CHAPTER 1

Start computer, system information and features

 The word computer is derived from the word compute. Compute means to calculate. The
computer was originally defined as a super-fast calculator. It had the capacity to solve complex
arithmetic and scientific problems at very high speed. But nowadays in addition to handling
complex arithmetic computations, computers perform many other tasks like accepting, sorting,
selecting, moving, comparing various types of information. They also perform arithmetic and
logical operations on alphabetic, numeric and other types of information. This information
provided by the user to the computer is data. The information in one form which is presented to
the computer is the input information or input data.

Information in another form is presented by the computer after performing a process on it. This
information is the output information or output data. The set of instructions given to the computer to
perform various operations is called as the computer program. The process of converting the input
data into the required output form with the help of the computer program is called as data
processing. The computers are therefore also referred to as data processors Therefore a computer
can now be defined as a fast and accurate data processing system that accepts data, performs various
operations on the data, has the capability to store the data and produce the results on the basis of
detailed step by step instructions given to it..
The terms hardware and software are almost always used in connection with the computer.
• The Hardware: The hardware is the machinery itself. It is made up of the physical parts or devices of the
computer system like the electronic Integrated Circuits (ICs), magnetic storage media and other mechanical
devices like input devices, output devices etc. All these various hardware are linked together to form an
effective functional unit. The various types of hardware used in the computers, has evolved from vacuum
tubes of the first generation to Ultra Large Scale Integrated Circuits of the present generation.

Input Devices Input device is any peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment to provide data and
control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance.
Input device Translate data from form that humans understand to one that the computer can work with.
Most common are keyboard and mouse

Examples of Input device are:- 1.Keyboard. 2. Mouse (pointing device) 3. Microphone 4. Touch screen 5.
Scanner 6. Webcam 7. Touchpads 8. MIDI keyboard 9. 10.Graphics Tablets 11.Cameras 12.Pen Input
13.Video Capture Hardware 14.Microphone 15.Trackballs 16.Barcode reader 17.Digital camera 18.Joystick
19.Gamepad 20.Electronic Whiteboard.
Note: The most common use keyboard is the QWERTY keyboard. Generally standard Keyboard has 104
keys.
 CLASSIFICATION OF COMPUTERS
Computers are broadly classified into two categories depending upon the logic used in their design
as:
Analog computers: In analog computers, data is recognized as a continuous measurement of a
physical property like voltage, speed, pressure etc. Readings on a dial or graphs are obtained as the
output, ex. Voltage, temperature; pressure can be measured in this way.
Digital Computers: These are high speed electronic devices. These devices are programmable.
They process data by way of mathematical calculations, comparison, sorting etc. They accept input
and produce output as discrete signals representing high (on) or low (off) voltage state of electricity.
Numbers, alphabets, symbols are all represented as a series of 1s and Os.
Digital Computers are further classified as General Purpose Digital Computers and
Special Purpose Digital Computers. General Purpose computers can be used for any
applications like accounts, payroll, data processing etc. Special purpose computers are used
for a specific job like those used in automobiles, microwaves etc. Another classification of
digital computers is done on the basis of their capacity to access memory and size like:
Central Processing Unit (CPU)
A CPU is brain of a computer. It is responsible for all functions and processes. Regarding computing
power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system. The CPU is comprised of three main
parts :
* Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU): Executes all arithmetic and logical operations. Arithmetic calculations like
as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Logical operation like compare numbers, letters, or
special characters
* Control Unit (CU): controls and co-ordinates computer components.
1. Read the code for the next instruction to be executed.
2. Increment the program counter so it points to the next instruction.
3. Read whatever data the instruction requires from cells in memory.
4. Provide the necessary data to an ALU or register.
5. If the instruction requires an ALU or specialized hardware to complete, instruct the hardware to perform
the requested operation.
* Registers :Stores the data that is to be executed next, "very fast storage area".
Primary Memory:-
1. RAM: Random Access Memory (RAM) is a memory scheme within the computer system responsible for storing
data on a temporary basis, so that it can be promptly accessed by the processor as and when needed. It is volatile
in nature, which means that data will be erased once supply to the storage device is turned off. RAM stores data
randomly and the processor accesses these data randomly from the RAM storage. RAM is considered "random
access" because you can access any memory cell directly if you know the row and column that intersect at that cell.
2. ROM (Read Only Memory): ROM is a permanent form of storage. ROM stays active regardless of whether power
supply to it is turned on or off. ROM devices do not allow data stored on them to be modified.

Secondary Memory:-
Stores data and programs permanently :its retained after the power is turned off
1. Hard drive (HD): A hard disk is part of a unit, often called a "disk drive," "hard drive," or "hard disk
drive," that store and provides relatively quick access to large amounts of data on an electromagnetically
charged surface or set of surfaces.
2. Optical Disk: an optical disc drive (ODD) is a disk drive 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. Compact discs, DVDs, and Blu-ray
discs are common types of optical media which can be read and recorded by such drives. Optical drive is
the generic name; drives are usually described as "CD" "DVD", or "Bluray", followed by "drive", "writer",
etc. There are three main types of optical media: CD, DVD, and Blu-ray disc
3. Flash Disk A storage module made of flash memory chips. A Flash disks have no mechanical platters or access arms,
but the term "disk" is used because the data are accessed as if they were on a hard drive. The disk storage structure is
emulated.
Output devices
An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing
carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) which converts the electronically generated
information into human-readable form.
Example of output are:-
1. Monitor
2. LCD Projection Panels
3. Printers (all types)
4. Computer Output Microfilm (COM)
5. Plotters
6. Speaker(s)
7. Projector
Software
Software is a generic term for organized collections of computer data and instructions, often broken into two major
categories: system software that provides the basic non-task-specific functions of the computer, and application
software which is used by users to accomplish specific tasks.
Software Types
A. System software is responsible for controlling, integrating, and managing the individual hardware components of a
computer system so that other software and the users of the system see it as a functional unit without having to be
concerned with the low-level details such as transferring data from memory to disk, or rendering text onto a display.
Generally, system software consists of an operating system and some fundamental utilities such as disk formatters, file
managers, display managers, text editors, user authentication (login) and management tools, and networking and
device control software

B. Application software is used to accomplish specific tasks other than just running the computer system. Application
software may consist of a single program, such as an image viewer; a small collection of programs (often called a
software package) that work closely together to accomplish a task, such as a spreadsheet or text processing system; a
larger collection (often called a software suite) of related but independent programs and packages that have a common
user interface or shared data format, such as Microsoft Office, which consists of closely integrated word processor,
spreadsheet, database, etc.; or a software system, such as a database management system, which is a collection of
fundamental programs that may provide some service to a variety of other independent applications.
 Comparison Application Software and System Software

System Software Application Software

Computer software, or just software is a
general term primarily used for digitally
Application software, also known
stored data such as computer programs and as an application or an "app", is
other kinds of information read and written computer software designed to
by computers. App comes under computer help the user to perform specific
software though it has a wide scope now.
tasks
Example:
1) Microsoft Windows 1) Opera (Web Browser)
2) Linux 2) Microsoft Word (Word Processing)
3) Unix 3) Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet software)
4) Mac OSX 4) MySQL (Database Software)
5) DOS 5) Microsoft PowerPoint (Presentation
Software)
6) Adobe Photoshop (Graphics Software)

Interaction: Generally, users do not interact with Users always interact with application software while
system software as it works in the doing different activities.
background.
Dependency: System software can run independently of the application software.
Application software cannot run without the presence of the system software