INTRODUCTION TO

COMPUTERS
Instructor : Qurat ul ain Alvi
Topic Covered
• Storage Devices
• Viruses
• Data transmission
Storage Devices
• Used to keep data when the power to the computer is turned off.
• Medium/media
• Location where data is stored
Hard Disk
• Usually mounted inside the computer’s system unit
• Can store billions of characters of data.
• Stated in forms of bytes:
• Megabytes, gigabytes and terabytes
Magnetic Storage
• A fairly permanent type of storage that can be modified.
• Used by mainframe or microcomputers.
Floppy Disk
• Round piece of flexible plastic covered with a thin layer of magnetic oxcide
inside a protective covering.
• May be referred to as a “floppy”
• 3.5 disk capacity is 1.44 MB or 1440,000 bytes.
CD-ROM
• CD-Read Only Memory
• Storage device that uses laser technology to read data that is permanently
stored on compact disks, cannot be used to write data to a disk
CD- RW
• CD-Read Write
• A storage device that reads data from CD’s and also can write data to CD’s
• Similar to a CD-ROM, but has the ability to write to CD.
DVD
• DVD ROM
• Digital video Disk which is read only.
• DVD-R
• Digital video disk which can be written to one time. It then becomes read only.
• DVD-RW
• Digital video Disk which can be rewritten to.
Flash or Jump Drives
• External storage devices that can be used like a external hard drive.
• They have the capability to be saved to, deleted from, and files can be
renamed just like with a normal hard drive.
Devices for Secondary Storage
• Magnetic tape and Disk
• CD-ROM
• Write Once Read Many (WORM)
• Optical Disks
• Digital Video Disks
• Flash memory
• Removeable storage
• Memory cards
Definition of Virus
• A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs in order
to get executed
• Once it’s running, it spreads by inserting copies of itself into other executable
code or documents
Computer Virus Timeline
• 1949
Theories for self-replicating programs are first developed.
• 1981
Apple Viruses 1, 2, and 3 are some of the first viruses “in the wild,” or in the public domain. Found
on the Apple II operating system, the viruses spread through Texas A&M via pirated computer
games.
• 1983
Fred Cohen, while working on his dissertation, formally defines a computer virus as “a computer
program that can affect other computer programs by modifying them in such a way as to
include a (possibly evolved) copy of itself.”
• 1986
Two programmers named Basit and Amjad replace the executable code in the boot sector of a
floppy disk with their own code designed to infect each 360kb floppy accessed on any drive.
Infected floppies had “© Brain” for a volume label.
• 1987
The Lehigh virus, one of the first file viruses, infects command.com files.
• 1988
One of the most common viruses, Jerusalem, is unleashed. Activated every Friday the 13th, the
virus affects both .exe and .com files and deletes any programs run on that day.
MacMag and the Scores virus cause the first major Macintosh outbreaks.
Worms…
• Worm - is a self-replicating program, similar to a computer virus.
A virus attaches itself to, and becomes part of, another
executable program; however, a worm is self-contained and
does not need to be part of another program to propagate itself.
• Worms – is a small piece of software that uses computer
networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the
worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific
security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the
security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.
• They are often designed to exploit the file transmission
capabilities found on many computers.
Zombies
• Infected computers — mostly Windows machines — are now the major
delivery method of spam.

• Zombies have been used extensively to send e-mail spam; between 50% to
80% of all spam worldwide is now sent by zombie computers
Money flow
• Pay per click
Typical things that some current Personal
Computer (PC) viruses do
• Display a message
Typical things that some current Personal
Computer (PC) viruses do
 Display a message
• Erase files
• Scramble data on a hard disk
• Cause erratic screen behavior
• Halt the PC
• Many viruses do nothing obvious at all except spread!
Decline of traditional viruses
• Reasons:
• Huge size of today’s programs storing on a compact disk
• Operating systmes now protect the boot sector
E-mail Viruses
• Moves around in e-mail messages
• Replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the
victim’s e-mail address book
• Example: Melissa virus
Melissa virus
• March 1999
• the Melissa virus was the fastest-spreading virus ever seen
• Someone created the virus as a Word document uploaded
to an Internet newsgroup
• People who downloaded the document and opened it would
trigger the virus
• The
virus would then send the document in an e-mail
message to the first 50 people in the person's address book
Prevention
• Updates
• Anti-Viruses
• More secure operating systems
e.g. UNIX
Data Communication
• Data communication is the exchange of data between two devices via some
for of transmission media such as a wire cable.
Data Communication
Components of Data Communication
• Message
The message is the information (data) to be communication can consist of
text, numbers, pictures, sound, video etc.
• Sender
The sender is the device that sends the data. It can be computer workstation,
telephone and so on.
• Receiver
The receiver is the device that receives the data. It can be computer ,
workstation, telephone and so on.
Data Communication
• Communication channel
The communication channel is the physical path by which a data travels from
sender to receiver. It can be a twisted cable, pair wire, coaxial cable etc.
• Encoder and decoder
The encoder converts digital signals to a form which can pass through
transmission medium and decoder again converts signal from encoded form
into digital form.
Signals
• Analog
The analogue data signals are continuous electrical signal in the form of
waves. This wave is called carrier wave.
Frequency is the number of times a wave repeats during a specific time
interval.
Amplitude is the height of wave within a given period of time.
• Digital
• A digital signal uses on-off electrical pulses in discontinuous, or discrete form.
Most computers are digital n nature, represent data as patterns of binary
numbers.
Types of Data
• Text
The text consists of words, sentence, and paragraphs.
• Numeric
Numeric data consist of digital from 0 to 9 and a decimal point
• Image
This type of data includes chart, graph, pictures and freehand drawings.
• Audio
Sound is representation of audio.
• Video
• Video can be produced either as a continuous entity or it can be a
combination of images. Video creates actions and movements.
Modes of Data Communication
• Simplex
Simplex is a mode in which data flows in one direction only. Because most
modern communication systems require a two way interchange of data, this
mode of transmission is not as popular as it once was.
One current usage of simplex communications in business involves certain
point of sale terminals in which sales data is entered without a corresponding
reply other examples include radio and TV transmissions.
• Half-Duplex
• In half duplex transmission, data can be sent and received in both directions,
but not at the same time.
• Only one end transmits at a time, the other end receives. In addition it is
possible to perform error detection.
• In some aspects you can think of internet surfing as being half duplex, as a
user issues a request for the web document, then that a document is
downloaded and displayed before the user issues another requests e.g.
walkie talkie etc
• Full-Duplex
The directional mode of communication is full- duplex. Here data is
transmitted in both directions on the same channel. This type of
communication can be thought of as similar to automobile traffic on a two-
lane road
Full duplex communication is made possible by devices can multiplexes. Full
duplex communications is primarily limited main frames computer because of
the expensive hardware like telephone systems.
Types of Data Transmission
• Parallel transmission
Parallel data transmission involves the concurrent flow of bits of data through
separate communications lines.
This pattern resembles the flow of automobile traffic on a multiline highway.
• Serial transmission
• Most data transmitted over telephone lines use a serial pattern. That is each
individual bit of information travels along its own communication path.
• Serial transmission is typically slower than parallel transmission.
Bandwidth
• Baseband is a communication technique in which digital signals are places
onto the transmission line without change in modulation.
• E.g. token ring and ethernet.
• Broadband is a technique for transmitting large amount of data, voice and
video over long distances
• e.g. microwave, satellites, coaxial cable etc
Communication Media
• Guided Media
• It refers to channels that allow the transmission of data through physical
media such as twisted pair wire, coaxial cable, or fiber optic cable etc.
• Twisted pair
• Coaxial cable
• Fiber optic cable

• Unguided Media
• It refers to those channels that transmit data and information in the form of
wave.
• Microwave
• Satellites