1. Its All Geek to Me
Computer Basics

2. The Information Processing Cycle
MAIN
MEMORY
OUTPUT
INPUT
PROCESSING
AUXILIARY
STORAGE

3. INPUT DEVICES (Hardware)
Keyboard
Mouse
Microphone
Scanner
Touch screens
Bar code scanner
Voice recognition
Auxiliary Storage Device

4. OUTPUT DEVICES (HARDWARE)
Useful information that leaves the system
Output Hardware includes:
Monitor: soft copy
Printers: hard copy
Projector
Voice and music - speakers
OUTPUT

5. MEMORY PROCESSING HARDWARE
ROM
READ ONLY MEMORY
RAM
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY
Small
Instructions are installed permanently at the factory
Cannot be changed
These instructions check the computer’s resources and looks for Operating System
Main Memory
Temporary—it is erased when turned off.
It is where programs and data is stored while being processed

6. PROCESSING HARDWARE Central Processing Unit: CPU
The Brains or Intelligence of the computer.
Controls input and output
interprets instructions
executes instructions.
Silicon chip: integrated circuit board
Pentium: name give to a particular chip
Hertz: the speed of the CPU
Gigahertz: executes a billion instructions per second
Megahertz: executes a million instructions per second

7. Processors Come in Many Sizes
Mainframe: large, powerful, serving many connected terminals. Super Computers
Minicomputer: mid-sized, serves more than one user at a time
Microcomputer: PC, individual workstation
Laptop: portable, small
Handheld: Palm Pilots

8. What is Data?
Facts used by a computer
Words
Numbers

9. What two numbers are used in Binary Code?
0 and 1
They are each called a BIT
8 BITS make a BYTE
1 BYTE makes a letter or number
KILOBYTE = 1,024 bytes
MEGABYTE = 1,048,576 bytes
GIGABYTE = 1,024 megabytes
TERABYTE = 1,024 gigabytes

10. AUXILIARY STORAGE DEVICES
Network Drive (H: drive)
Hard Disk Drive (C:drive)
Floppy Disk Drive with 3 ½” Floppy Disk (A:drive)
Jump Drive/Thumb Drive
I-Pod
CD Read/Write Drive
DVD
Zip Drive
AUXILIARY
STORAGE

11. SOFTWARE Programs that Make the Computer Work
Operating System Software
Vista
Windows XP: GUI (Graphical User Interface)
Unix
Linux
Application Software
Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Front Page, Publisher
WordPerfect
Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver

12. What is the Boot Process?
The process of starting up a computer from a halted or powered-down condition.
Commands in ROM memory are followed
The process of loading the Operating System software into Main Memory
Windows 98
Windows XP
Unix