An Introduction to Computers
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Transcript An Introduction to Computers
An Introduction to Computer
Hardware
Nancy B. Clark, MEd
USA Family Practice
Objectives
Read a computer ad and understand what is
important to know about the hardware
Discuss computer hardware intelligently
Troubleshoot hardware problems
Feel comfortable putting a computer
together from a box
Select a basic computer to fit your needs
Outline
The Computer
Mice!
The Microprocessor
Keyboards
Memory
Printers
Disks and Disk Drives
Scanners
CD-ROMs
Ports and Plugs
Modems
What to Buy
Sound Cards
Network
Cards and Monitors
The Computer
Desktops
Towers
Laptops
Inside the Box
Power Supply
Motherboard (chips)
– Memory RAM
– Microprocessor
Bays (adding drives)
Slots (adding ports or cards)
The Microprocessor
XT 8088
AT 286
386
486
Pentium
Pentium Pro with
MMX
Pentium II
Speed
– megahertz
Million processes
per second
Speed - megahertz (MHz)
XT 8088
12 MHz
AT 286
16 MHz
386
40 MHz
486
100 MHz
Pentium
200 MHz
Pentium Pro MMX
200 MHz
Pentium II
450 MHz
Memory - RAM
Temporary
SAVE OFTEN
Holds running programs
Holds documents you are editing
8 M - 1 G (multiples of 8)
Clears when computer off
Measured in bytes
RAM - Bits and Bytes
Bit: 0 or 1
Off = 0
On = 1
F=
Bits to Bytes
1
XT
0
1
1
0
1
0
8 bits = 1 byte or one character of
memory
486, Pentiums 32 bits = 1 byte
The more bits per byte the faster the
computer
0
Bytes
Bytes - one character
KB Kilobytes - thousand
MB Megabytes - million
GB Gigabytes - billion
TB Terabytes - trillion
Disks and Drives
Storage Devices
Hard Disk Drives (HDD)
Floppy
Zip
Jaz
Tape
Hard Disk Drives
Store programs you will run
Store files you create
EIDE
SCSI
1.6 G to 23 G and growing
Has a lot to do with speed of
computer
Floppy Drives
3.5” Floppy 1.4 M - disk $.33
Zip 100 M $119 - disk $10
Jaz 1 G $299 - disk $100
Optical Drives
CD-ROM 12X
Read/Write Optical Drives
DVD Digital Video Disk
Software comes on CDs
Much faster installation
Cards and Monitors
Video Card
– Memory 4M + is good
– Resolution - number of pixels and colors
• VGA 640-480 16 color
• SVGA 800-600+ 256 - 16 million colors
Monitor (has to match card)
– Sizes: 13” 15” 17” 21” Big Screen TV
– Dot Pitch - distance between pixels (.26)
(smaller is better)
Sound Cards and Multimedia
MM = SC + CD + Speakers
FM Synthesis - mimics sounds
Wavetable Synthesis - real sounds
Soundblaster compatible
Microphone input
Video Input Cards
Attach CamCorder or Cable TV
Record Video (Caution: Storage)
See-U-See Me
MPEG
Memory 2- 4MB
Modem
Connect to Phone Lines
Call Internet Provider
Chat
Send and Receive Fax
Answering Machine
Speed of essence
Early: 2400 Baud (bits per second)
33.6 - 56 Kbps (kilo bits per second)
Keyboards
(there is no ANY key)
CTRL (CTRL-B)
Backspace
ALT (ALT-F)
Home
Shift
End
Function Keys F1
PageUp
Insert
PageDown
Delete
Enter (Return)
Escape
Arrows
The Mouse
Click
Track Balls
Double-click
Touch pads
Drag
Left and right mouse
button
CURSOR - Arrow on
screen that tells where
you are
Printers
Types (in order of cost)
Dot Matrix
Ink-jet
Laser
Thermal Dye Transfer
Color?
Resolution (DPI Dots
Per Inch)
–
–
–
–
100 so-so
300 better
600 excellent
1200 $$$$$$$$$$$
PPM - Pages Per
Minute
Toner Costs
Scanners
Digitize pictures (graphics)
Digitize text
Types
– Hand
– Flatbed
– Scanman (insert)
Same rules as Printers
– Resolution DPI - color
Ports and Plugs
Serial
Parallel (8 wires)
SCSI
Males and females
The right plug for the right port
What to Buy?
Computers
– IBM (Thinkpad)
– Gateway
– Dell
– Compaq
– HP
– Micron
– NEC
– Toshiba
Monitors
– Sony
– Panasonic
– NEC
Printers/Scanners
– Hewlett-Packard
– Epson
Modem
– US Robotics
– Global Village
What to Buy?
Zip and Jaz
– Iomega
Rules
– Made in Japan a
Good thing
www.pcmag.com
– Made in Korea not
www.computershopper.com
a good thing
www.gateway.com
– Service calls Free
www.dell.com
– 24 hour tech
support
– 3 year Warranty
Troubleshooting your computer
Check Power
Check Plugs
Disks in Drive
Shut down and restart
Networks
Things to Know
– LAN
– WAN
– Client/Server
– Peer to Peer
– Routers
– Backbones
– Remote Access
LAN - Local Area Network
Peer to Peer Network
LAN - Local Area Network
Server
FAMMED
Client
Software/Files
Windows NT (Server)
E-Mail (Exchange Server)
Win95 or MAC OS
Scheduling
User Specific software
EMR
like SPSS
Web Browser, telnet
Non-shared files
Network Client
Software - Protocols
MS Office, Publisher, Project
Public Files (Shared Files)
User Files (Backup of non-
shared files)
Medical References
Router
WAN - Wide Area Network
Backbone
Family Practice
Router
WAN
Biomedical Library
USA-MC
2001
Backbone
144.23.7.86
144.23.7.87 IP Address
Internet
Jaguar1.usouthal.edu
Remote Access