Chapter 2:
Basic computer hardware & software
Hardware
A Motherboard is the big printed circuit board that covers most of the bottom of the system unit. A motherboard is the most important component in a computer system. All of the other hardware in a computer system connects to the motherboard.
Components of Motherboard
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slots-
General-purpose, expansion slots on a motherboard, also the expansion bus that serve these slots.PCI also know as industry specification for connecting hardware devices to a computer's central processor. Both Ethernet and Wi-Fi network adapters for desktop and notebook computers commonly utilize PCI.
BIOS Chip-
Chip that contain programming code stored on a nonvolatile ROM or flash memory chip on the motherboard that enables the CPUto communicate with the basic devices in the computer, such as keyboard, monitor, and hard drive.
CMOS battery-
All personal computers require a small battery on the system board that provides power to the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) chip, even while the computer is turned off. This chip contains information about the system configuration (e.g., hard disk type, floppy drive types, date and time, and the order in which the computer will look for bootable disks). The CMOS battery allows the CMOS to preserve these settings.
AMR Slot-
AMR (Audio Modem Riser), are slot that you can find on your motheboard. It slot devices like modems cards, sound cards and network cards.Usually AMR device are offered by the motherboard manufacturer as an option to the motherboard.
AGP slot-
The Accelerated Graphics Port (often shortened to AGP) is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to a computer's motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. Since 2004, AGP has been progressively phased out in favor of PCI Express. As of mid-2009, PCI cards dominate the market, but new AGP cards and motherboards are still available for purchase. However, most new motherboards do not provide AGP slots, only PCI slots.
Built-in audio connector
use to connect with speaker-out, line-in, microphone-in & Game port
Serial Port-
A 9-pin female port used to attach older serial devices, such as external modems and serial mice to a PC
Parallel Port
A 25-pin, D-shaped female port used to attach a printer, scanner, or other parallel device to a PC.
USB Port
Universal Serial Bus is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices.
USB was designed to standardise the connection of computer peripherals, such as keyboards, pointing devices, digital cameras, printers, portable media players, disk drives and network adapters to personal computers, both to communicate and to supply electric power. It has become commonplace on other devices, such as smartphones, PDAs and video game consoles. USB has effectively replaced a variety of earlier interfaces, such as serial and parallel ports, as well as separate power chargers for portable devices.
PS/2
A type of port/connector also called a mini-Din; used for the keyboard and mouse. The two small round PS/2 ports are located on the edge of the motherboard closet to the CPU. However, today most of keyboard and mouse use the USB connector.
Fan connector
This connector is used when connecting a fan to the motherboard or other circuit board. It can be 3-pin or 4-pin Molex connector.
CPU socket or CPU slot
A mechanical component that provides mechanical and electrical connections between a device (usually a microprocessor) and a printed circuit board (PCB). This allows the CPU to be replaced without risking the damage typically introduced when using soldering tools.
ATX Power connector
ATX power connectors are the specific types of connectors designed to connect a computer's power supply to an ATX motherboardAt least three connector types come on all PC ATX power supplies. The first two are motherboard connectors: one 4-pin molex and one 20-pin molex.
Memory slot
Slot that hold memory card. Types of memory card are Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), DDR (Double Data Rate SDRAM) & DDR2.
Floppy Disk PortUsed to attach floppy disk. The most common type of floppy drive is the 3.5" drive, followed by the 5.25" drive, among other sizes.EIDE Port Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. A hardware interface which is faster than IDE, allows more memory, and can connect up to four devices (such as hard drives, tape drives, and CD-ROM drives) to the computer.
Motherboard Chipset
Normally there are two major microcircuit chips installed on a computer's motherboard. The chips are called a chipset and they control the flow of data to the components on your computer. The motherboard chipset consists of a North Bridge (Memory and Expansion BUS) and a South Bridge (I/O). Typically, chipsets are built around the specifications of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) processor.
Front Panel connector
Use to connect with Power LED, hard disk LED, reset, speaker & USB (today)
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) SlotA PC bus standard developed by IBM, extending the bus to 16-bits. An ISA bus can access 8-bit and 16-bit devices.
PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) slots-
General-purpose, expansion slots on a motherboard, also the expansion bus that serve these slots.PCI also know as industry specification for connecting hardware devices to a computer's central processor. Both Ethernet and Wi-Fi network adapters for desktop and notebook computers commonly utilize PCI.
BIOS Chip-
Chip that contain programming code stored on a nonvolatile ROM or flash memory chip on the motherboard that enables the CPUto communicate with the basic devices in the computer, such as keyboard, monitor, and hard drive.
CMOS battery-
All personal computers require a small battery on the system board that provides power to the Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) chip, even while the computer is turned off. This chip contains information about the system configuration (e.g., hard disk type, floppy drive types, date and time, and the order in which the computer will look for bootable disks). The CMOS battery allows the CMOS to preserve these settings.
AMR Slot-
AMR (Audio Modem Riser), are slot that you can find on your motheboard. It slot devices like modems cards, sound cards and network cards.Usually AMR device are offered by the motherboard manufacturer as an option to the motherboard.
AGP slot-
The Accelerated Graphics Port (often shortened to AGP) is a high-speed point-to-point channel for attaching a video card to a computer's motherboard, primarily to assist in the acceleration of 3D computer graphics. Since 2004, AGP has been progressively phased out in favor of PCI Express. As of mid-2009, PCI cards dominate the market, but new AGP cards and motherboards are still available for purchase. However, most new motherboards do not provide AGP slots, only PCI slots.
Built-in audio connector
use to connect with speaker-out, line-in, microphone-in & Game port
Serial Port-
A 9-pin female port used to attach older serial devices, such as external modems and serial mice to a PC
Parallel Port
A 25-pin, D-shaped female port used to attach a printer, scanner, or other parallel device to a PC.
USB Port
Universal Serial Bus is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices.
USB was designed to standardise the connection of computer peripherals, such as keyboards, pointing devices, digital cameras, printers, portable media players, disk drives and network adapters to personal computers, both to communicate and to supply electric power. It has become commonplace on other devices, such as smartphones, PDAs and video game consoles. USB has effectively replaced a variety of earlier interfaces, such as serial and parallel ports, as well as separate power chargers for portable devices.
PS/2
A type of port/connector also called a mini-Din; used for the keyboard and mouse. The two small round PS/2 ports are located on the edge of the motherboard closet to the CPU. However, today most of keyboard and mouse use the USB connector.
Fan connector
This connector is used when connecting a fan to the motherboard or other circuit board. It can be 3-pin or 4-pin Molex connector.
CPU socket or CPU slot
A mechanical component that provides mechanical and electrical connections between a device (usually a microprocessor) and a printed circuit board (PCB). This allows the CPU to be replaced without risking the damage typically introduced when using soldering tools.
ATX Power connector
ATX power connectors are the specific types of connectors designed to connect a computer's power supply to an ATX motherboardAt least three connector types come on all PC ATX power supplies. The first two are motherboard connectors: one 4-pin molex and one 20-pin molex.
Memory slot
Slot that hold memory card. Types of memory card are Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), DDR (Double Data Rate SDRAM) & DDR2.
Floppy Disk PortUsed to attach floppy disk. The most common type of floppy drive is the 3.5" drive, followed by the 5.25" drive, among other sizes.EIDE Port Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics. A hardware interface which is faster than IDE, allows more memory, and can connect up to four devices (such as hard drives, tape drives, and CD-ROM drives) to the computer.
Motherboard Chipset
Normally there are two major microcircuit chips installed on a computer's motherboard. The chips are called a chipset and they control the flow of data to the components on your computer. The motherboard chipset consists of a North Bridge (Memory and Expansion BUS) and a South Bridge (I/O). Typically, chipsets are built around the specifications of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) processor.
Front Panel connector
Use to connect with Power LED, hard disk LED, reset, speaker & USB (today)
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) SlotA PC bus standard developed by IBM, extending the bus to 16-bits. An ISA bus can access 8-bit and 16-bit devices.
System Unit
System unit is a case that contains the electronic components of the computer that are used to process data. Motherboard – cover most of the bottom of the system unit. 2 main components on the motherboard are: Processor & memory.
System Unit is the main part of a personal computer. The system unit includes the chassis, microprocessor, main memory, bus, and ports, but does not include the keyboard or monitor, or any peripheral devices.Pronounced "CHA-see." Also called case, a metal frame that serves as the structural support for electronic components. Every computer system requires at least one chassis to house the circuit boards and wiring. The chassis also contains slots for expansion boards. If you want to insert more boards than there are slots, you will need an expansion chassis, which provides additional slots.
There are two basic flavors of chassis designs-desktop models and tower models -but there are many variations on these two basic types.
System Unit is the main part of a personal computer. The system unit includes the chassis, microprocessor, main memory, bus, and ports, but does not include the keyboard or monitor, or any peripheral devices.Pronounced "CHA-see." Also called case, a metal frame that serves as the structural support for electronic components. Every computer system requires at least one chassis to house the circuit boards and wiring. The chassis also contains slots for expansion boards. If you want to insert more boards than there are slots, you will need an expansion chassis, which provides additional slots.
There are two basic flavors of chassis designs-desktop models and tower models -but there are many variations on these two basic types.
Peripheral: A computer device, such as a CD-ROM drive or printer, that is not part of the essential computer, i.e., the memory and microprocessor. Peripheral devices can be external -- such as a mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor, external Zip drive or scanner -- or internal, such as a CD-ROM drive, CD-R drive or internal modem. Internal peripheral devices are often referred to as integrated peripherals.
1. CPU (Central Processing Unit)
Its basically the brain of your computer. The CPU is a used to process everything from basic to complex functions in a computer.
2. Memory
2 types of memory are: volatile memory and non-volatile memory.When the computer’s power is turned off, volatile memory loses its contents. Nonvolatile memory, by contrast does not lose its contents when power is removed from the computer. Thus, volatile memory is temporary and nonvolatile memory is permanent. RAM is the most common type of volatile memory. Examples of nonvolatile memory include ROM, flash memory, and CMOS. Memory size: Kilobyte (KB), Megabyte (MB), Gigabyte (GB) and Terabyte (TB).
3. RAM
Randam Access Memory is in effect, the CPU's short-term memory. RAM is memory that attaches to the motherboard. RAM is hardware used to temporarily store and access data.
4. Power Supply
Sends power to all of the other hardware so they can operate.
5. Hard Drive
The hard drive is your PC's long -term memory. A hard Drive is used for permanently storing files and programs.
6. Disk Drives
Disk drives can be a floppy drive, CD drive, DVD drive or other possible file storage devices that are used in a computer.
7. Video Card
The part of a computer system that converts binary code from the CPU so you view it on a monitor.
8. USB (Universal Serial Bus)
USB is General-purpose connection for PC. You can find USB versions of many different devices, such as mouse, keyboard, scanners, cameras, and even printer.
1. CPU (Central Processing Unit)
Its basically the brain of your computer. The CPU is a used to process everything from basic to complex functions in a computer.
2. Memory
2 types of memory are: volatile memory and non-volatile memory.When the computer’s power is turned off, volatile memory loses its contents. Nonvolatile memory, by contrast does not lose its contents when power is removed from the computer. Thus, volatile memory is temporary and nonvolatile memory is permanent. RAM is the most common type of volatile memory. Examples of nonvolatile memory include ROM, flash memory, and CMOS. Memory size: Kilobyte (KB), Megabyte (MB), Gigabyte (GB) and Terabyte (TB).
3. RAM
Randam Access Memory is in effect, the CPU's short-term memory. RAM is memory that attaches to the motherboard. RAM is hardware used to temporarily store and access data.
4. Power Supply
Sends power to all of the other hardware so they can operate.
5. Hard Drive
The hard drive is your PC's long -term memory. A hard Drive is used for permanently storing files and programs.
6. Disk Drives
Disk drives can be a floppy drive, CD drive, DVD drive or other possible file storage devices that are used in a computer.
7. Video Card
The part of a computer system that converts binary code from the CPU so you view it on a monitor.
8. USB (Universal Serial Bus)
USB is General-purpose connection for PC. You can find USB versions of many different devices, such as mouse, keyboard, scanners, cameras, and even printer.
Software
Software is the instructions that tell a computer how to carry out a task are referred to as a computer program. These programs form the software that prepares a computer to do a specific task such as document production, photo editing, virus protection, file management, or Web browsing.
How is software categorized?
The two main categories are system software & application software.
System software
Designed for computer-centric task for example you would use system software to diagnose a problem with your hard disk drive or Internet connection,
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Application software
Designed to help people to accomplish real-world tasks. For example you would use application software to edit a photo or write a term paper.
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Operating System
A type of system software that acts as the master controller for all activities that take place within a computer system.
What does an operating system do?
Today's Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows- is installed on more that 80% of the world's personal computers.
Windows Timeline:
1985- Wndows 1.0
1987-Windows 2,0
1990-Windows 3.0
1992 Windows 3.1
1992- Windows for Workgroups
1993- Windows NT
1995 -Windows 95
1998-Windows 98
2000-Windows 2000
2000-Windows Me
2001-Windows XP
2007-Windows Vista
2009-Windows 7
MAC OS- stands for Macintosh Operating Systems and it is the operating system designed for Apple Computer's Macintosh line of computer systems. Although Mac OS was developed several years before Windows, both operating system feature multiple rectangular work areas to reflect multitasking capabilities. Both operating systems also provide basic networking services.
Mac OS X Timeline
2001-Mac OS x 10.1-10.4 (Cheetah)
2006-Mac OS x 10.4.4 (Tiger Intel)
2007-Mac OS x 10.5 (Leopard)
2009-Mac OS x 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
2010- Mac OS x 10.7 (Lion)
UNIX and LINUX
The UNIX operating system was developed in 1969 at AT&T's Bell Labs. It gained a good reputation for its dependability in multiuser environments, and many versions of it became available for mainframes and microcomputers.
Handheld Operating System
Six operating systems dominate the realm of handheld computers are:
What does an operating system do?
- Manage processor resources to handle simutaneous input, output, and processing tasks.
- Manage memory by allocating space for all the programs and data that are in use during a computing session.
- Keep track of storage resources so that files and programs can be found and manipulated.
- Ensure that input and output proceed in an orderly manner by communicating with the peripheral devices.
- Establish basic elements of the user interface such as the appearance of the desktop, menus, and toolbars.
Today's Operating Systems
Microsoft Windows- is installed on more that 80% of the world's personal computers.
Windows Timeline:
1985- Wndows 1.0
1987-Windows 2,0
1990-Windows 3.0
1992 Windows 3.1
1992- Windows for Workgroups
1993- Windows NT
1995 -Windows 95
1998-Windows 98
2000-Windows 2000
2000-Windows Me
2001-Windows XP
2007-Windows Vista
2009-Windows 7
MAC OS- stands for Macintosh Operating Systems and it is the operating system designed for Apple Computer's Macintosh line of computer systems. Although Mac OS was developed several years before Windows, both operating system feature multiple rectangular work areas to reflect multitasking capabilities. Both operating systems also provide basic networking services.
Mac OS X Timeline
2001-Mac OS x 10.1-10.4 (Cheetah)
2006-Mac OS x 10.4.4 (Tiger Intel)
2007-Mac OS x 10.5 (Leopard)
2009-Mac OS x 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
2010- Mac OS x 10.7 (Lion)
UNIX and LINUX
The UNIX operating system was developed in 1969 at AT&T's Bell Labs. It gained a good reputation for its dependability in multiuser environments, and many versions of it became available for mainframes and microcomputers.
Handheld Operating System
Six operating systems dominate the realm of handheld computers are:
- PalmwebOS
- Symbian
- Windows Phone 7
- BlackBerry OS
- Android OS
- iOS (iPhone OS)
Utility Software
A type of software called utility software is designed to help you monitor and configure settings for your computer system equipment, the operating system or apllication software.
Like all system software, utilities focus n computer-centric task as blocking viruses or diagnoseing hard disk errors, rather than real world tasks such as production or accounting. Example of utility software includes setup wizards, communications programs, security software and diagnose tools.
In recent years, antivirus products, such as Norton AntiVirus, McAfee VirusScan and avast! have been popular category of utiity software. With the recent influx of nuisance ads, intrustion attempts, and spam, utilities such as pop-up ad blockers, personal firewalls and spam fillters have also become best-sellers.
Like all system software, utilities focus n computer-centric task as blocking viruses or diagnoseing hard disk errors, rather than real world tasks such as production or accounting. Example of utility software includes setup wizards, communications programs, security software and diagnose tools.
In recent years, antivirus products, such as Norton AntiVirus, McAfee VirusScan and avast! have been popular category of utiity software. With the recent influx of nuisance ads, intrustion attempts, and spam, utilities such as pop-up ad blockers, personal firewalls and spam fillters have also become best-sellers.