Solved IGNOU BCA 1st Semester Assignmnemts

Course Title : Fundamentals and PC Software

Assignment Number : BCA (1)-611Assignment/2010
Maximum Marks : 25
Last Date of submission : 30th April, 2010 (For January Session)
30th October, 2010 (For July Session)

There are five questions in this assignment. Answer all the questions. You may use
illustrations and diagrams to enhance explanations.

Question1. Explain classification of computers. Also suggest a suitable operating system (s)
for the following activities:

• Network Computing
• Multimedia Applications
• Database Management System

Identify the requirements on operating system for the above situations. Give reasons in support
of your selection.(5 Marks)

Solution 1: Computers are available in different shapes, sizes and weights, due to these
different shapes and sizes they perform different sorts of jobs from one another. They can also be
classified in different ways. All the computers are designed by the qualified computer
architectures that design these machines as their requirements. A computer that is used in a home
differs in size and shape from the computer being used in a hospital. Computers act as a server in
large buildings, while the computer also differs in size and shape performing its job as a weather
forecaster. A student carrying a laptop with him to his college is different in shape and size from
all the computers mentioned above.
Here we are going to introduce different classifications of computers one by one. We will discuss
what are in classifications and what job they perform.

Super computer
The biggest in size, the most expensive in price than any other is classified and known as super
computer. It can process trillions of instructions in seconds. This computer is not used as a PC in
a home neither by a student in a college. Governments specially use this type of computer for
their different calculations and heavy jobs. Different industries also use this huge computer for
designing their products. In most of the Hollywood’s movies it is used for animation purposes.
This kind of computer is also helpful for forecasting weather reports worldwide.

Mainframes
Another giant in computers after the super computer is Mainframe, which can also process
millions of instruction per second and capable of accessing billions of data. This computer is
commonly used in big hospitals, air line reservations companies, and many other huge
companies prefer mainframe because of its capability of retrieving data on a huge basis. This is
normally to expensive and out of reach from a salary-based person who wants a computer for his
home. This kind of computer can cost up to thousands of dollars.
Minicomputer
This computer is next in he line but less offers less than mainframe in work and performance.
These are the computers, which are mostly preferred by the small type of business personals,
colleges, etc.

Personal computers
Almost all the computer users are familiar with the personal computers. They normally know
what the personal computer is and what are its functions. This is the computer mostly preferred
by the home users. These computers are lesser in cost than the computers given above and also,
small in size; they are also called PCs in short for Personal computers.This computer is small in
size and you can easily arrange it to fit in your single bedroom with its all accommodation.
Today this is thought to be the most popular computer in all.

Notebook computers

Having a small size and low weight the notebook is easy to carry to anywhere. A student can
take it with him/her to his/her school in his/her bag with his/her book.
This is easy to carry around and preferred by students and business people to meet their
assignments and other necessary tasks. The approach of this computer is also the same as the
Personal computer. It can store the same amount of data and having a memory of the same size
as that of a personal computer. One can say that it is the replacement of personal desktop
computer.

Question 2. Explain the differences between followings:

i. Primary Memory and Secondary Memory
ii. Bus topology and Star topology
iii. Application software and System software
(3 Marks)
Solution 2 : (i) What are the difference between Primary Memory and Secondary
Memory
Primary memory is much faster and also it is more cost effective. But the secondary memory is
much slower and also less costly. It stores the data permanently unless it is erased. The
secondary memory is usually available in the form of floppy disk storage media, hard disk, CD,
DVD, Pen drive (i.e. Mass storage devices), memory chips. A 5 and1/4 inch floppy disk typically
stores 1.44 mb of data. The data on the floppy disk is organized in terms of tracks and sectors.
Hard disk can have large capacity something like 80-300 GB's or higher. Hard disk itself is made
up of, large number of platters. Hard disk is usually much faster compared to floppy disk. CD
can store up to 750 mb of data. Information on CD ROM is organized in terms of a spiral track.
A DVD is digital Versatile Disk and can store 4.6 Gigabyte of information. All these CD disk are
usually write ones and read many times (if the disk is not multisession and re writable). So are
the DVDs. In primary storage device the storage capacity is limited. It has a volatile memory. In
secondary storage device the storage capacity is larger. It is a nonvolatile memory. Primary
devices are: RAM / ROM. Secondary devices are: Floppy disc / Hard disk

(ii) What are the difference between Bus topology and Star topology
A bus topology is a networking architecture that is linear, usually by using one or more pieces of
cable to form a single line, or bus. The signals sent by one station extend the length of this cable
to be heard by other stations. A star topology is an architecture that includes a central device or
hub to connect all stations together. Signals sent by a station must pass through (and are usually
regenerated) by these central hubs. Since the hub sits in the center and all other stations are
linked through the hub, the architecture resembles a star

Bus Topology and Star Topology are methods of making a computer network.Bus Topology has
a structure of a straight line,and uses no switch for connectivity of computer.Star topology can be
given any shape and is not connected directly,but the computers are connected with each other
by using a switch

(iii) What are the difference between Application Software and System software System
Software System is an essential part of computer operations. The function of the systems
software is to manage the resources of the computer, automate its operation and facilitate
program development. It is generally provided by the computer manufacturer or a specialized
programming firm (for example: Microsoft is a company that specializes in system software).
While, the Application software are designed to perform specific data processing or
computational tasks for the user. These programs are specifically designed to meet end-user
requirements. (e.g: spreadsheets, word processors, media players and database applications).

Question 3 (a). What is IP address? Explain how you will get IP address of a computer system.
Question (b) What is computer virus? Explain how you can protect your machine from computer
viruses. (3 Marks)

Solution 3: Every device connected to the public Internet is assigned a unique number known
as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses consist of four numbers separated by periods
(also called a 'dotted-quad') and look something like 127.0.0.1.Since these numbers are usually
assigned to internet service providers within region-based blocks, an IP address can often be
used to identify the region or country from which a computer is connecting to the Internet. An
IP address can sometimes be used to show the user's general location. Because the numbers
may be tedious to deal with, an IP address may also be assigned to a Host name, which is
sometimes easier to remember. Hostnames may be looked up to find IP addresses, and vice-
versa. At one time ISPs issued one IP address to each user. These are called static IP addresses.
Because there is a limited number of IP addresses and with increased usage of the internet ISPs
now issue IP addresses in a dynamic fashion out of a pool of IP addresses (Using DHCP).
These are referred to as dynamic IP addresses. This also limits the ability of the user to host
websites, mail servers, ftp servers, etc. In addition to users connecting to the internet, with
virtual hosting, a single machine can act like multiple machines (with multiple domain names
and IP addresses).

Solution b : A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself[1] and infect a
computer. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of
malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability. A true virus
can only spread from one computer to another (in some form of executable code) when its host
is taken to the target computer; for instance because a user sent it over a network or the
Internet, or carried it on a removable medium such as a floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB drive.
Viruses can increase their chances of spreading to other computers by infecting files on a
network file system or a file system that is accessed by another computer.
Question 4. Explain how you will handle following problems
(i) You have to recover a deleted file.
(ii) You have to remove a software from your system.
(iii) You need to change the video mode video mode of your monitor.
(iv) You need to share a newly created folder with other users.
(v) You have set a Printer as default printer.
(5 Marks)

Question 5(a) Explain how table is created in MS-Word. (2 Marks)

(b)What is mail-merge feature of MS-Word? Explain advantages of mail-merge. (5 Marks)

Solution 5 : Each can be easily created using Word's mail merge feature. Without Word, or some
kind of automated system, these items would take a whole lot of time to develop

The advantages of using mail merge are:

Only one document needs to be composed for communicating to an extensive list of interested
people, clients or customers. Each document can be personalized i.e. it appears to be have been
written specifically to each recipient. It contains details only relevant to the receiver. Many
document formats can be developed to use with one database. Errors in transcribing details from
one document to another are eliminated. This advantage, of course, depends upon the accuracy
of data entry into individual records in the first place! saving time and standard quality, you only
need to check once, make one letter - produce 100's the same