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| a small circuit board insterted in an expansion slot and used to communicate between the system bus and a peripheral device. also called an interface card. |
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| The number system used by computers; it has only two numbers, 0, and 1 called binary digits, or bits. |
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Term
BIOS
(Basic input / output system) |
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| Firmware that can control much of a computers input/ output functions, such as communication with the floppy drive and monitor. |
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| The program in system BIOS that can change the values in CMOS RAM. Also called CMOS setup. |
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| A 0 or 1 used by the binary number system. |
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| A collection of eight bits that can represent a single character |
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| The paths, or lines, on the motherboard on which data, instructions, and electrical power move from component to component. |
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| Adapter boards or interface cards placed into expansion slots to expand the functions of a computer, allowing it to communicate with external devices such as monitors or speakers. |
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| Central Processing Unit (CPU) |
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Definition
| Also called a microprocessor, or processor. The heart and brain of the computer, which receives data input, processes information, and executes instructions. |
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| A group of chips on the motherboard that controls the timing and flow of data and instructional to and from the CPU. |
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| the speed, or frequency, expressed in MHz, that controls activity on the motherboard and is generated by a crystal or oscillator located somewhere on the motherboard. |
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| CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor) |
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Definition
| The technology used to manufacture microchips, CMOS chips require less electricity, hold data longer after the electricity is turned off, and produce less heat than earlier technologies. The configuration or setup chip is a CMOS setup. |
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| Memory contained on the CMOS configuration chip. |
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| The program in system BIOS that can change the values in CMOS RAM. Also called BIOS setup. |
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| The lines on the system bus that the CPU uses to send and receive data. |
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| The number of lines on a bus that can hold data, for example, 8, 16, 32, and 64 lines, which can accomidate 8, 16, 32, and 64 bits at a time. |
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Term
| DIMM (dual inline memory module) |
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Definition
| A miniature circuit board installed on a motherboard to hold memory. DIMMs can hold up to 4 GB of RAM on a single module. |
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| A circuit board inserted into a slot on the motherboard to enhance the capability of the computer. |
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| A narrow slot on the motherboard where an expansion card can be inserted. Expansion slots connect to a bus on the motherboard. |
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| Software that is permanently stored in a chip, The BIOS on a motherboard is an example of Firmware. |
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| ROM that can be reprogrammed or changed without replacing chips. |
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| A drive that can hold either a 5 1/2 inch or 3 1/4 inch floppy disk. Also called a floppy drive. |
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| The bus between the CPU and memory on the motherboard. The bus frequency in documentation is called the system speed, such as 400 MHz. Also called the memory bus, local bus, host bus, or system bus. |
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| One thousand MHz, or one billion cycles per second. |
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| An interface card installed in the computer to control visual output on a monitor. Also called display adapter or video card. |
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| Output from a printer to paper. |
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| The main secondary storage device of a PC. Two technologies are currently used by hard drives: magnetic and solid state. Also called a hard drive. |
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| The physical components that constitute the computer system, such as the monitor, the keyboard, the motherboard, and the printer. |
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| Unit of measurement for frequency, calculated in terms of vibrations, or cycles per second. For example, for 16-bit stereo sound, a frequency of 44,000 Hz is used. Also see megahertz (MHz) |
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| common input device through which data and instructions may be typed into computer memory. |
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| One of two technologies used by hard drives where data is stored as magnetic spots on disks that rotate at a high speed. The other technology is solid state drive (SSD) |
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| The "main board" in the computer, also called the system board. The CPU, ROM chips, DIMMs, RIMMs, and interface cards are plugged into the main board. Also known as the motherboard. |
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| One million Hz, or one million cycles per second. |
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| Physical microchips that can hold data and programming, located on the motherboard or expansion slots. |
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| Same as Central processing unit (CPU) |
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| The most commonly used output device for displaying text and graphics on a computer. |
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| 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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| Refers to a kind of RAM that is stable and can hold data as long as electricity is powering the memory. |
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| 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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| A female 25-pin port on a computer that can transmit data in parallel, 8 bits at a time, and is usually used with a printer. The names for parallel ports are LPT1 and LPT2. |
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| Devices that communicate with the CPU but are not located directly on the motherboard, such as the monitor, floppy drive, printer, and mouse. |
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| (1) As applied to services running on a computer, a number assigned to a process on a computer so that the process can be found by TCP/IP. Also called a port address or port number. (2) Another name for an I/O address. (3) A physical connector, usually at the back of a computer, that allows a cable from a peripheral device, such as a printer, mouse, or modem, to be attached. |
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| A box inside the computer case that supplies power to the motherboard and other installed devices. Power supplies provide 3,3,4, and 12 volts DC. Also called a power supply unit (PSU). |
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| Temporary storage on the motherboard used by the CPU to process data and instructions. Memory is considered primary storage. |
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| A peripheral output device that produces printed output to paper. Different types include dot matrix, ink-jet, and laser printers. |
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| A set of step-by-step instructions to a computer. Some are burned directly into chips, while others are stored as program files. Programs are written in languages such as Visual Basic and C++ |
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| A set of rules and standards that two entities use for communication. |
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| RAM (random access memory) |
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Definition
| Memory modules on the motherboard containing microchips used to temporarily hold data and programs while the CPU processes both. Information in RAM is lost when the PC is turned off. |
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Definition
| Chips that contain programming code and cannot be erased. |
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| S/PDIF (Sony Phillips Digital Interface) sound port |
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Definition
| A sound port that connect to an external home theater audio system, providing digital output and the best signal quality. |
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Definition
| Storage that is remote to the CPU and permanently holds data, even when the PC is turned off, such as a hard drive. |
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| An ATAPI cabling method that uses a narrower and more reliable cable than the 80-conductor cable used in Parallel ATA. |
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Definition
| A male 9-oin or 25-pin port on a computer system used by slower I/O devices such as a mouse or modem. Data travels serially, one bit at a time, through the port. Seial ports are sometimes configured as COM1, COM2, COM3, or COM4. |
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Definition
| Computer programs, or instructions to perform a specific task. Software may be BIOS, OSs, or applications software such as a word-processing or spreadsheet program. |
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| A hard drive that has no moving parts, also defined in solid state device. |
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| Part of system BIOS that is responsible for controlling the PC when it is first turned on. Startup BIOS gives control over to the OS once it is loaded. |
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| BIOS located on the motherboard. |
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| A line on a bus that is dedicated to timing the activities of components connected to it. The system clock provides a continuous pulse that other devices use to time themselves. |
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Definition
| A wire on a circuit board that connexts two components or devices. |
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| Universal serial bus (USB) port |
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Definition
| A type of port designed to make installation and configuration of I/O devices easy, providing room for as many as 127 devices daisy-chained together. |
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Definition
| 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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Definition
| Memory used by the video controller. The memory might be contained on a video card or be part of system memory. When part of system memory, the memory is dedicated by Windows to video. |
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Definition
| Refers to a kind of RAM that is temporary, cannot hold data very long, and must be frequently refreshed. |
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