Computer Basics and Terminology

1

• Computer Basics and Terminology

2
Operating Systems

• What type of operating system do cars use?
• Most run on gasoline thus many cars have a
  gasoline operating system, but some cars have
  different operating systems.
• Diesel
• Hydrogen
• Electric
• Solar

3
Operating Systems

• In a computer, the operating system is the
  computer code that controls the internal
  operations of the computer. This code is what
  makes the computer go.
• Popular Operating Systems
• Windows (95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista) Found on
  90 of the personal computers
• Mac-OS Found on Mac Computers
• Linux found on a few personal computers
  (primarily the playground of computer geeks)
• Unix used with mainframe computers

4
Old Operating Systems

• CPM (Control Program for Microprocessors)
• Early computers like the KayPro used this
• MS-DOS (Microsoft Disc Operating System)
• This was the predecessor to Windows
• All you saw on the screen was a C prompt - C
• You had to type a command to get anything to
  happen

5
Basic Computer Terminology

• CPU Central Processing Unit
• The brains of the computer
• Major manufacturers
• Intel (80 percent of the market)
• Pentium
• Celeron
• AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) 5 of the market
• Athalon
• IBM ??

6
What to Look for in a CPU

• Processing Speed
• The Old Days
• 4.7 Mhz early 80s
• 10 Mhz mid 80s
• A turbo switch was needed on computers because
  some software couldnt run at 10 Mhz
• Today
• 3,000 MHz is common (3 Gigahertz)
• 4,000 MHZ (4 GHz) is now available
• For most business applications 3 GHz is adequate,
  faster CPUs are needed for video rendering and
  game playing

7
Intel CPUs
8
What to Look for in a CPU

• On-board Cache (L1 L2)
• Temporary Memory on the CPU
• Increases processing speed because the computer
  doesnt have to write the temporary data to the
  hard drive
• Common Cache Sizes
• 64 K
• 128 K
• 256 K
• 512 K

9
What to Look for in a CPU

• Cache Speed (the speed at which data is written
  to the cache)

10
Basic Computer Terminology

• Memory
• RAM (Random Access Memory)
• More is better
• Determines how many programs can be open at one
  time and how many files can be handled
• 256 K is now on the low end
• 512 K is average
• 1028 K is preferred (commonly called 1 gigabyte)
• Programs in the future will require more and more
  memory
• More memory is the key to maximizing computer
  performance

11
Random Access Memory

• Think of RAM as a desktop, the bigger the
  desktop, the more materials you can have out and
  open (I.e. the more programs you can have open
  and running). YOU CANT HAVE TOO MUCH RAM.

12
Basic Computer Terminology

• Motherboard
• The main circuit board inside a computer, which
  contains the central processing unit, the bus,
  memory sockets, expansion slots, and other
  components
• Various cards plug into slots on the motherboard

13
Basic Computer Terminology

• Hard Drive
• An electro-mechanical device that stores data
  (programs, files)
• Typically referred to as the C drive
• Generally, the bigger the better
• MB (Megabytes)
• GB (Gigabytes)
• 80 GB is the minimum I would consider

The Case, the insides
14
Hard Drive

• Consider the hard drive to be the big drawer in a
  desk. It is used for storage.

15
Hard Drive Considerations

• Generally bigger is better
• Size is measured in Gigabytes
• 80 Gig is the smallest I would consider
• Most of my computers have 100 Gig hard drives
• Digital photographs, music and video eat hard
  drive space 1 minute of video takes 1 gig

16
Hard Drive Considerations

• Seek Time
• The time it takes the computer to find a specific
  piece of data on the hard drive
• Measured in ms (milliseconds)
• The lower the number, the faster

17
Basic Computer Terminology

• 3 ½ Floppy disk drive
• Used for storage but is limited
• Often go in the A drive

18
Basic Computer Terminology

• 5 ¼ Floppy disk drive
• Rarely found on a computer today
• Often went in the B drive
• These disks were actually floppy

19
Basic Computer Terminology

• Zip drives
• A 100 M zip disk holds the equivalent of 66 small
  (3 ½) floppy disks
• 250 Mb is fairly common
• The newest zip drive is a 750 MB
• However it is much cheaper to just write files
  to a CD

20
Basic Computer Terminology

• USB drives
• USB drives, also called thumb drives or flash
  drive, are storage devices that can be plugged
  into the USB ports.
• They come in various sizes.
• A 1 Gb thumb drive costs about 19 (after
  rebates).

21
Basic Computer Terminology

• CD and DVD drives and burners
• Data can be stored on a CD
• Movies can be viewed with a DVD drive
• Get one of each (that can write)

22
Basic Computer Terminology

• Video Card
• An electronic device found on the motherboard
  that determines the characteristics of how images
  will be displayed on the monitor. This card
  basically broadcasts video signals to your
  monitor.
• Memory on video card is important

23
Video Cards

• Graphics Processing (How many bits of data are
  handled at once)
• 32 bits (decent)
• 64 bits (what gamers and graphic artists need)
• 128 bits (where you really want to be)
• Memory
• The more the better
• 32 MB low end
• 64 MB Pretty Decent
• 128 MB - Now you are talking

24
Sound Card and Speakers

• Just depends upon how much you want to spend and
  how you like to hear music

25
Basic Computer Terminology

• Cases
• Tower
• Generally sits on the floor
• Doesnt occupy space on the desk
• Desktop
• Sits on desk
• Monitor typically sits on top
• Drive Bays
• Which ever case you get should have open bays to
  mount additional equipment if you want to
  upgrade later

26
Network Interface Card (NIC)

• A network interface card (ethernet) allows your
  computer to be hooked to a network of other
  computers or the Internet
• Today most computers come standard with a network
  interface card
• 10/100 is the standard (the 10/100 means the card
  is capable of transmitting data at 10Mbps
  Megabits per second up to 100 MBPS).

27
Modem

• A Modem allows the computer to hook up to other
  computers or the Internet using a telephone line.
• As networking (even home networks) becomes more
  popular, there has been a decline in demand for
  modems.
• However, it is smart to get a modem because they
  are CHEAP.
• More about modems will be covered in a later
  lesson.

28
Ports

• Plug in slots on the computer so that peripherals
  such as printers, digital cameras, scanners, can
  be connected to the computer.
• Serial Port used to be the standard
• Once nearly all printers plugged into the serial
  port
• They contain either 9 or 25 pins

29
Ports

• Parallel ports are much faster
• A serial port sends information through a cable
  one bit at a time, whereas a parallel port sends
  eight bits at a time along parallel

30
Ports

• USB (Universal Serial Bus) became popular several
  years ago
• Computers should have at least 4, preferable 6 or
  more USB ports.
• Can plug a bunch of devices in without the
  conflicts presented by serial ports (in theory up
  to 127 devices can be connected)
• Faster than serial ports
• Most printers now plug into the USB port
• USB2 is the new standard
• Much faster than standard USB

31
Ports

• IEE1394 port or firewire port (Sony calls them
  ilink)
• Used for connecting video cameras and
  transferring video
• Very, Very fast
• If your computer doesnt have this port, forget
  digital movie making
• A computer should have at least two

32
Ports

• On laptop computers the firewire (IEEE 1394) port
  may look different (4 pin vs. 6 pin).

Fits this
33
Ports

• Modern computers have ports on both the front and
  back of the computer. (See the next two slides)

34
(No Transcript)
35
(No Transcript)
36
Monitor

• The TV like device in which you view what the
  computer is doing.
• Very important
• Screen size is measured from corner to corner and
  the actual measurement is always a little less
  than advertised
• 17 and 19 inch are standard

37
Monitor

• DPI is crucial (Dot Pitch)
• This is the distance (in millimeters) between the
  tiny dots on the screen that make up the picture.
  The closer together the dots, the clearer the
  picture.
• . 24 to .26 are in the ball park
• Resolution is also critical
• The recommended screen resolution for a monitor,
  measured in pixels (horizontal x vertical).
  Higher resolutions can allow more information to
  fit on a screen, resulting in less scrolling.
  Example 1024 x 768)

38
Monitor

• Standard or Flat Panel
• Flat Panel weights considerable less and takes up
  less desk space
• Flat Panel is easier on the eyes
• Flat Panels costs a good bit more
• Be Careful - Flat Screen DOES NOT mean Flat Panel

39
Computer Ratings - Desktop

• Alienware -, -, 8.8
• Dell A, 8.1, 7.9
• Sony A, 7.9, 8.2
• Apple A, 8.8, 9.2
• Gateway C, 7.5, 7.7
• Micron C, 7.9, 7.8
• ABS -, 8.1, 8.2
• Systemax -, -, 7.7

• IBM/Lenova C, 7.1, 7.4
• Acer E
• emachines E, 7.6, 7.4
• Compaq E
• NEC E
• HP E
• HP/Compaq -, 7.3, 7.4

Grade From PC Magazine, July 2003 1st Score From
PC Magazine, July 2004 2nd Score from PC
Magazine, July 2005
40
Computer Utilities

• Zip program
• Compresses files (makes them smaller) so they can
  be e-mailed or downloaded more quickly.
• A zip program is used to zip (compress) and unzip
  (uncompress) files.
• The extension on a zipped file is .zip
  (smithfiles.zip, photo.zip)
• Winzip is a widely used program (www.winzip.com)

41
Computer Utilities

• We should all practice safe computing
• This means your computer should have an
  up-to-date virus checker
• All NCSU students have access to a free one at
  http//www.ncsu.edu/it/antivirus/