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1. 3 main stages

   • Input
     • Mouse
     • Keyboard
   • Processing
   • Output
     • Speakers
     • Printers
   • e.g. Supermarket
     • Input= the product code from the bar-code
     • Processed= product and price looked up in a data base
     • Output= product and price printed on the receipt

2. Hardware

   • Physical e.g.computer, monitor, printer
   • Microprocessor= brain of the computer (carries out all calculations)
     • DVD players, washing machines

3. Software

   • Opperating systems software
     • Control and manage the computer
   • Applications software
     • Word processors, data bases, computer games

4. Motherboard and central processing unit

   • Motherboard
     • Main circuit board
     • Slots to plug in other boards
     • Built in sound or video
     • Better quality with separate video cards
   • CPU
     • Sits on the motherboard
     • Carries out the main processing functions

5. Methods of processing

   • Interactive from user to input e.g. video game
   • Multi-tasking having several documents open
   • Real time, happens straight away
     • e.g. TV's in stock
   • Multiuser
     • Lots of users logged into a server

6. Main/initial memory

   • ROM
     • Read Only Memory
     • Computer boots up it loads instructions
       • Cannot write data to it
   • RAM
     • Random Access Memory
     • Holds info when the computer is switched on
       • When off data is lost
     • Improves the computer performance