ASSIGNMENT NO.

COURSE NAME:

INTRODUCTION TO ICT

COURSE CODE:

3576

TEACHER NAME:

Ms. SADIA MAQBOOL

STUDENT NAME:

ATIF MUKHTAR JANJUA

ROLL NO.

BR564444
 Q No. 1 — a)

HISTORY OF COMPUTER:
One of the earliest machines designed to assist people in calculations was the abacus which is
still being used some 5000 years after its invention.
In 1642 Blaise Pascal (a famous French mathematician) invented an adding machine based on
mechanical gears in which numbers were represented by the cogs on the wheels.
Englishman, Charles Babbage, invented in the 1830's a "Difference Engine" made out of brass
and pewter rods and gears, and also designed a further device which he called an "Analytical
Engine". His design contained the five key characteristics of modern computers:-
1. An input device
2. Storage for numbers waiting to be processed
3. A processor or number calculator
4. A unit to control the task and the sequence of its calculations
5. An output device
Augusta Ada Byron (later Countess of Lovelace) was an associate of Babbage who has become
known as the first computer programmer.
An American, Herman Hollerith, developed (around 1890) the first electrically driven device. It
utilised punched cards and metal rods which passed through the holes to close an electrical
circuit and thus cause a counter to advance. This machine was able to complete the calculation
of the 1890 U.S. census in 6 weeks compared with 7 1/2 years for the 1880 census which was
manually counted.
In 1936 Howard Aiken of Harvard University convinced Thomas Watson of IBM to invest $1
million in the development of an electromechanical version of Babbage's analytical engine. The
Harvard Mark 1 was completed in 1944 and was 8 feet high and 55 feet long.
At about the same time (the late 1930's) John Atanasoff of Iowa State University and his
assistant Clifford Berry built the first digital computer that worked electronically, the ABC
(Atanasoff-Berry Computer). This machine was basically a small calculator.
In 1943, as part of the British war effort, a series of vacuum tube based computers (named
Colossus) were developed to crack German secret codes. The Colossus Mark 2 series (pictured)
consisted of 2400 vacuum tubes.
John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert of the University of Pennsylvania developed these ideas
further by proposing a huge machine consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes. ENIAC (Electronic
Numerical Integrator And Computer) was born in 1946. It was a huge machine with a huge
power requirement and two major disadvantages. Maintenance was extremely difficult as the
tubes broke down regularly and had to be replaced, and also there was a big problem with
overheating. The most important limitation, however, was that every time a new task needed
to be performed the machine need to be rewired. In other words programming was carried out
with a soldering iron.
In the late 1940's John von Neumann (at the time a special consultant to the ENIAC team)
developed the EDVAC (Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer) which pioneered the
"stored program concept". This allowed programs to be read into the computer and so gave
birth to the age of general-purpose computers.

TYPES OF COMPUTERS:
1. SUPER COMPUTERS:
 Supercomputers are very expensive, very fast, and the most powerful computers we
have in the world.
 Supercomputers are optimized to execute a few numbers of programs. This makes it
possible for them to execute these few programs at a very high speed. Due to their
inhibiting cost, they are used in high end places like in scientific research centers. The
supercomputer consists of thousands of processors making it clock very high speeds
measured by petaflops.
 These computer types are also very large in size due to the numerous parts and
components involved in their design.
 A good example of a Supercomputer is Tianhe-2: TH-IVB-FEP Cluster; National Super
Computer Center in Guangzhou, China; 3.12 million cores (33.86 petaflop/s).
2. MAINFRAME COMPUTERS:
 These are large and expensive computer types capable of supporting hundreds, or even
thousands, of users simultaneously. Thus, they are mostly used by governments and
large organizations for bulk data processing, critical applications, transaction processing,
census, industry and consumer statistics among others. They are ranked below
supercomputers.
3. MINI COMPUTERS:
 Minicomputers are mid sized computers. In terms of size and power, minicomputers are
ranked below mainframes. A minicomputer is a multiprocessing system capable of
supporting from 4 to about 200 users simultaneously.
 The use of the term Minicomputer has diminished and they have merged with servers.
4. MICROCOMPUTERS OR PERSONAL COMPUTERS:
 A personal computer is a computer designed to be used by one user at a time. The term
microcomputer relates to microprocessor which is used with a personal computer for
the purpose of processing data and instruction codes. These are the most common
computer types since they are not very expensive.
DESKTOP COMPUTER:
 A microcomputer that fits on a desk and runs on power from an electrical wall outlet.
 The CPU can be housed in either a vertical or a horizontal case.
 Has separate components (keyboard, mouse, etc.) that are each plugged into the
computer.
LAPTOP COMPUTER:
 A portable, compact computer that can run on an electrical wall outlet or a battery unit.
 All components (keyboard, mouse, etc.) are in one compact unit.
 Usually more expensive than a comparable desktop.
PDA (PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT):
 PDA is a computer that fits in the palm of your hand to help collect such information as
contacts, appointments, files, and programs.
 Most PDAs had a small physical keyboard, and some had an electronically sensitive pad
on which handwriting could be received.

GENERATION OF COMPUTERS:
1. FIRST GENERATION – VACUUM TUBES:
These early computers used vacuum tubes as circuitry and magnetic drums for memory.
As a result they were enormous and expensive.
WORKING:
These first generation computers relied on ‘machine language’. These computers were
limited to solving one problem at a time. Input was based on punched cards and paper
tape. Output came out on print-outs. The two notable machines of this era were the
UNIVAC and ENIAC machines.
2. SECOND GENERATION – TRANSISTORS:
In second generation, vacuum tubes were replaced by Transistors. They were hugely
superior to the vacuum tubes, making computers smaller, faster, cheaper and less heavy
on electricity use. They still relied on punched card for input/printouts.
WORKING:
In this generation, assembly language and high-level programming languages like
FORTRAN, COBOL were used. The computers used batch processing and
multiprogramming operating system.
3. THIRD GENERATION – INTEGRATED CIRCUITS:
Third generation computers were computers that emerged due to the development of
the integrated circuit (IC). They were the first steps toward computers as we know them
today.
These were called microcomputers because the size was reduced as compare to early
generations.
WORKING:
These were the first computers where users interacted using keyboards and monitors
which interfaced with an operating system.
 This enabled these machines to run several applications at once using a central program
which functioned to monitor memory.
4. FOURTH GENERATION – MICROPROCESSORS:
Computers of fourth generation used Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. VLSI
circuits having about 5000 transistors and other circuit elements with their associated
circuits on a single chip.
Fourth generation computers became more powerful, compact, reliable, and affordable.
As a result, it gave rise to Personal Computer (PC) revolution. In this generation, time
sharing, real time networks, distributed operating system were used. All the high-level
languages like C, C++, DBASE etc., were used in this generation.
5. FIFTH GENERATION – ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:
In the fifth generation, VLSI technology became ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration)
technology, resulting in the production of microprocessor chips having ten million
electronic components.
This generation is based on parallel processing hardware and AI (Artificial Intelligence)
software. All the high-level languages like C and C++, Java, .NET etc. are used in this
generation.

Q No. 1 — b)

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE:

Hardware is the physical aspect of the computer, the thing we can touch, such as monitor, hard
drive, etc. Software is the non-physical aspect which includes the operating system,
applications, programs, etc.
A computer is mainly divided into two parts, the hardware and the software. All of the
computer’s components fall under either of these categories. The hardware is the physical
aspect of the computer, things that we can touch, while, software is the non-physical aspect.
The easiest way to distinguish among the two is that anything we see when the computer is off
is the hardware, while anything we see on the monitor is the software.
Hardware is the actual components that your computer is made of, such as the monitor,
keyboard, CPU, etc. Without hardware, the computer would not exist and the software would
have nothing to run on. The software, on the other hand, is any program that you load onto a
computer, such as the operating system, the server, the web browser, media player, etc. It is
the code and instructions that tells the computer hardware how to operate. This code can be
viewed and executed using the hardware. The hardware serves as the delivery system for
software solutions. It gives something for the software to operate on.
A computer can run without installed software. However, if an operating system or interpreter
is not found, the computer would either generate an error or sit at a black screen. The software
enables a computer to perform a specific task. Additional programs give the computer
additional abilities.
Once installed, the hardware of a computer is infrequently changed, as it rarely fails. However,
it does wear out over time and tends to have increasing failures at the last stage of its life.
Software, on the other hand, does not wear out over time and does not have an increasing
failure rate over its life. It does tend to become outdated, but it is readily created, modified,
updated or erased on the computer.
There are various types of hardware, including input devices – which are used to input data into
the computer; output devices – which allow the data to be seen; data storage – which store
data; data ports – which allow connectivity between the computer and other devices; and the
computer care – which is the base unit and includes the base components essential for the
computer to run.
Software is categorized into three different types: system software, programming software and
application software. System software is software designed to operate and provide basic
functionality to the computer hardware in order for it to be able to provide a platform for
running application software. Programming software includes programs or applications that
software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or support other programs and
applications. Application software is developed to perform any task that benefits from
computation. It is a set of programs that allows the computer to perform a specific data
processing job for the user. Example of the different types of hardware and software are given
below:
TYPES OF HARDWARE:
 Input devices – keyboard, image scanner, microphone, pointing device, graphics tablet,
joystick, light pen, mouse, touchpad, touch screen, trackball, webcam
 Output devices – monitor, printer, speakers
 Removable data storage - optical disc drive (CD-RW, DVD+RW), floppy disk, memory
card, USB flash drive
 Computer case - central processing unit (CPU), hard disk, motherboard, network
interface controller, power supply, random-access memory (RAM), sound card, video
card.
 Data ports - Ethernet firewire, parallel port, serial port, universal serial bus (USB).
TYPES OF SOFTWARE:
 System software - device drivers, operating systems, servers, utilities, window systems
 Programming software - compilers, debuggers, interpreters, linkers, text editors
 Application software - accounting software, office suites, databases, media players, web
browser.

Q No. 2 – a)
INPUT AND OUTPUT DEVICES & ITS USAGE:
An input device sends information to a computer system for processing, and an output device
reproduces or displays the results of that processing. Input devices only allow for input of data
to a computer and output devices only receive the output of data from another device.
Most devices are only input devices or output devices, as they can only accept data input from
a user or output data generated by a computer. However, some devices can accept input and
display output, and they are referred to as I/O devices (input/output devices).
For example, as you can see in the top half of the image to the right, a keyboard sends electrical
signals, which are received by the computer as input. Those signals are then interpreted by the
computer and displayed, or output, on the monitor as text or images. In the lower half of the
image, the computer sends, or outputs, data to a printer, which will print the data onto a piece
of paper, also considered output.
INPUT DEVICES:
An input device can send data to another device, but it cannot receive data from another
device. Examples of input devices include the following.
 Keyboard - It is the most commonly used input device. It is used to enter data and
instructions directly into the computer. There are 104 buttons on the keyboard which
are called keys.
 Mouse - is another input device which is commonly found connected with the
computers. It is basically a pointing device which works on the principle of Point and
Click. When the mouse is moved on the mouse pad, a light beam underneath reflect to
give motion to the pointer on the screen. The mouse is used in windows based
programs, where the user can run the commands by pointing the objects with the help
of pointer and clicking the buttons on the mouse. We also use mouse for drawing in
paint and kid pix.
Most of the latest mouses, these days, include a wheel in the middle of two buttons that
help us to scroll through documents more easily. we use our forefinger to move the
wheel to scroll up or down in a document. Optical mouse uses red light to track the
movement of mouse for moving the pointer on the computer screen. This type of
mouse is more accurate and reliable than the traditional mouse.
Nowadays cordless mouse is very popular. It doesn’t have wires. It either uses Bluetooth
technology to sends the data through the air to a receiver, usually plugged in USB port
of the computer.
 Microphone - Receives sound generated by a user or other source (input) and sends
that sound to a computer. It cannot receive and reproduce (output) sound sent by other
devices.
 Webcam - Receives images generated by whatever it is pointed at (input) and sends
those images to a computer. It cannot receive and reproduce (output) images sent by
other devices.
  Joystick and Game-pad - Joystick and game-pad are also input devices which are also
input devices which are used to control the movement of object on the screen. Just like
mouse, these are also pointing devices. Mostly they are used for playing games on the
computer.
The joystick has a vertical stick with a track ball at its bottom. While playing the games
on the computer, the user needs to move the objects quickly on the screen. With the
movement of this vertical stick the objects can be moved in all the directions easily.
A game-pad is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially
thumbs) are used to provide input by pressing buttons on it. It is also known as Control
Pad.
 Scanner - We can store pictures, photographs, diagrams into the computer with the
help of scanner. The scanner reads the image and saves it in the computer as a file.
OUTPUT DEVICES:
An output device can receive data from another device and generate output with that data, but
it cannot send data to another device. Examples of output devices include the following.
 Monitor - Receives data from a computer (output) and displays that information as text
and images for users to view. It cannot accept data from a user or other source and send
that data to another device.
 Projector - Receives data from a computer (output) and displays, or projects, that
information as text and images onto a surface, like a wall or a screen. It cannot accept
data from a user or other source and send that data to another device.
 Speakers - Receives sound data from a computer or other device (output) and plays the
sounds for users to hear. It cannot accept sound generated by users and send that
sound to another device.
 Printers - This is an important output device of the computer system. It gives a printed
output of the results that appears on the monitor screen. Printed output is also called
Hard Copy output because unlike monitor, this output can be preserved even if the
computer is switched off.
INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICES:
 An input/output device can receive data from users or another device and also send
data to another device. Examples of input/output devices include the following.
 CD-RW drive and DVD-RW drive - Receives data from a computer (input), to copy onto a
writable CD or DVD. Also, the drive sends data contained on a CD or DVD (output) to a
computer.
 USB flash drive - Receives, or saves, data from a computer or other device (input). Also,
the drive sends data to a computer or another device (output).

Q No.2 - b)
A computer virus, much like a flu virus, is designed to spread from host to host and has the
ability to replicate itself. Similarly, in the same way that viruses cannot reproduce without a
host cell, computer viruses cannot reproduce and spread without programming such as a file or
document.
In more technical terms, a computer virus is a type of malicious code or program written to
alter the way a computer operates and that is designed to spread from one computer to
another. A virus operates by inserting or attaching itself to a legitimate program or document
that supports macros in order to execute its code. In the process a virus has the potential to
cause unexpected or damaging effects, such as harming the system software by corrupting or
destroying data.
HOW DOES A COMPUTER VIRUS FIND ME?
Even if you’re careful, you can pick up computer viruses through normal Web activities like:
 Sharing music, files, or photos with other users
 Visiting an infected website
 Opening spam email or an email attachment
 Downloading free games, toolbars, media players and other system utilities
 Installing mainstream software applications without thoroughly reading license
agreements.
WHAT DOES A COMPUTER VIRUS DO?
Some computer viruses are programmed to harm your computer by damaging programs,
deleting files, or reformatting the hard drive. Others simply replicate themselves or flood a
network with traffic, making it impossible to perform any internet activity. Even less harmful
computer viruses can significantly disrupt your system’s performance, sapping computer
memory and causing frequent computer crashes.
SYMPTOMS OF A COMPUTER VIRUS:
Computer may be infected if you recognize any of these malware symptoms:
 Slow computer performance
 Erratic computer behavior
 Unexplained data loss
 Frequent computer crashes
HOW TO PROTECT AGAINST COMPUTER VIRUSES:
When you arm yourself with information and resources, you’re wiser about computer security
threats and less vulnerable to threat tactics. Take these steps to safeguard your PC with the
best computer virus protection:
 Use antivirus protection and a firewall
 Get antispyware software
 Always keep your antivirus protection and antispyware software up-to-date
 Update your operating system regularly
 Increase your browser security settings
 Avoid questionable Web sites
 Only download software from sites you trust.
 Carefully evaluate free software and file-sharing applications before downloading
them.
 Don't open messages from unknown senders
 Immediately delete messages you suspect to be spam
An unprotected computer is like an open door for computer viruses. Firewalls monitor Internet
traffic in and out of your computer and hide your PC from online scammers looking for easy
targets. Products like Webroot Internet Security Complete and Webroot Antivirus provide
complete protection from the two most dangerous threats on the Internet – spyware and
computer viruses. They thwart threats before they can enter your computer, stand guard at
every possible entrance of your computer and fend off any computer virus that tries to open,
even the most damaging and devious strains.
While free antivirus downloads are available, they just can't offer the computer virus help you
need to keep up with the continuous onslaught of new strains. Previously undetected forms
of polymorphic malware can often do the most damage, so it’s critical to have up-to-the-
minute, guaranteed antivirus protection.

Q No. 3 – a)

PEOPLE INTERACTION WITH COMPUTER SYSTEM:

ROLE OF SOFTWARE:
Software is the soul of the computer. Without it, the computer will never be useful and easy to
use it is like a dead body.
A computer is a collection of electrical and mechanical devices that can accept human or
electro-mechanical input via input devices and can provide visual, auditory and kinetic output
via output devices. Human input is generally provided by moving and clicking buttons on a
mouse, from pressing keys on a keyboard, writing on an electronic tablet, touching the screen
or with spoken commands. Electro-mechanical input can come from a variety of data storage
devices or from another, attached computer. Visual output is typically displayed on a monitor
while audible output.
In other words software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation.
Program software performs the function of the program it implements, either by directly
providing instructions to the computer hardware or by serving as input to another piece of
software. The term was coined to contrast to the old term hardware (meaning physical
devices). In contrast to hardware, software is intangible, meaning it "cannot be touched".
Software is also sometimes used in a more narrow sense, meaning application software only.
Sometimes the term includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers,
such as film, tapes, and records.

Q No. 3 – b)

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN APPLICATION AND SYSTEM SOFTWARE:

S. No. APPLICATION SOFTWARE SYSTEM SOFTWARE

Application software is used by user to
1
perform specific task.
Application softwares are installed
2 according to user’s requirements.
In general, the user interacts with
3 application sofwares.
Application software can’t run
4 independently. They can’t run without
the presence of system software.
System software is used for operating
computer hardware.
System softwares are installed on the
computer when operating system is
installed.
In general, the user does not interact with
system software because it works in the
background.
System software can run independently. It
provides platform for running application
softwares.
 Some examples of application softwares Some examples of system softwares are
5 are word processor, web browser, media compiler, assembler, debugger, driver, etc.
player, etc.

Q No. 4 – a)

ROLE OF MEMORY IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM:

People in the computer industry commonly use the term “memory” to refer to RAM (Random
Access Memory). A computer uses RAM to hold temporary instructions and data needed to
complete tasks. This enables the computer’s CPU (Central Processing Unit), to access
instructions and data stored in memory very quickly.
A good example of this is when the CPU loads an application program – such as a word
processing or page layout program – into memory, thereby allowing the application program to
work as quickly and efficiently as possible. In practical terms, having the program loaded into
memory means you can get work done more quickly with less time spent waiting for the
computer to perform tasks.
The process begins when you enter a command from your keyboard. The CPU interprets the
command and instructs the hard drive to load the command or prgram into memory. Once the
data is loaded into memory, the CPU is able to access it much more quickly than if it had to
retrieve it from the hard drive.
This process of putting things the CPU needs in a place where it can get at them more quickly is
similar to placing various electronic files and documents you’re using on the computer into a
single file folder or directory. By doing so, you keep all the files you need handy and avoid
searching in several places every time you need them.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY MEMORY:

The memory of a computer is classified in the two categories primary and secondary memory.
Primary memory is the main memory of the computer where the currently processing data
resides. The secondary memory of the computer is auxiliary memory where the data that has to be
stored for a long time or permanently, is kept. The basic difference between primary and
secondary memory is that the primary memory is directly accessible by CPU whereas, the secondary
memory is not directly accessible to CPU.
1. The key difference between primary and secondary memory is that primary memory
can be directly accessed by the CPU whereas, the CPU cannot directly access the
secondary memory.
2. The primary memory of the computer is also known as the main memory of the
computer. However, secondary memory is known as auxiliary memory.
3. The data that is to be currently processed is in primary memory whereas, the data that
has to be permanently stored is kept in secondary memory.
4. Primary memory is a volatile memory whereas, the secondary memory is a non-volatile
memory.
5. Primary memories are semiconductor memories whereas; the secondary memories are
the magnetic and optical memories.
6. Data accessing speed of the primary memory is faster than secondary memory.
7. Primary memory is accessed by the data bus. On the other hand, secondary memory is
accessed using input-output channels.
8. Primary memory’s capacity is always smaller than secondary memory’s capacity.
9. Primary memory is costlier than secondary memory.
10. Primary memory is an internal memory whereas, secondary memory is an external
memory.

Q No. 4 – b)
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RAM AND ROM AND THEIR FEATURES:
Random Access Memory (RAM), is a hardware element of a computer where programs,
operating systems and data that’s currently being used is stored so that the processor
can retrieve it quickly.
Read Only Memory (ROM), on the other hand, is a type of memory where data has been
prerecorded and contains the programming that helps the computer ‘boot up’.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A RAM AND ROM:
 There is one major difference between a read-only memory (ROM) and a random-access
memory (RAM) chip: ROM can hold data without power and RAM cannot. Essentially,
ROM is meant for permanent storage, and RAM is for temporary storage.
 A ROM chip is a non-volatile storage medium, which means it does not require a
constant source of power to retain the information stored on it. By contrast, a RAM chip
is volatile, which means it loses any information it is holding when the power is turned
off.
 A ROM chip is used primarily in the startup process of a computer, whereas a RAM chip
is used in the normal operations of a computer once the operating system has been
loaded.
 Writing data to a ROM chip is a much slower process than writing it to a RAM chip.
 RAM is a high-speed memory, whereas ROM is much slower than the RAM.
 A RAM chip can store multiple gigabytes (GB) of data, ranging from 1 GB to 256 GB per
chip. A ROM chip stores several megabytes (MB) of data, typically 4 MB or 8 MB per
chip.
 The CPU can access the data stored on RAM. The CPU cannot access the data stored on
ROM. In order to do so, the data is first copied to the RAM.