Mid Exam MLT PDF

LO1. Identify info technology systems What is Information technology (IT)? IT is the use of computers and other systems to manage, process, store, transmit, and protect data. IT is a subset of information and communications technology (ICT). ICT includes IT, telecommunicat...

LO1. Identify info technology systems What is Information technology (IT)? IT is the use of computers and other systems to manage, process, store, transmit, and protect data. IT is a subset of information and communications technology (ICT). ICT includes IT, telecommunications, and digital technologies. Internet Wireless networks Cell phones video-conferencing and social networking. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 1 Information technology cont… IT systems include: Hardware, such as servers and routers Software Programming languages Peripheral equipment 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 2  Data vs. Information Data: Raw facts or figures or anything that can be observed by our sense organs. Data can be found in the form of” Sound Video/Animation Text Picture Photograph Or the combination of the above. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 3 Data vs. Information cont. Information: is a collection of meaningful facts and figures that can be used as a base for guidance and decision making. Data needs to be processed and organized in some way to produce information with a data processing cycle. Data processing: Is the manipulation of data into a more useful form. It is a series of processes or operations for processing data. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 4 Data vs. Information cont. The computer is also capable of retrieving the stored information any time for further processing or analysis. Data processing activity involves three basic activities. a) Input b) Processing c) Output 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 5 Data vs. Information cont. 1. Input: It is the process through which collected data is transformed into a form the computer can understand. 2. Processing: In the processing step, the following activities can be performed in a systematic manner. Classification, Sorting, Calculation or Summarizing. 3. Output: After completing the processing step, output is generated. It can be stored on the storage media for 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 6 later use. Data vs. Information cont. In the health sector different types of data are collected from health institutes and research centers. The data processing is performed to come up with useful information that helps the clinical and public health practices, and health researches. In computer systems this is performed first by entering data using appropriate data entry mechanisms. Once data is entered into the computer, the computer processes it by using a pre-defined logic or instruction. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 7  1.1. Types of info technology equipment (ITE) Any and all physical technology, equipment, tools, and devices (including but not limited to: Computers and Peripheral devices Servers Telephones and Smartphones Other telecommunications equipment and transmission devices Video and audio equipment Projectors Encoding or decoding equipment 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 8 ITE cont. Input/output and connecting devices, such as flash drives and all external media storage devices Printers Scanners Copy machines 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 9  1.2. Functions of equipment, component parts and accessories Definition of Computer An electronic device, operating under the control of instructions stored in its own memory that can accept data (input), process the data according to specified rules, produce information (output), and store the information for future use. It is a programmable machine. Is a machine that manipulates data according to a list of instructions. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 10 Functionalities of a computer Any digital computer carries out five functions in gross terms: Takes data as input Stores the data/instruction in its memory and use them when required. Processes the data and convert it into useful information. Generates the output Controls all the above four functionalities. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 11  Characteristics of computer a) Speed: The speed of a computer in processing data is increasing from time to time and computers can calculate at very high speed. b) Accuracy: The accuracy of a computer system is very high provided that the data and the program given to it are accurate. Error in computer data processing is mostly human factor. c) Storage: Computers can store large amount of data using their memory unit and storage media. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 12 Characteristics cont. d) Versatility: Computers can be programmed so that they can be used for different purposes. People can use computers for different applications. e) Diligence: The computer does the same thing repeatedly without saying “I am tired or I am bored”. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 13  Types of computer Computers comes in a variety of types designed for different purposes, with different capabilities, power and costs. Commonly they are categorized into five groups. 1) Microcomputers 2) Workstation 3) Minicomputers 4) Mainframes 5) Supercomputers 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 14 Types of computer cont. 1. Microcomputer: A microcomputer is the smallest computer that has a microprocessor chip as its central processing unit (CPU). Microcomputers includes: a) Personal Computers (PCs) b) Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) c) Palmtop computers. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 15 Types of computer cont. a) Personal Computers (PCs) Are typically used at home, at school or at business. Can access the Internet, document processing, spreadsheet calculations, database management, photograph editing, and playing music or games. Personal computers come in two major varieties. 1. Desktop computers 2. Laptop computers. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 16 Types of computer cont. 1. Desktop computers have larger size than laptop and not easy to move from place to place. They usually sit on a desk or table and are plugged into a wall outlet for power. 2. Laptop or notebook computers are small and portable. Have a built-in LCD display, keyboard and some kind of built-in pointing device (such as a touch pad). 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 17 Types of computer cont. b) Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) is a handheld microcomputer with very small size and minimal power and a greater portability. PDAs are normally used for taking short notes, accessing internet, and keeping track of appointments. The user of PDA draws characters and presses icons on the touch- sensitive LCD screen with a stylus. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 18 Types of computer cont. c) Palmtop Computer is a very small microcomputer that also uses very minimal power with high portability. look like a tiny laptop having with a flip-up screen and small keyboard. Some palmtops contain wireless networking or cell phone devices so that users can check e-mail or surf the web on the move. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 19 Types of computer cont. 2. Workstations/Servers Workstations contain one or more microprocessor and they may be used by a single-user for applications requiring higher processing capacity than a typical PC. May be used as server computers that provide files to client computers over a network. Handle processing for many users simultaneously. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 20 Types of computer cont. 3. Minicomputers A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computer that is less powerful than a mainframe computer but larger than microcomputers. This class of computers became available in the 1960’s. Obsolete nowadays. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 21 Types of computer cont. 4. Mainframe Computers A mainframe computer is a large, powerful computer that handles the processing of different applications for many users simultaneously (up to several hundred users). Very expensive, large data storage and used as high-capacity server computers for networks with many client workstations. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 22 Types of computer cont. 5. Supercomputers A supercomputer is the most powerful computer that has been optimized for exceptionally high speed and processing power. Supercomputers are used for extremely calculation intensive tasks such as: Quantum mechanical physics Simulating nuclear bomb detonations Weather forecasting and climate research 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 23  Basic Components of a Computer The main components of a computer are software and hardware. Hardware: is any visible part of a computer that can be seen and touched. Computer hardware involves all material technologies that the computer uses to input process and produce output data/information. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 24 Components cont. Obviously, computers cannot do anything without step-by-step instructions. These lists of instructions are also called program. Software is therefore, a set of instruction that derives the computer to operate. Computer hardware is broadly classified as: 1. Input devices 2. Processing device 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 25 Components cont. 1. Input Devices: devices which allows the computer to capture and input any form of data like character, text, image, voice and video. A mouse is a handheld pointing device that produces input data moving on a display screen of computers. Keyboard: the primary input devices allows a user to input letters, numbers, and other symbols into a computer. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 26 Components cont. A touchpad (also track pad) is a pointing device consisting of specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on screen. A light pen is another pointing device that is widely used with PDAs or palmtop computers. It allows users to point to touch-sensitive areas on a screen and is often used to select menu choices and input data. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 27 Components cont. Scanner is an input device used for direct data entry from the source document into the computer. It converts the document image into digital form so that it can be fed into the computer. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 28 Components cont. Microphones: Sometimes abbreviated as mic, it is a hardware peripheral that allows computer users to input audio or voice into their computer. Some PC Microphones are attached to headphones. A digital camera allows users to input images, videos and audio (sound) simultaneously. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 29 Components cont. 2. Processing device Central Processing Unit (CPU) Also known as the microprocessor Is the major component of a computer. It is often referred as the "brain" of the computer system. The CPU is plugged into the motherboard (i.e. a circuit board that holds every component inside the computer case). 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 30 Components cont. The CPU can do the following activities: Carries out instructions and tells the rest of the computer system what to do. Performs arithmetic and logical calculations and data manipulation. Holds data and instructions which are in current use. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 31 Components cont. Central Processing Unit (CPU) 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 32 Components cont. The CPU consists of the Control Unit (CU) and the Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU) and Register. The CU manages the computer's various components and is responsible for the smooth running of the operating system and application software. The ALU is also capable of performing arithmetic and logic functions. There is also a small amount of memory associated with the CPU called a by Miftah T register. 12/23/2024 33 Components cont. The CPU Fan is placed on top to minimize the effect of the heat generated by the CPU. CPU's speed is measured in Giga Hertz (GHz-billions of cycles per second). The higher the GHz rating of your CPU, the faster your computer will run. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 34 Components cont. Computer Memory: refers to a device that is used to store data or programs. Two major types of computer memory are RAM & ROM. RAM: Random Access Memory (RAM) is the main 'working' memory used by the computer. RAM is a volatile type of memory; contents stored in it disappear when power is turned- off. RAM capacity is measured in Mega Byte (MB), or Giga Byte (GB). 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 35 Components cont. The higher RAM data storage capacity, the faster the computer will be. PCs can have RAM ranging from 256 MB to the recent modern computers with over 4 GB of RAM. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 36 Components cont. ROM: Read Only Memory (ROM) is a special type of memory chip which holds software or BIOS (Basic Input Output System) instruction that allows the computer to boot or start up properly. The instruction stored on ROM cannot be erased or re-written. Thus it is a non-volatile memory area. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 37 Components cont. 3. Output Devices Devices used to display information are known as output devices. Some of the output devices are Monitors Printers Plotters Speakers 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 38 Components cont. Monitor also called video display terminal (VDT) or video display unit (VDU) Is a video display screen and the hard shell that holds it. Display systems convert computer binary data or signal into text and pictures and shows on display screen. There are different technologies that are used to display video output from a computer. Cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor Liquid crystal display (LCD) flat-panel displays. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 39 Components cont. Cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor Liquid crystal display (LCD) 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 40 Components cont. Speakers: Most computers are sold with the capability to add a pair of speakers to your system unit. Printers are peripheral devices that provide a hard-copy output. There are different types of printers such as Laser printers Inkjet printers Dot matrix printers 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 41 Components cont. A plotter is an output device similar to a printer, but normally allows you to print larger images. Also called as large-scale printers that are very accurate at reproducing line drawings. Commonly used for engineering drawings or architectural blueprints. In a plotter, the paper remains stationary and the printer moves pens across the paper to draw or print the image. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 42 Components cont. Plotter 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 43 Components cont. 4. Storage Devices A computer storage device is any type of hardware that stores data permanently. Computer storage devices found inside and outside the system unit. Floppy disk drives CDROMS/DVDs Hard disk drives Removable storage devices. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 44 Components cont. Hard Disks: are used for permanent storage of data and programs. Hard disks typically reside inside the computer (although there are external and removable hard drives) and can hold more information than other forms of storage. The internal hard disk houses all your files and folders including the operating system and other software. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 45 Components cont. Internal Hard Disk External Hard Disk 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 46 Components cont. CDs and DVDs CDs (Compact discs) hold 700MB of data (equivalent to 80 minutes of audio). CDs can be CD-R or CD-RW. CD-R stands for Compact Disk Recordable. CD-RW stands for CD Rewritable DVDs (Digital video discs) have a considerably higher storage capacity than CDs. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 47 Components cont. DVDs storage capacity exists in different standards. 4.7 GB of data or 135 minutes of video 9.4GB or 270-minute of video. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 48 Components cont. Removable Storage devices: includes Flash disk Tape drive Memory cards Jazz drives Each device differs with regard to their storage capacity, speed, cost, and performance. Many of the removable storage devices are great for data backup and moving files from place tobyplace. 12/23/2024 Miftah T 49 Components cont. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 50 Components cont. Software Computers are pretty much useless without software. There are many types of software, or programs. The two major categories of software are: System Software Application software 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 51 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 52 Components cont. 1. System software: The system software is composed of Operating systems, utility software and programming languages. a. Operating System (OS): is system software which is an interface between hardware and user. It is responsible for the management and coordination of activities. Loads automatically when you start your computer. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 53 Components cont. b. Utility Software: also known as service program. Is a system software designed to help manage and adjust the computer hardware and software by performing required tasks. Disk storage utilities Anti-virus scan software Hardware drivers, etc. c. Programming software: The term programming language usually refers to a notation for writing program codes that a computer can understand. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 54 Components cont. 2. Application software: Application software allows end users to accomplish one or more tasks. Application software is broadly classified as General Purpose application software Special Purpose application software 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 55 Components cont. Examples of general purpose application software Word processing programs like Microsoft Word (for producing letters, memos etc), Spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel (for doing accounts and working with numbers) Databases like Microsoft Access (for organizing large amounts of information). 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 56 Components cont. Examples of special purpose application software Applications programs that are designed particular to specialized business and professions. For instance, hospitals may use Electronic Medical Record (EMR) application software like openEMR. Accountants may use Peachtree Accounting Software. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 57  1.3. Application of info technology equipment and systems IT is not limited to businesses only, it has some significant applications on other areas as well. 1. Education: Ready-to-use resources that enable students to learn any subject at any time and in any location. Online exams where students can take exams and submit documents to mentors. 2. Finance: Information Technology has likewise made it quicker and simpler to send or receive money online than any time in recent memory. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 58 Application of info technology cont. 3. Healthcare: Most clinical workplaces would now be able to send and get computerized clinical data. 4. Security: Utilizing passwords and encryption, IT conceals your own advanced information away, and the only way it can be accessed is by companies who have permission from you. 5. Communication: Data can be shared rapidly and effectively from everywhere the globe, and by Miftah T 12/23/2024 59 Application of info technology cont. 6. Employment: Information Technology innovation has likewise made new career openings. Software engineers, Programming designers, website designers all owe their responsibilities to data innovation. Without such advances, these positions would not exist. 7. Governance: The digitalization of government activities has made the administration more accountable and responsive to societal issues. Even remote areas with no internet access are being recognized by the government, and authorities are providing the necessary resources to the people. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 60 Application of info technology cont. 7. Entertainment: IT has introduced excess of new entertainment options into our lives. People can now watch their favorite shows and movies and listen to music via cable or wirelessly. 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 61  1.4. Routine errors in operating systems and software applications Common computer faults The Computer Won’t Start Blank Computer Screen Unresponsive or Malfunctioning Operating System or Software Windows Won’t Boot Computer is Slow Strange Noises Coming from your Computer 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 62 Routine errors cont. Slow Internet Applications Won’t Install The Sound Isn’t Working Overheating Faulty Applications Mouse or Keyboard not connecting 12/23/2024 by Miftah T 63