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COMPUTERBASICS
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WhatisaComputer?
Anelectronicdevice that stores, retrieves,and processes data, and can beprogrammed with instructions. Acomputer is co
mposed of hard
ware and
software, and canexist in a variety ofsizesandconfigurations.
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Hardware&SoftwareThe term hardware refers to the physical
components of your computer such as thesystemunit,mouse,keyboard,monitoretc.
The software is the instructions thatmakesthe computer work. Software is held eitheron your computers hard disk, CD-ROM,DVD or on a disket te (floppy disk) and is
loaded (i.e. copied) from the disk into thecomputers RAM (Random Ac ces s Memory),asandwhenrequired.
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TypesofComputersMiniandMainframeComputers
Very powerful, used by large
organisations such an banksto control
the entire business operation. Veryexpensive!
PersonalComputersCheap and easy to use. Often used asstand-alonecomputersor inanetwork.May be connected to large mainframecomputerswithinbigcompanies.
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HardwareComponentsInputDevices--"Howtotellitwhattodo
-Akeyboardandmousearethestandardwaytointeract with the computer. Other devices include
joysticksandgamepadsusedprimari lyforgames.OutputDevices--"Howitshowsyouwhatitisdoing"
- The monitor (the screen) is how the computer
sends information back to you. A printer is also an
outputdevice.
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HardwareComponentsINPUTDEVICES TheMouse
UsedtodriveMicrosoftWindows TheKeyboard
Thekeyboardissti l lthecommonestwayofenteringinformationintoacomputer
TrackerBal ls analternativetothetraditionalmouseandoftenusedbygraphicdesigners
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HardwareComponentsINPUTDEVICES Scanners
A scanner al lows you to scan printed material
and convert it into a fi le format that may beusedwithinthePC
TouchPads A device that lays on the desktop and
respondstopressure LightPens
Used to al low users to point to areas on a
screen
Joysticks
Many games require a joystick for the proper
playingofthegame
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HardwareComponentsOUTPUTDEVICES VDU
Thecomputerscreen isusedforoutputtinginformationinanunderstandableformat
Printers
Therearemanydifferent typesofprinters. In large organizations laser printers aremost commonly used due to the fact thatthey can print very fast and give a veryhighqualityoutput.
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HardwareComponentsOUTPUTDEVICES Plot ters
Aplotter isanoutputdevicesimi lartoaprinter,butnormal lyal lowsyou toprintlargerimages.
Speakers
Enhancesthevalueofeducationalandpresentationproducts.
Speechsynthesisers Givesyou theabil itytonotonly todisplay
textonamonitorbutalsotoreadthetexttoyou
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HardwareComponentsStorageDevices--"Howitsavesdataandprograms
-Harddiskdrivesareaninternal,highercapacitydrivewhichalsostorestheoperatingsystemwhichrunswhenyoupoweronthecomputer.
-"Floppy"diskdrivesal lowyoutosaveworkonsmal ldisksandtakethedatawithyou.
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HardwareComponentsHardDisks Speed:
Veryfast ! Thespeedofaharddiskisoftenquotedas"average
ac cesstime"speed,measuredinmi lliseconds. Thesmal lerthisnumberthefasterthedisk.
Capacity:
Enormous! Often40/80Gigabytes. AGigabyteisequ
iva
len
tto
1024
Megaby
tes.
Cost:
Harddiskscostsarefal l ingrapidlyandnormal lyrepresentthecheapestwayofstoringdata.
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HardwareComponentsDisket tes(FloppyDisks) Speed:
Veryslow! Capacity:
Normal ly1.44Mbytes. Cost:
Verycheap.
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HardwareComponentsCD-ROM Disks Speed:
Muchslower
than
hard
d
isks. The
or
ig
ina
l
CD-ROMspeciationisgivenavalueof1xspeed,andlater,fasterCD-ROMsarequotedasamultipleofthisvalue.
Capacity:
Around650Mbytesandmore
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HardwareComponentsDVDDrives Speed:
Much
fas
ter
than
CD-R
OMdr
ives
bu
t
notasfastasharddisks. Capacity:
Upto17Gbytes. Cost:
Sl ightlyhigherthanCD-ROMdrives.
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MainPartsofComputerMemory--"Howtheproces sorstoresandusesimm ediatedata RAM-RandomAccessMemory
Thema
in
'work
ing
'memory
used
by
the
computer.
Whentheoperatingsystemloadsfromdiskwhenyoufirstswitchonthecomputer,itiscopiedintoRAM.
Asa
rough
ru
le,
a
Microso
ftWindo
wsbased
compu
ter
wil loperatefasterifyouinstallmoreRAM.DataandprogramsstoredinRAMarevolati le(i.e.theinformationislostwhenyouswitchoffthecomputer).
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HardwareComponentsMemory
ROMReadOnlyMemory ReadOnlyMemory(ROM)asthenamesuggestsisaspecial
typeofmemorychipthatholdssoftwarethatcanbereadbutnotwrit tento.
AgoodexampleistheROM-BIOSchip,whichcontainsread-onlysoftware.
OftennetworkcardsandvideocardsalsocontainROMchips.
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HardwareComponentsHowComputerMemoryIsMeasured Bit
Allcomputersworkonabinarynumberingsystem,i.e.theyprocessdatainone'sorzero's. This1or0levelofstorageiscal ledabit.
Byte
Abyteconsistsofeightbits. Ki lobyte
Aki lobyte(KB)consistsof1024bytes. Megabyte
Amegabyte(MB)consistsof1024ki lobytes. Gigabyte
Agigabyte(GB)consistsof1024megabytes.
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HardwareComponentsMicroprocessors--"Thebrainofthecomputer-PCsprimari lyusemicroproces sors(sometimescal ledthechip).TheolderIntelversionsincludethe386,486andnowthePentiuml ine.
The CPU (Central Processing Unit) is normal lyan Intel
Pentium (or equivalent) and it is one of the most important
componentswithinyourcomputer. It determines how fast your computer wil l run and is
measuredbyitsMHzspeed. Thus a 600 MHz Pentium is much faster than say a 400
MHzPentiumCPU. It is the CPU that performs all the calculations within
thecomputer.
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HardwareComponentsSomeoftheFactors
ThatImpactonaComputer'sPerformance CPUspeed RAMsize Harddiskspeedandcapacity
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SoftwareComponentOperatingsystemssoftware
The operating system is a special type of program that loads
automatical lywhenyoustartyourcomputer.Theoperatingsystemal lowsyoutousetheadvancedfeaturesofamoderncomputerwithouthaving to learnall thedetai lsofhowthehardwareworks
Thel inkbetweenthehardwareandyou,theuserMakesthecomputereasytousewithouthavingtounderstandbitsandbytes!
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SoftwareComponent
Appl icationssoftwareAn application program is the type of program that
youuseoncetheoperatingsystemhasbeenloaded.Examples include word-proces sing programs,
spreadsheetsanddatabases
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SoftwareComponentAppl icationSoftware Wordprocessingappl ications
Microsoft Word
Lotus
Word
Pro
WordPerfect
Spreadsheets
MicrosoftExcel
Lotus
123
Database
MicrosoftAcces s LotusApproach
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SoftwareComponentAppl icationSoftware Payrol l
Sagesoftware
Presentationtools
MicrosoftPowerPoint LotusFreelance
Desktoppubl ishing A
bodePho
toshop
Multimediaappl ications Microsoft'sEncartaCD-ROMbasedencyclopaedias
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InformationNetwork LAN
ALAN(LocalAreaNetwork) isasystemwherebyindividualPCsareconnectedtogetherwithinacompany
or
organ
iza
tion
WAN
AWAN(WideAreaNetwork)asthename impl iesal lowsyou toconnect toothercomputersoverawiderarea(i.e.thewholeworld).
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InformationNetworkUsesofNetwork
Iftenpeopleareworkingtogetherwithinanofficeitmakes
sense
for
them
al lto
be
connec
ted.
In this way the office can have a single printer
andalltenpeoplecanprinttoit. Inasimi larwayotherdevicessuchasmodemsor
scannerscanbeshared. Even more useful is the abi lity to share
informationwhenconnectedtoanetwork.
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ComputerAccessories Modem
Short for MODulate/DEModulate. The modem
sends information from your computer across thetelephonesystem.
The modem at the other end of the phone l ine,
converts thesignalback intoa format thatcanbeused
by
the
re
ce
iv
ing
com
puter.
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UsesofComputerPCatHomeCommonusesforthecomputerwithinthehome
Computergames WorkingfromHome BankingfromHome ConnectingtotheWeb
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UsesofComputerComputersinEducation CBT(ComputerBasedTraining)
ComputerBasedTraining(CBT)offersalowcostsolutiontotrainingneedswhereyouneedtotrainalargeamountofpeopleonasinglesubject.
Theseprogramsarenormal lysuppl iedonCD-ROMandcombinetext,graphicsandsound.
Packagesrangefromgeneralencyclopaediasrightthroughtolearningaforeignlanguage.
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UsesofComputerOfficeAppl ications AutomatedProductionSystems
Manycarfactoriesarealmostcompletelyautomatedandthecarsareas sembledbycomputer-control ledrobots.
This automation is becoming increasingly common
throughoutindustry. DesignSystems
Many products are designed using CAD (Computer AidedDesign) programs to produce exact specificationsanddetai leddrawingson thecomputerbeforeproducingmodelsofnewproducts.
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UsesofComputerOfficeAppl ications StockControl
Stockcontrol is idealforautomationand inmanycompaniesit
is
now
completely
computerized.
Thestockcontrolsystemkeepstrackofthenumberof itemsin stock and can automatical ly order replacement items
whenrequired. Ac counts/Payroll
Inmost large organizations the ac counts aremaintainedbyacomputerizedsystem.
Due to the repetitivenatureofac countsacomputersystemisideal lysuitedtothistaskandac curacyisguaranteed.
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UsesofComputerComputersinDai lyLife Ac counts
Games
Educational
On-linebanking Smart ID cards Supermarkets
Workingfromhome(Tele-working) Internet
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CreateaGoodWorkingEnvironment Frequentbreaksawayfromthecomputer Appropriatepositioningofscreens,chairsandkeyboa
rds
Provisionofadequatel ightingandventi lation.
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Health&SafetyPrecautions Makesurethatcablesaresafelysecured Makesurethatpowerpointsarenotoverloaded Alsobeawareof:
RepetitiveStrainInjury(RSI) Glarefromscreens B
adpos
ture
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ValueofBackup The most important thing that you store
onyourcomputerisinformation. Often the contents of a hard disk can
representyearsofwork. Iftheharddiskstopsworkingonedayyou
couldloseallthoseyearsofwork. For this reason it is VITAL that you take
regular backups of the information that isstoredonthecomputer.
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ValueofBackup Organizeyourcomputerformoreef ficientbackups
Completevs.incrementalbackups Use'of f-site'storage
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ValueofBackup Usepasswords UnderstandtheImportanceofshuttingdownyourcomputerproperly
UseaUPS(Un-inter ruptiblePowerSupply)
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Likes&DislikesofComputer Thingscomputerlike:
Goodventilation Cleanenvironment Stable,vibrationfreesurface
Thingscomputerdontl ike: Dust
Drinkingandeatingoverthekeyboard Heat,ColdorMoisture Dontplaceobjectsontopofmonitors. Dontplacefloppydisksnearmonitors.
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ComputerVirus What are computer viruses?
Viruses are smal l programsthat hide themselves on your
disks (both disket tes andyourharddisk). Unless you use virus
detection software thefirsttime that youknow that you
have a virus is when itactivates.
Different viruses are
activatedindif ferentways.
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ComputerVirus HowdovirusesinfectPCs?
Viruses hide on a disk and whenyouac cess the disk (either a
disket te or another hard diskoveranetwork) thevirus program
wi ll start and infect yourcomputer.
The worst thing about a computervirus is that theycanspread fromonecomputer toanother,eitherviauseofinfected floppy disk, or over a
computer network, including the
Internet.
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ComputerVirus Howtopreventvirusdamage
There are a number of third party anti-
virusproductsavai lable. Most of these are bet ter than theratherrudimentary products
avai lable withinDOS andWindows, but of course you dohave topayforthem!
Themain thing about your viruscheckeristhatitshouldbekeptuptodate.
Many companies supplyupdateddisksona regular basis or al low you to receive
updates through an electronic, on-l inebu
l letin
board.
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SoftwareCopyright
Beawareonsoftwarecopyrightis sues Freeware
Shareware
WhataboutsoftwarethatyoufindontheInternet?
Softwaresitel icenses
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SoftwareCopyright
If your computer system holds
informationabout individuals thenyouhave a moral and legal duty to treat
thatinformationwithrespect. In a free society you have a right to
ensure that information held about
youisnotabused. In many countries this right is
enshrinedunderdataprotectionlaws
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NowLetusstartourComputers
andgetgoing
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