INPUT / OUTPUT DEVICES

Input/Output devices can be defined as "Input and output devices enable computer to interact with the external world". we can enter data and instructions into the computer with the help of input devices and as a result computer after processing sends the results to the output devices. There are a number of different types of input/output devices are available.

INPUT DEVICES.

The devices used to enter data into the computer are called input devices. The most commonly used input devices are given below.

Ø      keyboard

Ø      Mouse

Ø      Microphone

The diagrame shown below tells us the different categories of input devices.

KEYBOARD.

A keyboard is standard input device used to send instructional data into computer. They keyboard is just like the typewriter machine. The modern keyboard contains some extra command keys and functions keys.

The keys on computer keyboards are classified as follows

ALPHANUMERIC KEYS

            These keys are used to enter alphabets, numbers and other special characters into computer. Alphabet keys consists of  A to Z keys containing upper & lower case letters.  Numeric keys consists of number keys. These keys starts from 0 to 9.

NUMERIC KEYS

Numeric Keys are used to input numbers into the computer. It also contains keys for mathematical operations i.e. addition, multiply, divide etc.

FUNCTION KEYS

These keys are used to perform different functions depending upon the application. These keys provide shortcuts for doing routine tasks on a computer. these keys are marked from F1 to F12. Usually these functions keys are used with CTRL key, ALT key and SHIFT Key. The combination of these keys results in large number of keyboard shortcuts.

CURSOR CONTROL KEYS

Cursor is used to present the position for the keyboard's input command.These are four keys which are used to move cursor left, right, up and down position. Movement of these keys don't fact any character on the screen.

Enter Key:

This key is used to enter commands or to move cursor to the starting point of the next line of a paragraph.

Esc Key:

(Esc mean Escape)... This key is used to close some windows applications.

Delete Key:

This key deletes the character at the current cursor position. It can be used also to delete selected area or object.

Caps Lock Key:

This key changes all alphabetic characters to be uppercase.

End keys:    

This key moves the cursor to the end of the line, page or file depending where the cursor is located on the page and on which programe is running.

Ctrl Key

(Ctrl for Control) This key is used in combination with other keys to produce special characters.

Alt Key

(Alt for Alternate). This key is used in combination with other key to produce special characters.

Tab Key..

This key enables the cursor to jump a number of spaces to the right on the screen.

Backspace key:

This key is used to delete the character present at the left of the cursor.

Page up & Page Down.

Often this is abbreviated as “pgup and pgdn”. This is usually used to move the cursor up or down certain fixed number of lines.

Home

This key Moves the cursor to the left starting corner of the line or the beginning of page or file depending where the cursor is and on which programe is running.

Space bar.

Every time when you press space, it moves the cursor one space to the right. 

MOUSE.

A mouse is an input device that rolls around on a flat surface and controls the pointer on a display screen. The pointer is an on-screen object. Usually an arrow, that is used to select text, access menus, and interact with programes. A typical mouse has tow buttons. Some mouse also contains a scroll wheel which are useful for scrolling through long documents. New mouse is called optical mouse. this type of mouse is getting popular now a days instead of roller ball.  To control the movement of pointer on screen it uses light reflection. .

JOYSTICK

Joystick is an input device used for games. It is like a lever that moves in all directions and controls the movement of a pointer. To stop the pointer we must have to return the joystick to its neutral position.

SCANNER.

Scanner is also a input device. We can save any image in picture format in our computer. Optical character Recognition software is necessary to read this image and convert it to actual text data and this software varies widely in its ability to do so.

MICROPHONE.

Microphone is an input device. It is used to record audio data. It can be plugged into a computer or recorder.

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How to Password Protect a Word Document

Sometimes you might want to make sure that Microsoft Word document is secure. Word has a password protect option that lets you put a password on the document so no one can open it unless they know the password.


Word 2003

1. Open Word.
2. Go to Tools>>Options.
3. Select Security.
4. Here you can set either a password to open the document or modify it.
5. After you type a password just click OK.
6. Save the document.

Word 2007

1. Go to File.
2. In the Prepare Tab select Encrypt Document.
3. Type a password and click OK.
4. Save the document. 

Word 2010 

1. Go to File.
2. In the Info tab click on Protect Document.
3. Select  Encrypt With Password.
4. Type a password and click OK.
5. Save the document. 

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INSTALL WINDOWS XP FASTER

In this post I will tell you about installation of win XP in minimum time period. Normally when someone tries to install windows XP on computer, it takes around 30-40 min to complete entire setup. It is too much time to install windows setup. I will tell you a method to install windows more faster. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete windows installation. So to install win XP in short time please follow these steps.


Power on your computer and start with bootable windows XP cd 
In first step window will load installation files. 
Select any drive ( C: ) for installation. 
Select NTFS to format the partition. 
Setup will copy files on this drive and it will try to restart PC. 
After restarting when you see Xp logo, press (Shift+F10). 
It will open (CMD) prompt. 
In CMD prompt type (Taskmgr) 
It will open task manager. Now go to “process” tab and find “Setup exe” Right click on setup.exe and select “Set priority”
You will see a submenu. Here priority will be normal. Select priority to (High)  or above (Normal).
Done. 

This will complete installation process much faster than the normal original time.

Try it….......

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DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TFT AND LCD.

This is a common question when have been asked about several times by many people. Every body wants to know that what is the difference between a LCD and TFT. So i figured out, i should answer this question for anyone who has doubts.

LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display... and 

TFT stands for Thin Film Transistor.

TFT is not really different from LCD. It comes from the family of LCD technology. We can say that it is a modern version of the LCD Technology. A TFT provide a well improved image quality. 

There are two typs of display quality. 1st one is Matty and 2nd is Grossy. Matty display is called LCD and Grossy display is called as TFT. LCD and TFT consumes less power energy as compared to CRT (Cathode ray tube).

Now a days TFT has been used for mobile phone devices, projectors, nevigation systems as well as TVs and computer monitors.

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BURN A CD WITHOUT SOFTWARE.

 Windows XP comes with a builtin CD copy feature. If you are using a system which has not any burning software don’t worry. With the help of windows XP feature, you can write some data or any music files to a CD/DVD or erase it also.

 Main Requirement.

Before you erase or write a CD you need to enable the CD-R features n windows XP. For this purpose:

• Double click on “My Computer”
• Right click on CD Drive and select “Properties”.
• Select the last option “Recording”
• Select by clicking “Enable CD recording on this drive”
• Also select Fastest for quick writing speed.
• And at last click “Ok”
• You’re done. Now the windows XP is ready to write or erase any CD/DVD.

Method to Format the Disk.  

You are using the CD for writing purpose, make sure that disk is blank. You might need to format it before use. For this purpose

• Insert a Rewritable CD/DVD into the drive.
• Double click on “My Computer”
• Open CD-Rom drive.
• Windows opens that shows the contents of the CD, on the left panel click on the menu. “Erase this CD-RW”.
• On the windows “CD writing wizard” click “Next”
• The wizard starts to erase or format the CD.
• After complete process, the wizard will disappear.
• You should confirm that windows don’t show any files on the CD,
• It is complete now. You’re done.

Method to Burn a CD on XP without any software.  

• At first insert a formatted CD (CD-R) disc into the CD drive.
• Double click on “My Computer”
• Select the files & folders and press “Ctrl + c” to copy.
• Double click on CD Rom drive and press “Ctrl + v” to paste.
• You will see as temporary files/folders at this time.
• Select “Write these files to CD” on the left panel.
•  The window “CD Writing Wizard” appears.
• Window shows default name of CD but you can change the CD name if you wish, then click “Next”
• The “CD Writing Wizard” starts to write files to the CD.

After the successful completion of the CD Writing process, the wizard will disappear and the CD Rom ejects CD automatically.

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Protect Your Password

Password protection is a priority.

Today advanced hardware makes it easy to crack passwords. In such a scenario, what should users do to prevent hackers? Geeta Padmanabhan has the lowdown

If you thought your clever password was something no one could hack, well, you are in denial. Consultancy firm Deloitte reports that 90 per cent of user-generated passwords are vulnerable to hacking. What, even my traditional (clever) combo of eight characters complicated by numbers, letters and symbols? Yes.

Last year, Zappos.com lost names, email-IDs, phone numbers and partial credit card numbers of 24 million customers. LinkedIn admitted its user passwords were “compromised”. Some 400,000 Yahoo email-ID passwords were hacked last July. In 2011, 77 million passwords were stolen from Sony’s PlayStation Network. GoDaddy's passwords were breached. FBI, NBC-sites, 112 Indian government sites found their “secure” passwords “exposed”. If it's any consolation, Taliban sites were successfully attacked too. Just check out what services like “iFramers” do to hacked websites.

RE-USING PASSWORDS

How did our passwords get so susceptible? Longer passwords infused with @, *, % symbols are difficult to remember, so we pick a small subset from them — and they get cracked. We slip-up by re-using passwords. Credit-checking firm Experian found that the average user has 26 password-protected online accounts but uses only five different passwords. Deloitte says 10,000 most common passwords access 98 per cent of all accounts. When you key in the same password for online banking and Warhammer, a security breach at the gaming site compromises the bank account password.

Even long passwords aren't safe, says Ashwini Rao, researcher at Carnegie Mellon University. Sentence-like/phrase-like passwords such as “abiggerbetterpassword” and “thecommunistfairy”, postal addresses, email IDs and URLs also make for less secure passwords now, she says.

Blame it on advances in password-cracking hardware. “It's called a brute-force attack,” says techie Mahesh, explaining its nuances. “Powerful computers/laptops try every possible permutation-combination to find the “right” one, no intelligence involved.” Creep! Our eight-character password, created from the 94-character keyboard is one of 6.1 quadrillion possible combinations. “A dedicated password-cracking machine employing virtualisation software and high-powered graphics-processing units can crack any eight-character password in 5.5 hours,” the Deloitte report said. Nefarious, says Mahesh. “A computer working alone may not be able to dig, say, military networks. So a zombie machine, could be yours, is roped in for the hack job. It's a small percentage of your CPU; you pay for unlimited time, so how will you know? Hey! “Wait,” he says. “There is also crowd hacking, where hackers share the power of thousands of machines to infiltrate the target. At no cost.”

Help! Twitter and Adobe re-set thousands of passwords after “embarrassing” goof-ups. Google alerts you on unusual mob-phone activity. It also wants you to insert Yubikey, a smart-chip embedded tiny key that goes into the USB drive, unlocks and automatically logs onto all your accounts without asking for a password. Yubikey works on Windows/Mac/Linux/iPad/Firefox/Chrome, and is waterproof, crush-safe, needs no battery or clients software/drivers. With a simple touch the YubiKey sends a one-time-password (OTP) as if typed. The unique passcode is verified by a YubiKey compliant app. Fine. “Things like YubiKey are definitely more secure as they support random passwords and provide two-factor authentication,” says Mahesh. “Corporates use them on a day-to-day basis because they are mandatory, but you will use it a lot less since it's optional.” You could lose it, you need to insert it, and always type in a master password to access websites. Too much!

“Multi-layer authentication” is possible. You log onto your credit card issuer’s site, type in your username/password, send another code/password to smartphone, and go online. Not terribly convenient! Password vaults or password safes (paid tools) offer you a central place to store all your passwords, encrypted and protected by — you guessed it — a password or token. These, presumably, are not easily cracked. Firefox can save user names and passwords for online services like banking.

Go for poor grammar and spelling, says Ashwini Rao. Hurray! Since “brute” searches for proper combo-words and grammar, you hoodwink it by staying outside the dictionary. She suggests phrases such as “Pineapplesi$nise”, “Exitingplan$isafoot”, that is, if you can memorise the deliberate mistakes. Try “eat cake at 8!” or “car_park_city?” (Idontnohowtospal.com). The high-tech crowd touts a biometric solution, but it has its hiccups. Smartphones ask you to connect nine dots — easy, many combos, visual/tactile (touch to remember). Connecting fewer dots generates more combinations.

FOLLOW GOOD PASSWORD PRACTICES

Never share your password. Avoid using non-secure networks at public places to send private information. Change password after using a non-secure network, change it frequently. Never store your password in a program. “I use Lastpass — a password manager and form-filler,” says Mahesh. “and a secure operating system like Linux. All codes are out in the open, so it is easier to review.” Mmmm... will you consider becoming a hacktivist? If you do, let me know.

Source : the Hindu

How to configure Internet Connection Sharing in Windows XP

How to use Internet Connection Sharing

To use Internet Connection Sharing to share your Internet connection, the host computer must have one network adapter that is configured to connect to the internal network, and one network adapter or modem that is configured to connect to the Internet.

On the host computer

On the host computer, follow these steps to share the Internet connection:

1. Log on to the host computer as Administrator or as Owner.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Click Network and Internet Connections.
4. Click Network Connections.
5. Right-click the connection that you use to connect to the Internet. For example, if you connect to the Internet by using a modem, right-click the connection that you want under Dial-up.
6. Click Properties.
7. Click the Advanced tab.
8. Under Internet Connection Sharing, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
9. If you are sharing a dial-up Internet connection, select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box if you want to permit your computer to automatically connect to the Internet.
10. Click OK. You receive the following message:
    When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set to use IP
    address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other computers on
    your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses, it is a good idea to set them
    to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable Internet
    Connection Sharing?
11. Click Yes.

The connection to the Internet is shared to other computers on the local area network (LAN). The network adapter that is connected to the LAN is configured with a static IP address of 192.168.0.1 and a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0

On the client computer

To connect to the Internet by using the shared connection, you must confirm the LAN adapter IP configuration, and then configure the client computer. To confirm the LAN adapter IP configuration, follow these steps:

1. Log on to the client computer as Administrator or as Owner.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Click Network and Internet Connections.
4. Click Network Connections.
5. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties.
6. Click the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the This connection uses the following items list, and then click Properties.
7. In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Obtain an IP address automatically (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.
   
   Note You can also assign a unique static IP address in the range of 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254. For example, you can assign the following static IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway:

      IP Address      192.168.0.2
      Subnet mask     255.255.255.0
      Default gateway 192.168.0.1
        

8. In the Local Area Connection Properties dialog box, click OK.
9. Quit Control Panel.

To configure the client computer to use the shared Internet connection, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Network and Internet Connections.
3. Click Internet Options.
4. In the Internet Properties dialog box, click the Connections tab.
5. Click the Setup button.
   
   The New Connection Wizard starts.
6. On the Welcome to the New Connection Wizard page, click Next.
7. Click Connect to the Internet, and then click Next.
8. Click Set up my connection manually, and then click Next.
9. Click Connect using a broadband connection that is always on, and then click Next.
10. On the Completing the New Connection Wizard page, click Finish.
11. Quit Control Panel.

When you now start Microsoft Internet Explorer, the client computer will try to connect to the Internet by using the host computer's shared Internet connection.

Troubleshooting

When you turn on Internet Connection Sharing on the host computer, the host computer's LAN adapter is automatically assigned the IP address of 192.168.0.1. Therefore, one of the following situations may occur:

• IP address conflict
  Each computer on the LAN must have a unique IP address. If more than one computer has the same IP address, an IP conflict occurs, and one of the network adapters turns off until the conflict is resolved. To resolve this conflict, configure the client computer to automatically obtain an IP address, or assign it a unique IP address.
• Loss of network connectivity
  If your network is configured with a different IP address range than Internet Connection Sharing uses, you will lose network connectivity with the host computer. To resolve this issue, configure the client computers to automatically obtain an IP address, or assign each client computer a unique IP address in the range of 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254.

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