What's Inside A Computer Program System

You are welcomed to this web page. Many important topics have been discussed in this web page. The topics which are explained in this page are given below.

• The Part of the a Computer System.

• The Information Processing Cycle.

• Essential Computer Hardware.

• Software Brings the Machin to Life.

• Using Computer Outside of the IT Industry

• Explain the Summary Of the Web page

These questions are explained in the web page

• List the four parts of a complete computer system,

• What are the four phases of the information processing cycle?

• Identify four categories of computer hardware.

• List four units of measure for computer memory and storage, not including the byte

• What are the two most common input and output devices?

• Name and differentiate the two main categories of storage devices.

• Name and differentiate the two main categories of computer software.

• What is the difference between data and information?

• What is a fundamental difference between data and programs?

• List five tasks a user may be responsible for, when working with a personal computer.

• What is Hardware? Give examples.

• What is Software? Give examples.

• Write down the units of measure for computer memory and storage.

• Explain the terms "hard copy" and "soft copy"?

• What is an Operating System? Give examples?

The Parts of a Computer System

As you saw in Lesson 1A, computers come in many varieties, from the tiny computers built into household appliances, to the astounding supercomputers that have helped scientists map the human genome. But no matter how big it is or how it is used, every computer is part of a system. A complete computer system consists of four parts.

• Hardware
• Software
• Data
• Use

Computer Hardware

The mechanical devices that make up the computer are called hardware. Hard- ware is any part of the computer you can touch. A computer's hardware consists of interconnected electronic devices that you can use to control the computer's operation, input, and output. (The generic term device refers to any piece or hardware).

Computer Software

Software is a set of instructions that makes the computer perform tasks. In other words, software tells the computer what to do. (The term program refers to any piece of software.) Some programs exist primarily for the computer's use to help it perform tasks and manage its own resources. Other types of programs exist for the user, enabling him or her to perform tasks such as creating documents. Thousands of different software programs are available for use on personal computers.

Computer Data

Data consist of individual facts or pieces of information that by themselves may not make much sense to a person. A computer's primary job is to process these tiny pieces of data in various ways, converting them into useful information. For example, if you saw the average highway mileages of six different cars, all the different pieces of data might not mean much to you. However, if someone created a chart from the data that visually compared and ranked the vehicles' mile- ages, you could probably make sense of it at a glance. This is one example of data being processed into useful information.

Computer Users

People are the computer operators, also known as users. It can be argued that some computer systems are complete without a person's involvement; however, no computer is totally autonomous. Even if a computer can do its job without a person sitting in front of it, people still design, build, program, and repair computer systems. This lack of autonomy is especially true of personal computer systems, which are the focus of this book and are designed specifically for use by people.

The Information Processing Cycle

Using all its parts together, a computer converts data into information by per- forming various actions on the data. For example, a computer might perform a mathematical operation on two numbers, then display the result. Or the computer might perform a logical operation such as comparing two numbers, then display that result. These operations are part of a process called the information processing cycle, which is a set of steps the computer follows to receive data, process the data according to instructions from a program, display the resulting in- formation to the user, and store the results.

1. Input
2. Processing
3. Output
4. Storage

The information processing cycle has four parts, and each part involves one or more specific components of the computer:

Computer Input

During this part of the cycle, the computer accepts data from some source. such as the user or a program, for processing.

Computer Processing 

During this part of the cycle, the computer's processing components perform actions on the data, based on instructions from the user or a program

Computer Output

Here, the computer may be required to display the results of its processing. For example, the results may appear as text, numbers, or a graphic on the computer's screen or as sounds from its speaker. The computer also n send output to a printer or transfer the output to another computer through a network or the Internet. Output is an optional step in the information processing cycle but may be ordered by the user or program.

Computer Storage

In this step, the computer permanently stores the results of its processing on a disk, tape, or some other kind of storage medium. As with output, storage is optional and may not always be required by the user or program.

Essential Computer Hardware

A computer's hardware devices fall into one of four categories:

• Processor
• Memory
• Input and output
• Storage

While any type of computer system contains these four types of hardware, this book focuses on them as they relate to the personal computer, or PC.

Computer Processing Devices

The procedure that transforms raw data into useful information is called processing. To perform this transformation, the computer uses two components: the processor and memory.

The processor is like the brain of the computer, it organizes and carries out instructions that come from either the user or the software. In a personal computer, the processor usually consists of one or more specialized chips, called microprocessors, which are slivers of silicon or other material etched with many tiny electronic circuits. 

To process data or complete an instruction from a user or a program, the computer passes electricity through the circuits. As shown in, the microprocessor is plugged into the computer's motherboard. The motherboard is a rigid rectangular card containing the circuitry that connects the processor to the other hardware. The motherboard is an example of a circuit board.

In most personal computers, many internal devices-such as video cards, sound cards, disk controllers, and other devices-are housed on their own smaller circuit boards, which attach to the motherboard. In many newer computers, these devices are built directly into the motherboard. Some newer microprocessors are large and complex enough to require their own dedicated circuit boards, which plug into a special slot in the motherboard.

You can think of the motherboard as the master circuit board in a computer. A personal computer's processor is usually a single chip or a set of chips contained on a circuit board. In some powerful computers, the processor consists of many chips and the circuit boards on which they are mounted. In either case, the term central processing unit (CPU) refers to a computer's processor. People often refer to computer systems by the type of CPU they contain. A "Pentium 4" system, for example, uses a Pentium 4 microprocessor as its CPU.

Computer Memory Devices

In a computer, memory is one or more sets of chips that store data and/or program instructions, either temporarily or permanently. Memory is a critical processing component in any computer. Personal computers use several different types of memory, but the two most important are called random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). These two types of memory work in very different ways and perform distinct functions.

Computer Random Access Memory

The most common type of memory is called random access memory (RAM). As a result, the term memory is typically used to mean RAM. RAM is like an electronic scratch pad inside the computer. RAM holds data and program instructions while the CPU works with them. When a program is launched, it is loaded into and run from memory. As the program needs data, it is loaded into memory for fast access. As new data is entered into the computer, it is also stored in memory-but only temporarily.

Data is both written to and read from this memory. (Because of this, RAM is also sometimes called read/write memory.) Like many computer components, RAM is made up of a set of chips mounted on a small circuit board.

RAM is volatile, meaning that t loses its contents when the computer is shut off or if there is a power failure. There fore, RAM needs a constant supply of power to hold its data. For this reason, you sulk save your data files to a storage device frequently, to avoid losing them in a power failure. (You will learn more about storage later in this chap- ter.

Unit	Abbreviation	Pronounced	Approximate Value (bytes)	Actual Value (bytes)
Kilobyte	KB	KILL-uh-bite	1000	1024
Megabyte	MB	MEHG-uh-bite	1,000,000  (1 million)	1,048,576
Gigabyte	GB	GIG-uh-bite	1,000,000,000(1 billion)	1,073,741,824
Terabyte	TB	TERR-uh-bite	1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion)	1,099,511,627,776

RAM has a tremendous impact on the speed and power of a computer. Generally, the more RAM a computer has, the more it can do and the faster it can perform certain tasks. The most common measurement unit for de scribing a computer's memory is the byte the amount of memory it takes to store a single character, such as a letter of the alphabet or a numeral.

When referring to a computer's memory, the numbers are often so large that it is helpful to use terms such as kilobyte (KB), megabyte (MB), gigabyte (GB), and terabyte (TB) to de scribe the values given tasks. Today's personal computers generally have at least 256 million bytes (256 MB) of random access memory. Many newer systems feature 512 MB or more.

Computer Read-Only Memory

Unlike RAM, read-only memory (ROM) permanently stores its data, even when the computer is shut off. ROM is called nonvolatile memory because it never loses its contents. ROM holds instructions that the computer needs to operate. Whenever the computer's power is turned on, it checks ROM for directions that help it start up, and for information about its hardware devices.

Computer Input and Output Devices

A personal computer would be useless if you could not interact with it because the machine could not receive instructions or deliver the results of its work. Input devices accept data and instructions from the user or from another computer system (such as a computer on the Internet). Output devices return processed data to the user or to another computer system.

The most common input device is the keyboard, which accepts letters, numbers, and commands from the user. Another important type of input device is the mouse, which lets you select options from on-screen menus. You use a mouse by moving it across a flat surface and pressing its buttons shows a personal computer with a keyboard, mouse, and microphone. A variety of other input devices work with personal computers, too:

• The trackball and touchpad are variations of the mouse and enable you to draw or point on the screen.

• The joystick is a swiveling lever mounted on a stationary base that is well suited for playing video games.

•  A scanner can copy a printed page of text or a graphic into the computer's memory, freeing you from creating the data from scratch.

•  A digital camera can record still images, which you can view and edit on the computer.

•  A microphone enables you to input your voice or music as data.

The function of an output device is to present processed data to the user. The most common out- put devices are the monitor and the printer. The computer sends output to the monitor (the display screen) when the user needs only to see the output. It sends output to the printer when the user requests a paper copy- also called a hard copy of a document. Just as computers can accept sound as input, they can use stereo speakers or head- phones as output devices to produce sound. 11 shows a PC with a monitor, printer, and speakers.

Some types of hardware can act as both input and output devices. A touch screen, for example, is a type of monitor that displays text or icons you can touch. When you touch the screen, special sensors detect the touch and the computer calculates the point on the screen where you placed your finger. Depending on the location of the touch, the computer determines what information to display or what action to take next.

Communications devices are the most common types of devices that can per- form both input and output. These devices connect one computer to another-a process known as networking. The most common kinds of communications devices are modems, which enable computers to communicate through telephone lines or cable television systems, and network interface cards (NICs), which let users connect a group of computers to share data and devices.

Computer Storage Devices

A computer can function with only processing, memory, input, and output devices. To be really useful, however, a computer also needs a place to keep program files and related data when they are not in use. The purpose of storage is to hold data permanently, even when the computer is turned off.

You may think of storage as an electronic file cabinet and RAM as an electronic worktable. When you need to work with a program or a set of data, the computer locates it in the file cabinet and puts a copy on the table. After you have finished working with the program or data, you put it back into the file cabinet. The changes you make to data while working on it replace the original data in the file cabinet (unless you store it in a different place).

Novice computer users often confuse storage with memory. Although the functions of storage and memory are similar, they work in different ways. There are three major distinctions between storage and memory:

• There is more room in storage than in memory, just as there is more room in a file cabinet than there is on a tabletop.
• Contents are retained in storage when the computer is turned off, whereas programs or the data in memory disappear when you shut down the computer.
• Storage devices operate much slower than memory chips, but storage is much cheaper than memory.

There are two main types of computer storage: magnetic and optical. Both are covered in the following sections.

Computer Magnetic Storage

There are many types of computer storage, but the most common is the magnetic disk. A disk is a round, flat object that spins around its center. (Magnetic disks are almost always housed inside a case of some kind, so you can't see the disk itself unless you open the case.) Read/write heads, which work in much the same way as the heads of a tape recorder or VCR, are used to read data from the disk or write data onto the disk.

The device that holds a disk is called a disk drive. Some disks are built into the drive and are not meant to be removed; other kinds of drives enable you to re- move and replace disks. Most personal computers have at least one nonremovable hard disk (or hard drive). In addition, there is also a diskette drive, which allows you to use removable diskettes (or floppy disks). The hard disk serves as the computer's primary filing cabinet because it can store far more data than a diskette can contain. Diskettes are used to load data onto the hard disk, to trade data with other users, and to make backup copies of the data on the hard disk.

Computer Optical Storage

In addition to magnetic storage, nearly every computer sold today includes at least one form of optical storage devices that use lasers to read data from or write data to the reflective surface of an optical disc.

The D ROM drive is the most common type of optical storage device. (Comp dices), are a type of optical storage, identical to audio CDs. Until recently, a standard CD could store about 74 minutes of audio or 650 MB of data. A newer breed of CDs can hold 80 minutes of audio or 700 MB of data. The type used in computers is called Compact Disc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM). As the name implies, you cannot change the information on the disc, just as you cannot record over an audio CD.

If you purchase a CD-Recordable (CD-R) drive, you have the option of creating your own CDs. A CD-R drive can write data to and read data from a compact disc. To record data with a CD-R drive, you must use a special CD-R disc, which can be written on only once, or a CD-Re Writable (CD-RW) disc, which can be written to multiple times, like a floppy disk.

An increasingly popular data storage technology is the Digital Video Disc (DVD), which is revolutionizing home entertainment, Using sophisticated com- pression technologies, a single DVD (which is the same size as a standard compact disc) can store an entire full-length movie. DVDs can hold a minimum of 4.7 GB of data and as much as 17 GB. Future DVD technologies promise much higher storage capacities on a single disc. DVD drives also can locate data on the disc much faster than standard CD-ROM drives.

DVDs require a special player. Many DVD players, however, can play audio, data, and DVD discs, freeing the user from purchasing different players for each type of disc DVD drives are now standard equipment on many new personal computers. Users not only can install pro grams and data from their standard CDs, but they also can watch movies on their personal computers by using a DVD.

Software Brings the Machine to Life

The ingredient that enables a computer to perform a specific task is software, which consists of instructions. A set of instructions that drive a computer to per form specific tasks is called a program. These instructions tell the machine's physical components what to do, without the instructions, a computer could not do anything at all. When a computer uses a particular program, it is said to be running or executing that program.

Although the array of available programs is vast and varied, most software falls into two major categories: system software and application software.

Computer System Software

System software is any program that controls the computer's hardware or that can be used to maintain the computer in some way so that it runs more efficiently. There are three basic types of system software

•  An operating system tells the computer how to use its own components Examples of operating systems include Windows, the Macintosh Operating System, and Linux. An operating system is essential for any computer, because it acts as an interpreter between the hardware, application programs, and the user.

• When a program wants the hardware to do something, it communicates through the operating system. Similarly, when you want the hardware to do something (such as copying or printing a file), your request is handled by the operating system.

• A network operating system allows computers to communicate and share data across a network while controlling network operations and overseeing the network's security.

• A utility is a program that makes the computes stem easier to use or per forms highly specialized functions. Utilities are used to manage disks, troubleshoot hardware problems, and perform other tasks that the operating system itself may not be able to do.

Computer Application software

Application software tells the computer how to accomplish specific tasks, such as word processing or drawing, for the user. Thousands of applications are avail- able for many purposes and for people of all ages. Some of the major categories of these applications include.

• Word processing software for creating text-based documents such as news- letters or brochures.

• Spreadsheets for creating numeric-based documents such as budgets or balance sheets.

• Database management software for building and manipulating large sets of data, such as the names, addresses, and phone numbers in a telephone di- rectory.

• Presentation programs for creating and presenting electronic slide shows.

• Graphics programs for designing illustrations or manipulating photo graphs, movies, or animation.

• Multimedia authoring applications for building digital movies that incorporate sound, video, animation, and interactive features.

• Entertainment and education software, many of which are interactive multimedia events.

• Web design tools and Web browsers, and other Internet applications such as newsreaders and e-mail programs

• Games, some of which are for a single player and many of which can be played by several people over a network or the Internet.

Computer Data

You have already seen that, to a computer, data is any piece of information or fact that, taken by itself, may not make sense to a person. For example, you might think of the letters of the alphabet as data. Taken individually, they do not mean a lot. But when grouped into words and sentences, they make sense, that is, they become information. 

Similarly, basic geometric shapes may not have much meaning by themselves, but when they are grouped into a blueprint or a chart, they become useful information.

The computer reads and stores data of all kinds-whether words, numbers, images, or sounds in the form of numbers. Consequently, computerized data is digital, meaning that it has been reduced to digits, or numbers. This is because the computer can work only with strings of numbers. 

Just as people represent their own language by using strings of letters to make up words and sentences, computers use strings of numbers to represent every type of data they must handle. Following instructions from the software and the user, the computer manipulates data by performing calculations, doing comparisons, or arranging the bits of in formation so they make sense to the user.

 Just as computer data is different from information, it also differs from programs. Recall that a software program is a set of instructions that tells the computer how to perform tasks. 

Like data, these instructions exist as strings of numbers so the computer can use them. But the resemblance ends there. You can think of the difference between data and pro grams this way. data is for people to use, but pro- grams are for computers to use.

Within the computer, data is organized into files. A file is simply a set of data that has been given a name. A file that the user can open and use is often called a document. Although many people think of documents simply as text, a computer document can include many kinds of data. 

For example, a computer document can be a text file (such as a letter), a group of numbers (such as a budget), a video clip (which includes images and sounds), or any com-bination of these items. Programs are organized into files as well, these files contain the instructions and data that a program needs in order to run and perform tasks.

Computer Users

Personal computers, which are the focus of this book, are designed to work with a human user. In fact, the user is a critical part of a complete computer system, especially when a personal computer is involved. This ma seem surprising, since we tend to think of computers as intelligent devices, capable of performing amazing tasks. People also sometimes believe that computers can think and make decisions, just like humans do. 

But this is not the case. Even the most powerful supercomputers re quire human interaction-if for no other reason than to get them started and tell them which problems to solve.

The User's Role

When working with a personal computer, the user can take on several roles, depending on what he or she wants to accomplish:

Setting up the System

Have you ever bought a new PC When you got it home, you probably had to unpack it, set it up, and make sure it worked as expected. If you want to change something about the system (a process called configuration), you will likely do it yourself, whether you want to add a new hardware device, change the way programs look on your screen, or customize the way a program functions.

Installing Software

Although your new computer probably came with an operating system and some applications installed, you need to install any other programs you want to use. This may involve loading software from a disk or downloading it from a Web site. Either way, it is usually the user's responsibility to install programs, unless the computer is used at a school or business. In that case, a system administrator or technician may be avail able to do the job.

Running Programs

Whenever your computer is on, there are several pro- grams running in the background, such as the software that runs your mouse and printer. Such programs do not need any user input, in fact, you may not even be aware of them. But for the most part, if you want to use your computer to perform a task, you need to launch and run the software that is designed for the task. This means installing the program, learning its tools, and working with it to make sure it gives you the results you want.

Managing Files

As you have already learned, a computer saves data in files. If you write a letter to a friend, you can save it as a file, making it available to open and use again later. Pictures, songs, and other kinds of data re stored as files. Thus, a file is a piece of information that is stored on the computer. It is the user's job to manage these files, and this means setting up a logical system for storing them on the computer. It also means knowing when to delete or move files, or copy them to a disk for safekeeping.

Computerized Disease Management

Despite the abundance of widely recognized, evidence- based standards, health care is notoriously inconsistent from one doctor to the next, one hospital to the next, and one region to the next. So much so, that the experts at the National Academies Institute of Medicine have proclaimed it to be a health system quality chasm.

Through the use of global information technology, new technology-driven disease management systems are offering the health care industry a solution to the high variability of practice. Interactive computerized disease management pro- grams promise to close this "quality chasm."

The goal of interactive computerized Disease Management (DM) programs is to monitor patients with chronic dis- eases such as heart disease or diabetes, track their progress, and encourage compliance with medical best practices. Through wireless telephony or Web interfaces, patients report vital signs, symptoms, and other medical information to their caregivers. 

In some cases, patients are hooked up to remote monitoring devices that automatically transmit information to a physician or medical database. Case managers then monitor patient data, looking for early problems and intervening before costly emergencies arise.

Computerized DM systems have been shown to facilitate communication between patients and health care providers, cut health care costs, and improve quality of care.
Thanks to the efforts of Richard Enriquez, Encebollado Designs of Carson, California, can boast that and more in an industry where manufacturing and related processes remain largely manual and labor-intensive. "No one else offers e-commerce capabilities in our category," said Richard Enriquez, director of marketing, who envisions a time when the firm's woodcarvers will be able to use a computer to go from concept to finished product without ever having to touch a piece of wood or a chisel.
We can also share the files, drives and folders using Windows Explorer. Apart from this, it also makes sync colonization of offline files easy.

One leading provider of these systems is Life Masters Sup- ported Self Care, Inc. Life Masters offers high-tech DM programs that create cooperative health partnerships among patients, physicians, and payors.

With the Life Masters program, computers monitor dis- ease across large patient groups; report patient status to doctors and their clinical teams; send reminders when patients are due for testing, evaluation, and treatment; and track the outcomes to support improvement and continuity of care. Life Masters claims their computerized information technology system improves quality of life for individuals with chronic illnesses, supports physicians with improved disease management tools, and reduces chronic-disease costs for payors.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, Life Masters currently provides disease management services for more than 275,000 patients with diabetes, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-Once you have created a file, you need to place it in a folder, name it appropriately, and organize your folders in a proper way, so that you can access your file in an instant whenever you need it. 

This process in which the files and folders are placed, named, and organized in some logical manner, is known as File Management. In other words, file management on the computer is similar to how documents and papers of high importance are arranged in a filing cabinet. You place related papers and documents into an appropriately named folder and then place that folder into the appropriate level or section of the file cabinet. In the same manner, file management in a computer consists of arranging and sorting of files into a particular folder to make sure related or similar files are located together.

Now that we know what a file is, here is a small description of a folder We can call a folder as a container or a box which holds a collection of files. We can group related files together and separate them from other unrelated files using separate folders. These are somewhat like drawers in a cabinet. On a computer, you may use a folder to contain all your music files together, and all your video files can be stored in another folder. That way, you can quickly open up your muss. folder wilt out having to sift through a plethora of stored files Subfolders are simply folders that are placed within another folder. You may have observed that the majoring of files on a computer are located within me sort of subfolder, whether they are files for a game or of family. ease, hypertension, and asthma in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Taking the computerized disease management model one step further, Life Masters also maintains the Life Masters On- line Web site, the first fully interactive health monitoring and management service for individual use.

Life Masters Online offers health management tools and content similar to those offered through Life Masters' care- giver-supervised model, but it is available free to the general public. Here, users enter their own vital-sign and symptom information via the Web site or through a Touch- Tone phone. The information goes into a database and, when the data indicate that medical intervention is required, the patient's physician is notified.

Patients have access to support groups and medical in- formation on a 24 x 7 basis. Life Masters Online also provides self-directed health education and behavior modification modules addressing health concerns such as diet, exercise, and smoking cessation.

"We built this for the future," says Christabel Selleck, Life Masters CEO. "As the Baby Boom generation ages and develops chronic diseases, we're going to need to use technology tools to help physicians and their patients manage their health care more effectively and efficiently than in traditional way and photos. 

In theory, subfolders are similar to the shelves of a closet. The closet is the main folder which holds all the clothes or files, but each shelf is a subfolder and is responsible for storing specific types of clothes, say shirts. File Hierarchy. When organizing the contents of your computer, you need to get a better understanding on the connection of files and folders. 

In a well organized computer system, we can see many folders and subfolders that are located in a logical sequence. File hierarchy is the order in which the files and folders are linked and the route which connects this hierarchy with a file is called its path. File hierarchy can be imagined akin to that of leaves and branches on a tree. The trunk of the tree is the main system drive, and every folder is considered to be a branch extending from the trunk. All the files which are present within the first folder are assumed to be leaves on the branch and subfolders are represented by more branches.

This is carried out till more branches are created by the subfolders and the files are considered as leaves which grow on these branches. Windows hierarchy is organized as Drive > Folder(s) File Manager. A computer program which provides a user with an interface for working with a file system is called a file manager. The various operations which are carried out using a file manager are open, create, view, edit, rename, print, copy, move, search, delete, etc. There is a typical hierarchy in which the files are displayed.

In certain file managers, we can also see navigation buttons like 'forward' and 'back' as in web browsers. We can say that Windows Explorer is one of the best examples of a file manager. Microsoft released Windows Explorer as an application with Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 onwards. Here, the files in a system can be accessed easily by the graphical user interface provided by it. 

Windows Explorer is also an operating systems component which gives a user interface on the computer monitor, thus helping the user controlling the computer. Various operations on the files and folders can be performed as a result. We can delete the files and folders, copy them, rename them, and also move them across any location in the computer.

We can open Windows Explorer by clicking on on the START button which is present pares in the taskbar and then pointing to ALL PROGRAMS and then to ACCESSORIES and selecting the Windows Explorer option Using computer Outside of the IT Industry them Few hardwood products manufacturers can boast an e- commerce-enabled Web site where customers view catalogs, place orders, track orders, and review their account history 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Even fewer can offer customers a solution that uses computer modeling and simulation techniques to recreate "real world" projects in a virtual environment.

Having worked in the software development industry for 15 years, Enriquez aspires to use technology to bring more value to the customers while also making Encebollado Designs' architectural woodcarving manufacturing process more efficient and productive. In 2003, for example, he spear headed the conversion of the entire product line into three-dimensional formats that can be used in conjunction with commercial and residential previsualization applications to minimize specification errors.

Enriquez, who earned a Bachelor of Science degree from DeVry University, handles myriad tasks at Encebollado Designs, including managing internal and external staff associated with marketing and new product development, evaluating technologies, reviewing strategic relationships, and over- seeing the development of the company's Web site. He works 50 to 55 hours a week and enjoys the challenge of incorporating technology into a company that has traditionally conducted business utilizing traditional methods.

"When the company wanted to start leveraging technology, they hired me," says Enriquez. "Before I came on board, the company was very traditional and didn't believe, for example, in putting e-commerce capabilities on the Web site." One year later, Enriquez says the naysayers wouldn't have it any other way. "It all boils down to results."

Enriquez says opportunities for IT professionals in the non-IT space are plentiful. One need only look around the There are two panels in the wind disks which are accessible. These are shouting the form of branches of a tree. On expanding the left-pane folder, we can see and access the subfolder's sublets. of the base functions of Windows Explorer is file management but we cannot come to a conclusion that One of the basic functions be used for this function. There are different settings which are hidden in the Win Windows Explorer cane hidden and unhidden folders and files, changing the appearance and feel of Windows.

Explorer, mapping network drives, changing extensions, etc. There can be different views for seeing files or folders which are stored in a system. These views include Tiles, Icons, List, Details and Thumbnails. All these views can be made use of based on the type of files used, say for example, if you have a folder which has only pictures we can use thumbnails to get a quick glimpse of all the pictures. Similarly, when we need to know the details about the size of a file, when it was last modified, etc., we can make use of the Details view.

Advantages of File Management

Good file-management skills can lead to improved productivity, reduced stress, and an increase in one's efficiency while working on a computer. If the files on a computer are haphazardly scattered around, it is very stressful to filter through hundreds of folders and files in search of the required documents. By developing good file-management skills and sorting your files in a logical manner, you may relieve unneeded stress and complete your work more efficiently.

The single most important skill when managing the contents of your computer is the ability to make practical and logical decisions. It is very helpful to give a folder a name that corresponds with its contents, and it is equally essential to give each file a name that briefly describes the file contents. business world to see how technology is making an impact in the most unlikely occupations, such as

Restaurant and Grocery Store Managers. 

Restaurants, grocery stores, and retail outlet managers use computer systems of all kinds-from handheld units to main- frames-to monitor inventories, track transactions, and manage product pricing.

Courier Dispatchers.

Courier services of all types use computerized terminals to help dispatchers schedule deliveries, locate pickup and drop-off points, generate invoices, and track the location of packages.

Construction Managers. 

Construction managers and estimators use specialized software to analyze construction documents and to calculate the amount of materials and time required to complete a job.

Automotive Mechanics.

Automotive mechanics and technicians use computer systems to measure vehicle performance, diagnose mechanical problems, and deter- mine maintenance or repair strategies.

Maintaining the System.

 System maintenance does not necessarily mean opening the PC and fixing broken parts, as you would repair a car's engine. But it could! In that case, you might call a qualified technician to do the job, or roll up your sleeves and tackle it your- self. PC maintenance, however, generally means running utilities that keep the disks free of clutter and ensure that the computer is making the best use of its resources.

"User-less" Computers

Of course, there are many kinds of computers that require no human interaction, once they have been programmed, installed, and started up. For example, if you own a car that was built within the last decade, it almost certainly has an on-board computer that controls and monitors engine functions. Many new home appliances, such as washers and dryers, have built-in computers that monitor water usage, drying times, balance, and other operations. Sophisticated user less computers operate security systems, navigation systems, communications systems, and many others.

User less computers are typically controlled by their operating systems. In these devices, the operating system may be installed on special memory chips rather than a disk. The operating system is programmed to perform a specific set of tasks, such as monitoring a function or checking for a failure, and little else. These systems are not set up for human interaction, except as needed for system configuration or maintenance.

Summary of the web page:

• A complete computer system includes hardware, software, data, and users,

• Hardware consists of electronic devices, the parts you can touch

• Software (programs) consists of instructions that control the computer

• Data can be text, numbers, sounds, and images that the computer manipulates. People who operate computers are called users.

• To manipulate data, the computer follows a process called the information processing cycle, which includes data input processing, output, and storage. 

• A computer's hardware devices fall into four categories: processing, memory, input and output (1/0), and storage.

• The processing function is divided between the processor and memory.

• The processor, or CPU, carries out instructions from the user and software

• Random access memory (RAM) holds data and program instructions as the CPU works with them.

• The most common units of measure for memory are the byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, and terabyte

• Read-only memory (ROM) is another important type of memory, which holds instructions that help the computer start op and information about its hardware

• The role of input devices is to accept instructions and data from the user of another computer.

• Output devices present processed data to the user or to another computer

• Communications devices perform both input and output functions, allowing computers to share Information

• Storage devices hold data and programs permanently, even when the computer is turned off.

• The two primary categories of storage devices are magnetic storage and optical storage

• The two primary categories of software are system software and application software.

• The operating system tells the computer how to interact with the user and how to use the hardware devices attached to the computer

• Application software tells the computer how to accomplish tasks the user requires.

• In a computer, data consists of small pieces of information that, by themselves, may not make sense to a person. The computer manipulates data into useful information,

• Program instructions are different from data in that they are used only by the computer and not by people

• A user is an essential part of a complete personal computer system. Generally, the user must perform a wide range of tasks, such as setting up the system, installing software, managing files, and other operations that the computer came do by itself.

• Some computers are designed to function independently, without a user but these systems are not personal computers.