Get to Know Your PC, Information Systems

Get to Know Your PC

PC Components - Inside Your PC - Storage Components/Media - Peripherals for Your PC

PC Components
Monitor	Another term for display screen. The term monitor, however, usually refers to the entire box, whereas display screen can mean just the screen. In addition, the term monitor often implies graphics capabilities.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)	The CPU is the brains of the computer. Sometimes referred to simply as the processor or central processor, the CPU is where most calculations take place. In terms of computing power, the CPU is the most important element of a computer system.
Keyboard	The set of typewriter-like keys that enables you to enter data into a computer. Computer keyboards are similar to electric-typewriter keyboards but contain additional keys. The keys on computer keyboards are often classified as follows: alphanumeric keys - letters and numbers punctuation keys - comma, period, semicolon, etc. special keys - function keys, control keys, arrow keys, Caps Lock key, etc.

Special Keys on PC Keyboards	Alt key	Short for Alternate, this key is like a second Control key.
	Arrow keys	Most keyboards have four arrow keys that enable you to move the cursor (or insertion point) up, down, right, or left. Used in conjunction with the Shift or Alt keys, the arrow keys can move the cursor more than one position at a time, but this depends on which program is running.
	Backspace key	Deletes the character just to the left of the cursor (or insertion point) and moves the cursor to that position.
	Caps Lock Key	A toggle key that, when activated, causes all alphabetic characters to be uppercase.
	Ctrl key	Short for Control, this key is used in conjunction with other keys to produce control characters. The meaning of each control character depends on which program is running.
	Delete key	Sometimes labeled Del, deletes the character at the current cursor position, or the selected object, but does not move the cursor. For graphics-based applications, the Delete key deletes the character to the right of the insertion point.
	Enter key	Used to enter commands or to move the cursor to the beginning of the next line. Sometimes labeled Return instead of Enter.
	Esc key	Short for Escape, this key is used to send special codes to devices and to exit (or escape) from programs and tasks.
	Fn key	Short for Function, this key is used in conjunction with other keys to produce special actions that vary depending on which program is running. This key is found most frequently on portable computers that do not have full-size keyboards.
	Function Keys	Special keys labeled F1 to Fx, x being the number of function keys on the keyboard. These keys have different meanings depending on which program is running.
	Return key	Another name for the Enter key.
Mouse	A device that controls the movement of the cursor or pointer on a display screen. A mouse is a small object you can roll along a hard, flat surface. As you move the mouse, the pointer on the display screen moves in the same direction. Mice contain at least one button and sometimes as many as three, which have different functions depending on what program is running. Some newer mice also include a scroll wheel for scrolling through long documents.

Inside Your PC
Processor	In the world of personal computers, the terms microprocessor and CPU are used interchangeably. At the heart of all personal computers and most workstations sits a microprocessor. Microprocessors also control the logic of almost all digital devices. Example: Pentium III 800Mhz
Operating System	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. Examples: Windows 95, 98, NT, & 2000
Memory	Internal storage areas in the computer. The term memory identifies data storage that comes in the form of chips, and the word storage is used for memory that exists on tapes or disks. Moreover, the term memory is usually used as a shorthand for physical memory, which refers to the actual chips capable of holding data. Examples: 32, 64, 129, 256 MB
Hard Drive	A magnetic disk on which you can store computer data, commonly referred to as the c drive. The term hard is used to distinguish it from a soft, or floppy, disk. Hard disks hold more data and are faster than floppy disks.
Video Adapter/Card	A board that plugs into a personal computer to give it display capabilities. The display capabilities of a computer, however, depend on both the logical circuitry (provided in the video adapter) and the display monitor. A monitor can display any bit-mapped image. Within the text and graphics modes, some monitors also offer a choice of resolutions. At lower resolutions a monitor can display more colors.
CD-ROM	Abbreviation of Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory. A type of optical disk capable of storing large amounts of data - up to 1GB, although the most common size is 650MB (megabytes). CD-ROMs are stamped by the vendor, and once stamped, they cannot be erased and filled with new data. To read a CD, you need a CD-ROM player. All CD-ROMs conform to a standard size and format, so you can load any type of CD-ROM into any CD-ROM player. In addition, CD-ROM players are capable of playing audio CDs, which share the same technology.
Writeable CD-ROM	A type of CD-ROM that enables you to write/save onto a CD-R or CD-RW disk, just like you would write/save data to your hard drive or a floppy drive.
Floppy Drive	A disk drive that can read and write to floppy disks.
Sound Card	An expansion board that enables a computer to manipulate and output sounds. Sound cards are necessary for nearly all CD-ROMs and have become commonplace on modern personal computers. Sound cards enable the computer to output sound through speakers connected to the board, to record sound input from a microphone connected to the computer, and manipulate sound stored on a disk.
Modem	Acronym for modulator-demodulator. A modem is a device that enables a computer to transmit data over telephone lines. Computer information is stored digitally, whereas information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in the form of analog waves. A modem converts between these two forms. You must use a modem to connect to the Internet if using a dial up account, example: Wave-net.

Storage Components/Media
A Drive	Unlike most hard disks, floppy disks (often called floppies or diskettes) are portable, because you can remove them from a disk drive. Disk drives for floppy disks are called floppy drives or a drives. Floppy disks are slower to access than hard disks and have less storage capacity, but they are much less expensive.
C Drive	Also referred to as a hard drive. A hard disk, can store anywhere from 1 megabyte to several gigabytes, whereas most floppies have a maximum storage capacity of 1.4 megabytes. Data can be save and deleted on the hard drive, the data is not portable.
Zip Drive	A high-capacity floppy disk drive developed by Iomega Corporation. Zip disks are slightly larger than conventional floppy disks, and about twice as thick. They can hold up to 250 MB of data.
CD-R	With CD-R disks, once you have written data to the disk you can not erase the data, it is permanent.
CD-RW	With CD-RW disks, you can treat the optical disk just like a floppy or hard disk, writing and erasing data onto it multiple times.
Network Drive	Similar to the hard drive except the data is stored on a server and backed up each night. Data can be restored to the network if deleted or corrupted within 2 weeks. Your network drive has the same name as your username.

Peripherals for Your PC
Printer	A device that prints text or illustrations on paper. There are many different types of printers. In terms of the technology utilized, printers fall into the following categories:
	Daisy-wheel	Similar to a ball-head typewriter, this type of printer has a plastic or metal wheel on which the shape of each character stands out in relief. A hammer presses the wheel against a ribbon, which in turn makes an ink stain in the shape of the character on the paper. Daisy-wheel printers produce letter-quality print but cannot print graphics.
	Dot-matrix	Creates characters by striking pins against an ink ribbon. Each pin makes a dot, and combinations of dots form characters and illustrations.
	Ink-jet	Sprays ink at a sheet of paper. Ink-jet printers produce high-quality text and graphics.
	Laser	Uses the same technology as copy machines. Laser printers produce very high quality text and graphics.
	LCD & LED	Similar to a laser printer, but uses liquid crystals or light-emitting diodes rather than a laser to produce an image on the drum.
	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.
	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.
Scanner	A device that can read text or illustrations printed on paper and translate the information into a form the computer can use. A scanner works by digitizing an image The resulting matrix of bits, called a bit map, can then be stored in a file, displayed on a screen, and manipulated by programs. Optical scanners do not distinguish text from illustrations; they represent all images as bit maps. Therefore, you cannot directly edit text that has been scanned. To edit text read by an optical scanner, you need an optical character recognition (OCR ) system to translate the image into ASCII characters. Most optical scanners sold today come with OCR packages.
Digital Camera	A camera that stores images digitally rather than recording them on film. Once a picture has been taken, it can be downloaded to a computer system, and then manipulated with a graphics program and printed. Unlike film photographs, which have an almost infinite resolution, digital photos are limited by the amount of memory in the camera, the optical resolution of the digitizing mechanism, and, finally, by the resolution of the final output device. Even the best digital cameras connected to the best printers cannot produce film-quality photos. However, if the final output device is a laser printer, it doesn't really matter whether you take a real photo and then scan it, or take a digital photo. In both cases, the image must eventually be reduced to the resolution of the printer. The big advantage of digital cameras is that making photos is both inexpensive and fast because there is no film processing.