1.

Types and
components of
computer systems
1.1 hardware and software
 Objectives
Candidates should be able to:
 define hardware as consisting of physical components of a
computer system
 identify internal hardware devices (e.g. processor,
motherboards, random access memory (RAM), read-only
memory (ROM), video cards, sound cards and internal hard
disk drives)
 identify external hardware devices and peripherals (such as
monitors, keyboards, mice, printers as input and output devices
and external storage devices in general)
 Computer System
A computer system is a set of integrated devices
that input, output, process, and store data and
information.
Hardware
Definition: hardware are the physical components of a
computer system.
Types of hardware
There are two types of hardware:
 Internal hardware devices
 External hardware devices

Internal hardware devices External hardware devices

Software
Definition: programs that instructs and controls how
the computer works.
 Software cannot be touched or picked up. This is
because software is not physical. It exists as
computer code inside the computer.
 Software is basically a set of instructions (written in
computer code) that tells the hardware what to do.
 Without software, most hardware would be useless.
Types of software
There are 2 types of software - System Software and
Application Software.