Microsoft Office Illustrated Introductory, Second Edition Understanding Essential Computer Concepts

2  Defining computers  Investigating types of computers  Examining input devices  Examining output devices  Investigating data processing  Understanding memory Objectives

3 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts  Understanding magnetic storage devices and media  Understanding optical and flash storage devices and media  Exploring data communications  Learning about networks  Understanding system software  Understanding application software Objectives

4 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Defining Computers A computer is an electronic device that:  Accepts input  Processes data  Stores data  Produces output

5 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Defining Computers A computer system is made up of:  Hardware—the physical components  Software—the programs or lists of instructions

6 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Defining Computers  Architecture or configuration is the design of the computer. –As in, what does the computer consist of?  Specification is the technical detail about each component. –As in, how big is the monitor?

7 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts How a Computer Works The hardware, software, and you work together to complete tasks.

8 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts How a Computer Works  The data you type into the computer is called input.  The result of the computer processing your input is called output.

9 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Investigating Types of Computers The categories of computers are:  Personal or microcomputers –Desktop –Notebook, Laptop, Table PC  Hand-help or PDAs  Mainframes  Supercomputers

10 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Types of Computers Personal computers are used for general computing tasks. Hand-held computers fit in the palm of your hand and run on batteries. Mainframes are used by companies to provide centralized storage, processing, and management for large amounts of data. Supercomputers are the largest and fastest of computers, and can process an enormous volume of data.

11 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Types of Computers Supercomputers are the largest and fastest of computers, and can process an enormous volume of data.

12 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Examining Input Devices Some input devices are:  Keyboard  Mouse  Trackball  Track point  Touch pad  Wireless pointer Cordless mouse

13 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Examining Output Devices Output devices  Monitors and printers are common output devices.  CRT monitors and LCD (or flat panel display) monitors are two types of monitors.

14 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Computer Hardware Factors that influence a monitor’s quality are:  Screen Size  Resolution  Dot Pitch

15 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Types of printers  Laser  Dot Matrix  Ink-Jet Ink-Jet printer

16 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Computer Hardware  Multimedia devices are peripheral devices that include text, graphics, sound, animation, and video.  Speakers and sound cards are common multimedia output devices

17 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Investigating Data Processing  Computers interpret every signal as “on” or “off.”  1 (“on”) and 0 (“off”) are referred to as bits.  Eight bits is a byte. Each byte represents a unique character.

18 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Representation  Storage and memory capacity is the amount of data the storage device can handle. –Kilobyte (KB) is about one thousand bytes –Megabyte (MB) is about one million bytes –Gigabyte (GB) is about one billion bytes

19 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Processing Hardware  The two most important components of personal computers hardware are the microprocessor and memory.  These two factors directly affect the computer’s price and performance.

20 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts The Microprocessor  The microprocessor is a silicon chip designed to manipulate data.  Its speed is determined by: –Clock speed –Word size –Cache size

21 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Memory  Computer memory is a set of storage locations on the motherboard. There are four types of memory: –Random access memory (RAM) –Virtual memory –Read-only memory –Complementary metal oxide semiconductor memory (CMOS)

22 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Memory  RAM is temporary memory that is constantly changing while the computer is on.  Virtual memory is extra memory that simulates RAM if more is needed.

23 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Memory  Read-only memory (ROM) is the permanent storage location for a set of instructions the computer uses.  CMOS memory is semi-permanent information about where essential software is stored.

24 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Magnetic Storage Devices and Media A storage device receives data from RAM and writes it on a storage medium. Later, it can be read and sent back to RAM.

25 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Magnetic Storage Devices and Media  Floppy disks or diskettes are flat circles of iron oxide-coated plastic in a hard plastic case. Floppy disks can store 1.44 MB of data.  Tape drives provide inexpensive archival storage for large quantities of data.

26 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Storage Devices Some common magnetic storage devices are:  Floppy disks  Hard disk drives  Tape drives  Zip drives A floppy disk

27 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Optical and Flash Storage Devices and Media Some common optical storage devices are:  CD-ROM drives  DVD drives  CD-R drives  CD-RW drives

28 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Storage Devices  CD-ROMs are for “read-only” access.  CD-R drives allow you to record data on a CD-R disk.  CD-RW drives allow you to write data on a CD-RW disk and access and modify data.

29 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Exploring Data Communications Data Communications is the transmission of text, numeric, voice, or video data from one computer to another.

30 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Communications Data Communications is the transmission of text, numeric, voice, or video data from one computer to another. The four essential components of data communications are:  Sender  Channel  Receiver  Protocols

31 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Communications  A sender is the computer that originates the message.  The message is sent over a channel, such as a telephone.  The receiver is the computer at the message’s destination.  Protocols are the rules that establish the transfer of data between sender and receiver.

32 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Bus Microcomputers have several types of ports: –Parallel –Serial –Small computer system interface (SCSI) –Musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) –Universal serial bus (USB)

33 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Bus A parallel port transmits data eight bits at a time, and is often used to connect a nearby printer.

34 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Bus A serial port transmits data one bit at a time, and often connects a mouse, keyboard, or modem. A SCSI (“scuzzy”) connection can allow many devices to use the same port, and are popular on Macs and notebooks. MIDI cards are used to record and play back musical data.

35 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Bus Computer expansion ports

36 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Data Bus USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports replace numerous connectors with one plug and port combination. The device you install must have a USB connector.

37 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Learning About Networks  A network connects one computer to other computers and peripherals.  In a local area network (LAN), computers and peripherals are close to each other.

38 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Networks  A client/server network is a network with a file server. A file server acts as the central storage location.  A network without a file server is a peer-to- peer network. All of the computers are equal.

39 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Networks

40 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Networks Each computer that is part of the network must have a network interface card and network software. Then it becomes a workstation. Any device connected to the network is called a node.

41 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Computer Software Software is the instructions and data that direct the computer to accomplish the task. It can refer to a single program or a package.

42 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding System Software System software helps the computer carry out it s basic operating tasks. Application software helps the user carry out a variety of tasks. The four types of system software are:  Operating systems  Utilities  Device drivers  Programming languages

43 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding System Software The operating system controls the I/O or input/output, the flow of data from microprocessor to memory to peripherals. The operating system makes multitasking possible. Some types of system software include:  Virus protection software  Utilities  Device drivers  Computer programming languages

44 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Application Software Application software enables you to perform specific tasks. Application software includes:  Document production software  Spreadsheet software  Database management software  Graphics and presentation software

45 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Application Software Document production software includes word processing, desktop publishing, and Web authoring software that assist you in writing and formatting documents. It often has grammar and spell-checking, thesaurus, search and replace, and template features.

46 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Application Software With spreadsheet software, you can create formulas that perform calculations. Spreadsheet software creates worksheets with columns and rows. The intersection of a column and row is a cell. Numbers and text are displayed in a grid of rows and columns. Cell B5 contains the result of a calculation performed by the spreadsheet software

47 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Application Software Database management software creates structured databases to contain information. Graphics and presentation software allow you to create illustrations, diagrams, and charts to be presented or transmitted. Most allow you to include graphics.

48 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Application Software Database management software creates structured databases to contain information. Graphics and presentation software allow you to create illustrations, diagrams, and charts to be presented or transmitted. Most allow you to include graphics. Multimedia authoring software allows you to record digital sound files, video files, and animations that can be included in presentations and other documents.

49 Understanding Essential Computer Concepts Understanding Application Software Object linking and embedding (OLE) is the ability to use data from another file, called the source. This integration between applications has become an important skill in business.