Topics covered in this Tutorial

• Computer Hardware and Software
• Network Components
• Telecommunications
• Other Problem Management Technologies

Computer Hardware and Software

Understanding the technology environment in which businesses operate is important both from the point-of-view of providing Help Desk services efficiently and in being able to answer questions and troubleshoot Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems.

Types of Computer

Computers can take several forms, including:

• Desktop Personal Computers (PCs) - non-portable systems supported by a wide-range of application software. PCs vary enormously in terms of processing speed and capacity but almost all are capable of running Office software, such as word processing, e-mail, database and contact management.
• Portable PCs - also referred to as laptops, portable PCs are essentially smaller, lighter versions of Desktop PCs. They can use the same software and have similar capabilities (though not generally as much capacity/performance at the top of the range and at a higher cost).
• Handheld Computers - also referred to as palmtops, these are very small devices requiring different types of software to PCs, though data can be shared with normal PCs. Handheld computers are used mostly for internet access, e-mail and contact and diary management.

A computer consists of the following components:

• Hardware
• Operating System Software
• Applications Software

PC Hardware Components

PC components can be divided into the following categories:

• Microprocessors process instructions and perform calculations. The most important microprocessor in the computer is the Central Processing Unit (CPU).
• Storage devices (memory and disks [or drives]) hold data.
• Input devices (mouse and keyboard) let the user enter data.
• Output devices (monitor, speakers and printer) (dis)play data.
• Network devices (network card, modem) allow PCs to connect to other computers.

Devices outside the main system case (usually referred to as "the box"), connected to the computer by cables or wireless connections, are referred to as peripherals.

Some of the more important peripherals include:

• Mouse and keyboard - the main types of input device, these allow the user to select commands and icons and enter text.
• Monitor (or screen) - displays information processed by the computer to the user. There are two types of monitor:
  • Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) - uses the same sort of technology as a television set to generate images. These are bulky devices, used only with desktop PCs.
  • Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) - a less bulky display technology, usually used for portable computers but also for desktops.
• Printer - a device for outputting files to paper. Printers can usually handle text and graphics.
• Scanner - converts a page, image (or any relatively flat object) into a computer image file. Optical Character Recognition software allows the computer to convert scanned text into text that can be manipulated in a file (as opposed to an image of the text).
• Speakers and Microphone - devices for inputting and outputting sound. Voice recognition and synthesizer software allow a computer to convert speech to text and vice versa. A telephone set can also become a computer peripheral.

PC Software

Software enables the PC's hardware to perform useful tasks, such as creating, displaying and printing a letter.

Software can be divided into two important classes: operating systems and applications.



Users enter data into an application software package. The application gives the user a set of commands to work with (an interface). The application then translates those commands into instructions, which are passed to the PC's operating system software. The operating system sends instructions to the hardware, which processes and calculates the data and passes the results back up the chain.

The operating system provides a common environment for different software applications to work in. It controls the PC's hardware. It also provides its own interface to allow the user to configure the PC's components and to organize the storage of data.

A user interface provides a way for the user to interact with the computer. Early IBM-compatible computers used DOS (Disk Operating System), which has a command line interface (the user enters text-based instructions using a keyboard).

One of the most significant developments in personal computing was the graphical user interface (GUI). A GUI uses the screen to display windows, menus and icons, which represent applications, commands and files.

A variety of operating systems are in use on computers:

• Microsoft Windows 9x (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me) - the "domestic" family of Microsoft operating systems, widely used in businesses too.
• Microsoft Windows NT and Windows 2000 - the "business" family of Microsoft operating systems, offering improved networking, security and reliability over Windows 9x.
• Microsoft Windows XP - the next generation of Microsoft operating systems. XP is largely based on Windows 2000, but with added support for multimedia and games software. It comes in Home and Professional versions (which are very similar to one another).
• Microsoft Windows CE - an operating system designed for handheld computers.
• Other personal computer operating systems include UNIX/LINUX, IBM's OS/2 and Apple's System X.