COMPUTER SYSTEM, DEVICES AND PERIPHERALS

As an aspiring computer technician, it is very important to know the system that

runs your computer and different devices attached to it. Each device plays an
important role, without each other computer system will not work properly.

What is an Operating System?

The operating system is the most important
program that runs on a computer. Every general-
purpose computer must have an operating system to
run other programs. Operating systems perform
basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the
keyboard, sending output to the display screen,
keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and
controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and
printers.
For large systems, the operating system has
even greater responsibilities and powers. It is like a
traffic cop -- it makes sure that different program and users running at the same time
do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security,
ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system.

Operating systems can be classified as follows:

o Multi-user: Allows two or more users to run programs at the same time. Some
operating systems permit hundreds or even thousands of concurrent users.
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000 o Multiprocessing : Supports running a program on
more than one CPU. Linux
Unix
Windows 2000 o Multitasking : Allows more than one program to
run concurrently.
Unix
Windows 2000 and Windows multi point o Multithreading : Allows different
parts of a single program to run concurrently.
Linux
Unix
Windows 2000 and Windows 7

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 o Real time: Responds to input instantly. General-purpose operating systems,
such as DOS and UNIX, are not real-time.

Operating systems provide a software platform on which other application

programs can run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a
particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to
a great extent the applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating
systems are DOS, OS/2, and Windows, but others are available, such as Linux.

What are the devices of a computer?

The physical, touchable, electronic and mechanical parts of a computer are

called the hardware which is composed of different devices attached to the computer.

The following list represents a basic set of devices found in most Personal
Computers.

1. System Unit- The main part of a microcomputer, sometimes called the

chassis. It includes the following parts: Motherboard, Microprocessor, Memory Chips,
Buses, Ports, Expansion Slots and Cards.

Figure4. Tower Type System Unit

2. Motherboard / Mainboard / System Board- The main circuit board of a

computer. It contains all the circuits and components that run the computer.

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 Figure5. Modern Motherboard

3. CPU (Central Processing Unit) - The processor is the main “brain” or “heart”
of a computer system. It performs all of the instructions and calculations that are
needed and manages the flow of information through a computer.

Figure6. Examples of CPU (Intel Core 2 Duo and AMD Athlon)

4. Primary storage- (internal storage, main memory or memory) is the

computer's working storage space that holds data, instructions for processing and
processed data (information) waiting to be sent to secondary storage. Physically,
primary storage is a collection of RAM chips.

Two (2) Types of Memory

a. ROM – (Read Only Memory) ROM is non-volatile, meaning it holds data even
when the power is ON or OFF.
b. RAM – (Random Access Memory) RAM is volatile, meaning it holds data only
when the power is on. When the power is off, RAM's contents are lost.

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 Figure 7.Examples of RAM

5. Expansion Bus - A bus is a data pathway between

several hardware components inside or outside a
computer. It does not only connect the parts of the CPU to
each other, but also links the CPU with other important
hardware.

Figure 8.Expansion Bus

6. Adapters- Printed-circuit boards (also called

interface cards) that enable the computer to use a
peripheral device for which it does not have the necessary
connections or circuit boards. They are often used to permit
upgrading to a new different hardware.

Figure 9. Adapter (Network Adapter)

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 7. Power Supply Unit (PSU) - Installed in the back
corner of the PC case, next to the motherboard. It converts
120vac (standard house power) into DC voltages that are
used by other components in the PC.

Figure10. Power supply

8. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) - Also known as

hard drive, is a magnetic storage device that
is installed inside the computer. The hard drive
is used as permanent storage for data. In a
Windows computer, the hard drive is usually
configured as the C: drive and contains the
operating system and applications.
Figure 11 .Hard Disc

9. Optical Drive- An optical drive is a storage device

that uses lasers to read data on the optical media.
There are three types of optical drives: Compact Disc
(CD), Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) and Blu-ray Disc
(BD).

Figure12. CD ROM

10. Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) -

Designed to optically access data stored on
a DVD. A laser moves back and forth near
the disk surface and accesses data at a
very fast rate.

Figure 13.DVD ROM

What are the input and output devices of a computer?

The devices attached to a personal computer can be classified into two- the
input and output devices. Input Device is composed of a device that accepts data and
instructions from the user or from another computer system. While, output device is
any piece of computer hardware that displays results after the computer has
processed the input data that has been entered.

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 Two (2) Types of Input Devices

1. Keyboard Entry – Data is inputted to the computer through a keyboard.

Keyboard - The first input device developed for the PC. Data is transferred to
the PC over a short cable with a circular 6-pin Mini-din connector that plugs into
the back of the motherboard.

Figure14. Keyboard

2. Direct Entry – A form of input that does not require data to be keyed by someone
sitting at a keyboard. Direct-entry devices create machine-readable data on paper,
or magnetic media, or feed it directly into the computer’s CPU.

Three Categories of Direct Entry Devices

1. Pointing Devices - An input device used to move the

pointer (cursor) on screen.
• Mouse - The most common 'pointing device' used
in PCs. Every mouse has two buttons and most
have one or two scroll wheels.

Figure15. Mouse

• Touch screen- A display screen that is sensitive to the touch of a finger or

stylus. Used in myriad applications, including ATM machines, retail pointof-
sale terminals, car navigation and industrial controls. The touch screen
became wildly popular for smart phones and tablets.

Figure16. Touch Screen Devices

• Light Pen - A light-sensitive stylus wired to a video terminal used to draw
pictures or select menu options. The user brings the pen to the desired point
on screen and presses the pen button to make contact.

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 F
i
Figure17. Light Pen

• Digitizer Tablet - A graphics drawing tablet used for sketching new images
or tracing old ones. Also called a "graphics tablet," the user contacts the
surface of the device with a wired or wireless pen or puck. Often mistakenly
called a mouse, the puck is officially the "tablet cursor."

Figure18. Digitizer Tablet

2. Scanning Devices- A device that can read text or

illustrations printed on paper and translates the
information into a form the computer can use.

Figure19. Image scanner

Figure20. Bar Code Reader
3. Voice- Input Devices - Audio input devices also known as speech or voice
recognition systems that allow a user to send audio signals to a computer for
processing, recording, or carrying out commands. Audio input devices such as

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 microphones allow users to speak to the computer in order to record a voice
message or navigate software.

Figure 21. Microphones

Output Devices

1. Computer Display Monitor- It displays information in visual form, using text and
graphics. The portion of the monitor that displays the information is called the
screen or video display terminal.

Types of Monitor
a. CRT Monitors - Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) were the only type of displays for use
with desktop PCs. They are relatively big (14" to 16" deep) and heavy (over 15 lbs).

Figure22. Types of Monitor

b. LCD Monitors – Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology has been used in laptops
for some time. It has recently been made commercially available as monitors for
desktop PCs.

c. LED Monitors (Light Emitting Diode) - A display and lighting technology used in
almost every electrical and electronic product on the market, from a tiny on/off light
to digital readouts, flashlights, traffic lights and perimeter lighting.

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2. LCD Projectors- utilize two sheets of polarizing
material with a liquid crystal solution between them. An
electric current passed through the liquid causes the
crystals to align so that light cannot pass through them.
Each crystal, therefore, is like a shutter, either allowing
light to pass through or blocking the light.

FFigure23. LCD Projector

3. Smart Board - A type of display screen that has a touch sensitive transparent panel
covering the screen, which is similar to a touch screen.

Figure24. Smart Board

4. Printer - A device that prints text or illustrations on paper.

Types of printer

a) Ink-Jet or Bubble-Jet Printer - spays ink at a sheet of paper. Ink-jet printers

produce high-quality text and graphics.

b) Laser Printer - Uses the same technology as copy machines. Laser printers
produce very high quality text and graphics.

c) LCD and LED Printer- Similar to a laser printer, but uses liquid crystals or
lightemitting diodes rather than a laser to produce an image on the drum.

d) Line Printer - Contains a chain of characters or pins that print an entire line at one
time. Line printers are very fast, but produce low-quality print.

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 Figure 28.Types of Printer

(e) Thermal Printer- An inexpensive printer that works by pushing heated pins against
heat-sensitive paper. Thermal printers are widely used in calculators and fax
machines.

5. Speakers - Used to play sound. They may be built into

the system unit or connected with cables. Speakers allow
you to listen to music and hear sound effects from your
computer.

Figure 29. Speaker

What is a Storage Device?

Aside from the devices attached on a PC, there are also the so called storage devices
that perform a special task in computing system. Storage device is any apparatus for
recording computer data in a permanent or semi-permanent form.

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 Figure 30.Storage Devices

Types of storage devices

Floppy diskette- is a random access, removable data storage medium that can be
used with personal computers. The term usually refers to the magnetic medium
housed in a rigid plastic cartridge measuring 3.5 inches square and about 2millimeters
thick. Also called a "3.5-inch diskette," it can store up to 1.44 megabytes (MB) of data.

Compact disc (CD) – also called optical disc is a nonmagnetic, polished metal disk
used to store digital information. The disc is read by the CD- ROM.

Digital Versatile Disc (DVD)- an optical disc technology with a 4.7 gigabyte storage
capacity on a single-sided, one-layered disk, which is enough for a 133-minute movie.

Jump drive and USB flash drive- is a plug-and-play portable storage device that
uses flash memory and is lightweight enough to attach to a key chain. A USB drive
can be used in place of a floppy disk, Zip drive disk, or CD.

Hard drive- is the main, and usually largest, data storage device in a computer. The
operating system, software titles and most other files are stored in the hard disk drive.

LS-120- is a drive which supports a special floppy diskette which can store up to
120MB of information as well as being backwards compatible and still supporting the
standard 1.44MB floppy diskettes.

Zip drive-is a small, portable disk drive used primarily for backing up and archiving
personal computer files.

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