Session 03 Computer Hardware Aim: Aim of this session is to discuss and give a brief idea on computer hardware. Objectives: Having studied this session the student will be able to: Describe what hardware is Classify computer hardware according to the usage of them Give examples for each category of computer hardware Identify the different ports of a PC Identify why your computer is slow Identify the factors affecting on performance of computers 3.1 What is Computer Hardware? ‘You are already aware that a computer system is made up of several different components. Those that can be seen and touched are referred to as the Computer Hardware (or simply *hardware’). In other words, the physical equipments that are involved in the function of the computer are called its hardware. The computer hardware is typically divided into four main categories: Processing Devices, Memory Devices, Input/, Output Devices, and Storage Devices. The following diagram (Figure 3.1) summarizes the classification of the computer hardware. eometien Pree rere Ne Iag Input/Output Bec CT Teory CTE [Ta Taoty CNT Figure 3.1: Classification of Computer Following Figure 3.2 shows the basic computer architecture and the organization, a(Cental Processing unt (oF) ia \ I fh tone Une ata lnpwOuput Main Devies (10) Memory) i unio ee Figure 3.2: Basic computer architecture and the organization Let us discus on each type of hardware in the next sections with reference to the above Figure 3.1 and 3.2. 3.2 Processing Devices 3.2.1 The Central Processing Unit (CPU) The Central Processing Unit is an electronic device which runs computer programs: a set of sequential instructions. It is also called as the Computer Processor or the brain of the computer. According to the above Figure 3.2, you can see that there are two major components namely the Control Unit (CU) and the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU). The CU is the circuitry that controls the flow of data through the processor, and coordinates the activities of the other units within it. In a way, it is the "brain within the brain", as it controls what happens inside the processor, which in tum controls the rest of the PC. The ALU is a digital circuit that performs arithmetic and logical operations. The ALU is a fundamental building block of the central processing unit of a computer, and even the simplest microprocessors contain one, for purposes such as maintaining timers. The processors found inside modem CPUs have very powerful and very complex ALUs; a single component may contain a number of ALUs. We consider the CPU as the processing device of the computer. You are aware that the CPU contains Control Unit (CU) and an Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU). These two components work together to perform the processing operations. On a PC, the CPU usually is contained on a single chip and sometimes is called Microprocessor. In addition to the CU and ALU, a microprocessor usually contains the registers and system clock. Let us talk about the above sub parts briefly. The Control Unit (CU) ‘As you know, @ computer program or set of instructions must be stored in memory for a computer to process data, The CPU uses its CU to execute these instructions. Further, the CU directs and coordinates most of the operations of the computer. The speed at which the processor Pacarries out its operations is measured in megahertz (MHz). The higher the number of MHz the faster the computer can process information. The Intel i7, Athlon, Celron, and Duron, Ultra Spark are some examples for the brands of processors available in the market. The Arithmetic and Logie Unit (ALU) ALU performs the arithmetic, comparison, and logical operations. Arithmetic operations include addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (*) and division (/). Comparison operations include comparing one data item to another to determine if the first item is greater than (>), equal (©), oF less than (<) to the second item. Logical operations work with conditions such as AND, OR, NOT. 3.3. Memory Devices 3.3.1 Computer Memory ‘A character is stored in the computer as a group of Os and Is, called a Byte. The size of the memory is measured by the number of bites available. The following equalities give the measuring units of the memory. 8 Bits = 1 Byte 1024 Bytes = I Kilobyte (IKB) 1024KB 1 Megabyte (IMB) 1024MB = 1 Gigabyte (1 GB) 1024GB = I Terabyte (1 TB) While performing a processing operation, a processor needs a place to temporarily store instructions to be executed and the data to be used with those instructions. The data and the instructions needed by the CPU are temporarily stored in the Memory. Therefore the memory acts as the internal storage of a computer. The programs that are stored in external storages are loaded into the memory before they start running. The memory of a computer may be either volatile or non-volatile. If the data will be lost as soon as the power is turned off the computer, then this type of memory is said to be Volatile. Such memory needs continuous steady power/electricity to remain its content. 3.3.2. Random Access Memory (RAM) The Random Access Memory (RAM) is a volatile form of a computer memory. This small memory is capable of memorizing temporarily. It can be read and written. That is, you can both write data into RAM and read data from RAM. Together with the CPU, RAM determines the computer's speed. A computer with a large RAM and a CPU can actually run faster than a computer with a powerful CPU but with a low RAM. 3.3.3. Read Only Memory (ROM) As RAM is volatile, the computers need a non-volatile memory to read larger programs. This is known as the Read Only Memory (ROM). The programs which are needed to start up your computer (Ex: to boot the computer) are stored in ROM. Figure 3.3 and 3.4 show RAM and ROM memory chips respectively. a6Figure 3.3: Random Access Memory (RAM) Figure 3.4: Read Only Memory (ROM) Chips Chips 3.3.4 Cache Most of today’s computers improve their processing times by using cache (pronounced cash). Memory cache, also called a cache store or RAM cache, helps speed the processes of the computer by storing frequently used instructions and data thus reducing the access time of data. When the processor needs an instruction or data, it first searches in the cache. Licache ents ei Figure 3.5: Cache 3.4 Input Devices A computer executes instructions and processes data into information and stores the information for future use, Input devices are used to enter instructions and data into the computer. 3.4.1. What is Input? Input is any data or instructions you enter to the memory of a computer. Once input is in memory, the CPU can access it and process the input into output. There are four types of input namely: data, programs, commands, and user responses. a3.4.2 Data Data is a collection of unorganized facts that can include words, numbers, pictures, sounds, and videos. A computer manipulates and processes data into information, which is useful. Note: Although technically speaking a single item of data should be called a datum, the term data is commonly used and accepted as both the singular and plural form of the word. 3.43 Program A program is a series of instructions that tells a computer how to perform the tasks necessary to process data into information. Programs are kept on storage media such as a floppy disk (not used now), hard disk, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM. Programs respond to commands issued by the user. 3.4.4 Command A Command is an instruction given to a computer program. Commands can be issued by typing keywords or pressing special keys on the keyboard. A keyword is a specific word, phrase, or code that a program understands as an instruction, Some keyboards include keys that send a command to a program when you press them. Instead of requiring you to remember keywords or special keys, many programs allow you to issue commands by selecting menu choices or graphical objects. For examples, programs that are menu driven provide menus as a means of providing commands. Today, most programs have a graphical user interface (GUI) that uses icons, buttons, and other graphical objects to issue commands. However, GUI is the most user friendly way to issue commands. 3.4.5. User Response A User Response is an instruction which is given by you to the computer by replying to a question posed by a computer program. For example, Do you want to save the changes you ‘made? Based on the response given by the user, the program performs certain actions. In this example, if the answer was ‘Yes’, then the program saves all changes you made to the file on the storage device. 3.4.6 Input Devices ‘An Input Device is any hardware component that allows you to enter data, programs, commands, and user responses into a computer. Some of the commonly used input devices are listed below. + Keyboard * Pointing devices + Mouse + Trackball + Joystick + Touchpad + Light Pen = Scanners "Voice input systems = Web Cam = Bar code readers -.* Optical Mark Reader (OMR) * Scanner and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) = Magnetic stripe reader + Microphone * Sensors Let us look at some of above input devices briefly with their images. 3.4.7 Keyboard The keyboard is the main input device for most computers. It is a text based input device that allows the user to input alphanumeric characters and some other special characters. The keyboard is consisting of a set of keys mounted on a board. Each key or button acts as an electronic switch corresponding to a symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in sequence; other keys do not produce any symbol, but instead affect the operation of the computer o the keyboard itself. Figure 3.6 shows a typical keyboard and its main sets of keys. SE Chee rt re) imalles Drecionleys —_Nameikegped Figure 3.6: Sets of keys in a typical keyboard 3.4.8 Mouse The mouse functions as a pointing device by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of a small case, held under one of the user's hands, with one or more buttons. It sometimes features other elements, such as "wheels", which allow the user to perform various system-dependent operations, or extra buttons or features can add more control or dimensional input. The mouse’s motion typically translates into the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows for fine control of a Graphical User Interface. Furthermore, a mouse is an input device that allows the user to “point and click” or “drag and drop”. Common functions are pointing (moving the cursor or arrow on the screen by sliding the mouse on the mouse pad), clicking (using the left and right buttons) and scrolling (hold down the left button while moving the mouse). Figure 3.7 shows a labeled typical mouse used as a computer input device. 9ight Mouse betton Clk to bring up other menus Le Mouse button Cito move the ‘Wheel used to pointer to any sero upféown Postion on the the pages screen Figure 3.7: Typical mouse and the fimctions of its buttons and wheel ‘The Figures 3.8 and 3.9 show the input devices namely the joystick and light pen Figure 3.8: Joystick Figure 3.9: Using a Light Pen 3.4.9 Scanner ‘A scanner is a light-sensing input device that reads printed text and graphics and then translates the pattern of light and dark colors into a digital signal that the computer can store and ‘manipulate, The resulting image can be of different qualities depending on the resolution of the scanner. The Flat-bed scanner is the most popular scanner which is similar to a photo copy machine except that it creates a file (softeopy) of the document instead of a paper copy (hardcopy). The file that contains the scanned object can be stored on an external storage device, displayed on the screen, printed, faxed, sent via e-mail, or included in another document. Figure 3.10 shows a flat-bed scanner. Figure 3.10; Flat-bed Scanners op3.4.10 Bar code reader A bar code reader uses laser beams to read bar codes. Most items in shops, special in super markets in Sri Lanka have a bar code printed or affixed on them, The Bar code is a trip of vertical bars of varying widths that creates a unique reference for the particular item. Groups of bars represent individual digits and most bar codes are made up of 12-13 digits. The last number is a check digit and it is used to verify that the number has been scanned in correctly. The computer applies a set of calculations to the individual digits and the answer should equal to the last check digit. Bar code reader uses a visible red light to scan the bar code and it is interpreted through a decoder. The reference is matched with the stock list in the computer system to find the appropriate price. Sometimes, numbers are printed below the vertical stripes which are to be used in cases the bar code reader fails to read the code. Figure 3.11 shows a bar code reader while Figure 3.12 shows the appearance of a sample bar code. 780863°185779' Figure 3.11: Reading bar code using a Figure 3.12: Sample Barcod. duct Hand-held Bar code reader igure 3.12: Sample Barcode of a produc 3.4.11 Optical Character Recognition Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a mechanism to identify written or printed characters on a source. When text documents are scanned, they are scanned and saved as pictures in the computer. But the OCR software converts the pictures into actual characters/text so that the text can be edited in exactly the same way as text that has been directly keyed in. Figure 3.13 shows the steps of the process of converting the text document into recognized characters. Figure 3.13: OCR processing oyFollowing figures show some more input devices. LL —@ & Figure 3.14: Magnetic Stripe Figure 3.15: Microphone zsure 3.16: Web Camera for aPC isu ° 3.5 Output Devices 3.5.1 What is output? Output is data that has been processed into a useful form called information. A computer processes input into output. Computers generate several types of output, depending on the hardware and software being used and the requirements of the user. You may choose to display or view this output on a monitor, print it on a paper using a printer, or listen to it through speakers or a headset. Accordingly the four common types of output are text, graphies, audio, and video. A brief description on each of output type is given below. Text Text consists of characters that are used to create words, sentences and paragraphs. A character can be a letter, number, punctuation mark, or any other symbol that requires one bite of computer storage space. Graphics Graphics are digital representations of non-text information such as drawings, charts, pictures and photographs. Graphics also can be animated, giving them the illusion of motion. Animations are created by displaying a series of still images in rapid sequence. Many of today’s software programs support graphics. For example, you can include a photograph in a word processing document or create a chart of data in a spreadsheet program, Some software packages are specifically designed to edit graphics. Audio Audio is Music, speech, or any other sound. You might have learnt at school that sound waves, such as the human voice or music are analog. To store such sounds, a computer converts the sounds from a continuous analog signal into a digital format. Most output devices require that the computer converts the digital format back into analog signals. 9Video Video consists of images that are played back at speeds that give the appearance of full motion Video often is captured with a video input device such as video camera or VCR. Most video signals are analog; however, most of the modem video devices record the video images digitally. A video capture card converts an analog video signal into a digital signal that a computer ¢ understand. The digital signal then is stored on the computer’s hard disk. Some output devices accept the digital signal, while others require that the computer converts the digital signals back into analog signals 3.5.2, Output Devices An output device is any computer component capable of conveying information to a user. Some commonly used output devices are listed below. "Display devices ‘* Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors ‘* Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors / Flat-panel displays © LED Monitors © Gas plasma monitors «Printers © Impact printers = Daisy Wheel and Dot Matrix printers ‘© Non-Impact Printers + Ink Jet printers - Thermal Dye Transfer printers - Laser printers * Plotters * Audio Devices © Speakers ‘+ Headphones You have already leamt about some of the above devices together with some images in the previous session. Therefore, let us look at some general facts about these categories of output, devices. Monitor The monitor displays the output to the user visually. Therefore it is also called the Visual Display Unit (VDU) or simply the screen, The monitor looks like a television, but they often have higher resolutions than a normal television. Similar to televisions, the sizes of monitors are varying and often expressed in diagonally measured distance in inches. The technology used with monitors is expanding rapidly and there are two major types of monitors that differ in the technology of visualizing the output to the user. They are Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors, Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and Light Emitting Displays (LED). The CRT monitor has more lines of dots per inch, higher the lines more amount of the resolution. It creates the picture by number of rows or lines of the small tiny dots. For an instance the resolution of 1024 x 768 will be sharper than 800 x 600 resolutions. ‘The LCD consists of two sheets of polarizing material with a liquid crystal solution between 4them. When an electric current passed through the liquid crystal solution, crystals align so that light cannot pass through them. It is like a shutter either allows light to pass through or blocking the light, ‘The LED is the latest marketing innovation of display units. It looks similar to LCD and it is also a flat panel display. LED means Light Emitting Diode and relates to the way the display is illuminated, LED monitors still use the same Liquid Crystals as the previous LCD displays. The way the backlight works however with the LED's will lead to a number of improvements in the display. ‘Though CRT monitors are much cheaper than LCDs and LEDs, the CRTs consume more power than others. Figure 3.17 and Figure 3.18 show images of CRT and LCD monitors respectively. Figure 3.17: CRT Monitor Figure 3.18: LCD Monitor Printer A computer printer produces a hard copy (permanent human-readable text and/or graphics) of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical/tangible print media such as paper or ‘transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local computer peripherals, and are connected by a printer cable to a computer which serves as a document source. Some printers, commonly known as network printers can serve as a hardcopy device to be shared and used by any user among a group of users connected to the network. Individual printers are oflen designed to support both local and network connected users at the same time. There are several types of printers categorized based on the applied technology of printing text/graphics on the Paper. Ex: ‘= Impact printers (Ex. Daisy Wheel and Dot Matix printers) ‘© Non-impact printers ©. Ink Jet printers © Thermal Dye Transfer printers © Laser printers Impact Printers Any impact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper by striking a mechanism against in an ink ribbon that physically contacts the papers. Because of the striking activity, impact printers generally are noisy. Many impact printers do not provide letter-quality print. Letter-Quality (LQ) output is a quality of print acceptable for business letters. Many impact printers produce near letter-quality (NLQ) 4print, which is slightly less clear than LQ. NLQ impact printers are used for jobs that require ‘only NLQ, such as printing of mailing labels, envelopes, or invoices. Impact printers are also ideal for printing multipart forms because they easily can print through many layers of paper. Finally, impact printers are used in many factories and retail counters as they can survive in dusty environments, vibrations, and extreme temperatures. Non-Impact Printers A non-impact printer forms characters and graphics on a piece of paper without actually striking the paper. Some spray ink, while others use heat and pressure to create images. Since these printers do not strike the paper, they are much quieter than the above impact printers. Sce figures from 3.19 to 3.22 for images of the above different types of printers. Figure 3.19: Ink Jet Figure 3.20: Dot Matrix Figure 3.21: Thermal Printer Printer Printer Figure 3.22: Some Laser Printers Plotter Plotters are special type of printers used to print graphical output on paper. It interprets computer commands and makes line drawings on paper using multicolored automated pens. The plotter is capable of producing graphs, drawings, charts, maps, illustrations etc. Plotters are typically used in areas such as Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) applications like CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing). Figure 3.23: Plotter os3.5.3 Input & Output Devices Some type of hardware can act as both input and output devices. For an example, consider the touch screen which is a type of monitor that displays text or images you can touch using your figure tips. When you touch the screen, its special sensors detect the touch and the computer recognizes the point/location on the screen where you touched. Touching different locations determines different information to be displayed next or what action to be taken next, Thus this touch screen (see Figure 3.24 below) can be considered as both input and output device. Figure 3.24: Input data through a Touch Screen 3.6 Storage Devices Storage refers to the media on which data, instructions, and information are kept, as well as the devices that record and retrieve these items. In this section we will discuss about the storage media and storage devices. 3.6.1 Memory versus Storage It is important to understand the difference between the memory what we discussed under section 3.3 and the Storage. Memory holds data and instructions temporarily while they are being processed by the CPU. Storage, also called Secondary, Auxiliary storage, or Mass storage, holds items such as data, instruction, and information for future use. Think of storage as a filing cabinet used to hold file folders, and memory as the top of your desk When you need to work with a file, you remove it from the filing cabinet (storage) and place it on your desk (memory). When you are finished with the file, you return it to the filing cabinet. 3.6.2. Storage Storage is non-volatile which means that items in storage remains even when power is removed from the computer. A storage medium is the physical material on which the items are kept. One commonly used storage medium is a disk, which is round, flat piece of plastic or metal with a magnetic coating on which items can be written. A storage device is the mechanism used to record and retrieve items to and from a storage medium. Storage devices can function as source of input and output. For example, each time a storage device transfers data, instructions, and information from a storage medium into memory (a process called Reading); it functions as an input source. When a storage device transfers these items from memory toa storage medium (a process called Writing), it functions as an output source. 6‘The speed of a storage device is defined by its access time, which is the minimum time it takes the device to locate a single item on the disk. Compared to memory, storage devices are slow. The access time of memory devices are measured in milliseconds. 3.6.3 Storage Devices Some of the commonly used storage devices are described below with their images, However, you may already have some idea about them. Floppy disks A floppy disk is a data storage medium that is composed of a disk of thin, flexible floppy magnetic storage medium encased in a rectangular plastic shell. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive Application : Any use where small files such as word processing, small spread sheets and databases need to be moved from one computer to _ another. Useful to backup small data files. Figure 3.25: Floppy disk Fixed hard disks A hard disk drive is the device used to store large amounts of digital information in computers and related equipment like iPods and games consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PS3 Hard disk drives are used to store operating systems, software and working data. These are suitable for any application which requires very fast access to data for both reading and writing to. However, Hard disk drives may not be suitable for applications which need portability. Almost all computers used a fixed hard disc. Used for on-line and real time processes requiring direct access. Used in file servers for igure 3,26: Fixed Hard Disk Computer networks to store large amount of data. Hard Disk drive which is often referred to as Hard Disk or Hard Drive is a device to store and retrieve data in a computer. The hard drive can store important system files like the operating system, program files and other data. Though HDDs were originally designed to be used with computers nowadays the applications for HDDs have expanded beyond computers to include digital video recorders, digital audio players, personal digital assistants, digital cameras and video game consoles. HDD is a non-volatile storage device that stores digitally encoded data. It is an electromagnetically charged surface or set of disks that record data in concentric circles known as tracks. HDDs record data by magnetizing ferromagnetic material directionally, to represent either a 0 or a 1 binary digit. They read the data back by detecting the magnetization of the material. A typical HDD design consists of a spindle which holds one or more flat circular disks called platters, onto which the data is recorded. The platters are made from a non-magnetic amaterial, usually aluminum alloy or glass, and are coated with a thin layer of magnetic material. Figure 3.27 and 3.28 show some images of Hard Disk Drives. Figure 3.27: Parts of Hard Disk Drive Figure 3.28: Outer view of a Hard Disk Drive Portable Hard Disks Portable hard disk is an interesting and useful device because you can carry data about all over the place and transfer information, programs, pictures, etc. between computers. Modem portable hard disks have a massive capacity like S00GB. Advantages: + Greatly improved data cargo carrying capacity. (relative to the 1.44 Mb floppy disk) + You don't need to worry about the other person having the same type of special cartridge drive as yourself. Figure 3.29: Portable Hard Disk Disadvantages. + Hard drives have to be handled quite carefully, and when being transported should be wrapped in something soft and put in a padded bag. + More expensive than other forms of removable media. Application Portable discs are used to store very large files which need transporting from one computer to another and price is not an issue. Magnetic tapes ‘Magnetic tape has been used for data storage for over 50 years. When storing large amounts of data, tape can be substantially less expensive than disk or other data storage options. Tape storage has always been used with large computer systems. Modern usage is primarily as a high capacity medium for backups and archives. Drawbacks Writing and retrieving data is slow. It uses serial access for reading and writing. Figure 3.30: Magnetic tapes ooApplication Magnetic tapes are used for application which requires extremely large storage capacity where speed of access is not an issue, It is commonly used for backups of file servers for computer networks, in a variety of batch processing applications such as reading of bank cheques, payroll processing and general stock control Optical backing storage media such as CDs and DVDs Figure 3.31: Image of a Compact Disk + CDs tend to be used for large files (but smaller than 1 GB) 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 GBs) 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 RIDVD R uses which require a single ‘burning’ of data, eg. CDs - recording of music downloads from the Intemet, 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 uses when 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. Solid state backing storage These are the smallest form of memory available in the market today. Widely used as removable storage. They are stronger than other forms of storage. ‘Though expensive than other forms they can be easily written to and updated. Memory sticks/Pen drives USB flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, much smaller than a floppy disk. Storage capacities typically range from 64 MB to 64 GB. USB flash drives offer potential advantages over other portable storage devices, particularly the floppy disk. They have a 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. Figure 3.32: Pen driveFlash memory cards A memory card or flash memory card is 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, Compact Flash, SD, etc. Some digital gadgets support more than one memory card to ensure compatibility. Figure 3.33: Flash memory cards 3.7. The System U With reference to Figure 2.3 above, the System Unit of the computer is the box-like casing which contains the major electronic components that are responsible for the main functions of the computer. It should be mentioned here that many people use to refer to this as the CPU incorrectly. This erroneous reference may be due to CPU: The brain of the commuter being that significant. However, the electronic devices such as CPU, memory, hard disk drive are located inside the System Unit, In addition to the above parts, Motherboard, Floppy Disk Drive, Power Supply unit, and CD-ROM Drive are the other major components that you can find within the system unit. A brief description of each above component is given next. Note: The system unit is also called the housing, case, computer chassis, or cabinet. 3.8 Motherboard ‘The motherboard is sometimes called the system board, planner board or main board. It is the main circuit board of a computer. The motherboard contains several connectors for attaching additional boards. Usually, the motherboard contains the CPU, BIOS, memory, mass storage interfaces, serial/parallel ports, expansion slots, and all the controllers required to control standard peripheral devices, such as the display screen, keyboard, and disk drive.Alll of the basic circuitry and components required for a computer to function are onboard the motherboard or are connected with a cable. The most important component on a motherboard is the chipset. It often consists of two components or chips known as the Northbridge and Southbridge, though they ‘may also be integrated into a single component. These chips determine, to an extent, the features and capabilities of the motherboard See Figure 3.34 for a labelled image of a motherboard. It should be noted that the figure shows the Asus P5N32-E SLI motherboard. All boards will be slightly different as far as which components they have, and the locations of those components may differ, but they are fairly close. anNote: You are advised to explore the circuitry components attached to the mother board with the help of your lecturer or the instructor. Figure 3.34: The components of a Motherboard A. PCI Slot - This board has 2 PCI slots. These can be used for components such as Ethernet. cards, sound cards, and modems. B. PCI-E 16x Slot - There are 2 of them on this motherboard diagram, both are blue. These are used for your graphics card. With two of them onboard, you can run 2 graphics cards in SLI. You would only need this if you are 2 gamer, or working with high end video/ graphics editing. These are the 16x speed versions, which are currently the fastest. C. PCLE Ix Slot - Single slot - In the PCI-E 1x generation, each lane (1x) carries 250 MB/s compared to 133 MB/s for the PCI slots. These can be used for expansion cards such as Sound Cards, or Ethernet Cards D. Northbridge - This is the Northbridge for this motherboard. This allows communication between the CPU and the system memory and PCLE slots. £. ATK 12V 2X and 4 Pin Power Connection Power Connection - This is one of two power connections that supply power to the motherboard. This connection will come from your Power Supply. F. CPU-Fan Connection - This is where your CPU fan will connect. Using this connection over one from your power supply will allow the motherboard to control the speed of your fan, based on the CPU temperature. oyG. Socket - This is where your CPU will plug in. The orange bracket that is surrounding it is used for high end heat sink-s. It helps to support the weight of the heat sink. H. Memory Slots - These are the slots for your RAM. Most boards will have 4 slots, but some will only have 2. The color coding you see on the motherboard diagram is used to match up RAM for Dual-Channel. Using them this way will give your memory a speed boost. |. ATX Power Connector - This is the second of two power connections. This is the main power connection for the motherboard, and comes from the Power Supply. J. IDE Connection - The IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) is the connection for your hard drive or CD / DVD drive. Most drives today come with SATA connections, so you may not use this. K. Southbridge - This is the controller for components such as the PCI slots, onboard audio, and USB connections. L. SATA Connections - These are 4 of the 6 SATA connections on the motherboard. These will be used for hard drives, and CD / DVD drives. M. Front Panel Connections - this is where you will hook in the connections from your case. These are mostly the different lights on your case, such as power on, hard drive activity ete. N. FDD Connection - The FDD is the Floppy Disk controller. if you have a floppy disk drive in your computer, this is where you will hook it up. . External USB Connections - This is where you will plug in external USB connections for your case or USB bracket. P. CMOS battery - This is the motherboard's battery. This is used to allow the CMOS to keep its settings. 3.9 Power Supply Unit Power Supply Unit (PSU) is another very important unit found in the system unit, Usually we connect the power code of the computer to the domestic mains supply. Therefore, PSU converts Alternating Current (AC) from mains supply to Direct Current (DC) with the required different voltages needed to power different components of the computer. Power supplies have a certain power output specified in Watts, a standard power supply would typically be able to deliver around 350 Watts. The more components like HDD, CD/DVD drives, and cooling fans, are connected to your computer the greater the power required from the power supply. See Figure 3.35 for an image of a typical power supply unit. Figure 3.35: Power Supply Unit a3.10 CD-ROM Drive Most probably, you might have seen the Compact Disks (CDs) which are commonly used as a storage media. The CD-ROM drive is a high capacity optical data storage device with a removable disk, it writes data onto or reads data from a storage medium. A CD-ROM drive may be connected to the computer via an IDE (ATA), SCSI, S-ATA, Firewire, or USB interface or a proprietary interface, See Figure 3.36 for an image of a CD- ROM Drive. Figure 3.36: CD-ROM Drive 3.11 Floppy Disk Drive Floppy disks were used as a storage medium of which capacity is 1.44MB. However, nowadays the floppy disks (or diskettes) are outdated and USB Flash Disk drives and card readers have now come into play instead of floppy disks. 3.12 Card readers Card reader is a data input device that can read data embedded in plastics cards which come in several forms such as bar codes, magnetic strip, computer chip. This reader may act as a memory card reader, smart card reader, magnetic card reader, or business card reader depending on the card read by the unit. Following Figure 3.38 shows the arrangement of the components inside the system unit, However, it should be noted that there may be new components added with the advent of technology in the PCs what you can find now. Figure 3.37: Card reader oaHard disk rive CPU 8 fan Floppy ask drive Teput/Output RAM Motherboard Figure 3.38: Components inside the System Unit 3.13 Connecting Peripheral Devices to the Computer We have already dealt about the peripheral devices in previous sections. Here we are going to see how we can connect these peripheral devices to your computer. Have you ever observed the back panel of the CPU? If you see the back panel of the CPU carefully you will come to know that there are several types of ports. They are in different colures and in different shapes. These ports can be fixed with specific ports from the peripheral devices. Hence ports can be considered as the interface in-between the computer and the peripheral devices. This mechanism is much more similar to a lock and key mechanism. 3.13.1 Ports in Your Computer Let’s have a look at the available ports in a typical PC and the peripheral devices connected to the computer (Figure 3.39). PS port couse) Ethorat port etwork) TET Panter pot corinter) Game port Goystick) Figure 3.39: Different Ports of a Computer a4Identifying Computer Ports Serial Port PS/2 Port VGAPort S-Video HDMI ror tsteral anit for Vides nut For gh End Te Parallel Port ssarmesiPOre: Digital Video Interface Ea Ethernet /RJ45_ Modem / RJ14 ae St. Ee Hest cts sects BP @ rercorene sro 64 © sero inetn = 64 @ stouneout 00 @ romero @ by Martin Owens Revision 05 2009-07-17 (2 Figure 3.40: Identifying the different computer portsYou have seen the back panel of the CPU as a whole. Now let’s take a look at each port individually and it is certainly going to be interesting! PS/2 Ports PS/2 ports are simple and generally used as input ports to connect mice and keyboards with the computer. The green PS/2 is for the mouse while the purple ports can be connected to a keyboard. Commonly motherboards consist of these ports but this has become phased out because of the usage USB ports to connect these devices. PS/2 ports have 6=pin Figure 3.41: Images of PS/2 port Parallel Port This is used to connect the parallel devices to the computer. It is often called as Centronics interface after the company that designed the original standard for parallel communication between a computer and printer. Today, the parallel port interface is scarcely used because of the rise of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire (IEEE 1394) devices. Figure 3.42: Images of Parallel ports ‘The commonly found parallel device is the printer. Parallel ports can have 25 connections. = es —=—_ ——_ Serial Port Figure 3.43: Images of Serial ports This is used to connect uie sera uevices w ue Computer. serial port can have either 9 connections or 25 connections. Modem which is used to obtain the Intemet connection is an ideal example for serial device. This was common method of data transfer throughout the history of the personal computers. Network equipment (such as routers and switches) commonly use serial console for configuration. Serial ports are still used in these areas as they are simple, cheap and their console functions are highly standardized and widespread. A serial port requires very little supporting software from the host system. a6VGA Port A Video Graphics Array (VGA) connector has 15 connectors in 3 rows. These 15 pins transmit video signals based on colors and video synchronizing. Figure 3.44; VGA port This is used to connect the monitor to the motherboard, They give an extra way to maintain an additional extemal monitor when using laptop. Using a VGA port is not too complicated, just plug the cable in and turn on the monitor. HDMI Port HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is a compact audio/video interface to transfer uncompressed video data and compressed/uncompressed digital audio data from a HDMI- compliant device to a computer monitor, video projector, digital television, or digital audio device which is compatible with HDMI. The existing analog video standards have been replaced with the arrival of HDMI. Figure 3.45: HDMI port Universal Serial Bus (USB) Port The most widely used hardware interface for connecting peripherals to a computer. There are typically at least two USB ports on laptops and four on desktop computers, while USB "hubs" provide more connections (there are exceptions as well). as ee ae — —p_p Figure 3.46: Different types of USB Ports aSama Figure 3.47: The basic USB trident loge; indicating support for USB 2.0 Fire wire Port Firewire is a type of cabling technology for transferring data to and from digital devices at high speed. Some professional digital cameras and memory card readers connect to the computer over FireWire. FireWire card readers are commonly faster than those that connect via USB. They are also known as IEEE 1394 or iLink. Although FireWire was invented by Apple Computer in 1995 it is now commonly used with Windows-based PCs. FireWire is one of the fastest peripheral standards ever developed, which makes it great for use with multimedia peripherals such as digital video cameras and other high-speed devices like the latest hard disk drives and printers, It has the bandwidth of 400 megabits per second and the latest machines include FireWire ports operate at around 800 megabits per second. FireWire is a cross-platform implementation of the high-speed serial data bus which can handle up to 63 on the same bus consisting of simplified cabling and hot swapping. When this port is in use, a little monitoring light flickers. Figure 3.48: Fire wire logo 3.14 Performance of a computer ‘You may be wondering why your computer is slow at times and there are other times when it is fast in processing. This could be caused by a number of factors. They inelude: the speed of the CPU, the space on the hard disk, the size of the RAM, the type of the graphics card, the speed of the hard disk, if the computer is multitasking, the defragmenting files. Note that, good computer performance may involve one or more of the following: Short response time for a given piece of work High throughput (rate of processing work) Low utilization of computing resource(s) High availability of the computing system or application Fast (or highly compact) data compression and decompression High bandwidth / short data transmission time ao3.14.1 Factors affe g the Performance of computers To increase the performance there are number of factors are effects including ‘* Performance of the Microprocessor * Performance of the Hardware devices ‘* Performance of the Storage dev * Performance of the Software Performance of the Microprocessor ‘A microprocessor is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, proces it according to instructions stored in its memory. Performance of the Microprocessor is, depended on the several factors including; Clock speed The speed of the CPU is also known as the clock speed of the CPU. The clock speed of the CPU is the frequency of which the processor executes instructions or the frequency by which data is processed by the CPU. It is measured in millions of eycles per second or megahertz (MHz). If the Clock speed of the CPU is fast then definitely the performance of the computer will be affected positively, in other words the computer will carry out processing functions at a faster pace. Bus Speed ‘A bus transfers data between components inside a computer. For an example, the processor is connected to the motherboard through the bus called, Front-side bus. The more data a bus can handle at one time, the faster it allows information to travel. The speed of the bus, measured in megahertz (MHz), refers to how much data can move across the bus simultaneously. Number of cores The "core" in a processor is the microprocessor inside of the CPU. For example, if you have an i7 CPU then you have 4 microprocessors inside of the CPU; this allows you to do four things at once, as a microprocessor can only do one thing at a time, Available features Some latest technologies introduced over the processor technology have increased the performance of the processor. For example, Turbo Boost Technology and the Hyper- Threading Technology For an example, the following list gives some existing features available in the modem Intel i7 microprocessor which has increased its performance, Cores 4 Threads 8 Clock Speed 3.4 GHz Max Turbo Frequency 3.8 GHz Intel® Smart Cache 8MB Figure 3.49: Image of Intel i7 Microprocessor© Features © Intel® Turbo Boost Technology © Thermal Monitoring Technologies © Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology etc. Performance of the Hardware devices Computer is a digital electronic device, consists of set of electronic circuits (Example Motherboard) therefore, performance of the hardware devices are dependents on several factors including ‘© BUS Speed of the system ‘© Performance of the available ports © Technology used to develop The following figures show the physical architecture of the computer motherboard and the bus system, 0 3 3 E 2 a > wu Figure 3.50: Architecture of the Motherboard Figure 3.51: Bus system Performance of the Storage devices To increase the performance of the storage devices, storage system has been divided in to the several units such as; © Primary Memory Secondary Memory * Cache memory Accordingly, the performance of the computer goes up if the collective memory (Primary, secondary, and Cache) is high aMain Memory Figure 3.52: Storage system Performance of the Software Here, we mainly focus on the device drivers installed into your computer. You should make sure that you have installed drivers recommended by the hardware vendor. You will learn more about the computer software in the next session and you will find what Software Drivers are in that session. 3.15 3.13 3.14, 3.15 ). Using suitable examples, des: . Briefly explain the fimetionality of the following display devices. Self Assessment Questions ge ‘What is meant by the term “hardware device(s)”? Briefly describe the four main categories of computer hardware. ‘What is CPU? Briefly explain the components of the CPU. What is a microprocessor? Describe the factors which affect the performance of it. What does the computer memory means? How is it measured? Why does the computer need primary storage and secondary storage? State the difference between volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Explain the role of the cache memory in a computer. Define the following devices. a. Input devices b. Output devices ibe the use of bar codes. a, CRT Monitor b, LCD Monitor . Suggest suitable devices for the following. a. High quality printing b. Quiet printing ¢. Economical color printing 4. Economical printing of small quantities e. High quality line drawing Define the term BUS. Why are buses useful? Name three ports that can be seen in a typical PC. Give an example of a device that can be connected to the computer via each port. State the factors which affect the performance of computers. aSession 04 Computer Software Aim: c ideas of Software to the Students. ‘This session aims to provide the basi Objectives: Having studied this session the student will be able to: © Describe what software is * Classify computer software according to the usage of them * Give examples for each category of computer sofiware 41 What is Software? Software, also called a computer program or simply a program, is a series of instructions that tells the hardware of a computer what to do. For example, some instructions direct the computer to allow you to input data from the keyboard and store it in memory. Other instructions cause data stored in memory to be used in calculations such as adding a series of numbers to obtain a total. Before a computer can perform or execute a program, the instructions in the program must be loaded into the memory of the computer. Usually, they are loaded into memory from storage like hard disk. When you purchase a program, you will receive one or more CD-ROMs or a single DVD-ROM on which the software is stored. To use the software, you often need to install the software on the computer's hard disk. Sometimes, a program can be loaded in memory directly from a CD- ROM or a DVD-ROM so that you do not have to install it on the hard disk to use it. When you buy a computer, it usually has some software already installed in its hard disk. Thus you can use the computer as soon as you receive it. Software is the key to productive use of Computers. With the correct software, a computer can become a valuable tool 4.2 Categories of Software The following diagram (Figure 4.1) shows the basic categories of software. This section will give you a description on each category of software together with some examples. aog Raine acl PVN elo) Paice Software set General Beous Purpose Tae Br Purpose ey earl Language Translaters Figure 4.1: Classification of Computer Software 4.2.1. System Software System software consists of the programs that control the operations of the computer and its devices. Functions that system software performs include starting up the computer; opening, executing, running, applications; storing, retrieving, and copying files; formatting disks; reducing file sizes; and backing up the contents of a hard disk. Accordingly you can see that the System Software will handle the smooth running of all the components of the computer as well as providing general functionality for other programs to use, tools to speed up the computer, tools to develop new software and programs to keep you safe from attacks. ‘As shown in the above figure 4.1 there are several types of system software. Next sections will look at each type of system software together with examples. Operating Systems (OS) The Operating System contains instructions that co-ordinate all of the activities of hardware devices of your computer. It also contains instructions that allow you to run any applications software. One may define the Operating system as an interface between a user and all computer resources. When you start a computer, the operating system is loaded or copied into memory from the computer hard disk. It remains in memory while the computer is sunning and allows you to communicate with the computer and other software, A computer cannot function without an ‘operating system. It is an important component of the computer system, because it sets the standards for the application programs that run on it. All programs must “talk to” the OS. a‘There are two main types of Operating Systems Single-user OS: A type of OS which allows only one user at a time. There can be single-user OS. either as single-user single-task or single-user multi-task. The Single-user single-task OS has to deal with only one person at a time running only one application at a time. MS DOS is an example for a single user single task OS. Think of the OS of your Personal Computer. It is designed mainly with one user (i.e. you) in mind but that only user: you can deal with many applications running at the same time, You may word process a document with a word processing application like MS Word while listening to music played in the windows media player in parallel. Or you might be answering the school assignment while searching more facts on the intemet while a suitable video is being downloaded. This type of OSs is of single-user multi-task OS. An example of such OS is Windows 95 Multi-user OS: In some situations, we need to share the single computer among few users. So the OS should be a multi-user where more than one user is logged on to the computer and uses it at the same time. These multi users may work with remote desktop connections. Further, these different users may need to run different applications at the same time. So the OS must support multi-task facility as well. Obviously the computer should be a powerful one, Each user draws on a big power of the computer in a shared way. This type of Multi —user multi-task OSs have to manage some tasks as listed below: ~ Each user logged on to the system, their workspace and so on. ~ Allocate resources to the jobs they want to run. ~ Keep logs of how much processing time and resources they use ~ Work out the most efficient use of computer processing cye - Maintain security Following are some examples of such OS: + Windows XP, 7, 8 ete. = Unix + Linux (Ubuntu, Centos, ‘edora etc.) Desktop OS vs. Server OS ‘The OS can also be categorized as Desktop OS and Server OS depending on whether the OS is to be installed in a desktop computer or a server. For example, the latest versions of the Windows OS family can be categorized as follows: Desktop OS: windows XP, windows 7, Windows 8 Server OS: Windows 2000Server, Windows 2005Server, Windows 2008Server As most of you are using Desktop Personal Computers, following web article is extracted in order to give you an overview on the different operating systems you may use. Source: http:/vww. geek.com/desktop-computer-buyers -guide/operating-system/ “aOperating Systems for your Desktop PC Following is a note extracted from the web regarding the OS and given for the reader for additional facts about your OS Recommended: Windows 7 Professional or alternative OS depending on your needs Minimum: Windows 7 Home Premium ‘The operating system (0S) is the foundation of your computer's software, Everything that runs on the computer is based on this in one form or another and its stability and functionality will determine what you can get out of the computer. Currently there are three main options: Windows, Linux, and Apple’s OS X. They may serve the same purpose, but they are too firmly established to say that one is better than the others. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses and each will have unique appeal to different buyers. ‘As important as this decision is, itis largely a moot issue because the vast majority of consumer desktops sold run Windows. As of October 22, 2009 the current version is Windows 7, and it’s a highly regarded update to the previous Windows Vista. Like it or not, 7 is going to be the only version of Windows that ships on most new desktops. Apple's OS X (current version “Snow Leopard”) is also an excellent OS and it’s generally seen as a great choice for most home users, ranging from the casual buyers to computer professionals. While an excellent operating system it is only sold with Apple’s desktops (namely the iMac and Mac Pro) so this guide might not be extremely helpful because those systems have limited options available to them Some types of Linux are also fantastic for home users, but it is not something people generally have experience with so it can be hard to recommend, unless if you have a close friend or family member to help you get your on your feet. It also cannot run popular applications like iTunes and Photoshop, so it can be an issue for some buyers. Linux is free and easy to run though, so any computer you build/buy will be able to run it in a trial mode (via a Live CD or on a USB key) without even having to install it. This is an ideal way to give it a try before committing to it. Not many desktops ship with Linux so this will limit a buyer’s options as well ‘As for Windows 7, it comes in a few different varieties. They won't all be available in all areas ‘though. Ranging from the least to most expensive This may look confusing but the vast majority of Windows buyers will be getting either Home Premium or Professional, so the decision won't be too hard. If you don’t know why you'd want to get Professional then Home Premium will do the job nicely. Home Premium will be the right fit almost all home users “s4.2.2 Utility Software Utility software or utility programs are some small programs which performs specific task, usually related to managing 2 computer, its devices, or its programs. Most operating systems include several utility programs. Also, you can buy them as stand-alone software that offer improvements over the ones supplied with the OS, Following are some of the specific tasks done by commonly used utility programs: Viewing files Compressing files Diagnosing problems Scanning disks Defragmenting disks Uninstalling software Backing up files and disks Checking for viruses Displaying screen savers Following figures show some of the user interfaces of the above utility programs. "Gi tuneup eg sty Geaner i = Scanning your system ace Sats YB Datance aves No prootens Fle types 2 probiens Sirens wbinbtane A Snap mes 4 proctens A Sinton ws 7a prosiens ¥ Elisa progians Wo pootems © rioga components soatning ‘ype ran Sateusan.e76) 4662 9855 SISSECOSESDL} Pease wat untlthe scan i completed Figure 4.2: Tune up Disk Cleaner “a[oanitionetrtest ire Eoeeeahiskdabeeced crit ah ee ieta paved as obits an yaa se Rae Figure 4 3: AVAST Software Uninstall Utility UMehfee | (Checking Your PC for Thats. ‘top teat ir bk, anne waencaatcre \nienaeot etait Pi ed ral twa fal Caemurbdeaaen ee eME gra ua. es ra ee irnsiewtet esa teases Honea Wado a tio? Stato nn ic {tne tle G| emereenseescuseedt owe Ip | tat) Chipeta oven" Opti Ct Cloeort tse nt) (Cope (aa) Co Jae) ae) Figure 4.4: WinZip file compressing utility Sd en ge set ane neat | [gat (ms [eo] Uregnnette Hertanete Dumostete: Ores Figure 4.5: McAfee Antivirus Utility Figure 4.6: Disk Defragmenter utility a4.2.3. Library Programs Library programs are collections of some pre-written codes or resources that are used to develop other programs. For an example, you might have noticed that all Microsoft Programs look like the same or have the same look and feel in the interfaces though the application differs. The reason for this consistent look is the using of same graphical user interface libraries when developing different applications by the Microsoft. Another classical example is, the computer game developers often buy and use pre-done graphical user interface libraries and develop new ‘games as they need to save time and cost of entire development process. This will allow them to quickly develop a good looking game that runs on the desired hardware. In w\Windows, you can often identify library programs by their extension .dll (dynamic link library) 4.2.4 Programming Language Translators ‘You are already aware that a Program is a set of instructions written for performing a specific task. These instructions are just like English words. We call that these programs are written in programming languages that can be understood by human beings. These written programs are called that Source codes. However, some programs run on a machine code that is executed directly on computer architecture, Machine code is not easily read by humans and it is a long seties of bits (i.e. ones-1 and zeros-0). Therefore, the source code is to be converted into machine code which is called an object program, This translation can be done by translator. Simply, the translators translate source code into machine code. There are three approaches of program translating: Assembler © Interpreter © Compiler Assembler: An assembler translates the symbolic codes of programs of an assembly language into machine language instructions (See Figure 4.7 below). The symbolic language is translated to the machine code in the ratio of one is to one symbolic instructions to one machine code instructions. Such types of languages are called low-level languages. The assembler programs translate the low-level language to the machine code. The translation job is performed either manually or with a program called assembler. In hand assembly, the programmer uses the set of instructions supplied by the manufacturer. In this case, the hexadecimal code for the mnemonic instruction is searched from the code sheet. This procedure is tedious and time-consuming. Alternate solution to this is the use of assemblers. The program called assembler provides the codes of the mnemonics. This process is fast and facilitates the user in developing the program speedily. Mnemonic Machine ;——* Assembler -—>) language codes Interpreter: Figure 4.7: Assembler Interpreters also come in the group of translators. It helps the user to execute the source program with a few differences as compared to compilers. The source program is just like English astatements in both interpreters and compilers. The interpreter also generates object codes from the source program, Interpreter reads the program line by line, whereas in compiler the entire program is read by the compiler, which then generates the object codes. Interpreter directly executes the program from its source code, Due to this, every time the source code should be inputted to the interpreter. In other words, each line is converted into the object codes. It takes ‘very less time for execution because no intermediate object code is generated. Compi Compilers are the translators, which translate all the instructions of the program into machine codes, which can be used again and again (See Figure 4.8 below). The source program is input to the compiler. The object code is output for the secondary storage device. The entire program will be read by the compiler first and generates the object code. However, in interpreter each line is executed and object code is provided. M-BASIC is an example of an interpreter. High-level languages such as C, C++ and Java compilers are employed. The compiler displays the list of errors and warnings for the statements violating the syntax rules of the language. Compilers also have the ability of linking subroutines of the program. Mnemonic ‘Compilers and Machine language interpreters codes + ¥ Figure 4.8: Compilers and Interpreters 4.3 Application Software Re-call the classification of software given in Figure 4.1, Accordingly, the second major class of Software is the Application Software. Application software consists of programs designed to perform specific tasks of users. Application Software, also called a software application or an application, can be used for the following purposes, among others: As a productivity/business tool To assist with graphics and multimedia projects To support household activities, for personal business, or for education To facilitate communications A variety of application software is available that you can buy from software vendors in retail stores or on the Web. A specific software product, such as Microsoft Word, often is called a Software Package. Based on the purposes as listed above, the application software is three-fold namely General Purpose, Special purpose, and Bespoke. Let us look at each type of applications software briefly. 43.1 General Purpose Application Software ‘A general purpose application is also called ‘off-the-shelf’ applications. These are the software you use at home, university, or at work place to make you more effective and efficient while performing daily activities. These include applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing packages, presentation packages, graphics packages, text editors, etc. Following Table 4.1 gives example uses of different general purpose applications. aGeneral Purpose Application Example Uses Word Processor ‘Writing reports, memos, letters to customers Spreadsheet application Keeping simple company accounts, calculating employee payments, simple stock control systems, modeling. Database application Keeping student data ofa university, Keeping customer records, sales records, appointments system Desktop Publishing application | Creating leaflets, posters, business cards, ete. Presentation software ‘Creating presentations fo be used for an audience of customers/staff. Graphics application Manipulating images that can be used at home, university, ora business Web Design application Creating personal or business web sites Table 4.1: Uses of General Purpose Applications Note: Within this course, you will learn deeply on one from each categories of Word Processor, Spreadsheet application, Database application, and Presentation software as tabled below. General Purpose Application Software covered within this course Word Processor Microsoft Word 2007 Spreadsheet application Microsoft Excel 2007 Database application Microsoft Access 2007 Presentation software Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Table 4.2: Application software covered in ICT Skills Course 43.2. Special Purpose Application Software Special Purpose Application Software is the software created for execution of a single specific task. Some examples are Chess game, calculator, camera application in your mobile phone which allows you only to capture and share pictures, web browsers, media players, calendar programs. 43.3 Bespoke Application Software Some organizations may feel that the general purpose software are not suitable for their task and it does not exactly what they want or it does not tallying with the current system in the organization. In this type of situation, they decide on designing and developing software specifically for them. These softwares are also called as the ‘tailor-made software’ or ‘Bespoke software’ as they are made to a specific user and customized for a specific task only. Following are the advantages and disadvantages of bespoke software: aAdvantages. ‘+ The organization will get the exact system that they need © The software will work exactly how they want it to work ‘+ The software will only have the features that they specifically need in their job or business feeling them comfortable to use Disadvantages. ‘* It takes more time to develop such systems. The development duration several months or years ‘+ Developmental cost is very high ‘* Sometimes it is required to employ a team of people at different stages of the development process such as analysts, programmers, testers, etc. Following are some examples for bespoke software: - Membership database (Insurance Industry) Dispatch Systems (Factory/Processing Industries) Sales order Systems (Newspaper Industries) Invoicing System (Motor Industries) Freelancer System (Newspaper Industries) Calibrating Software (Pharmaceutical Industries) Software that checks all medical devises to ensure that all are correctly ealibrated Educated Marketing database (Education) Event Planning Database (Manages invitations, member registrations, and seminar places) Marketing Databases (territory management, telemarketing, direct mail campaigns, analysis) Sales Training Databases (Management reports of personal attainment, history, and team performance) 4.4. Self Assessment Questions ee 4.1 What is Software? 4.2. Differentiate System software and Application software. 4.3 What are the responsibilities of Operating Systems? 4.4. Define the following with suitable examples a. Single-user OS, b. Multi-user OS 4.5 What are utility programs? Define some tasks performed by them, 4.6 What is meant by library programs? 4.7 What are program language translators? Briefly describe three translating approaches. 4.8. State the advantages and disadvantages of Bespoke Application Software. os.Session 10 Introduction to Word Processing and MS Office 2007 Aims: Aim of this session is to introduce the user to the concept of an electronic word processing package and to make the user proficient in the use of the Microsoft Office 2007. Objectives: Having studied this session you can get idea about: What word processing is ‘What the available word processers are. How to work with Keyboard to enhance the word processing skills. How to improve your typing speed. 10.1 What is Word Processing? Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. In computers, a word processor is a computer application used for the production, including composition, editing, formatting, and possibly printing of any sort of printable material. In general, word processor is a type of stand-alone office machine which was popular in the 1970s and 80s, combining the keyboard text-entry and printing functions. Type writers were commonly used in offices before the computers came more popular as a word processing device. At present, these type writers are out of date and all these functions of the type writers are done by the computer and word processing applications. Figure 10.1 shows a manual type writer and an electronic type writer. Figure 10.1: Manual typewriter and electronic typewriter 104User Assistance System: In Microsoft Office 2007, the “new help system’ is the extensive use of Super Tooltips which explains in about one paragraph what each function performs. Some of them also use diagrams or pictures. These appear and disappear like normal tooltips, and replace normal tooltips in many areas. 10.4. 4 System requirements for Office 2007 Microsoft Office 2007 needs minimum of following system requirements, 1) Computer and processor: 500 megahertz, (MHz) processor or higher 2) Memory: 256 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher 3) Hard disk: 1.5 gigabyte (GB); a portion of this disk space will be freed after installation if the original download package is removed from the hard drive. 4) Drive: CD-ROM or DVD drive 5) Display: 1024x768 or higher resolution monitor 6) Operating system: Microsoft Wit jows(R) XP with Service Pack (SP), Windows Server 2003 with SPI, or later operating system 10.4.5 Programs Available in Office 2007 The 2007 Microsoft Office system is distributed in several editions summary of the each edition is given below. 10.5 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 Edition Packages Oa ae Effie Homeand PowerPoint ,Word, Excel, OneNote Oa GFfice Basic2007 Outlook, Word, Excel #3 Gffice Small Business 2007 Outlook , Publisher, PowerPoint, Word, 05 eo Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Access, S3.Office Professional 2007 _| Publisher Table 10.4: Several editions of Ms Office Self Assessment Questions € What is a word processor? What is the advantage of using a computer as a word processor than using a type writer? What are the features and facilities commonly available in a word processor? What are the differences between an online word processor and a Commercial word processor? How do you improve your typing speed? Explain briefly What are the new features introduced in Office 2007? ‘What are the new features introduced in Word 2007? Briefly explain the system requirements to install office 2007. “Microsoft Office is a commercial office package”. Justify the above statement. aaSession 17 Introduction to Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Aim: To provide an overview of the Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Objectives: Having studied this s -ssion you will be able to get an idea of: Introduction about MS PowerPoint 2007 Working with Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 Creating better presentations Formatting presentations 17.1 Introduction Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft. This is used to produce professional-looking presentations. It is an application that comes with the Microsoft Office suit. Microsoft PowerPoint runs on Microsoft Windows and the Mac OS computer operating systems. Microsoft Power point 2007 introduced several new features. Some of these features are listed below, Get better results faster with a redesigned user interface. Create powerful, dynamic SmartArt Diagrams. Easily reuse content with Office PowerPoint 2007 slide libraries. Communicate with users across platforms and devices. Use custom layouts to assemble presentations more quickly. Accelerate your review processes. Dramatically modify shapes, text, and graphics with new tools and effects. ‘Add more security to your Office PowerPoint 2007 presentations. Reduce your document sizes and improve damaged file recovery at the same time. In addition to the MS PowerPoint, there are so many other presentation programs which are computer software packages which can display information normally in the form of a slide show. Apple Keynote, Corel Presentations, Google Does (web-based), OpenOffice.org Impress (open source), SlideRocket are some examples for them. 99710. Click the Slide Show View or Normal Click to edit Master title style + Clik to edit Master text styles = seconsieve Figure 17.26: Changing Slides via Slide Master View ‘iew command at the bottom of the window to exit slide master. 11, View and see the changes in the presentation slides. (You will see that the picture has been inserted into all slides in the same location) Note: Similarly, you can do the changes with the text, images or any other component in the slides using the slide master as described above. Making Changes to Specific Layouts In addition to changing design elements on all slides, you can change design elements on slides that use a specific layout. For example, you can apply different formatting to the Title and Content or Section Header layouts. By customizing speci ide layouts, you have more control over the slides and the presentation, as a whole. 17.10 Self Assessment Questions ae VAT 172 173 174 175 176 17.7 178 179 What is PowerPoint? State the use of it, State five new features introduced in MS PowerPoint 2007. What are the available views to display the PowerPoint presentations? Briefly describe them. Which view is used to create and edit slides in MS PowerPoint? In PowerPoint, what is the use of hyperlinks? How could you insert the date and time into your slides? Describe the relationship between the slide masters and themes in PowerPoint? How could you make a logo to appear on every slide in a presentation? What is the default file extension for MS PowerPoint 2007 files? 743