BASIC Computer Skills

THE MWALIMU NYERERE MEMORIAL ACADEMY (MNMA)

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY
(ICT)-PEMBA BRANCH

Course Code Course Name Course Credit

GST 04102 Basic Computer Skills 12
 Logistics
Facilitator: JASSON L. DOMITION
[Link] (IFM)
PGDE(UDSM)
email: [Link]@[Link]
Office: Third Floor, ICT.
Consultation Time
Thursday
12:00 -14:00 hrs
Or
By appointment
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 objective
– Computer boot up and shutdown operations

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 Power Supply and computer case

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• TYPES OF ELECTRIC CURRENT
Alternating current (AC): it periodically reverses
direction and changes its magnitude
continuously with time.
Direct current (DC): Flows in one direction only.

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• Generally,
• The desktop computer power supply changes
alternating current from a wall socket of mains
electricity to low-voltage direct current to
operate the processor and peripheral devices.
• Several direct-current voltages are required, and
they must be regulated with some accuracy to
provide stable operation of the computer.

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 PSU CABLE CONNECTIONS
• Connecting the cables is surprisingly simple
once the process has begun.
• here are only a few main cables that must be
connected:
Power Cables
• 24-pin power to motherboard (always
required)

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• 4/8-pin EPS12V power to CPU (always required)
• 6/8-pin power to video card (normally required)
• SATA power to storage devices (normally required)
• MOLEX power to accessories (optional)
• CPU fan & case fan power (required)
• Power cable to system’s power supply (always
required)

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Data Cables
• SATA data to storage (normally required)
• USB2.0 front panel headers (normally
required)
• USB3.0 front panel header (normally required)
• HD Audio front panel header (normally
required)

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Signaling Cables
• Power switch [PWR_SW]
• Reset switch [RESET]
• Power LEDs [PWR_LED]
• Hard Drive LEDs [HDD_LED]

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• Here’s how the PSU cables should look:

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 How to Connect PSU Cables

• Connect your power supply cables beginning with

the 24-Pin Motherboard connector.
• Next, connect the 8-Pin CPU/ Motherboard cable.
Some motherboards will only require a 4-Pin
connector.
• Next, connect the 6 or 8-Pin PCI power cable to
your video card. Some video cards do not require
additional power from the power supply. Some
video cards will require two 6 or 8-Pin PCI power
cables.
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• Next, connect your storage or disk device such as your
HDD, SSD, or DVD Drive.
• Connect the SATA data cables that were included with
your motherboard.
Connect one end to the hard drive or disk drive and the
other end into the appropriate SATA slot on your
motherboard.
• Consult the manual for additional instructions on which
slot to use.
• Connect the SATA power cable from the power supply to
the drives.
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• Connect any USB headers from your
accessories such as the GRID+ or Aperture M
Card Reader.
• Connect the SATA or MOLEX power for any of
your accessories or coolers such as the SATA
power connector in the Kraken™ liquid cooler.
• Connect the USB 3.0 connector to enable the
USB 3.0 slots on the outside of your case. (If
there are any)
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• Connect the HD Audio and USB headers to
enable the USB 2.0 and Headset / Mic ports
on the outside of your case.
• Connect the Power SW, Reset SW and LED
indicator headers into the motherboard to
enable the activity LEDs and power / reset
buttons on your case.

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• That wraps the most common connections in
a PC build! At this point, it’s all about cable
management and cleanliness – but that’s just
a matter of spending the time on it.
• – Steve Burke, GamersNexus

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 UPS

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 How do I turn on my UPS?

• To perform a cold start:

• Unplug the Smart-UPS from the wall.
• Press and hold the power button (labeled
I/Test on SU and SUA units)
• Let go of the button during the long beep.
• UPS will cycle through a self test and come up
on battery.

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 Computer Start Up and Shut Down

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 BOOT
• BOOT Alternatively referred to as boot up or
sometimes start up, booting is the process of
powering on a computer and getting into the
operating system.
• What happens when a computer is booting?
• During the boot process, the computer goes through
multiple steps, to ensure the computer hardware
works correctly, and the necessary software can be
loaded.

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 When booting, the computer
performs the following tasks.
• Pressing the power button on the computer starts up the power
supply, which subsequently provides power to the other hardware
components inside the computer case.
• A self diagnostic is performed, also known as a POST, to check if all
hardware in the computer is working properly. Power on self test
• The BIOS checks the hard drive for the boot loader, located in the
first sector of the hard drive.
• The boot loader looks for the operating system on the hard drive
and begins loading the found operating system (e.g., Linux, macOS,
or Windows).
• Hardware drivers are loaded, allowing the operating system to
interact and utilize the hardware components inside the computer
case.
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• If configured in the operating system, a login
screen is displayed, allowing a user to enter a
username and password to log in.
• Any additional software programs configured
to start with the operating system, known as
startup programs, are loaded.
• Common startup programs include antivirus
software or printer management software.

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• When the computer is booting, you may see a
boot screen similar to the example picture
below.
•

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 Types of computer booting
• There are two Types of Booting
1) Cold Booting: when the System Starts from the
Starting or from initial State Means when we Starts
our System this is called as Cold Booting:
2) Warm Booting: is that in which System Automatically
Starts when are Running the System, For Example
due to Light Fluctuation the system will
Automatically Restarts So that in this Chances
Damaging of system are More.

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• The System will no be start from its initial
State So May Some Files will be Damaged
because they are not Properly Stored into the
System.

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• Key Differences Between Cold Booting and Warm Booting
• A cold booting is when you turn ON the computer from an OFF position.
On the other hand, the warm booting is when you reset a computer that
is already in its ON state.
• To initialize the cold booting, we need to turn ON the power button. In
contrast, warm booting is carried out by using the reset button and
pressing the keys Ctrl, Alt and Del, twice at the same time.
• We perform cold booting very oftenly, however warm boot is quite rarely
carried out.
• Cold is a safe type of booting, but warm booting can be fatal. The
outcomes of the warm booting can be severe for the system, and the
data, especially that has not been saved.
• The cold booting conducts the POST test to check the various computer
components. As against, during warm booting, the POST test is avoided.
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 TASK
1. Differentiate between warm booting and cold
booting
2. List five advantages of warm booting
3 EXPLAIN THE ADVATAGES OF WARM BOOTING

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