Exam 1 Study Guide ICS100 Dave Pai 1/29/2007

How to Change your HCC Network Account Password Go to: Password Requirements are??? I don’t know what they are If yours doesn’t work, try at least 8 characters with at least 1 non-letter

Microsoft Word – How to do! Formatting Fonts – Font, size, text decoration, bold, … Paragraphs – Alignment, indents, bulleted list Images – Insert, format (location, how aligned with text)

Chapter 1 Computer Fluent Being a savvy computer user Artificial Intelligence Computers are Data Processing Devices: Data vs Information The Language of Computers Bits and Bytes Computer Hardware Computer Software Be sure to reread the summary items 1-10 on pages 30-31

Chapter 2 Input devices Most common input devices are: keyboard Mouse Output devices The most important output device is: Monitor as it shows us our work. Monitors CRT monitors are less expensive, have better picture quality, and wider viewing angles than LCD monitors. LCD monitors take up less space, use less electrical power, weigh less, and can cause less eye strain. Printers Not as important an output device as a monitor because you can operate a computer without a printer. Laser  Black and White, cheaper per page, faster output, don’t smudge when wet Inkjet  More affortable color printing, lower initial cost, slower than laser

Chapter 2 Cont. Power off your computer if you are not going to be using it again sometime soon Restarting the computer is a good idea if the computer has been running a long time Inside the System Unit Motherboard Houses CPU (brain), RAM, ROM, and CMOS RAM (random access memory) Needed for the operating system and any application to run Fastest access memory so it is easy to add/edit your work Volatile and so is not maintained when the application using the RAM is closed or the power is shut off ROM (Read Only Memory) BIOS chip contains the instructions for starting up the computer Nonvolatile so is available even when the power was just shut off (important for start up) Since is read-only, the important instructions for starting the computer cannot be altered or accidentally deleted CMOS (Complimentary Metal-Oxide semiconductor) chips Holds the specific hardware configurations for the computer

Chapter 4 Computer Software – Software can be broken down into two categories: Operating System software completes the boot-up process sets up the environment for applications to run takes control over the hardware manages the computer main memory (RAM) Application software Programs that we use to get work done on the computer Productivity Software Includes things like a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, database software What-if Analysis Testing different assumptions in the same analysis

Chapter 4 cont. Integrated software applications versus software suites. Integrated software applications are single applications that can perform a variety of commonly used tools found in productivity software. Software suites are a group of several software applications that have been bundled together as a package. Software applications that belong to a suite tend to work better together, than with applications that are not part of the suite. Save vs. Save As Getting help with software Use the application’s help menu Search online Online forums and online tutorials Can I just delete a program to uninstall it? NO! – You must “Uninstall” it Most applications make use of multiple files and also make changes to the System Registry (under Windows) By the same token, a lot of software cannot be installed simply by copying all its files to a computer (because it needs to be configured). Ethics: Can I borrow software that I don’t own? No, you should not Consider using free Open Source software alternatives instead.

Chapter 5 Desktop Operating Systems Windows XP, Mac OSX, Unix, Linux What the Operating System Does Provides the user interface Manages memory and storage Manages hardware and peripheral devices Provides a consistent way for applications to work with the software Trends in IT: Why isn’t everyone using Linux? (Pg 197) Technical Support The User Interface GUI (graphical user interface) Visual Interface like icons, menus and toolbars Why does the operating system need to manage the processor? To allow for multitasking (running more than one application at a time)

Chapter 5 cont. Why does the operating system have to manage the computer’s memory? To make sure there is enough RAM to run your applications How does the operating system manage storage? It maintains a file system that allows you to create folders to help organize your work Allows you to choose filenames that help to describe the contents of a document What are the steps involved in the boot process? BIOS is activated BIOS checks hardware BIOS loads functions into RAM BIOS loads main operating system functions from hard drive into RAM Configuration files are checked (see figure on Page 203). What’s the difference between warm boot and cold boot? A warm boot is restarting the machine without shutting it down A Cold Boot is starting up the machine after it has been shut off

Chapter 5 cont. Organizing your files Folders allow files to be grouped into categories Subfolders can be used to further break down categories Store the files in the appropriate folders with appropriate filenames Are there special rules I have to follow when I name files? Depending on the operating system some characters have special meaning so they are not allowed Filename Extensions Some operating systems (Windows and Unix, in particular) use the extension to help identify what application software to use Microsoft Word documents have a.doc extension A Filetype for Everyone – Rich Text Format (RTF) Most word processors recognize the RTF format RTF includes formatting Plain text files (.txt extension) can be opened on any computer system Text files do not save any formatting Working with files Deleted files often go into the Recycle Bin (trash) where they can be recovered until you permanently purge them. What is file compression? Reducing the file size Done mainly to reduce network transmission time

Any Questions? Exam 1 will be Wed., 1/31/2007 so be On Time!