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Basic Computer and Operating System Terms

These are games to play that will help students learn vocabulary terms

AB
AUPAcceptable Use Policy. A policy which limits the way a network may be used for instance some networks are restricted to noncommercial use
BootTo load and initialize the operating system (OS) on a computer the initial part of this process is stored in ROM
CacheA small fast memory holding recently accessed datadesigned to speed up subsequent access to the same data
Client computerA computer system or process that requests a service of another computer system or process (a server) using some type of protocol and accepts the server's responses For example a workstation requesting the contents of a file from a file server is a client of the file server
Closeto exit or stop a file or application
CPUCentral Processing Unit the brains of the system input is accepted and treated or processed appropriately stored and finally prepared for output
CRTCathode Ray Tube better known as a monitor This tube actually a large vacuum tube is the screen on most monitors Flat screen monitors are not CRTs
Desktopthe computer screen as it appears before files or applications are added
Defaultpreset options in a program
Four stages of computingThe stages are Input-Processing-Output-Storage
HardwareThe physical touchable material parts of a computer or other system The term is used to distinguish these fixed parts of a system from the more changeable software or data components which it executes stores or carries
Icona small picture intended to represent something (a file directory or action) in a graphical user interface
Inputinformation or data transferred to a device Examples: keyboard mouse disk drive CDROM
KeyboardA hardware device consisting of a number of mechanical buttons (keys) which the user presses to input characters to a computer
Maximizeas large as possible full screen
Minimizeremove from desktop without closing appears in Taskbar
MonitorA cathoderay tube and associated electronics connected to a computer's video output A monitor may be either monochrome (black and white) or color
MouseThe most commonly used computer pointing device first introduced by Douglas Engelbart in 1968 The mouse is a device used to manipulate an onscreen pointer that's normally shaped like an arrow
OSOperating System The lowlevel software which handles the interface to peripheral hardware schedules tasks allocates storage and presents a default interface to the user when no application program is running
Outputnew information or data derived from prior input and processing Examples: monitors printers
Peripheralany part of a computer other than the CPU or working memory ie disks keyboards monitors mice printers scanners tape drives microphones speakers cameras to list just the less exotic ones-that attaches to the CPU box
Point(pt) A unit of measurement used for fonts
Primary Storageoften called main memory used to store data in active use because it is faster than secondary storage RAM ROM and Cache memory are examples of primary storage
Printera peripheral device for producing text and images on paper
ProcessingThe second stage of The Data Processing Cycle. Supported by the ROM and RAM chips on the motherboard
Quick Launchthe icons to the right of the START button click one time to start the application or view the file icons always available includes Show Desktop which moves all open widows to the Taskbar
RAMRandom Access Memory contents may be altered RAM is volatile storage meaning it is lost when the power of the computer is switched off or the computer is restarted the computer uses RAM to store operational processes this computer has 512 MB of RAM
Restoredisplay a window on the desktop less than full screen
ROMRead Only Memory contents can not be altered ROM is inherently nonvolatile storage it retains its contents even when the power is switched off in contrast to RAM ROM is often used to hold programs for embedded systems since these usually have a fixed purpose ROM is also used for storage of the lowest level bootstrap software (firmware) in a computer
Scanneran input device that takes in an optical image and digitizes it into an electronic image represented as binary data This can be used to create a computerized version of a photo or illustration A scanner may be linked to optical character recognition (OCR) software allowing printed documents to be converted to electronic text without having to type them in at a keyboard
Secondary StorageAny nonvolatile storage medium that is not directly accessible to the processor Secondary storage includes hard drives network drives CDROM DVD drives floppy disks and pen drives
ServerA computer which provides some service for other computers connected to it via a network The most common example is a file server which has a local disk and services requests from remote clients to read and write files on that disk
Software(Or computer program program code) The instructions executed by a computer as opposed to the physical device on which they run (the hardware)
Storage Devicememory a device into which data can be entered in which they can be held and from which they can be retrieved at a later time
System TrayThe system tray (or systray) is a section of the taskbars in the Microsoft Windows desktop user interface that is used to display the clock and the icons of certain programs so that a user is continually reminded that they are there and can easily click one of them
Taskbarthe menu portion of the desktop consists of START button Quick Launch System Tray and open files/applications
WebcamAn input device used to capture digital pictures and videos
WindowsMicrosoft Windows derived from MSDOS after several releases derives the name from the screen view as different objects open they appear as separate objects each capable of being sized and moved These individual objects are windows


Thomas A. Edison

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