Computer Basics

Lesson 1
This lesson aims to:
• Understand the purpose and elements of information systems
• Recognize the different types of computers
• Distinguish the main software types
• Identify the components of a computer system
 Introduction
• You'll learn in this module the basics most computer
systems have whether it's a desktop PC, a tablet or a car
app that tells you it's time for a change of oil. What
computers interpret, store, and process data, and how they
interact with each other, you can find out. Most of the
subjects discussed in the summary form in this chapter are
dealt with in more depth later in the module.
Content
Understanding Information Systems
• An information system is a fully integrated ecosystem in
which raw data – quantifiable facts and figures – are
converted into usable data. The following sections compose
an information system: people, hardware, software,
procedures, and data.
 PEOPLE
• End user of the computer who is the most
important part of Information System.
• If you think about it, the only reason computers
do exist is to help individuals accomplish their
goals. Therefore, it is important to consider
what the people expect to get out of it while
designing an information system. Want other
pieces of information? Will they need the
machine to turn on a system performing a task?
Are they trying to be educated or entertained?
The first phase in designing an information
system is an overview of the people's
requirements.
 HARDWARE
• The physical or tangible part of the computer.
Computers, keyboards, disk drives, iPads, and
flash drives are all examples of information
systems hardware.
• When most people think about computers, they
think of hardware, the physical parts of the
computer system, right away. The equipment
contains circuit boards mounted on them with
silicon chips and transistors, input devices such
as the keyboard and mouse, and output devices
such as printers and display.
 SOFTWARE
• It is a set of instructions that tells the
hardware what to do. Software is not
tangible – it cannot be touched.
• If it has software, which is a program that
tells the hardware what to do, computer
hardware just sits idle there. There are
several different software types, including
the operating system (such as Windows or
Mac OS) and the programs (such as word
processing or accounting).
 PROCEDURES
• Procedures are rules regulating the operation of a computer system.
"Procedures are to people what software is to hardware" is a
common example used to explain the role of procedures in the CBIS.
• The program doesn't (usually) run by itself. Users have to
communicate with the machine in order to tell it which program to
run. For example, you must start the program before you can write
checks with your accounting software, open the file that holds the
data for the company, and issue the command that opens the
checking account register. You can learn procedures in the
application from the online support system, from a printed user
manual, from a training class, or by trial and error
 DATA
• We may see data as a set of information. For
example, the street address, the city in which
we live, and our phone number are all pieces of
data. The bits of data are not always that
valuable on their own. Yet aggregated, indexed,
and put together into a database, data can
become a valuable business resource.
• Computer programs work on the data that they
get. For example, you input details about the
checks you make in your accounting software —
the time, the number, the receiver — and the
system saves the data so you can recall it later.
IDENTIFYING COMPUTER TYPES
• As you learned in the previous segment, the hardware
is the physical part of your computing system.
Hardware consists of components inside a computer
as well as external communication equipment such as
scanners, wires and displays.
PERSONAL COMPUTERS
A computer designed to be used by only one person at a time.
Any feedback from the video?
DESKTOP PC
• A machine designed for use
at a desk, and never pushed
anywhere. This type of
device comprises of a wide
metal box called a system
unit comprising much of the
vital parts, with a different
display, keyboard and mouse
linking them to the system
unit.
NOTEBOOK PC
• A compact computer which is built to
fold up like a carrying notebook. The
cover opens to reveal an integrated
screen, keyboard, and pointing system
which replaces a mouse. Often, the
sort of device is called a laptop. A
smaller variant of a laptop PC is often
named a netbook (which is short for
Internet book, indicating that this sort
of machine is mainly for Web
connectivity rather than running
applications).
TABLET PC
•A handheld device
consisting of a touch-
sensitive display panel that
is mounted on a plastic
tablet frame with a small
computer inside.
SMARTPHONE
• A mobile phone that
can run computer
applications and has
Internet access
capability.
MULTI-USER COMPUTERS
Multi-user computers are built to serve groups of people, from a
small office to a huge international enterprise. Here are some
common types of multi-user computers:
 SERVER
• A device dedicated to serving and supporting a network, a
network user group and/or their needs for information.
Most networks servers to have data storage space centrally
available, and share common devices such as printers and
scanners. A small network server may look like a desktop
PC but may have another operating system, such as
Windows Server or Linux.
• A large server which manages a wide network
can look like a mainframe. A group of servers
located in one room or facility together is called
a server farm, or server cluster. Big Internet
Service Provider (ISP) companies operate
massive server farms
 MAINFRAME
• A large and efficient computer which can process and store large
quantities of business data. A mainframe, for example, might
compile all the sales data from hundreds of cash registers in a large
department store and make it available to executives. The current
mainframe machine itself is around the size of a refrigerator, a
wide cabinet, or a collection of cabinets. A mainframe may be
housed in a business or school in its own air-conditioned space,
and several employees can control and maintain it. During earlier
decades, many companies employed smaller and less costly multi-
user machines called minicomputers, but minicomputers are no
longer commonly used.
 SUPERCOMPUTER
• The largest and most powerful type of computer available is a
supercomputer which occupies large rooms and even entire floors
of a building. In fields such as crypt-analysis (code breaking),
molecular modeling, weather forecasting, and climate mapping,
supercomputers are also used. Generally, supercomputers are
used in institutions of high-tech academic, governmental, and
scientific research.
UNDERSTANDING
SOFTWARE TYPES
Software tells the hardware what to do, but at various rates
different forms of software achieve this. The following parts
provide an overview of the program types a computer can use.
BIOS - Basic Input Output System (BIOS)

• It is the most basic software. Such software is stored on the

motherboard on a read-only chip, so that it is not distorted or
damaged unintentionally. This essential program helps restart the
computer and do some basic hardware checking.
 Operating Systems
• After startup, the operating system (OS) manages all the computer
operations. The OS serves multiple purposes:
• It provides the user interface people use to express commands and get
input.
• This runs apps, which encourages users to communicate with them.
• It monitors the file management network, and handles it.
• This connects with the hardware, and instructs it to take steps and
execute activities. The OS informs the printer to print a text, for example,
and tells the monitor what graphic to show.
• Microsoft Windows is the most popular operating
system. Other operating systems include Mac OS and
Linux for desktop and notebook PCs, UNIX for
mainframes and servers, and Android for tablets and
smartphones.
 Utility Software
• Utility software can also be accessible to the essential aspects of
an operating system, either offered free with or added to the OS.
Utility services help with a wide variety of system maintenance
and protection features, such as searching for error storage disks,
blocking risks to security and privacy, and recovery of sensitive
data.
 Application Software
• It's a program built to do something useful or enjoyable,
something that a human user is involved in. Some types of
Application Software:
• Productivity Tools – Ex. Microsoft Office (Word, Excel,
PowerPoint)
• Graphics – Ex. Adobe Photoshop, Inkscape, GIMP
• Games – Ex. World of Warcraft, Red Alert
• Multimedia – Ex. VLC, Win amp
COMPUTER SYSTEM
COMPONENTS
Each computer system consists of multiple electrical parts. Those
elements fell into four specific groups in the information
processing cycle that represent various purposes.
• The four-step process that data moves through as it is
processed by a computer. Consists of input, processing,
output, and storage.
• Input - Components that help humans enter data into the
computer. Examples include a keyboard, mouse, and touch screen.
• Processing - Components inside the machine which move and
process the data. The group includes the chipset and its processor
and memory chips.
• Output - Components that provide the results of the processing to
humans. The monitor is the primary output device; other
examples include printers and speakers.
• Storage - Components which store data and software until it is
required. Storage components include hard drives, USB flash
drives, and DVDs.
How Data Is Represented on a
Computer?
In a machine the smallest unit of data is a bit. A bit is a single
binary digit, usually with a value 1 (on) or 0 (off). You can combine
eight bits to create a byte which is an 8-digit binary number.
Modern systems work with thousands, millions, and even
billions of bytes at a time. The table below lists the names of
certain multiples of bytes.
Term Number of bytes
Kilobyte (KB) 1024 (approximately one thousand)
Megabyte (MB) 1,048,576 (approximately one million)
Gigabyte (GB) 1,073,741,824 (approximately one billion)
Terabyte (TB) 1,099,411,627,776 (approximately one trillion)
Petabyte (PB) 1,125,899,906,842,624 (approximately one quadrillion)
• As you learned earlier in this segment, the
key box that makes up the machine is the
system unit. Many instruments are external
– that is, outside the unit of the network –
and others are inside.
• Many input and output devices are digital on a
desktop PC; they are an integral part of the computer
on a laptop, tablet , or smartphone, but additional
devices can be included.
 Input Devices
• The input devices collect and transmit data from
'outside world' (i.e. outside of the computer) to the
processing unit. The data can be obtained and
installed in a computer in a number of ways.
• Example: a keyboard, a mouse, a tablet monitor, a
touch screen, a bar-code reader, a magnet strip reader
etc.
 Processing Devices
• The motherboard is the computer's wide circuit board,
in which everything else plugs. The main elements on
the motherboard are the processor (also known as the
Central Processing Unit, or CPU) and the memory (also
known as the Random-Access Memory). The
motherboard has electrically conductive routes called
buses that help such modules, which bring the data
from place that location, and a chipset, which is a
system that controls bus traffic.
• Example: CPU
 Output Devices
• Each computer device may need a way to show
information or to print information out in order to be
useful to humans. Therefore, certain ‘output devices'
will exist
• Example: monitor, speaker, printer
Early computers didn't easily interact with each other.
Usually data was transmitted between computers on
floppy disks and other removable disks with limited
capacity, or through sluggish dial-up modems. Network
links were hard to set up, and data was transmitted quite
slowly. Nonetheless, communication technology has
significantly improved today, and there are many
options to make computers talk to each other.
HOW COMPUTERS COMMUNICATE?
Key Concepts
Understanding Information
Systems
• An information system is a complete interconnected
environment in which raw data— quantifiable facts and
figures—is turned into useful information. An information
system includes the following parts: people, hardware,
software, procedures, and data.
Identifying Computer Types
• A personal computer (PC) is a computer designed for only
one person to use at a time. Examples include desktop PCs,
notebook PCs, tablet PCs, and smartphones. Other
computers support multiple users at once, including servers,
mainframes, and supercomputers.
Understanding Software Types
• Software tells the hardware what to do. The operating system
(OS) manages the computer’s activities. An operating system
provides a user interface, runs applications, manages files, and
communicates with hardware. Application software is software
that is designed to do something productive or fun. Productivity
software helps you accomplish practical tasks; one example is
the Microsoft Office suite. A suite is a group of applications
designed to work together. Software may be bought on CD or
DVD, downloaded and installed, or may be leased as Software as
a Service (SaaS).
Computer System Components
• The information processing cycle consists of these four parts:
input, processing, output, and storage. Each component in a
computer contributes to one or more parts of that cycle.
• Input devices move data into a computer. Examples include a keyboard
and mouse. A mouse is a type of pointing device; pointing devices
move the onscreen pointer and select objects onscreen.
• Processing components manipulate the data inside the PC, and include
the motherboard and its processor, memory, chipset, and buses.
• Output devices deliver the results of the processing to the user. The
monitor (display screen) is the most common output device; others
include speakers and printers.
How Computers Communicate
• Most computers are part of one or more networks. The
most common network standard is Ethernet, which can
be wired or wireless. Wireless Ethernet is called Wi-Fi. To
connect to a network, the computer needs a network
adapter (wired or wireless). A home network uses a
router to connect the computers to one another and to
connect to a shared broadband Internet connection if
available.
End