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Today, computers play a central role in nearly everyone's life. It is one of those tools, like the wheel, that has profoundly changed the lives, societies and cultures of humans throughout the world. It has become an indispensable tool in nearly every human endeavor, from agriculture to business to education and even religion. For these reasons, a person lacking a knowledge of computer fundamentals will be severely limited in their ability to participate in the world today. Everyone in the modern world needs to have at least a fundamental grasp of computers, how to use computers and how to put these to use in their own lives.

The first order of business in mastering computer fundamentals is to be able to identify a computer when you see one. Computers are electronic machines primarily used to provide information to humans, although they may be used to provide data to other machines as well. We will concentrate on the first case, computers used in the gathering, storage, generation and presentation of information to human uses. 

The personal computer, introduced in 1985, is the prime example of an information computer. It has four immediately visible parts: a system case, housing the computer's components, with a power cord attached to the case at one end and plugged into a power source at the other end; an input device, such as a keyboard  and mouse, connected to the system by wires; and an output device, also connected by a wire to the case, that is normally a monitor, also called a screen. Let's now take a look at each of these components in greater detail, for a better understanding of computer fundamentals.

Input devices enable us to enter data into the computer, and the monitor enables us to view data that has been entered through input devices. A fifth part of a basic computer that is housed in the system case is called the primary storage device.  This storage device is also called the system disk because the most commonly used storage device consists of disk platters on which data is written and from which data may be read. Most information computers also contain secondary storage devices, such as CD or DVD readers and writers, floppy disk drives and tape drives.  These secondary storage devices allow users to insert and remove disks or tapes.  You can see the opening to these devices on the front side of the system case.  Floppy disk drives and tape drives have largely been replaced by CD and DVD drives in recent years.

Although not essential to the basic computer, another component of today's standard information computer is a device called a modem. This device combines the tasks of input and output of data to and from the computer. The modem has an external plug for a wire that plugs into it at one end and into a phone socket or some other socket at the other end. This links your computer into a network of lines connected to other computers. The modem allows the computer to receive from and send to, data from these networked computers. The modem thus enables a computer to connect to such networks as the Internet, a public network of computers providing a diverse range of information for public or private consumption.  Because networks extend the power of a computer tremendously, an understanding of the use of the Internet has become essential for a mastery of computer fundamentals.

The system case and its internals, the power cord, input devices, storage devices and output devices, as well as the modem that connects you to the Internet, forms the basic computer. Computer fundamentals for the user consist of knowing how to use these parts or knowing how these are used to capture, store, retrieve and present information. Using the mouse, a device that allows you to point to some position on the screen, is intuitive. The monitor, or screen allows you to view the data. The monitor has controls similar to those of a television and are simple to master.

Mastering computer fundamentals requires an understanding of and skill in using another important component of your computer, a program which is called the operating system. A program is a set of instructions stored on the system disk. An operating system, as the name implies, enables the coordinated operation of the various parts of the computer, freeing the user from a multitude of tasks you would otherwise have to perform manually. Well known operating system are Windows and Linux.

When you first turn on the computer by pushing a button on the system case, the internals of the system goes to the system disk and loads the operating system program into the computer's memory. Your computer has an electronic memory, as well as circuits that can do such things as arithmetic and logical operations. The operating system then displays various screens on the monitor. Then you will be asked for a username and password, or be given the opportunity to select these.

It is the operating system that is instructing the computer to prompt you for these and that is displaying your entry on the monitor. The operating system also coordinates your entries at the keyboard with its storage on the system disk, retrieving data from the disk and then displaying the data on the monitor.

The final skill you will need to fully master computer fundamentals is the use of the operating system. As the user, your mastery of the computer fundamentals ultimately equals your ability to use the operating system.

You now know the general parts of computer hardware and the role of the computer's operating system. Concentrate on mastering the operating system for total mastery of computer fundamentals and ensure your place in today's world, where computers are an inescapable, but welcome fact of life.