Basic computer concepts and terminology Contents of this section You will need to be familiar with at least a few basic computing concepts in order to take full advantage of the material included in this workshop. The CPU fetches instructions from memory and decodes them. This may cause the CPU to transfer additional data to or from memory, or to activate a device to perform input or output. Memory is used to store instructions for the CPU while the system is running. Don't confuse memory with storage devices such as disk drives.
Information stored in memory is erased when the computer is turned off.
Data that is stored on disk or tape can be read into memory by issuing the appropriate commands. Input and output devices include keyboards, monitors, mice, and printers. An operating system is a program that controls all the other parts of a computer system, including both hardware and software.