B-C

base video

The minimum video Windows displays, usually 640x480 resolution with 16 colors. A PC can provide base video without any of the video drivers being loaded into memory, such as early in the boot process.

beta

Early version of a program that is not ready to be sold. Users often can obtain a free beta version of a program to test its performance and report bugs to the developer.

BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

The BIOS is software built in to a ROM BIOS or flash BIOS chip that is used to control hardware devices such as hard drives, keyboards, monitors, and other low-level devices before a computer system boots into an operating system. It is a program that works as soon as the computer is powered on to test hardware, locate the operating system (OS) startup files on the hard drive in order to start the OS, and support the transfer of data among hardware devices.

bitmap

A format of an image file that stores a map of each pixel along with the color information for each. Because of all this stored information, the files are rather large. In Windows, bitmap files have the extension .bmp. There are color, and black and white bitmaps.

blue screen of death

The nickname of a Windows 2000 or XP stop error. When Windows detects a serious problem with the system, it shuts down the computer and dumps the contents of the memory to a file. It also displays a blue screen with the error data.

BNC (Bayonet Nut Connector, Bayonet Neil-Concelman, or British Naval Connector)

A connector used to connect a computer to a coaxial cable in a 10Base2 Ethernet network.

bps (Bits Per Second)

A standard measurement of the speed at which data is transmitted; for example, a 56K modem has the ability to transmit at a rate of 56,000 bps.

broadband

High-speed Internet connection such as DSL or cable Internet, or faster business connections.

buffer underrun error

An error that happens when burning an optical disc that causes the media to become useful as a beverage coaster. This error was prevalent with old CD burners.

bug

A design flaw in a program.

burn-in test

A series of individual tests used to make sure a new computer is running properly. A computer that passes the burn-in test is ready to sell to the customer.

cache (pronounced “cash”):

1. High-speed memory that is used on various types of hardware components. It is designed to enhance the performance of these devices by storing data in such a way as to make sure that it is transmitted smoothly to and/or from the device. Generally, the more cache a device has, the better it performs. Disk drives and CPUs are examples of devices with caches. Synonym: buffer. 2. An area in memory or on a disk drive that holds frequently accessed data.

CAD/CAM (Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing)

Software designed with dual functionality—not only as a designing system, but also for controlling manufacturing processes.

case

The cabinet that holds all parts of the computer. Most cases come with power supplies.

CAT (Computerized Adaptive Testing)

An efficient testing process in which a test taker’s selections of subsequent questions are based on the correctness or incorrectness of the previously answered questions. Therefore, the test is adapted to the test taker’s ability, eliminating the possibility of too many items that are either too easy or too hard for them.

Cat5/Cat5e

A standard for Ethernet network cables. Cables that don’t meet the standard might not work well in networks, but should be adequate for voice telephone connections.

CCD (Charge-Coupled Device)

A light-sensitive circuit in a device, such as a digital camera or optical scanner, which stores and displays the color representation of a pixel in electronic format. CCD arrays are made up of CCDs whose semiconductors connect.

CD (Compact Disk)

A round metallic disk that stores information such as text, video, and audio in digital format.

CD-R (Compact Disk-Recordable)

A type of compact disk that can be written or recorded to once, but read many times.

CD-RW (Compact Disk Read/Write)

A type of compact disk that can be written to several times.

CEE power cord

A three-conductor power cord used to connect computers, monitors, and many other devices to AC power. These are probably the most standard part of a computer, as almost every non-laptop computer power supply, CRT monitor, and many other devices use these.

CGA (Color Graphics Adapter)

The first color graphics adapter for IBM PCs. CGA can only produce a resolution of 640 480 and two colors. CGA has been replaced by VGA for the most part.

check box

A small square box within a dialog box that enables an event when there is a checkmark inside. Add a checkmark by selecting the check box. Remove the checkmark by clearing it. You can normally have any combination of selected and cleared check boxes in a dialog box.

chipset

The set of integrated circuits used on a particular device.

CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor)

Nonvolatile RAM that is used to hold hard drive, DRAM, and other necessary start-up information to boot a computer system. Modern CMOS is typically stored in flash RAM.

CNR (Communication and Networking Riser)

A new riser card developed by Intel to meet open industry specifications. Besides its original purpose to reduce the cost of implementing LAN, modem, and audio subsystems, it also has the ability to keep electrical noise interference to a minimum.

coaster

A failed optical disc burn resulting in a useless disc.

color depth

Number of different shades of color that can be reproduced by a monitor or imaging device. In computers discussed in this book, color depth ranges from 16 to 4,294,967,295 colors.

COM port

See serial port.

command-line interface

See text-based interface.

composite video

An analog video signal that is carried through one cable. The same signal that is used by all standard VCRs and by many computer video capture and video output devices.

compressed file

A file that has been altered so that it takes up no unnecessary space. For example, a bitmap image file is one in which every picture element in the entire picture contains color or grayscale information. Because there are hundreds of thousands or millions of picture elements in various types of bitmap files, the files take up a lot of disk space. However, if you have a bitmap file containing an image that is mostly solid yellow with only a small drawing in one corner, the compression technique might use an algorithm that sets a range of all the picture elements that should be yellow and assigns yellow to all of them, rather than assigning yellow to each individual element. Such techniques make for a much smaller file. Some compressed files are self-extracting; that is, they open themselves when double-clicked. Others need some type of “unzip” program to open them. Still others are compressed and decompressed by Windows.

configure

Make changes to device, software, or firmware settings.

cookie

1. A small file placed on a computer when the user visits and/or enters data into a Web page. The cookie is used to customize the Web page for the next time the user visits the page, sometimes by identifying the user, sometimes by remembering the information the user entered into a Web form. 2. The magnetic disk inside a floppy disk case.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The CPU is the brain or central element of a computing system. The chip that performs all the calculations necessary for the computer to do its job. Intel’s Pentium and Celeron, and AMD’s Athlon and Duron are names of popular lines of CPUs. Synonym: processor.

CPU family

Set of processors of a similar design made by one company. Pentium 4 and Athlon are examples of CPU families.

CRT (Cathode Ray Tube)

A vacuum tube located inside a monitor that houses beams of electrons used to illuminate phosphors and produce graphic images.

CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection)

A contention-based protocol used to detect collisions of packets in Ethernet networks. If a collision occurs, the information is retransmitted.

current folder

When using a command interpreter such as the MS-DOS prompt or the Windows 2000, XP command prompt, the current folder is the one that most commands will affect unless another folder is specified in the command’s syntax.

cursor

The small image on the screen of a document that indicates the location where keyboard or other input will go. To illustrate the difference between a cursor and a pointer, note that the cursor in a document doesn’t move along with the pointer until the pointing device is clicked, and that moving the cursor with any of the keyboard keys doesn’t move the pointer. See also pointer.