Chapter Two

2. The Computer System

As discussed in the earlier parts, a system, generally, is any collection of component elements
(also called subsystems) that work together to perform a task. The components collectively make
the whole (the system). Each component has a specific task to accomplish. A computer is not a
single machine. It is a system and the system contains lot of subcomponents. A computer system
is made up of both hardware and software. Software is another term for computer program.
Software controls the computer and makes it do useful work. Without software a computer is
useless. Hardware refers to the physical components that make up a computer system. These
include the computer's processor, memory, monitor, keyboard, mouse, disk drive, printer, and so
on.
2.1 COMPUTER HARDWARE
Hardware is the general term for the physical devices that carry out the activities of capturing,
processing, storing, and communicating data and information. The hardware of a computer system is
made up of a number of electronic devices connected together. It is composed of a number of interacting physical
parts based on the need of the information flow.

The computer hardware falls into four categories:

Input devices
Processors
Output devices
Storage devices
2.1.1 Input devices
An input device is any machine or device that feeds data into a computer.
Input devices are the part of computer hardware that is used to convert data or information into
electronic machine-readable form. These devices enable a computer user to enter data,
commands, and programs into the CPU. These devices convert information from a form
suitable to human beings to one understandable by the computer.

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A cursor, a blinking line on the computer screen, indicates the point at which data or
information will be input. The following are some of the devices that are commonly used to
input data to the computer:
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Voice recognition devices
• scanning devices
• Digital computer cameras
• Optical data readers
• Automatic teller machines, etc.

Keyboard:
The QWERTY keyboard, so called because the keys ’q’,’w’,’e’,’r’,’t’ and ’y’ are adjacent, is the
commonest form of keyboard. But other types of keyboard are available, some being specially
designed for people with special needs. It should be noted that the layout of keys on the
QWERTY keyboard owes its origins to typewriter designers who were actually trying to slow
down the speed at which a typist could type. The reason was that the old lever-based typewriters
were liable to levers getting interlocked if two keys were pressed in rapid succession. Typewriter
designers laid out the keys in a fashion that made it difficult to type quickly, the QWERTY
layout being the product of this design. Because so many people trained on such keyboards, the
layout still remains with us today, many years after the engineering problem which it was
designed to alleviate disappeared. It is worth noting that in some non-English speaking countries
the layout is slightly different giving rise to QWERTZ and AZERTY keyboard layouts.
A keyboard normally consists of 101/102 or 105 keys. These keys can be divided into five
sections.
 Typing Keys: these keys work just like a conventional typewriter. These keys include
English Alphabets A-Z, digits 0-9, the Enter key, Space, the backspace key, the Shift
key, the Caps Lock key, etc.
 Function Keys: these keys perform different tasks based on the type of software being
used. These keys are labeled as F1, F2, …, and F12.
 Numeric Keys: these keys let you enter numerical data more easily when you are
working on number intensive tasks. To use this section of the keyboard make sure
that the NumLock key is on.
 Navigation Keys: these are keys that are used to navigate through your document. The
following are navigation keys.
Page Up, Page Down, Home, End,,,,, etc.
 Computer Keys: these are keys not found on typewriters. They perform different tasks
when used alone or in conjunction with other keys.
Esc, Alt, Ctrl, Print Screen, Scroll lock, Pause, Insert, Delete
The following keys are very important:
 The SHIFT keys are used to type capital characters and special characters labeled on the
keys such as ?, !, @, &, #, @, $, *, etc.

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  Alt and Ctrl are modifier keys that are used in conjunction with other keys to perform a
function.
 The Print Screen key is used to print a paper copy of whatever is on the screen when the
key is pressed (if a printer is attached).
 The Pause key temporarily suspends an activity. Pressing the pause key once stops the
activity, pressing any typing key (except Shift, Caps Lock) resumes the activity.
The keyboard also has a status-indicator area. This area has three lights that display the status
(On or Off) of Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock. When one of these indicator lights is on,
the corresponding mode is on.
Mouse
 Mouse is a hand-operated device that controls the movement of the cursor or pointer on a
display screen. It is a small object that can be rolled along a rough flat surface.
 Its name is derived from its shape, which looks a bit a mouse; it’s connecting wire that
one can imagine to be the mouse’s tail and the fact that one must make it survey, along a
surface.
 Mouse can have as many as three buttons whose function depends on what program is
running
 Mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research center in 1963. It is one
of the great breaks through in computer ergonomics because it fees the user to a large
extent from using the keyboard.
Mouse pad - is a pad on which you can move a mouse. It provides more traction than smooth
surfaces such as glass & wood, so they make it easier to move a mouse accurately.

Scanners
 are input devices that can read text or illustrations printed on paper & translate the
information into a form that a computer can use.
 device which scans an image (document, photograph) and produce a digital version of
the image i.e. the image is stored as a sequence of binary numbers. Special software can
then display the digital version of the image on a monitor. They effectively photocopy
the image into the computer. This type of technology is very useful for storing legal
documents, application forms and anywhere there is a requirement to access the contents
of an original document very quickly.

Fig. Scanner

Bar code scanners

 A bar code is a computer readable code consisting of bars or lines of varying widths or
lengths
 Bar code system called Universal Product Code is used in supermarkets.

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Digital camera and Video cameras:- are used to capture a single frame images or
continues video streams for the PC. There are digital and photographic camera attached to your
PC to create image and video files.

Speech recognition devices

 often used in multimedia systems
 capture the voice or sounds for use in computer processing
 converts a person’s input into digital form

2.1.2 The Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The CPU, also called the processor, as its name suggests, is the unit that does the work of the
computer system i.e. it executes computer programs. A computer programs is composed of
instructions, which are executed (obeyed) by the processor. These instructions tell the processor
when and what to read from a keyboard; what to display on a screen, what to store and retrieve
from a disk drive and so on. A computer program is a set of such instructions that carries out a
meaningful task. It is worth remembering at this stage that the processor can only perform a
limited range of operations, logical and arithmetic. It can compare numbers and perform
input/output (read information and display or store it) or perform one of the arithmetic operations
like addition, subtraction, division or multiplication. It has no magical powers. It is instructive to
bear in mind that all computer programs are constructed from sequences of instructions based
primitive operations.
The CPU may be a single chip (microprocessor) or a series of chips that performs Arithmetic and
Logical operations and controls the operations of the other elements of the system.
The processor consists of four functional sections: the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU), the
registers, the control unit, and the bus system.
The Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU): - gives the chip its calculating ability and permits
arithmetical & logical operations. The ALU carries out arithmetic operations like addition and
subtraction and logical operations like AND, OR, etc
The Registers: - In addition to the ALU and CU, the processor has a small number (usually less
than 100) of storage locations to store information that is currently being processed. These
locations are called registers. They are temporary storage areas that hold data, keep track of
instructions, and hold the location & results of these operations. Depending on the processor
type, a register may typically store 8, 16, 32 or 64 bits. The register size of a particular processor
allows us to classify the processor. An n-bit processor is said to have an n-bit word size so a 32-
bit processor has a 32-bit word size. The greater the number of bits the more powerful the
processor is, since it will be able to process a larger unit of information in a single operation.
The CPU consists of different types of registers:

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  The Program Counter (PC): contains the address of the instruction currently being
executed or the one to be fetched next. More accurately, it is called Instruction
Pointer.
 The Instruction Register (IR): holds the instruction currently being executed.
 The Memory Address Register (MAR): holds the part of the program instruction
that tells the ALU the address of the data that is to be processed next.
 The Memory Data Register (MDR): holds instruction and data just fetched and
temporarily stores the result of processing before they are written to main memory.
They are also called accumulator.
 Packet Status Register (PSR): contains flags that describe the status of the most
recent operation carried out by the CPU.
 General Purpose Registers (GPR): may perform many functions such as handling
constants and/or accumulating arithmetic Results.
The Control Unit (CU): - performs all the control functions of the computer. That is, it times
and regulates the operations of the entire computer system; reads instruction from a designated
register and translates it into an activity; and regulates the amount of CPU time that each
operation may consume.
Input
Arithmetic
Control
CPU &
CPU Memory Unit
interconnection Logic Unit
Output [ALU]
Registers

Fig. Computer inside the CPU

Purpose of CPU
 Fetch instruction: The CPU read instruction from the memory
 Interpret instruction: the instruction must be decoded to determine what action is
required
 Fetch data: the execution of an instruction may require reading of data from memory
or an I/O module.
 Process data: the execution of an instruction may require performing some arithmetic
or logical operation on data.
 Write data: The result of an execution may require writing data to memory or an I/O
module.
2.1.3 Memory and Storage Devices
Memory also known as primary storage, main memory or internal memory is physically located
close to the CPU (to decrease access time). The CPU interacts closely with memory - referring to
it both for instructions and data and information. However memory is separate from the CPU.
Memory provides the CPU with a working storage area for program instructions and data. The
chief feature of memory is that it rapidly provides the data and instructions to the CPU.
Memory space is used in five different ways.

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  to hold the computers operating system program (DOS, Windows, etc.) that oversees
processing and acts as an interface between the hardware and the application programs.
 to hold applications programs - word processing, spreadsheet, etc.
 to hold data and information temporarily, receiving from input devices and sending them
to output devices during processing.
 to store other data or information needed in processing in the working storage area.
 to provide additional space for programs or data, as needed.
Memory size (storage capacity)
• Like the CPU, memory devices contain thousands of circuits imprinted on a silicon chip. By
representing data as a combination of on or off circuit states, the data is stored in memory.
• Computers vary widely in the amount of internal (primary) memory they have. The size of
memory is measured by the number of storage locations it contains. Each storage location or byte
has a predetermined capacity
• A byte is the amount of memory required to store one digit, letter or character. A byte is equal
to eight bits. Bytes are generally measured by
 kilobyte (kb, k-byte)
Although accepted as approximately one thousand, actually means 210 or 1,024. A storage device
with 640 KB capacity can hold 640 X 1,024 (or 655,360) bytes.
 megabyte (MB, M-byte) :-millions of bytes.
Accepted as approximately one million, actually equals 1,048,576 (1,024 X1,024 or 220)
 gigabytes (GB,G-bytes) :-billions of bytes
Accepted as approximately one billion, actually equals 1,073,741,824 (1,024 X 1,024 X 1,024,
or 230)
 terabyte (TB, T-byte) :-trillions of bytes
Accepted as approximately one trillion, actually equals 1,099,511,627,776 (1,024 X 1,024 X
1,024 X 1,024 or 240).
RAM (Random Access Memory)
 Random access means that data and information can be written to or read from the any
memory address at any time and randomly.
 In main memory, bytes are identified by a memory address that allows the computer to
determine where an element of data or information is stored.
 Stores data and instructions temporarily
 It is volatile in that its contents exist as long as electric current is maintained.
 RAM chips lose their contents if electric current is turned off or disrupted.
 RAM chips are directly mounted on the computer’s main circuit board on chips mounted
on peripheral cards that plugs into the computer’s main circuit board.
 RAM chips consist of millions of switches that are sensitive to changes in electric
current.
ROM (Read Only Memory)
 Provides random access to a memory location
 Holds data and information even after the electrical current is turned off—it is non
volatile.

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  Unlike the contents of RAM chips, the contents of ROM chips can not be changed—it
provides permanent storage.
Secondary Storage Devices
The term storage or secondary storage refers to the parts of a computer that retain data
permanently, even after turning off the computer. Examples of storage devices would be floppy
disk, hard disk, Compact Disk (CD), Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), and magnetic tape.
Commonly used secondary storage devices can be grouped as magnetic or optical. Magnetic
devices use magnetic technology to write and read data from the storage surface. This category
includes hard disk, floppy disk, and magnetic tape. On the other hand, optical storage devices use
laser technology. CD and DVD fall under this second category.
a) Magnetic Storage Devices
Floppy Disk
A storage medium that is made from a disk of flexible plastic (the "floppy" part) covered with a
magnetic material. The floppy disk is many decades old. The standard floppy disk can hold
1.44MB of data and has 3.5 inch diameter. Floppy disks are slow, unreliable and can hold much
less data than the other storage devices.
Hard Disk
A hard disk contains both the disk and the drive (the slot) that is used to read and write data on
the disk. A hard disk uses rigid turning disks to store data and programs. They have read/write
heads which can read data from the hard disk and write data to the hard disk. The hard disk drive
is sealed. This protects the hard disk drive internals from dust, condensation, and other sources of
contamination. Hard disks can store much more data than floppy disks, and access and transmit it
faster. Currently an average hard disk can store 60 to 80 GB of data. For both hard disks and
floppy disks, data is stored on the surface in sectors and tracks.
Magnetic Tape
A tape drive, also known as a streamer, is a device that reads data from and writes data to a
magnetic tape. It is typically used for archiving or backing up of data stored on hard disks.
Magnetic tapes are long lasting and inexpensive storage media.
b) Optical Storage Devices
Optical storage is a newer storage technology using a high-power laser beam to burn small holes
in a disk's surface coating. Data is represented by the presence and absence of holes in the disk’s
surface.
Optical media are more durable than tape and less vulnerable to environmental conditions. On
the other hand, they tend to be slower than typical hard disks, and hold less data.
Compact Disk (CD)
A compact disc (CD) is an optical disk used to store digital data.
It was originally developed for storing digital audio.
Types of CDs
The different types of CDs include: CD-ROM, CD-R, and CD-RW:

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CD-ROM (Compact Disc – Read Only Memory): is a version of the CD that allows the
information to be stored so that the user can only read from the disks. Once data is recorded on a
CD-ROM, new data cannot be stored and the disc cannot be erased.
Although CD-ROMs look like music discs, they can only be used with a computer equipped with
a CD-ROM drive.
CD-R (Compact Disc - Recordable): refers to compact disks that can be recorded only once, but
read many times. If the recorded content is no longer wanted, additional material can be recorded
only on the remaining space on the disk. The disks themselves are constructed differently from
ordinary CDs.
CD-RW (Compact Disc - Rewritable): is an extension of CD-R whereby you can rewrite data or
audio to the same CD many times. Not all CD drives can read CDRWs.
Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)
DVD is an optical disc storage media that can be used for storing data, including movies with
high video and sound quality. DVDs resemble CD: their physical dimensions are the same – 12
cm or the mini 8cm - but they are encoded in a different format. This enables DVDs to store
more data than that of CDs. A typical DVD can often hold more data than 6 CDs. DVDs can
store an entire movie, or several hours of audio.
Common Types of DVDs
 DVD-ROM: These DVDs are read-only disks. They are accessed using a special DVD
drive attached to a personal computer. They are often used for movies (which are more
specifically referred to as DVD-Video) and computer games.
 DVD-R: It offers a write-once, read-many time’s storage format similar to CDR, but can
hold more information than a CD-R.
 DVD-RW: A recordable DVD format similar to CD-RW.
3.1.4 Output Devices
An output device is a peripheral device that enables a computer to communicate (send out)
information to the user. It receives information from a computer RAM and transforms it into
human readable form (that the user can understand). Output Devices are parts of the computer
that are designed to receive output from the computer and provide it to the user. Examples of
output devices are monitors, speakers, and printers. In general, there are three types of output from a
computer. These are:
 Printed or hard copy output
 Display output
 voice output

Monitor
A monitor is an output device similar to a television screen that receives video signals from the
computer and displays the information for the user. It is the most commonly used output device
for displaying text and graphics from a computer.
Today's monitors have much better quality displays than any TV. There are two main types of
monitors:

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  CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes): have a large part at the back and are most common on
desktop computers.
 LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays): are flat screens and are commonly used on laptops and
some desktop systems.
Monitors differ in several ways. However, the major differences are the resolution and the
number of colors it can produce at those resolutions.
Resolution refers to how clear the image on the monitor is. It is a width times height
measurement of computer monitor display capabilities in pixels. Pixels are individual dots that
are used to display an image on a computer monitor. The more pixels a screen can show, the
higher the quality.
Resolution refers to how clear the image on the monitor is. It is measured in pixels, which are
individual dots that are used to display an image on a computer monitor.
The more pixels a screen can show, the higher the quality.
Printer
A printer is a device that produces a paper copy, sometimes called a hard copy, of data stored in
a computer. Broadly speaking, there are two types of printers: impact printers and non-impact
printers.
Impact Printer
With this type of printer, a pin or a hammer strikes the paper and the ribbon together to form a
character, like a typewriter. Impact printers are less expensive but they are noisy and have low
print quality.
Non-Impact Printers
This type of printer does not involve actually striking the paper. Instead, it uses ink spray or
toner powder. It has low noise and can print graphics and often a wider variety of fonts than
impact printers. However they are more expensive. There are three types of non-impact printers,
Ink Jet, thermal and laser printers:
Ink Jet Printer: Sprays ink onto paper to form characters and graphics. Most color printers are
ink jet.
Thermal Printer: Uses heat on chemically treated paper to form characters. Fax machines that
use rolls of paper are of this type.
Laser Printer: Works like a copy machine, using toner and a heat bar. It is faster and more
expensive than the other printers.

Plotters
Are devices that produce hard copy graphical output for engineering design, whether map, etc.

Plotter

Speaker

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A speaker is an output device that allows you to hear voice, music, and other sounds from your
computer. There are usually two of them and they come in various sizes.

2.2 Computer software

Software is a term for computer programs. A program is a set of instructions that enables a
computer to operate or instructions that tell the computer how to perform a specific task.
Computer software has two major categories:
 System software
 Application software
2.2.1 Systems software
Systems software includes the computer's basic operating system and language software. The
term also usually covers any software used to manage the computer and the network. Thus we
can say that systems software includes operating systems, device drivers, programming tools,
utilities and more.
Operating Systems
An operating system is the most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-
purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating systems
perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display
screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such
as disk drives and printers.
For large systems, the operating system has even greater responsibilities and powers. It is like a
traffic policeman - it makes sure those different programs and users running at the same time do
not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security, ensuring that
unauthorized users do not access the system.
As of 2005, the major operating systems in widespread use have consolidated into two main
families: the Unix-like family and the Microsoft Windows family.
The Unix-like family is commonly used to refer to many operating systems, which resemble an
operating system called UNIX. The Microsoft Windows family contains operating systems such
as Windows 9x, Windows 2000, and Windows XP.
Operating systems provide a software platform on top of which other application programs can
run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a particular operating system.
Your choice of an operating system, therefore, determines the applications you can use.
Language Software
 Are software which are used by programmers to develop application software and
translate programs to machine code.
 Language software is a generic name consisting of various programs that serve as editors
& translators to develop programs in a number of programming languages.
 Includes: - Translators, general purpose routines and utilities & high level languages

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 1) Translator: - is a program that converts one or more languages to another
language. Three types of translators are assemblers, Compilers & interpreters.
a. Assemblers: - is a program that translates assembly languages into machine
code.
b. Compiler: - is a program that translates a high level language into
machine code. (Pascal, Fortran Cobol)
c. Interpreter: - is a program that translates each instruction of high-level
language & executes the instruction before translating the next instruction.
2) The general-purpose routine and utilities include programs, which are used to handle
file processing, editing and debugging.
3) High-level language software are software, which have their own compilers to detect
syntax errors of the users program code.
a. Exemple: Cobol, Fortran, Pascal, C/C++ etc.

2.2.2 Applications Software

Applications software allows a user to accomplish one or more specific tasks. Typical
applications software includes office suites, business software, educational software, databases
and computer games. The uses of computers discussed in section 4 of Unit 1 use applications
software. The following are examples of application software:
 Word processing: WordPerfect, Open Office, AmiPro, and MS-Word.
 Desktop Publishing: MS-Publisher, Quark Press, and Adobe InDesign.
 Spreadsheet: Lotus 1-2-3, MS-Excel, and Corel Quattro Pro.
 Database management: MS-Access, My SQL, and Oracle.
 Presentation: MS-PowerPoint, Freelance Graphics, and Adobe Persuasion.

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