Computer Fundamentals and Information Processing Flashcards
What is a computer
An electronic device operating under the control of instructions stored in its memory that can store data, manipulate data, produce results and store data for further use.
Name of computer memory
Ram or Main memeory
Mother board layout
CPU, RAM and connection to hardrive
Computer follow the four basic task of the IPOS cycle
Input, Processing, Output, Storage
The types of computer components
Hardware and software
What is hardware
any physical part of the computer
Types of hardware
CPU- Control processing unit is the brain of the computer that controls the rest of the computer and has two parts
*the CU Control unit (this carries out instructions in the software and directs flow of data in computer)
*The ALC Arithmetric and logic unit (this performs calculations and logic operations)
Input devices get data into the computer
Output devices get process information out the computer
Memory enables a computer to temporarily store instructions and data
Storage media includes CD-ROMS and DVS and UBS flash memory sticks (what is storing the data the physical media)
Storage devices include hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives and DVD drives (ends with the word drive and facilitate the transfer of data)
Peripheral device are located outside the CPU and controlled by it
What are computer programs
These are instructions produced by programmers to create system and application software
Software
This the instructions that tell the computer what to do
System software
This software is called operation software because it controls the hardware and how other software works. Microsoft Windows 10, Apple IOS, Linux is an example
What is utilitiy software
This aims to protect and maintain the system software.
Examples protecting software against virus and making copies of files and recovering files after software crashed
Examples: Norton, mcafee, AVG, Google drive, Icloud
Application Software
This is the software that instructs a computer to carry out a specific task. Example spread sheets, Word (Not needed for computer to run)
What is IT? (ARCSOMP)
This is the term to describe the equipment that allow us to access, retrieve, convert, store, organise, manipulate and present data and information
Communication (CT)
This is the term used to describe telecommunications equipment through which data and information can be accessed.
Examples of CT= Phones, Faxes, Scanners, modems and computers
Types of data devices
Manual and direct data devices
Manual data
you enter data into computer yourself
Example of manual devices
Digitiser convert drawings and imagines into data example digital camera and webcam.
Keyboard
Keypad
Special Keyboard- any devices that has buttons on it designed to just one job
Mouse(ball) and optical mouse (laser)
Document scanner- allows you to transfer pictures and graphic and text to ur computer
Microphone
Touch screen
Touchpad
Pointing device
Remote control devices
Lightpen
Stylus
Bio-metric systems
Direct data entry
information is transferred automatically from a document
Examples of DDE
Barcode reader (this is used with electronic point of sales system (EPOS))
Smart card
Magnetic swipe card (black strip)
Optical mark recogonitition (OMR) These transer marks into the system
Optical character recogition (OCR) Enters hand written or printed text into the computer system
OMR and OCR are used together in a turn around document, this type of document one side has unique information on one side and the other side has information needed to be added by a human
Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)- This is used to process cheque number, account number and branch code printed on the cheque with magnetic ink
Types of Sensors MIDI musical instrument digital interface
Types of output
Soft copy output- What we cannot touch or feel and not permanent. Examples computer monitor, audio speaker
Hard copy output- This is permanent output since it is printed. Examples printed reports and pictures
Display devices
Display devices- anything that displays output on a screen example smartboards and computer
Types of display devices are liquid crystal display (LCD) and light emitting didode(LED)
Features of computer screen
Size-Measured diagonally
Resoloution- pixels per inch determine how clear and detailed the output
Colour- number of colours that can be displayed , more colour smoother the display
Cursor/pointer- symbol to show where u are working on the screen
Scrolling allows the text or grahpic to me moved up or
down on the screen
Priniting devices
Impact printer- hitting page like type writer, they uses carbon paper, used for printing payroll and financial reports need continuous sheets of paper
Example: Dot-matrix printer- very loud and uses pins to print a pattern of dots on paper,
advantage used for multiple copies
disadvantage can be read but not used for reproduction or business letters
Non impact printer- does not touch the page, ink is sprayed or toner powered is used, the characters are fixed onto pages by heating
Example: Ink jet printers they are low priced good quality printer that print in black and white or colour by spraying ink on page
Laser printer- this uses toner powder, high resolution and faster than ink printers they are quiet, stocked with multiple sheet
Thermal printer: this uses heat, used in Automatic banking machine (ABMS) receipts, debit and credit card slips and even ultrasound scanned images uses this printer. They are quiet and recent ones print quickly however paper is expensive and the print fades if exposed to light or heat
3D Printer- has layers from bottom upwards and the model is created in hours and melted plastic that sticks to each new layer
Plotter- used by car designer, architects and engineers who wish to print accurate charts, diagrams and 3D drawings. Colour pens or toner is used to draw image on paper.
Three types of plotter- Flatbed, Drum (bigger diagram) and Pinch-Roller (mixture of 2)
Primary memory
Primary memory is computer memory that a processor or computer accesses first or directly
Main memory or RAM is located directly on computer’s main circuit board so data can travel quickly to and from the CPU
Data stored a specific memory location is called an address, can have its address contents accessed to read from or written to or processed.
Word is the largest amount of data that can be moved together to be processed
Types of memory
RAM- Random access memory,computer access data held in RAM almost immediately, data is lost when u lose power(RAM is volatile)
ROM- Read only memory- the basic input/output instructions put in a computer when the computer is made, these instructions are read but cannot be changed (Non-volatile)
Hybrid memory/ Flash memory- U can both read and write the data
How data is represented
The computer sees in binary, 1= on and 0=off