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| Backup | Backups can be made by copying files under a different name or by copying them to another directory, another drive, or a different storage media. Backups are used to replace or restore files if they should become lost or corrupted. |
| Binary Number System | In our everyday lives we use a decimal numbering system containing 10 digits, 0 through 9. Computers use a binary numbering system which contains only 2 numbers, 0 and 1, called binary digits or bits. |
| C: | A letter followed by a colon is used to designate a drive (physical or virtual) on your computer. C: drive is usually the hard drive inside the case that your computer boots from (contains the operating system files). |
| Central Processing Unit | The central processing unit (CPU) is an integrated circuit chip (IC) that controls and directs the activities of the computer. Considered the 'brain' of your computer, it is identified by manufacturer, model, and processing speed in megahertz (MHz). Major manufacturers include Intel, Motorola, Cyrix, AMD(Advanced Micro Devices), and IBM. Intel is considered to be the #1 manufacturer and sets the standards for processors. |
| Circuit Board | Boards used in electronic devices that are made from an insulating material and contain electronic components that are interconnected to form a circuit or group of circuits that perform a specific function. |
| Cold Boot | Starting the computer from a power-off status. If your computer is off, and you turn the switch on, you're performing a Cold Boot. |
| Device Driver | Individual programs can access communication ports or expansion slots either directly or via the OS or BIOS. However, there is such a vast number of different devices available to hook up to your computer that it can't be expected to know how to use the features of all of them. Most devices are shipped with small programs that are loaded onto your hard drive and tell the computer how to communicate with that specific input/output device whether it be a modem, printer, video card, etc.. These small software programs are called Drivers and are specific to each make and model of the device it comes with. |
| Dual Boot | The ability to boot your computer using one of two different operating systems. |
| ESD | Electrostatic Discharge is the discharge of built up static electricity. You may not even feel the discharge but ESD can damage chips and ruin motherboards, rendering your computer useless. |
| Grounding Strap | An antistatic wrist strap that attaches to the computer case or an antistatic mat while you're working on a computer. This safely discharges static buildup and helps prevent damage to the computer through electrostatic discharge (ESD). |
| GUI | Graphical User Interface. An operating system (such as Windows) with an interface or working environment that uses graphics and icons on the screen for running programs or entering information. |
| Hard Drive | A high capacity disk storage device. It is the main secondary storage device in PCs. Information is stored on magnetic platters that spin at high speed inside a sealed case. Read/write heads transfer the data to and from the computer. |
| Integrated Circuit Chip | Circuits are made up of different electronic components (capacitors, resistors, transistors) wired together in a manner that performs a specific electronic function. With today's technology, these circuits can be etched into small wafers of silicon and sandwiched into a package with small metal pins protruding. These are Integrated Circuit Chips. |
| Input Device | Any device that sends information into your computer system. i.e. : keyboard, scanner, mouse, trackball. |
| Interface | A communication link in a computer between hardware and software components. A user interface is the way a user communicates with a computer. As a verb, to interface is to communicate. |
| Jumper | Essentially, a jumper is an on/off switch. Jumpers used to be used extensively to configure circuit boards and are still found to a certain extent. Small rows of wire pins (jumper pins) stick up from the circuit board. A small piece of plastic with metal connectors inside is placed over two pins at a time making an electrical connection or turning on that particular circuit configuration. |
| Keyboard | The most important input device. Keyboards are used to type commands, data, and other information into your computers memory for processing. |
| LPT Port | A parallel communications port often used by a printer. On the back of your computer you will see a DB-25 female port. It's a D-shaped port with 25 holes arranged in two lines. |
| Memory | Refers to actual chips on the motherboard, expansion cards and devices that can hold information or data for processing. |
| Microprocessor | See Central Processing Unit. The Microprocessor is integrated circuit chip (IC) that controls and directs the activities of the computer. |
| Modem | Contraction for Modulator/Demodulator. Modems convert analog data into digital data and vice-versa so that computers can communicate over phone lines. |
| Monitor | The most commonly used output device for displaying text and graphics from a computer. CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) are the most common. LCDs (Liquid Crystal Displays) are used on laptops and are available for desktop systems. |
| Motherboard | The printed circuit board in a computer that contains the CPU, Chipset, expansion slots, memory and device controllers. Sometimes called the System Board, Main Board, Planar Board or Logic Board. |
| Mouse | An input device that translates movements on a horizontal surface (the mouse pad) into movements of a pointer or cursor on the monitor screen. |
| MPEG | Moving Pictures Experts Group. A standard that has been developed for compression of motion video. It keeps track of the movement from frame to frame and only replaces or stores the data that has changed. |
| NIC | Network Interface Card. An expansion card that fits into a computer and connects via the network cable to the NICs installed in other computers on the network. It works with the network operating system to send and receive information over the network. |
| On-board | Actually located on a circuit board. Often refers to components or devices that are usually connected to the computer through expansion slots or ports, that are integrated onto the motherboard such as video adapters, sound cards or network cards. A motherboard that has integrated video can be said to have Video On-board. |
| Operating System | The software on your computer that is responsible for allocating the computers resources, such as memory, disk space and processor time, and for accessing different peripheral devices such as the monitor or printer. Your computer can do nothing without an Operating System and it's the first piece of software loaded at bootup. |
| Parallel Port | An input/output port on your computer that transfers data eight bits at a time. It's a female DB-25 port that is usually used to connect a printer. Also known as an LPT port. |
| Power Supply | The box inside your computer that supplies it with the electricity that it needs. The Power Supply converts the house AC current to voltages the computer can use, 3.3, 5, and 12 volts DC. |
| Primary Storage | Primary Storage is the volatile or temporary storage (RAM) that the CPU uses for processing data and instructions. As opposed to Secondary Storage which is semi-permanent, and includes devices like hard drives, floppies, CD-ROMS and tape drives. When the computer is shut off or loses power, all information in Primary Storage is lost. |
| Printer | An output device attached to your computer that produces printed copies on paper (hard copies). |
| RAM | Random Access Memory is the workspace of your computer. It's the area that stores the information and data for processing by the computer's CPU. Retrieving data from the hard drive is much slower, but once the data is loaded into RAM, it can be accessed instantly and randomly. RAM is volatile, which means that once you turn off the power, all data in memory disappears. RAM is stored in chips on small circuit boards called SIMMs or DIMMs, that attach to the motherboard. |
| SCSI | Small Computer System Interface. A high-speed parallel interface used to connect a computer to several devices through one controller. Devices can be connected together (daisy-chained) and accessed through the controller by an individual ID number. |
| Serial Port | A computer input/output port that transmits data sequentially, one bit at a time. The serial ports on the back of your computer are the DB-9 and DB-25 Male connections. (DB connectors are the 'D-shaped' ports). |
| Software | A set of instructions or programming code that is written to instruct a computer to do a certain task or function. |
| USB | A Universal Serial Bus is an external bus with a maximum transfer speed of 12 megabits per second. It's hot-swappable, which means that a device can be connected or disconnected while the computer is running. The Operating System can recognise and use the device as soon as its plugged in. Up to 127 devices can be daisy-chained together. |
