Welcome to the Spoken Tutorial on Getting to know Computers.
In this tutorial, we will learn about
the various components of a computer.
We will also learn to connect the various components.
Generally, there are 2 types of computers -
Desktop or Personal Computer and Laptop.
Now-a-days, tablet PCs or tabs for short, are also quite popular.
Functions of a computer-
A computer performs five major functions irrespective of its size:
It accepts data or instructions by way of input
It processes data as required by the user
It stores data
It gives results in the form of output
It controls all operations inside the computer.
Basic organization of a computer is as shown in this block diagram.
Input unit , Central Processing unit ,
' Output unit .
The Input unit helps to
enter the data and programs into a computer system in an organized manner.
Keyboard, mouse, camera and scanner are some of the input devices.
The Central Processing unit
performs operations like arithmetic and logical operations and
stores data and instructions.
Typically, the Central Processing unit or CPU looks like this.
It has many ports in the front and at the back of the unit.
We will learn about them in a little while.
It takes data and instructions, processes them and gives the output or results.
The task of performing operations is called processing.
The output is then stored along with the data and instructions in the storage unit.
The unit that supports the process of producing results from the data, is the output unit.
Monitor and printer are some of the output devices.
Generally, a desktop computer has 4 main components:
Monitor CPU
Keyboard and Mouse .
A camera, printer or scanner can also be connected to a computer.
This is a monitor or the computer screen as we call it.
It looks like a TV screen.
It is the visual display unit of a computer.
It displays the computer's user interface.
One can open various programs and interact with the computer using the keyboard and mouse.
The keyboard is designed to enter text, characters and other commands into a computer.
This is the computer mouse.
Typically, it has 2 clickable buttons and a scroll button in between.
Pressing the left mouse button, activates most actions.
Pressing the right mouse button, activates more non-standard actions like shortcuts.
The mouse wheel is used to scroll up and down by rolling the scroll button.
The computer mouse is an alternative way to interact with the computer besides the keyboard.
Now, let us see the various parts of the CPU.
There is a prominent button on the front of the CPU which is the POWER ON switch.
To turn on the computer, one needs to press this switch.
There is a reset button too which helps us to restart the computer, if required.
Also, on the front side, you will notice 2 or more USB ports and a DVD/CD-ROM reader-writer.
The USB ports are used to connect pen-drives to the computer.
And the DVD/CD-ROM reader-writer is used to read or write a CD or a DVD.
Now let's look at the back of the computer.
The ports at the back, are used for connecting the CPU to the other devices of the computer.
This is done using the cables.
There are many components inside the 'CPU'.
When the computer is ON, all these components work and generate heat.
Fans at the back, provide the air flow required to cool the components.
Otherwise, overheating can cause damage to the 'CPU', often leading to data loss.
This is the case cooling fan.
It keeps the temperature of the CPU normal and prevents overheating.
Power Supply Unit, also called PSU, supplies power to the computer.
Now, let's learn how to connect the various components to the CPU.
Place all the components on the table, as shown.
Place all the cables on the table, as shown.
First, let's connect the monitor to the CPU.
Connect the power cable to the monitor as shown.
Now, connect the other end to a power supply socket.
This is the power cable of the CPU.
Connect it to the CPU as shown.
Then, connect it to a power supply socket.
Next, connect the keyboard cable to the CPU as shown.
The port for the keyboard is usually “purple” in colour.
You can connect the mouse to the port which is “green” in colour.
Alternately, you can connect the USB keyboard and mouse to any of the USB ports.
The remaining USB ports can be used for connecting pen drive, hard disk etc.
This is a LAN cable
and this is a LAN port.
It is a wired connection that allows a computer to connect to a network.
The other end of the LAN cable is connected to a modem or a wi-fi router.
You will learn about configuring wi-fi connections in another tutorial.
The LED light will blink when the LAN port is active and receiving activity.
You may notice that there are other serial ports on the CPU.
These are used for connecting PDAs, modem or other serial devices.
You will also notice that there are some parallel ports on the CPU.
These are used for connecting devices like printer, scanner etc.
Now, let's look at the audio jacks.
The port in “pink” is used for connecting a microphone.
The port in “blue” is for connecting a line in, for eg- from a radio or tape player.
The port in “green” is for connecting headphone/speaker or line out.
Now that we have connected all our devices, let's turn on the computer.
First of all, switch on the power supply buttons of the monitor and the CPU.
Now, press the POWER ON button on the monitor.
And then press the POWER ON switch, on the front of the CPU.
Usually, you will see a string of words on a black screen when your computer first turns on.
This is the BIOS system displaying information about
the computer's central processing unit,
information about how much memory the computer has,
and information about the hard disk drives and floppy disk drives.
BIOS is the software which gives the CPU its first instructions when the computer is turned on.
The whole process of loading the operating system is called booting the computer.
When all the necessary checks are done, you will see the operating system's interface.
If you are an Ubuntu Linux user, you will see this screen.
And if you are a Windows user, you will see this screen.
Now, let us briefly look at a laptop.
Laptops are portable and compact computers.
A laptop is small and light enough to sit on a person's lap while in use.
Hence, it is called a 'laptop.
It has most of the same components as a desktop computer including-
a display, a keyboard,
a touchpad which is the pointing and navigating device,
a CD/DVD reader-writer and
mic and speakers built into a single unit.
It also has a lan port and USB ports.
There is a video port using which one can connect a projector to the laptop.
The audio jacks are easily identifiable with respective icons for mic and headphones.
This is the inbuilt cooling fan in the laptop.
This helps to keep the laptop from overheating.
A laptop is powered by electricity via an AC adapter and has a rechargeable battery.
Hence, it is portable and can be used away from a power source.
Let us summarize. In this tutorial, we have learnt:
about the various components of a desktop and laptop
and how to connect the various components of a desktop.
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The animation and 3D modeling for this tutorial is done by Arthi.
This is Nancy Varkey from the spoken tutorial project, IIT Bombay, signing off.
Thanks for joining.