Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Computer Hardware Definition

Usually simply called hardware when a computing context is implicit is the Computer is an electronic data processing device which
collection of physical elements that constitutes a computer system. Computer
hardware is the physical parts or components of a computer, such as the monitor,  accepts and stores data input,
mouse, keyboard, computer data storage, hard disk drive (HDD), system unit  processes the data input, and
(graphic cards, sound cards, memory, motherboard and chips), and so on, all of  Generates the output in a required format.
which are physical objects that can be touched (that is, they are tangible).[1] In
contrast, software is instructions that can be stored and run by hardware. Meaning of Computer

Software is any set of machine-readable instructions that directs a computer's C = Common

processor to perform specific operations. A combination of hardware and software
forms a usable computing system.[2] O = Operating

Computer - Overview M = Machine

Today’s world is an information-rich world and it has become a necessity for P = Purpose
everyone to know about computers. Purpose of this tutorial is to introduce you about
computer and its fundamentals. U = Useful

Functionalities of a computer T = Technology

E = Education
Any digital computer carries out five functions in gross terms:
R = Research
 Takes data as input.
 Stores the data/instructions in its memory and use them when required. Father of Computer: -Charles Babbage -rfN ;{ a] a] h_
 Processes the data and converts it into useful information.
 Generates the output
 Controls all the above four steps.
Characteristicof Computer/Advantages

Following list demonstrates the advantages of computers in today's arena.

High Speed
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note
 Computer is a very fast device.
 It is capable of performing calculation of very large amount of data.
 The computer has units of speed in microsecond, nanosecond, and even the
picoseconds.
 It can perform millions of calculations in a few seconds as compared to man
who will spend many months for doing the same task.
Accuracy
 In addition to being very fast, computers are very accurate.
 The calculations are 100% error free.
 Computers perform all jobs with 100% accuracy provided that correct input
has been given.
Storage Capability
 Memory is a very important characteristic of computers.
 A computer has much more storage capacity than human beings.
 It can store large amount of data.
 It can store any type of data such as images, videos, text, audio and many
others.
Diligence
 Unlike human beings, a computer is free from monotony, tiredness and lack
of concentration.
 It can work continuously without any error and boredom.
 It can do repeated work with same speed and accuracy.
Versatility
 A computer is a very versatile machine.
 A computer is very flexible in performing the jobs to be done.
 This machine can be used to solve the problems related to various fields.
 At one instance, it may be solving a complex scientific problem and the very
next moment it may be playing a card game.
Reliability
 A computer is a reliable machine.
 Modern electronic components have long lives.
 Computers are designed to make maintenance easy.
Automation
 Computer is an automatic machine.
 Automation means ability to perform the given task automatically.
 Once a program is given to computer i.e., stored in computer memory, the
program and instruction can control the program execution without human
interaction.
Reduction in Paper Work
 The use of computers for data processing in an organization leads to
reduction in paper work and results in speeding up a process.
 As data in electronic files can be retrieved as and when required, the problem
of maintenance of large number of paper files gets reduced.
Reduction in Cost
 Though the initial investment for installing a computer is high but it
substantially reduces the cost of each of its transaction.
Disadvantages
Following list demonstrates the disadvantages of computers in today's arena
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No I.Q  Budgeting
 Sales analysis
 A computer is a machine that has no intelligence to perform any task.  Financial forecasting
 Each instruction has to be given to computer.  Managing employees database
 A computer cannot take any decision on its own.  Maintenance of stocks etc.

Dependency Banking

 It functions as per a user’s instruction, so it is fully dependent on human Today banking is almost totally dependent on
being computer.

Environment Banks provide following facilities:

 The operating environment of computer should be dust free and suitable.
No Feeling
 Computers have no feelings or emotions.
 It cannot make judgment based on feeling, taste, experience, and knowledge
unlike a human being.
Use of Computer
Following list demonstrates various applications of computers in today's area.
 Banks provide online accounting
facility, which includes current balances,
deposits, overdrafts, interest charges, shares, and trustee records.
 ATM machines are making it even easier for customers to deal with banks.
Insurance
Insurance companies are keeping all records up-to-date
with the help of computers. The insurance companies,
finance houses and stock broking firms are widely using
computers for their concerns.

Business Insurance companies are maintaining a database of all

clients with information showing
A computer has high speed of calculation,
diligence, accuracy, reliability, or versatility which  procedure to continue with policies
made it an integrated part in all business  starting date of the policies
organisations.  next due installment of a policy
 maturity date
 interests due
Computer is used in business organisations for:
 survival benefits
 bonus
 Payroll calculations
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Education
The computer has provided a lot of facilities in the
education system.
 The computer provides a tool in the education
system known as CBE (Computer Based Education).
 CBE involves control, delivery, and evaluation of
learning.
 The computer education is rapidly increasing the graph of number of
computer students.
 There are number of methods in which educational institutions can use
computer to educate the students.
 It is used to prepare a database about performance of a student and analysis is
carried out on this basis.
Marketing
In marketing, uses of computer are following:
 Advertising - With computers, advertising
professionals create art and graphics, write and revise
copy, and print and disseminate ads with the goal of
selling more products.
 At Home Shopping - Home shopping has been
made possible through use of computerized catalogues
that provide access to product information and permit direct entry of orders
to be filled by the customers.
Health Care
Computers have become important part in hospitals,
labs, and dispensaries. The computers are being used
in hospitals to keep the record of patients and
medicines. It is also used in scanning and diagnosing
different diseases. ECG, EEG, Ultrasounds and CT Scans etc., are also done by
computerized machines.
Some major fields of health care in which computers are used are:
 Diagnostic System - Computers are used to collect data and identify cause of
illness.
 Lab-diagnostic System - All tests can be done and reports are prepared by
computer.
 Patient Monitoring System - These are used to check patient's signs for
abnormality such as in Cardiac Arrest, ECG etc.
 Pharma Information System - Computer checks Drug-Labels, Expiry
dates, harmful drug’s side effects etc.
 Surgery:Nowadays, computers are also used in performing surgery.
Engineering Design
Computers are widely used in engineering
purpose.
One of major areas is CAD (Computer aided
design). That provides creation and
modification of images. Some fields are:
 Structural Engineering - Requires
stress and strain analysis for design of Ships, Buildings, Budgets, and
Airplanes etc.
 Industrial Engineering - Computers deal with design, implementation and
improvement of integrated systems of people, materials and equipments.
 Architectural Engineering - Computers help in planning towns, designing
buildings, determining a range of buildings on a site using both 2D and 3D
drawings.
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Military Government

Computers are largely used in defence. Modern Computers play an important role in
tanks, missiles, weapons etc. Military also government. Some major fields in this
employs computerized control systems. Some category are:
military areas where a computer has been used
are:  Budgets
 Sales tax department
 Missile Control  Income tax department
 Military Communication  Male/Female ratio
 Military Operation and Planning  Computerization of voters lists
 Smart Weapons  Computerization of driving licensing system
 Computerization of PAN card
 Weather forecasting

Communication Computer - Generations

Communication means to convey a
message, an idea, a picture or speech that
is received and understood clearly and
correctly by the person for whom it is
meant for. Some main areas in this
category are:
Generation in computer terminology is a change in technology a computer is/was
being used. Initially, the generation term was used to distinguish between varying
hardware technologies. But nowadays, generation includes both hardware and
software, which together make up an entire computer system.
There are totally five computer generations known till date. Each generation has been
discussed in detail along with their time period and characteristics. Here approximate
dates against each generations have been mentioned which are normally accepted.

 E-mail Following are the main five generations of computers

 Chatting
 Usenet First Generation
 FTP
 Telnet The period of first generation was 1946-1959. The computers of first generation used
 Video-conferencing vacuum tubes as the basic components for memory and circuitry for CPU (Central
Processing Unit). These tubes, like electric bulbs, produced a lot of heat and were
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

prone to frequent fusing of the installations, therefore, were very expensive and could
be afforded only by very large organizations. In this generation mainly batch
processing operating system were used. Punched cards, paper tape, and magnetic tape
were used as input and output devices. The computers in this generation used
machine code as programming language.
made of vacuum tubes. In this generation, magnetic cores were used as primary
memory and magnetic tape and magnetic disks as secondary storage devices. In this
generation assembly language and high-level programming languages like
FORTRAN, COBOL were used. The computers used batch processing and
multiprogramming operating system.

The main features of second generation are:

The main features of first generation are:  Use of transistors

 Reliable in comparison to first generation computers
 Vacuum tube technology  Smaller size as compared to first generation computers
 Unreliable  Generated less heat as compared to first generation computers
 Supported machine language only  Consumed less electricity as compared to first generation computers
 Very costly  Faster than first generation computers
 Generated lot of heat  Still very costly
 Slow input and output devices  A.C. needed
 Huge size  Supported machine and assembly languages
 Need of A.C.
 Non-portable Some computers of this generation were:
 Consumed lot of electricity
 IBM 1620
Some computers of this generation were:  IBM 7094
 CDC 1604
 ENIAC  CDC 3600
 EDVAC  UNIVAC 1108
 UNIVAC
 IBM-701 Third Generation
 IBM-650
The period of third generation was 1965-
Second Generation 1971. The computers of third generation used
integrated circuits (IC's) in place of
The period of second generation was 1959- transistors. A single IC has many transistors,
1965. In this generation transistors were resistors and capacitors along with the
used that were cheaper, consumed less associated circuitry. The IC was invented by
power, more compact in size, more reliable Jack Kilby. This development made
and faster than the first generation machines computers smaller in size, reliable and
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

efficient. In this generation remote processing, time-sharing, multi-programming computer (PC) revolution. In this generation time sharing, real time, networks,
operating system were used. High-level languages (FORTRAN-II TO IV, COBOL, distributed operating system were used. All the high-level languages like C, C++,
PASCAL PL/1, BASIC, ALGOL-68 etc.) were used during this generation. DBASE etc., were used in this generation.

The main features of third generation are: The main features of fourth generation are:

 IC used  VLSI technology used

 More reliable in comparison to previous two generations  Very cheap
 Smaller size  Portable and reliable
 Generated less heat  Use of PC's
 Faster  Very small size
 Lesser maintenance  Pipeline processing
 Still costly  No A.C. needed
 A.C needed  Concept of internet was introduced
 Consumed lesser electricity  Great developments in the fields of networks
 Supported high-level language  Computers became easily available

Some computers of this generation were: Some computers of this generation were:

 IBM-360 series  DEC 10

 Honeywell-6000 series  STAR 1000
 PDP(Personal Data Processor)  PDP 11
 IBM-370/168  CRAY-1(Super Computer)
 TDC-316  CRAY-X-MP(Super Computer)

Fourth Generation Fifth Generation

The period of fourth generation was 1971-1980. The The period of fifth generation is 1980-till
computers of fourth generation used Very Large date. In the fifth generation, the VLSI
Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI circuits technology became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale
having about 5000 transistors and other circuit Integration) technology, resulting in the
elements and their associated circuits on a single production of microprocessor chips having
chip made it possible to have microcomputers of ten million electronic components. This
fourth generation. Fourth generation computers generation is based on parallel processing
became more powerful, compact, reliable, and hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence)
affordable. As a result, it gave rise to personal software. AI is an emerging branch in
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

computer science, which interprets means and method of making computers think PC(Personal It is a single user computer system having
like human beings. All the high-level languages like C and C++, Java, .Net etc., are 1
Computer) moderately powerful microprocessor
used in this generation. It is also a single user computer system which is
2 WorkStation similar to personal computer but have more powerful
AI includes: Microprocessor.
It is a multi-user computer system which is capable of
 Robotics 3 Mini Computer
Supporting hundreds of users simultaneously.
 Neural Networks
 Game Playing
 Development of expert systems to make decisions in real life situations. It is a multi-user computer system which is capable of
4 Main Frame
 Natural language understanding and generation. Supporting hundreds of users simultaneously.
Software technology is different from minicomputer.
The main features of fifth generation are: It is an extremely fast computer which can execute
5 Supercomputer
Hundreds of millions of instructions per second.
 ULSI technology
 Development of true artificial intelligence PC (Personal Computer)
 Development of Natural language processing
 Advancement in Parallel Processing A PC can be defined as a small, relatively
 Advancement in Superconductor technology inexpensive computer designed for an
 More user friendly interfaces with multimedia features individual user. PCs are based on the
 Availability of very powerful and compact computers at cheaper rates microprocessor technology that enables
manufacturers to put an entire CPU on one
Some computer types of this generation are: chip. Businesses use personal computers for
word processing, accounting, desktop
 Desktop publishing, and for running spreadsheet and
 Laptop database management applications. At
 NoteBook home, the most popular use for personal
 UltraBook computers is playing games and surfing
 ChromeBook Internet.

Computer - Types Although personal computers are designed

as single-user systems, these systems are normally linked together to form a network.
Computers can be broadly classified by their speed and computing power. In terms of power, now-a-days High-end models of the Macintosh and PC offer the
same computing power and graphics capability as low-end workstations by Sun
Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Dell.
Sr.No. Type Specifications
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Workstation Mainframe

Workstation is a computer used for engineering applications (CAD/CAM), desktop Mainframe is very large in size and is an
publishing, software development, and other such types of applications which require expensive computer capable of supporting
a moderate amount of computing power and relatively high quality graphics hundreds or even thousands of users
capabilities. simultaneously. Mainframe executes
many programs concurrently and supports
Workstations generally come with a many simultaneous execution of programs
large, high-resolution graphics screen,
large amount of RAM, inbuilt network
support, and a graphical user interface.
Most workstations also have a mass Supercomputer
storage device such as a disk drive, but a
special type of workstation, called a Supercomputers are one of the fastest
diskless workstation, comes without a computers currently available. Supercomputers
disk drive. are very expensive and are employed for
specialized applications that require immense
amount of mathematical calculations (number
crunching). For example, weather forecasting,
Common operating systems for workstations are UNIX and Windows NT. Like PC, scientific simulations, (animated) graphics,
Workstations are also single-user computers like PC but are typically linked together fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy
to form a local-area network, although they can also be used as stand-alone systems. research, electronic design, and analysis of
geological data (e.g. in petrochemical
Minicomputer prospecting).

It is a midsize multi-processing system capable of supporting up to 250 users

simultaneously.
Computer - Components

All types of computers follow a same basic logical structure and perform the
following five basic operations for converting raw input data into information useful
to their users.

Sr.No. Operation Description

1 Take Input The process of entering data and instructions into the
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computer system  Memory Unit

Saving data and instructions so that they are available for  Control Unit
2 Store Data
processing as and when required.
Output Unit
Performing arithmetic, and logical operations on data in
3 Processing Data
order to convert them into useful information.
Output unit consists of devices with the help of which we get the information from
Output The process of producing useful information or results for computer. This unit is a link between computer and users. Output devices translate
4
Information the user, such as a printed report or visual display. the computer's output into the form understandable by users.
Control the Directs the manner and sequence in which all of the above
5
workflow operations are performed.

Computer - CPU
Input Unit
CPU consists of the following features:
This unit contains
devices with the help  CPU is considered as the brain of the computer.
of which we enter data  CPU performs all types of data processing operations.
into computer. This  It stores data, intermediate results and instructions (program).
unit makes link  It controls the operation of all parts of computer.
between user and
computer. The input CPU itself has following three components.
devices translate the
information into the  Memory or Storage Unit
form understandable  Control Unit
by computer.  ALU(Arithmetic
Logic Unit)
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
Memory or Storage Unit
CPU is considered as the brain of the computer. CPU performs all types of data
processing operations. It stores data, intermediate results and instructions (program). This unit can store
It controls the operation of all parts of computer. instructions, data and
intermediate results. This unit
CPU itself has following three components supplies information to the
other units of the computer
 ALU(Arithmetic Logic Unit) when needed. It is also known
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

as internal storage unit or main memory or primary storage or Random access  Logic Section
memory (RAM).
Arithmetic Section
Its size affects speed, power and capability. Primary memory and secondary memory
are two types of memories in the computer. Functions of memory unit are: Function of arithmetic section is to perform arithmetic operations like addition,
subtraction, multiplication and division. All complex operations are done by making
 It stores all the data and the instructions required for processing. repetitive use of above operations.

Stores intermediate results of processing. Logic Section

 It stores final results of processing before these results are released to an Function of logic section is to perform logic operations such as comparing, selecting,
output device. matching and merging of data.
 All inputs and outputs are transmitted through main memory.
Computer - Input Devices
Control Unit
Following are few of the important input devices which are used in a computer:
This unit controls the operations of all parts of computer but does not carry out any
actual data processing operations.  Keyboard
 Mouse
Functions of this unit are:  Joy Stick
 Light pen
 It is responsible for controlling the transfer of data and instructions among  Track Ball
other units of a computer.  Scanner
 It manages and coordinates all the units of the computer.  Graphic Tablet
 It obtains the instructions from the memory, interprets them, and directs the  Microphone
operation of the computer.  Magnetic Ink Card Reader(MICR)
 It communicates with Input/output devices for transfer of data or results from  Optical Character Reader(OCR)
storage.  Bar Code Reader
 It does not process or store data.  Optical Mark Reader(OMR)

ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) Keyboard

This unit consists of two subsections namely Keyboard is the most common and very popular input device which helps in
inputting data to the computer. The layout of the keyboard is like that of traditional
 Arithmetic section
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typewriter, although there are some additional keys provided for performing
additional functions.
Keyboards are of two sizes 84 keys or 101/102 keys, but now keyboards with 104
keys or 108 keys are also available for Windows and Internet.
The keys on the keyboard are as follows:
Mouse
Mouse is most popular pointing device. It is a very famous cursor-control device
having a small palm size box with a round ball at its base which senses the movement
of mouse and sends corresponding signals to CPU when the mouse buttons are
pressed.

Sr.No Keys Description

These keys include the letter keys (A-Z) and digit keys Generally it has two buttons
1 Typing Keys (0-9) which generally give same layout as that of called left and right button and
typewriters. a wheel is present between the
buttons. Mouse can be used to
It is used to enter numeric data or cursor movement. control the position of cursor on
Generally, it consists of a set of 17 keys that are laid out screen, but it cannot be used to
2 Numeric Keypad
in the same configuration used by most adding machines enter text into the computer.
and calculators.
The twelve function keys are present on the keyboards Advantages
which are arranged in a row at the top of the keyboard.
3 Function Keys
Each function key has unique meaning and is used for  Easy to use
some specific purpose.  Not very expensive
These keys provide cursor and screen control. It  Moves the cursor faster than the arrow keys of keyboard.
includes four directional arrow keys. Control keys also
4 Control keys
include Home, End, Insert, Delete, Page Up, Page Joystick
Down, Control(Ctrl), Alternate(Alt), Escape(Esc).
Keyboard also contains some special purpose keys such Joystick is also a pointing device
Special Purpose
5 as Enter, Shift, Caps Lock, Num Lock, Space bar, Tab, which is used to move cursor
Keys
and Print Screen. position on a monitor screen. It is a
stick having a spherical ball at its
both lower and upper ends. The
lower spherical ball moves in a
socket. The joystick can be moved
in all four directions.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

The function of joystick is similar to that of a mouse. It is mainly used in Computer

Aided Designing (CAD) and playing computer games.
Scanner
Light Pen
Scanner is an input device
Light pen is a pointing device which is similar to which works more like a
a pen. It is used to select a displayed menu item photocopy machine. It is used
or draw pictures on the monitor screen. It consists when some information is
of a photocell and an optical system placed in a available on a paper and it is to
small tube. When the tip of a light pen is moved be transferred to the hard disc
over the monitor screen and pen button is of the computer for further
pressed, its photocell sensing element detects the manipulation. Scanner
screen location and sends the corresponding captures images from the
signal to the CPU. source which are then
converted into the digital form
that can be stored on the disc.
These images can be edited before they are printed.
Track Ball

Track ball is an input device that

is mostly used in notebook or Digitizer
laptop computer, instead of a
mouse. This is a ball which is Digitizer is an input device which
half inserted and by moving converts analog information into
fingers on ball, pointer can be digital form. Digitizer can convert a
moved. Since the whole device signal from the television or camera
is not moved, a track ball into a series of numbers that could
requires less space than a mouse. be stored in a computer. They can
A track ball comes in various be used by the computer to create a
shapes like a ball, a button and a picture of whatever the camera had
square. been pointed at. Digitizer is also
known as Tablet or Graphics Tablet
because it converts graphics and pictorial data into binary inputs. A graphic tablet as
digitizer is used for doing fine works of drawing and image manipulation
applications.
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Microphone
Microphone is an input device to input
sound that is then stored in digital form.
The microphone is used for various
applications like adding sound to a
multimedia presentation or for mixing
music.
Magnetic Ink Card Reader (MICR)
MICR input device is generally used in
banks because of a large number of
cheques to be processed every day. The
bank's code number and cheque number
are printed on the cheques with a special
type of ink that contains particles of
magnetic material that are machine
readable. This reading process is called
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition
(MICR). The main advantage of MICR is
that it is fast and less error prone.
Optical Character Reader (OCR)
OCR is an input device used to read a
printed text. OCR scans text optically
character by character, converts them into a
machine readable code and stores the text
on the system memory.
Bar Code Readers
Bar Code Reader is a device
used for reading bar coded data
(data in form of light and dark
lines). Bar coded data is
generally used in labelling
goods, numbering the books etc.
It may be a hand held scanner or
may be embedded in a
stationary scanner. Bar Code
Reader scans a bar code image,
converts it into an alphanumeric value which is then fed to the computer to which bar
code reader is connected.
Optical Mark Reader (OMR)
OMR is a special type of optical scanner used to recognize the type of mark made by
pen or pencil. It is used where one out of a few alternatives is to be selected and
marked. It is specially used
for checking the answer
sheets of examinations
having multiple choice
questions.
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standard character can be placed. Most screens are capable of displaying 80

characters of data horizontally and 25 lines vertically. There are some disadvantages
Computer - Output Devices of CRT:

Following are few of the important output devices which are used in a computer.  Large in Size
 High power consumption
 Monitors
 Graphic Plotter
 Printer
Flat-Panel Display Monitor
Monitors
The flat-panel display refers to a class of video devices that have reduced volume,
Monitors, commonly called as Visual Display Unit (VDU), are the main output weight and power requirement in comparison to the CRT. You can hang them on
device of a computer. It forms images from tiny dots, called pixels that are arranged walls or wear them on your wrists. Current uses of flat-panel displays include
in a rectangular form. The sharpness of the image depends upon the number of calculators, video games,
pixels. monitors, laptop computer,
graphics display.
There are two kinds of viewing screen used for monitors.
The flat-panel display is
 Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) divided into two categories:
 Flat- Panel Display
 Emissive Displays
Cathode-Ray Tube (CRT) Monitor - The emissive displays are
devices that convert
The CRT display is made up of small electrical energy into light.
picture elements called pixels. The smaller Examples are plasma panel
than pixels, the better the image clarity, or and LED (Light-Emitting
resolution. It takes more than one Diodes).
illuminated pixel to form whole character,  Non-Emissive
such as the letter ‘e’ in the word help. Displays - The Non-
emissive displays use optical effects to convert sunlight or light from some
A finite number of characters can be other source into graphics patterns. Example is LCD (Liquid-Crystal
displayed on a screen at once. The screen Device).
can be divided into a series of character
boxes - fixed location on the screen where a
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Printers Dot Matrix Printer

Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper. In the market one of the
most popular printers is
There are two types of printers: Dot Matrix Printer.
These printers are
 Impact Printers popular because of their
 Non-Impact Printers ease of printing and
economical price. Each
Impact Printers character printed is in
form of pattern of dots
The impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon which is then and head consists of a
pressed on the paper. Matrix of Pins of size
(5*7, 7*9, 9*7 or 9*9) which come out to form a character that is why it is called Dot
Matrix Printer.
Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following:
Advantages
 Very low consumable costs
 Very noisy
 Inexpensive
 Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
 Widely Used
 There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image
 Other language characters can be printed
These printers are of two types
Disadvantages
 Character printers
 Slow Speed
 Line printers
 Poor Quality
Character Printers
Daisy Wheel
Character printers are the printers which print one character at a time.
Head is lying on a wheel
and pins corresponding to
These are further divided into two types:
characters are like petals
of Daisy (flower name)
 Dot Matrix Printer(DMP) that is why it is called
 Daisy Wheel Daisy Wheel Printer.
These printers are
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generally used for word-processing in offices which require a few letters to be sent Drum Printer
here and there with very nice quality.
This printer is like a drum in shape so it is called drum printer. The surface of drum is
Advantages divided into number of tracks. Total tracks are equal to size of paper i.e. for a paper
width of 132 characters, drum will have 132 tracks. A character set is embossed on
 More reliable than DMP track. The different character sets available in the market are 48 character set, 64 and
 Better quality 96 characters set. One rotation of drum prints one line. Drum printers are fast in
 The fonts of character can be easily changed speed and can print 300 to 2000 lines per minute.

Disadvantages Advantages

 Slower than DMP  Very high speed

 Noisy
 More expensive than DMP

Disadvantages

Line Printers  Very expensive

 Characters fonts cannot be changed
Line printers are the printers which print one line at a time.

Chain Printer
These are of further
two types In this printer, chain of character sets is used so it is called Chain Printer. A standard
character set may have 48, 64, or 96 characters.
 Drum Printer
 Chain Printer Advantages

 Character fonts can easily be changed.

 Different languages can be used with the same printer.

Disadvantages

 Noisy
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note
Non-impact Printers
Non-impact printers print the characters without using ribbon. These printers print a
complete page at a time so they are also called as Page Printers.
These printers are of two types
 Laser Printers
 Inkjet Printers
Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
 Faster than impact printers.
 They are not noisy.
 High quality.
 Support many fonts and different character size.
Laser Printers
These are non-impact page
printers. They use laser lights
to produce the dots needed to
form the characters to be
printed on a page.
Advantages
 Very high speed
 Very high quality
output
 Give good graphics
quality
 Support many fonts
and different character size
Disadvantages
 Expensive.
 Cannot be used to produce multiple copies of a document in a single printing.
Inkjet Printers
Inkjet printers are non-impact character printers based on a relatively new
technology. They print characters by spraying small drops of ink onto paper. Inkjet
printers produce high quality output with presentable features.
They make less noise
because no hammering is
done and these have
many styles of printing
modes available. Colour
printing is also possible.
Some models of Inkjet
printers can produce
multiple copies of
printing also.
Advantages
 High quality
printing
 More reliable
Disadvantages
 Expensive as cost per page is high
 Slow as compared to laser printer
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Computer - Memory  It stores the program that can be executed within a short period of time.
 It stores data for temporary use.
A memory is just like a human brain. It is used to store data and instructions.
Computer memory is the storage space in computer where data is to be processed and Disadvantages
instructions required for processing are stored. The memory is divided into large
number of small parts called cells. Each location or cell has a unique address which The disadvantages of cache memory are as follows:
varies from zero to memory size minus one. For example if computer has 64k words,
then this memory unit has 64 * 1024=65536 memory locations. The address of these  Cache memory has limited capacity.
locations varies from 0 to 65535.  It is very expensive.

Memory is primarily of three types Primary Memory (Main Memory)

 Cache Memory Primary memory holds only those data

 Primary Memory/Main Memory and instructions on which computer is
 Secondary Memory currently working. It has limited
capacity and data is lost when power is
Cache Memory switched off. It is generally made up of
semiconductor device. These memories
Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory which can speed up are not as fast as registers. The data and
CPU. It acts as a buffer between the CPU and main memory. It is used to hold those instruction required to be processed
parts of data and program which are most frequently used by CPU. The parts of data reside in main memory. It is divided
and programs are transferred from disk to cache memory by operating system, from into two subcategories RAM and
where CPU can access them. ROM.

Advantages Characteristics of Main Memory

The advantages of cache memory  These are semiconductor memories

are as follows:
 Cache memory is faster
than main memory.
 It consumes less access
time as compared to main
memory.
 It is known as main memory.
 Usually volatile memory.
 Data is lost in case power is switched off.
 It is working memory of the computer.
 Faster than secondary memories.
 A computer cannot run without primary memory.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Secondary Memory Access time in RAM is independent of the address that is, each storage location
inside the memory is as easy to reach as other locations and takes the same amount of
This type of memory is time. Data in the RAM can be accessed randomly but it is very expensive.
also known as external
memory or non-volatile. RAM is volatile, i.e. data stored in it is lost when we switch off the computer or if
It is slower than main there is a power failure. Hence a backup uninterruptible power system(UPS) is often
memory. These are used used with computers. RAM is small, both in terms of its physical size and in the
for storing amount of data it can hold.
data/Information
permanently. CPU RAM is of two types
directly does not access
these memories instead  Static RAM (SRAM)
they are accessed via  Dynamic RAM (DRAM)
input-output routines.
Contents of secondary memories are first transferred to main memory, and then CPU Static RAM (SRAM)
can access it. For example: disk, CD-ROM, DVD etc.
The word static indicates that the
Characteristic of Secondary Memory memory retains its contents as long as
power is being supplied. However, data
 These are magnetic and optical memories is lost when the power gets down due
 It is known as backup memory. to volatile nature. SRAM chips use a
 It is non-volatile memory. matrix of 6-transistors and no
 Data is permanently stored even if power is switched off. capacitors. Transistors do not require
 It is used for storage of data in a computer. power to prevent leakage, so SRAM
 Computer may run without secondary memory. need not have to be refreshed on a
 Slower than primary memories. regular basis.

Because of the extra space in the

matrix, SRAM uses more chips than
Computer - Random Access Memory DRAM for the same amount of storage space, thus making the manufacturing costs
higher. So SRAM is used as cache memory and has very fast access.
RAM (Random Access Memory) is the internal memory of the CPU for storing data,
program and program result. It is read/write memory which stores data until the Characteristic of the Static RAM
machine is working. As soon as the machine is switched off, data is erased.
 It has long life
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

 There is no need to refresh Following are the various types of ROM

 Faster
 Used as cache memory MROM (Masked ROM)
 Large size
 Expensive The very first ROMs were hard-wired devices that contained a pre-programmed set
 High power consumption of data or instructions.
These kind of ROMs are
Dynamic RAM (DRAM) known as masked ROMs
which are inexpensive.
DRAM, unlike SRAM, must be continually refreshed in order to maintain the data.
This is done by placing the memory on a refresh circuit that rewrites the data several PROM (Programmable
hundred times per second. DRAM is used for most system memory because it is Read only Memory)
cheap and small. All DRAMs are made up of memory cells which are composed of
one capacitor and one transistor. PROM is read-only
memory that can be
Characteristics of the Dynamic RAM modified only once by a
user. The user buys a blank
 It has short data lifetime PROM and enters the
 Need to be refreshed continuously desired contents using a
 Slower as compared to SRAM PROM program. Inside the
 Used as RAM PROM chip there are small
 Lesser in size fuses which are burnt open
 Less expensive during programming. It
 Less power consumption can be programmed only once and is not erasable.

Computer - Read Only Memory EPROM (Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)

ROM stands for Read Only Memory. The memory from which we can only read but
cannot write on it. This type of memory is non-volatile. The information is stored
permanently in such memories during manufacture. A ROM, stores such instructions
that are required to start a computer. This operation is referred to as bootstrap. ROM
chips are not only used in the computer but also in other electronic items like
washing machine and microwave oven.
The EPROM can be erased by exposing it to ultra-violet light for duration of up to 40
minutes. Usually, an EPROM eraser achieves this function. During programming, an
electrical charge is trapped in an insulated gate region. The charge is retained for
more than ten years because the charge has no leakage path. For erasing this charge,
ultra-violet light is passed through a quartz crystal window (lid). This exposure to
ultra-violet light dissipates the charge. During normal use the quartz lid is sealed with
a sticker.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory)  Normally a motherboard supports a single type of CPU and few types of
memories.
The EEPROM is programmed and erased electrically. It can be erased and  Video Cards, Hard disks, Sound Cards have to be compatible with
reprogrammed about ten thousand times. Both erasing and programming take about 4 motherboard to function properly
to 10 ms (milli second). In EEPROM, any location can be selectively erased and  Motherboards, cases and power supplies must be compatible to work
programmed. EEPROMs can be erased one byte at a time, rather than erasing the properly together.
entire chip. Hence, the process of re-programming is flexible but slow.
Popular Manufacturers
Advantages of ROM
 Intel
The advantages of ROM are as follows:  ASUS
 A Open
 Non-volatile in nature  ABIT
 These cannot be accidentally changed  Bios tar
 Cheaper than RAMs  Gigabyte
 Easy to test  MSI
 More reliable than RAMs
 These are static and do not require refreshing Description of Motherboard
 Its contents are always known and can be verified
The motherboard is mounted
Computer - Motherboard inside the case and is securely
attached via small screws
The motherboard serves as a single platform to connect all of the parts of a computer through pre-drilled holes. Motherboard contains ports to connect all of the internal
together. A motherboard connects CPU, memory, hard drives, optical drives, video components. It provides a single socket for CPU whereas for memory, normally one
card, sound card, and other ports and expansion cards directly or via cables. It can be or more slots are available. Motherboards provide ports to attach floppy drive, hard
considered as the backbone of a computer. drive, and optical drives via ribbon cables. Motherboard carries fans and a special
port designed for power supply.

There is a peripheral card slot in front of the motherboard using which video cards,
Features of Motherboard sound cards and other expansion cards can be connected to motherboard.

A motherboard comes with following features: On the left side, motherboards carry a number of ports to connect monitor, printer,
mouse, keyboard, speaker, and network cables. Motherboards also provide USB ports
 Motherboard varies greatly in supporting various types of components. which allow compatible devices to be connected in plug-in/plug-out fashion for
example, pen drive, digital cameras etc.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Computer - Memory Units 3 GigaByte (GB) 1 GB = 1024 MB

4 TeraByte (TB 1 TB = 1024 GB
Memory unit is:
5 PetaByte (PB) 1 PB = 1024 TB
 The amount of data that can
be stored in the storage unit. Computer - Ports
 That in which storage
capacity is expressed in terms What is a Port?
of Bytes.
A port:
Following are the main memory
storage units:  is a physical docking point using which an external device can be connected
to the computer.
 can also be programmatic docking point through which information flows
Sr.No. Unit Description
from a program to computer or over the internet.
A binary digit is logical 0 and 1 representing a passive
1 Bit (Binary Digit)
or an active state of a component in an electric circuit.
Characteristics
2 Nibble A group of 4 bits is called nibble.
A group of 8 bits is called byte. A byte is the smallest A port has the following characteristics:
3 Byte
unit which can represent a data item or a character.
A computer word, like a byte, is a group of fixed  External devices are connected to a computer using cables and ports.
number of bits processed as a unit which varies from  Ports are slots on the motherboard into which a cable of external device is
computer to computer but is fixed for each computer. plugged in.
 Examples of external devices attached via ports are mouse, keyboard,
4 Word monitor, microphone, speakers etc.
The length of a computer word is called word-size or
word length and it may be as small as 8 bits or may be
as long as 96 bits. A computer stores the information in
the form of computer words.

Few higher storage units are following

Sr.No. Unit Description

1 Kilobyte (KB) 1 KB = 1024 Bytes
2 Megabyte (MB) 1 MB = 1024 KB
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Following are few important types of ports:  Has 15 holes.

 Similar to serial port connector but serial port connector has pins, it has
Serial Port holes.

 Used for external modems and older computer mouse Power Connector
 Two versions : 9 pin, 25 pin model
 Data travels at 115 kilobits per second  Three-pronged plug
 Connects to the computer's power cable that plugs into a power bar or wall
Parallel Port socket

 Used for scanners and printers Firewire Port

 Also called printer port
 25 pin model  Transfers large amount of data at very fast speed.
 Also known as IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port  Connects camcorders and video equipments to the computer
 Data travels at 400 to 800 megabits per seconds
PS/2 Port  Invented by Apple
 Three variants : 4-Pin FireWire 400 connector, 6-Pin FireWire 400 connector
 Used for old computer keyboard and mouse and 9-Pin FireWire 800 connector
 Also called mouse port
 Most of the old computers provide two PS/2 port, each for mouse and Modem Port
keyboard
 Also known as IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port  Connects a PC's modem to the telephone network

Universal Serial Bus (or USB) Port Ethernet Port

 It can connect all kinds of external USB devices such as external hard disk,  Connects to a network and high speed Internet.
printer, scanner, mouse, keyboard etc.  Connect network cable to a computer.
 It was introduced in 1997.  This port resides on an Ethernet Card.
 Most of the computers provide two USB ports as minimum.  Data travels at 10 megabits to 1000 megabits per seconds depending upon
 Data travels at 12 megabits per seconds the network bandwidth.
 USB compliant devices can get power from a USB port
Game Port
VGA Port
 Connect a joystick to a PC
 Connects monitor to a computer's video card.  Now replaced by USB.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Digital Video Interface, DVI port output.

 Connects Flat panel LCD monitor to the computer's high end video graphic
cards.
 Very popular among video card manufacturers.
Sockets
 Connect microphone, speakers to sound card of the computer
Computer - Hardware
Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of a computer i.e. the
components that can be seen and touched.
Examples of Hardware are following:
 Input devices -- keyboard, mouse etc.
 Output devices -- printer, monitor etc.
 Secondary storage devices -- Hard disk, CD, DVD etc.
 Internal components -- CPU, motherboard, RAM etc.
 Software cannot be utilized without supporting hardware.
 Hardware without set of programs to operate upon cannot be utilized and is
useless.
 To get a particular job done on the computer, relevant software should be
loaded into the hardware
 Hardware is a one-time expense.
 Software development is very expensive and is a continuing expense.
 Different software applications can be loaded on hardware to run different
jobs.
 Software acts as an interface between the user and the hardware.
 If hardware is the 'heart' of a computer system, then software is its 'soul'.
Both are complimentary to each other.
Computer - Software
Software is a set of programs, which is designed to perform a well-defined function.
A program is a sequence of instructions written to solve a particular problem.
There are two types of software
 System Software
 Application Software

Relationship between System Software

Hardware and
Software The system software is collection of programs designed to operate, control, and
extend the processing capabilities of the computer itself. System software are
 Hardware and generally prepared by computer manufactures. These software products comprise of
software are mutually programs written in low-level languages which interact with the hardware at a very
dependent on each basic level. System software serves as the interface between hardware and the end
other. Both of them users.
must work together to
make a computer Some examples of system software are Operating System, Compilers, Interpreter,
produce a useful Assemblers etc.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Examples of Application software are following:

 Payroll Software
 Student Record Software
 Inventory Management Software
 Income Tax Software
 Railways Reservation Software
 Microsoft Office Suite Software
 Microsoft Word
 Microsoft Excel
 Microsoft Powerpoint

Features of system software are as follows:

 Close to system
 Fast in speed
 Difficult to design
 Difficult to understand
 Less interactive
 Smaller in size
 Difficult to manipulate
 Generally written in low-level language
Features of application software are as follows:
Application Software
 Close to user
 Easy to design
Application software products are designed to satisfy a particular need of a particular  More interactive
environment. All software applications prepared in the computer lab can come under  Slow in speed
the category of Application software.  Generally written in high-level language
 Easy to understand
Application software may consist of a single program, such as a Microsoft's notepad  Easy to manipulate and use
for writing and editing simple text. It may also consist of a collection of programs,  Bigger in size and requires large storage space
often called a software package, which work together to accomplish a task, such as a
spreadsheet package.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note
Computer - How to Buy?
This chapter gives the following information:
 In this guide, we'll help you to buy a desktop on component by component
basis.
 As desktops are highly customizable, so it is better to learn about main parts
and then go to manufacturer or retailer shop or site instead of looking at
some specific model directly.
 Popular desktop brands are Dell, Lenovo, HP and Apple.
 Compare the desktops based on their specifications and base price.
Monitor
 Size - It is the diagonal size of
the LCD screen. Larger the area,
bigger the picture screen. A bigger
picture is preferable for movie
watching and gaming. It will increase
productivity as well.
 Resolution - This is the
number of pixels on the screen. For
example, 24-inch display is
1920x1200 (width by length) and 22-
inch display which is 1680x1050.
High resolution provides better picture
quality and a nice gaming experience.
 Inputs - Now-a-days monitors
can accept inputs from cable as well
apart from computer. They also can
have USB ports.
 Stand - Some monitors come with adjustable stands while some may not.
 Recommended - 24 Inch LCD.
Operating System
 Operating System is the
main software of the computer as
everything will run on it in one
form or other.
 There are primarily three
choices: Windows, Linux, Apple
OS X.
 Linux is free but people
generally do not use it for home
purpose.
 Apple OS X works only
on Apple Desktops.
 Windows 7 is very
popular among desktop users.
 Most of the computers come pre-equipped with Windows 7 Starter edition.
 Windows 8 is recently introduced and is available in market.
 Windows 7 and Windows 8 come in multiple versions from starter, home
basic, home premium, professional, ultimate and enterprise editions.
 As edition version increases, their features list and price increases.
 Recommended - Windows 7 Home Premium.
Optical Drive (CD / DVD / Blu-ray)
 Optical drive is the drive on a computer which is responsible for using CD,
DVD and Blu-ray discs.
 Now-a-days, DVD burners are industry standards.
 DVD Burner can burn CD, DVD and play them.
 DVD Burner is cheaper than Blu-ray drives.
 Blu-ray drives can play HD movies but are costlier component.
 Recommended - DVD Burner.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note
Memory
 RAM is considered as
Computer Memory as
performance of a computer is
directly proportional to its
memory and processor.
 Today's software and
operating system require high
memory.
 Today commonly used
RAM is DDR3 which operates at
1066Mhz
 As per Windows 7, 1 GB is the minimum RAM required to function
properly.
 Recommended - 4 GB.
Hard Drive
 Hard disk is used for storage purpose. Higher the capacity, more data you
can save in it.
 Now-a-days computers are equipped with 500GB hard drive which can be
extended to 2TB.
 Most hard drives in desktop operate at the standard performance speed of
7200RPM.
 Recommended - 500GB.
CPU
 Frequency (GHz) -
This determines speed of the
processor. More the speed,
better the CPU.
 Cores - Now-a-days
CPUs come with more than one
core, which is like having more
than one CPU in the computer.
Programs which can take
advantage of multi-core
environment will run faster on such machines.
 Brand - Intel or AMD. Both are equivalent. Intel is in lead.
 Cache - Higher the L1, L2 cache, better the CPU performance
 Recommended - Intel Core i3 i3-3225 3.30 GHz Processor.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

To Install Windows XP Professional

If you cannot configure your system to boot from a CD Rom (DVD) drive,
you must first download the boot floppy setup disks from Microsoft at this
address:And configure your system to boot from those newly created disks
rather than CD Rom.

Important Information
Before the install/reinstallation of Windows XP, I highly recommend that you
download Service Pack 3 “for multiple computers” and burn it onto a CD. The 1) Shall we begin? (Image 1.1)
download is approximately 316.4MB. If you choose not to do this step, your
system could become infected with a virus or worm exploiting the 2) Welcome to Setup: (Image 1.2)
vulnerabilities that Service Pack 3 fixes. I also recommend that you do NOT
have your system connected to the Internet until after the installation of The “Welcome to Setup” screen appears with the option of Continuing Setup,
Service Pack 3. This means that you cannot activate your XP installation Repair a previous installation, or Quitting.
during setup, but you can accomplish that task following a reboot after
Service Pack 3 is installed. Press ENTER to Continue Setup.

1) Shall we begin? (Image 1.1) You may also choose R to Repair, or F3 to Quit and reboot the system.

After configuring the system for booting from a CD, the Windows Setup
screen appears.

At this point, Setup is loading the driver files it needs to continue with
installation.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note
2) Welcome to Setup: (Image 1.2)
3) Windows XP Licensing Agreement: (Image
1.3)
The “Windows XP Licensing Agreement” screen, otherwise known as
“EULA,” displays the legal in’s and out’s of this particular software package.
You may press F8 to signify that you agree with the terms, hit ESC if you do
not agree and PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN to scroll through each screen. Note: If
you do not agree to the terms, setup will quit and reboot the system.
3) Windows XP Licensing Agreement: (Image 1.3)
4) Hard drive partition information: (Image 1.4)
Hard drive partition information is now displayed. This varies with each
systems hardware configuration.
This example already has a partition defined. I will choose not to use this and
create a new one by pressing D.
You may skip this and the next few steps if you do not have any partitions
defined.
At this point, the options include pressing ENTER to Install on the selected
partition, D to Delete the selected partition, or F3 to Quit and reboot the
system.
4) Hard drive partition information: (Image 1.4)
5) Warning screen: (Image 1.5)
After pressing D to delete the selected partition, a warning screen appears
explaining the pitfalls of deleting it. This particular screen only appears when
the partition selected to be deleted is formatted as a bootable system partition.
Other partitions will display the next screen.
I want this to happen, so I press ENTER to continue.
The options include pressing ENTER to continue, or ESC to Cancel.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

7) No partitions have been previously defined:

(Image 1.7)
If no partitions have been previously defined, this screen will be displayed.
You may section your hard drive in as many partitions as you wish by
selecting C to Create a Partition and then entering in a value less then the total
available. Here, I will Create a Partition in the highlighted, unused portion.

Select the partition you wish to install to using the UP arrow and DOWN
ARROW keys.
5) Warning screen: (Image 1.5)
Press ENTER to use the highlighted partition and Install, C to Create a Partition,
or F3 to Quit and reboot the system.
6) Confirmation screen: (Image 1.6)
A confirmation screen that displays the logical drive, what file system the
partition is currently using, the size in MB and controller information.

Options include L to Delete the partition and ESC to Cancel the action.

7) No partitions have been previously defined: (Image 1.7)

8) Enter in the partition size: (Image 1.8)

Enter in the partition size in MB within the displayed minimum and
6) Confirmation screen: (Image 1.6) maximum. I chose the default or maximum available here.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note
You may choose ENTER to Create the new partition or ESC to Cancel the
action.
8) Enter in the partition size: (Image 1.8)
9) Continue to create partitions: (Image 1.9)
Continue to create partitions until all space is used or the configuration meets
your requirements.
Note: a small portion will be unavailable to partition. This is normal. In this
example, it is 2 MB.
I chose drive C: or Partition1 to install the Operating System.
You may choose ENTER to Install to the selected partition, D to Delete the
highlighted Partition, or F3 to Quit and reboot the system.
9) Continue to create partitions: (Image 1.9)
10) Format the partition: (Image 1.10)
Since this OS supports NTFS, format the partition with it. If you do not, many
folder and file security features will be unavailable. Note: If you are dual
booting your system, a previous OS will not be able to read the local
information. This is a fact with Windows 9x and Me. If you have a
requirement to view this partition from another OS installed on the system, do
not format it as NTFS. Also, the boot partition must be formatted with FAT32
if you wish to dual boot. I have found no problems accessing a NTFS partition
mapped as a network drive from an older OS.
Select what format you wish to use by pressing the UP ARROW and DOWN
ARROW keys.
Press ENTER to confirm your selection and Continue or ESC to Cancel.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Setup is now figuring out what files to copy over to the hard drive.

10) Format the partition: (Image 1.10)

12) Creating File List: (Image 1.12)

11) Setup formats the partition: (Image 1.11)
Watch the progress bar as Setup formats the partition, or get up and get a
soda. It may take awhile.
13) Setup copies various files: (Image 1.13)
After the partition is finished formatting, Setup copies various files to support
booting from the hard drive and continue on.

11) Setup formats the partition: (Image 1.11)

12) Creating File List: (Image 1.12) 13) Setup copies various files: (Image 1.13)
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

14) Creates various information files: (Image

1.14)
Setup then creates various information files required to continue on with
setup.

15) Press ENTER to Restart: (Image 1.15)

16) Windows XP boot screen: (Image 2.1)

The new Windows XP boot screen is displayed.

14) Creates various information files: (Image 1.14)

15) Press ENTER to Restart: (Image 1.15)

The first reboot and the end of the blue background has arrived. If you are
impatient, press ENTER to Restart before the 15 seconds expire.

ENTER to Restart the Computer is the only option available.

16) Windows XP boot screen: (Image 2.1)

 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

17) Windows XP Installation: (Image 2.2)

If you have installed Windows before, this type of screen will look familiar.

Sit back. It may be awhile.

18) Faster and more reliable: (Image 2.3)

19) Region and Input Languages: (Image 2.4)

A little while later, you will be prompted with options of configuring your
Region and Input Languages. The default was fine for me, so I selected Next.
17) Windows XP Installation: (Image 2.2)
Options include Customize button, Details Button, plus the standard Back
and Next.
18) Faster and more reliable: (Image 2.3)
Every Windows OS that comes out has the same claim. Faster and better. It is
subject to debate whether or not it could get “any worse.”
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

20) Enter in your Name: (Image 2.5)

21) 25 digit Product Key: (Image 2.6)

Thought you could get away from it? Think again.

Enter your unique 25 digit Product Key that came with your CD, then select
the Next button.

19) Region and Input Languages: (Image 2.4)

20) Enter in your Name: (Image 2.5)

Enter in your Name and optional Organization information, then select the
Next button.

21) 25 digit Product Key: (Image 2.6)

22) Enter a Computer name and an

Administrator Password: (Image 2.7)
The “suggested” name for the computer is always really whacked out. Choose
one that meets your needs.
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Enter an Administrator Password now. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you

keep this information safe and remember what it is! “01Pa$$word” is not a
good choice. Think of something secure and never lose or forget it.

23) Date, Time and Time Zone: (Image 2.8)

24) Network is installing: (Image 2.9)

22) Enter a Computer name and an Administrator Password: (Image 2.7)
Wait here while the Network is installing. You could read all the marketing
dribble, but I do not recommend it.
23) Date, Time and Time Zone: (Image 2.8)
Configure the proper information for the Date, Time and Time Zone here.
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24) Network is installing: (Image 2.9)

25) Network Settings Dialog: (Image 3.1)

The Network Settings Dialog is next. Under usual circumstances, the Typical
settings are fine, but I never choose them so I can poke around under the
hood. I selected Custom settings here.

Choose your method and select the Next button.

26) Custom settings: (Image 3.2)

27) QoS Packet Scheduler: (Image 3.3)

QoS Packet Scheduler is not required unless your network uses it.

For this system, I will choose to uncheck it.

25) Network Settings Dialog: (Image 3.1)

26) Custom settings: (Image 3.2)

In the Custom settings, many options are abound. I cannot go into all of them
here, but I will hit on the high points.
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27) QoS Packet Scheduler: (Image 3.3) 28) TCP/IP Properties: (Image 3.4)

28) TCP/IP Properties: (Image 3.4) 29) Workgroup or Computer Domain: (Image
TCP/IP Properties contains the standard options. Adjust them for your
3.5)
particular needs as required. For now, I kept the default settings. Basically, it
Workgroup or Computer Domain, that is the question. I am not going to set up
is using DHCP to configure TCP/IP. If you are using a static IP address, enter
this system to connect to a domain controller, so I will place it as a member of
in the proper information here.
a workgroup.
Select the Advanced button to further configure your TCP/IP options.
Please, change “WORKGROUP” to something else. I hate defaults.

Select the Next button after making your choice.

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30) Install screen: (Image 3.6)

31) Windows XP is starting up: (Image 4.1)

The moment we have all been waiting for, Windows XP Professional is
starting up “for the first time.” Remember that quoted statement with
Windows 95 setup?

29) Workgroup or Computer Domain: (Image 3.5)

30) Install screen: (Image 3.6)

The system will reboot after all files have been copied over to the install
partition. Now may be a good time to take a break. It may be awhile.

31) Windows XP is starting up: (Image 4.1)

32) Display Settings Pop-up: (Image 4.2)

Windows XP no longer likes the “default” resolution of 640 x 480 and
prompts you of that fact.

Select OK to continue.
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33) Please wait: (Image 4.3)

34) Login to the Administrator account: (Image

4.4)
With the “Welcome” screen, you no longer have to hit the “Three Finger
Salute” combination of Ctrl+Alt+Delete to login to the Administrator
account.

You did remember your password, right?!?

32) Display Settings Pop-up: (Image 4.2)

33) Please wait: (Image 4.3)

800 x 600 is a wonderful thing, however, I chose to have it time out and return
to 640 x 480 for this guide.

34) Login to the Administrator account: (Image 4.4)

35) Applying computer settings: (Image 4.5)

Please wait while the Administrator account is configured “for the first time.”

No. I will not mention Windows 95 again…

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35) Applying computer settings: (Image 4.5)
36) Display Settings Pop-up: (Image 4.6)
Since the initial screen resolution is set to 640 x 480, a balloon dialog appears.
You may click the pop-up balloon to raise the resolution up to 800 x 600
automatically. For the rest of this guide, I chose to ignore it.
36) Display Settings Pop-up: (Image 4.6)
37) Windows XP tour: (Image 5.1)
Click the balloon dialog to start a tour of Windows XP.
Even if you do not wish to see the information, you should click on the
balloon to get rid of the annoyance in a timely fashion.
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37) Windows XP tour: (Image 5.1) 38) Windows XP Tour dialog: (Image 5.2)

38) Windows XP Tour dialog: (Image 5.2) 44) That is all! (Image 5.8)
Windows XP Tour dialog popup is shown. That’s all there is to it! I hope this guide helped you out or gave you a sneak
peek at what is to come. More information
Select the Cancel button to never see it again. about Windows XP is located HERE!
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note
44) That is all! (Image 5.8)
How to Install Windows 8
Windows 8 is Microsoft's latest operating system which is completely
redesigned. It moves away from the traditional interface to a completely new
interface known as Metro User Interface. The familiar start menu is now gone.
Icons and windows are replaced with live tiles and magazine styled interface.
Unlike any previous versions, Windows 8 and its variation RT works across
multiple architectures and has been optimized for touch screen. So it will
work on Intel based PCs or an ARM based tablet.
This step-by-step guide demonstrates how to install Microsoft Windows 8
Professional. You can follow this guide if you have Windows 8 basic edition
or any other version as the steps are very similar.
The best way to install Windows 8 is to do a clean install. Before you start the
installation process I recommend that you check Windows 8 System
Requirements to ensure that your hardware is supported by Windows 8. If you
don't have Windows 8 drivers for all your hardware, it is a good idea to
download all the drivers from the hardware manufacturers web site and save
all the necessary drivers on a CD/DVD or a USB drive before you start the
installation.
Windows 8 Professional DVD is bootable. In order to boot from the DVD you
need to set the boot sequence. Look for the boot sequence under your BIOS
setup and make sure that the first boot device is set to CD-ROM/DVD-ROM.
First Boot and BIOS Setup
Now that we have finished building the PC lets connect the base unit to a
mains outlet. Connect a keyboard, mouse and monitor so that we are ready for
the first boot. Turn the PC on by pressing the power switch. If everything goes
well you will hear a short beep followed by a boot screen. At this stage we
need to enter the BIOS to check that all the hardware is detected correctly. We
will also make few changes so that we are ready to install an operating system
such as Windows 7.
To enter bios setup press the delete key as the computer boots up. Please note
it could be a different key on your system such as F1, so check your boot
screen or manual for more details. This is the main bios setup menu.
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Lets select the Intelligent Tweeker menu by pressing enter. As you can see the
CPU speed, memory speed and size are detected correctly. Press escape to go This time we will enter the Advanced BIOS features.
back to the previous menu.

We will make our first boot device CDROM, and second boot device as hard
Lets enter Standard CMOS features. As you can see the hard drive and dvd disk.
writer are also detected correctly.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Finally we can save & exit setup. At this stage you can place a operating
system disc in the DVD drive and you are ready to install your chosen
operating system.

By doing this we can make sure that the computer boot from Windows 7
DVD that is placed in the DVD drive. If the hard drive is set to first boot
device it will not boot as it has no operating system installed.

This concludes our PC building guide. We hope you enjoyed these videos and
managed to build your own perfect PC.

Step 1 - Place Windows 8 DVD in your dvd-rom drive and start your PC.
Windows 8 will start to boot up and you will get the following screen with a
rotating progress bar.
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Step 4 - The setup process starts as shown.

Step 2 - The next screen allows you to setup your language, time and currency
format, keyboard or input method. Choose your required settings and click
next to continue.
Step 5 - At this stage you need to type your product key that came with your
copy of Windows 8. Click next once you have entered the product key
correctly.

Step 3 - The next screen allows you to install or repair Windows 8. Since we
are doing a clean install we will click on "install now".
Step 6 - Read the license terms and tick I accept license terms. Then click
next to continue.
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Step 7 - Choose the type of installation you want. Since you are doing a clean Step 9 - If you want to partition an existing drive then click new. Choose the
install you need to click on custom. size of the partition and click apply.

Step 8 - Choose where you would like to install Windows 8. If you have one Step 10 - Click OK to create the partition. Windows will create additional
hard drive you will get an option similar to the image below. You can click system partition which you don't have to worry about.
next to continue then go to step 12.

If you have more than one drive or partition then you need to select the
appropriate drive and click next. At this stage you can go to step 12.

If you want to partition a large drive then do not click next. Go to step 9.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Step 13 - When all the necessary files are copied Windows 8 will
automatically restart as shown.
Step 11 - You will notice that you have 3 partitions. Partition 1 is system
reserved. Leave this partition alone. Partition 2 is 30GB primary partition that
was created in the last step. The third partition is unallocated which means it
is not being used. You can however format it and use it as a second storage
drive. This can be done after windows installation is finished so I will leave it
for now.

Choose partition 2 (Primary Partition). This is where I will install Windows 8.

Click next to continue.

Step 14 - You will go through various progress bar and information messages
as shown on the following images. Windows might restart automatically
second time.

Step 12 - At this stage Windows starts to copy files to your hard drive and
begins the installation. This process might take a few minutes depending on
your computer specification. Now is a good time to grab yourself a coffee.
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Step 17 - Here you can choose express settings or choose customize. I will
choose customize to make further customization.

Step 15 - You are now presented with "Let's go through a few basics" screen.
It will automatically select personalize option. Step 18 - Choose Yes, turn on sharing and connect to devices.

Step 16 - Choose your PC name and personalize the color.

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Step 19 - Help protect and update your PC. Choose your preferred option and
click next.

Step 22 - Sign in to your PC. Here you can login to your PC using a Microsoft
email account such as your hotmail account.

Step 20 - Send Microsoft info to help make Windows and apps better. Choose If you do not have a Microsoft account you can create one by clicking Sign up
your preferred options or leave the default settings. Click next to continue. for a new email address. Go to Step 23.

If you don't want to create an email account and prefer to create a local user
name, click Sign in without a Microsoft account. Go to step 24.

Step 21 - Check online for solutions to problem. Choose your preferred

options or leave the default settings. Click next to continue.

Step 23 - Sign up for a new email address. If you want to create a new email
account you need to complete the form below.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Step 26 - At this stage Windows starts to finalize your settings. You will get
the following information screen as the installation moves forward.

Step 24 - Click local account

Step 25 - Here you can choose a local user name and password. Choose finish
to continue.
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Step 27 - As Windows 8 setup progresses you are given a presentation of the

new interface. Its shows you how swiping the edge of the screen brings up the
Charm bar. Using the Charm bar you can do a search or change your settings.
It also demonstrates how you can hover your mouse on the bottom or top left
corner to access the switch list. This list shows all open applications and
allows you to switch between them.

Step 28 - Soon as the demonstration finishes windows moves into the final
stages of the setup.
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Step 29 - Finally the setup process is finished and you are presented with a
completely new and unfamiliar Metro user interface. You have your most
common application right in front of you. Clicking on any tiles will launch
that application. At this point you can start using your computer. However, it
may not be fully configured. You need to make sure that all the hardware is
detected correctly and the necessary device drivers are installed. This can be
done from the device manager.
Step 30 - To go to device manager click search on charm bar on the right.
Then type devmgmt.msc. Click on the devmgmt icon on the left.
Step 31 - You will see all your hardware listed as shown on the image below.
You need to check if you have any yellow exclamation marks next to the
name of the devices, similar to "Base System Device" on the image below.
This indicates that the driver has not been installed for this device.
At this stage you can install the driver for this device. To do so, Right Mouse
click on Base System Device -> Update Driver Software...
Step 32 - You can choose to "Search automatically for updated driver
software" or "Browse my computer for driver software". If you have the
driver CD or if the driver is on a USB drive then choose "browse my
computer for driver software". Window 8 will search and install the driver
from the CD or you can locate the driver manually.
 Easy Computer Education Hardware Note

Once you have removed all the yellow exclamation marks from the device
manager your Windows 8 configuration would be fully complete.