Презентация на тему Personal computer (PC)

processing information. A computer system is a combination of

four elements: Hardware Software Procedures Data/information Software are the programmes that tell the hardware how to perform a task. Without software instructions, the hardware doesn't know what to do. The basic job of the computer is the processing of information. Computers take information in the form of instructions called programs and symbols called data. After that they perform various mathematical and logical operations, and then give the results (information). Computer is used to convert data into information. Computer is also used to store information in the digital form.

operating system to run other programmes. Operating system is

the most important programme that runs on a computer. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers. Operating systems provide a software platform on top of which other programmes, called application programmes, can run. The application programmes must be written to run on top of a particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great extent the applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating systems are DOS, OS/2, and Windows.

disk that can story large amounts of data —

up to 1GB. A single CD-ROM has the storage capacity of 700 floppy disks, enough memory to store about 300,000 text pages. CD-ROMs cannot be erased and filled with new data. All CD-ROMs have a standard size and for­mat, so you can load any type of CD-ROM into any CD-ROM player. In addition, CD-ROM players are capable of playing audio CDs.

is called floppy because it flops if you bend

it. Floppy disks (often called floppies or diskettes) have less storage capacity than hard disks but you can remove them from a disk drive and they are portable. Disk drives for floppy disks are called floppy drives. Most common floppies come in size 3,5-inch. They have a rigid plastic envelope. Floppies have a large storage capacity — from 400K to 1.4MB of data. The most common sizes for PCs are 1.44MB (high-density).

device that can read text or illustrations printed on

paper and translate the in­formation into a form the computer can use. A scanner works by digitizing an image. There are many different types of scanners: half-page scanners, sheet-fed scanners, flatbed scanners. Half-page scanners can scan 2 to 5 inches at a time. These scanners are good for scanning small pictures and photos, but they are difficult for scanning of a large pages. Sheet-fed scanners are excellent for loose sheets of paper, but they are unable to handle bound documents. The flatbed scanners consist of a board on which you lay books, magazines, and other documents that you want to scan.

prints text or illustrations on paper. There are many

different types of printers: dot-matrix printer, ink-jet printer, laser printer Dot-matrix printer strikes pins against an ink ribbon. Each pin makes a dot, and combina­tions of dots form letters and illustrations. Ink-jet printer sprays ink at a sheet of paper. Ink-jet printers produce high-quality text and graphics. Laser printer uses the same technology as copy machines. Laser printers produce very high quality text and graphics. The speed of printers varies widely. Dot-matrix printers can print about 4 to 20 text pages per minute.

that contains a CPU. The terms microprocessor and CPU

are used interchangeably. At the heart of all personal computers sits a microprocessor. Microprocessors have basic characteristics: Computational bandwidth: The number of bits processed in a single instruction. Speed: Given in megahertz (MHz), the speed determines how many instructions per second the processor can execute.

device to move the cursor or pointer on a

display screen. As you move the mouse, the pointer on the display screen moves in the same direction. Mice usually have two buttons and sometimes three. They have different functions depending on what program is running. Some newer mice have a scroll wheel for scrolling through long documents. The mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart of Stanford Research Center in 1963. The mouse frees the user from using the keyboard. Mice can be: Mechanical with a rubber or metal ball that can roll in all direc­tions. Mechanical sensors in the mouse detect the direction the bail is rolling and move the screen pointer. Optomechanical with optical sensors to detect motion of the ball. Optical with a laser to detect the mouse's movement. Opti­cal mice are more expen­sive. Cordless infrared mice send infrared or radio waves to communi­cate with the computer.

display screen. First monitors were black-and-white with cathode ray

tube. Nowadays the most popular monitors are colour monitors. Monitors have different screen sizes. Like televisions, screen sizes are mea­sured in inches from one corner of the screen to the opposite comer diagonally. A typical size for small monitors is 14 inches. Monitors that are 16 or more inches diagonally are often called full-page monitors.

that enter s data into a computer. Computer keyboards

are similar to electric-typewriter keyboards but contain additional keys. The keys on com­puter keyboards are: alphanumeric keys — letters and numbers punctuation keys — comma, period, semicolon, and so on. special keys — function keys, control keys, arrow keys, Caps Lock key, and so on.