Microsoft Office 2007
Essential Introduction to Computers
and How to Purchase a
Personal Computer
What is a Computer?
• An electronic device,
operating under the
control of instructions
stored in its own
memory, that can:
– Accept data (input)
– Process the data
according to specified
rules (process)
– Produce results (output)
– Store the results for future
use (storage)
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What Does a Computer Do?
Four basic operations
information
processing cycle
– Input
– Process
– Output
– Storage
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What Does a Computer Do?
• Data:
A collection of unprocessed items.
– Text
– Numbers
– Images
– Audio
– Video
• Information:
coveys meaning and is useful to one or more people.
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What Does a Computer Do?
• Computer user:
– people who use the computer or the information that
it provides
– Also called end user or user
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How Does a Computer Know What to Do?
Computer Program or Software:
– A computer must be given a detailed set of instructions.
– These programs or software must be stored or installed on
the computer.
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What are the Components of a
Computer?
• The six primary components
of a computer
• input devices
• the processor (control unit and
arithmetic/logic unit)
• memory
• output devices
• storage devices
• communications devices
• System Unit:
The processor, memory, and
storage devices are housed in
a box-like
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Input Devices
• input device:
is any hardware component that
allows you to enter data, programs,
commands, and user responses into a
computer
– A keyboard is an input device
that contains keys you press to
enter data into the computer
– A stylus is a small metal or plastic
device that looks like a ballpoint
pen, but uses pressure instead of
ink to write, draw, or make
selections
– Smart phones often include a
digital camera so users can send
pictures and videos to others
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Input Devices
• Mouse:
is a pointing device
that fits comfortably
under the palm of
your hand
– Pointer or mouse
pointer
– Most notebook
computers come with a
touchpad
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System Unit
• The system unit is a case that
contains electronic components of
the computer used to process data
– Motherboard (system board) is
the main circuit board of the
system unit
– The processor (Central
Processing Unit or CPU)
interprets and carries out the
basic instructions that operate a
computer
• Arithmetic/logic unit
performs the logical and
arithmetic process
• Control unit interprets the
instructions
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System Unit
– Memory (Random Access Memory or RAM) consists
of electronic components that temporarily stores
instructions waiting to be executed by the processor,
data needed by those instructions, and the results of
processed data
– Memory location (byte) stores one charcter
–Kilobyte (K or KB) is 1,000 memory locations
–Megabyte (MB) is one million memory
locations
–Gigabyte (GB) is one billion memory locations
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Output Devices
• Output devices make the
information resulting from
processing available for use
– An impact printer prints by
striking an inked ribbon
against the paper
– Nonimpact printers form
characters by means other
than striking a ribbon
against paper
• Inkjet
– Photo printers – photoquality pictures ideal for
home and small business use
• Laser
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Display Devices
• A display device is an
output device that visually
conveys text, graphics, and
video information
– Individual picture elements
on the surface of the
screen are called pixels
– Monitor are usually
packaged as a separate unit
• Flat panel monitor
– LCD (liquid crystal display)
most popular
• CRT (cathode ray tube)
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Storage Devices
• A storage device is used to store instructions,
data, and information when they are not being
used in memory
– Magnetic disks use magnetic particles to store items
on a disk’s surface
• Formatting divides the disk into tracks and
sectors
• Sectors pie shaped and brakes
the tracks into small arcs
• Track is a narrow recording band that form a full
circle
• Portable storage medium can be removed from
the computer and carried with you
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Storage Devices
• A hard disk is a storage device that contains one
or more inflexible, circular platters that
magnetically store data, instructions, and
information
– Head crash when a read/write
head touches a platter causing
loss of data or the entire hard
drive (dust, smoke, etc.)
– Backup is a duplicate of a file,
program, or disk
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Storage Devices
• A floppy disk is an
inexpensive portable
storage medium
• Floppy disk drive can
read from or write to a
floppy disk
• Access time is the time
required to access and
retrieve data (175-300
milliseconds)
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Storage Devices
• An optical disc is a portable storage
medium that consists of a flat, round,
portable disc made of metal, plastic, and
lacquer that is written and read by a laser
• CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory)
cannot write or erase
• CD-R (compact disc-recordable) write only
once, cannot erase
• CD-RW (compact disc-rewriteable) write and
rewrite multiple times
• DVD-ROM (digital versatile disk-read only
memory)
• DVD-R, DVD+R (recordable)
• DVD-RW, DVD+RW erase and write
• BD-RE (Blu-ray) high quality erase and write
• HD-DVD-RW high quality erase and write
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Storage Devices
• Tape is a magnetically coated ribbon of plastic
housed in a tape cartridge
– Tape drive is used to read and write to the tape
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Storage Devices
• Miniature mobile storage media are rewriteable
media.
• flash memory card consists of electronics and
contain no moving parts
• USB flash drive (pen drive, thumb drive) plugs into a
USB port
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Storage Devices
• A smart card stores data in a thin microprocessor
embedded in the card
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Communications Devices
• A communications device is a hardware
component that enables a computer to send and
receive data, instructions, and information to
and from one or more computers
– Transmission media include telephone lines, cables,
cellular radio, networks and satellites
– Wireless means there are no physical lines or wires
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Computer Software
• System software consists of programs to control the
operations of computer equipment
– Operating system tells the
computer how to perform the
functions of loading, storing,
and executing application
programs and how to transfer data
•
•
•
•
Microsoft Windows Vista
Microsoft Windows XP
Apple Mac OS X
Linux
– Booting is when the computer is turned on and the operating
system is loaded into the computer’s memory from auxiliary storage
– Graphical user interface (GUI) provide visual cues
• Icon representation of a program, file, or document
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Computer Software
• Application software consists of
programs designed to make users
more productive and/or assist them
with personal tasks
– Word processing – create, edit,
format, and print documents
– Spreadsheet – add, subtract, and
perform user-defined
calculations on rows and columns
of numbers
– Database – enter, retrieve, and
update data in an organized and
efficient manner
– Presentation graphics – create
slides for use in a presentation to
a group
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Networks and the Internet
• A network is a collection of computers and
devices connected together, often wirelessly, via
communications devices and transmission media
– Local area network
– Wide area network
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Networks and the Internet
• The world’s largest network is
the Internet, which is a
worldwide collection of
networks that connects
millions of businesses,
government agencies,
educational institutions, and
individuals
– Internet service provider (ISP)
– Online service provider (OSP)
– Wireless Internet service
provider (WISP)
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Networks and the Internet
• The World Wide Web contains billions of documents
called Web pages
– Web page contain text, graphics
audio, videos, and connections
or links
– Web site is a collection of web
pages
– Web browser software program
– Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
address of web page
– Hypertext transfer protocol (http://)
communication standard
– Web server is the computer that delivers the requested web
pages
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Networks and the Internet
• When you conduct business activities online, you
are participating in electronic commerce, also
known as e-commerce
– Business to Consumer (B2C)
– Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
– Business to Business (B2B)
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Microsoft Office 2007
Essential Introduction to Computers
QUESTIONS ????
Assignments - Make sure your name is on all papers.
•Read: Essential Introduction to Computers - pages COM1 – COM23
•Read: How to Purchase a Personal Computer - pages COM24 – COM38
•Learn it Online - page com39
www.scsite.com/ic7/learn
Practice Test (20 points) make sure your name is on the test
before you click grade.
Print when you are happy with your score.
You should at least try for 80% (16/20)
20 points
Open, Save, Complete and Print
Short Answer – 10 points
True/False – 10 points
Multiple Choice – 10 points
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