PC Computing How To Make It All Work Together

PC Computing – How To Make It All Work Together What is a personal computer or PC?  Just a very powerful electronic tool to help us perform tasks....
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PC Computing – How To Make It All Work Together

What is a personal computer or PC? 

Just a very powerful electronic tool to help us perform tasks.



A PC accepts information and manipulates it for some result.



A PC is NOT the Internet or the Web.



A PC can be confusing, but once you achieve a certain level of knowledge, it will become a powerful ally.

2 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Don’t be afraid to tinker with it!

It just takes patience and practice. © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

3

A PC is made up of “Hardware”.  There

are several physical components that work together to run your computer. Examples: CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, disk drives, printers, etc. 4

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Microprocessor or CPU – the Central Processing Unit 

The brain of the PC is called the “CPU”, the central processing unit, or more commonly, it is just referred to as the “computer”. 

It is housed inside the computer case.



It acts as a traffic cop in a busy intersection.



It instructs the computer programs to process the data. 5

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Power Switch on PC 

The power switch is located somewhere on the CPU or PC, usually on the front or the side.

You press this to start your computer. Never use the power switch to turn off your computer unless nothing else works. First try the reset button. 6 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Motherboard 

All of the computer’s components are hooked up to a “motherboard”, which is the main base for the circuitry and components.

7 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Memory 

Memory is called “RAM” which stands for Random Access Memory. The two main types are called DRAM and SRAM. SRAM is faster than DRAM, but, more expensive.

8 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Memory 

The system memory is the place where the computer holds current programs and data that are in use -- sort of like your working space on your desk.



It is temporary storage, which means it loses its information when power is removed. It is “shortterm” memory. 9

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Memory 

Memory affects: 

The performance of the PC,



The software support capability,



The reliability and stability of the system, and



Its upgradability.

10 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Megahertz or Speed of PC 

Megahertz (MHz) is the clock speed of the processor, but, not necessarily, the main indicator of overall performance.



Other factors include the bus speed, and the speed of the hard disk, RAM, and graphics card.

11 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

The Bus Essentially, a bus is a channel or path between the components in a computer. It’s the freeway for communication. A set of circuits runs throughout the board and connects all the parts together.

Monitor

Memory

Graphics Card

us B

Sy st em

I PC

BU S



CPU 12 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

The Bus 

The Bus makes parts more interchangeable.



It provides “horsepower” for the PC.



Expansion devices use the bus to send data to, and receive data from, the PC's CPU or memory. 

ISA, EISA and Micro Channel are the major bus standards used in PC's.

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

13

The Bus – How it’s evolved Bus Type

Bus Width

Bus Speed

MB/sec

ISA

16 bits

8 MHz

16 MBps

EISA

32 bits

8 MHz

32 MBps

VL-bus

32 bits

25 MHz

100 MBps

VL-bus

32 bits

33 MHz

132 MBps

PCI

32 bits

33 MHz

132 MBps

PCI

64 bits

33 MHz

264 MBps

PCI

64 bits

66 MHz

512 MBps

PCI

64 bits

133 MHz

1 GBps

PCI

128 bits

800 MHz

2.3 GBps 14

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Monitor – Output Device 

The monitor is the physical display for your computer.



It has its own on/off switch and controls for adjusting the quality of the display, such as brightness.

15 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Keyboard – Input Device 

Much of the computer keyboard looks like a standard typewriter keyboard, but there are more keys to help you do more things quickly.

16 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Common Keys 

Whenever you type a request you press ENTER to send it to the CPU.



The DELETE key deletes one character at a time or erases whatever is highlighted on the screen.



The HOME key is used inside software to take you to the “beginning” of something. Likewise, the END key takes you to the “end” of something. 17

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Common Keys 

The ALT, CNTL and SHIFT keys are “helper keys” and are used frequently. They may be used alone, together or in combination with other keys.

Each software program may have a different use for these keys. 18 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Common Keys 

Arrow keys move you around within a program without using a mouse.

19 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Common Keys 

Function keys usually appear across the top of a keyboard. Their functions change depending on the program that you are using.

In Windows-based programs, the F1 key is always the key for HELP.

20 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Numerical Keypad 

This keypad looks like a small calculator. If you press the NUMLOCK key, you can use it like a calculator. When you press the NUMLOCK key a second time, the non-numerical functions apply. 21

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

The Mouse – Input Device 

The mouse is an input devise like the keyboard, but is more dynamic.



The mouse usually has a roller ball that is attached to several internal sensors that allow you to travel around the screen on the monitor.

22 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

The Mouse 

The mouse usually has two buttons and are referred to as the left and right buttons, or the primary or secondary buttons.



Most of the time you will click the left button to select objects.



Usually you select things with the mouse by clicking the left button twice. (You can also click once and press the ENTER key.) 23

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

The Mouse 

When you click the right button, a special menu is displayed with various options you can select. This is called a “short cut menu”.

24 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Drives: Disk Drives and Diskettes 

The hard disk drive is the mechanism that reads and writes data on a hard disk.



The hard disk drive and the hard disk are packaged as a unit and are usually referred to as the "hard drive." It is “long-term” storage.



The drive is mounted permanently inside the computer. 25

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Hard Disk The hard disk holds: *The Operating System for the computer (like Windows 95/98, Windows

Hard disk

2000, or Windows XP),

*Programs

(like Microsoft Word, WordPerfect or PAF),

* and Documents. 

The hard drive stores many more times the amount of information than can be saved on a floppy disk or CD.

Floppy or CD

26 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Hard Disk 

The hard disk plays a significant role in the following aspects:



Performance - The speed at which the

PC boots up, and programs load, is directly related to hard disk speed. speed 

The hard disk's performance is also critical when multitasking is being used or when processing large amounts of data such as graphics work, editing sound and video, or working with databases.

27 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Hard Disk 

Storage Capacity: This is kind of obvious, but a bigger hard disk lets you store more programs and data.



Software Support: Newer software needs more space and faster hard disks to load it efficiently.



Reliability: A good quality hard disk, combined with smart maintenance and backup habits, can help ensure that the nightmare of data loss doesn't become part of your life. 28

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Floppy Disk 

A floppy disk is a storage device made of plastic with a thin plastic disk on the inside.



The plastic disk has a coating of magnetic particles on it, onto which information is written in magnetic code. 29

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

CD-ROM and DVD Disk 

A compact disk (CD) or digital disk (DVD) is similar to the floppy disk, because it stores data and you can retrieve data from it.



These drives use an optical reader instead of a magnetic device. It is like a Music CD, a software CD or a movie DVD.

30 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Zip Disks and Flash Drives 

A zip disk is similar to a floppy disk but is thicker, with a rectangular-shaped slider. It holds much more data than a floppy disk and comes in various storage capacities up to and larger than a CD, but, less than a DVD.



A flash drive or jump drive is similar to a hard drive, but, is small enough to fit into your pocket, around your neck, or on a keychain. 31

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Bits-Bytes – How much storage? File Storage Capacity by Bits and Bytes bit

0 or 1

byte

8 bits

Kilobyte (KB or K)

1000 bytes

Megabyte (MB, M or meg)

1000 kilobytes

Gigabyte (GB or gig)

1000 megabytes

Terabyte (TB or Tbyte)

1000 gigabytes

32 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Storage Comparisons Media Storage Capacity Comparision

DVD - 4.5 GB

CD - 660 MB Floppy disk - 1.2 MB Piece of paper with text - 50 KB

-

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

Capacity in Thousands of Bytes 33 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Care of Removable Media or Storage Devices 

Floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, flash drives, and Zip drives are never considered “permanent storage”. Data can be lost if not handled properly.

3.

Protect them from heat, sun, physical damage, liquid, dust and magnetism.

5.

Keep them in their storage cases.

34 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Care of Removable Media or Storage Devices 3.

Don’t write on CDs or DVDs with any regular marker pen as the ink damages the surface. Write on a CD label instead and then attach it to the CD. There are now specific pens made to write on a CD/DVD.

35 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Care of Removable Media or Storage Devices 4. Handle CDs/DVDs by the

edges. Dirt, fingerprints or scratches on the shiny surface will render this media unreadable.

5. Don’t fiddle with the sliders on

zips and floppies.

6. WARNING: “Reformatting”

a disk will cause any data on the disk to be lost.

36 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Other Hardware Devices or Peripherals

Scanners 3 or 4-in-one (scanner, printer, fax, copy)

Printers

Speakers 37 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

How Does the PC Communicate With the Peripherals? 

All peripherals must be connected to the PC in order for them to communicate with each other.



Hook up the PC directly with wires or cables through various types of connectors.

38 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

But Which Cable? 

It's bad enough that there are so many different choices to make regarding which peripherals you will buy. 



To make matters worse, you also have to consider how you're going to get them connected to your computer with names of things that seem to make no sense at all! 

39 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Connectors on your PC 

There are many different configurations on PC’s, however, the connectors are generally the same.

40 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Types of Connectors Monitor Cable – for Video Port

Printer Connector –Parallel Port USB Port Connector

Firewire Connector 41

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Connectors

Ethernet or Network Port Serial Port

SCSI Ports 42 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Connectors

Modem Port PS/2 Port

Power Port 43 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Can I Connect My PC Without Cables and Wires? 

You can use wireless hardware designed to be used without cables, such as a mouse or a keyboard.

A wireless mouse or keyboard works by communicating via radio waves to a central receiver that is plugged into your computer. The wireless mouse gets its power usually by one or two batteries. Depending on the wireless mouse, it may or may not need a direct line-of-sight to the receiver. 44 © 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

Here’s How It All Fits Together OUTPUT

INPUT * * * * * * *

* * * * * *

Keyboard Microphone Scanner Digital Camera Hard Drive Floppy Drive CD, DVD, Zip Drive

Monitor Printer Speakers Hard Drive Floppy Drive CD, DVD, Zip Drive

MOTHERBOARD CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

SOFTWARE

STORAGE * * * *

Hard Drive Floppy Drive Zip Drive CD or DVD Drive

© 2005 - Susan C. Maxwell - For Personal Use Only

MEMORY (RAM)

* * * * * * *

Operating System Games Business Productivity Hobbies Music / Art Genealogy 45