Computer Systems Essay

Explain the function of the system unit components and how they communicate Central processing unit – The Central Processing Unit (CPU) carries out the actual processing of data. The data it processes is gathered via the system bus, from the main memory. The CPU then sends back the results to main memory via the system bus. The CPU also controls and times the operations of the other key components. CPU’s use in their operation: Fetch, decode, execute, and writeback. BIOS – The BIOS is a built-in software that decides what a computer can do without having access to a hard drive or CD/DVD. On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a number of other miscellaneous functions. Motherboard – The motherboard is a printed circuit board (PCB) that houses and controls the components that are in charge of processing data. A motherboard provides the electrical circuit connections, these circuits are used by other components of the system to communicate. The central processing unit and other subsystems such as real time clock, and various peripheral interfaces are also located on the motherboard. This is motherboard doesn’t use active heat sinks on its bridges instead it uses a complex passive heat sink. Power Supply – A power supply unit (PSU) is the component that supplies power to a computer. In a PC the power supply is the metal box usually found in a corner of the case. The power supply has many various power leads all for different things such as: * 20+4pin power connector o Powers the motherboard, depending on what motherboard you have it will either require a 20pin or a 24pin connector. * 4+4pin ATX 12V Connector o Powers the CPU, depending on what motherboard you have it will either require a 4pin or a 8pin connector * 6pin PCI-E VGA card Connectors o Power modern graphics cards, depending on the graphics card it will either require 1 or 2 6pin connectors. * SATA Connectors o Used for most internal components such as SATA hard drives and SATA optical drives. * 4pin peripheral Molex Connectors o Molex connectors are used for fans, lights and various other internal components. * Floppy connectors o Used to connect floppy disk drives. Heat Sink & Fan – A heat sink is specifically designed to reduce the temperature of an electronic device by releasing the heat into the surrounding air (case fans would then push out this hot air while pulling in cool air). All modern CPUs need a heat sink and most heat sinks require a fan. A heat sink without a fan is called a passive heat sink; a heat sink with a fan is called an active heat sink. Heat sinks are generally made of an aluminium alloy. This picture shows various heat sinks used for devices like the CPU, graphics card, bridges on a motherboard and much more. Depending on how hot a device gets an extra fan may be required, the CPU, graphics card and motherboard all tend to use active heat sinks. Hard Disk Drive – The hard disk drive is non volatile memory storage that uses a mechanism to read and write data on a hard disk. Every modern computer contains one or more hard disks. The purpose of the hard disk drives is that they give computers the ability to remember things when the power goes out. A typical modern desktop machine will have a hard disk with a capacity of between 250GB and 1TB. Data is stored onto the disk in the form of files. The master (typically C:) is the primary drive, which the computer uses to boot up, the slave (D:) is usually used for extra storage and buck ups. Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) – Floppy drive, hard drive and the CD-ROM drive are all connect to the computer through an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface. An IDE interface is a standard way for a storage device to connect to a computer. Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) – Is a computer bus interface for connecting host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives. SATA speeds are far greater than IDE and the size difference means they are easier to manage and don’t restrict air flow, so most modern computers tend to use SATA over IDE. The size difference between IDE (left) and SATA (right). Describe the purpose, features and functions of two different operating systems. Windows 7 Features Feature Description Useful? #1 Snap Snap lets you drag one window to the left and one to the right, allowing you to see two windows side by side. Very much, I think this feature alone makes Windows 7 stand above the rest. #2 Taskbar A remake of the old taskbar that introduced some new features such as pinning, this allows you to pin a application to the taskbar (similar to Mac dock) Again this is a very useful feature, you can pin as many applications to the taskbar as you wish. #3 Thumbnail Previews Exactly what it sounds like, thumbnail previews allow you to preview a window that is minimised or behind another window, it is also the new way to group similar windows. This feature is helpful if you have multiple similar windows open however if you just have one or two windows open its not so great #4 Jump List Jump list lets you access your recently used files, depending on the application you can see your most played music (media player) or recently opened documents. Handy for some applications although not a key feature in my opinion. #5 Aero peek This feature allows you to make all open windows transparent this lets you view your desktop without minimising all your windows. This is another feature I love, I tend to save quite a lot of downloads to my desktop and being able to flick back and forth without minimising is great. #1 Snap #2 Taskbar #3 Thumbnail Previews #4 Jump List #5 Aero Peek Undertake routine maintenance tasks in relation to a PC. I will show you how to carry out several forms of maintenance, software, hardware and file management. Software maintenance To demonstrate software maintenance I’m going to update my antivirus. To start the process you first need to load up your antivirus (I’m using NOD32). Once the main antivirus window is open I need to navigate to the update option. Fortunately my antivirus does not need updating as my current virus signature database is up to date . This is what happens when it’s not up to date, after a speedy download it will take me to the previous page and let me know if it’s up to date. Hardware maintenance. To demonstrate hardware maintenance I’m going to find and use a printer that is connected to a separate computer on my network. How I installed the printer on the other machine. Installation was simple and fast, all I needed to do was connect the printer to the computer via USB and plug in the power lead. After turning on the printer I turned on the computer, then I installed the drivers and relevant software from the CD. After a quick reboot I printed a test page and it worked fine. Finding the network printer. To start the process I went to Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Devices and Printers > Add a printer. Decide what type of printer you are trying to find, because the printer i intend to use runs through another computer i need to select Add a network, wireless or Bluetooth printer. Hit Next and allow it to search, once the results are displayed select the printer you wish to use. You should get a quick window showing you its being connected. You should get a window telling you everything was successful. Followed by the option to print a test page. File management. To demonstrate file management I’m going to show a simple way to manage your files. Sometimes folders and files get in the wrong place and things start to get lost and missing files get accidently deleted. Make sure you delete useless and old files to free up hard disk space, do this by selecting the document and hitting delete or right clicking the file and selecting delete. After creating relevant folders and deleting unnecessary files the folder looks much more organised and manageable. Disk Cleanup Disk Cleanup is a maintenance utility bundled in with Microsoft Windows, its purpose is to free up disk space on the computer’s hard drive. Disk Cleanup first searches your hard drives for files that are no longer being used it then deletes these unnecessary files. As well as cleaning unused files Disk cleanup can also compress files that haven’t been used for a long period of time, this helps make space but if you wish to access files that have been compressed at a later data the loading times can be Disk Cleanup looks in various categories to target these files. * Downloaded Program files * Compression of old files * Temporary Internet files * Recycle Bin * Offline files * Removal of unused applications or optional Windows components * Setup Log files * Temporary Windows file These aren’t the only locations Disk Cleanup looks for files, some options only appear with certain computer configurations. There are also options to remove unused windows components to help free disk space. Quick example of how it works To start Disk Cleanup go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools When the program launches it will begin analyzing how much space it will be able to free. The next step is selecting what you wish to clean, be careful you don’t delete things you need, saved passwords for internet website ect. The View Files button allows you to see the files that will be cleaned. After selecting what to clean you then run the programs, the progress bar shows you how long till its done. Antivirus Every computer that connects to the internet needs an antivirus program, an antivirus program is used to detect, prevent and remove computer viruses, Trojans horses, worms and in some cases spyware, adware and other malicious software. There are various strategies for detecting threats the most common is signature-based detection, this involves using a library of already known threats and searching for these patterns in executable code. Unfortunately some threats are too new to be in this library; in cases like this the antivirus attempts to compare code in its library with new threats. Quick example of how it works This depends on where you install your antivirus but they can be launched by going to Start > Programs > [Antivirus manufactures name] > [Antivirus program]. For this example ill be using my colleges antivirus, Sophos. When you launch the antivirus it will have several options, the first thing you need to do is to update the program, and it’s no good searching for viruses if you’re using and out of date database. After updating you need to scan for potential threats. The scan progress window will give you a rough idea of when it will finish as well as what’s being scanned and what infections have been found. After the scan is completed you should get some form of summary, this will tell you the amount of items scanned, infected items and items that have been place in quarantine. By quarantining threats it ensures your computer stays completely safe, some items are misread and are actually not harmful so quarantining these allows the user to tell the antivirus that they are safe before they get deleted. Available utility software Utility software allows a user to analyze, configure, optimize and maintain their computer and should ned be confused with application software, this type of software allows us to create text documents, listen to music, browse the internet and much more. Utility Description Disk Defragmenters Locates files that are broken over different locations then moves the fragments to the same location to increase efficiency. Disk Cleaners This disk utility is designed to free up disk space and a computer’s hard drive. It does this by searching and analysing the hard drive for files that are no longer of any use, it then removes the unnecessary files. Backup This involves making copies of important data so that these additional copies can be used to restore the original if it were lost or damaged. CLI and GUI CLI allows you to interact with a computer by typing commands in the text only interface. GUI is another way you can interact with a computer, instead of using a text interface it has a graphical interface that consists of icons. Registry Cleaners This utility was designed to remove registry entries that are no longer in use and are unwanted. Antivirus That is used to prevent and remove malware, including Worms, Trojan horses and computer viruses.

Principles of accounting 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Principles of accounting 1 - Essay Example Recently, the standards and principles of GAAP have been transited to IFRS with the aim of having a single set of accounting principles with universal applicability. It provides the rules along with regulations in compliance with which, financial statements and reports should be prepared. The accounting standards and principles that are included in the IFRS are universally identified, which implies that every entity, on a global context, must evaluate and represent their accounting information in accordance with the determined rules and regulations of IFRS (Needles, Powers and Crosson 24-25). The essay thus intends to discuss the advantages that can be acquired from a single set of accounting principle. Moreover, the discussion henceforth reveals the disadvantages attached with multiple accounting principles on a global context. The discussion also emphasizes on detailing the accounting standards adopted by IFRS for universal applicability, further detailing the accounting principles that business units operating in United Arab Emirates (UAE) adopts. ADVANTAGES OF IFRS 3 The accounting principles and standards adopted and implemented under the GAAP form the common set of standards and principles developed for recording financial transactions and information in an appropriate manner by publicly listed companies worldwide. Additionally, ‘International Financial Reporting Standards’ (IFRS) have formulated accounting standards and principles, which are adopted as common accounting practices in all the countries. It is identified in this regard that GAAP and IFRS are two different sets in relation to accounting principles that are used in different countries. Both the GAAP and IFRS work with a common objective of guiding companies through a set of common accounting principles on a global context. The accounting principles are principally based on the notion that financial reports with common objectives act as the tool to ensure that financial informatio n are evaluated and recorded in a transparent manner. Moreover, the management team and employees of a company entrusted with the responsibility of analyzing and preparing financial reports is likely to develop accounting reports in a simple and consistent manner. The recording of financial information under a single set of accounting principles can further facilitate in providing better information to worldwide investors along with creditors so that the stakeholders are able to acquire reliable and appropriate information (Wong, â€Å"The Trend of IFRS Conversion: What you need to know about the transition from GAAP to IFRS†). It is worth mentioning in this regard that the principles of GAAP have certain rules along with regulations that lack completeness in relation to several circumstances. In this regard, a single set of accounting principles is developed by the IASB with the objective of developing a transparent procedure of recording and communicating accounting informa tion in order to minimize accounting frauds and misrepresentation of financial statement assisting users, such as the employees of companies, to obtain adequate in relation to the employment benefits they are entitled with. Furthermore, a single set of accounting standards and practices on a global context will facilitate business organizations of different countries to compare their financial performances in an impartial manner providing significant information about the performances of a company

Should football managers be sacked when results (on the field) are Essay - 1

Should football managers be sacked when results (on the field) are poor What does your answer tell you about how we should - Essay Example The models influence two different leadership succession theories that will come in handy in the discussion of the subject matter. The two leadership succession theories are vicious cycle theory and common sense theory. The two theories give different relationship of leadership succession and performance of the organization thereby providing the basis for and sacking unsuccessful managers. The integration provides great context to explain the effect of leadership succession. The common sense theory holds that the performance of an organisation will improve when an organization sacks an unsuccessful leader. This indicates that the managers are hired to control the performance of a firm and hence are responsible for good performance. According to the resource dependence theory, the manager has control over the performance of the organisation since he has the ability to start or terminate actions at his discretion. The managers bring on board resources, information and legitimacy. This results if the organization sacks a manager with poor results and hires one with the right mix of resources, the performance will improve. This therefore roots for the sacking of the manager since he is to blame for the organization’s poor performance and hire a manager who has the right mix of resources to spur good performance in the subsequent time period. This thus provides the basis for sacking unsuccessful managers (Soebbing & Washington 2011). The other leadership succession theory is the vicious cycle theory, whose underlying support is organizational learning. The vicious cycle holds that succession in leadership naturally disrupts the organization leading to poor performance. Organization learning provides that for an organization to improve its performance there should be strategic renewal, which focuses on the whole organization not just the managers. The model disregards that managers are an important component, which determine how well the organization is run an d how well information diffused to the lower offices and employees. Organization learning holds that when a poorly performing leader is sacked the performance of the team becomes even poorer. This thus supports the vicious theory that poor performance in an organization leads to organizational change but lower performance is a result of change (Soebbing & Washington 2011). This paper will not use institutional theory in arguing the subject matter at hand since it supports the ritual scapegoat theory. The ritual scapegoat theory holds that there is no relationship between leadership succession in an organization and the performance of the organization. From this perspective the leader is only a symbol and does not influence the performance of the organization. This promotes that change is undertaken to promote social constructs, therefore going contrary to the main market consideration that change is undertaken in the search for performance gains. A non-performing manager should be s acked since a new manager spurs immediate short-term reprieve. Of nine studies scrutinizing six countries that included England and Spain, showed that replacing a poorly performing manager does improve the on-field performance of the club. This leads to increase in the club’s short-term performance when a new manager is appointed. The sacking is usually based

Midterm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Midterm - Essay Example This means that people and business organizations are on a continuous journey that requires them to experience various processes and practices consciously or unconsciously. In this case, business organizations are expected to be abreast of the changing factors that can affect their profitability and other management aspects. This paper examines the concept of change and how it can be used by organizations to create and enhance their effective performance and success. It focuses on a Chinese Company, Alibaba Holdings, which has navigated its path to reach its current levels of excellence in business performance. The company has recently been listed on the New York Stock exchange in a bid to remain competitive and enhance its market position (Lianna, Jessica & Ryan, 2014). Currently, the pace by which globalization has been taking toll on businesses has quickened tremendously. Business executives and owners have been increasing their call for flexibility, agility and innovativeness from various business functions (Robertson, 2006). This development is aimed at positioning businesses strategically to tackle the rising challenges in competition and other factors in the external and internal environment. Amidst all these persistent calls, one thing has often been largely ignored, that is, organizations are creatively designed in order to search for competitive advantages that are sustainable. In addition, the fact that stability in business practices is just not desirable and effective, but attainable as well, has been an issue buried deeply in managerial psyche, but has been bolstered by periods of practice and theory (Christopher & Edward, 2006). It is important to understand that the popularity that is often associated with efforts for process improvement that range from overall quality management to various kinds of sigma provides are enough evidence for

Department of state Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Department of state - Essay Example The first display that I would like to take the time to speak about concerned the efforts of the Peace Corp as a function of the work they have accomplished in different parts of Southeast Asia. The exhibit showed the harsh conditions coupled with the difficult work that the Peace Corps volunteers have performed as a means of providing fresh drinking water and means of sanitation to some of the more remote districts in places such as Burma and Bangladesh. The exhibit was eye opening because although it is common to hear about the Peace Corps working to better the lives of people in remote corners of the world, it is rare to actually see or hear information that directly relates to the methods by which they do this. Additionally, since news stories are almost always concentric upon the negative with relation to what is going on in the world, it was necessary to visit the museum in order to see first hand some of the things that are being done. Secondly, I spent some time at an exhibit of Joseph E. Davies personal correspondence. To those that are not familiar with him, Joseph E. Davies is the US Ambassador who was responsible for meeting with Joseph Stalin during World War II. As such, the personal correspondence helped to reveal a side of Soviet Russia and the interactions that he had with Joseph Stalin that would otherwise be unknown to history. Furthermore, even though Joseph E. Davies presented an optimistic view of the Soviet Union to the president (FDR), he held a bit of resentment towards the Soviet Union as a result of the show trials that were currently being carried out upon the instructions of Joseph Stalin. With relation to how each of these related to the overall class them, it should be noted that each display helps to show the spirit of integration and involvement with which US diplomacy and foreign

Training and Development proposal Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Training and Development - Research Proposal Example It is thus appropriate to review some of the strategies taken when training some of these employees in the human resource department in order for them to work effectively and consequently live quality lives and for the industry to continue performing effectively (Gold and Thorpe, 2010, 56). In the study, I plan to incorporate the Kirkpatrick’s model. The model is quite critical and has the ability to work effectively to show the various training aspects. One of the aspects from the model that I plan to incorporate is the Learning. I am bound to show the learning procedure that I am bound to incorporate to the trainees (Gold and Thorpe, 2010, 43). Understanding the learning process has the advantage of having the trainees understanding the various concepts taught in the petroleum industry even further. The second aspect that I ought to incorporate is the reaction. Reaction is critical for it will assist an employer or rather potential employers understand the best manner through which to treat some of the employees (Garry, 2007, 650). Different employees have different reactions to different tasks given to them (Jeffrey, 2014, 17). Some reactions from the employers are quite negative, this is poor, and depending on the employer, they have the ability or rather po ssibility of gaining employment. There are also some employees with positive attitudes and I am bound to express the advantages that these employees have in the training process. In the paper, I am bound to reveal the results of the training process. This section will express the employees that managed to pass the training process and offer a discussion that will reveal why they passed the interview (Botha, 2009, 32). There are also employees that did not quite pass the interview and I will sure reveal the reasons why they did not pass and discuss the reasons for their failure. This is critical for it will assist people in understanding the characteristics that

Personal Reflection Paper (Ethic class) Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal Reflection Paper (Ethic class) - Thesis Example Had hooker chemicals ltd taken into consideration ethics in their decision to sell the site in which toxic waste had been buried. Asserting from Ethics without Sermon it could have been possible to prevent the hazardous implications if this company and the Niagara Fall school. In the examination of ethics of business decision the following questions are crucial before any action of implementation is taken. The question which needs to be addressed before making any business decision among others may include. This question is important because it conceptualizes the expected results and implications of a decision made. Consequences and probable results are outlined, these outlined questions are used to weigh if the decision made have good or hazardous implications. Hooker chemicals intention to sell the site buried with intoxicated waste should have been first examined by this question and the concept of ethics put into consideration (Nash 2010). The company had the knowledge in regard to implication in case of human habitation and settlement and they went ahead with their intention despite the knowledge. Also the board members of Niagara Falls school were also aware with the presence of toxic and went ahead with their intention to buy the site. The decisions made by the two entities did not cross check with the likely results and the implication was that a human and environmental disaster occurred. This question concerning ethics examination demarcates between intentional or non-intentional cause of injury to various stakeholders. In the case of love canal taking into consideration the knowledge limits of the two parties in regard to the presence of buried toxic waste in the site the injury caused to the stakeholders can be asserted to be intentional (Ferrell 2012). Hooker chemicals were unethical in burying toxic waste perfectly