
Microsoft Word and Excel. The software allows users to create anything from basic slide shows to complex
presentations.
Internet portal is a Web site that acts as a starting point for browsing the Web. Portals typically include search engines
and large directories of websites. Some popular portals are Yahoo, Excite, Lyco, Netscape, AltaVista, MSN and AOL.com.
The term "pop-up" has two computer-related meanings. One refers to a window and the other is a type of menu.
1. Pop-Up Window A pop-up window is a type of window that opens without the user selecting "New Window" from a
program's File menu. Pop-up windows are often generated by websites that include pop-up advertisements.
2. Pop-Up Menu A pop-up menu is a type of menu that pops up on the screen when the user right-clicks a certain object
or area. It can be also called a contextual menu since the menu options are relevant to where the user right-clicked on
the screen. Pop-up menus provide quick access to common program functions and are used by most operating system
and applications.
A plug-in (also "plugin") is software add-on that adds extra features and capabilities to an application. Typically, plug-
ins are stored within a subdirectory of the application folder. When the application is opened, the plug-ins are loaded
into the program.
Plug-ins are available for a wide variety of programs, including Web browsers, graphic editors, and audio and video
applications. Web browser plug-ins often enable specific types of media to be viewed directly in the browser.

Plug and Play, sometimes, abbreviated PnP, is a catchy phrase used to describe devices that work with a computer
system as soon as they are connected. The user does not have to manually install drivers for the device or even tell the
computer that a new device has been added.
Platform typically refers to a computer's operating system.
PIRACY- When someone installs and uses commercial software without paying for the program, it is called "pirating"
the software.
Piconet is a network that is created using a wireless Bluetooth connection. Some examples of piconets include 1) a cell
phone and a computer, 2) a laptop and a Bluetooth-enabled digital camera, or 3) several PDAs that are connected to
each other.
PDF-Stands for "Portable Document Format." PDF is a multi-platform file format developed by Adobe Systems. A PDF
file captures document text, fonts, images, and even formatting of documents from a variety of applications.
To view a PDF file, you need Adobe Reader, a free application program distributed by Adobe Systems.
Node- Any system or device connected to a network is also called a node. For example, if a network connects a file
server, five computers, and two printers, there are eight nodes on the network. A node can also refer to a leaf, which is a
folder or file on your hard disk.
NNTP- Stands for "Network News Transfer Protocol." For a message to be posted to a newsgroup, it must be sent
through this protocol that interacts between news servers and newsreader programs. NNTP is basically the software
foundation of a newsgroup server. It is what queries, distributes, posts, and retrieves news articles.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, computer software,
and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products are the Machintosh line of computers, the
iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Its software includes the OS X and Ios operating system; the iTunes media browser; and
the iLife and iWork creativity and production suites. Apple is the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after
Samsung and Nokia.
The Macintosh or Mac, is a series of personal computers (PCs) designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The
first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially
successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a Graphical user interface rather than a command-line interface.
International Business Machines Corporation, or IBM, is an American multinational technology and consulting
corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and
software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to
nanotechnology.
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington that

develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a wide range of products and services related to computing. The
company was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975.
Intel Corporation- Founded in 1968 by Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, Intel manufactures the Intel computer
processors, Intel Overdrive CPU upgrades, networking devices, and is considered by most to be 'the' company that has
influenced the hardware market.
AMD- Founded May 1, 1969 by Jerry Sanders, Advanced Micro Devices has became a large competitor in the Pentium-
compatible chip market with their own line of Intel-compatible processors.
Metadata describes other data. It provides information about a certain item's content. For example, an image may
include metadata that describes how large the picture is, the color depth, the image resolution, when the image was
created, and other data. Web pages often include metadata in the form of meta tags. Description and keywords meta
tags are commonly used to describe the Web page's content. Most search engines use this data when adding pages to
their search index.

MOODLE (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment)- Moodle is an open source course management
system, orginally developed by Martin Dougiamas. It is used by thousands of educational institutions around the world
to provide an organized interface for e-learning, or learning over the Internet.
To learn more about Moodle, visit Moodle.org.
Multimedia is the integration of multiple forms of media. This includes text, graphics, audio, video, etc. For example, a
presentation involving audio and video clips would be considered a "multimedia presentation."
Social Networking Sites - 1. LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking website. It allows you to create a custom
profile and add other LinkedIn users to your list of connections. UnlikeFacebook, LinkedIn profiles are designed to be
professional, rather than personal. They appear like a resume, with education and work experience being the most
prominent. By using LinkedIn, you can keep in touch with past colleagues and meet new potential business partners.
2. MySpace is an online community that allows friends to keep in touch and meet new people as well.
3. Blog is a personal website which gives Internet users an easy and simple way to publish information online, in the
form of a journal. The term "blog" is a contraction of "weblog." A blog is a Web page, generally created with the use of a
dynamic tool for managing the layout of the content. The concept of a blog is closely linked to that of RSS feeds (The
"RSS" format (which stands for "Really Simple Syndication") is used to encode a website's content into an XML file, so
that third parties can use that content.). A link on a blog which points to another blog is called a trackback. Under this
system, blogs the world over are linked with one another, forming what is called the "blogosphere".
4. Twitter is a service that allows people to stay connected with each other by answering the basic question, "What are
you doing?" Once you sign up for a Twitter account, you can post your own updates, or “tweets”," using a computer or
cell phone.
5. Facebook is a social networking website that was originally designed for college students, but is now open to anyone
13 years of age or older. Facebook users can create and customize their own profiles with photos, videos, and
information about themselves. Friends can browse the profiles of other friends and write messages on their pages.
6. YouTube is a video sharing website owned by Google that allows users to watch other people's videos and publish
their own.
SMM is short for "Social Media Marketing." It refers to marketing through social networking websites and is a popular
way for businesses and organizations to market themselves on the Web.
A bulletin board or discussion forum is a dynamic web area which lets different people communicate. The bulletin
board is generally composed of different discussion threads (sometimes called subjects or topics) each relating to a
different area of discussion. The first message in a thread sets the topic of discussion, and the following messages
(generally placed below the first) continue it.
A "Chat" area, or "chatroom," is a space where multiple Internet users can engage in written discussion in real time. The
term "chatting" is generally reserved for communication systems included on a web site, as opposed to the term
"instant messaging," which refers to dedicated conversation systems which operate on the Internet, independent of
the Web. In addition to being an everyday word, "CHAT" is also meant to be an acronym for "Conversational Hypertext
Access Technology".
Unlike a bulletin board, chatting takes place in real time, and its messages are not saved permanently, which means that
only those present can read the conversations (though some chatrooms are able to record conversations).
"Podcasting" (a contraction of the words "iPod" and "broadcasting") is a technology for distributing multimedia (audio
or video) using an RSS or Atom feed. With podcasting, artists or news providers, whether they are professionals or
amateurs, have an easy way of distributing their creations by allowing their site to be placed on a podcast feed.
Hit- Technically, a hit is a request made to a Web server. It is a popular misconception that the term refers to the number
of visits a Web page gets, but that is not the case. If a Web page has five images on it, when the page is loaded, six "hits"

will be recorded. This is because the browser has to make six requests to the Web server - one for the HTML of the Web
page and five for the images.
Hover- When you roll the cursor over a link on a Web page, it is referred to as "hovering" over the link. When you click
the mouse button while the cursor is hovering over a link, it presses down on the link to activate it.
Hypermedia is an extension of hypertext that allows images, movies, and Flash animations to be linked to other
content. The most common type of hypermedia is an image link. Photos or graphics on the Web are often linked to
other pages. For example, clicking a small "thumbnail" image may open a larger version of the picture in a new window.
The Gopher technology was invented at the University of Minnesota, whose mascot is, not surprisingly, the Golden
Gopher. The gopher system allows people to search for and retrieve information using a text interface. Instead of
hyperlinks, the gopher interface uses menus of links to other documents and programs.
Veronica- The name actually stands for "Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Netwide Index to Computerized Archives." After
searching for the terms, Veronica displays a list of gopher menus and articles containing the key words you searched for.
Unlike most search engines, Veronica searches for keywords only in gopher server menu titles, and doesn't look
throughout the entire text of documents. When searching with Veronica, you can use the logical operators AND, NOT,
and OR to help narrow your search. Also, typing an asterisk (*) at the end of a word will match anything starting with
that word.
GIS- Stands for "Geographic Information Systems." GIS tools are used to gather and analyze data about the surface of
the earth. The data can be used to create charts, maps, and 3D models of the earth's surface. GIS files created with
ArcGIS software use the .e00 file extension.
GUID- Stands for "Globally Unique Identifier." A GUID is a 128-bit (16 byte) number used by software programs to
uniquely identify the location of a data object. Some examples of data that include GUIDs are streaming media files,
Windows registry entries, database keys, and various file types. GUIDs are typically written in hexadecimal notation,
containing 32 digits, and may look something like this:
｛12345678-9012-3456-7890-123456789012}
Globally unique identifiers are also the basis of the GUID Partition Table (GPT). This is a hard disk partitioning scheme
proposed by Intel as part of the Extensible Firmware Interface. It is used by Windows PCs as well as Intel-based
Macintosh computers. GPT uses GUIDs to define the different partitions on a hard drive. Some examples include the
boot partition, the file system partition, and the data partition. Each operating system that supports the GPT
partitioning scheme uses specific GUIDs to label each partition.
Flaming is the act of posting or sending offensive messages over the Internet. Flame wars are known as "pie fights."
Flaming is unfortunately one of the most common breaches of online netiquette.
Troll is a person who posts offensive or off-topic comments online. These comments are often made to incite
arguments or emotional responses from other users. Trolling, as it is called, may take place in Web forums, in blog
comment sections, and in social networking websites.
Flash is a multimedia technology used for creating animations and interactive websites. Web developers often use
Flash to add dynamic content that is not possible with HTML or other scripting languages. Some examples include
splash screen animations, YouTube videos, and interactive song playlists. In order to view Flash content in your Web
browser, the Flash plug-in must be installed. The standalone Flash Player is also available as a free download from
Adobe.
Packet- This is a small amount of computer data sent over a network. Each packet contains the address of its origin and
destination, and information that connects it to the related packets being sent. The process of sending and receiving
packets is known as "packet-switching."
A nybble or nibble is a set of four bits. Since there are eight bits in a byte, a nybble is half of one byte.

Floating point - As the name implies, floating point numbers are numbers that contain floating decimal points. For
example, the numbers 5.5, 0.001, and -2,345.6789 are floating point numbers. Numbers that do not have decimal
places are called integers. A floating-point notation is a Mathematic calculation used to display long numbers short.
8
For example, a number such as 12,000,000 could be written as 12E6 or could also be 0.12 * 10 .
Computers recognize real numbers that contain fractions as floating point numbers. When a calculation includes a
floating point number, it is called a "floating point calculation." Older computers used to have a separate floating point
unit (FPU) that handled these calculations, but now the FPU is typically built into the computer's CPU.
FLOPS is an acronym that means "Floating Point Operations Per Second." FLOPS is a measurement unit that defines the
number of floating point operations a processor can perform each second. It is a means of measuring the raw
processor's floating point unit, or FPU. Teraflops (also TFLOPS) is used to measure the performance of a computer's
floating point unit (FPU). One teraflops equals 1,000 gigaflops, or 1,000,000,000,000 FLOPS. Teraflops is often used to
measure scientific computing performance, since most scientific calculations use floating point operations.
MIPS- Stands for "Million Instructions Per Second." It is a method of measuring the raw speed of a computer's
processor.
　bps- Stands for "Bits Per Second." (The "b" is lowercase because it stands for bits, not bytes.) Bits per second is the
standard way of measuring how fast data moves across a network or phone system.
Mbps- Stands for "Megabits Per Second." Mbps is used to measure data transfer speeds of high bandwidth
connections, such as Ethernet and cable modems.
Emoticon- These are the little text-based faces and objects that you often see in e-mail and online chat. They help give
the reader a sense of the writer's feelings behind the text. For example, the classic =) face shows that the writer is happy
about something or that his message in good humor. Emoticons can also be used to create real-world objects. For
example, a @-→－ →－－－　 is supposed to be a long-stemmed rose, which you can use to show affection.
Smileys - When typing words on the Internet, it's not always easy to convey feelings, emotions, or concepts like humor
to the people you're communicating with. Here's a simple tip for getting the right message across: Use ASCII characters
to represent little faces. They're called "smileys".
EDI- Stands for "Electronic Data Interchange." EDI is a standardized method for transferring data between different
computer systems or computer networks. It is commonly used for e-commerce purposes.
An avatar is an online character that represents a person. For example, games like World of Warcraft and the Sims
Online allow players to create custom characters, known as avatars. An autoresponder is a program or script on a mail
server that automatically replies to e-mails.
An archive contains multiple files and/or folders within a single file. Archives can be saved in several different formats,
most of which incorporate file compression to reduce the file size. They are used for consolidating a group of files into a
single package. This can be helpful when transferring multiple files to another user or when backing up data.
Android is Google's mobileoperating system (OS) that is used by several smartphones, such as the G1, Droid, and Nexus
One. Android is open source, meaning it is not linked to a specific cell phone manufacturer or service provider. The
Android OS also supports third-party applications, which can be downloaded from Android Market, Google's online
software store.
Website affiliates are what drive Internet marketing. Companies run affiliate programs to generate leads and sales
from other Websites. They pay the sites who host their ads a commission for products sold through the links on their
sites. For example, if a site owner signs up for Amazon.com's affiliate program, he will receive ad banners or links from
Amazon.com that he can place anywhere on his site. Then, if a visitor clicks on the Amazon.com banner or a link on his
site and buys something, he will receive a commission
CAD- "Computer-Aided Design" Today, CAD software is used for nearly all three-dimensional designing.
"Clone" refers to software that serves the same purpose as another more mainstream software program.

Cloud computing is a general term used to describe Internet services. These include social networking services like
Facebook and Twitter, online backup services, and applications that run within a Web browser. Could computing also
includes computer networks that are connected over the Internet for server redundancy or cluster computing
purposes. The "cloud" is metaphor for the Internet and represents the global interconnectedness of online services.
Therefore, anyone with an Internet connection can access the cloud and share data with other online users.
Remote access is just what it sounds like -- the ability to access your computer from a remote location. Programs like PC
Anywhere (Windows), Remote Access (Mac), and Timbuktu (Windows and Mac) allow users to control remote
computers from their local machine. In order for a remote access connection to take place, the local machine must have
the remote client software installed and the remote machine must have the remote server software installed. Also, a
username and password is almost always required to authenticate the connecting user.
The name "codec" is short for "coder-decoder," which is pretty much what a codec does. Audio and video files are
compressed with a certain codec when they are saved and then decompressed by the codec when they are played
back. Common codecs include MPEG and AVI for video files and WAV and AIFF for audio files.
Crop- When you crop an image or photo, you remove part of the image.
Cybercrime is criminal activity done using computers and the Internet. This includes anything from downloading illegal
music files to stealing millions of dollars from online bank accounts. Cybercrime also includes non-monetary offenses,
such as creating and distributing viruses on other computers or posting confidential business information on the
Internet.
Perhaps the most prominent form of cybercrime is identity theft, in which criminals use the Internet to steal personal
information from other users. Two of the most common ways this is done is through phishing and pharming.
Pharming is yet another way hackers attempt to manipulate users on the Internet. While phishing attempts to capture
personal information by getting users to visit a fake website, pharming redirects users to false websites without them
even knowing it. One way that pharming takes place is via an e-mail virus that "poisons" a user's local DNS cache.
The word "cyberspace" is credited to William Gibson, who used it in his book, Neuromancer, written in 1984.
A cybersquatter, or "domainer," is someone who registers a domain name without intending to create a website for it
with the hope of selling the domains at a profit to interested buyers.
Hot plugging- The ability to add and remove devives to a computer while the computer is running and have the
operating system automatically recognize the change. Two external bus standards – Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE
1394 -- support hot plugging. Hot plugging is also called hot swapping.
OMR (Optical Mark Reading or Optical Mark Readers) is a system that gathers information by using a hardware device
that detects a reflection or an absence of reflection from a card or piece of paper. OMR processing is popular for tests,
where students receive a special card containing several empty circles and a packet that contains the questions and
possible answers to each of the questions.

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STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

14/1, Laxmi Road, Dalanwala, Dehradun

1.2 Power Supply

Subsection 2. Peripheral Unit

2.2 Output Devices

Section 2: Computer Languages & Software System

Section 3: Network and Communication System

Section 4: Computer Security & Errors

Chapter – 2. Computer Terminologies

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Components of a Computer System

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

1.1. a Integrated components

CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) or Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM) - It is an on-board

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Different types of standard internal buses:-

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Input-output ports (Connector) or input-output interface ( I/O interface)

Most motherboards have the following connectors:

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

The diagram below gives a simplified representation of the

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

VGA Interface DVI S -Video

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Technical characteristics- The main characteristics of a memory are:

RAM module formats

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

How do program instructions transfer in and out of RAM?

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

The term cylinder refers to all data found on the same

1.3. c REMOVABLE MEDIA STORAGE

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Bit (Binary Digit)

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STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

The operating principle for a scanner is as follows:

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

2.2 Output Devices

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Section 2. COMPUTER LANGUAGES & SOFTWARE SYSTEM

Generation of Programming Languages

1 GL (Machine Language) 2 GL (Assembly Language)

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Types of Codes or Languages

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

System Software Programming Software Application Software

STRATAGEM Strategise, Succeed

Operating systems can be classified as follows: