Unit 1: Computing Fundamentals

Computer Tour-There are 7 major components inside a computer  Write down each major component as it is discussed.  Watch this video: watch?v=VWzX4MEYOBk watch?v=VWzX4MEYOBk

There are 7 major components 1. Motherboard : the heart of the computer. Every part sits on or connects to the mother board. 2. CPU : the Central Processing Unit, the brain of the computer. It runs the software and processes the data you’re working on. 3. RAM : Random Access Memory, holds the data and software you’re currently running. Adding will speed the computer up. 4. Video Card : creates the images that appear on the monitor. 5. Power Supply : supplies the power the computer needs. 6. Hard Disk : holds the information, software and data load from hard disk to the RAM 7. Optical Drive : uses a laser to read or write CDs or DVDs

Hardware- the physical parts of the computer you can touch.  Peripherals -devices attached to the computer that aren’t necessary for the computer to work but help the user use the computer  There are 3 types of peripherals/hardware

Input Devices  “How to tell it what to do”  Allows the user to enter information into the computer  Example: keyboard

Output Devices  “How it shows you what it is doing”  Machines or devices capable of representing information from a computer.  Example: Monitor

Storage Devices  “How it saves data and programs”  Devices that receive data and retain it for subsequent retrieval.  Example: Flash Drive

Inside the computer  Watch this video: ?v=AkFi90lZmXA ?v=AkFi90lZmXA

Inside the computer:  The mouse -a simple machine with a system for detecting motion and distance. Clicking a button on the mouse sends a message into the computer with info about its position  Basic Input Output Subsystem (BIOS): the eyes, ears, mouth, and hands of the computer. Provides a way for the computer to interact with its environment.  CPU: its job is getting instructions from memory and executing them. Billions of instructions per second.  The instructions or programs are stored as 1s and 0s in bytes of memory

How RAM Works  Watch this video: watch?v=C_NbeOaUtog

How RAM works:  More RAM means the computer can do more things and run more programs at the same time.  2 categories of Memory  Non-Volatile : like a flash drive-holds data when there is no power available  Volatile : loses data when there is no power attached, RAM-when there is no power, the RAM is empty.  Hard Disk contains all the programs waiting to be run. Programs MUST be in the RAM to be used.  Operating System -a program not present in the RAM that starts when the computer boots. The BIOS moves the OS from the Hard Disk and moves it to the RAM.  Larger RAM lets you run more software at the same time because there is more space.  Paging : The process of bringing a program from the Hard Disk to the RAM. It is a slow process.

Review  What are the 7 major components of a computer?  What is hardware?  What is an input device?  What is an output device?  What is a storage device?  How does increasing RAM make a computer faster?

How do Hard Drives work?  Watch this video: watch?v=wteUW2sL7bc watch?v=wteUW2sL7bc

How Hard Drives work:  At the center is a stack of high speed spinning disks with a recording head. The surface of each disk is covered with a film of microscopic magnetized metal grains.  Data is recorded on these disks as 0s and 1s. A letter is represented by 1 byte (or 8 bits). 1 megabyte=8,000,000 bits. Each bit must be written physically onto the spinning disks.  1 Gigabyte=1,000 Megabytes  1 Terabyte=1,000 Gigabytes

What makes a computer fast and powerful?  The Processor - The overall speed of the computer and how fast it is capable of processing data is managed by the CPU. The computer will be much faster and more powerful when it is capable of executing more instructions every second. The first computer processor could process 92,000 instructions per second. Today’s processors can process over 100 billion instructions per second.

What makes a computer fast and powerful?  The Memory (RAM)- A computer with more memory (RAM) will be capable of storing more programs that are currently running in memory. If your computer runs out of memory, the computer must swap unused data stored in memory to your hard disk drive until it is needed again. By adding this extra step and because the hard drive is the slowest type of memory your computer can become much slower if it does not have enough memory.

What makes a computer fast and powerful?  The BUS speed- The bus (a data connection between two or more devices connected to the computer) speed of the motherboard can increase or decrease the speed at which data is being transferred between all the hardware components in the computer.

What makes a computer fast and powerful?  The Hard Drive -The speed in which data is written onto the disks influences the power and speed of the computer.

Complete the chart by putting each device above into a category Input DeviceOutput DeviceStorage Device KeyboardPrinterCD MouseMonitorHard drive Touch ScreenSpeakersDigital camera Digital CameraProjectorFlash Drive/Jump drive WebcamEarphones/headphonesSD Card Scanner Microphone

Software-a translator that understands the needs of the user and translates it into something the computer can understand  Watch this video: h?v=VumBNb6gcBk h?v=VumBNb6gcBk

Two types of software  Operating system : The software that controls the hardware and helps the user use the computer.  Covers the basics  Come with all new computers  Windows, Mac, Linux  Software programs : A set of instructions that tells the computer exactly what to do  Different programs for different needs  Make the computer fit with what you want to do.  Get from store or download from internet

Computer Programming  The process of creating software to solve a problem (coding)  Special programming languages  Java, C++, JavaScript, SQL

Installing and uninstalling programs  Software typically has an easy to follow installation wizard  Removing software should be done via uninstall

Steps to uninstall  Open the start menu and click on Control Panel  Click on Programs and Features

Steps to uninstall  Click on the program you want to uninstall and click the Uninstall/Change button. Follow the prompts.

Software Licensing  Freeware -completely free software that never requires payment, as long as it is not modified.  Shareware -software that gives you a few days to try the software before you have to buy the program. After the trial time expires, you’ll be asked to enter a code or to register the product before you can continue to use it.  Open-source -software that is free to use and to modify.

How to maintain software  After the software has been installed on your computer it may need to be updated to fix any found errors. Updating a program can be done using software patches. Once updates are installed any problems that may have been experienced in the program will no longer occur.