UNIT-2:: Computer Hardware and Software

The terms hardware and software are almost always used in connection with the computer.

2.1 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.

(Computer hardware includes all the electrical, mechanical, and the electronic parts of a computer.
Any part that we can see or touch is the hard ware. )

Computer hardware includes

 System Unit
(It is a box like structure of the computer. Inside this box you can find the power supply,
storage device, hard disk and floppy drives, and the mother board containing CPU and
memory.)
 Peripheral devices
 Input devices i.e. keyboard, mouse etc.
 Output devices i.e. Display Unit, printer etc.
 Storage devices like hard disk, floppy disks etc.

2.2 The Software:

The computer hardware itself is not capable of doing anything on its own. It has to be given explicit
instructions to perform the specific task. The set of instructions that tells the computer what is to be
done with the input data. In computer terminology, this set of instructions is called a program and one
or more programs is termed as software.

Software used for computers may be of different types.

 Application Software
 System Software

System software is general purpose software which is used to operate computer hardware. It provides
platform to run application software.

Application software is specific purpose software which is used by user for performing specific task.

Below I have shared some main differences between them.

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 Difference between System Software and Application Software

System Software Application Software

System software is used for operating computer
hardware
System software are installed on the computer
when operating system is installed
In general, the user does not interact with
system software because it works in the
background
System software can run independently. It
provides platform for running application
software
Some examples of system software are
Operating Systems (Windows XP, Windows 7,
Windows 8, Mac oS, Linux, Unix), compiler,
assembler, debugger, driver, etc
Application software is used by user to perform
specific task
Application software are installed according to
user’s requirements
In general, the user interacts with application
software
Application software can’t run independently.
They can’t run without the presence of system
software
Some examples of application software are
word processor, web browser, media player,
Gaming software etc

2.3 Peripheral Devices

Peripheral devices are connected to the computer externally.
These devices are used for performing some specific functions.
Peripheral devices are as follows:
1. Input Devices
2. Output Devices

1. Input Devices
Input devices accept data and instructions from the user. Following are the examples of various
input devices, which are connected to the computer for this purpose.
A. Keyboard
B. Mouse
C. Light Pen
D. Optical/magnetic Scanner
E. Touch Screen
F. Microphone for voice as input
G. Track Ball
A. Keyboard
A keyboard (as shown in figure) is the most common
input device. Several kinds of keyboards are available,
but they resemble each other with minor variations. The
keyboard in most common use is the QWERTY board.

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 Generally standard keyboard has 104 keys. In these keyboards, the cursor control keys are
duplicated to allow easier use of the numeric pad.
B. Mouse
A mouse is an electro-mechanical, hand-held device (as shown in figure). It is
used as a pointer. It can perform functions like selecting menu commands,
moving icons, and resizing windows, starting programs, and choosing options.
The most common mouse uses an internal, magnetically coated ball, to detect the
movement of the mouse across a flat surface, usually a desktop. Now a day’s
Optical or laser mouse is used to detect the movement. All windows based
applications today are designed to work with a mouse. A mouse is used to replace hard-to-
remember key combinations with easier "Point and Click" actions. However, it cannot substitute
all keyboard operations. It can be alternative for commands based operations.
C. Light pen
An input device that utilizes a light-sensitive detector to select objects on a
display screen. A light pen is similar to a mouse (as shown in figure), except
that with a light pen you can move the pointer and select objects on the display
screen by directly pointing to the objects with the pen.
D. Optical Scanner
These devices are used for automatic data collection. The devices of this category completely
eliminate manual input of data. For example, the barcode reader is actually just a
special type of image scanner. An image scanner translates printed images into an
electronic format that can be stored in a computer’s memory, and with the right
kind of software, one can alter a stored image. Another example of scanner is
optical character recognition (OCR) device, used by banks to convert the scanned
image of a typed or printed page into text that can be edited on the computer.
E. Touch Screen
Touch panel displays and pads are now being offered as alternatives to keyboard.
Here the input can be given through the computer screen, that accepts the input
through monitor; users touch electronic buttons displayed on the screen or they may
use light pen.
F. Microphone
Microphone is an input device, which takes voice as input. The voice communication is more
error-prone than information through keyboard. There are two types of microphones available (as
shown in figure):
1. Desktop Microphone
2. Hand held Microphone

G. Track Ball
Trackball, a pointing device, is a mouse lying on its back (as shown in figure). To
move the pointer, you rotate the ball with your thumb, your fingers, or the palm
of your hand. There are usually one to three buttons next to the ball, which you
use just like mouse buttons. The advantage of trackballs over mouse is that the
trackball is stationary so it does not require much space to use it. In addition, you
can place a trackball on any type of surface, including your lap. For both these reasons, trackballs
are popular pointing devices for portable computers.

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 2. Output Devices
Output devices return processed data that is information, back to the user. Some of the commonly
used output devices are:
A. Monitor (Visual Display Unit)
B. Printers
C. Plotter
D. Speakers
A. Monitor
Out of all the output devices, monitor (as shown
in figure) is perhaps the most important output
device because people interact with this device
most intensively than others. Computer
information is displayed, visually with a video
adapter card and monitor. Information processed
within the CPU, that needs to be visually
displayed, is sent to video adapter. The video
adapter converts information from the format
used, in the same manner as a television displays information sent to it by a cable service.
Two basic types of monitors are used with microcomputers, which are as follows:
1. CRT
2. LCD
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT): CRT or Cathode Ray Tube Monitor is the typical monitor that you
see on a desktop computer. It looks a lot like a television screen, and works the same way. This
type uses a large vacuum tube, called cathode ray tube (CRT).
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD): This type of monitors is also known as flat panel monitor. Most
of these employ liquid crystal displays (LCDs) to render images. These days LCD monitor are
very popular.

B. Printer
After a document is created on the computer, it can be sent
to a printer for a hard copy (printout). Some printers offer
special features such as colored and large page formats.
Some of the most commonly used printers are:
1. Laser Printer
2. Ink Jet Printer
3. Dot Matrix Printer
4. Line Printer

C. Plotter
A plotter is a special kind of output device that, like a
printer, produces images on paper, but does so in a
different way. Plotters are designed to produce large
drawings or images, such as construction plans for
buildings or blueprints for mechanical objects. A plotter
can be connected to the port normally used by a printer.
D. Speaker

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 Speakers (as shown in figure) are another type of output device, which allow you to listen to
voice like music, and conversation with people.

2.4 Laptop Ports

Port is a place where we can add an external device to our computer or Laptop. There are
different types of ports available to laptops.

 Power adaptor port

 Network port(LAN)
 VGA port
 HDMI port
 USB port
 Audio (IN/OUT) port
 SD card port
 LOCK port

Power port

Power port is used for connecting power adaptor to the laptop

HDMI port

High Definition Multimedia Interface, HDMI is a connector and cable capable of transmitting
high-quality and high-bandwidth streams of audio and video between devices. The HDMI technology
is used with devices such as an HDTV, Projector, DVD player, or Blu-ray player. The picture to the
right is an example of an HDMI cable.

Audio (IN/OUT) jack

An audio port on a computer is any receptacle or jack to which an audio device such as speakers,
headphones or a microphone can be connected. All laptops and some desktops have built-in speakers,
but for better sound or privacy, you will need to connect external audio through one of the ports.

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 SD (secure digital) Card port

SD (Secure Digital) or SDXC (Secure Digital Extended Capacity) card slot that lets your computer
or laptop read and write data to SD media, such as digital camera memory cards.

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2.5 Microprocessor
Microprocessor is the brain of computer, which does all the work. It is a computer processor that
incorporates all the functions of CPU (Central Processing Unit) on a single IC (Integrated Circuit) or
at the most a few ICs.

Microprocessors are multipurpose devices that can be designed for generic or specialized functions.
The microprocessors of laptops and smart phones are general purpose whereas ones designed for
graphical processing or machine visions are specialized ones. There are some characteristics that are
common to all microprocessors.

These are the most important defining characteristics of a microprocessor −

 Clock speed
 Instruction set
 Word size

Clock Speed

Every microprocessor has an internal clock that regulates the speed at which it executes
instructions and also synchronizes it with other components. The speed at which the
microprocessor executes instructions is called clock speed. Clock speeds are measured in MHz or
GHz where 1 MHz means 1 million cycles per second whereas 1 GHz equals to 1 billion cycles
per second.

Instruction Set

A command given to a digital machine to perform an operation on a piece of data is called an

instruction. Basic set of machine level instructions that a microprocessor is designed to execute is
called its instruction set.

Word Size

Number of bits that can be processed by a processor in a single instruction is called its word size.

2.6 Computer Memory

Introduction:
A memory is just like a human brain. It is used to store data and instructions. The memory is
divided into large number of small parts called cells. Each location or cell has a unique address.
One of the major advantages of computer is its storage capacity where huge amount of
information can be stored. In this chapter, we are going to learn about the various data storage
devices and the units which are used to measure the stored data.

In the previous chapter, we studied how the different types of input devices are used to enter
different types of data in the computer. But when the data and instructions are entered in the
computer, Where they are stored. in fact, inside the computer, there are different storage areas
where it keeps data or information permanently or temporarily while working. This storage area
is known as the Memory of the computer.

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We can simply say Computer memory is any physical device capable of storing information
temporarily or permanently

The memory of the computer is divided into two categories:

1.Primary Memory
2.Secondary Memory

Primary Memory
This is the main memory of the computer. CPU can directly read or write on this memory. It is
fixed on the motherboard of the computer.

Primary memory is further divided in two types:

1.RAM(Random Access Memory)
2.ROM(Read Only Memory)

RAM(Random Access Memory)

RAM is a temporary memory. The information stored in this memory is lost as the power supply
to the computer is turned off.That’s why it is also called Volatile Memory. It stores the data and
instruction given by the user and also the results produced by the computer temporarily.

As soon as a computer starts, RAM loads all running applications, including the base operating
system (OS), user interface and any user-installed and running software utility.

RAM is measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). The more RAM you have, the more
things your computer can do at the same time. If you don't have enough RAM, you may notice
that your computer is sluggish when you have several programs open.

ROM (Read only Memory)

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Information stored in ROM is permanent in nature,i.e., it holds the data even if the system is
switched off. It holds the starting instructions for the computer. ROM cannot be overwritten by
the computer. It is also called Non-Volatile Memory.

Characteristics of Main Memory

 These are semiconductor memories

 It is known as main memory.
 Usually volatile memory.
 Data is lost in case power is switched off.
 Faster than secondary memories.
 A computer cannot run without primary memory.

Secondary Memory
This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-volatile. These are used for
storing data/information permanently. It holds the information till we erase it. CPU directly does
not access these memories. The contents of secondary memories are first transferred to the main
memory, and then the CPU can access it.

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Different types of secondary storage devices are:

Hard Disc, Compact Disc, DVD, Pen Drive,etc.

Hard Disc
This is the main storage device of the computer which is fixed inside the CPU box. Its storage
capacity is very high that varies up to Terra bytes. As it is fixed inside the CPU box, it is not easy
to move the hard disc from one computer to another.

Compact Disc(CD)
It is a thin plastic disc coated with metal. Computer can read and write data stored on it. This is
an optical storage device with a storage capacity of up to 700 MB and it can store varieties of
data like pictures,sounds,movies,texts,etc.

DVD
DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. it is an optical storage device which reads data faster than
a CD. DVD can store data up to 4.7 GB, i.e. around 6 times than that of CD. Though DVDs look
just like CDs,they can hold much more data.

Flash Drive:
It is an electronic memory device popularly known as pen drive in which data can be stored
permanently and erased when not needed.it is a portable storage device that can be easily
connected and removed from the computer through USB port. its capacity can vary from 2 GB to
256 GB.
Characteristic of Secondary memory:
• These are magnetic and optical memories
• It is non-volatile memory which is used for storage of data in a computer.
• Data is permanently stored even if power is switched off.
• Computer may run without secondary memory.
• Slower than primary memories.

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Cache Memory:
Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory which can speed up CPU. It
acts as a buffer between the CPU and main memory. It is used to hold those parts of data
and program which are most frequently used by CPU.

The above picture shows the communication between CPU, Cache and RAM.
Advantages of cache memory:

The advantages of cache memory are as follows:

• Cache memory is faster than main memory.
• It consumes less access time as compared to main memory.
• It stores data for temporary use.

Disadvantages of cache memory:

• Cache memory has limited capacity.
• It is very expensive.

Memory Units

Data in the computer’s memory is represented by the two digits 0 and 1.These two digits are
called Binary Digits or Bits. A bit is the smallest unit of computer’s memory. To represent each
character in memory,a set of 8 binary digits is used.This set of 8 bit is called a Byte. So,one Byte
is used to represent one character of data.

Bits=0,1
1 Byte= 8 bits(e.g,11001011)
To represent a large amount of data in memory, higher data storage units are used like
KB(Kilobyte),MB(megabyte),GB(Gigabyte),TB(terabyte),etc.
But all these unites are formed with the set of bytes like,

2.7 File Extensions

What is a file extension?

The file extension is the part of a file name that comes after the "." (e.g. in the filename
fileext.doc, "doc" is the file extension, and this tells the computer what type of file it is looking at, in
this case an MS Word file. Windows, by default, does not display file extensions. To view file

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extensions go to File Management, from the Tools Menu select View and remove the tick from “Hide file
extensions for known file types” then click on the View Menu and select Details.

Text Files :

A text file is a computer file that only contains text

 .docx Microsoft Open Word XML Document

 .doc Microsoft Word Document
 .txt Plain Text File
 .rtf Revit Family Template File
 .odt OpenOffice/StarOffice File

Audio Files :

An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system.

 .mp3 MP3 Audio File

 .wav Wave Audio File
 .aac MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding File
 .wma Windows Media Audio File
 .m4a MPEG-4 Audio File

Video Files:

A video file format is a type of file format for storing digital video data on a computer system.

 .avi Audio Video Interleave File

 .mp4 MPEG-4 Video File
 .mov Video Clip
 .flv Video File
 .mpg MPEG 1 System Stream

Data Files:

A data file is a computer file which stores data to be used by a computer application or system, including
input and output data. A data file usually does not contain instructions or code to be executed (that is, a
computer program). Most computer programs work with data files

 .pdf Portable Document Format File

 .xls Excel Spreadsheet File
 .csv Comma Separated Values File
 .ini Initialization/Configuration File
 .html Hypertext Markup Language File

Compression Files:

File compression is a data compression method in which the logical size of a file is reduced to save disk
space for easier and faster transmission over a network or the Internet.
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  .zip ZIP File
 .rar WinRAR Compressed Archive
 .7z Compressed File
 .tar Consolidated Unix File Archive
 .gz GNU Zipped Archive File

Executable Files:

EXE is a file extension for an executable file format. An executable is a file that contains a program - that
is, a particular kind of file that is capable of being executed or run as a program in the computer. An
executable file can be run by a program in Microsoft DOS or Windows through a command or a double
click.

 .exe Windows Executable File

 .msi Windows Installer File
 .bin Binary Disc Image
 .app Punch Post
 .dmg Disk Copy Disk Image File

2.8 Exercises:
1. What are the input and output devices?
2. Define Hardware and Software with examples?
3. What is file extensions? List out file extensions category wise?
4. Define RAM and ROM?
5. Discuss what is volatile and non-volatile memory

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