BASIC 7 – COMPUTING NOTE

STRAND 1 – INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING

SUB-STRAND: COMPONENTS OF COMPUTERS AND
COMPUTER SYSTEMS
B7.1.1.1. – identifying parts of a computer and their uses

Computer is an electronic device that uses a program to process data

into information. Or
Computer is an electronic device that accepts data as input, process the data,
store and gives out information as output.

Or
Computer is an electronic machine that accept data in the form of input, process
them into useful information, output the information and store them on demand.
Or
Computer is also an electronic device that is capable of transmitting, storing and
processing data. Or
Computer is also defined as an electronic device that receive instructions, process
them into information and store them.

Therefore, a Computer is an electronic device that accepts data as input and

process it to produce information as output.
 GENERATION OF COMPUTERS

Generation of computer: refers to history of computers and the change in technology from
the very first ones that were manufactured to the last ones we have today.

There are five (5) generations of computers

GENERATION MAIN ELECTRONIC DESCRIPTION / FEATURES

COMPONENT
First Vacuum tube based  Punch cards, paper tape utilized for
generation input and output operations.
Examples are  Huge in size and weight
ENIAC  a lot of power consumption.
UNIVAC  Very expensive in price
EDSEC  not reliable and slow
EDVAC  Generated a lot of heat
IBM -701 and  Magnetic drums used for storage.
IBM 650.

Second Transistor based  Magnetic Tape was used to store

generation data
examples  small in size and
IBM 1620,  reduced weight with
CDC 1604,  low energy consumption than 1st
IBM 7094, gen computers
UNIVAC 1108,  Faster, reliable, and less expensive
IBM 620, than the first generation.
CDC 3600,  Use of storage devices, printers,
IBM 4044, and operating systems, etc
Honeywell 400,
 Higher-level languages like
IBM 1401
COBOL, ALGOL, SNOBOL, and
Mainframe,
FORTRAN were used
and PDP-1
minicomputer
Third Integrated circuit based more powerful than the transistor
generation (IC)  More reliable,
 inexpensive,
Examples  faster,
ICL 2903,  energy-efficient,
ICL 1900,  very light in weight than 2nd gen
TDC-B16, computers.
IBM 360  The
IBM 370, first Computer Mouse and Keyboard 
Honeywell were appeared and used in the 3rd
6000, generation of computers
UNIVAC 1108,  high-level languages like BASIC,
PDP-8 COBOL, FORTRAN, PASCAL, and
PDP-11 ALGOL
 1st Generation of Computer (1940-1956)
This first generation of computers was based on vacuum tube technology used for
calculations, storage, and control. The vacuum tubes and diode valves were the chief
components of the first generations of computers.

 VACUUM TUBE  – an electronic device that controls the flow of electrons in a

vacuum. It used as a switch, amplifier, or display screen in many older model
radios, televisions, computers, etc.

2nd Generation of Computer (1956-1964)
The second generation of computers replaced the vacuum tubes with a reliable
component called transistors for manufacturing of computers.

 Transistor – an electronic component that can be used as an amplifier or as a

switch.It is used to control the flow of electricity in radios, televisions, computers,
etc.

3rd Generation of Computer (1964-1971)
The third generation appeared in the form of integrated circuits . An IC (integrated
circuit) is consists of many small transistors mounted on chips, which are called
semiconductors.

Integrated circuit (IC) – a small electronic circuit printed on a chip (usually made of
silicon) that contains many circuit elements (e.g. transistors, diodes, resistors, etc.).
 COMPONENTS OF A COMPUTER SYSTEM
A computer is an electronic device that changes, converts, process, manipulates and
arranges data into information.

COMPUTER is an electronic device that accepts data, process it and brings out data
as information and store the information for future USE.

Computer is an electronic device that uses a program to process data

into information. Or

The main components of a personal computer can be grouped into 3

1. HARDWARE
2. SOFTWARE
3. LIVEWARE

HARDWARE is the physical part of the computer we can see and touch OR
the tangible part of a computer.
SOFTWARES are programs (set of instructions) that tells the computer what
to do and how to perform a work.
LIVEWARE : are the humans that keep the computer alive or operate the
computer system

REMEMBER : The basic parts of a computer are mouse, keyboard, monitor

and system unit

TYPES OF HARDWARES OR DEVICES

The personal computer hardware can be put into four groups.

• Input Devices
• Processing device
• Output devices
• Storage Devices
INPUT DEVICE: this is the part of the computer which sends instructions and
commands into the computer. Examples of input part are mouse and keyboard.
Other Examples Are Scanner, Microphone, Light Pen, Barcode Reader,

The mouse is an input device used in sending data and commands

into the computer system by clicking. OR
Mouse: It is an input device that is used to direct the cursor on the monitor and
control icons on the monitor.

some Types of mouse

a. The Mechanical Mouse
b. The Optical Mouse
c. Opto-Mechanical
d. Wireless.
e. The Laser Mouse

a. The Mechanical Mouse. This type of mouse uses a ball which

can turn in any direction.
b. The optical mouse uses light Emitting Diode (LED) to determine
changes on the surface as you move the mouse. These changes results
to the movement of the pointer on the computer screen
c. The Laser Mouse uses infra red technology
 The Keyboard: it is a device used to feed or send data such as text, numbers
and symbols and issue commands into the computer.
Types of keyboards
Standard Wired keyboard
Wireless keyboard
Onscreen or virtual keyboard
Multimedia
Ergonomic
Enhanced

Keyboard Layout: This refers to how the individual keys on the

keyboard have been arranged. There are three main types of
keyboard layout this are :

a. QWERTY Layout

b. Dvorak Layout

C. Colemak Layout:

d. DaVinci concept Layout

Barcode reader: It is a hardware input device capable of reading a barcode and

printing out the details of a product or log information about that product into a
database.

Output Devices
Output devices are the parts of the computer system that
sends signal from the computer to the user or displays
information. The output devices convert computer signals
into a form that the computer can be understood by the
human user.
Output devices brings out information or results to the
computer user.
The most common or basic output devices are the
1. Monitor or visual display unit (VDU) ,
2. printer
3. speakers
4. Projector
5. Plotter
(Monitor ) or Visual Display Unit (VDU)
Is an output device that displays softcopy information and
tells what happens in the system unit. The computer
monitor is also known as VISUAL DISPLAY UNIT (VDU )
There are two main types of computer monitors. These are
:
 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) and
 Flat panel

Cathode Ray Tube (CRT):

 1. CRT uses glass and electrons to project images onto a
screen.
2. CRT : a device that uses a beam of electrons in order
to produce an image on a screen.
Cathode- ray tubes or CRTs, are widely used in a number
of electrical devices such as computer screens and
television sets.
Flat Panel : they are modern ultra thin visual display
units that make use of thin glasses and special liquids
to display the desired image.
There are two main types of flat panels. These are the
A. Liquid Crystal Display ( LCD) uses special liquid ink
B. Light Emitting Diode ( LED) uses thin glass

Differences between CRT and flat panel

CRT FLAT PANEL ( LCD)

Its bigger, bulky and heavier
Its less expensive
emit more radiation
Occupies more space
Generates more heat
Consumes more electricity
low picture resolution
Not portable
Its smaller, thin and lighter
More expensive
emit less radiation
Occupies less space
Generates less heat
Consumes less electricity
high picture resolution
Portable
 Printer: it is an output device that allows a user to
make a hard copy of a document that has been
created in an electronic form.
Or Printer is an output device that transfers softcopy
information onto a paper known as Hardcopy
information.
Most printers are attached to a computer by a cable or
through USB port. The main types of printers in use
are

 Impact printers and

 non impact printers.

Impact Printers :
There is a physical contact between the paper and ink.
Impact printers work in the same way as an ordinary
typewriter. The images or characters are formed by a
mechanism that hits an ink ribbon against the paper
leaving an imprint. Impact printers are generally slow and
are not suitable for printing heavy documents. examples
of impact printers are
1 Daisy wheel 2. Dot matrix printers 3. Line printer
Non Impact Printers;
There is no physical contact between the paper and the ink
The head of non- impact printer do not make any physical
contact with the paper to print images. These type of
printers are generally faster and quieter than impact
printers. Examples of non –impact printers are :
1. inkjet Printer 2. laser printer.

Inkjet printers spray tiny droplets of ink from the print

head onto the paper to form the characters. While
laser printers uses laser to heat and apply the toner to
specific parts of a paper to form images. Laser printers
work the same way as photocopiers.
Laser printers are faster than inkjet printers.

Differences between impact and non impact printer

impact Non impact
There is a contact between ink There is no contact between
and paper ink and paper
Its less expensive More expensive
Produce More noise produce less noise
Poor print quality Good print quality
Consumes more electricity Consumes less electricity
Slow faster
 The loud speaker computer loud speakers are the
output devices that allows the sound to be heard.
is an audio output device that generates sound.
Personal computers are also able to output sound.
They range from regular, small size computer
loudspeakers to surround system speakers with a
subwoofer.

Monitor screen size is measured diagonally across the screen, in inches. 

The resolution of the monitor is the maximum number of pixels it can
display horizontally and vertically (such as 800 x 600, or 1024 x 768, or
1600 x 1200)
The spacing of the screen’s tiny phosphor dots is called the dot
pitch (dp), typically .28 or .26 (measured in millimeters).

STORAGE DEVICES
Storage devices are components or parts of the computer used to
record (write) and retrieve(read) data, instructions and
information to and from a storage medium.
Eg.hard disk drive, flopy disk drive, cd rom drive , DVD Drive,
Storage Medium ( media – plural) is the physical material on
which data, instructions and information are stored for safe
keeping. It includes hard disk, compact discs, floppy disks,
magnetic tapes, and Zip disks.
TYPES OF STORAGE
1. Magnetic storage – uses magnetic media example HDD,
FDD, MTD
2. Optical storage uses laser light examples CD, DVD, BLU-
RAY
3. Flash storage uses chip or board examples SD CARD, PEN
DRIVE,

MAGNETIC STORAGE
Magnetic storage refers to any type of data storage using a
magnetized medium. Magnetic storage is a form of non-volatile
storage. This means that the data is not lost when the storage
device is not powered. Examples are Hard Disk Drive(HDD)
Floppy Disk Drive (FDD) Magnetic Disk Drive (MTD)

Hard Disk Drive

1. Hard disk drive (HDD) make use of rotating magnetic disks
called platters and a mechanical arm that reads and writes
data using a magnetization process.
2. Hard Disk Drive (HDD), is a non-volatile memory hardware
device used to permanently store and retrieve computer
data Magnetically.
3. hard disk drive (HDD) is a data storage device used for
storing and retrieving digital information using rapidly
rotating discs (platters) coated with magnetic material.
 The hard disk is the main and usually the largest storage
device inside the system unit. The hard disk has a
rectangular metallic case that protects its contents from
damage. Inside the rectangular metallic case are rigid
metallic discs called platters that hold data in a magnetic
form. A metallic bar known as the read and write head
copies information onto and from the platters. Hard disks
can hold a lot of data. These can range from 20 gigabytes
(GB) to terabytes (TB).
USES
The hard disk is used to permanently store the computer’s
1. operating system software,
2. application software and
3. files.

Major Components / Parts of A Hard Disk Drive

All types of hard drives are composed of four major
components.
 Platter - The platters which are disks that store data in an
organized fashion.

 Spindle - The spindle, responsible for keeping the platters in

position and rotating them when needed.

 Read/Write Arm - The read/write arm which guides the

read/write head to the appropriate position based on data that
needs to be written/read.
  READ / WRITE HEAD is a small magnet mounted next to
the read right arm. It moves the platter from right to left and
works to record and store information.

 Actuator - the actuator that takes instruction from the circuit

board to control the movement of the read/write arm as well
as supervise the transfer of data from the platters.

TYPES OF HARD DRVES

There are four types of hard drives they are
1. PATA, or (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment) speed

of 133 Mbps (megabytes per second) This is the oldest type

of hard disk.referred to as Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE).

2. SATA or (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment)) speed of

150 up to 600 Mbps

3. SCSI or (Small Computer System Interface) speed of up to

640 MBps

4. SSD or (Solid-State Drive) speeds ranging up to 550 Mbps

or higher. They make use of flash memory chips instead to

store data and provide faster data access.

Definition

disk cache
A disk cache is a mechanism for improving the time it takes to
read from or write to a hard disk. Today, the disk cache is usually
included as part of the hard disk. A disk cache can also be a
specified portion of random access memory (RAM). The disk
cache holds data that has recently been read and, in some cases,
adjacent data areas that are likely to be accessed next. Write
caching is also provided with some disk caches.

Also referred to as “Disk Buffer” or “Cache Buffer,” it is the temporary data storage embedded in
the drive. It stores data on transit to and from the hard disk. Hard drives have a “microcontroller”
embedded whose purpose is to create, keep and transfer data that is cached in the buffer. The
analogy of considering hard disk cache to be the RAM for the hard drive fits very well. 

IMPORTANCE OF STORAGE

 Information Storage:
 As Backups : Backups serves as protected copies of
information stored on the storage devices. They are
kept outside the computer system and used to replace
any information we lose or damage when using the
current one in the computer.
• transferring data from one location to another