Computer Applications I

COM 001
By
Dr. O. A. Ayofe
 What is a Computer?
• A computer is any electronic system that can accept data in any format,
processes them in digital form, and gives an output in a desired format.
• General characteristics of computers
• It must have an input which can be physical, digital, or events/actions
• Processor that processes inputs
• It must give an output which can be physical, digital, or events/actions
• Three categories of computers
• Special-purpose or dedicated computer systems
• Embedded systems
• General purpose computer, usually known as computer systems
• Special-purpose computers are digital electronics specially designed for an
intended or streamlined purpose. E.g. calculator, cell phones.
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 What is a Computer System
• Embedded systems are almost similar to special-purpose but are
computers buried inside another systems whose primary function is
different from what the computer is doing but to rather automate or
enhance the functionality of the entire system or machine operation.
E.g. the computers in a car/automobile system automating the lock
system. In this system, the input is an ignition action, the computer
embedded in it processes it, and send an output action of locking the
car.
• General Purpose computer is a super (almighty) electronic that can be
used to perform any tasks.

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 General Purpose Computer Systems
• Personal computers (PCs: desktops, laptops/notebooks),
workstations, and server machines.
• PCs are workstations may look alike but the purpose they serve based
on software installed differs
• PCs houses software for personal or home use while workstations
houses software for business or enterprise use.
• Servers are heavy computing machine where they are used to offer
services to other computers or function. E.g. websites like
https://www.facebook.com is stored on a web server where millions
of users have access to it; Email services like YahooMail is hosted on
an email server where millions of users is offered email functionality.
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 General Purpose Computer
• PCs, Workstations and Servers consists of the following:
• Inputs are mouse, keyboards
• Storage/memory – Random Access Memory (RAM), Read-Only Memory
(ROM), Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), etc.
• Central Processing Unit (CPUs) – Processors/Microprocessor
• Output devices – Monitor (CRT, LCDs, etc.), printer,

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 Hardware and Software
• Computer systems make up of two major components:
• Hardware
• Software (a.k.a. program)
• Hardware are the physical part of a system that are touchable/feelable and
most importantly are directly or indirectly controlled or influenced by
software. E.g. Processor, RAM, ROM, mouse, printers, etc.
• Software are the untouchable or abstract part of a computer system which
allows the computer system to be functional.
• Software can be defined as set of instructions given to the computer to
perform certain or group of tasks.
• Without the software, a computer cannot work, and without the hardware
there is no place where a software can function.

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 Types of Software
• System software - Operating System
• A software required by computers to coordinate and manage the operation of hardware
and software resources. It is on top of it that application software can be used.
• E.g. Windows (XP, 7, 8, 10, 11), Unix, Linux, Mac OS.
• Application software
• Software made to address a streamlined/specific of tasks
• E.g. Application software – Word processor (Microsoft office word, Libre Ofiice, Open
Office, etc.), graphics/picture processing software (paint, CorelDraw, Photoshop, etc.),
video editing software (Adobe Premier, Corel Studio).

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 Working with a PC/Workstation using
Windows 10
• Start-> Operate -> Shutdown
• Start: Pressing the power button and follow the instructions that
appears to ensure graceful booting.
• Booting is the process of loading the operating system to the
computer memory (RAM) in order to make use of the system.
• Successful booting leads to a login page if the system is passworded,
otherwise it leads you directly to a Desktop environment. See Fig. 1.

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 Fig. 1. A Windows 10 user’s login interface after booting

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 • System shutdown – You must shutdown a computer gracefully using the shutdown
command. See Fig. 2.
• Go to start menu at the bottom-left corner of the desktop environment
• Click on the power icon at bottom-left of the frame that appears.
• Click on the shutdown button and select the shutdown command.

Power command
Start menu
Shutdown command

Fig. 2. System shutdown process

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 The Desktop Environment
• The first or landing interface after system boot or login is the desktop
environment. See Fig. 3.
• It contains a large space that can house files and applications in form
of icon.
• An icon is a pictorial representation of files, folders, or software in a Windows
10 OS, usually appearing in a rectangular form.
• The desktop environment also have at its bottom a long bar of small
height called the taskbar.
• The taskbar commonly contains the Windows menu and opened files or
programs.

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 Icons

Windows menu or Start menu Taskbar

Fig. 3. Desktop environment

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 Storage Structure in Windows 10
• The storage device is the root or base container that houses other files and
folders.
• The main storage device where Windows 10 is installed and stores files and
applications is the C: drive.
• Different files and folders are created and arranged systematically.
• The major folders found in the C: drive are Program Files, Program Files
(x86), Users, and Windows.
• Program Files and Program Files (x86) folders are mostly used to store
installed software/programs.
• Windows folder contains all the operating system files.
• Users folders stores folders for different account owners on the system
• A system can have more than one user account and each account is created with
their folders.
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 Navigating Windows Files and Folders
Click on the • Click on the start menu
“This PC” command
• Type in “This PC” and click
on the item when appeared
as shown in Fig. 4.

Start menu
type “This PC”

Fig. 4. Opening the “This PC” file explorer

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 Navigating Windows Files and Folders
Minimise button Restore-down/Maximise • A window-like graphical object called file
Title bar Close button
button explorer will display as shown in Fig. 5.
Address bar
• The explorer contains the side pane, the title
bar, and the menu bar, the address bar and the
content area.
• The side pane contains list of user-oriented
directories(i.e. folders) and recently visited
directories.
• The title bar shows the current location that
Side pane

the explorer is opening, in this case – This PC.

Content area • The content area also shows the user-related
folders such as Desktop, Documents,
Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos, etc.
• Importantly, the content area also shows the
main permanent storage device where all
system, applications, and user files are stored.
drive and other drives installed internally or
externally. See Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. “This PC” explorer
• The storage is associated to be the root
directory for all files and folders found on the
system and this root directory is tagged the C:\
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 Navigating Windows Files and Folders
• The address bar will show the absolute or relative address of the
current location your are in.
• Absolute address shows the address starting from the root directory C:\
• Relative address will show address of a location only from the point from
which it is accessed.
• To access the C: drive, right-click on the icon/thumbnail with Local
Disk (C:) written on it, and select open.

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