Introduction
On completion of this unit, learners should be competent in determining, selecting and correctly operating basic computer hardware.
Learners should have the ability to:
1. Use appropriate office peripherals
2. Operate and maintain a range of hardware
3. Use a keyboard and equipment
PCWebopedia Online dictionary and search engine for computer and Internet technology definitions.
PCTechGuide Great site for detailed information on computer hardware and peripherals.
Karbosguide A complete illustrated guide to PC hardware.
The PC Guide Detailed PC reference site.
Howstuffworks The computer channel has lots of detailed information about how computer systems work.
Use appropriate office peripherals
What should I know?
What does a computer do?
What is the role of software in a computer system?
What's in a computer system?
Exercise 1 - Explain the following specifications
Exercise 2 - Specify a machine suitable for video editing
How can I connect more equipment to my computer?
Exercise 3 - Computer ports
What equipment can I connect?
Exercise 4 - Select appropriate hardware
How do I connect equipment to my computer system?
Exercise 5 - Peripheral installation
How do I know what components and equipment are installed in a computer sytem using operating system tools?
Exercise 6 - Examine your computer system
How do I know what components and equipment are installed in a computer system using software?
What does a computer do?
A computer system is designed to accept INPUT from devices such as keyboards and mice.
It takes this information and will PROCESS the data.
The next step is to then present the OUTPUT of this processing in the required format to an output device such as a printer or monitor.
To complete these tasks, computer systems have:
• hardware - physical devices that make up the system
• software - programs designed to process the data
• data.
What is the role of software in a computer system?
There are three main types of software that a computer system uses:
• BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) which is stored on the system ROM (Read Only Memory)
• Operating System or OS
• Application software such as Microsoft Office
At Start up
1. BIOS tests essential hardware and performs routine tasks. This process is called the boot process.
2. BIOS passes control of the computer system to the operating system.
3. The operating system then performs more start up tasks.
During operation
1. The user interacts with both the operating system and the application software.
2. For the user or the application software to access a piece of hardware such as a printer, the request is passed through either the BIOS or software called device drivers. Devices such as memory and floppy drives are controlled by BIOS. Devices such as printers and graphics cards will use a device driver.
What's in a computer system?
Read an explanation of each component and an example specification of each component.
Desktop
Processor Intel® Pentium® 4 with HT Technology 2.8GHz CPU
Operating system Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Operating system
Memory 512MB DDR-SDRAM Memory
Hard drive 80GB Hard Drive 7200 Storage drives
Monitor 17" Flat Panel Monitor (17.0"v.i.s.) Video
Optical device CD-RW Combo Drive 48x 24x Optical devices
Video card 128MB DDR nVidia® GeForce® FX 5200 Video
Sound card Sound Blaster® Live!TM 5.1 Sound Card Sound
Speaker PC Stereo Speakers Sound
Keyboard Keyboard Keyboard
Mouse Mouse Mouse
Top of Form
How can I connect more equipment to my computer?
Most of the peripheral devices that you can connect to your computer system are connected externally through different ports.
Ports are identified by:
• their shape
• number of pins
• and whether male or female (in the descriptions below, the connectors are as ON the computer system)
Place mouse over images to see what equipment connects to these ports
Picture Description
Serial port
• DB connector
• can be 9 or 25 pin male
• usually two on a computer system labelled COM1 and COM2
• only one device per port
Parallel port
• DB connector
• 25 pin female
• usually one on a
computer system labelled LPT1
only one device per port, but devices can be daisy chained (only one can be used at a time)
PS/2 port
• 6 pin mini DIN connector
• usually two on a computer system
USB port
• typically 2 or 4 ports on PC
hot swappable (devices can be attached while the computer is powered)
can connect up to 127 devices
• can supply power to devices
• two varieties of USB
1. USB 1.1 - 12 Mbit/sec
2. USB 2.0 - 480 Mbit/sec
IEE1394 high performance serial bus (commonly known as Firewire)
• typically requires the installation of an internal adapter card for a desktop computer system
• Hht swappable
can connect up to 63 devices
• high data transfer rates of 400Mbps (in 1394a) and 800Mbps (in 1394b).
What equipment can I connect?
There is a wide variety of peripheral devices that can be connected to a computer system. Broadly, they fit into one of the following three categories.
Input devices • keyboard
• mouse
• scanner
• digital camera
• microphone
Output devices • monitor
• printer
• modem (a modem is really both an input and output device)
• speakers
Storage devices • USB memory sticks
• Large capacity disk drives such as zip drives
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