CHAPTER 1

COMPUTER SYSTEM

WHAT IS COMPUTER

A computer is an automatic, high speed, digital, electronic data processing machine used for
performing program instructing to produce the desired output, It ca choose, copy arithmetic operations.
I is fast accurate manipulating system that is designed and organized to accept and store input data
automatically, process and produce outputs results under the direction of a detailed step-by-step
program of instruction.

What is the importance of computer in education?

Computers have become an integral part of our daily lives. Since the advent of personal computers, they
have become an integral part of the education system. Having computers as a part one's education can
prove very helpful. Being good in studies and computers can secure better job prospects. In this age and
time computer knowledge is a must. The computer networks these days have a powerful impact on the
ways which individuals, private organizations can communicate with each other. This age is known as the
era of IT business, where every application is linked with computer technologies. The use of computers
can make business transactions very accurate, thus keeping a proper record of profit and loss.
Computers play a very vital role in education.

Elements of Computer

• People — refers to the people involved in the data processing operation such as the computer
programmers, computer operators, system analysis, computer technicians, staff, etc.

• Software- refers to the program or set of instructions that enable the computer system to
operate effectively. These include the system software, application software, programming languages,
logical steps and procedures in the program.

• Hardware- refers to physical electronic devices and tangible parts that constitute the computer
system. These include the keyboard, monitor, disk drive, CPU, printer, etc.

• Data- refers to data needed in the processing operations include texts, numbers, sounds, images
and video that we input into the computer for processing.

• Connectivity — means that a computer must be connected to other computers specially through
internet. Using internet, people can share and access data greatly expands one’s capability and reach

• Procedure- are step-by-step instructions to follow when using hardware, software and data. The
procedures are normally written on manuals of hardware and software manufacturers.

What is a computer system?

' The computer system is a group of integrated parts that have the common purpose of performing
various operations. It consists of a computer, all the support equipment necessary for its use,
instructions that specify the performance of certain tasks, procedures that people must follow to use the
computer, and the people who use the system. The purpose of a computer is to accept data, processing
data, and procedure output as useful information.
What is Computer Hardware?

The term HARDWARE is used to describe aIl the physical components of a computer system. It includes
the External and Internal device components of computer system.

External devices

Hardware

The hardware are the parts of computer itself including the Central Processing Unit CPU) and related
microchips and microcircuitry, keyboards, monitors, case and rives (floppy, hard, CD, DVD, optical, tape,
etc...). Other extra parts called peripheral components or devices include mouse, printers, modems,
scanners, digital cameras and cards (sound, color, video) etc... together they are often referred to as a
arsenal computers or PCs.

What is a Personal computer?

A personal computer, (usually called a "PC") is a computer made to be used by one person. Other kinds
of computers are often designed to be used by many people at the same time. The Personal Computer
has Monitor, System Unit, Keyboard and Disk Drives.

What are the Components of Computer Hardware?

 Input devices
 Processing devices
 Memory devices
 Output devices
 Storage devices Communication devices
Components of Computer System

 Input Unit

It is the component of computer system designed for data entry operations. It allows direct human or
machine communication while others require data to be recorded on an input medium. The input device
reads and transmits data to the main memory of the computer. Data are entered into this device by
pressing appropriate keys. One example is a card reader.

 Output Unit

It is the component of computer system that gives out the users the results of the processed data. The
information is transmitted from CPU to this output device, where it is printed or recorded.

 Central processing Unit (CPU)

It is the physical device that controls the computer operations. It accepts and stores the program and the
data in the memory or primary storage. One of the program and data are stored, the CPU executed and
processes the data. It is known as the "brain of the computer". It is composed of three parts, namely:
Primary Storage, Arithmetic Logic Unit, and Control Unit.

 Auxiliary Storage Unit

It is the component system that stores information subsequently used by the CPU or a more permanent
basis is secondary or auxiliary storage. Examples of auxiliary storage devices are disk drives, magnetic
disk and magnetic tapes.

Computers can perform the following data processing activities rapidly and liably.

 Input and Output Operations- A computer can accepts and supply processed data to a wide
range of devices.
 Calculation and Text Manipulation- A computer can perform calculations on numbers,
nonnumerical letters, and other symbols used in words and sentences.
 Logic and Comparison Operations- A computer performs comparison for decision making.
 Storage and Retrieval Operations- A computer can internally accept data and program
instruction and they may be called up for use.

Input Devices

Consist of devices that take data and programs that people can read r comprehend and convert them to
a form that a computer can process.
1.Text input devices
 Keyboard
2.Pointing devices
-Mouse
 Trackball
 Track Point
 Touch Pad
3.Gaming devices
 Joystick
 Gamepad
 Game controller
4.Scanning, Video input devices
 Bar-code readers
 Mark and Character-recognition system
 Image scanners
 Webcam
5.Audio input devices
 Microphone
Text input devices
Computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modeled after the typewriter keyboard. Keyboards are
designed for the input of text and characters and also to control the operation of a computer.
Pointing devices
A pointing device is any computer hardware component (specifically human interface device) that
allows a user to input spatial (ie, continuous and multi-dimensional) data to a computer. CAD systems
and graphical user interfaces (GUI) allow the user to control and provide data to the computer using
physical gestures point, click, and drag.

Light pen
• A light pen is a computer input device in the form of a light-sensitive wand used in conjunction with
the computer's CRT monitor. It allows the user to point to displayed objects, or draw on the screen, in a
similar way to a touch screen but with greater positional accuracy.

Other Pointing Device

Gaming devices
 A joystick is a personal computer peripheral or general control device consisting of a handheld
stick that pivots about one end and transmits its angle in two or three dimensions to a computer.

 A gamepad, also called joypad or control pad, is a type of game controller held in the hand,
where the digits (especially thumbs) are used to provide input.

Scanning devices
• A barcode reader, also called a price scanner or point-of-sale (POS) scanner, is a hand-held or stationary
input device used to capture and read information contained in a bar code. A barcode reader consists of
a scanner, a decoder (either built-in or external), and a cable used to connect the reader with a
computer.

 Mark and Character-recognition system and Optical mark recognition is the process of capturing
data by contrasting reflectivity at predetermined positions on a page. By shining a beam of light
onto the document the scanner is able to detect a marked area because it reflects less light than
an unmarked surface.

 An image scanner is a device that analyzes an image (such as a photograph, printed text, or
handwriting) or an object (such as an ornament) and converts it to a digital image.
  Flatbed
 Drum
 Hand
Video input devices
 A web camera (or webcam) is a real-time camera (usually, though not always, a video camera)
whose images can be accessed using the World Wide Web, instant messaging, or a PC video
calling application.

Audio input devices

• A microphone, sometimes referred to as a mike or mic is an acoustic to electric transducer or sensor
that converts sound into an electrical signal.

THE INPUT DEVICES

 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Light pen
 Sensor
 Modem
 Scanner
 Barcode reader
 Microphone
 Webcam
THE OUTPUT DEVICES
 Printer- hardcopy
  Monitor-softcopy
 Headphone
 Speaker

What's a computer chip?

 integrated circuits - thin slices of silicon crystal packed with microscopic circuit elements
— Wires
— Transistors
— Capacitors
— Logic gates
— Resistors
How does a microprocessor work?
The CPU has two parts
•ALU (arithmetic logic unit)
— Performs arithmetic operations
— Performs logical operations
— Uses registers to hold data being processed
•The CPU's control unit directs and coordinates processing
MOTHERBOARD
• Also called the system board, is the main circuit board in the system unit. It consists of a flat
board that fills the bottom of the system unit.
• This board contains the microprocessor, any microprocessor chips, RAM chips, ROM chips, some
other types of memory, and expansion slots, where additional circuit boards, called expansion boards,
may be plugged in.
HOW MUCH RAM DOES MY COMPUTER NEED?
RAM is primary storage (main memory)
Measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB)
• Today's computers have between 128 MB and 2 GB of RAM
• You can purchase additional RAM
• A computer can use disk storage to simulate RAM. This is called virtual memory(Not as fast as
RAM)

Types of RAM
 SDRAM - synchronous dynamic random-access memory which is a type of solid-state computer
memory.
 DDR - double-data-rate, is a class of memory integrated circuit used in computers.
 RDRAM — rambus dynamic random access memory
TYPES OF RAM

READ-ONLY MEMORY: How is ROM different from RAM?

 ROM (read-only memory) is one or more chips containing instructions that help a computer
prepare to process tasks.
 ROM is permanent and non-volatile
 Only way to change the instructions on a ROM chip is to replace the chip.
CMOS MEMORY: Where does a computer store its basic hardware settings?
A computer needs a semi-permanent way of keeping boot data, such as the number of hard disk sectors
and cylinders CMOS memory- holds data but requires very little power to retain its contents
Retains important computer settings after you turn the power off
— Can run by a battery on the motherboard
— Housed within the same chip carrier as ROM BIOS

What is an expansion slot?

• Expansion slot - long, narrow socket on the motherboard into which you can plug an expansion
card
— Graphics card (for connecting monitor)
— Modem (for transmitting data over phone or cable lines)
— Sound card (for connecting speakers)
• Expansion card - small circuit board that provides computer with ability to control storage, input
or output device
• Most computers have 4 - 8 expansion slots

What are the major types of expansion slots?

• ISA (Industry Standard Architecture)
-Used today only for some modems and other relatively slow devices
• PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect)
-Offers fast transfer speeds and a 32-bit or 64-bit data bus
• AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port)
-Provides a high-speed data pathway primarily used for graphics cards.
Do notebook computers also contain expansion slots?
 Most notebook computers are equipped with a special type of external slot called a PCMCIA slot
(personal computer memory card international association)
 Typically, a notebook only has one slot, but the slot can hold more than one PC card (PCMCIA
expansion cards)
EXPANSION CARDS
 A video Card also referred to as (Graphics accelerator card, display adapter, graphics card and
numerous other terms), is an item of personal computer hardware whose function is to generate
an output image to a display.

 A network card, network adapter or NIC(network interface controller) is a piece of computer

hardware designed to allow computers to communicate over a computer network.

Back/rear view of a CPU

OUTPUT DEVICES
 Provides the user with the means to view and used the information produced by the computer
system.
 Information is output in either soft copy or hardcopy form
 Examples are monitor, printer, speaker or any audio output devices, LCD projectors, plotters etc.

TYPES OF PRINTERS
 Ink jet printer- Nozzle like print head printer that sprays ink onto paper to form characters and
graphics

 Laser printer-uses the same technology as a photo copier to paint dots of light on a light
sensitive drum
_higher quality than ink-jet
_More expensive to buy than ink- jet
_Less expensive to operate than ink-jet
 Dot-matrix printer-produce characters and graphics by using a grid of fine wires
_introduce in 1970’s
_Low quality output
_used for “back-office” applications that demand low operating cost and dependability
_ can print multipart carbon forms.

SPEAKERS

COMPUTER STORAGE

Storage- is a means to hold and store data, programs and information for the present and future
use. All computers have some sort of storage to function properly. Storage that loses its
contentsis power is off is called volatile storage and the one that retain its contents is called non
 volatile storage. The term memory refers to RAM and the term storage is used to refer to non-
volatile storage devices such as hard disks, flash drives, memory cards, diskette, CD’s and DVD’s.

Storage Capacity-Bit is short for Binary digit and it is a single piece of information either 0 or 1.
Computers only understand binary digit and inside the computer, data are represented as 0 or 1.
Each character of the alphabet and the numbers are represented by a byte.

Byte- is a unit of information that is equal to 8 bits.

STORAGE SIZES
 Kilobyte(KB)-approx. 1000 bytes
 Megabyte(MB)-approx.1 million bytes
 Gigabyte(GB)-approx. 1 billion bytes
 Terabyte(TB)-approx. 1 trillion bytes
 Petabyte(PB)-approx. ! quadrillion bytes
 Exabyte(EB)-approx.1 quintillion bytes
 Zettabyte(ZB)-approx 1 sextillion bytes
 Yottabyte(YB)-approx.1 septillion bytes
TYPES OF STORAGE
A. Floppy Disk- is small capacity magnetic storge device inside a plastic case accessible by a floppy
disk drive. It comes in a 3 1/2inch size and a capacity of 1.44 MB.
B. Optical Disc- Optical media or optical disc are storage that use laser technology to store data
onto circular plastic or metallic disc, The data in the disc are accessed by the of an optical disc
drive or ODD
 Compact Disc- the most widely used optical disc, standard capacity is around 700 MB.
Ther are 3 types of CD the CD-ROM’s,CDR’s, and the rewritable CD.
C. Hard Disk- almost all desk top computer hardware uses the hard disk as the main storage inside
the CPU box. It is directely connected to the mother board by a data cable. It is also used in
computer laptops but of a smaller size. Today’s computer has a minimum capacity of 80 GB, then
160 GB,250 GB500 GB, 620 GB and 1 TB.
COMMUNICATION DEVICES
-Facilitates the connection between groups of connected computers called networks.
  Software- is a set of instructions that tells the computer what to do and how to arrive at
a desired result.
- Are instructions that processes the data entered into the computer.

TWO MAIN TYPES OF SOFTWARE:

1. System Software- is a collecting of programs which includes the:
A. Operating System- is a program basically responsible for the coordination,
management and sharing of hardware resources and tasks in the computer.
B. Utility System- is a program that performs maintenance tasks for the computer’s
resources, such as clean up, and organizing files and programs so they would load
and work faster.
C. Device Driver-is a program that allows a particular hardware device to work and
communicate with the computer system.
2.Application Software- a program designed to assists in the performance of a specific task such as word
processing, spreadsheet, graphics or presentation.
 Examples of application software
1. WEB BROWSER SOFTWARE
- is a program that allows you to browse the World Wide Web and its resources. The
most common web browsers are as follows:
a. Microsoft Internet Explorer
b. Mozilla Firefox
c. Google Chrome
d. Opera
e. Safari
f. Altavista, aj, msn

2. WORD PROCESSOR
-is a program that allows the user top create and change documents, letters, reports,
memos and other text documents. Examples are:
a. Microsoft Word - 2007, 2010, 2013
b. Corel Wordperfect
c. OpenOffice.org Writter
d. AppleWorks

3. SPREADSHEETS PROGRAMS
- are rows and columns of data organized and calculations are performed. Examples are:
a. Microsoft Excel
b. AppleNumbers
c. OpenOffice.org Calc

4. PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGER

(PIM)
- is a program that includes an address book, calendar of appointments, notes and other
information you want to manage and access when needed. Examples are:
a Microsoft Outlook
b. Apple iCal

5. PRESENTATION SOFTWARE
-is a software that is used to convey information, ideas, messages or products to a target
group of persons. Examples area:
a. Microsoft PowerPoint, 2007, 2010, 2013
b. OpenOffice.org Impress
c. Apple keynote
d. Adobe Persuasion

6.Data base programs- are programs created to organized data and information in a
manner desired by the user or in a format for its convenient recovery and access.
Examples are:
a. Microsoft Access
b. FileMaker Pro
c. MySQL
d. Oracle
e. OpenOffice Base

7. GRAPHICS SOFTWARE
-are programs for drawing and coloring. They can also edit pictures. Examples area:
a. Microsoft Paint
b. Adobe Illustrator
c. Adobe Photoshop
d. CorelDraw
e. OpenOffice Draw

8.Video Software- are programs to create, modify and enhance, ADD AND REMOVE
SEGMENTS AND OTHER EFFECTS A USER MAY WANT TO APPLY TO VIDEO FILES, Examples
are:
a. Adobe Premiere
b. Apple Final Cut
c. Microsoft Movie Maker
d. Sony Vegas

9. CAD- Computer Aoded Design- are program optimized for designing and drawing of
homes, buildings, cars, airplanes and other machineries. Examples are:
a. Auto CAD
b. Vectorworks

10. Web Page Authoring Program- is a software made to assist the users to create their
own web pages. Examples are:
a. Adobe Dreamweaver
b. Microsoft Frontpage
c. Joomia
 11. Reference Software- is a program that provides information for people. The most
common reference programs include encyclopedias, dictionaries, maps, and directories.
Examples are:
a. Encarta Encyclopedia
b. Merriam- Weser Desk Dictionary

12. Accounting Software- is a program for integrated accounting applications for any
business including schools. Examples are:
a. Peachtree Accounting
b. MYOB Accounting
c. Quickbooks Accounting

13. Entertainment Software- is a program made to play interactive games on the

personal computer. Programs in this category also include programs to su[port a hobby.
Examples are
a. Microsoft Fight Simulator
. Microsoft Train Simulator

14. Educational Software- is a program that teaches a certain skill. There is many
educational software for any subject that you can think of. This includes cooking, making
origami, typing tutor, how to play basketball, how to play the guitar and may others. In
academic applications, there are programs to assists students n learning math, science
and reading. Some examples are:
a. Math Success
b. Rapid Typing

15.Communication Software- is a program that allows a computer user to get in touch

with other people. Most of the available communication programs are now internet-
based and one good thing is that most of them are free and the only thing to do is to
register. Examples are:
a. E-mail Internet
b. Telephony (Skype)
c. Instant Messenger (Yahoo Messenger)

16. Antivirus Software- is a computer program that defects, prevents and takes action to
disarm or remove malicious software programs such as Trojan horse viruses and worms.
You can help protect your computer against viruses by using antivirus software.
o Computer Viruses are software programs that are deliberately design to
interfere with computer operation, record, corrupt, or delete data or spread
themselves to other computers and throughout the internet.
o To prevent viruses; you must update your antivirus software regularly. You can
set up most types of antiviruses software to update automatically.

MOST COMMONLY USE COMPUTER APPLICATIONS:

 1. Microsoft Word- is a program use to create, format, save, print letters, reports, newsletters’,
manuscripts, signs, certificates, flyers, letters, invitations, and other documents.
2.Microsoft Excel- is a computerized worksheet. A worksheet is an on- screen spreadsheet that
contains various cells in columns and rows. By entering information in the form of labels, values
and formulas into worksheet cell, you create tables or spreadsheets, useful for summarizing,
tabulating and analyzing data.
3.Microsoft PowerPoint- Is a presentations of graphics program that allows yu to create slide
shows. It allows you to organize, summarize and format your materials, illustrate your
presentation with images of clipart, animations, graphics and other multimedia components.

Additional information:
How should one take care of your computer?
1.Do not expose any computer to direct sunlight: put your computer away from windows and doors as
much as possible. The room temperature and humidity must be standard room temperature ( the room
does not necessarily be airconditioned).
2.Do not strike the keyboard too hard or hit the computer. Your hands must be clean when using the
keyboard or touching any diskettes.
3.The table or space where the computer sits must be stable and free from vibrations.
4.Do not use so much electrical connections with just one outlet. Use a voltage regulator or surge
protector; avoid using octopus plugs; extension cords are allowed. Do not pull the plug to turn it off. Use
the switch.
5.Use dust covers for your computer to avoid dust to accumulate inside the drives, CPU, or the keyboard;
keep your computer laboratory clean at all times.
6.During trouble shooting, do not let anyone (teachers and students) attempt to open the casing of the
computer unless he is a qualified computer technician.

What are the healthy ways of using your computer?

1.The distance between your body (or face) from the monitor should be at least 2 feet (or arm's length).
2.Do not stare at the monitor for a very long period; blink from time to time or close your eyes for a few
seconds after every 30 minutes of using the computer.
3.The computer keyboard should be at least at the same level with your hands — not too high and not
too low.
4.The seats should be comfortable with back rest — not too high, not too low.
5.It is best to buy low radiation monitor or buy screen fibers for each computer monitor.
6.Do not open the computer CPU for any reason at all; if someone will do it the computer must be
unplugged or switched off.
7.Do not wash your eyes after hours of using the computer. Do not insert your fingers in the drives or any
slots in the CPU or monitor.

Prepared By: RIA V. CANDIDO MAED-EA