UNIT TWO: COMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Computer components are divided into two major categories namely hardware and software.
Hardware is the machine itself and its connected devices such as monitor, keyboard, mouse etc.
Software is the set of programs that make use of hardware for performing various functions.

2.2 OBJECTIVES

a) identify the four basic units of a computer system and explain the functions of each unit
b) identify the three main types of computer memory and their characteristics
c) list the five units of computer memory
d) identify different types of ports and their uses
e) differentiate between system software and application software
f) explain the importance of operating system
g) identify different application software and their uses
h) determine the factors to consider when buying computer software
i) state the advantages of a database management system

2.3 COMPUTER HARDWARE

Hardware represents the physical and tangible components of a computer, i.e. the components
that can be seen and touched. The computer system consists of mainly four basic units:
a) Input device
b) Storage device
c) Central Processing Unit (CPU)
d) Output device
2.3.1 Input device

Devices used to provide data and instructions to the computer are called Input devices. Some
important input devices are:
 Key board
 Mouse
 Scanner
 MICR (magnetic ink character recognition)
 Web camera
 Microphone etc.

a) Keyboard
The Key board is used for typing text into the computer. It is also known as standard Input
device. A computer keyboard is similar to that of a type writer with additional keys. The
most commonly available computer keyboard has 104 keys. There are different types of keys
on the keyboard. The keys are categorized as:
 Alphanumeric keys , including letters & numbers
 Punctuation keys, such as colon (:), semicolon (;) Question mark (?), Single & double
quotes (‗,‖)
  Special keys such as arrow keys, control keys, function keys (F1 to F12), HOME, END
etc.

b) Mouse
It is a device that controls the movement of the cursor on a monitor. A mouse has 2 buttons
on its top. The left button is the most frequently used button. There will be a wheel between
the left and right buttons. This wheel enables us to smoothly scroll through screens of
information. As we move the mouse, the pointer on the monitor moves in the same
direction. Optical mouse is another advanced pointing device that uses a light emitting
component instead of the mouse ball. Mouse cannot be used for entering the data. It is only
useful to select the options on the screen.

c) Scanner
It is an input device that can read text or illustrations printed on paper and translate into
digital form. The main advantage of these scanners is that the data need not be entered
separately resulting in saving lot of time.

Scanners are of two types: i) optical scanners ii) MICR

 i) Optical scanners:

 Optical character Recognition (OCR): In this, characters are read with the help of a
light. This is used in office atomization, documentation in library etc.
 Optical mark recognition (OMR): It is a technology where an OMR device senses
the presence or absence of a mark such as a pencil mark. OMR is used in tests such
as aptitude tests.
 Optical barcode recognition (OBCR): Barcode readers are photoelectric scanners
that read the bar codes or vertical zebra striped marks printed on product containers.
This is used in super markets, book shops etc.
 MICR: This is widely used in banks to process the cheques. This allows the
computer to recognize characters printed using magnetic ink.

d) Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

It is a character recognition technology used primarily by the banking industry to facilitate
the processing of the cheques. MICR characters (cheque No., Acc.No.etc) are printed in
special ink usually containing iron oxide. When a document that contains the ink needs to
be read, it passes through a machine which magnetizes the ink and there will be a reader
sorter unit which translates the magnetic information into characters. MICR provides a
secure, high speed of scanning and processing information. It scans about 2600 cheques/min.

2.3.2 Central Processing Unit

It is the part of the computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program. It is
the unit that reads and executes program inst ructions. Hence it is known as the―brain of the
computer. The CPU consists of:
 storage or memory unit
 control unit
 Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)

a) Memory Unit
It is also known as the primary storage or main memory. It stores data, program
 instructions, internal results and final output temporarily before it is sent to an
appropriate output device. It c o n s i s t s of t ho u sa nd s of cells called ―storage locations.
These cells activate with ―off-on or binary digits (0,1) mechanism. Thus a character
either a letter or numerical digit is stored as a string of (0, 1) Binary digits (BITS). These
bits are used to store instructions and data by their combinations.

b) Control Unit
It acts as a central nervous system and ensures that the information is stored correctly
and the program instructions are followed in proper sequence as well as the data are selected
from the memory as necessary. It also coordinates all the input and output devices of a
system.

c) Arithmetic and Logical Unit (ALU)

It is the unit where all Arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction etc.) and logical
functions such as true or false, male or female are performed. Once data are fed into the
main memory from input devices, they are held and transferred as needed to ALU where
processing takes place. No process occurs in primary storage. Intermediate generated results
in ALU are temporarily placed in memory until needed at later time. Data may move from
primary memory to ALU and back again to storage many times before the process is
finalized.

2.3.3 Output device

Any device that is capable of representing information on a computer is called an Output

device. Output devices receive information from the CPU and present it to the user in the
desired form. Some important Output devices are: Monitor, Printer

a) Terminal/Monitor
It is similar to TV screen- either a monochrome (black & white) or colour – and it displays
the output. It is also referred as Visual Display Unit (VDU). Several types of monitors are
in use. Some of them are Colour Graphic Ad a p t e r (CGA), E n h a nc e d Graphics Adaptor
(EGA), Video Graphics Adapter (VGA) and Super Video Graphics Adapter (SVGA). The
screen sizes differ from system to system. The standard size is 24 lines by 80 characters.
Most systems have provision for scrolling which helps in moving the text vertically or
 horizontally on the screen.

b) Printer
A printer is used to transfer data from a computer onto paper. The paper copy obtained
from a printer is often referred as printout. The different printers and their speeds are as
follows:

Table 2.2: Different printers and their speeds

S. No. Type Mode of Printing Speed

1 Dot – Matrix printer Prints the character in dotted pattern through 200/300 to 700 CPS
printer ribbon using either 24 pin or 9 pin

2 Ink Jet printer Work by spraying ionized ink Slow, 90 CPS

3 Laser printer Also called page printer. Uses laser beam to6 to 12 PPM
produce an image.

4 Line printer Prints lines at a time instead of single characters. 300 to 600 LPM

5 Plotter Produces drawings or graphs through pens which

are filled with different colours.
( CPS: Characters Per Second; PPM: Pages Per Minutes; LPM : Lines Per Minute)

Laser printer

******
2.4 COMPUTER MEMORY
A memory is just like a human brain. It is used to store data and instructions. Computer memory
is the storage space in the computer, where data is to be processed and 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 varies from zero to memory size minus one. For
example, if the computer has 64k words, then this memory unit has 64 * 1024 = 65536 memory
locations. The address of these locations varies from 0 to 65535.

2.4.1 Types of memory

Memory is primarily of three types

 Cache Memory
 Primary Memory/Main Memory
 Secondary Memory

a) Cache Memory
Cache memory is a very high speed semiconductor memory which can speed up the CPU. It acts
as a buffer between the CPU and the main memory. It is used to hold those parts of data and
program which are most frequently used by the CPU. The parts of data and programs are
transferred from the disk to cache memory by the operating system, from where the CPU can
access them.

Figure 2.1: Showing cache memory

The advantages of cache memory are as follows:

 Cache memory is faster than main memory.

 It consumes less access time as compared to main memory.
 It stores the program that can be executed within a short period of time.
 It stores data for temporary use.

The disadvantages of cache memory are as follows:

 Cache memory has limited capacity.

 It is very expensive.

a) Primary Memory (Main Memory)

Primary memory holds only those data and instructions on which the computer is currently
working. It has a limited capacity and data is lost when power is switched off. It is generally
made up of semiconductor device. These memories are not as fast as registers. The data and
instruction required to be processed resides in the main memory. It is divided into two
subcategories RAM and ROM.

Figure 2.2: Primary memory

Characteristics of Main Memory

 These are semiconductor memories.

 It is known as the main memory.
 Usually volatile memory.
 Data is lost in case power is switched off.
 It is the working memory of the computer.
 Faster than secondary memories.
 A computer cannot run without the primary memory.

b) Secondary Memory
This type of memory is also known as external memory or non-volatile. It is slower than the
main memory. These are used for storing data/information permanently. CPU directly does not
access these memories; instead they are accessed via input-output routines. The contents of
secondary memories are first transferred to the main memory, and then the CPU can access it.
For example, Compact disk, CD-ROM, Digital Video Disk (DVD), Hard Drive Disk (HDD) etc.

Characteristics of Secondary Memory

 These are magnetic and optical memories.

 It is known as the backup memory.
 It is a non-volatile memory.
 Data is permanently stored even if power is switched off.
  It is used for storage of data in a computer.
 Computer may run without the secondary memory.
 Slower than primary memories.

2.5.2 Units of memory

The computer stores a character in the storage cells with binary (0, 1) mechanism. Thus the
basic unit of memory is a bit (binary digit – 0, 1). To store a character, a computer requires 8
bits or 1 byte. This is called the word length of the storage unit. Hence the storage capacity of
the computer is measured in the number of words it can store and is expressed in terms of
bytes. The following table lists some higher storage units:

Table 2.3: Units of memory

Unit Description
Kilobyte (KB) 1 KB = 1024 Bytes
Megabyte (MB) 1 MB = 1024 KB
GigaByte (GB) 1 GB = 1024 MB
TeraByte (TB) 1 TB = 1024 GB
PetaByte (PB) 1 PB = 1024 TB

a) Storage capacity

i) Floppy Disk
It is also referred as ―Diskette: and is made of flexible Vinyl material. It has a small hole
on one side called ―Right protect notch, which protects accidental writing/deleting
the information from the disk. There is a hole in the centre through which the spindle of
drive unit rotates the disk. The disks are available in two sizes of 5.25 and 3.5 inches
and these could be either low- density or high-density floppies. Storage capacity of
floppies is measured in kilobytes (KB) and megabytes (MB). The details about the
storage capacities of the floppies are presented below:
Table 2.2: Storage capacities of the floppy disk
Floppy Disk Storage Capacity Size (Diameter)
Low Density 360 KB 5.25 inches
High Density 1.2 MB 5.25 inches
High Density 1.44 MB 3.5 inches
Extended 2.8 MB 3.5 inches

ii) Hard Disk

The hard disk can hold more information than the floppy disk and the retrieval of
information from hard disk is faster when compared to floppies or tapes. A hard disk is
fixed inside the CPU and its capacity ranges from 20 MB onwards. The hard disk is made
up of a collection of discs (one below the other) known as platters on which the data is
recorded. These platters are coated with magnetic material. It is less sensitive to external
environmental disorders and hence the storage in hard disk is safe. A small hard disk might
be as much as 25 times larger than a floppy disk. Storage Capacity of hard disks varies from
20 MB to several Gigabytes like 80GB, 160GB.
2.6 COMPUTER PORTS
A port is a physical docking point using which an external device can be connected to the
computer. It can also be programmatic docking point through which information flows from a
program to the computer or over the Internet.

2.6.1 Characteristics of Ports

A port has the following characteristics:

 External devices are connected to a computer using cables and ports.

 Ports are slots on the motherboard into which a cable of external device is plugged in.
 Examples of external devices attached via ports are the mouse, keyboard, monitor,
microphone, speakers, etc.

2.6.2 Important types of ports

a) Serial Port
 Used for external modems and older computer mouse
 Two versions: 9 pin, 25 pin model
 Data travels at 115 kilobits per second

b) Parallel Port

 Used for scanners and printers

 Also called printer port
 25 pin model
 IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port

c) PS/2 Port

 Used for old computer keyboard and mouse

 Also called mouse port
 Most of the old computers provide two PS/2 port, each for the mouse and keyboard
 IEEE 1284-compliant Centronics port

d) Universal Serial Bus (or USB) Port

 It can connect all kinds of external USB devices such as external hard disk, printer,
scanner, mouse, keyboard, etc.
 It was introduced in 1997.
 Most of the computers provide two USB ports as minimum.
 Data travels at 12 megabits per seconds.
 USB compliant devices can get power from a USB port.

e) VGA Port

 Connects monitor to a computer's video card.

 It has 15 holes.
 Similar to the serial port connector. However, serial port connector has pins, VGA port
has holes.

f) Power Connector

 Three-pronged plug.
 Connects to the computer's power cable that plugs into a power bar or wall socket.

g) Firewire Port

 Transfers large amount of data at very fast speed.

 Connects camcorders and video equipment to the computer.
 Data travels at 400 to 800 megabits per seconds.
 Invented by Apple.
 It has three variants: 4-Pin FireWire 400 connector, 6-Pin FireWire 400 connector, and
9-Pin FireWire 800 connector.

h) Modem Port

 Connects a PC's modem to the telephone network.

i) Ethernet Port

 Connects to a network and high speed Internet.

 Connects the network cable to a computer.
 This port resides on an Ethernet Card.
 Data travels at 10 megabits to 1000 megabits per seconds depending upon the network
bandwidth
 j) Game Port

 Connect a joystick to a PC
 Now replaced by USB

k) Digital Video Interface, DVI port

 Connects Flat panel LCD monitor to the computer's high-end video graphic cards.
 Very popular among video card manufacturers.

l) Sockets

 Sockets connect the microphone and speakers to the sound card of the computer.

2.7 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. The basic difference between
the Hardware and Software is just the same as that exists between TV and TV studio. Without
TV studio (software) from where the programs are telecast, the TV (Hardware) is a dead
machine.

2.7.1 Types of software

There are two types of software:

 System Software
 Application Software

2.7.2.1 System Software

The system software is a collection of programs designed to operate, control, and extend the
processing capabilities of the computer itself. System software is generally prepared by the
computer manufacturers. These software products comprise of programs written in low-level
languages, which interact with the hardware at a very basic level. System software serves as the
interface between the hardware and the end users. System software contributes to control and
performance of a computer system. System software acts behind the scenes to manage resources
and operations of a computer system. System software interfaces between computer hardware
and the application software. An example of system software is the Operating System (OS).

Operating System (OS)

The software that manages the resources of a computer system and schedules its operation
is called Operating system. The operating system acts as interface between the hardware and the
user programs and facilitates the execution of programs. Thus, an operating system is software
which controls the general operation of a computer. Some of the functions of an OS are:

a) Processor management: It manages the assignment of processor to different tasks being

performed by the computer system.
b) Memory management: It manages the allocation of main memory and other storage areas
to the system programmes as well as user programmes and data.
c) Input / Output management: It manages the co-ordination and assignment of different
Input and Output devices while one or more programmes are executed.
d) File management: It allows all files to be easily changed and modified through the use of
text editors or some other file manipulation routines.
e) Establishment and enforcement of a priority system: It determines and maintains the
order in which jobs are to be executed in the computer system. Interpretation of
commands and instructions.
f) Facilitates easy communication between the computer system and the computer operator.

The User interface provided by the OS can be character based or graphical.

CUI -- Character user Interface

GUI -- Graphical user Interface

CUI: It is operated with keyboard only. Ex: MS-DOS, UNIX

GUI: The system can be operated with mouse and keyboard. Ex: Windows 95, Windows XP
etc
 Disk Operating System (DOS): It was developed as early as 1980 by Bill Gates at the
age of 19. It is suited for personal computers. Dos is a single user and single task
operating system
 WINDOWS: It works with DOS and it supports single user and multitask system.
It requires a powerful PC with a minimum RAM of 8 MB.
 UNIX AND XENIX: It is suited for multi-user and multi-task system

2.7.2.2 Application Software/programs

Application software products are designed to satisfy a particular need of a particular
environment. All software applications prepared in the computer lab can come under the
category of Application software. Application software may consist of a single program, such as
Microsoft's notepad for writing and editing a simple text. It may also consist of a collection of
programs, often called a software package, which work together to accomplish a task.
Examples of Application software are the following:

Table 3.1: Examples of Application software

Application/program Purpose/function
Microsoft Word Processing packages that are responsible for creating, editing and printing of
documents. The extend their capabilities to include checking spelling and
grammar, drawing tables, mail merge, print many copies of one document,
typing in various font styles, colours, underlining, inserting pictures, plus
looking for words with a similar meaning to the one typed (thesaurus)
Microsoft Excel Designed for working with numbers in terms of arithmetic (addition,
multiplication, subtraction, division), sorting from the highest to the lowest or
vice-versa, drawing tables, using mathematical functions such as sine, cosine,
average, randomize, to perform complex calculations such as regression.
Managers use spreadsheets in carrying what-if computations to determine the
impact a certain move or decision might have on the profitability or future of the
business.
Microsoft PowerPoint Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation tool that supports text, shapes, graphics,
pictures and multimedia along with integration with other Microsoft Office
 products like Excel. This software is used to display the information in the form
of slide show. The three main functions of presentation software is editing that
allows insertion and formatting of text, including graphics in the text and
executing the slide shows. The best example for this type of application
software is Microsoft PowerPoint.
Microsoft Access Designed for handling and manipulation of large volumes of data. Consider the
example of a university that keeps each and every detail about every student and
should the data be required (i.e. in terms of fees due, results or residential status,
level, department etc) it is instantly retrieved.
Payroll Software Automates the management of employees' salaries, wages, bonuses and
deductions.
Multimedia software Media players and real players are the examples of multimedia software. This
software will allow the user to create audio and videos. The different forms of
multimedia software are audio converters, players, burners, video encoders and
decoders.

2.7.2 Factors to consider before buying computer software

There are many considerations to be made before one settle for a certain type of software.

 Generally, the software has to be appropriate to the task; it should justify the cost as well
as being affordable.
 Other factors are that the software must be compatible with your hardware. Some
software cannot run on IBM machines, while running modern windows-based programs
without a mouse is underutilizing it. If you are buying application software, it must work
well with the system software, for example you cannot install Microsoft Word 2000 on a
machine with Windows 3.1.
 The software must have continued support from the supplier for it to suit changing user
requirements for example if a software was to be used to calculate tax on goods sold, it
should be changeable from sales tax to value added tax.
 Also software like Microsoft products has many versions indicating responsive approach
to user requirements and modernization. A simple example is that of employees’ salaries
in Zimbabwe, up to date software would allow for salaries payslips to accommodate even
 millions as a salary figure. If it was made without such a vision then maybe salaries
would only be up to say $10 000.
 On the other hand, software must be easy to learn and use, it must offer help.
Specifically, its advantageous to buy software with Graphical User Interface (GUI),
which is a program screen interface based on icons, menus, windows for ease of use. It
must be robust, accurate and free from errors.
 Software also differs in the storage space they need. So when buying software, one has to
consider the storage capacity of his machine, the size of the RAM and the speed of the
processor, so that the machine’s speed is not compromised.

2.8 DATABASES
What is a Database?
It is an organised collection of data with minimum duplication to service many applications at
the same time by storing and managing data so that they appear to be in one location. When a
transaction occurs, e.g. a withdrawal in a bank, some data would be stored. All the data that
completely describe a transaction is called a record. E.g.
Withdrawal record

Account# Date Amount Cash/cheque remaining balance

A record is made up of fields. A field is a single descriptive item of a record or a transaction. All
the related records are stored in a file. The various related files and the interfaces that query or
manipulate their stored data from the database. Rather than storing data in separate files for each
application, data is stored physically to appear to users as being stored in only one location.

The database management system acts as the interface between the application programmes and
the data. Database management system is special software used to create and maintain a database
and enable individual business applications to extract the data they need without having to create
separate files or data definitions in their computer programmes.

2.8.1 Advantages of Databases

 Data redundancy is reduced considerably thereby solving problems of excessive memory

requirements and inconsistencies.
 Response time is faster since they can directly interact with the Database Management
System
 Databases offer a wide variety of security and privacy feature for organizational
confidential data.

2.9 REVIEW QUESTIONS

a) Define the following terms

i) Computer hardware
ii) Central processing unit
iii) Computer software
iv) Computer memory
v) Computer port

b) Why computer is known as data processing system?

c) What are the four basic units of a computer system
d) Explain the functions of each unit of a computer system
e) Devices which are used to receive data from central processing unit are classified as
f) Compare Computer with calculator
g) Identify the three main types of computer memory and explain the characteristics of each
h) Differentiate between a volatile and non-volatile memory.
i) List the five units of computer memory and their size of measurement.
j) All code or data is stored and processed in computers using two symbols; 0 and 1. (True
or false)
k) What is difference between information and data?
l) In a computer keyboard the Alt, Ctrl, Shift, Del & Insert keys are known as.......
m) State the uses of the following computer ports:

i) Parallel port
ii) Universal Serial Bus (or USB) Port
iii) Ethernet port

n) Differentiate between system software and application software giving examples

o) Explain the importance of operating system
p) Identify different application software and their uses
q) What are the factors that should be in your mind when you are buying computer
software?
r) State the advantages of a database management system
s) Midlands State university computers are loaded with Windows Operating Systems. These
Operating Systems are not cheap and there are others, which are even for free. What do
you think are the reasons for that choice of Operating system?
t) List 6 factors you would consider before buying any software
u) List any six (6) factors that determine the speed of a computer