COMPUTER HARDWARE

Ms Rachel Israel
Computer hardware
A computer contains many electronic and mechanical
components known as HARDWARE
Computer hardware is the collection of physical parts of a
computer system.
It includes all the parts of the computer that you can
physically touch.
Computer hardware comprise of the following components
 Input device
 Processing device
 Output device
 Storage device
 Sharing device
Simple Computer System
Input devices
Input device is a piece of computer hardware equipment
used to provide data and control signals to an information
processing system such as a computer .
Examples of input devices include keyboards, mouse,
scanners, digital cameras, microphone.

Keyboard: used to input text content

Mouse: used to select content and choices
Scanners: used to input handwritten content and produce
hardcopy content into softcopy
Digital camera: used to capture image and video content
The Keyboard
Typical keyboard layout
 Function keys: The function keys are labeled F1 through F12.
You can use them alone or in combination with the Ctrl, Alt, and
Shift keys.
 Typewriter keys: These are the standard alphanumeric keys that
the computer inherited from the antique typewriter: A through Z
and the number keys, plus symbols and other characters.
 Cursor keys: Also called the arrow keys or navigation keys, these
keys control the cursor. Also included are the non-arrow keys:
Home, End, PgUp (or Page Up), PgDn (or Page Down), Insert, and
Delete.
Numeric keypad: These keys are sometimes cursor keys and other
times number keys.
Shift keys: These keys don’t do anything by themselves. Instead,
the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys work in combination with other keys.
 Enter: Marked with the word Enter and sometimes a cryptic, curved arrow-thing: ↵.
You use this key to end a paragraph of text.
 Esc: The “escape” key, which doesn’t really do anything in Word. However, pressing
the Esc key in a dialog box is the same as clicking the Cancel button with the mouse.
 Spacebar: The only key with no symbol; inserts spaces between the words.
 Tab: Inserts the tab “character,” which shoves the next text you type over to the next
tab stop.
 Backspace: Your backing-up-and-erasing key
Delete: Also labeled Del; works like Backspace but doesn’t back up to erase, it deletes
text to the right of the cursor.
The Shift key is used to produce capital letters, just like on a typewriter (in case you’ve
ever used one of those).
 Ctrl is pronounced “control.” It is used together with other keys to do certain
functions eg Ctrl + C copies the highlighted text.
 The Caps Lock key works like the Shift Lock key on a typewriter. After you press
Caps Lock, the Caps Lock light on your keyboard comes on, and everything you type
is in ALL CAPS.
The Mouse
A mouse is a device used to manipulate items on the
screen, such as the controls displayed on the Windows
desktop.
A mouse has at least two buttons, some mice also
include a scroll wheel mounted between the left and
right mouse buttons.
Mouse actions
Action How to Result

Click Press the left mouse button once, and then Select an object
immediately release it.

Double-click Press the left mouse button twice in rapid Activate an object
succession without moving the body of the
mouse

Right-click Press the right mouse button once, and then Display a shortcut menu
immediately release it.

Drag Hold the left mouse button down while you Move an object.
move the mouse.
Processing devices
Processing devices are the electronics that  process or
transform information provided as an input to a
computer to an output.
Examples include: the Central Processing Unit (CPU),
operating systems (e.g. Windows, Apple software),
microprocessors (e.g. Intel, Pentium).
STORAGE DEVICES
A storage device is any computing hardware that is
used for storing, porting(transport) and extracting data
files and objects.
It can hold and store information both temporarily and
permanently, and can be internal or external to a
computer or any similar computing device.
A storage device may also be known as a storage
medium or storage media.
Output devices
An output device is any device used to send data from
a computer to another device or user.
Any device that receives data from a computer, usually
for display, projection, or physical reproduction
Examples include monitors, projectors, speakers,
headphones and printers.
Output devices
Sharing devices
Sharing device is a device that enables you to share
information from one device to another.
Examples including networking devices such as
Routers and Switches.
Hardware specifications
Hardware requirements
The most common set of requirements defined by any
operating system or software application is the
physical computer resources, also known as hardware.
 Processing power
This refers to the capacity of processing data and other
information in the computer.
The power of the central processing unit (CPU) is a
fundamental system requirement for any software.
The operations typically performed by a CPU are:
1. CPUs control the reading of programs and input files.
2. CPUs process data according to instructions in a
program.
3. CPUs control the creation of output.
Type of Memory
The system unit contains two types of memory:
1. Volatile memory -
 Loses its contents .
 Temporary memory.
 Example, RAM.
2. Nonvolatile memory-
 doesn't lose its content when power is removed
form the computer.
 Permanent memory.
 Example, ROM, Flash memory, and CMOS.
Memory
All software, when running, resides in the random
access memory (RAM) of a computer.
Memory requirements are defined after considering
demands of the application, operating system,
supporting software and files, and other running
processes.
 Memory consist of electronic components that store
instructions waiting to be executed by the processor, data
needed by those instructions, and the results of processed
data ( information).
Secondary storage
Hard-disk requirements vary, depending on the size of
software installation, temporary files created and
maintained while installing or running the software.