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Commonly used computer terms
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Computer terms
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Operating System (OS) |
An Operating System (OS) is a software program that enables the
computer hardware to communicate and operate with the computer
software. Your computer would be useless if it didn't have an
operating system.
Different OS's:
Windows '98 (is obsolete)
Windows ME (is obsolete)
Windows 2000
Windows XP Home
Windows XP professional
Windows XP Media Edition
Windows
Vista |
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Bios |
Basic Input/Output
System
The BIOS controls how your hardware and your operating system
communicate. Maybe you noticed that your BIOS screen has different
commands like "Hit DEL to run Setup". WARNING!
If you don't know much about computers DON'T
make any changes to your BIOS settings. Leave that to the technicians.
Believe me - I DO! |
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Processor / CPU |
Central Processing Unit
The processor is the brain of the computer. Unlike the human brain, it
doesn't "think, feel and reason" like we do, but it processes data. |
Hard drive (HD)
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Your storage device.
The bigger your HD is the more room you have for storing data. The
size normally vary from a few GIG to
hundreds of GIG. Look at the HD as a
huge box or a basement you can store data in.
In order to find specific files again, it's necessary to divide your
box/basement into sections - your drives, folders and sub folders. You
can find more details on how you organize your files and folder by
clicking the navigation tab "Organizing Files" |
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Motherboard |
The motherboard is the main circuit of your computer. This is where
all your hardware - your
CPU, your hard drive's),
RAM and all other
hardware, is plugged into. The motherboard allows all
your hardware to function together. |
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RAM |
Random Access Memory |
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Hardware |
All the visible and touchable parts of your computer - monitor,
keyboard, cards,
printer, scanner,
cables etc, drives etc. |
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Software |
Programs (applications) that you can Install
on your computer
Description from the Dictionary: The programs, routines, and symbolic
languages that control the functioning of the hardware and direct its
operation.
You can divide the software into two categories:
Software related to your
operating system and utility software. |
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Modem |
A device that connects the computer to a phone line. A modem allows a
computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. You
could say that modems do for computers what a telephone does for
humans. |
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ISDN |
Or Integrated Services
Digital Network |
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(A)DSL |
Or Asymmetric Digital
Subscriber Line |
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NIC |
Network Interface
card - also called a Network Adapter is the piece
of hardware you need to be able to connect to a
network or another computer |
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Network |
A network is a number of computers linked together. A network
allows these computer to share data and hardware
such as printers, internet
connections and programs |
Graphics card /
Video card |
The plug-in card in a computer that creates the electronic signals
required by the monitor. It determines the maximum resolution, refresh
rate and number of colors that can be displayed, which the monitor
must also be able to support. |
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Sound Card |
Also called a "sound board" or "audio adapter," it is a plug-in
card that records and plays back sound. Supporting both digital audio
and MIDI, sound cards provide an input port for a microphone or other
sound source and output ports to speakers and amplifiers. Sound
circuits are typically built into the chipset on the
motherboard, but can be disabled if a separate sound card
is installed. |
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Driver |
A driver is the software needed to
run a hardware device, such as a
printer, sound card, monitor, or scanner.
New computers usually come with all the drivers
already installed. But if you buy a new printer later
or upgrade you video card, you will have to install
the driver for it from the manufacturer. |
Bytes – kilobytes, megabytes,
gigabytes |
The primary specifications of hardware are rated in bytes; for
example, an 80-gigabyte (80GB) disk holds 80 billion characters of
software and data. A 256-megabyte (256MB) memory allows 256 million
characters of instructions and data to be held internally for
processing. |
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USB |
(Universal Serial
Bus) A widely used hardware interface for
attaching devices to the computer. USB ports began to appear on PCs in
1997, and Windows 98 was the first Windows to support it natively.
Within a few years, USB became popular for connecting almost every
external peripheral device. Replacing the serial and parallel ports on
a PC. Usually today's computer comes with at least four USB ports. |
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Port |
A pathway into and out of the computer or a network device such as a
hub, switch or router. There are numerous ports on the back of every
desktop computer for hooking up the keyboard, mouse, modem, printer
and network. Laptops have many ports as well, because external
monitors, keyboards and mice are generally supported. On network
devices, the ports are for communications, typically connecting
Ethernet cables or telephone lines. |
Smart drives /
Flash drives |
Small handy storage devices used for transferring files from one
computer to another. The sizes (or storage capability) varies from 64
MB to a GIG. You attach them to your computer through a USB port. |
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Windows Terms
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Desktop |
The screen background of a graphical user interface (GUI).The covering
of a computer desktop is called "wallpaper," which makes no sense at
all until you realize that the screen is vertical like a wall, rather
than horizontal like a real desktop. |
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Wallpaper |
A pattern or picture used to represent the desktop surface.
Learn how to customize your desktop Look & Feel here |
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Screen saver |
A utility that prevents a screen from being damaged by an unchanging
image.
After a specified period of time without keyboard or mouse input, it
blanks the screen or displays moving objects.
It would actually take many hours to burn in an image on today's color
monitors, but a lot of people find screen savers nice to look at and
it "covers" up your work, if you have to leave the computer for a
while.
Pressing a key or moving the mouse restores the screen.
Learn how to customize your desktop Look & Feel here
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Download |
To transfer a file TO your computer FROM somewhere else, such as the
Internet |
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Upload |
To transfer a file FROM your computer TO another computer |
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Virus |
Software used to infect a computer. After the virus code is written,
it is buried within an existing program. Once that program is
executed, the virus code is activated and attaches copies of itself to
other programs in the system. Infected programs copy the virus to
other programs.
The
effect of the virus may be a simple prank that pops up a message on
screen out of the blue, or it may destroy programs and data right away
or on a certain date. It can lay dormant and do its damage once a
year. For example, the Michelangelo virus contaminates the machine on
Michelangelo's birthday.
Learn
how to protect yourself from Virus here |
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Adware |
(ADvertisementWARE)
Software that periodically pops up advertisements on a user's
computer. It displays ads targeted to the individual user based on key
words entered in search engines and the types of Web sites the user
visits. The marketing data is collected periodically and sent in the
background to the adware Web server. Adware is known as "contextual
marketing." |
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Spyware |
Software
"secretly" being installed on some ones computer to monitor the use of
the computer in some way without the users knowledge. Most spyware
tries to get the user to view advertising and/or particular web pages.
Some spyware also sends information about the user to another computer
over the Internet.
Spyware
is often downloaded along with a software or file download, such as
music files or images |
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E mail |
Electronically) mail is a
transmission of a text message and optional file attachments over a
network.
To manage e-mails you will need an e-mail program such as Microsoft
Outlook or Outlook Express or a similar program. |
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Web Browser |
The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the
Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the
browser's Location field; for example, www.basic-computerskills.com,
and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. The home page is
an index to other pages on that site that you can jump to by clicking
an underlined hyperlink or an icon.
Links on that site may take you to other related sites. |
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hyperlink |
A predefined linkage between one object and another. On Web pages, a
hyperlink can be either text (hypertext) or a graphic element
(hypergraphic). |
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icon |
In a graphical user interface (GUI), a small, pictorial, on-screen
representation of an object, such as a document, program, folder or
disk drive. |
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Bookmarks |
Browsers have a Bookmark or Favorites feature that lets you store
references to your favorite sites. Instead of having to type in the
URL to visit the site again, you select the bookmark. |
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Cookie |
Basically, you can say that a cookie is a small piece of information
sent to your browser program from a web server. The cookie allows your
browser to recognize a website, but it might also contain certain
other information, such as login or registration information, online
"shopping cart" information, user preferences |
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