2. I then installed the drive into its slot.
It is specifically designed to help manage and tune the computer hardware, operating system or application software, and perform a single task or a small range of tasks.
Some of these software’s include:
· Virus protection
· Firewalls
· Clean-up tools
· Drive formatting
| Disk Clean-up | Virus protection |
| This is how a computer ‘cleans’ itself, this is done by deleting unnecessary files from the hard drive. These files include:
All of these files take up some room on the hard drive which could otherwise be used for storage for the user. By deleting all of the unwanted files the speed of the computer can be improved and the memory size improved. The user can also set files to be compressed, this means that unused files or rarely accessed ones will be compressed to save disk space and regularly accessed files will remain uncompressed. | This utility is one of the most important as it prevents viruses, worms and Trojans from attacking the computer. They can get in a computer by email or by being downloaded. To discover them a scan can be initiated by the user or scans can be scheduled. They can also be used to scan incoming emails or downloaded files. They work by identifying the virus signature but this can be hidden by the writer of the virus by polymorphing. To keep ahead of the viruses the maker of the anti virus software release regular updates to their users. |
They fall into three groups:
The Bios is a part of the opperating system. It is usualy storred on the ROM so it can not be deleted. It is used to boot the computer; check the hardware configuration; handle the input and output of the computer.
These are used to extend the cable which is attached to a component. They can not be used to extend the cable for a printer as they like to be plugged directly into the computer.
A processor is the brains of a computer as it controls the other components and runs the programs. They are connected to the motherboard using sockets which transfer the data. They have a heat sink and cooling fan over them as they can get very hot and even melt if not cooled properly.
These are used to read and write data onto a floppy disk or to update or install the bios. These are not used very off tern as they can only hold 1.44MB.
A disk drives are used to read or burn DVD's/Cd's. THese are connected to the motherboard by a data cable with a IDE connector. They are set to be ether master, slave or cable select.
In a computer there is a PSU 'power supply unit'. They have different fetures depending on the age of the unit. On an older unit it will have a output to power a monitor. On a modern unit it will only have a power in and an on/off switch. Its main purpose is to supply a constant supply of 5 or 12 volts to the computer components. It aso has to convert AC to DC.
This is a sound card, it is connected to the mother board using a PCI connection. It is used to send sound to speakers, connect a microphone or othe sound devices to the computer
This is a network card this allows the computer to become part of a network to share files and access networked files. It connects to the motherboard using a PCI connection, it connects to a network using an ethenet cable.
This is a motherboard all of the other computer components are connected to it. It allows for all other components to communicate with each other. There are two types of motherboard; intel and AMD. On a intel motherboard only intel processors can be used and the same with AMD.
