Computer Notes
Computer Notes
Computer Notes
Overview
This course will equip the trainees with all necessary skills and
knowledge about the operation and maintenance of computer
systems as well as about preparing documents in MS Word, Excel
and PowerPoint.
Entry Requirements
Training Outcome
COMPUTER DEFINITION:-
A computer is a machine or device that performs processes,
calculations and operations based on instructions provided by a
software or hardware program. It has the ability to accept data (input),
process it, and then produce outputs.
ALL PARTS OF
COMPUTER
1. The computer
case or chassis
2. Motherboard
The motherboard is the main
board mounted directly inside
the computer case. All other
cards plug directly into the
motherboard, hence its name.
This allows all the components to operate efficiently and to fulfill their
maximum potential as they were designed to do.
It takes all the processes from the RAM and processes them to perform
the tasks required by the computer system.
The faster the processor, the more instructions it can execute at any
given time.
4. Random Access
Memory (RAM)
RAM is a data storage device
that can provide fast read and
write access. RAM is volatile
memory, meaning it loses all
the stored data when power is lost.
The RAM keeps data ready for the CPU to process. The RAM speed is a
big contributor to the overall speed of a computer system.
It plugs directly into a long slot that has contacts on either side of the
slot.
5. Graphics Card or
Graphics Processing Unit
(GPU)
A graphics card is an output device
that processes the data from the
motherboard and sends the
appropriate information to the
computer’s screen for display.
A video card takes the burden of all the video processing from the main
CPU. This gives a computer a big boost in performance.
Fans are almost a given because of the large processing requirements for
a gaming GPU.
A graphics card has a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), the main part of a
computer system that requires cooling.
6. Sound Card
Most of the time, the sound
chip built into the
motherboard is used for audio
output.
Software
Apart from storing information for your computer, hard disk drives also
function as a boot drive to run the operating system (OS) from it. You
can install operating systems of many different kinds depending on your
needs.
5|Page
SSDs are used anywhere that hard drives can be deployed. In consumer
products, for example, they are used in personal computers (PCs),
laptops, computer games, digital cameras, digital music players,
smartphones, tablets and thumb drives.
A power supply usually also comes with a cooling fan. This helps all the
internal components in your computer to stay cool when the power
supply is subjected to bigger loads.
6|Page
10. Monitor or
Visual Display Unit
(VDU)
A monitor is an output device
to visualize the graphics
information sent from the
computer’s GPU.
There are also various computer screen sizes with different aspect ratios.
The aspect ratio is simply the ratio between height and width.
For example, a 16:9 aspect ratio screen will have 16 parts wide to 9 parts
in height.
11. Keyboard
A keyboard is an input device
that is one of the ways to
communicate with a
computer. Typing a key from
the keyboard sends a small
portion of information to tell
it which key was pressed.
Once the computer receives input from the keyboard, it can use the
keystrokes in digital form to produce a specific task in any software
being used.
The computer system can use this information in many ways. An example
could be a command or a character that can be used in a document.
However, the three main buttons allow users to select, grab, scroll, and
access extra menus and options