CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY CABADBARAN CITY

IT APPS
I.T Application Tools in
Business
Week 7-8. Anatomy of Digital Computer

❑ Function and Components of a Computer

❑ Central Processing Unit
❑ Memory
❑ Laboratory Exercise (Word Processing)

CSUCC CEIT Information Technology

Department
Function and Components of Computer

❑Hardware-is the physical components of a computer that

includes all mechanical, electrical, electronic and magnetic
parts attached to it. A computer consists of the following
major hardware components:
▪ Input and output devices
▪ Central processing unit (CPU)
▪ Memory unit and storage devices
▪ Interface unit
Function and Components of Computer

❑ Input device- The data and instructions are typed, submitted, or transmitted to a
computer through input devices. Input devices are electronic or electro-mechanical
equipment that provide a means of communicating with the computer system for feeding
input data and instructions. Most common input devices are briefly described below.
❑ Output devices- Output devices mirror the input data, or show the output results of the
operations on the input data or print the data. The most common output device is
monitor or visual display unit. The printer is used to print the result. A hard copy refers to
a printout showing the information. On the other hand soft copy means information
stored on a storage device.
Input Devices
❑ Keyboard- Keyboard is like a type-writer. A keyboard,
normally, consists of 104 keys. These keys are classified into
different categories:
❑ Character key- letters, numbers and punctuation
marks.
❑ Function keys- There are 12 functional keys above the
key board
❑ Control keys- Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Insert, Delete, Home,
End, PgUp, PgDn, Esc and Arrow keys are control keys.
❑ Navigation keys- These include four arrows, Page Up
and Page Down, Home and End
❑ Toggle keys- Scroll Lock, Num lock, Caps Lock are
three toggle keys.
❑ Miscellaneous keys- These keys include Insert,
delete, escape, print Screen
Input Devices
❑ Mouse-A mouse is the pointing device attached to a
computer. It is used to move the cursor around the screen
and to point to an object (such as icon, menu, command
button etc.) on the computer video screen for the purpose of
selecting or activating objects on graphical interface
provided by the operating system or the software currently
being executed and executing various tasks. It has two or
three buttons for clicking. The mouse tracks the motion of
the mouse pointer and senses the clicks and sends them to
the computer so it can respond appropriately. The mouse
can be connected to the system either through a USB
connector or wirelessly through infrared radiation. A wireless
mouse needs to be powered through batteries.
Input Devices
❑ Scanner- A scanner is a device that captures pictures or
documents so that they can be stored in storage devices,
seen on the video screen, modified suitably, transported to
other computers, or printed on a printer. A personal
computer with a scanner and printer can function as a
photocopier. A wireless mouse needs to be powered through
batteries.
Output Devices
❑ Monitor- Computer display devices are commonly known as
Visual Display Unit (VDU) or monitor. It operates on a
principle similar to that of a normal television set. Various
technologies have been used for computer monitors. They
are also of different sizes. CRT (Cathode-ray tube) and LCD
(liquid crystal display) monitors are the two common types
which are widely used.

❑ Speakers- are used to produce sounds, listen to music, play

music and watch movies.
Output Devices
❑ Printer - The printer is a device that prints any data, report,
document, picture, diagrams, etc. Printers are categorized
based on the physical contact of the print head with the
paper to produce a text or an image. An impact printer is one
where the print head will be in physical contact with the
paper. In a non–impact printer, on the other hand the print
head will have no physical contact with the paper.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
❑ Central Processing Unit or CPU can be thought of as the
brain of the computer. Most of the processing takes place in
CPU. During processing, it locates and executes the program
instructions. It also fetches data from memory and
input/output devices and sends data back.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
❑ Registry- These are high-speed storage devices. In most CPUs, some registers are reserved for special
purposes. For example, the Instruction Register (IR) holds the current instruction being executed. The
Program Counter (PC) is a register that holds the address of the next instruction to be executed. In addition
to such and other special-purpose registers, it also contains a set of general-purpose registers that are used
for temporary storage of data values as needed during processing.
❑ Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)- is the part of the CPU that performs arithmetic operations, such as addition and
subtraction as well as logical operations, such as comparing two numbers to see if they are the equal or
greater or less.
❑ Control unit (CU) The control unit coordinates the processing by controlling the transfer of data and
instructions between main memory and the registers in the CPU. It also coordinates the execution of the
arithmetic logic unit (ALU) to perform operations on data stored in particular registers. It consists of
Central Processing Unit (CPU)

PC-Program Control
MAR- Memory Address Registry
MDR- Memory Data Registry
AC- Accumulator
Computer Memory
❑ Addressable locations that can hold data and instructions
in a personal computer
❖ Memory Types
▪ Primary Memory
✓ ROM- Read Only Memory- the microcomputer’s
non-volatile memory is a permanent form of
storage. Data is written into this memory at
manufacture and are not affected by power loss.
✓ RAM- Random Access Memory – the
microcomputer’s volatile memory. Data held in it
is lost when power is switched off. RAM is
considered "random access" because you can
access any
Computer Memory
▪ Secondary Memory- Stores data and programs
permanently: it’s retained after the power is turned
off.
✓ Hard disk drive (HDD) that store and
provides relatively quick access to large
amounts of data on an electromagnetically
charged surface or set of surfaces.
Computer Memory
▪ Secondary Memory- Stores data and programs
permanently: it’s retained after the power is turned
off.
✓ Optical Disk: CD and DVD, that uses laser
light as part of the process of reading or
writing data to or from optical discs. Some
drives can only read from discs, but recent
drives are commonly both readers and
recorders, also called burners or writers. CDs
can store up to 700 megabytes (MB) of data
and DVDs can store up to 8.4 GB of data.
Computer Memory
▪ Secondary Memory- Stores data and programs
permanently: it’s retained after the power is turned
off.
✓ Flash Disk a flash disks have no mechanical
platters or access arms
Memory Unit
▪ Memory unit is the amount of data that can be stored in the storage unit. This storage capacity is
expressed in terms of Bytes.

S.No. Unit & Description

Bit (Binary Digit)
1 A binary digit is logical 0 and 1 representing a passive or an active state of a
component in an electric circuit.

Nibble
2
A group of 4 bits is called nibble.
Byte
3 A group of 8 bits is called byte. A byte is the smallest unit, which can represent a data
item or a character.
Memory Unit
S.No. Unit & Description
Kilobyte (KB)
1
1 KB = 1024 Bytes
Megabyte (MB)
2
1 MB = 1024 KB
GigaByte (GB)
3
1 GB = 1024 MB
TeraByte (TB)
4
1 TB = 1024 GB
PetaByte (PB)
5
1 PB = 1024 TB
Software
❑ Instructions that tell a computer what to do.
Software comprises the entire set of programs, procedures, and
routines associated with the operation of a computer system.
❑ A set of instructions that directs a computer’s hardware to
perform a task is called a program, or software program.
❖ Types of Software
▪ Operating System- An operating system is a collection of
programs that controls the running of programs and organizes the
resources of a computer system. It is a set of computer programs
that manage the hardware and software resources of a computer.
▪ An application program relies on the operating system to perform
many detailed tasks associated with the internal workings of the
computer.
Software
❖ Types of Software
▪ Device Drivers-are a set of highly specialized
programs. Device drivers help application
programs and the operating system do their
tasks. Device drivers (in particular, adapters), do
not interact with you. They interact directly with
computer hardware elements and shield the
application programs from the hardware
specifics of computers.
Software
❖ Types of Software
▪ Utility Software (also known as service program,
service routine, tool, or utility routine) It is
specifically designed to help manage and tune
the computer hardware, operating system or
application software, and perform a single task
or a small range of tasks.

Example: Disk Defragmenters, System Profilers,

Virus Scanners (Disk doctors–fix disks, Antivirus–
“kill” viruses)
Software
❖ Types of Software
▪ Application Programs- are the top software
layer. You can perform specific tasks with these
programs, such as using a word processor for
writing, a spreadsheet for accounting, or a
computer-aided design program for drawing.
The other two layers, device drivers and the
operating system, play important support roles.
Your system might run one application program
at a time, or it might run many simultaneously.