Acknowledgement

Anything new started is always with mixed feelings. There is the joy of
novelty, the determination of a missionary, but also the apprehension of a
new comer. Will it click? Will it be liked? Will it serve any purpose at all? Is
it worth the effort?

From the responses received, I can safely say that the phase of
apprehension is over. Colleagues and friends from all over, esteemed
teachers and researchers have called up or written to encourage the
effort. I am extremely grateful to them. My esteemed guide and support of
Mr. Narendra Narang (Bamanendra) from Indore, Chairman-Vishisht
Education Society was the first to call and offer appreciation.

Dr.S.M. Anas Iqbal, Academic Director Institute (VSOM) to so many of

us, revered in the field of I.T., called me up to congratulate me and
providing valuable suggestions. I indeed felt blessed. a well respected
name in the field of Commerce HOD Prof. Shweta Arora and my grateful
thanks to him.

We wish to thank all of them for being with us. Co-operation of

colleagues, Prof. Ashish Mehta , Prof. Robin Neema , Prof. Shekhar
updhyay, Prof. Paridhi Mangal Jain , Prof. Dr. Narendra Singh , Prof.
Neha Mahiwal , Prof. Tripda Rawal , Prof. Vineet , Prof. Sandeep Kour
, Prof. Samuel Norment, Prof. Hemant Chaturvedi Prof. Vineeta, and
Prof. Anuja is on record of my acknowledgement and appreciated the
effort. My friend Mr. Akshay Johari has taken over typesetting and
printing work for which I wish to thank him wholeheartedly. Also co-
operation of Bharti Sunhere , Librarian Head is on record of my
acknowledgement.

I admire the patience with which he and his office carry out the numerous
corrections and additions in getting the monographs ready for printing.

My Father Shree Murlidharji Bhangdia from Indore writes back to say,

"It is an important issue and very timely and can be a good stimulus for
Indian authors to start addressing such problems in greater numbers...
Keep up the good work".

I seek your suggestions and advice, your views and opinions on the
issues raised by this collection. Please feel free to write or call. It will be a
great pleasure to interact with you.

Meanwhile, all the best.

Sanjay Maheshwsari

1
Index

The History Of Computers 1

The Invention Of Computers 9
What Is A Computer 12
Classification Of Computers ! 13
Classification Of Computers ! 14
CPU Components 15
Input Unit: 16
Output Unit: 17
Central Processing Unit: 18
Input/Output Devices 18
Computers Generation 23
Advantage And Disadvantages 29
System Software And Application Software 30
Functions Of An Operating System: 31
Hardware 33
Software 36
Programmers 37
Disk Operating System (DOS) 40
Linux 45
Computer Viruses 46
Hardware Vs. Software 47
Networking Hardware Components 51
Computer Peripherals 52
Computer Parts List 53
Graphics Card 56
Sound Card 57
Sound Card 61
Physical Memory 62
Primary And Secondary Memory 63
Main Types Of RAM Memory 66
Hard Disk 68
RAM Vs. ROM 69
Algorithm 70
Flow Chart 74
Programming Languages 77
Electronic Communication 78
Directory And Files 81
PC Configuration 81
General Packet Radio Service 85
Search Engine Optimization 88
Demorgan’s Theorems 89
Number System 91
Boolean Algebra 96
SYSTEM SOFTWARE & APPLICATION SOFTWRE 99
Compiler 103
Compiler 104
Assemblers 105
Computer Language 105
Windows 107
Operating System 108

2
Functions Of An Operating System 110
File System 111
Icon 114
Taskbar 116
Moving And Sizing The Taskbar 119
My Computer 121
Control Panel 123
Desktop 124
Files And Folders 131
Creating And Deleting Files 134
Back Up 136
The Disk Defragmenter 137
Screensaver 138
Passwords 138
Recycle Bin 139
Paint Brush 141
Ms-Word 141
Ms-Excel 142
Ms-Access 144
Tally 147
Video Conferencing 149
DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM 153
Expert System 154
Artificial Intelligence 155
Impact Of IT 157
Image Processing 160
Digital Image Processing 161
Virtual Reality 162
Information Superhighway 163
Online Shopping 164
E-Mail 165
4 GL 166
Internet Explorer 167
Network 169
Computer Keyword 170

3
The History of Computers

Computers have wedged themselves into every facet of our lives—they are what
we would use as the symbolic representation of the modern world. But did you
know that the history of computers dates back to the 1800s?Indeed, the history
and evolution of computers is quite extraordinary—and with many early
computing technology innovations tied to defense contracts, much of this
information were kept secret from the public for decades. In this article, we
explore the development and progression of computers.

Mid-1800s-1930s: Early Mechanical Computers

The first computers were designed by Charles Babbage in the mid-1800s, and are
sometimes collectively known as the Babbage Engines. These include the
Difference Engine No. 1, the Analytical Engine, and the Difference Engine No. 2.

The Difference Engine was constructed from designs by Charles Babbage. Photo
by Allan J. Cronin These early computers were never completed during
Babbage’s lifetime, but their complete designs were preserved. Eventually, one
was built in 2002.

While these early mechanical computers bore little resemblance to the computers
in use today, they paved the way for a number of technologies that are used by
modern computers, or were instrumental in their development. These concepts
include of the idea of separating storage from processing, the logical structure of
computers, and the way that data and instructions are inputted and outputted.
4
Z1 was used to take the U.S. Census in 1890.

Other important mechanical computers are the Automatic Electrical Tabulating

Machine—which was used in the U.S. Census of 1890 to handle data from more
than 62 million Americans—and the first binary computer: Konrad Zuse’s Z1,
which was developed in 1938 and was the precursor to the first electro-
mechanical computer.

1930s: Electro-Mechanical Computers

Electro-mechanical computers generally worked with relays and/or vacuum

tubes, which could be used as switches. Some electro-mechanical computers—
such as the Differential Analyzer built in 1930—used purely mechanical internals
but employed electric motors to power them. These early electro-mechanical
computers were either analog or were digital—such as the Model K and the
Complex Number Calculator, both produced by George Stibitz.Stibitz, by the
way, was also responsible for the first remote access computing, done at a
conference at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He took a teleprinter to the
conference, leaving his computer in New York City, and then proceeded to take
problems posed by the audience. He then entered the problems on the keypad of
his teleprompter, which outputted the answers afterward.

Z3 used floating-point numbers which improved the accuracy of calculations. It

was during the development of these early electro-mechanical computers that
many of the technologies and concepts still used today were first developed. The
Z3, a descendent of the Z1 developed by Konrad Zuse, was one such pioneering
5
computer. The Z3 used floating-point numbers in computations and was the first
program-controlled digital computer.
Other electro-mechanical computers included Bombes, which were used during
WWII to decrypt German codes.

1940s: Electronic Computers

Colossus—whose name was fitting for its size—was developed during World
War II.The first electronic computers were developed during the World War II,
with the earliest of those being the Colossus. The Colossus was developed to
decrypt secret German codes during the war. It used vacuum tubes and paper tape
and could perform a number of Boolean (e.g. true/false, yes/no) logical
operations.

Williams Tube used RAM for its computations.

Another notable early electronic computer was nicknamed "The Baby" (officially
known as the Manchester Small-Scale Experimental Machine). While the
computer itself wasn’t remarkable—it was the first computer to use the Williams
Tube, a type of random access memory (RAM) that used a cathode-ray tube.
Some early electronic computers used decimal numeric systems (such as the
ENIAC and the Harvard Mark 1), while others—like the Atanasoff-Berry
Computer and the Colossus Mark 2—used binary systems. With the exception of
6
the Atanasoff-Berry Computer, all the major models were programmable, either
using punch cards, patch cables and switches, or through stored programs in
memory.

1950s: The First Commercial Computers

The first commercially available computers came in the 1950s. While computing
up until this time had mainly focused on scientific, mathematical, and defense
capabilities, new computers were designed for business functions, such as
banking and accounting.
The J. Lyons Company, which was a British catering firm, invested heavily in
some of these early computers. In 1951, LEO (Lyons Electronic Office) became
the first computer to run a regular routine office job. By November of that year,
they were using the LEO to run a weekly bakery valuations job.

The UNIVAC was the first mass-produced computer. The UNIVAC was the first
commercial computer developed in the U.S., with its first unit delivered to the
U.S. Census Bureau. It was the first mass-produced computer, with more than
45 units eventually produced and sold.

The IBM 701 was another notable development in early commercial computing;
it was the first mainframe computer produced by IBM. It was around the same
time that the Fortran programming language was being developed (for the
704).

7
The IBM 650 would cost you $4 million dollars if you bought it today.
A smaller IBM 650 was developed in the mid-1950s, and was popular due to its
smaller size and footprint (it still weighed over 900kg, with a separate 1350kg
power supply).They cost the equivalent of almost $4 million today (adjusted for
inflation).

Mid-1950s: Transistor Computers

The development of transistors led to the replacement of vacuum tubes, and

resulted in significantly smaller computers. In the beginning, they were less
reliable than the vacuum tubes they replaced, but they also consumed
significantly less power.

IBM 350 RAMAC used disk drives. These transistors also led to developments
in computer peripherals. The first disk drive, the IBM 350 RAMAC, was the
first of these introduced in 1956. Remote terminals also became more common
with these second-generation computers.

1960s: The Microchip and the Microprocessor

The microchip (or integrated circuit) is one of the most important advances in
computing technology. Many overlaps in history existed between microchip-
based computers and transistor-based computers throughout the 1960s, and even
into the early 1970s.

8
Microchips allowed the manufacturing of smaller computers. Photo by Ioan
Sameli The microchip spurred the production of minicomputers and
microcomputers, which were small and inexpensive enough for small businesses
and even individuals to own. The microchip also led to the microprocessor,
another breakthrough technology that was important in the development of the
personal computer.

There were three microprocessor designs that came out at about the same time.
The first was produced by Intel (the 4004).

The first processors were 4-bit, but 8-bit models quickly followed by 1972. 16-bit
models were produced in 1973, and 32-bit models soon followed. AT&T Bell
Labs created the first fully 32-bit single-chip microprocessor, which used 32-bit
buses, 32-bit data paths, and 32-bit addresses, in 1980.The first 64-bit
microprocessors, were in use in the early 1990s in some markets, though they
didn’t appear in the PC market until the early 2000s.

1970s: Personal Computers

The first personal computers were built in the early 1970s. Most of these were
limited-production runs, and worked based on small-scale integrated circuits and
multi-chip CPUs.

The Commodore PET was a personal computer in the 70s. The Altair 8800 was
the first popular computer using a single-chip microprocessor. It was also sold in
kit form to electronics hobbyists, meaning purchasers had to assemble their own
computers.

Clones of this machine quickly cropped up, and soon there was an entire market
based on the design and architecture of the 8800. It also spawned a club based
around hobbyist computer builders, the Homebrew Computer Club.

1977 saw the rise of the "Trinity" (based on a reference in Byte magazine): the
Commodore PET, the Apple II, and the Tandy Corporation’s TRS-80. These
three computer models eventually went on to sell millions.

9
These early PCs had between 4kB and 48kB of RAM. The Apple II was the only
one with a full-color, graphics-capable display, and eventually became the best-
seller among the trinity, with more than 4 million units sold.

1980s-1990s: The Early Notebooks and Laptops

One particularly notable development in the 1980s was the advent of the
commercially available portable computer.

Osborne 1 was small and portable enough to transport.

The first of these was the Osborne 1, in 1981. It had a tiny 5" monitor and was
large and heavy compared to modern laptops (weighing in at 23.5 pounds).
Portable computers continued to develop, though, and eventually became
streamlined and easily portable, as the notebooks we have today are. These early
portable computers were portable only in the most technical sense of the word.
Generally, they were anywhere from the size of a large electric typewriter to the
size of a suitcase.

The Gavilan SC was the first PC to be sold as a "laptop". The first laptop with a
flip form factor, was produced in 1982, but the first portable computer that was
actually marketed as a "laptop" was the Gavilan SC in 1983.

Early models had monochrome displays, though there were color displays
available starting in 1984 (the Commodore SX-64).Laptops grew in popularity as
they became smaller and lighter. By 1988, displays had reached VGA resolution,
and by 1993 they had 256-color screens. From there, resolutions and colors

10
 progressed quickly. Other hardware features added during the 1990s and early
2000s included high-capacity hard drives and optical drives.

Laptops typically come in three categories, as shown by these Mac books.

Laptops are generally broken down into a three different categories:
• Desktop replacements
• Standard notebooks
• Subnotebooks
Desktop replacements are usually larger, with displays of 15-17" and
performance comparable with some better desktop computers.
Standard notebooks usually have displays of 13-15" and are a good compromise
between performance and portability. Subnotebooks, including net books, have
displays smaller than 13" and fewer features than standard notebooks.

2000s: The Rise of Mobile Computing

Mobile computing is one of the most recent major milestones in the history of
computers. Many smart phones today have higher processor speeds and more
memory than desktop PCs had even ten years ago. With phones like the iPhone
and the Motorola Droid, it’s becoming possible to perform most of the functions
once reserved for desktop PCs from anywhere.

The Droid is a Smartphone capable of basic computing tasks such as emailing

and web browsing. Mobile computing really got its start in the 1980s, with the
pocket PCs of the era. These were something like a cross between a calculator, a
small home computer and a PDA. They largely fell out of favor by the 1990s.
During the 1990s, PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) became popular.

11
A number of manufacturers had models, including Apple and Palm. The main
feature PDAs had that not all pocket PCs had was a touch screen interface. PDAs
are still manufactured and used today, though they’ve largely been replaced by
smart phones.
Smartphone’s have truly revolutionized mobile computing. Most basic computing
functions can now be done on a Smartphone, such as email, browsing the
internet, and uploading photos and videos.

Late 2000s: Net books

Another recent progression in computing history is the development of net book

computers. Net books are smaller and more portable than standard laptops, while
still being capable of performing most functions average computer users need
(using the Internet, managing email, and using basic office programs). Some
netbooks go as far as to have not only built-in Wife capabilities, but also built-in
mobile broadband connectivity options.

The Asus Eee PC 700 was the first netbook to enter mass production.
The first mass-produced net book was the Asus Eee PC 700, released in 2007.
They were originally released in Asia, but were released in the US not long
afterward.
Other manufacturers quickly followed suit, releasing additional models
throughout 2008 and 2009.
One of the main advantages of netbooks is their lower cost (generally ranging
from around US$200-$600). Some mobile broadband providers have even
offered net books for free with an extended service contract. Comcast also had a
promotion in 2009 that offered a free net book when you signed up for their cable
internet services.

Most net books now come with Windows or Linux installed, and soon, there will
be Android-based net books available from Asus and other manufacturers.
The history of computing spans nearly two centuries at this point, much longer
than most people realize. From the mechanical computers of the 1800s to the
room-sized mainframes of the mid-20th century, all the way up to the net books
and smart phones of today, computers have evolved radically throughout their
history. The past 100 years have brought technological leaps and bounds to
computing, and there’s no telling what the next 100 years might bring.

The Invention of Computers

12
 "Who invented the computer?" is not a question with a simple
answer. The real answer is that many inventors contributed to the
history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of
machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be
considered a separate invention.

This series covers many of the major milestones in computer history (but not all
of them) with a concentration on the history of personal home computers.

Computer History Computer History Computer History

Year/Enter Inventors/Inventions Description of Event
Konrad Zuse - Z1 First freely programmable
1936
Computer computer.
John Atanasoff & Who was first in the computing
1942 Clifford Berry biz is not always as easy as
ABC Computer ABC.
Howard Aiken &
Grace Hopper
1944 The Harvard Mark 1 computer.
Harvard Mark I
Computer
John Presper Eckert
1946 & John W. Mauchly 20,000 vacuum tubes later...
ENIAC 1 Computer
Frederic Williams &
Tom Kilburn
Baby and the Williams Tube
1948 Manchester Baby
turn on the memories.
Computer & The
Williams Tube
John Bardeen, Walter No, a transistor is not a
Brattain & Wiliam computer, but this invention
1947/48
Shockley greatly affected the history of
The Transistor computers.
John Presper Eckert
First commercial computer &
1951 & John W. Mauchly
able to pick presidential winners.
UNIVAC Computer
International
IBM enters into 'The History of
1953 Business Machines
Computers'.
IBM 701 EDPM

13
 Computer
John Backus & IBM
FORTRAN
The first successful high level
1954 Computer
programming language.
Programming
Language
Stanford Research
The first bank industry computer
Institute, Bank of
1955 - also MICR (magnetic ink
America, and General
(In Use 1959) character recognition) for
Electric
reading checks.
ERMA and MICR
Jack Kilby & Robert
Noyce
1958 Otherwise known as 'The Chip'
The Integrated
Circuit
Steve Russell & MIT
The first computer game
1962 Spacewar Computer
invented.
Game
Douglas Engelbart
Nicknamed the mouse because
1964 Computer Mouse &
the tail came out the end.
Windows
1969 ARPAnet The original Internet.
Intel 1103 Computer The world's first available
1970
Memory dynamic RAM chip.
Faggin, Hoff &
Mazor
1971 The first microprocessor.
Intel 4004 Computer
Microprocessor
Alan Shugart &IBM Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its
1971
The "Floppy" Disk flexibility.
Robert Metcalfe &
Xerox
1973 The Ethernet Networking.
Computer
Networking
Scelbi & Mark-8
1974/75 Altair & IBM 5100 The first consumer computers.
Computers

14
 Apple I, II & TRS-
1976/77 80 & Commodore More first consumer computers.
Pet Computers
Dan Bricklin & Bob
Frankston Any product that pays for itself
1978 VisiCalc in two weeks is a surefire
Spreadsheet winner.
Software
Seymour Rubenstein
1979 & Rob Barnaby Word Processors.
WordStar Software
IBM
From an "Acorn" grows a
1981 The IBM PC - Home
personal computer revolution
Computer
Microsoft From "Quick And Dirty" comes
1981 MS-DOS Computer the operating system of the
Operating System century.
Apple Lisa The first home computer with a
1983
Computer GUI, graphical user interface.
Apple Macintosh The more affordable home
1984
Computer computer with a GUI.
Microsoft begins the friendly
1985 Microsoft Windows
war with Apple.

What is a Computer !

A computer is an electronic machine that accepts information, stores it until the

information is needed, processes the information according to the instructions
provided by the user, and finally returns the results to the user. The computer can
store and manipulate large quantities of data at very high speed, but a computer
cannot think. A computer makes decisions based on simple comparisons such as
one number being larger than another. Although the computer can help solve a
tremendous variety of problems, it is simply a machine. It cannot solve problems
on its own.

COMPUTER stands for:

• C - Common

15
• O - Oriented
• M - Machine
• P - Particularly
• U - Used For
• T - Trade
• E - Education And
• R - Research

Characteristics of Computers !

Computer has the following characteristics:

• Automation
• Speed
• Accuracy
• Continuity
• Memory
• Storage power
• Versatility
• Reliability
• Micro size
• Thoughtless
•
Classification of Computers !

1. Mainframe Computers
2. Minicomputers
3. Microcomputers
4. Supercomputers

Mainframe computers are very large, often filling an entire room. They can store
enormous of information, can perform many tasks at the same time, can
communicate with many users at the same time, and are very expensive. . The
price of a mainframe computer frequently runs into the millions of dollars.
Mainframe computers usually have many terminals connected to them. These
terminals look like small computers but they are only devices used to send and
receive information from the actual computer using wires. Terminals can be
located in the same room with the mainframe computer, but they can also be in
different rooms, buildings, or cities. Large businesses, government agencies, and
universities usually use this type of computer.

Minicomputers are much smaller than mainframe computers and they are also
much less expensive. The cost of these computers can vary from a few thousand
dollars to several hundred thousand dollars. They possess most of the features
found on mainframe computers, but on a more limited scale. They can still have

16
many terminals, but not as many as the mainframes. They can store a tremendous
amount of information, but again usually not as much as the mainframe. Medium
and small businesses typically use these computers.

Microcomputers are the types of computers we are using in your classes at Floyd
College. These computers are usually divided into desktop models and laptop
models. They are terribly limited in what they can do when compared to the
larger models discussed above because they can only be used by one person at a
time, they are much slower than the larger computers, and they cannot store
nearly as much information, but they are excellent when used in small businesses,
homes, and school classrooms. These computers are inexpensive and easy to use.
They have become an indispensable part of modern life.

Computer Architecture

Computer architecture refers to the definition of basic attributes of hardware

components and their interconnections, in order to achieve certain specified goals
in terms of functions and performance. The attributes may include, for example
the instruction set , data representation, I/O mechanisms, etc. The architecture
basically defines the logical structure of a computer system.

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the "brain" of the computer, it is the
'computer' in computer. Without the CPU, you have no computer. Computer
CPU's (processors) are composed of thin layers of thousands of transistors.
Transistors are tiny, nearly microscopic bits of material that will block electricity
when the the electricity is only a weak charge, but will allow the electricity pass
through when the electricity is strong enough. The transistors transition from
being a non-conductor (resist the electricity) to a conductor (they conduct
electricity) when the electrical change is strong enough. The material the
transistor is made of loses its resistance to electricity and becomes a conductor
when the electricity gets strong enough. The ability of these materials (called
semi-conductors) to transition from a non-conducting to a conducting state allows
them to take two electrical inputs and produce a different output only when one
or both inputs are switched on. A computer CPU is composed of millions (and
soon billions) of transistors. Because CPU's are so small, they are often referred
to as microprocessors. So, the terms processor, microprocessor and CPU are
interchangeable. AMD, IBM, Intel, Motorola, SGI and Sun are just a few of the
companies that make most of the CPU's used for various kinds of computers
including home desktops, office computers, mainframes and supercomputers.

Modern CPU's are what are called 'integrated chips'. The idea behind an
integrated chip is that several types of components are integrated into a single
piece of silicon (a single CPU), such as one or more execution cores, arithmetic

17
 logic unit (ALU) or 'floating point' processor, registers, instruction memory,
cache memory and the input/output controller (bus controller).

Each transistor is a receives a set of inputs and produces output. When one or
more of the inputs receive electricity, the combined charge changes the state of
the transistor internally and you get a result out the other side. This simple effect
of the transistor is what makes it possible for the computer to count and perform
logical operations, all of which we call processing.

A modern computer's CPU usually contains an execution core with two or more
instruction pipelines, a data and address bus, a dedicated arithmetic logic unit
(ALU, also called the math co-processor), and in some cases special high-speed
memory for caching program instructions from RAM.

Generations

CPU manufacturers engineer new ways to do processing that requires some

significant re-engineering of the current chip design. When they create this new
design that changes the number of bits the chip can handle, or some other major
way in which the chip performs its job, they are creating a new generation of
processors. As of the time this tutorial was last updated (2008), there were seven
generations of chips, with an eighth on the drawing board.

CPU Components

A lot of components go into building a modern computer processor and just what
goes in changes with every generation as engineers and scientists find new, more
efficient ways to do old tasks.
• Execution Core(s)
• Data Bus
• Address Bus
• Math Co-processor
• Instruction sets / Microcode
• Multimedia extensions
• Registers
• Flags
• Pipelining
• Memory Controller
• Cache Memory (L1, L2 and L3)

Block Diagram of Computer and its Explanation?

18
Block Diagram of Computer :

A computer can process data, pictures, sound and graphics. They can solve highly
complicated problems quickly and accurately.

Input Unit:
Computers need to receive data and instruction in order to solve any problem.
Therefore we need to input the data and instructions into the computers. The
input unit consists of one or more input devices. Keyboard is the one of the most
commonly used input device. Other commonly used input devices are the mouse,
floppy disk drive, magnetic tape, etc. All the input devices perform the following
functions.
•Accept the data and instructions from the outside world.
•Convert it to a form that the computer can understand.
•Supply the converted data to the computer system for further processing.

Storage Unit:
The storage unit of the computer holds data and instructions that are entered
through the input unit, before they are processed. It preserves the intermediate
and final results before these are sent to the output devices. It also saves the data
for the later use. The various storage devices of a computer system are divided
into two categories.

1. Primary Storage: Stores and provides very fast. This memory is generally
used to hold the program being currently executed in the computer, the data being
received from the input unit, the intermediate and final results of the program.
The primary memory is temporary in nature. The data is lost, when the computer
is switched off. In order to store the data permanently, the data has to be
transferred to the secondary memory. The cost of the primary storage is more

19
 compared to the secondary storage. Therefore most computers have limited
primary storage capacity.

2. Secondary Storage: Secondary storage is used like an archive. It stores

several programs, documents, data bases etc. The programs that you run on the
computer are first transferred to the primary memory before it is actually run.
Whenever the results are saved, again they get stored in the secondary memory.
The secondary memory is slower and cheaper than the primary memory. Some of
the commonly used secondary memory devices are Hard disk, CD, etc.,

Memory Size:

All digital computers use the binary system, i.e. 0’s and 1’s. Each character or a
number is represented by an 8 bit code.
The set of 8 bits is called a byte.
A character occupies 1 byte space.
A numeric occupies 2 byte space.
Byte is the space occupied in the memory.
The size of the primary storage is specified in KB (Kilobytes) or MB (Megabyte).
One KB is equal to 1024 bytes and one MB is equal to 1000KB. The size of the
primary storage in a typical PC usually starts at 16MB. PCs having 32 MB,
48MB, 128 MB, 256MB memory are quite common.

Output Unit:

The output unit of a computer provides the information and results of a

computation to outside world. Printers, Visual Display Unit (VDU) are the
commonly used output devices. Other commonly used output devices are floppy
disk drive, hard disk drive, and magnetic tape drive.

Arithmetic Logical Unit:

All calculations are performed in the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) of the
computer. It also does comparison and takes decision. The ALU can perform
basic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc and
does logic operations viz, >, <, =, ‘etc. Whenever calculations are required, the
control unit transfers the data from storage unit to ALU once the computations
are done, the results are transferred to the storage unit by the control unit and then
it is send to the output unit for displaying results.
There are 4 types of arithmetic operations that the CPU can perform...
1. Addition
2. Subtraction
3. Multiplication
4. Division

20
 The ALU will also perform logical operations. This is simply a comparison
operation. Does A = B? It can compare numbers, letters, and some special
characters. The CPU will then take action based on the outcome of this operation.
This is central to the CPU and allows it to be able to tell you things like...
Control Unit:
It controls all other units in the computer. The control unit instructs the input unit,
where to store the data after receiving it from the user. It controls the flow of data
and instructions from the storage unit to ALU. It also controls the flow of results
from the ALU to the storage unit. The control unit is generally referred as the
central nervous system of the computer that control and synchronizes its working.

Central Processing Unit:

The control unit and ALU of the computer are together known as the Central
Processing Unit (CPU). The CPU is like brain performs the following functions:
• It performs all calculations.
• It takes all decisions.
• It controls all units of the computer.
A PC may have CPU-IC such as Intel 8088, 80286, 80386, 80486, Celeron,
Pentium, Pentium Pro, Pentium II, Pentium III, Pentium IV, Dual Core, and
AMD etc.
Related Posts:
• Internal parts of CPU
• What is RAM and what are its functions
• Classification of computers based on memory size
• What is an operating system? What are its functions?
• What is a hard disk? What are its features

Input/output Devices

Contents:

I. Introduction : The computer will be of no use unless it is able to

communicate with the outside world. Input/output devices are required for users
to communicate with the computer. In simple terms, input devices bring
information INTO the computer and output devices bring information OUT of a
computer system. These input/output devices are also known as peripherals since
they surround the CPU and memory of a computer system.

II. Input Devices :- Keyboard, mouse, joystick, scanners, digital camera, bar code
reader, touch Screen, Speech input device (microphone)

III. Output Devices :- a. Monitor , Speaker, Printers ( different types)

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(a) Keyboard
It is a text base input device that allows the user to input alphabets, numbers and
Other characters. It consists of a set of keys mounted on a board.

Alphanumeric Keypad

It consists of keys for English alphabets, 0 to 9 numbers, and special characters

like +
−/ * ( ) etc.

Function Keys

There are twelve function keys labeled F1, F2, and F3… F12. The functions
assigned to these keys differ from one software package to another. These keys
are also user programmable keys.

Special-function Keys

These keys have special functions assigned to them and can be used only for
those
specific purposes. Functions of some of the important keys are defined below.

Enter : It is similar to the ‘return’ key of the typewriter and is used to execute
a command or program.

Spacebar : It is used to enter a space at the current cursor location.

Backspace : This key is used to move the cursor one position to the left and
also delete the character in that position.

Delete : It is used to delete the character at the cursor position.

Insert : Insert key is used to toggle between insert and overwrite mode
during data entry.

Shift : This key is used to type capital letters when pressed along with an
alphabet key. Also used to type the special characters located on the upper-side
of a key that has two characters defined on the same key.

Caps Lock : Cap Lock is used to toggle between the capital lock features. When
‘on’, it locks the alphanumeric keypad for capital letters input only.

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Tab : Tab is used to move the cursor to the next tab position defined in the
document. Also,it is used to insert indentation into a document.

Ctrl : Used with combination key ex Ctrl S for Save the File

Function Keys :- Numeric Keypad , Cursor Movement, Keys , Alphanumeric

Keypad/

Special-function Keys :- Control key is used in conjunction with other keys to

provide additional functionality on the keyboard.

Alt : Also like the control key, Alt key is always used in combination with
other keys to perform specific tasks.

Esc : This key is usually used to negate a command. Also used to cancel or
abort executing programs.

Numeric Keypad : Numeric keypad is located on the right side of the keyboard
and consists of keys having numbers (0 to 9) and mathematical operators (+ −* /)
defined on them. This keypad is provided to support quick entry for numeric data.

Cursor Movement Keys : These are arrow keys and are used to move the cursor
in the direction indicated by the arrow (up, down, left, right).

(b) Mouse : The mouse is a small device used to point to a particular place on
the screen and select in order to perform one or more actions. It can be used to
select menu commands, size windows, start programs etc. The most conventional
kind of mouse has two buttons on top: the left one being used most frequently.

Mouse Actions

Left Click : Used to select an item.

Double Click : Used to start a program or open a file.
Right Click : Usually used to display a set of commands.
Drag and Drop : It allows you to select and move an item from one location to
another. To achieve this place the cursor over an item on the screen, click the left
mouse button and while holding the button down move the cursor to where you
want to place the item, and then release it.

(c) Joystick

The joystick is a vertical stick which moves the graphic cursor in a direction the
stick is moved. It typically has a button on top that is used to select the option

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pointed by the cursor. Joystick is used as an input device primarily used with
video games, training simulators and controlling robots

(d) Scanner

Scanner is an input device used for direct data entry from the source document
into the computer system. It converts the document image into digital form so
that it can be fed into the computer. Capturing information like this reduces the
possibility of errors typically experienced during large data entry. Hand-held
scanners are commonly seen in big stores to scan codes and price information for
each of the items. They are also termed the bar code readers.

(e) Bar codes

A bar code is a set of lines of different thicknesses that represent a number. Bar
Code Readers are used to input data from bar codes. Most products in shops have
bar codes on them .Bar code readers work by shining a beam of light on the lines
that make up the bar code and detecting the amount of light that is reflected back.

(f) Light Pen

It is a pen shaped device used to select objects on a display screen. It is quite like
the mouse (in its functionality) but uses a light pen to move the pointer and select
any object on the screen by pointing to the object. Users of Computer Aided
Design (CAD) applications commonly use the light pens to directly draw on
screen.

(g) Touch Screen

It allows the user to operate/make selections by simply touching the display

screen. Common examples of touch screen include information kiosks, and bank
ATMs.

(h) Digital camera

A digital camera can store many more pictures than an ordinary camera. Pictures
taken using a digital camera are stored inside its memory and can be transferred
to a
computer by connecting the camera to it. A digital camera takes pictures by
converting the light passing through the lens at the front into a digital image.

(i) The Speech Input Device

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The “Microphones - Speech Recognition” is a speech Input device. To operate it
we require using a microphone to talk to the computer. Also we need to add a
sound card to the computer. The Sound card digitizes audio input into 0/1s .A
speech recognition program can process the input and convert it into machine-
recognized commands or input.

Output Devices

(a) Monitor
Monitor is an output device that resembles the television screen and uses a
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) to display information. The monitor is associated with
a keyboard for manual input of characters and displays the information as it is
keyed in. It also displays the program or application output. Like the television,
monitors are also available in different sizes.

(b) Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)

LCD was introduced in the 1970s and is now applied to display terminals also. Its
advantages like low energy consumption, smaller and lighter have paved its way
for usage in portable computers (laptops).

(c) Printer

Printers are used to produce paper (commonly known as hardcopy) output. Based
on the technology used, they can be classified as Impact or Non-impact printers.
Impact printers use the typewriting printing mechanism wherein a hammer strikes
the paper through a ribbon in order to produce output. Dot-matrix and Character
printers fall under this category. Non-impact printers do not touch the paper while
printing. They use chemical, heat or electrical signals to etch the symbols on
paper. Inkjet, DeskJet, Laser, Thermal printers fall under this category of printers.
When we talk about printers we refer to two basic qualities associated with
printers: resolution, and speed. Print resolution is measured in terms of number of
dots per inch (dpi). Print speed is measured in terms of number of characters
printed in a unit of time and is represented as characters-per-second (cps), lines-
per-minute (lpm), or pages-per-minute (ppm).

(d) Plotter

Plotters are used to print graphical output on paper. It interprets computer

commands and makes line drawings on paper using multicolored automated pens.
It is capable of producing graphs, drawings, charts, maps etc. Computer Aided
Engineering (CAE) applications like CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAM
(Computer Aided Manufacturing) are typical usage areas for
plotters.

25
(e) Audio Output: Sound Cards and Speakers:

The Audio output is the ability of the computer to output sound. Two components
are needed: Sound card – Plays contents of digitized recordings, Speakers –
Attached to sound card.

Summary:

The Chapter has given an introduction to the Input/output devices. It gives a

detailed listing of the various types of input devices and the output devise.

First Generation Computers:

The First Generation Computers was marked by the use of vacuum tubes for the
electronic components and by the use of electrostatic tubes or mercury delay lines
for storage.

The first computers used vacuum tubes for circuitry and magnetic drums for
memory, and were often enormous, taking up entire rooms. They were very
expensive to operate and in addition to using a great deal of electricity, generated
a lot of heat, which was often the cause of malfunctions. First generation
computers relied on machine language to perform operations, and they could only
solve one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper tape,
and output was displayed on printouts.

The UNIVAC and ENIAC computers are examples of first-generation computing

devices. The UNIVAC was the first commercial computer delivered to a business
client, the U.S. Census Bureau in 1951. Their outstanding features were:-

1. Very expensive, poor reliability, slow input/output.

2. Quite large, generated lot of heat and required special housing.
3. The medium of internal storage was magnetic drum.
4. Punched cards and paper tapes were used for secondary storage.
5. Continuous maintenance is required; produces lot of heat hence requires
special air conditioning.
6. Applications-pay roll and other single applications in large companies.
7. Uses batch processing technology, to process the data.
Ex. In 1949 – at Cambridge University EDSAC (Electronic Delayed Storage
Automatic Calculator was developed).
In 1952 at Pennsylvania University, EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable
Automatic Calculator) was developed.
In 1951, UNIVAC-I (Universal Automatic Computer) was developed.

26
The First Generation (1951-1959)

• 1951: Mauchly and Eckert built the UNIVAC I, the first computer designed and
sold commercially, specifically for business data-processing applications.
• 1950s : Dr. Grace Murray Hopper developed the UNIVAC I compiler.
• 1957 : The programming language FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslator) was
designed by John Backus, an IBM engineer.
• 1959 : Jack St. Clair Kilby and Robert Noyce of Texas Instruments
manufactured the first integrated circuit, or chip, which is a collection of tiny
little transistors.

Second Generation Computers:

The second generation computers are initially marked by either magnetic drum or
magnetic core storage and later by the use of the transistor in the place of vacuum
tubes.

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and ushered in the second generation of

computers. The transistor was invented in 1947 but did not see widespread use in
computers until the late 50s. The transistor was far superior to the vacuum tube,
allowing computers to become smaller, faster, cheaper, more energy-efficient and
more reliable than their first-generation predecessors. Though the transistor still
generated a great deal of heat that subjected the computer to damage, it was a vast
improvement over the vacuum tube. Second-generation computers still relied on
punched cards for input and printouts for output.

Second-generation computers moved from cryptic binary machine language to

symbolic, or assembly, languages, which allowed programmers to specify
instructions in words. High-level programming languages were also being
developed at this time, such as early versions of COBOL and FORTRAN. These
were also the first computers that stored their instructions in their memory, which
moved from a magnetic drum to magnetic core technology.

Main features of the second generation computers are:

1. Magnetic core was used as primary storage device and tape as secondary
storage.
2. Used transistor circuits, hence the size of the computer was small compared to
that of first generation computer.
3. Greater reliability and higher speed, when compared to that of first generation
computers.
4. Uses high level procedural languages viz., FORTRAN (Formula Translator)
1954-57, COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) 1957-61.
5. They are small, faster and required less power to operate.

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6. Applications: Payroll, Inventory, Accounts Receivable, in large and medium
sized companies:
Ex: IBM 700, 1401; ATLAS; ICL 1901

The Second Generation (1959-1965)

• 1960s : Gene Amdahl designed the IBM System/360 series of mainframe (G)
computers, the first general-purpose digital computers to use integrated circuits.
• 1961: Dr. Hopper was instrumental in developing the COBOL (Common
Business Oriented Language) programming language.
• 1963 : Ken Olsen, founder of DEC, produced the PDP-I, the first minicomputer
(G).
• 1965 : BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code)
programming language developed by Dr. Thomas Kurtz and Dr. John Kemeny.

Third Generation Computers (1965-1971):

The arrival of the third generation in the mid 1960’s proved to be an important
milestone in the evolution of computers. The development of the integrated
circuit was the hallmark of the third generation of computers. Transistors were
miniaturized and placed on silicon chips, called semiconductors, which
drastically increased the speed and efficiency of computers.

Instead of punched cards and printouts, users interacted with third generation
computers through keyboards and monitors and interfaced with an operating
system, which allowed the device to run many different applications at one time
with a central program that monitored the memory. Computers for the first time
became accessible to a mass audience because they were smaller and cheaper
than their predecessors.

The following are the features of this generation:

1. Further reductions in size of computer.
2. The cost/performance factor has improved significantly.
3. Increased internal core memory capacity.
4. Processor speeds are rated in nano seconds.
5. The use of high level languages became common e.g.: COBOL, FORTRAN
and PL/I.
6. Multiprogramming operating system was developed.
7. Magnetic disk was used as secondary storage.
8. Transistors were replaced with integrated circuits – hence increased
miniaturization.
9. Computers were capable of performing both scientific and business tasks with
high speed and reliability.

28
10. Input and Output devices are improved.
11. Applications: Order Processing, air line reservation, real-time inventory
control etc.
12. Uses online, real time processing and multiprogramming operating system.
Ex: IBM/360/370; NCR 395; Burroughs-B6500.

The Third Generation (1965-1971)

• 1969 : The Internet is started. (See History of the Internet)

• 1970 : Dr. Ted Hoff developed the famous Intel 4004 microprocessor (G) chip.
• 1971: Intel released the first microprocessor, a specialized integrated circuit
which was able to process four bits of data at a time. It also included its own
arithmetic logic unit. PASCAL, a structured programming language, was
developed by Niklaus Wirth.

Fourth Generation Computers:

The introduction of micro technology and significant software developments,

Micro technology gave rise to the development of micro computers, work
processors and intelligent terminals.

The microprocessor brought the fourth generation of computers, as thousands of

integrated circuits were built onto a single silicon chip. What in the first
generation filled an entire room could now fit in the palm of the hand. The Intel
4004 chip, developed in 1971, located all the components of the computer - from
the central processing unit and memory to input/output controls - on a single
chip.

In 1981 IBM introduced its first computer for the home user, and in 1984 Apple
introduced the Macintosh. Microprocessors also moved out of the realm of
desktop computers and into many areas of life as more and more everyday
products began to use microprocessors.

As these small computers became more powerful, they could be linked together
to form networks, which eventually led to the development of the Internet. Fourth
generation computers also saw the development of GUIs, the mouse and
handheld devices.

Features of this fourth generation are:

1. Integrated Circuits are replaced with very large scale integrated circuits.
2. Semiconductors used as primary storage.
3. Dramatic decrease in the size of computer – development of micro computers,
personal computer.
4. Development of electronic spread sheet.
5. Development of database management systems.
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6. Development of distributed data bases and virtual storage operating system.
7. Increased use of data communications and computer networks.
8. Increased use of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) terminals.
9. The computers are compact, faster, and cheaper and are more reliable.
10. Application : Corporate modeling, decision support system, electronic funds
transfer, electronic spread sheet, word processing and small business
applications.

The Fourth Generation (1971-Present)

• 1975 : Ed Roberts, the "father of the microcomputer" designed the first

microcomputer, the Altair 8800, which was produced by Micro Instrumentation
and Telemetry Systems (MITS). The same year, two young hackers, William
Gates and Paul Allen approached MITS and promised to deliver a BASIC
compiler. So they did and from the sale, Microsoft was born.
• 1976 : Cray developed the Cray-I supercomputer (G). Apple Computer, Inc was
founded by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak.
• 1977 : Jobs and Wozniak designed and built the first Apple II microcomputer.
• 1970 : 1980: IBM offers Bill Gates the opportunity to develop the operating
system for its new IBM personal computer. Microsoft has achieved tremendous
growth and success today due to the development of MS-DOS. Apple III was
also released.
• 1981 : The IBM PC was introduced with a 16-bit microprocessor.
• 1982 : Time magazine chooses the computer instead of a person for its
"Machine of the Year."
• 1984 : Apple introduced the Macintosh computer, which incorporated a unique
graphical interface, making it easy to use. The same year, IBM released the 286-
AT.
• 1986 : Compaq released the DeskPro 386 computer, the first to use the 80036
microprocessor.
• 1987 : IBM announced the OS/2 operating-system technology.
• 1988 : A nondestructive worm was introduced into the Internet network
bringing thousands of computers to a halt.
• 1989 : The Intel 486 became the world's first 1,000,000 transistor
microprocessor.
• 1993s: The Energy Star program, endorsed by the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), encouraged manufacturers to build computer equipment that met
power consumption guidelines. When guidelines are met, equipment displays the
Energy Star logo. The same year, Several companies introduced computer
systems using the Pentium microprocessor from Intel that contains 3.1 million
transistors and is able to perform 112 million instructions per second (MIPS)
www.Onlinemca.com

30
Fifth Generation - Present and Beyond: Artificial Intelligence

Fifth generation computing devices, based on artificial intelligence, are still in

development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that
are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is
helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and
molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in
years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that
respond to natural language input and are capable of learn The Fifth Generation
Computer Systems project (FGCS) was an initiative by Japan's Ministry of
International Trade and Industry, begun in 1982, to create a "fifth generation
computer" (see history of computing hardware) which was supposed to perform
much calculation utilizing massive parallelism. It was to be the end result of a
massive government/industry research project in Japan during the 1980s. It aimed
to create an "epoch-making computer" with supercomputer-like performance and
usable artificial intelligence capabilities.

The term fifth generation was intended to convey the system as being a leap
beyond existing machines. Computers using vacuum tubes were called the first
generation; transistors and diodes, the second; ICs, the third; and those using
microprocessors, the fourth. Whereas previous computer generations had focused
on increasing the number of logic elements in a single CPU, the fifth generation,
it was widely believed at the time, would instead turn to massive numbers of
CPUs for added performance and self-organization.

Future Computers (since 1985):

By the end of 1982, the computers were used every where, in automobiles,
appliances, business information systems, and military hardware. With electronic
technology advancing rapidly, the use of computers expected to grow in coming
years. With the increased user requirements, the technology has evolved with
outstanding features.
Some of the important features of the future computers are:

1. Future Computers use organic chips to process the data.

2. Both the software and hardware costs are decreasing at a high speed, so that
the computers can be used by every common man (within the reach of common
man).
3. Increased miniaturization and price/performance ratio.
4. The computers have high speed, and storage capacity.
5. Has the capacity to make decisions. (Auto decisions).
6. Uses non procedural software, which is very user friendly.

31
 7. Applications: Artificial Intelligence, Robots, Large Scale Corporate modeling,
oil exploration, star wars system and personal robots.

Advantage And Disadvantages

The main advantages of computerizing the activities of business organization are

as follows:

Advantages:

Speed: Computerization helps in processing the data placed in several data files
in no time. This is possible due to the high speed of computers for processing
data and CPU of the computer works at the speed of electricity which is the
highest ever attainable speed.
Accuracy: The data processed by the computer are highly accurate. The programs
written on the system checks and controls data before and during processing. It
detects invalid data and ensures high degree of accuracy and reliability of output
reports.
Flexibility: The modern digital computers can be used for a variety of purposes.
E.g. online processing, multiprogramming etc.
Choice of Configuration: Wide ranges of peripherals are available for many
computer systems, which allow business organization to select those which most
suit its processing requirements.
1. Storage capacity: Large volumes of data can be conveniently stored,
accessed and altered.
2. Management information: They can be used to provide useful information
of management for control and decision making.
3. Data Processing: Computer has lifted the heavy data processing constraint
with the manual system and has opened up new avenues for planning, control and
data experimentation.
4. Volume: Computers can store volumes of data and can retrieve the
desired information quickly. This is very useful in the areas like insurance, bank
accounts etc where large number of documents is handled every day.
5. Database: Computer facilities the establishment of database. Such a
database integrates data records and reduces data redundancy.
6. Reduction in paper work: The use of computers for data processing has
helped the management of business organizations to cope with increasing
problem of paper handling. The computers have speeded up the process and have
eliminated the paper needs through the storage of data in elaborately constructed
data bases and files.
7. Reduced cost: Though the initial investment for installing a computer is
high, but it substantially reduces the cost of each of its transaction. Cost reduction
occurs due to processing of huge data and record keeping.

32
8. Facilitates report preparation: Computer facilitates the preparation of
various types of reports required by organizational executives for the purpose of
decision making and control.
9. Reduce the space requirements: The use of computer for office activities
reduces the requirements of office space which otherwise is required.
10. Reduces the manpower requirement: The number of persons required for
performing various organizational activities will be reduced by using a computer
system.
11. Increased ability to perform computations: Computers perform
computations with a very high speed.
Diligence: Being a machine, it does not suffer from boredom, tiredness or lack of
concentration, even if millions of computations are to be performed by a
computer. It performs the calculations with same accuracy and speed.
Disadvantages:
1. Installing the computer requires a grueling and expensive task of system
analysis and design. There is a scarcity of computer professionals to do this.
2. Management tends to treat computer like ordinary equipment Viz., air
conditioning equipment, and keep themselves aloof from the system development
effort. Computer pervades the working of the entire organization and unless
managements involve themselves fully during the system development effort and
the employees, the customers, the vendors etc. are willing to accept the
computerized system and its outputs the system is bound to prove a failure.
3. The initial investment can be very high though this can be mitigated to
some extent by the rental and tax concessions.
4. Since the lead-time of installing is long and the hardware technology is a
rapidly advancing field, some of the peripherals/components may be rendered
obsolete before even they are installed.
5. The need to obtain stand by facilities in the event of breakdown of any
computerized systems. Manual systems, though slow, are vastly flexible. If the
format of a report, for example has to be changed, it can be readily done by
communicating the necessary instruction to the concerned staff whereas in a
computerized system, this would have to go through all the stages of systems
analysis and design before it is effected

System Software And Application Software

Software is a set of instructions, programs which enable the computer to perform

specified task. In other words, software is nothing but binary code instructions
which control the hardware.
In most of the organizations the computer is a valuable resource. Among the
resources that a computer has are processing time, storage space, printers,
terminals and information. The management of these resources is performed
largely by a type of system software called an operating system. When users
interact with the computer the interaction is with system software.

33
There are two broad categories of software, system software and application
software. System software is a set of programs that manage the resources of a
computer system, so that they are used in an optimal fashion, provide routine
services such as copying data from one file to another and assist in the
development of applications programs.
System software consists of programs that assist the computer in the efficient
control, support, development and execution of application programs.
Application software on the other hand, performs specific tasks for the computer
user.

System software:

They can be broadly classified in to three types.

1. System control programs control the execution of programs, manage the
storage and processing resources of the computer and perform other management
and monitoring functions. Other examples are DBMS and communication
monitors.
2. System support programs provide routine service functions to the other
computer programs and computer users. Ex. Libraries, utilities, job accounting
etc.
3. System development programs assist in the creation of application
programs.
System programs are developed and sold by both computer companies and
specialized software firms.

Application Software:

It is a program written for, or by, a user to perform a specific job. General

purpose application software such as electronic spreadsheet has a wide
application. Specific purpose application software, such as payroll and sales
analysis is used only for the application for which it is designed.
The system software controls the execution of the application software and
provides other support functions such as data storage.
What is an operating system? What are its functions?
The operating system is a program that acts as an interface between the user and
the hardware. It is a collection of programs that coordinates the operations of
computer hardware and software.

Functions of an operating system:

1. Starting the Computer: In most computers, the BIOS and the diagnostic
routines are contained in ROM. They are permanently available to other
programs to check equipment and perform input/output tasks. In addition, ROM
contains a bootstrap loader program that is used to start a computer.

34
The remainder of the operating system is contained in secondary memory.
When the computer is turned on, it automatically begins to execute the boot
program. This program first runs diagnostic programs to check the status of RAM
and of each of the attached system devices.
The boot program then reads in the operating system executive program from the
disk. The layout of the memory at this stage is shown in figure.

2. Running application programs: To run an application programs such as word

processing program, the user types the name of the program after getting the Dos
prompt on the screen.
Ex C:\>WS
The operating system accepts the command WS and reads the program into
RAM. When the application program is in RAM, the operating system executive
program gives control of the computer system to the applications programs. The
computer then executes the application program. When the application program
ends, control is restored to the operating system executive program, which
monitors the keyboard for the users’ next command.

When the application program is running the operating system manages the
allocation of memory. When a user requests that a program be run, the operating
system allocates the memory required for the program instructions and for data.

3. Running utility programs: An operating system includes utility programs that

give the user control over various features of the computer system. The utility
programs are either resident or transient. Resident programs are always present in
RAM; transient program must be read into RAM, as they are requested. Ex.
CON: name of the keyboard, or console.

PRN: name of the printer.

Disk Copy A: B: (copies the contents of the disk in drive A, onto the disk on
drive B)

4. Managing files: Information on the disk is organized into files. A file is

collection of Bytes. What are assembly languages? What are its advantages and
disadvantages? Assembly Languages are structurally similar to machine language
and the programmer uses symbolic names than numerical representation of
operations. This reduces coding time and the amount of information the
programmer has to remember. They use assembler to convert the program in to
machine language (object program).
Assembly languages are also known as symbolic languages as they use symbols
to represent the arithmetic and logical operations. Instead of using machine code
operation numbers, the programmer can use mnemonics and symbolic operands
which are very easy to learn and remember.

35
 The programs written in Assembly Languages are machine dependant. They are
not portable. There are many low level languages. They are machine dependant.
For example
IBM – Assembly language.
ICL – System 4 user code.
Honey well – Easy coder.
Advantages:
• Programs written in machine language are replaced by mnemonics which are
easier to remember.
• It is not required to keep track of memory locations.
• Easy to make insertions and deletions.
• Requires fewer instructions to accomplish the same result.
Disadvantages:
• Programs written in such languages cannot be executed on small sized
computers.
• It takes lot of time to code or write the program, as it is more complex in
nature.
• Lack of portability of program between computers of different makes.

What is Hardware

Hardware is best described as a device that is physically connected to your

computer or something that can be physically touched. A perfect example of
hardware is a computer monitor, which is an output device that lets you see what
you're doing on the computer. Without any hardware, your computer would not
exist, and software would not be able to run. In the image to the right, are a
webcam and an example of an external hardware peripheral that allows users to
make videos or pictures and transmit them over the Internet.

What are hardware upgrades?

A hardware upgrade is any new hardware that replaces or adds to old hardware
in the computer. A good example of a common hardware upgrade is a RAM
upgrade, where the user is increasing the computers total memory, which will
increase its overall speed and efficiency. Another good example is doing a video
card upgrade, which is the act of removing the old video card and replacing it
with a new video card that is much more capable than the previously installed
video card, again increasing the capabilities of the computer.

• Additional information with installing computer hardware.

Internal hardware examples
• Blu-Ray, CD-ROM, and DVD
• CPU
• Hard drive

36
• Motherboard
• RAM
• Sound card
• Video card
External hardware examples
• Flat-panel, Monitor, and LCD
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Printer
• Scanner
Computer hardware related questions
• What are the differences between hardware and software?
• Computer hardware questions and answers.
• Full listing of computer hardware devices, support, and help.

Your PC (Personal Computer) is a system, consisting of many components. Some

of those components, like Windows XP, and all your other programs, are
software. The stuff you can actually see and touch, and would likely break if you
threw it out a fifth-story window, is hardware.

Not everybody has exactly the same hardware. But those of you who have a
desktop system, like the example shown in Figure 1, probably have most of the
components shown in that same figure. Those of you with notebook computers
probably have most of the same components. Only in your case the components
are all integrated into a single book-sized portable unit.

Figure 1
The system unit is the actual computer; everything else is called a peripheral
device. Your computer's system unit probably has at least one floppy disk drive,
and one CD or DVD drive, into which you can insert floppy disks and CDs.
There's another disk drive, called the hard disk inside the system unit, as shown
in Figure 2. You can't remove that disk, or even see it. But it's there. And
everything that's currently "in your computer" is actually stored on that hard disk.
(We know this because there is no place else inside the computer where you can
store information!).

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Figure 2

The floppy drive and CD drive are often referred to as drives with removable
media or removable drives for short, because you can remove whatever disk is
currently in the drive, and replace it with another. Your computer's hard disk can
store as much information as tens of thousands of floppy disks, so don't worry
about running out of space on your hard disk any time soon. As a rule, you want
to store everything you create or download on your hard disk. Use the floppy
disks and CDs to send copies of files through the mail, or to make backup copies
of important items.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

There's too much "stuff" on your computer's hard disk to use it all at the same
time. During the average session sitting at the computer, you'll probably use only
a small amount of all that's available. The stuff you're working with at any given
moment is stored in random access memory (often abbreviated RAM, and often
called simply "memory"). The advantage using RAM to store whatever you're
working on at the moment is that RAM is very fast. Much faster than any disk.
For you, "fast" translates to less time waiting and more time being productive.

So if RAM is so fast, why not put everything in it? Why has a hard disk at all?
The answer to that lies in the fact that RAM is volatile. As soon as the computer
is shut off, whether intentionally or by an accidental power outage, everything in
RAM disappears, just as quickly as a light bulb goes out when the plug is pulled.
So you don't want to rely on RAM to hold everything. A disk, on the other hand,
holds its information whether the power is on or off.

The Hard Disk

All of the information that's "in your computer", so to speak, is stored on your
computer's hard disk. You never see that actual hard disk because it's sealed
inside a special housing and needs to stay that way. Unlike RAM, which is
volatile, the hard disk can hold information forever -- with or without electricity.
Most modern hard disks have tens of billions of bytes of storage space on them.
Which, in English, means that you can create, save, and download files for
months or years without using up all the storage space it provides?

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 In the unlikely event that you do manage to fill up your hard disk, Windows will
start showing a little message on the screen that reads "You are running low on
disk space" well in advance of any problems. In fact, if that message appears, it
won't until you're down to about 800 MB of free space. And 800 MB of empty
space is equal to about 600 blank floppy disks. That's still plenty of room!

The Mouse

Obviously you know how to use your mouse, since you must have used it to get
here. But let's take a look at the facts and buzzwords anyway. Your mouse
probably has at least two buttons on it. The button on the left is called the
primary mouse button, the button on the right is called the secondary mouse
button or just the right mouse button. I'll just refer to them as the left and right
mouse buttons.

Types Of Hardware

System Unit

• Motherboard
• Hard Disk
• ROM BIOS
• Input Devices
• CPU
• RAM
• CD-ROM
• Output Devices

What is Software?

Software is the general term for information that's recorded onto some kind of
medium. For example, when you go to the video store and rent or buy a tape or
DVD, what you're really getting is the software that's stored on that tape or disk.
You’re VCR or DVD player are hardware devices that are capable of reading the
software from a tape or disk and projecting it onto your TV screen, in the form of
a movie.
Your computer is a hardware device that reads software too. Most of the software
on your computer comes in the form of programs. A program consists of
"instructions" that tell the computer what to do, how to behave. Just as there are
thousands of albums you can buy on CD for your stereo, and thousands of movies
you can buy to play on your VCR or DVD player, there are thousands of
programs that you can buy to run on your computer.

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When you buy a computer, you don't automatically get every program produced
by every software company in the world. You usually get some programs. For
example, when you buy a computer it will probably have an operating system
(like Windows XP) already installed on it.

If you do purchase a specific program, it would be to perform some specific task.

For example, you might use a graphics program to touch up photos, or you might
use a word processing program to write text. You're using your Web browser
program right now to read this text (assuming you're not reading a printed copy
on paper). Just as there are umpteen different brands of
toothpaste, there are umpteen different brands of word
processing programs, graphics programs, and Web browsers.
For example, all graphics programs are designed to help you
work with pictures. But there are many brands of graphics
programs out there, including Adobe Photoshop, Jasc Paint
Shop Pro. Adobe Illustrator, Arcsoft Photo Studio, Corel
Draw, ULead PhotoImpact, PrintShop Photo, and
Macromedia Freehand, just to name a few. As to Web browsers, popular brands
include Microsoft Internet Explorer, MSN Explorer, Netscape Navigator,
America Online, and a few others.

When you purchase a program, you get the program stored on a CD as in the
example shown at left. You may not have seen any boxes containing software
when you bought your computer. That's because the software that came with your
computer has been pre-installed onto your computer's hard disk for you. You
don't need to use the CD to run a program that's already installed on your
computer. You only need to keep the CDs as backups, in case something goes
wrong with your hard disk and you need to re-install the programs.

What Programs Do I Have?

Perhaps you're wondering what programs are installed on your computer. Usually
when you buy a computer, they tell you what programs you're getting with it. So
if you were to go back to the original ad from which you bought your computer,
you'd probably find the names of programs you already have listed there. Though
there's no need to do that, because every program that's currently installed on
your computer is listed in your All Programs menu (assuming you're using
Windows XP).

When you first open the Start menu, the left column lists programs you've used
the most recently (Figure a1). If your computer is brand new, then the programs
listed there will just be some examples.

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Figure a1

That little list of program icons and names on the left side of the menu doesn't
represent all the programs that are currently installed on your computer. Not by a
long shot. The All Programs option on the Start menu provides access to all your
installed programs. When you first click on (or just point to) the All Programs
option, the All Programs menu that appears (Figure a2) will show icons and name
of program groups, as well as some programs.

Figure a2

It's easy to tell the difference between a program and a program group. The
program groups all have the same icon, and all have a right-pointing triangle ()
at their right side. When you click on, or point to, a program group, icons and
names of programs within that group appear on a submenu. The submenu will
contain programs within that group, and perhaps some more program groups. For

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example, Figure a3 shows the result of clicking on the Accessories program
group in the All Programs menu. The submenu that opens contains more program
groups, and specific programs you can run.

Figure a3

Your Start menu won't look exactly like the one shown in the figures, because
different computers have different programs installed. (Just like different people
who own CD players own different CDs).

Running Programs

When you click on the icon for a program, the program opens. Which means the
program appears on the screen, so you can use it. Each program will appear in its
own program window on the Windows desktop. For example, in Figure a4 the
photograph in the background is the Windows desktop. Floating about on top of
that desktop are four different program, each in its own separate program
window.

Figure a4

Elements of Program Windows

While not two programs are exactly alike, most program windows contain certain
similar elements. Stretched across the top of the program window is the title bar,
which usually shows the name of the program that's inside the program window.
Beneath the title bar is the menu bar, which gives you access to the tools and
capabilities of that specific program. Many programs have a toolbar under their
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 menu bar. The toolbar provides quick one-click access to frequently-used
commands in the menu bar. The status bar at the bottom of a program provides
general information. Figure a5 shows, in animated form, the title bar, menu bar,
toolbar, and status bar of several different sample programs.

Figure a5

Software is often divided into two categories:

 systems software : Includes the operating system and all the utilities that
enable the computer to function.
 applications software : Includes programs that do real work for users. For
example, word processors, spreadsheets, and database management systems fall
under the category of applications software.

Disk Operating System (DOS)

INTRODUCTION

When the computer starts, it starts the operating system that takes the control of
the machine. An Operating System is a set of programs that help in controlling
and managing the Hardware and the Software resources of a computer system. A
good operating system should have the following features;
1. Help in the loading of programs and data from external sources into the
internal memory before they are executed.
2. Help programs to perform input/output operations, such as;

o Print or display the result of a program on the printer or the screen.

o Store the output data or programs written on the computer in
storage device.
o Communicate the message from the system to the user through the
VDU.
o Accept input from the user through the keyboard or mouse.

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 OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson, you would be able to;

• explain the concept operating system
• discuss the functions of operating system
• understand the procedures of loading operating system into the memory
• use file management features of operating system
• create separate locations for logically related files
• copy files from one computer to another
• use Windows for File Management

DISK OPERATING SYSTEM

As the name suggests, the operating System is used for operating the system or
the computer. It is a set of computer programs and also known as DOS (Disk
Operating System). The main functions of DOS are to manage disk files, allocate
system resources according to the requirement. DOS provides features essential
to control hardware devices such as Keyboard, Screen, Disk Devices, Printers,
Modems and programs.
Basically, DOS is the medium through which the user and external devices
attached to the system communicate with the system. DOS translate the
command issued by the user in the format that is understandable by the computer
and instruct computer to work accordingly. It also translates the result and any
error message in the format for the user to understand.

WILDCARD CHARACTERS

If you want to carry out a task for a group of files whose names have
something in common, you can use wildcard characters to specify groups of
files. DOS recognize two wildcard characters: asterisk (*) represents one or
more characters that a group of files has in common; and the question
mark (?) represents a single character that a group of files has in common

Internal Commands

BREAK Sets or clears extended CTRL+C checking.

CHDIR Displays the name of or changes the current directory.

CD Displays the name of or changes the current directory.

CLS Clears the screen.

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COPY Copies one or more files to another location.

DATE Displays or sets the date.

DEL Deletes one or more files.

ERASE Deletes one or more files.

DIR Displays a list of files and subdirectories in a directory.

ECHO Displays messages, or turns command echoing on or off.

EXIT Quits the COMMAND.COM program (command interpreter).

MKDIR Creates a directory.

MD Creates a directory.

PATH Displays or sets a search path for executable files.

PAUSE Suspends processing of a batch file and displays a message.

PROMPT Changes the MS-DOS command prompt.

REM Records comments (remarks) in a batch file or config.sys.

RENAME Renames a file or files.

REN Renames a file or files.

RMDIR Removes a directory.

RD Removes a directory.

TIME Displays or sets the system time.

TYPE Displays the contents of a text file.

VER Displays the MS-DOS version.

VOL Displays a disk volume label and serial number.

External Command

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ATTRIB

ATTRIB [d:][path]filename [/S]

ATTRIB [+R|-R] [+A|-A] [+S|-S] [+H|-H] [d:][path]filename [/S]

Sets or displays the read-only, archive, system, and hidden attributes of a file or
directory.

FORMAT

FORMAT a:/[s] [/Q][/U][/V]

Formats a disk to accept DOS files.

DOSKEY

DOSKEY [reinstall] [/bufsize=size][/macros][/history][/insert|/overstrike]

[macroname=[text]]

Loads the Doskey program into memory which can be used to recall DOS
commands so that you can edit them.

BACKUP

Makes a backup copy of one or more files. (In DOS Version 6, this program is
stored on the DOS supplemental disk.)

CHKDSK

CHKDSK [d:][path][filename] [/F][/V]

Checks a disk and provides a file and memory status report.

DELTREEDELTREE [/Y] [d:]path [d:]path[...]

Deletes (erases) a directory including all files and subdirectories that are in it.

EDIT

EDIT [d:][path]filename [/B][/G][/H][/NOHI]

Starts the MS-DOS editor, a text editor used to create and edit ASCII text files.

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LABEL

LABEL [d:][volume label]

Creates or changes or deletes a volume label for a disk.

EXPAND

EXPAND [d:][path]filename [[d:][path]filename[ . . .]]

Expands a compressed file.

What Is Dbms?

As one of the oldest components associated with computers, the database

management system, or DBMS, is a computer software program that is designed
as the means of managing all databases that are currently installed on a system
hard drive or network. Different types of database management systems exist,
with some of them designed for the oversight and proper control of databases that
are configured for specific purposes. Here are some examples of the various
incarnations of DBMS technology that are currently in use, and some of the basic
elements that are part of DBMS software applications.

As the tool that is employed in the broad practice of managing databases, the
DBMS is marketed in many forms. Some of the more popular examples of
DBMS solutions include Microsoft Access, FileMaker, DB2, and Oracle. All
these products provide for the creation of a series of rights or privileges that can
be associated with a specific user. This means that it is possible to designate one
or more database administrators who may control each function, as well as
provide other users with various levels of administration rights. This flexibility
makes the task of using DBMS methods to oversee a system something that can
be centrally controlled, or allocated to several different people.

What is ICT ?
Lets focus on the three words behind ICT:
-INFORMATION -COMMUNICATIONS -TECHNOLOGY

ICT (information and communications technology - or technologies) is an

umbrella term that includes any communication device or application,
encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware
and software, satellite systems and so on, as well as the various services and
applications associated with them, such as videoconferencing and distance
learning. ICTs are often spoken of in a particular context, such as ICTs in
education, health care, or libraries.

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A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology
that already exist to help individuals, businesses and organizations use
information.

What is Linux ?

Pronounced lee-nucks or lih-nucks. A freely-distributable open source operating

system that runs on a number of hardware platforms. The Linux kernel was
developed mainly by Linux Torvalds and it is based on Unix. Because it's free,
and because it runs on many platforms, including PCs and Macintoshes, Linux
has become an extremely popular alternative to proprietary operating systems.
What is Unix ?

Pronounced yoo-niks, a popular multi-user, multitasking operating system

developed at Bell Labs in the early 1970s. Created by just a handful of
programmers, UNIX was designed to be a small, flexible system used exclusively
by programmers.

UNIX was one of the first operating systems to be written in a high-level

programming language, namely C. This meant that it could be installed on
virtually any computer for which a C compiler existed. This natural portability
combined with its low price made it a popular choice among universities.
Action Unix Command DOS Command

MS-DOS Linux / Unix

attrib chmod

backup tar

dir ls

cls clear

copy cp

del rm

deltree rm -R
rmdir

format fdformat / mount / umount

move / rename mv

type less <file>

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 cd cd
chdir

more < file more file

md mkdir

What Is Virus ?

A computer virus is usually hard to detect if it's disguised as a harmless file, in

the case of a Trojan horse virus. This type of virus doesn't replicate itself like
most viruses, but instead opens your computer up to malicious imposters.
Leaving you to wonder, how can you tell if you're computer is infected?
Luckily, your computer after coming in contact with a virus or worm will display
some symptoms and signs of infection. It is particularly useful to know the signs
that indicate an infection. Because you can unintentionally introduce a virus to
your computer at anytime when you run an infected program or open an email
attachment. To guard against this you need a good anti-virus program
Signs of a Computer Infection
Some signs that may indicate that your computer is infected include:
• Your computer functions slower than normal
• Your computer responds slowly and freezes often
• Your computer restarts itself often
• You see uncommon error messages, distorted menus, and dialog boxes
• You notice applications on your computer fail to work correctly
• You fail to print correctly
Types of Viruses
But what are the types of computer viruses and worms that you're computer can
come into contact with? The list of viruses is quiet long and complex. So, we
simplified the list by mentioning few broad categories of viruses that can put your
computer and all your personal data on it, in danger. These computer viruses
include:

Computer Viruses
Boot Sector viruses: A boot sector virus infects diskettes and hard drives. All
disks and hard drives contain smaller sections called sectors. The first sector is
called the boot. The boot carries the Mater Boot Record (MBR). MBR functions
to read and load the operating system. So, if a virus infects the boot or MBR of a
disk, such as a floppy disk, your hard drive can become infected, if you re-boot
your computer while the infected disk is in the drive. Once your hard drive is
infected all diskettes that you use in your computer will be infected. Boot sector
viruses often spread to other computers by the use of shared infected disks and
pirated software applications. The best way to disinfect your computer of the boot
sector virus is by using antivirus software.

49
Program viruses: A program virus becomes active when the program file
(usually with extensions .BIN, .COM, .EXE, .OVL, .DRV) carrying the virus is
opened. Once active, the virus will make copies of itself and will infect other
programs on the computer.
Multipartite viruses:
Stealth viruses:
Polymorphic viruses:
Macro Viruses:
Trojan Horse Viruses
Blaster

Hardware vs. Software

Software is a general term used to describe a collection of computer programs,

procedures, and documentation that perform some task on a computer system.
Practical computer systems divide software systems into three major classes:
system software, programming software, and application software, although the
distinction is arbitrary and often blurred. Software is an ordered sequence of
instructions for changing the state of the computer hardware in a particular
sequence. It is usually written in high-level programming languages that are
easier and more efficient for humans to use (closer to natural language) than
machine language. High-level languages are compiled or interpreted into machine
language object code. Software may also be written in an assembly language,
essentially, a mnemonic representation of a machine language using a natural
language alphabet.

Hardware is best described as a device that is physically connected to the

computer or something that can be physically touched. A CD-ROM, monitor,
printer, and video card are all examples of computer hardware. Without any
hardware your computer would not exist and software would have nothing to run
on. It is the physical part of a computer, including the digital circuitry, as
distinguished from the computer software that executes within the hardware.

There are several differences between computer hardware and software.

Comparison chart
Improve
Hardware Software
this chart
System software,
Input,storage,processing,control, and output
Types: Programming software, and
devices.
Application software.
To deliver its set of
Inter Hardware starts functioning once software is
instructions, Software is
dependency: loaded.
installed on hardware.
Reliability: Hardware stays at steady reliability level in useful Software needs constant
50
Improve
Hardware Software
this chart
life. testing after upgrades.
Software failure is systematic.
Hardware failure is random. Hardware does have
Failure: Software does not have an
increasing failure at the last stage.
increasing failure rate.
To perform the specific task
Hardware serves as the delivery system for you need to complete.
software solutions. The hardware of a computer is Software is generally not
Function: infrequently changed, in comparison with software needed to for the hardware to
and data, which are “soft” in the sense that they are perform its basic level tasks
readily created, modified, or erased on the compute such as turning on and
responding to input.
Fault: Hardware faults are physical. Software faults are not.
Software does not wear out
Lifetime: Hardware wears out over time.
over time.
Nature: It is physical in nature It is logical in nature
Collection of instructions that
enables a user to interact with
the computer. Software is a
Devices required to store and execute (or run) the program that enables a
Definition:
software. computer to perform a specific
task, as opposed to the
physical components of the
system (hardware).
QuickBooks, Adobe Acrobat,
CD-ROM, monitor, printer, video card, scanners ,
Examples: Internet Explorer , Microsoft
label makers, routers , and modems.
Word , Microsoft Excel

Examples of Computer Hardware

What is computer hardware? What are the different kinds of computer hardware?
For the examples of computer hardware and peripheral devices, read on..
Hardware is the physical aspect of a computer. While computer software exists in
the form of ideas and concepts, computer hardware exists in substance. By
definition, the different parts of a computer that can be touched constitute
computer hardware. Computer hardware includes central processing unit,
motherboard, microchips as well as computer peripherals like input-output and
storage devices that are added to a host computer to enhance its abilities. Here is
an overview of the different kinds of computer hardware.

Computer Hardware Examples

Here is a list of some of the fundamental units of a computer that form the set of
hardware components.

Bus: It is a subsystem that transfers data within and between computers.

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 Computer bus provides a logical connection between the different computer
peripherals. A parallel bus is capable of carrying multiple data works in parallel
while a serial bus carries data in a bit-serial form. An internal bus connects the
internal components of a computer to the motherboard while an external bus
connects the external computer peripherals to the motherboard.

• AGP: Short for Accelerated Graphic Port, AGP is a high-speed point-to-

point channel that enables the attachment of a graphics card to the computer's
motherboard.
• Hyper Transport: It is a low-latency point-to-point link that uses high
bandwidth and acts in a bi-directional manner. It facilitates power management.
• PCI: The peripheral component interconnect standard refers to the
computer bus connecting peripheral devices to a motherboard.
• PCI Express: It is a computer expansion card interface format.
• USB: Universal Serial Bus, as it is called, acts as an interface to a host
computer. It enhances the plug-and-play capabilities of a computer. USB is a
popular device used today.
• Quick Path: Also known as the Common System Interface, Quick Path is
a point-to-point processor interconnect that stands in close competition with
Hyper Transport.
• Serial ATA: It is a computer bus that enables the transfer of data between
mass storage devices and the motherboard.
• Serial Attached SCSI: It enables the transfer of data from computer
storage devices like hard drives and tape drives. It is a point-to-point serial
protocol.

Central Processing Unit: It is a set of logic machines that can execute computer
programs. The fundamental function of a CPU is to execute sequences of stored
instructions known as programs. During its first step of operation, the processor
retrieves instructions from the program memory. This step is known as the 'fetch'
step. In the 'decode' step, the processor breaks up the instructions into parts after
which it is executed. During the fourth step of write back, the CPU writes back
the results of the processed instructions into memory.

Computer fan: It is attached to the CPU and is used to lower the temperature of
a computer. There are several fans in the computer case, which help maintain a
constant flow of air to the computer system.

Firmware: It is a computer program that is embedded in a hardware device. It is

midway between hardware and software. Being a piece of computer program, it
is similar to software, while being tightly bound to hardware makes it close to
being a hardware component.

Motherboard: It is the central printed circuit board, abbreviated as PCB, which

52
forms the complex electronic system of a computer. A motherboard provides the
computer system with all the electrical connections, the basic circuitry and
components required for its functioning.

Power Supply: This component is responsible for supplying power to the

computer. It converts the AC power from the mains to low voltage DC power for
the internal components of a computer. AT is one of the commonly used power
supplies.

RAM: Short for random access memory, RAM is the physical memory of a
computer. It is used to store the currently running programs and is attached to the
motherboard.

Sound Card: It is a computer expansion card that enables the input and output of
audio signals to and from a computer. Sound cards provide multimedia
applications with the audio components.

Storage Controllers: They are located on the motherboard or on the expansion

cards. Storage controllers include the controllers for the hard disk, CD-ROM and
other drives.

Video Card: Video card that is also known as the graphics card is a hardware
component, which generates and outputs the images to a display.

Media Devices
Devices such as CDs, DVDs and Blue-ray disks are some of the popular
removable storage media that can store digital data. USB flash drives are the
relatively recent storage media that have become a rage today. Tape drives and
zip drives are less commonly used while the floppy disks are obsolete today.
Hard disks and solid-state drives are used for internal storage. Here is a brief
introduction to each of these storage media. Know all about the hard drives.

Blue-ray Disc: It is an optical disc storage media format. It obtains its name from
the blue laser that is used to read and write this type of disc. Owing to its shorter
wavelength, blue-ray discs can store large amounts of data. BD-ROM drive is
used for reading data from a blue-ray disc and a BD writer can be used for both
reading from and writing to a blue-ray disc.

Compact Disc: Popularly known as CDs, compact discs are storage devices for
storing digital data. Standard CDs can store around 80 minutes of audio. CD-
ROMs contain data that is accessible for reading and is not modifiable. CD-
ROMs are used for distribution of computer software and multimedia
applications. A CD Writer is an optical disc drive that uses laser radiation or
electromagnetic waves for reading and writing data onto discs.

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Digital Versatile Disc: Commonly known as a digital video disk and abbreviated
as DVD, a digital versatile disk is an optical disc storage media. With physical
dimensions similar to those of a compact disc, DVDs can store data as much as
six times more than a CD. A DVD-ROM Drive is used for reading data from a
DVD. A DVD Writer is used for reading and writing data to a DVD. DVD-RAM
Drives allow data to be read and written rapidly from specific types of DVDs.
HD DVD is a high-density optical disc format that succeeded DVD.

Disc Array Controller: It manages physical disc drives and brings them to the
form of logical units. It provides a disk cache and implements hardware RAID.

Floppy Disc: It is a data storage media that is a disk of a thin magnetic storage
medium covered by a plastic shell. With the advent of flash and optical storage
devices, floppy discs have become obsolete.

Hard Disk: It is a non-volatile storage device that stores digital data on magnetic
surfaces. It is used for medium-term storage of data.

Solid-state Drive: This storage device uses solid-state memory to store persistent
data. It can replace the hard disk drive in many applications.

Tape Drive: This data storage device reads and writes data stored on a magnetic
tape. Tape drives have storage capacities ranging from a few megabytes to
multiple gigabytes. They are mainly used for archival storage of data.

USB Flash Drive: It is a small-sized removable and rewritable storage device

with a storage capacity ranging from 64 MB to 64 GB. Due to their high storage
capacity, durability and compact structure, they have gained immense popularity
in the modern times. How does a flash drive work?

Zip Drive: Iomega came up with this medium-capacity storage media in 1994. It
had a capacity of about 100 MB. Zip drives could never become standardized and
were replaced by rewritable CDs.

Networking Hardware Components

Here is an overview of some of those pieces of hardware, which make it possible
for a computer to be a part of a network. Enlighten yourself on computer
networking.

Modem: This device is used for dial-up connections. It modulates analog carrier
signals to encode digital information and demodulates it to decode the
information transmitted.

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Network Card: It is one of the most important pieces of hardware as it allows a
computer to communicate with other computers over a network. It serves as a
networking medium and provides the computers with a MAC address system. A
network card is also known as a network adapter, a LAN card and better known
as a NIC.

Router: Routers are not exactly pieces of hardware. Rather, they are devices that
are used to join multiple wired or wireless computer networks. Know all about
routers.

Computer Peripherals
Apart from the hardware components of a computer, there are many external
devices that are equally important for the functioning of a computer. Keyboard,
mouse and the visual display of a computer form its basic input and output
devices. Joysticks, game controllers and other pointing devices are commonly
used for the gaming applications on a computer. Headphones, speakers,
microphones and webcams are popularly used for running multimedia
applications on a computer. Let us look at some exam. of these peripheral
devices.

Game Controller: It is an input device that is used to control the operations of a

video game. It is connected to video game consoles or personal computers.
Gamepad, which is also known as a joy pad or a control pad, is a game controller
with digits and action buttons. Most of the video game consoles use gamepads as
input devices.

Headphones: It consists of a pair of small loud speakers, which can be held close
to the ears. They can be connected to an audio-frequency source such as an
amplifier or a CD player. Know more about headphones.

Joystick: It is an input device that consists of a stick that is pivoted on a base and
indicates its direction to the device it controls. Joysticks are popularly used in
video games and mobile phones.

Keyboard: It is an input device, which derives its design from that of a

typewriter. A keyboard consists of multiple keys laid out in a specific way. Each
key acts as an electronic switch either producing a letter, number or symbol that
is typed into a word processor or performing a certain computer operation.

Microphone: It is an acoustic-to-electric transducer that converts sound signals

to electrical ones. Commonly, mikes consist of a membrane that vibrates in
response to sound. The vibrations are translated to electrical signals. Know more
about microphones.

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Mouse: A computer mouse is a pointing device that detects two-dimensional
motion. The motion of a mouse translates into the motion of a pointer on the
computer display, enabling the user to control a graphical user interface.

Printer: This peripheral device produces hard copies of electronic documents. It

is attached to a computer by means of a peripheral cable or a USB cable. Printer
is sometimes combined with a scanner that serves as a photocopier.

Scanner: It is a peripheral device that can scan images, handwriting or objects

and convert them to digital images.

Speaker: Computer speakers are external audio devices that enable the computer
users to listen to audio media. Multimedia speakers consist of an internal
amplifier. It has a jack connecting it to the sound cards.

Trackball: It is a pointing device that comprises a mouse along with a ball with
sensors to sense rotational motion. Trackballs find utility in special-purpose
workstations and video games.

Visual Display Unit: Popularly known as a monitor, it is an electrical device that

displays images produced as a result of the video outputs of computers.

Webcam: A web camera is a small camera that is widely used with video
conferencing and instant messaging services. Web cameras are digital cameras,
which can upload images to a web server.

This was an introduction to the different kinds of hardware with examples. You
might want some tips on purchasing network hardware. With the advancement in
computer technology, we can look forward to the creation of many more
hardware components that translate technology to action!

Computer Parts List

This is one important thing that every computer user should be aware of. Whether
you need to upgrade your computer or be aware of the problems associated with
it, you need to at least know the computer parts list. This article has thus been
designed to help you get aware of this.

Well, if you start writing the list of computer parts, right from the miniature
components, the list will get very long. So why not explain the parts, grouping
them, depending on the purpose they solve. This list will also help you in
designing, or at least selecting, the configuration for your computer. Let us start
with the basic list of parts in a computer, which you need to have, irrespective of
the purpose for which you want to use your computer.

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LCD Monitor
It is not required to mention that this is one of the most important peripherals of
your computer. The computer monitor is your computers display device and in
most of the cases, the only source of output from your computer. Your exact
requirements will largely determine the LCD you purchase. While some may
prefer a High-Def system at 1920x1080, others may be satisfied with a
1280x1024 pixels, 17 inch LCD. To ensure that you make full use of your LCD,
check your video card abilities. Although VGA can still be used on many video
cards, LCDs are typically connected with a DVI cable. If your video adapter has a
DVI port, you can get a cable to use it with a VGA-ported LCD.

Case and Power Supply

For any desktop computer you a case that holds vital hardware parts and need
enough watts to power your entire system internal parts and hence the
requirement of a power supply. While choosing a case its cooling characteristics,
noise level and ports layout are some features to lookout for. Though most
computer cases come with a built-in power supply, you may need to install your
own power supply in case you're using a powerful CPU and a high-end video
card.

Keyboard

Most people wonder, how can keyboards differ? But computer keyboards
manufactured by different vendors have different facilities. There are some that
provide keys for internet access, while some provide keys for games. Some have
keys for increasing or decreasing the volume, though this has been integrated in
almost all keyboards that are manufactured nowadays.

Mouse

This is the device, because of which, we don't have to remember the keyboards
shortcuts anymore. An optical mouse is always preferred, whether a laptop or
desktop. There are three modes of connecting an optical mouse; USB, wireless
and Bluetooth.
With the three basic peripherals explained, let us now try to understand the
detailed computer parts, as per our requirement.

Optical Drive

You will require an optical reader to read your CDs and DVDs. You can also get
a DVD-ROM R/W, can read and write both CDs and DVDs. You can consider
getting a Blue-ray drive to enhance the viewing pleasure on your LCD monitor.
Having a separate reader and burner for both reading and writing CDs and DVDs,

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can avoid excessive use of the same lens, and hence increase the longevity of
your optical drive.

USB Ports

This is the age of USB devices. The storage capacities of USB storage devices
have also increased a lot. Check that you have got more than two USB ports in
your computer, for almost all components, like a mouse and USB flash drives
will need a USB port. Computer mouse, monitor, keyboard, printer etc. all come
along with the USB connection facility. You can add an external hard disk to
your computer too, using a USB port.

Printers/Scanners
These are the computer peripherals, which you can get as per your requirement. If
you have a job of desktop publishing, then printers and scanners are among the
parts that will be an integral part of your infrastructure.

Surge Protector or UPS

A great safety device for your computer, a surge protector will enable you to plug
all your power chords to one power source and protect your computer against
power surges in case of power outage. An UPS will buy you vital time to save
your file or important work in case of a blackout.
What I have listed above, can more accurately be termed as computer peripherals
rather than computer parts. Now, let's take a look at those, which are inside the
CPU (Central Processing Unit).

Motherboard

This is perhaps the most important part of your computer. This is where all your
computer peripherals and components are connected to and most importantly, the
CPU is mounted on the computer motherboard. It is nothing but a PCB (Printed
Circuit Board), which holds and provides connections to different components.
When selecting a motherboard, you should take into consideration, the processor
which you are going to use. Not all processors are compatible to all
motherboards. For example, socket motherboards are compatible with AMD
Athlons, whereas socket 478 motherboards are compatible with Pentium 4
processors.

CPU

This is what controls everything in your computer. Be it the processes, the

components or even the minutest operation like the volume, it handles
everything. So take due care when selecting this component during your

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computer buying process. There are 32 bits and 64 bits processors available in the
market. Get a proper review of the 32 bits and 64 bits processors, before selecting
the computer processor you want. AMD and Intel are the two major players in
this field. Review the AMD and Intel chips, before selecting the CPU for your
computer. The other most important factor that you need to take care of is the
processor speed. The unit of processor speed is GHz/sec.

RAM

It is generally assumed that the more the storage capacity of the RAM, the faster
the computer. This is because the RAM is the primary storage device in a
computer. Your RAM also needs to be compatible with the computer processor
you are using. DDR SDRAM is the most used RAM nowadays. It is compatible
with socket A as well as socket 478 motherboards.

Storage Devices
The most important storage devices within any CPU, is the hard disk. The storage
space in your computer again depends upon its use. If you are a movie freak and
want to make a collection, then you will require high storage capacity. The hard
disk space is generally measured in Gigabytes. Since hard disks generally come
very cheap nowadays, it is always better to use a hard disk with a high storage
capacity. There are also, high memory portable storage devices available in the
market, which can be connected to your computer using the USB port. There are
two different types of hard disks that are available in the market, namely the
serial and the parallel. The SATA hard disks are serial devices and have high data
transfer rates. The parallel hard disks are known as PATA. You can take a review
of the different types of hard drives too, before selecting the one which best suits
your purpose.

Graphics Card

Now, suppose you want to configure a computer that is compatible with almost
all types of PC games. The gaming parts, will include almost all the components
and peripherals that have been mentioned above, but with, what I would term as
'higher values'. You will require a processor with a greater speed, a larger storage
hard disk, s RAM with a larger capacity and a TFT screen for better display. In
addition to all these, you will require a graphics card. If you want to play the
latest multimedia games, then a graphics card is the utmost necessity. Many
computers come along with built-in graphics card, while many of them just
provide the graphics card slot. If the graphics card provided by your computer
manufacturer does not solve your purpose, then you can replace the graphics card
with another one of your choice. The Nvidia Gforce and ATI Radeon are among
the top competitors in this field.

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Sound Card

Most computer motherboard manufacturers provide integrated sound cards.

However, you may have to install the drivers for the sound card, depending on
the operating system you will be using. Linux operating system, for example,
does not require the installation of any driver. Hence, if you are planning to use a
Linux operating system, then installing the sound card drivers is not required.

What I have listed above is the most common computer parts, which you have to
take into consideration before getting a computer or upgrading your existing one.
Ensure that you have studied the reviews of all the components in the list
mentioned above, before configuring your computer. There are various other
details like the type of cabinet and UPS, which you will also need to take into
consideration.

Computer Output Devices

There are a number of output devices which deliver data processed by the
computer to the user. Let's find out which are these.
In the world of computers, input/output (I/O) refers to the communication
between a computer and the user. Input is
the data sent to the system, whereas output
is the data sent by the system to the outside
world. Output devices are computer
hardware equipment that is used to
communicate the results of data processing
carried out by a computer to the user. There
are a number of devices, which produce
data in different forms, which includes
audio, video or hard copy. Output device of computer are types of peripheral
hardware connected that is connected to the computer, either using cables or over
a wireless network. Immaterial whether you have desktop computers, laptop
computers, supercomputers, etc., you will require at least one output device.
An output given by the computer can be in the form of a display on the screen or
a printed document or a song that is played. Most of the computer output devices
are common to home as well as office environment. At the same time, there are
some devices, which are not as commonly available. Having said that, let's take a
look at output devices list.

Monitor

A monitor is also called video display terminal (VDT). The visual display of the
processed data, which the users can view is got through the monitor. Computer

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monitors come in a variety of screen sizes and not to forget visual resolutions.
There are two types of computer monitors available, namely CRT and flat panel.
All monitors rely in a video card, which is located on the motherboard to display
the information. It is the video card, which processes the data into images, which
is eventually displayed on the monitor.

Printer

Next is the printer, which is an external hardware device, which takes processed
data from the computer to generate a hard copy of the data. After the monitors,
printers are the most used peripherals on computers and they are commonly used
to print text data, images, etc. There are three main types of computer printers,
namely ink jet, laser printers and dot matrix. Each of this printer type uses a
different technology to print the data.

Speaker
A speaker is a hardware device that is connected to a computer's sound card,
which outputs sound generated by the card. Audio data generated by the
computer is sent to the audio card that is located in the expansion slot. The card
translates the data into audio signals, which are then sent to either the speakers or
headphones. In the initial phase, computers had on-board speakers, which
generated series of different tones and beeps. When the popularity of multimedia
and computer games grew, higher quality computer speakers came into the
market. These new speakers were known for higher quality sound effects and
music.

Projector

It is a hardware device, with which an image like a computer screen is projected

onto a flat screen. Image data is sent to the video card, by the computer which is
then translated into a video image and sent to the projector. A projector is often
used in meetings or to make presentations, because they allow for a large image
to be shown, with which the display is available for a large audience.

Plotter
Plotters, like printers, create a hard copy rendition of a digitally rendered design.
The design is sent to a plotter through a graphics card and the image is created
using a pen. In simple words, plotters basically draw an image using a series of
straight lines. This device is used with engineering applications.

Discs
There are different types of discs, such as CD, DVD and floppy discs, which are
output devices that are also used to store data, hence they are also input devices at

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the same time. The data is sent to the disc and the data is embedded on the disc,
which is retrieved, when required.
All computers might not have all the output devices, but it certainly does have
one of the visual output devices, namely either a monitor or projector.

Hardware And Software

Hardware
All physical contents of computer are hardware. This form is given to all
electrical and mechanical devices attached to the computer for the purpose of
input, process, and storage and output operations. Primary Hardware: is the CPU
and its other units i.e. circuits and IC's. Secondary Hardware: is the memory or
storage area of computer.

Software
Software is a general term used for computer Programs. A computer program is a
planned, step by step set of instructions that directs the computer what to do and
how to do. It turns the data into information - that makes a computer useful.

Types Of Software

Generally speaking, software can be categorized as: (1) System Software (2)
Application Software

System Software

The programs directly related to the computer hardware and perform tasks
associated with controlling and utilizing computer hardware is known as system
software. System software does not solve a specific problem for the user rather it
helps to solve a problem.

System software falls into following categories.

(I) Operating System

Operating systems are the most important system software. Operating system is a
set of programs that control and supervises the hardware of a computer and
provides services to application software, programmers and users of computer.
Without operating system a computer cannot do anything useful. A user cannot
communicate directly with the computer hardware, so the operating system acts
as an intermediary between user of a computer and the computer hardware. The
primary goal of an operating system is to make the computer convenient to use.
The secondary goal is to use the computer efficiently.

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Some important tasks of an operating system are managing the resources of the
computer such as Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, disk drives and
printer and running user programs. Every type of computer has its own operating
system. Operating system for mainframe and other large computers are very
complex since they must keep track of several programs from several users all
running in the same time frame.

Following are some of the popular operating systems used in personal computers:
DOS, Windows, Unix, Linux, Solaris, etc.

(ii) Language Translators

The computer does not understand a programming language, because computer

only know the machine language or binary language. A program must be
translated into machine language before the machine can execute it.
Software associated with programming languages includes language translators
such as assemblers, interpreters and compilers.
(a) Interpreter
An interpreter translates and executes each program statement one at a time.
After execution the translation of a statement is removed from memory and next
statement is loaded for translation. Translation is required if program is executed
again. Therefore interpreter has limitations that it forgets translation after
execution of statement. Interpreters are suitable for short programs developed by
beginners to programming.
GWBASIC is an interpreter for BASIC language programs. Each programming
language has its own interpreter.
(b) Compiler
Compilers translate the whole program at a time and store their translated
program on disk. The original program is called "Source Program" while its
translated version is called "Object Program".
(c) Assembler
The assembler is a language translator for a low level programming language
called "Assembly language". Assembly language is a Symbolic language.

(iii) Data-management software

Data-management software includes database and file management programs that

manage data for an operating system. They can organize, update and print data.

(iv) Editors

Editors allow the user to type-in a program, generate text and make modifications
whenever necessary. A program is first written in an editor and then is compiled.

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It is possible that the compiler of any language has its own editor for writing
programs.

(v) Utility Software

These are programs that users can purchase as separate products to perform a
wide range of functions. The programs for these functions are PC-Tools, Scan
Disk, Norton Disk Doctor (NDD), Antivirus and some of the utilities that are
mostly bundled with the operating system.

Application

An application is a job or task a user wants to accomplish through a computer.

Application software is programs that help a user perform a specific job.
For example application software enables a user to write a letter and/ or create a
drawing. It helps the user work faster, more efficiently and thus provide more
productivity than manual performance.

Types of Application software

Application software can be grouped into two broad categories.

(I) General purpose Application software
(ii) Special purpose Application Software
General Purpose Application Software
These are called package software or commercial software. Single software can
be applied to a wide variety of tasks. By using such software a user can fulfill his
or her general needs.

General purpose software includes, MS Office, Corel Draw, Page maker, Adobe
Photo shop, etc.
(ii) Special Purpose Application Software
The software that is designed to perform a specific task is known as special
purpose application software. This I also called Custom software. The Software
can perform only one task for which it has been designed. Custom software for
the tasks of a large organization may be extremely complex and takes a lot of
time to develop.
For example, Software to process inventory control, software to maintain Bank
Accounts, Software used in Airline Booking System, etc.

Virtual Memory

If your computer lacks the random access memory (RAM) needed to run a
program or operation, Windows uses virtual memory to compensate. Virtual
memory combines your computer’s RAM with temporary space on your hard

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disk. When RAM runs low, virtual memory moves data from RAM to a space
called a paging file. Moving data to and from the paging file frees up RAM to
complete its work.

The more RAM your computer has, the faster your programs will generally run.
If a lack of RAM is slowing your computer, you might be tempted to increase
virtual memory to compensate. However, your computer can read data from
RAM much more quickly than from a hard disk, so adding RAM is a better
solution Not real. The term virtual is popular among computer scientists and is
used in a wide variety of situations. In general, it distinguishes something that is
merely conceptual from something that has physical reality. For example, virtual
memory refers to an imaginary set of locations, or addresses, where you can store
data. It is imaginary in the sense that the memory area is not the same as the real
physical memory composed of transistors. The difference is a bit like the
difference between an architect's plans for a house and the actual house. A
computer scientist might call the plans a virtual house. Another analogy is the
difference between the brain and the mind. The mind is a virtual brain. It exists
conceptually, but the actual physical matter is the brain.

The opposite of virtual is real, absolute, or physical.

Physical Memory

Refers to anything pertaining to hardware. The opposite of physical is logical or

virtual, which describe software objects. For example, physical memory refers to
the actual RAM chips installed in a computer. Virtual memory, on the other hand,
is an imaginary storage area used by programs.
A physical data structure refers to the actual organization of data on a storage
device. The logical data structure refers to how the information appears to a
program or user. For example, a data file is a collection of information stored
together. This is its logical structure. Physically, however, a file could be stored
on a disk in several scattered pieces.

Cache Memory

Cache memory is random access memory (RAM) that a computer microprocessor

can access more quickly than it can access regular RAM. As the microprocessor
processes data, it looks first in the cache memory and if it finds the data there
(from a previous reading of data), it does not have to do the more time-
consuming reading of data from larger memory.
Cache memory is sometimes described in levels of closeness and accessibility to
the microprocessor. An L1 cache is on the same chip as the microprocessor. (For
example, the PowerPC 601 processor has a 32 kilobyte level-1 cache built into its

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chip.) L2 is usually a separate static RAM (SRAM) chip. The main RAM is
usually a dynamic RAM (DRAM) chip.
In addition to cache memory, one can think of RAM itself as a cache of memory
for hard disk storage since all of RAM's contents come from the hard disk
initially when you turn your computer on and load the operating system (you are
loading it into RAM) and later as you start new applications and access new data.
RAM can also contain a special area called a disk cache that contains the data
most recently read in from the hard disk.

L1 and L2 are levels of cache memory in a computer. If the computer processor

can find the data it needs for its next operation in cache memory, it will save time
compared to having to get it from random access memory. L1 is "level-1" cache
memory, usually built onto the microprocessor chip itself. For example, the Intel
MMX microprocessor comes with 32 thousand bytes of L1. L2 (that is, level-2)
cache memory is on a separate chip (possibly on an expansion card) that can be
accessed more quickly than the larger "main" memory. A popular L2 cache
memory size is 1,024 kilobytes (one megabyte).

-Primary and Secondary Memory

Primary memory is computer memory that is accessed directly by the CPU.

This includes several types of memory, such as the processor cache and system
ROM. However, in most cases, primary memory refers to system RAM.

RAM, or random access memory, consists of one or more memory modules that
temporarily store data while a computer is running. RAM is volatile memory,
meaning it is erased when the power is turned off. Therefore, each time you start
up your computer, the operating system must be loaded from secondary memory
(such as a hard drive) into the primary memory, or RAM. Similarly, whenever
you launch an application on your computer, it is loaded into RAM.

The operating system and applications are loaded into primary memory, since
RAM can be accessed much faster than storage devices. In fact, the data can be
transferred between CPU and RAM more than a hundred times faster than
between the CPU and the hard drive. By loading data into RAM, programs can
run significantly faster and are much more responsive than if than constantly
accessed data from secondary memory.

NOTE: Primary memory may be called "primary storage" as well. However, this
term is somewhat more ambiguous since, depending on the context, primary
storage may also refer to internal storage devices, such as internal hard drives

Secondary Memory of memory is also known as external memory or non-

volatile. It is slower than main memory. These are used for storing
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data/Information permanently. CPU directly does not access these memories
instead they are accessed via input-output routines. Contents of secondary
memories are first transferred to main memory, and then CPU can access it. For
example : disk, CD-ROM, DVD etc.
Characteristic of Secondary Memory
• These are magnetic and optical memories
• It is known as backup memory.
• It is non-volatile memory.
• Data is permanently stored even if power is switched off.
• It is used for storage of data in a computer.
• Computer may run without secondary memory.
• Slower than primary memories.

1. Primary Memory / Volatile Memory: Primary Memory is internal memory

of the computer. RAM AND ROM both form part of primary memory. The
primary memory provides main working space to the computer. The following
terms comes under primary memory of a computer are discussed below:

• Random Access Memory (RAM): The primary storage is referred to as

random access memory (RAM) because it is possible to randomly select and use
any location of the memory directly store and retrieve data. It takes same time to
any address of the memory as the first address. It is also called read/write
memory. The storage of data and instructions inside the primary storage is
temporary. It disappears from RAM as soon as the power to the computer is
switched off. The memories, which lose their content on failure of power supply,
are known as volatile memories .So now we can say that RAM is volatile
memory.

• Read Only Memory (ROM): There is another memory in computer,

which is called Read Only Memory (ROM). Again it is the ICs inside the PC that
form the ROM. The storage of program and data in the ROM is permanent. The
ROM stores some standard processing programs supplied by the manufacturers to
operate the personal computer. The ROM can only be read by the CPU but it
cannot be changed. The basic input/output program is stored in the ROM that
examines and initializes various equipment attached to the PC when the power
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switch is ON. The memories, which do not lose their content on failure of power
supply, are known as non-volatile memories. ROM is non-volatile memory.

• PROM: There is another type of primary memory in computer, which is

called Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM). You know that it is not
possible to modify or erase programs stored in ROM, but it is possible for you to
store your program in PROM chip. Once the programmers’ are written it cannot
be changed and remain intact even if power is switched off. Therefore programs
or instructions written in PROM or ROM cannot be erased or changed.

• EPROM: This stands for Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory,

which overcome the problem of PROM & ROM. EPROM chip can be
programmed time and again by erasing the information stored earlier in it.
Information stored in EPROM exposing the chip for some time ultraviolet light
and it erases chip is reprogrammed using a special programming facility. When
the EPROM is in use information can only be read.

• Cache Memory: The speed of CPU is extremely high compared to the

access time of main memory. Therefore the performance of CPU decreases due to
the slow speed of main memory. To decrease the mismatch in operating speed, a
small memory chip is attached between CPU and Main memory whose access
time is very close to the processing speed of CPU. It is called CACHE memory.
CACHE memories are accessed much faster than conventional RAM. It is used to
store programs or data currently being executed or temporary data frequently
used by the CPU. So each memory makes main memory to be faster and larger
than it really is. It is also very expensive to have bigger size of cache memory and
its size is normally kept small.

• Registers: The CPU processes data and instructions with high speed;
there is also movement of data between various units of computer. It is necessary
to transfer the processed data with high speed. So the computer uses a number of
special memory units called registers. They are not part of the main memory but
they store data or information temporarily and pass it on as directed by the
control unit.

2. Secondary Memory / Non-Volatile Memory: Secondary memory is external

and permanent in nature. The secondary memory is concerned with magnetic
memory. Secondary memory can be stored on storage media like floppy disks,
magnetic disks, magnetic tapes, This memory can also be stored optically on
Optical disks - CD-ROM. The following terms comes under secondary memory
of a computer are discussed below:

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• Magnetic Tape: Magnetic tapes are used for large computers like
mainframe computers where large volume of data is stored for a longer time. In
PC also you can use tapes in the form of cassettes. The cost of storing data in
tapes is inexpensive. Tapes consist of magnetic materials that store data
permanently. It can be 12.5 mm to 25 mm wide plastic film-type and 500 meter
to 1200 meter long which is coated with magnetic material. The deck is
connected to the central processor and information is fed into or read from the
tape through the processor. It’s similar to cassette tape recorder.

• Magnetic Disk: You might have seen the gramophone record, which is
circular like a disk and coated with magnetic material. Magnetic disks used in
computer are made on the same principle. It rotates with very high speed inside
the computer drive. Data is stored on both the surface of the disk. Magnetic disks
are most popular for direct access storage device. Each disk consists of a number
of invisible concentric circles called tracks. Information is recorded on tracks of a
disk surface in the form of tiny magnetic spots. The presence of a magnetic spot
represents one bit and its absence represents zero bit. The information stored in a
disk can be read many times without affecting the stored data. So the reading
operation is non-destructive. But if you want to write a new data, then the
existing data is erased from the disk and new data is recorded. For Example-
Floppy Disk.

• Optical Disk: With every new application and software there is greater
demand for memory capacity. It is the necessity to store large volume of data that
has led to the development of optical disk storage medium. Optical disks can be
divided into the following categories:

While the memory of a hard disk drive is primarily used for long-term storage of
files and information, RAM memory is used by the computer while it actively
processes information.

When your computer is running a program, that software program is loaded from
the hard disk and stored into the computer's RAM memory upon usage.
Whenever you stop running that program, it is then taken from RAM memory
upon usage. Whenever you stop running that program, it is then taken from RAM
memory and stored back on the hard disk drive

Main Types of RAM Memory

There are various types of RAM memory currently in use today. These
definitions will help you to identify which types you should use in your computer
system:

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DDR(Double Data Rate) :- The current standard for RAM memory modules,
DDR offers greater bandwidth than the older standard , SDRAM, DDR is only
available on more modern motherboards night now and it is best to check your
motherboard’s compatibility with DDR prior to purchasing it.

RDRAM ( Ram bus DRAM) :- RDRAM ships only with certain Pentium 4
systems at this time, or some outdated Pentium III systems. RDRAM is not used
with the AMD Duren or the AMD Athlon XP processors. RDRAM and DDR are
the two current best types of memory modulates you can get for both speed and
performance, however, RDRAM is much more expensive.

SDRAM(synchronous DRAM) :- The replacement for both DRAM and EDO,

SDRAM synchronizes memory access with the CPU clock for faster data
transfer.

EDORAM (Extended data-out RAM) :- A faster form of DRAM, EDO RAM

has now been replaced by the venen faster SDRAM.

DRAM (Dynamic RAM) :- This older, "classic" form of RAM has been
supplanted by SDRAM and DRAM does not see much active use.

Currently DDR RAM is probably the best choice, but if may simply come down
to which motherboard you have. In many older Refurbished Computers, you
might still see SDRAM, but DDR2 is the most commonly used Unless you're
buying a computer system which has a newer type of motherboard build for DDR
RAM, you will probably be stuck using SDRAM

 EEPROM: Acronym for electrically erasable programmable read-only

memory. Pronounced double-e-prom or e-e-prom, an EEPROM is a special type
of PROM that can be erased by exposing it to an electrical charge. Like other
types of PROM, EEPROM retains its contents even when the power is turned off.
Also like other types of ROM, EEPROM is not as fast as RAM. EEPROM is
similar to flash memory (sometimes called flash EEPROM). The principal
difference is that EEPROM requires data to be written or erased one byte at a
time whereas flash memory allows data to be written or erased in blocks. This
makes flash memory faster.

 FRAM: Short for Ferroelectric Random Access Memory, a type of non-

volatile memory developed by Ramtron International Corporation. FRAM
combines the access speed of DRAM and SRAM with the non-volatility of ROM.

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Because of its high speed, it is replacing EEPROM in many devices. The term
FRAM itself is a trademark of Ramtron.

 NVRAM: Abbreviation of Non-Volatile Random Access Memory, a type of

memory that retains its contents when power is turned off. One type of NVRAM
is SRAM that is made non-volatile by connecting it to a constant power source
such as a battery. Another type of NVRAM uses EEPROM chips to save its
contents when power is turned off. In this case, NVRAM is composed of a
combination of SRAM and EEPROM chips.

 Bubble Memory: A type of non-volatile memory composed of a thin layer of

material that can be easily magnetized in only one direction. When a magnetic
field is applied to circular area of this substance that is not magnetized in the
same direction, the area is reduced to a smaller circle, or bubble. It was once
widely believed that bubble memory would become one of the leading memory
technologies, but these promises have not been fulfilled. Other non-volatile
memory types, such as EEPROM, are both faster and less expensive than bubble
memory.

 Flash Memory: A special type of EEPROM that can be erased and

reprogrammed in blocks instead of one byte at a time. Many modern PCs have
their BIOS stored on a flash memory chip so that it can easily be updated if
necessary. Such a BIOS is sometimes called flash BIOS. Flash memory is also
popular in modems because it enables the modem manufacturer to support new
protocols as they become standardized.

Hard Disk

When you save data or install programs on your computer, the information is
typically written to your hard disk. The hard disk is a spindle of magnetic disks,
called platters, that record and store information. Because the data is stored
magnetically, information recorded to the hard disk remains intact after you turn
your computer off. This is an important distinction between the hard disk and
RAM, or memory, which is reset when the computer's power is turned off.
The hard disk is housed inside the hard drive, which reads and writes data to the
disk. The hard drive also transmits data back and forth between the CPU and the
disk. When you save data on your hard disk, the hard drive has to write
thousands, if not millions, of ones and zeros to the hard disk. It is an amazing
process to think about, but may also be a good incentive to keep a backup of your
data.

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 Types of Hard Disk Drives

Disk drive technologies have advanced quickly over recent years, making
terabytes of storage available at reasonable cost. When researching the type of
hard disk storage system appropriate for your needs, keep in mind the format and
data rate of the video you’re capturing. Depending on whether you work as an
independent video editor or collaborate with others, the amount of storage you
require and the bit rate of data transfer will be important factors to match up with
your storage needs. Outlining all of the hard disk storage technologies is beyond
the scope of this documentation, but four common choices include:
• ATA
• FireWire
• SCSI
• RAID and Fiber Channel

RAM vs. ROM

Read-only memory or ROM is a form of data storage in computers and other

electronic devices that cannot be easily altered or reprogrammed. RAM is
referred to as volatile memory and is lost when the power is turned off whereas
ROM in non-volatile and the contents are retained even after the power is
switched off.
Random Access Memory or RAM is a form of data storage that can be accessed
randomly at any time, in any order and from any physical location in contrast to
other storage devices, such as hard drives, where the physical location of the data
determines the time taken to retrieve it. RAM is measured in megabytes and the
speed is measured in nanoseconds and RAM chips can read data faster than
ROM.

Comparison chart
RAM ROM
Stands for: Random Access Memory Read-only memory
It is non-volatile i.e. its
RAM is volatile i.e. its contents are lost contents are retained even
Volatility:
when the device is powered off. when the device is powered
off.
The types of ROM include
The two main types of RAM are static
Types: PROM, EPROM and
RAM and dynamic RAM.
EEPROM.
Use: RAM allows the computer to read data ROM stores the program

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 RAM ROM
quickly to run applications. It allows required to initially boot the
reading and writing. computer. It only allows
reading.
Random Access Memory or RAM is a Read-only memory or ROM
form of data storage that can be is also a form of data storage
Definition:
accessed randomly at any time, in any that cannot be easily altered
order and from any physical location. or reprogram

In the world of computers, memory sets

the limit upon which we base if we can run that program or not. If you were
unlucky enough to have experienced DOS, then you know the bane of the 640k
memory limit. Nowadays memory seems to be almost infinite and nobody
actually gets the ‘not enough memory’ messages of yester-year. How did they
accomplish that?
The answer to that is a very smart memory management procedure. By placing
some parts that should be in memory inside your hard-disk they can extend the
memory capacity of a computer way beyond what is installed; this is called
virtual memory. So let’s say that your computer only has 1GB of memory and
you launch a few programs whose total memory consumption is at around 1.5GB.
Without virtual memory, you are not allowed to do that. But with virtual
memory, the operating system assigns a portion of the hard-disk as a part of
memory and keeps the data there. So in the above example let’s say that the
virtual memory is also 1GB. 1GB actual memory + 1GB virtual memory = 2GB
system memory. That way even though your memory is limited you can still use
memory extensive applications.
There is a disadvantage to virtual memory though. Reading data from a hard disk
is substantially slower than reading from memory. So the more information that
is stored in your hard-disk the slower your system becomes making it seem
sluggish.
Cache memory on the other hand doesn’t extend the amount of memory you
have, it merely lessens the amount of time needed to access data. So that you can
understand the concept easily, let’s say that the processor is a student doing a
report. Whenever he needs data he goes to the bookshelf (the bookshelf being the
memory, and the books are the data) and takes out a book and brings it back to
his chair. He reads it then he returns it to the bookshelf before continuing with his
report. If you were the student it would really be time consuming if you have to
stand up and get a book every time you need a piece of data. Practically a student
would get a few books from the bookshelf and place it on the table. So that if he

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 needs information that is in the book that he recently used, it is just within arm’s
reach and he doesn’t have to stand and walk to get it.
Algorithm

Step by step procedure designed to perform an operation, and which (like a map
or flowchart) will lead to the sought result if followed correctly. Algorithms have
a definite beginning and a definite end, and a finite number of steps. An
algorithm produces the same output information given the same input
information, and several short algorithms can be combined to perform complex
tasks such as writing a computer program. A cookbook recipe, a diagnosis, a
problem solving routine, are some common examples of simple algorithms.
Suitable for solving structured problems (amenable to sequential analysis)
algorithms are, however, unsuitable for problems where value judgments are
required.

Uses of Algorithms
• Algorithms are used in various fields -- computer programming,
mathematics and psychology, for example. They can even be used in baking.
They can be expressed in regular spoken language, in mathematical terms or in
computer programming languages. Algorithms can be used to make our daily
tasks simpler; you might write your own algorithm for baking a cake, for
example, or detailing the most efficient way to get ready for work.

An algorithm is a finite set of steps defining the solution of a particular problem.

An algorithm can be expressed in human readable language like as English.
Algorithm is language depended, well structured and detailed.

Rules for constructing an Algorithm

When you are going to create an algorithms, keep following point in mind as:

Input: There should be zero or more values which are to be supplied.

Output: At least one result is to be produced.

Definiteness: Each step must be clear and unambiguous.

Finiteness: If we trace the steps of an algorithm, then for all cases, the algorithm
must terminate after a finite number of steps.

Effectiveness: Each step must be sufficiently basic that a person using only paper
and pencil can in principle carry it out. In addition, not only each step is definite,
it must also be feasible.

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Comment Session: Comment is additional info of program for easily
modification. In algorithm comment would be appear between two square
bracket []

Q. Write algorithm to calculate the sum and average of two numbers.

Ans.

[procedure for calculate sum and average of two numbers]

Step1 : Start
Step2 : Read two numbers n,m
Step3 : Calculate sum=n+m
Step4 : Calculate avg=sum/2
Step5 : Print sum,avg
Step5:Stop
[End of procedure for calculate sum and average of two numbers]

Q. Write a algorithem to find out number is odd or even?

Ans.
step 1 : start
step 2 : input number
step 3 : rem=number mod 2
step 4 : if rem=0 then
print "number even"
else
print "number odd"
endif
step 5 : stop
`
Conditional Patterns

1. Write an algorithm to find biggest of two numbers.

Sol- Step 1: Start

Step 2: Read two numbers (n1 and n2)
Step 3: if n1 > n2, go to Step 5
Step 4: Print “n2 is biggest” and go to Step 6
Step 5: Print “n1 is biggest”
Step 6: Stop

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2. Write an algorithm to check whether a given number is +ve, -ve or a
zero.

Sol- Step 1: Start

Step 2: Read a number (n)
Step 3: if n > 0, go to Step 6
Step 4: if n < 0, go to Step 7
Step 5: Print “n is Zero” and go to Step 8
Step 6: Print “n is a +ve number” and go to Step 8
Step 7: Print “n is a –ve number”
Step 8: Stop

3. Write an algorithm to check whether a given number is even or odd.

Sol- Step 1: Start

Step 2: Read a number (n)
Step 3: if remainder of n/2 is = 0, go to Step 5
or if n % 2 = 0, go to Step 5
Step 4: Print “n is odd” and go to Step 6
Step 5: Print “n is even”
Step 6: Stop

4. Write an algorithm to find a person’s eligibility for voting, based on

his/her age.

Sol- Step 1: Start

Step 2: Read the age of a person (age)
Step 3: if age > 18, go to Step 5
Step 4: Print “Person is not eligible for voting” and
go to Step 6
Step 5: Print “Person is eligible for voting”
Step 6: Stop

C. On Iterational Patterns

1. Write an algorithm to print a number (5) 10 times.

Sol- Step 1: Start

Step 2: Initialize Counter to 1 (Count =1)
Step 3: Print ‘5’
Step 4: Count = Count + 1
Step 5: if Count < = 10 go to Step 3
Step 6: Stop

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2. Write an algorithm to print all the odd numbers between 1 and 10.
Sol- Step 1: Start
Step 2: Initialize Counter to 1 (Count =1)
Step 3: Print ‘Count’
Step 4: Count = Count + 2
Step 5: if Count < = 10 go to Step 3
Step 6: Stop

3. Write an algorithm to print all the even numbers between 1 and 10.
Sol- Step 1: Start
Step 2: Initialize Counter to 2 (Count =2)
Step 3: Print ‘Count’
Step 4: Count = Count + 2
Step 5: if Count < = 10 go to Step 3
Step 6: Stop

What Is a Flow Chart?

A flow chart is a representation of any process and uses graphics or symbols.

Every single step in the process is represented in the flow chart with symbols,
usually with accompanying description of the tasks to be completed per step, or
even the methods that need to be followed. The various steps in the flow chart are
linked by arrows showing the order of the tasks.

Uses of Flow Charts

Like algorithms, flow charts can be used to symbolize efficient ways to do any
process. Flow charts can be used to document any kind of business process, from
the procurement of materials and movement of the materials to a factory to the
recruitment of a new employee from among a pool of candidates.

What symbols are used in Flowcharts?

The symbols that are commonly used in Flowcharts (Viewgraph 3) have specific
meanings and are connected by arrows indicating the flow from one step to
another:

Oval. Ovals indicate both the starting point and the ending point of the process
steps.

Box. A box represents an individual step or activity in the process.

Diamond. A diamond shows a decision point, such as yes/no or go/no-go.

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 Each path emerging from the diamond must be labeled with one of the possible
answers.

Circle. A circle indicates that a particular step is connected to another page or

part of the Flowchart. A letter placed in the circle clarifies the continuation.

Triangle. A triangle shows where an in-process measurement occurs.

Programming Fundamentals

What is programming?

When we want a computer to perform a specific task, such as generating a marks

sheet or a salary slip, we have to create a sequence of instructions in a logical
order that a computer can understand and interpret. This sequence of instructions
is called a program. The process of writing programs is called programming.
The task of programming involves a lot of effort and careful planning. Without
this, the computer will produce erroneous results. The following steps should go
into the planning of program:
Ø Defining and analyzing the problem
Ø Developing the solution logically using an algorithm

Defining and analyzing the problem

Before writing a program, we have to define exactly what

1. data we need to provide (input) and
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2. information we want the program to produce (the output).
Once we know these, we can figure out how to develop the solution.
Deciding on input
Suppose we want to write a program to work out the total and average of a
student’s marks in five subjects, we would need to mention the marks in the five
subjects as input.
Deciding on output
Next, we have to think of the output — the elements that should be displayed and
those that should not. In the marks example, since the task is to prepare a marks
sheet, the marks in all the five subjects, their total and average should be
displayed on the screen.

Developing a solution logically

Once we have defined and analyzed the problem — decided on the output and the
input — we can go on to develop the solution.
The most important aspect of developing the solution is developing the logic to
solve the problem. This requires creating a set of step-by-step instructions and/or
rules called an algorithm. Each step performs a particular task. We can write
these steps in plain English.. The algorithm for the example on finding total
marks and average would look like this:
1. Note down the student’s marks in different subjects.
2. Find the total marks scored by the student.
3. Compute the average marks.
4. Assign grade.
5. Display average percentage of marks and grade.
6. End.
For any computer program to work well, it has to be written properly.
Formulating an effective algorithm will make writing an effective program easier.
For an algorithm to be effective, it has to have the following characteristics:
1. Finiteness: An algorithm should terminate after a fixed number of steps.
2. Definiteness: Each step of the algorithm should be defined precisely. There should
be no ambiguity.
3. Effectiveness: All the operations in the algorithm should be basic and be
performed within the time limit.
4. Input: An algorithm should have certain inputs.
5. Output: An algorithm should yield one or more outputs that are the result of
operations performed on the given input.
The famous mathematician, D.E. Knuth, first expressed these characteristics.

Programming: The next step after developing an algorithm

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Once we develop the algorithm, we need to convert it into a computer program
using a programming language (a language used to develop computer programs).
A programming language is entirely different from the language we speak or
write. However, it also has a fixed set of words and rules (syntax or grammar)
that are used to write instructions for a computer to follow.
Programming languages can be divided into three types. They are:

1. Machine language
This is the basic language understood by a computer. This language is made up of
0’s and 1’s. A combination of these two digits represents characters, numbers,
and/or instructions. Machine language is also referred to as binary language.

2. Assembly language

This language uses codes such as ADD, MOV, and SUB to represent instructions.
These codes are called mnemonics. Though these codes have to be memorized,
assembly language is much easier to use than machine language.

3. High-level languages

High-level languages such as BASIC, FORTRAN, C, C++, and JAVA are very
much easier to use than machine language or assembly language because they
have words that are similar to English.

A quick comparison of programming languages

Machine Assembly High-level
Language Language Languages
Time to Since it is the basic A program called A program called a
execute language of the an ‘assembler’ is compiler or
computer, it does required to convert interpreter is
not require any the program into required to convert
translation, and machine language. the program into
hence ensures Thus, it takes machine language.
better machine longer to execute Thus, it takes more
efficiency. This than a machine time for a
means the language program. computer to
programs run execute.
faster.
Time to Needs a lot of skill, Simpler to use than Easiest to use.
develop as instructions are machine language, Takes less time to
very lengthy and though instruction develop programs
complex. Thus, it codes must be and, hence, ensures
takes more time to memorized. It takes better program
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 program. less time to efficiency.
develop programs
as compared to
machine language.

Developing a computer program

Follow the steps given below to become a successful programmer:

1. Define the problem: Examine the problem until you understand it
thoroughly.
2. Outline the solution: Analyze the problem.
3. Expand the outline of the solution into an algorithm: Write a step-by-step
procedure that leads to the solution.
4. Test the algorithm for correctness: Provide test data and try to work out
the problem as the computer would. This is a critical step but one that
programmers often forget.
5. Convert the algorithm into a program: Translate the instructions in the
algorithm into a computer program using any programming language.
6. Document the program clearly: Describe each line of instruction or at
least some important portions in the program. This will make the program easy to
follow when accessed later for corrections or changes.
7. Run the program: Instruct the computer to execute the program. The
process of running the program differs from language to language.
8. Debug the program: Make sure that the program runs correctly without
any errors or bugs as they are called in computer terminology. Finding the errors
and fixing them is called debugging. Don’t get depressed when bugs are found.
Think of it as a way to learn.
Etiquette

In order to communicate effectively with the diverse elements in today’s business

environment, learning the rules of etiquette has become a necessity. Let us
examine some of the areas where you need to pay attention to the rules of
etiquette.

Handshakes and nametags

When you greet someone in the business arena, it is generally followed by a
handshake. There are no set rules about who should extend his or her hand first.
Just ensure that your handshake is firm and portrays confidence. A limp
handshake indicates that a person lacks confidence or worse still, is disinterested
in the communication.
Most people prefer to place their nametag on the left shoulder. However the best
place for the nametag is high on the right shoulder. In this position it is easy to
read the tag while shaking hands with the other person. If you place it on the left
it is awkward and difficult to read the tag while shaking hands.
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Telephones

Most of us are used to answering the phone with a simple ‘hello’ at home. Some
of us tend to do the same at the workplace. However this sounds rude and
extremely unprofessional. When you receive a call at work, greet the person at
the other end (Good morning, good afternoon) and then state the name of your
company followed by your own name.
If you have made the call ensure that you identify yourself at the outset and state
the reason for the call.
The thumb rule for telephone calls at the workplace is that they should be brief,
precise, and to the point.

Electronic communication
We are living in the 21st century where we are besieged by electronic modes of
communication such as emails, speakerphones, car phones, cellular phones, and
fax machines.
If you are using the speakerphone make sure that you have informed the person at
the other end. While using cellular phones at the workplace make sure that you
have turned the ring volume low so that you do not disturb the people around
you. Car phones are useful if you have a job that dictates you spend more time on
the road then at your desk. Email is a quick and easy way to send messages to
people. However most people tend to regard it as an informal means of
communication even when it is used for professional reasons. While sending an
email remembers that you must adopt the same rules of propriety that you would
use while communicating with a person through a letter or any other mode of
written communication.
When you send a fax to someone always ensure that you send a cover letter
stating the sender’s name and telephone number, the recipient, the total number
of pages and the date. Never send unsolicited fax unless it is urgent.

Letters

Writing business letters is an art that most people need to cultivate. Unlike
friendly personal letters, business letters should be brief and to the point. Avoid
wasting the other person’s time with unnecessary trivia. Avoid trite and general
comments such as “Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to
see me.” Instead try to be as precise and specific as possible. Avoid addressing
someone by the first name in the salutation and then signing off with your full
name. It conveys the impression that you are talking down to the other person.
Ensure that you use your business stationery for business reasons and personal
stationery for personal use. Avoid mixing up the two.

Office etiquette

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Always make sure that you greet the people around you when you enter your
office.
While visiting another person at the workplace:
When you are visiting someone at his/her office ensure that you call ahead and
fix an appointment. Do not drop in unannounced. Ensure that you are punctual.
Observe the normal rules of decorum that you would follow when you visit
someone. Do not make yourself too comfortable at the other person’s office by
spreading your books and papers all over the person’s desk. Do not overstay your
welcome and linger beyond your allotted time. If you need more time ask if it is
convenient to the other person. If not you can reschedule another appointment.
When others visit you at the workplace:
If people visit you at your office remember that you are playing the role of a host
and act accordingly. Always get up and come around your desk to shake hands
with the other person. Indicate where you would like the person to sit. After the
discussion is over summarize the main points and the further action that needs to
be taken. Once the meeting is over escort the other person out of the office. Don’t
leave him/her to find his/her way out. It appears rude and ungracious to do so.
If you are busy or tied up in a meeting and cannot attend to your visitors
immediately, ensure that your secretary makes them comfortable.

Business entertaining

Many business meetings may be scheduled over meals during the day or outside
office hours after work. While attending a business meal ensure that you keep the
purpose in mind and that you stick to the allotted timeframes. Power breakfasts
are generally scheduled to discuss something urgent that is going to happen
during the course of the day. They may also be scheduled if the people involved
have busy schedules during the normal course of the day and cannot otherwise
find time for the meeting. Power breakfasts generally last for 45 minutes to an
hour.
Lunch meetings are generally held to establish contacts or entertain clients. They
usually last for an hour but may stretch up to two hours.
Business dinners should be handled with care or else they may peter out into a
social evening. If you are meeting a client for the first time doesn’t suggest a
business dinner unless the client specifically requests it. While scheduling a
business dinner remember that you are encroaching on a person’s personal time.
Business dinners are ideal for cementing professional relationships.
While paying for a business meal there are a few things you should keep in mind.
Whoever benefits from the meeting generally pays for it. If there is no clear
beneficiary the person who extends the invitation pays.

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Directory and Files

A file is any kind of computer document.

Every picture, sound or document - including this webpage - which you use or
work with on a computer, is stored digitally on the computer's drive in its own
individual picture file, sound file or document file. All the pictures on this
webpage are stored as individual picture files, and the webpage itself is a special
type of document file that your Internet browser knows how to display on the
screen with the pictures and links in the right places.

A directory is a computer document folder or filing cabinet.

If we could only organize the files on a computer in a long list, this would run
into several thousands, and while the computer would have no trouble with such
a huge list, it would be extremely difficult for a human to work with. In order to
organize files in a practical and useful way, we create computer directories - more
commonly called 'folders' - to group together files in whatever way we find
helpful, whether by date, type, or any other way that is helpful. So a directory is
an organizational tool for files. The usual way for a computer to show a directory
(as an icon, or picture symbol) is as a folder, because as far as the user is
concerned, that is the way a directory works.
Directories can, and very often do, have further sub-directories inside them, in
order to keep the numbers of files to a manageable level.

Know your PC Configuration

•Processor – Celeron
•Main Memory - 128 MB RAM
•Hard Disk - 20 GB IDE Hard Disk
•Removable Drives
–1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive
–52X IDE CD-ROM Drive
•PS/2 HCL Keyboard and Mouse

Installation Procedure...

Connecting Your PC
•All the Connectors in your PC are in different colors for easy identification.
•Keyboard and Mouse - PS / 2 Port in Violet and Green respectively.
•Video Port - For Monitor in Blue Color
•Serial Port COM1/COM2 - for Serial Devices (e.g. MODEM)
•Parallel Port - in Pink Color (for devices like Printer)
•USB Port - For USB devices like Scanner, Digital Camera

84
 •Game Port - For devices like Joy Stick
•Line Out / Line In / MIC - For speakers with Amplifier and Microphone

Operation Procedure...

•Switch ON your PC using the Switch on the Front

•It is good to switch ON the PC only after Switching ON all of the Peripherals
connected to it.
•For Switching OFF the PC, Click the Shutdown Option in your OS, if it is
Windows Based and it will Switch it OFF .
•Before you switch OFF your PC, ensure that nobody is accessing your PC(if it is
Shared in a Network)

Testing Procedure...

Points to check

•When PC is not Powering ON or any other Problem, check the connections of

Input Power Cable and all the Interface Cables on the Rear Side of your PC.

•Schedule for Anti-virus checks, periodically.

Maintenance Procedure...

•Weekly or monthly once, run Scandisk and Defragment for better performance
of your PC
•Make it a habit, cleaning Your PC daily before you start, with a clean, dampened
cloth.

•Backup all your data regularly

Hard Disk Care...

•Don’t move your PC when it is powered ON

•Wait for at least 3 minutes even after you switch the PC OFF.

•This precaution is to be followed for Preventing Hard Disk Failures which

shall result in Data Loss.

Windows Laptop and Apple Mac Book

Standard Configuration
• i3 or i5 processor with an 800 MHz front side bus or faster

85
• 4 GB RAM minimum
• 250 GB Hard Drive Minimum (7200 RPM speed)
• DVD or DVD/RW Drive
• Web camera
• 6-cell battery
• Network: 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n
• Laptop Security Cable Lock (highly recommended for Resident students)
• Windows 7 Home 64 Bit, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit or Windows 7 Ultimate
64 bit
High-End Configuration
• i5 or i7 Quad Core processor with a 1066 MHz front side bus or faster
• Integrated video card with 512mb or 1 GB of dedicated memory
• 15-inch or larger screen
• 4 GB RAM minimum
• 500 GB Hard Drive Minimum (7200 RPM speed)
• DVD or DVD/RW Drive
• Web camera
• 6-cell battery
• Network: 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet
• Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n
• Laptop Security Cable Lock (highly recommended for Resident students)
• Windows 7 Home 64 Bit, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit or Windows 7 Ultimate
64 bit
Desktop PC
• i3 , i5 or i7 processors Duo or Quad 2.66 GHz
• 4 GB RAM minimum (4 GB recommended)
• 250 GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM speed)
• 256 MB minimum Video Card
• DVD or DVD/RW Drive
• Sound Card with internal speakers
• 10/100/1000 MB Ethernet card
• Keyboard & Mouse
• Windows 7 Home 64 Bit, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit or Windows 7 Ultimate
64 bit
• 19-inch Flat Panel Monitor (Note: a larger monitor size will result in
smaller text on the screen)
Apple iMac
• 21-inch iMac
• 2.66 Intel processor
• 4 GB Ram
• 500 GB hard drive
• 256 MB Video Card
• Double layer SuperDrive DVDRW

86
• Keyboard & Mouse
• Built in Airport Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0

IBM Personal Computer

The IBM 5150 Personal Computer features an 8088 Intel
processor, 256k of memory on the motherboard, and a
monochrome display adapter driving a 5151 green/black monitor.
It has two full height IBM 5.25" 360k floppy drives, and no hard
drive. I have an original IBM DOS version 1.10 with it, which runs from one
160K floppy disk. The original IBM 5152 printer is an Epson MX-80 with the
IBM label.

IBM Personal Computer XT

This 5160 Personal Computer XT (extended) came equipped from
IBM with lots of good stuff, including 256k RAM on the
motherboard, plus a 256k RAM expansion card (with "flip chip"
IBM 64k x 8 chips), an asynchronous communications port, one
5.25" full height IBM 360k floppy drive, a 10m IBM (Seagate
ST-506)) hard drive, and a Color Graphics Adapter driving an IBM 5153 color
monitor, plus the Monochrome Display Adapter, which also drives the printer. I
have the original IBM Guide to Operations, which includes the diagnostics disk,
and a cool "getting to know you’re IBM PC" educational disk. This one has IBM
DOS 2.10 (1984) loaded on the hard drive. This computer does NOT have a real
time clock, you must enter the time and date every time you boot it up

IBM Personal Computer AT

This is an IBM PC/AT (Advanced Technology) Model 5170

computer. It was at the thrift store, and apparently came from the
University of Arizona Optical Sciences department (where my
brothers worked around 1980). It has an IBM EGA video card,
here set to work with the standard IBM 5153 Color Display. I finally found an
original IBM 5154 Enhanced Color Display for it, not pictured here. The
computer has an 8 MHz 80286 processor, running at 6 MHz, and the full capacity
of 512 Kbytes of memory on the motherboard. It also has an IBM 30 mb hard
disk, and the original 5.25" high density floppy drive. Note that the original cover
is still there for the optional floppy drive, usually the cover was thrown away
when a 3.5" drive was added. There is the original IBM disk drive controller
board inside, this is an extra tall full length board, as it controls both the floppy
and hard drives. There is also a Paradise I/O board, with one 9 pin RS-232 port
and one parallel port. I added some extra RAM on two Boca Ram AT boards,
including 128k of conventional and 3 Mb of extended memory. It has the original
DOS 3.30 on it, and I added Windows 1.01 just for fun.

87
 Introduction to General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

The General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a new no voice value added
service that allows information to be sent and received across a mobile telephone
network. GPRS supplements today's Circuit Switched Data and Short Message
Service. GPRS is NOT related to GPS (the Global Positioning System), a similar
acronym that is often used in mobile contexts.
Key User Features of GPRS

Theoretical maximum speeds of up to 171.2 kilobits per second (kbps) are

achievable with GPRS using all eight timeslots at the same time. This is about
three times as fast as the data transmission speeds possible over today's fixed
telecommunications networks and ten times as fast as current Circuit Switched
Data services on GSM networks. By allowing information to be transmitted
more quickly, immediately and efficiently across the mobile network, GPRS may
well be a relatively less costly mobile data service compared to SMS and Circuit
Switched Data.
GPRS facilitates instant connections whereby information can be sent or
received immediately as the need arises, subject to radio coverage. No dial-up
modem connection is necessary. This is why GPRS users are sometimes referred
to be as being "always connected". Immediacy is one of the advantages of
GPRS (and SMS) when compared to Circuit Switched Data. High immediacy is
a very important feature for time critical applications such as remote credit card
authorization where it would be unacceptable to keep the customer waiting for
even thirty extra seconds.
GPRS facilitates several new applications that have not previously been
available over GSM networks due to the limitations in speed of Circuit Switched
Data (9.6 kbps) and message length of the Short Message Service (160
characters). GPRS will fully enable the Internet applications you are used to
on your desktop from web browsing to chat over the mobile network. Other new
applications for GPRS, profiled later, include file transfer and home automation -
the ability to remotely access and control in-house appliances and machines.

To use GPRS, users specifically need:

• a mobile phone or terminal that supports GPRS (existing GSM phones do
NOT support GPRS); a subscription to a mobile telephone network that supports
GPRS; use of GPRS must be enabled for that user. Automatic access to the
GPRS may be allowed by some mobile network operators, others will require a
specific opt-in; knowledge of how to send and/or receive GPRS information
using their specific model of mobile phone, including software and hardware
configuration (this creates a customer service requirement); a destination to send

88
 or receive information through GPRS. Whereas with SMS this was often another
mobile phone, in the case of GPRS, it is likely to be an Internet address, since
GPRS is designed to make the Internet fully available to mobile users for the first
time. From day one, GPRS users can access any web page or other Internet
applications- providing an immediate critical mass of uses;
• Having looked at the key user features of GPRS, let’s look at the key
features from a network operator perspective.

Limitations of GPRS

It should already be clear that GPRS is an important new enabling mobile data
service which offers a major improvement in spectrum efficiency, capability and
functionality compared with today's no voice mobile services. GPRS does impact
a network's existing cell capacity. There are only limited radio resources that can
be deployed for different uses - use for one purpose precludes simultaneous use
for another. For example, voice and GPRS calls both use the same network
resources. The extent of the impact depends upon the number of timeslots, if any,
that are reserved for exclusive use of GPRS. However, GPRS does dynamically
manage channel allocation and allow a reduction in peak time signaling channel
loading by sending short messages over GPRS channels instead.

Achieving the theoretical maximum GPRS data transmission speed of 172.2 kbps
would require a single user taking over all eight timeslots without any error
protection. Clearly, it is unlikely that a network operator will allow all timeslots
to be used by a single GPRS user. Additionally, the initial GPRS terminals are
expected be severely limited - supporting only one, two or three timeslots. The
bandwidth available to a GPRS user will therefore be severely limited. As such,
the theoretical maximum GPRS speeds should be checked against the reality of
constraints in the networks and terminals. The reality is that mobile networks are
always likely to have lower data transmission speeds than fixed networks.

At the time of writing, there has been no confirmation from any handset vendors
that mobile terminated GPRS calls (i.e. receipt of GPRS calls on the mobile
phone) will be supported by the initial GPRS terminals. Availability or not of
GPRS MT is a central question with critical impact on the GPRS business case
such as application migration from other no voice bearers.

By originating the GPRS session, users confirm their agreement to pay for the
delivery of content from that service. This origination may well be performed
using a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) session using the WAP micro
browser that will be built into GHPRS terminals. However, mobile terminated IP
traffic might allow unsolicited information to reach the terminal. Internet sources
originating such unsolicited content may not be chargeable. A possible worst case
scenario would be that mobile users would have to pay for receiving unsolicited

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junk content. This is a potential reason for a mobile vendor NOT to support
GPRS Mobile Terminate in their GPRS terminals.

Applications for GPRS

A wide range of corporate and consumer applications are enabled by nonvoice

mobile services such as SMS and GPRS. This section will introduce those that
are particularly suited to GPRS.

Chat can be distinguished from general information services because the source
of the information is a person with chat whereas it tends to be from an Internet
site for information services. The "information intensity" - the amount of
information transferred per message tends to be lower with chat, where people
are more likely to state opinions than factual data. In the same way as Internet
chat groups have proven a very popular application of the Internet, groups of
like-minded people - so called communities of interest - have begun to use
nonvoice mobile services as a means to chat and communicate and discuss.

Because of its synergy with the Internet, GPRS would allow mobile users to
participate fully in existing Internet chat groups rather than needing to set up their
own groups that are dedicated to mobile users. Since the number of participants is
an important factor determining the value of participation in the newsgroup, the
use of GPRS here would be advantageous. GPRS will not however support point
to multipoint services in its first phase, hindering the distribution of a single
message to a group of people. As such, given the installed base of SMS capable
devices, we would expect SMS to remain the primary bearer for chat applications
in the foreseeable future, although experimentation with using GPRS is likely to
commence sooner rather than later.

A wide range of content can be delivered to mobile phone users ranging from
share prices, sports scores, weather, flight information, news headlines, prayer
reminders, lottery results, jokes, horoscopes, traffic, and location sensitive
services and so on. This information need not necessarily be textual- it may be
maps or graphs or other types of visual information.

The length of a short message of 160 characters suffices for delivering

information when it is quantitative - such as a share price or a sports score or
temperature. When the information is of a qualitative nature however, such as a
horoscope or news story, 160 characters is too short other than to tantalize or
annoy the information recipient since they receive the headline or forecast but
little else of substance. As such, GPRS will likely be used for qualitative
information services when end users have GPRS capable devices, but SMS will
continue to be used for delivering most quantitative information services.
Interestingly, chat applications are a form of qualitative information that may

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remain delivered using SMS, in order to limit people to brevity and reduce the
incidence of spurious and irrelevant posts to the mailing list that are a common
occurrence on Internet chat groups.
As this generic term suggests, file transfer applications encompass any form of
downloading sizeable data across the mobile network. This data could be a
presentation document for a traveling salesperson, an appliance manual for a
service engineer or a software application such as Adobe Acrobat Reader to read
documents. The source of this information could be one of the Internet
communication methods such as FTP (File Transfer Protocol), telnet, http or Java
- or from a proprietary database or legacy platform. Irrespective of source and
type of file being transferred, this kind of application tends to be bandwidth
intensive. It therefore requires a high speed mobile data service such as GPRS,
EDGE or UMTS to run satisfactorily across a mobile network.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ?

SEO is a technique which is help to increase the ranking of a website on

search engine’s natural organic search results. Search engine optimization
(SEO) technology is a cost effective technique to increase the visitors for web
sites. Every search engines are following their own methodical algorithm to
include the web sites and organize those sites with search terms. The search terms
are called as keywords which are used to search the necessary web sites by
internet users.

How the websites being indexed by search engines? What is crawler or

spider or robots?

Every search engines having their own crawler or spider or bots which is nothing
but a set of software program is used to crawl whole web page and indexed and
keeps the contents on their own server.

How the crawlers functioning?

Crawlers of the search engines will go through every web pages and extracting
the contents from web pages and maintain those web page contents on their
server and revisit within a scheduled time slot.

What are the important considerable factors to index?

Previously, search engines list the sites most considerably with keyword Meta
tag. But, nowadays most of the search engines are not considering the keyword
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Meta tags, due to avoid irrelevant keyword stuff on that tags. But, title tag is
taking most important part in search engine’s keyword relevancy. More over
that description tags are also important for searches.
How the SEO Companies are functioning?

Each and every seo company and seo experts are following different kind of seo
techniques and seo services to improve search engine rankings for their web sites.
But, deep analysis and study on this field will lead always. Based on the seo
companies and their own proven results, they are charging and also having
different types of seo plans to lead on this competitive world. But, the most
important factor to know for web masters can’t get the results within a day or
week. After you finished a seo web site, it will take approximately 3 months to
get results for their seo work done. Some time it may take more than 6 moths
also. Don’t believe if any seo company says as immediate inclusion is possible on
search engines.

SEO for a website is not a single line matter to explain to all. We have to
consider lot of factors to do. If you need seo for your web site, you have to select
a best seo company or seo expert to do. Unless you are selecting good seo
company or seo experts, definitely you will lose your investment and efforts on
seo. While making a seo website, you have to avoid more images and flash
animations on your web site. Search engines are unable to find the words on
images or animated flashes. For your knowledge, Java Scripts are also not
supportable for search engine. So avoid these things and make very good seo web
sites.

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Binary, Hexadecimal and Octal number system

Binary, hexadecimal, and octal refer to different number systems. The one that
we typically use is called decimal. These number systems refer to the number of
symbols used to represent numbers. In the decimal system, we use ten different
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symbols: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. With these ten symbols, we can represent
any quantity. For example, if we see a 2, then we know that there is two of
something. For example, this sentence has 2 periods on the end.
When we run out of symbols, we go to the next digit placement. To represent one
higher than 9, we use 10 meaning one unit of ten and zero units of one. This may
seem elementary, but it is crucial to understand our default number system if you
want to understand other number systems.
For example, when we consider a binary system which only uses two symbols, 0
and 1, when we run out of symbols, we need to go to the next digit placement.
So, we would count in binary 0, 1, 10, 11, 100, 101, and so on.
This article will discuss the binary, hexadecimal, and octal number systems in
more detail and explain their uses.
Fold
Table of Contents
How a Number System Works
Binary
Octal
Hexadecimal
Conversion
Base to Decimal
Decimal to Base
How?
Conversion.
From decimal to binary
From binary to decimal
From decimal to hexadecimal.
From hexadecimal to decimal
From decimal to octal
From octal to decimal
Fun Facts
End

How a Number System Works

Number systems are used to describe the quantity of something or represent

certain information. Because of this, I can say that the word "calculator" contains
ten letters. Our number system, the decimal system, uses ten symbols. Therefore,
decimal is said to be Base Ten. By describing systems with bases, we can gain an
understanding of how that particular system works.
When we count in Base Ten, we count starting with zero and going up to nine in
orders.
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, …

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Once we reach the last symbol, we create a new placement in front of the first
and count that up.
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, … , 19, 20, …

This continues when we run out of symbols for that placement. So, after 99, we
go to 100.
The placement of a symbol indicates how much it is worth. Each additional
placement is an additional power of 10. Consider the number of 2853. We know
this number is quite large, for example, if it pertains to the number of apples in a
basket. That's a lot of apples. How do we know it is large? We look at the number
of digits.
Each additional placement is an additional power of 10, as stated above. Consider
this chart.
103 102 101 100
digit digit digit digit
*1000 *100 *10 *1
Each additional digit represents a higher and higher quantity. This is applicable
for Base 10 as well as to other bases. Knowing this will help you understand the
other bases better.
Binary
Binary is another way of saying Base Two. So, in a binary number system, there
are only two symbols used to represent numbers: 0 and 1. When we count up
from zero in binary, we run out of symbols much more frequently.
0, 1, …
From here, there are no more symbols. We do not go to 2 because in binary, a 2
doesn't exist. Instead, we use 10. In a binary system, 10 are equal to 2 in decimal.
We can count further.
Binary 0 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 1010
Decimal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Just like in decimal, we know that the more digits there are, the larger the
number. However, in binary, we use powers of two. In the binary number
1001101, we can create a chart to find out what this really means.
26 25 24 23 22 21 20
1 0 0 1 1 0 1
64+0+0+8+4+0+1
87
Since this is base two, however, the numbers don't get quite as large as it does in
decimal. Even still, a binary number with 10 digits would be larger than 1000 in
decimal.

95
The binary system is useful in computer science and electrical engineering.
Transistors operate from the binary system, and transistors are found in
practically all electronic devices. A 0 means no current, and a 1 means to allow
current. With various transistors turning on and off, signals and electricity is sent
to do various things such as making a call or putting these letters on the screen.
Computers and electronics work with bytes or eight digit binary numbers. Each
byte has encoded information that a computer is able to understand. Many bytes
are stringed together to form digital data that can be stored for use later.

Octal
Octal is another number system with fewer symbols to use than our conventional
number system. Octal is fancy for Base Eight meaning eight symbols are used to
represent all the quantities. They are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. When we count up
one from the 7, we need a new placement to represent what we call 8 since an 8
doesn't exist in Octal. So, after 7 are 10.
Octal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12… 17 20… 30… 77 100
Decimal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10… 15 16… 24… 63 64
Just like how we used powers of ten in decimal and powers of two in binary, to
determine the value of a number we will use powers of 8 since this is Base Eight.
Consider the number 3623 in base eight.
83 82 81 80
3 6 2 3
1536+384+16+3
1939
Each additional placement to the left has more value than it did in binary. The
third digit from the right in binary only represented 23-1, which are 4. In octal,
that is 83-1 which is 64.

Hexadecimal
The hexadecimal system is Base Sixteen. As its base implies, this number system
uses sixteen symbols to represent numbers. Unlike binary and octal, hexadecimal
has six additional symbols that it uses beyond the conventional ones found in
decimal. But what comes after 9? 10 are not a single digit but two… Fortunately,
the convention is that once additional symbols are needed beyond the normal ten,
letters are to be used. So, in hexadecimal, the total list of symbols to use is 0, 1, 2,
3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F. In a digital display, the numbers B and D
are lowercase.
When counting in hexadecimal, you count 0, 1, 2, and so on. However, when you
reach 9, you go directly to A. Then, you count B, C, D, E, and F. But what is
next? We are out of symbols! When we run out of symbols, we create a new digit
placement and move on. So after F is 10. You count further until you reach 19.
After 19, the next number is 1A. This goes on forever.

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 Hexadecimal 9 A B C D E F 10 11… 19 1A 1B 1C… 9F A0
Decimal 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 25 26 27 28 159 160
Digits are explained as powers of 16. Consider the hexadecimal number 2DB7.
163 162 161 160
2 D B 7
8192+3328+176+7
11703
As you can see, placements in hexadecimal are worth a whole lot more than in
any of the other three number systems.

Conversion.
In the latter topic I explained the logic behind the binary, hexadecimal and octal
number systems. Now I’ll explain something more practical. If you fully
understood the previous thing you can skip this topic.

From decimal to binary

• Step 1: Check if your number is odd or even.
• Step 2: If it's even, write 0 (proceeding backwards, adding binary digits to
the left of the result).
• Step 3: Otherwise, if it's odd, write 1 (in the same way).
• Step 4: Divide your number by 2 (dropping any fraction) and go back to
step 1. Repeat until your original number is 0.

An example:

Convert 68 to binary:
• 68 are even, so we write 0.
• Dividing 68 by 2, we get 34.
• 34 is also even, so we write 0 (result so far - 00)
• Dividing 34 by 2, we get 17.
• 17 is odd, so we write 1 (result so far - 100 - remember to add it on the
left)
• Dividing 17 by 2, we get 8.5, or just 8.
• 8 is even, so we write 0 (result so far - 0100)
• Dividing 8 by 2, we get 4.
• 4 is even, so we write 0 (result so far - 00100)
• Dividing 4 by 2, we get 2.
• 2 is even, so we write 0 (result so far - 000100)
• Dividing 2 by 2, we get 1.
• 1 is odd, so we write 1 (result so far - 1000100)
• Dividing by 2, we get 0.5 or just 0, so we're done.
• Final result: 1000100

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 From binary to decimal
• Write the values in a table as shown before. (or do so mentally)
• Add the value in the column header to your number, if the digit is turned
on (1).
• Skip it if the value in the column header is turned off (0).
• Move on to the next digit until you’ve done them all.
An example:
Convert 101100 to decimal:
• Highest digit value: 32. Current number: 32
• Skip the "16" digit, its value is 0. Current number: 32
• Add 8. Current number: 40
• Add 4. Current number: 44
• Skip the "2" and "1" digits, because their value is 0.
• Final answer: 44

From decimal to hexadecimal.

THIS IS ONLY ONE OF THE MANY WAYS!
• Convert your decimal number to binary
• Split up in nibbles of 4, starting at the end
• Look at the first table on this page and write the right number in place of
the nibble
(you can add zeroes at the beginning if the number of bits is not divisible by 4,
because, just as in decimal, these don’t matter)
An example:

Convert 39 to hexadecimal:
• First, we convert to binary (see above). Result: 100111
• Next, we split it up into nibbles: 0010/0111 (Note: I added two zeroes to
clarify the fact that these are nibbles)
• After that, we convert the nibbles separately.
• Final result: 27

From hexadecimal to decimal

*Check the formula in the first paragraph and use it on the ciphers in your
hexadecimal number. (this actually works for any conversion to decimal notation)
An example:
Convert 1AB to decimal:
• Value of B = 160×11. This gives 11, obviously
• Value of A = 161×10. This gives 160. Our current result is 171.
• Value of 1 = 162×1. This gives 256.
• Final result: 427

From decimal to octal

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• Convert to binary.
• Split up in parts of 3 digits, starting on the right.
• Convert each part to an octal value from 1 to 7
Example: Convert 25 to octal
• First, we convert to binary. Result: 11001
• Next, we split up: 011/001
• Conversion to octal: 31

From octal to decimal

Again, apply the formula from above
Example: convert 42 to decimal
• Value of 2=80×2=2
• Value of 4=81×4=32
• Result: 34

Introduction to Boolean Algebra

Boolean algebra which deals with two-valued (true / false or 1 and 0) variables
and functions find its use in modern digital computers since they too use two-
level systems called binary systems.
Let us examine the following statement:"I will buy a car If I get a salary increase
or I win the lottery." This statement explains the fact that the proposition “buys a
car" depends on two other propositions "get a salary increase" and "win the
lottery". Any of these propositions can be either true or false hence the table of all
possible situations:

Salary Win Buy a car = Salary Increase

Increase Lottery or Win Lottery

False False False

False True True

True False True

True True True

The mathematician George Boole, hence the name Boolean algebra, used 1 for
true, 0 for false and + for the or connective to write simpler tables. Let X = "get a
salary increase", Y = "win the lottery" and F = "buy a car". The above table can
be written in much simpler form as shown below and it defines the OR function.

X Y F=X+Y

0 0 0

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0 1 1

1 0 1

1 1 1
Let us now examine the following statement:"I will be able to read e-books
online if I buy a computer and get an internet connection." The proposition "read
e-books" depends on two other propositions "buy a computer" and "get an
internet connection". Again using 1 for True, 0 for False, F = "read e-books" , X
= "buy a computer", Y = "get an internet connection" and use . for the connective
and, we can write all possible situations using Boolean algebra as shown below.
The above table can be written in much simpler form as shown below and it
defines the AND function.

X Y F=X.Y

0 0 0

0 1 0
1 0 0

1 1 1
We have so far defined two operators: OR written as + and AND written . . The
third operator in Boolean algebra is the NOT operator which inverts the input.
Whose table is given below where NOT X is written as X'.

X NOT X = X'

0 1

1 0

The 3 operators are the basic operators used in Boolean algebra and from which
more complicated Boolean expressions may be written. Example: F = X . (Y + Z)

Boolean Example No1

Construct a Truth Table for the logical functions at points C, D and Q in the
following circuit and identify a single logic gate that can be used to replace the
whole circuit.

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First observations tell us that the circuit consists of a 2-input NAND gate, a 2-
input EX-OR gate and finally a 2-input EX-NOR gate at the output. As there are
only 2 inputs to the circuit labeled A and B, there can only be 4 possible
combinations of the input (22) and these are: 0-0, 0-1, 1-0 and finally 1-1. Plotting
the logical functions from each gate in tabular form will give us the following
truth table for the whole of the logic circuit below.

Inputs Output at
A B C D Q
0 0 1 0 0
0 1 1 1 1
1 0 1 1 1
1 1 0 0 1

From the truth table above, column C represents the output function from
the NAND gate and column Represents the output function from the Ex-OR gate.
Both of these two output expressions then become the input condition for the Ex-
NOR gate at the output. It can be seen from the truth table that an output at Q is
present when any of the two inputs A or B are at logic 1. The only truth table that
satisfies this condition is that of an OR Gate. Therefore, the whole of the above
circuit can be replaced by just one single 2-input OR Gate.

Boolean Example No2

Find the Boolean algebra expression for the following system.

101
The system consists of an AND Gate, a NOR Gate and finally an OR Gate. The
expression for the AND gate is A.B, and the expression for the NOR gate is A+B.
Both these expressions are also separate inputs to the OR gate which is defined
as A+B. Thus the final output expression is given as:

The output of the system is given as Q = (A.B) + (A+B), but the notation A+B is
the same as the De Morgan´s notation A.B, Then substituting A.B into the output
expression gives us a final output notation of Q = (A.B)+(A.B), which is the
Boolean notation for an Exclusive-NOR Gate as seen in the previous section.

Inputs Intermediates Output

B A A.B A+B Q
0 0 0 1 1
0 1 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 0 1

Then, the whole circuit above can be replaced by just one neither
single Exclusive-NOR Gate and indeed an Exclusive-NOR Gate is made up of
these individual gates.

SYSTEM SOFTWARE AND APPLICATION SOFTWRE

Computer software

Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and

related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and
how to do it. In other words, software is a conceptual entity which is a set of
computer programs, procedures, and associated documentation concerned with
the operation of a data processing system. We can also say software refers to one
or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer for some
purposes. In other words software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms
and its documentation. Program software performs the function of the program it
implements, either by directly providing instructions to the computer hardware or
by serving as input to another piece of software. The term was coined to contrast
to the old term hardware (meaning physical devices). In contrast to hardware,
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software is intangible, meaning it "cannot be touched".[1] Software is also
sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only.
Sometimes the term includes data that has not traditionally been associated with
computers, such as film, tapes, and records.

What is Software?

Software is the general term for information that's recorded onto some kind of
medium. For example, when you go to the video store and rent or buy a tape or
DVD, what you're really getting is the software that's stored on that tape or disk.
You’re VCR or DVD player are hardware devices that are capable of reading the
software from a tape or disk and projecting it onto your TV screen, in the form of
a movie.

Your computer is a hardware device that reads software too. Most of the software
on your computer comes in the form of programs. A program consists of
"instructions" that tell the computer what to do, how to behave. Just as there are
thousands of albums you can buy on CD for your stereo, and thousands of movies
you can buy to play on your VCR or DVD player, there are thousands of
programs that you can buy to run on your computer.

When you buy a computer, you don't automatically get every program produced
by every software company in the world. You usually get some programs. For
example, when you buy a computer it will probably have an operating system
(like Windows XP) already installed on it.

If you do purchase a specific program, it would be to perform some specific task.

For example, you might use a graphics program to touch up photos, or you might
use a word processing program to write text. You're using your Web browser
program right now to read this text (assuming you're not reading a printed copy
on paper). Just as there are umpteen different brands of toothpaste, there are
umpteen different brands of word processing programs, graphics programs, and
Web browsers.
For example, all graphics programs are designed to help you work with pictures.
But there are many brands of graphics programs out there, including Adobe
Photoshop, Jasc Paint Shop Pro. Adobe Illustrator, Arcsoft Photo Studio, Corel
Draw, ULead Photo Impact, Print Shop Photo, and Macromedia Freehand, just to
name a few. As to Web browsers, popular brands include Microsoft Internet
Explorer, MSN Explorer, Netscape Navigator, America Online, and a few others.
When you purchase a program, you get the program stored on a CD as in the
example shown at left. You may not have seen any boxes containing software
when you bought your computer. That's because the software that came with your
computer has been pre-installed onto your computer's hard disk for you. You
don't need to use the CD to run a program that's already installed on your

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computer. You only need to keep the CDs as backups, in case something goes
wrong with your hard disk and you need to re-install the programs.

Running Programs

When you click on the icon for a program, the program opens. Which means the
program appears on the screen, so you can use it. Each program will appear in its
own program window on the Windows desktop. Floating about on top of that
desktop are four different programs, each in its own separate program window.

Elements of Program Windows

While not two programs are exactly alike, most program windows contain certain
similar elements. Stretched across the top of the program window is the title bar,
which usually shows the name of the program that's inside the program window.
Beneath the title bar is the menu bar, which gives you access to the tools and
capabilities of that specific program. Many programs have a toolbar under their
menu bar. The toolbar provides quick one-click access to frequently-used
commands in the menu bar. The status bar at the bottom of a program provides
general information.

Difference between Application Software and Operating Systems

The Operating System is the System Software that makes the Computer work.
We can say that an Operating System (OS) is Software that acts as an interface
between you and the hardware. It not only contains drivers used to speak the
hardware's language, but also offers you a very specific graphical user interface
(GUI) to control the computer. An OS can also act as an interface (from the
hardware) to the other software. A complex OS like Windows or Linux or Mac
OS offers the services of an OS, but also has applications built in. Solitaire, Paint,
Messenger, etc. are all applications.

Application software is the software that you install onto your Operating System.
It consists of the programs that actually let you do things with your computer.
These Applications are written to run under the various Operating Systems.
These include things like your word processing programs, spread sheets, email
clients, web browser, games, etc. Many programs, such as most of the Microsoft
Office suite of programs, are written in both Mac and Windows versions, but you
still have to have the right version for your OS.

So, the Operating system of a Computer is the Software that allows the Computer
work. It provides the framework under which the Applications run. An operating
system is the type of Computer system you have such as Window XP or Window

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95, 98, Mac, etc. The Applications are the Software that actually allows the user
to do something with the Computer. Without the applications, all you can do is
change settings and navigate among the folders. You can purchase its CD from a
software company or download from a software company’s web site.

Computer Program

A computer program (also software, or just a program) is a sequence of

instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer.[1] A computer
requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a
central processor.[2] The program has an executable form that the computer can
use directly to execute the instructions. The same program in its human-readable
source code form, from which executable programs are derived (e.g., compiled),
enables a programmer to study and develop its algorithms.
Computer source code is often written by computer programmers. Source code is
written in a programming language that usually follows one of two main
paradigms: imperative or declarative programming. Source code may be
converted into an executable file (sometimes called an executable program or a
binary) by a compiler and later executed by a central processing unit.
Alternatively, computer programs may be executed with the aid of an interpreter,
or may be embedded directly into hardware.

Computer programs may be categorized along functional lines: system software

and application software. Two or more computer programs may run
simultaneously on one computer, a process known as multitasking.

Difference Between System Software And Application Software

System Software vs. Application Software

System software and application software are computer programs. The system
software is also installed during the installation of the operating system.
However, the application software utilizes the capabilities of the computer on
which it is installed.

System Software

The programs and the file that comprises the operating system are called system
software. These files include configuration files, system preferences, system
services, libraries of functions and the drivers for the hardware installed on the
computer. The computer programs in system software include compilers, system
utilities, assemblers, debuggers and file management tools.
Once you install the operating system, the system software is also installed.
Program such “Software update” or “Windows update” can be used to update the

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system software. However, the end user does not run the system software. For
example, while using the web browser, you don’t need to use the assembler
program.
System software is also called low-level software as it runs at most basic level of
the computer. It just creates a graphical user interface thorough which the user
can interact with hardware with the help of operating system. System software
just runs at the back so you don’t need to bother about it.
The system software provides an environment to run application software and it
controls the computer as well as the applications installed on the machine.

Application software

The subclass of a computer program which utilizes the capabilities of computer is

called application software. Application here means the application software and
the implementation. The example of application software programs includes
media players, spreadsheets and word processors. When multiple applications are
packaged together then it is called application suite.
There is a common user interface in each application suite which makes it easier
for the user to learn different applications. In some cases, such as Microsoft
Office, the various application programs have the ability to interact with each
other. This facility is very handy for the user. For example, a user can embed the
spreadsheet in a word processor using the application software. Application
software cannot run without the presence of system software.

Difference between system software and application software

• System software gets installed when the operating system is installed on the
computer while application software is installed according to the requirements of
the user.

• System software includes programs such as compilers, debuggers, drivers,

assemblers while application software includes media players, word processors,
and spreadsheet programs.

• Generally, users do not interact with system software as it works in the

background whereas users interact with application software while doing
different activities.

• A computer may not require more than one type of system software while there
may be a number of application software programs installed on the computer at
the same time.

• System software can run independently of the application software while

application software cannot run without the presence of the system software.
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Compiler

A compiler is a special program that processes statements written in a particular

programming language and turns them into machine language or "code" that a
computer's processor uses. Typically, a programmer writes language statements
in a language such as Pascal or C one line at a time using an editor . The file that
is created contains what are called the source statements . The programmer then
runs the appropriate language compiler, specifying the name of the file that
contains the source statements.
When executing (running), the compiler first parses (or analyzes) all of the
language statements syntactically one after the other and then, in one or more
successive stages or "passes", builds the output code, making sure that statements
that refer to other statements are referred to correctly in the final code.
Traditionally, the output of the compilation has been called object code or
sometimes an object module . (Note that the term "object" here is not related to
object-oriented programming .) The object code is machine code that the
processor can process or "execute" one instruction at a time.
More recently, the Java programming language, a language used in object-
oriented programming , has introduced the possibility of compiling output (called
byte code ) that can run on any computer system platform for which a Java virtual
machine or byte code interpreter is provided to convert the byte code into
instructions that can be executed by the actual hardware processor. Using this
virtual machine, the byte code can optionally be recompiled at the execution
platform by a just-in-time compiler .
Traditionally in some operating systems, an additional step was required after
compilation - that of resolving the relative location of instructions and data when
more than one object module was to be run at the same time and they cross-
referred to each other's instruction sequences or data. This process was
sometimes called linkage editing and the output known as a load module .
A compiler works with what are sometimes called 3GL and higher-level
languages. An assembler works on programs written using a processor's
assembler language.

Interpreters

The programs created in high level languages can be executed by using two
different ways. The first one is the use of compiler and the other method is to use
an interpreter. High level instruction or language is converted into intermediate
from by an interpreter. The advantage of using an interpreter is that the high level
instruction does not goes through compilation stage which can be a time
consuming method. So, by using an interpreter, the high level program is
executed directly. That is the reason why some programmers use interpreters
while making small sections as this saves time.

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 Almost all high level programming languages have compilers and interpreters.
But some languages like LISP and BASIC are designed in such a way that the
programs made using them are executed by an interpreter.
Difference between compiler and interpreter
• A complier converts the high level instruction into machine language while an
interpreter converts the high level instruction into an intermediate form.
• Before execution, entire program is executed by the compiler whereas after
translating the first line, an interpreter then executes it and so on.
• List of errors is created by the compiler after the compilation process while an
interpreter stops translating after the first error.
• An independent executable file is created by the compiler whereas interpreter is
required by an interpreted program each time.

Assemblers

An assembler is a program that takes basic computer instructions and converts

them into a pattern of bits that the computer's processor can use to perform its
basic operations. Some people call these instructions assembler language and
others use the term assembly language.
Here's how it works:
• Most computers come with a specified set of very basic instructions that
correspond to the basic machine operations that the computer can perform. For
example, a "Load" instruction causes the processor to move a string of bits from a
location in the processor's memory to a special holding place called a register.
Assuming the processor has at least eight registers, each numbered, the following
instruction would move the value (string of bits of a certain length) at memory
location 3000 into the holding place called register
• The programmer can write a program using a sequence of these assembler
instructions.
• This sequence of assembler instructions, known as the source code or
source program, is then specified to the assembler program when that program is
started.
• The assembler program takes each program statement in the source
program and generates a corresponding bit stream or pattern (a series of 0's and
1's of a given length).
• The output of the assembler program is called the object code or object
program relative to the input source program. The sequence of 0's and 1's that
constitute the object program is sometimes called machine code.
• The object program can then be run (or executed) whenever desired.

Computer Language

The term computer language includes a wide variety of languages used to

communicate with computers. It is broader than the more commonly-used term

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programming language. Programming languages are a subset of computer
languages. For example, HTML is a markup language and a computer language,
but it is not traditionally considered a programming language. Machine code is a
computer language. It can technically be used for programming, and has been
(e.g. the original bootstrapped for Altair BASIC), though most would not
consider it a programming language.

Computer languages can be divided into two groups: high-level languages and
low-level languages. High-level languages are designed to be easier to use, more
abstract, and more portable than low-level languages. Syntactically correct
programs in some languages are then compiled to low-level language and
executed by the computer. Most modern software is written in a high-level
language, compiled into object code, and then translated into machine
instructions.

Computer languages could also be grouped based on other criteria. Another

distinction could be made between human-readable and non-human-readable
languages. Human-readable languages are designed to be used directly by
humans to communicate with the computer. Non-human-readable languages,
though they can often be partially understandable, are designed to be more
compact and easily processed, sacrificing readability to meet these ends.

Each generation of computers is characterized by major technological

development that fundamentally changed the way computers operate, resulting in
increasingly smaller, cheaper, more powerful and more efficient and reliable
devices. Read about each generation and the developments that led to the current
devices that we use today.

What is a Computer?

A computer is a device that accepts user input, processes it, and returns output.
Usually, the modern use of the term computer refers to an electronic device that
accepts input via keyboard and mouse, and returns output via a CRT or LCD
monitor. Other input and output devices associated with today's common
computer include hard disks, optical and flash storage, network connections,
speakers, joysticks, and paper printers. Also, computers today are used for much
more than the processing of raw data. Standard home computers are often used
for communicating via the Internet, word processing, audio / video media
management, and game playing. Specialized fields have discovered thousands of
other uses for computers, and the devices are being introduced to new fields
almost daily.

Different types of personal computers include desktop systems (PC's), notebook

computers, handheld computers, and a few hybrid combinations of these. More

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specialized small computers are found in wristwatches, medical and factory
monitors, automobile control systems, microwave ovens, and literally thousands
of other applications. These are usually referred to as embedded systems, as the
computer involved is not the primary component of the device. Large, very
specialized computers are used in physics research, military intelligence, weather
prediction, and other specialized fields. These machines are often called
mainframes, a name that pays homage to the large frame encompassing early
models.

There is no universal consensus on the identity of the first computer. While many
historians are content with crowning the Roman or Chinese abaci as the earliest
of computers, the devices themselves performed no information processing.
Thus, an abacus does not display the defining property of a computer. The
earliest known device that did in fact process information automatically was the
Jacquard loom. The head of the Jacquard loom read punch cards, determined the
locations of holes in the cards, and in response altered the pattern being woven by
the loom. In addition to processing data, the loom was programmable by means
of replacing the punch cards. Thus, the Jacquard loom performed two of the most
important defining functions of computers: data processing, and the ability to be
programmed.

What is Microsoft Windows?

Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems and environments developed

and marketed by Microsoft Corporation. The first version of Windows was
released in 1985 as a graphical user interface to MS-DOS, providing multiple
document support, mouse support, drop down menus, and color video drivers.
Later versions gradually replaced many of MS-DOS's built-in hardware functions
with their own enhanced functions, until Windows fully assimilated MS-DOS
and became a full-fledged operating system. Microsoft Windows is now often
referred to as an integrated operating system due to the high level of integration
between the core kernel functions and other Microsoft software such as Outlook,
Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer. Despite it's poor security record caused
by this integration, Microsoft Windows is today the most widely used OS on
personal home computers, laptop computers, and small business machines. The
latest version, Windows Vista, was released in late 2006 to large businesses while
the consumer version was delayed until early 2007.

As an integrated operating system, all Microsoft Windows versions come with

preinstalled software that is ready to use upon installation. Basic text editors and
calculators have been available since the first versions of Windows. Windows 98
added Media Player, Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Windows Vista
expands this with the Windows Mobility Center, Photo Gallery, DVD Maker, and
the Linux-like Windows Sidebar. Vista is also the first version of Windows to

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have built-in security features. Although the second Windows XP service pack
added a firewall and anti-virus monitoring service, Vista implements these
features and more at the kernel level. Individual programs are 'sandboxed' and
cannot access each other's memory. Critical drivers are executed in user mode, so
crashes and malicious behavior cannot cause system-wide instability or security
breaches. Even third-party anti-virus and anti-spyware software runs outside the
kernel, further protecting it from bugs and backdoors in those programs.

Microsoft has just released the new Office suite for Windows. Transmitting those
documents over the Internet is now easier than ever with the PDF file format. Try
a pdf converter such as to convert pdf to word or maybe even pdf to excel so that
those PDF's can be edited again.

In addition to the common desktop consumer versions of Microsoft Windows,

Microsoft has released server, mobile, and embedded versions of the operating
system. Windows Server System is a compete IT administration package that
includes the Windows Server operating system, Updates Services, Storage
Server, IIS web server, Windows Media Services, and more. This package is
intended for large organizations that must administer local area networks and
integrate different types of computers for different purposes. Windows Mobile is
a series of operating systems designed for PDA devices and smart phones. This is
the only version of Windows to include any version of Microsoft Office bundled
with the OS. Microsoft Windows Embedded is a relatively lightweight version of
Windows custom tailored to the hardware on which it runs. While closely related
to Windows Mobile, Windows Embedded is not targeted at consumer end-user
devices. Rather, Windows Embedded is intended for use in portable medical
equipment, industrial machinery, third-party automobile controllers, and similar
job-specific applications.

What is an Operating System?

An operating system is the lowest-level program running on a computer. The

operating system provides software interfaces for the computer hardware, basic
input and output functions, file and network management, and memory
allocation. On top of these functions the user may run a command line, web, or
graphical user interface. Additionally, the operating systems of non-specialized
home and office computers are able to run third-party programs that either extend
the functionality of the computer, or provide alternative interfaces to the existing
functions. These programs need not know what hardware the computer consists
of: the operating system provides the hardware abstraction necessary for running
a single program on millions of different possible hardware combinations.

Most home computers today use the Microsoft Windows operating system. Other
operating systems, such as Apple Macintosh and Linux, have traditionally been

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 termed as "alternative operating systems", implying that Windows is usually
expected to be installed by default. However, the usability issues surrounding
Windows Vista, combined with improvements in the usability of graphical user
interfaces for Linux, have catalyzed renewed interest in Linux and Macintosh.
Other concerns, such as restrictive licensing and DRM issues, are expected to
further interest in alternative, mostly open source operating systems. Currently,
Linux is the leading open source operating system, with many distributions
consisting entirely of open source software.

The first computers had no operating systems. The hardware of these early
systems was very specialized, and only certain types of programs would run on
them. These programs, being so specialized, interfaced directly with the system's
hardware. Thus, these programs were not portable and any changes in hardware
required changes in the computer program. As computers became less
specialized, and different companies began producing hardware, the need for
abstraction layers that would allow programs to run on the various hardware
became apparent. Hence the concept of the shared library was invented, the first
of which provided uniform software interfaces to various hardware. Later, these
libraries incorporated time-sharing management tools and automatic job
switching functions. Thus, the operating system was born.

Types of Operating Systems - Following are the types of Operating Systems:

1. Operating Systems for Real-time OS: These types of OS are used to control
machinery, control systems and industrial systems and have very less or in certain
case no user-interface capability.
2. Operating Systems for Single User, Single Task OS: This is a typical
computer system where one user can work effectively only on one task. Cell
phones and palm tops are examples where these types of systems are used.
3. Operating Systems for Single User, Multi-tasking: Computer Operating
Systems of desktops or laptops typically fall within this category. Here, the user
can use several applications at a time.
4. Operating Systems for Multi-User: Here, various users use the computer
system through different terminal and the Operating Systems on that computer
have to balance multiple users with multiple applications.

Types of Windows operating systems:

1. Windows 1.01
2. Windows 2.03
3. Windows 2.11
4. Windows 3.0
5. Windows 3.1
6. Windows For Workgroups 3.1
7. Windows NT 3.1
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 8. Windows For Workgroups 3.11
9. Windows 3.2
10. Windows NT 3.5
11. Windows NT 3.51
12. Windows 95
13. Windows NT 4.0
14. Windows 98
15. Windows 98 SE
16. Windows 2000
17. Windows Me
18. Windows XP
19. Windows XP 64-bit Edition 2003
20. Windows Server 2003
21. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
22. Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs
23. Windows Vista
24. Windows Home Server
25. Windows Server 2008 (planned)
26. Windows 7 (planned) (Formerly codenamed Blackcomb, now Vienna)

Basic functions of an operating system

Definition
An operating system is a group of computer programs that coordinates all the
activities among computer hardware devices. It is the first program loaded into
the computer by a boot program and remains in memory at all times.

Functions of an operating system

The basic functions of an operating system are:

i. Booting the computer
ii. Performs basic computer tasks e.g. managing the various peripheral
devices e.g. mouse, keyboard
iii. Provides a user interface, e.g. command line, graphical user interface
(GUI)
iv. Handles system resources such as computer's memory and sharing of the
central processing unit (CPU) time by various applications or peripheral devices
v. Provides file management which refers to the way that the operating
system manipulates, stores, retrieves and saves data.

Booting the computer

The process of starting or restarting the computer is known as booting. A cold
boot is when you turn on a computer that has been turned off completely. A
warm boot is the process of using the operating system to restart the computer.

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Performs basic computer tasks
The operating system performs basic computer tasks, such as managing the
various peripheral devices such as the mouse, keyboard and printers. For
example, most operating systems now are plug and play which means a device
such as a printer will automatically be detected and configured without any user
intervention.

Provides a user interface

A user interacts with software through the user interface. The two main types of
user interfaces are: command line and a graphical user interface (GUI). With a
command line interface, the user interacts with the operating system by typing
commands to perform specific tasks. An example of a command line interface is
DOS (disk operating system). With a graphical user interface, the user interacts
with the operating system by using a mouse to access windows, icons, and
menus. An example of a graphical user interface is Windows Vista or Windows
7.
The operating system is responsible for providing a consistent application
program interface (API) which is important as it allows a software developer to
write an application on one computer and know that it will run on another
computer of the same type even if the amount of memory or amount of storage is
different on the two machines.

Handles system resources

The operating system also handles system resources such as the computer's
memory and sharing of the central processing unit (CPU) time by various
applications or peripheral devices. Programs and input methods are constantly
competing for the attention of the CPU and demand memory, storage and
input/output bandwidth. The operating system ensures that each application gets
the necessary resources it needs in order to maximize the functionality of the
overall system.

Provides file management

The operating system also handles the organization and tracking of files and
directories (folders) saved or retrieved from a computer disk. The file
management system allows the user to perform such tasks as creating files and
directories, renaming files, coping and moving files, and deleting files. The
operating system keeps track of where files are located on the hard drive through
the type of file system. The type two main types of file system are File Allocation
table (FAT) or New Technology File system (NTFS).

Types of file system

File Allocation table (FAT)

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New Technology file system (NTFS)
File Allocation table (FAT) uses the file allocation table which records, which
clusters are used and unused and where files are located within the clusters.
NTFS is a file system introduced by Microsoft and it has a number of advantages
over the previous file system, named FAT32 (File Allocation Table).
One major advantage of NTFS is that it includes features to improve reliability.
For example, the new technology file system includes fault tolerance, which
automatically repairs hard drive errors without displaying error messages. It also
keeps detailed transaction logs, which tracks hard drive errors. This can help
prevent hard disk failures and makes it possible to recover files if the hard drive
does fail.
NTFS also allows permissions (such as read, write, and execute) to be set for
individual directories and files

Types of Operating Systems

There are several types of operating systems, with Windows, Linux and
Macintosh suites being the most widely used. Here is an overview on each
system:

MS-DOS

Short for Microsoft Disk operating system, MS-DOS is a non-graphical

command line operating system derived from 86-DOS that was created for IBM
compatible computers. MS-DOS originally written by Tim Paterson and
introduced by Microsoft in August 1981 and was last updated in 1994 when MS-
DOS 6.22 was released. Today, MS-DOS is no longer used; however, the
command shell, more commonly known as the Windows command line is still
used by many users. In the picture to the right, is an example of what a MS-DOS
window more appropriately referred to as the Windows command line looks like
under Microsoft Windows.
Today, most computer users are only familiar with how to navigate Microsoft
Windows using the mouse. Unlike Windows, MS-DOS is a command-line and is
navigated by using MS-DOS commands. For example, if you wanted to see all
the files in a folder in Windows you would double-click the folder to open the
folder in Windows Explorer. In MS-DOS, to view that same folder you would
navigate to the folder using the cd command and then list the files in that folder
using the dir command.

Windows: Windows is the popular Microsoft brand preferred by most personal

users. This system has come a long way from version 1.0 all the way up to the
new Vista and soon to be released Windows 7. Although Windows has made
strides in regard to security, it has a reputation for being one of the most
vulnerable systems.
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 Unix/Linux: The Unix operating system has been around for years, and it is well
known for its stability. Unix is often used more as a server than a workstation.
Linux was based on the Unix system, with the source code being a part of GNU
open-source project. Both systems are very secure yet far more complex than
Windows.

Macintosh: Recent versions of the Macintosh operating system, including the

Mac OS X, follow the secure architecture of Unix. Systems developed by Apple
are efficient and easy to use, but can only function on Apple branded hardware.

Change Program Icons

Here's the way to change My Computer or The Recycle Bin that are built-in to
Windows.
1. Right-click on desktop > Properties > Effects
2. Highlight Icon > Change and Icon > Browse > Local Disk
3. Open C: > WINNT > System 32 > Program. Note: the filename is
"Program"
4. Change the icons using this program.

Change Icons for File Types

Use this method to change all the icons associated with a given file type, like all
Notepad documents, for example. Changing one file icon generally changes all of
that type.
1. Open My Computer > Open tools > Open folder options
2. Click File Types
3. Highlight the file type icon you wish to change.
4. Click Advanced at the bottom right of the screen.
5. Change the icon.
6. Use one of the 4 shown icons or click Browse to go to Local Disk C: >
WINNT > System 32 > Program
7. Highlight the icon.
8. Click OK.
o Note: you might not be able to edit some files types like folders.

Change Shortcut Icons

You cannot properly change individual icons on the desktop without editing the
Registry, but you can change shortcut icons.
1. Create a folder on the desktop.
2. Name the folder Shortcuts.
3. Put all the desktop files you want to change the icons for into this folder.

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4. Right-click on each of these files.
5. Choose Send to Desktop or Create Shortcut.
6. Right-click the new shortcut icon on the desktop.
7. Select Properties > Change icon or
8. Browse to Browse > Program

Remove Shortcut Arrows from Shortcut Icons

To remove the little arrows Windows adds to shortcut desktop icons with "Tweak
UI," a venerable Windows Program.
1. Download the program from "TweakUI"
2. Run it and go to the Explorer.
3. Navigate to the shortcut tab.
4. Click Overlay.
5. Select None to remove the shortcut arrows from your desktop.

Remove Shortcut Arrows from Shortcut Icons (Alternate Method)

Here's a method to remove those annoying arrows without downloading any

software.
1. First, open the registry editor. Start > Run > type "regedit"
2. In Windows XP, navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > link file and
delete the Is Shortcut value.

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3. In Windows 98, navigate to
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{63B51F81-C868-11D0-999C-
00C04FD655E1}\InProcServer32] and delete the current value default.
4. For some Windows 98 computers, as well as Windows 95, navigate to
both [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile], [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile] and
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Internet Shortcut] and deleting both Is Shortcut
values will work.

Create Your Own Icons

Here's a way to customize the icons on your desktop.
1. Create a Desktop folder and name it Icons or a name of your choice.
2. Download Icons and images from the web into this folder.
3. Select an icon or image.
4. Right-click for the drop-down menu.
5. Select Save Image As.

Create Icons with Irfanview

You can create your own icons or icon files form images and more by using a
third party utility. Note: IrFanview is an excellent example.
1. Download the program "Irfanview".
2. Place the program in the Icon folder your created above. Create a new
folder named Icons if you do not already have one.
3. Open any icon or image file, including an image you may have created
yourself in a paint program.
4. Insure the image is square.
1. Square the image by choosing Image > Resize.
2. Select Resample.
3. Select a size, either 16 or 32 pixels.
4. Click OK.
5. Insure the correct color depth.
1. Open the image again.
2. Click Decrease Color Depth.
3. Select the number of colors.
4. Click OK.
6. Save image where you want, but select ICO (Windows Icon) file type.
7. If you select Save Transparent Color, you can select the invisible image
color, so its background looks transparent and looks the same as your desktop.

Set the Icon File Association

At some point you'll need to permanently regulate your computer to display all
your changes. Here's how to do it.
1. Open Options > Set File Associations.
2. Select icon.
3. Click OK.

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4. Save the file.
1. Select File > Save As.
2. Select Binary Encoding.
3. Select Save Transparent Color.
4. Select Desktop > Icon Folder as the save location.
5. Name the file Deskcon, for reference.

Fill and Color Your Icon With IconEdit32

Now that you've created unique icons for your desktop, you'll undoubtedly want
to add color and transparency.
1. Choose an icon editor, a good one is IconEdit32.
2. Download the software "IconEdit32"
3. Open IconEdit32.
4. Click the 16 or 32 color box on the right side.
5. Open Desk on that you created with the last program.
o A small sample of the icon is shown at the right to make selection
easier.
6. To make an icon transparent, click Transparent.
7. To change colors, click Change colors.
8. Select Save As to your desktop icon folder when you are done making
edits.

Change the Icon Description

And finally, it's a good idea to add descriptions to all your new icons.
1. Click on the icon and click Properties.
2. Go to the Shortcut tab.
3. Type in your new description in the space for the Comment.
4. Click Apply.
5. Click OK.
6. When you scroll your pointer over the shortcut, it will now read your
description. Note: this may not work with all shortcuts.

Icon
An icon is a small graphic representation of a program or file that,
when clicked on, will be run or opened. Icons are used with
Graphical User Interface (GUI) Operating Systems such as Microsoft Windows
and the Apple Mac OS. In the image to the right, is an example of what the My
Computer icon in Microsoft Windows XP looks like.

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 Using The Taskbar

If you think of your computer’s hard disk as a filing cabinet where all your
programs and documents (files) are stored, then you can think of your Windows
desktop as being like your real "wooden" desktop. Only the things you're working
with right now are on your Windows desktop, as well as your real desktop. (Not
counting all the miscellaneous clutter you haven't gotten around to putting away,
of course).
At any given time, you might have several programs, folders, and documents
open on your desktop. The short name for "anything that's currently open on your
desktop" is task. That is, we can refer to each open item on your desktop -- no
matter what that item is, as a "task", short for "task-in-progress". The Windows
taskbar, which is roughly centered across the bottom of your screen, as in Figure
a1.

Figure a1
When you have lots of program windows open, they pile up on your Windows
desktop, just like sheets of paper can pile up on your real desktop. You can use
the taskbar to sort of "shuffle things around", so you're in control of what is, and
isn't visible at the moment. Here are some things you can do with the taskbar
along those lines:
• If a program window is buried in the mess, click its taskbar button to
instantly bring it to the top of the stack.
• You can also click a task's taskbar button to make it invisible (so it's not
taking up any space on the desktop), then click that same button again to make it
visible again.
• You can also close any open task (thereby removing it from the desktop
and putting it back in the filing cabinet) by right-clicking its taskbar button and
choosing Close.

Collapsible Taskbar Buttons

As you open more and more items on your screen, all of the taskbar buttons need
to shrink a bit to make room for the new button. If you open lots of items with the
same program, those "many" taskbar buttons might eventually collapse into a
single taskbar button that shows a number.
For example, suppose you open a bunch of folders from the Start menu (My
Documents, My Music, My Pictures, My Computer). If the taskbar gets too
crowded, the taskbar buttons for those folders may collapse into a single button
120
labeled 4 Windows Explorer. The 4 stands for "four open folders". Windows
Explorer is the name of the program that lets you navigate around in, and view
the contents of, all folders on your computer.

Tip: Don't confuse Windows Explorer with Internet Explorer. Windows Explorer
is the program that lets you explore things "inside" your own computer. Windows
Explorer opens automatically whenever you open any folder. Internet Explorer
lets you explore things "outside" your computer -- namely things on the Internet.

When you click on a taskbar button that represents multiple open items on your
desktop, a little menu pops up, as in Figure a2. To bring one of those items to the
top of the stack of junk on your desktop, just click its name in the menu. Or, if the
item is already on the top of the stack, clicking its name will minimize the item to
put it into hiding for the time being.

Figure a2

As you close items on the desktop, making more room for taskbar buttons, a
collapsed button may suddenly unclasped, breaking out into separate buttons
again. Don't let that bother you -- it's normal. It's just Windows using the
available space wisely.

Tip: At any time, you can neatly stack all your open program windows like sheets
of paper. To do so, right-click the current time in the lower right corner of you
screen and click on Cascade Windows in the menu that appears.

Setting Taskbar Options

Like everything else in Windows XP, you can customize the taskbar to your
liking. To do so, right-click the Start button and choose Properties. In the Taskbar
and Start Menu Properties dialog box that opens, click on the Taskbar tab. The
options shown in Figure 3 appear. Your options are summarized below:

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 Figure 3a

• Lock the taskbar: If selected, hides all sizing handles on the taskbar so
you can't accidentally move or resize it (as discussed below).
• Auto-hide the taskbar: If you select this option, the taskbar will be hidden
most of the time so as to not take up any space on the screen. To make it visible,
move the mouse pointer to the very bottom of your screen.
• Keep the taskbar on top of other windows: If selected, makes sure the
taskbar is visible at all times, even when large maximized program windows are
covering the rest of the screen.
• Group similar taskbar buttons: If selected, allows multiple taskbar buttons
to collapse into a single button so the buttons don't become too small to see on
the taskbar.
• Show Quick Launch: If selected, displayed the optional Quick Launch
toolbar to the right of the Start button.
You'll find articles on the Quick Launch toolbar and Notification area after you
finish this article and click Back to return to the precious page.

Moving and Sizing the Taskbar

Windows XP is very flexible. You can size, color, and position anything to your
liking. But you can only move and size things on the taskbar when the taskbar is
unlocked. In addition to the option shown back in Figure a3, you can quickly
lock, or unlock the taskbar at any time by right-clicking the current time in the
lower right corner of your screen and choosing Lock the Taskbar from the
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 shortcut menu that appears. You can tell when the taskbar is unlocked, because
sizing handles are invisible, and Lock the Taskbar on the shortcut menu isn't
checked, as in Figure a4.

Figure a4

When the taskbar is locked, the sizing handles aren't visible, and the Lock the
Taskbar option on the shortcut menu is selected (checked), as in Figure a5.

Figure a5

It's best to keep the taskbar locked when you're not intentionally trying to move
or size it. That way, you won't accidentally move or size the taskbar while you're
whipping around the screen with the mouse pointer. But just so you know, when
the taskbar is unlocked, you can change its height as follows:
1. Move the mouse pointer to the thin bar that appears along the top strip of
the taskbar, until the mouse pointer turns to a two-headed arrow.
2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag that top edge up or down until
the taskbar is the width you want, then release the mouse button.
Tip: If the taskbar seems "stuck" between double-height, and no height, drag one
of the dotted vertical sizing handles up to the row above it. Then drag the top
edge of the taskbar down a notch.
To move the entire unlocked taskbar to another edge of the screen, move the
mouse pointer to some empty spot on the taskbar (not on a button or icon). Then
hold down the left mouse button, drag the taskbar to any edge of the screen, and
release the mouse button. Figure 6 shows examples of sizing and moving an
unlocked taskbar.

123
 Alan Simpson

Back

My Computer

A section of Microsoft Windows that was introduced with

the release of Microsoft Windows 95 and included with all versions of Windows
after that. My Computer allows the user to explore the contents of their
computer drives as well as manage their computer files. In the pictures to the
right, are examples of the My Computer icon in Microsoft Windows XP and just
Computer, which was introduced with Windows Vista. Although the name has
changed, this icon still acts the same as My Computer.

How to open My computer

1. Get to the Windows Desktop.

2. Double-click the My Computer icon, this icon is almost always located on
the top-left portion of the desktop and should look similar to the icon shown
earlier. Below are two examples of what should appear when My Computer is
open.

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Drive listing in My Computer

Browsing My Computer in Windows 2000

You can also access My Computer or Computer through the start menu, as shown
below.

Using My Computer

Once My Computer is open you'll see all available drives on your computer. For
most users, you'll only be concerned with the Local Disc (C:) drive, which is the
hard drive and what stores all your files. Double-click this drive icon to open it
and view of its contents.

125
Tip: If you're looking for a document such as a word processor file you've
created, music file, picture, or other personal file it's likely that it's contained in
your documents folder. This folder is displayed in My computer as a folder and
usually contains your name. For example, if your username was John, this folder
would be named John's Documents.
Finding files in My Computer

If you're having trouble finding where one of your files is stored, use the
Windows find feature to find the file. To do this from within My Computer either
click on File and then Search or right-click on the C: drive or other folder you
wish to search and click Search. In the Search window, type the name or part of
the name of the file you're trying to find.

Adjust system settings with your computer

If you wish to manage your computer or view other settings and information
about your computer instead of double-clicking the My Computer icon to open it,
right-click on the My Computer icon and click Properties. Performing these steps
will open your System Properties (the same window accessible through the
Control Panel).

Control Panel

A section in Microsoft Windows that enables a user to modify the computer's

settings. Changing the mouse settings, display settings, sound settings, and
keyboard settings are just a few of the examples of what can be modified in the
Control Panel. Below is an example of what the Microsoft Windows Control
Panel may look like.

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Microsoft Windows 7 Control Panel

Microsoft Windows XP Control Panel

127
 Microsoft Windows 98 Control Panel
How to get into the Control panel

Microsoft Vista and 7 users

1. Click Start
2. Click Control Panel.
• Adding or removing icons in Windows Control Panel.
Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, XP users
In Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, or XP open the Control Panel by
following the below steps.
1. Click Start
2. Click Settings
3. Clicking the Control Panel.

Desktop

1. Common term used to describe a desktop computer.

2. When referring to an operating system or GUI, the Desktop is a system of
organization of icons on a screen. The Microsoft Windows Desktop was first
introduced with Microsoft Windows 95 and has been included with all versions
of Windows since then. Below is a basic example of the Microsoft Windows
desktop.

128
Windows 95 Desktop

In the above picture, is an example of the Microsoft Windows 95 Desktop. In this

picture, there are Desktop icons on the left-hand-side of the window, blue and
white clouds for the wallpaper, and the Taskbar is found on the bottom of the
screen.
Title bar

Bar located along the top of a

window or a dialog box that displays the name of the window or software
program being used. For example, as can be seen in the picture to the right, when
visiting a web page in a browser the title of that page will be shown in the title
bar, in this example it's "Computer Hope's free computer help" title of its home
page.
Besides giving a description of the open program or window, the title bar has
several other useful features. Below is a list of some of the functions of the title
bar. Keep in mind that not all of these features are supported in all operating
systems.
129
1. Click and hold down the mouse button on the title bar to move the
window around when not maximized.
2. Double-clicking the title bar will maximize the window or set the window
into window mode allowing it to be moved around your screen.
3. Windows 7 introduced several new advancements that also allows you to
click and drag the title bar to any edge of any of the screens to make a window in
that portion of the screen. Additional information about this can be found on our
tip101 page.

Using The Taskbar

If you think of your computer’s hard disk as a filing cabinet where all your
programs and documents (files) are stored, then you can think of your Windows
desktop as being like your real "wooden" desktop. Only the things you're working
with right now are on your Windows desktop, as well as your real desktop. (Not
counting all the miscellaneous clutter you haven't gotten around to putting away,
of course).
At any given time, you might have several programs, folders, and documents
open on your desktop. The short name for "anything that's currently open on your
desktop" is task. That is, we can refer to each open item on your desktop -- no
matter what that item is, as a "task", short for "task-in-progress". The Windows
taskbar, which is roughly centered across the bottom of your screen, as in Figure
1.

Figure 1
When you have lots of program windows open, they pile up on your Windows
desktop, just like sheets of paper can pile up on your real desktop. You can use
the taskbar to sort of "shuffle things around", so you're in control of what is, and
isn't visible at the moment. Here are some things you can do with the taskbar
along those lines:
• If a program window is buried in the mess, click its taskbar button to
instantly bring it to the top of the stack.
• You can also click a task's taskbar button to make it invisible (so it's not
taking up any space on the desktop), then click that same button again to make it
visible again.
• You can also close any open task (thereby removing it from the desktop
and putting it back in the filing cabinet) by right-clicking its taskbar button and
choosing Close.

130
Collapsible Taskbar Buttons

As you open more and more items on your screen, all of the taskbar buttons need
to shrink a bit to make room for the new button. If you open lots of items with the
same program, those "many" taskbar buttons might eventually collapse into a
single taskbar button that shows a number.
For example, suppose you open a bunch of folders from the Start menu (My
Documents, My Music, My Pictures, My Computer). If the taskbar gets too
crowded, the taskbar buttons for those folders may collapse into a single button
labeled 4 Windows Explorer. The 4 stands for "four open folders". Windows
Explorer is the name of the program that lets you navigate around in, and view
the contents of, all folders on your computer.
Tip: Don't confuse Windows Explorer with Internet Explorer. Windows Explorer
is the program that lets you explore things "inside" your own computer. Windows
Explorer opens automatically whenever you open any folder. Internet Explorer
lets you explore things "outside" your computer -- namely things on the Internet.
When you click on a taskbar button that represents multiple open items on your
desktop, a little menu pops up, as in Figure 2. To bring one of those items to the
top of the stack of junk on your desktop, just click its name in the menu. Or, if the
item is already on the top of the stack, clicking its name will minimize the item to
put it into hiding for the time being.

Figure 2
As you close items on the desktop, making more room for taskbar buttons, a
collapsed button may suddenly unclasped, breaking out into separate buttons
again. Don't let that bother you -- it's normal. It's just Windows using the
available space wisely.

Tip: At any time, you can neatly stack all your open program windows like sheets
of paper. To do so, right-click the current time in the lower right corner of you
screen and click on Cascade Windows in the menu that appears.

Setting Taskbar Options

Like everything else in Windows XP, you can customize the taskbar to your
liking. To do so, right-click the Start button and choose Properties. In the Taskbar
and Start Menu Properties dialog box that opens, click on the Taskbar tab. The
options shown in Figure 3 appear. Your options are summarized below:

131
 Figure 3
• Lock the taskbar: If selected, hides all sizing handles on the taskbar so
you can't accidentally move or resize it (as discussed below).
• Auto-hide the taskbar: If you select this option, the taskbar will be hidden
most of the time so as to not take up any space on the screen. To make it visible,
move the mouse pointer to the very bottom of your screen.
• Keep the taskbar on top of other windows: If selected, makes sure the
taskbar is visible at all times, even when large maximized program windows are
covering the rest of the screen.
• Group similar taskbar buttons: If selected, allows multiple taskbar buttons
to collapse into a single button so the buttons don't become too small to see on
the taskbar.
• Show Quick Launch: If selected, displayed the optional Quick Launch
toolbar to the right of the Start button.
You'll find articles on the Quick Launch toolbar and Notification area after you
finish this article and click Back to return to the precious page.

Moving and Sizing the Taskbar

Windows XP is very flexible. You can size, color, and position anything to your
liking. But you can only move and size things on the taskbar when the taskbar is
unlocked. In addition to the option shown back in Figure 3, you can quickly lock,
or unlock the taskbar at any time by right-clicking the current time in the lower
right corner of your screen and choosing Lock the Taskbar from the shortcut
menu that appears. You can tell when the taskbar is unlocked, because sizing

132
 handles are invisible, and Lock the Taskbar on the shortcut menu isn't checked, as
in Figure 4.

Figure 4
When the taskbar is locked, the sizing handles aren't visible, and the Lock the
Taskbar option on the shortcut menu is selected (checked), as in Figure 5.

Figure 5
It's best to keep the taskbar locked when you're not intentionally trying to move
or size it. That way, you won't accidentally move or size the taskbar while you're
whipping around the screen with the mouse pointer. But just so you know, when
the taskbar is unlocked, you can change its height as follows:
1. Move the mouse pointer to the thin bar that appears along the top strip of
the taskbar, until the mouse pointer turns to a two-headed arrow.
2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag that top edge up or down until
the taskbar is the width you want, then release the mouse button.
Tip: If the taskbar seems "stuck" between double-height, and no height, drag one
of the dotted vertical sizing handles up to the row above it. Then drag the top
edge of the taskbar down a notch.
To move the entire unlocked taskbar to another edge of the screen, move the
mouse pointer to some empty spot on the taskbar (not on a button or icon). Then
hold down the left mouse button, drag the taskbar to any edge of the screen, and
release the mouse button. Figure 6 shows examples of sizing and moving an
unlocked taskbar.

133
Alan Simpson

Working with files and folders

This article will help you learn how to find, organize, and use files and folders on
your computer.

What are files and folders?

A file is very much like a typed document that you might find on someone's desk
or in a filing cabinet; it's an item that contains a collection of related information.
On a computer, examples of files include text documents, spreadsheets, digital
pictures, and even songs. Every picture you take with a digital camera, for
example, is a separate file, and a music CD might contain a dozen individual
song files.
Your computer represents files with icons. By looking at a file's icon, you can tell
at a glance what kind of file it is. Here are some common file icons:

You can tell what kind of

file an icon represents by its appearance
A folder is little more than a container in which you can store files. If you put
thousands of paper files on someone's desk, it would be virtually impossible to
find any particular one when you needed it. That's why people often store paper

134
 files in folders inside a filing cabinet. Arranging files into logical groups makes it
easy to locate any particular file.
Folders on your computer work exactly the same way. This is what a typical
folder icon looks like:

An empty folder (left); a folder containing files

(right)
Not only do folders hold files, but they also can hold other folders. A folder
within a folder is usually called a subfolder. You can create any number of
subfolders, and each can hold any number of files and additional subfolders.
Top of page

How Windows organizes your files and folders

When it comes to getting organized, you don't need to start from scratch.
Windows comes with a handful of common folders that you can use as anchors to
begin organizing your files. Here's a list of some of the most common folders you
can store your files and folders in:
• Documents. Use this folder to store your word-processing files,
spreadsheets, presentations, and other business-oriented files.
• Pictures. Use this folder to store all of your digital pictures, whether you
get them from your camera, scanner, or in e-mail from other people.
• Music. Use this folder to store all of your digital music, such as songs that
you copy from an audio CD or download from the Internet.
• Videos. Use this folder to store your videos, such as clips from your
digital camera, camcorder, or video files that you download from the Internet.
• Downloads. Use this folder to store files and programs that you download
from the web.
There are many ways to find these folders. The easiest method is to open the
personal folder, which gathers all of your common folders in one place. The
personal folder isn't actually called "personal"—it's labeled with the user name
that you used to log on to the computer. To open it, click the Start button , and
then click your user name at the top of the Start menu's right pane.

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 You can open common folders from the Start menu
You can also find the Documents, Pictures, and Music folders in the Start menu,
just below your personal folder.
Remember that you can create subfolders inside any of these folders to help you
better organize your files. In the Pictures folder, for example, you might create
subfolders to organize pictures by date, by event, by the names of people in the
pictures, or by any other scheme that helps you work more efficiently.
Top of page

Understanding the parts of a folder

When you open a folder on the desktop, a folder window appears. In addition to
showing the contents of the folder, a folder window has a variety of parts that are
designed to help you navigate around Windows or work with files and folders
more easily. Here is a typical folder and each of its parts:

The Documents folder

Viewing your files in a folder

When you open a folder and see your files, you might prefer larger (or smaller)
icons, or an arrangement that lets you see different kinds of information about
each file. To make these kinds of changes, use the Views button in the toolbar.
Each time you click the Views button, the folder window changes the way it
displays your file and folder icons, alternating between large icons, a smaller icon
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view called Tiles, and a view called Details that shows several columns of
information about the file.
If you click the arrow next to the Views button, you have even more choices.
Drag the slider up or down to fine-tune the size of the file and folder icons. You
can see the icons change size as you move the slider.

The Views options

Top of page

Finding your files

When you need to find a particular file, you'll often know that it's located
somewhere in a common folder like Documents or Pictures. Unfortunately,
actually locating the file you want might mean browsing through hundreds of
files and subfolders—not an easy task. To save yourself time and effort, use the
Search box to find your file.

The Search box

The Search box is located at the top of every folder. To find a file, open the folder
that contains the file you are looking for, click the Search box, and start typing.
The Search box filters the current view based on the text that you type. Files are
displayed as search results if your search term matches the file's name, tags, or
other file properties. Text documents are displayed if the search term occurs in
any of the text inside the document. Your search looks in the current folder as
well as all subfolders.
If you have no idea where to look for a file, you can expand your search to
include the entire computer, not just a single folder. For more information, see
Find a file or folder.

Top of page

Copying and moving files and folders

Occasionally, you might want to change where files are stored on your computer.
You might want to move files to a different folder, for example, or copy them to
removable media (such as CDs or memory cards) to share with another
person.Most people copy and move files using a method called drag and drop.

137
Start by opening the folder that contains the file or folder you want to move.
Then open the folder where you want to move it to. Position the folder windows
on the desktop so you can see the contents of both of them.
Next, drag the file or folder from the first folder to the second folder. That's all
there is to it.

To copy or move a file, drag it from one

folder to another When using the drag-and-drop method, you might notice that
sometimes the file or folder is copied, and at other times it is moved. Why is that?
If you are dragging an item between folders that are on the same hard drive, then
the items are moved so two copies of the same file or folder aren't created on the
same hard drive. If you drag the item to a folder that's on a different hard drive
(such as a network location, for example) or to removable media like a CD, then
the item is copied. That way the file or folder isn't removed from its original
location.
For more information about copying and moving files, see Moving and copying
files by using the drag-and-drop method.
Top of page

Creating and deleting files

The most common way to create new files is by using a program. For example,
you can create a text document in a word processing program or a movie file in a
video editing program. Some programs create a file when you open them. When
you open WordPad, for example, it starts with a blank page. This represents an
empty (and unsaved) file. Start typing, and when you are ready to save your
work, click File in the menu bar and then click Save As. In the dialog box that
appears, type a file name that will help you find the file again in the future, and
then click Save.

By default, most programs save files in common folders like Documents,

Pictures, and Music, which makes it easy to find the files again next time. For
more information on creating new files, see Save a file.

When you no longer need a file, you can remove it from your computer's hard
disk to save space and keep your computer from getting cluttered with unwanted
files. To delete a file, open the folder that contains the file and then select the file.
Press DELETE and then, in the Delete File dialog box, click Yes.

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 When you delete a file, it's temporarily stored in the Recycle Bin. Think of the
Recycle Bin as a safety folder that allows you to recover files or folders that you
deleted accidentally. Occasionally, you should empty the Recycle Bin to reclaim
all of the hard disk space being used by your unwanted files. To learn how to
empty the Recycle Bin, see Permanently delete files from the Recycle Bin.
Top of page

Opening an existing file

To open a file, double-click it. The file will open in the program that you used to
create or edit it. If it's a text file, for example, it will open in your word-
processing program.
That's not always the case, though. Double-clicking a digital picture, for example,
will usually open a picture viewer. To actually edit the picture, you need to use a
different program. Right-click the file, click Open With, and then click the name
of the program that you want to use.

Working with Control Panel

You can use Control Panel to change settings for Windows. These settings
control nearly everything about how Windows looks and works, and you can use
them to set up Windows so that it's just right for you.
Open Control Panel by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Control
Panel.

Use the search box to find tasks quickly.

There are two ways to find Control Panel items:
• Use search. To find a setting you're interested in or a task you want to
perform, type a word or phrase in the search box. For example, type "sound" to
find specific settings for your sound card, system sounds, and the volume icon on
the taskbar.
• Browse. You can explore Control Panel by clicking different categories
(for example, System and Security, Programs, or Ease of Access), and viewing
common tasks listed under each category. Or, under View by, click either Large
icons or Small icons to view a list of all Control Panel items.

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 Windows tools to help you optimize your computers performance

In the Windows Accessories you will also find some very handy tools that will
help you keep your system running smoothly. It's a good idea to get acquainted
with these tools and how to use them.
You find the tools by clicking System Tools from the Accessories menu
The most important accessories to know are:

• Back Up
• Disk Cleanup
• Disk Defragmenter

Backup!

Where I come from, we have a saying "Real men do not back up!". The very
same "real men" always come to me for help, when they run into trouble from
NOT having backed up anything and their hard drive crashes. Unfortunately there
is nothing I can do to help them - other than point out to them that in MY opinion
"real men" are smart men, who DO back up important files on a weekly or
monthly basis, - time frame depending on how much they use their computers
and how important to them their work is.

So take my advice and learn how to Backup!

The Backup accessory in the Windows Accessories menu makes it easy to

backup all your important files. If you click through the backup wizard presented
to you when you click Backup from the System Tools menu you will find several
choices for backing up your files. If you took my advice on how to manage your
files and saved all your files in the Documents folder or on the D: drive (if you
have one), backing up your personal files is easy.

The Backup wizard gives you the opportunity to create a "System recovery
Disk", too. This is a handy tool if you're not TOO sure how well protected you
are from virus and other malware. The restore disc will include all data on your
computer and the lies necessary to restore windows in the case of a major failure.
Note! Backing up means making a copy of files and store it on another media,
such as a CD Rom disk, a Smart drive or another hard drive. Choose the one that
suites you the best. For the CD Rom backup option - of course - you will need a
"Burner" to make a copy.
An external hard drive attached to your USB port is a good choice for backup
media.
The next of the important accessories is:

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• The Disk Defragmenter
When you click the Disk Defragmenter from the Windows accessories > System
Tools menu

you will see this window.

The Disk Fragmented sorts out the files on your drive(s) to optimize the space
you are using. Defragmenting you drive(s) periodically is a good tool for
optimizing your computers performance.
If you click the Analyze button first, the defragmenter will analyze the specific
drive selected in the window and tell you, whether or not it is time to go through
the defragmentation process.

Screensaver

Software program that becomes activated after the computer has been inactive for
a specified amount of time. Screensavers were originally designed to help prevent
images or text from being burned into older monitors. The monitors and LCDs
used today no longer suffer from this issue and screensavers are commonly used
today for entertainment, a method of securely protecting your computer while
away, or a method of informing visitors of the computer user's status
How can I create a photo slideshow?
Answer
There are several available software programs capable of creating a photo
slideshow. However, we've been really impressed with Picasa, a free software
program from Google capable of running a slideshow of photos on your
computer, saving the slideshow as a movie file, creating a screensaver, and
saving those photos to a CD to be viewed elsewhere. Below are steps on how to
create a slide show using Picasa.
Before following any of the below steps you'll need to downloaded and installed
Picasa on your computer visit http://picasa.google.com/ and download Picasa
now.
Running a Slideshow on your computer
1. Open Picasa.
2. Browse to the folder containing your pictures or highlight all the pictures
you wish to run a slideshow for.
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3. Click the Slideshow button.
Once completed successfully the slideshow will begin to run. Clicking the mouse
button on the screen while being run will open an option menu that will allow
you to adjust the settings.
Saving the Slideshow as a movie file
1. Open Picasa.
2. Browse to the folder containing your pictures or highlight all the pictures
you wish to run a slideshow for.
3. Click Create at the top of the Window and then click Movie.
4. In the Create Movie window select the delay between each of the pictures
and the size of the movie. As you increase the size of the movie file it will
increase the quality, however, at the same time will also increase the size of the
movie file. Once options have been selected click Ok.
5. Finally, you'll have the option of selecting the video compression to be
used. By default the video will not be compressed and will allow it to work on
many different players. However, will be very large if you have several hundred
pictures. If you're not sure what compression to use we suggest using DivX if you
plan on creating a movie with a lot of images.
6. Click Ok and the movie will be created.
Creating a screensaver from your images
1. Open Picasa.
2. Browse to the folder containing your pictures you wish to add to the
screensaver.
3. Click Create at the top of the Window and then click Add to
Screensaver.
How do I change my Windows screensaver?
Answer
Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP users can change their
screensaver and adjust its properties by following the below steps.
1. Open the Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel double-click the Display icon.
3. In Display click the Screen Saver tab.
4. Within the Screen Saver tab you can view the currently set screensaver as
well as change the screensaver to another installed screensaver. Click the Settings
button to make any addition changes to the properties of the screensaver. If you
do not wish to have a screensaver select (None).
5. Finally, once you've changed your password if you wish to see how it will
look click the Preview button.

Passwords

Some screensavers may have password settings and other security features
through the Settings button. However, most screensavers rely on Windows to
display the password prompt or Welcome screen when resuming from the

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 Windows screensaver. For password protection check the box "On resume
password protect" or "On resume, display Welcome screen" or a similar option.

Away messages. If you step away from your computer and want to let others
know who may stop by your computer setting the screensaver as the Marquee is a
fast and easy way to leave an away message. Marquee is a default Windows
password and can be selected from the drop-down menu of available passwords.
Once selected click the Settings button and change the text often defaulted to:
Your text goes here. to the text you wish to scroll across your screen. For
example, I'm out to lunch, will be back at 1:00.

What is Recycle Bin ?

Instructions
1.
Find the files you wish to send to your computer's Recycle Bin. You can do this
by directly accessing the file folder if you know where it is, or you can use the
Start Menu's "Search" feature and enter the name of the file to find it.
Highlight the file using the mouse pointer by single clicking on the file or folder
in question.
Press the "Delete" key. This will bring up a context menu asking you if you're
sure you want to send the item to the Recycle Bin.
Confirm your selection by clicking "Yes." This will automatically send the file to
the Recycle Bin. Press "No" if you've made a mistake.
o Use the right-click context menu instead of the "Delete" key to cut
out a step. Simply click the "Delete" link on the menu and proceed as you did in
Step 4.
Right-click on the Recycle Bin, which should be on your desktop. This will bring
up its list of functions. Open or Explore the Recycle Bin to see the contents.
Click "Empty Recycle Bin" to complete the deletion process and remove files
from your hard drive.
Windows Accessories Programs
Calculator Program:
• Open the Start menu by clicking on the Start button.
• Select Programs.
• Select Accessories.
• Select Calculator.
Back to top
Standard Calculator Features:
• Backspace - deletes the last digit of the number displayed.
• CE - Clears the last number input.
• C - Clears the last calculation.
• +/- - Changes the sign of the number.
• M+ - Adds number displayed to number in memory.

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• MS - Stores number displayed in memory.
• MR - Recalls number in memory.
• MC - Clears number in memory.
• Note: Only the commonly misunderstood buttons are pointed out.
Scientific Calculator:
To view the scientific calculator, select the view menu and click on Scientific.
Notepad

Notepad is a generic text editor included

with Microsoft Windows that enables someone to open and read plaintext files. If
the file contains special formatting or is not a plaintext file, it will not be able to
be read in Microsoft Notepad. In the image to the right, is a small example of
what the Microsoft Notepad may look like while running.
Users who are using Microsoft Windows can run Microsoft Notepad
(notepad.exe) by following the below steps.
1. Click Start
2. In the Run line, type "notepad" and press Enter.
or
1. Click Start
2. Click Programs and then Accessories
3. Click the "Notepad" icon.

What is the difference between Notepad and WordPad?

Answer: Both programs are text editors that are included with
the Windows operating system. Notepad is the most basic text editor, which
allows you to open and create text files. While you can create several paragraphs
of text with Notepad, using line breaks (by pressing the Enter key), the program
does not give you text formatting options. For example, you cannot change
the font size or make the text bold.

WordPad is similar to Notepad, but gives you more formatting options. You can
use bold and italics formatting, and change the font, size, and color of the text.
You can also create bulleted lists and center and justify paragraphs. WordPad
allows you to save documents as either basic text (.TXT) files or rich text format
(.RTF) files. Saving a document in the rich text format will keep all the
formatting you have done to the text, while saving it as a basic text file will
remove all text formatting from the document.

Notepad is a good choice for creating webpages (HTML documents) and

writing scripts or basic computer programs, since these types of documents do
not require any text formatting. It is also useful for removing formatting from text
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 that you have copied and want to paste somewhere else as plain text. Just paste
the text into Notepad, copy it again from Notepad, and you have completely
unformatted text.

WordPad is a good choice for writing papers or creating documents that you want
to print. It is also great for making lists, since it supports bullets. You can use
WordPad to open an unformatted text document and add whatever formatting you
want. If you want even more formatting options and a more user-friendly
interface, you can use a program such as Microsoft Word.

What Is Paint Brush

Paintbrush is a simple little image editing application for Mac OS X. The

developers intend it to fill the space that used to be filled by MacPaint when
Apple launched the very first Macintosh machine. It might also be compared to
Paint, the basic image editing application that Microsoft include with their
Windows operating system.
Some of the main features of Paintbrush include:
• Very simple and accessible user interface
• Open and save to the most common image formats
• Selection of drawing tools
• Reasonable range of options for adding text
• Shallow learning curve

Ms-Word

INTRODUCTION
Let us consider an office scene. Many letters are typed in the office. The officer
dictates a letter. The typist first types a draft copy of the letter. The officer goes
through it to check mistakes regarding spelling errors, missing words, etc. and
suggests corrections. The typist changes the letter as suggested by the officer.
This is a simple example of word processing.
There are many software packages to do the job of word processing. Some of
them work in DOS environment. Example are WordStar, Word Perfect and
Professional Write. But in these days working in WINDOWS is becoming more
and more popular. So let us consider software for word processing which works
in WINDOWS. Our choice is MS-WORD because it is the most popular software
in these days.

What Is Word-Processing?

Word Processor is a Software package that enables you to create, edit, print and
save documents for future retrieval and reference. Creating a document involves

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 typing by using a keyboard and saving it. Editing a document involves correcting
the spelling mistakes, if any, deleting or moving words sentences or paragraphs.
(a) Advantages of Word Processing
One of the main advantages of a word processor over a conventional typewriter is
that a word processor enables you to make changes to a document without
retyping the entire document.
(b) Features of Word Processing
Most Word Processor available today allows more than just creating and editing
documents. They have wide range of other tools and functions, which are used in
formatting the documents. The following are the main features of a Word
Processor
i. Text is typing into the computer, which allows alterations to be made
easily.
ii. Words and sentences can be inserted, amended or deleted.
iii. Paragraphs or text can be copied /moved throughout the document.
iv. Margins and page length can be adjusted as desired.
v. Spelling can be checked and modified through the spell check facility.
vi. Multiple document/files can be merged.
vii. Multiple copies of letters can be generated with different addresses
through the mail-merge facility.

Ms-Excel

WHAT IS A SPREADSHEET?
A spreadsheet is simply a table or matrix of rows and columns, very similar to an
accounting journal. The intersection of each row and column is called a cell. A
cell can hold any type of data, including numbers, formulas and texts. The major
difference between an electronic spreadsheet and an accounting journal is the
enhanced flexibility, speed and accuracy provided by an electronic spreadsheet.
Excel is an electronic spreadsheet program that can be used for storing,
organizing and manipulating data.
When you look at the Excel screen (refer to the example on this page) you see a
rectangular table or grid of rows and columns. The horizontal rows are identified
by numbers (1,2,3) and the vertical columns with letters of the alphabet (A,B,C).
For columns beyond 26, columns are identified by two or more letters such as
AA, AB, AC.
The intersection point between a column and a row is a small rectangular box
known as a cell. A cell is the basic unit for storing data in the spreadsheet.
Because an Excel spreadsheet contains thousands of these cells, each is given a
cell reference or address to identify it.
The cell reference is a combination of the column letter and the row number such
as A3, B6, AA345.
Data Types, Formulas, and Functions

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 The types of data that a cell can hold include numbers, text or formulas. Just as in
math class, formulas are used for calculations usually involving data contained in
other cells. Excel and other electronic spreadsheets include a number of built in
formulas used for common tasks known as functions.
Excel and Financial Data
Spreadsheets are often used to store financial data. Formulas and functions that
are used on this type of data include:
• Performing basic mathematical operations such as summing columns and
rows of figures.
• Finding values such as profit or loss.
• Calculating repayment plans for loans or mortgages.
• Finding the average, maximum, or minimum values in a specified range
of data.
Excel's Other Uses
Other common operations that Excel can be used for include:
• graphing or charting data to assist users in identifying data trends.
• sorting and filtering data to find specific information.
The information garnered in a spreadsheet can easily be incorporated into
electronic presentations, web pages, or printed off in report form.
Excel delivers powerful new features and tools to help you discover patterns or
trends that can lead to more informed decisions and improve your ability to
analyze large data sets
Save time , simplify your work , and increase your productivity.
Ms-Power Point
PowerPoint is a complete presentation graphics package. It gives you everything
you need to produce a professional-looking presentation. PowerPoint offers word
processing, outlining, drawing, graphing, and presentation management tools- all
designed to be easy to use and learn.

The following gives you a quick overview of what you can do in PowerPoint:

• When you create a presentation using PowerPoint, the presentation is

made up of a series of slides. The slides that you create using PowerPoint can
also be presented as overhead transparencies or 35mm slides.
• In addition to slides, you can print audience handouts, outlines, and
speaker's notes.
• You can format all the slides in a presentation using the powerful Slide
Master which will be covered in the tutorial.
• You can keep your entire presentation in a single file- all your slides,
speaker's notes, and audience handouts.
• You can import what you have created in other Microsoft products, such
as Word and Excel into any of your slides.

Features

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Creating interactive PowerPoint presentations is easy with a Turning
Technologies Audience Response System and Turning Point our simple
PowerPoint software plug-in. Turning Point works within PowerPoint by taking
professionally-designed templates and simply editing them to suit your needs
using the Turning Point toolbar. All of the templates are fully customizable,
meaning you can change the text, color, size and style in just a few clicks. Just
choose a template, alter the content and settings using the Turning Point toolbar,
and save your slide - as easy as 1-2-3.
it is a PowerPoint that anyone can use. You can draw pictures with it....MS
PowerPoint is a software application that has replaced 35mm slide shows of the
past. One creates this presentation tool by creating a series of horizontally
formatted "slides".

Each slide is created by putting a number of "placeholders" on each slide. These

placeholders can be formatted to any size and hold either text or graphics.

One can then add "special effects" for each placeholder, such as fly ins, fly outs,
etc. to add interest and "sizzle" to the presentation.

Video and audio can also be added.

Just as in many Microsoft applications, the number of features is overwhelming

and the average PowerPoint user most likely does not take the time to learn how
best to use them.

For more advanced uses, Adobe Flash and other applications can be used to add
customized special effects and interactivity.

When using PowerPoint, it is important to remember that the "slide show" is a

presentation tool, and not the presentation itself. Learning how to use this
application well is not synonymous with being a good presenter.

The uses of PowerPoint seem to be endless. Almost any presentation can be

enhanced through visual and sound effects, and this application has become the
standard tool to do so. Unfortunately, it is often misused and almost everyone at
some time in their life has experienced the dreaded "death by PowerPoint."

Ms-Access

Microsoft Access has been around for some time, yet people often still ask me
what is Microsoft Access and what does it do? Microsoft Access is a part of the
Microsoft Office Suite. It does not come with all versions of Microsoft Office, so
if you specifically want Microsoft Access make sure the office suite you are

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 purchasing has it. Microsoft Access has the look and feel of other Microsoft
Office products, including its layout and navigational aspects. That is where the
similarity ends. Microsoft® Access is a database and, more specifically, a
relational database. This will be explained in more detail later.
What is Microsoft Access made up of?
The Microsoft® Access Database is made up of 7 major components:
• Tables;
• Relationships;
• Queries;
• Forms;
• Reports;
• Macros;
• Modules.
The following gives a quick overview of each component.
Tables
The tables are the backbone and the storage container of the data entered into the
database. If the tables are not set up correctly, with the correct relationships, then
the database may be slow, give you the wrong results or not react the way you
expect. So, take a bit of time when setting up your tables.
Queries, forms, etc. are usually based on a table.
The tables that contain data look a bit like a table in Microsoft® Word or a
Microsoft® Excel Spreadsheet, when opened. They have columns and rows as
does a table in Microsoft® Word and an Excel worksheet. Each of the columns
will have a field name at the top and each of the rows will represent a record.

Relationships

Relationships are the bonds you build between the tables. They join tables that
have associated elements. To do this there is a field in each table, which is linked
to each other, and have the same values.

Queries

Are the means of manipulating the data to display in a form or a report. Queries
can sort, calculate, group, filter, join tables, update data, delete data, etc. Their
power is immense. The Microsoft® Access database query language is SQL
(Structured Query Language). The need to know SQL is not required in the early
stages of learning Access. Microsoft® Access writes the SQL for you, after you
tell it what you want, in the Design view of the queries window.

Forms

Forms are the primary interface through which the users of the database enter
data. The person who enters the data will interact with forms regularly. The

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 programmer can set the forms to show only the data required. By using queries,
properties, macros and VBA (Visual Basic for Applications), the ability to add,
edit and delete data can also be set. Forms can be set up and developed to reflect
the use they will be required for.

Reports

Reports are the results of the manipulation of the data you have entered into the
database. Unlike forms, they cannot be edited. Reports are intended to be used to
output data to another device or application, i.e. printer, fax, Microsoft® Word or
Microsoft® Excel.

Macros

Macros are an automatic way for Access to carry out a series of actions for the
database. Access gives you a selection of actions that are carried out in the order
you enter. Macros can open forms; run queries, change values of a field, run other
Macros, etc. the list is almost endless.

Modules

Modules are the basis of the programming language that supports Microsoft®
Access, The module window is where you can write and store Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA). Advanced users of Microsoft® Access tend to use VBA
instead of Macros. If you would like to learn VBA, I have simple step by step
lessons.
All of the above components are persistent; this means that changes are saved
when you move from one component to another, not when the database is closed,
as in a Microsoft® Word Document.I hope the above give you a bit of an idea of
what is Microsoft Access and what it includes.

Limitations

The total size of a database file (.MDB) is limited only by the storage capacity of
your PC (Microsoft® quote the maximum database size of 2 Gigabyte (2000
Megabytes)). These figures are for pre 2007 versions of Microsoft Access.

Operating System
Operating System is a software program that acts as an interface between the user
and the computer. It is a software package which allows the computer to function.
Functions:
1. Program creation
2. Program execution
3. Access to Input/output devices

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4. Controlled access to files
5. System access
6. Error detection and response
7. Interpreting the commands
8. Managing peripherals
9. Memory management
10. Processor management
11. Information management
12. Process communication
13. Networking

TALLY

Tally 4.5
Tally was started with is first version of Tally 4.5, which was a DOS based
program. This program was very light weight and very fast in operation.
Tally 5.4
The next version was 5.4 which was graphic interface version. It became popular
in the masses. Its pirated copy made it most popular accounting software.
Tally 6.3
Next version was tally 6.3 which was truly windows based version which could
support fast printing and with VAT implemented. Tally 6.3 came with water tight
security in terms of piracy. With its dongle it was almost impossible to crack.
Although crack of software were available but Tally's policy of frequent upgrades
and newer releases does the trick.
Tally 7.2
Next version of Tally was Tally 7.2. It was also fast version with lots of new
feature like statutory compliant versions. Different VAT rules for different states
was achieved with this version. eTDS ,Service Tax,Tcs,Mail Tally, Tally
8.1,Excise for Traders, Fringe Benefit Tax, Payroll
Tally 8.1
was developed with new data structure of Tally. A module of POS and Payroll
was added to it. It could not live up to the expectations with the people and
marred by bugs. Company rectified many but the version could not become
popular and company has to abort it before time and launch new version. Job
Costing, POS Invoicing, Data Synchronization, Advanced MIS
Tally 9
This is the latest version of Tally which has maximum features. All other
versions have been declared end of life period by Tally company. Tally 9 has
advance features like Excise for Dealers, Payroll, FBT, TDS, e-TDS filing
facility etc along with its regular features related to accounting and inventory
management.

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POS, Import/Export, Excise for Dealers, Export of Statutory Report to Excel,
Difference between tally and erg

Five main differences between Tally & ERP?

The differences would be

Tally is a tool to record your accounting details, not an ERP package.

Tally is not integrated with any other applications.
Tally is not modularized like GL, purchasing , order management etc as any erp
application.
Tally has limited reporting capabilities. Tally is not a web based application.
What is advantages in tally software ?

The Tally 9 Advantage

Tally 9 is the ultimate business solution, designed to meet the growing needs of
your business. When you use Tally 9 , you will see clear business benefits accrue
right from the start. The following are the powerful advantages that you can
enjoy with this versatile and robust solution:

• Expand your business - with the concurrent multi-lingual capability and multi-
currency features that allow you to transact beyond geographical boundaries,
without language barriers.
• No need to hire specialized resources – since Tally 9 is very simple to learn
and the easy interface enables you to navigate the software without difficulty.
• Blazing Speed - provides you with the information you want - FAST.
• Unmatched Scale ability –Tally 9 adapts to the current and future needs of
your business, irrespective of its size or style.
• Sheer Power – Tally 9 has the ability to handle huge volumes of transactions
without compromising on speed or efficiency.
• Real-time access to information – enables quick decision through fast and
easy sharing of data from Tally.
• Better cash flow and savings on interest - by using the ‘receivables and
payables’ management feature, to help you ensure on-time collections and
generate reminder letters.
• Amazing Accuracy – Tally 9 provides user-definable templates for fast,
accurate data entry.
• Manage your future dealings with bad debtors and persistent defaulters -
using the payment performance of debtors feature, to identify them.
• Faster and error-free invoicing and data entry – using the multiple price
levels feature to pre-define item rates for specific categories of customers.
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• Identify products with high or low margins - with the profitability analysis
feature, that provides you with product-wise and invoice-wise profitability.
• Avoid stocking excess items and ensure that you don’t run out of essential
stock - by using the reorder feature, to set reorder levels for any given period.
• Better planning and dramatic improvement in co-ordination of your
operations with reduced paperwork – as a result of using the integration across
functions feature.
• Reduce costs and increase productivity – using features such as inventory
management, receivables and payables management etc.
• Accurate information tracking, quicker data entry and retrieval - thanks to
the integrated system that ensures real-time linking of accounts and inventory.
• Get a better understanding and analysis of performance levels for various
periods and divisions - with the advanced MIS feature.
• Enjoy better planning and forecasting – using sophisticated analytical tools
that help you forecast and examine possible scenarios, and give you the ability to
view provisional reports.
• Save time and reduce paperwork - by automating your Payroll process with
the Payroll Feature in

Video Conferencing

Conducting a conference between two or more participants at different sites by

using computer networks to transmit audio and video data. For example, a point-
to-point (two-person) video conferencing system works much like a video
telephone. Each participant has a video camera, microphone, and speakers
mounted on his or her computer. As the two participants speak to one another,
their voices are carried over the network and delivered to the other's speakers,
and whatever images appear in front of the video camera appear in a window on
the other participant's monitor.
Multipoint videoconferencing allows three or more participants to sit in a virtual
conference room and communicate as if they were sitting right next to each other.
Until the mid 90s, the hardware costs made videoconferencing prohibitively
expensive for most organizations, but that situation is changing rapidly. Many
analysts believe that videoconferencing will be one of the fastest-growing
segments of the computer industry in the latter half of the decade.

Face to Face Meetings

Connect as if you were face-to-face, even if your meeting members are spread
across the globe. This simple to use technology will improve your meeting
communication and help eliminate your travel budget and greenhouse gasses.
Meet together as if you were in the same room, and help save the planet - who
wouldn't want to do that?

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• High Quality Video Conferencing
• Easy to Use
• Convenient - Always Available
• 9.9 cents per minute
• Includes Toll-Free Audio Telephone Access
• Try Before You Buy - Call us for your 14-day trial
• 5 Ways to Supercharge your Video Conference
• HD Video Conferencing

To make the most of your video conference, follow these additional tips:
• Before the meeting gets under way, introduce each of the conference
participants, including their position, affiliation or reason for attending. You want
people to put a name to each face and understand each individual's role in the
discussion.
• Immediately establish meeting etiquette. You may not be the only first-
timer at the video conference. Ask participants to identify themselves when they
comment or ask a question. Ask participants to mute their microphones when
they are not speaking to keep extraneous noise to a minimum.
• Maintain control of the meeting. When asking for comments or questions,
specify the order to be followed and follow it consistently. Make certain
participants at distant sites are equally represented with regard to questions and
comments.
• When answering questions, repeat the question first to make certain
everyone heard it.
• Avoid interrupting when participants are speaking so that all speakers can
be clearly heard.
• Encourage discussion to create interaction between meeting participants.
• Watch for body language and gestures that may indicate that a participant
would like to ask a question or make a comment or that they are confused or
annoyed. Stop and invite their participation.
• If presenting visuals, give your audience time to read the material twice to
ensure assimilation.
• Make sure your microphone is muted at the end of the meeting.

Advantages of video conferencing:

• 1. Faster Decision Making:

Video conferencing provides easier access to key personnel. Decisions are not
only made faster, but with more consensus and agreement from everyone
involved at different locations.
• 2. Retention of highly-skilled workers:
Retaining highly technical employees is always challenging. Some employees
who want to work from their home towns or native places can be allowed to do
so by using video conferencing to interact with office field operations remotely.

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 Say a technical support executive goes to a site where the spare part isn’t
working, explains an IT director. Using the People Link Video Conference on
internet data card, the maintenance guy sends pictures in real-time to a tech that
specializes in that spare part to help resolve the problem it doesn’t matter where
the specialist is physically located. As a result, productivity increases along with
employee and customer satisfaction.

• 3. Standardizing work processes and Keeping staff up-to-date on

frequently-changing policies:
The global nature of the business these days demands that work processes be
standardized to streamline operations and create an international workforce that
can operate efficiently. Video conferencing helps streamline the training process
while permitting reduction of redundant staff in multiple locations. Further, In
this ever-changing world, regulations for the processes alter frequently, as do the
organizations procedures for handling them. Using People Link Video
Conferencing, companies can train employees at every location in exactly the
same way, which assures company-wide compliance without the additional time
and expense of sending trainers to each location.

• 4. Monitoring the quality process and manufacturing:

Video conferencing helps formalize the communication process to ensure that
manufacturing units are following the quality standards. As one IT director states,
Video conferencing have allowed us to snap inspects our Chinese partner’s
production to be sure they know they are accountable to our standards. Video
conferencing allows one manufacturer to see work in progress around the world
on a day-to-day basis. In the past, seeing the far-flung production facilities was
limited to a few trips a year, thus reassuring management that projects are
moving forward per the schedule. Video conferencing also lets the manufacturer
demonstrate its flexibility and state-of-the-art products to the clients much faster.

• 5. Keeping the product development teams and Client needs in

Synch:
Project managers and call center managers plan the workloads of their staffs by
synchronizing the status and requirements of each on a daily basis. This ensures
that the product development teams are in regular synch with each other and
customer on regular basis, ensuring the product is built as per the client
requirement. Video conferencing meetings create a face-to-face atmosphere that
results in teams working more closely toward the same objectives than doe’s
audio-only conferencing. The result of ongoing virtual collaboration creates
stronger teams of people all sharing a stake in the outcome while enjoying the
benefit of working from a home location.

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• 6. Reducing hiring cycle and recruitment costs:
The cost of acquiring talent can be significantly reduced by using video
conferencing to pre-interview rather than having the candidate or the interviewer
travel to the office or vice versa for the interview.

• 7. Increased knowledge transfer & Trainings:

By hosting live video conferences with the existing experts, new trainees get on-
the-job training without the expense and hassle of travel. video conferencing is
the way to facilitate the transfer of specialized job skills and the knowledge of
legacy systems of pre-retirement-age employees to younger workers. Through
video conferencing, all workers can receive the same training simultaneously.
Also, since each training session is available to larger, multi-location audiences,
the cost of trainers and travel has been reduced.

• 8. Leveraging technical expertise across disparate locations:

Say a technical support executive goes to a site where the spare part isn’t
working, explains an IT director. Using the People Link Video Conference on
internet data card, the maintenance guy sends pictures in real-time to a tech that
specializes in that spare part to help resolve the problem it doesn’t matter where
the specialist is physically located. As a result, productivity increases along with
employee satisfaction. Fewer technical experts are required on staff, and travel
costs are reduced.

• 9. Improving Employee satisfaction, productivity & boosting meeting

efficiency:
People Link video conferencing helps increase overall productivity because
normally staff members traveled frequently between multiple locations for very
short meetings. Everyone was tired of being a road warrior, said a Sales Director.
Video conferencing allows staff to remain at their desks or in the field instead of
wasting time traveling from meeting to meeting. Using video conferencing for
internal meetings promotes better attendance and participation. Time, Money and
productivity are saving by eliminating the need to travel to another location. By
allowing workers to ask questions to senior officers through face-to-face video
conferencing the employees feel more valuable, closer to senior executives, and
more satisfied with the company overall than when they received information
second- or third-hand.

• 10. Finding and screening new offshore partners and Clients:

Just as HR does talent acquisition, business development teams use video
conferencing to conduct interviews of potential partners in India and other
offshore locations. Through the IP-based equipment, staff can see the people and
their facilities and get a truer sense of the business environment. Time and money
are saved by doing the leg work from home. By the time the team traveled to the

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site for final selections, they had already narrowed the pool to a handful of
companies worth visiting.

Disadvantages

✘ Technical Problems
The major disadvantages are the technical difficulties associated with smooth
transmissions that could result from software, hardware or network failure.
Remote connections are sometimes known to be hampered by environmental
changes. On some occasions, the absence of technical support personnel creates
difficulty for participants who are unfamiliar with the videoconferencing
technological concepts.

✘ Lack of Personal Interaction

Another major drawback is the lack of personal interaction that sets the tone for
many business meetings in highly cultural societies. A handshake and an eye
contact are essential aspects of many business meetings. Some meetings require a
personal touch to be successful.

✘ High Cost of Setup

Setting up video conferencing in an office can be a bit expensive for small-sized
companies. Simple features can fit into the budget, but if advanced features are
required, then a substantial amount of expenditure must be done.

DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM

Computerized decision support systems became practical with the development

of minicomputers, timeshare operating systems and distributed computing. The
history of the implementation of such systems begins in the mid-1960s. In a
technology field as diverse as DSS, chronicling history is neither neat nor linear.
Different people perceive the field of Decision Support Systems from various
vantage points and report different accounts of what happened and what was
important (cf., Arnott & Pervan, 2005; Eom & Lee, 1990b; McCosh & Correa-
Perez, 2006; Power, 2003; Power, 2004a; Silver, 1991). As technology evolved
new computerized decision support applications were developed and studied.
Researchers used multiple frameworks to help build and understand these
systems. Today one can organize the history of DSS into the five broad DSS
categories explained in Power (2001; 2002; 2004b), including: communications-
driven, data-driven, document driven, knowledge-driven and model-driven
decision support systems.

This hypertext document is a starting point in explaining the origins of the

various technology threads that are converging to provide integrated support for
managers working alone, in teams and in organization hierarchies to manage
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 organizations and make more rational decisions. History is both a guide to future
activity in this field and a record of the ideas and actions of those who have
helped advance our thinking and practice. Historical facts can be sorted out and
better understood, but more information gathering is necessary. This web page is
a starting point in collecting more firsthand accounts and in building a more
complete mosaic of what was occurring in universities, software companies and
in organizations to build and use DSS.

This document traces decision support applications and research studies related to
model and data-oriented systems, management expert systems, multidimensional
data analysis, query and reporting tools, online analytical processing (OLAP),
Business Intelligence, group DSS, conferencing and groupware, document
management, spatial DSS and Executive Information Systems as the technologies
emerge, converge and diverge. All of these technologies have been used to
support decision making.
Decision Support Systems (DSS) are a specific class of computerized information
system that supports business and organizational decision-making activities. A
properly designed DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help
decision makers compile useful information from raw data, documents, personal
knowledge, and/or business models to identify and solve problems and make
decisions.
Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present
would be:
• Accessing all of your current information assets, including legacy and
relational data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts
• Comparative sales figures between one week and the next
• Projected revenue figures based on new product sales assumptions
• The consequences of different decision alternatives, given past experience
in a context that is described

Expert System

A computer application that performs a task that would otherwise be performed

by a human expert. For example, there are expert systems that can diagnose
human illnesses, make financial forecasts, and schedule routes for delivery
vehicles. Some expert systems are designed to take the place of human experts,
while others are designed to aid them.
Expert systems are part of a general category of computer applications known as
artificial intelligence . To design an expert system, one needs a knowledge
engineer, an individual who studies how human experts make decisions and
translates the rules into terms that a computer can understand.
An expert system is a computer program that simulates the judgment and
behavior of a human or an organization that has expert knowledge and experience
in a particular field. Typically, such a system contains a knowledge base

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containing accumulated experience and a set of rules for applying the knowledge
base to each particular situation that is described to the program. Sophisticated
expert systems can be enhanced with additions to the knowledge base or to the
set of rules.
Among the best-known expert systems have been those that play chess and that
assist in medical diagnosis.

Major Components of Expert Systems

The User Interface

The user interface is the means of communication between a user and the expert
systems problem-solving processes. A good expert system is not very useful
unless it has an effective interface. It has to be able to accept the queries or
instructions in a form that the user enters and translate them into working
instructions for the rest of the system. It also has to be able to translate the
answers, produced by the system, into a form that the user can understand.
Careful attention should be given to the screen design in order to make the expert
system appear ‘friendly’ to the user.

The Knowledge Base

The knowledge base stores all the facts and rules about a particular problem
domain. It makes these available to the inference engine in a form that it can use.
The facts may be in the form of background information built into the system or
facts that are input by the user during a consultation. The rules include both the
production rules that apply to the domain of the expert system and the heuristics
and rules-of-thumb that are provided by the domain expert in order to make the
system find solutions more efficiently by taking short cuts.

The Shell or Inference Engine

The inference engine is the program that locates the appropriate knowledge in the
knowledge base, and infers new knowledge by applying logical processing and
problem-solving strategies.

Artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a

branch of computer science, which focuses on the development of computer
systems to simulate the processes of problem solving and duplicate human brain
functions. Expert systems (ES) are a category of programs based on the theory
and methods of artificial intelligence.

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The first expert systems appeared in the late sixties. Today, they exist in many
forms, from medical diagnosis to investment analysis and from counseling to
production control. Due to the advances of the last decade, today's expert
systems users can choose from dozens of commercial software packages. At
present, we accept as routine such expert systems as weather forecasting, online
mapping and driving directions, diagnostic systems for automotive repair shops,
and so on.

What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial Intelligence is considered the development of machines such as robots

and security systems to perform the job of humans. They even have feelings,
thoughts, preferences and understand human speech.

Artificial Intelligence then and now In 1941, the most intelligent machine was an
invention in the form of the electronic computer. Who would have thought 60
years from then that the same computer would be perfected beyond leaps and
bounds and be used to control other machines, as well as be part of day to day
living? In 1956, John McCarthy, considered the father of Artificial Intelligence,
organized a conference where intellectuals gathered to learn of this phenomenon.
This laid the foundation for the advancements in artificial intelligence today.

Today artificial intelligence is used in our homes and sophisticated

establishments such as military bases and the NASA space station. NASA has
even sent out artificially intelligent robots to grace some planets and to learn
more about their atmosphere and habitat, the intention being to investigate if
there is a possibility of humans living on other planets.

There are many advantages and disadvantages of the use of artificial intelligence
in business and in our day to day lives.

Advantages of Artificial Intelligence

Machines can be used to take on complex and stressful work that would be
otherwise performed by humans Machines can complete the task faster than a
human assigned to do the same task Use of robotics to discover unexplored
landscape, outer space and also be useful in our home activities Less danger,
injury and stress to humans as the work is done by a artificially intelligent
machine Aiding of mental, visually and hearing impaired individuals Used for
games to create a atmosphere where you don't feel like you are playing against
just a machine Understanding complex software can be made in to easy-to-
understand types with the aid of artificial intelligence Less errors and defects

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Minimized time and resources. Time and resources are not wasted but effectively
used to achieve the end goal Their function is infinite

Disadvantages of Artificial Intelligence

Lacks the human touch. Human qualities are sometimes ignored The ability to
replace a human job. This gives rise to humans feeling insecure and may have the
fear of losing their job Human capabilities can be replaced using a machine and
therefore can foster feelings of inferiority among workers and staff Artificial
Intelligence can malfunction and do the opposite of what they are programmed to
do May corrupt the younger generation. There is no filtering of information This
type of technology can be misused to cause mass scale destruction

Summery: This article describes what artificial intelligence is and how useful it is
in our day to day lives, while also highlighting some of the disadvantages.
Introduction to IT Concepts and its development
There term “Information Technology” came about in the 1970’s. Information
Technology is a manifestation of public and private investment in science and
engineering (S&E) that is enabling broad and significant changes in society.
Throughout the 20th century an alliance between the military and various
industries has existed in development of electronics, computers and information
theory. Many observers compare the rapid development and expansion of IT to
industrial revolution in terms of its potential scope and impact on society. Few
other modern advances in technology have had the capacity to affect so
fundamentally the way people work, live, learn and govern them. As with the
industrial revolution, both the time and direction of many of the changes are
difficult to predict.

Semiconductor Technology
Information Storage
Networking
IT’S Application in Business
Growth of E-Commerce
Business-to-Business e-commerce
It Effect on Productivity and Economic Growth
Inflation and Overall Economic Growth
IT Effects on Income and Work
What is Information Technology?

According to the Information Technology Career Cluster Initiative (2002),

Information Technology involves the design, development, support, and
management of hardware, software, multimedia, and systems integration

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services. A career in the IT field; therefore, is focused on those who do the
designing, developing, supporting, and managing of hardware, software,
multimedia, and system integration. This is often referred to as IT Producer Skills
(Dittmar, 2003). Consider Information Technology as an expansive specialized
career field. To succeed in an Information Technology career, a candidate must
possess IT skills beyond being a user of information Technology (Dittmar, 2003).

The Impact of IT on Organizations

"Many of the impacts of Information Technology are straightforward. But they

are not necessarily obvious, nor are they trivial"Information technology (IT) is
dramatically changing the business landscape. Although organization cultures
and business strategies shape the use of IT in organizations, more often the
influence is stronger the other way round. IT significantly affects strategic
options and creates opportunities and issues that managers need to address in
many aspects of their business. This page outlines some of the key impacts of
technology and the implications for management on:

Business strategy - collapsing time and distance, enabling electronic commerce

Organization Culture - encouraging the free flow of information
Organization Structures - making networking and virtual corporations a reality
Management Processes - providing support for complex decision making
processes
Work - dramatically changing the nature of professional, and now managerial
work
The workplace - allowing work from home and on the move, as in telework IT
User Skills

Information Technology User skills are needed by all employees in today's

information age. And IT User is a computer literate person who uses applications
and the Internet including software suites, integrating applications, browsers, and
communication software. And IT User can create and manage files of various
types such as PDF, HTML, MDB, and JPG to share with others (Dittmar, 2003).

IT Users understand hardware and software components and can set up a

personal computer. They can use word processing software for document layout
and production; presentation software to create presentations with integrated
multimedia; spreadsheet software that have charts, graphics, and formulas;
database software for building and using database information; data
communication software for sharing files with others, and simple web page
development.

IT Users have mastery in using a vast array of software including office suites,
Web development, and project management. IT Users have a basic understanding

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of computer networks; multimedia; new technologies and new media; ethics,
privacy and the information retrieving and transmission.

IT Applications are pertinent to all careers and not only to those specializing in
IT. Table 1 details the IT User tasks within the applications that all workers need
to know. IT applications pertinent for all careers are the following :

Personal information Management Productivity applications

Electronic Mail applications
Internet Applications
Writing/Publishing applications
Presentation applications
Spreadsheet applications
Database applications
Collaborative/Groupware applications
Computer Operations applications
Computer-based Equipment (containing embedded computers or
processors used to control electromechanical devices)

Advanced IT Skills--IT Producer Skills

When IT Users develop Advanced IT skills they become IT Producers. IT

Producers need a vast array of advanced IT skills to get and perform their work in
an IT career. People who work in IT jobs typically specialize in hardware,
software, support, project management, interactive

IT User tasks needed in the workplace today

Operate a Computer This refers to the initial steps in using a computer and
navigating screens. It also refers to the daily operation of hardware and software
on a desktop, laptop, using operating systems, a personal digital assistant (PDA),
a digital camera, web cams or scanners
Trouble-shooting This refers to the problem-solving skills designed to resolve
Information Technology (IT) hardware errors and errors involving the
interaction between hardware and software.
Maintenance This refers to the work involved in keeping hardware and software
up to date and in proper condition so that it continues to fulfill the tasks
required.
Security This refers to the protection of hardware, software and data stored
within an IT system against theft, malfunction and unauthorized access.
Internet, Intranet and World-wide Web This is the ability to access, retrieve and
verify information from the Internet, intranet and world-wide web using
electronic browsers.

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E-mail This is the ability to send and receive messages. Although it is primarily
associated with the Internet, it is not essential to involve Internet technology. E-
mail skills are equally pertinent to proprietary software.
Word Processing This is the ability to use a software application designed for
the creation, edit and production of documents and text (i.e. writing a letter,
memo or CV).
Spreadsheets This is the ability to use a software application designed to record
data in rows and columns and perform calculations with numerical data (i.e.
Microsoft Excel, Sun Office Star or AppleWorks). It can be used in a number of
ways i.e. budgeting, producing tables, calculating house-hold bills or producing
graphs.
Databases This is the ability to use a software application (i.e. Microsoft Access
or Sun Office Star) designed to organize and collate related information (i.e.
storing addresses and phone numbers).
Web Design This is the ability to use a software application designed for the
creation and maintenance of simple non-professional web sites.
Art and Design This is the ability to use a software application designed for the
production and manipulation of drawings, clip art and digital pictures.
Presentations This is the ability to use a software application to produce
presentations, which include a combination of media (i.e. photos from digital
cameras, animation and sound) for education, entertainment or information
sharing.
Evaluate the Impact of Information Technology (IT)
This is the ability to evaluate the impact of IT in a variety of situations either at
home, work or school.
Determine the Appropriate Use of Information Technology (IT) This is the
ability to determine the appropriate use of IT in a variety of situations either at
home, work or school.

media and web development, or the business side of IT, but each carries over into
the other. Some examples of IT jobs titles requiring IT producer skills are listed
below; job descriptions vary by company. See the Specialized Careers within the
IT Industry section of this paper for details about these jobs.
 Application Systems Analyst
 Client/Server Programmer
 Data Architect
 Help Desk Support
 Network Administrator
 Web Designer
 Windows NT Administrator
 Network Security

Image Processing

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In imaging science, image processing is any form of signal processing for which
the input is an image, such as a photograph or video frame; the output of image
processing may be either an image or a set of characteristics or parameters related
to the image. Most image-processing techniques involve treating the image as a
two-dimensional signal and applying standard signal-processing techniques to it.
Image processing usually refers to digital image processing, but optical and
analog image processing also are possible. This article is about general
techniques that apply to all of them. The acquisition of images (producing the
input image in the first place) is referred to as imaging. Closely related to image
processing are computer graphics and computer vision. In computer graphics,
images are manually made from physical models of objects, environments, and
lighting, instead of being acquired (via imaging devices such as cameras) from
natural scenes, as in most animated movies. Computer vision, on the other hand,
is often considered high-level image processing out of which a
machine/computer/software intends to decipher the physical contents of an image
or a sequence of images (e.g., videos or 3D full-body magnetic resonance
scans).In modern sciences and technologies, images also gain much broader
scopes due to the ever growing importance of scientific visualization (of often
large-scale complex scientific/experimental data). Examples include microarray
data in genetic research, or real-time multi-asset portfolio trading in finance.

Digital Image Processing

This article is about mathematical processing of digital images. For artistic

processing of images, see Image editing ,Digital image processing is the use of
computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images. As a
subcategory or field of digital signal processing, digital image processing has
many advantages over analog image processing. It allows a much wider range of
algorithms to be applied to the input data and can avoid problems such as the
build-up of noise and signal distortion during processing. Since images are
defined over two dimensions (perhaps more) digital image processing may be
modeled in the form of multidimensional systems.

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 History

Many of the techniques of digital image processing, or digital picture processing

as it often was called, were developed in the 1960s at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bell Laboratories, University
of Maryland, and a few other research facilities, with application to satellite
imagery, wire-photo standards conversion, medical imaging, videophone,
character recognition, and photograph enhancement.[1] The cost of processing
was fairly high, however, with the computing equipment of that era. That
changed in the 1970s, when digital image processing proliferated as cheaper
computers and dedicated hardware became available. Images then could be
processed in real time, for some dedicated problems such as television standards
conversion. As general-purpose computers became faster, they started to take
over the role of dedicated hardware for all but the most specialized and computer-
intensive operations.
With the fast computers and signal processors available in the 2000s, digital
image processing has become the most common form of image processing and
generally, is used because it is not only the most versatile method, but also the
cheapest.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality is an artificial environment that is created with software and

presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as
a real environment. On a computer, virtual reality is primarily experienced
through two of the five senses: sight and sound.
The simplest form of virtual reality is a 3-D image that can be explored
interactively at a personal computer, usually by manipulating keys or the mouse
so that the content of the image moves in some direction or zooms in or out.
More sophisticated efforts involve such approaches as wrap-around display
screens, actual rooms augmented with wearable computers, and hap tics devices
that let you feel the display images.
Virtual reality can be divided into:
• The simulation of a real environment for training and education.
• The development of an imagined environment for a game or interactive
story.
Popular products for creating virtual reality effects on personal computers include
Bryce, Extreme 3D, Ray Dream Studio, true Space, 3D Studio MAX, and Visual
Reality. The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) allows the creator to
specify images and the rules for their display and interaction using textual
language statements.

Uses of Virtual Reality

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The uses for virtual reality are infinite. It can be used for air traffic control,
medicine, entertainment, office work and industrial design. However, along with
the good comes the bad. Virtual reality could also be used for destructive
purposes, such as war and crime.

The idea of virtual reality emerged in the 1930s when scientists created the first
flight simulator for the training of pilots. They wanted to put the piloted in a real
situation before letting him fly.

In 1965, an American, called Ivan Sutherland, hit on a new idea and published his
findings in a document called 'The Ultimate Display'. His idea was to create a
portable, or personal, virtual world using two tiny television sets, one for each
eye. In order to realise this, he also designed a head mounted display. Although
his invention worked, and he did create a sort of a virtual world, the images were
very crude and basic. Another problem was the helmet - it was extremely heavy
and cumbersome and needed to be supported from the ceiling. It was also very
expensive. In the following years, scientists continued to work on Sutherland's
initial idea and great improvements were made. Then in 1985, Michael
McGreevey of NASA/AMES developed a much cheaper and lighter version of
the helmet. He used a motorcycle helmet and fitted it with mini display screens,
and special sensors which were designed to track movement and were linked to
powerful, but sensitive computers.

The final piece of equipment for a complete virtual reality kit was a glove. One
had been designed in the early 1980s, but modern virtual reality was born in 1986
when a computer games programmer, called Jaron Lanier, designed a new glove.
This brought the VR helmet and glove kit into existence for the first time. It was
Lanier who gave this new technology the name Virtual Reality.

There are three main forms of virtual reality:

The first is perhaps the most familiar. It consists of a helmet which has small TV
screens and earphones fitted into it, and a glove (some systems use a joystick or
wand instead of a glove). The helmet and glove are linked to computers which
are programmed with special sounds and graphics.

The second form of virtual reality uses video cameras to track the image of the
user in a virtual world where you can also pick up or move objects. Both these
VR systems allow more than one person to take part at the same time.
The final type of VR is where three- dimensional images are played on a large,
curved screen. The shape of the screen helps to give you a greater sense of being
in the virtual world. By wearing special 3-D glasses, this effect can be greatly
improved.

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Information superhighway

The information superhighway is a term coined by Vice President Albert Gore

when giving a speech January 11, 1994 describing the future of computers
accessing and communicating over a world-wide network. Later during a CNN
interview, Gore stated "During my service in the United States Congress, I took
the initiative in creating the Internet."

1. (Electronics & Computer Science / Telecommunications) the concept of a

worldwide network of computers capable of transferring all types of digital
information at high speed
2. (Electronics & Computer Science / Telecommunications) another name for the
Internet also called information highway

Information superhighway - an extensive electronic network (such as the

internet) used for the rapid transfer of sound and video and graphics in digital
form
The Information Super Highway: how long has it been since you heard that term?
It's not used much in today's vernacular for a simple reason; the internet has
evolved into so much more than an exchange for information. With the growth of
social media and the explosion of online shopping added on top of the original
system, the internet is far more than it was. The way I see it, the internet is
broken up into three key parts:

Information
Information is the basis of the internet; you search Google to find things that
interest you, learn something new and find what you are looking for. It also
encompasses the blogging arena as well.

Social
the best way to stay in touch with friends and family. Social media, such as Face
book and Twitter are now so integrated with our lives it is as commonplace to
Face book message someone as it was to pick up the phone and call.

Online Shopping
How often do you do research on a product online before purchasing it? The
internet is a perfect vehicle for finding what you are looking for, and it is a very
competitive market. With search engine optimization and pay-per-click
advertising at the heart of online shopping, it is no wonder it is such a relevant
source of products and services.
So with that in mind, I propose that we come up with a new term to encompass
the internet. Instead of the "Information Super Highway," how 'bout the
"Information, Social, Shopping Mega Freeway?" It may not have the same ring to
it, but it certainly is more accurate in today's age.

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Who invented the Internet?
A single person did not create the Internet that we know and use today. Below is
a listing of several different people who've helped contribute and develop the
Internet.

The idea

The initial idea is credited as being Leonard Kleinrock's after he published his
first paper entitled "Information Flow in Large Communication Nets" on May 31,
1961. In 1962 J.C.R. Licklider becomes the first Director of IPTO and gave his
vision of a galactic network. In addition to the ideas from Licklider and
Kleinrock, Robert Taylor helped create the idea of the network, which later
became ARPANET.

Initial creation. The Internet as we know it today first started being developed in
the late 1960's. In the summer of 1968, the Network Working Group (NWG) held
its first meeting chaired by Elmer Shapiro with the Stanford Research Institute
(SRI) with attendees: Steve Carr, Steve Crocker, Jeff Rulifson, and Ron
Stoughton. In the meeting the group discussed solving issues related to getting
hosts to communicate with each other.

In December 1968, Elmer Shapiro with SRI released a report "A Study of
Computer Network Design Parameters." Based on this work and earlier work
done by Paul Baran, Thomas Marill and others; Lawrence Roberts and Barry
Wessler helped to create the final version of the Interface Message Processor
(IMP) specifications. Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc. (BBN) was later awarded
the contract to design and build the IMP sub network.

Introduction of the Internet to the general public UCLA puts out a press release
introducing the public to the Internet on July 3, 1969.First network equipment
August 29, 1969 the first network switch and the first piece of network
equipment called "IMP", which is short for (Interface Message Processor) is sent
to UCLA. On September 2, 1969 the first data moves from UCLA host to the
switch. In the picture to the right, is a picture of Leonard Kleinrock next to the
IMP.

The first distributed message and network crash On Friday October 29, 1969 at
10:30 p.m., the first Internet message was sent from computer science Professor
Leonard KleinRock's laboratory at UCLA, after the second piece of network
equipment was installed at SRI. This connection not only enabled the first
transmission to be made, but is also considered to be the first Internet backbone.

The first message to be distributed was "LO", which was an attempt at "LOGIN"
by Charley S. Kline to log into the SRI computer from UCLA. However, the

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message was unable to be completed because the SRI system crashed. Shortly
after the crash, the issue was resolved and he was able to log into the computer.

E-mail is developed

Ray Tomlinson introduces network e-mail in 1972. The first messaging system
to send messages across a network to other users.

TCP is developed

Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn design TCP during 1973 and later publish it with
the help of Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine in December of 1974 in RFC 675.
First commercial network

A commercial version of ARPANET known as Talented is introduced in 1974

and considered by many to be the first Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Ethernet is conceived

Bob Metcalfe develops Ethernet idea in 1973.

TCP/IP is created

In 1978 TCP splits into TCP/IP driven by Danny Cohen, David Reed, and John
Shoch to support real-time traffic. This allows the creation of UDP. TCP/IP is
later standardized into ARPANET in 1983 and is still the primary protocol used
for the Internet.

DNS is introduced

Paul Mockapetris and Jon Postel introduce DNS in 1984.

HTML
In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee develops HTML, which made a huge contribution to
how we navigate and view the Internet today.
WWW
Tim Berners-Lee introduces WWW to the public on August 6, 1991.
.
Overview of the following: 4 GL

Often abbreviated 4GL, fourth-generation languages are programming languages

closer to human languages than typical high-level programming languages. Most
4GLs are used to access databases. For example, a typical 4GL command is
FIND ALL RECORDS WHERE NAME IS "SMITH"
The other four generations of computer languages are

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 First generation: machine language
 Second generation: assembly language
 Third generation: high-level programming languages, such as C, C++, and
Java.
 Fifth generation: languages used for artificial intelligence and neural
networks.

What is Internet Explorer?

Internet Explorer is Microsoft's integrated web browser. Known by its acronym

IE, the program is referred to as an integrated web browser, rather than as a
standard web browser, because of the heavy reliance between it and Microsoft's
Windows operating system. IE components are used in Windows' file manager,
help browser, integrated email client, and many other programs. Also, Internet
Explorer has access to most of the Windows operating system's core files and
functions. While marketed as a feature of previous versions of IE, this integration
has been the subject of fierce criticism of the browser, as it introduces a host of
stability and security problems.

Originally a rebranded version of Spyglass Mosaic, Internet Explorer was

recorded by Microsoft for its v3.0 release, and given the familiar Windows
interface. As Microsoft's licensing of the web browser from Mosaic stated that
Microsoft was to pay a royalty on revenue earned from the sale of Internet
Explorer, the software giant decided to bundle IE for free with Windows. Thus
earning no direct revenue from the product, only the minimum quarterly fee was
paid to Mosaic. This led to one of Microsoft's first lawsuits over the browser,
which it settled with Spyglass out of court. The integration with Windows,
however, led to the demise of the then-dominant web browser, Netscape. In fact,
Microsoft reverse-engineered many of Netscape's proprietary features such as
Javascript (which Microsoft calls Jscript) and the Netscape plug-in architecture.
With no need to install third-party software to browse the web, Windows users
brought IE usage to its peak of 94% of the browser market around 2003. Since
then, that figure has been reduced to about 80% of the market with public
frustration regarding IE's security and awareness regarding alternative web
browsers such as Opera and Firefox.

Internet Explorer logo

Internet Explorer has become notorious for its disregard of standards compliance
and its horrible security record. While IE 3.0 was the first major browser to
support CSS, the rest of its innovative features were proprietary Microsoft

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developments. As these features were rushed to market, they were implemented
long before the W3C had the chance to standardize implementation details.
Often, the recommended implementation of then-proprietary features was not
compatible with Microsoft's development (or Netscape's, for that matter). As
Microsoft developed its FrontPage web-authoring software which produced the
non-standard code required to implement Microsoft's innovations, the company
could not change Internet Explorer to conform to web standards while FrontPage
did not. Thus, a tradition of non-standards compliance was instituted within IE
development. Although standards non-compliance was not reason enough to
interest people in finding web browser alternatives, IE's security record has
caused many IT managers and even home users to seek alternatives. Internet
Explorer has more security notices than all the other web browsers combined, and
the severity of IE security issues is often very severe, given the tight integration
between the web browser and the Windows operating system.

What is 127.0.0.1?
127.0.0.1 Is a reserved IP address corresponding to the host computer? Known as
the loopback address, 127.0.0.1 is used whenever a program needs to access a
network service running on the same computer as itself. Although mainly used as
a testing and development address, the loopback address can be used to access
local services, such as web servers, that are usually only accessed over a network
and have no local interface. Additionally, most modern operating systems that
implement TCP/IP regard the name "local host" as being equivalent to 127.0.0.1.

The address 127.0.0.1 is defined by the TCP/IP protocol as a reserved address

that routes packets back to the host. Thus, no computer connected to the Internet,
or any other TCP/IP compliant network, can identify itself as 127.0.0.1. The
Internet Engineering Task Force's RFC 3330 defines 127.0.0.1 and 12 other
special-use IPv4 addresses. Any public router or gateway that receives a packet
destined for a special-use IP is required to drop it, without logging its contents.
Thus, if such a packet is accidentally forwarded outside of its host, the packet
will not accidentally arrive at another location that is willing to accept it and
answer. This requirement helps provide network security, as even a machine that
is configured to appear invisible on a network will likely answer packets
addressed to its loopback address. Additionally, some services may be
unexpectedly activated by responding to such a stray packet.
127.0.0.1 Logo

A successful ping request to 127.0.0.1 will verify that a computer's network

interface card, its drivers, and the operating system's TCP/IP implementation are
all functioning correctly. However, in addition to its use as a troubleshooting and
local access tool, 127.0.0.1 is often used in practical jokes and scams. One
popular prank is to assign first-year computer science students to either crack or
otherwise probe 127.0.0.1. Other variations include service technicians who

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'prove' their network's speed and reliability by having customers ping the
loopback address. Many anecdotes about the "World's Worse Hacker" performing
a DDoS attack, or similar malicious feat, on 127.0.0.1 circulate the Internet.

What is Email?

Email is abbreviation for "Electronic Mail". It is one of the most common uses of
the Internet today, secondary only to the World Wide Web. Although originally
spelled with a dash (E-mail) popular use has seen the dash eliminated. This is
evidence to email's penetration into everyday life and its importance. While email
is often perceived as an inclusive system, there are actually a series of protocols
governing its application which are constantly being refined. Notable among
these are SMTP, POP3, and IMAP. No fewer than four different computer
programs and often as many as eight may handle a typical email message in the
few seconds between its transmission and receipt.

The first email systems were developed at SCD and MIT in 1965. Incompatible
with each other, each system was designed to facilitate message delivery between
users on a single machine. As there were no large computer networks at the time,
the need for interoperable protocols had yet to be realized. When ARPANET
engineer Ray Tomlinson decided in 1971 that he wanted to send a message to
another user on a remote computer, he chose the @ symbol to separate the user's
name from the machine's name. He modified the leading email program of the
time, SNDMSG (which Ray himself wrote), to accept and process these new
addresses. Within just a few years, Ray's protocols had been implemented on
virtually every networked computer in the world.

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Although email is often credited with making the world smaller by fostering
communication, it has also brought with it a fair share of problems. Email
communications are usually plain text transmissions over unsecured channels,
passing through many gateways on their way to delivery. Thus, the interception
of email is not difficult to perform. Also, backups of email delivery machines can
save copies of messages for years, even though they had been deleted by the
recipient. However, the most visible problem associated with email today is
spam, or unsolicited bulk messages. Estimates of global spam rates hover

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between 70 and 80 percent of all email successfully delivered, and some popular
systems can see their spam rates rise well over 99 percent.

What is a Network?

A network is an interconnected system of nodes, or objects. In computer

terminology, networks usually refer to either the electric distribution systems
some large IT providers manage, or systems of interconnected computers. The
largest of these computer networks is the Internet. Other computer networks may
be as small as a single personal computer connected to the Internet via a router or
as large as a university campus with several thousand machines communicating
via a central server. Other common networks include small home LAN's,
company intranets, and VPN virtual networks.

The Virtual Private Network is a special case in regard to computer networks.

While most networks have several layers of application protocol, the VPN tried
to address issues of network security, authorization, and encryption at a low
protocol level. Additionally, a requirement of a VPN is that the underlying
network should appear transparent to the computers communicating over the it,
thus creating the appearance of a LAN. While the VPN is not a dedicated
network in the traditional sense, users accessing computers via VPN are treated to
many of the comforts of a LAN.

Wireless home networks are becoming extremely popular. The reduction in cost
of wireless equipment has seen thousands of new consumer-grade products enter
the market. The vast majority of these connect via the popular IEEE 802.11 Wi-
Fi standards. In fact, many homes and small establishments would not have
computer networks were it not for Wi-Fi, thus the technology is often perceived
as not simply being a wireless version of the standard wired network. Wi-Fi
enables networked computers to be placed in locations otherwise unavailable,
such as a laptop computer on a swimming pool float, or even some city-wide
efforts to blanket several square kilometers with Wi-Fi reception.

What is P2P? What is a Protocol? What is a Router?

What is a Server? What is a URL? What is A Webpage?
What is Wi-Fi? What is ActiveX? What is Apple?
What is the Bible? What is BIOS? What is a Black Light?
What is a Blog? What is Blue-ray? What is Bluetooth?
What is a Buffer Overflow? What is a Bug?
What is a Client? What is a Computer? What is a Computer Program?
What is Copy left? What is CSS? What is Data?
What is a Decibel? What is Dell? What is Fedora Core?

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What is Firefox? What is a Firewall? What are FOSS and FLOSS
software?
What is FUD? What is GIMP? What is Gmail?
What is a Hacker? What is a Kernel?

Computer Keyword

ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

AGP – Accelerated Graphics Port
ALI – Acer Labs, Incorporated

ALU – Arithmetic Logic Unit

AMD – Advanced Micro Devices
APC – American Power Conversion
ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASIC – Application Specific Integrated Circuit
ASPI – Advanced SCSI Programming Interface
AT – Advanced Technology
ATI – ATI Technologies Inc.
ATX – Advanced Technology Extended

BFG – BFG Technologies

BIOS – Basic Input Output System
BNC – Barrel Nut Connector

CAS – Column Address Signal

CD – Compact Disk
CDR – Compact Disk Recorder
CDRW – Compact Disk ReWriter
CD-ROM – Compact Disk - Read Only Memory
CFM – Cubic Feet per Minute
CMOS – Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor
CPU – Central Processing Unit
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CTX – CTX Technology Corporation

DDR – Double Data Rate

DDR-SDRAM – Double Data Rate - Synchronous Dynamic Random
Access Memory
DFI – DFI Inc. Design for Innovation
DIMM – Dual Inline Memory Module
DRAM – Dynamic Random Access Memory
DPI – Dots Per Inch
DSL – See ASDL
DVD – Digital Versatile Disc
DVD-RAM – Digital Versatile Disk - Random Access Memory

ECC – Error Correction Code

ECS – Elitegroup Computer Systems
EDO – Extended Data Out
EEPROM – Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EPROM – Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
EVGA – EVGA Corporation

FC-PGA – Flip Chip Pin Grid Array

FDC – Floppy Disk Controller
FDD – Floppy Disk Drive
FPS – Frame Per Second
FPU – Floating Point Unit
FSAA – Full Screen Anti Aliasing
FS – For Sale
FSB – Front Side Bus

G
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GB – Gigabytes
GBps – Gigabytes per second or Gigabits per second
GDI – Graphical Device Interface
GHz – GigaHertz

HDD – Hard Disk Drive

HIS – Hightech Information System Limited
HP – Hewlett-Packard Development Company
HSF – Heatsink Fan

IBM – International Business Machines Corporation

IC – Integrated Circuit

IDE – Integrated Drive Electronics

IFS- Item for Sale
IRQ – Interrupt Request
ISA – Industry Standard Architecture
ISO – International Standards Organization

JBL – JBL, Jame B. Lansing., Speakers

JVC – JVC Company of America

Kbps – Kilobits Per Second

KBps – KiloBytes per second

LG – LG Electronics
LAN – Local Area Network
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LCD – Liquid Crystal Display
LDT – Lightning Data Transport
LED – Light Emitting Diode

MAC – Media Access Control

MB – MotherBoard or Megabyte
MBps – Megabytes Per Second
Mbps – Megabits Per Second or Megabits Per Second
MHz – MegaHertz
MIPS – Million Instructions Per Second
MMX – Multi Media Extensions
MSI – Micro Star International

NAS – Network Attached Storage

NAT – Network Address Translation
NEC – NEC Corporation

NIC – Network Interface Card

OC – Over Clock
OCZ – OCZ Technology
OEM – Original Equipment Manufacturer

PC – Personal Computer
PCB – Printed Circuit Board
PCI – Peripheral Component Interconnect
PDA – Personal Digital Assistant
PCMCIA – Peripheral Component Microchannel Interconnect
Architecture
PGA – Professional Graphics Array
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PLD – Programmable Logic Device
PM – Private Message or Private Messaging
PnP – Plug ‘n Play
PNY – PNY Technology
POST – Power On Self Test
PPPoA – Point to Point Protocol over ATM
PPPoE – Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet
PQI – PQI Corporation
PSU – Power Supply Unit

RAID – Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks

RAM – Random Access Memory
RAMDAC – Random Access Memory Digital Analog Convertor
RDRAM – Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory
ROM – Read Only Memory
RPM – Revolutions Per Minute

SASID – Self scanned Amorphous Silicon Integrated Display

SCA – SCSI Configured Automatically

SCSI – Small Computer System Interface

SDRAM – Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory
SECC – Single Edge Contact Connector
SODIMM – Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module
SPARC – Scalable Processor ArChitecture
SOHO – Small Office Home Office
SRAM – Static Random Access Memory
SSE – Streaming SIMD Extensions
SVGA – Super Video Graphics Array
S/PDIF – Sony or Philips Digital Interface

TB – Terabytes
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TBps – Terabytes per second
Tbps – Terabits per second
TDK – TDK Electronics
TEC – Thermoelectric Cooler
TPC – TipidPC
TWAIN – Technology Without An Important Name

UART – Universal Asynchronous Receiver or Transmitter

USB – Universal Serial Bus
UTP – Unshielded Twisted Pair

VCD – Video CD
VPN – Virtual Private Network

WAN – Wide Area Network

WTB – Want to Buy
WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get

XGA – Extended Graphics Array

XFX – XFX Graphics, a Division of Pine
XMS – Extended Memory Specification
XT – Extended Technology

Reference
sixrevisions.com/resources/the-history-of-computers-in-a-nuts

computerhistorytoday.weebly.com/history-of-the-computer.html

enfind.com/history-of-computers-nutshell

techbitestoday.blogspot.com

sitefans.net/pc/the-history-of-computers-in-a-nutshell.html

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wwweceinfotech.blogspot.com

www.studymode.com/essays/Computers-Then-And-Now-1175770.html
www.studymode.com/course-notes/Brief-History-Of-Computer-1817465.html

sarvajan.ambedkar.org/index.php?s=sayadaw

https://www.scribd.com/doc/270391736/Computers
https://www.scribd.com/doc/257364018/Computers
https://www.scribd.com/.../Evolution-and-classification-of-computers

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_(computer)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_analyser
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Small-Scale_Experimental_Machine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Manchester_Small-Scale_Experimental_Machine
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_computer
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwell_Computer

www.slideshare.net/.../evolution-and-classification-of-computers

www.authorstream.com/Presentation/Sabatini-37647-history-computers...
www.authorstream.com/Presentation/aSGuest108169-1131758-historyof...

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Electro-mechanical_computers

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