Lecture 01-A

Personal Computer Systems and Management

Topic: “Introduction to Computers”
A complex electronic device responsible for four
actions:
 Input – take in data from the user or a device
 Processing – Calculations and computations are done
here and the results are output to the proper devices
 Storage – Data can be saved and permanently stored
on the computer devices
 Output – send out data after processing
Computers are machines that perform tasks for us, such
as math calculations.

They also store and display information, and they let

us communicate electronically.

Desktop PC

Laptop PC
(Notebook Computer)
 An electronic device composed of several different components:

 System Unit
 Visual Display Unit (Monitor, Screen, etc.)
 Mouse and Keyboard
 Printer
 Scanner
 …(lots of extra devices)
 Each desktop computer is made of 4 basic
parts:

System Unit

Monitor/Screen

Mouse
(Pointing Device)

Keyboard
 System Unit – Within the system unit are lots of different parts:
 CPU – central processing unit, which is responsible for processing
data.
 Random Access Memory (RAM) – acts as a link between the CPU
and the other devices
 Hard disk drive (HDD) – responsible for permanently storing data
 Floppy Disk Drive (FDD) – responsible for storing data on 90 mm
floppy disks (or 3½ inch)
 CD/DVD ROM Drive – responsible for using CD/DVD media another
form of storage
 Modem – allows the transfer of data from one computer to
another, through a phone line (Internet, Email, etc)
 Network Interface Card (NIC) – Allows the transfer of data in a
network of computers (think of the computer lab)
 The System Unit is a case or box that holds
most of the hardware

 Hardware are actual

parts of the
computer that we
can touch and feel
 Visual Display Unit (output) – In the form of a monitor,
screen or even a projector. Outputs the visual data from
the computer
 Mouse (input) – Allows the user to send commands to the
computer using mouse buttons and the pointer
 Keyboard (input) – Allows the user to enter in data to the
computer with keyboard input
 Printer (output) – Allows the user to create a output from
the computer on paper
 Scanner (input) – Sends scanned images/documents to the
computer
  The computer system is complex but the interaction
between parts can be simplified in this diagram as follows:

CPU
Processing
RAM Units
Keyboard,
Mouse,
Printer,
Scanner
Input Output Monitor
Main
Devices memory Devices

Hard drives, Secondary

Floppy drives, memory
CD/DVD ROMs
 Motherboard - the main circuit board
inside the system unit
 It allows all the parts of your computer to
receive power and communicate with one
another
 It’s like the HEART of the computer
because all the other hardware parts are
connected to it.
 CPU - The Central Processing Unit is
also known as a processor
 It is the BRAIN of the computer for it does
the calculations and work.
 It is responsible for Three Main Jobs:
 Perform calculations
 Logic operations
 Control commands
 Main memory is the link between the CPU
and the other hardware devices
 It stores data and instructions until they are
required by the CPU
 There are two types of memory chips:

RAM ROM
Random Access Memory Read Only Memory
 Random Access Memory - stores the data
and information that the CPU is currently
working on
 RAM is known as volatile memory because
it is a place for temporary storage
 It only holds data
when the computer
is on

a RAM stick
 Read Only Memory - contains permanent
instructions and unchanging data.
 ROM chips often contain the instructions to
start a computer (like the BIOS –Basic Input
Output System) when it is first turned on.
 ROM is non-volatile, meaning the data still
remains even when the computer is off.

a ROM chip
 Secondary memory are also known as
storage devices
These pieces of memory are not connected
directly to the CPU
 The processor sends and receives data from the
Storage Devices through the Main Memory:

data data

nda ry Primary CPU

o
Sec mory Memory
Me
 Hard Disk Drive - a magnetic disk drive
that can store very large amounts of data.
 This is the device that stores all the
computer’s programs and most of the files
 The Operating System
is also located on
the Hard Disk.

a HDD
 Floppy Disk Drive - a magnetic disk drive that stores
data on 3.5 inch Floppy Diskettes

 Floppy disks can only

store 1.44 MB of data
a FDD

 CD/DVD Drive - an optical storage device that uses a

laser to read/write data to CDs and DVDs

an Optical Drive
 Video Card - is used to send the display
data to the monitor
 Also known as a Graphics Card.
 Your monitor must plug in to the Graphics Card
in order for the video to be displayed on
the screen.
 Some motherboards
have a built-in
video card
 The computer’s Power Supply
distributes power to all the individual
hardware components
 It contains a transformer, responsible for
changing the power that comes from the wall
into usable
electricity for the
computer