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R ITSC1425 Terms

Quiz yourself by thinking what should be in each of the black spaces below before clicking on it to display the answer.
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Answer
Adapter Card   A small circuit board inserted in an expansion slot and used to communicate between the system bus and a peripheral device  
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Binary Number System   The number system used by computers; it has only two numbers: 0 and 1  
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BIOS   Firmware that can control much of a computer's input/output functions  
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BIOS Setup   The program in system BIOS that can change the values in CMOS RAM  
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Bus   The paths or lines on the motherboard on which data instructions and electrical power move from component to component  
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Byte   A collection of eight bits that can represent a single character  
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Cards   Adapter boards or interface cards placed into expansion slots to expand the functions of a computer  
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Central Processing Unit   The heart and brain of the computer; receives data input; processes information; executes instructions  
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Chipset   A group of chips on the motherboard that controls the timing and flow of data to and from the CPU  
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Clock Speed   The speed or frequency expressed in MHz that controls the activity on the motherboard  
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CMOS   The technology used to manufacture microchips  
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CMOS RAM   Memory contained on the CMOS configuration chip  
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CMOS Setup   The program in system BIOS that can change the values in CMOS RAM  
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Data Bus   The lines on the system bus that the CPU uses to send and receive data  
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Data Path Size   The number of lines on a bus that can hold data  
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DIMM   A miniature circuit board installed on a motherboard to hold memory; can hold up to 4 GB of RAM per module  
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Expansion Cards   A circuit board inserted into a slot on the motherboard to enahnce the capability of the computer  
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Expansion Slots   A narrow slot on the motherboard where an expansion card can be inserted  
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Firmware   Software that is permanently stored in a chip  
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Flash ROM   ROM that can be reprogrammed or changed without replacing chips  
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Floppy Disk Drive   A drive that can hold either a 5 1/2 inch or 3 1/4 inch floppy disk  
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Front Side Bus   The bus between the CPU and memory on the motherboard; also called memory bus front-side bus local bus or host bus; system speed  
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Gigahertz   One thousand MHz or one billion cycles per second  
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Graphics Card   An interface card installed in the computer to control visual output on a monitor; also called display adapter or graphics card  
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Hard Copy   Output from printer to paper  
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Hard Disk Drive   The main secondary storage device of a PC; magnetic or solid state  
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Hardware   The physical components that constitute the computer system  
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Hertz   Unit of measurement for frequency calculated in terms of vibrations or cycles per second  
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Keyboard   A common input device through which data and instructions may be typed into computer memory  
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Magnetic Hard Drive   One of two technologies used by hard drives where data is stored as magnetic spots on disks that rotate at high speeds  
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Megahertz   One million Hz or one million cyces per second  
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Memory   Physical microchips that can hold data and programming  
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Monitor   The most commonly used output device for displaying text and graphics on a computer  
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Motherboard   Th main board in the computer; also called the system board  
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Mouse   A pointing and input device that allows the user to move a cursor around a screen and select items with the click of a button  
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Nonvolatile Memory   RAM that is stable and can hold data even if no electricity is powering the memory  
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Parallel ATA   An older IDE cabling method that uses a 40-pin flat or round data cable or an 80-conductor cable and a 40-pin IDE connector  
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Parallel Port   A female 25-pin port on a computer that can transmit data in parallel and is usally used with a printer  
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Peripheral Device   Devices that communicate with the CPU but are not located directly on the motherboard such as monitor floppy drive printer and mouse  
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Port   A physical connector usually in the back of a computer that allows a cable from a peripheral device to be attached  
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Power Supply   A box inside the computer case that supplies power to the motherboard and other installed devices  
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Primary Storage   Temporary storage on the motherboard used by the CPU to process data and instructions  
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Printer   A peripheral output device that produces printed output to paper  
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Program   A set of step-by-step instructions to a computer  
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Protocol   A set of rules and standards that two entities use for communication  
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RAM   Memory modules on the motherboard containing microchips used to temporarily hold data and programs while the CPU processes both  
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ROM   Chips that contain programming code and cannot be erased  
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S/PDIF Sound Port   Sony-Phillips Digital Interface; a sound port that connects to an external home theater audio system  
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Secondary Storage   Storage that is remote to the CPU and permanently holds data even when the PC is turned off  
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Serial ATA   An ATAPI cabling method that uses a narrower and more reliable cable than the 80-conductor cable  
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Serial Port   A male 9-pin or 25-pin port on a computer system used by slower I/O devices such as a mouse or modem  
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Software   Computer programs or instructions to perform a specific task  
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Solid State Drive   A hard drive that has no moving parts  
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Startup BIOS   Part of system BIOS that is responsible for controlling the PC when it is first turned on  
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System BIOS   BIOS located on the motherboard  
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System Clock   A line on the bus that is dedicated to timing the activities of components connected to it  
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Traces   A wire on a circuit board that connects two components or devices  
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Universal Seral Bus Port   A type of port designed to make installation and configuration of I/O devices easy; provides room for up to 127 devices  
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Video Memory   Memory used by the video controller; might be contained on a video card or be part of the system memory  
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Volatile   RAM that is temporary and must be frequently refreshed as it cannot hold data for very long  
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Administrator Account   An account that grants to the administrators rights and permissions to use all hardware and software resources  
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Aero User Interface   The Vista 3D user interface  
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Backward-Compatible   A technology, software, or device that works with older or legacy technologies, software, or devices  
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Briefcase   A system folder in Windows 9x/Me that is used to synchronize files between two computers  
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Command Prompt Window   A Windows utility that is used to enter multiple commands to perform a variety of tasks  
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Compressed (Zipped) Folder   A folder with a .zip extension that contains compressed files; when files are put in the folder, they are compressed; when files are moved into a regular folder, the files are decompressed  
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Desktop   The initial screen that is displayed when an OS has a GUI interface loaded  
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Device Driver   A program stored on the hard drive that tells the computer how to communicate with a hardware device  
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Distribution   Any version of Linux  
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Dual Boot   An ability to boot using either of two different OSs, such as Windows XP and Windows Vista  
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Elevated Command Prompt Window   A Vista command prompt window that allows commands that require administrator privileges  
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Executive Services   In Windows 2000/XP/Vista, a group of components running in kernel mode that interfaces between the subsystems in user mode and the HAL  
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File Attribute   The properties assigned to a file  
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File Extension   A portion of the name of a file that is used to identify the file type  
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Filename   The first part of the name assigned to a file  
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Graphical User Interface (GUI)   An interface that uses graphics as compared to a command-driven interface  
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Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)   The low-level part of Windows 2000/XP/Vista, written specifically for each CPU technology, so that only the HAL must change when platform components change  
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Kernel   The portion of an OS that is responsible for interacting with the software  
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Kernel Mode   A Windows 2000/XP/Vista privileged processing mode that has access to hardware components  
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Netbook   A low-end, inexpensive laptop with a small 9 or 10 inch screen and no optical drive that is generally used for web browsing  
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Notification Area   An area to the right of the taskbar that holds the icons for running services  
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Operating System   Software that controls a computer; controls how system resources are used, provides a user interface, a way of managing hardware and software, and ways to work with files  
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Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)   A software license that only manufacturers or builders of personal computer can purchase to be installed only on a computer intended for sale  
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Patches   An update to software that corrects an error, adds a feature, or addresses security issues  
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Path   A drive and list of directories pointing to a file  
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Registry   A database that Windows uses to store hardware and software configuration information, user preferences, and setup information  
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Root Directory   The main directory created when a hard drive or disk is first formatted  
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Service   A program that runs in the background to support or serve Windows or an application  
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Shell   The portion of an OS that relates to the user and to applications  
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Standard Account   The Vista user account type that can use software and hardware and make some system changes, but cannot make changes that affect the security of the system or other users  
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Subdirectory   A directory or folder contained in another directory or folder; also called a child directory or folder  
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Taskbar   A bar normally located at the bottom of the Windows desktop, displaying information about open programs and providing quick access to others  
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Thread   Each process that the CPU is aware of; a single task that is part of a longer task or program  
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User Account Control (UAC)   A Vista security feature that displays a dialog box each time a user attempts to perform an action that can be done only with administrative privileges  
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User Mode   In Windows 2000/XP/Vista, a mode that provides an interface between an application and the OS, and only has access to hardware resources through the code running in kernel mode  
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Virtual Machine   One or more logical machines created within one physical machine  
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Volume   A primary partition that has been assigned a drive letter  
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