UNIT 1 Introduction to Computer Organization and Architecture

Introduction

In this unit you shall be introduced to the concept of a computer. The unit explores the
definition and parts of the computer. It puts emphasis on the input, process, storage and
output parts of the computer. The unit emphasises the concept of a computer as a system
rather than a simple entity of processing. The difference between data and information shall
also be covered.

Learning objectives

By the end of the unit the student should be able to:

(a) Define the term computer

(b) Explain the concept of a computer as a system
(c) Describe the functions of different parts of the computer system
(d) Name various input and output devices.
(e) Give the functions of various storage devices.

What is a Computer?

A computer is an electronic device that stores, accepts data, retrieves data, processes data and
gives output according to a set of instructions. Business dictionary defined a computer as a
general purpose machine, commonly consisting of digital circuitry, that accepts
(inputs), stores, manipulates, and generates (outputs) data as numbers, text, graphics,
voice, video files, or electrical signals, in accordance with instructions called a program

[Link] Accessed
26/01/2016

Elements of a computer

 Hardware is the collection of physical elements that constitutes a computer system.

Computer hardware is the physical parts or components of a computer you can touch
and see, examples of computer hard ware include monitor/screen, mouse, keyboard,
hard disk drive (HDD), graphic cards, sound cards, memory, motherboard, and so on.
All these are physical objects that are tangible.
 Software: Software is any set of machine-readable instructions that directs a
computer's processor to perform specific operations. Software refers to instructions
that can be stored and run by hardware. A combination of hardware and software
constitutes a usable computer system
 User: An individual who uses a computer. This includes expert programmers as well
as novices. An end user is any individual who runs an application program.
Users generally use a system or a software product without the technical expertise
required to fully understand it.
Main Hardware Components of the computer

Figure 1 a: The structure of the computer

(Adapted from [Link]

[Link])

Hardware

• This is the equipment that makes up a computer system (physical components).

• Many of these parts are contained within the computer’s case.

• Other parts are external but connected to the computer (peripheral devices). These
allow data to be entered (input) and retrieved (output) and stored.

Internal hardware components

 CPU
 Mother Board
 RAM
 Sound Card
 Video Card
 Hard Drive
 DVD
External Hardware components
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Printer
 Scanner
 Monitor
 Speakers
Input devices:

These are devices which help you to interact with the computer by entering data and
commands into the computer system. Examples of input devices are mouse and keyboard.

• Processing devices (processor)

• Output devices (monitor, speakers and printer) display data

• Storage devices (memory sticks and disks) hold data

The processing device: Central Processing Unit (CPU)

• The part of the computer performs the bulk of data processing operations is called the
central processing unit

• “Brain” as well as “heart” of computer system

• The chip or chips at the heart of a computer that enable it to process data.

• It is very easy to replace because it is inserted into the socket and is not soldered onto
the motherboard
A computer may contain more than one CPU and is called a MULTIPROCESSOR.

CPU Components

• The CPU is made up of four major parts:

– Register set

– ALU

– Control unit

– Main memory

• Memory: An area within a computer system that holds data waiting to be processed.

• Control unit

Control unit: supervises the transfer of information among the registers and instructs
the ALU as to which operation to perform by generating control signals.

• Arithmetic logic unit (ALU)

Performs computation and comparison operations

• Set of registers
 Storage locations that hold inputs and outputs for the ALU

Stores intermediate data during the execution of instructions;

CPU Registers

• Primary functions

Hold data for currently executing program that is needed quickly or frequently
(general-purpose registers)

Store information about currently executing program and about status of CPU
(special-purpose registers)

Computer Input

• Input is any data entered into the computer’s memory.

• input devices : the devices that allow data and instructions to enter a computer (such
as a keyboard, mouse, scanner)

• Each type of input device has an INTERFACE i.e. a means of communication

between the human user and the electronic computer.

Types of input include:

Data – Unorganized information (words, numbers, images, or sounds) that the computer
converts to meaningful information

Software – Programs transferred from storage devices to the computer’s memory

Commands – Instructions that tell the computer what to do

Responses – Prompts requiring user feedback

Modern data capture Methods

 Data may be keyed in from source documents by keyboard operators

• Computer Keyboard
• Numeric keypad
 The source documents may be read directly by a document reader. Document readers
capture information in the form of pictures or text already printed on paper.

• Image Scanners

• Optical Character reader (OCR)

• Optical Mark reader (OMR)

• Magnetic ink character reader (MICR)

 • Bar code readers

 Data may be captured directly without the need for any source document

• Magnetic strip on a plastic card,

• Smart card

• Graphic input devices may be used to translate drawings or photographs into digital
form that can be processed by a computer

• Mouse

• Track ball

• Touch screen

• Digitizing tablet

• Light pen

Sound Input

• A microphone can be attached to a sound card to provide audio input and also to
issue commands and crate files

• Speech recognition is a type of input in which the computer recognizes words spoken
into a microphone.

Output Devices

• Output devices are peripheral devices that enable us to view or hear the computer’s
processed data. E.g. a display screen or printer)

• Output: The product of the transformation of inputs by a process.

Computer output

Computer output refers to that which is output by the computer to the outside world e.g.
sound.

• Types of output

– Visual output – Text, graphics, and video

– Audio output – Sounds, music, and synthesized speech

Output Devices

These are the devices that provide the output.

The devices send back the information to you from the computer e.g. Monitor and Printer.

Monitors

• A monitor is a peripheral device which displays computer output on a screen.

• Screen output is referred to as soft copy.

• Types of monitors:

– Cathode-ray tube (CRT)

– Liquid Crystal Display (LCD or flat-panel)

Printers

• A printer is a peripheral device that produces a physical copy or hard copy of the
computer’s output.

Types of Printers

Laser

• Laser printer works like a copier

• Quality determined by dots per inch (dpi) produced

• Color printers available

• Expensive initial costs but cheaper to operate per page

• Inkjet printer

• Inkjet, is also called a bubble-jet, it makes characters by inserting dots of ink onto
paper.

• Letter-quality printouts

• Cost of printer is inexpensive but ink is costly

Plotter

• A plotter is a printer that uses a pen that moves over a large revolving sheet of paper.

• It is used in engineering, drafting, map making, and seismology.

Audio Output: Sound Cards and Speakers

• Audio output is the ability of the computer to output sound.

• Two components are needed:

– Sound card – Plays contents of digitized recordings

– Speakers – Attach to sound card

Computer Storage

• Storage device:

– The place where a computer puts data.

– The area within a computer system where data can be left on a longer term basis
while it is not needed for processing.

Why Is Storage Necessary?

• Storage devices:

– Retain data when the computer is turned off

– Are cheaper than memory

– Play an important role during startup

– Are needed for output

Storage Technologies: Magnetic and Optical

Magnetic Storage

Optical Storage – CD/DVD drive

 • Magnetic – Storage devices use disks or tapes that are coated with magnetically
sensitive material

• Optical – Storage devices that use laser beams to read patterns etched into plastic
disks

CD-ROM Discs and Drives

• CD-ROM stands for Compact Disc-Read Only Memory.

• CD-ROM drives cannot write data to discs.

• They are capable of storing 650 MB of data.

• They are used for storing operating systems, large application programs, and
multimedia programs.

CD-R and CD-RW Discs

CD-R

CD-RW

• Discs can be read and written to

• Discs are erasable

• Discs can be written to many times

• CD-RW drives are capable of reading, writing, and erasing data

DVD-ROM Discs and Drives

• DVD stands for Digital Video Disc.

• DVD technology is similar to CD-ROM technology.

• DVDs are capable of storing up to 17GB of data.

• The data transfer rate of DVD drives is comparable to that of hard disk drives.

• DVD-R and DVD-RW drives have the ability to read/write data.

Solid State Storage Devices

• Solid state storage devices use nonvolatile memory chips to retain data.

• They do not have moving parts.

• They are small, lightweight, reliable, and portable.

Examples of Solid State Storage Devices

Smart Card

Flash Memory

PC Card

Figure 1 b: Solid State Storage Devices

Memory Stick

Compact Flash Memory

Micro Drive
UNIT 2: The windows environment

Before you work with different computer applications you need to be familiar with the
windows environment. It is this environment that you will be using in performing different
tasks with your computer. For simplicity and standardisation, this module shall use windows 7
operating system environment as well as Microsoft Office 2007 applications. Please note that
this work is not to promote a certain software producer but to impart knowledge and skills to
students. After going through explanations and examples in this module, the student is advised
to try exploring the same concepts in different hardware and software environments.

The windows aspects that you shall learn in this section include the desktop, the general office
window and its sections, folder management and basic windows tools.
The desktop

Figure 2b: The windows desktop

Figure 2b shows how the desktop looks like. Note that the background differs according to the
individual user preferences, so expect to see different desktop backgrounds whenever you
encounter a different desktop. The desktop is what you see when the computer has finished
booting up. It is equivalent to the top of your desk when are working in your office. You may
remember that on your desk there are all tools that you need to do your daily tasks. On one’s
desk we would expect to see pens, rulers, calculators, diaries, trays and so on. On the sides of
the desk you may have a dust bin to throw unwanted papers.

The emergence of the electronic office resulted in converting all those functions into
electronic form. We now have pens, rulers, recycle bin and other tools that we need to use in
our electronic office that makes minimum or no use of papers. Next we are going to explore
the different tools that we have on our desktop.
 Standard desktop icons

User created folders

Saved document

Other icons

On standard widows desktop there are icons which are there and are expected to be
there. On figure there are two standard desktop icons namely Computer and Recycle
bin. As a user you can also create your own folders on the desktop in which you save
your work. In figure we have two folders named, All others and ITCA work. A user
can create as many desktop icons as required. However, it is advisable to have very
few icons on your desktop so as to avoid cluttering it. You need to plan how your
work needs to be organised carefully. You may need to have as few as five main
folders on your desktop possibly corresponding to all the modules you are doing that
semester. If you are doing communication, introduction to computers, Statistics,
Entrepreneurship and Life skills; you may need to create a folder for each of the five.
Then in each folder you can create more folders e.g. tutorials, lecture notes, self notes,
exercises and assignments. The subfolders may also be subdivided into sub-sub
folders. If you practice this you will notice that it will be a lot easier for you to locate
anything of interest.

One can also save documents on the desktop be it word, spreadsheet, database,
presentation etc. On figure the word document Automatic gate system was saved on
the desktop. Note that it is not good computing practice to save documents directly on
the desktop.

The desktop can also carry certain icons that are often used for example in figure
there is Google chrome and Skype. Some software when installed on your computer
will automatically put a desktop icon for easy access to it.
 At the bottom of Windows 7 desktop window there is a series of icons corresponding
to major applications running on the computer as well as active program icons. Figure
shows such icons.

Start button Folders Mozilla Word

Firefox

Internet Media Skype

explorer player

Basic operations in the Windows environment

Before you proceed to the next sections of this module, you have to acquaint yourself with
the following basic operations:

 Opening a document
 Saving a document
 Backing up a file
 Print previewing a document.

Word processing

Word processing involves creating textual documents using your computer as well as saving
and printing those documents. The documents may be letters, memos, reports, assignments,
etc. In your studies you will be required to write many of such documents. It is therefore
critical that you are competent in word processing. The skills you will acquire in this area
will be useful in writing your assignments and projects in your programme, at home and at
work.

This module will not cover everything in word processing but limited to the structure of word
processing window and a few word processing activities enough for building a base for your
work.
The word processing window

Figure shows the main elements of the word processing window.

The grey area at the center of the window is called the work space or working area. You type
all your work in this area. Let us explore the various parts of this window in the following
sections.

Main menu bar

Minimise,
maximise and
Office
Tool bars Title bar close
button

The office button

The office button is found on the top left corner of the window. Clicking on the office button
will produce the drop down menu as shown in figure below:
The drop down menu is comprised of new, open, save, save as, print, prepare, send,
publish and close. These are the standard actions that you can perform while working on
your documents. In your practical session you will familiarise with all these actions. You use
the new action when you intend to create a new document e.g. a memo or a letter. The open
action is used to open an existing document that has been saved either in the computer hard
disk or any external storage device e.g. a memory card or memory stick.

The office button can also help you access any recently opened documents without bothering
you with remembering where you saved the document. In this case the recent documents are
listed thus ITCA module, Farai CV Telecel etc.
Tool bar

The tool bar contains standard tools that you can use to do several things while working with
your document e.g. copying, pasting, indenting changing font colour and so on.

Title bar

As the name implies this is the position where the name or title of the document name is
located. Once you save your document the name that you give to the document is the once
that is written in this bar. Figure shows that the document I was working on is called ITCA
Module which is a Microsoft word document.

Main Menu bar

The main menu contains several menu items that are used in working with your documents.
Every action starts here. These are called main menu items because once you click on each of
them a different set of sub items are displayed allowing you to perform certain specific
actions. Figure shows the main menu and its menu items.

The main menu items are the Home, Insert, Page layout, references, mailings, Review and
View. Each of these menu items has several submenus corresponding to it. If you click on
any of these items a different set of submenus will be displayed. Figure and figure show the
submenus of Home and Insert respectively. You shall learn the use of each of the items in the
submenus in your practical sessions.
The submenus of Home are Clipboard, Font, Paragraphs, styles and Editing.

The insert menu option has the submenus Pages, Tables, Illustrations, Links, Header and
footer, Text and symbols. Each of these submenus has a set of tools that you shall use to
perform small tasks in when working with your documents.
UNIT 3 Role of ICT in Business

ICT definition

Information and communications technology (ICT) is often used as an extended synonym

for information technology (IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role of unified
communications and the telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals),
computers as well as necessary enterprise software, storage, and audio-visual systems, which
enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) is a generic name used to describe a range

of technologies for gathering, storing, retrieving, processing, analysing, and transmitting
information.

ICT in Business

ICT in a business environment can be used for:

• Recording Data,

• Storing data,

• Manipulating data and

• Retrieving data

ICT is used in

• Administrati

• on- For Invoicing, Communication, Emailing.

• Business, Finance and Accounting- for Business Plans, Financial forecasting, Auditing,
Market Analysis, Research, Recording Transactions.

• Communications- For email, instant messages, mobile phones.

• Engineering and Creative Art- for 2D and 3D Drawing, Modelling, Simulation.

• Wildlife and Tourism and Hospitality- Animal Tracking, Hotel booking, GIS.
 Characteristics of today’s business environment

Today’s business is very different from the traditional business environment. Figure shows
the four main aspects that characterise the modern day business environment. These aspects
are the nature of business, technology, customers and the market.

The nature of business

 Global reach of Internet
The term “global”
Technology: mobile phones
includes: global markets,
can handle Internet
global customers, global
communications
suppliers, global
Pervasive Computing- idea of
shareholders, and global
putting powerful computer
opportunities.
chips and functions into
Highly competitive with
everyday things such as cars
companies competing
or household appliances.
across national
Fridges can now scan itself
boundaries
and inform you to procure
goods online using GPS and

Technology
Three Spheres of Web Strategy

Figure 3a

When we talk of the web strategy we refer to how a business would deal with the issues that
affect the way they appear to the outside world through their websites. Nowadays people
know about an organisation mainly through visiting their website on the Internet. So, the
business managers need to constantly update their information on these websites. The nature
of your website and its content determine largely how your business will fare.

A good website should balance the three elements shown in figure 3a (community,
technology and business)

Consider a website that focuses only on the community and the business. In this case the
website takes into account the expectations of the community first and fuse them into their
website. You realise that every business operates in a certain environment and serves a
specific community. It is paramount to note that each community has its own norms and
values that shape its people’s expectations from the business. So a wise business manager has
to make a thorough investigation into these norms, values and expectations. On the other
hand the business has to be understood in terms of its processes and procedures.

The website now has to reflect the community expectations and the business processes and
procedures. As figure 3a shows, this type of website will be inefficient for the success of the
business. The website needs to be hosted on the Internet hence technology tools are required.

A business that ignores the community and focuses on the business processes, operations and
expectations taking into consideration the modern IT technology is likely to fail again. As
indicated in figure 3a users will be frustrated and may not even come onto the website. In this
case the business will eventually collapse. Clearly no business can survive when it does not
recognise the norms, values and expectations of the community that it serves. So make sure
that pictures, logos, icons and everything that you use on your business is in line with the
community if you want your products to do well. Imagine someone with a UK background
where an owl is considered a lucky bird comes to Zimbabwe and puts pictures of an owl on
every page of the website as well as banners to advertise the products!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pakaipa pakaipa. People will run away. The reason is simply that an owl in Zimbabwe is
associated with witchcraft. So take the people’s culture seriously when branding your
products.

Another approach may be taking only the society and the technology seriously. Clearly this
does not work because the business functions and processes themselves are left out which
should be the main reason of existence. Only a fool will ignore the business since the result is
monetisation issues where no transitioning will occur. Actually there will be no business to
talk about.

Finally, the proper way of doing it is considering the community, the business and the
technology equally and inculcates them into the website development and maintenance
always. When this is adequately done we now talk of web strategy balance. This is the
optimal way of running a business properly online.
Internet, Email and E-Commerce

Internet

The Internet connected every part of the globe. The globalisation of business resulted in us
having the following

 Global Market Place

 E-Commerce
 Market Performance
 Price Comparison Sites

E-Mail

 Messages can be sent to individuals and groups

 Quick Information Transfer

E-Commerce

Electronic commerce came also as a result of doing business on the Internet. The benefits that
accrued to business following this include the following;

 Shopping 24/7
 Low Overheads
 Global Market
 E-Marketing
How software improves efficiency

• Speed- Quicker processing times save the business time and money. Transactions are
processed on quicker on real-time

• Accuracy- with the use of verification and validation, data can be inputted more
accurately. This can help with decision making.

• Data Handling- Can be inputted and manipulated anywhere on the market

• User friendly- Easy to use

• Capacity- Large quantity of data can be held with very little physical space

Computer Network

A computer network is a group of computers connected to each other electronically.

This means that the computers can "talk" to each other and that every computer in the
network can send information to the others.

The components of a computer network include: a computer, the router, the gateway, the
bridge networking device, the switch for networking and the hub. Most of these are data
terminal equipment and components of networking that are tasked with receiving or
generating data.

A virtual private Network (VPN) extends a private network across a public network, such
as the Internet.

Definition of terms

• A database is an organized collection of data.

• A computer is a general purpose device that can be programmed to carry out a set of
arithmetic or logical operations

• A router is a device that forwards data packets between computer networks, creating
an overlay internetwork.

• A network switch (sometimes known as a switching hub) is a computer networking

device that is used to connect devices together on a computer network.

E-Business

• It is the transformation of an organization’s processes to deliver additional customer

value through the application of technologies, philosophies and computing paradigm
of the new economy
 • Three primary processes are enhanced in e-business:

1. Production processes, which include procurement, ordering and

replenishment of stocks; processing of payments; electronic links with
suppliers; and production control processes, among others;

2. Customer-focused processes, which include promotional and marketing

efforts, selling over the Internet, processing of customers’ purchase orders and
payments, and customer support, among others; and

3. Internal management processes, which include employee services, training,

internal information-sharing, video-conferencing, and recruiting.

E-Business

 The major different types of e-Business are:

Business -to- business (B2B);

Business to-consumer (B2C);

Business -to- government (B2G);

Consumer -to- consumer (C2C);

Mobile commerce (m-commerce).

E-Business Components
 Deliver Insights
CRM, BI & Analytics, ERP
KPIs

Content & User

Online Merchandising
Experience
& Conversion

Functional
E-Business Model Specification
Traffic

Completed Interface Application and

E-Marketing & Demand
Development
Creation

Content & User Experience

Content Strategy

User Experience (UX) & Design

Information Architecture (IA)

Usability & QA Testing

Application & Development

Web development

Data Warehousing & ETL

Product data management

Integration with business partners

Operations (Order placement, order processing, & supply chain management)

E-Marketing & Demand Creation

Direct Marketing

Email Marketing
 Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Online Advertising

Social Media management & monitoring

Online Merchandising & Conversion

Internal Site Search (searches performed on the website, not in a public search
engine like Google)

A/B & Multivariate Testing

Online Merchandising

CRM, BI, & Analytics

Customer Relationship Management & Database management

Business Intelligence

Competitive Intelligence and Web Analytics

UNIT 4 SOFTWARE

Definition

• Software are the instructions given to a computer in the form of a program.

• Software is the set of programs, which are used for different purposes.

• Software are all the programs used in a computer to perform certain tasks.

Categories of Computer Software

Types of Software

Software is divided into two broad categories:

1) Systems software and

2) Application software.

Systems Software

• Systems software is the term used to describe programs that enable the computer to
function, improve its performance and access the functionality of the hardware.
• Function of systems software is the control of the operation of the computer.
• Systems software provides the foundation for applications software.

Operating System Software

Systems software is further subdivided into operating systems and utilities.

 • The operating system is the program that actually makes the computer operate.

Examples: Windows 7, 8, Linux

Operating System Software

• It is the basic minimum software needed for a computer to be functional.

• It constitutes the greater part of Systems software.

• Its major function is to control the hardware

Functions of an Operating System

User
Interface

Resource Task File

Management Management Management
Functions of an Operating System

• Boot-up the computer.

• Control the hard drives: This includes such features as formatting and defragmenting disks
as well as saving files to and retrieving files from disk.

• Control input devices such as keyboards, mice and scanners.

• Control output devices such as the video display and printer.

Control the external ports: Ports are the external connections that enable peripheral devices to
be connected to a computer. Common types of ports are serial, parallel, USB. Of these the
USB ports are the most important.

• Provide the functionality for computers to be linked in a network.

• Provide the foundation for application software to be launched.

• Enable application software to access and use the hardware.

Utilities Software

Utilities Software are programs which either improve the functioning of the operating
system or supply missing or additional functionality.

Examples: Windows Explorer (File/Folder Management), Windows Media Player,, WinZip,

WinRAR for compressing files

Applications software

• Application software is used in real-world tasks to solve user problems

• Application software is used in real-world tasks to solve user problems

Applications software

Types of applications software

1) Off the shelf

General applications that can be purchased from vendors. E.g. Microsoft Office

2) Custom software
Software specially designed for a particular industry or organization E.g. Galileo/Worldspan
(Travelling Agents) , ASCUDA for ZIMRA border clearance, POSware for supermarkets etc

Versions of software

• The new releases of software products are called versions.

• The versions use a numbering system such as

Windows 7, Windows 8, MS Office 2010.

Why …. Versions of software

• Software developers continually strive to improve the performance of their products

and add new features.

• Especially in a world of competing products, each developer needs to make their

product perform better, have fewer problems and have more features.

Relationship btwn s/w, h/w and users

 Operating
Application and
software systems
software
Hardware
Users
Software Licensing

Basically in two forms i.e.

a) Proprietary software

b) Open source software

Proprietary Software:

• Also called non-free software, is software with restrictions on using, copying and
modifying as enforced by the proprietor(owner).

• Restrictions on use, modification and copying is achieved by either legal or technical

means and sometimes both.

• Examples of proprietary software are Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Norton

Antivirus etc.,

Open Source Software:

• Open source software (OSS) is computer software whose source code is available
under a license that permits users to use, change, and improve the software, and to
redistribute it in modified or unmodified form.

• It is often developed in a public, collaborative manner.

• Common OSS products are Linux, Netscape, Apache, etc.,

Freeware

• It is copyrighted software given away for free by the author.

• You are unable to view the source code

• Although it is available for free, the author retains the copyright, which means one
cannot do anything with it that is not expressly allowed by the author.
 • Usually, the author allows people to use the software, but not sell it.

• Examples: Adobe PDF, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger

Shareware

• Freely distributed for a trial period

• You can only enjoy a free trial of it for a short period e.g. 14 days after which
you are required to pay for a license

• The author usually requests that you pay a small fee if you want to use the program
regularly.

• By so doing, you become registered with the producer so that you can receive service
assistance and updates.

• You can copy shareware and pass it along to friends and colleagues, but they too are
expected to pay a fee if they use the product.

• Examples: Winzip

Shareware is inexpensive because it is usually produced by a single programmer

and is offered directly to customers.

• Thus, there are practically no packaging or advertising expenses.

• Note that shareware differs from public-domain software in that shareware is

copyrighted.

• This means that you cannot sell a shareware product as your own.

• Examples:

Legal issues of software

Software Piracy

• Making illegal copies of copyrighted software

• Why the fuss?

– Very easy to duplicate software

– Software company may lose hundreds of dollars per pirated copy

• Prosecution

– Possible: Small-medium sized business who purchase a few copies and

distribute to many users
 – Impossible: Individual users who probably would not have purchased software
on their own anyway

Counterfeiting

• Software is copied onto CD-ROMS / DVD-ROMS

• Package duplicates the original

• Sold in flea markets or small stores

• Cheaper price

Copying Software

• Legitimate reasons

– Backup copy

– Copy to hard disk

• Illegitimate reasons

– Obtain software without paying for it

Software Suites

• Suites are a number of productivity packages bundled together. Examples:

– Microsoft Office has MS Word, Excel, Power point, Internet Explorer, Access
etc

– Lotus SmartSuite

– Corel WordPerfect Office

– Sun StarOffice

Advantages of suites

• Cost

• Similar graphical user interface

• Share common tools

• Programs are designed to work together

Disadvantages of suites

• Large size

• Many features never used by many end users

 Tutorial questions

1) Describe the factors to consider when purchasing software.

2) For each of the scenarios below, suggest the appropriate hardware and software
needs:

a) Airline reservation

b) Biomedical imaging

c) Lecture theatre

d) Diamond mining
 UNIT 5

COMPUTER VIRUSES

Definition Computer Virus

1. A set of computer instructions

2. Deliberately created
3. That propagates
4. And does unwanted things.

Characteristics of Computer Viruses:

1. Cannot exist in a viable form, apart from another (usually legitimate) program.
2. Propagates when the host program is executed.
3. Has an incubation period, during which no damage is done.
4. After incubation period, begins to manifest its behavior.

A Few Manifestations of Computer Viruses:

1. Sudden or periodic slowing of programs.

2. Unexplained change in the size of any program.
o Files with extension .EXE.
o Files with extension .COM.
o Files with extension .BAT.
o Files with extension .SYS.
o Files with extension .OVL.

("Explanations" would be, for example, a new version of DOS, or re-installing a

program with different options.)

3. Unusual behavior of the computer, especially during a program which you have been
running regularly with no problems.
4. Failure of any program (such as a word processor) to install correctly from its
distribution disks.

Programs which are NOT viruses:

1. Trojan horse: a standalone program which does its damage immediately, while you
are running it for another purpose (usually a game!).
2. Bomb: a standalone program (like a Trojan horse) whose only effect is to destroy
some part of your system (programs, data) but does not pretend to be another program
while it runs.
3. Bug: a legitimate program with some logic error which causes accidental damage to
your system even though everything was done according to the manual.
4. User error: a human error (which the human may deny!) which causes loss of data or
programs, or damage to hardware, due to accident or entry of incorrect commands.

Virus-caused behavior:
 1. Formats hard drive, destroying all data ("Dark Avenger").
2. Causes random change in typed characters ("Teatime" virus).
3. Presents a political or (false) advertising message every few times ("Stoned" virus:
Legalize Marijuana).
4. Causes computer to act as though a monitor or disk drive is going bad ("Jerusalem-B"
virus).

Where viruses can hide:

1. In the "boot" sector of any floppy disk. This is a small program which runs whenever
the computer is "booted" from the diskette, whether or not the diskette is "bootable."
(This is the tiny program which puts the message "Non-system disk or disk error" on
the screen if the disk is not bootable!)
2. Attached to any program: shareware, commercial or public domain.
3. Embedded in the hidden system files [Link] and [Link] on the boot disk or
drive.
4. Same as #2, but pay SPECIAL ATTENTION to the file [Link] on the
boot disk or drive.
5. The "partition table" on a hard drive. (This DOES contain executable information,
since it is attached to the "Master Boot Record" which is consulted at boot-up to
determine whether to boot DOS, OS/2, UNIX, etc.)

How viruses are spread:

1. Trading, copying or pirating software on diskettes without knowing the source.

2. Software salesmen giving demos on your computer from their diskettes.
3. Computer repair personnel using diagnostic disks.
4. Computer user groups and bulletin boards (BBS's). NOTE: #2 & #3 account for over
80% of all infections at business sites! #1 accounts for nearly all others, #4 LESS
THAN 5%.

When viruses activate:

1. Every few times the computer is booted up

2. On a certain day of the year
3. On a certain day of the week ("Sunday" virus).
4. On a certain day of the month ("Friday the 13th", "Saturday the 14th" viruses).
5. Every day EXCEPT one ("Israeli" or "Suriv03" virus, every day except Friday the
13th.)
6. On a certain date only. (Jan. 1, 2000 "Century" will activate, write zeroes to all
connected disks, effectively destroying all data and programs, destroying all
directories, file allocation tables, boot records and partition tables, possibly causing
the disk to have to be returned to the dealer for repair. Finally, a message is presented
to the user, "Welcome to the 21st Century.")
7. A certain period after infection ("Plastique" virus, one week).
8. After infecting a certain number of files ("MIX/1" virus, six files).
9. After a certain number of keystrokes ("Devil's Dance" virus, 2000 keystrokes; after
5000 destroys hard disk data and prints characteristic "Devil's Dance" message).
10. At a particular time of day ("Teatime" virus, between 3:10 and 3:13 PM, trashes every
11th keystroke.)
11. Any combination of the above, plus anything you can probably think of!

Types of viruses, classified by how they spread ("vectors"):

 Boot-sector viruses. Can NOT be transmitted from BBS's at all. Transmitted

by floppy or tape cartridge (rare). Boot- up must be attempted from infected
disk. Remains memory- resident during warm boot, infects boot sector of all
other disks in system including hard and floppy disks.
 Program viruses. May be transmitted by distribution of infected programs via
floppy, BBS or network. Some infect ONLY [Link]; others avoid
infecting [Link], to avoid detection.

Types of viruses, classified by operating system:

 DOS. Greatest variety of viruses due to widespread use.

 Amiga-DOS. Restricted to Commodore Amiga.
 Macintosh. Restricted to Macintosh computers. NOTE: Amiga(TM) and
Macintosh(TM) computers often have a DOS emulation mode. In this mode,
some (but not all) DOS viruses can damage them as well.
 OS/2. Relatively immune to viruses so far, due to rarity of systems. Most DOS
viruses are rendered harmless by OS/2, although some may still survive since
OS/2 can also run DOS programs.
 UNIX. These viruses are relatively rare, but some have the potential of
migrating to PC's running UNIX clones such as XENIX. Similar remarks
apply to Amigas and Macintoshes running A/UX or other UNIX clones.
 VMS, MVS, etc. (Minicomputers & mainframes). A few viruses spread over
networks. More commonly affected by worms (RTM Internet worm, e.g.),
logic bombs via e-mail, etc.

Conditions for propagation [1] (epidemiology):

 Many computers in close proximity. "Proximity" may not be physical distance

between computers, but between computer owners in the same class or job.
 Frequent exchange of susceptible software.
 Long incubation period of virus.
 Proportionately few "immune" individuals in the community, i.e. those using
anti-viral software.
 Use of software brought from home, where "the kids" could bring home
viruses from school, etc.

Prevention of virus infections or attenuation of epidemics:

Remove any of the conditions above.

 Isolate computers. This is seldom practical! But you can set aside one
computer in an organization on which to try out disks and software before
releasing disks for general use.
 Don't be hasty to try every new program that comes down the pike.
 Use the computer set aside in #1 to set future dates and see if anything
happens.
 Use anti-viral software on ALL computers, and keep it updated regularly. (The
few users who don't use the software will be protected by "herd immunity"
which is well known in disease control.)
 Disallow use of any software not purchased by and for the corporation, or
disinfected as in #1 and #3.
 UNIT 6: Computer Generations

The development of electronic computers can be divided into five generations depending
upon the technologies used. A computer generation is born when there is a departure in
technology.

First Generation of Computers (1942-1955)

The beginning of commercial computer age is from UNIVAC (Universal Automatic
Computer). It was developed by two scientists Mauchly and Echert at the Census
Department of United States in 1947. They were based on vacuum tubes. Examples of first
generation computers are ENIVAC and UNIVAC-1

Advantages

 Vacuum tubes were the only electronic component available during those days.
 Vacuum tube technology made possible to make electronic digital computers.
 These computers could calculate data in milliseconds.

Disadvantages

 The computers were very large in size.

 They consumed a large amount of energy.
 They heated very soon due to thousands of vacuum tubes. Therefore needed air
conditioning hence they were not very reliable.
 Costly commercial production.
 Limited commercial use.
 Very slow speed.
 Limited programming capabilities.
 Used machine language only.
 Used magnetic drums which provide very less data storage.
 Used punch cards for input.
 Not versatile and very faulty so constant maintenance was required.

Second Generation Computers (1955-1964)

The second generation computers used transistors. The scientists at Bell laboratories
developed transistor in 1947. The size of the computers was decreased by replacing vacuum
tubes with transistors. The examples of second generation computers are IBM 7094 series
and IBM 1400 series

Advantages

 Smaller in size as compared to the first generation computers.

 More reliable
 Used less energy and were not heated.
 Wider commercial use
 Better portability as compared to the first generation computers.
 Better speed and could calculate data in microseconds
  Used faster peripherals like tape drives, magnetic disks, printer etc.
 Used Assembly language instead of Machine language.
 Accuracy improved.

Disadvantages

 Cooling system was still required

 Constant maintenance was required
 Commercial production was difficult
 Only used for specific purposes
 Costly and not versatile
 Punch cards were used for input.

Third Generation Computers (1964-1975)

The Third generation computers used the integrated circuits (IC). Kilby developed the
concept of integrated circuit in 1958. It was an important invention in the computer field. The
first IC was invented and used in 1961. The size of an IC is about ¼ square inch. A single IC
chip may contain thousands of transistors. The computer became smaller in size, faster, more
reliable and less expensive. The examples of third generation computers are IBM 370 and
UNIVAC AC 9000.

Advantages

 Smaller in size as compared to previous generations.

 More reliable.
 Used less energy
 Produced less heat as compared to the previous two generations of computers.
 Better speed and could calculate data in nanoseconds.
 Used fan for heat discharge to prevent damage.
 Maintenance cost was low because hardware failure was rare.
 Totally general purpose
 Could be used for high-level languages.
 Good storage
 Versatile to an extent
 Less expensive
 Better accuracy
 Commercial production increased.
 Used mouse and keyboard for input.

Disadvantages

 Air conditioning was required.

 Highly sophisticated technology required for the manufacturing of IC chips.
Fourth Generation Computers (1975-Present)

The fourth generation computers started with the invention of Microprocessor. The
Microprocessor contains thousands of ICs. Ted Hoff produced the first microprocessor in
1971 for Intel. It was known as Intel 4004. The technology of integrated circuits improved
rapidly. The LSI (Large Scale Integration) circuit and VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)
circuit was designed. It greatly reduced the size of computer. The size of modern
Microprocessors is usually one square inch. It can contain millions of electronic circuits. The
examples of fourth generation computers are Apple Macintosh & IBM PC.
UNIT 7: TYPES OF COMPUTERS

Types of Computer : Based on Size

Deep March 19, 2012 Types of Computer : Based on Size2012-04-09T18:59:47+00:00 IT Stuff

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The magic machine – Computers, are not only classified w.r.t their functions but are
also differentiated by their size.

Primarily they are divided into four main types:

 Super Computer
 Mainframe Computer
 Mini Computer
 Micro Computer

Super Computer:

They are focused on performing specific actions and follow heavy extremely intense and
critical calculations like weather forecasting, fluid dynamics etc. They are generally used by
scientists and are very powerful and expensive. The speed with which they operate is highly
blazing.

Mainframe Computer:
They are the typical large computing machines which occupied extremely large space, more
than the size of the rooms today. They were capable of operating multiple users via single
interface and typically operated more than million instructions per second.

Mini Computer:

They are the intermediate solutions between Mainframe computers and Micro Computers.
And they are also known as mid-range computers.

Micro Computer:

Microcomputers came into picture as computers having single chip micro processors. They
are the most common computers being used for domestic / commercial purposes now a days.
They also include solutions like Desktop Computers, Game Consoles, Tablet Computers, and
Smart Phones etc. They are basically portable and carry very less space.
 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON SIZE AND CAPABILITY

Classification digital Computer based on size and Capability

Based on size and capability, computers are broadly classified into

a. Microcomputers(Personal Computer)
A microcomputer is the smallest general purpose processing system. The older pc started 8 bit
processor with speed of 3.7MB and current pc 64 bit processor with speed of 4.66 GB.

Examples: - IBM PCs, APPLE computers

Microcomputer can be classified into 2 types :

1. Desktops

2. Portables

The difference is portables can be used while travelling whereas desktops computers cannot be
carried around.

The different portable computers are: -

1) Laptop

2) Notebooks

3) Palmtop (hand held)

4) Wearable computers

Laptop: - this computer is similar to a desktop computers but the size is smaller. They are expensive
than desktop. The weight of laptop is around 3 to 5 kg.

Notebook: - These computers are as powerful as desktop but size of these computers are
comparatively smaller than laptop and desktop. They weigh 2 to 3 kg. They are more costly than
laptop.
Palmtop (Hand held): - They are also called as personal Digital Assistant (PDA). These computers are
small in size. They can be held in hands. It is capable of doing word processing, spreadsheets and
hand writing recognition, game playing, faxing and paging. These computers are not as powerful as
desktop computers. Ex: - 3com palmV.

Wearable computer: - The size of this computer is very small so that it can be worn on the body. It
has smaller processing power. It is used in the field of medicine. For example pace maker to correct
the heart beats. Insulin meter to find the levels of insulin in the blood.
b). Workstations:- It is used in large, high-resolution graphics screen built in network support,
Engineering applications(CAD/CAM), software development desktop publishing

Ex: Unix and windows NT.

b) Minicomputer: - A minicomputer is a medium-sized computer. That is more powerful

than a microcomputer. These computers are usually designed to serve multiple users simultaneously
(Parallel Processing). They are more expensive than microcomputers.
Examples: Digital Alpha, Sun Ultra.

c) Mainframe computers: - Computers with large storage capacities and very high speed of
processing (compared to mini- or microcomputers) are known as mainframe computers. They
support a large number of terminals for simultaneous use by a number of users like ATM
transactions. They are also used as central host computers in distributed data processing system.

Examples: - IBM 370, S/390.

d) Supercomputer: - Supercomputers have extremely large storage capacity and computing

speeds which are many times faster than other computers. A supercomputer is measured in terms
of tens of millions Instructions per second (mips), an operation is made up of numerous instructions.
The supercomputer is mainly used for large scale numerical problems in scientific and engineering
disciplines such as Weather analysis.

Examples: - IBM Deep Blue

Since the advent of the first computer different types and sizes of
computers are offering different services. Computers can be as
big as occupying a large building and as small as a laptop or a
microcontroller in mobile & embedded systems.

The four basic types of computers are as under:

1. Supercomputer
2. Mainframe Computer
3. Minicomputer
4. Microcomputer

Supercomputer
The most powerful computers in terms of performance and data
processing are the Supercomputers. These are specialized and
task specific computers used by large organizations. These
computers are used for research and exploration purposes, like
NASA uses supercomputers for launching space shuttles,
controlling them and for space exploration purpose.

The supercomputers are very expensive and very large in size. It

can be accommodated in large air-conditioned rooms; some super
computers can span an entire building.
See Also: Top ten Supercomputers with HD pictures

Seymour Cray designed the first Supercomputer "CDC 6600" in

1964. CDC 6600 is known as the first ever Supercomputer.

Exascale Supercomputer
On 29th July, 2015, President of the United States, Barack Obama,
approved the development of an Exascale Super Computer.
The Exascale Super computer will be 30 times faster and more
powerful than today’s fastest Super Computers. The need to
develop such a high performance Supercomputer comes after
China’s surge in high performance computing. However, the US
still tops the list of Supercomputers with 233 high performance
machines. China has 37 Supercomputers but they lead the list of
the most powerful and high performance supercomputers since
June 2013.

Presently, China’s "Tianhe – 2" is the world’s faster

Supercomputer.

The Tianhe – 2 can perform 100 Petaflops, i.e quadrillions of

floating point operations per second.

The following table shows list of top five most powerful

Supercomputers in the world. you can also view complete list of
Top 500 Supercomputers in the world.

Top five Supercomputers

RMAX RPEAK POWER
RANK SITE SYSTEM CORES
(TFLOPS/S) (TFLOPS/S) (KW)
National Super computer Tianhe - 2
1 3,120,000 33,862.7 54,902.4 17,808
in Guanzhou, China (MilkyWay - 2)

DOE/SC/Oak Ridge
Titan - Cray XK7,
2 National Laboratory, 560,640 17,590.0 27,112.5 8,209
Cray Inc.
United States

DOE/NNSA/LLNL, United Sequoia -

3 1,572,864 17,173.2 20,132.7 7,890
States BlueGene/Q, IBM

4 RIKEN Advanced Institute K Computer, Tofu 705,024 10,510.0 11,280.4 12,660

for Computational Science Interconnect
 Top five Supercomputers
RMAX RPEAK POWER
RANK SITE SYSTEM CORES
(TFLOPS/S) (TFLOPS/S) (KW)
(AICS) Japan Fujitsu.

Mira -
DOE/SC/Argonne National
5 BlueGene/Q, 786,432 8,586.6 10,066.3 3,945
Laboratory, United States
Custom IBM

Uses of Supercomputers
In Pakistan Supercomputers are used by Educational Institutes
like NUST for research purposes. Pakistan Atomic Energy
commission & Heavy Industry Taxila uses supercomputers for
Research purposes.

Space Exploration

Supercomputers are used to study the origin of the universe, the

dark-matters. For these studies scientist use IBM’s powerful
supercomputer “Roadrunner” at National Laboratory Los Alamos.

Earthquake studies

Supercomputers are used to study the Earthquakes phenomenon.

Besides that supercomputers are used for natural resources
exploration, like natural gas, petroleum, coal, etc.

Weather Forecasting

Supercomputers are used for weather forecasting, and to study

the nature and extent of Hurricanes, Rainfalls, windstorms, etc.

Nuclear weapons testing

Supercomputers are used to run weapon simulation that can test

the Range, accuracy & impact of Nuclear weapons.

Popular Supercomputers

 IBM’s Sequoia, in United States

  Fujitsu’s K Computer in Japan
 IBM’s Mira in United States
 IBM’s SuperMUC in Germany
 NUDT Tianhe-1A in China

Mainframe computer
Although Mainframes are not as powerful as supercomputers, but
certainly they are quite expensive nonetheless, and many large
firms & government organizations uses Mainframes to run their
business operations. The Mainframe computers can be
accommodated in large air-conditioned rooms because of its size.
Super-computers are the fastest computers with large data
storage capacity, Mainframes can also process & store large
amount of data. Banks educational institutions & insurance
companies use mainframe computers to store data about their
customers, students & insurance policy holders.

Popular Mainframe computers

 Fujitsu’s ICL VME

 Hitachi’s Z800

Minicomputer
Minicomputers are used by small businesses & firms.
Minicomputers are also called as “Midrange Computers”. These
are small machines and can be accommodated on a disk with not
as processing and data storage capabilities as super-computers &
Mainframes. These computers are not designed for a single user.
Individual departments of a large company or organizations use
Mini-computers for specific purposes. For example, a production
department can use Mini-computers for monitoring certain
production process.

Popular Minicomputers

 K-202
 Texas Instrument TI-990
 SDS-92
 IBM Midrange computers
Microcomputer
Desktop computers, laptops, personal digital assistant (PDA),
tablets & smartphones are all types of microcomputers. The
micro-computers are widely used & the fastest growing
computers. These computers are the cheapest among the other
three types of computers. The Micro-computers are specially
designed for general usage like entertainment, education and
work purposes. Well known manufacturers of Micro-computer are
Dell, Apple, Samsung, Sony & Toshiba.

Desktop computers, Gaming consoles, Sound & Navigation

system of a car, Netbooks, Notebooks, PDA’s, Tablet PC’s,
Smartphones, Calculators are all type of Microcomputers.

You might also like:

 The Five Generations of Computers

 Advantages & disadvantages of computers
 Who invented the first Computer?

UNIT 8: COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

A computer application is here defined as a program that is used to perform a user tasks with
the computer. You have come across the definition of software in the early sections of this
module. You also learnt how this software is classified in which case you learnt that one
category or class of software is called the applications software. In this course you will learn
mainly three computer applications which are Word processing, Spreadsheet and Power
Point. The applications are covered in your practical sessions in the computer laboratory. To
help you in the laboratory work, we developed a practical manual that shall be used together
with this module.