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Subject: RE: Jet Li to join in Matrix 2 and 3
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Date: 2001-09-20 06:31:52

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Page 3

2. ANATOMY OF A PC Page 4

2.1 THE MAIN UNIT Page 4
2.2 STORAGE CONCEPTS Page 6
2.3 GRAPHICS Page 7
2.4 ENTERING INFORMATION Page 8

3. NETWORKS Page 9

3.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF A NETWORK Page 9
3.2 ADVANTAGE OF LAN Page 9
3.3 DISADVANTAGES OF LAN Page 9

4. SOFTWARE Page 10

4.1 APPLICATION SOFTWARE Page 10
4.2 OPERATING SYSTEMS Page 11

5. VIRUSES Page 12

5.1 VIRUS TYPES Page 12
5.2 THE INFECTION CYCLE Page 13
5.3 TIPS TO AVOID VIRUSES Page 14

6. DO AND DON’TS WITH COMPUTERS Page 14

7. BACK UPS AND MAINTENANCE OF THE COMPUTER Page 15
INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

This course introduces information technology and the concepts of personal computers to those that are new to this field, or have a little knowledge and wish to progress this further.

The use of information technology within ETEC has grown substantially, culminating in the new computer based system that is currently being use across the company.

It is hoped this course will raise awareness in the issues involved with computers, making people feel more comfortable using them, finding out their uses and the possibilities that the computer opens up to them

REMEMBER IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANY PROBLEMS USING THE MACHINES, CONTACT ALAN YOUNG ON 5146 150 EXT. 160
2.0 ANATOMY OF A PC

Your computer is made up of many parts, these are called HARDWARE. Your hardware needs SOFTWARE to work – these are programs that translate the instructions you send to your computer into a format it understands.

2.1 THE MAIN UNIT

This holds the most important pieces of the computer inside which do all the work, these are

THE PROCESSOR

This is the brain of the computer. As its name implies, it processes the instructions you send to it. A processor is typically the size of a postage stamp, a CPU is an integrated circuit built onto a small piece of silicon. It consists of millions of tiny transistors connected by incredible fine traces of aluminium. Intel’s first processor, the 4004, which was introduced in 1971, contained 2,300 transistors and the latest Pentium 3 processor contains 27.1 million transistors. A basic CPU is split into seven sections: Control Unit, Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) and Memory.
The most popular are made by Intel and AMD (and are used in many different PCs and PC companies), such as the Pentiums and the Celerons by Intel and the Duron and the Athlon by AMD.
Before there was major players in making chips they used numbers instead of names for a processor. But by the time they reached 586 they decided to use names, as you can not copy right a number. Another thing that effects the performance of a computer is the clock speed – the speed at which information is processed by the computer, this is measured in MEGAHERTZ (MHz), which is the number of instructions that can be carried in a second. For example, the computers used in the IT Dept. are 500 MHz machines.

MAIN COMPONENTS OF A PERSONAL COMPUTER
MEMORY

Like the processor, the PC’s memory also resides in the system unit. A computer needs a storage area to temporally store the work and to run the programmes that you use. That is why you need RAM in your computer, RAM stands for Random Access Memory, this is fast storage space were items can be stored and retrieved very quickly. The instructions your computer receives and the information the computer processes is stored in the RAM.

CACHE MEMORY

Cache memory is a very small amount of high-speed memory, located in or extremely near the CPU itself. Cache memory serves a different purpose to RAM. It works closely with the processor and acts like a servant – presenting the processor with small, but frequently used bits of information. This helps the processor to do its job faster and more efficiently.

Your computers RAM is not a permanent storage place for information as it is power operated. As soon as the power is switched off or there is a power cut the information that was on the RAM is lost.

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU SAVE ALL YOUR WORK ONTO A DISK OR THE HARD DRIVE BEFORE LOGGING OFF!

Computer memory is measured in bytes, a byte is the smallest part of a bit of memory it represents the space to hold one letter.

1 Kilobyte = 1024 bytes
1 megabyte = 1048576 bytes
1 gigabyte = 1073741824 bytes

The standard ram in computers 32 MB for medium performance, 64 MB for higher performance although a minimum 128 MB is recommended for intense graphical work and games.
2.2 STORAGE CONCEPTS

There are several ways of storing information permanently on a PC and the amount you can store is measured in bytes.

One way to store information is by using the hard drive and this is located in the main unit. It contains a sealed spinning disk and a read/write head which hovers over the surface of the disk. The head is what stores and retrieves the information on the hard disk. Information can stored and removed as many times as needed.

The more memory the hard drive has, the more information can be stored. The higher the performance of the hard drive, the quicker the hard drive can assess and retrieve information. Hard disk performance in terms of assess speed is measured in milliseconds.

You can also store your work on a floppy disk. This device can store up to 1.44 MB of data on it, this is very little compared to hard drives which can store anything from the standard 20 GB to the high 50 GB. The floppy disk can be used by inserting it in to the floppy disk drive. A zip disk works on the same principle, but can store as much as 173 times as much data on a disk just a bit bigger than the standard floppy. If you have a CD read and writer you can store up to 650 MB of information on a single CD, the downside is that if you wish to edit the data on a computer without a CDRW, you can not as the CD is read only.

Despite the advent of high storage capacity media, the ordinary floppy disk is still most widely used form of storage. You can take a floppy disk and use it on any computer as it is standard on all computers while a zip drives are only found on few computers. The benefits of a floppy disk are that it can be removed and taken to another computer. Disks are an easy way of transferring information from one PC to another. The most common use of floppy disks is to back up work, storing one copy on the hard drive and one on the floppy. Therefore if the computer crashes and the data is lost, the can rely on the copy of the work.
2.3 GRAPHICS

The monitor or screen is obviously the part of the PC you are going look at most of the time. Three things determine the quality of the picture and the performance;
�h Screen resolution
�h How quickly the screen updates the picture, this is called the refresh rates and this is 60 – 80 Hz this means that the picture is redrawn 60 to 80 times a second.
�h The graphical capabilities.

SCREEN RESOLUTION

Screen resolution is measured in terms of dots or pixels that make up a display. The larger the amount of dots, the better the resolution. VGA resolution (649 *480 dots) has been superseded by higher resolutions and, today Super VGA (SVGA) at 800*600 or 1024*768 resolution is becoming the new standard.

GRAPHICAL CAPABILITIES

The graphical capabilities of your PC compliment those of your monitor. If your screen offers 1024*768 resolution, but the PC offers 640*480 then you’ll will be only able to view your work in 640*480.

With a high-resolution monitor and a high performance graphics system, the screen images move swiftly and cleanly, so you waste no time in waiting between the instructions sent to your PC and the result appearing on the screen.
2.4 ENTERING INFORMATION

All PCs are sold with a keyboard which plugs into the main unit. At first site this keyboard resembles a typewriter, however there are a few differences:

NUMERIC KEYBOARD

The numeric keyboard is a quick and easy way of entering numbers into the computers. You must press the key on the numeric keypad before you can type numbers.

ARROW KEYS

In most cases the arrow keys help you to move around the screen. Like other keys however, the software in use determines their function. You can use these keys anytime, regardless of whether the num lock is active.

FUNCTION KEYS

Function keys send instructions to the software you are using. For example, if you are writing a document and are not sure about the spelling, you can press F7, to do a spellchecker.

ADDITIONAL KEYS

In addition to the standard keys, there is BACKSPACE, INSERT, DELETE, PAGE UP/DOWN, HOME, END, PRINT SCREEN/SYS RQ, SCROLL LOCK and PAUSE/BREAK. You can use the PAGE UP/DOWN, HOME and END keys to move around or scroll through information on your screen. The BACKSPACE, INSERT and DELETE keys are used to edit text.

THE MOUSE

A keyboard is not the only way to get around the computer, you can use the mouse as well. A mouse uses a ball and sensors to pick up movement, which is transmitted to the computer where the onscreen arrow moves the same as the mouse. The mouse is used to select commands from the toolbars, such as print. A mouse is not used by every one to select commands some prefer shortcut keys such as, Ctrl + P will do the same job as selecting the print key. A mouse comes in to its own when using graphical programmes such as paint or when moving pictures about in Word.
3.0 NETWORKS

A NETWORK is a general term for any set of computers linked together to a server. A network system involves a number of PCs, printers and other devices to be shared over the network. There are types of network:

Local Area Network = A network contained in one place.
Wide Area Network = A network connected many computers geographically apart e.g. company wide.

Networks are becoming increasingly important as they require less resources and files can be picked up by any computer as long as they have been saved to one place which computers have assess to. Users can work independently of the main unit, but can link up to the network at anytime. In the ETEC IT Dept., Alan Young has installed a security system which prevents assess to the system, unless you are have a user name and password, you can not log on to the system.

3.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF A NETWORK

The diagram above shows a typical LAN network. It shows one server linked up to a HUB, the hub is there as all the leads from the computer can not be plugged straight into the server, so they are plugged into a HUB port and then one lead goes into the server. More devices can be added if required such as a scanner.

If a device is connected to the network, then everyone can use it. There if a printer is connected to the network, then everyone can print their work on it, meaning fewer resources are needed.

There is no central computer controlling all. The PCs can work independently of the network. However one PC may be dedicated to controlling the work of the printers. This is not the case in the ETEC IT Dept., without the server the computers will not work! As the profiles of each member of the ETEC IT Dept. is on the server controlling what each individual is allowed or not. If that computer can’t not verify with the server if you are allowed assess to the computer and delivers the message “No domain server to validate username and password”

3.2 ADVANTAGES OF LAN

Devices can be shared, therefore printers can be of better quality than quantity.
Users can work from any computer on the network, as their work is saved on the central storage
The computers can communicate with each other – e.g. electronic mail.
Supervisors have greater control over what is seen and done on the computer.
If more computers are required on to the network, all that is required is some cable.

3.3 DISADVANTAGES OF LAN

If a virus goes undetected, it can spread through the network.
If the server goes down, the network goes down. Any files that are using the central storage are lost and printers stop working.
4.0 SOFTWARE

Software is what the computer requires to work and without it the computer is nothing but an expensive box. There are two distinct types of software, application and operating systems (OS).

4.1 APPLICATION SOFTWARE

Application software which are commonly known as programmes, are what the make the computer do what you want it to. There are many types of programmes here are a few

WORD PROCESSING software provides you with a blank page of paper and the means to create what you want from a simple letter to an A4 poster. The most commonly used word processing software is Microsoft Word.

SPREADSHEET software provides you with a ruled and tabulated page and the means to produce and manipulate your figures. A spreadsheet can be used to produce anything from a simple chart to show the results from a survey.

EDUCATION SOFTWARE / COMPUTER BASED TRAINING (CBT) software provides training using the computer as a medium to show the information, resulting in lessons that are stimulating, educational and helpful.

GAME software is what the PC is best at, its power sets it apart from the console market. With the computers that out to today are more powerful than the ones that put a man on the moon, the games are just as good an achievement as NASA’s. Flight simulating software can accurately simulate flight, driving games are as close as to the real as possible, and you get the picture. One main drawback to the PC game market you need the latest processor, loads of RAM, a big monitor, the best graphics/sound card and a wallet full of cash. That is why more people still prefer dedicated games machines like the Playstation and Playstation 2.

DESKTOP PUBLISHING software provided you with the tools to create anything you want in the same as Microsoft Word, but most people prefer one to the other and don’t use both.

A PC is no longer just a fancy typewriter, or just something to use for spreadsheets, it capable of anything if the software is made for it. The PC is powerhouse with many uses, but now there are products that can do one or more jobs of a PC and doing it better i.e. Word Processors and Internet set top boxes that plug into TV’s. All the applications we have talked about used the following concepts
�h the processor to carry out instructions
�h the memory (RAM) to temporary store information
�h the hard disk to save and retrieve this information
�h the monitor to display the information
�h the operating system to manage the computer
4.2 OPERATING SYSTEMS

An operating system is software that controls the general operation of a computer. Think of the computer as house, a house is nothing without people in it, and those people are the operating system. The operating is base of your application software, without you can not word process, work through a lesson on your CBT course, prepare statistics for a meeting or a layout a overhead.

The operating system is loaded into the computer before it is sold to the consumer. The operating system is stored on to the boot sector of the computer, this is the area of the hard drive which is hardly used by the computer.

The operating system which is used on the ETEC IT Dept’s computers is windows 98 and the OS which runs the network is windows NT V. 4. This allows application software to be run on the PC.

PURPOSE OF THE OPERATION SYSTEM

The operating system is needed for several reasons:

�h Provide a background in which users programs are run
�h To keep the computer operating without the users intervention
�h To make the best use of resources such as memory and printers

The functions of the operating system are generally:

�h Control of the disk units and printers
�h Control the loading and running of programs
�h Cope with errors and keeping the computer running when they happen
�h Carry out the instructions of the user.

The most popular type of operating system is Windows by Microsoft, because of its wide use, it is seen as a standard operating system. There are hundreds that run of applications that run that use windows as the operating system.

5.0 VIRUSES

Computer viruses are executable computer programs. Like biological viruses, they find and attach themselves to a host. Just as a cold virus finds and attaches itself to a human host, a computer virus attaches itself to an item, such as a computer start-up area (boot record) or an executable file.

Most viruses stay active in memory until you turn off your computer. When you turn off the computer you remove the virus from memory, but not from the file, files, or disk it has infected. So, the next time you use your computer the virus program is activated again and attaches itself to more programs. A computer virus, like a biological virus, lives to replicate.

A virus, in the computer sense is a piece of malicious code, which has been designed to be destructive. Some computer viruses damage the data on your disks by corrupting programs, deleting files, or even reformatting your entire hard disk. Most viruses, however, are not damaging; they simply replicate or display messages.

Most Viruses do the following:
�h Infect executable program files, such as word processing, spreadsheet, or operating system programs.
�h Infect disks by attaching themselves to special programs in areas of your disks called boot records and master boot records. These are the programs your computer uses to start up.
�h Infect a file before it is attached to an email message, data disks and disks used to transfer programs.
Viruses do not:
�h Damage hardware, such as keyboards or monitors, Though you may experience strange behaviours such as screen distortion or characters not appearing when typed a virus has merely affected the programs that control the display or keyboard.
�h Not even your disks are physically damaged, just what's stored on them.
�h Viruses can only infect files and corrupt data
�h Infect write-protected disks or text-based email messages.

5.1 VIRUS TYPES

Program and boot viruses can be categorised by the technology they use to replicate and attempt to avoid detection. Each is described in the following sections.

Stealth Viruses:
Stealth viruses actively seek to conceal themselves from attempts to detect or remove them. They use techniques such as intercepting disk reads to provide an uninfected copy of the original item in place of the infected copy (read-stealthing viruses), altering disk directory or folder data for infected program files (size-stealthing), or both. For example, the Whale virus is a size-stealthing virus. It infects .EXE program files and alters the folder entries of infected files when other programs attempt to read them. The Whale virus adds 9216 bytes to an infected file. Because changes in file size are an indication that a virus might be present, the virus then subtracts the same number of bytes (9216) from the file size given in the directory/folder entry to trick the user into believing that the file’s size has not changed.

Polymorphic Viruses:
Most simple viruses attach identical copies of themselves to the files they infect. An anti-virus program can detect the virus’s code (or signature) because it is always the same and quickly ferret out the virus. To avoid such easy detection, polymorphic viruses operate somewhat differently. Unlike the simple virus, when a polymorphic virus infects a program, it scrambles its virus code in the program body. This scrambling means that no two infections look the same, making detection more difficult.

Multipartite Viruses:
Multipartite viruses are both program and boot viruses. For example, if you run a word processing program infected with the Tequila virus, the virus activates and infects your hard disk boot record. Then, the next time you boot your computer, the Tequila virus activates again and starts infecting every program you use, whether it is on a hard or floppy disk. Windows Viruses: Viruses that infect Windows programs.

Companion Viruses:
A companion virus is the exception to the rule that a virus must attach itself to a file. The companion virus instead creates a new file and relies on behaviour of DOS to execute it instead of the program file that is normally executed. Companion viruses use a variety of strategies. Some companion viruses create a .COM file with a name identical to an existing .EXE file. For example, the companion virus might create a file named CHKDSK.COM and place it in the same directory as CHKDSK.EXE. Whenever DOS must choose between executing two files of the same name where one has a .EXE extension and the other a .COM extension, it executes the .COM file.

Malicious programs:
Viruses that infect agent programs (such as those that download software from the Internet; for example, JAVA and ActiveX).

5.2 THE INFECTION CYCLE

Infection Source

Reused floppy disks from unknown sources
Disks from home or school
Disks borrowed from friends
Programs downloaded from BBSs or the Internet
Software bargains (from non-reputable dealers)
Re-shrink-wrapped or opened software
Pirated software
Preformatted floppy disks

Infection

Boot from infected disk
Reboot with infected floppy disk left in drive
Run infected program
Open infected document or spreadsheet

Spread

Share disk or infected program
Log on to network

Detection Observation

Strange system behaviour
Files missing or programs not working

Utility

Virus detected by anti-virus software

Recovery Cleanup

Reinstall programs from master disks
Repair files with anti-virus software
Restore from uninfected backup

Follow-up

Rescan all files to find source of infection
Scan all floppy disks to find source of infection
Discard backups that may be infected
Increase virus protection for a while

5.3 TIPS TO AVOID VIRUSES

Follow these tips to minimise your virus risk:

�h Make sure automatic protection is turned on at all times. Automatic protection is already set up for you when you install Norton AntiVirus using the pre-set options.
�h Perform a manual scan (or schedule a scan to occur automatically) of your hard disks weekly. These scans supplement automatic protection and confirm that your computer is virus-free. A scan is already scheduled to run automatically once per week when you install Norton AntiVirus using the pre-set options.
�h Scan all floppy disks before first use.
�h Update your virus definitions files regularly.
�h Create and maintain a Norton AntiVirus rescue disk set to facilitate recovery from certain boot viruses.
�h Make periodic backups of your hard disk.
�h Buy legal copies of all software you use and make write-protected backups.
�h Never bring disks from home

6.0 DO’S AND DON’TS WITH COMPUTERS

This section covers the do and don’ts when using the computers and the IT equipment, for the full list of the rules ask the Supervisor for the list.

Using Disk

�h Label each floppy disk so you can identify the information stored on it
�h Use the write protect tab on the disks to prevent accidental deletion of work
�h Ensure that the disk is inserted the right way into the floppy drive, with the arrow pointing to the drive slot
�h Ensure that every new disk that it is formatted and labelled correctly before use
�h When someone brings a disk from elsewhere with work on it, that it is virus checked before use

Food and Drink

�h Food and drink should never be brought in to the IT Dept. This prevents food getting between the keys and drink being split over the computer. If drink is split it could start an electric fire and electric shock to you.
�h If drink should be split on the computer, all power should be turned off to be stop further damage to the computer
Powering Up and Shutting Down

�h When powering up, wait for the computer to finish it’s self checks before pressing keys
�h Do not switch the computers at the wall, the computer should be shut down correctly

Computer Crashes

�h If the computer crashes or slows down, wait for awhile before resetting the computer for the computer to respond.
�h If it’s a program that has crashed open the “close program” box by pressing Cntrl+Alt+Del and if the program is not responding it should say the programs name and if it is responding or not.
�h If nothing will work, write this in the error log and ask your supervisor for assistance. He will sort out the problem and he will sign the error log to confirm what you did.

Logging off and on

�h After the computer has started up, you will be asked for a password and a user name, this is where you put in your personal password and user name
�h If you ever need to leave your computer more than a minute, you must log off, this is prevents people assess to your work and the system
�h You must log off at the end of the day, before going home.

7.0 BACK UPS AND MAINTENANCE OF THE COMPUTER

As the IT Dept is a realistic work environment, it must function as one, that is why we do backups and clean the machines.

Every Tuesday, at 3:30 p.m., the machines are cleaned with the appropriate materials. Screen wipes are used to wash the monitor’s screen, the foam cleaner is used to clean the main unit’s case, the keyboard and the monitor’s case. Then we use the compress air to blow out the dust out from between the keys. Before we start cleaning the machines all the machines have to be shut down and turned off at the plug. When the machines are cleaned and switched back on to check the machines are still working. After we are sure the machines are working, we fill in the cleaning record.

As we have a lot of important data stored on the central storage, we must back up that the data in case of a system crash or a virus that destroys all the data on the hard drive on the server. There are two types of backup that are performed at ETEC IT Dept, Week Start and Mid-Week. The Week Start backup is done on a Monday and backs up all the data on the H: drive. The Mid-Week back up is done everyday apart from Monday, and backs up all the data that that has been changed or modified since the Week Start back up.

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