DCE1243 - Introduction to PC Troubleshooting

The objective is to introduce the main concepts associated with the assembling, installation, troubleshooting, and preventive maintenance of modern personal computer

Course Work Break Downs

Assignment 15% Quizzes 5% Lab Test 15% Test 15%

Final Exam 50%

Total 100%

Areas that will be covered

Introduction to computer An overview of computer Assembling your computer Install Operating System Troubleshooting PC hardware and software Preventive maintenance and safety

precaution

Introduction to computer

History of Computer

A computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention

A very old abacus

Modern abacus

Ancient History

Computer started 2000 years ago, in Babylonia, at the birth of the abacus

An early aid of mathematical computations memory of the human performing the calculation

History of Computer

In 1642, the French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal invented a calculating device that would come to be called the “Adding Machine”.

The basic principle of his calculator is still used today in water meters and modern-day odometers.

It couldn't sell many because of their exorbitant cost and because they really weren't that accurate.

Pascal's Pascaline

A Pascaline opened up so you can observe the gears and cylinders which rotated to display the numerical result

History of Computer

In 1823 Charles Babbage a mathematics professor at Cambridge University introduced the Different Engine, the largest and most sophisticated mechanical calculator of his time.

The construction of this engine proved exceedingly difficult and the project failed, but it did improve the precision of Britain’s machine-tool industry.

History of Computer

Babbage later turned his attention to the Analytical Engine, a general-purpose programmable computing machine.

Many people consider this to be the first true computer system even though it only ever existed on paper. The Analytical Machine had all the same basic parts that modern computer systems have.

Different Engine Analytical Engine

History of Computer

1801 the Frenchman Joseph Marie Jacquard Invented – (remember the "hanging chad" from

the Florida presidential ballots of the year 2000)

History of Computer

Generation Year Descriptions

1st 1940 – 1956 Vacuum Tubes – for circuitry and magnetic drums for memory machine language to perform operations

2nd 1956 – 1963 Transistor – replaced vacuum tubes, it is a device composed of semiconductor material that amplifies a signal or opens or closes a circuit

3rd 1964 – 1971 Integrated Circuits – with transistors, resistors, and capacitors were etched onto a piece of silicon, called semiconductors, increased the speed and efficiency of computers

4th 1971 – Present

Microprocessors – widely used and most the wanted chips

5th Present & Beyond

Artificial Intelligence – making computer to behave like humans

Communication

Humans communicate primarily through work, spoken and written. Messages were either verbal or written in form

Communication have one thing in common, require some type of code to convert human language to a form of information that can be packaged and send to remote system

Electronic Communication

Computer uses binary notation to communicate

Binary notation use 2 bit 0 and 1( 0 represent no

signal off, 1 represent a signal on)

Communications: Moving Data between Computers

A fifth operation: communications Moving data within the computer or between computers

Communications devices – Enable computers to connect to a computer network

Network – Two or more computer systems that are connected

Modem – A device that enables the computer to access other computers

Communications Devices

Modem Network Interface Card – NIC

Binary Math Term

Memory Unit Value

Bit Smallest unit of information, shorthand term for binary digit

Nibble 4 bits (Half of a byte)

Byte 8 bits (Equal to one character)

Word 16 bits on most personal computers (longer words possible on larger computers)

Kilobyte (KB) 1024 bytes

Megabyte (MB) 1,048,576 bytes (Approximately one million bytes or 1024 KB)

Gigabyte (GB) 1,073,741,824 bytes (Approximately one billion bytes or 1024 MB)

ASCII Code

The standard code for handling text characters on most modern computers is called ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange).

The basic ASCII standard consists of 128 codes representing the English alphabet, punctuation, and certain control characters

Most systems today recognize 256 codes: the original 128, plus an additional 128 codes called the extended character set

ASCII Code

EBCDIC

Extended Binary Extended Binary Coded Decimal Coded Decimal Interchange CodeInterchange Code ((EBCDICEBCDIC) is an 8-bit ) is an 8-bit character encodingcharacter encoding

Used on IBM Used on IBM mainframe operating mainframe operating system such as system such as z/OS,OS/390,VM and z/OS,OS/390,VM and VSE as well as IBM VSE as well as IBM midrange computer midrange computer operating systems operating systems such as OS/400 and such as OS/400 and i5/OSi5/OS

Understanding the Computer

Computer – A machine that performs the four basic operations: Input Processing Output Storage

Understanding the Computer

Computer system – A collection of related components that are designed to work together

A system includes: Hardware Software

Hardware Software

Understanding the Computer

Program – A list of instructions that tell the computer how to perform the four basic operations to accomplish a task

Understanding the Computer

Software – All the programs that give the computer its instructions

Two categories of software: System software Application software

System software

Application software

Input: Getting Data into the Computer

Data – Unorganized raw materials made up of words, numbers, images, or sounds

The first operation: input Input devices enable the user to enter data into the

computer The computer accepts data

Input Devices

Keyboard Mouse – pointing device

Microphone – speech-recognition Digital Cameras

Processing: Transforming Data into Information

The second operation: processing Computers transform data into information Processing circuitry:

Central processing unit (CPU) Random access memory (RAM)

Arithmetic LogicDATA IN INFORMATION OUT

Processing Devices

Motherboard

Central Processing Unit – CPU

Random Access Memory– RAM

Expansion Card

Output: Displaying Information

The third operation: output The computer shows the results of the processing

operation in a way people can understand Output devices show the results of processing

operations

Output Devices

Monitor

Printer

Speakers

Storage: Holding Programs and Data for Future Use

The fourth operation: storage The computer saves the data or output so that it can be used again

later Storage devices hold all programs and data that the computer uses

Storage Devices

Hard Drive

Floppy Disk Drive

Zip Drive

CD/DVD Drive

Jaz Drive

Tape Drive

Micro Drive

The Information Processing Cycle

Input – You enter text in a word processing program You run the program’s spell checker program

Processing – The computer checks and compares all words entered with a list of correctly spelled words

Output – The computer provides a list of apparent misspellings You correct the spelling in your document

Storage – You save the revised document to a disk

Input Processing Output Storage

Types of Computers: Computers for Individuals

Desktop – PC, iMac

Notebook – Laptop

WorkstationPersonal Digital Assistant

Internet ApplianceAll-in-One

Types of Computers: Computers for Organizations

Servers are not designed for individuals. They make programs available for network users

Minicomputers handle the computing for small corporations

Mainframes handle gigantic processing jobs for large corporations or agencies

Supercomputers are ultra-fast and handle huge amounts of scientific data