Computer Basics

COMPUTER BASICS
Introduction to Information Technology

What is IT?
 Information Technology is the use of
technologies from computing, electronics, and
telecommunications to process and distribute
information in digital and other forms.
 it includes not only the use of computers but
also communication networks and computer
literacy.

Computer Literacy
 Involves knowledge of the Internet and the
World Wide Web and the ability to take
advantage of their resources and to critically
judge the information.

What is a computer?
 A programmable machine
 In basic term, a computer is an electronic
device that:
 accepts input (raw data)
 processes that input
 stores data
 produces output (information)

What is a program?
 A step-by-step instructions that tells the
computer what to do.

Then along came…
 Being “online” – using a computer to access
information from another computer through the
use of a network.
 The Internet
 World Wide Web
 E-mail – a computer to computer
communication
 Information technology (“infotech”):
 IT - Technology that helps in the production,
processing, storing, communication and dissemination
of information.
 The E-World (E-business, E-commerce, E-government,
E-learning, E-pinions, E-tailing, E-waste)

The Internet, the World Wide Web,
& the “Plumbing of Cyberspace”
 Cyberspace
 encompasses the whole wired and wireless world of
communications.
 Term created by William Gibson – author
 Not a commonly used term in the field of Computer
Science.

Internet
 A global network of networks (tangible)
 Do not confuse with WWW.

World Wide Web
 Most common use of the Internet
 Encompasses information that can be viewed through
a web browser (web pages).
 Do not confuse with the Internet.

Types of computer
1. Microcomputers
1. Desktop
2. Notebook (Laptop)
3. Tablet PC
(Hand-helds)
1. PDAs
2. MP3 players
3. Cellphones
2. MAINFRAME COMPUTER
3. SUPERCOMPUTER

Microcomputers
are used for general computing tasks. The
most common types of computer that is
designed to sit on a desk or table. These are the
systems you see all around you, in school,
homes, and office.

Hand-held Computers
literally fit in the palm of your hand and run
on batteries.

Mainframe Computers
 Small mainframes (mid-size
computers or
minicomputers).
 5,000 to 5 million dollars
 Used in large
organizations – banks,
airlines, insurance
companies, colleges.
 Processes billions of
instructions per second.
 Often used with a terminal.

Supercomputer
are the most powerful computers made,
and physically they are some of the largest, and
can process an enormous volume of data. These
systems can process huge amounts of data, and
the fastest supercomputers can perform more
than one trillion calculations per second.

INFORMATION
PROCESSING SYSTEM

 DATA is a collection of independent and
unorganized facts.
 INFORMATION is the processed and
organized data presented in a meaningful
form.
 DATA PROCESSING is the course of doing
things in a sequence of steps.
 COMPUTER is an electronic machine that
follows a set of instructions in order that it may
be able to accept and gather data and
transform these into information.

Information Processing System
PROCESSING
SYSTEM
DATA
INFORMATION
1010100110
1010101110
1110101011
0111010101
0101100100
0101101010
Binary
digits
Digitize

Functions of an Information Processing
System
1. It accepts and gather data. (INPUT)
2. It processes data to become information.
(PROCESSING)
3. It stores data and information. (STORE)
4. It presents information. (OUTPUT)

Three Major Components of an
Information Processing System
 HARDWARE is the physical components
of a computer.
 SOFTWARE is the non-tangible part that
tells the computer how to do its job.
 PEOPLEWARE refer to people who use
and operate the computer system, write
computer programs, and analyze and
design the information system.

HARDWARE

Basic hardware of a PC system
 Central Processing Unit (CPU)
 Memory Unit
 Input Devices
 Output Devices
 Secondary Storage Devices

Central Processing Unit
 Brain of the computer.
 It directs and controls the entire computer
system and performs all arithmetic and
logical operations.

Memory Unit
 Where the programs and
data are stored .
READ ONLY MEMORY (ROM)
contains the pre-programmed
computer instructions such as
the Basic Input Output System
(BIOS).
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY
(RAM) is used to store the
programs and data that you
will run. Exists only when
there is power.

Input Devices
 Allows data and programs to be sent to the
CPU.
 Divided into two categories:
Keyboards
Direct-entry devices
 Pointing
 Scanning
 Smart & optical cards
 Etc.

Keyboard
 Traditional keyboards
 Flexible keyboards
 Ergonomic keyboards
 Wireless keyboards
 PDA keyboards

Types of Mouse
 Mechanical - a type of
computer mouse that has a
rubber or metal ball on its
underside and it can roll in
every direction.
 Optical: This type uses a
laser for detecting the
mouse's movement.

Types of mouse
 A mouse with many
buttons: The extra buttons can
be programmed to do specific
things, such as navigate the
Web or turn pages when you’re
reading a document.
 Trackball mouse: Like an
upside-down mouse. Rather
than roll the mouse around, you
use your thumb or index finger
to roll a ball on top of the
mouse. The whole contraption
stays stationary, so it doesn’t
need a lot of room, and its cord
never gets tangled.

How a Mouse Hooks Up to a PC
 PS/2 Mouse
 Serial Mouse
 USB Mouse
 Wireless mouse

Other Pointing Devices
 Trackball
 Track point
 Touch pad
 Touch Screen

 Joystick – input device for
computer games
 Light Pens – light-sensitive
penlike device
 Stylus – penlike device
commonly used with tablet
PCs and PDAs.

Scanning Devices
 Optical scanners
 Card readers
 Bar code readers
 Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)

Image Capturing Devices
 Digital Cameras
 Digital Video Cameras

Output Devices
 Media used by the computer in displaying its
responses to our requests and instructions.

Types of Monitor
 Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
 LED – Light Emitting Diode
Produces Soft
copy

Printers
Produces Hard
copy
 IMPACT PRINTERS uses pressure by
physically striking the paper. Ex. Daisy wheel
printers, line printers, dot matrix printers &
band printers.
 NON-IMPACT PRINTER does not apply
pressure on the paper but instead produces
character by using lasers, ink spray,
photography or heat.

Dot matrix
printer
Laser Inkjet printer
printer

Secondary Storage Devices
 Attached to the computer system to allow
you to store programs and data
permanently for the purpose of retrieving
them for future use.
 Floppy disk, Hard disk, CD Rom

Floppy Disk
 The most common secondary storage device
 3.5” disk – 1.44MB

High-Capacity Floppy Disks
 Floppy disk cartridges
 3 ½ inches in diameter
 Stores more information
 Zip disks

Hard Disk Drive or Hard Disk
 Made of rigid materials unlike floppy disks
 Holds a greater amount of data
 10MB in 1980s
 600MB in mid 1990s
 4.3GB in 1999
 180GB in 2001
 400GB - 2004

Optical Discs
 A standard part of modern desktop machines,
especially used for multimedia purposes and
preferred in loading applications.

Kinds
 Blue Ray Disk – 40G
 Digital Versatile Disk
 DVD-R – write once, 3.95G
 DVD RW – rewritable, 3G
 Single Layer and Double Layer
 Compact Disk
 CD-R – write once, 650MB
 CD-RW – rewritable, 700MB

Optical Drives
 CD-ROM read CDs
 CD-Writer read/write CDs
 DVD-Combo read/write CDs, read DVD
 DVD Writer read/write CDs
read/write DVDs

Other Secondary Storage
 Solid-State Storage
 No moving parts
 Flash memory cards
 USB flash drives

 Storage devices are those part of the
computer that allows you to read and write
data to your storage media.
Storage Devices Storage Media
CD/DVD Drive CD or DVD
ZIP Drive Zip Disk
Floppy Drive Floppy Disks

SOFTWARE

Software
 Instructions that tell the computer
how to process data into the form you
want.
 Software and programs are
interchangeable.
 Two major types:
System and Applications

SYSTEM SOFTWARE

System Software
System Software enables the application software to
interact with the computer hardware.
 Operating Systems are programs that coordinate
computer resources, provide an interface between
users and the computer; and run applications.
 Utilities perform specific tasks related to managing
computer resources.
 Device drivers are specialized programs designed
to allow particular input or output devices to
communicate with the rest of the computer system.

Functions of a System Software
 Managing resources (memory, processing,
storage, and devices like printer).
 Providing user interface
 Running applications

APPLICATION
SOFTWARE

Application Software
Applications Software - provides the real
functionality of a computer. It help you use
your computer to do specific types of work.
 Basic Applications, widely used in all career
areas.
 Specialized Applications, more
narrowly focused on specific
disciplines and occupations.

Disk Operating System
 DOS was the first widely installed
operating system for personal computers.
 Command-driven

MS-DOS Commands
 A COMMAND is the name of a special
program that makes your computer carry
out a task.

Graphical User Interface (GUI)
 Thru GUI, users can interact directly with the
operating system.
 Microsoft Windows
 Icons, Menus, Dialog boxes

FILES
 FILE is simply a collection of information
that you store on a disk or diskette.
 Must have a unique name
 Two parts: the filename and extension
separated by a period.
RECIPE.DOC

EXTENSIONS
 Use extension to make your filenames
more descriptive.
 .DOC – word documents
 .XLS – excel documents
 .PPT – powerpoint documents

DIRECTORIES
 One way of organizing the files on your
computer Hard Disk
 ROOT – one basic directory
 Subdirectories

2 Major Categories of Software
 System Software - is the software that
determines how your computer carries out
technology-specific and essential tasks such as
writing to a disk, starting your web browser software
so you can surf the Web, and sending a document
to your printer.
 Application Software – is the software that
allows you to perform specific information-processing
tasks such as managing inventory,
paying accounts payable, handling payroll, writing a
term paper, or creating slides for a presentation.

The application software you
need
As a personal computer user ( and buyer ), you’ll
most often be interested in a subset of application
software called personal productivity software.
Personal Productivity Software - is an
application software that is designed to help you
be more productive in performing personal tasks
such as writing letters, managing your checkbook,
and creating electronic slides.

Software Version – tells you which iteration of the
software you’re using.
Example: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7,
Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft 2010
Software Suite – are “bundles” of related software
packages that are sold together.
Example: Microsoft Office, Word Perfect and Open
Office

8 categories of productivity
software
1. Word Processing or Desktop Publishing
Software
2. Web Authoring Software
3. Spreadsheet Software
4. Presentation Software
5. Personal Information Management Software or
Personal Finance Software
6. Graphics Software
7. Database Management Software
8. Web Browser Software or E-mail Software

1. Desktop Publishing – is an application software that
extends word processing software by including design and
formatting techniques to enhance the layout and appearance of a
document. Word Processing – is an application software
that helps you create papers, letters, memos, and other basic
document.
2. Web Authoring Software – is an application software
that helps you design and develop Web sites and pages that you
can publish on the Web.

3. Spreadsheet Software – is an application that
helps you work with numbers, performing calculations and
creating graphs.
4. Presentation Software – is an application software
that helps you create and edit information that will appear in
electronic slides. The information you include can be text,
photos, art, tables, graphs, sound, animation, and even
videos.
5. Personal Information Management – is an
application software that helps you create and maintain to-do
list, appointments and calendars, and points of contact.
Is the primary software for personal digital assistants of
PDA’s. Personal Finance Software – is an
application software that offers you capabilities for
maintaining your checkbook, preparing budget, tracking
investments, monitoring your credit balances and even

6. Graphics Software – is an application software that
helps you create and edit photos and images. Using graphics
software you can easily crop (adjust) photos to an
appropriate size, add captions, change and transpose colors,
combine photos to create a photo collage, work freehand to
create drawings, create and manipulate 3D images and add
animation features.
7. Database Management System Software – is an
application software that allows you to arrange, modify, and
extract information from a database.
8. E-Mail and Web Browser Software – it is an
application software that helps you communicate with other
people and surf to the web.

System software
It is simply all the instructions that your computer
processes regardless of what application
software you’re using.
System Software Task

System Software Task
 Installing and Removing of Software
 Allowing you to work with and across multiple pieces
of application software at the same time.
 Compressing files to shrink sizes and decompressing
those same files.
 Configuring your modem to dial up and connect to
your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
 Setting time and date
 Allowing you to change your desktop configurations.
As with all software, you need system software to run
your computer efficiently and effectively. In fact, you can’t
even use your computer without system software.

TYPES OF OPERATING SYSTEM
SOFTWARE
There are numerous types of technology platforms
– PDA’s that you carry around; desktop computers
that provide you a wide range of capabilities;
minicomputers, mainframe computers, and
supercomputers that support the information-processing
needs of many people simultaneously.
This different platforms require different operating
system software.

1. Personal Operating System – enable a
single user to use a personal technology such as
PDA’s, Smart phone, tablet PC, notebook computer,
desktop computer. Personal OS designed for one
person at a time using one computer.
2. Multi-user Operating System – enable many
people simultaneously to use the resources of a
central computer, which is unusually a minicomputer, a
mainframe computer or a supercomputer. Multi-user
OS’s must process all those information-processing
request and determine which task will receive priority
for CPU processing, and so on.

Peripheral management (os)
 Determine the software you wish to use.
 Find the software on your computer’s hard disk
 Tell your hard disk to transfer that software to your RAM
so you can use it.
 Tell RAM and CPU to start the execution of the software.
OS coordinates and manages your computer resources so
they work together effectively to allow you to accomplish
your immediate goal and be productive.

Memory management
While using your computer, your RAM temporarily
stores your operating system, the application
software you’re using and any information you’re
working with
An important feature of effective memory
management is your ability to perform
multitasking.
Multitasking allows you to work with more than
one piece of software at a time.

Device drivers
Is a software and information that enables your operating
system to establish the communications between your
existing hardware and your new device. Typically, device
drivers come on a CD or disk that accompanies your
device.
Plug and Play you can add devices to your computer
and your operating system will find and install the
appropriate device driver without you having to go through
a manual installation.
Hot swap is an operating system feature that allows
you while your computer is running to unplug a given
device and plug in a new one without shutting down your
computer.

Utility software
Provides additional functionality to your computer’s
operating system.
Example: File security software which is a utility software
that contains security features to protect your files and
folder of information as well as to enable you to send
secure e-mail messages. (ArcticSoft’s FileAssurity
Software)
Utility Software Suite is a bundle of utility software tools
sold by the same manufacturer.
3 Popular Utility Software Suite
1. McAfee Office
2. Norton System Works
3. Ontrack System Suite

Anti-virus software
Designed intentionally to cause annoyance or
damage. Some viruses are relatively benign; they
cause your screen two go blank but do not corrupt
your information or software. Other are malignant:
damage your computer.
Anti-virus Software is a utility software that
continually scans your RAM, storage devices and
incoming files for viruses and removes the virus.

File management
Your ability to create, store, and use files makes you more productive
with your computer.
File is a collection of information you need to use your computer
effectively.
Filename is a unique name that you give to a file of information. It
is usually followed by a filename extension.
Filename extension further identifies the contents of your file
usually by specifying the file type.
Example: myfirstdocument.doc, myfirstdatabase.mdb,
myfirstpresentation.ppt and myfirstexcel.xls.
Note: use descriptive filename for your file.

Organizing your files
Operating system includes utility software called file
manager . It helps you manage, organize, find, copy,
move, rename, and delete files on your computer. To use
your file manager utility software effectively, you need to
know something about device letters, directories, folders,
pathnames, and filenames.
Device letter is a unique identifier for each different
storage device on your computer.
Floppy Disk is A:
Hard Disk is C:
CD Drive is D:

Directory is a list of the files on a particular storage
device. The main directory is called the root directory.
Folder is a special portion of your root directory into
which you can place files that have similar information.
You can create a folder inside your folder and it is called
a sub folder.
Pathname is the device letter, folder, subfolder,
filename, and extension that together describe a
particular file and its location.
Example: c:FinanceFinance4032Finance Final
Analysis.xls

File allocation tables (fat)
Computer allocates space on a storage device using sectors and clusters.
A sector is a single area on a storage device that can hold a
certain number of bytes of a file.
A cluster is a collection of sectors on a storage device.
A cluster can hold 512 bytes to 256 kilobytes or 256,000
bytes, depending on your hard disk and your operating
system.
Ex. If you have 5 kb (5,000 character) file and your computer
uses 4,086 bytes cluster, your computer places the first 4,086
characters of your file in the first available cluster, and then
finds another available cluster to store the remaining 914
bytes.
A file allocation table is a file that stores information about the
physical location of every file on your computer’s hard disk.

Fragmentation
Occurs when your computer places parts of files over
many disk areas or clusters. Too much fragmentation
reduces your drive’s efficiency, specially for a hard disk.
Access Speed the time between when you ask for
a file and when the computer delivers it to you-slows as
your hard disk fragments.
Defragmentation Utility – reallocates file
clusters and decreases fragmentation, reorganizes your
entire disk so that individual files are stored contiguously
within clusters that are next to each other.

File compression
Shrink a file to a smaller file. This smaller file is a
compressed file. In order to use the compressed file you
need to decompressed or “unshrink” it back to its
original size.
File compression software – software that allows you to
compress and / or decompress a file or files.
Ex. Winzip utility software.
disk compression utility automatically compresses your
file of information when you save them to your hard disk
and automatically decompresses your file of
informations when you access and use them with your
application software.
Extension file .zip

NETWORK,
CONNECTIVITY AND
TELECOMMUNICATIONS

What is a network?
 A network consists of two or more computers
that are linked in order to share resources,
exchange files, or allow electronic
communications.
 The computers on a network may be linked
through cables, telephone lines, radio waves,
satellites, or infrared light beams

Types of network
 LAN
 WAN
 MAN

Local Area Network
 A local area network (LAN) is a group of
computers and associated devices that share
a common communications line or wireless
link.
 Typically, connected devices share the
resources of a single processor or server
within a small geographic area .
 .A local area network may serve as few as two
or three users or as many as thousands of
users.

Wide Area Network
 The WAN is a communications network that
makes use of existing technology to connect
local computer networks into a larger working
network that may cover both national and
international locations.

Metropolitan Area Network
 A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a
network that interconnects users with
computer resources in a geographic area
or region larger than that covered by even
a large local area network but smaller
than the area covered by a wide area
network (WAN).
 It is also used to mean the
interconnection of several local area
networks by bridging them
with backbone lines

Network Topology
 Maps of how the physical or logical paths
of network devices connect. The three
major topologies are star, ring, and bus.
 Switch – In star networks, a Layer 2
central controlling device. A switch looks
at each data frame as it comes through
each port.

 Hub – A device used with the Universal Serial
Bus or in a star network topology that allows
multiple device connections.

 Star Topology – Most common Ethernet
network topology where each device connects
to a central hub or switch.

 Ring Topology – Network that is physically
wired like a star network but, logically in a ring;
passes control from one device to the next in a
continuous fashion using a special data packet
called a token. Used in Token Ring networks.

 Bus Topology – Network wherein all devices
connect to a single cable. If the cable fails, the
network is down.

 Mesh Topology – Network where all devices
connect to each other by cabling to provide link
redundancy for maximum fault tolerance. Most
likely in WANs.

Bluetooth
 A wireless technology standard for exchanging
data over short distances from fixed and
mobile devices, and building personal area
networks (PANs).

Wi-fi
 Wi-Fi is a wireless technology that allows you
to connect, for example, a PDA (and other
devices) to a network (including the Internet) if
you are close enough to a Wi-Fi access point.

Internet
 Short for interconnected network is a global
network of networks, connecting innumerable
smaller networks, computers, and users.

History of Internet
 It originated in 1969 as ARPAnet, a project of
Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S.
Department of Defense - they attempted to create
both a national network of scientists and a
communications system that could withstand
nuclear attack.
 The protocol that eventually governed ARPAnet
and continues to govern the Internet today is
public domain software called transmission
control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP). Any
computer or network that subscribes to this
protocol can join the Internet.

Intranets/Extranets
 Private networks that use the same structure
as the Internet and TCP/IP protocols are called
intranets.
 Software called a firewall is used to protect
the intranet from unauthorized users.
 If the intranet in one organization is linked to
other intranets in other organizations, it
becomes an extranet.

Computer Basics

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