Basic About the Hardware and Software and its Functions

A compter sytem is made up several components. These compinents can be divided into two categories- Hardware and software.

Hardware refers to the parts of the computer that you can see and touch, like the monitor, the CPU, the mouse, and the keyboard. The hardware components of a computer consist of input devises, processing device, output devises, and storage devices.

However, hardware cannot work by itself; it needs step-by-step instructions. This set of instructions that make a computer perform a particular action, is called a program. A set of such programs is called software. You cannot see or touch software.

Let us learn about more about hardware.

Input devices

An input devices is used to enter data into a computer. Without an input devices, users will not be able to interact with it. let us learn about some of the commonly used input devices.

Keyboard

A keyboard is one of the primary input devises. It allows users to enter alphabets, numbers, and symbols into a computer. It consists of a set of keys mounted on a board.

Mouse

A mouse is a small input devices that lets you control what happens on the screen. It usually has two buttons and a scroll wheel. It is used to point at a particular object on the screen and select objects to perform the action.

Microphone

A microphone can be used to input sound into a computer. Some of the actions for which a microphone may be required are playing games, voice recording, video calling, recording songs or musical instruments, and voice recognition.

Scanner

A scanner lets us convert a printed copy of our work, also know as a hard copy, into a digital copy ( soft copy). The scanned image can be saved onto our computer for future reference and use.

Processing Devices

whenever an input is given to a computer, It is executed by the processing devices. A processing device converts data into meaningful information. CPU is the main processing unit of a computer, it is fixed inside the CPU cabinet. Let us learn about the main components of a CPU cabinet or a system unit.

Motherboard

A motherboard is the main circuit board that holds the other components, such as CPU, power supply box, and memory chips. It allocates power wherever needed, communicates and coordinates across all the other components.

CPU

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) or processor is a small chip. It is know as the brain of the computer. It is responsible for processing all the data into information.

Power Supply Unit

A power upply Unit or PSU is a point that receives power from an external source and then allocates the memory to individual hardware ncomponent with the help of the motherboard.

Output Devices

The output devices show the result of the data processed by a computer. There areb several output devises. Let us learn about some of them.

Monitor

The monitor is the most common output device. It is also know awa visual display unit or VDU. It displays the work being bdone on the computer.

Printer

A printer helps you to take printouts of the work you have done on the computer. It prints the output of your work on a sheet of paper.

Speakers and Headphones

speakers and headphones let you listen to the audio or music on the computer.

Srorage Devices

The storage devices are used for nsaving and carrying data. A storage devices can keep the data for na short-term or long-term. Let us learn about the various storage devices available.

Hard Disk

The hard disk is the main storage device of a computer. It is found onn the motherboard. The data is permanently stored in the hard disk until the user deletes it.

External Hard Disk

An external hard disk is nsimilar to the hard disk of the computer. It can be connected to the computer externally. It is a portable device that can be used to carry from one location to another.

Pen Drive

A pen drive is a small portable devices that is used to store data. It is also known as a flash drive. It is easy to use because it is small enough to be carried in the pocket. You can plug it into a computer using a USB port.

CD and DVD

CD stands for Compact Disc and DVD stands for Digital Versatile Disc. Both CDs and DVDs are popular storage devices. A DVD has more storage space than a CD

Memory Card

A memory card is a small, portable, and removable storage devices. It is often used in digital cameras to stotre image files.

Let us Learn about software. Softare refers to the set of instructions or programs that tells the hardware what to do. There are two types of software-System Software and Application software.

System Software

This is the main software that helps the computer to run and perform all its essential tasks. It provides a platform to run application software. Operating system is an example of system software.

Without an operating system, a computer cannot be used. SSome of the popular operating system software are Windows 10, Mac OS X, Linux, and Ubuntu, Android, and iOS.

Appliactaion Software

Application software helps you to oerform specific tasks on the computer. An application software needs to be installed on na ncomputer before use. MS Paint, Kea Coloring, amd MS Word are example of application software.

Now We Know

• The components of a computer can be divided into two categoies- hardware and software.
• Hardware refers to those parts of a computer that we can touch or see. for example, Monitor, CPU, Keyboard, Mouse, Printer, CD and DVD.
• The hardware components of a computer consist of Input, Processing, Outout and Storage Devices.
• The Input devices are used to enter data into a computer.
• A processing devices show nthe result of the data processed by a computer.
• The storage devices are used to store information.
• Software is a set of programs to carry out specific tasks.
• There are two types of software- System Software and Application Software.

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