Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft

Course Outline
 Computer Basics
 Computer Discoveries
 Configuration Panel of Windows
 Useful Softwares
 Internet and Social Media
 Collaboration Tools

Tuesday 01 November 2022

CHAPTER ONE : Computer Basics
General Knowledge of a computer

a) What is a Computer

A computer is an electronic device that accepts information (in the form of

digitalized data) and manipulates it in order to produce a result based on a program
or sequence of precautions on how data can be processed.

A computer is any device that accepts input from a user, performs operations
on that input and provides an outputs to the user

b) Uses of a Computer
Some uses of a computer are;
- Type an edit text in a word processing program such as Microsoft word
- Use a search engine such as Google to find information
- Read and send emails
- Back-up your important informations
- Keep your O.S and other software updated
- Change your Password
- View and edit photos
- Play Games,videos and musics
- Connect to the internet
c) Parts of a Computer

CPU
Memory Unit

Control Unit Output Unit

Input Unit

Arithmetic Logic Unit

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Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft

1) Input Unit

A computer will only respond when a command is given to it. These

commands can be given using the input units or the input device, for example, a
keyboard can be used to type something, then the computer processess the
entered data and then displays the output on the screen

The data entered, can be in the form of numbers, alphabet,etc… we enter the
data using an input device, the processing unit convertsit into computer
understandeable language andthe the final output,is recieved in a human
understandeable language

2) Output Unit

When we cimmand a computer to perfom a task, it does and it produces a

result. This result is called the output there are various output devices connected
to the computer. The most basic of which is a monitor. What ever we write using
a keyboard or click using a mouse, is all displayed on the monitor. Thus the
output unit givs us the final results once the entire processing is done within the
mechanism of the device . An example can be when we visit an Automated Teller
Machine,we enter our details like language, Personal Identification Number(PIN),
amount to be withdrawn etc and then the final money which the cash dispenser
realeases is our outcome .In this case, the cash dispenser act as an output unit

3) Memory Unit
When we enter a data into the computer using an input device, the entered
data immidiately gets saved in the memory unit of the CPU. Due to the presence
of some existing programming, the memory unit transmits the data to other
parts of the CPU.
Simillarly When the oututbof our command is processed by the compuer, it is
saved in the memory unit before giving the output to the user.

4) Control Unit
This is the core unit which manages the entire functioning of the computer
device.It is one of the most essential components of the computer systems. The
control unit collect the data entered using the input unit leads it on for
processing, and once that is done, recieves the output and sends it to the user. It
is said to be the center of all processing actions taking place in a computer
device. Basically, the instruction taken, interpretation of the entered datavand
the final retrieving of the data for output is all done in the control unit

5) Arithmetic and logic Unit

As the name suggest, all the mathematical calculations or arithmetic
operations are performed in the arithmetic and logic unit of the CPU, it can also
perform actions like ; Decision making actions. The ALU comprises circuits which
are used fr addition, substraction, multiplivation, division and other arithmetic
based calculation.

6) The Central Processing Unit (CPU)

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Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft
The CPU is the core of any computer device which consists of 3 major
components which have been discussed above i.e The Memory Unit, The Control
Unit, Arithmetic and logic Unit. All these 3 unit are elements of the CPU or
together help in the efficient working and processing of data, it is also known as
the brain of the computer.
Assignment
- Differentiate between RAM and ROM
o RAM is a vlatile memory while ROM is a non-volatile memory
o Data stored in RAM can be retrived an altered while Data stored in ROM
Can only be read
o RAM is a memory in such a way that after rebooting or shuting down a
computer, all its information is lost where as for ROM it maintains its
information
- List 6 different input and output units
o Input
 Keyboard
 Mouse
 Joystick
o Output
 Printers
 Scanners
 Speakers

d) Elements of a computer system

There are 6 mains elements of a computer system, they all interact with each other
and perform the task at hand, they include;
- Hardware
These are the physicall objects that made up a computer system, They are
tangeable that is we can see and touch. Hardware components are components
like Keyboard, Printer, Mouse etc. They help the user’s interaction with the
software and also display the result of the task been performed. Hardware can
actually bee of 4 type depending on which function they perfomed, this include
Input hardware for users to input data into the computer system e.g Keyboard,
Mouse etc
Output hardware to display the result of the data processed e.g Monitor, Printer
etc
Processing and memory hardware where data and information are manipulated
to perform the task at hand, it is also the workspace of the computer where it
temporarily stores data
Secondary storage hardware Where the computer system stores data
permanently e.g External hard disk drive, USB keys etc…
Thursday 03 November 2022
Assignment
What instructions are needed to startup a computer ?
The instruction to startup a computer are based on the read only
memory chip
- The micro processor begins by executing the instructions stored in the ROM BIOS
- The computer now performs dignostic test of crucial system components based on
the configuration data stored in the CMOS.
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 Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft
- The operating system instructions are now copied from the Disk to the RAM

System
Confiuratio System
CPU loads the Power-On
Power ON O.S Loaded utilities are Authentica
self Test ns
BIOS loaded tion of user
accomplish
ed
- Software
This is a set of programs (computer instructions) which helps the user to
execute or carry out a specific tasks. It helps the user to interact with the
computer system with the help of the hardware. Software as you can imagine is
the intangeable aspect of the computer system. Basically there are 2 main types
of softwares ; System Software and the Application Software.
 System Software

This is a software that enable communication between the user and

the hardware, they also act as a platform for other software, examples include:

o Operating System :
These specialised programs allows the communication between
softwares and hardware. The O.S runs all the computer program. Some
examples include LINUX, WINDOWS XP etc
o Utility software :
Like O.S, it helps maintains, protect and enhance the computer system e.g
ANTI VIRUS, DISK CLEANER etc.
o Drivers( Device drivers) :

A driver is a software that tells a piece of hardware how to

function by communicating with a computer’s operating system.

Friday 04 November 2022

o People/users :
The people interacting with a computer system are also an element to the
computer system. There are 3 types of people that interact with the sytem.
Namely
 Programmers

These are proffesionals who write computer programs that allow users to
interact with the computer. They must have technical knowledge on computer
and programming languages;

 System Analysts

A System analyst is a person who uses analysis and design techniques to

solve problems using information technology. System analysts may serve
as change agents who identifies improvements needed, design systems
to implement those changes, train and motivate others to use the
systems

 End Users

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Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft
Also known as operators, they are people who interact with the system that
is the persosn for who the software product was designed

- Data
This is essentially raw fact that we input in the computer system. The data
gets processed by the computer system and becomes information which is
processed and organised data
- Information
This is processed data which are meaningful and organize and can easily be
used for decision making

The Operating System

a) Definition and rule of an operating systema
An O.S is a system software that acts as an interface between the user and the
computer hardware and controls the execution of programs

User
Hardware

App Software
O.S

App O.S
User
Software

Hardware

User

In other to use the computer, there is need forcommunication with hardware devices
such as Memory, Processor, Input and Output devices. Therefore there is need for an
O.S which permits users to interact with the computer hardware efficiently
b) Functions of an O.S
a. This is needful for allocation of resources in order to avoid conflict between
programs. Some functions include ; I\O device management by the O.S
Device management in an O.S means controlling the I\O devices like Disk,
Microphone, Keyboard, Printer etc. A system has multiple devices, and in
other to handle this devices, the O.S requires a program known as the
Device Driver . The Device Controller helps to establish the link between the

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 Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft
device driver and the device. Some functions if the device management by
the O.S include
- It decices which process recieves the device and for how long
- It monitors the status of the device
- It effectively allocates and deallocates a device. De-alloccating differentiates the
device at 2 levels ; Firstly, when an I\O command is issued and temporarily
freed ;Secondly, zhen the job is completed and the device is permanently
released
Assignment
Give 6 file formats, thier data types and the meaning of their accronyms

File Formats Data Types Meaning of Accronym

.exe Application Executable File
.txt Text document Text File
.pdf Text Document Portable Document File
.ico Picture Icon
.docx Word Document Text Document
.bat Command Prompt File Batch File

File Management
This is one of the basic and important features of an operating system. The
O.S is used to manage files in our computer system, all the files with different
extensions are managed by the O.S. A file is a computer resource used to record
data in a computer system. File management defines the process of manipulating
files in a computer system. That is the process of creating, modifying and deleting
the files. Some tasks performed by the file management of an O.S include ;
1) Creates new files in a computer system and placing them in specific
locations
2) Easily and quickly locating this files in a system
3) Makes the process of sharing very easy
4) Helps to store file in seperate folders known as Directories, these
directories help to search files quickly or to manage the files
according to thier types or uses
5) Helps to modify data or files or name of files in the directories
Network Management by the O.S
The O.S manages the inter - connection of devices in a network for
sharing of resources
Memory Management in an O.S
This bases itself on techniques and methods used in other to attribute space take
part in execution
Three old methods of Proven inefficience memory management techniques include
- Single User Contiguous
- Fixed Partitions
- Dynamic Partitions

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 Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft
1) Single user Contiguous
Here a single job took up a whole memory space was processed and
deallocated from the memory before the next job is allocated to the
memory. In case the job was larger than the memory space, the job will
not be executed. Here the execution of tasks was relatively very slow

Job 1 Job 2

In Execution Waiting

2) Fixed Partitions
Here the memory was divided into static partition
ns, jobs was then fit into them for execution despite the left over space
in the memory portions which could be used for other jobs

Job 1
Job 2
Job 3
3) Dynamic Partitions
Here the jobs where given as much space as they requested for the
executions of their tasks ;
Job 1

Job 2

Job 3

In other to solve the inefficient memory allocation techniques, the

Paged memory allocation technique was been putted up. Here sectors
of the main memory are known as paged frames. Before execution of a
program, the memory manager makes preparations which are
- How many pages are in the program
- Locates enough empty page frames in main memory and fix the pages of
the program into it.
The fitting into memory page frames can be done in any order,
therefore there is a mean to keep tract of all page locations. There are
3 tables found in main memories in order to keep tract of paged
location, which are ;
1) The job Table
This is a list contaning the size of the job or identifier of the
job and the Paged Mapped Table (PMT) of that job.

Job Table
Job PMT

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 Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft
A 3000
B 400
C 500
2) Page Map Table
This contains important information for each
page i.e the page number and its corresponding page
frame number.

Page Map Table

Job Page N0 Page Frame
N0 of Job
0 5
1 7
2 4
3)
This contains information about page frames i.e
locations of page frames and status

Memory Map table

Page Frame Location Status
8 Busy
7 Free
Swapping and Virtual Memory

The virtual memory acts asan extensions of main memory. In the case where the RAM is fully
occupied, it takes jobs which aren’t currently in use and transfers it to the hard disk drive. This
procees is called Swappingkly identify the tyoes

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Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft

Chapter 2 : The Windows Desktop

1) The Icons
This is a small graphical reprensatation of a programor file. It helps users to quickly identify
the types of files represented by the icons.
Types of Icons
a) System Icon
They are displaed along the left sides of the screen. These icons are created
automatically by windows during its installation e.g
- My computer
- My documents
- Recycle bin etc
b) Shortcut Icons
These are icons with small arrows on the lower left corner. They provide easy access
to some object on our system. It contain ceratain information about the location of the
object but not the object itself
c) Document Icons
These are non system icons without arrows and they present the actual objects they
describe, so if we delete such an icon, then the file itself is been deleted
Assignment
Differentiate between “This pc” and Recycle bin

2) Files and Folders

A file is a common storage unit in computer and orthograms and data are written
into a file and read from a file
A folder holds one or more files, and a folder can be empty until it is field. A folder
can also contain other folders. Folders within a folder are known as Sub-Folders. Folders
provides a method for organizing powers

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Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC3) Microsoft
3) The Task Bar
This is the access point for programs displayed on the desktop even of the program is
minimized.
- With the task bar users can view the open primary windows and certain
secondary windows on the desktop and can quickly switch between them
- Its located at the bottom of the screen
4) Windows and Dialog Boxes
A dialog box is a temporal window and app create to get the user’s input. An app
typically uses dialog boxes to prompt the user for additional information
5) The Minimize, Maximize and Restore button
The minimize button takes the works space down to the task bar. The Maximize
button takes the worlds space to full screen. The restore down button reduces the size. The
close button, completely closes the workspace.
a) The Title Bar:
- It is found at the top of the windows
- It contains the text which specified the and indicates the name of that window

b) The Menu Bar

It is a horizontal bar located at the top of the screen below the title bar
containing drop down menus
c) The Tool Bar :
It contains buttons that execute commands when you click them
d) The Keyboard Shortcut:

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