Computer Basic operations and Terminologies

Computer Overview Basic Concepts -byRajesh Goyal

I am giving below the very basics of the computer. In case you already know computers, I am sure you will find this too elementary and may even like to skip. However, I will still like you to go through this page quickly as there may be one or two points which may add some knowledge / clarification as in the race to learn higher and higher, sometimes we miss even the basics :What is a computer ? Define a Computer ? A computer is an electronic device, which can compute and process data as per the programmed set inside it. However, these days the term is mostly used to refer to the Desktop and Laptop computers that are used by most of us. If you have seen inside a computer, you must have noticed that it is not a single part machine. These machines (Desktop and laptops) are also popularly known as Personal Computers or PC. Each computer consists of number of technical parts which are assembled in the required manner. Broad Categories of Computers :1.Based on Uses :

1.1 Analog Computer : It measures pressure, temperature, length, etc, of physical quantities and converts into its numerical values. They are mainly used for scientific and engineering purposes. 1.2 Digital Computer : It is used in counting of numbers, words or other special symbols. It is also used in fuel control of automobiles and banking processes. 1.3 Hybrid Computer : It is the combined form of analog and digital computer. Information is continuously converted into data that are received in the form of input. Output may be in form of analog and digital. They are used in factories and machines.

2. Based on Sizes : computers are also classified based on their size viz :

2.1 Micro Computer : It is the smallest computer in which ALU and CPU are based on the same chip. 2.2 Personal Computer : It is single user system used generally in homes and small businesses. Desktop and Laptops are examples of PCs, as these are best for day to day small operations. 2.3 Mini Computer : It is more powerful than micro computer and can be used by many users at the same time. It processes data very fast. 2.4 Main Frame Computer : They are giant in size and of highly storage capacity. They can process an ample amount of data very rapidly. They are used in banks, large organization and public sectors. 2.5 Super Computer : They are capable of processing the huge amount of data in fraction of seconds. They are used in very complex calculation.

What are the Major Parts of the Computer :

Central Processing Unit (popularly known as CPU) it consists of different technical parts like processor, motherboard, hard disc, RAM, CD Drive and cabinet with SMPS. Monitor Keyboard Mouse

What are major accessories of the computer system ?

In addition to the above referred major components of the computer, we find the following accessories attached to most of the computers :

Speakers Printers Scanners Modem

Explain the concept of CPU: Central Processing Unit or CPU is considered as the brain of computer. CPU consists of electronic circuits that interpret and execute instructions. It communicates with the input, output and storage devices. CPU, with the help of memory, executes instructions in the repetition of machine cycles. The speed of computer is measured in megahertz, MHz. A MHz is a million machine cycles per second. A personal computer of 500 MHz has a processor capable of handling 500 million machine cycles per second. Another measure of speed is gigahertz (GHz), which means a billion machine cycles per second. Explain the concept of Memory RAM / ROM : Memory or internal memory or primary storage works with the CPU to hold instructions and data in order to be processed. It is in the memory that data and instructions are placed after being input. (a) Moreover, the information is also placed in memory after processing so as to be returned to an output device. This kind of memory holds data only temporarily till electrical current flow continuously. If current is interrupted, data is lost. Random Access memory (popularly known as RAM) is an example of this kind of memory. Thus, in this memory when we switch off the computer, the data is lost. The users access data in RAM memory randomly as per needs. RAM can be erased or written over at will by the computer programme (b) Another kind of memory is Read Only Memory (ROM). It contains prorams and data that are permanently recorded when the computer is manufactured. It is read only and is used by the processor. It is permanent in nature. and can not be altered or deleted by the user. Thus, we can say that RAM is like a slate where you can write something for immediate reference and then wipe / change data by adding or deleting when it is not needed, but ROM is like a printed book, where once the text is printed then it cannot be altered. (c) Secondary memory is also known as external memory or storage. It consists of Hard Discs, Floppy Disc (now a days out of fashion) , CDs and DVDs as well as pen drives. External device consists of more storage space and most dynamic in terms of storing data. Memory is measured in bytes. A byte is usually made up of 8 bits and represents one character a letter, digit or symbol. The number of bytes that can be held is a measure of the memory and storage capacity. Bytes are usually measured in groups of kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes.

What are the Functions of the major components / accessories of the compute system:CPU is the main unit of processing data, a mother borad is an electronic circuit for different functions, hard disc is for storing the data, CD drive is to read and write data on CDs (compact discs). Monitor is for displaying the data, and is also popularly known as screen or display unit. Keyboard is used to input the data. Mouse is a pointing or selection unit. Speakers, we all know, are used to hear the sound / music. Printer is used to take the print of the data from the computer system. Scanner is used to scan and then store the image / pictures in the computer. Modem is used to connect to internet.
The Major Parts of the Computer :

Central Processing Unit (popularly known as CPU) it consists of different technical parts like processor, motherboard, hard disc, RAM, CD Drive and cabinet with SMPS. Monitor / Screen Keyboard Mouse

The major accessories of the computer system ?

. In addition to the above referred major components of the computer, we find the following accessories attached to most of the computers :

Speakers Printers Scanners Modem Microphone

Various Hardware Components of A Personal Computer :

PC Case :

It consists of a thin sheet metal enclosure that houses the motherboard, power supply and various drives (HDD, FDD, CD, DVD). These cases come in two shapes / styles desktop and tower. Now a days the tower type is predominant. It stands upright and is much taller than it is wide. It is usually placed on the floor near the desk or under the top of the desk. On the other hand desktop version is pizza box profile and usually placed on the desktop.

The motherboard is the main circuit board in a PC. It contains all the circuits and components that run the PC. Major Components found on the motherboard are:

Motherboard :

1.

CPU -

Full form of CPU is Central Processing Unit or commonly known as processor. CPU consists of electronic circuits that interpret and execute instructions. It communicates with the input, output and storage devices. CPU, with the help of memory, executes instructions in the repetition of machine cycles. It is the brain of every PC. We can say that the CPU is the hardware device in a computer that executes all of the instructions from the software. All scheduling, computation and control occurs here.

1. There are two major makers of CPUs namely Intel and AMD. We often hear that CPU is Intel Pentium or Celeron. Currently the Pentium chip or processor, made by Intel, is the most common CPU though there are many other companies that produce processors for personal computers. like CPU made by Motorola and AMD. The speed of a microprocessor is measured in megahertz, or cycles per second. A MHz is a million machine cycles per second. A personal computer of 500 MHz has a processor capable of handling 500 million machine cycles per second. Another measure of speed is gigahertz (GHz), which means a billion machine cycles per second.

BIOS Full form of BIOS is

Basic Input Output System. It is a non-volatile memory that contains configuration information about the PC. It contains all the code required for the CPU to communicate with the keyboard, mouse video display, disk drives and communications devices.

When a PC is powered on it uses the BIOS boot code to set up many required functions that bring the PC to a point where it is ready to work.

This chip keeps date, day and time in a 24 hour format just like our watch. The PC uses this clock to time stamp files as these are created and / or modified.

RTC Full form is Real Time Clock.

Chip Set - these are large chip(s) that integrate many functions that used to be found in separate
smaller chips on the motherboard. They save space and cost.

The functions performed by these chip sets often broken into two devices with one providing an interface from the CPU to the memory and the other providing controllers for IDE, ISA, PCI and USB devices (see below). In addition to above, in a PC, you will notice a number of connectors on the mother board.

(a)Primary Connectors :

Some of such primary connectors are :

(b)Power - A 20 pin connector accepts a plug from the power supply. This plug carry DC power to all the circuits on the motherboard. Keyboard the keyboard plugs in. (d) Mouse the mouse plugs in.

- A Mini-din 6-pin (round) connector found at the back of the motherboard is where

- A Mini-din 6-pin connector found next to the keyboard connector is where the where

 (e) Display - This connector is not integrated into the motherboard but is included in this list since its function is absolutely necessary. It is a 15-pin, D-shell type connector found on a video card that plugs into the AGP connector of the motherboard (see below). (f) IDE - stands for Integrated Drive Electronics. These are 40 pin connectors that provide a place to connect the ribbon cables from the drives (hard and CD/DVD). All data between the motherboard and the drives is carried in these cables. They are not accessible unless the PC cover is removed. (g) FDD connector - it is similar in function to the IDE connector. It is a 34 pin ribbon connector that carries data between the motherboard and any floppy drive installed in the PC. Not accessible with PC cover on. (h) DRAM - Dynamic Random Access Memory connectors for SIMM and DIMM type memory modules. Not accessible with chassis cover on.

PORTS or Connectors enable us to connect external output or input devices to our computer. The
basic types of ports are: Parallel ports can be used to connect printers, zip drives, video capture (such as Snappy), external hard drives, or digital cameras. Serial ports that are frequently used to connect all of the above except printers. In addition, there are some serial port mice. PS2 ports are used to connect some types of mice. There are also places on your computer to attach a keyboard and s-video cable.

(A)Serial Connectors
o Standard Serial Connector - This connector has been around in PCs since they first appeared. It was originally located on ISA expansion type cards (see below). Today it is an integral part of newer motherboards. It is a 9- pin, D-shell connector that allows you to connect external devices with serial ports to your PC. The maximum data rate is 115 KB/s. o USB Universal Serial Bus This is a relatively new serial bus. Originally specified as low speed, 1.2 Mb/s, it was enhanced to full speed, 12Mb/s. The latest version 2.0 is specified as high speed, 400 MB/s. Someday USB will completely replace the standard serial connector that has been the workhorse serial port in earlier PCs. USB is now a standard connector on all new motherboards. Unlike serial and parallel ports, the USB port is designed to power devices connected to it. The devices must be low power devices and must be able to reduce their current draw to less than 0.5uAmps when commanded to do so by the PC.

(B)Parallel Connectors
o Centronix or Standard Parallel - This connector has been around in PCs since they first appeared. It has 37-pins and is now integrated on new motherboards. It is usually used to connect your printer to the PC and moves data at about 1MB/s. o SCSI - Small Computer System Interface moves data at a maximum of up to 80Mb/s. It not integrated into most PC motherboards. It can be added to a PC as an Expansion card (see below). Some printers and hard disk drives use SCSI interfaces.

Expansion Card Connectors - The CPU connects to expansion card connectors through one of
the chip set ICs mentioned above. They are located on the motherboard near the rear of the PC. These connectors allow special function cards to plug into and work with the PC. Before motherboards integrated the serial and centronix connectors they were found on expansion boards that plugged into ISA slots.Most PCs have the following expansion connector types: o ISA - Industry Standard Architecture connectors have been around since 1980 and first appeared in the IBM XT PC. This type of slot still appears on some newer motherboards so that older expansion boards can still be used. However, many motherboards no longer have ISA connectors on them. o PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect is a newer and faster interface that accepts all expansion cards that have a PCI interface. o AGP - Accelerated Graphics Port is a connector that is designed to work with video cards. Your video display plugs into and is controlled by one of these video cards. Many modern video cards offer enhanced 3Dgraphics and fast, full motion video. 1.

Power Supply :

A power supply is installed in the back corner of the PC case, next to the motherboard. It converts 120 / 240 vac (standard house power) into DC voltages that are used by other components in the PC. A 20 conductor cable carries +5vdc, -5vdc +12vdc, -12vdc and ground to the motherboard.

1.

MOUSE :

A mouse is an acronym for Manually Oscillating Utensil Sonically Engaged. It is the electronic finger of the computer. One type of mouse has a round ball under the bottom of the mouse that rolls and turns two wheels which control the direction of the pointer on the screen. Another type of mouse uses an optical system to track the movement of the mouse. Laptop computers use touch pads, buttons and other devices to control the pointer. Hand helds use a combination of devices to control the pointer, including touch screens

It is used to point at items in the window environment. The mouse arrow indicates your position on screen. It can change its shape depending upon your position on screen or the program you were using. In a word processor the mouse will appear as a flashing cursor or insertion point. Moving and clicking the mouse can move the cursor onscreen. The mouse has 2 buttons. The left button is used to send signals to programs. The right mouse button gives the user various menus. By double clicking the left mouse button, programs can be opened. A new mouse, the Intellimouse, allows the user to scroll a screen in a program using a center wheel.

5.MONITOR

The monitor is the computers screen or display. Monitors come in sizes from 14 inch, 17 inch, to as large as 36 inch monitor. The resolution of the monitor determines the sharpness of the screen. The resolution can be adjusted to control the screens display. The monitor shows information on the screen when you type. This is called outputting information.

When the computer needs more information it will display a message on the screen, usually through a dialog box..

Most desktop computers use a monitor with a cathode tube or liquid crystal display. Most notebooks use a liquid crystal display monitor. To get the full benefit of todays software with full colour graphics and animation, computers need a color monitor with a display or graphics cards

6. KEYBOARD :

The keyboard has keys similar to our old typewriter but It also has some additional keys. The keyboard is used to type information into the computer or input information. There are many different keyboard layouts and sizes with the most common for Latin based languages being the QWERTY layout (named for the first 6 keys).

Function keys are found at the top of the keyboard. These control programs and are labeled F1 to F12.
F1 always provides help in windows environment.

Cursor control keys are arrows that allow you to move the cursor in four directions (up, down, right,
left).

Numeric keys are found on the right side of the keyboard and act much like a calculator pad, however,
key must be pressed on in order for these keys to function

ESC or the escape key allows you to exit or escape some programs. / Front slash key is used in web addresses on the Internet. \ Back slash key signals a sub-directory. Page up and page down keys allow you to move up or down in a document. Shift key and caps lock key change the case of the letter when pressed. ALT key moves the cursor to the menu bar, which is useful in the event the mouse is not functioning. Pause key pauses text on screen in DOS.
ALT + Ctrl + Delete keys reboots or restarts the computer when they are pushed in that sequence. This is called a warm boot. A cold boot simply means turning the computer off for a minute and then turning it back on. These boots are necessary if a program fails to function.

Backspace key erases errors when the mouse is placed after the error. Delete key erases errors when the mouse is placed before the error.

7.Printers - The printer takes the information on your screen and transfers it to paper or a hard copy.
There are many different types of printers with various levels of quality. The three basic types of printer are; dot matrix, inkjet, and laser. Dot matrix printers work like a typewriter transferring ink from a ribbon to paper with a series or matrix of tiny pins. Ink jet printers work like dot matrix printers but fires a stream of ink from a cartridge directly onto the paper. Laser printers use the same technology as a photocopier using heat to transfer toner onto paper.

8.Scanners-

Scanners allow you to transfer pictures and photographs to your computer. A scanner scans the image from the top to the bottom, one line at a time and transfers it to the computer as a series of bits or a bitmap. You can then take that image and use it in a paint program, send it out as a fax or print it. With optional Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software you can convert printed documents such as newspaper articles to text that can be used in your word processor. Most scanners use TWAIN software that makes the scanner accessible by other software applications. A Raster Image Processor (RIP) is a component used in a printing system which produces a raster image also known as a bitmap. The bitmap is then sent to a printing device for output. The input may be a page description in a high-level page description language such as PostScript, Portable Document Format, XPS or another bitmap of higher or lower resolution than the output device. In the latter case, the RIP applies either smoothing or interpolation algorithms to the input bitmap to generate the output bitmap.

9.Digital cameras allow you to take digital photographs. The images are stored on a memory chip or
disk that can be transferred to your computer. Some cameras can also capture sound and video.

What is full form of CAPTCHA :

The full form of CAPTCHA is Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. This is a trademark of Carnegie Mellon University, and can be termed as a type of challengeresponse test used in computing to determine whether or not the user is human. The term was coined in 2000 by Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum, Nicholas J. Hopper of Carnegie Mellon University, and John Langford of IBM. The most common type of CAPTCHA was first invented by Mark D. Lillibridge, Martin Abadi, Krishna Bharat, and Andrei Z. Broder. This form of CAPTCHA requires that the user type the letters of a distorted image, sometimes with the addition of an obscured sequence of letters or digits that appears on the screen. Because the test is administered by a computer, in contrast to the standard Turing test that is administered by a human, a CAPTCHA is sometimes described as a reverse Turing test. This term is ambiguous because it could also mean a Turing test in which the participants are both attempting to prove they are the computer.

What are the uses of CAPTCHA ?

CAPTCHAs have several applications for practical security. Some of the important uses of CAPTCHA are as follows: It Prevents Comment Spam in Blogs We have heard that in some cases bogus comments are submitted either as a spam or to to raise search engine ranks of some website. Usually, such spam comments are generated through computer programmes. Thus, by using a CAPTCHA websites can eliminate such spam comments as in that case only humans can enter comments on a blog. To Prevent Fake Registration There are many companies which offer free email services. Till few years back, most of such services experienced bots attack that would sign up for thousands of email accounts every minute. The problem was resolved by introduction of CAPTCHA before final submission of the details as it ensured that only humans obtain free accounts. In general, free services should be protected with a CAPTCHA in order to prevent abuse by automated programs. Online Polls - In order to prevent fake polling votes , CAPTCHA plays an important role.

Preventing Dictionary Attacks. CAPTCHAs can also be used to prevent dictionary attacks in password systems. The idea is simple: prevent a computer from being able to iterate through the entire space of passwords by requiring it to solve a CAPTCHA after a certain number of unsuccessful logins. Worms and Spam. CAPTCHAs also offer a plausible solution against email worms and spam: I will only accept an email if I know there is a human behind the other computer. A few companies are already marketing this idea.

Computer Data Communication and Network

Some Basic Facts Signals are electric or electromagnetic encoding of data and signaling is propagation of signal along suitable communication medium. Transmission is communication of data achieved by the propagation and processing of signals. In parallel data transmission, each wire carries a bit of information.

In series data transmission, each bet is sent sequentially one after another and it is slower than that of parallel transmission. In synchronous transmission, characters are transmitted as groups, with control characters in the beginning and at the end of the bit train. In a synchronous transmission, each character is transmitted separately. In simplex mode of communication, channel is used in one direction. In half duplex mode of communication, channel is used in both directions. In full duplex mode, the communication channel is used both directions at the same time.

Computers are connected with each other for communication creating the computer network. Computer network is of three types: 1. Local Area Network (LAN) 2. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) 3. Wide Area Network (WAN) Local Area Network (LAN) It is a data communication network, which connects many computers of workstations and permits exchange of data and information among themselves, within a localized area. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) It is a network of computers of a large region. For example, all the branched of an electric department of a city and the network of computers of all the offices. Wide Area Network (WAN) It is a network linking separate geographical locations. Internet is the best example of it.

Computer Fundamentals of Computer

Binary System Bit vs Byte

What is Binary System :

A system in which information can be expressed by combinations of the digits 0 and 1. The modern day origin of this can be traced to late 1930s, when Claude Shannon showed that it was possible to carry out logical operations by assigning the number 1 to true and 0 to false while using switches which were closed for true and open for false,.

What is Bit? Or What is Bits ? : The term

bit or bits means binary digit, meaning 0 or 1 in binary numbering. . Thus, we can say that it is the smallest unit of information which can be manipulated by a digital machine. (While writing in short form we merely use a lowercase b to represent bits). With two bits, you can have four different states (2*2): 0000 0101 1010 1111 With 3 bits, you can have eight different states (2*2*2), and so on. Thus, for a group of n bits, it is possible to represent 2n values.

Computer Generations of Computer 1st To 4th Generation Computers and Major Features of each Generation of Computers

Computer Generation

Year

Switching Device

Storage Device

Speed

Operating System

Language

Application

First*

Machine Acoustic delay and Vacuum Tubes/ lines and later 333 micro assembly 1949-54 Electronic magnetic Mainly batch seconds languages, Valves drum, 1KB Simple memory, monitors

Mostly scientific later simple business systems

Second**

1954-64 Transistors

Extensive Magnetic core, High level business main memory, languages, applications, tape and disk Multi-bag Fortran, 10 micro Engineering peripheral remaining, Cobol, seconds desing memory, 100 Time sharing Algol, Batch, optimization KB main Operating scientific memory system. research Fortran IV, High speed Cobol 68 magnetic corer 100 nano Real time, PI/I, Time Large disks seconds Time sharing sharing 100 MB, 1MB Operating main system, Database management system online systems Personal

Third***

1964-80

Integrated Circuits

Fourth***

SemiLarge scale conductor integrated memory, Time 1980-till 300 nano circuits. Winchester sharing, now seconds Microprocessorsdisk, 10 MB networks (LSI) main memory, 1000 MB disks

computers, Distributed systems Fortran 77, Integrated Pascal, CAD/CAM ADA, Cobol-Real time 74 control, Graphic oriented systems

5th Generation (From Present Days to Future)

These computers are yet to come into the market and are being developed by scientists and researchers.

* First Generation computers : The computers built during World War II are known as the 1st Generation computers. These were specific task oriented and extremely difficult to programme. These computers relied on vacuum tubes and magnetic drums. In 1943 was built ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator Analyzer and Computer and it consisted of 18000 vacuum tubes and 70,000 resistors etc. In 1945 was developed EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer). In 1951 came the Universal Automatic computer (UNIVAC I), designed by Remington Rand .

 ** 2nd Generation Computers : In this generation vacuum tubes were replaced by transistors and initially these were made to meet the requirements of atomic energy laboratories. High level languages such as COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) and FORTRAN (Formula Translator) were used. Some of these are still used. *** 3rd Generation : In this age, transistors (which used to generate lot of heat and damaged the sensitive areas of computers) were replaced with Integrated Circuits (IC). **** 4th Generation : These are modern day computers. The size of computers has drastically gone down. Very Large Scale (VLSI) and Ultra Large Scale (ULSI) made it possible that millions of components could be fit into a small chip. The Intel 4004 chip was developed in 1971 and all the components of computer (CPU, memory and input and output controls) were located on a minuscule chip. In 1981, IBM introduced Personal Computer for home and office use. Slowly, it came down from Desktop to Laptops and then to Palmtops. Then came GUI (Graphic User Interface) in which instead of typing the instructions, user merely used Mouse and clicks to instruct computers to do the job

Computer HistoryComputer Through the Ages

We give below an overview of the developments which have taken place upto the time when 1st Generation computers came into existence. These are milestones which played some role later on towards our achievements in the present day computer age.

Year 16 Century 1617 1642 1671

th

Inventor China Johan Napier Blaise Pascal Gottfried Von Leibntiz

Invention Abacus. This is considered as the first baby step towards computers Napiers Bones First Calculating Machine Calculator (Modified Pascals machine)

1801

Joseph Jacquard

Card of holes for weaving patterns

1823-34

Charles Babbage Herman Hollerith Lovelace Lady Ada

Difference Engine and Analytical Engine Tabulating machine using punch cards System MARK-1 Binary number

1880

1930

Howard Aitken and Grace Hopper (IBM)

1937-38

Dr John Vircent Atanassoff

ABC (Atanassoff-Berry-Computer)

1946 1940s

JP Eckert and JW Mauchly H Goldshine, AW Burks and Johan Von Neumann Johan Von Neumann

ENIAC (Electronic Numerical and Calculator)

Stored Program Concept

1947-49

EDSAC (Electronic Delayed Storage Automatic Computer)

1950

Moor School in USA

EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) UNIVAC-1 (Universal Automatic Computer)

1951

Eckert and JW Mauchly

Computer Input Devices and Output Devices

Difference between Input Devices and Output Devices
Input devices are those parts of the computer which accept data in a form that can be utilized by the computer. Thus input devices help us in feeding the data into the computer system. Output devices are those parts which show us the data we desired to extract from the computer. The examples of input / output are :A) Input Devices:
A1 : Hand Operated Input Devices

Keyboard and Mouse are the most commonly used hand operated input devices.

Some of the hand operated input devices along with keyboard and mouse are as follow: Track Ball : It is used as an alternate of mouse.and has to move its ball in order to utilize it that causes the pointer to move on the screen. Joystick : It is very popular among the people fond of computer games, but today different types of game controllers are replacing them gradually. Joystick is used to control the machine such as crane in the process of building constructions. Digital Camera : Digital camera can take the image and also records the videos. The images and videos taken by digital cameras are recorded in files. These files can get copied into the computer that can be further edited for many purposes. Microphone : Microphone is used to input the sound. It can be used to enter text in any word processing application with voice recognition software in the computer. Touch Screen : There is a network of light rays in touch sensitive visual display unit or in screen that recognizes the touch. Touch screen is used in many mobile phones. They are often used in cash machines and chopping centres. Video Digital : Video digital takes the images from video camera or television and stores it into the computer for further use. The video sequences taken by video digital are mainly used in multimedia presentation.

Scanner : Scanner is used to convert an image into its digital form. It is similar to photocopier but it makes digital copy of an image instead of its hard copy. It is used to scan the text with the software optical character recognition. Graphic Tablet : There is a flat pad on the graphic tablet upon which an user writes with the
help of a special pen. Pictures can also be drawn on the screen using that pen in this way.

B) Output Devices : The means through which computer gives output are known as Output Devices. output devices are as follow: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Monitor Printer Projector Sound Card Speaker Video Card Some of the most popular

Projector
Projector is that hardware device which projects an image on the flat surface like computer screen. These devices are generally used in meetings, seminars and presentations because each person can easily see the image projected by it sitting in a big room.

Sound Card
It is also known as Sound Board or Audio Card. Sound card is an expansion card or unified circuit that enables computer to produce sound through speaker or headphone

Speaker
It is the device which presents the sound produced during any programme. This is connected to sound card and gives the sound produced by card in the form of output.

Video Card
It is also known as Graphics Card, Video Board or Video Controller. This is an internal circuit board that allows the image displaying devices like monitor to display the images.

Integrated Input and Output Devices :

Modem is a connector and is used both as input and output device. Thus, modem is both an input device and an output device. Similarly, we can say the latest touch screen display units also act as input and output devices

simultaneously, as we can send instructions to computer by merely touching the screen and then results are also displayed on the same screen. MODEM : Full form of modem is MOdulator and DEModulator. The modem is a converter of analog to digital and digital to analog. Thus, we can say that a modem is a mechanical means of translating computer information or retrieving information from the Internet via a phone line. It needs communication software in order to work and can be attached internally or externally. Internet transmission can also take place over an ISDN line or the even faster T1 line. No modem is necessary for these types of transmission but you will need an ISDN adapter. Modems are measured by the speed that the information is transferred. The measuring tool is called the baud rate. Originally modems worked at speeds below 2400 baud but today analog speeds of 56,000 are standard. Cable, wireless or digital subscriber lines can transfer information much faster with rates of 300,000 baud and up.

Computer Memory in Computers and Disks / Drives

Different Types of Computer Memory
What is RAM ? The full form of RAM is Random Access Memory). This is also known as main memory. Computers can write and read data from RAM. This is in contrast to ROM which permits you only to read data. However, most RAM is volatile, which means that it requires a steady flow of electricity to maintain its contents. As soon as the power is turned off, whatever data was in RAM is lost. The users access data in RAM memory randomly as per needs. RAM can be erased or written over at will by the computer programme

What is ROM ? The full form of ROM is Read only Memory):

Computers almost always contain a small amount of read-only memory, commonly known as ROM. This memory holds instructions for starting up the computer. As name indicates you can only read from this memory and cannot write anything on it. Moreover, it is nonvolatile in nature i.e. even when power is switched off, the memory is not lost. Thus, we can say that RAM is like a slate where you can write something for immediate reference and then wipe / change data by adding or deleting when it is not needed, but ROM is like a printed book, where once the text is printed then it cannot be altered. PROM : The full form of PROM is Programmable Read-Only Memory. A PROM is a memory chip on which you can store a programme. But once the PROM has been used, you cannot wipe it clean and use it to store something else. Like ROMs, PROMs are non-volatile. EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory): An EPROM is a special type of PROM that can be erased by exposing it to ultraviolet light. EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory): An EEPROM is a special type of PROM that can be erased by exposing it to an electrical charge. Memory is measured in bytes. A byte is usually made up of 8 bits and represents one character a letter, digit or symbol. The number of bytes that can be held is a measure of the memory and storage capacity. Bytes are usually measured in groups of kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes.

Disk Drives
Secondary memory is also known as external memory or storage. It consists of Hard Discs, Floppy Disc (now a days out of fashion) , CDs and DVDs as well as pen drives. External device consists of more storage space and most dynamic in terms of storing data. The disk drive determines the path by which you send and receive information to the computer. Information stored on a disk is measured in bytes. We have already explained the methods used to represent bytes 1. a : drive and b: drive: The A and B drives on a desktop computers were originally reserved in the BIOS for floppy disks as at that time floppy drives were very popular and at one time there used to be floppy drives of different sizes. Floppy disk or diskette used to comes in two basic sizes; 5.25 inch and 3.5 inch. Both have a low and high density versions though 3.5 inch high density disks are the most common. The later date diskettes that were inserted into the a: drive were 3 inch size which could hold 1.44 megabyte of information. Initially these disk had to be formatted before being put to use, but later on pre-formatted disks were available. Formatting prepares the disk to be written upon. Diskettes can also be write-protected. This prevents you from writing on the disk. To write-protect a disk, slide the corner tab to uncover the opening. However, now a days most of the PCs do not have either A or B drives as floppy has become obsolete. 2. c: drive is popularly reserved for the hard disk drive in computers It is a thick Frisbee-like disk inside the computer, which can hold considerable highe r information than a diskette. The hard disk drive reads and stores information faster than the a: drive. The memory size of these hard disks has greatly enhanced in last few years. 3. d: drive is mostly used for CD-ROM i.e. for playing the CDs . CDs are inserted into this drive. A CD can contain more information than 100 diskettes. Computers are not able to write to the CD-ROM drive unless a CD Burner is present. The CD-ROM drives read information at various speeds. However, sometimes d: drive is a part of the Hard Disk as such disks are partitioned into more than one segment where c:, d: and even e: are used for hard disk which has been partitioned. In addition to above standard features for drives, now a days : 4. Some computers today come equipped with a zip drive. A zip drive provides additional storage space. A zip disk is inserted into the zip drive. The zip disk can hold 100 megabytes of information. Zip drives can be attached to an existing computer. 5. DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) drive is a new technology that stores more information than a CD-ROM and can be written upon. A DVD disk is inserted into this drive. The drive may come built into the computer or may be attached. These disk often are used to store movies or interactive video games. The disk resembles a CD but has 7 times the storage capacity. 6. Pen Drives are now popular and may be shown as e: or f: drives. These are used to store data which needs to be carried somewhere else. Disk size
3.5 high density CD DVD DVD dual layer

Amount of storage
1.44 Mb 650 Mb 4.5 Gb 8 Gb

Approximate printed 8.5 x 11 inch pages

720 pages a small library a feature length movie a long feature length movie with extras

Methods Used for Reading of Memory :

Sequential access refers to reading or writing data records in sequential order, that is, one record after the other. To read record 10, for example, you would first need to read records 1 through 9. This differs from random access, in which you can read and write records in any order. Some programming languages and operating systems distinguish between sequential-access data files and random-access data files, allowing you to choose between the two types. Sequential-access files are faster if you always access records in the same order. Random-access files are faster if you need to read or write records in a random order. Devices can also be classified as sequential access or random access. For example, a tape drive is a sequentialaccess device because to get to point q on the tape, the drive needs to pass through points a through p. The disk drive, on the other hand, is a random-access device because the drive can access any point on the disk without passing through all intervening points. Home Computer Awareness Computer Microsoft Access
Computer Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is a relational database management system that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software development tools. It stores data in its own format based on the Access Jet Databases. It can also import or link directly to data stored in other Access databases. A database is a collection of data of a particular type. Data in a database is stored in the form of tables. A table is a row and column arrangement of information. A table is also called a Relation. The table contains data organized under specific categories. Each such category is arranged vertically in a table and is called a Column. Every column in a table has a unique name. A column can also be referred to as a field.

Data organized horizontally is termed as a row.

Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a multi-table database where the tables in the database have to be related for storing or retrieving data. Microsoft Access is an RDBMS that enable to manage relational database in a windows environment. MS Access enable you to enter, retrieve and modify data and also create forms and reports.

Database Objects a) Table : They store data in a row and column format similar to spreadsheets. b) Queries : They enable you to view data from a table. c) Forms : They enable you to enter, view and modify in a table. d) Reports : They enable you to generate reports based on tables and query results. e) Data Access Page : They are web pages to view data from the internet where the data is stored in
an Access database.

f) Macros : They are a series of commands and functions that can be executed whenever a task is needed
to perform.

g) Modules : They are a set visual basic procedures and declarations stored as one unit.

Computer Microsoft Excel Overview

MS Excel stands for MicroSofts spreadsheet programme that is used for storing, organizing and manipulating data. This software is a powerful computer programme is a part of the MS Office and is available for operating system of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. This is the most used spreadsheet programme these days. We give below a screen shot of Excel Screen with some inputs about how it can be useful for calculation of salary of employees in an organisation. It has the ability to perform complex operations, save time and improve efficiency.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application. It is a part of MS Office.

It features calculation, graphic tools, pivot tables and a macro-programming language called Visual Basic For Applications (VBA).

A look at the above Excel screen shows that spreadsheet is a rectangular table with grids of rows and columns. The horizontal rows are identified by numbers (1,2,3,4,5.) and the vertical columns with letters of alphabet (A,B,C,D,E.). MS Excel popularly known as Excel is a very powerful software with so many features that it is not possible to discuss even a fraction of these in these pages. The features include calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.

What is a Cell in Excel ?

The intersection point (i.e. the small rectangular box) between a column and a row is called a Cell. This cell is the basic unit for storing data in the spreadsheet. There can be thousands of cells in a spreadsheet depending on the amount of data you are storing. To identify or refer to data stored in a particular cell, it is identified by so called cell reference. For example, in the above screen shot, 5000 is in cell referred as B4. Thus, we can say that cell reference is a combination of the column letter and the row number.

Can You Give Me Some of the Uses of MS Excel :

Excel is used for a large number of functions. Some of the functions for which Excel is widely used includes, (a) Managing data records like name list (you are easily sort alphabetically); (b) Analysis through pivot tables; (c) corporate budgeting; (d) creating forms and consolidating results; (e) inventory management ; (f) Breakeven analysis. Some important terms relating to MS Excel : a) Worksheet : It is a grid of cells made up of horizontal rows and vertical columns. It contains 65536 rows and 256 columns. b) Row Number : Each row is given a number 1,2,3,4, . So on. c) Column Letter : Each column is given a letter starting from AZ, AA.ZZ, BABZ, .IA IV. d) Cell : It is basic unit of worksheet where numbers, text, formulae, etc, can be place. e) Cell Pointer : It is a cell boundary that specifies which cell is active at that moment. f) Current Cell : It is a cell which is active. g) Range of Cell : It is a group of contiguous cells that forms a rectangular are in shape. h) Work Book : A worksheet is a grid of cells made up of rows and columns. Multiple worksheets can be combined under a file known as Work Book. i) Data in Worksheet : Three types of data can be entered, numbers/characters, text and formulae. j) Formula : It is a sequence of values, cell address, names functions or operators in a cell that produces a new value from existing values. k) Cell Referencing : Each cell in worksheet has a unique address, when cell address is referred in formulas, it is called Cell Referencing.

l) Relative Referencing : Cell referencing in which the cells are referred by their relative position in the worksheet relative to a particular cell. m)Absolute Referencing : Cell referencing in which the cells are referred by their fixed position in the worksheet. n)Mixed Referencing : Combination of relative and absolute referencing is called Mixed Referencing o)Functions : Functions are predefined formulae that perform calculations by using specific values called arguments. p) Structure : The structure of a function begins with the function name, followed by an opening parenthesis, the arguments for the function separated by commas and a closing parenthesis. q) Charts : Charts are the pictorial representation of worksheet data. r) Area Chart : An area chart emphasizes the magnitude of change over time. s) Column Chart : A column chart shows data changes over a period of time. t) Bar Chart : It illustrates comparisons among individual items. u) Line Chart : It shows trends in data at equal intervals.

Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

The following keyboard short cuts can be used to increase the speed and smooth functioning in the MS Excel spreadsheet work.: Hide / Unhide shortcuts: CTRL+9 CTRL+SHIFT+( CTRL+0 CTRL+SHIFT+) Navigation shortcuts: HOME CTRL+HOME CTRL+END CTRL+PAGDOWN CTRL+PAGEUP ALT+PAGEDOWN ALT+PAGEUP Selection shortcuts: Move to the beginning of the Row Move to the beginning of the Worksheet Move to the bottom-most and right-most used cell in the Worksheet Move to the Next Sheet in the workbook Move to the Pervious Sheet in the workbook Move one screen to the Right Move one screen to the Left Hide the selected row(s) Unhide any hidden row(s) within selection Hide the selected column(s) Unhide any hidden column(s) within selection

CTRL+SHIFT+PAGEDOWN Select the current sheet and next sheet

CTRL+SHIFT+PAGEUP CTRL+SPACE SHIFT+SPACE CTRL+* CTRL+SHIFT+O(letter O) CTRL+SHIFT+* CTRL+ / CTRL+] CTRL+SHIFT+} Date & Time related shortcuts: CTRL+; CTRL+SHIFT+: (COLON) Number Formatting shortcuts: CTRL+SHIFT+~ CTRL+SHIFT+% CTRL+SHIFT+$ CTRL+SHIFT+# CTRL+SHIFT+^

Select the current sheet and previous sheet Select the entire COLUMN Select the entire ROW Select current range Select cells that contain Comments Select the current region around the active cell Select the array containing the active cell Select all cells that contain formulae that directly reference active cell Select all cells that contain formulae that directly or indirectly reference active cell Insert current date Insert current time

General Format the numbers in selected range Apply Percentage format to numbers in selected range Apply Currency format to numbers in selected range Apply date format (dd/mm/yy) to the selected cell(s) Apply Exponential number format with 2 decimal places to the selection Apply Number format with 2 decimal places, thousands separator and minus sign for -ve numbers Format cells menu Apply outline border to the selection Remove the outline border to the selection Apply (or remove) Strikethrough format to the selection Apply (or remove) Bold format Apply (or remove) Italic format Apply (or remove) Underline format

CTRL+SHIFT+!

General Cell / Range Formatting shortcuts: CTRL+1 CTRL+SHIFT+& CTRL+SHIFT+ _ (underscore) CTRL+5 CTRL+B OR CTRL+2 CTRL+B OR CTRL+3 CTRL+B OR CTRL+4 Copy data shortcuts:

CTRL+D CTRL+R CTRL+, (comma) CTRL+ (double quotes) Other shortcuts: CTRL+K CTRL+(~) F4 F11

Fill Down Fill Right Copy formula from cell above to the active cell Copy value from cell above to the active cell Insert hyperlink menu Toggle formula view Repeat last action Chart selected data

Computer Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft Power Point Software etc. Powerpoint is the presentation graphics part of MS Office suite. Powerpoint can create various presentation materials like charts, graphics, slides, handouts, overheads,

Powerpoint even creates slide shows.

Auto Content Wizard, Design Templates, Sample Presentation and Blank Presentation are the methods for creating new presentation. Presentation can be saved and run in any of the file formats: the 2003 default .ppt (presentation), Pps (powerpoint show) or .pot (template). Custom animation can be used to create small story boards by animating pictures to enter, exit or move. Powerpoint presentation can be made up of a number of pages or slides.

Computer Microsoft WORD

Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix. A word processor can be used to manipulate text data to produce a letter, a report, a memo, an e-mail message, or any other type of correspondence. Text data is any letter, number, or symbol that you can type on a keyboard. The grouping of the text data to form words, sentences, paragraphs, and pages of text results in the creation of a document. Thus, we can say that a word processor is a program used to type documents. Such Documents can be saved, closed and the opened again to continue working on them. It was not initially popular, since its user interface was different from the leading word processor at the time, WordStar. The second release of Word for Macintosh, shipped in 1987, was named Word 3.0 In 1993 Word

for Windows 6.0 version was released. Thereafter, we had Word 95, Word 97, Word 98, Word 2000, Word 2002, Office Word 2003, Office Word 2007, were released. In 2010, was released Word 2010 and now in 2013, Word 2013 which is also part of Office 2013 has been released.

The purpose of this tutorial is not to teach as to how to operate Word software, but to give you idea to some of the commands and procedures followed in day to day use of the application. The material given here has been compiled keeping in view the questions asked in the competition exams.

What is MS Word used for?

MS Word is used for creating documents such as letters, brochures, learning activities, tests, quizzes and students homework assignments. There are many powerful features available in Microsoft Word to make it easier to learn for students with disabilities.

The components of a word window are as follows:

a)Title Bar : It shows the name of the file on which you are working. It also consists of three buttons as Minimize button reducing the window to an icon, Restore button bringing word window to the maximum original size and close button bringing us out of word. b) Menu Bar: It consists of various commands. c) Standard Tool Bar : It displays the symbols for the common operation like open, print, save, etc. d) Formatting Tool Bar: It displays the options which can be used to format our document like font type. Size of the font, bold, underlines, bullets, alignment, etc. e) Ruler : It shows the width of the document which can be increased or decreased. f) Workspace :It is the area, where the text can be entered. g) Vertical Scroll Bar : It is used to see the text at various positions. h) Horizontal Scroll Bar : It is used to move from left side to right side in the document and vice-versa. i) Drawing Tool Bar :This is used for making drawings in the document. j) Status Bar :This Bar will always show you your current position as for the text goes.

What is a Cursor : In computers, a cursor is an indicator used to show the position on a computer monitor or other display device that will respond to input from a text input or pointing device. The flashing text cursor may be referred to as a caret in some cases such as in caret browsing. The mouse cursor may be referred to as a pointer, owing to its arrow shape on some systems.

 What is an insertion Point : An insertion point is the location on the screen where the next character typed will be inserted. This location may be in a text document, a form field, a Web browser address bar, or anywhere else on the screen that allows text input. The insertion point is often identified by a flashing cursor. This cursor is called an I-beam pointer and is shaped like a capital I or a long vertical line. When you type a character on the keyboard, it will appear on the screen directly to the right of the flashing cursor. The insertion point continues to move to the right as each character is entered. In word, we can insert the text anywhere by clicking the mouse at the relevant point. On clicking the mouse button, blinking insertion point of I shape will appear on the screen the insertion point. Now if any text is typed, it will appear just to the left of the insertion point / cursor. The text appears at the cursor. o Use space bar to create space between two characters; o o o Word processors allows you to type your text in Bold, Italics or Underline. To activate Bold, Italics or Underline click the icon button on the Toolbar, type the text that you wish to have highlighted then press Toolbar icon again when you are finished. The indicator on the Toolbar will appear highlighted as long as the highlight style is on. There are large number of short-cuts available for various commands in MS Word. We give below some of the major short cuts that are available: Use backspace to erase to the left of the cursor; and Use delete to erase to the right of the cursor. Use Enter (or Return) to move the cursor down a line.

Common tasks in Microsoft Word

To do this Make letters bold. Make letters italic. Make letters underline. Decrease font size one value. Increase font size one value. Decrease font size 1 point. Increase font size 1 point. Remove paragraph or character formatting. Copy the selected text or object. Press CTRL+B CTRL+I CTRL+U CTRL+SHIFT+< CTRL+SHIFT+> CTRL+[ CTRL+] CTRL+SPACEBAR CTRL+C

Cut the selected text or object. Paste text or an object. Paste special. Paste formatting only Undo the last action. Redo the last action. Open the Word Count dialog box.

CTRL+X CTRL+V CTRL+ALT+V CTRL+SHIFT+V CTRL+Z CTRL+Y CTRL+Y

Working with documents and webpages Create, view and save documents To do this Create a new document. Open a document. Close a document. Split the document window. Remove the document window split. Save a document. Find, replace and browse through text To do this Open the Navigation task pane (to search document). Repeat find (after closing Find and Replace window). Replace text, specific formatting, and special items. Press CTRL+F ALT+CTRL+Y CTRL+H Press CTRL+N CTRL+O CTRL+W ALT+CTRL+S ALT+SHIFT+C or ALT+CTRL+S CTRL+S

Go to a page, bookmark, footnote, table, CTRL+G comment, graphic, or other location. Switch between the last four locations that you have edited. ALT+CTRL+Z

Open a list of browse options. Press the arrow keys to select an option, and then ALT+CTRL+HOME press ENTER to browse through a document by using the selected option. Move to the previous browse object (set CTRL+PAGE UP in browse options). Move to the next browse object (set in browse options). CTRL+PAGE DOWN

Edit and move text and graphics Delete text and graphics To do this Delete one character to the left. Delete one word to the left. Delete one character to the right. Delete one word to the right. Cut selected text to the Office Clipboard. Undo the last action. Cut to the Spike. Press BACKSPACE CTRL+BACKSPACE DELETE CTRL+DELETE CTRL+X CTRL+Z CTRL+F3

Programming Languages of Computer

Programming languages are the set of instructions given to computer in order to do some specific works. It includes high level languages such as Basic, C, C+ +, COBOL, FORTRAN, and Pascal. The group of keywords for each language is totally different and three is a sentence structure for grouping the programme instructions. Programming languages arte of several types:

1) High Level Language :

These are easy in comparison to the user friendly languages but are more complex than that of computer friendly.

2)Machine Language : Computer understands its own language which is in form of binary codes.
Different types of CPUs have their own machine languages.

3) Assembly Language : They are similar to machine language and their level lies between high
level language and machine language. They are more easier to programme because they allow the users to use names as alternate to the numbers.

4) Fourth Generation Language :

They are of more higher level than that of high level language commonly known as 4 GL. They are extremely different from machine language and comes into that category of computer language that are close to the human language. Whatever the language, we use but we need to convert our programs into machine language so that computer can understand it. There are two ways to convert a program into the machine language.

A) Program Compilation : A compiler translates any high level language of program into an
executable machine language. The compiler translate the entire document at once.

B) Program Interpretation : An interpreter converts the high level language into machine
language line by line. It is very slow in comparison to the compiler.

Computer Software
Software are computer programmes that allow the user to complete a task. Broadly speaking the software can be an operating system or an application which is work specific and works within the environment of the operating system. However, sometimes words software and application are interchangeably used. Software needs to be accessed before it can be used. There are many terms used for process of accessing software including running, executing, starting up, opening, and others. We can classify the software to be Operating Systems, Word processors, Spreadsheets, Database, Internet Browsers, Emails, Graphic programmes. . All software are stored in files. These files are stored on a disk, card, tape or some storage devices available. There are millions of different pieces of software available for almost every conceivable need. Such Software are available commercially through stores and mail order and also available on the Internet. Software are also sometimes available through an

Open Source license which allows anyone to use the same free of charge as long as the license is maintained. If you cant find the application that you need, software development companies can design software as per your specific needs. An operating system consists of a set of programs, which control, coordinates and supervises the activities of the various components of a computer system. Its function is to link between the computer hardware and user. Without an operating system, a computer is useless. Thus, we can say that operating system software have direct control and access to the computer hardware and memory locations . They perform I/O operations on various memory locations , and control the hardware , to make the application software do a task .

Some examples of Operating systems / system software are :

1) Microsoft Windows 2) Linux 3) Unix 4) Mac OSX 5) DOS 6) BIOS Software 7) HD Sector Boot Software 8) Device Driver Software i.e Graphics Driver etc 9) Linker Software 10) Assembler and Compiler Software

MSDOS : It is among the older operating system software and now a days rarely used as Windows
have replaced this once very popular software. The term DOS stands for Disk Operating System developed by Microsoft for micro computer. It is the only OS, which can be loaded in the main memory of the computer using a single disk. It is a single user operating system. It has a character user interface. MS DOS provides all the commands for file handling.

Characteristics of DOS
It is not case sensitive. The file names are restricted to 8 characters only. It does not support space entries in the file name.

Broad Categories of Operating System

a) Graphic User Interface (GUI) : Itcontains graphics and icons that can be regulated by mouse. Some of the GUI operating systems are as follows: System 7.X ; Windows 98 ; Windows CE b) Multi-user : With the help of multi-user operating system, a computer can be used by more than one user at the same time or in different time intervals. Some of the examples of multi-user operating system are as follows: Linux ; Unix ; Windows 2000 c) Multi-processing : Multi-processing operating system is capable of getting the work done from the computer by extending support to more than one processors. Some of the examples of multi-processing operating system are as follows: Linux; Unix ; Windows 2000 d) Multi-tasking : With the help of such operating system, a number of softwares can be executed at one time. Some of the examples are as follows: Unix ; Windows 2000 e) Multi-threading : With the help of such operating system, different parts of a software program can be executed simultaneously. Some of the examples are as follows: Linux ; Unix; Windows 2000

Application Software

Application software run under System Software , and are made to do a specific task. These software are popularly called as application softwares. Some good examples such applications are : Web browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, Opera, Safari, Mozilla, Netscape, Firefox) Used for viewing pages on World Wide Web; Word processing software, ( MS Word, Corel WordPerfect, Abiword) used for writing letters, reports, essays, novels and other types of text Spreadsheet software (MS Excel, Lotus 123, VisiCalc ) Track budgets, balance sheets, investments Database software (MySQL, Access, Oracle, Sybase, 4th Dimension) Photo Editors (Photoshop, Fireworks, PhotoPaint, Gimp) Presentation graphics software (MS Powerpoint) create slideshows for meetings Music / Sound Software (iTunes) Audio / Video Software (VLC Medica Player) Graphic Software (Adobe Photoshop) Email clients (Outlook, Eudora, Entourage) Used for sending emails and files to other people

Desktop Publishing (PageMaker, InDesign, QuarkXPress) used for making a magazine a poster or an advertisement; Computer-aided Design software (AutoCAD, SolidWorks, MicroStation) used to create blueprints or designs; We have already clarified that all computers need some sort of Operating System (OS) so as to access and control the hardware. Now a days, on most of the PCs we use some form of Microsofts operating systems. The original Microsoft operating system was called DOS (Disk Operating System), but the same has now become obsolete. Now most computers use Windows. Windows comes in various versions beginning with version 3.x then 95, 98, ME, XP, Vista and currently version 7 and Version 8.1. In some computers, people use IBMs O/S2. Apples Mac use their own operating system beginning with OS 1 though to OS 10.x. Some computer professionals, Internet Service Providers (ISP) and mainframe computer users use an operating system such as UNIX (or a variant such as Linux), Windows NT or 2000 (Win2k) or one of the other network or server based operating systems.

Computer What happens when we switch on the computer

What Happens When We Switch On Computer

When we put power on in our computer, it first of all loads the operating system. This procedure popularly is known as booting up of computer. Thus, we can say that the computer starts from scratch every time we turn the power on. It checks all its components. In case there is any problem with any component, it will usually display a message. Loading the operating system is usually automatic.

On most PCs these days, Microsoft Windows is used. However, Mac OS or Linux as their operating system are also used by some users. All these Operating Systems (OS) are Graphic User Interface (GUI) systems and thus allows the user to control or run the computer using a Mouse and clicking on the icons. The user simply moves the mouse on a flat surface, rolls the trackball, or moves their hand over the touch pad to control a pointer. They then choose the option they want by pressing a button or touching the pad.

Without a GUI the user controls the computer using the keys on the keyboard. This is referred to as a Command Line Interface (CLI) which was popular under DOS environment.

Once the system is loaded the user can start the application or program that they are going to use.

A typical computer process includes (a) inputting the information; (b) Processing the information; (c) Outputting the information.

The information is inputted through input devices like keyboards, mouse, disks, scanners and other devices. The information is processed in CPU and the processed information displayed either on Monitor (soft copy), stored on the disk, or taken as a hard copy through a printer.

Computer Important Terms Used in Internet

An Internet is a global connection of computers linked together by cables and telephones and makes the communication possible among them. We can also say that an internet is a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange. The following are some of the basic rules used for transferring the data across internet. For such communication, the address of the destination and a safe means of moving data are required.

The rules governing the sending and receiving of data on the Internet are implemented in two parts as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP).

Transmission Control Protocol divides the data into little data packets. The rule of Internet Protocol here is put destination addressing information on such packets. Hosts are in general, individual machines at a particular location. Domains are general category that a computer on the internet belongs to. E-mail is mainly used for sending electronic piece of text.

Use net and news groups are set up by people sharing common interests ranging from current topics to cultural heritages. Telnet is a program that allows and Internet host computer to became a terminal of another host on the Internet. Gopher displays a set of resources on the Internet in the form of menus or lists of items.

Users of Internet and Some Basics : At present internet contains billions of web pages which have been created by people and companies across the world. Thus, it has almost limitless location and is used to access information and entertainment. The Internet also has thousands of services that help make life more convenient. For example, banks offer online banking that enables a user to manage and view their account online. Similarly, youth can apply for jobs online.

The Internet is explored, which is more commonly referred to as surfing, using a computer browser. Finding information on the Internet is achieved by using a search engine e.g. Google Users browse web pages by following hyperlinks. Files, pictures, songs, and video can be shared by uploading and downloading. The Internet is also used for communicating with others through social networks, forums, chat, e-mails, and IM, for example Facebook, Skype

Some Common Terms Used in Internet Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a language to create documents for words wide web.

Standard Generalised Markup Language ( SGML) is used to define the structure and mange the content of a digital document. World Wide Web (WWW) is a giant collection of hypertext pages on the Internet.

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to manage all the linkings between one hypertext document and another. On the Internet, a home page may be related to a single person a specific subject, or to a corporation. Uniform Resource Locator(FTP) is a way to avail of Internet resources. File Transfer Protocol(FTP) is used to access a remote Internet host.

 Modem is a device allowing a computer to transmit information over a telephone line. It acts as a modulator and demodulator while the process of transmitting and receiving. Wide Area Information Service (WAIS) is a type of service to access text databases or libraries on the Internet. Mosaic gives access to Internet resources by using graphical user interface allowing users to navigate through hypertext documents. Archie is used to locate files available by anonymous FTP, it is also known as Global Librarian.

Computer Topology
A network topology is the physical layout of the network in which all the devices are connected among themselves. The point of connection to the network by the stations are called Computer Nodes or Link Stations. When a number of stations are connected directly to the central station or controller it is known as Star Topology. When all the stations are connected to a single communication line that is referred to as a bus, it is known as Bus Topology. When all the stations are connected with each other in a logically circular form, it is known as Ring Topology. Failure of a station in a ring topology causes the disruption in the entire ring framework.

Computer Uniform Resource Locator

URL Each Internet service employs a particular protocol. This specific protocol defines the rules of engagement for computers conveying the information on that particular service. This protocol is shown at the beginning of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for each site. For example, the URL for a website is frequently in the form of http://www.bloggs.com, indicating that this is an HTTP connection. URLs are sometimes known as a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or popularly in short as an address.. URLs can contain both uppercase and lowercase letters, although it doesnt usually matter which case is used for any of the letters. In all instances, however, they can only contain standard ASCII characters, corresponding to those that you can actually see on your computer keyboard. Note that spaces or other control codes are not permitted.

Suffixes and Top-Level Domains :

Most of the time we use .com at the end (i.e. suffix) of the domain name. However, some of other common URL suffixes, are:Suffix Kind of Site

.ac .biz .co .com .coop .edu .gov .info .mil .museum .name .net .org .pro

Academic body Business organisation Commercial business (not USA) Commercial business (USA or worldwide) Co-operative organisation Educational establishment Civilian government Information site Military government Museum Named individual Network gateway Non-commercial organisation Professional body

With the internet become bigger and bigger, some other countries have started new suffixes, which identify the region. An extra code is often required to identify the region, which is commonly known as the top level domain (TLD). Here are a few examples:TLD .eu .fr .in .jp .kr .su .uk .us Region European Union France India Japan Korea Ex-Soviet Union state United Kingdom USA (Other sites)

Computer WHAT ARE VIRUS, WORM, TROJAN HORSE

VIRUS, WORM AND TROJAN
A virus is a program or code that replicates itself onto other files with which it comes in contact; that is, a virus can infect another program, boot sector, partition sector, or a document that supports macros, by inserting itself or attaching itself to that medium. Most viruses only replicate, though many can do damage to a computer system or a users data as well. A worm is a program that makes and facilitates the distribution of copies of itself; for example, from one disk drive to another, or by copying itself using email or another transport mechanism. The worm may do damage and compromise the security of the computer. It may arrive via exploitation of a system vulnerability or by clicking on an infected email. A Trojan Horse portrays itself as something other than what it is at the point of execution. While it may advertise its activity after launching, this information is not apparent to the user beforehand. A Trojan Horse neither replicates nor copies itself, but causes damage or compromises the security of the computer. A Trojan Horse must be sent by someone or carried by another program and may arrive in the form of a joke program or software of some sort. The malicious functionality of a Trojan Horse may be anything undesirable for a computer user, including data destruction or compromising a system by providing a means for another computer to gain access, thus bypassing normal access controls. Computer Virus A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. A virus can spread from one computer to another when its host is taken to the target computer, for instance because a user sent it over a network of the Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD or USB drive. Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer. Important Facts Related to Computer Virus The Creeper virus was first detected on ARPANET, the forerunner of the Internet, in the early 1970s. The Reaper Program was created to delete creeper. The actual term virus was first used in David Gerrolds 1972 novel, when HARLIE was one.

A program called Elk Cloner was the first computer virus to appear in the wild this is, outside the single computer or lab where it was created It attached itself to the APPLE DOS 3.3 operating system and spread via floppy disk. The first PC virus in the wild a boot sector virus Brains created in 1986.

With the spread of personal computer, traditional computer viruses emerged in 1980. Bulletin board-driven software sharing contributed directly to the spread of Trojan horse programs. Shareware and boot leg software were equally common vectors for viruses on BBS. Macro Viruses have become common since the3 mind 1990.ost of these viruses are written in the scripting languages for Microsoft Programs such as word and Excel and spread throughout Microsoft Office by infecting documents and spreadsheets. Viruses that spread using cross site scripting were first reported in 2002 and were academically demonstrated in 2005. There have been multiple instances of the cross site scripting viruses in the wild, exploiting websites such as My space and Yahoo.

The most popular five computer virus came into light as far as follows :

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

I Love You (2000) It spreads through e-mails. Code Red (2001) It affects window server. Nimada (2001) It is the most rampant virus. Melissa (1999) It spreads through World Macro and e-mails. Sasser (2004) It spread by attaching to port 445 on the network windows system.

Antivirus Software and Other Preventive Measures Antivirus software can destroy the viruses by finding them. The antivirus software uses two common methods in order to detect viruses.

1. 2.

Using the Virus Signature Definitions list. By using Heuristics Algorithm

Some antivirus programs are capable of On the Fly scanning of received e-mails along with scanning of the open files. This process is known as On-Access scanning. Antivirus software does not alter the efficiency of the host software for the communication of viruses. These software need to be updated regularly so that the new viruses can be detected. The loss incurred by the viruses can also be negated by the regular backup of data on other mediums. If any data get misplaced due to this virus then we can retrack it by backup. Five new Computer Antivirus Software are as follows: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Kaspersky Antivirus 2010 Symantec Norton Antivirus 2010 McAfee Antivirus Plus 2010 Panda Security Antivirus Pro 2010 Trend Micro Antivirus + Anit Spyware 2010