UNIT 1

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER

WHAT IS COMPUTER?
A computer is an electronic machine,
operating under the control of instructions
stored in its memory that can accept data
(input), manipulate the data according to
specified rules (process), produce results
(output) and store the results for future used.

TYPES OF COMPUTER
There are 8 basic types of computer:
Personal Computer/Microcomputers
Tablet computers and Smartphones
PDAs and Palmtop computers
Workstation
Server
Mainframe
Minicomputer
Supercomputer

Personal Computer

- Designed to be used by one person at a

time.
- Basic office tasks such as word processing,
spreadsheet, presentation, browse
internet, etc.
- Types of PCs
- Desktop computers
- Laptop/Notebook
- Mini notebook / netbook

Desktop Computer
Desktop computers are larger and not meant to be
portable. The case of the computer holds the
motherboard, drives, power supply, and expansion
cards. A separate keyboard and mouse allow the user
to input data and commands.
Laptop or netbook
Notebook or laptop computers are small and

lightweight enough to be carried around with the user.

They also feature a built-in keyboard and some kind
of built-in pointing device.
A netbook is a small, light, low-power notebook
computer that has less processing power than a fullsized laptop but is still suitable for word processing,
running a Web browser and connecting wirelessly to
the Internet.

noteboo
k

IBM
5150
(1981)

Dell
(Y2K)

A Tablet Computer
generally has the format of a handheld slate

consisting of a large LCD touchscreen used for

both input and output.
Run applications specifically designed for these
touchscreen devices, but they also can do some
activities such as word processing or
spreadsheets.
Examples of tablet computers include the Apple
iPad and machines from various manufacturers
that run the Android OS.

Smartphones
are high-end mobile phones that typically run

operating systems similar to the tablet

computers discussed above, so they often share
the same applications as tablets.
They combine the features of a mobile phone,
PDA , camera, music player, GPS device, etc.
Many smartphones use a touchscreen for input,
but some include physical keyboards.

Handheld/Palmtop
Often use as personal organizer, smaller than

standard PC
A.k.a personal digital assistant.
Normally running Windows CE.
Windows CE used to provide an environment for
applications compatible with the Microsoft
Windows operating system, on processors better
suited to low-power operation in a portable
device

Workstation
- As client for server
- For network environment
- Powerful than personal computer

Console of Sun Workstation

running the X Window System)

Server
- Provide resource to client/ workstation.
- For network environment
- Powerful than workstation

Mainframe
- Multi-user system.
- Use by many people at same time.
- For processing bulk ,very large amount of data.
- For critical application

Minicomputer
- For business environment.
- Multi-user computer in between mainframe and

microcomputer or PC

Supercomputer
Use parallel processing for application such as

weather forecasting.
Very powerful machine

COMPUTER SYSTEM

Personal Computer and Peripherals

Scanner
CPU (Microprocessor)
Primary storage (RAM)
Expansion cards (graphics cards, etc)
Power supply
Optical disc drive
Secondary storage (Hard disk)
Motherboard
Speakers
Monitor
System software
Application software
Keyboard
Mouse
External hard disk
Printer

Input Devices
An

input device is a peripheral device

through which data are entered into a
computer and transformed into machinereadable form before it can be processed.

Keyboard
Similar to electric-typewriter keyboards but

contain additional keys.

Used to type text or numbers into a word
processor, text editor or other program.
Used for computer gaming, either with regular
keyboards or by using special gaming keyboards
A keyboard is also used to give commands to
the operating system of a computer, such as
Windows' Control-Alt-Delete combination, which
brings up a task window or shuts down the
machine.

Keyboard

Gaming
keyboard

Pointing Devices
An input interface that allows a user to input

spatial (i.e., continuous and multi-dimensional)

data to a computer.
GUI allow the user to control and provide data to
the computer using physical gestures point,
click, and drag
Movements of the pointing device are echoed
on the screen by movements of the pointer (or
cursor) and other visual changes.
Few common pointing devices are:
Mouse used in most PCs
Touchpad usually found on Laptop computers
Trackerball is used by people with limited motor skills

e.g. young children or people with disabilities.

Pointing Devices

Wireless Mouse

Touchpad

Trackball

Remote control
Used to issue commands from a distance to

televisions or other consumer electronics such

as TVs, video players/recorders, DVD
players/recorders, satellite receivers, Hi-Fi music
systems, data or multimedia projectors.
Most of these remotes communicate to their
respective devices via infrared (IR) signals and a
few via radio signals.

Remote control

Joystick
An input device consisting of a stick that pivots

on a base and reports its angle or direction to

the device it is controlling.

Touch Screen
A display which can detect the presence and

location of a touch within the display area.

The term generally refers to touch or contact to
the display of the device by a finger or hand.
Touchscreens can also sense other passive
objects, such as a stylus. In short, the ability to
interact directly with a display typically indicates
the presence of a touchscreen.

Touch Screen

Magnetic Stripe Reader

Magnetic stripe readers are devices that are

utilized to allow the encoded information

contained in the magnetic stripe that is found on
the back of credit, debit, and other types of
payment cards.
The reader makes it possible for vendors to
accept the cards for payment and quickly
complete the transaction.
The magnetic stripe reader may scan and read
detail such as the account number and
expiration date for the card and the name of the
cardholder.

Magnetic Stripe
Reader

PIN pad

An electronic device used in a debit or smart

card-based transaction to input and encrypt the

cardholder's PIN.
Pinpads are normally used with integrated point
of sale devices in which the Electronic Cash
Register (ECR) machine is responsible for taking
the sale amount and initiating/handling the
transaction.
Like the stand-alone point of sale devices,
PinPads are also equipped with hardware
security features so that the injected security
keys are erased if someone tries to tamper with
the device. Also the encrypted PinBlock is stored
in an internal register for only a very small
period of time (in milliseconds) during which the
ECR application can request it.

PIN pad

Scanners
A scanner optically scans images, printed text,

handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a

digital image.

Digital Camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video

or still photographs, or both, digitally by

recording images via an electronic image
sensor.

Magnet Ink Character Reader

A magnetic character reader system for reading

and identifying magnetized characters printed

on a document such as a Bank cheque

Optical Mark Reader

A special scanning device that can read

carefully placed pencil marks on specially

designed documents.

Optical Character Reader

recognition of printed or written text characters

by a computer. This involves photo scanning of

the text character-by-character, analysis of the
scanned-in image, and then translation of the
character image into character codes, such as
ASCII, commonly used in data processing.

Bar code Reader

Also called a price scanner or point-of-sale ( POS

) scanner, is a hand-held or stationary input

device used to capture and read information
contained in a bar code .
Captures and translates the barcode into
numbers and/or letters, the data must be sent to
a computer so that a software application can
make sense of the data.

Microphone
- An electromechanical device designed
to convert sound into an electrical
signal.

Output Devices
An output device is a peripheral device that

enables
a
computer
to
communicate
information to humans or other machines.
An output device receives data from a
computer and transforms them into a usable
form.
Monitor
Printer
Plotter
Speaker

CRT monitor
The more lines of dots per inch, the higher and

clearer the resolution. Therefore 1024 x 768

resolution will be sharper than 800 x 600
resolution
Size -15-inch to 21-inch sizes (38 53 cm)
CRT monitors are cheaper, widely available and
are suitable for places where space is not a
problem.

TFT (Thin Film Transistor) monitor

A TFT monitor delivers vibrant color and an

improved response time for multimedia

applications such as gaming or video editing.
It is suitable for places where space is a
constraint, for example a small office.

Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer

printer that rapidly produces high quality text

and graphics on plain paper.
Positives are it prints faster, better quality, low
noise, and cheaper cost per page
Negatives are it is comparatively costlier that a
dot matrix or inkjet printer, maintenance is
costly.

Inkjet printer
An inkjet printer is any printer that places

extremely small droplets of ink onto paper to

create an image.

Dot matrix printer

Adot matrix printerorimpact matrix

printeris a type ofcomputer printerwith a

print head that runs back and forth, or in an up
and down motion, on the page and prints by
impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon
against the paper, much like atypewriter.

Plotter
A device that draws pictures on paper based on

commands from a computer.

Draw lines using a pen. Multicolor plotters use
different-colored pens to draw different colors.

Speakers
A device that output sound from any

applications from computer

Storage
The terms "storage" or "memory" refer to

the parts of a computer that retain data for

some period of time, possibly even after
the computer is turned off. There are many
ways in which types of storage can be
categorized. They are:
Primary storage
Secondary storage

Magnetic Disks
Floppy Disk
Hard Disk
Magnetic Tape
Optical Disks
CD-ROM, CD-R
CD-RW
DVD

Primary
Storage

Semiconductor
Memory

Direct
Acces
s

Sequential
Access

Seconda
ry
Storage

Ac
ce
ss
Sp
ee
d

In

cr
ea
se
s

Primary and Secondary

Storage Hierarchy

Direct
Acces
s

-FARA AINI JAMAL-

Primary storage
contains data that are actively being used (for

example, the programs currently being run and

the data they are operating on). It is typically
high-speed, relatively small, is often (but not
always) volatile. It is sometimes referred to as
"Main Memory."
Examples of Primary Storage are RAM and
ROM.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

Most widely used primary storage medium
Each memory could be sensed (read) and

changed (written)
It is a read/write memory
It is a volatile memory

Read Only Memory

Chips are used for permanent storage
It is read but not erased or overwritten
It is a non-volatile memory
Example:OS

Secondary Storage
Also known as peripheral storage, is where

the computer stores information that is not

necessarily in current use. It is typically slower
and higher capacity than primary storage. It is
almost always non-volatile. There are two
basic types of secondary storage:
Magnetic tape
Magnetic disk

Magnetic Tapes
Tape can be substantially less expensive than

disk or other data storage options.

Tape storage has always been used with large
computer systems..
Magnetic tape is an information storage medium
consisting of a magnetized coating on a thin
plastic strip.
Most modern magnetic tape systems use reels
that are much smaller and are fixed inside a
cartridge to protect the tape and facilitate
handling. Modern usage is primarily as a high
capacity medium forbackupsandarchives

Magnetic Tapes

Magnetic Disk
A flat rotating disc covered on one or both sides

with some magnetized material.

It uses positive and negative charges to record
information as 0's and 1's, exactly the same as
Tapes.
The difference between tapes and disks is that
disks use random access so they are much
faster. Disks range in size and capacity
greatly, from 1.44 megabytes Floppy disks to 14
gigabytes Hard disks.
Example:

Floppy discs
A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is

composed of a disk of thin, flexible

floppy)magnetic storage medium encased in a
square or rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks
are read and written by af loppy disk drive.

Fixed hard discs

A hard disk drive is the device used to store

large amounts of information

Hard disk drives are used to store operating
systems, software and working data.

Optical Disk
CDs tend to be used for large files (but smaller
than 1Gb) which are too big for a floppy disc to
hold such as music and general animation.
DVDs are used to hold very large files (several Gb)
such as movie films. Both CDs and DVDs are
portable i.e. they can be transported from one
computer to another. Both can be used to store
computer data.
CD ROM/DVD ROM Applications which require the
prevention of deletion of data, accidental or
otherwise. CDs used by software companies for
distributing software programs and data; by Music
companies for distributing music albums and by
book publishers for distributing encyclopaedias,
reference books etc. DVDs used by film
distributors.

CD R/DVD R Applications which require a single

burning of data, e.g. CDs - recording of music

downloads from the Internet, recording of music
from MP3 format, recording of data for archiving
or backup purposes. DVDs recording of film
movies and television programs.
CD RW/DVD RW Applications which require the
updating of information and ability to record over
old data. Not suitable for music recording but is
very useful for keeping generations of files. DVDs
have between five and ten times the capacity of
CDs.
WORM Stands for write-once, read -many. You can
write data onto a WORM disk, but only once. After
that, the WORM disk behaves just like a CD-ROM

Optical Disk

Portable hard discs

Portable hard discs are good fun because you

can carry data about all over the place and

transfer information, programs, pictures, etc
between computers.

 Pen Drives
Storage capacities typically range from 64 MB to

64 GB.
Have more compact shape, operate faster, hold
much more data, have a more durable design,
and operate more reliably due to their lack of
moving parts. Flash drives are widely used to
transport files and backup data from computer
to computer.

Flash Memory Card

a solid-state electronic flash memory data

storage device used with digital cameras,

handheld and Mobile computers, telephones,
music players, video game consoles, and other
electronics.
Nowadays, most new PCs have built-in slots for
a variety of memory cards; Memory Stick,
CompactFlash, SD, etc. Some digital gadgets
support more than one memory card to ensure
compatibility.

Flash Memory Card

System Unit
Refer to the devices which are located

inside computer casing. This included the

motherboard, processor and memory chips.

SYSTEM UNIT
A computer system unit contains many parts.

SYSTEM UNIT
A computer system unit contains many parts.

CPU
Central Processing Unit(CPU) is built on a single

chip called microprocessor.

The main function of CPU is to accept and
execute the instructions stored in the main
memory.
CPU consists of two components: Control Unit
(CU) and Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

SUMMARY
CPU
ALU (Arithmetic and logical unit)
CU (Control unit)

INPUT DEVICES

SYSTEM UNIT

OUTPUT DEVICES

STORAGE

Primary Storage
(ROM & RAM)

Secondary Storage
Magnetic tape
Magnetic disk
Optical disk
-FARA AINI JAMAL-

SOFTWARE
Also called program.
A series of instruction tells computer what

to do and how to do it.

Instruction is written in programming
language e.g: Pascal, Java.

Terms
Version
a major upgrade indicated by a change

in leading version digit e.g. 2.0, 3.0

Bug or virus
a problem within the software e.g bad
code - existing or introduced
Copyright
legal right to prohibit copying of

software without the permission of the

holder

Terms (cont..)
Compatibility
earlier vs later versions, applications vs

systems
Integrated
combined common features of several

applications in one package e.g.

Microsoft Works
Suites
bundled software package with a

common UI e.g. Microsoft Office 2000,

XP

Terms (cont..)
Piracy
unauthorised distribution of

copyrighted software
Plagiarism
copying information from others and

using them as your own

Ownership
holder of the original images, sounds or

both

Software Category
Two categories
System Software
Application Software

Application Software
Personal Software Cookbook, deco
Education Software - encyclopedia
Entertainment Software Games, music
Productivity Software Excel, word
Specialty Software CAD, CAM, authoring
Programming Software C#, Java

Personal Software

Gardening
software

Personal Inventory
software

Cook book
software

Education Software

Education software for children

Education software

Entertainment Software

Game

Music

Productivity Software

Programming Software

System Software
Utility programs e.g. virus check
Operating system e.g. Windows XP

Utility Software
Functions:
To support, enhance, expand existing programs
e.g. back-up, virus check
examples: Norton Utility, Disk Doctor, Virus Scan, Disk
Disinfectant

Antivirus Utility Software

Detect virus when the computer scans floppy

disks, CDs, hard disks and memory

Identify virus types and destroy these
e.g. Norton AntiVirus, Dr Solomons AntiVirus Toolkit,

McAfee VirusScan

Operating System
A special software to take care of the

'housekeeping' functions of a computer

Is a program that conducts the communication
between the various pieces of hardware like the
video card, sound card, printer, the motherboard
and the applications.

Operating Systems

Windows 95,
Windows 98

Windows Vista

Windows Me Windows NT

Windows CE

Apple

Windows 2000

IBM

Windows XP

Linux

Functions of OS

Characteristics of OS
Security
an OS has password-protected features

Portability
the ability to work across different hardware
e.g. Apple, IBM, DEC, Sony, Microbits and
others.

Compatibility
the ability to run an application software
designed for another OS

Characteristics of OS (Cont..)
Multi-tasking
the ability to work with more than one
application at a time

Networking
the ability to connect several systems so
as to share hardware, software and
information

Multi-processing
the ability to spread your work over several
CPU at the same time

Characteristics of OS (Cont..)
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
the ability to share information between
applications e,g. Word and Excel.
linked information (called an object) from
one application to another
a change in the original information causes
the same change of information in the
object residing in the other application.

Operating System Placement

Group Assignment
One software categories for each group
Download, install and test software.
Write features of software
Screenshots of software
Present with PowerPoint
Presenter?