Input devices & information
Keyboard
A keyboard is needed so that the clients’ details can be entered. Examples of information that will be into the database would be name, surname, date of birth, address, town, county, post code, telephone number.
It is needed so that employees can enter their usernames and passwords.
A keyboard is needed for when the equipment needs to be described. Descriptions of the equipment will be used for the website and the catalogue. It is needed to type special offers and hiring prices. This would be a part of the website or on specially designed leaflets. It is required to input the employees’ personal details. It will only be updated if any amendments need to be made. A case of this is when an employee moves house. It is also needed to write emails. These emails will be sent to wholesalers and clients.
Mouse
A mouse is needed to navigate the cursor on the screen. It will be used for creating, navigating and viewing presentations. It is also needed to navigate the website.
Digital Camera
A digital camera is needed to take pictures of the equipment which can be edited and put onto the company’s website. The pictures taken can also be inserted in presentations. Digital cameras are now technologically very advanced. Because of this, digital cameras are able to record videos. It is cost effective to get a high performance digital camera because it will eliminate the need for purchasing a camcorder.
Scanner
A scanner is used to input data such as images into the computer. Drawings from the graphic designer department can scan them in and modify the drawings on the computer.
Output devices & Information
VDU
A VDU, otherwise known as a visual display unit is needed to present information. The larger the screen the easier it is to view data on the screen. This is because higher the resolution the crisper the visual output is. The VDU shows the GUI of the operating system. GUI stands for graphical user interface. The GUI allows the employee to communicate with the computer.
Printer
In order to have a copy of the clients’ details, letters, memos, contracts, and other documents, printing the documents would allow the company to have a hard copy of the data. Flyers and leaflets would also be needed to be printed off and handed out.
Modem
A modem is needed to connect to the internet. It sends and receives data.
Inputs and Output Devices
When using a computer the text of programs, commands to the computer and data for processing have to be entered. Also information has to be returned from the computer to the user. This interaction requires the use of input and output devices.
The most common input devices used by the computer are the keyboard and the mouse. The keyboard allows the entry of textual information while the mouse allows the selection of a point on the screen by moving a screen cursor to the point and pressing a mouse button. Using the mouse in this way allows the selection from menus on the screen etc. and is the basic method of communicating with many current computing systems. Alternative devices to the mouse are tracker balls, light pens and touch sensitive screens.
The most common output device is a monitor which is usually a Cathode Ray Tube device which can display text and graphics. If hard-copy output is required then some form of printer is used.
More Examples of input devices would be Keyboards, Mouse, Bar code readers, Scanner, Digital camera, Floppy drive, hard drive, CD Rom drive, Zip drive, Microphone, Etc. Other Output devices are Visual display units, Printers, Speakers, Etc.
Input and Output devices are called peripheral devices because they are on the periphery of the computer.
In a computer system, computer processes convert the input data into the output data according to instructions in a programme. This can be shown by the following diagram.
Security Software
In order to prevent viruses from spreading, by installing anti-virus software this can help to be achieved. The leading company’s in anti-virus software are Norton’s and MacAfee. Both manufactures are effective in the removal of viruses, however due to recommendations I shall use the latest version of Norton's Antivirus.
Operating System
Currently on the market there are many types of operating systems. The leader of the computing world is Microsoft – they own the majority of the monopoly. All hardware is compatible with Microsoft operating systems. The choice of operating systems available on the market is huge, as their each OS is specific to each users needs. As Microsoft dominates the market, and there is such a wide variety of hardware and software which is compatible with Microsoft, I recommend a Microsoft based operating system.
The original version of Microsoft XP had the service pack 1 update on it, of which there were many bugs and errors that needed to be corrected. When the bugs and errors were found they were corrected via updates.
The newer version of Microsoft XP with the Service Pack 2 update found fewer bugs, errors and an increase of sales for the actual OS.
There are two versions of Microsoft XP – Home and Professional. Between the both of them there are many features that are integrated into the OS, however for the company’s system I advise that Microsoft XP Professional is used.
The features of Microsoft XP Home are:
These features are all updated from Windows 2000; however service pack 2 and XP Professional had the following new features which were:
The difference between XP Home and Professional is that Pro includes extended support for security between multiple users on the same machine.
Recommended Hardware & Software
I interviewed the employees of the company and I discovered that the system that the company needs is a system that can run very efficiently, be able to listen to music files with great simplicity and play, watch and modify images and video images.
Recommended Hardware
- Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.46GHz 1066 FSB Processor
- 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 533 RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB PCI-Express Graphics Card
- 300GB SATA RAID Hard Drive
- Creative Sound Blaster Live - 24bit Sound Card
Software
In order to have a high specification computer system to work efficiently, the correct software must be installed. The software that I recommend which relates to the company’s system is:
- Microsoft Office XP
- Skype
- Windows Vista Theme
- Itunes
- Mozilla Firefox 2.0
End User Hardware & Software
Hardware
The types of hardware listed in the recommended hardware section (refer to 7.1.1) will be explained as to why it is needed for the company.
Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.46GHz 1066 FSB Processor
A processor carries out a series of simple instructions. The stages of a processor are as following:
- Fetch the next instruction.
- Decode it.
- Fetch required data.
- Execute the instruction.
- Store any results.
Instructions stored as binary op-codes. Each type of processor will understand different instructions encoded in different ways. Everything happens in fixed length stages known as cycles.
As the computer industry is ever expanding, new technologies are constantly being developed. Dual processing is the new craze. Dual processing simply means that there are two processors. Two processors means double the speed. However Ritzy do not need this, because they will be running simple programs which do not need many instructions carried out.
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 533 RAM
RAM, otherwise known as Random Access Memory is used by the system to store data for processing by a computer's central processing unit. RAM is volatile. This means that when the computer is turned off, all of the memory is lost. The company needs a large amount of RAM as many applications will be continuously used, and the system will be switched on for long periods of time. To prevent the system from crashing frequently if a large amount of RAM was installed the system would be able to handle the workload given.
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT 256MB PCI-Express Graphics Card
A graphics card is the component in the computer that generates signals which are sent to the monitor. It is responsible for generating all text and pictures that are displayed onscreen. It is called a "card" because most computers will have a physical card that is inserted into a PCI slot on the motherboard. Presentations will be created and shown to clients on the system, which is why a top range graphics card is needed.
300GB SATA RAID Hard Drive
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) was released to help combine several inexpensive drives to equal or exceed the performance of a larger and more expensive hard drive. There are two types of RAID, RAID 1 and RAID 0.
A RAID hard drive will be used instead of an IDE hard drive because the read/write speed is much faster then and IDE hard drive. Also by using a RAID hard drive data is written twice, keeping data effectively backed up at all times. The term ‘mirroring’ is used when referring to RAID. If the system were to crash, there would be a copy of the entire hard drive, hence the term ‘mirroring’. Therefore by using a RAID hard drive the chance of loosing data is minimal.
Creative Sound Blaster Live - 24bit Sound Card
A 24 bit sound card is needed for the system because the employees will not only be playing music, but when playing presentations clients, the employees need to demonstrate how Notorious Roadshow take their level of work seriously and professionally. A 24 bit card is needed because the range of human hearing runs from approximately 15 Hz to 20 kHz. In order to listen to the highest frequencies having a 24bit sound card allows the ear to capture the full range of human hearing, which means better sound quality.
Software
For the system the company needs software which is specific to the company needs.
Microsoft Office 2003
This is needed so that the employees can create relevant letters, information sheets, create and modify databases, and create presentations which will be shown to clients. I recommended Microsoft Office 2003 because it compared to Microsoft Works 7.0 is has a larger variety of programs and features. The documents that will be created will look professional and have an authentic look to it.
Skype
Skype is a program which allows employees to communicate with clients through the Internet. It is an Internet phone which is free. There are not many users registered with Skype, so it runs fast and does not lag when in a call.
Windows Vista Theme
The company wants to maintain its high standard of professionalism and by doing so they do not want the standard XP GUI. By installing the Windows Vista theme a sleek, easy to use and stylish GUI can be used. This creates a more customised feel to the system.
Itunes
The music files that will be on the computer will need to be arranged, played, organised and modified. By installing Itunes this can be achieved. A large number of music files are going to be stored onto the computer, thus by having a user friendly and easy to use application to list the music files is specific to the company’s needs.
Mozilla Firefox 2.0
To access the Internet the company wants to be able to search for sites and have a user friendly internet explorer. The standard Internet Explorer that Microsoft provides is of average standard. Mozilla Firefox 2.0 has many features and utilities that Microsoft IE does not. Examples of this are that Mozilla Firefox 2.0 has tabs, built-in phishing protection, spell checking, bookmark icons and so on.
BIOS
BIOS stands for basic input/output system. In order to configure the motherboard, the BIOS need to be configured. The motherboard has built in ROM – which boots up the operating system. The BIOS needs to be configured so that hackers cannot access restricted files. To access the motherboard’s BIOS, tap the delete or F2 key on the keyboard and it will boot up. The button pressed depends on the age and manufacturer of the motherboard.
The BIOS allows simple tasks to be carried out. Examples of tasks are over clocking the processor speed, set the time and date and enable and disable certain peripherals.
Configuration Requirements
In order to create a system that will be specific to the company’s specification, I will configure the system in the following ways:
- Set the boot devices so that removable devices cannot be booted.
- Put a password on the BIOS so that it cannot be accessed by users with restricted access.
- Create shortcuts on the quick launch so that programs are easy to open.
- Create shortcuts on the desktop so that they are easy to open.
- Remove unnecessary utilities such as games.
- Configure the BIOS so that the built in soundcard is disabled and the high specification soundcard is enabled.
- Create a power management scheme so that the monitor turns to standby when not in use.
- Structure the folders so that files are easy to find.
- Create passwords for certain employees so that users have restricted access to certain files.
- Create macros so that employees can access document templates easily.
- Configure the mouse and keyboard so that they are user friendly.
- Change the wallpaper and the screensaver to the company logo.
- Change the resolution of the GUI so that the viewing the display is clearer.
- Change the theme of the GUI to a Windows Vista like GUI.
- Set Mozilla Firefox 2.0 as the default internet explorer.
- Create a toolbar or drop down menu which has the templates of the documents.
Configuration requirements
Some configuration requirements will be necessary to make sure that the system up to date and running correctly so that it meets the users needs.
Desktop Wallpaper – A background with company’s logo would be the most appropriate wallpaper for the system.
Screensaver – I will configure the screen saver so that text rolls across the screen with ‘Welcome to Notorious Roadshow.
Mouse – I will configure the cursor speed to make it suitable for the use.
Keyboard – I will configure the repeat delay and the repeat rate to make it suitable for the user.
Passwords – Securing the system with passwords is very important for a company as they will need to protect vital information and data. Passwords should also be updated regularly. Passwords should be kept for user accounts, databases and other important programmes.
Physical security measures – Physical security measures are just as important as keeping passwords for the system to prevent unauthorised access. Physical security measures are needed to prevent theft.
User Accounts – A user account should be made for each member of staff so that they have their own settings to suit their own needs. For example, a member of staff that is left-handed may wish to configure the mouse settings for a left-handed user.
Organising Files and Folders – All the files and folders should be organised properly so that it makes it easier for users to find what they want.
Back-ups – Backing up all important files is very important encase any of the data gets destroyed or lost. All important data should be backed up on external storage devices such as CDs or zip drives.
Virus protection – The anti-virus software should be configured so that it updates the virus definitions every week automatically. The system should also be scheduled to scan the computers at least once a week. A firewall should be set up which is included with Windows XP.
Scheduled Tasks – These are tasks that are set to be carried out automatically by the system at specified times or intervals. I will configure the system so that the system automatically schedules tasks like scanning the computer for viruses at least once a week and doing a ‘Disk Cleanup’ weekly.
Toolbars – The toolbars in all the software should be configured so that toolbars contain only the necessary buttons.
Rom-BIOS – BIOS setting should be configures to meet the users needs. I will configure the date and time from the BIOS and create a password. I will also configure the boot device order.
Data and Time – I will make sure that the date and time is correct.
Language – I will configure the word processing language setting to English UK.
Templates – I will create templates for documents like letter, property information sheets and other documents that will be used often so that users can edit these documents and don’t need to produce them from scratch. The Templates will usual include the basic standard layout of the document. For example, I will create a template for a letter which will include the letterhead with the company’s logo and address.
Macros – I will create some macros for tasks that will be performed repeatedly so that a task can be accomplished automatically. Macros help speed up routine editing and formatting so this will make it much easier for the user as it will save time.
Auto back-up copies – On word processing software I will configure the settings so that it automatically creates back-up copies for documents.
Toolbar layouts, menus, templates and macros
To make it easier and more efficient for the users I will be configuring the toolbars so that only all the necessary buttons are displayed on the toolbars in software like word processing software.
I will also be creating templates for some of the business documents that are used often. These include documents like business letters, property information sheets, flyers, newsletters, etc.
A macro is a programming tool that can be used to automate a series of tasks or procedures within a program.
